Time Stopper
by herrior
Summary: Characters that I have created from World of Warcraft journey to Earth to find time stoppers and encounter a teenage boy right out of high school whose powers increase ten-fold as the story plays out. Scenarios from both Earth, the World of Warcraft realms and beyond are explored as Herrior leads his party through battles and journeys that lead to betrayal, slaughtering, and love.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Before you take the time to divulge yourself into my story I wanted to give an introduction as to what this is about. I play World of Warcraft online and I have played the previous games of Warcraft as well. I have also played many other games and have a vivid imagination and wanted to merge all of my ideas that I got from playing these role-playing games into one story. I started off with just a couple of chapters, but I then had ideas about the plot and one idea led to another and now it's a long story… :O)

I'm categorizing this along the lines of World of Warcraft because the races, spells, classes, materials for making armor, etc… are based on the game. This story is completely different from the lore of World of Warcraft…well quite frankly because the stories have already been written. The Some places also resemble WoW along with some references in the story…but I wanted this to be "my" story. For example the class "Chronomancers" comes from Bard's Tale as well as being able to portal. If you are looking for Thrall or Jaina Proudmoore or any of those characters, you aren't going to find them in here. You might be reading the story and thinking, "I know this place in WoW, but things aren't right – the author is not describing this right" you would be right. :O) I have also integrated many other games into this story as you may or may not catch on as you read.

This story is based in our world's present time with taurens, orcs, trolls and blood elves and even the latest race the Pandaren are in the story. I originally introduced monks into the story very early and describe them as a very dark and sinister group of beings that are void of emotion, do not wonder the streets of Tranquil, the Kingdom that all of our story's heroes live in, and are basically the complete opposite of the monks of the present day WoW. This is because when I started writing the story there were no monks in World of Warcraft.

The idea of "stopping time" is not an original one, and the concept of having consequences of stopping time is not original either. I got the idea, referencing my above sentence, way before mage's in WoW were able to slow time down or their spell "Alter time". The time stoppers that I have in my story are hunted by everyone and they don't know it. The good guys, referenced as "the fighters of Tranquil" look in many different worlds and in various different parts of different worlds for them and seek them out to save them from death or enslavement in an attempt to bring peace to the worlds…kind of like the Jedi… :O) But to make something clear, as I explain in my story, the "good guys" are not referenced as the Horde anymore. The "bad guys" are mostly the alliance, and demons.

The story involves several modern day scenarios, in which the good guys help out in. It mostly takes place on Earth, but involves other worlds as well. My attempt is to make it seem as real as possible in modern times – attempting to integrate my fictional characters with what is happening in today's world in their never-ending quest to bring peace and to rid the world of evil. The time stoppers control much of this power and bend scenarios to their will depending on their emotions and what they want. Robbing a bank for example would be easy…simply stop time, walk in, take all of the money and walk out.

I hope you will read my story as an ongoing novel and enjoy it.


	2. Prelude

Prelude

A boy grew up with a hidden talent. Not a talent for sports, mathematics or had an outgoing personality. He was an average boy that grew up a single child with a mother and a father. No, his talent superseded all other talents. At a young age, he found out that he could make the world stop around him but at a price. After fifteen seconds he could get a headache. It wasn't much at first but it got worse as he grew older.

In his preteen years he was fully aware of his ability to stop time. He used this to get straight "A's" through school, not by studying but by coping off from others. The headaches started to become worse however with age.

There were times in his life when people would become suspicious of the events that just happened when he stopped time and did not return to the normal place that he was in. He decided at this time to not draw unneeded attention to himself so he only made general conversation with his schoolmates. This did not fulfill his need to "fit in" as everybody at his age felt the need to. It did however give him the advantage in fights that broke out. He taught himself how to fight, and by watching Hollywood movies…because they seemed real enough. He would use his talent to stop time, get in several hard blows to his opponent – usually in the crotch, stomach, or kneecaps and then when time started back up again he would leap on his suddenly wounded opponent and they would fall to the ground screaming in pain. He earned the reputation as somebody not to mess around with.

Also with his talent he used his ability to perform magic tricks. He saw many done on TV and was good at cards. He could see the card that was chosen from the deck without the person knowing it, or see the other person's hand to see if they were bluffing in a hand of poker. He did this only once in awhile to impress a woman that caught his fancy. He never really had a girlfriend per say growing up because he could never fully open up to somebody – not even his parents about his ability. He knew he had to keep it a secret, unsure why but something inside of him told him not to.

Dan is his name. He grew up knowing he had a power that could alter his life, get him any woman that he wanted – or at least sneak a peek to see what they looked like nude, and to acquire wealth simply by taking it. The possibilities were endless and this caused him to daydream a lot. A teacher he didn't like, he would merely stop time, move the chair out from under him or her, and then when time resumed, watch the teacher fall suddenly hard on the floor. He could have revenge on anybody, change his grades in the teacher's grade books, and steal his professor's tests when he went to college so he would ace the tests. He had big plans for his life alright, but something inside of him to not do this. Sometimes he would listen, sometimes he would ignore it. The voice inside of his head would always be right though and he knew it.

Dan continued his high school career until his senior year. He was, of course, on the honor role and was known for getting the "extra credit" questions correct – even though some of them were impossible to know unless somebody was able to see the teacher's answer sheet.

His headaches continued to get worse. He began popping pain pills as much as he would eat during the day. They felt centralized in only one part of his brain, which he knew that the brain did not feel pain, but he swore his did. He started cutting back on stopping time to help save his liver and his brain…but the temptation to use it was overwhelming at times, especially on tests…


	3. Time Stoppers

Time Stoppers

Time stopped.

Fifteen seconds, his stop watch was just activated and time froze. He didn't know for sure why, but his clothes and watch seemed to function while time was stopped.

He didn't know the answers to his math test and he needed to pass this test. He quickly scrambled out of his seat and went over to Julie's desk, who just so happened to be the smartest girl in his High School class. As he memorized the answers his stop watch was clicking by, ten seconds had passed.

"45,106,39..." His memory was good but he had to hurry. It would be another minute before he could stop time again. It caused him a head ache each and every time he did this and he could only do it a couple of times a day before the migraines started.

"87,504,23..." With five seconds left he ran back to his desk and started copying down the answers from memory. He ended up getting twenty answers down on his paper. He stopped his watch at exactly one second left.

Time resumed.

The normal shuffling of papers and sighs filled the room. Dan's head started to pound a little, and the lack of ventilation in the stuffy math room didn't help with it. He quickly wrote down the answers that he had memorized. Luckily he didn't have to show his work. Dan let out a little smile with satisfaction. He had done this numerous times throughout his High School career and was bound determined to get through his college years using the same method. His pill of choice: Tylenol. It seemed to take the pain away the fastest. He never over dosed though, he wanted to know what his pain threshold was and didn't want to exceed it.

He would get normal headaches, sure, just like everybody else. Loud sounds, right lights that sort of thing, but these "time headaches" as he called it were deep in his head. No amount of rubbing his head would get rid of those, only time and pills. And only some pills, he didn't want to destroy his stomach - or was it his liver, he didn't know. But he didn't want to take a chance.

A cough came from the room, bringing him back to his test. He finished it off and felt confident that he would get a passing grade. After class he picked up his stuff and headed off to his locker.

On his way there he got bumped really hard by the local bad boy Mark. He nearly lost his books. Mark spun around and yelled "Watch it!"

"I could show you how to watch it" Dan thought, but he simply apologized and moved quickly away. The headache was starting to ease up as it usually did. No pills this time, unless he stopped time again, then maybe a pill.

He got to the locker, entered in the combination, put his stuff inside, and walked to his bus. The bus ride home gave him time to think, and he hated that. So far all he's used talent for was for his own personal gain. He had performed some acts that he wasn't proud of. Cheating was just one of those things. Being an eighteen year old his hormones told him to use it when he knew that he shouldn't. A priest would be appalled at what he has done. But that would entail confession, revealing his secret and his guilt (or was it pride?), or just not wanting to be probed by doctors to find out how he does this ability, stopped him from doing that.

Cluck! The bus just hit a big pot hole, interrupting his thoughts. He wanted eagerly to tell somebody, anybody. But he made a promise to himself not to do that - no matter what.

The bus stopped and he got off at his home. An odd thought came into his head, "I wonder if my parents possess the same ability…" He stood for a second and considered this thought. He thought long and hard about it but then eventually shook off the idea. "Naw," he thought "I would have seen some sort of evidence of it by now." Then he wondered if his parents knew of his ability.

"Hey punk!" He heard behind him as a water balloon splashed on his back and then laughing as the car drove away.

He could stop time and show them, but then he was trying to clean up his act. He didn't want jail time on his record. The college recruiters would not like that all. He just simply sighed and buried his feelings, the same feelings that he's been burying far too long. He knew that some day they would come out.

He checked his watch. Three fifteen. He continued walking to his home. He walked inside and sat his bag down. "I'm home!" He announced with water still dripping off from his back.

"Hi Honey! Dad will be home in an hour." A voice came from the living room.

"Ok." He replied back. He did a quick mental check of his homework, none for today. He figured he would go up to his room and do what he normally did. Let his conscious grow until he cried.

An hour later he arose and changed his clothes and gave his friend Jeremy a call. He wasn't home. He figured he would go for a walk. He grabbed his wallet and his bottle of Tylenol.

"Never leave home without it…" he thought. A thought occurred to him, if he ever became addicted to them he'd have to switch head ache pain relievers…

"Meijer's has a huge selection." Dan said with a smile and then head out.

"I'm going over to Jeremy's house." Dan announced.

"Ok, be back by nine!" His father still was not home. It was either drinking night, or poker night, or both. Anyways he didn't care all that much. Tonight he was looking for something to entertain him, set his conscious right…for once.

He walked the block at least a dozen times. The haze made him cough, but he didn't care. The air tonight was crisp and cold. Feeling confident tonight, he worked up the courage to go downtown. Downtown was a place never to go at night, especially on foot.

In his coat he fumbled his bottle of Tylenol. He felt invincible. He stared at the cement and tried to tune his ears to what was happening around him, honks, squeals, people laughing - nothing unusual. He figured he would walk around the block a couple of times and then walk back to home. He may have felt invincible, but he wasn't stupid.

That night he planned on sleeping in and letting his mind rest. It was going to be a Saturday.

"Hey, can you spare some change?" An older man walked out from behind a building. Pretty soon several others followed, three all together. This is what he wanted, but he also wanted to wet himself at the same time.

"No." Dan said in a calm voice. He turned his bottle around and around in his pocket.

"Well then, we have a problem don't we." The leader of the pack smiled and walked towards him. He pulled a gun from his belt.

Time stopped.

Dan spun around. He grabbed the gun and pointed it at the man's head and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, which was no surprise to him. It was also no surprise to him that the man's hand was able to move easily. When time stopped, the muscles stopped responding to the brain. He then pointed the gun towards the man to the left of him and pulled the trigger again, then again to the man to the right. He then ran away.

Five seconds left and he smiled. Not sure why, but he let out a big smile.

Time resumed.

The headache came back a little stronger than it did before, but he didn't care. Three shots rang out and all three men dropped like sack cloth. His fingers never touched the gun; it could never be traced back to him. He would run back to the house, no witnesses, and watch the nightly news. He thought for sure that it would be on there.

His head started to pound as his feet touched the ground. It blurred his vision a little but his adrenaline seemed to counteract it. He still had a smile on his face.

He passed a pay phone and made an anonymous 911 tip that three people had been shot. He gave the street crossings, dropped the phone and continued running home.

Dan made it home and dropped a Tylenol down his throat. It would take some time but the headache was almost gone. By this time his dad was home, drunk as ever and trying to sleep it off in his room. His mom was tending to him in their bedroom. Perfect! The living room was his and he turned on the TV. Sure enough, the shootings were on TV.

"Late tonight an anonymous tip leads to the shootings of three notorious gang members that have eluded police and have been linked to murder, rape, drug dealing, and prostitution. It looks as though the gang members turned on themselves in the middle of the street. The leader shot his two friends which have been identified as Carlos the Capper as he liked to call himself, and Pedro. Then after he shot them, he turned the gun on himself. Police are still baffled though as to what happened. A set of forensic scientists believe otherwise though. Their theory is that the leader turned the gun on himself first, and then shot his two friends - which sounds impossible; more on this story later on when it develops. This is Angela Takara reporting for channel six news."

Dan smiled. Finally he got his chance to clear some of his conscious. He took three mobsters off from the street and probably sent confusion to the rest of the gang.

"Shoes!" Dan said out loud. "They might trace my shoes…" His conscious started bugging him again. Dan let out a sigh and started doing some serious thinking.

"They have a lot of people walk those streets. I didn't have any mud or tar on them." He checked his shoes and sure enough they were clean.

He smiled and then started laughing. Finally he did something right. Who knows, he might have a job as a cop. He turned off the TV and went to bed feeling pretty good about himself. Who knows how many lives he avenged and how many he might have saved in the future.

He woke up and felt empowered. His head was clear and breakfast sounded good. The conversation for that morning was the deaths of the gang members.

"It's all over the news. Most people are asking why, but who cares. It's three hoodlums off from the street." His dad seemed to be sobering up this morning.

Dan smiled and asked to pass the toast. He smeared butter on it and took a bite. It was the bite of freedom. His conscious was somewhat clear. All of the times sneaking into the girl's locker room. All of the times sneaking into the cash register at the local gas station. All of the answers he stole.

"Yeah," he thought. "Maybe I will be a cop instead of going to college."

"So what's the plan for this weekend?" Dan asked still smiling.

"Your dad and I are going to go to your grandma's house. She's pretty sick. You're to stay home and watch the house."

Dan's heart sank a little. He let out a sigh and then nodded. His grandma was in hospice care and would soon pass away.

"So I understand you had a water balloon thrown at you." His father announced. Dan's anger began to flare up. Maybe he should have stopped time and sliced their tires or something.

His father could sense his anger and smiled a little.

"It use to be rocks for me. Growing up is tough. But pretty soon you'll be in college and those days will be behind you. College is a lot different," continued his father.

Dan perked up. "I think I might try entering into the academy to become a police officer instead." The sentence just sort of blurted out without much thought into it. Both of his parents frowned.

"The academy is a lot harder than you may think. Where did you get an idea like that?" His hung-over father asked.

"Last night watching the news. Being on the streets. Taking out the bad guys. Making a difference!" Dan thought excitedly to himself.

"There's also a lot of paper work involved with it and a lot being behind a desk. And you still need a degree for it." replied his father.

Dan hadn't considered that. He knew he had the ability to take down the villains as he did last night. But then he hadn't thought of the paperwork involved. He just thought of the movies that he watched. The action packed ones, not to mention the one last night. Plus a degree? What good was his talent in a classroom stealing answers. He was tired of that. He had done that his whole school career. A cringe of guilt enveloped him. He was tired of living with the guilt.

Dan nodded towards his father. "I guess I need college for anything huh?"

"Yes, it's very important." replied his father in a solemn tone.

Dan thought to himself. "I could be a vigilante, just like in the comic books!" Dan smiled at the idea but then realized that he would still need money. Stealing from the crooks would make him a crook as well. The Robin Hood theme was all played out. Besides, he knew he would slip up and questions would be asked - tracing him back to the crime. He watched CSI and other criminal investigations like that. Eventually everybody got caught.

Dan let out another sigh and took another bite of toast. "What to do…" He said.

His father smiled and said "I know life is tough right now, but it's almost the end of school. You have time to decide what you want to do."

He could always join the Army and become a drunk like his father. He didn't think he was physically fit for that. Besides becoming a drunk wasn't his idea of a future after watching his father for all of those years. He was surprised he had any brain cells left after all of his late night binge drinking.

Although becoming a Marine and fighting on the front line would be intriguing for him. Dodging bullets, laying down a stream of ammo towards the bad guys. Time stopping to get behind enemy lines and wasting everybody to help his platoon advance. This brought a smile to his face. He shrugged his shoulders and devoured what was left of his toast. That might avenge his past. He was tired of fighting with his past and the guilt.

This weekend he would do some serious thinking. He decided that he would make a decision this weekend.

As soon as his parents left he called his friend Jeremy and invited him over for the weekend. Naturally that's what you do when your parents are gone. He came over with some snacks and "R" rated movies. Dan smiled. He always knew what his friend could do to help him through a tough life decision.

Eleven o'clock rolled around and Dan announced that he was going to take a trip downtown.

"Are you crazy? There was a shooting there last week." Jeremy said almost hysterically.

"I know. You wait here; I'll be right back in about an hour or so."

"No way man, I'm coming with you. You're less likely to be attacked if there's two of us."

Dan hadn't thought about. Jeremy was his friend and wanted to protect him. He was a true friend. He smiled.

"I'm just going out for some fresh air. Besides somebody needs to be here with the house. Lock it up and don't open it for anybody except for me." Dan grabbed his jacket, searched for his pills, and ran out the door. Jeremy's mouth hung open as he left. "I wonder if he's got a secret date he doesn't want me to know about…" He thought. He slowly sank back onto the couch and grabbed another hand full of Cheetos and watched his movie, all the while worrying about his friend.

Dan started running for the bad part of town. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He hadn't stopped time at all today and he planned on being a "Super Hero" today. Still though he carried his bottle of Tylenol; it seemed to give him a sense of empowerment.

He was out for an hour and nothing was happening. "Guess it's a slow night." He sat on the curb to think. He looked around and saw a barrel spewing out fire trying its best to keep two homeless people warm. Then a thought came to him.

"Fire fighter!" Yeah! Breaking into buildings, making the fire stop, rescuing the person in distress and being the hero dragging them out." Then he realized his small figure and pulling out a three hundred pound man might be a bit of a difficulty. Especially in fifteen seconds.

Fifteen seconds…why is it only that? Why must it be fifteen seconds…why not a minute? Dan let out a sigh.

A siren in the background began to grow louder and seemed to be coming in his direction. Dan didn't notice it at first.

"I wonder if I could extend it. Possibly thirty seconds. Or even a minute? But how? He wasn't quite sure how it worked in the first place.

The siren was loud enough to overpower his thoughts now. He turned his head and saw a police squad car by itself chasing a black Sedan onto the very road he was on. For no reason he looked across the street and saw two black figures with what looked like some type of machine guns.

Dan jumped to his feet. He thought, "This is a setup for the cop." To be sure he ran across the street and thought he would ask. Later on he thought this to be a foolish idea.

"What are you two planning on doing?" Dan screamed at them. The two machine guns were raised to his waist level.

"Beat it kid, we've got to protect our own." and with that Dan was kicked into the street. The guns were aimed at the cop car.

"This is going to be the cops last chase if I don't do something…" Dan thought. He counted three seconds and then…

Time stopped.

Dan grabbed the guns and instantly shot the two men aiming for the cop. He then spun around and ran up to the tires of the Sedan and shot the front left tire out, and then the rear. Instinctively he checked his watch. He had six seconds left. He always pressed the stop watch button every time he stopped time.

Dan ran around to the other side of the Sedan and shot out those tires as well.

Time resumed.

The scene was spectacular! The two men dropped instantly from the two bullets that seemed to come from nowhere and all four tires blew out at the same time. The Sedan eventually lost control and ran into a street light. The driver smashed his head into the steering wheel. A quick thought entered his head: "Why didn't the air bag go off?"

The cop slowed his cruiser and jumped out with her gun drawn pointing at the suspect in the Sedan. Instinctively he tightened his grip on the gun…and then realized that he was still holding it. He quickly threw it to the ground.

The cop pointed her gun towards Dan and immediately he threw his hands in the air.

"Sorry!" He said. The cop turned her attention back to the Sedan and made a call on her radio, slowly advancing towards the driver's side door.

"She was beautiful!" Dan thought as she advanced towards car. Dan shook his head and thought "What a thing to think right now." Dan just smiled and watched the events unfold. He started advancing towards the scene of the accident without even knowing it.

"Get out of the car!" She screamed. This seemed to send out a warning across the neighborhood. Some people went running away, some just turned and looked, and a few started advancing towards her. Dan paid special attention to them out of the corner of his eye.

"This may be too much for the cop." Dan thought.

"Get out of the car!" She screamed again. You could hear the fright in her voice. She was young and probably new to the force. She opened the front door of the Sedan and the man fell out with his head bashed in by the steering wheel. He was either out cold or dead. The cop made another call on her radio. This time it sounded for medical help. Another siren could be heard in the distance, but it was way far off.

"You killed my brother!" A voice boomed. Several men Dan was watching out of the corner of his eye began advancing on her. An even bigger crowd had gathered and was surrounding the cop.

The cop leaped to her feet and pointed her forty-five magnum towards the sound. Dan's heart jumped a beat. He counted seven men and women closing in on the cop.

"You gonna die woman!" Shouted one of them.

"Stay back!" The cop shouted and started backing up. The siren in the distance was way far away. Dan estimated probably another minute or so. And who knows, it could have been an ambulance - he couldn't tell the difference.

"Dat be a dumb move woman cop!" The crowd closed in on her.

"Stand down!" The woman cop screamed. Dan started advancing faster to her position. He quickly stopped, ran back for the gun he dropped and then moved forward again. During this time the scene had changed. There was a man behind the cop with a knife to her throat. The cop had her hands up, gun still in hand.

"Let's be getting you off the streets and make you pay." The crowd was surrounding her now. Dan could see a trickle of blood coming down from her throat.

"Ever been raped girly?" Someone in the crowd stated. "It's going to be lots of fun! Then we gonna gut ya. Gut ya open like a Thanksgiving turkey."

"Then we are gonna hang your body up as a warning to all of the cops to stay out of our district."

The cop was relieved of her firearm and was shaking now. She was begging for her life.

Time stopped.

Dan pushed his button on his watch instinctively and set to work.

"Fifteen seconds to disarm this situation…" Dan thought. He jumped over the cop car's hood and started opening up with his gun. Nothing came out of it, but it would. It would splatter them all over the side walk. He let go of the gun, but it hung in mid air. The mob would be taken care of now. He reached up and grabbed the knife from the hand holding the cop hostage. He took the knife and dove it into the man's head. He drove it with such force that he was pretty sure it would go all the way through. He let go of the knife and it hung in mid air. He then grabbed the cop and pulled her with all of his strength on top of him as they fell to the ground. His watch beeped.

Time resumed.

All of the bullets found a target and they did in fact splatter the side walk with blood. He hadn't realized how many bullets he had fired. For a split second the mob stared in awe as the bullets seemed to come out of nowhere. That was their last thought.

The cop fell on top of Dan as if protecting him. She covered her head as she heard the bullets fly. Dan just simply smiled. He could feel her bosom's pressing on his chest.

After the shooting was over, she slowly slipped up off from Dan - who she seemed completely oblivious to. She sat up, still on Dan, and turned around and saw the man holding her hostage. The knife was so deep into the man's skull that only an inch of the handle was sticking out.

The woman continued to sit on Dan's crotch as she looked around at the situation. She started to take in the situation in a whisper. A trickle of blood fell from her neck and landed on Dan's shirt.

"Everybody's dead…" She gasped. She put a hand over her wound and continued to try to catch her breath. "How…" She then looked down at Dan and quickly jumped off from him. She searched for her gun.

"Easy…today I'm your guardian angel...I am not going to harm you…" Dan said in a slow voice with both his heart pounding and hormones racing. She grabbed her gun and kept it in her left hand.

The siren in the distance turned out to be an ambulance. Dan estimated it to be about less than a minute away. His head started to ache. This might be a two Tylenol night…

The cop checked the vitals of all of the people and Dan rose to his feet. Dan wiped the dirt off from his clothes and pulled his shirt out to help conceal himself. Dan's face began to turn red.

"Ok…this…was…" The cop started.

"You were going to be beaten and raped and then killed. You started off chasing this guy." Dan said as he pointed to the dead guy in the Sedan.

The cop holstered her weapon and asked, "Ok, what just happened?" She started to straighten her hair.

"Like I said, I was your guardian angel for tonight." Dan extended his hand.

"Officer Candy" as she shook his hand. Then the cringe of all of the paperwork came into her mind.

"How am I supposed to explain this…?" She meant to say to herself but said in a whisper.

"That I'm not going to stick around for. There's an ambulance on the way. Tend to that wound and let it heal. Then say you killed everybody…or something like that." Dan said in a calm voice. "I have to get home and watch some movies with my friend."

"Wait you can't leave, you need to give a statement!" The cop screamed. She started after him.

"Crap…" Dan thought. "This is going to hurt tonight…"

Time Stopped.

Dan ran as fast as he could away from the scene of the crime. The air was stale and not refreshing at all.

Time resumed.

He easily slipped away into the darkness. With the extra adrenaline in his system he actually made it home in a minute. He flew open the door and ran inside. He dropped to his knees and began to cry in pain. He reached for his Tylenol bottle and downed three of them without water.

"What happened?" Jeremy was sleeping on the couch when he came in.

"I have a headache!" Dan yelled. He sat for a minute and caught his breath. "I need to shower, help me up." The two of them climbed the stairs and Jeremy helped him to the bathroom. Dan took a long hot shower. He knew the pain was coming, but he didn't know it would be this bad. The shower was more to wash the body odor off from him; he knew it would do nothing to the headache. He continued to cry from the pain.

Meanwhile Officer Candy was again stunned. This Dan person was running away from her and then all of a sudden disappeared, no clue what direction he took off in - no sign at all. She sighed and then looked around again. Everybody was dead. The ambulance arrived and she began to have her cop instincts kick in again.

The paramedics arrived and started checking the vitals. Candy phoned in what had happened. The dispatcher was unsure how to write up the report.

"Do you need backup?" The dispatcher asked.

"Apparently not…" Candy responded back. A paramedic came over with some gauze and put it on her cut that had almost healed now. He began to wrap it up with tape.

Soon other officers arrived and she told the story exactly how it happened.

"Ok, from the beginning…" An officer said slowly. He had his pad of paper in hand and pen in the other. Candy took a deep swallow.

"I was in pursuit of this black ninety-eight Sedan requesting backup when all four tires were punctured at the same time."

"You mean with stop sticks." The officer interrupted. Candy shook her head.

"They all exploded at the same time. The driver lost control of the vehicle and ran into this light post." All the while she was pointing to the objects she was describing.

"Then there was this teenager on the opposite side of the street with some sort of gun. He immediately dropped it and said 'Sorry' of all things." She stopped to catch her breath. More cops arrived and taped off the crime scene. Reporters began to slither in as well.

"Then this mob of both males and females began approaching me. I drew my gun on them and they began making threats to me. I was outgunned. I backed up away from the Sedan." She pointed to the dead male behind him. "Drew a knife on my throat at which time I put my hands into the air. He ordered me to drop my weapon so I did. He began making threats against me, telling me he was going to rape me, gut me and hang me up as a warning." Candy slowly drew in another breath of air. She could see the officer with the pen writing as fast as he could.

"And then comes the strange part. All in the matter of a split second, I was on the ground. It sounded like probably twenty guns going off at the same time. I would say more than one hundred shots went off. I was covering this kid underneath me. Everybody was dead. Everybody died all at the same time. This kid said he was my guardian angel. The guy holding the knife to my throat had the knife impaled into his head. Everybody was dead." Candy began to lose her breath. The officer wrote down everything and another one was telling her to relax and just calm down.

Candy listened to herself and shook her head. "I know how this seems strange. I started after the kid...I shook his hand…It was trembling…We were both trembling. I told him to wait and then he vanished."

Officer Candy was given a shot to calm down. The cut on her throat began to bleed again.

"Vanished?" The officer repeated. Candy nodded up and down and put her hand on her neck.

"Paramedic!" The officer yelled out. "You're going to spend the night in the hospital and then we'll talk later." Officer Candy's vision began to blur. Her adrenaline began to fade and her body was going limp. The paramedic grabbed her underneath her arms and helped her over to a gurney. An IV was started in her and she was rushed off to the hospital.

"Do you believe her?" One officer said to a fellow officer.

"That she single handedly took down all of these gang members…no."

"Don't forget her guardian angel…" The officer responded.

"The officer will check her for drug usage…however it doesn't explain this mess. Call in the criminal cleanup crew. CSI will have a ball with this one."

"The paperwork will be long with this one." They nodded towards each other and began to help out.

Dan dried himself off and crawled to bed and fell asleep. Jeremy came up to check up on him and saw him snoring. He let himself out of the house.

Dan slept until noon. He woke up without his headache. Last night was a bad one. He knew one of these days he would end up killing himself doing this, but the rush was getting to him. He couldn't get enough of it. He thought of Officer Candy and smiled. He wondered how she was doing. Probably was in the hospital…where he probably belonged after last night's headache. He decided that he was going to take one Tylenol every time he stopped time. That way it would take affect sooner. Dan nodded in agreement with himself.

He began thinking of all the mistakes that he made last night, all of the evidence that he left behind, and all of the finger prints. He began to worry. This could go in two different directions. He could lay low and hope the cops don't trace anything to him. Or he could build a friendship with a cop and have them help cover his butt. He thought of Officer Candy. She owed him one, several, after what he had done for her. Or maybe it was just the hormones talking…

Dan sighed as he thought about it. Probably against his better judgment, he got in his car and drove to the hospital.

He arrived at the hospital and asked for Officer Candy's room.

"Third floor room 305."

"That was easy, maybe I should have brought flowers or something…" Dan thought. He began walking towards the elevator.

The hospital was busy was bustling with nurses, patients and doctors. Just any typical day.

"Ding" The elevator arrived and Dan walked in. He smiled at the incoming people as he stepped in the elevator. A weird smell of ammonia came from the elevator. He pushed the third floor and eventually the doors closed.

"Wonder how this is going to go…" Dan thought.

Ding - second floor. He wondered how she was doing. The cut on her neck didn't seem that deep. He should have stuck around to help her. She seemed stable enough though.

Ding - third floor. The doors opened and Dan walked out. He smiled a nervous smile and walked down the hallway.

301, 302, 303. That's odd, no officers guarding her. He got to her room and knocked on the door. He opened the door and said, "Hello?" A minute passed. He could hear the monitoring systems beeping in the background. He walked in and slowly advanced. He pushed back the curtain and saw Officer Candy with an oxygen hose over her nose, several bandages over her neck and an IV dripping away. The monitors showed that her vitals were stable. Dan leaned over her face and did his own evaluation. A minute went by. She was heavily drugged he could tell just by looking at her.

"Hello my guardian angel." Candy opened her eyes slowly and said in a slow muffled voice.

"First of all don't say anything. I can't be found out. You owe me." Dan said quickly. The officer nodded and smiled. She raised her hand. Dan took it. Their eyes both connected and smiled. There was a mutual understanding.

"I can only stay for a little while…" Dan started.

"Before you vanish again?" The officer replied. Dan nodded.

"You're safe, I haven't had any visitors. My parents are dead and I'm an only child. I've had some squad member's stop in, but it's usually after their shift. You have two hours." Her voice was becoming stronger now. She began to sit up in her bed.

"If I knew you were in this bad of shape I wouldn't have left…" Dan started to apologize. Candy smiled and shook her head.

"Let's start over shall we?" Office Candy said. "My first name is Crystal. What is your name?" Dan shook his head. Crystal frowned.

"I'm glad you are ok. I should leave." Dan motioned to get up, but Crystal grabbed his hand.

"Sorry…let's talk. I'm sorry. First of all I need to thank you. You saved my life."

Dan got very serious and walked toward her bed and leaned over into her eyes. "I cannot be found out. I have a talent that nobody can know about. If you are going to interrogate me, I'm going to leave."

Crystal sighed and nodded slowly. "It's the cop in me. I'm sorry. Again I owe you my life. I received several awards because of you. You should get them, not me." She motioned for the table next to her. Dan saw her struggling and took her hand and put it back in her bed.

"I'm not an officer; I am just an eighteen year old looking out for the good guys. You deserve everything that happened. I just helped a little." Dan said with a smile. Crystal smiled too and almost laughed, but the respirator would not allow it.

"So let's cut the crap. What's wrong with you?" Dan asked.

"The knife sliced a part of my main artery leading to my hand. I'm having trouble breathing. I'm having…" She paused for a second and looked away. A moment later she looked back and had tears in her eyes. "I'm having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because of this." Dan nodded and wiped away her tears and smiled.

"I'll protect you as long as you want." Dan said without putting so much thought into it. It made Crystal smile.

"So you are eighteen eh?" Dan nodded. "I'm twenty three - new to the force."

"Are you single?" Dan blurted out and instantly turned red and put his hand in his mouth and turned away. This made Crystal laugh some more, which sounded more like a wheezing.

After a moment she nodded. "Ever think about joining the force?" Dan nodded. His face was still red.

"You would be a good member. I bet I could drink you under the table though…" Crystal said slowly. Dan nodded again and smiled. Crystal matched his smile.

Time was slipping by as they talked. Pretty soon the officers would be coming in and checking up on her. As much as he was enjoying the conversation, he would have to split soon. And he didn't want to stop time to get out of the hospital.

"I have to get going. If you want help on your patrols, pick me up on 5th and 3rd. As long as you keep me a secret I'll save your life as much as you want. You'll be promoted in no time." Dan said.

Crystal smiled. "And what's in it for you." Dan just smiled. "I have a lot of stuff I need to make up for. Nothing illegal, but I need this. Someday I hope to share more with you."

Crystal raised her hand; Dan grabbed a hold of it. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other. "I want to know more…" She said very quietly. "What is your name?"

"Dan…"

Dan let go of her hand and turned to leave. Then he heard, "Good bye - my guardian angel." Dan looked back and smiled.

Dan left the hospital on top of the world. He would stake that place out where the incident occurred and bring donuts and coffee. Dan shook his head. That might send the wrong signal. He drove home and called his friend Jeremy and explained that he had a girl friend that was a cop. He didn't believe him at first and they talked about it for hours, except for the part of how they met of course.

The next day was Sunday. Dan had graduation coming up soon. None of these things concerned him though. Crystal was the only thing on his mind. He would go visit her in the hospital again today, but first he would find a good place to stake out the street.

Traffic was light that morning. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was a beautiful day. On the way to the cross section he stopped at a newspaper stand because something caught his eye.

"New recruit takes down sever gang members. Only has minor wounds. Scheduled to receive the bronze star." Dan smiled as he recognized the picture of Crystal in the paper.

"That should have been mine!" A thought came into his head. Dan entertained the thought only for a second and then shook his head.

"I don't want the publicity. That's the last thing I want." He thought as he twirled his bottle of Tylenol. "Besides, that's what cops do. It's part of the job."

He continued on his way with a smile on his face taking in all of the sights and sounds with a new prospective on life.

"Crystal Candy…" He kept thinking over and over. Her image kept replaying over in his head.

"Fifth and fourth" he said out loud. The corner was only one block away. He continued walking for another block until he got to his destination.

"Good!" He thought, "It's got a bench." He sat on it and noticed all of the tree cover as well.

"Pleasant little place." He continued thinking; some of the adventures that they would have.

He continued sitting for a couple of minutes when a squad car pulled up. It caught Dan off guard and made him jump. It almost made him stop time.

"Mr. Dan?" A male voice called out.

"Yes?"

"I have somebody that wants to see you, she's at the hospital." The officer said and opened his passenger door. Dan felt a lump in his throat. Dan hopped in and made a special note to buckle his seat belt.

"I'm Officer Branzer." He said as he extended his right hand to Dan. Dan took it and felt a tight grip.

"I haven't heard the entire story, but I've heard that you had a hand in saving Officer Candy's life. I also heard that you had a hand in taking down some of the bad guys from the street."

Dan instantly became uncomfortable and really debated stopping time and running from the vehicle. He put his right hand on the door handle and his left on the seat belt.

"Relax!" The officer commanded. "I don't care how you did it, and I was specifically told not to ask. You saved an officer's life; you have become one of us as far as I'm concerned. We all have secrets."

Dan relaxed his grip and put his hands between his lap.

They drove for several blocks when a call came over the radio for needing back up on a DUI running from the police and requesting backup.

"We're going to take a detour!" The officer shouted. "Make sure your safety belt is tight!" The officer must have weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds and looked very intimidating.

The Officer turned his lights, siren, and dash camera on. They instantly went from the normal posted thirty five miles an hour to ninety within seconds. It pushed Dan back into the seat and got his heart beating. Instantly cars and trucks were pulling over to the side. They were speeding towards the highway. Officer Branzer was making almost continuous calls on his radio trying to get the position of the vehicle. From what Dan gathered they were the closest vehicle to the pursuit.

Dan looked outside the window and got a feeling of just how fast they were going. The light poles were almost a blur. Then he had the idea of shoving his hand out the window and forming a wing just like an airplane. Maybe they would take off?

Dan shook off the idea and tried to pay attention to the conversations. The cop car slowed almost instantly turned a sharp right and onto the freeway. The engine then roared back to life as it pushed Dan back into the seat.

The radio conversation dropped for a moment. The Officer spoke up, "This suspect is armed and dangerous. I'm not supposed to have you here. I hope you're as lucky with me as you were with Candy."

The conversation paused in the car for just a moment. Dan nodded, unsure what to say. The car was topping one hundred and ten miles an hour, flying by cars just inches from them. Several minutes at top speed they caught up with the pursuit. The passenger apparently had a shotgun and had blown out his back window. Dan heard on the radio that lethal force was approved to get this guy off from the streets.

Officer Branzer said "This was a bad idea taking you along. I could get you killed. He's already taken out two cruisers, nothing fatal though." He continued. "We're going to try to run him off the road."

Dan nodded, not knowing what was going on. The cruiser pulled up to the car. The shotgun was pointed at them and officer Branzer started swerving the cruiser back and forth. The gun went off several times. It nicked the front tail light and the second shot started making the cruiser produce steam from under the hood.

"We need to get this guy off the road!" Branzer yelled. "And you aren't helping!" He yelled at Dan.

"Get up as close as you can to him without us getting shot and I'll show you one of my secrets. Get your shotgun and hold it out the window. Your hand gun - give it to me." Dan said quickly.

The officer glared at him. Then another bang went off missing the cruiser entirely. Branzer sighed and unlocked his shotgun and pointed it out of his window. He then unstrapped his pistol from his belt, hesitated and looked at Dan.

"Candy trusted me! We need to end this!" Dan shouted. His heart was just about beating out of his chest.

Branzer than fired a shot out of his window. It went wildly, but it made the man with the shotgun duck down into the seat.

"Excellent! Keep firing and get as close as you can. And give me your pistol. As I told Candy, I'm going to be your guarding angel. Keep my secret!" Dan yelled at him.

The officer did as Dan told him and their bumpers were just about touching. Branzer then fired wildly into the air again. This again made the guy in the back duck behind the seat.

"You better be a crack shot…" Officer Branzer started to say.

Time stopped.

Dan started his watch. This was going to be a close one. He grabbed the .45 magnum, undid his seat belt and flew open the door. He then ran up to the car and pointed the gun at the back right tire and pulled the trigger. He then did the same to the front right tire.

Six seconds left. Dan then aimed the gun as best as he could towards the driver and pulled the trigger. He then ran away from the cars as fast as he could.

Time resumed.

Dan had waited too long, his open door hit him in the side and twirled him around and he went flying into the median. He rolled several times and then came to a stop. He was still conscious but his ribs hurt badly. He dropped the gun and tried to stand to his feet and fell to the ground.

"Ok, walking is out." He sighed and started looking over his wounds. No blood, just a lot of pain. The pain in his head was also there, but not nearly as bad as his chest. In fact within seconds the pain in his head was gone. He fumbled in his pocket and found the Tylenol. He took two out and put them in his mouth. They tasted terrible, but he slowly let them dissolve in his mouth. He decided to lay still and get some rest, and slow down his heart beat. He probably had internal bleeding. They would find him eventually.

Branzer instantly saw a blast from out of thin air and blew out both right sides of the tires. He withdrew his shotgun and slowed his speed. The car in front of him was swerving at first and was losing speed at a dramatic rate.

"Not sure what happened partner…" The officer began to say, but noticed that his passenger was gone.

"Shit!" He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. There was nothing he could do about it now. The car they were pursuing eventually veered so much that it began to flip end over end. Branzer slowed the cruiser way down now and let the car continue its flips until it came to a stop on its roof. Branzer called in what happened to the dispatcher and immediately put his car into park. He reached for his magnum and it was gone. He wondered for only a split second and then jumped out with his shotgun. He ran towards the car. The man in the back was injured badly. His shotgun had flown out the window.

Branzer aimed his shotgun at the suspect's face.

"Hands up! Get your hands up now!" Branzer closed in on him and he could tell that he was badly injured. There was no way he was moving his hands. He then turned his attention to the driver. There was a bullet hole in the side of the suspects head. Blood and brain matter was seeping out.

Branzer then opened up the back door and dragged the suspect out and put hand cuffs on him, but it didn't look like he was going anywhere. Other cruisers began to show up and Branzer called in a medical unit for the suspect. Branzer then said he had to go do something. Branzer got back in his cruiser and drove back to the place where he had guessed the door was open. He pulled his cruiser into the median and began shouting out for Dan.

He looked for several minutes running up the median. Finally he saw a hand go up and he ran over to Dan and knelt down beside him.

"I know you aren't going to understand this, but I need to tell you that I need to extend that by another couple of seconds." Dan coughed and some blood came up.

"Don't talk…" Branzer then called in another medical unit for Dan. Dan immediately reached up and grabbed him. To Branzer it felt like a weak grab but it got his attention non-the-less.

"Don't leave me. No CAT or MRI scans…" Dan tried to sit up and looked into his eyes. "Promise me this! You owe me!"

Branzer nodded and Dan laid back down on the grass. In a quiet voice he said, "It's very important, you stay with me and do not authorize any CAT or MRI scans." Dan now noticed that it was getting hard to breath.

"You saved my life and the life of many others. I promise. And I will keep your secret…my guardian angel…" Branzer smiled.

Dan woke up to a bright light in his face. The doctor was checking his pupils. Dan did a quick self evaluation of himself. But before he could do that he let out a smile. Whatever medication he was on he liked it. He shook the thought off. He wiggles his toes, fingers, feet, hands, arms, head, and neck. Everything seemed to check out ok. He then tried sitting up to look at his chest.

"Whoa…easy there. A firm hand held him down to the bed. There was no way Dan could resist the strength of this man. And he sounded familiar.

Dan managed to get out an "Ok…" very quietly. He looked up and focused as hard as he could. The man understood that he was trying to recognize him. He let out a smile.

"You're my guardian angel, remember?" He let out a chuckle. Dan smiled and motioned for him to come closer. He did.

"Did they do a CAT or…"

"No sir they didn't. I stayed by your side and insisted, almost by gun point." The officer looked up at the doctor. The doctor let out a grunt of dismay and walked away.

"Why may I ask? You may have brain damage." The Officer replied.

"I'll take my chances. What's wrong with me and when can I get back on my feet?" Dan smiled.

"When you jumped out of my car, my door…" He trailed off for a second in a confused look and then resumed.

"The front of my door smacked your mid section cracking two ribs and causing internal bleeding. You're going to be in pain for awhile."

Dan nodded. He could tell that the Officer was confused. Dan just simply smiled.

"Did we get him?" He asked.

"Well yes, odd thing was my magnum disappeared, three shots were fired what looked like instantly, and the car started to swerve and eventually rolled. The driver was dead, apparently with one of my magnum bullets, and the suspect in the back seat is being treated in this same hospital. He'll be put away for a long time." Branzer looked as though he wanted to continue. Dan moved a finger to his mouth.

"So YOU got him then, eh? I was just an innocent bystander that got hit. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, right!" Dan looked at him sternly.

A long pause entered the room. The two stared at each other for awhile.

"No…" Branzer started and Dan interrupted him. "Right!"

Another long pause entered the room. "You owe me." Dan said sternly.

"Guardian Angel thing right?" Branzer smiled.

"One question…Officer Candy, were you her Guardian Angel?" Dan nodded. Branzer began to laugh. "The paperwork for this one is going to be hard…Candy is still being interrogated after her little episode, she'll be fine though. She's scheduled to be on the road again in no time. She's just littered with awards. Just like I'll probably get."

Another pause entered the room. The two just stared at each other.

"How did you do that…?" Dan waved off the question. "You owe me." He replied. Branzer nodded.

"Now on to other things" Dan said. "Have I had any visitors?"

Branzer smiled again. "Yes but you were unconscious, your parents, schoolmates, and Officer Candy." Dan's heart jumped a bit. Branzer noticed it.

"I need to go do some paperwork. Cop stuff you know." Branzer said. "I'll come back and visit later. You need sleep."

"Did you find your magnum?" The Officer laughed. "Yes and three bullets were missing. Would you know anything about that?"

Dan smiled and lied, "Nope. Not a clue Officer."

Branzer nodded and smiled again. "I'm a pretty keen shot." They both laughed.

"Get better alright. I heard you're going to be around fifth and third in the future." Branzer patted him on the shoulder. "Get some sleep."

Several days passed and Dan was finally released from the hospital. His mother and sober father (sober ever since the accident) took him out of the hospital. Several questions like "What were you doing in the middle of the expressway in the first place…" were asked but Dan pretended not to hear. Jeremy was there too. They pulled out and a convoy of police cars followed them with their flashers on. His parents never understood that part, maybe he had a part in capturing the suspects - who knows. But five of them in total followed him all the way home.

A slow forty five minutes later they got out, and Dan tried to take his first steps. His ribs cried out in pain, but he smiled. It was good to be home. He reached into his coat pocket and found his Tylenol, along with a note.

"Easy with these, they'll end up killing you… Love Crystal." Dan smiled. She was right, in more than ways than one, he thought.

His dad came around and grabbed him around the shoulders and helped him in. The police cars made a circle around his parent's car and all of the officers seemed to get out at the same time. Dan turned to face them. They saluted him and Dan smiled back. His arms were restricted by his confused parents as they continued to help him into the house. Once the door closed behind him the squad cars pulled away.

"What was that for?" His mother asked.

"I made some friends is all…" Dan began to say. He could feel his strength returning to him, or maybe it was the drugs kicking in.

"I want to lay on the couch, is that ok?" Dan said.

"Umm, sure…" His mother said. They slowly walked him over to the couch and laid him down.

"Thanks, I think I just want to sleep now. If I have any visitors can you let them in?" Dan asked quietly.

His mother nodded with tears in her eyes.

"Son you need to take these every four to six hours for the pain for the next five days. You were lucky out there…actually what were you doing out there Dan?" Dan sighed, he knew this question was coming. He told the lie just as he rehearsed.

"I was going for a run and I thought I saw a child in the road." Dan's face turned a little red.

"Sure you did. You probably saw a hot chick and you tried to get her to slow down to get her phone number…" Jeremy said. Dan smiled. Good ol' Jeremy.

"Either you were really brave or really stupid. I don't know if I should ground you or what…" His dad started in. He was about to turn nineteen. "Could I still be grounded?" he wondered.

"But seeing how the squad cars followed us here, you must have done something heroic." His dad paused for a moment. "I don't know what the story is, but I'm proud of you son." Everybody looked at him with a smile. Dan smiled back and blinked.

Jeremy ended up leaving for the night. His parents almost got up the stairs when Dan yelled out, "Ma! Dad!"

"Yes?" They said in unison.

"Can we get a police scanner?" Dan asked solemnly.

There was a slight pause and his dad said, "Sure, do you want something to listen to while you heal up?"

"Something like that." Dan said and smiled.

The next day was pretty boring; Dan got a hold of a police scanner just like his dad said. He set it to randomly scan. He took his pills as scheduled from the doctor and watched TV, fading in and out of sleep.

The day after he was up and moving around, his butt was glad because it seemed like he was sitting on it for weeks. Things had pretty much returned to normal. His dad started drinking again, his homework was sent home to him. "Nobody to cheat off from this time…" Dan thought and sighed.

Around noon there was a knock on the door. Dan had fallen to sleep on the couch and hadn't heard it. His mom answered the door.

"Hello?"

"Hi ma'am, my name is Officer Candy. How is Dan doing?" She was dressed in a full police uniform.

"I haven't checked on him in awhile, please come in." Officer Candy removed her hat and stepped into the house. She was lead by Dan's mom into the living room where the police scanner was blinking and the TV was playing some sort of cop show. Officer Candy smiled.

"Ma'am may I have a moment with your son please?"

His mom smiled and wondered why, but nodded and left.

"So…the guardian angel strikes again…" Officer Candy said. There was no response. She gently shook him and slowly his eyes opened. It took him a second to focus and suddenly he jumped up.

"Easy there…" Officer Candy said. As she said that a shock of pain went through his stomach. Dan let out a quiet "ouch".

They were both quiet for awhile and then Dan said "I haven't been to fifth and third lately."

This made Officer Candy burst out laughing. "I'm saving you a seat, ok?"

"Let me see the scar." Dan said. She nodded and pulled her shirt down and showed him the wound. It was barely visible.

"Does it hurt?" He asked.

"Does it hurt he asks. Dan you are laying here with broken ribs and you are asking me if my little scar hurts." She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. Dan smiled.

"I should be out of here in about a week or so." Dan said. "Then it's back to the same routine, school, birthday, and graduation. But my weekends are free."

"So I'll sign up for weekend duty." Officer Candy said and smiled. Dan nodded and smiled back.

"I've got a ton of homework to get caught up on."

"I imagine. You've been out for almost a week."

"How was your debriefing?" Dan asked curiously.

The Officer laughed. "Story is I know karate, stabbed the guy, grabbed the machine gun and gunned them all down. It worked."

"How did Branzer's story hold up?" Dan questioned her.

"He's a crack shot, although I think I'm better than him on the range…" Dan nodded with a sigh of relief.

"In other words is your secret safe? Yes it is…whatever it is." Officer Candy said. Dan looked at the ceiling and smiled.

"Care to explain it yet?" Officer Candy said running her fingers through his hair. Dan instantly felt a warm sensation rush through his body. He shook his head.

"You know how you are a cop, and you need to pass certain tests, keep your cool under certain circumstances, know self-defense - I mean karate." They both smiled at the remark.

"Well I think my skill needs to be honed on. For my own safety." Dan sighed.

Officer Candy sighed too. "Maybe you just need to learn to be quicker." Dan nodded, and then sat up instantly.

"Relax. I am a cop you know. I am taught to investigate." Dan looked at Officer Candy like a deer looking at a deer staring down the headlights of an oncoming car.

"I said relax. I haven't said anything, but it's not hard to connect the dots." She put her hand on his to assure him.

"I think that we have some classes at the academy that may help. We have self-defense classes, weapons classes, and physical training." Dan let down his guard a little and realized his ribs weren't hurting him that bad.

"You can't tell anybody!" Dan seemed to be ordering the Officer. She saluted him and then smiled.

"You saved my life, I owe you." She said and then fumbled with his shirt a little. "Besides, I think I'm falling for you. My guardian angel…" She let out a big smile. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

Dan was suddenly in a euphoric state of mind and tried sitting up. His ribs wouldn't let him though. She helped him lay back down.

"I didn't get that reaction when I did that to you when you were in the hospital…" she blushed and stood up.

"Get that homework done and I'll see you on the weekend. Is it a deal?"

"Fifth and third." Was all Dan could say.

She nodded, waved and made her way to the front door. Dan fell asleep in the same euphoric state that he missed a dosage of medication. He fell into a deep sleep.

Time Stopped.

He suddenly woke up with the feeling of being surrounded by people. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not. He looked up and the first thing he saw was a completely tall dark brown looking man putting his finger on his lips and said "Shhhhh…" very soothing. He had black hoofs and two horns sticking out of his head.

"Don't scream we are here to help." He said in a very quiet voice. Dan quickly eyed him up and down and saw that he had a great shield in his left hand and a sword lying down next to him on the arm of the couch. He was dressed in all metal looking clothes.

"Please don't be alarmed." He knelt down next to him. "This may be a little hard to believe but we mean you no harm. We are here to help you." The man's finger was very coarse like sand paper. He rubbed it in Dan's hair and smiled. Dan looked over and saw that the police scanner and the television had both stopped.

"Had I stopped time and having a nightmare at the same time?" Dan said to himself.

"We stopped time to heal you. Your internal bleeding has come back, and one of your ribs has ruptured your lungs. We are here to help you." The man spoke in a very deep voice.

"Who, or what, are you?" Dan asked.

"My name is Herrior. I am a tauren. I am here with some friends. Don't be alarmed. We will heal you and be on our way. We are what you would call your 'Guardian Angel'." A smile came across Herrior's face.

Just then another face appeared from behind the couch. This one was looked normal except for the very long ears. "Hi there! My name is Skyka!" She had a very cheery voice. "Herrior is my husband, don't let him scare ya. He's the leader of our group. He's just a big hairy cow." Skyka said with a smile. Herrior smiled back.

Slowly one by one, other members started to appear. Jacklyn, who seemed to be the strongest woman he's ever seen. Quinely, who had fairly dark skin and dark green eyes. A fat jolly man with a small guitar across his chest and a big smile on his face he looked at next. His name was Strings. There was a short, maybe four foot tall child looking person who didn't speak or show any emotions what-so-ever. He looked as if he could kill you if you looked at him wrong. His name was told to be Trackolania. Another character dressed in a long robe that introduced himself as Mohania and then had a wild tiger walk to his side just panting away. This made Dan smile. Finally Lindel was introduced. She looked like an angel. She was dressed in all white and had a bright glow about her. She seemed to radiate happiness.

"This must be some weird pain medication I'm on, or the tumor in my brain has gotten too large…" Dan thought. But what the hey, if he was going insane might-as-well play along.

"My name is Dan." They all nodded.

"We've been watching you, and you have a very bright future ahead of you - but it would end here in your sleep if we had not intervened." Herrior said. "Do you understand?"

Dan nodded as if he did. Herrior moved back and grabbed his sword.

"Secure the perimeter. I want nothing getting in or out of this room. Mohania you take the south side, Trackolania I want you on the ceiling and attack anything that moves." The mini guy nodded and did a back flip and seemed to stick to the ceiling. He looked as if to be fading into the shadows, until Dan couldn't see him anymore. "I'll secure the north side - Quinely the east, Jacklyn the west."

"And we'll get to work on the patient…" Skyka said with a smile. Dan tried to get up and move, but was quickly grabbed by Strings. "No no little man. Just lay there and listen." He began to play on his little guitar thing and began singing a song. It instantly made Dan calm and made him smile. As he continued to play Lindel and Skyka walked in front of Dan and leaned in front of him.

"Will this hurt?" Dan asked.

Lindel reached behind Dan's neck and what looked like a bolt of lightning went from her fingers to his neck. "Nope, you won't feel anything." Her voice was very soothing. "I promise. But you must stay awake ok?"

Dan smiled a big smile and nodded. He suddenly felt safer than he ever did in his whole life. That euphoric feeling came back, only it was ten times stronger than what he felt before. Lindel and Skyka began removing Dan's shirt. Skyka put her hands on the bandages and they began to melt onto the couch exposing his scars.

"Lindel - do your thing and I'll open him up." Lindel nodded. Lindel placed her hands on Dan's forehead and she appeared to fade in and out of Dan's vision. Skyka smiled.

"Now it's my turn. Skyka opened up Dan's scar with what looked like a black melting goo coming from her hands. She saw the ribs that were out of place and gently placed them back. With a flash of white light the ribs fused themselves back into their place. The next part was the lung. Skyka started to whistle a song that Dan had never heard of, but liked it. She gently took the lung and a brilliant white light came out of her fingers. It seemed the organ began to operate normally.

After several minutes of this, Skyka seemed satisfied and closed up the wound. This time not only did it heal, it seemed to completely vanish. There was no telling where it was.

"Skyka if you are done, protect Lindel."

"Yes my love…" She said in a gentle voice. Suddenly Skyka turned all black and her eyes turned green, even her clothes turned black. She positioned herself right behind Lindel.

Lindel in the mean time was still phasing in and out of the world. Strings was still singing the song that made Dan very happy. Lindel was actually inside of Dan looking around in his head. There was in fact a tumor that was starting. Gently she put her hands around it and it began to dissolve into nothingness. She then searched the brain for other abnormalities. She found nothing and began to float down the inside of Dan's body. She saw his gall bladder had some scar tissue on it, so she dissolved that as well. She continued to float down his body and repaired some damage done to his shins, probably from a young accident or sport or something. Either way she moved down to his feet. She healed some calluses on his feet and then returned to her body kneeling beside. Lindel smiled and then stood up.

"All done" Herrior questioned

"All done…any problems?" Lindel asked.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. Nope, let's get out of here then. Put him to sleep in just a second." Herrior leaned down next to him and said, "We'll be back if you get banged up or if you are in a lot of trouble again. We were lucky this time. Let's leave before our presence is known." Herrior grabbed his sword and the group started to form a circle.

"Put him to sleep Strings." Strings nodded and changed his tune. Dan smiled and was in a deep sleep within seconds. The group vanished in a bright light.

Time resumed.

The TV resumed playing its show and the police scanner turned back on. Life had resumed back to normal.

The next thing Dan knew he was in the hospital. His parents were standing over him.

Dan sighed, "What's wrong now?"

His parents smiled. "That's the thing, nothing. You were healed over night. All of the tests came back normal. We had a CAT scan done and it showed nothing." Dan gasped and was shocked at the truth. All of his life he didn't want a CAT scan, and now it's come back clean. Dan was confused.

"Did anything happen last night? Anything at all?" The doctors asked.

Dan thought for a minute and smiled at the secrets that the cops were sharing with him and decided to keep the same secret.

"I was visited by an angel and she healed me. May I go to school now?" Dan asked. The doctor shrugged "He checks out fine. Nothing wrong that we can tell…", and he looked towards his parents. His mom smiled and looked at his father. They both shrugged and started laughing.

"Sure let's go!" His mom said.

The following week at school was just like any other week. Except for when test time came, he stopped time as usual, but when it resumed there was no headaches.

"Thanks Lindel and everybody else…" He thought. Needless to say he aced all of his tests and got caught up on his homework. He had decided that the academy was where he was going to enroll after High School.

Walking down the hallway he met up with one of his enemies Mark. He let out a confident smile at him and tried walking right by.

"What are you looking at punk?" Mark went to shove him.

Time stopped.

Dan pushed Mark deep into the girl's bathroom and pulled his pants down. Then he scattered his books and papers around on the ground. Dan then exited the bathroom and stood exactly where he was standing before time stopped and waited.

"3...2...1"

Time resumed.

At first nothing happened. Then the school was filled with piercing screams coming from the girl's bathroom. Dan smiled and continued walking, while everybody else swarmed the bathroom to find out what was wrong. Several girls started punching and clawing at Mark as he tried to pull up his pants and gather up his homework.

The commotion caused the Principle to come out of his office and see what was going on. He saw the group of people around the girl's bathroom and quickly pushed through it and entered to see the sight. He helped Mark pulled up his pants and then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into his office and proceeded to start yelling at him. This made Dan's smile grow wider. And the best part - no headache. Dan was the first to class. He sat down and stared out the window. The teacher wasn't even in class yet.

Several minutes passed and he saw a patrol car pull up. It was Officer Candy.

"Probably to get the stories of the women and calm them down." Dan thought. He watched every move she made as she entered into the school. He then sat his head down on the desk, with a big goofy smile still on his face.

Class finally started, but was shortly interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Officer Candy. The two made contact and smiled at each other.

"I need to talk with one of your students please. It'll only take a minute." She said. She seemed to be the main attraction of every guy in the class - even the teacher.

"Certainly," the teacher said. Officer Candy looked right at Dan and raised her finger at him. Dan immediately got up and started walking to the door, knowing that she probably didn't want to talk to anybody else.

They shut the door and nobody else was in the hallway.

"I need a statement from several students…" She said with a big grin on her face, but she didn't take out her notebook. She had a feeling she knew what happened. She folded her arms in front of her and glared at Dan with the same smile on her face.

"What?" Dan replied with a smile. Their eyes met again and they both started chuckling.

After a minute, Dan confessed. "Mark was a bully. He was going to attack me again."

"And he ended up in the girl's bathroom with his pants down and his homework scattered…" Officer Candy replied with almost a serious look on her face.

Dan shrugged and smiled. "What can I say, he's a pervert." Officer Candy closed her eyes and shook her head. Then she let out a sigh. "See you this weekend?"

"Fifth and third - wouldn't miss it." Dan smiled and went back to the classroom.

"Oh, how are your ribs?" She asked.

"Long story, but I'm fully healed - another secret." He put his finger up against his mouth and made a "Shhh…" sound. She nodded and continued on her way shaking her head.

As he entered the classroom the sound of "OOOooo…" came from the class. Dan's face turned red as he sat down.

"Everything ok?" the teacher asked.

"Yes." was all that Dan could manage. He watched Crystal walk from the school with Mark in cuffs into the squad car. An over-whelming sense of satisfaction came over him. The rest of the day was normal.

The week passed, and the weekend came. Dan told his parents that he was offered a free ride in a squad car to see what it was like. They thought it was a great opportunity for him. He put on his jacket, Tylenol in his pocket and raced to 5th and 3rd. He probably didn't need them anymore, but he felt more secure with them. Oddly enough a squad car was waiting for him. He raced towards it and recognized the image in the car. A smile came over his face. He opened the door and jumped in.

"Did I keep you long?" Dan asked.

"About half an hour…" Officer Candy said and she gave him a friendly punch on the arm. The car pulled away and she started her sweep of the area.

After several minutes Crystal said, "I think we need to talk. I think it would be helpful for you."

Dan became nervous. He thought for a minute and then sighed. "Off the record?"

"Strictly off the record." she responded.

They sat in silence for awhile. The radio squeaked several times, but it was nothing pertaining to her.

"So you are the Flash or something? Lightning speed or something?" She started. Dan shook his head.

"Superman's kid?" She asked. Dan shook his head.

"Well…"

"I can…stop time for fifteen seconds…" Dan said very slowly and looked out the window. A long pause filled the car. Even the radio stopped talking.

After several minutes, Crystal continued: "That makes sense. And you have super healing abilities."

"No, this is the part I don't understand. This is gonna sound weird because I don't understand it myself…" Dan blurted out. "I was visited by some strange creatures the other night and they told me I was gonna die. They healed me completely." Dan said in a hurry.

Crystal was quiet for a long time. Dan sighed.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but I would like to see the wounds for myself…" Crystal said.

"Ok."

Crystal pulled the squad car over and Dan unbuttoned his shirt. Dan pointed out where the scar was and there was no evidence of it at all. Crystal moved her smooth hand all over his chest and was amazed. Dan buttoned his shirt back up. He would never forget this moment as he began to blush. Crystal didn't seem to notice. She started the car back up and started patrolling again.

"I told you everything…" Dan said slowly.

"I know…" Crystal said solemnly.

A long pause came over the car.

"So you see why I need to keep this a secret." Dan said. Crystal nodded.

Another long pause came over the car. This time Dan started up the conversation.

"So…tell me about yourself." Crystal smiled.

"Sorry I was zoning out. So I have a superhero looking over me." She let out a smile. "I joined the force fresh out of High School." She continued.

"Which is what I plan on doing…" Dan interrupted. She smiled. She then came up with an idea.

"Let's take you down to the shooting range and see what you got. How's that sound?"

"Sure I guess…" Dan sounded disappointed.

"Like I said before we need to make you quicker…" Crystal said with a giggle and smiled at him.

Dan smiled back. "I've never been to a gun range before…I hope I don't screw things up…" He thought.

Thirty minutes later they pulled into a sandy area with a huge sand back drop. Several strings were hung on targets at the end of the back drop. Crystal asked permission to enter the shooting range from the Officer on duty. He allowed them in. They both took ear protection equipment and then both of them laid down next to each other in separate compartments.

"The one with the best score buys the other dinner…" Crystal said jokingly. Dan smiled.

Dan eyed the target way down the range. He then stared down both sights and lined them up perfectly with the bull's eye.

Bang! Dan jumped. Crystal let off a couple of rounds. Dan then lined up his sights again and as soon as he thought he was dead on he pulled out one of his tricks.

Time stopped.

He then fired off all six rounds of his gun. There was no recoil, no noise. He was certain that he was dead on target. He then waited a couple more seconds.

Time resumed.

Dan's gun flared up with a thunderous roar. All six bullets roared down the range and landed at their target. Crystal jumped and one of her bullets went into the sand. She then concentrated and landed four more shots into her target. They both set their guns down and reeled in their targets. Dan smiled. All six of his shots landed in the dead center of the target. He hid his target for just a moment. Crystal then grabbed her target and shoved it in his face. One of her shots landed in the bull's eye and the others were in the circles around it. Dan then showed her his target. She dropped her mouth is disbelief.

"Never fired a gun before eh?" Crystal said.

"I have a couple of times, but never for target practice." Dan was thinking of the time he shot the machine gun into the mob and into the tires of the vehicle.

Crystal thought it over for a second and then gave him a gentle push. "You cheated and you know it…" Dan just simply smiled.

The shooting instructor then came over and saw the targets.

"Is this yours son?"

"Yes sir." Dan replied.

"First time at the range?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes sir."

"Impressive! Ever think about joining the force?"

"Yes sir." Dan said excitedly.

"Good man!" He patted him on the shoulder and took his results. "What is your name?"

"Dan Goodman."

"I'm going to show this to the chief."

Crystal started to laugh. She turned to him and said "He's probably going to put in a good word for you."

They then removed their ear protection and got back in the squad car.

"Soo…" Dan said.

Crystal then smiled and looked at him. "I think you'll make a great addition to the force…but can you drive a cruiser."

"Umm…no…" Dan said. The only experience that he had was racing down the expressway at one hundred miles an house with Officer Branzer. And that was scary enough.

"You'll need to get in shape as well, and pass some tests. The later I think you'll have no problem with…" Crystal said with a smile. "Wanna do self defense next?" Dan shrugged. He wanted to do more talking with her, but he did want to impress Crystal.

They drove to the academy and she led him to the boxing and sparring room.

"What now?" Dan said.

"Now we see how good you really are." Crystal smiled.

"Could she be testing me? See if I can really do what I said I could?" Dan thought.

They each put on boxing gloves, head gear, and a mouth piece.

"I don't want to hurt her." Dan thought.

Just then a right hook hit Dan on the head. He smiled.

"Come on, show me what you got." Crystal said. She landed a couple more punches and then Dan stopped time.

Time stopped.

She was in the middle of a left hook. Dan walked up to her and punched her several times as hard as he could in the face. Then he started punching her in the stomach.

Time resumed.

Crystal fell backwards and started gasping for breath. It looked as though her nose was broken and she was grabbing her chest.

"Ok…ok…ok…I believe you…" Crystal said gasping for air. Dan immediately took his gloves off and helped her up.

She continued to gasp for breath and looked up at Dan and smiled. He didn't even break a sweat.

"Hey! You can beat up a girl, but can you take me on!" A familiar voice came from over in the room. It was Officer Branzer. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Ok." Dan said confidently. Crystal left the ring and he jumped in. Three hundred pounds of pure muscle came into the ring. Dan put his gloves back on, and Officer Branzer was outfitted as well.

The bell was rung and both stepped closer to the middle of the ring. Officer Branzer threw the first punch which was easily dodged by Dan. Officer Branzer smiled. He then began dancing around and started really getting into it.

Time stopped.

Dan ran up to Officer Branzer and started hitting him in his stomach as hard as he could. He then jumped up and hit him as hard as he could in the face.

"That's not going to do much…" Dan decided and continued to hit him as hard as he could in the stomach.

Time resumed.

Branzer kept bouncing around the ring as if nothing happened. Dan was a little bit worried at this point. Just then Branzer felt a drip of blood coming down his mouth piece and his stomach cringed a lot. He doubled over in pain and held up his glove as if to say that's enough.

"Muscles relax when time stops…" Dan reminded himself. Dan felt a tingle inside his head, but shook it off and continued to dance around the ring. Officer Branzer laid down on the floor and gripped his stomach.

"Oww…" Officer Branzer said with a smile on his face. Crystal let out a smile.

Dan walked over to the side of the ring that Crystal was at. "Shooting is done, self-defense is done…wanna go for a walk?"

"How about a jog around our track?" She answered with a twinkle in her eye.

"I'll come too, just give me a second." Officer Branzer said. He said getting up to his knees, hands still covering his stomach.

Crystal and Officer Branzer went in the locker rooms to get changed. Dan waited on the track. He was dressed in jean shorts and a t-shirt. He figured that was good enough.

Crystal came out wearing a sports bra and skimpy shorts. Officer Branzer came out wearing what looked like spandex bike riding shorts…but Dan wasn't really paying attention to him.

"Now this is something I know you can't cheat on…" Crystal said as she walked passed him and smiled. He watched every move that she made and quickly followed to keep up. They began at a slow pace.

Officer Branzer spoke up. "So my guardian angel, whatever happened to your ribs?" Dan raised his shirt and showed him. Officer Branzer nearly fell over.

"What happened?" He said astonished.

"It's a secret. We all have secrets remember?" Dan said. Officer Branzer laughed and said "Fair enough." He was still curious though.

They made one lap around the track and Dan couldn't help but stare at Crystal's chest. She noticed once in awhile and just snickered. One time he almost tripped over himself. She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"You ok there rookie?" She said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah…just lost my footing is all…" Dan replied.

"Liar…" She said and chuckled.

Officer Branzer then suggested something out of the blue. "Dan. Next week we have a drug bust going down. Swat is going to be involved and we are there for backup. Wanna join us?" Crystal gave Officer Branzer a swat on the arm. "Civilians aren't allowed, you know that!"

"I'll watch from a safe distance." Dan said excited about the idea. He thought for a minute and then said, "I'll need a favor though. I can't continue stealing your guns and weapons though. I need something that can't be traced to me."

"What do you have in mind?" Crystal said.

"I need something that inflicts maximum damage from point blank range. And I'll need a knife. A medium size one with a leather cover."

"Sheath?" Officer Branzer said.

"Yeah that's it, couldn't think of the word. I'm going to pick up a can of hornet spray too. From what I hear it's more effective than mace."

"That stuff is dangerous." Crystal said. "Especially if you aren't trained for it."

Dan nodded. He was just about out of breath but he didn't want to show it.

"So is what you are asking me to do." Dan inquired.

"Be our guardian angel." Both of them said at the same time. They looked at each other and chuckled.

Dan thought for a minute, mostly because he was out of breath and was still trying to breathe out of his nose. Another minute went by… Crystal spoke up first.

"It was a bad idea, never mind. I don't know what I would do if you were killed…"

Officer Branzer nodded, "You may not be ready for something like this yet. We just wanted to make sure everything went down ok without any mishaps. I think it's safe to say that we both trust you and you're…" he made quotes with his fingers and said, "abilities to make this an easy take down."

"Oh no, I'll do it. It sounds like fun. I'm just out of breath…" Dan said. The two officers started laughing.

"Can you get me what I want?" Dan asked seriously. Both officers were quiet for awhile.

"Well the hornet spray won't be a problem." Officer Branzer said with a grin. "Probably your local pawn shop has a knife that would best suit your needs." The two officers looked at each other thinking the same. Crystal spoke up.

"What you probably want is a .357 Magnum with hollow points…" Officer Branzer nodded. Dan nodded too as if knowing what they were talking about.

"It's only got six shots to it, but it's guaranteed to work. The pawn shop would probably have one of those too, but not to a youngster like you." Officer Branzer said. "One of us would probably have to buy one for you. And that is risky…"

"Ok nix the gun. I am usually able to find one lying around anyways." Dan said just about out of breath. The officers slowed their pace for him.

"I'll need targets. Photographs. I don't want to go in there and start killing everybody." Dan said thankful for the new jogging speed.

"Of course." Officer Branzer said.

"You know what would be handy is for you just to disarm them, maybe handcuff them." Crystal said.

Dan smiled. The sound of her voice still made his hormones race. He felt a renewed burst of strength in his legs.

"That would be a lot of handcuffs, and I'm unsure how to disarm a weapon…but that is where the hornet spray comes from. That stuff is toxic and can only be treated at a nearby hospital. I read it on the internet. It blinds them until they are treated."

"Could you just go in there and grab all of the guns?" Crystal asked. Officer Branzer shook his head. He obviously had more experience.

"They could have guns hidden anywhere. Mattresses, closets, ovens, couches, you name it. I think Dan is on the right trail with the hornet spray. He'll probably need a couple of cans though, and a way to secure it to his belt to keep his hands free."

Dan hadn't thought of that. Carrying in all the cans by using his hands would be tough. Maybe if he had deep pockets and a loose belt…like Batman. He smiled at that thought.

"Any ideas?" He asked. "I only have so many pockets."

The officers had to slow their pace again so that Dan could keep up. He hadn't realized how out of shape he was. But that would change in the future he promised to himself.

"Carpenter's pants. They have a lot of pockets and places to put things. I think they would work nicely for this job." Officer Branzer suggested. Dan nodded in agreement. If he wasn't so tired he probably would have thought of that idea.

"Do you have any?" Crystal asked.

"No…" His voice trailed off. Crystal reached into her sports bra and pulled out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to him. "Do you need a ride?" Dan nodded in fascination at what just happened.

"Ok let's hit the showers then." Dan started to become nervous. They finished their final lap and headed into the building. He was following Crystal and Officer Branzer was behind them. Crystal took a left and Dan started to follow. She turned around and put a hand on his chest.

"Women only, sorry…" Dan's face turned red, turned around and went right instead. He could sense Crystal watching him go.

Outside Crystal still had her sports bra on, but had a loose fitting T-shirt over it and cut off shorts. The two of them got inside her Taurus and took off towards the mall.

"You are one weird person you know that?" Crystal said. Dan became slightly defensive.

"And why is that?" he said with a grin.

"You have this talent that nobody else has, and you want to use it for good." Dan's mind than brought back memories of this adolescent years of ripping stuff off from stores, stealing money and gas, disabling security monitors. Dan quickly shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm just a nice guy." He replied.

It was quiet in the car for awhile. Crystal then spoke very quietly. "You do have a history don't you?"

Dan nodded.

"And now you are trying to make up for it?" She asked curiously.

Dan nodded.

"So you do have a little 'bad boy' inside of you then…" Crystal laughed and lightly hit him on the shoulder. Dan grinned.

"Don't worry, we all have a history."

"So what's yours?" Dan asked.

"I was a bad girl growing up. Drank, did drugs, stole, broke into places…" Dan smiled. He was getting a lot more comfortable around Crystal now and started opening up more to her. They both talked about their history all the way to the mall.

Upon arrival they both got out and headed for an outlet store. Her hair was blowing in the breeze, and Dan certainly took notice to it. She pulled it back and looked at him. Their smiles met again. Dan's heart began to beat faster.

"So…windy day out today." Dan said. Crystal chuckled. Dan hurried ahead and opened the door for her.

"Thank you kind sir…" Dan just smiled.

"Ok, let's go ask where they are. I'm one of the few women that does not like to shop." Dan nodded. They headed straight for the check out and Dan asked. They were directed to the back of the store by the men's pants section.

"Makes sense to me…" Crystal said.

They found them and Dan quickly found the correct size. He tried them on and decided that they would work. On the way to the register Crystal asked, "Have you ever stopped time to…you know…take a peek at me?" Dan nearly lost his breath. "No but I would like to…" He thought.

"No, I have not."

"Be serious, have you?" Crystal insisted.

"I am serious, no I have not. Dan replied. Crystal could tell that he was telling the truth.

"Make me a promise to never do that ok?" Dan nodded and smiled. Then he got a friendly punch from Crystal. "Because if you do, you'll be sorry and I will find out. Ok?"

"Ok, ok…" Dan said backing away from her. They paid for the pants and then headed for the hardware store.

"Think four cans should be enough?" Dan asked.

"Got me, it's your mission." Crystal said that with sorrow in her voice - as if this was the last time she was going to see him again.

Dan began shoving cans in his pockets. Surprising he was able to get six in there. Four in his pocket and two from the straps of his lower pants.

"Six it is." Crystal said. They paid for the merchandise and got back in the car, but she didn't start the engine. She looked at him with a serious look.

"You don't have to do this…" She started in.

Dan raised his hand for silence. "You guys put your necks on the line us civilians all of the time, this is the least that I could do."

"No it's just…" Crystal started in. She was quickly silenced by Dan's finger on her lips.

"It'll be ok. You'll see. I'll look at the photos of who needs to be taken out. I'll spray them down and be out of there before anybody blinks an eye." Dan said. Then he stuck out his hand and said "No worry, no regrets." She accepted his hand and said, "Ok. I'm going to have a lot of backup…"

Dan shook his head. "No. And you know why." Crystal slowly nodded and began to drive him home.

They arrived home, and Dan went to get out. Crystal grabbed his arm and said, "Are you sure?" Dan sighed and asked when it's going to happen.

"This Friday." She let go of his arm. She paused for a second and then said, "I'll get you out of school about noon. Our operation will take place about 1pm. Tell your parents you are going to stay after for tutoring. We'll have you home by 4pm if all goes well."

"It will." Dan said and waved goodbye. Dan then hid all of his supplies in a small compartment next to their shed. The rest of the day went as it always did.

The rest of the week went normal. Mark was nowhere to be seen in school. Dan still had a good chuckle out of that. He aced all of his homework and tests, with the help of his little talent of course. When Thursday came, he started to feel a tingle in the back of his head. It wasn't an ache - just a tingle. He considered taking a Tylenol but decided against it.

"I'm going in tonight after school. I don't want anybody to know that I was there. That way there won't be any chance of Officer Branzer, or Office Candy knowing. They'll be doing their daily patrols and will have a good alibi. I'll be all alone then. That sentence started to worry him. He shook it off and went.

He had the address and the photographs memorized. He wore his special pants and put the cans of hornet spray in them. In addition he wore his jacket and brought two latex gloves. He slowly made his way to the house. It was, of course, in downtown. He just walked fast and kept his eyes on the ground.

Forty-five minutes later he arrived at the house. He put on the gloves. He walked up and knocked on the door. "Quite a ballsy move I'd say…" Dan thought.

"Who is it?" A mean voice yelled out.

"Fedex, I have a package here."

Silence enveloped the scene. He could hear the cocking of guns. The door opened.

Time stopped.

His stopwatch was engaged. He grabbed two cans of spray and sprayed the first man that answered the door. He then crawled through the man's legs and ran through the room spraying the eyes of every person in the room, everybody that was armed anyways.

5 second left. There was an upstairs and a down stairs. He chose the upstairs.

3 seconds left. Dan started running up the stairs as fast as he could. His stop watch buzzed,

Time resumed.

But it was drowned out by the screaming and occasional gun shot from downstairs.

Upstairs there was a long hallway with a closed door. The door flung open and…

Time stopped.

Dan quickly ran the hallway and noticed the man opening the door was one of the villains that was on the photo. He dropped both cans of spray and grabbed two more. He sprayed his face and crawled through his feet. Inside he saw somebody tied up to a chair that was bleeding. He began spraying the faces of everybody in the room as he thought, "Great, this is going to be a rescue operation…"

He dropped both cans and grabbed one of the guns on the table. It felt heavy. He suddenly started blasting everybody in the room.

5 seconds left…

He then ran over to the man tied in the chair and pointed the gun towards the knots in the ropes and fired. He did the same for the knot on his feet.

Time resumed.

The blast from the gun and the hornet spray instantly shot out, blinding and blasting away all within a second. The man's knots instantly failed and the ropes came untied. Dan instantly threw the man to the ground and covered his mouth. All of the screaming and deaths in the room made Dan and the man nervous. He was obviously still alive. The scent of urine came from his pants, and the stench of blood came from his chest.

"I'm going to ask you one question, if you get it wrong I'm going to shoot you myself. Do you understand?" Screams were still echoing from downstairs and in the room. The man nodded.

"Who…are…you?"

"Special Lieutenant Smithers. Somebody found out about our siege tomorrow and was interrogating me." Dan thought, "Probably the boss of Crystal…"

"Can you walk?" Dan still whispered in his ear.

"Yes…" He answered slowly. They both slowly got up and surveyed the situation. Pretty much everybody was out of commission. Some were crying from the poison, some were dead from the gunshot wounds. Dan grabbed him under the arm, which reeked, and helped carry him out. They went to the right side of the table because there appeared to be more dead people that way. Dan armed himself with another can of hornet spray and put the gun in his pants. Surprisingly his gloves were still intact. "Odd thing to think of right now…" He thought.

They got to a man whose face was all red and tears were flowing. He had dropped his gun and had both hands in his eyes. It looked as if they were melting. Dan blasted another stream at the man and he just wailed some more. Dan then knocked the man over the head with the bottom of the can and it caused him to drop to his feet. They just simply walked around him.

The guard at the door, or the first one to open the door was on the floor weeping. With a good solid kick from Dan's foot the man went forward about a foot and laid flat on the ground. Dan then grabbed a hold of the Lieutenant with his other hand and urged him to move faster. They got to the stairs and set Smithers on the first step.

"I'm going to go first to make sure it's ok. You stay here."

"Who are you?" Smithers asked. "Who sent you?"

"I'm your guardian angel." Dan said with a smile.

Time stopped.

This time it was different the twinge in the back of Dan's head almost made him fall head over heels down the stairs. Then he started seeing black images that he hadn't seen before.

"No time to worry about that now." Dan thought. He instantly ran down the stairs and saw several men with guns pointing at the stairs. He grabbed ones of the guns and started blasting away at their heads. When he thought each one had a bullet going to it, he ran outside. There were two men with what looked like Tommy guns waiting. He quickly aimed and put a bullet in both of them.

5 seconds left. He ran out and grabbed the machine gun and kicked the other one into the alley. He saw two cars approaching from both sides, but no time to worry about that now. He ran back inside and crouched down on the ground.

Time resumed.

A spray of bullets all hit their targets, and all of the men and women fell to the ground instantly.

"Good that's done. Now what about the cars." He held perfectly still as one drove by. The other one slowed down as if to do a "drive by shooting" and then sped away.

"Perfect, I may just pull this off…" Dan thought. He ran back up the stairs and saw Smithers still sitting there.

"We need to go, now!" Dan helped him up and they walked down the stairs. They walked outside. Dan could tell that Smithers had been tortured for quite some time, but he was resilient. Or maybe it was stubbornness from his age. Either way they made it to a pay phone.

"I'm going to call 911 and give them your exact position." Smithers sighed in relief.

"I'm going to hide in the weeds. If you make another phone call I'll blast you. Just sit and tend to your wounds. I'm not ever going to see you again. If you do recognize me I will mess you up. This is a secret." Dan pointed the machine gun inside Smithers mouth.

"Promise me!" Dan demanded! Smithers nodded. Dan then ran off into the weeds of an abandoned lot. He climbed the fence, dropped the machine gun in the process. He still had his handgun though. As far as Smithers was concerned he still had the machine gun. Smithers didn't move the entire time. Dan was at a very safe distance and watched. Sure enough Smithers sat perfectly still until a cop car arrived. The Officer got out and was surprised to see his Lieutenant sitting on the curb all banged up. He saluted him and then immediately called for backup and medical to arrive. Dan's job was done.

"Give me all of your money punk!" A voice from behind him stated. Dan sighed. "You've got to be kidding me…" he thought.

Time stopped.

He grabbed the gun from the man and shot out his knees and then pistol whipped him.

"There, take that!"

As he turned to run away a black image with white eyes was staring at him. Dan nearly wet himself. It was free floating and had a big mouth. Dan took the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. This time the gun went off and it caused Dan to jump backwards. The floating thing was now on the ground with a bullet hole in his head. He climbed the fence and continued on his way. Running as fast as he could he climbed another fence and was yelled at by a local to get out of his yard. "Gladly" Dan thought. He made it to the street and ran all the way home.

Once he got home he noticed his clothes were all bloody, but his gloves had stayed intact. One problem solved. He nervously opened the door and saw nobody home. He ran for the washing machine room and stripped naked. He poured soap in it and started the cycle. Then he ran upstairs, got dressed and then hurried downstairs to listen to the police scanner, which by now was just hopping with activity. He turned on the local news as well. It wouldn't come on until another thirty minutes or so.

From what he could tell of the police scanner it was in fact Lieutenant Smithers. He was rushed to the hospital. The carnage from the house was trying to be described by local cops. "This time there would be survivors." he thought. "I bet they get the chair for kidnapping a Lieutenant…"

Dan listened for another thirty minutes until the local news came on. It was some skimpy reporter on scene describing how the Lieutenant had managed to escape and the prisoners were taken into custody. Apparently downstairs they found one hundred pounds of cocaine, and three million dollars in cash.

"Guess I made the right decision about the stairs…" Dan said with a smile.

Then the reporter talked about some rogue vigilante that apparently was responsible for the freedom of Smithers. Dan grew angry and then realized that nothing could lead him to the scene. All the people that were killed were identified as being in a gang and linked to the cocaine smuggling. Smithers was interviewed at the scene and said he was grateful for being alive and thanked his "guardian angel". He told of what he said and how gun shots all seemed to go off at the same time.

Smithers described his rescuer as a young male teenager, but didn't care if he was found or not. He said he had made a promise, and on that promise, the promise of his life as he described it, a search would not be done for him.

Dan breathed a sigh of relief. He then opened his homework and began working on that.

Later on that evening his dad came home drunk, again. Only this time it was in a cruiser. The door opened and his dad staggered in.

"Police officer, anybody home?" Dan instantly recognized that voice. He got off the couch and walked towards the door.

"Hello father." Dan said. The officer nearly jumped in surprise.

"Dan?"

"Hello Crystal. Escorting my father home are you?"

"I didn't know he was your father…" Dan explained that this was an everyday occurrence.

"He was drunk driving. I'll go easy on him."

"Go upstairs Dad, mom will be home in a little while."

The two stared at each other, the moonlight dancing in her hair.

"So I heard you were busy tonight…" Crystal said.

"I don't know what you are talking about…" Dan said with a smile.

"You were supposed to do that tomorrow." She had sternness in her voice.

"I didn't have anybody worrying about me." Dan smiled, but the smile was brief. "Something happened tonight, something of pure evil." Dan's voice was very solemn. Crystal stepped into the house.

"Ok…I'm all ears."

"When I stopped time for I think it was the third time, a phantom or something showed up. I blasted it in the head and the gun actually went off. It lay dead, I presumed on the ground. I then ran all the way home."

Crystal nodded. "Anything like that happen before?" Dan shook his head.

"Do you want a guard stationed outside your house tonight?" Dan shook his head again.

"Huh…" She said. "I have no idea…about any of that stuff Dan." She squeezed his arm.

They both nodded at each other.

Crystal smiled, "So the guardian angel was out again tonight? How did it go?"

"I left prisoners this time…"

"It'll be easier to interrogate them this time." Crystal smiled again.

"I need to head to bed, I'm tired…"

"Need a hand?" Offered Crystal. Dan stopped in his tracks and smiled. "No, thanks though."

Crystal let herself back out of the house. She then got rid of the report for the drunk driving on his father. But she did have the car towed.

The next day Dan awoke to the sun coming into the window. His head slightly hurt. He rubbed it and got out of bed. He realized he was late for school so he threw some clothes on and drove to school. He parked it immediately and ran inside to find the principle waiting for him.

"You're late!" He announced.

"Sorry…" Dan tried to think of an excuse but couldn't think anything off the top of his head.

"Luckily you have the law on your hands…" The principle moved out of the way to reveal Crystal standing behind him. She smiled at him in full uniform. Dan whispered "Thank you." at her and she winked at him. Dan walked past them two and went directly to a drinking fountain. He downed two Tylenol. Crystal saw and grew worried. He again waved at her and ran to class.

It so happened to be History class. The teacher brought in the news report from last night and played it for the class. He then explained that sometimes civilians standing up for what they believe in is a very powerful force. Dan again watched for anything that might link him to the slaughter and the saving of Smithers. He seemed very thankful and was recovering very nicely in the hospital, estimated to be back in business within a couple of days. Dan considered paying a visit to him, but then decided against it. He would be easily recognized. He didn't want the attention. Already too many people know.

During school he realized that there was only two weeks left. This came to him when finals were approaching. Also the scheduled graduation practice was coming up and that gave a little hint as well. He didn't worry about finals; he was more worried about summer vacation. He was fighting a war whether he liked it or not. And where was Herrior? Was that a onetime visit, or did he simply dream him up? Would he and his group only show if he was close to death? And when did the final bell ring? The class was empty except for him. He quickly gathered up his things and drove to 5th and 3rd. There he would sit and do his homework.

After two hours a squad car pulled up. An officer hopped out of the car with sunglasses on.

"Afternoon!" he said.

"Hi?" Dan replied.

The two of them eyed each other for awhile. Finally Dan asked, "Can I help you with something?"

"I was told I could get some help at this intersection." Dan sighed and put his homework away.

"I can help. I'm told that I'm a good luck charm." Dan yelled over the sound of the engine.

"That's what I'm told. I have to make a couple of patrols I need to go on, wanna come?" The officer put his glasses back on.

"I'm game." Dan said. "Here we go again…" he thought.

This time there was nothing but silence. Dan felt obliged to say something. "My name is…"

The Officer raised his hand and said "No! I was told not to ask questions, not to get your name, and to leave you alone and let you do your thing…whatever that is. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm keeping a promise. I was told to call you guardian angel…but I'm not gonna, ok?"

Dan nodded and smiled. "I like this man." He decided to himself.

They drove for about twenty minutes when a ninety eight red Corvette passed them going the opposite direction doing eighty miles an hour. The cop immediately whipped the cruiser around and floored it. Dan was curious and watched the speedometer.

"Zero to one hundred in 12 seconds. Simply amazing!" Dan said to himself. The officer must have heard him and let out a friendly grunt. The officer turned on his lights, siren, and dash camera. It took him about a minute to catch up to the Corvette. It eventually pulled over.

"I was told to let you do your thing…so do whatever you do." The officer said to Dan. The officer ran the plates, it was stolen. Dan opened his door and shut it behind him. The officer followed suit. He unstrapped his revolver and approached the vehicle. Dan followed behind him. The officer wanted to tell him to go stay in the car, but against his better judgment he let him follow.

"How you doing partner? Why don't you step out of the car?" The officer asked. The driver complied and led him back to his squad car. Dan kept his distance.

"Do you have any weapons, drugs, hand grenades, rocket launchers, tanks, or airplanes in this car that I should know about?" The officer asked.

The man was obviously stoned on something. He started staggering around.

"Easy buddy, we're just going to take this one step at a time. Ok partner?" The man nodded.

"Now I'm going to pat you down for drugs and weapons. Hold still and spread your legs." The man complied so far. But Dan was keeping his eye on the passenger. He obviously was doing something in his seat. Hiding something or squirming around a lot.

The officer patted him down and pulled out a baggy filled with pills. "Is this LSD my friend?" The driver then realized he was in trouble and took off running in the opposite direction.

"Partner! Partner don't run you're just going to make it harder on yourself!" The passenger then jumped out and pointed a gun at the officer.

Time stopped.

Dan ran around the car, grabbed the gun and shot at the passenger's knees. He then ran over to where the chase was frozen in time. He shot the driver's knees as well. He then threw the gun back over towards the car where it came to rest underneath the car. Dan then returned to the side of the cruiser.

Time resumed.

All four gun shots went off at the same time. All four kneecaps were blown away. Both suspects instantly dropped in pain. The officer quickly put cuffs on the one suspect and then ran over to the passenger. He noticed that his kneecaps were blown away as well.

"He was going to shoot you. The gun is underneath the car." Dan yelled at the officer. He nodded and pulled the other suspect to the ground who was crying now. He cuffed him as well. Sweat was pouring off from him.

"My finger prints are on the gun. I pulled it away from him and blew his knees out and then blew away the kneecaps of the man you were chasing." Dan said.

The cop stopped to think about this for a second. He looked at Dan, looked at the suspects, looked at Dan and shook his head.

"You're not that strong and you aren't that good of a shot." The officer said. Dan smiled. The officer took his glasses off, reached out his hand and Dan shook it.

"But I like that story. Let's go review the dash camera." Dan got worried. He wasn't in the same place as where he started. The Officer called in medical. Backup wouldn't be needed, and besides he didn't want the extra paper work. He also liked this kid hanging around.

The dash camera revealed the Officer pulling out the LSD pills, the suspect running away and himself running after him. Then the camera revealed the same story that Dan told. The other suspect did have a gun and pulled it on the officer. Then something happened that didn't make any sense. The very next frame showed four bullets seeming to fire at the same time. The Officer rewound the tape and played it over and over.

"Care to explain this?" The Officer said.

"You know that Guardian Angel thing that was told to you?" Dan said with a smile. The Officer shook his head.

The Officer was emotionless. "I have two kids and a wife I'm going to be going home to tonight because of you." No smile, no thank you - just strictly business.

Both of them got out of the car and first turned their attention to their suspects. They were both in extreme pain but they would live. The Officer took out some plastic gloves and gave a pair to Dan as well.

The Officer than walked around to his trunk and popped it open. He grabbed a medical kit and pulled out four tourniquets. The both of them tied them around their upper legs. They did this for all four legs. The Officer put gauze and tape on the wounds.

"I told ya not to run partner!" The cop fished out two bags of marijuana, the car keys, and bullets. He walked back to the cruiser and put them on the hood so the camera could film it. He then began searching the vehicle.

Dan stayed out of view of the camera and stood behind the cruiser. He was watching the oncoming cars switching lanes away from the cop.

The Officer pulled out two pounds of marijuana from the front seat. A revolver from the glove box, and what looked like ten pounds of pills in the back seat…all of which he put on the hood. He then slipped everything else in an evidence bag. He opened the trunk and jumped backwards. He then stepped aside and revealed to the camera what he saw, a ten pound pipe bomb, detonators, gasoline tanks, smaller pipe bombs, and containers of fertilizer. Also after digging a little bit he found several AK-47's and placed them on the hood. The Officer walked to the back of the cruiser to talk to Dan.

"I'm going to be here for awhile. I'll call for another officer to come pick you up. You were never here." The Officer glared at him. Dan nodded with a smile.

"You probably saved a thousand lives today, probably more." He nodded at him. "I owe you a drink."

Dan smiled.

"I'm going to call in a cruiser to come get you, start walking behind us so that you don't get on camera. Understand?" Dan nodded and started walking. He could hear the officer radioing in backup for all of the evidence that he found, the bomb squad, and an extra cruiser to pick up a wondering pedestrian that needed a lift home, last seen walking southbound from the cruiser.

After about a mile of walking a police cruiser did pick him up. They rode past the scene of the crime. The Officer saluted Dan as he rode by. There was a bomb squad truck, two ambulances, and two other cruisers. Dan smiled.

"That's quite the mess." The Officer said that he was riding with. "I need a bust like that to further my career. From what I heard shots were fired. And the amount of contraband that was discovered…" Dan looked at him and nodded. Dan gave him his address and was, again, driven home in a police cruiser. This time was different though because he saw another cruiser at his house. "Sigh, must be my dad again…"

Dan got out and thanked the officer as he drove away. Dan opened the door and there was Crystal. Dan's jaw dropped. She was talking to his dad.

"Hi son! Come on it." Dan shut the door behind him and dropped his book bag against the wall.

"What's going on?" Dan asked and couldn't help but smile at Crystal.

"Well son, apparently you made a big impression on this young woman. She asked me if it would be alright for her to take you to the Policeman's Ball."

"I…can't…dance." Dan staggered to say.

"That's ok, nobody else does either." Crystal said with a wink in her eye.

"Apparently we got off on the wrong foot the other night, Crystal and I." His dad said.

"You need to learn to take better care of yourself, Mr. Goodman." Crystal said to him.

"Yeah, anyways I'll let you two talk. I'm going to go upstairs with your mother."

Silence fell in the room.

"Sooo…" Crystal said as she slowly worked her way to Dan. "Wanna go to the Policeman's Ball? Figured I'd ask you before somebody else does. Word is getting out of this 'guardian angel'. Apparently you were busy this afternoon weren't you?"

"Nobody is supposed to know…" Dan insisted.

"And nobody does. They just know if they need help, go to fifth and third matching your description." Crystal started to play with Dan's shirt, and started breathing real hard on him.

"So what do you say…" Her lips moved closer to Dan's. His heart started racing and he felt like he was going to choke on his own saliva.

"Umm…" Was all Dan could say. Crystal smiled and moved closer. Dan could now very distinctly smell her perfume.

Crystal began to whisper. "It's ok with your parents. It's ok with my chief and Lieutenant, and…it's ok with you." Crystal then leaned down slightly and kissed him on the lips. She moved back slightly and whispered, "It'll be fun, I promise. It's after your graduation, during the HOT summer…" Crystal emphasized on the word "hot".

Dan felt like he was melting in her hands. His mind was completely empty right now, and the only thing on his mind was Crystal. He imagined that he could feel his heart beating against her.

"Umm…" Dan said with a smile. Crystal let out a small laugh. Her right finger rolled from the bottom of his neck to the bottom of his chin.

"I'll see you tomorrow…fifth and third. We have some patrolling to do." Dan just stood there and stared at her. Eventually he nodded.

She then smiled at him and said goodbye and let herself out the door. Dan walked over to the couch and collapsed. His father and mother came down.

"Son, we try to stay out of your business. But why is an officer asking you to the Policeman's Ball?"

Dan smiled at that and closed his eyes, remembering what she smelled like. He opened his eyes to two parents both smiling at him.

"I've been in her patrol car a couple of times. We've worked out together. She's helped me in school. I don't know, we just sort of fell for each other." Dan said, not telling the whole truth.

His mom was fascinated by the story. "Is this why you want to go to the academy? For her?"

Dan smiled and nodded.

"I feel kind of awkward about it." His father said.

"You probably felt kind of awkward riding home in the back of her cruiser as well…" Dan blurted out. His father frowned.

"He is right; you do need to stop drinking." His mom insisted. His dad just grunted and left the room.

"So are you going to accept?" His mom asked.

"Were you peeping?" Dan asked.

"Nooo…" His mom replied with a smile.

"Definitely I'm going to accept. Did you see her? She's beautiful!" Dan blurted out. His mother laughed at that. When she calmed down she asked what the age difference is.

"Well I'm going to be 19, and she is 23." Dan replied. His mother nodded with approval.

"You are going to have so much fun there." She smiled. Dan nodded. He could feel a headache coming on and suggested that they call it a night.

The morning came and he found out that his bed was wet. Embarrassed as ever, he quickly cleaned himself up and the bed. He had realized that he dreamed about Crystal all night.

"Breakfast!" His mother yelled.

Nervously Dan said, "Ok, just a minute…" He quickly stripped his bed and got dressed and let out a sigh. Unable to recall exactly what his dream was, he figured it must have been a good one.

Breakfast came and went and he told his mother he was going for a jog.

"Is your homework done?"

"Yes it is. I need to get in shape." Dan replied.

His mother smiled and said ok.

Dan jogged all the way down to 5th and 3rd. No patrol cars were waiting for him. He shrugged his shoulders and laid down on the bench and tried to get comfortable. Several hours passed, and he felt the same twinge in the back of his head. He put his hand on his head and opened his eyes. He began to focus on what he was seeing and jumped up to a standing position on the bench when he realized what he was looking at.

Time stopped.

"Herrior! Where have you been?" Dan surveyed the grounds and realized that his entire group was there. Only difference was Skyka and Lindel were dressed very seductively.

"You have got some guts little one, I'll give you that much…" and Herrior let out a big hearty laugh. His armor didn't show much of his chest moving from the laughing. The rest of the group seemed to smile at him, except for Trackolania - who didn't seem to show any emotion at all.

"I've come to give you a gift. You temporarily took down a phantom the other night. That took some guts. Unfortunately, these weapons that you use are very simple. All you did was knock it out." Herrior said as if scolding him. He reached behind him and pulled a sword out that seemed to be made of solid gold. It shown very brightly in the sun and had several little ridges on it and the handle was made of some type of leather material. It was about two feet long. Dan took it and it seemed fairly heavy for its size.

"It'll only appear when you stop time. So don't worry about disguising it." Dan nodded and then quickly spoke up.

"Why am I getting a tingle in the back of my head? Is the tumor coming back?"

Lindel answered this one. She stepped forward. A bright aura seemed to radiate out from her again.

"Hun, you are sensing either demons or us. Sometimes they pass through you, sometimes they are around you. Your tumor is gone I assure you." She said with a smile. She lightly touched him and he felt an energy pass through his entire body, kind of like electricity but only in a good way.

"We have a battle to get back to. We will eventually need your help. Get used to your blade. You will need it someday and it will save your life."

Time resumed.

There was no trace of Herrior or any of his party members. He looked down and his blade was also gone, but he felt an additional light weight on his back. He reached behind him and felt nothing, but had a feeling that it was there.

"Demons?" Dan thought. He remembered seeing them that's for sure, but it was hard to grasp the whole idea of it. "What are demons doing in our world?"

Just then a police cruiser pulled up to his bench. Crystal stepped out. She just recently got a hair cut and had blond highlights. She shook her hair and looked at Dan. Dan smiled.

"Have I been keeping you long?" She asked.

"No, I just needed to do some thinking." Dan said in a serious tone. He was still trying to figure out where the sword was kept on his back.

"O…K…" She said with a smile. Dan jumped in the squad car and they drove in silence for quite awhile.

Eventually Crystal spoke up. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind is all…"

"Like…" Crystal asked. Dan just simply turned to her and smiled.

"Was last night a bad idea?" Crystal eventually asked.

"No…no it was fine." Dan said still emotionless.

Silence filled the car for quite some time. Then Crystal spoke up, "I'm sorry…" in a very quiet voice.

Dan smiled and then said, "No, it's not you at all." He sighed and then decided that he would have to tell her.

"Herrior just visited me. He gave me a blade. I don't think I'm destined to be here much longer. I don't know…" Dan said.

Crystal looked at him very worried. "Well, what did he say?"

Dan swallowed hard and said, "I'm going to be fighting demons. I don't know when or where…but I don't think I'm going to be here much longer…I don't know. In a way I'm just as confused as you are."

Silence fell again in the cruiser. Eventually Crystal said, "I don't understand…"

"I don't either. I just told you everything that I know." Dan said with a sigh. "Let's talk about something else please."

"Ok." Crystal replied, happy to be off the subject.

"So what's the plan for today?" Dan said looking at her and smiling.

"We have a meeting to go to today." Crystal said with a smile. Dan got a little nervous.

"A meeting?" He replied. Crystal nodded as if keeping a secret.

She drove back to the station and they both got out. Crystal then blindfolded Dan.

"Getting kind of kinky eh?" Dan replied with a smile.

"You wish…" Crystal said with a smile.

"I do actually…" Dan thought. She led him through several doorways and up some stairs. Eventually they got to a room and she removed the blind fold.

"Surprise!" Shouted everybody in the room. "Happy birthday!" Dan had forgotten that it was his birthday. "I'm nineteen now" he thought.

Everybody was clapping. He recognized the man with the glasses, Officer Branzer, the Lieutenant, and about twelve other cops he didn't recognize. This was something Dan didn't want. He started to turn around for the door. Crystal stopped him and led him to a chair.

The cheering went on for several minutes and then tapered off. Crystal leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. She then sat next to him.

"Everybody here knows that you are going to be entering the academy, and wanted to give you an early birthday present to show their appreciation for you, and some to thank you for their lives." The Lieutenant said. He looked to be in fairly good shape. All of his scars seemed to be healing just fine. "I bet Skyka could fix him right up…" Dan thought.

"Thanks" was all Dan could say. He sat there thinking for a moment and then said, "I don't want this getting out…"

The Lieutenant interrupted him and said, "No, and it won't. I agree too many people know about this already. If this leaks to the press we're going to have a problem." He scanned the officers in the room. They seemed to acknowledge him. He then continued.

"We were able to capture two of the FBI's most wanted list and bring them in alive, stop weapons from being delivered to terrorists, save two of our fellow officers, and save my life. This station alone has been awarded a huge cash bonus to each of our officers. I was offered a promotion to a different station but declined it. I felt indebted to you. But I did receive a big raise so that made up for it." He began to laugh.

"I have several awards that should be yours, but I wasn't sure how you wanted to handle it." Dan shook his head with gratification in his face.

"That's what I thought. I'm going to start a plaque in your honor and place your awards there. When you finish your training they will become yours" continued the Lieutenant. He leaned over to cut the cake. "This calls for a celebration. I'm going to call in extra officers to help cover our station and we're all going to take a trip to Canada!" There were shouts in the room. Dan looked around nervously because he didn't understand. Again he wanted to leave the room. This felt more like an interrogation than a party.

Dan leaned over to Crystal and asked, "What's in Canada?"

"You're allowed to drink in Canada…" she trailed off.

After the cheering stopped Dan stood up and reached for a piece of cake. "Thank you everybody for this…" He said slowly munching on what tasted like white cake with white frosting. The cake was decorated with several flowers and the writing on it was "Guardian Angel". Dan nodded in approval.

The man in the glasses spoke up, "No thank you. You're going to be seeing more of us around." The Lieutenant nodded, "We've already made arrangements to go to your graduation, start your physical training and your studies. You can live on base if you wish. There isn't an officer here that wouldn't help you out with anything you wanted…" The officers all nodded. Crystal grabbed his hand and squeezed.

Dan thought of what Herrior said. He's going to need some sword training.

"I need something…" Dan blurted out. All of the officers stopped munching on cake and focused their attention on him.

"This is going to sound odd, but I need to learn how to fight with a short sword. And I need to be able to run further distances." Dan announced.

Officer Branzer spoke up. "Not a problem. We already setup a physical routine for you. You'll be running with different officer's every day. We're going to push you pretty hard…" He said with a smile. This brought a chuckle throughout the room.

Dan's mind was still on what Herrior said. "I have a secret that I need to share with you all." he said slowly.

The Lieutenant waved him off and said, "No need. Nobody wants to know what you do and nobody will ever ask."

"No it's not that. I have a feeling I'm going to be going off to a war. And I'm untrained for it." Dan said. The room filled with silence.

"I need to learn how to fight with a sword. If you all could help me with that I would appreciate it." A slight cough came from one of the officers.

"What kind of war is it son?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I can't answer that, because I don't even know. But please - I need training." Dan seemed to be pleading now.

The officers looked at each other in slight confusion.

"I know a black belt, but he doesn't deal in weapons." one of the officers said. Others gave their opinions as well. No one seemed to have the answer Dan was looking for.

Dan coughed to quiet down the group. "If you could please look into it. I'm going to start training on my own, but I don't know what I'm doing to be honest…"

The Lieutenant held up Dan's target with all of the bulls eye's on it. "There's nothing like a good gun son. And so far you are doing exceedingly well from what I can tell…" He let out a big grin. Dan shook his head. "That's not going to work." Dan sat down his cake.

"Please…" Dan continued, but was cut off. "Ok, ok if it means that much to you we will find somebody." The Lieutenant said. The cops were still trying to think of something but was unable to come up with an answer. "Anything else…" He asked with a grin.

"Nope!" Dan said a little bit happier. He smiled and took another bite of cake.

"I'm going to talk to your parents about you receiving a full scholarship into the academy. It won't cost them a dime. Like I said you're welcome to stay on base if you wish…" The Lieutenant continued.

"I think I'll do that." Dan answered. Crystal's face lit up after his answer. Dan didn't notice. The other officers nodded in approval.

"Now then, let's talk about the rotation of the squad cars you're going to be riding in. You can do your homework in the car, don't want you falling behind on that. Each officer will double check your work to ensure you are on the right track." The Lieutenant winked at him and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. He gave it to Dan. He scanned through it and saw that he would be riding with Crystal a lot less. He let out a small sigh but nodded.

"Whenever there is a big operation we're going to give out a special code word, which is Guardian Angel. That means the officer with Dan is going to get him on sight as quickly as they can. You'll be riding first with my first officer Bernett." He gave a wave as he wiped off the cake. "There are several special assignments that we have coming up that having a good luck charm on would be helpful." The Lieutenant paused for a second. "But first we are going to Canada to celebrate appropriately." Everybody in the room cheered again. This time Dan did as well. "This is going to be an interesting time…" He thought.

"Next weekend we'll come up with some dumbass story for your folks and get you toasted." Officer Branzer said with a wink in his eye. This made Dan laugh. He nodded with approval with cake coming out of his mouth.

"Welcome 'unofficially' to the force." The Lieutenant came by and shook his hand. Each officer filed out and shook his hand as well. Crystal was the last one to leave. She smiled at him and then jumped into his arms. Dan caught her with both hands on her ass. She gave him a big kiss and whispered, "I'll have to welcome you special later on, but this is a good start." She jumped off from him and walked out. Dan watched every move she made, as if she knew he was looking at her. Then all of a sudden she stopped walking. Dan's eyes immediately went up to her head. It wasn't moving either.

Time stopped.

"Happy birthday little one." It was Herrior behind him. He had a big smile on his face. He looked around and saw everybody was there. Trackolania was hanging from the ceiling. Dan just kind of shrugged at that. Herrior turned his attention to the cake and with his big hairy hand grabbed a big chunk of cake and downed it in one bite.

"MMMmmm…cake…" Strings said as he wiggled around Herrior. Dan noticed that Strings seemed pudgier than the rest of them. He too grabbed himself a piece and seemed to be enjoying it.

All of a sudden Trackolania did a back flip in the air and landed on the table so lightly that it barely moved. What happened next Dan could barely see. Trackolania pulled two daggers from his hips, cut the cake into even slices and then put the daggers away. Dan blinked and it was pretty much done. Then Trackolania began eating a piece very slowly, as if testing it for poison.

Lindel and Skyka walked out from behind Herrior and seemed to shine in a sheer brilliance of light. Both were barely clothed. Covering their breasts was a thin leather pouch looking thing that tied in the back. Both had leather thongs on and that was it. Dan constantly eyed them up and down as they walked towards him.

They reached him and stood on either side of Dan. They then put a leg up on him and started rubbing his chest.

"Umm…" was all Dan could get out. He quickly turned around to make sure Crystal was still frozen in time.

"Ladies please!" Herrior said. "He doesn't celebrate birthday's like we do."

Lindel then ran a finger up Dan's chin, similar to what Crystal did. "Too bad…" She gave him a smile and walked back.

"Dan we decided to enchant your blade. We were deciding whether or not to do that, but I think it will serve you well." Herrior began. Soon Mohania, Jacklyn, and Quinely began helping themselves to a piece of cake as well. Dan nodded as if he knew what Herrior was talking about.

"Give me your blade." Skyka said with a smile. Dan reached behind his back and pulled it out from underneath his arm. This was the second time he actually got to hold it. He stood in amazement at the shear craftsmanship of it, how it glittered and how it seemed to sing to him. The handle still felt like it was geared just for him.

"Your blade?" Skyka said tapping her foot. Dan quickly handed it over. Skyka began talking in a language he had never heard of before and a dark cloud formed above her head. It seemed to circle rapidly and then was instantly sucked into the blade. Skyka held it up for his approval. It now had a small blue aura around it, but the gold and shiny metals still stood out.

Dan took it from Skyka. It didn't feel any heavier. He tried turning himself around to resheath it, but as soon as it touched the leather strap it was sucked in and strapped in. This gave Dan a good scare.

"This is a privilege for us; sugar is hard to find where we are from." Mohania said in an eerie distant voice. This was the first time Dan had heard him talk. Everybody seemed to nod in agreement.

Strings and Herrior seemed to devour most of it. Trackolania was still on his first piece, just nibbling on it.

Dan had so many questions to ask. He didn't know where to start. He thought he would start with the obvious first. "So nobody can see my sword unless I stop time?" Herrior nodded. "And I can only use it when time is stopped?" Herrior nodded again. "What did the enchant do?" Skyka had her back to him and quickly turned around, her breasts flopping around almost freely.

"You'll see…it's a surprise." Skyka winked at him. Herrior rolled his eyes.

"How am I supposed to train with it if I can only use it when time is stopped?" Herrior nodded. Dan waited for an answer but nothing came. Herrior took another bite and shoved it in his mouth.

Finally Dan blurted out another question, "Why can I only stop time for fifteen seconds?"

"Because it's safe, anymore than that and you'll attract demons to you." Lindel said without looking at him. Dan nodded. That sort of made sense. When he stopped time three times in a row a demon did appear.

"Why can I stop time?" Dan asked. Herrior nodded. Jacklyn seemed to step forward and slammed what looked like her staff down on the table and pointed to Dan.

"How can he help us, when all he does is ask questions. He's not ready to fight!" She demanded to know. Jacklyn looked almost as big as Herrior, wore an entire leather outfit that covered every inch of her and had some kind of metallic, wooden staff in her hand. It sounded heavy.

Herrior nodded again. Jacklyn screamed in frustration and moved back to the end of the room.

"He's a young one. This is what they do. He is not ready for battle yet, but he will be. And he may be saving your ass out there someday." Herrior said still chewing his cake. Jacklyn said nothing. She just glared over at Dan and then looked away.

Dan didn't know what to say now. Obviously they had plans for him. Some type of war or something was planned, probably against demons.

The cake was almost gone, which means they would be too. Dan finally spoke up.

"What is it that you need me to do?"

"Keep doing what you are doing. The blade will teach you. Enter the academy, fill yourself out a little. We'll drop in from time to time." Herrior said and then let out a belch that seemed to rock the room. "We may need you sooner than you think."

"Can I bring anybody with me?" Dan asked. He then looked down at the table and didn't know where that question came from. Herrior nodded. He thought for a minute and then smiled.

"Yes young one, you may…but they will not understand everything and will have to bring some good weapons." Just then Herrior's head twinged - his left horn nearly parallel with the ground.

"I felt it too…" Lindel said. Herrior's party all grouped up together, as if giving one giant bear hug and disappeared in a flash.

Time resumed.

There was only crumbs left of the cake, and half of the piece that Trackolania was nibbling on. Dan could hear conversations behind him. Out of curiosity he reached back for his sword and couldn't find it. He let out a smile. "Just like he said…" he thought. Dan turned around to run up after the officers.

"Party time is over. Let's keep up the good work everybody. Officer Bernett - take our guardian angel over here out and do some patrolling for the next couple of hours." Bernett nodded and took Dan put an arm around Dan's neck and lead him to his patrol car. They both got in and Bernett squealed the tires on their way out.

"Ever play poker?" Bernett asked. Dan shook his head.

"Being a police officer you have to keep a straight face all of the time. Even when you know the odds are stacked against you." Dan nodded.

"You have to be able to outrun your suspect, out think your suspect, and more importantly outlive your suspect." Bernett said tapping his gun. "I've had to use this several times. I heard you are quite the crack shot yourself." Bernett reached over and ruffled Dan's hair. Dan smiled.

"Have you ever shot anybody?" Bernett asked. Dan was instantly quiet and the smile was off from his face.

"Of course you have, you need to work on your poker face son. You need to not be as tense when you lie." Dan smiled at Bernett.

A call came over the radio. This was for a house fire. Bernett put his lights and siren on and stepped on the gas pedal. This pushed Dan back into his seat. "Did he have a more powerful car?" he wondered?

"Fire calls like this, we just usually are there to keep civilians away. Tape off the scene, take down names you know boring stuff like that." He was driving one handed and veered around three cars within a couple of seconds. This made Dan tighten his seat belt a little more.

"Generally it's just somebody that left the oven on, or a furnace left unmentioned. Arson is generally not the case…" Bernett seemed as cool as he could be swerving in and out of traffic. Dan looked over and saw that they were only doing about eighty miles an hour.

"I have to hand it to the fire fighters though; they are good at their job. Running into buildings with large hoses to try to save a home. When it's fully engulfed their main job is just damage control. You know, make sure the other homes next to it don't catch fire." Dan nodded and tried to remember everything that he was saying. It was easier to remember when your adrenaline was pumping as the cars around then went speeding by.

"We're almost there. Just a couple more blocks. It looks like a two story building to me. What do you think?" Bernett said. Dan shrugged.

"There isn't much of a crowd so our job will be fairly simple. Looks like they only have one truck on the scene. We'll have to find a place to park where we wont be in the way." Bernett was sure one for conversation. Dan seemed to enjoy it.

The cruiser parked on the opposite side of the street and Bernett quickly got out. Dan followed behind him. He motioned for him to stay back a ways.

"What's the situation?" Bernett shouted out.

"We're shorthanded and two of our men are in there, we heard cries from the second story. We're fighting the blaze as best as we can. By the sounds of it we aren't receiving any backup for quite awhile." This instantly worried Bernett. He motioned for Dan to come over. He bent down a little and quietly whispered in his ear.

"There's three people in there, can you get them."

"Yes, but follow me in. Trust me, ok?" Dan said in a hurried voice. Bernett hesitated and but nodded his head. The two of them ran to the front door. As soon as Bernett was in, Dan did his thing.

Time stopped.

Dan quickly ran up the stairs and found the two fire fighters trapped under a beam. They seemed to be conscious. Dan reached for his sword and quickly cut through the beam. The beam quickly split in two and fell off from the fire fighters. Dan was surprised by this. He was also surprised that he didn't feel any of the heat around him.

Seven seconds left. He ran into the first room. Nothing. He ran into the second. Nothing. The third bedroom revealed two young girls. He quickly grabbed them and ran down the stairs.

Time resumed.

Bernett saw Dan with two girls in his hands and handed them over to him. Bernett was shocked.

"There's two fire fighters stuck up there still! Get the girls to safety. I'll go get them." Dan yelled. Bernett nodded and dragged them from the building. Suddenly cheers came from the small crowd and the fire fighters as well.

Time stopped.

Dan then ran up the stairs to check on the fire fighters. Dan started coughing really bad. "I am in a smoke filled house…" he thought. He got to the top of the stairs and started dragging the fire fighters towards the stairs. They were heavy! He wouldn't be able to do it on his own. He dragged them as far as he could and let time continue.

Time resumed.

The firefighters instantly got to their knees and started crawling down the stairs.

"Hurry! Come on!" Dan insisted. He started pulling on their suits. He noticed that they were ripped from the beam that had dropped on them.

"What about the girls?" One of them asked.

"They are safe, but you are not, now move it!" Dan yelled. This made the fire fighters move faster. But would the stairs hold?

"Bernett!" Dan screamed out at the top of his lungs. Almost instantly the officer came into the burning building.

"Help!" The cop instantly ran up the stairs and flung one over his shoulder and helped the other one walk down the stairs. The stairs creaked and wood was falling all around them.

"Hurry!" Dan yelled again. He could not stop time again; there were three full grown men that he would not be able to carry out by himself. The stairs continued to creak as they made it half way down. Dan instantly ran outside and asked to have the hose blasted at the doorway. The firefighters responded accordingly. "This would buy them some time at least." Dan thought.

Dan ran back in and put an arm around one of the fire fighters. The oncoming water felt wonderful and it seemed to refresh the firefighter's strength. They walked the rest of the way down the stairs and out of the door. Instantly there was a flash as the four of them walked out of the burning building.

"Crap!" Dan surveyed the area. There was only one reporter.

"Bernett, I need to get back in the car. The other firefighters are coming." Bernett nodded.

Time stopped.

Dan ran up to the reporter, pulled out his sword and jumped into the air and sliced the camera into two pieces. It seemed to melt to the ground as if it was acid. Dan then ran into the officer's car and closed the door. He looked over and saw a black figurine staring at him with teeth that seemed to be rotating in his head. Dan whipped out his sword and tore the creature in half. It melted down into the car seat, the same as the camera did. Dan then looked around and didn't see any more demons. He then buckled his seatbelt.

Time resumed.

The reporter was utterly confused. He instantly dropped his camera and it dissolved into the pavement. He then pulled out a second camera and took a snap shot. He then realized that one of the rescuers wasn't there. He looked around and didn't see him. So he snapped a picture of Bernett and the fire fighters. This would make the front page of the news. Other firefighters joined up with Bernett and helped them to safety.

Bernett looked around and saw Dan in the car. He smiled and waved. "Guardian angel…" I never would have believed it…he mumbled to himself.

The next day Bernett was front page news for rescuing the two girls and the firefighters. He was awarded some medal or something or other. Got his picture taken with the major. Was given a present by the firefighters and other stuff, while Dan was in school. Dan was exhausted. "These long nights are wearing on me…" He thought. He made it through the day and went home and collapsed into bed and slept the rest of the night.

Several knocks on the door came, but his mom insisted that nobody could see his son. He was exhausted. Even if they were cops. They thanked her for her time and left.

Morning came early the next day. Another day of school. Today was rehearsal. He got dressed up in his gown and put the honor cords around his neck. He looked in the mirror and smiled. After driving himself to school he saw everybody else dressed up and out in the stadium. He walked over to join the party. The principle then started giving instructions as to who was going to be standing where, how they would walk out, in what order…things like that. It was all interesting, but it was hot out and they were all wearing dark robes. They practiced walking back and forth. The Valedictorian said her little speech, the band played, lousy he thought. But this was all part of the process. Soon he would be in the academy. This thought made him smile.

The next day came quick and the band started playing as all of the guests filled into the stadium. Dan was watching from a distance with the rest of his class. After twenty minutes he saw thirty policemen in full uniform march up the stadium and take a seat. Dan smiled. The crowd was obviously curious as to why they were there. They said "for the graduation" and said nothing else but that. Dan saw what he thought was Crystal, but couldn't tell. Her hair was up in a bun. His parents all had their hands shaken by the police officers as they walked by. They were all cordial to them, but didn't exactly understand why they were all here.

The graduation started and they all filed one at a time as their names were called into the chairs next to the podium. Finally Dan's name was called. All of the officers stood up and saluted Dan until he sat down in his chair. Then the officers sat back down.

Then one by one they all walked up and got their diploma, except for Mark. Dan wondered where he was. He shrugged off the thought. Dan felt a group of faces looking at him so he turned to look at the woods off in the distance. He instantly recognized Herrior. Herrior nodded to him and then Mohania did something that completely covered them into part of the woods. Dan smiled and looked back.

"Dan Goodman" was announced. Suddenly a huge flock of birds flew over him. All of the officers stood and cheered. Dan didn't see it, but bunnies and deer were running behind the stadium as well. It was an amazing sight. He rose and walked up and shook the principles hand. He was handed his diploma and walked behind the podium with everybody else. The cheering dwindled down and the next name was called.

"Finally, done with this place…time to move on." Dan thought excitedly.

The ceremony went uneventful for the rest of the evening. Then they were let loose. Everybody threw their hats in the air and Dan was able to quickly retrieve his. They started filing out one at a time and the officers made their way down the stadium. Each one shook Dan's hand…except for Crystal who jumped on Dan and kissed him. She did have her hair up. The both exchanged smiles and Dan carried her through the gate. His schoolmates seemed to be amazed by this. Dan just simply ignored them and continued walking. Several "ooo's" came from his classmates.

A party was planned for the graduates and a bonfire and Dan was invited to go. Naturally he asked his officer friends if they would go. They chuckled and said sure. "We'll come late at night. That should prove to be interesting…" Dan wasn't sure what they were laughing about. Officer Branzer put his hand on Dan's shoulder and winked.

That night on the beach his classmates got the fire going. A keg was brought and tapped along with several other alcoholic drinks in six packs. A volleyball net was setup and a game was started while others choose to swim. Dan just choose to sit in the sand with his toes digging in the cool sand. He had a drink called, "Mike's hard lemonade" and was sipping on that. He sat for an hour just thinking and reflecting on life.

"I wonder if Canada is going to be like this…I wonder what Crystal is doing…I wonder what Herrior was doing…" he pondered.. Then an arm reached out and pulled him out of the sand, and breaking his train of thought.

"We need another player for volleyball. Sam passed out." Theresa, one of her classmates said. He smiled at her and rose to his feet.

He played for several hours, stopping time only a couple of times to retrieve a ball he couldn't otherwise get. No demons were around, he wondered why. He shrugged it off and continued playing. He was having fun actually. The game went on for several hours until everybody grew tired. It was then decided that it was time for a dip. Several of his classmates choose to skinny dip. Dan decided that his shorts was good enough and jumped in. The water felt warm. He went in up to his neck and began to tread water just watching the activities. Several of the guys had girls on their shoulders playing water wrestling. This continued for several more hours until everybody seemed exhausted. They then returned to the campfire and began to tell stories of their past. Dan chimed in a couple of times with his own stories from his past. It felt good.

He found out what happened to Mark. He was expelled from school and not allowed to graduate. Dan then tipped his bottle to his mouth and tried to stop the smile from coming over his face. He had harassed him during his entire life. He wasn't sure why, but serves him right.

All of a sudden twelve cars pulled up behind them. Both doors of the cars were opened open and it was apparent that they had night sticks in their hands racing towards them. Dan grew a little nervous as he was the first to see them. They advanced very quickly and surrounded the remaining people that weren't passed out.

"Hands up! You are all underage drinking!" Some of the people tried to flee but simply just staggered around until they too fell on the ground. The rest of his classmates simply just put their hands up. Dan put his drink behind him and smiled.

"Alright, who's responsible for this?" A commanding voice came from one of the officers. There was no reply. Most of them were too scared to say anything.

"Get home to your parents. The ones that are too drunk to drive we'll drive home. Let's move it!" The same commanding voice said. Dan just simply sat there. His classmates got up and slowly made their way to their cars. The officers helped the passed out ones and the obviously drunk ones to their feet and into their cars. The party was over. But it was good while it lasted.

To Dan's surprise one of the officers came down to greet him.

"And what makes you so special that you don't have to obey the law?" It was Crystal. Dan smiled. Dan took the lemonade from behind him and swirled it in front of him. She took it and downed it in a couple of gulps.

"After the officers take the kids home, they are going to come back and then we'll party some more." She said. Dan smiled. She sat down next to him. They were silent for quite awhile. The officers finished loading the drunks into the cars and drove them home. No charges would be pressed tonight.

"So how are you doing?" Crystal asked.

Dan nodded. "Doing well. Had some fun tonight. I think I needed this. I have been doing nothing but police work for the last couple of weeks. It's stressful…"

Crystal nodded. "And you haven't seen all of the paperwork involved…"

"So why did you join the force?" Dan asked, thinking that he already asked that question before.

"To make a difference. Both of my parents were killed in drive-bys. I want to avenge them."

"Have you?" Dan asked.

Crystal shook her head. "For every crook I put away, they are only set free due to some lawyer. We weren't really doing any good until you came along…" She reached over and squeezed his arm.

"What difference have I made? I've killed a lot of people. I now possess a weapon that can cut through metal apparently with no difficultly. I cut through a reporter's camera and it seemed to melt in his hands. This is what I have to train with." There was a pause for a second. "Herrior and his party showed up again." Dan smiled and then said, "They ate the rest of the cake…"

Crystal laughed. "So that's what happened to that. Are you sure you didn't eat all of it…" She gave him a good pinch in the stomach. Dan smiled and pushed her away.

"So you are serious about these imaginary people huh?" Crystal said.

"You don't believe in what you can't see do you?" Dan said. Crystal shook her head. Dan stood up and looked around. It was just them two. Dan pulled her to her feet. She smiled at him. Dan gave her a hug.

Time stopped.

Dan released Crystal and began to look around. The bonfire stopped instantly. He looked at Crystal and she was still in the same position.

"Huh? Thought for sure that would work…" Just then a giant roar came from the ocean. A monster with eight legs, one eye, and suction cups coming out of his legs came out of the ocean. It resembled an octopus. Dan grabbed his sword and instinctively took off towards the monster. Dan quickly hocked off two of his legs. This grabbed the creature's attention. The tentacles then reached down and grabbed Dan and pulled him off the ground. He started quickly hocking off the legs, but they seemed to slowly grow back.

Time resumed.

Crystal looked around and couldn't find Dan. Then she heard a commotion in the water. Dan was grabbed by some sort of monster and was about to be eaten. She let out a scream.

Dan was now directly above the creature's eye, still held on by the suction cups of the tentacles. Dan quickly cut through the tentacles and fell towards the creature's mouth. He held out his hands directly in front of him and the tip of the sword cut into the monsters eye. The creature screamed and began to thrash around in the water. Dan had now fallen in the water. Dan drove his sword into the creatures belly and opened a slot big enough for him to crawl in. He could hear several shots from the beach.

"Time must have resumed…" Dan thought. "At least Crystal will believe him now."

Inside the belly of the beast, he started swinging and cutting at anything and everything. He could feel the beast squirm with every swing. Black ooze began to fall out of the hole and get all over Dan. He then looked up and saw an organ that contracted and expanded. Dan threw his sword at it and the creature let out a deafen roar. Dan climbed up the veins inside the beast and retrieved the sword, but not before twisting it and pulling it down. The organ stopped working and another round of bullets fired from the beach.

"She better not hit me…" Dan thought. A second later a very hot poke came through his back, causing him to lose his grip and fall. He fell and landed with a hard thud in the creature's belly. The black ooze began to burn his skin so he quickly ran for the hole that he made. He splashed into the ocean and began swimming towards the beach. He noticed that his right arm was not working all that well.

The monster eventually fell into the ocean and seemed to melt out of existence.

Dan made it to the sand and let out a moan.

"No!" Crystal screamed and ran towards him. He had a gunshot wound in his back. He knew it was from her gun. Crystal's heart began to sink as low as it could. She then pulled him out of the water and placed a hanky from her back pocket and pressed it against his wound to try to stop the bleeding. She then radioed in for medical.

"Ouch…" was all Dan could say.

"Good, stay with me Dan. I believe everything you ever said. I'm so sorry for shooting you; I didn't know what to do. That creature came out of nowhere. I called medical, they are on their way. Just stay with me Dan."

"Oww, it hurts…" Dan said as he began to roll over.

"Don't move. I'm trying to stop the blood. She then took off her shirt revealing a bikini underneath it. It looked as though she was ready to go swimming. She pushed the shirt into the bullet hole and tried to stop the bleeding. By now there was blood everywhere.

Time stopped.

Skyka walked over and pushed Crystal out of the way. "Stupid woman…" Skyka dumped a yellow container over Crystal's head. Crystal blinked several times in disbelief. "Who are you?" Skyka was dressed in a black silky looking dress that was cut very short with her breasts almost hanging out.

"Skyka." she said angrily.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving Dan's life."

Crystal watched in amazement. A blade with a leather sheath appeared on Dan's back that wasn't there before.

Skyka reached in and pulled the bullet out and threw it away. Skyka then glared at Crystal. Crystal felt ashamed and began to say something but Skyka wasn't interested in what she had to say.

Skyka then opened open the wound using both hands. The skin seemed to melt away, and inside was the exposed organs, tissue and bone. His shoulder blade was nicked. She placed her fingers on that and a brilliant white light came out of them. She then reconnected several blood vessels and muscle tissue that was torn away. Slowly Skyka closed up the wound by pressing her hands together on it. It let off a light glow as it did. She then mumbled something Crystal couldn't understand and a brilliant white light came down from the clouds and landed on Dan's wound.

"And that is why we don't use ranged weapons…" She reached out and slapped Crystal. Crystal was utterly amazed at what just happened.

Time resumed.

Skyka disappeared. Crystal paused for a second to take it all in. Then she ran over to Dan to investigate the wound. The bleeding had stopped entirely and the wound itself was gone. It left no trace of it at all.

"How?" Crystal flipped Dan over several times looking for any type of mark. Dan suddenly opened his eyes. His focus was a little bit off, but eventually he keyed in on Crystal.

"Wanna go swimming?" He asked.

"What just happened?"

Dan reached behind him and couldn't feel the wound.

"I'm guessing either Skyka or Lindel came and healed me." Dan said without any surprise in his voice.

"It was Skyka." Crystal said.

Dan nodded. He flexed his arm a little bit and said "its fine. You probably called for medical didn't you?"

Crystal nodded.

"You may want to call them off. After you do that, let's go swimming."

Crystal did just that, but she still had tons of questions. Dan could tell and just simply kissed her on the lips.

"There are some secrets that aren't meant to be told…" Dan whispered in her ear. "Leave it at that." Dan then jumped to his feet and began running for the water. He dove into a wave and began swimming out to a deep end of the ocean.

"Come on in!" He yelled.

Crystal removed her pants exposing a thong underneath and slowly walked to the water. She put one foot in the water.

"The beast is gone. It's safe. Come on in!" Dan assured her. She smiled but was still hesitant. Dan started swimming out further into the water. He was so deep now that he couldn't touch. He plugged his nose and went underwater. He came up and pulled his hair back and gave it a good shake. Crystal smiled and decided to chance it. She slowly walked into the water, and Dan slowly swam to meet up with her.

Eventually they met up with each other. Dan grabbed her by the waist and flung her around in the water. She let out a squeal of joy and started splashing him. The two of them took turns flailing each other around until both of them were worn out.

Dan finally spoke up. "What you saw tonight is what I'm up against. Only worse I fear." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled but was scared at the same time.

"I have some powerful friends, but I am going to need some help. And Skyka already doesn't like you…" Dan said as he splashed some water at her. She laughed and splashed him back.

"Don't tell anybody about what you saw tonight. Ok? Our little secret?" Dan said. Crystal nodded and drew him close to her body. "Can we have our own little secrets as well?" She said with a big grin on her face. Dan nodded returning the smile. Crystal then bit her lower lip in anticipation. Dan pressed his hand on her bare stomach. It was ripped with muscles. She let out a small moan. Dan then moved his hand down further to her belly button. He rubbed his finger around in a circular motion inside of her naval. The moaning continued. His hand then went lower to the top of her thong. It was made of spandex. She looked at him and gave him a very seductive smile and a slow nod.

Just then several bright lights turned on and the rest of the cops arrived running down to the beach. They began helping themselves to the keg and other drinks that were available.

"No!" Crystal yelled and slapped the water.

"Come on up guys, we have all of the kids back home." One of the cops yelled.

Crystal let out a big grunt and started swimming to shore.

"I'll stay out here for a bit…" Dan said and smiled. Crystal didn't hear him. "I need to swim off some energy…" he thought. He started swimming some laps until 'everything' had returned back to normal. "That would be quite embarrassing…" he said to himself.

He watched Crystal walk up the sand. Her thong was barely covering anything. Several of the officers let out a whistle as she squeezed her hair to get the water out. She flipped them off and walked over and got a glass of beer. This caused an outburst of laughter and then they started talking out loud.

Dan did a status check, adjusted himself and began swimming to the shore as well.

"It's the Guardian Angel!" Officer Bernett yelled. Dan just simply smiled. Several of the officers began to start clapping.

"It was nice of your class to provide the alcohol!" Said another officer. Some of them were still in uniform. Other officers, including women, stripped down to their bathing suits and jumped in the water after a couple of beers. Crystal was nowhere in sight.

"You guys didn't make any arrests did you?" Dan asked.

"Naw just brought them home. We were nice about it." Officer Branzer said. "The party had to end though. We'll need to clean up this mess." He handed Dan a glass of beer and he shook his head.

"I'm not going to report you." He said with a wink. Dan walked over and grabbed another lemonade and started sipping on that.

"Hey, didn't Officer Candy call in for medical? And then she called it off? What was that about?"

Dan nodded and then said, "She shot me," and then gave Officer Branzer a nudge with his right arm. "False alarm, it happens."

"So everything is ok?"

"Everything is fine" as he rubbed the back side of his right elbow. Dan said.

The officer knew he was lying but didn't seem to be a problem. Dan quickly spoke up, "Have you seen Officer Candy?"

"Last I knew she was over there getting dressed in her car." He pointed at one of the cruisers. At the same time the door opened and she walked out with jean shorts and a light t-shirt that had the words "Easy" on it. Dan smiled. She didn't return the smile. She walked over and grabbed another cup of beer and then walked away. She seemed pissed off. Dan motioned to walk after her, but Office Branzer stopped him.

"Best just to let her walk it off bud." Dan nodded, mostly because there was no way around this man.

"Let's go play some volleyball." He said. Dan smiled and followed him. The two of them started hitting the ball back and forth. Eventually more Officers joined in.

Everybody seemed to be having fun. It was about one in the morning.

Crystal watched Dan playing volleyball. "You know women get blue balls too…" she kept thinking over and over. She downed another beer and filled up her glass again. She was mad at him, and for no particular reason. He kept looking over at her smiling. She just stared at him and looked away.

"I should just run over and tackle him and ravage him right there." She thought. She took another swig of her beer. She looked off in the distance and saw something shiny in the sand.

"Hmm…" she thought. "I wonder what that is. Maybe it'll take my mind off from things." She stood up, wiped herself off and put on her flip flops.

Meanwhile a series of ambulances and fire trucks pulled up to the scene. Bernett yelled out, "Great! Dan come here I want you to meet somebody." He put his arm around his shoulder and walked over to two firemen.

"Gentlemen, this man here" Bernett gave him a gentle squeeze, "Is responsible for saving your lives and the lives of the two girls. Not me." Both fire fighters looked confused.

"Hey, the credit is yours. I just helped." Dan replied. Bernett winked at him. Either way they all shook hands and joined the party. Dan got his spot back in the volleyball game.

The ball was hit and it bounced around a couple of times and was coming straight for Dan when it seemed to stop in mid-air. Dan still ran forward and hit the ball but it didn't go anywhere.

"That's odd, I didn't do that."

Time stopped.

"Dan!" A loud thunderous voice came from behind him. It was Herrior. Dan turned around in surprise.

"You ate all the cake and there isn't any here…" Dan said.

"But there is ale…" Strings said as he headed off towards the keg with a big smile on his face. Herrior sighed.

"I wanted to personally congratulate you on taking on the Occulus." Herrior said and outreached his hand. Dan took it and Herrior squeezed down on it. Dan could literally feel his bones moving around in his hand. He fell to the ground in pain. "Ouch…" was all he could say.

"That is the custom here isn't it?" Herrior questioned. Dan nodded. A tear ran down his cheek he was in so much pain. He slowly stood to his feet and began shaking it off.

"The sword worked well for you?" Herrior questioned. Dan nodded.

"Good. Our battles are over for the night. I am going to give you the chance to get some experience. Arm yourself!" Dan nodded still holding his injured right hand. He pulled his sword out with his left hand and it seemed to sing a song to him. A high-pitch, low volume squeal sound. Its blue aura was still around it.

Herrior picked up his shield. "Hit me!" He commanded. His shield was almost the same color as his sword, only it was as tall as him and probably weighed twice as much. It seemed to resonate a sound of its own as well.

Dan swung at him using his left hand aiming for the shield. A loud "Thong" noise emitted from the impact and what felt like a bolt of electricity ran through his hand, causing him to drop the sword.

Herrior sighed. "Again!" He commanded. Dan was unsure what just happened but he didn't really want to experience the same sensation. He picked up the sword with his both hands and brought it down hard on the shield. Again he was knocked back, but then came towards him with a middle thrust. The bounce back occurred again. Dan then turned his body around and brought his sword in from the side.

Herrior moved his shield slightly anticipating the swing. The sword bounced off from the shield and went flailing into the sand several feet behind him. Herrior sighed again.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Dan said as he walked over and picked the sword back up again. Dan approached him with the sword in front of him - both hands securely on it. Dan then lunged at Herrior, then dropped to his feet and swung at him, then jumped up in the air and swung it at him. All the while he could feel energy being surged into his mind. It seemed to be coming from the sword.

Herrior easily deflected all of the attacks. He then sensed something evil.

"Trackolania, Jacklyn, Lindel - to me." He commanded. Strings came to but he was slightly intoxicated.

"String us up a song." Herrior commanded. Strings did as he asked.

Just then several little black figurines appeared over in the distance. Herrior just chuckled.

"Track - take the high ground and use your crossbow, only if Dan needs help. Dan go get them. It'll be good experience for you." Herrior's voice seemed to almost thunder as he gave the orders.

Dan nodded and charged into battle, sword in front. Trackolania loaded his crossbow with such speed that it was almost impossible to see. He held it up to his eye and watched. The rest of the group watched as well.

Dan got to the demons and quickly turned around to gather enough speed to slice the head off the first one. The demons seemed to become timid but quickly regrouped. They surrounded him. Dan plunged at one and the demon easily dodged it. Dan then became mad and started swinging his sword in ways that he had not been taught. The sword went flying over his head with both hands and launched an attack that decapitated two demons. Dan quickly rolled in the direction of the dissolved demons and held his sword out. Two of the demons started to cast some sort of spell at them, but was quickly interrupted by an arrow flying through their heads. Trackolania he suspected. But he went to work on the others.

His sword seemed to teach him how to fight. With every death of a demon he felt stronger and his mind grew sharper. Now there was only one left. Dan charged at it, sword in front and impaled it. He then turned his blade and the head went flying. He looked around and saw no others around. He could hear clapping from a distance away. It was Herrior, and Jacklyn. Trackolania still had his bow ready and looked to be ready to fire it at any moment. His sword continued to sing to him. He walked back to Herrior.

"Let's continue…" Dan announced almost out of breath. Herrior smiled and lifted his shield. This time Dan took several whacks at it and caused Herrior to move around in response to Dan's attacks. Herrior seemed impressed.

"The more you use it, the more it'll teach you." Herrior said in a rough voice.

"I don't want to hurt you though…" Dan said mildly. Herrior let out a genuine laugh. "Little one, if I thought I was in any real danger from you, I would be using my sword as well. So far deflecting all of your attacks is mere child's play…"

Dan put his sword down. "Then why me? Why not pick some three hundred pound guy that could do some real damage?"

"Because, where we are going - time stopping is very valuable. They are the first attackers, the first ones to fire arrows, the first ones to swing their swords."

"It seems like all of you can time stop, why choose me?" Herrior raised his shield again.

"Only Lindel can stop time. If she dies we have a serious problem. That is where you come in."

Dan seemed to understand everything now. He nodded and picked his sword back up. "Again!" Herrior smiled.

The sparring went on for several hours. With each blow Dan learned something new. Eventually Herrior had to stay on his toes and rapidly move his shield around to deflect the attacks.

Dan was too busy sparring with Herrior that he forgot about Crystal and didn't notice that Skyka and Quinely were missing. They had walked over and taken a hold of Crystal and poured a yellowish solution on her. She was now in regular time, but everything else around her was still frozen.

"Don't be frightened, I am Quinely and you already met Skyka." Quinely said in a quiet voice. Skyka just snarled at her.

Naturally Crystal was scared. She looked around and saw that everything in her world had stopped, except for Dan in the distance fighting some cow looking creature.

"He's in good hands…we have a message for you." Quinely took her by the arm and led her to the ocean. Quinely then reached down and touched the ocean with her finger. Instantly a large swarm of electricity ran through the water as far as the eye could see.

"Don't be getting your grubbing little hands on Dan. He's going into battle and doesn't need distractions." Skyka said sarcastically. "He especially doesn't need anybody shooting him with a weapon that doesn't affect demons." Quinely looked at Skyka harshly. Skyka grunted and walked away.

"Us ladies are going to have some fun." Quinely said. Skyka already took off her top and then her bottoms and laid them out neatly in the sand. Crystal quickly looked away. Quinely then took off her clothes as well.

Just then several dolphins jumped in the air and were heading towards shore.

"Ever ride a dolphin?" Quinely asked? Crystal shook her head.

"It's just the three of us, nobody will see us. Get undressed. The animals don't like clothing. Crystal hesitated and then proceeded to do so. Quinely then jumped in the water followed by Skyka.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Quinely said treading water. A dolphin came up right beside Quinely and seemed to rub against her. Crystal was amazed. She took one step in the water and felt things swimming around her feet. They were kicking up sand and it made Crystal chuckle.

"Come out deeper. We're going to ride some of these wonderful beasts of the water." Skyka had already jumped on one of the dolphins and it was taking her for a fast ride around in circles. Quinely's dolphin just simply kept nudging her, as if he wanted to play as well. Quinely reached down and petted him and it seemed to satisfy the animal.

Crystal went out further into the water and a huge manta ray slipped through her feet.

"Grab a hold of it. It'll support you. There's some other animals on the way, but I think you'll enjoy him for now." Crystal did as Quinely said and it seemed to let out a "purring" sound. The manta ray then swam up and down and gave a feeling to Crystal about what she was in for. She was screaming in excitement.

Quinely then jumped on her dolphin and together they rode into deeper seas. They must have rode for several minutes and then the manta ray started slowly down.

"He's tired." Quinely announced. "But we have a substitute for you." Just then a great white shark swam rapidly from underneath her and she screamed. Its mouth wide open and closing in on her fast. The shark's nose nailed her right on the butt and sent her flailing into the air. Crystal let out a scream of panic. Her arms and legs flailing in the air. She fell into the water with a great splash she swam to the top of the surface, her heart beating as fast as it could. The shark slowly approached her and swam up beside her as if to apologize. Quinely and Skyka just laughed.

"It's ok, he won't hurt you." Quinely assured her. Crystal still a little bit leery climbed onto the shark and held onto its fin. With a thunderous flap of its tail the shark roared to life and sent her flying across the water. It seemed to respond to her every command. She pulled left on the fin and the shark went left. She pulled right on the fin and it went right. Mist was spraying all over the place, but Crystal was having the time of her life. This was definitely something she had not experienced before.

"Let's head into deeper water and do some diving. The ocean is a wonderful place." Quinely said as she directed her dolphin into that direction. Suddenly Quinely dove under the water and disappeared for a good minute and then resurfaced. Skyka did the same.

"Now it's your turn. When you want to come back up, just pull back on his fin." Quinely said. Crystal nodded. She took a deep breath and then pushed down on the fin and sure enough the great beast dove down into the water. She could see several sharks surrounding her, but they didn't seem afraid and didn't seem interested in her. The great white shark dove down at amazing speeds. Together they found coral reefs and sunken ships and exotic fishes. The fishes of all different colors and sizes and shapes all circled her. She reached out and touched them. They were not afraid of her or the beast that was their natural enemy.

Realizing that she would be out of breath soon, she pulled back on the fin and with a thunderous flap on the great white he headed towards the surface. The shark blasted out of the water and into the air. It landed with quite the splash. Crystal was simply amazed at everything that she had seen. She would never forget any of this.

Quinely's and Skyka's head began to tingle and they immediately jumped off from their dolphins.

"Demons are near, get off your shark." Quinely said hurriedly. Crystal complied. Skyka instantly turned a dark black, and her eyes turned a green. Quinely had several sharks swimming around her. Crystal felt helpless. She left her gun on the shore. Not that it would do any good anyways.

Pretty soon a dark figure rose up from the depths and smiled at them. It opened its teeth and they all seemed to rotate back and forth.

"Figured this would happen…" Skyka said. She began to speak words Crystal had never heard of and then out of Skyka's hands a dark energy emanated towards the beast. The beast howled in pain. She then blasted what seemed like a blue pulsating light towards the beast that seemed to slow its movements. Skyka again repeated the words and the same dark energy emanated towards the beast.

At the same time, Quinely commanded all of the sea life to attack it. There must have been over twenty sharks and they all began a feeding frenzy on the beast. Several were jumping out of the water and pushing it into the air. Others were taking enormous bites out of it. Even the little fish seemed to be gnawing on it. Skyka cast another spell at it and it screamed in pain. Crystal didn't know what to do, except tread water and hope that the beast would die.

After several minutes the demon caught fire and faded into the water, eventually disappearing. Skyka turned back to her normal skin tone.

"We better head back to the coast." Quinely announced. "Time must still be stopped, and Dan must be pretty tired by now." They each mounted their beasts and took off towards the coast. It was a several minute ride - even for these gigantic beasts.

"So you see why you can't help." Skyka said. Her tone was better. "Dan can stop time. He's learning how to fight with a sword. He'll be a valuable asset to us."

"But he's my boyfriend…" Crystal said in desperation.

Both Quinely and Skyka nodded. Quinely spoke up, "You must not mate with him or he'll be useless to us. The fate of both worlds depends on it."

Crystal didn't understand why, but after all that she saw she slowly nodded.

"What you can do is tend to his wounds. If he gets badly injured we'll send him back here. He needs much more training though. You'll be able to spend a lot more time with him. Ok?" Quinely said sympathetically to her. And Crystal nodded.

"Take care of him. Train with him. Become the reason for him to fight." Skyka added.

"What's your reason to fight?" Crystal asked Skyka.

"I'm married to Herrior. Somebody's got to keep his butt alive…" She smiled at that comment.

"If you want to help, work on his sword skills. Work on his Stamina and Agility. He is very weak now and is not worthy of battle." Quinely said. Crystal seemed offended by this. This was Dan that they were talking about.

"You can come into battle with us if you wish, but you need to learn how to fight with a weapon. Your projectile weapon will only get you in trouble." Quinely said. Skyka glared at her and nodded. Crystal thought of her baton and night stick. She nodded. They both could work on that.

They arrived at the shore and got dressed. Quinely then touched the water again and released control of the sharks. The sharks then swam off in search of food. "Remember, no mating…" Quinely said and squeezed her arm. Crystal nodded.

They started walking towards Herrior, which appeared to be winning the duel. But Dan was persistent. Both Skyka and Quinely smiled. That's what they wanted to see.

"Who's winning?" Crystal asked. Dan was so surprised that he landed a weak blow on the shield and it blew his weapon behind him.

"Concentrate!" Herrior yelled at him. Dan's arms felt like jelly and he had beads of sweat pouring off from him. Herrior looked very bored.

"We had a run in with a demon in the water." Quinely said. Herrior nodded. "We did too, but Dan took care of it. He's improving." Just then all of them got a twinge in their head.

"We have to get going. We are being summoned. Herrior and his group all gathered together for another group hug and suddenly disappeared in a blinding white light.

Dan hurried back to the place where he was in the volleyball game.

Time resumed.

His hit from the ball sent it sailing over the net and was volleyed back over. Dan was exhausted though.

"I need to take a break. Sorry guys." Dan said as he walked over and took a swig of his lemonade. Crystal came over and sat beside him.

"You wouldn't believe the experience I had…" She whispered. Dan smiled and nodded. Dan was still gasping for air.

A moment of pause came between them as if they were exchanging thoughts telepathically.

"I'm in." Crystal finally said. Dan looked at her in shock. She nodded. Dan's first thought was "You'll be killed!" Then he thought of his training with Herrior and decided not to say anything. He simply nodded. A voice called out, "Hey, who emptied the keg?" Dan thought of Strings and just merely smiled.

"Let's get out of here." Dan finally said. Crystal couldn't agree more. They both said their good-byes and hopped in her cruiser. Crystal got dressed into her officer uniform and noticed that Dan was watching every detail. "Why don't you take a picture?" She suggested with a smile. Dan's face turned red and she laughed. She then gunned the engine and they were off.

"I am not ready for battle yet…" Dan said as his voice trailed off. "I took down some demons today, but they appeared to be very simple minded. Trackolania put an arrow in one of their heads. He's a good shot!"

"Quinely and Skyka rode dolphins and I rode a great white shark bare-ass naked today while you were dueling. Most fun I've had in a long time." Crystal said with a smile.

Dan looked confused. "I thought you were frozen in time?" Crystal nodded. "I was until one of them poured some sort of yellowish liquid over me. Then we all went swimming with the sharks!"

Crystal got serious for a moment. "Both of them insisted that we not 'mate'". She held up her two fingers and moved them up and down at the word mate. "They seemed quite adamant about it."

Dan looked at her and then looked down at his feet. "Why?" he wondered.

As if reading Dan's mind Crystal said, "I have no idea why. But I made a promise to them." A silence penetrated the air. After a moment Crystal then said "Skyka doesn't seem as mad at me anymore." Another pause came in the air. "Are you?"

Dan smiled. "Naw, it happens." He reached over and lightly punched Crystal on the arm and started laughing. Crystal smiled. She still felt bad about it.

During their cruise Crystal came upon a car with expired tags on the license plate. She called it in, and the car wasn't stolen. She put her flashers on and the car pulled over.

"Watch my back." She said.

"Definitely!" She looked back at him and smiled.

Officer Candy slowly approached the car and had her hand on her gun. She knocked on the window. It slowly rolled down.

"Good evening, how are you doing tonight?"

"Fine. Was I speeding?"

"No your tags are expired. Can I see your license and registration?" The driver looked as if he was going to smack himself on his head.

The driver complied and Officer Candy walked back to her cruiser. She called it in to dispatch for any felonies. None came back.

"Your call, do I ticket him?" Crystal looked at Dan and smiled.

"Do you want me to go search his car really quick?" Dan suggested. Crystal seemed to ponder the idea for a moment and then shook her head. "I'm just going to let him go."

"Wuss…" Dan said with a smile. Crystal pointed her middle finger at Dan and he started laughing.

Officer Candy walked up to the car and returned the items. "I'm going to let it go this time with a warning. Get those tags up to date ok?" The driver nodded, smiled and thanked her. The driver took off.

She started back to the car and could tell that Dan again was watching every move that she was making. She then unbuttoned her top two buttons and opened the door and leaned forward. Dan took notice to it and began adjusting himself in his seat. She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. She then buttoned up her uniform and off they were again.

Dan let out a loud yawn. Crystal soon followed. "Stop that!" She said and reached over and smacked him. Dan smiled.

"I am pretty tired." Dan admitted.

"So am I, but I don't want this night to end…" Crystal said trailing off.

"I know, but we'll have tomorrow."

"You're riding with McGee tomorrow. He's kind of an ass…" Dan thought of the cop with the glasses on and nodded. He then let out another yawn.

"Ok you win…" Crystal said and drove him home. "He's going to pick you up at fifth and third at approximately 1pm." Dan nodded. Crystal turned in the direction of his house.

Several minutes passed and soon they were there. Dan then reached over and kissed Crystal on the lips for several seconds. "Thank you for a great night!" Crystal nodded and smiled. Dan got out of the cruiser and used his key to get in the house. The cruiser took off and she was heading back to the station to get some sleep as well.

Dan dragged himself up to his room, fell into bed and was instantly asleep. He didn't notice the little figure hanging right above his door, blending in with his surroundings - almost like a chameleon. Two daggers in both of his hands. The daggers themselves seemed to glow black in the night.

Later that night about five in the morning there was a loud thud on the front door, and then it swung open. A masked man dressed in all black made his way in. He was carrying a pistol with a silencer on it. He slowly closed the door behind him and made his way throughout the house. He then walked upstairs and opened up the first door. There were Dan's parents fast asleep in their beds. He then proceeded down the hallway and checked the next door. It turned out to be a bathroom. The next door turned out to be an office.

"Must be the bedroom at the far end…" He thought. He slowly opened the door and saw Dan fast asleep, in a rather uncomfortable position. His left leg was hanging off the bed, and his head was hanging off from the right side. The man let out a smile and pointed his pistol at Dan's head as he began to advance towards him. He put the pistol right up against Dan's head and put his finger on the trigger.

Suddenly the figure jumped off the wall and drove his dagger into the man's upper neck. It was just a little cut, but the man dropped to the floor instantly. The figure then quickly put his daggers in their pouches at their sides and leaped out of the room in one bounce. He then cleared the stairs in two hops, flew the door open and began running behind the house. Lindel was hiding in the bushes. The figure jumped into Lindel's arms and instantly disappeared in a flash of light.

Dan awoke the next day. His arms were throbbing and his neck hurt from the way he was sleeping. He let out a yawn and uncovered what little blankets were covering him. He then stepped out of bed, landing on the man's arm. He lost his balance and fell to the right. He saw the man's gun, how he was dressed, and a small cut on the back of his neck that seemed to have healed itself up.

"Mom! Dad!" Dan yelled. He then kept yelling until the two of them staggered into his room. His mom saw the man lying down on the ground and screamed. His dad leaned down to check his pulse. He didn't feel anything. He grabbed his son and his wife and quickly ran downstairs.

On the way out of the house he grabbed the phone and dialed 911.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Goodman. We just found a man that tried to kill my son last night in his room." He gave the address and stayed on the line.

At the station, the dispatcher summoned an officer to go check it out. Word quickly spread though and seventeen cruisers eventually ended up coming on the scene - along with medical and a coroner.

Bernett was the first on the scene. "Where is he?" His dad pointed up the stairs and the cop drew his gun and entered the house.

"He's up the stairs in the far room!" Dan yelled. Bernett heard him and held his gun at eye level as he approached the room. He quickly opened the door and saw the body on the ground. He held the gun at the man's head and checked his pulse. There was none. He quickly looked over the man and only found a small slit in the back of the man's neck. He slowly stepped out of the room so it could be secured and evidence could be collected.

Officer Candy then showed up. She had to park a block away because of all of the traffic. She quickly ran to Dan and jumped in his arms.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." He kept repeating over and over. She then looked over his body really quick just to confirm. Then she let out a deep sigh.

Dan's dad then piped up. "Are you sure you want to be an officer son?" A quiet fell over them. Dan nodded his head and looked up at his dad and smiled.

"So what happened?" Officer Candy said. Bernett then hurried over to them with his notepad and asked, "Yeah what happened?"

"I don't know. I was sleeping. I woke up and tripped over him. I saw the gun and yelled for my parents."

"Did you see anything? Hear anything?"

"No, I was sleeping. I didn't hear or see anything. I was very tired last night. I was sound asleep."

"Any enemies that might want to do this to you?"

"No…" Dan said and then trailed off. He thought of all the people he killed. Nobody saw him though. He quickly shook his head and said again, "No."

"You are not giving us much to go on Dan." Dan nodded at Bernett. He closed his notebook and put his arm on his shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this." His mom then hugged him. "For awhile we're going to post a guard at your home." His dad nodded as if in approval.

Dan's adrenalin levels finally dropped and he said, "Well that was scary…" His mother laughed. The three of them then watched the coroner enter the house.

The coroner's name was Jack. He was escorted with two medical personal and a gurney. There were officers already in the room snapping pictures.

Jack said, "Alright alright, you have your pictures. Let me do my job now." He pushed the officers to the side. Jack saw the small cut on the back of the man's neck. He then moved his head back and forth and then rubbed his finger up and down the spinal column of the man.

"Amazing…" Jack said to himself. An officer bent down and said "Excuse me?"

"Well his spinal cord was severed in such a precise manor that it caused death immediately. The cut is extremely accurate. I don't think I could even make such a cut…" Jack said in amazement. He stood up and ordered the body back to his office for examination. He was eager to take a look at this one.

The body came out of the house covered in a white sheet and put into an ambulance. Jack then quickly followed behind it as they went to his office.

Bernett, Officer Candy, and Dan's family all watched.

"I'll take the first watch." Officer Candy offered.

"We'll have to talk it over with the Lieutenant." Bernett said. Candy then glared at him. Bernett ignored her and then started ordering the officers to pull their vehicles out of this small neighborhood…including Officer Candy. Before she left, her and Dan exchanged phone numbers.

"If you remember anything or if I find out anything…" It was still apparent that she was worried about him, but duty called. Dan nodded.

"We're getting a security alarm." His mom said and swatted her husband. He nodded in agreement. The three of them went inside and had breakfast.

"I have training at 1pm today." Dan announced over breakfast. His parents frowned.

"Dan you could have been killed last night!" Dan thought of Herrior eating cake and did what he did, simply nodded.

"You still want to be an officer after all that happened this morning?" Dan nodded. Both of his parents sighed.

"Why don't you do something safer, like bungee jumping or something…" his dad muttered… Dan let out a chuckle and nodded his head.

"This just makes me want to be one even more. I want to find out who did this and why." Dan said in an official voice. His Dad dropped his spoon and let out a sigh.

"We could have lost you last night…" Dan nodded. Silence fell over the room. His parents could see the determination in his eyes. Both of them sighed.

"You're an adult now…" His father said slowly. Dan nodded.

"Stop almost getting killed!" His mother screamed at him. Dan nodded at her. The rest of the day was pretty much normal. Dan made the headline news on the TV. He seemed pretty proud of that. "Finally, I'm on TV…" He let out a small chuckle.

Back at the coroner's office, x-rays were taken of the man. It confirmed what Jack suspected. The spine was ever so slightly disconnected from the brain stem. Just enough to cause death. It appeared to be in the exact middle of the spine.

Out of curiosity Jack took out a caliper and cut away the skin exposing the spine. He then measured the cut from the right and from the left. It was exactly dead center.

"Amazing…" Jack said out loud. He then recorded his findings into a tape recorder. He also logged that a stab wound like this was impossible, he then paused for a second and then said almost impossible. He then called several other coroners into his office to confirm his findings.

Dan walked to fifth and third at twelve forty-five. And, as expected, he saw a cruiser. Dan walked over to the driver's side of the door and knocked on the window. The doors power locks engaged and Dan opened the door.

"Name's McGee." Dan nodded and introduced himself. The officer nodded. The cruiser took off.

"Heard there's going to be a party in Canada for the officers…" Dan nodded.

"Heard you're going to the Policeman's ball…" Dan nodded again. McGee nodded in acknowledgement. Silence filled the cruiser as they made their rounds.

"Heard you were almost killed last night." Dan nodded again. "Let's see if we can get some more information on that shall we?" the officer said. He got on the radio with the dispatcher. The dispatcher reported that he would have to send an officer to the coroner's officer and it would be about thirty minutes.

McGee looked at Dan. He nodded. McGee then acknowledged the request.

"Man of little words. I like that." McGee said and smiled. Dan smiled back at him.

Several hours passed quietly before their first traffic pull over. McGee then pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Let Dan do this thing." He put the paper away and looked at Dan and said, "That must be you." Dan nodded. The officer than reached over to the glove compartment and opened it up. It slammed down on Dan's knees. Dan bit his lower lip in pain.

"Sorry about that…" the officer said. He took out a small container containing toothpicks and took one out and put it in his mouth. He then took sunglasses out and put them on.

"These are my lucky charms. They worked so far…" McGee let out a smile and shut the glove compartment. McGee opened his door and walked out. Dan opened his door and walked behind the cruiser and knelt down beside the front quarter panel of the cruiser. He was just out of range of the dash camera, but close enough if he had to leap into action.

The officer approached the vehicle, just like all of the other officers, with his hand on his gun.

"Afternoon folks." He switched positions of this toothpick in his mouth. "What's the hurry?"

"I'm just tired. Trying to get home after a long day." The cop nodded. His instincts instantly kicked in. This man is driving under the influence.

"Tired eh? I suppose that happens to all of us." McGee poked his head into the car and looked around. Just as he suspected, open beer cans on the floor. He nodded to himself. He then stood back up and asked the driver to step out of the car. The driver refused and began arguing with the officer. The officer reached for his mace container and the door handle. The man then hit the accelerator. Not only did he do that, but he reached out and grabbed McGee's hand. He was being dragged alongside the car.

Time stopped.

Dan grabbed his sword and leaped forward. A tiny voice inside of his head said they needed this one alive. Dan looked around but quickly approached the car. He turned his blade around and slammed the blunt side against the drivers arm. He could physically see his bones move around. Dan then jumped on the hood and drove his sword into the hood as deep as he could and dragged it along the length of the hood. Then he quickly began running back to his position. On his way he completely sliced the back right tire, rim and all, in half.

Time resumed.

Several things happened at the same time. First the suspect screamed and released his grip on the officer. Then the hood of the car flopped up and down and the car began to spit and sputter and eventually died. Meanwhile the right side of the car completely collapsed on its axle.

McGee rose to his feet with his pistol drawn and shoved it in the driver's ear.

"Pull over!" he commanded. The driver continued screaming and pulled his arm in and held it. Eventually he stomped on the brake and put the car in park.

"Get out of the car!" The officer commanded. "Get out now!"

Dan heard squealing behind him and quickly turned around. A car turned sideways and out of control was heading towards them.

Time stopped.

The car stopped inches from Dan. Dan then got up and ran over and grabbed McGee and dragged him over to the opposite side of the suspect's car. His adrenaline was really pumping now. Dan then ran behind the cruiser at a safe distance and watched things unfold.

Time resumed.

The squealing continued and slammed into the suspect's car. It would have killed McGee. The suspect's door was pinned against the oncoming car. It was a lady driver that apparently had lost control. She seemed terrified. Even more confused with McGee. He was on the ground on the opposite side of the car. He shook his head and his cop instincts instantly kicked in. He drew his gun on the suspect. He saw that a car now had the suspect pinned so he opened up the passenger's side of the door and crawled through and dragged him onto the ground. The suspect's arm was so badly bruised and dislocated that McGee thought about putting the hand cuffs on his legs. But decided against it. McGee slowly cuffed him and put him in the back seat of the cruiser. He called in medical over his radio.

The lady got out of her car and was badly shaken. This seemed to back up traffic. Several cars were honking and trying to pass around the car. The cars made a "T" formation closing off two complete lanes. The lady was crying and shaking hysterically. Dan wanted to go over and help her, but didn't know if he would get on the dash camera.

"McGee, the woman may be having a panic attack…" He shut the door and walked over and took the woman out of traffic and had her sit down in the grass and started looking her over for injuries. She was fine but badly shaken.

McGee then opened his trunk and put down orange cones and flares on the road. He turned on his overhead lights as a precaution as well. He then called in a wrecker to help clear the mess. He also called for backup. McGee was instructed to say "Guardian Angel" over the radio if Dan was involved, so he did.

After he did everything that he could to do control the situation he walked over to Dan who was still crouching behind the left quarter panel.

"Mind telling me what happened?" He said and switched his toothpick to the opposite side of his mouth. Dan shook his head.

"That car would have slammed into me wouldn't it?" McGee asked. Dan nodded.

"The suspect was dragging me along the road wasn't he? McGee asked again. Dan nodded.

McGee then put his arms on his hips and looked at the suspect's car. Certain parts of the car underneath the hood were smoking and steaming badly…also the car's right wheel fell completely off. It was cut in two. McGee then looked back at Dan.

"Any idea how this happened?" Dan smiled and shook his head. McGee then pulled out another piece of paper. He read it out loud. "Don't ask any questions to Dan about weird stuff that happens." He then turned to Dan and said, "Well this definitely fit's the category." He shifted the toothpick again.

McGee outstretched his hand and pulled Dan to his feet and then shook his hand. He then whispered in his ear, "Is this one of those army 'don't ask don't tell' things?" Dan nodded.

"Fair enough." The suspect's car suddenly gave way and collapsed in on itself. It almost seemed to fold in half sideways.

"It's going to be hard to explain this one." McGee said slowly. Dan nodded and tried to do his best facial impression of McGee. The officer looked down at him, reached in his pocket and pulled out a toothpick case. He opened it and gave him one.

"This is for special occasions. Ok?" Dan nodded. Dan then said, "I need to get out of here, and I can't be caught on camera." The officer nodded. In the distance he could hear sirens in the distance closing in on their location. Just then the drunk threw up in the back seat of the officer's car. The lady started to scream and grabbed her legs. She couldn't have been no more than seventeen years old. Probably driving her parent's car.

McGee sighed and looked at Dan and smiled, who now had the toothpick in his mouth. McGee rubbed his head and said, "I have no idea what you did, but apparently the rumors are true. Thank you."

Dan nodded and started to seem anxious. McGee could sense it. He saw a police cruiser coming up behind them on the break down lane.

"Take this car; I'll maintain the situation without backup for awhile." McGee said in a distant voice.

The cruiser pulled up and it so happened to be Officer Candy. She smiled at Dan and put the car in park. She quickly ran up to McGee and asked what happened.

"I don't know everything happened so fast…" He looked at Dan, smiled and gave him a wink. "The suspect's car must have hit something that caused it to explode, and the ladies car must have caused all of the damage to my drunk's car. Near as I can figure that's what happened." McGee looked up at the sun and switched sides of his toothpick again. Officer Candy smiled.

"This man needs a ride out of here. Could you help with that?" McGee asked.

"Yes Sir!" She then started back to her cruiser, her pony tail bouncing back and forth. Dan started to walk but a firm hand grabbed his shoulder.

"If you ever need anything…I owe you…" McGee said.

"I need help getting in shape and fighting with a night stick." Dan blurted out.

"Consider it done." They shook hands and Dan entered Candy's cruiser. She then drove around the accident and floored the cruiser. They were up to seventy miles an hour in no time.

"Funny how we keep running into each other." She said. Dan let out a laugh.

"There's a bank robbery going on in Burt County. It's about one hundred miles away." Dan looked at her and nodded. She then turned on her lights and siren and pushed the cruiser as hard as it could go.

"What's the situation?" Dan asked. Crystal shushed him. She had both hands on the wheel and her full attention was on the road, making hard braking actions to avoid cars and then stomping on the accelerator. Dan decided it was best to be quiet. Obviously she wasn't as trained as Bernett was when it came to driving. They were now on a straight away with cars on both sides of the road pulling over. The cruiser's engine roared so loud it was almost deafening. Dan peaked over at the speedometer and it was pegged at 120, but the odometer was spinning very fast. Dan nodded to himself and tightened his seatbelt.

They arrived within thirty minutes and the standoff was still happening. She pulled up behind the swat team's truck. Officer Candy jumped out of the car and went over to the chief. They talked briefly and then came back.

"They have a sniper on the roof over there." She pointed to the opposite side of the road. "They have hostages, and they have already killed two. They want a helicopter to land on the roof.

"What floor are they on?"

"Third we think…" She turned to Dan and he was gone.

Time was stopped.

He drew his sword and blasted off the front door's lock and pushed the door open. There were two guys in masks. He swung at the first and then spun around and hocked off the others stomach. Two demons appeared to come out of the fallen gunmen. Dan quickly cut them down and they disappeared. He then started running up the stairs.

"I wish I had more than fifteen seconds on this one…"

Time resumed.

He looked around and didn't see anything. "Third floor." He was then grabbed by a person in black.

"What are you doing here?"

"Kicking ass and taking names…" Dan said with a smirk. "What are you doing here?"

"There's an operation underway to free the hostages. I'm with the swat team. More members are going to come in through the window."

"The two guards at the front door are dead." Dan moved his arm off from his shoulder. The swat team member grabbed him and pushed him in the corner.

"Ugh…this isn't going to work."

Time stopped.

Dan pushed the swat member out of the way and ran for the stairs. He reached for his sword and sliced one demon in half as he ran by. He then reached the other set of stairs and began running up them. A snake-like looking demon fell in front of him. It had four eyes and two tongues. Dan didn't take time to notice too much, he just simple passed his sword through the middle of it. The head dropped and he stepped on it climbing the rest of the stairs.

"Excellent!" He heard in a small light quiet voice from all around him. Dan took a quick second and looked around for it, but then continued on his way.

Time resumed.

Dan was staring at the situation. His heart was beating frantically now. "Mental note, get in shape…" He said to himself.

There were five gunmen, two hostages with bullet holes in their head - another either tied up on the ground. One of the gunmen was on the phone, probably with the negotiator on the ground. He seemed obviously upset. The others were pacing back and forth looking at their hostages. They seemed nervous. Dan sighed. "This place is probably full of demons and I'm going to attract them all." he thought. He put his hand on his back where his sword returns to. It's now or never he thought.

Time stopped.

Dan grabbed his sword and started towards the negotiator. With one quick swipe, his head fell off and rolled away. He heard a laughing in the background. He ignored it and went on to the next target. It looked as if he was about ready to shoot a hostage. He gripped the sword with both hands and sliced both arms off. They instantly fell to the ground. The laugh came again.

"Two down" he thought. He then charged ahead at another gunman and drove his sword into his stomach. He then gave him a good kick with his right foot as he freed his sword from his stomach. Dan then turned around and sliced another gunman in half across the shoulders. Nearly out of breath he walked as fast as he could over to the last gunman and did a simple swipe of his sword across his chest. He knelt down to catch his breath.

Time resumed.

All of the gunmen instantly fell to the ground. This scared all of the hostages, they then realized that there was an extra person in the room with them breathing heavily. He looked at the hostages and put his finger to his mouth. They seemed to all agree in sync. Dan realized that he didn't have any knives or anything to cut them free. He slowly walked by and pulled the handkerchief over their mouths off and around their necks. They all seemed to try talking all at the same time. Again Dan put his finger to his mouth and they all shut up. Dan walked over to the phone and picked it up and said, "All of the gunmen are dead, come up and get the hostages."

"Who is this?" The negotiator asked.

"Your guardian angel." and hung up the phone.

The sniper confirmed that a person appeared out of nowhere and all of the gunmen were dead. The hostages seemed to be in good spirits. Officer Candy smiled, she had gotten Dan here just in time…

Time stopped.

Dan didn't realize it had. He was still kneeling over catching his breath. A foot came up and kicked him right square in the face, sending him flying over to the other side of the room. The room was composed of all glass. He heard a small shatter as his butt ran into in. Blood was pouring out of his nose. He looked up and saw a man in a black robe and red eyes walking towards him. Dan tried to stop time but he couldn't. The man simply laughed and thrusted his hands forward and a blue beam emanated from them and slammed into Dan's chest. He could feel his body slowing down. He reached back and slowly drew his sword out and put it in the beam. The beam stopped and Dan fell down to the ground. His nose still dripping as he rose to his feet.

"Ok…" Dan said. He grabbed the sword with both hands and charged at the man. He instantly disappeared and reappeared behind him and kicked him in the butt. Dan went flying to the other side of the room. He quickly shook it off and learned from that lesson.

The lights themselves began to blink. The man's eyes grew redder. "I think I'm overpowered on this one…" Dan thought. He rose to his feet with his sword in his left hand and his hand on his nose trying to control the bleeding.

The man started chanting something and a black electrical cloud formed above his head. Dan quickly set the table on its end. The spell was released and it burned the table down completely. Dan then picked up the phone and threw it at him. He caught the sorcerer off guard and it made a "tink" sound when it hit him. The sorcerer began to laugh but realized something from him was gone. Dan then proceeded to walk forward towards him. The sorcerer then pushed both hands in front of him and the same blue light beam emanated from them. Dan quickly put his sword in the way of the beam and it dissolved. His sword began to glow blue, sending impulses to Dan's brain. It was as if the sword was teaching him how to fight.

The sorcerer seemed slightly worried about this and casted a white aura around himself. It glowed with a faint aura. Dan then took a whack at him coming from the left side; the sorcerer quickly made himself disappear and reappear behind him. Dan continued the swing in a full circle and it landed hard on the sorcerer. It seemed to dissolve the aura and let out a loud "tink" when it hit him. It also caused him to start bleeding.

"Now we're even you bastard…" Dan said as he pressed against his nose. It was still bleeding pretty well. He wondered how much blood he could lose while still staying conscious.

The sorcerer became even more concerned. He began to cast another spell, but Dan lunged forward at his chest. An even louder "tink" came, but this time his sword found its target. Dead center of the man's chest. It only penetrated a little though, but deep enough to cause a steady blood flow.

"What is this "tinking" noise? He is not wearing any armor…" Dan thought. He repositioned himself several feet from the man. The man fell to his knees with his eyes still on Dan. He then instantly changed from a dark silhouette of a man to a regular man in robes. Suddenly a brightly light came from his body. It blinded Dan temporarily and caused him some slight pain. Dan ran backwards until he was out of the light. The man did this several times. He rose up and all of his wounds seemed to have healed themselves. The man smiled and Dan grew worried. He charged at the man again and then sorcerer began to cast a spell. Dan couldn't get there in time and the spell hit him. It felt as though his entire body was on fire. This lasted for only a second, but dropped him to his knees. Dan quickly stood and started swiping his sword at the sorcerer. He sliced his hand with the same "tinking" sound. It caused him to lose a fingernail. Dan then ran forward and charged into the sorcerer again and drove his sword into the man. As expected another "tink" came out, but Dan was able to drive his sword deeper into the man's chest.

The man started to cast spells frantically, but Dan kept interrupting them with strikes to the man's chest. Finally he did get a spell off and again it felt like Dan's entire body was on fire for a quick second. It knocked him to the ground. Dan's legs were shaking very badly as he picked himself back up.

The sorcerer looked different somehow. Drained was the best way he could describe it. The sorcerer raised his hand in the air and another aura surrounded him.

Dan walked over to him, his nose still bleeding, and found out he couldn't raise his sword so he chopped at the man's legs. The sorcerer easily avoided it and jumped over to a safe distance. He then pulled a staff out from under his cloak and smiled.

Dan sat down for a second to catch his breath. He had his sword in front of him. The sorcerer started moving back and forth. The lights began to return to normal. Dan could feel strength returning to him. He jumped forward with both hands on his sword and sliced his staff in half. It made a loud crackling sound and what looked like red electricity shot out from it. There was no "tinking" sound anymore. But Dan didn't notice.

"No!" He cried. The sorcerer than threw both ends of the staff at Dan. His sword easily deflected them. The sorcerer than held both hands in the air and it looked like he began summoning power from all around him. Strings of blue electricity began to climb from his feet upwards. Dan swung at the sorcerer's leg and it easily penetrated the robe and made his leg disappear from existence.

"No! I must not fail!" He was still channeling energy. Dan stood to his feet and weakly stabbed the man in his chest. The sword easily sunk into his chest. Dan was surprised how easily it went in. He could hear the man gasping for breath from the hole. Dan then turned around and swung the sword at the sorcerer's head and detached it from its body. Suddenly there was an explosion, sending Dan flaying back into the wall. Dan heard several things breaking in his back and just simply laid there.

Time resumed.

All of the hostages screamed when they saw how badly Dan's condition was. They were shouting out to have somebody hurry up.

The sniper then reported that the man that appeared up there was suddenly against the wall and bleeding pretty badly. He reported that there were no hostiles in the area though. The Chief acknowledged and gave the go for the swat team to move in. Officer's Candy heart suddenly sank.

The swat team moved up the stairs cautiously. The leader then gave the signal to advance. They all squatted down with their rifles pointing forward. They could hear the screams and began to advance slowly. They saw Dan and moved forward towards him. They then stopped at the edge of the wall and slowly peaked around it. It was clear. The commander gave the signal to go. One of the swat members laid Dan down from a sitting position to a laying position. His shirt was ripped wide open and several ribs were exposed. His left leg was had a compound fracture, and the right side of his face seemed to have been almost blown off. His arms were badly burnt. The swat member began wrapping him in gauze and medical tape. He radioed for immediate medical personal.

"He saved us! Please help him!" One of the hostages said. The swat team started untying the hostages and radioed in that they were all ok, except for the two dead ones. The swat team also radioed in that the gunmen all appeared to have been hacked and sliced to death by some sort of large sword.

Officer Candy followed the medical personal into the building. She radioed in that the "guardian angel" is hurt badly. The dispatcher didn't understand, but several male voices came back and asked what they could do, and how badly was he hurt. She gave the street intersection and the name of the bank. She said she was going to investigate.

She ran up with the medical gurney and the paramedics with their supplies. She almost passed them on the way several times. "Hurry up!" She yelled.

They got to the third floor and immediately several men picked Dan up and strapped him in. An IV drip was immediately started. He appeared non-responsive but his vitals were still strong.

"Dan what happened?" Officer Candy asked him as she ran her hands through his right side of his head, the part that was undamaged.

They raced him back down the stairs and into the ambulance. Officer Candy then raced behind them to the hospital. She reported on his condition over the radio. It fell silent for quite awhile. She then reported that they were going to Covenant hospital. Several "Rodgers" came over the radio.

"Oh Dan…what happened to you…" Crystal kept thinking over and over. They were only going seventy miles an hour. Crystal wanted to push the ambulance there with her cruiser.

After a grueling thirty minutes they arrived at the hospital. Crystal parked behind the ambulance and helped get him down out of the ambulance. They rushed him into surgery. Candy followed.

"No press! I don't want any media in here! This man saved several cops lives. I want the best working on him!"

The doctors cut open his clothes to reveal all of the wounds. His insides appeared to be on the outside of him. It almost made Crystal vomit.

"We need to get this man into surgery, stat!" One of the doctors yelled. A "code blue" was declared over the intercom.

One of the nurses tried to stop Crystal from coming, until she loosened her gun. The nurse then backed off and Crystal continued to follow them.

They ran down several hallways and into a clean room. The doctors started scrubbing up and Officer Candy did the same.

"You can't come in here!" Officer Candy then gave him the dirtiest look and began moving towards him.

"Ok then…just stay out of the way." The doctor said.

Surgery began. They started removing the black darkened skin off from the body. They then started realigning his ribs the way that they were supposed to be. His injuries were so bad that they could see his heart and lungs operating. They then started doing skin graphs and stretching his skin to cover up the exposed areas. They then looked at his face. His left eye was still intact and still responded to light stimuli. They then started covering up his face with gauze. They moved on to his arms and legs - covering them with medical gauze as well. He was almost covered head to toe with gauze. The surgery lasted almost three hours, and then he was moved to the recovery room. Crystal moved with him. She sat by his side and listened to his heart beat on the monitor.

"Are you family?" A nurse asked from behind her.

Crystal spoke without turning around "No! I'm a cop with a gun. What do you want?"

"Visiting hours is almost over. He'll be in good care with us. You should go home and get some sleep." The nurse said politely. Crystal then stood up and approached her with her hand on her gun.

"It's policy. It applies to everybody. I'm sorry."

Crystal unstrapped her gun and continued to advance.

"Make an exception!"

The nurse nodded and left the room. She called security, but by then more officers appeared. They weren't going anywhere.

The Lieutenant had to call in some reserve policemen and officers from other stations to help cover the lack of officers on duty. Then the Lieutenant left to go to the hospital.

"How is he?" he asked. Officer Candy shook her head. "He's severely disfigured. His vitals are still good, but he may not be able to walk again or move his arms. He had a big gouge taken out of his head." she said sadly.

The Lieutenant nodded. "And the press?"

"I'll shoot anybody who comes close…" The Lieutenant smiled. "I'm going to post a guard outside his room. You are on medical leave as long as you need to be, paid." Officer Candy slowly smiled at the Lieutenant.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nobody knows, time was stopped." Officer Candy blurted out and then regretted what she said. The Lieutenant walked over and put his arm on her shoulder and squeezed it. She looked at him and he had a small smile on his face.

"Watch over him. That's an order!" He said. Officer Candy nodded.

Today he had a feeding tube shoved down his throat and a catheter, placed up his urethra. No reaction out of Dan. A nurse came in and changed out his bandages. When she took them off, his face was still several disfigured, his eyes shut. His arms, legs and chest looked like he was in a bar fight and lost big time. He was bruised and burnt all over his body. Crystal started shedding tears again.

"Where are you Skyka?" she whispered.

Pretty soon the fresh bandages were replaced and the nurse left. Crystal scooted her chair back over and Dan and squeezed his hand. No response. Another tear came down from her cheek.

Several days passed. The balloons, cards, and presents almost overflowed the room. Almost all of the officers from the station stopped in to check up on him. There was still no progress. Officer Candy looked horrible. She had not slept in days. Officer Branzer came in and put an arm around her.

"I'll take over if you want to go home and get some sleep." Officer Candy refused at first and drew closer to Dan. Her eyes were completely blood shot and her body was shaking. Officer Branzer stood her up and looked at her eye to eye.

"His condition isn't going to change. If you don't get some sleep and some food in you, you're going to be in the hospital with him." His grip tightened on her, he was going to drag her out if he had to.

Tears again started flowing. She nodded. She slowly left the hospital and drove slowly to the station. She dragged herself up to her room and started munching on some peanuts. She then hit the pillow and instantly fell asleep. She was out for twelve hours.

Officer Branzer brought in several books with him and started to read to Dan.

"This one is 'Of Mice and Men'." He chuckled and started reading it.

"Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones." Dan's heart monitor and other equipment in his room showed no improvement.

After several hours of being read to, Dan's parents came walking in. Branzer instantly set his book down and saluted them. Both parents smiled and his mother instantly ran over to her son.

"Still no idea what happened?" Branzer shook his head. "But I do know he is the bravest person I know. He saved eight people that day. Your son is a hero, in more ways than one. He's saved several of us officers on the job. You should be proud of him." He said in a commanding voice. Both parents nodded.

"But look at what happened to him…" His mother said. Branzer nodded. He didn't know what else to say.

"Ma'am, he is one of us. After some tests and some training he will be an officer, but we consider him one right now. He rides with us every day." Dan's mother wasn't paying attention, but his father nodded. His mother sat next to him and started stroking his hair. Still no response from Dan. His father walked over and investigated all of the tubes and monitors. He then picked up the blanket exposing all of Dan's bandages.

"My word…what happened? It looks like he was in an explosion!" Branzer nodded.

"We're still unsure what happened. The swat team found him up against the wall." Branzer said. "He was in pretty bad shape…" his voice trailed off.

"There may have been a bomb in the room." Branzer said and shrugged his shoulders.

His mother was now crying over her son. His father was trying to hold back tears.

"What's the long term prognoses?" His father said. Branzer then shrugged his shoulders again.

"We have an officer posted outside his room, and one of us in his room at all times." Branzer waited for a minute. "Is there still an officer posted at your home."

"Yes and thank you." His father responded.

"I was reading him 'Of Mice and Men'". Branzer held up the book. The parents didn't seem to care.

Just then several doctors came and tried to come into the room. Branzer turned around and put his arms on his waist. He puffed up his chest. It completely blocked the doorway.

"We need to talk, please let us through." Branzer then turned to the side and let the doctors through. They did a quick examination of Dan and requested a CAT scan of Dan.

"No!" Branzer said with his arms folded across his chest.

"Officer, we need to check for brain activity. Just because his vitals are strong it doesn't mean that other parts of his brain weren't damaged." His parents nodded. Branzer was nervous. He talked with Officer Candy earlier about giving Dan a CAT scan. He suddenly scratched his head not sure what to do.

"Reality of the situation is he might be just a vegetable the rest of his life. We need to check for brain activity." One of the white coats said. Both of his parents nodded again. Branzer moved out of the way and watched them wheel Dan out of the room. His parents followed. Branzer than told the guarding officer not to let anybody in, even the nurses. He acknowledged the request. The officer than closed the door behind him and pulled out his pistol and cocked it. He spread his legs and put both hands on his pistol and pointed it towards the ground. Nobody was getting in…

The doctors moved Dan into position and started the machine up. It whirled up to speed and started producing pictures. What the doctors saw absolutely astounded them. According to the pictures, not only was there brain activity, but it seemed like his entire brain was active. Both frontal lobes almost blinked off the chart with activity.

"Oh my…" One of the doctors began to say.

"What is it?" Branzer said?

"You're not supposed to be here!" One of the doctors said and tried to push him out. It was useless though, as if trying to move a brick wall.

"Well, what do you see?" Branzer asked.

"There certainly is activity, but tremendous activity. Look at the ventricles…look at the Falx." The doctor rambled on several other terms Branzer didn't understand. Branzer began to break a sweat.

"We need an MRI of this…its amazing! It's definitely worth studying!" The main technician said excitedly.

"No!" The officer shouted and placed his hand on his gun.

"Or not…" The technician said slowly. The room remained quietly for several minutes. Then the officer spoke up.

"Are we done with this test? Is he a vegetable?"

"Of course not. His brain is ten times more active than any other brain. Neurons are firing that we don't even know what they do." One of the doctors was saying.

"Good we're done here…" Branzer commanded. He looked every doctor in the eye and they didn't seem to want to argue. Branzer then entered the room and wheeled Dan out of the machine, put him back on his gurney and wheeled him back to his room. He then reentered the room with his pistol drawn and pointed it right at the doctors heads.

"This never happened! Is that understood?" Branzer yelled at the top of his lungs. One of the doctors seemed to urinated himself and the others nodded.

"Where's the tapes at that record this?" The technician pointed to a compartment on the desk. Branzer then slammed his pistol down so hard on the tapes that it shook the entire room. It seemed to destroy half of the station.

Branzer than looked up and nodded at everybody. "He's not a vegetable. He needs the best care that he can get! Order it!" He then slammed the door so hard behind him that all of the pictures on the wall fell off.

His parents, who were waiting outside in the waiting room with everybody else, quickly walked up to the officer.

"What was all of the commotion?" His father said.

"Sometimes doctors are quacks…" Branzer said shaking his head. "Your son's brain is fine and very active. I'm going to take him back to his room. You're welcome to come." Both parents nodded and followed behind him.

The guard stationed at his room was having an argument with the head nurse.

"Is there a problem?" Branzer said.

"I need to clean this room!" the nurse said. She seemed very tense.

"Let her pass, we're done anyways." Branzer remarked.

The officer opened the door, but placed his arm in front of the nurse preventing her from going into the room first. Branzer wheeled Dan in and placed him back in the normal spot that he was in. The guard finally released the nurse and put his gun away.

"It seems like you officers are really concerned about our son." Dan's father spoke up.

"Like I said, he's one of us. If he doesn't get the correct treatment here we'll move him." Branzer said firmly looking at the nurse who seemed to be ignoring him.

Within hours the head director of the hospital came down to have a discussion with Officer Branzer. Dan's parents were still there. The director got right up into the face of Branzer, who was sitting down at the time.

"Just who do you think you are?" The director started in. Branzer quickly rose to his feet and pushed the little man back several feet.

"I am Officer Branzer. I am responsible for his well being. I may have damaged some equipment, so just take it out of the tax payer's money. He will make a full recovery even if I need to have every officer down here checking every sheet that is brought in, every procedure that is done, and every injection that is done to his man. Now then, who are you?" He pointed his finger at the much smaller man and jabbed it into his chest.

The director lost his breath for a second. He started wheezing and coughing and then stood up firmly again.

"You'd think we had the President in here or something…" the director left and slammed the door. A smaller nurse came walking in with a surprise on her face.

"I need to check his vitals." Branzer nodded. While she was doing that, the officer walked over to Dan's parents.

"The situation is under control as you can see. We'll keep you updated if there are any changes." They both looked drained and nodded.

"Thank you Officer." Branzer just nodded as they passed by him.

After the door shut the nurse said, "Hmm…"

"Yes?"

"Well his temperature is now back to a normal ninety-eight point six. His blood pressure is one-ten over eighty, and he appears to be blinking with his good eye."

Branzer raced over to confirm. Dan, still unable to move any other part of his body was indeed blinking.

"That a boy son! You need to fight this!" Branzer said in a cheering voice.

"I'm going to go get the doctor and report these findings. Maybe we can try to communicate with him." The nurse said. Officer Branzer's excitement could not be contained. He jumped on his radio and announced that the "G.A." - which was what they were calling Dan for short now, was showing signs of recovering. Several officers came back and cheered.

Meanwhile Officer Candy slowly turned and tossed in her sleep. Her belly was aching from the lack of food, but sleep over powered it. She had an unusual dream. She was standing naked in the dead of night on the shore where Skyka and Quinely took her. A pair of eyes was looking at her in the water and seemed to be beckoning her. Officer Candy stepped into the water, but didn't sink. She took several more steps and realized that she was walking on the water.

The pair of eyes grew from the water and formed a blob looking thing. It grew a hand and beckoned her to keep coming. It seemed to have a pleasant aura around it. Crystal smiled at it and proceeded to walk on the water towards it.

The figure slowly formed a mouth and began to speak softly.

"Crystal…come…I mean you no harm. Come…" It seemed to say over and over. Crystal was drawn to this figure and drew closer to it. After awhile she seemed to be floating towards it instead of walking.

"Come my dear…come closer…"

Crystal was now inches from the blob looking thing. It began to shake itself and a human man took form. He was completely naked as well, with very long pointed ears. He was about two feet taller than her.

"Take this to Dan…" The man outstretched his arm and a white sphere appeared in it. It seemed to be singing and Crystal could feel it emanating energy from it. She nodded and closed it up in her right hand. The man suddenly disappeared. She was standing in the middle of the ocean alone.

"Quinely! Skyka!" She yelled. No answer. She yelled again and again. Unknown to her she was actually speaking the words out loud in her sleep as well.

Just then a dolphin jumped out of the water and seemed to be sitting on top of it.

"Yes?" The dolphin spoke in Quinely's voice. Crystal gently bent down and started to pet it.

"Dan had a terrible accident. He may die." The dolphin shook his head to the response.

"Lindel and Jacklyn are dead right now. Skyka is the only one keeping everybody alive. We're in a very heated battle right now. That is why we have not come to his aid. Our forces are being driven back, but reinforcements are expected soon. We'll be there in a couple of days." The dolphin then jumped back into the water and Crystal woke up from her dream. Sweat was pouring out of her body. She realized she was still holding the orb. She opened her hand and stared at it for awhile. It was about the size of a marble, made of the brightest white light she had ever seen. It seemed to be humming to her.

She quickly got her uniform on and raced out of her room. She passed the kitchen and grabbed a donut. The cook tried to say something to her but she was already gone. She jumped in her cruiser and roared the engine. She made it to the hospital in under fifteen minutes.

Crystal raced to Dan's room, donut in one hand, crumbs on her shirt, and marble in the other. Her hand appeared to be glowing, even as tight as she could grasp around it.

"You can't come in here." The guard said. Crystal plowed into him and knocked him to his feet. The guard was not expecting the hit. She quickly showed him her badge and he acknowledged her. She flung open the door and saw several doctors and nurses around Dan. Branzer was sleeping in the chair.

"Get out!" She screamed. The doctors and nurses just looked at her in surprise. "Now!" This woke up Branzer and he quickly rose to his feet.

"What is the meaning of this?" Crystal pulled out her magnum and pointed it at the doctors. "This is the meaning of this…out now!" Branzer started picking up people and moving them out of the room against their will. The others followed. Branzer then locked the room.

"Close the shades!" She ordered as she put her gun away. Branzer did as she said. She then put the orb on top of Dan.

"What is that?"

"I'm not sure, but I had this weird dream and some tall man gave me this to give to Dan. I woke up and it was in my hand."

Branzer nodded but had no idea what she was talking about. There was a knock on the door.

"Go away!" Both cops yelled.

Crystal then tried to catch her breath. "Now how do you turn this thing on…" The orb was just resting peacefully on Dan's chest. She tried moving it up to his head, and then his feet. She then placed it back on his chest.

"Ok…instructions would have been helpful…" She said. She screamed at it, "Work!" Nothing happened.

"Maybe he needs to swallow it?" Branzer said. Crystal nodded. She grabbed the orb and placed it in his mouth, but it would not fit down his throat with the feeding tube in there. Branzer sighed.

"Ok, maybe it's not an instantaneous thing. Maybe it takes time." Branzer nodded.

"Let's hide it underneath him." They picked him up and placed the marble underneath his body.

They both stood there and stared at his body. His vitals didn't change. The light from the marble was completely hidden from sight.

Just then a yellowish crack appeared at the head of Dan's bed. It seemed to slowly separate with blackness in the middle. It was only about four feet tall and didn't make any noise at all. A man full concealed in a brown robe came out of the hole and it quickly sealed itself up behind him. Both officers drew their guns on the man.

"I am here to activate the orb. I mean you no harm. I can only be here for a minute though; there are others that need me."

The man quickly retrieved the orb from underneath Dan's body and began to chant some words. Both Officer Candy and Branzer had their guns trained on him.

Halfway through the enchant the orb became a bright white light that completely engulfed Dan. Both officers had to shield their eyes. Even the light from the orb came out from underneath the door. Unknown to both officers, the man slipped out of the room using the same yellowing crack.

The light continued to emanate for several minutes and then died down. Several minutes had passed and both of the officers still had their guns out. They pointed them towards the ground and both honed in on Dan's head. They both got so close to his head that they could hear him breathing.

Dan opened his good eye and tried to mumble something, but all of the gauze wrapped around his mouth prevented him from doing so. Both officers adrenaline started flowing as they unwrapped his head. It was perfectly normal. Both of his eyes worked and he was breathing really hard through his nose.

Dan then mumbled something else and began choking.

"Get the feeding tube out!" Crystal shouted. Branzer grabbed a hold of it and yanked on it as hard as he could. Dan sat up and gasped for air from the tube being yanked out so hard. Both officers than pushed down on Dan and his back was again against the bed. Dan started breathing normally.

"Not…so…hard…" Dan managed to whisper. Crystal then screamed and hugged him and started kissing him all over his face. Dan's face turned to Branzer.

"I hated that story…" Branzer gave a hearty laugh, picked up the book and threw it in the garbage.

Crystal then grabbed Dan's head and turned it in her direction.

"Dan, Lindel and Jacklyn are dead. Quinely told me. They are fighting a fierce battle right now." Dan nodded in sorrow. Quietness filled the room.

"Who are Lindel and Jacklyn?" Branzer finally asked.

"Friends…" Dan answered slowly. Dan let out a sigh and fell back into bed.

Silence again filled the room.

"What can we do?" Branzer asked. Dan shrugged his shoulders.

"Well where are they at?" Branzer persisted with the questions. Dan shrugged his shoulders again.

"Well we can't just sit here! Friends of Dan are in trouble. I can make some calls and form a task force…" Dan raised his hand.

"I should be there with them…" Dan said with deep regret. The officers looked at each other and Crystal said, "We should be there too!"

Another knock came on the door. Dan looked towards Branzer and nodded. Branzer could tell a tear was falling down his face. Crystal looked deeply troubled as well.

"Well there's something that we have to do!" Branzer screamed. He walked over to the door and opened it. It was the officer with the glasses on, toothpick in his mouth.

"What's with all of the commotion?" he said in a smooth voice. Bernett was behind him and several other officers. They all filed into the room. They saw the bandages off from Dan and started to cheer. Branzer quickly shook his head.

"Two of his friends died. This is not a time for cheering." The officers quickly stopped themselves - as if time stopped. Silence filled his room.

Dan did a quick status check. He couldn't move his left arm or legs and his chest hurt. He quickly uncovered himself, exposing himself to almost the entire police force. Several of them looked away. Crystal's face became a dark red and put a hand up to her face as if to shield the sight from her.

"Get these bandages off from me. I want to see how bad I am." The officers were not doctors and didn't know how to respond. Several started, but then stopped.

"Please, get them off. I want to see. And get this catheter out of me!" Dan said. Branzer reached for the hose and Dan's right arm intercepted him. "Slowly this time…"

Branzer grabbed the hose and gently gave it a tug. Dan winced in pain. "Get it out of me!"

Branzer then pulled harder. Dan bit down and grunted as the rest of the hose was pulled free. Dan then let out a breath of relief.

"Now please, get these bandages off from me…slowly." Dan added. Crystal was the first to grab one of the bandages and pulled. Several hair strands came up with it. Dan winched in pain.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea…" Branzer said.

"I want to see the damage myself. The doctors can always wrap me up later again. Please!" Dan sounded desperate now. Branzer walked over to the shelf and grabbed a wash cloth and rolled it up.

"Bite down on this. If any skin starts coming with the tape, we're stopping." Dan nodded his head and bit down on the wash cloth.

Branzer was the first to pull a strand of tape off. Dan bit down hard as more of his chest hair came off with it. Bernett then joined in, as well as several other officers. Officer Candy decided that she didn't want to hurt Dan so she monitored for blood and skin being pulled off.

With all the tape off, Crystal took the wash cloth from his mouth. It was almost bit all the way through. Dan stood up and uncovered himself with the gauze. A very thin layer of skin covered his chest. It was almost see through. He then took the gauze off from his arm and looked at it. Dead skin lay all over it and seemed to dangle. He then looked down at his legs. His thighs were badly burned, but his lower legs looked ok.

"Ok, the majority of the blast must have hit my face, left arm, and stomach area."

Crystal looked at the other officers and then looked solemnly at Dan.

"There was no bomb hun. No traces of any type of explosive material could be found. It's a mystery why you are in as bad shape as you are."

Dan became stern. "It's no mystery. I was fighting some sort of sorcerer and he exploded…" His voice then trailed off. "Damn it" he thought. He looked around at the officers and they were waiting to hear the rest of the story. Nobody seemed to doubt him.

"Go on…what did he look like?" Bernett asked.

Dan sighed and fell quiet.

"Hun, we are here to help. You've saved almost all of our lives and helped us tremendously. We owe you. Everybody here is friends." Crystal said grabbing his bad hand.

"Hey I have feeling in that hand…" Dan thought and smiled.

Dan let out another sigh. "Ok, make sure the room is secured." Bernett opened the door. Nobody was in the hallway; he looked at the officer guarding his room and said again that nobody is allowed in.

"Yes sir!" He grabbed his night stick and began slapping it in his hand. Bernett then shut the door and locked it.

Dan's vitals on the monitor appeared to be getting stronger.

"I need to begin training…maybe I could have kept Lindel and Jacklyn alive…" Dan whispered. Crystal ran her fingers through his hair.

"Tell me where they are…" Branzer said in a very serious tone. Dan again shook his head.

"If they are messed up with drugs or dealing or anything, we can over look that…" Dan laughed and said "No".

Dan took a deep breath to begin his story. He could feel his energy returning. He looked around the room and everybody was completely quiet.

Dan thought for a minute about what Herrior said. "He could bring somebody if he wanted…" He thought he implied Crystal…but what if he could bring everybody? "Hmm…" He said out loud.

Dan's mind shifted gears. "How much weapons do you have at the station?" he said with a grin. Crystal thought about the creature she shot at. Her bullets seemed to do no good. She looked at her curiously.

Branzer spoke up. "A small arsenal, but we can get some more. We can do some raids and get even more." Dan's face was lightening up. "Finally…" he thought.

Dan nodded. "I need to get back into shape as quickly as possible. It's very important. How long do you think they'll keep me here?"

Bernett spoke up. "Son, your guts are almost sticking out of your stomach. You can't move your left arm, and your legs are badly burned. I'd say you got another good month if you are a quick healer…maybe…"

Dan nodded. "Can you get me out of here in two weeks? I'll need skin graphs to cover my stomach." The officers all nodded.

"Want me to go get a doctor?" Bernett asked.

"Yes, please."

Bernett quickly left the room and walked over to the nurses' station and asked Dan's doctor. The nurse paged him and said it would be just a moment. Bernett then smiled at the nurse and started wandering the halls. An hour passed and he finally showed up.

"Yes, can I help you?" The doctor asked.

"Come with me…" Bernett said directing him into Dan's hospital room.

The doctor saw Dan and dropped his chart and his mouth fell open. "How…"

"I was given a 'Get well card' so I got better. Doctor I have a question for you. Can you come in?" Dan said with a smirk. The doctor maneuvered around all of the officers in the room and came to his bed side. Dan lifted his blanket and revealed that he had taken off all of his bandages. The doctor gasped and said, "No!"

"Calm down. I wanted to see how badly I was injured." The doctor quickly started examining Dan's head from trauma. There didn't appear to be any sign of any cuts or bruises. Dan grabbed his arm firmly and pulled him down to eye level.

"How fast can you fix me?" Dan asked with a serious tone.

"I…don't…I don't even know how you became this well in the first place…"

"Irrelevant…answer the question." Dan said.

The doctor got out his pen light and began to examine his chest. There appeared to be at least two layers of skin on his stomach. He could still see his internal organs working. He then examined his legs and started touching his toes. Dan wiggled each toe that the doctor touched. He then worked his way up to his thighs. The doctor could still smell burnt skin on his leg.

"This will need to be cut away…" Dan nodded.

The doctor then started touching the thigh and felt the muscles move. "That's good." He said. He then worked his way over to where Crystal was. She didn't seem to want to loosen her grip on Dan.

"May I?" She slowly handed over the arm to the doctor. He began to examine it.

"It looks as though this arm took the blunt of the force. You can see that the actual skin was pushed back." He held it up and Dan could see some of his skin dripping down from his arm.

"That's the hand I had my sword in. That makes sense." He thought to himself.

"Dan how did this happen?" The doctor questioned.

"An explosion."

"I didn't find any shrapnel of any kind…"

"You wouldn't…so what's your prognosis doctor?"

The doctor stood back and thought about it for a second.

"Your chest will grow its own skin back, so long as you don't do anything strenuous. Your dead skin is going to have to be removed, and we'll have to do some surgeries on your left arm. I estimate you could be out of here in a week if we put you on a rush order."

"Do it!" Bernett commanded. The doctor wrote down some new notes on his pad. It seemed to take forever.

"Ok, we'll get right on it." The doctor smiled and left the room.

"Crystal." Dan said. She then closed in on him, inches from his face.

"Start moving my things into the station. My parents will help you." She smiled and nodded.

Dan then slowly picked himself up with his hands. "In a short while, we'll need to do some raiding. We are in need of some serious firepower. Hide it, bury it, and keep it in your house. Make it a secret…but we're going to need a lot of it." The officers seemed to nod and look at each other in agreement.

"I'm going to do my best to be out of here in a week." Dan said with a smile. He then threw the sheet back over him.

"I would still like an officer with me and a guard." Bernett nodded. It was his turn anyways.

"On to a different subject, who tried to kill me that one night?" Bernett spoke up.

"The man had no finger prints or toe prints. His DNA doesn't match anything that we have in our databanks. We don't even know where he got his clothes from…But! The stab wound, according to our coroner, was so precise and exact that it caused death instantly. It's one for the record books that's for sure."

Dan thought of Herrior. One of his group members must have been watching over him. He wondered which one. He smiled.

"Ok everybody leave, I want to take a shower." The officers excused themselves and Bernett slowly got him into the shower and turned it on.

"I'm going to hold you the whole time ok?" Bernett stripped down to his underwear. Dan nodded. The water was cool and refreshing. Then instantly he felt pain on his thighs. He let out a scream.

"What is it?" Bernett dragged him out of the water.

"No no! Put me back in." Dan looked down at his thighs and saw the dead skin peeling off. Bernett looked down at it and nearly throw up.

"This needs to come off. It'll buy us some recovery time." Dan said. He grinded his teeth together and slowly moved his way back into the shower. The blackened skin quickly fell off and Dan let out a loud scream. The skin underneath looked pink and fresh.

"Now my left arm." Tears were falling down Dan's cheeks. Bernett repositioned himself and slowly pushed his arm into the water. Dan let out another scream. Dan didn't make any motion to move back out, so Bernett just kept him there.

The screaming brought in a nurse, "What is going on?" she demanded. She then ran to the bathroom and yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Taking…a…shower!" Dan grunted between his teeth.

"Make the water hotter, please." Dan said. Bernett did as he was instructed. Dan's arm seemed to mold itself back into place. The loose skin tightened up and repositioned itself above his arm. It almost looked normal. Dan's chest began to start bleeding.

"Ok that's enough, get me back in bed!" Dan said sternly. The nurse turned off the water and helped the officer put Dan back in bed.

"Ok, now pain meds. And lots of them!" Dan said helplessly. The nurse ran out to get the doctor. Bernett gave him the same wash cloth and put it back into his mouth. Dan bit down on it almost instinctively.

The doctor was close by and ran back into the room.

"What were you doing? You shouldn't be moving around."

"I need pain meds!" Dan yelled.

"Ok, ok…on a scale of one to ten…"

"Ten! I need something now!"

The doctor ran out and fifteen long minutes later the doctor ran in and injected something into Dan's IV. Several seconds later Dan was sleeping peacefully.

"What happened?" The doctor asked.

"He wanted to take a shower. The dead skin fell off from his legs and the skin repositioned itself on his arm." The doctor quickly whipped off the sheet and nodded.

"That's one way of doing it. No wonder he was in such pain. He just cut his recovery time in half. He's going to need a lot of pain meds over the next couple of days though. He's got a painful recovery ahead of him." The doctor placed some more gauze on his stomach, enough to cover the whole thing and taped it off. He then placed some more gauze on his thighs.

Bernett was busy putting his police uniform back on. He could hear the doctor yelling at him, "Don't let him take off the gauze this time!"

Bernett replied, "It was his idea." he said with a smile. The doctor grunted and let Dan sleep.

Every four hours Dan was given some more pain medication. Every eight hours the policeman was switched as well as the guard stationed outside of his door. A squad car continued to remain at night at his parent's house. Everyday his bandages were changed. He was released after three days.


	4. The Other Side

The Other Side

Dan moved into the police station with ease and began his workout program. The police chief had ordered new construction on the entire building. The grant issued to the department was enormous.

Dan had his own room where he did push-ups and sit-ups every day. He ran a mile every day. After his workout every day, his stomach always bleed. He put gauze on it and always found somebody to spar with night sticks with. Dan always wore a flak jacket to protect his stomach.

The night of the Canada party had come. They had rented a bus and all of the officers piled into it. The trip took seven hours and they finally arrived.

"O'Malley's?" Dan said, and the entire bus cheered. Apparently this was the location.

The bus parked and everybody piled out. Dan was first. He got a funny twinge in the back of his head. He rubbed his hand through his hair and decided to ignore it. From behind Dan Crystal jumped on his back and gave him a kiss on the neck. She was wearing her short cut-off shorts a low cut tee-shirt. Dan smiled.

"Hello…Crystal…" Dan said slowly. She giggled, grabbed his hand and ran inside.

The officers entered the bar and started moving tables around so that they all could sit together. The Lieutenant ordered the first round. Dan ordered a Mike's Hard Lemonade.

"The tip is on me tonight boys, and the hotel is a mere mile away. The bus will drive us. So have fun boys!" The Lieutenant said and everybody cheered.

After the first round, the officers decided to play a drinking game. Dan excused himself, seeing how he was only nineteen and coming out of surgery he would probably kill himself if he drank too much. He felt another twinge on the back of his head. He quickly turned around and didn't see anything. Then he scanned the bar and didn't see anything unusual. Seven people just walked into the bar and all of them eyeballed him. Dan rubbed his eyes and blinked. "Is that who I think it is?" he thought.

"What is it my love?" Crystal said. "Time obviously wasn't stopped because Crystal was still talking." Dan thought.

The seven of them then waved at Dan, except for the smaller one who just simply raised his hand. The one in front was enormous. He looked like a biker. The second one appeared to be female but was almost as big as the biker guy.

"Quinely, Strings, Trackolania…" Dan muttered to himself.

"What?" Crystal said.

"Excuse me for a second." He placed his drink down and walked over to the group.

As he approached them, he could tell that the man in the back was obviously chanting something, his eyes set deep back in their sockets.

"Hello, young one." The biker said. It was Herrior! Dan nearly jumped. Dan pulled up a chair up to the table and had a big smile on his face. He looked for Jacklyn and Lindel.

"How? You died?" Skyka smiled and said, "Yeah, but I resurrected them." She winked at both Jacklyn and Lindel. They smiled back.

"I hear you had a close call as well…" Herrior said quietly. Dan nodded and tapped his chest.

"But I healed up from it…" Dan said but was interrupted.

"Excuse me!" Skyka said interrupting him. "Believe it or not I had a Guardian Spirit cast on you. It lasted long enough for you to heal. That's why your vitals were so strong…" Herrior held up hand.

Dan then realized that she had been watching over him the whole time.

"If you would have actually died, it would have brought you back to life. I didn't have time to baby-sit your ass…" Skyka continued and winked at him.

"So the obvious question, what are you all doing here? And why are you all different?" Herrior pointed to Mohania. It looked as if he let out a smile and continued his chanting.

"As for the other question, we're here to drink." Strings said and smiled. Herrior nodded. A pinch came into his stomach and he felt himself bleeding. Skyka rose to her feet the same time that Crystal came over to Dan."

"Are you alright?" Crystal asked.

"I don't think so, this one hurts badly."

"Come outside with me…" Skyka said and grabbed his hand. Dan then reached back and grabbed Crystal's hand and she was dragged along. They went into the back alley and Skyka quickly took off his shirt.

"Armor?" Skyka asked.

"Sort of…" Dan unstrapped his flak jacket and it fell to the ground. It landed with a loud dull thud.

"That would be useful…" Skyka looked at it curiously. She then started waving her hands together. A bright light emanated from Skyka's hands. She chanted something and suddenly a white ball of what looked like bright white ball of electricity entered Dan's body.

"Stop!" Crystal screamed and pulled on Skyka's shirt.

"Wow!" Dan felt his stomach. The blood was completely gone and all of the pain had disappeared. He started hitting his stomach. Then he started punching his stomach.

"How did you do that?" Dan asked.

Skyka pushed Crystal off from her and simply smiled. She patted him on the cheek and reentered the bar.

Dan reached down and put his shirt back on.

"That was Skyka. She's a healer." Dan said. Crystal was in awe. Dan then looked down and saw the flak jacket.

"Better put it on just to be safe so nobody suspects anything…" Dan took his shirt back off and as he began to put his flak jacket back on Bernett came out and peered around the corner. He saw Crystal and Dan standing next to each other.

"Sorry, just wondering if everything was ok…Carry on…" He was obviously drunk.

Dan finished strapping the jacket on and put his shirt on over it.

"I've got some people I want you to meet." Dan said excitedly. He grabbed Crystal's hand and they rushed back into the bar.

"Ok…ok…" she said.

Dan ran in back into the bar and all of the officers cheered for him. He waved at them and looked in the corner. Herrior tipped his hat to him. Dan then walked over and sat next to Herrior and Crystal sat next to him.

She gasped as she recognized Lindel and Quinely. "Hi…" she said and gave them a small wave. They both blinked at her.

"This is Herrior, Skyka, Jacklyn, Quinely, Strings, Trackolania, Mohania, Lindel." Dan said excitedly. "Everybody this is Crystal." Herrior extended his hand out to her, but Dan quickly pushed it away. Skyka, Quinely, and Lindel all were wearing red dresses that showed off a good bit of cleavage and had a slit cut all the way up to the hip. The rest were obviously an illusion.

"A nod will do." Dan said thinking of the time that Herrior shook his hand. Herrior smiled and nodded.

"When you were sparring with Herrior, Quinely and Skyka all went swimming in the ocean. I rode a great white shark. They rode dolphins. It was a fantastic experience!" Quinely smiled and nodded, "We'll have to do it again some time." Crystal was excited at the thought.

"Let's drink. We have much to celebrate, for we have won a great battle!" Herrior said. He then took out a bag and poured the contents on the table.

"Do they take gold here?" Dan shook his head, but was amazed by the gold coins.

"Then what do they take?" Dan looked at Crystal. She pulled out her purse and showed him a twenty dollar bill.

"May I?" Herrior asked very gently extending his hand. Crystal placed the money in his palm, which felt very hairy. She pulled her hand back gently. Herrior simply smiled at her. He handed the paper to Mohania.

Mohania then seemed to talk in several tongues as once. Instantly several bills that looked exactly like the Crystal's bill flew from his hand and onto the table. Dan and Crystal both stared in amazement. Mohania handed her back her bill. She quickly took it and put it in her purse.

Dan reached out and touched the pile of twenty's in front of him. He examined it thoroughly. It was an exact copy and it even felt real. Herrior started to chuckle as he gathered up his gold and put them back into his bag.

"I'll have a waitress come over. Hide all of this somewhere; you can't have that much money out!" Dan said.

He quickly went over to a waitress that seemed to be flirting with Branzer.

"Sorry for barging in, but my friends over there would like some drinks." The waitress nodded and left.

"Dan! You little runt, you sent away my waitress…" with that he let out a hearty laugh.

"Sorry but my friends want to order." Branzer rose out of his chair and started to approach the group of seven in the corner.

"Any friend of Dan's is a friend of mine." Dan walked with him and was a little bit timid about the encounter.

"Officer Branzer, at your service." Herrior rose out of his chair and outstretched his hand. Branzer took it and suddenly dropped to the floor in pain.

"Herrior!" Dan yelled. He let go of his grip and sat back down.

Officer Branzer got up off the floor and said, "Wow, buddy! You have quite the handshake." He started rubbing his hand.

"Let us buy you guys a drink." Herrior said. Skyka stood up and reached into her dress between her breasts and pulled out five twenty dollar bills and handed it to him.

"Wow! Thank you my lady." Branzer ran back to the table and said, "We just got another free round!" The officers cheered.

"I think you just made some more friends…" Dan said with a smile. Dan turned to look at them.

"We're forming a task force with a lot of weapons to come out and help you guys." Dan said in a serious tone. He looked at Herrior who looked at him solemnly. "They want to help."

"They will die." Herrior said and looked at them. They all seemed to be kicking back beers and enjoying themselves.

"They will all attack from a ranged position." Dan said. Herrior nodded and considered it. Trackolania let out a grunt.

"Give us time to watch them." Herrior said slowly.

The waitress arrived with a menu and greeted the nine of them.

"We'll all take some ale!" Strings said. She looked confused at him. Strings nodded.

"They'll have some beer. Make it a Budweiser for everybody and keep them coming. Skyka?" Skyka pulled some more money from her dress, what seemed to be around two hundred dollars and the waitress's eyes widened.

"Right away." She said gathering up the money.

Bernett yelled over, "Come on Dan and Crystal! We're going to play some games!" He was slurring his words really bad.

Herrior motioned for them to leave. "We'll meet up again." Dan nodded.

"Ok, here's the game. If you can catch the coin before it lands in the cup, you don't have to drink it." Bernett said. Crystal downed the first glass and chased it by a beer. She then let out a scream and all of the cops hollered in excitement.

"Easy guys, I'm just recovering remember…" Several "awws…" came from the crowd but was quickly dissolved. Just a week ago his life hung in the balance. He sipped his lemonade and watched.

Crystal seemed to keep losing at the game, and took several more shots. It was obvious she was becoming drunk. Dan just smiled and listened to the conversation.

The Lieutenant rose to his feet and started tapping his glass. Silence fell on the officers.

"I would like to thank our 'Guardian Angel' in our group for everything that 'he" did…" He kept moving his fingers up and down. Everybody cheered. Dan just smiled and downed another gulp.

After the cheering calmed down the party lasted several more hours. Herrior and his group didn't appear to be drunk at all. Dan was watching them out of the corner of his eye. They were matching the officer's drink for drink almost. Mohania's and Trackolania's beer just simply sat in front of them.

The officers decided to call it a night. They all gathered up on the bus and they drove to the hotel. Everybody got a keycard and went to their rooms to sleep it off. Crystal was following Dan, he had noticed. Dan entered the keycard and entered his room. The door swung slowly shut and a foot stopped the door from closing. Crystal opened the door and looked at Dan seductively.

"I'm drunk…" She said. She let herself in and closed the door behind her.

"Yes…yes you are." Dan said. Crystal took over her shirt and threw it at him. Her black laced bra barely held anything in. She then kicked off her shoes and unbuttoned her pants.

"We're not supposed to…" Dan said slowly.

"Not supposed to what?" She unzipped her shorts and slowly let them fall to the ground. A lacey black thong was exposed underneath her shorts. She then kicked them to the side. She ran up to Dan and tackled him into the bed.

"Oh yeah…this is going to be fun!" She shouted. She took off Dan's shirt and started rubbing his chest. She then started bouncing up and down on his crotch.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She started screaming. Then all of a sudden her neck shifted downwards and a gurgling sound grew up her throat.

Time stopped.

Dan closed his eyes as he made time stop. He slowly looked up and Crystal. Vomit was just starting to come out of her mouth.

"How disgusting…" he thought. He quickly crawled out from underneath her and grabbed the wastebasket from the bathroom. He placed it on the bed and bent her over it.

Time resumed.

Huge amounts of vomit came up. The noise of it alone was disgusting enough to almost cause Dan to vomit. He was hiding in the bathroom. The vomiting stopped for a minute and then started back up again. Dan rolled his eyes. This continued for about five minutes. Then everything was quiet. Dan came out and saw Crystal fast asleep in the bed. The waste basket was half full. He grabbed the bucket and poured it down the toilet and flushed it. He then put the basket back next to the bed that Crystal was sleeping in. Dan sighed and covered her up - she was snoring. He then took her keycard and left his on the table.

"Good night…" He said as he closed the door. He decided tonight was a good night for a walk. He was buzzed but hardly drunk. He started looking through the hotel and found a hot tub that several officers were using.

"May I join you?" Dan asked. The officers scooted over and motioned for him to come over. He didn't have swimming shorts on, so he just sat with his legs in the water.

"Soo…how's Crystal?" All of the officers laughed.

"She vomited and fell asleep…" Dan said. The officers laughed even harder.

After the laughter died down, the officers started to really do some talking. One of them, he hadn't met yet, said that he thought his wife was cheating on him. Bernett nodded and said "Sorry to hear that. My wife seems to be loyal to me so far…" They talked about wives and kids for the next hour.

"I hope I meet a woman that won't cheat on me, that'll love me for who I am." Dan chimed in. All of the officers nodded.

Branzer said, "That's what we all hope for, but it rarely happens kiddo…women get bored after awhile." Another cop raised his beer to that remark and took a swig of it.

"Women are complicated and hard to understand, unlike us men. We're easy to figure out…" Another officer said. Dan smiled at that comment.

"We men are simple…we are the ones that discovered fire, and invented the wheel…"

"To get away from the women!" The laughter started up again. Even Dan laughed at that one.

Branzer then swatted Dan and asked, "So who was the man that crushed my hand?"

"He is the man we're going to be fighting with." Dan said quickly as he took another swig.

Branzer nodded too drunk to really understand what he meant. He went to take a swig…

Time stopped.

Dan quickly looked around and wondered what happened. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his sword. He continued to look around and didn't see anything. He then entered the pool area and saw a woman figure completely naked with a tail behind her. The tail came to a triangle shape. Her figure was unforgettable. She was completely purple and had a wicked grin across her face. She had a black aura around her body.

Dan adjusted himself to an attack position. The woman stuck her tongue out and it seemed to extend about two feet and was forked at the end. She knelt down and jumped into the water.

"Come on in…the water is warm…" she said very seductively. Dan kept his pose and adjusted his grip on the sword.

She smiled at him, "I can fulfill every fantasy you ever desired…" She then blew some dust from her hand towards him. The dust engulfed his head and images of her and the purplish creature were filled in his head of them having sex. He slowly released his grip on the sword. The woman and start chuckling.

"Crystal!" he shouted and shook his head. The images then went away, but the woman was still there. She was swimming towards him.

"Aww…we could have so much fun! You don't need that sword…" Her tail wiped around and encircled the sword. The sword began to glow, and Herrior quickly started swinging it back and forth. Eventually it cut through her tail. She let out a hiss. She grabbed the side of the pool and jumped out of the water in one leap. Dan backed up a little. The woman rose up her hand again to blow some more dust at him, but he quickly ran behind him. The dust just dissipated into the air. She let out another hiss.

Her body was still dripping from the water. She then smiled at him and moved her hands over her body.

"Who are you?" Dan asked.

"I am all of your fantasies put together into one…" That sinister smile came back again.

"I have all that I need thanks anyway…" Dan replied, he had both hands on his sword and was looking for the perfect opportunity to attack.

"So that's how you want to play then…rough…I like it." She bent down on all fours and she started to grow fangs and her finger nails enlarged. She let out a soothing growl.

Dan held his ground as the beast approached him. The two of them just stared at each other for about a minute. Then the beast made her move. Dan's sword came down on the creatures head. He then slashed at the creature's body, making a deep cut into her body. The creature landed limp on the ground and Dan drove his sword into the creatures back. The creature then burned up, leaving no trace of it.

Time resumed.

Dan's sword disappeared as usual. The officers were so drunk they hadn't even realized Dan had left. Dan sat down to catch his breath.

"They're getting tougher…that one could read my thoughts. So Sorcerers I stay away from when they explode, and guard my mind against these creatures." He took several deep breaths and then continued quietly, "They are getting sneakier…I must be on my guard."

Dan stood up and took a final deep breath. "Where are they coming from…why are they tracking me?" He looked up at the sky and saw several stars twinkle. He felt a trickle of blood coming down his arm. He looked at it and shrugged it off.

"Time to call it a night." Dan found Crystal's room, inserted the card and crashed on the bed. He lay awake for awhile thinking about her. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Time stopped.

A flash of light appeared in Dan's room and Herrior and his group appeared. Lindel quickly walked over to Dan and put her hands over his eyes. A blue sparkle of dust fell down from it. Dan smiled again and let out a moan.

"He's going to be out for quite awhile." Lindel said with a bit of satisfaction. "He'll be having pleasant dreams for the rest of the night…"

"Good." Herrior said in his usual thundering voice.

"Hush my love…keep it down. People are sleeping…" Skyka said and pinched Herrior. He let out a grunt.

They were not in their disguises anymore. Herrior's horns almost scrapped the ceiling. The all moved furniture around so that they all could sit in a circle.

"We have much to ponder…" Herrior began.

"He is coming along nicely I think." Lindel said with a smile. "He's guarded his thoughts against a Succubus and killed a sorcerer."

"I've killed hundreds of them…so what?" Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded.

"But my dear, he is in love. He used that against the Succubus." Lindel said

"The mind is full of powerful magic resistance…" Mohania said in a deep eerie voice. Herrior nodded. Trackolania let out a sigh. Herrior tossed him a coin. He took out one of his daggers, and balanced the coin on the tip of his dagger and spun it around. It seemed to keep him occupied.

"Yes. This Crystal seems to be a powerful friend of Dan's…but is she strong enough to fight? She may be transformed into a fallen warrior, and then we'd have to kill her." Strings said with a hiccup. Herrior nodded.

"Yes…we have lost many friends to fallen warriors…even time stoppers…" Herrior said in a slow voice. They all nodded.

"She can be taught." Quinely said.

"She could die." Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded at both comments.

"I can resurrect her, but that'll drain my power. I need it for healing." Skyka spoke softly.

"Dan mentioned that the officers have weapons…lots of them. They maybe a powerful ranged ally." Herrior spoke softly. Trackolania seemed to be offended by that comment. He reached his hand up and continued spinning the coin on the tip of his dagger.

"Should we involve them?" Lindel asked.

"We do have guard duty for the castle coming up…" Herrior said slowly. "Ranged weapons would be nice. When their weapons are used up, Lindel could vanish them back into their realm." Lindel nodded her head. Herrior nodded in understanding.

"What about Crystal? Should we fit her with a weapon? The weapons she carries are quite primitive." Skyka spoke up.

"She'll need to visit the monks...She'll need to withstand time stopping like the rest of us…That will be dangerous…The conversion process will be harsh…" Mohania said. Another nod came from Herrior.

"Let us ponder this for a week. Love is a powerful weapon. She may benefit us yet." Herrior spoke softly. Trackolania smiled and started bouncing the coin on the tip of his dagger. He gave it another spin.

Strings nodded. "If she falls in combat, will Dan still fight?"

A silence fell over the room.

"I'll talk with him about it…" Herrior said. "I still believe he is going to be a good fighter."

"Trackolania barricade the room. We'll rest here tonight. And talk with him in the morning." Herrior announced. Lindel then held up her arms and a bluish light filled the room.

Time resumed.

Trackolania pulled some thin wire from a pouch in one of his belts. The then attached it to several places on the wall. He did it with such speed it was hard to tell what he was doing. The wire seemed to infuse itself into the wall. He then tugged on one of the wires and it dug into his finger. He put his finger in his mouth and stood back to admire his handiwork.

They all placed their weapons in the corner of the room, except for Trackolania who always slept with his daggers on. Herrior's shield made the loudest noise when he dropped it.

"Shh…" Skyka said and lead him over to a spot on the floor next to Dan's bed.

"Lay with me my love." Herrior bent down and kissed her and then shook his head. Herrior sprawled out on the ground, armor still on, and Skyka curled up beside him. He then put one of his arms over her and they fell asleep.

Mohania seemed to be enchanting something and bluish electricity came from his hands. He suddenly threw them up into the air and it hit the ceiling and seemed to move through the room in waves, similar to that of throwing a pebble into the water.

"Anti-magic shell is up..." He announced. He found a spot in the corner and laid down with the rest of them.

Twelve hours passed. Herrior's snores were almost deafening, but the party seemed to be used to it.

Crystal woke up first, leaned over the bed and puked again into the waste basket. "How did that get there?" she wondered. She started trying to recall what happened the night before. She tried to stand up but was very woozy. She put both hands on her head to steady herself. She noticed that she was just in her underwear and her clothes were tossed about the room.

"Oh crap…what happened last night!" She started looking around the room and quickly got dressed. She checked all of the rooms and found nobody.

"Whew…I didn't do anything stupid." Then her memory came back of trying to seduce Dan. Her headache started back.

"Oh crap!" she thought, "no mating!"

She noticed a keycard on the desk. The room number was hers. She quickly exited the room and looked at the room number. It didn't match the one on the keycard. Just then her stomach started gurgling again.

"Oh no…" she thought and ran into the bathroom and threw up again.

"I'm never drinking again…" she said out loud. "I need to go check on Dan!" She closed the door behind her and proceeded to the room number with the keycard on it. She could only go at a walking pace though, her head was spinning.

"227..." she said as she arrived at the door.

"Dan!" she yelled and knocked on the door. No response. Trackolania heard the noise and quickly jumped to his feet. He then jumped up and dug his daggers into the wall and slowly started to disappear out of sight.

She inserted the keycard. It blinked green and she tried to push the door open but it wouldn't move. She started slamming her body against it, as Trackolania's strings began to break.

"Dan!" She yelled out again in desperation. Trackolania tightened his grips on the daggers and squinted in concentration.

Finally she knocked the door open and Trackolania instantly jumped on her. He put a dagger to the front of her throat and started snarling in her ear. Crystal felt a dagger slowly being pushed into her back.

She then let out a big gasp. Trackolania then recognized her smell and slowly withdrew her daggers. Trackolania then slammed the door shut with his feet. He jumped off from Crystal and snarled at her with her daggers drawn.

"Ok…please don't kill me…" Crystal said slowly. She felt for her police belt. Then she remembered that she left it back in the office. She started slowly backing up and Trackolania matched every move that she made.

Herrior heard the commotion and got up. He then walked to Crystal. She began to scream, and Herrior picked her up and put a hand over her mouth.

"Guard the door Trackolania." He nodded and jumped back on the ceiling and began to fade from sight.

Herrior put Crystal into bed with Dan.

"What did you beasts do to him!" Crystal said. She then started shaking Dan. He slowly woke up and said, "Hi Crystal!"

"Who are these people?" Crystal said in a panic. She was staring at Herrior the big brown cow with white horns coming out of his head. He was hairy all over with big black hoofs. Dan yawned.

Crystal looked around the room and recognized Quinely and Skyka. They both waved at her. She saw Mohania and let out another scream. He let down his hood and exposed his dark wavy hair that seemed to be moving on its own. He let out a smile and it looked as if several worms were moving around in his teeth. She screamed again. Mohania let out a laughter that seemed to echo throughout the room. Herrior then looked over at him and frowned.

"Sorry…" Mohania said with a grin.

Dan fully woke up after all of the screaming and asked what was wrong.

"These…beasts…" was all Crystal could say.

"You meet them before…they were just a little bit different." Dan said in a slow voice. Mohania then started speaking some words and instantly Herrior was transformed into the biker outfit. Crystal could not believe her eyes. Herrior smiled at her.

"Don't be afraid young one. We will not hurt you." Herrior said leaning over towards her. Crystal scooted back a little on the bed. Mohania then stopped the illusion and Herrior turned back into a large cow.

"Crystal." Dan said slowly. "They are my friends. We will be fighting side by side with them." Dan took her hand and looked into her eyes. "It's ok."

Crystal slowly nodded and swung her legs over the bed. Dan did the same thing.

"Who…what are you?" She asked.

"I am a Minotaur!" Herrior said. Skyka piped up, "I am a Blood Elf." Herrior nodded.

"We're not sure what Mohania is, but he's harmless." Herrior said with a chuckle. Mohania smiled and folded his arms.

"Hi Crystal!" Skyka and Quinely said, "Are you ok?" Crystal slowly nodded.

"We spoke about you last night, and we need to speak to you this morning." Herrior knelt down beside her on the floor. Dan seemed confused but didn't say anything.

"Do you love Dan?" Herrior said slowly. Crystal turned to Dan and then back to Herrior. She slowly grabbed his hand and nodded.

"Would you die for him?" Crystal thought for only a second and nodded.

"Would you be willing to suffer pain for days for him?" Crystal tilted her head and squeezed Dan's hand even harder. Eventually she slowly nodded. She reached back with her other hand and felt a trickle of blood. She pulled her hand out and showed Herrior.

"I see you were met by Trackolania…Skyka!"

"Of course my love." Skyka then pushed her down on the bed and flipped her over. Skyka was amazingly strong for her figure. Skyka then began to chant some sort of language and within seconds a white ball again emanated from her fingers and shot into Crystal's body.

"OOOooo…" Crystal said as her body was filled with a soothing sensation she had never felt before. The blood instantly stopped and the cut closed up. Skyka then flipped Crystal over and straddled her.

"All better sweet heart?" Crystal nodded with a smile. Skyka then reached down and fluffed Crystal's hair. This made Crystal smile. She got off from her and backed up.

Herrior then spoke up. "Crystal, would you like to fight with Dan side-by-side?" Dan instantly became concerned and looked at her. Crystal looked at Dan with a smile and nodded.

"We'll make the arrangements. Your body needs to be altered to accept frozen time. We don't have enough potions to give you every time we stop time. Every inch of your body will scream in pain. Many don't survive. We can get started immediately if you wish." Herrior announced.

"Herrior!" Dan jumped up and said in protest.

"No it's ok. I'll do this for you. You saved my life, and now I will return the favor." Crystal said hugging Dan. Herrior smiled. Skyka walked over and put her leg up on Herrior and an arm around his waist.

"Ah love…" Skyka said. Herrior nodded.

"Crystal I don't know what's involved. I don't know what they are going to do to you…" Dan started to say frantically.

"We actually don't know either. The monks perform the ceremony." Herrior said. He then looked at Dan and said, "You are needed here. You may not come with us." Dan became very concerned and started to protest the idea. Crystal turned to him and put a finger to his mouth. She then slowly kissed him passionately on the lips. Then she slowly stepped back and asked, "How long will this take?"

"About a week." Herrior commented.

"So I can still make the Policeman's ball?" Herrior nodded. "We all planned on making it." Herrior added. Crystal nodded and said "Ok".

"Why can't I come? I want to be there with her." Dan said.

"The monks do the conditioning in their chambers. It's locked until the process is over." Herrior paused for a second. "You wouldn't want to hear the screams anyways…"

Crystal and Dan looked at each other suddenly. Crystal let out a sigh and nodded.

"You stay here and condition yourself Dan. I will be back, I promise." Crystal said in an empty voice.

"Trackolania will stay here and help you." Herrior looked at the ceiling and a small nod came from him exposing himself. Slowly he then faded into the dark.

"Ok…let's not delay this process." Herrior said. His group formed a circle. Crystal walked over to Dan and gave him a big hug. "Thoughts of you will bring me through this." She kissed him on the cheek and entered the circle.

Lindel chanted something. A great white light enveloped around them and then they were gone. Dan waved at the nothingness in the air. A small tear came down his cheek. He heard a small thud from behind him. Trackolania walked up to him and hugged him. Dan fluffed his greasy, unwashed hair.

"Guess it's just you and me for awhile huh." Trackolania nodded.

"Ok, guess we're going to have to get you on the bus before it leaves." Dan said. They walked out of the room and checked out.

"There's the bus, but there's already people getting on it. Trackolania then instantly disappeared. Dan could hear his leaps toward the bus.

"Hey!" One of the officers said. He was suddenly pushed out of the way. "Who pushed me?" The officers helped him up, but were unsure who did it. Dan smiled and started walking to the bus.

They did a head count and showed that Officer Candy was missing.

"She's staying awhile with her Grandma. She said she'll be back on duty within a week though." Dan piped up. The Lieutenant frowned and sat down.

"She'll probably wish that she was…" Dan thought. The bus started up and began it's way home to the station. Dan felt an arm grab his leg. Dan jumped a little. He looked underneath the seat and saw Trackolania there. He nodded at him and then began staring out the window, wondering what sights and sounds and experiences Crystal was going through. Another tear fell as he remembered what Herrior said about the pain.

"Please make it through it…" he whispered.

Instantly Herrior and his group appeared in a room built with stone. It felt very cold in this room. Herrior looked everybody and smiled. Crystal was standing there with them, bewildered as to what just happened.

"Judging from your impression of me, we should probably blind-fold you for the duration of the trip." Herrior said.

"No, I'll be ok…" her voice was very scared. Herrior looked at Lindel. She smiled and walked over to Crystal. She placed her hand over her eyes and they were instantly blackened.

"I can't see!" Crystal screamed.

"It'll wear off in about two hours." Lindel then gave her a hug and a kissed on the cheek. She then leaned over to her ear and said "It's for the best. Trust us."

Slowly Crystal nodded. Lindel took her hand but quickly pulled it away. "I want Quinely and Skyka." Lindel shrugged and the two of them came up to both sides of her and grabbed her hands.

"Just concentrate on Dan. It'll help you through the darkest of hours." Herrior said. She nodded and they began to walk.

It became very dark in the catacombs and Lindel produced an aura around herself and threw a ball of light into the air in front of them. Crystal could feel the energy from it and it seemed to sooth her.

"Somebody talk to me, I'm scared." Crystal said. Herrior looked at Strings. He nodded. He took out a lute and began to play it. It instantly soothed her and built up her confidence.

They walked for almost a mile underground until they could hear muttering ahead of them. Herrior opened the heavy wooden door and walked in. About twenty monks dressed in all brown robes with a golden rope tied around their waste had gathered around a flat stone.

"We're here Crystal. The monks are ready."

"How many are there?" She asked. Strings was still playing his lute.

"Twenty." Herrior said. He then walked over to the head monk and whispered what he wanted done to the woman. The monk nodded. The head monk then waved for all of the other monks to come around him at the back of the room and they quietly discussed what was needed.

"Is Dan safe?" Crystal asked.

"He's got Trackolania with him, he'll be fine." Herrior said emotionless. Crystal nodded. Lindel then spoke up from quietly.

"Hun, you are going to have to be naked to do this."

"Why?"

"Because your clothes will end up catching fire and burning you…" Lindel said very quietly. Crystal became very worried, even with Strings playing his lute.

She slowly nodded. "Everybody turn around and turn off the light." Lindel looked at Herrior. Herrior shrugged and nodded. Lindel quickly stopped the spell and the room went completely dark. Then, as requested, everybody turned around.

Crystal slowly undressed herself and put her clothes in a corner. She then felt for the table and jumped up on it and laid down on it.

"It's cold." She said.

"Yes young one…" Herrior said and ran his hairy hand through Crystal's hair. Crystal then flexed her hands open and closed. She then wiggled her toes.

"I'm ready…" she said with a lot of hesitation.

Herrior spoke up slowly. "Remember the image of Dan. Concentrate on him. Focus on him. Think of all of the things that he said. Repeat them over and over in your head…" Crystal nodded and began to cry.

"Will you be checking up on me?"

"No, you and the monks will be all alone for the week." Herrior said. She didn't like that.

"And this will make me be able to stop time?"

"No, this will make it so you can move while time is stopped. You'll be able to fight side-by-side with everybody when he stops time, just like we are able to do."

"Cant you just cast a spell or something." She could hear Lindel laugh. "No sugar, I'm sorry." Crystal felt Lindel move closer to her. She reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I'm scared." Crystal said. She sounded absolutely terrified.

"Remember what Herrior said. It'll help." Crystal nodded again.

The head monk came back over to his original position. "We're ready. We'll come get you when the process is over." Herrior nodded but nobody could see him. Lindel created a light aura around her body so they could see and the seven of them left. The wooden door shut and was sealed.

"You may not remember me, but I helped save Dan's life." A monk said. She remembered the voice.

"Thank you. Will you help me through this process?" The monk reached out and patted her on the stomach. His hands felt very cold, and very alienish it made her cringe.

"Just concentrate on something…ok?"

The monks then began chanting all at the same time. Tiny little blue sparkles entered the room from the floor. The chanting became louder. Shadows began to dance on the wall.

"This isn't too bad so far…" Crystal thought as she enjoyed the light show. Suddenly all of the blue lights flew into Crystal and exited out the other side. Crystal screamed. The lights began doing this rapidly. Soon green orbs came up from the floor and started passing through her. This hurt even more. Her body began to float above the stone and lights from all over the room of every color appeared and passed through her body.

"No!" Crystal screamed and started crying. The pain was unbearable. It was the worst pain she's ever had in her life. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to be on fire. Just then the chanting stopped.

"Now here comes the painful part…" The monk said. Crystal gasped for breath and tried to brace herself.

The monks then started disrobing themselves to reveal hideous monsters underneath. Crystal screamed. They all seemed to scream all at the same time, and lightning flew out of the ceiling, walls, and floor into Crystal's body. The pain was so intense she couldn't even think. Her last thoughts were that of Dan.

Herrior and his group walked up the stairs and even at the top they could hear the screams.

"Think she'll survive?" Quinely asked. Herrior shrugged. His head twinged and said, "We have a job to do. There is an army of undead coming. Concentrate and forget about her for the moment. That's an order!" They then started running up the stairs and grabbed their gear.

Dan was sleeping on the bus when he was suddenly awakened. He thought he could hear screaming. He looked around and saw all of the cops sleeping. It sounded like Crystal. He felt the same hand grab his leg. It startled him. Trackolania's face appeared and nodded at him. Dan knew the process had started…and Crystal was in more pain than he could ever imagine. Dan let out a sigh as the bus continued down the road.

They arrived back at the station and everybody went to go to their bunks to sleep off the trip. Dan and Trackolania were the last ones off from the bus, mostly because Dan was being restrained by his hand. The bus driver got off and Dan reached down and patted on his hand. It let go and the two of them walked off from the bus. It was dark out and Trackolania instantly became as dark as the night so nobody could see him. He let out a small yawn. Dan nodded. Dan started walking towards the compound and eventually entered his room. Trackolania let out a small stretch and curled up next to Dan's bed. Instantly he began to let out a small snoring sound.

"So you do make noise…" Dan thought with a smile. Dan got his pajama's on and curled up in bed. As he drifted off to sleep his last thoughts was that of Crystal.

That night Dan had a horrible dream. Crystal was screaming and crying. She seemed to be falling down an endless hole. She was in the worst pain he could ever imagine. Dan started tearing up and was suddenly awakened by her loud pitch voice in his ears.

It was morning. Trackolania was sitting cross-legged on the floor staring at him. The two sat there staring at each other for several minutes.

"I had a horrible dream last night…" Dan finally said. Trackolania nodded at him.

Just then his door flung open, Trackolania quickly jumped behind the door in lightning speed and seemed to blend into his surroundings.

It was Bernett and Branzer. They looked hot and sweaty.

"What's happening to Officer Candy!" They demanded. Apparently they had a similar dream. Dan waved them into the room and shut the door behind them.

"No bull shit this time! No secrets!" Branzer said and held his finger out to Dan. Dan nodded. "I'll tell you everything I know. Have a seat."

Dan let out a sigh. "She's not at her Grandma's house. She's in a different world, or a different dimension or something. I've been training with some people and creatures from there. That is why I am able to do some of the stuff that I've been able to do." Dan looked at where Trackolania was and pointed at him. The officers turned to look at him.

"Come out Trackolania, these are friends." Trackolania then opened his eyes, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. He let out a snarl. Both Officers jumped. Trackolania then slowly came into view. This fascinated both Officers, made them temporarily forget about Officer Candy.

Trackolania had both of his hands on his daggers and slowly went across the room and sat next to Dan. He did indeed look from another world.

"Officer Candy's body is transforming right now so she can move around when time is stopped." Dan said. Both officers nodded. They both knew about Dan's secret but had not shared it with anybody.

"I have a nightmare about her last night…" Dan began to say.

"So did we. We compared dreams real quick and it turned out to be the same." The officers said.

Dan nodded. "It was probably the same that I had. It's supposed to last only a week…"

"A week!" Branzer demanded and moved quickly towards Dan. Dan nodded slowly. Trackolania slowly pulled his daggers out of their pockets. Dan put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"It's supposed to be the worst pain she's ever felt…and will ever feel…" Dan said slowly. "And truthfully that is all I know."

Branzer than sat back down. Trackolania seemed to relax. "Why is she doing this?"

"For me. When I stop time, everybody becomes frozen. This process will cause her to not become frozen in time. She said she wanted to fight side by side with me."

"So do we!" Bernett said in a loud voice. "We owe you our lives, so do many other officers!" Dan nodded.

"Which is why we need guns, we need as much firepower as we can get. You won't be immune to time stopping, but you will be able to lay down a good range of firepower." Dan said in desperation. "I've been told that a war is coming and I can bring as many people as I want, and their weapons." Both officers nodded.

"This is Trackolania. He's here to help us for the week." Both officers nodded towards him. Trackolania did not move.

"He doesn't say much does he?" Bernett said.

"He has never spoken a word since I met him." Dan said. "But he's one hundred times better than I am at what I do. He's here to help." Both officers looked him up and down. He was very small and seemed to be very young.

Dan understood their concern and nudged him. "Give them a demonstration." Trackolania nodded. He immediately jumped into the air and landed on the ceiling. He then threw both of his daggers at the door. They both sailed within inches of the officers head. Trackolania then flung himself over to the door doing a flip and retrieved his daggers.

This scared the officers and they both drew their weapons and pointed them at Trackolania. Trackolania quickly disappeared, and a within a second both guns from the officers were taken from them. Then all of a sudden several blows came out of no where and both officers fell down on the floor. Trackolania then jumped over the both of them and landed exactly where he was sitting.

Both officers were stunned and gasping for air. They both spun around and stared at Trackolania.

"Ok…ok…" Branzer said. "No more demonstration." He stood up gasping for breath.

"If it's ok, I'd like to take him in the cop car with us." Dan said. The officers then looked at each other.

"This will have to stay between us. I'll talk with the Lieutenant. It shouldn't be a problem." Bernett said still gasping for breath.

The officers sat on the floor for awhile. Branzer then spoke up, "So if this guy is from a different world and can do all of this stuff, what chance do we have?"

Dan nodded. "You'll be fighting from a ranged position only. Once your ammo is gone you're going to be 'transported' back. That's when my friends, Crystal, and Trackolania take over."

"Whose war is it?" Bernett asked.

"Demons are all around us. We fight them. Apparently they are getting stronger, and more of them are seeping into this world. Crystal got a chance to see two of them. She opened fire on one of them and shot me in the back. The other one she was defenseless against. I don't know the whole story. My friends ended up killing it." The officers listening intently. The sat still for quite awhile taking it all in.

"I'm single. We can hide the guns in my house. Only thing is we'll need to disarm the thugs without them firing a single shot." Branzer said. Dan smiled. "We'll be able to do that, we just need a trunk to carry them in and a place to store them." Branzer nodded.

"Just get us within blocks of the suspected weapons houses and we'll do the rest." Dan said. Trackolania nodded.

"Getting weapons off the street sounds like a good idea anyways…" Bernett said with a smile.

"Can we go through what Officer Candy is going through? So we can be more effective?" Branzer piped up. Dan shrugged his shoulders and looked at Trackolania. He shook his head.

"What makes her so special?" Branzer asked, seeming to be offended by this.

"The last question that my friend asked me was if she loved me, and would she do anything for me. I guess it has to do with love. I don't know. I don't have all of the answers, and Trackolania isn't talking…" Dan said in frustration. Trackolania nodded.

"Ok. Let's do this then." Bernett said and put his hands on his knees and stood up. He looked at Branzer. He nodded as well.

"This doesn't leave this room, ok?" Dan said. They both nodded. Trackolania suddenly disappeared and they all flowed out of the room. They walked outside and got into Bernett's car. Bernett took off a key from his key ring. He showed it to Dan.

"This is the trunk key. Just let me know when it's full. I want it back." Dan nodded and took it.

Trackolania sat in the middle. He had to be shown how to buckle himself into his seat.

"Rumor has it; there is a cache of weapons in a warehouse. It's heavily guarded. We don't have enough evidence for a search warrant." Dan nodded, "Take us there."

The car roared to life and they drove for a good forty minutes downtown. Occasionally Trackolania let out a snarl. Dan looked around and didn't see anything. She shrugged it off.

The car came to a stop and he put it in park. "I'm going to stay inside; this is all up to you guys."

"We'll let you know if we need help carrying anything. Tell Branzer to stand ready as well." Dan said.

Dan and Trackolania then started towards the warehouse. They were immediately met with resistance.

"This isn't your school house boys, go home!" Several men armed with automatic weapons said. Dan looked over and didn't see Trackolania.

"Ok." Dan said and turned around. Then he heard several gurgling sounds and then "thuds" as the bodies in the ground. Trackolania had taken all of them out within seconds. His daggers were dripping with blood. Dan then grabbed all of the weapons and put them over in the alley behind a garbage can.

"Let's go." Dan said.

Several other guards were in the way, and Trackolania seemed to have fun decapitating them. Not a shot was fired. They reached the warehouse.

"Trackolania, climb up and see what they have." He nodded. Trackolania pulled out his daggers and climbed the building with such efficiency that he reach the top within seconds. He looked down a broken window and saw several men and women inside. One wall was completely filled with boxed crates. Trackolania then slipped down the whole and landed on one of the crates, being as quiet as a fallen feather. He used his dagger and propped open one of the boxes. He didn't recognize the weapon, but picked one up and jumped up back through the hole. He then climbed back down the wall and showed the weapon to Dan.

It looked like some sort assault rifle. Dan looked down the sights, pulled the clip out and found it was loaded. He put the clip back in and nodded at Trackolania.

"If we can quietly kill everybody in this building and then bring Lindel here, we can just take all of this stuff with us." Dan said. Trackolania nodded. He opened up his cloak and took out a vial of red looking juice. He put a tiny bit on both of his blades. It seemed to sizzle and let up a little smoke. Dan got a whiff of it and started gagging and coughing. He fell to the ground and put his hand around his throat. Trackolania started pulling on his arm. Dan tried to push him away but couldn't.

Finally he got his breath back and rose to his feet. "What was that?" He asked. Trackolania just smiled sinisterly. He also pulled a tiny crossbow from his back and then counted out about one hundred small arrows. He looked up at Dan and nodded.

Trackolania then pointed up at the ceiling and then pointed to himself. Dan nodded. Trackolania then grabbed Dan's arm and began to run with him.

"Hey!" A large man said. Trackolania jumped up and decapitated him without stopping. They then turned the corner and looked at the front door to the building. Trackolania then pointed to Dan and then pointed to the entrance. Dan had a fear come over him as he saw the amount of guards. Men were walking in and out of the compound. There had to be at least fifty. Trackolania then pulled Dan back around the building and stared at him with a mean look. Trackolania then slammed Dan up against the wall. He had sensed Dan's fear and tried to shake it out of him. Dan then pushed him away. Trackolania nodded and quickly sprinted away into the dark. He vanished very quickly.

"This is for you Crystal…" Dan thought. He could almost hear her screams again. He quickly shook it off.

Dan then heard a loud whistling sound. That must have been his queue.

Time stopped.

Dan pulled his blade with one hand and quickly started running towards the men. He then started slicing away at the men. Surprisingly enough he seemed to become rather effective at it. The blade passed through the bodies easily enough, and soon he had all fifty men were chopped in half.

Time resumed.

Dan looked inside and saw approximately one hundred people dead with arrows logged in their heads.

Time stopped.

Dan then started slicing at everybody that was around him. Trackolania then bounced down to the ground and start slicing at such incredible speeds that it was almost impossible to see him. Dan then turned his attention to the group that had begun running towards door. Dan hacked and slashed at every one of them.

Time resumed.

Several gun shots did go off, but it was instinct from the slashes on their body. Dan continued to run among the confusion slicing off legs and then driving his sword in their backs.

Trackolania seemed to take on a shadow form, not like that of Skyka's where she was all black, but more mysterious. He moved with such precision and accuracy that Dan was utterly fascinated by it. Then he saw one of his daggers sail inches from his head. Dan quickly turned around and saw a man with a gun to his head. Trackolania quickly ran over, jumped on the man, pulled the dagger from his head and pushed off from him. Dan was utterly surprised. He received a dirty look from Trackolania.

"Sorry…" was all Dan could say. Trackolania then surveyed the area and found that everybody was dead. He started collecting his arrows.

"Hey! What's going on?" A large man came out of an office up the stairs and saw that all of his employees were dead.

"What the…" He ran back inside. Trackolania shoot an arrow and it shattered through the glass and hit him in the back of the head.

The two of them ran up the stairs and Trackolania cut off the door knob. The door swung freely open. Nobody else appeared to be inside. Herrior turned on the lights.

Time stopped.

The two of them searched the office but couldn't find anybody. "Crap…wasted one." Dan thought.

A loud piercing squeal came from outside the office. A large black creature the resembled the Occulus appeared, only much larger. Trackolania instantly started firing it's arrows into the creature's eye. They all seemed to hit their target and explode. Dan ran down the stairs and started whacking away at the creatures arms to try to get closer to it.

Trackolania, who was still on the top balcony jumped up on the guard rail and then jumped at the creature with both daggers above his head. He landed on the creature, gained his balance and started climbing up the creature's body with his daggers. Each time a tentacle reached for him, he quickly sliced it in two. Finally he made it to the top of the creature and cut a small deep circle on top of the creatures head. He then slipped inside the creature.

Dan was still trying to get past the tentacles. They seemed to be growing back at an even faster rate. Dan swung several times and leaped for the belly of the beast. He began to cut a deep hole in the belly of the beast. Before he could finish it though, the beast let out a gigantic scream. It appeared to be starting to have a seizure, and then slouched down in defeat. Trackolania jumped out of his hole did several flips and then landed right next to Dan. Eventually the beast caught fire and burned itself up.

Dan surveyed the damage. He counted approximately over two hundred dead.

"We have to hide these bodies…" Trackolania nodded. They started to pull them into the building and stacked them up in the corner. The pace was very slow going, neither one of them was very strong. Trackolania seemed to be tiring himself out.

"Hold on, I'll go get Bernett…" Dan ran outside and ran as fast as he could for the officer. He made it there in about a minute.

"We need your help…" Dan said. Bernett nodded and motioned him to get inside the car. They then drove to the front of the warehouse.

"What happened?" The officer asked. Dan only looked at him and the officer nodded.

"Radioed in for Branzer to come help." The officer nodded. He was ten minutes out.

"We need to hide these bodies." Dan said. Bernett then jumped out of his cruiser, locking it behind him.

"Did you find any guns?"

"Lots, but we won't be able to transport them. We'll have to keep them here."

"Will it be enough?" The officer asked.

"I don't know…" Dan said with his mind trailing off. The three of them started pulling the bodies into the warehouse.

"Trackolania - can you run around the building and see if there are any more guards?" Trackolania looked exhausted and nodded. He walked off to the left side of the building, blending into his surroundings. Turns out there were several more thugs that were completely oblivious to what happened. Trackolania quickly made short work out of them and began to slow drag body parts into the compound.

The three of them nearly had everything cleaned up when Branzer showed up. He saw blood splattered everywhere. He entered the warehouse and looked around.

"This place is a gold mine! Look at all of those weapon crates!" He walked in and saw all of the bodies. "Did you guys do this?" Trackolania nodded.

Dan and Trackolania were resting on the ground from exhaustion. Dan then spoke up, "We need to keep this place secure until Lindel gets back here."

"We can chain it up with a padlock." Dan shook his head, "We'll have to do it from the inside so that the chain can't be broken. We need the thickest chain you can get, make it about 25 feet so we can wrap it around several times." Branzer nodded and immediately left for the hardware store.

"Trackolania and I will stay here. Whoever owns all of these guns will be back for them. Bernett there is nothing you can do now. Leave some food for us outside the back window once in awhile would you?" Bernett nodded and left.

Trackolania started collecting his arrows, and they began to sit and wait patiently from inside the office. It looked like the best vantage point, the high ground.

Branzer came back with a huge piece of industrial grade chain and a padlock. They thanked them and then said their good-byes.

Trackolania then began wrapping the huge chain around the sliding door handles. After several wrappings, he looked at Dan. Dan nodded and walked over and padlocked it. Trackolania then motioned Dan to stay back. Trackolania went to work setting up several different kinds of devices that looked to be traps. Some had claws coming out of them. Some had acid. Some were very thing but strong wire. Trackolania then walked up the stairs and Dan followed. He scanned the room and start moving heavy cabinets towards the doorway. Then he gave them a good kick and down the stairs they went, shooting out papers and files all over the place. The cabinet landed with a dull thud as it hit the pile of bodies. Trackolania then moved the cabinet in front of the sliding mechanism for the large doors. Dan nodded and began to do the same thing.

When they were finished there didn't look like there was any way of anybody coming on. They both went upstairs and shut the door. Crystal came to Dan's mind again.

"How do you think Crystal is doing?" Dan asked. Trackolania shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you think she'll survive?" Same response from him. Trackolania looked like he needed some sleep.

"I'll take the first shift. You get some sleep." Trackolania nodded and curled up next to a wall. He was asleep almost instantly.

"That's got to be uncomfortable…" Dan thought. He sat down next to him and hoped Lindel would find them soon.

That night a terrible storm came. It rained very hard along with a lot of lightning and wind. Rain was getting into the warehouse through the cracks. The office they were in seemed water proof though. Dan thought "The rain should wash away the blood." Then he thought about the guns. "They were in sealed boxes so they should be ok." he thought.

Curiosity eventually got the best of Dan. He started opening some of the crates. Some were filled with just ammunition. Some were filled with just guns. Too Dan's surprise, some were filled with grenades and rocket launchers. He picked up one of them and looked down the sights.

"No clue how to fire one of these, hopefully the officers will know." Dan thought. He gently put the weapon away.

He heard several people outside and only mild attempts at getting into the warehouse. Several curses came out and the people eventually left. Dan was getting very tired. He made several walks around the warehouse just to pass the time. He noticed a place in the warehouse where the rain was coming in at a good rate. Dan walked over to it and placed his hand in it. He then looked up and saw where there was a good size hole in the roof. He then stepped into the water and tried to wash off some of the blood. He then looked up and started drinking some of the water. It refreshed his body and mind.

"Trackolania might enjoy this…" Dan thought. He climbed the stairs and looked at him. He was still fast asleep on the floor. Blood was drenched on his pants and shirt.

"Should I let him sleep, or should I wash his clothes?" Dan thought. He quickly dismissed the thought. "He might slice my head off if I try to take off his shirt.

A loud crack of thunder filled the air. It made Dan jump. Dan then went outside the office and sat on the stairs. His thoughts were of Crystal as he watched the rain come in the warehouse. He slowly nodded off on the stairs thinking about her.

Meanwhile Officer Branzer and Bernett had started a "GA" fund in the station. On Branzer's desk he had a big empty plastic bottle. It was filled with some dollars and coins. Branzer had a lot of paperwork to get caught up on, as well as the other officers. The station was bustling with activity; new construction was well underway as well. Several construction workers were laying brick, some were nailing in frame work, while others just seemed to stand around and supervise.

The officer with the toothpick in his mouth came around to Branzer's desk.

"What's the fund for?" he said smoothly.

"Food for Dan, he's guarding something for us." The man adjusted his toothpick in his mouth and got out his checkbook.

"How much does he need?"

"We're not sure how long he's going to be there…we're just supplying him with food." Branzer replied.

"Secret mission?" The man asked. Branzer nodded. The man wrote a check to Branzer for a thousand dollars and shoved it in the jar. "Get him something good." the man adjusted his toothpick and walked away. He then stopped and came back to the desk.

"Can I help in any way without interfering?" Branzer nodded and wrote out an address of the warehouse.

"Just drive by this place once in awhile and make sure it's locked up good." Branzer gave him the piece of paper.

"I'll spread the word…" he said as he walked away.

Several hours went by and the Lieutenant walked up to Branzer's desk.

"Aren't we still missing an officer? Is she still at her Grandma's house?"

"Baking cookies…" Branzer said without missing a beat. He turned from his computer and looked at the Lieutenant.

"How long is she supposed to be gone for?" Branzer let out a sigh. The Lieutenant took this as answer and nodded.

"I've been having some weird dreams about her…" The Lieutenant said slowly. Branzer scooted his chair back opened a drawer and pulled out a huge prescription bottle.

"Sleeping pills." He said. He then rolled over to the Lieutenant and gave him ten. The then recapped the bottle and put it back.

"She's suffering isn't she?" The Lieutenant said slowly. Branzer let out another sigh and nodded slowly.

"I'll cover for her until she gets back."

"I was told a week. Not sure when the week begins though." Branzer said quietly.

"Where's our guardian angel been?"

"Guarding a warehouse."

"Don't you think we could better utilize him in the force?" The Lieutenant asked firmly. Branzer turned to give him a dirty look.

"Secret assignment?" asked the Lieutenant. Branzer simply nodded. The Lieutenant nodded back. He got out his billfold and dropped several twenty's into the jar.

"Anything we can do?" Branzer then wrote down the address of the warehouse. "Secure this building."

"I can post an officer there…" Branzer simply shook his head. "He would be killed I'm afraid. Barricades and officers driving by is about all we can do."

"I'll do one better than that…" He smiled and walked away. Branzer wondered what he was going to do, but simply shrugged it off and went back to his computer.

The Lieutenant walked outside to the construction foreman and said he had an important job that needed to be done right away. The foreman simply looked at him with a strange look.

"It's high priority." The foreman simply shrugged and rounded up several men and took a cement truck to the location. Several officers went to assist.

Upon arrival they saw several men trying their hardest to open the doors of the warehouse. The officers turned on their flashers and it seemed to scare them off. They then began building rounded posts in front of the building's entrance. Several of the officers began tapping off the doors with yellow "Do Not Enter" tape and placed orange cones around it.

It took until the end of the day but the warehouse doors now had six inch thick cement posts around the entrance. The officers then reported in that the tasks were done to the Lieutenant, and left to go home for the day.

Dan woke up instantly, after having the same dream about Crystal, as the noise filled the air. The rain had stopped. He quickly ran downstairs and peered out of the cracks in the warehouse. He saw several officers and a huge cement truck working. One of the officers saw Dan and simply tilted his hat towards him. Dan watched the whole scene unfold and simply smiled.

"That'll help." he said to himself. He turned around and saw Trackolania standing right behind him. It gave him quite a scare. He didn't hear him coming up behind him at all. Trackolania simply shrugged his shoulders and pointed outside.

"Their helping us. They are friends." Dan said. He simply nodded and went back up to the office. His foot prints were so light that he could barely hear any movement. Dan followed him up, his foot prints on the other hand made a loud 'clang' every time he hit a stair.

The two of them sat on the floor. Trackolania then started looking around.

"What?" Dan asked curiously. Trackolania didn't say a word. He walked over to the desk in the office and started examining it. It was made of some sort of hard wood and metal. He seemed to smile and he pulled out one of his daggers at lightning speed and drove it into the desk. He then pulled back on it and several wood shavings were scattered everywhere.

Dan got up to see what he was doing. By now Trackolania had cut several deep grooves in the desk about half an inch apart from each other. He did this to the entire desk. Dan let out a yawn and closed his eyes for awhile. He opened them and saw Trackolania bent over at him with some sort of liquid. Dan wasn't sure what to do with it. He took it from him and examined the swirling contents inside of it. Trackolania then put his small fingers up to the bottle and made a very small gesture. Dan seemed to understand and took a quick swig of it. Trackolania nodded in approval. Dan instantly felt woozy and fell to the ground. Trackolania seemed to help him to the ground and pushed him over to the corner. He then closed Dan's eyes. Dan was almost instantly asleep and began snoring. Trackolania retrieved his vial and put it back in his cloak. He then went back to his job of cutting apart the desk.

Trackolania then saw flashing red and blue lights coming from outside. Curiously he grabbed both daggers and jumped out of the room and made it down the stairs in two swift hops. He stared outside and saw a vehicle of some sort with lights on the top drive by. He didn't sense any danger from them. He then heard a knocking sound from the back of the warehouse where he came in from. He sprinted over to the wall almost instantly and climbed the ammunition boxes without any trouble. He poked his head out of the hole and quickly vanished into the shadows.

He saw a large man dropped off several bags. The smell instantly filled the dawn. The man looked up and saw a pair of eyes looking down at him, but no figure. The figure seemed to blink twice at him.

"It's food! You eat it!" The man yelled up. The figure did not move. The figure closed his eyes and seemed to disappear.

Branzer shrugged his shoulders and decided to watch from a distance. He drove his cruiser about two blocks away and just watched. He had his handgun unstrapped and shotgun unlocked. He opened his door slightly. Nobody else was getting this food. But what he saw amazed him.

Trackolania then leaned all the way over and took a deep breath in with his nose. He started to salivate. His stomach began to rumble. It might be a trap, but he was hungry…and probably Dan was too.

He drew both daggers out and leaned all the way over the opening and scanned the area. Nobody was around. His stomach rumbled again. Trackolania seemed to nod at himself, put his daggers away and leaped out of the opening. He did several flips in the air and rolled several times when he hit the ground. Instantly he put the bags in his mouth and bit down on them. He drew his daggers and dug them into the wall. He was almost back up the wall and into the hole faster then he fell down the wall.

"Wow…" Branzer said in astonishment. "If that's what we're up against, we're going to need those weapons…and a lot of luck!" He put his cruiser in drive and drove around to the opening of the warehouse. It was still securely locked into place. Satisfied, he started driving his normal route.

Trackolania hoped down the crates on all fours and quickly hoped up the stairs, barely making any noise. He peered into the sacks and saw several items all wrapped up in paper. He took one of them out, unwrapped it and began sniffing it and thoroughly examining it. Then he began nibbling on it. It didn't taste like any poison was in it. He devoured the hamburger and then looked at Dan, snoring away. Trackolania then took out another hamburger and sliced it up into several small bites. He shoved the food into Dan's mouth and made a chewing motion by pressing on the bottom of his chin and the top of his head. He then rolled Dan over and shoved the food down his throat and then plugged his nose. Instinctively Dan swallowed and began snoring again. Trackolania split up all of the food in the bags until it was all gone. Trackolania then went back to making tiny little arrows with the wood that he scraped off from the desk. By now he had made several of them, just big enough to go in his crossbow.

Dan seemed to be in some type of hypnotic sleep. He saw himself in a dark stair case, walking down them. Eventually he got to a wooden door and walked through it. He saw Crystal. She was completely naked suspended in the air. Her body looked lifeless. Her face and hair had traces of vomit in it. At the bottom side of her was urine and feces.

The creatures on both sides each had a severally disfigured face. They were all short and brown. Their skin was severely wrinkled. They almost looked inhuman. They were all chanting something Dan didn't understand. Yellow and red lightning bolts seemed to continuously emanate from the walls and enter her body. Her body had burns all over it, and parts of her skin seemed to be melting. Several scraps were on her body, as if she had falling through a glass ceiling. She seemed lifeless.

Dan floated above her and then slowly merged with her body. Crystal seemed to shake a little in resistance and then it instantly straightened out.

"Dan!" Crystal's mind appeared to be screaming. "Dan, is that you?" Instantly they both seemed to teleport to the beach where they played volleyball.

"It hurts, so much!" Crystal yelled. Dan smiled and put a hand to her face. The pain seemed to subside a little.

"I can barely think…the pain!" Crystal yelled again. Instantly the beach vanished and they seemed to be drifting around in space. Dan then wrapped himself around her, and she squeezed him as hard as she could. They embraced for what seemed like hours. Tears started flowing down Crystal's eyes again.

"What did Herrior tell you to do?" Dan barely whispered.

"Concentrate on you. Oh I love you so much! But the pain!" She screamed.

"Focus your mind. You must focus on me or you will die. You need something to live for." Crystal nodded.

"Remember the first time we met?" Crystal shook her head. They were still embracing each other.

"You were going to shoot me weren't you…" Dan said again slowly. Crystal smiled and started crying.

"Remember getting me out of trouble at the school? Remember our first kiss? Remember shooting me? Remember our trips in the squad car? Remember our long talks?" Crystal kept nodding and grasped Dan even tighter.

"I'm sorry!" she screamed in horrific pain.

"Focus Crystal, you can do this. Remember taking me to the hostage situation? You were driving like a bat out of hell? I was scared to death!" Crystal nodded. That seemed to be the only thing that she could do.

"Remember visiting me in the hospital? Remember the love that you felt for me? Remember all of the times you thought about me? Remember us almost making love in the ocean? Remember seeing me with a catheter in the hospital? Remember seeing me recover in the hospital? Remember taking my dad home from the bar and then finding out he was my dad? Remember asking my dad if you could take me to the Policeman's ball?" Crystal kept nodding and the crying continued.

"Focus on all of this. Stay in this void and just focus on me. Remember my face, remember everything about me. You must remain focused!" Crystal continued to nod. Dan slowly let go.

"Don't leave me!" Crystal screamed.

"I am always with you my dear." Dan began to fade out of existence. "I love you…" and Dan was gone.

Crystal's body dropped a tear from her eye and it landed on the cement slab. Color began to return to her face. A blue lightning bolt seemed to appear from the ceiling and shoot into her stomach. Her mouth whispered the words, "I love you Dan…" Just then a series of blue lightning bolts came from the sky and started blasting her from the ceiling. Her body shook a little from the pain. Pieces of her skin began to smoke and quickly extinguished themselves. Her body seemed to fade in and out of existence. Every bone in her body seemed to glow, even her teeth. Crystal's mind then returned to the void and she began to remember all of the things Dan said.

"I will make it through this…" she insisted. Just then several white bolts of lightning beamed out of the walls and entered her head. The pain was unbearable, but Crystal kept her mind in the void. Her concentration was solely on Dan. She concentrated on him for the next couple of days.

"He is worth living for. I will fight…" Crystal said slowly. The white lightning bolts stopped and now it was just the blue, yellow and red ones firing into her body now. The pain lessened.

"Dan…" She mouthed the word and slowly closed her eyes. Another tear came from her eye and landed on the cement slab below.

Dan suddenly woke up and drew his sword and jumped forward. Trackolania instantly drew his daggers and deflected the attack. Dan's heart was pounding and he was breathing harder than he ever had before. Dan then looked down amazed that he was actually holding it.

"Crystal is still alive, barely but she's holding on. I think she'll make it!" Dan said in a quick voice. Trackolania nodded.

"Have I stopped time?" Trackolania shook his head. Dan withdrew his sword and put it back in the leather pouch behind him. It instantly sucked it up and strapped itself in. Trackolania withdrew his daggers. Dan walked around the room rubbing his head.

"How long was I out for?" and then realize he had to urinate very badly. Trackolania quickly withdrew one of his daggers and wrote the number twenty four on the wall. Dan's jaw dropped. His stomach was full, but his bladder was yelling at him. He quickly ran down the stairs and found a corner of the warehouse that wasn't being used. He ran for it and quickly dropped his pants. He must have urinated for a good five minutes. Trackolania looked at him and smiled.

Dan thought, "Why am I not hungry?" He turned to Trackolania and yelled, "Did you feed me?" Trackolania nodded. Then Dan's bowels were talking to him as well. He thought, "Why not, this will be our crapping corner…" Dan then dropped his pants and did his business.

Several minutes later, Dan and Trackolania met up in the office. Dan had seen all of the arrows that he had made. Dan seemed quite impressed.

"Did you do all of that?" Dan asked. Trackolania nodded. Dan looked at what was left of the desk. Only a couple of bolts. The metal legs looked like they had been converted to spears. Dan picked up an arrow and looked at it. He then looked down the shaft of it. It was in fact, straight as an arrow.

"This is good!" Trackolania shrugged. Dan could tell that he was getting a little stir crazy. He sat the arrow down on the pile.

"Want to practice sparring?" Dan asked. Trackolania gave him the same bored look, but pulled a dagger from his belt. Dan reached back for his sword and amazingly it was still there. He took a couple of practice swings at Trackolania. He easily deflected them with his dagger. Dan then put the sword in his left hand and started taking some hard swings at him and at a fast speed. Trackolania's arm appeared to move so fast to deflect the blows that Dan could hardly see it.

Dan then switched hands and started attacking again. The sword began to glow with a bluish tint to it. Dan's mind was beginning to become filled with different attack moves. Dan spun around and sliced at Trackolania's head, which again was easily deflected. Then he began thrusting his sword towards him at faster speeds.

Then suddenly Trackolania heard something. He grabbed his other dagger, and disarmed Dan. Dan's sword went flying into the wall. Trackolania pointed down the stairs. Dan ran over and grabbed his sword and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"You better open up in there!" A loud voice came from the opening. Several more attempts were made to get inside. The door would not give under the pressure though, and the chain barely made a move.

"We know you're in there. If you make us come in and get you, we'll gut you up!" Another voice said.

Trackolania grabbed his metal spears that he made and several dozen arrows. He then poked Dan in the chest and pointed at himself and then pointed at the ceiling.

"Don't kill them…we don't want to cause a scene. We just want them to leave…ok?" Dan said. Trackolania sighed and nodded.

"Now get going, I'll help reinforce the front door and distract them…" Both of them started down the stairs, Dan was first. Trackolania jumped over Dan and began running for the boxes of crates. He bounced up there with such precision that it was amazing to watch every time he did that. In no time he was outside and on the roof.

"We'll burn ya out of there!" A voice from the side of the building said. Dan looked at the building structure and gave a confused face. "It's made of metal…" he thought.

It sounded like several people were outside, with some trucks and other heavy equipment. Several eyeballs were looking in through the holes in the wall.

"I see you, you little rodent! Open the doors!" Dan quickly thought of the arrows Trackolania made. This would have been a great time to use them…

Dan simply shook his head with a smile. Then several barrels went into the holes.

Time stopped.

Dan quickly ran up the stairs and grabbed some arrows. He then ran back down the stairs and stood by the rotting pile of dead flesh. He then got down on the ground.

Time resumed.

Bullets went flying everywhere. Suddenly though somebody screamed out, "Ouch! My arm! I just had my arm ripped off from me!" The man twirled around a couple of times and then passed out from shock. The others looked around. Trackolania then launched three more of his make-shift desk staffs towards them. One landed on a guy's foot, not before cutting off his knee cap. Another fell through the roof of a truck and sliced through the driver's leg. The last flew into the shoulder of another gangster. Trackolania then retreated from his position and quietly snuck down to the side of the building.

"He's on the roof!" One of them shouted. Soon a blaze of bullets went flying into the air. Trackolania let out several arrows that went through the hands of the gunmen…instantly disarming them. He was beginning to become shot at so he rolled to the other side of the roof.

"Open the door and we'll let you live! Just open it!" Some man was screaming. Trackolania then launched an arrow about one a second. One of them ripped off the jaw of the man that was talking. Several others dropped to the ground because of arrows in their legs or in their arms. Trackolania was careful not to land any fatal shots as instructed.

Soon he had landed an arrow into each one of them and they all jumped into the back of the white truck and began to drive away. Trackolania quickly launched two arrows into the back wheels, instantly exploding them. Several of the men started swearing and all of them piled out and began running away. Trackolania then slowly circled the perimeter of the building to ensure that they were all gone. Soon after he reentered the compound and found Dan fighting a large shadow like creature with a steel sword.

Dan dropped out of the way of the oncoming blade and parried the next attack. He needed both hands on the sword to match the creature's strength though. Dan pushed him away, and the demon swung at the chain, trying to break it. A chip came out of it, but mostly just deflected his attacked.

Trackolania then reloaded his crossbow and began firing arrows in rapid succession at the demon. They seemed to pass right through him, so he aimed for his sword. Several "clucks" were made as his arrows began to hit the sword.

The demon had begun to lose his grip on his sword and Dan took advantage of it. He jumped up in the air and brought his sword down on the sword of the demons as hard as he could.

"Clunk!" And his sword went flying to the ground. Dan then spun around and decapitated the demon. His head went flying and instantly burned up.

Trackolania and Dan eventually met up with each other. Both of them we're breathing pretty hard.

"They'll be back…" Dan said. Trackolania nodded and pointed up the stairs. Dan nodded and they both went into the office to lay down for awhile.

That night the hospital was filled with a lot of strange injuries. The cops were called in to question them without their knowledge of it. Officer Bernett was the first on the scene. When he walked into the first gang member's room he asked for ID. The gang member simply went quiet. He then started asking him a series of questions, but he would not talk.

"Fine then." The officer took a picture of him and handcuffed him to the bed.

"Hey! You can't do that!" He yelled.

"Yes…I can. I'm going to run your face in our databank for a match. If I find one I'm going to arrest you."

The suspect sighed. He had a big metal desk table leg sticking out from his shoulder.

"How about we start at the beginning…how did that happen?"

"Bar fight…" He was lying. The officer walked over and grabbed a hold of it.

"Ouch! Oww, oww…ok ok man." The suspect let out another sigh.

"We were just trying to take back our streets and what belonged to us yo…"

The officer grinned and pulled out his detective kit. He began to swab his fingers for gun fire residue. A lot turned up.

"Care to explain this?"

"Like I said, we were just trying to take back what was ours…"

Bernett put his glasses on and got right up into the suspects face. "And just exactly what is yours?" The suspect turned away and didn't say a word. Bernett reached for the table leg again.

"Ok, ok…this is police brutality or something. I want a lawyer!"

"I want your finger prints.

"No man, I aint giving those to you…" Bernett smiled and radioed in for backup.

"Unless you want the doctors to pull that out of you while you are awake, I'm going to get your finger prints…" The suspect looked scared.

"I'll be seeing you again…" Bernett said and slammed the door behind him.

That night they made twenty four arrests, the easy way. The suspects just wondered right into the hospital with various projectile injuries. They got patched up and then put into jail for questioning. Several of them cracked, many of them gave a false testimony - but it all lead to one thing. They were trying to get into the warehouse. Bernett got word of it and went to Branzer's office. "We need to go see the Lieutenant." There was a sense of urgency in his voice. He nodded and jumped out of his desk. The two of them walked down the hallway and knocked on his door. No answer. Branzer saw that his door was open slight ajar and he gently pushed it open. The Lieutenant was sitting in a corner with his pistol drawn pointing it at some sort of dog. The dog was all red, had spikes around it's neck and huge fangs. It quickly turned its attention to the two intruders and immediately raised it's spiked tail at them. A faint beam of green light came from it's eyes and landed on the two officers. It didn't seem to do any damage to the officers.

The two officers drew their guns and opened fire. The dog simply absorbed the damage, not even phasing it a little.

"I tried that already!" Yelled the Lieutenant. Branzer reached for his can of mace and jumped forward towards the dog and sprayed the entire can at it.

The dog flinched and started to yelp and drew back in its position a little. Once the can of mace was empty, several more officers ran into the room to see what the commotion was about. The dog then jumped back on the desk and let out a ferocious howl. Branzer then drew his night stick and hit the dog's head as hard as he could. It knocked out several teeth and sent the dog flying across the room.

"Use your night sticks!" He ordered. Every officer put away their guns, and drew their night sticks and began beating the dog until it lay motionless. It eventually burned up and disappeared without a trace.

Silence filled the room as the Lieutenant rose to his feet.

"Ok…I want an explanation." Again silence filled the room. Branzer finally stepped forward and said, "I believe this is what Dan was talking about. He said the battle was coming to us…" The two of them exchanged looks for quite awhile. The Lieutenant sighed and eventually looked away.

"So this battle is coming whether we like it or not…" Branzer nodded.

"Ensure that all officers are carrying night sticks. Where is Dan at?"

"He's still in the warehouse, sir." Branzer answered.

"I want regular patrols going around that building until he is done doing what it is that he is doing there…and this never happened, ok!" The Lieutenant looked around at the officers and they all nodded. He then shooed everybody out of the office and reloaded his gun. He unlocked the bottom drawer of his cabinet and pulled out a one foot serrated knife in a leather pouch. The then strapped it to his leg. He then walked over to Branzer's desk and on the collection jar, which was mostly filled with change, he wrote a note: "Get a hunting knife!"

It was Branzer's turn to deliver food that night. He also brought a couple of gallons of fresh water, toilet paper, a lot of food from Taco Bell, and some deodorant. He also put in a .357 along with about one hundred rounds, and a note explaining what happened at the department today. He put them all in several black garbage bags and took them to the back of the warehouse. He then knocked on the wall several times.

"What?" It was Dan.

"It's Branzer! I have several packages for you."

"Ok."

"How much longer are you going to be in there?"

"Not sure."

Branzer then paused for a second and said, "I'm not having bad dreams about Officer Candy anymore."

"I think she'll be ok…" Dan said slowly.

Just then two eyes appeared over the hole on the top of the warehouse. They seemed to just hover in mid-air. Branzer just blinked in amazement.

"Do you need anything else?" Branzer asked.

"A connection to the outside world…high powered radio or something…" Dan said.

"Consider it done." The eyes slowly blinked. They disappeared entirely from view and then reappeared.

"We'll I'll be going now…"

"Thanks!" Dan yelled out.

Branzer then got into his cruiser and did a lap around the building. By the time he got back, the bags were gone. "Radio…why didn't I think of that…" Branzer slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "First thing in the morning." He finished his shift without any incidents and went home to crack open a Miller Light. He wrote on a piece of paper, "Get radio for Dan…" He taped it to the door.

That night Dan and Trackolania slept soundly together in the office. Every hour, one of them would wake up and wonder around to make sure everything was ok. This only took a moment and soon they were fast asleep.

They both awoke to the sound of a diesel engine being fired up. Trackolania sniffed the air and quickly loaded one of his own arrows into his crossbow and scampered down the stairs. Dan followed behind. They both looked out eye holes and saw a huge bulldozer firing its engine up. Trackolania looked to Dan for advice.

"The tracks on the bottom of the machine make it move. Take them out and the machine will stop!" He said in a hurried voice. Trackolania nodded. He then concentrated very hard on aiming his crossbow. The arrow seemed to be gradually glowing a reddish color. Then all of a sudden it burst into flame for a second. Trackolania continued to concentrate without flinching.

The fire was out within seconds and the arrow turned from a red to a white color. It seemed to be giving off a lot of heat. Then it started turning all sorts of different colors and emanated off such light that Dan had to look away.

At this time even the men outside stopped what they were doing and stared at the rainbowish glow coming from inside. Then suddenly what sounded like the scream of a thousand women giving birth shattered the air. Windows for miles around shattered.

Trackolania pulled the trigger and the arrow went screaming. It passed through a man that happened to be in the way. He was instantly turned into ash. The arrow hit the left track of the mighty bulldozer and instantly melted it in two. The track then fell off the bulldozer. The arrow passed through the enormous machine and out the other side. The track on the other side melted as well. That track then melted as well and fell off the wheels. The engine spattered and sputtered and finally gave up. The operator of the machine instantly jumped out. It looked as though his legs were melting.

Trackolania instantly was blasted up against the wall behind him.

Dan ran over and grabbed him and checked him for and cuts or bruises. He was clean. He was sleeping soundly. His crossbow was radiating such heat that Dan just left it on the ground. He picked him up and carried him up the stairs. He laid him down in his normal sleeping spot. Trackolania started snoring as if he had been sleeping for hours.

Dan ran for the radio. "Officer Branzer, Officer Branzer…come in please!"

Officer Branzer's radio was turned on and sitting at his desk. He was concentrating so much on his computer that it made him jump. He instantly recognized the voice. He grabbed the radio and said, "Officer Branzer here, what's going on?"

"We need you at the warehouse as quickly as you can get here!" Dan yelled into the radio.

"Rodger that. I'm on my way." Branzer opened his drawer and loaded his magnum and grabbed extra shotgun shells on the way out. He ran into Bernett who had a cup of coffee. He spilled it on himself.

"Dan needs our help…" Bernett instantly dropped the cup and both of them ran for their cruisers. With their lights and siren on they made it to the warehouse in about thirty minutes.

Meanwhile a sinister laugh seemed to come directly below him. Dan ran outside and saw a figure dressed in full armor gear, a black cape, and blue light coming from it's eyes. It was holding a sword and began walking towards the chain. Dan ran inside and grabbed the .357. It was preloaded. He ran down the stairs yelling at it, trying to get it's attention.

The man pointed the sword at Dan and said, "You!" It then took a took a step towards him with his sword raised.

Time stopped.

Dan noticed that the man was not immune to time stopping. "Good!" he thought. He ran up to the man's glowing eyes and pulled the trigger. He then did the same thing for the other eye. He then unloaded the gun on the man's arm holding the sword until he figured all six shots were gone.

Time started.

The man instantly dropped his sword as the bullets knocked it out of his hand. The two bullets shot into his eyes seemed to generate a very bright blue light.

"Nooo!" The man screamed. Instantly he slammed the pavement with his fist. A dark aura seemed to surround him. He started feeling around for his sword. Dan pulled his sword out from behind him and instantly drove it into the man's right hand. It sank through the armor and bluish liquid seemed to squirted from it. The man then let out another scream. He started feeling around with his other hand and Dan took a slice at it and missed.

The man grabbed his sword and rose to his feet. He seemed to be listening for Dan's footsteps and guarding his right hand. The man grabbed a potion from his belt pouch. Dan took a swipe at it and missed. The man then quickly drank it and began to laugh.

"A time stopped huh? That would explain a lot." His voice sounded inhuman, more mechanical then anything. Dan tried to stop time again but the man kept moving around.

The two of them started dueling. Dan met him blow for blow. He even over powered him a couple of times and pushed him backwards.

The man's head began to glow and he ripped off his helmet. A ghostly image of a man's head appeared but had a black aura around it. His eyes were in fact shattered.

"He is listening to me…and he has good hearing…" Dan thought. Dan backed up and the man matched his footsteps. Dan looked behind him and saw the stack of rotting stinking flesh behind him. Dan wiped around with his sword extended in front of him and sliced off several body parts. He then ran up the stairs and the man followed him. Dan then jumped off the stairs and hung onto the guardrail by one hand. The blue man appeared to be confused. Dan drove his sword into the man's left boot. It made a loud "Tink" sound and made a deep imprint of his boot. Dan then let go of his grip and rolled over to where the body parts where. The man started swinging furiously in all directions.

"He has good armor…" Dan thought. He reached down and gathered up several body parts. He then threw one at the man's feet, and the demon swung low to try to hit it. Dan reached forward and took a swing at the man's head. It started spewing out more blue light followed by another scream of pain. The man was swaying back and forth on his feet now. He took another potion from his belt, and Dan instantly threw a severed hand at it, shattered it, and spilling it all over the ground.

"Noo!" The man screamed. He then lunged for Dan. Dan hit the ground and rolled out of the way. He dropped several human pieces along the way. The man lunged for each one of them. Dan quickly rose to his feet and threw the remaining arm at the man. The man swung at it. Then Dan grabbed the sword by both hands and jumped in the air. The man appeared to be listening as best as he could. Dan's sword began to glow blue as it came down and severed the man's arm. More bluish liquid came out of it. Dan then spun around and sliced at the man's neck. The cut went in deep and more liquid came out.

The man started to give off a very bright light of bluish power. Dan ran to the opposite side of the warehouse and squatted in corner. He shielded his eyes and face with his right hand. The man exploded and a slow blue aura extended out from him. It was almost a perfect dome. It stretched out about twelve feet across and then disappeared. However this time his chest piece was still there. It seemed to glow, giving off a bluish light. Dan decided it best not to touch it. He walked around it and went up to check on Trackolania. He was still fast asleep. His radio had been going off.

"Dan! Dan! Where are you?" It was Branzer. Dan picked up the radio and said, "Sorry was fighting a demon. Never saw one like this before. I'm ok though." He said out of breath.

"Hold in there, we'll be there in about ten minutes."

"There's a bulldozer out in front. My friend disabled it, but they are trying like crazy to get in here!"

Branzer's heart jumped. "A bulldozer!" he thought…

"Hold in we'll be there soon!" He then radioed in for backup and a tow truck. He then punched the accelerator and the cruiser seemed to leap forward.

Dan then sat down next to Trackolania and dug his sword into the wood. He then started breathing really hard and tried to relax. His sword was still glowing blue.

"Teach me, o' great sword." Dan said with a smile. He noticed that each battle he was indeed getting faster, quicker, and stronger. He then rummaged through the black garbage bag and found a Taco Bell bag. He fished out several tacos and began to eat.

Branzer unlocked his shotgun while driving down the road and began loading it with slugs. He turned a corner doing about seventy and almost lost control of the cruiser. He straightened out the cruiser and floored it again. The engine roared to life once more.

"Bulldozer?" He just shook his head. "They could get in the doors with that easily…"

He arrived and slammed on his break just in time to stop in front of the disabled bulldozer. The tracks on it appeared to have been torched off somehow. He jumped out of the car and held the shotgun up to his shoulder. He left his lights and door open.

"Hold it right there!" He said in a commanding voice. Everybody took off running.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" The people were still running. He let off a blast into the air right above himself and suddenly everybody stopped and dropped to the ground. The driver still seemed to be screaming about his legs.

Bernett arrived on the other side of the warehouse and drew his magnum at the men on the ground.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" Bernett screamed.

"Hands where I can see them!" A man was reaching in front of his pants for something. Bernett suddenly ran over to the man and pressed his gun so hard against his head that his forehead started to bleed.

"Ok…ok!" The man yelled.

"Everybody spread your legs and hands on the pavement now!" Branzer ran up beside him. He looked at Bernett and nodded.

"I'll stand here and watch them, you get the elastic straps." Branzer whispered. Bernett nodded and ran to the trunk of his car. He came back and they started strapping each pair of hands together, and then each of them were searched. Each one of them had a wad of cash and several guns stored on them.

"Start bagging the evidence…" Bernett said.

Bernett then got into the face of one of the youngest men there and yelled so loud in his ear that it caused it to ring afterwards.

"What were you doing with the bulldozer!" The man's face wiggled and it was apparent that he was scared. Bernett picked him up and threw him in the back of the cruiser. He shoved his magnum right into the man's eye and continued to scream at him.

"What were you doing with that bulldozer!" Bernett started to apply pressure and caused the man extreme pain.

"We were trying to get in the warehouse!" He screamed.

"Why!"

"I don't know…some guy paid us a lot of money and gave us some weapons and told us too."

"I want names!" Bernett was screaming so loud that spit was coming out of his mouth and getting on the suspects face.

"I don't know…he just paid us. He's at the docks!" The man then urinated on himself and started to cry. Bernett got out of the cruiser and continued to point his gun at the other suspects until other help arrived.

Soon afterwards the tow truck arrived and it had a difficult time moving the huge machine, but it eventually did it and cleared the road. Branzer walked to the back of the warehouse.

"Are you guys alright?"

"Yes." Dan yelled towards the hole in the roof. This time no little eyes peered over the corner to look at them.

"We need some more bullets." Dan yelled.

"Ok, anything else?"

"More food and a first aid kit." Dan yelled in response.

"Anybody hurt?" Branzer questioned. A moment passed as Dan thought of Trackolania.

"Nothing serious I don't think…"

"Ok, I'll bag up some new batteries too right away."

"No. Give it about twelve hours. My friend is sleeping right now and cant come down to get it."

"Ok…leave that radio on."

"Will do!" Dan then turned around and saw the armor continue to glow. He wondered if it was going to explode, maybe spawn another demon, or who knows what. He decided it was best just to stay away from it. He climbed the stairs and curled up next to Trackolania and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dan are you still there?" The radio was going off. Dan quickly grabbed it and acknowledged.

"We had some sort of red dog with long teeth attack our station. He went directly for our Lieutenant. Do you know anything about this?"

"No? That's weird." There was a long radio silence. Dan then realized that every time he attacked a set of humans, or they attacked him - demons showed up. He then relayed this information to Branzer.

"Will they come back?" Dan sat and thought about it.

"There may be a plan to attack the station coming up…" Dan said slowly.

Branzer nodded. "Do you know when?" Dan said he didn't. They signed off, and Officer Branzer went back to the station to inform the Lieutenant.

"Let's hide some spike strips and have some auto's ready locked up at the doors. I don't want to be caught off guard again…" They nodded at each other and left. They did that the next day.

The next morning Trackolania and Dan both woke up when the sunlight came in. Dan stretched and let out a yawn and started rubbing his back.

"Sleeping on the floor is getting old…" Trackolania nodded.

"I think there's another package outside for us if you don't mind." Trackolania nodded again. The two of them walked down the stairs. Trackolania saw the blue armor glowing and suddenly became very happy. He pointed at it and then tucked on Dan's shirt. His smile was as wide as his face. He pulled Dan all the way down the stairs and pointed at the armor and then pointed at Dan, all while jumping up and down. Dan smiled and nodded. Trackolania picked it up with both hands and put it in the stash of weapons. He then jumped up and down around it as if there was some sort of victory to celebrate. Dan slowly walked over smiling. Trackolania began doing back flips and forward flips. It was quite a sight. This went on for several minutes.

"What is it?" Dan finally asked. Trackolania's face and hands started to tell a story for several minutes. Dan didn't understand any of it.

"Ok…ok…" Dan said as he held his hands out. Trackolania stopped telling his story. Dan then pointed up towards the crack in the ceiling and Trackolania nodded. He scurried up the box of crates and flew down to the ground. He grabbed the bags and then climbed back up the wall again. They both looked in at the same time.

Inside was an entire box of .357 rounds, several bags of food, new batteries and a note asking if they could borrow Dan's 'friend' for another raid. It was scheduled to happen tonight. The two of them looked at each other, and shrugged at each other at the same time. Neither one of them seemed to mind. It said that Branzer would be by at noon to pick him up.

"Wonder when noon is?" Dan said. Just then a honk came from the back side of the warehouse. The two then looked at each other.

"Have fun…be back soon…" Dan said sarcastically. Trackolania pulled out the same yellow vial that he had given him before and shrugged. Dan nodded and smiled. Trackolania then pulled on his arm and motioned with his fingers "just a little bit". Dan seemed to understand.

Dan started walking up the stairs and laid back down. Trackolania bounced up the stairs, grabbed several arrows and put them in his quiver, grabbed his crossbow, and then bounced outside.

Trackolania then jumped off the out of the hole in the warehouse and flew almost a block in the air landing smoothly on the cruiser.

Branzer jumped and looked up at the roof. He began to open the door, but then saw a masked figure look down at him through the windshield. Branzer jumped. Trackolania suddenly snarled at him. Branzer raised his arms and smiled.

"I'm Dan's friend…" He said slowly. He leaned over and opened the passenger side of door. Trackolania swung himself in and shut the door behind him. Branzer waited for him to buckle up. He then leaned over to grab his seatbelt. Next then he knew a dagger was at his throat. Trackolania let out a snarl.

"Ok…ok…" Branzer slowly leaned back. The cop then pointed to his seatbelt and then brought it over his chest and snapped it into position. Trackolania watched with fascination. He put his dagger away and pulled on his seat belt. He was amazed that it moved up and down.

"You have to buckle up." The cop said. Trackolania didn't say anything and brought it around his chest and snapped it into place just like Branzer did.

"You're a jumpy little thing you know that." Trackolania looked directly into his eyes and slowly nodded.

"Ok, you seem to understand English." Trackolania nodded again.

"We need your help with a raid. The swat team is there and it's a hostage situation. We need you to sneak in, kill the bad guys and rescue the hostages." Trackolania looked confused. Officer Branzer let out a sigh.

"Maybe you'll understand when we get there…" the officer said. He then turned to Trackolania who was still staring at him and said, "We're going to go fast, hold on ok." Trackolania nodded.

"Good, he seems to understand some stuff…I wonder if this is a good idea…" Branzer thought to himself as he turned on his lights and siren and floored the cruiser. Off they went.

They reached a top speed of one-twenty. The engine was roaring loudly. None of this seemed to faze Trackolania. They raced for thirty minutes and arrived at the location. Trackolania started sniffing the air and sensed evil. He then struggled to get rid of this seatbelt. He wiped out a dagger and was about ready to cut it when Branzer chimed in.

"Like this…" Branzer slowly pushed the button on the seatbelt and the seatbelt instantly retracted. Trackolania pushed the button and watched it retract. He then looked at the officer and smiled.

"Ok…" They both got out of the car and Branzer pointed to the building. The building was surrounded and several helicopters were in the air. Trackolania looked at Branzer and nodded. Branzer started to unstrap his gun to give it to him, but he was gone.

"Wait…" Branzer began to say. Branzer opened his glove compartment and got his binoculars. There was no trace of Trackolania.

Trackolania instantly turned invisible and sprinted behind the building. He found a stair case and sensed evil above it. He then hoped up the stairs at incredible speeds. The stairs barely even moved as his body moved quickly up.

He made it to what he guessed was the fifth floor. He quietly lifted the window and jumped in. He then saw several lights in the room and a wire conduit giving them power. He quickly jumped up and sliced the wires and instantly the lights went out. Trackolania then went to work.

"Who cut the…" A man said and started gargling his own blood. There were six gunmen all together. They were all turned into piles of human flesh within seconds. The ropes on the hostages were all cut almost instantly.

A low drown of a laughter came from the other side of the room. Dark red eyes appeared in the darkness. Trackolania started spraying arrows at the beast's eyes. It let out a howl. Trackolania then jumped off the floor. His daggers landed on the top of the beast, and he began slicing through the demons head at incredible speeds. It was dead within seconds. Trackolania then ran to the back stairs and sprinted down them again. The last three floors he jumped off from the stairs and floated to the ground and did several rolls on the floor. He then ran to the side of the building, he pulled out a small black ball and sighed. He throw it on the ground, it instantly smoked up and dematerialized Trackolania. He then started sprinting towards Branzer's car, flung open the door and sat down. He instantly fell asleep after strapping on his seatbelt.

Branzer saw the lights go out, heard several long distance screams and then heard his car door shut. He looked back in his car and there Trackolania sat - snoring away. Branzer then looked at his watch.

"That took less than thirty seconds…" He thought. Branzer then drove to his home.

"There's no way you can climb that wall while sleeping." Branzer turned off the cruiser and then walked around and open his door. He undid his seatbelt and picked him up. He was surprisingly light. He brought him into his house and placed him on the couch. The officer than wrote a note and placed it on his chest. It said:

"You are safe. Nobody is going to hurt you. I will take you back to Dan as soon as you wake up."

Branzer then reclined in his chair and turned on the TV. It was the news talking about the take down operation; he decided to change the channel to baseball. Slowly he nodded off.

That night Dan took a small drink of the yellow vial and fell almost instantly asleep. He had the same dream of walking down the stone corridor. He saw the same wooden door. He smiled and passed through it. Only this time the image horrified him. Most of the skin had been burned off from Crystal, a lot of muscle and bone was sticking out. Lightning bolts were still shooting out of the room and entering her body.

The head monk sensed a presence and said, "She's doing fine. Another couple of hours and she'll be in recovery." Dan didn't say anything. He simply floated above her and entered her body.

There was nothing but void all around him. He couldn't sense Crystal's mind.

"Crystal!" Dan shouted out. No response. Another presence entered Crystal's mind as well, Dan could sense it.

"Crystal is in the final stage now. She kept saying 'Dan' over and over in her mind. Her will was strong because of her love. She should be able to run around when time is stopped without any problem." It was the same voice as the head monk.

"I can't sense her!" Dan yelled.

"Her world has stopped. We are not the original time stoppers, but we know how to bring people into it. Like I said she did very well."

"But her body!"

"Her body is broken. Her spirit is not spent though. Our healers can repair the damage." The voice sounded very…alienish…

"When will she be done?" Dan shouted out.

"In about four hours. We have already made preparations for her recovery. She is in good hands."

"Where is Herrior and his group?" Silence fell into the void for quite awhile.

"The battles are almost over. He should return within three to four hours." The voice said.

Dan instantly cut the connection he had with Crystal and forced himself to wake up. He was still in the office. Trackolania had not returned yet. He sat still and listened for several moments. He then crawled outside the office and peaked over the stairwell. Nobody was here.

"So a couple more hours…I should be able to last that." Dan said to himself.

Trackolania woke up after several hours of sleeping. He had a massive headache and was starving. He then looked around and didn't recognize his surroundings. He instinctively jumped up and stuck himself to the ceiling and surveyed the room.

One man he vaguely remembered. He seemed to be sound asleep. He slowly crept along the ceiling not making a single noise. His stomach gurgled again. He stopped and started sniffing the air. There was a smell of food coming from the room lit up behind them. He decided he would slowly crawl that way.

When he was over the man sleeping, a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and landed on his face. It startled Branzer and woke him up. Trackolania quickly faded into the ceiling and slowly reached for one of his daggers. Trackolania sensed no danger out of the man but was learned to be very cautious.

"Wha…how long was I out?" Branzer sat up in his chair and turned off the TV. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at the couch. It was empty.

"Where did he go?" Another piece of his ceiling fell into his hair. He looked straight up and saw a faint image of a little man fading in and out of existence. His eyes glaring at him. He saw him reaching for his dagger.

"Whoa…easy there!" Branzer said very startled. He stumbled over his feet and fell to the ground. Trackolania tilted his head a little and withdrew his hand from his dagger.

"Ok…I need you to remember. Remember Dan? He's your friend? I took you on a raid with me last night and you passed out in my cruiser. I mean you no harm…" Branzer began to break a sweat.

Trackolania did a flip off from the ceiling and landed behind his chair. There was no sound to it at all. Slowly Trackolania started to remember, his head was hurting badly. He needed a healer.

"Are you still there? Can I come around and see you?" Branzer said. "I'm not armed. I'm not going to hurt you. I need to take you back to Dan…" Branzer slowly made his way around the chair and saw that Trackolania had both hands on his head and was nearly in tears. Branzer's fear quickly faded.

"Are you in pain?" Trackolania nodded.

"What hurts?" He pointed to his head.

"Ok, I have medicine for that." Trackolania then jumped in front of him and drew out one of his daggers and carved the word "healer" into the hardwood floor.

"Ok, yes. I have pills that will make you healed…stay right there." Trackolania fell to the ground with his hands on his head.

Branzer ran upstairs to his medicine cabinet. Morphine was the closest thing he could find to an instant fix. He had been saving it for when he got shot on the job. He grabbed a syringe and filled it. He then ran back down stairs and quickly shoved it in Trackolania's arm. Trackolania drew out one of his daggers and put it to his throat.

"It's medicine." He continued to inject the morphine into his arm. Within seconds Trackolania had a smile on his face. He put his dagger away. He stood up and nearly fell to ground.

"Ok easy there, I may have given you too much. Let's take you back to the warehouse." He helped the happy Trackolania into the cruiser. He was sober enough to remember to put on his seat belt.

Officer Branzer called Dan on the radio.

"Dan! Dan, are you there?" Dan scrambled for the radio. "Dan here."

"I have your friend with you, but I may have overdosed him with morphine. He had a severe headache." Dan acknowledged.

"How long was he on your raid for?" Dan asked. Laughter could be heard on the other end.

"Less than a minute…" Dan smiled. "Was he good for you?"

This made Officer Branzer smile. He reached over and rubbed Trackolania's head. He could tell it hadn't been washed in awhile. Trackolania was looking all over. The lights and people going by the cruiser seemed to fascinate him. "He nearly chopped my head off a couple of times, but we are doing fine."

Dan nodded with a smile. Then he sparked up.

"I got word from Crystal!"

"Oh? What's going on?" Branzer was eager to hear.

"Her body is badly torn, barely had skin on her at all. I couldn't communicate with her, but the monk said she should be in recovery soon. She made it through the transformation."

Branzer was happy and confused at the same time. "Transformation?"

"You know how I can stop time and nobody can move? Well she'll be able to move." Branzer acknowledged.

"I don't understand half of the things I saw or heard, but I'm with ya buddy. What should I tell everybody back at the station?"

Dan sat and thought for a minute. Then he smiled. "Look for her at the Policeman's ball." This made Branzer smile as well.

Dan then spoke up. "We should be transporting these weapons shortly. I'll see if we can come out and guard the station then. Demons should not be showing up there."

"It does have everybody on high alert…"

"I bet it does…" Dan's voice trailed off. Dan then thought about his sword. He withdrew it and stared at the glitter on it. Then he asked, "Did you find anything to fight them with?"

"Apparently bullets don't work. Mace doesn't work either. I clubbed him so hard with my night stick that it knocked out several teeth. We then beat it to a pulp. We all have taken precautions."

"Sounds good." the officer said. Just then a small part of Trackolania's cloak was glowing. He pulled out a stone with a weird blue design on it. It then displayed an image of Lindel.

"We'll meet you at the warehouse. Hurry up, we have wounded." The image disappeared. Trackolania quickly shook his head to get rid of the drug's effects and put the stone away. He then stared at Branzer and motioned for him to hurry. The officer was in shock. He had never seen anything like that before. Trackolania then motioned for him to hurry up again.

The lights and siren went on and away they sped.

"Will we need backup?" He asked Trackolania. He looked away from him and then looked as if he was concentrating very hard on the question. He then let out a sigh and nodded. Branzer instantly radioed in for backup and medical to arrive at the warehouse. Branzer then increased his speed.

Bernett recognized his voice over the radio and asked what was going on.

"The guardian angel needs our help." Branzer then said. Several responses then came over the radio asking what was going on. After several minutes of just gibberish, the radio settled down.

"We need first aid kits, his friends are hurt badly. I'll explain more when we get there."

Bernett was the first to arrive. Again there were people with crowbars trying to get into the warehouse. Bernett turned on his flashers and blasted his siren for several seconds. The people dropped what they were doing and started running away. He then unlocked his shotgun and ran around to the back of the car and flew open the trunk. He pulled out several flares and set them around. He then grabbed his first aid kit and ran to the front door. "How am I going to get in…" he thought.

"Dan!" He yelled. He could hear somebody running down the stairs. "Dan is that you!" He yelled again.

"Bernett is that you?"

"Yes, we got a call that you have wounded in there." Dan scanned around and was going to say 'no' when he realized that he must have talked with Branzer.

"They aren't here yet." Bernett looked confused but shrugged off.

"Ok, when are they going to get here?" Just then Dan felt a twinge on the back of his head. Dan quickly turned around and saw a small white light suddenly appear in the middle of the room.

"Any moment…" Dan's voice trailed off. The light slowly grew, but then faded again. It grew a little bit more and then faded again…"

"Lindel must be hurt badly." he said quietly.

"What? What's going on?" Bernett asked.

"They are hurt badly…" Dan yelled. "You have to help them!"

Bernett then looked around and picked up the crowbar and leaned at it as much as he could. The doors weren't moving.

"I cant get the doors opened. The chain is too thick!" Bernett screamed. Dan instantly pushed the file cabinets out of the way and took a swing at the chain with his sword. The chain simply bounced up and down. Dan firmly grasped the sword with both hands and jumped up in the air and slammed his sword down on the chain. The chain bounced higher this time, but not even a scratch was done to it.

"I cant cut the chain!" Dan yelled. "We secured it too well…" he thought.

The light grew bigger in the room and the twinge felt stronger on the back of Dan's neck. He spun around and saw parts of bodies through the light. Mohania was pushed through the portal and fell to the floor with a thump. Quinely was next. She looked ok, but had several gouges in her back.

"Come help open the portal!" She screamed.

"Who was that?" Bernett shouted. Dan ignored him and ran over to Quinely. Bernett looked in one of the holes of the warehouse and watched.

"What do I do?" Dan asked.

"Pull on that side, we have to make this thing wider!" Dan reached out and felt a solid circle on the side of the portal. Quinely grasped the other end and started giving it all see got. Dan then did the same. Skyka was then pushed through and her body went thump on the ground, the same as Mohania's. Next was Jacklyn. She had to push the portal open wider in order to get through it. She then moved Skyka and Mohania out of the way and hurried back and pushed on the top of the portal. It seemed to grow. Strings came through and then fell to the ground. Several arrows were sticking out of his body, but he began to crawl out of the way. Herrior was next, and half way through he grabbed Lindel's arm and yanked on her so hard that it dislocated her arm. The portal instantly shut.

Dan was in shock. Bernett was even more in shock. Dan ran up the stairs and grabbed his first aid kit and ran back down the stairs.

"What happened?"

"We were ambushed from behind. Where's Trackolania?" Herrior grunted and fell to his knees. Jacklyn seemed to be the only one not that badly hurt. Dan flung open the first aid kit and began to rummage through it. He grabbed some gauze and quickly looked over each one.

"Skyka first. She's the main healer. I don't think Lindel is going to make it." Jacklyn quickly started separating the bodies. She had a huge gouge on her stomach. Dan quickly started slowly removing her shirt. Jacklyn wasn't happy with the speed and quickly ripped off all of her clothes. Dan's face turned red, but quickly started putting cotton pads on her stomach. The wounds were deep.

"Apply pressure here!" Dan yelled at Jacklyn. She nodded and did so. Dan then went to work on the other wounds.

"Dan! Other troopers are here, and an ambulance! "We have to get inside!" Dan looked up at Herrior and pointed at the door. Herrior nodded. He snorted and ran back to the opposite side of the room.

"Get out of the way of the door!" A thunderous voice echoed back and forth in the building. Bernett instantly fell backwards. He had never seen a creature that made a loud voice like that before.

"Get back! Back away!" Bernett yelled.

A loud grunt came, and then what sounded like a hundred cows stampeding towards them occurred. Then a loud scream came and all of a sudden two horns came flying out of the door, followed by the doors themselves. The chain still held. Herrior grabbed the doors and flung them door the alley away from everybody.

"We have wounded, come on!" Herrior growled. Instantly everybody came pouring into the warehouse. It stunk like rotting flesh and there were flies all over the dead pile of bodies. Nobody seemed to really mind though.

"Hurry up! Get the medics in here! We don't have much time!" Dan screamed! Dan ran back to Skyka and checked her vitals. They were there but were very weak. Jacklyn was still pushing down on the wound. It began to soak through. Dan grabbed another piece of gauze and lifted Jacklyn's large hands and placed another piece under it.

"We need to stop the bleed!" Dan seemed to yell at her.

The paramedics arrived with several gurneys and began to assess each one. The officers taped off the area and laid down cones and flares. Herrior ran over to Dan and said nervously, "What are those devices!"

"That's what the medics use to get the patients to the hospital." Dan said. By now almost every member had an IV plugged into them.

"They must not go anywhere besides these walls…" Herrior said. Several medics were about ready to lift Skyka onto one of them. Herrior ran over and kicked it out of the way, and then smashed it with his sword. It instantly was sliced in half.

"Hey!" One of the medics said.

"They are not to leave this structure!" Herrior seemed to scold him.

"They need hospital care!" One of the medics seemed to get into Herrior's face. Herrior let out a loud snorted that sounded like a very big bull. The medic backed off.

"This place isn't sterile." The medic said.

"It isn't blessed either…" Herrior seemed to whisper to himself. Herrior thrusted his hand into the medic and lifted him several feet into the air. The medic immediately seemed to be gasping for air.

"Make it sterile! They are not to leave!" The medic nodded. Herrior slowly let him down to the ground. He then grabbed him by the arm and shoved his face into an IV unit.

"What is this?" Herrior yelled.

"It helps the blood circulate. It adds water, salt, and sugar to the blood stream in a slow manner. It's also helpful for us to give injections…" Herrior started to shake him violently. Dan ran over and tried to break them up.

"It'll help them Herrior. He's just doing his job."

"Make it go faster, we haven't much time!" Herrior's horns and head started to twitch. Even the hair on the back of Dan's neck began to rise. Jacklyn's head then spun around and looked at Herrior.

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"We've been found out…demons are approaching…" Herrior said solemnly. Dan nodded and figured as much.

Jacklyn then grabbed one of the female medics and pulled her to the ground so violently it sounded like the medic's knees cracked.

"Ouch!" She yelled.

"Apply pressure!" Jacklyn then pushed her hands over the wound. The blood had started to slow down.

Dan then ran over to Branzer. His face was almost white. Branzer knew something was wrong. Branzer then walked forward to meet up with him.

"We're in trouble…" Dan said slowly.

"The bad kind of trouble?" Dan slowly nodded.

"Are we going to need our guns or night sticks…" He seemed to understand. Dan looked into his eyes. Branzer simply nodded. Branzer then gathered up the cops and was told that they were going to have some trouble. A cruiser was parked at each end of the road to the warehouse. Each officer grabbed as much ammo as they could and stood in front of the entrance.

"Make those IV's drip faster!" Dan pointed his sword at the medic. They all seemed to understand and cranked the fluid up as high as they would good. Instead of a slow drip, it was almost a steady stream.

"I can't find a place to put an IV into this one…" A medic yelled. He was standing over Mohania. The medic looked over the body and was very frightened. You could tell in his voice. Herrior made several jumps and landed right next to him. He ripped off the needle so it was just a hose. The IV started dripping very quickly. Herrior then shoved it in Mohania's mouth. "Keep it in his mouth, ok?" The medic nodded nervously and stood over the creature.

Trackolania jumped over to Strings and drove his daggers into his back and flicked the arrows out of his back. Strings let out a scream every time a dagger went it. Trackolania did this six times and then waved for a medic to come over.

"His shirt needs to come off so I can see the wounds…" Instantly Trackolania cut a big square in the back of his shirt that he peeled off easily. He hadn't made any nicks or cuts on Strings's back. The medic was amazed. Trackolania looked up at the medic and pointed to his back several times.

"Ok…ok…" She grabbed some alcohol and dabbed it on some cotton balls and put it to his back. Strings let out a moan. An IV was plugged into him as well, and was turned up all of the way.

Moaning and stomping could be heard outside the walls of the warehouse.

"Jacklyn, Trackolania, Dan…let's go." Herrior lifted his shield and swung it around. It seemed to make a humming noise. He grabbed his sword and began leaping over the people on the floor and went towards the doors. Dan started for the door when suddenly an arm grabbed him. He spun around and saw Trackolania pointing up the stairs.

"What is it?" Dan asked. Jacklyn then grabbed Dan's sword and followed Herrior out. "Just go with him, he probably needs ammunition!" Dan nodded towards Trackolania and they both scampered up the stairs and grabbed as many arrows as they could. They made several trips and placed them outside the warehouse.

"Hurry it up!" Herrior commanded. Trackolania and Dan felt an urge to accelerate their operation. Two more trips and all of the arrows were outside. Trackolania then knelt down on his knee and took aim.

Jacklyn shoved Dan's sword back at him. "You better be ready…" She growled at him. Jacklyn pulled a long wooden, metallic staff from behind her. It made a loud humming noise and seemed to radiate great power. Dan nodded. A bead of sweat fell from his brow.

The officers then took strategic positions from behind their cars, ambulances, and the opening of the warehouse. Each one of them had their pistol drawn.

"Which way are they coming from?" One of the officers yelled. The moaning and commotion was getting louder. Several clanks and scraping sounds could be heard. Herrior quickly turned towards him and pointed his sword in front of him. Dan then turned around and said, "Don't shoot us! Your priority is to protect the injured!" The officer nodded. Officer Branzer had his shotgun loaded and planned on using all of his ammo, but nodded as well. He ran inside and yelled.

"Is there anything else we can do for them?"

"Were they poisoned?" Branzer shrugged his shoulders. "Just wounds as far as I can tell."

"We're going to need to stitch up some of these wounds. Is it safe to enter the ambulance?" one medic asked. Branzer nodded, "Hurry!"

Branzer ran out with him, shotgun to his shoulder. The medic jumped up into the ambulance and grabbed several items. He then grabbed a portal oxygen tank and jumped out of the ambulance.

"We have three more of these, can you grab them?" Branzer nodded and lowered his shotgun. He quickly jumped into the ambulance. The shocks seemed to grunt under the large man's weight. He grabbed the tanks and everything else that he thought could help and ran back into the warehouse. He got his first glimpse of the enemy.

They were human, but only about four foot. Their eyes were red and their hair was white. They didn't seem to be armed with anything, and they came to them at a walking pace. He could hear all of the officers cocking their guns. Branzer ran inside the warehouse and dropped the items. He then took position next to Bernett who had his magnum out.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" The moaning grew louder. Bernett nodded.

The little men pushed the cruiser out of the way and began walking their way. Herrior let out a deafening roar. Dan put his hands over his ears. Everyone seemed to become energized by the holler though.

"Trackolania save your ammo!" Herrior shouted. Trackolania put his crossbow on his back and drew out his daggers.

Herrior then said, "Jacklyn stick to my left. Dan stick to my right. Trackolania will guard our back. Suddenly Herrior moved forwards at speeds that matched that of Trackolania's. Jacklyn seemed to be expecting it and began to run with Herrior.

"Crap…" Dan said and he ran to catch up.

Herrior slammed into the cruiser with his shield and pushed it back at least a hundred feet, destroying anything in its path. He then took a swing at the little men and decapitating several of them in one blow. Jacklyn caught up with Herrior and thrusted her staff forward into one of the men. It seemed to impale him. She then swung around and sent the man flying into the crowd, knocking down at least fifty of them.

Some were closing in on Dan's position. He started slashing at them, but the little men began to parry his attacks. Several of them were surrounding his position.

"Shit! Not good…" Then the sword began to glow it's blue aura and Dan grabbed the sword by both hands and started hacking and slashing as fast as he could. The little men began to fall to the ground.

"Keep up!" Herrior shouted as he slammed three of them into the wall with his shield. They instantly burned up.

Dan ran forward with both hands on his hands and slammed into one of them. The man looked shocked. Dan then drew his sword out of him and pushed him forward. Dan then jumped into the air and sliced the next one completely in half.

The three of them continued to advance into the intersection.

"Trackolania! Give me a set of eyes from above!" Herrior commanded. Jacklyn took a swing and knocked several of them back. Trackolania quickly scurried up the wall. There wasn't anybody coming from the west or the north side. He jumped off the wall and just pointed toward the east. Herrior nodded. This meant that the demons were only coming from only the east. Trackolania fell off the side of the way, did a flip and landed smoothly on the concrete.

One of the little men grabbed a hold of Dan. He let out a howl of pain.

"Jacklyn take over!" Herrior quickly charged with blinding speed at the man touching Dan and smashed him with his shield. Dan started rubbing his arm.

"Attack with one hand on your sword. Don't let them touch you." Herrior said in a serious tone.

In the mean time Jacklyn stepped over in Herrior's spot. She spun around holding the very end of her staff. The other end of her staff sailed easily through the men, cutting some in half and causing others to catch fire. Jacklyn then let out a scream and seemed to grow even bigger. She then grasped her staff with both hands and started swinging at the creatures left and right. They all flew several feet into the air slamming into the buildings. Herrior ran forward with his shield in front of him. He could hear several "thuds" as the little men got plowed under. Dan ran right behind him, sword in his left hand. Trackolania followed right behind them.

Dan looked over at Jacklyn and she seemed to be slowly decreasing in size, back to her old normal self. Several men were coming in from her left. She didn't seem to notice. Dan ran over to her backside and swung at the first man, and then the second. They both instantly burned up. Jacklyn's staff slammed into the third ones head with such force that it left a hole in the wall. Jacklyn just made an "mmm…" sound and pointed over to Herrior's right side. Dan ran over to his right side.

Herrior then jumped up into the air and slammed his sword into the ground. The ground rumbled and a sudden blast of air knocked down the rest of the men. The three of them easily finished them off. Dan was out of breath. They slowly walked back to the officers were still standing guard. The officers saw some movement come across the corner and they all aimed at them.

"Stop!" Dan yelled. All of the officers quickly lowered their weapons. Just then a loud piercing sound came from the air. It made several circles in the air.

"Trackolania!" Herrior yelled. Trackolania took an arrow and a black vial from his cloak. He coated the tip of the blade with it. It seemed to let off a steam that formed into a skull in the air and disappeared. He then loaded the arrow and waited for his shot.

Herrior ran over to the officers, with Dan in hot pursuit.

"How do we fight something that's in the air?" Dan asked.

"We make it come down…" Herrior said seeming annoyed by the question.

The bird like creature swooped down at the officers first, claws extended. The officers opened fire, but could not seem to penetrate the scales of the beast. Herrior ran in the middle of the officers and the talons reflected off from Herrior's shield. A claw came off from one of its feet and it seemed to let out an injured howl. It spun around and began its attempt to gain altitude. Suddenly an arrow flew into the middle of the creature's eye. It let out a terrible shriek and fell to the ground. Herrior then throw his sword at the creature's wing. He then chased after it, grabbed the sword and began slashing at its thick scales. Dan followed close behind and began doing the same thing. He started whacking away at the scales, and they slowly began to break.

The creature was flapping and screeching trying to get up. The poison on the tip of Trackolania's arrow began to take effect. The flying creature's breath began to slow and it closed its other eye. Herrior had dug through the scales and started slashing away at the flesh. Dan was just about through as well. Jacklyn ran up to it and smacked it so hard on the right side of its head that a loud "pop" sound came from its body. She then repeatedly hit it, knocking away teeth and bits of flesh from its mouth.

Eventually the creature gave up and lay there for awhile. Herrior jumped off the beast, and Dan shadowed his movements. Jacklyn gave it a final slam in the head and it burned up. The officers were in a state of awe.

Herrior ran inside and let out another shout. This seemed to wake everybody up. Strings then reached for his pipes and started playing them. Slowly the blood flow from their bodies started slowing down.

"Me smash!" A loud voice came from the direction of the little white men. A two headed ogre the size of the warehouse walked around the corner. Herrior, Jacklyn, and Trackolania went running out of the warehouse.

"Switch those IV's out. Push that fluid into them!" Dan yelled and then quickly followed.

Herrior charged at the ogre with blinding speed and slammed his shield into his foot. He then sliced at the ogre's leg. It made a small cut.

"Ouch! Cow hurt us. We hurt him now!" The ogre said as he swung down his club towards Herrior. Herrior raised his shield and deflected the blow. It seemed to drain a lot of Herrior's energy though. He fell to his knees with his shield still facing up.

Trackolania ran over to Branzer and started pulling on his shirt. Branzer quickly looked down. Trackolania grabbed a hold of his gun, but didn't try to pull it away from him. He pointed to it and then pointed to his eye. He then turned around and pointed at the enormous beast. Branzer nodded.

"Aim for his eyes, fire at will!" Branzer said and began unloading his shotgun. Several other shots began to ring out as well. The ogre let out several shrieks as the bullets entered his face. He held his other hand out and stopped the bullets with that.

Trackolania quickly became invisible and ran behind the enormous beast. He dug his dagger into the creature and began climbing his back.

"Stupid little creature…" The ogre screamed. Dan and Jacklyn ran forward and dragged Herrior back to a safe distance. The large cow snorted. He stood to his feet. His right shoulder didn't quite look right.

"Go get him; I'll be there in a second…" Herrior said out of breath. Dan and Jacklyn ran forward towards the beast, unnoticed thanks to Trackolania making stab wounds in the creatures back. Herrior put his right arm between his legs and pulled back. He let out a mighty yell as a "popping" sound came from his shoulder. He moved it around and slowly began to stagger back into the battle.

Meanwhile the officers were changing out clips and reloading their weapons. A lot of their bullets were missing due to the ogre thrashing about trying to get Trackolania off from his back.

"Move in! Stay out of distance of his club! Shoot only if you have a clear shot!" Branzer yelled.

Trackolania made it to his neck and attempted to poison his daggers, but the club kept swinging at him that he couldn't hold still long enough. He then started digging a hole into the beast's skin and dropped an entire vial into it. It made a loud hissing sound, but didn't seem to have any effect. The club came inches from him. Trackolania then made his way to the middle of the creatures back and continue to stab him with his daggers.

Dan and Jacklyn arrived and Jacklyn jumped up into the air and shoved her staff into the ogre's foot. Black blood came squirting out.

"Ow! Stupid rodents hurt us!" The ogre than turned to swing his club towards the ground. Jacklyn pulled her staff out and ran between his feet. The club came thundering down on the ground, making it shake and cracking the pavement. Dan then jumped forward with his sword and drove it into the beast's right arm, making a deep hole. Dan then ran over to where Jacklyn was and took another swing at where Herrior's original swing was. A large piece of skin came falling off and Jacklyn shoved her staff very deep into the exposed leg. A large vein must have been exposed, because the black blood started pouring out of the hole.

The ogre dropped down on his bad leg, and then the officers began firing as fast as they good. They had a clear shot of the eyes.

The ogre's eyes quickly became black and started bleeding.

Trackolania then climbed off the ogre the same way he got up, by making small stabs in the mighty beast. An eyeball of the ogre completely popped out.

The ogre raised his club and began swinging it towards the officers. Herrior suddenly charged towards the club his shield raised to take the force of the swing. Herrior was smashed up against the wall of the warehouse taking the full blast of the swing.

"Herrior's down, I need to get his shield!" Jacklyn told Dan and Trackolania. They both nodded. Jacklyn ran forward and drove her staff into the creatures back, flinging herself forward. A loud "crack" came from the place the staff entered.

Dan and Trackolania then started hacking away at the ogre's foot in hoping that it would distract him. Within seconds, the exposed leg was removed from the body. The ogre screamed and looked back at the removed leg. This gave Jacklyn enough time to grab Herrior's shield. She quickly ran as fast as she could into the club. This let out a resonating "Gong" throughout the neighborhood. The unprepared ogre's club went flying to the ground. Jacklyn then ran towards the neck and jumped at it, driving the shield as deep into its neck as possible.

The ogre shook violently for several seconds and then lay motionless. The cops stopped their shooting. Jacklyn's hands were twisted badly from the impact. She slowly raised the shield and walked back and got her staff. She then motioned for Trackolania and Dan to come inside the warehouse. Trackolania pulled out another black vial and shoved it in one of the ogre's blood vein. It immediately started to let off a "hiss".

Inside of the warehouse everybody met up, even the cops. Most of them were out of ammunition. Herrior laid on the ground holding his left arm letting out a moan. Jacklyn returned the shield to Herrior's side. Herrior looked at her and smiled.

Skyka was slowly waking up and sensed that Herrior was hurt. She stood up, her stomach starting to bleed again, and raised quickly raised her hands. A sudden blast of white light and tiny stars filled the room. She did this again and then slowly lowered herself to the ground. A medic helped her to the ground.

The entire group's wounds seemed to instantly cover themselves and the bleeding stopped. Herrior rose to his feet moving his arm in a circular direction. It was still hurting a little bit, but not nearly as bad. Slowly each member of Herrior's party began to rise to their feet.

Mohania was the first to get up on his feet. He pulled the tube out of his mouth and stared at it. He then threw it to the side. His eyes were very sunken in and seemed almost red. He turned to look at the medic helping him, and she screamed. Mohania let out a smile. Mohania then began to channel a spell. A black aura formed around him and seemed to grow bigger and smaller as he channeled the spell. His fingers moving in a circle in front of him. They seemed to be channeling blue lightning. Suddenly he lifted his right hand and the aura instantly grew. It surrounded the entire warehouse and seemed to extend several hundred feet passed that. The aura stayed once it grew. It seemed to glow between grey and black.

Mohania then walked over to Skyka and helped her to her feet. Herrior walked over and put Skyka's arm around her.

"Hello…my love…" Skyka said with a smile.

"What…are these tubes…?" Mohania asked. His voice again echoed and sounded very sinister.

"It puts water, sugar, and salt into your body." Dan said walking up to the ground. He put his sword away. Mohania seemed to spit out some sort of fluid from between his teeth. It hit the floor and started burning a hole into the concrete.

Trackolania walked over to Strings and helped him to his feet. Strings then started walking very slowly over to the group. He could barely walk, but he would not fall in front of his group - he was stronger than that. He had stopped playing his song though.

Lindel rose to her feet on her own. She let out a half-smile and walked over to the group. They all embraced, including Dan.

"Hold me up…" Skyka said. Herrior tightened his grip around her, and Mohania slipped his arm around her. Skyka then held up her hands. Blue lightning began to channel from her fingers. A blue aura then formed around the group. It started at their feet and rose to the top of Herrior's horns. Skyka's eyes turned bright white and what felt like cold electricity passed through the entire party. She began to chant words unknown to Dan, but it felt good. Dan wasn't hurt, but he could see the wounds of all of the party members self heal themselves. He saw color come back into their faces, except for Mohania - all he did was smile.

Thunderclouds began to form outside and it began to rain. Skyka stopped channeling the spell and tried to stand on her feet but felt woozy. Herrior picked her up in her arms and they walked outside. The medics and policemen slowly followed.

"Dan, go collect the enchanted items and put them in the pile." Herrior said in a gentle voice. Dan nodded and hurried away. He then stopped and looked back at Herrior and shrugged his shoulders.

Skyka said "The blue glowing things hun…"

He found a ring, a sword, and a bracelet all glowing together. They were all glowing a bluish color. He was gone for about a minute.

"How did he do?" Herrior snorted in discontent. Skyka reached up and stroked Herrior's hair on his face.

"My love, he's only started. Give him a bigger weapon…" Skyka said slowly. Their eyes met. Herrior let out a sigh and then snorted again. Skyka smiled and patted him on the cheek.

"This is what I found!" Dan said with a smile. Herrior nodded at him and motioned for him to put it in the pile.

Officer Branzer walked up to Dan and the group slowly and asked, "Is that all?" Herrior nodded. "You won't remember any of this, but we appreciate your help." He looked towards Lindel and she instantly turned into a floating blue orb. Branzer had a worried look on his face.

"Branzer and Bernett would be valuable assets to us. We need somebody to operate those weapons." Dan immediately piped up. Herrior let out a snort and looked at Dan. He then looked towards all of the crates and let out a sigh.

"Lindel possess all of them except for those two. Then meet us over by the crates." The ball of purple light quickly floated into the heads of everybody around leaving a wavy wispy trail behind it. Lindel bounced from mind to mind and had completely her job within seconds. The men and women fell to the ground and instantly fell to sleep. Only Officer Bernett and Branzer stood. They stared at each other. Lindel then turned back into a human shape and slowly passed through the two officers. Both officers felt instant euphoria flow through their bodies. Lindel then put a finger on both officers' chins and smiled at them. She then floated over to the group and sat down.

"Mohania we need a fire." Herrior said. Mohania leaned over in the circle that they were sitting in and snapped his fingers. Fire instantly formed in his hand and threw it into the air. It landed on the concrete and seemed to burn happily.

"Dan!" Herrior announced. Dan turned to face Herrior; he had been watching the fire and was fascinated by what just happened. "You have fought with us! I have to hand it to you, you were not killed…" Herrior began to chuckle. Dan let out a smile.

"You still have much training still…" Skyka let out a cough and interrupted Herrior, Herrior sighed. "But, we think you'll make a difference for us." Herrior then leaned forward and said, "You need to concentrate. You didn't even stop time once!" It was obvious Herrior was pissed at Dan. Dan felt deeply ashamed and almost smacked himself in the head. "I forgot!" Dan said to himself.

"You are going to see creatures of all shapes and sizes. Battling by yourself you seem to remember to stop time. You have to remember to do that in a group. Lindel was down, she could not do it. You also fought demon monks and let them touch you. I had to save your life, and leave Jacklyn defenseless." Dan felt really bad right now. He wished he could crawl under a rock and die. Herrior stared at Dan and let out a loud snort. It was obvious that he was mad at him.

Dan started to say something, but was hushed by Herrior. "But you fought valiantly beside me. You tried your best. You are weak…but you have a lot of potential." Dan wasn't sure what to say.

Herrior let in a deep breath, waited, and then exhaled. He crossed his arms and continued staring at Dan. Dan started to speak up, but Herrior shook his head.

"If you had a choice between an additional shield or an additional weapon to fight with, what would you choose?" Dan closed his mouth and looked at Herrior funny. He was not expecting this question. He looked around at everybody else in the group. They seemed eager to hear his answer, except for Trackolania who looked bored and Mohania who didn't look like he was looking at anything at all except for the fire in front of him. Lindel gave him a reassuring smile.

"To be honest, I never thought of it." Dan finally said. Herrior seemed even more upset by the answer. The two officers began walking over to the circle.

"No!" Herrior commanded. It echoed throughout the building and they stopped in their tracks. They motioned that they would be outside. They tried to step outside and several bolts of lightning struck in front of them. They jumped backwards and fell on their bottoms. A stream of lightning then ran the entire length of the opening of the door. Thunder instantly followed and stunned the officers for several seconds by the enormous sound. Mohania began cackling. The officers just decided to wait on the floor until they were told to move. They didn't even talk among themselves.

Dan's attention was turned from the officers back to Herrior who again was staring at him. He was expecting an answer so he began concentrating on what to say.

"I'm not doing enough damage with one weapon. If I had two, I suppose I could do twice as much damage. But if I had a shield maybe I could deflect some attacks." Trackolania instantly looked up at Herrior and shook his head. Herrior nodded.

"What did that just mean?" Dan thought.

"We'll get you two light weight swords and give them different enchants. You'll have to learn how to duel-wield on your own, the swords will not teach you. Do you understand?" Herrior said solemnly. Dan nodded. He had learned a lot, but he thinks he could do more damage with two swords. Dan nodded again.

"Good. I'll have them start making them immediately." Herrior said. "Next order of business, do we really need these weapons? They didn't seem to do any good in today's battles."

Dan piped up, "They blinded the ogre…" Just then the poison had finished circulating in its body and it burned up. Herrior nodded.

"I used some of them when fighting by myself. A creature that looked like a man with blue light coming out of its eyes. I…uh…stopped time and shot his eyes out and disarmed him." Dan said sheepishly. Herrior nodded.

Trackolania looked at Herrior and nodded. Herrior nodded back.

"They protected us while we were down…" Strings said slowly.

"We can't enchant them." Skyka said. Herrior nodded at both comments.

"They could be blessed by a priest though for undead." Lindel said very slowly. Mohania's body suddenly shook at that thought. Again Herrior nodded.

"They are good for humans." Dan said. "Obviously because they were meant for humans…" he thought. Another nod from Herrior.

Silence fell over them. Herrior seemed to be thinking very intensely.

"Do the two over there know how to use them?" Herrior said slowly. His face was directed towards Dan.

Dan hesitated and then said, "They are police officers. They have had training in weapons. Branzer over there…" Dan turned around and pointed at him, "took down a red dog with long teeth and a spiked collar. They said it shot a beam of green light at them." Lindel, Skyka, and Mohania suddenly had very worried looks on their faces.

"He took them down with these weapons?" Herrior asked.

"By the sounds of it, he took them down with just his night stick." Dan said. "They said it seemed to just absorb the bullets."

"What is a night stick?" Herrior asked.

Dan shrugged. "Basically a piece of wood."

"Impressive!" Herrior said. His tone had changed and was staring at the officers.

"What has the other man done?" Herrior finally said.

"He is an excellent officer. I know him personally. I think they would both be good at using these weapons." Dan said. Herrior nodded. Just then five bolts of lightning struck at the entrance of the warehouse and thunder echoed throughout the building. Herrior looked at Mohania and raised his eyebrow. Mohania just smiled.

"Summon them restrained." Herrior said. Mohania stood up and generated a green circle above his head. He then threw the green ball towards the officers. It encircled them, lifted them off the ground and brought over to the group, right above the fire.

"What are you doing to us?" Branzer demanded. "We helped you out!" Herrior raised his hand for silence.

"We are going to talk to you is all." Herrior said. He looked at Lindel and nodded. Lindel reached through the green bubble and stroked Branzer's face. She then split into two different orbs and entered through their eyes.

"Mohania" Herrior said. He quickly turned his face towards Herrior. "Give them invisible sight." Mohania nodded. He then chanted something really quick and held out his pointer and pinky fingers and zapped both of their eyes. Both of them flinched, but couldn't seem to move.

"Easy guys, she isn't going to hurt you." A voice from within their heads seemed to say. It was Lindel.

Herrior then pointed at the crates. Surprisingly enough, the officers could see through the crates.

"Can you use those weapons?"

"Take your time boys. I'm reading your every thought so don't lie." Both officers nodded as Lindel whispered to them.

Both officers looked in the boxes. They saw AK-47's, tommy guns, automatic rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers and enough ammo to take down an army.

After a couple of minutes their invisible vision wore off, leaving them temporarily blinded.

"It's ok boys. Your vision will return. I promise." Lindel said inside of them slowly and reassuringly. "Now, Herrior awaits your answer."

Both officers nodded at the same time. Bernett spoke up rubbing his eyes. "There are some things I have not fired personally, but I know how."

Lindel exited their body, took on her normal form and sat back down in the circle. She nodded towards Herrior. Herrior let out a grunt in acknowledgement.

"Move them away…" Herrior said and waved them off. Instantly their green bubble flew across the room and into the far corner.

"Dan. How long will their guns last them?" Herrior asked. Dan thought about it for a second and then said, "For probably several hours." Dan then looked at Lindel and said, "We can always come back for more if you want." Lindel only smiled at Dan. Herrior nodded.

"I wonder if they could be trained for additional weapons. If the one took down a Hellhound with a mere stick…" Skyka said with a chill running up her spine. Again Herrior nodded.

"They could train with me." Dan offered. Herrior merely let out a smile.

"We can always wipe their minds if they don't work out…" Lindel added. Herrior nodded.

"The bigger one might be able to use two-handed weapons." Jacklyn said. Again another nod.

Silence fell over the group again. "We'll consider it. On to other matters." Herrior said and looked at Dan.

"Crystal survived the transformation." Herrior said. Dan nodded, "I know." A surprised look came over his face. Skyka reached over and squeezed Herrior's hairy leg. Herrior looked at her and whispered, "They are in love. They are connected." Herrior nodded.

"When can I see her?" Dan said eagerly.

"She's without healers right now. I don't know much more than that. A day or two maybe…" Herrior said.

"Cant Skyka just healer her now?" Skyka smiled and looked at Dan sympathetically. "Hun, it's a bit more complicated than that. Give it time."

"I hear that there's going to be a party coming up. A policeman's ball I think?" Herrior said. Dan thought about it. It was tomorrow evening. He had forgotten all about it. He didn't want to go without Crystal… A warm touch came over Dan's left shoulder. He looked over and saw Lindel's hand on him. She gave him a big smile. "I'll go help if you want…" Dan nodded and then looked at Herrior. He nodded as well.

"There are no raids or battles coming up that I know of. We'll stay here. You and Skyka take these weapons and send them to our world. Get Crystal ready and bring her to the ball. The rest of us will stay behind and evaluate these men." Herrior pointed to the green circle holding the men in the corner. Herrior looked at each person sitting in the circle. They all seemed to agree. Trackolania had carved his name in the concrete. He suddenly looked up and nodded as if he had been listening all along.

They all stood up. Skyka kissed Herrior passionately and then sat on the weapon crates. Lindel then walked over to the crates. Suddenly a bright light lit up the room and a very fast wind entered the warehouse and then instantly everything was gone.

"Mohania…" Herrior said pointing to the green ball. Mohania nodded. He snapped his fingers and the two officers fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Ouch…" They started to moan from the fall.

"We decided we're going to watch you over the next day. Prove to us that you are worthy." Herrior said and then paused for a second. "We'll need housing, food, training grounds, and secrecy." Officer Branzer slowly raised his hand rubbing his right leg.

"I've already kept the little guy at my house. I can provide everything that you need." Herrior nodded. He looked over at Bernett. "Can you frequent this house often so we can watch you?" The officer nodded.

"Ok, let's go." Herrior said.

"But what about all of these people?" Bernett said looking around.

"The people that are alive will wake up and not realize what happened and not remember anything." He then looked over at Mohania and pointed to the pile of bodies. Mohania said some words and then snapped his finger and a pillar of fire engulfed them, burning them to ash within seconds. Both officers look shocked again.

"This is a lot to take in for one night…" Branzer whispered to Bernett. He simply nodded.

"We'll have to split up into different vehicles. Herrior in one, Jacklyn in the other. They'll probably have to lay down on the back seats and then we'll just pile on them." The officers nodded. They unlocked the backseats and let them in. Herrior got in first and the shocks in the rear seemed to groan. He had to lay down in a ball and still barely fit, same with Jacklyn. Eventually they piled everybody in and started the trip back to Branzer's home.

Meanwhile Crystal floated over a table with several naked men and women with long ears standing around her. She had just arrived from the monks. Lindel walked into the door. Skyka waited outside the building.

"By request…" She said disrobing.

"You're always welcome." One of the men said. The body still had no skin on it, and it was dripping a lot of blood. Her face was severally disfigured, and it looked as though her hands and feet were about ready to fall off. The blood was being collected in a large dish underneath her, every drop was being saved.

Lindel joined the circle and all of the men and women joined hands and turned into purple balls. They floated for a second and then slowly every one of them passed into Crystal's eyes. They then all reanimated in what looked like a black void.

Lindel reached down and felt the floor. She could sense her heart beating and lungs working. She stood up and nodded.

"What's her name?" One of the men said.

"Either Officer Candy, or Crystal." Lindel said. The others nodded. They began to look around the void and didn't see anything.

"The monks didn't leave us much to work with…" One of the women said.

"Spread out, she's got to be here somewhere." All of them started calling out both names. The search began for her conscious. It was vital that it was found.

"She's really secluded herself during the process…" A female voice echoed. Several hours passed. Her name continued to be called out.

Then one of the woman stepped on a small box. She let out a yelping sound and jumped backwards. "Found something!" All of them merged together around the box. Lindel made a bluish aura around her and shrunk down to the size of the box. The rest of the priests started singing a song that was very high pitched.

Lindel walked up to the box. It had the word "Dan" written on it. She knocked on the door. "Crystal?" No response. Lindel then placed a hand on the door and the entire structure began to glow white.

"Crystal, it's Lindel. The process is over. You made it hun. You don't have to protect yourself anymore. It's safe." No response. The singing continued.

Lindel put her hand on the doorknob and easily pushed it open. She found Crystal curled up in a ball in the back corner. Lindel walked over to her and gave her a big hug and kissed her on the cheek. Then she began to stroke her hair. The two sat there for what seemed like hours.

All of a sudden Crystal's hand reached out and grabbed Lindel's leg.

"It's ok Crystal…its over. Ok? It's safe." Lindel continued to reassure her. Another hour of reassurance and Crystal started mumbling words.

"I…can…hear…singing…" Crystal said. Lindel stroked her hair. "It's it beautiful?" Crystal slowly nodded.

"Dan fought in a battle and protected us. He's a great man." Lindel said. Crystal slowly nodded.

"He is waiting for you…" Lindel said. Crystal let out a sigh.

"Feel like standing up?" Lindel asked. Crystal shook her head violently.

"The pain!" she cried. Tears started down her cheeks again.

"Shhh…the pain is over. It's all done." Lindel embraced her again and kissed her on the forehead. "It's all over…" Lindel kept saying. Several minutes passed and Crystal's body began to shake.

"Good…good…we need to get you on your feet and out of this box. Do you think you can do that yet?" Lindel asked very slowly. Crystal immediately shook her head.

"I think you can Crystal. You need to get to your feet…" Lindel grabbed her hand firmly and stood up. Crystal resisted at first and then slowly rose to her feet. She was shaking very badly.

"That's good, you're doing fine hun." Lindel said. "We need you to regain control of your mind and come out of the box." Crystal wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she nodded.

Crystal slowly walked out of the box and began to look around. Lindel's arm was still around her steadying her.

"What happened?" Crystal slowly said. The singing had become louder and several men and women were standing around her singing the sweet song. They all appeared to be naked. She looked down at herself and Lindel and realized both of them were naked as well. Crystal quickly imagined herself in clothes and it instantly happened.

"Good!" Lindel said. Lindel snapped her fingers and was instantly clothed as well. Lindel looked up at the other men and women and gave them a "shoo" wave. They nodded and instantly left. The music stopped as soon as they left.

"Who were they?" Crystal asked.

"Blood elf banshees." Lindel said.

"Is that what you are?"

"No, I'm a human banshee - but kind of different; more of a priest. Like Skyka." Lindel answered.

"I'm confused." Crystal said staring at the ground. Lindel gave her another hug. "It's ok, I don't fully understand it either…" she trailed off. "But that's not important now. We've got to get you back on your feet."

Crystal nodded. She became more aware of her surroundings. Lindel was still holding her arm. A warm sensation was coming from her arm, she was now aware of it.

All of a sudden visions from the last week suddenly appeared all around her. The images came and went very fast. Her body being zapped by the lightning and being twisted in different directions.

"What's going on?" Crystal said frightened.

"You're recalling your past. You can make it stop whenever you want." Lindel said in a calm voice. Instantly the images stopped.

"Picture us on a beach, the warm sun beating down on us, and fish jumping in the background." Lindel said. Instantly they were on a beach with the sun warming them up. Off in the distance fish were jumping.

"Good!" Lindel said. A warmer sensation came from Lindel's hand into Crystal's body. Crystal smiled into the sun. All of a sudden she was in her bathing suit and Dan was swimming around in the water. Crystal smiled and motioned to go towards him. Lindel's grip tightened.

"Not yet sweat heart. You're doing good, but you have a lot of recovery to go." Crystal nodded.

"How bad is the damage?" she asked. Lindel gave her a smile and said, "It's nothing our healers can't fix within a couple of hours. Skyka is waiting just outside your body to begin the healing process, but I need you to take control of your mind and body again." Crystal nodded. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Suddenly they were in a big wheat field at the peak of harvest. Several deer were jumping around in the tall grass.

Suddenly Crystal started to grow inside of her mind. She filled her conscious mind again. Lindel became nothing but a gentle voice inside of her.

"Very good. I'm going to disable your ability to feel pain, and your ability to look around. It's for the best." Lindel's voice said.

"I want to look…" Her eyes began to flutter. Skyka quickly ran over and placed her hand over her eyes.

"No my dear…trust me. Your next couple of hours are going to feel very good. You're going to be fine." Lindel's voice slowly became silent. She could feel Lindel leaving her mind.

A blue mist swirled out of Crystal's eyes and floated over next to Skyka and materialized into Lindel. Lindel quickly reached underneath Crystal's neck with her finger and thumb. A blue electric bolt shot from them and into Crystal's body. She then placed her right hand over Crystal's eyes and produced a very bright light. Crystal's mouth began to move. Lindel reached down and whispered into her ear.

"It's Lindel again. I won't leave you. You won't feel any pain, I promise. Skyka is here…" Lindel looked up at Skyka.

Skyka walked around the table and whispered in her other ear. "Hi Crystal it's Skyka. I will be your healer for today." Skyka giggled and continued, "Please just relax and let me know if you feel anything. In a couple of minutes you'll be able to talk. When you are able to, I want to hear all about Dan - ok sweetheart?" Crystal tried to make a smile and realized that her muscles would not move.

"Just relax and picture yourself in the field with the deer, ok?" Lindel said quietly.

Skyka then stood up and spoke a quick word and what appeared to be a light well appeared in the room. It was gold color and seemed to spin around slowly. It shot out golden stars that flew into Crystal. Her body seemed to resist it at first.

"Shhh…just relax…" Lindel said.

Skyka then started to recite a spell. A small spiral appeared at her feet and above her head. She then released the spell on Crystal. The blood stopped dripped and started to actually flow back up into her body. For about twenty seconds it looked as though her body started knitting its muscles back together. Skyka did this for about ten times. Skyka looked as though she was losing color in her skin. She looked towards Lindel and nodded.

"I'm going to be right back. Skyka is right here with you." Lindel robbed herself and left the room. The fountain in the room was still spinning and sending out tiny stars into Crystal's body. Crystal's body looked as if it was growing new muscle and cartilage. Her hands and feet looked a lot better, and she began to grow skin on her face.

"How bad…is it…" was all Crystal managed to say.

"Shhh…hun. It's not time to talk yet." Skyka knelt down beside her ear and began to whisper to her.

"You went through a lot of trauma. I'm not going to lie to you, you are a mess. But we women are strong aren't we?" Skyka said. "I simply ran out of strength. Lindel went to get some more healers. We got to get you ready for the ball don't we?" Crystal let out a half smile.

"We're all going don't you know. Mohania will disguise us and we'll be dancing side by side - you and Dan, and me and my big lug. Do you want to hear the story about me and Herrior?"

"Yesss…" Crystal moaned. Skyka smiled. Lindel walked in with more healers. They looked like trolls and blood elves, both men and women.

"Just the spell 'renew'. Her bodies been through a lot. We want slow healing." Skyka said. They all nodded. One by one they all began to cast the spell. A yellowish spiral of light circled around their feet and above their head, and it slowly entered into Crystal's body as Skyka began to tell her story.

"Well, one night Herrior was fishing. He's quite the cook you know. But the big lug isn't too bright. Our class went down to the Barrens to go swimming. He didn't see us, we didn't see him. I swam away from the class and got caught on Herrior's hook. The big lug then pulled very hard and reeled me onto the shore. The hook was deep in my skin. Herrior was in shock when I came ashore. I slowly worked the hook out of my skin and cast a healing spell on myself. I then stood up and slapped him so hard he fell on his rump. He started to apologize but I dove back into the water and swam back to my school. I had a smile on my face. He caught my heart that day." Crystal's body began recovering quicker now. Her skin had almost completely covered her body now. She let out a big smile.

"The next day our class went to visit's the Taurens. Our teachers thought it was good for races to get to know each other. Anyway, we saw huge totems and big drums and tents. I thought they were pretty primitive. I still think he is, but don't tell him." This time Crystal's smile reached both ears.

"I saw the big lug chasing a chicken around the yard. He was only wearing a loin cloth. His body was completely covered with a thick brown hair and his horns just started to come in. I casted a Mind Blast spell on the chicken and it completely exploded the animal, sending feathers everywhere. The feathers were sticky and it stuck to his fur. I thought it was funny, but I was disciplined for it. We were supposed to be 'Ambassadors' from our race. It was decided that him and I be paired up for the games. We raced around the totems, told stories, went for walks in the Great Valley and finally went swimming. I told him if he hooked me again, I would explode his head. He merely smiled at me and jumped in the water. The big hairy cow splashed me. I was so mad at him, so I jumped in the water and landed right on him - forcing him under water. I thought it was hilarious, I could feel Herrior's face being pushed around in the muck. Although he got his footing back and thundered upward with such speed that it sent me flailing into the air. After I splashed into the water, I rose back up and started splashing him. He started splashing me back."

Skyka paused for a second to look at Crystal's body. Her feet finally finished lacing themselves up with skin. Skyka smiled and whispered back into Crystal's ear.

"You're healed now. But we need you to start moving your arms, fingers, legs, neck, and toes."

"Am I floating?" Crystal spoke clearly now. Several of the healers left the room; they were drained and had trouble walking.

"Yes hun, the proper term is levitating. But yes, you are floating." Skyka replied.

"It feels weird. Like there's some invisible force pushing me off from the ground…" Crystal began to say. Skyka took a small feather from her belt and ran it in a circle on her belly button. Crystal then flexed her stomach and started laughing. Her whole body began to flitch.

"Ok, ok…" Crystal said. She started moving all of her fingers and toes. She started moving her legs and arms up and down. She moved her neck back and forth. Skyka seemed to be impressed.

"Am I?" Crystal started touching her body and then said, "Can I have something to cover myself up with?" The air was warm and moist, but she began to feel embarrassed. Skyka grabbed a sheet and threw it over her body.

"Where are my clothes?"

"They got burned up. We'll get you some new garments." Skyka said.

"What do you mean they got burned up? How bad was the ceremony?" Skyka and Lindel looked at each other. Lindel leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Your one of the few that survived…all of your skin and a lot of your muscles were burned up…"

Crystal immediately reached up and felt for her hair. "It's gone! Where's my hair!" she screamed.

"Your hair will grow back within the next couple of hours. It'll be your natural color and as beautiful as ever." Skyka said. She looked over at the golden fountain that was still spinning around shooting stars into Crystal. Skyka examined her head closely and began to see the hair slowly growing.

"Crystal, I need to enter your body again. I'm going to check for abnormalities. Then we are going to run some time stopping tests on your body." Lindel said.

"I can't see, how am I supposed to run tests?" Crystal said still freaked out. Lindel grabbed her arm and slowly the warm energy flowed into Crystal. Crystal began to feel better.

"That's better than Xanax…" Crystal started to laugh. Skyka and Lindel looked at each other and shrugged.

"Are you ready Crystal?"

"Will it hurt?"

"No, you've been in enough pain. I'll talk to you the whole time. Skyka will be by your side as well."

Crystal hesitated and then nodded. Lindel slowly turned into the purple ball and slowly floated into Crystal's eyes.

Crystal then met up with her in her mind. Crystal was imaging the field again. Both of them wearing white robes and walking in the wheat.

"This is where I grew up. This place is so beautiful." Lindel nodded.

"Why am I not allowed to see?" Crystal asked.

"Because the city we are in is very magical and full of brilliance. It has secrets no mortal could ever conceive. It is more of an order from our King than anything else."

"You have a king?" Crystal asked. Lindel nodded slowly. "Can I meet him someday?"

"Perhaps someday…but now I have some work to do. I'm going to pass through every inch of your body looking for abnormalities and fixing them. I did the same to Dan. It put him in a very euphoric state, as it will for you." Lindel stopped walking and hugged her. "It'll be ok. We'll test your eyes out later. I'm sure they are fine though." Lindel slowly faded away. Crystal continued to walk in her field.

Lindel searched her mind. All of the neurons appeared to be firing normally. There weren't any lumps or tumors. Lindel then passed down to her throat. Everything appeared fine. Lindel then went down to her chest. Her heart, lungs and other organs seemed fine. She then stopped and thought to herself. Suddenly her breasts grew several cup sizes and then moved on. Skyka noticed and started chuckling to herself.

Apparently she had a gall stone though. Lindel wrapped her hands around it and slowly dissolved it into nothing. She checked her liver and it didn't seem to be functioning correctly. The organ itself seemed greenish and it didn't appear to be inflating and deflating properly.

"Crystal I'm going to do some work on your liver. Tell Skyka, we might have to open you up." Crystal relayed the message and a cringe of fear began taking over.

Skyka acknowledged and removed the sheet a little to get to her liver. She then put her hands on her stomach. They were warm with long fingernails coming off from them.

"It's very important you relay the messages Crystal, ok?" Skyka said. She nodded trying to hide her fear.

Lindel then wrapped her entire body around the organ. It turned white and started to glow. The greenish tint to it disappeared.

"Crystal, I need Skyka to open you up and begin casting heal spells directly on me." Crystal relayed the message in fear. She then added, "Is it going to hurt?"

"It shouldn't. You're going to feel a melting sensation, and possibly a tugging sensation." Skyka said. Skyka then closed her hands together and began melting her skin away. It turned into blackish goo, sealing the blood veins as it opened up. A bright light came from the hole. Skyka then began to chant a spell that sounded like total gibberish to Crystal. A huge bright light formed above Skyka's head and then instantly flew at the bright light.

After the spell faded, Lindel stopped encircling it and just watched it. It seemed to turn the normal color of brown. Lindel peaked inside and everything appeared normal in there.

"Tell Skyka to seal the wound. Everything is fine now." Crystal relayed the message after feeling the big blast of light entering her body. It seemed to push her downward with great force.

Skyka then slowly closed her hands together sealing the wound. The blood vessels reconnected and start pumping blood as if nothing happened. Skyka then held her hand over the incision and recited some sort of hymn. Crystal couldn't tell what it was doing, but she didn't feel anything. She just laid on the table wondering what was going on.

Lindel then continued to look around her stomach and decided to dissolve some of the fat that she had. Crystal's stomach shrunk in a little, exposing more of her muscle. Lindel then made a quick trip down her legs and then back up her body and exited her body. Both of them stood on either side of Crystal.

"All done…" Lindel whispered in her hear. Lindel's body began to fade in and out of existence. Skyka looked at her worried. Lindel then reached under Crystal's neck and electricity shot from her neck and into her fingers. Crystal let out a gasp.

"Are you alright darling?" Skyka asked. Crystal could feel everything again. She reached down to the spot where Skyka opened her up. She felt it up and down and didn't even feel a scar.

"What was wrong?" Crystal asked.

"Your liver was failing and you had a gale stone. My guess is you only had about five years of life left…" Lindel said sitting down on a bench next to her. She sounded very tired.

"My guess is that you slowly poisoned your body with something over the years." Skyka said. Crystal had flashbacks of all of the stuff she drank, smoked, and injected into her body. The teenage years. Crystal shed a tear.

"You saved my life…"

Lindel smiled and laid down. Skyka walked over and placed her hand on Lindel's stomach. Slowly she began to rise up off from the bench. Lindel smiled at her.

"You two get some rest; I'm going to go get some dresses for us." Skyka said. "We ladies do have a party to plan for!" she sounded excited. Crystal reached up with her hand and felt about an inch of hair had grown back.

"Amazing…"

"Try to get some sleep Crystal…" Lindel said sleepily. Soon Lindel was snoring. Crystal wrapped the blanket up around her, rolled on her side and soon was fast asleep herself.

Everybody walked into Branzer's house. Jacklyn and Herrior had to duck to get in.

Branzer said, "Bathroom is down the hall, kitchen is that way, you all are welcome to sleep anywhere you want. I'm going to grab a beer and going to bed. Floating in a green ball takes a lot out of ya…" He walked to the fridge and pulled out a Miller Light and down it almost in one gulp. He then staggered up the stairs and was asleep within seconds.

"I'm going to sleep outside." Quinely said. Herrior nodded. Trackolania pulled on Herrior's armor and shook his head as well.

"I don't feel comfortable sleeping in here either, but we don't want to be rude." Herrior shrugged and sighed. "Let's go." Dan laid down on the couch.

The six of them left the house and went into the back yard. Herrior dropped his armor next to him. Trackolania took off his daggers. Quinely transformed into a giant leopard. She stretched out and then curled up in a ball. Mohania laid down on his back with his boney hands across his chest. The faint black aura slowly surrounded him still. Jacklyn sat up against a tree and decided to sleep there. Strings started to play a tune on his lute for several minutes and then laid down on the ground.

The next day, Quinely was the first to wake up. She was still in leopard form. She strolled around to the front yard and pushed the door open with her nose. She saw Branzer off in the kitchen, did he say it was? There was a pleasant smell coming from it. He was wearing nothing but his underwear and an undershirt. Quinely let out a loud purring sound and started approaching Branzer.

Officer Branzer was flipping pancakes. He was on his twentieth one when he heard the purring. He saw the beast out of the corner of his eye and quickly spun around to face the leopard. He scrambled backward and found a meat cleaver on the cupboard. He held it out in front of him with both hands. The leopard seemed unaffected by the commotion. It continued to stare him in the eye and slowly approached him, waving it's tail high in the air. The purring sound continued. It seemed to be smiling at him.

Finally it reached Branzer's feet and started rubbing it's body up against him, continuing to purr. It did a complete walk around his body and then sat down right in front of him. It lifted an enormous paw as if it wanted to shake.

Branzer slowly put the knife down on the shelf and took it's paw. Then within a couple of seconds, the beast seemed to morph into Quinely. She rubbed up against him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Something smells good…" she slowly said.

Branzer held both hands to his head and said, "Ok…I've seen enough weird shit for the rest of my life. There are pancakes on the stove; I need to start my patrol. The ball starts tonight at ten pm. You guys are on your own." He started walking upstairs to get his uniform on. Quinely started to laugh.

When the officer came back down, the entire group was in the house.

"Where did everybody sleep last night?" The officer asked.

"Back there…" Herrior said and pointed in the backyard.

"Ok, whatever floats your boat. Can I borrow Dan if you don't mind? We need to pick out tuxedos today as well."

"What's a tuxedo?" Herrior asked.

"There's a store up the street to the right. They have all sorts of them; I'm going to be late. Come on Dan, I'll buy you some food on the way." Branzer then closed the door. He paused for a second and then reopened it. "Eat all you want, just try not to destroy anything…"

Branzer and Dan got into the cruiser and went straight to the tuxedo shop and got measured. Dan picked out one with a purple tie and a handkerchief. Branzer got a silver one. They placed it in the seat between them. Branzer radioed in and asked what his assignment was today.

"Drive by the docks a couple of times. We've gotten word of some illegal smuggling out there." Branzer confirmed and off they went.

Branzer hesitated and then said, "They will…be ok in my house won't they?" Dan looked at him and shrugged.

"Thanks…that's really reassuring…" They both began to laugh.

They arrived at the docks and Branzer turned his lights on. He began to drive around the large crates and ships that had arrived. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They then drove to the harbor master's office and knocked on the door. He opened the door and greeted them.

"Welcome! Name's Thomas. What can I do for you?" Dan was standing behind him ready to stop time at the sign of any trouble.

"We've been getting some complaints about some illegal activity coming from here." Branzer said in his officer voice. Thomas looked confused.

"What sort of activity?" He asked.

"Weapons, illegal immigrants, permits being violated that sort of thing." Branzer was bluffing, but Thomas fell for it. He invited them in and showed him the schedule of all of the boats coming and going. He then showed Branzer all of the permits that he had. He then took them on a personal tour of the docks and showed both of them that everything was in order. Branzer asked to have a couple of containers opened and Thomas did without any hesitation. This took up most of the day.

Meanwhile Herrior and his group had devoured the pancakes and began looking for other food to eat. Jacklyn opened up the refrigerator and a sudden blast of cold started to fill the room. Strings then shoved her out of the way.

"I know what this is…" He grabbed the beer and started trying to figure out how to open it. Jacklyn then pulled out a package of hamburger. He tossed it over to Mohania.

"Heat this up will ya…" Mohania nodded and smiled. His hand engulfed instantly into fire. The packaging shriveled up and fell off the hamburger. Instantly the hamburger began to pop and crackle. The aroma filled air.

"That should do it." Herrior grabbed the hamburger, took a piece and began passing it around. They all took a bite and then looked at each other. Slowly they started on the second bite and began to chew it and forced it down. Herrior shook his head in disgust, and took another bite.

"This is disgusting, is there anything besides ale and meat?" Quinely said and looked into the refrigerator. All of a sudden Strings figured out how to open the can. It began spraying all over the room. Strings quickly put it to his mouth and began sucking at it. He then opened the can the rest of the way and downed it in one gulp. He then reached for another and opened that one more easily.

Quinely started opening drawers and saw a head of lettuce and some tomatoes. She pulled them out.

"Now these are looking familiar." she said. She walked over to the counter and set down the tomatoes, and took a huge bite of the head of lettuce. She chewed it for awhile and then looked at Herrior.

"Does this taste…different?" she asked. Everybody nodded in agreement. Strings opened up another beer.

"Food isn't as fresh here I supposed. Just down it, we need the energy." Herrior said hesitating. "Then we need to go to this 'tuxedo place' - we'll probably have to go in disguise and seem some money." Mohania nodded.

They finished off the contents of the refrigerator. The kitchen was a mess. Even Mohania seemed to consume some of the food. Strings let out a belch that pretty much acknowledged that they were done. They then walked outside.

"Leave your armor and weapons here." Herrior said. Mohania started to disrobe and Herrior held up his hand. "No, you'll be fine." Mohania let out a cackle that echoed throughout the house.

Several "thuds" and "bams" filled the air as they started to loosen their armor and dropped it to the floor. It left several marks on the floor and it the floor started moaning. Everybody was in a loin cloth; Jacklyn and Quinely had a leather bra on as well.

Herrior grasped the door and squeezed it. The knob smashed into pieces and the door swung open. Herrior sighed and said, "Mohania."

Mohania began to chant something over and over. Suddenly they were all dressed in the same attire as they were at the bar in Canada. They all filed out of the door in single file.

"Don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves. I don't want to make a scene." Herrior turned around and seemed to mean business. Everybody seemed too nodded, except for Mohania who simply let out a grin.

They began walking down the street. A dog in a yard ahead of them started to suddenly start barking ferociously. Quinely held up her hand and it instantly stopped. It sat down and started panting.

A young couple wear jogging attire was coming towards them. Herrior motioned for the group to step aside.

"Thank you" she said. The man simply looked at the size of Herrior and Jacklyn and almost fell down. They continued on their way and took a right at the corner. Herrior located a shop full of suits and dresses.

"I'll wait outside…" Jacklyn said as she saw the large group of people inside. Herrior gave her a dirty look and she sighed. They all went in. A saleswoman walked up to them.

"Hello!" She looked no older than twenty four and had a bright cheery voice. Jacklyn turned to walk out. Herrior grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"Greetings. We need attire for the ball tonight." Herrior said in a gentle voice. He let out a smile. The woman's side started to beep. She took out her cell phone, flipped it open and quickly shut it.

"By tonight? Oh my we better hurry up then. Do you know what your sizes are?" Herrior wasn't sure what she meant by that. The phone beeped again. Herrior sensed something was wrong with her facial expressions. He turned around to Quinely and motioned for her to come up.

The saleswoman must have took the look as they didn't know. "No problem. My name is Megan and I'll be taken care of you today. Please follow me back." The group followed. The phone beeped again.

"Is there a problem hun?" Quinely asked putting an arm around her. Megan simply sighed and said it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

Herrior and Jacklyn had a problem fitting in-between the isle. Slowly they pushed their way through. She led them into a room and pulled out a cloth tape measure and walked towards Herrior. The phone beeped again.

"I'll do that, what do you need." Herrior grabbed the tape measure from her hand faster than she could react. Herrior knew their illusions were just that, illusions. If she touched him, the spell might be broken - not to mention that he was a big cow. The phone beeped again. She just let out another sigh.

Megan was shocked for a moment and then said, "Very well." She pulled out a clipboard and a pen. "I'm going to need all of your sizes. Waist, bust line, height for the men, women do you know your sizes?" Herrior took the tape measure and flung it over himself. Megan then bent over and examined Herrior's feet.

"Eight foot six inches." She said in a surprised voice. She wrote down the number and then asked for his waist. Herrior wrapped it around his stomach and nodded. She wrote down another number. The phone beeped again.

"I could destroy the device for you." Herrior said. Megan smiled and reached down and turned off her phone.

"I'm sorry about this guys, I have an obsessed old boyfriend that is just driving me nuts. He's been threatening me, waking me up in the middle of the night, and texting me constantly!" It was apparent that Megan was frustrated. Quinely stepped forward and gave her a small hug. Megan let out a smile.

"Ok, let's continue." Megan looked at Jacklyn and started sizing her up and down.

"What!" Jacklyn glared at her. It was very apparent that Jacklyn did not want to be there. Herrior gave her a bump on the arm.

"Hmm…perhaps a 24? Am I close?" Jacklyn tilted her head.

"I'll write that down and we'll try different sizes." Megan then wrote that down and took the measurements and estimated sizes for everybody else. It took about thirty minutes. Megan didn't suspect their illusions at all. She was about ready to take off when Herrior shot Quinely a look and pointed at her. Quinely reached out and grabbed her. It took Megan by surprise.

Herrior bent over to her level and whispered. "We need to be out of here in a hurry. No questions asked. It's for a policeman's ball - so whatever we need for that." Herrior then looked over at Mohania. Mohania's hand glowed for a brief second and a stack of twenty dollar bills came out. It was neatly stacked and wrapped together. Megan put up both hands and said "I can't except any tips…" Mohania tossed the money to Quinely. Quinely spun Megan around and pulled her pants and underwear back. It was rather snug. She dropped the money in there and then spun her around. Megan's face was red with embarrassment and shock. Herrior gave out a smile.

"Please." Herrior said very gently. Megan nodded. She adjusted her jeans and let the money sink down to the bottom of her underwear. Megan took off running and quickly started gathering up various suits and dresses.

Herrior turned to Mohania. "We need at least a thirty minute illusion on us." Mohania nodded. Mohania started twirling his hands around in a circle and blue electricity started channeling from his hands. Herrior noticed that it started to draw a crowd.

"Dan!"

Time stopped.

Mohania kept channeling the spell and all of a sudden there was an explosion among Herrior's group. Mohania looked at his work and smiled.

"Thanks."

"I hate how I look!" Jacklyn said in protest. She was a very tall blond haired woman wearing a yellow shirt and tight blue jeans.

"It's only for thirty minutes, please try to hold out."

Jacklyn let out a sigh.

Time started.

Everybody went back about their business.

"Quinely, track her…" Herrior commanded. She nodded and closed her eyes briefly. Her eyes began glowing a dull orange color.

"She's running all over the store…She's grabbing stuff off from shelves. She just knocked a lady over. She's apologizing but continuing her run. She's coming back in this direction.

"Act normal…" Herrior whispered. Mohania simply smiled at him and let out a chuckle.

Megan came around the corner and had an arm full of suits and dresses. It appeared that she was sweating.

"Ok guys and gals, we'll start with these. The dressing rooms are right behind you. Let me know how they fit. I choose the colors based on the event. I'll stay right here and if you need any help let me know." Herrior nodded with a smile. Megan gave each other of them their outfits.

Herrior had a huge tuxedo, Jacklyn's dress was rather long and she held it up to her body. It appeared that it would fit. Quinely ran her fingers through the material of the dress and said, "It's beautiful…" Strings got a tuxedo that was larger in the midsection. He just merely laughed and walked into one of the rooms. The rest went into their own each room.

Within a minute each member walked out. The sizes were just right. They all looked stunning, except for Jacklyn who looked like she was about ready to break something. Quinely walked forward beside Megan and started eyeing everybody over. Trackolania's tuxedo looked slightly long for him. It appeared as though he let out a snarl. Quinely gave him a dirty look.

"You're good!" Quinely said as she turned to look at Megan. Megan smiled and did a curtsy "I am good at what I do…"

Meanwhile a six foot man entered the store and asked for Megan. The store clerk pointed in the back. He proceeded to make his way to the back of the store. Instantly Mohania eyed Herrior. Quinely grabbed Megan's hand and turned her around and began asking questions about herself and started walking away.

"Demon's are approaching…" Mohania whispered. Herrior nodded. Quinely could hear him but kept her cool. Herrior reached for his shield and sword. The rest of the members reached for theirs but realized they left them at Branzer's house. Herrior let out a loud snort. Trackolania faded into the shadows.

"Megan!" the man shouted. His face meant business and he began to run to her. He grabbed her and slammed her against the wall. It was apparent that he was drunk.

"Mark I'm busy right now. What do you want?" Mark started groping her. A black imp looking monster with red eyes was dancing on his head.

"Stop that, I'm working right now." Mark then reached up and went to slap her in the face.

Time stopped.

Herrior looked at Dan with approval. Herrior then started bellowing out commands.

"Trackolania go mess up his vehicle. Mohania kill the demon above his head. Jacklyn, slap him as hard as possible, break his foot, and throw him into the wall."

Trackolania then sprinted outside within a second and started scratching something on his windshield. Jacklyn then picked up Mark and slapped him so hard that several bones could be heard cracking. She then stomped on his foot - hearing the same crunching sound. She then threw him into the opposite side of the room with such force that his head went through the drywall. Quinely raised Megan's hand to make it look like she did it.

Meanwhile Mohania's eyes turned a bright white. The imp had fallen to the ground. Mohania opened his mouth and several foot long ice shards came flying out of his mouth, piercing the imp. It quickly burst into flames.

"We don't have much time, everybody line up where you were before." Everybody was accounted for except for Trackolania. Herrior shouted out his name. The front doors flew open and Trackolania let out several hops and cleared the entire store in about three hops. Herrior caught him and threw him back into position.

Time resumed.

Megan braced herself for the blow from Mark, but it never came. She noticed her hand was up. She looked around and saw Mark screaming in pain, pulling his head out of the drywall. This attracted the manager and several other employees.

"Megan! Megan are you ok? What happened?" The manager said. Herrior stepped forward.

"Megan was attacked by this drunk. She defended herself." Herrior looked back on his group and they all nodded.

Quinely ran over and gave Megan a big hug. She was trembling. "You're ok sweetheart…" she whispered in her ear. Herrior walked over to Mark and lifted him with one arm several feet off the ground.

"I think we've had enough commotion out of this guy for awhile. I'll take him out to his car…" Mark continued screaming in pain.

Herrior started walking with Mark wiggling around. The store started cheering for him. Herrior simply smiled, without wrinkling his tuxedo, and pushed him out the front door.

"She's my girl friend, you can't do that!" Herrior squeezed his arm until he was on the ground screaming for mercy. Herrior then bent down right to his ear and snorted really loud. Mark looked very surprised.

"What are you man?" He said.

"You will not see her again. Show me where your vehicle is." Mark started to say something and Herrior gently brought his human foot on Mark's broken one. He let out a scream and pointed to the one right in front of the store.

"Open the door!" Herrior commanded. Mark complied. Herrior then picked him up by his back and belt. He then threw him into his car. His head smashed in the opposite side of the window. Blood instantly started to pour out of his head.

"Leave her alone!" Herrior commanded again. Mark nodded, started the car and squealed the tires to get away. Mark looked forward and saw big scratches on his window shield. It read, "Leave Megan alone" He took off towards the hospital.

Herrior slowly walked back in. More clapping started back up. Herrior simply nodded in both directions and made his way back to the back of the store. Megan looked composed and was ready to do business again. The manager stayed with her. Quinely was rubbing her back.

"Is he coming back?" Megan said in a scared voice. Herrior shook his head and smiled.

"You did well. You may not have realized it, but you messed him up pretty good." Herrior said and patted her gently on the head. Megan smiled. "You will never see him again." Herrior walked over and stood by Jacklyn. Jacklyn turned around and whispered in his ear.

"I could have ripped his spine out of his body!" Herrior smiled and nodded. Trackolania slowly appeared behind Strings so nobody would notice.

"Are you ok Megan?" The manager said. She nodded.

"Do you want to call the cops?" She shook her head. "I'll be fine." Megan started brushing herself off and started patting her hair.

"Now then, we have to get you guys to the ball - am I right?" Herrior smiled and nodded.

"By the way, what are your names?" Megan asked. Everybody looked at each other quickly. Silence fell over the room. Herrior looked back at Megan with a concerned look.

"Ok, no problem." Megan said.

"How much is it going to be?" Herrior said trying to change the subject.

"Two thousand, one hundred dollars…" She started to say something else, but then said, "Let me see if I can get you guys a discount.

"No!" Herrior said and grabbed her arm. Herrior looked at and nodded. Mohania and he quickly started producing money from behind him. A green glow appeared as the money was produced. Herrior spun her around to get her attention.

"You did such a good job taking care of us, that we'll just pay the full price. We need to get going…"

"Are you sure?" Megan seemed to be in good spirits now. Herrior grabbed the big wad of cash and handed it to her. Megan's eyes grew really large.

"We need to go, is this enough to cover the bill?" Megan slowly nodded as she started counting out the cash. Then she said, "This is way too much…"

"Keep it, we need to go." Herrior then pointed towards the door and they all began making their way to it. Quinely walked up to her and hugged her again, then left without saying a word. Megan was in shock.

Mark made it to the hospital and had a hard time explaining his injuries. He never bothered Megan again.

Herrior's group quickly walked back to Branzer's house without any incident. Branzer and Dan were there already, getting ready for the ball.

"You didn't leave anything to eat, there's a mess in the kitchen, and my door knob is broke!" Officer Branzer yelled. Herrior just grunted and ducked to get inside the house.

Dan smiled and asked Herrior, "Did you have any trouble?" Herrior looked right at him and smiled. Officer Branzer and Dan looked at each other and just sighed.

"Were you seen?" Herrior shook his head. Jacklyn started scratching at her dress, indicating that she didn't like it. It was a long silver full length dress that had big straps at the top. Quinely spoke up.

"It looks good on you." with a smile. Dan nodded with agreement.

Herrior turned to Mohania. "We may need this illusion to last longer." Herrior turned to Officer Branzer awaiting his answer. He let out another sigh.

"When we're done with this ball, you're cleaning up this mess. And I can barely move your weapons and armor - what's it made out of?" Branzer asked.

Herrior smiled with a certain satisfaction. He then asked Branzer, "How long do we need the illusion for?"

"The ball lasts for four hours. That includes dinner, dancing, and then the speech. I would recommend you guys leaving during the speech. There's supposed to be a special dedication for Dan, but from what I heard you may not want to stick around for it." Dan and Herrior both nodded. Herrior looked at Mohania who was shaking his head back and forth. He held up his hands and red electric bolts were jumping back and forth.

"Not enough power..." he said very slowly.

"What do you need?" Herrior asked. He could tell that Mohania needed some rest.

"…food". Mohania finally said. Herrior quickly turned to Branzer. All eyes were on him.

"Doesn't he run on electricity or something?" Dan let out a smile.

"What is…" Herrior started to say but Dan cut him off. "Can you order some pizza's for us really quick?"

"And some ale?" Strings added in.

"I'll order some pizza's…" Branzer said slowly and walked over to the phone and placed an order. He then turned to Herrior and asked how many.

"What's a…" Dan cut Herrior off again. "Probably ten." Another sigh, but the order was placed.

"They'll be here in twenty minutes; I don't suppose you have any money do you?" Branzer said sarcastically. Mohania put his hands behind his back and created a green light. He pulled it forward and showed him a gentle stack of twenty dollar bills. Branzer was shocked. He took the money, it felt real.

"Save your strength Mohania." Herrior said.

"Where's Crystal at? When are they supposed to be here? We only have two hours!" Dan said eagerly. Branzer's ears perked up.

"Knowing my love, they'll make a grand entrance." Herrior said and started laughing. "For now, we must talk. They created a circle on the floor. Mohania staggered to the ground. Quinely ran over and caught him and helped him to the ground.

"We're going to be defenseless, and Mohania's low on energy. Mohania do you sense any demons?" Mohania closed his eyes for a second and then shook his head.

"We must not make a scene. This is not our party. I got word that we are on defense duty in two days. We must be prepared for that."

"Does that include Bernett and myself?" Branzer piped up. Herrior hadn't really put much thought into it.

"The weapons are safely delivered and are probably being reverse engineered by our goblins. Our priests are probably blessing them, and our weapon masters are placing them into position among the gates." Herrior let out a sigh. "You'll probably be on ranged duty only because I don't know how well you fight."

"I can hold my own." The officer simply said. It was evident that he wanted in on the action. Herrior merely nodded. Jacklyn again scratched at her dress.

"Trackolania, I'm assuming you don't want to be seen?" Trackolania nodded his head.

"Me neither." Jacklyn piped up. Herrior just let out a snort and continued his talk.

"Trackolania, I need you on guard duty." The short thin little man started to jump up and down. Branzer piped up, "Nothing will be able to get in, and we have the place pretty well secured." Herrior nodded. He looked back at Trackolania and asked.

"How many flash bombs do you have left?" Trackolania let out a sigh, and held up two fingers. Herrior nodded. "Stealth will be key here. I want Mohania and Trackolania out of sight. I want you two to stick together in case something happens, Track - you'll need to protect Mohania. Keep him fed and make sure he has plenty of liquids." Trackolania nodded and went to put his cloak on. Herrior shook his head.

"You're wearing your tuxedo. Conceal your weapons, and no poisons or crossbow." Trackolania let out a soft sigh and put on his leather belt underneath his suit. It seemed to form itself to his body and disappeared. He walked back over and sat down in the circle.

Herrior then turned to Branzer and said, "Is this house safe?"

"It was until you ripped the doorknob off…" It was apparent that he was still upset about that. Herrior nodded, but Branzer said. "I've got deadbolts on the doors, bolts on the windows, and an alarm system."

"Is an alarm system similar to a trap?" Herrior asked. Branzer looked at him puzzled. "No?"

Herrior then looked at the group, "Should we set traps around the house? Our weapons will be left here."

Trackolania quickly nodded with an evil grin.

"I think so. We're standing to lose a lot while we are gone." Quinely said. Several others started to nod. Branzer piped up.

"It'll be fine. I'll put another doorknob on really quick. I've had people try to break in before and they couldn't." Branzer said.

"We'd be putting a lot of faith into your technology…" Herrior said slowly.

"I promise it'll be fine. I'll get working on it immediately." Branzer rose to his feet and ran to a door that took him under the house. He was gone for several minutes. Things were being thrown around, and then he came running back up.

Branzer came out of the basement saw the front door open, the delivery boy standing there with the pizzas, and Trackolania hanging from the ceiling with his dagger to his throat.

"No! Bad Trackolania!" Branzer said. Trackolania's sinister grin faded and looked at Branzer. The rest of the group was over standing by their weapons.

"You all need to calm down!" Branzer yelled towards Herrior and his group. He took out several bills from his billfold and handed them to the boy. All of his color had been drained from his face, he was scared to death.

"Thanks for the delivery, keep the change." Branzer said and paid the man. He closed the door halfway and began installing the new doorknob. Branzer began fitting the new handle and glared over at Trackolania.

"Trackolania, come down." Trackolania put away his dagger and did a flip off from the wall.

"Please, everything will be fine tonight. You need to settle down…" Branzer took the pizzas and set them on the floor and went back to his job.

"We'll have armed officers there as well as army personal, barricades, and early warning detection systems in place. Heck, we even have snipers on the roof. Please…" Branzer finished up putting the doorknob on and turned it. It moved to his satisfaction. Herrior let out a snort.

"Forgive us…we have been ambushed too many times. It cost us some of our lives." Herrior nodded and walked forward. "We'll try to calm down tonight." Herrior then glared at his group. They seemed to understand. Herrior then turned back to Branzer and said, "Does your cellar have a door that locks?" Branzer nodded.

"That's probably the safest place in this dwelling. Everybody move your weapons down there." Trackolania snarled. "Not you…" Herrior said

Herrior picked up his shield and it seemed to sing to him. He grabbed his sword and put it in a slot on the inside of his shield. Slowly one by one picked up their weapons, and moved downstairs. Mohania walked over to the pizza and opened the box. He grabbed several slices and expanded his mouth and swallowed them all in the same bite. He was done with the first pizza within seconds. Branzer slowly followed the group down.

"Who, or what - is Mohania?" He asked. Herrior started laughing. The stairs were creaking underneath the weight of the group.

"We'd have to show you…but let's just say that he's some type of undead warlock…" Herrior eventually said. They all made it downstairs and began looking around. It was a finished basement and several pictures were hung up on the wall of women. A weight set was in the corner.

"I'm assuming you want the safest place down here?" Branzer asked knowing the answer. He walked down the stairs and turned the corner. They followed him.

"This bathroom locks from the inside. But once we lock it, we'll have to remove the doorknob in order to get to the weapons…" Branzer gave Herrior a dirty look. Trackolania bounced over to the doorknob and saw a tiny hole in it. He examined it for several seconds and looked up at Herrior with a grin.

"Apparently we won't." Herrior said with a smile. "Everybody disarm and place your weapons inside." It was filled to the top with an assortment of armor, weaponry, and Herrior's shield. The door barely shut. Branzer locked it from the inside and slammed the door shut.

"Satisfied?" He asked. Herrior slowly shook his head.

"Good, let's go have some fun. That's what tonight is all about." A honking sound came from outside. Trackolania snarled and started fading into the shadows. Branzer just shook his head.

"No!" Herrior said. Trackolania started slowly fading back from the shadows.

"Bernett is here to help take all of us to the ball." They all walked back up the stairs. Branzer double checked all of the locks in the house and opened the front door. They all walked out in single file. Mohania was the last to go. Pizza boxes were tossed everywhere. There wasn't a drop of pizza left. Branzer just shook his head and closed the door behind them. He made sure to lock both locks.

"Herrior in one, Jacklyn in the other. The rest just pile in wherever you can fit."

Bernett got out of his cruiser and was dressed in a black tux and a blue tie. He let off a whistle. "You folks clean up pretty well! How is everything going?"

Branzer just shook his head and got into his cruiser.

"O…k… then." Bernett let out a chuckle and opened the back doors for Jacklyn got in and laid down on the seat. Quinely and Trackolania jumped on the floor. Strings got into the front seat. The rest got into Branzer's cruiser. The police radio was flooded with activity. From what Herrior could tell, there was going to be a lot of security there…and a lot of excited officers.

An hour later, they arrived at the banquet hall. It was well lit and it did in fact look heavily guarded. They all piled out of the cars, and started surveying the grounds. It appeared that they were early.

"I wanted to get you guys in before too many people show up. I also wanted to get a good parking spot just in case we need to leave in a hurry." Officer Branzer said. Herrior let out a snort in acknowledgement. Herrior looked over and said the word, "Demons" without making a sound. Mohania closed his eyes. A second later he opened his eyes and shook his head. Herrior nodded as they entered the banquet hall. Herrior walked over to him and whispered in his hear, "keep scanning…" Branzer then pulled Herrior's arm. He wasn't able to move him, but it did catch his attention.

"We're here for fun, ok?" Herrior nodded.

Inside Bernett caught up with his wife and kissed her on the cheek. She then helped her up and walked her over to Herrior's group. Dan walked forward to intercept them.

"So, I guess I owe you my husband's life." She said as she bent down to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you." His wife was dressed in a thin strapped purple gown. She went a little heavy on the makeup.

"And who are your friends?" she asked. Herrior extended his arm. Dan immediately moved to intercept it, but was too late. Her hand went into Herrior's hand. Herrior bent over and kissed it and let it go. Both of them were shocked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am. We're here with Dan." Herrior said. Bernett's wife let out a giggle and turned around to walk away with Bernett.

"Let's go find a table." Dan said.

The hall was longer than it was wider. It had streamers and balloons on the side of it. It had a DJ and a dance floor in the middle of it. The smell of food and beer filled the air. A disco ball was attached to the middle of the ceiling and was projecting light all over. Several spot lights were pointing at the dance floor lighting it up. The music was rather loud. Off to the side in front of the dance floor was a huge white tiered cake.

"Over there." Dan pointed and the group followed him. They all sat around the table which had a candle lit in the middle of it. The chairs had white tissue that was folded into a bow in the back of it. The silverware was neatly wrapped up in a piece of cloth. Branzer pulled Quinely's chair back. She then turned around to get it back from him.

"It's a nice gesture for women for the man to push in the chair for the woman." Quinely smiled and moved towards the table. Branzer then scooted the chair in underneath her. She looked back and smiled at him. The tables were big enough that Bernett, his wife, and Branzer were all able to sit at the table as well. Jacklyn looked very uncomfortable. Mohania was staring at the fire the candle was producing in the middle of the table.

"Remember, just relax." Branzer said in a low voice. The group seemed to acknowledge. Mohania quickly stared at Herrior. The illusion spell began to fade. Herrior seemed to read his mind and looked down at his hand. It was fading between his human illusion and his real tauren self.

"Dan…" Herrior said in a soft voice. Dan looked at him and saw the problem instantly.

Time stopped.

Mohania quickly stood up and began channeling green lightning and chanting. Several seconds went by and suddenly each member had a green lightning bolt crash into them. Mohania fell to his chair, looking very exhausted.

Time started.

"How about we all get some food to help pass the time." Dan said. Mohania slouched in his chair. It was apparent that he needed some rest. "Maybe some food and drink will help…" Dan thought. Branzer looked at Mohania and it looked like he was about ready to fall asleep in his chair.

"Good idea, I'll come help. I can carry an additional plate." Branzer said. They made their way to the food tables. They didn't have to wait long until it was their turn. Herrior, Jacklyn, and Branzer grabbed two plates and started filling them. They had every sort of salad you could think of, rotisserie chicken, beef, vegetables (which Quinely loaded up on), corn on the cob, muffins, and several other items along with a dessert table.

"So what does Mohania like?" Branzer said.

"Go for the meat, lots of it, and try to get the burnt pieces. He could probably use a drink as well." Branzer nodded and did exactly that. He hurried back to the table and placed the food in front of Mohania. The smell enticed him. He reached for the food with his right hand, and Branzer quickly put a fork in his hand. Mohania quickly looked at him. Ignoring him, Branzer placed a plastic knife in his other hand. The others in the group did the same thing that Branzer did. He then showed everybody his napkin, turned it around several times, and then placed it in his lap. The others mimicked him, turning the napkin around several times and then placed it on their laps.

"Eat slowly, and take small bites. Try not to draw attention to yourselves." Branzer whispered among them. They all nodded.

Trackolania only had a couple of things on his plate. A carrot, a piece of roast and a bread roll. He sniffed each and looked it over very thoroughly before taking a small bite. He then chewed it over and over examining the taste of it, as if he were checking to see if it was poisoned. Just then Jacklyn broke her plastic knife and it went flying into the air. Her face started to turn red with anger.

"Ok…ok…its ok. Here use mine." Branzer said. He stood up and walked over and gave her another one.

"I'd prefer to not use it at all…" Jacklyn snarled. Herrior glanced at her, and she put her head down and began cutting her meat with it.

Mohania made no noise when he ate, which Bernett's wife thought was kind of odd. He cut up the food and placed it in his mouth and immediately swallowed it without chewing. She also could have sworn that she saw a fire in his mouth consuming the food. Strings noticed that she was looking at Mohania a lot and started a conversation with her to distract her.

"So, I didn't catch your name?"

"Belinda." she said with a smile.

"And how did you and officer Bernett meet?" She looked at her husband with a smile and began telling the story. Everybody looked at her as if fascinated. The story lasted for five long minutes.

"That's a very interesting story." Strings finally said. "So who wants dessert?" Everybody except for Mohania got up to leave the table. After everybody left, Mohania grabbed the bone from the chicken and swallowed it. He then started reaching around to everybody's plates and getting their bones that they left, swallowing them whole.

"So what kind of cake is this?" Dan asked.

"Looks like chocolate on top and vanilla on the bottom." Branzer said. He sounded relieved that things were going as good as they were. He looked back at Mohania swallowing the bones whole and looked back. He hoped nobody else saw that. "What are everybody's favorites? I'll cut the cake." he said trying to keep everybody's attention.

Bernett and his wife said they would have chocolate. The rest of the group shrugged. "Ok, let me give you white because it's on the bottom first, and then I'll cut the chocolate." he hoped to buy time to let Mohania finish. He cut two huge pieces for Herrior and Jacklyn.

"I'll have one that size too." Strings spoke up rubbing his stomach. "Also, where is the ale at?" he whispered. Branzer pointed to a silver keg behind him.

"Ah! I've seen one of those before. Ok thank you my good man." Strings slapped him on the arm, took his plate and went for a glass of beer. A bartender was there to operate the tank for him. Strings took the biggest glass he could find.

"Do you want a picture for your table?" the bartender asked.

"Picture?" Strings said confused. The bartender then held up what looked like a giant glass cup.

"Ah yes, I'll take two." Strings said with a smile and soon the bartender began filling them up. He then handed him eight plastic cups. Strings was confused at the cups, but took them as well. It was quite the balancing act heading back to the table. But he made it. Mohania was looking better now.

Herrior gave a stern look at Trackolania who immediately sat up and started listening. "Tell me Dan, how do those lights work up there?" Herrior asked.

"There are extension cords that are run up in the rafters, and they plug into boxes. The spot lights swivel back and forth…that is if they aren't locked down." Herrior nodded and looked at Trackolania who nodded again. Trackolania then started examining the lights and the wires running back and forth. He saw where they were plugged into and got a basic idea of how they worked.

Just then Dan got a twinge on the back of his head. He looked over and Herrior smiled at him.

"Are they?" Dan asked. Herrior nodded his head. Dan's heart started beating very hard in his chest.

"Dan!" Herrior said in a small commanding voice.

"What?" He asked quickly. Herrior rolled his eyes. "Do your thing…"

Dan looked at him funny and then said "oh!"

Time stopped.

"Trackolania come here!" he immediately did. Herrior made a cup with his hands and threw him into the air. He grabbed a rafter and swung himself into position. Trackolania then started pulling plugs. He then swung from one rafter to the other. Using his legs he swung three spot lights over and pointed them at the doorway. He then positioned himself sitting on top of the rafter and slowly faded into the shadows.

Herrior looked at Dan and said, "Are you ready?" Dan simply smiled.

Time resumed.

The two of them stood up from the table and walked over to the edge of the dance floor. The hair on the back of Dan's head began to stand on edge again.

Suddenly a brilliant white light filled the entire ballroom's entrance. It only appeared for a second and when it disappeared, there were three ladies standing in the doorway. A brilliant aura seemed to glow around them. All three of them stepped forward.

Lindel was dressed in a strapless gown that appeared to be almost see though. It was white and clear and glimmered in the spot lights.

Skyka was dressed in a low cut purple strapless gown.

Crystal was dressed in a gown that encircled her breasts, ran down her right side exposing her stomach, and then wrapped around her waist several inches below her belly button. They all spun around a chair and lifted their right leg, exposing a slit that went clear up to their hip. Trackolania's spotlights were directed right on them. The entire room gasped.

The three of them kicked their chairs aside and started slowly walking towards Herrior and Dan. Dan let out a big gulp. Herrior leaned down and said, "The one on the right is mine…" and patted him on the shoulder, and began to chuckle. But Dan could not take his eyes off from Crystal. She was the most sensuous woman he had ever seen, and she was walking right towards him.

Several whistles and cheers came from the crowd. Finally one cop said, "It's Officer Candy!" and then they started clapping. Crystal's eyes never left Dan though. The three of them were pushing tables and chairs out of their way with their butt's in a very sexual way. Herrior's group looked up, simply acknowledged them, and went back to eating. Mohania's strength started to return back to him.

Crystal walked right up to Dan and stood several inches from him. Her breasts were touching his chest. She smiled at him. Dan smiled back. She then leaned forward and kissed him slightly on the lips. The perfume coming off from her was something he had never smelled before and it lit up his senses. She then wrapped her arms around Dan's neck and planted a firm one on him. Several people started clapping.

Skyka walked up to Herrior and did the same thing. After they were done kissing, Skyka whispered "Hey you big lug." Herrior and Skyka both looked up at the ceiling and nodded. Trackolania quickly fixed the spotlights, and swung back over and plugged the other ones in. He then quickly crawled to the side of the wall behind the DJ and dropped to the end of the floor silently. He then stepped out of the shadows and sat back down in his chair and took a bite of cake.

"Hello my healer." Herrior and Skyka both smiled at each other. They looked over and Crystal and Dan and they were still kissing.

"Did she see anything?" Herrior asked quietly.

"No. She came through it just fine. Afterwards was hard, but Lindel and I helped her through it. It was a complete recovery." Skyka whispered. Both of them looked at Lindel. She was sitting down in a chair watching the romantic scene. Herrior motioned for her to come over so she did. Lindel got up and walked very sexy towards the two of them. Then she wrapped her arms around Skyka and Herrior.

"Hello beautiful…" Lindel said sensuously to Herrior. Herrior just snorted back.

"So everything went ok then?" Lindel smiled. The three of them started dancing together very slowly.

"Do you think she'll do well?" Herrior whispered. Both Skyka and Lindel shrugged at the same time.

"She got a trinket from one of the healers as a gift who thought she was beautiful. It's the cross around her neck. If something causes her pain it'll cast Lesser Heal and Inner Fire on her at the same time." Skyka said stroking Herrior's chin. Herrior nodded.

"In two days we have guard duty, she'll need a weapon." Herrior said.

"We'll have to take her to the city with us." Lindel said in a very light voice. Herrior grunted again.

"I know…but she and Dan are a part of us now…" Skyka said rubbing Herrior's arm.

"I've seen Dan in battle. He's improving…" Both Lindel and Skyka nodded. All three of them looked at Crystal and Dan. They were still lip-locked. They had their hands all over each other.

Herrior saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him turn. He saw the Lieutenant walking quickly to Crystal, and Branzer trying to talk to him without any good. The Lieutenant was mad.

"We have a situation that may need defusing Lindel." Lindel kissed them both on the cheek and she seemed to float towards Crystal. Herrior watched her float away, you could see an almost perfect outline of her butt in her dress. Skyka reached over and pinched Herrior.

"Sorry…" Skyka started to giggle.

The Lieutenant started screaming, "Where have you been…" but Crystal just pushed him on the floor. Even more flustered the Lieutenant started scrambling to his feet.

All of a sudden a warm hand touched his shoulder. He looked up and Lindel was knelt down beside him. Lindel's eyes turned purple, and within seconds the Lieutenant's eyes were purple as well.

"Hello…" Lindel said.

"Uh…hi…" The Lieutenant replied. Lindel started to giggle, and he smiled.

"You…" Lindel put a finger to his chest, "are not mad at Crystal anymore…" Lindel's eyes grew a deep purple. The Lieutenant slowly nodded his head.

"Crystal can come and go whenever she wants…she needs an award also…" Lindel continued and helped the man off the floor. The two of them began to dance.

"Yes, she can come and go whenever she wants…she is a great cop…" The Lieutenant was in a deep trance. Lindel slowly nodded and pushed herself up against him and started to slow dance with him. The Lieutenant's eyes were still in a purple haze. Several whistles came from the cops directed towards the Lieutenant.

Lindel then started searching around and found a lady staring at them with her arms crossed. She seemed very upset. Lindel let out a smile. Lindel then whispered something in his ear. Suddenly the Lieutenant reached down and grabbed her butt. Lindel then backed away quickly as if in surprise. The lady shouted something and ran over to the Lieutenant slapped him across the face, grabbed his wrist and walked him out of the ball. Several officers were laughing.

Lindel looked over at Herrior and Skyka and blew them a kiss. She then went over to her empty chair and sat down.

Strings noticed that Branzer was staring at Lindel. Strings nudged Branzer, "Go ask her to dance!" Branzer nearly jumped out of his chair. Bernett's wife let out a chuckle. Strings had finished off one picture of beer and started sipping on the other one. The cups were still neatly stacked on the table.

"No…I need to stay here with you guys…" Branzer looked at Quinely. She was already out of her chair and walking over to Lindel, when an officer walked up to her and asked her to dance. Quinely nodded and smiled. She held out her hand and they entered the dance floor.

Mohania seemed absolutely fascinated by the fire on the table. Trackolania was still nibbling at his food. He was on his third plate of cake. "The situation is under control…I was about to take Jacklyn on the dance floor myself…" Strings said. Jacklyn shot him a dirty look. She was not having fun and it was apparent. Strings just winked at her and poured her a glass of beer.

"Have some fun hun…" Jacklyn took the cup and downed it in one gulp.

"Well…I feel like dancing. Come on my hubby." Bernett's wife said. She led him onto the dance floor.

By now several men had asked Lindel to dance and she simply smiled and said no thanks.

"Look, she doesn't want to dance…" Branzer said.

"What you need is a little incentive." Strings said. He got out of his chair, spun Branzer's chair around and pushed him forward on the floor. Branzer was not expecting it and went flailing onto the ground. Strings was still surprising strong and agile for taking down that much beer.

"Lindel!" Strings shouted. Lindel whipped her head around and saw Branzer on the floor. She got out of her chair and ran over to where he was. His head was bleeding. Lindel put her hand to his head and a warm sizzling sensation went into his head. It instantly stopped hurting and the bleeding stopped. Branzer looked up at Lindel and said thank you, she let out a smile. Then she quickly searched Branzer's mind and saw lots of pictures of Dan.

"You and Dan are friends aren't you?" Branzer smiled and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Lindel helped him to his feet. She then put a hand on Branzer's chest, right above her heart.

"Are you…here by yourself?" Branzer could feel his heartbeat increasing.

Branzer nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am". Lindel jumped up and instinctively Branzer held out his arms and caught her. "Care to dance?" Branzer smiled and said, "Yes, ma'am" with a certain satisfaction in his voice.

Strings watched the whole event unfold. He started letting out hearty laughs once they started their way to the dance floor. He slammed his hand on the table and kept laughing.

Herrior and Skyka both winked at Lindel as she was being carried onto the dance floor. They walked by Crystal and Dan. Lindel smacked Crystal over the back of her head and they stopped kissing.

"Hey!" Crystal saw Lindel. They met eyes and started to giggle.

Branzer let Lindel down on the floor ever to lightly. Lindel wrapped both of her arms around the big cop and interlaced them around his neck. She wanted a good view of his eyes. Branzer gently put his arms around her skinning waist. "So tell me a story about you and Dan…" Lindel said ever so sweetly. Branzer smiled and the discussion between them two started.

Strings finished off his last picture of beer and slammed it down on the table. He got up to his feet and walked slowly over to Jacklyn.

"What?" she said.

Strings bent down and said, "My lady. May I be blessed by your presence on the dance floor? I promise not to step on those pretty little toes…"

Jacklyn glanced over at Herrior, he nodded. Jacklyn let out a sigh and held her hand up. Strings took it and twirled her around. He then extended her right hand and slipped his left hand around her waist.

"Touch anything you aren't supposed to, and I will break off your…" Jacklyn started to say, but Strings caught her off guard as they suddenly started walking forward towards the dance floor.

The group stayed together on the dance floor for the most part. Occasionally Herrior would look at Mohania and Trackolania. Mohania would shake his head, which meant he didn't detect any demons around. Trackolania was on his sixth plate of cake.

Herrior and Skyka kissed for a long time. Then Skyka said, "I hate being human…" Herrior laughed. "Me too hun. But this night isn't for us." Herrior looked over at Dan and Crystal. They seemed to be talking to each other very quietly. Herrior then looked back at Skyka and motioned in that direction. Skyka smiled and the both of them slowly started walking in their direction.

"Dan!" Herrior said. Instinctively Dan thought something was wrong.

Time stopped.

Herrior let out a chuckle. "We're not in battle young one. You only need to do that when we are in combat." Skyka was holding back a smile.

Dan turned around to look at Crystal. She was frozen in place.

"Shit!" He thought, "She went through the whole process for nothing!" He stepped forward to listen for her breathing. Unknowingly his eyes wondered down to her breasts. Suddenly a hand came across Dan's face. There was a loud "smack!" and Dan went flying to the floor.

"I told you if you ever stop time and took advantage of me that I would be pissed!" Crystal pulled Dan up off the floor, placed both hands on his cheeks and kissed him.

"But I didn't mean too…" Crystal let out a smile and covered his mouth with her finger.

Time started.

The entire group was snickering now, trying to control themselves - except for Strings who had doubled over in laughter. Jacklyn even smiled at then two. Dan's face turned red. Crystal rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Dan…" Herrior said more gently. Herrior and Skyka moved closer to the pair of them.

"Yes…" Dan said with his face still pulsating from the slap.

"Tonight we'll spend the night at Branzer's. Then we'll be heading to the other side. Branzer and Bernett want to come as well. I still haven't made a decision about that yet…" Dan nodded. Crystal piped up and said, "They are both good cops." Herrior nodded. "They are expert marksmen on the shooting range." Herrior nodded again.

"Bernett is mated though. His thoughts may not be on the battlefield." Dan and Crystal both stopped and stared at Herrior. Herrior let out a cough.

"That is something I am worried about you two as well. You two are obviously ready to be mated. If one of you dies, will the other still fight on?" Herrior said still dancing. Skyka reached up and ran her fingernails across Herrior's forehead. She then turned to both of them and said very gently, "When a loved one falls, you must fight on."

Dan and Crystal looked at each other. It was obvious they hadn't thought about this. They were both speechless.

"If you both mated and produced offspring, your thoughts would be on your family and not entirely on the battlefield." Herrior said slowly.

Skyka then spoke up quickly. "Herrior is a tauren, I am a blood elf. We cannot produce offspring because of our different races. It's impossible."

Dan slowly reached his arm around Crystal. She did the same to him. Neither one of them thought of this. They thought they were just being mean. Slowly they looked into each other's eyes. A tear dropped from Crystal's right eye. She tried to blink it away. Dan nodded and wiped it away.

"Herrior has died on me several times; sometimes I can't heal him fast enough."

"And I have held Skyka and watched her die."

"But we both fought on." Both Herrior and Skyka said at the same time.

"But you are alive now…" Crystal said confused. Skyka winked at her. "We have had several close calls. But we've managed to resurrect each other in some way.

Herrior nodded. "With the King's approval, we'll add you two to our group. If we are ambushed, you can stop time long enough for everybody to get out of the way. I'm fast on the battlefield, but I can't be everywhere at once…" Dan nodded. He's seen Herrior in battle. He knew how fast Trackolania fast was; he thought it was impossible for them to be ambushed.

"I'm not a mind reader Dan, but I know your thoughts. There are forces out there that are more powerful than us. Even if we are in a full battle formation, we've been wiped out within seconds before." Herrior said.

Skyka looked at the both of them and slowly nodded her head. Dan and Crystal looked at each other. Crystal looked down at her feet and then let go of Dan. She stepped forward towards Herrior and said, "I will fight and die by your side." Dan smiled. He stepped forward and nodded as well. Skyka reached forward and stroked both of their faces. Herrior nodded.

"When do we start, sir? I'll turn in my resignation…" Herrior shook his head at Crystal. She was a soldier, Herrior liked that about her.

"You will address me as Herrior and all the other members by their names as well. You will not quit your job because we will be coming and going within both worlds…and other worlds once we get better." Herrior said in a stern voice. Crystal nodded. Dan walked up and put his hand around her waist and said, "Can we get weapons and armor for fighting? I don't want to go into battle unprepared."

"We would never send you into battle unprepared…" Herrior said with a scowl. Skyka pushed the scowl off from Herrior's face and shut him up. She turned to the both of them and said, "We are getting approval for you to come to our Kingdom, which is why we had to blind you Crystal. We expect approval to be made within a day, which is why we are staying here for another day."

Herrior nodded. "You will be outfitted with armor and weapons. Our first assignment with you guys, and the officers if we choose to bring them, is to guard our wall. The King has been watching both of you. Give it time. Herrior then heard a loud high pitched noise. Herrior looked at Mohania and saw him chanting some sort of spell. Their illusions were running out and Mohania was buying them time.

"Parties over. We need to go. Spread out and get everybody. Get them in the cruisers." Herrior said. Immediately the four of them got the rest of the group, as well as Bernett, his wife, and Branzer. They all quickly ran for the cruisers. Mohania started walking but fell to his knee; he was still chanting his spell. Herrior picked him up and made his way for the door.

Trackolania was the first one out. Everybody else followed quickly.

"What's going on?" Bernett's wife said.

"Long story…we need to hurry. I'm sorry hun."

Herrior spoke up as they were running towards the cruisers. "We need Bernett at Branzer's house tonight.

"Why?" she asked.

"Lindel!" Herrior said. They didn't have time to explain this. Lindel was in the back and cast a quick spell. A small cloud appeared under her feet and she quickly floated up to Bernett.

"Bernett carry your wife!" Herrior commanded. Bernett swiftly picked her up and continued running.

"Why? What's going on? Put me down!" Lindel caught up to her and placed her right hand over her eyes and a bright white, purplish light appeared on the inside of her hand. Her wife instantly went limp and was snoring.

"What did you do?" Bernett asked. Lindel flew over to Bernett and kissed him on the head. "She'll be sleeping soundly for the next two days. She's fine sweetie…" Bernett nodded.

Suddenly their illusions faded. Mohania's fire in his eyes faded.

"Shit…move!" Herrior commanded. Herrior turned back into a tauren, his horns suddenly appeared. Trackolania sprinted at blinding speed to the first cruiser, pulled out a wire from his belt and unlocked all four doors and then ran to the second cruiser and started the same.

When the group got to the cruisers they all jumped in, Herrior in one car, Jacklyn in the other. Bernett gently placed his wife in the passenger's seat and seat belted her in. He turned around to see everybody else in the car. Branzer's cruiser fired up and began to speed away. Bernett started up his mighty engine and did the same.

Herrior looked up and said "Quinely were we seen?" Quinely was sitting in a very uncomfortable squatting position on his hoofs being pushed against the door by Dan. Quinely closed her eyes and held her hand up. A green spiral formed on her hand. She shook her head and said, "I don't know." Herrior snorted. Mohania's limp body was on the floor beneath Herrior. Still no flame in his eyes, they were black as coal.

Herrior then yelled out, "Branzer, can you get us to your house quickly?" Immediately he turned on his lights and siren and gunned the engine. Bernett followed suit. Cars began to swerve off the side of the road. They made it to the house within forty minutes.

Branzer turned off his engine and jumped towards the door. He unlocked both locks and everybody went filing in. It was late at night, and the cover of darkness helped blanket them. Bernett was the last one in carrying his wife. Branzer made a place on the couch for her. She was still happily snoring.

"Can we get our armor?" Herrior said. Branzer nodded and they all went downstairs, Trackolania unlocked the door within seconds and they equipped themselves.

"Quinely?" Herrior asked. She slowly shook her head. "I think we made it undetected."

"Should I order some pizzas?" Branzer asked. Herrior shook his head. He was still carrying Mohania. "Can you open the back door?" Branzer wiggled around him and undid the deadbolt and regular lock. They all filed out again.

"Do you have a couple of shovels?" Herrior asked.

"Is he dead?" Branzer said in shock. Herrior shook his head. "We need to get him underground. He needs to rest." Branzer motioned to move to his house, looked back as if to question and then shook his head. He quickly ran out to the garage to find some.

"Everybody, dig a hole." Herrior placed Mohania on the ground. Quinely morphed into some sort of large dog and started digging. Trackolania pulled out his daggers and started slashing at the ground. Everybody else was using their hands. Bernett bent down and started doing it as well.

Branzer came out with two shovels. He already saw that they had a decent sized hole, and somehow a large dog wondered on his yard and was helping to dig… Branzer shook his head and yelled at Bernett. He looked up at him and tossed him a shovel.

Once the whole was big enough, Herrior put Mohania into the hole. They all stared at him and nothing happened. Several minutes passed and Branzer said, "Skyka, cant you heal him?" Skyka immediately shook her head. "Holy spells hurt him."

"Well…cant we…" Herrior looked at him and shook his head. Suddenly the ground seemed to turn a dark brown and began to crack. Bernett and Branzer watched with fascination, but Herrior made sure they were back far enough.

Larger cracks began to form around Mohania. All of a sudden skeleton hands reached out of the ground and grasped Mohania. A dark energy aura began to form from the hole. Mohania appeared to be being pulled down into the hole further. Mohania's eyes began to turn red again, very faintly.

"Bury him." Herrior said. Everybody started moving the dirt back over him without asking any questions. Once they were done Quinely turned back into her normal self.

"How did you just…" Branzer looked at Bernett and just shook his head.

"We need to guard Mohania tonight." Herrior announced. Almost without saying anything the group formed a circle on the ground around Mohania. Lindel looked at Bernett and Branzer and patted on the ground next to her. They both walked over and sat down.

"Quinely, can you do something about these bugs…" Herrior said as he was swatting his tail and hands at them. Quinely held up her hand and it glowed yellow. Instantly all of the bugs in the yard flew to her hand. She then pointed to a tree behind her and the bugs flew there. More bugs flew in. Soon it was in the hundreds.

"I have some bug spray…" Branzer was about to say. Soon the insects numbered in the thousands. They seemed to take on the form of a man.

"We need a fire." Herrior said.

"I've got some matches in the cupboard." Branzer said. Just then the ground began to rumble and a skeleton hand rose out of the ground. It had a blue glowing aura to it. The hand snapped its fingers and a bright blazing fire roared up from it.

"Thank you Mohania." Herrior said. Bernett and Branzer looked on with amazement.

"We have much to discuss." Herrior said in a serious tone. "The ball went over pretty well, but we can't be draining Mohania like that."

"What's a matter, couldn't take it?" Jacklyn said in a sarcastic tone. She had her staff laid across her lap.

The fire dimmed down until it was just a skeleton hand glowing. It then turned its position to face it's back of its hand towards Jacklyn and lowered all of its fingers except for the middle one. The group roared out in laughter. Even the ground seemed to rumble for a couple of seconds. Mohania then relit the fire.

"Bernett it is my understanding that you have mated." Bernett looked at Dan and Crystal who were holding hands. They both nodded their heads at him.

"Yes…" Bernett said slowly and looked back at Herrior. "I am married, but do not have any children. My wife is infertile. We've been trying to have a baby for years. Nothing but disappointments." Bernett let out a sigh. Herrior looked at Lindel. She smiled back at him. Lindel got up and wrapped her arms around Bernett, shoving her breasts into his back.

"I can fix that I bet…" she whispered in his ear. Bernett looked a little scared.

"How? We've been to many doctors, and tried countless things." It was clear that Bernett was getting frustrated. Lindel placed her hand over his mouth. "You haven't tried me…" Lindel reached over and kissed him on the cheek. It left a warm sensation that seemed to give him confidence in her abilities. Lindel walked back over to her spot in the circle and sat down. Bernett was watching her every move. Herrior let out a cough.

"Bernett. If you help us, we could give you a child. Would that be worth fighting for?" Herrior said staring into his eyes. Bernett slowly nodded his head.

"Yes…yes of course. I would do anything to have a child." Bernett said. The warm sensation was still in Bernett's body.

"So if you swear your allegiance to me for the defense of our wall, we will in turn heal your wife." Bernett was nodding. "Yes!"

Herrior nodded and snorted. He looked over at Lindel and Skyka. They both smiled and gave a small nod. Herrior then looked at Branzer.

"I have a feeling that you want to fight side by side with us…" Herrior said.

Branzer froze for a second. The thought has occurred to him, but he didn't really dwell on it. If Crystal could fight with them, surely he could. He was much stronger and bigger than her.

Herrior smiled at him as if reading his thoughts and rose to his feet. He backed away from the circle and drew out his shield from his back.

"Attack me…" Herrior said. Branzer got out his night stick and looked confused at Herrior. Herrior waved him over. Branzer did a minor swing at Herrior, who easily deflected his attack.

"Hit me!" Herrior ordered.

"I don't want to hurt you…" Herrior began to laugh. This seemed to anger Branzer. He took several swings at Herrior who again easily deflected it with his shield. Branzer then took both hands and raised it above his head and drove the night stick down with both hands. The stick hit the shield and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Branzer stood back and looked down in amazement.

"Jacklyn" Herrior said. She threw her staff towards Branzer and it stuck in the ground right in front of him. He pulled it out of the ground.

"It's got to be a good eighty pounds…" he thought.

"Hit me!" Herrior commanded. Branzer grabbed the staff with both hands and felt sheer power flow through him. He stepped forward and slammed the right side towards Herrior. Branzer then turned around and lunged the staff towards Herrior. Afterwards he grabbed the staff with both hands lifted it into the air and slammed towards Herrior.

All of the attacks were deflected. It didn't even phase Herrior. Branzer then started taking smaller jabs at him trying to hit him where his shield wasn't. All of which were easily deflected by Herrior. Branzer was out of breath. He threw the staff back at Jacklyn and she caught it in one hand, twirled it around and sat it to rest on her lap.

"I bet nobody could hit you…your too fast…" Branzer said bending over to catch his breath. Herrior then began to chuckle.

"Dan?" Herrior said looking at him. Dan rose to his feet and pulled out his sword and approached Herrior. Dan then began to swing away, easily at first and then as fast as he could. The mighty tauren was deflecting the blows at first, but eventually had to jump and move out of the way. He pulled out his sword from his shield and began attacking back. Dan began deflecting his blows and counter attacking. They sparred for several minutes until Dan launched an attack landed at Herrior's chest plate. Lightning sparked from it as it made contact. Herrior gently shoved Dan down on the ground and wiped his brow.

"You are doing a lot better my young warrior." Herrior said. "You made me break a sweat." and he started letting out a hearty laughter. Branzer looked on with amazement. Dan rose to his knees and put his sword away. Herrior put his sword inside his shield and strapped it behind him. He then extended one of his hairy hands to Dan who took it. He picked him up off from the ground and gently set him back on the ground.

"You still need to put some meat on those bones…" Herrior chuckled. Dan went back over to sit by Crystal. She lifted her shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow. Herrior walked back over and sat in his spot. He then lifted his hand to Branzer and motioned for him to sit as well.

"That was…amazing…" Branzer said as he looked from Dan to Herrior. "Did Dan stop time in order to hit you?" Herrior shook his head. "I'm immune to it."

"He needs to be faster than that still, and we're giving him another blade." Herrior said very calmly. Dan nodded towards him. Herrior then looked at Bernett and Branzer.

"How are you with the bow?" he asked. Branzer pulled out his magnum and twirled it in the air.

"I'm a lot better with my gun."

"And does it run out of ammunition?" Herrior asked. Branzer stopped twirling his gun and said, "Of course, just like anything else does."

"And what are you going to do when you run out?" Branzer hadn't thought of that. He put his gun away. Herrior let out a smile.

"Trackolania, can Branzer use your crossbow for a second?" Trackolania looked up from carving his name in the dirt and slowly shook his head. Herrior slowly let out a sigh of disappointment. Skyka rose from her spot in the dirt, brushed herself off and walked over to Trackolania.

"Hun, can we please have your crossbow?" Skyka started running her fingers through his thick hair. He shook his head again. Trackolania held up his left hand and exposed that one of his long finger nails had broken off. It had broken off scraping the windshield of the man's windshield.

"Aww, hun. You broke a nail. Do you want me to fix it?" Skyka bent over exposing the top part of her breasts to him. Trackolania slowly nodded. Skyka stuck his finger in her mouth and a white glow came from her cheeks. Skyka slowly brought his finger out of her mouth, and the fingernail was restored.

Skyka then started rubbing his left cheek and said, "Pretty please?" Trackolania looked over his nail and sighed. He then unhooked his crossbow and threw it towards Branzer. He then tossed him several arrows at his feet. Skyka kissed him on the head and walked back to her spot, seeming to be satisfied with herself.

Branzer picked up the crossbow and it seemed to strap itself to his hand. The string glistened in the darkness. He reached out to touch it, and pulled back on it a little and let go. The string almost seemed to be singing to him. The wooden stock was nothing like he had seen before.

"Trackolania - make us a target in the farthest tree." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and jumped from his spot and flew almost seven foot in the air before having to take another bounce. He landed on a tree and carved a small circle on it. He then jumped back into the circle and continued to carve his name in the dirt.

"I can't see that, it's too small…" Branzer said. Herrior looked at Lindel. She then traced a small circle in the air that seemed to shine brightly. She held her hand up and blew on it. The circle sailed through the air and landed on the circle in the tree.

Branzer loaded the crossbow with one of the arrows. Surprisingly it pulled back very easily. He looked down the scope. Everything seemed to glow orange in the scope. Once he found his circle, the orange color turned dark red. He released the trigger. The arrow flew through the air and landed dead center in the tree. Everybody except for Trackolania cheered. He just rolled his eyes.

"Bernett." Herrior said. Branzer took off the crossbow and threw it over to him. He noticed too that the crossbow seemed to clamp itself down on his wrist. Bernett put an arrow in the crossbow and when the scope turned red he released the trigger. It landed right next to Branzer's arrow. More cheering came from the group. Trackolania grabbed an arrow, jumped over towards Bernett and grabbed his crossbow. He then jumped up on his shoulders and released an arrow without aiming. The arrow sailed through the tree causing a small explosion. The tree then tipped over and fell into the woods. Trackolania then strapped his crossbow back onto his back and leaped off from Bernett and landed in his spot in the circle.

Quinely rubbed his head. "Are you jealous?" Trackolania didn't say anything and continued carving his name. Snickering started among the group and then Herrior spoke.

"I think we'll keep you guys at ranged. You can fire from the holes in the walls. The goblins and assistant hunters can keep you well equipped in ammunition." Herrior said.

"We also have the huge stash of guns and ammo that we found in the warehouse." Branzer said. Herrior nodded.

"Just don't shoot us…" Dan said and then got a well deserved punch from Crystal on the arm. Skyka began to laugh and then looked at Herrior and stopped.

"Yes, we don't need to defend ourselves against you and our enemies…" Herrior said staring at the two. "You'll have special equipped bows for certain enemies. Trackolania's crossbow for example is good against any enemy - but it's made from a very rare material, a special equipped scope, and an exceptional enchant - thanks to Skyka. Skyka rose from her sitting position and took a bow. Trackolania let out a smile in appreciation.

Herrior continued. "Your goblins and assistants will instruct you as to which to use. You will learn after awhile."

Just then a small bright light formed above their circle. It started out as a spiral and then grew into a circle. It then blasted into the ground, forming a circle shape about three foot around.. Mohania let out a piercing scream and retracted his hand back into the ground.

"Silence everyone." Herrior rose to his feet and poked his head into the bright light. His head instantly disappeared, but the rest of his body stayed. His body moved a little bit back and forth.

Several minutes passed and then Herrior withdrew his head from the light. The circle of light instantly disappeared. Everyone's eyes had to adjust to the darkness again.

Herrior sat back down in his spot. He then looked at Branzer and Bernett.

"I just received word that your station is going to be attacked tomorrow. They will be coming from the west. There will be a head demon coming." Herrior said calmly.

Crystal, Branzer, and Bernett all looked at each other. The question "How do you know that?" came to everyone's mind, but nobody said it. They all had worried looks on their faces.

"Our mission, directly from the King himself, is to defend your outpost. Go about your business tomorrow as usual, you too Crystal, but arm yourselves. You'll attack from the front north position, and we'll attack from the south rear. Usually demons are slower and take longer to catch up." Herrior paused for a second, reached down and grabbed a handful of grass and began chewing on it.

"Apparently the weapons that we stole are very valuable and they are blaming you for their disappearance. They are planning on retrieving them from your outpost." Herrior continued munching on his grass.

"This will be a good time to prove yourselves. The King will be watching. This will be our last battle in this world before we need to defend the wall. What do you call those cruisers of yours?" Herrior asked.

"They are cars, only with big engines in them." Branzer answered. Herrior nodded.

"There will be twenty cars, a long black car in the back, and a heavily armored big car in the front. I doubt your weapons will be able to penetrate it's armor. I think Mohania will be happy to take that one out for us though." Mohania turned his hand into a fist and the fire turned into a huge column of fire. He then started crawling out of his hole, looking like he could take on the world.

"We need to get back to warn the station!" Bernett said. "Lives will be lost if we don't! We could call in reinforcements!"

"And tell them that a Tauren predicted this? Nobody will believe you." Herrior shook his head. "My group will head out tonight and scout the place out, set some traps. The rest of you will arrive early in the morning and make sure your guns are loaded, and your armor is secure." Herrior then rose from a standing position.

"Let's head out." Herrior's group started heading out, including Dan. He kissed Crystal goodbye and then ran to catch up with the group.

The three cops watched them leave. "Well…tomorrow is going to be an interesting day…" Bernett said. Branzer nodded. "Wanna just leave your wife at my house and spend the night here?"

"Sure. After a night like this I could use a couple of beers."

"Strings drank them all…" They both laughed and headed inside. Crystal said she'll sleep outside under the stars. Both officer shrugged and closed the door.

The next morning the alarm rang at six in the morning. They weren't due in until eight. They quickly got dressed, Branzer and Bernett loaded up all the guns they had in the house and went to the station. They met up with Crystal who was already awake. They drove to the station and went to the armory.

"We need bullet proof vests, three .50 caliber guns, 357's, and extra ammo for them." The three of them showed their badges and signed the paperwork.

"Going down to the shooting range?" The weapons officer asked. The three of them nodded. Each of them shoved their .357 down their pants and grabbed the .50 caliber with one hand. They walked down the hallway. Nobody was around. Crystal opened up the women's bathroom and said, "Hello?" No answer. All three of them filed in holding their massive weapon.

"I figure the roof will be the best position for our .50 calibers. I don't want to fire these things off inside." Branzer said. Both of them agreed.

"Let's go set them up now. When the action starts, we'll make our way up the stairwell and shoot lying down." Crystal said.

"How much ammo do we have per gun?" Bernett asked. They all set down their massive guns and started counting the massive shells.

"I have 34." Crystal said.

"40." Branzer said

"36." Bernett chimed in.

"Are your side arms loaded?" Branzer asked. All three of them pulled out their clips and put them back into their guns. Each one nodded.

"Crystal, you probably know best. What can we expect?" Crystal sighed and tried to collect as much knowledge as she knew.

"Dan said that the demons are immune to gun fire, but it knocks them down. We can buy them time." Crystal then added. "Time is probably going to be stopped. If it does, I'm going to take your knife from you. You both are going to be worthless if it does." Branzer and Bernett looked at each other and nodded.

"I remember fighting that red dog. He was immune to gun fire."

"I'm not sure what a demon looks like. It may be invisible. If it is, take your best guess. Herrior may need some help." Crystal said.

"Herrior said there are going to be twenty cars, probably a limo, and a tank coming in. We're worthless against the tank. Mohania said he was going to take care of that. Let's do this strategically. I'll take the first car, Bernett will take the second car, and Crystal will take the third. I'll take the fourth, Bernett will take the fifth, and Crystal will take the sixth and so on." Branzer said. They all agreed.

"Let's go get setup." Crystal said. They all left the ladies room and walked to the stairwell and trotted up to the roof. It was a flat blacktop roof with a brick wall on the outside. Each of them started setting up their huge guns. They placed their ammo for the guns right next to them.

"How about we grab our shotguns from our cruisers as well. If they start shooting them up, we won't stand a chance at getting to them." Bernett chimed up.

"Good idea." Branzer slapped him on the arm. All three of them raced out to their cruisers and unlocked their shotguns and grabbed as many slugs as they could carry. They then made it back to the roof and dropped their shotgun and ammo next to the .50 calibers.

"Remember, if we can see the demon - it'll be scary. Don't let it intimidate you. Ok, let's go spread the word…quietly…" Crystal said. The three of them nodded.

They moved to their desk and powered on their computers and started checking their email. They still had an hour before the attack. Officers started to arrive. Each one of the three officers suggested they check their ammunition for their guns today. The man with the toothpick showed up. He saw the three of them in bullet proof jackets giving suggestions to stock up on ammunition today. He switched sides of his mouth with the toothpick and his sunglasses on and walked towards them.

"Something happening today?" he asked. All three of them nodded.

"Should I get a jacket and some extra weapons today? Special occasion?" The three of them looked at each other.

"Say no more…I don't want to know." He adjusted his toothpick again and made his way to the weapons locker.

Meanwhile Herrior and his group took up a strategic position in a ditch lined with trees. It was inside of the fence. Quinely and Trackolania had already setup their traps on the road. Mohania was resting in the water, letting the mucky water flow into his mouth. His mind constantly scanning for demons.

Trackolania was closest to the road, concealed in the shadows. His ears were perked up and constantly scanning for the cars to come. He was close enough to hear Herrior though.

"Skyka I want you in shadow form at first, Lindel in ethereal form, and Quinely you are going to help me charge the rear car. I'm hoping to flip them over to prevent escape." Instantly Skyka's body turned pure black, Lindel's body slowly appeared and disappeared from vision. Quinely transformed into a bear.

"Actually, Quinely - are there any animals that can help us?" The bear seemed to concentrate for a second and then shook his head."

"Ok, my guess is that they are going to focus their attention on the compound, giving us a chance to advance. I want us both to charge the last car first and flip it over. I want you to use all of your strength." The bear nodded in agreement.

"Jacklyn, I want you to single out the targets and take them out one at a time if at all possible. If you can, smash the front end of the car. That seems to be what makes them go." Jacklyn nodded.

"Trackolania will be protecting Mohania." Herrior added.

"Dan, I want you with the healers. Protect them with your life, understood!" Herrior looked right at him. Dan nodded. He pulled out his sword.

"If the cars start pulling away, Lindel possess the driver and slow them down." Lindel nodded.

Just then Trackolania jumped up and concentrated on listening. He heard a very low humming coming. He then turned around and stared at the group.

"They are coming. Prepare yourselves." Herrior said.

Mohania then rose to his feet. "Demon…" His voice seemed to echo.

"How bad is it?" Herrior asked.

Mohania slowly turned around to Herrior and said, "Demon guard…About twenty foot tall…Lots of power radiating from him…" Herrior nodded. "Any more." Mohania concentrated for a second and shook his head.

"Prepare the Earth Maul spell, right inside of the gates." Herrior said. Mohania smiled and began chanting a spell so loud that it could almost be heard in the compound.

"Strings, we may need some fire - or some confusion songs, probably the confusion song. Play it loud and stay hidden. Don't start playing until we start attacking though." Strings nodded and started moving his way towards Trackolania. He then ducked down as low as he could in the ditch and started covering himself with mud and leaves to help conceal himself.

Trackolania then pointed his dagger towards the direction of the sound. It was audible now and in view. They were traveling so fast they were kicking up dust.

The station began to rumble. Slowly Crystal, Bernett and Branzer got up from their chairs and made their way to the stairwell. They all walked silently to their .50 calibers and looked in their scopes.

"They have a tank!" Crystal said.

"Easy, keep your cool." Branzer said.

"Our 50 cal's can't penetrate that." Bernett said.

"Herrior said that Mohania was going to do something. We'll just have to watch and pray." Branzer said. "Count the cars."

Each one of them adjusted their scope and they all came up with the number 20 with a limo trailing behind.

"Don't forget the kill order. Keep your cool." Branzer said.

The station started to rumble and parts of the ceiling began to fall down. An officer ran outside and saw a tank rolling towards their direction. The tank let off a deafening shot towards the radio equipment. It instantly blew up, taking the electricity with it. The man with the toothpick smiled and said, "Its show time!" Each officer quickly grabbed an assault rifle and peaked out of the door. The tank didn't shoot again, but plowed through the security gate without any problem.

"Mohania, it's time to shine!" Herrior said. Mohania was still channeling the spell. The ground underneath the tank had a green spiral form underneath it. He needed more time.

Trackolania heard one of his traps go off. It shot spikes up into the car. It hit the gas tank and spilled gasoline all over the place. Quinely's trap instantly engulfed a car with fire, but they just simply drove out of it. Quinely just sighed.

The tank barrel began to turn it's torrent at the station. The lid of the tank opened up and a guy with a loudspeaker came out.

"We don't want any unnecessary trouble. We just want our weapons back."

"What weapons do you want?" the Lieutenant called out.

"The ones you stole from us in the warehouse. Where are they at?"

Good buy them time. Herrior noticed several car doors open and men taking positions behind the cruisers, slowly making their way to the station.

"The radio and telephones are out. We're on our own sir." An officer whispered to the Lieutenant. He let out a sigh.

"What did they look like?" He called out.

"My patience is growing thin. We will come in and take them back if we have too." By now every officer had an automatic rifle and was in position.

Mohania said the last few words of the spell and pointed bow hands towards the green spiral. The ground instantly opened up and the tank fell several feet into the Earth. It then fell forward so that only the tracks of the tank's tracks were visible. The man yelling at them fell forward and was crushed underneath the tank. Suddenly the Earth closed back in, crushing the tank. It squeezed so hard that it eventually made the tank a thin piece of metal and the ground was just about how it looked before.

Mohania fell to his knees. Trackolania helped him down in the ditch. He made sure his mouth was in the direction of the water flow. Trackolania quickly covered him with sticks and leaves. He then brought his crossbow out and waited for the signal.

"I think that's our queue. Fire!" Branzer said. Instantly all three .50 calibers screamed in the air and the first three car's drivers exploded inside. They then cocked their guns and let them fly at the next three cars. Another direct hit. All of the drivers exploded inside of their cars. The men that had left their vehicles became afraid and ran back into their cars. The cars started driving erratically all over.

"Shoot at will, try to hit the driver. Do your best." Branzer said. Almost instantly the guns screamed again. Branzer's shot instantly hit the driver of the seventh car and he exploded. Bernett's shot blow off the driver's right arm and sailed into the back seat and blew off the passenger's right leg. Crystal's shot went wide and hit the passenger in the front seat. The driver became scared and accelerated the car into the car in front of them. The passenger's quickly started moving what was left of the driver out of the way and started driving every which way. They could hear the officers in the doorway below them open up with their automatic rifles.

"Let's go!" Herrior said. Herrior, Dan, Quinely, in bear form, Skyka, and Lindel started running toward the car in the back. It started accelerating backwards. There's no way they could get there in time.

"Trackolania!" Herrior screamed and pointed to the last car. An arrow instantly flew in the air, sailed within inches of Herrior and flew into the driver's head. The long black car instantly stopped.

The group advanced on the vehicles. "Jacklyn!" Herrior pointed at the car in front of the limo. She grabbed her staff with both hands and leaped into the air. The staff came down and smashed the car into two pieces. She then jabbed at the survivors and impaled them.

Both Herrior and Quinely suddenly charged at the limo, both moving at speeds that were almost impossible to see. Herrior hit the limo first and lifted it up. Quinely then rammed the limo and together they pushed the limo upside down. One of the men started crawling out of a window and Dan instantly decapitated him.

"Move on!" Herrior commanded. He then let out a loud battle shout that made the windows crack. Jacklyn again took both hands on her staff and jumped into the air slamming them down on the trunk of the car, snapping the back axle. She then ran to the left side. Both doors were opening and she slammed her staff forward into both men, impaling them. A bullet then flew into Jacklyn's leg. She swung around and threw both men on her staff into the vehicle. Another bullet hit Jacklyn's chest.

Herrior ran forward, jumped off the crushed trunk of the car and drove his shield down into the car. He pulled it out and blood was dripping from it. Dan ran up to the side and immediately stabbed the driver's side passenger.

"Skyka, we have injured!" Herrior said. She instantly transformed back into her normal self and started casting a heal spell on Jacklyn. Dan saw several men get out from their cars with machine guns aimed at Skyka.

Time stopped.

Dan took the right side, and Herrior took the left side - almost instantly decapitating the men. The heal spell was complete, and Jacklyn pushed Skyka to the side and ran forward. She was still dripping blood. Skyka quickly cast a Renew spell on her, and both she and Lindel ran forward to catch up. Herrior and Dan were both able to slice the heads off from the next car in front of them. Both of them were getting tired.

Time resumed.

Three loud shots screamed out of the air and entered the next three cars. One entered the hood, one entered the roof, and one blow the driver to pieces. The cops in the station began to advance towards the cars as well.

With only a couple of cars remaining, Herrior screamed out, "Lindel!" Lindel summoned a cloud underneath her feet and flew towards the car that seemed like it was going to escape. She instantly turned into a purple ball and pushed herself into the driver's eyes. The driver suddenly pulled out his gun and started shooting his passengers. She then forced the driver to move the car forwards and started shooting the car in front of her. She managed to take down two passengers before she exited his body. The man looked around, and all of a sudden a rain of bullets came flying towards the driver. He was dead within seconds.

The remaining men of the raid jumped out and started wildly shooting everywhere. Herrior raised his shield and protected his group.

"Strings!" All of a sudden a sound entered the air that seemed to pierce their ears. They all put their hands to their ears and started staggering around. Thinking irrationally, they then started shooting each other. The remaining gunmen had Herrior's sword thrown at his head and split it in two. Herrior ran over to grab it.

"Move to the back of the cars, everybody!" Strings and Trackolania picked up Mohania and started running towards Herrior, but could not keep up. Skyka reentered shadow form and Lindel started phasing in and out of the air.

The officers from the station began to move forward slowly. They started to look for the ones that were still alive.

A demon guard then fell from the sky. It stood very tall, had a fiery sword in one hand, two horns sticking out of its head and was all red except for a black vest. It had hoofed feed. Instantly it began to channel fire from the sky towards the group. They all scattered to avoid the firestorm.

"There's the demon. He's a black outline in the distance. Can you see him?" Crystal said.

"Yup, and I don't think our guns are going to make a difference…" Branzer said. They all quickly repositioned their .50 calibers and began firing as quickly as they could. The bullets screamed through the air and entered the demon's body. The demon let out a thunderous roar. Herrior's group began to run around in fear. Herrior and Jacklyn both turned red and screamed in the air. They then ran toward the demon. After the fear affects wore off, Quinely charged the demon, Herrior slammed his shield into the demon's leg, and Quinely bite down as hard as she could in his leg. Herrior then start slamming his sword on the demon's leg as fast as he could. Black ooze started coming from the beast. The beast looked down and tried to stomp on the creatures.

"Trackolania!" Herrior shouted. "Blind him!" Trackolania dropped Mohania and instantly began firing arrow after arrow into the demon's left eyes. Several landed on their mark, before the demon put his hand up and started deflecting the arrows. Trackolania quickly switched targets and shot for his right eye. Only one got threw. Trackolania then looked over at Strings, who threw Mohania over his back and started running towards the fight. Trackolania then sprinted over to the demon. On the way he dipped both of his daggers into clear water from one of his vials. He put the vial away and jumped on the demon's shin and dug his daggers into the demon's shins. The demon let out a howl, and then the wound began to glow white. Trackolania jumped off and tumbled to the ground.

The demon then began to channel a purple energy into Herrior. Within a second, Herrior turned towards his group. His eyes were glowing purple. Trackolania quickly realized what happened and jumped towards Herrior. Herrior moved his shield in the way, but Trackolania's feet pushed the shield away. The two started dueling.

Dan ran up behind Herrior and waited for the perfect moment. Herrior raised his sword to bring it down on Trackolania. Dan then mustered up all of his strength and slammed it onto Herrior's sword - sending it flailing. Skyka picked it up and instantly cast a beam of blue light into Herrior. Jacklyn ran up beside Herrior and slammed her staff into Herrior's other hand. He dropped his shield. Jacklyn then picked up the shield and jumped up to intercept the purple beam. Herrior instantly returned to his normal self. The two of them then threw his weapons back at him. Herrior charged the demon again, slamming his shield into his foot. The demon screamed and brought his sword down towards Herrior. Herrior blocked it and brought his sword down on the demons hand.

Time stopped.

Crystal tried to fire her gun again, but realized that time had stopped. She wasn't sure how. The gun just sat there dormant. She reached down and grabbed Branzer's knife and began running towards the demon.

Trackolania then took the vial of water from his cloak and looked at Jacklyn. Jacklyn jumped in the air again and drove her staff into the demon's foot, making an opening as big as she could make it. She then deflected the sword from the demon and jumped out of the way. Trackolania jumped up on the foot of the demon and shoved the entire contents of the vial into the opening. The demon let out a loud scream and fell to it's knee.

"Strings, we need some music. Mohania we need some firepower. Lindel slow him down. Everybody attack the injured foot!" Herrior cried out. Strings immediately started playing a song and it sped up the group. Mohania began to channel some sort of summoning spell, a small spot on the ground next to him began to swirl a greenish color. Lindel turned into what looked like a purple demonic ghost. Her entire body turned transparent, her eyes lit up like bright flashlights and she floated up to the demon's eyes. Lindel held out her hands and blackish circles began floating from her hands and into the demon's eyes.

Quinely morphed into a male lion that towered at least seven foot tall. She then jumped at the demon's hoof and ripped a big chunk out of it. Dan and Herrior both dove their weapons into the demon's foot.

Jacklyn saw that the demon was trying to swing his sword desperately at the group. Thanks to Lindel's spell, the demon seemed to miss more often then hit Herrior's shield. Jacklyn waited for the right moment and then jumped into the air - landed on Herrior's shoulders and launched herself at the weapon. He staff came down right on the demon's blade, putting a big dent into it. Jacklyn hit the ground and rolled.

Crystal arrived running as fast as she could with her knife. She then stopped and dove the knife into the demon's rear leg. The knife merely snapped in half, not even causing a dent. Crystal became pissed and through the handle of the knife away. She then pulled out her .357 and magnum at the same time and started pulling the triggers at the demon's back. Nothing happened. Even more frustrated, she threw the weapons to the ground.

"I need a weapon!" Crystal yelled!

"Trackolania your bow!" Herrior yelled. Without hesitating, Trackolania grabbed his bow and quiver and instantly seemed to disappear into the ground. He then reappeared behind Crystal. He shoved the weapons at her back, catching her off guard. She stumbled forward but caught her balance. She quickly turned around and saw Trackolania standing there holding out his crossbow and arrows toward her.

"Thanks…" Crystal said quickly grabbing the crossbow and held it in her right hand. The crossbow quickly strapped itself to her arm. She quickly pulled back the string and loaded an arrow. She looked down the scope and aimed it towards the demon. All she could see was orange. Suddenly she saw a flicker of red and released the arrow. It seemed to scream forward and landed right on the back of the demon's neck. The demon quickly arched in pain and repositioned itself and put his face right at her face. She quickly started to load another arrow. The demon's non sword hand came flying down towards Crystal. She started to move out of the way when there was a loud "Dong!" sound. Herrior suddenly appeared and the hand hit the shield. Herrior then slashed at the hand, making black goo come out of it.

Crystal rose to her feet and aimed the crossbow again. She couldn't get it to turn red again.

Mohania finished channeling his spell and a red demon dog dug itself out of the ground, the same looking one that attacked the Lieutenant. Mohania pointed towards the demon. The dog obediently charged forward and started gnawing at his foot. It seemed like each time the dog took a bite of the demon; a little white bubble appeared over Mohania's head. His power was coming back.

Herrior then pointed at Skyka and then pointed at Mohania. Skyka quickly took on her shadow form and ran over towards Mohania.

"Dot him!" Herrior yelled. Suddenly Skyka opened her arms into the air and the demon appeared to winch in pain. A dark storm cloud slowly entered into the demon's head. Mohania pointed his hand at the demon's head and it suddenly began to grow red. Small purplish ghosts seemed to enter and exit the demon's body. Mohania then throw his other hand into the air. A reddish skull appeared above his head and slowly started to drip red acid looking things into the demon's head.

Skyka began to cast a spell during this time and let her hands fly into the air when the chanting was complete. The demon put his hands to his head and screamed in pain. Mohania left his arm in the air. A green beam about two feet across began to channel from the demon and into Mohania. It had tiny little heads flying in the beam and into his hand. Mohania began to chuckle as he felt his power returning. Skyka let another spell fly. It seemed to really hurt the demon this time.

The demon let out a loud high pitch squeal and began stomping his mighty hoofs. It knocked the entire group backwards. Crystal flew bottom first into a car windshield. The red dog as well as Dan, Herrior, Jacklyn, and Quinely flew in front of the beast.

The demon then chanted some demonic words and suddenly the beast seemed to be shaking. It split into three demons. Mohania instantly raised his hand and spoke some words. The demon on the right instantly froze and seemed to turn different colors. He then rose to his feet and began turning his hands in a circle. A blue ball began to form and electricity seemed to shoot out from it. He then knelt down and threw the ball at the demon on the left side. The demon instantly had purple chains surround his chest. The demons eyes seemed to just stare blindly forward. Mohania then raised his hand towards the demon in the middle and slowly raised the demon under Mohania's control raised his sword and brought it down on the original demon's arm. It made a cut in its arm. The demon in the middle screamed.

The original demon looked to both sides and seemed to grow afraid. It started swinging at the demon on the left that was attacking it.

Crystal pushed herself out of the windshield and felt blood dripping. She pulled the glass out of herself, and then sat down. She aimed the crossbow at the demon in the middle. The light went from orange to red and suddenly she released an arrow. The arrow went sailing into the back of the demons head. Black goo seemed to fly out of the hole it made. She then slowly started reloading the crossbow. The entire hood was dripping with her blood now.

Jacklyn cried out in pain as her shin bone became disconnected and stuck out of her skin. She lay on the ground and turned herself to face the demon. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain.

The red dog howled and started hopping back towards the demon. Herrior let out a snort and quickly rose to his feet. He shook himself and began running back towards the demon.

Mohania continued to channel the green light from the beast, he seemed to be unaffected by the stomping. Skyka rose to her feet and dropped her shadow form. She quickly let out an instant cast healing spell. It rose from the ground and seemed to encircle the entire party.

The demon finally grew tired of the purple ghost whispering things at him. It caused him to miss enough with his sword. He eyed the purple ghost and began to swing his sword. Lindel quickly turned back into her normal self. The sword flew right threw her, causing the demon to stagger. The controlled demon then brought his sword down right on the demons neck. Skyka quickly cast an aura around Lindel up in the air. The next attack from the demon knocked Lindel right out of the air. She went tumbling towards the ground.

Strings stopped playing and ran over and caught her. She looked up at Strings and smiled for a second before closing her eyes. Strings set her down on the ground.

"Strings, we need more power!" Herrior commanded. Strings than changed tunes. They all seemed to grow in size. Herrior then let out a shout that echoed for what seemed like miles around. Jacklyn let out a different roar and it seemed to scare the demon.

"Mana drain him!" Herrior ordered. Trackolania took a blue vial from his cloak and poured it on his blade. He then looked at Dan, who was pretty banged up, and pointed towards the demon. The three of them started charging back into battle.

Skyka turned back into her shadow form and put a hand on Mohania. Both of them held their hands up and a blue beam flew from both of their hands into the beast. The red dog backed up a little and lifted its tail. A green beam came from its eyes and entered the demon.

Crystal took another shot. This time the arrow flew into one of the deep cuts the control demon had made and flew out the other side. She quickly loaded another arrow and waited for the sight to turn red.

The demon fell to the ground and yelled, "My power!" The controlled demon then sunk his sword into the demon's neck again.

"That's our target everyone. Let's end this!" Herrior said. He then charged forward with incredible speed and slammed the side of the demon's ear. It seemed to echo, causing the demon to go deaf. He then jumped up on the demon and began slashing away at the opening. Black goo started squirting all over. Quinely grabbed Dan's shirt and leaped up on top of the demon. All three of them start hacking and chewing away at the cut.

The demon start swatting at the back of his neck, but Herrior was able to reflect every blow.

On the top of the roof, a white circle appeared as if it were a doorway. Several monks stepped out along with a tall blood elf. The monks started shooting lightning into Bernett and Branzer. Their bodies began to shake and then suddenly were able to move.

"Shoot the demon! You only have six seconds!" Bernett and Branzer could feel their skin and bones being zapped by what felt like lightning. The pain was intense.

"Shoot!" The blood elf commanded again. Both of them aimed at the demon's head and fired. They then reloaded and fired again. Soon the pain began to over-whelm them and the monks stopped channeling and walked back into the bright light, as well as the blood elf. Bernett and Branzer were again frozen in time. Their bodies badly burnt and several cuts had opened on their body.

Four shots rang out. Two of which went wild and flew into the woods. Two of them sunk into the demon's head. Crystal saw the two bullets enter the side of his head. She then ran over to where the bullets left a giant hole and aimed the crossbow. It instantly turned red and she released the trigger. The demon let out a roar that was almost deafening. Trackolania instantly started slashing at the hole, and made it big enough for him to crawl into. He then started hacking and slashing at anything he could find. The demon seemed to have a seizure. The controlled demon brought it's sword down in the middle of the demon's body. Both summoned demons seemed to be fading, and slowly disappeared.

Mohania then held both hands to his side and began enchanting a spell. He then threw them forward and a skeleton face went flying towards the demons head, leaving a black trail behind it. Mohania then started to enchant the same spell.

While Mohania was doing that, Skyka ran over to Lindel and cast a quick Renew spell on her. Lindel opened her eyes at Skyka and smiled. Skyka then ran over to the fallen demon and casted a quick spell. A blast of white fire came from the demon's head. It started to melt the demon's face.

"Finish it off!" Herrior said. The demon seemed to have another seizure from Trackolania being inside of his head. Jacklyn got off the ground and slow started staggering towards the demon. Her bone had been set in place, but there was still a lot of pain. She drove her staff into the demon's eye and pulled it out. Plenty of black goo came with it. Herrior drove his sword deep into the demon's neck. Dan did the same thing using both hands.

Mohania then started channeling a purple beam of light from the demon. Again it sounded like screams coming from the channeling. Small little skulls flew along the beam of light.

"Noo!" The demon cried. Another shot came from Crystal and it seemed to fly through the demon's side. Trackolania inside had finished disconnecting every vessel that seemed to hold his brain into place. He then made a big incision and popped out the other eye.

The demon slowly shrank down to size and enters Mohania's body. Mohania gleamed with power. He put his hands together and made a purple crystal out of the raw energy that he had collected from the demon's death. It glimmered with power. Inside of the crystal seemed to be a pair of eyes that constantly seemed to be looking around. Mohania let out a chuckle and place it inside of his cape.

Skyka then started channeling another spell. White spirals appeared above and below her. Her body seemed to be engulfed in white; this seemed to go on for several seconds. She then lifted her arms and suddenly the entire party seemed to be healed.

"We need to get out of here!" Herrior yelled. He looked at Crystal and motioned for her to come. They all started running for the woods, and Crystal followed them.

"Mohania, are there any more demons?" Mohania slowly shook his head. His eyes seemed to glowing brightly with fire and a black aura surrounded him.

Time resumed.

Bullets traveled everywhere. The sound of Crystal's .50 caliber gun went off. The officers heard all of the gun fire and started shooting at the cars.

Lindel was out of strength. They had not reached the woods yet.

"Dan!" Herrior yelled.

Time stopped.

Herrior picked up Lindel and threw her over his shoulder. He then put an arm around Jacklyn and began running as fast as they could. He knew they would not make it in fifteen seconds.

"Mohania, we need a distraction." Mohania raised his hand in the air. The clouds in the sky suddenly gathered around the compound.

Time resumed.

Rain started coming down. Lightning started striking all around the officers.

"Take cover!" One of them yelled. Lightning continued to strike all around them. It constantly struck the ground nearly missing the officers, until all of them were in the station. Then it just continued striking the front entrance.

Branzer and Bernett just laid on their stomachs in pain. The rain felt good on their wounds. They just sat there and let the rain lick up their wounds. Branzer looked through the scope and saw Herrior's group just before they entered into the woods. Suddenly they seemed to disappear. Branzer let out a smile and laid down on his back.

"We did it…" he said slowly. Bernett held up his hand, and Branzer grabbed it. Both of their clothes had been burned badly, their skin singed, and several deep cuts were on their bodies.

"Do you remember how we got in such rough shape?" Bernett asked. Both of them thought for awhile but couldn't remember.

"Nope…" Branzer said. A moment passed and Bernett said, "Can you imagine the paperwork on this one…" They both started to laugh.

Jacklyn reached down and pushed her shin bone back into place. It made a quick "pop" sound. Her face was in intense pain, but she never screamed. Everybody started rubbing their wounds. Crystal was still bleeding, and Skyka looked drained. Lindel slowly went to everybody and placed her hands on their head. A sense of warmness came from them and entered their bodies. It wasn't the same kind of healing that Skyka did, but it felt good.

Mohania sat away from the group, gently petting his hellhound. His eyes surveyed the group. There wasn't anything that he could do to help. He continued channeling the lightning storm over the station.

"Quinely, are you alright?" Herrior asked. Lindel just got done healing her and nodded towards Herrior.

"Can you do a fly over to see if any enchanted pieces dropped?" Quinely morphed herself into a bird and flew above the tree line. She could see from that distance that there were several objects shining blue and one purple. Quinely quickly flew down and landed on Herrior's shoulder.

"I saw five blues and one purple." the bird said in Quinely's voice.

"Do you think you and Trackolania will be able to go get them all?" The bird nodded her head and instantly took flight. Trackolania just got done being healed, and started running at the same speed the bird was flying.

"Mohania, can you give us some hail over the compound? Watch out for Branzer and Bernett. Make sure they make it in the compound ok?" Mohania nodded. He opened his mouth and blue electricity was dancing around from tooth to tooth. He raised his arms in the air and started chanting something. The clouds then let loose ice balls from the clouds and it pounded the front of the compound. Along with the lightning, it was an awesome sight to behold from inside the compound.

"I think that's our queue…" Branzer said. Large chunks of ice fell all around them, but never hit them. They gathered up their weapons and opened the door to reenter the compound. Several of the officers were still ready to go out and see what had happened, but the sudden storm prevented them. Branzer and Bernett went straight for the weapons locker and saw that it was empty and the door was open. They returned the massive weapons and quickly wrote their names on the sign out sheet. Then both of them went out the side door. Lightning struck all around them but never hit them. Burn marks came up from the pavement where the lightning hit. The ice chunks flew all around the two of them but never hit them.

"Think we should go meet up with them?" Branzer asked. In the distance they could see tiny flashes of light from where they disappeared into the woods. They also saw a large bird circling over where the large demon was. It landed and turned into a female figure. They saw her strain to pick something up. A smaller figure raced up beside her and the two of them were struggling very hard to pull something.

"I think we should…" Bernett said. The two stripped themselves of the flak jackets and started running behind the line of cruisers to where they stood.

Trackolania's ears picked up on the footsteps and let out a sudden hiss in their direction.

"What is it?" Quinely asked. Trackolania looked up at Quinely and pointed. Quinely morphed into a lion and disappeared from sight, jumping onto a cruiser's roof. Trackolania also jumped on top of a roof, letting his body slip into darkness. He pulled out his daggers and got down on all four ready to pounce.

Branzer and Bernett arrived at the scene and saw several objects glowing on the ground.

"Incredible!" Bernett said. He moved towards them, and then an arm grabbed him and slowly pulled him back.

"Don't…move…" Branzer said. Branzer pointed to the cruiser that Quinely was on. The rain was falling all around her, giving a vague shape of some sort of beast. It looked ready to strike. Bernett eventually saw the outline and became afraid.

"We're friends of Dan. We have come to help you move these items. Remember us? I'm Officer Branzer, and this is Officer Bernett."

A pair of eyes suddenly appeared several kilometers from them on top of a roof. Trackolania put his daggers away and jumped off the car, slowly escaping the darkness of the shadows.

"Amazing…" Bernett said. Then an adult lion began rubbing up against his body, seeming to purr.

"We have to be quick gentlemen." The lion said. The officers both looked at each other and nodded. The lion morphed back into Quinely.

"These items need to be brought back to Skyka for her to analyze." Bernett and Branzer had no idea why, but they both moved to the sword the demon was carrying. It was glowing blue. Trackolania had already gathered up a ring, a quiver, and a short sword and started back. Quinely picked up a purple necklace, put it around her neck and helped the two officers pull the huge glowing sword across the field.

"This is heavier than it looks…" Branzer said. All three of them were straining pretty hard to move it. It slide a little, and then stopped, and then slid a little and stopped again. Branzer then got underneath the sword and pushed it up. Quinely moved underneath the sword as well and morphed into a giant bear. Bernett kept pulling from where he was. The three of them slowly made their way to the group and were thoroughly exhausted. They gently set the sword down on the ground.

Skyka got up to analyze the items. She looked at each piece very carefully. The ring from Trackolania she didn't like. She held it in her hands and a bright blue light escaped from her fingers. A second later a bright crystal appeared in her hand. She put it in a pouch on her belt.

"Amazing…" Bernett said again. Branzer didn't seem affected by anything strange now; he had already seen enough strange things. He had come to expect them to do some weird things. He glanced over at Mohania still standing and channeling the storm. His dog next to him had laid down. "For instance…" he thought.

"Come…sit with us…" Herrior said. Skyka continued her work. It was still down pouring, but the group didn't seem to care. They walked over and sat down in their clean uniforms in the dirty mud. They had all formed a circle again, except for Mohania who was still channeling his spell. Occasionally he would let out a sinister laugh. Skyka looked over every piece of equipment they had retrieved and turned most of them into bright crystals or long shards. She then took the necklace from Quinely.

"Well this is definitely worth something…" Skyka said. She looked it over and her eyes turned a dark shade of blue. After a moment of looking at it, she said "It's meant for a rogue." She turned to Trackolania, who started walking over to her direction. Skyka then put her hand around the necklace he was already wearing and her eyes again turned a dark shade of blue. She slowly shook her head. Trackolania walked away disappointed.

"I'm sorry hun. We'll give it to somebody in Tranquil though…" Skyka walked over to the sword. It was obviously too big for anybody to use. Skyka put her hands around it, and suddenly the sword began to shake violent and shrunk into Skyka's hands. She held up a purple crystal, and then dropped it in her pouch.

"Mohania, are you done having fun yet? Why don't you let the officers out of their compound…they have a mess to clean up." Herrior said.

"I…can clean it up…for them!" Mohania spoke in his echoing voice. He had a lot of power coming out of his voice.

"No." Herrior said calmly. Suddenly the storm stopped. The clouds still poured down their rain, but the hail and the lightning ceased. Mohania walked over and sat in the circle. He had a huge grin on his face and it looked like had a huge fire inside of his eyes. His dog walked over and sat on his lap. Mohania began petting it.

Skyka produced a light well in the middle of the circle. It gave off a bright glowing light and slowly turned in a circle, shooting star-like looking objects into everybody around them.

By now everyone was soaked, and tired. Lindel had already put her head on Strings's lap and was snoring.

"Good battle today everyone. Branzer and Bernett, I was impressed with your shooting." Herrior said. They both nodded. Before Herrior could speak again, Crystal stood up. She was absolutely soaked. She pulled her gun from the holster and threw it to the ground.

"I need a weapon! Branzer's knife broke…" Branzer felt down for his knife and realized it was gone. She continued, "My gun doesn't work!. All I had was Trackolania's crossbow!" She held it out, and Trackolania quickly snatched it from her hand. She shot him a dirty look. Herrior just calmly nodded.

"If time stops, we are worthless. I remember being fried by some men in brown robes that allowed us to fire our guns, but man did it hurt!" Bernett said. Crystal spun around and punched him in the face.

"You have no idea how much it hurts!" She yelled at him. Bernett lay on the ground surprised. Dan looked shocked. Blood started flowing from Bernett's mouth.

"Strings." Herrior said. Strings began playing a song that quickly soothed everybody. Crystal sat back down in her spot. Dan didn't know what to do. He started edging his way towards Crystal. Crystal shot him a dirty look, and he started slowly moving away from her.

"Calm down everyone…" Herrior said slowly. "Save it for the battlefield…" Bernett slowly rose from the ground, a trickle of blood coming down his mouth. Skyka thought about healing him, but decided he deserved the hit and just smiled.

"Are we safe here?" Herrior asked. The rain still pouring down on them. Crystal nodded with tears forming in her eyes.

"Crystal, we shall take you to our weapon master to equip you. Bernett and Branzer - I will put a recommendation for you to come with us."

"How long are we going to be gone for?" Bernett said thinking about his wife.

"It will be as if you never missed a moment from this world." Herrior said slowly. He let out a yawn.

"Let us rest for now. We shall leave at day break." The light well fizzled out. The big Tauren laid down on the ground. Skyka walked over and laid down beside him. Everybody laid down in a row, except for Mohania who laid on his back and crossed his hands over his chest. His dog jumped up on his chest, adjusted his paws and slept on his master. Bernett and Branzer got up to leave.

"Stay with us." Herrior said with his eyes closed.

"But it's raining." Herrior nodded. The two officers then walked over and laid down on opposite side of Herrior. Their cuts and burns had completely healed from the light well.

That night Crystal began to cry. It woke Dan up and he moved over to comfort her. Instantly Lindel appeared in between them. She slowly shook her head. She raised her hand and stroked Dan's cheek. The sobs became louder.

"You have no idea what she's been through for you…she needs to be left alone right now." Lindel moved her finger and covered his mouth. "When she's ready to tell you, she will. For now, just let her be. It's only a nightmare." Instantly Lindel vanished and appeared on the other side of Herrior.

Dan looked at Crystal and she was sobbing heavily now. Dan laid back down on the wet grass and stared at her until sleep came over him.

That night they all slept in the rain. Once the sun popped up, Lindel stood up and a bright light enveloped the group. They each started to wake up.

"It's time." Lindel said in a soothing voice.

"I had a vision last night. I saw Bernett and Branzer, and then I turned around and saw the King. He nodded." Herrior said slowly. "Lindel give us a portal."

Lindel put her hands together and started channeling some sort of white power into her hands. A small circle formed and slowly grew bigger. Each person grabbed their weapons and armor and rose to their feet. They all encircled Lindel, even Bernett and Branzer. A bright light suddenly engulfed them and they all disappeared, leaving only a small smoke of grass on the ground.


	5. Defending Tranquil

Defending Tranquil_3

The group instantly materialized in front of a huge wall. Crystal, Bernett, Branzer, and Dan began to look around. There were cracks in the reddish, lifeless ground. The sky seemed to be engulfed in a reddish spiraling lightning storm. Dead trees surrounded them. There appeared to be no signs of life anywhere. The air seemed stale.

"Come..." Herrior said.

"What is this place?" Crystal asked in awe. The four of them were still spinning around taking it all in.

"The entrance to our gate." Herrior said. He began to slowly walk up an old rugged ramp made of stone. The group followed. Crystal, Bernett, Branzer, and Dan still were taking everything in when they saw that they were falling behind the group. They ran to catch up. Their feet seemed to pound on dry dead dirt. They stepped on the ramp and saw that it eventually led to a very tall wall made of very thick stone. Several people, and things that looked human-ish, seemed to have them targeted with a variety of weapons.

"Keep up." Herrior said.

Eventually they came to the end of the ramp. A large stone door stood before them. It had a large hand print engraved surrounded in a circle in the middle of the doorway, but low enough that it could be reached. The entire door was surrounded with what looked like a rainbow force field. Herrior took off one of his gauntlets and pressed his hand past the field and into a hand shaped circle on the door. The door began to instantly rumble and shook the earth. Herrior put his gauntlet back on. Crystal, Bernett and Branzer stared in awe. Everyone entered into the gate, except for Mohania. He started walking left from the gate. The three of them were confused, but hurried to catch up with Herrior. Herrior walked about fifty kilometers inside the wall, and then the doors started to close by themselves.

"Halt! Who are these people?" Suddenly several tall men dressed in red robes suddenly appeared around the four foreigners. They had purple glowing swords in one hand, and an oblong shield in the other. They all looked exactly the same.

"They are with me." Herrior said casually. The guards floated above the four of them and then their eyes turned red and seemed to scan the three of them. The guards then motioned for the people on the wall to lower their weapons. The guards then instantly disappeared. The people on the tower then turned their attention away from them and focused back staring at the dry lifeless dirt in front of them.

A black Tauren ran down the stairs and jumped off about twenty feet from the bottom. The force from the fall made the four of them fall to the ground and bounce backwards. The rest of the group seemed to be prepared for the thunderous blast. He had a golden nose ring and a relieved smile on his face. The Tauren ran over to Herrior and they embraced.

"How are things?" Herrior asked.

"Slow. No attacks. Just staring at dirt. Are you taking over our shift?" The black Tauren talked eagerly.

Herrior slowly nodded, "We need to visit Tranquil first…make some repairs…get some weapons."

The black Tauren shouted out, "You can have ours!" Both Taurens roared into laughter. They put an arm on each other's shoulders.

"Can you cover for us for at least two more hours?" The black Tauren sighed. Herrior then pointed at the new recruits. The black Tauren walked up to them and stared down at them. He eyed each one up and down.

"Bah, they wouldn't last two seconds in battle…" the black Tauren said and walked away from them.

The four of them seemed to be offended by this. They shot the black Tauren a dirty look.

"They've been approved for defense tonight by the King." Herrior said. The black Tauren raised his eyebrow. He looked back at the three of them, then turned back to Herrior and shrugged.

"Take your time in Tranquil. We have fairies coming out in a couple of minutes. It looks like they need to be in there for awhile…" the black Tauren said and slowly walked back up the stairs.

Herrior then motioned for everyone to follow him. The group started walking, but Crystal was still eye-balling the black Tauren. "He's a prick…" she thought.

They walked inside of a large cave. Once all were inside, two stone golems stepped out of the walls.

"What is they request?" They both said at the same time. They seemed to be made out of solid steel. They had a bowl for a head, but no eyes or ears. They stood around twelve feet tall. Each one was holding a golden spear.

"Access to the portal…" Herrior said. The golems then put their spears together and instantly a circle appeared in front of them. They could see through the circle to a beautiful town. It shown with utter brilliance. Crystal, Bernett, Branzer, and Dan all quickly covered their eyes from the bright light. They saw Herrior step through it as if he had done this a million times. Jacklyn followed behind and the rest of the group. Branzer stuck his head in and gasped.

The four of them went from a dead planet to a city of sheer beauty. It had towers that seemed to scrap the clouds above it. Several suns seemed to illuminate the city. Creatures of all sorts walked around, many of them completely naked. The air was full and rich. The smells from the city were the most amazing things they had ever smelled. The trees looked full and rich with fruit. The sidewalks seemed to be made of pure silver and glittered in the sunlight. Even the grass looked thick and rich. A broom swept up behind them. The top of it was sparkling. The four of them just stared in awe.

Suddenly guards from all over the city started swarming all over the new people. They all had their spears pointing at the four of them.

"They are with me…" Herrior said again. All of the guards nodded and then left.

"Come my love; let us find a private area…" Skyka said and started tugging on Herrior. Herrior smiled and started to follow her. Trackolania then tugged on Herrior's shirt. Herrior looked down at him and Trackolania pointed to the left. Herrior nodded.

"I could use a drink…" Strings said. Jacklyn looked at him and nodded

"I need to fly for awhile and meet up with some Druids." Quinely said.

"Meet back up at the portal in three hours…" Skyka kept tugging on Herrior and pulled him into a near-by house. Everybody seemed to run off in different directions. The four of them just simply stood there. They just stood in awe for several moment.

"Did everybody run off and leave you?" Lindel said. She had grown wings and was floating several feet off from the ground. She illuminated with utter brilliance. She didn't look like she was wearing any clothes, but it was hard to tell from the bright light.

"Come. I want to show you some things." Lindel flapped her wings once and it blew a gentle breeze over the four of them. They all smiled and followed her. They all walked slowly taking in the beauty of the city.

"I bet you have a lot of questions…" Lindel said with a giggle. Just then the four of them started hearing Skyka screaming.

"Is she ok?" Dan asked quickly. Lindel laughed and said, "Come with me faster, you don't need to be hearing this…"

They walked to a large fountain. Several people were bathing in it. The four of them quickly turned away. Lindel laughed again.

"Clothes are an option here in Tranquil. Please don't be offended." Lindel flapped really hard and dove into the water. She was underwater for several seconds and then flew out of the fountain and hovered right above the four of them. The water from her body dripped onto the group and they all felt refreshed. Branzer held out his hand and collected some of the water. He then tasted it. The water surged through his body.

"Wow!" Branzer then ran to the fountain and leaned over and drank more of it. "That is the best tasting water I have ever tasted!" Branzer then stuck his entire head in the fountain and started drinking as fast as he could. Several people in the fountain started to giggle at him.

The three of them walked forward and knelt down in front of the pool. They scooped some water up in their hand and tasted it. Instantly it surged through their bodies and they all did the same thing Branzer did. Lindel merely laughed.

After they had their fill, they sat on the solid granite that encircled the fountain.

"I want to introduce you to some different races here in Tranquil." Lindel said. She then let out a really loud noise. It sounded like an ear-piercing whistle. They could hear several foot stomps racing their way.

"They are ambassadors of Tranquil. Herrior and Skyka are as well…but…err…they are busy right now…" Lindel said stuttering at the end.

"Doing what?" Dan asked.

"Well…they love each other…and miss each other a lot. So, they are…" Lindel looked at him and rolled her eyes. "You figure it out."

Crystal began laughing. Lindel smiled at her.

"Here they come." Lindel said as she started flapping her wings in anticipation.

"Welcome mon!" A greenish human with a severe hunchback and large bottom teeth sticking out of his bottom jaw. He had long arms and legs. "I am a troll, at your service mon…" He bowed down to them. He then squatted down on the ground. He was only wearing a loin cloth, and while squatting down he exposed himself. It was obvious that he was a male. The four of them all nodded towards him.

"I am a blood elf." A sweet sounding voice came out of the next person. She was dressed in a blue dress. It ran over her shoulders, covered her breasts, and ran down to her waist. From there it barely covered her butt. She walked up to each one of them and kissed them on the cheek. She then stepped back.

"I am a Tauren." Another creature walked forward and was completely naked, but she had long fur. She stood about seven feet tall. She had small horns, and several golden hoops in her ears. She walked forward and hugged each one of them. She then walked back and a small little green creature bounced up to them.

"I am a goblin…master engineer! At your service." He did a little bow, and then did a back flip. He only stood about two foot tall, had really long ears and was green as well. The four of them smiled at him. He stood back and let Lindel float down in front of them. They all had to blink their eyes several times to get used to the light.

"Now…we eat." She turned around and all of the Ambassadors nodded. They left for about a minute and came back with plates that seemed to float on their own.

"Absolutely amazing…" Branzer said. The rest nodded. A variety of fruit, meat, and bread floated in front of them. Lindel picked up a grape and threw it into the air and landed in her mouth.

"It's safe to eat mon…dig in." The troll said. Dan reached forward first and broke off a piece of bread. He smelled it and instantly his stomach craved it. He quickly shoved it in his mouth and it burst with flavor.

"mmm…" was all Dan could say. The others ripped off pieces of meat and bread. Each one was pleasantly surprised as they tasted the food.

"This place…is absolutely incredible!" Crystal almost yelled. Lindel smiled and said, "Follow me." She flapped her wings a couple of times and gracefully floated in the air.

They walked down a road, carefully examining everything that they saw. Branzer wiped a tear from his eye. He looked around at the other three and noticed that they were all teary eyed. The beauty of this place was just over-whelming. A moist heat was beating gently down on them with just a gentle breeze. Once in awhile a big white bird would fly over them with a guard on it. Lindel stopped at a building with several red crosses above it. Lindel floated to the ground and seemed to turn down her aura a little bit. It looked like she was wearing a thin material gown. She flicked her hair behind her and motioned them all to follow her.

Once inside several trolls and blood elves were tending to some sick creatures. They were floating above beds. A light well in the corner of the room was slowly turning, shooting stars into everybody in the room. Crystal all of a sudden felt very woozy as she looked around. Dan reached over to steady her, but she just shook her head.

"Do you remember this place Crystal?" Lindel asked. She shook her head at first and then started listening to the sounds. She walked around the room and ran her hand over the bed in the middle of the room. She slowly said, "I have been here before…haven't I?"

Lindel walked over to Crystal and kissed her on the forehead. She then backed up and smiled at her. Crystal nodded and began looking around. She felt a sheet in the corner and rubbed it up against her face. She remembered how smooth and velvety it felt, how it seemed to form to her body.

"Can I…" Crystal began to say and then stopped in mid sentence. "Naw never mind." and sat the blanket down on the table. Lindel picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her. It instantly formed to her body and seemed to put her mind at ease. It made her feel very warm and safe.

"You can have it. Consider it another souvenir." Crystal smiled and grabbed both sides of the blanket and twirled around with it. Crystal seemed to be in Heaven. Lindel then grabbed her hand and pushed everybody out of the building.

"We can tour the city later, we need to get you to the weapon masters." Lindel left the building and brightened her aura into a white bright light again. She flapped her wings very gracefully twice and was airborne again. Lindel flew a lot faster this time. Tiny pieces of whitish flakes seemed to come off the back of her. The four of them had to run to catch up with her. Lindel then squealed something out of her mouth. It didn't sound like anything the four of them had heard before. They ran through an intersection and a female troll wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a leather bra caught up with them.

"Hi mon!" she said as she greeted them. They all greeted her and continued to run.

About a minute of running later, they arrived at a large building. Lindel floated down to the ground.

"This is Unity." Lindel said. The troll bowed in front of them. "She'll be your enchanter." Lindel then went to each one of them and kissed them all on the forehead.

"I need to take a leave of absence now. Unity will show you back to the portal in about thirty minutes." Lindel then became so bright that the four of them had to look away. She then shot up into the sky in a beaming ball of light. Several small stars floated down from where she was.

"…amazing…" Branzer said slowly. The others nodded. The beam of light went at least several hundred feet into the air and met up with other balls of light. They began to circle each other for awhile, and then it seemed to be a game of tag. They flew with incredible speeds. Just then a group of female teenage blood elves walked by them completely naked. They all waved at them and started giggling.

"My wife would divorce me if she knew everything that I've seen…" Dan started to nod, but Crystal quickly put her hand over his eyes.

"Come on in strangers!" A hearty voice said. A male Tauren with a blacksmith hammer was banging away on something on an anvil.

"Herrior told me you would be on your way. Come in…come in…" The brown Tauren waved them in. Unity followed behind them.

"Now which one of you is Dan?" Dan raised his hand.

"Give me your old weapon." Dan drew it out and placed it on the counter along with the leather strapping.

The Tauren walked behind the counter and brought out a steel looking chest piece and two swords. "Try them on, I insist!" The Tauren seemed eager to see his craftsmanship. Dan picked up the chest piece and slipped it over his head. It was surprisingly light and quickly adjusted itself to fit his figure. He then picked up both swords. The blades weren't straight; they were curved downward at the top. Then they were serrated until it curved up in the middle of the blade. It looked to be made out of pure silver. He threw the weapon up in the air and quickly caught it. It was also surprisingly light. He picked up the other sword and swung them together, causing a huge shower of sparks. The Tauren simply laughed.

"They'll stick to the back of your armor plating. They won't come off until your hand touches them and you pull on it." Dan then placed both blades behind him and instantly they were sucked to his armor, as if they were magnetic.

"Impressive!" Dan said. The Tauren let out a satisfied grunt. Unity then walked up to Dan and asked for the blades. Dan immediately reached back and pulled them off from his armor. They instantly came right off. Unity then took his right blade and reached into a pouch in her thong. She pulled out a white plant, some sparkling pink dust, and a white glowing shard. She suddenly rubbed all of the ingredients together and the blade instantly had a white glow to it.

"What…did you do?" Dan asked.

"Put a frost enchant on it." Unity looked at Dan and winked at him. She then handed the sword back to Dan and motioned for the other one. This time she pulled out a red flower, some more sparkling pink dust, and a red glowing shard. She quickly rubbed all of the ingredients together this time the blade turned red. It seemed to radiate heat.

"Fire enchant?" Dan asked. Unity nodded with a smile. Dan quickly put both swords behind him. The armor quickly sucked in both blades and held them in place.

"Now which of you two are the ranged people?" The Tauren asked. Bernett and Branzer stepped forward. The Tauren nodded. He walked around them and pulled down two longbows. He then stuck his head out of the doorway and whistled. Within several seconds a goblin came bouncing into the shop.

"I need 2 scopes." The goblin nodded and bounced away. He then threw the bows at the two officers. They grabbed them and pulled back on them. Surprisingly they were easy to pull back. The goblin jumped back into the shop. He jumped up and landed on Branzer's arm. He quickly attacked a small dark scope to the middle of it. He then hopped over to Bernett's arm and did the same. The Tauren then threw a thick leather armor chest piece to each of them. They put it over their heads and let it drop over their chest. It quickly sucked itself around them. They banged on it a little and seemed satisfied.

The Tauren then looked at Crystal with a puzzled look. "I'm not sure what to get you hun…what are you going to be doing?"

Crystal looked at Dan and stepped forward. "I'll be fighting on the front lines with Dan." The Tauren's eyes grew large and said, "Oh - well then pick out a weapon and I'll make you a chest piece real quick." The Tauren grabbed several bars of silver looking bars and quickly went to work banging on them with his hammer.

Crystal looked around at the collection of swords. There were several sets of daggers, several different kinds of swords of all sizes. Some weapons she didn't even recognize. She then saw a set of sais hanging up in the corner. They seemed to sparkle at her.

"I want those." she said. She held up her hand and pointed at them. One of the sais instantly flew off the wall and landed in her hand. She was so shocked she nearly dropped it.

"And it appears that they want you…" the Tauren said laughing. "Raise your other hand towards it." Crystal did and the sai flew into her hand. Unity then walked over and placed both of her hands on each weapon, turning them into the blue aura that Dan had previously on his sword.

"What did you do?" Crystal asked out of curiosity.

"It's a learning enchant mon. Teaches you how to use them. You'll only need them for a little while, den I'll be getting you something good. I promise." Unity said.

A loud shout blasted across the city. It sounded like Herrior.

"You best get going! Here take this." The Tauren throw the finished silver chest piece at Crystal. She put the armor on and it shrunk to fit snuggly around her. The four of them started running towards the cry. They past the fountain and made a turn to the left. They could see the group in front of them. Slowly one at a time the group passed through the portal. The four of them increased their speed. Branzer was the first to jump through the portal. Dan was the last.

"Glad you could make it." Herrior said once they all appeared on the outside of the portal. They all were all out of breath. Slowly they all walked to the great wall. Several goblins came through the portal as well and started following them.

The black Tauren and his group looked exhausted. They started their way down the stairs.

"Anything happen?" Herrior asked. The other Tauren shook his head. One by one the other party all walked slowly into the portal and disappeared. Herrior sat on the ground and the rest of the party followed.

Dan blurted out, "Where's Mohania?"

"He's not allowed beyond this gate. The undead have a cave underneath us. Believe me, he's bored and ready to attack." Herrior said.

Behind the giant wall were huge mountains that seemed to stretch up to the sky. This place looked impossible to breach. Branzer looked around and said, "Have the walls ever been breached?" Herrior nodded.

"Have they ever made it in the city?" Crystal asked. Herrior nodded again. "It's our job to make sure nobody does. Is that understood?" Everybody nodded.

Herrior then stood to his feet. His party was about to stand as well, but Herrior waved them off.

"Dan, Crystal, Branzer, Bernett. Rise to your feet." The four of them did.

Herrior then leaned forward at them and yelled "Strip your clothes off!". Dan immediately took his armor off. He kicked his shoes off and began undressing. He was completely naked within twenty seconds. Crystal took off her armor and took off her shirt exposing her black laced bra, but stopped there. Branzer and Bernett just stared at each other.

Herrior's voice then yelled so loud that it seemed to echo throughout the land.

"I am your commander! I am your leader! If I tell you to take your clothes off, you will do it immediately!" Herrior then started walking towards the three of them still clothed. He pushed Dan out of the way and got in the faces of Crystal, Branzer and Bernett, and screamed "Strip!" Suddenly the rest of them took the rest of their clothes off and stood there naked in front of Herrior. Herrior got right into their faces and let out a giant snort.

"You are not here to think for yourselves! If I tell you to shoot something, you will do that! If I tell you to get in the way of an arrow, you will do that! If I tell you to jump off the wall, you…will…do that!" Herrior's voice was thundering across the land. Herrior drew out his sword and slammed it against his chest piece. It produced a lot of sparks. All three of them jumped.

"Do you all understand me?" All three of them nodded. Herrior eyed them up and down and told them to get dressed in a disgusted voice. The four of them did just that.

Herrior walked back to his spot in the circle. The rest of his party just sat there quietly. They knew better than to say anything when Herrior was this mad.

"Bernett and Branzer…" Herrior said looking at them solemnly. They were both in the process of getting dressed. Instantly they both stopped and looked at Herrior. Herrior nodded. He then motioned for the goblins to come over and to go stand by each of them.

"These goblins are going to be your best friends. They can reload weapons quicker than you can. Teach them what you need done. They are fast learners." The goblins then bounced over to a big pile of rocks. The taller one pushed a button on the stone wall and all of the weapon crates they stole instantly came into view. They were hidden by some kind of illusion.

"Use your weapons until they run out of ammunition. Then use your bows. We have plenty of arrows. Remember…we are relying on you to be our angels in the sky. When I say shoot, do it! I don't care what you see or what you think you see. Is that understood?" Herrior continued. Both Bernett and Branzer nodded.

Herrior looked at Quinely. "Can you go scout the area. I'm sure Mohania is already scanning for demons." Quinely nodded and turned herself into a humming bird. She flew over to Herrior and licked him on the face several times.

"Ok…ok…shoo little bird…" Skyka smiled and started shooing her away. The humming bird moved several feet in front of them, stuck its tongue out at them two and then quickly flew away.

Bernett, Branzer, Crystal, and Dan watched in amazement as they finished getting dressed. They put their armor on and held their weapons firmly.

Herrior waved his arm at them. "Put your weapons away while we are in the circle." Crystal put her sais behind her and they instantly stuck to the back of her armor. Same thing happened to the bows.

Herrior looked at Dan and smiled. "How do you like the new swords?" Dan nodded. He was afraid to say anything. Herrior nodded back at him.

"Trackolania, are you full on poisons?" Herrior asked him. Trackolania stood up and opened up his cape. He let out a smile. He had tiny vials all over the inside of his cape. Herrior nodded at him.

"Jacklyn, how do you like your new weapons?" Jacklyn stood up and pulled two large swords from her back. They were serrated and bent in several directions. Kind of like Dan's shorter blades. "Better than the staff." Herrior nodded at him.

Lindel and Skyka both had a new cloak. It seemed to slowly alternate colors between green, blue, and red.

"Strings?" Herrior asked. He let out a hiccup. Herrior nodded with a smile.

"Remember; protect the healers…even if it means getting yourself killed. If they go down, we're all dead." Skyka reached over and picked up Herrior's hand and kissed it.

"This will be our first defensive assignment. I don't want any screw ups. I don't want anybody doing anything stupid." Herrior said returning to his commanding voice. He then coughed and seemed to calm down a little. He then stared at Crystal.

"Your weapons are new to you, you have the learning enchant on them. Don't be afraid to get into the action. They will teach you how to use them. Don't be afraid of death, we can always bring you back to life. I would rather have you learn how to use your weapons then have you stay back where it's safe. Do you understand?"

Crystal nodded and looked him directly in the eyes. "I will try my best Herrior." Herrior nodded.

"Again, remember to everybody that's new. If one of you gets hurt or dies. Leave them and continue fighting. More than likely our healers already know about it. Is that understood?" Herrior said looking at the four of them. They all nodded.

"This is some serious shit…" Branzer said to Bernett in a whisper. He tossed a glance over and Bernett and he nodded back. Their goblin helpers exchanged looks as well and nodded just like Bernett and Branzer.

"This would be a good time to open the boxes and see what lies inside. Get the goblin's used to the guns. Teach them how to load and reload your weapons." Herrior said. Both officers looked at Herrior and nodded. The officers continued to stare at Herrior, not knowing what to do. Skyka then smiled and waved them away. Immediately they got up and scrambled to the boxes. The goblins quickly bounced along side of the officers.

"Trackolania, I want you on the wall scanning for activity. Try to keep an eye out for Quinely." Herrior pointed up. Trackolania nodded and jumped out of the circle. He landed at the base of the stairs and then jumped as hard as he could. He made it up the entire stair case in almost two jumps. He then drew his crossbow and walked over to the edge of the wall looking for the little bird. He couldn't see it, even through his scope. He then walked to the other edge of the wall and looked down at Herrior and shook his head. Herrior let out a loud snort.

Bernett and Branzer were having problems opening the crates. Some of them were nailed down pretty good. The goblins were trying to help opening the crates as well. Herrior noticed. He pointed at Jacklyn and at Dan - then started walking over to were Bernett and Branzer were. Both of them rose to their feet and followed him. Crystal got up and walked over to Skyka and Lindel and Strings.

"Hi dear!" Skyka said and patted the dirt next to her. Crystal sat cross-legged next to her.

"Herrior turned kind of mean didn't he?" Crystal said.

"We're going to war darling. He wanted to make sure everybody was ready." Skyka said and started playing with Crystal's hair.

"But did we really have to take our clothes off?" Skyka just smiled. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Nobody looked…"

Crystal then looked at Lindel. "Where's your wings?" Lindel replied, "I need to conserve on power. Inside Tranquil it's overflowing with power. I can practically do anything I want." Lindel then paused for a second. "Did you like them?" Crystal nodded.

Silence fell between the four of them for awhile. Crystal then slowly spoke. "I'm not ready for this, am I?" Skyka put an arm around Crystal and pulled her close.

"The more you use your weapons, the faster you'll learn. Just protect us and you'll do fine." Skyka said in a cheery voice. Crystal looked up at Skyka. Skyka then sighed and slowly shook her head. Crystal then had a worried look come over her face.

"Just do what Herrior says. He knows you aren't ready for combat. You won't be fighting by yourself. He'll protect you. That's his job." Skyka said reassuringly. "Who knows, maybe we won't get attacked…" Skyka shrugged. Crystal pulled out one of her sais and began spinning it in the dirt. It gave off a small blue aura and seemed to glow the faster she spun it.

"Why don't you go up there with Trackolania and survey the land. It might put your mind at ease." Skyka said. Crystal nodded. Skyka leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, and Crystal walked away. Skyka and Lindel looked at each other and sighed.

In the meantime, Herrior and Jacklyn were ripping off the lids and tossing them to the side.

"Line up the boxes in a row…" both goblins said at the same time. Dan and Bernett took on that job. There were over one hundred boxes in all. The goblins excitedly peaked inside every box. Branzer picked up an AK-47. His goblin examined it carefully.

"This is a standard issue AK-47. It has a fully automatic setting or single shot. It's highly accurate up to two hundred yards…" Branzer started bragging. Both goblins started shaking their heads at the same time. Branzer stopped.

"How do you load and unload it?" His goblin spoke up. Branzer lifted the weapon up into the air and pulled the clip out from underneath it. "When this is empty, you put another one in it." Branzer leaned over and pulled a clip from one of the boxes and slammed it in place. Both goblins nodded.

"Now you try." Branzer's goblin jumped up ripped the cartridge out and had it reloaded the other one before landing. Branzer looked at the little green guy with amazement. He let out a smile and the goblin did a back flip.

"Teach us more." his goblin said. "We don't need names or what they do, just how to load and unload them.

"Why don't you start at that end and I'll start here." Branzer said at Bernett nodded. Bernett's goblin began bouncing back and forth and followed Bernett to the end of the boxes.

"What do we do with these?" Herrior said and pointed at the lids of the boxes scattered among the grounds. Branzer shook his shoulders. "We don't need them anymore."

Herrior looked around and saw Crystal trying to walk of the anxiety of war on the stone wall.

"Crystal!" Herrior shouted. She jumped and turned in his direction. "How about you and Dan take these lids and throw them over the wall. The warlocks will have fun with them." Dan walked over and grabbed several lids and started up the stone stairs. The two crossed each other. Dan gave her a smile; she returned a very worried look.

Once they had all of the box lids on top of the stonewall, Herrior walked up with both of them.

"Mohania!" Herrior said in a thunderous voice. Eventually several dark clothed creatures crawling on all fours appeared from a hole underneath the wall. They all looked up and hissed at Herrior.

"Have fun you two…" Herrior gave them a grin. Dan reached over and picked up one of the lids and threw it over the wall. It fell for a couple of seconds. The two of them were watching in anticipation. Then all of a sudden they heard chanting and the lid instantly exploded into millions of pieces. The warlocks seemed to be entertained by this. They were looking up grinning at Dan and Crystal. Crystal took a lid and threw it over the wall. Almost instantly a black bolt with a skull on the top of it sailed through the lid. The lid spun out of control for awhile and then exploded as well. That cackle that followed sounded like Mohania's. Dan and Crystal then smiled at each other. They both grabbed a lid and threw them over at the same time. This time several black bolts went screaming towards the lids and turned them into small splinters. Crystal let out a laugh.

Herrior turned to Skyka and Lindel and shook her head, "Kids…" They both got up and embraced him. Another explosion came from the outer wall.

"Let them have their fun sweetie. Crystal is really worried about fighting. Hearing her laugh is uplifting." Skyka said. Herrior let out a snort. "I'll have my vigilance on her to help protect her."

"And we'll help too…" Lindel said. Another explosion came. They could hear Dan and Crystal laughing.

"She's most likely to fall in combat. I want to see what Dan's reaction will be to it…" Herrior whispered.

"We're here with four humans new to this place…" Herrior started to say. Lindel put her hand over Herrior's mouth. "I think you scared them enough to follow you into the depths of Hell and back sweetie…" Herrior let out a small laugh.

Lindel reached over and motioned for Skyka to walk backwards. They both took several steps back. "Command us to take our clothes off…" Lindel said with a wink. Herrior merely snorted at them and turned around. Both women started laughing. Another explosion went off followed by more laughter from Crystal and Dan's lids.

Branzer and Bernett got to some rocket launchers with about fifteen missiles. Branzer picked one up and placed it on his shoulder. He reached back and unclipped the blast plate. It flew open.

"One of the missiles here go in the back and then clip the plate back up…very carefully ok?" Both goblins nodded. Branzer let the massive weapon back down in the box very carefully. They both walked over to a box filled with grenades. Several of them were glowing white. Some were growing red.

"The white ones have been blessed by a priest. The red ones have been customized by our engineers. Use the white ones against undead, and the red ones for an area effect." Branzer's goblin said and jumped backwards excitedly. Branzer nodded at the little creature.

"Well that's it I guess." Branzer said. He started stuffing guns into his belt, and cramming them anywhere on his body

"No!" Herrior shouted and raced towards them.

"What?" Branzer said softly.

"Do those weapons you are putting on yourself carry explosive ordinance?" Branzer nodded.

"There are spells that instantly blow up stuff like that on your body." Herrior said. Branzer nodded again and started unloading the guns he had put on his body.

Herrior spoke up after he had unloaded all of his guns. "Believe it or not, but I'm trying to save your ass. One weapon at a time let your goblins get the guns and ammunition for you. That's their job. Both goblins did another back flip and smiled up at the mighty Tauren.

Bernett and Branzer both nodded. A final explosion echoed on the opposite side of the wall followed by Crystal saying, "That's all guys. Sorry!" The warlocks acknowledged and crept back into their hole.

Herrior then said, "Get up on the wall and familiarize yourselves with it. That's where you are going to be fighting from. And look for a small hummingbird as well…" Herrior smiled at both officers. As the officers were walking away, Herrior called out "Don't forget that you do have bows if you need them…" Both of them turned around and nodded. Both of them then started running up the stairs. They saw Dan and Crystal holding each other, and smiling.

"Howdy you two, having fun?" Branzer said. They both nodded. He patted Dan on the shoulder and walked by them. Bernett followed.

"This is a huge wall, think we should take both ends of it or concentrate our firepower together?" Bernett asked. Branzer let out a sigh. He looked over the wall. It was a very long drop. He put his hands on his hips and scouted the place. There were dead tree lines on both sides of the wall. The main gate was on the left side of the wall. Then he felt a tug on his pants.

"Remember, we are going to be running back and forth to get ammunition for you. The further you are from the stairs, the longer it'll take for us to get them." Branzer's goblin said.

Branzer looked up at Bernett. "Little guy has a point. Maybe we should stick close to the stairs, which is by the entrance point. These walls are thick. If anybody tries to come it it'll probably be through the doors." Bernett nodded and scanned the landscape.

"I wonder what happened to this place…" Bernett finally said.

"Might be the same thing that happens to our place..." Branzer said slowly. They both scanned the horizon. The giant red clouds above them were still spinning in a spiral and lightning was shooting back and forth from them. There wasn't a living thing as far as the eye could see.

"I sure wouldn't want to vacation here with the wife…" Bernett said to break the silence. Branzer nodded. They walked over to Dan and Crystal who had their arms around each other and stood on either side of them.

"So what do you guys think?" Branzer said.

"I think if we fail to defend the gate, there's going to be a lot of angry people with us…" Dan said. They all nodded.

"With what we've seen so far…are you guys as scared shitless as I am?" Crystal said slowly. A long pause filled the air.

"Yup." Branzer finally said.

"Rodger that." Bernett follow up with.

"I'm scared shitless of that giant bull…" Branzer said quietly.

Bernett nodded, "Rodger that. I hope he doesn't tell us to take our clothes off again…" All four of them nodded.

"But if he does, I'm jumping out of them quicker than a bat swoops down at a mosquito." Crystal said. The two other officers nodded.

Another long silence filled the air. Crystal sighed and readjusted her standing position. "So what do you guys think of Tranquil?" she finally said.

"I'd move in to that city in a heartbeat." Branzer said quickly. Everybody agreed.

"No wonder I wasn't allowed to see anything…" Crystal said trailing off into a thought.

Several hours passed and Quinely was still a humming bird. She flew out to the end of the tree line. It was out of sight of the wall. She scanned all around, and listened carefully with her ears. Occasionally she started fluffing herself with her beak. She had become bored and let her guard down. She started flying above the tree line and scanned the grounds. Nothing but waste lands. She landed back on a branch and began fluffing her feathers again. Suddenly a big shadow flew over her. She didn't notice it because her beak was underneath her feather. What looked like a blue lasso quickly surrounded her.

"Shit!" she yelled in a high pitch voice. She was caught off guard. The blue lasso slowed her movement a lot and she could hear the giant bird and his rider closing in on her. She quickly morphed into a mosquito and began flying towards the ground. The blue lasso began to fade as she flew in between the trees. She quickly stopped at the ground and began scanning the area with her senses. It took her a moment but she sensed over one thousand humans and magic users in the back approaching them.

Suddenly a metal hammer came crashing through the trees and landed with a thunderous sound. Quinely quickly flew away from him and morphed into a leopard. The leopard then took off as fast as it could, running in the open for maximum speed. The large bird screeched and took off after the animal. Several more hammers came crashing down. The leopard started moving in a zigzag pattern to avoid the explosions. One of the hammers eventually hit the tail end of her and she went flying into the air. She rolled several times and got back up and started running. She jumped into the tree line and started hoping over fallen trees. The large bird was still above her. She could feel her hind-end bleeding, but she still pushed her legs as fast as they would let them. The large bird and his rider flew down at ground level. The leopard jumped out of the other side of the tree line and pushed herself as fast as she could. The bird then flew up over the tree line and onto the other side. Quinely then jumped through the tree line and began running again. Blood was trickling down the back of her legs. The man on the bird tried several times to capture her again with the blue lasso and kept failing due to the trees being in the way.

Trackolania sensed something was wrong. He was standing on the wall and quickly raised his crossbow. He was watching the scene unfold from a long distance away. He saw Quinely shape shifted into a leopard and was racing as fast as it could back and forth through the tree line, and a gryphon with a dwarf on him was trying to catch up with the leopard. Trackolania spun around and hissed at Herrior. Herrior looked up and saw Trackolania pointing in the distance. Herrior quickly sprang to his feet and ran up the stairs. His eye sight wasn't as good as Trackolania's. He just stood there and stared. Trackolania raised his crossbow to his eye again and let out a smaller hiss.

"Is it Quinely?" Herrior asked quickly. Trackolania looked up at him and nodded.

"Shit…" Herrior said quietly. "How far out is she?" Trackolania looked up at Herrior and quickly shook his head.

"What's chasing her?" Herrior asked, Trackolania quickly flapped his arms up and down.

"A gryphon?" Trackolania nodded.

"Is it in range?" Trackolania quickly shook his head still staring down the scope. Herrior slammed his hand on the wall.

"Ranged! To your stations!" Herrior yelled. Branzer and Bernett were on their feet as soon as Herrior slammed the wall. They both grabbed an AK-47 and ran up the stairs, their goblins were close behind. They squatted down next to Trackolania and looked down their sights. They couldn't see anything.

"Can you see the Gryphon?" Herrior said looking right at them.

"Negative." Branzer said.

"Trackolania - how long until you can get a shot." Trackolania just shook his head. Herrior growled and slammed his hand down on the wall again.

Quinely was in the run for her life. She quickly got an idea though. She jumped through the tree line and swooped up a piece of a rock without slowing down. Quinely then jumped up in a circle and threw the rock at the gryphon. It nailed him in the beak, letting out a shriek and quickly fell to the ground. Quinely then landed on all four feet and continued running at top speed. She let out a howl in pain as she landed and continued to push her body as fast as she could. The Dwarf got back on the gryphon and started kicking the sides of it. The gryphon refused at first. He started whipping the reins and digging his feet into the bird. The bird then took flight, slow at first and slowly increased in speed. This bought Quinely some time, but she could feel fresh blood coming down her back legs. The pain was getting worse. Quinely had a good lead on the gryphon but soon it caught back up. The thunderous hammers started falling again. Quinely dove behind a big tree and quickly stealthed herself. The gryphon flew right by her. She sat her butt down on the charred earth. It seemed to be clotting her wounds. She was careful not to breathe too hard.

"Mohania!" Herrior screamed. Within seconds a masked figure running on his arms and legs appeared. He looked up at Herrior.

"Quinely is in trouble!" Herrior pointed off in the distance. Rumbling could be heard off in the distance. Mohania quickly channeled a spell that produced a green square around him that slowly spun around. It seemed to generate green lightning inside of the box. Mohania then quickly produced a green ball in his hands and threw it up at Herrior. Herrior caught it and could feel the evil aura it produced.

"Throw it…" Mohania said and pointed in the direction. Herrior backed up a couple of feet. Then he charged forward and threw the green ball as far as he could. It sailed out of sight within seconds. It landed several hundred yards short of where Quinely was. The green ball instantly became a duplicate of the green box that Mohania was standing in. Mohania snapped his boney fingers and he was instantly transported to the other box. He instantly began to run towards Quinely. It would still be awhile until Mohania reached her.

Quinely saw all of this but knew she would have to fight. Her left paw dug into the dirt and grabbed a big chunk of charred earth. The gryphon flew over her several times and then landed within feet of her.

"I see you…" the dwarf said. He grabbed his lance and dismounted his bird. "I always get my prey." He let out a chuckle. Quinely squeezed the hand with the dirt in it. The dwarf seemed to close in on her. She looked down at herself and realized that her stealth was fading. The dwarf threw his lance and Quinely quickly ducked to the ground. The lance still grazed the back of her, sending up a stream of blood. The dwarf chuckled and pulled out his magical hammer.

Quinely then leaped forward at the dwarf and threw the dirt in his face. It went through the tiny eyelets in his face plate. The dwarf quickly threw off his helmet and started rubbing his eyes. Quinely then ran over to the gryphon and whispered something quickly into its ear. It loosely translated into, "The little man killed your younglings." The mighty bird let out a squeal and charged the dwarf, instantly knocking him to his feet. Quinely morphed into an eagle and began flying towards Mohania. The dwarf would eventually regain control of the gryphon, but this bought Quinely some more time.

She flew as quickly as her body would let her. She seemed to stagger in the air and almost fell several times. Mohania eventually caught up with her and grabbed the injured bird. It instantly started bleeding all over the warlock's boney fingers. Mohania wrapped up the bird in his cloak and began running back to the green square box.

Suddenly arrows filled the sky. They were falling short of Mohania. He looked back and saw several humans with bows chasing after him. Mohania snarled at them. They were closing in fast. The square box was still pretty far away. Mohania pulled out a purple crystal and began to chant a spell. The crystal turned a dull blue. Mohania then spun around and throw the crystal at them. It only flew about thirty feet. Mohania kept running.

The crystal hit the ground and instantly cracked. A blue mist came out of it and eventually formed a large blue, balloon shaped demon. The demon didn't have any legs and seemed to float several feet off from the ground. The demon then moved towards the humans, he wasn't very fast though. Several more arrows went flying into the air and the demon's hands rose into the air, directing all of the arrows towards him. They all stuck into his body, but it didn't seem to faze the demon. The blue demon then started shooting black circles from his body into the human's faces, causing them to see nothing but the demon. Several more arrows were launched, but the demon continued to absorb them.

Mohania made it to the square and quickly jumped into it, just as a thunderous hammer slammed on the ground next to it. Instantly Mohania appeared right next to the wall. Mohania took the bird from his cloak and threw it as hard as he could up the wall. The bird sailed about halfway up the wall and then began to struggle. It slowly rose up the wall. Mohania went back into is cave.

"Skyka!" Herrior yelled. She quickly jumped from her spot in the dirt and began running up the stairs. The bird was flapping as hard as it could, but it was apparent that it was severally injuried. Herrior looked around.

"Crystal, jump over the wall and get Quinely!" Herrior ordered. Crystal dove off from the wall and began to fall.

"Branzer grab her leg!" Herrior then ordered. He quickly dropped his rifle and slide over to the end of the wall and grabbed her leg just in time. The bird struggled even harder to gain more altitude. Skyka arrived at the top of the wall and quickly casted an instant healing spell on the bird. The blood stopped dripping and it seemed to give it more strength.

"I can't reach her!" Crystal yelled. Herrior ran over and grabbed Branzer's leg and pushed him off from the wall. He fell about six feet and then was suddenly stopped by Herrior's mammoth arms. Crystal grabbed the bird.

"Ok! I got her!" Crystal yelled. Herrior then pulled both of them back up with one hand. He then sat them down on the wall. Skyka quickly picked up the bird. It started whining. Skyka casted the same spell on her.

"Hun, I need you in your normal form…can you do that?" The bird chirped at her and slowly started returning to her normal form. Skyka then carried Quinely down the stairs and sat her down on the ground. Herrior followed. Her clothes were badly torn up, and there were some deep cuts on her back and legs.

"I counted…about a thousand humans, healers, and demolishers on their way…" Quinely said out of breath. Herrior nodded and ran back up the stairs. Skyka began casting healing spells on Quinely.

"Ranged! To your positions!" Herrior thundered. "Strings, I need you up here too. The rest of you to the gate!" Everybody started scrambling to their positions. Skyka quickly turned into her shadow form.

"I got to go hun, are you going to be ok?" Skyka said to Quinely. Quinely nodded and morphed into a giant lion and began limping towards the gate. Skyka nodded and ran over to the gate.

Several minutes passed. Branzer repositioned himself on the wall. Quinely sat and began licking her wounds. Trackolania suddenly let out a loud hiss. Herrior walked over to him. Trackolania looked up at Herrior and then pointed off into the distance. Herrior nodded at him.

"Here they come…" Herrior said slowly. He looked over at Branzer and Bernett. They were both on one knee with their rifles up to their shoulder. Their goblins looked intensely at the horizon to see if they could see the enemy coming.

Several more minutes passed and the army began advancing quicker. They all appeared to be humans. They were all dressed in heavy armor, had a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. They were all advancing in one huge wave.

"Start shooting when they are in range." Herrior said, he turned to the officers and asked, "Will your guns penetrate their armor?" Branzer looked up at him and shrugged. "Should be able to…" he answered slowly. Herrior just snorted at him.

Suddenly they heard a commanding voice scream out: "Advance into position!" All of the soldiers began running towards the wall with their shields in front of them. Trackolania was the first to fire. His arrow flew about a hundred yards and landed in a soldier's neck. It easily penetrated the armor, and a large squirt of blood come out. He raised his hand to the wound on his neck and fell to the ground.

Trackolania reloaded and fired within a second and kept up the pace. Each shot seemed to hit a weak point on the enemy, sometimes in the eye slot, sometimes in the neck, and a couple in the knee.

Branzer and Bernett took careful aim and began shooting. Most of their shots hit their shields, but it slowed the enemy. The blast from the bullet caused each human to fall backwards, but didn't penetrate their armor. The human slowly got back up on his feet and continued to charge.

Herrior started to become frustrated with the officers. "Shoot faster!" he yelled at them.

"Switching to full automatic." Branzer said. Suddenly the air was filled with cracks from the rifles. Waves of bullets rained down on the soldiers. This time the front line suddenly seemed to drop. Herrior grunted with satisfaction.

Branzer began to yell out, "I'm out!" but before he could say anything the small goblin jumped up, ripped out the empty clip and inserted another one. Branzer began firing wildly into the army. The goblin then ran down the stairs and grabbed several more clips and hopped back up to his side. Bernett's goblin did the same thing.

Trackolania grew frustrated because he couldn't fire as fast as the officer's guns, but continued to fire his arrows, quickly reloading each arrow and releasing it. The army continued to advance though.

The enemies same voice echoed through the ranks. "Hold a defensive perimeter!" Each soldier slammed their shields into the ground and braced themselves again it. They were within a couple hundred feet from the wall. Trackolania let out another hiss. He jumped from his position and landed right above the gate, about twenty feet away. He then took careful aim and fired an arrow. It flew through the air and hit its target dead on. Suddenly there was a large explosion, it sent soldiers flying.

"Ranged! Aim for the demolishers! Concentrate all fire on them! Strings we need some fire…Mohania!" Herrior said all at the same time. Branzer and Bernett jumped to their feet and continued shooting until they were right by Trackolania on the wall.

Strings took out his lute and began playing a tune. Suddenly large fireballs appeared above the army and began raining down on them. At the same time, Mohania crawled out of his cave and charged towards the army. He stopped about fifty feet from his target and quickly launched a spell from his right hand. A green skeleton face appeared and flew at incredible speeds towards its intended target. The skull flew right through the shield and penetrated the human's armor. The man jumped to his legs and began screaming. He threw down his shield and sword and started running around in circles. He threw his helmet off just in time for his body to turn to ash and fall to the ground.

During this time Mohania began to channel another spell. Smaller fireballs than Strings was making began falling from the sky.

Another explosion went off as Trackolania's arrow hit the bomb the demolishers were carrying. Again it sent soldiers, body parts, and armor flying in opposite directions from the explosion.

"I can't see them!" Branzer yelled growing frustrated. His gun started "clicking". His goblin did his trick again, swapping out ammo clips. The gun grew alive again. He started firing at the spot where the last explosion was.

"Raise your shields!" The commanding voice boomed. All of the soldiers raised their shields above their heads and squatted down on the ground. The fireballs continued to fall, but started to be deflected by their shields. Strings and Mohania kept it up though.

Then Branzer felt a tug on his shirt. Branzer looked down and saw Trackolania pointing at his arrow. It was on fire. Trackolania then raised his crossbow and fired into the middle of the army. It produced another explosion. Trackolania then pointed in that direction. Branzer nodded.

"Bernett! Shoot in the middle of the army!" Branzer said. Bernett nodded and a hail of bullets rained down in the middle of the army. Several more explosions went off. It seemed to make a large hole in the middle of the soldiers.

"Fall back and regroup up!" The commanding voice said. The soldiers started to retreat. Their shield turned red hot from the fireballs. Several of them dropped their shields due to the heat it was producing and fell victim to the fireballs.

Mohania quit his spell and turned to his side and began channeling another spell. After a couple of seconds, a seed looking pod glowing black and green flew from this fingers and sailed into the air. It landed in a soldier. Immediately a cloud of purple and black skulls began flying in and out of his head, but the soldier kept running backwards. The cloud slowly grew and the soldier screamed as his head seemed to melt. Suddenly his body exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. The blast took down several other soldiers as well. Mohania ran back into his cave and sat in the entrance.

Strings stopped playing his song and his fireballs stopped. The officers continued to fire their guns until they saw that their bullets started falling short of their targets. They stopped firing and knelt down to one knee and kept staring down their sights.

"Prepare to open the gates! Leave none alive!" Herrior yelled down at Jacklyn. Jacklyn pulled her massive swords out from behind her and shoved one into the ground and held her hand up to the doors unlocking mechanism. Dan and Crystal drew out their weapons. Their hearts started beating harder.

"Stay away from me, protect the healers." Jacklyn said quickly as she turned around and faced them. Both of them nodded. Quinely stopped licking her wounds and slowly became invisible.

Suddenly the army stopped. Several people in the back of the army began to chant a spell.

"Steady…prepare for anything…" Herrior said cautiously. He withdrew his shield and sword and stood at the stairs posed ready to run down them and charge into battle.

The spell they were casting finally was complete and an orange shield enveloped the entire army. Several people kept chanting the spell and the army started to advance again, being careful not to step outside of the shield.

"Trackolania?" Herrior said and quickly looked at him. Trackolania was staring down his scope. He simply looked up and shook his head, and put his eye back on his scope. Herrior ran to the edge of the wall and bent over it.

"Mohania?" Mohania rose to his feet and casted a spell that engulfed his head - turning it a dark blue. He stared at the shield for several seconds.

"It's magical…if you enter you'll be destroyed…They have some powerful channelers in the back…" Mohania said as his voice echoed sinisterly.

"Shit…" Herrior said quietly.

"Magical my ass, we'll take it down!" Branzer said and motioned for Bernett to follow him. They raced down the stairs, their goblins in close pursuit. Each officer picked up a rocket launcher. Branzer then pointed at the missiles in the box. "Bring that!" Both goblins picked up both ends of the box and started chasing after them up the stairs.

Both officers squatted down and stared down the eye piece. They both felt a "clunk" as the goblins loaded the enormous gun. They sat for several seconds and then pulled back on the triggers. A large explosion went off and the missiles soared forward. Herrior watched in amazement, and then he saw both officers blown backwards off from the wall. Herrior leaped forward to catch them, but fell short.

Skyka saw them falling. She turned to Lindel and said, "I'll get Bernett, you get Branzer!" Skyka began channeling a spell and a blast of air rushed from her hands and held Bernett in place. Skyka slowly lowered her hands as Bernett floated safely to the ground. Bernett landed on his feet very gently and ran back up the stairs.

Lindel faded from view and instantly appeared underneath Branzer, holding him in her arms catching him. They then slowly floated down to the ground. Branzer stared into Lindel's eyes with amazement. Lindel then propped him up on the ground and pushed him towards the stairs, slapping his butt. Branzer looked back and Lindel winked at him. Lindel then floated back over to the door.

Meanwhile the two missiles hit the shield and exploded. This caused the shield to flash. One of the smaller female channelers in the back flew backwards into the air because of the explosions, and started doing several flips. She landed outside of the shield and an arrow instantly flew into her head.

"No!" A scream came from another channeler. He stopped channeling and ran outside the circle and started to cast another spell. Before he could end the spell though, Trackolania released another arrow that flew over the shield. It floated down and sailed through the man's head.

"Hold formation!" The commanding voice said. They started advancing faster, but it was apparent that the shield had weakened.

Branzer and Bernett picked up their rocket launchers, which were reloaded by the goblins. They started to take aim, and suddenly felt an enormous hand pushing against their backs. Herrior leaned forward with all of his strength, nearly crushing their ribs. They both started to groan.

"Shoot!" Herrior commanded them. Both officers pulled their triggers and the missiles flew into the air, screaming across the battlefield. It knocked Herrior back a little, but he kept pushing forward and held them in place. The goblins reloaded the rocket launchers at amazing speed. The officers fired again before the first missiles even hit their target.

The first missiles hit the shield and let out another deafening explosion. The chanters in the back started to scream as their shield was failing. The second set of missiles hit the shield instantly shattering it, sending several soldiers flying into the air. All of the chanters in the back went down as well.

"Open the door! Get ready to charge!" Herrior yelled out. The officers set down the massive weapons and ran over to grab their machine guns. Jacklyn reached up and put her hand in the hand imprint in the wall. The doors started slowly opening. Herrior ran down the stairs and ran out the opening. Mohania let out a grin as he saw Herrior begin the charge. He rose to his feet and began running for him.

"The doors are open, get in there!" The commanding voice said. The army began shouting and running forward. Branzer and Bernett started laying down gun fire from the top of the wall. They were shooting at the opposite side of where Herrior and his group was.

The entire group went outside the gates. Quinely was the last one out. She slowly crept along the ground heading towards the army.

Herrior let out a tremendous roar that seemed to shake the trees. With each hoof slamming on the ground he seemed to increase in speed. The group was struggling to catch up.

Eventually the mighty Tauren made contact with the army. He suddenly charged forward with tremendous speed, his shield in front of him, stomping on at least twelve soldiers and knocking several others out of the way. He then pushed his shield to the right, shoving several more soldiers to the ground. Afterwards he slammed his sword into the ground causing a huge shockwave of earth and wind in front of him, knocking back more soldiers. He turned to his left and leaped into the air. He fell to the ground tremendous force, completely smashing two soldiers and sending out tremors in the ground, knocking several more soldiers to the ground.

"Encircle the Tauren!" The command yelled. Herrior let out a loud snort. He saw a soldier running up on him with his sword raised. Herrior quickly turned around and impaled the soldier's face with his left horn. He lifted him skyward and let out another deafening roar. With his sword hand, he ripped the soldier off from his horn - leaving half of his skull still on his horn. Herrior took the body, spun around and threw what was left of the soldier at the commander. This got the commander's attention. Herrior raised his sword and stared at him. He then let out a loud snort.

Soldiers started encircling him from every side. Herrior looked around him and started laughing, taunting them. The soldiers didn't see anything coming. The rest of his group finally caught up with him. Jacklyn ran up to the circle and took a mighty swing, decapitating four of them. She then started running to the left of Herrior taking mighty swings at the soldiers with both swords. Crystal arrived at Herrior's right, sinking one of her sais into the back of one of the soldiers. She quickly pulled it out and swung the other sai at the soldiers head, knocking him to the ground. Dan ran up to Crystal's right side with both blades drawn. Several soldiers heard him coming and turned around. Dan deflected an attack, the soldiers blade quickly turned to solid ice. The soldier dropped it and backed up. The other soldiers stepped back and looked at each other. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and ran forward to them. Crystal caught one of the swings in the handle of her sai, and brought the other sai down on his hand - instantly disarming him. Crystal then jabbed forward at the soldier's armor, denting it deeply knocking him to the ground.

Dan's sword in his right hand came down on one of the shields, instantly leaving a scar with flame coming out of it. He then ducked an incoming attack and ran the other sword across the soldier's legs, instantly freezing them. The soldier screamed. Crystal than slammed her right sai across the soldiers head, instantly breaking his feet in half and sending the rest of him tumbling.

"Trackolania!" Herrior yelled. Instantly Trackolania leaped down the stairs and began sprinting at speeds that were almost impossible to see across the battlefield. Herrior could see the commander turning his horse around in an attempt to flee. Herrior threw his sword at a soldier's head that was running towards Crystal. It instantly dug in, and he fell to the ground. Trackolania arrived at Herrior's side with his crossbow loaded and in his right hand. Herrior picked him up with his left hand and whispered, "Immobilize him, don't kill him…" Herrior then ran forward, slamming his shield into another soldier. He spun around and threw Trackolania into the air.

At the same time Trackolania leaped off from the Tauren's hand and flew straight as an arrow, hands flat out in front of him and legs straight out behind him. He flew for about fifty yards and felt himself falling towards the ground. He pulled up his crossbow and took aim. He fired an arrow and it sailed into the commanders back. The commander quickly reached back to where the arrow went in and instantly fell off from the horse. The commander could not move his legs. Trackolania then slung his crossbow over his shoulder and drew out his daggers. He sunk both daggers into one of the soldier's helmets. The soldier instantly fell backwards and Trackolania did a couple of rolls. He then jumped to his feet and let out a loud hiss at the soldiers who stared at him with awe.

With the soldiers retreat blocked off, Jacklyn wanted to help out Trackolania. She let out a roar. Her body turned red and grew a foot in height. Strings had then caught up and started playing a fast upbeat song. Jacklyn started swinging her swords with such force that it cut the soldiers in half. The soldiers started running away from her. Jacklyn ran after them, slicing off chunks of their bodies.

Lindel, Skyka, and Mohania had caught up as well. Lindel floated above the soldiers and landed in the middle of what was left. She then let off a bright white light, blinding the soldiers. Skyka let out a purple and bluish beam of light that appeared in the middle of some soldiers. It stopped in the middle of them and began spiraling outwards. The blinded soldiers started crying out in pain and dropped to the ground.

Mohania kept running and started holding out his hand. He chanted a couple of words and instantly the soldier would become engulfed in flames. He then turned to his right and chanted the same words and held out his right hand. Another soldier became engulfed in flames.

Herrior ran over and grabbed his sword out of the soldiers head and blood spewed out from it.

"Kill them all! Leave none alive!" Herrior commanded.

Branzer and Bernett were well out of range from firing. They both looked at the battlefield with awe as Herrior's group made short work of the remaining soldiers. Skyka seemed to be able to make soldiers explode with some sort of black magic she summoned from her fingers. Jacklyn had caught up with Trackolania and both of them were running after the remaining soldiers. Trackolania was small and quick enough to slice at the soldiers legs, making them tumble to the ground. He would quickly jump over the soldier and move on to the next one. Jacklyn would then drop one of her heavy blades on the fallen soldier finishing him off with ease and never stopped running. Dan and Crystal seemed to work well together as also. Crystal would run up to the soldier and sink her blue glowing sai into the back of the soldier. The soldier would stumble and drop to the ground. Dan would then sink one of his fire or ice swords into the armor of the soldier, causing the desired effect.

Trackolania sprinted again, almost vanishing from sight as he held his daggers low to the ground and sliced through the last couple of soldier's legs that were running for their lives. He got in the front and sliced the leader in the gut and jumped up, causing his dagger to running through his entire chest and into his head. He then stopped and quickly hissed at the remaining soldiers. The soldiers started surrounding Trackolania. Trackolania reached into his cape and quickly spun around, sending tiny knifes into the surrounding soldiers. The soldiers fell to the ground from being caught off guard.

"Round them up!" Herrior shouted. Herrior's group quickly started surrounding the rest into a circle.

The soldiers started throwing down their weapons and raising their hands. They backed up into each other, forming a circle. Mohania began laughing at them as his hands caught fire and started to raise them at the remaining soldiers. Skyka was chanting a spell and began raising her hands as well. The rest of the party had their weapons raised and slowly moved in.

"Stop!" Herrior commanded. "Only keep them from running away…" The entire group stopped. Mohania grew upset and the flames from his eyes grew larger and shot out from his face.

"We have a warrior among us that needs some training. She has earned this prize. Crystal, step forward!" Herrior shouted. Crystal slammed her sais together towards the ground, sending sparks flying. Herrior then charged the remaining group - slamming his sword down on the ground. This sent shockwaves forward knocking the remaining soldiers to the ground. "Arm yourselves! Attack her!" Herrior quickly ran back to his spot in the circle. He slammed his shield into the ground, digging it almost a foot into the ground.

The soldiers scrambled to their feet and grabbed whatever weapon they could find. Crystal thrusted one of her sais into a soldiers face. She then spun around and brought the opposite sai around, hitting another soldier in the neck. She then started stabbing and swinging as fast as she could.

Several of the soldiers backed up against Jacklyn in the circle. Jacklyn quickly raised her leg and kicked them, sending them sprawling over each other. Many of them started begging for their lives. Crystal quickly glanced up at Herrior, he was shaking his head. Crystal leaped forward and brought both of her sais down on a soldiers shield, producing a loud snapping sound. She then jabbed at his chest plate, only this time penetrating right through it. He start gargling and pulled her sai out from his chest. Her sais glowing blue the entire fight. Only ten remained. They all ran towards her. She dove to the right to avoid them. She then started hacking and slicing at the ones in the front. She had disarmed two of them, and cracked several bones as her sais made short work of their bodies.

Screams were surrounding her; Mohania still growling and having fire spewing out of his eyes. Trackolania sat cross-legged on ground and began carving his name into the ground.

"Finish them off!" Herrior commanded. The remaining five surrounded Crystal and advanced on her at the same time. Crystal ran forward and deflected a blow with her sai. The soldier's shield then slammed into her, sending her flying backward. She stopped rolling at a soldier's boot. The soldier brought down his sword, but Crystal was able to deflect the blow. She then shoved the other sai into the soldier's groin. The soldier screamed and dropped his weapon and fell to the ground. Crystal rose to her feet, her sais still radiating a bluish aura. It looked as though her eyes were glowing blue as well. Her nose was dripping with blood, and a deep dent was in her armor.

Dan looked over at Skyka with deep concern. She merely shook her head really quick. Dan's glance then turned to Herrior. Herrior slowly shook his head and stared at him. Dan adjusted his grip on the swords and let out a sigh.

Crystal then let out a scream as a soldier charged her. She spun around with her left sai extended, knocking the shield out of his hand and drove her other sai into the soldiers arm. She then kicked the soldier into the two remaining ones, knocking them to the ground. Crystal then jumped in the air with her sais extended in her hands and brought them down in the middle of their chests. Crystal slowly rose to her feet with her sais still glowing blue.

"Skyka." Herrior said gently. Skyka's black aura quickly dissolved and she casted a quick heal spell on Crystal. Her body suddenly regained its strength. Crystal then screamed running over and kicked one of the dead soldiers in the head. His neck made a loud crack. She then turned around quickly and sent one of her sais flying through another dead soldier's head. Her screaming continued. She quickly ran over grabbing the sai and dropped to the ground, repeatedly stabbing at one of the fallen soldier's chest.

After a moment, Crystal stopped screaming and sat on her knees for awhile breathing as hard as she could. The group threw their weapons in the ground and began clapping for her. She stood up and wiped the blood off from her forehead. She smiled at Herrior and he gave her a nod. She put her sais over her back and they instantly stuck to her chest. She then knelt over with her hands on her knees, spitting out blood that wasn't hers.

Mohania simply let out a grunt. His eyes returned to their normal small flame deep inside of his head. Lindel turned back into her normal self. Dan put his swords behind him as well and they instantly stuck to his armor as well.

"Well done, young one. I want everybody to spread out and look for enchant items. Lindel, Dan and Crystal come by my side." Herrior said. Suddenly a bright white light circle burst forth in front of Herrior. Herrior tilted his head and stuck his head in it. After a moment he seemed to nod and then withdrew his head.

"The King wants to see all of us, Mohania, even you." Mohania let out a gasp.

"I will…be killed…" Mohania said slowly.

"The King has promised safe passage for you." Herrior insisted. Mohania growled at Herrior, and then looked down at the ground. "Fine…" he said.

"Everybody collect a shield. We will need them. Get two for Branzer and Bernett as well."

Herrior started walking and waved his hands for Lindel, Dan and Crystal to follow him. Lindel quickly embraced him smiling. "Come with me. I want to show you two things."

Dan and Crystal looked at each other and shrugged. Dan walked over to Crystal and ran his hand threw her hair. She looked back up at him and smiled. Dan then put an arm around Crystal and steered her closer to Herrior.

The four of them walked up to the commander, his white horse still standing over him.

"Possess him Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel quickly turned into a purple ball. The commander started to scream as she passed into his eyes.

"Why did you attack us?" Herrior spoke to him. His body instantly began to shake back and forth. Blood started coming out of his ears. He dug his fingernails into the dirt. "Nooo…" he started to scream but soon fell quiet.

"Why did you attack us?" Herrior asked again.

"We…were trying…to blow up your door. Then…another wave…would come in to…banish your portal…" The commander said slowly in a ghostly voice. His eyes began to turn very bloodshot.

"So…another wave is coming. The King will want to know this." Herrior looked around but saw nothing. "They are probably another couple of days away…" he said to himself.

Dan and Crystal started to become afraid and felt sick to their stomachs because of what Lindel was doing to him.

"Ok Lindel, we're done with him." Herrior said. Suddenly his stomach and head exploded, and Lindel slowly rose out of the corpse. It was so disgusting that Dan almost did throw up, but he didn't want to do it in front of Crystal.

"Come young ones. I want to show you another thing." Herrior said and started walking away. Lindel winked at them and motioned for them to follow. They looked down at the corpse one more time and saw nothing but his ribcage, spine, and skull. Dan pulled on Crystal and she stumbled forward. Both of them quickly hurried to catch up.

Herrior walked for several of moments and then stopped in front of the two casters that Trackolania put an arrow into their heads.

"Look." Herrior commanded them. Lindel held out her hand to Dan and Crystal. They took her hand and instantly they felt better. Dan and Crystal walked up to the corpses and stood over them.

"Tell the story Lindel…" Herrior said slowly. Lindel then started floating in the air and hovered above the two of them. She slowly sank into the chest of both humans.

"These two have formed a union. They have offspring at home. They had thoughts of their family and didn't fight whole heartedly. One saw the other fall, and failed to do his job. He died in vein. He died because his thoughts were not on battle, but on her." Lindel finished and floated back out of the bodies.

Herrior looked at them the entire time. The two of them looked at Herrior, he just nodded at them.

"Do you understand fully now? You must be a fighter above all else. You must not have any distractions, or this will happen." Herrior spoke softly. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and then back at Herrior and slowly nodded.

"You may form a union like Skyka and I have. But you must concentrate on the battle whole-heartedly or you will end up like these two." Herrior added. He then looked up at the wall in the direction of Branzer and Bernett.

"This is why those two cannot fight with us on the battlefield. They have proven themselves from a ranged position, but their hearts are not that of a fighter." Herrior breathed in heavy and shook his head. Blood was still dropping from his left horn.

Rumbling noises could be heard from the cave Mohania came out of. "Come…you don't want to see this…" Herrior turned around and grabbed Crystal and Dan's hands and pulled them quickly to the doors. "Lindel go help look for items, tell everybody I want them in the gates in five minutes - with the shields." Lindel nodded and began to float away.

Meanwhile the dwarf gryphon rider had finally regained control of his mount. He watched the entire battle unfold. He knew that he must get back to his castle to report what he has seen. He felt the humming coming from the ground as well. He quickly jumped up and started kicking his legs into the mount when suddenly he was forcefully knocked down by what seemed like an invisible force. Quinely came out of stealth, and sunk her teeth into the dwarf's helmet, crushing it and knocking him off from his mount. She then started twisting her head back violently. The dwarf looked up at the lion standing over him and started reaching for his sword in his belt. Quinely took a huge swipe at the dwarfs arm, putting deep gouges in it. She then swiped at his face, ripping out one of his eyes and leaving more deep gouges in his face. She then jumped off from the dwarf and started circling him. The dwarf started to rise to his feet and Quinely jumped forward crushing his right leg with her teeth. She then heard the humming sound growing louder and looked to her left. From the warlock cave, several red eyes were glowing in the dark. Quinely grabbed the dwarf by the leg and began to drag him to the large stone door. The dwarf struggled a little, but didn't have much energy left.

The group had collected ten blue items that were glowing and quickly headed for the stone door. Jacklyn carried several shields, and each member had their own shield they were carrying. Just then about fifty warlocks came out of the cave and carefully watched the group. As soon as they were in the wall, the warlocks ran out on onto the battle field and began eating the remains of the humans. Mohania sighed and casted a circular glowing orb around himself that seemed to alternate colors. Mohania looked up at the shield around the door and it instantly dropped, allowing him to come in. As soon as he was in though, the shield went back up, and the stone doors began to close themselves. Branzer and Bernett left their weapons on the wall and came down to greet everybody, when suddenly fifty of the guards who greeted them quickly surrounded Mohania. Mohania let out a loud hiss.

Quinely came in and threw her prize inside and looked around. She then bent down and bit into the dwarf's neck and shook it violently. She then threw him up against the wall. She then morphed back into a human and grabbed a shield.

"By order of the King. Skyka and I are ambassadors. We were told to bring this warlock to the King." Herrior shouted. Several of the guards scanned Herrior's eyes. What he was saying was true. Jacklyn passed out shields to everybody that didn't have one. The guards still remained, but did not attack.

"Encircle Mohania; ensure that he makes it through the city unharmed." Herrior commanded. They walked up to the stone golems and they produced the portal. Herrior walked through it and everybody else followed.

Inside of Tranquil it was empty of its citizens. The brilliant radiance of the city was gone. The group was instantly surrounded by hundreds of red guards. The group closed in on Mohania.

"By order of the King, I, Herrior an Ambassador of the King, was instructed to bring this warlock to him!" Herrior yelled. The guards slowly moved out of the way, allowing them passage. The group began to advance. They passed houses where people just stared at Mohania. Some shut their doors quickly, and closed their curtains. The guards were still following them.

They walked down several roads and made many turns. It seemed like an hour passed and they made their way to the palace. Immediately the palace guards all ran forward to the group. Herrior said again, "By order of the King, I, Herrior an Ambassador, was instructed to bring this warlock to him!"

The guards slowed their advanced, and slowly made a path for them. Herrior's group carefully walked forward as they approached the enormous golden and white palace. It had eight huge tiers that seemed to tower into the sky. The golden doors slowly opened, and Herrior quickened his pace.

Each guard was heavily armored and well equipped with a selection of weapons. Also each guard was holding a red shield with a yellow snake wrapped around a shiny sword. In their other hand was a sword that glowed with a black aura. Once in awhile a guard would advance too close, and the group would have to deflect the sword away with their shield. Herrior would say, "Don't provoke them." and "tighten up the circle." once in awhile. The guards were now in the hundreds.

Herrior entered the palace doors. Suddenly dozens of warriors of different races charged Herrior. "The warlock is here by request of the King." The guards let out a snarl and slowly backed away.

Herrior turned to face his group. "Listen up. When we get into the King's presence, everybody drop to one knee and bow. Don't look at his eyes. Don't make any sudden movements. Don't speak unless spoken too. We'll probably have banishes pass in and out of us to ensure that we are not hostile. Don't resist. Do exactly what the King says. Ok?" Herrior scanned across the faces of his group, they all seemed to nod. Herrior snorted and began walking forward again.

The inside of the palace was more beautiful than the city itself. Gems of every color lined the walls and seemed to be pulsating with power. Mohania let out a loud hiss, and suddenly the entire palace went dark.

"Please, come in…" a powerful voice echoed throughout the palace. Herrior continued forward and the doors shut behind them. Herrior's group was familiar with the palace, except for Mohania and the new comers. Skyka wrapped an arm around his boney arm to help guide him. The three officers and Dan merely followed by the sounds of the footsteps in front of them.

They walked for another ten minutes and then Herrior spoke.

"Drop your weapons, drop your shields. Throw them to the right side of the wall. We're about to enter the inner chamber." The group did just that. After several "clanks" of armor falling, Herrior seemed satisfied and continued walking forward. Several dozen red guards appeared in front of the group, their eyes illuminated by white power. They stood there for several seconds, and then their eyes changed color to red and they began to scan the group.

"Have the warlock drop his shield. Have Lindel drop her illusion." The red guards all chanted at the same time. Mohania started to let out a hiss, but Skyka moved her hand down to Mohania's boney hand and squeezed it. Mohania simply let out a low growl and snapped his fingers and instantly his shield dropped. Mohania was bracing himself for a quick death, but nothing happened.

Lindel turned to Branzer and said, "I'm going to change form. Remember me as I was. Don't look at me once I've changed." Branzer turned his head in the direction of her voice, but Lindel's fingers quickly repositioned his head to face straight ahead. Branzer nodded, Lindel could feel it in her fingers. Then Lindel snapped her fingers and instantly she turned into a purple banshee. She floated about a foot off the ground, she had no legs. Her fingers turned as boney as Mohania's were. Her eyes widened and became black. Her mouth widened and showed off a split tongue and several teeth missing. Her hair was waving back and forth with small black snakes in it.

The red guards all nodded. "We are now going to drain you of your powers. They will be restored after your business is done with the King." A green light formed at the ceiling, extended the length of the party and quickly dropped to the floor. Lindel, Skyka, Quinely, and Mohania all screamed and fell to the ground. Lindel's scream sounded very high pitch and echoed throughout the ears of the non-magic users. Mohania's fire in his eyes was quickly extinguished, as well as the blue light coming from his mouth.

The four of them slowly rose from the ground in pain. Skyka and Quinely grabbed Mohania's boney hands and helped him up.

"You may now proceed." The red guards all said in unison. Herrior looked back and quickly surveyed his group. It nearly broke his heart seeing the four of them in this much pain. Skyka looked up and motioned for him to go. Herrior snorted. The red guards all quickly vanished. Herrior began to walk forward.

Suddenly it looked like hundreds of purple eyes were opened.

"These are the King's banshees. They are going to sense our thoughts and intentions every second. Let them pass through you, don't resist them." Herrior spoke quietly. Herrior stepped forward to show them. Their eyes had adjusted to the low light now. The banshees all seemed to let out a scream at first and then began passing through Herrior, the rest of his group followed. The banshees passed through Crystal and Dan without any problem, but Branzer and Bernett fought at first.

"Don't resist. Let them pass. Settle your mind and body. It won't hurt." It was Lindel's voice, only more sinister. Branzer and Bernett both took a deep breath and calmed themselves down. The first banshee to pass through Branzer felt like a sudden gust of wind from one side of their bodies and then a sudden gust of wind leaving their bodies. It felt as if somebody else was in their heads for a quick second. After several times of this happening, they felt more comfortable. Herrior then walked forward with the group of banshees quickly flying around them and then through them, all except for Mohania. Mohania simply let out a smile and continued walking. The banshees would not enter his body.

"Welcome!" The same voice shouted. "Please come forward quickly, we have much to discuss." Herrior quickened his pace and the rest of the group followed. A sudden square light appeared in front of them.

"It's only light. It won't hurt any of you. Please stand in it." the voice said. Herrior turned back to his group and let out a loud snort. He meant business. Herrior then turned around and raced toward the light. He got to the front left side of the square and immediately kneeled down. The rest of the party did the same. Skyka and Quinely pulled Mohania to the ground.

Once they were all in the square, the King, Queen and their advisors quickly illuminated.

"Welcome everybody, nice to see you again Herrior and Skyka." Both of them nodded.

"First order of business…Officer Branzer and Officer Bernett, please step forward." Both of them stood to their feet. Two spot lights illuminated in front of a grand staircase. They walked forward and stood in them, forgetting to bow down. They could hear Herrior snort loudly behind them. They both immediately dropped to their knee.

"You will not be able to finish your shift guarding the wall. We have exhausted half of our time-stoppers and cannot afford to lose anymore. We need to send you back to your world. Your work here is much appreciated and will not go unnoticed or unrewarded." The King said and waved his hand at them. Suddenly a blast of light came from the ceiling and engulfed them, knocking them to the ground. They felt their bones strengthen, their muscles loosen, and electrical charges firing in their brain.

"Rise." The King said. Slowly the two officers got to their knee again. "Another gift I'm going to give you is this." Suddenly a stone appeared in front of them. On it was a half purple circle with a line that went across it. They both stuck their hand out and took the stone. It seemed to radiate with great power.

"It is called a Hearthstone. It'll allow communication between our worlds. It can only be used once a day. It'll either contact Lindel or one of our channelers." Suddenly a portal opened to the left of them showing them their world.

"But…" Bernett quickly said but was silenced but some sort of magical spell. Lindel floated higher. The banshees suddenly passed through her at incredible speeds.

"Oh." The King said. "Apparently a promise was made. And out of good faith between our worlds, a promise will be kept. Lindel will visit your wife and you shall have offspring within a year." Lindel then floated back down to the ground. The spell from Bernett faded and he smiled at the King.

"We will be in touch. We need to find out how the demons are entering your world. Your job is to banish any demons you see and help maintain order. Now quickly, enter the portal." The King said. The two of them jumped to their feet and ran into the portal without looking back.

The officers entered their world, and quickly saw several monks and other magical creatures channeling blue lightning at the world and entered the same portal that they came out of. Once everybody was in, the portal collapsed in on itself and disappeared.

Time resumed.

The officers surveyed the scene. It was exactly how it was before. Officers were closing in on the dead people from the cars. They both thought the same thing, "It was good to be home again."

"Come on, let's go do our jobs. There's going to be a lot of paperwork on this one…" Branzer said. Bernett let out a chuckle. Both of them started running towards the scene. The stones in their pockets glowed purple and slowly faded.

Back in the palace, the King then ordered Dan and Crystal forward. They both stood and walked around the group. They stood in the spot lights and knelt to one leg.

"Dan! I don't know how, but you have become a time stopper. And you have fought beside Herrior several times. I have been watching you for years. You have learned much, and you fight with valor. I commend you. You have shown great allegiance to Herrior and his party. You have much to learn still, but Herrior is a good teacher. Learn and grow from him, he is a good Ambassador. He and I have fought side by side for hundreds of years. I will give you and Crystal the same blessing." Suddenly the same blast of light came from the ceiling and pushed them to the ground, causing pain for only a second. They could feel their bodies becoming stronger though. They slowly rose off from the ground and pushed themselves up to a kneeling position again.

"Rise, to your feet." The King said. The King waited until they were on their feet. "Now, strip off your clothes!" the King ordered. Dan and Crystal quickly took off their shirts, kicked off their shoes and began taking off their pants when the Queen shouted, "Stop!" They could hear the King laughing. The Queen glared at the King and he settled down. Herrior let out a low snort.

"You have been taught discipline from Herrior. I am impressed with Crystal. You leaped off the wall in an effort to save one of your own. Dan, I am impressed with you and all of the demons you have killed on your own. You two will be great assets to our Kingdom." The King paused for a second and then said, "You may cloth yourselves." The two of them quickly got dressed. Then the King continued talking.

"Crystal, you have gone through the monk conversion process and lived. That is highly commendable. You two are coming along nicely. I am proud of both of you. I wish you long life and happiness." The King ended. Both of them nodded. Silence filled the chamber for a moment. Herrior let out a grunt. Both of them looked back at him. Herrior motioned his head for them to come back. Dan and Crystal quickly rose to their feet and ran back to their spots in the light and knelt back down, allowing the banshees to enter their bodies again.

"Now then, we have another new comer among you. One we have made special preparations for. Mohania! Come forth. Quinely and Skyka quickly squeezed Mohania's fingers and let go. Mohania rose to his feet and began walking forward. He got to one of the spot lights and simply stood there. He could hear Herrior growl at him, but Mohania didn't move.

"Very well then." the King spoke. The two stared at each other for awhile.

"You have shown great allegiance to Herrior and his party. You are the only undead warlock that regularly travels with the parties that we send out. Why is that?" The King asked. The purple banshees quickly swirled around Mohania but could not penetrate his mind.

"You can't read my mind…can you…?" Mohania said with a smile. The banshees were called off.

"No I can't." The King said with a smile. "Please answer the question."

"They saved me from a great sacrifice...They saved my life numerous times…I owe them my life several times over…my allegiance lies with Herrior and his party…" Mohania said in a weak voice.

"I want your allegiance to lie with me…" The King started to say, but Mohania let out a snarl.

"But first things first, I wish you to become an Ambassador to the undead. You and the warlocks in the hole beneath the city have become numerous and powerful. I want you to fight for us." The King continued. Mohania simply stared at him with a smile across his face. A moment passed and the King said, "Well?"

"Our numbers are increasing, and we are becoming more powerful that is true…but you shut off your city to us, you set up a force field to keep us away and you have killed a number of us in battle. Why should I talk to you?" Mohania said quickly. Before the King could speak, Mohania said "You can't sense us because of our dark magic…can you…you have no idea what's happening in our cave…do you…"

"You anger me Mohania." The King said in a fierce voice.

"You don't know what our intentions are…we are not under your control…and that worries you…doesn't it!" Mohania said fiercely. The King rose to his feet. Herrior and Skyka were ready to spring to their feet at any moment.

"Stop!" The Queen commanded standing up. "This is getting us no where!" A pause came from everybody in the room. The King sighed. Herrior and Skyka relaxed a little.

"Mohania, please come forward." The Queen said slowly walking down the stairs.

"Will I be destroyed?" Mohania asked.

"No." The Queen replied. "Please…come closer." Mohania walked forward to the stairs and started climbing them. The guards on the stairs started closing in on the warlock.

"No! Leave him be anybody that touches him will be burned to death!" The Queen commanded. Instantly the guards backed off. The King began walking down the stairs after his Queen.

"That's close enough. The aura's we give off might hurt you if you get too close." The Queen said. Both of them stopped, the King stood beside his Queen.

"Now then, let's discuss this in private." The Queen raised her hand and instantly a green shield enveloped around the three of them. "Please, let us all sit down and talk calmly." The King and Queen both sat on the stairs. Mohania let out a snarl and sat down cross-legged, his boney legs sticking out from his robe.

"Mohania, we need to be open with each other. I want to open negotiations with you. As a gesture of goodwill I will allow you some information that may interest you." The King said. Mohania turned his head towards him.

"Our scouts have spotted several undead about one hundred kilometers to the south. We don't know what their intentions are, since we don't know much about you and your kind. We have also spotted an Alliance patrol heading their way…" Mohania let out a loud hiss.

"Good, we have found common ground then. We both have the same enemy. We can send out a raid party to save the undead and crush the Alliance patrol and bring them back to you for you to do whatever you want with them." The King said. Mohania let out a snarl and then seemed to sigh.

"In exchange for what?" Mohania said.

"We are indebted to you as it stands right now. You have helped defend our wall, and you have helped keep Herrior and his party alive. If Herrior can learn to trust you, I want to learn to trust you as well." The King replied. Mohania just stared ahead in silence. Finally Mohania said, "Bring them to me…" The King reached outside the green shield and snapped his fingers. Instantly several guards left to go attack the Alliance patrols.

"Do you realize that the Alliance have warlocks as well?" The King said. Mohania seemed to growl and said slowly, "Yes…but…we…are much stronger…"

"And why is that?" The King asked quickly. Mohania let out an evil smile.

"Warlocks get their power from the dark arts. Undead warlocks are solely made of the dark arts. We surge in power, and can restore ourselves quickly." The King nodded.

"Can you sense other undead? I know you can sense demons." Mohania slowly shook his head. "Only demons"

"Will you allow one of our Ambassadors safe passages into your cave?" The King asked. Mohania shook his head.

"I allowed you safe passage into my city, why not?" The frustrated King asked.

"It surges with dark power. It cannot be just 'turned off'". It would kill anybody that entered." Mohania said proudly.

"Could Herrior enter? Would you allow him safe passage?" The King asked persistently. Mohania let out a deep growl and said, "Even Herrior would not be allowed in. Please leave him out of our discussions…"

"Very well, what can we do to prove ourselves to the undead?" The King said.

"Leave us alone." Mohania answered quickly. The King shook his head.

"Mohania, what do you do in your cave?" the Queen asked. Mohania turned his head to face her.

"Try to create more undead, recharge ourselves, teach each other new spells…" Mohania said with a smile. The Queen thought that was too well rehearsed to be the truth.

"And you do more than that…don't you?" The Queen asked. Mohania simply just stared at her.

"That's fine. We all have our secrets." The Queen answered.

"Mohania, I want to show you something." The King spoke up. He raised his hand and suddenly an image appeared. It was a picture of members of the Alliance torturing the undead that they had rounded up in rogue camps. Mohania let out a loud hiss.

"Good, I have your attention now. Would you and your warlocks be willing to fight to free other undead members?" Mohania thought about this for awhile. "What's in it for you?" Mohania finally answered.

"The more members you have the greater defense we have against foes for our wall." The King said. Mohania thought he answered to quickly. He sat there silently for awhile.

"Mohania, are you the leader of the warlocks?" The Queen finally asked. Mohania slowly nodded his head.

"Are you concerned about your followers?" The King asked. Mohania quickly glared at the King. He began to snarl.

"I'll take that as a yes. So If I send you and Herrior and everybody else on a mission to free the enslaved undead, you would be willing to do it?" The King asked.

"Again…in exchange for what?" Mohania quickly asked right back.

"I want to build trust between us. I want you to be an Ambassador for the undead. I want us to unite against a common enemy. I want you and your follower's power on our side, and not against us." The King answered.

"We don't trust each other…" Mohania replied back.

"I want to build that trust between our people and yours." The King replied.

"You just want our power…"

"Our power has saved you several times…" The King quickly answered. Mohania let out another snarl. He looked to the floor for a couple of minutes. Quietly he said, "I will have to think about this…"

"Fine by me, give your reply to either Skyka or Herrior. We can communicate through them. In the mean time let me give you a present to help our friendship." The King and Queen rose to their feet. The green shield lifted. The King motioned for a female troll in the corner to come over. Mohania slowly raised himself to his feet. The troll opened a box that had a necklace in it that gave off a dark aura.

"This was taken from a human warlock. It is yours if you want it." Mohania didn't move.

"Do you wish Skyka to analyze it first?" The King asked in frustration. Mohania nodded.

"Skyka come forth." The King commanded. Skyka quickly rose to her feet and ran towards the four of them.

"Analyze this necklace for Mohania please." The King said. Skyka quickly picked up the necklace and looked it over.

"This piece is designed for a warlock. It increases spell power." Skyka said.

"There, satisfied?" The King said losing his patience. Mohania reached out for the necklace. He touched it and felt the dark power radiating off from it. He quickly grabbed it and put it around his neck. Instantly he felt more powerful.

"Yes…" he answered. The King pulled out another stone with purple markings on it and reached out his hand.

"This is the same hearthstone that I gave the officers. If you and the warlocks ever need help, just use this. We will fight by your side." The King said. Mohania took the stone and looked it over. He then placed it in his pocket. Mohania slowly bowed his head towards the King.

"Good. This is a good start. I look forward to talking with you again in the future. The alliance patrol should be crushed soon, and then undead will be brought to you." the King said as promised. He continued, "In the meantime you have a wall to guard don't you?" The King said with a smile. Mohania simply just stared at him. The King snapped his fingers and a portal opened to his right. It showed the battlefield that they fought on.

"The warlocks left some of the humans for you to feast on. Herrior!" Herrior slowly rose. "You are dismissed to return to your assignment. You'll then have two days of leave. Afterwards you will be reassigned. Check in with my Ambassadors."

"Yes my King." Herrior said and nodded. "We possessed one of their commanders and he said there is more alliance on the way." The King merely nodded.

"You are dismissed." The King and Queen returned to their thrones. Herrior turned around and motioned for his group to enter the portal. They all rose up and entered the portal.

Instantly, Herrior and his party were back on the battlefield. Several undead warlocks were still feasting on the flesh of the humans.

"Guard the warlocks as they feast!" Herrior commanded. Their weapons and armor had been returned to them. They equipped their weapons and moved ahead of the warlocks and spread themselves out. Skyka, Lindel, and Quinely's power had returned to them as promised, but Mohania's wasn't. Skyka took on her shadow form and Lindel transformed back to her beautiful self, slow floating above the ground. Quinely morphed into a gigantic grizzly bear and picked up Mohania by the back of his cape. She carried him up to where Herrior was and gently set him down on his feet. A fresh corpse laid underneath him. Mohania instantly began ripping flesh from the body and devouring it. The bear gently rubbed up against Mohania, but he didn't take any notice. Quinely then turned into an Eagle and flew into the air. She started scanning for any activity, but there wasn't any as far as she could see. Occasionally a party member would get to close, or they would want a corpse that they were standing over and the warlock would let out a loud hiss. They would just simply move forward some more giving the warlock some more space.

"Hey! We have a live one here!" Jacklyn said. The warlocks quickly started running over towards it. Mohania hissed at them, and they stopped. Mohania slowly walked over to him. He was missing half of his face and barely breathing. He saw the warlock and started pleading for a quick death. Mohania had gained back some of his strength. His eyes had their fire returned to them. When he opened his mouth to speak, a blue mist shot forward.

"Excellent…" Mohania said in his sinister voice.

"Please! Just kill me! I deserve a clean dea…" the man said and was cut off. Mohania put his hand above the man's head and a purple beam appeared between them. It seemed to twist in a circle, and tiny little skulls circled it. The body was sucked of its life and channeled into Mohania. He then put his hands together and formed another little purple crystal; purple eyes appeared in the crystal and began flying back and forth in the purple mist. Mohania held up the crystal and started laughing in a very dark sinister voice. The whole process sent chills down Dan and Crystal's back. Herrior began advancing some more, so those two followed as well.

After the warlocks were done feasting, they all gathered around Mohania. He was overflowing with power now. He put his hand into the air and blue lightning suddenly shot out from it. It sparked and flew everywhere.

"Stand back everyone." Herrior said casually.

Suddenly a dark aura appeared around Mohania. The lightning shot into the surrounding warlocks. It light up their skeleton bodies inside of their capes. Mohania started letting out his sinister laughing again. The warlocks seemed to grow a little. Their eyes burned with the same fire that Mohania had. This went on for about a minute, and then Mohania let down his hand. His hands then changed into fire. He spoke something in a tongue that nobody understood and pointed to their cave. All of the warlocks instantly took off, crawling as fast as they could towards it. Mohania then looked over his shoulder at Herrior.

"We're done here…" his voice returned to is echoing, sinister, evil tone. Herrior looked to the sky and let out a loud whistle. Quinely flew down and landed on Herrior's shoulder.

"See anything?" Herrior asked. The bird simply shook his head back and forth. "Ok, let's head back to the wall and talk."

They all made it back to the wall, but didn't open the gate. They all sat in a circle outside so that Mohania could join them. Quinely flew off from Herrior's shoulder and up and over the wall.

"Mohania, if you would be so kind." Herrior said with a smile. Mohania snapped his fingers and a column of fire suddenly exploded upward in the middle of the circle. Herrior and the party had to shield their eyes because it was so intense. Herrior looked up at Mohania and he lowered the flame to the size of a campfire.

"Feeling better aren't ya sugar?" Skyka said to Mohania. Mohania simply smiled at her. Skyka laughed as she dropped her shadow form, returning back to her normal self.

Suddenly a loud ferocious cry from a lion echoed throughout the land.

"Quinely will be here in just a second. We'll wait for her." Herrior said. He pulled out a loaf of bread from his backpack, ripped off a piece and passed it around.

Meanwhile, Quinely was inside of the wall in her lion form. She picked up the rotting corpse of the dwarf in her teeth and walked up to the door. She put her paw in the circle keyhole, and the doors opened. She trotted out of the door and causally swung the body around. She casually tossed the limp body towards the group. It bounced a couple of times and then fell limp. Quinely jumped up into the air and pounced on it. She then picked it up and started walking with pride towards the group. Herrior closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"Aww…did you find a play toy?" Lindel asked. The lion started purring and sat down in the circle. The lion then started licking Lindel's face. She let out a giggle and pushed the massive beast away. Quinely then slowly began eating the dwarf, taking her time and enjoying every moment.

"I'm sure you two have some questions. We'll talk for a little bit, and then take turns sleeping. We'll stay outside the wall for the rest of the shift so any of us can talk with Mohania if they wish." Herrior said and then looked at Dan and Crystal. Strings leaned up against the wall and let out a sigh. Trackolania curled up on the ground. Mohania just stared forward at the flame.

Crystal moved herself over and rubbed up against Dan. She took his hand and placed it in his. He looked at her and she had a big smile on her face.

"Damn, I'm horny as hell…" Crystal thought. Suddenly Lindel burst out laughing. She put a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Her face turned red and occasionally let laughter out. Herrior turned to look at Lindel.

"Sorry…I just…sorry…" and then she started laughing and fell backwards. Skyka got up and walked over to Lindel. Lindel whispered something quickly into Skyka's ear. Suddenly Skyka burst into laughter.

"Would you two care to explain yourselves?" Herrior asked curiously.

"No…" Lindel said and this just caused more laughter. Herrior became frustrated with them two and snorted.

Eventually the two of them calmed down. Skyka walked back over to her spot. Lindel sat up blushing intensely and continued to apologize. Crystal glared at her.

"Did you…did you just read my mind?" Crystal asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just started meditating, and the thought was loud." Lindel started coughing to control the laughter. "I'm sorry Crystal, I honestly didn't mean too. It's just usually when we get together in a circle everybody is just so serious. I was just relaxing my mind. I wasn't expecting that." Crystal shot her a dirty look.

"So nothing is private around you then?" Crystal snapped at her. "And why did you tell Skyka?"

Skyka spoke up. "Hun we're all good friends in the group. It's nothing to get upset about. I'm sorry as well."

Herrior spoke up. "What is everybody talking about?" He had a very confused look on his face. Crystal looked at him and a smile came across her face. Herrior was always so serious, and seeing him like this was very amusing. Crystal started to laugh. Suddenly the three of them burst out laughing. The three of them fell backwards and laughed until they cried. Herrior looked at Dan. Dan shrugged.

"Do you have any questions, or do you wish to discuss them at another time?" Herrior spoke directly to Dan.

"I'm just learning as I go. Trying not to screw up…" Dan began to say and this just caused the three of them to laugh even harder.

"It's good to hear you laugh. It takes away the stress of battle and helps the bonding process." Herrior said out loud. He then stood to his feet. "I'll take the first shift. You all need some sleep."

Dan scooted himself up against the thick cold wall and laid down. Crystal crawled over to Dan and kissed him on the cheek and curled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around her. They both closed their eyes. Herrior walked away from the group. Lindel and Skyka walked over to Dan and Crystal curling up with each other on the ground down facing towards them. Crystal opened her eyes and shot Lindel a dirty look. The two of them started giggling again. Dan just sighed and eventually snoring. Mohania rose to his feet and walked to his cave. The gate dropped to the ground and the magical shield went down. Inside he went. The gate didn't close though. Mohania just simply sat in the entrance. The only thing that could be seen was his eyes, continually burning away. Herrior let out a mighty yawn and began pacing back and forth.

That night Dan had a nightmare. He had a dream that he was holding Crystal. She was talking to him incoherently, and then suddenly lost all of her skin and started screaming. Her blood was spewing everywhere, and she began falling. Her screams jolted him awake.

Dan sat up sweating. He looked around. Crystal was still sleeping beside him. Lindel and Skyka were still there. His stomach felt weird, like something was moving around in it. He stood up and looked around. The sky had darkened, but the red twirling clouds and lightning were still there. He looked down the field and saw Herrior leaning on his shield. It looked like he had dozed off.

Suddenly a small ball of white flew out of Dan's stomach. Dan quickly reached down to where the ball of light came from, there was no hole. The ball of light hovered for a second and then slowly revealed itself. It looked like some kind of small fairy. It quickly flew up to Dan's nose and kissed it. It then flew away. Dan looked at his party and everybody had small white balls flying out of their stomachs. None of them seemed to mind though. Dan stood there watching as they flew up and over the wall, disappearing from sight.

"Amazing…it's something new all the time out here…" Dan thought. He stepped around the sleeping bodies and scanned the area. He stood there for several moments. Nothing was moving. Then he heard a "hiss" from the warlock cave. Dan walked over to investigate.

"Mohania?" Dan asked. He looked inside the cave and saw a pair of burning eyes staring back at him. It startled him a little.

"Yesss…?" Mohania answered back.

"Do you ever sleep?"

"No." Mohania answered back real quickly. "I lay down sometimes to recharge my body…but the undead does not sleep…"

"Are you on watch duty right now?" Dan asked. He could see his eyes move to focus in on Herrior. "I suppose…"

"Do you mind if I come in with you?" Dan asked. Suddenly he saw fiery eyes appear behind Mohania. There was the sounds of whips cracking, cackling and high pitch talking all at once. Mohania turned his head around and let out a loud hiss. Silence fell in the cave, and the eyes quickly disappeared. Mohania slowly turned his head back around and stared at Dan.

"Why?" Mohania asked. Dan shrugged and looked back up at the sky. A cold shiver ran over Dan as he rubbed his arms together. "I can't sleep. Nightmares. Just want some company." Mohania let out a low moan.

"It's ok; I'll just go for a walk." Dan said and started walking away.

"Come…" Mohania said in a voice the echoed. Dan turned around and looked inside of the cave. It was pitch black.

"I am not going to make a fire; I don't want you to see anything." Mohania said quickly. Dan nodded. He heard a thumping on the dirt. Dan thought it was Mohania's hand hitting the dirt. He took that as a queue to come in. He sat down where the thumping was and looked outside. Both of them stared out into the night and several minutes passed. Dan then spoke up.

"I had a…fairy white ball thing fly out of my chest. Do you know what that was?"

"It gets rid of waste and fills the belly. It was indeed a fairy. The undead does not need them." Mohania answered. Dan nodded, noting that he didn't have to pee and didn't feel the need to eat.

"How do you get recharged, or however you call it? Do you do it by eating the humans?" Dan asked.

"We eat both the living and the dead. It gives us power. Food gives us power as well. Meditating does as also. In your world, the ground gives us power. Your dirt is very fertile. We can also channel power from our enemies into our bodies…" Mohania answered, intrigued that a living person was actually interested. Mohania's head suddenly spun around and yelled, "No! He is under my protection!" Dan was afraid to turn around to look.

"If I'm causing trouble, I can leave…" Dan started to say.

"No. They lack discipline and crave power. They don't understand how to control their powers though. It's difficult to teach."

"Ok." Dan replied back. He folded his knees into his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Dan took a deep breath and let it out.

"What are your nightmares about?" Mohania asked in the same eerie voice.

"Crystal. I have dreams of her skinning falling off. Dreams of her screaming and falling. Dreams of her crying out in that cold dark room with all of the lights, and me not being able to help at all." Silence fell between them.

"My life has been one giant nightmare…" Mohania said. It sounded like there was almost a hint of emotion in his voice. Dan looked at Mohania. He still didn't move, staring out into the field. Mohania let out a sigh.

"Do you know what Crystal went through for you?" Mohania said.

"I think so…" Dan started to say.

"You…have…no…idea…Dan…" Mohania's voice rose up a little and echoed in the cave. A cold shiver went up Dan's spine. Dan just stared forward.

"Do you want to know more?" Mohania asked.

"I'm afraid to ask." Dan replied back.

"Fear is something us undead do not feel." Mohania replied back quickly. Dan nodded.

"Lindel said not to ask her about it." Dan started to say, but was quickly cut off.

"That's wise of her to say that…" Mohania replied back.

"Why did she go through with it then? If it was so bad, why didn't they stop?" Dan asked.

"Once the process is started, it cannot be stopped. She did it because she loves you. But you already knew that." Mohania replied seeming to be frustrated.

"Did you and the rest of the group have to go through the same process?" Dan asked.

"No."

"Why is that?"

"It depends on how you are created."

"Why didn't I have to go through the process?" Dan asked.

"Nobody knows why. Not even the King. Time stoppers are occasionally born in your world. Then it's a fight over who gets them. Us, the Alliance, or the demons. It was a big surprise to find you alive and at the age you were at. Lindel thinks it had to do with the tumor in your brain." Mohania said. Dan was quiet trying to take it all in. They sat in silence for another moment.

"You don't like the King, do you…"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"The town you go to, Tranquil is full of holy magic. Holy magic destroys us almost instantly. The King and Queen are almost one hundred percent holy magic. We use dark magic."

"Which is stronger?" Dan asked. Mohania started chuckling.

"Depends on the caster. I've sucked the life out of holy priests and warriors and watched them slowly wither away to nothing."

"So that means you are pretty powerful then?" Dan asked.

"No."

"Oh?" Dan replied.

"I have the power to do many things, but so do you." Mohania replied slowly. Dan nodded again.

Herrior heard the chatting and woke up. He walked over to Mohania's cave and sat down at the entrance.

"Yes?" Mohania asked.

"I am just listening Mohania, please continue. I am surprised though that you allowed Dan to enter your cave." Herrior said out of curiosity.

"He entertains me." Mohania said slowly. Dan let out a small smile.

"So what is it like to be undead?" Dan asked. Mohania smiled and replied, "Do you want to see my body?"

"I guess…" Dan replied. Herrior seemed intrigued by Dan's answer. Mohania rose to his feet and took off his cloak. Mohania's body was just a moving skeleton. His brain was made of fire. His chest was made of a small blue glowing orb.

"Can I touch you?" Dan asked.

"You are not afraid?" Mohania asked.

"I've seen enough crazy stuff in this world to believe just about anything. I'm just curious. If you don't want me to I won't." Mohania let out a smile. He extended one of his skeleton hands and grabbed Dan's shoulder and pulled him up to his feet. Dan then felt his hand. It was, in fact, pure bone. He moved his hands up his arm. He could feel the cartilage holding the bones in place. He then reached forward and touched Mohania's rib cage.

"That is where my power is stored." Mohania said. Mohania then reached up and removed his firey head and handed it to him. Dan took it and looked it over. The skull suddenly talked in his arms.

"This is where my soul is stored." Dan nodded and then tried to place it back on his spine. Mohania took the skull from Dan and reattached it.

"Interesting." Dan said. Mohania put his cape back on.

"Very…most people run away screaming when I take my cape off…" Mohania said with a deep curiosity in his voice.

"Your one of us. You fight with us. I don't understand anything that you do, but I am not afraid of a friend. You may save my life one day." Dan said and sat back down. Herrior watched with a deep awe in his eyes, pleasantly surprised at what Dan did and said.

Mohania turned his eyes toward Herrior. Herrior spoke up. "He has saved our lives numerous times. He is indeed, a good friend." Mohania shook his head.

"Where were you created…or born…or…" Dan asked. Mohania cut him off.

"I…was a farmer in a former life…The Alliance cut down me and my family and burned my house down…destroyed everything that I worked my whole life for…" Mohania said very slowly. Herrior didn't know the story and listened very carefully.

"My body was thrown into the lake…the fish and water creatures stripped me of my skin and blood…so that I was only bone. My soul never left though...time passed…another undead warlock found me and started channeling dark energy into my body…soon I had enough to move again. I barely had enough power to move…when suddenly the channeler was cut in half by an Alliance rider. I decided not to move. The Alliance rider was dumb enough not to check to see what he was channeling into the lake. It was a stroke of luck for me. I swam down to the bottom of the lake and began feeding on fish and creatures of the lake. With each passing day I could feel my power getting stronger. I would practice my spells on the creatures in the water. Soon I did on local fishermen…slowly taking one out at a time. Then I began to feast on the human flesh. It gave me power and confidence. Rumors started to spread though about a creature in the lake devouring entire people. I was only able to fight off some of the alliance…boy were they surprised when their heads caught fire though…" Mohania stopped and looked past Herrior and onto the field. Herrior quickly turned around and scanned the field as well.

"Do you sense something?" Herrior asked. A moment passed.

"No."

"Please continue." Dan said.

"I was eventually captured and was condemned to be burned at the stake. That's when Herrior showed up. I watched his party annihilate the Alliance. I then pledged my allegiance to him that day. I've been following him around ever since then. I've had to learn my own spells, test them out. I know I can do more, but I don't know the chants. I've been craving power ever since then. I found this cave and slowly captured Alliance humans and dragged them into my cave and then sealed it off. I would then chain them to the wall and then experiment with my spells. Going raiding with Herrior has given me a chance to test out my spells as well. I'm still learning, and I am passing on the knowledge to my followers. Sometimes I run into human warlocks and learn their chants…"

"That's quite a story. Thanks for sharing that with me." Dan said. Herrior also nodded. Mohania just stared forward. Suddenly Mohania's pocket began to glow purple. Dan pointed it out to him.

"That's probably the King or some Ambassador of his trying to contact me…" Mohania said and then let out a hiss.

"Why don't you like him?" Dan asked.

"I don't trust him." Mohania said quickly.

"Oh." Dan replied. Time passed for awhile and then Mohania spoke up.

"I suppose it is inevitable that I become an Ambassador for the undead...I don't see how they can help us though. We can help protect their great wall for them, but I don't see much of a return for us. They can't teach us anything…again they are holy magic, and we are dark magic. Two different things…" Mohania said and trailed off his voice. "We just want to be left alone so we can learn and teach and become stronger. We crave power. When I leave to go out with Herrior, the entrance is locked shut and we cast an anti-magic spell around it. Without me leading the warlocks, they wouldn't know what to do. Some of them are advancing nicely; some of them are just plain stupid…" Dan snickered. Mohania even let out a chuckle at that, at least that's what Dan thought it was. Even Herrior let out a smile.

"Do you mind if I ask you two some more questions?" Dan asked.

"It doesn't bother me. If it did I would have kicked you out of my cave." Mohania replied. Herrior simply tilted his head towards Dan in curiosity.

"You get your magic from the dark arts. Lindel gets her power from the holy arts…I guess is what you call it…" Dan said.

"Lindel is both." Mohania said quickly.

"Ok…and Skyka is a healer so she must be holy as well…"

"Skyka is both." Mohania said quickly again. Dan looked at Mohania confused.

"Why are they not destroyed when they go in the city then?"

"They can change powers instantly, but they draw their power from the same source. Their main abilities are holy though.

"Why cant you change?" Dan asked.

"Undead cant, just how we are."

Just then Lindel woke up and sensed that somebody said her name. She stood up and saw Quinely still in lion form sleeping happily next to what was left of the dwarf. She quickly looked around and saw Dan was gone. She also saw Herrior sitting at the entrance of the warlock cave. She tilted her head in curiosity and walked towards it. She kissed Herrior on the top of his head and sat down next to him.

"Good morning Dan and Mohania." She said.

"Good morning Lindel." Dan replied back. Mohania simply nodded.

"So I see you have some company Mohania. Has he been good?" Lindel asked winking at Dan. Mohania simply nodded again and said, "He is learning…"

"I see. Well carry on; I'll just sit here next to this big hairy cow." Lindel said leaning up again Herrior. Herrior merely grunted.

"Could Crystal and I ever learn magic?" Dan asked.

"No." Mohania replied back.

"Why not?" Lindel motioned to say something, but Herrior silenced her with his hand.

"You have to be born or created that way. There is no conversion process. It would probably destroy your mind if there was anyways."

"Oh." Dan said. He could hear some rumblings behind him deep in the cave.

"What is that?" He asked.

"Nothing you probably want to know about…" Mohania replied.

"Could you take me further into your cave?" Dan asked. Mohania turned his head quickly in Dan's direction and snarled at him. "Your curiosity will get you killed…" Dan simply nodded and looked forward.

Lindel looked at Mohania with a big smile. Mohania slowly turned his head to look at Lindel. She batted her eyes several times at Mohania. A moment passed and Mohania let out a low sigh.

"You may come…" Mohania eventually said. "But don't let go of my hand." Mohania stood up and began channeling a spell. A green square appeared above and below the cave. Several green lights started passing between the squares. Eventually an explosion happened and a little green imp appeared. A tiny green fire appeared at his feet, casting off a light that showed off parts of the cave.

"Mohania…you big softy…" Lindel said softly. Mohania simply ignored her and began channeling another spell. After the spell was complete, Dan looked exactly like Mohania. Mohania extended his hand towards Dan. He took it and was instantly surrounded with a dark aura that surrounded him. Overwhelming depression, death, and sad thoughts entered his head.

"Don't let your thoughts control you. What you are feeling is only a temporary effect." Mohania said.

"May I follow you?" Lindel asked. Mohania's head spun around and looked at her. "Not like that…" he said.

"I know that hun…" Lindel got up and passed over the entrance and slowly turned into a purple banshee as she crossed the threshold. It frightened Dan out a little.

"May I come?" Herrior asked.

"No." Mohania replied.

"Why may I ask?" Herrior asked.

"You can't."

"And why is that?" Herrior asked out of frustration.

"Because you can't." Mohania replied with the same frustration.

"I am your leader!"

"I am a warlock!" Mohania hissed. Herrior quickly equipped his shield and sword. Mohania's hands began to blaze with fire. Dan drew his weapons also, but he didn't know why.

Lindel quickly began blowing purple circles at both of them. It instantly calmed both of them down. "Boys…boys…boys…let's not fight among ourselves." Herrior slowly put his shield and sword away. Mohania's hands slowly extinguished themselves. Lindel probed Mohania's thoughts real quick.

"Mohania…why don't you tell Herrior the reason why he can't come in…"

"He's too big." Mohania said quickly.

"Could you explain that a little more?" Lindel said.

"We have several small catacombs you need to crawl through; he would not fit through them…" Mohania said as his voice trailed off into an echo. Herrior snorted in acknowledgement. He was still clearly frustrated.

"There, you see. Now why don't you both come over and give me a big ol' kiss…" Lindel started making a kissy face at both of them. Mohania and Herrior both slowly turned to their heads to face Lindel.

"I need some sleep, Mohania if you are going to take Dan in - bring him back in one piece ok? Don't melt his mind too much." Herrior said and smiled at Mohania. Mohania gave him a sinister look back and let out a chuckle.

Herrior walked over to where Skyka was sleeping.

"Crystal." Herrior said softly. Crystal slowly moved in her sleep. She felt for Dan and realized he was gone. She sat up and looked over to confirm it.

"Where's Dan?" Crystal said in a sleepy voice.

"He is with Mohania and Lindel inside the warlock cave." Herrior let out a mighty yawn. "Can you protect it and wait for him to come back? Keep an eye open down the field for invaders as well, ok? I am going to sleep. If you need something, wake up Jacklyn or Quinely." Crystal nodded and got to her feet. She brushed off the dirt on her clothes and slowly made her way over to the black cave.

"Don't go in there." Herrior said to her, and then laid down beside Skyka. Herrior wrapped his mighty arm around Skyka and drew her closer to him. Skyka let out a moan and said, "Hello my love." She turned over slowly and they kissed. Skyka then returned to her original position with a big smile.

Crystal walked over to the cave and looked inside of it. She couldn't see anything, but heard only muffled voices. She saw Dan's swords lying outside.

"Mohania, you better take good care of him of I'll come in there and beat your ass…" Crystal said. A faint sinister laughter came out of the cave. Crystal smiled and then drew out one of her sais and sat down beside the cave. She dug the sharp end into the dirt and started spinning it.

"I like Crystal. She has a lot of spirit in her." Mohania said still laughing. Dan smiled, being dragged along by Mohania's boney hand. Lindel slowly glided behind them.

"We need to crawl here, hold on to my foot. Never let go of me." Mohania said quickly. Dan reached down and grabbed his boney foot and then let go of his hand. The two of them quickly crawled through a series of catacombs, the little green imp in the lead lighting the way. Lindel simply just floated with ease through the tunnels.

They crawled in all sorts of directions for about ten minutes. Finally they came to a big dug out room. It was cut in the shape of a circle and was about twenty feet by twenty feet. Mohania crawled out of the hole and held out his hand. Dan crawled out and took his hand. Lindel floated in the room and passed right through Dan. In the middle was a huge blue colored fire. It burned without making a sound. Dancing around it was several naked red colored ladies, their shadows being cast upon the walls. Dan looked around and saw undead warlocks holding onto the wall, many of them crawling from one catacomb to another with incredible speed. On one wall were several demons. Some imps just like the one Mohania had just summoned. There were some large blue ones that seemed to only have hands and eyes. Then there were some female demons that looked just like the one he fought at the hotel, only these were white instead of purple. They had a black thong and bra on. Each one held a black glowing whip that appeared to have the head of a snake at the end of it.

"Don't say anything…let me clear the room first…" Mohania said quietly. He opened his mouth and what sounded like some demonic words came out of it. It caught the attention of everything in the room. He then pointed to a room on the far corner of the wall. Quickly the room was emptied, everything ran into the room. The only thing left was the bluish fire in the middle burning peacefully. Mohania's imp still stood beside him. It held his hands out and quickly looked back and forth, as if expecting trouble.

Lindel flew into the fire after the room had cleared. There was a sudden explosion in the fire sending red sparks flying across the room, and she came out looking like one of the red dancers, only she had a red tail that she swished back and forth. Lindel danced seductively towards Dan and motioned for him to come join her.

"No." Mohania said still holding Dan's hand. Lindel came up to Mohania and started dancing around them.

"Aww…just one dance?" She leaned over and kissed both of them on the cheek. Dan smiled at her; Mohania just stared at the fire. Lindel then did several twirls and sent sparks flying out of her hands. Then she just happily danced by herself around the room.

"So is this what you don't want the King to see?" Dan asked. Mohania kept quiet.

"This is a nice place you have here. How long did it take to build?" Dan asked looking around.

"About a month, we're still digging though." Mohania answered.

"What is the fire? It can't be real, is it magically?" Dan asked.

"Wanna touch it and see?" Mohania let out a big smile. Dan decided that probably wasn't the best idea. Mohania then sat down next to his imp and pulled Dan down with him. Dan folded his legs together, still holding Mohania's hand.

"Your pet looks awfully jumpy. What is his name?" Dan asked.

"His name is in demonic speak. You wouldn't be able to pronounce it." Mohania was still staring into the fire. Lindel came around the other side of the fire and still was sending sparks all around her. It was fascinating to watch. Lindel noticed him staring at her and let out a wink towards him.

"So, can Skyka come in her too then? When she is all dark?" Dan asked. Mohania nodded his head.

"So what were those things that you told to go in the door? I remember killing something like that at the hotel, one of those female things."

"A succubus?" Mohania's voice raised in curiosity.

"Apparently it can put thoughts into somebody's head? It put thoughts of her and I having sex in my head. I had to concentrate on Crystal to bring myself back to reality."

"You were lucky…" Mohania said slowly.

"What do they do?"

"They seduce people. Then once they get close enough they gut their victim and feast off from their blood." Mohania said.

"Can you summon one?" Dan asked. Mohania nodded.

"What else can you summon?"

"Just an imp, a succubus, and protector. The protector is what I had to summon to save Quinely. They torment the souls of their enemies, forcing them to fight him. I'm trying to learn how to summon other demons."

"Oh." They both watched the fire for awhile.

"Speaking of Quinely, what is she? I mean she's a magic user isn't she?"

"A druid…I think…" Mohania said slowly.

"Does she have holy or dark magic?" Mohania shook his head. "Neither. Her magic is some sort of nature, natural magic…or something. She can do things that none of us can do."

"So she can't come in here?" Dan asked. Mohania shook his head.

"What about Strings? What kind of magic does he have?" Mohania shook his head again.

"I have no clue. I don't sense any magic from him at all. He is a bard. His instruments that he plays are nothing but simple wood strung together. They have no magical properties to them at all. I don't know how he does the things that he does…" Mohania said sounding frustrated.

Lindel eventually danced in front of them and started doing circles. Dan looked away out of embarrassment. Sparks were falling all over them. She then proceeded to dance away.

"So what happens down here, or should I not ask?" Dan asked timidly.

"The fire summons undead for miles around. It is sort of a…signal. We generally meet them at the gate, and I talk with them. If they are being controlled we kill them. If their minds are not corrupted we put them through several tests to measure their power. If they survive, they have a choice as to what they want to do. All of them have decided to become warlocks in training though."

"So who are the red ladies dancing around the fire?" Dan asked. Mohania shrugged. "They showed up one day. They don't pose any threat, so we just leave them alone. That's similar to the illusion I put around you. The other warlocks don't see you as any threat." Dan nodded.

"How long does the illusion last?"

"About another ten minutes." Answered Mohania.

"Is it draining your power having me down here with you?" Mohania nodded.

"Should we leave then?" Dan asked sounding concerned.

"I have the feeling you want to ask more…" Mohania asked in an echoing voice. Dan nodded.

"Can you…see into the future?" Mohania shook his head. "Lindel can to a certain degree."

"Lindel seems pretty powerful. Is she more powerful than Skyka?" Dan asked.

"Lindel and Skyka are two different races. They share the same magically properties, but different spells. Lindel is what is called a Chronomancer. She can stop time, and jump from world to world. So in that sense she's very powerful. But Skyka is a better healer, and in shadow form her power is equal to mine."

Lindel heard the conversation and said, "Hey! I can pull my weight just like anybody else…" She said putting her hand on her hip and glared at Mohania. Mohania simply kept staring into the fire. Dan tried to say something else, but Mohania spoke up first.

"Watch…" Mohania grabbed some dirt and threw it into the fire. It instantly sparked up and reached the ceiling. Slowly the fire died down and an image of a farm with a man and his family standing in front of it.

"Was that…you?" Dan asked. Mohania nodded.

"Every time I kill an alliance member, or convert an undead, I feel closer to obtaining my revenge against my enemy." Dan nodded. A moment passed.

"You miss them don't you?" Dan said. A tear appeared to be running down Mohania's cheek. He nodded.

"What can I do to help?" Dan asked. Lindel came around and wiped Mohania's face and kissed him on the cheek. She then went back to dancing.

"Become more powerful and help us. Herrior is a good tauren. He has taught you well so far. But you and Crystal have to become much more powerful. Have you noticed Jacklyn when she is in battle? She can almost take down an entire army by herself. You and Crystal need to reach that point." Mohania said.

"How?" Dan asked.

"Experience. Blessings from the King. Love for each other." Mohania said.

"Why don't you receive blessings from the King?"

"Because I'm undead. It would destroy me. That's why I come here. To meditate and increase my power that way." Mohania replied in the same tone of voice.

"How does love help in battle? Herrior said for us not to get too close…" Dan said.

"He said not to mate. The closer you become with Crystal the more love you will have for each other. Love resists magic. You and Crystal can do a lot of stuff to increase your love for each other and not mate." Mohania said. He paused for a moment and then continued. "Remember to put your feelings off to the side during battle. Your love will always guard your mind…you don't need to be constantly thinking about it. Your mind always needs to be on the battlefield."

"That's what Herrior said." Dan said. Mohania nodded.

"Spend time with her, hold her, pick her flowers, and give her presents. Your love will build. The stronger your love, the more likely you'll survive magic spells. You stand a better chance in battle." Mohania said. He continued, "She seems more in love with you, then you are with her…" Dan seemed offended by this.

"She has been through the transformation and survived. She only survived because of you. She could only have survived because of love." Mohania said. Dan nodded.

"Is Skyka and Herrior immune to magic? They seem to be in love." Mohania shook his head.

"Their love is greater than yours. Herrior is more resistant to nature magic then a normal person. Skyka on the other hand has a lot of magical resistances, even in her regular form. But that's mostly because of her race."

"Are you immune to any magic? Are you in love?" Dan asked.

"Yes…and no. Like I said holy magic can almost instantly destroy me. Shadow and fire magic I can sometimes absorb and launch the same spell back at the enemy. I never forget the faces of my family, and that makes me be able to absorb spells."

"I'm sorry you had such a bad past." Dan said. Mohania nodded.

Lindel made it back over towards them. "I'm in love with everybody…most spells don't affect me at all…" She smiled. Mohania waved her away. Lindel blew Mohania a kiss and walked away continuing her dance, sending sparks into the air.

Mohania suddenly looked up. "I'm sensing the King kept his promise. An army of undead are shackled and being lead to me." Mohania sighed. "I really don't want any business with the King…"

"I gathered that." Dan said with a smile. Mohania grunted. Again the purple stone glowed in Mohania's pocket. This time Mohania pulled it out. An image of a troll ambassador appeared above the stone.

"The King's army has seized the undead. They will be at the wall within a minute." The troll said.

"I know…" Mohania put the stone back into his pocket seeming to be frustrated with the troll.

"Thanks for bringing me down here." Dan said.

"You are most welcome. I look forward to battling with you against our foes." Mohania said. Mohania extended his foot towards Dan. Dan grabbed it and the imp ran in front of them into one of the catacombs. Lindel turned back into a banshee and followed them.

The three of them exited the cave. Dan let go of Mohania and instantly the black aura faded. Mohania chanted a couple of words and his illusion faded. Lindel turned back to her normal radiate self. Dan picked up his swords. Crystal was about twenty yards in front of them with her sais in both of her hands.

"Like I said…she has a lot of spirit…" Mohania said deeply with a smile. The three of them advanced towards Crystal.

"Need some help?" Lindel asked brushing Crystal's hair back over her shoulder.

"It looks like a massive army is coming against us." Crystal said adjusting her sais in her hands.

"They are expected…" Mohania said. "We should pay attention to the undead though. If they are tainted I won't be able to control them, and they'll need to be destroyed."

"Just the four of us?" Crystal asked adjusting her weapons in her hands..

"Afraid?" Mohania said looking at her. Crystal shot Mohania a dirty look. Mohania started laughing.

The four of them spread out. Lindel's eyes glow brightly, and the fire in Mohania's eyes began to grow. Dan and Crystal were on opposite sides of the group.

The King's guards brought them within twenty yards of the four of them.

"Here are the undead as promised. Do you wish to analyze them per request of the King?" One of the guards said. Mohania started to walk forward, and the rest of the group followed him. The undead started to hiss at him. Mohania chanted a spell and a blue circle appeared in his right hand. He held up his hand and it produced a blue light that shone over the undead, similar to that of a flashlight.

"Most of these are being controlled by a sorcerer. It appears as though he is coming after you to get his pets back. He seems very powerful, and he is advancing on our position."

"Do you want us to stay with you?" The same guard asked.

"No. It's nothing we can't handle." Mohania replied back in a calm voice. Mohania doused his light and started walking away from the group. The party followed. They walked about twenty yards and Mohania quickly spun around.

"They can be destroyed. I can't do anything with undead that are created or summoned by magic."

The guard nodded and gave the command to several magic users. Suddenly bright beams of holy light blasted down from the sky. The screams from the undead lasted only a second. They were completely obliterated.

The guard then walked up to Mohania and said, "Thanks for your help. We can leave some of our Wyvern riders here to help." Mohania shook his head.

"How much longer do you have guard duty?" the guard asked.

"One more day, then we will be relieved." Lindel spoke up. "Do you and your party require any healing or food?"

The guard shook his head. "Thanks though. We'll be heading back to town. Good luck." The guards walked to the entrance of the great wall, opening it and disappearing behind it.

"Do you sense anything Mohania?" Dan asked putting his weapons away. Mohania stood still staring ahead for awhile.

"There's a demon about two hundred yards to our left. He's just wondering around aimlessly though."

"What about the sorcerer?" Dan asked. Mohania slowly shook his head. "With the undead killed, I can't sense him anymore. No doubt he is on his way though." Dan nodded. "Should we wait for him here?"

Crystal spoke up, "Naw, let's go back and relax. We'll watch for him there." Mohania nodded in agreement and the four of them walked back to the wall. Mohania's imp was still following him.

They walked until they could hear several people snoring. Lindel let out a yawn. "Let's sit here…" Lindel said sleepily. She then sat down on the ground; the rest of them sat in a circle. Lindel scooted over to Crystal and laid her head on her lap.

"Wake me up if anything happens." Lindel whispered to Crystal. Crystal nodded and began to run her hands through Lindel's hair. Lindel began snoring after a couple of minutes.

Mohania created a fire in the middle of them. He then turned to his imp and spoke to him in a voice and words that neither Dan nor Crystal understood. The imp nodded and instantly his body flashed in a bright light. Then only a faint outline of the imp could be seen. Mohania then pointed down the field and the imp bounced away out of sight.

"Kind of like an early warning detection system?" Dan asked. Mohania simply nodded very slowly and continued to stare at the fire. Dan then turned to Crystal who was staring at the red twirling clouds in the sky.

"How are you holding up hun?" Dan asked. Crystal just continued to stare at the sky. She kept running her hands through Lindel's hair.

"Crystal?" Dan said. He moved closer to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped. Dan quickly removed his hand. She let out a smile at him and then sighed.

"Seems like there's a lot on your mind tonight. Are you ok?" Dan asked. Crystal nodded.

"Just thinking…" Crystal said, sounding like she was in her own little world.

"Do you miss our world?" Dan asked. Crystal looked down at the fire, and slowly turned her gaze to Dan. Slowly she let out a smile.

"Some parts of it…" Crystal said slowly. Dan smiled back at her. Crystal then turned her gaze back up at the sky.

"You know we can't ever go back…" Crystal said slowly.

Dan let out a sigh and looked at the sky with her. "I've thought about that."

"We can't let our world turn into this place." Crystal said softly. She then started looking around at the dried up, lifeless dirt. She picked up a handful and let it fall between her fingers.

Dan reached down and drew a heart in the dirt in the middle of where the dirt was falling. Crystal let out a laugh and looked up at him. Their eyes met. Dan moved closer to her and kissed her. He then scooted over and sat down beside her. She put her head on his shoulder. They both started running their hands through Lindel's hair.

"So what else is on your mind hun?" Dan asked quietly.

"I'm still having nightmares. Sometimes it's hard for me to concentrate during the day. The only relief I get is when we are in battle. I feel like I could sleep for a week. This whole ordeal…this everything that I've been through…everything…it's just overwhelming." Crystal said slowly. Dan nodded and put his hand around her head.

"I just…I'm scared…sometimes it's all just too much…you know…" Crystal said. Before Dan could say anything, Crystal said "Don't say anything" firmly. Dan gave her another hug and saw tears falling down her face. She looked back up to the sky. Dan also looked up.

"It almost looks like we're going to get sucked up into the clouds…kind of like a hurricane. Only with no sound." Dan said after a moment. "I wonder what caused it..." Mohania let out a hiss. They both looked at him. He hadn't moved. Apparently he didn't like the question.

"I don't know, probably something we wouldn't understand though." Crystal said. Mohania let out a small grin.

"Do you miss being a cop?" Dan asked. Crystal nodded and looked away. She let out a chuckle and said, "Some how I feel safer being shot at in our world than I do here…" Dan smiled and looked around.

"I miss my desk. I had it all setup the way I wanted it. Now probably all of my stuff has been moved and somebody else is using it…" Crystal said still looking away. Dan looked down and grabbed a handful of dirt and sifted it through his hands. Lindel let out a soft moan.

"Do you miss your friends and family?" Crystal asked.

"Yes. Life was a lot simpler with them. Waking up to breakfast, watching movies till two am. Even the time that I spent at the academy was easier than this." Dan said.

Crystal let out a chuckle. "Yeah"

Dan was about to say something when Mohania's head turned all the way around and let out a loud hiss. Mohania then jumped to his feet and started running as fast as he could away from them. The fire instantly vanished.

"Wake up Lindel. I think we have some company…" Dan said and jumped up to run after him. Dan drew both of his swords. Both swords gave off a faint red and blue aura that he could at least follow relatively close to Mohania.

"Lindel! Hun, wake up!" Crystal said and started shaking her. "Lindel! Come on girl!"

"Huh? What's going on hun?" Lindel said slowly and stretched.

"Dan and Mohania are chasing after something. We need to go help." Crystal replied back shaking her some more.

"Wha?" Lindel said slowly, and then suddenly woke up. "Oh shit! Come on!" Lindel jumped up off from the ground and pulled Crystal up with her. Lindel's eyes lit up and shown forth like tiny flashlights that lit up their path. Both of them started after the Dan and Mohania.

Mohania ran for what seemed like several minutes. He finally caught up with his imp. This imp was pointing towards the south. Mohania sensed for any demons but couldn't sense anything. He then knelt down on the ground next to his imp.

"Who goes there?" A voice called out. It was sounded like a small high pitched voice. Mohania instantly got down on all fours and let out a small hiss. Dan caught up to him and nearly tripped over him. Dan stopped soon enough and slide into Mohania on the ground, quickly scanning the darkness for what Mohania and his imp were looking at.

"I'm a powerful mage; you don't want to mess with me!" The tiny voice shouted. The two of them simply knelt on the ground and didn't move. They could hear Crystal and Lindel slowly approaching them. Mohania leaned over to his imp and whispered something to him. The imp then bounced away a couple of yards and then began channeling a spell. A tiny fireball flew from its fingers and hit the mage.

"Ouch! Why you little imp…" the mage called out. The mage raised his hands in the air and started channeling his own spell. Ice shards began falling from the sky. The imp started running away from the group, the ice shards were following him. Mohania began to chant one of his spells. It was one Dan hadn't heard before. His hands were turning from red to green. It took about three seconds for him to channel it, but the imp had him distracted. Then a big green oblong crystal looking object flew from his hands and began sailing towards the Mage. Mohania instantly started chanting one of his shadow bolt spells next.

At the same time Lindel and Crystal showed up. Dan motioned for Crystal to take the left. The two of them started slowly advancing towards the Mage. Lindel followed Crystal. They both drew out their weapons.

The green looking crystal hit the Mage dead on. It caused a massive explosion, sending the little guy flying backward several yards. It had torn a giant piece of flesh from his stomach. The ice storm instantly stopped, and the imp began firing his own fireballs at the Mage, which was now tumbling on the ground. The Mage quickly got to his feet, only to see one of Mohania's shadow bolts come searing towards him. It quickly hit him and he let out another scream. The Mage then held up his hand and a white aura engulfed him. Then he snapped his fingers and it appeared that the Mage turned a bluish color.

Dan and Crystal's weapons hit the aura, but simply bounced off from him. Before they could take another swing, the Mage instantly let out a blast of fire that radiated away from him. Dan and Crystal were thrown back several feet and laid on the ground stunned. They were both badly burned. Lindel made it to Crystal first and began healing her.

Meanwhile Trackolania's twitching ear woke him up suddenly. He sat up and began to scan the horizons. It wasn't long until he saw the magic spells being thrown back and forth in the distance. He quickly ran over to Herrior and started yanking on his arm. Herrior simply let out a snort. Trackolania then started kicking him in the back. Herrior grunted again and rolled over. He opened his eyes to see Trackolania jumping up and down pointing to the south of them. Herrior blinked several times to focus. He then saw several faint lights flying back and forth. He looked back up at Trackolania who had a very worried look on his face.

"Is that our group?" Herrior asked sitting up. Trackolania nodded.

"Wake up!" Herrior shouted. His group quickly rose to their feet grabbing their weapons. "Let's go!"

They started running towards the battle. Herrior realized they would never make it in time. He turned around and looked at Strings.

"Blast us as far as you can!" Herrior commanded. Strings pulled out his lute and began to play a song while running. He had to slow down to make sure he got the notes right. Suddenly a big blast of air slammed into the ground. It picked up Herrior and his group and instantly threw them fifty yards forward. They all landed with a roll and began running.

Unfortunately though, Strings was on the opposite of the blast throwing him up against the wall. Several of his ribs let out a fierce cracking sound. He knelt down to the ground trying to catch his breath.

The warlock cave opened up and twenty undead warlocks encircled Strings in a defensive position. They crawled out on all fours and squatted around him.

"…ouch…thanks…" Strings said in a quiet wounded voice. The warlocks didn't respond.

Herrior's mighty hoofs started pounding on the ground as he began to gain speed. He reached over and picked up Trackolania. Trackolania nodded to him. Herrior spun around and launched Trackolania into the air as far as he could throw him. Trackolania shot his hands forward and kept his legs straight behind him as he flew. Herrior stumbled a little but quickly regained his footing and his mighty hoofs started slamming on the ground again. The rest of the group tried to keep up.

Trackolania landed far off in the distance. He tucked and rolled several times and then started sprinting. His body seemed moved forward with such speed that only glimpses of him could be seen.

Back at the fight Dan slowly rose up from the ground. His body felt like he had just come out of a hot oven. He saw Crystal running back at the Mage who was constantly throw ice shards at Mohania. He grabbed his weapons and charged forward.

"Out numbered eh? I can change that…" The Mage said and suddenly created two mirror images of himself. He then withdrew a little and began quickly chanting a spell that created a six foot tall mass of water that seemed to hover above the ground. It had arms, but no facial characteristics. It then positioned itself in front of the mage. It then raised its arms and started shooting ice shards at Mohania as well. Mohania was getting hit pretty hard and eventually fell to one knee. His black aura faded.

Time stopped.

"Crystal get the left, I'll get the right! Lindel…" Dan began to say, but was cut off by Lindel, "I'll get rid of the shards flying towards Mohania." She quickly ran up to the ice shards and melted them instantly by touching them. A faint red glow came out of her hands when touched them. Crystal ran up to the frozen Mage on the left and thrusted both sais into his stomach. They bounced off at first, same with Dan's first attack. They both continued to swing until the mage's shield began to weak.

Time resumed.

Mohania quickly recasted the dark aura around his body. "I need some time to recover!" he yelled. Lindel turned into her banshee form and instantly teleported herself in the middle of the Mage and his minions. She let out a deafening scream. Crystal and Dan had to stop their attacks and knelt down covering their ears. The original Mage ran off in terror unable to control himself. His conjured images and his elemental did the same. Once Lindel was done, Crystal and Dan both jumped up off the ground and ran towards their targets, their ears still ringing. They both sank their weapons into the duplicate images, only this time they hit their mark. Dan's flame sword instantly scorched the mage's clothes. The image screamed and turned around launching a quick fire spell at Dan. Dan quickly put his swords in front of him in the shape of an "X" and the spell was absorbed into the blades, never hitting Dan.

"Excellent!" A tiny voice said. It was the same one he had heard before fighting the snake demon. He simply ignored it and took another swing at the conjured Mage. This time the frost blade hit his left arm, slicing it open and instantly freezing the hole. Dan then spun around and sank his fire blade directly into the conjured mage's stomach, sailing right through it. The Mage screamed and instantly caught fire, burning itself out of existence.

At the same time Crystal sank both of her sais into her mage, which were deflected by the his shield. Crystal didn't give up though, she continued jabbing her sais at him, while the Mage was shooting ice shards at her. She had successfully dodged many of the spells, but the ones that did hit her sent chills down her spine. After being hit by two, she became very pissed off and spun around swinging her right sai at the Mage's face. It hit with a loud thud and made a scraping sound as she drew it across his face. She then quickly jabbed at his stomach with her other sai. It slowly penetrated the shield and sunk a couple of inches into the Mage's stomach. She then quickly kicked up her right foot and made direct contact with the Mage's groin. He doubled over in pain as she sent her other sai sailing through his left eye. She quickly pulled the sai out of his head, spraying fluid everywhere and quickly ran the other sai into his back. He fell to the ground and burned up.

Meanwhile Lindel had been deflecting the water bolts that the summoned creature shot. She would raise her hand fast enough and it would glow a dark purple as the bolts hit it. They would bounce off from her hand and shoot out in multiple directions. Mohania's imp had targeted the water creature as well and was shooting fireballs at it.

"Aim…for the…head…" Lindel said in a very dark, sinister voice. Both Crystal and Dan twirled their weapons in their hands and raced towards it. They both jumped at the same time and sank their weapons into the creature's head. Dan's fire blade hit the water and it instantly started to boil, throwing steam into the air. The ice sword instantly froze a small part of the creatures head. Crystal's sais both sank the entire length of the weapon into the creatures head. The summon water creature let out a high pitch squeal. Crystal and Dan both landed on the ground, but they became instantly frozen to the ground as the creature twirled around and vanished. Lindel changed back to her normal self. She ran over to the two of them and placed her hands on the ice and it instantly melted.

To everybody surprise the Mage was several yards behind them drinking some water. He had a smile on his face. Crystal and Dan charged at him again. The Mage quickly jumped to his feet and instantly let out an explosion of white light. Both of them were able to hold their ground and continued walking painfully towards the Mage. Off in the far distance the sound of loud powerful hoofs could be heard.

The explosions of white light continued until both of them couldn't walk anymore. They both knelt down to the ground in pain. It felt as though their very soul was being pushed backwards from their bodies. The explosions stopped and Lindel ran up to Crystal.

"Good…now feel some real pain!" The Mage shouted. He held his hands up and an image of a dragon's head appeared above his head and breathed fire at the three of them. The three of them cried out in pain, and were instantly blinded by the blast. The Mage walked forward and another blast wave of fire came radiating out from the Mage. It blew the three of them backwards. Then the Mage ran forward and pulled Crystal up from the ground by her neck.

"Surrender or I'll freeze her to death!" the Mage screamed. Crystal's body started to turn blue. Lindel and Dan both pushed themselves off from the ground and walked towards each other.

"Not another step! Throw your weapons down!" The Mage demanded. Crystal dropped her weapons, her fingers were almost completely blue - she shivered violently.

Dan and Lindel looked at each other. Dan was considering stopping time again, but Lindel mouthed the word "no" to him as if she read his mind. Dan slammed his weapons into the ground. Even the imp stopped firing his fireballs at the mage and just stood there. The sound of the mighty hoofs in the back ground became louder.

"Good. I'm going to take her back to my cave and have a little fun. If any of you follow me, I'll kill her!" The Mage said. Suddenly a green skull flew towards the Mage leaving a green trail behind it. It instantly flew into the mage's face, causing him to let go of his grip of Crystal and ran screaming behind him. Lindel quickly ran over to Crystal and laid both hands on her and quickly started warming her back up. Dan grabbed his blades and chased after the fleeing mage. Before he could get to him though a dark cloud of tiny purple faces engulfed the mage's head and sunk into his body. Then a tiny demon appeared of an imp, and slowly sank into the mage's mouth. Mohania then rose off the ground and ran after the mage.

"You could have hit Crystal!" Dan shouted.

"I never miss…" Mohania hissed as he ran by him. "Leave us alone…just keep him from escaping…" Mohania began casting another spell as the mage turned around. He finished the spell and the mage's face instantly turned into one of utter terror. Mohania then began channeling a green beam of light at the mage with floating skulls flying towards Mohania. The mage ran around in terror for about eight seconds and then began to channel his own spell. It was an enormous fireball that flew towards Mohania. Mohania simply raised his hand and absorbed the spell, causing his body to blink multiple colors. He then spun around and launched a shadow bolt without even chanting the spell. He then followed it up with a spell that seemed to ignite the mage's hair and flew up into the sky. The mage chanting his own spell and threw it at the warlock. An instant explosion of fire engulfed Mohania, but caused him no pain. Mohania smiled and continued to walk towards him.

Crystal had started to recover as Lindel was healing her. Dan ran behind the mage and waited for the right time to strike. The imp started firing his fire bolts at the mage again. The mage ignored it, but every single hit seemed to drain him of his power. The mage kept backing up. Mohania started channeling fire spells that seemed to take only half a second to cast. Each one found its target. The mage tried to channel a spell back at him, but each time he chanted the words he found that he often spoke in a demonic tongue, causing him to start over the spell. Mohania casted another fear spell at the mage, causing him to run backwards. Dan was there and took a slice at his left leg with his ice blade. It sailed all the way through, instantly freezing what was left of his leg. It caused him to do a flip and fall to the ground.

At this time Trackolania had caught up with the group. He drew both blades and jumped towards the mage on the ground.

"Do not kill him!" Mohania said quickly. Trackolania landed on the mage with just his hands and rolled out of the way. It knocked the wind out of him. The five of them surrounded the mage, as he slowly pulled out a crystal from his cloak. Dan suddenly swung his sword, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. Mohania then began channeling the green light from the mage again, until the mage's breathing slowed and his face had sunken in.

"Don't…kill me…" The mage said.

"I bet I could kill you faster than Mohania could." Crystal said driving her sai just inches above the mage's neck. Mohania just hissed. The group circled him.

"I…can give you riches…anything you desire…" the mage slowly said.

"Lindel?" Dan asked.

"He's telling the truth." She replied back.

"Find out what you can…" Dan replied back. Lindel instantly became a purple ball and hovered right above the mage's eyes.

"No! Please…no!" The mage started to squirm. Dan grabbed one arm, and Crystal grabbed the other. Trackolania pulled his eyes open. Lindel then quickly floated into his eyes. His body twitched several times and then began to shake violently.

"I have a stash of engineering parts, precious gems, and enchanted items that I am guarding…" The mage slowly said. The mage then shook violently again and then said, "It's about three miles south of here, guarded by several golems of my creation." Blood started pouring out of his ears and his nose.

"I'm not aligned with the Alliance…I am on my own…"

"Do not kill him!" Mohania demanded. Lindel then slowly floated out of the mage's eyes. The purple ball flew over towards Mohania and then rematerialized into Lindel. Lindel put both arms around Mohania and said, "You want to get your soul gem don't you…" and kissed him on his boney cheek. Mohania just stared forward at the mage.

"No! Please! Just kill me! Don't let the warlock drain my soul. Please!" Mohania walked forward with a smile. He started laughing in a very sinister voice. He raised both hands and suddenly a purple beam came from the mage and into Mohania. The mage was screaming the whole time. Within seconds the body lay lifeless. Mohania channeled the power into his hands and held them tight together. Slowly he withdrew them and a purple gem appeared. It had purple clouds circling in it, with a pair of eyes floating around in it. Mohania let out a sinister laugh. He put the gem inside his cloak.

"Bring him…" Mohania said. Dan and Crystal both grabbed an arm and began dragging him towards the wall.

Herrior had finally caught up with them. He jumped in the air and brought his sword down on him, cutting him in half. He put his sword away and bent over on his knees trying to catch his breath. Mohania let out a groan.

"Herrior…was that really necessary?" Lindel said softly to him. Herrior let out a grunt, and said "I hate gnomes…"

"Apparently he has a cave with some stuff in it, three miles south of here." Dan said. Herrior nodded. They all started walking back towards the wall. The rest of the party was still struggling to catch up with them.

Meanwhile Strings was still on the ground trying to catch his breath. The pain was intense. Suddenly all of the warlocks surrounding him began to hiss at the same time. Strings looked down the field and started scanning the area. He checked both tree lines and didn't see anything. Instantly all of the warlocks created a dark aura around their bodies. Strings slowly looked at the warlocks and they were all looking towards the sky. He looked up and saw six gryphon riders bearing down on them. The riders began throwing magical hammers at them. The warlocks began scrambling around, dodging them.

Strings winched in pain as he stood to his feet. He put the lute to his lips and blew a very long high pitch sound. The gryphons started screeching and bucked their riders off from the enormous creatures. The gryphons then quickly flew away. The warlocks started chanting the same spell and launched shadow bolts into the riders who were holding their ears. The spells all hit their targets, but did little damage. The warlocks began chanting the same spell again.

Strings stopped the high pitch squeal, and began to play another song. This one clouded the thoughts of the fallen riders. Blackness filled their eyes and all they could see was each other. Suddenly each one of the riders was filled with rage. They all drew their blades and began fighting one another. Strings could feel his broken ribs move as he expanded and contracted his lungs. Each time brought tears to his eyes and almost caused him to stop playing. But he knew if he stopped, he was good as dead.

The riders slowly killed each other off until there was only two left. Strings couldn't play anymore and dropped to his knees wailing in pain. The two riders quickly shook off the spell and began to approach the warlocks surrounding Strings. One of the warlocks spoke in a demonic voice, Strings couldn't understand. A Succubus came running out of the came and approached one of the closest riders. She held her hand up and began chanting her own spell. Instantly the rider was under her control. He turned around and quickly struck at the other rider with his sword, leaving a deep gash in his right arm.

"Hey!" the rider shouted. The two of them began to duel. The warlocks were on the ground recharging their magic. They still had their black auras around them. Strings spit out some blood, tried to look up at what was going on, and fell over on his back letting out a fierce cry.

Trackolania faintly heard it and ran over to Herrior and pulled on his armor. Herrior looked down at him, and Trackolania began pointing and jumping at the wall.

"Shit…we left the wall defenseless…" Herrior said staring at the wall from a far distance. Dawn was starting to come, and they could see a faint outline of it. Herrior quickly looked around at his group. Dan and Crystal were both carrying a section of the gnome. He suddenly felt a lump in his throat when he realized Strings wasn't with them.

"Lindel - can you sense Strings?" Herrior said quickly. She put her hands to her head and a white light emanated from her head and seemed to spread out in all different directions.

Herrior looked at the wall, looked down at Trackolania who seemed very impatient, and then nervously looked at Lindel. He let out a quick grunt.

"I'm trying!" Lindel replied quickly. After a moment Lindel then gasped.

"Strings is down, he's in a lot of pain. Mohania's warlocks have him surrounded; they are fighting two dismounted gryphon riders. One of them is controlled by a Succubus…ok…the controlled rider has just disarmed the other rider…he's backing up…the warlocks are all jumping on him now, tearing at his flesh…he's screaming in pain…"

Mohania smiled with satisfaction. "I taught them to do that…" Herrior glared over at Mohania. His smile disappeared.

"The controlled rider is just standing there…I can sense the Succubus is losing her grip on him…"

"Will Strings live?" Herrior asked. Lindel shook her head slowly and then shrugged her shoulders.

"I cant tell…he's too far away…the Succubus just lost her control on the rider…he spun around and started running towards the Succubus…her whip just wrapped around his neck and the…snake?" Lindel stopped for a moment. Mohania nodded with a smile. Lindel didn't see him though.

"There's some sort of snake…thing…tearing at his face. It's at the end of her whip…he's trying to swing at it. She just pulled her whip back really hard and he fell to the ground…she is constantly whipping him now, tearing out chucks of flesh every time she does. The warlocks have…picked the other riders body…clean…ugh…and now they are all piling on top of the other rider…that's disgusting!" Lindel ended. She stopped channeling her spell.

"I think the situation is under control." Lindel finally said.

"Still though, we should get there as fast as possible to help Strings…" Herrior said and began running; the rest of the group began running also. This time instead of running ahead of the group, he kept pace with them.

"Mohania are there any demons in the area?" Herrior said. Mohania looked at Herrior and then looked ahead.

"There's still the demon north of us, but he's just wondering around aimlessly. He's several hundred yards away. I don't think he posses any threat. Other than that, no."

"Quinely, how much strength do you have left in you?" Herrior asked. Quinely was panting pretty hard after the long run that they all had. The entire party was actually.

"I am at your command." Quinely replied.

"Can you fly ahead and comfort Strings?" Herrior asked. Quinely instantly morphed into an eagle and began to fly ahead of them.

"Trackolania do you have enough energy to sprint?" Herrior asked him. Trackolania shook his head.

"Ok, let's just keep this pace then. Everybody be on the lookout for an ambush. Let me know if anybody senses, or hears anything out of the ordinary." Everybody drew out their weapons, except for Crystal and Dan - who were still carrying both halves of the gnome. Skyka took on her shadow form. The group surrounded Dan and Crystal and took on defensive positions with Herrior in the lead.

Strings was still moaning in pain, and had both hands on his chest. He tried to crawl towards the gate, but couldn't move. The warlocks finished feasting on the last rider and quickly surrounded Strings again. This time the succubus stood with the warlocks. She held up her hand and quickly vanished from sight. She moved closer to Strings, he could feel her leg brush up against his left arm.

"I know you may not understand me…but thank you…I owe you my life…" Strings said straining to get the words out. The warlocks didn't say anything, but maintained their defensive crouching position on the ground.

What seemed like a long time had passed, and Strings was slowly losing consciousness when he heard the screech of a bird flying towards him. He slowly closed his eyes.

"Strings…no…stay with me. This is Quinely. Talk to me hun." Quinely flew down to Strings and landed on his right side and morphed back into her normal self.

"Don't close your eyes, stick with me hun…talk to me. Tell me what happened. Tell me what's wrong."

Strings slowly opened his eyes and pointed to his chest. Quinely slowly unbuttoned his shirt and it showed several ribs sticking out of his chest, several more looked disfigured.

"It doesn't look so bad…hun help is on the way…you need to stay awake. Talk to me." Quinely said.

"Can you…change into a…cheetah?" Strings said with a smile. Quinely smiled back and morphed into a cheetah. She began licking his face. Strings let out a chuckle. She knelt down next to him and nudged his arm over her head.

"Do you like me in cheetah form?" The animal asked.

"You look very…sexy…" Strings let out another laugh. Blood came up with it. Quinely licked it up and started purring and rubbing her head against his.

"You look very sexy to hun." Quinely said. Strings let out a small snort and turned his head to look at her. He tried to lift his hand, but Quinely's paw pushed it back down to the ground.

"Don't move hun, save your strength. Tell me what happened."

"I did the…blast of wind…but only I was on the wrong…side…I was blasted against the wall…" Strings coughed up some more blood. Quinely licked it up and began licking his forehead.

"Then the warlocks came out…I thought they were going to eat me…but they saved my life. They…aren't as powerful as Mohania…but they have a good trainer…" Strings said very slowly. Quinely shook her cheetah head up and down.

"You have a good trainer too. You were taught to hold on, to forget the pain and concentrate on something else. You must do that Strings. You must hold on." Quinely said slowly. Strings nodded.

"How far…away…is everybody?" Strings said slowly. The cheetah looked up and scanned the horizon.

"Not very far. They'll be here soon." Quinely said unconvincingly.

Strings let out a grunt and looked over at her. "Liar…" he said with a smile.

"Can you play me a song? Play a song that will take away the pain." Quinely said quickly. Strings shook his head.

"I have a lung injury. It…hurts to breath…I can't…play…anymore…" Strings said and then his body went limp.

"Strings! Strings! Stay with me big fella, they are almost here. They will heal you, but you need to stay with me. You don't need to talk anymore, just blink your eyes. Come on!" Quinely said. She morphed back into her original form. She checked for a pulse, it was really weak. She knelt down to check for breathing and that was weak as well. She then stood up and stared at the warlocks surrounding him.

"Can't you do anything to help him! Isn't there anything you can do! Come on, help him!" She screamed at them. There was no response, the warlocks just continued to sway back and forth scanning the horizon.

"Lindel! Skyka!" Quinely shouted as loud as she could. She could faintly see the group coming, but they appeared to be moving slow. She knelt down next to Strings and grabbed his hand.

"I know you can hear me hun…I need you to hold on…ok? Just listen to my voice. Concentrate on my voice. If you can, give me a sign that you are still with me." Strings slowly squeezed her hand a little.

"Good! That's all I need. Just relax hun, ok? Help is on the way, I promise." Quinely knelt down to his ear and began whispering.

"When we get you healed up, I'm going to take you to the Everglades ok? You can ride on bears, and chase deer and rabbits. We'll go swimming in lake Elude. I'll change into a dolphin and let you ride me. We'll swim with the fish and dive down to the bottom. We'll collect shells and rocks. The water will be refreshing. There will be other druids there splashing us, and swimming with us. It'll be fun. I'll jump out of the water as high as I can and we'll create the biggest splash. Then we can run through the forest. I'll morph into a bear and you'll feel the air flying through your face. It'll be refreshing. You'll have the time of your life. I promise."

Strings's head fell to Quinely's side and his eyes seemed very distant.

"But you need to promise me that you'll make it through this…ok? You need to promise me. Help is on the way." Strings didn't make any movement.

"Skyka! Lindel! Hurry!" Quinely yelled into the air. This time they heard her.

"Go! I'll escort you. Run as fast as you can! The rest of you watch our backs." Herrior commanded. Lindel and Skyka started running as fast as they could. Herrior easily matched their speed. Trackolania took the lead of the rest of the group. Trackolania could see the wall and was approaching it quickly.

Lindel, Skyka, and Herrior quickly raced away from the group.

"Move it!" Herrior yelled. Lindel and Skyka were already running as fast as they could. They made it to the wall within a minute and the warlocks stepped aside. Skyka knelt down beside Strings and checked for a pulse. It was there but very weak. Skyka then began chanting a powerful healing spell. Several seconds later a large blast of holy light beamed down from the sky and entered Strings's body. She then casted a levitate spell on him, getting him off from the ground. Again, Skyka casted the same spell on his body. Strings took in a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Good! Lindel get in there…tell me what to do." Lindel instantly turned into a purple ball and entered Strings's eyes. He didn't resist at all.

"Hey hun, how are you feeling?" Lindel asked inside of his mind.

"My ribs are poking into my lungs." Strings said in his mind.

"I'm on it…you have the best healers looking after you ok? Just lay back and relax." Lindel quickly floated down to his stomach. Several ribs were actually poking into his lungs. She pulled them out and realigned them. She then put her hands on the punctured lungs and a white light came out of her hands, quickly closing in the organ.

"Breath for me hun." Lindel said. Strings let in a deep breath. The pain was gone, and his lungs were working again.

"There's still pain!" Strings said in his mind.

"No problem, I'll get right on it." Lindel floated down and saw that his spine was actually out of alignment and several more ribs were broken in half.

"Tell Skyka to flip you over hun." Lindel said.

"Lindel said to flip me over…" Strings told Skyka. Skyka quickly summoned another spell and Strings's body now faced the ground. He was still hovering about a foot off from the ground.

"Tell her to open you up where the bright light is." Lindel said and suddenly illuminated herself into a bright ball of light.

"Lindel said to open me up where the bright light is…" Strings said, still winching in pain.

Skyka immediately put her hands together and brought them down on the bright light beaming out of his back. She slowly pulled back the skin and created an opening. She saw the spine misalignment and the broken ribs. She casted an instant slow healing spell into his spine. It started to realign itself. She then channeled another powerful healing spell and blasted his ribs. They instantly started mending themselves and reconnected to his spine. Lindel was making circles around his spine, making sure that it would realign itself properly. Skyka recasted the same instant slow healing spell on his spine.

"Ah…that feels much better…" Strings said. Quinely was still holding his hand and smiled.

The rest of the group arrived and surrounded Strings. Mohania ordered the warlock minions to take the remains of the gnome and go into their cave. They did as ordered.

"How are you doing old man?" Herrior said with a smile.

"Much better thanks. I protected the wall as best as I could. I could have done better though…" Herrior interrupted him.

"Strings you did great. Don't beat yourself up over it. You did just fine." Herrior said in a quiet voice. Strings smiled. Skyka casted another healing spell and a blast of white light entered Strings's back.

"How am I looking hun?" Strings said in his mind.

"Almost done sweetie, you took a beating that's for sure. Nothing we cant fix though. Give us another moment." Lindel answered back.

Skyka asked Strings "Should I close you back up?"

"Let me ask." Strings repeated the question in his mind. Lindel checked over the spine, the alignment, and the neurons firing from it again. She slowly started testing the spine and it seemed to be working just fine.

"Yes she can. I'm on my way out. You're as good as new." Lindel replied. Strings nodded his head at Skyka. Skyka put her hands on the wound and slowly closed it. She then casted another healing spell on it to seal it. Lindel flew out of Strings's eyes and materialized to her normal self. Strings stood to his feet, and Skyka slowly let him back down on the ground.

"Can you move your arms and legs? Is the pain gone?" Lindel asked. Strings started performing a self test and found that he was fully functional again. He looked up and smiled.

"I could go for a drink…" he said. Skyka giggled. "He's fine."

"Let me know if you have any discomfort. You suffered a spinal injury, a punctured lung, and several broken ribs. I'm certain that we got everything, but just in case let me know ok?" Lindel said. Strings shook his head. Lindel stood back. Her eyes turned purple and a faint beam of light came out of them as she looked Strings's body over. After her examination she said, "You seem ok, but again just let me know ok?"

"Good to have you back." Herrior said and put his arm on Strings's shoulder. "I see that you were busy while we were gone." Strings nodded and let out a golly laugh that shook his oversized belly. He looked at Mohania and said, "I have a new view of the undead. I owe them my life." Mohania let out a slow nod.

"They need to be taught more…but it takes time…" Mohania said slowly and in a distant voice.

Strings was still holding Quinely's hand. He turned to her and said; "I believe you made some promises to me young lady…" he then brought her hand up and kissed it. Quinely's face turned red.

"What did she promise you?" Herrior asked.

Skyka started pushing him away, "That's none of your business! Don't be asking questions like that…"

"No it's ok. We're going to go to the Everglades and play around. You are all welcome to come." Quinely said.

"Everglades?" Dan asked.

"It's where the druids come from. They are born, raised, and taught there. That's where we picked up Quinely from." Herrior said turning his head towards Dan. Dan nodded, not really knowing what he was nodding for.

"We have another day of guard duty. Let's get rested up shall we?" Herrior said and walked over to the wall and leaned up against it.

"Herrior, we have a promise that we need to keep. To Bernett and his wife. Is it ok if we do that?" Lindel said.

Herrior looked at her curiously. "Do you feel up to doing that?" Lindel nodded her head.

"Will you be ok without us?" Lindel asked.

Herrior looked at Mohania. He quickly began to sense for demons and he shook his head. Herrior then looked at Quinely. She held up her hand and an orange circle appeared above her head. She meditated for several minutes and then said, "I don't sense anything around." Herrior let out a sigh. Skyka walked over and kissed him on the cheek. Herrior grunted.

"We'll be without a healer…" Herrior started to say. He looked around at the group and let out another grunt. "Mohania do you have enough power to maintain the illusions?" He nodded.

"We won't need an illusion. We'll head into Tranquil and pick out something to wear."

"Don't, wear anything that will make you stick out and draw attention to you…ok!" Herrior said and glared at Skyka and Lindel. They both walked forward and both of them started rubbing his horns.

"Hun…would we do anything like that?" Skyka said in a sexy voice. Herrior turned his face and glared at her. Skyka began to giggle. She grabbed the big taurens face and pulled him towards her. She then planted a big kiss on his lips.

"We'll be fine…" Skyka said rubbing her finger down Herrior's nose.

"Why don't I believe you?" Herrior said with a sigh. Both Lindel and Skyka laughed. Herrior waved them away. Both of them laughed as they opened the gate and entered the portal.

"We'll be right be Mohania! Don't go anywhere!" Skyka yelled before she entered.

Herrior slowly shook his head. "Keep an eye on them…ok?" Mohania quickly chanted a spell and put his hands together. He slowly pulled them apart and a green eye appeared. It hovered above the ground and started flying around Herrior, staring at him. Herrior looked at him with a straight face. Mohania just smiled.

"You know what I mean…do you have enough power to fight any demons that may show up?" Herrior asked. Mohania stared at Herrior for a couple of seconds as if checking something.

"Yesss…." Mohania said slowly.

"Bernett's wife will need to be in a deep sleep. Trackolania do you have any more of your sleeping potions?" Herrior asked. Trackolania opened up his cloak and threw it towards Mohania. Mohania instantly outstretched his boney hand and grabbed it. Mohania slowly turned to Trackolania who had his fingers barely spread apart, indicating just a little bit. Mohania nodded and put it in his cloak.

"Mohania, can you keep your warlocks on standby, just in case we need them? We may need a little extra firepower if something happens." Herrior said. Mohania turned towards the cave and said something in a demonic voice that none of them understood. Suddenly the cave entrance illuminated with pairs of red eyes. There was so many that it nearly filled up the entire cave entrance.

"You will not be able to control them. They will only fight if they feel threatened, or if they feel they need to protect somebody. If you have the situation under control, they won't come out." Herrior nodded. Mohania turned to his imp and pointed towards the cave and spoke something else that nobody understood. The imp bounced quickly into the cave and disappeared. Mohania then walked over to Dan and Crystal, who were still holding both parts of the gnome.

"May I?" Mohania said outstretching his hands. The both of them quickly handed over what was left of the gnome. Mohania walked over to the cave and threw it into the cave. Suddenly large noises of eating, and bone breaking could be heard. It made Crystal and Dan turn away.

"Come; let us sit in a circle and talk." Herrior said. Mohania created a small fire in the middle. They all sat down, then a worried look came across Crystal's face.

"Wait! What day is it?" Crystal suddenly stood up and said. Dan and Herrior's face followed her up.

"Umm…Thursday?" Dan answered looking unsurely at Herrior.

"Time travels differently out here Crystal, why do you ask?" Herrior asked.

"I umm…I need to be right back…" Crystal said and turned around and hurried away. She walked behind the tree line and stuck her right hand down her pants. She felt around for a second and pulled her hand back up.

"No blood yet? I'm about two weeks late…" Crystal thought. A worried look came over her face.

"Crystal?" Dan yelled out.

"I'm fine, I just thought I heard…something…" she yelled back. Herrior turned to Mohania. He quickly shook his head. Herrior turned to Trackolania, who was carving his name in the dirt. Herrior then turned to Quinely. She again raised her hand and an orange light illuminated above her head.

Crystal wiped her hand off and returned to the circle. Quinely looked at Herrior and shook her head.

"What did it sound like Crystal?" Herrior said.

"It's nothing, forget about it." Crystal said in a mad voice. She plopped down next to Dan.

"Is everything ok?" Dan whispered.

"Just forget it, ok!" Crystal said back in a mad whisper.

Herrior glanced over at Strings, he nodded back. Strings pulled out his lute and played a quiet relaxing song. They all sat there in silence and watched the fire.

An hour later, Lindel and Skyka came out of the portal and opened up the door. Lindel was dressed in a sparkling red dress that was very form fitting, showing off a large portion of her breasts, and the skirt was just inches from her butt. Skyka was wearing the same dress, only hers was black. Herrior simply put his hand over his face and shook his head.

"You aren't seriously going to wear that, are you?" Crystal asked with a grin on her face. Both of them did a twirl around and smiled at her.

"If I remember right, your dress revealed more Crystal…" Skyka said sarcastically. Crystal just smiled back and shook her head. Strings let out a whistle.

"Skyka, you are an Ambassador to their world remember…" Herrior said in a stern voice. Skyka strutted over to Herrior and threw her left leg over his right shoulder.

"Don't worry hun; I'll leave a good impression." Skyka smiled back. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Herrior said and let out a sigh. "Just don't…do anything to draw too much attention to yourselves ok?"

"Herrior…would we do anything like that…" Lindel said sarcastically. Crystal let out a chuckle. Lindel looked at her and winked.

Herrior rose to his feet and looked at Mohania. "Mohania, Please look after these two ok?" Mohania looked up from the fire and smiled. Herrior waved them away. Lindel started channeling her energy to create a portal, while Mohania was chanting the spell to give Skyka and himself a disguise. The portal opened and Dan and Crystal could see their old world. They just stared forward with mixed emotions. The three of them stepped through and immediately the portal closed. Mohania's fire went out, so they all leaned up against the stone wall.

"Are you two ok?" Herrior asked Dan and Crystal. They both nodded their heads and said "yes".

"Your world is beautiful." Herrior said slowly. The two of them just stared at the sky, thinking of thoughts of their old world.

Bernett and Branzer had bought secure cell phones for each other after the attack. They both carried them wherever they went. They didn't realize it, but the hair on back of their necks just rose up.

For the past couple of days they had done nothing but take pictures, answer questions, and type up reports. Officer Branzer was concentrating so hard at his computer that he didn't realize that his secure phone just rang. It rang a second time, he looked around his desk for the strange noise and realized that it was in his front pocket. He quickly jumped up and pushed the "talk" button.

"Hello?" Branzer asked.

"Bernett here. Do you have a minute? I mean can we talk for awhile."

"Sure, just let me save my work…" Branzer said and typed up some stuff on the computer and then closed the file he was working on.

"Ok what's up?" Branzer asked.

"Have you noticed anything…well…err…I don't know…different about yourself after we came back from, you know." Bernett asked. Branzer thought about it and let out a grin.

"I ran a mile in seven minutes without breaking a sweat…you mean stuff like that?" Branzer said.

"Yeah…my wife and I were intimate with each other for three hours last night, I never broke a sweat. It tired her right out." Bernett said. Branzer chuckled.

"I wouldn't know anything about that…"

"I know…hey before I called did you feel something…hell I don't know…strange?" Bernett asked. Branzer raised his other hand to the back of his head and pushed down his hair.

"Yeah…yeah I think so."

Suddenly it felt like all of the hair on both of their arms stood up.

"You felt that too huh?" Branzer asked.

"Yeah, yeah I did. What do you think it means?" Bernett asked back. Branzer shook his head.

"I don't know." he answered. "Think we should be expecting something to happen?"

There was no answer on the other end.

"Bernett?" Still no answer.

"Oh shit…" Bernett said silently.

"What? What is it?" Branzer said demandingly.

"Lindel, Skyka, and the creepy guy just walked up to my desk. Umm…Lindel says hi." Bernett said in a scared voice.

Branzer froze for a couple of seconds.

"Get over here now!" Bernett demanded.

"On my way!" Branzer clicked the off button and shoved the phone in his pocket. He opened a drawer and pulled out his .357 and ran down the hallway. He then opened the weapon locker, located next to the front door and drew out a LSAT machine gun - a new addition since the previous attack, and headed to Bernett's desk.

He turned a corner and ran into the officer with the sunglasses and the toothpick in his mouth, almost knocking him down.

"Hey!" He said at first, and then he saw that Branzer was heavily armed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Branzer said and quickly ran past him.

"Right…nothing my ass…" he whispered and quickly grabbed his own machine gun and followed him. Several other officers saw the commotion and did the same thing.

Branzer arrived at Bernett's desk and saw Mohania standing in the background, dressed in casual clothes. In the front were Lindel and Skyka both facing Bernett and leaning over his desk. The two of the two women blocked Branzer. Both Skyka and Lindel turned their heads to face him and let out a tiny wave.

Branzer slowly approached him, making sure the safety was on, and asked what was going on.

"We have a promise to keep." Skyka said.

"And I wanted to see you again…" Lindel said slowly turning around and approached Branzer. Branzer swallowed a big lump in his throat and felt the urge to backup. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered her. Lindel's eyes quickly turned purple and then back to normal in a split second.

"You've been thinking about me…haven't you? Late at night…when you are lonely…" Lindel pushed her breasts into Branzer's big chest and looked up at him.

"Umm…wha…how…" was all Branzer could say. Lindel raised her finger and put it on his lips.

Suddenly the rest of the officers showed up with their automatic weapons. Eventually even the Lieutenant showed up with his gun out and pointed towards the floor. The whole department was on edge.

Bernett started to say that these were his friends, but was quickly quieted by Skyka's finger against his mouth. She winked at him.

"What's going on here?" The Lieutenant demanded. Lindel motioned towards the Lieutenant to come closer, and he did.

"We're here to visit with these two officers, Branzer and Bernett. The rest I guess are just here to stare at us…" Lindel switched her glance from the Lieutenant to the crowd that had gathered. There were several coughing noises, and switches being pulled to put the safety back on their weapons. She turned her gaze back at the Lieutenant. Her eyes flashed purple very quickly. She then motioned for the Lieutenant to come closer to her. Lindel whispered something into his ear. The Lieutenant's eyes became very wide, and he opened his mouth.

After a couple of seconds when Lindel was done whispering to him, he said "I…didn't think that position…was possible…" The Lieutenant said in wonder. Lindel let out a giggle. Branzer and Bernett just stared at each other wondering what she said.

The Lieutenant shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't let these officers go. There's a lot of work to be done and we need every able body that we can get." Lindel put her hand behind her back and waved at Skyka. Skyka started walking forward and then pointed towards the crowd. Skyka hurried over to the crowd of cops that had gathered. She grabbed the machine gun that the toothpick man was holding and gave it a big lick. Then she pulled him in the opposite direction from the Lieutenant. The rest of the cops turned to look at Skyka.

"Ma'am…I must insist that you don't do that…" the toothpick man said.

"Why is that? Because your…gun…might go off prematurely…" Skyka said and winked at him. Skyka continued to redirect their attention away from Lindel.

"Umm…It's a dangerous weapon. I don't want you to get hurt." The man said, completely entranced by Skyka. Skyka laughed.

"I have never been…hurt…by having a weapon going off…prematurely." Skyka put the barrel in her mouth and started sucking on it. She then started moving her body around seductively.

"Ma'am…I can't have you doing that…" the man said and pulled the gun away and faced it towards the ground.

An officer in the back said, "I'm married, I shouldn't be seeing this. There doesn't seem to be any danger here, and I have work I need to do." He turned and put his weapon back in its case and walked back to his desk. Several other officers followed. There were only three officers left, and Skyka had their full undivided attention. Skyka looked past the officers and winked at Lindel.

Lindel then looked directly at the Lieutenant and shot purple beams from her eyes into his. He jumped at first and then stared directly at her.

"We need Bernett and Branzer for a special mission." Lindel said.

"…special mission…" he replied back.

"They are going to be gone for the next two days. You will personally cover for them."

"…cover for them…" he replied back in the same monotone voice.

"You will not ask questions, you will not call them. You will give them their normal pay. They will come back after two days and you will not remember any of this, do you understand?"

"…I understand…"

"Good, now they are going to go home right now. You will go back to your office and not be concerned about them, ok?"

"…ok…" The Lieutenant replied back.

Lindel stopped the purple beam. The Lieutenant shook his head. He looked at Bernett and Branzer and said, "Shouldn't you two be leaving?" Branzer and Bernett looked at each other in amazement. Lindel turned around and whispered, "Now!" to them.

"Yes sir." All five of them left the station and got into one squad car.

"Call your wife and tell her you are having special guests tonight for dinner." Lindel said. Bernett was driving and looked over to question her. Lindel simply glanced at him. He pulled out his cell phone and called home and did just that.

"When can I expect you?" his wife asked.

"We're coming home right now. We'll be there in about thirty minutes. Branzer is coming over as well as three of our friends."

"Our house is dirty, I'm not ready for company, I was not expecting this. What do we have to serve them?" His wife said back.

"Spaghetti is fine. Get some of our wine that we've been saving. This is a special occasion. I love you hun, but I need to concentrate on driving. I'll let you go love." Bernett ended the phone conversation.

"Bernett…" Mohania said in an eerie echo voice. This made him jump and quickly turn around.

"That was Mohania dear…just concentrate on getting us to the house, ok?" Lindel said rubbing her left hand through his hair. "He's not going to hurt you. He needs to talk to you though, ok?"

Mohania repeated himself, "Bernett…" in the same voice.

"Ok…no problem…yes Mohania?" Bernett said still trembling a little.

"We need to drug your wife…that is the purpose of tonight. She needs to be in a deep sleep…I have a potion from Trackolania. We need to give it to her in her drink without her knowing…" Mohania said in the same voice.

"Whoa…wait a second. What is this potion? Will it kill her?"

"If…you give her too much…yes…yes it will…" Mohania said very sinisterly.

"Ok, I'm very uneasy about poisoning my wife. Especially from somebody that sounds like the crept keeper…" Bernett said in a very worried voice.

"A very small dosage…is all we need…slip it in her wine. Or we can do it for you…" Mohania said.

Bernett put her hand up to his head and sighed.

"Look. I trust you guys ok. I fought with you side by side. I have seen some weird-ass shit with you guys. In fact, I have seen stuff with you guys that I could never dream up. Your King promised me he would heal my wife and I would have a baby. Now here you guys are, and you are asking for me to poison my wife in order to do it. Why?"

"She can't wake up. She can't know what we are going to do to her." Lindel said.

"What exactly are you going to do with her?" Bernett asked almost frantically.

"I'm not sure. I need to possess her and find out. Skyka will be right there to help me. Mohania is going to sense for demons and fight them if necessary."

"So now you are going to possess my wife? What?" Bernett almost screamed out. Lindel laid a hand on his leg and a white light came from it. Bernett's body seemed to calm down.

"We are here to help. We are not going to hurt your wife. There's a process to this though, and we need to do this. You can be there every second if you want. To be honest though, you may not want to be." Lindel said quietly.

Bernett let out a sigh. "Give me your word that she will not be harmed!"

"She will not remember, or feel any pain. I promise you that. Bernett…we are here to fulfill a promise. You earned it. Skyka and I are very good at what we do." Lindel said reassuringly.

"Why shouldn't I watch?" Bernett asked.

"We might have to open her up to fix the damage. If you have a weak stomach or mind, you may not want to watch." Skyka said very quietly.

Branzer spoke up, "Bernett, how about we go for a walk and have a cup of coffee. Let them do their job." He was quiet for awhile and then said, "I trust them…even the grim reaper one…" This made Bernett laugh. He then looked out his side window and let out a sigh.

"She won't remember or feel any pain?" He said, "And afterwards we'll be able to conceive a child?"

"Yes." Both Skyka and Lindel said at the same time.

"I don't feel comfortable…poisoning my wife. Could you do that…for me…" Bernett said slowly.

"Hun, we use it all the time to sleep. It'll put her in a deep sleep. Dan used it a couple of times. In small dosages it's fine. Don't like Mohania scare you…he's just a big softy…" Skyka said and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. There was no response out of Mohania.

Bernett let out another sigh. "We're going to have wine tonight. I'll take her into the kitchen to distract her. Slip it in her drink then…" Lindel nodded.

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Finally they arrived at the house. All five of them piled out. Bernett lead the way to the house. It was a two story brick house, kept up very well. He opened the door and found his wife running all over the house trying to get it ready for the company.

"Hi hun!" Bernett took his wife in her arms and gave her a hug.

"Our house is a mess; I wish you gave me more notice!" She said.

"I'm sorry hun, this was sort of spur of the moment. Is the food ready?"

"Yes, I have the wine and the spaghetti is ready. Introduce me to everybody." she said.

"You know Officer Branzer." He nodded to her, "Ma'am."

"This is Lindel and Skyka from the ball." They all shook hands.

"And this is Mohania; he was at the ball as well." His wife extended her hand towards him; Mohania slowly looked down at it.

"Umm…he doesn't shake hands. It's a custom in his country. Let's all go to the dinner table shall we?" Bernett said pushing his wife towards the dining room.

Skyka walked up closely to Mohania and whispered to him, "Act like Branzer and Bernett. Try not to stick out." and then kissed him on his boney cheek. He let out a small growl. Skyka patted him on the cheek and said, "Good boy."

Bernett seated everybody at the table. Spaghetti was at everybody's plate, with a heaping of sauce and cheese. A fork and knife was placed next to each plate. Candles were lit, and soft music was playing in the background. Bernett took the napkin from the table and stared at Mohania. He waved it in the air a couple of times and then slowly put it on his lap. Mohania stared at him with boredom. Skyka leaned over and nudged him, and then she put her napkin on her lap as well. Mohania then picked up his napkin and stared over at Skyka. She motioned for him to put it on his lap. Slowly Mohania did.

"Well I do apologize, I tried to make everything ready as fast as I could. I hope you like it. We have a 1975 vintage red wine. I poured everybody a glass, I hope you like it." Bernett's wife was about to sit down, when Bernett suddenly jumped up.

"Hun, can I see you in the kitchen for a moment? I want to talk about desert."

"Oh, I didn't have time to put together desert…" her wife said glaring at her husband.

"Come on, we'll figure out something." He walked over and put his arm around her arm and pulled her from her chair, and began walking towards the kitchen. Bernett then stopped and stared at Mohania. Mohania was staring back at him and slowly nodded. After they disappeared, Mohania quickly drew out the vial of yellow liquid and poured a couple of drops into his wife's glass. He quickly put the lid back on it and put it back into cloak.

They came back several minutes later. Everybody was staring at them.

"Is everything alright?" His wife asked. Branzer quickly spoke up.

"We didn't want to eat without you. You went through so much trouble for us. You are practically our guest of honor. Look at what all you accomplished in such a short time. It is very much appreciated." Branzer than thought, "Where the hell did all that come from…"

Bernett's wife smiled and was seated in her chair. Bernett then stood by his chair and raised his glass.

"I would like to propose a toast. To good friends, to new friends, and to my lovely wife. May we have many wonderful years together…"

Everybody stood and raised their glass like Bernett did. Mohania looked around at everybody and slowly rose up with his glass in one hand.

"Cheers! Drink it all up!" Bernett said with a smile and downed his glass of wine. The rest did the same, along with his wife. She sat back down and said, "Let me know if I can get you guys anything else…oh my…I don't feel…" and then began to collapse on the ground. Skyka quickly jumped up and casted a levitate spell on her. She slowly floated about a foot off the ground so that she didn't hurt herself when she fell.

"Take her to the couch in the living room. We'll get started at once." Skyka moved her chair back and walked towards the room. Lindel and Mohania followed her.

"That's some fast acting stuff…what is it?" Bernett asked.

"You are better of not knowing…" Mohania said with a grin in the same eerie voice.

Bernett and Branzer pushed Bernett's wife into the living room and slowly lifted her onto the couch.

"This is the part where you guys might want to leave." Lindel said.

Branzer motioned for Bernett to follow him, but he struggled at first.

"She will be fine. We made a promise to you. Give us an hour. If we need longer we'll let you know." Lindel said.

"How will you let me know…?" Bernett asked. Lindel then looked at Bernett and said in his mind, "This is how." Bernett looked at her in shock at first. Branzer then pulled him out of the room and out of the house.

"Let's go for a walk and let them work." Branzer said. Bernett sighed and slowly nodded.

"Mohania, can you create a shell for us?" Skyka asked. Mohania dropped the illusions, and chanting a quick spell that caused the entire room to blink different colors.

"Do you think we'll need a protector summoned?" Skyka asked again. Mohania let out a grunt. Skyka tilted her head towards him. Mohania looked off to the side and pulled out a purple crystal. He began the summoning process and smashed the crystal on the ground. Slowly a blue ghost slowly rose up from it. It looked just like the previous one that he summoned. Mohania spoke some demonic words to him and the blue ghost floated over to the doorway. It raised his hands into the air and started drawing power from the shadows in the room. Mohania created a dark aura around his body and turned away from the couch. He constantly scanned for any signs of demons in the area.

"Let us know if you sense anything hun." Skyka said to Mohania and then turned to Lindel. "So what's the plan hun?" Lindel started pulling up her shirt and unbuttoned her pants and slide them down a little.

"I'm going to scan her brain first for any anomalies. Then check her blood and heart. Then I'm going to go down to her mid section and start scanning her ovaries, fallopian tubes, the areas around them, and then her vagina. I'll need you to probably open her up here." Lindel said and pointed to a spot right below her belly button.

"Since she's sleeping, I won't be able to communicate with you, so go ahead and create a whole there now, and we'll just whisper back and forth." Lindel added. Skyka closed her hands together and put them on her stomach. She then slowly pulled them apart, creating a small black hole right where Lindel pointed. All of the blood vessels immediately fused and they could both see inside of her.

"Is that deep enough?" Skyka asked.

"Yeah I think so, if you can't hear me in a couple of minutes I'll start flashing a white light in that open area." Lindel replied. Then she continued, "Well if you are ready I am. You'll need to hold her eyes open for me to enter and exit." Skyka walked to the front of Bernett's wife and held her eyes open. Lindel turned into her purple ball, her clothes dropping to the ground. Lindel then slowly entered her body. After she was in, Skyka let go of her eyes. The woman didn't even make a flinch. Skyka repositioned herself right about the blackened whole that she made.

Lindel looked over her brain and her consciousness. She wasn't even dreaming. "Good, there'll be no memory of this." Lindel thought. She passed through her brain a couple of times and then proceeded to her heart. The blood passing through seemed normal, just as she suspected. The problem probably wasn't here either. Lindel then passed through her body and to her ovaries. Her left one seemed almost crushed. She floated inside of it and found a lot of scar tissue. She inflating it to about the size of an almond and started slowly healing the scar tissue. Almost immediately the eggs were filling it up. She then floated to the fallopian tube on left side and found that it had entirely collapsed as well. She shrunk herself even smaller and entered the top end of it. Slowly she started opening the tub back up and healing the scar tissue. Afterwards she searched around for the hole that Skyka had made in her stomach. She finally found it and Skyka saw a purple light coming out from it.

"Her whole left side of her reproductive organs seems to have been smashed somehow." Lindel said.

"How do you think that happened?" Skyka asked.

"Not sure hun, but I was able to heal it. I can see it working now so that's a good sign. How's our big bad warlock doing out there?" Lindel asked.

Skyka turned around and saw that Mohania was still staring away from them, and the blue protector just scanned his eyes back and forth.

"He seems bored…should I poke him in the back?" Skyka asked. Mohania heard and let out a low groan. Skyka laughed.

"Ok, let me take a look at the right side. I'll be back in a second." Lindel said and the purple light vanished from the hole. Skyka tried to look in the hole to see where she went, but couldn't see her.

Lindel hovered into the right ovary. It looked normal. She checked the oviduct and saw that it was completely blocked by scar tissue. "The egg probably would try to get out, but was blocked by it." Lindel thought. Lindel floated over and healed the scar tissue with her hands again, making an opening. She floated down the opening and saw that nothing else was blocking it. She continued to float around her tubes and couldn't find anything else wrong with it.

A faint purple light could be seen coming from the woman's crotch. Skyka noticed and figured Lindel was checking out her vagina for problems. The light disappeared and Lindel headed back for the hole that Skyka made.

"The right side was completely blocked by scar tissue as well. She got hit by something hard a long time ago I figure. It must have been painful. I'm going to go signal the brain to produce some more estrogen and then I'll be right out. If you could cast a "renew" healing spell in here just in case, but I think I got everything. Wait for her eyes to turn purple and then open them up. Once I'm out you can seal up the hole." Lindel said in a whisper. Skyka acknowledged and let Lindel get back to work.

"I think…we might have company…" Mohania said quietly.

"We're almost done, how close is the demon?" Skyka quickly replied without looking at him.

"It just wondered into my senses…" Mohania said and his hands slowly turned to fire. "It's just a little one, my minion hasn't even sensed it yet…I am just wondering if there isn't more coming…"

"Keep us updated hun." Skyka said. She then held her hands over the opening in the woman's stomach and casted an instant healing spell. It entered her body and filled it with a bright white light. Skyka sensed that the spell didn't actually do anything and eventually faded away.

Lindel produced a bright purple light from the woman's eyes, and Skyka hurried over to open them. A purple haze slowly came out, slowly forming a purple ball in the middle of the air. Once all of the mist was out of the body, Lindel instantly materialized and began getting dressed. Skyka walked over and placed her hands on both sides of the opening in her belly. Her hands turned white and slowly pulled the opening shut. Then she casted a healing spell to get rid of the scar. She looked over her work and seemed satisfied with it. She then buttoned the woman's shirt back up and pulled her pants back up.

"I am almost certain that should do it. It still puzzles me as to how she could have been damaged that badly internally." Lindel said feeling drained. "When she wakes up, she's going to want to mate a lot…" she finished with a smile. Skyka chuckled back and said, "Did something extra do we?"

"Just helping the process along a little…" Lindel smiled back. "Could you call the guys back? I need to sit for awhile." Lindel said and sat on the ground.

Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and began rubbing it. She then held her hand over it and envisioned Bernett's face. The stone began to glow and showed a room with a queen size bed, lamps on both sides, a bookcase in the room, and a single door allowing entrance into the room.

"Odd…I'm trying to summon Bernett but all I can see is a room. He's not in there."

"Try Branzer." Lindel said. Skyka nodded and did the same thing.

Two hours had passed. Branzer and Bernett were at a coffee shop having small talk when all of a sudden Branzer's right leg shot forward. It felt like electricity was shooting through it. He immediately looked down and saw his pocket glowing purple.

"I think we need to go…" Branzer said and started out the door as fast as he could so he wouldn't make a scene. Bernett got up and fumbled for his wallet. All he found was a fifty dollar bill. He looked for his waitress and then looked at Branzer, who had walked behind the store pulling the stone out of his pocket. Bernett just sighed and threw the bill on the table and ran out of the cafe. He quickly caught up with Branzer. He held his stone in his hand and saw a picture of Skyka in it. She had her long ears back.

"We've done all that we can." Skyka then explained in detail everything that Lindel saw and how she healed it. Skyka then asked, "We're both curious. Does Bernett know how she suffered such damage to her, and why it wasn't fixed for so long?"

Bernett was standing by Branzer the entire time. Bernett spoke up.

"She had been abused badly in her previous relationship. She hardly talks about it. She says she was beaten badly on several occasions."

Skyka nodded. "You might want to hunt this guy down and we'll do to him what he did to her. Why didn't you have your medical people check her out though?"

"We took her to an OBGYN on several occasions and they couldn't find anything wrong with her. Her cycles were fine, and her blood work showed nothing wrong." Bernett replied back.

"I'm not sure what most of that means, but Lindel said there isn't anything wrong with her blood. She is going to wake up and want to mate with you a lot. She's completely healed up and is ready to go right now. Mohania has detected a demon slowly approaching us. Lindel is almost completely exhausted. We may need some help." They could hear Mohania hiss in the background.

Branzer and Bernett both looked at each other, and then started running for the house.

"Branzer? Ask Bernett where his hearthstone is." Skyka said. Bernett suddenly started checking his pockets and all over his body while he was running. He suddenly remembered that he left it in the bedroom.

"…shit." Bernett slowly said.

"You must keep that on you at all times!" Skyka said solemnly.

"I know, I know…I fucked up." Bernett said. Branzer glared at Bernett, he let out a sigh.

"What if something were to happen…" Branzer started to say.

"I know…I know…" Bernett replied back getting even more frustrated with himself. Branzer put the stone back in his pocket and they both increased in speed.

"How close is it Mohania?" Skyka asked.

"It is closing in. I'm not sensing any others though. I think he is curious is all. The shell will prevent him from casting any spells, and my minion will hold his attention. I have the situation well in hand." Mohania replied in a quiet voice. It seemed as though he was concentrating very hard.

"What about Branzer and Bernett? They are making their way here. Is the demon in the same direction they are coming from?" Skyka asked.

"mmm…" Mohania said. He walked outside the room and opened the door. In the distance he could see two bodies running towards the house. He sensed the demon was moving slower than them.

"Shouldn't…be a problem…" Mohania said with little confidence.

"Will we have to fight the demon on the streets? That might draw attention to us…" Skyka said.

"mmm…tell the humans to move faster…it's closing in on them…" Mohania said. His eyes became brighter.

Skyka pulled out her stone and envisioned Branzer. Branzer's leg again felt like electricity was shooting down from it. Branzer quickly pulled it out, and the stone produced an image Skyka.

"Hurry! The demon will be on top of you guys soon!" The image quickly faded. Branzer put the stone back in his pocket.

"Are you armed?" Branzer asked Bernett.

"Nope…"

"Neither am I. We better move then…" Branzer said. They both ran as fast as they could.

After a couple of seconds, they both could hear a gargling noise behind them. It sounded like nothing they had ever heard before. They both felt the urge to look back.

"Don't look. Just run!" Branzer said. Their adrenaline was pumping as much as it could now. Branzer suddenly felt like a lash of fire run across his back. Branzer grunted in pain, but kept running. The house was getting closer and closer. They could see the skeleton remains of Mohania in the doorway. He was waving them in the house.

"He still creeps me out!" Bernett screamed to Branzer.

"Yeah, but he's going to save our lives!" Branzer answered back. Another lash struck his back, this one with more intensity. Bernett looked over and could tell that Branzer was in pain, but was giving it all he had to make it in the house.

They both jumped up the front steps.

"In here!" Skyka shouted. They both turned and ran into the room where Bernett's wife was sleeping.

"Protect Lindel and your wife. Mohania and I will take it." Bernett and Branzer looked around the room. It was still flashing multiple colors.

"Do you have any weapons in this room?" Branzer asked.

"No." Bernett answered quietly.

"Bernett!"

"I know…ok let's find something to fight with." They quickly surveyed the room. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room. Bernett flipped it over and smashed the legs off from it. He threw one to Branzer.

"Get the other one too." Branzer said. Bernett acknowledged and did just that.

Skyka turned into her shadow form. The demon entered into the home. It looked like an octopus, only had one eye and a huge mouth. It was all black. Mohania's minion quickly floated over to it and blasted it with a black cloud that came out of his hands. It drove the demon wild and began fighting the minion. The minion then started punching at the demon, and continued to blast it with a black cloud every five to six seconds.

Mohania instantly casted a spell that suddenly appeared above the demon's head. There were purple skulls encircling it and slowly entered into its body. Mohania then casted another instant spell that looked like a red skull appeared above the demon that looked like it was dripping red blood down into it. Skyka casted her instant cast spells as well. One looked like a yellow skull that entered into its body, and other that looked like a green skull with cross bones underneath it. Skyka then started casting spells at the demon that instantly exploded when she was done channeling the spell. She did this several times, while Mohania was casting his shadow bolts into the demon.

The demon became infuriated and started attacking the big blue ghost with more intensity. One of its tentacles came into the room and Branzer didn't hesitate to drive his wooden stick into it. Black ooze came out of it, and it quickly retracted it.

After about a minute of Mohania and Skyka casting their spells, the demon slowly fell to the ground in a puddle of ooze. Mohania then casted a fire spell that zigzagged along the ground and burned up what was left of the demon. Mohania's minion was badly hurt, so Mohania began channeling his own energy into him. The minion also recharged itself by pulling in the shadows from around him.

"Are there any more?" Skyka asked.

Mohania stopped channeling and did a quick scan. "I don't sense any…"

"There must be a portal around here somewhere. They must have found a way in." Skyka said in a frustrated voice. Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and quickly brought up a vision of an ambassador to the King. He was a blood elf dressed in a red vest.

"We just fought a demon out here on Earth again. We thought we got all of them. There must be another way in somewhere." Skyka said returning back to her normal form.

"Acknowledged. We'll start scouting the area. I'll inform the King." Suddenly the image disappeared.

"I've was hit by the thing." Branzer said and turned around. Two different slash marks were across his back. There was a little bit of blood, but mostly burn marks. Skyka returned to her normal form and began immediately chanting a healing spell. A second later a white blast of light came from Skyka's fingers and slammed into Branzer's back. Immediately his wounds healed up, not even leaving a scar. His shirt was still ripped though.

Bernett went over to his wife sleeping on the couch and started looking her over.

"So she is…ok now?" Bernett asked. Lindel nodded. She was still on the floor recovering her power. Branzer knelt down beside Lindel and asked if he could get her anything.

"No hun, I just need to let my power build back up. It takes time." She looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back at her.

"That was quick, are you sure you didn't…mess up anything else in her?" Bernett said looking over her.

"I could make her grow ears like mine. That would make her look more fashionable…" Skyka said quickly rubbing her tall ears.

Bernett stood up and looked at Skyka. "Which of you do I thank?"

"I was just here for backup hun; Lindel did most of the work. It tired her out though…" Skyka said. She was immediately embraced by Bernett; tears started flowing from his eyes.

Skyka let out an "oof" sound as she was embraced. Bernett then ran over to Lindel and embraced her.

"Thank you…" Bernett said slowly. Branzer backed up a couple of steps and turned around.

"Hun, you fought beside us and helped defend Tranquil…I'm just returning the favor…" Lindel said slowly as she was squeezed real hard. She started gasping for breath, as Bernett let slowly let go of her.

"How can I ever repay you?" Bernett said quickly looking back at his wife.

"You can start by keeping your hearthstone on you at all times…" Skyka said and put a hand on her hip.

"Right!" Bernett said and ran out of the room and flew up the stairs to his bedroom.

Branzer turned back around to face Lindel. Mohania backed into him without looking. Mohania's head quickly turned around and faced Branzer.

"Sorry…" Branzer said and walked forward out of his way with a chill running up his spine.

"I need to make contact with Herrior and let him know our progress. Our guard duty is probably up and they are probably waiting on us." Skyka said as she envisioned Herrior and rubbed her stone. An image of him immediately appeared in front of her.

"Hi my love." Skyka said.

"Hello my darling. Did you draw attention to yourselves?" Herrior replied back.

Skyka looked off to the side and said "umm…" Herrior let out a dissatisfied grunt.

"Lindel says she fixed the problem. Apparently a former mate of her former life abused her so badly that her reproductive organs were all smashed to hell."

Jacklyn pushed Herrior out of the way while snatching the stone from him.

"Who did it?" Jacklyn demanded.

"We haven't gotten that information out of Bernett yet. He may not even know. We may have to ask his wife."

"You find out! Find out where he lives! I'll crush his skull with my bare hands!" Herrior took the stone back from Jacklyn.

"Ask Branzer if he could locate him." Herrior said in a calm voice. The voice of Jacklyn's ranting and raving could still be heard. Skyka turned her body around to face Branzer. "Do you think you could locate him for us hun?"

Branzer shrugged his shoulders. "It'll take time. It would be hard to build a case against him though, but we could probably have him arrested for assault. But I get the impression that's not what you guys want though…" Skyka let out a smile at him and turned back around.

"Branzer says he should be able to do it, but it'll take time." Skyka said to the image of Herrior. Herrior nodded. Bernett heard most of what was just said as he rushed back down the stairs.

"I want a piece of him!" Bernett demanded.

"Bernett…" Branzer said in a quiet tone. "If it gets traced back to you…"

"I don't care!" he replied.

Silence filled the air as Bernett's anger filled the air. A moment passed then Skyka spoke up.

"You two find him, and we'll all get together and pay him a visit. Sound good hun?" Skyka said.

"I'll find him…" Bernett said with a lot of vengeance in his voice.

"I could search her mind for the name, but the last time I entered her she didn't even realize I was there." Lindel piped up.

"No, I'll get it from her. All I need is a first and last name. Then all I have to do is use my stone to contact you guys?" Bernett said pulling his stone out from his pocket.

"Think of me, and then rub it." Lindel said. "Remember you can only do it once a day."

"In the mean time…arm yourselves…at all times…" Mohania replied with a growl in his voice. Skyka and Lindel both nodded at them.

"Anyways my dear, has anything happened at the wall?" Skyka said facing the image of Herrior. Herrior slowly shook his head.

"We've had the fairies visit us, but that's it. When you come back, we'll head into Tranquil. Quinely wants to take Strings into the Everglades. Figure we'll get a day of rest and then head there. Dan and Crystal haven't been there so it should be fun for them as well." Herrior said.

"Sounds good my love, Lindel is resting now. She'll create a portal as soon as she's able too." Skyka said. She blew a kiss to Herrior and put the stone away.

"I think I can do it now." Lindel said slowly rising to her feet. She staggered a little almost falling back to the ground. Branzer was right there to help her up. He pulled her up to her feet. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other.

Skyka chuckled and said, "Maybe…we should wait for awhile longer. No point in letting the food go to waste. Bernett's wife did go through all the trouble of making it just for us."

"I'm ok with that…" Lindel said looking at Skyka letting out a smile. Skyka winked back at her. Mohania let out a growl.

"What should I do with my wife?" Bernett said.

"Nothing. Eventually she'll start dreaming. Then her body will demand food and it'll force her to wake up." Skyka said. Her face then turned red a little and said, "Then, as Crystal would put it, she'll be 'horny as hell'…" Skyka and Lindel both started laughing. Bernett and Branzer just looked at each other and with a confused look and smiled.

"Sorry, inside joke. When she wakes up, spend the whole day mating with her. She'll probably immediately conceive on the first try. You both don't have to go into work tomorrow so just take it easy." Skyka said and then turned to Branzer. "I'd recommend not contacting them tomorrow…"

Branzer immediately interrupted her and said, "Not a problem. I don't need to know anything else. I can swing by with the cruiser a couple of times to ensure that everything is ok…"

Lindel and Skyka both shook their heads. "Just leave them alone, ok?" Lindel said. Branzer's arm was now around her body helping her to the dining room.

"Ok, sorry. Just concerned with the demon that you fought." Branzer said feeling embarrassed.

"I'll call you on our cell phones if something happens." Bernett said.

"In the mean time…get…some…weapons…" Mohania said in a voice that seemed to echo through the entire house. Branzer nodded.

In the kitchen they went. They each took the same chair. The blue demon floated over to Bernett's wife's chair.

"That thing eats?" Bernett asked. Mohania slowly shook his head.

"Dinner smells wonderful! What was it called again?" Skyka asked.

"Spaghetti" Bernett said.

Mohania picked up his plate. He opened his mouth and widen his jaw and sucked down the entire serving. Fire came roaring out of his mouth. He then set down a small piece of what was left of the ceramic plate. Mohania's mouth returned back to normal, and his eyes glowed brighter with fire.

"Sooo…Mohania eats?" Bernett asked in fascination.

Skyka chuckled. "You probably don't want to know what he eats…let's just say that it's a little bit 'meatier' then spaghetti…and 'bonier'…" Skyka looked at Bernett and smiled. Bernett still looked confused. Skyka just shook her head at him. Mohania let out a big grin.

"Umm…I haven't had a fairy break in awhile. Is there a place to relieve myself in here, or should I go outside?" Lindel asked.

"Fairy break?" Branzer asked. Skyka shook her head, "She needs to 'go'…should she go outside?"

"Oh…" Branzer looked at Bernett. "It's upstairs on the left." Bernett said. Lindel excused herself and ran up the stairs and went in the first room on the left. She looked around at the objects in the room and had no clue how to use them.

"I need help…" Lindel said with a little bit of desperation in her voice.

Bernett held his hands up and said, "That's not my department. I'm going to check on my wife." as he left the room and walked into the living room.

Branzer turned back around and stared up the stairs. He let out a sigh and began making his way to the bathroom. Branzer knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?" Branzer asked.

"Please…" Lindel replied back quickly.

Branzer opened the door to reveal that Lindel was in fact in desperation. It looked to Branzer as if she had never gone to the bathroom in her life.

"So…umm…the toilet is against the wall over there…" Branzer said. Lindel turned to look at it and then turned back to him.

"Well…how do you go in your world?" Branzer said in a confused voice.

"Like I said we have fairy's that dispose of our waste…there aren't any fairies in this world. Please, I need to…" Lindel replied quickly. Branzer interrupted her and pulled her over to the toilet.

"Ok…well…umm…you need to start by pulling your dress up and taking off your underwear…" Branzer stepped forward and started pulling up on her dress. Lindel quickly pushed him and screamed "Branzer!"

Branzer walked back a couple of steps to catch his balance.

"I know how! I probably know more about how it works than you do. Just show me where!" Lindel gave him a dirty look. Branzer's face turned red. He stepped forward, and lowered the middle lid of the toilet.

"You squat on this…and then use the handle behind you…"

"Fine, leave!" Lindel demanded. Branzer quickly turned around and shut the door behind him. He stood there for a couple of seconds and then apologized.

"I'll just wait here…if you have a problem…" Branzer said with his face still beat red. Suddenly he felt a jolt of static electricity shoot through his body. It felt as though all of his arms and legs had fallen asleep at the same time. It lasted only for a couple of seconds and then went as fast as it came.

"Are you ok?" Branzer asked sounding worried. Suddenly he heard Skyka spit out a big clump of food and started laughing hysterically. Then he heard a "thud" as a chair hit the floor and Skyka's laughter becoming intensified.

Branzer buried his head in his hand and said, "Oh god…" He heard the familiar sound of a toilet flushing and just stood there ashamed to look. The door opened, and Lindel walked out. She saw Branzer and gave him a smile. She put her arm around his and together they walked back down stairs.

They got to the bottom of the stairs and Skyka was trying hard to compose herself. Lindel gave her a wink and smiled really big, trying her best not to start laughing herself. They both sat down in their chairs. Branzer's face was still red. Bernett ran back into the room.

"I thought I heard a noise…what's going on?" he asked.

"Ask Branzer…" Skyka said holding back the laughter.

"Apparently Lindel is telepathic, isn't that right Skyka." Branzer slowly said and looked up at her. Skyka burst out in laughter.

"Would you care to escort me to the bathroom Branzer?" Skyka said in between laughter.

"No…" Branzer said quietly.

"What happened? Is everything ok?" Bernett asked. Branzer shook his head slightly. He could feel the stares of Lindel and Skyka on him.

"You aren't going to let me down on this are you…?" Branzer asked slowly.

Skyka and Lindel both shook their head at him and started laughing again.

"What? Did I miss something…?" Bernett asked. Both Mohania and his minion stared forward unemotional.

"I didn't know…ok. I was just trying to help. I wasn't sure if you knew how…I was only trying to help…ugh, I feel like such an ass. I'm sorry ok." Branzer said. Lindel leaned over and gave him a hug.

"What? Is there a mess in the bathroom? I can go clean it up." Bernett asked. Branzer just lowered his head and shook it.

"Let's just let this go, please…" Branzer said.

"Ok…well I just heard my wife let out a snore. It looks like she's going to be ok." Bernett said trying to change the subject.

Skyka coughed several times and finally got control of herself. "Yes Bernett, she is going to be fine." She smiled at Bernett.

"This is some good spaghetti." Lindel said. Skyka stared at her with a big smile, but refused to look at her because she knew she would start laughing again.

They ate in quiet for the rest of the meal. Bernett stood up and offered everybody some more wine. Branzer immediately lifted his glass. Skyka and Lindel both shook their heads.

"I've got most of my energy back. We need to get back to our group. I'll be able to make a portal without much of a problem. Besides I think we embarrassed Branzer enough for today…" Lindel said. Skyka looked away and covered her mouth.

"Wait! Please…" Branzer jumped to his feet. He took Lindel's hands and looked at her. He then stared back at everybody.

"Ok, everybody in the living room…let's go…" Skyka said and started pulling Bernett to his feet. Skyka then pulled on Mohania's arm. He let out a small hiss.

"Mohania…let's go…" Skyka said slowly. Slowly Mohania rose to his feet and followed them into the living room. The blue protector followed Mohania.

"Lindel…I've been thinking about you all of the time. I can't get you out of my mind." Branzer said quickly. Lindel's eyes stared at his. A purple line appeared at the left side of Lindel's eyes and quickly moved over to the right side of her eye. Lindel quickly read his mind and saw that he was telling the truth.

"Aww…that's so sweet Branzer!" Lindel said and put her hand up to his cheek.

"I don't want you to leave…I mean…can I come with you? I want to be with you." Branzer said stumbling over his words.

"Hun, you are not looking at the real me. This is just an illusion that I am creating." Lindel said.

"I know. I want to see…the real you." Branzer said.

Lindel slowly shook her head. "I can't hun. You might go insane, turn to stone, instantly die, or run away in terror." Lindel put her other hand on Branzer's other cheek. "We're two different species from two different places."

"But…I want to fight beside you. Like we did before…" Branzer said slowly drawing close to Lindel. Lindel smiled.

"We will see each other again. We will fight beside each other again. At the end of the day, use your hearthstone, if you haven't used it for that day, and envision me in your mind. We'll be able to talk to each other. I need to go though." Branzer bent over and leaned forward to kiss Lindel.

"Hun, that may not…" Lindel started to say, but Branzer went forward anyways. His lips passed through the illusion and touched dark cold teeth. As soon as he made contact, every sad thought in his life flashed before his eyes. He jumped back in surprise. "What just happened?"

"Branzer, I let my illusion down for a second so you could kiss the real me." Lindel said. Branzer was obviously afraid. She looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry hun, but like I said we're two different species from different worlds. You would have to become a part of us, get sworn in by the King, and become immune to time stopping." Lindel said quickly.

"I could do that. The King seemed to like me, and Crystal went through the process of time stopping, so could I…" Branzer said quickly. Lindel slowly shook her head.

"Hun, Crystal is different from you. She barely survived it. Bringing her back was a hard process. She's still fighting it." Lindel quickly scanned Branzer's eyes again with the purple light. She slowly shook her head.

"You wouldn't survive. I'm sorry." Lindel said and moved closer to him. Branzer felt the urge to back away because of the emotions that had flashed through his mind, but stood his ground. Lindel hugged him. He embraced her back. She slowly backed away from him and flicked her hair behind her.

"What we do need is an Ambassador for your world, somebody that could be the "go-between" and relay information for us. If you want, I can recommend you to the King and the Red Guard will watch you for several months to see if you are ready." Lindel said quietly.

Branzer nodded. "I want to help in any way that I can." Branzer was quiet for a couple of seconds and then asked about Dan and Crystal.

"They miss it back here. Dan is doing better, Crystal is still in training. Their resistance to magic is very low. I had to heal Crystal several times during battle, leaving Mohania vulnerable. She'll learn though." Lindel said and then paused for a second. "I'll tell them that you have been thinking about them."

"Keep them safe, ok? And keep yourself safe as well." Branzer said stepping back.

"You too, and keep that stone on yourself. Remind Bernett as well. And as Mohania put it, get some weapons." Lindel tried to imitate his voice and they both laughed.

"Bernett and I will track down who ever did the damage to his wife. I'll then…call you…I guess is how I would put it?"

"Contact is a better word for it."

"Will I be able to go with you to get this guy?" Branzer asked. Lindel looked away and thought about it for a second.

"I'm not sure. That's not my call. Herrior is in charge. Neither one of you is to approach him, we just need to know where he is located. Understood?" Branzer nodded. Lindel continued, "I'll ask, but it's his call."

"You really have a lot of respect for Herrior, don't you?" Branzer asked. Lindel smiled and nodded. "If it wasn't for him, I would be dead. I'll save that story for another time though, I need to get going." Lindel gave him another hug and slowly walked by him and into the living room. Branzer slowly followed behind her.

"All set hun?" Skyka asked with a wink in her eye.

"Yes, we should get going." Lindel replied back. She looked at Bernett and said, "Not right away, but let me know how things are coming along. Ok? And take good care of this big ox for me." Lindel turned around and hit Branzer in the arm.

"Yes Ma'am." Bernett smiled. "And thank you again."

"Like I told Branzer, just find the guy that did this. Then contact us. We will handle things from there. Herrior will decide if you can come or not. It may be dangerous. Do you understand?" Lindel asked Bernett. Bernett sighed and looked at his wife and didn't say anything.

"Bernett…" Skyka said waiting for his reply. Bernett slowly started shaking his head.

"Bernett!" Branzer said solemnly.

"I'll find him…" Bernett said slowly stroking his wife's hair.

"…and then you will contact us! Is that understood?" Lindel raised her voice at him. Mohania stepped forward and his eyes began to glow brighter.

"I want revenge. My wife did not deserve to be beaten like this…" Bernett said.

Mohania started to chuckle. "Which part…of this human…did you want…us to…bring back…" Mohania said in his eerie voice.

"Like I said, we'll both talk to Herrior about it. It is his decision. If you want your revenge, do as we say. His place could be swarming with demons, or the alliance. Or even enemies that we aren't aware of. You do your job, we'll do ours." Lindel said quickly after what Mohania said.

Bernett nodded his head. "Ok." He looked up at Lindel and Skyka. "Branzer and I will find him." Branzer nodded his head to Bernett. "We'll get him buddy." Bernett looked back at his wife. She was pleasantly snoring on the couch.

"Alright like I said, your wife will wake up and will want to mate. Branzer you leave them alone. Just take the day off. Take a walk or something…" Lindel said winking at him. Lindel signaled the group to stand closer. Mohania, Lindel, and Skyka all held hands. Lindel started chanting some words and a small white light appeared in front of them. She continued chanting and the light became a circle. They could see Herrior on the other side. The circle became big enough for them to walk through. Skyka was the first to step through. Mohania stepped through and instantly his minion vanished in a white ball of light. Lindel looked at Branzer and winked at him and then stepped through. Instantly the portal closed behind her.

Branzer and Bernett just stared at where the portal was for awhile.

"Never a dull day with them…" Bernett said.

"That's for damn sure!" Branzer replied back.

"Wanna stay the night here until my wife wakes up? Then I'm going to kick you out…" Bernett said with a grin. Branzer laughed and said sure.

"I'm going to need some more of that wine though…" Branzer said.

"Yeah no kidding…" Bernett replied back.

Lindel, Mohania, and Skyka all reappeared next to Herrior. Lindel collapsed to her knees. Herrior jumped up quickly and caught up, slowly laying her down next to him.

"Exhausting trip eh?" Herrior said to Skyka.

"It took a lot out of her, but the mission was accomplished. As long as they mate in the next couple of days, they should be able to conceive a child." Skyka said. Lindel started snoring at once.

"Bernett wants to track down this old boyfriend of his wife's." Skyka said. Herrior nodded.

"He was really intent on seeking revenge…" Skyka started to say but was interrupted by Jacklyn.

"I told him I would rip him apart! Nobody does that to a woman!"

Herrior nodded. Herrior looked at Crystal and Dan. They both looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders not knowing what to say.

"Have either one of you been beaten like this in your world?" Herrior asked. They both answered "No." at the same time.

"I have heard of it happening though. Some women become afraid to leave and put up with the abuse until they can't take it anymore." Crystal added. Herrior tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't know why they do it. Being a cop I've heard of a lot of stories like this. Happens a lot actually." Crystal said.

"Why don't the women fight back? Why wouldn't they stand their ground?" Jacklyn replied back. "If it happened to me, I would castrate the guy, and make him eat his own balls!" Herrior nodded.

"Me too!" Crystal said.

"I'll make a note of that…" Dan said quietly. Skyka looked at him and smiled. Herrior nodded.

"I'll consider it. It's a lot to decide right now though. I need more information. Revenge is a powerful tool if it is harnessed correctly. I don't want to make a scene though..." Herrior said slowly glaring at Skyka. Skyka looked away and started whistling.

"I do not want to ruin his life because of revenge for his wife. It maybe a trap also. I would feel better when we know the location and have our scouts sent out first so we know what we are up against. Then I'll make the determination. I will speak with the King about this though. Now then, did you run into any trouble?"

"We did fight a demon, it injured Branzer. Just a minor wound though. Mohania summoned a blue protector though, we did fine against it. What about here? Any trouble here without any healers?"

Herrior shook his head. "Nothing…it's been boring. Did you relay the information to the King?"

"I spoke to an Ambassador of the King, not him directly though. But he knows about it I'm sure by now." Skyka replied back. A group of fairies flew over the wall and began entering everybody's bodies. They were there for a couple of seconds and then left back over the wall.

"I think what we'll do is have a day to ourselves to recover, and then whoever wants to go to the Everglades with Quinely and Strings will have the chance to. Dan and Crystal, I would recommend the trip because you have never been there before." Herrior said.

"It's a beautiful place! I would recommend it! I can show you where I grew up and trained." Quinely said with excitement. Both Dan and Crystal nodded with a smile.

They all sat listening to Lindel snoring. Eventually they heard some commotion on the other side of the wall.

"Hey! Where's everybody at?" A mighty Tauren asked in a happy voice.

"On the other side of the wall, we'll be right there!" Herrior said happily. He turned to Mohania and said, "As always, it's been a pleasure. We'll contact you if we need you." Mohania slowly bowed and went over to his cave. The gate opened and he disappeared inside of it.

"Our shift is over, you two did good!" Herrior said looking at Dan and Crystal. "Time to get some much needed rest." Herrior picked up Lindel and started carrying her over to the giant door. He stuck out his hand and opened it.

Herrior's group saw three Taurens, two trolls, three blood elves, and two woman that looked like Jacklyn.

"I heard you guys had some fun…" The brown Tauren said as he approached Herrior. Herrior nodded with a grin.

"Made the shift go by faster!" Herrior said and let out a mighty chuckle. The other Taurens began laughing as well. Lindel let out a moan in Herrior's arms.

"It appears as though you wore out this little lady." The brown Tauren said winking at Herrior. "Why don't you guys head inside and get some rest."

"More than likely you are going to be attacked by the alliance. She possessed one of their commanders and said more is on the way."

"Bah…puny little humans…we'll be fine." The brown Tauren said and slapped Herrior on the shoulder. Herrior nodded with a smile.

"Contact us if you need some help." Herrior said walking towards the portal.

"It's nothing we won't be able to handle!" The brown Tauren said as Herrior and his group entered the portal. Herrior and his party reentered Tranquil; it was as beautiful as ever.


	6. Raiding

Raiding

"Guys, I am in desperate need of wetting my whistle. I'm going to the Inn. Contact me if you need me…" Strings said and slowly walked away.

Trackolania pulled on Herrior's armor. Herrior smiled and looked down at Trackolania. He pointed to the left, and Herrior let out a nod. Immediately Trackolania ran off.

"Where does he go to?" Crystal asked.

"The rogue's guild. That's where he replenishes his potions and practices sparring. Sometimes he even learns something new that amazes us all." Herrior said watching Trackolania still.

Lindel let out a yawn and looked up. She saw Herrior carrying her. "Hi sweetie." She felt power surging into her body. "We must be in Tranquil. I can feel my strength returning…" She hopped off from Herrior and slowly grew her wings, her body became brighter and brighter.

"My power is slowly returning…I can't believe how drained I was." Lindel said. She flapped into the air.

"Our guard duty is over. You are free to do whatever Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel blew him a kiss.

"I need to spend some time in the air. Contact me if you need me." Lindel began flapping harder and flew higher into the air. The breeze that she produced with her wings blew over the group. Eventually she was high enough that she turned into a white light ball and began moving at very fast speeds. Other balls of light joined her. They all circled each other and then flew into one of the windows of one of the tall towers.

"And you two…" Skyka grabbed Crystal and Dan's hand and led them to a house. The door was open and she pushed them in. "There's a staircase right there. You need to spend some alone time together." Skyka pushed them up the staircase, and then motioned for them to continue climbing it. Crystal and Dan just shrugged at each other and went up the rest of the stair case. Skyka exited the building.

"Are you sure…" Herrior began to say, and then was elbowed in the stomach by Skyka.

"Don't you dare say anything, you big cow. They need some alone time and we both know it." Skyka said. Skyka turned to a big female Tauren in front of the house and said, "Brenna! You have some guests on your second floor. Make them feel welcome…but in a little bit. Ok?" The Tauren smiled at her and nodded. She went back to her garden.

"But they are still new and…" Herrior was again cut off by Skyka. She pointed a finger at him. "Say another word and I'll blast you." Skyka smiled at him and pulled him in the direction of the fountain.

"Soak yourself you dirty Tauren…I'll be right back." Skyka said.

"Where are you going my love?" Herrior said with a confused look.

"I'm going to the tailor shop. See if there are any new robes that I may like." Skyka answered back. "I'll be right back."

"But you just got a new one a couple of days ago…" Herrior said as she walked away. Skyka turned around and smiled at him.

Herrior took off his armor and let it crash to the ground. Several goblins came bouncing along and picked it up to get it repaired and shined up. He then walked slowly down into the fountain and let out a grunt of satisfaction as the water washed up on him.

Jacklyn and Quinely looked at each other. They then walked up to opposite sides of Herrior. He had his eyes closed, but felt a shadow cross his eyes. He raised his eyebrow and then looked up.

"Care to join me?" Herrior asked.

"No…there's something I need to talk to you about." Jacklyn said slowly.

"I'll join you!" Quinely said excitedly. She morphed into a leopard and jumped into the water, then swam up on the stairs that Herrior was sitting on. Herrior reached over and scratched her head. She started purring.

"Herrior" Jacklyn said.

"Yes?"

"I think there's something wrong with Crystal…I don't know. It's just, she doesn't seem right." Jacklyn said looking around.

"Oh?" Herrior responded back.

Quinely spoke up, "Yeah I sensed the same thing Jacklyn is talking about. Call it 'women's intuition' or whatever."

"Did she speak of anything odd? Or speak in a different voice?" Herrior asked.

"No…" Jacklyn responded back.

"Do you think she is in danger? Or that Dan is in danger?" Herrior asked.

"No." Jacklyn said. "It's not like that. It's almost as if, she's unsure about something. I think that there is something wrong with her body."

"Yes, that's the same thing I picked up on." Quinely spoke up still in her leopard form.

Herrior nodded. He then turned around in the water and looked up at Jacklyn. "I'll approach her and talk with her, but I need more information. Do you think she is ill?" Jacklyn shook her head.

"No, I don't know. She's a human from a different world so I don't know. All I know is what I saw and how she reacted. Our group didn't detect anything around us, yet she walked off very worried. She checked something with her pants and came back in almost a panic."

"I saw the same thing too." Quinely spoke up.

Herrior let out a "hmm…" sound and nodded. "Maybe she wasn't fully healed?" he suggested.

"No, I don't think so." Quinely said. Jacklyn nodded.

"I know neither one of you can read her mind, and Lindel's power was drained. Mohania didn't speak up either. But I trust all of you with my life. Perhaps she became possessed? Or maybe a demon seed was cast into her?"

Jacklyn shook her head. "We didn't fight any banshees or warlocks though. Besides this seemed more…" Jacklyn was looking for the right word. Quinely spoke up.

"Personal. As if she was expecting her body to do something and it didn't."

"Yeah, that explains it well." Jacklyn said quickly. Herrior nodded.

"Thanks for telling me. When Skyka and Lindel come back I'll have them look. We may even go see Mohania and have him check for a hidden demon seed." Both Quinely and Jacklyn sighed and looked at each other.

"But…you don't think it's that…do you?" Herrior said slowly.

"Like I said, I don't know. I told you everything that I saw and sensed. I'll let you take it from here. I'm going to the Arena to release some rage." Jacklyn said drawing her swords from her back. Herrior nodded. Quinely licked Herrior in the face and then swam off. Herrior was left alone to ponder what could it be. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned back in the water allowing it to come up to his neck.

On the second floor, Dan and Crystal began looking around. There wasn't any furniture, only two windows on opposite sides of this rectangle room and a blanket in the middle of the room next to the stairs. The floor was padded though, and felt very comfortable to walk on. Each of them was looking out opposite windows.

"This place sure is beautiful…" Crystal said slowly.

"Yes. Very much so." Dan replied. Dan then walked to the middle of the room and looked at Crystal. Crystal slowly turned around and asked, "What?"

"You look very beautiful. The light is hitting your hair just right. I wish I could take a picture of you right now. I'd keep it forever." Dan said. Crystal smiled and walked towards him.

They embraced each other, leaning on each other's shoulders.

"Are you still having nightmares?" Dan asked. Crystal slowly nodded.

"Are you getting used to your sais?" Dan asked again. Crystal nodded and pulled her head back a little. Dan brushed her hair behind her head. Crystal continued to gaze into Dan's eyes.

"I love you." Crystal said softly. Dan slowly smiled and replied, "I love you too Crystal." They began to kiss slowly at first, and then very passionately. Crystal took her armor off, and slipped off her clothes before Dan could realize what was going on. Crystal then slide off Dan's armor, and started taking off his pants.

"Hun we can't…" Dan said.

"We can't mate…but we can do other things." Crystal said with a twinkle in her eye. She finished taking off his pants and got on her knees. Dan let out a big gasp and ran his fingers through her hair.

Brenna walked into her home to greet the new comers, but some noise on her second floor. She just smiled and turned back around, shutting the door behind her quietly.

Skyka came back from the tailor with a light orange colored robe surrounding her body. It sparkled as she moved. She kicked some water at Herrior, waking him up. Herrior slowly turned around and saw Skyka.

"So what do you think?" Skyka asked. She twirled around and the long orange robe followed her around. It had a low V-cut in the chest, and had a slit up to her him on the right side.

"I like it." Herrior said with a grin. Skyka then put a foot on Herrior and pushed him further into the water. Skyka slowly walked down the stairs and into the enormous fountain, her dress floating up the deeper she got.

"So what do you like most about it?" Skyka asked with a big grin on her face. Herrior ran his hands up Skyka's legs.

"I like the fact that it makes you happy, it's beautiful, and gives me easy access…" Herrior said with a chuckle. Skyka gasped and pushed Herrior away. She then gave him a big smile and walked deeper into the fountain towards him. Herrior walked towards her and they embraced. Herrior let out a snort as they stared at each other.

Just then Quinely, still in leopard form, jumped into the water right next to them. It created a big splash, soaking both Herrior and Skyka.

"Ugh, shoo kitty…" Skyka said waving her away. Quinely looked back at them and smiled, then slowly started swimming away.

"It's been a long couple of days, hasn't it my love." Skyka said. Herrior nodded with a big grin on his face. They began to kiss each other.

A few moments later another shadow engulfed them.

"Herrior. Skyka." A voice said. It was that of a blood elf. Skyka just simply waved her hand away.

"I have a message from the King that he wished for me to deliver." They stopped kissing, and Skyka let out a sigh. Slowly Herrior and Skyka looked up at the blood elf with stern looks.

"I apologize, I am just the messenger." The blood elf bowed and held out his hands. Two white circles appeared above his hands, just big enough for their heads to go inside of.

"We do have a duty as ambassadors." Herrior slowly said. Skyka let out another sigh. Each of them poked their heads through the tiny portal. Instantly they were in the presence of the King and Queen.

"We are here as you request my King." Herrior said.

"Yes and thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt, but I need to speak with you." The King said and cleared his throat.

"First things first, I sense that you are troubled by Crystal." The King said. Herrior nodded his head. Skyka looked up from the floor and stared at Herrior with confusion.

"Skyka!" The King said.

"I'm sorry…" Skyka said as she quickly lowered her head to the ground.

"Jacklyn and Quinely approached Herrior and had concerns for Crystal. The Queen and I have personally scanned Crystal's body and found nothing wrong." Herrior slowly nodded seeming relieved.

"However…I am not one to draw instant conclusions. Both of us have both sensed something bothering Crystal. Neither one of us understands it, the same as Jacklyn nor Quinely. Herrior, I want you to approach Crystal and confront her about this. Have Lindel and …" the King looked to the side and slowly said, "Mohania, both take a look at her. I sense that she is a great fighter and is advancing very rapidly. For this I must congratulate you again Herrior.

"Thank …" Herrior started to say but was interrupted by the Queen.

"However! Herrior! We are both upset with you. Dan and Crystal are in love, but both of us sense that neither one of them have intentions of mating. They need intimate, personal time together and you will give it to them without question. Is that understood? This will increase their powers and make our kingdom stronger; they are not to be disturbed!" The Queen said in an angry voice.

"I am …" Herrior began to apologize but was interrupted by the Queen.

"Silence!" the Queen said. Herrior had become so nervous that he started sweating. Beads of sweat were falling on the palace floor.

A couple of seconds passed, it seemed like an eternity to Herrior. Then the King began to laugh.

"That's enough!" The Queen screamed at the King, slowly turning her head towards him.

"The King and I were just scanning Dan and Crystal. They come from different worlds and are different from us. We should not laugh at them…" the Queen was obviously pissed off at the King.

The King coughed and said, "Yes of course my darling. Herrior you will start trusting them in every aspect of their lives. Like we said, they need intimate time just like you and Skyka do, and you will allow it without question. Have we made ourselves clear?" The King ended with his voice thundering through the halls.

Herrior swallowed hard and nodded his head. He was still sweating really bad. His breathing had become very rapid. Skyka sensed what Herrior was going through, but dared not look up at him. He was alone on this one, she could not comfort him.

"Next order of business. The alliance have built a large robot…machine…something…" the King said waving his hand around as if it was of no significance.

"It has broken down twice and completely caught fire once. Our scouts tell us though that it is heading our way. We anticipate its arrival within the day or so, that is if it doesn't break down again…" the King said rolling his eyes. "The alliance is so incompetent. They can't even launch an attack correctly…but we will wait and be ready for them." the air filled with silence.

"Do you want us to help guard the wall?" Herrior said nervously.

"No. I have faith in our people; we can call in another group to help fight it if necessary. I wanted to follow up with you though. The information that you collected lead out scouts to discover the riches in the cave, and I wanted to personally congratulate you." the King said. Herrior nodded but dared not let his eyes leave the floor.

"Next. How is our friend Mohania doing? I understand that he allowed Dan passage into his cave. That surprised me actually. I know personally that Mohania has problems trusting people. I want him to trust us and pledge his allegiance to me. Herrior, Skyka. I want both of you to help with this process." The King said. Both Herrior and Skyka nodded.

"Finally two days from now, or sooner if your group is refreshed, but not before your may make your trip to the Everglades. This will be another special time for Dan and Crystal and their bonding process. I don't need to repeat myself if they need intimate time…do I?" The King said. Herrior shook his head quickly.

"Anyways, you will travel two days journey south for this mage's cave that you killed. Our scouts have reported a great number of valuables that can benefit us. I want all of it. I will send goblin collectors with you; make sure none of them get killed. Also there are two stone golems standing at the entrance. The scouts have reported that they are nearly indestructible. I want your group to figure out a way of getting by them to get the treasures. Afterwards I think Crystal is ready for a decent enchant on her weapons, Skyka I want you to see to that personally." Again, Herrior and Skyka nodded.

"Quinely has been missing her family in the Everglades. You will go with her to visit with her friends and family. I want you to bring gestures of goodwill to them and be my personal ambassadors during that time. Offer your help in any way that you can. I do not want the Druid's upset in anyway. We have formed a close allegiance with each other, and I wish to reinforce that." the King said. Both Skyka and Herrior nodded.

"I have news for you to give to Lindel. Bernett and his wife have conceived a child. The process is underway and everything is working as it should. Lindel and you Skyka did a good job." the King said. Skyka smiled, Herrior merely nodded his head.

"We have fulfilled our promise to them…however. Those two have potential. Branzer spoke with Lindel about becoming an Ambassador to their world, and it seems that he has taken a fancy to Lindel. Have Lindel explain the process to him. Maybe we can form some sort of allegiance with them. They did help us out. Oh, and by the way - congratulate Trackolania on his excellent shooting. We were both impressed with him." the King stopped talking. The King and Queen began to talk among themselves. Skyka began thinking of the man that had beat Bernett's wife and caused all of the damage to her body.

"Yes, Skyka, that was the last order of business. Let Bernett have his revenge. Our scouts have actually located him, and yes, Herrior, it is a trap. They have sensed a large number of alliance scum that have become friends with him. The number is somewhere in the thirty's. Kill all of the alliance before they are able to portal back to their city. The houses have been marked by a white star above them, everybody in there must be purged, make it quick and silent so as to not raise any alarms. Make sure Dan and Crystal understand that they will be killing their own kind." The King paused for a second. "I'm not sure how well they will do with that order…"

"They have shown great allegiance to me." Herrior said slowly.

The King nodded, "That they have. You have been a good instructor." The King stopped to rub his nose. "Yes, this will be a good test for them. Also, have Lindel tell Bernett and Branzer to have their…officers is what I think they are called? Anyways to patrol their harbor closer, we have both sensed a great evil coming towards it. It's some sort of vessel... I will have Lindel and several other Chronomancers port that ship directly in front of our wall, then we will lay siege to it. I sense that it will be a spectacular battle."

The King and Queen both looked at each other and then looked at Herrior and Skyka.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" the Queen asked. Both Herrior and Skyka shook their heads.

"Ok, keep us informed. You are dismissed." Both Herrior and Skyka pulled their heads out of the tiny portals. Herrior immediately sat down and wiped his brow.

"I hope it was good news. I shall leave you now." The blood elf messenger said.

"You ok hun?" Skyka said walking over to Herrior. Herrior reached up and wiped his eyes, the tension made his eyes turn red. He looked up at her and nodded.

"Aww…my big tough warrior…" Skyka said and sat on his lap.

"I pissed off the King…" Herrior said slowly. Skyka slowly shook her head.

"Hun it'll be fine. It was nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He trusts you with his Kingdom." Skyka said slowly and began rubbing her hands on his face.

Herrior let out a deep sigh.

"He's given you a lot of raids to do. If he didn't trust you, our group wouldn't be sent out to do so much. He even said you were a good instructor." Skyka said reassuringly. She stood up and said, "Come, lay with me tonight. Tomorrow first thing we need to do is talk with Lindel, and go visit Mohania. Then go to the Everglades." Skyka paused for a second, "King still doesn't like him very much does he…"

Herrior smiled, "I got the same feeling…"

Skyka pulled Herrior to his feet. Quinely, still in leopard form, came up and started rubbing up against Herrior's hairy leg.

"No! Bad kitty, you have to sleep outside…" Skyka said leaning over to eye level with the leopard. She started petting her head. The leopard licked her in the face and followed them to the nearest house. Herrior and Skyka walked in, and Quinely made herself comfortable on the grass.

The night passed and Dan and Crystal woke up. They looked at each other and smiled. They were completely naked except for the blanket over top of them.

"Good morning hun." Dan said. Crystal crawled up to his face and gave him a long passionate kiss. A voice then came from downstairs.

"Good morning you two! I have warm towels beside you to wipe off. I have washed your clothes and folded them next to you." Crystal gasped and quickly covered herself. They stared at each other for awhile.

"Umm…hello?" Crystal finally said.

"Hi, my name is Brenna and this is my house."

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry; we didn't know…we'll leave at once." Crystal said with her face turning red and feeling completely embarrassed.

"No no, take your time. Herrior and Skyka come here often. You are our guardians; you are more than welcome in my house any time you want. Please don't be embarrassed. I have breakfast ready when you guys are." Brenna said quickly.

Crystal and Dan just stared at each other. Crystal eventually closed her eyes and smiled at the situation. Dan started to laugh.

"Please don't get the blanket messy, use the warm towels. Come down whenever you are ready." Brenna reminded them.

"Awkward…" Dan said. This made Crystal laugh. Crystal tossed the blanket off to the side and they quickly wiped themselves off with the towels and dressed themselves. They then put their armor on and checked their weapons. Then they started down the stairs slowly, not sure what to expect.

"Hi! I'm Brenna!" The female tauren said extending her hand towards both of them.

"You…umm…didn't hear anything…" Crystal started to say.

"No. As long as you were being intimate with each other, I stayed outside. When you were both snoring is when I came up to take care of you. Don't worry, I didn't peak." Brenna said with a smile. "Come. Please. I have prepared breakfast for you. The citizens of Tranquil are indebted to you; this is the least that I could do for you." She pointed to a table at the far end of the house. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and slowly approached the table. Brenna pulled out Crystal's chair and scooted it in for her. Brenna quickly grabbed some plates and silverware and placed it at their spots at the table.

"Are you meat eaters?" Brenna asked.

"Yes." Dan and Crystal answered at the same time.

"Sorry, but I have to ask. The Druids don't eat meat. I didn't want to offend you." Brenna brought over a pan almost over flowing with a huge omelet made out of green pepper, onion, bacon, and several other foods they didn't recognize. It smelled wonderful! Dan and Crystal looked down at the food and then looked at each other.

"Please, it's my privilege to serve you. If you don't eat, I'll be offended." Brenna said with a smile. Dan shrugged his shoulders and took the first bite. It hit his taste buds and every single one of them screamed for more. His stomach gargled in anticipation for the food. He quickly swallowed and started on his second bite. Dan nodded towards Crystal. They ate for twenty minutes until their stomachs screamed in pain from being full.

"Brenna, I must apologize for us barging into your home and doing what we did. Skyka led us in and…" Dan started in. Brenna waved her hand back and forth for Dan to be quite.

"Hun, it's my privilege. This actually happens a lot. Tranquil is probably different from what you are used to. Its fine, I assure you. Stop in anytime, I mean that. I would love to hear of your adventures and the stories that you have to tell." Brenna reassured them again. She smiled at both of them.

"Crystal!" it was Herrior's voice from outside the house.

"Ah, sounds like duty calls." Brenna said. "Don't be a stranger."

Dan and Crystal both walked outside. They saw Lindel, Herrior, Skyka, Jacklyn, and Quinely all looking at Crystal with a very concerned look.

"What's going on?" Crystal asked nervously.

"Crystal, it's been brought to my attention that there may be something wrong with you." Herrior said softly. Crystal looked at him weird and said, "No, I'm fine." Herrior let out a snort.

"Jacklyn and Quinely came to me yesterday and said that something wasn't quite right with you. I spoke to the King and Queen personally. They didn't sense anything wrong either. But we want to get you checked out."

Crystal gasped. "Did they see what we did last night?"

Lindel stepped forward. "Hun, when you are being intimate with Dan - nobody is allowed to watch. The only exception is if there is immediate danger. What happened up there is just between you and Dan. Ok?"

"Ok…so why is everybody looking at me so nervously…what's going on?" Crystal said.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Herrior said. "Jacklyn and Quinely said that you had a concern about your body." Crystal then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hun, we are all friends here. Ok? We are all here to help in any way that we can." Skyka said and took her hand.

"It's a private matter…" Crystal said quietly. Herrior nodded and said, "Do you wish to discuss this somewhere more private then?" Crystal looked off to the side and sighed again. She slowly shook her head. She sat down on the ground; the rest of the party followed her.

"Ok…here it goes…Umm…I'm missing my period." Crystal said slowly. Dan quickly rose to his feet and said, "What! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought it was from all of the activity going on."

"Well that's something pretty important don't you think…" The group's faces followed Dan and Crystal's, trying to understand what was going on.

"Hun, I didn't want to scare you."

"Scare me! We haven't…err…mated. How could this happen?" Dan said nervously.

"I don't know. I just know it hasn't come yet."

"Are you pregnant?" Dan asked seriously.

"I don't know. I don't know how, we haven't done anything." Crystal looked back almost in tears.

"Are you on any birth control pills? That might be it." Dan said pacing around.

"No hun, I'm not on anything."

"Soo…what do we do now?" Dan asked with his hands on his hips.

"I know what you are thinking, it wasn't from anybody else. Ok." Crystal looked at him seriously. Dan nodded.

"Should you take a pregnancy test?" Dan asked seriously.

"I haven't shown any other signs of being pregnant." Crystal replied back. The group's faces were still following Dan and Crystal as they talked.

"Damn it!" Dan sighed. "Crystal…why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because I was scared…I didn't want to worry anybody. Like I said I'm not showing any other signs of being pregnant. It could be something else."

"Like what? You aren't on the pill."

Crystal was almost in tears. "I don't know…"

"Ok…ok…I'm here for you. Ok?" Dan sat down next to her and held her. She began crying, and Dan started rocking her back and forth. Silence fell on the group for awhile. Nobody knew what to say. Both Dan and Crystal looked up at Herrior. Herrior quickly scanned both of their eyes. Obviously they were telling the truth, but he had no idea what to say.

"So, you are missing a period?" Herrior asked. Crystal nodded.

"Well…umm…maybe you lost it on the battle field, or in Tranquil somewhere. We can retrace your steps." Herrior said nervously. Both Dan and Crystal stopped what they were doing and glared at Herrior.

"Are you serious…?" Crystal said sarcastically. Dan quickly shook his head at Herrior. "Umm…ok sorry. What can we do to help?" Herrior said apologetically.

Crystal sighed and rolled her eyes. She then stared at all of the women in the group and said, "Skyka, Lindel, Jacklyn, Quinely…you must know what I'm talking about." The four of them looked at each other nervously; hoping one of them knew and would speak up. After a moment of silence, Crystal spoke up, "Are you serious!"

Lindel scooted forward and grabbed her hand. "Hun, we all love you very much. We all care about you deeply and are very concerned about you. But to be honest none of us have a clue what you are talking about. What can we do to help you?" Crystal just covered her face in frustration and began crying. Lindel let go of her hand and scooted back. She looked over at Herrior. Herrior just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what to do.

"Crystal…there could be multiple reasons why your body is missing it's…period?" Herrior said looking at his group. Crystal refused to look up at him though.

"Our world is different from yours. You could be possessed, you may have a demon seed inside of you, it could even be an injury inside of you that never healed right." Herrior said.

In between the crying, Crystal looked up at Herrior and said, "What?"

"We can have Lindel examine you. We can have Mohania look at you. We'll do whatever it takes to fix whatever is wrong."

"But you don't know what I'm talking about…do you!" Crystal said and almost shouted her words. Herrior slowly shook his head.

Crystal took a deep breath and wiped away the tears. "Fine, Lindel probably knows my body the best. I don't know what Mohania can do, but I'm willing to try anything." Crystal paused for awhile and let out another sigh and said, "I may have to go to our world to be examined by our doctors."

"If that is what it takes, we'll do it. You are one of us now." Herrior said reassuringly.

"Fine, Lindel do you want me sitting up or laying down?" Crystal said not real enthused about the idea.

"Whichever is easiest for you hun." Lindel answered back. Crystal laid back on the smooth grass. It started to cause her to itch.

"Skyka can you get me off the grass, float me in the air or whatever you call it…" Crystal said.

"Sure hun." Skyka chanted a few words and instantly Crystal started rising off from the ground.

"I'll talk to you the whole time Crystal. This won't hurt a bit. Leave your eyes open." Lindel said. She jumped forward, turned into a purple ball for a quick second and then entered into Crystal's eyes.

"Hi hun" Lindel said from inside of her.

"Hi." Crystal said.

"Can you show me what you mean by a period?" Lindel asked quietly. Crystal quickly brought up an image of a bathroom, blood dripping out of her vagina and her putting a tampon in herself.

"How often does this happen?" Lindel asked in surprise.

"Every month, well it's supposed to anyways." Crystal answered back.

"And this is normal? The blood and everything?" Lindel asked.

Crystal nodded. "There are also cramps, mood swings, bloating, tiredness, and a whole slew of other things that come along with it."

"Sounds like a pain in the ass." Lindel said with a smile. This made Crystal chuckle.

"Ok hun, I'm going to examine you and see if anything is out of order. You are going to have to be my voice to Skyka. I may need her help." Crystal acknowledged, and soon Lindel was on her way scanning through her body.

Crystal laid there floating off from the ground. She could feel Lindel inside of her moving around. Crystal let out several sighs.

"Everything ok dear?" Lindel asked inside of her.

"Yes…" Crystal said slowly in her mind. Lindel went back to work. Ten minutes passed and Lindel then floated back up to Crystal's brain.

"Hun, everything looks fine." she said.

"I was hoping you would find something…" Crystal said. She paused for a second and asked, "Am I pregnant?"

"No. I checked everywhere. I even checked to see if you have been mating…" Lindel said.

"I told you I wasn't!" Crystal yelled at Lindel in her mind.

"I know hun, but I wanted to check everything. I'm sorry." Lindel said. Crystal let out a sigh.

"What about this…demon seed, or whatever Herrior was talking about…" Crystal asked.

"I can't detect that, only Mohania can. Also as far as I can tell you aren't possessed by any other spirits. Just in case I'll have Skyka blast you with holy light."

"So what's wrong with me?" Crystal asked sternly.

"Hun…I didn't find anything wrong. I'm sorry." Lindel said softly. "I'm going to exit your body now. Leave your eyes open." Crystal blinked several times and then stared up at the sky. Lindel quickly exited Crystal through her eyes and formed a purple ball above her head. Lindel floated back over to her spot and rematerialized.

Herrior looked at Lindel eagerly. She slowly shook her head. "I didn't find anything." She turned to Skyka. "Skyka you can let her down now. Also can you cast your greatest healing spell on her? That should flush out any possessions she might have." Skyka nodded and eased Crystal down on the ground, and Crystal slowly rose to her feet. Skyka then put her hands together and started moving them in a circle. A spiral appeared underneath her feet, and bright lights appeared above her head. Several seconds later, an enormous beam of bright light completely engulfed Crystal. It surrounded her for a couple of seconds and then vanished. Crystal just looked forward unphased.

"Feel any different?" Skyka asked.

"Nope" Crystal said. Skyka sighed.

"Ok, let's go see Mohania." Herrior said. Herrior started walking and everybody else followed.

They got to the portal and stepped through. The group guarding the wall quickly turned their attention to Herrior's group.

"Reinforcements?" The brown tauren asked.

"Naw, we're here to see one of the warlocks. Anything been happening?" Herrior asked.

"There's been a lot of mechanical noise from the east. None of us can see what's happening. A couple of explosions went off, and we could see smoke filling the sky. We're not sure what it is."

"The King said it's some sort of mechanical device that the alliance is sending towards us. He didn't seem to impressed with it though." Herrior said.

"Neither are we…" the tauren said with a smile.

Herrior walked up to the gate and pressed his hand on the key hole. The gate opened and his group walked through it. They walked over to the warlock cave.

"Mohania!" Herrior called out. A pair of red eyes opened within inches from the gate. The shield dropped down as well as the gate.

"Yess…" Mohania's eerie voice called out quietly.

"Oh…sorry, I didn't know where you were." Herrior said and backed up. Mohania rose to his feet and stepped out of the cave.

"Mohania, we think there might be a demon seed inside of Crystal. Can you check?" Herrior asked. Mohania looked over at Crystal, and then looked back at Herrior.

"I don't sense anything." Mohania said solemnly. Crystal thought, "Well that was easy…"

"She's having some health issues we can't explain. We've had Lindel and Skyka take a closer look at her. Can you do the same? We're trying to narrow down what's wrong." Herrior explained.

"What's wrong with her…?" Mohania said quietly. Crystal rolled her eyes. Lindel walked up to Mohania and whispered something into his ear. Mohania slowly turned to face Lindel.

"What?" was all Mohania could say with a confused look. Crystal buried her face in her hand with frustration. Mohania could tell that Crystal was going through a lot of anguish. Mohania walked towards her.

"Lift your shirt up, open your mouth, and don't close your eyes." Mohania instructed her. Crystal lifted up her shirt exposing her stomach and tucking her shirt into the underneath of her bra. She then flicked her hair back and stared at the sky with her mouth wide open. Mohania stood in front of her, and then he slowly turned his head around at the group.

"If I do pull out a demon, I'll try to control it. If I can't, I'll need you to kill it…" Mohania said in a serious tone. Herrior's group pulled out their weapons and surrounded Crystal. Crystal started to become nervous.

"Is this going to hurt?" she asked.

"Probably…" Mohania said unemotional. He then slammed his boney hand into Crystal's stomach. Instantly her stomach turned very hot. It was as if the heat was going all the way through her body.

"Ow!" Crystal yelled.

"Keep your mouth open! Hold still!" Mohania commanded. Mohania then looked down her throat and then stared into her eyes. His eyes burned fiercely. Crystal could feel Mohania searching inside of her, it felt very uncomfortable. She tried hard not to yell out in pain, but she was winching in pain very badly.

A moment later, Mohania pulled his boney hand back and walked away from Crystal. Crystal fell to the ground and groined in pain. Mohania shook his head.

"She's clean. We haven't fought any other warlocks; I figured she would be clean..." Mohania said as if it was a waste of his time.

"Thanks hun…want me to make it up to you?" Skyka said and embraced Mohania. Mohania groaned and walked back into his cave. Skyka waved at him as he sat down inside of the entrance and began meditating. He left the gate open. Dan helped Crystal to her feet trying to catch her breath. Lindel walked over to her.

"He isn't as gentle as I am." Lindel said softly.

"That's for sure…" Crystal replied back.

Suddenly Lindel's hearthstone started glowing brightly in her cloak. She quickly pulled it out and gazed into the window it produced. "It's Branzer!" she said with excitement.

Branzer was driving on the expressway. He had the radio blazing and the window down. He was driving with his left hand and his right hand was tapping on his right let. Thoughts of Lindel entered his mind and made him smile.

"Hi Branzer…" Lindel said in a very sexual tone. Branzer looked over to his right and saw Lindel's face with a bright white light around it. This caught Branzer completely off guard. He screamed and slammed on the brakes. His car started swerving all over the road.

"Shit!" Branzer screamed as he veered his car off to the median of the road. The car came to a screeching halt in the grass. Several cars were honking at him. He sat there for awhile catching his breath.

"Holy shit woman, you scared the piss out of me!" Branzer said very quickly.

"It's not my fault, you contacted me." Lindel said with a smile.

"No I didn't?" Branzer said defensively. Lindel then tilted her head and stared at him.

"Ok, ok…let me think. Geez, my mind is going a mile a minute right now. I was driving down the road, enjoying the rush of air and the radio." He quickly reached over and turned off the radio. "I was singing along, tapping my leg to the beat." He looked down and saw that his pants were giving off a purple light.

"A thought of you came into my head. The song reminded me of you." Branzer said still out of breath. Lindel glared at him and smiled.

"It wasn't a bad thought! I was just…" Branzer then realized that he had been tapping on his pants pocket with the stone in it and did indeed think of Lindel.

"Just how sensitive is this thing?" Branzer said in shock.

"Very, it's designed to summon help very quickly. Do you need help?" Lindel asked. Branzer caught his breath and shook his head.

"No, I was just 'going for a walk' per somebody's advice." Branzer said and smiled at Lindel. She smiled back.

"Sorry about that. I'll have to remember just how sensitive this thing is…" Branzer said slowly.

"It's ok; we need to talk to you anyways. I guess now is a good time as ever." Lindel said with a concern in her voice.

Branzer nodded, "Sure anything. What's going on?"

"First the good news. The King said that Bernett was able to conceive a child with his wife. Everything is working normally. I'll let you deliver the good news." Lindel said with a smile.

"I can call him right now, that's great news!" Branzer pulled out his secure cell phone. Lindel meditated for a second and then suddenly said, "No!" Branzer stopped dialing. "They are still…umm…busy…" Lindel said. Branzer smirked and put his phone away.

"Ok, I'll give him the good news at a later time." Branzer was still smiling and then asked, "What else is there?"

"We have located Bernett's old boyfriend with our scouts. Several alliance members are guarding him. It is a trap, as Herrior suspected. We have been ordered by the King himself to purge the houses that have been marked with bright stars above them."

"Purge?" Branzer asked.

"Kill everybody inside before they are able to portal back to their city." Lindel quickly said back.

"That's what I thought you meant. Lindel we just can't have you coming into our world and slaying innocent civilians, especially ones that aren't armed. Every person is essentially accounted for. If there is a mass slaying, people and reporters will ask questions. As an officer and Crystal should know this, we swore to protect the innocent." Branzer said in a serious tone.

"Hun, those are our orders. Herrior and Skyka got them directly from the King himself. If it makes you feel better, they are alliance. If they knew that you and Bernett were aligned with us, they would kill you without thinking twice about it." Lindel said softly.

Branzer sighed and shook his head. "Lindel! I can't…"

"You don't have to come with us." Lindel said.

"I can't allow the slaughter of innocent people!" Branzer almost screamed. Lindel backed up from the portal. She looked over at Herrior. Herrior walked over and stuck his head into the portal.

"Branzer, this is Herrior."

"Yes…" Branzer said.

"I know you don't know what the alliance has done, but they have slaughter thousands of your kind. They have tortured them, and bent their will to do their bidding. We fight the alliance almost every day. Right now they have constructed an enormous robot that is probably attacking our wall right now. They cannot be trusted."

"How do I know that you can be trusted? You want to slaughter innocent civilians! That doesn't exactly make you the 'Good guys' in my opinion!" Branzer stared at Herrior. Herrior blinked his eyes slowly and stared at Branzer.

"You know in your heart, that we are soldiers of honor. We would not be given this command if there wasn't a good reason for that. You know that." Herrior said sternly staring at Branzer's eyes. Branzer sighed and looked away.

"Look at me Branzer." Herrior said. Branzer let out a sigh and focused back on Herrior's eyes.

"Remember the battle that we fought? Defending the wall?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…" Branzer said slowly.

"Those were the alliance. Most of them were humans just like you. Given a chance, they would have killed you and not thought twice about it. Some humans pledge their allegiance to the alliance, some pledge it to our King." Herrior said.

Branzer slowly nodded.

"Most humans appear to be just living out their lives. Raising families, going to work and such. Most of them have no idea of the war going on. We are trying to stop the war from over-flowing into your world. Do you remember the waste lands where our wall was? Remember how void it was of any life? I do not want to see your world have the same fate." Herrior said still making eye contact with Branzer.

"So the alliance destroyed your world?"

"No. It was a combination of both of us. The war still rages. They are trying to get new recruits in your world, the same as we are doing. They are desperately trying to get Time-Stoppers. We were very lucky to get Dan when we did. He would have been tortured until he was killed, by the alliance. We took him in and made him one of us. The alliance is not a force to be reckoned with. They are powerful, and if we can decrease their numbers, especially here on your world, the safer you, Bernett, and your world will be. We will not kill any other humans; we are very good at what we do. You know that don't you."

Branzer nodded and sighed.

"They will not suffer if that is what you are worried about. Normally we wouldn't even be telling you this and would just do our duty, but it involves Bernett's wife. Bernett desperately wants his revenge. And in order to get to this guy, we need to slaughter the alliance guarding him. If just you two were to go, even with several other officers, they would kill you almost instantly. I sense that you and Bernett are close. You want revenge with this guy as much as Bernett does. You want justice to be done." Herrior continued.

Branzer let out another sigh and then said, "We can't be anywhere near the place. I don't want it to be linked to us in anyway." Branzer shook his head and said, "What you are planning to do is utter madness!"

Herrior looked at Branzer in the eyes. "What do you think Bernett would have us do?" A brief moment passed by.

"He would go along with it…" Branzer said and looked away.

"Look at me Branzer." Herrior instructed him again. Branzer sighed and looked back at Herrior.

"Do you think that we randomly slaughter your species just for the fun of it? You know that I have a strict honor code. We would not kill anybody unless provoked to do so, or ordered to do so. The alliance is constantly pulling people from your world and converting them. If they can't be converted, they are killed. We do not do that. We protect your people. You have seen that first hand. Again, you know in your heart that we fight with honor. You know that don't you?" Herrior said. Branzer slowly shook his head.

"I…can't take part in this…" Branzer said, and then continued. "I doubt Bernett would either."

"We aren't asking you too." Herrior said quickly. "What we'll do is after we are done with our assignment, we'll bring this man into the outer world, along with Bernett. Bernett will have his revenge, honorably. You can come to that if you wish. I don't think his wife should know though."

"That I want to take part of." Branzer said in an angry voice. Jacklyn yelled in the background, "We'll bring you what's left of him when I get done with him!" Herrior looked over his shoulder at Jacklyn, and then looked back at Branzer.

"I want you to relay some of this information to Bernett. Tell him that we have located this man and will bring him to our world along with Bernett. We will contact him via his hearthstone when we are ready for him. Neither one of you is to approach him. Make sure he understands that!" Herrior finished. Branzer nodded.

"Fine" Branzer said looking at Herrior. Herrior seemed satisfied and nodded at him. Herrior's face vanished from the portal, and Lindel's face appeared.

"Hi love. How are you holding up?" Lindel asked.

"I don't understand everything, but I believe Herrior." Branzer paused for a second and then asked, "How bad is the alliance?"

"They killed many of my friends. They sacrificed their lives so I could escape. I can still hear their screams. Each person in Tranquil as their own stories about the alliance, they are brutal hun." Lindel said starting to tear up.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked…" Branzer said feeling the pain that she was giving off.

Lindel wiped away the tears and looked Branzer in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course!" Branzer said quickly.

"You will have your own story about the alliance someday, that I'm almost sure of. Please, stay away from them. Do you have any weapons on you right now?" Lindel asked.

Branzer thought really quick and softly said, "No…"

"Branzer!" Lindel shouted at him.

"I know…sorry. I will go to the pawn shop first thing tomorrow. My mind has been preoccupied." Branzer answered back softly.

"Preoccupied with me?" Lindel said with a smile. Branzer smiled and his face started to turn red.

"Hun, you are a prime target for the alliance and demons. If they knew that you and Bernett have been talking with us, they would lay siege to your homes. You have to concentrate and be alert."

"How do I know if somebody is aligned with the alliance?"

"They'll have red eyes, and speak in a foreign tongue. They will be very aggressive." Lindel said. Branzer nodded.

"Next order of business is the King wanted to know if you wanted to become an ambassador to your world?" Lindel asked.

"Of course! I said I would before." Branzer said excitedly.

"I will tell you the process some other time, but there's not much to it." Lindel said with a smile.

"And finally the King said to, 'patrol' I think is the right word, the harbor. There's a vessel coming in giving off a great aura of evil. It should arrive in five to six days. I'll meet up with you, and I'll bring several other Chronomancers to bring the entire ship into the outer world. Then a great battle will occur, as the King put it." Lindel said.

"I will help as much as I can!" Branzer said excitedly. "Probably Bernett will want in on it as well." Lindel nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Crystal is missing her period. I personally searched her body and found nothing wrong; Skyka and Mohania did as well. She said it was a personal thing. None of us really know what she's talking about. She showed me glimpses of it in her mind, but I'm sure I didn't get the whole picture. Dan seemed pretty upset when they were talking about it. Do you know anything that might help us?"

Branzer had a frightened look on his face. This made Lindel feel very comfortable.

"How late is she?" Branzer asked quickly.

"Late for what?" Lindel asked in a confused look. Branzer quickly shook his head.

"Is she there, can I talk to her?" Lindel's face instantly disappeared.

"Branzer wants to talk to you Crystal." Lindel said.

"Great…all I need now is for him to know…" Crystal stepped forward and put her face into the portal just like everybody else did.

"Can you see me?" Crystal asked.

"Yes, Crystal what's going on?" Branzer asked.

"I haven't had a period in about two months…"

"Are you pregnant?" Branzer asked quickly. Crystal shook her head. "Lindel checked. Then Skyka did something. Finally Mohania did something that hurt real bad. They all said I'm normal."

Branzer ran his hands through his hair and slowly turned around.

"Shit…hun I don't know. Are you on any birth control?" Branzer asked.

"No." Crystal responded quickly.

"This isn't my area of expertise. Probably if you talked with Bernett's wife she would know more. The only thing else that I can think of is the world you are in is pretty messed up. There are a lot of things there that we don't understand. Maybe, in that world there are no periods?" Branzer shrugged his shoulders. Crystal looked at him funny.

"I'm just guessing here hun; you've been through hell and back. Maybe something got messed up. The only thing that I could suggest is going to one of our ER's." Branzer said in frustration.

"I've considered that…" Crystal said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Crystal; I wish I could help more. If you do go to the ER, I could come with you if you wanted."

"Well, its good talking to somebody else that actually knows what a period is…" Crystal said and started to laugh.

Branzer looked confused. "Nobody else has them there?"

Crystal started to laugh, "You should have seen Herrior's face when I was talking to him about it. He thought that I 'lost' it somewhere and that all I need to do is retrace my steps…but apparently none of the women here even knew what I was talking about."

Branzer chuckled and then asked. "How are things out there?"

"Intense. We are both doing well. I guess we are going to some place called the 'Everglades' today, and then we are going to go fight two indestructible golems tomorrow. Should be fun." Crystal said.

"That's the Crystal I remember…" Branzer said with a smile.

"Listen, I'm starting to draw attention. I should probably be on my way. Give my best to everyone, and contact me if you need me." Branzer said. A car had pulled over and a guy was walking up to him.

"Take care!" Crystal said. She pulled her head out of the portal and said, "Close the portal, quick!" Lindel held up her hand and the white circle instantly vanished. It vanished in front of Branzer as well.

"Is everything ok mister?" a stranger said about fifty yards away.

"Yes, I'm a police officer actually. I almost hit a dog!" Branzer said holding up his badge.

"Sorry officer, I just wanted to see if I could help." the stranger said.

"Thanks for offering!" Branzer shouted. He got back in his car and began to move his car off from the grass and back onto the highway. Suddenly he felt a vibration in his pants.

"Shit! Not again!" Branzer said quickly looking around for a portal. He looked down at his pants and his stone wasn't glowing. He figured out that it was his cell phone in his other pocket. He quickly pulled it out. It showed one missed call from Bernett and one new voicemail. He quickly dialed up the voicemail.

"Branzer, this is Bernett. Where are you at? I couldn't reach you. The customer service said there was too much interference, so they just put me into your voicemail. My wife is sleeping and I wanted to talk to you. I had a strange feeling, you know…like what we had in the office…come over me, right before Lindel and Skyka showed up. Call me when you get this." the voicemail said. Branzer deleted the voicemail and immediately dialed Bernett. He picked up on the first ring.

"Branzer?"

"Yup, sorry about that. I accidentally activitated my stone and had a long talk with Lindel and Herrior. Be careful, those things are sensitive! The portal, or whatever it is, was probably blocking the signal."

"Were they mad?"

"Didn't seem like it. I do have some good news for you though. Lindel told me that, the King told her, or something - I have no idea how in the hell that works…but they said that your wife is pregnant."

There was a pause on the phone.

"How do they know that?" Bernett said excitedly.

"I'm not sure how any of their shit works to be honest. I'm just relaying the message. They said everything is working as it is supposed to be…that was there words."

Another pause came over the phone.

"It's only been…one day I think. How could they…" Bernett said very confused.

"Like I said, I have no idea how they know or anything. I'm just relaying the message. There's some other stuff as well." Branzer said.

"Ok sure, what's up?"

"They located your man."

"What! Where! How!" Bernett asked quickly.

Branzer let out a sigh, "Ok I'm going to try to explain this as best as I can. If you and I go alone to this guy, we will be killed. It is a trap. The 'alliance' people, or whatever they are, are waiting for us. Herrior's group will go in kill all of them. Then bring this guy to their world and bring us there as well. Then you can do to him whatever you want."

Another pause on the phone.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, they said I can have a whack at him too. Jacklyn piped up and said we could have whatever is left when she got done with him, but I don't think Herrior will allow that though."

"I want him all to myself." Bernett said in a very serious tone.

"Ok buddy, no problem. I wouldn't mind watching though, sounds like Herrior and them were going to watch, make sure he doesn't get away or something."

"Oh he won't…" Bernett said in an angry voice. "Did he say when?"

"Actually no, but they have followed up on their word with everything else. Including your wife and your new baby. Congratulations by the way!" Branzer said trying to calm him down.

"Did they say what gender it was?" Bernett asked.

"No, but they said everything was working normally. I'm assuming that it's going to be healthy though. That's the important part."

"Yeah. Yes it is. I'll wait to let the wife find out though. That way she doesn't have a lot of questions. I'll act surprised." Bernett said.

"Might be best." Branzer said nodding.

"Also, when we go to the other world to mess this guy up, I don't want my wife to know." Bernett said in a serious tone.

"Might be best also." Branzer replied back.

"So the story is, we're going to a police convention, ok?" Bernett said, the anger levels raising in his voice.

"Convention, no problem."

"What else did they say?" Bernett asked.

"Well, they said to patrol the docks. Some nasty ship is coming in. They said about a week. They are going to take it to their world I guess. Lindel said we could come along."

"Not a problem with me." Bernett replied back.

"They want me to become an Ambassador to this world. I said ok."

"What do you have to do for that?" Bernett asked.

"Not sure, but I'll let you know."

"Anything else?" replied Bernett.

"Well, the thing that bothers me is they are going to have to kill some citizens, controlled by the alliance, in a couple of houses to get to this man. I guess the houses are going to be marked by stars in the sky or something. Bernett, we've both sworn to protect citizens." There was a long pause.

"Did they want us to come?" Bernett said quietly.

"No, I don't want to be anywhere near the scene. The way they put it though was they were going to 'purge' the homes. Everybody in it dies." Branzer answered back. Silence filled the air for awhile.

Bernett let out a sigh, "It's going to be a massacre…I've seen what they can do…"

"They said they would do it quietly and quickly. Then grab this douche bag and then take him back to their world. Lindel then said she would contact us via the hearthstone, which you should have on you at all times…" Branzer said as his voice trailed off.

"I do! I learned my lesson!" Bernett said cheerfully.

"Also there may be a problem with Crystal. She's two months late with her period."

"Is she pregnant?" Bernett asked.

"No, apparently they ran a lot of tests on her and couldn't figure out what was wrong." Branzer said with a worried tone to it.

"That worries me."

"I offered to take her to the ER, but we had to end the conversation quick." Branzer said.

"That really worries me. I'll talk with the wife when she wakes up. She'll know more about that than I would." Bernett replied.

"Yeah, I was stumbling over my words. I've never been married, I don't know how that stuff works. I didn't know what to say to even comfort her. I guess they have been in some intense situations, that's what Crystal said. The whole thing worries me…you know?"

Bernett replied, "Yeah…I know…" Another pause came over the phone.

"Well I'm going to go for a jog and let the wife sleep. If anything happens call me."

"You too." and the phones went dead.

"So where do we stand Crystal? Do you want us to go to your world so you can seek treatment there?" Herrior asked. Crystal sighed and looked around at everybody staring at her.

"I am taking away from everybody's free time. We are supposed to go to the Everglades today, and go raiding tomorrow. I am a fighter and loyal to you above all else. If something bad happens, Lindel and Skyka are here." Crystal then looked at Lindel and asked, "You can always send me to Branzer's house right?" Lindel nodded. "Ok then. If things with my body get real bad let's do that, he can take me to the hospital. I will keep you informed Herrior. But for now, let's go enjoy ourselves. I'm looking forward to getting away for awhile." Crystal said still recovering from what Mohania did to her.

Dan sighed and looked away. The entire group looked at him.

"Crystal, how long can you go without having a period?" he asked. The entire party turned to Crystal.

Crystal shook her head. "I don't know hun. According to everybody I'm fine. I feel fine, and I can still fight. I probably shouldn't have even brought it up. Now everybody will think of me differently because of this…"

"Crystal." Herrior said looking straight at her. Crystal looked up at Herrior.

"You are part of our group. You are one of us. This was a legitimate concern. I for one am glad that we talked about this. Nobody in our group will think less of you. This applies to you to Dan." Dan looked at Herrior, who was eyeballing him.

"You two are still young and have many questions, which makes you both valuable and vulnerable. You may detect something that we all miss. Don't hesitate to ask about anything. For a long time, one of us will always be at your side. You will not be sent on separate missions without us for quite awhile. Remember, you are still visitors to a strange world. Everything is ok, none of us will be mad at you for asking questions." Herrior paused for a second and called for Mohania. Mohania let out a groan and walked towards them.

"Even Mohania answered Dan's questions. He's even taken him into his cave. Some place that I haven't even been to." Herrior glared towards Mohania. Mohania didn't even flitch.

"Well enough of this, let's go enjoy ourselves before we go raiding tomorrow. Mohania, did you want to come too?" Herrior asked. He nodded his head. Mohania created a square green portal and then gave a small green ball to Herrior. Herrior nodded. Mohania then sat down in the green portal that he created.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and brought up his entire group at the same time.

Trackolania's portal showed that he was still sleeping. So Herrior put his hand on top of that portal and closed it.

"Strings…are you coming to the Everglades?"

"Yup, I'll meet you at the portal." Strings said and closed the portal.

"Jacklyn, do you want to come with us?"

"Hi Herrior…oof!" Jacklyn said and got slammed in the back with a hammer. Jacklyn then turned around and swung both of her swords sending somebody flying into the wall.

"What's going on?" Jacklyn asked.

"We're going to the Everglades, wanna come?" Herrior asked.

"No thanks, I'm having fun in the arena!" Jacklyn said and quickly closed her portal.

"Quinely?" Herrior looked over at her portal.

"I'm just outside the Everglades portal waiting for Strings. We've already talked."

"Ok, we're coming shortly." Herrior said and closed that portal.

"Herrior, I'm going to let you guys go. I'm going to spend some more time in Tranquil. Let me know when you need me." Lindel said. Herrior nodded.

The four of them walked back into the portal to Tranquil, Herrior carrying Mohania's green ball. Lindel grew her wings and flew off into the sky. The rest of them were all following Herrior through the town.

"Anything special we need to know in this place that we're going to?" Dan asked.

"It's full of shape-shifting Druids. You may think you are petting an animal, but it might be an actual person. Skyka and I need to go talk to the counsel, per the King's request. Quinely and Strings will probably spend some time together. I'm not sure what Mohania will do. Probably just walk around." Herrior said and shrugged and then continued.

"Their King, or Guardian as they like to call it, is called Cenarius. He's about fifty foot tall. Same rules apply to him as the King. Bow before him, only speak when spoke to, and let him talk first. He is very powerful and looks over the Druids and guards their world. More than likely he's busy doing something else though. He's usually pretty busy. Other than that, just enjoy yourselves. It's a heavily wooded world with lots of lakes. You can't bring any weapons or armor into the world. It is well protected though, and a very nice sanctuary. More than likely Mohania will follow you guys around. If you get lost, just stay in one spot. Somebody will come up to you. Oh - and no time stopping is allowed." Herrior said looking at Dan and Crystal with a grin.

Herrior led them through the city for about half an hour. Then they stepped into a huge round building and passed through velvety robes hanging from the ceiling. Inside were several blood elves, and trolls. A big blue crystal was in the middle of the room, and several beams of light were coming out from it, formally multiple portals on the walls. There was about twenty of them. Herrior started removing his armor and weapons. Dan and Crystal did the same.

"How do you tell which portal to take?" Crystal asked. Herrior chuckled.

"It's the one right there, but you can always ask the channelers." Herrior and Skyka then vanished into the portal. Dan and Crystal followed them.

"Hi everybody!" Quinely said excitedly. Strings was holding her hand right behind her.

"Greetings Quinely, hi Strings." Herrior said with a smile. "We need to go speak with the counsel and send the King's regards." Herrior dropped the green ball he was holding and it instantly formed a green portal. Mohania instantly appeared and began wondering off to the right.

"Oh that's boring stuff, Strings and I are going to go play in the water! You two can come to if you want!" Quinely looked at Dan and Crystal excitedly. Dan and Crystal were looking around at their surroundings. They instantly materialized in a huge forest. Enormous trees were all around them, along with very thick long grass. They both looked into the sky and couldn't see past the leaves.

"Meet you two back here in a little while." Skyka said to Dan and Crystal giving them a wink. Herrior and Skyka then walked away from them. Quinely was dragging Strings in the opposite direction; he was trying his best to keep up. Dan looked at Crystal and shrugged.

"Follow them I suppose." Crystal said. They turned to follow them, but they were gone. It was almost as if they were swallowed up in the vast forest. They both started looking around for them in the general direction that they went.

"Hello!" A female voice came from behind them. Both of them turned around and saw a large bear looking down at them.

"Uh…hi." Dan said forcing a smile on his face.

"I'm Ulina, one of the protectors of the forests." The bear tilted her head and said, "You're new here aren't you?"

"Yes, we were going to follow our friends Strings and Quinely, but they disappeared in that direction. Quinely said they were going to go play in the water." Dan said.

"Ah, you are with Quinely huh?" Ulina said with a giant smile on her bear face. "Let me ask you two a question, has Strings and Quinely formed a union? Did she find a mate finally?"  
"I don't think so." Crystal said.

"Darn. Anyways, follow me. I will take you to them. They are probably at Lake Elune." The bear said and started walking away. She then turned around and asked, "Are you two in a union?" Ulina asked. They both looked at each other and smiled.

"No, but we are together." Dan answered with a smile grabbing Crystal's hand.

"Are you going to form a union?" The bear asked with a smile. Dan and Crystal stared at each other.

"Sorry, that's none of my business." Ulina said with a chuckle. "Lake Elune is just ahead. I can hear Quinely now. I want to approach slowly, just in case they are mating."

Dan and Crystal could hear the giggle of Quinely, which is something they hadn't heard too often. Then a big splash, followed by Strings hollering in excitement.

They could see the lake. It was a clear crystal blue and seemed to stretch for miles. It seemed to be a giant oval shape.

"Nope, Quinely is a dolphin and Strings is riding her. It's safe. Come." Ulina said. Ulina walked up to the lake and started taking a drink. Suddenly Mohania's face popped out of the water. He walked the rest of the way out of the lake. He quickly held up his right hand and a small black ball floated quickly into Dan's mouth. Dan started gasping for air. Crystal quickly turned to Mohania to ask what he was doing, and another small black ball floated from Mohania left hand and into Crystal. She started gasping for air as well.

"Stop trying to breathe…" Mohania said in a frustrated voice. Dan tried to suck in air but couldn't. He then relaxed his body and realized that his lungs had stopped working and were completely sealed off. Dan then put an arm around Crystal and lifted her head. She realized the same thing as well.

"What did you do to us?" Crystal demanded.

"Gave you the ability to go underwater without having to breathe…"

"A little warning ahead of time would have been nice!" Crystal said. Mohania then turned around and walked back into the water until his head disappeared.

Ulina said, "I really don't know much about the undead. I do know that they don't breathe, so they can be underwater as long as they want."

"I don't think he meant any harm, but an explanation would have been nice…" Dan remarked.

Suddenly Strings burst out of the water on top of a dolphin. He was shouting for joy and then quickly went back underwater. Suddenly fifty dolphins began jumping out of the water as well. Two of them swam up to Dan and Crystal.

"I've done this before, it's fun!" Crystal said and jumped in the water with her clothes on. She swam over to the dolphin and jumped on it, holding on to its top fin.

"Come on!" Crystal said. Dan jumped in the water and swam over to his dolphin and mounted it the same as Crystal did.

"Hold on!" Dan's dolphin said and it quickly dove into the water. It swam down to the bottom of the lake, passing Mohania who appeared to be just sitting there. Crystal's dolphin caught up with Dan's and passed him. Dan's dolphin then flapped extra hard to catch up with her. Both dolphin's swam up to the surface and jumped several feet out of the air. Dan and Crystal's excitement surpassed that of Strings's laughter. All three of them meet up together.

"Hi you two!" Strings said.

"Hi guys!" Quinely said as a dolphin. "Isn't this fun!" Both Dan and Crystal agreed.

"Let's have a race! Come on!" Quinely shouted. Quinely quickly dove under the water and flapped as hard as she could with Strings on her back. Dan and Crystal's dolphin dove into the water and began chasing after her. Underneath the water, they sailed back and forth and occasionally did rolls in the water. Dan and Crystal both had a tight grip and smiles that extended from ear to ear.

They played for about an hour when the water started to vibrate and the surface began to ripple back and forth. The dolphins quickly rose to the surface to see what was going on. Dan and Crystal saw a very large beast walking on four hoofs with his hands in front of him. Huge horns came out of his purple head. He was scanning back and forth over the tree line.

"Cenarius!" Quinely screamed out with excitement. She flapped so hard that Strings fell off from her. Quinely quickly made it to land and quickly transformed into an eagle.

"You should probably go to." Both dolphins said to Dan and Crystal. The dolphins swam to the shore and got as close as they could to let them off. They swam to the shore line and walked towards the giant beast.

"Cenarius!" Quinely screamed again as an eagle. The giant beast stopped walking and turned towards Quinely. Dan and Crystal started running to catch up with Quinely. Behind them Mohania surfaced and began walking towards the giant beast as well.

"Cenarius! I am so glad to see you again!" the eagle said flying into Cenarius's arms. She quickly morphed back to her normal self and gave him a big hug.

"Hi young one. I was wondering how you were doing." His voice thundered across the land.

"I'm doing great! It's great to be back home again. I love this place! I'm so happy to see you again!" Cenarius embraced her back and smiled.

"So, Quinely, have you formed a union yet?"

"Cenarius! You sound like my parents! I will form a union when I am ready, but I am still young. Besides, I have not found a worthy person yet."

"What about the bard riding on you?" Cenarius said as Strings walked up to her. Quinely rolled her eyes and said, "No, he's part of our group. I promised him that if he stayed alive, I would take him here and we would have some fun. That's all. Herrior and Skyka are doing boring ambassador stuff…" Cenarius let out a laugh.

Dan and Crystal appeared out of the trees and looked up at the giant beast. They quickly bent down on one knee and looked down at the ground. Mohania just stood there. Dan reached over and pulled Mohania to the ground. Mohania let out a groan, but did as Dan and Crystal did.

"And who are these new comers?" Cenarius asked.

"They are part of my group as well. They fight beside me. Herrior brought them in. The male is Dan, and the female is Crystal." Quinely said excitedly being let down by the enormous beast. She quickly ran over to them and gave them both a giant hug.

"Well now, any friend of Quinely's is welcome here." Cenarius said with a smile. His face quickly became serious and said, "I sense…an undead in the trees…"

Mohania walked out of the woods and looked up at Cenarius.

"What is your kind doing here?" Cenarius demanded.

"Cenarius! This is Mohania! He's part of our group as well! He saved my life."

"Oh? Really? I've never heard of this before. Well now, what happened?"

"I was attacked by an Alliance scout. I was almost killed by him. I was scouting the area and barely survived making it back to the wall. Mohania portaled out and grabbed me and then portaled back. He threw some sort of purple gem that caused all of the Alliance to attack the demon instead of us. He then threw me up the wall and Crystal jumped over the wall to pull me up. Without both of them, I would have been killed."

"Really? Well then I should reward you for saving one of my druids." Cenarius said. Mohania instantly stuck out his hand. Crystal spoke up without making eye contact.

"It was our pleasure. Quinely is one of us and we look after each other. She would have done the same for me." Crystal said. Dan reached over and pulled Mohania's hand down.

"Ah, loyalty. I respect that. Well thank you. You are welcome here in the Everglades any time you want." Cenarius replied back.

"And you, undead, you sacrificed a…what do you call it…purple gem thing…" Cenarius began to say.

"Soul shard." Mohania said in a stern voice.

"Ah yes, well I cannot give you one of those. In fact I can't even give you a blessing. It may kill you. But I do appreciate what you did." Cenarius said. Mohania let out a growl.

"As for you young one. You have done well. I will increase your power. You will be able to sense beings faster, and you will be able to heal." Cenarius said.

"Heal like Skyka?" Quinely said. Cenarius started to chuckle.

"No young one. It is a fairly weak spell, but it should help stabilize people until your main healers get to them. Now then, bow before me and prepare to receive my blessing." Cenarius said. Quinely did just that. Cenarius chanted a couple of words and a bright light blasted from the sky and slammed into Quinely, causing her to fall face first on the dirt. She slowly pushed herself up off from the ground.

"Thank you." She said in an unsteady voice.

"Now then, let me take you to your home. Your parents eagerly await your arrival." Cenarius said and picked up the entire party. He then started racing through the woods at incredible speeds. In no time, they were at a small city made entirely out of wood. Cenarius let them down and then said his goodbyes. Quinely's parents ran out and quickly embraced her. Mohania simply just stared ahead as Dan and Crystal looked away as to not intrude. Strings smiled and walked forward to Quinely.

"Quinely, we have been so worried about you! Thank God you are ok!" the female druid said.

"Mom, I'm fine. I can handle myself." Quinely said back.

"We know darling, but parents always worry. That's our job." the male druid said.

"Have you found a mate yet?" The female druid said.

"Mom!" Quinely said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Well I'm just saying that you are at the prime age for it, and there are several male druids that are very interested in you…"

"Mom! My loyalty lies with Herrior and his group. I am a fighter. I am protecting our groove and other worlds. I will mate when I feel the time is right for me." Quinely said.

"Ok…ok…we are both very proud of you, remember that." The male druid said.

"I know. I love you guys so much! I miss being here!" Quinely said.

"We both love you too, very much! Please be safe, ok?" The male druid said. The female druid looked beyond Quinely and saw Mohania. She almost let out a scream.

"Mom, this is Mohania. He is part of our group. He saved my life." Quinely said.

"Oh? Well thank you for doing that, Mohania." Mohania nodded slowly.

"And this is Dan and Crystal. Dan is a time stopped that we successfully retrieved from his world, and brought Crystal with him. She went through the process of becoming immune to time stopping. They are both good fighters." Quinely said with such excitement.

Both Dan and Crystal bowed before them.

"No…no…no…come here you two. You deserve a hug. Come on, don't be shy. You too Mohania!" The male druid said waving them over. Mohania looked over at Dan. Dan and Crystal walked over to them and gave them a big hug. Mohania looked forward and simply stood there.

"Come on Mohania, you big softy…get over here." Quinely said waving at him. Mohania walked towards them, but did not raise his arms. Quinely and the female druid quickly embraced him. Mohania let out a groan.

Suddenly all of their hearthstones began to glow purple. They took them out and looked inside the portal they were creating. It was Herrior.

"Sorry guys, but we need to start the raid. It'll take us two days to get there. We have fifty goblin retrievers that we will be babysitting on our trip. We are going to be leaving in thirty minutes. Suddenly the portal disappeared from all of their stones.

"Well…duty calls." Quinely said sadly.

"Come back and visit us again ok hun?" The female druid said. The male druid and looked at Dan and Crystal. "Take good care of her, ok?" Both of them nodded. He then looked at Mohania and said, "You too." Mohania just simply stared ahead.

"Remember hun, we are very proud of you and love you very much." the female druid said starting to tear up. Quinely gave her another hug. "I love you too mom, and you too dad."

Suddenly a large portal appeared and they saw Lindel at the other side. She was in the outer world, quite a distance from the wall.

"Thanks, you too. I will be back. Ok?" Quinely said starting to tear up again. They all walked into the portal, giving Quinely more time to say goodbye.

"Take care you guys. Pray for our group, ok?" Quinely said and waved at them. She stepped into the portal and it instantly vanished.

Herrior spoke up. "Good, everybody is here. The goblins are over there." Herrior pointed at them. "They are coming along to collect all of the goods that we find. Our mission is to make sure they live. Skyka, Crystal, and Dan - take the rear, and sides. We'll take the front."

Sounds of fighting and loud clashing could be heard from behind them. Dan and Crystal turned to look. They saw an enormous robot attacking the group that was at the wall.

"Do they need help?" Dan asked turning to Herrior. Herrior let out a sigh.

"I have my orders, straight from the King myself. We are not to interfere with it, but to collect the mage's treasures. They can summon another group if necessary." Herrior paused for a second. "But believe me…I would love a part of the action…anyways, come!" Herrior said and began walking.

Skyka, Crystal and Dan would alternate walking up to the middle section of the goblins either on the right side or the left checking for any danger. Occasionally Trackolania would fall back and do the same. They walked for several hours, going south along side of a huge mountain fifty yards to their right. Eventually the sounds of war vanished from behind them and they walked in complete silence. The goblins they were protecting made no conversation at all. They all wore backpacks and carried sacks in both of their hands. Quinely was in bear form.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Quinely screams out, "A flower!" and charged over to the mountain side. The group slowed their advancement until Quinely came back. Quinely scrapped at the ground several times and pulled up the flower. It was completely green. She bounced back to the group and gave it to one of the goblins. He put it in his sack.

"I thought this was a waste land?" Dan asked Skyka.

"It is, but occasionally flowers and ore can be found. When they appear, it is our job to collect them. If we don't, then the alliance will get them." Skyka answered back.

"Why not just let them grow? Let them develop on their own?" Crystal asked.

"They would not survive these harsh climates." Skyka replied back. "We were lucky enough to get this one. When they are just saplings is the prime time to harvest them."

"What are they used for?" Dan asked.

"Just about anything, enchants, spells, spices..."

"Ah ok." Dan said.

Several other hours passed. The scenery was the same just a solid waste lands with cracks in the dirt, an occasional dead tree, and an occasional rock in the ground. Herrior and Jacklyn were still upset that they were walking away from a battle.

"Lindel?" Dan said in his mind looking at her from behind. Lindel reached in to check her hearthstone. It wasn't glowing. She then started looking around to each side of her.

"It's Dan." Dan thought looking at her. Lindel turned around and smiled at him. She then turned around and continued walking.

"Hi hun, what's on your mind?" Lindel said in his mind.

"Quinely mostly. How old was she when she joined you guys? She seems pretty young. Her parents seemed pretty concerned about her." Dan said in his mind.

"Give me just a second hun…" Lindel said. She glanced over at Quinely and saw that she had a smile on her face. Lindel then held up her hand and a white light appeared from it. It then quickly dissolved. Crystal seemed to shake her head and stare at Lindel.

"Ok, I've linked our minds Dan. I figured Crystal might have the same questions as well. Dan, this is Crystal. Crystal, this is Dan." Lindel said in her mind with a laugh. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and smiled. Crystal then ran ahead and stood in the middle of the goblins and looked around.

"Dan was just asking about Quinely and how old she was. She, I think, is around one hundred and fifty years old? That's about thirteen in your years. She's still fairly young. This is around her mating time though. Was she pressured by her parents?" Lindel thought.

"Both Cenarius, and her parents were asking. Her parents seemed very happy to see her though. It seemed like she missed them both a lot." Dan thought.

"Are you two missing your parents?" Lindel thought.

"Mine are both dead." Crystal replied back in her mind.

"I'm sorry hun." Lindel replied back. A moment of silence between their minds before Dan said something in his mind.

"I'm not sure what my parents are doing. They probably both figured out that I'm not at the police academy by now." Dan thought and looked to his right staring at the mountain wall.

"Let me check." Lindel held up her hand and created a tiny portal. She stuck her hand through it and closed her eyes as she started walking.

A couple of moments passed and then Lindel thought, "Your dad seems to be living in a different home, with a different woman. Your mom is humming a song I have never heard before and is cleaning her house. She seems happy."

"Good for her!" Dan thought.

"You didn't really like your dad, did you Dan." Crystal thought.

"All he did was drink; he didn't really contribute too much to the house. I'm proud of my mom." Dan thought.

"So why is your dad with another woman though? Haven't they formed a union?" Lindel asked.

"They did. We call it marriage, but it's probably the same thing." Dan thought.

"Well if they formed a union, why is he with another woman in her house?" Lindel was confused.

Crystal spoke up in her mind before Dan could. "Many of the unions in our world are broken. They fall out of love and get a divorce, it happens a lot actually. Some people do it because of kids, money, sex, or other things like that."

"You're kidding…" Lindel thought.

"No it's true. Divorce does happen a lot, in our world." Dan thought in his mind.

"Huh. How it works in our world is after a union is formed between a male and a female, the union is that of a life time. The only reason for a female to leave a male is if he dies. Then she has an option of marrying another family member of that male, to maintain the blood line. Herrior and Skyka formed their union at a very young age. They both are very good examples of two people in love with each other." Lindel thought.

"Doesn't Skyka…flirt with other males though?" Dan asked. Lindel started laughing in her mind.

"She is very loyal to Herrior, if she felt as though things were going too far; Skyka would blast the man on the spot. Flirting though, is a special power though. You can control men's minds and thoughts without magic. Nobody suspects anything." Lindel thought. Crystal let out a smile.

"So females are stronger than males?" she thought. Lindel started laughing in her mind.

"Hun, we're both equal. Flirting can apply to the opposite sex as well." Lindel thought.

"Speaking of flirting, so what's the deal between you and Branzer?" Crystal thought. Lindel's face turned red.

"He's been thinking about me a lot…" Lindel said slowly.

"So what are your feelings towards him?" Crystal asked back in her mind.

"He's not my species. I tried to tell him that. He tried to kiss me, and I let down my illusion in my lips so he could kiss the real me. I think I just about killed him. He finds the illusion that I create beautiful, but it is not the real me. If we are to develop a relationship, he needs to be able to see the real me - and of course not die." Lindel thought.

"The real you is the purple banish you turn into, right?" Dan asked.

"Yes, that is the real me."

"So why don't you just stay in that form instead of creating an illusion?" Dan asked again.

"I…don't like how I look. Since my conversion, I've always wanted my old body that I had. I was young and beautiful; flawless in every way. I was one that really watched what I ate and took good care of my body. So I like to take on my old human form." Lindel thought very slowly.

"Conversion process?" Crystal asked. Lindel sighed.

"That's a long story hun..." Lindel said slowly. "It is something I don't wish to remember at this time."

Several moments passed. Crystal and Dan switched spots. Dan was now in the middle of the goblin collectors. Both of them could hear another drawn out sigh coming from Lindel. Dan and Crystal looked at each other, but didn't know what to say.

"Its ok guys, we all have memories that we don't want to think about." Lindel finally said.

"Soo…these golems we're going to go fight. Are they alliance?" Dan asked in his head.

"All I know is what Herrior told me. They are supposed to be indestructible. Probably they were guarding the free-roaming mage in his cave." Lindel paused for a few seconds and then said in a teary voice, "Guys do you mind if I cut the mind link?"

"Yes that's fine. I'm sorry hun." Crystal said. The link was broken. Lindel turned all the way around and winked at both Dan and Crystal.

They continued walking until the end of the day in silence. Herrior stopped and held out his hand for everybody else to as well.

"Quinely. Mohania. Do either of you sense any danger around us?" They were both quiet and concentrating at the same time. They both answered "No." at the same time.

"Ok, we'll sleep here tonight. Since there are no fairies, females will go to the right, males to the left. Jacklyn you'll have first watch. Mohania can you lit up a fire for us?" Herrior said sitting down on the ground. The rest of the group formed a circle, and Mohania casted his fire spell in the middle of them. The goblins looked confused.

"We're staying the night here." Herrior said turning towards them. "Sleep close to us. We'll protect you. Try to get comfortable."

Herrior turned to Quinely and asked, "Is it just me, or are you able to sense things faster…" he said with a wink. Quinely let out a big smile. "I received a blessing from Cenarius! He increased my power!"

Herrior nodded with a big smile. "Did you enjoy seeing your family and your home?"

"Oh yes! Except for the 'When are you going to find a mate' deal with everybody. That is so annoying…" Quinely answered back.

"I'll mate with you!" Strings said and started laughing. Quinely picked up some dirt and threw it at him. It made everybody laugh, except for Lindel.

Dan and Crystal noticed that Lindel still looked sad. Dan elbowed Crystal and looked at Lindel. Crystal nodded. She rose up and walked around the circle and nudged Lindel. Lindel looked up at her with blood shot eyes.

"Come on hun, I need to go for a walk." Crystal said. Lindel stood up and put her arm around hers.

"Which way was the bathroom then?" Crystal asked. Herrior looked at her confused.

"On the right." Dan piped up and pointed. The two of them quickly walked away into the darkness.

When they were a good distance away, both of them started to relieve themselves next to each other.

"Dan and I didn't mean too…you know earlier…" Crystal said.

"I know hun. I love you guys, I know you wouldn't cause me any pain on purpose." Lindel said looking up at her with a smile.

"Was it anything like I went through?" Crystal asked. Lindel looked down and seemed to be concentrating.

"Yeah…kind of…" Lindel said and looked back up at her. Crystal smiled at her and said, "Well then us girls need to stick together." Crystal said and winked at her.

Both of them finished up and began walking back. Lindel still seemed mad, so Crystal gave her a good shove. Lindel was caught off guard and fell to the ground.

Crystal starting laughing and quickly apologized. She bent over and extended her hand to Lindel. Lindel grabbed it and pulled Crystal down in the dirt. Both of them started laughing and started wrestling around with each other, trying to be the one on top to pin the other to the ground.

Herrior looked over at them and merely shook his head. Dan saw his reaction and said, "Women…"

"It's good for them." Herrior said slowly. "I sensed that something was troubling Lindel." Dan nodded his head.

Trackolania was drawing his name in the dirt when suddenly he jumped up to his feet. He gripped his daggers tightly and slowly started turning around. His ears adjusted back and forth slowly. Then he started sniffing the air.

"Trackolania?" Herrior asked reaching for his weapons. Herrior quickly looked at his group and they started reaching for their weapons as well. Trackolania stopped turning and stared into the dark. He squatted down on the dirt, ready to attack. Herrior turned to look in the direction, but couldn't see anything.

"What is it?" Herrior asked in a small voice. Trackolania stood perfectly still, staring into the dark. Herrior looked at Quinely. She paused for a brief second and then shrugged her shoulders. Herrior then pointed over at Crystal and Lindel, and then looked back at Quinely. She nodded and quickly morphed into a lion. She slipped into the shadows crawled over to them without being seen.

"Something is going on, come back slowly…" Quinely whispered to them. Lindel and Crystal immediately stopped wrestling and followed Quinely back. They took their seats in the circle. Trackolania was still staring into the dark. Lindel looked at Herrior with a confused look. Herrior shrugged his shoulders.

Several moments passed and then Trackolania sighed and sat back down.

"What was it?" Herrior asked. Trackolania looked up at him, then off in the distance, and then back at him and slowly shrugged.

Herrior looked up at Jacklyn and said, "Be on your guard tonight. Mohania, you'll help tonight wont you?" Mohania slowly nodded his head, still staring into the fire.

"Well get some sleep everybody. Wake up Strings when you get too tired Jacklyn. Everybody sleep with one eye open tonight…" Herrior said.

The night passed without anything unusual happening. Everybody woke up and Herrior passed out bread for everybody to eat. The goblins had brought their own food. They started walking again. Everybody mostly kept to themselves as they followed their path to the south.

Around noon, Lindel's hearthstone began to glow. She pulled it out of her cloak and instantly saw an image of Branzer. He looked very afraid.

"Lindel! I'm in a church, and I think I just killed some alliance! Others maybe on their way!" Lindel relayed the message to Herrior.

"What's he doing in a church?" Herrior said briefly and then said, "Trackolania, Lindel - go!" Trackolania dove into a portal Lindel made and disappeared. The portal closed behind them.

"Hold up here for ten minutes." Herrior said to his group.

On the other side of the portal, Trackolania flew through the portal and landed on a table doing a roll and then jumped to his feet with his daggers in both of his hands. He quickly started looking around. Then Lindel appeared.

Branzer started to talk, but Trackolania turned around and let out a hiss at him. Trackolania started walking around slowly and noticed several burn marks on the floor. He put his nose down to it and started sniffing it. He looked up at Lindel and nodded his head.

"They were alliance." Lindel said slowly. Branzer tried to talk again, but this time was hushed by Lindel. Trackolania then started moving around the room and found the remains of four alliance members. He slowly opened the door and looked out. It lead to the sanctuary. He slowly crept out, keeping his senses attuned to his surroundings. He didn't hear anything else. He went to the main doors and opened them. The sunlight beamed in and he looked carefully at everybody that passed.

Meanwhile, Lindel went outside the room that Branzer was in and shut him in it. She turned into a purple a small purple cloud and began flying from room to room, trying to detect any other alliance. Both of them met up just outside the room when they were both done checking. Lindel turned back into her human form. They both barged into the room. Trackolania jumped up and landed on Branzer's chest and held a dagger to his throat.

"Hey! Hey!" Branzer said. Trackolania just hissed at him. Lindel opened a portal right beside him.

"Herrior!" Lindel said into the portal. Herrior stuck half of his body into the portal.

"Is it clear?" he asked.

"Yes, we searched the building and didn't find any others." Herrior then reached over and lunged for Branzer. Trackolania quickly jumped off from his chest as Herrior grabbed him and pulled him through the portal. Trackolania and Lindel followed as the portal shut behind them.

Herrior held him up in the air with one hand. It was hard for Branzer to breathe.

"Jacklyn" Herrior said. She drew out one of her mighty blades and held it to his neck.

"You will answer everything we asked correctly, or Jacklyn will take off your head. Do you understand?" Herrior said in a stern voice. Branzer quickly nodded trying to gasp for air.

"What were you doing in a church?" Herrior said peering into Branzer's eyes.

"I was worried about Crystal and Dan. I wanted somebody pray for them." Branzer managed to get out. Herrior pulled him closer and let out an enormous snort. Jacklyn's blade began to dig into his neck.

"Guys, I wasn't doing anything bad. I didn't know they were alliance! After talking with them for about five minutes, the minister's eyes turned red and said something that I didn't understand. He jumped on the table and lunged at me. Instinctively I punched him in the face. It all happened so quick that I didn't even realize that I did it. Suddenly the door to my left flung open and three more men came in with red eyes. Two of them began crawling on the walls. One of them charged right at me. I shot him in the head with my magnum, and then I shot the minister in the head who was charging at me again. Then I turned to the two men on the walls and blasted them as well. All four of them fell to the ground and burned up."

"Lindel?" Herrior asked still staring into his eyes.

"He's telling the truth." she said. Herrior tossed him into the air. He went sailing about ten yards and landed on the ground with a loud "thud". Herrior grabbed his shield and sword and instantly charged him, knocking him back several more yards.

"Jacklyn!" Herrior yelled. Jacklyn pulled out both swords and ran after him. She jumped over Herrior, who was squatting down and raised both swords into the air.

"No!" Branzer yelled raising his hands in a defensive position. Jacklyn brought her swords down inches from his face on both sides. Branzer held his breath, expecting it to be his last. After a couple of seconds, he opened his right eye and saw Herrior breathing fiercely down at him.

"What did you tell them?" Herrior said slowly, his sword at the top of his head. The entire group surrounded him, including Dan and Crystal, weapons drawn and posed to strike. Branzer looked at them and then looked over at Lindel. Her eyes were purple and she looked like she would kill him also if given the command to. Mohania's eyes burned with fiery hatred, and his hands were burning with fire.

"Answer me!" Herrior screamed in his face.

"I…I…went to the church…so I could have somebody pray with me. I had a lot on my mind." Branzer said stuttering. Herrior's face moved in closer.

"I didn't tell them anything! I said I was worried about some friends of mine. He nodded and invited me in. We had small talk about the weather and the building, stuff like that. We went into his office. He asked me what my friend's names were, but I didn't say. He just nodded his head. I said they might be in danger and the only thing I could think of to help was praying for them. I didn't give out names! He asked me where they were and I didn't even tell them that! The minister was very persistent about finding out where they were. That's when his eyes turned red and attacked me!" Branzer said in almost one breath.

"Did he enter your mind?" Herrior asked.

"No! He just attacked me…" Branzer said. Herrior withdrew his sword. Jacklyn pulled her blades up from the ground.

"He probably didn't have telepathic abilities. My guess is they were preparing to torture you until you talked. He probably did sense that you weren't telling the truth, which made him angry." Herrior said turning around and looking in the opposite direction.

"Are you sure you didn't mention Dan or Crystal's name, or their location?" Herrior said in a low tone.

"I didn't say their names or where they were!" Branzer said quickly.

"He's telling the truth." Lindel said in an eerie voice. Herrior let out a sigh. He turned around and extended his hand towards Branzer's. Branzer looked at it, and then looked back up at Herrior. Branzer slowly took it and was pulled up onto his feet.

"Look, you have got to be more careful - which is why Mohania told you to keep a weapon on you at all times." They both turned to look at Mohania. His hands were still on fire, as if waiting for the command to release his power at Branzer.

"Are you going to kill me?" Branzer said in a slow voice.

Herrior shook his head. "No, but now you understand what you are up against. This was a good lesson for you. Contact Bernett and tell him if either of you jeopardize my group to the alliance, I will kill you myself. Is that understood?" Herrior said glaring into his eyes. Branzer nodded.

"Should I stay away from churches?" Branzer asked slowly.

"No, you should go to church." Herrior answered back quickly. "But not one controlled by alliance!"

"How will I know the difference?" Branzer asked quietly.

"They won't pressure information out of you. Learn how to pray yourself, make sure they preach from the Bible. Do not give out any information about yourself. Have Bernett pray with you if you want, or contact Lindel - she'll pray with you." Herrior said looked at Lindel as she nodded. She opened a portal to Branzer's house.

"Now, how do you feel about us slaughtering the alliance in order to get Bernett's old boyfriend?" Herrior said with a smile.

"I've changed my mind about that…" Branzer said quickly.

"Now go home, think about what you learned today. Keep yourself armed. If you see any more demons or alliance - contact us immediately. Don't try engaging them yourself if you can help it." Herrior walked up to him and stuck his finger in his chest. "You were very lucky today. Very lucky! If you were possessed by the alliance, we would have killed you."

Branzer nodded his head believing him.

"Now go home, relax." Herrior told him. "Go for a walk or something…" Herrior said looking at Lindel. Lindel's eyes had changed back to normal and she gave Branzer a wink. Herrior looked back at him and reminded him to keep himself armed and to keep the hearthstone on him at all times. Branzer gave him a big nod. "I'll tell Bernett what happened and remind him also."

"Good, now we have a job to do. You are dismissed." Herrior said pointing to the portal. Branzer quickly jumped through the portal and he suddenly appeared in his living room. The portal closed behind him.

"Holy shit…" Branzer said trying to catch his breath. He immediately ran for his secure cell phone and told Bernett what happened.

Herrior turned to Dan and Crystal. "If I had given you the command to kill him, would you have?"

Both said "Yes" without hesitating.

"Good. Now you know a part of what we're up against. Let's move out!" Herrior said and began walking.

"Mohania, Jacklyn - switch spots with Dan and Crystal." Herrior said pointing to Dan and Crystal. They all quickly rotated positions. Dan was on Herrior's left side and Crystal was on his right.

"I'm sure you two have questions. The alliance can possess people just like Lindel can. If you can't fight them off, and if Skyka can't get them out of you, you will be killed." Herrior said. Dan and Crystal looked at each other with deep concern.

"Have you ever had to do that before?" Dan asked.

"Yes, a couple of times. It's a last resort, but we cannot have our secrets being leaked out to the alliance." Dan swallowed really hard.

"How do we stop from being possessed?" Crystal asked timidly.

"Concentrate on the one you love. Keep that image in your mind. Never let go of it, which makes you two valuable. Dan fought it off once before by doing just that." Herrior said. Crystal looked at Dan in surprise. Dan merely nodded his head.

"Have you ever been possessed?" Dan asked.

Herrior smiled. "Yes. I've been hypnotized, possessed, controlled, cursed - you name it. It does fade quickly if you concentrate on the one you love."

"So, do you and Skyka go to a church?" Dan asked.

"We all do." Herrior said.

"Even Mohania?" Crystal asked curiously.

"Yes." Herrior nodded.

"But wouldn't that place kill him?" Dan asked.

"Since he's undead, he can't enter holy places. His body is not able to withstand it. They have a separate section just for him. He prays and sings with us just the same though."

"But doesn't he consort with demons and plays with black magic?" Dan asked.

"There is another world out there full entirely of demons. They just wonder around aimlessly. Mohania summons them from there and controls them. At any time he can instantly destroy the ones that he summons. It's kind of like how Lindel creates a portal and moves between worlds. Demons from the devil, he can control for a short time, banish them, or attack them just like we can. Those are the demons that we are fighting against, as well as the alliance.

"Has there ever been a time where both your races and the alliance teamed up to fight the demons." Dan asked.

"Yes, there have been a few times. A long time ago." Herrior said in a distant voice. "It's unlikely to happen these days though; the alliance has grown into a bunch of blood thirsty, power craven people." Herrior continued.

"As far as Mohania's magic, he practices the dark arts, not black magic. Black magic is from the devil. His spells seem nasty at times, but he wouldn't cast anything that he is not supposed to."

"But…he eats bodies, as well as the other warlocks…" Dan said sounding sick.

"Again, that's part of his race. People are edible, but it's not something that I would want to eat. Animals and scavengers do it all the time. The undead can go a long time without feasting though. Probably next you're going to ask me about the soul shards that he makes…" Herrior said with a smile. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and shrugged, then looked back up at Herrior.

"When a person dies, their spirit either goes to Heaven or Hell. Mohania cannot get the person's actual spirit. Nobody can. What Mohania does is drain their life force. Their mind, their emotions, their aura, and probably some other nasty stuff as well." Herrior said looking over at Mohania. Both Dan and Crystal looked at him as well. Mohania had a big smile on his face looking back at them. The conversation paused for a second.

"So does Trackolania sing as well?" Crystal asked looking back at Herrior.

"He mostly looks at the words as we sing, and follows along in the Bible when it is read to us. None of us have ever heard him talk actually. We found him when he was young, his family dead along side of him. Also several soldiers bearing the mark of alliance were dead as well. We assumed that Trackolania killed them. He had two daggers on him. We watched him throw an apple into the air and slice it into twelve pieces before he caught it again. We were all impressed at his agility. I asked him if he wanted help burying his dead. He nodded at me. He had been crying. Skyka walked over to him and gave him a hug, he didn't hug back. We buried his family, and he's been following us around ever since, so I guess we became his new family. He is very loyal, and advanced quickly in the Rogue's guild until he surpassed his master. He's learned to do things that are simply amazing." Herrior said.

"Well how do you know that's his name?" Dan asked.

Herrior shrugged, "That's what he draws in the dirt, and so that's what we've been calling him."

A moment passed until Crystal asked, "So what denomination are you?"

"I don't know what you mean." Herrior answered back.

"You know, are you Baptist, Methodist, Catholic…" Crystal started naming off.

"I've never heard of those words before. But I think the answer you are looking for is we are God-fearing people. We learn straight from the Bible and sing songs to praise God." Herrior answered. They both nodded.

"So, is Lindel an angel? She has wings…" Herrior started laughing.

"No, she is not. Angels are in Heaven and Hell. We cannot see them. We can't even detect them. It's something taken on faith." Herrior answered.

"Does the alliance do the same thing? I mean attend church?" Herrior nodded.

"Yes, we will be seeing some of them in Heaven when they die."

"But cant Lindel and Skyka raise people from the dead?" Crystal asked quickly.

"Yes, but only if their spirit is allowed to stay with the body. If the spirit is commanded to leave the body, neither of them can do anything about them. We've all died several times, but our spirits didn't leave. Our time here wasn't up yet." Herrior said.

Suddenly Quinely yelled, "Get down!" The entire group dropped to the ground, even the goblins. Crystal looked back at Quinely and started to drop down, when an unseen force flew into her stomach. She was thrown backwards several yards and she started screaming as loud as she could. She ripped her armor off, and took her shirt off. She then constantly scratched at her stomach, as if a giant bug was inside of her.

"Mohania, get the shell up!" Herrior yelled. Mohania stood up and began channeling a spell.

"What's wrong with her?" Dan demanded. Crystal continued screaming and scratching at her stomach.

"Stay down!" Herrior yelled at him. Herrior then turned to Skyka and yelled, "We're going to need you hun once the shield goes up." She nodded.

"Crystal, think about Dan. Concentrate on him!" Herrior yelled at her.

Mohania finished the spell and a rainbow colored circle encircled him. He held his hands up and the circle became bigger. It slowly grew to the entire size of the party, instantly destroying several invisible banshees as it did.

Once the shield was established around them, any banshee the touched the shield instantly burned up. Skyka got up and ran over to Crystal. She began channeling a healing spell. A bright white light came from the sky and blasted into Crystal's stomach. The banshee flew out of Crystal and instantly burned up. She instantly drew out her sais and began looking around. The entire group stood up and began looking around.

"I can't see anything!" Crystal yelled.

"Mohania, would you be so kind?" Herrior asked. Mohania began channeling another spell. This one streamed out from his hand and bounced off each member of his party. Suddenly they could all see the invisible banshees surrounding them.

"Quinely!" Herrior said with disappointment.

"I'm sorry Herrior; I didn't detect them until they were on top of us. I gave you as much warning as I could!" Quinely said apologetically. The banshees were still trying to come inside of the shield and were instantly burned up. Trackolania was launching arrows from all over, hitting the banshees and burning them up.

"Trackolania, stop firing and come here." Herrior said, and Trackolania instantly started jumping towards him. "Nobody else attack, stay within the shield."

"Trackolania is it just me or are they all coming directly in front of us…" Herrior said quietly. Dan and Crystal stared ahead and they saw what Herrior was talking about. At the same time Trackolania knelt down on one knee and peered through his scope. His head nodded slightly. Several more banshees burned up.

"There aren't intelligent banshees, they seem to be controlled." Herrior said out loud. Trackolania quickly drew out one of his daggers and began to draw something in the ground. It was a large half circle with what looked like two men on either side of the cave. He then drew an arrow pointing to the right. Herrior studied it for awhile and then said, "Do you see the cave, and the golems?" Trackolania instantly nodded.

"We're moving forward, stay in the shield." Herrior said reminding them.

The group moved forward slowly, trying to match Mohania's pace. Several more waves of banshees hit the shield instantly burning up and then everything went quiet.

"Is there any more coming Quinely?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I can tell." Quinely said with her eyes closed.

"I'm sorry Herrior…" Crystal started to say. Herrior cut her off.

"Not now young one." He said to Crystal and then said "Trackolania has spotted the golems. The banshees were probably just a trap. We've been waiting two days for battle. Ready yourselves!" Herrior said as he started picking up the pace towards the golems. Everybody drew their weapons, Skyka went in shadow form, and Lindel went into banshee form. Mohania lit his hands on fire and seemed very eager to engage.

They were about a hundred yards away when Herrior spoke again. He pointed towards Quinely and several invisible shields surrounded her and then disappeared. "Take on bear form, you'll take the left, I'll take the right." Quinely instantly morphed into a giant bear. Herrior continued, "Dan and Crystal you stay with the goblins against the stone rock - keep them safe! The rest of you, they said these things were indestructible, let's prove them wrong!" Herrior's voice thundered. Herrior let out a thunderous roar that seemed to increase their size. Jacklyn let off a roar that increased their strength. Skyka drew a candle from her cloak and put her hands around it. It instantly caught fire and burned down to nothing. After the fire was out, white diamonds appeared above everybody's heads that made their armor and skin grow harder. Trackolania pulled a vial from his cloak and dripped it on the ends of his daggers. It made a hiss on contact. Then he put the vial back in his cloak. Dan and Crystal waved at the goblins, and they followed them up against the giant mountain.

The golems sensed the incoming danger and started towards the group. They were walking forward very clumsily. They both stood about nine feet tall, and had the figure of a man. They did not have any facial characteristics. They looked heavily armored all over their bodies.

Herrior and Quinely both charged forward and slammed into the giant golems. Herrior slammed his shield against it and then drew his blade down as hard as he could across its chest. Quinely swiped at the golem and tried to push it over, and then she took several more swipes at it.

None of the attacks even phased the golems. Both of them stopped and began slowly swinging at both of them. Herrior and Quinely spun the golems around so the group had a chance to hit them in the back. Jacklyn was the first to attack. She made herself turn red and screamed as she jumped into the air and brought both of her blades down on the golem. It simply let off a "Dong!" sound, and she fell to the ground. The golem turned around and kicked her, sending her flying backwards. Quinely let out a mighty roar at the golem and took several more swipes at it trying to get its attention. The golem completely ignored her and chased after Jacklyn. Mohania stood over her and launched a quick fire spell. It bounced off from the golem and slammed back into Mohania. He then let out an instant spell from his right hand. The green skull went flying towards the golem and again was reflected back at him. Mohania simply absorbed the spell. He bent down and started pulling Jacklyn away.

"They are immune to spells!" Mohania shouted.

"And taunts!" Quinely yelled out. Quinely and Herrior were striking fiercely at the golems hoping to drag them away from the group. Lindel disappeared and quickly materialized on top of Herrior's golem. She put her hands on the machine and started channeling energy into it. The golem swung at Lindel, knocking her off. Skyka quickly dropped her shadow form and casted a levitate spell on her as she floated to the ground.

"They aren't human, they are being controlled!" Lindel yelled in pain. Skyka casted a heal spell on Jacklyn and then one on Lindel.

Trackolania ran forward and ran his blades along the golem's legs. The acid on the tips of his blades hit it, but instantly fizzled out. It didn't even leave a mark on the golem. The golem reached down and tried striking at him, but Trackolania rolled out of the way. It then started chasing after him. It slammed its fist into the ground, knocking down Trackolania and Herrior.

"Strings see if you can confuse them!" Herrior yelled out. Strings immediately started playing a tune, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Strings then played a song that slowly healed the group.

"Trackolania, look for any weak points!" Trackolania instantly vanished from where he was standing and reappeared behind the golem. He jumped up trying to drive his daggers into him, but they wouldn't penetrate the armor. He simply slide back down. The golem turned around and swung at him, missing him by inches. Trackolania grabbed the arm and tried to climb up it, but was simply flung off.

Herrior drove his shield down on the golem's foot as hard as he could, but it simply slide off and he fell to the ground. The golem then swung at Herrior hitting him directly on the back. He let out a loud grunt. The golem lifted his arm and then kicked Herrior several yards away. Herrior slowly rose to his feet and started after the golem again.

"I need a heal when you get a chance!" Herrior yelled in pain. Skyka ran up towards the golems and began casting a spell. She was quickly hit from behind by one of the golems. She screamed and sailed forward towards Herrior.

"Spread out, give each other some space. If it comes after you just lead it around until we can figure out a strategy for fighting these things!" Herrior commanded still in a lot of pain. He helped Skyka up. She quickly threw her hands into the air and healing circle engulfed everyone. It only healed them a little though. It was enough to get both her and Herrior back on their feet and moving though.

Strings tried playing another song that was supposed to hypnotize his enemies. It didn't even faze them. He then switched songs and fire began falling from the sky and onto the golems. Again, no effect.

"I don't think I can help much in this battle…" Strings said as he saw one of the golems run towards him. Herrior threw his sword at the golem. It merely hit it and bounced off. Herrior charged forward again and slammed his shield into the golem, picking up his sword. The golem turned around and then started chasing after him.

"I don't think any of us are doing much this battle hun." Skyka said. She casted a bigger healing spell on Herrior. He instantly felt reenergized, but then the golem started running after her. She started running backwards and then to the left. Jacklyn ran up to it and hit it with one of her blades. She then quickly spun around and quickly hit the golem with both of her blades at the same time. This distracted the golem from Skyka and it started to chase after Jacklyn.

"Lindel! Mohania! Quinely! What's controlling them?" Herrior yelled out. Mohania was trying to contain Quinely's golem in a green ball, but every time it would fizzle out. All three of them quickly concentrated.

"It's not a demon…" Mohania said. He then casted a fear spell at the golem and it quickly bounced off and redirected itself towards Mohania. Again, Mohania simply absorbed the spell. He then held up his hand and tried to drain the golem of its life force. The purple beam simply hit the golem and fizzled out.

"It's purely mechanical, I cannot drain it. Also they can't be feared." Mohania said.

"I can't even sense them! I don't sense anything else around us." Quinely said and then was hit by a golem arm. The giant bear rolled several yards away. Lindel instantly disappeared, and reappeared next to Quinely. She laid her hands on the giant bear and instantly her hands turned white, healing her wounds.

"Hun, I don't sense anything out of them…" Lindel said. The golem started chasing after them, and they both started running away.

"Mohania, can you freeze the ground around their feet?" Herrior yelled out. Mohania opened up his mouth and began firing ice shards out from it. The ground instantly froze. The golem began to slip, but quickly regained its balance.

"Keep it up, Quinely come help me charge this one!" Herrior said. Quinely and Skyka split up, the golem that was chasing them started following Quinely. Quinely caught up with Herrior.

"Now!" Herrior screamed, and both of them instantly charged forward. The impact sent the golem falling on its butt. It tried to get up, but kept falling on the ice. Herrior and Quinely ran in opposite directions around the fallen golem.

"Trackolania, get on it and look for any weak points!" Trackolania stopped swiping his daggers at the one chasing Quinely and ran towards the fallen one. He leaped up on its chest. The golem swung at its chest, but Trackolania leaped out of the way. The impact sent a resonating "Dong…" throughout the land. Trackolania quickly started searching around the head. He stuck his daggers into where the head plate and body came together, but it wouldn't budge. The golem's fist then went flying towards its own head. Trackolania leaped out of the way and another "Dong…" filled the land. Trackolania ran towards Herrior.

Herrior had a smile on his face, "Amusing, but no good huh?" Trackolania shook his head. The ice began to melt and the golem got back on its feet. It started chasing after Trackolania. He easily out ran it though.

"Any ideas?" Herrior yelled as they continued to run away from the golems.

Dan and Crystal were watching the battle unfold from the safety of the mountain side. They felt useless standing next to the goblins.

"It's got to be controlled, like a remote control car or something…If it smacks itself in its head to go after a target, it would have to be controlled. Nothing would do that on purpose…" Dan said out loud.

"What's your idea?" Crystal said quickly.

"There's got to be some sort of control mechanism around here…" Dan looked at the cave, "Probably in there!" Dan ran forward and yelled out to Herrior.

"Herrior! Crystal and I have an idea, but somebody else will have to guard the goblins!"

"Strings, Lindel - go!" Herrior yelled. Both of them began running towards the goblins. Dan and Crystal waited until they arrived and then both of them ran into the cave. It was full of gold, gems, mechanical gizmos, maps and other things that they had never seen before.

"Come on!" Dan yelled at Crystal. She shook her head and ran to the back of the cave. They quickly started looking all over the cave.

Instantly both golems stopped fighting. They stood perfectly stood. Herrior and his group charged at them and started whacking at them as hard as they could. The golems slowly turned around to face the cave. Both of them instantly started walking towards it.

"Dan! Crystal! You only have about twenty seconds! They are coming towards you!" Herrior yelled.

"Shit…Dan what are we looking for?" Crystal yelled.

"I don't know…an off button or something…" Dan said in a panic. Both of them started picking up robes and tossing them behind them. Then Crystal took the left side of the cave and Dan took the right. Dan tried to stop time, but it had no effect on the golems.

"I'm running out of things to look at!" Crystal yelled. Dan finally saw a yellow gem stuck on the wall. He pushed it and it sunk into the wall. A keyboard and monitor came out of the wall.

"Your kidding…" Dan said. The monitor was flashing the word, "Command?" on the screen. The golems started smashing the cave entrance. Herrior's group was unable to get their attention.

"Get out of there!" Herrior screamed. Crystal began running for the entrance, she turned around to see what Dan was looking at.

"Let's go Dan!" Crystal screamed at him. Dan quickly typed in a couple of words and the golems immediately stopped. They stood up and looked forward in a lifeless stare. The cave entrance began to collapse in on itself.

"Ask Herrior where the Alliance fortress is!" Dan yelled.

"What?" Crystal replied back.

"Do it!" Dan yelled as more rocks began falling down.

"Herrior, tell me where the alliance fortress is!" Crystal yelled.

"Wha…" Herrior was about to say but was interrupted by Crystal.

"Hurry!" Crystal yelled.

"North east of here, about a three days walk! More east then north!" Herrior yelled as the cave was almost filled up with fallen rocks. Crystal relayed the information to Dan. Dan typed in a couple of commands and then hit the "enter" button. The golems spun around and began walking north east. Herrior's group readied themselves to attack them. The last words they could hear from Dan was, "Don't touch them! Leave them alone!" and then the cave rubble buried them completely in.

Herrior and his group slowly moved out of the way of the mighty golems and allowed them to walk away.

"What the hell did he do…?" Herrior asked to himself.

"Trackolania, watch our back, if they come back tell me. Everybody, dig them out! Bring the goblins! Everybody - dig them out!"

Herrior's group all met back up together and started throwing rocks off to the side. More rocks kept falling to replace the ones that they moved. Mohania pointed his arms up at the rocks falling and fire came flying out of his hands. It started melting the rocks, forming a barrier that stopped them from falling. When Mohania was done melting the rocks, he collapsed on the ground - completely out of power.

"Hurry everybody!" Herrior yelled. Herrior would slam his shield into the rocks and pull them out of the way. Jacklyn would pick up the enormous boulders and throw them out of the way. Everybody else was straining as hard as they could to move the smaller rocks.

"Are they still alive Lindel?" Herrior asked. Lindel stopped pulling away the rocks for a second and tried to reach out to them with her mind. She shook her head. "I can't tell, the rocks won't let me get through!"

"Keep digging, and tell me once you or anybody else senses or hears anything!" Herrior yelled in desperation.

From inside the cave, Crystal was thrown back during the final cave in. It was pitch black inside now.

"Crystal! Where are you at hun?" Dan asked. He could hear a low moan.

"Hun, I can hear you, but I can't see you. Talk to me." She let out another moan.

"I'm coming, just hold still. Can you count for me? I'll follow your voice."

"One…two…" and then Crystal stopped.

"That's great hun, I'm coming. I think I know where you are." Dan quickly headed towards the voice, shuffling his feet just in case he kicked her.

"Three…one…four…" Crystal continued to say. Dan got scared and thought, "She probably hit her head…"

"You're doing great love, I'm almost there!" Dan said. Dan then got on all fours and started feeling around for her. He finally felt a lump of hair and followed it back to her to head. It was indeed bleeding. He quickly took off his armor and his shirt and stuck it on the wound.

"What hurts Crystal, talk to me." Dan said. She just let out a moan. Dan slowly felt all over her body, feeling for bones out of place or more blood. Everything else seemed fine. So Dan concentrated on her head. She began to shiver. He laid her down flat and tied his shirt around her head. He then scrambled around feeling for the robes that were tossed around. He found four of them and brought them back over to Crystal.

"It's ok hun, I have some robes. I'm going to cover you, and prop your head up a little." Dan said as another moan came out of her. Dan tossed one of the robes over her body and it quickly formed around her body. It then began to glow. He could see the head wound now. It was deep and bleeding badly.

The shivering stopped though. He then ran over to the caved in rocks and started pounding on them with his sword. They weren't moving. After several minutes of chipping away at it, he gave up and went back to Crystal's side.

Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his hearthstone. He thought of Lindel and started rubbing it. It turned purple, but nothing happened. He then thought of Herrior and started rubbing it but again nothing happened. He then thought of every member in their group rubbing the stone. Eventually Crystal's stone lit up and he could see her. Dan rolled his eyes, and closed the portal with his hand. He thought of Branzer and rubbed the stone. The stone started to vibrate rapidly and turned a very dark purple.

Branzer was at home, on his fifth beer watching baseball. His leg started vibrating and he jumped to his feet. He pulled the stone out and a small portal opened.

"Hello?" Branzer asked trying to look inside the tiny portal. It was nothing but white haze and silent.

"What's going on? I can't see anything!" Branzer said.

"Branzer?" a voice came out of the portal. It was Dan.

"Dan? What's going on?" Branzer answered back. He waited a second and then Dan answered back.

"Crystal and I are trapped in a cave in. Crystal is hurt really bad. She has a head injury. Herrior's group is on the outside of the cave. I think we are going to die in this cave…" Dan said and then his voice trailed off.

"What? What the hell happened?" Branzer asked. Another couple of seconds went by and then Dan answered.

"We were battling the golems that Crystal was telling you about. They were kicking the crap out of Herrior's group. I had the idea that they were being controlled, so Crystal and I went in the cave to look for a control panel or something." Dan started laughing. "Turns out it was an old computer controlling them. Isn't that some funny shit!"

"Are they still battling the golems? What's going on?" Branzer asked.

"No…here's the funny part. I sent them a command to go attack the alliance town, or castle/fortress, or whatever they have. At the speed they were moving though, it'll probably take several days for them to get there. I'd love to see their faces when they walk in though. But it probably cost us our lives in the process." Dan said.

"Ok, so let's assess the situation. How big is the cave that you are in?" Branzer asked. About ten seconds went by and then Dan answered back.

"I'd say about twenty yards deep by thirty across. I tried to contact anybody in Herrior's group, but it wouldn't work. I tried chopping my way out of the rocks, but they are too strong. I've never seen or felt rock this dense before." Crystal let out a moan.

"Was that Crystal?" Branzer asked.

"Yes, I think she's in shock. I put a robe on her and it began to glow. I stopped the blood flow from her forehead with my shirt. I have several robes under her head. She's as comfortable as I can make her. She was shivering earlier." Dan answered back.

Branzer quickly sobered up and ran his hand through his hair.

"Kind of funny isn't it…We all thought she was going to die because of her not having a period…" Dan said.

"You are not going to die, ok! Stop saying that! If I know Herrior, he's on the other side trying to dig you guys out right now. He would not just leave you to die. It sounds like you are going to have enough air to breath for at least five hours. Look around and see if there is anything that you can use to pry some of the rocks away." Branzer commanded. Several seconds passed and then Dan said, "Ok, I'll be right back."

Dan walked around with the hearthstone held out in front of him for light.

"All I see are gems, robes, piles of gold, flowers - I think. Some things I don't recognize. This world has a lot of things that I don't understand. Hey get this did you know that all of them go to church? Even Mohania does." Dan answered back.

"Concentrate Dan let's focus on the task at hand. There's no long bars, or tubes. No shovels or picks - anything like that?" Branzer replied back. Several more seconds passed.

"I found something that looks like a small stick of dynamite." Dan said as he held up the object. It was small and red with a cotton fuse coming out of it.

"Excellent! That would work! Do you think you are far enough away so the explosion wouldn't hurt you guys?" Branzer asked.

Dan looked down at Crystal. She was in the middle of the cave.

"I don't think so, Crystal is too close. I'm not supposed to move her with a head injury, am I?" Dan asked. Again silence filled the air for awhile.

Branzer sighed and sat down on the couch. He finally answered, "No, no you aren't supposed to. Could you very gently place her on a robe and drag her to the back of the cave?"

"Yup, give me a second." Dan said. He walked over and grabbed some more robes. He walked back over to Crystal and laid them down beside her. Suddenly her hand reached out and grabbed him. He looked at her; the wound on her head had closed in. She simply smiled at him. He took his shirt off the wound on her head and it had stopped bleeding. The cloak on her was still glowing.

"Crystal, I have to move you to the back of the cave. This is probably going to hurt, but I'm going to try my best so it won't. Ok sweetheart?" Crystal let out another smile as if acknowledging it.

"She's awake now Branzer. I think the robe on her is healing her somehow. Her head wound has sealed over. I'm going to have to give the stone to Crystal. Just talk to her ok? It'll be a couple of minutes before I can move her. He handed the stone to Crystal and she collapsed her hand around it.

"Hi Crystal, how are you doing kiddo? We miss you at the academy. I've had to do all of your paper work, so you owe me one ok?" Branzer said with a hint of laughter in his voice. Crystal smiled. Branzer then started talking about cop stuff to her.

Dan moved down to her feet and slowly moved them onto the robes and then her hips. She let out a groan. Dan moved her hands over to the robes. Dan then reached around her chest and pulled it up. Her eyes rolled back in pain. He gently moved her over to the robes. He then repositioned her head so it was straight again.

"Ok hun, I'm done." Dan reached over and grabbed the robe and covered her back up again. It immediately started to glow again. It took a couple of seconds, but Crystal opened her eyes painfully. A tear was falling down her right eye.

"I'm sorry hun, but I need to move you. I need to drag you back to the back side of the cave. Branzer and I have a plan. Can I have the stone back?" Dan asked. Crystal opened her hand. Dan reached down and grabbed the stone. It was still vibrating very fast.

"Ok Branzer it's me again. I'm going to start dragging her to the back of the cave. Give me just a second." Branzer acknowledged. Dan reached down and grabbed the cloak's hood with both hands and started pulling. It was hard at first, but he found the strength to do it. Crystal didn't let out any moans during the trip.

They got back as far as they could. "Ok Branzer, I'm going to lit it with my sword. Hope for the best."

"Run back and cover Crystal with your body from the explosion. She's in enough pain as it is." Seconds passed.

"Ok I understand. This might be the last time we communicate if this doesn't go well…" Dan said.

"It'll work, think positive." Branzer said with a worried voice. Dan held the stone up as he maneuvered to the front of the cave. He climbed to the very top of the fallen rocks and stuck the dynamite looking stick in the very top of the cave in. He pulled out his fire enchanted sword and held it up to the cotton. It immediately lit and he ran back to Crystal and put his body over hers.

From outside of the cave, Lindel had climbed the land slide, trying to detect if they were alive or not. Suddenly a large explosion sent Lindel screaming backwards. Skyka immediately casted levitate on her and a renew healing spell on her. Skyka ran down the rock slide and helped guide her down to the ground. She was badly burned, so Skyka immediately started casting healing spells on her. Within a minute she was back to her normal self.

"What happened?" Herrior asked.

"I wasn't able to contact them, but they apparently found some sort of explosive device. I was on the direct opposite side of it." Lindel groaned in pain. "It sucked away a lot of my power, I wasn't expecting it.

"Set her down by Mohania. Tend to her wounds if she needs more healing." Herrior said and quickly scrambled over to the explosion sight. The hole had blackness protruding from it.

"Dan! Crystal! Can you hear me?"

"It's Herrior! I can hear him!" Dan said excitedly. Crystal looked up at him and smiled. Several rocks did hit Dan during the explosion, but only scratches and bumps.

"Branzer I think we are going to be ok. I can hear Herrior."

"That's great news! I didn't think that they would have dynamite in their world. What's Crystal's condition?" Branzer asked. Several seconds passed.

"She keeps smiling at me, and she can move her hand. She's going to need a healer though." Dan said. He raced over to the opening and saw Herrior's eyes.

"I'm ok, but Crystal is hurt badly. Can Skyka make it through the hole?" Dan asked. Herrior turned around and glanced at Skyka and then looked at the hole.

"It's too small, and Lindel's power is drained. We'll have to make the opening bigger." Herrior said.

"Why is Lindel's power drained? What happened?" Dan asked.

"When the explosive device went off, Lindel was directly on top of it." Herrior answered. Dan gasped. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

Herrior cut him off and asked what was going on in the cave.

"I'm talking with Branzer right now, for some reason I couldn't make contact with you guys, but I could with him." Dan said curiously.

"The stone generates a lot of power when attempting to contact people from different worlds. I'm surprised that it worked to be honest…" Herrior said.

"I can only hear him, and it takes a couple of seconds to work, but it is working." Dan said. Herrior nodded.

"Back away from the whole so we can start chipping away at it. We'll have you out of there as soon as we can, but first. What did you do to the golems?" Herrior asked curiously.

Dan thought for a second as to how to explain it to Herrior. Then he shook his head.

"You probably won't understand this, but I'll try the best that I can. They were being controlled. I found the device controlling them and, basically, told them to go bother the alliance instead of us."

"How?" Herrior asked.

Dan let out a sigh. "They were being controlled by an old computer, technology from our world. I just merely reprogrammed them." Herrior tilted his head curiously.

"That's the best that I can explain it. I typed in the direction you told Crystal before the cave in, and sent them on their way." Dan explained.

Herrior looked away and saw the golems slowly making their way towards a north east direction. They were walking side by side.

"So they are going to go attack the alliance?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." Dan replied back.

"Can you destroy the, umm…computer? I do not want the golems to be…reprogrammed…to attack our wall." Herrior asked.

Dan hadn't thought about that. "Yes, I'll go do that. In the mean time, I'll stay by Crystal's side. We are in the very back of the cave."

"Look around for any more explosive devices…" Herrior said as Dan ran away from the hole.

"What's going on?" Branzer asked.

"They want me to destroy the computer, and look for another explosive device. Also they are going to try to dig me out of here." Dan paused for a second and stopped walking. "Branzer, Lindel was badly wounded."

"What! What happened! Will she be ok?" Branzer's face turned white as he quickly rattled off his string of questions.

"From what I understand, she was directly on the opposite side of the blast when the dynamite went off…" Dan said.

"What! You're kidding!" Branzer paused for a second and then asked, "Is she dead?"

"No, Skyka healed her body, but Herrior says her power is drained. She's laying outside next to Mohania - who's power is also drained."

A big sigh of relief could be heard coming from Branzer. Silence fell over the portal for awhile.

"Branzer, I'm at the computer. Hold on, I need to destroy it." Dan said.

"Ok…the dynamite was my idea…I could have killed her…" Branzer said quietly.

"Hold on for just a second." Dan said and drew one of his blades. It was the ice enchanted one. He slashed at the monitor instantly freezing it. It then shattered into hundreds of pieces. He then slashed at the keyboard. His sword flew through it with ease. Suddenly the orange button extended several feet towards him and exploded. It sent Dan flying up against the far wall. He hit the wall with a dull thud, dropping his blade and his hearthstone. The connection with Branzer instantly was severed.

"Dan! Dan! What happened?" Branzer yelled at the stone rubbing it. His stone would not glow though. He became angry and eventually threw the stone at the wall. It simply bounced off from it and dropped to the ground. Eventually he walked over to it and picked it up and put it back in his pocket. He grabbed his secure cell phone and told Bernett what happened.

"Dan! What was that?" Herrior yelled into the hole. He could not hear or see anything. Herrior quickly turned around and looked at Quinely.

"Get in there and tell me what's going on!" Quinely instantly morphed into a humming bird and flew directly into the hole. Meanwhile Herrior frantically began banging his shield at the hole.

Quinely couldn't see anything, so she morphed into a bat. She flew around the cave a couple of times and then landed on Dan. She morphed back into her normal self and became casting the healing spell that Cenarius had taught her. She continued to cast it until her strength was drained.

Dan let out a grunt and put his hand to his head. "Damn thing must have had a self-destruct or something…" He slowly stood to his feet and ran directly into Quinely.

"Crystal?" Dan asked.

"No it's Quinely. I healed you. How are you feeling?" Quinely asked.

"A pounding headache and a lot of pain, can you heal Crystal?" Dan answered. He felt around for his hearthstone and blade and put them away.

"I'm out of power. I'm sorry." Quinely answered back. She stepped backwards a couple of feet and began to stumble on the rubble. Dan heard her struggling and instantly reached out his hands and tried to feel for her. She ended up falling on her butt letting out a scream of pain.

"Now what!" Herrior shouted in the hole.

"I'm fine. Just fell down. Dan said there was a self-destruct on the thing that he destroyed." Quinely replied back.

"Stop getting hurt in there!" Herrior commanded them and then began banging his shield on the rocks again.

Dan reached into the dark for Quinely. He leaned forward feeling around for her and grabbed her right breast.

"Hey!" Quinely said pushing him back.

"I can't see, I'm sorry." Dan said blushing. Quinely let out a giggle. She morphed into a firefly and started flashing out small beams of light.

Dan looked at her and smiled. "That's neat." Dan started looking around in the rubble. After a couple of minutes his hand felt something round.

"Over here Quinely." Dan said. Quinely flew over blinking her light. Dan examined it and it looked like another stick of dynamite. He got up and slowly made his way over to the hole.

"Herrior stop!" Dan yelled out. The banging stopped and Herrior's face appeared in the hole.

"I found another stick of dynamite. I want to try igniting this one. Quinely, you might want to leave." Dan said. "Tell everybody to stand way back." Herrior gave the order and everybody moved far away from the rubble. Quinely flew out of the hole. Dan placed the dynamite in the middle of the hole and drew out his fire sword. It quickly ignited the wick and Dan ran back to cover Crystal's body. Several seconds later a huge explosion occurred. This time Dan was pummeled with rocks. He let out several cries of pain. He stood up and looked at the hole. It had only grown a little bit, but perhaps enough to crawl out of. Dan quickly ran over to the hole and began wiggling his way out of it. He got his shoulders stuck, but after twisting a little he managed to pop out. He began rolling down the rocks and landed by Herrior's mighty hoof.

"Hi." Dan said as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"You look a little worse for wear, young one." Herrior said with a smile. Herrior waved at Skyka over and she quickly ran over to Dan and casted a mighty healing spell on him. Dan rose to his feet feeling completely renewed.

"We need to get Crystal out of there." Dan said to Herrior.

"Skyka, do you think you can fit in there now?" Skyka glared at Herrior and began climbing the rubble. "Do you think I've been putting on weight Herrior?" Skyka yelled back at him.

"No?" Herrior said. Suddenly Mohania became engulfed in his black aura. "Power…" he whispered. Nobody heard him.

"It's probably small enough for those goblins to get the loot." Dan said pointing at them. Herrior nodded and waved them over.

Meanwhile Skyka had worked her way inside the cave. She created a light in front of her looking for Crystal. She found her at the back of the cave. She quickly rushed over and began casting a mighty healing spell.

"Power…" Mohania said louder. Trackolania heard him and bounced over to him. A huge bright light came out of the hole in the cave. Trackolania jumped over to Herrior and tugged on his shirt and pointed at Mohania. He saw that Mohania has his black aura around him and he looked to be regenerating his power quicker. Herrior walked over to Mohania. Herrior put his ear down right above Mohania's face.

"I sense great power…in that cave…I want it!" Mohania said quietly.

"What does it look like?" Herrior answered back.

"There is a scroll…next to a glowing yellow rock…don't touch either of them…it is for me only…" Mohania said as he slowly sat up. Herrior nodded. "We'll leave those items for you." Herrior stood up and saw Crystal crawling out of the hole. She twisted herself several times and out she popped. Skyka followed her out. Dan ran over to Crystal and picked her up.

"Miss me?" Crystal asked, embracing him back.

"Goblins collect everything that is valuable in there. There is a glowing yellow rock with a scroll next to it. Do not touch it! But get everything else in there!" Herrior said. The goblins quickly ran up the rocks and dove into the hole.

Fifteen minutes passed.

"Power…my power…" Mohania said as he started crawling towards the rubble. Slowly each goblin popped out of the hole with their backpack and bags full. Herrior counted them and when all of them were accounted for, he walked up to Mohania and helped him get up to the hole and pushed him in.

Inside Mohania's eyes started glowing with fire. He stood to his feet and walked to the back of the room. He grabbed the orb and instantly started absorbing it's power. He read and reread the scroll several times.

"Get back!" Mohania yelled out.

"Move! Everybody off to the side!" Herrior yelled. He picked up Lindel and ran over to the mountain side. A yellow light began protruding out of the hole.

"Move further back!" Herrior ordered. Everybody did as he said.

"What's going on?" Dan asked.

Skyka turned to him and said "I think he learned a new spell…"

Mohania began laughing, his voice becoming louder and louder. It turned into a very loud high pitch squeal. The ground started to rumble. The light coming out of the hole intensified.

Suddenly there was a large explosion that knocked everybody to their feet. It sent all of the rocks in front of the cave flying forward at such fast speeds that they vanished from sight within seconds. The laughing continued but slowly settled down.

Everybody rose to their feet and peered inside of the cave. They could see Mohania lying down on the ground, his eyes illuminating the cave.

"Is he ok?" Crystal asked. Mohania began to chuckle.

"He's fine hun." Skyka said and walked inside the cave. Herrior followed her in. They both picked him up by his arms and dragged him outside. Mohania continued to laugh.

"Did you learn something new hun?" Skyka asked with a grin.

"Yes…" Mohania said with a grin. "That mage was hiding warlock secrets…secrets that nobody else needs to learn…except for me…" Mohania began laughing again.

"Did you leave the scroll?" Herrior asked.

"I absorbed it, and the orb. Nobody else will learn it…the power is all mine!" Mohania said standing to his feet.

"It taught me how to summon a mighty inferno; from mere rocks…I cast it on a stone, and throw the stone. Once it hits the ground it grows into an inferno." Mohania said.

"Can you control it?" Herrior asked.

"It has a free will, and lasts for about thirty seconds before burning itself out. I can control it if I wish." Mohania answered. Dan took in every word that Mohania was saying and let out a small smile.

"Interesting. Well let's get going. The King expects us back in a couple of days." Herrior said. He began walking forward and everybody began moving as well.

"Wait!" Mohania said. Herrior turned around at Mohania.

"I can hear…the voices of the undead…" Mohania said. He put his hands to his head and began increasing his senses. Mohania pointed further south. "They are weak and being tortured!"

Herrior turned to Quinely. She closed her eyes for a second and then shook her head.

"Are they being controlled?" Herrior asked.

"No, but they are suffering. We must free them!" Mohania said. Herrior looked in the direction that Mohania was pointing and let out a sigh.

"How far away are they?" Herrior asked.

"Couple hundred yards…Herrior…please! They are suffering!" Mohania said sounding desperate. Skyka walked up to Herrior and grabbed his hand. He looked down at her and she looked at him with a very concerned look.

"Please!" Mohania said again, almost begging.

"I've never heard Mohania plead like this before…" Skyka whispered into his ear. Herrior nodded. He looked back at his group. Lindel had regained enough power to walk on her own. They all nodded at Herrior, and drew their weapons. Herrior let out another sigh.

"The King ordered us just to retrieve the items in this cave and to return." Herrior said.

"Herrior…please…they are suffering…" Mohania said in a quiet voice. Herrior closed his eyes and sighed. Herrior bent down and picked up a rock and tossed it to Mohania.

"We need to be quick, time to show off that new spell of yours Mohania." Herrior said grinning at him. Mohania gave him a big smile.

"Lead us Mohania, Quinely keep your senses up. Let's make this quick people!" Herrior commanded. Mohania turned around and started running as fast as he could. Everybody else ran to catch up with him. Herrior caught up with him.

"Any idea what we are running into?" Herrior asked.

"No…" Mohania answered. Herrior grunted.

After a hundred yards, Quinely yelled out, "They are Orcs!"

"Great…" Herrior said with a hint of frustration in his voice. "How many?"

"Twenty…I think. But I do sense undead there as well." Quinely replied back.

"Mohania fall back. Let me and Quinely lead the charge." Herrior said.

"I want them to suffer!" Mohania said loudly and started falling back to Skyka.

"Quinely, I need you in bear form and get up here." Herrior shouted. Quinely instantly morphed into a giant bear and caught up with Herrior.

Another hundred yards passed. Mohania casted a quick spell on the rock he was holding. "Herrior!" Mohania shouted. Herrior turned around and Mohania threw him the rock.

"Throw this to the left of the camp. The prisoners are on the right." Mohania said.

Herrior ran forward and spun around. He launched the rock as far as he could. The rock instantly flew out of sight. The rock flew through the air and landed ten yards to the left of the orc encampment. It instantly grew into a ten foot rock beast that glowed green. The inferno quickly ran towards the orc's, slamming its mighty fists into them. Any of the orcs that came within a couple of feet from it instantly got burned from the inferno's glowing green aura. The orcs ran to their defenses and quickly started shooting arrows at the beast. It became angry and started slamming its fists into their towers, knocking some of the orcs to the ground. The inferno ran forward and started slamming its fists into some of their bigger buildings. It now had all of the orcs fighting it. The inferno would swat back and forth at the orcs, knocking them to the ground and burning them. It had killed sixteen orcs before Herrior's group entered the camp.

"Leave none alive!" Herrior yelled out and let out a mighty roar. "Destroy everything!"

The orcs quickly turned around and saw the mighty tauren running towards them. Herrior charged forward at them, moving at incredible speeds. He slammed his sword at the ground sending a shockwave at them, knocking them all down. Quinely charged at an orc as well, picking him up in her teeth and landing a heavy blow to his face using her left paw. She then flung the orc behind her towards Mohania. Mohania began channeling his purple beam into the orc. The orc struggled and screamed, but eventually laid still. Mohania formed a soul shard and quickly put it in his cloak.

Jacklyn caught up and began slashing her huge swords at an orc. The orc parried the attack, but was knocked down on the ground from the force. Jacklyn then started slamming her mighty blades at the orc, but the orc continued to parry the attack. Mohania quickly caught up to her, and began channeling his purple beam into him. The orc winched in pain. He looked back up in time to see Jacklyn's blade slide open his head like a watermelon. Mohania created another soul shard.

Lindel disappeared and reappeared right in front of an orc and quickly entered his body. The orc dropped his sword and began screaming. Mohania ran up just in time to cast his purple beam into the orc, as his head exploded. He created another soul shard and put it in his cloak.

The last remaining orc tried to run away. Trackolania instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of the orc, with his blade in his gut. Trackolania jumped up, slicing open his stomach and then Trackolania cut the orc's throat. The orc fell down gargling on his own blood.

Mohania growled at Trackolania. "Couldn't wait for me huh…" Trackolania smiled and wiped off the blood from his face.

"Destroy everything! Goblins, loot everything valuable. Hurry people!" Herrior said.

The goblins began running in and out of the buildings. Herrior's group began hacking at the structures, eventually bringing them down to the ground. The goblins has looted several enchanted items and bagged them up. Then they stood outside of the city while Herrior's group destroyed it.

Mohania walked over to the first cage and instantly blew the lock off from it. He swung the door open. The undead man looked like he was on the brink of death.

"You…can not save me…come closer…I will teach you the curse of doom." Mohania picked him up and put his ear to his mouth. The man struggled to say the words, but eventually recited the entire spell to him. Then his life force flew out of him. Mohania held him, looking down at him.

"Open the cages!" Herrior commanded. Dan ran over and began slicing at them. The locks fell off with ease, and the cages opened. There were ten of them all together.

"These last three are small orcs?" Dan said.

"Trackolania, string them up!" Herrior said pointing at Dan with his sword. Trackolania pulled a tiny string from his belt and jumped over to Dan. He tied up the orc's hands behind their back and brought them over to Herrior.

Mohania set the undead man on the ground and pulled out a soul shard. He then spoke a couple of demonic words and the shard turned into a green beating heart.

"Skyka, I need you!" Mohania said. Skyka turned into her shadow form and raced over to his side.

Mohania held up his hand and began channeling several green beams of light into the undead in the cages. Mohania's burning eyes began to fade. After a couple of seconds, he could barely stand. He then engulfed the green heart and suddenly got more strength back. The green beams of light continued to flow into the undead, giving them strength.

After a couple more seconds he said, "Skyka…"

Skyka held her hands up and began to chant a spell. A small sparkling tornado engulfed her and Mohania, increasing both of their power. The green beam of light became brighter. Skyka's spell lasted for ten seconds and then she stopped channeling it. Mohania continued to channel the spell.

"Hun, don't burn yourself up. We need to make it back to the wall. We need you to be able to run back." Skyka said. Mohania ignored her as he decreased in power.

"Mohania! Stop!" Skyka yelled at him. Mohania stopped channeling and fell to his feet. He let out a sigh and rose back to his feet.

"We can heal them more when we get back, but we need to get going!" Skyka said quickly. Mohania nodded slowly.

The undead in the cages slowly rose to their feet and began looking around. They were all completely naked. They seemed to be aware of their surroundings, but were terrified.

"Everybody, grab one and let's start running!" Herrior commanded. Mohania walked over to the dead male that taught him the new spell and picked him up.

"He's dead." Herrior said. Mohania turned around and hissed at him.

"But…we can bring him…" Herrior said backing up. He turned back to his group. Each one had an undead person thrown over their shoulder. "Bring the orcs too, let's move!"

Everybody began running to the north.

"They are pretty light." Crystal said to Dan. Dan nodded, but his mind concentrating on something else.

"You ok hun?" Crystal said eventually.

"Yes, give me a second. I need to talk to Mohania." Dan increased his speed and caught up with Mohania. He was carrying the dead undead male in his arms. Mohania looked over at him, and then looked away.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dan said in-between breaths. Mohania snarled and then nodded his head.

"What spell did he teach you?"

"Curse of Doom." Mohania said quickly.

"What does it do?" Dan asked.

Mohania glared at him.

"Please, I'm curious about it." Dan said.

"It plants a demon seed in a person. Then after a certain amount of time it grows into a Doom Guard." Mohania said with an irritated voice.

"And Doom Guards are strong?"

"Stronger than inferno's. They have more health and more spells."

"Ok thanks." Dan said and fell back to Crystal.

"What was that about?" Crystal asked.

Dan smiled at her and said, "We need to talk."

The group continued running until darkness fell. They had made good time that day, but everybody was exhausted.

"We'll rest here for tonight." Herrior said and stopped running.

Mohania created a fire. "Place all of the undead close to the fire…" The party did as Mohania asked. The undead all quickly huddled together and got as close to the fire as they could. Mohania started to talk to them in a voice none of them recognized.

"Crystal and I need to go talk." Dan said and pulled Crystal away from the group. Herrior raised his eyebrow at them as they walked away a couple of yards and sat down.

"Let them go hun." Skyka said.

"I know. But I sense they are planning something." Herrior said. He looked at Lindel. She held up her hands and said, "They are having personal time. I sense they don't have any bad intentions about them, but I'm going to leave them alone." Skyka then elbowed Herrior in the stomach.

"Do you remember what the King said?" Skyka said glaring at him.

"Yes, let's not go through with that again…" Herrior said in a low tone.

Lindel's hearthstone began to vibrate. She took it out and saw Bernett.

"Hi hun how's the wife?" Lindel said with a big smile.

"She has morning sickness…she doesn't know what's wrong. She thinks it's the flu…" Bernett said and smiled back at her.

"Could be…" Lindel said and gave him a wink.

"Branzer is here. We've been worried about you guys." Bernett said.

"We are on a very tight schedule right now. We took a, detour, for Mohania. Everybody is fine. We're all tired though. I can't talk for very long, I need my sleep." Lindel said yawning.

"Ok sorry, just wanted to check in." Bernett said.

"I'll talk with you guys later." Lindel said and closed the portal. She laid down in the circle and slowly closed her eyes watching the undead talking to Mohania.

"Skyka, we probably should make our report to the King. And probably apologize to him for our late arrival…" Herrior said.

"We aren't late yet hun." Skyka said and winked at him. Herrior snorted. Herrior took out his hearthstone. A portal instantly appeared. He stuck his head through it and talked with one of the King's ambassadors. He explained everything that happened, even the orc captives.

"Thank you Herrior, I will relay that information to the King." the portal closed. Herrior let out a sigh. He looked over at Mohania. He was still talking to the undead in a voice he hadn't heard before. Mohania paused for a second and looked up at Herrior.

"There are 3 females here."

"I noticed that…" Herrior said nodding.

"One of them is a mage, the dead one was a warlock, one is a priest, this one is a warrior." Mohania said pointing at them. "The others aren't anything, so I'll train them in the ways of the warlock - if they so desire." Mohania looked back and Herrior.

"Thank you Herrior. This means a lot to me. I am in your debt. I hate to see my race suffer." Mohania said softly.

"No you are not. We are friends. We fight beside each other. You have saved my life more times than I can count." Herrior stood up and walked over to Mohania and extended his hand. Mohania stood up and shook his hand. Herrior nodded at him and said, "Ok?" Mohania nodded. Herrior walked back over to Skyka and sat down. Everybody was sleeping now, including Dan and Crystal who were curled up next to each other, still far away from the fire.

"Can you and your undead keep an eye out tonight? We need our sleep."

"Certainly…" Mohania said. The eerie voice coming back. Skyka smiled at Mohania and said, "That's the Mohania I remember…" Mohania glared at her. She winked at him.

Mohania remained standing and pointed at each member in the group and spoke their name. The undead seemed to understand. Mohania then sat back down and continued talking with the undead.

Herrior and Skyka were almost asleep when Herrior's hearthstone started vibrating.

"It's probably the King." Herrior said.

"Tell him to wait till the morning…" Skyka said. Herrior pushed her away and she giggled. He pulled out the stone and a portal opened. Skyka's stone started vibrating as well. Her portal opened and they both stuck their heads into the portal and immediately looked down.

"Herrior. Skyka. I hope we are not intruding." The King said.

"No my King." Herrior said.

"My ambassador told me what you told him. I don't understand most of it, I wanted to talk directly to you two." The King said. Both Skyka and Herrior nodded.

"So you attacked the golems, and nobody was able to even put a scratch into them? Then Crystal and Dan…ran into a cave? They disabled the golems at the expense of almost being buried alive? Is that correct?"

"Yes my King." Herrior said.

"Then Dan gave the golems a final command of going to fight the alliance town, before they were completely buried. Is that correct?"

"Yes my King. Herrior repeated.

The King turned to his Queen, and then turned back to Herrior. "Skyka, do you detect any magical properties with either of them? They were in my inner chambers and I sensed nothing. Even my banshees detected nothing. How were they able to do this?"

"My King, Dan explained it to me the best he could. I speak the truth when I say I don't understand what he did. He said they were controlled by something called a computer. He said he stopped them from attacking and asked me where the alliance fortress was. I told them the direction. That was the last thing I said to them before they were buried in the cave. Crystal was badly hurt."

"That is what was told to me, but I wanted to hear it from you." The King said. The King and the Queen whispered something back and forth. The King then spoke up.

"We have underestimated the power of them two. Their love is building and they have proven their loyalty to you again. And they launched an attack on the alliance." The King said with a smile.

"My King, they are secluded themselves from us tonight. It was not to have private time, but they seemed to be talking back and forth about something." Herrior said softly. Skyka nodded her head.

The King and Queen both held their hands to their head. A couple of seconds later, the King spoke.

"I do not sense any ill intentions about them. They are planning something…" the queen cut them off.

"They do not have any ill intentions. Leave them alone. I have scanned their emotions, but not their minds." The Queen said looking at the King.

"Herrior, they are loyal to your group. They will not harm you. I sense that they will tell you when they are ready. It might be a surprise for your group. When they tell you, you will tell us." The Queen said.

"Skyka, how is Crystal holding up missing her periods?" The King said.

"She seems to be doing fine. But it is still a concern of mine, as well as our group." Skyka said.

"Do you think the healers in her world can fix her?" The Queen questioned.

"My Queen, I do not know. I know that we have done everything we can, and she says that things still aren't normal with her. We do not know what is wrong."

"Their healers are so primitive…" the Queen said looking off in the distance.

"I agree my Queen."

"I sense that you have three orcs with you. Why is that?" The King asked.

"They were in the cages when we freed the undead. Trackolania has secured them."

"Yes…I know. I also know about Mohania's new friends. What I want to know is…why?" The King asked.

"Mohania sensed some undead were being tortured. He was practically begging me to help them." Herrior replied.

"So you made the decision to battle the orcs without consulting me?" The King said.

"I am sorry if I had made the wrong decision. I will take full respo…" the King interrupted him.

"It was a good decision." the King said. He paused for a second and then continued.

"Herrior you are one of my ambassadors for a reason. You are loyal to me, you will fight to the death, you aren't scared to take on any assignment, you are compassionate, and you are a good leader. The decision to save the undead has made the bond between you and Mohania stronger. We saw Mohania let down his guard when he spoke to you a little while ago. We still cannot read the minds of the undead, but you have helped me to understand them better. Also, we witnessed one of his kind die. Tell Mohania that we are saddened by this, and wish to make any arrangements he wants to help grieve his kind." The King said.

"As for the orcs, that puts us in quite the predicament. The Queen and I have spoken about this for awhile. We have both scanned their minds, and they seem to have been abandoned by their kind. But we do not know why, and the orcs might come back after them. Ever since the orc banishment, I thought we would never see them again. I do not think the people of Tranquil would accept orc's into their city. However, having orc technology and their abilities would be useful." the King paused for a second. "We will have to see how this plays out. Bring them to the wall, but not beyond. Tell the undead to leave them alone. I will tell my groups that protect the walls the same. When they arrive I will send out my banshees to further examine their minds and intentions." the King ended.

"Herrior, take your time. Give Dan and Crystal time to further discuss whatever it is they are planning. Give Mohania time to bond with the undead. We do not sense any movement from the alliance or the demons in your area. We do want you and Skyka, as well as Dan and Crystal brought before us, but only when they are ready. It's time to discuss class training with Dan and Crystal. Also, tell Lindel it is ok to pursue a friendship with Branzer - but not a relationship." The Queen said.

"You are dismissed." The King said. Both Herrior and Skyka bowed and pulled their heads out of the portals. Mohania was waiting and staring at both of them.

"So…" Mohania hissed.

"The King and Queen, as well as us, are sadden by the loss of your undead companion. They want to make any arrangements you wish for him to help in the mourning process. They said it was a good decision to retrieve your fellow undead friends." Herrior said looking directly at Mohania. Mohania looked off to the side and thanked them. Skyka walked over to Mohania and kissed him on his boney forehead.

"We can take our time going back to the wall. Let us know what you need to help out your friends, ok?" Skyka said.

Mohania nodded. "Please leave me alone…" he said quietly.

Skyka smiled at him and walked back to Herrior. They both laid down for the night.

The morning time came without any incident. Mohania's fire was still burning on the ground. Dan and Crystal walked over to the group. Quinely and Strings backed up and patted on the ground next to them. Quinely leaned over to Crystal and whispered something in her ear.

"You did what!" Crystal yelled at Dan and smacked him on the arm. Quinely started to laugh. Dan quickly began thinking and thought of him touching Quinely in the cave.

"I couldn't see. I was trying to help her up…" Dan said defensively.

"That's not the proper way of helping a woman to her feet…" Crystal said smiling at him. Quinely continued laughing. Herrior started passing out bread and fruit for breakfast. The goblins were eating their own food that they brought, and the undead were just passing the time talking to Mohania. It was obvious though that their strength was returning to them.

"What happened?" Lindel asked with a smile. Quinely stopped laughing and waved her hand in the air. Lindel looked at Dan and winked her eye.

"Lindel, we spoke with the King last night. He said it was ok to pursue a friendship with Branzer." Herrior said.

"Soo…is it ok if I become, 'horny as hell' with him?" Lindel said and looked at Crystal. Crystal dropped her mouth open, then jumped up and started running over towards Lindel.

"Woman, I'm going to beat your ass!" Crystal said and tackled her to the ground. They both started laughing and rolled away from the group. This made the group smile. Herrior shook his head and sighed.

Mohania spoke up. "Herrior."

Herrior looked up at Mohania and said, "Yes?"

"Some of the undead wish to be…clothed. Would you mind if I find some garments for them?" Mohania asked softly.

Herrior hadn't even thought about that. "Of course, the goblins probably have some things that you could use. Skyka, could you go help them?"

"Luckily I have got my garment skills maxed out." Skyka said and stood up. She stuck out her hand and the undead recoiled back from it. "Jumpy little critters huh?"

"They have been through a lot…" Mohania said in his eerie voice. Mohania then spoke to them in their undead tongue. All of the undead turned to look at Mohania. He spoke for a couple of minutes and then pointed at Skyka. All of the undead turned to look at Skyka. Skyka smiled at them. The seven of them stood and began walking over to Skyka. Skyka nodded and began walking.

One of the females stopped in front of Herrior and turned to look at him. She walked up to him and motioned him to bend down. Herrior raised his eyebrow out of curiosity and bent over. She opened her mouth.

"Th…thn…thak…yyyo." The female undead said and kissed him on the cheek. She then smiled at him and continued to follow Skyka. Herrior stood back up and smiled. Mohania walked over to him.

"According to her, she was repeatedly raped and beaten - well over two hundred times. She's the youngest." Mohania said solemnly. Herrior nodded.

"Apparently the orcs are collecting undead and trying to convert their allegiance to them. They continue to beat them until they either die or convert. These seven are strong-willed. The one that died was the leader. He kept speaking up so he took the most beatings to help the other seven survive." Herrior nodded again.

"If it were up to me, I would feed on the flesh of those orcs and give them a slow painful death!" Mohania shouted and pointed to the orc prisoners. Herrior stared at Mohania. Mohania let out a sigh. Silence filled the air for awhile.

"She said 'thank you' by the way." Mohania said and turned to look at Skyka.

"I figured as much." Herrior said with a grin.

"I told them all of our group's names. I told them that they could trust any of us with their life, and they could talk to any of us if they wanted. I'm going to try to teach them all common speak. I talked about our cave and what it was like. I told them not to go near the wall's door." Mohania said very softly. Herrior nodded.

"They are very upset about their leader dying…" Mohania said and sighed.

"I am sorry about that Mohania." Mohania nodded and looked at Herrior.

"Does the King really want to help with the undead death preparations?"

"That's what he told me directly." Herrior said. "And we will help to if you wish."

"I know you would." Mohania said.

Skyka helped the last undead with a cloak and wrapped it around in the middle. The cloak, just like all of the other cloaks, quickly fitted itself to their bodies. The undead looked themselves over and each other of them gave Skyka a smile and walked back to Mohania.

All seven of them stood around Mohania.

"Do they need anything else before we go?" Herrior asked.

"Vengeance…" Mohania said in his eerie voice. Herrior nodded with a smile.

"Let's head out!" Herrior shouted out. Crystal helped Lindel off from the ground. Crystal then ran back to Dan and they allowed several yards of distance between them and then group. Then they started walking slowly.

"Coming you two?" Skyka asked looking back at both of them.

"Yeah we're fine." Dan said. Dan and Crystal both went back to their conversation.

"Those two are definitely up to something…" Skyka whispered to Herrior. Herrior put his arm around Skyka and pulled her towards him. She put a hand on his chest and smiled up at him. Mohania carried the dead warlock.

They walked at a quickened pace for the rest of the day. The undead were strong enough to keep up on their own. They reached the tree line at dusk. It was all quiet.

"Herrior approaching! Don't shoot us!" Herrior called out.

"Hey Herrior! Uglow here, don't shoot us!" Another tauren called out laughing. "Do you need assistance?"

"We may need some time alone, if that is ok? We'll all sit in front of the wall." Herrior yelled out.

"Fine by me! Just wake us up when you are done. Oh, hey! Thank the warlocks for us. There was about, thirty I would say, that came out and blew off the alliance robot's arm after a couple of shadow spells. Then their imps, or whatever they are called, came out and started shooting fireballs at its face, temporarily blinding the driver. It seemed to really piss him off. They really helped us out!" Uglow said and announced to his group that it was break time.

Herrior turned to Mohania. He had a grin on his face. Herrior smirked back at him and turned around and kept walking.

"All of the goblins are dismissed to go back to Tranquil. Thank you for your assistance!" Herrior opened up the door for them, and they all ran through the door and into the portal.

"Let us form a circle again, Mohania your friends are welcome to join us." Herrior said. Mohania nodded and said some things in the undead language. The seven of them all sat down, and Herrior's group formed a circle with them in it. Mohania lit a fire in the middle of them. All of the undead stared at the fire with fascination.

"So, congratulations you two. You went on your first raiding mission." Herrior said looking at Dan and Crystal.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Dan said and stood up. Crystal followed him. She brushed her hands on her pants in anticipation. Herrior and Skyka expected them to do this, but just stared at them with a smile.

"Would you like to say something?" Herrior asked.

"Ok, Crystal and I came up with a plan that'll really piss off the alliance. The golems will be just the tip of the iceberg compared to this." Dan said. Herrior and Skyka looked at each other not knowing what an iceberg was, but looked back at them. They were obviously excited about what they had to say.

"Our plan involves Lindel and Mohania." Dan quickly said.

"Mohania, you can still cast disguises on people can't you?" Crystal butted in. Mohania looked up at Crystal and nodded. She had his attention now.

"Can you disguise yourself as an alliance, uh, person, farmer, peasant…whatever you call it out here?" Dan added.

"Peasant…" Mohania said in disgust.

"Ok good, do they have banshees or anything that would detect your illusion outside of the walls of the castle, or fortress or whatever you call it." Crystal said with excitement.

"No…only the inner chambers of the Kings quarters…" Mohania said slowly. Dan and Crystal became very excited. Lindel and Skyka smiled up at them anticipating what they would say next.

"Ok, can you disguise yourself and Lindel? Get in close to the alliance walls. And mind-control, or possess, or whatever it is you do Lindel?" Dan looked at her and nodded still smiling. Both of them looked at Mohania and then both of them began to talk at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Dan extended his hand forward.

"Mohania, could you cast the curse of doom at them at that point in time. Set it to go off within a day. Then have Lindel, tell the possessed person to go inside of the walls to their, err, training room, weapons locker, whatever it's called here." Lindel looked at them with a funny look.

"Where all of the soldiers sleep." Dan said quickly.

"Oh, Barracks." Lindel said.

"Ok, tell them to go to the barracks and just to sit there until the Doom Guard hatches." Crystal said.

"Mohania, how many times can you cast the spell before you become weakened?" Dan asked.

Mohania let out a snarl and thought about it for a second. "Probably twelve before I'm drained…"

"Perfect!" Dan said in an excited voice. "We'll have twelve Doom Guards waiting, and then the next day Mohania should be recharged, correct?" Mohania slowly shook his head.

"Then our group will advance upon them. Another question…Do you guys have a way of throwing rocks long distances? Like a trebuchet, catapult, or…"

"We have catapults." Herrior interrupted him. He was very curious where they were going with this.

"Ok, we'll bring the catapult that throws the farthest. We'll have Mohania energize, or cast the inferno spell, or whatever it is that you do, on some rocks…" Crystal started to say. Dan interrupted her and asked Mohania.

"How many times do you think you can cast the inferno spell?"

"Probably sixty before I'm exhausted, where are you going with this…" Mohania said impatiently.

"That'll work out great! We launch twenty rocks, three different times, all at different targets. The infernos will attack the city, and then the Doom Guards will hatch, or whatever they do. This will down the defenses of the city - before the golems attack. Will the inferno's and Doom guards attack each other?" Crystal turned to Mohania. He shook his head, "Demon's will not attack each other unless they are controlled."

"That's what we figured. So we'll have around eighty or so demons running around in the alliance fortress wrecking havoc on the town. It won't be enough to destroy them, but it will decrease their population. Also we figure demons look after each other like we do. When the alliance start destroying the demons, it'll piss off the other demons in the world and they'll come to attack them as well. All while the golems are knocking the piss out of the walls. They'll have to split their forces to counter both threats. It'll take a lot to attack both forces at the same time." Dan ended. Both Crystal and Dan looked around. Everybody was quiet. Eventually everybody looked at Herrior.

"Holy shit…" Herrior said softly. He looked at Lindel and asked if she could do what they were saying. She nodded. He looked at Mohania. He had a big smile on his face, so he didn't even ask him. Herrior looked back at Dan and Crystal. He rose to his feet and began applauding. The rest of the group did the same thing. Skyka, Lindel and Quinely all screamed in excitement and rushed them two.

"Uh oh…" Dan said, and he and Crystal were knocked to the ground. The women were kissing and hugging both of them. They all became intertwined with each other. Jacklyn eventually joined the pile as well. The entire group laughed and cheered Dan and Crystal's names. The new undead, who didn't know what was going on, began cheering as well. Trackolania didn't say anything, but he continued to clap his hands for them.

The celebration continued for several minutes, before Dan and Crystal began gasping heavily for air. The woman all got off from them, and pulled them up to their feet.

"Where…did you get those ideas?" Herrior asked with a big grin of satisfaction on his face.

"Mostly from what we learned from Mohania and observing the group. We just put all of the pieces together. It'll mostly depend on Mohania's power."

"Hundreds of alliance will die! Vengeance will be at hand!" Mohania shouted into the air. Mohania then turned around to his new undead family and spoke the same words in the undead tongue. They all cheered. Mohania pointed at Dan and Crystal. They all rushed them two.

"Uh oh…" Dan said again. All seven of them wrapped their boney arms around them. They were able to keep their feet on the ground this time though. The three women began kissing them two as well.

"What we need is some ale! We'll celebrate until we can't stand on our two feet!" Strings shouted out. Herrior smiled. "That's not a bad idea. So what do you think Dan and Crystal? Time for a celebration?

"Well timing is crucial to our plan. We figure we need Lindel and Mohania to go out tomorrow first thing. When they return, we'll have to wait six hours and then start moving the catapult out and into position. We have to time it right because the golems are on their way. We did the math and that's the closest we can cut it." Dan said. He looked around at everybody. "Is that ok, can we get a catapult that soon and carry out the attack?"

"If it were up to me…I would go out…this very night!" Mohania said in a very sinister voice.

They all started to laugh. Excitement and laughter filled the air.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Skyka asked.

"Like Dan said, we had to figure out the timing. The speed of Mohania's walking, the speed of the golems, and we figured the catapult moved at half the speed of Mohania. So we had to crunch some numbers. We double checked our work and we're pretty sure the timing will be accurate." Crystal said. "All three should hit about the same time, or within minutes of each other. Like we said, it won't destroy the alliance, but it'll sure piss them off. It'll probably stop the attacks on our wall for awhile…plus if additional demons come to the aid, it'll make it all the more sweeter."

"I'm sure glad we have you on our side…" Herrior said with a grin. The rest of the group let out a chuckle.

"Skyka and I need to relay this information to the King. Please everybody calm down."

"Are we dismissed?" Mohania asked. Herrior nodded his head and asked, "When do you want to make the funeral arrangements?" Mohania looked down at the leader. "I'll preserve his body; we'll have it after the attacks." Mohania then looked at Lindel and said, "Meet you out here first thing tomorrow." Lindel nodded.

Mohania picked up the fallen leader and lead everybody to the hole. The gate opened and all of the undead crawled in. The gate shut behind them.

Herrior got out his stone and rubbed it, Skyka did the same thing. This time, instead of an ambassador, they got the King himself. Both of them stuck their heads in the portal and looked to the floor.

The King and Queen stared at them in disbelief. Several moments passed.

"Did…Dan and Crystal…really come up with that plan?" The King asked.

"Yes." Herrior and Skyka answered at the same time. "Did you hear it?" Herrior asked.

"All of it. We're both in shock. Coming from a different world, they sure adapted quickly to ours." the King said with a chuckle. He continued. "I've already contacted the goblin ambassador and requested an army of goblins to move the catapult to the inside of the wall. I told them I want it to shoot as far as possible. I ordered one of my best wyvern riders to escort the catapult attack. He'll give you a better view from the air. As far as Lindel and Mohania's assignment tomorrow, there isn't much we can do but pray." Silence filled the air again.

"I believe Mohania and Lindel will be able to carry out their assignment." Herrior said.

"I do too, just as long as they concentrate on the task at hand. I don't see a problem though. Herrior find out what Mohania wants us to do for the funeral preparations after this siege." The King said.

The King and Queen both shook their heads in disbelief. Silence filled the room again.

"That's amazing…we all underestimated them…" the King said slowly. Both Herrior and Skyka nodded.

"Ok then. I hope our new undead people are comfortable. Keep the goblins outside the wall. I'll tell the fairies to take care of them. I'll also tell the groups defending the wall to defend them as well. Come home and rest. Tomorrow will be a big day. You are dismissed." Herrior and Skyka pulled their heads out of the portals and they immediately closed. They both looked at Dan and Crystal and smiled.

"The King and Queen are very proud of you. I am honored to have you as part of my group, both of you." Herrior said with a lot of pride in his voice. Skyka nodded, unsure what to say. She just simply smiled at both of them.

"Come. The King ordered us to rest. Let's go home. Leave the orcs on the outer wall." Herrior said to his group. Herrior shouted at the group guarding the wall. "Uglow! Wake up, we're leaving!"

"So soon?" Uglow said sitting up.

"Take care my friend, and make sure the orcs don't die." Herrior said waving at him.

Inside Tranquil, Crystal immediately pulled Dan to Brenna's house. "Let's go have our own celebration…" she said. Dan smiled and they vanished inside of the doorway.

Lindel grew her wings. Strings grabbed her shoulder and said, "Come on hun, let's go have a drink." Lindel smiled at him and said, "Hun, I need to get rested up. Tomorrow is a big day for me and I'll need all of the power I can get. Another time though, I promise." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll celebrate with ya." Jacklyn said in a hearty voice. Trackolania pulled on Herrior's shirt.

"Are you going to go disappear on us?" Trackolania shook his head and walked over to Strings.

"Hey hey, that's my man! Come on Herrior and Skyka! Tonight we celebrate!" Strings said with a hearty voice. Skyka started rubbing her finger around Herrior's horn. Herrior looked at her and smiled.

"Oh come on, celebration tonight! In honor of Dan and Crystal!" Strings shouted.

"I'll drink to them!" Quinely said and walked over to Strings.

"Speaking of…where did they run off to?" Skyka asked. Herrior shrugged his shoulders. Herrior reached down and picked up Skyka in his arms.

"Fine, I'll have a drink for the both of you." Strings said and chuckled at them.

Herrior lead Skyka over to Brenna's house and opened the door. They started up the staircase kissing each other. They reached the top of the stairs and turned to the right. They began undressing each other.

Dan and Crystal were on the opposite side of the room, both of them completely naked. They both froze when they saw Herrior and Skyka walking up the stairs and undressing each other. They slowly looked at each other in a frightened look, then they both slowly looked back at them.

Skyka put Herrior inside of her and she let out a loud scream as they began to mate. A moment passed when Skyka stopped and slowly looked to her left. She saw Dan and Crystal completely naked staring at them. Skyka let out a scream and quickly covered herself. Crystal screamed as well and covered herself. Dan and Crystal quickly got dressed.

"Guys I'm sorry, I didn't think you would come up here!" Crystal said with a red face. Skyka and Herrior both scrambled to get dressed as well. It was obvious that everybody was quite embarrassed.

Crystal and Skyka made eye contact. Crystal said, "We'll just be leaving now. I'm sorry guys." Dan and Crystal started moving towards the stairs when Herrior said, "Wait." Both of them froze.

"Come, sit with us." Herrior said.

"I don't think…well…it would be a little awkward I think…" Dan said.

Lindel burst through the ceiling and said, "It would be more awkward if I was here!"

"Lindel!" Everybody shouted. Lindel started laughing and disappeared back through the ceiling.

Herrior waved his hand at them, "Come, sit with us." Dan and Crystal looked at each other and slowly made their way to them and sat down.

"Please, this is a good time for us to talk." Herrior insisted.

Brenna came into the house and yelled up, "Is everything ok? I hear…voices."

"Brenna, could you bring us up some tea and biscuits?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly. Umm…how many?" she asked. Lindel's head popped back through the ceiling. Herrior let out a sigh.

"Five apparently…" Lindel giggled and flew down on the floor next to Herrior.

"So…umm…Skyka. How does it work, with you and Herrior? He's very…well…big, and you are only about my height." Crystal asked, unable to make eye contact with her.

Skyka's face turned red and said; "Well…umm…" she looked at Herrior who was looking back at her, wondering what she was going to say.

"It rips me every time. It only hurts for a little bit though. Afterwards I just simply heal myself." Skyka said really fast looking at the floor. Crystal nodded.

"Ok, so the same question back at you. You two obviously aren't mating, yet you were naked doing something. What do you two do?" Skyka asked looking at Crystal. Crystal's face immediately turned red and she looked at Dan.

"She asked you, not me." Dan said with a smile. Crystal just glared at him and said, "Thanks hun". Lindel leaned forward with anticipation. Crystal let out a sigh. She stood up and walked over to Skyka and began whispering into her ear. Several moments passed, and Dan buried his head in his hands. Skyka's eyes widened as she looked at Crystal. Crystal than walked back next to Dan and sat down.

"Oh my…" was all Skyka could say.

"What did she say?" Herrior asked. Lindel's full attention was on Skyka now.

"Well…umm…" Skyka said. She looked over at Crystal. Crystal let out a sigh.

"I will tell you later Herrior. It is intimate stuff that should only be shared, during intimate times…" Skyka said rather embarrassed. Crystal let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh come on!" Lindel said. Both Crystal and Skyka glared at her.

"Fine…" Lindel said crossing her arms.

Brenna slowly came up with the tea and biscuits. "Is everybody decent?" she asked before proceeding any further.

"Yes Brenna, we are fine. Come join us if you wish." Skyka said, thankful for the distraction.

"I would love too!" She said and hurried up the stairs. She quickly handed out the tea and a biscuit for everyone. She then sat on the opposite side of Lindel and smiled. She quickly scanned everybody, apparently very happy that all of them were in her house.

"So…tell me about your adventures!" Brenna piped up.

"You mean the one they just had…" Lindel said with a smirk. All four of them glared at her. Lindel started giggling again. Herrior briefly told her about Dan and Crystal's plan for attacking the alliance, and how it would start first thing tomorrow morning. He told her about the new undead members that joined Mohania's group, and the orcs that they found, also the golems heading towards the alliance town. Brenna listened with complete fascination.

She looked at Dan and Crystal and asked, "And this was all your ideas?" they both nodded.

"Does the King know?" Brenna almost squealed. They both nodded again.

Crystal then blurted out, "Herrior, we would like to watch Mohania and Lindel do their job. Is there any way of us doing that, without giving away what they will be doing?" Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and rubbed it. A portal opened and he spoke the question to an ambassador. He then pulled his head back out of the portal and the portal quickly shut.

"I just sent a message to the King. I, too, would like to observe them. Probably the same as the rest of our group." Herrior said with a smile on his face. Herrior finished his tea, and began munching on his biscuit.

"Brenna, we are all going to need blankets for tonight"

"Absolutely, excuse me while I go get them." Brenna said and quickly ran down the stairs.

Soon, Herrior's stone was vibrating. He held it up as the portal opened. He stuck his face in. He saw the same ambassador.

"The King said he cannot sense that far away."

"That is fine." Herrior said and pulled his head back out as the portal closed. Herrior told the group what the King had said. They all seemed disappointed.

Brenna came up with six blankets and asked if she could have the honor of sleeping in the same room with them. Herrior smiled and nodded. Brenna squealed again and thanked him.

"The food was wonderful Brenna, thank you." Crystal said with a smile. She started to yawn.

"I am so honored to be in your presence, all of you." Brenna started in. She went over to Crystal and laid her down on the floor. Crystal looked up at her and smiled. She then laid Dan down right beside her, and covered both of them up. Both of them were almost instantly asleep. Herrior smiled at them with pride.

"Come my love, we need our sleep as well." Skyka said as she knelt down on the ground. Herrior laid down behind her and put his arm around her. Brenna covered them up as well. Lindel reached out for her blanket as she laid down. Brenna laid down in the middle of them, but had a hard time sleeping due to all of the excitement.

The next day came, and Lindel was nowhere to be found.

"Come; let us go to the inner chambers. I sense it has already begun." Herrior said. He turned to Brenna and asked if they could leave their weapons at her house.

"Absolutely! I won't touch them! The goblins may have taken them to get repaired though. I'll track them down though." She said excitedly. The five of them thanked her and began walking towards the palace.

Meanwhile, outside of the gates the final instructions were being given to Lindel and Mohania.

"You are to go directly to the alliance fortress, execute your orders, and then come right back." Uglow said. His group was still on guard duty. The King had contacted him personally to give the final instructions. Mohania began summoning a spell and his green square portal appeared around him. He then casted a similar spell and a small green energy ball appeared in his hand. He put it inside of his cloak.

"Coming back…will be easy…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Right. If either one of you are captured, we will not be able to come after you. You are both to hand over your hearthstones." Uglow said. Mohania and Lindel both gave them their stone. Mohania then took out a soul shard and chanted some words. The shard turned itself into a small green beating heart. He set it back in his cloak.

"You are not to cast any type of shields or other spells that may attract attention to yourselves. You both know what's at stake here. Our druid has sensed no activity in the area. I wish you well." Uglow said and nodded at both of them. Mohania turned to his cave. The seven undead that they had rescued were watching from within the gates. Mohania pointed at them and spoke some words in the undead language. They all seemed to nod and backed up, allowing the gate to shut and the shield to go up as well. Mohania turned to Lindel.

"Ready hun?" Lindel asked. Mohania nodded. They both began the long walk ahead of them. Uglow and his group watched them disappear into the horizon.

"I wish you both the best…" he said.

The rest of Herrior's group met up with him on the way to the palace.

"Has it started yet?" Jacklyn asked.

"I believe it has, Lindel was gone this morning quite early." Herrior said.

"Strings…you look surprisingly…sober." Skyka said in a cheerful voice to him.

"I wanted to be able to be my best when we go meet the King." Strings said and then hiccupped. Skyka smiled at him.

They journeyed through the palace until they got to the inner gates. The rest of their group set their weapons aside, and the magic users were drained of their powers. They continued walking until they came to the square light. Herrior and Skyka were the first ones in and bowed down. The rest followed.

"Glad you could make it Herrior and Skyka. As always it is a pleasure to see both of you." The King paused for a second as two lights illuminated the ground just in front of the stairs.

"Dan and Crystal, if you would." the King said. They both rose to their feet and walked over to the round lights on the ground.

"I am very pleased with you two. Please, receive my blessing." The King said and suddenly a blast of light slammed down on both of them, pushing them to the ground. The two of them slowly rose to a sitting knee position again, trying to ignore the pain it caused.

"I feel as though I am in debt to you. You have helped bring our kingdom great wealth, and have developed a plan to raise havoc with our enemies. Name your desire and it will be fulfilled." the King said.

"It was an honor to serve you and fight beside Herrior. It was its own reward in itself." Dan answered. Crystal nodded her head in agreement.

The King grunted with satisfaction. "Dan step forward." He slowly rose to his feet and started walking up the stairs. He got half way up them when the King told him to stop. A shield instantly enveloped him. He bowed down to one knee.

"We can talk privately now, nobody else can hear us." The King said.

"We sense that you do in fact desire something. We wish to talk to you about it in private." the Queen said. Dan quickly started thinking of things that he would like and several seconds passed.

"Dan, stop." the King said.

"You wish to form a union with Crystal, don't you?" The Queen asked. Dan swallowed hard.

"Yes." Dan said quietly.

"Every union has to be approved by us. From there the high priest would perform the ceremony. Then a huge celebration would occur afterwards. This maybe different from what you are used to." the King said.

"What do I need to do?" Dan said quietly again.

"You need to be much older. I don't feel as though the bond between you has grown strong enough yet. Give it some time, you will know when the time is right." the King said.

Just then Crystal moaned in pain and fell over. The shield instantly disappeared, and Dan tried desperately to look at Crystal without moving his head. Both the King and the Queen lifted their hands and hundreds of tiny stars enveloped Crystal.

"Crystal, what is wrong my dear?" The Queen said.

"I have a pain in my stomach." she replied back.

"Crystal, we still do not sense anything wrong with you. Do you wish to go to your home world with Branzer to their medical clinics?" the King asked.

"No, I want to see the plans through." Crystal said struggling to get back into a kneeling position. Herrior and his group were struggling to see her with much concern, but not move their heads.

"Crystal. I admire your spirit. Even Mohania does…" the King said with a smile. "But I do not want you to die over something like this. Name your request, and we will fulfill it."

"My King, I wish to see these battles through. The pain is lessening now. I wish to fight beside Herrior when we launch the catapult…" Crystal started to say, but fainted to the ground.

"Skyka!" the King shouted. Skyka instantly jumped from her spot and ran over to Crystal. Skyka quickly looked over Crystal, sending beams of bright light into her body. Crystal did not move.

"My King, I do not know what is wrong…" Skyka said looking over her.

"Neither do we…but she needs help. I will not allow her to die!" The King's voice thundered through the palace. Skyka nodded at the King.

"Dan, Jacklyn, Quinely. Rise." the King said. They all quickly rose to their feet.

"I will contact Branzer. You are to take Crystal to their world. Protect her! Keep in constant contact with my ambassadors. If something happens to her, I will hold you all personally responsible!" the King said in an angry voice. A portal opened to Branzer's house. "You three are dismissed!" the King yelled.

Dan ran over to pick up Crystal. "Be careful hun." Skyka whispered in his ear. Dan nodded and quickly carried her over to the portal and ran through it. Jacklyn and Quinely entered the portal right behind him. All of them had left their weapons behind.

The King closed his eyes and sighed. He slouched back in his throne.

"Herrior, Skyka. Come forward." Herrior raced forward and knelt down in the round light. Skyka took a couple of steps forward and knelt down in the other circle. The King let out another sigh.

"You two know her better than I do. Tell me her chances of survival."

Herrior and Skyka quickly eyeballed each other.

"My King, she seemed worried about it for awhile. We asked her about it a couple of times. She said she was ok. We sensed that she was telling the truth." Herrior said.

"My King, Lindel and I both looked at her and found nothing wrong. I tell the truth when I say that I do not know her chances. She seemed fine last night." Skyka said.

"What happened last night?" the King asked. Skyka instantly made a picture of what happened in Brenna's house in her mind.

"That's enough Skyka. Thank you for the information." the Queen said quickly cutting off her thought.

The King let out another sigh. The Queen reached over and grabbed his hand. Silence filled the throne room.

"We already have one funeral to attend to. We're sending off two members of your group who will be killed instantly if they are found out. And now this happens." The King looked up at them.

"This is out of our hands. Go to the high priest and speak with him. Tell him we need prayer. Herrior, Skyka - if you hear anything at all about her, you are to contact me straight away! You are all dismissed." the King said and made a shooing motion with his hand. The rest of Herrior's group quickly spun around and exited his throng room. They picked up their weapons and went directly to the church. Herrior told the situation to the high priest and all of them knelt down in prayer.

"Branzer! Branzer!" Dan was shouting. He ran up to the door and began kicking it. No answer.

"Stand back, I'll knock it down." Jacklyn said. She stepped back a couple of feet when the door came flying open. Branzer stared at them.

"Crystal fainted in front of the King and Queen. They tried to heal her, but couldn't. We need to go to the hospital!" Dan said quickly.

"Bring her around to the garage, I'll meet you there!" Branzer pointed to the right and quickly shut the door. He grabbed his gun, cell phone, hearthstone, and keys. He ran into the garage and opened up the door. He jumped in the car and started it up. The door finished rising up, and the group jumped into the car, Jacklyn in the front slouching down as much as she could so she could fit. Branzer heard all of the doors slam shut, and he slammed on the accelerator. He dialed up Bernett. After three rings he picked up.

"Hello?"

"This is Branzer. Crystal fainted and was brought to our world. I'm taking her to Saint Mary's on Main Street. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.

"I'll bring the wife and meet you there!" Bernett said and hung up.

After speeding dangerously fast down the road, they made it to the hospital. Branzer parked the car and all of them flew open their doors. Dan had trouble carrying Crystal, so Jacklyn took her. They all ran to the front doors. Branzer was the first one in.

"I am officer Branzer!" he said as he showed the attendant his badge. "This is Officer Candy she fainted, and she needs help immediately!"

"Bring her this way." the attendant said and led them through a couple of doors to an observation room.

"Lay her on the bed, I'll go get a doctor." the lady said as she left the room.

Ten minutes passed as Jacklyn paced the floor angrily.

"Does it normally take this long!" she shouted. Just then a doctor walked into the room. Jacklyn immediately spun around and picked him up. She lifted him two feet off the ground.

"Who are you?" She shouted.

"I'm…Doctor Withers…" he said in a surprise.

"Jacklyn! Set him down." Dan said firmly. She released him.

"You heal her, or I will hunt you down and…"

"Jacklyn!" Dan said getting off his chair. Jacklyn folded her arms and looked away.

"Sorry I was late." The doctor said looking at everybody nervously.

Branzer stood up and shook his hand. "I'm sorry, my friends are on edge. She means a lot to us." Branzer said as he looked at Crystal.

"It's ok, what are her symptoms?" the doctor said quickly hooking her up to several monitors.

"She's two months late with her period…" Branzer said looking at Dan.

"Almost three now." Dan replied back.

"She was talking, and felt some pain in her stomach. Then she fainted." Dan explained.

"Has she done a pregnancy test?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, she is not pregnant." Dan asked back. The doctor took her blood pressure, hooked her up to oxygen and several electrical devices, and then finally took her pulse.

"I'm going to order some blood work, and an ultrasound. She doesn't seem to be in any pain right now. Who is going to stay with her?" the doctor asked. The entire group glared at him and began walking forward.

"I can't have…all of you in here…its policy." The doctor said timidly. Jacklyn let out a low growl from behind him. He could sense her mighty hands reaching out towards him.

"I'll stay!" Bernett's wife said. Both of her and Bernett entered the room. "These are female problems, the rest of you go wait in the waiting room." The group eyed each other and then stared back at the doctor.

"Go on, I'll take care of her. I'll let you know if anything happens. You all don't need to be seeing her like this. I was briefed about the situation and this is a private woman matter." Bernett's wife said. "Now shoo, leave the room!" she pushed everybody out of the room.

"She has some friends that really care about her…" Doctor Withers said fixing his coat and shirt.

"Yes, she does."

"I need her out of her clothes and into this robe." he said handing her a hospital gown. "A nurse will be in shortly to draw her blood. Afterwards we'll do the ultrasound."

"Any idea what's wrong so far?" Bernett's wife asked. He shook his head.

"My first idea is that she's pregnant and her body went into shock from over doing herself, could be low on a certain vitamin, could even be dehydrated." the doctor said.

"I was told she wasn't pregnant."

"We're going to run the test anyways, along with a complete blood count, and a tox screen. We'll also check her sugar and vitamin levels as well." the doctor said and excused himself. Bernett's wife started undressing Crystal.

A nurse walked in and said, "Hi, my name is Angela and I will be her nurse for today. I hear she's pretty special and has a lot of friends here today. Here let me help you."

"I'm Samatha." Bernett's wife said. "Thanks for your help." They both got Crystal into her hospital gown and laid her back down.

"I'm going to draw some blood from her, and take it to the lab in about twenty minutes." Angela stuck a needle in her left arm and drew four vials of blood and then bandaged her up. Neither one of them saw the fly on the wall that had flown in with Angela. It flew out as Angela left with the cart containing Crystal's blood. Quinely flew over to Dan's ear.

"They stabbed her with a needle and sucked blood out of her!" Quinely whispered

"It's ok, what else is happening?"

"The doctor doesn't think it is anything serious, they are going to do an ultrasound thing?" Dan nodded his head. Quinely then flew off and waited above the door for it to open again.

"What did she say?" Jacklyn asked.

"They are running some tests on her blood. They are going to take her to a machine that will let them take a look at her stomach." Dan said.

"Ultrasound?" Branzer asked. Dan nodded.

Bernett stood up and walked over to Dan. "Dan, is there a chance she could be pregnant?"

Jacklyn immediately stood up and glared down at him. "He said there wasn't. Are you calling him a liar…?"

"No, we haven't been having sex. Over in the other world we really don't have a lot of private time. Besides, it is against their rules. And Herrior would be pissed if we broke their rules." Dan said.

Bernett looked at Branzer recalling their memories of Herrior.

"Yeah…he would be…" Bernett said quietly and sat back down. They sat and waited not saying a word to each other.

Meanwhile, Lindel and Mohania were just about at the Alliance fortress.

"Time for our disguises hun" Lindel said. Mohania chanted some words and instantly they were transformed into humans.

"Ugh, this makes my butt look big…" Lindel said looking behind her.

"The illusion will last for ten minutes, and then I'll need to recast it." Mohania said softly.

"Just let me know hun."

They walked another hundred yards and began seeing people moving back and forth.

"How long will it take to plant the seed?" Lindel asked quietly.

"It's virtually instant. How long will it take to control their mind?"

"I'll need about three seconds, maybe longer depending on their will power. I'll do it as fast as I can though. I want to be done as fast as we can, this place creeps me out. A lot of bad memories…" Lindel answered. Mohania nodded.

"Are your shields and aura down?" Lindel asked.

"Yes…are yours?" Mohania replied back. Lindel nodded. Another hundred yards and Lindel pointed at a farmhouse the farthest out from the fortress wall. Mohania nodded and they began walking in that direction.

"Vengeance…" Mohania whispered with a smile on his face.

"Control your emotions hun. Let's focus on the job at hand." Lindel said grabbing his human hand. Mohania looked down at his hand that Lindel was holding and the up at her face.

"Let's look casual and relaxed. Pretend that we are married." Lindel said with a smile. Mohania glared at her with no emotion and then looked back at the farm house.

They walked up to the farm house and a man was outside working up the dirt with a shovel.

"Well hi strangers!" the man said.

Lindel smiled him and said, "We lost our dog, I think he went behind your house."

"Oh? Well let me come help." The man set down his shovel and walked with them. When they were out of view from the castle, Lindel instantly flew into his eyes. The man stared ahead, seeming to be completely out of his mind. Mohania slammed his hand into the man's stomach and recited a quick spell. Instantly a blast of darkness flew from his hand and into his stomach. Lindel flew back out of the man's eyes.

"I sensed that! That was a powerful spell!" Lindel said in shock. The man started walking away towards the wall. Mohania let out a smile of satisfaction.

"Well, one down. Ready for some more?" Lindel asked. Mohania nodded. She could see the fire building in his eyes.

"Mohania, calm down. Conserve your power. We need to infect as many as we can remember." Lindel said softly. Mohania let out a sigh and the fire went away.

"Feels good though, doesn't it?" Lindel said in her ghostly voice.

"Yes…" Mohania said.

Lindel walked around to the man's front door and knocked on it. A woman answered. She had a child that looked about twelve years old.

"Please, we are famished. May we come in for a brief moment?" Lindel said in a very tired voice. The woman opened the door, Mohania shut it behind him. Lindel instantly split herself into two and possessed both of them. This time it took a couple of seconds for the humans to have the glazed over look. Mohania slammed his hand into the kid first and chanted the words. Then he did the same to the woman. They both walked out of the house and proceeded to follow their husband inside of the gates. Lindel then flew out of them.

"Where are you sending them too…" Mohania asked.

"I figured we would put six of them in the barracks, and then as many as we can sitting outside of the castle. I'm setting their minds to go dormant, they'll respond when spoken too. But their basic motor functions will shut down so they don't roam around freely." Lindel responded. She opened the door and saw three more humans to the right of the house.

"Help! Please! There is a child in here that just fainted!" Lindel called out. The three humans immediately stopped talking and began running towards the house. Lindel left the door open and walked backwards a little.

The humans walked in, and Lindel instantly started channeling herself into their eyes. It took longer to possess all three of them, but again the glazed look came over them. Then Mohania did his thing, and the humans walked away slowly as Lindel flew back out of their minds.

"Six down kiddo, how are you holding up?" Lindel asked.

"Doing ok, how about yourself?" Mohania said looking at her.

"I probably shouldn't do three at a time anymore…" Lindel said. She caught her breath and said, "Should we redo our illusions?"

Mohania casted the spell and their illusions were renewed.

"Thanks. On a side note, the last male human was cheating on his wife." Lindel said in disgust.

"Not…anymore…" Mohania said in his eerie voice and smiled.

Lindel smiled. "Humans…let's go hun."

Lindel opened the door and a knight on a horse greeted them.

"Was there a problem here?" he asked. Mohania wanted to hiss at him, but restrained himself.

"Hi hun, no problem here…" Lindel said winking at him. The knight dismounted and entered the house. Lindel shut the door behind him.

"Where are the…ah!" the knight started to scream as Lindel flew into his eyes. Lindel quickly made him shut up. Mohania slammed his arm into the knight's stomach. It took several attempts, but he finally got the seed planted.

"What's going on in there?" A voice shouted. The knight's head turned to look at Mohania. "Let me handle this, if things get bad I may need your help." Mohania nodded as fire started to burn in his eyes.

Lindel made the knight stick his head out of the door. She saw a dwarf, a couple of gnomes, and some humans coming their way.

"Nothing! I just barged in on a couple of peasants being intimate with each other." Lindel made the knight say in his voice. The knight quickly walked outside and slammed the door behind him. He mounted up his horse.

"We're you getting a piece of the action?" a gnome asked with a big smile on his voice.

"I got what I am entitled to." the knight said as he smiled. "I'm going to go get some rest now." Lindel started riding the horse towards the castle walls. She looked back and saw the small army following him. She stopped the horse, and changed directions.

"I need to go relieve myself; I'll be right behind you guys." The army simply ignored him and kept walking. Lindel rode the horse into the woods. She dismounted and quickly ran back to the house. She opened the door and saw Mohania meditating on the floor.

"I…could have killed…all of them…" Mohania said in a frustrated voice.

"That's not our mission hun, come on." Lindel reminded him. "I'm going to have to bathe for days to get this alliance filth off from me…but we got a knight!" Mohania smiled.

The two of them walked hand in hand out of the house. A scout flew over them, but never stopped. Suddenly the large draw bridge opened and a huge army came marching out. Lindel quickly pushed Mohania out of sight and behind a house. Lindel carefully listened to the marching. It sounded like they were heading north. She counted about five hundred soldiers, and then the draw bridge slammed shut. She let out a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Mohania. He was motionless.

"I…could have…" Mohania started to say, but was interrupted by Lindel.

"Yes yes…ok let's do our job and get out of here."

"Hi! My name is Timmy! Have you seen my ball?" Lindel jumped as she turned around. Lindel quickly flew into the child's eyes, easily possessing him. Mohania planted a seed in his stomach, and Lindel quickly exited. The child quickly turned around and started walking towards the fortress. Mohania was starting to show signs of weakness.

"Just a couple more hun, then we are out of here." Lindel said.

"I'm fine…" Mohania said harshly.

They walked up to another smaller house. This one was right up against the alliance's wall. It had a well, and a small garden in the back. Mohania pulled on her arm. Lindel turned around and looked at him.

"I sense demons, fifty of them. To the north."

"Can they sense you?" Lindel asked.

"No."

"That would explain the army then." Lindel said and proceeded to continue their mission. She knocked on the door.

"Go away!" the voice said. The male voice sounded old.

"I have some freshly baked bread for you." Lindel said in a sweet voice.

"You heard me, go away!" the voice yelled out. Lindel looked back at Mohania. She then looked around and pointed at the door knob. Mohania reached forward and burned it off. The door swung open. Lindel peeked inside and saw an old man rocking in a chair staring at the fire, facing away from them. Lindel let go of Mohania's hand and crept inside.

"Hi." Lindel said. The old man quickly turned around. Lindel instantly flew into the man's eyes. He started squirmed all over the place, eventually having seizures on the floor. Lindel finally made the man stand up. Mohania slammed his hand into the man's stomach and casted his spell. Lindel quickly exited the man's eyes. The man slowly started walking towards the door and out to the fortress.

"His life is about to expire. I almost killed him possessing him. They'll probably take him to the clinic." Lindel said and then continued. "He'll probably kill everybody in there." Mohania let out a smile.

Both of them peaked out of the house and looked around. Another scout flew over them. Lindel grabbed Mohania's hand and motioned for them to go in the woods.

As they were walking they could hear wood being chopped. Lindel pointed in the direction and Mohania nodded. They walked deep into the woods. They saw several blue circles spinning around on certain trees. The two looked at each other and shrugged.

Lindel lead Mohania to an older gentleman with a double-bladed axe.

"You look tired sir, would you like some water?" Lindel asked.

The woodcutter set his axe down and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Would I ever." the man said reaching his hand out in the direction of Lindel. Lindel looked down at his hand.

"Look at me you idiot!" Lindel thought. The man motioned for the water; he still did not look up. Lindel sighed closing her eyes and moved her body forward so that her right breast went into the man's hand.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry!" He quickly spun around. Lindel shoved herself into his body with such extreme force that it knocked him to the ground. Mohania walked over to him and knelt down, slamming his hand into his body. Mohania then stood up. Lindel made the man stand up, pull his pants down and put his penis against a tree. Then the man picked up the axe with the other hand and swung the axe back over his head.

"Lindel!" Mohania said firmly. The man quickly turned his head to look at him. He dropped his axe and pulled his pants back up. Lindel exited the man and stared at Mohania. The man began walking away.

"He touched me!" Lindel said quietly but firmly.

"The…mission…" Mohania said back to her. Lindel let out an eerie growl and walked away. Mohania smiled and followed her.

They walked in silence for awhile, until they heard a lady crying. Lindel turned around at Mohania and he nodded his head. Slowly they followed the sound. The woods opened up to a small lake. The woman was dressed in a fancy white dress and was sobbing uncontrollably. The two of them approached her.

Lindel looked all around first. Even in the sky. After she was convinced that nobody was looking, she asked, "What's the matter hun?"

"My husband! He's dead! He died from the pox this morning…" She sobbed as she turned to look at Lindel. Lindel shot herself forward into her eyes. She quickly made the woman stand up, while Mohania did his spell. Lindel then came back out. The woman began to walk away.

"These people still have diseases…" Lindel said looking at the lake. She wanted to go wash herself off badly.

"I…gave her…a disease…" Mohania grinned. Lindel looked back at him. "You did good hun. How much power do you have left?" Mohania let out a quiet sigh.

"Ok hun, let's start looking again and speed this up." Lindel said. Both of them started scanning the area. A scout suddenly flew down and landed next to them. A gnome jumped off from the giant gryphon.

"Ma'am. Sir." The little guard said. Lindel and Mohania both nodded at him startled. The gnome put his hand in the water.

"Would you mind if I go swimming? I don't want to offend you though."

"It's fine hun. I've seen plenty of naked gnomes." Lindel said quickly and winked her eye at him. He smiled back and stripped naked. He dove into the water and swam out to the middle of the lake.

"You want this one all to yourself hun?" Lindel asked.

"Yesss…" Mohania said with a burst of excitement in his voice.

"Make it quiet!" Lindel demanded.

"I'll…try…" Mohania answered with a sinister tone to his voice. Lindel turned around and started petting the gryphon. Mohania walked into the water when the gnome wasn't looking and instantly sank to the bottom.

"Lovely creatures aren't they?" the gnome said.

"Yes they are, beautiful day isn't it?" Lindel said petting it. "I would fry you up for dinner if I had my chance!" Lindel thought with fierce anger.

"Not as beautiful as you are Ma'am." The gnome said and started swimming towards her.

Lindel pretended to blush and smiled at the gnome. "Why, thank you kind sir. What is your name?"

"Buff…" the gnome said and was instantly pulled under water. Lindel could sense the fear in the gnome. It grew with every passing second. Lindel let out a smile.

A blast of black light came from the water. Lindel looked around and saw nobody around. Mohania pulled the gnome to shore. The gnome was on the brink of drowning and was gasping for air.. Mohania forced his head up, and Lindel entered his eyes. His eyes glazed over, and back out she came. The gnome started walking away. Lindel ran up to the gnome and kicked him in the butt as hard as she could. He went tumbling forward a couple of yards, stood back up and kept walking.

"I hate gnomes…" Lindel said walking back to Mohania. She flung her hair over her should and said, "Shall we my husband?" extending her arm towards him. Mohania put his arm around hers and they started walking away. Mohania extended his other hand backwards and blasted the gryphon with a fire spell. The blast frightened the gryphon and it flew away.

The two of them walked away from the lake and towards the woods again. They couldn't hear anything else. They walked the entire length of the outer wall, it took about an hour. They both peaked around the corner and saw a house right in front of them. It sounded like two humans were mating inside. They were quite loud.

"Oh sick…do we have to do this one…" Lindel said quietly shaking her hands in disgust. Mohania glared at her.

"Ugh! You owe me one for this!" Lindel growled in an evil tone at Mohania. Mohania smiled at her. The door to the house was pointing off to the right. Lindel pointed at the door knob, and Mohania blasted it off. It fell to the ground making a "clunk" noise. They both stood there a listened. The humans continued to mate. Lindel looked around, nobody was looking. Lindel turned back around and glared at him.

"I'm going to take off my clothes, don't look at me!" Lindel said quickly undressing her human outfit. She gave her clothes to Mohania who was staring at her. Lindel let off a ghostly sigh, and then quickly snuck into the house.

"Hi guys…" Lindel said in a very sexy voice. She leaned up against the wall, showing off her body.

"Hi!" the man said excitedly. He was on top. The woman covered herself and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm heard you guys, and I wanted to see if I could…help?" Lindel said strutting across the room. "I can leave if you want…" Lindel said in a very sexy voice. The man and the woman looked at each other and started whispering back and forth. It was obvious the man was very excited, but the woman was more apprehensive. Finally she sighed, and they both looked at Lindel about ready to say something. Lindel was close enough now to possess them and split herself in two, entering both of their minds. The woman let out a small scream and then went silent. Within seconds, they both had the glazed look over their faces. Lindel ordered them to get dressed so they both did.

"Mohania." the woman called out. Mohania walked into the house and slammed both of his hands into the man and the woman. Almost instantly, the seeds were planted.

"Turn around please." the woman said. Mohania set the clothes on the floor and moved over to the door. Lindel quickly exited both of them and started to get dressed. Then Lindel quickly spun around and punched the man in the head. The man's head turned slightly as both of them walked to the doorway. Mohania opened the door and waved at them.

"That's what you get for forming a union with more than one woman!" Lindel said. She turned to Mohania and said, "Do you want to know what the man wanted to do to me!" Lindel's body began to shake. She started spitting as if to get rid of the man's taste.

"Filthy, disgusting, disease-ridden…" Lindel began to say. Mohania quickly spun around and put a finger to his mouth. A woman outside was cursing at the man and hitting him. He just simply kept walking forward. Lindel ran over to see what Mohania was seeing.

"We need to shut her up before she makes a scene." Lindel said and ran out of the house.

"What's going on ma'am?" Lindel said running up to her.

"Was this man, just having sex with this woman? This is my husband!" the woman yelled. Lindel quickly looked around. People started looking at her as she continued to beat her husband.

"There was another woman, I heard her in that house right there…" Lindel said pointing to the house she just came out of.

"I wouldn't doubt it. When I get a hold of her, I will break her legs!" The woman ran over to the house. Mohania heard her running and opened the door for her.

"Did that door just open by…oof!" Lindel pushed the woman inside the house. She tackled her on the ground and turned her over. The woman looked at Lindel with a surprised look. Quickly, she flew into the woman's eyes. The woman stood up and said, "I'm ready for my present." in her own voice. Lindel flew out of her eyes as Mohania slammed his hand into her stomach.

"Nice touch eh?" Lindel said as the woman started walking out of the house. Mohania let out a chuckle. Mohania than dropped to his knees.

"Out of power huh, ok let's get out of here." Lindel heard voices coming towards the house. Mohania shook his head. He pulled out the green beating heart and consumed it. He was suddenly energized and started shaking his arms.

"I have the power for about four more…" Mohania said in a far away voice.

"What's going on in there? Is everything ok?" Lindel could hear several voices.

"Yup, we'll be done soon."

"We've seen some weird things happening in here, can we come in?" Lindel saw a man's shadow outside approaching them. She pulled Mohania's arm straight out. She flung her right leg over it and pulled her dress down past her breasts and started kissing Mohania. She started rubbing her hands all over his hair. Mohania didn't do anything. The man peeked in and saw the two.

"Oh, sorry guys." the man said. Lindel turned around and screamed.

"You pervert! Leave us alone!"

The man shut the door behind him and explained to the crowd what was going on. The crowd started walking away. Two soldiers moved through the crowd with their swords drawn. The man explained what was going on. The soldier kicked him out of the way. "Get away from this house! Go about your business! Justice will be done here!" They stormed into the house.

"What's going on in here?" Lindel was still kissing Mohania with her leg up on her arm and her dress pulled down.

"You two, get on the floor!" the soldier commanded. Lindel looked in Mohania's eyes and whispered something very quietly to him. Mohania nodded. They both dropped to the ground and put their hands behind them. A soldier came over and kicked Mohania out of the way.

"Are you a whore? What are you doing to these men?" the other soldier braced the door shut with his sword. He began to take off his armaments, as well as the other soldier.

"You are going to show us what you have been doing! And if your man interferes, I'll kill him!" The soldier who kicked Mohania said. Mohania's eyes burned with fire. The men began repeatedly kicking Lindel who was still face down. They started tearing at her clothes, until it was just shreds of it covering her. Each soldier sat down beside her and rolled her over; they were only wearing their undergarments now. Tears were coming out of Lindel's eyes from the pain.

"What is your name, you whore!" one of the soldiers demanded. Lindel whispered something. Both soldiers got closer and demanded that she speak up. Lindel opened her eyes and quickly shoved both of her hands inside of the soldier's eyes. It was so quickly that they couldn't react. Lindel entered into both of them and instantly they flew up to the ceiling. Lindel instantly tore out their tongues and they flopped to the ground. Lindel then started sending enormous spikes of pain throughout their bodies. Mohania stood below them and tried catching the blood that was coming out of their mouths. Both soldiers were fully aware of what was going on, she had not touched their mind yet. She then forced both of their testicles to expand so much that they exploded inside of their pants, dripping blood and fluids. Both of them tried to scream but couldn't. She then went to every rib in their body, slowly snapping it in half. Their eyes became very blood-shot. Mohania was laughing the entire time.

Both soldiers slowly floated back down and hovered mid-way in the air. Mohania shoved his hands into both of their stomachs and casted his spell. The soldiers could feel something inside of them, slowly moving around. This scared them even more. They tried to move their hands, but couldn't. Tears were flowing very heavily down from the soldier's eyes. Suddenly both of them had the glazed over look.

"We need to go to the clinic. We were trying to have sex with each other and hurt ourselves badly." They both said at the same time. Lindel tipped them up and set them on their feet. They both repeated the same line. Lindel exited their body, her clothes still all torn to shreds. Mohania walked over and removed the sword. He opened the door for them and waved at them. He could hear them repeating the same line over and over.

"Mohania…" Lindel said in pain. Mohania closed the door and walked over to her.

"I can't keep this up much longer. My power is draining…I am in pain! But I don't want to heal myself. I want to save my power to possess some more alliance!" Mohania pulled her dress up and covered her as best as he could. She was breathing very deeply. Mohania pulled some blankets off from the bed and covered her with those.

"Thank you hun." Lindel said looking up at him. Mohania looked away and walked over to the window.

"Ma'am? Sir?" Is everything ok? Can I come in? I know medicine, I can help." a man said from outside.

Mohania quickly looked at Lindel. Lindel shook her head.

"Do you need clothes or food?" the same man called out. Lindel sighed and nodded at Mohania. He opened up the door and pointed at Lindel.

"Hi, my name is Trent." he was a dwarf. "I am not going to hurt you." He slowly approached Lindel.

"The guards think that they can get away with anything. I can only imagine what happened to you two. I will help as much as I can." Trent said. Lindel waved him over.

"Do you want to help?" Lindel asked.

"Yes, what is it that you need?"

"Hold still." Lindel said as she possessed his body. The dwarf stood up and turned around. Mohania ran over and shoved his hand into his stomach. Lindel flew out of the dwarf.

"You can help by turning into a Doom Guard for us." Lindel said and sat back down. The dwarf turned around and walked back out the door with a glazed look over his face.

Lindel sighed. "Mohania, can you recharge me?" Mohania shook his head. "I am getting weak again myself."

"How many is that? I lost count…" Lindel said. Mohania shrugged his shoulders.

"I can only do one more…" Lindel said. She began crying in pain. Mohania nodded.

Mohania walked over to the door. Nobody was looking at the house. He conjured up an illusion of a dog. He then let it running outside. Mohania stared at it from outside. A woman saw it, and it began barking at her. It then rubbed up against her and began panting at her.

"Aww, what a cute little puppy!" the lady said. Mohania then commanded the dog to come back in the door. The woman followed it. The dog ran inside of the house. The woman followed it in. Mohania quickly vanished the dog and shut the door.

"What happened to the dog?" The woman asked. Mohania grabbed her by the neck and threw her over towards Lindel. Lindel quickly flew into her eyes as she landed on the bed. The woman started talking and moving her body around. She then started recalling old memories and speaking them out loud.

"Lindel?" Mohania asked standing over her.

"No, my name is Gertrude. Who are you?" Gertrude said, not alarmed at all. Her body began to shake. She held her hands up to her head.

"I feel you in my head. Who are you?" Gertrude said. "Are you an angel?" Mohania had a bad feeling about this. He went over to the door and braced it as good as he could. He walked back over to the bed.

"This is the last one Lindel. Concentrate. Give her the message and get out of there." Mohania said.

"What message?" Gertrude asked. Her head began violently shaking back and forth. Eventually she got the glazed look over her eyes.

"Get out of her Lindel. Your job is done." Mohania said with a grin. Mohania slammed his hand into her and planted the seed.

Lindel slowly poured out of her eyes and landed on the floor. It looked like a purplish goo.

"You are doing good Lindel, you are almost out."

All of the goo landed on the floor. It slowly formed Lindel's banish form. Alarms suddenly went off, they had been discovered. Mohania took out the circle ball and slammed it on the floor. It instantly formed his green portal. He picked up Lindel and entered it. The woman slowly rose to her feet and began walking towards the entrance of the inner walls.

Mohania and Lindel suddenly appeared right outside the wall. The green portals instantly vanished.

"I am weak, and Lindel is completely drained and beat up pretty bad. Tell the King the mission was a success. We possessed more people that what we originally anticipated. I'm going to take Lindel in the cave with me to heal up. She cannot turn into her human form yet. She will be safe with me. Tell Herrior and his group that the mission was a success. I'll try to have her recharged within six hours. Yell in our cave when it is time to attack with the catapult." Mohania said and ran into the cave, quickly produced a black aura around himself, with Lindel in his arms. It slowly started to recover his power.

Uglow quickly rubbed his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador and relayed the information.

"Thank you; I will inform Herrior and the King." the portal than vanished.

The goblins had collected sixty rocks and were ready for the assault. There were fifty of them waiting by the catapult to operator it. Herrior and his group were summoned by the King's ambassadors to the front gate. Herrior was instructed to wait there and protect the goblins and their catapult until the hour was right. The wyvern rider soon appeared and introduced himself as Thaddeus. He was a brown tauren holding a magical glowing spear in his right hand.

"This was quite the mission you guys dreamed up." he said. Herrior smiled back at him walking towards him. The embraced each other for a couple of seconds.

"It's good to have you with us Thaddeus." Herrior said.

"The goblin engineers gave me this." Thaddeus held out his hand to show Herrior a device. It was a long silver tube with an orange gem on one end, and a green one at the other end.

"What is it?" Herrior took it looking it over.

"You look through the green gem and it grants you vision to faraway places. I will also be your early warning detection as well as guiding the catapult." Thaddeus said and took back the device.

"I appreciate it. Our druid is on another mission right now, all we can detect is demons through Mohania." Herrior said.

"Where is this Dan and Crystal? It would be an honor to shake their hands." Thaddeus said.

"Crystal fainted in front of the King." Herrior sighed. "She's hurt badly; I know she would give her right arm to be here right now. So would Dan, but he has to be with the one he loves."

Thaddeus looked surprised. "The King wasn't able to heal her?"

"No. Nobody knows what is wrong with her." Herrior said in a solemnly voice and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry my brother, I'll tell my family to pray for her. Tell me when we are ready." Thaddeus said and put his arm on Herrior's shoulder. Herrior nodded as he walked away.

Herrior walked back over to his group. A large portal opened next to them and it showed the throne room with the King and Queen staring at them. Immediately they all bowed to one knee.

"I have received word that Mohania and Lindel's mission was a success." the King began to say. "I would thank Mohania personally, but he is not answering his hearthstone…" the King said with a sense of annoyance in his voice.

"Anyways, Lindel apparently was hurt badly during the mission. Her power is completely drained and she has to remain in banshee form. Mohania and his undead said they are helping her right now. I cannot sense her, or I would tell you more."

"How was she hurt, my King?" Herrior said.

"Mohania did not say. If you get a chance tell them both that I am proud of them. Dan and Crystal's second phase will begin in five hours. Is your group assembled?"

"Quinely, Jacklyn, and Dan are still with Crystal on their world." Herrior said.

"I do not think that Crystal would want to miss this, do you think the same Herrior?" The King asked.

"I agree my King."

"Any word from them?" the King asked.

"I will contact them immediately. Do you want me to recall them back?" Herrior asked. He could hear the King sigh and a brief pause while he thought.

"Yes, bring all of them back. Use force if you have to. I'll send out another Chronomancer to your location to help summon them. Keep me informed." the King said and the portal closed. Herrior quickly pulled out his hearthstone and thought of Dan.

Dan's leg instantly began vibrating and giving off a purple light in the hospital waiting room. Everybody looked at him.

"Let's go outside." Jacklyn said and everybody began walking towards the door. They walked around to a secluded spot off to the side of the hospital. Dan pulled out his hearthstone. Herrior's face popped out of the portal that it formed.

"How is Crystal doing?" he asked.

"We're still waiting to hear…" Dan said and sighed.

"We are scheduled to launch the second part of the plan in five hours. I've been instructed by the King to recall all of you, including Crystal. He authorized the use of force if necessary. Crystal would not want to miss this."

"I agree with you Herrior. We spent a lot of time forming this plan. How did Lindel and Mohania do?" Dan asked.

Herrior let out a sigh. "The good news is they were able to possess more people than what you anticipated. Lindel apparently took a beating and is completely drained. She doesn't even have enough power to take on a human form. She's with Mohania right now in their cave…"

Dan closed his eyes and felt quilt. "Herrior I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. She'll recover. They did their job. They both would have given their lives to kill some alliance. I'm sure she'll share the details with us when she recovers. They both made it back though, that's the important part. In the mean time, see what's going on with Crystal and signal us when you are ready to come back." Herrior said and closed the portal.

They all walked back in and walked past the secretary.

"You can't go in there!" she said standing up. All of them ignored her. Dan tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Jacklyn." Dan said. She quickly kicked the door open, and they all swarmed inside.

Doctor Withers had Crystal's legs spread open with a metal device in her vagina. It was dripping a lot of blood into a dish. She also had an IV in her. Samatha jumped from her chair and the doctor quickly turned around in his chair.

Jacklyn lunged for the doctor. He flinched and quickly started backing up. Dan came in-between them.

"What are you doing touching Crystal's intimate parts? You have no right!" Jacklyn yelled at the doctor.

"I was examining her." the doctor said defensively.

"Branzer, Bernett…help!" Dan said trying to hold back Jacklyn. They both grabbed an arm and pulled her back.

"Jacklyn, it's ok. Alright? They know what they are doing. Trust me, ok?" Dan said looking at her.

"He has no right to do that!" Jacklyn yelled.

"Jacklyn…please…" Dan said in a calm voice. Jacklyn pulled her arms free and walked over to the window, clearly still upset. Bernett walked over to his wife.

Crystal heard the commotion and opened her eyes. "Hi guys!" she said in an excited voice. Samatha quickly covered her legs with a blanket.

"What's going on doctor?" Dan asked.

"Well she's not pregnant. The ultrasound showed no abnormalities. We performed an x-ray and that came back clean. He blood work however came back as being several malnourished, and dehydrated. Her electrolytes were dangerously low. We found faint traces of iron in her system, and her body had begun to shutdown due to the shortage of vitamins. What has she been doing?"

"Working out a lot." Dan lied without missing a beat.

"She needs rest, a proper diet, and plenty of liquids. Once we started pumping liquids into her body, her period instantly started. She's still draining right now. I'm going to write her a script for prenatal vitamins, and birth control to help regulate her periods. But she needs plenty of liquids and rest. I want to keep her here for the next couple of days for observation."

"We will need the scripts right now." Branzer said stepping towards the doctor.

"I usually don't write them until she is discharged, which I said will be a couple of days from now."

Dan walked up to Crystal and took her hand. They smiled both smiled at each other. Dan spoke up. "Hun, the umm…first part of our plan was successful. The second part is about to begin…"

"How is Lindel and Mohania?" Crystal asked slowly.

"Lindel was hurt badly and drained. She's with Mohania right now." Dan said. Crystal let out a sigh.

"Is Mohania ready?" Crystal asked looking back at Dan.

"We think so. We still have a couple of hours. The King contacted us and said that you might want to come with us on the…umm…second phase." Dan said looking around.

"I wouldn't miss it. I feel bad about missing the first phase…I want to know all of the details." Crystal said eagerly.

Dan shook his head. "We don't have all of the details, Mohania is recharging and Lindel isn't able to communicate with us yet. All we were told is that it was a success though. They both made it back fine though, that's the important part."

The doctor spoke up, "What are you guys talking about?" out of curiosity. Dan quickly spun around and pushed him up against the wall and held his head still with both of his hands, staring into his eyes. Both officers pulled their weapons and pointed them at his head. Jacklyn quickly ran over.

"It was just a question…" the doctor said nervously.

"Is he one of them?" Dan asked. Jacklyn stared into his eyes for a couple of seconds, and then shook her head. "No, he's clean." The officers put away their weapons and everybody backed off.

"Is something going on? Why are you guys so jumpy?" The doctor said fixing his coat again.

"We are going to need those scripts. Right now!" Branzer said staring at the doctor. The doctor tried to say something, and Branzer began walking towards him, with Jacklyn right behind him.

"Ok, I'm going to discharge her against doctor's orders. The insurance may not pay for her visit." the doctor said and everybody, including Crystal glared at him.

"Ok then, I'll be right back." The doctor said and left the room.

Samatha spoke up. "What's going on you guys? She needs to stay in the hospital!"

"Hun, something came up. We would not be taking her out of here if it wasn't necessary." Bernett said.

"Ok, well let me check the bleeding at least." Samatha said walking over to the end of the bed. Everybody watched her.

"A little privacy please!" Samatha insisted. Everybody turned around. She lifted the blanket and saw that the bleeding had stopped. She pulled the bed pan out and set it aside. It was almost full of blood.

"Hun, do you still have the tampons the nurse gave you?" Crystal nodded and unwrapped one, placing it inside of her. Crystal then sat up on her bed.

"Don't overdo yourself. Ok?" Samatha said putting a hand to the side of her face. Crystal nodded.

"Lots of liquids, and take all of your pills. I'm worried about you hun, keep me up to date. Ok?" Crystal nodded again. Samatha then turned to everybody and said, "I don't know what you guys are doing…and probably don't want to know…but take care of her, ok? If she comes back in the hospital again, I will be pissed!" Samatha said giving them all a mean look.

The doctor came back in with two prescriptions. Crystal began to get dressed with the help of Samatha. The doctor looked away.

"Here are the two scripts. Like I said this is against doctors orders…"

Branzer grabbed the scripts from his hand, "We understand." glaring at him.

"Ok, well. It's been an interesting experience. Take care." the doctor said and left the room. Just then everybody felt the hair on the back of their necks stand up.

"That's weird…" Samatha said putting her hand on the back of her neck.

"Thanks for your help Samatha, I'll keep in touch." Crystal smiled at her. "But we need to go." Crystal hopped off the bed and walked out of the room. Everybody else followed.

"We'll need to get these filled before you guys leave." Branzer said.

"And I need to get some…other things…" Crystal said smiling at him. Branzer nodded at her.

They all walked outside and the hair all over their bodies began to stand on end. A man walked out from behind the hospital and smiled at them. He waved them over.

"My name is Zander. I will be opening the portal for you guys when you are ready." He was dressed in all white and had long ears, like that of a blood elf.

"Zander, we need to get some things first. It might be another hour or so." Dan said.

"The King instructed me to bring you to the gate immediately." Zander said very impatiently. Crystal walked up to Zander and began whispering into his ear. His eyes grew really wide.

"I…don't…understand…" Zander said nervously.

"Just tell the King and Queen exactly what I just told you. We'll be back in about an hour." Crystal said. She turned to Jacklyn and Quinely. "Can you stay here with him; make sure he stays out of sight? We'll be right back as soon as we can." They both nodded. She turned around and stared at Bernett and Samatha.

"I think, our work here is done." Bernett said. Crystal nodded. Bernett took his wife by her hand and started heading towards their car.

"What? Why, who was that funny looking man?" Samatha asked. After awhile she realized she wasn't getting an answer. She shouted out, "You look after Crystal, ok!" as she got into their car.

"Where's the nearest pharmacy?" Crystal said looking at Branzer.

"There's a CVS right on the corner." Branzer said and pointed.

"Let's hurry this up." Crystal said and began walking away from them. She suddenly began to lose her balance. Dan and Branzer quickly ran over and grabbed both sides of her arms.

"Maybe this wasn't…" Branzer began to say.

"I'm not going to miss this! I don't care if I have to be rehospitalized after the attack!" Crystal said. They both put one of Crystal's arms around their shoulder and hurried her over to Branzer's car.

Branzer started the car and began driving.

"Ok, so what is going on? Who are you attacking?" Branzer said unable to hold the questions in anymore.

"Dan and I came up with an attack plan against the alliance. It needs to be timed perfectly though." Crystal paused for a second and looked at Branzer. "I'm told that Lindel was hurt pretty badly."

"I overheard that…in the hospital. I've had questions and anger growing inside of me. I want to help!" Crystal began to say that she couldn't say and he slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

"I'm tired of these secrets! I care about her! I want to know what's going on!" He yelled. Both of them sat quietly as they arrived at the pharmacy. Branzer slammed the car into park and let out a deep sigh.

"Branzer…give us a day. Let the attack finish up. We'll both talk with the King personally about Lindel coming out to talk to you." Crystal said slowly.

Branzer suddenly turned around and said. "I want an explanation of everything!" Dan and Crystal looked at each other and then back at Branzer. Branzer rolled his eyes and said, "I know…I know…hurry up and wait. Right!"

"We have to follow the King's commands. Like Crystal said, we will talk to him. If we tell you, and the alliance get a hold of you, it would jeopardize the attack. And I hate to sound like an ass, but we need to get going…" Dan said softly.

Branzer flung his door open and jumped out of the car and slammed it shut. Dan and Crystal both sighed and got out of the car, gently shutting their doors.

Branzer was the first one in the building. He headed straight back to the pharmacy counter. Dan and Crystal hurried up to follow him. She set the prescriptions on the counter and she needed these filled.

"Ok, I'll have them ready for you in about a hour." the young girl said and started to walk away.

"No!" Branzer said firmly. The young girl stopped and turned back to look at him.

Branzer slammed his magnum on the table along with his police badge. "We need these filled, now! It is very important!"

"Umm…the prescriptions are processed in the order that we get them…" the girl said. The three of them glared at her.

"Well then, this one just got bumped to the top now…didn't it!" Branzer said slamming his hands on the counter, threatening to jump over it.

"I guess it just did…give me a couple of minutes." the girl said starting to sweat. The girl looked at the orders. "Birth control and prenatal vitamins?" she thought and looked back at the three of them. The three of them meant business. She thought it best not to ask questions and hurried back grabbing a bag off from shelf to put them in.

"Branzer, you stay here and encourage her to hurry. Dan I need to pick up a lot of bottled water and tampons." Crystal said. Crystal spun around and nearly lost her balance.

"Easy hun." Dan said.

"You're carrying everything…" she said holding her hand to her head. She blinked away the nausea and began walking down the aisle.

Dan's stone began to vibrate. Dan looked around in the store; they were the only ones in there. The cashier seemed oblivious to what was going on. Dan pulled out the stone. Herrior appeared in the portal.

"We only have a couple of hours left, why haven't you taken the portal yet?" Herrior said firmly.

"Crystal needs to get some medicine and…supplies. We're getting them now and will be back as soon as we can." Dan said.

"What kind of supplies?" Herrior asked.

"Bottled water and tampons." Dan said quietly. Herrior paused for a couple of seconds.

"Is that something I shouldn't ask about?" Herrior said.

"Yes." Dan said quickly. Herrior sensed in Dan's voice that he probably shouldn't ask any more questions.

"Believe me; we are moving as fast as we can Herrior. Is Mohania charged up yet?" Dan asked.

"He is running around in circles in the front of the wall." They both shared a laugh.

"How long?" Herrior asked. Crystal had grabbed a cart and filled it with all of the boxes of tampons she could find. She then tried to move the cases of bottled water into the cart.

"Hun, no! Let me get that for you!" Dan yelled out and ran towards her. He handed the stone to Crystal, and he began filling the cart with the water.

Crystal saw Herrior.

"It is good to see you again young one…" Herrior began to say.

"Look, we're moving as fast as we can. Give us about twenty minutes." Crystal said and closed the portal with her hand. Both of them had loaded up the cart with five plastic cases of bottled water and they headed towards the counter. Branzer met them there with the prescriptions.

"I'm assuming I'm paying for this…" Branzer said glaring at them two. They both nodded as he sighed.

The cashier began scanning the items and bagging them as fast as she could. Dan and Crystal both saw a card fly across the scanner and into a bag.

"That is for Lindel. It's a get well card. Can you make sure she gets it?"

"Sure will. Like I said after our mission…" Crystal said.

"Yeah…yeah…" Branzer said turning around. Branzer pulled out his credit card as Dan and Crystal began wheeling the purchases out to the car and loading it up.

Branzer thanked the cashier and ran out to the car. It was all loaded up, and the two of them were in the back seat. Branzer hopped into the driver's seat and roared the engine to life. He sped off back to the hospital.

Branzer parked right in front of the portal. Both Jacklyn and Quinely shot them a worried look. Crystal waved them over. Dan and Crystal quickly loaded up their arms with the purchases. Once their arms were full, she told them to go into the portal. Jacklyn was the first one through. Quinely wobbled a little with the bottles of water, but made it to the portal and disappeared. Crystal ran over to Branzer and pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." she said.

"Be safe. And I expect to hear for you, ok!" Branzer said firmly.

"Always…" Crystal said running away from him. She jumped into the portal.

"Keep her safe!" Branzer yelled at Dan. Dan waved at him as he stepped through the portal. The Chronomancer stepped into the portal and it instantly closed.

Branzer let out a deep sigh. He got back in the car and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed up Bernett.

"I thought you would call. Did they all…err…go home?" Bernett said.

"Yeah, they're gone." Branzer said shutting his door and starting up his engine. Branzer slammed his steering wheel again and sighed. Silence filled the air for awhile.

"Listen, I have a six pack that needs attention." Bernett said.

"Sounds great. Do you have your stone on you? Branzer asked.

"Always." Bernett answered back quickly. "Are we expecting them to contact us?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure when or which one of us…" Branzer said slowly.

"I know the drill; if they contact me I'll call you right away. In the mean time we'll be expecting you, ok?" Bernett said.

"Ok…" Branzer said hanging up.

Back at the wall, they all embraced Crystal. Dan opened a package a bottle of water, and fumbled out her prescriptions and gave it to her. She downed it, and almost drank the whole bottle of water.

"What is all this stuff?" Herrior asked.

"We'll bring a couple of bottles with us. Crystal needs to remain hydrated. But this stuff needs to remain safe." Dan said. Herrior nodded. The Chronomancer asked to be dismissed. Herrior nodded at him and thanked him. He walked back to the portal and disappeared into Tranquil.

"How much time do we have left?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not sure, I haven't heard from the King yet. I'd say about an hour though." Herrior replied back. Just then, two small portals opened up in front of Herrior and Skyka. They stuck their heads in.

"I sense that Crystal is back. Will she be ok to go out?" the King asked.

"She took two pills from her world. Dan said she needs to remain hydrated. Neither one of them seems worried about her condition. They are both excited about the attack." Herrior said.

"As am I." the King replied back. "Our scouts have reported that the golems are about two hours away from the alliance fortress. I sense that our warlock is eager to get going?" the King said with a grin on his face.

"Yes my King." Herrior said.

"Any word from Lindel?" the Queen asked.

"We have not heard anything, my Queen." Skyka said. The Queen nodded.

"You may begin. Let me know how it goes. You are dismissed." the King said. Both of them pulled their heads out of the portals and they instantly shut.

"Goblins move the catapult in front of the wall!" Herrior commanded. He turned back to his group and pointed to their weapons leaning up against the wall. They all quickly ran over and put on their armor and weapons. Several fairies came out of the portal and entered each of their bodies. They all paused for a second while the fairies did their thing. Then the fairies left.

"Thaddeus! We're moving out!" Herrior shouted in the air. Quickly, the wyvern rider flew overhead.

Uglow's group was still guarding the wall. "Good luck my friend. We'll be waiting for your safe return." Herrior nodded at him. Herrior ran ahead and opened up the door for the goblins. They pushed the enormous machine through the gate and out into the waste lands. Mohania crawled quickly over to the machine and began looking it over. He let out an evil laughter. Herrior's group exited the door as it shut behind them.

"Ready my friend?" Herrior said to Mohania. Mohania stood up and let out an evil grin.

"Come on; let's go piss off some alliance." Herrior said. Mohania's eyes burst out with fire. A black aura still surrounding him as he fell into position.

They walked until they were out of sight from the wall. The goblins seemed to have no problem pushing the catapult as well as the bags of rocks over their shoulders.

"See anything Thaddeus?" Herrior called up.

"Nope, clear sailing so far." he responded back.

Herrior looked back and saw Crystal finishing off a bottle of water. He smiled at her and motioned for her to come to him. Crystal put the empty bottle in her pack and ran forward. Herrior picked her up and put her over his shoulders. She held on to his enormous horns.

"Whoa…" Crystal said in surprise.

"We were really worried about you young one. Are you ok?" Herrior asked walking backwards.

"The doctor said I was malnourished. I needed more vitamins and water in my system. He also gave me birth control to regulate my periods better. Also I need to get more rest." Crystal said hanging on as Herrior bounced back and forth as he walked.

"I understood most of that." Herrior said with a grin.

"Can you let me down now, I feel like I'm going to get sick…" Crystal said with a smile. Herrior reached up with one of his arms and brought Crystal down to her feet.

"The King reports that the golems are two hours away." Herrior said.

"Perfect. If the alliance haven't suspected the seeds, they should hatch in two hours from now as well. If we keep up the pace, we should arrive in exactly one hour and forty five minutes from now. We estimated fifteen minutes for prep time to load the catapult and for Mohania to cast his spell." Crystal said.

"You two thought of everything, didn't you?" Herrior said looking at her with a smile.

"Not everything, I didn't anticipate going to the hospital…" Crystal said in an angry tone. "How did the first phase go?"

"The only information that I have is everything went according as planned." Herrior said.

Mohania quickly ran in front of their group and jumped on the back of the catapult.

"Lindel should be praised…she went through a lot!" Mohania hissed. He had the attention of the entire group. Crystal walked back to Dan and grabbed his hand.

"She possessed men, women, and children. We also seeded a gryphon rider, two soldiers, and a knight…" Mohania said with a lot of satisfaction in his voice.

"We both really messed some of them up…" Mohania said with a satisfied voice.

"We had to keep each other in check though. I saw them and wanted to watch them run around until their heads exploded…" Mohania said quietly.

"Can he do that?" Dan whispered to Quinely.

"Yes." she answered back.

"The first couple of ones that we seeded were easy. Lindel talks real smoothly, a small army came towards us, I could have killed all of them, but Lindel had possessed a knight and directed them away from us. The stupid alliance fell for it. Then we seeded an old man. Lindel said she almost killed him in the process. She said she thought he was going to go to the clinic…he'll destroy everybody there!" Mohania began to laugh.

Mohania settled down and continued his story. "That was smooth sailing though, she tried to possess a woodcutter, but the idiot wouldn't turn his head around. Lindel had to get his attention somehow, so she ran her breast into his hand. Lindel forced herself into him so hard that he was knocked down on the ground. I seeded him, and then Lindel almost made him cut off his own penis. I would have found it amusing, but we needed to hurry up. We possessed a woman in a wedding dress; she was crying for some stupid ass reason…I forget…" Mohania said waving his hand in the air. Skyka began laughing, but didn't want to interrupt Mohania's story.

"Then this gnome flies down right beside us. Scared Lindel, but not me." Mohania said. Herrior smiled at him.

"Asks us if it's ok if he could go for a swim. Lindel did all of the talking. When he wasn't looking I went into the water. When I was underneath him, I swam up and pulled him under. He was surprised and was gasping for air. I could have easily killed him without even casting a spell. I felt the fear in his eyes as he looked at me. He started struggling more, and the more he did, the more I enjoyed myself. I quickly seeded him and pulled him to shore. I felt his life force draining, I would have killed him if I didn't let him up soon; Lindel would not have been happy though. Lindel did her thing and then proceeds to kick the gnome in the ass, sending him flying forward. I had the same idea, but she beat me to it…" Mohania said. The entire group started laughing, but quickly settled down as Mohania began talking again.

"Then we get to this house with two alliance mating. Lindel turned at me and looked pissed. She eventually stripped down and entered the house. I watched outside. She seduced them until she was close enough to possess them. She made them get dressed and I seeded them. Turns out the man had a couple of different wives. Anyways, Lindel felt sick after possessing them. Nothing is more disgusting then watching two alliance mate…let alone being in the body of both of them when they were doing it. I can only imagine the filth that she sensed. Lindel said the man wanted to mate with her…in unusual ways… I was charging up to fry his naked ass, but we carried out our mission."

"What unusual ways?" Skyka said with a smirk. Herrior smacked her on the arm.

Mohania continued ignoring her. "That is when we started attracting attention to us. Apparently another wife of the man found him and started beating him and making a scene. The man and the woman continued walking forward and into the alliance fortress as Lindel commanded, completely oblivious to the woman screaming at the man. Lindel quickly ran out and talked to the woman about something. The woman came back inside of the house. She was very upset about something. Anyways, Lindel possessed her and made her say "I'm ready for my present" in the woman's own voice. I seeded her and we sent her away."

Skyka and Crystal started laughing and looked away from the group. Dan handed her a bottle of water and smirked at her.

"That's when things turned really bad. The crowd surrounded our house that we were in. Two soldiers approached the house. Lindel pretended that we were kissing and mating standing up…

"In an unusual way?" Skyka interrupted trying to hold back a smile. Mohania stared at her and then looked back at the group. Herrior reached over and smacked her on the arm again.

"The soldiers burst in, and jam the door shut. They ordered us to the ground. With the door shut, I could have drained their lives and nobody would have known. But Lindel whispered the word 'no' at me, as if she knew what I was thinking. We both laid down on the ground. Then a soldier kicked me. Kicked me…in the…side!" Mohania yelled.

"I was charging up my power and would have fried both of them, but remembered what Lindel said." Mohania added.

"I'm proud of you Mohania that shows a lot of restraint." Herrior said. Mohania continued ignoring Herrior.

"The soldiers proceeded to call her a whore and began to tear her clothes. They both undressed with the intention of raping her. She was kicked repeatedly. The anger welled up inside of me. They turned her over and got into her face trying to get an answer out of her. She was in a lot of pain, I could feel it. She then shot her hands into their eyes and possessed them. Not only did she possess them, she forced their bodies to hit the ceiling and cut out their tongues so she could torture them before letting them go. I did not stop her this time. She made their testicles explode and then I heard what sounded like snapping sounds from inside their bodies. I think it was their ribs. She messed them up good. Then she made them say that they were having sex with each other and needed medical help. They continuously repeated that sentence as I seeded them. Then we let them go."

"What…were…their…names…?" Jacklyn said with much anger in her voice. Mohania continued.

"Lindel laid on the ground, badly hurt. I wrapped her up with a blanket that smelled like…alliance…it stunk! But it was the only thing I could find. The crowd went away and soon this little prick came to the house and offered us help. A tall gnome I think he was…anyways. I honestly thought Lindel was going to take him up on his offer. I didn't know what to do, she did need help. Then she possessed him. I ran over and seeded him. Lindel came back out and said that he could help by becoming a Doom Guard. I opened the door and waved at him as he left."

Skyka again smirked but held back her laughter.

"Lindel insisted that she had the power left for one more possession. I myself was low on power as well, but if Lindel could in her condition, I could in mine. I summoned a…puppy…and made it run around outside. It caught the attention of some lady called Gertrude. She came in the house following the puppy. I grabbed her and threw her against the wall. Lindel did her thing, but had a very hard time possessing her. It took her several minutes. For awhile I thought we lost Lindel. She just could not possess her. The woman kept talking about…stupid alliance things… I was about ready to bite into her neck to just shut her up, but Lindel eventually planted the message in her mind. So I seeded her. My power was spent. Lindel slowly melted out of the woman's eyes. She materialized into her banshee form. We were instantly discovered. I instantly created my portal, grabbed her and left. We couldn't do any more. We didn't even kill any of them! We had so many chances too, but we didn't!" Mohania said as the fire roared out of his eyes.

"You kept to the mission. I am proud of you Mohania. You did well." Herrior said.

"This plan had better kill lots of alliance…we went to hell and back, restrained ourselves, so we could do their plan!" Mohania said and pointed at Dan and Crystal.

"Hun…you did great. This plan will work. Don't be mad at Dan and Crystal." Skyka said walking up to Mohania and hugged him. She kissed him on his boney cheek, and then placed both of her hands on his head and looked into his fiery eyes.

"You did well. You accomplished the mission. We are all very proud of you. We all love you. Please don't be mad at them. You brought Lindel back and saved her life. Everything went ok. You will have your vengeance. Ok." Skyka said very slowly.

"I wanted to kill some alliance…we were right there…we had the chance…I wanted to hear them scream for everything that they did to us!" Mohania yelled turning away. Skyka patted him on the back and moved back beside Herrior. Crystal finished the bottle of water she was holding and put it in her pack.

A portal opened up in front of Herrior. It moved while he walked. He leaned forward into it and saw the King. He instantly bowed his head.

"I heard every word." the King said. Herrior nodded. Silence filled the throne room.

"What should I tell Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know. I do not wish to piss him off anymore. Every time I talk to him, I seem to make him mad. I want to reward him with something. What do the undead want?" the King answered.

"To be left alone mostly." Herrior said. The King nodded.

"Who are you talking too?" Mohania asked. Herrior pulled his head out of the portal and said the King.

"May I?" he asked.

"Let me ask first, ok?" Herrior said to Mohania. He nodded. Herrior put his head back in the portal.

"Mohania wishes to speak with you." Herrior said bowing to the floor again.

"Oh?" The King quickly snapped his fingers and the entire room went dark. All traces of holy magic were instantly gone. "By all means."

Herrior pulled his head out and motioned for Mohania to step over. Mohania stuck his head in.

"Hello Mohania." the King said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Thank you for turning down the lights." Mohania said staring at him.

"My pleasure. I heard what you did with Lindel."

"I know…after we launch the inferno's into the alliance encampment, is there a way we can watch the devastation?" Mohania asked.

"I sense that you want to see the end result of your…handy work?" the King said with a smile. Mohania let out a smile.

"I cannot see that far away or I would create a portal for everybody to watch. Would it please you if you could just listen?" the King asked. Mohania let out a grunt, but then nodded his head.

"Send the catapult back, your party may stay and listen. But listen to Thaddeus. If he spots danger, you guys are to come back immediately." the King paused for a second and then asked, "Mohania, may I ask you some questions?" Mohania let out a grunt.

"How is Lindel doing?" the King asked.

"She is healing up. She should be better within a day or so. When she is able to become a human again, she will be eager to enter back into Tranquil I imagine."

"Ok, thank you for taking care of her. Mohania, what preparations do you want for the burial?" the King asked. Mohania let out a sigh.

"I want it to be done on Dan and Crystal's world. I want all of the undead access to a portal to get there. Anybody else may come. Everybody is to wear black. The body needs to be wrapped up in mageweave. We need about one hundred yards of it. Put thirty seven black cloaks and the wrappings in front of my cave." Mohania said.

"Do you want us to attend?" the King asked.

"No." Mohania quickly answered.

"Ok, I will make the preparations and put them in front of your cave immediately." The King said.

Mohania hesitated for a couple of seconds and then thanked the King. The King had a surprised look on his face.

"You are most welcome Mohania. Thank you for your service. You are dismissed." Mohania bowed his head and pulled his head out of the portal.

"See, he is making progress." the Queen said.

"Yes he is. Things could get interesting. But now what to do with the three orc prisoners…" the King said. The King then turned to one of his ambassadors and gave the order for thirty seven black cloaks and mageweave to be brought in front of the warlock cave.

Back at the catapult, Mohania got back into his position.

Skyka turned around and walked backwards. "Were you nice to be King, sweetheart?" Mohania growled and looked away.

"He said to return the catapult after we are done firing, but that we could stay and listen to the devastation. He is also cooperating with the funeral preparations." Mohania said in a low tone. Herrior smiled, looking ahead of him.

"Do you want us to attend the funeral?" Herrior eventually said.

"Yes. I want it to be on their world." Mohania said and pointed at Dan and Crystal.

"Oh? Dan and Crystal, this is an honor for you." Herrior said. Dan nodded. Crystal was drinking at the time. She pulled the bottle away and said, "Not a problem."

"I don't care who comes, but they are to wear black and be silent. Black flowers would be appropriate too. Nobody that has a holy aura is allowed to come!" Mohania said to Dan and Crystal spinning his head all the way around. They both nodded at the same time. Mohania spun his head back around. Quinely noticed they didn't understand what he meant so she backed up and said, "Any priests."

"Ok, that's sort of what I thought." Dan said.

They walked for several more hours until Thaddeus yelled for them to stop. He held up his scope and surveyed the area. Still nothing in the area.

"I say we're about five thousand yards from the front door! I do not see any activity!" he yelled down. One of the goblins turned around to Herrior and said.

"We need to be within two thousand yards for this baby to be accurate." Herrior nodded.

Herrior turned back to his group and said, "We're probably be watched right now. Everybody stay on your toes. Ranged, quickly shoot down any scouts that come by us. Protect Thaddeus. This is going to be a short trip if their army comes charging at us."

They proceeded forward for another hour and then a goblin saw the wall. He pulled out a scope and took some measurements. Herrior looked at him with fascination. The goblin quickly shook his head and began pushing the catapult further ahead.

The group walked nervously forward for another hour, constantly looking around.

"This should be fine." The goblin said.

"Load it up, Mohania do your thing. Let's be quick about this!" Herrior commanded. He looked up at Thaddeus.

"An army is starting to build just inside their gates. It's probably safe to say they have detected us."

"Strings, can you speed up Mohania's work?" Strings took out his lute and began playing a tune. Mohania quickly began picking up the rocks and charging them. They gave off a yellow glow. The tune increased in speed, as did Mohania. Mohania finished and pointed to the goblin.

"Fire!" the goblin yelled. The catapult came alive and sprang forward with such force that it nearly toppled over. The goblins pulled it back down and began reloading it. Mohania charged up every rock that fell in to the bucket.

"Wait!" Thaddeus said. He watched the yellow rocks fly through the air and land right inside of the gates, instantly turning into infernos. The blast knocked all of the alliance backwards, or killed them outright. The inferno's quickly started attacking the soldiers, making short work of them.

"Amazing! Mohania, you are one of a kind!" Thaddeus yelled down. Mohania smiled.

"Turn the catapult ten degrees to the right, move it forward ten yards. Thaddeus said. The goblins made the adjustments and fired the next batch. The goblins quickly retracted the catapult, and Mohania began to do his thing. He had to swallow one of his green beating hearts that he made in order to have the power to finish the last batch. He charged every stone and then collapsed to the ground.

"Move the catapult ahead twenty yards and turn it left twenty five degrees." Thaddeus yelled down. The goblins quickly made the adjustments.

"Fire…" Mohania said softly with a grin across his face. The catapult roared to life again, sending the charged rocks flying forward.

"Take the catapult back to the wall!" Herrior ordered. The goblins quickly ran in front of it and began pushing it back. Crystal quickly pulled out all of her empty bottles and set them on the catapult.

"Thanks guys." Crystal said smiling at them.

"What's going on Thaddeus?" Herrior yelled up at him.

"I count about sixty infernos. The alliance banished some, and took control of others. This only appears to have made the other infernos mad. They all rushed over and killed the warlocks."

Mohania let out a grin. He could occasionally hear the screams.

"Ok, now there are big red demons with black wings that just all of a sudden grew up out of nowhere. They look pretty strong. They are slicing at people with their sword, fearing people, and casting down fire from the sky.

"Doom guards…" Mohania said softly with a smile.

"On the right side, there are two large looking golems bashing homes outside of the walls. They sure flattened them pretty fast!"

Dan and Crystal smiled at each other.

"Ok, they are at the wall now, tearing out big chunks. At the rate they are going, they'll be in the fortress in a minute. Fires are appearing all over the fortress. It looks like all of the inferno's are heading towards the palace. Something seems to have pissed them off. The red demons are still chasing around people, slashing at them. It looks like an absolute slaughter!" Thaddeus said.

"I detect demons." Mohania said. He reached out and grabbed Herrior's leg. Herrior looked down at him.

"I sense demons…tell him to look for demons to the north!"

"Thaddeus, look to the north for demons!" Herrior yelled up at him.

"Holy shit! There are hundreds of them! They are all running for the alliance fortress. None of them are running towards us though."

Herrior turned around and looked at Dan and Crystal giving them a nod and said, "Just as you predicted."

Dan and Crystal smiled back at him. "I'm glad you got me out of the hospital. I did not want to miss this!" Crystal said.

"Ok, looks like several portals are opening and people are coming out of them. Looks like reinforcements. The infernos are turning their attention to them. The golems have broken through the wall and are attacking randomly now. Wait! The infernos have all just disappeared. It's just the red guys and the golems now.

"Thirty seconds is up…" Mohania said.

"The demons have just entered the fortress. They are pouring in by the hundreds. More portals are opening, and people are just pouring out of them.

"I can hear the screams…" Mohania said with satisfaction.

Thaddeus looked to the north and said, "What the…"

"What is it Thaddeus?"

"There's a large army of Orcs following the demons. They seem to be on the same side.

"Do they see us?" Herrior asked.

"Doesn't look like it…wait…some of them are looking at me. They are talking among themselves."

"Let's move out! Quickly!" Herrior commanded. Herrior picked up Mohania and they quickly began the run back to the wall. Thaddeus commanded his wyvern to follow Herrior. He turned around on the giant creature and kept looking at the Orcs.

"They seem to be ignoring us now. They are continuing to charge the alliance." Thaddeus scanned the entire horizon to confirm. Then turned his attention to the alliance city.

"It's going to take them years to rebuild that!" Thaddeus said with a laugh.

"I think…there's about fifty people battling the golems…the golems don't seem to care though. Portals are still opening. I can't see who all is coming out now, but it's probably safe to assume more reinforcements."

"Thaddeus, I want you scanning everywhere. Make sure our path is clear." Herrior said.

"Ok!"

"Mohania, I want you scanning for demons." Herrior whispered at him.

"You mean not the ones charging at the alliance?" Mohania whispered back with a smile.

"Yes, scan for other demons not charging at the alliance." Herrior said back smiling at him.

Crystal started to stagger back and forth. Herrior looked over and Jacklyn and pointed at Crystal. Jacklyn ran forward and picked her up in her arms.

"I can run…" Crystal said in pain.

"You can run later, right now you can't." Jacklyn said back to her.

An hour later, they could see the wall approaching them.

"See anybody coming Thaddeus?" Herrior asked.

"Not a trace. I lost sight of everybody about forty minutes ago. Nobody appears to have followed us. I'm still looking though."

"We're almost home guys…" Herrior said with satisfaction. "And tonight we're all going to the Inn…" Strings cheered.

A large portal opened in front of them and they could see the King and Queen. They all began to bow.

"No! Keep running!" The King ordered.

"As far as our senses can stretch, we cannot detect anybody following you. Our scouts are reporting no activity in the area, I will have them actively searching tonight but it looks like you got away clean. I saw what Thaddeus was seeing. The attack was magnificent! Everybody in Tranquil is cheering. The catapult is back in Tranquil along with the goblins. Herrior, I am proud of you and your group. You have done well today. Tell Dan and Crystal that the timing was perfect." the King said.

"My King, Mohania is drained, and Crystal appears to be sleeping. Will they be ok?" Jacklyn quickly said.

"I'm fine…" Mohania said glaring at her.

The King sensed Crystal for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know."

"She probably just needs more fluids and rest. I mean she just got out of the hospital today!" Dan said in a cocky voice.

"Dan, ensure that she gets plenty of rest. She is not to drink at the Inn with you tonight."

"Can we stay at Brenna's house tonight?" Dan asked.

"That is fine; I will let her know you are coming. Shall I cancel the victory celebration until she awakens?" the King said.

Dan shot a glance at Herrior. Herrior's group was glaring at him as well.

"Yes, it would not be a celebration without her." Herrior said.

"Very well, I will command everybody to settle down and allow Crystal some rest. They are very excited though, they may flock to all of you. Perhaps we can celebrate with Lindel tomorrow as well? I will contact Branzer and Bernett also; they will want to be here. I will see you all tomorrow then." the King said and closed the portal.

They got to the wall, and Mohania jumped down, veering off to his cave.

"Get Lindel healed up!" Skyka yelled at him. Mohania nodded and ran inside with the gate closing behind him. The group gathered up all of the water packages, medication, and boxes of tampons and entered the portal.

As soon as they entered, it looked like every citizen in the vast city was staring at them with smiles. They were silent though.

"Crystal needs some rest. Please step aside." Herrior said with a smile. A path was cleared to Brenna's house. Herrior's entire party walked up to her home. Brenna was eagerly waiting them and had a large smile on her face. She quickly motioned them in. They walked all in and dropped their armor and weapons once they got in the house. Some goblins quickly picked them up and ran off with them. They all walked upstairs and saw pillows and blankets laid out for all of them, and an extra one. Herrior looked back at Brenna with a large anticipation smile. He nodded at her and she squealed as she ran up the stairs after them. Jacklyn laid Crystal down on the far wall, and Dan laid down beside her.

"Sleep well everybody, we have done well today. I'm proud of all of you." Herrior said and then began snoring. Everybody else drifted off to sleep, including Brenna who slowly watched each one fall asleep. They were all exhausted, their dreams that night was of satisfaction. They all had smiles on their faces.


	7. Earth

Earth

"Mohania, that's enough power. I'm starting to crave more, and I don't like that feeling." Lindel said. Mohania cut the health stream he was funneling to Lindel. The seven new undead stood by her trying to comfort her.

"Can you help me out of the cave?" Lindel asked.

"Are you strong enough to go into Tranquil yet?" Mohania asked.

"I think so." She replied back. Mohania picked her up and crawled through the system of tunnels. They arrived at the gate. Mohania peered out. He didn't see anything and opened the gate. He carried her over to the gate and set her down in front of it. The eight undead stood there staring at her. She slowly transformed herself from her purple banshee form into her humanoid form. Mohania seemed satisfied. Lindel turned her head and smiled at all of them.

"Thank you…" Lindel said slowly.

"We all have a loyalty to each other…We're going to dress the body now…" Mohania said. Mohania ran out so that the guards could see him.

"Help Lindel into Tranquil…" Mohania said in his eerie voice. The guards nodded and quickly opened up the gate. Mohania and his undead family ran back into the cave.

Lindel tried to speak but couldn't get a word out.

"We got ya now." A large blood elf said picking her up. He went into the portal.

"Right here hun…set me down." Lindel said painfully. The blood elf nodded and slowly laid her down. Lindel slowly started drawing in the energy of the city and began healing herself. The streets were empty. She figured everybody was sleeping.

Crystal was the first to wake up. She sat up and looked around. Everybody else was still sleeping. She took the blanket off from her and slowly made her way downstairs. She grabbed a bottle of water and started downing it. Then she began looking around. She grabbed a piece of bread off from the counter and made her way out the front door. She began chewing it and bent down to admire Brenna's garden. All of the plants were in perfect rows, completely without any weeds. She knelt down and breathed in the sweet fragrance. At the end of the garden, she noticed several dozen black roses growing. She wondered if it was for the funeral. She put the rest of the bread in her mouth and bent down to touch them. They were very soft and felt velvety.

Crystal walked out of the garden and started looking around at the magnificent city. She then saw somebody lying on the ground next to the portal.

"Lindel?" Crystal thought and ran over to her.

"Lindel…are you ok?" Crystal said.

"I'm still recharging. But my body is pretty much healed." Lindel said looking at her with a smile. "How is your condition?

"Well the doctor said I need more rest, fluids, and vitamins in my system. He wrote two scripts for me to help regulate everything. Here, I have some water that I've been drinking. Do you want some?" Crystal offered. Lindel tried to prop herself up, but Crystal immediately grabbed her back and braced her against her body. Crystal held up the bottle to Lindel's mouth as she started to drink. She emptied the rest of the bottle.

"Not bad. What is it called?" Lindel asked. Crystal looked at the empty bottle.

"Natural spring water…but it's probably from a garden hose." Crystal said chuckling. "Do you want some more?

"No, I'm fine. Thank you Crystal, it is helping to recharge me faster. The fairies will be out soon." Lindel said and then became serious. "Crystal, what are vitamins?"

"Its different types of nutrients that my body needs in order to function. It usually comes in different types of foods." Answered Crystal.

"Maybe you are getting the wrong diet out here hun. What does your body need?" Asked Lindel.

"Well, I need more iron. Have you heard of broccoli, or asparagus? It also comes from seafood. I love shrimp! It's been awhile since I've had that. Probably also bananas would be good as well" Crystal said.

"Give me a second." Lindel held her hand up and created a portal. They could see a troll with what looked like a chef's hat on his head.

"Hi mon, what can I do for you?" the troll said.

"This is Lindel. Can you come up with a special diet for Crystal? She needs shrimp, bananas, broccoli, asparagus, and extra water."

"And a lean steak also!" Crystal added.

"No problem mon, give me a couple of minutes." Lindel turned to Crystal and asked if the Dan shouldn't have the same diet as well. Crystal thought about it for a second and then nodded.

"Make the same diet for Dan as well please." Lindel said.

"No problem mon, good to see you again Lindel. Is that it?" Lindel nodded and closed the portal.

"The fairies will be here in a couple of minutes. We didn't know that your diet was different from ours. I should have asked that…" Lindel said sounding depressed.

"Don't worry about it Lindel. I'm feeling a lot better. So what was Mohania doing to you in the cave?" Crystal asked.

"He was helping me the only way he knew how. He channeled his life force into my body. Eventually my body began to crave it, so I asked him to stop and bring me here. It's an experience I do not wish to repeat again." Lindel said.

"So, are you undead then?" Crystal asked. Lindel smiled.

"No, I was part of the Forsaken, commanded to protect the alliance King." Lindel said and looked away. She let out a sigh. Crystal paused for a second.

"Do you want to know how thing went yesterday?" Crystal asked.

Lindel let out a laugh, "Do I ever!"

"The infernos were an awesome sight. They instantly began killing alliance by the dozens. The seeds that Mohania planted grew at the time that we predicted. The golems then started bashing down the wall. And, a group of demons from the north stormed the alliance town as well. I hope it makes up for some of the things that the alliance did to you the other day…" Crystal said.

"Did Mohania tell you I almost made a guy cut off his one penis?" Lindel said with a grin. Crystal started laughing and repositioned herself behind her so that her entire body was holding Lindel up. She put her arms around Lindel's stomach.

"He told us everything. You two had quite the adventure. I'm glad you made it back." Crystal said hugging her. Lindel held up her hand and squeezed her arm.

"I'm glad you made it back to hun. I'm glad that you got to see your plan unfold. I wish I could have been there." Lindel said with a smile on her face.

"There will be other times. Dan and I are already coming up with new plans…" Crystal said with a smile. There was a brief pause and then Lindel asked a question.

"Hun, when I possessed some of the alliance - I read their thoughts and feelings. Some of them were disgusting. Would you mind if I talk to you about it?"

"Sure." Crystal said.

"The two alliance that were mating, the male wanted to…" Lindel let out a sigh and then continued. "He wanted to put his penis in my butt and have sex with me that way."

"Eww!" Crystal said in disgust.

"I thought of other words for it, but basically yeah. Does that happen on your world?" Lindel asked. This time Crystal let out the sigh.

"Yes…it does happen."

"Have you ever…" Lindel began to ask.

"No!"

"If Dan ever asked…"

"No!"

"That's what I thought." Lindel said chuckling.

"Our world is somewhat corrupt. It seems like sex, power, and money is the basis for living. Not everybody though." Crystal said. "There are some good people in our world. It's nothing like your world though. Everything seems so perfect out here."

"It's taken years of war. It hasn't always been like this." Lindel said.

"Let me ask you a question Lindel. Why does everybody walk around naked, or with next to nothing on?" Crystal asked.

"It's a warm town, no need for clothes. Everybody respects each other. We don't have problems with lust…that is until I brought in Branzer, Bernett and Dan." Lindel said with a chuckle. "Dan's getting used to it though, he really loves you hun."

"I know he does." Crystal said with a smile. She hugged Lindel again.

Suddenly bells started ringing. Crystal and Lindel turned around and saw the entire group staring at them.

"Now just how long have you guys been standing here?" Lindel asked.

"Long enough…" Herrior said with a smile. "Come you two, church services have started." Herrior walked over and pulled Lindel to her feet.

"Are you ok to walk?" Herrior asked. Lindel closed her eyes and began concentrating. Her wings popped out of her back and she took to the air. "I'm feeling much better." Herrior nodded with satisfaction at her.

Dan walked over and reached out his hand to Crystal. She took it and pulled her up.

Skyka walked up to Herrior and embraced him. "Come you guys, you'll love the service." Skyka said.

"What about Mohania?" Dan asked.

"He's probably already there. They have a special place for him. And who knows, maybe his new undead family will be there as well…" Herrior said. They began walking for the cathedral with Brenna walking beside them. The fairies began making their flight through everybody. It seemed to recharge Lindel, and she started doing flips in the air.

Branzer's hearthstone began to buzz. He rolled over in his bed and picked it up. An image of a blood elf appeared.

"The King wanted to extend an invitation for you to attend our church services today."

"When?" Branzer said rubbing his eyes.

"A portal has been opened by your front door. It'll close in ten minutes." The portal closed on his hearthstone disappeared.

"Ten minutes…well I guess breakfast is out of the question…" Branzer said. He tried calling Bernett but all he got was static.

"The long eared guy is probably talking to him too…" Branzer said and hung up. He quickly got dressed in formal attire, shaved, and did his hair. He grabbed his stone and ran to the front door. Sure enough, there was a portal there. He stepped into it and vanished.

Bernett had the same message. He looked over at his wife hoping she didn't hear the blood elf talking. She was still in bed facing the wall. He quickly got dressed.

"Police stuff eh?" Samatha said. Bernett froze, unsure what to say.

Samatha rolled over. "Hun, I know something is going on. Probably something that I wouldn't and you don't understand either."

Bernett turned around and gave her an odd look as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

"I don't want you to lie to me so I'm not going to ask any questions." Samatha said firmly. "Let me know how Crystal is doing." she said and rolled back over and pulled the covers over her head. Sweat started beading up on Bernett. He nervously walked to his front door and entered the portal.

Both officers instantly arrived at the cathedral in Tranquil. It extended nearly as high as the clouds. Several large tauren's were checking over everybody before they walked in. They followed the line up to the doors. Both taurens extended their hands to both officers and said, "Not until your party arrives. Wait over here please." Branzer and Bernett walked off to the side and watched everybody, dressed in white glowing robes, stepping into the church.

"I think my wife knows something is up…" Bernett whispered to Branzer.

"I'm surprised she hasn't said something sooner." Branzer said unsurprised. "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing, she wouldn't let me get a word in. She wants to know how Crystal is doing." Bernett said.

"That makes two of us." Branzer said.

"Three of us…" Bernett said quietly.

Suddenly Lindel flew towards them at incredible speeds. She picked up Branzer and quickly flew away.

"I'll bring him back!" Lindel said as they disappeared. Bernett stood there watching them disappear into the city. He let off a smile and turned back around watching for Herrior and his group to show up.

Lindel flew him to the treasury and set him down. A goblin was standing there holding up a large orange crystal. Lindel took it from him and turned around to Branzer.

"This is a very rare gem. It's called an Ametrine. It's only found on certain worlds, and battles are usually fought over it." Lindel handed it to Branzer. His eyes lit up. It was circular at the bottom and large crystals shot out of its base. It seemed to make a humming noise.

"In the dark, if you rub it, it'll glow and sing to you. It makes a very beautiful sound. The King authorized me to give this to you, to increase our friendship between us." Lindel continued.

Branzer continued staring at it in disbelief. He had never seen a gem like this in his life. It weighed about five pounds and glittered everywhere when you turned it.

"I…can't…" Branzer said handing it back to her. "This is probably worth millions!"

"You'll take it or I'll zap you good. Obviously you can't be lugging this thing around with you; I'll place it on your bed for when you get home." Lindel quickly opened a portal and took the gem from him and reached through the portal. She dropped it in the middle of his bed. As she pulled her hand out the portal vanished.

"I don't know what to say…I didn't get you anything…I…didn't know…I can't afford…" Branzer said uneasily.

"You big lug, you don't need to get me anything." Lindel said pushing Branzer backwards. The goblin then handed her a ring. It had a enormous diamond on it. To Branzer it looked to be a 20 carat, with smaller diamonds on the band around it. Branzer looked at it and froze.

"This is for Bernett to give to his wife, calm down." Lindel said leaning over and kissed him on the cheek. Lindel put it in her pocket and began flapping her wings. She picked up Branzer underneath his armpits and flew him back to Bernett. She dropped Branzer next to Bernett. Branzer looked shocked.

"Has Herrior showed up yet?" Lindel asked?

"Not yet, seems like hundreds of other people are filing in though." Branzer nudged him on his arm to get his attention. Lindel knelt to one knee and pulled out the ring and gave it to Bernett. Bernett's mouth dropped and his eyes widened.

"This is for you." Lindel said.

"Holy…shit…look at that thing!" Bernett said slowly staring at it. Bernett looked up at Lindel and she winked at him. Bernett quickly became nervous and start stuttering.

"I'm…already…I'm…"

Lindel rose up to her feet and said, "It's for you to give to your wife silly. I just wanted to make you sweat." Lindel said laughing and gave it to him. Bernett and Branzer were both gazing at it in awe. Bernett held it in his hands and looked it over for awhile.

"Is it real?" Bernett asked.

"It's one of the smaller diamonds we find, but yeah it's real. I think your wife deserves something." Lindel said.

"This is one of the smaller diamonds…" Bernett said slowly.

"Err…I can find a bigger one…" Lindel said nervously.

"No! No…what is this for?" Bernett asked slowly.

"Eventually we'll have to make all of you immune to the alliance. The process will…hurt…but this is something that you can concentrate on. Bernett you have your wife to concentrate on and Branzer will have the Ametrine to concentrate on."

Bernett looked at Branzer. "What's an Ametrine?"

"I'll show you when we get home…" Branzer said still in shock.

Just then Herrior and his group showed up. "How do they like the presents?" Herrior asked Lindel.

"I think they like them…" Lindel shrugged and looked at the two officers.

"Guys, you didn't need…we can't accept…" Bernett began to say.

"Hush you." Skyka said and put her finger on his lips. "Lately we've been stressing you two out pretty good. Branzer has had to pay for things for Crystal. Plus he killed some alliance for us. We were commanded to reward you, and specifically what to get each of you. You have the King to thank. Personally I would have baked you both some bread…" she said winking at them.

Crystal than wiggled threw the group and jumped up on Branzer and kissed him on the cheek. She then pulled Bernett over and the three of them hugged.

"Tell Samatha I am fine. We are scheduled to come back to our world for a funeral service, to retrieve Bernett's nemesis, and to scout for the ship that's arriving. We'll be there for about a week, so we both expect you guys to show us a good time…ok?" Crystal let herself down.

"How did the attack go?" Branzer said quickly.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you…but we kicked ass!" Crystal shouted and Herrior's group cheered in delight. Branzer and Bernett both smiled at them, wanting to know more.

"Let's get inside everybody." Herrior said. They all walked into the giant building. It had dark red and purple curtains hanging from the walls, a dark red carpet running down the middle of the isle, and four rows of pews with around two hundred pews in each row. It had a sweet fragrance to it. Herrior walked down the isle, and chose a spot for all of them. The rest of the group followed them and they all sat down. The seats were very comfortable. Skyka hit Crystal to get her attention. Dan looked as well. Skyka pointed up in the back right corner behind them. There was a balcony that was almost completely black, void of any light. Mohania and his new seven family members stared at them. Mohania nodded his head towards them. Dan and Crystal turned back around and looked at Skyka. She winked at them and then grabbed Herrior's arm. Lindel walked in holding Branzer's arm and they sat next to each other.

After twenty minutes of commotion, the priest stood in front of everybody. Silence immediately fell on the crowd.

"First things first. The King has asked me to speak on his behalf. Something glorious happened in the past couple of days." Cheering started, but the priest held out his hand.

"Herrior's group has laid a mighty blow to our enemy. Crushing them in their very stronghold! They formulated the plan, timed it perfectly, and executed it with such precision that it was absolutely amazing!" the priest said. The cheering started again.

"Please rise and receive the recognition, Herrior! Skyka! Jacklyn! Quinely! Strings! Mohania! Lindel! And their latest two members, Dan and Crystal!" Herrior's group rose and the entire cathedral walls rocked with the cheering. Branzer and Bernett weren't sure what he was talking about, but they felt an over whelming sense of pride with them. Herrior and Skyka took a bow and then looked at the rest of their group. They all took a bow, even Mohania and his undead friends did up in the cathedral. The cheering and clapping continued for a solid twenty minutes. Even the priest was clapping.

Eventually the priest held his hands out for silence. Herrior's group seated themselves back down.

"We have new members in the cathedral that I would like to introduce. You all know by now, Dan and Crystal - please rise." The priest said. The clapping started again, but was quickly stopped as the priest continued to talk.

"Also with them are two men that fought beside Herrior and his group defending our wall. Please rise, Branzer and Bernett!" Lindel pinched Branzer's butt as he stood up. He jumped forward and swung around. Lindel winked at him as he smiled back. The clapping started up again.

"Please, fell free to introduce yourselves to them sometime today." the priest said.

"Now I would like to start off our service by singing in our hymnals, page number 362. Amazing Grace."

Lindel grabbed a hymnal and gave it to Branzer. "I'll be right back. I need to perform my duty."

The bards began to play the music, and Lindel, along with around a hundred others stood up and stretched out their wings. They took to the air and began flying in a circular pattern around the cathedral. The singing started, and it was the most amazing thing Dan, Crystal, Branzer, and Bernett had ever heard. They all looked at each other, hesitant to sing; afraid that they might make the rest of the song sound bad. Dan looked over at Trackolania and he wasn't singing, but he was following the words in the hymnal. He looked up at Mohania and he was in fact singing. The rest of his undead friends seemed to be singing as well. After the song ended, Lindel, as well as everybody else that was flying, quickly seated themselves back in their seats.

"So what do you think?" Lindel asked Branzer.

"Amazing!" Branzer said with much enthusiasm. They looked at each other and smiled.

The lesson that the priest was preaching on was about forgiveness. Dan and Crystal shared a bible as they were instructed to turn to Matthew 18:21-35.

The priest was real enthusiastic as an hour passed. Branzer pulled a pen out of the inside of his suit jacket and reached for his wallet. He found a blank piece of paper. He wrote on it:

"If we are going to be friends, no more reading my mind" with the word "mind" underlined. He poked Lindel who seemed absolutely entranced by the priest. She jumped and looked at him with a surprised look. He gave her the note. She looked curiously down at it and read it. She then looked back up at him with a smirk. She took the pen and began writing something on it and shoved it back into his chest.

"Only if you don't pull up my dress anymore…" it read. Branzer closed his eyes trying not to laugh. He looked at Lindel and she gave him a wink. Then she looked back at the priest.

Another hour passed as the priest finished up. He announced that if anybody wanted to come up to the alter and pray, or if they wanted a priest to pray with them, now was the time. Herrior's entire group got up and began making their way up the aisle. Dan looked at the remaining of them and shrugged his shoulders. They all looked at each other and were unsure what to do. Dan looked up at Mohania, but he and his undead were gone. Dan looked back and they just all stared ahead, as hundreds of people lined up to pray at the altar.

Thirty minutes later, Herrior's hearthstone began to glow. He had finished his prayer and was walking back. He sat down and pulled it out. A portal appeared and he saw the King. Herrior instantly stuck his head in and bowed.

"I didn't want to interrupt your prayer time. I apologize for interrupting your service. I have just been informed that an interesting even is happening at the gates that you and your group may be interested in seeing." Herrior nodded as he pulled his head out and the portal closed. Herrior then pointed at his party and then motioned for them to go outside. Branzer and Bernett followed.

A Chronomancer was standing outside. "I have been informed to take Branzer and Bernett back to their world." and had two portals opened. Both of them obviously didn't want to leave, they looked at Herrior.

"We'll be to your world later today. Prepare for our arrival. After we finish our business at the gate, Lindel will take us to Branzer's home." Herrior said and motioned for them to go to the Chronomancer.

"Branzer on the left, Bernett on the right." he said. They both entered and the portals instantly disappeared.

Branzer instantly ran up to his room and saw that the big orange gem was in fact, there. He walked over and peered into it with a smile. He turned off the light and began rubbing it. It started humming giving off a sweet sounding melody. It projected a series of tiny dots on the ceiling. The dots seemed to appear and disappear without any pattern to it.

Bernett appeared right in front of his door. He began walking up to his bedroom and saw his wife still in bed.

"Back so soon?" she asked in an upset voice.

"Branzer and I went to a church service." he said honestly. She slowly rolled over and stared into his eyes. She started to cry.

"Hun it's true, we did go to a church service." Bernett said and jumped on the bed to hold her.

"I know that you are telling the truth. But it's like we have separate lives right now. You are withholding so much from me right now. We used to tell each other everything. It seems like everything has changed." Samatha said in between her tears. Bernett held her.

Samatha wiped away the tears and asked, "So how is Crystal?"

"She seemed fine. Very excited about winning their attack, as she put it." Bernett said again telling the truth. Samatha nodded with a confused look. Bernett reached into his pocket. Samatha wanted to ask more questions, but Bernett started to fumble for something in his pocket.

"They wanted me to give you this." Bernett and pulled out the diamond ring to showed it to her. Samatha let out a loud gasp and put her hands to her chest and the tears instantly stopped. She was completely speechless. Bernett pulled her wedding hand forward and slide it on her ring finger. It fit snuggly on it.

"Bernett!" Samatha cried out. "How?"

"They just told me to give it to you. Dan and Crystal and everybody else said they were coming out to visit us today." Bernett again said in an honest voice.

"Hun, we can't afford this! Look at this rock!" Samatha started crying again.

"The lady who gave it to me said, and I quote, 'This is one of the smaller diamonds that they find'." Samatha looked up at him speechless.

"I can't accept this…" Samatha said and tried taking it off. Bernett grabbed her hands and held them up to his lips and kissed them.

"They insisted." Bernett said quietly.

Samatha then tilted her head and looked directly at Bernett. "Who is this, 'they'?" Bernett looked away and started rubbing his hands together.

"Ok. When are 'they' coming out." she asked.

"They had some work they had to do first. They said they would contact Branzer and we could come over then." Bernett said.

Samatha began to become upset. "If you say 'they' one more time…"

"Ok. All the people coming will look different from us. All of them are awfully jumpy. Don't let…err…them frighten you. All the people have a good heart." Bernett said choosing his words carefully.

Samatha looked at him with a confused look.

"It will all make sense once they…err…the people show up." Bernett said. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

"Bernett, I love and trust you. But it scares me a little."

"Hun, I was scared shitless when I first saw them." Bernett said and then wished he could take back those words. Samatha nodded. A long pause came between them.

"Hun, I think I'm pregnant." Samatha said.

"Oh?" Bernett said just as he had rehearsed. Samatha glared at him, "I think you already knew that…" Bernett looked away and nodded.

"Did these people do that?" Samatha asked.

"Two of these people's names are Skyka and Lindel. They are…err…doctors. They worked on you one night." Bernett said.

"They are not doctors, and they worked on me after they spiked my wine!" Samatha said. Bernett looked at her surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

Samatha sighed. "I want to meet them. All of them. Ok?"

"They are going to have a funeral for one of their fallen friends. We were instructed to wear black and bring black flowers." Bernett said.

Samatha nodded, "Then that is what we are going to do today." Samatha got out of bed, admiring the huge rock on her finger and then started looking through her dresses.

On the way to the portal, Herrior's group picked up their weapons. They grabbed Crystal's supplies and the card that Crystal has forgotten to give to Lindel. Herrior's group stepped out of the portal and he walked up the stairs while the others waited at the base. Crystal walked over to Lindel and gave her the card. "This is from Branzer. He was worried about you and wanted to give you something. He picked out a 'get well' card and asked us to give it to you." On the front was a teddy bear and some flowers. On the inside Branzer wrote, "Get better soon!" Lindel looked up at Crystal and smiled.

"He tries to act tough, but I think he's a big softy…especially for you." Crystal said. Lindel nodded and put the card in her cloak.

All of the ranged seemed to be posed to shoot at any time. Herrior got to the top of the stairs and looked over the wall. He was shocked at what he saw.

There were around one hundred alliance members at their wall. One of them in front was waving a white flag.

"What's the situation?" Herrior whispered to the tauren next to him.

"We were informed to keep them from running away. Our druid sensed them coming from several hundred yards away. The King told us not to do anything until you arrived. They are pleading for surrender and for us to take them in." Herrior turned around and motioned for his group to follow him. The rest of Herrior's group walked up the stairs and saw the alliance. Trackolania let out a loud hiss and quickly drew his crossbow.

"No!" Herrior yelled. The rest of his group had armed themselves as well. Mohania and all of his undead were right by him, standing just outside of their cave. They were hissing and clawing at the ground, just waiting for the command to attack.

A portal appeared showing the King on his throne. Herrior began to bow, but was instructed to stop.

"Herrior, get Quinely up in the air scanning for anything else in the area. We already have one druid scanning, but two is better. Have them both take a tree line." Herrior turned around and told Quinely what the King said. She instantly morphed into an eagle and started performing circles around the left tree line as the other druid took the right.

"I'm opening a portal and my banshees are going to start scanning them. Tell them to disarm themselves immediately!"

The tauren standing next to Herrior, who's names was Gord, gave the command to the alliance. They all looked at each other and then looked back up at them. The man with the flag said, "We are just farmers and families. We mean you no harm. Our fortress was attacked by demons and we ran here. Many of us didn't make it. Please, we mean you no harm!"

The portal opened and fifty banshees flew out and quickly started entering and exiting their minds. Once of the banshees marked a man with a star above his head.

"Kill that one Gord." The King order. Gord drew back his bow and fired it at the man. The arrow sailed in between his eyes, instantly killing him. He dropped to the ground and the alliance people started to scream. The man with the flag began pleading with him. Gord yelled at him to shut up.

"Mohania, go get the body." Herrior ordered. Mohania quickly jumped forward and began running on his feet. He picked up the body and began walking back.

"Show them his weapon!" Gord ordered. Mohania held up the man and drew out his sword in his belt.

"I gave an order to disarm! He didn't. This is how this is going to work. I will give an order and you will follow it, if you don't you will be killed. Is that understood? I will not waste repeating my words on you scum!" Gord said. The alliance started quickly empting their pockets and dumping out their sacks. Food, pictures, personal possessions, tiny knives, and farming tools feel out.

"Separate the magic users from the non-magic users." The King said.

"Listen up! Any of you that are magic users stand over by the left tree line. If you even think that you have a magic ability stand over there. If you have ever read somebody's mind, or moved an object with your mind stand over there!" Immediately twenty people moved over to the tree line on the left. The banshees quickly flew through the humans and confirmed that they had done as instructed.

"Now, tell them that any child under twelve years of age needs to go on the right side of the tree line and face the trees, even the babies." The King said.

"Your next command is to put your children under the age of twelve, including your babies, facing away from you on the tree line to the right!" Many of the alliance families looked at each other.

"Mohania!" Herrior yelled. His undead quickly leaped forward and many of the families began to scream. They quickly ran over to the tree line and left their children there. Mohania was closing in on a pregnant woman who started to scream. He leaped into the air with his mouth open and his arms reaching for her.

"Stop!" Herrior yelled. Mohania tucked down his head and flew into the ladies chest, knocking her to the ground. Mohania then put his head mere inches from the woman's face. His eyes were burning with fire and his mouth was giving off blue electrical sparks. The lady controlled her breathing so as to not scream, but her eyes were terrified.

"Mohania, she's pregnant. She can't put her baby over there."

"If I rip it out…she can…" Mohania yelled out in her face. She began to shake her head back and forth, absolutely terrified.

"Mohania…come back to the wall." Herrior commanded. He let out a big hiss into her face and then slowly walked back.

The children began to cry and move around. Gord and Herrior's group both focused their groups at the kids.

"Please! We come in peace! Don't kill them! Please!" The man with the white flag begged. The banshees moved in and out of the children. None of them appeared to be a threat.

"Now, tell them to strip. They have thirty seconds to strip down to nothing. If they don't meet the dead line, open fire. Move your melee groups out of the walls and position them on the left side, put the undead on the right side." the King said.

Herrior talked first. "Mohania, command your undead to take up positions on the right side of the adult humans." They quickly ran to their positions. Gord then gave the command for all of the melee to take up positions on the left side. Herrior's group opened up the large gate and took their positions along with Gord's group. The ranged all steadied their bows at their targets.

Gord spoke up. "Here is your next command. You all have thirty seconds to completely take off all of your clothes. If you don't, you will be killed. Melee, undead, ranged, Prepare to strike on my command! Alliance scum, your time starts now!" The undead all hissed at the alliance just waiting for the signal. The melee groups had drawn their weapons and were posed to strike. The alliance quickly undressed and threw their clothes on the ground. Some of them were having problems undressing and seemed to hesitate.

"You have ten seconds until I give the command!" Gord yelled. Finally all of the alliance was standing before them naked.

"Collect their clothes, set them off to the side. I will recall my banshees to my throne room. Then I will open a portal to our prisons. They are all to go there. On the way they may collect their children. The magic users I want left behind." the King said.

"Melee, undead! Collect all of their clothing and set them aside." All of the banshees flew into a portal and disappeared. Another portal opened.

"All of the non-magic users may collect their children and step into this portal. Do it quickly!" Gord said. The naked alliance quickly gathered up their children and ran into the portal. They instantly appeared in the towns jails.

"Tell Skyka to go get three blankets in Tranquil and bring them back out." The King said. Herrior gave the command to Skyka. She instantly ran into the portal and to Brenna's house. She grabbed the blankets and ran back out.

"Tell her to untie the orcs and heal their wounds. Then tell her that they may sleep, but are not to move from their spots." The King said. Herrior gave her the orders. Skyka quickly ran over to the orcs and quickly untied them. Then she casted a quick healing spell that healed the cuts the thin ropes had made on their arms. They all looked at her and smiled.

"I can kill you just as fast as I healed you, remember this. Here are your blankets. Lie down and sleep." Skyka whispered to them. Skyka then ran over to the gate.

The female undead walked up to Mohania and spoke into his ear. Mohania quickly ran over to a small gnome and pulled him forward.

"What is he doing?" the King asked.

"This one is a mage. I request that I take him into my cave so that my undead may learn his spells." Mohania said. The King heard the request and said, "Interesting. Ask Mohania if he could use any of the other magic users." Herrior relayed the information to him. Mohania then quickly ran back to his undead friends, holding the gnome in one hand by the neck, and quickly asked the undead in their language. They all nodded their heads.

"Only this one!" Mohania yelled up.

The gnome started to beg. "Please, I have a family! I mean you no harm!"

"You will teach my undead your magic, or you will hear the screams of your family for ages!" Mohania yelled at him getting into his face. The gnome began to quiver.

The King sighed. "Tell Mohania he is not to hurt him, and he is to release the gnome so that he can be jailed up as soon as all of his magic has been taught to his undead." Herrior relayed the message.

Mohania looked up at him and hissed. Then he slowly brought his hand up to the gnome's face.

"Mohania! Please do as the King instructed!" Herrior said in a stern voice. Mohania flung him to his seven undead new family, and they dragged him inside of the cave. The gnome was screaming the entire way.

"Gather up the clothes and bring them to the tailor. Make sure they aren't carrying anything explosive. Herrior, did Mohania detect any abnormalities with them?" Herrior asked Mohania the question. Mohania quickly shook his head.

"Have the druids detected anything?" Both taurens recalled their druids and asked them. Neither one of them detected anything.

"Once their clothes have been inspected, they are to be returned to the alliance. Each one is to be interrogated separately with a banshee. Anybody caught lying will be killed instantly. I will talk to the tailors and the jail masters. Gord, keep an eye out for any more alliance, keep me informed. Herrior, you and your group may go to Dan and Crystal's world. Tell Mohania to keep the gnome chained up for now as they conduct the funeral. Tell him that our guards will monitor the cave to ensure that he doesn't escape."

"Yes my King." Both Herrior and Gord said, as the portal vanished. Herrior ran down to the undead cave and yelled inside for Mohania. This time it took a minute for him to crawl his way out.

"The King said it is time for the funeral. Can you secure the gnome so he doesn't escape? Portals will be opened to Dan and Crystal's world. All of the preparations have been made per your request."

"He is chained to the wall, and our demons will guard him. He will not escape!" Mohania said with a smile.

"How much time do you need to gather your undead?

"Ten minutes."

"We will meet you out here when you are ready." Herrior said as Mohania crawled back into the cave.

"The rest of my group, come over here. We have a promise to keep!" They all ran down to Herrior's place right outside the warlock cave. They waited patiently. Skyka walked up to Herrior and asked if they should get the black cloaks from the tailor. Herrior nodded and told her to hurry.

Inside Tranquil Skyka screamed the announcement for the undead funeral. Brenna heard it and quickly started cutting her black roses. Skyka ran to the tailor and got the black robes that were prepared for them. On her way back, Brenna handed her the roses. Skyka thanked her and kissed her on the cheek. Nobody had assembled to go to the funeral at the portal. It made Skyka mad, but she flew through it.

She ran over to Herrior. Lindel had created a portal and the undead were starting to file through it. Herrior looked at her surprised and said, "Did you make the announcement?"

"Yes…nobody showed up…" Skyka said grinding her teeth. Herrior looked at the gate and let out an angry snort. All of the undead had made it through the portal, including Mohania. Then the rest of Herrior's group ran. The portal instantly closed behind them, and they were all in the middle of Branzer's fenced in backyard.

"Are they there?" Bernett had dialed Branzer up on the phone. "I had that…feeling…again." Branzer said he had too. Branzer started looking all over his house, even in the basement. He looked out the back window and let out a quick scream and turned around.

"They are all in my backyard! There's about fifty of them! Most of them look like Mohania…They are all dressed in black." Branzer said.

"We're picking up some things and then we'll be right there. I have Samatha with me."

"What?" Branzer asked in surprise.

"She wants to meet everybody, she was quite insistent." Bernett said turning to his wife. She was glaring at him.

"Tell him we're going to get a cake, and some black flowers. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Samatha said.

"I heard her." Branzer said with a sigh. "This is going to be interesting…"

"Ya, no kidding." Bernett said quickly.

"Ok, I'm going out to greet our guests. See you when you get here." Branzer said and ended the phone call. Branzer walked out his back door.

"Hi everybody!" Branzer said. All of the undead looked at him and let out a hiss. Mohania quickly turned around to them and began talking in the undead language. Herrior walked up to Branzer and embraced.

"I was expecting more." Branzer said. Herrior quickly lowered his head and let out a sigh. "Our city hasn't accepted the undead yet. It's a shame. Don't mention anything about that, tell Bernett the same." Herrior whispered at him. "I'm glad you and Bernett are coming though." Branzer looked away from Herrior. "Come, sit with us."

"There may be a problem…" Branzer said slowly. "Bernett's wife is coming."

"Oh? And why is she coming?" Herrior said with a surprised look on his face.

"She wants to meet everybody…I didn't tell her anything!" Branzer said defensively. Herrior nodded.

"My understanding is she figured it out on her own. Bernett just kind of filled in the details. She's a smart woman." Branzed said.

"She'll need to be scanned once she gets here." Herrior said.

"I don't think she's a threat." Branzer said.

"I don't want anything to endanger our group." Herrior said solemnly.

Lindel walked up to Branzer and pulled out his card that he bought for her. "Thank you for the card." She said.

"I didn't really know…what to get you…everything was one big secret." Branzer said sounding upset.

"Dan and Crystal did the right thing by not telling you. If you had been possessed by an alliance, they would have known our plans." Lindel said. "I'm sorry if this upset you. But they are both very loyal. This card is fine though. It made me think of you." She finished smiling at him.

Branzer smiled and nodded.

"Come; let me introduce you to Mohania's new friends. We rescued them on our last mission." Herrior and Lindel led Branzer to the middle of the yard. Branzer looked off to the side and saw a body wrapped up in cloth he had never seen before.

"Is that…Mohania's friend?" Branzer said pointing at it.

"Yes, put your arm down." Lindel said quickly. Branzer did as he was asked.

Herrior and Lindel sat down, and the rest of his group formed a circle around them.

"Mohania, Branzer is interested in meeting your new family." Herrior said softly. One of the undead, the same one that kissed Herrior, heard and understood Herrior. She slowly walked up to the human she hadn't seen before. She pulled her cloak off her head.

Branzer internally wanted to scream. She looked like a walking corpse. Branzer's face went white. Lindel pulled Branzer to his feet.

"This is Branzer. He has fought beside us against the alliance. He is a good man, he will not harm you." Lindel told her. She smiled at Lindel and bowed before Branzer. Branzer was still froze and unsure what to do. Lindel elbowed him in the stomach, and then slapped the top of his head. Branzer did a half bow back, and then realized that he was supposed to bow to greet the undead.

"My name is Kendall." She said in what sounded like an almost human voice. Her hair started to grow back; it was two inches sticking out of her skull and black. Patches of skin started to appear covering parts of her skull and body. A pair of blue eyes had formed in her sockets and seemed to be working. Branzer was really nervous but tried to hide it.

"Greetings Kendall, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Branzer said trying very hard to make eye contact with her. Kendall had a confused look on her face and looked at Lindel.

"He is happy to have met you." Lindel said and ruffled her hair on her head. Kendall smiled and let out another bow before she left. She put her cloak back on her head and walked over to Mohania and sat behind him. Lindel quickly turned to Branzer and gave him a sharp look.

"You need to learn to control your emotions! Her and the new undead have been tortured badly for the past couple hundred years…they are just now getting used to freedom and learning common speak!" Lindel quickly whispered.

"Sorry." Branzer said nervously. Lindel walked over and sat down next to Skyka. Branzer decided it might be best to sit by Crystal.

"The rest of the undead haven't picked out names yet…just Kendall…" Mohania said slowly. He snapped his fingers and a fire started in the middle of them. "They are deciding whether to keep their old names, or to come up with new ones. Kendall wanted to hold on to her old name." Branzer nodded. Branzer looked at the back of his yard and noticed that the rest of Mohania's undead minions were digging in the dirt.

"What are they doing?" Branzer asked with a hint of frustration.

"They are making a bed for themselves…" Mohania said as if he were in a trance. "They like the dirt here. Which is why I decided to bury their leader here."

"And it is an honor to have him here." Dan said looking at Branzer, hoping he wasn't going to ask more questions. "Have you picked out an area yet?"

"No. I trust you and Crystal may know of a good spot." Mohania said softly.

"My parents are buried in a cemetery, not too far from here." Crystal spoke up.

"It would be an honor to bury my brethren next to your parents." Mohania said looking up at Crystal. Crystal smiled at him. Herrior nodded as if he were agreeing with the conversation.

"How soon can we begin the process?" Mohania asked quickly.

"We would probably be better off waiting for dark to come. We need for Bernett to come, and then we can begin the journey. How far away is it Crystal?" Herrior asked.

Crystal seemed to think for awhile and then said, "About five miles south east of here. If we walk in a straight like, it'll probably cut our walk time in half. Which might be best, we don't want to attract attention to us." Herrior nodded.

Skyka got up and started passing out the robes and the flowers from Brenna. The entire group began putting them on, including Branzer. An extra one was made for Bernett, but not for his wife. Mohania asked who the flowers were from.

"Brenna. We've stayed in her house a couple of different times." Skyka answered back.

"Tell her thank you. I've also noticed that there aren't a lot of people from Tranquil here…" Mohania said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"They are still getting used to you guys hun, give it time." Skyka said with sympathy in her voice.

"If they don't accept us, why would the King accept us…all he wants is our power…" Mohania said, anger rising in his voice.

"Mohania, they like you. How long did it take our group to accept your kind? We were scared of you as well if you remember, but eventually we got used to your kind and helped you with every request you have asked of us…even if it meant getting us in trouble." Herrior said slowly. Mohania let out a grunt. The undead minions had finished digging their hole in the ground and they all laid on top of each other in it. Branzer looked at his watch.

"Bernett should be here anytime; we should probably greet them in the house." Branzer said standing to his feet, adjusting his new cloak. Herrior nodded, "Is your new friends going to come in as well?" Herrior asked Mohania.

"They better not. It is as hard for them to adjust to new humans as it is for them to adjust to them. I'll leave the fire burning though for them." Mohania replied. He got to his feet and chanted a spell and instantly transformed everybody into their same human illusions. Everybody went inside the house and took positions in the living room. The seven undead stayed outside and formed a circle around the fire and began to talk among themselves in their native tongue.

Eventually the doorbell did ring. Bernett was carrying a large chocolate cake with blue frosting around the rim of it.

"We didn't know what to put on it…so we just left it." Branzer took the cake from them and said it would be fine. He placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the living room. He then took their coats from them and hung them up in the closet.

Bernett turned to his wife and said, "Well I believe you have meet everybody before." Lindel's eyes quickly turned purple as she scanned his wife as Herrior requested.

"Who is that in my head right now?" Samatha asked calmly. Branzer and Bernett turned to each other. After a couple of seconds, Samatha began to ask the same question.

"I'm doing it." Lindel said standing up, her eyes returning to normal. "I was instructed to look for any of our enemies within you. I only scanned for their presence, then I left. I did not read any of your thoughts. I apologize if it caused you any discomfort."

"You've been in my head before…haven't you?" Samatha asked. Lindel quickly shot Herrior a concerned look. Herrior raised his eyebrow with concern.

"Not enough poison?" Herrior asked Lindel in his mind.

"No, she was out. I double checked before I did anything." Lindel immediately replied back in Herrior's head. "We gave her the proper dosage, and with the wine she consumed. There shouldn't be any reason for her to remember anything!"

"Is she possessed by demons or alliance?" Herrior said in his head.

"I don't anything controlling her." Lindel replied back.

"Mohania, do you sense anything?" Herrior said outloud breaking the connection with Lindel. Lindel sat back down. Mohania simply shook his head.

Samatha let out a sigh and looked at all of them. "Who are you people?"

"We're friends of your husband and Branzer. They helped us with a couple of missions, and our King instructed us to return the favor." Herrior said. "We are here right now, because one of our new friends has died and, his friend Mohania, requested that he be buried here."

"Why am I pregnant? What did you do to me? Is it even Bernett's?" Samatha said giving her husband a mean look.

"Hun, please." Lindel said rising from her chair. "It is your husbands, none of us would have interfered with your intimate time."

"The doctors said there was no way that I could ever become pregnant, since my last husband…" Samatha said with her voice trailing off. She turned away. Herrior immediately rose and pulled Skyka up with him.

"Lindel, who you sensed in your head, and Skyka, my wife, are healers. They can perform things that your doctors could never do. They restored your body back to working order. They would not have harmed you in anyway. It was Bernett's request, and his wish was granted by our King. He thought it would bring you happiness." Herrior said.

"It has, but it caused more questions than I have answers. I started listening in on my husband and with the way he talked sometimes, it only raised more questions. Which is why I was determined to come down here for myself and speak with all of you." Samatha said. She waited for a second and then continued.

"It might be my own paranoia, or the heightened senses that comes with being pregnant, but I sense that all of you are hiding something. Like you are all wearing masks, or disguises or something."

Herrior quickly turned to Mohania who was staring at him. "Did you…" Herrior began to whisper.

"I casted the right spell with the right amount of power…" Mohania glared at him back.

"Listen…I'm going to go upstairs and powder my nose in the little ladies room. When I come back, I want to see the real you…all of you. I have much to thank you, all of you, for and I want to do it in person." Samatha said as she headed up the stairs. Branzer and Lindel spoke up at the same time, but Lindel's words overpower his.

"Samatha, if you see the real us - there may be a chance that you and your baby could die. We are not from your world. Branzer nearly died when he touched the real me."

"Has Dan and Crystal seen the real you?" Samatha asked looking back at Lindel sharply.

Lindel let out a sigh and said yes.

"If they can, than I can." Samatha said and walked up the stairs. They heard the bathroom door shut. Everybody looked at Herrior. Herrior let out a sigh and nodded towards Mohania. Mohania said some quick words and everybody's illusion dropped.

"Herrior, do you really think this is a good idea?" Bernett asked with a worried tone.

"No. But she is asking sincerely with good intentions. We'll have to make her, as well as you two, immune to alliance possession tonight though." Herrior said.

"How long will that take?" Branzer asked worriedly.

"About ten minutes." Lindel answered back.

"Will it hurt the baby?" Bernett asked.

"No, the baby will not feel a thing. And the protection will be passed down from the mother to the child." Lindel said.

"But it will hurt?" Bernett asked. Lindel nodded. "We'll do all three of you at the same time, so there is no anticipation."

Herrior turned to Lindel and told her to drop her illusion. Branzer became nervous and looked away.

"Hun, you are going to have to get used to it if we are going to be friends." Lindel told him. "We're all wearing black cloaks, so you won't see my whole body. Just my face, and hands." Branzer nodded still facing away from her. Lindel dropped her illusion and instantly transformed into her purple banshee form. Mohania let out a smirk as he raised his black aura around him.

"Should I bring out one of my demons?" Mohania asked Herrior with a smile.

"I think she'll have a hard time handling us as it is Mohania…" Herrior answered back. Mohania started letting off an evil laugh.

"Branzer…look at me…" Lindel said in an eerie sounding voice that seemed to echo. Branzer turned to look at Dan and Crystal.

"This is the real her. Once you get used to it, you'll see the same beauty in her." Crystal said. Bernett looked at Lindel and let out a loud gasp and quickly turned back around.

"Bernett, you are offending me…" Lindel said chuckling in an evil tone.

"Sorry, I just never saw you like that before." Bernett said and slowly turned back around.

Branzer and Bernett looked at Lindel. Lindel gave them a smile, but it looked very sinister. She was floating off from the ground and was giving off a purple aura. They both noticed her sunken in eyes, the black snakes moving underneath her hood for her hair, her deformed mouth with teeth missing. Her nose was completely gone, except for two nostril holes where it was supposed to be. Her eyes were giving off a constant purple light.

"Lindel…" Branzer began to say.

"Yes…" Lindel answered back in her sinister evil voice.

"You…look beautiful." Branzer said. Lindel began to laugh in a high pitch squeal. It caused Mohania to smile.

"What happened to you?" Bernett asked.

"…long story…" Lindel said peering into their eyes.

Samatha stepped out of the bathroom and sat down on the stairs so that everybody could see her legs. "What was that laughter that I heard? Sounded like something out of a horror movie…"

"It was Lindel. I asked her to drop her illusion as well." Herrior said. Samatha hesitated and then asked, "Where you come from, do you need to have your illusions on?"

"Yes…" Lindel said very sinisterly.

"I am…not allowed in…" Mohania said in a very upset voice.

Herrior spoke up. "In our town, we usually don't wear clothes so as to not conceal ourselves at all. We have a very friendly town, and everybody respects each other."

Samatha immediately spoke up. "The people in your town don't wear clothes? Is that why you've been going there Bernett!"

"No! I can only go there when I am summoned…" Bernett said defensively.

"But when you do go, you probably get quite the eyeful, huh…" Samatha said very upset.

"Samatha." Crystal started off by saying. "When both of them come to our town, they are both fully clothed and are very uncomfortable with the town. Dan and I remain fully clothed in the town because we are not used to walking around naked. Nobody in the town seems offended by it. It is a different world than ours, just like they aren't used to our customs."

"So should I come down naked then?" Samatha was still annoyed.

"Hun, you are fine the way you are. Just remember that they will not harm you in anyway." Crystal said. Mohania began to chuckle.

"Who is that laughing?" Samatha said quickly.

"It's Mohania. He's fine. Don't let him scare you, he has a big heart." Crystal said glaring at Mohania. He smiled back at her. Samatha took a couple more steps down the stairs and then sat down again.

"So where are you guys from? The devil or something?" Samatha said trying not to be scared. She was wondering whether or not this was a good idea.

"No. Some of us are from different worlds. Just like Dan and Crystal are from different worlds. Samatha, are you sure you want to see us like this? I can ask Mohania to put the illusions back on us. I sense some hesitation in your voice. You do not have to see us like this." Herrior said very calmly.

Samatha looked down at her belly and put her hands on it. "You have given Bernett and I a chance at having a child. I am very grateful for that, beyond words. And now you guys give me a diamond bigger than I have ever seen. No! I want to see you. The least I can do is meet you eye to eye and thank you." Samatha rose up and walked down to the bottom of the stairs.

Herrior's group rose up on their feet. "Do not harm her in any way that is a direct order. If she faints, grab her." Herrior whispered.

"I'm not going to faint." Samatha said stubbornly. She finished walking down the stairs and looked at her husband. He half smiled at her. Branzer looked at her and smiled. Samatha walked over to Bernett quickly and grabbed his hand. Her palms were sweating with anticipation. She then dragged him over to the front door and started walking sideways.

She came up to Dan and Crystal first, both of them staring up at her curiously.

"So, hanging out with this group hasn't changed you two any huh?" Samatha said with a smile. She let go of her husband's hand and embraced them.

"Thank you." Samatha whispered to them.

"We were just doing what we were told to do. Our King rewards generously to those who help him. You really have your husband to thank for all of this." Dan said.

"Thank you for taking care of me in the hospital." Crystal said when Dan was done talking.

Samatha let go of them and looked at her husband and squeezed his hand. The next one they both walked up to was Jacklyn who towered over her. She looked down at Samatha. Jacklyn nodded at her.

"Which one are you?" Samatha asked.

"I am Jacklyn. I am a duel-wielding warrior." Jacklyn pulled her blades from behind her and put them both by her sides. Samatha looks at the swords and was impressed. Jacklyn puts her blades back and adjusts her position, as if waiting for Samatha to go by her. Samatha walks up to Jacklyn and puts her arms around her stomach and gives her a hug. Jacklyn looks down at her. Strings, who was next in line, gave her a nudge on her arm. Jacklyn slowly put her arms around Samatha, as Samatha thanks her. Jacklyn pats her on the back and Samatha looks back up at her and smiled.

Samatha walked in front of Strings. He was grinning from ear to ear. He reached out and took her hand and kissed it.

"My name is Strings my dear. I am a bard. I enjoy good music, good drinks, and riding on dolphins." Quinely let out a small laugh. Samatha embraced him with a smile, and told him thank you as well.

Next was Herrior and Skyka. Both of them decided to introduce themselves at the same time. Samatha looked from Strings to Herrior and jumped back a little.

"Easy little one. I am a tauren, so I appear different from you. Skyka, who helped heal you, is my wife." Skyka walked forward and hugged her. After they embraced, Samatha looked at Skyka's ears.

"I am a blood elf. Our race has long ears." Skyka said with a smile. "And my husband here looks like a big cow…" Herrior let out a snort and shook his head. His tusks moved up and down, which Samatha found amusing. They both started laughing. Herrior smiled at them.

"I am the leader. I have formed this group. I lead them into battle. Skyka and I are ambassadors from our world. We receive instructions directly from the King and his ambassadors. We help form bonds with people from different worlds. In your case, by healing your body and giving you gifts. Skyka and I formed a union a long time ago, or a marriage as you call it. Your husband has fought well with us. You should be proud of him."

"Who do you fight against?" Samatha asked curiously.

"The alliance and demons for now. We may have orcs eventually attack us. Our last attack, our scout spotted some of them. We also killed twenty of their kind to free Mohania's new friends. We are holding three of their, kids I suppose, hostage in our city. The King hasn't determined what to do with them yet."

"Are there alliance and demons in our world, or on Earth, or whatever you call it." Samatha asked.

"Yes there are. We were given orders to come here and perform the funeral services for Mohania and look for alliance recruiters. Another reason why we are here is to perform a ceremony making you, Branzer, and Bernett immune to alliance and demon possessions. It will benefit us by not having to sense you three all of the time for threats."

"Umm…will it hurt the baby?" Samatha said putting her hands on her stomach. Skyka stepped forward and grabbed her arm gently.

"The baby will have no idea what is happening. The baby will be safe. All of us will be right here beside you during the entire process. It'll only last about ten minutes."

"It's going to hurt, isn't it?" Samatha asked. Skyka nodded her head.

"We're going to do all three of you at the same time, and Lindel and I will constantly monitor all three of you. We would not do the process to just anybody. It's, essentially, another gift to you guys."

"Did Dan and Crystal go through the process?" Samatha asked.

"Not for Dan, he was born immune to them for some reason. He is also a time stopper, which made him even more valuable when we finally found him. We think the tumor in his head helped block him from becoming possessed. Crystal went through a process that made her immune to time stopping. During that process she also became immune to their possessions. Well, nobody is really immune to them…maybe that's a bad word for it…but it helps significantly in stopping the possession in the first place and helps fight them off very quickly. It is all automatic, you wont have to do anything. You'll probably not even know what's going on."

"Time…stopper?" Samatha asked.

"He can stop time. There are probably a lot more questions that you have, but we have to hurry. It's getting dark and we all have a long journey in front of us." Herrior said. Samatha nodded as she embraced both of them and said her "thank you".

Next was Trackolania. He simply stared up at her. Samatha smiled at him and asked him what his name was. He didn't answer back, just kept staring up at her.

"His name is Trackolania. He is a rogue. He doesn't talk much. Don't be offended by it." Strings said. Samatha nodded and leaned over and hugged him and thanked him. Trackolania looked over at Skyka who was about ready to nudge him. Trackolania wrapped an arm around her and patted her twice.

Samatha looked at Trackolania as she moved over to Mohania. She looked at him and instantly turned white in her face and lost strength in her legs. She started to shake and wanted to look away, but wanted to hold to her promise.

"I am Mohania, an undead." He said. Samatha tried to move towards him, but was so scared that she couldn't move. Mohania made his sunken in black eyes turn to fire and let out a grin. Samatha quickly screamed and looked away.

"Mohania…you are scaring her…" Crystal said with a stern look on her face. Mohania extinguished his eyes and walked forward and embraced her. Samatha nearly screamed again.

"What are you?" Samatha yelled. She could feel his bones around her body.

"It's a long story, but he is one of us. He is harmless, and will defend you." Herrior said. Mohania let go of here and stepped backwards. Samatha was still cringing, but looked up at him and said "Thank you". Mohania nodded at her.

Next was Lindel. Samatha was looking at the ground and noticed that she didn't have any feet coming out of her robe. She appeared to be just floating. She started to look up and saw that she had the features of a woman on her chest. Lindel raised her hands to her chest. Samatha saw that they were purple and ghostly looking. Blue bolts of electricity seemed to occasionally run through them.

"I am not a danger to you…" Lindel said slowly in her eerie ghostly voice. "We don't have to hug if you don't want to." Samatha shook her head and looked up at Lindel's face. Samatha's jaw instantly dropped and froze in place in sheer panic. Her eyes flew up in her head and she started dropping to the ground.

"Catch her! Turn her around!" Herrior commanded. Bernett quickly did as Herrior asked. Lindel turned back into her human form. She ran to the front of Samatha and quickly started scanning her.

"Shit…" Lindel said as she flew into Samatha's eyes and disappeared. Bernett stood back and asked what just happened. Skyka walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"We warned her hun. It's taken a long time just for you and Branzer to be able to look at her. It probably just over loaded her. She's in good hands right now hun, lay her on the ground and make her comfortable." Skyka said, and Bernett started to do so.

After a moment, Samatha began to mumble some words. Her muscles throughout her body began to twitch. Then she sat up and Lindel flew back out of her eyes. Samatha blinked several times and then shook her head. Lindel helped her to her feet.

"What happened?" Samatha said putting her hands to her head.

"You were starting to turn to stone. I intervened and stopped the process. I reversed the effects. You should be fine now." Lindel said.

"Is that…really what you look like?" Samatha asked. Lindel nodded and bent down to hug her.

"I'm sorry Samatha. But you wanted to see the real me. Branzer tried to kiss me once, I wanted him to kiss the real me, and it nearly sent him into shock. I am what I am. I keep the human form, because that is what I used to look like."

"I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did…" Samatha said apologetically.

"It's ok hun. I'm used to it. When I fight the alliance, I take on my banshee form most of the time. Unless somebody needs to be healed." Lindel finished as a portal opened at the back room. Several tall blood elves came out as well as three monks in gray cloaks. Crystal instantly glared at them and drew her weapons.

"Crystal!" Herrior yelled. She put her sais away.

"We need to start the process. Let's do it here in this room. The three of you lay down on the floor. Move this stuff out of the way." Herrior said as he started pushing the table out of the room. Jacklyn picked up the other end and moved it in front of the door. The three of them laid down on the floor. Each monk stood at their feet, the portal stayed open. Lindel walked over to Branzer who was on the left, and Skyka bent down next to Samatha who was on the right.

"Are we going to scream?" Samatha asked.

"Probably" Skyka said looking up at Lindel. Lindel looked down at Branzer.

"Concentrate on the gem that we got you. Remember how it looks. Recall all of its features. Bernett and Samatha, concentrate on each other. Try to keep your minds busy, it'll lessen the pain and make time go by faster." Lindel said.

The monks began to glow blue and held their hands in front of them.

"Wait! Wait, guys - is this going to be like what I went through?" Crystal nearly screamed. Herrior nodded his head.

"Dan, make sure the windows are closed and the curtains are pulled. Seal off this room as much as you can. I'll be right back." Crystal said running up the stairs.

"We haven't much time here…" the tall blood elf said.

"Crystal said to wait." Herrior said looking at him with a stern look. Dan hurried up and closed all of the curtains in the house. Crystal ran down the stairs with three towels. She threw two of them at Dan.

"Here, roll these up and cram it in their mouths." Crystal said as she began to roll up her towel. She opened up Samatha's mouth and shoved the towel into her mouth.

"Bite down on this." Crystal demanded. Dan did the same thing with Branzer and Bernett. Crystal stood up and said, "This is a residential area! We just can't have things like this happen and not draw attention!" Crystal looked at the monks and then stared down at the three worried people on the ground.

"I can't watch this; I'm going to go outside." She turned to the monks and said, "I hate you!" and stormed outside the front door. The monks did not move.

"You may begin." Herrior said. The three of them stared ahead at the monks. They all lifted their hoods at the same time, exposing their hideous and disfigured faces. All three of them began to scream. All three of the monks raised both of their hands and shot yellow streams of light into their eyes. Their screams increased into desperate cries for help - as if they were screaming for their lives. The streams of light turned into several different colors. Their skulls began to show through their skin. It looked as though their eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. They became bloodshot within seconds of the procedure. Eventually blood started coming out of their noses. Dan looked as if he was going to go after Crystal. He started walking towards the door. Herrior looked at him and shook his head.

Crystal walked out to the road. She could hear their screams from there. She looked around the neighborhood and it didn't appear that anybody else heard them. She put her hands over her ears to drown their voices. She started having flashbacks from her procedure and ran away from the house. She continued running until the screams faded into the background. She was in the middle of a corn field that had already been harvested. She fell to her knees and began to cry. She concentrated on Dan, just as she did before.

The group watched as the beams of light shot into their eyes. Lindel joined everybody's mind together, because of the screams they weren't able to talk.

"Dan, this is similar to what Crystal went through." Lindel said in her mind.

"Was she in this much pain?" Dan asked.

"The monks are only touching their minds. Crystal's entire body was blasted by them." Herrior said. Dan turned away, looking as though he was going to be sick.

"We need you to continue to watch them. They may start having seizures and need to be held down, Dan." Herrior said in his mind. Dan turned back around and watched the three of them wiggled around and scream in pain.

"Does the alliance have monks that do this?" Dan asked.

"Not that we know of." Herrior said back. Trackolania and Mohania just stared down emotionless at the scrumming bodies.

"I doubt it. These monks produce a lot of power. I think our scouts would have sensed it. That's why we took Crystal down to their chambers in the lower chambers of the city. It drowned out the screams, and shields the monks power." Lindel said.

"Only a couple more minutes. So far I'm sensing that they are doing ok." Skyka said in her mind.

"How can you tell? It sounds like they are dying." Dan said in his mind.

"So far their clothes haven't caught fire, they seem to be controlling their bowels, and there is no significant blood." Skyka said back.

Several minutes passed and the monk's beams of light turned to blue. This didn't seem to cause them any pain. All three of them just laid there breathing hard out of their noses, still biting down on their towels.

"It's almost done guys; the pain should be letting up. They are just testing their work right now. Just try to relax." Skyka said out loud. Some muffled words started coming out of the three of them.

"Shh…just relax guys. All of us are still here. You all did just fine. Try to control your breathing." Lindel said calmly.

The monks stopped channeling and recovered their heads. The three of them and the Chronomancers that came with them disappeared into the portal. Lindel and Skyka pulled the towels out of their mouths. All of them were gasping for air.

"Just relax guys, slow your breathing. You are not in any danger." Herrior said softly bending over them.

"What…the…hell…just happened!" Branzer asked in between breaths.

"You won't notice any difference in your mind. The monks did their jobs. Any alliance or demon that tries to possess you will have a lot of difficulty doing it. And if they do, your minds will fight them off almost instantly. You shouldn't notice any of it. Just calm yourselves. The pain is over. I need you guys to stand on your feet when you are ready."

Lindel and Skyka wiped off the blood from the three of them on the floor and tossed the towels aside. Lindel grabbed Branzer's hand and tugged on him to stand up. Skyka did the same thing to Samatha.

"Did it hurt our baby?" Samatha said sitting up looking down at her belly.

"No dear. Your baby does not know what you just went through. Your baby will have the same powers that you now possess, and then the baby's offspring will have the same and so forth. They do not have to go through what you just went through." Lindel said holding Samatha. Herrior reached down and pulled Bernett to his feet. He hung on to him until he seemed to be stable on his feet. Branzer and Samatha rose to their feet as well.

"Mohania, go get the undead and bring them in. You may get their leader as well. It is time." Herrior said. Skyka grabbed the black roses and began handing them out. Mohania opened the back door to get the body.

"We've never been to one of these before, so do what Mohania does. This means a lot to them, as it would for us. Don't talk during the ceremony. Crystal said it was a couple of miles away. Once they are ready, we'll let them lead the way." Herrior said quickly.

"Wait, are we walking?" Samatha asked. Herrior nodded. Samatha sighed and took off her high heels. She turned to Branzer and asked, "I don't suppose you have any women's shoes, do you?"

"I have some old slippers that might work." Branzer said and went to get them.

Mohania walked in the back door with his new seven friends, and the rest of the undead crawling behind him. Mohania was carrying the wrapped body. He opened the front door and walked out. The rest of the undead followed, all concentrating their focus on Mohania.

"How many of those creatures are there?" Samatha whispered.

"Only thirty seven that we know of. There's probably more out there somewhere. And they are called the undead." Herrior said.

Branzer began to run back into the room and saw that the undead in front of him.

"Whoa…sorry guys." Branzer said stopping himself from running into them. The undead didn't notice him. The end of the line came and Branzer quickly ran over to Samatha.

"They are too small for me. Sorry, they aren't the most fashionable." They looked to be her size, but they appeared to be very old and worn out. Samatha thanked him quickly as she stuck her feet in them. She dropped her high heels by the door and walked out with the rest of the group.

Herrior turned to Quinely. "Where is Crystal?"

"She's in front of us about fifty feet." Quinely replied back quickly. Herrior then turned to Dan and told him not to ask her any questions. Dan nodded.

Mohania and his undead caught up with Crystal in no time. The sky was dark and there was a full moon out, lighting their path.

"Can I walk with you for awhile, Mohania?" Crystal asked with tears still in her eyes.

"That is fine." Mohania replied back. Crystal got up off from the ground and kept pace with him.

"I don't want anybody to ask any questions about what I just did…" Crystal said wiping her eyes.

"They wouldn't…but I would enjoy your conversation if you wish…" Mohania said sadly.

They all walked in silence for about a hundred yards. Crystal finally spoke up.

"Mohania."

"Yes?"

"I hate those monks…" Crystal said. Mohania let out an evil chuckle.

"I didn't think I would ever have to see them again. It brought back a lot of…bad memories." Crystal said looking off to the side.

Mohania nodded and said, "I'm listening."

"Has anybody else gone through what I did? Lindel said she went through a similar process." Crystal asked.

"Lindel went through the conversion process from alliance to joining our kingdom. The monks blasted her body, but it only lasted a couple of days. Not as long as yours was. Most of it was her making promises to the King. His banshees sucked every memory from her mind and gave them to the King; she did volunteer a lot of information on her own though. The King saw what she went through, what the alliance did to her and felt sympathy for her. The banshees continued to read her thoughts for the next week, as she studied to become a Chronomancer. That's the class that she choose. After a year of studying the arts, she was accepted as a resident of Tranquil. It was about that time when she choose to take on her human form. The longer she stayed in the town, the more her powers grew. No group would accept her though, coming from the alliance and all. Finally Herrior said he would." Mohania answered.

"Huh…" Crystal answered. She took it all in and then asked, "It sounded like she went through more than just that."

"Having the banshees probe you're every thought, you're every feeling, that you had for your entire life, and the life you had before that, can be quite hard - bringing up old repressed memories, images, regrets, thoughts. From what I hear it was very hard for her." Mohania answered back.

Crystal nodded and looked away.

"Has anybody survived being blasted, or whatever you call it, by the monks as long as I was?" She asked.

"Some have, but it is rare. Most of them just died on the table. Some may have lived a couple of days and then died. They had a few, one was with us actually, that lived. She looked very similar to you. She was killed in battle. Skyka and Lindel were not able to resurrect her." Mohania said in a sad voice.

"So what makes me so special?" Crystal asked.

"From what I understand, you were on the brink of death. You have a strong spirit though, and your love for Dan helped pull you through. Lindel spent a long time bringing your mind back to normal." Mohania paused for a second and then said. "You should be talking to Dan about this. Your bonding with each other needs to increase."

"I don't think he would understand." Crystal replied back. "I feel like the only one that understands is Lindel, and I feel comfort in talking to you, though I don't know why." Crystal said smiling up at Mohania.

"I sense he is eager to know. He is a good listener." Mohania replied back emotionless. Crystal walked back to Dan and they shared a smile as she put her arm around his.

They all finished walking through the field, and crossed a road. They trotted through somebody's yard and continued in the same direction. They went through a small wooded area and then back into an open field. The full moon was directly over head now. Herrior's hearthstone started going off. He pulled it out and stuck his head in the portal. He saw the King and Queen in their chambers. Herrior immediately bowed his head.

"Herrior, something interesting is again unfolding just outside our wall. Our scouts have detected a single human approaching our wall. He seems to be all alone. He is wearing the clothes of an ambassador, and is waving a white flag. Tess's group is guarding the wall right now. I think it might be amusing for you guys to watch."

"Thank you my King." Herrior said.

"Form up your group and I'll create a portal right above you guys to see. You are dismissed." Herrior pulled his head out of the portal.

"Mohania! Come back and join us. Everybody close in together and lay on the ground. Apparently we're going to get a free show. An alliance ambassador is approaching our wall waving a white flag." Herrior said chuckling. Herrior's group all laid down at the dirt facing up at the stars. The undead all laid down next to Mohania, and Branzer, Bernett, and Samatha laid down next to Dan and Crystal. Samatha began to complain about getting her dress dirty, but laid down with the rest of them.

A large white portal formed about six feet above them, was circular in dimension, and spanned the entire length of the group. It showed Tess, a large female tauren, standing on the top of the wall with a bow pulled back.

"Tess is the leader?" Branzer asked. All of the females slowly rose up and looked at Branzer.

"Is there a problem a female being a leader?" Jacklyn asked slowly.

"No! No, I just…I meant…I didn't mean that. She just looks pretty…and…"

Lindel's eyes became a dark purple and blue electric charges began spraying out.

"No, no…that's not what I meant either…" Branzer said raising his hands.

"Human, this might be a good chance for you to sit down and shut up." Tess said in a voice that sounded as if she could start laughing at any time.

"Good advice, I would follow it." Herrior said. Branzer quickly laid back down and said, "Sorry." feeling like a complete fool. Samatha reached over and smacked him in the stomach.

"That's for all of the women in the group…" Samatha said with a grin.

They all could see another portal on the opposite side of Tess. They all assumed that it was the King.

"That's far enough!" Tess shouted. The human male stopped. He was dressed in lavished clothing and had a white sash over his shoulder. He was indeed holding a white flag in one hand.

"I am an ambassador from the alliance. I wish to speak to your King!" he shouted.

"That's not going to happen!" Tess shouted back.

"May I come closer? I am no threat to you. Besides, I know that I am out of your arrow range…" the man shouted with cockiness in his voice.

Tess released her arrow. The portal showed her extending her hand, a goblin throwing an arrow into the air and her catching it to reload her bow. Then the portal showed the arrow flying through the air. Trackolania jumped up to his feet, drew his crossbow and started jumping up and down in joy.

"Come on, hit him in the head!" Jacklyn yelled.

"Hit him in the balls!" Lindel yelled almost at the same time.

"Carve out his heart with it and force him to watch you eat it as he slowly dies!" Mohania yelled.

Dan turned to Quinely. "Has he done that before?"

"Yup" Quinely answered.

The arrow clipped the ambassador's left ear, sending out a stream of blood. The arrow then landed several yards behind him. The ambassador lifted his hand to his ear and felt the blood.

"You fool! Do you know who I am?" He shouted.

"Obviously you don't know who I am, or what I am capable of doing!" Tess shouted back. "You may walk forward one hundred yards. If you so much as breathe too hard, I will put an arrow through your skull!"

The ambassador was obviously frustrated and began walking forward. He didn't notice the bird in the dead tree to his left staring at him. He walked within normal talking distance and Tess ordered him to stop. A small rogue, similar to the size of Trackolania, came into the picture holding a crossbow and aiming it at the man.

"Melee, surround him!" Tess ordered. The gate opened and three large male tauren came running out towards him. The first one had a shield and a sword, just like Herrior did. The second one had two huge maces in both hands. The third had a large sword in his right hand. Two male blood elves ran out behind them. The gate quickly shut behind them.

"I am no threat, this is not necessary!" the ambassador ordered. The tauren's mighty hoofs pounded on the ground as they increased in speed. The three of them soon surrounded him, and the blood elves stood at a distance behind them.

"It may not be, but it is amusing for me to watch you sweat. Traq! Do you sense anything?" Tess screamed out.

"No, he is alone! I don't sense anything around!" the bird in the trees answered back.

"Come to me!" Tess commanded. The bird took flight immediately. He dive bombed the ambassador, coming inches from his head and pooping directly on his head. Herrior's group began laughing immediately. The druid then flew over to Tess's shoulder and landed on it.

"Why don't you do that Quinely?" Skyka asked.

"I will from now on!" Quinely said between laughing.

"This is an insult! I will not stand for this!" The ambassador yelled.

"I could have my tauren force you to your knees if you aren't comfortable standing…" Tess yelled back. The ambassador wiped off the fresh bird poop and began to recompose himself.

"I am here for diplomatic reasons. I need to speak with your King immediately! I assure you, after he hears what I have to say, he will probably banish you from his kingdom for insulting me!"

The portal on Tess's left side showed the King rolling his eyes. "Alliance…" he said in a frustrated voice.

"I have yet to begin the insults! You do not scare me little man. I could give the command and my tauren would crush your skull in an instant!" Tess yelled.

"Do it…do it…do it…" Mohania started chanting.

"Tell me why you are here? I will consider telling my King." Tess said, still not letting on that the King could hear their every word.

"I was sent here by our Majesty himself. Demons have over-run our fortress. If they destroy us, then they will hunt down and attack you next!" the ambassador said.

Herrior's group began to cheer. Tess restrained herself really hard.

"Demon's do not concern us…" Tess said.

"If they are capable of destroying our forces, then they are capable of destroying your forces!" the ambassador yelled.

"Maybe…if your men weren't having sex with each other, they would be more capable of defending your fortress!" Tess yelled down at him.

Herrior's group all pointed at Lindel and shouted, "Lindel!" and began to laugh. Lindel blushed and stood up. She let out a small bow and sat back down.

The ambassador looked shocked. He began to say something, but immediately stopped himself.

"I am requesting a truce between our cities. Form up to destroy these demons! I know that they battle you as well."

The King immediately said, "No." in a calm voice.

"Demons do not concern us…like I said before we can handle our own. What does concern me is why your so called 'alliance' has attacked us three times in the past week! Answer for that! And now you request a truce? What you speak of has no honor to it! We have not attacked you!" Tess said angrily and pulled back her bow even further.

"Do it…do it…do it…" Mohania started chanting again.

The ambassador sighed and looked to the side. He slowly looked up at the nine foot tauren with the maces. He was growling and gnashing his teeth.

"I wish to formally apologize on behalf of our Majesty. What we did was wrong." The ambassador said.

"And I assume that if we did the same to your races, you would be just as easily taken in by one of our ambassadors?" Tess asked.

"She's good." Herrior whispered to Skyka. Skyka nodded back with a smile on her face.

The ambassador looked up at her and said, "No, we probably wouldn't. I ask that you show mercy on us. I have been authorized to give you gifts and to give you more if you desire." The ambassador pulled out a bag of gold and gems. He began to lower them to the ground.

"Stop him!" the King yelled. Both Tess and her rogue fired their arrows directly in the path of where the bags were going to be dropped at. The ambassador immediately stopped and raised back up.

"His gold is tainted with alliance filth. Don't accept one coin from him." the King said.

"It is merely a gesture of goodwill between our races." the ambassador said.

"If he drops even one coin or gem on the ground, chop his head off and bring it to me!" Tess commanded her group. The druid flew off from her shoulder and morphed into a lion. The taurens readied themselves.

"Our scouts report that you were massing an enormous force at your gates, before the demons or whatever you call them, attacked. And just what were you planning on doing with them?" Tess asked.

"How did you…" the ambassador asked curiously but immediately stopped himself.

"What were they commanded to do!" Tess yelled. The ambassador looked nervous.

"They were coming to attack us, weren't they?" Tell yelled.

"I…am not at…liberty to say…" the ambassador stuttered. "What we do with our forces is not your concern." It was obvious that he was lying.

"Should I release our banshees at you? I can get the truth that way, you worthless piece of alliance scum!" Tess became very angry. "They will tell me what I want to hear, and then slowly kill you from the inside out. You will be begging for me to give you a quick death!"

Mohania began jumping around. "I'll do it! Open a portal; I'll give him a slow death! I promise to make it painful!" Herrior raised his hand for Mohania to settle down.

The ambassador let out a sigh and dropped to his knees. He put his hands together, and looked up at Tess with sincerity.

"Please, we are in need of your assistance! Hundreds of innocent peasants are being killed. We cannot defend them. Women and children are being slaughtered. Please, we know that you fight honorable. Help us! We fought side beside together once. Let us do it again!"

"I possessed your women and children!" Lindel said chuckling. "And I would gladly do it again! I say we kill him!" Herrior's party began to cheer.

"His intentions seem pure, but he seems to be holding back something. If we do fight off the demons, I sense that they would attack our groups." the King said quietly.

"So if we help you, and by helping you I mean we would be doing all of the work while you filthy scum run around with your pants around your ankles, forcing to have sex on your peasant women - I sense that you would turn on us, after we fight off your demons. I have not heard anything that would lead me to believe that we could trust you. Your ways are perverted and disgusting! I think you are getting what you deserve!" Tess said back.

"Inferno's dropped out of nowhere…" the ambassador said.

"I did that!" Mohania said laughing.

"Doom guards grew out of our very own kind! We slaughtered people thinking that they were possessed by these beings!"

"We did that!" Mohania said still laughing and looking at Lindel. Lindel started laughing.

"Hey! It was our plan!" Crystal said and joined in the laughter.

"Then metal golems began attacking us out of nowhere."

"I did that!" Dan said jumping up with a smile.

"Additional demons continue to pour in. We summoned every ally that has every pledged their allegiance to us. We still, to this hour, fight for our very lives! Our very existence!"

"Let's hear it for Dan and Crystal!" Herrior yelled. Everybody cheered, even Bernett and Branzer. Samatha was still unsure what was going on.

"So why don't you continue to possess people from other worlds and have them fight for you? It seemed to be working for you so far…" Tess said glaring at him. Again the ambassador questioned in his head how they knew that.

"Be quiet for awhile. I need time to think." the King said. "In the mean time, tell him to strip."

"Take off your clothes!" Tess yelled.

"I will not!" the ambassador replied back.

"Melee, I have given a command." Tess said. The taurens put their weapons behind them and started tearing at his clothes, roughing him up pretty good in the process. Eventually the ambassador stood there naked before Tess.

"Alliance always has the smallest penis's." Skyka said. The entire group burst out in laughter. Tess let out a quick chuckle and then stared at Skyka. Skyka waved back. Tess quickly recomposed herself and sighted in the naked ambassador with her bow again.

"Why do you…" the ambassador started.

"Shut up! I will tell you when to speak!" Tess said.

"This is all very amusing, but some of what the naked man, with the small penis as Skyka has pointed out, says is true. It would be good to judge the strength of the demons. Many of our groups become bored guarding the same wall over and over. It would also be amusing to watch the alliance suffer. I seriously doubt the situation is as bad as he says it is. The alliance are powerful and fighting off a couple of demons shouldn't be a hard task for them. I know he is lying and holding out on us. I do not trust him, and I sense that you do not trust him either Tess. Tell him we'll send our scouts over and survey the situation. If we determine that it is as bad as they say it is, we'll journey to a halfway point. If they make any aggressive acts towards us, then the deal is off. Also, cloth him in our ambassador clothing and send him away." the King smiled and then his portal closed. Tess relayed the information to him, and sent one of the blood elves away to the tailor in Tranquil to get the clothing.

Moments of silence later, the blood elf came back and gave him the clothing. He quickly put it on and left in a hurry. Once he was out of sight, Tess turned to Herrior's group's portal and said, "You guys make it very hard to concentrate sometimes…" with a smile.

"It was our pleasure." Herrior answered back with a smile. Tess winked at him and closed the portal.

Suddenly a small portal opened up right next to Skyka, and an arm with a blue glowing bag stuck out.

"The King says to enchant Crystal's weapons. Give her Lifeward, and Battlemaster." Skyka grabbed the back and the arm disappeared back into the portal as it closed. Skyka opened the bag and looked inside of it. Instantly lights of every color poured out of the bag. Skyka started looking over the contents of it and smiled.

"Crystal! Come here hun, I've got a present for ya." Skyka said with a smile. Crystal ran up to her.

"Give me your sais. The King decided to give you a few upgrades." Skyka said. Crystal pulled out her sais and handed her the left one first. Skyka pulled out four green glowing orbs and a large sparkling crystal. She then pressed all of the materials into her hands and started chanting a spell. Almost instantly, all of the ingredients were absorbed into the sai. It glowed a bright white. Skyka handed it back to Crystal.

"What did you do?" Crystal asked.

"I switched enchants for ya, you had the learning enchant on it before. The King thinks your training is over and we can put something else on for ya. This enchant is called Lifeward. It'll sometimes heal yourself in combat, if you are hurt. The next one…" Skyka motioned for the other one. Crystal handed it over, "is a new one that we just learned ourselves. It's called Battlemaster. It'll often heal our group when you strike a target. So now you can be a healer just like Lindel and I." Skyka said with a smile. Skyka dropped the sai in the bag and began chanting the same words that she said before. The contents of the bag were sucked into the sai, revealing only the impression of the weapon in the bag. Skyka pulled the sai out and it was glowing white as well, only had sparkles falling down from it. Skyka pulled it out and gave it back to Crystal. "Have fun with it hun." Skyka said.

"Let's go everybody." Herrior told his group getting off from the ground. Samatha was full of questions and seemed to be grilling Bernett.

"Where's the graveyard at Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"It's on top of that hill, maybe one hundred yards away…" Crystal replied back and pointing to the East.

"Silence everybody; please observe the undead's ceremony." Herrior said and began walking. Everybody became quiet as they finished walking the rest of the way.

They all came to a black iron fence surrounding the cemetery. Herrior pulled out his sword and was about to crush the fence when Crystal yelled at him.

"It's a small fence, only about four feet off the ground. I don't want to desecrate the cemetery. Can we just jump over it?" Crystal said as she grabbed the top of the fence and flung her legs over. The undead began crawling on their hands and feet up and over the fence. Dan did the same thing as Crystal did and made it over the fence as well.

"I think Jacklyn and I would crush it…" Herrior said observing what Dan and Crystal were doing. Suddenly both of them were levitating. Lindel floated to Herrior and pulled him over the fence, while Skyka was directing Jacklyn over. Quinely morphed into an eagle, flying over it with ease and changing back to her normal self. Trackolania walked up to the fence, instantly disappeared and reappeared on the other side. The rest of them made it over the fence without any problems, except for Samatha who stood there agitated.

"I'm wearing a dress! I can't do that!" She said. Skyka instantly turned around and began to levitate her. Samatha let out a cry of shock as she was lifted up and over the fence.

"My parents are located over in section C, just over there." Crystal said pointing to the location. She led the way as Mohania carried the body.

"What happened to them?" Dan asked softly to her.

"Drunk driver hit them. Both were killed instantly. Luckily the driver was killed to or I would be hunting him down…" Crystal answered. Dan nodded and decided it was best to not ask any more questions.

Crystal walked up to the tombstone and dropped to her knees. The tombstone read "Our beloved parents, Art and Cynthia Candy. 1960-2010." It then had an angel in the middle of it.

"Hi mom. Hi dad." Crystal said to the gravestone. "This is Dan. He saved my life. We've become, sort of attached." Crystal said looking up at him. She looked back down at it and continued talking.

"I guess I'm not really a cop anymore. I guess you could say that I'm 'Superwoman' trying to save the world, or worlds, or whatever." She paused for a second. "I've meet some new friends, they have taught me a lot." She paused a moment longer. "I really miss you guys. I wish you could see me now. I doubt if you would understand what I'm doing, hell I don't most of the time, but I think you would be proud of me." Crystal said reaching down cleaning off the gravestone of debris. "You're going to have company next to you, I hope you don't mind. He was one of Mohania's friends. He is a good guy." Crystal stood up, her emotions welling up inside of her. "I'll come back and visit you soon." Crystal turned to Mohania. He pointed to the ground to the side of the grave." Crystal nodded wiping away a tear.

Mohania spoke a command in the undead tongue, and all of the undead started immediately digging.

"Mohania, do you want us to help?" Herrior asked, but was quickly cut off by Mohania's answer, "No."

Herrior motioned for his group to stand back and let the undead dig their hole. In a matter of minutes, the hole was about four feet deep. Mohania placed the body in, along with a soul shard from his cloak. The shard glowed its eerie purple light as it was buried back up by the undead. The undead were careful to put the grass back in its correct place so that it wouldn't look like the earth was disturbed. The undead then surrounded the grave in a circle and began mourning. Everybody bowed their head in reverence. A huge portal opened above the grave. The King and Queen were seen briefly, and then the scene switched to Tranquil and hundreds of citizens were looking down at the undead.

After a couple moments of mourning, they stopped and each other began to speak something in the undead tongue. When it got to the seven undead that were caged along with him, each one talked for several moments. Then it was Mohania's turn to say something. The only words that the group could make out were "alliance" and "demon seed". The undead then made a semi-circle around the dirt and looked up at the group.

"Each of you may say something now." Mohania said in a low tone. He looked up and saw the citizens of Tranquil were watching. It warmed his heart, but tried to show no emotion.

Herrior and Skyka walked forward holding hands. Being ambassadors they wanted to show their appreciation for him. They both leaned down on the grave and set their roses on top.

"You have helped us brave one. Because of you, we launched a mighty attack to your enemies. I hoped we have avenged you. I swear to help Mohania look after your friends. Sleep well brave warrior." Herrior said patting the ground.

Skyka bent over and kissed the ground and whispered, "I did not have the pleasure of knowing you, I wish I would have. Your undead friends have survived because of you. You will live on through them. Your legacy will not be forgotten brave one. You have fought well, now it is time for you to rest. Sleep well brave warrior."

Herrior and Skyka both rose to their feet at the same time, their hands still intertwined. They both nodded towards Mohania and he nodded back. Then they walked back to where they were standing. One by one, the rest of the group said their "thank yous" and "good-byes". Soon a small pile of black roses formed over the freshly dug area. Strings said he would have a drink honoring him. Jacklyn promised to crush an alliance's head with her bare hands for him.

Dan and Crystal approached holding each other as well. They both bent down and placed their roses. Crystal spoke up first.

"If it weren't for you, our plan would not have worked so well. It is because of you that we landed a mighty blow to the alliance. We are in your debt. Please keep my parents company." Crystal said and looked at Dan.

"Hi." Dan said unsure how to start out. "I was told that you suffered greatly because of the orcs. I was told that you were able to see us crush them. We are taking care of those you fought dearly for. They are recovering very well. They are in good hands, Mohania is the best undead…eh…person we know. It will be an honor to fight with them side by side one day. You have done your job; we will take it from here. Rest in peace brave warrior."

Both of them rose and walked back. Samatha was crying, she walked up with Bernett and Branzer, Lindel was holding Branzer's hand.

Samatha gently placed her rose on the ground. She patted the dirt and smiled. She looked up at Mohania, now unafraid of him, and gave him a smile. Mohania nodded at her. Bernett and Branzer placed their flowers and then rose to their feet and saluted the ground - both of them really unsure what to say.

Lindel bent down to the ground and kissed it. "I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner. We would have done everything in our power to save you. But your spirit was released and your pain is over now. Sleep well brave warrior." Lindel got up and walked back over and grabbed Branzer's hand.

After the group had said their good-byes, they could hear singing coming from the portal overhead. It was the citizens of Tranquil, singing a memorial song. Then from out of the portal the King's voice could be heard.

"I am sorry about your loss Mohania. I have commanded our scouts to search for undead. I wish him the best in the afterlife." Then the portal closed.

Mohania stared at the ground for the longest time. Finally he said, "I could have saved him…" Lindel and Skyka immediately walked over to Mohania and embraced him. The seven undead also embraced him.

"Mohania. His spirit was gone. He held on as long as he could. He fought for his friends. The same as you do for your friends. Let it go my friend, we all love you. We have all experienced death. We all have regrets. You have seven new family members that look up to you know. You are now their leader. You must look forward hun." Skyka said and kissed him on his boney cheek. Mohania reached out and grabbed her hand.

"You could have resurrected him…" Mohania said quietly.

"If the spirit remained, yes but hun, you know how it works as well as I do. You know in your heart that I would have drained all of my power to help him. You know that don't you. All of us would have done that." Skyka replied back softly. Mohania slowly nodded his head. Skyka slowly waved with her other hand for the group to come forward. Everybody stepped forward and embraced Mohania. He let out a groan. Kendall then spoke up.

"Mohania, it is time for us to go train. We loved our leader, but you are our leader now. We wish to become stronger to help fight."

Mohania spoke up, "No, our leader is Herrior. I am only your undead trainer. I can only teach you so much, and then you must learn from the class masters in Tranquil." Mohania looked up at Herrior and pointed at him. The seven walked over to him and circled him.

"We wish to learn more. We wish to fight by your side, against your enemies. We wish to carry on his legacy." Kendall spoke in much better common speak. Herrior nodded at her.

"I will do as much as I can little one." Herrior smiled at her.

"Lindel, can you open the portals now? I wish for us to carry on our mission." Mohania asked. Lindel nodded. First she opened two portals side by side of each other.

"Branzer on the left, Bernett and Samatha on the right."

"Will we see you again?" Samatha asked.

Lindel smiled and said "Yes, we will be checking up on you and the baby." with a wink. Samatha walked up to Lindel and hugged her and whispered in her ear, "Your group is going after Richard…aren't you?"

"Who's Richard?" Lindel asked back. Samatha drew away from Lindel.

"Richard is my ex. Your going after him, aren't you?" Samatha asked. Lindel quickly glanced over at Herrior, who looked very confused.

"Are you sure you don't have telepathic abilities?" Herrior asked. Samatha shook her head.

"Are you going to make it quick?" Samatha asked. Herrior looked at Bernett.

"Umm…to be honest, probably not…" Bernett said uneasily.

"Can I watch?" Samatha asked. Nobody was expecting that question. Herrior and Skyka quickly looked at each other.

"We can make a request to the King. I'm not sure if…" Skyka began to say.

"I want to watch." Samatha said cutting her off.

"Samatha. Please hear me out. We will be going to the arena in Tranquil to do this. My groups function is to merely keep him from running away, we're going to be taking him alive and unhurt from his home. It was promised to Bernett that he could have his vengeance. It won't be pretty, you may not want to remember your husband in this way." Herrior said in a serious tone.

"I know where he lives." Samatha said.

"So do we, but it is surrounded by alliance. We have a mission to do first and then we will bring him back. Let us do our job. You, Bernett, and Branzer go home and get some sleep. We will contact you first thing in the morning."

"You don't know what all he did to me…" Samatha said trailing off.

"I can rip his heart out of his chest and eat it while forcing him to…" Mohania began to say. Herrior glared at him.

"Let us do our job hun, we'll ask the King and hopefully he'll grant you permission to enter the arena with us. That's all we can do for now. Please, now go home and get some rest." Skyka said. Samatha nodded. She and Bernett stepped into their portal. Branzer stayed behind. He took Lindel's hands and whispered to her, "I wasn't concentrating on the gem, I was thinking about you the whole time."

"I know hun." Lindel said and winked at him.

"You aren't reading my mind are you?"

"No, call it women's intuition. Now get going. Go see what that gem can do." Lindel said shoving him towards the portal. He entered and both portals vanished.

"I wish to send my undead back to the gate. They need to recharge. Kendall also has some torture…I mean…training that she needs to do…with the gnome chained to our wall." Mohania said.

Herrior glared at him, "He is not to be killed. The King ordered."

"He won't be, his body should be able to withstand a lot. When we are done with him, we'll discard him in front of the gate." Mohania said with a smile. Herrior rolled his eyes and waved at Lindel. She created a portal right in front of their gate. All of Mohania's undead went running through the portal and then disappeared into their gate.

"Now, Lindel, if you would be so kind. Create us a portal within three hundred yards of this guy's house. We'll pick off any alliance we run into on the way." Herrior asked. Lindel nodded and opened another portal. Everybody else walked through it and disappeared. The portal closed right behind them.

They all arrived on a deserted back street. No cars or people were in sight.

"Quinely, take to the skies and guide us." Herrior said. Quinely morphed into a crow and began flying overhead. "Everybody else, keep your ears open."

Dan and Crystal began scanning the roads. They didn't recognize where they were, but it looked like a normal city street in the middle of the night. They all walked in silence for awhile until Mohania suddenly spoke up.

"What…" Mohania said and suddenly stopped. The entire group turned to him.

"Did you sense something Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"No…I heard a voice. It was a demon. It was only brief though." Mohania paused for a second and then heard it again.

"There it is again. I'm not sensing any demons, but I hear one…that I know for sure. But it is muffled, like it's trying to pull itself into this world…by communicating with something. A séance or a summoning or something." Mohania turned and pointed to a boarded up, run down home. It looked like nobody had lived in there for over fifty years.

"Quinely, go have a look." Herrior said and they began walking towards the house. Mohania kept reporting that the muffled sounds of a demon were becoming louder.

Quinely flew up to the house and started staring in the windows. She flew to each room, and on the top floor she found five teenage kids all sitting around a board. They were talking but she could not make out what they were saying. Each kid seemed to have a smile on their face, and flashlights at their side. Some of them appeared intoxicated. Quinely flew back to report her findings.

"Idiots…" Dan said overhearing the conversation.

"You know what they are doing?" Herrior asked.

"It sounds like an Ouija board. I didn't think they actually worked." Dan said. Crystal sighed and agreed.

"So some people purposely talk to demons?" Herrior asked.

"Do they have control over them if they come into the world?" Mohania quickly asked.

"No, they're idiots having a good time. Trying to foretell their future and asking it questions." Dan replied back.

"Why would they…" Skyka started to ask, but Dan and Crystal just shook their head.

"What they need is to be taught a lesson. Mohania, if the demon does come out, can you control it?" Dan asked.

"Yes…" Mohania said in his eerie voice.

"Herrior, with your permission, I would like to suggest sending in Mohania to give them a good scare, and contain the situation should it get out of hand." Dan said. Mohania turned to Herrior and smiled an evil smile. Herrior glared at Mohania.

"They are kids Mohania; Quinely didn't sense any of them to be alliance. Do not kill them! Do you understand?" Herrior said in a stern voice.

"I had a worm in my ear…" Mohania said reaching his boney finger into his missing ear lobe. "I think you said, 'pretend they are alliance and kill them'." Mohania reached forward with his other hand and melted the lock holding the rusted gate shut. He quickly swung it open and started walking.

"Mohania! You heard me just fine!" Herrior shouted. Mohania let out a low growl as he approached the house and began melting that lock in his hand as well.

"Lindel, Quinely - go watch from the window. Make sure nobody gets hurt. If one of the kids gets possessed by a demon, let us know and we'll come running. He is to be restrained. Nobody is to get hurt." Lindel quickly levitated herself and Quinely flew back up to the window. Lindel turned into her banshee form, but stayed out of sight.

Mohania began climbing the stairs as quietly as he could. He produced the black aura around him. Mohania's power was peaked and he was excited. His grin on his face couldn't have been wider. He heard the commotion down the hallway to the left of the staircase and began his silent walk. He could hear the demon louder now. It was entertaining the kids as it drew power from them. It was trying it's hardest to come into the world.

"Stupid kids…" Mohania said in a low voice. He got to the door that he heard the commotion from. He pulled his hands to his left side and put them together. He began to chant a spell and released it, a shadow bolt slammed into the door, sending wooden shrapnel into the room. Mohania quickly entered the room and casted a quick fire spell that incinerated the board they had been all sitting around. The board instantly went up in flames, and a high pitch scream came from the board as it turned to ash.

The kids froze at first, unsure what was going on. Once they saw Mohania walk in and the fire spell erupt in front of them, they all began to scream and run to the back of the room in panic. Mohania dropped his black robe and exposed his skeleton body. He then released a howl which further terrified the kids. One of the boys grabbed a chair in the room and threw it at Mohania. Mohania had anticipated it and casted another shadow bolt at it, exploding it into hundreds of pieces. Mohania's eyes blazed with fire and his body pulsated with yellow and blue fire as he walked towards the kids.

Lindel entered the room through the window and commanded all of the objects in the room to fly around in the room. It varied from old books, to wooden pieces, to shattered glass. Lindel started producing blue sparks from her hands and eyes.

The kids were all huddled in the far corner screaming for their lives.

"You play with demons…this is what you get!" Mohania yelled at them.

"If that demon came out, he would have killed all of you!" Lindel yelled in her eerie, echoing voice. Mohania started casting fire spells all around them. The fire didn't burn for very long before it went out. Both Lindel and Mohania were blocking the exits.

All of the kids faces turned white with fear. They all huddled together and began pleading for their lives.

"Silence! Or I'll kill you all myself!" Lindel screamed in her high-pitch banshee voice. The entire room fell silent except for the heavy breathing, crying, and whimpering.

"You will not summon demons again, or you will have me to deal with. And I will not be as forgiving this time. Do you understand!" Mohania yelled at them as his entire body engulfed with flame. He leaned over towards the kids. They could feel the heat that he was producing. They all nodded.

"Now, close your eyes! All of you!" Lindel commanded. They all did as they were told. Lindel flew over, picked up Mohania and flew out the window. Quinely followed them.

They got back to Herrior. Herrior asked, "Are they still alive?" looking at Mohania.

"For the moment…" Mohania said with a grin.

Lindel changed back to her human self. "It smelled like several of them relieved themselves while we were in there. I doubt…highly doubt…they'll be doing that again…" Lindel said with a satisfied smile.

"Were they harmed? Did you possess them?" Herrior asked. Both Lindel and Mohania said "no" at the same time. Mohania was putting his cloak back on.

"I doubt they will be calling the cops…" Dan said with a chuckle. "Either way, we better move along."

Quinely took back to the air and started scouted the area. She found the mark. There was several groups of houses in a circle around one house that appeared to be made out of steel. She could several houses with at least ten stars above their houses. She flew down and reported the news to Herrior. They were still around one hundred yards away.

"Dan, Crystal - come up here. I need to talk to you." Herrior command. Both of them ran up and stood on either side of Herrior.

"The King has given me a command, and now I am giving you a command. Is that understood?" Herrior asked. Both of them nodded.

"The King specifically said to purge all of the homes with a star above them. Nothing is to be left alive. They are alliance, and they are all sleeping - probably. Go into the houses and kill every person in the house. You are not to leave that house until they are all dead. Is that understood?" Herrior said. They both nodded.

"This means killing unarmed men, women, children, and possibly babies. They are all to be purged. Do you understand me?" Herrior asked again. Both Dan and Crystal looked at each other thinking about what they were commanded to do.

"Our loyalties lie with you Herrior and then King. We will do as you ask." Dan replied. Crystal nodded.

"You are to do it quickly and silently. Do not make them suffer." Herrior looked up at Mohania who had a big grin on his face. Herrior glared at him and the grin went away. "Do not cause them to raise any alarms. All of their bodies will burn after they are dead, leaving no trace of what happened. The King and I think this would be a good test for you two. Killing your own kind in their sleep that is. But I have no doubts that you will carry out your orders." Herrior finished up. He then looked at the rest of the group.

"Remember, only the houses with the stars. Be quiet! I want this to be done and all of us to meet at this, 'Richards' house in the middle within five minutes. Is that understood?" Herrior said pointing to a house with a black star above it sparkling.

Skyka turned into her shadow form. Lindel turned into her banshee form. Everybody else drew their weapons in acknowledgement. Dan walked up to Strings and offered him one of his blades.

"Son, I assure you I can do more damage with my music than you can with your blade." Strings bent down and winked at him. "But thank you young one." Strings turned to Trackolania and said, "Would you do the honor for us?" Trackolania nodded and sprinted from one door to the next, quickly slicing off the door knobs of all of the houses. He ran and sliced so fast, only faint glimpses of his body could be seen. Trackolania met back up with the group panting for air. He looked up at Herrior with a smile. Herrior nodded with satisfaction at Trackolania and patted him on the head.

"Spread out, once the alliance are killed the star will go out. When you are done with one house, move on to the next." Herrior said walking towards the first house. Jacklyn took the next house; Quinely took the one after until the entire group were in the houses.

Herrior was the first one to attack. He walked into the house and began scanning around. A large black dog approached him out of curiosity, and Herrior quickly sliced the dog's head in half. Herrior then began walking from room to room. The house seemed empty so far. He tried the farthest door from the front door and saw a man and women sleeping in a bed. Herrior's mighty hoof's thundered forward as he brought his blade down on their throats, instantly decapitating them. Blood streamed out in several directions. Their eyes never opened. Herrior walked out of the house as the bodies burned themselves out. He then moved on to the next house that the group wasn't in. The star above the house went out.

Jacklyn wasn't as graceful. She had drawn both large swords and pushed the door open with them. She noticed a male human awake with his head in a refrigerator. Jacklyn rushed up to him. The man closed the door and had time for a shocked look, before he was cut in half at the stomach. Then Jacklyn brought her other blade down in the middle of the man's head. She then walked away and began searching the house with no emotion to what had just happened. The first door she opened revealed a teenage girl sleeping in her bed. Jacklyn walked in and swung her mighty blade, decapitating her instantly. Jacklyn then walked out and began searching other rooms in the house. She found the wife of the husband and dropped both blades on her, slicing her in half at the stomach and the neck - just like her husband. Jacklyn left the house as the bodies burned up. Again the star above the house went out, showing that she accomplished her mission. She moved on to the next one.

Quinely morphed into a lion and slipped into the shadows, making her impossible to see. She opened each bedroom door by using her mouth. The house seemed to have only one woman in it. She was up in the middle of the night reading a book in bed. Quinely snuck around the bed. She then pounced on the woman and took a large swipe and ripped off the left side of the woman's head. The woman was still in a state of shock, as Quinely took another at her head. This time Quinely took off half of the woman's head as fluids sprayed across the room. The body fell limp on the bed and burned up quickly. Quinely then leaped out of the house and went to the next one.

Strings was next. His house has two infants, a child and two adults in it. He carefully carried the kids into their parent's room. He then quietly played a tune on his lute. The song quickly slowed down their breathing and their heart rate, until they all died peacefully in their sleep. Strings then started walking out of the house as he heard the body's burn up.

Skyka entered into her shadow form. She also another instant cast spell the enveloped her body in yellow circles from the ground up, and ended with a golden crown around her head, which eventually faded. She pushed the door open and entered into the home. She casted levitate on herself, so she could float around the house in silence. She found a couple laying next to each other immediately in the room to the left of her. She made a note of the room and searched the rest of the house. She found a Chihuahua happily sleeping in her cage. Skyka quickly casted a spell called "Mind Blast" at the dog. It instantly exploded into hundreds of pieces. Skyka then floated back to the room. The women had woken up and saw her. Skyka instantly casted a silence spell on her, and began channeling her mind blast spell at her husband. His head instantly exploded into hundreds of pieces, just like the dog. The woman tried desperately to scream, but Skyka got another mind blast spell off before the silence spell wore off. The woman's head exploded just the same as her husband's. She floated out of the house and watched the star fade out.

Trackolania bounced into his house, and then bounced out of it within twenty seconds. Both daggers were dripping with blood. The star above his house disappeared. He quickly ran over to the next house showing no emotion at all.

Lindel was almost as fast. She levitated into the house, same as Skyka did. She quickly scanned for humans and found four of them in the house. She floated through the first door and put her hand on the young daughter's neck. Blue electricity shot forth and entered her body. Her mind instantly shut down. Lindel then floated back through the door and did the same with the remaining of the humans in the house. Then she floated back out of the house and proceeded to the next one.

Dan stepped into his house, both blades drawn.

"Don't think about it, just do it quickly…" he kept thinking over and over. There was a baby crying at the far end of the house, and he heard some quiet talking. Dan hid behind a wall and lowered his blades as a young woman walked across the hallway. Dan quickly walked into the same room and shoved his fire blade into the woman's chest and pushed it upwards. The woman tried to scream, but the blade punctured her lungs and caught them on fire. Dan pulled his blade back and noticed that he had killed the baby as well. Both of them lay dead on the floor.

Dan stood over them realizing what he had done. After a couple of seconds both bodies burned up and completely disappeared.

"What did the baby want?" a man's voice from the other room asked. Dan instantly turned around and charged into the room, driving his ice blade into the man's mouth. It sailed into his mouth and dislocated his spine. His mouth and surrounding area instantly froze. Dan then sliced through what was left of the man's neck with his fire sword. The blankets and bed caught fire, but didn't burn for very long.

Crystal entered a house the same time Dan did. Crystal held her sais ahead of her and started looking around the house. She quickly recognized it as her old baby-sitter. She saw the pictures on the wall and recognized her when she was just a kid. She let out a deep sigh and regripped her weapons.

"I have a job to do…" she kept thinking over and over. She remembered the inside of the house the more she walked through it. It brought back very old memories, memories of when her parents were alive. Her emotions started to get to her.

"I have a job to do…" she thought again and walked up the stairs to their bedroom. She did a quick check of the extra bedrooms. She was surprised when she saw an old man sleeping soundly on the couch. He had a red aura surrounding him. Crystal quickly sunk both sais into the man's head. She felt some resistance at first, as if the man was surrounded by some sort of invisible shield. But the weapons found their target and sank all the way through the man's head. The man instantly opened his eyes in shock and looked over at her. Crystal became spooked. She pulled the sais out of his head and repeatedly began striking the man's face. One landed in his mouth, another in his right eye, the third landing in the middle of his eyes. The man tried to raise his hands, but fell limp. His body almost instantly caught fire, but only it left behind a purple glowing ring in the middle of the burned up pile of ash. She picked it up and began examining it.

"Crystal?" A female voice came from the doorway. Crystal lunged forward out of shock and drove one of her sais into her old baby-sitters stomach. She then brought down her other sai on top of her head, sending her down to the floor. She then drove her weapon through her head to ensure that she was dead. She then moved to room the woman came from and quickly killed her husband in his sleep. She then hurried out of the house trying to hide the reality of what she just did.

She met up with Dan and Herrior outside of the house that she was in. The star above the house went out. Crystal started to tear, but tried to hide it from both of them.

"I just killed my child-hood babysitter…" she said real quietly. Herrior walked forward and put his enormous hand on her shoulder. Crystal pulled out a ring and gave it to Herrior. Herrior looked it over and said, "Only alliance recruiters wear this…you did a great thing tonight Crystal."

"He was hard to kill. Even in his sleep. It was like there was a shield around him. Even when I drove my sai through his head, I had to continue stabbing him. I messed him up pretty good, and he was still moving. Finally he burned up and left that. That's when I came face to face with Jennifer, my old babysitter. I quickly killed her without thinking about it." Crystal said with a sigh and a tear dropping from her left eye.

"You did well…" Herrior began to say. Crystal cut her off.

"I had a job to do. I did as I was ordered to do, and I would do it again. Now let's finish off the rest." Just then Mohania walked out of the next house juggling four soul gems with a large smile on his face. The four of them started walking to the next couple of houses, but all of the stars above them quickly blinked out. Soon Herrior's group had killed all of the alliance, and all of the stars blacked out. Then they all walked to Richard's house.

"Lindel - do you have enough power to make us a portal to the arena?" Herrior asked. Lindel changed back to her human form and smiled at him. She spoke some words and a small portal opened. Eventually it became big enough for all of them to fit through.

"Jacklyn, I believe you would like the pleasure of getting him?" Herrior said turning towards her. Jacklyn twirled her swords and stepped forward to his house.

"Jacklyn…put your blades away. His death is reserved for Bernett, not for you." Herrior said looking sternly at her. Jacklyn growled at him and put her blades behind her as they were sucked against her armor.

Jacklyn kicked open the door and immediately started running from room to room searching for this man. She finally found him in the back room, trying desperately to load a gun. She jumped over towards him, grabbed his hand holding the gun and began breaking every bone in his hand. The man began to let out a scream, but was quickly backhanded by Jacklyn. The sound of his jaw breaking was loud as he went sailing across the room. Jacklyn ran over and picked him up by the neck and started dragging him out of the house, banging him on everything that she could find on the way out.

Jacklyn walked out of the house and threw the man to the ground. He bounced when he hit the dirt. Herrior's entire group pulled their weapons and pointed it at him.

"He looks kind of roughed up Jacklyn…" Herrior said smiling at her.

"He fought back..." Jacklyn said immediately.

"Against you?" Herrior said with a chuckle.

"Eh…" Jacklyn answered with a shrug.

"Who are you people?" Richard screamed in pain.

"Somebody shut him up…" Herrior said casually. Jacklyn jumped forward at him, but Skyka was quicker. She casted her silence spell on him, causing his lips to instantly shut - bound by black circle. Herrior picked him up by the back of his shirt and threw him into the portal. They could hear more bones breaking and muffled screaming from the other side. Herrior's group walked through the portal and it disappeared behind them.

In the arena a goblin yelled, "Unfair advantage! He is supposed to be in prime condition for a fair fight! He needs to be healed!"

"Skyka, go heal him. Trackolania, tie him up so he can't get away." Herrior told them. He turned to the rest of the group and said, "Our job is done, let's rest here in the arena until the fight."

Skyka walked over to him and saw that the man was bleeding and screaming in pain. Skyka rolled her eyes as she casted several healing spells until he was back to his old self.

"Thank you! Thank you! You are an angel! How did you do that?" Richard quickly rattled off. Trackolania pulled his arms and legs behind him and restrained him with his thin wire. Skyka got right into his face and whispered, "I assure you, if it were up to me - I would have snapped every bone in your body with my bear hands and keep you just barely alive for years just to listen to you scream in pain! I am only doing what I am commanded to do." Skyka spat in his face just as Trackolania finished tying him up.

"Put him to sleep." Skyka said. Trackolania quickly pulled a yellow vial from his cloak. He forced his mouth open and put a couple of drips in it. Within seconds Richard was sleeping. Skyka rubbed Trackolania's head and escorted him back to the group. They both laid down and waited for the right time.

Branzer and Bernett woke up just after a couple hours of sleep and began getting ready for their day. Samatha was still snoring loudly. They both reported into the station, where they were immediately summoned to the Lieutenant's office. They met up together outside of the door and eye-balled each other. Bernett was the first to walk in.

"Have a seat guys, we have a lot to talk about." the Lieutenant said. He had a remote control and was pointing to a flat screen TV in the middle of the room. A news lady was on talking about a sudden disappearance of sixty two people. Entire families missing in the middle of the night. Signs of forced entry, blood spatter on the walls and beds. No trace of the bodies. Men, women, children, and babies had all of a sudden disappeared. The Lieutenant turned off the TV. He threw the remote on the desk.

"Gentlemen." He paused and looked at both of them. "CNN and other news channels are all reporting the same thing. Sixty two people, all in one night. No phone calls, no bodies, no fingerprints, no tire treads, no cigarette butts - the only DNA that the detectives have to go on is the blood splatter from the victims, which as you heard all of a sudden vanished. The neighbors in between are panicked, wondering why they weren't 'taken'. Do either of you know anything about this?"

Branzer looked at him. "Sir, this is the first time I heard of this on TV. Where did it happen at? Do they need our assistance?" Branzer said without telling a lie. The Lieutenant shook his head still staring at the two of them.

"This had to be some well constructed attack. They estimate that it only took a matter of minutes for everybody to be killed, dragged out of the house - without leaving any marks on the floor - and then drive away with the bodies. I have never in my whole police history, heard of such a thing. Our Chief has called numerous other stations asking if this has ever happened before. It seems like there would have been screams, signs of a struggle, and calls to 911. Nothing. Everything in the houses where the attacks occurred it looks to be untouched. Just all of the bodies simply disappeared, leaving only traces of blood behind." The Lieutenant sighed and leaned back in his chair. "We had a well coordinated attack on our station only a couple of days ago. We all saw a tank one minute, and then we saw a crack in the ground where the tank was apparently crushed - nobody remembers seeing it. We had several cars, thugs with guns coming towards us; we were pinned down unable to call for help. The next minute everybody was dead and the cars were destroyed. Doesn't any of this seem a little odd to either of you?" the Lieutenant said eyeballing both of them.

"Absolutely." Bernett said without missing a beat.

"We now have extra officers and the National Guard helping to guard our station. And why? Since this 'attack' happened, there have been no murders, rapes, beatings, robberies, no break-ins. Heck we haven't even written a ticket for speeding, there hasn't even been any jay-walkers. The call center is dead, and the dogs that usually bark at me when I get home just sit and pant looking at me. It's like our whole town is on their best behavior." he paused for a second and then continued. "We even found illegal guns, drugs, and drug paraphernalia all stacked in a dumpster right outside the station. Probably two million dollars worth. I'll ask you two again, does any of this seem odd to either of you." He said with a lot of force behind his voice.

Branzer looked confused at Bernett. "Sir, I have no idea why everybody is on their best behavior. I don't have an answer for you."

The Lieutenant pulled a yellow sticky note from his desk. "Apparently I let you two go home last Thursday and Friday, I did all of your work - and I have no idea why I did. Where were you two again?"

Bernett answered this time. "We were at a funeral for a friend. We both went; he was a close friend of a friend. We knew it was busy at the station and figured you would say 'no' to the request, but you granted it sir." The Lieutenant merely grunted.

"Also, rumor travels fast in our department, Bernett. When is your wife due?"

Bernett looked at him in shock. "Sir, we just found out a couple of days ago ourselves…"

"Officer Bernett, is it ok if I speak openly with you with Officer Branzer in the room? If not I can ask him to leave."

"No, feel free." Bernett said.

"Officer Bernett, I've known you for what, ten years? You two have been trying to have a baby the entire time. I know you have been to several OBGYN's, doctors, tried every trick in the book. You have been out of state several times trying other doctors. You have even come into my office and cried in front of me several times about it. You have sought help from our Chaplin." He paused for a second and then said, "What happened?"

"Sir, I can only tell you what I saw. It was strange." Officer Bernett started in.

"I have seen more strange stuff in the past week than I have ever imagined. Try me."

"Well, I invited Officer Branzer over to my house for a spaghetti and wine dinner. Half way through the dinner…umm…the room lit up and out come these two…beings…angels…I don't know…came out of this circle of light." Bernett was trying his hardest not to lie. "The three of us saw them, my wife fainted. They didn't say anything, but we were filled with…happiness…joy…umm - sir I really don't know how to describe it. I've never seen an angel before, but that is how I would describe them."

"They looked young, and the one was especially beautiful. They had these, uh aura's I guess you could say, coming out of their bodies. It was a beautiful bright light. We both sensed that they were there to help, and did not mean any harm." Officer Branzer chimed in.

"So you saw everything as well?" The Lieutenant asked Branzer.

"Yes sir, I was there as well."

Bernett continued, "Sir, they did something to my wife. They gently walked over to my wife and placed their hands on her. It glowed with a brilliant white light, and then they left. Branzer stayed around until my wife woke up to make sure everything was ok. Her vitals were fine; we would check every couple of minutes. She was sound asleep, snoring happily. When she woke up, she wanted to be…umm…intimate, right that very moment sir. So Branzer excused himself, and we made love for what seemed like hours."

"Let me stop you right there, it doesn't sound like I need any more details." The Lieutenant said. "What happened, err…afterwards."

"Well that Sunday, Branzer and I made sure we went to church." Bernett said.

"So you think that God healed your wife?" The Lieutenant questioned.

"Sir, I have no idea what happened. I do not know what they did. I was just as shocked as you are now. My wife immediately began having morning sickness the next day. She took a test, without me knowing, and she was in fact pregnant. That is all I know sir. We both could have dreamed up the same thing, it could have been angels, it could have been two hookers down the street with bright flashlights…all I know is that I am going to have a child." Bernett said and started to get emotional. "And I am very thankful for it…" he added slowly. The Lieutenant nodded and gave him a moment. He then picked up a piece of paper.

"Next item I have here is apparently one of my officers, Officer Candy and our new recruit Dan, showed up out of nowhere. She was admitted into the hospital, discharged against doctor's orders, and then suddenly vanished again. Officer Candy is on a permanent leave which means we'll cover her medical bills, and she can come back whenever she wants. I am the only one that knows about this. What I want to know is what happened? Is she ok?"

Officer Bernett spoke up, wiping away the tears. "Dan contacted Officer Branzer out of the blue. Said Officer Candy was three months late with her period, had bad stomach pains, and then fainted. We had all of the same questions you had, but we rushed her to the hospital. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The doctors all kicked us out, and my wife stayed with her. She was diagnosed as being dehydrated, malnourished, and exhausted. She was prescribed birth control, and prenatal vitamins. She is not pregnant, which I think you were going to ask." The Lieutenant nodded.

"The next question I am going to ask is where are they?"

"To be honest sir, we don't know. Remember that red dog, thing that attacked you?" Branzer asked. The Lieutenant nodded. "Well the way they described it to us is they are on a different world, fighting off these demon, dog, things…sir to be honest I don't understand it myself. I don't understand why or how some of these things are happening. If you are looking to us for answers, we are just as confused about things as you are."

"Gentlemen, I am going to ask you a question that did not come from me, do you understand?" The Lieutenant said. Both officers nodded. The Lieutenant sighed and buried his face in his hand as he leaned forward on his desk.

"It sounds like both of you are becoming religious men. I've asked the Chaplin the same question. Some real crazy shit has been happening. People disappearing, angels appearing, coordinated attacks on us that seem to just kill themselves…do you think we are in the rapture? Where crazy stuff like, well, what is happening now, occurs and then the good Christians get called up into Heaven?"

Both officers looked at each other with a surprised look. Branzer spoke up, "Sir, I never thought of that. I'm just trying to take on each situation as it occurs and handle it as best as I can. Like we were trained to do and if angels or God wants to help along the way - well they are more than welcome too." He paused for a second and then said, "I used to feel like Dan was sort of an angel when he rode with me. I felt safe with him in my cruiser for some reason…"

"Yeah, many officers said the same thing. It sounded like his code name was guardian angel? Fights almost broke out to have him ride in our officers cruisers. Apparently he has saved many of our officer's lives. A lot of people have been asking about him, along with his mother…" the Lieutenant said and sighed. He stood up and looked out his window.

"She came in one day, looked like somebody beat the hell out of her. She could barely walk. She was in tears. She asked where her son was. I was informed of what was going on and personally escorted her back to my office and tried to get out of her what happened. She wouldn't say, just kept asking where her son was. I lied to her. I lied to his own mother. He saved many of my officer's lives, and I lied to his mother. I felt sick afterwards." The Lieutenant turned around and faced them. "Boys it looked like she had been through hell and back, she had been worked over really good by somebody. I told her his training was progressing nicely and that he had been sent off to a boot camp to condition his body. I told her we were all proud of him, and that one of our female officers had taken a liking to him. She smiled at me and started to cry. She knew I was lying. Hell, I would have known I was lying. I again questioned what happened, that we could make a report. She wouldn't say a word. She said she wanted to see him the first chance that she could. She then started to leave the room, but turned around and said, 'Please, let me know when he comes back' and shut the door. So if you hear from him, let him know that his mother would like to see him when he comes back." the Lieutenant ended.

This shocked Branzer and Bernett. "What? By who? After hours I'll pay them a visit…" Branzer started to say. The Lieutenant held up his hand. "That's the same thing the other officers asked. She would not say. The only thing that we can do is monitor her house. If she doesn't want to talk there is nothing we can do." He paused for a second. "Also, how long are we supposed to be monitoring the docks? We have the harbor master scared out of his wits."

Bernett quickly shook his head and regained his thoughts. "I was told another day or two. Supposed to be a large shipment of weapons or drugs or something coming in. I've been contacted about it several times now by people on the street…"

"As we have in the anonymous call center…" replied the Lieutenant. "We'll keep patrolling the area, and Dan's mother's house. I'm going to ask as a personal favor that either one of you go over to her house with a cake, or a card, or some sympathy thing. Try to get out of her what happened. Maybe she'll speak privately to you instead of formally to me. If she says who, I want first whack at this guy…keep it under wraps."

Both officers knew what he meant and they both nodded in agreement. This assignment would have no records of what happened. They were dismissed and both of them went to their desks.

Six hours passed of normal police work, when all of a sudden Branzer's hearthstone began to vibrate. He looked down at his pants and it was glowing purple. He looked around his area, took the stone out and dropped it on the ground. He then grabbed the phone and knelt down beside it, as if he were talking on the phone and tying his shoe at the same time. A male tauren appeared in the window and said a portal would be opened tonight at seven pm for the arena battle. Then the portal disappeared. He picked the stone back up and placed it back in his pocket. Soon he got a call from his secure cellular phone. It was Bernett.

"I just got contacted." he said.

"Yeah, I did too. Seven tonight. Sounds like we are going to go to an arena." Branzer said.

"That's what he told me too. Tell you what I'm looking forward to it." Bernett said with hatred in his voice.

"I imagine you are, just keep your cool until then - alright? Question I have is what are we supposed to wear for something like this?" Branzer asked. Dead air filled the phone for a couple of seconds.

"Casual attire I guess something that you can get blood and dirt on and not care about." Bernett answered sounding excited.

"Pretty safe to assume your wife will be there?" Branzer asked.

"I haven't been told she couldn't come. I guess we'll find out at seven." Bernett replied.

"I'm uh…I'm going to get Lindel some chocolates and flowers. Then I'm going to try to invite her over for dinner alone." Branzer said nervously.

"Careful. They have some strict laws and rules. If you break any one of them, she could kill you in a second. I wouldn't push it. They don't date like we do here." Bernett said cautiously. "I mean you have only seen the real her once."

"Yes I know. I can't get her out of my mind though. She said we could develop a friendship."

"A friendship, that's all. I wouldn't push it or we may be attending your funeral. Just be careful and take things slow, ok?" Bernett replied back.

"Will do. So I guess see you at seven tonight?"

"See you then." and the phone conversation ended.

After work, Branzer stopped and picked up the biggest box of chocolates he could find and had it wrapped. He also picked up a dozen roses and waited in his living room for seven to come around.

Bernett and Samatha both got dressed in some old worn out jeans and tee-shirts. Samatha asked if she could come, but Bernett said he wasn't sure.

Right at seven, a portal opened inside of their front door. A male troll came out of it and greeted them.

"Is it ok if my wife comes?" Bernett asked.

"Aye, we be expecting her mon. Come wit me." the troll said and entered the portal. Both of them entered as well. Branzer's portal opened with the same troll and told him it was time. Branzer hurried through the portal and the troll followed him.

All three of them appeared in a large dome shaped building. It was as huge as an ice skating rank. They looked around and a large audience had gathered to watch. Herrior and his group walked over to greet them. "Greetings, glad to have you here."

Bernett immediately spoke up and said, "Herrior, we have to talk." Branzer said the same thing to Lindel and the two pulled them to the side. Skyka walked up to Samatha who was left alone standing and looked afraid. Skyka gave her a hug and asked how she was doing. The two made small talk and it helped calm Samatha's nerves.

"Herrior, our Lieutenant spoke with us about Dan. His mother was beaten, badly. She came to the police station and asked where he was. From what I was told, and I have no reason to not believe him, somebody worked her over pretty good. She would not say what happened to her, but we do have patrols going around her home on a regular basis now." Bernett said.

"This is information for the entire group to hear, not just me. This concerns all of us." Herrior said calmly. The two of them walked back over to the rest of the group, and Lindel apparently said the same thing to Branzer because they were walking back as well.

"Bernett, Branzer. This is our family. This is our group. We do not withhold secrets from each other, or information vital to other members of our group." Herrior said. So Bernett relayed what he just said to the group.

Dan and Crystal's reaction was overwhelming. They were both full of questions, but Bernett explained that was all the information that they were given. Dan turned to Herrior and said his name in a stern voice.

"I know young one. I sense this has alliance written all over it. My guess is that somebody made the connection that you were her son, and started to interrogate her as to your whereabouts. She didn't talk and suffered because of it. I will speak to the King immediately about this." Herrior said drawing out his hearthstone. He stuck his head in the portal and immediately saw the King.

"I heard all of this, and I believe you are right Herrior. If this is left alone, they will eventually get the information out of her and compromise our city. This does need to be dealt with. After the battle, return to Earth and investigate it at once."

"Yes my King." Herrior bowed and withdrew his head. Herrior relayed the King's message. He could sense the hatred growing in Dan and Crystal's minds, and millions of unanswered questions.

"Control yourselves young ones. We will investigate it." Herrior said calmly.

Meanwhile, Branzer presented the gifts to Lindel.

"Like Herrior said hun, we are one big family. I thank you for the gifts though." Lindel said and stepped up to him and kissed him on the cheek. She looked at the red roses and was unsure what to do with them. She set the box down, picked off a petal and began to eat it.

"No, no…it's not for eating. It's for smelling and admiring." Branzer said quickly. Samatha let out a smile and turned away.

"Oh? Do you make any potions or enchants with them?" Lindel asked.

"Uh, no. In my world, men usually present women they like with gifts. Roses are very popular as a present to show ones affection towards another. Just like you gave me the gem, which by the way does sing and give off a pretty light show."

"Were you authorized to give me a gift?" Lindel questioned. Branzer looked at Bernett for help. He shrugged with sort of an "I told you so…" look.

"No. Should I take them back?" Branzer said disappointed.

"No, they are friendship flowers and they are beautiful!" Lindel said taking in a big whiff of them. She passed them over to Quinely who sniffed them as well.

Branzer bent down and picked up the wrapped present. "I wasn't authorized to give you this either. It is a friendship gift. I just wanted to give you something for giving me the gem. To show my appreciation."

The group let out an "Awww…" as Lindel blushed. She shot the group a mean look and then smiled at them.

"Thank you for the pretty box and the flowers." Lindel said looking up at him.

"No, there's a present inside of the box. You have to unwrap it."

"Oh?" Lindel said looking over the box. She ran her fingernails over the paper until she ripped a piece of it. She became startled and looked up at Branzer.

"Its fine, go ahead and take the wrapping paper off." He said. She continued ripping the paper until she uncovered a red heart shaped box.

"Oh - it's a pretty red box, in the shape of a heart. Well that's clever. Is this what you guys do is wrap up your gifts and then surprise each other with them?" Lindel asked. Samatha walked over and opened the box for her.

"It's chocolate." She said as she popped one in her mouth. She then took another one and put it in Lindel's mouth. Lindel chewed curiously, as her teeth started sticking together from the caramel.

"Hmm…" Lindel said. She passed the box around to the group and they each took one. Mohania passed, and Trackolania just stared at it, sniffing to make sure it wasn't full of poison.

"It's chewy." Lindel said giggling. "It's good, I just never tasted anything like this before."

Suddenly the goblin announced floated down in the middle of the arena on a cloud. "Let the tournament begin! In the far corner we have a male human called Richard, and in this corner we have another male human called Bernett. Bernett please stand over there. Richard needs to be untied and woken up."

"Trackolania…" Herrior said quietly. Trackolania bounced quickly over to Richard and quickly cut away the wires. He then started slapping Richard until he woke up. Richard started asking the same questions again. Trackolania merely ignored him and ran back to his group.

"Herrior, you are commanded not to interfere with the fight unless directed to do so." The goblin announced. Herrior and his group nodded in compliance.

Out of nowhere, Samatha went running up to Richard. He was watching her coming at her and slowly began to recognize her face.

"Samatha?" he quietly said.

"Ah, you do remember me. Your previous wife! Do you remember all the times you used to beat me! Come home drunk and use me for a punching bag! You beat me so much it caused internal damage so I couldn't bear children! I was loyal to you! I tried to make things work! I loved you!" Samatha said yelling at him.

"Samatha, I don't know what's going on here. There are creatures that took me in the middle of the night…" Richard said as Samatha's right fist came down hard on Richard's nose.

Branzer said, "She's got a nice right hook."

Bernett replied with, "I'll remember that…"

Samatha then kicked him in the stomach and then jammed her foot into his groin. She then picked up some dirt and threw it in his eyes and started to spit at him. She then began repeatedly kicking him in the head.

"Herrior! This is giving Bernett an unfair advantage." The goblin announcer said. Herrior charged over to Samatha and picked her up over his shoulder and walked back with her.

"I wasn't done! I wasn't done!" She kept yelling over and over.

"Richard will need to be healed before the fight can continue. Skyka could you do that." The goblin said.

Skyka growled, but received a dirty look from Herrior. Skyka slowly walked over to him, letting his injuries hurt as long as they could. She finally got to him and casted a large healing spell. A blast of white light came from the sky and slammed into his body. His body was completely renewed again. He started to thank her, when Skyka held up her finger and said, "Not one word!" Skyka walked back over to her place beside Herrior. Samatha was still struggling.

"Bernett, are you ready?" The goblin asked.

"I've been ready for ten years…let's do this!" Bernett screamed.

"Richard, are you ready?"

"Ready for what? What's going on?"

"I'll take that as a yes, you may begin!" The goblin said and floated up out of the way. Bernett jogged forward towards Richard trying to anticipate his first move.

"Whoa, whoa man…I don't know who you are, but I have no gripes with you. I haven't seen my ex in years. I feel bad for what I've done to her. I'm sorry man." Richard said. Bernett looked at Lindel. Her eyes were purple, scanning Richard's thoughts. She quickly shook her head.

"Lindel says you are lying." And Bernett began approaching him again.

"Who's Lindel? She's full of it." Richard yelled out loud. Lindel changed into her banshee form and began to fly towards him. Branzer reached out and grabbed her to pull her back. This time he wasn't afraid to touch her. Lindel sighed and changed back to her human form.

Bernett landed a left hook catching Richard completely unaware. The audience cheered with satisfaction. Richard was on the ground on all fours when he quickly turned around to face Bernett. At the same time Bernett kicked him in the face with his right foot. Richard went flailing to the ground. He quickly jumped to his feet.

"Look man, Bernett is it? Let's stop this and talk about it. Besides there's a woman over there that can heal me." Richard said spitting out blood.

"Hardly…I could kill him in a matter of seconds…" Skyka said taking on her shadow form.

"I could kill him faster than you could." Jacklyn said equipping herself.

"Sounds…like a contest…to me…" Mohania spoke as his eyes and hands became engulfed in flames. Even Trackolania had his daggers equipped and seemed ready to pounce.

"Guys, we are not to interfere. This is not our fight. Just relax and enjoy it." Herrior said scolding his group.

"That woman over there fixed my wife, from what you did to her!" Bernett yelled at Richard, landing another blow to his stomach. Richard recoiled in pain. "You should be lucky that I was allowed to kill you, I would love to hear your screams for hundreds of years in the warlock cave!"

"I'll prepare for it…" Mohania said sinisterly with a huge grin on his face.

"I think he's kidding hun, besides you would probably kill him." Lindel said still watching. Mohania just shrugged his shoulders with the grin still on his face.

"Look! Just stop for a second, ok! None of this makes any sense! I don't know half of what you are talking about, and it's been over ten years! I'm a different man now, I'm sober and drug free." Richard said. As Bernett turned to look at Lindel, Richard charged him. He knocked him to the ground and began stabbing him with his keys. Bernett had the wind knocked out of him from the blow and felt the puncture marks the keys were making to his stomach. Bernett reached down with his hands and started turning his head in an attempt to snap his neck, but Richard just rolled away. The two rose to their feet and began staring at each other.

"Unnecessary involvement with a weapon. Bernett does not have a weapon. Richard has an unfair advantage. Either Richard needs to get rid of his weapon, or Bernett needs to be given a weapon." The goblin announcer said. Suddenly each member of Herrior's group threw one of their weapons right behind Bernett, the ones that had weapons anyways. Bernett turned around and started studying the weapons. Jacklyn's blade was probably too heavy for him; he didn't know how to use Strings's lute. All of a sudden Mohania's skull came rolling up, joining the weapons.

"Pick me…pick me…" Mohania's skull said with enthusiasm. Bernett looked at it and let out an "hmm…" noise.

"Just get me close enough…you don't even have to face me towards him…I'll make him suffer…I promise."

Bernett turned around and grabbed Herrior's sword. Suddenly his body was filled with immense power, as the blade began to glow a faint purple color. He held it in his right hand and began approaching Richard.

"Just kick me in the general direction…or hit me with Herrior's sword…" Mohania began to say at Bernett walked away.

Richard quickly threw his keys away and emptied his pockets. "Ok, ok - I'm unarmed!" and started moving backwards. The goblin announced that Bernett had to drop his weapon as well. Bernett continued to approach him with the blade. Herrior put Samatha on her feet as she appeared not to struggle any more.

"Bernett, release my blade! That is an order!" Herrior commanded. Bernett threw Herrior's blade behind him. It sailed through the air, and changed its flight path to land in Herrior's hand.

"Pick up your weapons; this will be a fair fight." Herrior ordered. His group quickly retrieved their weapons from the ground and put them away. Lindel walked over to Mohania's skull and picked it up.

"I could have made him suffer…" Mohania said disappointed "I channeled all of my power into my head, all he had to do was just point me at Richard…" Mohania's skeleton face looked sad; the fire in his eyes was real dim

Lindel smiled, "Hun you could have channeled all of your power into your small toe and threw it at Richard and probably killed him without anybody knowing."

Mohania's eyes grew dark, as if thinking about the idea. He then let out a low groan and said "Damn it…" very quietly. His head then bounced around to face Lindel.

"Lindel, you look beautiful. You are my favorite person…" Mohania began to say when Lindel cut her off.

"Mohania, you are so sweet!" Lindel leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Yes, and all that stuff. Could you…" Mohania started to say but Lindel interrupted him again.

"Hun, I'm not going to put your head back on your body. You can watch the battle just fine from here."

"I could ignite my head and burn you to ash woman!" Mohania yelled as his head began to burst into flame.

"Hun, I know you love me and you wouldn't hurt me. Remember, you said I am your most favorite person…" Lindel said leaning over and kissing him repeatedly on the forehead. Mohania groaned and exhausted the flame, hopping back around to watch the battle.

Bernett put his hand to his side. There was several puncture wounds, but they weren't that deep. Bernett wanted Herrior's sword back, he didn't know what it was, but the power he got from it he craved. He kept his hand on his at the two of them circled each other.

"I could heal him. I just need to be a couple of yards closer. If he would just move back a couple of feet…" Skyka thought. She looked up at Herrior who was staring at her. Skyka let out a sigh and folded her hands across her chest.

"Kick his ass! Make him suffer!" Samatha all of a sudden yelled out. Herrior's group began cheering for Bernett, as well as the audience that had gathered.

"This seems awfully one sided…" Richard said, still moving in sync with Bernett.

"If I fail to kill you, then I assure you they will." Bernett said slowly moving towards him.

"I made some powerful friends; they will hunt you down if you kill me!" Richard said closing the distance between them.

"Let me guess, sixty people? All living in your little trailer park? They are all dead. All killed the same night you were taken. I assure you, nobody will miss you. Nobody will come looking for you." Bernett said almost face to face with Richard.

"What? You lie!" Richard yelled and started to throw a right hook, which Bernett easily parried and followed up with a mighty blow to Richard's stomach. Richard was surprised and couldn't recover in time as another blow to his stomach came from Bernett. Richard fell to the ground in pain, and Bernett's right knee blasted against his cheek.

"If you didn't know, I am a police officer. I got my information straight from my Lieutenant. Men, women, children, even babies. All killed in the middle of the night, I'm assuming all of your friends that you made. You have aligned yourself with the wrong side of this war, which was your first mistake." Bernett said and ran up to him and kicked him as hard as he could in his stomach. Richard screamed in agony as he rolled over to his stomach.

"The second mistake was me finding out what you did to my wife!" Bernett slammed his right foot on his nose. Richard's nose collapsed into his skull, while blood and fluids shot out from it. Richard screamed in agony.

"How does it feel? Huh? You used to do this to my wife! Do you feel your life slowly slipping away? I'm going to saver this moment."

Richard staggered to his feet. "You are a police officer? You can't do this. You took a vow to protect the public…" he was slurring his words as blood continued to drip from what was left of his nose.

"If you haven't noticed, we aren't on the same world! Rules have changed. And I am going to protect the public by getting rid of you!" Bernett yelled. He threw a punch towards Richard's face; Richard threw his hands up to protect his face. The punch never landed, as Bernett landed a heavy blow with his right foot on Richard's kneecap. It appeared to slip down six inches, instantly causing Richard to scream and dropped to the ground. Richard forgot about his nose and grabbed his left leg. It felt badly disfigured. Bernett took the opportunity to slam his foot into his other kneecap, instantly shattering it.

Bernett took a couple of steps away from him to savor the moment. Suddenly Richard morphed into a six foot hairy beast. He had large teeth protruding from his mouth and very long claws. He was light grey in color. The beast let out a mighty roar as saliva began dripping from his mouth. Herrior's group instantly armed themselves, but the arena master told them to remain where they were.

"I am a Worgen! We have joined the alliance, and we will destroy your filthy races! I look forward to being avenged by my brethren!"

"Avenge this!" Bernett yelled and slammed his left hand into the beasts head so hard that several bones in his hand broke. The beast swung around and landed on the ground, returning to his human form. Richard looked lifeless. Bernett fell to the ground and grabbed his broken hand, grimacing in pain. Samatha began to cry and dropped to the ground as well. Bernett picked him up with his other hand and brought him over to Mohania.

"I could heal his ass and then we could take turns killing him…" Skyka said quietly. Mohania's mouth flew open as everybody turned their heads to look at her.

Skyka looked around innocently and said, "What?"

"Skyka!" Herrior said, more questioning her than yelling at her.

Skyka's eyes then opened up wide and she put her hands over her mouth. "Shit, did I say that out loud?" the women in the group started to laugh.

"Ok, ok, everybody just calm down. Let's just clear our minds, take a deep cleansing breath. Breath in through your nose, and out your mouth." Mohania said raising and lowering his hands as if performing yoga. "Skyka has a very good idea, let's everybody think this through. Lindel can portal us right outside the wall. We toss the human out there. I'll take my turn first."

"Your turn could take five years!" Jacklyn yelled. Mohania shrugged with a smile.

"Mohania, I didn't know I could make you that happy. You almost look…aroused." Skyka said walking towards him with a smile on her face.

"Go away woman, I'm planning stuff." Mohania said waving at her and watching the body coming towards him.

Bernett throw Richard down on the ground. A slight moan came from Richard as his body hit the ground. Mohania smiled looking down at him.

"I don't think he's dead, I thought I just heard him…" Crystal said pointing to his mouth.

"I didn't hear anything…" Mohania said quickly and put his foot over Richard's mouth.

"Look, his hand is twitching…" Samatha said.

Mohania quickly slammed his foot on his hand and said, "I didn't see anything…"

"Mohania, please. Let me finish it…" Bernett said in pain. Mohania let out a sinister growl and walked away. Bernett propped Richard up into a sitting position. He wrapped his right arm around Richard's neck, and with the other arm he quickly twisted his head. A loud cracking sound came, and Bernett tossed the body aside. The arena battle master made the announcement that Bernett had won.

"Ok fine, battle is over. Bernett won, hooray. Now let's create a portal in front of the wall and both Skyka and Lindel could take turns resurrecting him." Mohania said. Then Richard's body burned up just like the alliance does on Dan and Crystal's world. Mohania became mad and slammed his foot on the ground.

"Skyka, would you please…" Bernett said painfully. Skyka immediately started casting a healing spell and a blast of white light entered Bernett's body. He instantly felt better, all the pain was gone - it even felt like the bones realigned themselves.

"So what's a Worgen…" Herrior asked out loud.

"To me he looked like a werewolf." Dan chimed up. A portal instantly opened showing the King and Queen. Everybody began to bow.

"No no, please continue Dan." The King said.

"Well, I mean it didn't look exactly like the ones in the movie. Werewolves only come out during the full moon. Is it a full moon here?" Dan asked.

"We have five moons." Herrior answered.

Dan shrugged. "So that's probably not it. Supposedly they bite somebody and the person they bite becomes a werewolf as well. They can only be hurt by silver."

"But they are make believe, mythical beings, made up characters, fantasy things." Crystal chimed in. Another portal opened and several banshees came flying out and entered the five humans from Earth.

"My King, I would not lie to you. Nor would Crystal." Dan said quickly.

"I know. You have proven yourselves over and over. I am merely collecting all of your memories on these creatures so that we can study the information later on." the King said.

"Our information may not be accurate. Like Dan said it was just made up stories in movies." Crystal said.

"Quinely, what did you sense after he transformed?" the King asked. The banshees stopped flying through the five of them and reentered their portal and disappeared.

"Just a human. I didn't sense anything differently." Quinely replied.

"My King, why didn't the Red Guard become active? We would never have brought him to the arena had we known…" Herrior began to say.

"I'm talking with them right now. It is not your fault Herrior. Also to update you and Skyka, I'm going to release the three orcs into Tranquil. They pose no threat what-so-ever. I can't keep them locked up, they have done nothing wrong and we would be just as savage as the orcs keeping them locked up for no reason. I'm going to assign an ambassador to stay with them at all times though, as well as I'm going to inform all of Tranquil that they are to be treated with dignity and respect. The humans though, I have no idea what to do with." The King chimed in.

"My King, may I be allowed to speak?" Samatha said in a quiet voice. The whole group turned to look at her. Bernett looked at her nervously.

"Yes Samatha, what is it?" the King asked curiously.

"I know of a parish on our world that takes in people, uh, humans as you put it. It's run by a group of Catholics. They teach basic working skills, religion, and help people get back on their feet. They provide food, shelter, and clothing and even allow the families to stay together with their children and raise them. It wouldn't cost anything, and it would keep them out of the public eye. They don't ask any questions or do background checks or anything."

"And why have I not been informed of this earlier?" The King demanded looking at Dan and Crystal. They both looked at each other nervously.

"Your honor, uh, my King - I'm sorry. It is several states away from where Bernett and I live. I went there to seek refuge after I was beaten and raped by Richard. I didn't want to go to a hospital, I wanted to seek God and hide from Richard. They promised to protect me. If I went to a hospital, he would have found me. He did some awful things to me that I still do not want to talk about…" Samatha said crying.

The Queen put her hand to her head and closed her eyes. Suddenly every image that was suppressed in Samatha's head appeared and then quickly vanished. The Queen stood to her feet.

"Samatha, I hope that what has happened today has brought you some satisfaction. Richard is dead now. He can no longer hurt you. I apologize, we cannot heal emotions. I want you to try to forget about the past though. You have a beautiful child on the way, and a great husband. You also have Herrior's group watching over you guys." the Queen paused for a second. "I notice that you are wearing the ring that we prepared for you, do you like it?"

"My Queen, I am still in shock. I still don't know what to say…" Samatha started in.

"Silence young one. It is our gift to you. Please don't lose it." the Queen said with a smile. "Take care of your family, ok?" Samatha nodded.

"Herrior, you and your group are dismissed back to Earth. Dan has some unfinished business to attend to. We also need to pull that vessel into our world. Several hours before, I will send four Chronomancers into your world. That should be enough to pull it back here."

"My King. My I speak with you in private?" Skyka suddenly blurted out. The King raised his eyebrow and said "Certainly". The large portal disappeared and a small one appeared right in front of Skyka. She put her head in it. Several minutes later she pulled her head out with a smile on her face.

"What was that about?" Herrior asked.

"Women stuff, doesn't involve you. Lindel and I are going on a trip."

"OOOooo…where to?" Lindel asked with a smile.

"You'll see tonight." Skyka said grinning at her.

"Can I come too?" Crystal asked. Skyka looked up into the air for awhile thinking.

"Naw, hun you better stay home. We'll probably need Jacklyn though."

"Are we going to be fighting anything?" Jacklyn asked with a smile.

"No…it's going to be a girl's night out."

"Skyka" Herrior said looking at her with a serious face.

"The King approved it. We won't be wearing anything provocative, and it'll only take about an hour. Besides, it'll give you men a chance to bond - or do whatever you do." Skyka said with a grin.

"What are we doing?" Lindel asked in Skyka's mind.

"Get out of my head woman. You'll find out later…" Skyka said in her mind, smiling at Lindel.

"Lindel, can you portal us to Branzer's house." Herrior asked giving up on the questioning. Lindel created a portal and they all stepped through.

"Branzer, do you mind if I go lay down? I had a lot of old memories come up and I…I just want to go lay down for awhile." Samatha said with tears starting up again.

"Certainly - Bernett do you want to go with her? You can have my bed. It's up the stairs, last room on the right. If she needs anything just name it. I think my crystal is still in the bed, just move it out of the way, or rub it - I don't care. It's pretty neat. " Branzer said. Bernett waved at him as he escorted his wife up the stairs.

"So when are you three going out for your 'women's night out'"? Herrior said glaring at Skyka.

"It'll be late tonight, probably around midnight." Skyka replied back with a smirk.

"Herrior, may I go see my mother?" Dan asked.

"Yes, we should do that right now. How far away does she live?" Herrior asked. Dan shook his head.

"May I, go alone, to go see my mother?" Dan asked.

Crystal glared at him and said, "I'm coming too!"

"Include me in…" Mohania said in his echoing voice. Dan started to become frustrated.

"Dan, look at me." Herrior said. Dan looked up at him. "Bernett had his revenge, and we were all there. I sense that you are looking for revenge and we are all going to be there."

"We'll have to explain everything all over to her; somebody beat the living piss out of her and I bet it was my dad. I also have an idea as to where he is. I'll make it quick." Dan said.

"We live as a group, we move as a group, we fight as a group, we die as a group." Herrior began to say.

"So what are those three doing tonight? Why do they get to go off by themselves? I'm a good fighter; I will be able to handle myself." Dan argued.

"You are not going alone!" Crystal said glaring at him.

"Skyka, Lindel, and Jacklyn have had hundreds of years of training. You've had weeks. If you or Crystal dies, then it is my head the King will come after." Herrior spoke very softly and added, "It is a private matter, and I respect that. Myself and Strings will come along, we will wait outside. The first sign of trouble, we're going to level the home. That is all the distance I am comfortable giving you. I am sorry. You need to consider that this is probably the work of the alliance trying to locate you. You might have to kill both of your parents if they are possessed, if you are unable to - Strings and I will do it."

"My loyalties lie with you Herrior; I will do as I must." Dan said. "I would rather kill them myself than have been captured by the alliance."

"Very well then, shall we walk or do we need to take a car?" Herrior asked.

"It's about a 30 minute drive from here. Branzer, can you take us?" Dan asked. Branzer grew very nervous.

"I was actually going to ask if Lindel and I could take a walk together in the park, before the sun sets." Branzer said slowly. Lindel looked up at him and raised her eyebrow in curiosity.

"Why?" Herrior asked turning around to look at him.

"I thought maybe we could have some alone time…" Branzer started to say.

"Dan and Crystal are allowed alone time, you and Lindel are just friends." Herrior said quickly. Herrior looked at Lindel.

"He asked me not to read his mind, so I haven't. I don't know what he has planned. This is the first I've heard of this." Lindel said defensively. Herrior rose to his feet and stared down at Branzer.

"And just what were you planning on doing…" he asked letting out a loud snort at the end.

"Nothing, just talking to each other. Watch the sun set, maybe get some ice cream. I bought a loaf of bread to feed the ducks in the river."

"OOOooo, ducks! I'll come!" Quinely said excitedly.

"I am not happy with this! Strings, myself, Dan and Crystal are leaving. Skyka, Lindel, and Jacklyn are off doing something later on, and Branzer wants to take Lindel to feed the ducks with Quinely. This only leaves Mohania and Trackolania to guard the house. And if Trackolania doesn't keep a close eye on Mohania, he'll burn half of the city down!" Herrior said. Mohania smiled and put his boney hand over Trackolania's eyes. He quickly pushed it away.

"I'm here." Bernett announced walking down the stairs. "My wife cried herself to sleep. The gentle singing of that crystal you gave Branzer did the trick. All I did was hold her, I did not ask any questions. I'll stay here with Mohania and Trackolania. I will teach them how to play poker that will keep them occupied." Bernett grabbed his car keys off from the end table and threw them at Crystal.

"Still remember how to drive hun?" Bernett asked with a smile. Crystal glared at him.

"Look, I think everybody needs to have their own time away. I do realize we get tired of each other after awhile, but I am not comfortable with this." Herrior said.

Skyka walked up to Herrior in a very sensuous manner. "I could make you real comfortable tonight…"

"Hey, not in my house! You two could break something!" Branzer said in a joking tone. Herrior suddenly turned to Branzer and said, "Do you remember what happened when the human male touched Lindel's breast on accident? She possessed him and made him cut off his own penis. Do not accidentally touch her, because my group will cut off more…"

"Hey, hey…I'm not going to do anything! I'm working on developing our friendship. I will not touch her." Branzer said. Herrior turned to Lindel.

"I can't tell what his intentions are, he asked me not to read his mind." Lindel said waving her hand in the air, seeming indifferent to the whole conversation.

"I am very uncomfortable with what you asked Lindel to do. Her abilities have saved our lives countless times." Herrior turned back to Lindel. "You are ordered to kill Branzer if he makes you uncomfortable, is that understood?"

"I would anyways. I know what the rules are." Lindel said very calmly.

"Come on you two; let's go play with the duckies in the water! Enough of this chattering…" Quinely grabbed both Lindel and Branzer and pulled them out the door.

Herrior sighed. "Dan, Crystal, Strings - let's go. Skyka, Jacklyn - go to your destination and have Lindel port to you when you are ready. Keep a low profile! If anybody senses any demons or alliance, contact the group immediately!" Herrior turned around and headed outside slamming his thunderous hoofs, the three of them followed.

"Never a dull moment." Bernett said as he reached for his deck of cards. "Ok, everybody gather around the table. The name of the game is five card poker. The object is to get pairs, runs, or the same suit."

Lindel, Quinely and Branzer walked to the park, which were only blocks away. Lindel and Branzer kept quiet as Quinely named off all of the species of ducks, their mating practices, migration patterns, and different types of feathers and so on.

Soon upon arriving at the park, Quinely saw the river. It was quite shallow, but there were indeed several different types of ducks swimming around in it.

"Let's go you two! Pretend like you are having fun!" Quinely pulled on them and ran to the river. Quinely took a quick glance around to see if anybody was looking and dove into the water. She came up as a female mallard, one of the biggest ones there was. She started chasing the other ducks around and playing games with them.

"You and the group don't trust me, do you?" Branzer said quietly and began walking. Lindel put her arm around his and matched his pace.

"Hun, my job - my main role in the group is to read and analyze minds. I am a banshee."

"I don't stand a chance with somebody like you, do I?" Branzer asked quietly.

"Branzer, I am a fighter. I have killed tens of thousands of people in my life. How many people have you killed?"

"Two. It was in self-defense. I can still see their faces. One was a teenager; one was a drunk with a shotgun. In your world I don't know how many I've killed…"

"Sixty two." Lindel responded back. Branzer suddenly began to feel guilty; Lindel could sense it with his facial features. Lindel stopped him.

"Branzer, if we are to pursue a relationship - the first thing you need to do is prove your worth to me, to my group, and to my King. I don't know how it works in your world, but I think the morals here are a little bit looser." Lindel said quietly.

"Do you…even like me?" Branzer asked, feeling as though he was a kid back in high school. Lindel closed her eyes and looked away.

"Ok, sorry I asked." Branzer said feeling very depressed.

"Yes, I like you Branzer. I like you a lot, and I sense you like me a lot as well. And that is without reading your mind. But if we are to go any further with our relationship, I need to be able to read your mind. Why did you want to close it off to me? The more I thought about it, the angrier I became with you." Lindel said in frustration.

"Lindel." Branzer said and sighed. "Ok, I have thoughts about you that I shouldn't have. I did not want to embarrass you or give you the wrong idea of who I am. I highly respect you and your laws, and I did not want to scare you off with what I think of you sometimes, and imagine us doing…not all of the time." Branzer quickly added.

Lindel looked at him funny. "Is that all? You aren't keeping any secret girlfriends on the side, or hidden mistresses?"

"What? No. Lindel I would not do that to you." Branzer answered quickly.

"Because that is what I've been thinking, it's also what the group has been thinking as well. It is what has been making them uncomfortable with you. If we were to engage in a relationship and then have something like that come up - I would kill you, but probably not as fast as my group would." Lindel said.

"Lindel, you are beautiful. Even in your banshee form. I'm not afraid of you anymore. Please, don't be afraid of me. If it would make you feel more comfortable, than I take back my promise. I just, sometimes have ideas of us, doing things that you know, we shouldn't do. I'm sorry." Branzer added.

"Branzer, since we entered the park, there has been six men thinking the same thing about me, one woman, and those two teenagers over there." Lindel said turning around pointing at them. The teenagers had smiles on their faces, but quickly disappeared as they walked away. "I'm used to it. I ignore it. I am not offended by it. Sometimes it even makes me feel good about myself." Lindel stopped walking.

"Sit with me." Lindel said pulling Branzer to the ground.

"When we are in battle, I can relay information to the group without the enemy knowing. I can sense what the enemy is thinking. I am very good at what I do. By you shutting off your mind to me, it's like you shutting off your mind to the rest of the group. It's a trust thing with us. I don't always read everybody's minds; it would get frustrating to me. I only do it when commanded to, or when there is a threat, or when information needs to be relayed privately. I do not randomly probe your mind or Bernett's mind just merely to see what you are thinking. I've opened a connection with Dan and Crystal several times to teach them things. I will not interfere with their intimate time, or with anybody else's intimate time. That is strictly prohibited. Even by the King and Queen. Dan and Crystal have learned a lot through mind links I've established with them, and I have from them. It draws the group closer."

Branzer sighed. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. It was selfish of me to ask that from you. I respect that you kept your promise though. You don't have to anymore."

"Are you sure?" Lindel said in Branzer's mind. Branzer smiled, leaned forward and kissed her.

Suddenly Branzer pulled away. "That wasn't over-stepping my bounds, was it?"

"You are still alive…aren't you?" Lindel said with a smile. She winked at him.

"What are we allowed to do as friends?" Branzer asked.

"I'll warn you if you go too far. I can tell by reading your mind hun. Our friendship will blossom more now."

"Quit yapping you two and throw us some bread!" Quinely yelled. Lindel pushed Branzer down, picked up the loaf of bread.

"Hey!" Branzer yelled getting up and running after her. Lindel started throwing entire slices of bread at the ducks and they began to fight over it.

Branzer ran up behind her with the intention of embracing her from behind. Suddenly Lindel said, "No." in his mind. Branzer stopped. "Stand by my side hun." Lindel said continuing to throw bread at the ducks. Lindel handed him a couple pieces of bread as he slowly walked to her side.

"Sorry." Branzer said.

"Shut up and throw some bread." Lindel said elbowing him in the stomach.

"Crystal and I were talking one day. If you ever have any thoughts of having sex in my butt, I will zap you and you will feel pain like you have never have felt before, is that understood?" Lindel said in Branzer's mind.

Branzer started to laugh. "Like wise, ok?" He said in his mind. Lindel started to giggle.

Soon they ran out of bread, and Quinely started swimming downstream. She was diving her head in and out of the water to pull up some plants. Suddenly something very sharp caught her in the bottom.

"You caught a duck! Quick, real it in!" she could hear the humans saying and laughing.

She began flapping, but couldn't get away. Quinely completely submerged herself into the water as she felt herself being pulled towards the shore. She quickly morphed into a twenty foot alligator. She quickly ran up the bank swishing her tail back and forth. The humans froze in terror. She let out a might roar and jumped up and snapped the stick they were holding in half. She then started running after the humans. They dropped everything they were holding and ran away in sheer terror.

"Help!" Quinely yelled. Branzer and Lindel both looked towards the giant alligator and ran towards it.

"Quinely, are you alright?" Lindel asked. Quinely morphed back into her normal human self.

"There is something stuck in my butt! It hurts!"

"Ok hun, let me take a look. Lindel slowly took off Quinely's pants and saw that there was some sort of wire preventing her from taking them all the way off. Lindel reached out and instantly caught the string on fire as it burned all the way down to the lure. Lindel then took off her pants and underwear. Branzer looked away.

"Hun, there is some sort of hook stuck in your butt."

"Those stupid humans did it! It hurts!"

"Ok, just try to hold still. Lindel started fumbling with the lure, but had no idea how to remove it. She just drove the hook in deeper. Quinely was crying in pain now.

"I can do it, but I don't want to touch her there." Branzer said.

"I'm not making any progress, get down here and do it!" Lindel commanded.

"I don't want to die for touching her inappropriately." Quinely yelped again and started begging. Lindel tried to sooth her, and glared up at Branzer.

"Ok, just don't tell Herrior." Branzer bent down to his knees and carefully looked over the lure. It was yellow used for jigging. Somehow three of the hooks were stuck in her left buttocks.

"They are serrated and can only be pulled out the way they came in. I'm sorry Quinely but I'm going to have to touch you…"

"Do it you idiot! Get it out of me!" Quinely screamed. Branzer began with the first hook and slowly worked its way out of her. Then the second hook seemed to be dug deeper into her. He put his hand on her skin to steady it and gently reversed the hook. After a couple of seconds, the hook was free. The third hook barely grazed the skin. Branzer again quickly reversed the angle of the hook and pulled it free. Drips of blood began to flow from her. He put his hand on it to stop the bleeding. Lindel pushed him out of the way and put her hand on the blood. A white light came out of her hand and quickly healed her, taking away the pain. Lindel then helped her get dressed, while Branzer stood up and looked away.

"Quick lesson for you Branzer. If I get wounded in my butt, my vagina, or my breasts - you had better have the nerve to take my clothes off to heal the wound! If you don't, and I die because you were shy about it, the party will kill you!" Quinely said forcefully.

"Ok, ok. Branzer is just a little shy. He just wanted to respect you and your body is all. You're all better now." Lindel said in a calm voice.

"This is why I need to be able to read and communicate with you through your mind. I respect the fact that you wanted to not look at Quinely's private parts, but she is right hun. If I had to strip down Herrior to save his life, I would do it in a heartbeat without thinking twice about it. Skyka would expect me to do that. We all love and respect each other. I know your thoughts and intentions, they were pure." Lindel said in Branzer's mind.

Quinely bent over to pick up the lure. "What is this thing anyways?"

"It's used to catch fish. It was never intended to catch ducks, or alligators…" Branzer said thinking about what Lindel had just told him.

"Well I hate it! Lindel can you burn it up for me?" Quinely said handing it to her. Lindel produced several blue sparks that quickly turned the lure into ash. Lindel's hearthstone then started going off. She pulled it out and saw Jacklyn and Skyka.

"We're ready for you." Skyka said with a grin.

"Ok, I'll be right there." Lindel created a portal. "Can you walk Branzer back to the house?"

"Only if he doesn't touch my butt again…" Quinely said with a smile. Branzer's face turned red and was about to say something when Lindel winked at him and vanished into the portal. Quinely wrapped her arm around Branzer, smiled up at him, and the two of them walked back.

Back at the house, Bernett had finished explaining the game and had dealt the cards to Mohania and Trackolania. Trackolania picked up his cards and quickly started scanning back and forth.

"Ok, Trackolania you go first. Do you want to exchange any cards?" Bernett asked. Suddenly Bernett heard a faint noise to his right. He looked over trying to figure out what it was. After a couple of seconds he looked back and Trackolania laid down his cards. He had a royal flush.

"How did you! Is this the first time you played?" Bernett said shocked. He looked at the deck in the middle of the table and everything appeared to be in order. Trackolania was grinning from ear to ear.

Mohania laid down his cards and it showed five ace of spades. Bernett appeared shocked again.

"Mohania, there's only one ace of spades in the deck. How did you get five?" Mohania picked his cards back up; his eyes gave off a faint glow and then put his cards back on the table.

"Five ace of diamonds huh…" Bernett said looking at his hand. Bernett shook his head and laid down his cards.

"I have a pair of jacks. I got these legitimately. So I win…" Mohania picked his cards back up for a couple of seconds and then laid them back down. This time each of his cards showed a naked red dancing lady with a tail behind her. They all danced in sync with each other.

"Mohania, those cards don't even exist in the deck." Meanwhile Trackolania laid down another straight, a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace in red diamonds.

"You got another flush huh…" Trackolania nodded.

"Did you understand the rules?" Bernett asked. Both of them nodded with a grin. Bernett sighed.

"Let's go find a different game to play. What do you guys do in your world for fun?"

"Torture alliance…" Mohania said in his echoing voice.

"Besides that."

"We could have Trackolania throw his daggers at you and see if you can catch them with your teeth." Mohania suggested.

"Eh - sounds like fun, but I'll pass." Bernett said. Just then the front door opened and Branzer walked in with Quinely's arm wrapped around him.

"Back so soon?" Bernett asked, wondering what happened.

"Branzer touched my butt, Lindel got mad and left." Quinely said beginning to laugh. Bernett's mouth and eyes opened wide as he stared at Branzer.

"It wasn't like that. Quinely got a fishing lure stuck on her bottom, and I had to unhook it. Lindel was called away to do another assignment with Skyka and Jacklyn. Quinely, you're going to get me in trouble…" Branzer said quickly looking at her. Quinely giggled and walked over to the table.

"What are you guys playing?" she asked.

"We were playing poker, but I don't think they are catching on." Bernett looking down at Trackolania. He had another straight of spades lying next to the other straights. Mohania's dancing women had come out of the cards and were dancing on top of them now.

"You two…are you cheating?" Quinely asked glaring at them with a smile. Trackolania nodded with a smile. Mohania just grinned at her.

"Would you guys rather sit and talk instead?" Quinely asked. Trackolania nodded as well as Mohania.

"Ok we can do that, help me more the table and the chairs out of the way and we can all sit on the floor." Bernett said.

As they were rearranging the furniture, Bernett was able to stop Branzer to ask him a question in private.

"I see you are still alive. How did it go with Lindel? Did you get to first base?" Bernett asked with a smile.

"If I did, I wouldn't be standing here next to you." Branzer said back. "All we did was talk. Apparently she and the group were mad at me for asking Lindel not to read my mind."

"Why in the world would you ask that?" Bernett said startled.

"Because I'm a man. And men have thoughts…" Branzer started to say.

"Ok, that's enough. I don't need to know anymore. Like I said before, be careful! You are walking down a very dangerous road my friend. You aren't dating the average woman here." Bernett said. Branzer nodded and they finished moving the furniture out of the way. They all sat in a circle and began talking.

Crystal pulled into Dan's driveway. Both of them got out and armed themselves. Herrior crawled out of the car as Strings got out as well.

"If something goes wrong, stop time. That'll be our sign to come in. I don't like this. Like I said, if Strings or I sense anything wrong - we will flatten the house." Herrior said glaring at the two of them. Dan nodded and the four of them walked up to the house. Dan and Crystal walked up to the front porch; Herrior and Strings stood perfectly still up against the side of the house. Dan opened the door and went in first, swords in front of him.

"Mom?" Dan called out. No answer. Dan walked in further and old memories started flooding his mind. Crystal came in right behind him with her sais posed and ready to strike.

"Something happened…" Dan said after a couple of seconds. The house was completely trashed, there was blood marks on certain items. They walked further into the house and heard a whimpering coming from upstairs.

"Mom?" Dan asked. He quickly ran up the stairs with Crystal in close pursuit. Dan ran towards the noise which was coming from the bathroom. He flung open the door and saw his mom naked in the bathtub, bleeding from what seemed like every part of her body.

"What the hell? Mom what happened?" Dan put his swords on his back and quickly started grabbing some towels to cover her.

"Dan?" His mom asked in a quiet whimpering voice.

"Yes, it is Dan. I am your son. What happened?" Dan said quickly. Crystal found a bathroom behind the door and threw it around her. She was badly bruised, her face looked disfigured, she looked to have a lot of internal bleeding, as well as external. Dan and Crystal helped her to the bedroom and laid her down.

"You aren't safe here Dan. They will come looking for you. I saw things…things that didn't exist…at least I didn't think they existed. They entered my mind, they tortured me, and they beat me. Hun they were strong. I couldn't do anything." His mom started to burst into tears.

"Mom, stay with me here. Who did this to you? Who are 'they'?" Dan asked.

His mom looked down at Crystal. "You are so beautiful. I have seen you in my dreams along with my son. No wonder he loves you."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"My son, I have had dreams about you. I have seen the creatures that you are with. I have seen you and Crystal. Don't hide anything from your mother, I gave birth to you. Where are the rest of your friends at?" She asked slowly.

Dan looked quickly at Crystal, and then back at his mom.

"Mom, I'm going to check you for something. Don't move." He signaled Crystal to the other side of the bed and raised her sais over her stomach. Dan then opened his mother's eyes wide open and stared at them for awhile.

"Son, I am me. I no longer have the ghosts inside of me. They are gone. If I had known where you were, I would have told them. I didn't want to, but they were trying to pull the information out of me. They forced me to go to the station to ask where you were. Nobody knew. I was relieved. The beatings continued until they realized they weren't going to get any information out of me. I'm sorry Dan, I would have betrayed my own son…" his mom said and started crying again. Dan waved Crystal away.

"Who is 'they'?" Dan asked again.

"Your father…and the woman he is with. They are three houses over on the right. They had red eyes, and were violent. They had purple ghosts or spirits…"

"Ok mom, just stay here…ok?" Dan said. He stuck his head out of the bedroom and yelled for Herrior. The front door instantly burst open and Herrior began charging forward with his weapons drawn. Strings was right behind him with his lute in his hand. The two of them saw his mother on the bed.

"I know you two; I have seen you in my dreams as well. Thank you for taking in my son…" his mom moaned.

"She's been attacked by the alliance. Apparently they have control of my father and another woman a couple of houses over. Look what they did to her Herrior!" Dan said. Herrior put his shield and sword away and walked over to her. He gently looked her over, opening her robe to see the full extent of the damage.

"Ma'am, we have healers that can take away the pain. I can summon them right now." Herrior said quietly. Dan's mom shook her head.

"If they know that I don't know anything, and then I'm suddenly healed, wont that make them suspicious? I want to protect my son. That is why I haven't gone to a hospital, I want to give off the feeling that I don't know anything. I do not want to betray my son. My body will heal itself in time. Please, protect my son." she said nobly.

Herrior nodded. He turned to Dan. "I respect your mom's logic and compassion for you. You come from a strong family." Herrior turned around and looked into Dan's eyes. "Are you willing to kill your own father for what he has done?"

"Damn straight I am!" Dan said equipping his swords and running out of the room.

"Don't swear…" his mom said softly.

The rest of the group followed Dan down the stairs and up to the house that was described to him.

"Make it quick, we don't want them to escape." Herrior said as Dan cut off the lock with his blade. He kicked the door in and ran into the hallway. He saw his father and another woman on the floor having sex. Dan charged at them.

"Son?" his father asked. He quickly jumped off from the woman and backed into the wall behind him. "What are you doing?"

Dan tried to sink his ice blade into his father's stomach, but he caught it with both of his hands. Dan looked up at his dad and his eyes were glowing red. Dan tried to withdraw his blade but he couldn't. Dan then swung at him with his other sword and his father let go of the blade and jumped out of the way.

Crystal's sai sailed through the air and landed in the middle of the woman's head. The woman let out a howl of pain. Crystal ran up to her and jumped at her. She yanked her sai out of the woman's head and kicked her to the ground. Both the naked woman and Dan's father stood side beside each other. Dan and Crystal walked at them when all of a sudden both of them changed into Worgen's. They started slashing at Dan and Crystal with their claws. Dan and Crystal began parrying their attacks but they weren't quick enough. Each of them took several slashes to their stomachs and then they were thrown backwards. Dan and Crystal both quickly jumped to their feet as the worgen's charged at them.

Time stopped.

The worgen's stopped in midair. Their claws extended, and the saliva dripping down. Herrior and Strings both charged in the house to see what was going on. They saw Dan and Crystal stabbing and slicing at the creatures as hard and fast as they could. Every time Crystal's sai's landed a blow it would heal both of them a little.

"Strings, heal them." Herrior said as he drew his weapons and began racing through the house. Strings started to play a tune that slowly healed their wounds.

Crystal mutilated the female worgen's face and then with a final blow she swung her sai at the creature's neck, letting out a huge snapping sound.

Dan was slicing at the mail worgen's neck until it finally gave way and fell to the ground.

Time resumed.

The creature's momentum carried them forward and they landed with a sickening thud. They could hear the sounds of Herrior slicing through several more humans in the house as Strings continued to play his song. All of the bodies suddenly burned up.

Several moments passed and Herrior reappeared in the main room. His sword and shield were dripping with blood.

"This was a breeding place for the worgen's. This is what I was worried about. Those two worgen's would have killed you both." Herrior said.

"Yes they would have." Dan said holding his stomach, slowly admitting that he was wrong.

"Time stopping saved your asses, but it could have drawn demons to us. Now, let's go back to your mother and say your goodbyes. I'm eager to get back to Branzer's house." Herrior said.

"I wanted to kill him in a fair fight!" Dan said bitterly.

"You did." Herrior replied back quickly. "If they had the power you have, I assure you they would have used it. You have avenged your mother and brought honor to your family. Let's get going." They all left the house and went back to his mom's. They all entered the house and walked up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Hi mom." Dan said. She turned to face him and asked, "You killed him…didn't you?"

"It wasn't dad anymore. But yes, I did kill him." His mom looked to the ceiling and a tear fell from her eye.

"We have to leave now, but before we go the group I'm with can heal you or at least take away the pain for you." Dan said quietly.

"I knew if you came back to me you would kill him. I can see you and your group in my dreams. I know you have to leave. Bring Crystal back when I'm feeling better, please. I hate to have her see me like this." His mom said slowly and in pain. "I want to be in the wedding…"

Crystal smirked and looked away. Dan looked at his mom and smiled. "You will, but it will probably be awhile. In the meantime, listen to me mom. You need to go get a gun, and you need to keep it on or near you at all times." His mom sighed and looked away.

"Ma'am, my name is Herrior. I am Dan's leader. He is right, you must arm yourself. You must also not talk about Dan or anything about any of us or your dreams. If you want, go to Branzer or Bernett's house and talk with them. Identify who you are, they will defend you, and I think you will become good friends with Bernett's wife. Those three are safe." Herrior said softly.

"You are going to go fight in a war, aren't you?" Dan's mom asked her son. He nodded.

"Promise me you will go get a gun. We need to get going. I will have my officer friends check up on you, if you don't have a gun they will get one for you." Dan said.

"You guys don't carry guns…" his mom replied with a smile. Herrior made a chuckle.

"Ma'am, we are not afraid of your weapons. Especially with your son with us. Your son possesses a powerful gift. Get yourself a weapon, that's an order." Herrior said with a smile. His mom smiled and nodded.

"It was nice meeting you ma'am; we'll meet you guys outside." Herrior said.

"It is a pleasure ma'am." Strings said and walked out with Herrior.

"Take care of her, she's a beauty. Keep in touch, ok?" Dan's mom said. Dan nodded kissed her on the forehead and walked out. Crystal hugged her and smiled at her.

"I want grandkids." Dan's mom said to her. Crystal started laughing.

"Where we go, there are a lot of rules we have to follow. It's a lot stricter than it is here. I'll make sure he keeps in touch. Take care of yourself ok?" Crystal said winking at her and left the room.

Everybody got in the car and Crystal drove them back to Branzer's house.

"Dan, your mom said that she wants grandkids." Crystal said with a big grin on her face. Dan looked down and shook his head.

"Not until you form…" Herrior began to say. Both Dan and Crystal told him to be quiet.

They got back to the house and sat in the circle that had formed. Mohania appeared to have summoned an imp and was telling it to do tricks.

"Branzer, do you know where some paper and a pencil is?" Dan asked.

"No, but I can help you look." Both of them searched the kitchen and eventually found a notepad and a pen. Dan wrote down his address and his mother's first and last name.

"This is my mom. She had the shit beat out of her by the alliance because they wanted to know where I was. Can you, or Bernett, or Samatha check up on her periodically. She also needs a gun and will need training on how to use it." Dan said giving him the piece of paper.

"Certainly. Where is your dad?"

"I had to kill him. He was a worgen." Dan said walking away.

"Oh…" Branzer said, not knowing what to say. Branzer put the paper on the table and followed him into the dining room.

Everybody joined in on the conversation when Jacklyn opened the door and came in the house with Lindel over one shoulder and Skyka over the other one. Herrior jumped to his feet.

"What happened?" He demanded. Mohania's imp stopped dancing around.

"They told me not to tell…" Jacklyn said. Skyka opened her eyes and looked at Herrior. "We had fun." Jacklyn laid Lindel down in the corner of the room and placed Skyka several feet away from her.

"Were you seen?" Herrior asked.

"No, I made sure of that." Jacklyn replied back.

"Skyka! What is done is done. I want to know what you two did!" Herrior said with a growl in his voice.

"Remember the hospital that healed Crystal? Well, we combined our powers to form a large circle of healing. We blasted the hospital twice. Then we passed out. That's why we chose Jacklyn to carry us home. Sorry Crystal."

"And the King approved that?" Herrior said.

"Yes. He said to make sure we weren't seen coming or going from the hospital."

"You just can't do that! People will ask questions, they will come from all over the world to come here to get healed! How did he approve that?" Dan said in shock.

"Because, apparently your race forgets things easily. They write off things they don't understand. Come next week probably everybody will forget what happened." Skyka said smiling.

"Why did you do it?" Crystal asked.

"For you hun. They healed you, we returned the favor. If it makes you guys feel better, we roasted two alliance in the process. I need to recharge and Lindel does as well." Skyka said and closed her eyes.

"They have a good idea, let's all turn in for the night." Herrior said walking over to Skyka, lying down beside her and wrapping his arm around her. Dan and Crystal laid down with Dan's arm around her. Branzer walked over to Lindel and started bending down.

"No." Lindel said in his mind. Branzer then stood back up and started to walk away when he heard Lindel sigh and said, "Come here." Branzer spun around and saw that Lindel was on her back waving her finger at him. Branzer knelt down beside her. Lindel reached up and pulled him down and gave him a kiss.

"Sweet dreams." Lindel said and laid back down. Several "ooo's" came from the group. Branzer walked over to the couch and laid down on it. They were all asleep within minutes. Within fifteen minutes though, Herrior's hearthstone started buzzing.


	8. Negotiations

Negotiations

Herrior rolled over and pulled the stone from his pocket. An image of Tess appeared. Herrior blinked several times and then sat up.

"I'm sorry for contacting you; I know you are on a mission on a different world. But the King said to recall you. The King has reported a good two-thousand alliance marching towards us. All of the other groups are on different worlds collecting materials, or they are out of range of the stone. Our two groups are the only ones left. It is time for battle my friend. How soon can you get here?" Tess said.

Herrior looked over at Lindel who was snoring away.

"Our Chronomancer's low on power. My guess is that she can't portal us." Herrior said back with a yawn.

"How is she low on power? What were you guys doing out there?" Tess paused for a second and shook her head. "Never mind, I'll have a portal opened for you guys." Tess said very upset as she quickly closed the portal.

"Wake up!" Herrior screamed. "Get your weapons ready, we're going into battle!" Everybody suddenly woke up and rose to their feet in a daze. Lindel and Skyka were still sound asleep. Herrior pulled Skyka to her feet and shook her.

"Wha? What's going on?" Skyka said confused.

"Tess contacted me, we're going into battle."

"My power is very low, and Lindel's is even worse." Skyka said quickly.

"It'll have to work." Herrior said. Just then a portal opened and a blood elf stepped out.

"Tess told me to tell you to hurry." he said.

"I'm sure she said more than that. Everybody in, now! Skyka go get Bernett and drag him down here. Strings get Lindel. Branzer are you awake?" Herrior commanded.

"Yup, yup - I'm coming." He said as he staggered toward the portal and walked in with the rest of the group.

Skyka went running up the stairs, grabbed Bernett's wrist and dragged him out of bed. This suddenly caused him to wake up. He was completely naked.

"What's going on?" Bernett asked.

"We're going to battle, come on!" Skyka yelled at him. Bernett was surprised by how strong she was as she dragged him down the stairs.

"I'm naked! Can I get some clothes?"

"No, we're already late." Bernett grabbed a hold of the guard rail and steadied himself as his butt slammed into each step. He rose to his feet quickly and Skyka dragged him over to the portal and they both disappeared. The blood elf then walked through the portal and it disappeared.

They all appeared on the inside of the gate. They heard Mohania let out a loud hiss as he realized where he was, but soon he realized the shield guarding the wall was down. He looked around and saw no Red Guards either.

"The shield is down. Tranquil is being evacuated. There is a group of very inexperienced offspring inside the gate if we don't succeed. I've ordered the golems to not let anybody in. If we fail, they will be in Tranquil. All of the power in Tranquil is being diverted to opening portals for everybody, and for protection in the palace. Our job is to reduce the alliance numbers and to buy them time." Tess looked over at Lindel laying down breathing really hard. She then saw Skyka sitting down with her head between her knees.

"Don't tell me those are your healers." Tess said. She already knew the answer to the question. Tess let out a scream of anger.

"Ok, this is how this is going to work. Herrior, you and my tank will be on the front lines. Mohania, how many of your warlocks know the spell Howl of Terror?"

"Six." Mohania instantly replied. Tess shook her head.

"Ok, get them and I want you on the asses on the tanks. We're going to fear bomb them as much as possible. This won't affect the fear wards, or the stupid Paladins - but maybe we can take down a large group of them. Do your warlocks know what ranged and melee mean?"

"Yes."

"Good. Listen up; I don't want any AOE's. I want direct fighting. Tanks I want you to take on five to six warriors and hold their aggro if you can. You are to hold the line. My healers will do the best that they can. Ranged is to protect the tanks. I want nice clean shots. Melee you are to take down as many warriors as you can that are distracted by the tanks. Hold nothing back. If you are captured and are taken away by the alliance, try to kill yourself. If you can't, I will try. Believe me a quick death by us is better than being taken by the alliance. Mohania, how many blue guys do you have?"

"Ten, but they can't be all controlled by me. They will only attack if they get attacked." Mohania said.

"Bring them out. Put them on the front line as well. Bring out the rest of your demons and assign them according to their abilities. Rogue's are in the melee group. Ranged, grab your weapons and get up on the wall. I'll be there shortly. Give us some priest buffs." Tess said looked at one of her blood elves. A white star appeared over everybody, and then a purple star appeared. Both priests casted their "inner fire" spell that caused their bodies to become encased in yellow circles, followed by a crown on their heads. At the same time Branzer and Bernett, still naked, ran over to the boxes full of guns. They both picked up an old fashion Tommy gun and ran up the stairs.

"Lindel, Skyka - you are both commanded to go on the battle field. Strings, you are to delay the attackers as long as possible. How many songs can you play?"

"About ten." Strings answered quickly.

"I want twelve. Everybody get into position!" Tess yelled. Quinely morphed into a giant bear and everybody ran outside the wall. Skyka walked over to Lindel and helped her to her feet. They both staggered out onto the battle field. This angered Tess.

"For crying out loud! The only healers that we have are mine? Do you two have any abilities that you can use to recharge yourselves?" Lindel and Skyka both shook their heads as they staggered out onto the battle field.

"Well recharge as quickly as you can! Skyka, you are healing Herrior. My holy priest will heal my tank, and my discipline priest will heal the Bear. Lindel you are assigned to group healing. Melee get behind the tanks. Everybody, we're going to fear bomb as much as possible after Strings is done blasting them away." Tess waited for everybody to get into position. Mohania spoke something in his undead language and six warlocks came running up beside him. Mohania then gave quick instructions and they all separated and stood behind the tanks.

"I'm not understanding everything that she is saying Lindel…" Dan said without looking back. Lindel mind-linked him and Crystal.

"You two are in the melee group, ignore most of what she says. Only do something when she says 'Melee group'. Other than that, just stand there." Lindel said in their minds and then closed the link.

"Herrior! How much time do you think we have?" Tess shouted.

"Maybe three minutes…" Herrior said twirling his blade around in his hand.

Suddenly Mohania felt a jolt in his body. He turned around and yelled something in his undead language. Kendall then relayed the message to Tess.

"Mohania apologizes for not talking in common speak, but he didn't want the alliance to hear what he has sensed. There is an enormous demon approaching from the north. Mohania says he is very strong, and he estimates that he will intercept the alliance in twenty seconds or less."

"Fall back! Everybody get back to the wall and hug it!" Tess yelled. The tanks and melee groups did exactly that. Crystal helped Lindel back to the wall.

The alliance forces began to laugh at what just happened and started to mock them.

"Hold your position. Mohania, I want as much information as you can give me." Tess whispered down the wall to them.

"He's huge. I will not be able to banish or control him. He is very pissed about something. He isn't speaking common speak, he is talking in…orcish tongue I think. I don't recognize it."

Tess looked up and saw the demon. He was approaching at a fast speed, right towards the alliance. For some reason the alliance kept marching straight at them.

"Stupid humans…" Tess said to herself.

The demon looked to be as tall as Cenarius. It was red, had a long tail, an enormous wingspan and had a large sword for a weapon. It appeared to be running as fast as possible.

"New plan. Herrior and your bear are to tank him. My tank will intercept some of the blows for both of you. Herrior you will be the main tank. My holy priest will be on Herrior. We're going to wait here and see what happens. Don't provoke the beast!" Tess yelled.

The demon clashed with the alliance and blasted through them like they were grass. He slammed his sword on the ground and bodies went flying. Tess could here the screams and commands of the alliance. Thirty seconds of utter chaos erupted.

"Put your tanks on him you idiots…" Tess said out loud.

Eventually several paladins began throwing their weapons at the demon and taunting it. The first paladin was immediately sliced in half. Several well armored dwarfs began to swarm the beast and it finally looked like the alliance began controlling the demon. The ranged and magic users fell back behind the group, the melee were behind the demon and they began striking at the beast. It looked like they were beginning to drain the demon's health.

However after several minutes, large numbers of alliance began running away from the fight. Some of them ran back to their town, others just ran in random directions. Several shouts were made to command the alliance forces to come back.

"If anybody runs away, I will kill them myself!" Tess yelled watching the mayhem going on. Suddenly several large explosions hit the mighty demon and he seemed to lose strength. The paladins continued to blast the beast with their holy magic. A paladin on a horse came running towards their wall.

"Call your demon off!" He yelled.

"That isn't our demon! We don't have control over demons!" Tess yelled. Mohania produced a confused look and looked up at Tess.

"We wanted a fair fight!" The paladin yelled.

"Two thousand of your troops against fourteen of us? Where is the honor in that? We fight the same demons that you fight!" Tess yelled.

The paladin turned around and saw almost every member of his army running away.

"Bring them here; we'll fight beside you against this demon!" Tess yelled.

"You continue to mock us while my brethren die!" the paladin yelled.

"If I was to mock you, I would call you all the names I'm thinking of right now - but look at your troops, tell them to form up with us! It is our only chance!"

The paladin turned around and spat on the ground facing them. "For the alliance!" he yelled as he charged the demon.

"Idiot!" Tess yelled at the paladin. "Mohania get your blue guys all off the field and bring out your imps. I want blood pact on us." Mohania immediately ran over to the cave entrance and spoke some words. The blue protectors all left and about thirty imps came running out. They all lined up, held their hands up and spoke the same words. A red line flew through everybody, making them all bigger.

"Don't anybody breathe…" Tess said very quietly. The demon finished killing the remainder of the alliance and decided not to chase after the ones fleeing. The alliance did appear to hurt the demon significantly.

"They probably could have killed it if they weren't a bunch of cowards…" Tess whispered. The demon suddenly shouted out several commands and began walking towards the wall. He appeared to be limping and his color had faded.

"A small band of orcs are approaching from the north." Quinely said.

"Ok guys, it's our turn. I want this done by the book. Nice and slow everybody. Herrior and the bear - get into positions." Tess said. Both Quinely and Herrior began walking forward.

"Melee and ranged, only attack when I say." Tess said. "This might be the quickest battle we've ever fought together…"

The demon continued to advance until he was about thirty yards in front of the wall.

"Herrior charge him!" Tess yelled. Herrior threw his sword at the demon while instantly charging the demon, stunning him for a couple of seconds. Herrior pulled his sword out of the demon and then slammed his shield into him, followed by a mighty strike his sword at him. Herrior then hit the demon with the blunt end of his sword, producing a magical sword to appear at the top of the demon to slam into his head. The demon shook his head and raised his sword to slice at Herrior.

"Bear! Charge him!" Quinely flew forward at an incredible speed and slammed her head into the demon, stunning him again. Quinely then run beside Herrior and both of them started slowly walking the demon backwards.

"Vigilance?" Herrior yelled.

"Put it on my tank!" Tess yelled back. Herrior instantly pointed his finger at Tess's tank and magical shields surrounded him. The demon came to and began walking after Herrior. Quinely, Herrior and the demon began swinging at each other. Suddenly Bernett's gun started firing, it surprised Bernett at first. Tess ran over and slammed him over the head with her bow. Bernett immediately stopped firing and Tess ran back over to her spot. Herrior produced another magical sword over the demon's head that slammed into it.

"How are you holding up Herrior?" Tess yelled.

"He hits hard!" Herrior yelled showing visible signs of weakness.

"Herrior - Battle shout! My fury warrior, commanding and demoralizing shout!" Tess yelled. Suddenly the battle field came to life with the thunderous roars of the Taurens.

"Begin healing Herrior, slowly. Herrior can you disarm him?" Tess yelled.

Herrior jumped up and swung his blade at the demon's hand. His blade flew across the field and stuck in the ground. The demon kept attacking Herrior, only the hits weren't as bad anymore.

"Rogue, Tricks of the Trade on Herrior. Throw everything holy on him that you have. I'm misdirecting to Herrior. Melee! Ranged! Engage in five seconds!" Tess yelled. Tess held her arms up and a red arrow floated above the demons head. Tess then pulled back on an arrow, held it for a couple of seconds and then released it. She then grabbed another arrow that the goblin threw up at her and did this twice. The arrows flew around the demon, changed direction and slammed into the demon's leg right above Herrior.

Trackolania in the mean time had poured holy water on his dagger. Trackolania pointed at Herrior and a green circle appeared above his head. Trackolania then sank his daggers into the demon as hard as he could. It didn't even seem to phase the demon.

"Attack! With everything you have! Herrior and Quinely, fight for aggro!" Tess said and started firing as quickly as she could. Branzer and Bernett opened up with their tommy guns and they could see where they were hitting the demon. It didn't appear to be doing any good though; the bullets merely soaked into the demons body and disappeared.

The demon's sword flew out of the dirt and back into the demon's hand. The demon then seemed to enrage himself and began swinging furiously at Herrior.

"Thunderclap him! My tank, disarm him again!" Tess yelled launching another arrow at him. Herrior jumped up into the air and slammed his hoofs on the dirt. A magical circle appeared around the demons feet, slowing his movements. At the same time Tess's tank disarmed the demon again.

"Bard! Slow him as much as you can!" Tess yelled launching another arrow. Strings started playing a song and the demon appeared to become sleepy.

"He's immune to shadow damage!" Mohania yelled as he saw all of his warlocks launch shadow bolts at him, doing no damage at all.

"Curse of weakness on him! Have your warlocks suck his life. The ones that can't send them away!" Tess yelled launching another arrow at him. This time the arrow glowed green. It hit his body and instantly poison seeped into the demon's veins. Mohania gave the command and sent ten warlocks back into the cave. He then began firing his chaos bolt spell at the demon. Kendall, standing next to Mohania, fired arcane bolts at the demon, which looked like diamond shaped objects flying continuously at the demon.

Herrior's healer casted several healing spells on him. Herrior seemed to be doing a good job at keeping the demon's attention and keeping out of the demon's attacks as much as he could.

The Orc's arrived at the tree line. The demon shouted out a command at them and they all just stood in their spot watching.

"Don't engage the Orc's unless they attack us! Concentrate on the demon!"

The fight continued for five minutes. Tess seemed very good at yelling out commands and firing her arrows at the same time. All of the tanks were able to continue stunning him with their abilities, giving the ranged and melee time to further drain the demon's health.

Branzer's gun ran out of bullets. He looked down and his goblin came running up the stairs. "I can't find any more ammo for that gun, here - throw this. It was blessed by a priest. I'll go get another gun in the meantime." Branzer took the grenade from the goblin and pulled the pin. He counted to three and then throw it at the demon's head. It exploded and the demon screamed in pain as holy lights exploded in all directions and then was absorbed into its body. The demon's color faded to white but slowly returned to its red color. The demon fell to his knee briefly and then let out a snort. The Orc's behind them seemed to wonder around aimlessly for awhile. The demon outstretched his arm and regained control of them.

"I've lost aggro!" Herrior cried out.

"Melee! Ranged! Stop attacking! Herrior, Quinely - get aggro back! Bernett stand to the left of me! Branzer run as far right on the wall as you can!" Bernett did exactly as he was told. All of the goblins ran behind Tess. Branzer turned to move but his gun hit one of the protruding stones on the wall, knocking it out of his hands.

"Shit!" Branzer yelled as he watched it fall and hit an undead on top of his head. The undead fell to the ground, but quickly stood up and hissed at him.

"Get down on the ground you idiot!" Lindel screamed in Branzer's head. Branzer instantly fell on the stone floor and saw the demon's hand collapse in on itself right above where he just was.

"Roll to your right!" Lindel boomed in his head again. Branzer began to roll as the demon felt around for him. Branzer then got up on his feet and began running as far as he could and stopped where the mountain ran into the wall. "Now what?" Branzer yelled. Nobody answered.

The demon started walking towards Branzer, the undead moved out of the way as he walked. Tess let out a loud sigh.

"Herrior, taunt him!" Tess yelled. Herrior screamed at the demon and he turned around and started chasing Herrior as Herrior continued to slam his shield and sword at him.

"I want to hear the tanks talking! Taunt him away from the wall! Nobody is to attack; I don't want any healing spells until I say! Trackolania, do your Tricks of the Trade on Herrior as much as you can! I'll misdirect every thirty seconds. Keep refreshing your shouts! Strings how are you holding up?"

"I've only got about two more minutes…" Strings said sounding exhausted.

"Make it four! Herrior! Don't you have a time stopper in your group?"

Dan yelled, "Yes…"

"What are you waiting for, a damn invitation!" Tess yelled without looking at him, launching an arrow into the demon.

Time stopped.

Tess looked at Branzer and Bernett and shook her head as they stood motionless. "Humans…"

The demon froze in place and both Herrior and Quinely landed some powerful blows on the demon for the next fifteen seconds.

Time resumed.

The demon turned towards Branzer.

"Taunting!" Quinely yelled and let out a might roar at the demon. The demon quickly turned around and started striking at Quinely. She tried dodging the incoming blows and slowly walked him backwards. She was taking a lot of damage as well. Her healer followed every movement that Quinely took. He hadn't healed her too much because the demon was mostly fighting Herrior.

"Stop time again!" Tess yelled.

Time stopped.

Dan felt a strange tingle in his head. It was as if he had a quick loss of energy. He shook it off and looked over at Crystal. She was moving around ready for her next attack. Tess looked down at the two of them and tilted her head in curiosity. "Humans immune to time stopping?" she thought. Herrior and Quinely again landed as many blows as they could.

"Taunting!" Herrior yelled and screamed up at the demon. Herrior's life appeared to be in the balance. Skyka ran over to Herrior's healer.

"Herrior, what is your health at?" Tess yelled.

"About fifteen percent left!"

"Can you regeneration?" Tess yelled. Herrior screamed into the air. His body turned red as his wounds began to close themselves up. This lasted for about fifteen seconds; Quinely taunted after eight seconds so Herrior could finish regenerating. It didn't fully heal him, but he looked better now.

"How are you doing bear?" Tess yelled.

"Better than Herrior, but I could use a heal. I'm at about thirty percent life." Quinely shouted back.

"My tank! Stand in the middle of them! If one of them dies, take over. Begin getting aggro, and continue your intercepting!" Tess yelled. Her tauren warrior with the shield did exactly as she said, and continued to charge in front of some of the blows the demon was making.

"Taunting!" Quinely yelled.

"My holy priest, what is your power level at?" Tess yelled.

"I'm almost exhausted!" He answered.

Skyka immediately piped up. "I'm almost full, can I take over?"

"Yes, but don't heal until aggro has been reestablished! Banshee, how are you doing?" Tess yelled.

"I'm about half!" Lindel yelled back.

"Can you go reenergize my discipline priest? I have a feeling we're going to be doing this for awhile. And why hasn't time stopped again?" Tess yelled.

Time stopped.

Dan suddenly felt very woozy and almost fell to the ground. He slammed his sword into the ground and leaned on it for balance.

"Lindel! What's happening? I'm losing strength!" Dan shouted in his head facing Lindel.

"The demon we are fighting is very powerful. You are giving a command to your body to perform the time stopping. It sucks out enough energy to do the ability, without taking into consideration of your strength. Try to hold in there kiddo." Lindel said in his mind without looking at him. Dan took in several deep breaths and then stood back on his feet. Crystal glanced over at him with a concerned look on her face. She only looked at him for a couple of seconds before she looked back at the demon.

Time resumed.

"Taunting!" Herrior yelled as he screamed at the demon. The demon was now quite a distance from the wall. Herrior continued striking the demon as hard as he could with both his sword and his shield. Occasionally Herrior produced the magical sword appeared above the demon and slammed into his head. The demon landed several fierce blows on Herrior and then kicked him backwards onto his backs. Herrior quickly jumped to his feet and charged back at the demon, stunning him for a couple of seconds. Herrior's body looked badly disfigured and was bleeding just about everywhere on his body. His fur began sticking together from all of the sweat and blood. Skyka watched as tears began to drop from her eyes.

"Guardian Spirit on Herrior!" Tess yelled as she performed another misdirection towards Herrior. Skyka immediately casted the spell. A grey spirit appeared right above Herrior. Herrior let out a cry as his body fell to the ground lifeless. The spirit quickly entered his body and Herrior began fighting again as if he never died.

Tess yelled for time to be stopped two more times, as Herrior regained attention of the demon. The second time Dan stopped time; he dropped to the ground in agony. He gritted his teeth and slowly stood back on his feet. His vision was just about gone and all he heard was a long ringing in his ears.

"Lindel, I don't think I can do that again…" Dan said in his mind in severe agony.

Lindel yelled out, "Our time stopped is drained! He needs to recharge!"

"Do you have him yet Herrior?" Tess yelled out.

"Yes I do Tess! I could use a heal!" Herrior yelled out.

"Skyka! Do as he says! Keep your power above fifty percent if you can!" Tess shouted. Skyka still crying instantly began casting small healing spells on her mate.

"Shield wall!" Tess yelled. Instantly Herrior produced several huge magical shields that rotated around his body, absorbing a lot of the damage.

Lindel created a mental link with Dan and Crystal. "Dan, I know you probably can't see but Skyka is crying her eyes out. She's been crying for the past couple of minutes. During this battle Herrior died once, but one of Skyka's spells immediately brought him back to life. Herrior's getting the shit beat out of him, and Skyka is just watching. She's following orders. She's seen him die several times before, and she cries every time. But both are loyal to their leader and understands that sometimes they will both die in battle. You two need to achieve this type of love and loyalty to your leader." Lindel then dropped the connection.

"Bear, Taunt! Give Herrior a break! My tank, disarm the demon!" Tess yelled. Quinely roared at the demon as Tess's tauren jumped up and knocked the weapon out of the demon's head. Tess's tauren looked beat up pretty bad from running in front of the demon's blade to absorb some of the damage.

"Ok, melee/range you may engage. I'm getting hungry, let's drop this demon!" The tauren's all let out a mighty roar to refresh their shouts.

Trackolania grabbed a vial from his cloak and sunk one of his daggers into the demon's skin. He quickly twisted his blade and drew it out, shoving the vial into the hole at the same time. The holy water entered the demon as he shook violently. Jacklyn grew red and jumped at the demon shoving her blades the entire length into the demon. She twisted her blades also and began swinging the mighty swords at him as fast as she could. The demon then started to say something.

"Shut him up, now!" Tess yelled.

Skyka instantly changed into her shadow form and casted a silence spell on him.

"We have three priests; I want you coordinating silence on him! I think he's trying to summon the Orc's. Let me know when it's my turn and I'll silence shot him to help! I wanna hear some talking out there! Goblins go get these idiots some more guns. Don't get any more of those exploding rocks." Tess commanded. The goblins ran down and picked up the first guns they could find. They ran to Bernett and Branzer to give them the weapons. These were assault rifles. They both cocked the guns and began firing rapidly at the demons head.

Everybody was striking the demon as hard as they could. They could actually see the demon weaken. Even all of Mohania's imps were casting fireballs at the demon's head. Skyka continued to heal Herrior as he continued to take punishment from the demon. All of the priests had a chance to silence him. Quinely's healer then shouted out, "Your turn Tess!"

Tess took careful aim and shot an arrow throw the back of the demon's neck and into his throat. The demon gagged on it for several seconds as he reached up to pull the arrow out.

"Rogue! Get up there and cut his tongue out! I want to see it flopping on the ground in the next couple of seconds! Ranged! Don't shoot the rogue!" Tess screamed out. Trackolania began digging his daggers into the demon as soon as he heard the word "up". He was up the demon's mouth within seconds. Branzer and Bernett ceased fire, and then started shooting at the demon's stomach - their goblins swapping out clips whenever they ran out of ammo. Mohania's undead were exhausted. Mohania gave them the command to begin draining life off from the demon. Several green beams hit the demon and drained his life. Kendall surrounded herself in a tornado of stars, recharging her strength. She then continued to shot her magical diamonds at the demon.

"Piss off the demon! Distract him, taunt him! Buy the rogue some time!"

"Taunt him Quinely!" Herrior yelled.

"Taunting!" Quinely yelled as Herrior ran backwards. Herrior than charged the demon, stunning him for a couple of seconds.

"Taunting back! We're going to keep doing this as much as we can Quinely." Herrior yelled with blood spraying out of his mouth. Herrior screamed at the demon as Skyka continued to heal him, but she felt her power draining.

Quinely slammed her head into the demon, stunning him for a couple of seconds and then the demon continued to tried to speak.

"Tess's tank! Shockwave him, and then I will!" Herrior yelled. The tauren slammed his sword on the ground sending a powerful blast towards the demon, stunning him again for a couple more seconds. Once the demon came to his senses again, Herrior did the same thing.

"Throw your weapon!" Herrior commanded. Tess's tank threw his weapon at his mouth, silencing him for a couple of seconds before the sword returned to his hand. Herrior then threw his.

"Concussions next, I'm first." Herrior yelled as he slammed the flat part of his blade against the demon's groin. This stunned him for five seconds, and then Tess's tank did the same thing.

"Quinely?" Herrior shouted.

"I'm on cooldown!" Quinely quickly said

"We're all out of cooldowns!" Herrior yelled.

Dan waited until he could faintly hear the demon talking. He then closed his eyes.

Time stopped.

Dan dropped to the ground, seemingly lifeless.

"Lindel! Heal him!" Tess yelled. Tess was still unaware who the time stopper was, she was just concentrating on the battle and shouting out orders. Crystal continued to fight the demon, knowing that Dan had just dropped. Every time that Crystal landed a blow with her right sai it would send a small healing spell to everybody in the group. She tried to hit him as much as she could to produce the affect, but the demon kept dodging her blows.

Lindel ran over to Dan and put both of her hands on his head. A white light appeared out of her hands. A couple of seconds later Dan opened his eyes.

"That's all the power I can give you for now. I need to go help heal now." Lindel said running away from Dan. Lindel looked to be almost drained herself.

Trackolania finally cut off the demon's tongue and kicked it out of his mouth. It fell to the ground with a sickening splat.

Time resumed.

Trackolania quickly ran out of the demon's mouth and climbed the demon's face. He then recoated his daggers with the last remaining amount of holy water that he had and sunk his daggers as deep as they could go into the demon's eyes. The demon let out a mighty roar and dropped his sword as he raised his arms to his eyes. Trackolania instantly vanished and reappeared behind the demon's head. He started digging into the demon's neck as fast as he could.

"Finish him!" Tess yelled. Dan rose to his feet, staggered really badly, and began slicing away at him. Everybody was striking as fast as they could.

Ten seconds later, the demon let out a mighty roar and began to fall away from the wall. Everybody began to run out of the way.

"Disengage! Heal the wounded!" Tess said. Immediately everybody stopped attacking as the healers went around topping off everybody's health.

The Orc's eyes turned from dark red back to their normal color. They all began wondering around aimlessly again.

"Congratulations everybody!" Tess yelled. Everybody began to cheer. She heard Branzer join in with the cheering. She extended her hand as her goblin threw an arrow into her hand. She drew it back as it began to glow green. She released it and it flew into Branzer's right shoulder. Branzer let out a scream as he was thrown back against the stone mountain. The poison pulsed through his body as he began to struggle and let out screams of pain. Another arrow came flying at him, knocking his weapon out of his hand and over the wall. Everybody quickly silenced their cheering and looked up at Branzer.

"What are you cheering for! Huh! You almost killed all of us! I will not die because a human is undisciplined!" Tess shouted.

Branzer struggled hard to get words out; he could feel the poison burning in his blood. "I didn't know…what the…grenade…would have done…the goblin…"

Tess raised her bow and aimed it at his head. "If you blame the goblin for anything I will end your life right now! The goblin did his job! He didn't know what half of the weapons down there would do. From the surprise on your face, you didn't know what it was going to do either! I'm not pissed about the explosive rock! Guess what I'm pissed about!" Tess said angrily.

Branzer looked at her; he could see the tip of her arrow pointing right at his head. He quickly ignored the pain and summoned all of his strength to think. Several seconds passed as his head throbbed.

"Time is almost up human!" Tess yelled.

"You told me to move…and I dropped my gun…it hit one of the undead…" Branzer said with tears flowing down his face.

"I told you to move! I don't care if your pants drop, when I give a command you follow it! Everybody else did! Your lack of discipline almost killed everybody! I was going to let the demon take you and let the demon have his way with you! I assure you, it would have hurt more than this!" Tess reaimed her bow and released an arrow. It sailed into Branzer's left shoulder. Branzer's voice erupted with pain. Tess then reloaded and resighted in his head.

"Shut up! Your screaming annoys me!" Tess yelled. Branzer realized she was giving him an order. He quickly shut his mouth and bit his teeth together. The pain was unbearable.

"If Herrior would have given you the same command, and you hesitated for whatever reason - he would probably be doing the same thing I'm doing now! Isn't that right Herrior!" Tess yelled.

"Yes I would Tess!" Herrior screamed back.

"If this is the way you humans need to learn discipline then so be it! Here is my next command. Let's see if you are a quick learner! Jump over this wall!" Tess yelled at him. Branzer pulled himself forward and felt the arrows sliding through his body. Branzer then looked over the wall, swung his leg over it and fell. Halfway down the wall he began to scream. The undead moved out of the way of his falling body.

"Levitate him!" Tess commanded. Skyka quickly casted the spell and his body stopped within a foot from the ground.

"Hmm…didn't think he would..." Tess said out loud to herself. Branzer felt his body floating and looked down. He then quickly looked back up at Tess.

"You still don't get it, do you? Herrior died on the battlefield! And then almost a second time! Quinely almost and my tank almost died as well! Did you hear them screaming! It's a good think your priest could hear me over your cowardly screaming or you would be dead by now. Stop fearing death! Stop fearing pain! Do what your leader says! If I order you to die, you will find the quickest way of killing yourself!" Tess yelled down at him. Branzer started looking around and saw that everybody was pissed at him. Lindel wouldn't even look at him.

"I'm sorry…" Branzer said.

"Shut up! Somebody levitate him back up here!" Tess yelled. Skyka held her hands up as he floated back up the wall.

"Who's the telepath that saved this human's life?" Tess yelled out.

"I am." Lindel said looking up at Tess ashamed.

"I thought I felt telepathic waves flowing through me. Why would you save this human's life?" Tess asked.

"I…have feelings for him. I didn't want to see him killed…" Lindel said very slowly.

Tess leaned over the wall and screamed, "You what!" Her voice echoed throughout the land. Lindel sighed and looked away. Tess looked at Herrior and he was shaking his head at her.

"Fine, That's none of my business."

Tess spun around and aimed her bow at Bernett.

"Hey, hey…you told me to come over and I did…" Bernett said with his hands up while backing up.

"You fired when you weren't supposed to!" Tess yelled.

"My gun went off prematurely…I'm sorry." Bernett said quickly.

"Are you talking about your weapon or your penis? Have you formed a union? If I ask your wife about prematurely going off, what would she say?" Tess said lowering her bow.

"I do have a wife, and sometimes I do." Bernett said being honest. He was expecting laughter, but he kept his eyes on Tess. Tess dropped her bow on the ground. She then leaned over on the wall and stuck her butt in the air.

"Come over and mate with me." Tess said.

"What? I'm married." Bernett said. Tess slowly looked over at him and leaned over for her bow.

"Ok, ok…give me a second. I'm sorry about hesitating. I shouldn't have said anything and did what you said right away." Bernett said as he started fondling himself. Tess then sighed and looked forward. Bernett walked behind her. With himself half erect when he put his left hand on Tess's left butt check. Tess quickly turned around, grabbed him by the neck and swung him over the edge of the wall.

"Do you mate with your hand?" Tess yelled.

"No."

Tess grabbed his penis. "You mate with this part of you! Not your hand!" Tess let go of his penis and wiped her hand on her fur.

"What did I tell you to do?" Tess screamed in his face.

"You told me to mate with you…" Bernett said quickly.

"Did I tell you to touch my ass?" Tess still screaming.

"No you didn't. I'm sorry." Bernett said quietly.

"What do you think would have happened if you did mate with me!"

"I would probably have been killed…" Bernett said trying to gasp for air.

"If I told my mate that you touched my butt, what do you think he would do to you?" Tess said screaming into his face.

"He would probably kill me."

"So tell me in your own words what just happened." Tess said staring at him, but in a quieter voice.

Bernett thought for a couple of seconds and then said. "You ordered me to do something that I would have been killed for."

"You hesitated less than Branzer. I have to hand it to you, you are learning faster than him." Tess tossed his body in the air. It spun around one hundred and eighty degrees so he could view the battle field.

"Herrior! Do you mind if I use your group as an example for these humans?" Tess asked.

"Feel free. They know discipline. I have full confidence they will do as you command." Herrior said.

"Skyka! Run over to that male human!" Tess said pointing at Dan. "Disrobe yourself and lay down on your back. Spread your legs open." Skyka did just that.

"You! Male human, mate with Skyka!" Dan instantly took off his armor and his clothes. He got down on his knees and began arousing himself. Dan imagined Crystal's naked body and was able to get an erection quite fast. He then leaned forward and was about ready to enter Skyka when Tess yelled at him to stop. Skyka was looking up at the sky, seeming to be completely indifferent about the entire situation.

"Bernett, Branzer! What would happen if those two mated?" Tess yelled.

"They would both be killed?" Bernett said. Tess started shaking him by the neck.

"No you idiot! Were you not listening? Tell me what just happened?" Tess yelled.

"You ordered Skyka to disrobe and lay down naked in front of Dan. Then you order Dan to mate with her." Bernett said quickly.

"So who would be killed in this situation?"

"Dan would, because you gave him the order to mate with her."

"Yes!" Tess yelled in happiness. "Herrior! Would you be upset with Skyka if Dan had mated with her?"

"No Tess. She was following orders. I love her with every fiber of my being and our love knows no bounds. It would simply be mating, nothing else. I would kill Dan because of the order, but I would continue to love Skyka no matter what happens to her or what order she was given. I am proud of her for following your orders and doing exactly what you said." Herrior said calmly. Crystal was very mad.

"Did you two hear what he just said?" Tess screamed at Bernett and Branzer. "I ordered that male human to his death, and he did it without hesitation. He didn't touch any part of Skyka; he merely did as he was told." Tess tossed Bernett off to the side as he landed roughly on the stone wall.

Tess then drew her bow and aimed it at Dan, and said, "Aren't you two a bit young to be fighting?"

Several things happened at the same time. Mohania and his undead let out several hisses at Tess and began chanting a shadow bolt spell. Skyka instantly leaped from the ground, still naked, and quickly shielded both Dan and Crystal with a spell and then stood in front of Dan. Lindel fazed her body out of existence several times and suddenly reappeared in front of Crystal. Strings ran up and stood between both of them, trying to anticipate which one Tess was going to fire at.

At the same time, Herrior suddenly charged Tess's tank, catching him completely unaware and knocking him to the ground - also disarming him at the same time. Trackolania, Jacklyn, and Quinely began to engage Tess's melee warriors.

"What did I say?" Tess said to herself. Suddenly several shadow bolts flew at her, one of them being very powerful that almost knocked her down. She could hear the undead chanting the same spell.

"My group, disengage! Disarm yourselves!" Tess yelled and threw her bow over the wall. "Herrior, please!" Tess then yelled in shock.

"Disengage! But keep your weapons ready. You insulted my group!" Herrior yelled at her.

"These two humans are not part of your group?" Tess asked pointing to Bernett and Branzer.

"No! They help us once in awhile. But you are not to threaten Dan or Crystal in any way! They are well disciplined and have shown that they will lay down their lives for us! We will fight for their honor!"

"Oh shit…" Tess said quietly as she recognized the names. Tess jumped over the wall and began falling.

"Can somebody levitate me?" Tess calmly asked. Skyka watched her fall and performed the spell at the very last second. Then turned into her shadow form. Lindel turned into her banish form and blue arch's started erupting from her fingers and eyes.

Tess calmly walked over to Dan and Crystal was being heavily guarded.

"Are you the time stopper?" Tess asked.

"Yes, and I used all of my power during the fight. I did as you ordered, regardless of my well-being." Dan replied. "I also stopped time when the entire cool downs were up, or whatever you call it. I thought it would take my life…which as Herrior said I would lay down for my group if needed. I bought Trackolania enough time to perform his task."

Tess nodded at him. She looked at Crystal. Crystal started to scream, "I am his girlfriend! I do not appreciate you giving the order for Dan to mate with another female!"

Tess ignored her and simply said, "You were moving around when Dan did his time stopping, didn't you?"

Crystal raised her weapons and approached her. "Yes I was moving around. I went through the process of becoming immune to time stopping. We were the ones that came up with the plan to launch the major offensive action towards the alliance!"

"Yes…yes I've heard of both of you. My group, line up!" Tess's group immediately formed and line and Tess joined the line.

"I have insulted you both. You both have shown great loyalty to our King and our city. I was in the wrong. As payment you may have our lives." Tess said softly. Herrior looked at Jacklyn and motioned for her to walk over. She put one of her swords away and tightly gripped the other one.

"For crying out loud, stop!" Crystal said running towards Jacklyn. Dan followed right behind her with his swords equipped.

"Young one…" Lindel began to say in Crystal's head.

"Shut up Lindel!" Crystal turned around and yelled at her. Mohania began to chuckle and said, "She does have a lot of spirit."

"They insulted us, and you are going to kill them! Shouldn't we have the right to decide their fate?" Crystal yelled. Herrior looked surprised.

"Yes you are." He said.

"Tess! I want you over in the tree line! The rest of you get out of listening range! I want to speak with her privately." Crystal said. Tess immediately did as Crystal asked. She and Dan walked over to Tess as the rest of the group walked away. Dan quickly dressed himself as he walked at the same time.

"May I speak before you kill me?" Tess asked softly getting down on her knees. Both Dan and Crystal stared at her angrily.

"It's apparent that you two love each other. Did you listen to Herrior's response to my question to him? Did you see how fast Skyka reacted to my command? During the battle did you see the tears Skyka was shedding for her mate? Please, meditate on this. Your love needs to reach that point before you are allowed to form a union. If the King ordered Crystal to mate with a hundred tauren on a different world in order to form an alliance with them, would you follow that order?"

Crystal nodded. "But I think Dan would be upset." Dan nodded.

"You both need to learn to let go. Love will always bring you back together, even in the afterlife. Study Herrior and Skyka. Their love is perfect." Tess said quietly.

"Have you formed a union?" Dan asked.

"Yes." Tess answered.

"And is your love perfect?

"Yes." Tess answered again.

"Do you have any offspring?" Dan asked.

"Three of them."

"So if we kill you, they will grow up without a mother."

"My mate can choose another in my blood line. Please, I am ready to die by your hand."

Dan and Crystal looked at each other and both let out a sigh.

"It would not be an honorable death, would it?" Crystal asked.

"No. I have ashamed myself and my family."

"What do you have to offer us if we let you live?" Dan asked. Tess immediately told her group to run over and empty their pockets in front of them. A small pile of gold and gems appeared. They all ran back and reformed their line. Tess let out a sigh at the small amount that appeared.

"I can get you more."

Dan looked at Tess funny. "What would we want with gold and gems? Isn't everything in Tranquil free? What would we have to purchase?"

Tess sighed. "It's a bribe." Crystal immediately kicked her in the head. Tess's head recoiled slightly, but looked back at the ground.

"Do you think we can be bribed? That is insulting!" Dan yelled kicking at the pile of gold and gems, scattering them across the ground.

"What do you want? I can mate with Dan, and my mate can pleasure you Crystal…"

"Shut up!" Crystal yelled in her face. "Is that what you think of humans? All we think about is money and sex? We have morals! We have honor and discipline! Do you hate humans?"

"Yes." Tess said quietly.

"Do you hate us?" Dan said.

"No."

"Are you saying that just to save your ass?" Dan yelled at her.

"No. I would not lie to you." Tess said.

Dan and Crystal stood back up and looked at each other and sighed. They both exchanged looks as if to say that they weren't going to kill her.

"How many people in your group have formed a union?" Dan asked.

"Myself and my tank."

"Why?" Dan asked curiously.

"Because I keep them busy. We spend eighty hours in the arena a week to keep them refreshed." Tess said.

"I'm probably going to say this wrong, but can they learn any more, uh, abilities?" Dan asked.

"No, my entire group has learned everything that they can. Their talent trees are also maxed out."

"So if they can't learn anymore, why do you push them so hard?" Crystal asked.

"To keep them ready for battle."

"Look, I don't understand everything about your world. But Crystal and I have been told to work on our love for each other to help with our 'magical resistances' or something. If they can't learn anymore, and they obviously are good at what they do, and they would follow you to hell and back - why not let them court somebody, possibly fall in love and improve their resistances. Wouldn't that be beneficial to them? If they mate and produce children, or whatever you call them, it would only strengthen the forces in Tranquil." Dan said all at once. Tess thought about it and then let out a quiet sigh.

"How did you find your male?" Crystal said.

"In the arena. I choose the strongest tauren and started courting him. We eventually fell in love and formed a union." Tess said.

"So why not give your group a chance as well? Ask them right now if they would be interested in courting somebody." Dan said pointing at her group. Tess slowly rose to her feet and asked the question.

"Tess, we are faithful to your commands and would give our lives in combat for you." They all answered at the same time.

"No! Answer the question! Have any of you ever thought about having kids! Having a family!" Crystal screamed at them. Tess's entire group looked at Tess. She nodded her head as if giving them permission to speak freely. The four that hadn't formed unions stepped forward. Her tank then spoke up, "I would like more time with my family." Both Dan and Crystal turned around and glared at Tess.

Tess sighed and looked down at the ground. "I only drive them hard so we can defend Tranquil…"

"Did you not see what we did today? Your men would die without offspring to carry on their legacy. Their family name. How would you feel if you died without your family name being carried on! Crystal and I are allowed alone time, and intimate time. Allow them alone time, for the sake of Tranquil!" Dan said firmly.

Tess nodded and asked to speak with the King. Both Dan and Crystal nodded. Tess pulled out her hearthstone and contacted the King. A portal appeared showing him and the Queen ready for battle.

"Tess? What's going on?" The King asked.

"The alliance was slaughtered by a demon. If they would have organized themselves better, they could have killed him. The weakened demon was then slaughtered by us. You may bring back the citizens of Tranquil. Everything is safe now. My men need to have alone time. May I request that they reenter Tranquil and go wherever they wish?"

"Tess? That doesn't sound like you…"

"My King, Dan and Crystal had a talk with me. I feel as though I've been too hard on my group. I wish to see my offspring and spend time with them. I wish to let my group do as they wish." Tess asked.

The King raised his eyebrow at her asking the question. "I will give you six hours. I will send out the young fighters to guard the wall. Then you are to finish your shift. After your shift I want to speak with you alone. Tell Herrior to take his group back to Earth." The King said and closed the portal.

Tess put away her stone and said, "Dan, Crystal. May I give you both some advice in return for the advice you have given me? Go see the class master. You are both good fighters, but you can become much more powerful. Dan, I had a time stopper once. He was a troll. It was kind of odd, he could stop time for ten seconds, but his body would also stop as well. It took us awhile to track him down. He trained with us for several weeks and then started the conversion process. His body exploded after two days. I have a lot of respect for both of you." Both Dan and Crystal nodded.

"Herrior suggested that we see the class master as well, we'll consider it when we have time." Dan said. "Tess, it would be an honor to fight under your command again." Tess let out a half smile. Dan and Crystal then both put their weapons away and walked up to Tess and gave her a hug. Tess looked down in shock. She slowly put her arms around the two. Herrior's group began to cheer.

"You're a good leader Tess. Go take care of your family." Crystal said looking up at her.

"And smile once in awhile, you'll live longer…" Dan said smiling at her. Tess smiled back and patted him on the head.

"My group, we're heading into Tranquil to take a six hour break." Her group looked at her with a confused look. "Heal the male humans and send them away…" Tess said as she picked up her bow and led her group back into their city.

Mohania ordered his warlocks back into their cave to recharge. Herrior's group surrounded Dan and Crystal and stared at them, all wanting to ask questions but didn't know where to start. Crystal walked up to Herrior and kissed him on the cheek.

"She's a big softy just like you. We just needed to have a talk with her." Crystal said.

"But…It's Tess…" Herrior said still confused.

"She has a heart, just like everybody else. Now let's round up Branzer and Bernett and get them out of here." Dan said. Skyka and Lindel levitated both of them over to the group.

"What about the Orc's?" Skyka said. They had all stopped wondering around and seemed to be lying on the ground in pain. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the King.

"Yes?" The King answered sounding annoyed.

"It appears as though the demon we killed was controlling about twenty orcs. Once he was killed, it seems as though they wondered around aimlessly for awhile and now it looks like they are all in severe pain.

"Orcs? We have enough of them in our city as it is!" the King yelled.

"Yes my King, I will order them to be slaughtered." Herrior said.

"No…" the King said letting out a sigh. "Does Quinely or Mohania sense anybody around?" Herrior turned to them and they both shook their heads.

"Ok, keep your group at the wall. You and Skyka go talk with them. Let me know what happens." The King said and closed the portal.

"Sometimes it sucks to be an ambassador. I just wanted to cool title" Skyka said with a smile. Herrior ordered everybody up against the wall as the two of them started walking towards the orcs. "Lindel, get rid of those two…" Herrior commanded without looking back. Lindel instantly slammed her hands forward as a tiny white portal opened. She then started channeling her power into it as it grew bigger. Lindel then walked over to Bernett and grabbed him by the ear.

"Ow! I'm going….I'm going…" Bernett said. Lindel eventually let go of him and Bernett's naked body jumped into the portal. Lindel then turned around to Branzer. Lindel started channeling her power out of her eyes and hands, blue sparks started shooting in every direction. Branzer was very quiet and stood perfectly still. Lindel placed her hands on Branzer's wounds and casted the weakest healing spell she knew. Branzer barely felt any relief. She then pointed at the portal without saying a word.

Branzer walked slowly to the portal, eyes to the ground. He felt every eye staring at him. Before he entered he looked back at Lindel. Lindel instantly punched him in the nose, spun him around and kicked him into the portal. Lindel then slammed the portal shut.

This demonstration had weakened Lindel and she moaned while falling to the ground. Mohania caught her and helped ease her down.

Dan tried to say something, but Quinely noticed it and quickly shook her head. Jacklyn stepped forward.

"Under the circumstances, I am now in charge. We had one healer, but she's out of the game now. I know everybody is tired but if negotiations fail, it is up to us to save their asses!"

"How will we know if they fail?" Crystal asked.

"They'll either be killed, or they'll be running their asses off towards us. Mohania assemble your protectors. Try to keep them alive as long as you can. You'll be our tank." Mohania started giving out orders in his demon tongue as he ran over to his cave. The imps all ran inside and the big blue ghosts came out.

The young fighters came out of the door. It looked like the armor was going to fall off their bodies. Jacklyn ordered them to stay by the wall as she shook her head and turned her attention back to Herrior and Skyka.

Meanwhile, Skyka and Herrior stepped up to the orc on the ground with a sash over his shoulder. They guessed he was their leader. He let out a very quiet moan.

"Do a prayer of mending. Let's see how many are still alive." Herrior said. Skyka put her hands together and fired a yellow star from her hands. It quickly jumped from orc to orc healing them. It then dissipated. The orcs that it hit began to let out a moan.

"I counted ten hops." Skyka said.

"I did too. So half of them are dead. Not a good way to start negotiations." Herrior said and sighed. He looked down at the orc with a sash.

"Well, he's still alive. Cast a renew on him. Nothing powerful though, I don't want him turning on us." Herrior said. Skyka knelt down and placed her hand on his head. A quick burst of white light flew from Skyka's hand to his head. The orc's eyes immediately flew open and began to look around.

"Oops." Skyka said as she jumped backwards. "Herrior, I barely healed him."

The orc moaned in pain, but felt the magic working inside of his body. He sat up and put his head between his knees. When the spell finished, the orc looked up at the both of them. He spoke something for a couple of seconds and then stared at Herrior and Skyka for a response.

"That almost sounded demonic." Herrior said. Skyka nodded. Skyka knelt down, pointed at his mouth and then pointed at her ears. She then smiled, shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. The orc seemed to understand. The orc said a couple more words and then pointed at his axe. Herrior walked over and picked it up. The orc nodded, pointed at the blade and then pointed at his neck.

"Language barrier or not, I think we both know what he wants…" Herrior said. The orc laid back down and pointed at his neck again. His eyes seemed to be pleading for him to kill him.

Herrior sat the axe down next to the orc and smiled at him while shaking his head. The orc closed his eyes and let out a long drawn out sigh.

"Common speak?" Herrior asked. The orc suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Herrior. The orc started rambling off something. Herrior shook his head. The orc stopped.

"Common speak?" Herrior asked again. The orc closed his eyes and started concentrating as hard as he could. Eventually he spoke something in his native language.

"That time it sounded orcish." Skyka said. Herrior nodded. The orc looked at both of them eagerly. They both shook their head at him. The orc slammed his fist on the ground and obviously cursed in his native language.

"This is getting nowhere. Maybe one of them knows our language. Skyka, drop a light well in the middle of them and begin resurrecting as many as you can." Herrior said.

"I don't have that much power…" Skyka said walking among them. She held her hands up and a light well instantly fell from the sky. It started turning, shooting healing stars into the nearby orcs that were still alive.

"Start on the right and work your way left." Herrior said sighing. Herrior then got down in the orc's face and pointed at Skyka. The orc looked at him funny. Herrior then pointed at his eyes and pointed at Skyka. The orc slowly turned his attention to Skyka. Herrior walked over behind her.

Skyka began to channel her resurrection spell. Huge circle white looking lines appeared underneath her. The more she channeled the spell, the whiter she became. Ten seconds later, a powerful blast of light slammed into the dead orc in front of her. The orc instantly sat up and took in a deep breath. He started looking around wondering what had happened. He looked behind him and saw Herrior and Skyka looking down at him. He quickly scrambled away feeling around for his weapon. Suddenly the orc with the sash began shouting things in the orc language to him. The newly resurrected orc looked back at Herrior and Skyka with a shocked look.

"Move on to the next one hun." Herrior said. Both orcs watched carefully as Skyka began channeling her powerful resurrection spell. Ten seconds later the orc was blasted with a huge amount of holy light. This time it was a female orc. Her response was the same as the other orc. Both orc's said something to her that seemed to calm her down. Suddenly the orc with the sash moved over to the female orc that was next to him. She wasn't breathing and her eyes were lifeless. He immediately began waving his arms back and forth and began yelling something in his language and pointed at the female next to him.

Skyka walked over to her and began channeling the spell again. The orc held her hand during the entire spell. After being blasted with the spell, the female orc sat up and gasped for air. The orc with the sash began saying, "Isnabell?" over and over. Skyka looked at Herrior.

"Think that they formed a union?" Skyka asked. The female orc looked over at the orc with a sash on and quickly embraced each other. They both started to cry and began talking in their orcish language.

"Let's leave them alone. Move on to the next one." Herrior said. Skyka carefully stepped around the orcs on the ground that was being healed by the light well. She came across a male orc that looked different from the rest. He had fist weapons instead of an axe.

"Alright sweetheart, it's your turn." Skyka did her ten second spell cast and again the body was slammed with light. The orc sat up and quickly looked around, as if oblivious to what had just happened. He looked at a female orc next to him. He staggered to his feet and began casting a spell. His hands turned green.

"Uh…Herrior!" Skyka said backing away. Herrior quickly ran in front of her with his shield.

"I'm not sure what's going on either. Don't make any aggressive gestures. Get ready to run if this goes bad." Herrior said quickly.

The orc finished his spell and held his hands forward in front of him. A powerful green beam of light slammed into the female body. The female's eyes flew open and suddenly gasped for air. She seemed alive, but unable to move. The orc that casted the spell fell to the ground and slowly reached for her hand. They grasped each other's hands and both of them seemed to become happy.

"Herrior, she was dead! If he dies again, I'm going to be pissed…" Skyka said jokingly as she moved on to the next orc. After blasting the next dead orc, Skyka fell to her knees.

"Herrior. I need to recharge." Herrior ran over to Skyka and lifted her up in his arms and walked away from the orcs. After about thirty yards, Skyka raised her hands and instantly absorbed energy into her body. Herrior sat Skyka down. She took on shadow form and began channeling power into her body. A small tornado engulfed her as she slowly recharged her energy. Six seconds later the tornado disappeared and she returned back to her normal form.

"Ok I'm ready. I'm going to try to resurrect the rest of them. So far I've been lucky and their spirits haven't left their bodies." Skyka said. Herrior nodded. They turned around and saw many of the orcs on their feet, some of their knees - all staring at the two of them.

"Let's approach slowly." Herrior said. They could hear the orc with the sash talking in their native tongue. The light well was still spinning around healing the orcs.

Both Herrior and Skyka slowly walked over to the next dead orc. Skyka began casting her spell again and blasted the next orc. This one had the fist weapons on him. The orc with the sash immediately spoke to him and pointed to another dead orc. The newly revived orc seemed to understand and began casting a spell as his hands turned green again. Skyka saw that he was casting on the next orc next to her and moved on to the next one and performed the resurrection spell again.

Eventually all of the orcs were brought back to life, but Skyka was staggering again. Herrior grabbed her arm and walked over to the orc with a sash. The orc gave a single command and all of the orc's suddenly knelt before them.

"No!" Herrior and Skyka both screamed. The orc with the sash looked up at them confused. Skyka quickly ran over and picked him back up on his feet. Herrior started doing the same thing. The orc with the sash realized what they were trying to do and gave a single command. All of the orcs rose to their feet. Both Herrior and Skyka rejoined each other in front of the orc with the sash.

Herrior pointed to all of the orcs and said, "Common speak?" The orc turned around and said the same words. A female orc stepped forward and spoke to him in the orcish language.

"Ok, this sounds promising." Skyka whispered to Herrior. The female walked up to them and started stuttering some words. None of it made any sense. Herrior held up his hand. Herrior then pointed at the female orc that seemed to be the wife of the orc leader.

"Isnabell?" Herrior asked. She nodded. Herrior pointed at himself. "Herrior." He pointed at Skyka and said, "Skyka". The orc with the sash pointed to him and said, "Gernack". Herrior smiled at him and nodded.

"Sit down hun." Herrior told Skyka. Gernack looked at them curiously and then gave a command. All of the orc's sat down. Herrior pointed at the female orc that stepped forward and said, "Common speak?" She stepped forward and sat next to Gernack. She pointed to herself and said, "Ishmella". Herrior and Skyka both nodded.

"Ishmella, you are now free of the demon that enslaved you." Herrior said. Ishmella quickly shook her head and started concentrating very hard. Gernack yelled something at her and Ishmella yelled back. Ishmella let out a sigh.

"Sl…slo…sl…slow…" Ishmella slowly said. Herrior nodded at her. Herrior reached out and put his hand under her chin and raised her head up. She looked at Herrior. Herrior pointed to her head and then pointed behind him in the distance.

"Demon." Herrior said. The orcs apparently all knew that word as they all became ready to battle. Gernack looked at what Herrior was pointing at and his mouth instantly opened. He gave a command and instantly all of the orcs rose to their feet and charged the demon. Herrior and Skyka held perfectly still as the orcs began running all around them. Before the orcs could get to them, the demon burned up into a giant fireball. The ashes flew away. The orcs all stopped and looked back at Herrior and Skyka.

"That was good timing…" Skyka said with a smile. The orcs let down their weapons and walked back up to Herrior and Skyka, sitting down next to them.

Gernack pointed at both of them, and then at where the demon was. "Demon?" He asked.

Herrior nodded. Gernack looked back at where the demon was and then spun back around then asked the same question. Herrior nodded again. Gernack said something and all of the orc's cheered. Herrior and Skyka smiled back but were still on edge, ready for anything.

Ishmella and Gernack sat down in front of Herrior and Skyka. The rest of the orcs sat down behind him.

Ishmella spoke up. "You…kil…umm…slain…demon?" Herrior nodded his head. Ishmella smiled at both of them excitedly. She then reached into every pocket that she had and produced four gold coins. She looked at it and sighed. She extended her hand towards Herrior.

"No." Herrior said. Ishmella looked surprised. Herrior took her hand and put it back in her lap.

"You…were…controlled…by…the…demon." Herrior said slowly. Ishmella became instantly frustrated as she tried to understand what he said.

"You…demon…" Ishmella said trying desperately to understand. Skyka laid her hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. Herrior backed up a little bit and began to draw some things in the dirt. Ishmella and Gernack watched intently. When Herrior was done, he pointed to a large figure and said "demon". Both of them nodded. Herrior then pointed at twenty stick people and point to all of the orcs and said "you". Ishmella eagerly translated what Herrior was saying. She then looked back at Herrior. Herrior circled all of the stick figured people's head and drew a line to the demon. Ishmella nodded excitedly and translated what she thought Herrior was saying. Gernack listened and then nodded, pointing at his head and then pointing at the demon. Herrior and Skyka both nodded.

Ishmella stood up and walked over to some fresh dirt and began drawing some things in the dirt. It took her several minutes but she finally smiled and looked up at Herrior and Skyka. Both of them walked over and studied what they saw. It looked like several large demons with an arrow pointing at stick figured people's heads. It was then followed by smaller stick people with big "X's" above their head. The next picture was a large stick figured person. Ishmella got Herrior and Skyka's attention and pointed to herself and then pointed at the large stick figure. They both nodded. She then started drawing zigzags on the head and pointed at the demon.

"I think they realize they were controlled. The smaller people must be their offspring. It appears as though they died." Herrior said.

Ishmella then pointed to a picture of the sun that she drew in the dirt. She pointed to it and then pointed up in the sky. Herrior nodded. Ishmella erased the picture of the zig-zagged head and then redrew it and pointed to the sun and wrote the number ten in the dirt.

"Ok. Let's talk this one out Skyka. My impression is that their heads were controlled by the demons, and that the sun will clear up their heads and something to do with the number ten."

"Maybe it's a time." Skyka said.

"Time!" Ishmella yelled out and pointed to the sun.

"Ok, time. Ten units of time. Days, months, hours…" Herrior said. Ishmella drew a picture of a crude sundial and quickly filled in everything but a small section. "Time." she said. Then she drew nine different lines in the small section that wasn't filled in.

"It's ten something." Skyka said.

Ishmella suddenly surprised them. "Give…us…ten…minutes…" she said it clear as day and pointed to her head.

"My guess…is that their minds are still scrambled from the demon. And in ten minutes they'll be able to talk to us." Herrior said outloud. Ishmella closed her eyes and carefully listened to his words. She then thought about what Herrior just said for awhile staring up into the sky. She then opened and closed her hands together and said.

"I…think…so." Ishmella said.

"Give them all of your food." Herrior said. Both of them produced several loafs of bread and dried out meat out of their packs and gave it to Ishmella. She looked at it for a second. She sniffed it and took a small bite. She then rattled something off quickly in her orcish language and ran over to the orcs and started passing out the food. They all quickly devoured the food and they all said something at the same time.

"Your welcome." Skyka said back with a smile. Herrior and Skyka decided to just wait patiently until their heads cleared up.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Bernett and Branzer flew through the portal and landed on the hallway floor. Branzer let out a painful howl as he slammed on the hardwood floor. His wounds opened up and blood started pouring out of them.

"Take off your shirt; I'm going to go get some towels." Bernett said. Painfully Branzer took off his shirt. He looked at the holes in his chest. They were small, but caused a lot of pain. He rose to a sitting position.

Bernett came back and gave him two. Bernett put two of them on his back and Branzer put two of them on his chest. They sat there for a minute in silence.

"It's not bleeding badly. But probably still hurts badly huh." Bernett said.

"I fucked up…" Branzer said.

"We both did. Let's just be glad that we're both alive ok. Lessons learned, put it in the past. I'd rather you not tell my wife about this. I'm going to go get ya something for the pain." Bernett said setting down the towels and making his way to the kitchen.

"The pain can wait; do you want to go get dressed?" Branzer asked.

"I've been naked this long, it doesn't really bother me anymore."

Suddenly the phone rang. Branzer instinctively answered it and then realized he wasn't at his own house.

"Hello?"

"Who the hell is this?" the man on the phone sounded heavily intoxicated. He didn't recognize the voice.

"This is officer Branzer, who is this?" said in severe pain.

"This is your Lieutenant! I've been calling both of you for the past two hours! Where have you been?" Bernett came in the room. Branzer told him to go pick up another phone.

"Sleeping." Branzer said. Bernett picked up the phone.

"This is officer Bernett."

"Great! Both of you are awake! What's been going on?"

"Sir, my wife had an emotional meltdown today. She started talking about things in her past, babbled for awhile. Sir I thought I was going to have to put her in the hospital. I called Branzer over to because I needed help with her."

"Hospital huh? Let me guess you took her and she was suddenly healed like everybody else!" The Lieutenant said, slurring his speech bad.

"What? No, we never left the house. What's going on sir?" Branzer said, trying to keep up the lie.

"I was out driving late at night drinking…" the phone suddenly went quiet.

"Drinking fruit punch?" Bernett asked.

"Yes Bernett. I was out late, in the middle of the night, drinking fruit punch. I always drink fruit punch when I have a hard time at home!"

"Sir, do you want us to come pick you up somewhere?" Branzer asked slowly.

"No, I'm home now and completely sober. So you two have no idea what happened at the hospital last night! Your 'friends' weren't around by any chance, were they?"

Bernett and Branzer shot a look towards each other. "I can't answer that sir, but I assure you they don't need a hospital. I have no idea why they would be at one." Branzer said slowly telling the truth. "What happened?"

"I saw two blinding blasts of light explode from the bottom of the hospital to the top. I nearly ran off the damn road! I pulled in to see what was going on. Everybody seemed to be in a daze. They all reported seeing the light. Some thought it was a power spike; some thought it was a prank of some kind. Nobody knew. But suddenly everybody in the waiting room got up and left because they were healed. Everybody was healed! I went from room to room interviewing doctors. They all reported the same thing. There were two blasts of light and all of their patients were suddenly healed. Sound crazy huh?" The Lieutenant said still slurring his words.

"Sir?" Branzer said, not knowing what to say.

"Here's a story for you. There was a man having quadruple bypass surgery. His body was drained of all of its blood and they stopped his heart. Probably to clean out the vessels or something, hell if I know. Anyways, all of the doctors and nurses were blinded by the lights. His body instantly began filling itself up back with blood and his heart started beating again. His chest opening slammed shut, destroying all of the instruments that they had in him. He sat up and said he had a craving for a cheeseburger! Acted like nothing had even happened!"

"What?" Both Branzer and Bernett said at the same time.

"The prenatal ward, all of the high risk babies suddenly had strong vitals and smiles on their faces. I didn't hear a single baby cry, most of them were laughing. The burn ward, two firemen that I personally know, had ninety percent of their body's burned up. I even made plans to take off work to attend their funerals. They didn't even smell like smoke, they talked to me like nothing was even wrong! I walked out of the hospital and heard my name in the dark. Well not my name, but my rank. Anyways I walked over to investigate the noise. Suddenly this enormous, cow - man - thing, picked me up like I was a rag doll and threw me up against the wall. He started saying something, but I ended up puking all over him. He turned his head away. When I was done I looked down at him as he slowly turned his head and snorted at me. I swear he snorted like a damn cow! He told me not to say anything, and then something else but I passed out. I woke up about fifteen minutes later puking my guts out."

"Sir! You probably shouldn't be telling us this..." Branzer said in a very worried tone. There was several seconds of silence on the phone.

"I want both of you in my office at six in the morning tomorrow!" the Lieutenant screamed and then the phone went dead.

Both of them sighed and hung up their phones.

"Bernett." Branzer said. "Please tell me you have a coffee maker…this is going to be a week I'll never forget."

"If we go to sleep now, we'll get an hour of sleep before we have to head in. You can have the couch; I'll come wake you up. How many damn worlds can we piss off in one night?" Bernett said and walked up the stairs.

That night Branzer had a dream that him and Lindel were in the park. Lindel looked very angry. He handed her a box of candy. Lindel took the box and incinerated it in her hands. She then turned into her banshee form and started causing him enormous amounts of pain.

Bernett tried waking Branzer up several times. His cuts had reopened and he was sweating badly. Suddenly he woke up screaming.

"Branzer…you're at my house. We had a hell of a night last night, you probably had a nightmare." Bernett said.

Branzer quickly looked around and saw that Bernett was right.

"Holy shit…Bernett I had a dream that Lindel was frying my ass. It felt real!" Branzer said.

"Here are some clean clothes and a uniform. I have an extra belt and sidearm there for you as well. We need to go now." Bernett paused for a second and then said, "Your dream could have been real Branzer…we really pissed them off last night. Maybe you should consider calling it off with her." Bernett walked out the front door. Branzer quickly got dressed and got into the cruiser. They drove in silence to the station.

When they arrived, there were soldiers swarming the station. Several of the officers they knew had their weapons drawn and circling the station. A soldier walked up to their window.

"Identification please!" He said.

Both of them pulled out their badges and showed him.

"It's them! Get out of the car sirs! Now!" Suddenly Bernett was staring down the barrel of an automatic rifle. The car was quickly swarmed with soldiers; several of them even jumped on the hood and pointed their weapons at them.

"Bernett, I think I just shit in your clothes." Branzer said. Both of them slowly opened their door. The soldiers quickly pulled them out of the cruiser and shoved their guns at their heads.

"Hand over any weapons you have!" A soldier demanded. "Slowly or your head will have more holes in it than Swiss cheese!"

Both officers released the clip of their magnums and slowly set them on the ground. Both officers said they had knifes around their right ankle as well. Soldiers quickly took the knife from them and threw it away.

"Take your uniforms off, take off your ammunition belt, and take off your pants and your shoes!" The same officer said. Slowly both of them did as they were asked. They laid there for a minute in their undershirts and underwear. The soldiers quickly looked through their clothes and vehicle. Several of them said, "Clear!"

"I'm only going to ask you this once, do either of you have any weapons hidden on your body? I will search you and it will not be pleasant!" the soldier said. Both of them said no. They were both patted down and the soldiers said, "Clear!" again.

"Stand up! My soldiers will shoot if they sense any aggressive movements from you two. Now march into the station!" They both felt several cold barrels shoved into their backs.

The officers arrived at the main entrance and two soldiers opened the door for them. They were escorted to the Lieutenant's office.

"We were commanded to wait outside and not let anybody else into the station. If we hear gun fire, we will come in and kill you two." the soldier said and opened the door. They saw the Lieutenant glaring at them from behind the desk. The soldier pushed them in and slammed the door shut.

"Sit!" He yelled at them. Both officers quickly pulled back a chair and sat down in it.

The Lieutenant came around the desk with two large magnums in his hands and stood behind them.

"Pick up that phone, and call your friends. I want to talk to them." The Lieutenant said.

"They don't have phones sir." The cold barrels were shoved into both of their heads.

"Sir, I would rather have you kill me than them!" Branzer yelled out loud. His wounds opened again and blood began pouring down his shirt.

"Branzer, you are bleeding all over my chair! What happened?"

"I was shot twice last night."

"Good grief man, what happened? Did you fire back?" The Lieutenant asked with a hint of compassion in his voice.

"I didn't follow an order. If I would have shot back, they would have killed me and probably everybody I know." Branzer said out loud.

"What are they, the Columbian mafia?"

"No sir, they are the good guys."

"The good guys, your friends, shot you twice because you didn't follow an order?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes sir! They are very strict about their rules! Which is why we would both die before we would give out any information about them." Branzer said back full of confidence.

"So holding you two as hostage to make them do something I want would be a futile effort." The Lieutenant asked. Both officers started laughing. The barrels were pressed harder against their skulls.

"Sir. Do you remember the attack on our station? The thugs with the tank that blew off half of our roof? Take a guess as to how many of our 'friends' it took to instantly destroy the tank." Bernett said still laughing.

The Lieutenant dropped the guns and walked back over to his desk. "Humor me…one hundred? Two hundred? Let me guess, they dug a hole ahead of time and then we had an earthquake crushing the tank."

"Sir, you saw what happened. The Earth opened up, swallowed the tank and reformed itself - crushing the tank flat. It happened in what, a matter of seconds?" Branzer stood up from his chair and held up his finger. "It took one of them!"

The Lieutenant looked surprised and thought he was lying but saw the seriousness on his face. He continued to hold the barrels at their head level.

"Sir. After last night, I would be very happy with a clean death. Neither one of us are scared by this act you put together today. You could put us in jail for the rest of our lives and mess up our lives as best as you could, but it would be nothing compared to what they could do to us! We keep information from you for your safety and ours! Not to piss you off! If you kill us, I have a feeling that they will find out and come after you and everybody involved. From what I've heard they would keep you alive for hundreds of years just to torture you and your family and listen to your screams!" Branzer move up to the enormous gun and put it in his mouth. Bernett began to rise from his chair to do the same thing.

"You two have become pretty ballsy you know that. Are you sure your friends are the 'good guys'?" The Lieutenant asked.

Branzer took the barrel out of his mouth and both of them said, "Yes sir." at the same time. The Lieutenant grabbed both guns, opened a drawer and slammed them in there. He then spun his chair around so that his back was facing them. Several minutes passed. The Lieutenant let out several sighs.

"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room." he said softly.

"Sir." both officers said in acknowledgement.

"My wife has terrible migraines. She developed cancer and it's spreading fast. The doctors give her two months, if that. She vomits and passes blood. She'll scream uncontrollably for hours at a time. The pain medication is not helping. It's driving me insane."

"Sir? We didn't know…" Bernett said.

"Nobody knows. She wants to die without anybody worrying about her. We haven't even called her family. A priest comes out every week to visit us, hospice care or something. We already have her casket and tombstone picked out." he suddenly burst into tears. "I am not ready for her to die!" he screamed.

After a couple of minutes, he wiped the tears away and looked at both of them. "I would do anything to have her healed. Does that explain what has happened so far this morning?"

"Yes it does sir, but threatening them or their friends is not a good idea…I'm not saying that to save our asses either." Branzer said. The Lieutenant realized that as he nodded.

He opened his desk and pulled out several envelopes and threw them on the desk.

"Here is one hundred grand. I will sell my house and everything I own, cash out my retirement and we'll live up in our cabin. I can get three hundred grand within a week."

Bernett pushed the money away. "Sir. I've seen them trying to be bribed before. Believe me, it does not work. Besides I don't think our money is of any use to them." Bernett thought for a minute and then said, "I don't even think they have currency…"

"Can I give you the money and have you asked them to heal my wife?" The Lieutenant asked.

"That would not be a good idea. We don't want your money and if they sensed that we were bribed they would probably kill us." Branzer said.

"What would it take then?" The Lieutenant said putting the money back in his desk. "Why did they pick you two to become friends with? Why Dan and Crystal? Why help them, and take them in? Why won't they help out somebody like me? How do they work?" The Lieutenant asked beginning to cry again.

"Sir, you know we can't answer those questions. Hell to be honest, I wouldn't even know the answers to most of that." Bernett said.

"Can you contact them and ask? Please? I'll do anything they want. Do they accept favors? I'll do whatever they want. Please, I'm begging you…I'll do anything you two want. Please!" The Lieutenant said in tears.

Both officers sighed and looked at each other. They both closed their eyes and pondered the question.

"I'll need my pants and all of the contents in them." Branzer said slowly.

"Branzer!" Bernett said quickly. Branzer shook his head at him. "If it was your wife what would you do?"

Bernett sighed and leaned back. "Probably the same thing he's doing…"

"If they can heal an entire hospital, it shouldn't be asking too much to heal my wife. What are they, angels? Gods?"

Immediately both officers jumped from their chairs and got into the Lieutenant's face as close as they could. "Don't call them that! It offends them!"

"Ok…ok…so do they have names?"

"Yes." Branzer said.

"What are they?"

"Cant say."

The Lieutenant sighed. "Fine, what do I call them? Doctors?"

Branzer looked at Bernett and shrugged his shoulders. "Doctors are fine."

Branzer then spoke up. "I may get killed for this. We will need your guns, and like I said I need my pants and all of the contents in them. Even if it's just a small pebble - I will need everything. Then we will need you to face the corner, close your eyes and put your hands over your ears. Bernett will point one of these mighty beasts at your head for our safety." The Lieutenant looked at him funny.

"They talk to you through your pants?"

"No more questions do what I ask! My ass is already on the line for even considering this…" Branzer said. The Lieutenant radioed in the request and was very specific as Branzer instructed. The Lieutenant then handed over the guns. He walked into the corner and did as Branzer requested.

Both of their clothes were brought to them, and the door was quickly shut. Branzer felt around in his pockets and found his hearthstone. He first thought of Lindel and then decided against it. He walked over to the far edge of the room, while Bernett aimed the gun at the Lieutenant's head.

Branzer thought of Skyka and rubbed the stone. It became active and showed a picture of Skyka. She appeared to be bouncing up and down.

"Hi Branzer! How are you this morning?" Skyka asked.

"Sore and tired as hell. How was your night last night?" Branzer asked.

"We were finally able to make contact with the orcs. We're sleeping outside of the wall, essentially babysitting them to monitor their intentions. The warlocks are on full alert. Most of our group is sleeping. I don't think the King is ready to accept the orcs into Tranquil yet." Suddenly Skyka began to moan and it grew in intensity. "Just a second Branzer!" Skyka yelled. She began to yell louder and louder until she let out a horrific scream for about a minute. She then started breathing hard.

"Ok, sorry about that. Did you want something, or are you just checking in?" Skyka asked as if nothing just happened.

"What…are you doing right now?" Branzer asked.

"Mating with Herrior." Skyka said calmly.

"What? Geez, for crying out loud! I didn't mean to contact you…I'm sorry." Branzer said extremely embarrassed. He reached up to close the portal.

"Branzer! Didn't you learn anything last night? Or do you need another lesson?" Skyka said harshly. "I am allowed to mate with Herrior. Everybody in our group knows that and understands it. Everybody has seen us mate and doesn't care. Get over your insecurities!" Skyka screamed at him.

"What did she say?" Bernett asked hearing Skyka screaming.

"I'll tell you later…" Branzer replied back rubbing his eyes..

"I suppose you want to know how Lindel is…" Skyka asked.

"I had a dream about her last night. She was kicking my ass in the park…"

"She said your name several times in her sleep. I don't know if it was a good thing or not. Both of you really pissed us off last night." Skyka said angrily as she continued her bouncing.

"I have learned. We both have learned. We both are sorry." Branzer said slowly.

"You didn't call up to grovel - what do you want?" Skyka said sharply. Branzer let out a sigh.

"My Lieutenant, or my leader, his mate is very sick. She has bad head pain, vomiting and passing blood and she has a disease spreading through her body."

"Aw, that poor thing." Skyka said sounding sympathetic.

"He wants to know if you could help."

"And just how does he know that I can help him?" Skyka looked at him with an evil look.

"Somehow the entire hospital that Crystal was at; suddenly everybody in it was instantly healed." Skyka began to giggle.

"He's a smart man. He's putting the pieces together by himself. We have not given out names, locations, or anything personal I assure you." Branzer said.

"I can't just come out and do that, and I don't dare wake up Lindel right now. Especially if she knows that it's you asking…Let me talk with the King and see what he says. I will plead your case on my behalf. Make it clear to him that he is not to talk about it at all! If he does we will kill him and his wife." Skyka said. Skyka then looked around in the portal and saw a man standing in the corner.

"Is that him in the corner?"

"Yes."

She then smiled and said, "Walk over and smack him on the ass!"

"What?" Branzer said.

"Did you not hear me? Hold the stone up so I can see." Branzer walked over to his Lieutenant, holding the stone so Skyka could see. Branzer then slapped his Lieutenant's ass as hard as he could.

"Ouch! What was that for?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I was asked to do that."

Skyka burst into uncontrollable laughter. All three of them could hear her laugh and became very embarrassed. Branzer walked over to the other side of the wall. When Skyka recomposed herself, Branzer spoke up.

"I already told him that you guys don't mess around." Branzer said quickly. Then he continued, "The woman you just mentioned. Can you put in a good word for me?"

"No." Skyka immediately replied back.

Branzer sighed.

"Hun, let her decide. In the mean time just wait. I'm sure she'll contact you either way. She needs time right now ok? I would not contact her. If either of you need something, contact me or Herrior." Suddenly he could hear Herrior let out several groans. Skyka began to cheer him on.

"I'll talk to you later." Branzer said and closed the portal. He held the stone and turned around. Bernett turned to face Branzer and seemed eager to know what Skyka said.

"Well thank you Lieutenant! You made me feel like an ass in front of them! And after last night that is the last thing I need! You have the worst timing you know that! Ugh, for crying out loud!" Branzer said as he slammed his fist into the wall.

"What happened?" Bernett said. Branzer waved him over. He whispered something into his ear.

"You're kidding!" Branzer glared at him. Bernett looked at their Lieutenant and said, "You have some real bad timing sir!"

"Are they going to kill me?" He asked slowly.

"Most of them are sleeping right now. The 'doctor' needs to ask her…umm…administrator…if it is ok to work on your wife. Sir I'm not going to say what was going on, but for crying out loud. Don't ask me to do that again!"

"I'm sorry Branzer. What are the chances…?" The Lieutenant began to say.

"I have no idea. Don't talk about it again. If we are contacted by one of them, we'll let you know. In the meantime…Do not talk about this to anybody! I cannot emphasize that enough! Do not tell your wife, do not talk about it in your sleep, and do not write it down! Now, both of us are very tired and in a lot of pain. Please give us the day off, and call off the guards. I did this favor for you, this is the least you could do for us!" Branzer demanded. The Lieutenant immediately nodded. "Done." He got on the radio and told the army men to leave, that the threat was over. He said the officers were going to come out of the station and they are not to be harmed. He also said the remaining officers outside could come in and do their jobs.

"Let me warn you sir. If a stranger visits you in the middle of the night, and they seem to be glowing white, do exactly what they say. I cannot emphasize that enough! If somebody comes to your door with red eyes, put a bullet in their head immediately. Do not hesitate! My guess, and this is only a guess, is that you will have to do a favor for them in the future. No matter what it is, do it! You may talk with us about it, but nobody else and it is to be strictly private! Also I assure you if your eyes turn red, we will put two in your head without hesitation, there is a war going on. If these doctors say to stick your head up your ass, do it immediately! Believe me…" Branzer said moving his hand up to his holes in his shoulders. The Lieutenant nodded.

"I'm done preaching. The rest is up to you. Like I said, we'll contact you if they don't contact you first. Now, I'm damn tired and in a lot of pain. We are going home!" Branzer said turning around to leave. Bernett set his gun down as well and followed him out. They drove back to Bernett's house.

"Good speech." Bernett said climbing the stairs.

"See you in the morning…" Branzer said lying down on the couch.

Mohania's hearthstone started blinking. Everybody was sleeping and he had been bored for the past couple of hours. He took it out of his pocket and held it out before him. The King appeared. Mohania bowed down before him.

"Mohania, are you done with that gnome? Has he taught everything to Kendall that he can?" Mohania turned to Kendall and asked her. She said she was. Mohania relayed the information.

"I'm having a portal opened in front of the gates, can you put him through it. I am going to release the human alliance to this parish Samatha spoke of." The King said. Mohania gave the order and two of his warlocks went to get him.

"How do you feel about guarding the orcs while they sleep?" The King asked.

"My race does not like it…but we are following orders…" Mohania said angrily.

"Have any of them woke up, or said anything?"

"Some of them have been crying and saying names in their sleep. They seem…deeply ashamed of themselves and their race." Mohania said sounding indifferent.

Soon the two warlocks appeared out of the cave carrying the gnome. Mohania turned the stone so that the King could see.

"Ah wonderful. I see that he is still alive and unharmed. Could you wake up Quinely?" A portal opened and Mohania instructed his undead to put the gnome in the portal. The gnome went through it and instantly appeared in the jail of Tranquil with the rest of the humans. The portal closed behind him.

Mohania walked over to Quinely and started shaking her. Quinely started to wake up and saw Mohania. She sat up rubbing her eyes.

"The King wants to talk to you." Mohania said handing her his stone. She took it.

"Good morning." Quinely said.

"Hi Quinely, I have a special job for you. We have located the parish Samatha was talking about. We are currently having them portalled to the location. We need Samatha there to talk with this priest in charge to explain the situation. We're sending one of my tauren ambassador's and Chronomancer with you to get her. Wake her gently so as to not disturb her husband. You are to follow them to this parish to ensure they are safe. The mission should only take twenty minutes or so, and then you can continue your sleep. Your group will probably not even know you were gone. A portal should be opening soon."

"Yes my King." Quinely said as the portal closed. Quinely handed the stone back to Mohania.

"Baby-sitting huh?" Mohania said.

"Just doing as I'm told…" Quinely said yawning. She got up and stretched.

"I wonder why he is sending you and not me…" Mohania said with a grin and fire coming out of his eyes.

"Yeah…I don't know Mohania…" Quinely said sarcastically, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. A portal opened and Quinely quickly jumped through it.

On the other side she saw a female troll channeling the portal and a male ambassador, just as the King had said.

"Hi." Quinely said looking around, recognizing Bernett's house.

"Greetings." The ambassador said.

"Hi mon." The troll said closing the portal.

"Let's make this quick, I'm tired." Quinely said walking up the stairs.

"Agreed." The tauren replied.

Quinely walked up the stairs and into their room. She then instantly morphed into a small brown puppy with big floppy ears. She happily bounced over to the bed and began climbing her way up. After a couple of tries, all she had accomplished was pulling down the blanket. She made her body grow in size and leaped up on the bed.

"Wha…" Samatha said waking up. Then she heard the sound of a tiny puppy barking and playfully running up to her.

"Well where did you come from little one?" Samatha said giggling as the puppy began licking her face.

"Are you a present from my husband?" Samatha asked looking over at Bernett. He was sleeping very deeply. The little puppy shook its head and continued licking her. Samatha picked up the puppy underneath the arms.

"You sure are an affectionate one, aren't you?" Samatha said as the puppy continued to lick her.

"Come on before you wake up my husband. Let's go get you some food." She set the puppy down on the ground as it bounced around very playfully.

"Aw…you are so cute! I hope you didn't make a mess anywhere." Samatha said. She put on her slippers and bathrobe. The puppy ran out of the room. She looked back in to make sure Samatha was coming.

"I just woke up you little cutie, I'm coming…I'm coming…" Samatha said with a big smile on her face. Samatha started chasing after the puppy as she began to bounce down the stairs. The puppy stopped halfway down, faced away from Samatha and said, "Samatha, this is Quinely. Don't be scared. Remember you hugged me in your living room?"

Samatha was startled and began looking around. "Yes Quinely I remember you. Where are you at? What is wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. The King has taken your advice and he wants to deliver the humans to the parish. He wanted you to come along to explain to the priest in charge the situation." Quinely said.

Samatha was now looking all over the place for Quinely.

"Samatha I'm right in front of you." Quinely said happily and turned around. The tiny puppy looked at Samatha and stretched. Then it began panting again.

Samatha let out a tiny scream and fell backwards on the stairs.

"Samatha please don't be scared. I was told that we should not wake up your mate." The puppy said.

Samatha stared at the puppy for awhile. Eventually the puppy turned her head in curiosity and said, "Samatha?"

"Oh my word, you are the dog!" Samatha said finally making the connection.

"I'm a druid; I can change into different animals. I hope I made you happy when I woke you up. I didn't mean to scare you." Quinely said.

"No, no you didn't. I'm just not used to talking dogs." Samatha said and started laughing. "You woke me up just fine."

"There is a troll and a tauren in your dining room. We are going to take you to the parish to deliver the humans. It should only take a couple of minutes. Please come." Quinely said and started bouncing down the rest of the stairs. Samatha let out a laugh as she watched the puppy fumble down the stairs and finally land on the bottom.

"Please don't be scared Samatha. We're not going to hurt you. It should only take a couple of minutes." Quinely said reminding her.

"Should I get dressed first?"

"No no, your fine. Please come." Quinely answered and shook her head flopping her ears back and forth.

"I want to call him first to make sure he is there. Is that ok?" Samatha said walking down the stairs watching the puppy.

"Please hurry." Samatha raced down the stairs. She picked up Quinely and walked right by the dining room without looking at the troll or the tauren staring at her.

"You are a cute little thing, you know that?" Samatha said again. Quinely began licking her face again. She sat her down on the cupboard and dialed the number. She still had it memorized after all of these years.

"Father Ike? This is Samatha Brown. Do you remember taking me in almost ten years ago after my husband beat me?" The two of them began chatting for awhile, getting caught up on what has happened over the years.

Quinely started to whine.

"Oh sorry, Father I have some friends that need your assistance. About one hundred of them. Do you have room for all of them?"

"Ok."

"Probably in the next couple of minutes."

"I'll explain later Father. See you in a little bit." Samatha hung up the phone and picked Quinely back up.

"Remember there is a tauren and a troll in your dining room. Please don't be afraid of them." Quinely said.

"I won't, does the tauren look like Herrior?" Samatha said turning the corner and looking at the mighty tauren looking down at her. She looked over and saw a troll for the first time. She dropped Quinely on the floor and started to back away. Quinely quickly morphed back into a human and put her hand over Samatha's mouth.

"This is Quinely hun. They will not hurt you. Please don't scream." Quinely said quickly into her ear.

"Samatha. My name is Turg. I am an ambassador of the King. Neither of us is armed and you have my word that you will not be harmed. This troll is our Chronomancer. He will portal us to the parish. We all have orders not to wake up your mate. Please, don't scream."

"Samatha, trust me ok?" Quinely said in her ear. Quinely removed her hand and Samatha nodded.

"Portal please." The Tauren said. The troll chanted some words and electrical pulses came from his arms and produced a tiny circle in the middle of the living room. He channeled more power into it as it grew larger. The Tauren outstretch his hand to Samatha.

"After you." He said with a smile. Samatha looked inside the portal and saw the huge church with the surrounding dormitories. It instantly brought back memories.

Samatha stepped through, then Quinely, the tauren followed and finally the troll. The portal shut behind them.

Samatha looked around saw the humans behind her. They all varied by height. Some looked to be only three feet tall. The tauren walked up to them.

"This is your last reminder! Anybody mentions anything about their former lives, anything about where you have been, shows any type of magical powers, or anything out of the ordinary and you will all be killed! Do you understand?" The mighty tauren's voice boomed in the morning time air. All of the humans nodded their heads.

"Samatha, you and Quinely lead them up and drop them off. If anything happens…" the tauren glared at the humans, "Quinely will begin executing the humans. We will come if we sense any danger. But to save on questions, we'll hide right here. Be quick about it."

Quinely started jogging right away, and Samatha ran to keep up. "I only have slippers on." Samatha said. The humans behind them all followed them and kept up the pace.

Within minutes, Samatha saw Father Ike walking up to them. She ran up and hugged him.

"You sure got here fast!" Father Ike said. "I barely had time to get my robe on."

"We don't have much time. These people need your help, just like how you helped me. They just want to start over their lives and raise their families. They will do whatever you ask of them." Samatha said.

"Of course, of course. You are all welcome." He said in a jolly voice.

"They probably won't be here for long, they are very eager to get on their feet. Most of them were farmers. None of them are convicts or running from the law." Samatha said not exactly knowing if she was telling the truth.

"Please, introduce me to everybody." Father Ike said. Quinely quickly turned around, grabbed a male human and pulled him forward.

"This man can do that. We are in a hurry. Come Samatha we must go." She said.

Samatha nodded at Father Ike and thanked him again as she ran off with Quinely. Samatha could hear the introductions being made.

The tauren saw the two of them running and told the troll to produce two different portals, one to her house and one back to Tranquil. The troll finished performing his task as the two of them came running up.

"Samatha, you are on the left. The rest of us on the right. Thanks again for your help in this matter." The tauren said and stepped through the portal.

"Bye Samatha." Quinely said waving at her as she stepped through the portal. Samatha stepped through her own portal and was instantly back in her dining room. The portal instantly closed behind her.

Samatha saw Branzer sleeping heavily on the couch and thought that was a little bit odd. She checked the time and realized they both should be at work. She then picked up a note on the table.

"Samatha, busy night last night. Taking the day off. Please let us sleep. Love you, Bernett." Samatha shrugged and sat the note back down. She walked over to Branzer and saw that he had blood dripping out of two holes in his shoulders. She quickly ran and got some gauze and tape to put over the holes. She patched up all four holes; Branzer was completely oblivious to it. She watched and the bleeding eventually stopped.

"What were you two doing last night…?" Samatha said out loud, wondering to herself. She went back upstairs and laid back down in bed next to her husband. He was snoring loud and pretty sure he didn't hear anything. She checked the time. It was almost noon.

The Lieutenant was back in his office talking on the phone. The entire base was cleared of the army men, and the officers were going back to their normal work. Skyka and Lindel suddenly appeared out of a portal that Lindel had made.

"Hang up the phone and do not turn around!" Lindel said angrily in his mind. The Lieutenant instantly froze. He began looking around.

"Hang up the damn phone! Do not look around!" Lindel yelled in his head. The Lieutenant instantly hung it up.

"Do no talk. Think in your mind your thoughts if you want to talk to me. Are you the one Branzer and Bernett call 'Lieutenant'?"

"Yes, but my name is…"

"Shut up! We are here to work on your wife. She will need to be a sleep. Can you drug her? Yes or no."

"Yes."

"Go home immediately, drug your wife, and we will meet you there. If you do anything but what we just said, we will kill both of you. Do you understand?" Lindel said.

"Yes." The Lieutenant said. He could feel the presence leave his mind and realized that he was sweating badly. He quickly scrambled around for his keys and ran out the door.

"Family emergency! I'll be gone for the rest of the day!" He yelled at everybody as he flew through the station. All of the officers stared at him as he sprinted by everybody.

He jumped into his cruiser and turned on the lights and siren. His tires squealed as he left the parking lot. He dangerously veered in and out of traffic and made it to his house within twenty minutes. He parked the cruiser out front and ran up to his door fumbling for his keys.

"Stop!" The presence was back in his mind. The Lieutenant instantly froze.

"Were you followed?"

"I don't think so." The Lieutenant replied back in his mind.

"Do your neighbors suspect anything?" Lindel asked. He looked back and forth at the houses next to him and didn't see anybody in the windows or outside.

"What did Branzer and Bernett tell you about us?"

"He said that you were you would heal my wife for a favor, and not to call you angels or gods."

"What do you think we are?" Lindel asked.

"Doctors? I don't know. I've seen some of your work." The Lieutenant replied back.

"You personally saw us, doing our work…" Lindel said back angrily.

"Well, no…"

"So once again, shut up! Do not assume anything! There are hundreds of thousands of us. There could be twenty of us in your house right now waiting to ambush you! Did you ever think of that?"

"I believe if you were going to kill me you would have done it by now." The Lieutenant replied back.

"The day isn't over yet…" This time Skyka talked in his mind. The Lieutenant jumped in surprise.

"How many of you are in my head right now?"

"We are growing tired of this, should we leave? Let your wife die in agony?" Lindel asked.

"No! I'll do anything!"

"Look up at the door, there is a note. Pull it off the door." Lindel said. The Lieutenant looked up and sure enough there was a note. He hadn't noticed it there. He pulled it off and started to read it.

"Did we tell you to read it?" Skyka yelled at him.

"No." The Lieutenant said and looked away from it.

"Fold it up and put it in your back pocket." Skyka said calmly. The Lieutenant did just that. Skyka then started to say something, but Lindel spoke up.

"Now piss yourself!" Skyka's mouth dropped as she tried to hold back the laughter. She reached over and elbowed Lindel. Lindel was red trying to hold back the laughter, grinning ear to ear. Lindel was holding in her left hand a portal so that her group could witness everything. Their entire group burst into laughter. Crystal was the first to speak up. Their voices were not loud enough to be heard by the Lieutenant.

"You guys…come on…he used to be my leader. He's still Branzer and Bernett's leader. Be nice to him…" She tried to say in between laughter. Crystal than looked back through portal and saw the Lieutenant with water dripping down his pants.

"Lindel!" Crystal said in hysteria trying to hold back the laughter.

Lindel closed off their side of the portal so Skyka and Lindel could stick their heads in without being heard. They both burst into laughter. After a minute, Crystal continued.

"You guys, he would eat his own shit right now if you told him too. Come on…"

"OOOooo…I'll tell him to do that next!" Lindel said.

"Tell him to rip off his arm and beat himself with it!" Mohania said excitedly.

"Let's try to remain focused here, ok. Lindel, Skyka carry on with the mission." Herrior said.

"I bet Skyka and I could make you piss yourself Herrior…" Lindel said in a sexy tone. Herrior rolled his eyes and waved them away.

Skyka and Lindel pulled their heads back out and Lindel retuned the portal so it was two-way now. The Lieutenant kept saying over in his head. "I put the paper in my back pocket, I pissed my pants, and what do you want me to do next."

"Hush." Skyka said as Lindel reestablished the mind link between the three of them.

"What is your plan for drugging your wife?" Lindel asked.

"I have syringes for her morphine. The doctor also gave me Propofol to put her to sleep quickly. I'll give her a strong dosage. I plan on sneaking up behind her and giving it to her. Hopefully she'll forgive me.

Lindel and Skyka looked at each other and shrugged. They had no clue what he was talking about, but it sounded like he had it well thought out.

"We want you to do it, get yourself cleaned up and leave the house in under five minutes. Then we want you gone for approximately one hour. Do you know how to keep track of time?" Lindel asked.

"I have a watch. Do you want me to go do it now?"

"Go!" Both of them yelled and then broke the mind link. The Lieutenant threw open the door and ran inside.

"What the heck is a watch?" Lindel asked out loud.

"It is something I used to use to keep track of when I stopped time. It would tell me how many seconds I had left before time started again." Dan said.

"Oh. Did it help you stop time?" Lindel asked looking back at him. Dan let out a chuckle.

"No, it just told you how long time passed and what time it currently is. Somehow I ended up losing mine…not sure where it is." He said sounding not too concerned about it.

"It's me hun, I got to get something." The Lieutenant said as he raced up the stairs. His wife was at the sink washing dishes.

"Uh…ok." She answered. She seemed to be doing pretty good today.

He grabbed at the box of syringes, knocking them to the floor. He swung open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle. He quickly filled the syringe as fast as he could and then put the needle on it. He then ran back down stairs, ran up to his wife and jammed the syringe into her arm. She instantly yelled and started screaming. He restrained her other arm as he emptied the syringe into her.

"What are you doing? What are you doing to me?" She screamed over and over. Eventually her eyes fell back into her sockets and he caught her while pulling the needle out.

"I'm sorry hun. I'm very sorry." He said carrying her as fast as he could up the stairs and into their bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and kissed her on the forehead. He then quickly stripped off his urine-stained closed, making sure he had the piece of paper, and put on new clothes. He ran as fast as he could. He looked straight out and saw two dark figures standing together. They appeared to have floating stars in their body, as if he was looking at the night time sky. Skyka held her hand up and blasted the Lieutenant with shadow magic. A dark cloud appeared above his head and two arms seemed to come out of the cloud quickly slamming into his head. The Lieutenant screamed and dropped to the ground as his head throbbed with enormous pain.

"Do not look at us!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I did as you asked! My wife is in my bedroom. She's sleeping."

"Now leave! Come back in one hour! Do not be late! We are doing this as a favor. You will return a favor back to us. Our service does not come cheap. Do not read that paper until we say so!"

"Ok, no problem." The Lieutenant said and staggered to his feet and ran away. Lindel turned around and faced the portal.

"Fine Mohania…you won the bet. I didn't think he would look at us. Thanks for the disguise though. What do you want?"

"Bring me some human flesh to dine on!" Mohania said with a large smile.

"No. How about I find something in his kitchen and bring that to you." Lindel said smiling back at him.

"Will it taste like human flesh?" Mohania was still excited.

"Probably not. I'll contact you guys when we are done. Take care." Lindel said closing the portal. Their disguise instantly disappeared as the portal closed. They saw the Lieutenant running down the side walk.

"Let's go do our thing hun. Oddly enough I'm hungry; usually I'm not after thinking of Mohania dining on human flesh…We'll raid the kitchen and see what good stuff they have to eat. I doubt it'll take us an hour to heal her…" Skyka said sounding cocky. Lindel smiled at her and they both walked into the house.

Back at the wall, Herrior's hearthstone was vibrating. He pulled it out. It was a one-way portal so he stuck his head in and saw the King. He instantly bowed.

"I've talked with Mohania already. What is your impression of the orcs?"

"They seem sad, full of regret, and bored. They haven't talked much. Some small talk here and there. They don't appear to be a threat." Herrior said.

"I'm considering sending out the three orcs that you rescued and to watch their reaction. What are your thoughts on that?" The King asked.

"I haven't really thought about it sir. To be honest I wasn't sure what you wanted us to do with them. They are all talking common speak now, so their connections with the demons I believe is gone. Should we jail them? Are the alliance humans gone?" Herrior asked.

"Quinely helped send them away while you were sleeping. I believe they will be in good hands and it'll be the last time we hear from them. So our jails are open, however I am curious to see what they do when they see their own kind." the King said.

"I will do as you command." Herrior said.

"Disarm them. Put their weapons next to the human weapons that we captured. Set your stone on the ground, I will open a portal and study their reaction to the young ones. If it appears that they are going to attack them, kill the orcs. The young ones are to be protected."

"Yes my King." Herrior said.

"You are dismissed." Herrior pulled his head out.

"Orcs! I have just been given a command by my King. You are to follow it or you will be killed! Give up all of your weapons at once! None of you are allowed in the inner walls, or you will be killed! Is that understood?" Herrior said.

The orcs began dropping their weapons and walking away from them.

"Orcs! My group went on a mission to rescue some undead. While doing that, we found three orcs that appear to be children. We will now bring them out and see how you associate with them. If you attack them, we will slaughter all of you. Is that understood?" Herrior yelled. Herrior's group and the undead circled them and prepared to carry out the command.

"You have younglings from our race?" Gernack asked.

"They have not been harmed. They have not been interrogated. Banshees have not entered their body. They were observed for a week and then released into the city. They have been well fed, watered, clothed, played with, talked to, bathed, sung too, and allowed to go anywhere. When they got hurt while playing, they were instantly healed. They had an ambassador with them the whole time. They were blanketed at night. Not a single hair on their heads were harmed, you have my word." Herrior said. He paused for a second and then continued as he saw them coming out of the portal. "They do not know common speak, but we tried to meet all of their needs as best as we could. The ambassador's name is Kash. They are approaching now."

Gernack instantly saw the middle child walking towards them. "Gernuck?". Isnabell became excited and said, "Gernuck " as well. They both started approaching him. Herrior quickly intervened and pushed them down the ramp.

"That's our son!" They both yelled.

"I'm saving your life! Let him come to you!" Herrior commanded them.

Both Isnabell and Gernack got down on their knees and beckoned for Gernuck to come over. Gernuck finally recognized them and started shouting something in the orchish language. He ran over to them and hugged both of them. Both parents fell on the ground and began kissing him and hugging him. They both began to apologize over and over to their child as tears flowed heavily. The rest of the orcs surrounded them for privacy. The other two child orcs came out and didn't find their parents. A female orc came over and grabbed their hands and bent down and kissed both of them on the head and hugged them. The kissing and hugging lasted for about five minutes. Herrior gave the command for his group to lower their weapons. Herrior turned to the King who was watching the whole thing.

"Interesting…" the King said.

Gernack and Isnabell both got to their knees and scooted over and hugged Herrior's feet.

"Uh…" Herrior said trying to move.

"Thank you…thank you…thank you…" Both of them kept saying over and over.

Gernack then told a story about how he was forced to mate with Isnabell to produce more offspring. Their son, Gernuck, wasn't working as hard as the other orc children. Gernack was forced to whip his own son and beat him. Eventually he was sent away to be slaughtered. Gernack said that under the demon's control, he felt no emotion - but he remembered everything. Now being free of the demon's control he felt sick about what he had done to his own son. He took the shirt off his son and looked for the whipping marks. Kash spoke up.

"They were completely healed of any wounds they had. They found a spot in our city where there are a lot of trees and they liked to chase each other among them. That is where they sleep as well. I personally escorted them everywhere in the city. I gave them toys and played with them. Every member in our town welcomed them with open arms and gave them treats. They were well taken care of." Kash said.

Gernack and Isnabell both began to cry again. "Why?" Gernack asked.

"Our people are not savage. We help those in need. We even helped alliance who surrendered to us. We helped out the undead, and we helped out the child orcs that were rescued. We believe making friends is better than forcing them to do our bidding, like the alliance and the demons do." Herrior said.

"We owe you our lives!" Both orcs said. "Please do not hurt our son. He is innocent; we'll gladly take the punishment, but please spare his life." Gernack pleaded. Herrior turned to the King.

"Nobody is going to be slaughtered today. The child orcs will be allowed to roam freely around the city. You twenty orcs will be imprisoned and interrogated. My banshees will read your minds for a while. I want to know everything about you. Then your fate will be decided. I will allow time for your child to come see you. I believe in strong families, you both obviously love him. If you cooperate with us, you will not be harmed." The King opened a portal. "Say your goodbyes and enter the portal orcs." The King said as the orcs walked into the portal and suddenly appeared in the jail cell. Gernack and Isnabell kissed and hugged their child. They continued to say something in the orcish language to them. Herrior's guess was that they were saying that they loved him. All of the orcs cooperated and both portals were closed. Herrior picked up his hearthstone and put it back in his pocket.

Kash spoke up. "Ok little ones, come with me." She gathered them up and gently pushed them towards the Tranquil portal. All of them were crying. As they vanished, Herrior said: "This will be interesting to see what happens…"

"They didn't look scary. They looked normal, well green bodies and large teeth… You know what I mean. From what I observed they don't appear to be a threat. Why all the precautions?" Dan said.

"Form a circle. I have a tale to tell apparently." Herrior said. They all sat down and Mohania created a fire.

"Around two thousand years ago, the orcs were part of our city. We were called the Horde, their race fought beside us. Now we're just called the people of Tranquil. Anyways, about that time is when God sent his son Jesus to your world. The King at the time made a huge portal above everybody so they could watch him, but we were constantly warned not to interfere. The Chronomancers were pretty much locked up inside of the palace - portalling was not allowed during this time. Jesus eventually finished his mission by being beaten and placed on a cross to die in misery. That day, all of our groups were recalled to watch. Nobody was even guarding the wall. It one of the greatest moments in eternity, if not the greatest moment."

Dan suddenly stopped him. "Wait, you guys witnessed the death of Jesus?"

"No, that was many generations ago. Several Kings and Queens have come and gone since then. But the stories still live on. Anyways, the entire city was in mourning. But the old prophecies had to be fulfilled. He was the ultimate living sacrifice to allow people to get into Heaven. Side tracking on the story a little bit, all of the orcs possess an ability called, 'Blood Fury'. It significantly increases their attack speed, the spell casting speed, or whatever they are doing. It also makes them go insane and not follow orders during this time. The leader of the orcs couldn't bear to watch anymore, and almost instantly all of the orcs entered into their blood fury state. They instantly started slaughtering hundreds of unarmed citizens. It came as a total shock to everybody, but once the command was given to fight back our groups quickly organized themselves. The orcs charged the palace to try to obtain a Chronomancer to stop the event from happening. Nobody anticipated this. The King and Queen had to actually enter the city to protect the Chronomancers. The blood fury eventually wore off, but the orcs continued to fight. Some fled the city through the portal. It really made the city mad because we missed the final breaths of our God dying on the cross. But as the prophecies predicted, he came back to life on his own power three days later. That kind of power is unheard of. Usually you have a matter of minutes to bring somebody back to life, and that is only if the spirit stays. The spirit only stays if it is commanded to by God. Which is why Skyka was so surprised when she was able to bring all of the orcs back to life. There is a reason for them being here and her being able to do that. Which is why the King is very apprehensive about having them here, even the young ones. The orcs were banned from our city, never to return. Our King has a big heart, and seeks the advice of our God often."

"Is the King able to speak to him?" Dan asked.

"No." Herrior said with a smile. "Only by prayer like the rest of us. He and the priest talk quite often. He tries to help all races out as much as he can without putting us in arms way. Which is why I think he spared the alliance lives that surrendered to us. But if he orders a slaughter of civilians or an attack, we will do it. We are merely following his commands. Every seventh day during church services, like the one you were at, our entire group usually approaches the alter and quietly confesses our sins in prayer to him. It makes us feel better. As you saw, many groups do this as well."

"What do you think he'll do with the orcs?" Crystal asked.

"I haven't a clue. Skyka and I are his personal ambassadors, so he watches us closer than normal. If we had done something he didn't want us to, he would have made it known. However watching the orcs and the reunion of one of their children to his parents seemed interesting to him. If he sensed any danger, he would have immediately ordered the slaughter of them. Word is probably spreading through Tranquil now that there are orcs in the jail. They'll probably be curious about them and go see them. It's kind of hard to predict what they'll do." Herrior looked around thinking that he heard something. He shook his head.

"Anyways getting back to the story, after the slaughter of our unarmed citizens, the Red Guard was established. Our city is filled with them, invisible to the eye, constantly on guard. Which is why we took so many precautions when we took Mohania in. They would have killed him in a second…apparently so would the other groups in the city. I believe the citizens are hearing of the stories though and becoming more understanding of your race Mohania." Herrior said looking at him. Mohania nodded.

"The Red Guard becomes active if there is a murder, rape, or other capital crimes like that. They also become active if they sense any alliance, demons, or other races not filtered out by our King in our walls. Which is why we were surprised that a worgen was allowed in the arena and not immediately destroyed. The King I think has fixed that problem though." Herrior explained.

"So you all believe in God, and Jesus, and Heaven and all of that stuff?" Crystal asked. Immediately everybody said "Yes" at the same time. Dan looked curiously at Mohania.

"Don't mess with somebody who is infinitely stronger than you are. That story and how to be saved is one of the first things I teach my undead army." Mohania said with a smile.

Herrior than asked with a smile, "Do you two believe in God and all of that stuff?" Crystal and Dan just sort of looked at each other.

"I've gone to church a couple of times, but never really put much thought into it to be honest." Dan said. Crystal nodded in agreement.

"Do you know how to have your spirit go to Heaven when your body dies?" Herrior asked. They both shook their head.

"First believe that the story I just told you is true. God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Next ask him to forgive you of your sins. Then have faith that he has forgiven you of your sins and ask him to be your Lord and Savior. Begin praying to him and developing a relationship with him. Talk with the priest about any questions you have. You can contact him any time of day you want, that is his job. We have several copies of his word around Tranquil that you can read if you want. Do you wish to do that right now?" Herrior asked. Dan nodded his head. He closed his eyes and was silent for about a minute. When he was done praying, he felt a huge weight lifted off from his shoulders. He let out a smile and looked at Herrior.

"I am very happy with you young one." Herrior said. A large group of fairies floated down from the wall. They quickly did their thing and left.

"Well, how about we stash some of these orc weapons?" Herrior said starting to rise to his feet.

"Wait! What about me?" Crystal asked.

Herrior looked at her and smiled. "What about you?"

"Can I just do what Dan just did? Ask to have my sins forgiven?"

"Certainly. I was hoping you would speak up. We'll wait for you." Herrior said sitting back down. Crystal bowed her head and began to pray to herself. The first couple of minutes everybody watched her. Then she suddenly burst into tears and started shaking her head. She mouthed a couple of words and then continued to pray to herself. They all sat there and waited patiently for her.

Ten minutes went by and she slowly opened her eyes. "My parents didn't go to Heaven…did they…?" Crystal asked.

"I have no idea little one…" Herrior said slowly.

"They didn't. I know they did not do what I just did. They are being tortured right now…aren't they?" Crystal said looking up at Mohania. He wasn't sure what to say. He looked at Herrior and then back at her. Crystal appeared to be waiting for an answer from him.

"I've never been to Hell. But…from what I understand…it's infinitely worse than what I could ever do to somebody…" Mohania said slowly. Crystal began crying very heavily.

"Damn. I'm not good with comforting people…" Mohania said slowly. Mohania quickly looked around at the group, as if saying "Help me out here!".

Herrior rose up and walked over to Crystal and embraced her. Mohania felt a sigh of relief. Then everybody else started walking over to hug her. Mohania started to back away, when Quinely grabbed his boney wrist and pulled him in.

"I'm not good at group hugs either…" Mohania said. Crystal began to laugh in between her sobs.

Suddenly a portal appeared. It showed Lindel with a box of chocolates.

"Guys look at…what's wrong with Crystal?" Lindel asked immediately concerned. Skyka ran over to see what was happening.

"Dan and Crystal have just become Christians." Herrior said.

"That's great news! What's wrong with Crystal?" Lindel said excitedly, but still concerned about her. Crystal turned around and looked at Lindel.

"Can you tell me if my parents are in Hell?" Crystal asked. Lindel immediately knew what the problem was. She sat down the box of chocolates that she was going to give to the group. Lindel leaned through the portal and hugged her.

"Nobody has the power to see into Hell hun. Not even the King or the priest. Only God knows. I'm sorry hun." Lindel said pulling away and kissing her on the forehead. Crystal let out a deep sigh. Lindel leaned back through the portal and got the box of chocolates. She handed it to Crystal.

"I'm beginning to like these. Maybe they'll help." Lindel said with a smile. Crystal laughed again and took the box.

"I was gonna say share them with the group, but if I were you I would eat all of them before anybody else could get their grubby little hands on them…" Lindel said in a cheerful voice.

"Lindel…are you going through the Lieutenant's stuff?" Crystal asked with a smile.

"Umm…not all of it…but a lot of it yeah." Lindel said looking around at the mess they made. Crystal started laughing.

"Are you going to have all of that cleaned up by the time he gets home?" Crystal asked again.

"We weren't planning on it…" Lindel said looking at Skyka with a devious smile. They both started to laugh.

"You two are horrible." Crystal said smiling. Skyka reached through the portal and kissed Crystal on the lips.

"Yeah, but you love us…" Skyka said leaning back into the Lieutenant's house.

"You guys enjoy the treats; it's almost been an hour. I have a stop I want to make before we meet up with you." Lindel said and closed the portal.

Crystal turned around with the box to face the group. "I'm sorry to break down like that."

"No apology needed." Herrior said with a smile, "You are planning on sharing those…aren't you?" Crystal looked down at the box and then looked at Dan.

"Fine, you two go enjoy yourselves. We'll move the weapons." Herrior said laughing. Dan and Crystal walked several yards away and began devouring the box, as Herrior's group began to pick up as many weapons as they could.

Jacklyn was walking in front of Mohania on the ramp. She stepped through the doors, and when Mohania put one foot in the entrance he was instantly zapped and thrown back several yards.

"Shield's up." Jacklyn said in a calm voice.

"You think! Prior notice would have been welcome…" Mohania said in an angry voice as he stood to his feet. Smoke was rising from his body. Jacklyn looked back at him and smiled. Mohania gathered up the weapons he dropped and threw them through the gate, then returned to his undead cave.

Skyka and Lindel continued to search through every cupboard and closed door in the Lieutenant's house. They were exchanging thoughts about the items that they uncovered.

"A lot of ale bottles…" Skyka said.

"I agree. Let's collect them all and put them in the kitchen." Lindel said.

Several minutes later, Lindel detected the Lieutenant coming back. She motioned to Skyka and they both sat up on the cupboards with their legs crossed.

"Can I come in?" The Lieutenant asked.

"It's your house, isn't it?" Skyka said. They slowly heard the door open.

"According to my watch it's been an hour. Is it safe to come in?"

"Yes, our work is done. Did you talk to anybody?" Lindel asked.

"No, I walked the streets. I paced back and forth looking at my watch."

"We're in the kitchen. We have good news and bad news to tell you." Skyka said.

"Is she dead?" The Lieutenant asked walking towards the kitchen.

"No hun, we are very good at what we do. Come in and let me scan you real quick." Lindel said. The Lieutenant turned the corner and saw Lindel and Skyka. They didn't look like how he saw them before; they both looked human, except one of them had very long ears. He looked very surprised. Lindel's eyes quickly turned purple and scanned his eyes.

"Your fine, word of advice: if you ever see a human turn very angry real quickly and his eyes turn red, kill him immediately." Lindel said taking a bite out of an apple. "We don't have much time, but we will answer some of your questions."

"You look different from when I saw you before…" The Lieutenant said.

"We've taken on a form that you would be more comfortable with. Now ask the question about your wife." Lindel said.

"Is my wife going to live?" He asked.

"That's part of the good news and bad news. In her previous condition, her life essence would have left her body within ten days, give or take. It would have been a very painful death for her."

"But you healed her, right?"

"We healed her body, but her life essence was not expected to stay in her body. She'll only probably live another ten years or so…" Lindel said calmly taking another bite out of her apple.

"I don't understand, the cancer is gone. Her headaches are gone…"

"As we said, we healed all of that. We also healed the puncture wound you made to her arm." Skyka said.

"I even erased the memory of you doing that to her, so you have nothing to worry about. She remained sleeping the whole time so she shouldn't even know what happened. Although the last person we did this to somehow knew…" Lindel said shrugging her shoulders taking another bite. She continued talking with her mouth full. "Her life essence was ready to let go, only in rare cases can I sense that. But my guess is, after looking at you and your habits; you'll probably die before her."

He looked surprised.

"Well look at you, your hands are red and swollen, your face is pale, you're sweating very heavily, and your heart is beating so hard that I can hear it from here. By the looks of your face you put yourself through a lot of stress, and we found all of this." Skyka said pointing at the table full of liquor behind her. "You are slowly poisoning yourself. We drink where we come from, but not to get drunk to bury our depression like I'm assuming you are doing. You have over thirty bottles here!"

The Lieutenant never thought that he would die before his wife. "How did they know all of this?" He thought, and then wondering if they were reading his mind.

"Can you extend my life?" He asked finally.

"No. That was not part of the agreement. We were ordered to heal your wife in exchange for a favor from you. Nothing was said about your body." Lindel said calming taking another bite. "But do you want some free advice? Drink more water, go see your own doctor, go for walks, go to church, learn to pray, enjoy the rest of the time you have with your wife, stop poisoning yourself, eat better and learn to relax - without getting drunk." Skyka snapped her fingers and all of the bottles instantly exploded, sending liquid and glass pieces all over the room. The Lieutenant ducked down.

"Consider that a favor from us for eating your food." Skyka said.

"Now then, take the note out of your pocket. This time read it." Lindel said. He took out the note and examined it closely.

"It's an address, and it says 2pm."

"Do you know where the location is?" Skyka asked.

He thought about it for a minute. "I think it's an old abandoned radio station? It's in the middle of nowhere, about an hour drive from here I think."

"You are to assemble fifty of your best men and women to fight beside you. Have them meet you there tomorrow at that precise time. You will receive further instructions then." Lindel said.

"Should we be armed?" He asked.

"Bring as many guns, or other weapons, as you think you can get away with. You are going into battle with us." Skyka said. Both Skyka and Lindel jumped off the counters and walked to the front door.

"What should I tell them?" He asked quickly.

"You'll be fighting to keep your world safe. Secret mission or whatever you want to call it." Skyka said as she opened the door. "Also the harbor you were patrolling…keep everybody away from it for the rest of the day. At least three hundred yards. The vessel is coming and we're going to try our best to snag it without anybody seeing it. It'll be happening sometime today or this evening. Come up with an excuse, disease, pestilence, death…something. Nobody is to watch."

They both walked through it and shut it behind them. The Lieutenant ran to the front door and opened it. Both of them were gone. He looked all around, even up in the sky. There was no trace of them.

At Bernett's house there was a knock on the door. Samatha opened the door. She saw a young hooded female. The only thing she could see was her chin and her mouth.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Give this to Branzer. Tell him I had fun in the park." She said grabbing the door and forcefully closed it. The woman opened it back up and the woman was gone. Samatha looked all around for her and couldn't find her. In Samatha's hand was a folded up note and a rose. The note gave an address and a time, just like the Lieutenant's note. She walked over to Branzer and saw that he was half awake.

"Some young woman gave this to me. Then she suddenly disappeared. She said to tell you that she had fun in the park." Branzer was still sleepy when he looked down and saw the rose. He instantly became excited and looked at the note. Branzer quickly felt for his hearthstone and began to rub it. Nothing happened. "Must not have recharged yet…" he said out loud.

"Is your husband awake?" He quickly asked.

"He's coming down the stairs right now." Samatha answered back wondering what was going on.

"Bernett, I think Lindel just stopped by. She said she had fun in the park and gave me a rose. My hearthstone is dead, can you activate yours?"

Samatha looked at both of them funny. Branzer and Bernett both slowly looked at Samatha.

"I didn't hear anything, I'm going to go cook you guys something to eat…" As she left the room Bernett tried his stone. Nothing. Suddenly the phone rang. Bernett answered it.

"This is the Lieutenant. I need you guys to go somewhere for me tomorrow."

"We got the same note I'm guessing…" Bernett took the note from Branzer and read off the address.

"Yes. I also need you to help keep away people from the harbor tonight." The Lieutenant said.

"How is your wife?" Bernett asked.

"Sleeping. She's been smiling and looking up at me once in awhile. I don't think I can say much else…" the Lieutenant said in a hurried voice.

"You don't need to. See you in a little bit." Bernett said and hung up the phone. He turned to Branzer and said, "I think we're going into battle again."

Skyka and Lindel appeared in a portal and meet up with the group behind the wall.

"Well we did our part, how's it coming here?" Lindel asked.

"Pretty boring so far. We were just looking at the weapons the orcs were using. It's mostly crude axes and fist weapons, I think. Dan and Crystal are on the opposite side of the wall having private time. Mohania is in his cave. Just waiting on a command from the King or Tess's group to come back." Herrior said.

"I don't think the Lieutenant will have any problems following orders, neither should Branzer or Bernett after their last encounter with Tess. I hope they are able to assemble a group. It would be nice to get some of these boxes out of the way. It's cluttering up the place." Skyka said walking over and kicking aside some of the empty ammunition boxes.

They all talked among themselves when Dan and Crystal came in through the gate. At the same time Tess walking out of the portal as well.

"How was the time with the family?" Crystal asked.

"It was nice. I let them play with my wolf. We played several other games. They told me that they played with the orc children. They didn't understand a word they said, but at their age it doesn't really matter. Most of the childhood games are all the same. Basically chase each other around, and splash each other in the water." Tess said seeming really calm. She sounded very relaxed.

"You have a wolf?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, all hunters have pets. We can also set traps and some other neat things. I generally don't bring him out because I would have to give him commands, heal him, command the troops, and fire my bow at the same time. It's just too much of a hassle. One of my men would be pissed at me if I was watching my pet and they ended up dying…" Tess said with a chuckle. She continued, "If we are going on a mission to collect valuables, I'll generally have him out. Especially if I sense a trap, I'll command him to go first. If he dies I can always resurrect him later. Pets aren't as strong as warriors, but they do have their moments."

"And you let your children play with him? Aren't you worried about him turning on your kids?" Crystal asked.

"Naw, he's tame. They climb all over him, pull his tail, chase him around, throw him in the water. He's loyal and wouldn't hurt anybody unless I give him the command to. What do you have in the box?" Tess asked.

"There is one chocolate left. We would like you to have it." Crystal said handing her the box.

"Oh?" Tess said looking at it confused.

"Just eat it, it's good." Lindel yelled over. Tess picked it up and popped it in her mouth. This one had nuts and caramel in it. Tess seemed to study the taste of it.

"Chewy, but it is good." Tess said with a smile.

"Anyways I bring news from the King. Lindel, you and five other Chronomancers will have to infiltrate the vessel and portal it to our tree line. I wouldn't recommend bringing your whole party Herrior. We don't want the demon getting pissed off before our groups get back. Our scouts report that the demon is dormant right now. Ah, here they are now." Tess said as three male trolls and two female trolls stepped out of the portal.

"So six of us? It shouldn't take that much power." Lindel said.

"After the vessel gets here, if there is trouble you can port out of there. Herrior you may pick your warriors to go, but I would recommend Quinely to get close to the boat undetected, Jacklyn to cut open the haul of the ship, and Trackolania to quickly take down any guards there might be on the ship. Again, it's your call though."

Herrior looked at the three of them and they all appeared ready. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Tess sighed. "I wish you and I could trade assignments Herrior. I have to go train the humans that your Lieutenant is assembling. I'm not looking forward to that…I'm hoping I get lucky and they are like Dan and Crystal. But I get the feeling they'll be like the two idiots that I had to teach discipline to…they have been assigned to my group. The King said to try to ensure their survival…"

Lindel spoke up. "Skyka and I scared the shit out of the Lieutenant, and I'm sure that Branzer and Bernett have learned their lesson. Maybe they'll talk to the other humans and you won't have it as bad as what you think."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyways it's almost time to bring the ship here. Once you have brought the ship here, we'll pick off any humans or anything else that crawls…hopefully not waking up the demon. The rest of the groups should be here by then. My mate and his group will not be here in time. I may be leading the groups against the battle. We'll figure that out when the time comes I guess. Strings, it'll be your job to soothe the demon as long as you possibly can." Tess said.

"Not a problem. How long as it been since you have seen your mate?" Strings asked. Tess sighed, but didn't answer. Strings nodded and said, "I'll do the best that I can."

"The ranged will be attacking from the wall. Tanks, melee, and healers will be on the field. Dan and Crystal - have you had a chance to see the class trainers yet?"

"No, but we plan to." Dan replied.

"It'll make you a lot more powerful." Tell replied.

"Will it hurt?" Crystal asked recalling some of the memories of what the monks did to her.

Tess sighed. "Crystal, I don't know what all you have been through. You will be blasted again, but I don't believe for very long. You can change classes, but you have to go through the process again. I'm sorry hun, but yes it will. It only lasts a couple of minutes."

"Will we look different, or act different…" Dan started to say.

Tess started to laugh. "No, it will not affect any of that. Once you pick out your class, you'll have to be taught your abilities and talents within Tranquil. But that's nothing to worry about for now. Herrior do you want to start your attack?"

Herrior nodded. "You three are commanded to keep the Chronomancers alive at all costs. I don't care how many humans you have to kill, keep it quiet and make it quick. Lindel, how long do you think it'll take to channel a portal that big?"

Lindel thought about it for a minute and then turned to the other Chronomancers. "Twenty minutes? That's just a guess, we've never ported something that big before. It may drain all of our power getting it here."

"We'll get you out, one way or another." Herrior promised. Herrior looked over at Tess and she was nodding her head with a smile. "The King would be upset if we lost all of you…"

"That's reassuring…" Lindel said glaring at her. "All right, let's get this over with." Lindel created a portal and began channeling her power into it and making it grow. On the other side was nothing but water. In the faint distance they could see the vessel approaching.

"It's away from the docks, so we'll have to swim. Nobody should notice anything. Quinely, I'm assuming you can provide us with transportation? "

"I sure can! I'll see if I can get the aid of any other creatures from the water as well. They can distract them while Jacklyn tears a hole in the haul of the vessel." Quinely said.

"Just make the hole big enough for everybody to get in. We don't want the vessel sinking." Herrior said. Jacklyn nodded.

The group all stepped into the portal and immediately fell into the water. The portal shut behind them. They were in the middle of the ocean treading water. The large vessel was coming towards them. They estimated that it would arrive in about one minute.

"Give me a second to change guys." Quinely said as she began to morph herself into an enormous blue whale. After several seconds she said, "Ok, everybody in my mouth." She opened her mouth and everybody climbed in.

"I'm summoning as many sea creatures to us as I can. I estimate that we'll have around a hundred sharks and other large creatures as a distraction. Their coming as fast as they can right now." Quinely said. Her voice boomed out of her mouth. Everybody slammed their hands over their ears.

"Quiet hun! Remember, you are an enormous whale now…" Lindel said.

"Sorry…" Quinely whispered and started swimming towards the boat.

Soon enormous sharks, whales, dolphins and other sea creatures quickly joined them and more seemed to be constantly arriving as they approached the boat. Quinely seemed to have all of them under her control.

"Jacklyn, I'm going to give the command for every creature, as well as myself to ram into the ship as hard as they can. This will buy you a distraction as you make an opening in the boat for you guys." Quinely whispered. Jacklyn drew out both of her swords.

"Trackolania, once we are inside I need you to kill everybody as fast as you can. You take the right side hun, and I'll take the left side. I need to conserve my power though." Lindel said. Trackolania nodded. He drew his crossbow and prepared himself.

"Ok, here we go. On the count of 'Dong'." Quinely said as she raced forward with the rest of the sea creatures. Jacklyn enraged herself and jumped towards the haul of the ship as her blades dug in. At the same time, Quinely and all of the other sea creatures hit the ship as hard as they could. It violently rocked the ship back and forth, letting out a resonating "Dong" sound. The scraping sounds of Jacklyn's blades dug in far as she dragged them down.

Alarms started going off as the crew of the ship started looking around to see what had happened. The captain thought they heard a sandbar and immediately shut off the engines. The sea creatures continued to ram the ship as Jacklyn tore open a four by four opening. Trackolania immediately jumped in and started launching arrows. They all landed in the necks of five crewmen as they quickly fell to the ground. Lindel flew into the ship in her banish form. She saw one of the men talking into a black box. She quickly possessed the man and started scanning his brain.

"Jeff are you still there? What's going on down there?" a voice said coming out of the box. Lindel quickly scanned his brain to find out what it was. Trackolania setup a defensive position as the Chronomancers started pouring into the ship. Jacklyn was the last one in and cut herself badly trying to squeeze her body in. Quinely morphed into a seagull and flew in.

"Yup, no problems here. We're just all shaken up by whatever is going on. Being stuck down here, it sounds like a torpedo hit us or something. What's going on topside?" Lindel made Jeff say.

"It looks like every animal in the sea hit us all at the same time. Weirdest thing I've ever seen." The voice said. "Do you need some help down there?"

"No we're fine. Everything down here checks out ok. We're ready to continue whenever you are." Lindel said not knowing what she was talking about.

"Ok, I'll report that to the captain." The black box then started making a loud high pitch noise. Lindel made Jeff slam it on the ground so it broke. Lindel then caused Jeff's head to explode as she gently floated out of his body.

"How bad are you Jacklyn?" Lindel asked.

"I'm trying to stop the bleeding. I've gotten a lot of deep cuts. Save your energy though, get us out of here. It stinks like human piss in here!" Jacklyn said ripping off pieces of clothes from the dead humans and wrapping them around her cuts. She had put away her swords and it was becoming obvious that she was losing strength pretty fast.

"Trackolania and Quinely, you're going to have to protect us." Lindel said. Quinely morphed into a large lion and faded away until she became invisible. She moved over to the staircase and waited behind it. Trackolania was undisturbed by the command as he remained focused on the stairs, his senses tuned to any movement coming their way.

Lindel created the portal, all of the Chronomancers than started channeling their powers into it. The portal quickly grew. It engulfed the entire room within seconds. They could all see the tree lines and estimated that they were about one hundred yards away from the wall.

"Ok, now quickly. Dump all of your power into the portal as fast as you can!" Lindel said as streams of blue energy flowed from her body and into the portal. All of the other Chronomancers did the same. The portal grew very quickly and soon engulfed the entire ship. Within seconds the enormous vessel disappeared from the waters.

"Strings, start playing your sleep song. As long as you can." Herrior commanded. Strings quickly drew out his lute and began a very slow rhythmic song. It seemed to put all of the humans aboard the ship to sleep within seconds.

"Mohania? Is the demon awake?" Herrior asked

"No, he's still dormant." He replied.

"Tess is still on Earth. We need to get our group out of that ship. Skyka can you start levitating us?" Herrior instantly floated up as Skyka casted the spell on him. Dan and Crystal began floating up with Herrior. They flew up to the hole in the vessel that looked like Jacklyn made. Quinely popped her head out.

"The Chronomancers are drained, Jacklyn is hurt badly." She said.

"You and Trackolania start pushing the Chronomancers out first. Dan and Crystal you are to take them inside of Tranquil. Jacklyn will have to wait." Quinely and Trackolania began pull the Chronomancers towards the hole and giving them to either Dan or Crystal. Skyka controlled each of their descents as they landed on the ground and began dragging them into the portal. Then she would levitate them again to get the next one.

Herrior was trying to widen the hole without making too much noise. One at a time Dan and Crystal continued floating up and down with the Chronomancers. Inside of Tranquil, dozens of healers were there to assist them. Once all of the Chronomancers were out Skyka ignored Dan and Crystal and watched the hole. They slowly moved Jacklyn to the hole. She had lost a lot of blood, but was still able to talk. Herrior reached in and grabbed her and eased her out. She made several loud grunting noises as her body touched the sides of the ship.

"I've got ya Jacklyn. I'm trying to move you out as slowly as I can without hurting you anymore." Herrior said in a calm voice. After a minute of wiggling her out, Skyka slowly lowered both of them to the ground. Skyka ran over to Jacklyn and started blasting her with healing spells.

Quinely turned into an eagle and gracefully floated down to the ground. Trackolania jumped out of the hole and slowly fell towards the ground. He landed and did several rolls. He sprang up to his feet and ran over to check on Jacklyn. The rest of the group ran over as well.

Jacklyn got off the ground fully healed and said, "Alright, alright. Shows over. I'm fine, what's our next move?"

"Strings will soothe the beast as long as he can. We're waiting for Tess to return or orders from the King."

"So we're waiting on the outside of the wall then I'm assuming." Jacklyn asked stretching her back.

"For now. Mohania bring your undead out and prepare them. Everybody else form up at the wall. Skyka you're the only healer we have as of right now. Nobody make any loud noises." Herrior said with a smile.

About the same time Quinely and her group left to do their mission, Tess's hearthstone began to vibrate. She spoke privately with the King for awhile. When she pulled her head out of the portal she let out another sigh.

"Bad news?" Herrior asked.

"My group is being recalled to me. Along with a Chronomancer to portal us." Tess let out another sigh.

"But it is my orders and I will follow them." Tess said standing up proudly and looking over her bow. She looked down at her goblin that was carrying her quiver full of arrows.

Tess's group came out of the portal, followed by a young female troll, and a small floating purple banshee.

"Did you guys enjoy yourselves?" Tess asked.

"I went to visit my family; I had a fun time with them." Tess's tank said. "Everybody else just relaxed in the fountain."

"Good to hear. We're going to go on a trip now. I anticipate being annoyed for the next hour, but the King said, and emphasized, that we are not to kill any of the humans. We are to brief them and they will be part of our group." Tess paused for a moment and then said, "The King didn't say anything about killing them when they get here." Tess just thought with a smile. Tess's hearthstone began to vibrate.

"Fine! I won't kill any of the humans…" Tess said out loud. Her stone stopped vibrating.

"Open us a portal. The banshee will go first. I'm going to need to channel some anger when I get back…" Tess said.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine Tess." Herrior said trying to suppress his laughter.

Back on Earth, the Lieutenant was standing outside the compound watching vehicles pulling up. The people would meet up with him, and then drop off as many weapons as they brought with them at the door. Many of them asked what was going on. The Lieutenant said he couldn't say until everybody got here. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and he was still short people. He started to sweat with anxiety. Several moments passed and several army hummers pulled up.

"Take the fifty cal off and bring it. Bring every weapon that you have! Hurry!" The Lieutenant yelled. The army personal quickly took off the enormous gun and ran over with several boxes of weapons and ammunition.

"Just set it there with the rest." He said. The pile of weapons was toppling over on itself. "Hurry, get in and take a seat."

When the last soldier came in, the Lieutenant looked around and didn't see anybody." He quickly shut the door and locked it. Bernett was standing next to him, and Branzer was standing on the far wall.

"First, thank you all for coming. A favor was done for me, and now I have to return a favor. So now I owe all of you a favor. How about after we're done, I'll buy drinks for everybody." The Lieutenant said and everybody cheered.

"Look, I don't know how much I can tell you. I was told to assemble the best personal I could find, because we are going to go fight." The Lieutenant shrugged and said, "You guys were the only ones that answered your phones…" A round of laughter came.

"To be serious now, I only have limited information. The information I got is what you have. I don't know what we're up against or anything like that. I will not be in command. I'm not sure who or what will be." The Lieutenant caught himself and hoped nobody heard him. He checked his watch. It was about five minutes past two. He looked up at Bernett and Branzer. Branzer spoke first.

"Whoever is in charge, follow their orders to the letter. If they say to stick your head up your ass, do it as quickly as you can." Everybody started laughing again.

"I'm being serious, these guys don't mess around. They may…umm…look different from us. But do not piss them off." Branzer continued.

Just then a portal opened in front of the room. Everybody looked at it in amazement. The purple banshee came through the portal screaming its head off. It quickly entered and exited every mind in the room in about ten seconds. The banshee then flew over and stopped near Branzer. Then Tess's three large tauren's came out of the portal, their heads nearly touching the ceiling. Several gasps and frightened looks came from the crowd. Her blood elves came out next and stood behind the taurens. Finally Tess came out. She ordered the taurens to the right of the room, and the blood elves to the left. Everybody watched in amazement as the mighty beasts did what they were told. Tess stepped forward, with her bow in her hand and her goblin right behind her.

"My name is Tess. I am a female tauren. My class is a hunter; my talent tree is mostly marksmanship. I was sent here to prepare all of you for battle." Tess scanned the crowd.

"By the looks of it, you understand me. You also seem afraid, so that is a good way to start out things. With your senses attuned, you are more than likely able to retain information better." Tess looked over at her healers. It looked like they were ready to start blasting out spells at her command. Something caught her eye and she looked over and saw Branzer. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. She walked up to him and began to speak in an angry voice.

"Branzer. You don't know how happy I am to see you again. Tell me, how are your shoulders?"

Branzer started to say something when Tess slammed her hand down on his shoulder. His cuts on his right side instantly opened and blood started to flow. He let out a loud groan and fell to the ground.

"Either polish my hoofs, or stand back up." Tess said indifferent to his pain. Branzer slowly stood back up; his left hand covering his injured shoulder.

"Did they not heal you?" Tess asked.

"Lin…" Branzer began to say.

"Do not say any names!" Tess yelled in his face. "I gave them a command to heal you, did they?"

"I was healed slightly." Branzer said in pain. Tess smiled.

"And then what happened?

"The person that saved my life, and healed me, kicked my ass and threw me through the portal."

"And have you thanked her?" Tess asked.

"I haven't seen her."

"Wow…I wonder…why…" Tess said very slowly and in a cocky voice.

"Let me guess. I also have Bernett in here as well. My guess is he is standing right behind me. Bernett? What happened last time you stood behind me?" Tess asked still staring at Branzer.

"You almost killed me Tess." Bernett said quickly. Tess grabbed a hold of Branzer and tossed him over at her healers. Branzer howled in pain as he landed at their feet.

"Heal this sack of meat." Tess said as she turned around and approached Bernett. Both healers blasted him with a beam of light that instantly healed him, instantly relieving the pain. The crowd was mystified and watched in awe.

"I had a talk with my mate about you." Tess said giving her bow to her goblin and pulling out a five inch knife. Bernett became instantly afraid. He started shaking and sweating.

"He told me to cut off your reproductive organs and your hand. Then show them to you and have you tell me what the difference was. Do I need to do that?" Tess said shoving her blade towards his crotch. It actually caused a tiny cut on his balls.

"No Tess you don't." Bernett said nervously.

Tess turned to the crowd of people. "How many of you use your hands while mating?" Many of them looked at each on confusion. Tess turned back around at Bernett.

"The word we use is sex." Bernett said quickly.

"Fine. How many of you use your hands while sexing?" Tess asked again. Many of them raised their hands.

Tess put her hand over her face and said, "How does your population continue to grow in numbers…"

Tess became flustered and said, "From now on if you want to answer yes, stand up. If you want to answer no, stay seated. I do not want to see your arms in the air again."

Tess immediately spun around and walked up to Bernett's face.

"My mate wishes us three to have a picnic together. We'll pack our favorite foods in a basket and journey well beyond the range of the King, just barely out of hearth range. It will be fun, we can see the sights, go for walks…and my mate said something about wanting to talk to you personally. Would you like to do that?" Tess said in an angry voice.

"I rather wouldn't Tess." Bernett said nervously as he thought about it.

"Do you two idiots know why you are still alive?" Tess screamed. Her voice echoed throughout the room. Branzer and Bernett both looked at each other.

"Because I was given the command not to kill you! I cannot kill any of you, and that really pisses me off! Bernett, go get healed. Branzer, without saying any names, tell everybody why you were in so much pain before you were healed."

"Because you gave me a command and I didn't immediately follow it. A lady saved my life, or else I would have been killed by the demon."

"And what happened after we killed the demon?" Tess said glaring at him, reaching for her bow.

"You shot me twice. Then you ordered me to jump off the wall."

"And I have yet to hear a thank you from either of you for sparing your lives and teaching you discipline!" Tess yelled again.

Immediately both of them said, "Thank you Tess."

"I think it's time for a demonstration." Tess said and grabbed a male human from the front row. She shoved her bow into his arms and spun him around.

"Branzer, stand at the back of the room." He immediately ran to the back of the room.

"I'm hoping that you all have learned from these stories. If I give an order, you will follow it! Even if it means killing each other, or doing something that will cause your own death." Tess held out her hand and her goblin threw an arrow into it. She gave the arrow to the human.

"Shoot Branzer with my bow." Tess said glaring at the male. He was having a hard enough time just lifting the mighty weapon. He put the arrow in and tried to pull back, but the string was too tight.

"I gave you an order!" Tess yelled in his ear.

"I can't ma'am. It's too heavy." Tess observed that he was trying as hard as he could. Tess ripped the bow out of his hands and told him to sit back down. Tess easily drew the string back with the arrow ready.

"Branzer, what was that in your pocket that I heard rattling when you were running?" Tess asked. Branzer dove his hand into his pocket and pulled out some coins.

"They are coins Tess. They are used for currency."

"How many coins do you have?" Tess asked sounding annoyed. Branzer quickly looked down and counted them. He double checked and said, "Seven."

"Ok, throw them in front of you." Tess said. Branzer tossed the coins in front of her and Tess immediately let her arrow fly. Several "tink" noises could be heard and then an explosion as the arrow plowed halfway through the cement wall. Everybody watched in amazement.

"Bring me my arrow Branzer." Tess said calmly. Branzer ran over and started pulling on the arrow. It didn't budge. He used both hands and could barely move it.

"Do you need one of my tauren's to help you? I assure you, you will not like it." Tess said staring at him.

"No Tess, I'm trying." Branzer said and put both of his feet on the wall. He pulled with all of his might and the arrow slowly came out of the wall. Branzer landed hard on his butt, but quickly got up and gave Tess her arrow. She grabbed another male from the front row.

"How many coins are on this arrow?" Tess said shoving it in his face. The arrow had gone right through the middle of all of the coins and parts of concrete fell from the arrow. The arrow looked like it was in pristine condition thought.

"Eight." The man said.

"Eight? Branzer said there was seven. One of you is lying to me." Tess said glaring at the man. He quickly recounted and then said, "There are only seven coins on your arrow ma'am."

"So you lied to me." Tess said.

The man began to look around nervously. "I miscounted. I'm sorry ma'am." Tess reached out and grabbed the man by the neck.

"I hate being lied to…" Tess said as she began to squeeze his neck.

"I'm sorry ma'am, it won't happen again. I made a mistake." His face started to turn blue. The man sitting next to him unclipped his weapon and began to draw it on Tess. Tess's tank immediately charged the man and sliced both of his arms clean off. He then jumped into the air doing several summersaults and landing in the middle of the crowd with a thunderous slam. The ground shook violently knocking everybody off from their chairs. At the same time both healers turned into their shadow form as the other two taurens surrounded the crowd. Tess tossed the man to the side and drew her bow and aimed it at the crowd.

"Next one that moves dies! Next one that moves dies!" Tess began yelling over and over. The man that had his arms cuts off was howling in pain. After a minute of Tess constantly scanning the crowd with her bow, she said. "Get back on your chairs. We just had several lessons here. If any of you turn on me, you will be killed. If you shoot anybody in your group, you will be killed. If you lie to me, you will be killed. Does everybody understand this?" Everybody except for the man with no arms stood up in their chairs and said, "Yes, ma'am!"

"I think…I'm dying…" The man said. He was lying in a large pool of blood with no way to stop the blood flow.

"You probably are. Before you die, answer me this question. Why is everybody calling me ma'am? I told everybody my name was Tess. Even my two favorite officers, Branzer and Bernett call me Tess." Tess asked getting down in the dying man's face.

"It's a sign of respect…loyalty and honor…for our females in the service." The man said as his face turned pale.

"Fine. Everybody here call your women 'ma'am'. My mother and father called me Tess when I was born. I want to be honored by them by being called my name. My name is Tess. Do you all understand?"

"Tess, yes Tess!" Everybody said.

Tess sighed and shook her head. "Close enough, I'm not here to teach you how to speak."

"Tess…please…" The man said dying on the floor. Tess picked up his severed arms and threw them at the healers. She then kicked the man's body over towards them as well. The healers reattached his arms. One casted a small heal spell as his body slowly started mending itself. He held his arms in place as the other healer began channeling a powerful healing spell. His body was slammed with a bright light. Instantly he felt better.

"Stand up, take your shirt off. Show everybody your arms. Move them back and forth. Wave to everybody." Tess said sounding annoyed. The man did just that.

"Do you feel any pain?" Tess asked.

"No Tess."

"Wonderful, are you going to pull your weapon on me again?"

"No Tess. I'm sorry Tess."

"We're running out of time you idiots! I can take you through that portal in pieces and have you healed on the opposite side, or you can get your heads out of your asses and start realizing that if I wanted to, I could have you all killed in five seconds! I am your leader! You will do as I say!"

Tess's arms warrior spoke up. "I bet we could do it in three seconds."

Tess smiled at him and said, "Fine, three seconds. I obviously have to address another issue with you before we go. Many of you have noticed that I have no armor or clothing on. That seems to be an issue for some of you. Many of the warriors that you will be fighting with might be naked as well. The city we are from they don't care about clothing. I find it slows down my shooting time." Tess dropped her bow and walked over to a young man who had been staring at Tess's chest almost the entire time. Tess grabbed him by the neck and threw him at the ceiling. His body hit it with a sickening thud. Tess grabbed his chest as he fell back down and threw him back up at the ceiling repeatedly until it looked like the plaster ceiling was going to cave in.

Tess then threw him down on the ground, reached out her hand as the goblin threw an arrow into it and aimed directly at his balls.

"If I have your shoot off your balls, you won't need to think about breasts, or naked females, or sexing, or any of that will you?" Tess yelled at him.

The man started to stutter. Tess interrupted him. "If any of you have a problem with thinking about naked females let me know now! I will not be embarrassed by any of you! Your job is to do what I say! And you will do it even if I have to castrate your balls. Does anybody have a problem with this?"

Suddenly ten women stood up. One of them said, "We don't have balls Tess. But we will not be distracted by anybody that is naked."

Tess was so startled that she nearly released her arrow. "Holy shit there's women here! I thought you were all males!"

"With all due respect Tess, we are just as able to fight as our male counter parts." The same woman said.

"No, no…I didn't mean that. I'm a female and I have a command a group of five males. I agree females can do anything males can do. You ten, stand up front." Tess said. All of the women ran to the front of the room.

"Take your shirts off." Tess said. Immediately they began to unbutton their uniforms or pull their shirts over their heads. They all had sports bras on of different color. Tess picked up the man and shoved his face towards the woman.

"Is that a distraction for you?" Tess yelled. The young man looked away and said no.

"If I have my banshee read your mind, will he tell me something different?" Tess said squeezing her grip on his neck. The man started to say something but Tess yelled at him to shut up. She dropped him and turned around. She raised her bow and pointed it at the rest of the crowd.

"Is any of this a distraction for you?" Tess yelled.

"No Tess!" Everybody said.

"If I order these females to have sexing with other males, will that be a distraction for you!"

"No Tess!" Everybody answered again.

Tess turned around to the women and told them to put their clothes back on and sit back down.

"How many of you have mated before in your life?" Tess asked. All but one stood up.

"How many of you have offspring at home?" Tess asked. Nearly everybody stood up.

"I have three myself. I had fun with them today. I plan on going home to them tonight after the battle." Tess then asked a question she already knew the question to. "How many of you have formed a union?" Everybody got the confused look on their face.

"Marriage." Bernett said.

"Fine. How many of you have formed a marriage at one point in time of your life?" Tess repeated herself. Again nearly everybody stood up. Tess was shocked by something.

"You! Stand up!" Tess said pointing at a female. Five of them quickly stood up.

"No…the one that didn't stand up to the questions I just asked…" Tess said sounding annoyed. All of them sat down but one.

"So you are telling me that when I asked those questions, you claim you have never mated, don't have any offspring, and never been married?" Tess said curiously.

"Yes, Tess!"

Tess snapped her fingers and the banshee quickly flew into her head. She was very disoriented for awhile and then the banshee flew out of her head. The banshee nodded his head.

"I thought you were lying. I'm sorry. What is your name?"

"Lieutenant…"

"Your name isn't Lieutenant, his name is Lieutenant!" Tess said pointing at the man that she knew at Lieutenant.

"It's my rank Tess."

"Fine…tell me your full name…" Tess said impatiently.

"Lieutenant Colonel Julie Ann Anderson of the fifty third divisions of Infantry.

"Damn woman! So when you were born, your mother and father gave that big name to you? They both looked at you and said, 'I know, let's name you…whatever you just rambled of'." Tess asked. Some people started to chuckle.

"Did I make a joke?" Tess yelled. Everybody suddenly got quiet. Tess turned to her tank. "Did I make a joke?

"It was kind of funny Tess." Her tank said with a smile. Tess turned back to the woman she was talking to.

"No, I was named Julie…"

"Fine, Julie it is – come up here beside me." Tess said and Julie ran up beside her.

"Is there anybody else that has had sexing or become with child before marriage?" Tess asked. Nobody else stood up.

"Humans…I'm going to do my best to make sure Julie doesn't die. She has taken higher priority than the rest of you." Tess said in disgust.

"Continuing on. All of you will be in a group called the "Ranged Group". When you are told to fire, you fire. When you are told to stop, you stop. Try to avoid getting hit, because the ranged group usually doesn't receive heals. This is your basic function. Does everybody understand this?" Tess said sounding nearly exhausted with the humans.

"Yes, Tess!" They all shouted.

Tess rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. She really wanted to switch missions with Herrior right now.

"What we are going to be fighting is a large demon." Tess walked over to the portal and stuck her hand in it. She pulled out a long black snake looking creature with three heads that all had forked tongs. It had an arrowhead shaped pointed tail. It instantly started snapping and hissing at the humans. The crowd stared in awe as several gasps came from them.

"This is a small demon. They are fairly common. Many of you might have seen them without even knowing it. Julie pull out your weapon and shoot it." Julie immediately pulled out her side arm and blasted the demon at the base of his neck. The demon instantly stopped squirming and fell lifeless in Tess's hand. Tess threw it at the wall and it burned up in ashes.

"We might be fighting a group called the alliance." Tess said and reached into the portal. She pulled out a human male that looked like the rest of them. He started kicking and scratching at anything within reach.

"Notice his aggressiveness towards you." Tess calmly reached down and grabbed his chin.

"Notice how his eyes are red. He is possessed and will attempt to possess you. If he is successful you will be forced to do things like kill your own family, kill others, and so on. If any of you see anybody like this in your world, shoot them immediately. Julie, shoot this one as well." Julie did as she was ordered. The male's body fell instantly limp as Tess tossed it against the wall. After a couple of seconds his body burned up as well.

"These are going to be your two primary targets for the rest of your lives, demons and alliance. Do us a favor and eliminate as many as you can. Julie stand behind me." Tess said calmly. Julie immediately put her gun away and stood directly behind Tess.

Suddenly Tess smiled and became very excited. "Does everybody want to play a game? I play this game with my children at home. I hide something and then they have to find it. We call it, 'Where's the toy' game." Tess suddenly became very enthusiastic.

"This is a fun game. Instead of a toy, we're going to play 'Where's the banshee'?" Tess snapped her fingers and the banshee disappeared.

"Look for the banshee…look all around for the banshee…where could he be?" The crowd looked at each other kind of funny and then started looking around the room for the banshee that disappeared.

After a couple of seconds, the banshee appeared on top of Tess's tank's head. He merely rolled his eyes.

"There he is! Look! Does everybody see the banshee? He is on top of my tank's head! This is a fun game huh? Ok, let's play it again." Tess snapped her fingers and the banshee disappeared.

"Where's the banshee? Where did he go? Look all over. The banshee could be anywhere." Tess was saying talking as if she were talking to her children. Again the crowd started looking for the banshee.

Suddenly a man in the back was thrown up against the wall. He immediately started screaming and clawing at his face. He started bleeding out of his nose and ears.

"Look! There he is! He's in that human's head! Does everybody see him? Was everybody able to find him?" Tess said, as the man began pleading for his life. Tess snapped her fingers and the banshee let go on the man.

"Ok, one more round. Where's the banshee? Where did he go?" Tess said in the same excited voice. Everybody became worried and started looking at each other wondering who it was going to attack next.  
After about ten seconds of anxiety, suddenly a younger male was thrown up into the air and slammed on the ceiling. Blue electrical sparks flew out of his feet, arms and face. His eyes looked like they were going to come out of their sockets.

"There's the banshee! Do you see him! He's right there!" Tess said seeming to get enjoyment out of this as she pointed to the man on the ceiling. Tess snapped her finger and the man instantly dropped to the ground.

"Ok, I think everybody understands that banshee's can turn invisible and kill you instantly if they wanted to. Does anybody disagree with me?" Tess said looking around the room. Nobody stood up.

"There has been a flag implanted in all of your brains. Hundreds of banshees will be monitoring you for the rest of your lives. If you talk about what you have seen, or what you are going to see to anybody, the flag will send off a signal. The banshees will continuously monitor you. If they detect that the signal has been tripped, then kill you and your entire family. This applies to everybody in this room. Do not talk about any of this to your family, friends, mate, children and so on. After you have completed your job, make up a story about where you have been. You may all talk among yourselves about forming the same story, but I warn you not to talk about the things that I told you not to." Tess said looking around to make sure everybody understood.

"Fine. My throat hurts. Remember you are all the ranged group. Do what I or your leader says. They will announce that they are the leader ahead of time. In all seriousness this might be fun for most of you. You get to shoot unlimited amounts of ammunition and weapons." Tess shrugged. "Some people have fun doing that. But our time is up. All of your items you set outside the door are waiting for you on the other side of the portal. I would suggest not looking at anybody, only your weapon and your target. Any final questions?" Tess asked looking around.

"Ok, I and my group will be the first ones through the portal. The rest of you are to follow, quickly. Anybody left behind will be killed by my banshee." Tess said and stepped into the portal.

Tess appeared in front of Herrior's group outside the wall.

"Bunch of dumbasses…" Tess mumbled as she walked over to the door.

"I'm sure you did great Tess! Did you kill anybody?" Herrior yelled jokingly.

"Close…"

The rest of Tess's party came through the portal, and then it appeared as though all of the humans tried to run through the portal at the same time. Tess counted fifty of them. The banshee came out and the portal was closed.

Tess walked over and opened the gate. "Ranged! Your weapons are inside of this wall, grab them and get up on the wall. Aim at that ship!" Tess commanded. Immediately all of the humans in her group raced to do what she asked.

"Are we getting any more help?" Tess asked Herrior.

"So far this is it. Do you want lead or do you want me to?" Herrior asked.

"They are scared shitless of me, so I know they'll follow my commands. Why don't I take it and you main tank for us if you don't mind?" Tess said.

"It would be my pleasure. Glad to be fighting alongside of you again Tess." Herrior said and smiled.

Tess smiled back. "How's your bard holding up?"

Herrior looked at him. He looked nearly exhausted.

"Eh, five more minutes Strings?" Herrior asked. He looked at him is desperation.

"Probably not. Let's get lined up." Tess said. "Mohania, I want your imps out here!" Mohania instantly gave the command and soon little imps began pouring out of the cave. Tess walked up the stairs with her goblin following her. As she walked by portal to Tranquil, dozens of goblins ran out. They all quickly ran up and stood behind a human. The humans knew something was standing behind them but didn't dare look.

"Ranged and melee, don't attack until the bear and Herrior get aggro, if you don't know what aggro is I will tell you when to fire. Herrior will be main tanking this. Strings, you may stop playing. Tanks, melee, and healers – advance towards the vessel!" Strings stopped playing and began gasping for air. He took up a position next to Skyka and walked with her.

"The goblins behind you are your reloaders. They will automatically reload your weapon. If there is no more ammo left for that weapon, they will give you another weapon to shoot. Julie, where are you?" Tess asked looking around.

"Right here Tess." Julie said. She was about half way down the row of humans on the right.

"Stand over here by me." Tess said. Julie put the safety on her weapon and ran over to Tess's left side. She then leaned over the wall and took aim at the vessel again.

"Lindel, mind-link me, Julie, Dan, Crystal, and Herrior." Tess said. Lindel put her hand in the air and began concentrating. After a couple of seconds she established the link.

"Julie, can you hear me?" Tess asked in her mind.

"Yes, Tess." Julie said out loud. The people next to her looked at her quickly and then turned their concentration back on the vessel.

Tess let out a sigh in her mind. "Julie, I'm talking to you in your mind. Anything you want to say, think it in your mind. Do you understand?"

Julie paused for a couple of seconds. Tess looked down at Lindel wondering if she had made the link. Lindel nodded.

"Like this?" Julie asked in her mind.

"Exactly. I thought for a minute we had a problem with the link. Since we have some time, I wanted to introduce everybody to Julie. She is the only one out of all of the human slime that I had to train that hasn't mated with anybody. She impressed me. Keep impressing me Julie and you will be further rewarded."

"Hi Julie. I haven't mated with anybody either. I've wanted to with Crystal many times, but neither of us has mated before in our lives. We're waiting to form a union." Dan said in his mind.

"Uh…" Crystal said in her mind. Suddenly Crystal felt very embarrassed. The link went silent for several seconds.

"Crystal…what does 'uh' mean?" Herrior asked. "Have you and Dan mated?"

"No!" Dan said.

"Crystal…" Herrior said.

"Dan and I have not mated. Before I knew any of you, I mated three times in my life." Crystal said slowly. The link went silent again.

"Crystal! Why didn't you tell me this?" Dan said in his mind.

"I was going to…"

"Just like the problem with your period?" Dan replied back.

"Herrior, they're in your group…" Tess said in her mind sounding annoyed.

"Shut up you two!" Herrior screamed in his mind. It made all of them cringe and their ears were ringing afterwards.

"Bicker about this afterwards that is not what the mental link is for!" Herrior said angrily. "Julie I apologize; Dan and Crystal will apologize as well." Dan and Crystal both apologized.

Herrior took in a deep breath and let it out. "Julie, if you have somehow impressed Tess then I am honored to fight with you. Tess can be real strict sometimes huh?" Herrior said laughing in the link.

"Herrior, right now I have you sighted in and could shoot an arrow so far up your ass, you would be spitting out wood for days…" Tess said sarcastically back.

"Love you too Tess." Herrior replied back in his mind.

All of them could hear Julie holding back laughter in her mind. "Julie, you are safe to laugh. I'm not going to hurt you. As long as you do it in your mind and talk in your mind your safe."

"You probably just choose her because she had the finest looking ass in the group…" Lindel said piping up out of nowhere. Julie began to laugh in her mind.

"Herrior. I no longer have you targeted…" Tess said sarcastically. Lindel made a "Pbbbttt…" noise in her mind and started shaking her butt at Tess.

"You guys are funny. Why were you so mean to us earlier Tess?" Julie asked.

"I knew nothing about you. I run a very strict group. Lately I've learned from two friends of mine to allow more free time and I think it's done some good. With my old group anyways. I don't want these humans firing at stuff just because they are scared. There is a demon lying dormant in that vessel Julie. Mohania can sense demons, he says it's big. Mohania is one of Herrior's group members. The way we fight is strictly controlled. I wanted to prepare everybody for my orders. Remember Branzer and Bernett? They fought with us before and I nearly killed both of them because they did not follow orders. I do not want a repeat. I give orders to save lives. Herrior gives orders to save lives. If the orders aren't followed, you could very well die."

"And the banshees?" Julie asked in her mind.

"Banshees?" Herrior asked.

"Cut Julie from the link." Tess said in her mind. Lindel held her hand up and reconfigured the link. She then reestablished it with just Dan, Crystal, herself, Tess and Herrior.

"I told all of them that there is a flag in their brains and that there are thousands of banshees following them for the rest of their lives. If they talk about what they have seen here, or what happened in the compound, the flag will be tripped, and then the banshees will kill them and their families." Tess said in her mind. Dan and Crystal looked at each other briefly in fear. Herrior and Lindel began laughing hysterically in their minds, trying very hard not to move a muscle.

"And they believed that?" Lindel said slowly.

"Hell I had them so scared they would have eaten dirt and shit out bricks if I told them too." Tess said and began laughing as well.

"Remember the Lieutenant? Skyka and I had him so scared that we told him to piss his pants and he did…" Lindel said continuing to laugh. Tess began to laugh harder.

"Ah, these humans have no back bone…" Tess said. "Bernett is scared to death of my mate. I told my mate what Bernett did to me and he started to laugh. But I gave the exact opposite impression to Bernett. I thought he was going to shit himself."

"Tess, you can hold a straight face better than I could…" Herrior said still chuckling in his mind.

"Lindel how is your friendship with Branzer coming?" Tess asked.

Lindel sighed. "I don't know hun. I was going to watch him this fight and see. I refuse to be friends with somebody who can't follow simple orders. I do like him. I gave him a rose and told him I had fun in the park with him, indirectly. It's just…given the chance I think he would mate with me despite the consequences. I don't feel entirely comfortable around him yet. Neither does my group. Isn't that right Herrior?" Herrior let out a growl in his mind.

The undead all suddenly let out a hissing sound. Lindel broke the link.

"Let the tanks get aggro first. Nobody attacks until I say…just stay calm." Tess said in a soothing voice. "Herrior, Bear! Get within charging range. Melee, follow them up. Healers, don't get too close. Skyka, can you buff everybody? I don't want the shouts until he is fully awakened. Trackolania and I will look for any vulnerability and relay that information." Tess said. Skyka gave everybody her stamina and shadow buffs.

Slowly the head of a demon appeared. He let out a yawn. He spoke some words and instantly all of the confused humans aboard the vessel died. He began to look around and became confused. He had red eyes and long pointed ears. The demon slowly walked to the front of the ship, and began looking at its surroundings. Its body materialized as it appeared in front of the ship. It had hoofed feet and stood only about half as tall as the previous demon they had attacked before. Many of Tess's humans grew nervous, but remained concentrated on the demon.

The demon reached down and picked up some of the dirt and seemed to sniff it. He then looked up into the sky, as if trying to understand what had happened. The demon then looked at the warrior's looking at him. He spoke several words in a demonic language and then just stood there waiting for an answer.

"He asked if we were the alliance awaiting his arrival." Mohania quickly yelled out.

"What?" Tess said out loud in surprise. Her mind quickly raced for several seconds.

"Ask him if the cargo is safe." Tess said quickly. Mohania quickly relayed the information. The demon quickly spoke back. He talked for about a minute, pointing at the ship and waving his hands as if telling a story. Then the demon was quiet.

"Apparently there is a large shipment of weapons on the ship, along with gold, gems and enchantment supplies. He apologized for killing everybody on board, but he said he was hungry. He also talked about his journey, and what he dreamed about, it's insignificant." Mohania relayed to Tess.

"So, the alliance is consorting with demons. This shipment was to bolster their forces. We may have a problem of both of them join forces…damn." Tess said. She quickly began to think. The demon waited for an answer and began walking around.

"Ask him if his other demon friends know about this mission." Tess said trying to think of another way to put it. Mohania immediately asked the question in the demonic tongue.

The demon became very angry and started letting out shouts. Herrior and Quinely were ready to charge on the moment's notice. The demon calmed down after awhile and then remained quite.

"He said that nobody else knows he is here and he wishes to receive his reward of the souls of hundreds of people. He protected the vessel the entire voyage. My best guess is that he worked alone and has no connection with the other demons. He is becoming annoyed Tess." Mohania said.

"Tell him that the vessel was damaged. Tell him that they were attacked and that he didn't fulfill his end of the bargain. Request him to fix the damage." Tess said. Mohania relayed the message pointing at the damaged ship.

The demon said a couple of words and started channeling his power at the hole of the ship.

"He apologized and is working on fixing the hole. It's draining his power." Mohania said.

"Mohania, monitor his power levels. Let me know when they are at their lowest. Tanks, prepare to charge." Tess said.

Everybody watched as the demon channeled a black beam at the hole Jacklyn made. It slowly began to mend itself. Eventually it was evident that it was weakening the demon.

"Mohania?" Tess asked.

"Not yet. I'd guess his power is about fifty percent drained. He is completely clueless about us. This maybe a very easy battle." Mohania said.

"Don't get cocky on me Mohania. Tell him to examine the entire ship for additional damage." Tess said. Mohania spoke in his demonic tongue and relayed the message. This made the demon angry and he slammed his hoof into the ground. He start talking quickly in the demonic tongue, but seemed to do as Mohania asked.

"He says he wants the souls and we are pushing his limits. He's going to pick up the ship and look it over. My advice is when he lifts the ship over his head to redirect one of your arrows at Herrior. This will surprised him and the ship will slam down on him. It'll take even more of his power away as he struggles to get out from under the ship." Mohania said.

"Who's in charge Mohania…" Tess said.

"You are Tess." Mohania replied back quickly.

"Just as long as you know that. We're going to do Mohania's plan. Herrior advance on the right of the vessel, bear on the left. I'm going to misdirect as soon as I get a chance. Herrior you will need to obtain aggro quickly." Tess produced a quick spiral effect above Herrior's head and pulled back on her bow, carefully taking aim.

The demon did just as he was asked. He summoned a lot of his power and lifted the entire ship into the air. He looked underneath it and started fixing some of the teeth marks and bents caused by the sea creatures.

"Demon's are just as gullible as the alliance…" Tess said. Everybody watched as the demon's color began to fade. It mumbled something.

"He just said his power is very low and he'll need to slumber again. Any time now would be good." Mohania shouted. Suddenly she released her arrow. A big whoosh of air came as it quickly sailed through the air. Tess immediately reloaded.

The arrow flew through the air, leaving a red line behind it. It flew right into the demon's neck as a bunch of black ooze immediately poured out from it. The demon let out a quick "yelping" sound as he reached up to grab the arrow. His concentration broke and just as Mohania predicted, the ship landed on him.

Tess yelled, "Engage him Herrior!"

Herrior charged forward at the demon's head just barely sticking out of the ship. Herrior began to slam his shield into his face and taking big swings at him with his sword. The demon looked at him and growled.

"Bear! Can you see anything on your side?" Tess yelled.

"No!" Quinely yelled back.

"My tank, engage the demon. Do not surpass Herrior's threat!" Tess yelled. Her tank charged the demon and started to swing at the demon as well. "Herrior, put vigilance on my tank." Herrior quickly looked at him as several magic shields surrounded him and continued hacking away at the demon's head.

The demon tried to push itself off from the ground, but fell on the first attempt. The ship slammed back down on the demon. On the second attempt the demon managed to push the ship off from his back and it slid down the back of him, nearly crushing Quinely as she quickly ran out of the way. She ran as fast as she could around the vessel. As soon as she was within rank, Tess yelled for her to charge. She slammed into the demon but the demon seemed oblivious to the hit. It focused entirely on Herrior.

"My holy priest, go heal Herrior! Lindel you are next when my priest power fades. Skyka you are group healing. My discipline priest, stay on Quinely and my tank. Talk to me Herrior!"

"He's not stunnable. Obviously he is not disarmable. I don't think he is tauntable. He isn't hitting very hard, but with every hit it's like he is draining my power and giving it to himself." Herrior yelled out continuing to fight as he talked.

"Try not to get hit. How's your threat level?" Tess asked.

"Very high." Herrior responded. Suddenly the demon turned to everybody and held out his hand and sent shadow bolts to everybody in the party. The spell wasn't that powerful, but it did scare a lot of the new humans.

"That was just to scare us! Get in position!" Tess yelled.

The demon then spun around as his tail swiped at all of the tanks, sending them flying. Herrior bounced off the tree line and charged back at the demon. The other tanks quickly reengaged the demon as well.

"Trackolania, do tricks of the trade on Herrior and engage. Misdirecting to Herrior. Melee and ranged, get ready to engage!"

Trackolania held his hand up towards Herrior and a green symbol appeared over his head. He then became invisible as he slowly approached the demon; his daggers dripping with holy water. Tess's arrow hit the demon in the head as Trackolania launched himself forward, driving his daggers into the leg of the demon. He then began swinging his daggers at the demon as fast as he could.

"Melee, engage! Ranged, shoot where my arrow hit on the demon!" Tess said firing another arrow inches from where the previous one hit.

Suddenly the air roared to life with gun shots.

"I never liked guns…too loud…" Tess said to herself launching another arrow.

The demon quickly roared as it felt everybody attacking it at the same time. He sent out another round of shadow bolts. This time it hit a lot harder. Skyka began running around sending up circles of bright light. Everybody continued to attack though.

The demon started screaming something in his language. He then started reaching down to pick up Herrior. Herrior dove out of the way.

"Tell Herrior to keep moving around! If the demon captures him, he'll drain all of his energy!" Mohania yelled above the sounds of the battle field. His undead were launching as many shadow bolts as quickly as they could.

"Herrior!" Tess yelled over and over. She got annoyed and yelled for the range to stop shooting. Immediately all of the humans stopped firing.

"Herrior, move that tauren ass! Dance with him, don't let him grab you! Tanks I wanna see some huge blows on that demon! Fight for aggro! Don't let him touch you!" Tess yelled. Herrior nodded in acknowledgement as his healer just casted a healing spell on him. Herrior ran back to the tree line and threw his weapon at the demon. The demon staggered forward reaching for Herrior. Herrior then ran away from the wall as his weapon flew back into Herrior's hand. The demon continued to stagger after him, his hand constantly reaching for him.

"Ranged! Shoot at the demons head!" Tess said releasing a green glowing arrow that sank into the back of the demon's head. The air erupted with gunfire again.

The battle continued for several minutes, the tanks kept the attention of the demon but quickly danced out of his way. Eventually the demon dropped to his knees and began channeling a spell similar to Mohania's spell he uses for draining the life out of a target. It was a green spell that hit everybody all around him.

"Start your interrupts! Herrior you go first! I want to hear some talking down there!" Tess screamed. Herrior jumped up and slammed his shield into the demon's mouth. The spell was interrupted for a couple of seconds.

"Tess's tank, you go next!" Herrior yelled. He did the same thing Herrior did.

"Quinely you are next! Trackolania go after him." Herrior yelled.

But no further interrupts were needed. The demon stood to his feet, looked at Mohania and spoke something quickly in a very angry tone. Mohania than screamed right back at him as he finished launching one of his chaos bolts at him. Mohania then quickly said something else in the demonic language before the demon collapsed and died.

"Everybody, disengage!" Tess yelled. Melee backed away and the shooting stopped. The tanks continued to stand ready to attack expecting something to happen. The battle field grew quiet.

"Mohania what did he say?"

"He said that his kind would never work for you alliance again. He then let out several insults and cursed at us, thinking that we were the alliance. He said he would be avenged." Mohania said.

"And what did you tell him?" Tess asked still aiming her bow at the demon.

"I told him where the alliance base was and then insulted him. I felt him sending out a distress signal to several other demons in the area. I was able to quickly see into his head before he died. They are in fact charging at the alliance base right this very moment to avenge his death." Mohania said with a smile. The air was quiet for several seconds, and then Tess began laughing hysterically. Tess and Herrior's group both started laughing as well. The humans smiled but continued to aim their weapons at the demon lying on the ground.

Tess wiped the tears away from her eyes and sat her bow down.

"Mohania, if you ever want to change groups…" Tess said in between laughing.

"Hey, he's mine!" Herrior said quickly smiling at her. Mohania let out an evil laugh that echoed throughout the land. It sent chills down the backs of the humans.

"Everybody get up against the wall." Tess said composing herself. Tess waited until everybody was out of the way.

"Ranged, continue firing until he burns up!" The gunfire erupted again. The goblins continued to reload their weapons as their guns ran out of ammunition.

After a minute the demon's body roared up in a giant fireball but quickly burned itself out. It's ashes were spread apart and eventually no sign of the demon remained. The humans stopped firing.

"Lindel! Mind link me and Herrior." Lindel focused her power and quickly established the link.

"Keep your party outside the walls. Tell them not to laugh. I'm going to threaten the humans." Tess said in her mind. Tess looked at Lindel and drew her hand across her throat. She dropped the link.

Herrior shook his head with a smile. He started looking at his group and pointed them over to the entrance. The ones that weren't looking at Herrior, he snapped his fingers several times to get their attention and pointed them over to the entrance as well. Once Herrior's group was assembled he held his finger up at them, signaling them to be quiet.

Meanwhile Tess commanded her group to come in the wall. Tess then realized that she needed a Chronomancer.

"Banshee! May I have your assistance please?" Tess yelled. Herrior's group started looking at each other.

"That's probably you hun." Skyka said to Lindel. "Go up there and sound scary…" Skyka said and started laughing. Lindel changed into her banshee form and began floating up the wall.

"You humans drop your weapons and form a single file line on the ground!" Tess commanded. Tess held up her hands and produced a red triangle pointing at the ground. The humans began to set their weapons down and ran down the stairs to line up.

"Form a line there, hurry up!" Tess yelled.

Once the line was formed up, Tess yelled. "I'm going to talk with the goblins who were watching you! If any of you missed, or didn't do what I said they will now tell me. Goblins! Come to me!" The goblins looked at each other funny but did as Tess said.

"Tess, we were just reloaders. We weren't watching them." Tess's goblin said.

"I know I just wanted to scare the humans." Tess said softly and sat down. Lindel appeared over the wall and floated around in the air letting out wailing noises.

"So what's new with you guys?" Tess asked. Immediately one of the goblins spoke up and said that he and his mate just had twins.

"Congratulations! I'm very happy for you! I hope they bring joy in your life." Tess said happily. Another goblin said that he received the King's blessing to form a union with his girlfriend.

"Another congratulations! I'm very happy for you also. Don't be too harsh to her, ok?" Tess said winking at him. Eventually all of the goblins spoke up and told stories of their lives to Tess. Tess had to remind them to keep quiet several times.

Meanwhile the humans remained in line as Tess's group stared at them. The anxiety levels were rising among them as they all tried to recall every bullet that they shot, hoping it hit its target.

After about ten minutes Tess told the goblins to back away from her and to stay on top of the wall. Tess made herself became angry and began charging down the stairs. She then jumped off the stairs and landed on the ground with a powerful crash. It shook the ground causing all of the humans to look at her.

"Freakin' a, that hurt!" Tess yelled in her mind.

"You ok hun?" Lindel said in her mind. "Do you want me to come down and heal you?"

"No I can manage."

"Who told you all to look at me?" Tess yelled. All of the humans suddenly turned to face in front of them. Tess walked very slowly in front of them, swearing and cursing in her mind the entire way.

"Banshee, can you open a portal for us? This will take you back to the same compound." Lindel floated down and quickly created a portal.

"First of all, when you all get back - talk among yourselves to form the same alibi. Because what will happen if you talk about what just happened?"

"The banshees will kill us Tess!" All of the humans said.

"Second thing, slowly walk through the portal. According to the goblins, some of you messed up and did not follow orders! If I push you towards my group, you will suffer for your incompetence! Continue walking and do not look! Pray that you are not the ones I push out of line! Move!" Tess yelled. Her leg was screaming at her in pain.

The humans began slowly walking towards the portal. The majority made it through before Tess pushed Julie out of line. Tess's taurens caught her and forced her to sit. The remaining humans quickly looked at her.

"Did you think I was kidding? Keep moving!" Tess yelled.

Branzer and Bernett were pushed out of line as well and forced to sit next to Julie.

The last human nervously stepped into the portal and it closed. Tess fell to the ground.

"Aw bloody hell! Somebody come heal my dumbass!" Tess said. Her healers quickly casted a spell as a blast of light slammed into her body. Herrior opened the door and his group walked in. Herrior had a big smile on his face looking at Tess.

"Don't you dare say a word!" Tess said staring at him. Herrior held up his hands in front of him and walked to the side. Lindel turned back into her normal form and walked over to Herrior's group.

"You rogues can jump from the clouds and not get hurt…but not us taurens. No we are heavy and fall fast." Tess said getting up to her feet. Tess got out her hearthstone and stuck her head in the portal it created. She talked for awhile and then pulled her head back out.

Almost instantly several goblins ran out with huge sacks along with two Chronomancers, a female troll and a male tauren. The goblins that fought beside them asked if they could go join them. Tess nodded and waved them away.

Dozens more goblins came running out of the portal. Eventually two taurens walked out of the portals with huge kegs over their shoulders along with several cups in their hands.

"Tess, I love you!" Strings said as he watched them come over. They set down the kegs and cups and walked back through the portal.

"Yeah, yeah…We won a victory today and I wanted to celebrate with everybody. Branzer and Bernett you have proven yourselves in combat today. You too Julie. I didn't want you to miss the party."

"So…we aren't going to suffer?" Branzer said nervously. Lindel walked over to him and jumped on his lap. Instinctively Branzer reached out and grabbed her read end to steady her.

"Don't touch me there." Lindel said in his mind. He immediately moved his hands. She started running her hands through his hair.

"If that is what you are into…" Lindel said in a sensuous voice to Branzer.

"Get a room you two." Tess said as she started passing around the wooden glasses full of ale. Lindel giggled and got off from Branzer.

It was Dan's turn to take a cup. "I'm not old enough to drink." He said.

"Son, if you are old enough to fight, you are old enough to drink. Now take it." Strings said shoving it at him. Once everybody had a cup. Tess held hers into the air.

"To victory! To new friends! To old friends!" Tess yelled as she started chugging back on her cup. Everybody, except for Julie, Branzer and Bernett who were confused as to what was going on, raised their cup and cheered, then took a long swig.

Dan started choking on it almost immediately. "What is this stuff?"

Crystal rolled her eyes, "Come on it can't be that bad…" She downed two swallows before she had to stop. She started coughing immediately. Branzer and Bernett managed two swallows before they both stopped. Julie only took a small sip and managed to keep that down without embarrassing herself. Strings downed his entire cup and cheered.

"Now that's some ale!" He said slamming his cup on the ground.

"Want another?" Tess said with a smile.

"Absolutely!" Strings said and threw his cup at her.

After about ten minutes everybody began to become tipsy. Crystal stood up and said that she would like to make an apology as she began to stagger a little.

"I should've…told Dan that I wasn't a virgin before…" She said slurring her words.

"Sit down Crystal, before you hurt yourself." Dan said pulling on her arm. "I over-reacted. I love you no matter what, even with everything you have done in your past." Dan pulled her over to him and planted a big kiss on her lips. Everybody cheered.

A couple of minutes later, a fresh group came out of the portal. It consisted of one tauren, three trolls, and three blood elves.

"You all have been relieved of guarding the wall. You may do as you wish. Anything to report?" The tauren asked.

Strings stood up. "I would like to report that I am almost shit-faced." Tess's and Herrior's groups both laughed. The tauren just sighed.

"Come on over and have a drink with us." Tess said.

"Cant Tess, we're on guard duty." The tauren said back.

"Ok, ok…how about this…" Tess stood up. "If you come over and have a drink with us, I'll take off all of my clothes…" Tess burst out laughing and fell back down.

"Tess, you never wear clothes…" the tauren said sounding slightly annoyed. This seemed to create more laughter among the groups.

Herrior stood up and said, "Ok guys, settle down. There is some Chronomancers and dozens of goblin collectors in the large vessel out there. We killed a demon that was in it. Once all of the valuables have been stripped of it, the King will probably order it to be sent back to Earth and sunk in the middle of the sea. The undead are recharging. Mohania apparently told the dying demon that we were the alliance and the demon sent out a signal to go attack their base…or something like that…I think I've had enough." Herrior said setting his glass on the ground and letting out a hiccup.

"Other than watching the goblins, there shouldn't be any more problems." Herrior continued. The tauren nodded.

"Be safe my brother." Herrior said. He turned to everybody and said, "Come on everybody, let's go into Tranquil. I'm sure we have annoyed them enough. Let's let them do their job."

"I should probably leave. I really don't feel comfortable here and my parents are probably worried about me." Julie said. Everybody quickly looked at her. Tess spoke up.

"Julie. I'm going to make you an offer. I want you to be in my group. You would be leaving your old life like Dan and Crystal did and fight under my command. I don't want an answer now. Here take this." Tess said and handed her a hearthstone.

"You can only activate it once a day. How you use it is you think about my face or my name and rub it. A small portal will open and we'll be able to talk. If I don't answer, try again the next day. Keep this on you at all times. What I am asking you to do is a great honor. Dan and Crystal? Would you go back to your old lives if you had a chance to?" Tess asked still looking at Julie.

"No way!" both of them answered.

"There is a war being waged, and I would be honored if you would fight by my side. If you choose not to, that's fine. You can keep the stone and if you are ever in danger you can use it to summon us, to your location. If you want, I can have all memories of these encounters erased so you won't remember anything. Please contact me later with your decision." Tess said.

"How old are you Julie?" Crystal asked.

"Twenty six. I'm on shore leave for another week. Then I'm going to be stationed in Alaska to help guard the pipeline." Julie said.

"I think you would have more fun with us hun." Crystal said smiling at her. Julie smiled at her.

Lindel opened the portal for Julie.

"It was fun fighting along with you." Lindel said winking at her. Julie smiled at her and stepped through the portal.

Herrior spoke up. "You two should probably leave as well. You both have fought well today." said to Bernett and Branzer. They both seemed hesitant. Lindel kept the portal opened.

"Go home and get some rest. We're all proud of both of you." Herrior continued.

"If any of you get any grief from the Lieutenant, tell them one of us contacted you. I'm sure he'll cooperate." Tess said with a hiccup and then smiled.

Both of them thanked everybody and walked through the portal. They arrived back at the compound. It was completely empty except for Julie, who seemed to be waiting for them.

"What do you two think I should do?" she asked.

"Julie, we've been fighting with them for awhile now and we have never gotten the invitation that you got from Tess. Put some serious thought into it. Apparently she was really impressed by you, and it takes a lot to impress her..." Branzer said recalling the holes in his shoulders.

"I don't know how much more we can say…if you use your hearthstone, do it without anybody else around. Talk to her, ask her questions. I'm sure she'd be happy to answer them. Now I have to get home to my pregnant wife." Bernett said with a smile. Everybody got into their vehicles and left.

Tess and Herrior's group both went into Tranquil to relax. Everybody started dropping their armor and weapons, the goblins ran over and grabbed them, running off to get them polished. They all went over to the huge fountain in the front of Tranquil and stepped in, feeling the soothing water rush over their bodies.

"I love this fountain…" Tess said slowly. Everybody agreed.

An hour passed and Tess's group seemed to get antsy. Strings and Quinely were snoring away.

"Tess, do you want us to go queue up for the arena?" Tess's tank finally said.

"Go do whatever you want. We don't have guard duty for quite awhile. Nothing should come up, that is if Herrior's group doesn't get into any more trouble..." Tess said with her eyes closed half asleep.

A female blood elf walked by them and looked at Tess's holy priest. She was wearing a full length white glittering robe. She smiled and waved at him. He watched her walk by.

"Uh…permission to…" the holy priest began to say.

"Shut up and go. You may want to start off by asking her name…" Tess said with a smile. He jumped out of the fountain and caught up with her.

"So, the Tess we know is gone huh?" Herrior said sleepily with his eyes closed.

"Ha! You should have seen what I did to a human staring at my breasts." Tess said.

"Well, you have nice breasts." Herrior said with a smile. Suddenly he was hit in the stomach by Skyka. Herrior started laughing.

"I almost castrated him with my arrow." Tess said calmly. "I didn't though because that's what human males use to think with." Crystal reached over and smacked Dan.

"What? How did I get involved in this conversation?" Dan asked. Crystal started to laugh.

"I almost made a human chop off his…" Lindel began to say.

"We know hun…we know…" Skyka said interrupting her with a smile.

Tess's tank rose up from the fountain and said, "Well if you will excuse me, I'm going to go see my family."

"Yup, I'm going to as well. If I need you guys I'll contact you." Tess said rising out of the water and walked away.

Herrior turned to Dan and Crystal. "So what are you two going to do?" They looked at each other.

"Probably visit the class trainer I guess." Crystal said.

"That would be a good idea!" Tess yelled continuing to walk away.

"Do you want one of us to go with you?" Herrior asked.

"I think it's time we start finding our way around the city on our own. I mean this is home from now on, we should probably learn how to get around." Dan said with a smile.

Herrior raised his left eyebrow. "Well if you get lost, ask anybody around. You can always contact any of us through your stone."

"Not me." Jacklyn said. "I'm going to go queue up for the arena for the next couple of hours." She grabbed her armor and weapons that had been returned by the goblins and walked away. Dan and Crystal both got out of the fountain. Crystal looked down at her clothes; they were starting to get worn out and ripped up.

"We should probably find some new clothes as well…" Crystal said.

"OOOooo…Let me know when you go!" Skyka said excitedly. "The cloth is probably different from what you are used to, but I think you'll like it."

"I'm coming too!" Lindel announced.

Both Dan and Crystal smiled and agreed to accept both of their help. They then turned to each other to figure out where the class trainer was. They both decided it was probably to the left of the fountain, so they started walking in that direction.

Once they were out of listening distance Skyka spoke up. "How far are you going to let them go Herrior?"

"Eh - I considered telling them, but like Dan said 'This is their home now'." Herrior replied back. "It would do them some good to get lost a couple of times to see where everything is. They can't hurt anything, and any citizen would gladly house them for the night."

Herrior felt the glare from his mate staring at him. He opened one eye and looked at her chuckling.

"You guys! It's that way!" Herrior yelled pointing in front of him. Dan and Crystal changed their direction and started walking in the direction Herrior pointed at. Soon they disappeared into the vast city.

"Thank you." Skyka said.

"We can't hold their hand forever my love." Herrior said. "They need to learn where everything is."

"I know, just seemed kind of cruel to me." Skyka replied back. "So are we sleeping here tonight or do you want to find a house?"

They both looked over at Strings and Quinely, both snoring away with their heads tilted back. Trackolania curled up next to them on the ground and was sleeping as well.

"Let's just stay here tonight." Herrior said slowly. Skyka leaned over on Herrior's chest. Soon they were both sleeping.

Dan and Crystal asked several times where the class master was. It had gotten dark in Tranquil, but several dim lights beamed upwards on the road edges of the road. Eventually they found it. They walked in and found a large tauren leaning on an enormous axe.

"You two finally made it huh? I would have given ya another hour than I was going to sleep." He said cheerfully. "Come in and stand around this table."

There was a large rectangle shaped wooden table in the middle of the room. The tauren quickly grabbed a huge thick of piece of paper and unrolled it on the table. It told the different classes, different abilities, had arrows pointing in every which way, and ways of progressing. Dan and Crystal looked completely lost.

"Little over-whelming eh?" The tauren said with a chuckle. "You don't have to pick one tonight, but at least you can get an idea of what you want. Do either one of you have magical abilities?"

"I can stop time." Dan said. The tauren started to laugh.

"That certainly is an ability I'll give you that. Magical though? I'm not sure. We've studied your kind for thousands of years and still have no clue how you do it. Can either one of you heal yourself, or cast spells or things like that?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Well if you want that ability we can have the monks convert you to any class you want."

"I never want to see those monks again!" Crystal yelled.

"Ah. Well ok. So let's ignore the magical classes." The tauren began crossing off the mage, priest, shaman and warlock classes.

"Can any of you turn into different animals?" He asked. Both of them shook their head as they watched the tauren cross off the druid class.

"Can you stealth yourself? Become invisible?" He asked. Again both of them shook their heads, so he crossed of rogue.

"Well that leaves either a warrior or a hunter. What type of weapons do you fight with?" Dan and Crystal both showed him their weapons.

"Ah, you both duel-wield eh? That's interesting. No guns or bows or anything?" Again both Dan and Crystal shook their heads.

"Ok, well that leaves the warrior. This will be interesting because I don't believe any of you know the shouts of the warrior do you? Demoralizing, Battle, Commanding, Intimidating?" Again both of them shook their heads.

"Alright, and neither of you have a shield. So let's cross out protection. I think a combination of fury and arms would work then." the tauren said studying the charts. Dan and Crystal were looking over his shoulder trying to follow what he was saying.

"First, I would recommend getting three points in 'Armed to the Teeth'. The higher your armor rating, the more attack power you have. And then five points in 'cruelty', getting a critical strike would be very helpful for your group." The tauren looked back at them and saw that they were clueless.

"Each time the King blesses you, you get a certain amount of points to spend here at the class master. The King told me to grant you thirty points apiece. This is going to be difficult because you don't want to visit the monks…" the tauren said. Crystal quickly shook her head.

"So what I'm trying to figure out are what abilities I can grant both of you without having to be blasted. You may have to learn new fighting techniques, but that can be done at the warrior trainer. It doesn't require the monks."

"Eh - this is all new to us…" Dan said looking at Crystal who seemed just as confused as he did.

The tauren nodded. "You have a rogue in your group, don't you?" Dan nodded. "Most of his attacks are what is called a 'critical strike'. A lot of hunters have them as well. It is where a normal attack inflicts double the amount of damage. It will make you more aware of the vulnerabilities of your enemy and where to strike to do the most damage. All of these talents, when we have them all figured out, will be instantly absorbed into your minds. Probably all of these will be passive and you won't notice any difference until you are fighting. You will notice that you are better in protecting yourself, doing extra damage, or whatever. After this go see the warrior trainer and learn what abilities he is allowed to teach you. But it all depends on how well of a fighter you want to be."

Dan and Crystal simply looked at him and blinked their eyes.

"I've been doing this for hundreds of years for tens of thousands of fighters. You can trust me." The tauren said and smiled at them. "You are both in the melee group right?"

"Yes." Crystal said.

"The melee group tries to inflict the most possible close ranged damage as fast as they can. Depending on what the warrior trainer is allowed to teach you, which I don't think will be much, I need to work your talent trees to do just that - deal as much damage as fast as you can." He took out his hearthstone and said, "Let me see if I can make this easier…"

A portal appeared. The tauren asked a female troll what abilities they would be able to teach Dan and Crystal without the monks converting them. He explained that they were both duel-wielding humans with no abilities of that of a regular warrior. The female troll thought for awhile.

"So no rage pool then?" She asked.

"Nope. None of that stuff."

"Well, anymore 'rend' is real easy to learn. They've probably actually done it already and not even known it." the female troll said.

"Have either of you struck an enemy so hard it made them bleed badly?" The tauren asked. They both nodded.

"Yeah they have." The tauren reported back to the troll.

"Ok, we can further teach them that. But without converting, you are sort of stuck out there aren't you?" the female troll said with a smile.

The tauren chuckled. "I'll do my best with them." and he closed the portal. He turned to Dan and Crystal. "Go see the warrior trainer tomorrow and tell her you wish to learn the 'rend' ability, basically you strike really hard and make your enemy bleed. If she gives you any grief, just kick her in the shins." the tauren winked at them.

"So assuming you learn that ability, let's see what we can get for you. Let's put two points in 'improved rend' to make the enemy bleed more. Five points in 'parry' because I think that would help save your butts if you ever went one-on-one with an alliance, plus each time you parry an attack your attack speed increases. 'Iron will' is a good one as well if you become stunned or charmed it'll reduce the duration of the effect; basically both are defensive talents. They will become active automatically. Nothing you need to learn or do. And then two points in 'impale'. That will increase the amount of damage you do when you land a critical strike. Very good for the melee class. And I think 'deep wounds' is the last you can have. That is automatic as well. If you do land a critical strike, it will automatically put a dot on the enemy."

"Dot?" Crystal asked.

"Sorry, it stands for damage over time. It'll cause them a lot of pain over six seconds, even if you don't land any more blows to them, like the 'rend' ability, only this is automatic. Usually warlocks are masters of damage over time attacks, well depending on their talent tree. Anyways without a rage pool, that's about all that I can give you."

"What is a rage pool?" Dan asked.

"All warriors have a rage pool. It's kind of like healers and their mana levels. The more a warrior fights, the higher the pool becomes the more special attacks they can do."

"So if we decide later on we want different talents, can we undo them?" Crystal asked.

"Certainly! Any time you want. It takes only about five minutes. Completely painless. However without converting to a class, I would really recommend doing just these talents." the tauren replied.

"So how are the talents, things, learned? Are they automatically put in our heads?

"Almost. You both agree to what you want. I cast a spell on you, and then the knowledge of the talent trees are instantly absorbed into your brains. There is no pain, and you may not even notice anything until you are actually fighting. It is a very easy way of becoming better fighters without actually doing the training. Kind of a short cut." the tauren said and winked at them.

Dan and Crystal both shrugged at each other.

"It would be nice to be able to do more damage. Jacklyn and Trackolania seem to be doing the most damage, while we seem to be just barely hitting the demon." Crystal said with a smile.

"Those two are well seasoned fighters and have mastered everything that they can learn. You two are just starting out. Don't sell yourself short by comparing yourselves to them." the tauren yawned and looked sleepily at them.

"Ok I'm ready." Dan said stepping forward.

"Me too, let's do this." Crystal said.

"Fine. Let's do Dan first because he spoke up first." the tauren casted a spell on the diagram of the talent tree he just drew out on the table. The symbols and arrows came off the page and floated around to Dan's head. They folded themselves around his head and were gently absorbed into his skull. The tauren then casted another spell that made stars dance around Dan's head. Soon they were absorbed into his head as well. The entire process was over within a couple of seconds.

"Ok Crystal."

"Wait that was it?" Dan asked preparing for at least some pain.

"Yup. I think you got all worked up over nothing young one." the tauren said as he began to cast the same spell and the symbols, arrows and pictures came off the page and floated over to Crystal's head. They were absorbed into her head followed by the dancing stars. Within seconds the process was done.

"Why the big long speech, why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Dan asked.

"I wanted to show you the different available classes that you could be, and explain to you what you would be learning. I'm sorry if I bored you. It is always fascinating to me though." The tauren said with a smile. The tauren reached over and grabbed two blankets.

"You can sleep by the fire tonight. I would recommend seeing the warrior trainer tomorrow. I'll be upstairs if you need anything." the tauren said walking up the stairs.

"Did you feel any pain?" Dan whispered.

"I felt nothing." Crystal whispered back. "I swear if I didn't see the spell being cast I would say that I haven't changed at all."

"Same thing I was thinking. Well off to the warrior trainer tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a date." Crystal said winking at him.

They both curled up beside each other in front of the fire and fell asleep.

The next morning they both slowly woke up and smiled at each other. The heard large snoring coming from above them, so they quietly stepped out of the house. A female troll snuck up behind them and said "Hi!" It scared both of them. She let out a hearty laugh.

"I spent half the night thinking about you two. I am the warrior trainer. My name is Uglar. The lazy tauren in there is named Tonect. Follow me please." Uglar yawned and started walking.

"I'm going to need a nap today." Uglar said after a couple of quiet minutes. She then started chuckling. "You two are by far the hardest to figure out. Tonect did he best to give you the talents of a warrior, without actually giving you any special abilities of a warrior." Uglar found this humorous. Uglar quickened her pace. The traffic in Tranquil this morning seemed very busy, but everybody was polite to each other.

"You both have the same talent tree, which makes things easier normally, but neither one of you are really anything. You're sort of multi-spec young warriors…without actually having any of the warrior abilities. So I guess your title is 'fighter' for now, or whatever your leader decides to call you." Uglar said dodging in and out of traffic very efficiently. Dan and Crystal only caught some of what she was saying as they continued to bump into everybody, apologize, and trying desperately to keep up with the fast moving female troll.

"I started writing down all of my thoughts about you two. Then I reviewed all of the warrior abilities. I must say I became frustrated with you two last night." Uglar said in a cheery voice.

"We're almost there, you two ok back there?" She asked continuing her fast pace. Dan and Crystal had almost caught up with her. Crystal than ran directly into an enormous tauren and fell backwards. The tauren immediately pulled her to her feet and apologized.

"We're managing." Dan said as the two of them scrambled again to catch up.

"I finally woke an ambassador to speak with the King. He formed a portal for me, your leader Herrior, and Tonect as well. We all talked about you for awhile. Neither one of you are either arms, or fury; so you cannot be granted the bonuses of either. Like in Jacklyn's case, she is almost all fury so she has been given the bonus of haste. The King seemed, well not annoyed, but questioned as to why you wouldn't commit yourself to a class. However his next thought was of you Crystal. Herrior quickly spoke up and reminded the King what you had been through already. Both of them seemed pleased however, that both of you finally sought us out, but told me to tell you to put some thought into committing yourself to a class and a specific talent tree in the future." She started to say something else but Dan and Crystal fell so far behind that they couldn't hear her.

"Wait a second Uglar!" Crystal yelled. She seemed to hear them as Dan and Crystal continued to advance as quickly as they could through the obstacles of taurens, trolls, and blood elves.

Finally they caught up with her. Uglar extend both of her hands to them and then began racing through the traffic. She seemed to maneuver quite easily even with both of them at her side.

"Why is it so busy here?" Crystal yelled.

"This is actually normal. You're in the heart of the city. People are busy going to work, tending to their families, and doing their daily chores." Uglar said.

"So people do work here?" Dan asked.

"Well, probably not what you are used to. Our people do things voluntarily to help one another out, to maintain and strengthen our city. Nobody is forced to do anything if they don't want to, but after awhile that becomes boring. I do know our city has recently obtained thousands of new recipes, gems to be sorted, enchanted items, and gold that needs to be sorted. I believe from the demon that you guys killed the other day." Uglar said with a smile.

"Ok, turn into this building." Uglar said quickly pulling both of them nearly off from their feet and into a smaller home with a wooden sign above it with two swords engraved on it. They both entered the home and a child troll threw a ball at Dan, bouncing off from his face. Crystal let off a laugh as she got the ball and threw it back at the child. Uglar then said something in her troll language. It seemed to disappoint the children. She pointed to a room and the children slowly made their way there.

"Sorry about that. Kids just trying to have fun." Uglar said running to the far corner of the house.

"Not a problem." Dan said as the two of them examined the house. There were pictures on the walls of her children and a male troll, presumably her mate. Different types of toys were scattered all over the home. The room had two different doors in it.

"Probably one for the children and the other for their bedroom. This must be the family room." Dan thought.

Uglar returned with several pieces of paper and what looked like a practice dummy made out of wood and straw. She slowly pushing the toys to the side with her foot and sat the dummy down in the middle of the room. She let out a sigh.

"Some day you'll know what it's like to have little left home alone."

"You leave them home alone?" Dan said still unable to get over the concept of leaving children home alone.

"Sure, well until they are old enough to walk that is. The fairies tend to their food and disposal needs. They have plenty to keep them busy. If they get bored they go outside and play. Not a single person in Tranquil would hurt them. If they do get hurt somehow, everybody would rush to their help. They said they even played with the new orc children a couple of days ago. If they get lost, they are taken in by somebody and are housed with them for the night, or they are brought back here. Lindel I think it was, one of the flyers or whatever they call themselves, found one of my children playing in the fountain late one night and flew him back to me. She spent the rest of the time playing with the children and slept here for the night."

Dan and Crystal were again shocked. It was completely opposite on their world, but it would be something they would have to accept living here. Uglar started securing the dummy to the ground and began reading through her notes.

Crystal leaned over and whispered to Dan, "If we have children, we're going to have to get used to that. Personally it sounds scary to me. I'm not that comfortable with everybody yet." Dan nodded back as Uglar approached them.

"Ok, so they all said to teach you 'rend'. It normally takes ten rage to produce this affect. Everybody agreed to try to put this ability into your minds and see if it stays. If it doesn't, we're not out anything." Uglar instantly turned to Dan and her eyes quickly turned orange for a split second. She then put her hands over his eyes and started humming.

"Oom…oom…spirits of the deep…please come and enter this body. Twist and turn his body and make him learn 'rend'." Dan became nervous.

After a couple of second Uglar started laughing. "I'm not good at rhythms, that one was pretty bad wasn't it. I'm better at nursery rhythms if you wish…" She took her hands off from his head and said, "Well do you know the ability?"

"Uh…" Dan said with a smile, feeling slightly humiliated.

"Hmm…must not have worked." Her eyes turned orange quickly again for a split second.

"No…Your brain is telling me you know the ability. It didn't reject it. Normally it's an ability that you would have to physically perform; I set it as a passive ability. When you cause your opponent to bleed, the 'rend' ability should automatically kick in and make them bleed more. It'll slow casting time, stop rogues from stealthing against you and help lower your opponent's health. It won't cause them to die, most of the time the enemies just shrug it off. A lot of enemies are immune to bleed effects, so don't be surprised if it doesn't work against all enemies. But it should help with your damage output." Uglar said and then turned to Crystal. Uglar's eyes turned orange again for a split second.

"There. Hard parts done. Hope it didn't hurt too bad. Appears as though I lost the bet, I didn't think it would work. Tell Herrior I owe him a back massage, but currently I'm too busy…umm…umm…" Uglar said quickly looking around.

"Raising your kids?" Crystal said with a smile.

"Naw, he won't believe that. My husband and I are…no…away on vacation…no…ugh. Tell him I'll catch up with him sometime today if you see him…" Uglar said disappointed. Dan and Crystal both smiled at her.

"Anyways, I have some other abilities to teach you. Hence the dummy in the middle of the room. Obviously he can't bleed, so we can't test out the new ability I just taught you. But first I need to convince your minds that you are now warriors so you can benefit from some of your parties group buffs. Also it will improve your dodge rating by four percent and parry rating by six percent." Uglar's eyes turned a dark green and then flashed orange several times very quickly at Dan first.

"Group buffs?" Dan asked, seeming to be unaffected by Uglar's eyes.

"Jacklyn has a passive ability that grants her party an additional five percent chance to land a critical strike. When Quinely is in cat form, she gives an additional five percent. It all adds up."

Suddenly Uglar's body began to glow white and a large white star appeared at her feet. It disappeared a couple of seconds later.

"Eh - so far so good." Uglar said and did the same thing to Crystal.

"Next ability is called 'heroic throw'. You throw your weapon at an enemy and it will do as much damage to it as possible, and then conveniently return back to you. You may have seen Herrior do this. He told me to tell you to be careful with this ability because it does cause a high level of threat. You will usually want to start your fighting with this, once you are commanded to engage that is. This costs no rage as well." Uglar looked at Dan and flashed her eyes orange twice at him. Dan suddenly became aware of two abilities. The weapon throw, and something called 'victory rush'. He looked confused at Uglar.

"Yeah, sorry. Just trying to speed things along. I can hear the children getting restless. The 'victory rush' will cause your body to surge with power after you land a killing blow on an enemy. Use it to attack another enemy within twenty seconds. Your attacks will be much faster and you will hit harder for twenty seconds. Anyways, throw your weapon at the target." Uglar said. Dan pulled out his sword and threw it at the target. His release was bad, but the weapon realigned itself in mid-air and slammed into the dummy. Then, just as Uglar said, it quickly returned to his hand. It hovered for a second before Dan realized that his hand was closed. He opened it and the blade's handle sat comfortable back in his hand.

"That's neat!" Dan said in a surprised tone. He looked up just in time to see that Uglar was telling Crystal to do the same thing. She threw her sai, but her fingers stuck to the sai's handle. It flew towards the ground, but quickly adjusted it's trajectory to hit the dummy. After a second, the weapon flew back in Crystal's hand.

"Eh - not bad for the first time. That's all that I can teach you for now. Once you pick a class and convert to it then come back to see me. But if you'll excuse me, I have some rodents to go wrestle with." Uglar said as she walked away from them. She opened the door her children were in and said something in the troll language. All of her kids jumped on her and they started wrestling. Dan tapped Crystal on the shoulder and motioned for them to leave. They both walked out into the bustling streets.

"Ok. New clothes time?" Dan asked? Crystal shrugged. Immediately they were both picked up and saw the crowd of people disappear under their feet.

"Took you guys long enough. Skyka's been waiting for an hour. Let's go find you something decent to wear!" Lindel said as she flew them over houses and past the busy streets.

"Uglar said you took care of her kid when they wondered off." Crystal said watching the ground fly by.

"Yeah I do that a lot. I like kids. Doesn't bother me any." Lindel said. "So what class did you guys pick?"

"Warrior with arms and fury, but they are calling us fighters, I think…they both talked so fast. What class are you Lindel?" Dan asked.

"I'm a banshee; I don't have talent points or a trainer. Everything I learn is by experimenting or watching another banshee." Lindel said as she took a steep turn to the left.

"Did Mohania visit the class trainer?" Dan asked.

"Actually he visited Mohania outside of our gate. Undead aren't allowed in our town." Lindel said reminding him.

"So the new undead we found, shouldn't they be allowed to visit the class trainer as well to improve their skills or talents?" Dan asked.

Lindel thought for a minute. "Mohania's never asked. I'm sure it would benefit them though. I don't know how he wants to lead his undead family. Huh. I've never thought about that."

"I know he had Kendall learn some spells from the gnome. Maybe that's how he wants them to learn." Crystal said. Lindel suddenly took a steep dive and landed right in front of Skyka.

"That's a good question to ask him hun. But for now…let's go find you some clothes!" Lindel said enthusiastically.

"Come on you two, I've got some things laid out for you to look at. And some things for Crystal that Dan shouldn't look at…" Skyka said winking at Crystal. Skyka grabbed both of their arms and dragged them into the clothing shop.

As they entered they saw several races all wearing different outfits. They all looked at Dan and Crystal, as if they were eager to have them arrive.

"You have models for us?" Crystal asked. Several different races stood in front of them wearing different outfits. And the end was a female troll wearing a see through whitish cloak that glittered.

"Oops, Dan don't look at that." Skyka said smiling and turning his head in the opposite way. "Lindel you take Crystal and I'll take Dan." Skyka and Lindel pulled them two in opposite directions.

"First things first. This is the undercoating of a basic melee warrior. It's made of silk and is very comfortable. It allows your body to breath, while absorbing sweat and odor. It's more comfortable than just putting on your basic armaments. So take off your clothes and try it on." Dan looked at it. It resembled a very long dress that went down to his knees. He felt it and it indeed felt very smooth.

"Well come on, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Skyka said smiling at him. Dan stripped down and put on the silk over-shirt. It quickly formed to his body and felt like the most comfortable thing he had ever put on.

"It's waterproof, but adds no armor value or other bonuses." Skyka continued.

"Why doesn't Herrior wear one of these?" Dan asked.

"As you may have noticed, all he wears under his armor is a loin cloth. You and Crystal I don't think are comfortable being nude or wearing practically nothing under your armor, so I had this made for you guys. We all wear clothes in Tranquil out of respect for you and Crystal."

Dan shook his head and took over the over-shirt. "This is our home now, and I want my family to be comfortable around me. I'll wear what Herrior wears."

Skyka looked shocked, but took the shirt from Dan as he stood naked in front of everybody. She came back with a leather loin cloth and tied it around Dan's waist. Skyka looked at him as if to say, "Are you sure?"

Dan twisted it around until he was comfortable and nodded. "What's next?" He asked.

"Well since you aren't actual warriors, I can't give you plate. But what I had designed for the both of you is a combination of leather with mail armor integrated in it." Skyka pointed to the troll standing next to her. The troll had an entire suit of leather with mail armor in the chest, shoulders, forearms, legs, and shins.

"It'll give you full freedom of movement and soften the blow from an arrow or a sword. Your vitals will be protected by the mail armor in the middle. I had one custom fit for you." Skyka said reaching out to a leather suit hung up on a rack. The arms and legs were a crimson red where the mail armor wasn't.

"Skyka, I don't want us to be treated different than the rest of you. I want Crystal and I too not make you guys nervous. So do whatever you guys normally do. Spread the word." Dan said and took the armor from Skyka.

"I will hun. I must say it has been a little awkward for us…" Skyka said with a smile.

Dan tried on the armor and it instantly adjusted itself to Dan's body. He started moving his arms around and twisting his body. The armor automatically adjusted itself as he moved. She then gave him a pair of boots fashioned out of armor and mail. They felt big at first, but, just like the armor, it quickly adjusted itself to fit his feet. Dan instantly felt like he was stronger, more agile, and felt his skin harden. He gave a weird look to Skyka.

"It's the armor. It gives you bonuses to your strength, stamina, and agility. It will also improve your critical strike and make you move slightly faster than the rest of us." Skyka said.

"Does your cloak give you bonuses?" Dan asked. Skyka nodded. "All the armor/cloaks/jewelry made gives bonuses, mostly specific to our class. Mine gives me more mana, faster recovery of mana, more health, and more powerful healing spells. Crystal's armor is similar to yours, only Lindel made it a light purple. Other than that it's the same." Skyka finished and spun Dan around to look in the mirror.

"Hmm…" Dan said looking over himself.

"I can change the color if you want?" Skyka asked.

"Nope, red is fine." Dan answered.

"Are you two done playing with each other? Come out here and let us have a look!" Lindel called out.

Dan walked out and grabbed his blades from his old armor and put them over his back, as they quickly attached themselves to his back.

"Red huh?" Crystal asked grinning at him.

"Purple huh…" Dan smirked back. They walked up and hugged each other.

"I'm not wearing anything under this…" Crystal whispered to him.

"I'm wearing a loin cloth." Dan said embarrassed.

"You'll have to show me later." Crystal said and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ok, you guys can go. Thanks for the help." Skyka said talking to the people standing up, posing in front of them.

"So why didn't get this armor sooner?" Crystal asked.

"Well hun, we were busy. And when we weren't busy you had to have private time. I respect the private time and all of that, but since we are all family, as Dan put it, we'd like to spend more time with you guys." Skyka said.

"And now, time for the glyphs!" Lindel said and started slamming, what felt like to Crystal, a water balloon on her back.

"What are glyphs?" She asked in a surprised voice, as Crystal kept slapping the back of Crystal's back.

"It'll make your rend last six seconds longer, your victory rush will give you more of a chance to get a critical strike when it becomes active, and increase the time of that ability. Had you chosen an actual class you would have gotten more, but that's all we can get you for now." Lindel said. "Ok, your turn hun, come over here."

Dan walked over as Lindel slapped him on the butt. Dan jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, bad aim. Ok hold still." Lindel said with a smile as she put the same glyphs on his back.

"So I'm assuming you two have glyphs as well?" Dan asked.

"Everybody in the party except for me and Strings." Lindel said. "It's because there aren't any made for our classes." Lindel put the last one on and asked, "Ok, where are we going next?"

"Honestly, I thought about visiting the orcs in jail. Just to talk to them. I've never seen a race like that before." Dan said. Crystal nodded in agreement.

"Hmm. Well not what I was thinking, but ok." Lindel said.

They all started walking towards the jail. The goblin ambassador approached Skyka and asked to speak with her in private. Skyka nodded. "I'll catch up with you guys later." she called out.

Lindel took them past several stores and pointed out several attractions. One of the stores was a parchment shop. Dan ran in real quick and got some square pieces of paper. He rolled them up and put them in his sack.

"Gonna do some writing hun?" Lindel asked. Dan simply nodded as they continued walking.

After a couple of minutes they walked by the goblins engineer shop. They were escorted in by several goblins and were shown their latest inventions. All three of them simply smiled, not knowing what any of them were talking about.

Something caught Dan's eye. He walked over to examine it. It was a fist size rubber ball that seemed to sparkle on the inside.

"What is this?" Dan asked. One of the goblins became excited and rambled off the name they had for it, and what it was made of. Dan understood none of it.

"What does it do?"

"It bounces. Watch!" The goblin took it and threw it on the ground. It instantly bounced up to the ceiling and back down on the floor. After several bounces, the goblin caught it in his hand.

"Huh, reminds me of a bouncy ball on my world. May I have this?" Dan asked.

"Sure, we have hundreds of these." The goblin said giving it to him. All three of them thanked them for the tour and began walking towards the jail cells.

"Are you scheming something Dan?" Lindel asked curiously.

"Eh - maybe." Dan said without emotion.

A short walk later they got to the prison cells. Lindel stated that they would like to see the orcs. Several guards lead them through a series of chambers and to a large wooden door. The guards walked inside with them and shut the door behind them.

"Kash is scheduled to be here with the children in about fifteen minutes. You may stay as long as you like." One of the troll guards said.

The three of them walked over and sat in the middle of the cell and smiled at them.

Gernack stood and said, "So, banshee, are you here to read our minds again? Interrogate us? We have all told you everything we know." He sounded annoyed.

"Nope, Dan and Crystal wanted to talk to you guys." Lindel said pointing at them.

"We just wanted to visit with you. I've never seen a race like yours before. I did the same thing with the undead. Just curious. All of this is still new and I want to learn as much as I can. If you want us to leave we can." Dan said.

Gernack looked him over. "Kind of young to be a fighter aren't you?"

"I was taken for my time stopping abilities. Everybody is trying to teach me and Crystal to be better fighters." Dan said.

"Is she your mate?" Gernack asked.

"Not yet, but I'm hoping to be one day." Crystal spoke up. Lindel smiled.

"How would you feel if you were locked up together and only allowed to see your child for fifteen minutes a day?" Gernack said bitterly.

"I would probably be as upset about it as you are now." Dan said quietly. Gernack let out a grunt.

"So you talk to the undead as well…" Gernack asked.

"They are just like anybody else. We have one in our party. He's kind of morbid, but he would risk his life for us. He hates the demons and alliance just like we do." Dan said.

"So we do have something in common with them." Gernack replied.

"Didn't the undead that we rescued help your children by taking more beatings than they did?" Dan asked. Gernack let out another grunt.

"That is what our children say."

"How are they doing these days?" Crystal asked.

"They sound like they are having non-stop fun. They always tell us about was Kash is doing with them. Each day they have something new to report. It seems like your city has welcomed them with open arms." Gernack said sadly.

"I've heard a lot of stories about the citizens of Tranquil taking care of each other's children, playing with them, watching over them - even if they aren't theirs." Dan said looking at Lindel. She nodded.

"Sounds like a great city to raise a family." Isnabell said sadly. "Why are they keeping us here? Why haven't we been killed yet? My people refuse to live in cages for the remainder of their lives!"

"Haven't they told you why you are being kept here?" Dan asked.

Gernack spoke up, "Because we were controlled by demons. Your King probably thinks we'll turn against his forces and join back up with the demons. Your banshees have searched our minds over and over. We are free of their bond. We will not turn on your citizens."

"That's not the reason that I was told." Dan said. Suddenly the door opened and Kash came in with the children. The children ran over to the adult orcs and started rambling something in the orcish language. Gernack and Isnabell suddenly became excited and hugged their child through the bars. And then hugged the other children as well. Dan, Crystal, and Lindel just sat there in silence and watched.

They spoke quickly back and forth to each other in their orc language. Gernack and Isnabell, as well as the other orcs all gathered around to listen to them. This really seemed to be the high point in their lives living in their cell.

After ten minutes or so Gernack spoke up. "This is how it is. They come, they go, and we mourn. All we want is to raise our children and to fight against the demons to free our brethren. Why aren't we allowed to do that?"

"From what I'm told, over two thousand years ago, all of the orcs turned on their 'blood fury' ability and started killing innocent citizens in our city. Are you familiar with this ability?" Dan asked.

"Yes, all orcs are taught that." Gernack said unimpressed.

"Have these children been taught that?" Crystal asked.

"No, they are not at the age of becoming warriors."

"Turn on your blood fury. Show us what it does." Dan said calmly.

Gernack's body began to turn red and grow. He looked down at the children and suddenly stopped. "No." He said.

"Why?" Dan asked.

"We became very powerful, but it makes our judgment impaired. It might scare the kids." Gernack said calming himself back down.

"If you could get rid of the blood fury ability, it would probably be one step closer to earning the King's trust." Crystal piped up.

"How? It's engrained in all of us. We can't just unlearn it. During battle it sometimes activates on its own." Gernack said sounding annoyed.

"I bet the monks could do that." Lindel said reaching for her hearthstone.

"If you pledge your loyalty to the King, get rid of the ability, and fight beside us in war - I would bet that would start earning the King's trust. Our undead friend Mohania hated the King, but is eventually turning around. The King wants him to be an ambassador for his people. Gernack, I think you would be a good ambassador for your people." Just then Kash said it was time for the kids to go.

"Kash, could the children stay here and play with us?" Dan spoke up immediately. Kash looked at the guard and he just shrugged. Dan looked at the kids and waved them over to him. The kids sat down in front of Dan. Dan extended his hands, palm side up, towards Gernack's son. His son then extended his towards Dan's hands. Dan turned them so that his palms faced down.

"Tell him to try to hit my hands with his." Dan said smiling at the child. Gernack spoke something to his child and he immediately turned his hands over and hit Dan's hands. The children laughed. Dan extended his hands again, but quickly pulled them back this time.

Gernuck played this game several times with Dan when another child or scooted up to Crystal and held his hands out to her. He began to enjoy the game as Crystal let the orc hit her hands a couple of times and then started pulling them away so as to make the game harder.

Soon the last child was excited and walked over to Lindel and slapped the stone out of her hand. Lindel laughed and put the stone back in her pocket.

"So that's how you want to be huh?" Lindel held her hands out, and the child quickly tried to hit her hands. Lindel quickly turned her hands invisible and his hands flew right through them. Then Lindel caused her hands to reappear. The child squealed with joy at the surprise.

"I think that's cheating Lindel…" Dan said looking back at her, as his child slapped his hands.

"Hey, I wasn't ready!" Dan said smiling at him.

After awhile the kids became bored of that game. The adult orcs watched the children interact with the humans with curiosity. Dan then pulled out a piece of paper and held it in front of the children. He then put it on the stone floor and began to fold it. The children watched in fascination. After the last fold Dan held up his paper airplane.

"Real impressive Dan…" Crystal said sarcastically.

Dan walked to the far corner of the wall and threw it. It flew across the room and into the guard on the opposite side of the room. The children watched in awe. Even Lindel and the other orcs seemed amazed. All the children ran over to get the piece of paper. The first one there picked it up and threw it into the air. This time the plane did a loop and flew into the jail cell. The children all cheered and ran up to the bars. A female orc picked it up and handed it to one of the children. They all took turns throwing it until it was so damaged it couldn't fly anymore.

"What's it called?" Lindel asked.

"Paper airplane. We used to make them in school." Dan replied. He then took three pieces of paper and handed them to the children. He took another sheet out for himself. He set his down and made the first fold. The children mimicked his fold. Dan made several more folds as the children did what he did. Then Dan held up his airplane and threw it in the air. Once again it hit the guard. The children thought that was funny and began throwing their creations into the air. They all squealed with joy as they watched their new paper airplanes fly through the air. After a couple of flights Gernuck picked up his and gave it to his father. Gernack smiled and fought hard to keep back the tears.

Then Dan gathered the kids around and pulled out the ball he got from the goblins. He held it up and showed the kids. They all looked at him curiously. Dan walked back a couple of feet and threw it at the stone floor. It immediately bounced back up and hit the ceiling. It continued bouncing until Dan caught it. This seemed to mystify the children. He handed the ball to Gernuck and pointed to the wall. The child threw it at the wall and it immediately went out of control, flying all over the room. The children watched in fascination as it bounced all over the place.

"Tell them to catch it." Dan said. Gernack relayed the information and suddenly the children began running in every direction trying to get it. The ball rapidly flew in all directions, seeming to hit just about everybody in the room at least once. It eventually flew inside the jail and started bouncing off from the orcs in there. The children thought that was hilarious. The jailed orcs all wanted to get in on the action and started trying to catch the ball. It eventually turned into one big pile of orcs tripping over each other. The children again laughed at what their adults were doing. The ball eventually came out of the cell and flew into Crystal's hand. The children ran over to see it. She gave the ball to Gernuck and walked over to Isnabell and gave it to her. She thanked him.

Dan then pulled out another piece of paper, waded it up into a ball and threw it at the guard. It bounced off his face. The guard seemed once again annoyed. He gave the rest of the paper to the children. They then mimicked what Dan did and began wadding up paper to throw at the guard. Everybody seemed to laugh while the guard rolled his eyes.

"Kash" Dan said looking at her. She nodded and out-stretched her hands. Suddenly she was bombed by paper balls. She smiled and threw some of them back at the children. She then waved them over and the children left waving at the adult orcs.

"Great. Now the jail is a mess." The guard said. Lindel snapped her fingers and all of the paper instantly burned up that was on the ground.

"Great. Now stop complaining." Lindel said back to him in a sarcastic voice.

The three of them then sat back against the far side of the wall and just watched. After the tears stopped flowing from the parents, Gernack turned and spoke to his orcs for awhile in their native tongue. They all seemed to respond one at a time. After several minutes, Gernack turned back around.

"We will not hurt you or your citizens. What do we have to do to become part of your town?"

Lindel looked shocked. She mind linked Dan and Crystal. "Ever think about becoming ambassadors? I think we just made some new allies."

Dan stood up and drew his ice blade. He tossed it on the ground next to Gernack inside the jail. Dan then pushed himself as far into the bars as he could. Gernack picked up the blade.

"Dan! What are you doing?" Lindel screamed in his mind.

"You have the chance right now to kill me. Will you stand beside me in battle, or do you wish to take out your aggression and kill me with my own blade?" Dan said looking at him. Gernack handed him his sword back.

"I would not strike down my fellow brethren. What enchant is on it?" Gernack asked.

"Ice something." Dan shrugged. "When I hit things it instantly freezes it."

"What is the process of getting rid of our blood fury? How soon can we do it?" Gernack asked. Dan put the sword away and turned to Lindel.

"I was going to contact a monk and ask, but maybe if I bring one to you guys he could answer your questions better. Crystal are you going to be ok with that?" Lindel asked. Crystal nodded and looked away. Lindel created a portal and then channeled her energy into it as it grew larger. She stuck her head in it.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" Lindel asked.

"Yes Lindel, what do you desire from us?" One of the monks spoke up.

"I have some orcs with some questions. Can I borrow one of you?" Lindel asked. The monk that spoke up grabbed her hand and stepped through the portal. The orcs were amazed; they had never seen anything like that before.

"What are you?" Gernack asked to Lindel.

"A sexy looking banshee with powers beyond comprehension." Lindel said throwing her hair behind her.

"Getting a big head are we Lindel?" Dan said.

"I could give you a big…" Lindel began to say in a sexy voice but was interrupted by Crystal.

"Ok guys. Let the orcs ask the monk their questions and send him away." Crystal said.

Gernack immediately asked, "How do we prove we are not under the influence of demons?" The monk raised his hands and lightning flew out from the walls and poured into the orcs. They all gasped and strained in pain for a couple of seconds.

"You aren't controlled by demons. You are controlled by your own minds. What is your next question?" The monk asked as the lightning dissipated while lowering his hands.

Gernack screamed, "What did you do to us?" as smoke rose from the orcs skin.

"Simply just what you asked." The monk replied back without emotion.

"Blood fury?" Dan said looking at Gernack.

"Fine, what do you have to do to get rid of our blood fury ability?" Gernack asked hesitating.

"I need to scan one of your minds to find out." The monk said.

Gernack stood to his feet and said he would. The monk stepped forward as his eyes became a dark purple. Soon bolts of electricity shot from the monks eyes and into Gernack's eyes. Gernack became very afraid but couldn't move his body.

Several seconds later, the monk stopped the lightning.

"It'll be very simple. I estimate that it would probably take ten minutes with a full group of monks channeling to get rid of that ability. About the same time it would take for somebody to change a class. If any of you would like to change classes, we could combine the processes so it would only take ten minutes total instead of twenty."

"Will it hurt?" Gernack asked.

"You have no idea…" Crystal said in a deep tone staring at the monk. The monk nodded as if to confirm. Gernack sighed.

"What kind of groups do you have? I mean class wise."

"We usually have a tank, melee - short or long ranged, and a healer. Sometimes two tanks, sometimes two healers." Lindel spoke up. "What are you guys?"

"All dps. We were conditioned to fight and die, doing as much damage as we could." Gernack sighed again, "That means we are going to have to have some of us change classes."

"You could join up with other groups. I'm sure we have spare healers and tanks." Lindel said.

"No. We do not want to be a burden. We want to serve. There are twenty of us, we'll break off into two groups." Gernack said.

"Integrating you in other groups would help you trust the other races faster." Lindel said.

"Trust is built on time. I believe we could be better fighters if we stayed together." Gernack said.

Lindel turned to the monk and said his services were done for the moment. He stepped into the portal and disappeared.

"Look, none of us are ambassadors. We can't speak for the King. I can't guarantee anything. We can speak on your behalf, but I believe we made a lot of progress. Let me talk to my leader." Lindel pulled out her hearthstone and saw Herrior on the inside of the gate. Mohania and his seven undead were there along with about one hundred goblins.

"Herrior? What's going on?" Lindel asked.

"The King apparently is speaking with leaders from all of the worlds that we know. He's trying to get us more talents and greater powers. The Queen talked to Skyka because the goblin ambassador asked her to speak on his behalf. Apparently the goblins want to form groups and fight with us as well a Mohania's seven undead. It's getting hectic out here…"

"Well the orcs just pledged their allegiance to our town, are willing to have their blood fury removed; also they willing to change classes as needed, have two groups already committed to battle and had a monk confirm that they are not controlled by demons. They want to fight beside us and join our city as well." Lindel said.

"That's just great…Me and Skyka are not the King and Queen. The Queen instructed me to use my best judgment. And now all of a sudden we're over-whelmed with warriors from different worlds willing to join us." Herrior sighed. "Portal them here. And while you are at it, go get Branzer. Tess is here with Julie as well. She wants her to witness what is going to happen. We'll be lucky if everybody doesn't rip each other's heads off. Branzer wanted to be an ambassador, so let's just get all of this done all at the same time. I hope negotiations don't take days, I'm already tired…" Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Let the orcs loose. Herrior's orders." Lindel said. The guard walked over and unlocked the cell and opened the door.

"You will not be given any weapons! Several banshees will be flying around to keep the peace. Prove yourselves by negotiating with my leader. If you are serious, this won't take long and we can start the conversion process. Are all of you ready?" Lindel said in a firm voice. Lindel created a mind link with Crystal and Dan as all of the orcs nodded.

"Herrior's upset. I'm guessing our entire group is there. He is negotiating with four different races, King is busy. Prepare for anything. He told me to go get Branzer. Keep our group safe!" Lindel said breaking the connection. She created a portal and began channeling her energy into it again.

"All orcs and humans, please enter the portal." Lindel said. Everybody poured in and disappeared. The portal closed and then Lindel created a portal for herself.

Bernett called Branzer on their secure cell phone.

"Got that feeling eh? Me too." Branzer said.

"Should we walk around and see where they are?" Bernett asked.

"Eh, usually they come find us…wait a second." Branzer said looking at his computer. He was typing up a report when he saw the words, "Hi Branzer!" on the screen. He deleted the words, but then they instantly reappeared back on the screen.

"Something weird is happening with my computer…" Branzer said trying to delete the words again. Suddenly Lindel's face shot out of the computer screen. Branzer let out a scream. He fell backwards in his chair and dropped the phone. He instinctively reached for his gun. Several other officers heard the commotion and ran over to his desk with their guns drawn as well. Bernett hung up his cell phone and began running over to Branzer's desk.

"Are you ok?" One of the officers said carefully looking around his desk. Lindel had instantly disappeared after he screamed.

"Yeah, just thought I saw a ghost is all…" Branzer said securing his gun.

"Are you sure it was a ghost?" The officer looked back at him with a serious look. He was one of the officers that fought the battle with him.

"Hell if I know." Branzer said fixing his chair. He reached for his phone and heard a dial tone, so he hung it up.

The officer then whispered to him, "You didn't talk…"

Branzer quickly shook his head. "No way, I'm not that stupid. No it's fine. I think I'm just going to collect my thoughts for a second."

Bernett came running over. "Just fell out of my chair. Was leaning back too far. My mistake." Branzer said out loud. Bernett leaned over at his desk and saw the words, "Hi Bernett!" way down at the bottom of the screen.

"Yeah, these chairs will get ya. I say we file a request to get more ergonomically correct chairs." Bernett said putting his weapon away.

"Anyways, how are you and the wife doing Bernett?" Branzer asked.

"Doing well. We went out to have dinner the other night. Seafood. She ate as fast as the server could put the food in front of her. Next time I'll save the bill and give it to you." Bernett answered completely lying about everything. "Have you had any friends over recently?"

"Just got a call from one. I was in the middle of a conversation when my dumb ass fell backwards." Branzer replied.

"Ok, we'll have to catch up sometime. Be careful how you sit, you don't want to throw out your back." Bernett said walking away.

"Lindel?" Branzer asked in his mind. Suddenly he felt her presence in her mind. She was laughing hysterically.

"Cant you just call on the phone, or knock on the door. Something besides making me shit myself!" Branzer said in his mind. Lindel began laughing even harder.

"Oh, that was so funny! You should have seen your eyes. Your arms and legs were just flaying in the air. Look at me! I'm trying to fly!" Lindel said continuing to laugh.

Suddenly Branzer he got an email from Bernett.

"Talking with your friend?" was all it said.

Branzer replied back, "Yes, she's laughing her ass off for scaring the shit out of me…" and hit send.

Bernett replied back with, "Going out of town?"

"Lindel, what's going on?" Branzer said in his head. Lindel started to calm herself down.

"Herrior requests your presence. He wants to begin your ambassador training right now. Afterwards I'll give you some flying lessons…" Lindel said in his head trying to suppress her laughter.

"Right now? What should I tell the Lieutenant?" Branzer said, thinking about all of the work that he still had to do.

"I sense that telling him right now would be good. We need to leave quickly." Lindel said.

Branzer replied back with, "I need to check to see if my phone is working. Just a second." and hit send. He grabbed his cell phone and put it in his pocket and quickly ran down the hallway to his Lieutenant's office.

"Lieutenant. This is Officer Branzer, a friend of mine…oh shit!" Branzer said opening the door. He saw a partial nude older woman sitting on the Lieutenant's lap that was kissing the Lieutenant passionately. It didn't appear that he was wearing pants. He quickly shut the door quickly but left it open just a crack. Lindel exploded in laughter in his mind again.

"Sorry sir, is everything ok?" Branzer asked.

"That was a stupid question wasn't it Branzer. Next are you going to offer me a hand?"

"No sir, sorry sir."

"Now then, does your friend need you right now?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes sir."

"Fine. Go take care of your business. Now what I'm going to do is bend my wife over my desk and start slamming her. If you would be so kind as to lock the door and leave please?"

Branzer quickly reached in and locked the door and slammed it shut.

"He's going to slam her on his desk?" Lindel said in her mind and continued laughing. "Is that what they call mating? Or is she going to bend over his desk and he's going to start slamming the drawers around her?"

Branzer shook his head and dialed up Bernett.

"Hello?" Bernett asked.

"I just walked in on the Lieutenant and his wife…having relations in his office." Branzer whispered.

"You're shitting me?" Bernett said and started laughing. "Isn't that the second time you tried to contact somebody while they were in the middle of that?"

"My friend told me it was ok to go in…" Branzer said sternly. Lindel continued to laugh and pretended she didn't hear it.

"Branzer. Do me a favor. If you need to contact me after ten in the evening. Call first, or knock several times on the door. If I don't answer, don't worry about it, ok?" Bernett said with a chuckle. "Anyways, what's going on?"

"Sounds like I'm going to be leaving for awhile. Doesn't sound like anything bad. Just need to meet some people I think. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll talk to you later." Branzer said hanging up.

"Lindel, can you calm down for a second." Branzer said in his mind.

"Yeah, yeah…ok. I created a portal two doors ahead of you on the left." Lindel said. Branzer quickly ran down and looked at the door.

"The women's bathroom…" Branzer said in his mind. He looked around and quickly opened the door. The portal was right in front of him and he instantly stepped through it. Lindel materialized and disappeared into the portal as well, having it close right behind her.

"Wonderful, we have everybody here. Branzer where do you want to sit, by the orcs, the goblins, or the undead?" Herrior asked. Branzer noticed that he was inside the inner wall and quickly saw the large number of people that were here. He also noticed that Tess and Julie were here as well. Lindel turned into her banshee form and quickly began floating around in the air above them.

"By the undead I guess." Branzer said and walked over to Mohania and sat down.

"Bring any human flesh?" Mohania asked.

"Uh…no?" Branzer responded back.

"Go back and get some…" Mohania demanded.

"Ok, let's start with the basics. I am Herrior, this is Skyka. We are both ambassadors to the King. The King is very busy right now and has given us control of the shield and the Red Guard. So at any point in time one of you decides to attack us, you will be instantly killed. That is if my group doesn't kill you first or Leer's group up on the wall." A large tauren waved at everybody. He had six members in his group and they all carefully watched the crowd.

"Now then. Let's start with talking about becoming ambassadors first." Herrior said.

Skyka walked over to the goblin ambassador and picked him up. "Once you become an ambassador, the Queen wanted me to emphasize that you are responsible to take care of the needs around you and escalate them if necessary. Not to go to another ambassador to make a request to the King." Skyka then dropped him to the ground.

"By becoming ambassadors, you need to swear your life to the King. You need to resolve any disputes that arise. You need to answer your hearthstone and be available any time of the day. You will become judges and make decisions for disputes. If you cannot settle it, feel free to contact the King. If a group calls you for help, you are immediately required to contact the next group in our rotation and get their butts moving! Then contact the following group and put them on reserve. You are not to show favor to any group, race, age, or class. The King holdings ambassador meetings to discuss issues that arise. Keep note of anything that happens, no matter how small, and discuss it with the King at that time. He hates to be blind-sided about issues that an ambassador forgot to bring up. Does everybody understand that?" Herrior yelled. Everybody seemed to. Herrior turned to the goblin ambassador and stared at him for a couple of seconds.

"Orcs, undead, and Branzer. Each of you will need to choose an ambassador. Branzer, choose yourself. If one of your own races turn on your race, or another citizen - you are to kill them immediately and without hesitation, that is if the Red Guard doesn't kill them first. It is up to you to keep the peace, uphold justice, be available at all times, and keep the laws of our city." Herrior continued.

"Now then, let's speed up this process. Who wishes to become one, step forward now."

Branzer immediately stepped forward. Isnabell and Gernack both stepped forward. All eyes then turned to Mohania. He let out a sigh. Kendall walked forward and kissed him passionately. Almost everybody in Herrior's group gasped. Mohania then stood up and walked forward.

"Fine, the four of you then. You will each need to be individually reviewed and questioned by the King. It will not be today though. But as of right now, each of you will begin fulfilling your roles. You will be monitored for weeks. If it doesn't look like you can fulfill your role, you will not be given the title. Please get out your hearthstones and present them to me." Herrior said.

Branzer and Mohania both pulled out their stones and Herrior put his hand over them.

"I have been given temporary powers to increase their powers." A blast of purple light came down from his hand and entered the stone for each of them. Herrior then pulled out two stones already energized and gave them to each of the orcs.

"Remember the faces here. Remember the face of the King and Queen when you see them. Think about their faces and rub the stone. A portal will appear next to the person. If the King and Queen aren't available, one of their personal ambassador's will answer and relay a message to them. If you're stone vibrates or makes a noise, pull it out of your pouch. A portal will appear. If all you see is just white fuzz, stick your head through. The person on the other side wants to have a personal discussion with you." Herrior said loud enough for the four of them to hear. Herrior than waved them back.

"We'll start with the undead first. It's been brought to my attention that the seven undead we rescued wish to form their own group and fight for the King. Who wishes to be the leader of the group?"

Kendall stepped forward. "Kendall, you will need at least one tank, one healer, and heavy dps. You will need to know what your party is capable of and when to call for help. This applies to all of the groups! If you don't call for help and you die, we're going to be pissed! That is what the ambassadors are for! Use them!" Herrior turned to Kendall.

"What qualifies you as a leader?" Herrior asked getting into her face.

"I have been trained by Mohania. I know what my group is capable of doing, what spells they can cast, how powerful they are, and what their weaknesses are. We have two tanks and dps, but we are short a healer. I am willing to lead my party into battle, even if it means our death."

"Is there a healer among any of you that would like to join Kendall's group?" Herrior said looking around. A goblin stepped forward.

"I will heal for them. I will need training and a visit from the class trainer."

"Sending anybody into battle untrained and without their talent trees visited by the class master is an ambassador's decision! I've had two humans that have proved themselves under my strict supervision. The ambassadors can make that judgment, not the leaders. As a general rule though, you will not be sent into combat until your leader is convinced you are ready. Go over there and stand with the undead."

Herrior than asked the orcs if they had groups chosen to fight. They reported that Isnabell and Gernack would both lead a group. They would divide their orcs into two groups and alter their classes. Herrior seemed satisfied that they would have the proper groups. He then turned to the goblins and asked them if they had groups sorted out. Their ambassador reported that they didn't have groups sorted out, but were eager to start their training. Herrior stated that they could begin, but might be pulled out of their training to go fight. Herrior also said that they would probably be split up and put into different groups. None of them seemed to mind.

"The Red Guard has been altered to allow orcs in the city that do not have the blood fury ability. Any orc that enters that has the ability will be killed. The undead, Tranquil is a holy city. I was told by the queen that every place that you walked, the aura of the city will alter itself so as to not injury any of you. Mohania, we are allowing your kind into our city. As a return of the favor, we want to be allowed into your cave."

Mohania knew this question was coming.

"It'll take me about a week to alter the shield for all of the races. Work is already being done to widen the wholes. Even the taurens will be able to fit."

"Any more undead or orcs, or any unauthorized humans in Tranquil will be immediately killed. Branzer, undead, and the orcs, do you all understand this? This isn't a tourist city. Branzer if you bring any humans in, contact the King or one of his ambassadors. This applies to the rest of you new ambassadors, contact the King or again one of his ambassadors first so that the Red Guard and shields or holy aura can be altered. If you forget, they will be killed immediately. He will probably question your intentions, but if he senses no danger he will generally fulfill your request." Herrior began coughing and excused himself for a second. He pulled out a water skin and started drinking.

Skyka walked up and continued talking. "The Queen has already spoken with all of the citizens of Tranquil by global announcement. The same thing was done when the child orcs were allowed to roam free in the city. My guess is that it may take some time, but they will adjust to you as you become used to them. For the time being, the undead will be drained of their powers upon arrival into the city. When you exit they will be restored. Same with the orcs. Both of you, and anybody you bring in Branzer, are to leave your weapons outside of the city. City guards or banshees will probably follow you around for the first couple of weeks. The same thing that was done with the orc children. They are now free to roam without restrictions. They choose to stay with Kask because they consider her a friend."

Skyka continued, "Only common speak is allowed in Tranquil. Orcs, it will be your jobs to teach this language to the children as they are able to speak it. To the new groups that formed. You probably won't be dispatched until we are confident in your abilities. Also, to the orcs and the undead, or any humans that which to stay with us, speak with an ambassador about obtaining a house and location of it within our city walls. Many of us do not have homes and just sleep anywhere we want. Church services are always on the seventh of every week. It is not mandatory, but is highly recommended. As far as choosing a mate, you need the King's specific permission to begin courting." Skyka said and glared at Mohania and Kendall. They both nodded. Skyka wondered briefly when they did that.

"Then you need their permission to join in union. Only then are you allowed to mate. Not before!" Skyka said glaring at the undead and orcs. Herrior stepped back up.

"Any other questions can be asked to the ambassadors." Herrior said pulling out a large book and scrolls from behind him, and began giving them to the new ambassadors.

"The scrolls continue the current rotations for defense, meetings, raids, classes, talent trees and such. Once all of you are ready to fight, the rotations will probably change. The book contains our laws and history. I expect all of you to read these. You will notice that many of the chapters have to do with God and the laws he set forth for his people, so many of you will already know some of the information. Once you get the King's blessing to become an ambassador, you may be sent to many different lands to talk with other leaders or their advisors. It is vital that you leave a good impression! Offer our assistance to strengthen our bonds with them. If there is a disagreement or a miscommunication, you are to contact the King immediately to resolve the issue. We have made many power friends over the generations and want to keep it that way."

Herrior looked over everybody. They all seemed to understand.

"As of now, I respectfully request that you not enter Tranquil until everybody here has completed their conversions with the monks, please talk among yourselves and get to know each other. Branzer, you may choose to form into a group or just become an ambassador. Either way is fine. Tess, is Julie going to join the human ranks?" Herrior asked.

"She doesn't know yet. I wanted her to witness what was going on here today. Julie, Branzer is your ambassador. If you cannot contact me, contact him. Branzer can now order our forces into your world if needed." Tess said.

"Skyka and I will be here probably for the next two days with all of you until everybody has completed the conversion process." Herrior turned to his group. "You are dismissed to do as you wish." Nobody in Herrior's group moved a muscle. Herrior let out a smile.

"So, now everybody is free to do whatever inside of these walls. I apologize for the uncomfortableness of this area, but I am just following orders. Give us a couple of minutes and the conversion process will begin." Herrior then turned to Mohania and asked for him and Kendall to come over.

Herrior's entire group stared at Mohania. Kendall started to giggle.

"Sooo…" Lindel asked smiling.

"So what?" Mohania asked.

"When were you going to tell us about you two?" Skyka said quickly.

"The next time we got together. I didn't want to pull everybody away from their free time just to make this announcement." Mohania said. Kendall, who know almost looked fully human, wrapped her arms around Mohania.

"For crying out loud Mohania, we would have come! This is a big deal for us!" Skyka blurted out with a smile. "Tell us everything!" Branzer wondered over and sat next to Lindel. She smiled at him.

"We became friends, asked permission from the King to court. We got embarrassed in front of the King by his annoying questions. End of story." Mohania said quickly. Kendall rolled her eyes and shoved Mohania out of his spot.

"When Mohania grabbed the mage gnome and brought him into our cave, Mohania and I spent a lot of time together. I did a lot of learning, while Mohania did a lot of threatening. Didn't you Mohania?" Kendall said excitedly.

"I may have said some words…" Mohania said getting off from the ground. Kendall then pushed him back down. The group started to snicker.

"Anyways, we spent day after day - no sleep, talking. I learned everything that the gnome could teach me after about a day, but Mohania insisted that he stay around to make sure he wasn't holding out on us. I didn't think the gnome was, and I think he'll probably have nightmares for years because of what Mohania did…" Kendall said. The entire group turned to look at Mohania.

"I may have done some things…" Mohania said with a big grin on his face.

"He's still alive isn't he? I kept up my end of the bargain. He even walked out on his own strength." Mohania said trying to convince everybody that he had done a good thing. Herrior sighed and looked at Kendall.

"What attracts you to him?" Herrior asked curiously.

"He is a good listener. He helped me through some personal memories of my past. He seemed to really understand me. I think he's attractive. He puts up a mean front but he actually has a very soft heart." Kendall said looking at Mohania.

Everybody let out a loud, "Awww…."

"She lies!" Mohania said. "I am a powerful warlock!" Kendall started to rub his boney leg. Mohania looked down at her smiling face. He let out a grunt and looked away. His group started to laugh.

Dan spoke up. "Mohania, if I may ask a question, I've noticed that Kendall's body seems to become more, eh, having skin on it - as well as the other undead. Why don't you have skin?"

"It's itchy." Mohania said quickly. Kendall laughed. Kendall then spoke up again.

"The King really doesn't seem to understand our race. Mohania contacted the King with the request and the King almost seemed to fall out of his chair. He asked if we could love. He then asked if we knew the rules for courting. Then he asked if the undead could mate. It annoyed both of us."

The group looked at her as if wondering if she would give them the answer they gave the King. Kendall eventually sighed.

"He's a male, I'm a female. Do I need to draw a picture?" Kendall said annoyed.

"No, I will apologize for my group. That is intimate knowledge that does not need to be shared." Herrior said glaring at his group.

"I know how Branzer's boss mates! His wife bends over his desk and then he slams desk drawers around her!" Lindel said bursting out in laughter. Branzer instantly became embarrassed and his face turned red. Crystal gasped and stared at Branzer.

"You said it was ok to go in there…" Branzer said in an annoyed voice to Lindel.

"Yeah, it didn't look like they were going to harm you. By the way, she's a screamer…" Lindel said and burst out in laughter again.

"Ok guys, I think I've been embarrassed enough for today. Would you mind sending me home? I've got some reading to do." Branzer said standing to his feet annoyed.

"I'm sorry hun, but your race is so fun to watch." Lindel said with a smile.

"Tess! Do you want to send Julie home?" Herrior asked. Tess walked over with an arm around Julie.

"Julie today me that her boyfriend cheated on her today and they broke up. They were courting for three years. Since she wouldn't mate with him, he moved on to somebody else." Tess said. Julie's face started to hold back the tears.

Jacklyn rose to her feet and drew her blades. "What's his name?"

"I already asked. She thinks we'd kill him or something…" Tess said winking at Herrior's group. Everybody started looking around innocently.

"I wouldn't kill him." Mohania said with a smile.

"You'd torture him for the rest of his life…" Kendall said glaring at him. Mohania shrugged still smiling.

"Please guys, I just need time. He hurt me badly. Thank you for letting me come today. I would like to go home with Branzer if that is ok." Julie said biting on her lip. Lindel looked up at Branzer and he nodded. Lindel stood up and opened a portal to Branzer's house. Both of them disappeared.

"Well, it appears as though Branzer gave his first order as an ambassador. And you did what he said didn't you Lindel…" Herrior said gazing at her.

Lindel shrugged. "He's my boss now. You're my leader, and the King rules all…and Kendall rules Mohania…" she said with a giggle. Mohania let out a growl as Kendall laughed.

"You two are so cute together, you know that?" Skyka hurried over and hugged them. "I'm happy for both of you!"

"Yes…yes…happy and such. Can we start the conversion process please?" Mohania said annoyed with Skyka.

"Kendall, how about we do your group first? Who needs to be converted?"

"Blacky! You're first!" Kendall yelled out. A male undead came running over. Lindel opened a portal to the monk's chambers.

"Tell the monks what class you want to become. It should only take a short while." Herrior said.

"Ten minutes is what the monk told me." Dan said.

"And then tell them to send you back here. Skyka and I will start lining up people that need to be converted. Let's get this over with." Herrior said. Blacky quickly ran into the portal.

"Blacky?" Herrior asked.

"He wants to be a shadow priest. They turn black. Hence the name he picked for himself, blacky. None of them wanted to use their old names except for me." Kendall explained.

"Makes sense I guess. So Dan and Crystal, from what Lindel tells me, I'm shocked that you didn't want to become ambassadors. She said that you helped the orcs pledge their loyalty to us."

"As far as I'm concerned, I belong by your side in combat. I will help in any way that I can with any situation that comes up, but you are my leader." Dan said. Crystal nodded.

"You do have free will you know…" Herrior said back to him. "I'm also surprised that you didn't become full warriors, actually a lot of people are."

"I had enough of the monks!" Crystal said sternly. "I'm just like Julie, I need time!" Crystal turned to Tess and screamed, "Are you going to have her blasted for a week as well?"

"No, she wouldn't survive. If time stops, she will as well." Tess said softly. Crystal let out a loud scream and walked back into Tranquil.

Skyka shook her head and turned to Dan. "I don't know how to heal that one hun. I wish I could." Dan nodded.

Branzer and Julie arrived at Branzer's house. Julie started looking around in awe.

"You get used to it after awhile. Welcome to my home. Can I get you a drink? Coffee maybe?"

"Ice water will be fine." Julie said walking over to the table. Branzer sat down his book and scrolls as he went to in the kitchen. Branzer came back with two glasses of ice water.

"We don't…really have flags in our heads that the banshees look at…do we…" Julie said slowly. Branzer smiled.

"No, but don't underestimate their power. During our battle, you only saw a small part of what they are capable of doing. I've seen them do a lot more, but I don't think I've even seen everything." Branzer said. Branzer started sorting out the scrolls and looked at the massive book.

"Guess I don't know what I signed up for…" He said with a smile. Julie smiled back.

"Tess told me about you." Julie said taking a drink.

"Crap, well there goes that first impression of me…" Branzer said leaning back.

"She said you are a good fighter and I could learn a lot from you." Julie replied back.

Branzer gave her a strange look. "Are we talking about the same Tess?" Julie laughed thinking that he was kidding.

"She said I could become a class and fight beside her if I wanted to. Apparently there's a full scale war going on. Alliance and demons versus us? Sounds like we are on the losing end…is that why Tess wants to recruit me?" Julie said.

"That's horse shit. From what I've seen and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to share with you, I'd say we could kick both of their asses at the same time. We're on the good guy side." Branzer said with a smile. "They fight with honor; they avenge those who hurt them. Which is probably why they wanted to know your ex-boyfriend's name."

"They really wouldn't have killed him, would they?" Julie asked with a smile flicking her long blonde hair behind her.

"Shit…stuck in a rock and a hard place. What to say…" Branzer thought. Branzer sighed and decided to tell the truth.

"I'm positive they would have and probably his whole family...more ice water?" Branzer said quickly.

Julie sighed. "A part of me would like to see that, but I loved him. A part of me still does you know? We were together for so long." Julie said starting to sniffle. Branzer's private cell phone began to ring.

"Just a second." He said and left the room to answer it.

"Branzer? I wasn't expecting you back until…well at least another couple of days. I was just going to leave a voice mail. What happened?" Bernett asked.

"Can we talk? Is anybody with you?" Branzer asked.

"No, that's why I called."

"Apparently I have become an ambassador for the King, along with Mohania and two of the captures orcs. They are forming new groups with the undead, the orcs, and about one hundred little goblin guys. From what I understand the King is in heavy negotiations to obtain more power for the groups. But after both the undead, orcs, and little green guys convert to a class, they are going to be let into Tranquil. Also get this, Mohania has a girlfriend." Branzer said.

"What?" Bernett said, confused about everything he just heard.

"I have Julie in my house right now. Tess wanted her to see everything. I think Tess wants Julie in her group pretty badly. I guess she just broke up with her boyfriend and both Tess's and Herrior's group was going to go mess him up." Branzer said.

"You mean kill him and everybody on his street probably." Bernett said.

"Yeah whatever, look I'm in a bad situation right now. I can hear Julie crying and I'm not good at comforting people. I always say the wrong thing. Can you and Samatha come over? You wife is probably better at this sort of thing than I am." Branzer said quickly.

"Yup, I just pulled in the garage. Give us about thirty minutes. Don't make the situation worse, ok?" Bernett said. Branzer could hear the car turn off and the car door shut.

"So how are you and Lindel?" Bernett asked.

"I think we are doing ok. Probably better than I say I'm doing with our Lieutenant right now. Did he say anything?" Branzer asked.

"No, we saw his wife come out of his office about three hours later. Nobody said anything. He waited until everybody left to leave I guess. Heck he's probably there right now, but after what you saw today I'm guessing he probably went home…" Bernett said. "Apparently his wife is feeling better these days huh?"

They both laughed. Bernett walked into the kitchen and kissed his pregnant wife.

"Hun, I have Branzer on the phone. A friend of ours broke up with her boyfriend and she's wondering if we could come over and help comfort her?" Bernett asked his wife.

"Aw, that poor thing. Sure we can." Samatha said and then leaned up against the phone. "Just tell Branzer not to say anything stupid until we get there!" Bernett started to laugh along with Samatha. Branzer rolled his eyes.

"Ok, be there in about thirty minutes." Bernett said and hung up the phone.

Branzer could hear some of the paper shuffling in the dining room. He walked in and saw Julie studying some of the charts.

"This is what Tess showed me. Apparently they have different classes, different abilities for each class, and then three different talent trees for each class." Julie said sorting out the scrolls.

"I have no idea to be honest. Herrior never showed me any of this. I'm starting from scratch." Branzer said, happy that she wasn't crying anymore.

"Tess asked me what class I would like to be. I didn't have a clue. I told her that I'm a good shot on the range, highest in my squad. I also have a Saint Bernard at home that loves me very much. She said I could bring him here with me, and that he could fight along beside us if I choose to become a hunter like she is. I told her that he wouldn't hurt anybody though, she licks complete strangers and would probably help them rob our house." Julie said starting to laugh. She pulled open her purse and pulled out several pictures of him. He looked to have about one-hundred and fifty pounds of body mass. Branzer looked impressed. He then looked over Julie and figured she probably weighed less than the dog.

"He lets the neighborhood kids ride him and pull his fur. He wouldn't hurt a flea. Tess said they have pet trainers in Tranquil that could teach him several different ways to attack. He would be under my complete control though, and only attack when I told him too. I just can't imagine him attacking anybody." Julie said. "I wouldn't want to be without him though. He's a big part of my life."

"He certainly looks like it." Branzer said, still astonished by the dogs size. "So you are considering joining her group then?"

"I don't think I really have a choice. We're fighting a war here, but their war is on a much larger scale. It's to protect lots of worlds, including ours. That's pretty deep."

"Yes it is. I'm surprised she is trying to recruit you though. I have another friend coming over that has fought alongside with Herrior as well. They haven't said anything to us about being recruited, or becoming a class, or any of that. Tess must think you are pretty special." Branzer said.

"I've talked to her a couple of times. She seemed eager to answer my questions." Julie said not looking at Branzer. She started rearranging the scrolls in different patterns. Branzer walked over and opened the enormous book that was given to him. He immediately was shocked at what he saw.

"Old Testament."

He glanced through it real quick and saw pictures of the Garden of Eden. He then started flipping through the pages and not only was it a bible, but it was filled with timelines, pictures, maps, diagrams of objects, and the regular doctrine of the old King James version. He continued flipping until he found the New Testament. Several documents fell out at the beginning of the New Testament. It quickly told of the attacks from the orcs and their banishment. He turned the pages until Revelations. Some pages fell out that talked about Death Knights. It only told a little information about them as he put the pages back into the beginning of the book. He flipped to the end and there were a couple more loose pages. It told of different races on different worlds, it spoke of time-travel, and some of the secrets of the Chronomancers. It looked like they all believed in the same God. It also spoke of several different time periods where both factions had to join forces to defeat demons.

They were both so engrossed in their work that they both jumped when a knock on the door came. Branzer jumped up and opened the door.

"Thanks for coming guys. We were just looking at some paperwork that Herrior gave me. Apparently I need to know all of this stuff to become one of their ambassadors." Branzer said walking them over to the table.

"Got a promotion eh? Are congratulations in order, or was this something that you had to do…" Bernett asked.

"No, it was something I volunteered for. Apparently their book of laws is what we call the bible. It's actually filled with more information than a normal bible, charts, pictures, and graphs and such. Samatha, this is Julie." Branzer said pointing at her.

"Hi! Give me a just a second, I think I almost have this put together…" Julie said maneuvering around the scrolls. Somehow she had found a pad of paper and a pen. She had written down a lot of information.

"Should have made you an ambassador…Tell me what you're up to when you are done, ok Julie?" Branzer said. All three of them walked over to her and saw that he had written "Hunter" at the top of the page, then wrote "Beast Mastery" and then had almost a whole page written below it with various words and symbols. Then she had "Marksmanship" with only a couple of things, and then "survival" with two words, "hawk eye" written underneath it.

Julie held up a finger and started counting. Then she double checked her work.

"Ok, I think this is going to work. Have you guys done this yet?" Julie said seeming satisfied with her work.

"Uh, I'm trying to figure out how to open the scrolls. Here you have them all laid out, in some sort of organized fashion and obviously you have something figured out." Branzer said.

"Once you convert to a hunter class, you gain something called mana. This fuels your special abilities. Your pet has something similar called focus. I even figured out Spark's talent tree on the previous page. Tess said we have a tank and that I would be ranged, with one of their guns, and would have to do the most damage that I could. So I think I have everything configured for maximum damage, including Spark."

"Who's Spark?" Samatha said. That was the only thing she understood.

"He's my Saint Bernard." Julie said showing everybody pictures of him.

"So nobody explained any of this to you?" Julie asked all three of them. They just all sort of looked at each other.

"Hun, I just came over so we could talk about your break up." Samatha said.

"Yeah…" Julie said looking to the side. She let out a sigh and paused for a moment. Then she spoke up.

"I think this is more important though. Do you guys want me to explain these things to you?" Julie asked.

Bernett held up his hand. "I need to show Branzer something first. And then we'll all take a look. Branzer, do you have any drinks I could help make in the kitchen?" Branzer took the hint and started walking with him. Samatha looked over Julie's shoulder as Julie started showing her the different scrolls.

When they were in the kitchen, Bernett took out a folded piece of paper and gave it to Branzer.

Bernett said, "The Lieutenant gave me this email. His exact words were, 'Look at this silly chain letter I got. Supposed to send it to ten people and then I'll have good luck. I printed only one copy of it, take this to Branzer so he can laugh at it as well. I deleted all copies of it.' I read it already; it does look kind of silly."

Branzer looked at it. It read: "If we die by sending you this email, then so be it. There are seven of us that want to join your fight." It was labeled from, "The_Seven_freedom_fighters ".

"Chain letter huh?" Branzer said.

"I told him that if he gets any more of these silly emails to let us know so we could get a good laugh out of them as well. He agreed. My guess is that they all talked with each other somehow, obviously made an anonymous email address and somehow got the Lieutenant's personal work email. That's not easy to get." Bernett said. "Heck, I even have trouble remembering my own."

"I need to report this to the King. It could very well be a trap for us and some of the people that fought for us. Would you mind looking for something to drink in the refrigerator?" Branzer asked getting out his hearthstone. He thought of the King and began rubbing it. It flickered several different times, vanished, and then reappeared. Branzer thought that was a little odd. A one-way portal was created and he stuck his head in.

"Branzer, welcome. The King and I look forward to speaking with you. Trust me…it's been a long day for us. I was just about ready to shut down all communications to us when I noticed it was you. What is going on?"

Branzer put the email into the portal and explained how he got it. He said he suspected it to be a trap. The Queen levitated the letter to herself as he began to read it. Branzer then had to explain what email was to the Queen. The Queen told him to wait a second. The Queen began to channel a massive white light into the room. Branzer closed his eyes, but was still blinded by the light. Eventually his eyes hurt so bad that he was about ready to pull his head back out of the portal.

The Queen started to speak and the light dissipated.

"I was only able to reach five of them. Their intentions are pure. The other two are either out of range, or shielded or something. Send a communication back to them and tell them to simply just 'wait'. I'll send a group out and investigate their intentions. You will be going with the group. I will leave the decision up to you whether they are battle ready or not. Do not contact me again until at least twenty four hours have passed. My ambassadors will answer any questions you have. Summon me the same way you did, but you'll just get one of them instead. Good night." The Queen said. Branzer nodded and pulled his head out of the portal. It instantly closed.

"I made some grape Kool-Aid. Question I have is why do you have Kool-Aid?" Bernett said with a chuckle. "Also did you contact them while they were having sex as well?"

"No." Branzer said rolling his eyes. "And I like Kool-Aid. The Queen told me to send them a message simply stating, 'wait'. It sounded like she was tired. I'll go do that real quickly if you don't mind."

"I'll be serving up drinks." Bernett said and picked up three glasses and walked into the dining room. Branzer walked to his computer in his bedroom and from his Yahoo account, sent the message to the address with the message. He then tore up the email and tossed it in the trash. He walked back downstairs and heard Bernett and Samatha arguing.

"What's going on?" Branzer asked.

"Apparently Julie and Samatha have been talking. Samatha wants to become a holy priest and help out in Tranquil as well as here." Bernett said sternly.

"They helped me out, I want to return the favor. Besides if our little one gets hurt, I wont have to worry about him…or her… It'll save on medical bills! For crying out loud, I could save your life one of these days!" Samatha said back at Bernett.

"Guys, hold on for just a second. Samatha, do you remember being blasted by the monks? It'll take ten minutes of blasting in order to prepare your body for that role. With my new title I can allow you access into their city, but you may not be ready for it." Branzer said.

"And she might not make it out alive! What about our baby!" Bernett said.

"I'm ready to change right now." Julie said insisted.

"Ok, ok…Bernett do you want to view the scrolls as well? Might as well be all four of us at the same time if we are going to do it."

"I already have your classes and talents picked out." Julie said eagerly flipped a couple of pages. "I think as an ambassador you should have the ability to fight if needed, but that's just my opinion."

"Ok, Bernett let's humor her for a second and see what she has, ok?" Branzer said. They both looked over her notes.

"It's basically the same as Tess's. Mostly 'Marksmen'. It'll make it so your gun skills will improve dramatically, without giving off any aura's or anything that might give away the fact that you changed - so you can go in-between without anybody noticing. You will still be able to tame an animal and set traps, but mostly your gun power will amaze you. Depending on how much the King allows you to advance in the trees that is. Samatha I think will be given around ten points, maybe more from what the scrolls have taught me. The way I have it geared now is she'll be able to critical strike more and be able to defend herself better than a gun would be able to, while being able to heal better." Julie said. She then went on to explain everything in full detail. Everybody stood around the table and listened as the hours went by.

"Fine. Alright. If that is what you want my dear. This is our first baby though. I'm worried about that." Bernett said in frustration.

"Let me contact Herrior. He'll know more than I do. First thank you Julie for explaining all of this to me. You are a fast learner." Branzer brought out his stone again and brought up a portal of Herrior. He stuck his head through.

"I have four that want to go through the conversion process." Branzer said. "First, Samatha is one of them. As you know she is pregnant. Will it hurt the baby?"

"The baby will have no idea what is going on. We've already converted about half of the people out here. They are coming out very tired, but no permanent injuries. Do you think they are ready?"

"Ready? They are already figuring out their talent trees…Julie wants to bring her dog with her. His name is Spark. I also received a communication from seven of the people that fought with us stating that they want to continue fighting with us. I spoke with the Queen and he is going to investigate. She sounded tired."

"I have no idea how the negotiations went. Anyways, tell them that they will be assigned duties, as well as you two, within Tranquil until they have proven themselves. Women with children in their bellies do not enter the battle field. Have you begun looking at the documents I sent with you?" Herrior asked.

"Actually yes, I'm familiar with a lot of it. Julie explained a lot about the different classes and talents. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm eager to fulfill my role." Branzer said.

"I'm impressed. Most of the ambassadors don't read any of it." Herrior said smiling.

"What is a Death Knight?" Branzer asked.

"It's a race we know hardly anything about. It's just sort of a myth handed down from generation to generation. Some claim to have seen them. I personally don't know much about them." Herrior said. "Should I have Lindel create a portal so they can wait in line?"

Branzer pulled his head out of the portal. "Are you guys sure about this? It will hurt badly for ten minutes. Everybody has survived the conversion process though, they come out very tired. It will not hurt the baby."

"Yeah, let's do it." Bernett said looking at the other two women. They seemed eager to start.

"You will not be put on the battle field until you are ready. Samatha, you will not be put on the battle field until you have given birth, and then it may be awhile."

"I'm ok with that. I'll find a job doing something else. There has to be a place for healers to perform their work in the city." Samatha said eagerly. "Will we be able to come back?"

"Yes, any time you want from my understanding." Branzer said. "But all of this is a secret. Do not tell anybody what happens to you, or what you see. I'm serious about this. I'm sure you'll get the same lecture from Herrior." All of them nodded.

"Can you bring Spark as my pet? Most of my talents go into strengthening his damage output, or do I have to go home and get him?" Julie asked.

"Let me ask." Branzer said. He stuck his head back in the portal.

"Julie wants to bring her dog with her. Something about becoming a beast master, hunter, something. Is that possible?" Branzer asked.

"Yes. Lindel will be able to track him down. So three hunters and a priest. Eh, should be interesting…" Herrior said. He turned to Lindel and told her to open a portal. Branzer pulled his head back and the hearthstone's portal closed as Lindel opened her portal.

"Herrior said you can bring your dog, we'll go get him for you. Well, let's go. There are going to be creatures you may have never seen before. They are all on our side. Any last questions?" Branzer asked. Everybody looked at him in a serious tone.

"Ok, let's go. We might have to wait awhile. Herrior says there is a long line that has formed." Branzer said stepping into the portal. Everybody else followed.

The four of them appeared in the inner wall, it was real crowded. Herrior's group was busy pulling the people from the portals that came from the monks and carefully lining them up in a row. They were all sleeping. Even the group guarding the wall at the time was helping out directing everybody as to where to go. Quinely was flying overhead scanning for any activity. A long line was in front of another portal, the one leading to the monk's chambers.

"You can move to the back of the line." Herrior said pointing to the far end of the wall. "Lindel can you locate Julie's dog?"

Lindel walked up to Julie. "I'm going to scan your head real quick hun. Then I'm going to go in your world and get him. His name is Spark?" Julie nodded.

"What does he eat?" Lindel asked as her eyes turned purple.

"Dog food." Julie said as she felt Lindel probe her mind. Lindel started to chuckle and temporarily lost the connection.

"Your dog eats dog food. Makes sense to me. Could you be more specific?" Lindel asked as her eyes turned dark purple again.

"He has a bag of crunchies in the house. I usually give him two scoops in the morning and two at night. I'm not sure what it's made of. Usually meat by-products, vegetables, and grains I think." Julie said. Lindel cut the connection and said, "Ok I found him. The fairies that visit us will do the same for your dog. I'll pass on the menu."

"He won't be harmed, will he? I mean these people look like they've been through a lot of pain coming out of the portal." Julie asked with a worried tone in her voice looking at the people lying down.

"No, with pets it's different. We have a pet trainer that works with them for about a week. You can be there the whole time. I'll bring him right here so he can be with you. Should I leave a message with your parents as well?" Lindel replied.

"Hmm…can you tell them that I'm going to be away for awhile? Don't tell them where I'm going to be though." Julie said.

"I can't anyway. Ok I'll be right back." Lindel said opening a portal and stepped into it.

At Julie's house, Lindel became invisible and floated through the house until she located both parents. She quickly entered their minds and relayed the message. Then she flew out to get the dog.

"Hun, did something weird just happen to you?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, Julie's going to be away for awhile?" Her mom replied. They continued to talk among themselves as Lindel floated out to the backyard. Huge dog droppings were littered all over the yard. Spark sensed her and came out of his dog house. Lindel materialized right in front of him.

"My, you are a big fellow aren't you? Do you want to go see Julie?" Lindel asked in a happy voice. Spark started wagging his tail when Lindel said his master's name. Lindel walked over to the huge chain restraining the dog and wrapped her hand around it. Blue electrical sparks emitted from it, and soon the chain melted into the ground. She then created a portal and took Spark's collar.

"Come on boy, let's go see Julie! Come on!" Lindel said pulling on his collar. Spark sniffed the air first where the portal was created.

"It's ok; it's not going to hurt you. Julie wants to see you. Come on Spark, let's go see Julie!" Lindel said pulling on his collar. The dog slowly walked through the portal.

Spark walked out of the portal and began sniffing everything. He didn't seem to be afraid of the other races around him.

"There you go Spark. Look! Julie's over there!" Lindel said in her happy voice again.

"Spark! Come here boy!" Julie said in a happy voice. Spark instantly recognized her voice and began running over towards her. He knocked her down on the ground and began licking her face. Lindel became nervous at first as the dog's massive body easily knocked her to the ground. She started running towards the two of them.

"Did you miss me boy! What were you doing, probably sleeping in your house huh? Thinking of chewing on a big bone probably huh…" Julie said petting him as he continued licking her face. Julie pushed him off to the side and Spark let her stand up. Lindel stopped and watched the reunion of the two friends.

"Ok boy, I need to wait in line. You can go sniff everybody if you want. Just don't pee on anybody ok?" Julie said smiling. Spark sat next to her and started panting as Julie continued to pet him. Lindel went back to help out the rest of the group.

Inside of Tranquil, Dan and Crystal's went to Brenna's house. Brenna served them both tea, but none of them said anything for a couple of hours. Brenna continued to refill their cups when they were empty.

"We should probably do the same thing everybody is doing huh…" Crystal eventually said. She finished off her glass as Brenna eagerly refilled it.

"Right now, we're just half-assing it. I sense that you want to do the conversion process." Crystal said. Dan looked off to the side.

"I do, but I don't want to push you into anything. If I do it, then you might feel compelled to do it and I don't want to push you into doing it." Dan said. Crystal let out a sigh.

"Still ok with becoming a warrior class? Because I'm not doing this again." Crystal said. Dan nodded.

"It's only supposed to be ten minutes." Dan said.

"It hurts like hell!" Crystal screamed. Dan set down his cup. Crystal let out a sigh.

"Sorry…" she said. She gulped down the rest of her cup and said, "Come on, let's get this over with. Brenna, can you be with us after the process?"

"I would be honored!" Brenna said excitedly. She started gathering up towels, blankets, pillows, and stashing food into a knapsack. The three of them went through the portal.

"Brenna?" Herrior questioned seeing the three of them come through.

"I'm just with them." she said quickly.

"Where's the line?" Crystal said in a mean tone. Herrior pointed to Julie. All three of them walked over and stood by her. Spark started licking Crystal's hand and put his paw up on her. Crystal kept pushing him away, until Spark overpowered her and pushed her to the ground and started licking her face. Crystal began laughing.

"Get off me you mutt…" Crystal said as the dog's tongue went into her mouth. Crystal started spitting out the dog slobber. Julie pulled him back and helped Crystal to her feet, and they both started talking. It seemed to take Crystal's mind off from what was about to happen to her.

Two days passed before all of the conversions had been completed. Everybody that was converted slept the whole time. Skyka and Lindel carefully monitored everybody everybody's health. Herrior's entire group stayed awake the whole time as well.

Soon everybody began to wake up. Dan and Crystal woke up to Brenna's smiling face.

"Is it over?" Crystal asked.

"Yes hun, you did well. I stayed awake the whole time sitting beside you two." Brenna said with an extremely tired look on her face. Crystal leaned over and hugged Dan beginning to cry.


	9. Visitors

Visitors

"Ok everybody, it looks like you all are starting to wake up. The King wanted to come out to talk to all of you briefly. I'll contact him at once. Please just stay where you are." Herrior said. Herrior opened a small portal and began talking to the King. Julie's dog woke her up by licking her in the face. She sat up and began petting him. "Have you been with me the whole time Spark? It sounds like the King is coming so you have to be good ok?"

A portal opened and the King came out. Everybody bowed, even Julie's dog.

"First I must apologize. The Queen and I have been trying to get some new skills and talent trees for all of you. There are races out there more powerful than us. We're just in the talking phase right now, but I couldn't be disturbed." The King said and then clapped his hands together in front of him.

"Seeing all of you here and what you have just been though brings me great pleasure. Herrior sounds like he went over everything so I'll try to not repeat anything. Our defenses have been recalibrated for each of you. No weapons, no spells, no cannibalizing, ever." The King said looking at the undead. "But give it time. The citizens have been spoken to and are expecting all of you today. I ask that you give them time as well. They know everything that has been going on, but they may not take to you right away. I wanted to personally welcome the new races: the humans, the undead, and the orcs to our city. I wanted to thank all of you for becoming a class and starting your journey down whichever road you chose. If you do not wish to join a group, you can always be assigned to jobs in Tranquil. I will be watching all of you and call you into my chambers when I believe you are ready to advance in your class. Many of you are already there. Don't brag about your abilities to each other, it is based solely on my judgment. Be mindful of your thoughts and actions as all of you will be monitored closely until I feel safe with each of you. Feel free to ask your ambassadors any questions you may still have. In the meantime, please come in and explore. Thank you all again for pledging your loyalty to me and to our city, and for uniting against our common enemies." The King bowed before everybody and then went through the portal.

Everybody felt a surge of power envelope them, as the shield between the wall and the rocks was reactivated. Nobody saw them, but it was assumed that the Red Guard was active as well.

"You are all allowed to come and go from the city wall as you wish. Just stick your hand in the slot in the wall and it will open for you. Now I believe a welcoming party has been put together for us. Please follow me." Herrior said. His group all assembled behind him as they walked into the portal. One at a time all of the new races disappeared into the portal.

"Finally they are gone…" Leer said to his group letting out a deep breath. "I don't know about you guys but I'm tired. Let's kick back for awhile and relax, but nobody is to sleep until our shift is over."

Inside Tranquil many of the citizens cheered and waved as the new comers entered their city. Kask was holding Gernuck and set him down as he ran over to his parents, embracing them. The other children ran over and hugged Isnabell and Gernack as well. They then started to talk to them in their orc language and began pulling them through the crowd. Gernack looked back at Dan and Crystal and smiled as he disappeared into the city.

Many of the undead, orcs, Samatha, and Julie stared in awe at the brilliance of the city.

"You get used to it after awhile. The city stretches for miles and miles in every direction." Crystal whispered to them. She saw Herrior and his group heading for Brenna's house. She and Dan hurried to catch up with them. Brenna was already there talking with them.

"Can you make sure we aren't disturbed for the next week…?" Herrior said with a tired smile on his face.

Brenna laughed, "No, because I'll be sleeping as well." Mohania followed Herrior, and then undead followed Mohania.

"I don't think you ever met our warlock. His name is Mohania. Apparently they all want to rest here as well." Herrior said.

"I might have to get a bigger house." Brenna said smiling at them. "You are all welcome to stay anywhere you want. Some of you might have to sleep on the first level though. I'll see if I can get some extra blankets from my neighbors for all of you."

"That's ok. This is much bigger than what we were used to before. We wont require much space. Thanks for housing us." Kendall said. All of the undead began lining up in a row against the far wall, put their arms over their chest and their eyes became dim.

"Is that how they sleep?" Brenna asked.

"Got me, I didn't even know they did sleep." Herrior said at the top of the balcony. His entire group laid down and was snoring almost instantly. Dan and Crystal weren't physically tired, but felt mental drained. Brenna climbed her stairs and laid down next to Crystal and was snoring almost instantly.

Outside Brenna's house, Tess found the four humans.

"Do you guys want to come to my house and rest?" she asked. They all looked at each other.

"I think everybody has had enough excitement for awhile. Can we get a portal back to my house?" Branzer asked slowly. Everybody else slowly agreed.

"Sure, I look forward to helping you train in the future." Tess called over a Chronomancer, whose name none of them could understand. He was a blood elf. He opened a portal and everybody stepped through.

"So is that the place where you two scamper off to once in awhile?" Samatha asked.

"We mostly just stay outside the city and fight. Bernett, you and Samatha take my bed upstairs, Julie you can have the couch." Branzer said looking around. He went to a closet and grabbed a pillow and a sleeping bag.

"I'll crash right here. Help yourself to anything. My wallet is on the table if you want to order anything; phone book is on the end table next to it." Branzer said unrolling the sleeping bag on the floor.

"I never got one of those rock things that you guys got." Samatha said suddenly realizing it.

"Ah hell…" Branzer said and opened a portal with his hearthstone. He spoke to an ambassador and got a one-time use hearthstone and thanked her. Branzer closed the portal and gave it to Samatha.

"Ok, don't wake me up. Even if the house is on fire." Branzer said chuckling as he laid down.

That night, around eleven in the evening, Branzer suddenly began having a dream, as if something was scanning his mind and recalling all of the memories he's ever had. It wasn't a banshee; this was a lot more violent. Branzer forced himself to wake up and sensed three bodies standing over him. He looked up and saw three thin little green men with huge heads and large black eyes. Branzer forced himself to remain calm.

"You have more power than the rest of your species. Why is that?" A voice in his head said. The men swayed back and forth a little.

"We have two females and a male. They all said you are their leader. You will tell us how you got this new power." The voice said again. Branzer looked in between their bodies and saw Julie, Bernett, and Samatha all floating in mid-air behind them.

"Ok, just don't hurt them. I learned it from a rock. Let me get it, just a second." Branzer said in his mind. The three green guys waited patiently as Branzer fumbled for his hearthstone.

"Did it fall from your sky?" The voice asked.

"Yup, found it on a camping trip." Branzer said back. Suddenly he could hear the screams of agony from Julie, Bernett, and Samatha all at the same time in his head.

"You will tell us the origin of this rock." The voice said back.

"Ok, ok. Let me show you how to use it." Branzer thought of the King and rubbed it. A portal opened. The three little green men suddenly turned their attention to it.

"How did you do that? What is it?" The voice asked.

"Let me show you how it works." Branzer said in his mind. He stuck his head into the portal. A male troll ambassador was about to say 'hi' when Branzer started screaming.

"We're under attack! We're under…"

Time stopped.

Their four human minds didn't stop though. Branzer was pulled out of the portal and thrown up against the wall. His hearthstone dropped and the portal closed. He could hear the screaming from his friends behind them. The three creatures walked over and picked it up.

"Tell us how to use this, or we will start killing them. You will tell us how you got your powers as well." The voice said.

"Ok, ok guys just settle down." Branzer said. He began to feel an enormous invisible pressure pushing on his entire body against the wall behind him.

"First you think of a pleasant memory, click your heels together twice, and say 'There's no place like home.' over three times." Branzer said as the pressure was beginning to deform his face.

The green men continued to stare at him, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not.

"Which one do you want to die first?" The voice in his head said after a couple of seconds. Somehow they finally found the reference in his brain apparently.

"How about you get that black object over there on the table, put it in your mouth and pull the trigger!" Branzer yelled in his mind. Suddenly electrical currents ran all through his body, causing him to shake violently.

"Maybe you want to die first? And then one of them can show us how to get your powers?" The voice said.

Suddenly a portal opened. A troll with a shield and a sword came out first, along with two taurens and 4 blood elves. The troll threw his sword at the closest of the green men and instantly sunk into his head. The man dropped instantly and a gray liquid began spilling all over the ground.

"Aye, you be attacking them - you be attacking us mon. Kill 'em!" The troll yelled. One of the green men held up his hand and all of the troll's group dropped their weapons and flew up to the ceiling.

"Well we killed one of you bastards! I hope he was your brother! Look at him, getting my floor all gooey. You had better clean up that mess before it stains my wood floor!" Branzer yelled in his mind. Another electrical charge entered his body and this time was so intense that it made his skin smoke.

The portal was still open and the King had been watching all that took place since the portal opened. He turned to the side and created another portal.

"Mohania! Wake up!" The King yelled. Mohania instantly sat up. A large portal had formed in front of him. A smaller portal to the side of him was the King.

"Get in there and fry their asses, now!" The King said angrily. Mohania leaped forward and flew into the portal. He came out the other side, rolling onto Branzer's table. Mohania began charging up a spell when the green men turned around and tried to do the same trick to Mohania. It then looked like they were trying desperately to do several other things as Mohania's chaos bolt struck the closest one and completely disintegrated him. There was only smoke and some grey slime on the wall left from the body.

The last green guy left released everybody as they fell to the ground. Mohania's eyes burned with fire and he had a huge smile on his face as he approached him.

"You little piece of shit…my job is to torture humans…not yours!" Mohania then started charging up another bolt to shoot at him.

"Mohania stop!" The King yelled out. Mohania stopped the spell immediately but continued advancing towards him.

"I can rip him apart piece by piece if you prefer." Mohania said out loud.

Time resumed.

Samatha and Julie began to scream. Bernett put himself in front of them two and began looking for a weapon.

"He appears to be afraid of you…" The King said curiously.

"He's a quick learner…" Mohania said chuckling.

"Try to drain his mana." The King ordered. Mohania reached out one of his hands and a blue beam instantly appeared, but faded after a second.

"He doesn't have any mana." Mohania said. He was finally close enough that he reached out with his boney fingers and put them around the skinny man's neck. Mohania lifted him up into the air as the man began to flail around helplessly.

"Try to drain his soul." The King commanded. Mohania held up his other hand and a purple beam came out of his hand and hit the man, but instantly faded.

"No mana, no soul…let's see if I can make him squeal like a pig before he dies…" Mohania said tightening his grip.

The portal behind him instantly closed. Another one opened to the right of Mohania.

"Drain his life and toss him in the portal. I want the pleasure of playing with this one!" The King said. Mohania started up a green beam that began sucking away his health. After a couple of seconds it looked like he was gonna die.

"My King, he barely has any life at all. I only pulled a little bit from his body. My beam wasn't even at full strength yet."

"There are more of them in the ship back there!" Bernett yelled out pointing to the back yard. Mohania quickly turned his head and saw two green men staring at him through the door.

"Throw his green ass in the portal and go destroy the ship and everything in it's way!" The King demanded. Mohania threw the little green man into the portal and began running towards the door.

Time stopped.

Mohania flew the door open and picked up both men by the neck. Almost instantly their heads caught on fire as he tossed them aside.

Time resumed.

"Dumbass little green men…I will kill all of you!" Mohania screamed as he ran up the platform into the gray saucer shaped ship.

Mohania looked around and everything looked shiny, grey, and void of any features. Three green men came up from behind him. Mohania instantly ignited the ground around him, as fire emanated thirty yards away from his body. The creatures almost instantly burned up. He also noticed that the ship caught fire and burned along with the bodies.

Mohania began running through the hallways. One green man walked out in front of him. Mohania reached out and snapped his neck and tossed him to the side as he kept running.

"I can't decide whether to kill you all by hand or watch you burn by fire!" Mohania screamed. Mohania started to ignite the ground around him as he ran. The ship quickly caught fire.

Mohania ran into a big room with probably a dozen of these little green guys.

"Damn…so many spells to choose from…so little of you!" Mohania said in his sinister voice. Mohania began to channel fireballs from the ceiling and they instantly burned up six of them sitting around a series of controls. Mohania stopped channeling the spell and quickly ran around the room. He casted a series of fire explosions on the green men and watched them run around on fire. Then he began igniting the ground around his feet again, causing the ship to catch fire.

He began to feel the ship rumble. He continued channeling the spell as he pulled his hearthstone out. He could feel himself rising up into the sky.

"Get me out of here!" Mohania yelled. A portal opened in front of Mohania and he quickly ran through it. The ship flew upwards as fast as it could, but exploded - sending a giant shockwave threw the air.

He appeared outside the gate along with the humans and about thirty of the King's guards. The little green man was on the ground, he looked scared.

"Did you have fun Mohania?" The King asked staring at the creature before him.

"I would like to do it again." Mohania replied with a smile.

"Bernett, Branzer, Crystal, and Dan were just telling me that these creatures are called aliens. Again, they didn't think they existed, just like the worgens, but apparently they do. They seem to have the ability to stop time, and some powerful telepathic abilities. Apparently they were shocked when my forces weren't stopped by time. They seem even more shocked when their mental abilities didn't stop you. I'm assuming they cant control your mind, just like I can't read your mind. Which is why I summoned you after seeing what these aliens could do." The King said.

"May I torture him for a couple hundred years?" Mohania asked politely.

"No, that is my pleasure. Nobody, or thing, attacks my people!" The King said. He held up his hand and a yellow bolt of lightning entered the alien's eyes. The alien began to squirm and wiggle. It was obvious that he was in a lot of pain.

"Trying to read my mind? Perhaps for a negotiation or a plea for your life? I don't think so…" The King said and put his other hand forward and channeled another bolt at him.

"Apparently these little guys have been capturing and torturing your race for thousands of years." The King said turning to the four humans.

The King began to laugh as he said, "Ah, trying to shield your thoughts from me now are you? Figured out that I am reading your mind, and now you are trying to hide your secrets from me…" The King's eyes turned red as the intensity of the lightning bolts increased. Mohania smiled, but at the same time wished he could be the one to torture him.

"Apparently they create each other, using human elements. They take the seed from the male, put their imprint on it, and then seed a female woman with it. She then gives birth to a new one of them. It looks like they've been doing this with every race they find. Once they are done with them, they return them for later use, enslave them, or kill them." The King's power intensified as the alien's body seemed to go limp.

"And that is where they live. It's out of hearthstone range, but I can create a portal there." The King said with a thunderous voice.

"Ooo…ooo…pick me! Pick me!" Mohania said beginning to dance around.

"It looks like they only live on one world, a very small one in fact. Looks like only a couple of miles in diameter. Mohania I think you could kill everything there within a week." The King said.

"I'll do it in five days!" Mohania said excitedly.

The King stopped channeling his lightning bolts at him as his body lay limp on the ground. He slowly sat up and shook his head and hand, knowing exactly what information the King just extracted from him.

"Little bugger is strong, I'll give him that." The King said walking up to him and putting his foot on the alien's chest, pushing him back down on the ground.

"Mohania, assemble all of your undead. You are going on a raid. You are to extinguish all life where I send you. Do you understand? Anything that moves, kill it!" The King said. Mohania suddenly rushed to his warlock cave and gave a quick series of simple instructions. All of the undead warlocks began running towards and gathered around Mohania. Mohania then excitedly pulled out his hearthstone and woke up the rest of his undead in Brenna's house. They all instantly began running towards the portal out of Tranquil.

"I will reward you when your job is complete. What do you desire?"

"Power!" Mohania said fiercely.

"How can I increase your power Mohania?" The King said putting more pressure on his foot, enjoying watching the alien wiggle for its life.

Mohania became excited, and then instantly the smile was gone.

"I know more than your class trainers, and have more talents than your people could provide for me." Mohania said with a sigh. "Could you look for more of my race?"

"Already doing that. Our scouts have been looking for undead or orcs for a couple of days now. Name another request." The King said patiently.

Mohania looked around. "My thirty warlocks can't learn anymore, their minds just can't process any more information. But none of them have seen a talent trainer. Also my seven undead family wish to have their powers maxed out and talent trees as well."

"I was going to do that to your seven undead fighters anyways after they woke up. However I will have you help teach your thirty warlocks whatever talents you wish. How many talents do you think they can learn?" The King replied.

Mohania was quiet for a couple of seconds pondering the question. "I would like to try to max them out. In exchange, I will teach them a one word command in common speak so any of your groups can call them forth to fight by their side. They will continue to fight until they die, or run out of mana. However I ask if one of them dies that healers try to resurrect them. You will not be able to control them, they will all target the first enemy they sense and move on from there. When the battle is over they will return to their cave. With the talents I'm thinking of right now, they shouldn't run out of mana…but then again they aren't the brightest. Do we have an agreement?"

The King smiled. "They won't view my fighters as an enemy, will they?"

"No, I have already talked to them. They all know who's on our side. Unless of course some idiot drops their weapon on one of their heads again…" Mohania said turning his head around to look at Branzer. Branzer rolled his eyes.

"Let me ask you a question Mohania. Have you ever heard of Glyphs of Power?" The King asked.

"No." Mohania said impatiently, thinking that the King was going to tell him a long forgotten tale of some raid, or adventure.

The King smiled. "You haven't been in Tranquil real long, have you? As a gesture of my goodwill, I will give you some glyphs right now, and then have some made for your undead after you complete your raid. How about reducing the mana cost of your shadow bolt, reduce the casting time of your chaos bolt, and increase the critical strike chance of your searing pain by twenty percent. How about occasionally creating two soul shards instead of one, and lowering the cast time of your enslave demon by fifty percent? Interested?"

Mohania raised his left eyebrow.

"If you do all that for me, I will make arrangements for the glyphs." The King instantly created a portal and told a female tauren what he wanted. The King watched the tauren quickly assemble all of the glyphs and then was instantly ported to the King's location as the portal closed.

"Engrave them on Mohania, that is, if we have an agreement?" The King asked.

Mohania nodded and slowly turned his head all the way around watching the tauren putting the glyphs on his back. He watched them become absorbed into his cloak. Instantly he felt the affect from them. Mohania's head suddenly turned back to the King with a large smile and fire shooting out from his eyes.

"Negotiating with you is fun Mohania. We should do it more often." The King said looking over at Mohania as he turned his head back around.

"I will negotiate with you more if you allow me to finish off this piece of filth." Mohania said with a big smile.

The King picked up the alien by the neck, and threw him very high into the air.

"Eh - whoever kills him first gets that honor…" The King said and walking away from the group.

Suddenly a huge brawl started among the King's army to try to kill the alien first. All of the ranged and spell casters began firing at him. None of them were able to get an accurate shot though from all of the pushing. The alien peaked at its height and started falling back down. Its eyes became huge as it tried flaying its arms in the air. The King's army continued to push and shove as they all raised their weapons and ranged weapons at the incoming body. The alien let out a tiny squeak as it landed on several weapons and was torn to shreds in seconds.

The King opened a portal and poured an enormous amount of power into it. It slowly grew bigger and they all could see thousands upon thousands of aliens all over the place, with silver disk like ships in the background. They also saw several different races, including humans, being levitated to different places.

"Remember our agreement Mohania. I want the vessels they travel in destroyed as well. Don't cannibalize them; we don't know what it would do to your bodies." Mohania turned around and spoke in the undead language. Instantly all of the warlocks produced a black aura around them.

"Let me see your stone." The King said stretching out his hand. Mohania dropped his hearthstone in the King's hand. He closed his fist and an enormous purple light erupted from it.

"It's only got the power to talk to me once. And it better be after everything is dead." The King said with a smile handing it back to him. Mohania let out a devious laugh. The King motioned for him to go, Mohania said some quick words in his language and they all started pouring in through the portal.

"Well, back to business. Do you guys want a portal home?" The King asked to the humans.

"Sure. So they won't come around again?" Branzer asked.

"Mohania is there, with no restrictions, with his undead. Do you really think there's going to be anything left?" The King said chuckling. The King snapped his fingers and quickly produced a portal back to Branzer's house.

"Anything else happens, let me know." The King said and vanished into the air with his guards. They all instantly reappeared back in the palace. The four humans went through the portal and arrived back at Branzer's house.

"Does anything normal ever happen! For crying out loud! I'm going to go back upstairs and take a shower and go back to bed." Bernett said marching up the stairs.

"I'll join you in the shower…" Samatha said in a sexy tone.

"No matter what happens, stay down stairs Branzer." Bernett said laughing as the two of them went up the stairs and vanished.

"What was that all about?" Julie asked.

Branzer laughed, "Nothing…I'm going to have a couple of beers and then go back to bed. You want any?"

"No, the couch is calling me. Talk to you in awhile."

All of the undead landed on the planet. There was no vegetation, hardly any light, and the eyes of hundreds of aliens all staring at them.

Time stopped.

They all tried to control them with their minds. They all failed attempt after attempt. Almost all at the same time they began raising their hands, trying to channel some sort of other telepathic ability at them.

Mohania began to laugh a very sinister, evil laugh that echoed for miles around.

"Your race dies today! Go have fun my brethren. Tear them apart!"

Kendall ran over and kissed Mohania. "This is going to be a fun date! Let's go see who can kill the most!"

"You'll lose woman…I guarantee it!" Mohania said sinisterly again.

The undead quickly started fanning in every direction, leaving nothing but death in their way. They all learned that they could rip apart their fragile bodies faster than they could channel a spell at them.

Mohania crippled a whole bunch of aliens and tossed them into a giant pile and was about ready to ignite them on fire, when Kendall pushed him out of the way and let out a blast of arcane magic. It ripped through the aliens leaving only tiny pieces of them behind.

"That's cheating!" Mohania yelled. Kendall turned around and smacked her butt at him. Mohania rose up and began chasing after Kendall. Kendall let out a playful scream as she ran forward, blasting as many aliens as she could. Mohania began to chase her, while igniting the ground around him on fire. Normally he would have taken pleasure in watching them die, but he wanted to win the contest. So far he knew he was falling behind on the body count.

Suddenly their silver saucer shaped ships began flying overheard. Mohania charged up one of his chaos bolts and let it fly. The blast sailed through four ships as they all crashed down and exploded, killing hundreds of aliens on the ground.

"Top that woman! That was probably a thousand with one spell!" Mohania said turning around to see that Kendall had downed five ships. She was smiling at him.

"Damn it…" Mohania mumbled as his eyes burned with anger. He continued his killing spree as fast as he could.

Eventually Kendall ran out of mana and couldn't cast any more spells until she recharged again.

"If you were a warlock, you could have the demon armor to recharge you!" Mohania taunted at her as he continued to blast the ground surrounding him with fire. Mohania turned around and continued casting his spells. Kendall ran up to an alien trying to run away from her and ripped off its head. She then threw it at Mohania. It made a "splat" sound as it hit Mohania's back. It startled him so much that he forgot what spell he was casting. He looked behind him and saw the decapitated alien head behind him. Kendall started laughing as she violently ripped another head off its owner and threw it at him. This time it hit Mohania in the face. Kendall fell to the ground with laughter.

"Two can play that game. Get over here you!" Mohania said to the alien he was about to incinerate. Mohania ripped off an arm and threw it at Kendall. It smacked her in the legs. Kendall got to her feet and shouted, "Hey!" when suddenly the other arm hit her in the gut. She saw Mohania ripping off one of his alien's legs so she quickly looked for more ammunition. She grabbed another alien slammed it to the ground and picked it up by the feet, all while dodging the incoming leg from Mohania. The next leg that Mohania threw was flying towards her. She swung the alien around and hit the leg with the aliens head. It made a sickening splat noise. Kendall then held the alien over her head with both hands and began to charge at Mohania.

Mohania looked down at alien with no arms or legs. It's mouth was slowly moving.

"Eh, you aren't going to work…" Mohania said slamming him on the ground and shoving his foot into his head. Mohania ran backwards to fetch another alien. Mohania picked it up by the legs and head and turned around just in time to deflect Kendall's attack. Both aliens hit each other with another sickening splat. Mohania and Kendall began swinging them at each other until the alien bodies couldn't hold together anymore. They then threw them on the ground and both of them slammed their feet into the alien heads. Afterwards they then walked up to each other and began passionately kissing each other.

After several seconds Kendall leaned over to Mohania's ear and whispered. "I'm still winning…" and pushed Mohania to the ground.

Mohania stared at Kendall as she ran away, continuing to blast away at the aliens. A huge smile of affection came over his face as he watched her.

"…should have asked the King if I could form a union with her…" Mohania mumbled to himself.

"You coming, or are you just going to stand there and stare!" Kendall said looking back at him. Mohania shrugged debating what he wanted to do. Kendall let out a laugh. She then picked up an alien and launched it into the air. The alien's arms and legs were flailing as Kendall shot it with an arcane blast. It instantly exploded and rained down the remains of the alien.

"Bet you can't do that!" Kendall taunted him.

Mohania ran as fast as he could towards Kendall. He picked up three aliens along the way. He spun around and launched all of them into the air. Once they were over Kendall's head, Mohania casted his searing pain fire spell at them. They all exploded and the remains rained down on Kendall's head.

"Hey! I just had my hair done!" Kendall yelled playfully.

Both of them continued the slaughter for several hours when Kendall almost ran into a large grey building. Kendall stood back and looked up at it.

"I wonder what this is." She asked out loud. Suddenly a chaos bolt slammed into the side of it, engulfing the whole side of it in fire.

"Looks like a building on fire to me." Mohania said charging up another chaos bolt and launching it at the building. It sailed right through the side of the building and caused an enormous explosion in the middle of the building.

"My spells are powerful, but it wasn't supposed to do that…" Mohania said as secondary explosions began to explode through the building.

As the explosions continued, aliens began to flee from it. Kendall quickly picked off all the ones running out the front door, as Mohania burned the ones he saw in the building. Within a minute there was an enormous blast sending bodies and building parts flying all over. Kendall and Mohania quickly ducked down to the ground.

"Who gets credit for that one?" Kendall asked.

"It was my chaos bolts…" Mohania bragged as the explosions continued.

"Well I think you just took the lead…it feels like the whole planet is shaking…" Kendall said nervously.

For the next several minutes all of the alien's space ships exploded, sending pieces of debris all over the place. Several eruptions exploded through the surface, sending more debris and pieces of bodies flying into the air.

After ten minutes everything became deathly quiet. Both of them stood up. They both looked down a giant hole that was made during the chaos. There looked to be hundreds of levels to this planet they were on, only now they were all completely engulfed in flame. The core of the planet looked to be white hot and somehow Mohania caused some sort of chain reaction, creating the inner fire from the planet to erupt and burn everything except for the surface level.

Mohania grinned. "My chaos bolts kick ass…"

"Yeah, you sure did something hun." Kendall said. "We would have been here for a long time, going from level to level killing everything. It would have been fun, don't get me wrong, but I think you just sped up the process by a lot. Doesn't explain why all of their ships just all of a sudden exploded though."

"Less analyzing, more killing. Look! All of these aliens are running to a circle about two hundred yards from here. They are just standing there. It might be some sort of escape plan for them." Mohania said and began running towards them. Kendall took off towards him.

After several minutes of running, Mohania and Kendall ran into all of the other undead. Mohania quickly shout out several words in the undead language. All of the undead reported that they killed everything in their path and that after the large explosions; they followed the rest of the aliens to this circle.

There were about one thousand aliens left, all standing in a circle. A blue force field encircled all of them. Mohania gave the command to circle the rest of the aliens. Mohania walked forward and began to stick his finger into the force field.

"Hun, it might kill you!" Kendall said.

"I doubt it…if they had the power to stop us, they would have used it…" Mohania said as his skeleton hand passed right through the blue shield completely unharmed. The rest of the aliens suddenly saw this and seemed to panic. Mohania pulled his arm back.

"Let's give them a show! All warlocks run around them casting seed of corruption until your mana is drained. You have eighteen seconds…go!" Mohania yelled. All of the warlocks casted the spell and launched it into an alien. The alien watched the spell go into him, and the others watch him to see what would happen. The alien reported to the others that he felt fine.

Meanwhile the warlocks continued to run around the circle casting as quick as they could. Each warlock was able to get seven seeds planted a piece before the eighteen seconds were up. They were all low on mana, but quickly started regaining their strength back.

After eighteen seconds were up, all of the aliens that had seeds planted in them exploded instantly, and every alien within fifteen feet exploded as well. It was a massive slaughter as grey slime and body parts flew all over. The remaining aliens began to quiver in fear as the undead approached them.

One of the aliens stepped forward and quickly wrote something in the soft dirt in front of Mohania. Mohania paid no attention and stepped on it as he walked closer.

"Mohania, that one is trying to communicate with you." Kendall said.

"So." Mohania said as he glared into the alien's eyes.

"So, you are an ambassador. Aren't you supposed to try to communicate with them?"

"Nope, orders were to kill everything." Mohania said as large flames shot out of his eyes. The alien ran backwards and quickly wrote something in the dirt again using his mind.

"At least see what he is talking about, and then I'll personally help you torture each one, sound good." Kendall said in a sweet voice. Mohania let out a sigh. He looked down at the dirt and read it.

"It says don't kill us." Mohania said with no emotion. Mohania scuffled the dirt and burned the words, "I want to watch all of you suffer and die a slow painful death!" into the sand with his finger. The alien quickly read it and wiped the burned dirt away with a mere thought.

"What do you want? Money, sex slaves, weapons, power?" The alien quickly wrote.

"This is boring me!" Mohania shouted.

"Ask him what kind of power he can offer us?" Kendall said. She had been walking over towards him, curious as to what they were talking about. Mohania scuffled all of the dirt away and burned a circle around the word "power".

The alien seemed relived for a second and blew all of the dirt away. The alien quickly started writing words all over the dirt. The alien listed about fifty different things.

"I don't understand a word of what he's trying to say…" Mohania said sounding upset. Mohania folded his arms over his chest and glared at the alien. The alien quickly erased everything and began making a new list. This time a phrase caught this attention, "Time-stopping". Mohania out-reached his finger and burned a circle around the phrase. The alien quickly erased everything else and wrote, "If you let us live, we'll teach you what we know about time-stopping."

Mohania wrote, "How about I shove my foot up your ass, and you tell me what I want to know!" The aliens quickly looked at each other, not understanding the phrase. Mohania reached forward and grabbed one of the aliens and pulled him back to Kendall. Mohania forcefully bent the alien over. The alien didn't have a butt. Mohania decided to change that. He took his finger and burned a deep hole into where his butt should have been, the alien squirmed but was not powerful enough to break free from Mohania's grasp. Mohania then pointed to the hole in the alien's new butt and then burned a circle around the word "ass" in his sentence. Mohania then pointed to Kendall's foot and then burned a circle around "foot" in the sentence.

"If you would my dear." Mohania said with a smile.

"It would be my pleasure." Kendall said smiling back. Kendall backed up a couple of feet and then ran forward and shoved her foot up the aliens new butt crack as far as she could. The alien shook violently. He tried to push himself free from the skeleton foot in his read end. The rest of the aliens watched in shock. Kendall then pulled her foot free. Mohania threw the alien over by the rest of them. Mohania then burned the words, "Understand?" right underneath the previous sentence.

The aliens started turning to each other and seemed to be communicating as quickly as they could. Then the one alien erased what was written and wrote, "We would not like your foot up our ass, it hurts a lot." Mohania and Kendall burst into laughter.

"Your right hun, this ambassador thing is fun…" Mohania said with a big smile on his face. Mohania erased the words and wrote: "Time-stopping knowledge, NOW!"

The alien erased the words and began to write, "What do we get…" when Mohania screamed violently into the air. It startled the alien and stopped him from writing the rest of the sentence. Mohania's body became engulfed in flame. He slammed his fists together in the air and a huge column of fire erupted from it. It flew about fifty yards into the air, arched a little and then slammed down right where the alien was writing something. The aliens quickly all backed up as they watched the enormous display of power.

The column wrote the word, "NOW!" in huge letters.

"What warlock spell is that?" Kendall asked.

"One I just made up. Think the letters are big enough? I wanted to make sure I got my point across, you know, being an ambassador and all, I have to make sure they understand." Mohania said.

"I think he was going to try to barter for their lives." Kendall said.

"I thought he was going to tell me the weather report for tomorrow." Mohania leaned forward at the aliens as flames shot out of his eyes a couple of feet. He opened his mouth and blue electrical sparks erupted in a series of explosions.

"If we ever mate, can you do that to me?" Kendall said in a sexy voice. Mohania stood back up and returned his face back to normal.

"You're as bad as the other women in our group; it gets harder and harder to concentrate with you females around." Mohania said with a smile. Kendall chuckled.

The alien he was communicating with began to write a letter in the dirt when he saw Mohania's fists engulf in flame again. Instead he produced a paper like material and began writing on it using his mind. After he was finished he then reached his arm out. Mohania took the paper. The alien then began to write something in the dirt.

"AOE's, now!" Mohania ordered without looking down. Suddenly the air was filled with balls of firing raining from the sky. It quickly burned up the rest of the aliens.

Mohania looked down at what he wrote, "Let us go now?" Mohania loosened his robe and took out his penis. He peed the word "No" in the dirt.

Kendall rolled her eyes and walked away. "Men…" she said in disgust. Mohania thought it was funny. Mohania then directed everybody over to one of the giant craters that were formed.

"Fire everything you have into the center of the planet!" Mohania said putting the paper into his pouch and channeling one of his chaos bolts. All of their spells hit the core and began to agitate it even more. More explosions followed.

"Stick close together, keep firing!" Mohania said launching another chaos bolt into the core of the planet.

After a moment of continuous firing, the core began violently unstable and began to blow holes everywhere on the planet's surface. Mohania told them all to keep firing as he activated his stone. A portal opened up in front of them.

"Put the portal above us!" Mohania yelled into the portal. The portal slowly moved its position to right above their heads.

The planet suddenly erupted, blowing all of the undead through the portal - just as Mohania had predicted. A large explosion occurred sending tiny fragments of the planet in all directions.

Time resumed.

The seven undead and Mohania flew out of the portal and slammed into the wall behind them. They noticed that all of their powers had been drained. Mohania realized that they were in the inner chambers of the King. Mohania spoke several words in the undead tongue. They all quickly ran to the white light and bowed before the King.

"Where's my other warlocks? The thirty of them that helped?" Mohania demanded.

"I put them outside the gate to go into their cave. They are safe I assure you. But the question is why are you back so soon? That only took about eight hours? What went wrong?" The King said sounding annoyed.

"We blew up the whole damn planet, after we killed everything that was living on it; just wanted to be thorough." Mohania said with a grin on his face. The King spun the portal around and stared into it. Nothing but pieces of rock and metallic fragments were left. The King looked shocked.

"Holy shit…you did!" was all the King could say.

"Being an ambassador, and with the help of Kendall, I was able to get this information for you concerning time-stopping." Mohania said pulling the letter out of his pouch. The King levitated it towards himself and began reading it. The Queen became curious and looked over his shoulder. The King got to the end of it. It was instructions on how to extend the time-stopping ability. It didn't tell how to give someone the time stopping ability though.

"You've got to be kidding me…how did you get this information?" the King said again looking surprised.

"Took some negotiating…" Mohania said with a big smile.

The King took out his hearthstone and summoned Herrior.

"Get your group assembled and get here now!" The King closed the portal. He then summoned all of the time-stoppers in his city to the inner palace as well.

They all waited in silence as everybody assembled in the inner chambers as fast as they could. Once everybody was scanned and brought in, the King said. "Gather around. Herrior, one of your members of your group led a raid and I was absolutely amazed with the results!"

The King then turned to Mohania and said, "Mohania, my new ambassador, I believe has a story to tell."

"Am I going to get everything promised to me? Have I proven myself and my race to you yet?" Mohania asked.

"Yes, now please, tell your leader, your friends, the time-stoppers, and my Queen and I what happened." The King said eager to hear the story.

Mohania began explaining that the four humans on Earth were attacked by green pieces of shit. The King rolled his eyes.

"Bernett, Samatha, Julie and Branzer were attacked by what they called aliens. We found out that they had time stopping abilities and strong telepathic abilities. Branzer summoned us for help, and then he got beat up pretty bad. Mohania, you may continue your story."

"Anyways, the other races came to the rescue and only managed to kill one of them, after a couple of seconds they were thrown to the ceiling. So then the King summoned the most powerful person in his kingdom, myself. He knew that only I possessed the…" Mohania began to say.

"Mohania…can we skip to the part where you and the undead fought on the planet. And please keep the bragging to a minimum." The King said with his head in his hand. He looked up and said, "I called on Mohania because I can't read his mind, as well as the other undead. Yes, Mohania was the most powerful out of all of the undead. But I figured if I couldn't read his mind, neither could the aliens. So he might be immune to their powers as well."

"I cannot imagine Mohania exaggerating about his powers my King…" Skyka said with a silly grin on her face. The rest of the group began to chuckle.

"My story, I'm telling it how I remember it…" Mohania snapped back. Mohania then continued by telling how he single handedly took down one of their ships in a matter of seconds because of how powerful his hellfire fire spell was.

The King sighed. "People just use your best judgment…after Mohania destroyed the ship; I interrogated one of the aliens and found out where his people lived. They had been tormenting different species for thousands of years. I decided to let Mohania and his undead lose on their planet. I told them to destroy everything on that planet. Ok, Mohania, take the story from there. Kendall please feel free to interrupt him if things seem a bit…oh…exaggerated." The King said looking at Kendall. She smiled back and nodded.

Mohania then spoke about the aliens trying to attack them, and they all merely laughed at them. He ordered his undead to go wreck havoc on the planet and leave nothing alive. Mohania spoke of the killing contest between him and Kendall. He bragged about taking down four of their ships with one chaos bolt at the same time. Kendall turned around to the group, pointed to herself and held up five fingers. Everybody smiled as he continued.

Mohania explained how he got rudely interrupt by an alien's head being tossed at his back, and then another hitting his face.

"I did that!" Kendall said proudly, as the room chuckled. Mohania then explained that they started ripping off pieces of aliens and throwing them at each other, and then using two of aliens as swords and trying to hit each with their bodies.

"And then what happened Mohania…" Kendall said staring at him.

"We went back to killing more of them." Mohania said.

"What happened before we went back to killing them, and after the sword fight…" Kendall said glaring at him.

Mohania mumbled some words.

"I'm way in the back Mohania, I couldn't hear you!" Lindel said beginning to laugh.

"Kendall and I kissed, for quite awhile." Mohania said in a low voice. Several "ooo's" came out of the group.

"And if I remember right, you completely forgot what you were doing…" Kendall said running her finger underneath his chin. "All you could think about was my body as I ran away from you huh…"

Mohania growled and looked away. "I'm sure everybody wants to hear about the death and destruction parts…"

Several "nope", "na-ah's", "not really", and "no's" came from the crowd. This seemed to amuse the King and Queen.

Mohania quickly continued his story as he explained how the two of them made fireworks out of the alien bodies. Soon they came to an odd building and how he immediately started launching his chaos bolts into it, blowing the entire building up with merely two spells. The crowd looked at Kendall. She sort of bounced her head from side to side, as if saying that part of that was true.

Mohania then said that all of their vessels started to explode, the whole world began to rip itself apart, and large secondary explosions were occurring because of the sheer power from his spells. He explained how his two spells tore open the very fabric the planet was made of and large explosions occurred in the ground creating huge craters. Mohania then reported that there were many levels to the planet and that his spells charged up the core of the planet somehow and caused it to burn up all of the levels except the ones they were standing on, killing thousands and thousands of the little green pieces of shit.

"Kendall?" The King asked.

"My King, it was Mohania's chaos bolts that started it. But I merely think it started some sort of chain reaction. I don't think they had any defenses, and probably had huge machines that were extremely volatile. But yes, what Mohania said was true. And I would like to point out that I was winning the killing contest until the chain reactions started. Technically, I think I personally killed more before all of the commotion happened…"

"We were going by body count woman…I blew you out of the water!" Mohania snapped back.

"Fine…you won the contest…" Kendall said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Just as long as everybody knows…" Mohania began to say but was interrupted by his group when they all said his name. This made the King and Queen smile again.

Mohania then told of how all of the little green pieces of shit, Kendall interrupted and said "aliens". Mohania ignored her and said how all of them began scared of him and his power that he possessed and began to all run towards a circle. Mohania then told of being surprised when he met up with the rest of the undead all in this circle. They all reported that all of the aliens were all dead except for the ones in the circle. Then he explained about how a blue shield formed around them, but it was no match for Mohania's demon armor as he reached right through it. Mohania then said that he commanded all of the warlocks to plant a seed of corruption in the aliens and set it to go off in eighteen seconds. Mohania began laughing as he told of all of the body parts suddenly flying into the air.

"There was only a couple left. My plan was to rip off their heads one at a time and see how many I could juggle, but somebody insisted on me practicing my ambassador skills…" Mohania said with an evil look.

"I just wanted to know what they were saying…" Kendall said sharply back. "And I did offer to help you destroy them afterwards, didn't I?"

"My orders were to kill everything, not negotiate." Mohania said back.

"You know nothing about negotiating! We were going to kill them anyways. Your idea of negotiating is ripping off one of their heads, sticking your hand up their neck and making their mouth talk to the rest of them. You needed the practice!" Kendall said. The rest of the room felt the air become tense, but couldn't help letting a laugh out occasionally.

Mohania glared at her, and Kendall glared back. After a couple of seconds they both started laughing. The rest of the room joined the laughter. The King and Queen just looked at each other and sighed.

"I never thought of that, negotiations probably would have gone faster than writing in the dirt." Mohania turned to the King and asked, "My King, may I bring Kendall with me for my ambassador trips?"

"Mohania…and don't take offense to this…but I think you'll be the last one I call to make an ambassador trip." The King said chuckling.

"I did get that time-stopping information for you." Mohania reminded him.

"You only got that because I had to put my foot up the ass of one of those aliens!" Kendall spoke up.

"You were only able to do that because I burned a hole in one of their asses!" Mohania said quickly right back. The crowd began to chuckle again.

"Mohania, what kind of negotiations were you doing?" the King asked.

"I told them that I wanted the time-stopping information that they claimed to have or I would put my foot up their ass. They didn't understand, so we demonstrated for them. In exchange they were pleading for their lives or something…I didn't really pay much attention…" Mohania said quickly.

"Mohania, negotiations involve give and take." the King said.

"I did! They gave me the information and I took their lives." Mohania said insistently.

"That's not really what I was thinking…" the King said with a smile.

"Why don't you tell everybody what you did after you killed all of them? You know, when they wrote in the sand before you ordered the slaughter of all of them? Tell everybody what you did!" Kendall said sounding upset.

"I…seem to forget…" Mohania said quietly.

"Tell them or you'll never see that part of you again…" Kendall said glaring at him. Mohania looked at her and then looked away. Lindel and Skyka started chuckling but held their laughter.

"They wrote, 'Let us go now?' and I simply answered the question, after they were all dead. I followed my orders exactly to the letter that the King gave me." Mohania said.

"Are you going to tell everybody or should I?" Kendall said scooting over towards him.

"There were no fairies on this planet. I had to urinate. So I wrote the word 'No' for their answer, with my urine." Mohania said quietly. Everybody erupted in laughter.

Kendall stood up after awhile and faced the group. "How many of you women would be grossed out if they saw a male writing something in the dirt with their urine!" All of the women turned to the males and glared at them.

"Alright, alright…let's get some order back in my palace." the King said, noticing that his queen was glaring at him just the same as the other women were doing to the males. "Tell us how you blew up the planet."

"I ordered everybody over to one of the craters and we began unloading our spells into the core as fast as we could. It caused more eruptions, earthquakes, and ruptures in the surface. When there was hardly anything left, I opened the portal, dumped as much power as we could into the core and it blew us up into the portal. Next thing we know we are here, watching the planet explode into tiny pieces. Can my undead get their promised new abilities and talents now?" Mohania asked.

The King and Queen both rose from their chairs and began clapping. Immediately everybody else in the inner chambers began clapping for them as well. Mohania stared forward completely emotionless waiting for his question to be answered. Kendall let out a scream of joy and tackled Mohania to the ground and began kissing him.

The King and Queen sat back down. Everybody stopped clapping. Kendall was still on top of Mohania's side.

"I underestimated you, Mohania. You completed your task in only eight hours. I thought it would take you at least a week. This raid, along with the assignment you did with Lindel, has really impressed me." the King said with pride. Lindel cheered and ran forward and jumped on Mohania as well. Mohania let out an "Oof" sound as Kendall laughed.

"Powers now then? Before my bones are crushed?" Mohania said.

"I think you should make a short announcement to the people of Tranquil to let them know what you did." The King said. He opened a portal in front of Mohania, with Lindel and Kendall still sitting on him. The citizens stopped what they were doing and looked at them.

"I love all of you!" Lindel yelled as she got off from Mohania to the left side. The people cheered.

"I love Mohania!" Kendall shouted as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. The citizens began to talk among themselves. Kendall got off to the right. Kendall quickly made eye contact with Lindel. She pointed to her robe, nodded her head towards Mohania and held up three fingers. Lindel couldn't read her mind, but knew exactly what she meant. He eyes flew open and she let out a tiny gasp, as she understood what Kendall was proposing.

Mohania stood up and looked over the portal at the King. The King waved his hand at him to proceed.

"My undead has just completed a successful raid that the King ordered. I ask that you accept us as one of you." Mohania said. Mohania then looked over the portal at the King and asked, "I think I've been humiliated enough for today. Can I get our powers now?"

Kendall glanced at Lindel and quickly closed her fingers from three to zero almost instantly. Just then both women grabbed Mohania's robe and pulled it completely off from him. He stood there, completely naked, in front of the people of Tranquil. All the people in Tranquil suddenly gasped.

"Wonderful." Mohania said completely emotionless.

The King quickly closed the portal and burst into laughter along with the rest of the groups in the inner chambers. Even the guards had dropped their weapons and were laughing.

Herrior and Kendall's group laughed so hard they had to hold their stomachs. Tears were flowing from everybody.

"I hate all of you." Mohania said reaching down for his robe and putting it back on. This only fueled the laughter more. Mohania just simply stared ahead, completely emotionless.

After several minutes of uncontrollable laughter, the King and Queen got back in their chairs and started clearing their throats. He called for silence.

"Had I known Kendall would do that, I would have prevented it. Lindel, you should know better." the King said trying to hold a straight face, but eventually burst into laughter again. This only triggered another round of uncontrollable laughter from everybody.

Mohania sighed and rolled his eyes.

After several more minutes, the King called for silence again.

"I'm sorry Mohania, but you have to admit that was pretty funny. I thought you being an ambassador would want to say more to the people of Tranquil, to represent your race. You were well within your right to brag about your race's accomplishment today to everybody." the King said trying to clear his throat. He continued, "I think you should think of a suitable punishment for Lindel and Kendall."

Lindel ran over to Kendall and spun her around. Then she pushed her over so both of their butts were sticking out at Mohania.

"You could spank us…" Lindel said in a sexy tone. Kendall began to laugh and pushed Lindel away. The two of them began to laugh together. Mohania again rolled his eyes.

"My King, I do not want them to be punished. I love both of them. But I love Kendall romantically. I wish to make a request." Mohania said. Kendall instantly stopped laughing and looked at Mohania with sudden curiosity. She looked at the King and then quickly back at Mohania.

The King raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "What is your request?"

"I wish to have the same privileges with Kendall that Dan and Crystal have with each other." Mohania said. Kendall looked at Mohania in utter surprise. Several gasps came from the room.

The King turned to Kendall, "Kendall?" he asked.

"My King, I had no idea he was going to ask that!" Kendall said defensively.

"Do you love Mohania in a romantic way?" the King asked.

"Yes I do." Kendall said without hesitation.

"Herrior, did you know about this?" the King asked.

"No, I am just as surprised as the rest of us are my King." Herrior quickly said.

"What are your thoughts on this matter Herrior?" the King asked.

"I knew they were courting each other. I have seen them kiss and show affection for one another. The story that they just told does tell us that they do indeed have affection towards one another. But my King, in my opinion, this is awfully sudden. I have not observed them for a long time like I did with Dan and Crystal. I do know that Mohania knows the rules and has probably told them to Kendall." Herrior replied.

"We both know the rules. We have pledged our loyalty to upholding the laws. We both know the penalty for not following them. I sense everybody is thinking the same thought, 'nobody can read our minds to make sure we are following the rules'. If that is the case, what else do we have to do to prove ourselves?" Mohania said.

"Interesting." the King replied. "I have already given my blessing to Isnabell and Gernack of the orcs, because they were already in a union before as far as I was concerned. They had a simple wedding and wished to be left alone. I've already had requests from the orcs to start courting one another, which is why I had no problem with you two courting each other. As Herrior said though, this is awfully sudden. I sense that you are eager to form a union, is that correct?"

Kendall shrugged her shoulders and didn't know what to say as she looked at Mohania.

"That is correct." Mohania replied.

"Mohania…" the King said and sighed. The Queen leaned over and talked to the King in private for a minute. The King nodded. "Our thoughts are the same on this matter. How about I meet you halfway. I will allow private time between you, without disturbance. It is not a matter of loyalty or proving yourself to us. It is a matter of time. Speak with Herrior over the next week about this issue. Kendall, speak with Skyka about this matter - apart from each other. Both are my ambassadors and will give a recommendation after a week. Is this acceptable?"

Mohania nodded with a hint of disappointment in his face.

"In the mean time, I will send out the class trainer and talent trainer to the outer wall to fulfill our agreement. I believe you will want to be there for this?" the King asked Mohania. Mohania nodded.

"We would like to be as well." Herrior said speaking for his group. They all nodded.

"And glyphs as well?" Mohania asked.

"So you like the glyphs I gave you then?" the King said to Mohania and smiled.

"They are useful." Mohania said sounding indifferent.

"Go to the outer wall. I need to have a meeting with the ambassadors first. Then I will talk to the trainers; they will meet you out there if it is safe. You all are dismissed, except for the time stoppers. You will all report to the monk's chambers as I discuss with them the new information that we have obtained." The King said and smiled at them. He formed a portal and all of the time-stoppers walked in. Everybody else proceeded to walk out of the chambers and all headed for the portal out of Tranquil.

"Are the monks going to blast Dan?" Crystal said breaking the silence with deep concern in her words.

"I have no idea Crystal." Herrior said. "I don't know what was written on that paper, how time stopping works, or what the process is that the King has in mind for them. Our orders for now are to secure the outer wall. Concentrate on that." Crystal nodded.

Back on Earth, Branzer stopped into a convenient store when his hearthstone started buzzing. He ran into the bathroom, locked it and pulled it out. It was the King.

"This is a general broadcast for all of the ambassadors." the King said and gave a very shortened version of Mohania's story, told the time stoppers were going to have their powers increased, and then started naming off each group the class and talent trainers were going to visit. Branzer's group was going to be visited in one hour and forty five minutes. Then the portal closed.

"You've got to be kidding me…what excuse can I come up with to get the four of us together, an hour into my shift…" Branzer thought. Branzer used his secure cell phone and told them all to meet him at the station at the time that was specified and the reason for it. He told Samatha to tell Julie to bring her notes with her. Bernett suggested that they all meet in the conference room in the station. Branzer hung up the phone and walked out. A heavy set man was blocking his escape.

"Took you long enough! Who were you talking to in there?" he asked.

"My ass. Sometimes it needs some encouragement." Branzer said and walked past him. He quickly gathered up his things, but noticed a headline in the National Enquirer.

"All alien abductees claim to have metal objects falling out of their bodies. Numbers are in the tens of thousands, all over the world."

Branzer chuckled and picked up a magazine. He made all of his purchases, but when he went to pay for them the cashier said that his credit card was at the maximum and he could not buy any more things. Branzer looked shocked at the cashier. He fumbled through his wallet and produced enough cash to buy the items and left the store.

He arrived early at the station, and went over to Bernett's desk. He wasn't there yet. He circled the article and left a sticky note on it saying, "Some people will believe anything huh?" and went back to his desk. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and took a bite of his breakfast sandwich. He then sent an email to his Lieutenant asking if he could use the conference room in approximately one hour. To Branzer's amazement he emailed him right back.

"Expecting some friends to show up?" the Lieutenant wrote.

"Yes, it shouldn't take that long though." Branzer wrote back.

"That's fine; we don't have anything planned this morning for the conference room today. Come into my office when you get a second." the Lieutenant wrote back.

Branzer took his orange juice with him and the sandwich in the other hand and walked casually to his office.

"Lieutenant, its Branzer." he said, the door was open a crack.

"Come on in, take a seat." the Lieutenant said. Branzer finished his sandwich and sat down in the seat across from his desk.

"We've missed you and Bernett the last couple of days. I'm taking both of you from regular patrols, and putting you strictly on paperwork duty. You'll be typing up reports, following up on case work and stuff such as that. You won't have to answer the phone much in this new position either." the Lieutenant said not looking up at him.

"Sir?" Branzer said questioning him.

The Lieutenant looked up at him and asked, "What would happen if you were in a chase with a bad guy, and then all of a sudden you disappeared. Your cruiser would probably veer out of control and end up crashing into something, or someone. It's not safe and would draw unneeded attention for our department. Besides, for some reason I feel safer with both of you closer to me. I'll find something to keep both of you busy, give you some "bs" title, and a fourteen thousand dollar a year raise as an incentive. That's the highest I can give you without raising suspicions. You can bring me coffee in the morning and to the officers if you want, I don't really care. But I want to keep both of you in my station."

"Uh…sir?" Branzer said questioning him again.

"In exchange, I want to know in advance if there is going to be another attack somewhere. You know, if you get a feeling or something or a strange phone call or something." the Lieutenant said.

Branzer became nervous and looked away from him and said, "As far as I know, nobody can predict the future, if you know what I mean. But yes I will pass on any information that pertains to us directly to you. I also will try to give you an advanced warning if I need to go help my friends."

"That would be nice, but you can't always do that, can you..." the Lieutenant said looking back at his desk continuing to write something.

"No sir, and I do apologize for that. I want to share something with you sir." Branzer said.

"Will I end up getting killed for what you are about to tell me?" the Lieutenant said not looking up.

Branzer thought about it for a couple of seconds. "I don't believe so sir."

"Your quick response fills me with such confidence…" the Lieutenant said. He sat down his pen and looked at Branzer.

"I have become an ambassador to my friends. I can talk to them whenever I want now as much as I want. If any of the officer's report something strange, please let me know. I would like to have a cruiser reserved just for occasions such as this, to address any strange issues that may come up." Branzer said.

"Done. Are you going to ask me how my wife is doing?" the Lieutenant asked glaring at him.

"How is your wife doing?" Branzer asked uncomfortably remembering the thoughts of them two when we walked in on them.

"She's doing well. She said she woke up one morning was cured. She said it was a miracle from God. She said she felt better than she ever had in her whole life. All of the doctors are baffled, any trace of cancer is gone, and they report that she has the body of a twenty year old. In fact it's very hard for me to keep up with her. It's being written up as an unknown cure. I come home every day and have to dance with her for hours, and then be intimate with her for hours. It is exhausting me, but I am enjoying every bit of it. I've thought about increasing my caffeine intake and male enhancements, but I'm trying to take care of my body. You don't drink, do you Branzer?" The Lieutenant said.

"Very rarely." Branzer said, but was cut off by the Lieutenant.

"That's good. I stopped cold turkey. I went to my doctor and told him I want every test possible run on me. I want to live as long as I can with my wife. Anyways do you believe in miracles?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I do sir."

"My wife wants to start going to church and praising God. I've called around to a couple of local ones. I haven't been really impressed. Can my wife and attend to the same church you go to?" the Lieutenant asked.

Branzer became nervous. "I'm not sure sir, I'll have to ask." The Lieutenant opened his mouth to say something, but then decided not to. The two of them stared at each other for awhile, as if communicating with each other without a word.

"Ok, let me know. Also I put a bonus of twenty thousand dollars into both of your accounts. It was direct deposited so you can't refuse it." the Lieutenant said and then pulled a credit card out of his back pocket and threw it at Branzer.

"It's in my name, so you'll just have to buy gas or order food over the phone with it. It's got a twenty thousand dollar limit on it. I'll pay the bill every month, no questions asked." the Lieutenant said.

"Sir!" Branzer said completely surprised at everything.

"Sir what? You have work to do and I'm busy. Please leave my office. If you leave that on my desk I'll have my wife kick the crap out of you. Just don't leave my station, ok?" the Lieutenant said going back to his paperwork. Branzer got up and started walking out without his glass of orange juice. He was completely astonished. He was halfway out of the door when the Lieutenant spoke up.

"Keep me updated on Dan and Crystal as well. Please shut the door behind you." the Lieutenant said as Branzer shut the door.

Branzer put the credit card in his wallet and walked back to his cubicle completely stunned. An email from Bernett was in his inbox.

"Boss man just emailed me and told me that you and I got new positions. Apparently I'm going to be moved over by you. Just got a shit-ton of money deposited in my account and a raise. He told me to never leave the station. Also, interesting article that you gave me. Some weird things people do to get their five minutes of fame huh?"

Branzer replied back, "Looking forward to working our new positions together. Some friends of ours called to brag. Remember the skinny guy? The one that looked like he was all bones? Anyways, he and some of his friends bowled a 300 game. They had a huge party with fireworks, large explosions and everything. Also was watching the Discovery channel last night. Apparently the astronomers had their telescopes pointed in just the right direction to watch an entire planet explode. I bet it was something spectacular to watch." and then clicked send.

Several minutes passed and then he got a call on his cell phone.

"Are you telling me Mohania blew up an entire planet?" Bernett asked eagerly.

"Him and his undead. Glad they are on our side huh?" Branzer said.

"No way…they can't be that powerful! That's impossible!" Bernett said.

"Apparently the King ordered it after we were attacked. He was pissed, and wanted vengeance. He gave the order and eight hours later it was nothing but debris floating around in space."

Silence filled the phone for a couple of seconds.

"Damn…should I tell the King the name of the kid that bullied me in second grade?" Bernett said astonished.

"We're part of them now. And apparently they watch over their own kind very good. Let me know if a kid ever throws a snowball at your car…" Branzer said softly.

"I'm almost afraid to. Oh, Samatha and Julie just arrived. Meet you in the conference room?"

"See you then." Branzer said and hung up his phone. Branzer then sent an email to his Lieutenant.

"Going in the conference room now. Very important that we are undisturbed and nobody comes in or around it." and then hit send. The Lieutenant quickly replied back and said, "It's got a several loose live wires jumping around and isn't safe. I'm glad that you and Bernett offered to fix it for us."

Branzer smiled and brought his orange juice and several Styrofoam cups with him. He ran into the three of them in the hallway.

"I brought juice, did anybody remember the donuts?" Branzer asked leading them down the hallway. They opened the door and saw a male tauren, a female troll, and a male blood elf standing at the far end of the room. The tauren and troll introduced themselves and said they can't stay long and insisted that they hurry.

"Who are the hunters?" Uglar asked. Julie, Branzer and Bernett said they were. Uglar quickly waved them over.

"I'm going to do all of you at the same time." Uglar pushed them all together. She then instantly created an orange circle appeared over her head. It floated over to their heads. Suddenly the three of them were blasted with an enormous about of information and power. They all stood there shocked at what their brains were currently processing. The circle eventually turned into three smaller circles and disappeared in their minds. Uglar then held each of their faces and flashed a faint orange light in their eyes.

"Ok, all of the information held."

"What…the…hell…" Bernett started to say still shocked.

"You'll figure it out later, is the female the priest?" Uglar asked.

Samatha stepped forward and acknowledged her question. Uglar quickly ran up to her and held her hands up to her head and stared directly into her eyes. Uglar started flashing the orange light into her eyes.

"Hun, for some reason I can't teach you all of the knowledge. It just isn't sticking. Maybe the King doesn't feel like you are ready for all of it or something. Anyways, I have to get going. Have fun Tonect. Portal me." A portal was opened and Uglar disappeared.

"This has to be quick. I'm hoping you already know what you want." Tonect said in a hurried voice. Julie stepped forward with her notebook.

"I have all of the talents figured out for all four of us. Here is mine."

"You are my new favorite person…let me unroll my scrolls and began channeling." Tonect said looking over Julie's notes. Tonect unrolled the same large scroll that he showed to Dan and Crystal. He started putting his finger over some of the symbols. They began to glow after he removed his finger.

After he was done, he spoke some words and all of the symbols came off from the scroll and quickly wrapped around Julie's head. They quickly soaked in, followed by the spinning stars that soaked into her head as well.

"Holy…shit… Is my brain able to handle all of that? I mean I just learned more in the past thirty seconds than I could in my whole life. Is this real?" Julie asked surprised.

"Very much so, who's next?" Tonect said.

"Wait, what about Spark my dog?"

"He's still at the trainer. He is doing very well. Who's next?"

Julie flipped backwards a couple of pages and ripped out the page marked "Spark" and gave it to the tauren.

"Can you give Spark these talents?"

"Yes I can, but fighters come before pets. I'll get to him in the next couple of days." Tonect said folding up the piece of paper and putting it in his pouch.

Julie then flipped forward a couple of pages and said, "These are for Branzer and Bernett. I think they should both have the same talent trees. Tonect looked at her notes and started lighting up the symbols on his scroll.

"Branzer and Bernett, come forward." Both of them stepped up looking at Julie as she stepped out of the way.

"It's pretty much the same thing Tess has. You'll like it." Julie said. They both turned around and saw the magical symbols encase over both of them, and then slowly sink into both of their heads.

A couple of seconds later after the process was completed; Branzer said "I have the sudden urge to go down to the firing range…"

"Ok, and now the last one. Please step aside so I can do the same to her. Julie ripped out the page and gave it to the tauren.

"The King will not allow these many talents to her. He said twenty is the limit until he grants her more power." Tonect said. Julie ran forward and started to pick twenty talents on the scroll. Once she put her finger on them, they lit up just the same as when Tonect said.

"Ok, do that." Julie said. Samatha looked back and forth at the both of them confused. Tonect casted his spell as the symbols came off the page and wrapped around her head. A couple of seconds later, the tauren said he was done as he rolled up the scroll. The blood elf opened a portal and both of them left.

They all stood there in silence for awhile.

"Wow! …so who wants some orange juice?" Branzer said.

"I think I need something stronger…" Bernett said.

Samatha casted her inner fire spell. Instantly her body was surrounded with yellow circles and a yellow crown appeared above her head. It all disappeared within seconds. She then cast a spell called prayer of healing. She held her hands together and channeled the spell for three seconds and then raised her hands up as an enormous blast of yellow light filled the room. It was soothing and felt like an instant euphoria to everybody. Samatha started laughing.

"This is so cool!" Samatha said giggling as if she was a child on Christmas morning. She then held out her hand at Bernett and a whitish circle engulfed him. She then waved her hand over his head and a spell slowly began to heal him over a period of fifteen seconds. Eventually both effects faded.

"Ok, I can't do that a lot. I can feel my power draining from my body. But this is so cool!" Samatha said still excited. She jumped into Bernett's arms and whispered, "Take me, right here and now…" and then started passionately kissing each other.

"Well, look at the time. I'm going to take the juice. I'll give you a tour of our station Julie." Branzer said quickly leading her out of the room. Both of them walked out of the conference room and right into the back of the Lieutenant.

"Sorry sir." Branzer said.

"Has everything been fixed in there yet?" the Lieutenant asked casually. Just then Samatha started letting out loud moans.

"Umm…I would give it maybe another hour." Branzer said. "In the meantime I was going to give Julie a tour of our station and introduce her to some of the officers."

The Lieutenant extended his hand and pretended like he had never seen her before. "Nice to meet you Julie, I'm Branzer's boss. He does whatever I tell him to." Both of them started laughing. Then Samatha started screaming the word "Yes!" over and over again.

"Ok, well how about we all go outside. Right this way." Branzer said walking towards the door.

The three of them stood outside looking around for several minutes. None of them really knowing what to say. Julie wondered off to examine the police cruisers up front. She was out of ear-shot from the two officers.

"Nice day out." Branzer said breaking the silence, as he saw some enormous thunderheads rolling in from the west.

"I'll have to look into getting a car for Julie soon." Branzer said eager to have a conversation.

The Lieutenant looked at them funny. "Are you two…" Branzer and gave him a dirty look.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Mouth worked faster than the brain. Anyways I have a two thousand seven Ford Fusion with the six cylinders in it. I'll drive it over to your house tonight and sign off on it. It's not the fastest, but it'll work when you are around. Tell me how much the taxes are and I'll cover that for you as well." the Lieutenant said.

"Lieutenant! Don't you think…" Branzer said.

"Obviously I need to think more before I open my mouth. Anyways it's black. I've been wanting to get rid of it and it'll be an excuse to get my truck I want. I don't think my wife will mind. It's only got forty thousand miles on it, runs great."

Just then the door opened behind them. Samatha came walking out with a huge smile.

"Ma'am." Both the Lieutenant and Branzer said nodding at her.

"Be nice to my husband. He's a little worn out…he didn't have breakfast this morning." Samatha said walking away from them.

"Most important meal of the day." Branzer said.

"Well, my ride is leaving. Thanks for letting me see the station, it was nice meeting you." Julie yelled out to the Lieutenant, running to catch up with her.

Branzer's stone started vibrating. The Lieutenant noticed.

"Well, I need to go get some paper work done. Watch the weather and let me know if it's going to storm." he said walking inside.

Branzer pulled out his stone. It was the King.

"Ambassador's of Tranquil. I want all of you to start relaying a message to the groups. I've recalled all of our raids, defense, and collecting groups. It sounds like I'll be able to give out five more blessings to each class, give them new passive abilities, and simplify their talent trees. I do not know when. I wanted to let everybody know this so no rumors or gossip is started, that's the last thing I want in Tranquil. I do not know what it is going to cost our city. It is still in the negotiation stages. The Queen and I have barely slept. Please, for the time being, contact another ambassador for small matters. If it is important, I can be reached. I do not have information about the new abilities or talents yet for the classes. I have told you all of the information that I know. Please pass it on. When I know more I will pass it along." the King said and closed the portal.

"Great…we just got our abilities. Now they are going to change them." Branzer sighed. He put the stone away and saw Bernett packing up his desk.

"Need a hand?" Branzer asked.

"Sure, thanks." Bernett said. Branzer began filling up boxes with his personal stuff. Both of them stacked two boxes on top of each other and carried them over to a desk next to Branzer's desk on the left side. They then started unloading the boxes in the empty cubicle.

"It...Uh...wasn't loud in here...a couple of moments ago..." Bernett started to say sounding embarrassed.

"Sounded like one of you stepped on the live wires that were down. But it sounded like you were both excited to finally fix the problem. The three of us went outside to catch some fresh air." Branzer said without hesitation.

Bernett let out a sigh and his face turned red.

"Hey, what do you say we move this wall between our desks? It sounds like we're going to be bored a lot, so maybe we can throw paper at each other or something." Branzer said quickly changing the subject.

"Do you think that would be ok with the Lieutenant?" Bernett asked, grateful for the change of subject.

"I think we could do just about anything we want anymore, whether he likes it or not..." Branzer said with a chuckle. "I was thinking about painting the interior walls hot pink and decorating the floor with marbles to add to the entertainment value." Bernett let out a small laugh as Branzer tried to pull out the divider blocking their two cubicles. It took some wiggling but it finally popped out. He carried it to the hallway and leaned it up against the wall. He then placed a sticky note on it saying, "Please remove this, it is not needed anymore." and walked back proud of himself.

Branzer sat back down at his desk. Bernett reached over and handed him a sticky note that reported how much he was making a year with a question mark after it. Branzer nodded. Bernett then wrote the extra bonus that he received in his account today with another question mark. Branzer nodded again. Bernett ripped the sticky note into pieces and threw it away. Branzer then pull out the credit card the Lieutenant gave him and wrote. "If you ever need gas or want to order something over the phone, use this. The Lieutenant said he would pay the balance off every month, no questions asked." Bernett got done reading it and ripped up that sticky note as well. Bernett then wrote back, "Wanna go to an expensive hotel this weekend and watch some porn?" Branzer ripped off that sticky note and quickly ripped it up putting the card in his back pocket.

"I think there's been enough of that this week in the station..." Branzer said. Bernett chuckled.

Bernett finished getting settled in and began booting up his computer. Branzer began to finish his report when something caught his eye to the left of his screen. He looked over and saw Samatha in a tiny two piece bathing suit, seductively smiling at the camera. Branzer had to admit, she looked good.

"Bernett do you have a sec?" Branzer said rolling over to his chair.

"Yeah, it'll take a good ten minutes for this piece of crap to load up anyways. What's up?"

"Could you move that picture of Samatha over to that side of the wall?" Branzer asked. Bernett was stunned by the question and began looking at all of the pictures of Samatha he had put up. Suddenly he realized which one and quickly moved it to the front wall.

"Sorry." Bernett said.

"Naw, no biggy." Branzer said and rolled back over to his place.

Several minutes passed and it was obvious that Bernett was thinking about something quite intensely. His computer was at the login screen, but he was staring at the picture he moved. Finally Bernett rolled over to Branzer's desk.

"Ready for an uncomfortable conversation?" Bernett asked.

Branzer chuckled, "Sure why not."

"If we do all move...you know..."

"Yup" Branzer answered back quickly.

"You and everybody else will probably see much more than just that picture. I don't think I would be comfortable with that." Bernett replied back.

"Nope, I wouldn't be either. From what I hear it's been quite awhile with Dan and Crystal and they aren't comfortable with it either. Probably the same reason. I know out of respect for you and your wife I would instantly look away, even if I did become comfortable with...err...everything." Branzer said and then quickly said, "I mean she's pretty and all...but..."

"Yeah I know what you mean." Bernett said back.

"Let's make this conversation more uncomfortable shall we? Dan and Crystal said that they watch Herrior and Skyka have relations with each other in the same room. And that is normal for them. Personally, I would walk outside to catch a breath of fresh air...if that were to happen…if we all got the same house..." Branzer said. "Shall we continue with this conversation?"

Bernett started to laugh. "Nope, I'm good."

Several hours passed as the two officers surfed the internet looking busy. Then both of them got an email from the Lieutenant. It was from the same email address from the group of anonymous humans that wanted to join the group.

"We are tired of waiting! Meet us at the compound that we were at in two hours, or we'll come find you!"

"Well that has alliance written all over it." Bernett said out loud.

Branzer let out a half chuckle and said, "Yeah no kidding...I mean they could have been nice about it and sent us a fruit basket at least. I'm going to go make a call. Can you cover my desk while I'm gone?"

Bernett started to laugh. Suddenly another email came up from the Lieutenant. It said, "I can have twenty men meet you there?"

Branzer typed back, "No need. I'm going to go call some friends. Bernett and I will go investigate." Branzer then got up and went to the Lieutenant's office.

"Sir, do you mind answering some questions that Bernett has about his new position?" Branzer asked.

"Yup, no problem. I'll lock the door behind me." The Lieutenant said closing the door and walking in to the opposite side of the station. Branzer opened a portal to Herrior.

"Hi Branzer. All of us are showing Dan and Crystal around the city. Do you want to come join us?" Herrior asked with the portal moving forward as he walked.

"No, I have reason to believe that a group of alliance are going to be ambushing us. I spoke with the Queen earlier about this, and she didn't sound very comfortable about it. They want us to go meet them in the compound where Tess met with us. They said if we don't come in two hours, that they'll come find us." Branzer said.

Herrior started to laugh. "Yeah, good call on that one. Do you want us to come out and take care of them?"

Branzer actually stopped and thought about it for a second. "I have Bernett here with me. How about giving us a shot at it? With the new abilities and talents, I think we'll be able to take care of them. That being said...yes I would love to have you come out as backup."

Herrior continued, "You sound like an ambassador already...what?" Herrior said turning his head away from the portal. "Right now?" Branzer heard Herrior say. About a minute of silence passed and then Herrior turned back to Branzer and said, "Can Lindel come talk to you? She said she has the coordinates for your conference room, I think is what you call it." Branzer gave him a confused look.

"Sure, is there something wrong? Do you want me to call everybody together?"

"No, just you. We'll meet you there in...well..." Herrior said and the portal became fuzzy for a second and then showed the mighty tauren again. "Now."

Branzer closed the portal. Bernett looked at him eagerly.

"Lindel wants to talk to me, and everybody is in the conference room right now. Do you remember me doing anything to piss her off?" Branzer asked.

"Not that I remember. She can read minds though, did you think of something you weren't supposed to...read between the lines here..." Bernett said.

Branzer sat and thought for a minute. He couldn't recall anything.

"Should I go in armed?" Branzer asked.

"Do you really think it would make a difference...?" Bernett said back with a worried look. Branzer put his gun on his desk.

"The words, 'I'm sorry' go a long way with women..." Bernett said as Branzer started walking towards the conference room.

Branzer entered the conference room and shut the door behind him. He looked at everybody and they all looked to be in good spirits. Even Mohania was smiling.

"What's going on?" Branzer asked walking towards them.

Herrior, Jacklyn, and Skyka all suddenly moved away from each other revealing Lindel. She was in a sleeveless, low top cut white dress extending all the way down to her feet. The dress exposed her shoulders and the very top part of her cleavage. It was pure white and seemed to pulse with light and fade away in random different spots. Above her head was a circle of silver rotating stars, seeming to be just floating in the air. It took Branzer's breath away.

"You're beautiful..." Branzer said staring at her. Lindel smiled at him and walked forward. She sprouted her wings and extended them as far out as she could. She then did a slow spin around to show off her entire dress. Once facing Branzer again, Lindel slowly walked forward making her wings disappear behind her.

"Do you like it? Skyka and Crystal put it together for me for this event." Lindel said.

"I have never seen anything like it. It looks absolutely stunning on you." Branzer said and then thought, "What event? We're going to go kill some alliance..."

Lindel turned around and took a flower from Skyka and handed it to Branzer. Branzer looked at it with wonder. It had a purple stem, three leaves sticking out from it that started out dark purple and became lighter as they extended outwards. The top of it was cone shaped. He leaned over and smelled it. It was instant euphoria. He had never smelled a flower like this before. It energized his brain while heightening his senses.

"It's amazing! What is it called?" Branzer said still studying it.

"Netherbloom. It's located on one of the distance worlds we travel to. I picked the prettiest one I could find for you." Lindel said blushing.

Branzer was caught completely off guard by what she just said.

"You brought me flowers, so I wanted to do the same to you." Lindel then sighed. "The flowers you gave me died. Dan said they needed water so I put them in the fountain, but they eventually withered away to nothing. I'm sorry I killed them."

"No that's fine. They weren't meant to live forever. I'll get you a flower next time in some dirt so it lives longer." Branzer said quickly. He then turned back to the Netherbloom flower and asked what he had to do to take care of this flower.

"It's self-sufficient. Occasionally it'll give off a puff of pollen, giving that same feeling that you felt when you sniffed it, to everybody that walks by it. But I did have a small vase made for it." Lindel turned to Jacklyn and she handed her the vase. It was about a foot high and very thin. It looked to be made out of pure crystal with gems of all different colors on the outside of it. Lindel took the flower and put it in the vase. She then set it down on the table.

"That's all you have to do. It doesn't need water." Lindel said smiling at him.

Branzer suddenly realized what was going on. Lindel did all of this to express her feelings for him. Branzer then quickly looked over his clothes, shirt that wasn't ironed and wasn't even tucked into his pants. Grass stains on his knees, and a shoe untied.

"Wonderful. I look like shit, and she's gone through all this trouble for me..." Branzer thought. He looked back up at Lindel holding a square box toward him.

"Another present?" Branzer asked.

"You got me some chocolates; I wanted to get you a delicacy from our city. It took me awhile to find a box, and the closest thing we had to wrapping paper is brown parchment." Lindel said sounding slightly disappointed.

"No that's fine. Let's see what you have here." Branzer said.

Branzer thought, "Their food is absolutely wonderful, even the food that's three days old and rotten is better than what we have here..." His stomach began to gurgle in anticipation. Branzer took off the brown piece of paper and set it on the table. He looked back up at Lindel who seemed very excited to have him open it. He smiled back at her and opened the box.

Instantly the smell of an overflowing outdoor toliet that had been baking in the sun overwhelmed his senses. Branzer quickly turned away as his lungs collapsed and his nose tried it's hardest to block off the smell. He let out several breaths, expecting this to be some sort of joke and the laughing would start any second...

"Branzer?" Lindel asked quietly with concern in her voice. Branzer turned around and saw Lindel's voice. He had hurt her feelings. He glanced up at the group and they were all glaring at him. "This is no joke." Branzer thought.

"Umm...what is it?" Branzer said quickly. The acidic aroma began filling his nostrils again.

"It's from a planet called Nagrand. They have huge beasts there called Ellek's. Their meat is harvest and sun dried for eight hours. The a plethmune spice is mixed in with it and simmered for three days while a blend of hot spices is gently covered over top of it." Lindel began to explain. Branzer saw Crystal out of the corner of her eye. She reached her hand forward and mimicked picking one up, putting it in her mouth, and then rubbing her belly - as if to say, "Eat it and say it is good."

"I only get to have these about once every five years. I had to do a lot of favors for people in order to get and make these. I wanted to share them with you." Lindel said with a smile on her face looking at Branzer.

"Oh...shit...she's serious. I'm going to have to eat one." Branzer thought. He felt his stomach instantly making threats to his brain if he ate one. His face must have given off the same thing he was thinking and Lindel quickly spoke up.

"I'll have one first. Point to which one you want me to eat." Lindel said excitedly. Branzer smiled and looked down at the box. There was six little brown, circle shaped treats. They did sort of resemble chocolates.

"How about...that one." Branzer said and pointed to the one closest to him. Lindel eagerly reached out and popped it in her mouth. Branzer watched her reaction in amazement. She seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

"Ok, well how about I take this one." Branzer said and quickly popped one in his mouth. His taste buds instantly exploded and cried out in pain. His tongue begged him not to touch the food in his mouth. His gag reflex was starting to kick in. They tasted worse than they smelled.

"Hmm..." Branzer said looking at the ceiling as if pondering the taste. He quickly swallowed it and felt the burning sensation all the way down his throat. It hit his stomach and instantly it wanted to reject it. Branzer forced his body to remain calm, while his stomach began to boil up as if it were a volcano about ready to explode. He fought with every muscle in his body to keep the food down, hoping nobody would notice.

"It has a taste I've never experienced before." Branzer said. Lindel smiled.

"You don't...really like it...do you?" Lindel asked.

"It's probably an acquired taste I think. I don't really have anything to compare it to. Just like your flower. It is very beautiful, but not a beautiful as you look right now." Branzer said. Lindel blushed.

"Damn good save if I say so myself!" Branzer thought.

"Branzer, I want to apologize...for what I did to you...umm...during our first battle..." Lindel said slowly.

Branzer's stomach was screaming at him. He pretended to ignore it. "Naw, don't worry about it. I would have kicked my own ass. I deserved."

Lindel continued, "I've been thinking about you, a lot. I mean you have proven yourself several times. You're a hunter now and even volunteered to be an ambassador! I've been amazed at how fast you've progressed, and I realized that...I love you."

Branzer replied with, "I love you too. I love all of you; I would die for any one of you."

Lindel moved closer to Branzer, "No hun. Not that way. I love you in a romantic way. I've talked with our group for hours, talked with Tess, and one night where I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about you, the Queen opened a portal and talked to me. They all said to speak with you and see how you feel."

Branzer answered back curiously, "Lindel, can't you read my mind?"

"No hun. Once I realized my feelings towards you, I shut off that part of your mind to me. I want you to be truthful with me, and tell me how you feel." Lindel answered. "Since you became an ambassador, I'm not allowed to read a lot of your thoughts, King's orders."

"Oh." Branzer said relieved that she couldn't tell the anguish he was going through right now. He wasn't really putting much thought into what Lindel was saying and concentrating more on yelling at his stomach to digest the food.

Lindel then continued. "I love kids. When I have a bad day, or when I need cheering up, I fly over Tranquil looking for children playing. I then land and play the same game that they are playing. At night I fly around to make sure there aren't any children wondering the streets. I want to have kids. I want at least ten! Don't you want to have kids someday Branzer?"

"Where is this going?" Branzer thought ignoring the cries from his stomach. "She said she loves me romantically, wants kids, dresses up all fancy, gives me gifts..."

"I think your seed would help me produce wonderful children." Lindel said smiling at him.

"Uh..." Branzer said. His mind began going a mile a minute.

"So...umm...I wanted to ask...and I never have before...so...well..." Lindel said very slowly and then sighed.

"Oh shit! She wants to marry me!" Branzer thought. "Does she ask, or am I supposed to ask, don't we date for awhile first, I don't have a ring, I think Herrior would snap my neck..." Branzer immediately stopped his thoughts and looked up at Herrior. He was smiling back at him.

Branzer walked forward and took Lindel's hands. She looked up at him and seemed relieved. She seemed really nervous.

"Lindel? What are you trying to say?" Branzer asked quietly.

Lindel sighed. "I know we are developing a friendship, but I feel like we are much more than just friends. I...I don't know...I mean...do you think about me?"

"I did yesterday in the shower!" Branzer thought. "Oh shit...I hope she didn't hear that. For crying out loud, she's pouring out your heart to you idiot. Say something intelligent! And why the hell do I have the urge to check my tire pressure right now!"

"Yes, Lindel. I do. I'm still learning your customs and rules though. You have helped me follow them, and I know what I can and can't do while developing a friendship with you." Branzer said.

"So...we only have a friendship then? I just…I don't know…" Lindel said as her lips began to quiver. He could see a tear forming in her right eye. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said what I did. I didn't know if you were ready. I didn't know how you felt. I don't want to push you into anything. It's ok; we can just be friends..." Lindel turned to the side and let a tear fall to the ground.

Crystal smacked herself in the head. Branzer immediately looked over at her. Crystal held up her hand that was interlaced with Dan's. She pointed at it and then pointed at Lindel and himself.

"Oh, ok. Umm...Lindel do you want to hold hands?" Branzer asked.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Crystal said. Lindel turned around and walked up to Skyka and buried her face in her chest. She began to slowly sob.

"I think we better get our mission done." Herrior said softly and sounding disappointed.

Crystal glared at Branzer and pointed at Lindel. She mouthed the word, "Now!" to him.

Branzer walked up behind her and bent down on one knee. "Lindel, do you want to marry me?" Lindel paused for a second. Herrior instantly shot his face forward at him and let out an enormous snort through his nose.

Branzer shot back up on both of his feet. It felt like he an enormous brick in his stomach and the pain shot back up, but he ignored it.

"Ok, sorry. Umm..." Branzer said scanning the group for help. Quinely took her finger and rolled it in front of her, as if to continue.

"Lindel. I do love you. I want to increase our friendship. You mean a lot to me. But I apologize for not knowing the correct term." Branzer said to her, but again quickly scanning the group for help.

Everybody mouthed the words, "private time" to him, except for Mohania who just put his hand over his head and shook it.

"Private time? Is that what you want Lindel?" Branzer asked.

Lindel turned back around to face him. Her face soaked in tears. "That is what I want. I have told you how I feel. But without reading your mind, I don't know if that is really what you want. Look, I put you in an awkward position...I just...forget it ok..."

Branzer walked up to her, grabbed both sides of her face and began to kiss her. Everybody finally cheered. Branzer wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. Then wrapped his arms around her neck. Lindel felt his tongue go in her mouth and immediately opened her eyes in surprise, but continued kissing him.

"What are you doing?" Lindel asked in his mind.

"Sorry, that's what is called a french kiss. I won't do it again. It's a way of showing deep affection to a woman. Promise me one thing ok?" Branzer said holding her tighter to his chest."

"It depends on what it is..." Lindel said in his mind.

"If I over step my bounds with you, let me know ok? All this stuff is new to me and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, ever. Ok?" Branzer thought.

"Tongue was a bit much..." Lindel said in his mind and then started laughing.

They stopped kissing and looked at each other with a big smile.

"I want to kiss you some more. It feels so good." Lindel said in his mind.

"I can't, I won't be able to walk." Branzer said back. Lindel looked at him funny. Branzer then sighed and looked down at his pants. Lindel looked down as well.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry! I've over stepped my bounds didn't I?" Lindel said in his mind sounding very embarrassed.

"Lindel. Obviously I find you very attractive and I enjoy kissing you. You don't need to read my mind to find that out. But we better stop for now, ok? We can talk about our limits and stuff later." Branzer said back in his mind.

Lindel turned around deeply embarrassed. "Ok, ok...shows over. Let's go to the compound. We have some alliance to kill." Lindel said and created a portal. "Come on, move along, everybody through. Find a place to hide; I'll be there in just a second." The group left, all very happy for Lindel. Crystal walked out rolling her eyes.

"Ok, umm...how do we take care of your problem?" Lindel said still sounding embarrassed. "I don't think anybody saw."

"I can think of a way!" Branzer thought. He quickly shook his head. He started walking around the conference room concentrating on other things. Like his stomach and how it seemed to have settled down now, but he could feel the acid slowly creeping through his organs. His bowels were not going to hold up very long, he was positive of that.

"Branzer I'm sorry. We both obviously need to talk about boundaries. For future reference the next stage is intimate relationship. We can do more than, such as that and a lot more, just can't mate until we form a union. But for private time, that shouldn't happen." Lindel said feeling like an idiot. "Did I over do it with the dress? The way I kissed?"

"Lindel...it's not your fault, ok?" Branzer said smiling. The problem had resolved itself. "But yes, now that we have private time, I definitely look forward to spending more time with you. So I'll be able to summon you to my house now?"

"Yes, without anybody else around. Just us. Besides, you are an ambassador. I have to do what you say..." Lindel said with a wink.

"Ok, that's not helping." Branzer said laughing back. Lindel smirked.

"Go ahead and go through the portal. I'll go get Bernett. We'll take care of this problem." Branzer said. Lindel smiled at him and walked through the portal. Branzer gathered up the vase and the box of treats Lindel gave him. He left the conference room and walked over to Bernett's desk. He was talking on the phone. Branzer put the vase next to his desk. Branzer then snickered.

"Bernett, Lindel gave me some candy. Here try one." Branzer said extending the box to him. Bernett picked one up without looking at it. Branzer quickly set the box down and grabbed a wastebasket. Bernett took two bites and immediately spit it out all over his wall. He sat the phone down and whirled around in his chair.

"What...the...hell..." Bernett said and then puked in the waste basket. Bernett got out of his chair and began violently puking into the waste basket. Branzer picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is Officer Branzer. Can I help you?"

"Branzer? This is Samatha, what's going on? Is my husband puking?"

"Yes ma'am he is. It must have been something he ate." Bernett turned around and gave Branzer an evil look. His face had turned pale white. He then felt another wave come over him and put his head back over the waste basket.

"Is he ok? Should I come up and get him?" Samatha asked sounding worried.

"No he's fine. We have a mission to go on in about ten minutes. He'll be ok." Bernett held up his middle finger at Branzer as the puking continued.

"By mission, do you mean you and my husband are going to go kill some people?" Samatha asked. Branzer held the phone away from his ear. "Is she telepathic?"

"Yes ma'am. We're going to go after the bad guys." Branzer replied back.

"You had better bring my husband back to me in one piece! Do you understand me?" Samatha yelled into the phone.

"We'll be fine. We have backup heading out there right now. Tell him to call me later, ok?" Samatha said and hung up the phone.

"Lindel...gave you that? What the hell was it?" Bernett asked sounding very upset. Branzer walked over and poured him a glass of juice and gave it to him. He sipped it and spat it into the wastebasket.

"You're lucky. I had to chew and swallow mine. Has your wife every made anything for you that tasted like shit?" Branzer asked.

"Branzer! This is shit! But to answer your question, yes and I did eat it. But it was nothing compared to this!" Bernett then puked again.

After he was done, Branzer got his gun and made sure it was loaded. "We have to go. Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, just peachy...don't ever do that to me again..." Bernett said getting his gun.

"Apparently it's a delicacy in their world. Served only on rare occasions." Branzer said.

"Thank goodness...wait...what is the occasion?" Bernett asked. Branzer let out a big smile and walked by him.

"Oh hell no, you are going to tell me!" Branzer walked into the conference room. The portal was still there.

"What happened? You are going to tell me what happened. You made me eat elephant shit, and now you are smiling from ear to ear! No way...tell me what happened!" Bernett said following him. Branzer entered the portal and Bernett ran through it. The portal closed.

Bernett got into his face. "What...happened...?"

Branzer smiled and looked over at Lindel. Bernett looked at Lindel and his jaw dropped. "Lindel! You look beautiful!" Lindel smiled and her face turned red again.

"Ok...ok...that's enough drooling." Branzer said. Bernett looked at him as if he just fixed out the puzzle.

"What? You're kidding! Branzer!" Bernett said looking from Lindel and back at Branzer several times. Branzer started walking for the compound.

"We'll be hiding behind the wall. Let Lindel know if you get into trouble." Herrior said.

"Lindel, scan my thoughts, but do not talk to me. Ok?" Branzer said. He looked at Bernett who was still shocked and said, "Are you ready partner?"

"No! But obviously I'm not going to find out now...but you will let me later..." Bernett said glaring at him. Branzer nodded his head. That was good enough for Bernett.

They both unstrapped their guns and walked into the compound. There was only five men sitting in the chairs. The two on the far end were alliance; their eyes flashed red at them. Both of them realized this at the same time but said nothing.

"We were expecting the Lieutenant?" One of the men said.

"He's not in charge, I am." Branzer said and walked in front of them. "Do you idiots know that you could have been killed, or may all ready be in the process of being killed? What are you doing? I demand an explanation!"

The same man rose to his feet. "Sir, we wish to join your fight! We all realize that there is a war going on that is much bigger and we want to defend our planet at all costs."

"So by defending your planet, you are putting yourself and your families at risk of the banshees? Where's the logic in that? If they all get killed, what do you have left to fight for?" Bernett said. "You were all told not to talk about what happened!" The two alliance controlled men simply sat in their chairs grinding their teeth at them. Once again they pretended not to notice.

Suddenly Lindel's voice entered Branzer's head. "The two on the end are alliance!"

"No shit! Get out of my head!" Branzer thundered back. This seemed to cause the alliance to begin looking around.

"I thought there were seven of you. I only count five." Branzer said.

"The two were killed in combat. It's only us left. What do we have to do to prove ourselves worthy to fight?" the man said again.

"What is your name, first name?" Branzer asked.

"John."

"John, first you need to learn to follow orders. What were your orders? Not to talk about this! Obviously you all did! Who else knows about this! Who started this?" Branzer asked.

"Brett did." John said pointing to the right of him.

"The alliance in the front row was called Brett. Shit...how did they find out..." Branzer thought.

"Ok, Brett, why did you disobey a direct order?" Branzer asked.

"We want to learn. We want to fight." Brett said in an eerie voice.

"And were you the one that contacted the Lieutenant?" Branzer asked.

"Lieutenant?" Brett asked.

John spoke up, "I did that sir, without any of the group knowing. I wanted to keep this secret."

Branzer suddenly pretended like he was losing strength. He bent over and put his hands on his knees. Bernett leaned over and asked if he was ok.

"I think my blood sugar is low. Can I have a chair please?" Branzer said sounding tired. John immediately swung his chair around and gave it to Branzer.

"Ok guys; just give me a minute ok? Branzer said. "I didn't get much sleep, and my diet has been bad today."

"Should I call a medic for you?" John asked.

"No, he just needs time. His sugar levels come back to normal. I've seen this a lot." Bernett said going along with what Branzer was doing, having no clue what his plan was.

Branzer took out his gun, and Bernett did the same. "Forty five magnum. Holds twenty rounds." Branzer said and began disassembling it and laid the pieces on the ground. He then quickly reassembled it.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to take my mind off from things. Do you guys have fire arms? Guns have always fascinated me. I don't know why. I just need a distraction, then we'll talk some more." Branzer said. Bernett waved everybody forward. They all took out their guns and handed it to them. Branzer then named off each weapon, the ammunition it held, and what year it was made. He would then set it off to the side. After he counted five weapons on the ground, he asked everybody to go sit back down because he needed space. He assured everybody would get their firearms back. He apologized again for feeling side. Everybody, including the two alliance, sat back down.

Bernett saw Branzer looking up at him. He saw that Branzer had two guns near both of his hands. Bernett then made a comment about one of the guns on the floor being his favorite and he walked over to pick it up.

A couple of seconds passed. Branzer immediately stood up and both of them blasted the alliance controlled humans. Three shots a piece with each gun brought them down. Then, as expected, they turned into worgen's. Both officers opened fire, only this time letting out cannon like explosions from the guns. Another three shots and their faces were completely blown apart. Both of them then walked over to the bloody bodies and unloaded their clips into them. Soon they burned up, leaving no trace of them. They then turned their guns to the remaining three.

"Up against the back wall, now!" Branzer yelled! Immediately all of the men did as he asked.

"Hands in the air, face us! If you move we will not hesitate! You idiots formed up with two alliance! For crying out loud, you want to fight beside us, and you consort with the enemy? I want to know everything you told them!" Branzer said as both of them approached them, each one of them holding two guns.

"Nothing, we didn't know..."

"Herrior!" Branzer yelled. Herrior knocked the door completely off its hinges and the door went sailing through the air and hit the back wall. His group quickly surrounded the three men.

"Are you hungry Mohania?" Branzer asked. Mohania's eyes quickly lit up with fire as he smiled. He began to walk forward. The men stared at him in a panic.

"This will hurt...I promise..." Mohania said in his sinister voice.

"You better talk and fast!" Branzer said.

"We didn't tell them anything! They came to us and said they were interested in fighting with your group. We all thought about it and decided that would be a good idea. I said I would contact the Lieutenant and ask. I didn't say anything to them!" John said.

"Lindel...would you do the honors please?" Branzer asked.

"Certainly my love." Lindel walked forward and ran her finger under the chin of John. Suddenly she started screaming in her banshee voice and slammed herself into all three of their eyes and began probing their minds.

"I know you idiots can still hear me! All I have to do is snap my fingers and your heads will explode. Then we will find your families! We're not fucking around!" Branzer screamed at them.

"When Lindel is done, can I still eat them?" Mohania asked curiously.

"Yeah, we might just do that...instead of instantly killing you; have my friend here torture you and your families for the rest of your lives." Branzer said.

Mohania's fire in his eyes grew more intense as he smiled. "I like you Branzer. I'll make sure to send you a Christmas card." Branzer than leaned over and whispered something into Mohania's ear. Mohania then chuckled and walked forward. He suddenly unlocked his jaw and completely engulfed John's face and part of the top of his head.

"Should I give him the command? Huh, what do you think Johney boy? You think we are messing around?" Branzer said.

"I told you everything...I swear!" John said crying.

"Mohania...I need to come out please..." Lindel said using John's voice. Mohania let out a growl, and then slowly pulled his head back and returned his mouth to its normal position. Lindel came flying out of their eyes and rematerialize in front of them.

"They don't know anything. Their scared shitless, and they constantly thought about their families. Their intentions are pure." Lindel said casually walking away from them.

"Can I torture them now?" Mohania asked.

"Mohania pick one of them and restrain the one you pick." Branzer said.

Mohania looked them over and then casted a green shield around all of them and pushed them all up into the air.

"Not very good with numbers are you Mohania?" Branzer asked.

"What are numbers?" Mohania said with a grin. Bolts of green lightning randomly shot out of the green shield and blasted the three of them, causing enormous pain.

"Herrior, Skyka I need to talk to you privately. Mohania, don't kill them." Branzer said and walked towards them. All three of them met at the far end of the table.

"All emotions aside for a second ok? I gave Lindel a direct order not to contact me in my head. Bernett and I walked in and immediately knew who the alliance was. We were calm and composed about it, trying to get some information from them. The Lindel blasted in my head who the alliance was. I told her to get out of my head. The alliance started looking around as if trying to see where the telepathic imprint, or whatever you call it, was coming from. It put both of our lives in danger because she didn't follow my order."

Herrior instantly let out an angry snort. He grabbed his shield and slammed it into the wall, shaking the entire building and destroying several cinder blocks.

"Lindel!" Herrior shouted. Lindel jumped and quickly ran over to Herrior.

"Did an ambassador give you a direct order? And then did you disobey that direct order!" Herrior screamed in her face.

"Branzer told me..." Lindel said softly.

Herrior's mighty voice over powered hers easily. "Branzer is an ambassador! I don't care if he is only been anointed two seconds ago! They had the situation under control. Did either one of them call for help!"

No." Lindel said softly again.

So why were you in his head talking to him! He told you not to! What's really got me worried now is Branzer is reporting that the alliance are seeming to attune themselves to your telepathic abilities. He reported that they began looking around for where the telepathic wave was coming from. Who knows if they heard it or not!" Herrior turned around and started smashing his shield up against the wall again. The cinder blocks crumbled as the whole wall looked like it was going to give way. Large chunks of the ceiling came pouring down around Herrior.

"Maybe you aren't ready for private time! I thought he wasn't, but now I don't think you are! You disobeyed a direct order because of your feelings for him. I have fought with you for years! Do you remember how many times I came close to death, and even died, and Skyka just stood there and watched!" Herrior then let out a mighty roar that shook the entire building.

"I shouldn't have to be giving you this speech! You should know! Orders first!" Herrior yelled pointing his finger into Lindel's crying and quivering face.

"Get out of here; I can't stand to look at you anymore!" Herrior yelled pointing to the door. Lindel immediately ran out.

"My group, our work here is done. Branzer, I'm going to leave a portal open. Mohania and Lindel will remain here. Those pieces of human flesh do not deserve to be breathing! My recommendation is to let Mohania have them. The rest of us, let's go." Herrior and the rest of the group walked out. Mohania stayed behind and was smiling very eagerly at Branzer.

Both Branzer and Bernett heard Herrior scream at Lindel to open a portal and to have it remain open until Branzer has decided the fate of the three humans. The he said he better not see her in Tranquil while he thinks of a punishment. Bernett looked over at Branzer and raised his eyebrow. Branzer sighed. They both walked over to the humans being slowly burnt to a crisp in the green circle.

"Mohania let them down." Branzer said. Mohania snapped his fingers and they instantly fell to the ground.

"Bernett, do you have a coin?" Branzer asked, his guns pointing at the three men in pain on the ground. Bernett set down his weapon and emptied his pockets. He pulled out a paperclip, some pocket lint, and an unused tampon. Bernett looked at it funny until he remembered the reason for it and quickly put it back.

"Do any of you idiots have a coin?" Branzer said after looking at Bernett. The human on the left produced a quarter. Branzer took it from his hands.

"Heads, you live. Tails, Mohania gets you." Branzer said.

"Come on...tails!" Mohania cheered.

Branzer flipped the coin into the air. It twirled numerous times in the air before it hit the ground and began to roll. Eventually it landed heads up. Suddenly an imp appeared out of nowhere, flipped the coin over, and then disappeared.

"Tails!" Mohania cheered. "I'll start dragging them out..." he said walking over to them.

"Mohania...it landed head side up." Branzer said slowly. Mohania walked over to examine the coin and said, "That stupid little imp had better of..."

"Mohania...it landed head side up." Branzer said again. Mohania grunted and walked back to the door.

"I'm not happy with the results of the bet..." Branzer said. Mohania froze in his tracks.

"This is your last warning! If you see an alliance member, kill him or her! If either one of us sees you again, we will kill you without hesitation. Do you understand?" Branzer said calming. Suddenly Mohania channeled a spell that made the whole room turn dark for a couple of seconds. Then when he was done casting the spell everybody could see again.

"Look! You saw them again!" Mohania said seeming to be proud of himself.

"Mohania, go through the portal. And tell Lindel she had better not look at us when we come..." Branzer said in a deep tone. Mohania sighed and relayed the message as he disappeared into the portal.

"Count to one hundred and then come out of the compound. If the Lieutenant gets any more emails, we will hunt you down. Let's go Bernett." Branzer said as he began walking out of the compound.

Branzer saw Lindel shaking and crying. She was looking away from them. Branzer looked the other way and saw a rental car.

"They must have all come in that." Branzer said and raised his gun. Bernett did the same. They both started firing off rounds that sounded like dynamite going off in their hands. After a couple of bullets, the car caught fire and began to burn. Branzer attempted to fire more, but he was out of ammunition. Bernett let off two more rounds and then pulled his empty clip from the gun. They then both silently walked through the portal and reappeared back in the conference room. They were shocked to not find Herrior's group, but they both said that they should go reload their guns.

Both of them came back to their desks and saw the Lieutenant examining Branzer's new flower.

"What is this?" He asked.

"It's called Netherbloom...I'm no good with botany, but it seems really good. Got it from a friend." Branzer said.

"Huh, never heard of it. Anyways did you two have a safe trip?"

"You shouldn't be getting any more emails, how were things here?" Bernett said sitting down at his desk. He saw an email from his wife and began reading it.

"Nothing really. I just wanted to know if things were taken care of." Branzer nodded and he started to walk away.

"Hey Lieutenant, are you a betting man?" Bernett yelled out. Branzer looked at Bernett in astonishment.

"Depends if I know that I can win." the Lieutenant said and walked back over to him. "What are you purposing?"

"Target range. Person with the most points wins. Friendly contest between us three. After work or something, what do you say?" Bernett said. Branzer continued to look at Bernett wondering what he was up to.

The Lieutenant walked away shaking his head. "Let me think about it."

"Bernett?" Branzer asked insistently.

"Trust me...you don't want to go home right now. In fact, getting a hotel and watching porn may not be a bad idea for this weekend." Bernett said backing away from his computer and waving his hand towards the screen.

Branzer scooted over and began to read the email.

"Hi hun! It's me your lover. I wanted to email you and let you know that I was taking a bath earlier and was thinking of you. I used the toy..." Branzer quickly turned around and looked at Bernett. "I don't need to know this..."

"Sorry, umm...just a sec." Bernett scrolled the email down a paragraph. "Ok go ahead."

"Anyways, Julie and I got to thinking. We came up with some ideas and decided to go ahead and do them. I hope you and Branzer aren't upset with us. We both love you very much, just keep that in mind ok?" the email started out. Branzer let out a sigh.

"Oh read on, it gets better." Bernett said.

"We have both decided that we would feel safer all being in one house...so I contacted Tess and she brought a lot of friends and moved everything to Branzer's house and put our house up for sale. I was thinking that the room across from Branzer's could be our room. We all moved out the exercise equipment, that didn't look like it was being used anyway, and put a temperpedic queen size bed in there for us. While Tess and her friends moved everything around, Julie and I decided to go shopping. We bought Julie a futon and replaced Branzer's couch, she said it smelled funny. We also bought a lot of decorations to liven up the place and food so it didn't seem like we were going to be intruding too much. We have plans of raising the privacy fence in the backyard and putting in a tiny pond with fish. Julie got a new car, said it was a present from the Lieutenant or something? The bad news though is Julie was dishonorable discharged from the Navy...so she needed a place to stay and that's when we came up with this idea. Also we are having a house built for us in the "other place". We both designed it. It's going to be kind of small, but it's going to be cozy. This weekend they said we can start moving some of our personal belongings into it. Love you lots hun, sorry for the big surprise. I tried calling you several times. I hope you aren't upset. I'll make it up to you if you are, I promise. Tess said that Branzer would have no problem with us moving in and said it was a fantastic idea. I guess she knows him pretty well. Can't wait for you two to see what we did to the place!"

Branzer looked down at the floor and sighed.

"Isn't this great! We're going to be roommies!" Bernett said and playfully punched him on the arm.

"I'm assuming you didn't know anything about this?" Branzer asked.

"Nope, just as surprised as you are." Bernett said.

"So why the contest with the Lieutenant? What was that all about?" Branzer asked.

"I'm hoping my gun misfires and hits me in the head..." Bernett said. "So what is the deal with you and Lindel?"

"We are being allowed what they call, private time' together. Our first session went a little too far. Look, obviously neither one of us are to thrilled with this, but it does sort of make sense. But when you and Samatha need private time', and when Lindel and I need private time', let's work out some sort of code word or something ok? No offense, but that's the last thing I need to hear at night..."

"Deal. So after the gun range, wanna go get drunk? It might soften the blow when we both get...uh...home." Bernett said.

Suddenly a "ding" noise came up on Bernett's computer. It was from the Lieutenant. He clicked on it and they both read it.

"I've looked over both of your records and it looks like both of you scored the lowest in the handgun shooting. So I purpose that we use our standard police issued magnums, at one hundred yards. If I win, you have to buy me and my wife a seven course seafood dinner, wear dresses to work for a week, and clean every cruiser that is not being used. If you win, I will wear a clown suit to both of your houses and my wife and I will serve you the seafood dinner. Sound like a bet?" the email said.

Bernett quickly wrote back, "If we win, we want twenty seafood dinners delivered to us Saturday for dinner, forget the clown suit, and we'll cook them ourselves. Deliver them to Branzer's house." and sent it.

The Lieutenant almost instantly wrote back. "You're serious? Fine, we'll inspect each other's weapons to make sure all is fair. I'll bring some binoculars so you can watch me blow both of you out of the water. If I even beat one of your scores, I win. Agreed?"

Bernett wrote back, "Meet you in the parking lot."

Bernett turned around to Branzer with a smile.

"I don't think we should be doing this Bernett..." Branzer said.

"Would you rather go home?" Bernett said laughing. "Besides, you know we'll blow him out of the water. It would be fun to put him in his place and you know it. Besides, my wife loves seafood."

"Are we going to hold back...or..." Branzer asked.

"Hell no, let's put him in his place!" Bernett said.

"Put me in my place huh?" the Lieutenant said walking by them two. "Do you want me to shoot blind folded to make it fair for you two?"

"Yeah...let's do this." Branzer said smiling at Bernett. Bernett then grabbed the box of treats Lindel had given Branzer and was about to offer the Lieutenant one, when Branzer grabbed it and tossed it in the trash.

"That's strictly between you and me." Branzer said following the Lieutenant. Bernett started to laugh.

All three of them got down to the target range and the Lieutenant began looking over their firearms. He seemed satisfied and gave them both back to them. He ordered three targets to be put at one hundred yards. The Lieutenant then opened a big black case he was carrying. It was a standard firearm with an enormous scope on it. Bernett and Branzer just shrugged as if it was no big deal. The Lieutenant laid down and lined up his sights. He fired off twenty rounds and then ordered his target to be returned. He took the target and began counting up the points.

"Eighty two and two bulls-eyes. Your turn you two...oh and remember that my wife likes extra butter for her lobster." the Lieutenant said in a cocky voice putting away his gun. He pulled out his binoculars and ordered the targets to be moved back in place.

Branzer and Bernett laid down on their stomachs.

"Not holding back huh?" Branzer asked.

"Not holding back..." Bernett replied.

Both of their pupils suddenly flashed a symbol of a hawk and quickly disappeared. Then they began shooting. Immediately both of them got three dead center bull's-eyes. Then an enormous explosion came from the hand guns. The Lieutenant dropped his binoculars and looked at the officers in surprise, thinking their guns had exploded. They were still firing, so he looked back down the range and saw that they had blown their targets completely apart. Then they started picking off the larger pieces of paper left before it hit the ground. When there was nothing left but mere shreds of paper, both of them fired and blew off all four close pins that were holding the target on. Afterwards they both fired at the same time twice, splitting both strings in two at exactly the same time so they floated down to the ground. Both officers put their safety's on and rose to their feet.

"That's impossible..." the Lieutenant said quietly.

"So Lieutenant, who do you think won? I mean I saw I got three bulls eyes, then the whole target blew up so I started picking off the bigger pieces, which I think you were doing as well Branzer, and when there wasn't anything left it looked like we both blew up the clothes pins and then cut the string. Did I miss anything Branzer?"

"Nope, that's pretty much how I saw it. So see you tomorrow at five in the afternoon?" Branzer said patting the Lieutenant on the shoulder. The Lieutenant continued to stare in awe at what he just saw.

"Need a ride home Bernett?" Branzer asked casually as if nothing happened.

"I would appreciate it." Bernett said back in the same tone.

When they both got in the car and started the engine, Bernett asked "Do you think he shit himself?"

"I did smell something..." Branzer said as they laughed together.

As they drove home, Branzer was thinking about something really hard. Bernett noticed but just blew it off.

"Uncomfortable question time again?" Branzer finally said.

Bernett chuckled. "Sure why not."

"It sounds like we are moving to Tranquil faster than what we first anticipated. Would it sound dumb...if I got a bunch of playboy magazines and posted them around my room to get more comfortable around naked women?" Branzer asked seriously.

"Uh...k...umm..." Bernett said. "That certainly is an uncomfortable question, I'll give you that much. I'm sure living with two women you'll probably see more than you want to see."

"Bernett, I do not want to see Samatha or Julie naked." Branzer said feeling awkward. "The reasoning behind it is obviously when we go to Tranquil it's going to make us both nervous as we were before. I thought if I got used to it ahead of time, then it wouldn't be as much of a...surprise. Does that make sense or am I way off base here..."

"Branzer I'm not going to answer that question. I see your reasoning behind it, but it may get you in some serious trouble. Let me know if you want to stop." Bernett said.

Branzer thought about it for a couple of seconds. "Yeah stop here." he said pointing to an adult book store. Bernett pulled in and said he was going to wait in the car. Branzer ran in, quickly made his purchased and ran back out.

"Word of advice? You may want to not post them on your wall..." Bernett said and continued home.

The two of them pulled into Branzer's driveway. A large pile of Branzer's personal belongings were being put into the back of a garbage truck. Branzer stood there watching as his entire life seemed to be nothing but junk to be sent away to a land fill. Branzer let out a sigh. Bernett put an arm around his shoulder and apologized.

"Let's go check out the damage." Branzer said slowly and began walking towards the front door. He looked down and saw a new door mat. It had pink flowers on it and said, "Welcome".

"I have pink flowers on my doormat..." Branzer said sighing.

"I'm sure that's not the worst of it." Bernett said.

"Can you open the door for me...?" Branzer asked. Bernett stepped forward and opened the door.

"Surprise!" Both Julie and Samatha said. Both of them walked up to Branzer and kissed him and hugged him. Then they did the same thing to Bernett.

"Bernett, a lot of our stuff is in storage. We had a lot of stuff delivered today, cost a little extra but we wanted to get it done today. A lot of Julie's stuff will arrive tomorrow." Samatha said excitedly. Both women dragged them into the house. Branzer looked straight ahead and sensed that he was in a different house.

"Come check out my room first!" Julie said dragging them two over to the den that she was sleeping in. The room had been completely cleared out of all of Branzer's stuff. There were several big pictures of her dog on the walls, plants by the window, a brand new futon where his couch was, and an enormous dog dish and water bowl right next to the futon.

"Is your dog staying here too?" Branzer asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Of course! He's almost done with his training. He's going to sleep on the futon with me. He may get curious during the night though and come visit. He'll behave really well though, I promise. Come see the dining room!" Julie said excitedly. Julie pulled the two officers behind them to the dining room. Branzer recognized absolutely nothing of his. His dining table, chairs, end table, pictures, everything was gone. In it's place was an enormous kitchen table with twenty chairs around it.

"Twenty chairs? For four people?" Branzer asked.

"It's for when we have visitors." Samatha said. "The kitchen we left alone, there's still a lot of working being done to the backyard, but come check out the bedrooms upstairs!"

Julie and Samatha ran up the stairs giggling like they were school girls. Branzer let out a long sigh.

"Kind of like Christmas morning huh?" Bernett said laughing, pushing Branzer up the stairs.

"Our room is on the left. We cleared out the entire room and put a queen sized temper-pedic bed in it. I also moved our dresser in it with all of our clothes and put the rest in the closet. You have got to feel this bed!" Samatha said pulling on Bernett and throwing her unprepared husband onto the bed.

"Branzer and us have matching comforters and blankets. Feel the bed form around your body? It's this great? And over there in the corner is a crib for our youngster when he is born. We'll have the baby in the same room as us. I figure when he gets old enough, we can clear out the room down the hall and put him, or her, in the sunroom I think it is?"

"It's where I go to relax..." Branzer said unimpressed. Julie quickly pulled on Branzer's arm and pulled him into his room. All of his pictures and his decorations were gone. Julie pushed him on his bed, and Julie jumped right next to him.

"You have the same size bed. Highest quality in the store. Plus a fifty inch plasma TV. I put the remote on your new night stand." Julie crawled over him to get the remote. She pushed a button and the large TV came to life on the opposite side of the wall. It instantly showed a football game in progress.

"High definition, plus we bought you a new computer! We didn't know where to put it, so we kept it in your room. So...all of us will just have to come in here to use it." Julie said still excited. Julie then pulled Branzer off from the bed and met up with Samatha and Bernett in the hallway.

"We added some feminine touches to the bathroom and put up new curtains throughout the house as well. So...what do you think?" Samatha said eagerly.

Branzer raised his eyebrows and looked around. "Well, it was certainly a surprise..."

"Oh come on...this will be fun! Besides, you know we'll all be safer if we stick together, and you did have the bigger house. Julie and I also did some clothes shopping. We didn't know where to put everything, so...we put her clothes in your closet Branzer. Her dresser will arrive tomorrow and then she can put some of them in her room downstairs. You should see the plans we have for our house in Tranquil! It's going to be smaller so we'll all probably have to sleep in the same room, but it's going to be beautiful! It's about twenty yards away from Brenna's house. Tess was excited and said you guys would love it!" Samatha said excitedly.

Both women stared at them excitedly waiting for a response. After a moment, Samatha said, "Soo...what do you think?"

"Bernett...do you still want to go to a hotel this weekend?" Branzer said slowly. Bernett nodded his head.

"You two are so funny! Come on, we have spaghetti cooking in the stove. I also got a bottle of one of the finest wine's we could find. Tonight we celebrate!" Julie said pulling them down the stairs.

Branzer held up the bottle of wine. "Lafite-Rothschild" he said out loud. Never heard of it.

It better be good for the price we paid for it." Samatha said.

Should I ask?" Branzer said.

Four hundred dollars a bottle. They only had three left. They said it would be the best tasting wine we ever put in our mouths. So, we bought all of them." Samatha said giggling.

You spent how much?" Bernett said immediately.

"Do you want to know how much I spent all together today, or should I make it up to you tonight..." Samatha said leaning over the table, exposing the top parts of her breasts towards him. She smiled seductively at him. Bernett closed his eyes and sighed.

Branzer, can you fill me a glass with that? Preferably the biggest glass you have..." Bernett said.

The two men ate their dinner in silence as Julie and Samatha continued rambling on about how they were going to rearrange their house, and what their place in Tranquil was going to be like. After a couple of moments, Branzer heard two engines pull up to his driveway and turn off. He scooted his chair back and looked out the window to see the Lieutenant getting out of the black car and walking back to an enormous yellow Ford truck that his wife was driving.

"Julie, looks like your car is here." Branzer said.

"What?" Julie said completely surprised.

"Well you need some sort of transportation while you are here, figured we would work out a deal to get you one. It's all paid for, all you have to do is go sign the papers." Branzer said without emotion watching out the window still.

"You did not! You did not!" Julie said as her voice increased in volume. She quickly backed out of her chair and flew open the front door.

"The black car?" Julie said excitedly.

"Yup." Branzer said. Julie started to scream and jump up and down.

"Are you serious? Are you serious?" Julie said over and over.

"Yup, it's your car. How about we all go take a look." Branzer and Bernett stood up both looking out the window. Branzer turned around just in time to see Julie jump into his arms. She hugged him and began kissing him. She then let go of him and turned to Bernett.

"Whoa, I'm married." Bernett said and Julie leaped into his arms and did the same thing. Samatha laughed and looked away. Julie then started crying and ran out to investigate her new car. Both of the officers turned to look out the window just in time to see their Lieutenant extend his hand to greet Julie again. Julie jumped into the air and completely knocked him down on the ground. Then she started bouncing on him telling him how thankful she was.

"Ouch…that's going to leave a bruise, but it doesn't look like the Lieutenant minds." Bernett said. Samatha slipped out the door without the two men seeing and walked over to the car.

"His wife might…" Branzer said chuckling. Julie jumped off from him and started peeking inside. The Lieutenant got up off from the ground and started explaining what the car was and details about it. Julie didn't seem to care. He opened up the hood for her, exposing a very clean and well kept engine. He made his way to the other side of the car and opened the glove box. He pulled out the title and a pen. Julie ran over to him and was eager to do anything he said. He pointed to a couple of different spots and she signed her name. The Lieutenant then handed her an envelope. Julie reached her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. She then ran back over to Samatha and began hugging her.

Suddenly Julie's face became serious as she pulled Samatha off to the side. The two of them seemed to be having an intense conversation, Julie doing the majority of the talking. After a moment Samatha's face turned red as she looked back and saw both officers staring at her. She then turned around and put both hands on her shoulders and calmly talked to her for a couple of minutes. Then Samatha pointed to the driver's side door. Julie bounced happily over to it and jumped in the driver's side seat. Samatha was walking back to the door with an extremely embarrassed look on her face. She walked inside and shut the door. Both men looked at her with curiosity.

Samatha began to laugh and then said, "You two have made that young lady very happy. She said she has no money or any other way of showing how much she appreciated what you two have done for her. She then…" Samatha closed her eyes and looked away, "suggested an 'activity' that both of you would enjoy. She asked with me with sincere honesty and with a kind heart. I explained to her that neither one of you would be interested in that, and that seeing her happy would be thanks enough."

Samatha then looked back at them with a red face. "We're going to take the car for a ride and make it legal. Neither one of you are to…accept any kind of…" Samatha shook her head and smiled. She started grinning from ear to ear and waved goodbye at them as she shut the door.

"Bernett…I hate your wife…" Branzer said looking back out the window.

"I do too." Bernett said jokingly.

The Lieutenant's wife pulled the truck out from behind the car as the Lieutenant walked up to the house. Branzer opened the door for him. He walked in with a smile, and then began looking around the house.

"What's going on here?" he asked curiously.

"Samatha and Julie thought it would be funny to move in with me while we were at work. Thanks for the car." Branzer said emotionless.

"Yeah no problem, so the four of you in here?" he asked.

Branzer held up his hand and shook his head. The Lieutenant just shrugged.

"Need to ask a favor. Julie lost her job with the Navy. She is currently unemployed. She would be a valuable asset to your station." Branzer said.

"What?" The Lieutenant asked in shock.

"Remember our little contest we had today? She shoots just as good, but has…err…different qualities than we have. She would have to bring her dog in the station as well." Branzer said.

"What?" The Lieutenant asked again in shock.

"Hard to explain. But as you noticed, we 'leave often' and she does the same. You want protection in the station don't you? Having her and her dog would be an enormous asset. Trust me." Bernett piped up.

The Lieutenant shook his head in disbelief. "Is it a police dog? Does he sniff out weapons or drugs?"

"No, he…uh…has different abilities…" Branzer started to say.

"Tricks." Bernett piped up.

"Yeah, he does different tricks. Honestly we don't know what tricks, but…from what she showed us on paper, he could probably bite a human completely in half without even trying. And probably much more." Branzer said.

"Would he be a threat to my officers?" The Lieutenant asked quickly.

"No, he would be under Julie's direct command. The two are kind of… inseparable…" Branzer said.

"Ok, so you want me to hire Julie as what…an officer and make her dog an officer as well? I don't see that working out well at all."

"Sir, I would request that you give her the same job title that we have." Bernett said.

"You don't even have a job title…" the Lieutenant reminded them.

Both officers stood side by side and a quick picture of a snake appeared in their pupils for a brief second. The Lieutenant stared at them in disbelief.

"Do I have a choice?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Everybody makes their own choices. But I assure you, she would be a wise investment." Bernett said.

The Lieutenant sighed. "I'll have a cubical cleared out next to Bernett's. I have to start her out at forty two a year. That's the starting pay for any officer. I'm assuming we'll be by-passing the boot camp as well. She's going to need one hell of a résumé!"

"Résumé?" Branzer asked.

"I can't just bring in anybody off from the street and hire them in. It needs to be approved by the Chief. I do all of the interviews, give my recommendations; do the background checks - so we can bypass all of that crap. But the decision is not mine. Make up something good. Write on there that she was a bodyguard for the President or something. I'm still not happy about the dog! It's my station, is that understood! I don't care if you can shoot a penny from ten thousand yards away. While you are here, you have to follow my rules." The Lieutenant said.

"Yes sir." Both of them said.

The Lieutenant sighed. "Bring her…and the dog…in on Monday. I want to talk with her alone."

"Word of advice, don't make any sudden movements or threatening gestures around her dog…" Bernett said.

"I'm not scared of dogs…" he said leaving the house.

Branzer chuckled. "Well we got her a car and a job. What kind of favors do you think she owes us now?"

"That's all you; if Samatha caught me I would be castrated. If Lindel found out, I think I would be getting off easy…" Bernett said.

"I'm going to go get my purchases. Meet you in the backyard? Bring the bottle of wine too." Branzer said.

"Not a problem. It does taste pretty good actually. Not worth four hundred dollars though…"

Branzer got his bag and dropped it off on the foot of his bed and then meet up with Bernett outside. He had found two lawn chairs and placed them facing each other. Branzer took the opposite one.

"Ahh…all we need now is a fire." Bernett said taking a sip of wine straight from the bottle.

Suddenly a huge column of fire exploded from the ground and rose a good ten feet into the air. The officers looked completely indifferent to it. They heard a "smack" sound behind them in the woods and then followed by the words, "You idiot!" The fire instantly vanished.

"You know, three months ago that probably would have given me a heart attack. Pass the bottle please." Branzer said reaching for the bottle. He took a long gulp and then leaned back in his chair and slowly took in a big breath of air.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Branzer eventually said out loud with his eyes closed. Trackolania suddenly appeared on Branzer's lap. Branzer kept his eyes closed.

"How are you doing Trackolania?" Branzer said opening one eye. He had a smile on his face.

"So what do you know about women…" Trackolania thought about it for awhile and then pulled out a small purple vial. It had a dark purple liquid at the bottom with a lot of purple vapor above it.

"Let me guess…some kind of love potion? Puts somebody in a hypnotic state so they'll do whatever you want them to do?" Branzer asked. Trackolania nodded excitedly.

"How many of those do you have Trackolania?" Bernett asked giggling. He held up three fingers.

"Here, take a taste of this and let me know what you think." Branzer said handing the little rogue the bottle. Trackolania took the bottle and instantly began examining it very closely. He swirled it around several times and then sniffed it for a couple of seconds. He took a tiny sip and seemed to analyze it for a couple of seconds. Then he swallowed it and nodded.

"I was hoping you would approve. It's some of the best wine money can buy." Bernett said closing his eyes.

"Wine? I'll be the judge of that…" Strings said coming out of the woods. Branzer extended his hand with the bottle in it. Strings took it and began engulfing it.

"It cost four hundred dollars. Pass it around to everybody." Branzer said. He heard Strings let out a loud "Ahh…" as he handed the bottle back. It was completely empty.

"Nevermind…" Branzer said throwing the bottle behind him.

"I wonder if you can get a deposit back on that."

"It cost four hundred dollars and you want ten cents back?" Branzer said starting to laugh. "Anyways, what is going on you guys? Just here to visit?" The rest of Herrior's group moved out of the woods and made a circle around the two of them on the ground.

"Tess said things might be a little awkward for you Branzer." Herrior said.

"Bah, no way. Hey do the rest of you want to move in as well?" Branzer said with a smile.

"Your house in Tranquil is almost complete. It was designed by Julie and Samatha, so I don't know if you will like it." Herrior said slowly.

"I doubt it. But home is where you hang your hat, huh Branzer?" Bernett said with his eyes closed still.

"The King would like you four to come to Tranquil on the weekends to improve your training, get to know everybody, assign jobs for you, start to integrate you into our city. That sort of thing." Herrior said.

"Our own little weekend getaway. Fine by me." Branzer said. "Will Lindel be portaling us?"

"That's another reason why we are here. I wanted your input as to her punishment. So far we have banned her from seeing us. All she's been doing is sitting with her feet in the fountain and dreaming. She is very upset and cries often." Herrior said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hmm…well what does she like to do?" Branzer asked opening his eyes and looking at Herrior and Skyka.

"She loves to fly over Tranquil, worship at the church, play with children, talk with everybody, play jokes on people…" Skyka said.

"Ok, how about we do the first one. Tell her not to fly for the next two days in Tranquil. Would that be sufficient?" Branzer asked.

Herrior and Skyka looked at each other.

"Alright, how about something else then?" Branzer said.

"No, I think that is fine. It will break her heart, but she'll understand." Herrior said. A moment passed and then Herrior said, "Do you love her?"

Branzer quickly rose from his chair and got into Herrior's face. His group started to arm themselves.

"Yes! Yes I do! But I have an obligation as an ambassador don't I? Do you think the punishment is too much? Should we change it?" Branzer said.

"No, I think it is sufficient." Herrior said.

"I would still like to see her, would that be ok?" Branzer said walking back to his chair.

"I'm not taking away your private time. You may summon her whenever you wish. First I would like to talk to her though, if that is ok? I want to explain the punishment to her." Herrior asked.

"That's fine. Oh, Mohania! Congratulations on blowing up the planet. Your powers continue to amaze me." Branzer said.

"Yesss…I am quite powerful…" Mohania said with his eyes blazing and talking in his echoing voice. Kendall rolled her eyes and sat down in front of him.

"All of the undead did. Mohania just got in a lucky shot is all." Kendall said.

"I don't believe I've meet you. I'm Branzer and this is Bernett. You are one of the prettiest undead I've ever seen." Branzer said looking at her.

Kendall blushed. She then turned around and pushed Mohania to the ground. "A compliment like that once in awhile would be nice…" Both officers laughed.

"So I hear all of our talent things are being redone." Branzer said changing the subject.

"Yeah, not a lot of people are happy about that. But I know about as much as you do. I was thinking about redoing my talents in the next couple of days myself." Herrior said.

Branzer looked confused. "What's wrong with your talents?"

Skyka rolled her eyes. "Nothing…there is nothing wrong with your talent tree you big lug." Skyka said glaring at Herrior. "What the male warriors do is get together and have an ejaculation contest. The one that shoots their seed the farthest gets to pick the tank talents for that week. I wish you would just pick one and stick with it, I'm tired of hearing of all the changes you did. Just as long as I can heal your hairy butt - I don't really care." Herrior looked embarrassed as his group began to chuckle. Branzer and Bernett turned around and looked at Skyka and Herrior and the look she was giving him. They suddenly burst into laughter, along with the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry Herrior. It's been a stressful day for us. I've been worried about Lindel and Skyka is a good stress reliever." Branzer said.

"That's not the only thing I'm good at…" Skyka said winking at him.

"Well I think our time here is up, let's get going guys." Herrior said rising to his feet.

"Quick question if you don't mind?" Branzer said. Herrior turned around.

"That…uh…food that Lindel gave me. Does she seriously like that?" Branzer asked. Skyka walked over to him and sat on his lap.

"Hun, she loves that stuff. It's the honest to goodness truth. We were not playing a joke on you, and I think you hurt her feelings. Personally none of us can stand it. I don't see how you were able to keep it down in your stomach."

"I almost didn't! But I kept it down with every muscle in my body. I didn't mean to upset her." Branzer said. Skyka leaned over and kissed him.

"You did fine hun."

"That stuff made me puke my guts out! If Branzer was able to keep it down, than I have to hand it to him. After hearing the story I'm positive that he loves her. There would be no way I could have kept that done that!" Bernett said speaking on Branzer's behalf.

"We'll, carefully, suggest other treats that Lindel can bring." Herrior said smiling.

"Come on Spark, we're leaving!" Crystal called out.

"Spark is here?" Branzer asked. He looked around and saw an enormous bear shaped animal dropping a massive pile of poop at the edge of his property.

"That's great…" Branzer said. Spark finished up and began bouncing towards Crystal. The closer he got, the bigger he looked. The enormous beast pounced on Crystal and began licking her.

"Ugh…get off me you big ox…" Crystal said giggling. Herrior walked over and helped push Spark off from her.

"This is Crystal's new dog. He got done with his training early so we brought him here. Very friendly dog. I think he's licked just about everybody in Tranquil."

Bernett and Branzer stared in awe at Spark. The Saint Bernard was easily over two hundred pounds. They could see his muscles and veins bulging from his body. Branzer slowly approached him and began petting him. Spark turned around and started licking him. His fur was incredibly soft, but his skin felt as hard as steel. Branzer looked in the dog's mouth and saw several rows of razor sharp that seemed to be moving back and forth. Spark licked his face; his tongue took up his entire face.

"What did you do to him? Put him on steroids?" Branzer asked looking him over. "What does he eat, horses and bears?" Spark was breathing heavily at him. Branzer stuck his head halfway in his head and saw that he could easily rip his head off without much effort.

"Naw just feed him regular dog food. He's been a good doggy, haven't you been Spark?" Crystal said walking over and hugging the enormous beast. "Are you eager to see Julie? Do you want to see Julie boy?" The dog let out several enormous barks and began dancing around. It shook the ground a little while he did his dance.

"Wow! Well he'll keep away the robbers…" Bernett said and laughed.

"The Lieutenant is going to shit himself Monday…" Branzer said petting Spark.

"Why? What's going on?" Crystal quickly asked.

"We got Julie a car and a job working at the station. The Lieutenant asked what kind of dog Julie was bringing in to the station. To be honest I don't know how to answer the question…" Branzer said.

"That was nice of you guys to do that for her." Dan said with a smile. "Has anybody asked about us?"

"Not really, and after this beast comes in I don't think they will for awhile. So what commands does he know? I mean if he's ripping apart a couch or something, do I hit him with a newspaper…" Branzer said laughing.

"He will be able to communicate directly with Julie." Herrior said. The dog then barked out the word, "Julie". The two officers were shocked.

"Ok…well we've seen weirder stuff I suppose…" Branzer said looking up at Mohania. Mohania let out a grin.

"Well come on Spark, let's show you around the house. See you guys later." Branzer said. Bernett and Spark followed him into the house. Herrior's group disappeared into a portal into the woods.

"Ok well Spark, we are the good guys ok? Don't eat us. I'll show you Julie's room." Branzer said.

"Julie." Spark barked again happily.

"Mental note…don't piss off Julie…" Bernett said. Both officers chuckled.

They walked into the den and Branzer patted on the futon and said, "This is where Julie is going to be sleeping." Spark jumped up on the futon. They could hear the springs bending and the mattress instantly smashing down. Spark spun around a couple of times and then laid down. His head and front paws hung off the front and his back legs up to the knee hung off the bark.

"Ok, well maybe Julie won't be sleeping there. This is your bed over here Spark." Branzer said pointing at his bed. Spark let out a low growl.

"Or not, that's fine. We may have to buy a King sized bed for them two." Branzer said slowly backing away. Both of them began cleaning up dinner. They put all of the left over spaghetti on a plate and gave it to Spark.

"Do you think we should give him people food?" Bernett asked. Spark sniffed it and then ferociously lunged forward and swallowed the entire stack of left over spaghetti. He didn't even chew. Spark then went back to watching the two men.

"You tell him he can't have any…" Branzer said. Just then Spark's head lifted up and stared at the front door. He got off the futon and walked over to the left side of the door. He had a serious look on his face, so the officers couldn't tell if he was going to attack or just stand there. Both officers armed themselves.

"We're home!" Samatha called out. She walked right by the dog and both officers quickly put away their guns.

"Did we miss something?" Samatha asked curiously.

"No, just jumpy. So tell me what you two did?" Bernett said.

Julie walked into the door still very excited. Spark leaned forward and started instantly licking her, pushing her against the door. It eventually swung all the way open and Julie was pinned up against the wall.

"Hi Spark! I wasn't expecting you! My you got bigger!" Julie said petting her dog. The dog then started talking to her in her head. Julie was surprised at first.

"Well that's a neat trick!" Julie said in shock.

"What is it hun?" Samatha said.

"We can communicate with each other in our heads. He's telling me about Tranquil, all of the adventures he had there, the people that brought him here, and something about eating something that tasted like long strings of bread and tomatoes."

"We gave him the left over spaghetti." Branzer said. "When he first got here, he dropped about a five pound load of poop in the backyard."

"Oh Spark…did you poopy in the yard? Huh? Did you poopy in the yard?" Julie asked as the dog continued to lick her face. "I'll clean it up guys, don't worry about it."

"A two hundred pound dog, I'm more worried about what he's going to do to the house…or us…" Bernett said.

"Are you scaring the big bad policemen? Huh?" Julie then looked at Spark with a serious look. Samatha went to say something, but Julie "shushed" her.

After a moment, Julie said "They taught you all of that? You're a smart little puppy you know that! Branzer step forward, I want to see what he can do." Julie said shutting the front door.

"Umm…I would prefer not to be a chew toy…" Branzer said.

"Come on you big wuss, he's under my control. Trust me, he won't hurt you." Julie said smiling at him.

"If he attacks me, put him down ok Bernett." Branzer said stepping forward.

"I don't think so…" Bernett said quickly.

Julie must have given a command to Spark in his mind. Spark grew about fifty percent larger, his skin turned red, his claws grew several feet, and large fangs came out of his mouth. It took about five seconds for the transformation. Spark looked down at Branzer and began letting out several deep growls.

"Wow that's neat! Spark told me he could do that, but I wanted to see it!" Julie said. Julie walked in front of the terrified Branzer and began rubbing Spark's nose. Spark began wagging his tail.

"Julie…I'll do whatever you want…" Branzer said still staring up at the enormous red beast.

"Oh hush, he isn't going to hurt you." Julie then must have given Spark another command in his mind because he returned back down to his normal size and began licking Julie again.

"Ok Spark, go lay down. I need to talk for a moment ok?" Julie said. Spark immediately turned around and motioned to jump back on the futon.

"No! That's my bed; you sleep on your bed." Julie said. Spark whimpered and laid down on his bed on the floor. Spark looked up her as if he had just been scolded.

"Samatha and I picked up a lot of applications for me. I plan on paying rent, dog food obviously, and as much as I can depending on the job I get. I don't have much training, but I'm willing to do anything." Julie said showing the two of them the stack of applications she got. Branzer walked up to her and grabbed the papers from her and threw them on the table.

"You're going to work for our Lieutenant at the station. You start Monday. He even said you can bring Spark to work with you. We negotiated your pay as much as we could, but the highest he can start you at is forty two grand a year." Branzer said.

"What? How? I can't be an officer I don't have any training?" Julie said sounding astonished.

"Eh, for what we do - you won't need any training." Bernett said chuckling.

"Your desk will be right next to Bernett's and close to the Lieutenant's office. We'll probably have to put Spark in his own cubicle…although I don't think he'll fit…" Branzer said looking down at him.

"Are you serious? I've already gotten enough surprises for today, so don't joke around with me ok?" Julie said with a huge smile - looking like she was about ready to burst.

"Not joking. We have to put together a résumé for you over the weekend. The Lieutenant said to just put down anything. He does the interviews and background checks. He just needs the Chief's approval. He can't do that without a résumé."

"That's more money than I was making at the Navy! So what do I have to do?" Julie's voice became higher pitched.

"We mostly surf the internet, bullshit with each other, walk the compound, and make long-distance phone calls. Branzer said we're going to be painting the office pink next week." Bernett said with a smile. "I don't think he'll issue you a cruiser though, but I'm sure you'll get a firearm."

"Don't forget killing people." Samatha said harshly.

"Yeah, once in awhile boss man gives us a task to investigate and kill some alliance or demons. We have fun doing it though; it's a low stress job." Branzer said.

Julie started shaking her hands; her eyes were as wide open as they could be. It looked like she was going to explode. She then mouthed the words, "are you sure?" to Samatha. Samatha slowly closed her eyes and shook her head. Branzer glared at Bernett. Bernett just rolled his eyes.

"Guys…I have no idea what to say, or what I can do to show my appreciation for all that you have given to me. I'll do all of the chores around the house, I'll wash your car and cut the lawn. I suggested something earlier to Samatha…"

"Well look at the time." Branzer said out loud looking at where his clock used to be. "I'm pretty tired. Just make sure Spark doesn't make a mess ok? I'll see you all in the morning." Branzer started walking up the stairs. Bernett motioned to his wife and they both walked up behind him.

"Thank you!" Julie yelled up at them.

"Get some sleep hun; we'll divide up the chores. Just relax ok?" Samatha said.

"Oh, the King wants all of us to go to Tranquil if we can on the weekends. He said that he has some jobs for all of us." Branzer said turning off the hallway light.

Branzer laid in his bed with his new TV on. It was a show about elephants, but he wasn't listening. After an hour he turned it off and turned to his right. His thoughts were of Lindel. Another hour went by as he lay there staring at the wall. He slowly began to doze off when he heard the sound of a "crash" downstairs. It startled him awake, but then he heard Julie's voice.

"Spark get down! Your bed is over there! Bad Spark!" Julie said and then it sounded like she smacked the dog. Branzer could hear the dog whimpering. It was quite for awhile and then he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Julie opened his door.

"Branzer I'm sleeping in your bed, Spark decided he wanted to jump up with me in mine and it broke."

"Ok, well I'll go get the sleeping bag from the closet then…" Branzer said but was interrupted.

"I said I'm sleeping in your bed, not having sex with you. Sit back down and go to sleep." Julie said sounding agitated. Branzer looked over briefly and saw that she was completely nude. She flung the blankets up and laid down in his bed, letting the covers float back over her.

"Julie?" Branzer asked. Julie sighed.

"What?"

"Could you put some clothes on?" Branzer asked.

"No, now go to sleep."

Branzer rolled over and faced the same wall again and began thinking about Lindel again.

Meanwhile in Tranquil after they came back from Branzer's backyard. Herrior thanked the Chronomancer as he left. Herrior looked over and saw Lindel's bare backside. She was still looking down in the fountain. Her dress was neatly folded up next to her.

"I'm going to go talk to Lindel. I want you guys to go inside Brenna's house." Herrior said as he walked away. The group walked into Brenna's house.

Herrior walked up to Lindel and put his hands on Lindel's arms gently squeezing her as he leaned over and kissed her on top of the head.

"Hi Herrior." Lindel said softly.

"How did you know it was me? It could have been another sexy male tauren…" Herrior said smiling. Lindel let out a brief chuckle.

"I smelled you from about fifty feet back…" Lindel answered back. Herrior stood up and started sniffing himself.

"Do you want to sit?" Lindel asked. Herrior sat behind her and scooted up until he was straddling her. He wrapped his arms around her chest, just about her breasts. Lindel reached up with both hands and grabbed his arms, gently kissing them.

"I love you Herrior." Lindel said quietly.

"I love you too Lindel." Herrior answered back. Lindel let out a sigh.

"Have you decided on a punishment yet?" Lindel spoke very softly.

"Yes we have. The King and Queen would not want to be disturbed, so I met with two other ambassadors to decide what should be done with you." Herrior said in a distant voice looking over her head.

"You, Skyka, and Branzer huh?" Lindel asked.

"Yes. You saw what happened to him and Bernett when they disobeyed an order." Herrior said quietly reminding her.

"I know…" Lindel said starting to cry. "Let's get this over with."

Herrior sighed and began to cry with her. They both held each other tight for several minutes.

"This is part of my duty, as well as Skyka's and Branzer's. We all love you. Branzer probably loves you as much as you love him. It hurts all of us hun." Herrior said clearing his tears. Lindel nodded biting her lip.

Herrior sighed and then said, "You cannot use your wings for the next two days, anywhere. Is that understood?"

Lindel burst into tears as she slowly nodded. Herrior loosened his hug on Lindel, but Lindel grabbed both of his hands and wrapped herself around in them.

"Please stay…" Lindel said in-between sobs. "All of you…"

Herrior looked at her funny, and then turned around to see his entire group standing behind him.

"I thought I told you guys to go in Brenna's house." Herrior said sounding upset.

"We did love." Skyka said back. "We went in, left all of our armor, clothes, and weapons. Then none of us could sleep so we all decided to go for a walk. We ended up here. So technically we did follow your command." Skyka said smiling at her mate.

"You guys are awful…" Herrior said smiling at them. Lindel let out a small chuckle.

"Skyka, can you smell me from fifty feet away?" Herrior asked. Lindel let out another small chuckle.

"Hun I can track you anywhere in Tranquil. All I have to do is stick my nose out of a house and take a couple of sniffs." Skyka said back. Lindel smiled and shook her head.

Trackolania instantly vanished and reappeared in front of Lindel. Strings started playing a soft melody in the background.

"Hi my favorite little rogue." Lindel said reaching out and rubbing Trackolania's hair. He smiled back. "Have you found somebody to share romantic love with?"

Trackolania made a face at her as if he had just tasted something awful. He quickly shook his head back and forth.

"I hope you do someday. Just don't mess up like I did, ok?" Lindel said rubbing his cheek. Trackolania bounced back several feet into the water. He drew a picture of a heart in the water so quickly that it stayed for a couple of seconds before it disappeared. He then drew the letter "U" in the water.

"You love me huh?" Lindel said starting to tear up again. Trackolania put his dagger away and nodded with a smile.

"Come here young one." Lindel said holding her hand out to him. Trackolania walked forward and embraced her. The rest of the group walked forward and hugged both her and Herrior.

A moment later, Lindel asked "Herrior? Can I go see him? Please?"

"I supposed you want to go alone huh?" Herrior said with a smile releasing her. Lindel nodded as Herrior helped her up. Skyka handed her a light nightgown.

"Do you normally go for walks around Tranquil, naked with a nightgown in your hand, when you can't sleep?" Herrior asked Skyka.

"Eh - thought it might get chilly." Skyka replied back helping Lindel put it on. Herrior shook his head.

"I'll portal back to Brenna's house. Thanks you guys." Lindel said beginning to channel a portal. "Don't wait up for me…" Lindel said walking through the portal smiling.

Lindel appeared in Branzer's room on the left side of his bed. She a bag of something, but moved it on the floor without looking at it. Lindel sat down next to Branzer's legs and began rubbing them.

"Branzer…" Lindel whispered very softly. Branzer opened his eyes a little and looked at the wall. He had realized that he had fallen asleep. He let out a yawn and stretched. Then he felt somebody rubbing his legs.

"Julie?" Branzer asked.

"No, she's next to you. I am Lindel." She said quietly.

Branzer quickly looked up and saw her. Lindel smiled at her. Branzer quickly scrambled out of bed and said, "This isn't what it looks like…" Branzer said pointing to Julie.

"It looks like you two are sleeping in the same bed." Lindel said quietly.

"Nothing happened! I swear! Her dog broke her bed and she came up here." Branzer said defensively. Lindel got up off the bed and slowly walked over to Branzer. She put a finger on his lips and said, "Be quiet, she's sleeping. Is it ok if you hold me for awhile? I need you tonight."

Branzer looked completely confused as Lindel laid her head down on his night shirt and wrapped her arms around him. Branzer put his hands around her neck and her back. Lindel started to cry as they started swaying back and forth.

"I'm sorry Lindel." Branzer eventually said quietly.

"No, I am sorry. You are learning how to love a banshee; I am learning how to control my emotions for a human. Have I been hugging you to long?" Lindel asked.

"No. No Lindel I'm fine. How about you?" Branzer asked.

"I could stay like this for a hundred years. So I can hug you, but have to limit how long we kiss?" Lindel said looking up and into his eyes.

Branzer smiled and became embarrassed, looking off to the side.

"Hun, I want to know what I can and can't do. Just like I've been telling you." Lindel raised her hand up and stroked his short hair with it. "I want this to work. I didn't mean to embarrass you, it was a sincere question."

Branzer reached down and put his hand under her chin. "Lindel, you are a very beautiful woman. Sometimes the very thought of you can be…umm…too much for our boundaries."

"What do I need to do? Please tell me." Lindel said staring into his eyes.

Branzer sighed.

"Am I offending you?" Lindel spoke quietly.

"No, no…not at all." Branzer said. "Lindel, I'm not good with women. Especially with a woman as beautiful as you are. I have had lady friends in the past, but I usually do something to end up ruining the relationship. Which is why I have stayed single for so long. I don't want to ruin this, but I'm afraid I'll do something. I mean remember when you wanted to ask me to have private time? I really screwed that up…"

Lindel smiled. "But we both got through it, didn't we?" Branzer smiled back and looked away.

"There's something else…isn't there?" Lindel asked softly.

"I am not comfortable around naked women. I'm sure you sensed that when Bernett and I were in Tranquil."

"I did sense that, along with many other thoughts you were having…" Lindel said with a huge smile.

"I'm sorry…" Branzer started.

"Shhh…you don't need to be, ok? It took Dan and Crystal weeks to control their thoughts. They are now to the point where they will be intimate with each other in front of us, sleep naked with us, and watch Herrior and Skyka mate without any problem. They'll even walk around Tranquil naked along with everybody else. I am not upset; it's what your race is used to. In time you'll be just like them. I'm willing to wait." Lindel paused for a second.

"I'm not sure how you'll take this, but I enjoy watching other people mate. I'll talk to them; have them describe to me what it's like. I'll sleep in the bed of other couples while they mate. I've even slept in numerous beds of males that don't have mates. Just like you and Julie are doing. Nothing ever happens, I assure you. I flirt and play around, but I never take it that far - ever. That is who I am. If you are to truly love me, you need to accept that. Flirting to me brings joy to other people and myself. It makes each of us feel good about ourselves. Just the same as Skyka does, but I do it more." Lindel spoke quietly.

"Well…in my world that would not be accepted. I'm not really sure what to think." Branzer said sounding like he was in deep thought.

"My heart belongs to you. Nobody else. You can trust me, just the same way that I trust you sleeping with Julie. I never gave it a second thought. My intentions are always pure. Do you understand?" Lindel spoke softly.

"I must admit that it will take some getting used to. But getting used to having naked women all around me I think would be harder." Branzer said uneasily.

"Julie is naked, you seem comfortable with that." Lindel replied back.

"Oh no I'm not! Trust me…" Branzer said nervously.

Lindel reached her hand up and gently touched his cheek. "I trust you. I hope that you will eventually trust me back. Like I said, I'm willing to wait."

"Lindel, I'm human. I've only got about fifty more years of life. You will easily out live me." Branzer said seemingly out of nowhere.

"The more time you spend in Tranquil, the longer you will live. Plus the King's blessings extend your life as well. We may have a thousand years together, maybe more. That is part of the reason why the King wants you four to come to Tranquil more often. To learn, to serve, to relax, and to extend your life." Lindel said.

Branzer sighed remembering his recent purchases that was on the bed. "I did something that I thought may make me more comfortable around naked women. It may have been a bad idea. I just may need time, but I wanted to speed up the process so I don't 'embarrass' myself in Tranquil."

"Hun, it will take time, the same as Dan and Crystal. But I am curious now." Lindel said with an eager smile.

Branzer let out a sigh. "It's in the sack at the end of the bed…" Lindel walked over and picked up the bag and pulled out a magazine. It had a naked lady on it. She started thumbing through it and found three pages dedicated to only one woman in a seductive pose, completely exposing herself.

"Why did you get these?" Lindel said with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"I thought it would help me get used to naked women." Branzer said softly.

"Do you know her name?" Lindel asked.

"No."

"Do you love her?" Lindel asked.

"No!" Branzer said back immediately.

"So why have this? It is easier to adjust to the people of Tranquil when you understand the love they have for each other. This is just a woman showing off her body." Lindel said beginning to sound angry. "Is this what you want from me? A beautiful face like hers? Well developed breasts, a well-toned stomach, and strong thighs that could bear you many children? I died when I was twenty two! I was tormented for years; after I escaped I wanted my old body back! I can never give you any of this! I love my body and refuse to change it…even for you!" Lindel said almost yelling. She began to channel a portal.

"Lindel no, that's not what I was thinking." Branzer said desperately.

"If you can't accept me for whom I am, then to hell with you!" Lindel yelled and vanished in the portal.

"Branzer, you're an idiot." Julie said softly.

"How long have you been awake?" Branzer said startled.

"The whole time. I have just found a way of paying you back for all of the favors you got for me." Julie said removing the blankets. She walked over to the playboy magazine, rolled it up and smacked Branzer in the face as hard as she could.

"Ouch!" Branzer said. Julie continued to hit him with the magazine.

"Bad Branzer, bad!" She then threw the magazine away, grabbed his ear and opened the door. She dragged him across the hall to Bernett's room and opened their door, dragging him in their room.

Samatha and Bernett were in the middle of having sex when they both stopped and looked at them. Branzer looked up and immediately looked away. Julie reached down and punched Branzer in the cheek, and then forced his hand down to his side.

"Watch them, or I'll punch another part of you that won't heal as quickly…and if you don't I can easily call for my dog!" Julie yelled at him. Branzer slowly looked up Samatha and Bernett.

"I'm teaching Branzer a lesson. I'm sorry for interrupting you. Can you please continue?" Julie said sitting down next to Branzer.

"Is there something wrong?" Samatha asked.

"Lindel found a bunch of dirty magazines in Branzer's room. She became upset because she only wants Branzer to see people naked that he loves and respects. That is why we are here. Are you able to continue?" Julie said.

Samatha looked down at Bernett and felt him going soft. "It's probably a good lesson for us as well. We're going to be in very closed quarters in Tranquil, and we all need to get used to this." she said. "Can we give it a shot?"

Bernett slowly nodded and looked at Branzer. Samatha quickly turned his head and said, "Concentrate on me love." Samatha sat up on him and rubbed her hands through her hair and then slowly down her breasts. She then continued down her stomach until she touched her vagina and began arousing herself. Bernett was ready again to continue. They began mating for several minutes as Samatha let out joys of excitement.

After awhile Samatha felt Bernett's seed explode inside of her. "Oh." she said. She let out a grin as he moaned in pleasure. She then leaned forward and began passionately kissing Bernett. After another moment Bernett said that he couldn't anymore. Samatha then asked for a towel behind Julie, and she handed it to her. As they cleaned themselves off, Julie saw that Branzer was extremely uncomfortable with what he just saw.

"It's called mating. They have formed a union and love each other deeply and can physically show each other affection. It's a beautiful thing, not something to be embarrassed about." Julie said. "I have a story to tell when you guys are done." Bernett felt around for their clothes and began handing it to Samatha and himself.

"Please don't. Look at me, I'm completely naked. You guys need to be comfortable around each other naked." Julie said. Both of them looked at each other and set their clothes aside.

"Tess asked if I could come out one day so she could teach me a lesson. I said sure, and was portalled to her house. As you know she never wears clothes. She asked me to undress, so I did. She then shooed her children out of the house and asked for her mate in the other room. The two of them began kissing and until he was fully aroused. I swear he was about three foot long, and it looked like he could tear me in two if we mated. Tess then summoned her group to her house, and they were all naked as well. Tess then began pulling males off from the street and asked them to stand in front of me. I was extremely embarrassed, yet, horny as hell. Tess softly spoke to me and explained that I was in no danger and my virginity was safe. This was an object lesson. There was about fifty males, all completely naked, looking at me. Tess then talked with each one and had them explain briefly their lives, their mates, their offspring, who they were courting, stuff such as that. I was there for a good eight hours. After two hours I became comfortable with all of them. Tess then asked me to go around and hug all of them, even her mate with the enormous erection. So I did. The first couple of ones I was nervous. But after awhile it was no big deal. Tess said that I was a new hunter in Tranquil. They all congratulated me, and said they had a lot of respect for me. They all said I looked beautiful and that they wanted to get to know me better. Not for the purpose of having sex, but so that they could learn to love me. Tranquil is full of people that love each other. Everybody knows the rules, and they are strictly followed. Nobody is going to be raped, nobody will look at you with a lustful eye. Their rules are completely different from ours. Tess then took me outside and showed me about twenty children of various ages, races, and genders. They were all playing ball with each other, completely indifferent about being nude, or their age, or their race. It is a beautiful place, with beautiful laws, and beautiful people. I now have no problem being nude in their city. When I go to battle, I have a suit of armaments because I'm considered part of the melee group. All four of us know each other, know that we will not do anything to the other, and I think need to be comfortable with each other's bodies. I purpose, within reason, that we all start walking around naked until everybody is comfortable with it. We'll all eat naked, dress in the same room, take showers together, and do the chores - everything naked." Julie said and then looked at Branzer.

"Branzer, do you think I am pretty?"

"Yes I do."

"Bernett, without looking at your wife - same question."

"Yes I do."

"Would either of you do anything sexual to me?

"No!" They both answered at the same time. They both seemed serious.

"Samatha, I envy your body. I'm only twenty six. You are much more developed and better at mating than I ever could be. You should be proud of yourself." Julie said looking at her.

"Thank you Samatha, but I don't think that I am perfect…"

"Bernett, what do you think of your wife?" Julie asked.

"I think she is the most attractive women I have ever laid eyes on. I love her with all of my heart and trust her no matter what. I would gladly do anything for her happiness." Bernett said as Samatha blushed.

"It's a real possibility that Branzer would be sleeping next to Samatha. Do you trust him not to do anything inappropriate to Samatha?" Julie asked Bernett.

"I do not think he would, no." Bernett immediately said.

"It's also a real possibility that all four of us are going to be put in different groups to do different assignments, and we'll have to sleep in beds with other males or females. You need to fully trust each other with all of your heart. Could you do that?"

"Yes, I think I could." Samatha said immediately.

"Yeah I could as well." Bernett said looking dead serious.

"Could we all say that we love each other and trust each other then? All four of us?" Julie asked. Everybody seemed to nod. The feeling of trust immediately filled the room.

"What I asked Samatha is if I could please you two, not sexually, but physically. Something to make you happy and to show my appreciation, not my affection towards you both. It would only have been a moment of pleasure, nothing else. Samatha, now that we all love each other, would you be comfortable with me doing that?" Julie asked.

Samatha hesitated at first. She then sighed and said, "Yeah I think I would be comfortable with that. Because I love Bernett with all of my heart and I trust him. I know both of you would not do anything to interfere with that love."

"No, I wouldn't. If one of us became more 'excited' and wanted more, I have no doubt the other would walk away. It's not going to happen obviously, and it doesn't happen in Tranquil." Julie said. She then turned to Branzer and said, "Are you more comfortable with Samatha and I now?"

"Yes I am. I shouldn't have bought those magazines. Julie you, or Samatha, or Bernett are welcome to sleep in my bed any time you want."

"And likewise with us." Bernett said. Samatha nodded her head in agreement.

"Now then, Branzer. I think you should throw that shit away and hope Lindel forgives you. I hope I have given you some insight as to her people and how they work. By the sounds of it, Lindel would have done anything for you. Just hope that she still will." Julie said and then sighed. "On a side note, I was ready to ask you for 'personal time' myself. Tess then reported that Lindel was going to, so I completely forgot about the whole idea. We can kiss and hug and go for walks without any trouble. Any of you can with anybody in Tranquil. You all know when "too much" is, so don't cross that line." Julie then leaned forward and planted a big kiss on Branzer's lips. He looked surprised.

"Get used to it hun, Lindel will not care. Samatha may do the same thing one of these days to you. Do not think any lustful thoughts, think of the love that you have for that person and how much you care about them. Bernett, same goes for you. If you see Samatha kissing somebody else, remember the deep love you have for her and the trust you have for her. Smile for her, be happy for her. Because it will no doubt happen. Now that I'm done lecturing, let's go to bed Branzer." Julie reached down and grabbed his hand and led him to his room. Julie walked over to her side of the bed, while Branzer fully unclothed himself.

"Trust me huh?" Julie asked watching him.

"Yes, I do." Branzer got into bed. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. He gently whispered, "Thank you."

"We're here for each other hun. Now get some sleep." Julie said and rolled over to her side. Branzer moved over to his side of the bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

Back in Tranquil, Lindel ported on the lower level of Brenna's house. She was sobbing really hard. She started up the staircase. Skyka immediately woke up.

"Lindel, what's wrong?"

"Branzer…he hurt my feelings…" Lindel said. Herrior only caught part of it and instantly roared to action.

"Get up everybody, we're going into battle!" Herrior announced. "Mohania wake up!"

"Give me a second to wake up." the warlock said. He was laying down with his arms crossed over his chest, just like the other undead. He sat up and fire exploded from his eyes.

"Ok I'm ready." he said with a sinister smile.

"Guys no, it's not like that!" Lindel pleaded, but her voice wasn't heard through all of the commotion.

Suddenly a knock on the door came. Everybody froze.

"Hello? It's the Queen, may I come in?" she said walking in.

Everybody all at the same time thought the same phrase, "Oh shit!"

"Those had better not be weapons you are pointing at me…" the Queen said in a very calm voice. Instantly Herrior's entire group threw their weapons behind them. Mohania instantly extinguished the fire from his eyes. The sobs of Lindel could be heard.

"Ah, Mohania. Was that fire I saw in your eyes?" The Queen said approaching him.

"It was a reflection…from the fireplace…" Mohania said. He snapped his fingers and a small fire erupted out of nowhere in the fireplace. The Queen smiled at him and placed a hand on his skull.

"You are one of a kind Mohania. Somehow your undead have found a way to regenerate themselves in Tranquil, haven't you?" Mohania made the fire disappear and said they did.

"But we would not use it against any of the citizens, I promise you that. In all honesty, I'm not sure how it happens. We can recharge to about ten percent of our powers, but that's all. It's a holy city, we should not be able to recharge at all." Mohania said sincerely.

"The King and I trust you and your undead Mohania. Probably within a week we'll grant you your full powers. I do not want to exclude you from the rest of the citizens. You should get equal rights as everybody else. You have more than proven yourself. I personally am very proud of you, and the relationship you have developed with Kendall. It appears as though that is progressing nicely, isn't it." the Queen said.

"She…likes to boss me around…" Mohania said, hoping nobody else heard.

"She is flirting with you Mohania. Talk with her about it. Express your feelings about the issue. She will understand."

"I don't do that well, I'd rather rip the heads off from gnomes and stick them into trees…" Mohania said.

"That's not romantic Mohania. I order you and Kendal, as well as Herrior and Skyka to all have private time together to talk about these issues. Do you understand?" the Queen ordered. Mohania nodded.

"Now then, I hear one of my favorite Chronomancers crying. Let me see if this old woman can make it up these steps…" the Queen said beginning her journey up them.

Once she reached the top, she told Lindel to walk over to her. The Queen embraced her and then whispered something privately into her ear so nobody else could hear. When the Queen was done, Lindel gasped and started shaking her head.

"Are you going to disobey another direct order? Herrior was very nice to you when you did before, I will not be as nice." the Queen said staring directly into Lindel's eyes.

"That's…against the…" Lindel started to say.

"Oh shut up. Who do you think enforces the laws? You'll be fine." the Queen said patting her on the cheek. She continued, "Don't be mad at Branzer. Julie just had a long talk with the three of them. They all understand more of what we are about here in Tranquil. Branzer had pure intentions and his heart is breaking right now. Go to him, and do what I say. Do you understand?" the Queen said looking directly into her eyes.

"Yes my Queen."

"Good, next matter concerns Dan and Crystal." the Queen said walking over to them.

"The monks have finally decoded and know the process for extending time-stopping. We want Dan to be the first. It's estimated that it will take several days of blasting, maybe not that long. Dan you are ordered to go to the monk cave first thing Monday morning. Crystal, you will be taken off from duty to seek out any sort of help that you feel will help soothe your anxieties; you are not to attack or make any threats to the monks at all! I'm going to be honest, we don't think it'll kill him, but there is a chance. All of our time-stoppers will be going through the same process as well. Is this clear to both of you?"

"Yes my Queen." Both of them said.

"Also, you two have taught some very interesting ways of being intimate with each other. Would you mind showing the King and I in our private quarters?" the Queen asked.

"Uh…" Crystal said looking at Dan.

"Just something to think about. We will not make it an order. Remember though, you are not to mate with each other." the Queen reminded them.

"Now then, any more questions?" the Queen asked. Trackolania ran over to her and hugged her.

"Hi my little one. I love you too." the Queen said laughing.

"Do you know when the new talent trees are coming out?" Herrior asked.

"No. We will relay more information to the ambassadors once we find out." the Queen said. She then turned to Brenna.

"Thank you for taking care of Herrior's group. You will not go unrewarded for your kindness."

"It's my pleasure my Queen." Brenna said back.

"Now then, Lindel I believe you have an order to carry out, and the rest of you should rest. Lindel will come back when she is ready, do not worry about her. That is another order. Also, it seems that all of you and Tess's group is invited to Branzer's house for a 'seafood' dinner…whatever that is, tomorrow. If Lindel isn't back by the, I will have another Chronomancer find you. Tell the Lieutenant and his wife, as well as Dan's mother, that they are all invited to church services on the seven day. I bid you farewell." The Queen said and instantly disappeared. Lindel created a portal and stepped through. It vanished behind her.

"It'll be an interesting weekend I think…" Herrior said.

"Can we still go kill somebody?" Mohania asked.

"No I don't think so sweetie. Go back to bed. I guess the four of us have a date tomorrow." Skyka said.

Mohania groaned. "Can I dream about killing somebody?"

"That's fine hun. Good night everybody." Skyka said and laid back down.

Lindel reappeared back in Branzer's bedroom. She looked around for the magazines and couldn't find them. Lindel looked at both of them sleeping. She let out a sigh, she was still angry at Branzer. She walked over to him and became very nervous. Soon she began to cry. She mind-linked Julie and Samatha.

"This is Lindel. I'm in Branzer's room. The Queen ordered me to do something, so I have to do it. I need some help, please!"

Julie immediately sat up and saw Lindel crying.

"Lindel…Lindel, what's going on hun?" Julie said running around the bed to hug her. Samatha slowly walked in and saw what was happening.

"Hun, what's going on?" Samatha said walking over to her.

Lindel began sobbing some more. "Branzer doesn't want me…he wants somebody like you Samatha. I mean look at you, you're fully mature and beautiful…" Lindel began sobbing uncontrollably.

Branzer woke up and saw what was happening.

"Lindel, what's wrong hun?" Branzer said jumping out of bed.

"Some how she got the impression that you want somebody older and more mature than her…" Samatha said glaring at him.

"No, no, no…Lindel I'm sorry. That was a mistake."

"The Queen said your intentions were honest…but I just can't get that woman out of my head! I mean look at me." Lindel said backing up. She untied her nightgown and let it fall to the floor. Branzer stared in shock.

"I don't have any of the qualities you want! I was killed before I fully developed. I can change my body, but I don't want too…" Lindel said beginning to cry again.

"Lindel read my thoughts. I think you are very attractive." Branzer said slowly approaching her.

Lindel looked up at his eyes and scanned them really quick. He was telling the truth.

"Julie had a long talk with us, all of us. Ok? Things are different now, I understand more. I'm trying my hardest to be how I'm supposed to be. Ok? I made a mistake, I'm sorry." Branzer said.

Lindel shook her head. "I'm supposed to do something, an order from the Queen, and I'm scared shitless of doing it…" Lindel began to tremble so bad that she was losing her strength in her legs. Branzer picked her up and sat her up on the bed. Samatha and Julie knelt down before her.

"Just calm down sweetheart, ok? Just relax." Samatha said rubbing her hand through Lindel's hair. "What does the Queen want you to do?"

"She ordered to…have…Branzer's release his seed…she said it would make us both more comfortable with each other and be able to talk more openly once that is done. She said it would both clear our minds and it would then make us not be so nervous around each other." Lindel said in-between sobs.

"Are you serious?" Branzer said. Both Julie and Samatha glared at him.

"Sorry, so I made another mistake…" Branzer said.

"I'm making mistakes too! All of the time! I can't get you out of my head!" Lindel said loudly.

"Ok, ok…it's ok Lindel. We're both learning ok? We have time, like we talked about before." Branzer said softly.

"No, I have to do it this night. If I don't her punishment will be a lot worse than what I am currently receiving." Lindel said sounding desperate.

"I'm sorry about that Lindel." Branzer said sounding ashamed of himself.

"No, it's my fault! It's because you are always on my mind! Always! The Queen knows this and commanded me to have your seed released so we can both calm down, relax, and think straight." Lindel said looking up at Branzer.

"Well, ok. I can release my seed on my own if that would make you more comfortable?" Branzer asked.

"No. Look…how about I just go into your mind, give your brain the command, and get this over with ok?" Lindel said.

"Lindel, that's not what the Queen meant for you to do…is it…" Julie said.

Lindel sighed. "It would fulfill the order though. Look our entire group has watched Dan and Crystal numerous times, but just a couple of seconds of the actual 'physical' activity. We watch their faces, their enjoyment they bring each other, their happiness, the fulfillment. The same thing when I watch other people mate. I very rarely see the actual 'physical' joining…I just watch for the same thing. I have never envisioned myself doing, or receiving any such activity. Our thoughts have always been pure!"

"Ok, Lindel. Just relax ok. We all love each other here, ok? We're going to help in any way that we can." Samatha said leaning over to hug her.

"Yeah absolutely. Even if it takes all night, ok?" Julie said stroking Lindel's arm.

"It is a pleasurable activity ok? There is no reason to be upset about it. It will not hurt either of you." Samatha said calmly into her ear. "Let's just take this one step at a time, ok? First you need to arouse Branzer."

Lindel looked up at Branzer, and then down at his private area, and then back up at him with disappointment. Branzer opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Just make it work, ok!" Lindel said sound frustrated.

"Lindel, it doesn't work that way. What do you feel like doing right now to Branzer? What are your emotions right now?" Samatha asked.

"I want to hold him, kiss him…but I don't know if…" Lindel said. Branzer immediately leaned over and wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her. They both stood up from the bed. Lindel immediately stopped.

"Please…let's just…" Lindel started to say.

"Lindel. Do you love me?" Branzer asked.

"Yes! With all of my heart!" Lindel answered.

"I feel the same way hun. I would love you in any form that you take on. Even your banshee form. Do you love me how I am?" Branzer asked.

"I would love you even if you were a two foot tall goblin!" Lindel said never taking her eyes off from his.

"Ok, let's just both relax ok?" Branzer said putting his hands on Lindel's shoulders. Lindel let out a deep sigh.

"Branzer, I have seen you aroused before. The only way that I know for sure to get your seed out is by mating with you or by forcing your brain to expel it. I can try some of the things that Dan and Crystal do, but I'm positive I'll mess it up. I don't want to mess up on you!" Lindel said sincerely.

"You can't. Would it be easier if we were alone?" Branzer asked.

"No, it would be easier if Dan and Crystal were here!" Lindel said back quickly.

"Hun, I probably know all that Dan and Crystal knows." Samatha said, "Probably Julie does as well. Branzer will also tell you how to."

"I've seen Crystal put her mouth on Dan's penis. That seems to work pretty good for them, but I don't want to do that." Lindel said beginning to cry again.

"That's called oral sex hun. I and Bernett do that as well. I think maybe just fondling Branzer's private area may be best to start off with." Samatha said. Lindel reached down and started doing just that. Then she squeezed too hard on his balls.

"Ouch!" Branzer said and recoiled back.

"You see! I messed up! I hurt him; I don't want to do this! Just make it come out already!" Lindel said beginning to cry. Branzer sat on the bed holding himself, but still managed to get a smile off.

"Ok, let's do this, you and Branzer hold each other and kiss, and I'll be the one to make his seed come out. The Queen said he couldn't, but it sounds like she didn't say anybody else couldn't." Samatha said. Lindel thought about it for awhile.

"I think that would be ok…" Lindel said cautiously. "Are you ok Branzer? I didn't mean too…"

"I'm fine, everything is ok Lindel." Branzer said slowly rising up.

"Samatha, you're married. Let me do it." Julie said walking up to Branzer.

"Guys, I think the Queen meant for Lindel to do it." Branzer said.

"Can you read my thoughts Lindel?" Branzer asked in his head.

"Of course, but can't we talk out loud?" Lindel answered back in his head.

"I have an idea, can you mind link all of us?" Branzer asked in his head.

Lindel sighed. She concentrated and everybody felt the link form in their minds.

"Ok, I thought of something that might make Lindel more comfortable. Please just let Lindel and I talk. Lindel I'm going to slowly approach you and hug you. Is that ok?" Branzer asked.

"I don't want to hurt you again…" Lindel pleaded in her mind.

"You won't." Branzer thought walking up to Lindel and giving her a hug.

"Put an image in all of our minds of something that you like to do, or some place you like to go." Branzer said mentally.

Everybody could sense Lindel scanning through a list of thoughts in her head. She brought up one recently of her playing ball with children. Lindel showed in her mind how one of the children threw the ball into the fountain and they all jumped in after it. Lindel jumped in to make sure they were all ok. One of the children hit the ball accidentally and it Lindel in the head. Lindel let out a chuckle.

"I played with them for about six hours that day. We all had fun. Then I returned them all to their parents." Lindel said mentally.

"That's a beautiful memory Lindel. You are great with kids. I can sense your enjoyment that you had with them. Bring up another memory." Branzer said pulling her closer to his body. She reached around him and held his back.

Another memory came up of her flying over Tranquil. Listening to all of the thoughts and dreams of the people sleeping, seeing all of the lights, dodging between the houses. She felt the energy from the city pulsate through her body, filling her with overflowing power. She did several flips in the air, flew down and skimmed the water, and then flew back up. She reached the clouds and gently extended her hand as if to catch them in her hand. Lindel smiled and let out a satisfied sigh.

"The power of Tranquil is amazing. I love being there. Even if I'm just sleeping, the power of the city constantly fills me with pleasure. It's magnificent!"

"It really is. It's a beautiful city. What makes the city even more beautiful is seeing you in there." Branzer thought. Lindel looked up at him as her nervousness passed away.

"I'm ready Branzer. Tell me what I have to do." Lindel said in his mind calmly. Branzer reached back with his hand and interlaced it with hers.

"I'm going to show you with your hand. You think of another memory." Branzer said. Lindel began thinking of something else, while Branzer led her hand down to his erect penis. He pushed Lindel's hand around it, and began to move her hand up and down.

During this time another memory came up of Herrior and Skyka's union. It was in the church and there were flyers everywhere. Herrior was standing up front with at least thirty groomsmen. She showed all of the women dressed up in elegant dresses that seemed to radiate pure white light as they walked down the aisle. Flower petals of all kinds slowly floated to the ground. Then Skyka made her entrance. She looked so beautiful and radiant that every person in the over-flowing packed church gasped.

"Nobody knows it, but Herrior almost fainted. He thinks he is tough, but he melts in Skyka's hands. Am I doing this right Branzer?" Lindel asked continued to move her hand.

"Squeeze a little bit tighter and move your hand up and down a tad bit faster. Show us another memory Lindel." Branzer said who was obviously getting satisfied by her.

Lindel then showed a small planet that none of them had seen before. It had fine white sand all over it, three bright white moons beaming down light. There were bursts of northern lights beaming across the sky in all different colors. There was no wind at all, just perfectly calm. She spun the picture around and showed her and Branzer mating with each other.

"This is where I want us to first mate at. I have been dreaming of this, the perfect spot, you and me all alone, no other voices but each others. Watching the sky dance before us, and sitting in the softest white sand I have ever felt. I know how to get us there, we could spend several days mating if we wanted to." Lindel said softly in her head. Julie and Samatha both smiled, it was a very romantic idea.

"Think…of another…memory." Branzer said quickly in his head. Lindel sensed Branzer was distracted about something.

"Am I doing this right?" Lindel asked.

Samatha quickly spoke up, "You're doing great hun. You are bringing extreme pleasure to Branzer. By the sounds of his voice, he might be done soon."

Lindel brought up a memory of swimming with Quinely and around fifty other druids. They were all having a race from one shore to the other. Halfway through, Quinely levitated herself and began to run. Everybody began to shout at her, but then they morphed into dolphins and easily went faster than her. They reached the shore first, but Lindel declared herself the winner because she was the first one on land. This made Lindel smile.

Suddenly Lindel felt Branzer's body begin to shake back and forth.

"It's ok Lindel. You are not hurting him." Julie said in her mind. "Branzer, just about done?"

"I'm…right…now…" Branzer said.

"Look down at his penis Lindel." Samatha said. Semen began to erupt from it. Lindel made a funny look at it, but continued to watch. Branzer reached forward and grabbed a hold of Lindel's shoulders in a firm grasp.

When he had finished, Branzer let out a series of short breaths. Lindel had nearly her whole hand covered and continued her motion.

"You can stop now Lindel. That's all there is to it." Branzer said smiling at her. Lindel lifted up her arm to look at it.

"So this is what it looks like?" Lindel asked in her mind. "I have never seen this before."

"That is what the male injects into the female to form a baby. His sperm swims up to your eggs and fertilizes it. Basically what you just did to Branzer is half of what mating feels like. It will be better when you are able to enjoy it." Samatha said.

"Did you enjoy that Branzer?" Lindel asked, seeming more curious than afraid now.

"Absolutely! You were great Lindel!" Branzer said. His knees began to shake. He walked over and sat on the bed.

"That's normal Lindel. It brings a man extreme pleasure, yet at the same time takes away a lot of their strength. That's how us women know that we did a good job pleasing our men." Samatha said with a smile.

Julie started looking around the room and found a shirt. She started cleaning up the mess that Branzer left on the ground, and then wiped off Lindel's arm.

"It tends to get sticky if you don't wipe it up right away." Julie said.

"I thought you never did this before?" Lindel asked.

"I've never had sex, but I never said that I never fooled around before…" Julie said with a smile. "You did a great job hun. Just remember that it is pleasurable, nothing to be scared of. Branzer that was a good idea to distract Lindel with pleasant memories. It really seemed to help."

"Oh…shit…" Branzer said out of breath.

Samatha started pushing Lindel towards him. "Go lay with him, kiss him and rub your hands on his body." Lindel gently straddled on top of Branzer, careful to not sit on any of his private areas, and bent down to kiss him. He immediately started kissing her back.

Several moments passed as Samatha and Julie looked at them with pride.

"Do you feel as nervous about me now?" Branzer asked out loud.

"Not at all. How about you?" Lindel asked.

Branzer looked directly into her eyes and smiled. Lindel started to blush. "What do you think hun?" Branzer flopped his head back on the bed and let out a "Wow!"

"What's it like for me? Just as pleasurable as it is for him?" Lindel asked.

"Yes it is, sometimes more pleasurable. Just depends on your comfort level with each other. But I think you two need some more alone time to set your boundaries, get to know each other better, and fall deeper in love. I have no doubt that when the King grants you intimate time; you will both have as much fun as Dan and Crystal do." Samatha said out loud.

"They both seem to really enjoy themselves…Samatha! What's wrong?" Lindel suddenly said jumping off from Branzer. Samatha had grabbed her stomach and flinched in terrible pain. She slowly sat down on the floor and started breathing.

"Go get Bernett!" Samatha demanded. Julie ran out of the room to get him.

"Something is wrong. I don't know what it is, but I think the baby is in trouble." Samatha said. Lindel tilted her head up and she vanished inside of her eyes. Lindel quickly flew through her system to the baby. She started to examine everything.

"Samatha? Samatha, what's wrong!" Bernett said running in. He was naked as well. He knelt down beside her and held her hand.

"Pain! It came on all of a sudden. I would heal myself, but I have no idea where to start." Samatha said. "Lindel is inside of me right now looking around."

"Do you want me to call an ambulance?" Bernett asked sounding helpless.

Suddenly the pain stopped. Samatha looked down at her belly, and asked "What happened Lindel?"

"The little guy got stuck. He was dreaming, and as pushing really hard on your womb. I repositioned him and now I'm just talking with him." Lindel said back in her mind.

"He? Did you say he?" Samatha said suddenly excited.

"Yup, your baby is a boy. He's obviously not bashful about showing it off either." Lindel said in her mind and laughed.

"We're having a boy! We're having a boy!" Samatha screamed excitedly. She grabbed a hold of her husband and kissed him really hard. Bernett was in shock and excited at the same time.

"Wait, I mean how can she tell? You're only a couple of months along aren't you?" Branzer asked. Samatha froze for a second to think about it.

"Your baby is progressing very fast Samatha. I estimate that he has about five months of development on him." Lindel said in Samatha's head.

"What? How? That's impossible!" Samatha yelled.

"He seems perfectly healthy hun. Settle down, you're upsetting him. Let me check out a couple of things and see if I can come up with an answer for you. Hold on a second." Lindel said and then Samatha felt several tingles of tiny floating particles flying around in her stomach.

"Samatha? Samatha? What did Lindel say? Is everything ok?" Bernett looked at her in desperation again. Branzer and Julie knelt down beside Bernett as he tried to comfort his wife. Samatha finally looked up from her belly.

"I don't know hun. Lindel says the baby is progressing fast. She says it is about five months along. I'm scared…" Samatha said and started shaking. Bernett carefully sat on top of her legs and hugged her. Julie and Branzer each took a side of Samatha and started rubbing her shoulders.

"I can't be five months along…it just…I can't be…there's something wrong…" Samatha said and started sniffling. "What if we lose the baby? What if there is something wrong? I don't want to lose our baby?" Samatha wrapped her arms around her stomach. All three of them hugged her, but didn't know what to say.

Several minutes passed of Samatha crying, and then Lindel spoke up.

"Still with me hun?" Lindel asked in her head.

"Yes! What's wrong?" Samatha said down at her belly. The three of them knew that she was talking to Lindel again.

"Nothing as far as I can tell. I checked everything. Your little boy has developed all of his organs and they are working fine, the blood flow is fine, ten little fingers, ten little toes…" Lindel said in a cheery voice.

"Why am I five months along then?" Samatha asked.

"I checked your body as well. The only thing that I can sense differently is that you are self-healing. Have you noticed any cuts or anything instantly fix themselves?" Lindel asked in her head.

"No?" Samatha said out loud sounding confused.

"No what love? What did she say?" Bernett said eagerly. Samatha motioned for him to be quiet.

"Your brain is fine, your organs are fine, your reproductive organs are fine. Everything is fine hun. My guess is that being in Tranquil sped up your internal clock. Also becoming a priest may have helped as well. Generally the women of Tranquil are only holding their children for six months. Some come out sooner, but they are all a healthy weight and as happy as can be. What's the normal period for females here?"

"Nine, maybe more…" Samatha said.

"Nine what?" Bernett said again eagerly.

"That would be a pain in the ass carrying around a child for that long…" Lindel said and chuckled. Samatha didn't find it amusing.

"I thought you said becoming a priest wouldn't hurt the baby?" Samatha said.

"What? What's going on? What's wrong?" Bernett asked desperately.

"You might want to answer your husband; he's so loud the baby can hear him." Lindel said.

"Hun, calm down ok. I'm still talking to Lindel. She says you are upsetting the baby." Samatha said.

"No, becoming a priest has to do with putting vast knowledge into your brain and adjusting your body to the magical properties of a priest. It has to do with the feet, hands, and face. The conversion has nothing to do with your inner workings. Here let me show you something. Put your hand on your stomach." Lindel said. Samatha instantly did with her right hand.

"Ok…up a little higher. Ok back down a little and more to your right." Lindel said. Samatha did as she was told.

"No I'm sorry, to your left. I'm facing you in the opposite direction."

"What are you doing?" Samatha asked. Suddenly she felt a series of small kicks in her stomach.

"Was that my baby?" Samatha cried out.

"Yes it was. He's a ticklish little guy. I can do it again if you want, unless he moves again on me." Lindel said.

"Everybody put your hand here!" Samatha commanded. Everybody reached down and tried to all put their hand where Samatha's was. Suddenly another series of kicks came.

"Was that him?" Bernett said starting to bawl his eyes out. Samatha nodded with a smile. They both embraced each other with tears. Julie and Branzer slowly pulled their hands out of their embrace.

"Little bugger moved again. I hope everybody had a chance to feel it. Do you want me to tell you what he's feeling? He doesn't have much brain activity yet, but he knows you Samatha. He loves to hear your heart beat slowly at night in your sleep. He knows Bernett's voice, but doesn't know it's his dad yet." Lindel said. Samatha began crying even harder.

"Lindel, why isn't she showing like she's five months along? Shouldn't she be bigger?" Bernett asked. Lindel didn't answer.

"Lindel?" Samatha said out loud.

"Yes?" Lindel answered back.

"Did you hear Bernett?"

"No. I'm inside of your body, I can only hear you because you think of what you are going to say and then say it out loud. I can only read your mind, not his. Ask me his question in your mind." Lindel said. So she repeated it to him.

"Hmm…let me check something if you don't mind." Lindel said. Samatha felt her belly bulge out, and then cave back in on itself. Lindel continued to do some things for another minute.

"Don't know. Your little one certainly has a lot of space if he wants it. Your womb is still stretching so maybe he just doesn't need the extra space. Usually in Tranquil, women don't really show until about the sixth month. During the sixth month, they are completely released from any jobs or duties they may be performing and generally stay at home so they can 'nest', or get ready for the baby. Again, I don't see anything wrong with him or your body. If I did I would tell you." Lindel said.

"So when do you think he's due to come out?" Samatha asked in her mind.

"Hmm…I hate it when women ask me this question…" Lindel said giggling. Lindel felt Samatha laugh as well.

"If I were to guess, I would say…maybe another two months? It depends on a couple of different factors. If you are self-healing yourself, which I'm positive you are, and you spend more time in Tranquil, probably less. If you get stressed out or become ill here on this world…maybe another three months?" Lindel replied back.

"What is it like to deliver a baby in Tranquil?" Samatha asked in her mind.

"I don't know what it is like to deliver here, but generally we have at least two banshees, like myself, inside of you, sometimes just one depending on if they are needed elsewhere. Anyways, you deliver the baby in the clinic. You are levitated off from the table so any discomfort from lying down is gone. Also if we need to move you, it is a lot easier. Several healers perform the actual birth. You are instantly healed if anything happens to the baby or yourself." Lindel replied back.

"Will it still hurt?" Samatha asked. Bernett looked at her, knowing they were talking back and forth in their minds now, eager to know what they were saying.

"Hun, God put a curse on women because of the original sin. It is God's plan to have pain during the birthing process. What we do is turn off several pain receptors if it gets too bad, and then began casting small healing spells on you to relax your mind. Usually though, the banshee inside of you, let's say it's me, will assist in pushing and lining up the baby. The longest a birth has ever lasted was two hours…and that was a very rare case. The baby came out weighing thirteen pounds. We usually have it done as fast as we can, generally about an hour. But to answer your question, yes there will be pain because that is what God wanted."

"Only an hour? You're kidding!" Samatha said out loud. Samatha then realized she spoke out loud with everybody looking at her funny.

"Can I have the baby in Tranquil?" Samatha asked in her mind.

"It's up to you and Bernett. I would be honored to help in the delivery if you want." Lindel said.

"Yes, definitely! Could you!" Samatha said in her mind.

"Bernett, I want to have the baby in Tranquil!" Samatha said excitedly. Bernett looked confused at her.

"Babies born in Tranquil are generally immune to time-stopping and have higher magical resistances then other worlds. They are usually a lot quieter as well, having a baby cry for longer than a couple of minutes is rare. The fairies attend to their feeding and waste disposal just the same as us, but generally come a lot quicker." Lindel said.

"You're kidding! No diapers? No midnight feedings? No crying babies?" Samatha said in her mind.

"They generally whimper when they want something. Most of the time is because they are bored or want to be held. Oh here we go, put your hand back on your stomach." Lindel said. Samatha did.

"Eh…slightly higher." Samatha moved and instantly felt a small little push.

"Was that his foot or his hand?" Samatha asked in her mind.

"His hand actually. He is a ticklish little guy." Lindel said in a happy voice. "I shouldn't be here too much longer though, he might bond with me instead of you. Are you ready for me to come out?"

"Sure." Samatha said. Lindel flew out of her eyes and rematerialized in front of her, pushing Bernett out of the way.

"Sorry hun, didn't know you were so close." Lindel said standing up and moving out of the way.

"Tell me everything! I want to know what all you talked about!" Bernett said eagerly. Both Samatha and Lindel smiled as they filled him in. Julie and Branzer listened absolutely amazed at what they were saying.

"It's probably part of the reason why the King wants you to come to Tranquil as much as you can, to watch over the little guy. He doesn't trust the doctors on this world." Lindel said after filling in all of the details with Bernett.

Branzer immediately spoke up. "Lindel, will you and I be able to have a child?"

Lindel turned around to face him. "First we have to have intimate time, and then form a union." Lindel winked at him. "But to be honest, I don't know. Generally races different from their own can't bear children. Herrior and Skyka for instance. I'm a banshee, you are a human. I take on a human form with all of the human characteristics, except for my wings and my powers. But I don't know hun. Never in history has a banshee falling in love with a human. I don't see why it wouldn't work, I'm really hoping it does…but I don't know."

"When I go into labor, how do I go into Tranquil? I mean if my stone doesn't work because I used it for the day or something."

"First you need permission from an ambassador for a Chronomancer to open a portal, then we just simply pick you up and put you in the clinic." Lindel said.

Samatha turned to Branzer with a serious look. "Two months from you, I am going to follow you everywhere! I'm going to sit by you at work, go in the bathroom when you take a shit, and sleep in your bed every night! When I say it's time to go, you order that portal to open!"

"It's…not a good idea…to order ambassador's around…" Lindel said.

Samatha continued to stare at him with a serious look.

"Well…sounds like we're going to be bunk mates Bernett…" Branzer said as if he had no choice.

"Hell no, you can deal with her during that time…" Bernett said and laughed. Samatha shot her husband a mean glare.

"Err…what I meant was…whatever you want hun." Bernett said slowly. "Ok, well…everything seems to be fine. I'm going to go back to bed. Do you want to come to Samatha?"

"Umm…if it's ok I would like to stay by Lindel tonight so I could talk with her, in Branzer's bed. Is that ok?" Samatha asked.

"Ok by me. See you in the morning." Bernett leaned over and kissed her and then walked out of the room.

"Do you guys want me to go sleep in Bernett's bed?" Julie asked.

"No, I would like you here with me tonight. You helped me out a lot." Lindel said.

"Well, four in the bed huh? Should be interesting. Unless you guys want to talk about female stuff then I can leave too." Branzer said. Lindel walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him really hard.

"You…are staying. We have lots to talk about. I doubt any of us will sleep tonight." Lindel said.

All four of them piled into bed, Branzer on the end, Lindel as close to him as possible, followed by Samatha as close to Lindel as possible, and Julie facing the opposite side. They all talked until the sun started peaking through the window. And then, as if magic, they all fell asleep.

Lindel's hearthstone started vibrating several times. She reached over Branzer and picked it up. It was Skyka.

"I was told not to contact you, but its two hours until the feast…wait a minute…why do you have a big goofy grin on your face, and why is Branzer next to you with the same grin?" Lindel then moved the portal to show Samatha still snoring away.

"And Samatha…" Skyka said.

"Don't forget about me!" Julie said shoving her face into the view of the portal.

"Hi Julie…what's going on Lindel…" Skyka asked with a smirk on her face.

"A proper woman never kisses and tells…" Lindel said. Samatha woke up and stretched.

"Man, what a night!" she said.

"Lindel…" Skyka said glaring at her with a smile. "Did you do something you weren't supposed to?"

"Nope. I was a good girl." Lindel said with a giggle as Branzer reached behind her and smacker her on the butt.

"You and I need to have a talk…don't we?" Skyka said almost laughing.

"Why, what do you need to talk about?" Lindel said innocently.

"Me? Honey child, if you don't tell me what happened, I will come out there and fire your butt!" Skyka said grinning ear to ear.

"Why? Do you think something happened?" Lindel asked.

"Well let's see, you and Branzer are naked together, with big goofy grins on your face, along with Samatha and Julie in your bed. Yes! I think something happened!" Skyka said. "Get out of here Herrior, woman talk!" Skyka said pushing her husband away.

"Skyka, the portal is getting fuzzy. I'll have to talk to you later…" Lindel said starting to close the portal.

"The feast at Branzer's house is in two hours!" Skyka yelled before Lindel closed the portal.

"Two hours?" Branzer said. He looked at his alarm clock and it said three thirteen in the afternoon.

"Holy shit! We had better get ready!" Branzer said jumping out of bed. "The Lieutenant will be here soon!" He raced over to his closet and began picking out some clothes. Julie ran up to the right side of him and hit him hard with her hips, sending him flailing to the side.

"I get my clothes first!" Julie said with a grin. She tossed a red dress towards Lindel. "I think this will fit you, I've got a similar one myself I'm going to wear. We're about the same size." Lindel held it up to her body and looked over it. She seemed satisfied with it.

Branzer than pushed Julie back out of the way and got a pair of black pants and a white two button shirt.

"So that's how it's going to be huh?" Julie said with a smile. She charged back at him, but Branzer stepped back at the last second, sending Julie to the ground. Branzer bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"I get the shower first…" he whispered and ran off.

"Bull shit you do!" Julie said getting back up and running after him. Lindel wasn't sure what was going on, but she went running after Julie. Samatha just shook her head. She slowly got out of bed and got her clothes in her bedroom. She saw a note on the bed.

"I woke up around eight. My hearthstone went off. The King wanted to invite the Lieutenant and Dan's mom to church services tomorrow. He said portals will be made for them at their houses at sun break. I went in to tell you guys, but you were all snoring. You were snoring the loudest…" the note said with a smiley face after it. Samatha smiled.

"Anyways I went to the store to get some wine, not the kind you and Samatha picked out, and some appetizers. The King said Herrior and Tess's group were coming, so it'll be like feeding an army…literally. I'm going to get some food and toys for Spark. I'll probably be in the backyard playing with him afterwards. I love you, and I am so very excited for us!" Samatha put on a bathrobe and walked downstairs. She saw loads of groceries all over the table. She looked back and saw Bernett playing catch with Spark. Samatha walked over and opened up the door. Spark stopped playing and looked at her with a curious face.

"Good morning my future father to be." Samatha said with a grin.

"Hi hun! How are you feeling?" Bernett said. Spark instantly began running over towards Samatha. It looked like he was going to jump on her.

"No!" Samatha yelled. Spark instantly stopped. Samatha then showed the dog her belly. Spark started sniffing it.

"I have a five month old baby inside of me; you can't jump up on me." Samatha said. Spark bent over and began licking her belly.

"Ok, that's enough you big dumb dog." Samatha said and closed her robe. She started looking over the dog. "Aww…you're all dirty."

"We've been playing. I managed to stay clean, but he likes to dig and roll over and all sorts of things." Bernett said.

"Spark, go find Julie. She'll clean you up." Samatha said pointing in the house.

"Julie?" Spark said. He entered the house and began sniffing around. Bernett walked up to Samatha and kissed her.

"Did I miss the fun last night?" Bernett asked.

"Not really. Lindel was told by the Queen to give Branzer a hand job, she was scared shitless. Then after about an hour or two, she finally did. Then I dropped in pain, that's when Julie woke you up. That part you know. And then after we all got tucked in, Lindel and Branzer would not shut up. I would drift off to sleep and then Lindel would ask me a question. Same with Julie. It was as if we weren't allowed to sleep until morning. They are certainly a lot more comfortable with each other. Just nonstop chatter. Several times I thought, 'Aw forget it, I'm going to go sleep with my husband…' but to be honest I felt very comfortable with everybody there. Even with the nonstop babbling from those two. Anyways I got your note. I love you too." Samatha said leaning forward and kissing Bernett.

"I'm going to go get ready for the party, do you want to come?" Samatha said.

"Naw, I should probably start getting the food ready. So are you going to be comfortable delivering in Tranquil instead of here?" Bernett said.

She rolled her eyes. "After last night I'm comfortable with anybody seeing me naked."

"Me too, no I meant, you know, different place and all. Still ok with Lindel helping and all of that?"

"Absolutely. I trust her over any other doctor on this big piece of rock. Remember feeling the baby move?" Samatha said smiling.

"It was wonderful hun! I am very excited!" Bernett said leaning over and kissing her again. He reached up and started groping her left breast.

"Hey now mister…save that for tonight ok?" Samatha said. "If everybody is still here, I want to show everybody how good we are…" Samatha finished and started rubbing her hands on his chest.

"Sounds good to me." Bernett said.

"Ok, I'm going to go shower and get dressed. Then I'll be back down to give you a hand." Samatha said turning around to walk away. Samatha stopped and turned around.

"Thank you for trusting me." she said.

"Always!" Bernett said back. "Oh, I also asked the King something else. But I didn't want to put it on paper." he said walking in the door and shutting it behind him. He walked right up beside her and took her wedding ring hand and knelt down on the floor. Samatha looked at him curiously but with a smile.

"I asked the King if we could officially form a union in Tranquil. He immediately nodded, but said he gets the first dance with you." Bernett said staring up into her eyes. "I thought about arguing with him…"

"Oh Bernett! That would be wonderful! Lindel showed me parts of what Herrior and Skyka's wedding was like. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" Samatha started becoming excited and began jumping up and down. Bernett rose to his feet.

"It'll be like renewing our vows I guess." Bernett said calmly. Samatha reached forward and pulled her husband's head towards hers and kissed him hard.

"Yes! Yes I would love too!" Samatha turned around and began yelling for Lindel and Julie as she raced up the stairs. She ran into the bathroom and opened the shower door to find all three of them in there, along with Spark.

"Move over mutt…" Samatha said pushing him with her foot. Samatha got in with everybody else and said, "Bernett asked the King if we could get married in Tranquil! He said yes! I'm going to get married in Tranquil!" All three of the girls started screaming and hugging each other.

"Ok that's enough girly talk for me for awhile, move over I need to get out." Branzer said. Samatha spun him around and began kissing him.

"Ok, ok…you're happy." Branzer said smiling. "Your four have the shower, I'm done. Obviously we are going to have to install more than one shower in this house."

"Samatha and I will have one of those showers installed in here where it shoots out water from all three sides! Those things are neat!" Julie said. "It'll be like it's raining on all of us!"

"Great." Branzer said unimpressed. He got dressed and headed downstairs.

"So tying the note again huh?" Branzer said to Bernett.

"Yeah, I'm hoping that we can plan it together." Bernett said.

"Fat chance of that happening. By the sounds of it, those three already have it all planned out. My guess is when everybody gets wind of it; your wife will probably forget who you are…" Branzer said laughing.

"Gets wind of what?" Crystal said behind him. Herrior and Tess's group were pouring out of the portal very quickly. None of them had their armor or weapons. They were all dressed in dinner attire, except for Tess - she was still naked as always.

"You're early…" Branzer said shocked. "We aren't even close to being ready."

"Like we're going to make you guys do all of the work…" Crystal said rolling her eyes. "Anyways, gets wind of what?"

"Samatha and I are getting remarried, or renewing our vows, in Tranquil." Bernett said with a smile. Skyka instantly screamed in delight.

"Where is she? Where is Samatha?" Skyka said eagerly.

"Upstairs in the shower." Bernett said. Skyka grabbed Quinely and Crystal's hands as they all eagerly ran up the stairs. A couple of seconds later more screams of delight filled the house. They could even hear Spark barking with joy. Tess and Jacklyn slowly moved over to the stairs, both with big smiles on their faces.

"Not you two also…" Bernett said. They both suddenly turned and ran up the stairs. Once they got into the bathroom they heard several crashing noises and thuds as bodies hit the flower. They were all screaming in delight now.

"I'll pay for the damages…" Bernett said slowly.

"Naw don't worry about it. Consider it an early wedding present." Branzer said. Branzer then stopped and thought about something for a minute.

"Do I get you a present for this occasion?" Branzer asked.

"Buy me a six pack, we'll call it even." Bernett said.

"I brought two barrels!" Strings said walking by them, one on each shoulder. "Where do you want me to put them Bernett?" Bernett motioned to put them in the kitchen when all of a sudden a thunderous voice erupted.

"Bernett? Which one of you is Bernett!" a twelve foot brown with black spots tauren came thundering towards him.

Tess came down the stairs slowly. "This one is." Tess said casually pointing at Bernett and walked by them.

"I am Kon! Tess's mate! You and I need to have a talk!" Kon's voice thundered throughout the house. Bernett suddenly began very nervous. He had forgotten about the previous incident with Tess completely.

"You boys go outside and get acquainted. The rest of the ladies will be down shortly to help." Tess said calmly. Kon knelt down in Bernett's face and let out a fierce grunt.

"Uh…Herrior?" Bernett asked desperately.

"You'll be fine; your body is flexible isn't it? If not we can always piece you back together. Let's put the bread on this side of the table and then we'll put the meat on the other side. Sound ok Tess?" Herrior said casually trying hard not to smile. Tess nodded her head.

Kon picked up Bernett and put him under one arm. "We're going to go play a game…"

"I'm not good at games…" Bernett said quickly.

"I assure you, you wouldn't win anyways." Kon said and opened the back door. After he shut it, everybody ran over to any window to watch. They were all giggling.

Kon threw Bernett on the grass. "Which hand was it?"

Bernett thought back trying to remember. "Uh…" Bernett said.

"It's not 'Uh'. It's either your right, or your left." Kon said putting his mighty hoofs on his shoulders. It felt like a car was slowly running him over. Kon grabbed both of his hands and pulled them up. He could feel his joints begin to separate.

"I'm married and have a kid on the way, please don't kill me!" Bernett pleaded.

"I have formed a union with Tess. She said you touched her butt in an inappropriate manner. Are you calling her a liar?" Kon said glaring down at him.

"No I did. I'm sorry!" Bernett said.

Suddenly Samatha came casually walking out. "Hi Kon." She was wearing a black elegant dress that showed off her pregnant belly. She was casually putting hoop earrings in. She stopped about a foot in front of Kon on his right side.

"Tess told me what you did hun. Which hand was it?" Samatha asked.

"Samatha, I'm sorry. I don't remember my left I think." Bernett said completely scared.

"Eh - left it is then." Samatha said finishing putting her left hoop in. Kon let go of Bernett's right hand and reached down and grabbed both of Samatha's butt cheeks. Samatha casually turned around and said, "Ooo…you got both of them this time. I'll talk to you later Kon." Samatha said in a sexy voice and walked back in the house. As soon as the door shut, everybody in the house erupted with laughter.

"You just touched my mate. Are we even?" Bernett asked.

"No!" Kon yelled. He moved back and picked Bernett up underneath his arm pits and threw him into the air. Bernett screamed flailing away as he flew about the two story house. He could see the Lieutenant's new truck just pull up.

"Great, that's going to be my last thought." Bernett said as he began falling back down. Kon caught him and spun him around. He started laughing and carried him into the house. Everybody continued to laugh.

Samatha walked up and kissed Bernett. "Tess told me to hun. I'm sorry." she said as she continued to laugh with the rest of them.

"You look real sorry." Bernett said glaring at her.

Tess walked up to Bernett and kissed him. "I'm sorry hun, your just so fun to play with!"

"You guys are awful! The Lieutenant's here, everybody go hide…and stay there for the rest of the night!" Bernett said walking towards the front door.

"How did you know he was here?" Kon asked.

"Because somebody throw my ass higher than the house and I saw his truck!" Bernett said as the entire house roared with laughter again.

There was a knock on the door and everybody scrambled out of sight. Trackolania instantly vanished.

"Rogues. Uh…uh…" Mohania said looking around. He then put his arms together and became a pillar of fire.

"Your not real good at hiding are you Mohania?" Bernett said.

"You can't see me, can you?" Mohania asked. Skyka ran out of the kitchen, grabbed Mohania's boney arm and pulled him into the kitchen, instantly breaking the spell.

"You guys are going to be the death of me…" Bernett said. He opened the door and greeted the Lieutenant and his wife.

"Well…a bet is a bet. Where should we put these?" the Lieutenant asked. The seafood meals were already cooked and let out a sensational aroma into the air.

"Around the table would be fine. Here let me give you a hand." Bernett helping to unload some of the packages, placing them at each chair.

"Expecting a lot of friends to show up?" his wife asked.

"Yes…lots of 'friends'." Bernett said still bitter. "Anyways, you guys are invited to our church this Sunday, unless you have another one in mind?"

"No, that would be great. How far of a drive is it?" she asked.

"Eh - we'll have somebody pick you both up." Bernett said.

"Oh that's not necessary, my husband loves his new truck." she said as they finished placing the meals around the table.

"So we got permission to go then?" the Lieutenant asked.

"It's a church, you don't need permission to go." his wife glared at him.

"Yup, just can't wonder out of the doors. I'm not sure where they are going to put you, so it won't cause any unnecessary confusion…uh for both of you, because it's a big church." Bernett said slowly shaking his head. The Lieutenant's wife stared at him with a confused look.

"The people there are a little different from us hun, I'll explain on the way home." the Lieutenant said gently nudging his wife towards the front door.

"Thanks again you two, it's much appreciated." Bernett said, and then heard Skyka let out a loud pleasurable scream.

"What was that?" the Lieutenant asked. Everybody hiding in the kitchen started cheering.

"You probably don't want to know." Bernett said and closed the door. He walked into the kitchen and saw Kon and Tess, as well as Herrior and Skyka having sex on the counters. Apparently they were having a contest.

"So Skyka won?" Bernett said indifferently.

"You know it! I know how to pleasure my man better than you Tess!" Skyka said jumping off from the counter.

"You started before us!" Tess said jumping off and pushing Skyka. Samatha announced that her and Bernett could beat Herrior and Skyka, so both of them agreed to the challenge. Bernett put his hand over his face and said, "I need something to drink…" walking back into the dining room.

"Right behind you my good man!" Strings said following him.

Everybody was all seated around the table and all of the drinks were poured. Herrior stood up with his glass.

"I would like to thank Branzer for use of his home, and for the meal that they have provided for us. I would like to thank Tess and her group for joining us. I would also like to thank all of the recent new additions that we have fighting beside us, as well as all of our old friends. I am honored to be with all of you. I love all of you, and I would gladly die for each and every one of you."

Everybody clapped as Herrior sat back down. Tess then stood up.

"Carrying on with tradition, myself as a leader and my mate as a leader, I would first like to say that…Skyka and Herrior cheated…" everybody started laughing.

After everybody calmed down, Tess continued "I am very much looking forward to the union between Bernett and Samatha. Congratulations to you and your new baby in your belly." Everybody clapped and cheered.

Tess continued. "Branzer, Bernett. I have witnessed you two come a long way from our first battle. I am very proud of both of you. I'm also glad to see Julie do the conversion as well. Samatha my group is at your disposal if you ever need additional training, or whatever your needs may be. May our weapons never falter, and may God bless each and every one of us." Tess raised her glass and took a swig, as did everybody else.

As Tess sat down, Dan stood up. "Herrior, do you mind if I speak?"

"Certainly, what's on your mind?" Herrior said.

"Well, as you all know I'm a time-stopper. Some of you know that I'm going to be blasted by the monks this Monday in the morning. I spoke with the monks one night. I'm the first test subject." Dan sighed.

"Dan?" Crystal asked.

"One of the monks said they don't understand the procedure one-hundred percent. They know what to channel and how often. But they said they can't tell if it took or not. I may need to be repeatedly blasted. The monks said that channeling this information into my body I would not survive a second round of blasting." Dan said looking at Crystal.

Crystal shook her head. "So don't do it…"

"Crystal, the King ordered it." Herrior said.

"I have to do it." Dan said. "I have to follow orders. The monks said they would monitor me heavily in case the channeling fails, so they could learn for the next time."

Crystal stood up and said, "No! No way…if he doesn't survive you can resurrect him, cant you Skyka? Lindel?" Crystal started looking franticly at them. They both sighed and looked down.

"No! Don't do that to me! You have the power to heal his body! Dan I do not want to lose you!" Crystal was almost hysterical now. "I survived it, so can you! It hurts like hell, but I know you can make it! I'll be waiting for you outside the chambers for however many days it takes. I'll have a healer with me even if I have to force them to be there."

"Crystal." Dan said sighing. "I asked the monks about that. If the channeling fails…my body explodes. There will be nothing left to piece back together."

"No! Shut up! No!" Crystal screamed at him.

"Herrior, I have to follow orders. And if I die doing this, I will be serving Tranquil and the King and Queen, it will be an honor." Dan said looking at him. Herrior nodded.

"Herrior! Tell him no! I felt safe in battle before, because I would be with you if you died! I always knew in the back of my head that Skyka or Lindel could always bring you back! You aren't in battle; you'll be in the worst pain in your life for several days! The conversion wasn't that bad, I barely remember it. But this! You will not die being a guinea pig for the damn monks to experiment on!" Crystal yelled.

Tess sighed and looked at Herrior. Herrior knew what she was thinking. "It was his group…"

"Quiet you two for a second." Herrior said and sighed. "Crystal you are very deeply in love with Dan, anybody knows that just by looking at you two. But I was not expecting this from you. This is no different from the King ordering Dan to go alone into battle against a thousand alliance. Dan would follow those orders. You would too, wouldn't you Crystal?"

"I would, but this isn't battle!" Crystal yelled back at him.

"Do not yell at your leader!" Herrior said sternly at her. Crystal sighed and looked away. She then apologized.

"If he dies, his spirit will go to Heaven. You will meet up with him when it is your turn Crystal. These bodies are just temporary. Our spirits are forever." Herrior sighed. "Crystal, I'm going to give you an order and I expect you to follow it. I do not trust you in Tranquil during the blasting. I want you to remain here until you receive word, one way or the other…unless called upon by the King to battle. There is nothing you could do anyways, and I sense you would create a disturbance in Tranquil."

Crystal let out an angry sigh. "I want to form a union with Dan…" she said.

"The King would not approve of it, certainly not with the performance you just exhibited. Death is just a stepping stone, but love lasts forever. Do you want Dan's last memories to be of you arguing with him and with me? Is that how you want to remember him?" Herrior asked.

"No." Crystal said under her breath.

"When you achieve true love for each other, then you may form a union. You two are close, but this example shows that you are not there yet. You have to be willing to let go. It's extremely painful, Skyka how many times have you cried for me on the battlefield?"

"Eight hundred and thirty seven. But I always followed orders. Even if it meant leaving your side and letting your spirit leave to continue the battle." Skyka said slowly. "Hun, pray for him and leave it up to God. Ask him to calm your spirit. Keep yourself busy, Dan already made up his mind. I have a feeling if the roles were reversed Dan would mourn, but would let you go."

"It would break my heart, I would cry for months…but I would let her go…" Dan said turning towards Crystal. "I would not find another. I would keep your memories alive until I meet up with you in Heaven. I would fight to honor you."

Crystal sighed. "It hurts…"

Lindel turned to Herrior and mouthed the words, "Leave her here." and pointed towards the ground. Herrior nodded.

"Crystal, after church services on Sunday, I want you to come back here. Keep your love for Dan, but give the situation up to God. This is a hard lesson to learn, but you need to learn it. Is that understood?" Herrior said firmly.

Crystal nodded. She leaned over and kissed Dan. "I love you. I will wait for you. Please come back to me." Dan smiled at her holding back his own tears. They both sat back down.

"I am proud of both of you. Any one of us will come grieve with you if you need it."

"You can contact my group or Kon's group as well. We are at your disposal if you wish." Tess said. "Also the Queen will always grieve with you if you wish." Crystal nodded she looked desperate to change the subject.

Branzer stood up. "I wanted to thank you Herrior for allowing me to have alone time with Lindel. We have made great progress ourselves. She is a wonderful woman, very kind and loving. I am honored with the privilege you have given us. Please, everybody raise your glasses and toast to our new friendship and may it blossom in the future." Everybody did just that. Branzer said down quickly and said.

"Thanks Lindel for letting me mate with you in your ass."

Everybody shot out the liquid in their mouth and looked at Lindel with utter surprise. Even Crystal did.

Lindel sat there in shock. She looked at everybody with her mouth wide open. Herrior looked at Branzer, and he gave him a wink with a small smile. Herrior understood.

"Lindel?" Skyka said stuttering her words, "What? You can't…if the King or Queen finds out…you can't, please tell me you didn't…"

Lindel was still completely in shock. Her face turned completely red. She couldn't speak, but she started shaking her head back and forth.

"Are you embarrassed? Kind of like how I was when I walked in on the Lieutenant and his wife mating in their office that you were fully aware of…Jokes are not so funny when it's on you, huh?" Branzer said. "Are we even now?"

"Branzer…" Lindel said in complete awe. She started laughing and threw a piece of shrimp at him. "You're an ass! We are not even, not even close! My word, I almost shit myself!" Branzer got out of his chair and grabbed Lindel's face and kissed her. He whispered, "I love you" at her.

"I love you too, but you had better watch your ass! You have it coming!" Lindel said laughing at him. "You think I embarrassed you before…"

"What about popping out of the monitor and scaring the shit out of me?" Branzer said reminding her. Lindel opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it.

"You got me twice! I got you once! The way I see it, I still have one more to make us even…" Branzer said messing up her hair. Everybody calmed down and began to laugh, even Crystal.

"Branzer…you forget the power I possess…" Lindel said in a cocky voice.

"And would you really use it on me?" Branzer said looking back at her walking back to his seat. Lindel just stared at him and smiled.

Lindel stood up and said, "Just for the record, we did no such thing last night!"

"Sure you didn't hun…" Skyka said winking at her.

"Are you looking for an ass-kicking as well?" Lindel said smiling at her.

"Everyday…you do it much better than Herrior does…" Skyka replied back winking at her.

"I…" Lindel began to say and then sat back down.

"Ah…so the prankster Lindel has finally found her match, and a man to control her…This is interesting…" Herrior said with a big smile on his face.

"I could spank his ass any day of the week!" Lindel said in a cocky voice. Everybody burst out laughing. Lindel sighed as she realized what she just said.

"Young love…it is so amusing. I'm glad I'm not at the phase anymore…" Tess said turning to Kon.

"You were worse than her Tess, don't even start or I'll start telling stories!" Kon said.

"You wouldn't!" Tess said.

"Like the time we were talking together when you asked me if we could first start courting. You were gazing at my eyes and fell completely head first into the fountain, knocking yourself out. I had to carry you to the first aid clinic and explain to them what happened…should I go on?" Kon said as the groups started to laugh.

"Shall we eat?" Tess asked.

Everybody was halfway through the meal and getting tipsy on the wine that Bernett had bought.

"What do you think of the wine hun?" Bernett asked his wife. She didn't answer back. He looked at her funny. He then grabbed the piece of shrimp off from her fork and ate it. She shoved the fork into her mouth and bit down on it with a surprised look. She looked down on her lap and on the floor for it. She then took another piece and eat that. She then nodded and then smiled.

"Samatha?" Bernett said. No reaction.

"Samatha, I'm going to go next door and mate with the eighteen year old blond girl." Bernett said with a smile. Samatha smiled and nodded, but never looked at him.

"You are all my witnesses, she nodded!" Bernett said.

"Skyka?" Herrior asked. Same response. "Skyka, I'm going to go get a table and smash it over your head." the guys began to laugh, but no response out of Skyka. Trackolania pulled out his crossbow and shot off the piece of food that Quinely was about to bit into. She too bit down at the fork and looked surprised. She then picked up another piece and ate it. The guys began to laugh even harder.

"Obviously they are all mind-linked and having a deep conversation. Do you guys feel like playing a prank on them?" Herrior asked.

"I'm in!" Kon said. "Tess, Herrior and I are going to put you in the jail and leave you there." Tess nodded slightly as she took a bit.

"Yeah, let's do it. What do you have in mind?" Kon said smiling back.

"Ok, all of us who isn't mind linked head to the end of the table." Herrior said. They all quietly scooted their chairs back and slowly headed to the end of the table. The women were completely oblivious to it. Herrior summoned a portal to the King.

"Hi Herrior, are you enjoying the feast?" The King said.

Herrior bowed his head. "My King, with your permission, I would like to play a prank on our women. They are all mind-linked and completely oblivious to their surroundings. Would you like to play along with us?"

The King thought about it for a second, and then said "What do you have in mind?" Herrior then whispered his idea to the King. He shook his head and said, "Herrior, you are awful!" Suddenly a portal opened and all of the men quickly poured into it. The portal took them to the King's inner chamber. The King then opened a portal so they could all gather around and watch. The men all started laughing, even the King.

Several moments passed and Samatha reached over to get a piece of shrimp off from Bernett's plate and ate it. She then continued talking in her mind as if nothing was wrong. A couple of seconds passed and she grabbed another piece. She looked at his chair and saw that he was gone. She then looked around the table.

"Guys! All of the males are gone!" Samatha said out loud.

"What?" Lindel said instantly breaking the mental link. Lindel began concentrating real hard, but couldn't sense them.

"Quinely can you sense them?"

"No, I already tried." All of them reached for their hearthstones and tried to activate them, but they wouldn't work. All they got was a brief spec of static and then it disappeared.

"Shit! What the hell? Did anybody see where they went?" Skyka asked frantically. Nobody knew. "Herrior! Herrior!" Skyka started screaming. No response. Skyka thought of the King and rubbed the stone. A portal instantly opened showing the King.

"Skyka? What's the news on the front line?" the King quickly said.

"Uh…front line?" Skyka said very confused.

"Yes, that is where you are isn't it? I summoned all of you to battle, what do you have to report?" the King said sounding eager.

"Oh…shit…" Skyka thought.

"I am at Branzer's house…" Skyka said.

"What! For crying out loud I summoned all of you and then I started organizing other attacks. Do I need to babysit you and count to make sure you all get in the portal! So you are sitting there filling your face, while our fighters are out on their own? Is that what you are telling me? They don't have a group healer?"

"I'm sorry my King…I did not hear the summon…" Skyka said starting to get really nervous.

"You didn't what!" the King glared at her. Her hearthstone portal disappeared and a huge portal opened above them.

"You're shitting me! Lindel and Samatha are there too? So I sent off a group with no healer and nobody that can resurrect! What were you guys doing, for crying out loud they could be all dead! I have enough on my plate! Let me guess Tess, you know nothing about this as well!" the King sounded furious.

Tess slowly shook her head.

"I can't believe this!" The King sat back in his chair and closed the portal.

"This is funny! They are scared shitless…this will teach them to mind-link each other and ignore you guys." the King said laughing. All of the males began to laugh. They were all really enjoying it.

The King opened the portal back open. "Lindel can you sense where they are? Can you portal everybody to their location? My power is low from emergency portal opening all over Tranquil. Our allies on the Netherlands are being slaughtered. I can't sense any of the males I sent. I have no idea what their status is."

Lindel immediately began concentrating as hard as she could. She held her hand up and began searching franticly for them as an immense white power radiated from her hand. After thirty seconds she gave up.

"I don't have the power to continue looking for them…I'm sorry my King."

"You have got to be kidding! What was so important that you all had to mind-link with each other and not hear my orders!" the King said.

"We were discussing the union of Samatha and Bernett this weekend." Skyka said quietly.

"Don't you need males there to complete the ceremony? And apparently there are none around huh?" the King rubbed his eyes in frustration. "I don't have time for this right now. I'm going to open a portal in a couple of minutes, you will all answer to me!" the King said and closed the portal.

The King burst out laughing. "So what should I do with them?"

"Tell them to rip off their arm and beat themselves with it!" Mohania said. The King rolled his eyes, "Any other ideas?"

"When they come in, have your guards run around from hallway to hallway. Make it look real. Randomly open portals throughout Tranquil and stick your head through, just say 'Hi' or something and then rapidly open another one and do the same. Then after awhile just sit there and stare at them. We'll sneak up behind them and scare them so bad they'll piss themselves!" Branzer said.

"Have you been hanging around Herrior too much Branzer?" the King said with a smile.

"No, but I do have a score to settle with Lindel…" the King chuckled. "So be it, you guys go back in the shadows and hide. Trackolania, no stealth." They all got in position. The King then gave the order to his guards. They all shrugged and began running from corridor to corridor looking frantic.

Meanwhile the females began to talk among themselves.

"We're in deep shit…aren't we?" Crystal said.

"No hun, we're deeper than that…" Tess said. "I had no clue they all left. None what so ever! Did anybody! Anybody see anything at all?" They all shook their heads.

"This is not good…not good at all…I'll assume full responsibility and he may spare your lives." Tess said.

"I was the one that mind-linked everybody, he won't spare my life!" Lindel said in a panic.

"Guys, we'll be lucky if we aren't all immediately disintegrated. Plus our men, our groups! Lindel you couldn't sense anything at all?" Skyka asked.

"I tried; I gave it all my power that I had! No trace what-so-ever. I'm sorry guys, I tried!" Lindel said beginning to cry.

"Ok, look. Let's all plead for Samatha's life and Crystal's life. They are new and don't deserve this. I mean Samatha is with child…" Quinely said.

"Do you think that would make a difference?" Skyka said. "But I agree. Is that all understood?"

"No! Why spare me? If I die, then I'll meet up with Dan if he dies!" Crystal said.

"You're still young…" Skyka said.

"So am I!" Quinely said.

"Guys, we're all fucked! It's as simple as that!" Tess said angrily slamming her hand down on the table.

They all saw the portal open at the front of the table. They all froze.

"I love all of you guys." Skyka said in a panicked voice. Everybody all said the same thing.

Tess was the first to stand up and walk to the portal. "Let's get this over with." she said. They all rose and walked towards the portal and stepped through.

They all appeared in front of the King's throne and bowed their heads as they fell to one knee. The King glared at all of them and began opening portals and sticking his head through. His body looked very angry. He then pulled his head back and opened two more portals and talked quietly into them. Then closed them and opened a portal in front of him and stuck his head in. The King did this several times and after he was done randomly saying "Hi" to people, he then sat back in his chair. His personal guards and banshees were running all over the place.

"Leave us!" the King yelled. His voice echoed throughout the palace. He leaned forward and glared at the women. "Look up at me!" he commanded them.

Tess spoke up, "Please my King, and spare their lives…"

"Did I tell you to speak!" the King said. Tess immediately stopped talking.

"I'm not fully recharged yet. By the looks of it, it's an absolute mess out there! I was thinking about leaving my throne to help, but what would I do with all of you! Mind-linking each other to talk about some ceremony…why did you isolate yourselves from the males!"

Lindel spoke up, "It was my idea and my power. Please punish me and not the others."

"Lindel! Are you telling me what to do?" the King said questioning her.

"I'm sorry my King." Lindel quickly said.

"A union is to involve everybody, not a select few women! If you all loved each other, why isolate yourselves? Is there some secret you are keeping from them? Or from me? What is the secret, or should I find it out myself!" the King said starting to charge up his hands with yellow lightning.

"We didn't think the males would want to be involved. We should have all shared what we were thinking. Females like to fantasize and plan these kinds of events…" Skyka said.

"And you are telling me males don't? Don't you think you should tell Bernett? I mean it does involve him doesn't it, or were you just going to surprise him? You did of course remember to include him in the ceremony, right?" the King said.

"Umm…he and the other males were never mentioned…" Skyka said ashamed.

"If it was my union, don't you think I would want to be involved!" the King said glaring at them.

"Yes my King." they all answered. The King sighed and began to concentrate on something. He sat there for five minutes as all of the women sat nervously. He then opened another portal and stuck his head out.

"Hi Brenna!" the King said scaring her. She spun around and quickly bowed.

"What are you doing?" the King asked.

"Just gardening my King. Do you need me to do something?" Brenna quickly asked.

"Nope. You have a very good talent at gardening. It is a beautiful garden. I would like to frequent it often to smell what you have growing." the King said.

"Of course my King. Thank you for the compliment." Brenna said with a smile of satisfaction.

"The Queen spoke of giving you a reward. It will be coming tonight." the King said and pulled his face back, making the portal disappear.

The King stared at the quivering women. He let out a sigh, as if deciding their fate.

"I've recalled your males. You are to do whatever they command, within the laws, until sundown on the seventh day. Is that understood?" the King said.

"Thank you my King." they all said. The King then looked at the males in the far distance. They all walked forward and put their arms on one of the women. A portal then opened.

"You are all dismissed." Everybody walked into the portal and appeared next to the fountain. All of the women turned around and apologized to the men. Lindel promised never to mind-link just the women again, and they all said they would include them on the plans for any event coming up.

"Send Bernett, Branzer, Julie, Dan, Samatha, Crystal, and yourself to Branzer's home." Herrior said. Lindel channeled the rest of her power to form a portal for them. They all walked through it.

Kon then laid down on the ground and said his right shoulder had a knot in it. Tess immediately bent down and began rubbing it.

"Come on guys; let's go to Brenna's house." Herrior said smiling at Tess and Kon. They began their walk when they noticed a male tauren dressed in fancier than normal apparel holding a red rose shaped flower.

"Brenna?" he asked.

"Yup, just a second." she said churning over the last of her dirt in her garden to allow her plants to breath. She turned around and looked at the tauren and gasped. Skyka immediately held her hand out to the group, causing them to stop.

"I hear you are quite the gardener. Look at all of this, it's beautiful! My name is Pondures. I brought this for you." he said giving her the flower. Brenna took the flower but continued to stare at the tauren.

"Let's go around the back." Skyka whispered.

"I have a garden that I tend to as well. It's not as good as yours though; would you be willing to show me some pointers?" Pondures said. "It's on the opposite side of the city so it's quite a walk, if you don't mind?"

"Uh…let me go check on something first. I'm all filthy; let me get cleaned up first…" Brenna said running into her house. She closed the door behind her and let out a deep sigh.

"He is a very attractive tauren." Skyka said smiling at her.

"Skyka? Herrior? I…just…do you want me here? I can stay…umm…" Brenna said looking around nervously.

"Nope, we're good." Skyka said walking up to her and brushing off the dirt and then straightening out her hair.

"No…if you need me…" Brenna said quickly.

"Herrior? Could you remove Brenna from her house please?" Skyka said grinning at her. Herrior walked up and spun her around.

"We're not staying here hun. Go have fun." Herrior said pushing her towards the door.

"But…but…" Brenna said nervously.

"You have a cute one, make sure he sees it!" Skyka said giggling. Herrior opened up the door, shoved Brenna out gently, and then closed the door behind her.

Brenna stared at Pondures half wishing that she was still in the safety of her house. He walked up to her and extended his hand towards her. She took it nervously.

"How about you tell me about your garden first? What do you have growing?" he asked getting down on his knees and gently touched one of her yellow flowers. Brenna quickly looked over his body and became even more nervous.

"Is this a Dreaming Glory?" he carefully leant over and took in a breath of it.

"Yes, I was trying to cultivate more of them…" Brenna said. "Are you familiar with how to mate? No I mean the flowers…how to…how to make the flowers produce more flowers, while mating…" Brenna bit her tongue feeling completely embarrassed. She heard Skyka laughing inside of her house.

"I believe they reproduce through their roots." he dug a little bit and found an offshoot of the flower. "See, this one is trying to poke its head through. Probably in a couple days time it'll be able to start receiving light and grow on its own." He stood up and said, "You are a very good gardener. Would you want to go see mine now?" Pondures said stepping closer to her.

"Uh…I need to…" Brenna started to say. Then she was hit in the back with her front door, pushing her into Pondures.

"Oh there you are Brenna!" Skyka said acting surprised. "Pondures, I am Skyka an ambassador to the King. Brenna has helped us many times with our travels. She probably has lots of stories that she could tell you."

Pondures looked at Brenna with a surprised look. "You've helped a group of our fighters?"

"Numerous times! We are very grateful for what she's done for us and her hospitality. Why don't you two run along, we were about ready to go on an assignment?" Skyka said.

"Please Brenna, tell me everything! You're a great gardener and you personally house a group?" Pondures said eagerly and began walking. Brenna began walking behind, but quickly caught up. Skyka watched them with a smile. Brenna eventually turned around and mouthed the words, "Thank you!" and turned back around.

"We have an assignment? Does it have to do with eating human flesh?" Mohania asked with excitement.

"You really know how to ruin the mood don't you…" Skyka said turning around glaring at him. "Go lay next to Kendall, I think we've all had enough excitement for one day. Oh, and by the way just so you know for the future. Hiding behind a column of fire does not work."

"They couldn't see me…" Mohania said insistently. Skyka rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the way as the group went up on the second floor.

"Herrior, we screwed up today. The King said to do whatever you males tell us to. I'm sorry we weren't including you guys. It's just we all got excited and were passing thoughts back and forth so quickly…" Skyka said.

"You knew better, you were the ambassador." Herrior walking up to her. Her reached down and grabbed her upper thighs and picked her up. "You will mate with me as hard as you can tonight. That is your punishment."

"Yes…sir…" Skyka said with a grin.

Back on Earth, Julie saw that her new futon had arrived and was sitting on the front porch.

"Well I'm impressed, that was quick! How about giving me a hand with it Crystal?" Crystal slowly shook her head and seemed to be very distant. Spark walked up to Crystal and started nudging at her with his powerful nose. It eventually knocked her to the ground.

"Hey!" Crystal said. Spark walked on top of her and began licking her face repeatedly. Crystal eventually began to giggle.

"Sorry hun, he has a mind of his own. Dan could you help?" Julie said.

"Bernett and I will take out the old one." Branzer said and motioned to Bernett. Both groups started groaning as they started to move the furniture around.

Samatha sighed looked at them. "Julie I got your last futon in by myself…"

"It must have been lighter than this one." Julie said as her and Dan was struggling.

"Hun, there is no way you did this by yourself last time. And besides you are pregnant you shouldn't be lifting." Bernett said.

Samatha looked at the futon inside first. Her eyes turned white for a slight second. The futon then flew up at the ceiling because of the strength the two men were putting into it. They just stood there staring at the old futon that slammed into the ceiling, slowly turning itself around. Samatha gently commanded the futon to float back down into their hands. They both stared at the old futon which was as light as a feather now and easily maneuverable.

"Oooo…my big strong men. I'm very impressed…" Samatha said in a sarcastic tone staring at them. They both looked at her.

"And yes, I did do it by myself last time my hubby. I should zap your ass for doubting me…" Samatha said and began channeling a white aura around her body.

"You guys maybe able to shoot the flea off from a dog's nose halfway around the world, but obviously you don't know what I can do…" Samatha stopped channeling her aura. She casted another levitate spell on the new futon. She then casually started clearing the table.

"For future reference, you probably shouldn't piss off your wife…" Branzer said quietly.

"I'll make a note of it." Bernett said. Crystal finally wiggled her way out from underneath the dog and let out a big smile at Samatha.

"Gotta keep our men in line, don't we?" Samatha said to her. Crystal chuckled and began helping Samatha. "You remember that Lindel." Samatha said looking at her.

"Drained half of your power with that little act, didn't it? So you like being a priest?" Lindel said smiling at her.

"Yup. It's fun!" They all laughed and walked into the kitchen with the dinnerware.

Later that night, they started talking about sleeping arrangements. Lindel and Branzer asked for private time, as well as Dan and Crystal. So Julie ended up sleeping in Bernett and Samatha's bed. Dan and Crystal slept on Julie's new futon. Dan fell asleep with his arm wrapped around her body. Crystal couldn't sleep, she just watched Spark on the opposite side of the room. His chest would rise and fall, every once in awhile he would say the word, "Julie". Crystal thought that was funny.

Finally Crystal became frustrated with herself.

"Lindel, are you still awake?" Crystal said in her head.

"Yup, just laying here watching Branzer sleep. He lets out whistles in his sleep. It's cute." Lindel said back. Crystal let out a smile and then sighed.

"What's wrong hun?" Lindel asked.

"I can't sleep." Crystal said back.

"I can force your body to sleep if you want?" Lindel asked in her mind. Crystal's mind went silent for awhile.

"Can you come down?" Crystal finally asked.

"Sure thing hun." Lindel said and got out of bed. Crystal watched her come around the corner and saw that she was wearing one of Branzer's tee-shirts.

"Red Wings huh?" Crystal said with a smile.

"Yeah, he asked me to wear this. He gets…umm…excited easily." Lindel said blushing.

"Cant say that I blame him, you're beautiful." Crystal said sincerely. Lindel looked down at Crystal as if to say "Thank you". Lindel knelt down and took her hand. Lindel's eyes turned a deep purple for a couple of seconds.

"You could just ask me what's wrong…" Crystal said smiling at her.

"Eh - this way is faster." Lindel said smiling back. "Hun the monks do their job with kindness. They don't enjoy watching the people they blast with pleasure. They mourn when a blast isn't successful. They have emotions just like anybody else. They are all very proud of you, yet scared of you at the same time." Lindel chuckled.

"That's why I've been commanded to stay here…isn't it?" Crystal asked.

"When Herrior gives commands, I don't read his mind. It might be the reason, I don't know." Lindel said squeezing her hand.

"If they are so powerful, why don't they fight with us?" Crystal asked.

"They don't know how to fight, and they are very fragile. They know how to program people's minds and have their bodies adjust to whatever they are putting in their minds. But they have no defenses. A long time ago, they all lived peacefully on some far away planet. Some kind of rock fell from the sky and began making all of them sick, killing half of their population almost instantly. They have no immune system like we do. The monks began channeling their minds pleading for help from any sign of life they could find. They continued to drop like flies, until one of them found one of our ambassadors. He was actually vacationing on a planet; don't remember the name, at the time. He immediately told the King. The King immediately opened a portal on their world, only a handful of them made it through. Their entire population was wiped out…because of some rock. They were put outside the wall, and groups quickly formed around them. They looked to be on the verge of death, so our healers renewed their bodies. The banshees did their thing and they pleaded for their lives. They were no threat at all. The King asked what they wanted. They said the owed them their lives and would like to live in peace. The King sensed an enormous power out of them and searched every part of their minds. They said they wanted to live in seclusion and would grant any of their powers to the King. They can do a lot more than just make people immune to time stopping, changing classes, and removing abilities. We're only using a fraction of their abilities. The King said he would prepare a place for them, in exchange for their services. They obviously agreed." Lindel said.

"If there was only a handful that lived, why are there so many of them now?" Crystal asked.

"They can reproduce themselves. It's completely different from how we do it though. They do some sort of ritual, dance thing, sing some song, and then blast the center of the room - producing another one of themselves. Personally I like our way of reproducing better…" Lindel said with a smile. "But they die just like anybody else. So they just produce another one of themselves when they do. They increased their numbers to, twenty I think? They thought it would be easier on us when they perform their blasting. For some reason they are perfectly happy living down in their dark cave. None of them has ever seen Tranquil; they are allowed to go anywhere though. Do you want to talk with one?" Lindel asked. "I can go wake up Branzer and have him give me permission."

"No let him sleep." Crystal said.

"Aww, your no fun." Lindel said smiling at her. "But to answer your thought, no they are not evil." Lindel bent over and kissed Crystal on her forehead.

"Try to let go of your hate for them. They love all of us, the same as we love each other. They do not do anything without the King or Queen having a long talk with them."

Crystal nodded. "Is Dan going to die?"

"I don't know hun. There are only a limited number of time-stoppers we have. They are very valuable, and I do not think the King would allow them to die if he didn't think that this blasting would kill them. Finding time-stoppers are very hard to do. But Dan has his orders, and you do as well." Lindel said reminding her.

"I know." Crystal said with a sigh. A tear ran down her cheek. "It hurts though…"

Lindel nodded. "Do you want to sleep now?" Crystal slowly nodded. Lindel gently let go of Crystal's hand and put it over her eyes. A brief purple light came from her hand and Crystal was instantly asleep. Lindel said a quick prayer for both Dan and Crystal and then went back to bed.

The next morning the Lieutenant woke up and looked over at his wife. A male blood elf was standing over her with his hand on her eyes. He began reaching for his gun.

"Calm down male human. I'm adjusting this woman's eyes so that she only sees her own race. It is not causing her any pain. There is a portal open downstairs that will take you directly to the church in Tranquil. Your group is already waiting for you." the blood elf said. He finished up and walked out of the room.

"Hun?" the Lieutenant said gently shaking her.

"I'm sleeping…" she said slowly.

"We go to church today."

"Oh that's right!" she flew out of bed and began getting dressed. "Don't just lay there, get ready!"

They both quickly got dressed and the Lieutenant's wife ran right by the blood elf standing next to the portal and disappeared. He looked shocked.

"She thinks she's already there. Any memory of this has already been erased. I will close the portal after you." He stepped into the portal and the blood elf followed him, and the portal closed.

Crystal suddenly woke up from a horrible dream where Dan was in immense pain. She looked behind her and didn't see Dan.

"Dan?" Crystal said out loud. She jumped out of bed and started screaming for him. Everybody came out of their rooms, all dressed up and looked at her curiously.

"Have you seen Dan?" Crystal screamed at them. They all exchanged looks to each other.

"Have any of you seen him!"

"No hun, nobody has seen him. What's going on?" Lindel asked.

"Can you sense him anywhere?" Crystal said desperately. Lindel began concentrating and a white glow came out of her head.

"No, he's out of my range probably." Crystal said after a couple of seconds.

"How could he be out of range? He was just here in bed with me!" Crystal ran to get her hearthstone and brought up a portal of Herrior. Lindel quickly ran down the stairs.

Time stopped.

One second passed. Julie, Branzer and Bernett instantly froze.

Time resumed.

"Whoa. Baby just kicked really hard…" Samatha said smiling looking down at her belly. She started rubbing it. "I guess it must have been all along and I just didn't notice it until Lindel showed me."

"If he does it again, can you show me?" Bernett said eagerly.

"Sure, I'll try.

"Herrior! Is Dan with you guys?" Crystal screamed frantically at him.

"No? I thought he was with you?" Herrior asked curiously back.

"Has any of your group seen him, is he in church, is he anywhere around?" Crystal said as the anxiety in her just about peaked. Herrior turned his head around and asked his group. He then looked around in all directions.

"Lindel can't sense him anywhere, he has to be there with you guys! Don't tell me you don't know where he is…" Crystal said.

"Crystal, calm down. Skyka summon the King. Hold on just a second." Herrior said. Skyka brought out her hearthstone and summoned the King.

"None of us know where Dan is my King. Do you know?" Skyka asked bowing her head.

"We completed the translation and the monks confirmed that they knew the process. I had him pulled and they started blasting him about fifteen minute's ago." the King said.

"Ok thank you." Skyka said and closed her portal. Herrior heard the conversation.

"Dan is with the monks right now. They started the blasting about fifteen minutes ago." Herrior said slowly.

"No…" Crystal said. Her face turned white and her legs began to shake. She fell to her knees, unable to stand anymore. "I didn't get to say good-bye…I sensed his pain in my dream…"

"Dan sensed the same with you Crystal. He is following orders, remember? Are you still coming to services with us this morning?" Herrior asked.

Crystal wiped away a tear. "Yes. Yup I'm coming. Save a seat for me." she said closing her portal.

"Crystal?" Lindel asked cautiously.

"He's following orders. I need to learn to let him go. Church will be a good distraction for me." Crystal looked down at her; she was still in her formal attire from yesterday.

"You look fine hun." Lindel said.

Time stopped.

"Well if you are ready I'll start channeling a portal." Lindel asked. Crystal nodded quickly.

Time resumed.

Lindel created a portal and told everybody that they were ready. Samatha came down with the rest of them and said that she has felt the baby kicking a lot this morning. Lindel smiled at her as they all entered into the portal.

Everybody met up with the Lieutenant, his wife, and the rest of the group. Herrior walked up to Crystal and kissed her on the head. She smiled back at him.

They all found a pew and sat down. All of the officers were talking with each other.

Time stopped.

All of them froze in place. The rest of Herrior's group didn't notice. Several seconds passed.

Time resumed.

"Whoa…" Samatha said. She reached over for Bernett's had and put it on her belly. "He must not like seafood, or I was too stressed out last night or something." Samatha started rubbing her eyes. "I must not have gotten enough sleep last night."

"Are you ok?" Bernett asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just first time mother jitters I think." Samatha said back.

Services started, and everybody rose to their feet to sign the hymn: "Are You Washed In the Blood of the Lamb". The flyers instantly flapped their wings and took to the air. Lindel looked at them flying and sighed. "Maybe next time." she thought.

Time stopped.

The non-immune humans instantly froze in place. Again nobody noticed because they were all singing. They finished the chorus and began singing the next line. Ten seconds had passed this time.

Time resumed.

"Oow." Samatha said and sat back down. Bernett looked over at her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Lindel? Can you hear me?" Samatha said in her mind.

"Yeah hun, what's up?" Lindel said in a depressed voice.

"What's wrong?" Samatha asked forgetting her own problems for awhile.

"See the flyers up there? I cannot fly as part of my punishment. I love flying, especially during the songs." Lindel said sighing again.

"Lindel, the baby is…"

Time stopped.

"Baby giving you problems huh? Little bugger is probably just excited. He's fine though, I checked him out yesterday." Lindel said in her mind. Samatha didn't say anything back.

Time resumed.

"Kicking really hard. It just did it again. It's taking a lot of strength out of me. Is he just excited, or what's going on?" Samatha asked.

Lindel got confused for a second. "I just told you that he's probably just excited not two seconds ago." she said in her mind.

"No you didn't, I was just talking." Samatha said. "I think there might be something wrong."

"Samatha? I just told you that he's fine, and I checked him out yesterday." Lindel said.

"No! You didn't!" Samatha said getting annoyed in her mind. Lindel looked over at her and saw that her face had become pale and was starting to sweat.

"What's wrong hun?" Lindel asked quickly.

"I'm exhausted, I think I'm going to faint…" Samatha said as Lindel watched her eyes roll back in her head and started falling forward.

Time stopped.

"Herrior catch her!" Lindel said as she pushed herself quickly into Samatha's eyes. Herrior dropped his hymnal and reached over to grab her. Samatha, as well as the other humans around her at stopped. He picked up Samatha and she didn't move a muscle.

Lindel flew through her body and saw the baby happily moving around.

"What are you doing to your mom…what the hell?" Lindel said looking around. All of the blood and other fluids around her had frozen. She looked back at the baby and saw that his color was starting to fade.

"No no, little one…what are you doing?" Lindel said and quickly dispersed herself all around to start moving the fluid again. The baby's color came back.

Time resumed.

Lindel felt all of the fluids moving normally again. She then rematerialized in front of the baby. She stared at the baby for a second and said, "Don't do that again little one…" Lindel flew up and out of Samatha's eyes. Herrior started carrying her out of the church. Bernett and Branzer hadn't noticed. Lindel materialized in front of Herrior.

"We have a big ass problem! Tell the King we found another time stopper, but him and his mother may not live if we don't do something fast! We need all of the healers on call, all of the healing banshees you can get, I'll need Skyka's ass there…"

Time stopped.

Lindel noticed that Samatha had stopped breathing.

"Shit not again…Do it now! I'll give him alive as long as I can!" Lindel yelled and slammed back into Samatha's eyes. Herrior began running towards the clinic. He pulled out his hearthstone and summoned the King.

"This had better be important!" the King demanded.

"Lindel found another time stopper, the child inside of Samatha. But it sounds like they aren't going to live." Herrior said.

Time started.


	10. Unions and Betrayal

Unions and Betrayal

"What?" the King said in a scared voice. "What does she need?"

"She said she needs all of the healers on call back at the clinic, some healing banshees, and Skyka." Herrior said as he increased in speed towards the clinic.

"Well your group is already following you." the King said. Herrior looked back and saw all of them running after him; also all of Mohania's undead friends were coming as well.

"But I'll start immediately start summoning people. I'm sending the other humans back to their houses. How far are you from the clinic?" the King said giving instructions to the Queen.

"About thirty seconds away." Herrior said pushing his body as fast as he could. Each hoof letting out a thunderous slam on the ground as he continued to pick up speed.

Several seconds passed and then King told Herrior, "Ok, everybody has been summoned. Keep me informed!" the King said and closed the portal. Herrior put the stone in his pocket.

Herrior turned several corners and flew into the empty clinic. He laid Samatha carefully on the table.

"Ok, now what…" Herrior said out loud. His followers poured into the clinic several seconds later.

"What's going on?" Herrior quickly filled them in. Skyka immediately ran over to the side of Samatha. She quickly took off her shirt and opened a small section on the top of her belly.

"Lindel, its Skyka. Can you hear me?" Skyka said whispering into the hole.

"Yeah, are we in the clinic?" Lindel said back.

"Yes, what do you need me to do?" Skyka said eagerly.

"Very carefully, open about a six inch cut where this cut is. Do not puncture the womb." Lindel said.

Skyka laid her hands on her stomach and very slowly opened her stomach. She looked in and saw a purple glow inside of the womb.

"Ok I see you. What now?"

"Ok, here's the problem. This little guy can stop time. When he does, all of the fluids stop entering him…so I manually pump them until time resumes. I cant do this forever, I need some ideas." Lindel said almost frantically.

Time stopped.

"See look!" Lindel said. She dispersed herself again and began pumping the fluids herself again. Skyka watched and saw that without Lindel, the baby would probably have died already.

Skyka's mind started racing as fast as it could. She started shaking her hands and looking around in desperation.

"Skyka?" Herrior asked.

"Get out of here! Get the other healers and banshees in here now!" Skyka yelled. They all immediately left the building. Herrior began calling out as loud as he could for the other healers and banshees.

Time resumed.

Samatha heard Herrior's loud voice and opened her eyes. "What's going on?"

Lindel rematerialized in front of the baby again. "Samatha, a problem has come up and we are trying to resolve it. Please just remain calm." Lindel said in her mind. Lindel then put her hand over the baby's eyes, attempting to put him to sleep.

"Problem?" Samatha sat up and felt the opening in her stomach. She started screaming.

"No no no…Samatha lay back down. Take deep breaths ok? Just relax. You are just making the situation worse." Skyka said running up to her head and pushing her back down.

"Samatha don't do that again! I'm trying to fix the problem and you just made it a lot worse!" Lindel said in her head.

"Ok, ok…what's going on Skyka?" Samatha asked staring at the ceiling.

"Your baby is a time-stopper. Which is wonderful, however he is randomly stopping time and when he does, it stops all of your functions in your body. Lindel and I are trying to come up with a solution right now. But we need to talk to each other, ok?" Skyka said.

"My baby is a time-stopper? How did that happen?" Samatha asked.

"No clue how it happens. It happens in like one in a million. If we wouldn't have caught it, you and your baby would have died by now." Skyka said moving back down to the incision she made in her stomach.

"Talk to me Lindel. Any ideas yet?" Skyka asked.

"The only thing I thought of so far is to have her body go through the conversion, but she wouldn't last seven days…even if she did live through the conversion. I think I have the baby sleeping right now."

Time stopped.

The fluids immediately stopped.

"Damn…well I thought I did…" Lindel said dispersing herself again to pump the fluids. Little bugger has a mind of her own. Samatha's energy level drains every time he does this. He's drawing whatever energy he can to perform the time stopping…and it's coming right from her."

The other healers and banshees finally showed up.

"Your backup is here, what do you want us to do?" Skyka said.

"Have the healers push as much power as they can into her brain and keep that active. Send a banshee in with me." Lindel said frantically. Skyka gave the instructions and one of the banshee's quickly flew into Samatha's eyes. A healer then walked to her head and started channeling energy into her brain. Lindel quickly explained to the banshee what was going on. Lindel rematerialized and he started doing the same thing she was doing.

Time resumed.

"Ok, I don't feel as bad. What's the plan you guys?" Samatha said as she felt the healing power going into her head.

"So far we are just stabilizing you two. No plan yet." Skyka said.

"Skyka, what about this…I just thought of it so it may not make sense yet…" Lindel said.

"Tell me." Skyka said eagerly.

"Her baby is obviously immune to time stopping, his mother isn't. What about putting the baby into another woman that is immune to time stopping. He can't live outside the womb yet. Shit I don't know…does any of that make sense?" Lindel said sounding confused.

"Yes perfect. What's the first step? Probably find a volunteer to carry the baby, if that is the case I'll volunteer." Skyka said.

"Carry the baby? What do you mean?" Samatha demanded.

"Not now hun!" Skyka said snapping back at her.

"No, it would have to be another human. Obviously one that is immune to time stopping, to carry this child." Lindel said and then said, "But that isn't going to work…there is none! We could try putting it in you I guess, but I don't think that'll work."

"What about Crystal?" Skyka said.

Lindel suddenly became excited. "Yes! Damn I didn't even think of her. I'm tired hun, thanks for your help. My power is draining. I'm so glad for the other banshee to be here."

"And we have another standing by if needed. You three can rotate."

Time stopped.

The male banshee immediately went to work. Lindel sat down and said, "Please don't do that little one."

Skyka ran out of the building and grabbed Crystal by the shoulders.

"Hun, we need you to save Samatha and her baby's life!" Skyka said desperately.

"Sure, what do I need to do?

"We need a woman immune to time stopping to carry the baby for her." Skyka said quickly.

Crystal looked at her with mixed emotions.

"Hun, this is the only way!" Skyka said.

"Ok, what do I need to do?" Crystal said as Skyka dragged her in.

"Take off your shirt and lay down on the table as close to Samatha as you can." Skyka said scooting Samatha's still body over as close to the edge as she could.

Time resumed.

Samatha let out a painful moan.

"We have to hurry hun!" Skyka said to Crystal. She laid down on the table completely naked next to Samatha.

"What do I have to do?" Crystal asked nervously.

"Hell if I know, we're making this up as we go along…" Skyka said.

"Get the other banshee into Crystal's body and start prepping her body for the baby. Cut a hole in her stomach about ten inches long." Lindel said. Skyka relayed the information and the other banshee flew into Crystal's eyes. The banshee started pushing around her organs to make room and it obviously caused Crystal a lot of pain. Crystal's stomach grew about half a foot upwards.

"Sorry hun, but this will hurt worse." Skyka said and quickly made the incision. Crystal flexed her muscles in pain and started to moan.

"Relax hun, it'll make it worse." Skyka said finishing it up. "Are you ready down there hun?" Skyka said asking into Crystal's stomach. A female voice came out. "Are we taking the whole womb and everything?" Skyka switched stomachs and asked.

"Yes let's do that. It'll keep him alive longer I think. I'll carry him out if we are ready." Lindel asked.

"Should I heal him while he travels?" Skyka asked.

"I'm going as fast as I can, I doubt you'll be able to get a heal off. Ask the other banshee if she is ready." Skyka asked and she said yes. Lindel then started disconnecting some of the tubes connecting to the womb, and carefully removed the placenta. She kept all of the tubes together and flew instantly from one belly to the other. Crystal let out another cry of pain.

"Heal Samatha! I wasn't able too. Tell the other banshee to get his ass over here now!" Lindel said. Lindel and the female banshee placed the womb gently into position and began hooking things up as fast as they could. Skyka reached inside of Samatha and began casting small heal spells on her insides. The other banshee quickly flew from one head to the other.

"How's she holding out?" Skyka said looking up at the healer.

"She's in a state of shock right now. Her vitals are good though."

"Ok let me check everything out, and we'll seal her up." Skyka started examining the inside of Samatha's belly. Everything appeared to be working normally. All of the wounds that she had were completely healed. Skyka started blasting her with as big of a healing spell as she could summon. Samatha's stomach quickly reattached itself inside and the cut disappeared. Skyka let out another heal just to make sure. She then summoned a light well and it slowly started pouring healing stars into both of their bodies.

"How you doing Lindel?" Skyka asked sounding exhausted.

"You sound better than I do…" Lindel said sounding as if she could faint at any moment.

"But we have everything hooked up. For some reason her body already thought that she had a baby. Is Crystal still awake?"

Skyka looked up at her and she was grinding her teeth. "Crystal why would your body already thing that you were pregnant?"

"I'm on birth control pills from my world to control my periods…it hurts Skyka!" Crystal said nearly in tears.

Lindel heard and said, "Stop taking them from now on hun. Ok?" in Crystal's mind. Crystal nodded.

"Skyka I'm almost completely drained. The other banshees are still rearranging her body. The psychological affects we can't heal, but I think their bodies will be ok. How's Samatha?"

"Sleeping looks like. I completely healed her. I also have a light well pumping in heals."

Time stopped.

"I think he's going to be ok. The fluids are all pumping nicely. We've reattached the placenta, but we had to enlarge Crystal's area to accept it. Can you close up Crystal?" Lindel asked. Skyka began blasting her with enormous healing spells.

One of the healers pulled up on Samatha's arm to check the blood flow, and noticed that it stopped in mid air.

"I think time has stopped again." she said.

Skyka relayed the message. Lindel double checked everything again.

"Nope, I don't feel any power drains and baby seems oblivious to what just happened. Ask Crystal how she feels."

Skyka asked.

"I feel like I just gained thirty pounds!" Crystal said still in pain.

"Did you feel any power drains from your body a couple of seconds ago?"

"No, just awkward." Crystal answered.

Skyka reported it to Lindel.

Time resumed.

Samatha's arm fell down and smacked against the table real hard. This caused her to wake up.

"My baby…" Samatha said reaching for her stomach. She felt her stomach significantly smaller, but no cuts or anything. "My baby is gone."

"Samatha, your baby is now in Crystal's stomach. She is immune to time stopping, and can supply your baby with the things he needs. Your baby is doing fine." Skyka said.

Samatha sat up and looked at Crystal. He face still looked bad. She looked down at her belly and started rubbing it.

"We both would have died…wouldn't we?" Samatha asked.

"I have no doubt in my mind." Skyka said.

"Crystal…you saved my life and my babies…" Samatha said starting to cry, still rubbing her belly.

Time stopped.

Samatha instantly stopped.

"I probably can't go back to Earth in this condition…can I?" Crystal said.

"No, I would like to keep a close eye on you, and Samatha for awhile." Skyka said. All of the banshees flew out of Crystal's eyes and rematerialized. Lindel walked over to a chair and sat down.

Time resumed.

"How are we going to tell Bernett that his baby is in you now?" Samatha said. Samatha thought for a minute and then said, "I'm not going to be able to take care of him…can I?" She started to cry.

Skyka sighed. "If he stops time, it would be very dangerous for you and him. At least until he knows how to control it." Skyka walked outside and told Herrior to tell the King what happened, and it appears that it is going to work.

"How's Samatha taking it?" Herrior asked.

"Not good, but she's alive and so is the baby. Time stopped a couple of times and it hasn't affected Crystal at all." Skyka said.

"We all missed services and there's a large crowd wondering if they could comfort them?" Herrior asked. Skyka looked around and saw people all around them. Skyka rubbed her face and sighed.

"I'll send them away." Herrior said quietly.

"Let me go ask." Skyka said walking back into the clinic. She saw both Crystal and Samatha sitting up on the table. Crystal was feeling all over her stomach, trying to take in the fact that she was pregnant now. Samatha got off the table and laid down on one of the white beds. She covered herself up and cried for a little while until she fell asleep.

Crystal hopped off the table and began walking around. "This is weird…" she said. Skyka and Lindel let out a laugh.

"Guess I'm out of battle for awhile huh?" Crystal asked.

"Depends on how you feel. You still have another two months or so before the delivery." Skyka said.

"Well, give me some time and we'll see. I'm going to lay down now if that's ok." Crystal said laying down and covering herself up.

Skyka walked out of the clinic and told Herrior they were both sleeping. Herrior nodded and started to disperse the crowd.

"The King is very proud of you, Lindel, and surprised with Crystal." Herrior said.

"It's certainly one for the record books…Lindel and I am going to rest with both of them. Keep the healers rotating in and out to check up on us?" Skyka leaned up and kissed Herrior and then walked back in the clinic.

Herrior turned to his group. "Well, it worked. Lindel and Skyka will be here for awhile. I'm going to stay here; you guys can do whatever you want." Herrior said sitting down. Jacklyn sat to the side of him and put her shoulder on his. Quinely put her head on his lap. Everybody else, even all of the undead laid down next to him. Herrior smiled and closed his eyes.

A full day passed before Crystal started to wake up. She had been dreaming of her training as an officer. Periodically she felt something push on her stomach. After awhile it annoyed her and brought her out of her dream.

"Stop pushing on my stomach…" Crystal said. Suddenly she heard several female voices begin to laugh. Crystal rolled over on her back in frustration, and felt a huge mass on her stomach move with her. She woke up and looked down.

"What the…" Crystal said putting her hands on her stomach. She then recalled what happened. She laid back on the bed and groaned.

"Wake up…new mommy…" Lindel said poking her in the arm.

"Go away…" Crystal said trying to swat Lindel's hand.

"No…I think it's time you wake up and start stretching your muscles sleepy head." Lindel said. Her and Skyka each grabbed an arm and pulled her up to a sitting position. Crystal's newly enlarged stomach only allowed her to go so far, and then she felt her muscles start to complain.

"Ugh…just let me die…" Crystal said starting to open her eyes. Skyka smiled and swung Crystal's legs over the bed towards her.

"Why is my stomach so big? Samatha didn't show this much…" Crystal said. Skyka pulled her up to her feet. All of her abdominal muscles tightened at the same time. Crystal cringed.

"That's normal. We're going to walk you around Tranquil. Your muscles need to get used to this. But to answer your question, your body had to quickly adapt to being pregnant. Unfortunately it did so by making it look like you've been pregnant for nine months." Lindel said grabbing the other side of her.

"How long do I have to be pregnant…?" Crystal said swaying back and forth on her feet.

"Probably for another month, maybe longer." Lindel answered. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

Skyka and Lindel both pulled on Crystal's arms and moved her forward. They stepped out of the clinic and lots of people began to clap for her.

"Am I naked?" Crystal asked sounding still asleep.

"No, you have a white robe on." Skyka said laughing.

"Ok, give me a second to wake up and catch my breath." Crystal said. She rubbed her eyes and began looking around. Then she began to take in the scene and tried to remember as much as she could.

"Dan! Is he done? How is he doing?" Crystal suddenly asked.

"He is still being blasted. His body is still holding up, and his vitals are normal. He has secluded his mind to deal with the pain, like you did. He should be done today, I think." Skyka said. "But then he has to have a series of tests run to see if everything took. But he is doing ok. Let's work on you hun. There are some people that want to meet you."

"Is it anybody I owe money too?" Crystal asked blinking her eyes and finally waking up. Skyka and Lindel smiled as they both held her steady and began walking towards the fountain.

"Ok, I'm getting the hang of this. Got to lean back to counter balance; yeah there's a lot of muscles I haven't used that are talking to me." Crystal stretched out her back. "It definitely was time for me to wake up, I need to get used to this. I'm fine to walk by myself now, but don't go too far away."

Skyka and Lindel let go of her and Crystal did seem to get the hang of it.

"Where are we going?" Crystal asked looking around.

"The fountain was heated up to help relax your muscles. Everybody in Tranquil seems to be there right now enjoying it. We'll kick them out of the way for you though." Skyka said.

"I guess I'll have to make sure I take my prenatal vitamin from now on huh?" Crystal asked.

"Actually no, we snuck one away from you and had the goblins break it down to its basic elemental components. We then found several different types of food that contains the same components. We altered your diet and then analyzed your waste and saw that it was producing the same results. Then they increased your diet to accommodate your extra addiction you are lugging around. It again was producing the same results. However your water intake has increased about ten percent after becoming pregnant." Skyka said.

Crystal looked at her funny. "Are you two that bored?"

Lindel started to chuckle, "No, that is the jobs of some of the citizens in Tranquil. That's what they specialize in. So no more goofy pills for you. Including your birth control, even after you deliver. We'll adjust your body back the way it was before you got pregnant to produce the same affect. You'll have to let us know when you and Dan want to produce offspring though, so we can change it back."

"Naw, I'm sick of being pregnant already…" Crystal said with a smile.

They continued talking for awhile and turned a corner to the fountain. Herrior's entire party was there, minus Dan, but Samatha was there. Samatha turned around and saw Crystal waddling up to them. She smiled and pulled her feet out of the water. She then started running towards Crystal and hugged her.

Time stopped.

After several seconds, Crystal said "Ok hun, that's enough hugging you are squishing me and the baby." Crystal pushed her back and saw that she was frozen.

"Did the baby do his thing?" Crystal asked looking at Samatha curiously.

"Apparently. So far, from watching Samatha, we figure he's stopped time about thirty two times. Are you sure he isn't draining any power from you?" Skyka asked.

"No, I don't feel a thing…except when the little brat becomes excited and kicks me in the ribs…" Crystal said.

Time resumed.

Samatha fell forward in shock. Skyka and Lindel bent over and helped her back up.

"He did it again huh?" Samatha asked sounding disappointed.

"It looks like it. To be honest none of us can tell unless we see you all of a sudden stop." Lindel said.

"So you don't get a sensation, or a vibe or anything?" Samatha asked.

"Nope." Crystal said. She then looked Samatha over. It looked like she instantly dropped fifty pounds. "You are looking good Samatha, special diet?" Crystal smiled.

Samatha smiled back. "You look great as well."

"No I don't…I'm as big as an ox and waddle like a duck…" Crystal said reaching forward and holding her belly in front of her. Quinely jumped out of the water and morphed into a large female duck and started waddling around.

"Quinely, if I had the balance to life my foot high enough, I would kick your ass…" Crystal said walking towards her. Quinely began laughing and easily out ran her.

Herrior walked up to Crystal and embraced her. She grabbed his mighty hairy arm and squeezed back. "Glad to see you back on your feet again. We were all going to have a race around the city if you wanted to join in?" he said with a chuckle in his voice. Skyka walked behind Herrior and kicked him in the butt.

"Thank you Skyka." Crystal said with a grin.

Samatha walked up to Crystal and gave her another big hug. "Hun, you saved my life and my baby's life." Samatha started to sob. "I can't even think of anything I could do to repay you."

"Get me some strawberries, and some a gallon of chocolate fudge ice cream." Crystal said, and then instantly started crying. Crystal became mad. "Is this normal! I'm happy one minute, craving food the next, and now completely sad. Give me a minute and I'll start doing cartwheels." she began wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's normal hun. I'm sorry you have to go through all…" Samatha said and stopped halfway through mid-sentence.

Time stopped.

"Oh don't worry about it Samatha, you would have done the same for me." Crystal said. Crystal stood still for several seconds and didn't feel Samatha even breathing. Crystal rolled her eyes.

"He did it again, didn't he?"

"Looks like it." Skyka said.

"Ugh, this could get annoying. How are they supposed to raise this kid when he keeps doing that?" Crystal asked. Suddenly everybody became serious and slowly looked away. Crystal stared at everybody for a second.

"Guys?" Crystal asked with a scared look on her face.

Time resumed.

"I am so happy to have a friend like you. Bernett doesn't know yet. Him and Branzer are both passed out on the dining room floor. I'm just…so happy Crystal! You have no idea!" Samatha continued.

Crystal patted her on the hand and continued looking at everybody. None of them would make eye contact with Crystal.

"Samatha, I'm starting to feel a bit cold. Would you mind finding a blanket somewhere?" Crystal asked solemnly.

"Anything you want. I'll start asking around." Samatha said and began to run away. Suddenly she stopped in mid-run.

Time stopped.

"I want an explanation now! I risked my life to save this kid and his mother. Many of you drained all of your powers to do this process. What's going on?" Crystal demanded. Suddenly her back started to hurt. She put both of her hands on her lower back and began massaging it.

"Maybe you should come sit down by…" Lindel said.

"Maybe you should give me a damn answer!" Crystal yelled back.

"We're not allowed to say, orders straight from the Queen. Our group, Samatha, and Bernett need to speak with her as soon as you are ready." Herrior said.

Time resumed.

Samatha unfroze and began her run into the first house as if nothing happened.

"Is the kid going to die?" Crystal asked putting a hand back on her belly.

"No." Herrior said immediately back. "But let's not play guessing games." Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the Queen and said they were ready. The Queen said she would pull Bernett from his world and then Lindel could portal all of them to the inner chambers.

A couple of seconds later, Samatha came running back with a blanket and wrapped it around Crystal. Lindel created a portal.

"Where are we going?" Samatha asked.

"We are all going to go talk to the Queen apparently." Crystal said, stepping into the portal. One by one they all stepped in, and Samatha stepped in last.

Samatha saw Bernett and ran over to him. He was just waking up. Herrior's group immediately bowed down.

"What happened? What am I doing here?" Bernett asked looking around. Samatha extended her hand towards him to help him up, but he completely missed and slammed into Samatha firm and small stomach. Bernett suddenly stood up.

"Where's the baby? What happened?" Bernett said franticly.

"Crystal has it." Samatha said looking back at her. Crystal smiled and waved holding her enormous belly. Bernett looked back and forth confused.

"Bernett and Samatha, please come forward." the Queen said. Bernett suddenly turned around and saw both the King and the Queen. Samatha grabbed his hand and they walked forward.

"Bernett, Samatha and your baby came within minutes from dying. Herrior's group saved both of their lives. Your baby is a time-stopper. He randomly activates it, shutting down everything around him that isn't immune to it, including the tubes that kept him alive in Samatha. Crystal was very noble and offered her body to transport your baby. I assure you, both of them are fine now. Crystal will carry it to term and will deliver it. That's the good news." the Queen said. Bernett and Samatha looked at her worried and tightly gripped each other's hands. The Queen sighed. She got off her throne and began walking towards them.

"Your baby will have to remain here in Tranquil." the Queen said softly to them.

"Why?" Bernett asked sounding angry and confused. Samatha looked at him and nodded.

"The alliance and demons will track him down. They will tear him apart to try to find out how he stops time."

"We can protect him! We're his…" Bernett started to say.

Time stopped.

The Queen immediately opened a portal above them and sucked everybody into it. Instantly they all dropped down on a foreign planet with blue dirt and black demons everywhere. The Queen raised her hand and produced a powerful shield around all of them. The demons instantly ran towards Crystal and were biting and gnawing at the shield to try to get to her.

"Don't worry Crystal, they can't get in." the Queen said calmly.

Time resumed.

"parents! We would…What the hell?" Bernett said becoming instantly terrified and backing away from the black demons of every shape and size trying to get in.

"Your baby just stopped time again. The alliance or demons could take the baby and you would never even know it. Look around you tell me what the demons are trying to get." the Queen said calmly.

Samatha and Bernett looked around terrified and saw that they were all focused on Crystal.

"Herrior go outside the shield and kill a couple." the Queen said. Herrior did what he was ordered. More demons quickly filled the places where the demons were killed. Soon they couldn't see Herrior.

"Are they attacking you Herrior?" the Queen asked.

"No." Herrior replied back.

"You may come back in." the Queen replied. Herrior slammed his shield against several demons and knocked them out of the way so he could walk back in. He was completely unharmed.

"Now then…if I ask Crystal to step outside the shield, what do you think would happen?" the Queen asked turning to Samatha and Bernett. They both sighed and held each other. The Queen motioned for Crystal to begin moving towards the edge of the portal. When she was inches away, the Queen held her hand up to stop her. All of the demons from one side of the portal quickly ran or flew to the side where Crystal was and fought each fiercely trying to be the first to get to her.

"Have I made my point?" the Queen said.

Bernett and Samatha looked at each other and exchanged several looks.

"But…what about sending Herrior and some other groups to protect us? They are immune to time-stopping.

"I could send ten groups to guard you, but once word got out - both of our enemies would send legions to get the baby." the Queen shook her head. "They would not be able to repel the attacks. Inside Tranquil, he is protected by our secret location and shields."

"We just can't give up our baby! Make us immune to time-stopping!" Samatha cried out.

"You both would not survive." the Queen quickly replied.

"Well then we're staying in Tranquil then!" Samatha answered back.

"Both of you are welcome to come visit whenever you wish, probably Samatha could come more than Bernett could because of your civic duties. But you are both expected to be here on the weekends. You were given your powers to help defend your planet, not to raise a time-stopper." the Queen said. She could see the sadness welling up on their faces.

"It's going to be an order that the baby remains in Tranquil, and you will both obey it. Think about this from another prospective. If the alliance and demons never find the baby, what will happen when he randomly stops time? When Bernett is throwing him up into the air - he will freeze and the baby will fall to the ground, possibly killing him. Or what about when Samatha is giving him a bath and he stops time? He'll slip out of Samatha's hands and drown in the water. Perhaps when he is being fed and begins gagging because you have given him too much. He will continue not breathing and die from choking on his own food. The possibilities are endless. Your boy is too precious to die like that." the Queen said. Bernett and Samatha's minds began racing about other possibilities.

Time stopped.

"Yeah, like that." the Queen said looking into their frozen faces. The Queen created another portal above them and sucked everybody into the portal, returning them to the inner chambers of Tranquil. They all stared at them two until time resumed again.

Time resumed.

Samatha and Bernett quickly realized that they were in the inner chambers again.

"He did it again, didn't he?" Samatha said in a very soft voice.

"Our time-stoppers can train him when he is old enough to control the power, but he'll also have to learn discipline as well as control and be able to defend himself from demons if he does stop time, in any world. They are immune to it." the Queen said.

"So…there's basically nothing we can do then…" Bernett said looking at the floor.

"Like I said, you can visit as often as you want. I have already assigned Kash, the child orcs ambassador, to look after your little boy after he is born. She knows where your house is and is preparing a nursery for him. She is great with kids, and she was honored to accept the job. For the first couple of months, I'm assigning a rotation of healers, Samatha you will be one of them, to watch over the baby to ensure everything is fine. Trust me you two, your baby will be well taken care of. You have my word on it." the Queen said returning to her throne.

"Can Crystal come and visit so we can talk to the baby and feel him kick?" Samatha asked.

"Yes, but not permanently. She is a fighter of Herrior's group and might be activated to go into battle at a moment's notice. Also the longer she stays on your world, the greater potential she has of becoming a magnet to the evil forces. Samatha wasn't before because the boy did not active his powers until the other day. He casually activates the ability just the same as if he were moving his arms or legs. He doesn't know what he's doing. Now then, the order has been pronounced and will be followed. I have a feeling you wish to be alone." the Queen said and waved her hand. A portal opened to the left of everybody and they all disappeared.

They all reappeared next to the fountain right where they left before.

"Brenna's house is empty, it's just over there." Herrior said pointing. "If you need anything, just let us know."

Bernett and Samatha tried to hold back their tears as they walked to the house. They opened the door and both broke down crying as they shut the door.

"Lindel, don't scan their minds. Give them time." Herrior said.

"I wasn't going to." Lindel said looking up at Herrior. Herrior let out a sigh.

"Once we found out he was a time-stopper, we all knew this was going to happen…" Herrior said sadly. "Doesn't make it any easier though huh…"

Crystal walked into the fountain water and completely submersed herself except for her head. Her belly floated up as well. The water instantly soothed her muscles. Herrior's group followed her in.

"Ooo - this is wonderful. I want to stay in here for the next month…" Crystal said feeling completely relaxed.

Branzer and Julie walked into the station about two hours late. Spark was sniffing everything around him, but stayed close to Julie. Branzer sat down in his seat and started up his computer. Julie found a workstation on the opposite of Bernett's desk. She found a 'Welcome' note with a bouquet of flowers, and an officer issued belt with a magnum in it. She put it around her waist and sat down in her chair and spun around in it several times. She then happily turned on her computer. She turned around and saw Spark, looking down at her panting.

"Hmm…we need a place for you. Cant have you sitting in the hallway the entire time. That would be a fire hazard." Julie said petting Spark's chin. Julie looked to the cubicle to the side of her and saw that it was empty.

"Branzer? Would it be ok if we emptied this cubicle here for Spark?" Julie asked.

Branzer chuckled and walked over. "Think it will be big enough?"

"Hmm…we'll have to move everything out, and he'll have to curl up. If he has a dream and starts running, he'll probably knock out the walls." Julie answered.

"How about this, we'll completely empty out this cubicle, and then remove this wall separating you two. That way his head, or feet, can go underneath your desk." Branzer said starting to remove the divider.

"We can just move anything we want?" Julie asked.

Branzer laughed. "Yeah, like I said we can pretty much do anything we want." He wiggled the divider loose and walked it out to the end of the hallway. Julie packed up the computer and sat it in the chair and wheeled it out. Branzer carefully unhooked the desk and the supports and set those at the end of the hallway as well. It took them about an hour. Spark just watched them move stuff back and forth.

Julie went back to her chair and sat down. "So what do you think Spark? Is that big enough for you?" Spark walked into the cubicle and spun around a couple of times. He then sat down with a loud "Oof" sound. Spark looked up at Julie and started panting again.

"Don't worry; I'll take you out so you can stretch every couple of hours. But I need to sit here and do important cop stuff, ok?" Julie said winking at him. Julie then remembered she didn't have a résumé yet, so she started typing up one quickly.

An hour later, Branzer got an email from the Lieutenant.

"Did we miss church Sunday? It felt like we slept through the whole day. I still feel exhausted… So how did you and Bernett like the seafood? Ever consider a job as a sharpshooter?"

Branzer smiled and replied back, "Keep me in mind if you ever need one, but I made a promise to stay at this station. As far as Bernett…I need to talk to you about that in person sir. Something real bad happened. Can you come out when you get a second?"

Thirty minutes later the Lieutenant walked out and saw that there were more parts of a cubicle that apparently had been removed. He sighed and walked over to Branzer's desk.

"Doing some more renovation to my station are we?" He asked.

"We needed some room. Bernett called me and told me that Samatha is no longer with child." Branzer said sadly.

The Lieutenant's mouth dropped and instantly forgot everything else in the world.

"Wha? How? Oh my word, they've been trying for ten years and now this happens…" he let out a deep sigh. "I don't have any idea what to say…"

"Neither did I. He called me and said that. I heard Samatha crying heavily in the background, and it was real obvious that he had been too. Sir, I'm just relaying the message. That's all he told me." Branzer said. "I didn't ask how, or any details. I said I was sorry to hear that, and then he hung up on me. I mean what do you say to something like that? I was completely caught off guard."

The Lieutenant sighed. He shook his head and motioned to say several things but didn't. He finally said, "Shit." very quietly. He sighed again.

"I wanted your opinion on this issue. Should we send flowers, or…heck I don't know. Him and Samatha were away for awhile from my house, so I don't know what the hell happened." Branzer said.

"I don't know. Well he has all the time off he needs. Should I call and leave a message, maybe send a card? I mean that might just make things worse. Shit…this is awful…" the Lieutenant said.

"Just give them time. My guess is that they will eventually open up and talk when they are ready." Julie said. In the meantime Spark had snuck out of his cubicle and crouched down at the end of it.

"I'm sorry Julie; I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm glad you are here. Did you like the roses?" the Lieutenant said still remorsefully. He walked over to her cubicle and shook hands with her.

"I do, thank you. I…uh…have my résumé printing out right now…" Julie said feeling like a moron for not having it done ahead of time.

"No problem. Where's your dog?" The Lieutenant asked. Suddenly Spark moved around the corner and stood as tall as he could looking face to face with the Lieutenant. He turned around and let out a scream of shock and fell backwards. Spark moved forwards towards him. The Lieutenant reached for his gun, but Spark pulled it out of his hands with his mouth and threw it away. Spark then put one of his enormous paws on this chest and began licking his face.

"Is this a dog or a grizzly bear!" the Lieutenant said nervously. Julie ran around the cubicle and told Spark to come back to her. Spark got off from him and slowly walked back and sat beside Julie's side, panting away as if nothing happened.

"You're shitting me! That! Is your dog! I was thinking maybe a Chihuahua or something like that.

"Yup, his name is Spark." Julie started petting his head as his tail started wagging. "Do you want to pet him?"

"Will he rip my arm off?" he asked.

"He could do more than that sir if Julie gave him the command to." Branzer said.

"Ok, Julie, you are now my favorite officer. Tell your dog not to rip me into pieces, ok?" the frightened Lieutenant said. "Is he on steroids or something?"

"Nope, he is only about three years old. We think he is over three hundred pounds. Wanna see a neat trick that he can do?" Julie asked.

The Lieutenant suddenly looked at Branzer. He shook his head.

"Uh…no…" the Lieutenant said.

"Sir, remember what Bernett and I did at the range? Julie has different, uh…abilities…then we do. I still assure you that she could outshoot you though…but her main…abilities, yeah let's call it that…lie within that beast. Let's just say he knows more than how to 'sit' and 'shake', sir." Branzer said.

The Lieutenant stared at the Saint Bernard's teeth and noticed they were moving. The teeth were enormous and as sharp as razors. There seemed to be several rows of them, slowly rotating.

"He is under my complete control sir, I assure you. The only time he isn't is if he thinks somebody is threatening me, or if I'm unconscious. Then we'll do whatever is necessary to protect me. I can give you an example. Come at me like you are going to hit me and I'll show you." Julie said playfully.

"Uh…no…" the Lieutenant said again. He got to his feet and slowly approached the massive dog. Spark slowly watched him. The Lieutenant slowly put his head down on his head and began petting it. His fur was very soft, but he noticed that the dogs skin felt like hardened steel. He guessed that bullets probably wouldn't hurt this animal. He walked back and picked up his magnum and put it away.

"Is he indestructible?" the Lieutenant asked.

Julie laughed. "Yes, he can get hurt. But I can easily heal him, he can also heal himself during combat. If he dies, he'll return back to life almost instantly. He's pretty fast too. He wouldn't fit in the car, so I made him run here. Thanks again for the car! I really appreciate it!"

"No problem…how fast were you driving?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Eh - seeing how I'm an officer now, the correct answer would be fifty five right?" Julie said smiling.

"Yes, we all drive fifty-five…don't we Branzer…but how fast were you going?"

"Well I hit about seventy two; it just looked like he was jogging. I have no doubt he can go faster than that. I actually want to see how fast he can go, but I don't think I can get the car going fast enough." Julie said smiling and petting Spark on the head.

The Lieutenant looked at her and saw that she was serious. He blinked his eyes several times and realized that this was one powerful beast…and not put point a gun at him again…

"Ok. Julie. Your first assignment is to introduce your monster to everybody in the station. Get them used to him. I'll see if we can get a cruiser big enough for him. It'll probably have to be a blazer with the backseat removed. Does he know basic commands like, 'stop biting off my leg' or things like that?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Well, the best way I can describe it is we have this 'mental link' between us. We talk back and forth. As long as he is with me, he'll do exactly what I say." Julie said still looking down at Spark. Spark then barked the word, "Julie". This completely surprised the Lieutenant again.

"Ok, Spark, do what Julie says ok? I'm going to the men's room before I piss myself." the Lieutenant said walking away. Julie and Branzer began walking Spark around and introducing him to all of the officers. Most of them started off with a short scream, or shouting "Holy shit!" Soon all of the officers had neglected their duties and turned their attention to the monster dog. Spark seemed to enjoy all of the attention.

Back in Tranquil, Herrior's hearthstone began to shake violently. He stuck his head in the portal and bowed his head.

"A flying vessel, of some sort, just crashed outside of our wall. About three hundred yards. One of our druids is flying over it reporting bluish human shaped people are coming out of it badly hurt. Go out and investigate!" the King commanded.

"Yes my King." Herrior said pulling his head out of the portal.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned portals of his entire group. "We're going into battle! Meet us at the fountain and Lindel will portal us!" Herrior closed the portals.

"Hun, we're all here…" Skyka said behind him.

Herrior grunted. They all picked up their armor, weapons and robes. "Lindel, portal us three hundred yards away from our wall, a druid is flying over head. Get a location from him." Lindel closed her eyes and concentrated for a second.

"Ok, got it…what are the bluish people?" Lindel asked.

"That's what we're going to find out, portal us." Herrior said. Lindel began to channel a portal and everybody jumped through it.

"Sure, don't wait for the pregnant one…" Crystal said wiggling into her armor. It slowly adjusted itself to her new figure. She jumped for the portal, but it closed on her halfway through.

"Uh…help?" Crystal said looking at Herrior. Her front half was hanging in midair. The portal was suspending her in mid air.

"Crystal?" Herrior said looking back at her. "Lindel get her out of there!" Lindel reopened the portal and pulled her out, and then reclosed the portal.

"What are you doing here hun?" Lindel asked. Suddenly Crystal became upset and glared at Herrior.

"Am I still part of your group!"

"Yes…" Herrior said.

"I don't care if I have a six foot stomach, I will fight and die by your side! I am loyal to you, so please wait for me next time!" Crystal said drawing her sai's out.

"Interesting…" Herrior and another voice said at the same time with a smile on his face.

"Alright, this is a diplomatic mission! Only attack if I give the command! But watch my ass, ok? Come Skyka, let's do our thing." Herrior said walking up to the enormous blue ship that had dug itself very deeply into the ground. It looked to be a long round, cigar shaped vessel with tiny wings on the side of it, with massive black engines smoking in the back. A door on the side had large bluish creatures pulling out other of their kind. There were obviously men and women. Each of them has hooves, like that of Herrior. The males had long dreadlocks coming down from their heads, and the females had different types of horns coming out of their heads right above their ears. All of their eyes were had no pupils, but all a solid blue. Each was clothed in either heavy armor, or very light clothing. It many ways, they looked close to their race. The people looked up at Herrior and Skyka closing in on them, but didn't seem to mind. They continued to drag their own kind out of the ship.

"Can we help?" Herrior asked. The bluish people completely ignored Herrior and continued dragging their wounded outside of their ship. Several of them came out in pieces, or had large shrapnel in their bodies.

"Can you start healing them?" Herrior asked. He walked up to a male dragging another male out and extended his arms. The male gave him the male he was dragging and went back in the ship. Herrior pulled him out with the rest of the bluish people they were lining up.

"Uh…Herrior? Without even trying to heal them, I can tell that their spirits are gone." Skyka said bending over examining them. "Their internal structure seems very similar to ours…I say that because on some of these I can see directly into their bellies…"

"Everybody! Come over and help them remove their kind from their ship. They don't appear to be aggressive. Give me any impressions anybody has of them." Herrior said.

"I've never seen anything like them before." Crystal said walking over to help.

"I don't know what to sense. They appear to be humanoid, yet demonish at the same time. I don't know. It's confusing." Lindel said.

Mohania spoke something the demonic tongue. No response.

"What did you say to them?" Herrior asked Mohania.

"If I could eat their dead." Mohania said back. Herrior rolled his eyes.

They moved out nearly two hundred of these bluish demons looking people and had them on the ground. Then about thirty fully armed bluish people along with some robed people came out and all stared at Herrior's group. The heavily armed one stepped forward and began to speak something in a language none of them recognized. He pointed to the sky and it sounded like he began to tell a tale. It lasted for about ten minutes and then he stepped back.

"Ok…any clue?" Herrior asked. Herrior glanced over his group and everybody was equally confused.

"My guess is he was explaining probably what happened, and why they are here." Skyka said.

"I agree. It looks like their spells are similar to ours. Lindel and Skyka, go help as many as you can. If they show any aggressive actions, back away immediately." Both of them walked over several burned out bodies until Skyka came to one that she still felt energy coming from it. She casted her greater healing spell and it blasted the body. The female demon stood up, smiled at Skyka and then began to pick and choose which of her kind to heal. Lindel walked up to a male with a piece of metal in his shoulder. She put her hand around the metal and quickly shut off the nerves. She pulled out the metal and put her hand over it, healing the wound. He also looked up with a smile and then proceeded to help the rest of his people.

"I honestly don't think a resurrection spell would do any good Herrior. I mean I'll do it if you command me to, but I think it would be a waste of my strength." Skyka said. Lindel agreed.

"Mohania, keep trying to communicate with them. And for crying out loud, say nice things. Ask them about their ship, what their names are, where they are from. Stuff like that." Mohania began speaking in his demonic tongue. Absolutely no reply back. He then switched to his undead tongue, again no reply.

"Should I juggle fireballs? I'm not doing any good talking in either language."

Herrior then knelt down and began to draw the word, "Hi" in the dirt. The bluish person that talked to him before became curious and stepped forward and looked down at it. He then turned around and talked to his warriors. They all stepped forward and tried to understand what was written in the dirt. All of them had a confused look on their faces. The same person then began writing strange symbols in the dirt. It was words and symbols none of them had seen before.

"Does anybody recognize any of this?" Herrior asked his group. Nobody had a clue.

"Trackolania, come over here. Draw a picture of this man in the dirt right here." Herrior said. Trackolania instantly vanished and reappeared where Herrior was pointing. This seemed to shock all of the bluish people. They all stared at him curiously.

Trackolania was done drawing his pictures in a matter of seconds. Surprisingly it resembled him very closely. Herrior pointed to the tail, and then walk over and touched the man's tail. Herrior then walked over and pointed to the man's dreadlocks coming off from his head, and then walked over to his dreadlocks. The man tilted his head and walked over to the picture. He pointed at it and then pointed to himself. Herrior nodded. The man then drew a crude picture of Herrior in the dirt and then pointed to Herrior. The picture had large horns on it, which made him look funny, but Herrior nodded with a smile.

"Alliance! About two thousand yards out! They are marching. Estimate they'll be here in twenty minutes!" the druid flying above them said.

"Strings, Mohania, get around the ship and stall them as much as you can. This translation is going very slowly. Buy me as much time as you can!" Herrior said.

"Herrior, we've healed as many as we could. The rest are gone. They seem to realize it as well." Skyka said.

"How many are there all together then?"

"Eh - maybe forty out of two hundred…" Skyka said.

"Contact the King and let him know what we've done so far. Tell them they don't seem hostile, but we're in the process of communicating with them." Herrior said. Skyka turned around and activated her hearthstone and passed on the information.

"Ok, Trackolania, go up there and draw several stick figured guys." Herrior said pointing about ten feet in front of the picture of the blue person on the ground. Trackolania bounced over and began his work. The blue people watched him with amazement. Within ten seconds he was done. Herrior walked over and pointed at the people he drew in the dirt. They all looked down, then Herrior snapped his fingers. It caught all of their attention and then pointed at the Alliance closing in on them. The main leader walked over and pointed at them and then pointed at the Alliance as well. Herrior nodded. Herrior then drew a line from the Alliance to the picture of the leader. All of the bluish people watched eagerly to see where the line was going. When Herrior reached the leader picture, he then drew a line threw the man's neck. This seemed to get the point across. Several of them gasped and looked worried at Herrior. Herrior nodded. They all turned around and began talking quickly to each other.

"Lindel, get ready to open a portal inside of our inner wall. Skyka request that the shield and Red Guard be deactivated, but order the portal to Tranquil be sealed." Herrior said. Suddenly one of the bluish people ran inside of the ship. About a minute later, the entire ship began to glow red.

The leader then drew the letters, "XL" and pointed to the ship as it began to glow.

"XL?" Herrior asked out loud.

"Umm…shit what does that mean. Give me a second." Crystal said thinking really hard. A minute passed and then the leader scribbled out the "XL" and wrote, "XXXIX" and pointed again to the ship. He began to survey the land quickly; he looked back at the alliance coming and looked at Herrior with a pleading face.

"Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"It's roman numerals. He's counting backwards. The XL was forty; the next sequence of numbers is thirty-nine minutes. My guess is judging by his eagerness, and pointing at the ship, is that their ship is going to blow up in thirty-nine minutes." Crystal said. "That's just my guess though."

"Lindel open that portal!" Herrior said. Lindel channeled her energy forming a portal and then saw the inner wall through it. This impressed all of the blue people; they all swarmed around it and began to investigate it.

"Come here Trackolania!" Herrior said. Trackolania jumped in Herrior's arms and they both jumped inside the portal. The blue people looked astonished. Herrior waved and smiled at them on the other side of the portal. He then stuck Trackolania's head back through and he smiled at everybody. The bluish people began talking quickly among themselves. Herrior stepped back through the portal and waved everybody over to come through it. They didn't seem to understand.

"Everybody into the portal." Herrior said. Herrior's group all entered one at a time. One of the blue females poked her head into the portal and looked around. She was very impressed. She looked at Herrior and he smiled. She smiled back. She pulled her head back and started talking frantically to the rest of her people. Herrior stuck his head through the portal. Herrior pointed to his ship and the alliance forces closing in on them and gave a look of urgency on his face. The leader of the blue people seemed to understand this. He gave out several orders, and all of them ran back into the ship.

"No, ugh…that's not what I wanted them to do." Herrior said. Herrior then walked out of the portal and up to the opening of the ship. Suddenly he was given an enormous leathery bag; it caught him off guard and he nearly lost his balance. A blue male reached forward and caught him. He had a bag as well, but he had put it on the ground to catch him. He then quickly picked it back up and ran for the portal and disappeared in it. Herrior followed him into the portal and saw that he had sat the bag off to the side and quickly ran by him through the portal. Herrior sat the bag down next to the other stuff. Herrior told Troll in charge that there would be a lot of bluish people coming and they seemed harmless. The Troll nodded.

"Come on everybody, I think they are evacuating their vessel! Lindel, widen the portal and keep it open." Herrior said as their group ran through the enlarged portal. They stepped through and saw loads of men and women carrying their offspring towards the portal. Herrior and his group ran up to the ship that seemed to be radiating heat now as well as flashing. The bluish men started handing them huge bags and they began to walk with them to the portal. Crystal got hers and fell backwards.

"Ah shit!" Crystal said and pushed the bag off from her. One of the bluish men helped her up and took her bag for her. She watched the man go, when she felt a hand touch her pregnant belly. She looked up at a bluish woman that looked like she could deliver at any second. They both smiled, and helped each other towards the portal.

Halfway there, the bluish lady let out a painful scream and gripped Crystal tightly.

Crystal passed Herrior and said, "I can't carry those bags, I'm sorry. I think this one is going to pop any second now though."

Herrior glanced over the two women and said, "Take care of her! Make her comfortable, and be prepared to catch if need be." Herrior said running back to the ship. The two women made it through the portal as she let out another more intense scream grabbing her belly.

"Ok Lindel, this one is yours. Where do you want me to put her?" Crystal said eager to get rid of her.

"Cant hun, I have to keep the portal open." Lindel said holding the circle as she was pouring energy into it. She then yelled at the group defending the wall and asked if any of them had experience with birthing a child. They all shook their heads.

"You are going to have to do it hun, take her to the edge of the back wall and undress her…" Lindel began to say.

"What? I can't do that! I don't know how!" Crystal said frantically. The women let out another scream and began crying.

"Do you want Herrior to give you the order? You can't lift heavy objects, we can't go into Tranquil, and I have to keep this portal open!" Lindel said feeling her power drain.

"Herrior what?" Herrior said coming through with another bag.

"This woman is going to have a child right now!" Crystal said as another scream came.

"So help her out." Herrior casually as he ran back through the portal. Crystal took a deep breath and led her over to the opposite side of the wall and gently laid her down.

"Do you have a mate that could help us?" Crystal asked looking down at her face. She looked up at her in enormous pain, not understanding a word she said.

"Ok then, well orders are orders." Crystal said gently taking off her robe. The woman suddenly spread her legs apart. A squirt of blood came out, so Crystal quickly placed her hand over it and felt her skin rip in several directions.

"She's ripping in several directions and there's a lot of blood Lindel! What do I do?" Crystal said turning to her.

"That's normal; look inside to see if you can see the baby." Lindel said back. The lady let out another fierce scream and more blood came out. Crystal looked inside and saw the baby's head several inches inside of her.

"Yeah, it's almost out. She's in a shit load of pain though!" Crystal yelled back.

"Welcome to childbirth…" Lindel said chuckling.

"I decided I don't want to be pregnant anymore…" Crystal said. Lindel laughed some more. The woman let out another scream and flexed every muscle in her body.

"Reach in and get it Crystal!" Lindel said in a demanding voice. Crystal wiped her hands off on her armor and thinking, "Yup that should sanitize them…" She reached inside of her and felt around until she had a firm grasp on the baby's head. She started to pull and the woman let out another scream.

"Should I just pull it out or what?" Crystal yelled.

"Slowly! Ignore her pain, do it slow and smoothly." Lindel said back sounding weakened as the lines of people kept running in and out of the portal.

"Learning anything?" Skyka said smiling at her.

"I would flick you off right now if I could!" Crystal said glaring at her. Skyka laughed and ran back through the portal. Crystal had noticed that several children were placed to the side of the bags, completely unattended to by their parents. The woman let out another scream putting Crystal's concentration back on her. She felt the baby move forward a bit, but then it wanted to move back in after she was done screaming.

"No no little one…you're going this way." Crystal said quietly and began pulling on the child. She could slowly feel the baby wiggling its way out. The lady continued screaming as Crystal pulled slowly on the child.

Eventually the head popped out. Crystal then wiggled his arms out and eventually was holding the newborn in her arms, along with a bunch of other fluids and blood.

"Get all of the fluids out of the baby's mouth." Lindel said. Crystal turned the baby over and several cups of fluid poured out. She felt the baby expand his lungs and take in his first breath of air. The woman bent over waved her hand over her cuts and they slowly began to heal themselves. Crystal wrapped the baby up in the woman's robe and handed it to her. The woman smiled at her, but was obviously still in pain. She looked down at the baby and smiled at it, gently rocking the baby back and forth. The baby looked around eagerly at its new surroundings and it's new mother.

"Ok, baby is out." Crystal said.

"What's the gender?" Lindel asked smiling and seeming to be very weakened.

"I don't know, I didn't look. Do you want me to come over and hold you?" Crystal asked.

"Yes please!" Lindel pleaded. Crystal got up to her feet and felt an enormous kick to her ribs.

"Ouch! Stop that you little brat, you aren't coming out yet…" Crystal said looking at her stomach. She then wrapped her hands around Lindel and held her up.

"Don't overdo yourself…" Lindel barely said.

"You worry about yourself hun and keep doing your thing." Crystal said back.

Suddenly Crystal heard a quick telepathic message in her head. "Dan's in the clinic, he survived." Crystal ignored it and continued to watch the people come back and forth.

"Surprised you aren't running in there…" Lindel said quietly.

"And drop your sorry ass on the ground? I don't think so." Crystal said and then saw Herrior running into the portal empty handed. The rest of the group came running in as well as the rest of the blue survivors from the ship.

"We have almost one drained banshee here, how much longer?" Crystal asked. Herrior poked his head into the portal and saw nobody else coming. The alliance was mere feet away from the ship and began to surround it. He pulled his head back out.

"Close it." Herrior said. Lindel instantly stopped channeling it and fell forward in Crystal's arms. Crystal gently sat her down on the ground. Skyka ran over to the new mother and began looking her over. She saw that the baby was fine, but the mother's color in her face was a lot lighter than the rest of them. She was still bleeding heavily. Skyka stood up and began channeling a powerful healing spell and blasted her with it. The bleeding completely stopped, and her facial color returned almost instantly. She looked up at Skyka and smiled.

The male then gave an order to one of the females in her group. She suddenly sprouted wings like Lindel does, and flew high up into the air. She saw what she needed to and began to fly down, but didn't have the power to hold her wings. They folded back into her back and disappeared. She started falling. Several of her kind ran underneath her to try to catch her. Skyka quickly held her hand up and immediately stopped her fall. Everybody looked at the woman falling and stared in awe. Skyka gently floated her down to the ground and then deactivated the spell.

The male saw what Skyka did and stared at her in amazement. He then walked over to the woman and they began talking back and forth very quickly. He then ran back over to Herrior. He stuck his finger in the dirt and wrote three lines and pointed back at the ship.

"Crystal! What does three lines mean?"

"Three minutes." Crystal answered back.

"Makes sense…" Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone and summoned the King.

"What do you have to report?" the King said eagerly.

"I have a feeling there is going to be a massive explosion in three minutes. Can you put the shield back up without hurting these people and have it extend past our wall?" Herrior asked quickly.

"Do you trust them?" the King asked.

"Yes, I do not believe they are going to harm us. Crystal just delivered one of their offspring in fact."

"Interesting…and she knows Dan is in the clinic. Has she said anything about him yet?" the King asked.

"No? I didn't even know." Herrior said with a surprised tone. The King closed the portal and opened one right in front of Herrior. The King stepped out; Herrior and the group defending the wall all bowed. The male that drew the figures in the dirt gave a command to his people and they did the same thing. The King the held up his hand and formed an enormous white bubble that actually extended all the way out past the dead tree line.

"I sense at least two hundred alliance in the vessel right now. There's roughly one thousand around it. I don't sense any demons in the area. This will be enjoyable to watch." the King said with a smile.

Twenty seconds before the explosion, the King sensed an enormous power starting to build up from within the ship. He increased the strength of the shield to compensate for it. He also saw the alliance picking up the dead bluish people and began dragging them away.

The ship finally erupted. A large circle quickly spread in a circular direction away from the ship, and then loud thunderous explosions followed. It rocked the ground violently as the King increased the strength of his shield some more. An enormous ball of fire rose up slowly and expanded. It reached almost touching the top of the clouds. Nothing was left except for large blacked charred marks on the ground.

Once the explosion was over, the King lowered the shield. He looked over the foreign bluish people. Many of them looked sad.

"I don't sense any bad intentions from them. I need to go recharge. Keep me informed." the King said opening a portal and walking through it.

The newly born baby began to cry. The mother began to sing to it, but started desperately looking around. Several sentences were exchanged between their people. Everybody eventually turned to look at Crystal.

Crystal knelt down beside the woman and began singing an old nursery rhythm that her mother had taught her. Both of them took turns singing in languages unknown to each other, but it seemed to calm the baby. Lindel walked over to Herrior.

"She knows Dan is out from the blasting." she whispered to him.

"The King told me. I think she wants to follow her orders first though." Herrior said.

"I think she's to that point…" Lindel said looking at her.

"So do I…" Herrior replied back. "I'll speak with the King regarding that matter."

Skyka overheard and walked up to Herrior. "Sounds like we'll have a bigger party than we first thought, perhaps?"

"Depends on them. Isnabell and Gernack apparently want to form a union on the same day as Samatha and Bernett. What's one more…?" Herrior said.

"We have one hell of a party to plan for then…I mean all of us do." Skyka said quickly.

One of the bluish female children walked up to Herrior and smiled at him. Herrior smiled back. She then pointed at her eyes and pointed at his.

"Eyes?" Herrior asked. She said a couple of words in her language and smiled. Herrior knelt down and touched her nose and then touched his.

"Nose." Herrior said, she giggled. Her face then became serious and said a couple more words that none of them could understand. She then looked at Herrior as if waiting for a reply.

"Ideas?" Herrior asked.

"Tickle her feet." Lindel said with a smile. Herrior smiled with a slight nod and bent over to do just that. Suddenly the little girl flew into Herrior's eyes, just like Lindel does.

"Argh!" Herrior screamed and he was thrown backwards. Immediately his group drew their weapons.

"Don't attack!" Herrior yelled. He then started talking gibberish that neither race could understand. One of the bluish people felt something on his back so he turned around. He saw Trackolania with a blade right on his spine in his back. Trackolania let out a big smile for a second, and then disappeared, returning back to the place he was standing before.

"Who's Skyka?" Herrior said, but his voice was of that of a young female child.

Skyka walked up to Herrior's body. "I am Skyka."

"Please, I thought he gave me permission to enter his mind. We're only trying to communicate. Tell him to stop resisting…please…we mean you no harm." the young female voice said very quickly.

"Herrior… Hun, can you hear me? It's your mate Skyka. Just relax hun, ok?" Skyka said softly, helping Herrior to his feet. Herrior had both hands on his head and was concentrating very hard.

"Please…" the voice said and then was thrown out of Herrior's mind. She materialized on the ground and seemed completely exhausted. Herrior immediately drew his sword and swung at the child. Skyka stepped in the way. It sailed through Skyka left should and all the way down to her belly, nearly cutting her in half.

"She meant no harm…" Skyka said shocked. Herrior quickly withdrew his blade and flung it away. Herrior quickly held her together as Skyka channeled all of her power into single healing spell that enveloped her. It healed a large part of the cut, but still another foot or so remained. Lindel immediately flew into Skyka to start repairing the damage.

"Skyka! No…what have I done! You will not die by my hand! Skyka I am so sorry." Herrior said instantly tearing up. The bluish people walked over and began casting their own healing spells on her, some more powerful than others. In a couple of minutes, her body was completely healed. Lindel stayed in and gave several jolts to her brain to reactive it. She opened her eyes and looked around. Herrior hugged her and continued to apologize. Lindel flew out of Skyka's eyes and knelt beside her.

"Hun, I know you have brain activity. Can you talk?" Lindel asked.

"Yes…but I'm completely drained…" Skyka said and then fell asleep. Herrior laid her down. He walked over to the little girl and started stroking her hair.

"Are you ok young one?"

"Yes. Your mind is strong. I'm sorry if I scared you." the girl replied back.

"You can talk?" Herrior said surprised.

"I learned as much about your language as I could, but not everything. I thought you gave me permission to enter your mind." the girl said back in a weak tone. The other bluish people surrounded her, but she said something in their language and they all backed away.

"Is Skyka ok?" she asked.

"Yes, she will be ok. Thanks to your people. I am so sorry for everything; I thought you were invading my mind. I have many secrets that I need to keep safe. I almost killed my mate." Herrior said in sorrow. He could hear Skyka snoring in the background so he knew she was fine.

"I was only scanning your language. You saved our lives; I would not have looked at anything else. I promise I would not have." the girl said. Herrior laid down beside her and sighed.

"Apparently your defense is to concentrate on the one you love. I'm the strongest banshee left, and I only got a few words off. I admire your love for Skyka. Usually I can do a lot more than I could with you." the girl said closing her eyes.

"We have a banshee, could you tell one of your people to allow her to scan their minds?" Herrior asked. The girl leaned over and said something quickly in language. The man that communicated with Herrior before stepped forward. He knelt down on his knees and took several deep breaths. He then said something back to her.

"He will not resist. Please be mindful of our secrets as well. None of them will harm you, I promise. Please, we just wish to communicate." the girl said and then she completely fell to the ground asleep.

"Lindel?" Herrior said.

"I'm on it." Lindel said walking up to the man. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. She slowly dematerialized herself and entered into the man's eyes. The man did not resist at all. They started exchanging languages in their minds very quickly.

"Our race is called the Draenei. My name is Borislav. This is what is left of my people. We have been chased by demons from all over the universe. We cannot create portals like you can, but we are able to craft large ships for travel. I had to give the command to blow it up, demons can sense us. They have continued to enslave our race no matter where we hide. You had a kind face, all of you did, and except for the skeleton guy…uh…Mohania I guess is his name." Borislav said.

"I get that impression a lot." Mohania said with a grin.

"The one named Crystal saved Ermolai from certain death and saved her baby. We are very grateful. We have brought as many goods that we could from our ship. We are hoping to trade with you for refuge, if it is not enough we have many strong men and women who can work." Borislav looked back and saw that many of his kind were exhausted and extremely tired. Borislav let out a sigh.

"My name is Herrior, and we do not enslave any race. The alliance race that was coming after you would have, if they didn't kill you outright."

"It took us awhile, but we were able to figure that out from your drawings. I'm sorry it took so long to communicate with you." Borislav said.

"No trouble. What assistance can we offer you right now? Pillows, blankets, food, healing, a listening ear?" Herrior offered.

Borislav sighed, "What is it going to cost us? We don't have much."

"Nothing, you are safe my friend. Your people are safe. What is going to happen is we are going to restrain your race for awhile and read all of your intentions and thoughts to make sure you are not a danger to us? However you will be taken care of, all of your needs will be met. None of you will be tortured, I promise." Herrior said with a smile. "Can you teach the rest of your race this language? In our city, everybody speaks this language. It is considered rude to speak any other language."

Lindel heard what Herrior said and quickly mind-linked the rest of the Draenei to Borislav's mind.

"Our banshees can do the same." Borislav said in his mind. Lindel smiled. Lindel and Borislav began translating and teaching the rest of the Draenei common speak.

Almost a whole day passed, and Borislav noticed tiny little fairies coming in and out of the other's bodies several times. It looked as if they didn't care. Lindel explained that they feed our bodies and take care of the waste. Borislav then asked if they could have the same.

Borislav talked, but it was Lindel's voice. "Herrior, can you request some fairies to come out and feed them? They are hungry. That might be the little ones problem too." The new infant had been crying hard for the past couple of hours. No amount of singing seemed to soothe him.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the King. "They are no threat to us my King. Lindel has been scanning their minds and teaching them our language for the past several hours. May I request a portal to our jails? I already explained that they would be detained and banshees would enter into their minds. Their new born baby is extremely upset, they think it is hungry."

"Certainly. Well done Herrior." the King said and closed the portal. Another larger portal opened next to Herrior.

"Lindel, tell them that this portal will be a temporary safe haven. They will be able to eat and their needs will be met in there, until the banshees are done with them." Herrior said.

"We all understand." Borislav said in his own voice. Lindel flew out of his eyes and rematerialized. Borislav walked over and picked up the female child that had entered into Herrior's eyes.

"Do you need anything in your bags? If there are any weapons, they will not be allowed where you are going. We can supply you with clothing if you wish." Herrior said.

"Just rest. Can we talk more tomorrow?" Borislav asked.

"Certainly. You have my word you will not be harmed. Your body needs will all be taken care of, as well as making you comfortable." Herrior said motioning to the portal. All of the Draenei walked in and disappeared. They all reappeared in the jail cell. Fairies were immediately standing by and supplied them with nourishment as promised. It even made the new born baby stop crying. Blankets and pillows were brought in for each of them from races they didn't recognize. Each Draenai thanked them and fell to sleep almost instantly.

Outside the wall, the King reactivated the Red Guard, closed the portal and opened another one above their heads.

"I want all of your opinions on them." the King said.

"They wouldn't let me eat their dead..." Mohania said quickly.

"Ok, I want everybody's opinions except for Mohania's."

Crystal spoke up. "I built an instant bond with the lady that I helped delivered the baby and her child. I felt a lot of gratitude from her and sensed the love she had for him and for me. She told me that her mate had died in the crash and she was all alone with her child now. Many of the women and children were placed in secure locations in the ship before the crash, that is why there is so few males. The same with the orcs, I think we all sensed a deep remorse and fear from them. I personally believe the story that they were running from the demons." Everybody seemed to agreed.

"They seem very much like us. They know a couple of different classes and how to fight. Their knowledge and abilities are limited, but they saved Skyka's life." Lindel said. "I didn't really have time to repair anything; her body was healed so quickly. I got her brain going again, but that was about it."

"I usually don't speak up, but from what I have seen they obviously have banshees in their group. One of them flew like Lindel, and one of the children entered Herrior's mind. My King, if they have that capability, why don't they use portals instead of large vessels to travel? They saw Lindel's portal and it looked like they were going to shit themselves." Strings said. "It just didn't make any sense to me."

"Point well taken. Lindel how much of his mind did he allow you access to?" the King asked.

"Just a small portion. When I entered his mind, he created a dark space all around him and he was just us standing there. He looked really apprehensive at first. I walked towards him smiling. He eventually smiled back. I sat on the ground and held my hands out, and he did the same. We passed our thoughts back and forth, but it was strictly about language. He didn't inquire about any other information and neither did I." Lindel said.

Herrior spoke up. "They constantly wanted to barter. We haven't looked in their bags that they brought out of respect for them. But they always wanted to give us something for helping them out. But it felt like gold, and ore clinking around in the bag. I did look for weapons, but I didn't see any. Personally in my opinion they brought items to barter with, I don't sense anything dangerous in the bags. Also, in my opinion, none of them seemed to be dangerous. They probably just want to be safe and free of the demons chasing them. In time they will probably want to fight alongside of us."

"I've considered that. First the orcs, now the Draenei. We might have to expand our borders. But that is easy enough to do. Ok thank you for your opinions. I sensed the same thing from them. I ordered the portal to Tranquil to be reopened. Thank you for your help." the King said and the portal vanished.

"How about we go visit Dan, see how he's doing." Herrior said smiling at Crystal.

Bernett and Samatha were still on Brenna's house. She had arrived back at her house a couple of hours after the two of them were there. She had a big smile on her face, until she saw the two of them. She ran up to them and hugged both of them. Bernett explained what happened to her.

"I apologize for saying this, but both of you should be happy. Your baby will be a great fighter. You should be proud of him. You both know that he will be well taken care of in Tranquil. He will probably save countless lives in the future, perhaps even the entire city. This is not a time for mourning, but a time for rejoicing." Brenna said softly. "You are not losing a baby; you are gaining a very special young boy. It sounds like if Lindel had waited a couple of seconds longer, Samatha and her baby would have died. But she is alive and so is your baby. Kash is very good with kids, and if you want I will personally check up on him. But both of you know that deep down, he will be safe here."

"But he'll miss out on so much, school, girlfriends, riding a bike, driving, growing up with us…" Samatha said starting to calm down.

"He needs to learn to control his power. The whole city was completely surprised that Dan lived as long as he did without being noticed. Then he'll probably be allowed to do whatever he wants if it's ok with the King. As far as learning, he'll learn here. Anything else that you want to have him taught could be blasted into him within seconds by the monks. There are plenty of kids in Tranquil, many of them girls, that he'll be growing up with. I'm not sure what driving is, but I'm sure we could give him that as well." Brenna said and then started pulling up on them two.

"Enough of this you guys, come on. Let's go for a walk. You both should be grateful and excited." Brenna said pulling them out of her house. They saw Herrior's group walking and almost instantly they both started running towards Crystal.

"Hold it you two." Brenna said reaching for them. "I'm no fighter or ambassador. I'm just a citizen. I don't have the powers you two have, but I do know that she looks tired and doesn't want you two kissing her feet and groveling before her. She did her duty. You would have done the same for her. Help her if she asks, go work on their new house, bathe in the fountain with her. Lindel is the one that saved your lives, but she was doing her duty as well, and you would have done the same for her. Any citizen in Tranquil would have without thinking twice. Go visit with Kash and get to know her, tell her anything special you would like the baby to have. My guess is that you'll be seeing your baby a lot more than you realize."

Brenna kept her grip on them as Herrior's group passed. "Take a deep breath you two. Get rid of your anxieties. I love Herrior and his group deeply and I pray for them often. I love it when they spend the night at my house, but I don't go running to them every time they come out of battle. Don't you think that would get annoying? They are doing their job. Crystal is doing her job. Lindel did her job. Skyka also did her job. Probably you don't have jobs assigned to you yet because you are both a wreck. My job is gardening because I asked for it. You'll both probably get whatever job you ask for." Brenna said.

"I was told that my job would be taking turns raising our kid…" Samatha said.

"Well, how hard of a job is that! I'm guessing probably several other people will be there with you in case something happens." Brenna said almost insulting her. "If you want to show your appreciation for them, think of something they would like, or do something special for them. For example I always try to have bread and tea available in case somebody drops by. We don't need to eat, but the taste is rewarding in itself. Now go to your house. Talk with Kash. And don't you two have a union coming up to plan for? Be happy! No more crying or I'll have Herrior beat you up." Brenna chuckled and pushed them towards their new house.

Bernett and Samatha held hands as they walked to their new house. It was small, only about five hundred feet squared. It had two levels in it, and was divided into four different rooms, two on the bottom, two on the top. They saw numerous people working hard on it, trying to get it ready. A small goblin bounced up to them and reported that it should be done by tonight. They asked where Kash was, and the goblin pointed up the stairs. They walked up them and found a female tauren all by herself singing some sort of child song very softly.

"Kash?" Bernett asked.

"That's me." She said and turned around. "So what do you think?" The ceiling and walls were filled with different colored cloth. The floor was very soft. It looked like a lot of work was put into it.

"It's beautiful." Samatha said.

"No I meant me. I made this dress this morning. Does red look good on me?" Kash said twirling around. All three of them laughed. Kash then walked up and hugged them.

"I've raised kids for hundreds of years." Kash said and paused for a second. "Most of them turned out ok." Samatha let out a chuckle and wiped her eye. Kash stepped back and smiled at them.

"Ok?" she asked. Both Bernett and Samatha nodded.

"Alright, now we can change anything up here to whatever you want. This was just one of my ideas. You can bring whatever you want to spruce up the place, trinkets, toys, that sort of thing…"

"What about pictures?" Samatha asked quickly.

"What's a picture?" Kash asked quickly.

Bernett and Samatha then seemed to have the same idea. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Can you give us just a second to be alone Kash?" Bernett asked.

"Sure, I'll just be downstairs." Bernett pulled out his hearthstone and thought of Branzer.

Branzer was napping peacefully in his cubicle when his pocket began to vibrate. It immediately woke him up and he pulled it out.

"Bernett? Uh…Hi! How are things going?" Julie heard and ran over to see him.

"So you replaced my cubicle with a younger woman I see…that's great Branzer, I'm gone for a little while and this happens…" Bernett said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was tired of seeing your ugly face. So, what's going on? How are you and Samatha?" Branzer said slowly.

"We both got a lecture. We're doing fine now. This may seem odd, but our baby is in Crystal's belly right now, instead of Samatha's. He's doing fine."

"Ok that is odd. However with most of the shit I've seen in Tranquil it wouldn't surprise me. So everybody is ok then? You had me scared there for awhile." Branzer asked.

"I apologize for that. But yup, everything is fine. Hey you know the new house in Tranquil they are having built for us? Well Samatha and I are in it. We think we know of a way to thank Herrior's group for the things that they have done for us. Can you and Julie come to Tranquil for the rest of the week? You'll need to bring some stuff."

"This is my first day on the job, I can't just leave!" Julie said. Just then the Lieutenant walked by.

"Sir we're leaving for the rest of the week." Branzer said.

"Ok, see you next week." he said back without any hesitation as he continued walking. Julie looked at Branzer very shocked.

"I think I like this job…" she said amazed.

"Ok, what did you have in mind?" Branzer asked.

Herrior's group was stopped several feet from the entrance to the clinic. A young woman with blond hair with a white dress that was floating a couple feet off from the ground wanted to talk with them first.

"I've made contact with Dan several times. He is alive, he does have brain activity. But he is going to need a lot of healing. I don't want any loud noises…" she said looking at Crystal.

"I've been singing to him in his mind. He's brought up a lot of images very quickly, most of which looked to be from his childhood. He knows my voice, so I ask that everybody else be quiet and I'll do the talking to him. He doesn't look as bad as you did Crystal, but I wanted to prepare you first, ok? If I sense any extreme emotions out of you, I will silence you myself. Or Lindel will depending on who is closest." the banshee said.

"Does he know I'm pregnant?" Crystal asked.

"No." she said smiling back. "But I don't think he will care." The banshee took Crystal's hand and gently led her into the clinic. What Crystal saw quickly took her breath away. The banshee quickly put her hand over Crystal's mouth, but she shook it away.

Dan's hands and feet were burned all the way down to the bone. His skin looked like a gel that could be shaped and molded however you wanted to. Most of his veins were completely exposed and it was possible to see the blood traveling through them. Almost all of his ribs were visible. His face was badly deformed. His right side of his face burnt down to the skull. All of his hair was burnt off. His eyelids were completely gone so it looked like he was just staring at the ceiling. Crystal walked completely around the table once. Herrior's group came in and stood out of the way.

"Did I look this bad?" Crystal asked.

"I'd rather not say hun, but both of you made it and that is what counts." Lindel said. Crystal continued to stare in awe.

"Can you fix him?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, but we have to do it slowly. Just the same as we did with you. As you can see we have a light well already going, and our healers are taking turns casting heals on him. See, look." the banshee said pointing to his chest. New blood veins were forming and connecting with existing ones. Small parts of his bones were slowly reforming. Even now, parts of his skin had begun to solidify.

"Did it work?" Crystal asked.

"We don't know hun. We need to heal his body first before it can be tested. The monks said that they completed the ritual exactly as it was written." the banshee said.

"Does he know I'm here?" Crystal asked.

"No, he doesn't even know who he is yet." she replied back. Crystal reached forward to touch him, but everybody in the building moved to pull her back.

"Not yet hun. It might put his body into shock. That's why he is levitated." Skyka said.

"He is healing nicely, give it another day or so." the banshee said.

"Can I stay with him?" Crystal asked.

"No." Herrior said. "It will not speed up his healing any, and it'll just create anxiety inside of you. If we are called on for battle, I will need you in the right frame of mind."

Crystal nodded and stepped away from the table. "Ok. Can I be contacted when he is able to talk?"

"I will give you a limited number of updates, as many as I am allowed. But as Herrior said, you are a fighter. Don't cloud your thoughts with him, it will not do you any good." the banshee said.

"I know. If I love him, I need to learn to let him go." Crystal took a deep sigh and nodded. "Ok, thank you for letting me see him." Just then her hearthstone began to vibrate. She took it out and saw Branzer.

"Hi Crystal. How's Dan?" Branzer asked.

"He's seen better days…what's going on?" Crystal asked.

"We have a surprise that we want to include you in on…"

"OOOooo…I like surprises!" Lindel said and floated over to the portal. "Is it chocolate?"

"Is it decapitated alliance heads? I've been meaning to spruce up my cave." Mohania asked.

"Crystal, can you go somewhere alone?" Branzer asked. She looked up at Herrior's group. Skyka and Lindel had their hands held over their eyes with a big smile. Trackolania suddenly disappeared and reappeared on her shoulders.

"Doubt that one…should I come out there?" Crystal said laughing.

"If I'm allowed to." Crystal said looking up at Herrior. He nodded and said it would be a good distraction for her.

"Ok, meet me at my house. Bernett and Samatha are already here, as well as Julie. She liked her first day of work so much that she took off the rest of the week." Branzer said smiling.

"You guys are horrible you know that? Whatever happened to a normal forty hour work week?" Crystal said.

"Whatever happened to killing somebody with a gun instead of pulling their heart out of their chest and making them watch while you eat it…let me guess Mohania is smiling…?" Branzer said.

Mohania smiled and said, "I kill people in creative ways…I like to think of myself as an artist."

Crystal closed her eyes and shook her head. "Lindel can you portal me?"

"Sure hun." Lindel opened a portal and Crystal walked through and appeared in Branzer's house, standing in front of Bernett, Samatha, and Julie. Then all of a sudden the rest of the group walked through the portal as well.

"You guys weren't invited." Samatha said glaring at them.

"We had some business to do…special assignment…or something…" Skyka said.

"Shoo…all of you go back." Samatha said pushing all of them back into the portal.

"Can I bring at least one human back with me?" Mohania asked.

"No…now scat!"

It looked like everybody was through the portal and it closed.

"If anybody is left, I will make sure you will not be able to reproduce in the future!" Samatha said out loud staring at where the portal used to be. Suddenly the portal reopened and Trackolania appeared out of nowhere and ran through the portal as it closed again.

"Ok then…what did you have in mind?" Crystal asked.

"First I'll need to contact the King because we'll need another Chronomancer." Branzer said getting out his hearthstone.

"What's wrong with me?" Lindel said.

"Lindel!" They all said.

"Hee hee sorry." Lindel said and rematerialized. "I uh…didn't make it through the portal in time…I'll be leaving now." Lindel created and portal and Branzer stuck his head through.

"Herrior, besides Lindel is your entire group accounted for?"

"I was wondering where she went, but to answer your question, yes they are." Herrior said smiling.

"Could we please have some alone time? If something happens, you'll be the first people we contact." Branzer insisted.

"Ok, come on Lindel." Herrior said.

"Well…pbbbt…" Lindel said to Branzer. Before Lindel stepped through Branzer grabbed her by the arm and turned her around and kissed her hard. Lindel looked shocked.

"Now go, and leave us alone." Branzer said and smacked her on the butt. Lindel laughed and closed the portal behind her.

"I could open a tiny portal and peek…" Lindel said deviously.

"No. Leave them alone. And no asking other ambassador's for a portal either." Herrior said. "I'm going to go find a nice cozy place anywhere and get some sleep." They all slept in front of the clinic.

The next day before any of them were fully awake, Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. It was the King.

"Branzer has made an unusual request from me. However he asked me not to tell. The four humans are in Tranquil conducting some business; your group is to leave them alone unless they talk to you. He said they may pull you aside one at a time. It's nothing dangerous, just simply unusual. Please comply with their requests."

"Yes my King. I will tell my group." Herrior said.

Skyka yawned and looked up at Herrior. "Who was that?"

"The King. He said that he could hear your snoring all the way in the palace." Herrior said smiling.

"My snoring? Herrior you don't even…Dan!" Skyka said surprised. Herrior quickly turned around; throwing everybody that was sleeping on or around him away.

"I don't really want to do that again…" Dan said smiling. A female troll was helping him walk. "The King contacted me and is eager to know what the result is from the blasting. I need a test subject. Also I would love to get out of this white gown."

"That white gown is monitoring your vitals mon, besides it be looking good on you." the troll said and winked at him. Herrior's entire group was waking and looking at him now.

"I need a drink…" Dan said looking at all of them with a smile.

"Gottcha covered." Strings said pulling out a water skin.

"You carry around ale with you?" Dan asked smiling at him.

"Never know when you are going to need it." Strings said back. Herrior motioned for him to put it back.

"How about some entertainment? I'll go get a gnome and we can practice kicking him back and forth? Lindel open a portal." Mohania said.

"That would be fun, but I don't think I could kick right now." Dan said laughing a little. Mohania detached one of his legs and said, "You can use mine."

"Yeah…that's kind of gross. So where can we find a test subject at? I want to know if I have to be blasted again." Dan said looking around. Mohania reattached his leg.

"According to the King, the four humans are doing something in Tranquil. Let me summon one of them." Herrior said. The first one that he thought of was Samatha, so he opened a portal using his hearthstone.

"Hey! No peaking!" Samatha said sternly at Herrior.

"We need you at the clinic, how fast can you get here?"

"I'm on my way now, what's going on?" Samatha said as she started running in that direction.

"Don't tell anybody else, just get here soon. Ok?" Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior then opened another portal telling one of his personal ambassadors's that Samatha was on the way so Dan could test his abilities on her. The ambassador said he would pass the message along.

Dan started to stretch and felt his muscles tighten quickly. He looked up at the sky and saw several fliers moving back and forth quickly.

"How about after this, you take me flying again Lindel?" Dan said looking at them. Lindel sprouted her wings and began to flap them.

"It's a deal!" Lindel said excitedly.

"Hey hey, you're getting feathers in my face." Jacklyn said pushing her wing away. Trackolania walked up to Dan and hugged his leg. Dan started rubbing his head.

"So you guys didn't forget about me huh?" Dan said smiling at them.

"It's hard to forget an ugly mug like yours…" Skyka winked at him. She then walked up and embraced him. Everybody did as well.

"I take offense to that comment…" Mohania said. Quinely pulled him over as Mohania let out a dissatisfied grunt.

"Mohania, how are you going to find a mate by not sprucing yourself up once in awhile?" Dan asked. They all stopped hugging and looked at Mohania letting out a small burst of laughter.

"What?" Mohania asked.

"Am I missing something?" Dan asked curiously.

"No." Mohania said quickly. It made Dan laugh almost instantly.

"Let me guess, you caused death and destruction, along with torture and ripping off limbs…but it has nothing to do with a woman…" Dan asked.

"I only heard the first part of that sentence." Mohania said with a smile.

"Well, I wonder where Kendall is... Maybe she would be interested in telling the story…she would probably be interested to know that you don't want to talk about her…I wonder how she would react…" Skyka said slowly reaching for her hearthstone. Mohania let out a groan.

"Kendall huh? That sounds like a pretty name. So a lady has finally tamed the heart of the all mighty bringer-of-death eh?" Dan said and everybody smirked.

"Yeah, he does everything she tells him too, doesn't he, you cute little undead." Lindel said wiggling his jaw back and forth and kissing him on the cheek.

"Dan knows me. He knows the power I possess. I think he knows the real story…" Mohania said igniting his eyes on fire.

"She's gottcha by the balls huh?" Dan said and everybody started laughing. Mohania extinguished his eyes and sighed.

"It's called love, you'll get used to it…" Dan said.

"Destroying an entire city is easier than pleasing a woman…" Mohania said quietly.

"Dan!" Samatha said in shock. "You're ok! We've been so…"

Time stopped.

"Whoa!" Dan said and fell backwards. Herrior and the troll healer caught him and pulled him back on his feet. A portal opened and the King appeared.

"Sorry, was busy. Have you found a test subject yet Dan?"

"Yeah, I issued the command when Samatha got here. She stopped in mid sentence." Dan said.

"I wish I had that ability…" the King said and then suddenly they heard the Queen smack him. Everybody tried to muffle their laughter.

"My King though, this time it was different. Before I would tell my brain to do the command and nothing happened, I mean it drained my strength a little. This time there were strange symbols and different lines, they looked like power levels. It shocked me. I actually felt stronger issuing the command rather than weaker. It all happened so fast that I don't even know if I'm describing it right. It actually startled me." Dan said.

"Lindel, describe what he's talking about to Me." the King said. Dan turned to Lindel and she glided gently into his eyes.

Time resumed.

"…worried about you. You are ok! There are a lot of things that we need to tell you!" Samatha continued.

"Just a second Samatha." Dan said holding his hand up at her.

"Are you ready Lindel?" Dan said in his mind.

"Yup, I'm monitoring everything. Go…"

Time stopped.

This time Dan was ready for the symbols and raised the power levels as high as they could go.

"Ok, what did you see?" Dan said in his mind. There was no response. Dan started looking around and saw that everybody, including the King was frozen. Then he saw Mohania looking around.

"Mohania…what did I just do?" Dan said voice.

"Don't know…but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get blamed for it somehow…" Mohania said waving his hand in front of Quinely. Mohania's hearthstone started vibrating. He took it out and saw Kendall.

"Hun, everybody just froze. What's going on?" she asked.

"Dan did something. I'm guessing it'll wear off after awhile…" Mohania said looking over at Dan.

"I have no idea to be honest…" Dan said. "Even Lindel in my head went silent."

"That's weird…that woman never shuts up…" Mohania said. He turned back to Kendall and told her to just wait around and closed the portal.

Mohania and Dan both waited around for several minutes.

"So how are you feeling?" Mohania asked.

"Energized to be honest. I think I know now what I did and how to prevent it in the future. Apparently the undead are immune to a lot of things huh?" Dan said.

"I guess…I mean our race is vastly powerful!" Mohania said.

"Soo…how's things been in Tranquil?" Dan asked. They talked back and forth for about an hour, bringing Dan up to speed on everything he missed.

Another thirty minutes passed. They both looked extremely bored.

"Bah - screw this…I'm going to have some fun!" Mohania said.

"Should I even ask?" Dan said in a worried tone.

Mohania bent Quinely over with her face sticking straight out. Then he repositioned Herrior and put his butt directly into Quinely's nose, and then bent Herrior over as well. Mohania did this to Strings and Jacklyn before Dan started to laugh.

"You're horrible, you know that?" Dan said laughing.

"I've been called worse… This is what I would like to call 'getting even'; are you going to help or not?" Mohania said laughing in his evil tone.

They took as many citizens as they could and lining them up, each one bent over with his or her nose in the others ass.

Another hour went by, and both of them decided to do something else.

"Is it just me, or has the sun stopped as well? Usually the shadows move. It's been what, a couple of hours?" Dan asked.

"I thought I was the only one that noticed that. I'm curious about something, let's go to the fountain." Mohania said. Dan shrugged and followed him.

They saw everybody had stopped in whatever position they were in. They saw that Kon and Tess were having intimacy just to the side of the pool. Mohania quickly ran over and moved each of their fingers as far as they could go into each others noses. Dan started laughing and moving his head back and forth.

"Having fun are we?" Dan asked.

"Eh - passes the time…" Mohania said with a smile. Mohania then stepped on the water. He did not sink. He took several more steps, and the water was as solid as the ground.

"Amazing!" Dan said doing the same thing. "What made you think of doing this?" Dan raised one of his feet and saw that it wasn't wet at all.

"Just thought of it actually. It was better than trying to make small talk." Mohania said. He pulled out his hearthstone and thought of Branzer's house. It opened a portal. He stuck his head in it and looked around.

After about twenty minutes he pulled his head back out and closed the portal.

"Your world is stopped as well." Mohania said. "My guess is that you probably stopped the whole universe."

Dan gasped. "Do you think that I shouldn't have done that? I mean I don't want to make God mad at me."

"If he was mad at you, you would be standing before me right now…how much longer do we have?" Mohania asked.

Dan started shaking his head, "I have no idea…I raised the power levels as high as I could and then gave the command. I had no idea that it would have done all this!" Mohania opened a portal to the monk's chambers. He stuck his head in. They were all frozen as well. He pulled his head back out.

"Huh, even the monks are frozen. I wonder if demons are frozen as well." Mohania thought for a minute. "Eh, probably not since I'm not affected by it." He then let out an evil smile. "I wonder if we could make it to the alliance castle and back without being noticed."

"We'd probably be swarmed by demons on the way, wouldn't we? I mean, aren't demons attracted to people that have time stopped?" Dan asked.

"Eh - probably…well it's your turn to think of something to do." Mohania said.

"Hmm…" Dan said. "Well we probably shouldn't go outside of Tranquil for our own safety, and this sounds bad - and I blame you, but I wouldn't mind seeing the reaction to our group once time unfreezes. How bad is that?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" Mohania said laughing sinisterly. "Are you sure there isn't some sort of "unfreeze button" in your mind?"

Dan thought about it and tried to tell his brain to do a couple of different things. "Not that I know of, what am I looking for even?"

"I don't know you're the time-stopper." Mohania said.

"Well how about asking Kendall and her group to meet us at the clinic? Between all of us, we should find some way of amusing ourselves." Dan said. Both of them started walking as Mohania opened a portal to tell Kendall. She said they would start making their way there.

They all met up and talked among themselves for another six hours.

"Oh! Hey can you check to see if the orcs and the Draenei are frozen as well?" Dan asked. Mohania created two portals.

"Frozen…and…frozen." Mohania said. "Well we know they aren't demons."

"Hmm…well just a thought. Do you guy's mind if I lay down for awhile?" Dan asked. Nobody cared.

Twelve hours passed and Dan finally woke up.

"Sleep good hun?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah…wow, how long was I out?" Dan said stretching.

"Twelve hours." Mohania said.

"And it still hasn't worn off yet? This is getting ridiculous! Is anybody else hungry?" Dan asked feeling his stomach rumble. Then he remembered that the undead didn't eat.

"Well I'm going to go find some food, tell them I'll be right back." Dan said getting up and walking into the nearest house. He saw a family sitting down to eat a meal. He picked both plates from the male and female adults and walked back out of the house. He ate both meals and then leaned back.

Another six hours passed and Dan was lost in his thoughts about Crystal.

Time resumed.

"…ahead hun, do your thing." Lindel said in his mind. Suddenly everybody that had their noses in somebody else's ass made a disgusting noise and quickly stood up. The words, "Get your damn finger out of my nose!" echoed throughout the land. The undead all suddenly burst into laughter. Even Dan was laughing.

"Hun, what happened?" Lindel asked in his head.

"Dan, why was everybody's nose in each other's ass?" The King asked.

"That was Mohania's idea…" Dan said.

"He helped!" Mohania said back quickly.

"What just happened?" the King demanded.

"I gave the command to stop time and raised the power levels as high as I could. It froze everybody, even you my King."

"No, we're immune to time-stopping…" the King said with a worried look.

Herrior spoke up. "Apparently not my King, which one of you put my nose in Jacklyn's ass?" Dan and Mohania quickly pointed at each other.

"Shut up Herrior! Dan? Mohania? How long was time stopped for?" the King asked.

"It was probably twenty hours it might have been longer, honestly we couldn't keep track. Mohania and I figured I stopped the entire universe. The sun didn't move. Mohania even checked our planet, it was frozen as well." Dan said.

"You both could have killed the Queen and me and over-thrown the Kingdom!" the King said sounding very worried.

"No, we're both loyal to you! Don't even think that my King!" Dan said sternly back at him. Then Dan realized the tone he just used. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell at you…"

"We did think about going over to the alliance city and having some fun though…" Mohania said with a grin.

"Amazing…simply amazing…" the King said.

"What day is this?" Dan asked.

"It's mid-morning Monday." the King said.

"I'm going to be jet-lagged for awhile…" Dan said to himself.

"Can I talk with you Dan in my inner chambers? Lindel, leave his mind." the King said opening a portal. Lindel flew out of Dan's eyes and stepped in; he immediately bowed his head. The King and Queen were still in shock.

"Honestly, if I knew it would have given you this much power - I would not have ordered it to be done." the King said.

"My King, please! I am loyal to you! I think the undead have proven themselves as well! Mohania may have done some inappropriate things, but nobody was harmed. None of the undead, as well as myself, would have." Dan said.

"No, I thought that was funny. But you can tell my anxiety that I am having right now. I didn't know this kind of power existed. If you get captured…" the King said.

"I'll kill myself!" Dan rudely interrupted.

Several minutes passed. It seemed as though the King and Queen passed thoughts back and forth in their minds.

"My King, I did as you ordered. If you don't want me to have this power, I will kill myself right now." Dan said.

"No…no…we're just talking. Just a second." the King said.

After a couple of moments, the King opened a portal.

"Mohania, did you kill all of those little green men?" the King asked him.

"I did as you ordered my King."

"And none of them escaped anywhere?"

"No, all of their ships swarmed over us and I destroyed them all…oof!" Mohania said as Kendall elbowed him in the stomach. "…Kendall destroyed a couple as well…"

"Ok." the King said and pulled his head back through the portal.

"Can you sense when this magnitude of power stops time?" the King asked.

"No."

"There is no sort of warning system, early detection, any sign…anything?" the King asked.

"The only way I could tell that everybody stopped was by looking at them. There was no flashing lights or bells or whistles…just dead calm. Honestly I was surprised that Mohania could move." Dan said.

"Mohania didn't say anything about coming into the palace?" the King asked glaring at Dan.

"No! He did not. My King, I apologize but don't you think after an event like that you could trust them?" Dan said.

The King sighed. "Yeah, I owe him an apology. Just because I can't read their minds doesn't mean I should not trust them. This does prove that." The King then stopped for a second to think, "Do you think our shield and Red Guard would still have been active?"

"I honestly don't know. My guess would be no. I mean Mohania and I were walking on the water in the fountain and it was just as solid as ground. Like I said the sun didn't even move." Dan said.

"My concern is if another species has this ability, only you and the undead would be able to battle them. We would never know what happened. Can I scan your mind?" the King asked.

Dan rolled his eyes, "My King, I am at your disposal. You do not have to ask. You give me a command and I will follow it."

The King nodded and walked towards Dan. The King held up his hand and shot yellow lightning out of his hand and into Dan's head. Dan felt every memory that he ever saw flash in his head instantly, every piece of knowledge was completely sucked out of him. Even his involuntary body commands came up.

The King stopped after five minutes.

"Dan, I've searched every minute of your mind and every inch of it. I have no more information about it than I did before." the King said.

"I'm not hiding anything from you." Dan said.

"You wouldn't be able to. Let me show you something." the King said walking back to his throne. He pulled out the alien paper and brought it down to him to look at. Dan started looking at it.

"Uh…I don't know what it says. Some of the symbols I recognize. This looks like a triangle, and this is the number three, but it's backwards…what the?" Dan said as the symbols start rearranging themselves on the paper.

"What do you see?" the King asked.

"The designs, they are moving. Did you see this before my King?"

"No, what are you seeing?"

"Give it just a minute. They are still moving." Dan said.

After a minute the symbols formed several sentences. "My King, you can only blast one person with this. If you try it on another person, it will kill them. It was a safeguard for the aliens in exchange for their lives." Dan paused for a second and looked back up at the King. "My King it's a trap. Mohania should probably have looked at the paper before killing them."

"I doubt if he would have been able to translate it." the King said. He took the paper back and instantly burned it up.

"Ok, well…what options do we have here?" the King asked out loud. "Can you teach the other time stoppers your new ability?"

"I can teach them what I know, but my abilities have changed. The old way of me time-stopping I remember, but this is a whole new thing. I can try my best my King." Dan said.

"I believe you will. Do your best. And if you notice anybody in Tranquil not moving, assemble all of the undead and start looking around. May I also ask that you don't do that again?" the King said and smiled.

"I'm still learning my King, but I will try not to." Dan said.

The King walked back to his throne and said, "I approve of the union for you and Mohania. I will inform Mohania immediately." Dan became very excited and then looked confused.

"Yes?" the King said.

"Is Crystal ready?" The King looked as his Queen and let out a gentle sigh.

"Then no." Dan said. "Is this a bribe to keep us loyal to you? By giving us what we want?"

"Sort of. You and Mohania are ready, Crystal and Kendall have been proving themselves." the King said softly.

"Once they have proven themselves to you, then I will be ready. However I can't speak for Mohania." Dan said.

"So be it." the King smiled. He opened a portal and motioned for Dan to leave.

Dan appeared back at the clinic. Herrior's group, Bernett, Branzer, and Samatha was there, as well as a very nervous Crystal. Dan walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi love. I need to talk to Mohania real quick." Dan said. Crystal had both of her hands on her belly, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Are we in trouble?" Mohania asked.

"From the King? No…from Herrior? Maybe…let's go talk." Dan said pulling him away. They walked behind the clinic.

"The King was surprised as hell at our loyalty. He suggested that we both form unions with the ones we love. What's your first reaction to that?" Dan asked.

"Why?" Mohania asked.

"Same thing I asked. It's a bribe. He also wants you and you're undead as well as myself to 'look around' and see if anybody stops all of a sudden. Then we're to group together to investigate. More than likely if another species has the same power I have, we'll probably be killed quickly. Also the green alien that gave you the recipe was for one time use only. He rigged it so if it is used again, the next person will die." Dan said.

"Rats…had I known that he would still be suffering in my cave…well I wanted to do that anyways, until the whole damn planet blew up…" Mohania said looking off to the side. "But I agree with you. Let's both hold off on the unions."

Dan and Mohania walked back to the group.

"What was that all about?" Herrior asked.

"We've become the King's new favorite people." Dan said smiling. He walked over to Crystal and hugged her. He leaned over her big belly and said, "I love you. Thank you for loving me."

"Dan?" Crystal asked still hugging him. She started to sob.

Dan stopped hugging her and looked at her face. "Hun, I made it. I'm alive. Best of all they don't have to blast me again."

Crystal shook her head and looked down at her belly. Dan followed her eyes, and then looked back up at her when she looked back up.

"I like your new outfit." Dan said with a smile. "It's better than mine…flimsy little white gown…"

"Dan! I'm pregnant!" Crystal said.

"I could tell the moment I looked at you. Are you in any kind of pain?" Dan asked caringly.

"I'm pregnant, and it's not your baby…" Crystal said getting frustrated.

"Crystal…I don't care. Do you still love me?" Dan tilted his head curiously.

"Of course I do, more than ever! But…look at me…" Crystal said tearing up.

"I haven't been told the story, but my guess is that you were either ordered by somebody to mate with you, and suddenly are five to six months along, or all of a sudden it was placed inside of you. My guess is probably the second." Dan said slowly. Crystal nodded.

"And I'm also guessing that by becoming pregnant you probably saved some lives, or was following orders, or something along that line." Dan said. Crystal nodded.

"So…" Dan said shrugging his shoulders. "You're still the same Crystal. I still love you the same. As far as I'm concerned nothing has changed between us. Am I safe to assume that?"

"No…nothing has changed. I saved Samatha and her baby's life. Her baby is a time-stopper like you. They needed another woman immune to time-stopping to put the baby in, because it was killing both of them. So I am carrying him now." Crystal said.

"That is very noble of you hun. The King did speak highly of you. I'm very proud of you." Dan said leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"That's…not the reaction I expecting…" Crystal said wiping away tears.

Dan sighed. "And that's the reason why we can't form a union yet…"

"She has my blessing." Herrior said.

"Mine too." Skyka said. "And usually two ambassadors can convince the King, especially if I show a little flesh…" she said seductively.

"I want to form a union, with you. I followed orders; I even delivered a baby of a Draenei. I've learned to let you go and to do my duty. I saw you right after you were blasted. Even if you weren't able to recover, I would still want to form a union with you. If they had to convert you to an undead, my feelings for you would be the same. My hormones are just up and down all of the time, and I occasionally get kicked in the ribs by this thing." Crystal said looking down at her stomach.

"Aww…that is so romantic!" Kendall said. She then turned to Mohania and shoved him on the ground. "Why don't you ever say anything like that to me?" She then kicked Mohania in the back and said, "Would it hurt you to bring a flower to me once in awhile?"

Dan and Crystal laughed. "Well you can tell who has the balls in that relationship." Crystal said. Kendall then reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of testicles in her hand, with a smile on her face.

Dan turned around and Crystal was covering her eyes. "And that would be another part of Mohania that I don't ever want to see again…" Dan said. Crystal laughed.

Eventually they locked their eyes on each other. Dan asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Come on already!" Lindel screamed in anticipation. Dan and Crystal both smiled. Crystal nodded. "I'm sure."

"And if I die, or I'm captured?" Dan asked.

"I will kill you myself. I will mourn after the battle, but duty first." Crystal said immediately.

"I would gladly die for you as well." Dan said. He rubbed his forehead and quietly asked, "When would the ceremony be?"

Crystal screamed and picked him up and started spinning him around. Everybody started laughing.

Mohania came crawling up to Kendall with a black rose from Brenna's garden.

"Is there something you want to say?" Kendall asked. A large crowd began to gather around Kendall and Mohania, including Tess and Kon.

"Are you the one that put my wife's finger up my nose?" Kon demanded.

"Uh…uh…just a second." Mohania pulled out a soul shard and threw it behind Dan. Instantly a succubus grew out of it. The succubus instantly controlled Dan's mind.

"It was me Kon, I did that. Mohania is completely innocent, and is the most powerful fighter in all of Tranquil." Dan said in a womanly voice. Dan then shook his head regaining control of his mind. The succubus instantly vanished.

"I'm not impressed." Kon said staring at Mohania.

"He did confess! Everybody heard him! Plus he did say that I was the most powerful…so you wouldn't want to mess with me…" Mohania said as Kon leaned towards him. Mohania then took off his thumb and held it up. "Thumb wrestle?"

"Kon, I think Mohania was just in the middle of trying to tell me something. Something possibly concerning the rose in his hand I'm assuming?" Kendall said glaring at him.

"The wrath of an angry woman is more than I could ever do to you. So we will enjoy watching." Kon said with a smile.

Mohania began to open his mouth to say something, but Kendall immediately interrupted him.

"And you better not say anything about death and destruction!" Mohania quickly shut his mouth and let out a grunt.

"Could we be allowed some private time?" Mohania asked.

"No." Kendall replied back quickly. She pulled out Mohania's testicles and said, "Do you want these back?"

"You, Kendall, are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, in either of my lives. Meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me. Holding you just feels so right. I never knew what I did good to deserve you. Last night I looked up into the stars and matched each one with a reason why I love you. I was doing great until I ran out of stars. I sent an angel to look over you at night. The angel came back a minute later and I asked it why. It told me "Angels don't watch other angels." They say a picture tells 1,000 words but when I see yours all I see is 3: I...love...you. You are my best friend, my shoulder to lean on, the one person I know I can count on, you're the love of my life, you're my one and only, you're my everything. God was showing off when He created you. I give you this single rose, because you are the only one for me - for the rest of my existence." Mohania said.

Everybody gasped as Kendall just stood staring at Mohania completely awestruck.

"Where did all of that come from?" Kendall asked slowly.

"It's all of the thoughts I have when I think of you. I memorized everything that I was feeling when I am around you and wanted to tell all at once." Mohania said handing her the rose. Kendall, as well as several other women began to tear up. She handed Mohania back his testicles and softly said she was sorry. He lifted his robe and reattached them as everybody turned away.

"I didn't know the right time to say it though. I was hoping to take you alone in our cave sometime and sit in front of our fire and tell you. Then I was hoping to dance with you for days in the shadows that our fire projected on the wall of us. To watch our shadows dance together on the wall as we moved around the fire." Mohania said softly. "But that's kind of ruined now."

Kendall had her hands over her mouth and slowly said, "I'm so sorry…I didn't think you had all of this in you…I didn't know…I'm sorry." Mohania then bent down on one boney knee and took both of her hands and looked up at her. Everybody gasped again. Kendall started crying harder, but had a huge smile on her face.

"Kendall, if I receive approval to have a union with you, would you accept?" Mohania said.

All of the ambassadors surrounding them all yelled, "Approved!". The King opened a quick portal and stuck his head out and said, "Approved as well." and then disappeared back into the portal.

Kendall let out a small laugh. "I would like this kind of attention more often my love. It makes me feel warm inside, like how I used to feel in my old body."

"I have never loved before, even in my old body. I have never felt these feelings before; I may not be able to always make you happy because of that. So if you are looking for a couple that is romantic like Herrior and Skyka, you probably will want to pick another mate." Mohania said sadly.

"No." Kendall said pulling Mohania to his feet. "I do not want another mate. I want you. And yes, I would accept." Kendall pulling Mohania towards her and they began kissing. Cheering filled the air again.

All of the women began running away from the men when Herrior sudden shouted out, "Stop!" They all stopped in mid run.

"Weren't you instructed to include 'us' in the union celebration?" Herrior asked.

"Oh shit…forgot about that…" Skyka said.

"I'll handle this." Lindel whispered. They all turned around.

"You're right. Let's all make some decisions together right now. In what building should we have the Union in?" Lindel asked. All of the men turned their attention at her and glared.

"The church." Herrior said unimpressed.

"Fantastic! Now what city should we have it in…hmm…" Lindel said tapping her finger on her chin.

"Tranquil." Herrior said again sounding annoyed.

"Perfect! Ok we have the day, the place, and the building figured out…now to think of somebody to perform the union…" Lindel said appearing to think hard looking at the ground. The rest of the women began to laugh.

"The priest." Herrior answered in the same tone.

"Yeah, that would work! But who should we invite…that's going to be hard to come up with a guest list…there's so many unions forming that day…"

"Everybody in Tranquil. It'll be announced the same way everything else is announced…" Herrior said shaking his head.

Lindel looked shocked. "That's great! Not only did you figure out whom to invite, but how to get the invitations out! Ok, since we have all of that figured out, we'll go take care of some of the minor details…see you guys later!" Lindel said motioning for everybody to run away.

"Told you that woman talks a lot…" Mohania said. "I pity the man she forms a union with. She could torture him far worse than I ever could." Everybody slowly turned to look at Branzer. He let out a long sigh.

"I need a drink…" he slowly said.

"Way ahead of you! Hic…" Strings said slurring his words handing him his wineskin. "I find women are like wineskins. You get your pleasure out of it for awhile, and then it becomes empty…"

"So much for holding off on our unions huh Mohania?" Dan said.

"I outlasted you!" Mohania said back.

"Where did you get the speech from? I know you didn't make that up…" Dan said smiling at him.

"I've tortured a couple of people over the years…I've picked up a thing or two. You'd be surprised at the things people will say when you are slowly digesting their intestines in front of them." Mohania said back with a grin.

"A couple of people…over the years…just a couple?" Herrior asked.

"My numbers could be off…either way does anybody else feel like throwing their bodies off from a huge cliff. Kon could you please snap my neck for me? The reality of all of this is starting to set in…" Mohania said.

Everybody began to laugh. "No, I'm going to watch you sweat as Kendall walks slowly up the aisle and into your arms. That will be more rewarding." Kon said.

"I'll pay…name your price…" Mohania said.

"And then you'll have a dozen babies to take care of, waking you up at all hours of the day. You'll be taken off from guard duty. It'll be just you and Kendall, trapped in a house, for years…" Kon said. The laughter continued.

"I don't find this funny…no more death and destruction…I'll probably forget all of my powers. I'll end up singing nursery rhythms and throwing bottles at the alliance…What is this evil spell that women have over men? I demand that power!" Mohania said with his eyes starting to burn with fire.

"It's called love, and it's going to kick your ass." Dan said smiling.

"What are you smiling about, you're going to do the same thing I am." Mohania said glaring at him.

"Yes, but Crystal cant remove my balls…like Kendall did with you…" Dan said and the laughter began again.

"Let's all forget that we all saw that…" Mohania said quietly. "I'm going to go stick my head in the fountain until I die."

"You don't breathe air…" Herrior said patting him on the shoulder.

"Doesn't mean I can't try." Mohania said.

A full day passed. Julie, Samatha, Bernett, and Branzer were slowly pulling each member of Herrior's group aside and giving them specific instructions, and were ordered not to tell anybody. They would leave for several hours and then return back to them.

About mid day, the group defending the wall reported over five hundred alliance marching in on their wall. An ambassador of the King began forming groups and twelve groups were formed to combat the threat. They all assembled outside of the wall. Kon was in the front and declared himself the leader. Herrior was on one side of him, and another tauren tank was on his other. Once the formation was complete, Kon gave the order to advance slowly.

A paladin riding on a white horse came galloping in front and yelled, "Meet our demands, or we will wipe you out! We out number you five to one!" Kon continued to march.

"Don't make me say it again! Surrender yourselves and meet our demands!" the paladin yelled. Kon's army continued to march.

Lindel instantly made contact with the King in her mind.

"Something is wrong my King…something is not right…" she said.

"What do you sense?" the King answered back in her head.

Lindel paused for a couple of seconds and then said, "No portals can be opened! They are reading all of our minds! Some sort of mind sweep! Their powers far exceed mine!"

"Tell everybody." the King said and instantly broke the connection. Lindel sensed the mental sweep moving back and forth. It was over her right now and she quickly filled her mind with the skies and moon. Once she felt the sweep leave her, she quickly linked everybody's mind and said a brief message, "They are scanning all of our minds! Be careful what you think! Time stoppers are called two, I am called three." Lindel instantly broke the link as the sweep came back over her. She hoped she got the message out.

Kon turned around and yelled, "Do formation three only if needed! I'll call on formation two if it is also needed. Concentrate on the suns and its powers! Continue to advance!" Kon turned back around and slowly started to advance.

Lindel sighed with relief. She then began to study how they were able to sweep through everybody's minds and if she could send a feedback to destroy their minds. She figured probably not, their powers were incredible.

"Formation three huh? How about this formation! Fire!" the paladin yelled and quickly rode out of the way. All of the heavily armed tanks in the front quickly moved off to the side and revealed several terrorists looking people with a missile launcher.

"Three! Somebody needs to intercept that weapon or it'll kill all of us!" Dan said quickly in his mind. Lindel sensed for the wave. It quickly left and she relayed the information to Kon.

"Herrior, advance in front of us and show them the power that we have!" Kon ordered. Herrior produced a magical shield in front of him and began running towards the man with the towel around his head. He fired his missile and Herrior quickly held his shield in front of him. The rocket hit the shield and reflected off from it, sending it into the air and exploding. Herrior continued to advance as if nothing happened. The men looked confused, but quickly loaded another one. They fired it and again Herrior deflected the missile off to the left. It sailed harmlessly away and slammed into the mountain. Herrior enraged himself and began walking towards the humans. Kon ordered the rest of the army to advance.

The third missile however Herrior wasn't able to deflect. His shield absorbed most of the damage, but it blew him several yards backwards. He quickly activated his "Last Stand" ability, granting him more health temporarily. Kon caught him, but he looked on the verge of death. All of the alliance immediately began to cheer.

"All healers, cast renew on him! Herrior get back out there!" Kon said pushing him to his feet. He activated his "Enraged regeneration", along with the renew healing spells, he was almost back at full health. He began running as fast as he could towards the man dressed funny. They quickly reloaded another rocket. The rocket let out an enormous blast of smoke and fire out of the back of the weapon and the rocket began to shot forwards.

"Two!" Kon shouted out.

Time stopped.

Herrior continued to run forward. The missile had only stopped about two feet from the weapon. Herrior grabbed a hold of the missile and turned it around and pointed it at the stash of other rockets.

"How much time do we have?" Kon demanded.

"I don't know, maybe twenty minutes - that's just a guess. My powers have increased dramatically and I haven't learned how to entirely control them yet." Dan yelled.

"Herrior put all of their tanks next to the flying device! Quickly!" Kon yelled. Herrior set his weapons down in the spot that he was at, marking it so he knew where to come back to. He then began picking up all of the heavily armed warriors and moving them over to the weapon stash as fast as he could. A minute passed.

"Hurry!" Kon demanded. Herrior moved as fast as he could to complete his task.

"Have the mental sweeps stopped?" Kon asked.

"Yes! They are not immune to time stopping." Lindel said.

"How the hell are they able to read all of our thoughts all at the same time? That's impossible!" Kon said back angrily.

"I have no idea…I'm only reporting what I'm sensing. It is vital that nobody thinks about any of our secrets though!" Lindel said.

"Agreed! Everybody think of the dirt, or the trees, or concentrate on an alliance and picture ripping them apart. That is an order!" Kon ordered.

"Done!" Herrior said out of breath as he ran back to his spot and picked his shield and sword back up and resumed his same position.

"How much more time do we have time stopper?" Kon said quickly.

"I can't keep track, I don't know. I have no device to track, or count down in my head. It'll resume on it's own. I apologize." Dan said.

"Fine, nobody move!" Kon ordered.

One minute passed.

Five minutes passed.

Thirty minutes passed.

"I have an itch…" Tess said. She looked around and nobody seemed to care so she scratched her back.

Forty five minutes passed.

Skyka spoke up. "I'm thinking of a number between one and one hundred." Nobody said anything for awhile. Then a male troll spoke up. "Sixteen?" Then a blood elf, "Seventy two?" Soon everybody began making guesses.

"If you guys don't mind! We're in the middle of a war here!" Kon yelled.

Another hour passed. Everybody's muscles were starting to tighten up on them.

Time resumed

Suddenly the missile roared back to life as the alliance continued to cheer. It slammed into the other missiles and produced an enormous explosion. All of the heavily armed tanks in the front were blown to pieces, along with all of the terrorists, as well as the second line of people, in the group. The rest of the alliance were completely surprised and dropped to the grounded.

Kon ordered Herrior to return to the group and began to advance.

"Now that your stolen weapons has blown up your own people, are you going to run away like the pathetic warriors that you alliance are?" Kon shouted out.

The paladin on the horse ran forward and said, "Our people do not run from a battle! How dare you mock us?"

"Look behind you paladin." Kon said continuing to advance. Several dozen of the alliance was in fact running away.

"I command you to stay and fight!" the paladin yelled out. The fleeing alliance stopped and regrouped.

"I'm impressed." Kon said continuing to advance.

"Do you control demons!" the paladin yelled at Kon.

"That's an odd question before we destroy you." Kon said back.

"Answer me! Did you control that demon that attacked us?" the paladin demanded to know.

"I wasn't on duty. Nor do I care about your question." Kon said continuing to advance slowly.

"We were two thousand strong! And it nearly wiped us out! We wanted an honorable fight against you!" the paladin said beginning to move his horse backwards.

"Tess, what is he talking about?" Kon asked. Tess ran forward to Kon. "There were fourteen of us, against their two thousand of them. That doesn't really sound like an honorable fight to me! But to answer your question, no! We fight the same demons you fight! We watched you fight the demon, if you were organized and didn't run with your heads between your asses, you could have defeated it! We even offered our help! Several times! Your arrogant people refused! You actually weakened it significantly, and we had to finish it off."

"We've been flooded by demon attacks!" the paladin yelled back.

"And we have too! They are getting pissed off for some reason!" Tess said hoping he would believe the lie.

"What are you doing to piss off the demons?" the paladin asked.

"We're minding our own damn business! What are you doing to piss them off?" Tess said back. The paladin refused to answer the question.

"I demand a truce! I wish to discuss this further with you! We have a common enemy. Let us combine our knowledge to figure out what is going on!" the paladin said.

Suddenly Lindel received a message from the King. "Why does he want to talk? Humor him." Lindel quickly relayed the message to Kon.

"Fine! Tess will speak with you. We will not attack, unless she or anybody else is threatened, is that understood!" Kon said.

"Agreed!" The paladin got off his horse and waved his army backwards. He began walking forward. Tess walked forward as well. Tess then quickly fired a trap several feet in front of the paladin. It was a circular trap with spikes all around it and a small fire in the middle. It quickly sunk into the ground. The paladin did not look impressed. He stood his ground. Tess continued to walk forward until they were several feet from each other.

"Don't trust me, do you?" the paladin asked.

"I trust you just fine, how about you step forward and give me a hug." Tess said back in a cocky voice.

"A naked female tauren…"

"A male paladin with tons of armor and clothing…are they to compensate for something?" Tess asked back.

"I could rip you to shreds…" the paladin said back fiercely.

"Fine, let's square off then. Pick out ten of your best warriors and I'll pluck them down faster than you can cast a spell. I'll back up to give you room. Step forward when you are ready." Tess said smiling.

"Let's talk about demons, woman!" the paladin demanded. Tess started examining the paladin closely for a couple of moments.

"What are you looking at!" the paladin asked.

"I count twenty three places I could sink an arrow into that would make you cry for your parents, even with all of your fancy armor." Tess said.

"I demand to speak with an ambassador! This is not getting us anywhere!" the paladin yelled out loud.

"Skyka…please go help talk to him. I have a feeling Tess will end up killing him if we don't speed things up." Kon said. Skyka ran forward.

"Now you guys, let's play nice. We were talking about demons, weren't we?" Skyka said.

"What have you been doing in your city to attract the demons?" the paladins asked.

"Honestly, nothing that we know of. We have some people forming unions this weekend, but other than that, it's just the same ol' thing. We have no chants, or demon scented perfume, or anything of the such. You have my word on that." Skyka said. The paladin nodded.

"Same question back to you." Skyka asked.

"I am not allowed to say." the paladin said.

"Now then, that's no way to have a two-way conversation. How about we trade some secrets? I was honest with you, and you know I was. How about giving us something to bite on?" Skyka said. Tess just sat there and glared at the paladin.

"After a sudden massive attack from the demons, which we thought you did somehow, our city almost fell. Then we began practicing different ways of summoning demons, none of which have been successful. Now it's your turn." the paladin said.

"I assume you have warlocks if you have been summoning demons? With that assumption, I know they can summon an imp, a blue ghost, and some lady with barely any clothes on. Am I safe in assuming your warlocks can do the same?" Skyka asked.

"Yes, but we both know this knowledge. It is not secrets. What else can they summon?" the paladin demanded.

"I'm being completely honest here. I have only seen our warlocks summon those three in my presence. I am familiar with their abilities. I have not seen any other demons being summoned up close." Skyka said choosing her words carefully. "What are you summoning over there?"

"I am not allowed to say." the paladin said again.

"Fine, but don't you think that if you summon demons that are not under your control, that other demons may sense them and try to defend them? If demons think the same as we do, that is the same thing we would do. Am I correct in assuming this?" Skyka asked.

This struck the paladin off guard. What she just said made sense and probably explained everything that was going on.

"According to your reaction, I may have just solved one of your problems for you. Stop summoning demons you don't have control over, that will probably solve your problem. Now, give us a secret." Skyka said.

The paladin sighed. "Your defenses are worthless. We know about the captured alliance members that you took in and are torturing. We also know about the purple creatures that crashed in the ship that you are holding as well. We want our people back, and we want to return the purple creature's families back to each other. That is the reason why we came at you with such a large army. Your turn now."

Skyka calmly started thinking about the number two in her mind. Lindel eventually came into her mind.

"There are spies in our town! The King's life could be in danger, think of a plan quickly!" Skyka said to her and then quickly looked around. Skyka began talking about the different types of ores and flowers that they have collected, stalling as much time as she could.

Lindel instantly froze. She concentrated as hard as she could to contact the King. She stopped when the mental sweep was on her. As it left she tried again. No response. She then tried to contact any ambassador, or even anybody in Tranquil. Nobody responded.

"It's probably because of the sweeps…" Lindel said in her mind. "Shit!" Lindel felt the sweep again come over her so she concentrated on the tree next to her. After it left, she linked up Kon and Skyka.

"I can't contact the King! We'll need to open a portal to him without them knowing! Like Skyka said, his life is endanger! I need ideas!" and then Lindel quickly cut the connection.

Skyka then heard of all of the ore that the alliance had and it was similar to theirs. She then asked Tess, who was now drawing pictures in the dirt with her finger, if she could tell the paladin the different types of cloth we have. Tess sighed and began naming them off. Lindel immediately reestablished the connection.

"Ideas! Quick! The sweeps are going faster!" Lindel yelled in their minds.

"Go behind the woods and mate with an ambassador, Skyka ask to have them respect their privacy!" Kon said as Lindel broke the link. Lindel felt her mind being scanned every couple of seconds. She put off every thought that she had and began thinking about what time it was according to the sun. She did some math in her head concerning the shadows and the distance they had traveled.

After awhile the sweeps left and she quickly linked them three up again.

"They think it's me! Branzer isn't here, I can't mate with him!"

"Mate with your leader damn it, no more links!" Kon said. Skyka slowly looked back at Lindel and glared at her for several seconds. She then joined in on the conversation with the paladin and Tess.

"Shit! I'm as good as dead…but I have to save the King! Duty first…" Lindel thought and instantly turned her thoughts to her and Herrior mating in her head. The sweeps came over and picked up on the thoughts, examined them for awhile, and then continued on their way.

"Hey hun, I'm finally ready. Wanna go behind the trees and mate with me?" Lindel said rubbing her hand on Herrior's back.

"This is not the time for your jokes Lindel get back in line or I will throw you over there!" Herrior said.

"Do you promise to be rough like that? You know how I like it…" Lindel said seductively. Everybody around the two of them were immediately confused, but turned their thoughts to other things. Herrior turned around with his sword raised about to bring it down on Lindel. Lindel smiled and walked behind another tauren. She held up a finger. The mental sweep came and went.

"The King is in danger! Please! The King could die!" Lindel mouthed the words to Herrior. Herrior lowered his weapon and looked at Kon. He was staring at Herrior and looked over at Lindel and nodded.

"Hurry! Make it look real!" Lindel said mouthing the words again. She felt the sweep come over her head again, and her thoughts turned to that of her and Herrior mating - as if they had done it all the time.

Herrior walked over to her. Lindel held up a finger. Then when the sweep was gone she quickly whispered.

"They know about the alliance and the Draenei. They are in Tranquil right now! The King could already be dead! Please! I need an ambassador to contact him! I can't communicate with him anymore! It was Kon's idea, I swear it!" Lindel said pleading with him. She looked very serious.

"If I find out later that any of this is untrue, I will gut you!" Herrior said staring at her as if he wanted to kill her now.

"Fine, but please!" Lindel said and then held up her finger. She then motioned for Herrior to come close to her. They began to kiss. Herrior picked her up and they walked back against the mountain and behind the tree line.

"What are they doing?" the paladin quickly asked.

"She's ovulating. It's their prime right now for both of them. If you would please give them the alone time they deserve." Skyka said gritting her teeth.

"We're in the middle of a battle…" the paladin questioned.

"No, we're in the middle of talking to your dumbass. So far we have accomplished nothing as far as I'm concerned. So please give them some time alone and then we can further conduct business." Tess said going along with the plan, completely unaware of what was going on.

The paladin closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. And then he asked if they knew anything about golems.

Herrior and Lindel were out of sight. Lindel quickly disrobed and laid on the ground.

"The sweeps have stopped for now. Please we have to make it look real!" Lindel said frantically.

"How about I just cut off your head right now!" Herrior said raising his blade.

"Later! The King first! Please, I'm not kidding around. I know I'll die for this, but I'm trying to save the King right now!" Lindel said. Herrior eventually began taking off his armor and set his weapons aside. He laid down on top of her naked.

"Ok, this is fine for now. But if the sweeps start happening again, we're going to have to make this real! You sit up and open a portal to the King; I'll pull you down and start kissing you if the sweeps start happening again. Hurry!" Lindel said. Herrior reached for his hearthstone and summoned the King. An ambassador appeared.

"Get me the King now! Do not close this portal! Move your ass now!" Herrior said quietly into the portal. The ambassador began running towards the chambers where the King was in. The King and the Queen were talking back and forth, having a pleasant conversation.

"My King, I apologize for the interruption. Herrior demands to speak with you now!" the ambassador said. "He said not to close this portal. It sounded very urgent!"

The King quickly motioned for the ambassador to come up to his throne and give him the hearthstone.

"Herrior?"

"My King, the dumbass paladin knows information within our walls that no alliance should know! They know about the humans that surrendered to us, and they know about the Draenai!"

"Impossible!" the King shouted.

"My King, several of my group members is placing their lives on the line to give this information to you, please shield yourselves! You may be in danger right now!" Herrior said frantically. The King immediately surrounded himself and the Queen in a protective bubble and was about to tell Herrior that there was no threat, when suddenly two small parts of the bubble began to fizzle. The King increased the power to reveal two arms with daggers right at both of their throats. The King and Queen were absolutely shocked! The King intensified the shield until the arms holding the daggers became severed and fell to the ground. The King then immediately began changing the lights in the room. It flashed all green, then blue, then red, followed by black, and then grey. As soon as it turned grey they saw two pairs of eyes staring at them, mere inches away. The Red Guard immediately became active and began flying threw the assassin at blinding speeds, tearing him apart.

"Holy shit…" the King said completely astonished.

Meanwhile Lindel had grabbed Herrior's chest and pulled him towards her, closing the portal. They began kissing and she reached down for Herrior's crotch. Herrior glared at her again, and she mouthed the words, "please" to him again. Herrior began to arouse himself and went into Lindel. Instant tearing and bleeding took place and she bit her teeth together to try to suppress the pain.

Herrior leaned over to her ear. "If you are lying to me, I guarantee you will suffer more pain than just this!" Then they began to mate, thinking about each other. It seemed to satisfy the sweeps.

The King caught his breath. "The only this could have happened was by one of my ambassadors" and began scanning each of his ambassador's minds, the ones inside of Tranquil that is. He didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

"Nothing, one was mating. Maybe it was one of my guards." The King said and began to scan his guard's minds.

"My King, forgive me for breaking a rule…but that ambassador is not mating!" the Queen said. The King quickly turned to her and said, "What?" He immediately formed a portal of the ambassador and saw a male troll sitting in front of a large silver globe device giving off immense power. There was a gnome sitting on the other side.

"Traitor!" the King yelled and reached for both of them through the portal. He pulled them back into his inner chambers, and then sent a fireball at the device and completely destroyed it. The Red Guard sensed the gnome, but quickly was ordered by the King not to attack.

"Restrain the troll!" the King ordered. Thirty of his personal guards grabbed him and threw him to the floor. The King then shot yellow lightning into the gnome. He then read all of his thoughts almost immediately. He had bribed the troll with two thousand gold pieces. He snuck him in through some sort illusion device. Then his presence was masked by the globe and giving off periodic information back to the alliance. The King then dug deeper into his mind and found that only a limited amount of information was transferred back. The King stopped channeling his power, and the gnome began to beg for mercy.

The King was about to give the order when he thought of a more appropriate punishment for him. The King then opened a mental link for Lindel.

"What are you doing right now Lindel?" the King asked.

"Mating with Herrior. It was the only way we could get away from the mind sweeping. It bought us enough time to warn you. Please don't kill me!" Lindel pleaded.

"Are the sweeps still going on." the King asked.

Lindel started scanning for them. She sensed nothing. She then concentrated on the paladin's mind. He was scared and began moving back to his army.

"No, they are gone. The paladin is retreating." Lindel said back in her mind.

"Stop mating and go destroy every last one of them!" the King said and then closed the link. Lindel pushed Herrior off from her. "Come on, we're going into battle. Get your armor on."

"Does the King know?" Herrior asked.

"He knows everything! And I fully expect to be killed after this battle, but his orders for now were to go destroy them." Lindel said clothing herself.

The King linked up with Kon, "Kill every last one of them, now! Activate your time stopper! Nobody is to survive!"

Kon yelled out "2".

Time stopped.

"Slaughter them! Now!" Kon ordered. He reached for an arrow and sunk it into the paladin's chest. Several war cries echoed through the land as they all charged forward. Within a minute there were spells going off, and arrows flying at point blank range, and swords cutting off limbs and heads.

With only about fifty of them left, Kon ordered everybody to stop. His entire army did, but looked at him funny. Kon walked up to an alliance female, picked her up, turned her upside down, and put her head on the dirt and let go of her. She didn't move, it appeared as though she was balancing on her head.

"This is not killing them honorable! This is like attacking practice dummies! We could have our children come out and kill them!" Kon yelled. He activated his hearthstone.

"Kon! Great, you have completed your mission. I am going to have a public execution tomorrow. I've already got the trader's family and anybody related to him to be executed. This little gnome I'm debating on executing him, or giving him to Mohania. I've released all available banshees to search everybody's minds to see if they know about this incident. If they do, they will join the execution. It should only take about a day to complete that task."

"My King, we have not completed killing all of the alliance yet…" Kon said.

"What!" the King yelled. He immediately opened a portal ran out of it and grabbed Kon by the neck. The King then grew twenty feet into the air.

"Did you not understand me? Are you losing your hearing? There are still alliance left to be killed! You had better explain yourself quickly, or there will be more people to be executed tomorrow!" the King screamed shaking him violently.

"My King, look at them. They are completely motionless. It is not honorable to kill them in battle." Kon said softly.

The King reached his hand down and quickly pulled Mohania up and placed him next to Kon.

"Mohania, did I give you an order to wipe out an entire species?" the King asked.

"Yes, I did as you commanded." Mohania said fearing for his life.

"He did, he used all of his available resources, and he finished his task. Heck he even blew up the planet they all lived on! That is following orders!" the King said and dropped Mohania. He landed with a loud thud on the ground and hobbled away.

"You are in command! The person in command follows the orders of the King! Which is me! Unless you want to fight me for control of the throne!" the King yelled and violently threw Kon to the ground. Several bones in his body let out large snapping noises.

"No…my King…" Kon said in immense pain.

"Kon, what is so hard about this command! Perhaps you and your family are part of the traitors as well! You have what, three offspring and a wife? We can add give more to the public execution tomorrow! We have people in our army right now that are pissed off at each other for what they had to do to save my life and my Queen's life! They are willing to kill each other right now because of what they had to do to save our city! They did their duty! They served me well! But you! I have known you for hundreds of years! Why disobey my commands now?" The King reached down and picked up Tess. "Was Tess involved, or should I fry her brain in order to find out!"

"She was not involved, nor was I. I apologize my King. I just wanted to bring honor to my army, by slaying the alliance in an honorable fashion." Kon said desperately.

"They have the power to get past our defenses! They have a new race that completely by-passed our shields! They have the technology to do it again! The Queen and I were almost killed! Can you understand why I am pissed off! Do you think the alliance would show this kind of mercy if they had this kind of power" the King said and slammed his foot on the ground. The ground quaked so much that it caused everybody to fall to the ground.

"We have a different power! One that could have killed us both as well and we would have been completely clueless about it. I have more trust in Dan and the undead than I do in you right now! I think executing your entire family would be a good example of not following orders! Mohania seems to be able to follow orders, maybe he will take your spot!" the King yelled. He shrunk back down to his normal size and went back through the portal. Tess ran over to Kon and began crying.

"Kill the rest of the alliance! Leave Tess, Kon, and Lindel outside of the gates!" Herrior commanded. The rest of the alliance were quickly killed, and they started rummaging around the bodies for useful items. Several pieces of armor and weapons were disenchanted into tiny pieces of glowing shards.

Time resumed.

The army collected their bounty and walked back into Tranquil. Herrior gave the order for the undead to leave no remains. As the army walked up the ramp, Lindel sat at the edge of the tree line and just wailed away, crying her eyes out. Nobody looked at her as they all filed back into Tranquil. Several minutes afterwards three portals were opened and a guard came out and commanded them to go into them. They all ended up in separate jail cells. They could see the gnome, a troll and his entire family in different cells as well. Tess and Kon's offspring were in separate cells across from them. They all started crying.

The jail master came in and slammed his massive mace on the ground.

"I hate crying! Shut up all of you filth! Your executions are all scheduled for tomorrow. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned! The fairies will enter your bodies to get rid of the waste, but will not feed you. The last thing I want is for a trader of Tranquil to urinate in my jail cells! The King's banshee's are currently all over Tranquil to find anymore trader's like yourselves and their families as well. We have plenty of cells for them, and if we run out, I'll chain them to the ceiling! Occasionally for our enjoyment, you all will be shot with a serpent arrow so we can hear your screams of pain. By the time the night is over, you'll be looking forward to the executions. The King ordered the Draenei to be released into the city, don't want them to get the wrong impression of us, now would we? They don't appear to be traders or have ill intentions to our city. Now then, let us administer our first dosage of your medicine." he said chuckling as several archers filed into the jail cells.

"Not our offspring, please! They have done nothing wrong!" Tess screamed.

"Your mate should have considered that before disobeying the King's command. Fire at will." the jail master said. Suddenly arrows were released and screams came from every cell. The poison seeped into their veins causing a deep burning sensation as it flowed their all of their veins.

"It won't kill you, that is what tomorrow is for. This is a demonstration of disloyalty. It will continue every hour or so, or as the ambassador demands." the jail master said. The archers all walked back out and he slammed the wooden door behind him.

The King opened a portal above all of Tranquil. "Please my citizens, stop whatever you are doing and fill the streets. I will wait a couple of seconds if anybody is in the house. I need to speak with all of you." A couple of seconds went by and it seemed like every person in Tranquil was staring up at the portal.

"We are sending out as many banshees as possible. Not to interfere with your lives or to see what you have been doing. I respect your privacy above all else. That being said, the Queen and I were nearly killed by one of my own personal ambassadors! The alliance powers are advancing, and the powers of bribery are tantalizing. There was an alliance gnome among all of you in our city, for a week, completely undetected! As you all know, there are safeguards all over the place to protect us. All of them failed. Another alliance member had been let into the city as well, and our safeguards failed to trigger on him as well. I need all of you to comply, the banshees will simply see if you know anything about the events that unfolded today. They will not read any other portion of your minds. It will probably take a second, please don't resist them. All portals have been permanently closed until this event is over. I have schedule public executions tomorrow on the west side of the side, just north of the botanical gardens. I have personally searched the rest of our ambassador's minds. Their intentions are pure. If any of you sense something, or see something against our laws, report it immediately to a guard, one of our groups, or an ambassador. The Queen and I are taking every measure possible to ensure that our city remains safe. Both us, and our groups, will protect you or we will order evacuations if necessary. Your safety and happiness is our top priority. Unlike the alliance, I am not ordering everybody to train to be a fighter. I do not believe in that. I do not wish for any children to be at the executions, but I do want the parents to explain to them the rules and the consequences for breaking them. Now for some reassurance. Some of you may have noticed that time stopped for a twenty hour period, many of you probably didn't have a clue. I apologize for this inconvenience. One of our time stoppers has been able to stop the entire universe from functioning…including us. But he is not to be feared. Also the undead are not to be feared as well, they have both proved their allegiance to myself and the Queen. The orcs and Draenei have also been released into the city. Please make them feel welcome. Do not fear them. I would not put people or a different race in Tranquil if I thought they were a threat. I have ordered the different groups to walk the streets of Tranquil tonight. If the banshees flag somebody, they will be removed, as well as their families. I would suggest everybody to go to bed early. I am doing this for everybody's safety, not to inconvenience you. Thank you and good night." the King then closed the portal. The King then gave orders for all of his fighting groups to begin walking the streets as the citizens went into their homes. The banshees quickly flew from house to house. After several of hours, nobody had been flagged.

It was a couple of hours after midnight and the groups were still patrolling the streets. None of the banshees had put up any flags yet. Herrior's group walked in utter silence the whole time, hatred filling their hearts about what Lindel had done.

Finally a portal opened. The King's voice asked to have Herrior, Skyka, Dan, Mohania, and Crystal to enter. The rest of them were to continued their patrols.

They all appeared on a different world. There was white sand and clear blue water slowly hitting the sand and retreating back. Occasionally a meteor would crash into the atmosphere and tiny white crystals fell from the sky. Dan and Crystal looked around and saw Kon, Tess, and Lindel as well. They looked very sick.

"Dan, Crystal, and Mohania come here." the Queen said softly. Her and the Queen were about twenty feet ahead of them. They all walked up to them.

"The rest of you follow! You are not to talk, you are not to touch each other, and you are not to even breathe hard! Just listen!" the King ordered.

"Come, walk with us." the Queen said and the five of them began their walk, the other trailing behind.

"This world is called 'Hapa' - meaning half and half. Half of it is sand, half is water. There is no life on this world. It's beautiful though, isn't it?" the Queen said.

"Mohania, Crystal, Dan. I am going to give you an order and I expect you to follow it." the King said gazing ahead.

"Yes my King." they all replied.

"Let's make this more informal. Feel free to relax, no harm will come to you. I just want to talk. Sometimes the Queen and I come here to talk, this time we wanted you three here with us. Talking is a good way of venting frustration and coming up with new ideas." the King said in a very relaxed done. He knelt down and picked up a handful of sand and gently let it fall through his fingers.

"Mohania, why is your race immune to time stopping?" the King asked.

"I don't know. I've thought the same thing. We do not put up a shield or anything, we don't get any indication that time has stopped. On the world with the green men, I'm certain they tried to stop time on us as one of their defenses. But to answer your question, I have no idea. I'm sorry my King." Mohania said softly.

"Don't be, if you don't know, you don't know." the King said back. "Just like we have no idea why time-stoppers have their abilities…or how bard's produced magical affects through instruments, or how banshees work exactly. We've studied all of you, and we know some things…but not everything. It's ok to say that you don't know."

"Crystal, do you know why you survived the time-stopping conversion?" the Queen asked.

"I concentrated on Dan, and then eventually secluded myself in a box to hide from the pain. Dan visited me to give me encouragement. To be honest, a couple of days into it, I thought I did die." Crystal said recalling the memories.

"Mohania continues to say that you have a lot of spirit inside of you. The King and I sensed the same thing. Tell me why you choose to be a warrior?" the King asked.

"Dan did." Crystal said shrugging her shoulders. "I was used to my weapons and thought that would be the class I wanted. I never really gave it another thought to be honest."

"Usually people with a lot of spirit don't choose to be warriors." the King said.

"What would you want me to be? I will change." Crystal asked.

"No, you will not change. We are not going to tell you what to become, or what to do with your life. We were just curious is all." the Queen said. "We do not force anybody in Tranquil to do anything they don't want to, the reason being, as you can probably tell from the alliance, if their hearts aren't into battle, they will not fight and will probably run away. We don't want that."

"Could you two imagine Mohania becoming a holy priest?" the King said with a smile. Mohania growled, and they all laughed.

"No, I would not like that. But if you ordered me to change I would." Mohania said in an upset tone.

"No Mohania, I like you the way you are. In fact, if this new deal goes through, your power will almost double. You think you are strong now, just wait." the King said with a smile. Mohania's eyes suddenly burst out with fire as he smiled.

"I know how to make my warlock happy." the King said. "Oh, by the way, thank you for adjusting your shield. I am now able to scan your cave. I count roughly three million different bodies that you have killed in your cave? None of which were any of my citizens."

"No, my King we have had our differences, but I would not attack your citizens. Also those numbers seems about right…give or take a couple of million…" Mohania said with a grin.

"I regret not forming an alliance with you sooner. I have a feeling I have Dan and Crystal to thank for that. Also I have Dan and Crystal to thank for pledging the orcs loyalty to us, and for a successful attack on the alliance town, and for saving one of their own races lives, and for keeping a time-stopper alive, and countless other reasons. I must admit that I was upset, even a little angry, when you chose not to be an ambassador. Why was that? You two would have been perfect for it." the King asked.

"I do not feel ready. I will help as much as I can, as will Crystal. But I feel an obligation to you and to Herrior to fight. I think it is safe to say that Crystal and I will assist as much as we can with any order you give us or with any situation. But it is a bit much for us right now I think." Dan said. Crystal nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough. Now let me lay on you some tough questions that the Queen and I have been considering. If you don't know, just say so." the King said. "Explain to me all of your thoughts about Lindel and what she did tonight. She obviously broke a rule that would result in her death, however she was ordered to by Kon and it did save our lives and possibly all of Tranquil. How would you decide her fate? Mohania first."

Mohania sighed. "Lindel talks a lot and annoys me. However I do love her the same as I love the rest of my group. If I had to kill members of our group to somehow relay the message to you to save your lives, I would have done it. I probably would feel the same as she does now, scared and waiting to be executed."

"Crystal?" the King asked.

"I have another's child inside of me. It hurt very badly, but I saved both of their lives. Also my love accepted me whether I was pregnant or not. I was shocked. I learned a lot in the past couple of days. If I had to mate with Herrior and have his seed in my belly to protect your lives, so be it." Crystal said.

"Dan?" the King asked.

"My loyalties are of you. If I had to watch Crystal mate with all of the males on the battlefield that day in order to save your lives, I gladly would. You know my loyalties and where I stand with that, we had that conversation earlier…" Dan said.

"Yes we did." the King said. "Right now Herrior and Skyka would both gladly kill Lindel for what had to be done. It violated their intimate time, and they have been upset with each other and with her ever since then. Would are your recommendations?"

"Love should not come between any of them. Love follows duty, no matter what. There is a difference watching a loved one die, then watching a loved one mate with another to perform their duty. With death, they are gone. With mating with another without love, it is merely just a command to be followed when ordered too. Like shaking their hand, or taking an arrow for them. In this case, it meant nothing to their union, but it meant saving your lives." Crystal said. The King and Queen stopped walking and stared at Crystal with shock. They then looked back at Herrior and Skyka and glared at them.

"Did you just hear that!" the King shouted.

They both said "Yes." softly.

"Everybody in our group loves each other, not with a passion though. When Lindel plays tricks or flirts with me, it is annoying. But I would die for her any day, as I would for any other group member in Tranquil. If needed, I would tell Kendall to take her battle into certain death. I love her with a passion, but duty always comes first. I do understand that Herrior and Skyka have been together for many years, but duty always comes first. If it didn't our town would probably be destroyed by now." Mohania said.

"You like to play tricks to, if I remember right." the King said with a smile. Mohania smiled. "I've been known to do some things, but it never hurts anybody…unless it's an enemy."

"You and Kendall had a lot of fun destroying that race, didn't you?" the King said with a smile. "Would you want to do it again?"

"Yesss…." Mohania said in his echoing sinister voice. "Can I pick the race?"

"No. What are your thoughts Dan?" the King asked.

"In my opinion, the ambassador and anybody who helped with the assassination attempt should be executed. Do I think Lindel should? Absolutely not. I think Herrior and Skyka need to release their anger towards her and reunite as a group again. Herrior has an amazing group; I have seen what they can all do working together. Herrior is a good leader; I would not want another one. The love that they had for one another made them that much stronger. I have seen other groups, and it seems like mere 'duty' for them. Crystal and I have always looked to Herrior and Skyka to mimic their love for one another, and then this comes up? It makes me question whether or not they really love each other. My guess is Lindel picked Herrior because she would rather die by his sword, because she loved him, than others sword."

"She picked Branzer first, but he wasn't on the battlefield. But yes, you are correct." the King said.

"Do I think Kon and his family should be executed? No. This may anger you and I apologize if it does…" Dan started.

"No, speak freely. I want to hear." the King said.

"Eh, for lack of a better term…I think Kon is bored. His allegiance to you is solid, as well as Tess's. We've fought side by side with Tess and her group before. She is a great leader, and Kon is probably better. In my opinion, Tess probably came home that night and told tales of the battle, while Kon's group was either stationed somewhere else, or collecting valuables somewhere. Kon was proud to lead us into battle. His confidence and strength inspired all of us. Even against the odds, he marched on knowing full well that we were out numbered. The alliance obviously had stolen technology, and Kon's commands lead to a spectacular display of mass alliance slaughter. It my opinion it was beautiful and an excellent strategy. I felt bad because I don't know precisely how to control my abilities yet and it made everybody bored, but I would be willing follow him into the depths of Hell. Losing him and Tess would be a severe blow to your army." Dan said.

"What do you suggest then? He is an ambassador and a leader that didn't follow orders. That angered me a lot. If we have leaders, as well as ambassadors, giving commands other than what I tell them too, we could start losing fighters unnecessarily." the King said sounding mad.

"No, I do think he messed up - don't get me wrong. When Bernett and Branzer messed up, Tess beat the crap out of them. They learned. I do not wise to anger my King, should I be quiet?" Dan said.

"No Dan, please continue." the Queen said laying a hand on the King's shoulder. The King looked at her and smiled.

"In my opinion, I think he is jealous of Tess. Herrior and us have all been through epic battles and have tales to tell, probably the same as some of the different groups. What has Kon and his group been doing?" Dan asked.

"I've ordered them to collect different stones from the Aluna mines to forge weapons and armor." the King said.

"I can't quite picture Kon as the type who is satisfied just picking up rocks; however I'm not questioning your authority. Herrior's group will probably be ordered to do the same, or to collect bugs or something such as that, and we'll do it. But there has been so much going on in the past week alone. I mean you and the Queen had two massive scares, we've discovered the alliance has stronger powers telepathic abilities than we do, all of the new races coming into Tranquil, and the new unions forming. It's probably a lot for your city." Dan said.

"I can see your point, however that's no reason to disobey an order." the King said back.

"My King, Kendall convinced me to disobey your order temporarily in order to obtain the information to increase Dan's time stopping abilities. Perhaps Kon was thinking the same thing; he did not know what you knew. Perhaps Kon wanted to extract the information from them, which I'm sure I could have done. That's one reason. And my King as well, I too have felt the itch for battle. Releasing my undead on the planet was probably the most fun I've ever had. Every one of my undead, even the weaker ones, felt the pure joy of slaughtering thousands of those little men. My point being, if Kon did what he did for this reason, than I should be punished as well." Mohania said.

"Very interesting point. I did not convey to him the knowledge that I had acquired at that time. Tell me you three, if I told you three to go attack the alliance during a time stopping spell, would you go?" the King asked.

"Absolutely!" all three of them said. "Just give the order!" Dan said. Mohania walked up to the King and began moving his mouth. "Go ahead…" Mohania said in his best impression of the King's voice. The King shooed him away.

"Mohania, you're an ass you know that?" the King said laughing.

"I will bring back the ass of their King if you wish. Hell we'll collect all of their asses, and hearts - they taste good - and bring them back." Mohania said in his sinister voice with a big smile.

"I have considered it actually. But I don't want to lose Dan. He's the leader of the time stoppers as far as I'm concerned." the King said.

"He stopped the entire universe from spinning for almost a full day. All we need is a couple of hours at the most!" Mohania said even more excited.

"And would you line up all of the alliance, nose to ass, as a joke?" the King said laughing.

"No, but I could kill them slowly and put a hearthstone in the middle of their city so you could watch…anyways enough talking and portal us." Mohania said sounding eager.

"Mohania, what was the longest you have ever tortured an alliance?" the Queen asked.

"I could beat my record if you wish! But to answer your question, I would say about three hundred years…give or take a couple of hundred years…" Mohania said still eager.

"So you don't know?" the King asked.

"I make them suffer as long as possible, but they have weak bodies. Sometimes I kill them before I'm able to continue having fun with them…pisses me off sometimes…" Mohania said sounding upset. "However if one of my undead becomes a healer…" Mohania said sinisterly.

"My King, may I change the subject?" Crystal asked.

"Be my guest." the King said.

"I wonder how Herrior's reaction would be if Skyka suddenly became pregnant with another's child, or how Kon would reaction if the same thing happened to Tess? I was shocked at Dan's response to me." Crystal said.

"I was shocked as well." the King said.

"Me as well." the Queen added.

"I'm shocked that you all are shocked." Dan said sounding upset.

"I was shocked by what he said afterwards, about the union." Crystal said.

"As we were shocked as well." the King said.

"Bah enough of this, I feel like shocking somebody!" Mohania said. They all laughed.

"I have never known a male human to impress me as much as Dan has, or you Crystal." the King turned around and his eyes began to glow white.

"So, you four, how would you feel if you came back from a mission and found out your loved one was pregnant by somebody else." the King said walking backwards.

"We probably would not have reacted the same way Dan did." Herrior said softly.

"Don't you love each other! Don't you have a duty to perform! Doesn't your mate as well! If the Queen became pregnant and she asked your female to carry her baby, and she said to keep it a secret - what would you do! Demand some sort of separation? Kill your mate? Mating is one thing, but sharing a passionate moment with your mate is another! If the King found out that you killed your mate, with his baby inside of her, what do you think would happen to you! Following the laws is one thing, but look at Joseph and Mary that gave birth to Jesus, they never mated! Joseph had every right in the world to leave her, but didn't. If he were to follow our laws and kill her, don't you think God would be pissed?" Crystal said screaming at them. "I have sacrificed my body, Dan has sacrificed his! For crying out loud, love your mate no matter what! Why am I even telling this to you? You all should know this!"

"Do you all understand what she just said?" the King asked calmly. "Or should I make her point more…painful?"

"Yes we do." they all repeated.

"I think I should strip their ranks and give them to you two." the King said looking at Dan and Crystal.

"I would not like that, but I would follow your command if you so desire. Kon, Tess, and Herrior are good leaders. They are not perfect; everybody fucks up once in awhile. We are all born with a sinful nature from the original sin. Mistakes will be made. He screwed up, I'm sure Tess and Herrior will screw up as well. Crystal and I have screwed up. I mean no disrespect, but probably you and the Queen have as well. I apologize if I have over stepped my boundaries." Dan said sounding a bit worried.

The King laughed. "Yes we have made mistakes as well. We both are very powerful, but compared to God, we are nothing but a tiny bug. Please speak freely; do you think that I over-reacted with Kon and his family?

"Yes, I do. I think you were scared shitless, I think that you were upset when you found out you were betrayed. I think Kon had good intentions. I think Lindel did everything that she could to save your lives, and I think she has been betrayed by her group. Out of everybody, Lindel should not be punished. She should be praised. Personally I'm ashamed of Herrior's orders and the fact that she's been jailed." Crystal said. "I was upset with Dan at first when Tess ordered him to mate with Skyka. Herrior and Skyka seemed fine then. But now this with Lindel? It confuses me. Does Herrior have feelings for Lindel, is that why this is such a big deal?"

Herrior was about to say something when the King quickly turned around and zapped him with a lightning bolt. It threw him backwards onto his back.

"On your feet! Catch up!" the King demanded.

"I have just searched Herrior's mind. He loves his group, but he loves his duty as well. I do not sense any additional feelings Herrior has for Lindel than he does for Quinely or Jacklyn." the King said.

Dan spun around. "That being the case, get over yourselves! Lindel saved the kingdom! You and Skyka have formed a union, but duty comes first! You have loved each other for years, and I do not doubt that you love each other. But we're talking about saving the kingdom here! Get over it!" Dan turned to the King and said, "Sorry my King."

"No apology needed. You and Crystal are feisty. You've also stretched the limits of intimate time as far as you could possibly go without actually mating…just like Mohania stretches his limits with orders as far as he can go without breaking them. You three amuse me. I figured our walk would be similar to how I predicted." the King stopped.

"I give you the command to do as you wish with their lives. What would you have me do?" the King asked.

"Make them bring me some human flesh…" Mohania said.

"Ok and what else?"

"Make them dance naked in front of the fountain while juggling…" Mohania said but was interrupted by Dan.

"Mohania, I think the King is serious here. My opinion? Take them off from their duty for a week. Force them to bond with each other. Keep all five of them in the same house if necessary until they are all comfortable with each other. A group is only as strong as the love and leadership they have for each other. My guess is from talking to Tess earlier, she had fun playing with her offspring. Order Tess and Kon to play with their offspring. Maybe it will increase their love, steady their minds, and learn to relax. Their children would probably love it. Set Lindel free immediately, but Herrior's group needs to learn to love her again. I know if I was in Herrior's place, Crystal would still love me. If the roles were reversed, I have no doubt that she would still love me. Herrior's group is powerful, only because of the love they have for one another. May Crystal and I approach the three of them?" Dan asked. The King nodded. Dan and Crystal held hands as they approached the mighty tauren, the blood elf, and the banshee - all crying and surprised at what Dan and Crystal had said.

"You could have ordered our execution…" Herrior said.

"Yeah, and then who would we have to make fun of? Besides, your comfortable to sleep on. Those are the only reasons that we didn't order it." Crystal said smiling. "Come here you guys." Crystal said opening her arms. They all embraced her.

"Come on Tess and Kon…you too…" Crystal said. They walked over and all five of them started to cry.

"Mohania?" the Queen said.

"What?" he responded back.

"Well aren't you going to go join them?"

"No, usually Quinely drags my ass into the group though…let's get back to stopping time and annihilating the alliance." Mohania said.

"What does Kendall see in you?" the Queen said laughing.

"My powers! My abilities to wipe out entire villages, able to spread death and destruction on a large scale." Mohania said as his eyes lit up with fire. Suddenly a portal opened and Kendall's hand came out and smacked Mohania on the cheek and then disappeared.

"I thought it was just us?" Mohania asked confused.

"It was until she showed up." the King said with a big grin on his face. "Kon was right; it will be interesting watching you on the day of your union. The all mighty Mohania, being reduced to a mere peasant and becoming soft and squishy in the hands of the one you loved. Don't worry; I'll broadcast that all over Tranquil."

"My King?" Mohania asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Can you kill me?"

The King laughed. "No, I think this will be good for you." The King then turned to all of them and said, "You are all released to go. Kon and Tess, you will be confined to your house. Herrior, Skyka, and Lindel, you will be confined to the human's house…err…no…let's confine you to Brenna's house. The other humans are not finished with their request yet. Dan and Crystal, go help speed up the other human's project. Skyka, Brenna's date did not work out. She came on too fast, and it frightened him. Maybe you and Lindel can talk with her. Herrior you are forced to listen." Herrior sighed.

"My King?" Herrior asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I request to be killed instead?"

The King smiled. "No." The King then created a portal and they all walked into it.

Tess and Kon arrived at their home. Their children were fast asleep on the floor. They laid down beside them and stared at each other all night.

Dan and Crystal appeared next to Branzer, Bernett, Samatha, and Julie, all sleeping in a grassy area in Tranquil. They both laid down next to them and fell asleep.

Herrior, Skyka, and Lindel appeared in Brenna's house. She was crying at her table. All three of them walked down the stairs and hugged her.

"I'm sorry Brenna." Herrior said.

"No, no it's my fault. I should've just done my job, I should not have fallen in love, I should have just done my duty. I probably scared him away and he never wants to see me again. How did you all get in here anyways?" Brenna asked.

"You helped us when we needed help, and now we are returning the favor." Skyka said kissing Brenna on the top of the head. "Come up and lay with us, tell us all about it." Skyka continued. They all moved up the stairs and laid down. Brenna then told her story. After several hours, she fell asleep.

"Poor girl." Skyka said. "Let's go kick his ass."

Herrior laughed. "No…no ass kicking in Tranquil. Love may still bloom out of this. Let's get some sleep."

Lindel crept over to the opposite side of the room and began to shake with anxiety. It became worse when she read Herrior and Skyka's dreams.

The next day after the executions had been carried out; Branzer told the others that he wanted to go looking around for Lindel. He eventually found out that she had been jailed. He investigated there and didn't find her. The jail master said there was a group taken from the jails last night by the King. He didn't want to bother the king asking about where she was, at least not yet. He checked the fountain, and then he checked their house. He found Kash and made small talk with her, but she didn't know where she was either. He summoned another ambassador and asked if Herrior's group was on a mission. The ambassador said no. He then walked over to Brenna's house and figured he would check there. He walked in and heard a very faint ghostly cry from upstairs.

"Lindel?" Branzer asked. No response. He walked upstairs and saw Lindel in the corner. She was curled up against the edge of the room. Her body was fluctuating between her human form and her banshee form. She looked horrible, as if she had been up all night crying.

"Lindel…its Branzer. Can you hear me?" Branzer said softly.

"Go away…" Lindel said quietly in her banshee voice.

"What's wrong hun, you can talk to me." Branzer said gently sitting down. Herrior and Skyka were still sleeping.

"You would be better off not knowing…everybody hates me…I should have been executed with the rest of the traitors today…I am a traitor to you, and my group…please choose another mate and forget about me." Lindel said sobbing. Branzer tried talking to her some more, but she wouldn't talk. Branzer walked over to Skyka and woke her up.

"What's going on with Lindel?" Branzer asked.

"She's sleeping." Skyka said waking up. "How long did we sleep for?"

"its mid day, what happened with Lindel?" Branzer asked again.

"Did she leave? She was here?" Skyka said and then looked around. She saw Lindel in the corner, crying and barely able to hold her human form.

"Herrior, wake up." Skyka said shaking him in a worried voice.

"Yup, I'm awake. I'm taking a nap today." Herrior said stretching. Skyka reached up and forced Herrior's head to look at Lindel.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Go away! If I had the power to disappear I would…I've even considered leaving this house so I would be killed!" Lindel said.

"What's going on guys?" Branzer asked to Skyka and Herrior. They both sighed and told the story, and what happened last night.

"I didn't want too! I didn't! I was looking for Branzer, he was my first thought but he wasn't around. And then Kon gave the order. I followed the order and saved the King and Queen's life. But look at me! You two hate me! And Branzer will leave me now! I did my duty and now I'm confined in a house with people that hate me and want to kill me!" Lindel said in a desperate voice.

"Hun, we don't hate you…" Skyka said.

"Do you forget that I'm a banshee? Able to read minds! I know your thoughts, I read your dreams! Both of you had dreams of killing me and it brought you joy! How do you think I'm supposed to feel! Look, after my confinement is up, I'll ask to switch groups - you won't see me again. Let's not make this any worse ok?" Lindel said burying her face in her legs. Herrior and Skyka looked at each other and sighed.

"I don't want to leave you." Branzer said. "You can read my mind if you like." Lindel looked up and her eyes turned purple. He was telling the truth. Lindel shook her head.

"Why? I mated with Herrior! Didn't you hear that part! They wanted to kill me! Dan and Crystal talked the King and Queen out of it. I should be dead right now! I put my mind into each person that was executed today, read their last thoughts and was envious of them. Kon betrayed the King, and got the shit beat out of him, but Tess still loved him. Their thoughts and dreams were of each other and their happy times. They are playing with their kids right now and completely forgot about what happened. Dan and Crystal talked the King out of executing them as well. I was relieved at first, but remembered the hatred these two had for me and still is going on, isn't it!" Lindel yelled looking at Herrior and Skyka. They slowly looked at each other feeling extreme guilt.

"I have watched you two mate for hundreds of years! Skyka, do you really think that I wanted to take your spot and mate with Herrior? It hurt bad! His thoughts were only of killing me, there was no physical pleasure at all! That was the first time in all of my lives that I have ever mated, now I never want to again! With anybody! Including you Branzer! Please! Just everybody leave me alone! I'll transfer as soon as my confinement is over…" Lindel yelled and started to wail in her banshee voice again. Branzer motioned to go over by her, and Lindel quickly moved away. He then walked over to Skyka and sat by her. She reached out and held his hand.

"When you transfer, I want to come with you." Branzer said softly. "My feelings for you have not changed. You can read my mind if you don't believe me." Lindel just shook her head.

Skyka spoke up, "Hun I'm sorry. I should never had thought the things that I did. Dan and Crystal gave us a severe tongue lashing last night. I felt horrible. I don't recall my dreams, but I apologize for them as well. I was jealous and felt betrayed. I shouldn't have. I never thought that something like this would happen, and I was unprepared for it. I was selfish. If it wasn't for you, we all would probably be dead right now. Please forgive me Lindel, you are a hero. I'm honored to have you in our group. I want to rebuild our love. We used to be like sisters, I want to have that again with you. Even if you do transfer, I want to have that bond with you again."

Lindel let out a sigh and looked up at her. "I've formed a physical love connection with your mate." she said slowly.

"That changes nothing in my opinion Lindel." Herrior said. "I feel the same way Skyka does. I loved you hun, you know that. I want that connection back."

"You both hurt me last night! I was jailed and labeled a traitor! I was poisoned all night and heard the screams of everybody else as well as mine! What hurt the most was how you thought about me! You both would have let me die if it wasn't for Dan and Crystal! You wouldn't have intervened would you?" Lindel said as her eyes turned purple staring at Herrior and Skyka.

"I would have." Branzer said.

"That's what I thought!" Lindel yelled, ignoring Branzer. "Did you visit me in jail? Did you come and talk to me? Did you go to the King and beg for my release? Would you have woken up in time to watch my body incinerate in front of everybody with a smile on your face? The only friends that I have are Dan and Crystal! They saved my miserable life, and I'm starting to hate them for doing that! Listen to you two with your fancy ambassador talk…I've heard enough of it over the years to know that you are just blowing hot air! Leave me alone!" Lindel conjured up enough power to fade completely away. She continued her wailing in her banshee voice though.

The three of them sat in quiet for a minute. Then Skyka started singing very softly:

"El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

El-Elyon na Adonia,

Age to age You're still the same,

By the power of the name.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

Erkamka na Adonai,

We will praise and lift You high,

El Shaddai."

Herrior joined in. They both looked at Branzer and he shrugged his shoulders. Both of Herrior and Skyka continued the song.

"Through your love and through the ram,

You saved the son of Abraham;

Through the power of your hand,

Turned the sea into dry land.

To the outcast on her knees,

You were the God who really sees,

And by Your might,

You set Your children free.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

El-Elyon na Adonia,

Age to age You're still the same,

By the power of the name.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

Erkamka na Adonai,

We will praise and lift You high,

El Shaddai."

Lindel rematerialized and started singing as well.

"Through the years You've made it clear,

That the time of Christ was near,

Though the people couldn't see

What Messiah ought to be.

Though Your Word contained the plan,

They just could not understand

Your most awesome work was done

Through the frailty of Your Son.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

El-Elyon na Adonai,

Age to age You're still the same,

By the power of the name.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

Erkamka na Adonai,

I will praise and lift You high,

El Shaddai.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

El-Elyon na Adonai,

Age to age You're still the same,

By the power of the name.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

Erkamka na Adonai,

I will praise and lift You high,

El Shaddai."

"You don't know that song Branzer?" Lindel asked still looking at the ground.

"I've heard of it, but I don't know the words. You guys sing beautifully. Nobody would ever know that the three of you could be mass slaughtering the alliance one day, and then have voices like the angels the next." Branzer said.

"I love that song, you should learn it." Lindel said.

Another moment of silence passed between them.

"Lindel?" Skyka asked.

"Skyka?" Lindel asked in reply.

"I love you." Skyka said softly.

"I love you too hun." Lindel looked up. They were both in tears staring at each other. Then they ran towards each other and hugged. An eruption of emotions came out of both of them. Herrior and Branzer smiled as they watched.

"I am so sorry hun." Skyka said crying.

"I am sorry too." Lindel said, emotional as well. Lindel sprouted her wings and covered Skyka with them. As massive white light surged out from her wings and engulfed the room, completely blinding everybody. Both of their voices echoed throughout the house with laughing and kissing each other. Everything in the house began to float off from the ground and white lightning began to arc from them.

"You guys had probably settle down before you catch Brenna's house on fire." Herrior said still smiling.

The blinding light decreased, but the lightning bolts continued to surge from Lindel's wings. The bolts caused no pain, and just simply dissipated as soon as they hit an object. Lindel unfolded her wings and they were both holding hands and spinning around in a circle.

When they stopped spinning, Skyka said, "You can have Herrior any time you want." with a smile.

"You can have Branzer any time you want…" Lindel said smiling at him.

"Uh…no?" Branzer said.

Suddenly Trackolania appeared out of thin air and wrapped his arms around Lindel's thighs.

"And now just where did you come from?" Lindel asked with a smile looking down at him. He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"Do the rest of you guys want to come up as well?" Lindel asked. Slowly the rest of Herrior's group walked up the stairs.

"And just how long were you planning on waiting here?" Lindel asked playfully glaring at them.

"As long as it took." Quinely said with a smile. Lindel rolled her eyes.

"Still friends then?" Lindel asked.

"No, we're brothers and sisters." Strings said. "No matter what."

Dan helped Crystal up the stairs as she hugged her stomach. "Sorry we're late, little brat is being a pain…"

"Has he been still stopping time?" Lindel asked.

"Yeah, lately it's been kind of funny. Dan and I took Mohania's suggestion and put the four of them in awkward positions and then watch when time resumes again. I think it's starting to piss them off, but we find it amusing." Crystal said smiling.

"There are a lot of things I could teach the youth in Tranquil." Mohania said with a sinister tone and a smile.

"Anyways Bernett, Branzer, Samatha, and Julie are heading back to our world. They need to put the finishing touches on the surprises that we have for you guys. It took us all week, with a lot of help, and it'll cost a lot of money, but I think all of you will like it." Dan said. "It should be ready by tomorrow. Herrior, please give the order that nobody is to go in our house that was built for us. No peaking, no flying through it, no burning it down, no mind controlling to see what the surprise is, no sending in demons to report back…"

"I get the point." Herrior said laughing. "Everybody is to stay away."

Lindel got excited about the surprise, and then looked really confused. Skyka looked at her and said, "No patrolling in there either hun…"

Lindel smiled and shook her head. "No I'll stay away. May I ask a question?"

"No you can't…" Skyka said pushing her with a smile on her face. Lindel smiled and almost tumbled over Trackolania who was still hugging her.

"Does mating always hurt? I mean you and Herrior seem to really enjoy it, but like I said it caused a lot of pain and wasn't enjoyable at all for me. Why is that?" Lindel asked.

"When you for a union with Branzer…" Skyka said but was interrupted by Branzer.

"Whoa…uh we need to go through a couple more phases first if I remember right…" Branzer said.

Skyka rolled her eyes. "Like I was saying, when you and Branzer form a union, your body will adjust to Branzer. The first couple of times may hurt, but he'll go slow and be careful with you. It's trust between each other, and communication. With me it still hurts a little, but my body has adjusted to him. Sometimes if I'm in too much pain, we stop. Branzer will take good care of you, or I'll have Mohania torture him."

"I'll start making room in my cave…" Mohania said walking back down the stairs.

Lindel nodded. "I think Skyka was kidding Mohania…"

"All I heard was my name and torture…the rest is a blur." Mohania said smiling back at them.

"Have you got your vows written for Kendall yet?" Lindel said leaning over the rail and staring at him.

"Vows? I'll just repeat what I said before…" Mohania said looking uncomfortable.

"Do you remember what you said before?" Lindel said putting her hand on her head, leaning on the rail.

"Umm…yes?"

"Should I summon her so you can practice?" Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"No! Let's all…umm…go somewhere…and do something…I suggest stopping time and collecting the heads of gnomes and string them all together for a necklace for Kendall." Mohania said.

"Your not nervous…are you?" Skyka asked.

"No! I am death respawned! I possess the powers of fire and shadow…" Mohania began to say when Kendall walked in.

"Hun, what colors should we wear for the wedding? I was thinking black, but that's kind of morbid for a wedding. What do you think of both of us wearing all white with a red rose above the left breast pocket?" Kendall asked.

"I was hoping to ignite my body with fire and showing off my powers..." Mohania said.

"No." Kendall replied back.

"…white is fine…" Mohania said softly.

"Ok thanks!" Kendall kissed him on the cheek and left.

"You've got it bad…" Branzer said as they all started to laugh. "Well I need to go catch up with my other friends. See you all tomorrow." He walked out of Brenna's house.

"How about we all go in my cave for tonight." Mohania said trying to change the subject.

"Is it safe?" Herrior asked.

"Yes. Samatha wanted to go in there for some reason. I hope she didn't rearrange anything… Anyways most of the demons are gone. It's just my minion warlocks now. I've wanted to see their progress anyways." Mohania said as he began walking. The rest of them followed. They all had to duck down to get inside of the cave, but just as Mohania promised, Herrior was able to fit inside of the catacombs. They all sat around the red fire with the naked red women dancing around it.

"So this is the big secret?" Herrior asked.

"This ground is full of blight, completely sundered ground. The fire gives off a signal that attracts undead. The combination of both lure my race to me. The undead regenerate quickly in here. It may actually drain your energies as you are a different race. It won't kill you though, just may feel dizzy in the morning." Mohania explained.

"What's with the red women?" Herrior asked.

"Same question Dan had. Not sure. They all showed up one day. They don't seem to bother us, so we just leave them be. They only talk once in awhile, but possess no powers at all." Mohania said.

Suddenly dozens of undead came crawling out of different catacombs on the opposite side of the fire and all gazed at Herrior's group. Mohania said several things in their language. They all looked at each other and then went back to work.

"They wanted to know if I brought all of you here to torture you." Mohania said staring into the fire. "By the way, when are we getting our new talents and stronger powers?"

"No idea. I imagine you'll know the same time I'll know." Herrior said.

They all talked for awhile, until they fell asleep in Mohania's cave.

They slept until half way through the next day, the day before the union. Branzer summoned a portal in front of Herrior.

"Ok, the surprise is ready for you guys. We're all waiting for you at our house. Bring Dan and Crystal too, just in case time stops."

The portal closed and Herrior turned to his group. "Ok, well I guess the surprise is ready for us. Crystal tell your little one not to stop time."

"Yeah, let me just push his off button…Ok guys, we've worked on this all week. We're all hoping that you'll like it. If you don't, just pretend that you do." Crystal said smiling and stood up. It looked like Lindel and Mohania were about to talk.

"No, it's not chocolate, and no it's not human flesh. Come on…" Crystal said. They both frowned and the whole group went inside the portal to Tranquil. Eventually they all came to the front door of the new house that was built for them, with Samatha, Bernett, Branzer, and Julie with Spark at her side.

"Ok, if time stops, please just hold still until is resumes ok?" Samatha said. "How is my little one doing by the way?"

"He kicks every time he hears your voice…he still knows who mom is." Crystal said with one hand on her back. Samatha smiled in excitement.

"This idea actually came to us talking with Kash. We were considering waiting until after the union, but wanted to get everybody in their normal element. We'll be taking pictures as well during the union and making a package for everybody." Bernett said. Dan and Crystal smiled at them, while the rest of the group gave them a confused look.

"Look, you guys may be able to portal to different worlds, and fly around, and do fighting things that none of us could even imagine, but our world still has some technology that you may like…I hope." Samatha said. With that she opened the door. The four of them walked in first with Dan and Crystal behind them. The rest of the group walked in and stared in wonder. There were pictures of all of them all over the wall. Trackolania instantly vanished.

"No no, Trackolania. This is the surprise, it won't hurt you. It's just a picture." Crystal said. Trackolania reappeared on the wall right above a picture of him, staring at it curiously.

"They aren't Doppelgängers?" Herrior asked.

"No, they are just a picture. It's not a spirit, it's not a ghost…it's just simply an image of everybody." Dan said. "They are to look at."

"Remember when we pulled all of you aside and told you one at a time how to use a camera? Well these are the results. Some of the pictures we had to toss away when you were first learning how to use the camera, we sort of figured that would happen which is why we gave you five a piece." Samatha walked over to the wall where the door was and said, "For some reason, we have a lot of pictures of Herrior's ass. We thought about throwing them out, but decided against it. So, we put all of the pictures of Herrior's ass on this wall. I'm assuming Herrior didn't take pictures of his own ass…"

"I know I did!" Skyka said proudly.

"So did I!" Lindel said laughing. Slowly the rest of them admitted that they did as well.

"Why?" Herrior asked.

"I personally did, so when I get mad at you, I can come in here and kick you in the ass." Crystal said smiling.

"Bah, you don't need to pretend you can do it any time you want!" Skyka said turning Herrior around.

"Moving on…" Samatha said slowly moving along the wall. "Here are some pictures of the wall outside, here are some pictures of the fountain, somehow one of you were able to get some pictures of the King and Queen. Here are some pictures of the church. There's some of Brenna and her garden. Here's some with Strings flirting with the barmaids in the inn…"

"I don't recall that…" Strings said looking closely at the picture. Then he started laughing and said, "Ok, yeah I do remember…"

Samatha continued down the wall. "Here's some of Jacklyn in the arena, over here are some of some aerial views of Tranquil - I'm assuming Lindel took those - and here's some of the orcs, and the new Draenei. We made a whole list of pictures of all the children that were taken and put them in line here." Samatha said pointing at the wall. Everybody looked on with enthusiasm.

"Some of the general people pictures we put on the back wall here. It just looks like people coming and going, going about their business." Samatha said leading the group back. Herrior's group quickly identified who all the people were.

"We traveled all over Tranquil, taking pictures of Tess and Kon with their kids, taking pictures of the enormous garden, the tree sections, some of the shops, the goblins work area…they wanted to see one of the cameras to dissect it, but we told them no." Samatha walked over to the other side of the wall.

"We don't really know who these people are, but it looks like some of you went out of your way to have them pose for you, so we put them here." Samatha said. Herrior's group went through and quickly identified all of them, except for a small woman about Trackolania's height.

"No clue who this is…and I'm usually in everybody else's business." Lindel said.

"That seems so unlike you Lindel…but I don't know either. She looks kind of like a rogue. She has daggers on her belt and a cloak like Trackolania, about the same height as well. There are about ten pictures of her here." Herrior said trying to recall her face. The pictures ranged from her smiling at the camera, to her swimming, throwing her daggers, stuck up on the ceiling, and then several more of her smiling at the camera.

"Is she a rogue, Trackolania?" Skyka asked him in curiosity. Trackolania's face immediately turned red, he smiled and turned away.

Skyka instantly smiled and said, "You're kidding…is she a friend of yours our little rogue? I thought women were yucky?" The whole group was looking at him now. Trackolania became even more nervous and slowly started to fade away.

"Oh no you don't!" Lindel said leaping at him. They tumbled on the floor and she picked him up smiling at him.

"Have you been keeping a secret from us?" Lindel asked eagerly. Trackolania just shrugged his shoulders.

"I will go into your mind little one and get the answers…" Lindel said snickering at him. Trackolania put his hand over his eyes and smiled.

"Lindel put him down. Trackolania? What is her name?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania looked sad and slowly shook his head.

"Is she dating anybody right now?" Quinely asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"Do you like her?" Crystal asked with a smile. Trackolania smiled and shrugged one shoulder.

"Why don't rogues talk?" Dan asked.

"They do if it is a dire situation, however some of their abilities that they do they don't want anybody else to know how they do it. It's a very secret organization." Herrior said. "I have a feeling, just like Mohania, that they are able to do more things that we are aware of. That's why they don't go into the arena as well."

"It's about time somebody recognizes the power I possess!" Mohania said.

"Yeah…yeah…death and destruction… So when are we going to meet her?" Lindel asked. Trackolania quickly shook his head.

"Do you not want us to meet her?" Strings asked. Trackolania sighed.

"Is she in a group?" Herrior asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"So she is a spy or an assassin?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded his head.

"Oh. So she's probably gone a lot huh?" Quinely asked. Trackolania nodded.

"So I'm guessing she's probably a subtlety rogue? Probably specializing in gathering secrets and performing quick kills undetected?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded.

"I really need to learn that stuff." Branzer said.

"Can we meet her someday?" Skyka said with a smile. Trackolania shrugged.

"You don't know when she is coming back, or if she is coming back, huh little one. If she gets captured it's on her own to get back huh." Skyka asked bending over to his level. Trackolania looked sad and slowly nodded. Skyka hugged him as a small tear came down from his left eye.

"She's always come back, hasn't she?" Skyka asked. Trackolania nodded.

"She's probably really good at what she does hun. How long has she been doing this? Several years?" Skyka asked. Trackolania nodded and held up eight fingers.

"If she's been doing this for eight years, I wouldn't worry to much about her. But you two have fun together don't you?" Skyka said letting go of him and looking eye to eye with him. Trackolania nodded.

"When she is around, we would like to meet her. Is that ok?" Skyka asked. Trackolania nodded.

"In the mean time we'll pray for her, is that ok?" Skyka asked kissing him on the forehead. Trackolania nodded.

"Hey, I thought you loved me…" Lindel said putting her hand on her hip and shoving it to one side. Trackolania rolled his eyes.

"Yes Lindel, everybody loves you…now let's continue." Branzer said walking up the stairs.

Time stopped.

Branzer stopped in mid-step. The other humans not immune to time stopping immediately ceased to move.

"Little brat…" Crystal said looking down at her stomach.

"Quick, Quinely and Skyka - come with me!" Lindel said and pulled them out of the house.

"They told us not to move." Herrior said, but his words were worthless. They were already running away.

Thirty seconds later they came back in the house and quickly stripped down Branzer and Bernett. The three of them quickly put pink dresses on them. The three of them encouraged each other to hurry as fast as they could.

"You guys are awful…" Herrior said shaking his head…

Lindel extended Samatha's arms and put both of their clothes in her hands.

Another thirty seconds passed with all of them trying to suppress their laughter.

Time resumed.

"Yup here we have large photos of each other and…why do I feel awkward all of a sudden?" Branzer said and looked down at himself. Herrior's party instantly burst into laughter.

Bernett looked at Samatha with an unhappy stare. "Hun, I know nothing about this…but I wish I had a camera on me right now."

"You guys didn't do anything to me, did you?" Julie said looking over her body.

"Didn't Herrior tell you guys not to move if this happened?" Branzer asked looking at Herrior.

"Technically we didn't. We were in the same spot we were in when time resumed, so as far as you guys know, we didn't move. Just depends on your point of view." Lindel said.

Branzer let out a sigh. "Are we going to be playing jokes like this on each other for the rest of our lives if we form a union?"

"Just paying you back for what you pulled on me at dinner!" Lindel said quickly.

"And now I have to think of something to pay you back for this…" Branzer said glaring at her. Lindel giggled.

"Well, good luck with your life Branzer. I warned ya that she would be a handful." Bernett said putting his regular clothes back on.

"You've got no idea…" Herrior said laughing.

The both of them finished putting their clothes back on and proceeded up the stairs. This time on the walls had life sized pictures of all of them, behind a glass frame. Julie and with her dog Spark; Herrior and Skyka were kissing, as well as Samatha and Bernett, and Lindel and Branzer. The rest of them were in their armor and posing for the shot. It covered the entire room.

"This is sort of the grand finale. It actually took a lot of sneaking around, and trying to find a company that would print off life sized pictures…we had to shrink Herrior and Jacklyn down a little…they just wouldn't fit coming off from the printers. And then we had to find glass frames for all of them. It was definitely hard to do, but I hope you all like it." Samatha said. Spark walked over to the picture of him and Julie and barked the word "Julie" at it.

"Again, none of these pictures are going to hurt you. It's just we thought if we are going to have a house, it would be neat to remember all of you and what you have done for us. All of you are more than welcome to stay here anytime you want." Herrior's group all looked around in amazement. Samatha walked over to a corner behind the staircase.

"Kash said we could setup a little play area for our kiddo here that would prevent him from falling down the stairs so he could sleep with us." Eventually we'll have to move him downstairs and setup the play area there. I must say it still feels awkward having our baby in somebody else, and leaving him here instead of taking him home with us." Samatha said looking down. "But he belongs here. In fact, I have a feeling that we all belong here." Samatha said starting to tear up looking at everybody.

"Well, it's time for me to leave…" Mohania said moving towards the stairs. Quinely grabbed him and threw him at Samatha. She wrapped her arms around his boney body and embraced him hard.

"I'm going to burn your arms off one day Quinely…" Mohania said glaring at her.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you know you like it…" Quinely said smirking at him. "Say something comforting to her."

"No, I'm sorry guys. Just emotional is all. So what do you guys think?" Samatha asked letting go of Mohania.

"I think we all have a new place to sleep at night, if that is ok with you guys." Herrior said.

"Don't I need to sleep with Tess's group?" Julie asked.

"Naw, if she needs you, she'll contact ya." Herrior replied back.


	11. Honeymoon

Honeymoon

Everybody arrived at Branzer's house.

"Does anybody sense anything?" Herrior asked. Trackolania, Quinely, Mohania, and now Crystal began to concentrate. They all reported nothing.

"I don't know why we are here. Perhaps we'll get some more information Monday. I do not have a good feeling about this mission. Report anything that even seems unusual. Keep on your toes." Herrior said.

Branzer walked over to his answering machine and played back the messages. The Lieutenant had called once to report that he was in the hospital with liver problems, but then said he was back to work on Thursday.

"Since we have time to kill, can I show Crystal some secrets of being a warlock?" Mohania asked excitedly.

"No." Crystal answered back quickly.

"Mohania, just settle down ok? Stop bugging Crystal." Herrior said in an annoyed voice.

Suddenly Herrior's, Skyka's, Mohania', and Branzer's hearthstones began to vibrate.

"Meeting time I'm assuming." Herrior said pulling out his stone. They all stuck their heads through the portal. They all saw hundreds of other ambassador's with their heads stuck through a portal as well. They were all in the inner chambers.

The King said, "Thank you all for coming. We all have a lot of business to discuss. First of all, a warning to all of you. I trust you all with my life and the lives of everybody in Tranquil. I hate repeating myself, but if any of you are disloyal to me, more executions will happen along with all of your family members. Is that understood?"

Everybody instantly said, "Yes."

"We have gained access to greater powers. I'm testing them out on Pano, Yurok, and Crystal. It maybe only temporarily and more than likely we'll have to adjust them over the next couple of weeks. Our spies report that the alliance are becoming stronger and obtaining powers on the same level that we are testing. They have also reported that many of them that obtain the greater powers have been turning on each other, which is kind of amusing." The King said with a smile.

"Crystal?" Mohania said quietly. Suddenly a massive hoof came up and kicked him to the ground, his face completely disappearing from the portal. Mohania quickly got back up and put his face back in the portal.

"Mohania. I was talking." The King said.

"Sorry, apparently I fell down." Mohania said rubbing his hip.

"I do not want any more interruptions! We have much to discuss!" The King said glaring at him.

"We are obtaining new types of weaponry from the Draenei. They have been very cooperative and we are trying to reverse engineer the weapons from the humans and their weapons as well. We have also obtained coordinates to multiple different planets overrun by demons. The demons seem to be increasing in number. I'm going to start assigning groups to obtain more information, but not to engage them." The King said with a sigh. "Which leads me to the next item on the agenda. Since the alliance is amassing new powers, and the demons seem to be everywhere – I have decided to enlarge our groups. I am going to ask our healing banshees to start studying portal magic and send them out with different groups. I don't want to do that…but our time-stoppers and banshees must be protected! If they get captured, they must be killed! Is that understood?"

Another round of "Yes." came from everybody.

"Something else that has me worried is a member of Herrior's group appears to have had a warning that something is going to happen on Earth. You do not need any more information than that, but if a member of his group contacts any of you for help – you are to immediately summon forces to them! Do not contact me until you have amassed an enormous army for them, and then tell me. I'm keeping many groups in Tranquil just for this reason. Too many of our forces on the planet will attract unnecessary attention. Herrior, tell your group not to hesitate to contact us! Even if it were a false alarm, I would rather amass an army quickly then not have one then watch your entire group be wiped out. Have you sensed anything yet?" The King asked.

"Not yet my King." Herrior responded.

"Keep an eye on Crystal. If she turns on you, restrain her and bring her back – unharmed if you can. It goes with Pano and Yurok as well. Also, bring me back some good news for the groups I dispatch. I'm probably sensing the same uneasiness that everybody else is feeling. Something is coming, just not sure when or where. Keep in contact with my personal ambassadors! You are all dismissed." The King said.

The four of them pulled their heads out and looked at Crystal. Crystal looked at all four of them.

"What?" She finally asked.

"We were told to keep an eye on you." Herrior said. "Apparently you and two others are test subjects for the greater powers that are eventually going to be given to all of us. Reports have it that some of the alliance has turned on their own after obtaining the newer powers."

"I would never!" Crystal said feeling insulted. "I did my duty, I did what I was asked to do, just the same as Dan did. Do I need to constantly prove my loyalty to you and Dan, and the King? This is really annoying me, look at what all I have done!"

"Easy Crystal, the powers may over-whelm you and take control of your mind. I think that is what everybody is worried about." Skyka said.

"Yes, and you must share everything you know with me." Mohania said.

"Mohania let me put it this way. I could kill you in a second and you wouldn't even know what happened. But I wouldn't because, once again, I am loyal and love my group!" Crystal said. "So if you want to tie me up at night, or drain my powers in order to 'trust' me, so be it. But decide right here and now because I want this subject closed!"

Herrior looked at the other ambassadors and sighed.

"The King ordered us to keep an eye on you. We do trust you, with our lives. You will not be restrained. There were two others that were given the new powers as well. They are being treated the same way. We have to follow our orders, it is our duty." Herrior said.

"Fine. Do you want to see what my new powers are? So that way you aren't afraid of me?"

"No." Herrior said.

"Yes…" Mohania said in a sinister voice.

"No!" Herrior said glaring at him.

"Why does all of the weird shit happen in our group? Dan's capable of destroying all of Tranquil, why isn't he being monitored? His powers are vastly stronger than mine are!" Crystal said. "You know what? Just forget it…I'm going to bed! When you trust me, wake me up!" She said walking up the stairs.

There was a deep moment of silence. Herrior let out a sigh.

"A lot of weird shit is happening to a lot of our groups… Do you guys sense anything yet?" Herrior said looking at the staircase. After a couple of seconds, everybody reported that they didn't.

"Let's call it a night then." Herrior said walking to the backyard. Julie walked over to her futon and laid down. Spark walked up to her and started licking her face.

"No, we are not buying another futon. Go lay down." Julie said. Spark started whining and walked over to his bed. His head hung off one side and his butt hung off the other.

"Has he grown?" Bernett asked.

"I thought so, but I wasn't sure. I'll get him a new bed after work tomorrow." Julie replied. "So what should I expect on my second day of work, I mean after taking a whole week off after my first day."

"Sounded like the Lieutenant wasn't feeling good. Probably check on him; see if there's been anything-weird happening. Play it by ear." Branzer said.

Dan walked up to Branzer's room and looked in at Crystal. She was on the far side of the bed. She didn't seem to be sleeping.

"Do you mind if I sleep here?" Dan asked.

"No, you're fine. Whose bed is this?" Crystal asked.

"Originally it was mine, then Lindel claimed it, and Samatha, then somehow we got Julie in here as well." Branzer said. Crystal let out a sigh.

"But it's yours for tonight, come on everybody." Branzer said shutting the door behind him.

Dan walked over and sat on the floor in front of Crystal. She looked at him and smiled.

"Don't ever become a woman, still having after effects from being pregnant." Crystal said.

"I'll make a note of that." Dan said smiling.

Several moments passed and she let out a sigh.

"Your mom looked beautiful." Crystal said.

"Yes, I'm glad she could come. Somehow I think I have you to thank for that?" Dan asked. Crystal nodded.

"So why are you trusted? I mean look at Mohania, he eats people, and Trackolania shows up out of nowhere, Lindel can take over people's minds. What's the deal with me?" Crystal sighed. "Am I putting too much thought into this?"

"A little I think. Give it time. Personally I would like to see Mohania's face when you show off your new abilities." Dan said.

"He would shit himself." Crystal said with a laugh. "For some reason I think Herrior could take all of us if he had too, new powers or not."

"Yeah, but he has a soft heart." Dan said.

"He's a good leader. Let's get some sleep if we are going to report in to the station tomorrow." Crystal said with a smile. Dan smiled back and jumped over Crystal and landed in the bed.

The next day at the station, all five officers walked early and saw the stack of folders on Branzer's desk. Spark went over to his empty cubicle and curled himself into a ball to fit on the ground.

"Looks like we have some work to do this week." Branzer said picking up the stack and handing them out. There were twenty folders all together.

Dan opened the first one that was handed to him. "Alligator found in sewers, is this what you guys do here?"

"I got one. Woman loses cat in tree, turns into a bird and flies away." Crystal said.

"Here are three for house that is supposed to be haunted, and one of a singing fish that is supposedly telling an eighty-four year old man to poison his wife." Bernett said shaking his head.

"Wait guys, governor talks about reducing police budgets – and then our instructions are to assemble a squad of our officers to protect his ass while he gives his speech." Branzer said.

"Nice! I have a potential kidnapping here. There isn't enough information to issue a warrant and it looks like they are about to close the case. Gives the address here." Julie said.

"When we left last week, nothing was happening in our city, and now all of these strange things?" Branzer said out loud.

"Oh it gets better." The Lieutenant said walking out of his office with several more case folders. "Here are some more from just over the weekend." He handed them to Branzer and they all noticed that his hands were dark red, and his face was pale white and sweating a lot.

"Dan and Crystal?" He asked.

"Yup, and Bernett just had a baby. We're on assignment here for awhile, figured we would come do our job for awhile." Crystal said smiling.

"I need to put cow bells on you people so I can keep track of you…" The Lieutenant said and then doubled over in pain.

"I'm fine, just too much activity/stress that sort of thing. I just need my medication to kick in." He said.

"You said on my machine that you were at the hospital…" Branzer said.

"My liver is failing. Almost drank myself to death. I quit but the damage is already done. I'm scheduled for a transplant. Anyways I need to go sit back down." The Lieutenant said walking back to his office.

"Let's take all of the folders and talk with Herrior about them." Branzer said putting his in a neat pile and walking towards the conference room. Spark drifted off to sleep and stayed in his cubicle.

Branzer summoned Herrior, and they all came through a portal with their weapons drawn.

"No fighting yet, take a look at these." Branzer said motioning for everybody to hand over his or her folders.

Herrior and Skyka began looking through them; once they were done they passed them down to the rest of the members in their group. Some small talk was made, but they were all mostly quiet. Herrior passed down a couple of folders and pointed to the picture to Lindel. She closed her eyes and quietly began to form a dim light above her head. She nodded after a couple of seconds to all of the pictures that she was shown.

"So which ones are real, and which ones should we toss?" Branzer asked finally.

"Oh they are all real, some of them more severe than others. Question is why all the flurry of demonic activity all of a sudden. I doubt they are setting a trap for us, like the alliance would coordinate. It's all confusing actually, I'll report this to the King but I'm certain we all can handle these cases." Herrior said.

"Alligator in the sewers?" Dan asked.

"No, it's a demon. If you read on it talks about 'stalking the construction workers' and supposedly reading their thoughts." Mohania said. "It's in a small sentence at the end, which doesn't help us any. The whole article talks about their emotions and their mental status, who cares? Give us the demon's abilities and health; even a picture would have been helpful. Doesn't even give a good location of where the demon is or why it spawned…"

Mohania looked up at the humans and said, "If these idiots are going to file a report, why put all of this useless shit in here?"

Dan laughed, "Let's not have Mohania watch the late night news…"

Just then the conference room door opened and the Lieutenant walked in holding another folder.

"Direct from the Chief, he wants us to investigate a ghost sighting on a prairie two hours north of here. Why are all of these dumbass reports…" the Lieutenant stopped as he looked up at Herrior's group looking through the folders.

All of Herrior's group instantly noticed something different about the Lieutenant, but ignored it and smiled at him.

"How are you feeling?" Skyka asked him.

"Fine. If you guys are here, I'm assuming something big is going to happen?" he responded back.

"We're not sure. Our assignment was to come here and investigate. This is a good starting point I'd say. Are you in any pain?" Herrior asked.

"Some, but it will go away…" The Lieutenant asked.

"Have you prayed to God yet?" Quinely asked.

"What?" The Lieutenant asked. "I had the hospital chapel come talk to me in the hospital. Why are all of you asking me these odd questions?"

The humans were wondering as well. "Do you see it Dan and Crystal?" Herrior asked.

Dan and Crystal looked at the Lieutenant very closely. They started with his eyes thinking he might have been taken over by the alliance. Then they looked all over his clothes and started to walk around him.

"What's going on?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I don't see anything, he seems normal. Smells like Calvin Klein Cologne." Crystal said.

"You've killed many and you have never seen this?" Herrior asked in surprise.

"Don't look at him, look around him." Lindel said.

"I'll give you a hint. It's what I usually see that tells me to stop torturing my victim for awhile until…" Mohania said but was interrupted by Quinely elbowing him in the stomach.

"What…are you talking about…" the Lieutenant said nervously back towards the door.

"Don't let him leave." Herrior said. Julie slammed the door shut as Bernett and Branzer restrained him.

"Move him over to the middle of the green wall." Herrior said.

"Are you going to kill me?" the Lieutenant asked beginning to struggle.

"No hun, nobody here is going to kill you, or torture you. We are trying to teach our new human friends something."

"Jacklyn, would you mind assisting me?" Herrior said walking over to the Lieutenant. Both of them each put a hand on his arm. They were both gentle, but firm. Herrior then instructions the other humans to go back where he was standing and look at him. They all looked curiously at him for several minutes.

"I'm not feeling all that well; can I go get a drink?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No. Don't you see it yet?" Herrior asked patiently.

"I give up, what are we looking for?" Julie asked. Herrior began moving his hand slightly back and forth over the Lieutenant's head for a couple of seconds until everybody saw it.

"What the hell is that?" Branzer spoke the loudest as everybody else said his or her own comment.

"What?" The Lieutenant asked in a panic.

"Take a guess." Skyka said smiling at them.

"Uh, he's part ghost…or part of a ghost is coming out of him, or he is able to make Herrior's hand fade out of existence when it's over his head." Dan said.

"His spirit is about ready to leave his body. Lindel saw the same thing with his wife as I was rummaging through his personal belongings." Skyka said.

"My what? What the hell does that mean?" The Lieutenant asked quickly.

"I put most of them back…sort of…" Skyka said innocently.

"Can I eat his corpse?" Mohania asked Herrior.

"No! What! Am I going to die?" The Lieutenant said turning to look at everybody.

"You always know the right thing to say at the right time, don't you Mohania?" Quinely said.

"God gives life, God takes life. Not even our King and Queen are immune to death. It's how God designed all of us." Skyka said.

The Lieutenant felt very weak and started to shake. Branzer told Herrior to put him in the chair around the table. It looked like he was going to vomit.

"Death is all around us, we take lives and lives are taken from our groups. We all face death every day. I'm surprised that you look so upset. Do you want a drink?" Strings asked.

"I can't die; I'm scheduled for a transplant. I did everything you two told me to, I stopped drinking, I've gotten my life together, and I'm going to church." The Lieutenant said quickly looking at Skyka and Lindel. "My job, my career, my wife, my family…I can't die!"

"We can ease your pain if you are suffering." Skyka said softly.

"No…" The Lieutenant said quickly and appeared to be in deep thought. "Ok, all I need to do is make a deal with you guys. An agreement and then you can save my life. What do you guys want? Just name it! You needed people before, I can rally them again, and we'll fight for you. Come on; let's come up with some ideas." He said turning around and grabbing a piece of chalk to write on the board.

The room went entirely quiet. The Lieutenant nervous sat there with his piece of chalk.

"What do you guys need?" he screamed in almost desperation.

"Why don't you go home to your wife sir, start making preparations." Bernett said.

"And tell her what? That a bunch of weird looking creatures from another world said they see my spirit leaving my body and I'm going to die soon?" The Lieutenant said in desperation.

"Do I look weird?" Mohania asked looking around.

"Yes Mohania. Just take a deep breath for a second Lieutenant…" Crystal said beginning to help calm him down.

Skyka suddenly got an unusual thought in her head. "Herrior, let's talk with the King about this. Don't ask me why." Herrior nodded and summoned up an image of one of the King's ambassadors. Herrior stated that he and Skyka needed to speak with him about a non-urgent matter. He closed the portal and motioned for Branzer to take up his position. He walked over to Skyka.

"What's going on hun?" Herrior asked.

"Just a weird feeling. No visions or thoughts. It's not danger or anything like that. But a part of me wants to heal him, as if we need him." Skyka whispered to Herrior.

"For what?" Herrior asked surprised.

"For…for…I can give you weapons, and information, and officers…" The Lieutenant said overhearing Herrior's response.

Skyka slowly shook her head. A portal opened revealing the King.

"Can you make it one-sided? I wish to speak with you alone." Skyka said. The portal instantly vanished and reappeared as a small circle with white and black dots rapidly appearing and disappearing. Skyka stuck her head through.

"My King…something is troubling me." Skyka said.

"I can tell just by your face. Are you in any trouble? Should I summon groups to your position?" The King asked.

"No, no it's nothing like that. Branzer's boss down here, we call him 'Lieutenant' is about ready to die. We've talked to him for a little bit, showed the humans what it looks like to have the spirit almost leave the body…but I've got a strange feeling that we need him…and I have no explanation for it. I do not feel remorse for him, I've let thousands of our kind die because the spirit was ready…"

"No, I know Skyka." The King said staring at her. "I'm sensing from you that he's given you some information on strange occurrences that you have identified as demons. Perhaps, we need him to give us future information? I'm also sensing from the humans that they feel very uneasy about the assignments that he has given to them. As if they think the reports were fakes at first, but you think otherwise. I'm sorry if I'm reading your mind too much."

"No it's fine. But all that you say is true. Did you also see the unusual thought that I had in my head?" Skyka asked.

"Yes, I saw that first and I'm deciding how to handle this. Give me a minute; I'll make a portal when the Queen and I have decided something." The King said.

"Yes my King." Skyka said and pulled her head out.

"What does he want?" The Lieutenant asked quickly.

"Shut up or I'll have somebody shut you up!" Skyka said glaring at him. Mohania raised his hand.

"Lindel, mind-link Herrior and I." Skyka said. Lindel quickly established the connection.

"Should I listen, or just sort of pretend like I'm not here?" Lindel asked.

"I told the King everything, fully expecting to send him on his way and let him die a natural death. Same thing we all were thinking. Both the King and I sense that we need him for something. He's talking with the Queen right now about it."

All three of them looked at the Lieutenant. He was sweating badly and extremely pale. It looked like he was going to die in the next couple of hours. He wanted badly to say something, but kept his mouth quiet.

"If you say another word, you will not walk out of this room alive – is that understood! Mohania put your soul shard away." Herrior said staring at the Lieutenant.

Mohania had a shard in his hand and looked surprised at Herrior. He slowly put it back into his cloak.

"We're all going to sit here and wait for the King's response." Herrior said.

An hour passed before a one-sided portal opened. Skyka stuck her head in.

"I've spoken with my Queen and our priest about this matter. We still are not sure what to do." The King said letting out a sigh. "Heal him. If his spirit leaves, then we'll know that his time has come. Order him not to tell anybody, same deal as his wife. I don't want word of this getting out. From now on go ahead and beginning healing the humans. I'll tell the rest of my healers as well. God will either take their spirit or not regardless of what you do. You are dismissed."

Skyka pulled her head out.

"Well, two things need to happen. For one, I'm going to go ahead and heal him. Two, somebody needs to get the point across to the Lieutenant that this never happened - just like what we did with his wife." Skyka said walking to him.

The Lieutenant sighed in relief. "Thank you, thank you…what do I need to do for you guys?"

"Keep your mouth shut about this! Continue to give Branzer reports about the demonic appearances, and anything out of the ordinary." Herrior said walking up to him with his sword drawn. "Can you remember what I just said, or do I need to inflict pain on you in order for you to remember?"

"No, I got it." The Lieutenant said quickly.

"Stop taking all of your pills, stop going to your doctors. Go home and rejoice with your wife. If you even touch another alcoholic drink…" Skyka said

"No, I learned my lesson." He answered.

Skyka began channeling her healing spell. After a couple of seconds, a burst of white light slammed into his body, completely healing anything that was wrong with him. Instantly all of his pain was gone. His face and hands returned back to their normal color. Even the arthritis in his fingers was gone. He felt like his body was that of a twenty year old. He had a big smile on his face. He didn't feel it, but the ghostly image around his body had completely vanished.

"Not…one…word!" Skyka said getting into his face. "Now go tell your officers to collect as many of these reports that you can and then give them to Branzer. We will determine if they are legit or not, not your officers! Somebody toss him out." Jacklyn picked him up with one hand, opened the door and threw him across the hallway as he slammed into the opposite side of the wall. She then shut the door behind her.

"Ok, is everybody ready for battle? I'm going to start handing out these assignments." Herrior said.

"Should I call Samatha?" Bernett asked.

"No, she isn't ready. I'm going to order her back to Tranquil until we can figure out what is going on here. If needed, she'll be activated as a secondary group. But our primaries will come first. Lindel why don't you go do that now." Herrior said. Lindel started creating her portal.

"I'm going to see if we can borrow a couple more Chronomancers from Tranquil. I want you to kill without prejudice. Make it quick and out of the eyes of the humans. Don't talk to the victims unless necessary. You'll have one hour to kill the demon or demons, and then a portal will open at your location and bring you back here. I expect all of you to have completed your task by then. Branzer, can you get us maps of the area? The biggest ones you can find. You'll stay here and guard the station, and help the Chronomancers find the locations of all of these occurrences." Herrior said. Branzer left to get some maps, as a portal opened with Lindel hoping back through it.

"She was happy to go see her baby. She also seemed upset that we didn't get the weight, length, or how long the delivery was." Lindel shrugged.

"Human thing…" Crystal said answering her question. Herrior had contacted another one of the King's ambassadors's and requested that his group be sent some additional Chronomancers.

After a couple of minutes, Branzer had brought in maps of the entire country, a map of their entire city, and maps of several surrounding areas. Two additional Chronomancers were delivered with the promise that they would not be taken into battle.

"Branzer, you are taking command. Start coordinating our attacks with the additional Chronomancers we got. Keep track of the time and summon back our group after an hour. Keep the assignments coming. Lindel you are attacking, you are not to portal." Herrior said. "If any of you get any additional clues, report them to the King's ambassadors. Let's get this underway." Branzer began thumbing through the folders to find the location the incident was happening at, relaying the information to the Chronomancers on the map and the portals began to open.

"Great, I got the talking fish…" Bernett said sarcastically as he read his folder. He looked around and saw that he was in a rundown trailer park. He was standing on the street facing the trailer. He let out a sigh as he walked up and knocked on the door.

An elder man slowly answered the door.

"Hi, I'm Officer Bernett. I'm here to investigate your allegations of the talking fish on your wall."

"Are you here about the fish?" The man asked back.

"Yes sir, I'm here to investigate the fish, may I come in? Is your wife home?" Bernett asked.

"She won't go near the fish, says it's the devil." The man said back slowly. The older man just simply stared at him.

"May I come in sir?" Bernett asked after awhile.

"Are you here about the fish?" The man asked. Bernett smiled in frustration.

"I think it's time for your nap, may I come in? Is your wife in the bedroom?"

"I think she's in the garden." The man answered back. Curiously Bernett looked around. There was mostly dirt and a couple spots of dead grass.

"Is the garden behind your house?" Bernett asked.

"No, the fish is inside on the wall." The man answered back. Bernett closed his eyes and smiled.

"Ok, I'm coming in sir." Bernett said opening the door. He helped him back to the far end of the trailer where he found his wife reading a book.

"How did you get in here?" The wife asked immediately.

"I'm a police officer; I'm here to investigate the talking fish." Bernett said.

"Good, get that devil-invested thing out of my house! My husband has tried to kill me several times, giving me Drano and telling me its cough syrup!" She said.

"Do you wish to press charges?" Bernett asked.

"No, look at him! He's completely out of his mind. But lately he seems to get a sinister look in his eyes after looking at that fish." His wife said.

"Ok, you two sit back here and close the door. I'll go take a look." Bernett said closing the door behind him.

Bernett smiled walking to the front of the house wondering if he and Samatha would be like that when they get older. Bernett held out his hand, and his gun instantly flew into his hand. A pulsating black color was pulsating all over the gun as a small scope popped up, and small purple wings sprouted from it.

"Shoot a fish on the wall, wait an hour, then go back and get another assignment." Bernett said. "But gives me a chance to try out this little guy." Bernett felt a slight vibration in his hand, as if the gun wanted to shoot by itself.

Bernett quickly found the fish. He walked up to him and its head and tail started moving as it sang it's song.

"I always thought these things were stupid." Bernett said. He took it off the wall and put it on the floor.

"Put it back on the wall!" A demonic voice said to him. A pair of red eyes appeared where the fish used to be. Bernett smiled.

"Why don't you take up fishing, I hear it's a relaxing sport."

"Put the fish on the wall!" The voice became more sinister. Bernett smashed the fish with his foot. The demon immediately flew out of the wall, as Bernett shot a bullet at it that had a green trail to it. The oval shaped demon flew to the group and started groaning in pain.

"It's called a serpent sting. It'll pulsate poison through your body, until I kill you. However I have some time, so how about we talk."

"Your end is near! We will kill all of you!" The demon said. Bernett fired another shot into him, as the demon let out a loud wail.

"Seems as though your end is near. I can finish you off right now, but for some reason, and I believe my undead friend mostly, but I am getting some enjoyment out of this." Bernett said smiling sitting over him.

"Your weapons are not supposed to hurt us! You aren't supposed to see us!" The demon said sounding upset.

"You are boring me. How about telling me why you are here, and why your friends appeared all of a sudden?" Bernett said.

"Your end is near!" The demon said beginning to float up off the ground. Bernett quickly fired three shots into the demon. He fell to the ground and burned up. Bernett then picked up what was left of the talking fish and took it outside and threw it away. He came back inside and said the fish was broken and everything was taken care of now. He then walked outside and waited for his portal to reopen.

Herrior appeared in the sewers. He pulled out his sword and shield and began looking around. He looked up and saw an opening that was surrounded on the outside with tape.

"Probably keeping people away as they do an investigation." Herrior thought. He then started running down the different tunnels.

"Here demon, demon, demon…come out, come out where ever you are…" Herrior said playfully. He heard a small noise down a distance pipe and began running towards it.

"You will die…" A small voice came into his head.

"Let's make a bet on that." Herrior said continuing to run towards the noise. He got to the end of the tunnel and saw a tail like creature suddenly run right at the end of a short tunnel. Herrior jumped into a small intersection and suddenly twenty little snake like demons rose up from the water. Herrior enraged himself, jumped in the air and slammed down on the ground. It instantly caused all of the demons to burn up, and continued running after the other creature.

"Stay away!" The voice said.

"Hold still and I'll make it quick, or slow depending on how pissed off I get." Herrior said as his thunderous hoofs slammed on the ground.

He turned the corner and quickly threw his sword. It stuck into the demons tail. The demon let out a loud demonic cry. Herrior commanded his sword to come back and continued to accelerate in speed.

"Don't kill me! I'm just doing what I was commanded to do!" The voice said in desperation.

"I'm doing what I was commanded to do, seems we have a conflict of interest here." Herrior said with a smile. He turned another corner and suddenly charged at the reptilian like creature trying to flee from him. Herrior slammed his shield into the demon. It sent him flying into the wall with incredible force. Herrior slowly walked up to him.

"It's very hard to outrun a tauren, especially one on a mission." Herrior said walking up to him. The demon instantly spawned some more snake like demons that all stood on their tails and began snapping at Herrior. Herrior slammed his sword on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave in front of him - completely annihilating all of the newly spawned demons. The reptilian demon tried to talk, but was decapitated by Herrior's sword. The body hit the ground and instantly burned up.

"Great, now I get to wait in this filth for an hour before my next assignment." Herrior said as he started slowly walking back to his place where his portal was created.

Mohania came out of a portal underwater.

"Lovely." He thought. He started walking to the shore and realized he was under a bridge. He started looking through his folder and it said that there were a large number of demonic drawings under the bridge. It maybe a portal for demons to come in. Mohania sensed for demons and he didn't detect any as far as he could sense. All he saw was a female dressed in ragged clothes spray painting something on the bridge.

"I came here to stop vandalism. There has to be something else here that I can do to amuse myself." Mohania thought. He rose out of the water and snuck up behind the woman. He grabbed her arm and quickly turned her around.

"You shouldn't be doing that." Mohania said. The female let out a loud scream.

Mohania lit his head on fire and began to speak in his demonic tone. "You will never do this again, or I will hunt you down and carve you up. I will slowly digest you over thousands of years!" The woman turned deathly white and dropped the can. Mohania then threw her towards the edge of the bridge. "You tell anybody you saw me, and I'll kill you and your whole family!" The woman left screaming as loud as she could.

Mohania picked up the spray can. He sprayed a little in front of him. "So much useless shit on this planet…" He held his hand out and began heating up the can until it exploded. He let out a smile.

"Well, what to do for the next fifty nine minutes…" Mohania looked over the graffiti and decided to write his own. He held his right hand out and a stream of fire came out of it. He began to write his own thing on the bridge that covered up all of the other graphite. When he was done, it read, "Warlocks rule". Mohania looked over his work and smiled.

"Nothing is being summoned from here. It's a waste of my time. I wonder if there is any wondering alliance that I can create some additional soul shards from." Mohania said as he began walking up the side of the bridge. He didn't notice the man that appeared and began staring at him.

Mohania was almost up when he heard the word "coward." come from underneath the bridge. Mohania instantly activated his demon shield and his eyes lit up with fire. He began walking back down the stairs. He saw a middle aged man staring at him. He seemed to be floating several inches off from the ground.

"Coward huh? So how do you want to die, by fire or slowly by shadow damage, or should I just splatter your guts all over the place." Mohania said walking towards him. The man didn't say anything.

"Fine, I'll choose. Since I have time, how about I slowly devour you and then see how far I can kick your head." Mohania said still approaching the man. The man still stood there motionless, seeming to stare above him. Mohania walked up to him and snapped his fingers in front of his face. He then shoved two of his fingers into the man's eyes and pulled them out of their socket.

"I don't sense any demons inside of you. Something must be controlling you." Mohania said.

"Give me your powers." The man without eyes said.

Mohania looked at him funny. "I've heard of that before…" Mohania began to cast a small that quickly engulfed the man in fire. He reached up and bit the man's head off and threw the man aside. He saw one of the little green men that he fought on the planet.

"That's what I thought." Mohania said as he threw the man's head at the green alien. The alien stopped the head before it hit him and threw it in the water.

"Did you know that I destroyed your planet and everything on it? I ripped apart your species, burned them alive, and ruthlessly killed every last one of them. What are you going to do about it?" Mohania said quickly advancing towards him. The alien tried to stop time, tried to take control of Mohania's mind, tried to pick up objects with his mind and throw them at him. It merely bounced off from Mohania's shield. The alien quickly turned around and tried to run away from him, but Mohania's boney hands reached out and grabbed his neck.

"I killed your men, women, children, and every species you enslaved! I destroyed all of your ships, and blew up your planet! You fight my group that is what happens to you. You just…don't…listen…do you?" Mohania said slamming his body up against a nearby tree. A black fluid began coming out of the aliens legs.

"Let's go for a walk." Mohania said dragging the alien on the floor. They walked back underneath the bridge and Mohania violently threw the alien to the ground.

"Ouch…please!" The alien said.

"Well aint that something…you little pricks learned how to talk. This will be more fun tearing you apart so I can listen to you screaming and begging for your life." Mohania said.

"I was abandoned. I cannot access your mind. You are immune to all of my abilities. I mean you no harm." The alien said.

"Please…now that you know you stand no chance of attacking me, you begin begging for your life. You're pathetic." Mohania pulled out his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador.

"Tell the King that I found another little green man. This one apparently knows how to talk. He claims to have been abandoned. Tell the King if I don't hear back from him in the next minute I'm going to start ripping him apart limb from limb." Mohania said and closed the portal. Several seconds went by.

"Well, a minute is up. Which limb do you want ripped off first?" Mohania said picking him up by the neck. Suddenly a portal opened and it showed the King.

"Mohania put him through the portal." The King said. Mohania threw him through the portal as hard as he could. He went flailing threw and slammed into one of the King's guards. The guard simply kicked him in front of the King.

"Can I watch?" Mohania asked eagerly, but the King closed the portal.

"Bah, now what to do…" Mohania asked out loud.

Jacklyn's portal put her in the backyard of a well-groomed yard, completely surrounded by a wooden privacy fence. She drew her blades and began looking around.

After assessing her situation, she figured it must be in the house. The door and window were completely made of glass. She tugged at the door and it only moved slightly before it hit its locking mechanism. Jacklyn then dug both of her blades in the ground and forced the door open. She then grabbed her blades and began searching the house. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. She could hear some faint mumbling in the far room. As she made her way there, she realized that somebody was praying. She entered the room, her enormous blades giving off their faint glow.

"We're in the middle of prayer right now. I sense that you have good intentions about you. Please join us." The man praying said.

"I'm here to kill the demon inside this house."

"The demon left." The man said motioning for Jacklyn to take a seat.

"Which way did he go?" Jacklyn asked.

"I think God destroyed him. Please let us finish." The man said and he continued his prayer. Jacklyn looked at everybody real quick, none of them were alliance. She quickly surveyed the home and there was no trace of the demon anywhere. She let out a sigh, and put her blades away. She then joined the prayer group. After the man stopped praying, each of the people, ten all together, said a quiet prayer for their family and for thanking the Lord for getting rid of the demon. Jacklyn did the same thing.

After the prayer, the man who talked to him originally talked to Jacklyn said his name was Pastor Jerry. Jacklyn identified herself.

"The power of prayer is more powerful than the weapons you have, Jacklyn." Jacklyn nodded but seemed disappointed.

"I have a feeling you will be able to use your weapons yet, but this house has been cleansed." Pastor Jerry said. Jacklyn nodded in agreement.

"Well, I have an hour to kill before my portal opens back up. I'm not much for conversation, but I will listen." Jacklyn said.

Crystal's portal opened up in front of a large two-story house. The lawn and shrubs were well groomed. They had a three car garage and a jet-ski with a trailer off to the side of the garage.

"Wish I had one of those…" Crystal said walking up to the house. She knocked on the door. Her new warlock abilities told her that there were three demons inside this house.

A butler appeared and asked her name and business. She identified herself and what police station she was with. Then she said she was here to address the strange happenings in the house. The butler eagerly escorted her in and said they had a problem with the seven year old in his bedroom right now. Also the butler summoned the man and lady of the house. The husband and wife quickly arrived; they didn't look like they worked a day in their lives.

"Our son is behaving very erratically. We think he's suddenly gone insane; we are going to have him institutionalized next week. The doctors are giving him shots to calm him down, but they don't seem to be working. He's speaking in different languages, and demanding stuff from us in a very deep tone. We have him tied up to the bed right now, how awful is that!" The man said desperately.

"My name is Crystal, what is the child's name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I am Sir Robert the third, and this is my wife Elizabeth Vonzwell. Our son's name is Tim, but we call him Timmy." Robert said.

"Ok, give me a couple minutes with him and he'll be all set. Which way to his room?" Crystal asked. Both the man and woman looked at her like she was crazy, but they saw Crystal looked like she had done this a hundred times before.

"Up the stairs, first door on the right." Robert said.

"If I give you my word that I will not steal or break anything, can I ask everybody to leave the house for an hour? I will talk to Tim and will fix the problem by then." Crystal asked calmly. She could faintly hear the moans of the demons in the house, so could everybody else.

"Look, that's my son! I want to help him. There is something wrong with our house…" Robert began to say.

"I give you my word; everything will be fixed in an hour. The longer you stay here, the worse it will become. You may even wait out in the front yard if you wish. I will allow you to inspect the house after I am done, to ensure that I have not taken anything." Crystal said calmly again.

"I am not worried about that…" Robert started to say.

"Then please, let me do my job. Your boy will not be harmed." Crystal said.

"Are you going to perform an exorcism, are you a priest?" Elizabeth asked. Crystal finally produced a smile.

"Neither one. But I guarantee you will be impressed with the results."

"How much will this cost?" Robert said.

"Nothing, we are talking about a human life here. It is worth more than all the gold in the world. Now please, let me do my job." Crystal insisted this time.

The man and women turned around and left the house, along with the butler and the cook. They all stood behind their Cadillac in the front yard.

"Timmy eh…" Crystal said walking up the stairs and opening his door. Crystal say a young boy's body almost turned completely green with urine, feces, sweat, and saliva all over the bed. The boy growled at her as she approached her bed.

"Do you prefer to be called Tim?" Crystal said smiling at him.

"Leave this boy alone or I will kill him!" Tim's mouth said, but a deep demonic voice came out of it.

"If you kill the boy, I will kill you." Crystal said as if she didn't care.

"You have no weapons! I would kill you in a second! Maybe I will possess you when I tire of this boy!" Tim said.

Crystal held her hands into the air and started to create a small tornado around her body. Crystal began casting a spell with both of her hands together that produced a small black ball. It was pulsating with black power and occasional sparks leaped from it. She took the ball and put it on the boy's head as it slowly sunk into his body.

"What are you doing?" Tim demanded in a scared deep tone. "How do you know these powers?"

Crystal snapped her fingers and a faint green outline appeared around her body, this radiated off enormous power off from her body.

"If you do kill the boy, the soul gem will bring him back to life and it will force you out of his body. So you have two options now. Come out and fight me, or kill him and be forced out and fight me. Either way, the boy and I are walking out." Crystal shrugged with a smile leaning up against the back bedroom wall.

Tim went suddenly limp for awhile. It seemed as though the demon was considering his options.

"It's been a minute. Do you want me to make the decision for you?" Crystal asked as if she was bored.

"I will kill both of you…" Tim said in a shallow voice.

"Wanna bet on it?" Crystal said smiling at him. Crystal sensed another demon approaching from the opposite side of the room. As soon as he was visible, she extended her hand at him and it quickly flashed red twice. She then held her hands together and casted two more spells at the approaching demon. The demon seemed to laugh at first, until the damage from the spells began to take effect. Four different spells were inside of him, tearing at his very existence. The demon began to scream and beg for it to stop. After watching the demon violently shake for ten seconds, Crystal held out her hand and began channeling a blue beam of light at the demon. The demon let out an enormous cry as his body burned up. A small round light flew from the dead demon and back into Crystal's body increasing her health. Also three soul shards, instead of just one appeared. She held them up to her chest as her body slowly absorbed them in.

"We'll, that was a bit of overkill, I was actually just curious as to what all those spells did. Apparently they hurt, don't you think? Now I know there's another demon in this house besides the one you are cowering inside of. Do you want to send the other one at me, or should I just pull you out of this child's body first and then go hunt the other one down? Either way, you will both die." Crystal said walking up to the boy.

"You can't do that! It's impossible! I am more powerful than you are!" Tim said in scared voice.

"I'll give you five seconds to decide." Crystal said as she started to summon a demon.

"I will destroy him!" Tim said.

"And the soul gem will bring him back to life. Two seconds left." Crystal said.

"No!" Tim yelled in his demonic voice. Crystal finished the summon ritual and a large blue protector suddenly appeared. It walked up to Tim and raised its hand at him.

"They are actually called voidwalkers, but don't tell Mohania. He likes to call them protectors." Crystal said. The voidwalker began to torment the demon's soul and slowly pull it out of the boy.

"No! Stop that!" The demon yelled. The voidwalker continued to back up, pulling the demon out of the boy by tormenting it. The demon was finally completely out and began fiercely attacking the voidwalker.

Crystal let out a laugh. "Do you think you really stand a chance?" The demon completely ignored her and continued attacking the voidwalker. Crystal held her hand up as it flashed red twice again. Several seconds later the demon began to wail in agony. Crystal held out her hand and began channeling a green beam into the demon, sucking the very life out of him.

"Please don't kill me! I must not fail the master! Noo…" the demon yelled and burned up. Crystal told the voidwalker to exit the room and go find the other demon. It did as she commanded. Crystal walked up to the boy and began untying the ropes restraining him.

"What happened? What is that foul smell? Who are you?" Tim asked.

"You were possessed by a demon, the smell is where you lost bowel and bladder control, and my name is Crystal. Your parents are just outside, but you may want to get cleaned up first before you go. How are you feeling?"

"Confused." Tim said.

"Why don't you head to the bathroom and change your clothes. There's one demon left in this house that I have to kill. I'm sure your parents will be thrilled to see you, and you probably don't want to see what I'm going to do to the next demon. Now, hurry along then." Crystal said. Tim quickly picked out his pajama's, and ran into the bathroom and began wiping himself off.

"Have you found the other demon yet my pet?" Crystal said in her mind.

"Not yet my master." The voidwalker said back.

"I sense he is trying to leave the house but cant. Try searching at the far end of the house on the right. I think he's there somewhere." Crystal said in her mind.

"Yes my master." Crystal's servant answered back.

Crystal gathered up the sheets and blankets that were soaked and set them in a pile next to his door. She and Tim met at the same time in the hallway.

"Is it safe to come out?" Tim asked. He had on Spiderman pajamas.

"Yes it's fine. Go see your parents. Tell them not to come in yet, I'll be out in a couple of minutes." Crystal said as Tim ran down the stairs and out the door. She could hear sounds of laughter, and loud crying of joy.

"I have found him my master. Should I engage her?" The voidwalker asked in Crystal's head.

"Her? Keep her from leaving; I want to come talk to her." Crystal replied back in her head.

"A female demon? Succubus maybe?" Crystal asked herself running to the location.

"I do not know my master."

"Oh hush you, stop reading my thoughts." Crystal said in her mind.

Crystal opened up the master bedroom and then walked across the room to where her blue demon was standing. There was a door to a small bathroom in there.

"If I open the door, are you going to try to possess me? Because I guarantee you will fail and will be ripped apart." Crystal said.

"No." The demon spoke softly.

Crystal opened the door and saw a young looking banshee only about three foot tall hovering over the toilet.

"Well you're an odd looking demon…but demon none the less." Crystal said as she started to lift her hand.

"Please don't." The female demon said closing her eyes and hoping she wouldn't die. Crystal stopped. She was completely confused.

"You have ten seconds. After that, you are getting burned up. Start talking!" Crystal demanded.

"I am actually a banshee until demonic control. You sense me as a demon, because the other two were controlling me. It was my fault the bad demon possessed the boy. I did not mean to harm him. With the other two demons dead, are you sensing that I am no longer a demon?" The young female banshee said quietly. Crystal did actually sense actually what she was saying. The only demon left in the house with her voidwalker.

"Ok, I'll give you another ten seconds. Come out and talk to me." Crystal said backing away.

"I am scared. My life ended because I was run over by a truck on my bicycle. I'm only eleven…well I was when I died. I know you can kill me by just snapping your fingers, I sense enormous power radiating about you. A man with red eyes quickly grabbed my body; I was just barely alive and brought me to several more of these scary men. They made me what I am now. How do I go to Heaven? I just want to go to Heaven. I don't want to hurt anybody anymore…" The banshee said and started wailing like Lindel does when she cries.

Crystal let out a sigh and pulled out her hearthstone and summoned the King. Oddly enough the Queen answered.

"My Queen, I have found an eleven year old banshee that desperately wants to go to Heaven and doesn't want to be controlled by demons anymore. It sounds like the alliance made her how she is now; she was supposed to die when she was run over by a truck. Shall I destroy her, or do you want to speak with her?" Crystal said emotionless to the Queen.

The first question the Queen asked confused Crystal. "How are you handling your new powers?"

"Fine? I haven't been able to unleash all of them yet, but from the couple I've played with to destroy the demons they seem to be very nice." Crystal replied.

"And have they had any urge to control your mind or body yet?" The Queen asked.

"No my Queen, I am in complete control." Crystal said still confused.

The Queen seemed to relax and said, "A young banshee huh?" The Queen let out a sigh. "We're supposed to be destroying the demons, not befriending them."

"I will destroy her at once." Crystal said.

"No…send her through. The King is busy interrogating one of those green aliens that Mohania found underneath a bridge. I guess I will interrogate this one." The Queen said not real thrilled about the idea.

"Yes my Queen." Crystal said pulling her head out. A six foot portal opened and Crystal ordered the banshee to go into it.

"Will I die?" The banshee asked sounding as if she were almost crying.

"I don't know. A word of advice, bow before the Queen when you see her." Crystal said. The banshee entered and the portal suddenly disappeared. Crystal held out her hand and the voidwalker dissolved itself into a soul shard. She also placed it against her chest and it absorbed into her body as well.

Crystal walked outside and greeted everybody. They all came running over and immediately embraced her.

"Hey, hey…I was just doing my job. Now go inside while I wait for my ride." Crystal said.

"We can have you flown there, where do you need to go?" Robert said quickly. Crystal laughed.

"No, I just need to stand here and wait. Thanks for the offer though."

Robert quickly brought out his wallet and produced several dozen hundred dollar bills. Crystal immediately refused.

"Do you want to give me a reward?" Crystal asked. "If something like this happens again, contact our station immediately. My guess is it never will happen again. Now promise me you will raise this boy the best that you can."

"Yes of course, but how can we repay you? Do you want us to give your station a grant? Your police Chief will certainly give you a raise…" Robert said.

"No. You have some cleaning up to do in your house. Tim's blankets and bed are dirty. Go attend to his needs. Completely forget that I was even here. I will disappear in a little bit, don't look out your front windows." Crystal said starting to push them all towards the house.

"Are you an angel?" Elizabeth asked.

"No…I'm not an angel…" Crystal said rolling her eyes. "Now please, go about your business. Off with you all."

The Vonzwell family finally took her advice. They all entered their home and felt at peace. The feeling that they were being watched was completely gone. They all felt safe in their homes once more.

"Now I get to sit here and count pieces of grass…" Crystal said sitting on the perfectly manicured lawn. The grass was nice and thick, without any weeds in sight.

Lindel appeared in a bathroom. She started quickly looking through her folder.

"Governor Tom Richard?" Lindel asked herself.

"Yes?" A male voice responded back.

"Oh shit!" Lindel thought and quickly hid her folder behind the toilet. She opened the door and came out. The older gentlemen was slowly grooming his hair, he was surrounded by several aids helping him. The governor looked at her, and she smiled seductively back. He smiled back.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lindel said seductively walking up to him. "Perhaps we could get rid of some of these people and I could give you a good luck…kiss…"

"Well I can't turn down an offer like that. Please excuse us for a second." The governor said. Everybody left and it was just them two.

"What's your name darling?" The governor said slowly gliding his hand down his shoulder.

"Death bringer." Lindel said and violently slammed herself into the governor's eyes. She quickly disabled his voice and restrained his body. Lindel made him stand back up and quickly scanned his memories.

"I'm a bad…bad man, and I'm going to let everybody know." The governor said looking into the mirror. He walked out of the bathroom with a big smile on his face. Lindel quickly identified his campaign advisors and speech writers. He walked up to all of them and shook their hands. A bolt of white lightning shot out of the governor's hand and immediately turned off their memory. They just simply stood there with a blank look on their face.

"Well, they are out of the way. Let's go give a performance." Lindel said laughing in his mind. She had wiped out consciousness of what was happening in his head. Several officers glared at him with hatred as they escorted him up to the podium. Cheers and celebrations immediately started. There were cameras and reporters taping the live performance. She even sensed the Chief of police; the Lieutenant's boss was there. She quickly accessed his memories and found out the Chief's name was Charles, and the Lieutenant's was Bernard.

"You humans with your long names…" Lindel said in his mind. She started to make his body wave at the crowd, and the uproar began.

"Now then, you little asshole, let's see how many of your secrets I can get out of you, before you are arrested." Lindel said with a chuckle. "I love being a banshee sometimes."

"Hello everybody! Thank you all for coming! Thank you for your continued support! We could not have made it this far without the help from all of you! You all owe yourself a round of applause!" Lindel made the governor said.

"Now then, before I start - Chief Charles, could you come up with me? I would like to recognize what you have done for the city. This man is behind the scenes keeping all of you safe. Please give him a round of applause as well." Lindel made him say. The Chief came up and shook his hand.

"I have an unusual request now, I know this is being tape recorded live - but if there are any officers with any paper and pencils, please get them out now. I have some changes to our police force that I want to implement right away." Lindel made him say. She gave all of them a moment for all of the officers to scramble around for paper and pencils. She noticed the Chief was prepared and was ready to write as well.

"Good, now please settle down. I have a lot to tell everybody in the short period of time that I have." Lindel made the governor say. She waited until everybody had become quiet.

"There are two schools that I had closed to afford my new yacht. The funds are there, but I wanted to reward myself. Our teachers are over-whelmed and the students are not getting the education they deserve because of me. Also, I have paid over twenty of your wives ten-thousand dollars to have sex with them, tax-payer expense of course. I have my own private jet because of you poor saps and the heavy taxes I am putting on you. I am the main drug pusher in this town. There have been eight children killed from an overdose because I tried to get them addicted to cocaine. I am decreasing the police force so those annoying bastards don't arrest as many as my drug pushers. I mean why pay police, when I can make a profit off from selling drugs? There are two missing children, Dawn Taylor, and Megan Herald. They have been missing for months and are presumed to be dead. I and my campaign staff have them doped up so much on ecstasy that they have no idea that we violently rape them every night. They are in the Four Points hotel, room 1103. Evidence of all of this is in an abandoned house on Everlook Street, address number 113. There is a safe in the basement with pictures and written logs of what we all have done. The combination is 11,34,56. I've been robbing you blind, and here you are cheering for me. You're a bunch of idiots! What you should do is investigate every governor and politician to see what exactly they are up to. You need more police and a special task force to do just that. I assure you, with all of the things you repossess, and money I have accumulated you will have more than enough to do this. Now then, I'm going to go behind the curtain and try to shove my hand up my ass. Thank you all for coming!" Lindel made the governor say and then forced him behind the large blanket. Everybody, including the Chief, police officers, and reporters were absolutely stunned.

Lindel gently floated out of the governor's eyes and slowly waved at him as she disappeared to watch what was going to happen.

"Seize him!" The Chief said in shock. The police quickly ran up the ramp and put him in handcuffs and started reciting his rights to him.

"Let go of me! What are you doing! I'm the governor; I can have your badge!" The governor said wiggling trying to get free. The officers had the cuffs on him and slowly walked him back on stage. The governor smiled at the cameras and the people. The people immediately started to "Boo" and curse him, as the Chief said to escort him away as fast as they could. He then told several officers to go check the hotel and the abandoned house. The reporters quickly surrounded the Chief and began shooting off question after question.

"We will follow up on his allegations. If they are true, we will prosecute him. No further comment." The Chief walked up to Lieutenant Bernard and said, "For some reason, I seem like I have you to thank for this." He said shaking his hand. "Keep up the good work. This will be the biggest take down our city has ever had, the repercussions of this will go spread all over the country."

"Yes sir…" The Lieutenant answered back completely oblivious to what just happened. He helped direct the crowd away, and organize his officers. Soon he got into his squad car and motioned to make a call on his radio. Lindel suddenly materialized next to him.

"Hi Lieutenant. Remember me?" Lindel said with a goofy grin on her face.

He was shocked at first and quickly recoiled his hand.

"So…did I do well? Would you make me an officer?" Lindel said giggling.

"I thought you were a healer?" The Lieutenant said still confused.

"I'm actually a banshee. Give Branzer a big kiss for me. I need to go wait for my portal. Don't make any unusual radio requests. We have a lot of work to do; it'll probably take us a couple of days." Lindel started to face from view. "Goodbye Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. He finally let out a big sigh and began to going with the groups to begin the immediate investigations. Eventually they all found out that everything that the governor said was in fact, true.

Lindel slowly floated over to the bathroom where her portal was. She gathered up her folder and sat silently, with a big smile on her face.

Quinely stepped throw her portal and it was in the middle of a field, surrounded by cows. She quickly morphed into a bird so as to avoid the piles of cow poop and flew over to a power line. She began scanning for demons in the area. Nothing showed up for the first ten minutes. She started flying in big circles and eventually found a small one to the north of her. She altered her path and began flying towards it.

"It's a cat?" Quinely thought. She couldn't sense anything else around, so this must be the target. Quinely then started to dive bomb the cat. When she was close enough, she casted an instant spell called "Faerie Fire" on it, reducing its armor and preventing it from becoming invisible.

"Who did that?" The demon's voice demanded in a very deep voice. Quinely landed on the ground and quickly morphed into a giant bear. The demon started to shape-shift as well, but was interrupted as Quinely charged him, knocking the demon backwards and stunning him for several seconds. Quinely then walked up to the demon and took an enormous swing at the demon. It began to ooze black fluid from its stomach. The demon stood to his feet and began to cast a spell, but before he could get the smell off, Quinely smashed him hard in the head. She then started taking powerful swipes at the demon, slowly pushing him backwards.

The two of them started squaring off, with Quinely dodging most of the attacks. She continued to land powerful blow after blow. The demon started to shot off magical spell after spell. Quinely absorbed the damage, but visible signs of the damage were starting to show. The demon then raised a skeleton warrior from the ground. Once the warrior started to engage Quinely, the demon began to run away. Quinely charged right through the skeleton, knocking the demon on the ground again. The risen skeleton burned up after its destruction.

Quinely then began regenerating herself as she turned into an enormous lion and faded into the shadows. The demon slowly got up, still having black fluid dripping out of his stomach and showing visible signs of weakness.

"Run like the coward you are! The power of the…" The demon said, but was fiercely struck from behind so hard that his head nearly separated from his body. Quinely began biting as hard as she could at his neck and eventually decapitated the demon. His body lay there for several seconds before it burned up.

"Stupid demon…" Quinely said licking her paw.

"Lion! Quickly get the gun!" A women yelled." Quinely quickly stealthed herself and slowly walked away.

"You're welcome for saving your ass from the demon…" Quinely thought sarcastically as she slowly moved back to the cow pen.

An older man came out with a shotgun and his wife started explaining that it was right here. They had an argument, and the man eventually went back inside. Quinely let out a sigh. She then turned into a crow and flew up on the fence and watched the cows to wait for her portal to reopen. She started talking to the cows to pass the time. Most of them only had one thing on their mind, "hunger".

Julie's portal opened up in a deserted neighbor. Most of the houses were boarded up, and not a sole was in sight. Spark was to her right side. She drew her new weapon, and felt the power pulsated from it. She took the other hand and verified the address.

"This is what the guy looks like Spark." Julie said showing him the picture. Spark nodded as if he understood. She set the folder down on the sidewalk.

"And this is the house. We could sneak in and get him that way…but it would be kind of hard to sneak you in huh my little puppy." Julie said. Spark looked at her funny.

"The door has theft bars on it, with a steel door. Think that'll be a problem for you boy?" Julie asked Spark. Spark ran forward and instantly turned red and grew fifty percent bigger. Julie followed right behind him. Spark grabbed the door made out of wrought iron and easily disconnected it and threw it to the side. Spark then walked back a couple of feet and then charged at the door. The massive animal shattered the door as he flew through it. Spark quickly started searching through the house, with Julie right behind him. She heard a "Holy Shit", as a single gunshot went off before the man screamed in horrific pain. Julie came around the corner and shoved her gun in the man's face.

"You can die slowly, or quickly. Doesn't bother me any. Do you want to digest in my dog's stomach, or do you want him to slowly rip you apart!" Julie demanded. Spark had the man's right arm and his teeth were moving back and forth, slowly slicing out blood and chunks of flesh. The man tried to struggle, but it only made it worse.

"You only have ten seconds left. Where are the people you kidnapped?" Julie said.

"What?" The man yelled back. Julie shot a serpent sting into the man's side and he cried out in pain as he felt the poison course through his veins. He could hardly feel his right arm any more.

"Spark, move on to his leg. His arm is pretty much done for. Apparently we haven't enough pain yet." Julie said. Spark released his arm and moved down to bite down on his leg.

"No! No! I'll talk! They are in the basement!" The man said.

"Did you hurt them? If I think you are lying I will kill you, slowly and painfully." Julie said as she saw the green poison course through the man's veins and through his eyes.

"A little, they are fine though. They are alive; all of them are in the basement."

"Call the cops and turn yourself in or Spark will eat you and shit out the remains of your disgusting body. By the looks of it, it would be an improvement." Julie said as her enormous dog let out a deep growl. Spark was nearly as tall as the ceiling and glared at the man as if he would kill him without thinking twice about it. The man motioned to move and Spark moved at him and snapped at his chest as if he was going to bite him. The man panicked and fell backwards in the chair.

"I'm growing impatient, and my dog is hungry. Hurry up!" Julie demanded. The man quickly scrambled to his feet and ran towards the phone. Spark was inches away from his neck, breathing very hot breath down his neck.

The man quickly identified himself and said he was holding four people in his basement for a ransom. He told his street address and said to please hurry up to arrest him. He then turned around and saw Spark's enormous razor sharp teeth moving inside of him. His eyes were dark red, and he seemed to be drooling blood.

"Now that the police are on their way, we really don't need you anymore - do we?" Julie asked. Sparked moved forward and pressed the man up against the wall.

"This is not fair, we live in America, and I deserve a lawyer…" The man said timidly. Spark moved his enormous jaw around the man's head.

"Apparently my dog doesn't not like lawyers…he also thinks that you are withholding information from us. Are you going to withhold information from the police?" Julie asked.

"No! Please! Tell your dog to get back! I'll tell them everything!" The man said.

"I don't believe you." Julie said walking up to him with a smile. "We'll be hiding in the distance, hearing every word you say. If you don't tell everything, you will be a big pile of dog shit by tomorrow afternoon. Do you understand?" Spark let out a deep growl as his rows of teeth easily sliced through tiny parts of the man's face.

"I understand!" The man said nervously.

Julie then walked up to the man's ear. "And it's not the dog you have to worry about. I could shoot you dead from over a thousand yards away. Now get a piece of paper, write down your full name, the names of the people you kidnapped, why you did it, and a full confession." Spark backed away and the man ran across the room and began doing just that.

After a minute he said he was done. "Good" Julie said and quickly pulled out her gun a fired it at him. The man braced for the bullet to hit him, but instead a bear trap looking object quickly formed under his feet. It had a solid blue diamond in it. That was the last thing the man remembered before the police began to chip away at the ice that had encased him. Julie and the massive dog were nowhere to be seen.

"This makes our job a lot easier, phoning us and then writing a full confession on paper. Processing you should take no time. Your four hostages also verified everything." The officer with the toothpick in his mouth said.

"There was this woman and a dog as big as my house!" The man said.

"Sure there was…" The officer said, actually believing him in the back of his head. He adjusted his toothpick in his mouth and began reading him his rights.

Dan's portal quickly opened up and closed behind him. He immediately saw an army of demons staring at him. He didn't have time to think before a voice behind him called out, "Are you a demon?"

"No!" Dan yelled back drawing his blades out from his armor.

"Then get down!" The voice yelled. It sounded like an adult male voice and Dan did as he asked. He dropped down on his back, hoping that he would be able to at least kill some of them before he died.

Suddenly a magical hammer slammed into what appeared to be the leader of the demons. Then several magic discs went flying and the fight began.

"Where do you want me?" Dan yelled out.

"Stay out of our way so far!" The same man yelled out as he was attacking several demons at one. He had created a circle of fire that radiated about thirty yards out from him and he seemed to be the main tank as others joined in the fight.

A tall thin purple lady walked up to Dan and pulled him up. "Obviously you are a fighter, what class are you?"

"Warrior, fury specc'ed." Dan said.

"Go take the right side of the man that spoke to you. Don't pull aggro." She said quickly while firing off several arrows.

"Are you alliance?" Dan asked.

"Don't say that word if you want to live long…now go." The woman said in a calm soothing voice. Dan raced for the battle front and began engaging the demons. He began striking and performing his special moves with such precision that it seemed to impress the man he talked to.

"Name is Devon. Obviously you have been trained." The man said still trying to pull all of the demons attention on himself, while the others in his group attempted to finish them off.

"Dan is mine. Just got married, haven't had a honeymoon yet, yourself?" Dan said performing a whirlwind ability, hitting every single demon around him.

"Too busy fighting for marriage. You seem to have enchants on your blades. Where are you from?" Devon asked.

"Cant say." Dan said as he felt a heal spell regenerate his body. He enraged himself, just as Jacklyn does, and grew about a foot. He began swinging with greater intensity, nearly slicing every demon in half with each hit.

"Cant say anything about the circle of light you came out of either huh?" Devon said.

"Nope." Dan said. He heard a scream behind him and immediately turned around and launched his weapon at the demon attacking one of the healers. It struck the demon in the head, as Dan charged instantly at the demon and stunning it for several seconds. He got his blade back and finished off the demon in a couple more swipes. He then looked at the little gnome healer and said, "Ma'am." and quickly ran back towards the front line.

Devon appeared losing control of the situation of the situation. Dan quickly took back the right side as a group of as a series of hunters appeared to be stunning the left side of the demons.

"Where I come from, brethren who die side by side each other don't keep secrets." Devon said.

"I don't plan on dying." Dan said swinging as fast as he could. He became enraged again, and his steel began swinging faster than his eyes could keep up. He began to fight on instinct.

"Obviously you are a paladin. Don't you have any special abilities against demons?" Dan asked splitting a demon in half.

"It appears that your powers exceed mine." Devon said badly hurt.

"Can your hunters start launching snake traps into the mass of demons?" Dan asked.

"How could they do that?" Devon asked launching another one of his magical disks into the air.

"Is your group buffed up as much as they can get?" Dan asked.

"Yes, but there is a sorcerer that is debuffing the spells. He's the one in the cloak on the far left." Devon said. Devon energized himself and threw another magical hammer at another demon.

Dan became frustrated. "Who taught you how to lead? His ass is mine!" Dan finished off defending Devon's right side and began slicing as fast as he could at any demons that had broke the front line. He then threw his weapon at the demon sorcerer and charged as fast as he could at him. He pulled his blade out, and shoved both of his blades into the demons eyes while the demon was still stunned. A second later the demon let out a horrific scream as all of the demons suddenly stopped attacking and looked at him.

"Keep fighting!" Dan yelled as he saw that the group behind him stopped as well to investigate. They were able to quickly cut the demon's numbers in half as they stared at what appeared to be the head of the demon.

"I'm am De'loken! I am here to prepare for the masters coming. Your puny forces are no match for me!" The demon said. The ice and fire from Dan's blades continued to spread in his eyes.

"You may have blinded me, but I will have your powers!" De'loken said in a strong demonic voice and forced himself inside of Dan's eyes. Dan immediately concentrated on Crystal and he could feel the struggle inside of his mind.

The demon's continued to watch Dan as he fell to the ground struggling to keep his sanity. Devon's group continued to easily slaughter the majority of them, before they started to fight back.

"Give me your mind!" De'loken said. Dan then thought about the wedding and saw the beauty of Crystal floating down the aisle and the immense love that he had for her.

After a minute De'loken flew out of Dan's mind and stumbled back several feet.

"What kind of magical resistances do you possess human?" De'loken asked in surprise.

Dan ran up to his body and sank both of his swords into his blackened chest. Dan enraged himself again and began violently slamming his swords repeatedly on his neck until eventually it became severed. Dan picked it up and kicked it into the crowd of demons. De'loken's demonic body burned up.

"Your leader is dead; the rest of you will follow him!" Dan yelled and charged back into battle.

"Devon, command your group strike as many as they can. Without their leader, they are nothing but a bunch of worthless black masses of air!" Dan yelled again, throwing his sword at a retreating demon. Dan ran up to the demon and pulled his sword out of his back and quickly made another big gouge in his back. Devon said something to his group, but Dan didn't hear it as he continued running after the demons shouting insults at them.

One by one, he was dropping the demons as he caught up with them. They were dying much faster now. Dan figured their master was giving them some sort of shield, making them harder to kill. Devon's group realized this as well, encouraging them to continue the pursuit.

"Hellhounds!" Devon yelled. "Fall back, melee advance!"

"Magic users…" Dan said under his breath. The red dogs all concentrated their blue beams of light coming from their tail and onto Dan.

"Suck all you want. You won't get anything from me." Dan said continuing to charge at them. He jumped in the middle of the group and performed a quick whirlwind, injuring all of the red dogs at the same time. Dan again enraged himself and began making large sweeping strikes that hit multiple dogs at the same time. Some of the places where the blades hit instantly froze parts of them, or set them on fire. The demon's saw that the dogs were no match and quickly formed together for one last attack.

By now Devon had caught up and flung another disk through the air, damaging several of them. They turned their attention to him as Dan started wildly swinging his blades as fast as he could. Many of the demons tried to possess Dan, but quickly failed and were stabbed with both blades as they hit the ground.

Arrows were now flying again and hitting several of the demons in the head.

"Every one of them must die!" Dan said as his eyes turned red and began slicing through them at speeds that Trackolania would have been proud of. He was getting hit by the demons and slowly felt the life being sucked out of him. He continued to perform the special ability called "Bloodthirst" to heal himself as much as he could, but his rage took over and he only focused on wiping them out.

Several minutes passed and Dan appeared to be in pretty bad shape. Devon stopped attacking and began to heal Dan as much as he could, hoping that the healers would catch up.

"Don't drain yourself; this is how I want to die! In battle against these blasted beasts!" Dan yelled feeling the renewed strength surge through his body.

Finally only one demon was left. Dan threw his sword and it pinned him to the ground, ice slowly spreading out from the sword. Dan ran up and got right in the demons red eyes.

"Why did you attack us?" Dan yelled and began punching him as hard as he could in the face.

"You were all supposed to die…the master said to kill the resistance…" The demon said as he continued to be pounding by Dan.

"Who is your master?" Dan screamed in his face. The demon just let out a sinister smile. Dan pulled his sword out and shoved it as hard as he could into the demon's stomach, or what appeared to be his stomach. The demon let out another loud howl.

"I'm enjoying this and I could do this all day, who is your master!" Dan yelled again. Devon and his group had all caught up and encircled the dying demon now.

"Balnazzar. He comes with a legion of troops and will destroy all worlds. My death has little significance." The dying demon said. Dan pulled out his sword and repeated started stabbing the demon's body until it burned up.

Dan turned to Devon's group and said, "Who is Balnazzar?" Dan had blood and sweat dripping from nearly every part of his body as Devon's healers began healing him.

"Devon?" Dan asked.

"I do not know much about demon lore. None of us do. We merely try to predict where they will strike next and do our best to stop them."

"For future reference, most demons are being lead by a single leader. My guess is that he was probably stealing your buffs and putting them on his demons." Dan said looking at them. "Wooden bows, swords made of steel, no enchants. I didn't even see any magical spells except for healing. Look at your shield Devon; it looks like it's about ready to break. And what is that supposed to protect! Look at the size of that thing."

"We do what we can, with what we can!" Devon said walking up to him. "As you may have noticed there is a shortage of fighters in this world, and modern day guns do nothing to these beasts!"

Dan settled down and started assessing some of his wounds. He felt his stomach and felt a big gash that was still bleeding, and spit out some blood. His head was starting to get fuzzy.

"We can't heal you anymore. Our healers are drained. Let us take you back to our caravan and do what we can for you." Devon said.

"Take me back to where I entered this world. You can work on me there. I have a feeling we have much to discuss. It appears as though we have a common enemy, yet at the same time we are enemies in my world." Dan said falling to his knees. His put his swords behind him and they instantly stuck to his armor.

"Don't say that name! We broke free from their bondage over us! We do not serve them anymore!" Devon said quickly. "Many worlds are succumbing to their control, and they slaughter innocent races and their families! We do not do that!"

"Fine, my guess is if you were part of that group, I would have been killed a long time ago.

Devon's group escorted him back to where the portal was opened from, and pulled up several large school buses around him. The healers then started coming out with first aid kits and IV bags. Dan rolled his eyes.

"We do what we can!" Devon said to Dan's reaction. They tried to remove Dan's armor, but it wouldn't budge. Dan stood up in extreme pain and slide his armor off very easily and tossed it to the ground.

"If anybody touches it, it will attack you. It is designed for my body only." Dan said in his leather loin cloth. The healers quickly got to work trying to seal the wound and stabilize him.

Devon and Dan made small talk for several minutes. Dan flinched as the IV needle went into his arm.

"Our numbers were about ten times what they are now. We just don't have the technology or knowledge of demons to fight them. The alliance possesses normal people and we have found ways of freeing the bondage from them. Many of them are werewolves, fierce creatures that fight with no mercy." Devon said. Dan's color was starting to return to his face.

"Yeah…we fought them too. I had to kill my own father because he was one of them. He and another brutally beat my mother until she nearly died." Dan said.

Devon looked shocked at him, and then turned away and apologized.

Several moments passed and Dan's portal opened back up.

Devon let out a sigh. "Well thanks for the help."

Dan shook his head. "Hold on for a second…help me to my feet." They did as Dan asked and he stuck his head in the portal.

Herrior's group looked at him in shock. He was badly beat up, and his face was pale white. They all started asking questions all at the same time.

"Shut up." Dan said exhausted. "I need an ambassador." He then pulled his head back out of the portal and laid back down. Herrior's group looked shocked at the portal that was still open. The four of the ambassador's looked at each other.

"He didn't look demon or alliance possessed." Herrior said.

"He looked like he took a beating though. It could be a trap." Skyka said. "I say we all go and annihilate anybody without a one hundred yard radius of him."

"I'll make it two hundred…give or take a couple hundred…" Mohania said with his eyes flaring up. Herrior motioned for him to be quiet and then sighed.

"Mohania, you are an ambassador of the city of Tranquil. You represent the King and the Queen. You do need the experience. So you do Branzer. I and Skyka will not always be around to be the ambassador's that represent our city. You two do need to be trained. Both of you go, and remember you both will be held liable to the King, not to me! If you screw up, there isn't much we can say or do to help you." Herrior said looking at Mohania. They both nodded and entered the portal as it shut behind them.

"The undead!" Devon shouted and quickly his group began to arm themselves. Branzer moved in front of Mohania.

"Stop this! We do not mean you any harm! Mohania, the undead, is a close friend of ours. He will not attack you! Let's all settle down and talk about this. What is Dan's condition?"

Devon's group all had their weapons ready for the word to attack.

"Put your weapons down you idiots! He's saved our ass countless times! What do you have against the undead anyways?" Dan said yelling at Devon.

"We have fought countless of his kind. They rise from graves and are controlled by demons." Devon said.

"I am not controlled by a demon, I assure you." Mohania said casually walking over to Dan. "You look as bad as I do." Mohania said smiling.

"You're an ass." Dan said grimacing in pain. Mohania pulled out a soul shard and began to cast a spell on it. It slowly vibrated and molded itself into a green beating heart shaped object. Mohania pushed it into his chest as power of the heart suddenly blasted through his body. Dan's health was instantly restored, he pulled out the IV needle and the bandages. It revealed that his wounds had been instantly restored.

"You owe me a soul shard." Mohania said with no emotion.

"Then I guess I say thanks." Dan looked at him and laughed. "Now you two, do your ambassador thing with these guys. They saved my life. Somebody had the bright idea of portalling me directly in the path of over two hundred demons." Dan said glaring at Branzer.

"I could have taken them…" Mohania said smiling.

"I am Devon." The paladin said approaching them.

"You have the stench of the alliance." Mohania said as his eyes burned with fire.

"Mohania" Dan said glaring at him. "Alright let me bring everybody up to speed. They escaped from the alliance. They fight demons and try to release control of the alliance that possessed the humans. They won't attack you, so don't attack them…blah blah blah…" Dan said standing up. "Now you two do your thing and I'm going to go look for any leftover treasures. You two are ambassadors, do your little thing."

They all watched Dan walk away with a slight limp on his left leg.

"I thought you healed him?" Branzer asked.

"No, it only restores a percentage of his health. Question is why you didn't and your group heals him?" Mohania said glaring at Devon.

"You two possess powers that are way beyond our capabilities. Our healers need over a day to recover their powers. We track the demonic activity and try to contain it as much as we can. Dan showed much prowess in combat and didn't seem to be afraid to die." Devon said.

"None of us are. Fight to the end. He was doing his duty." Branzer said.

"He was also possessed by the head demon. I forget his name, but the demon seemed shocked when he was forced out of Dan's mind as Dan finished him off. Usually when one of us becomes possessed it means that we have to kill them." Devon said. "We've lost a lot of our forces this way…"

"Let's see, you have mostly humans, a couple of night elves, and two gnomes. Looks like an equal amount of males and females." Mohania said surveying Devon's group.

"Like I told Dan, we had hundreds more. We try to pick up some along the way. We fund our operations by most of us working the night shift. We would ask you to join us, but it looks like your powers far exceed ours." Devon said.

Mohania let out a big smile of pride, but Branzer quickly elbowed him. "Ambassador's…remember?" Mohania let out a grunt.

"What classes do you have?" Branzer asked.

"A couple of paladins for our tanks, mostly hunters, and a couple of healers." Devon pointed at one of the female gnomes and said, "Dan saved that one's life." Devon then let out a sigh and said, "He probably saved all of us. His blades glowed, and his speed was amazing to watch."

"That's your first problem. You need to watch your enemy, not your group. That is the healer's job." Branzer said. "Look, I can't read your minds and Mohania would probably eat your minds - so let's first get some things straight. In our world…"

"Yes I know, in your world the alliance fights your groups. Dan didn't give out any more information than that. Like we told him, we are not a part of them! We have actually killed many of them and their recruiters. We usually do it by surprise so that our causalities are minimal. We all know that our time is almost up, death will eventually embrace us but we are trying our hardest to take out as many of them that we can." Devon said sounding upset.

"Fine. Let's all of us sit together and talk." Mohania said sitting down on the ground. Devon nodded at his group and they all formed a circle. Mohania snapped his fingers and a fire instantly blazed in the middle of them. This surprised all of them.

"Paladin's we do not know much about. We have hunters and healers as well as you do. Perhaps we could exchange knowledge and make each other stronger in the process." Branzer said. "I believe you, and I believe we are both on the same side. Maybe by exchanging knowledge we might be able to strengthen both of our groups powers."

"But not us paladins?" Devon said seeming upset.

"We do not have any. We have warriors and warlocks as our tanks. I don't feel comfortable exchanging knowledge of weapons or enchants, but maybe as we build the trust between us?" Branzer said.

"Many years ago we had warlocks in our old kingdom, but they weren't tanks…" Devon said curiously.

"You'd be surprised what we can do." Mohania said with a grin. Devon nodded at him.

"Agreed then." Devon said.

"I'll take all of your hunters over to the side and share as much as I can with them. I'll summon a healer and do the same with them. Do we have an agreement as one warrior to another?" Branzer asked.

"Yes." Devon said shaking his hand.

"What do I do?" Mohania asked.

"Go help Dan collect any enchanted pieces left over, and then come back." Branzer said. Mohania grunted, but did as he was told.

The groups quickly assembled, and Branzer asked to have Skyka come as well. Branzer quickly filled her in on the situation and looked at him thinking that this was a bad idea, but did as she was told. Branzer was running this show.

Each group seemed hesitant at first, and then they started naming of some minor spells that all of them already knew. Branzer knew that this was going to be a slow going process; however Devon quickly stood up to say something.

"Obviously we do not fully trust each other. What we've shared already a child could do. What do I have to do to earn your trust; I will then give the command to tell my army to fully cooperate. We all know that you could summon a vast armory and destroy us at any time. Your powers far exceed ours, and we both know we could be doing more constructive things with our time." Devon said.

Skyka was about ready to say something, and Branzer knew she was uncomfortable with the situation but Branzer talked before she could.

"You said you have the power to turn the controlled alliance humans back to their normal selves. You tell us that, and we'll tell you something in return. How about that?"

Skyka looked shocked. "You can't turn them back once they have been taken over by the alliance." She thought.

"Fine" Devon said and motioned for one of his priests to step forward. Branzer looked at Skyka motioned her to step forward. Devon nodded at his gnome healer and she motioned Skyka to bend down to her. She did, but was very cautious.

She listened for a couple of seconds and then suddenly her eyes flew open.

"Is that all? Repeat that again please." Skyka asked. So the gnome repeated the spell and the effect it had on an alliance control human. The gnome explained that they only do it in secrecy because it confuses the human, and if the human is around other controlled humans that they'll attack him. Skyka than eagerly asked how much power it took and the two of them started talking excitedly for several minutes.

"I think I am fulfilling my part of the bargain." Devon said with a smile.

"Please hold on for just a second, yes you have my trust. Branzer you may talk to the King about what is happening." Skyka said, and then quickly shut her mouth. "I'm sorry; I'm used to being in charge."

"I already did. He said he sensed their intentions were true and quickly scanned their memories and knew they were telling the truth. He said only spells, nothing else is to be exchanged and it is to be an equal exchange of knowledge." Branzer said.

"Again I'm sorry." Skyka said and then went back to talking with the gnome priest. By now the other three healers came over and they were all quickly exchanging and describing certain types of spells also. Skyka again seemed shocked at some of the spells that they knew. She had no idea they even existed.

"You have a King that can read people's thoughts?" Devon asked.

"You would be surprised what we can do. To be honest I don't even know what all he can do. All I know is not to piss him off or talk during an ambassador meeting." Branzer said looking at Mohania, who was burning his name in the ground.

"If you do, you'll get kicked by a large hoof." Mohania said and finished writing his name. "To bad you don't have any warlocks. I could teach them a lot of things. Speaking of actually, I still need to have a talk with Crystal."

"We haven't even talked about having a honeymoon yet either…" Dan said as he thoughts trailed off.

"You can join Kendall and I. By now all of the alliance members have probably gotten their strength back." Mohania said smiling.

"I think that both of you should stay here for now, just in case something goes wrong." Branzer said quietly. They both nodded as if they had already known this.

"The priests seem to be having a good time, Mohania can you conjure up something that we can shoot at so I can see what I can teach the hunters?"

"I've only got two soul shards left." Mohania said complaining as he followed Branzer.

Mohania let out a sigh. "All of the women in the group are starting to piss me off. Mohania quickly quieted himself. He waited a moment and then said, "She must have found them the same way I do once in awhile I suppose."

"Naw, she creates three every thirty seconds. But she said she doesn't really use them anymore." Skyka talked loud enough for Mohania to hear. Mohania tried to think for awhile about how she could be able to do that.

Branzer began talking with the hunters as Dan and Mohania stood beside him. Mohania was concentrating on what Skyka said and was completely oblivious to what was being said. The paladins walked over to listen as well.

Several minutes went by and Mohania finally yelled out in the middle of Branzer's talking, "That's impossible! She cant do that! It is magically impossible to create more than one shard from a dying creature, let alone create one out of mid air! If this is a joke it isn't funny!"

Everybody stopped talking and looked at Mohania. He looked like he was being played a fool.

Skyka stood up and said, "Mohania, she showed how to create the shards and told us of the demons she killed. You are an ambassador and you need to learn to keep your mouth shut Mohania. Remember her powers are more advanced than yours are."

Branzer turned to Mohania and said, "Another outburst and I will speak with the King about your interruptions. You've already pissed him off once by doing that, how do you think he would react if he found out you did again?"

Branzer looked into Mohania's lifeless eye sockets and could tell that Mohania was thinking a hundred different thoughts at the same time. Branzer then walked up to Mohania's face, he was so close that Mohania had to actually bend over backwards a little.

"Why do you think you weren't one of the ones chosen to be given the new powers? When the time comes, do you think the King will let you have the new powers?" Branzer asked him quietly and then turned back around and continued where he had left off.

Mohania hadn't thought of that. He let out a small sigh. Dan walked over to him and quietly whispered, "Save your aggression for the battlefield. We are just as excited to get our new powers as well. In the mean time though, we both know you know some spells that probably no other warlock knows. Keep thinking of different ways of manipulating your spells like you have been doing all along."

"Mohania, can you summon one of your blue demons?" Branzer said. Mohania pulled out a soul shard and began casting the spell. When he was done he threw the shard on the ground and the big blue voidwalker appeared out of it. Devon's group quickly began to reach for their weapons.

"It's under my control; settle yourselves down…just like I need to settle myself down." Mohania said in a boring tone as he continued, "Now I'm going to cast a demonic shield around myself that fills me with life, so I can channel health it into the 'scary demon' when you guys take shots at it." Mohania then held his hands up into the air and suddenly a dark aura surrounded him. It radiated powers that made Devon's group uneasy.

"Devon, settle your group down. I wish to get this done and over in the next hour or so. Mohania did say what would just happen. We have other assignments that we need to do." Branzer said.

Branzer went on to explain several different techniques for hunters, including taming animals. Most of them had no clue that they could do that. They were a specc'ed in the survival tree, so he wasn't able to teach them too much. He suggested putting freezing traps in front of the healers. None of them were advanced enough to shoot traps yet, but he did highly encourage all of them to find an animal and train it.

Eventually Branzer went to Devon and said, "I think we have both exchanged as much knowledge as we can. Do you feel more confident with your group now?"

"I do, I apologize that we were not able to give you more knowledge. I promise we held nothing back." Devon said turning to his group.

"Hold on for a second, Mohania can you banish your demon?" Branzer said as Mohania quickly destroyed it. Branzer held up his stone to summon the King. One of his ambassadors answered and gave him two bags of gold. "Tell them to get some better weapons, but we will not share any more technology with them." And then the portal shut.

Branzer tossed the gold at Devon. "Going away present. Get your people some better weapons, talk about your new talents, and practice them. And this may sound weird, but encourage your group to love each other. It'll increase their magical resistances." Branzer walked up to Devon and shook his hand. "I'm sure we'll meet up with each other again. Fight well my friend." Branzer turned around and summoned up a portal of Lindel and asked her to portal them out of here. Branzer, Dan, Mohania, and Skyka entered and the portal closed behind them.

"Permission to leave the group. I must speak with the King about the new abilities I have learned and spread them through all of the priests in Tranquil." Skyka said looking at Branzer. Branzer looked at Herrior.

"You are running the show, don't look at me." Herrior said smiling. Branzer nodded and Skyka portalled back to Tranquil.

"Ok, what's next?" Branzer said. There was a knock on the door. Everybody quickly armed themselves. Branzer slowly approached the door and opened it with his gun shoved in the Lieutenant's face. Everybody sighed and let him in.

"What's been going on?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Lots of killing, what do you want?" Branzer asked.

"The Chief is promoting our station and giving us nearly unlimited funding because our governor of our state admitted to at least 30 different charges in front of everybody. I just wanted to thank you guys." The Lieutenant said. Lindel started to whistle innocently.

"Thank us later, we have jobs to do and so do you. This is just the beginning of the battle. Nobody is to use this room for the next couple of days." Herrior said and pointed at the door. The Lieutenant waved at them with a smile and began to leave the room.

"Do you want me to stay, or…"

"No, leave at your normal time. Make everything look as normal here as possible. As far as you know, nothing out of the ordinary is happening. We will come and go as we please. Once we get the assignments done, we will all leave. Is that understood?" Herrior said staring at him. The Lieutenant nodded and left.

"Lindel…did you have fun with the governor?" Quinely asked with a big smile.

"A woman never kisses and tells…" Lindel said laughing.

"Ok, back to the topic. Let's all agree that an hour per assignment takes too long. If you don't report back in an hour, the people we have left are coming to find you. It's getting late, let's wrap this up." Branzer said.

Strings second portal put him in a dark alley. His first assignment was to help a drunk get off the street. Once out of view, he played a small song that made the imp standing on top of him explode.

This time there was twelve gang members that quickly looked at him and started to approach him. Strings didn't detect any demons in the area. The gang members hurled insults and threats at him, and Strings continued to look around for demonic activity.

"We gave you enough warning old man, now it's time we teach you a lesson!" The gang leader said. Strings let out a series of quick notes and a sudden blast of wind flew out of the sky and blasted all of them backwards and into the wall. Strings was pretty sure the blast killed some of them, others he heard bones cracking and cursing.

Strings continued his search for any demonic activity in the area. We walked an entire block around where he was portalled to and couldn't find anything.

"Are there any demons around?" Strings said out loud curiously. No return answer. Strings walked up to the gang members and started tossing them aside to double check them for any demonic or alliance activity. They all moaned and screamed in pain. Some of them began to curse at him.

"I could play another song that would completely annihilate all of you, and probably wipe out all of the buildings in a mile radius. Believe it or not, I'm just doing my job. Do any of you have any demonic symbols or other symbols for summoning demons?" Strings said casually searching through their bodies. He eventually found upside down pentagons, and other demonic symbols.

"Hey! Those give us our power!" One of the gang members said.

"How's it working out for you so far?" Strings said with a smile. He thoroughly searched all of them and collected twenty different symbols.

"We worship Satan! His demons will crush you!" The same gang member said.

"Do you have any family?" Strings asked.

"No, this is my family. My brothers and sisters in my gang. We will hunt you down and mess you up!" He replied.

"No…you won't…" Strings said and started to play a song. Their flesh started melting off from their body and within seconds there was nothing but a pile of bones and clothes. Strings took the symbols that he had collected. They all started vibrating in his hand and slowly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Good always triumphs over evil. Your god maybe powerful, but you forget who holds power over all." Strings said brushing the dust off from his hands. He then walked back out and sat for several minutes, making sure that this was what he was supposed to do. He started to play a hymnal on his lute and it seemed to soothe everybody who heard it.

Crystal and Mohania stepped out of two different portals and saw each other. Crystal let out a sigh as Mohania smiled.

"Shut up, ok? No ass-kissing. Eventually we will share our knowledge with each other, but I can't teach you what I know. Do you understand?" Crystal said. Mohania was still looking at her eagerly with a big smile.

Twelve worgens detected their presence and quickly turned around.

"Leave now, or we will kill you!" One of the worgens said.

"Cast Bane of Agony on all of them, I'll do the rest." Crystal said.

"Bane of Agony?" Mohania asked curiously back.

"Curse of agony…just do it ok?" Crystal said. Mohania started casting the instant cast spell on all of them. Crystal began to channel a spell and an enormous meteor came from the air and crashed into them. She then summoned a demon Mohania had never seen before. It stood about twelve feet tall, had a curved horn on his head, his body was the color red, and he had a large war axe in his right hand. Crystal then summoned an infernal She then metamorphosised into an enormous black demon, with red eyes and large black wings.

"Show no mercy." Crystal said in a demonic voice. All of her minions quickly rushed into battle. Crystal shot shadow bolts into all of them and then created a hellfire effect around her, blasting out circle of fire from her body that shot out for about thirty yards. The rest of her demons made short work of the worgens, except for one of them.

"Leave him alone. The rest of you may return to my body." Crystal said in her demonic voice. The doom guard, and the demon with the war axe, all flew into her body and faded out of existence. Crystal slammed her foot on the worgen's chest.

"Why are you here?" Crystal asked as her demonic voice that echoed throughout the streets. "And what was this about you killing us?"

The worgen did not talking.

"Let's see if I can convince you." Crystal said. She reached down with her enormous black hand and grabbed him by the neck. She then flapped her wings and took to the air. She flew rapidly out of sight heading straight up.

"I want to know if worgens can fly. What do you think will happen if I drop you?"

The worgen transformed back to its human form. It was a middle-aged woman.

"I know humans can't fly, I will drop you either way. You've got five seconds. Tell me what I want to know!" Crystal said fiercely into her face.

"If you drop me, you will never find out." The woman said.

"There's plenty more where you come from. Killing you means nothing to me." Crystal said and flew down as fast as she could. The woman eventually started to scream. Crystal landed and threw her on the ground.

"Last chance!"

"Balnazzar is in charge. He told us to get as many recruits for his mission as we can."

"If he is as weak as his recruits, your boss stands no chance against us!" Crystal said yelling in her demonic voice. Crystal began breaking several of her bones, folding her into an odd shaped square.

"Does that look like a square to you?" Crystal said turning to Mohania. His bottom jaw had dropped and his eyes were as wide as they could go. Crystal turned back to the woman and slammed her enormous demonic foot on her which produced more audible several cracks and blood squirting out as she began almost as flat as a pancake. Eventually she burned up with the rest of the worgens.

Crystal changed back to her normal self and picked up Mohania's jaw and placed it back on his face. She worked at it for a couple of seconds and finally got it to stick.

"Now then, let's talk about our relationships. I haven't had my honeymoon with Dan yet. How is yours going with Kendall?" Crystal asked as if nothing had just happened. Mohania slowly turned his shocked look at Crystal. He tried to form a couple of words, but was unable to.

"I was thinking some place romantic. I kind of want it to be somewhere on Earth, so that means Lindel will probably be spying on us…" Crystal said with a sigh. "Perhaps in the beach where we had the party."

"How…the…hell…" Mohania started to say.

"But eh, there's better places than that. We'll have to get some currency probably and see if we can get at least a week off from duty. I imagine we'll probably have to carry around our hearthstones though, just in case we are called on duty." Crystal said and sighed again. "However I do have fun destroying the alliance. Don't you?" Crystal said looking up at Mohania. His bottom jaw became loose again and fell back off.

"Hun, you are going to need that if you are going to talk. I don't want to be carrying parts of you back through the portal." Crystal said with a smile. She reattached his jaw and then kissed the right side of his skull, and whispered in his ear "What was it you were going to teach me again?" Crystal ran a finger under Mohania's chin and walked away. She walked across the road and said, "You've only seen a part of what I am able to do. You want death and destruction; build the King's trust - Mr. Ambassador…" Crystal asked to have a portal opened and she walked through. Mohania walked through and started babbling a bunch of nonsense.

"What did you do to him sugar?" Lindel asked.

"You know the power that woman have over men…" Crystal said and winked at her. Lindel laughed. Mohania let out a sigh of disgust and walk over to the opposite side of the room.

Branzer was going through a couple other folders and seemed to be talking to himself. After a moment he said, "Sorry guys, I'm trying to decide how many people I should send, how long it would take, and making sure I don't screw up again like I did with Dan…sorry about that by the way."

"I would have died fighting." Dan said casually.

"Yes, but I would rather have none of you die. The group would get upset." Branzer said.

"You're running the show, Branzer. At least for the time being." Herrior said smiling at him. Branzer let out a brief laugh.

A portal opened and Skyka walked through. "Anybody miss me?" Herrior walked up to her and kissed her.

"So are you done teaching your new abilities?" Herrior asked.

"Dispel magic, and mass dispel magic. I feel like an idiot… It could have helped us out so much in the past. Gets rid of enemy buffs, and gets rid of magical debuffs on us. Instead of pumping health into your guys, to stabilize the magical damage over time spells on our groups, I could have just have casted this spell." Skyka said. "I didn't actually teach them that much to be honest, they weren't all that powerful. I taught them both hymns to heal everybody and restore their mana must faster and a simple renew spell." Skyka said. "What did you teach them Branzer?"

"Different types of traps. Nothing real impressive, but it may give them an edge." Branzer said casually as he continued reading through the reports. Skyka then walked up to Branzer and whispered something in his ear. He let out a brief chuckle and said, "Sure." out loud.

Skyka began to channel a spell for a couple of seconds and then held her hand at Herrior. Herrior's blue eyes completely blackened. He walked over to Lindel and pushed her on the ground.

"Hey…" Lindel said completely surprised. Herrior turned around, looked over his shoulder and pointed at his butt.

"I command you to kiss my ass!" Herrior said firmly. Lindel looked at him shocked. She then looked around the room and then back at Herrior. Lindel slowly crawled forward and the second before Lindel kissed Herrior's butt, Skyka stopped channeling the spell.

"What the…Lindel what are you doing?" Herrior yelled quickly turning around.

"I'm doing what you commanded me to do…" Lindel said in a quick defensive. "Everybody heard it, you told me to kiss your ass…" Mohania started to chuckle.

"Mohania!" Herrior said.

"I did not do that, however if I did have the power to do that, I wouldn't do that to you…unless I knew I could get away with it…" Mohania said with a smile.

Skyka and Branzer suddenly burst into laughter. Herrior and Lindel both looked at them curiously.

"Hey, I'm a hunter - I can't do things like that." Branzer said quickly.

"Thanks for sticking up for me hun…" Skyka said elbowing Branzer. Herrior and Lindel both turned to Skyka. She started giggling and looked away.

A portal opened in the middle of the room and the King's head popped out.

"Ok Skyka, you had your fun. But you are not to cast that spell again on anybody in your group or in Tranquil. The other priests are learning the spell as well and I'm giving them the same warning. As an update though, most of our ranged weapons, thanks to the researching goblins, no longer need to be reloaded. Arrows and bullets will stop being manufactured at once. We've tested this out on several of our hunters, besides the present company, and it seems to be working well. Carry on." The King pulled his head back out of the portal and it closed. Herrior glared at Skyka.

"Oh, I'll make it up to you later…" Skyka said and winked at him. "But apparently the group had to adapt to releasing the alliance within the humans, and mind controlling them so they could get close enough to the alliance they couldn't free to destroy them. They actually surprised me with how well they had adapted their fighting style."

"Here's a case where a woman has reported being missing and ransom notes have been given out for one million dollars. From my description here, it's about three hundred miles south of here in an abandoned warehouse…I think. The report is very vague." Branzer said.

"Give it here, I'll do it." Mohania said getting up and grabbing the folder out of his hands. "I need some time alone anyways. What's the ladies name?"

"Lisa, or Elizabeth, or Lizzy. It also states that she wrote a suicide letter and might have killed herself, but no body was found." Branzer said.

"Whatever open a portal for me." Mohania said. The Chronomancers locked on to a position as close to the warehouse that they could and open a portal and Mohania stepped through.

"So…what's eating him?" Skyka asked.

"I showed him a fraction of my new powers. I think it hurt his ego." Crystal said. Everybody looked at her funny.

"And yes…I had complete control over myself at all times. I think the biggest problem is, as far as the alliance goes, they obtain the new powers and they want to use them immediately, which of course lead them to fighting each other. I have not yet sensed anything even remotely capable of over taking my mind. It's just like my powers from before, only on steroids. Hunters without ammo, new powers for every class. This will be fun." Crystal said. Then she looked at Strings and Lindel, and suddenly she felt ashamed of herself.

"Hun, we're different classes. It doesn't offend us any." Lindel said smiling. "The more work you do, the less we have to do."

"Anyways, let's start getting the rest of this stuff done.

Mohania stepped out of the portal. "Ok, looking for a Lisa, or an Elizabeth, or a Lizzy. I can't sense humans and I doubt you are here. I'm just going to go from warehouse to warehouse yelling out Lisa."

Suddenly a woman spoke up. "You know my name, it's Lisa. Listen I've been fully cooperative, I've done everything you said. Please just let me go."

"I didn't tell you to do anything, I just arrived." Mohania said walking towards the voice. "It says here that you are some sort of "Physco-tri-atist", what is that?"

"Psychiatrist. Who are you?" Lisa said suddenly very curious.

"I am Mohania, a warlock from a different world. I'm here to free you, and bring you back to the station. Personally I just took this mission because I got tired of listening to my group talking."

"Who else is with you? There are over fifty of them! They are all armed and will kill us!" Lisa said franticly.

"I've been killed before and turned it a race called the undead." Mohania said sitting on the opposite side of the pole that she was tied to. "I can't remember how many times I've been killed in battle, after awhile you stop counting." Mohania said and let out a sigh.

Lisa became very frightened and confused. "Ok, have you been diagnosed with anything? What kinds of medications are you on?" She then became very angry and said, "Look, obviously you are delusional, they will kill us both if they find you here. In your state of mind you cannot help me. Just run away ok! Under normal circumstances I could help you, but this is a life and death situation!"

"You sound just as annoying as the other women in my group. All emotional and very talkative. Why is it so hard for men to understand women and the powers they have over us? I mean Crystal…I know how to do things, but they are mere parlor tricks to the power she has. And they are right, if the King doesn't trust me, how will I be given my stronger powers I desire." Mohania said completely ignoring her.

The sounds of vehicles driving up to the warehouse could faintly heard.

"They are going to kill us both!" Lisa said hysterically. "I have a family! If they see that you are trying to rescue me, they will kill me and my family."

"I've done that before. I've served as well as I could, but I am an undead warlock. The bringer of death." Mohania kept raving on. He heard several vehicles stop and the lady began to shake and cry.

"Yeah, yeah…fine fine…do my duty." Mohania said standing up. He pulled out his last soul shard and began casting his spell. The then threw it on the ground and a red succubus rose up from it.

"Go have fun my mistress." Mohania said and then sat back down and let out a sigh.

"How the hell?" Lisa said completely surprised.

"I know…blah blah blah…just sit back and listen to the screams. I shouldn't be venting to you anyways."

"I'll give you anything you want if you free me!" Lisa said. "I can listen to whatever problems you want, I'm great in my field! Please!"

"I was going to free you anyways, now be quiet and let me concentrate." Mohania said sounding annoyed.

The succubus instantly vanished from sight and ran out the door closest to them. The door opened and shut behind her. She came to the first truck and saw two men in it. She quickly seduced the first driver. He pulled out his gun and shot his passenger. He was completely unaware of what happened. The succubus then commanded the man to step out of the car and slowly walked up to the next group of four men that got out of a blue Taurus.

"Hey guys, what is that over there?" The succubus made the man say. All of the men looked to the side where he was pointing. The controlled man then quickly fired his gun at the farthest men first, dropping them instantly and then firing at the two closest to before they were able to pull their guns out.

A hummer pulled up behind the car and they all opened fire at the man. The succubus lost control of the human and slowly walked to the side of the vehicle. A limo pulled up and a guy with a small compact machine gun walked up and demanded to know what was going on.

"Ok, what's going on?" The man with the automatic weapon said. A man with a sash full of grenades and explosives strapped to his chest said he didn't know, but was suddenly seduced by the succubus. He started pulling all of the pins and throwing the explosives wildly at the rest of the men. Several seconds later several loud explosions occurred, sending both vehicles and a lot of shrapnel in every direction. Before all of this, the succubus let go of the man's mind and quickly fell to the ground and rolled away from the explosions. She wasn't hurt, but stayed invisible to survey the damage. It looked like everybody was dead, but she wanted to make sure.

"What's going on?" Lisa asked quickly.

"Death and destruction…however like I said it's nothing compared to Crystal's. We'll talk about that later, remember you promised." Mohania said. "I'm almost done, just want to finish off any stragglers. Keep quiet for awhile longer."

The succubus slowly walked up to the vehicles on fire and heard several moans. She walked over to who she thought the boss was and quickly seduced his mind.

"Whoever is still alive, stand up! We have a job to do!" The man said with the automatic weapon. Two different men who were hurt badly stood up. The seduced man quickly opened fire on them, finishing them off. He then threw the gun away. The succubus appeared out of thin air and flung her whip around the man's neck. The snake like head at the end of it started biting at him viciously. Blood start squirting out as he tried his hardest to loosen the grip of the whip around his neck. After the snake like creature bit through the spine, the succubus pulled back hard on the wipe, sending the man's head flying. She casually picked it up and walked back in the warehouse. She walked into the warehouse and threw the head of the leader in front of Lisa and then started looking at her nails.

"My end of the bargain is over, can we talk now?" Mohania asked.

"How did you, what are you…" Lisa started to say.

"I get that a lot as well…let's cut the introductions. I saved your life, are you going to talk with me, or should I just let you go like the rest of the people I save?" Mohania said. He then made the succubus talk.

"Save people, disappear without a trace, blah blah blah…you did say you would do anything sugar." The succubus said in a very seductive voice and then cracked her whip. Mohania quickly burned the ropes restricting her to the wooden post.

"Yes, ok fine. I need to look at you to see how you respond to the questions to better understand you. I will talk to you and then I want to go home to my family. Is that ok?" Lisa asked.

"My job here was to save you. You are not obligated to do anything for me. You humans always make promises and then don't keep them, I thought that about all humans except for the ones I've come to love in my group. If you were to see me, you would scream and probably piss yourself." Mohania said.

"No, I will help you. I gave you my word. You saved my life. I have seen a lot of patients badly disfigured. I am used to that." Lisa said in a calm voice.

"You are no longer needed my mistress, thank you for your services." Mohania said at his banish. She bowed and quickly dissolved into thin air.

"You aren't human, are you?" Lisa said.

"No, I said I was an undead warlock. I said that before. Don't you listen to your patients?" Mohania said angrily.

"No I did hear you before. I'm sorry, I'm not used to hearing some of the things you told me, and seeing half-naked women appear out of nowhere - then somehow kills all of my captures that I had." Lisa said apologetically. "It's ok, come around and let me see you. I will talk to you however long you want."

"Afterwards, I'll portal you back to the station. You can then get home that way, or contact somebody, or whatever you do." Mohania said standing up. He walked over with his back to Lisa. All she saw was a very thin man with a cape that seemed to pulsate with black light.

"You seem thin, and cover yourself - maybe because you trying to conceal your past?" Lisa asked. Mohania start laughing in his demonic tone. This caught Lisa completely off guard. Mohania suddenly turned around to expose his skeleton figure. His jaw still moving up and down from the laughter. His eyes were dark black. He stuck out his bony fingers and pulled his cape back to expose the rest of his skull.

Lisa immediately started shrieking in terror. She struggled very hard to free herself from the ropes restraining her. Mohania casually sat down and started twirling his thumbs waiting for her to settle down.

"Please! Don't hurt me! Let me go! Please, I won't tell anybody!" Lisa screamed in sheer terror.

"If I was going to hurt you, you would've been dead a long time ago. I wish I had some sort of silence spell. You women scream much louder than men do." Mohania said calmly. "So, as you can see, I am an undead warlock. Do you want me to let you go, or are you going to fulfill your promise?"

Lisa stopped screaming but still looked terrified at Mohania. She then started looking him over, but jumped every time he moved.

"Do I look disfigured to you?" Mohania asked and let out a big grin.

"No!" Lisa said quickly, which caused Mohania to laugh again.

"Are you real? Or am I just…" Lisa said questioning her own sanity.

Mohania chanted a quick spell and turned into a complete duplicate of Lisa. "Is this less scary? It should be." Mohania said and let out another laugh.

Lisa was completely awestruck. Mohania rolled his eyes. "Should I inflict pain on you to prove to you that I am real?" Mohania's voice was an exact duplicate of Lisa's.

"No…no, ok just let me gather my thoughts." Lisa said and started collecting her thoughts. She started adjusting herself, but found it difficult still tied to the board. Mohania snapped his fingers and instantly the ropes behind the board erupted in flame, freeing Lisa from her bonds.

"Is that better?" Mohania said.

"How did you…" Lisa started to say.

"Look, we could be here all night showing you everything I can do. How about we cut this bullshit introduction and talk?" Mohania said in Lisa's voice in an angry tone.

"Ok. I'm all ears. I just need to accept that you are some sort of ghost, or a zombie…" Lisa started to say

"Undead…for the last time…" Mohania said interrupting her.

"Yes ok, you're undead." Lisa said, still unable to grasp the concept.

"All of my undead life I thrived for power. I've tortured different races, and creatures. My power increased as they promised to teach me their spells if they would get let go. I said I promised I would let them go, but my other warlocks usually had them devoured before they ever left our fire room. I know it's not what they meant…but I like finding loop holes." Mohania said laughing in Lisa's voice.

"You…eat people?" Lisa asked.

"You know the answer to that, why even ask?" Mohania said in Lisa's voice sounding annoyed. "Anyways, my powers were always unmatched. I can do things that even our King doesn't even know that I can do. But to give the new powers to Crystal and then have her rub it in my face. I could not believe what she did! I have been thinking about that non-stop."

"Who or what is Crystal?" Lisa asked seeming more comfortable now.

"Dan's mate; she's a human warlock. She and two others were chosen to be test subjects for the new powers being given out. But I'm sinister…that is how I am. I always follow the commands and rules, sometimes I bend them to the very point of breaking them, but I never break them. The King has allowed our race into Tranquil, but is still leery of us. We've proved ourselves to him, but now I'm thinking that I probably won't get the powers because of what my group has been saying to me. It pisses me off!" Mohania said and he brought up his hands and caused them to erupt in flame.

Lisa was listening intently, but was suddenly shocked by the fire and lot out a quick scream.

"Sorry." Mohania said dousing his hands.

"Have you talked to the King about how you are feeling?" Lisa asked. Mohania just stared at her for a couple of seconds.

"I torture our enemies, rip off body parts, cause my victims to burn in agony, and blast their minds with shadow magic. Should I ask them how they are feeling? What their emotions are?" Mohania said in Lisa's voice. His eyes began to turn from light blue, to dark red. "I laugh in their face! I slowly break their bones with my bear hands, just to hear the screams become louder and echo throughout our cave!

"Mohania. You have done all of these things, and you are wondering why you might not get these extra powers?" Lisa asked.

"Yes…" Mohania said quickly and then suddenly became quiet. He let out a sigh. "I see your point. But this is what my race does…well not as much as I do…"

"You mean not as much as you do? Does your race eat and torture other races?" Lisa asked.

"Yes they do!" Mohania said quickly in his defense.

"Do they get the same pleasure out of it as you do?" Lisa asked, half wondering if she was in fact asking the right questions.

"No. Kendall tries but her powers are different from mine. On the day of our union she brought me three alliance to torture." Mohania said.

"And what did you get Kendall?" Lisa asked - still unsure where this conversation was going.

Mohania looked off to the side and sighed.

"I take that as nothing? It sounds like she is trying to bring you happiness, while your 'sinister' attitude seems to interfere with your relationship." Lisa said.

Mohania looked up at her confused.

"You probably have an internal conflict. Your love of power, your love of Kendall, and your jealousy of Crystal's powers. It sounds like you need to prioritize your life. First of all, put Kendall first because she is your mate. Second, be happy for Crystal and talk with her - she just may put in a good word to get your powers. Third of all, talk with the King about it. I'm assuming he is the one that gives you your powers?" Lisa said.

"No, but…he can restrict them." Mohania said.

"I'm not saying change, but prioritize things in your life. Spend some time doing what Kendall wants; spend some time doing what you like to do. Then what can you do to gain your King's trust? It sounds like you are doing ok, but you seem nervous talking with him." Lisa said.

"No, I'm an ambassador…well still learning and doing more screwing up than actual diplomacy. Anyways, I'm one of the King's advisors." Mohania said.

"But you don't feel like you are living up to his expectations that you are setting forth for yourself? I hate to say this…but he probably chose you because of your 'sinister' attitude. How many other ambassadors are there of the 'undead'?" Lisa asked.

"None" Mohania said sighing.

"You seem to have very high expectations from yourself…" Lisa said but was interrupted by Mohania.

"You have no idea how many years I have fought with my group and watch some of them die because my power was not strong enough! They were brought back to life, but that's not the point. Like this image I conjured up, I only have a couple more minutes until it fades. I do not want the power to turn on them, I love them! Crystal could control herself; I have no doubt that I could! If I had her power in some of our previous battles we could have slaughtered our enemies and made them suffer!" Mohania said and dropped the conjured image of Lisa's body. Lisa didn't seem scared this time.

"What does your group do exactly?" Lisa asked out of curiosity.

"Fight a universal war to keep the peace and protect our allies. This world is part of our allies. We have two main enemies, but have fought many creatures. Anyways what point are you trying to make?" Mohania said.

"It's obvious you love your group. You feel guilty for not being powerful enough, you aren't jealous of Crystal - you want her powers to help protect your group. You want her powers to protect Kendall…" Lisa said and seemed to stop in mid-sentence.

Mohania thought about what she said and eventually gave her a weird look. "Can you read my mind?"

Lisa laughed, "That would make my job a lot easier, but no. When you are in combat, do your best. When you are with Kendall, do your best. When you are doing your ambassador duties, do your best. But don't get frustrated if you mess up. It's all part of learning. You do not control the world that I know of, but learn to relax. Cut yourself some slack. Ok? The words 'I'm sorry' go along way, including with yourself."

Mohania nodded and stood up. He pulled out his stone and contacted Lindel, asking for a portal. Within a couple of seconds a six foot portal opened.

"Come on, let's go finish rescuing you. Thanks for the talk." Mohania said smiling at her. Lisa stared at it with utter fascination. Mohania reached out with his hand and grabbed hers and pulled her through. The portal closed behind them.

"Where are we?" Lisa said in her scared voice again. She started looking at all of the strange creatures and began to become scared again.

"Knock it off will ya, you've seen me - you can't say that the rest of my group looks worse than me." Mohania said glaring at her. "Branzer this is the woman that was captured, I rescued her, and your station can get the recognition for it…blah blah blah."

"Did you leave any craters or level any cities while you were gone on your little escapade?" Branzer asked with a smile on his face.

"Actually my succubus did all of the work. I just didn't have it in me." Mohania said. Everybody gasped.

"Yeah, yeah…look Lisa did some sort of mind trick with me. Probably another one of those female spells that men don't know, but I swear she read my mind - although she denies it. Crystal I apologize to you about being jealous of your new powers. If, I get my new powers, I still think I could teach you some new things." Mohania paused for a second. "Actually I think you all could learn new things. I mean I've seen a rogue's talent tree, and I know the limitations that a "rogue" is supposed to have…but apparently that doesn't apply to you Trackolania huh?" Trackolania let out a big smile and shrugged his shoulders.

Mohania turned to Dan and said, "I know time-stopping isn't on any of the talent trees…"

"Eh - just a little something I picked up…" Dan said with a smile. "Are you trying to share your thoughts and emotions with us Mohania?"

"No!" Mohania said quickly.

Lisa walked up and identified herself. "Mohania loves all of you and feels like he has to protect all of you. He is having an internal conflict concerning getting his new powers and whether or not your King will allow him to get them. I believe his intentions are sincere, and I would personally give it to them."

"Mohania is having an internal conflict?" Herrior said and started to laugh.

"No, let's be serious. He said that he tortures and kills races, but that is a metaphor for the internal struggles that he is having in his mind. He is unable to express his feelings and imagines these scenario's in his head to do with his anger…" Lisa was interrupted as everybody in the room burst into laughter. Even Mohania smiled and looked away.

"Lady, let's just say you are wrong and leave it at that." Herrior said. "Can you point on this map where your home is and we'll send you back."

Lisa felt offended, but did as she was told.

"Go Ohio State eh?" Branzer said.

"I graduated from there." Lisa said.

"Well, I'm not sure if we can get an exact coordinates. Our map of the country is pretty vague. I hate to just randomly dump you somewhere. Do you mind if Lindel tries to get more detailed information from you?" Branzer asked.

"You could just ask me, I'll tell you where I live." Lisa said.

"Not that easy…just hold still and keep your eyes opened." Branzer said and motioned for his love to do her thing.

"Just relax." Lindel told her, and gently dematerialized as she entered Lisa's mind. Lisa again was shocked and started waving her arms and her thoughts were racing.

"One thought at a time. It's hard to look at all of this. Just give me several pictures as to where you live?" Lindel said calmly inside of her head.

"I can hear you in my head!" Lisa said out loud.

"And that is why we limit the number of people that we expose ourselves too…" Herrior said shaking her head at Lisa.

"Please, just give me several pictures of your house. A picture from the air if you can. Your yard, all of the streets you drive down. Anything and everything you can give me about your home." Lindel said kindly in her head.

"Are you going to rob me?" Lisa said out loud.

"Talk in your head hun. I can hear you just fine. And to answer your question, no. You have nothing that we want; I just want to send you on your way. The sooner you cooperate, the sooner you can go home to…Alex? Is that your husband?" Lindel asked in her head.

"Yes! I've been missing for a month! He will be shocked to see me walk in the front door. What should I tell him?"

"That you love him. Now give me the information I need." Lindel said. Suddenly images of Lisa's house, streets, the name of her town, where it was located, where the closest intersections were.

"No, I need more than that. Think on a wider scale." Lindel said. Lisa nodded and tried to give a view from the sky. Then she tried to figure out all of the main streets coming out of city.

"No, that's not going to do it. Ok, focus on your husband. Concentrate on his face and I'll try to get a lock that way." Lindel said. Lisa did just that, but was astonished at the amount of clarity that she had of him.

"I'm amplifying your memories of him. I don't want wedding, or how you met - just your love for him and his face." Lindel said. Lisa cooperated and soon Lindel said that she had the information she needed. Lindel flew back out of her eyes and summoned a portal.

"Let me go first. If something is wrong I'll take care of it. If everything seems to be in order, you'll be reunited in a couple of seconds." Lindel said stepping through the portal.

Lindel appeared in a one story house, but it was huge. She looked through the dining room and saw a pool with a wooden fence around it.

"Alex?" Lindel called out.

"Yes?" A man called from the opposite side of the house.

"Come here, I want to look at you." Lindel said.

"Who are you? How did you get in my home?"

"I am no threat. I have your wife and will return her to you in a couple of seconds. I just want to make sure everything is ok." Lindel said.

"Is this some kind of sick joke!" Alex said sounding upset.

"Her full name is Lisa Jenny Trlemble. You got married at Saint Luther's church on York Street. Your best man was Jerry, and her maid of honor was Sammy. She purposed to you in a boat at midnight." Lindel said.

Alex peaked around the corner. "How…do you know…all of that? I've never seen you before…"

"I am no threat. Please let me look at you for a couple of seconds. I will not hurt you." Lindel said. Alex stepped forward and Lindel stared into his eyes. He wasn't possessed.

"Do you mind if I check your house real quick? I am a banshee and it'll only take a matter of seconds." Lindel asked.

"You're a what?" Alex said. Lindel levitated and partially fazed herself out of existence as she quickly flew around the house looking for demons or alliance.

As promised she came back and rematerialized. "Sorry about that, just wanted to make sure your house was safe."

Lindel reached through the portal and pulled Lisa out. Alex was stunned.

"I think you two know each other. One of our group members rescued her, in exchange for her help. Your wife is very smart and good with words. Now then, off I go." Lindel said stepping towards the portal.

"Wait! What do I tell the police who are searching for her." Alex said.

"She got away and came home." Lindel said shrugging her shoulders and disappearing into the portal.

"Well the happy couple is back together again. And just so you know Mohania, while you were talking to the woman, we got the rest of the assignments done. The name Balnazzar came up on several more occasions. But we all have been ordered to return to Tranquil…for all of us to get our new powers, including you, you bag of bones." Lindel said.

"I am being given more power!" Mohania said excitedly.

"I liked the part where you were describing your emotions and your love for us…" Lindel said smiling seductively at him.

"Less chattering, more portalling…" Mohania said.

"Oh, Kendall contacted me and said she wanted to be a fire mage. She said it would be more powerful than her arcane powers." Herrior said. "She said she wanted me to pass that on to you."

"A woman after my own heart…" Mohania said. Lindel created a portal back to Tranquil and they all disappeared into it.

They all arrived and it looked like all of the fighting groups in Tranquil were standing around. Large groups of goblins stood around seeming anxious. It looked like they were all amassing for an invasion.

"Is it ok to go see my wife and baby?" Bernett asked.

"Sure, if we need you we will contact you." Herrior said surveying the situation. Bernett left, and Herrior began asking around what was going on. Nobody else knew either.

Mohania tried to contact the King, but the ambassador said he was busy and needed to wait. Moments passed and all of the ambassador's hearthstones started to vibrate.

"Well, here come our answers…" Herrior said bringing up his one-way portal. Mohania, Branzer, and Skyka all stuck their heads in the fuzzy portals.

"Thank you all for coming and attending this meeting. I've got several issues to discuss. As you all know, three of our fighters have been given the additional powers and I don't sense any ill intentions about them. The difference from us and the alliance is we have discipline, and love for each other. I think this will stop everybody from turning on everybody. As a reminder, each of you is to monitor everybody and immediately report any suspicious activity that is if our Red Guards don't annihilate the individual first…depending on the situation of course." The King said. He let out a sigh.

"We are getting our new powers from the same play that King dumbass of the alliance is getting it from. So far all it has cost us is a considerable amount of gold. Which does leave our reserves low; I'm not going to lie to you. However I do not want you all to go from house to house asking for donations. I am going to send several groups on expeditions to raise our reserves. But it was worth it, I want to see my groups become stronger to fight our enemies." The King sighed again. "Which brings me to another problem. Our class and talent trainer are going to be swamped. We are going to do this in an orderly fashion. Our primary groups will go first, and I will raise the power of our secondary groups. I will also send a general invite to all of the citizens that if they are curious about a class, starting a new class will not require blasting. However this again is not a command."

The King rubbed his faced and leaned back in his chair. "Look, obviously everybody is excited about this, but it will be done in a nice orderly fashion. We no longer need the goblin reloaders for ranged weapons, and many of them want to convert to a class. Everybody that uses a ranged weapon will have to bring it to the goblin workshop to have it converted. I have also decided to enlarge our current groups. Some of them will have as many as twenty fighters in them. That way I feel better sending off groups to conduct their assignments, and not having as many groups on stand-by. I realize this may be boring for a lot of people; however it is what I have decided. All hunters will need a pet. All warlocks will need a pet. This is mandatory. Mohania, if you have noticed I have lifted the ban on restricting your powers, but only summon demons on Tranquil if it is absolutely needed. Our defenses have been returned to their presence, which means the alliance warlocks demons will not be attacked if they enter our city. All Druids need to report to Cenarius. Mohania, what is the command to summon your warlocks in your cave?"

"Simply the word 'come', however I would like to train them with the additional spells and talents, but I don't know how much of it they will retain. All of our demons have been banished inside the cave and anybody is allowed in. I would ask that your shield be extended over our cave as well." Mohania said.

"Done. Our arena has been setup with as many target dummies as we can possibly fit in there. Take turns, I'm sure you are all excited to test out your new abilities. Also speaking of new abilities, Branzer was able to find a way of turning possessed alliance human back to their original self. You are all ordered to attempt this first! If it doesn't work, kill them. Also through our intelligence we have gathered that some head demon called 'Balnazzar' is amassing an army on the human planet. We don't know his power or the number of troops that he has. Herrior will continue to monitor the world and summon additional troops if necessary. If you are summoned by him, get your groups there as soon as possible!" The King then sighed and reached over with his hand and produced a magical field that threw the green alien in front of the stairs. He was alive, but extremely afraid.

"For some reason, these things are still on the planet. They are not as powerful, and anybody should be able to kill these things. They are trying to reproduce their race using the humans. The armies of the world are apparently hunting these green pieces of shit down for study or something. You are all ordered to burn them up, or slice them to pieces until they are unrecognizable." The King then snapped his fingers and the alien instantly was engulfed in a powerful white light and burned up almost instantly.

"A new young female banshee was located and brought before me. Her intention were pure and has begun her studies as a Chronomancer. Show no mercy to the alliance that cannot be converted, or the demons. Once in awhile you will find fighters such as her. Bring them before me and I will blast their minds. If they have bad intentions, they will be jailed. If they do not respond to our normal interrogation, I will send them to the undead cave to be further interrogated. If they die during the process, no big loss." The King turned to his Queen.

"Please, everybody, you will all get the new powers. Be patient. It is going to take days to complete all of this. Maybe even weeks. New weapons and armor are also being made and additional 'Mastery' and armor bonuses will be given as well. Essentially you maybe twice as powerful as before, however your fighting rotations will change. Your healing, tanking, dps - everything will probably change. Talk among your classes and discuss the changes. This only applies to our original classes, bards and banshees are not included. Again, please be patient. Several of our goblin fighters will be sent out to raid a place called Gnomeregan to gather more plans and materials for their inventions. Herrior you are to go back to Earth and obtain more information." The Queen then named off several other ambassadors and gave them assignments as well, most of which was to collect gold and other valuables.

"Our defense rotations will still be in effect. It's boring, I know. But if it makes you all feel better; one of our assassins has beheaded the alliance class trainers, and talent trainers." The King said smiling holding up their heads. "However this will only slow them down, they will eventually get their new powers as well, but it'll cost them a lot more gold. If you get a chance, thank Rose for the beheading. She is very good as what she does, she impressed me a lot. She merely bowed and seemed intent to go back to doing her job." The King than seemed to relax a little and say, "We've had a lot of unions formed, and not a lot of time for their honeymoons. Please give them their time and space that they want. Anyways, here is the list of groups that I want formed…" And the King began naming off the groups and their new members. They all seemed to be evenly stacked with at least one ambassador in each group, a tank, at least two healers, ranged and close ranged DPS. Herrior was surprised when he heard that Julie was going to be in his group, and also caught off guard when he heard that a draenei called Icis was going to be added to his group.

After the King dismissed everybody, all of the group looked at each other with eagerness, with a hint of nervousness. Icis came over and introduced herself. Herrior introduced everybody in his party and welcomed him to the group. They all went to the human house to check on Bernett, his wife, and their new baby. Quinely left to go to the land of the Druids. Mohania had stayed behind and watched the group go into their house.

Kash was there playing with him and singing to them. Apparently time had stopped.

"He's a full time kiddo that's for sure. I've made several diving rescues, but the child has never been hurt yet. I've introduced him to several other children and took him for a bath in the fountain. We have a rotation though, so not all of the stress and worry is on me." Kash said smiling.

Time resumed.

Samatha sighed realizing that she didn't have the baby again, but produced a smile when she saw that Kash had him.

"Gotta get used to that. The Queen was right, even if there weren't any demons or alliance trying to get him, we would end up hurting him or even killing him." Samatha said.

"Once again, it's fine hun." Kash said smiling, but in a slightly annoyed voice. "When are they giving out the new powers?"

"Over the next couple of days, you thinking of becoming a fighter?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Yeah, the only thing I am fighting is trying to keep up with this little one. You try it for a day or two and see if you can keep up." Kash said handing the baby back to Samatha.

"Have you two figured out a name yet?" Lindel asked smiling.

"No." Bernett and Samatha answered at the same time and laughed.

"Obviously a boy name, but something from this world - because that is where he belongs. And it would only be one name, since you don't do middle or last names. For some reason you call my husband by his last name, and me by my first name." Samatha said smiling. She paused for a second and said, "How do you figure out names here?"

"They just kind of come to us. Later on if we learn that the name is already taken, we change it. Kind of unusual though for that to happen. Little ones at this age don't know their name anyways." Skyka said with a smile.

The group continued their discussion as Mohania asked for permission to see the King. He was granted a small time slot and entered the portal to the inner chambers.

"My King, I come before you confused about several matters that have been troubling me." Mohania began to say.

"Mohania, if I could read your mind I would accelerate this process. But feel free to talk before me and my Queen. How may we assist you?"

"Why am I an ambassador? Why did you allow that to happen? You can obviously train warlocks, so why am I needed?" Mohania said and started stuttering his words.

"Mohania? What is troubling you my dear?" The Queen said as she walked down the stairs.

"I thought you wanted me for my powers, now obviously Crystal can do things that I don't even understand, so you don't need a warlock trainer. I talked with this human woman on their planet, saved her life, killed bad people, blah blah blah…But it was as if she could read my thoughts and how I felt. I love Kendall, I love my group, and I love everybody in Tranquil. But I am not used to this. For hundreds of years I tormented and sucked the life out of beasts and alliance. Now it's kind of like, I want to change and be like the rest of my group. I desire power, but I do not hunger for it. I fear that I will not get the additional powers because of how I have been." Mohania said in a confused state.

The King started to laugh. "Mohania, you are dark and sinister - even borderline evil. You have powers that even I don't fully understand. You can control the undead and talk to demons. I want your race to be part of our city, just like the orcs and Draenei. The more allies we have, the better off we are. Everybody in the city desires power right now and is eager to get it, as you should be also. Do not let the lady that you rescued impair your judgments. You are our grand warlock in the city. Your powers will become as strong as we can give you, plus your additional spells will be added to it. The love you are feeling for Kendall is normal. It will also increase your magical resistances. Please Mohania, do not change. What do you desire of us? What can we do for you?"

"I wish for the alliance in my cave to be released and to see if Skyka can release them from their bonds. If they can be released, I have no desire to torture them." Mohania said.

The King smiled. "You will be a great ambassador one day. You have already shown enormous restraint, loyalty, and now the willingness to help the humans." The King stood up and walked down by his Queen on the stairs.

"Mohania, we are honored to have you and your undead fighting for us. You have continued to surprise us even up until this very moment. Do not let that human woman cloud your judgment. If you sense a threat, neutralize it - or contain it. Go to Kendall after her transformation, mate with her, and complete your union. Strengthen your bond. You are Mohania, the greatest warlock in all of Tranquil. I assure you, I will try to give you more powers than Crystal. I trust you, but I want the old Mohania back. You amused me before, now you confuse me as well as yourself. Build your strength back, become powerful again. I want to see you gain as much power as you can. I want to see you annihilate the alliance and our enemies while smiling and enjoying it. Continue to build your powers up, torture foreign sorcerers and learn their mage. Herrior is your leader, he will decide when and if you go too far. Do not listen to anybody else, including your own party. But I do not want to hear that you hesitated to attack our enemies. Are we clear?" The King said.

Mohania said and his eyes flared up with fire. "I will destroy them, I am sorry to come to you with this issue."

"Do not apologize. That is what we are here for. Now go, tell Herrior's group to go back to Earth. Tell Bernett to stay with Samatha and their baby. I will send Kendall and her group to Bernett's house when she is ready." The King opened a portal and Mohania walked out.

Another ambassador walked up to the King as him and his queen walked back to their chairs.

"Yes?" The King said.

"Julie wonders why she isn't in Tess's group." The ambassador asked.

"Because Julie is more familiar with the dangers that pose on their assignment. Tell Julie that Tess still loves her a lot, but this is how I want my groups. She can still contact her any time she wants." The King said sitting back down. "What's next on the list?"

Mohania portalled back to the human's house. It surprised everybody because they thought he was there all along.

"Bernett and Samatha are to stay here with their child. The rest of us are to go back to Branzer's house and kick some ass." Mohania said excitedly. "Eh - but first, Skyka can you go into my cave and see if you can release the humans from their alliance bonds?" Skyka gave him a weird look.

"If they cannot be released, I assure you that they will die. But what is the point of killing a human if they can be released from their bonds. Also, I need to talk to Lindel…but not until we get back to the house. And if I remember right, Crystal and Dan haven't mated yet. I won't be able to until the monks are done with Kendall. Then her group will come to Branzer's house to help investigate." Mohania said and turned to Herrior. "And you! You had better be able to hold aggro because we are not going to be holding anything back…" Mohania said and began to laugh in a sinister voice.

Herrior started to laugh. "I'll try my best. That's the Mohania I remember. Not jealous of Crystal anymore?"

"Naw, both of our powers combined we can put out more damage than the rest of you." Mohania said in his sinister voice. The rest of the fighters in Herrior's group gave him a glare. "Besides when it's my turn, I'll have more powers than her…"

"Well, we are going to be short one hunter and one druid. But we'll do what we can. Let's all go in Mohania's cave." Herrior said.

"And after I learn my powers, I'll increase my warlock minions that thrive in my cave…then they'll make the world burn!" Mohania said starting to laugh.

"Ok, that's definitely the old Mohania…let's go." Herrior said rolling his eyes.

Upon arrival in Mohania's cave, Mohania dragged all three of the possessed humans out. Skyka performed a quick spell and all three of them regained their minds back. They started spouting off questions about what happened and where they were. Lindel opened a portal and put them all in the station where the officers worked. Lindel then opened another portal and the rest of Herrior's group arrived in Branzer's house.

"My guess is that our turn for our new powers will probably be a couple of days. The humans will return to the station and see if there are any new assignments for us. In the mean time we'll do our own investigations." Herrior said. "Does anybody need to talk before we turn in for the night?"

"Crystal and I really haven't had much of a honeymoon." Dan said piping up.

"We're constantly being bombarded though hun. Plus I just dropped out a kid, was given new powers and I think everybody is on edge right now." Crystal said looking at Dan. She then turned to Herrior and he nodded.

"My wife is being blasted right now by the monks, not exactly my idea of a honeymoon either." Mohania said softly.

"First, does anybody sense anything? Without Quinely here our senses are limited." Herrior asked. Everybody remained quiet for several seconds. Everybody shook their heads.

Herrior nodded. "Our entire city is on edge right now, but we have all been here before. You can almost smell the battle in the air. If we have to fight without our new abilities, then that is what we are going to do. Icis, are you familiar with your role?"

Icis spoke with a nice soothing voice. "I am a healer, but I specialize in shields."

Herrior nodded. "Skyka is usually my main healer, and Lindel is our group healer. Since our group is so big now, we all welcome you with open arms. Generally I don't like to be shielded, but use your best judgment."

"Lindel could be used in battle now that we have a group healer." Mohania said glaring at Lindel.

"I have no problem fighting, but you are all probably better at it than I am. Once you all get your new powers I figured I would continue to group heal, possess if necessary, reenergize people if needed, and mind link people." Lindel said shrugging. Herrior nodded.

"No." Mohania said glaring at her as his voice echoed through the room. Lindel looked at him surprised.

"Umm…yes?" Lindel said smiling at him.

"Strings can only learn songs from other bards. Other than the magical properties of the tune, it is merely a song. He is not hiding back any abilities." Mohania said cold-heartedly.

"I'm not holding anything back!" Lindel said sharply. "I can sense if people are telling the truth, fly, and a couple of other things…but what is your point?"

"Your holy side, but I'm talking about your banshee side." Mohania replied.

"I am trying my hardest to never become a banshee, I know what you are getting at, and the answer is no!" Lindel said quickly. The room went quiet as the two of them stared at each other. Mohania's dark cold black eyeless sockets staring at Lindel's eyes.

"Let us drop this subject. I will not make anybody become any class or do anything they are not comfortable with in battle; we will work with what we have." Herrior said. Everybody sensed the tension building in the room between them two.

Mohania eventually turned to look at Herrior. "Let me speak for myself. I have fought with all of you, most of you, for years. I had a problem earlier with some emotions that came up inside of me, most of which is the love I have of my group. I always give as much as I can, and if my power is drained I'll attack with my fingers. We all know she can do more! Her power is nearly limitless and she is only using a fraction of it in battle. She has been draining her power on healing, but now that we have a second healer - I say let her focus her powers as a banshee in combat!"

"I am not a banshee, I'm trying not to be a banshee, I want to be human!" Lindel screamed back.

"You…are…a…banshee!" Mohania said firmly back at her.

"Enough!" Herrior thundered. "I will not have dissention within our ranks! I will speak with both of you in private concerning this matter. For now, the subject is closed. Any other business?"

Julie waited a couple of seconds and then started to say something but then resumed her normal position.

"It's ok young one. What is it?" Herrior said calmly to her.

"I'm a hunter and I have a pet. Shouldn't our other hunters have pets as well? What I was thinking in Tess's group, which I'm in your group, now, is I was always going to use Spark as a 'backup tank' or whatever you call it, to guard the healers. Also was going to put frost traps in front of the healers to protect them against stealthed enemies, because let's face it - if they go down, we're dead." Julie said.

"You talk like you have fought with us for years." Herrior said laughing. "It has happened before, more often than I would like to remember. Let me guess, that's happened to Tess's group as well?"

"That's sort of the conflict I'm having. I have grown a special bond with Tess, but the King said specifically to me that I am to be in your group. We even went through several mock scenarios together." Julie said.

"You have also grown a special bond with us young one." Herrior said smiling at her. Julie smiled back. "But your logic does make sense. Since many of our new members have never been in an actual formation, it would be better to practice that. I purpose that we do that tomorrow. I also agree that Branzer you would benefit from having a pet…even if you have it follow the healers around. But again, I will not force anybody to fight in any way that they do not feel comfortable with. I will speak to Bernett as well concerning this tonight. But let us all sleep on these subjects tonight. Lindel I want to speak with you outside."

Trackolania made a growling noise and suddenly shook. Then he began snoring again.

"You bored him to sleep hun." Skyka said smiling at Herrior.

"I have a feeling…that we all know who the assassin was that beheaded the alliance trainers, and that Trackolania knows as well." Herrior said smiling at the sleeping rogue.

"Our little rogue did that?" Banzer asked confused.

"No…I think it was his little friend…" Skyka said smiling. "I hope their friendship blossoms."

"Sleep everyone, Lindel come with me." Herrior said and began walking through the house and out the back door. Lindel followed.

Lindel was still frustrated and ready to spout of a thousand things. Herrior put his might hand over her mouth and smiled at her.

"Lay with me, look at the stars." Herrior said as he laid down on the grass. Lindel sighed and laid down next to him.

An hour went by before either one of them said anything. Lindel finally spoke up.

"I do have a sinister side, I can be evil…I was enslaved by the alliance and did things that I never wanted to remember." Lindel said. Herrior nodded, he knew the entire story but just let her talked. He pointed out the big dipper in the sky. Lindel smiled.

"I don't want to do those things again Herrior." Lindel said.

"Ok." Herrior said. But Lindel made no motion to move.

"A lot of our warriors, especially our warlocks in our group, have dual talents that they can switch back and forth from. I imagine that any of our other fighters could do the same things as well." Lindel asked.

"Yup" Herrior said quietly.

Lindel let out a laugh. "Like Strings, he can be a bard or he can be a drunk."

Herrior smiled at that. "He needs to drink to refresh his throat, or at least that is what he tells us…"

"I do have two sides to me as well. Just like your dual talents. But I think everybody knows that already." Lindel said.

"Yup" Herrior responded quietly again.

"But I do not want to be evil!" Lindel said firmly.

"Ok." Herrior answered again.

"You're not helping…" Lindel said.

"You are the one having a conflict with yourself. You know what the answer is. If I was to tell you, without you coming to the realization by yourself - you would be upset with me." Herrior said. "Ever notice that there are stars in the heavens that seem to blink and move?"

Lindel laid there in silence. "Yeah…must be some of their technology altering the stars or something."

Several more moments passed and Lindel said that there was a queen banshee, a long time ago, that ruled beside us when we used to be called the Horde. Thousands of years ago. Herrior nodded.

"She was powerful, but eventually was over taken by the alliance. Her powers were passed on to the alliance banshees. As the banshees came close to their natural death, their spells were passed on. A lot of great hero's came and went…" Lindel said. Herrior nodded sadly, "As well as Kings, lots of stories have been passed down throughout the ages."

"She was forced to become a banshee, like the rest of us. But she had power that was unbelievable. But hatred burned in her veins. Hatred for every race except for her own banshees. She would have killed our King just the same as the alliance king." Lindel said slowly. Lindel let out a sigh, "I have her powers, as well as some other tricks. But I have to be in banshee form and I have to channel power from the dark arts, like Mohania does. I don't have her strength or will to live like she had. But I do not want to use it! I want to be a holy banshee!"

Herrior nodded. "You want to do good do to make up for the bad that you did."

"Yes." Lindel said sighing.

"You know that's not how that works." Herrior said.

"I know." Lindel said as if being scorned by one of her teachers.

Herrior pulled up a handful of grass and through it at her face. Lindel chuckled and showed it away.

"Does the alliance have any other banshees with your knowledge?" Herrior asked.

"No! The King killed all of them!" Lindel said with hatred.

Herrior nodded. "So we are lucky to have you."

"I don't think luck had anything to do with it." Lindel said sarcastically. Herrior smiled.

"So you want to know what I can do." Lindel asked.

"Nope" Herrior said.

"Isn't that why we are out here?" Lindel asked confused.

"Nope" Herrior said.

"Mohania knows more about me, because he can channel life into me in my banshee form. We briefly exchanged knowledge of what he can do and what I can do. We haven't discussed it since." Lindel said. Herrior nodded.

"So are we done out here?" Lindel asked sleepily.

"It's up to you." Herrior said with a smile. "I enjoy talking with you and gazing at the stars."

"You ambassador's are a pain in the ass, you know that?" Lindel said nudging him. Herrior smiled again.

"In my banish form I can drain life from our enemies, create huge numbers of skeletons, I can only give them the command to attack - and they aren't real strong. I can also mind control several people almost instantly as much as I want to. Also do you know how I can vanish and reappear in a different place in my holy form? I can do that as well in my banish form, only I can reappear where ever I want. I can spray shadow attacks to all of my victims. I also have a banshee scream that can do multiple affects, change people to stone, kill them outright, make them go insane, turn them on each other, or do nothing at all. It depends on how they all react to it and how much magical resistances they have. My holy side I can do a lot of spells Skyka can do, but only I have to be touching the person. Icis would be a better group healer than I would." Lindel said as if she had been holding back all of this information for hundreds of years.

"Nope" Herrior said.

Lindel looked at him surprised. Herrior leaned over on his side and kissed her on the cheek. "You are a great healer, and you would be a great attacker as well. Skyka has a sinister side to her as well you know."

"I know. You aren't mad?" Lindel asked.

"Nope" Herrior said getting up.

"Are we done talking?" Lindel asked.

"Are we?" Herrior asked right back. Lindel sat there and thought for a moment.

"I'm scared of using my banshee powers." Lindel said.

"Skyka uses them; Mohania uses them, Crystal reports that she uses them and has no problem. Do what you want. I'm going to go to sleep." Herrior said opening the door.

"But…wait! You should tell me that you want me to do that, or not to do that, or…I don't know." Lindel said.

"You know what you can do. You've known all along. My job is to lead my group into battle. Your job is to figure out what you want to be. Three healers would be nice, an extra fighter would be nice…or do both, because I believe that you can. Pray about it. Good night." Herrior said shutting the door behind him.

Branzer came out almost the same time Herrior came in. "Do you want alone time?"

Lindel hesitated and then finally said, "Yes, I do. Please?"

Branzer nodded and went back in the house.

The next morning Lindel came in from outside. She looked like she didn't sleep at all. She was startled when she walked right into Mohania.

"Still love me?" Mohania asked.

"Yes…you have a bad way of getting your point across sometimes…" Lindel said glaring at him as she walked by. "How long were you standing there?"

"All night." Mohania replied.

"Is this how you train your undead warlocks? By pissing them off?" Lindel said walking away from him.

"I tell them what they need to hear. I was told what I needed to hear, and I told you what you needed to hear." Mohania said.

Lindel paused for a second before she joined everybody in the dining room for breakfast.

"Thanks." Lindel said quietly and then continued on. Mohania followed after her.

Breakfast went as usual. Herrior was suggesting that afterwards they proceed into the backyard and practice a new line up with all of their additional people they have. Lindel seemed awfully chatty for not sleeping good last night. Mohania slowly put a piece of food in his mouth as it was instantly incinerated, while quietly observing Lindel.

Time stopped.

"Oops, dropped my fork." Dan said leaning over to get it. Mohania stared at Lindel and quickly observed that everybody else has stopped talking.

Time started.

Dan picked his fork back up and wiped it off on his napkin and continued eating as if nothing happened. Mohania stared at Dan for awhile, judging as to whether he did that or not. Only Dan had the power to completely cause time to stop. It was only for a second or so, and after awhile Mohania just made a note of it and continued to incinerate his food inside of his skeleton jaw.

"Very good meal. Thank you my ladies, and Branzer." Herrior said. "Does anybody wish to…?"

Time stopped.

Dan caught it this time and instantly looked at Mohania, who looked back at him.

"This is the second time this has happened…" Mohania said.

A demonic voice and thundering steps came from outside. Dan and Mohania instantly went to the window.

"Come to me my minions…I need an army. I will overtake this planet and have my revenge on those who betrayed me…" The voice was loud and thundered throughout the land.

"I can't sense him. He is either not a demon, or he is blocking my power." Mohania said. Both of them watched as an army of ghouls and skeletons, along with black souls being channeled out of certain houses, came with him as he walked. The thundering was so hard it shook the entire house, knocking everybody to the ground.

"Seek out those who have power…and bring them to me so that I may command them!" The giant demon said.

"Not good." Mohania said and started to channel a spell. It was slow going at first, and several ramblings of ghouls came towards their house.

"Faster…" Dan said.

"No shit!" Mohania yelled back.

Finally Mohania's spell encased the entire room they were in and shielded all of their magical properties. Several ghouls, or what looked like zombies to Dan, knocked down the door effortlessly and began looking around. They looked at the room that Herrior's group was in and saw nothing but a white wall; all of the magical properties that they sensed were gone. In frustration they started smashing several things and then left. Dan and Mohania waited until they could hear the ramblings of the enormous demon anymore and then Mohania tried to contact the King on his stone. It was as if it was just another stone…nothing happened.

"Think we can take him?" Dan said smiling at Mohania.

"You go first." Mohania replied back.

"Still can't sense him?" Dan asked.

"No, nothing. I don't think he's a demon. Might be the Balnazzar the scum was talking about. Can you sense when time is going to start again?" Mohania asked.

"No, can only stop it. Well that's what we are up against. What do you think his abilities are?" Dan asked.

"Well it looks like he can reanimate the dead with tremendous strength, he has an army the looks like the old scourge that we used to fight, and somehow he is increasing his strength with those black things flying out of the houses. I'd guess his health and magic properties far surpass ours." Mohania said.

"Should we follow him?" Dan asked. They both watch the long line of ghouls passing on the street still.

"I can disguise us as one of them, but I don't know for how long. Honestly those guys look pretty weak. I'm more worried about the reanimations that did that to the house, and the boss himself." Mohania said pointing to the door.

"Can you keep the shield up, and disguise us as the same time?" Dan asked. Mohania thought about it and then sighed.

"Ok no problem. And my guess is that if a human were to move right now, he would sense it. Other options?" Dan asked.

Mohania quickly conjured up a green floating eyeball and commanded it to leave.

"I can see everything it sees. I haven't used that spell in years. I thought I actually got the words wrong and was going to engulf the house in fire. Too many things to remember…" Mohania said.

Dan looked at him and saw that he was serious.

"It's magical so it might be quickly absorbed, but if I send my imp after them it would be detected almost instantly is my guess." Mohania said.

They watched the floating green eye fly quickly up the street. The army had left now.

"I'm going to send it to follow them. It has a huge radius, but I have to keep up with it or the spell will fade. Up for a walk?" Mohania asked.

Time resumed.

"…thank…what happened? Dan!" Herrior said rising up off from the ground. Both Mohania and Dan turned to him quickly and told him to be quiet. Then they both turned their attention back to the window.

"Are we going into battle?" Herrior whispered.

Dan started to laugh. "Eventually yes…but if he has the power to stop time, even with you guys that are immune to it, we don't stand a chance. But I think we found the reason why we are here."

"I can still see them; they are making tremendous speed now…almost moving so fast that it's a blur. I have to go." Mohania said and stopped channeling his spell. The entire room went from a green electric sparking field back to its regular look.

"Let's move out!" Herrior said.

"So you can get frozen in time again? Dan and I are the only ones that can track the thing. Contact the King and tell him we're starting to gather information on this enormous demon. Tell him that it looks like he has the old scourge and reanimated dead following him. I'll contact him with whatever additional information we can get. I'm losing it, we need to go." Mohania said and pulled Dan out the door. Mohania quickly disguised himself as a human and both of them began to run as fast as they could to catch up with them. Dan's weapons disappeared as he put them on his back.

They all stood in awe, wondering if this was a joke or not at first. Soon they saw Dan and Mohania turn the corner and continuing after them. Several people came out of their houses reporting that there was some sort of quick earthquake that just took place.

"I think we're all in over our heads…" Herrior said quickly and relayed what just happened to the King.

Julie spoke up, "Do you want me to drive after them? I can increase their speed?"

Herrior thought about it for a minute. "If he stops time again, it may be more of a nuisance, for them. Also we all saw that Mohania has his anti-magic shell up and look at what they did to the door. My guess is that they were looking for magical properties and grabbing them. Mohania saved our asses. If anything, I would send Lindel after them - but I do not know what they saw or what this demon is capable of. Dan is a warrior so he has no magic in him, and he is immune to the highest level of time stopping, and the same with Mohania but he can shield himself from his magic." Herrior stopped for a minute and shook his head back and forth. "I don't know what to do. Crystal do you sense anything?"

Crystal shook her head. "I sensed no demons before or after. I'm still learning the ability, but I know what to look for. I can't talk to them like Mohania can." Herrior sighed.

"If I would have I would have said something, and Mohania would have as well…" Crystal immediately piped up.

"I know…" Herrior said. His hearthstone started to buzz; he was relieved that maybe the King would have an answer. Herrior took his stone out and stuck his head in the portal.

"My King" Herrior said.

"Do you believe what Mohania just said to be true?" The King asked.

"Yes, you should see this place. He plays jokes sometimes, but both he and Dan were serious. They ran off to gather more information about the demon, or whatever it was." Herrior said. The King sat in his throne nervously looking at Herrior.

"I was hoping you could give us some advice, or give us a command?" Herrior asked.

"I was hoping you could give me some advice…" The King said with a smile. "Well the wait is over. I 'hope' this is the monster we were sent here to destroy…hopefully it's not a biggest one working for him."

"Mohania suggested that he was in charge." Herrior said. The King nodded.

"Well, I can throw all of our undead forces at it, and watch them get crushed…" The King said and then sighed. "Ok, pretend like this didn't happen. Keep Lindel close to you guys. Have her track them as far as she can, but at maximum distance. If something goes wrong, tell Lindel to get them out of there as fast as she can. Send the officers to the station to gather any additional information that maybe coming in. I'm sending Bernett out to join you as well. Kendall needs about another day of blasting, I'll see if I can encourage the monks to hurry…but once again all of our undead is useless against an army that big. If the Queen and I engage him, our city defenses will fall. If this is some sort of distraction, we could be overrun quickly and everybody in Tranquil will be slaughtered. All we can do is wait. Report back anything you find. You are dismissed." Herrior pulled his head out of the portal and within seconds Bernett appeared out of a portal. Herrior told Lindel what to do and she became nearly invisible and flew out of the house and followed after them.

"Cant leave you guys alone for a second huh?" He said smiling. "Samatha and I had a great night last night…"

"Shut up! There are some of us that haven't had the opportunity yet. Both of which are off risking their lives any may never do what you and Samatha did last night!" Crystal said glaring at him.

"Emotions people…this is no time to fight among each other." Herrior said. "Again I apologize for the lack of honeymoon time after your unions, but we don't have much of a choice here."

Herrior turned to the officers. "Report into the office and speak with the Lieutenant. Then report to us. Also think of a pet as Julie recommended the other night. Extra help in a battle would be helpful."

"I don't think any more pets in the station would be allowed." Branzer said.

"Spark, you are dismissed!" Julie commanded at her dog. Spark slowly disappeared into the air. "You know the hunter abilities, stop thinking like humans - you are hunters now! Let's get going." Julie said grabbing her keys and running out to her car. Bernett, Branzer, and Crystal all followed her out as they raced off to the station.

Herrior's stone began to vibrate again. He pulled it out and saw Tess.

"Making trouble again I hear?" She said smiling at Herrior.

"What's going on in Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"The fighters are still learning their new abilities as fast as they can. Uglar and Tonect are working sixteen hour shifts. No word from the druids yet. But apparently we are all on stand-by to attack some creature you guys found?" Tess asked.

"Dan and Mohania are chasing after it right now. It completely stopped time for everybody. I hope they come up with an idea for fighting it." Herrior said.

"Well if we can get in the way, just give us a holler." Tess said smiling as she closed the portal.

"The rest of us just wait I guess. I hope we don't have to fight him in the city, the humans will be attacking as while we are trying to save their lives. Let's hope it finds a desert place." Herrior said with a sigh.

Dan and Mohania continued to run after them as fast as they could. Several miles into it, Dan began to become fatigued.

"Humans…" Mohania said.

"Sorry, I'm not a walking skeleton…" Dan said out of breath. "I'll move as fast as I can. Can you still see them?"

"Yes, or sense them actually. They all disappeared, but their magical residue is powerful and my floating eye is still following that." Mohania said.

They continued jogging as Lindel followed high up in the air and as behind them as she could get.

"Ugh, this is getting us no where…" Mohania said in frustration. He instantly conjured up an illusion of an enormous rock monster, and the car next to them instantly slammed on its brakes and skidded out of control. Mohania ran over to the driver's side and pulled the man out. The man felt Mohania's skeleton hands over his illusion. Mohania's eyes lit up with fire.

"We are taking your vehicle, got a problem with that?" Mohania said as his hand started to heat up and singe the man's skin.

"No, fine take it…" The man said.

"This never happened, if you tell anybody I will devour your family!" Mohania said and threw him up against the wall of a local business shop.

Dan ran over to the driver's seat as Mohania got in the back seat.

"Go that way, fast!" Mohania said pointing in front of him. Dan floored the stolen Porsche and began to weave in and out of traffic.

"I still see you have your good mannerisms." Dan said laughing.

"I'm losing my sight. I've had to command my eye to stop several times so it wouldn't fade. Go faster!" Mohania said.

Eventually they got out of town, and Dan got the car going up to ninety miles an hour. Suddenly Mohania said, "Stop! Now!" Dan stomped on the brakes as hard as he could. The car tires squealed and move side to side slightly but eventually came to a halt.

"They just appeared again. I pulled my eye way back and it's hiding behind a rock. I don't think they sense it. But we are close, a lot closer than I want to be…" Mohania said.

Neither of them noticed the off-duty police officer that was following them. He had to slam on his brakes as well. He was calling in their location and the license plate. He got out with his gun and slowly approached the vehicle.

"Ok, they are moving on. I'm leaving my eye right there for now, but…"

"Get your hands in the air now!" The cop yelled.

"I was talking!" Mohania yelled and instantly caused his gun to ignite in fire. The officer dropped it. Mohania dropped his illusion and the officer suddenly became terrified. Mohania held up his hand and tiny black lines began going in and out of his head. The officer dropped in and screamed in agony as it felt like the inside of his head was going to explode.

"You threaten me! I'm trying to save your world, and you dare threaten me!" Mohania said. He picked up the cop with one hand and threw him twenty feet away from him. Mohania then casted two different fire spells at his car. It first became engulfed in fire and then exploded. Mohania then turned back to the man with his eyes burning with fire. The spell that was attacking the officer has finished its cycle.

"You…will…leave us alone! Call off anybody you called, tell them you were drunk or something…but if anybody comes after us - you will know a new definition of pain beyond comparison!" Mohania picked up the officer by the throat and waited for an acknowledgement. Mohania held back his other hand and ignited it in fire. The officer began nodding quickly.

"You never saw us, and you will not follow us!" Mohania reached in the officer's back pocket and pulled out his driver's license from his wallet.

"This is where you live huh? You think what I did to you here was bad, wait till you see what I do to your family! My powers are limitless, do you believe me or do you want another demonstration!" Mohania said in his sinister angry voice.

"Please, I was never here…I didn't see anything…I have two kids and a wife. I was just doing my job." The officer said.

"And I'm doing my job!" Mohania said squeezing harder on his neck and beginning to watch his skin begin to melt.

"Mohania, we have to go!" Dan said. "Either kill him or whatever. We have to finish tracking them!"

"I'm taking this with me. If anybody follows us, I will come after you personally. I cannot be stopped, and your family's deaths will be very painful!" Mohania said throwing him to the ground. "Now get out of here!" The officer grabbed his neck and began running away.

"Stupid humans" Mohania said getting back in the car.

"So you got his driver's license?" Dan asked. Mohania handed him the card. It was for a local library. Dan laughed and explained what it was for.

"First card I found, but I think I got my point across. They are heading southwest, drive slowly. I'm keeping my eye at the maximum distance that I can.

They drove for another 4 hours, doing only about forty miles an hour. Mohania continued telling Dan to turn here, and to turn there. Lindel still following as far away as she could, still undetected. Dan had no idea where they were anymore, or even where the road was. The dusty dried up field seemed to at one point in time have been a wheat field, or so Dan thought.

"Stop!" Mohania yelled out again. Dan again punched the brakes as hard as he could. Mohania remained silent, and Dan kept surveying the land to see if he could see anything.

"My eye is low to the ground, but I don't think any of them see it as a threat. Unfortunately I don't like what I am seeing. I want to take a closer look. I don't see the big smelly beast anywhere, I want to disguise us and get a closer look." Mohania said. They both got out of the car and started walking forwards. Dan could see what Mohania was seeing now. There were about one hundred ghouls all hunched over, randomly walking back and forth. Several reanimated corpses stood above the ghouls and seemed to have some sort of black aura around them.

"Do we report this yet?" Dan asked.

"Report what? That we see a massive army and what looks like a demonic gate in the middle. We haven't found out anything yet. If we attack the army, the big beast might come back and flatten us, or more may come out of that gate. If we amass an army, it may trigger them to attack and an entire legion could be upon us." Mohania said.

"Sorry, still learning." Dan answered back.

"I'm going to change us into ghouls…act ghoulish, err do whatever they do. Get their attention somehow without blowing your cover and I'll get as much information about the gate as I can. Don't speak! Only listen! Getting in won't be as much problem as getting back out." Mohania said. He recited a quick spell and both of them turned into exact copies of what they were seeing.

"Ten minutes at the most…" Mohania said sounding afraid as both of them ran forward on their hands and legs. Lindel wasn't sure what the two of them were up to, but she knew if she got any closer, her presence would be detected.

"They are on their own." She thought and decided to fly as fast as she could and make a perimeter to see if the giant beast was anywhere to be seen and also if there were any more of his minions around.

Dan and Mohania entered the flock of ghouls without much of a problem. Mohania went straight for the portal, as Dan looked around trying to think of something to do to distract everybody. He quickly found to rocks and picked them up. He crawled over to another ghoul and ran into it. The ghoul turned around. Dan put one of the rocks in his hand; the ghoul accepted it and paid no attention. Dan then pushed the ghoul around so that he was facing one of the reanimated corpses. Dan threw the rock as hard as he could at its head and then scampered off quickly.

The rock hit its target and made a disgusting sound as it sank into its flesh. The corpse pulled out the rock and turned around. He saw a ghoul holding another rock.

"Did you just throw a rock at me?" The corpse yelled. His voice sounded weak and quiet; however Dan could tell that he was quite powerful.

The ghoul just stared at him, rock still in his hand. All of the ghouls just stood around, sometimes bumping into each other; Dan tried to mimic them as best as he could.

The corpse then threw the rock back at the ghoul. It connected solid with him right on his half falling off face. The ghoul stood back up and snarled at the corpse. Suddenly the ghoul seemed to have a mind of its own. It talked in a language that was indecipherable, and almost instantly ten ghouls began attacked the corpse.

"This is amusing." Dan thought. He quickly ran around the back side of the corpse that was righting the ghouls and pushed three ghouls into the back of him and then scampered off quickly again. The ghouls were completely unaware of what just happened. The corpse turned around and smacked all three of them. Several more ghouls started attacking the animated corpses. None of them noticed the small fire explosion that occurred on the top of the black portal. There was a purple gem in the middle that was radiating purple light from it in a clockwise fashion. Mohania quickly climbed back down, grabbed Dan and began to run away. Mohania created an illusion of a human male behind the portal, and instantly all of the ghouls and animated corpses stopped their bickering and turned on the illusion.

"Move, quickly…" Mohania snarled as both of them ran back to the car and squatted behind it. The both watched at the illusion suddenly disappeared when Mohania stopped channeling it. They all went back to their business or surrounding the gate. None of them were fighting among themselves anymore. Mohania returned both him and Dan to their normal self as well.

"Ok, now we have information to report. Obviously they are guarding it, and they aren't to bright. I sensed a lot of power out of the corpses though, it's not demonic though and it's pissing me off! However with the disturbance you created and the damage I did to the crystal - it should have alerted something. Honestly I was expecting the enormous beast to come back and kill us. Also it surprised me that nothing else came out of the portal to settle the disturbance." Mohania said. He pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Lindel.

"We need our group at our location." Mohania said.

"Umm…give me a second." Lindel said. Mohania looked at her shocked.

"The time to launch an offense is now! What is going on?" Mohania said looking at her in the portal. Lindel landed right beside them behind the car and took back on her human form.

"Your kidding…where's the rest of them? We can't do this with just us three." Mohania said sounding frustrated.

"Herrior sent me along to portal you guys out if I sensed any danger. I can't create a portal in the air, so I landed here to open the portal." Lindel said starting to channel her power. Mohania growled in frustration, however soon Herrior's entire group arrived.

"I believe that beast came from the past and brought some minions along with him using that gate. My guess is that he is collecting powers here in this timeline to take back to serve whatever purpose he might have. That gate is powerful and probably causing his ability to stop time. The gem on top is susceptible to damage. My guess is that if we destroy it, we'll stand a chance at defeating this beast.

"Very well done Mohania. Can anybody sense the whereabouts of the beast?" Herrior asked.

Lindel spoke up. "While they were infiltrating the gate, I was making a huge circle around it. I did not see anything unusual, or any sign of the beast.

"The weak point is that gem at the top. It is susceptible to damage, but I don't know how much it is going to take. My guess is we need to destroy it fast to prevent anything from coming or going. The ghouls are mindless, but aggressive when they want to be. The reanimated corpses standing around would probably fall apart on their own if given enough time…however I believe they are magical." Mohania said.

"Would it stand for reason that if we destroy the gate, it would stop the beast from stopping time?" Dan asked.

"I did sense a lot of power resonating out from the gate." Mohania said. Lindel agreed as well.

"Ok, here's the plan." Herrior said and dropped to one knee.

"Jacklyn, I, and Dan are going to be tanking. Warlocks summon your protectors and position them twenty yards on the opposite side of Dan and Jacklyn. Let the protectors die if you must. Skyka you will be healing me the tanks. Trackolania, you attack anything that slips by or we lose aggro on. All ranged focus on that crystal. I don't care if you have seven ghouls on you; keep firing at that until you die. Julie set your pet to follow Icis. Icis, you group heal and protect Jacklyn and Dan if necessary. Lindel you help group heal as well. Strings you are ranged as well. Any dumbass questions?" Herrior asked.

Normally Mohania would raise his hand, but didn't this time.

"Buff us up; I want that crystal destroyed in under a minute! I don't care the costs, is that understood!" Herrior said staring at everybody. He took out his sword and shield.

"No aoe spells, just direct damage to that crystal. Us three are going to have a hard enough time keeping them off from you. Jacklyn and Dan - piss off as many ghouls as you can, eh - try to stay alive. Best advice I can give you. Let's go and make this quick." Herrior said and began running towards the portal. Skyka put up her stamina increase buff on everybody, and Trackolania quickly put a deadly poison on his blades.

Within thirty yards, the army guarding the portal sensed they were coming and began closing the distance between them. Herrior let out a mighty roar and the two armies clashed. Herrior charged at them and began doing his thunder stomp and shockwave's as much as he could. He then let out a shout that caused several of the ghouls to instantly start running away. He began slashing and bashing with his shield as fast as he could to try to piss off as many ghouls as he could.

Jacklyn ran forward and did her whirlwind attack, same as Dan did. Then they both started hacking and slashing as fast as they could at as many different ghouls as they could. The warlocks void walkers were slow to approach, but began taunting them.

Skyka started blasting off some heals, and as anticipated, many of the ghouls turned to her. Trackolania and Spark tried to intercept as many as they could. Skyka faded herself out of existence for a couple of seconds and then continued to pour out the healing spells.

All of the hunters had their guns drawn and engaged their 'Rapid fire" mode, hitting the crystal nearly ten times a second. Strings started to play a song on his lute, but it didn't seem to be doing anything yet.

Crystal and Mohania got within range and Mohania began firing his chaos bolt and every fire spell that he knew at it. Crystal suddenly surged with enormous power and shot of a huge fireball at the crystal instantly. She then started putting her damage over time spells on the crystal.

"Another trick I'm assuming I'll learn someday?" Mohania asked.

"Yes, I can only do it three times every minute, then I can't do it anymore. Your power will be greater than mine." Crystal replied putting her last spell on the crystal and then began draining its life as fast as she could in three second intervals.

"Faster!" Herrior yelled out. Herrior threw his weapon at an escaping ghoul about ready to attack Skyka. "They are starting to ignore us."

"I've got three on me!" Icis called out. She casted the same fade spell that Skyka casts and immediately the three ghouls went straight for the hunters. They all quickly placed frost traps on the ground, temporarily freezing them in place and then continuing to fire.

Trackolania was hitting as fast as he could, but was taking significant damage. He had already been shielded twice. He quickly did a fast twirl and threw out knives in all directions. Then he disappeared and began back stabbing as many ghouls as he could before they caught on.

Dan was nearly dead. "I'm not tanking so well!" He called out. He had large gouges and chunks of skin pulled off from him. He had the attention of at least twenty ghouls and he was trying his hardest to get more.

"We're trying hun!" Lindel called out. She blinked over to him and quickly healed many of his wounds, and then blinked back over to Jacklyn. She was doing better. Her enormous blades were taking down a ghoul in four to five hits. She performed a whirlwind, hitting nearly every ghoul that she could.

Soon out of nowhere, an enormous fireball appeared above Strings and flew straight for the crystal. Upon impact it rocked the entire ground and put several cracks in the crystal. All of the ghouls stopped fighting and looked back at the damage. Then they all focused on Strings and began heading towards him.

"I can't get another one off before they kill me!" Strings said.

"Do it again! Ranged I want more damage! Tanks do what you can to slow them down! Icis, protect Strings as long as you can!" Herrior said. He then let out a roar that stopped all of the ghouls and had them focus on him. Herrior charged through the crowd, knocking several of them down and performing as much threat to the ghouls as he could.

"Dan's down!" Skyka yelled looking over at him briefly.

"Leave him! I want to start fear-bombing as many as we can. Pick it up ranged!" Herrior said. The hunters fired as fast as they could, as well as the warlocks. Finally Crystal summoned a spell for a couple of seconds and an infernal dropped from the sky, stunning a large radius of ghouls and causes waves of fire to come out of him. She then reenergized herself and fired another enormous fireball at the crystal. The she started putting a spell called "curse of weakness" on several of the ghouls. It vastly reduced their strength and spread to every ghoul within a forty yard radius. She then continued her cycle of putting damage over time spells on the crystal and then sucking the life out of it.

"Out of mana, life tapping." Mohania called out. He sucked the life out of himself to draw on more magical energy and began firing his chaos bolts, shadow bolts, and fire spells at it.

"Trackolania's down!" Lindel yelled.

"Damn! Come on guys, pick it up! How much power does that crystal have! Start coordinating your attacks! Start talking to each other!" Herrior yelled out, as he used his enraged regeneration to heal himself.

"I'm trying to keep Strings up!" Icis said. She let off several screams of terror that sent the ghouls running and casted protective shields on everybody that she could and tossed some heal over time spells on some of them.

Spark finally gave out, but suddenly was brought back to life on his own and began fiercely attack once again. The warlock's voidwalkers were gone a long time ago.

"Permission to help tank!" Crystal yelled.

"Come on!" Herrior yelled. Crystal suddenly summoned her felguard and told him to attack as many as he could. Crystal turned into her demonic figure and jumped in the middle of several ghouls. Her infernal had burned out, but it did take down several ghouls with it. Crystal began casting bursts of fire that came out of her and quickly sprayed shadow bolts out at the ghouls. She then started attacking as quickly as she could.

The ghouls frozen behind the hunters freed themselves and all concentrated on Branzer. Branzer fought frantically to fight them off, and began running away from them as he continued to fire at the crystal. The rest of the hunters spread out as well, hoping to draw their attackers away from the healers.

"Lindel! Tell me you can do something that you are holding back on us!" Herrior yelled out.

"Not on these guys I can't. I can only heal!" Lindel yelled back.

"I need to hymn here in a second, running low on mana. Can everybody stay alive for six seconds without me?" Skyka asked.

"Doubt it. Strings how is that spell coming?" Herrior yelled. To answer his question another enormous fireball flew out from above Strings's head and flew at the crystal. It again vibrated with enormous instability.

"It drained most of my power keeping Strings alive in order for him to do that!" Icis said.

"Shield me, I'm going to taunt everybody and shield wall. Come on ranged, shatter that thing!" Herrior said. Icis instantly ran up and put a shield on him. He taunted as he said he would and activated his shield wall. He didn't attack, but deflected and blocked as much as he could, taking very minimal damage.

Skyka began channel a hymn that recovered everybody's mana. After the six second, she waited for the shield on Herrior to fail before she started casting her heals again.

Spark ran up and intercepted a ghoul that jumped at Icis. The dog brought him down violently and began to shake him and bite him as fast as he could. Then Spark would then run after another lose ghoul.

"We've been in worse! Everybody get in here and fear bomb. We'll reorganize by Skyka." Herrior yelled. All of the warlocks and priests, as well as Herrior left out deafening screeches as the ghouls started running in every which direction. Then they all assembled back together with Herrior in the front.

"Freezing traps, throw them everywhere! Julie have Spark continue to protect the healers."

"He's dead." Julie said.

"This is pissing me off! Are we really this out of practice?" Herrior screamed. "Nobody else die or I'll be mad at you!"

Crystal came out of demon form and fall back into her position; she then launched another enormous fireball at the crystal. "That was my last nuke."

The ghouls reformed and began slowly approaching them again. The ranged continued to fire at the gem, then within a couple of seconds the gem split in two and fell to the ground. The ghouls and animated corpses all instantly vanished into dust. The gate then fell in on itself.

"Make that thing burn!" Herrior commanded as he fell to the ground in enormous pain. The hunters started firing immolation traps at it. Once they hit the crushed portal it instantly caught fire. The warlocks began to cast every known fire spell they had at it. Lindel, Skyka, and Icis began moving from person to person trying to heal them as best as they could.

"I'll resurrect Trackolania and Dan." Icis said. She ran over to their bodies and began channeling the spell. Julie ran up to Spark and began casting her spell to bring her dog back to life.

Trackolania jumped up and looked around. He realized that the fight was over and angrily shoved his dagger into the ground. Dan was brought back to life as well. He slowly stood up and felt ashamed.

"Lindel - take to the skies. See if you can see any additional armies coming towards us, including that big beast." Herrior said.

Dan eventually let out a cry of frustration and slammed his sword into the dirt as well. "I did what I could!"

"You did fine; you aren't the only one that died. It happens, get over it. It won't be the last time you die." Herrior said casually. He pulled out his hearthstone and reported to the King what they just accomplished.

"We're still upgrading our fighters…it's going to take some time! No word from the druids yet." The King said and then sighed. "You did well. We've had some commotion at our front gate, our resources are spread kind of thing right now. Hold on for a second." The King said and began to concentrate.

A minute passed and then he shook his head. "I don't sense any more temporal gates on that planet. The beast is still loose, but without it I believe his power will fade. I can't sense him, but I would advise laying low for awhile. Time jumping is a universal no-no. That could be the reason why we were commanded to come this planet. Altering time is frowned upon a lot, and can be very dangerous. Ok, go back and rest. You earned it." The King said and then closed the portal.

"Lindel if you would please." Herrior said. Lindel opened a gate and they all arrived back at Branzer's house. They all immediately started stripping off their blood soaked armor and went into the back yard. The cool breeze felt refreshing. Herrior was obviously in a bad mood. Everybody sat quietly until he said something.

Herrior let out a giant sigh and rubbed his eyes. "To the new people in our group, dying is a real possibility. You fight until you die! Why couldn't your ranged take down that damn crystal! For crying out loud…it was a crystal!" Herrior screamed. Birds flew from the trees and silence fell over his group.

Herrior eventually shook his head and got up and walked over to the privacy fence. Nobody said a word. He eventually walked back and said, "It was probably protected by a shield of some sort, fine. I am disappointed with the hunters! I mean what were you missing the whole time! And the warlocks…your chaos bolt blew those alien ships out of the air! Several at a time! Crystal, you have the new powers and it still didn't do any good! You helped get the ghouls off from me twice and I thank you for that, but is that all you can do? Your mate died! Trackolania died, he hardly ever dies!" Herrior looked at Bernett and Branzer and said, "You two don't even have a pet! Don't you think that would have been useful in this battle?" Herrior looked at Lindel. "You were saying that you could do all of this new fancy spells…where were they?"

"They don't work against those enemies…" Lindel said quietly.

"What happened to those blue demons you summon? My word, they died after what, ten seconds!" Herrior said looking at the warlocks.

"There are thirteen of us! We fought more than that without the extras we recently picked up. Jacklyn did her thing, Skyka did her thing, Lindel, Strings, and Trackolania did their thing, until he died! Mohania where is all this 'death and destruction' you constantly brag about? You were all given new powers and you all thought you were all powerful, until it came to actual battle - what happened!" Herrior said yelling at everybody. "We had two priests that could have recited hymns to restore health and mana…only Skyka did. And why wasn't Trackolania shielded?"

Herrior paused and began walking around fiercely.

"You were all given your powers for a reason! That battle was easy compared to what we've been in! Stop sulking and bragging about your new powers until you can show me that you can use them! If I would have died, it would have killed everybody! I did my hardest to keep aggro and to keep them off from everybody, but I'm only one tank!" Herrior stopped and put his hands on his hips. "You know what; I don't want to see any of you until morning! New powers or not, our battle today was horrible…we mine-as-well have been throwing rocks at them!" Herrior walked to the door.

"Figure out what you all did wrong. I don't want to see any of you until the next day!" Herrior said and shut the door behind him.

Silence filled the air. Everybody looking down at the ground, an occasional sigh filled the air. After awhile tension filled the air as each of them started eyeballing one another. Hour after hour passed in complete silence as the sun went down.

Herrior finally opened the door and came out with eight pizza boxes.

"I hate phones…and what is a tip?" Herrior asked. "Either way I figured out how to use your credit card, or somebody's credit card. In about an hour it will be our time to get our new powers in Tranquil. Crystal what can we expect?"

"I went from being a warrior to a warlock. I don't know what the old warlock spells were. Mohania seemed impressed with what I could do, but over all I say we did about the same amount of damage." Crystal said.

"She chose to spec in the affliction and demonology trees obviously. I've never like the demon tree." Mohania said.

"I don't either to tell ya the truth. It seemed neat at the time. It helps distract large groups of enemies, but as far as what we did today - it was pretty much worthless…" Crystal said in an upset voice. "Also the demons that I summon and become only last about a minute. I didn't think about it until now, it could have lured other demons into the area like it did when we bombarded the alliance with demons."

"I vote we do that again." Mohania said with a smile. Herrior looked at Mohania and his smile faded. Herrior tossed the boxes in the middle of them carelessly.

"Was I too harsh earlier?" Herrior asked softly. Nobody said a word.

"Hunters, I know you can put out more damage - what was going on?" Herrior asked. "First thought that comes in my mind is between the three of you, none of you put a Hunter's Mark on the crystal? Were you even in the Aspect of the Hawk? You have more armor than the healers do, why didn't you freeze trap the ghouls attacking them? Or scatter shot them? Then you all started running away from the healers, how did you expect to get healed?"

Julie, Branzer, and Bernett all realized this and looked away from Herrior.

"We need another tank. I'll dual-spec as a tank." Dan said speaking up.

"Quinely is our other tank. What are you going to do, carry around an extra set of armor and weapons - and then have us wait for you to put them on before we go into battle?" Herrior said glaring at him. "Quinely can morph, or change, or whatever she does instantly into a damage dealing lion or a bear tank. Besides, if we were only fighting one enemy, which we will be when we take down that beast, what good would it do with three tanks on him? I imagine we'll have to summon other groups to take him down. There will probably be six normal tanks fighting for his attention, we don't need a seventh one."

Herrior turned his gaze back to the hunters. "You opened up with Rapid fire, in this case it was fine. You do that against a normal enemy and I'll have your hide!"

Herrior turned to the warlocks. "Was it immune to shadow or fire damage? I eventually saw that some spell spread among all of the ghouls making them weaker and they didn't even notice it, do you think maybe you should have done that sooner? I hope neither of the healers healed you from tapping your life for more mana…"

Then Herrior turned to Trackolania. "I've hardly ever seen you die. I apologize for the circumstances, but I imagine you did what you could." Trackolania let out a grunt and looked away.

"Mohania, Branzer - if I ever go down and Skyka announces it, Jacklyn will start tanking, call for help on the hearthstone. Only if Skyka announces it, she has a lot of tricks up her sleeve for keeping me alive. But there is still no reason for that bad of a battle…to the new people, if you see that a certain attack is not doing any damage - do another attack. It was obviously sensitive to fire, and your bullets were getting through - however my guess is that it was immune to all other types of damage. Common sense people…don't waste your resources on something that is immune to nature, shadow, arcane or whatever other attacks you have. Stick with fire! If you don't have a fire attack, do normal attacks and then watch out for people like Trackolania for example or the healers and help them." Herrior said looking around. "I don't care if you specialize in arcane, if you aren't doing any damage - pick another spell or ability! Even if it is significantly weaker…do it! Now is anybody going to eat any of that shit!" Herrior said pointing at the scattered pizza slices and boxes on the ground. Everybody looked away.

"Fine, Lindel take us back to Tranquil!" Herrior commanded. Lindel made a portal and everybody walked through.

"I could have helped attack..." Icis said softly.

"You're a healer. If a target is immune to everything except holy damage then you attack. But that is rare. I'm sorry Icis; normally I'm a very easy going person. I give a lot of freedom, probably more than any other leader does. I am just trying to get a point across. The healers did the best that they could." Herrior said without looking back.

They walked quietly to Tonect's house. Uglar was there as well. They started reciting their normal lines that seemed like they had said a hundred times.

"If you want to be the same class, go see Uglar for your new talent trees. If you want to change a class, you'll have to see the monks. Once you have your talent tree's figured out, come see me and I'll put your new powers into your heads."

"Been busy huh?" Herrior asked.

"I'm doing my duty, who's first?" Tonect said without emotion.

Herrior looked back at his group and glared at them. "Stick with what you had before…" he said as he went first.

"Hi Uglar, what's all the other tanks getting?" Herrior asked.

"Same thing I'm going to give you, we can adjust things later if you wish." Uglar mapped out on his new smaller talent tree what everybody was getting and created an image of it as it floated off the paper and floated around his head. Several seconds later, Herrior thanked him, as Uglar said, "Next!" paying no attention to Herrior. Herrior then went to Tonect and looked at her. Her eyes flashed several times for a couple of seconds at his. Then she sighed and took a drink of water from a flask.

Herrior clapped her on the side of her arm. "Hold in there hun." She nodded as Jacklyn approached her.

"Go see the armory as well; there might be some equipment upgrades for you as well. Probably not, but that's what I've been telling everybody to do. Just following orders." Tonect said and then her eyes began to flash into Jacklyn's.

Herrior's group spent the next hour getting their ability upgrades and new armor. Afterwards they had their equipment enchanted by Skyka and glyphs added by Tranquil's scribes. Eventually they all ended up at the human's house. Samatha was playing with her boy on the floor in the enclosed area. She was tickling his feet and making him laugh. It made the rest of the group smile.

"Well don't you all look like you are going into battle…" Samatha said smiling at them. All of the hunters were in full mail gear from head to toe. It hardly left any skin exposed. The elbows and knees were made of hardened leather. The warriors were all in heavy plate armor. They looked like they could repel any sort of attack. Herrior's new shield was as tall as he was and probably weighed over one hundred pounds. His sword was the same. Trackolania was given a new pair of gloves that were black and that had white sparkles on them. Everybody else was given cloth robes, gloves, and leather boots.

Suddenly Herrior's hearthstone buzzed. He pulled it out of his new plate armored pocket and held it up. It was Tess and she had the same armor set as all of the other hunters. Herrior immediately started to laugh.

"I do not find this funny…how you guys move in gear like this!" Tess said.

"It adjusts to your movements, doesn't it? It is nearly weightless isn't it? Do you not feel the powers radiating off from the set?" Herrior said trying to suppress his laughter, but not succeeding.

"Yes yes…more power and precision, crap like that. But I could kill twenty alliance naked before…this seems so…concealing." Tess said angrily. Herrior was about to make another comment but Tess quickly spoke up.

"All hunters and warlocks are to have their pets out as much as possible, orders from the King. He's also sent six of our banshees into the human's world to search for that beast. The King can't sense him, he figures he is probably in hiding. The minions that you were fighting weren't strong enough to hold their existence when you broke the portal. King thinks the beast was probably strong enough to sustain himself and will probably try to raise another army. Druids have come back as well. They are sending us on several missions to gather more supplies." Tess let out a sigh as she adjusted her chest piece. Herrior let out another smirk.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Kendall and her group are being sent with you into Tanaris if you get a chance punch one of those stupid goblins in the face for me." Tess said, and then she turned around and said, "No offense".

"Anyways, keep in touch. Kon and I are going to go pick some flowers and do some mining. The goblins are still invading Gnomergan. No word from them yet. Hope they call for additional help… Anyways contact the King for orders; I'm just relaying what he told me. He may have changed his mind." Tess said and closed the portal.

Herrior than thought of the King and rubbed his hearthstone. An ambassador answered.

"What are my orders, we are ready for battle." Herrior said.

"Get some pets for your hunters; a dragon has taken up position in front of the Caverns of Time. Either negotiate with it, or kill it. Also…relax. You will be given mounts once you get there, and tell the goblins they are already paid for! All of the people that had unions are going to be given time alone. Tell Bernett and Samatha to go back to Earth and enjoy themselves. We don't anticipate any trouble at this point, but if something comes up and they can't handle it, tell them to recall your group and Kendall's group. Learn your new abilities, and try not to bother the King. There have already been hundreds of complaints pouring in." The ambassador said and closed the portal.

"Well we have a problem. Bernett you need a pet, however you have been ordered to return home and have a honeymoon." Herrior said turning to him. Bernett was over looking at his baby boy sleeping soundly on the floor.

"I can get a dog, like Julie has." Bernett answered back.

"No!" Julie said. Everybody seemed surprised. "My dog is designed for damage, what we need, especially after the last battle, are tanking animals. Even more so if you come into a problem alone at home." Julie paused for a second and then said, "Err…permission to speak." Julie said smiling. Herrior smiled at her.

"You don't need permission. I'm not mad at any of you anymore. What did you have in mind?"

"In my opinion, give Branzer a scorpid. He can disarm targets weapons for 10 seconds. It would be a great combination with your disarm affect. Give Bernett a turtle, those things are almost impossible to kill. They both have a high threat, high damage, taunt, and group aoe affect - both of which can intercept attacks as well. The turtle could hold back and protect the healers; the scorpid could fight side-by-side with the tanks and melee." Julie said and then added, "In my opinion."

"You really know your shit don't you?" Herrior said in a surprised tone.

"At Branzer's house, I was studying the scrolls that were there and sucked up the information like it was a vacuum. Spark is good, but he is more for damage - not so good at defending. He's also good at scaring the crap out of people." Julie added with a smile.

Herrior turned to Branzer and Bernett and shrugged.

"She knows her stuff; I'm not going to argue with her." Branzer said. "Although I'm not so sure about having a giant scorpion at my side…"

"You can communicate with it, it won't hurt you." Julie said sounding annoyed.

"Well, Bernett how about we go get your pet and then send you back home. Samatha I'm not sure when or if they are going to upgrade your abilities." Herrior said.

"I've been promoted to the second line of defense. It'll be a couple more days. I'll get more powers than what I have now, but I don't anticipate it being anywhere near Skyka's abilities." Samatha said.

"Don't get the light well." Skyka said smiling. "It's a good idea, but just don't get it. Stick with holy though."

"What's wrong with Discipline?" Icis said, seeming to be offended by it.

"Oh nothing. But she's started holy and is used to it." Skyka answered back with a smile.

"They said the Druids are done, wonder where Quinely is?" Herrior said.

"Probably pissing somebody off." Mohania said quickly. Suddenly a lion jumped out of being stealthed and landed on Mohania, throwing him to the ground and started licking his face.

"I was right…" Mohania said sounding annoyed.

"Aww…you missed me didn't you?" Quinely said still in her lion form.

"No." Mohania replied back.

Two blood elves walked up the stairs and said they were there to watch over the child.

"Ok, how about this? We take our entire group, and Samatha, as well as Kendall's group and go get Bernett his turtle, then send them back home." Herrior said.

"How about Quinely gets off from me, and I teach my undead the new spells I've acquired." Mohania said. Quinely continued to lick his bare skull.

"Shoo kitty…" Skyka said walking up and pushing on the enormous lion. Eventually Quinely got off and morphed back into her normal self. She had different armor as well.

"Has anybody noticed that all of our armor is black, but giving off a golden glow?" Skyka asked. A moment of silence came as everybody observed each other.

"Anyways, go get your turtle and scorpid thing. I'm going to go talk to my warlocks. I'll contact you when I'm done. I'm guessing it'll be able the same time." Mohania said pushing himself off from the ground and began walking down the stairs. He walked by Kendall and explained what he was going to do and gave her a quick kiss. She smiled as her and her group came up the stairs as well.

"Lindel open a gate, it's getting crowded in here." Herrior said. Lindel opened a portal and they all walked into it, including Samatha. The two blood elves sat quietly observing the child sleeping soundly on the ground.

"Welcome! We've been expecting you! You'll find that our prices are the cheapest around! If for some reason you can't afford something, we are open for negotiations." A well dressed goblin said upon their arrival.

"Our Kodo's please." Herrior said looking around.

"Yes of course, though I'm not sure if they have been fed. I can give them some food before you leave on your journey, shouldn't cost that much." The goblin said with a smile. Herrior bent over and glared at the small goblin.

"Perhaps they have been fed, I don't know. Anyways, this way." The goblin said walking away.

"What's a Kodo?" Dan asked.

"It's a mount. You sit on it, and it moves very fast over the terrain." Herrior said.

"Like a horse?" Crystal asked.

"Only alliance rides horses…" Herrior said in a low tone.

"Oh." Crystal said as if she had offended Herrior.

The all walked over to the stabled beasts. They had enormous stomachs, powerful legs, and a long tail. They were different shades of grey, some were black, and some were tan color.

"You'll learn how to control them as we go. Your mind will eventually link with it and all you have to do is think and the Kodo will go that way. Let's mount up." Herrior said. Herrior's old group all jumped on them as if it were second nature for them. Everybody else struggled, as the Kodo knelt as low to the ground as it could.

Eventually all nineteen of them (excluding Mohania) were off as fast as the mighty beasts could take them.

"It's about a minute until we get to the shore. As a reminder, you all obviously have more powers than you did before, but observation, common sense, and communication will win a battle all the time." Herrior said.

They followed the trail until they ran into another shack with several other goblins approaching them.

"Not interested." Herrior said immediately and quickly altered their course to the south. They got to the shoreline at dusk as the sun was about ready to set. Several crabs and enormous turtles were casually walking back and forth.

"Ok Bernett, choose and turtle and tame it." Julie said. Bernett's brain knew the process on how to do that, but had never actually done that before. Bernett walked up to the closet turtle and began channeling his spell. Immediately the turtle turned aggressive and ran towards him. The turtle began snapping at him, and doing everything it could to stop the channeling.

After five seconds the channeling was complete, and instantly Bernett could talk to the turtle in his mind.

"That's amazing!" Bernett said as his legs were bruised and some trickles of blood was flowing. "I can talk to him!"

Skyka casted a healing spell and healed his body, Bernett didn't notice as he began to tell the turtle what to do. The turtle told him what it was capable of doing and said he was loyal to him, even through death. For a turtle, it was surprisingly fast. Bernett told him to do all of the commands that it knew how to do. Bernett pointed at another turtle. The turtle ran at it, and then suddenly charged at it. It bit down on the other turtle's head. It picked up the other turtle and threw it across the sand. Bernett's turtle then start slashing at it very quickly. The other turtle was dead within seconds.

"That's better than a guard dog!" Bernett said. Julie made a loud coughing sound in protest.

"I mean…it's just as good. I'm just surprised is all." Bernett said.

"Ok you have your pet, let's send you and Samatha home. Samatha, my guess is when it is time to have your powers increased, somebody will contact you." Herrior said.

"Set your pet to aggressive. It'll actively roam the house. It will wake you up if it engages an enemy or let you know if one of us comes in your house. If you are attacked, do your ability, misdirect, to your turtle and start blasting the crap out of your enemy. Samatha, you may need to assist in healing the turtle." Julie said.

"If something does come up, summon us! Check in with your Lieutenant to see if anything weird is going on. Fill him on the situation so far. If something does attack…" Herrior began to say.

"Shut up you big cow…go have fun you two. You know where we are if you need us. Go have fun." Skyka said winking at them.

"Lindel, portal them." Herrior said sighing. Lindel jumped off her Kodo and opened a portal as the two of them walked through it and into Branzer's house, along with their new turtle.

"Branzer - let's go find a scorpid for you." Herrior said.

"I've sensed several along the way, shouldn't be too hard to find one." Quinely said. Quinely walked up to the extra Kodo's and put both of her hands on their heads. Both of them snorted and took off running back to their stables.

Dan and Crystal looked at the sunset glisten off from the ocean. They both turned to each other and smiled.

"Herrior? Do you mind if we have our honeymoon here tonight? On this beach? This place is beautiful, and I would like all of my closest friends to be here with us. It would mean a lot to me." Crystal asked. Dan nodded in agreement. Herrior raised his eyebrow as if to question them.

"I agree, if that is ok with Kendall?" Mohania asked.

"Yes, yes this is very beautiful here." Kendall said very lovingly at Mohania.

"Doesn't bother me any. It is beautiful here isn't it? We've been here so many times that I often stop to admire the beauty of this place." Herrior said and looked over at Skyka who smiled back at him. "We may have bandits attack us in the night…"

"Herrior…the pets can, once again as Julie said, be put on aggressive. My guess is that they could tear them apart on their own. Stop worrying, you big worrying cow with a big heart. Besides, my guess is that everybody is probably eager to test out their new abilities." Skyka said glaring at him.

"Ok, let's go get a scorpion for Branzer." Herrior said partially ignoring Skyka.

"Scorpid" Julie said.

"Whatever…" Herrior said smiling and gave the command to his Kodo to begin running.

Riding for about a minute, they saw a scorpid digging a hole in the sand.

"Go get him cowboy! Yee haw!" Crystal screamed. It made the humans laugh, as Branzer dismounted.

Branzer began the taming process, and immediately the scorpid ran towards him. The scorpid attacked as fast as it could, swiping with both claws and lashing at his chest with its tail. The attacks didn't cause much damage, as the scorpid became Branzer's pet after five seconds.

"That is amazing! I can talk to the scorpion!" Branzer said astonished.

"Scorpid" Julie said.

Branzer ignored her and started to play with him as Bernett did.

After a minute, Julie asked him to dismiss his pet so they could ride back to the shoreline. He did and they made it just in time to watch the sun touch the bottom of the horizon, giving the water a reflective glow. Both groups took off their armor and laid down naked to watch it. By now, everybody was so used to seeing each other naked that it didn't both any of them.

Crystal sat in front of Dan as they embraced. Herrior and Skyka as well as Branzer and Lindel did the same thing also. Kendall cleared her voice really loud and looked at Lindel.

Lindel casually looked over at Kendall, and then looked back at the sunset.

"Are we missing somebody?" Kendall asked.

Lindel thought for a minute, and then suddenly it came to her. "Sorry." Lindel said pulling out her hearthstone. She opened a small portal to Mohania.

"Are you ready hun?" Lindel asked.

"I have most of them trained. The rest should be able to teach each other. They will focus on fire and shadow spells." Mohania said and continued, "They weren't able to retain as much information as I hoped…but thirty shadow bolts flying at a single target should be interesting." Mohania finished saying with a smile. "If they sense shadow bolts aren't working, then they will switch to fire…only problem with that is they will all cast the same spell at the same time. However I taught them all the same rotation, after a couple of seconds, they should be able to start doing some major damage. They will tap their life to half and then start funneling life from their targets until they are full. Then they will start their rotation all over again."

"Sounds boring…wanna come out with us?" Lindel said with a giggle.

"Sure…" Mohania said in frustration. Mohania said something in his demonic voice; Lindel assumed that he sent all of his undead warlocks back into the cave. Lindel opened a portal and Mohania arrived. Mohania glared at Lindel as she smiled at him. He took his spot behind Kendall.

"What's a matter hun?" Kendall asked.

"Nobody understands the power I possess and that I can command." Mohania said.

"I care." Kendall turned her head all the way around and kissed him.

That night, everybody talked all night as the sun set and the sun came out. Eventually the couples that had formed a union, along with Herrior and Skyka mated with each other very quietly and romantically. Lindel looked up at Branzer and smiled. Branzer smiled back and kissed her on the head.

"Some day" Branzer said. Lindel nodded feeling very excited and afraid all at the same time. The rest of them casually talked among themselves. Slowly all of them fell asleep

Eventually morning came and they began to put their armor back on.

"Herrior?" Quinely asked.

"Yes?"

"There's a group of bandits advancing on our position. About a hundred of them." Quinely said.

"I hate bandits…" Herrior said casually. "We have this problem, and then a dragon to take care of. Is everybody up for it?" Everybody began buffing each other up, and Quinely put a buff on everybody as well. Herrior looked at her funny.

"I call it bear paw. Raises all stats by 5%, and improves magical resistances. Do you want me to do bear form or kitty form?" Quinely said innocently back.

"Two tanks for us, two tanks for Kendall's group. Let's do this." Herrior said.


	12. Dungeons

Dungeons

"Summon your pets, let's do this." The hunters and warlocks began summoning their pets. Kendall's war tanks summoned their voidwalkers, Mohania summoned his imp, and Kendall summoned her felhound.

"Jacklyn, battle shout - I'll do commanding shout. Do it about five seconds before we engage. Nothing like demoralizing them right before battle." Herrior said with a smile. "Let's go."

"Should I stop time…make it easier?" Dan asked. Herrior started laughing but never gave a response. He thought Dan was joking.

Herrior and Kendall's group began advancing on the bandit's position. They all saw the magical spells they were casting on each other, and the aggression the groups were showing. The leader ordered his bandits to stop. Herrior continued to run towards them.

"I have a proposal!" The head bandit shouted out.

"Do we have to listen to him?" Mohania mumbled as he continued his charge. Herrior motioned for his group to stop.

"You give us all of your valuables and your armor, and we will spare your lives!" The head bandit shouted. "We vastly out-number you!"

"Tess would probably go along with that." Skyka said smirking.

Herrior let out a thunderous shout and began running towards their enemies again. Kendall took that as the negotiations were over and led her troops into battle as well. Jacklyn let off her battle shout, just as Herrior charged forward to engage the bandits. He sliced a big gouge out of the nearest bandit and then performed his thunderclap ability. It shook the ground as it did before, but it magically caused the gouge from the first bandit to spread to every bandit within ten yards.

"I wondered how that worked…didn't make sense at the time." Herrior said out loud. Herrior then ran deeper into the bandits, performing a 'cleave' attack that hit three of them at the same time and then performed a shockwave, knocking all of the bandits down ten yards in front if him. Several bandits started to attack him, and he performed another shout that sent many of them running away in fear.

Kendall's tanks sent their voidwalkers into the mass of bandits and began tormenting their very souls, forcing them to attack their voidwalkers. Next Kendall's tanks both called down two enormous meteors on their side of the pirates. It was apparent that it must have hurt from their reaction; also they stood there stunned for several of seconds as well. Both of her tanks then summoned infernals as they started placing curses on several on the bandits. The mighty burning rock-men started wrecking havoc on them. Then both of them transformed into their demon form and began firing waves of shadow bolts, as well as igniting the ground on fire as they ran through their ranks.

Jacklyn and Dan both jumped very high into the air and landed with a thunderous blow, causing the bandits to fall to the ground as both of them began slicing at them as fast as they could. Dan's new abilities with his one-handed swords noticed that he was slicing at the bandits almost as fast as Trackolania could.

"Ha! I'm just as fast as you are Trackolania!" Dan said continuing to slice away. Trackolania let out a whistle and Dan looked over. Trackolania had killed twenty of them, not only killed them, but sliced them up into finely cut pieces - bones and all.

"Ok fine…but I'm getting close…" Trackolania rolled his eyes as he continued his killing streak.

Icis put an enormous shield over both groups. It looked almost like a giant bubble.

Skyka and Tkus, Kendall's healer, had been doing some healing but for the most part seemed bored.

Crystal casted a couple of curses on the bandits. The curses spread quickly throughout their ranks. Crystal then began casting her 'seed of corruption' spell on as many as she could. Kendall was doing the same with her 'living bomb' fire spell. Eventually the bandits who had the spell casted on originally would explode, causing damage to the surrounding bandits.

The hunters started firing off as many 'multi-shots' as they could. Out of one gun, twenty bullets would suddenly appear and find their target. After several of these shots, many of the bandits would drop.

After twenty seconds of fighting, the bandits decided that their numbers were dropping quickly and they vastly out-gunned. Several of them tried to run away, but more meteors fell from the sky, Dan and Jacklyn jumped into the air again, stunning several of them. Trackolania sprinted ahead of them and began making deep slices at their knees, causing them to drop.

The entire battle was over in less than a minute.

"Don't kill the last one!" Herrior ordered. Kendall's shadow priest called Blacky, suddenly stopped channeling shadow magic at him as both parties surrounded him. Icis bubble eventually faded and stopped absorbing damage from both groups.

Herrior walked up to him, picked him up by his head and said, "Where did you and your fellow bandits come from?"

"The boats…to the south…we have an entire fleet coming." The bandit said screaming in pain.

"Why? Who are you invading?" Herrior said pulling his face closer to his.

"The dragon…he holds powers…" The bandit said.

"The dragon huh?" Herrior said casually squeezing his head together as it burst open like a melon.

"Herrior?" Skyka said in a surprised voice.

"What?" Herrior asked and then looked down at what he did. The top half of the man's skull was in pieces still in his hand, as fluids seemed through it. Herrior picked up the body and threw it at Mohania. Mohania quickly energized himself with a soul stone and casted an enormous fire spell at it. Nothing but charred remains hit the ground.

"Did that on purpose…Mohania looked bored…" Herrior said looking back at Skyka innocently.

"I'm bored again!" Mohania said with enthusiasm.

"Anyways, looks like we are going to have to make a detour." Herrior said wiping his hands off on each other. "Didn't anticipate on other people knowing about the dragon. Apparently negotiating with it is probably not an option." Herrior looked around at the remains and said. "Gather everything that is of any worth, I need to talk with the ambassadors!"

Branzer, Skyka, and Mohania walked over to Herrior. Mohania was chewing on an arm he had ripped off.

"Eating helps me think." Mohania said casually.

"We have a couple of options here. Obviously the bandits are of no threat to us…" Herrior said and then paused, "But it was fun wasn't it?" then started laughing. Mohania started laughing as well, until he started choking on the arm.

"Small bites there hun, it wasn't any fun for us healers." Skyka said. "Next time can we all go shadow?"

"Julie and I barely got any shots off, but it certainly surprised us what we are now capable of doing. Our pets, as well as the warlock pets, really didn't do a whole lot. I must say I was impressed with Kendall's tanks!" Branzer said looking at them. He turned around and saw Herrior glaring at him. "But ours were better; they have a thing or two to learn from us. Quinely appears to be having fun…" Quinely was still in bear form and casually throwing the bodies into the air, then catching them and shaking them violently until anything in their pockets dropped to the ground.

"Getting back on subject…" Herrior said as Mohania started choking. It continued for several seconds until he engulfed his entire body in flame. Mohania then apologized and said he was listening.

"Anyways, we have two options…if there are no other interruptions. We may be able to talk with the dragon and warn it of the incoming danger. My guess is these pathetic humans were just a scout group. If they are coming to take down a dragon, they probably have the weapons to do just that." Herrior said out loud.

"Good point! Let's ask the last bandit that…oh wait that's right! You crushed his skull in…" Skyka said glaring at him.

"I burned him up! Did you see that? Completely incinerated before he hit the ground!" Mohania said excitedly.

Herrior glared back at Skyka with a smile, everybody was ignoring Mohania. "You can't tell me you don't feel more power flowing through your body. I didn't even squeeze all that hard. If it will make you feel better, I'll go apologize to him."

"Too late! My undead have already devoured him…" Mohania said in a sinister voice. "I could be with them as well, but no - I have to be in this meeting…"

"I'll write him a letter…can we continue now…Skyka?" Herrior asked trying to hold back his laughter.

"I feel like nobody is listening to what I want." Mohania said.

"Mohania" All three of them said.

"Should we warn the dragon, in an attempt to befriend it? Or should we let the bandits capture it and do the work for us? The problem with both though, is we're going to have to either fight the large army of bandits, or fight the dragon. I'd prefer to single tank an enemy…on a side note I still have no idea how my rend ability spread to everybody by using my thunderclap, doesn't make sense." Herrior said to himself.

"I don't know how I was able to shoot twenty bullets by pulling the trigger on my gun once. Shit, like I have been saying, I don't know how you guys are able to do anything you are able to do. Several months ago I would have looked at Mohania and probably shit myself." Branzer said. "Maybe some things are better off just as they are, you know?" Mohania nodded in agreement.

"Yes I agree. So do we wait and let the bandits battle the dragon first - either over taking it or wounding it, or do we warn the dragon, then as a gesture of goodwill then sink the ships while they are still on their way?"

"Ask the King?" Branzer asked.

"No, he's busy. I want opinions."

"My thoughts, take them however you want, but this battle has probably made us over-confident. Battling a dragon is no easy task. I think we could do it, but may suffer some loses. We've won battles before just by saying a couple of words, or by trickery. Also here's a thought. Why is there a dragon here in the first place? If she is a female, she may have young with her. If it is a male, why would it choose to come here to guard against a bunch of things it has no use for? Dragons don't use weapons, gold or enchants. Another thought, what if it is one of Ysera's guardians sent here?" Skyka asked.

"Then why would we be ordered to kill it?" Herrior snapped back.

"He has hundreds of things going on; the scout may not have recognized it." Skyka answered right back.

"Who's Ysera?" Branzer asked.

"Female dragon that is on our side, but you do not want to piss her off." Mohania answered.

"Enough said." Branzer replied.

"We need more information before we can make a decision, agreed?" Herrior asked. They all nodded. Herrior let out a loud whistle as all of their kodo's came running towards them.

"What have we collected?" Herrior yelled out.

"One hundred and fifty gold pieces, weapons that are of no value to us, and some cloth that can be used to make less skilled fighters or bandages." Lindel said. Everybody collecting items told her in her head as she added up everything.

"Worthless crap. Take the gold and portal it to Tranquil. Then let's go get a closer look at this dragon." Herrior said. Lindel created a portal and everybody threw the gold in the portal as several of the King's treasure keepers grabbed it and started sorting it out. Lindel then closed the portal and hopped on her kodo.

They rode for about an hour until they saw two enormous mountains and a small valley in the middle. As they approached it, the terrain turned rockier. Soon they could hear the enormous breathing coming from the beast.

"Dismount." Herrior said as himself and everybody else got off their mounts. Quinely gave all the kodo's to all walk north about fifty yards and wait.

"Trackolania - go take a look. Don't get too close." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and began to run towards the opening. Several yards from it, he instantly vanished from sight. Even his foot steps that were kicking up loose sand also vanished.

Trackolania hugged the left mountain as he gazed upon the beast. It sat in a position, as if ready to jump forward and strike. He guessed it stood over a hundred feet tall, and appeared to be a middle aged dragon. It would be quite a battle to take this one down. It's claws and teeth were enormous, and it's breath could be felt even where he was standing. He slowly advanced forwards.

"Don't mock me rogue." The enormous beast said. "I cant see or hear you, but I would advise you to not take another step." So Trackolania did what he was told. Trackolania thought the voice was female, but there was so much growling he couldn't tell.

"Since you are not a speaker, go back and tell your leader to approach me. This pathetic attempt to infiltrate me insults me." The dragon said. Trackolania instantly turned around and began walking away. He came out of stealth when he thought he was safe, but since the dragon knew he was there anyways, was any place really safe? Trackolania shook his head to clear it and went to Herrior.

Trackolania shrugged his shoulders and shook his head "no". He then pulled on Herrior's armor and pointed at the dragon.

"Dragon wants me huh? Also I'm guessing it sensed you as well?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"So it probably knows we are all here. If we all move towards it, it'll probably think it's an act of aggression." Herrior said and then turned to Skyka. "If things go bad, have Lindel on stand-by with a portal to get all of you out of here."

Skyka nodded. "I'll also kick Mohania in the ass for you." Herrior just shrugged as he walked forward.

Mohania looked at her. "Ambassador stuff, you'll eventually learn." Skyka said.

"Sounds like made up stuff to me…" Mohania replied back. Skyka smiled.

"What is your intentions warrior?" The dragon asked even before Herrior walked around the corner to see the dragon.

"Our orders were to come here to kill you." Herrior said honestly with a calm tone.

"I know. I appreciate you not lying to me." The dragon said.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Herrior asked. The dragon tilted its head slightly at the request. "That I did not anticipate. Aren't you going to charge me with your army to slay me, cut off my head, and bring it back as a trophy?"

"No, I just wish to sit." Herrior said calmly. "Even if I did give the command to attack, you know how far away my army is, we could not organize fast enough to launch an attack at you. You would slaughter me in seconds and then finish off my army. May I sit and talk, or do you wish for me to leave?"

"Curious…I sense something in you that you wish to tell me. You have my attention." The dragon said.

"Obviously you can sense when I am lying, and I have been truthful with you. You can also sense my army, but can you sense the vast army coming in ships to slaughter you?" Herrior said calmly again sitting on the ground.

"A trick!" The dragon quickly said.

"Do you sense that I am trying to trick you?" Herrior replied back. The dragon extended its long neck and gazed into Herrior's eyes.

"I know that you are not, but why do you know of this knowledge that I do not?" The dragon asked. Herrior was certain is was a female dragon now.

"We fought a group of bandits. We figure they were just a scout group. I interrogated one and he said more ships are on the way for you. I even have his blood on my hand from when I squashed his head." Herrior said as he held up his hand.

The dragon stared at Herrior for awhile as several moments went by.

"My name is Herrior."

"If you are here to kill me, why tell me your name? Why give me this information? Either I die by your group, or by these dragon hunters. What choice do I have?" The dragon said, this time sounding scared.

"What is your name?" Herrior asked.

"Brerepith. For some reason I sense that I need to confide in you for the survival of my young." Brerepith said.

"I think that our original information that was given to us was incorrect. What race of dragons are you with? Are you one of Ysera's?"

Brerepith instantly looked surprised. "How do you know that name?"

"She is a friend of ours. Our people have fought beside her for thousands of years. I've never personally seen her, but the tales have been handed down. I am an ambassador of Tranquil; we have good relations with her and her dragons."

"I can sense the ships now. They are about one hundred yards from the shore." Brerepith said quickly. "You do speak the truth, but you have not earned my trust. I was in flight to return to the Dreamworld, but I couldn't make it because my eggs were ready to drop. It'll take time for them to grow and defend themselves. But you said yourself you were here to kill me!" Brerepith sounded desperate now.

"We will not war against one of Ysera's dragons. You have my word." Herrior said.

"I have to go destroy the ships! But I can not leave my eggs, they will not hatch and my young will die…" Brerepith said desperately. "If they assemble they will kill me and my young…" Brerepith said looking around nervously. "I may be able to destroy the ships quick enough without having my eggs cool off to much…but then there is you…"

"We will go destroy the ships; you stay with your young." Herrior replied. "Sinking the ships before they hit shore will be easier then when they land and assemble."

"Why do all of you want to kill me? We were all in flight high above the heavens surveying different lands, when I was knocked out of the sky with horrible contraction cramps. I was in the back and nobody saw me fall. I haven't done anything to make enemies out of anybody! We were only here for several minutes before our lead Chronomancer portalled us to a different world." Brerepith said.

"I think it is for the stuff behind you, more than you yourself." Herrior said pointing behind her. Brerepith spun her head around really quick, then realized this could be a trap as well, so she quickly turned her head back around and hissed at Herrior. He did not move from his spot. Herrior merely looked at Brerepith and lifted an eyebrow. Brerepith stared at him for several seconds and then turned completely around.

"It's just junk, simple weapons and armor. Some gold, gems, and other glowing artifacts, some of them very flimsy." Brerepith said as she turned back around and saw that Herrior was still in the same place.

"You creatures war over the simplest things!" Brerepith sounding upset.

"Time is running short. May we begin our attack on the ships? If we fail, then you will have less to attack when they come at you."

"My options are very limited, aren't they small one?" Brerepith said in a cocky voice.

Herrior rose to his feet. "Very well. We'll do what we can. We do have a Chronomancer with us that could send you and your young home."

"They are still eggs! You can't move eggs! Which is why I haven't annihilated you or the other the other creatures coming!" Brerepith said sounding annoyed.

"Well I believe we have built a trust between us. If we succeed we'll return to see what we can do about your situation." Herrior said standing up.

Brerepith was about ready to say something, but decided that her emotions were over-whelming her. She let out a sigh.

"We will not attack you, you have my word." Herrior said. He then called for both groups to start advancing on the ships on the opposite side of the dragons nest. As they passed in front of Brerepith, none of them looked at her, or even motioned to attack her. When they were all gone, Brerepith said a quick prayer.

"Lindel how many ships do you see?" Herrior asked. Lindel quickly took to the air and flew quickly ahead of them.

Several seconds later, she spoke in Herrior's head. "Fifteen. Five of which are huge, four of them I can sense an enormous army. I'm not close enough to get an exact count. The other empty boat is probably to bring the dragon back. We probably have fifteen…maybe, minutes until they land."

"Engage them; we'll be there as soon as we can. I wanna see that evil banshee side to you hun." Herrior replied back in his mind.

"We're swimming people. Hand out the breathing underwater spell, or whatever you warlocks call it…" Herrior said. The warlocks quickly casted the spell on everybody except for the undead. They all crashed in the water and began swimming.

"Strings, can you blow the ships backwards?" Herrior asked.

Strings started to laugh. "That would be a neat trick wouldn't it? But no, I can only alter elements for a very short period of time. Not enough to do any good against that fleet."

"Lindel said they are more armored than what we previously encountered. She has already engaged them. Kendall, take your group and go right, we'll go left." Herrior said.

"That woman will not exceed my body count!" Mohania yelled out.

"Hush you, Herrior do you mind if I fight them - druid style?" Quinely spoke loudly to Herrior.

"Be my guest…just don't exceed Mohania's body count." Herrior said chuckling. Quinely morphed into a dolphin and quickly swam ahead of them.

Meanwhile Lindel turned into her banshee form. She suddenly appeared on the deck and instantly gained control of several of the bandits. She then summoned an army of skeletons and forced them all to start attacking the rest of the crew. The bandits and skeletons instantly began jumping on and sinking their teeth into them. The signal went out that they were under attack. Within seconds, heavily armored soldiers came up and made short work of the possessed crew and the skeletons. Lindel vanished. The soldiers looked around as Lindel appeared behind them and sprayed out shadow bolts at everybody. It burned their minds but when they turned around, Lindel had disappeared.

"A ghost is on board! Send the word out! Ghosts are attacking us!" A soldier yelled.

Lindel flew through the wooden floor and several walls and found what she thought was the captain. He was getting his armor on still. Lindel quickly flew into his eyes and took over his mind. She finished putting the rest of the armor on and casually walked out and on the top deck.

"What is this nonsense about a ghost? Are you seeing mermaids and sea monsters as well? We are here for the dragon people!" Lindel made the captain say.

"My captain, we all saw it. There were skeletons, and it sprayed something at us that, well, attacked our brains. Several of our crew we had to kill because they became mad…" The soldier said as he pointed to the dead crewman.

"Skeletons! Things attacking your brains! People we are here to get that dragon! I have yet to see any evidence of any of this! Let me guess, you all pissed yourself because of some crewman gone mad and told the rest of my fleet what you think you saw…skeletons attacking your brains." Lindel said in a deep commanding voice. The deck fell silent. "Well? Did you?"

"Yes sir, we sent the word that we were being attacked by ghosts…" Lindel pulled out the captain's gun and pointed it to the man's face. "If I kill you right now, will you become a ghost? I've killed many, and none of them turned into ghosts. Maybe we should set an example!"

Another soldier spoke up. "But sir, we all fought them. There were skeletons, and something did attack them, and those crewmen did go crazy."

"Fine! Who is still loyal to me?" The captain shouted. Everybody responded that they all were.

"Give the command to halt the fleet. I don't want this 'ghost' attacking us while we tear this dragon to pieces. I want it hunted down, and I want proof that it's destroyed! You say it exists, fine - prove it!" The captain said and put his gun back in his belt. He then walked back down the stairs.

The soldiers looked at each other, unsure what to do. However the signals were given to halt the fleet. All anchors were dropped, and all of the sails were taken down. Everybody armed themselves and quickly started searching the ships.

"Ghosts my ass…I'm a banshee!" Lindel said in quiet voice giggling in her own voice through the captain's mouth. She made the captain go inside of his room, lie down on his bed and shut his brain off. He was still alive, but could not respond to anything. Lindel flew out of the captain's eyes and quickly turned invisible.

She flew in and out of several people that were searching for a ghost. She found a female in a corner looking behind some boxes. Lindel quickly flew over to where she was looking and revealed her face to the woman letting out a fierce scream. Lindel then quickly disappeared. The female soldier froze and began to solidify into stone. The process took about ten seconds. Lindel flew up to another male close to her and place her ice cold hands around his neck. She sucked the very life out of him so fast, that his bowels were released, and his eyes dropped an inch from their socket.

"I forgot how refreshing that is…" Lindel said as she felt her body become energized. She casually flung the lifeless carcass off to the side.

Lindel rematerialized as five of the crewman saw her. Lindel held up her hand and green bolts of lightning instantly hit all of them. Their life was sucked from them as well, as they fell flat on the ground.

"Call us vampires, call us medusas, and call us banshees…just don't call me late for dinner." Lindel said as her power began to grow substantially. She licked her lips and began to walk forward.

Lindel heard several soldiers run down to investigate the noise. She banished and flew back into the captain's quarters. As anticipated, many soldiers came pounding on the door, nearly just about breaking it.

Lindel flung the door open with such power that it flew several of the crewman backwards, while others were crushed behind it. The sound of wood and bone breaking, along with screams filled the air.

"Where's my ghost? I was resting, and now I see a bunch of my soldiers pounding down my door. Now I want to see this ghost that obviously you have caught!" The captain shouted. He stepped on several of the injured, just to hear their screams. The captain brought out his sword and stabbed one of the males in the chest. The man looked at him in shock as his life slowly crept out of him.

"This man just died, pathetic whelp - did any of you just see a ghost?"

"My captain, come look! Five of our crew has been killed by the ghost."

"And one has been killed by me. I have evidence of the person I killed, where's the evidence that you have of this ghost?" The captain said pushing his way through the crowd.

"We didn't touch them; they are still on the floor. It looks like the very life was sucked out of them." A crewman said.

"You mean those five that are still doing their job, looking around for this ghost that all of you are so scared of?" All of the soldiers turned and saw that their bodies did in fact look normal. This brought terror into the soldiers, many of their faces turned white.

"Captain, they were dead!"

"Do I need to give you another example of when somebody is alive and when somebody is alive?" The captain said glaring at his army. "I can't believe you cowards, look at you! Pull yourselves together. It's probably safe to assume that the rest of the fleet is in a state of panic because of you idiots!" The captain replied back fiercely.

"But…there was a lady over there. A soldier like one of us. She had been turned to stone. And those crewmen were dead…" One of the crewmen said. He looked like an officer or somebody of significance. Lindel searched through the captain's brain real quick and found out his name was Larry.

"Larry, don't tell me you have succumb to this madness as well. Am I the only sane one on this boat?" The captain shouted in anger. He took several deep breathes.

"Ok, Larry, by all means…show me this woman made out of stone." The captain said. The two of them walked by one of the reanimated corpses that Lindel had killed.

"I hope this isn't contagious my captain." Lindel made him say.

"This is utter panic and madness!" Lindel made the captain say in response to herself. She found that humorous but kept it to herself.

Larry walked right up to the boxes and couldn't find the woman.

"Captain, she was right here!" Larry insisted. The captain walked right up to Larry's face and stared at him, breathing very heavy into his face.

"I swear on my life, they were dead and there was a woman that was turned to stone here." Larry said quietly.

"Really…" Lindel made the captain said. She found in his head that the captain spit often, couldn't find a reason why, but made the captain do that off to the side of Larry. She then made him sniff a couple of times in front of him.

"I sense a traitor among us…or perhaps many of them." The captain shouted into Larry's face. The captain turned around and said, "Order all of the ships to plank with each other. I want to know what is going on. I will not have this kind of nonsense in my ranks. All of you were brave enough to go on this venture to kill a dragon, and now all of a sudden you are seeing skeletons, dead people walking, and women being turned to stone. I think somebody is trying to stir things up. I want a fighting crew! Not some traitors and saboteurs aboard. I will complete this mission, even if I have to have half of you all executed! Everybody, topside now! I will wait two hours to calm down, because I feel like killing all of you right now, and then I will begin the interrogations! In the mean time, nobody is to come down here!" The rest of the soldiers quickly ran topside and began giving the orders for all of the ships to pull up next to each other.

Everybody that was, except for Larry. The captain turned around and said "I will not have one of my officers seeing dead people, or people turned into stone…this is all pre-jitters before our war! Get with my other officers. Tell them to kill anybody on sight if they look suspicious, or are spreading rumors. We will accomplish this mission! Is that understood?"

"Yes my captain." Larry said as he walked by him and the other crewmen that Lindel was controlling.

"Get up here with the rest of them!" Larry ordered them.

"They are the only ones not seeing dead people, right now I trust them more than I do you; now go do your job!" The captain yelled. Larry turned around and ran topside. Suddenly the stoned woman reappeared, the corpses fell flat on the ground, and Lindel flew out of the captain.

"Fools! All of them!" Lindel said out loud. Suddenly she heard Herrior's voice in her head. Lindel gasped and fell backwards, interrupting the mental link. Lindel quickly reestablished it and started quickly apologizing.

"Lindel are you ok? Are you hurt?" Herrior said quickly.

"No I'm fine. Herrior, I don't like being a banshee. You should see what I've done to the crew on this ship!"

"Lindel, get a hold of yourself. We are almost there. Do you need to leave?" Herrior asked.

"No, I can control it. But Herrior…the power…it's…the power I get…It's so additive, yet so evil. I don't like this Herrior." Lindel said.

"Do you love me?" Herrior asked.

"Of course! I love you and everybody else…even that hunter guy that keeps following me around…" Lindel said jokingly.

"We all have powers, especially now we all have powers that we are not aware of. But love always brings us back to each other. You know how Quinely does whatever she can to piss off Mohania? I would have bet that those two would have started courting each other if Kendall didn't come along. Don't you think so?" Herrior asked in her head.

Lindel smiled. "I don't know…Quinely does like to piss him off. But on the other hand, she isn't evil like Kendall. I think Quinely will find another druid eventually."

"I doubt that, she's too picky." Herrior said laughing in her mind and then continued, "Lindel its love. Concentrate on the love you have for us. You are not fighting for you, but for us! Because if you don't fight, the ones you love may die. We need your banshee form hun. Feed yourself, do what you must…because right now you are our eyes and ears. Right now you are controlling the situation. Tell me what our groups must do."

Lindel suddenly felt an over-whelming sense of responsibility and became very quiet in her head.

"Lindel! Don't do that to me! What is going on?" Herrior shouted in her head.

"Sorry, they are all looking for traitors and possible saboteurs among themselves. I have control over the captain. All of the ships are going to line up with each other. Figured that would be easier for me to destroy, I mean for them, no you guys to destroy. Herrior, I hate my banshee form!" Lindel said nearly crying in her mind.

"Love hun. Remember the love you have for us. Also, I guess Mohania and Kendall are having some sort of killing contest…so leave some for us, ok?" Herrior said jokingly in Lindel's mind. He got no response.

"Lindel…you are not evil. I can't pep talk you long, but all of us have an evil side to us - that's what allows us to kill so easily and without remorse. Look at Skyka. She's a healer, but she also has a dark side to her as well. We thought Mohania only had one side, the dark side…until he formed a union with Kendall. Surprised the shit out of all of us, didn't it? Plus now he's an ambassador, walking among us in Tranquil. He has two sides to him as well. Your dark side will not overcome you because of the love you have for us. Nobody is controlling you, only you and the love you have for us! Now show your water soaked boyfriend down here what you are able to do! Ok?" Herrior said in her mind.

"I love you guys. Tell my boyfriend that he better dry off before he touches me…" Lindel said giggling as she broke the link. She turned back into her banshee form. She flew back into the captains limp body and made him walk over to the crewman that had just seen what had just happened. Lindel held up the captain's hand and drained their lives from them very violently. It looked as if their skin and clothes was pulled forward towards the captain's hand.

"Party time" Lindel said in her own voice using the captain's mouth. It was very dark and sinister.

The captain walked top side and then to the front of the boat. He over looked the orders and seemed pleased that they were being followed out. He pretended not to see his worried soldiers staring at him. Several questions were made to the captain, but Lindel wasn't paying attention - she was trying to access some information in the captain's brain, what was left of it anyways.

"Silence! If one of you were to fall overboard, how would we get you back on the ship?" The captain shouted. The soldiers and crewman suddenly became silent and started at him in awe.

"You idiots…let me demonstrate." Lindel said walking over to a soldier, pulled his sword out of his sheath and quickly slit his throat. The man's throat squirted with blood as his hands went up to cover the wound. Lindel then pushed him off the boat.

"Look, man overboard! How do you get him back?" Lindel screamed at them in his voice.

"You just killed him…" Larry said surprised.

"How do you get that man back on the boat?" Lindel said shoving both of the swords at Larry's neck.

"We have ratlines we can drop over the side so he could climb them up…but he's dead." Larry said cautiously.

"What's a ratline?" The captain asked quickly. Larry looked at him very suspiciously and walked over and grabbed a ladder made out of two pieces of rope and wooden planks for steps.

"I can't them aboard using that, what else do we have?" Lindel said out loud.

"Get who aboard, captain?" Larry said slowly reaching for his own sword. The rest of the soldiers took this as their queue to kill the captain when Larry charges him.

"How does everybody get off and on this damn boat? You're telling me everybody climbs this rat tail thing? Does everybody take their turns climbing up and down one at a time?" Lindel screamed at him. She then realized she wasn't going to get an answer from him. She twisted his head back and forth violently to try to figure out the answer herself. Several large cracking sounds came from his neck when he did this. He then ran back and forth, with his head flopping around - as if it wasn't connected anymore to his spine. Then Lindel saw the smaller boats on the side held up by a huge series of pulleys and ropes. She also saw that both Herrior and Kendall's group were right below her.

Lindel turned around as Larry plugged his sword into the captain's stomach.

Silence filled the next couple of brief seconds. Lindel was still examining the right combination to get the boats down and up.

"You could have said you use those smaller boats?" Lindel said in the captain's voice as she straightened his head back up. Lindel looked at Larry, who was completely awestruck. She looked down and saw a sword through his stomach. She then made the captain look back up at Larry and started to laugh.

"Mutiny it is huh?" The captain said calmly. Lindel floated the sword out of his stomach and had it stop in midair. Then another fleshy hand grew from the captain's stomach, where the hole was, and reached out grabbing the sword. The crew and Larry gasped, moving away from the captain.

"I think I found the traitor I was looking for…" The captain said walking up to Larry.

"Captain I'm sorry…" Larry said backing up to the side of the boat.

"No problem, you're forgiven. Now, let's complete our mission and go home." The fleshy hand handed Larry back his sword and then retracted back into his chest. Larry looked even more surprised. Lindel made the captain walk several feet away from Larry. She then created an enormous explosion that sent blood, flesh, and bone flying in all directions. Nobody saw Lindel fly into Larry's eyes and possess him.

After a couple of seconds, Larry walked forward to where the captain was standing and looked at his soldiers.

"I'm in command now." Lindel made Larry say.

"Now see here, I am next in command!" Larry casually pulled out his pistol and shot the man walking up to him. The man stumbled back several feet and looked surprised at the bullet hole in his chest. He eventually fell to the floor and died.

"Anybody else next in command?" Larry said. Nobody said a word.

"I am your next best captain, and here-by give myself all powers of these two previous men. The way I see it, we are all here for the bounty. We do our jobs and get the hell out of here. With the captain dead, the strange happenings will probably stop. Now let's start laying down planks and securing our vessels together. We'll all go in as one mighty wave, kill anybody that stands in our way, slaughter this beast and get out of here. The less time we are here the better." Larry said.

"How do we know you aren't the ghost?" One of the soldiers said.

"How do we know you aren't either? How about we all kill each other to find this ghost. My guess is that it died with the captain." Larry said kicking the captain's boot across the ship. Lindel saw that nobody moved.

"Fine" Larry said picking up one of the captain's swords, now having one in each hand. "Let's all fight among ourselves until we have killed enough of our own people that we are convinced that the ghost is gone. I'm here for the bounty, the less of you I have to split it with, the bigger my share is. I'm an excellent swordsman, let's start pointing fingers." Nobody made a move, or even breathed for the next couple of seconds.

"Well, what's it going to be? Let's join our vessels together and begin this assault, where it would be safer if the ghost does appear, we'll have greater numbers to attack it with, or let's just all start swinging at each other." Larry said. All of the soldiers put their weapons away and began to throw ropes to each vessel, linking them up. Then dropping planks between the boats so that the men could run back and forth.

"Lindel, what's the plan? I'm following this last ship, can I take it down?" Quinely asked in Lindel's mind.

"Go ahead darling." Lindel said as she walked over to the rowboats, releasing the mechanisms that allowed the boats to drop to the water. Larry's mind was much more alive.

"Herrior, get everybody in the boats and pull on the outer ropes to pull yourself up. Quinely said she's going to do something with the smaller ship in the back. Our attack should start soon." Lindel said in Herrior's mind.

"Quiet playing with the humans Lindel, destroy them! We're right behind you!" Herrior said back in her mind. Herrior quickly relayed the information and both groups quickly assembled into the boats and began to haul themselves up.

Suddenly loud screaming was coming from a distance away. Everybody turned around to see an enormous octopus attacking the smaller ship. The massive arms wrapped themselves around the boat. Once the arms had a good grip, the creature pulled, ripping the ship to pieces.

"Aim the cannons at that beast! Take a shot if you think you got one!" Larry shouted out the command. "Everybody to our main cargo vessels!" Lindel tried to think of reason why, other than she wanted her groups on board this vessel, but couldn't think of one. However after seeing what just happened, the crew did exactly what he commanded.

"Did you see me? I pulled that thing apart like it was a child's toy." Quinely said in Lindel's head.

"You did good hun, we need more distractions…Herrior and Kendall's groups are almost aboard. I won't be able to communicate with you anymore; I'm going to start unleashing my powers." Lindel said back in her head.

"Ok, more distractions…coming up!" Quinely said and the mental link was broke.

Lindel made Larry sigh and started channeling his life force into her body. Larry's skin curled up as if it was in a hot fire and he fell to the ground in an unnatural fashion. Lindel rose up from the corpse in her banshee form. Her eyes were burning red with power, her dark purple hair waving back and forth, and light purple body hovering above the corpse. She raised her hands up and channeled the life out of five of the soldiers in the back that were about ready to cross the plank. Their bodies fell lifeless to the deck. Lindel vanished silently and appeared on the next boat, right in the middle of a big group of soldiers. She let out an enormous wail that was so loud it even made the floor boards vibrate. Lindel then disappeared again.

All of the soldiers close to Lindel immediately went insane and started killing each other. Many of them simply stood were, as if their minds went completely blank. The ones farther away from the blast simply lost their hearing for awhile. Many of the soldiers walking on the planks fell into the water.

Then at the end of the formation of vessels an enormous blue whale flew out of the water with its belly in the air. It was saying the word "Weee…", as if a child was being taken for a ride on someone's shoulders. The massive beast landed in the middle of the wooden ship and immediately crushed it. Both end of the boat pointed up as it sank into the water.

"We're under attack! Man your battle stations! Where's our captain?" One of the soldiers yelled out. Lindel materialized in front of the man in an exact copy of the captain.

"I'm here." The captain said. He immediately held up his hands and possessed the minds of the soldier and several of them around them, commanding them to fight the rest of the soldiers.

The image of the captain flew up into the sky and started making big circles around the main vessels where all of the soldiers were. A series of green bolts of lightning shot down and drained the life of a random soldier, instantly killing them.

"Shoot at him!" One of the soldiers said as they had finished fighting off the rest of the possessed man. Lindel disappeared and reappeared in front of the ship.

"Draw your weapon, strike me down and my power will be yours." Lindel said fazing her body slightly out of existence. She let out an evil, sinister laugh and began to float from soldier to soldier. They began randomly striking at the banshee, missing every time. However they did end up striking each other, some of the wounds were fatal. Lindel occasionally sucked life out of an occasional soldier she flew through.

"Stop it! Everyone! Does anybody have any holy items on them? We are only killing ourselves; we have to vanquish this demon spawn!" A soldier said.

"Banshee" Lindel screamed and then vanished. Lindel knew that was her weakness in this form, but had to continue the distractions until everybody was on board.

"Look for holy items, now! Hurry!" The soldier said. None of them noticed the bird fly out of the water and directly above them. It flew hundreds of feet above them and then morphed into an enormous elephant that quickly picked up speed as it fell.

"Weee!" Quinely yelled as she dropped, completely smashing through several decks of the ship and instantly killing hundreds of the soldiers. She then started charging into walls and support beams. The ship began to take on water and it was slowly evacuated as well. Lindel turned into a small fish and casually swam away from the sinking ship.

"Did that elephant just fall from the sky?" A soldier yelled out. Lindel quickly appeared in front of him and forced herself into his eyes.

"A cannoneer?" The soldier said to himself. Lindel started quickly accessing his mind and came up with a plan. She made the soldier run up to the stern of the vessel where there were four cannons, apparently all loaded and ready to fire. The soldier turned them all facing the enormous army and quickly touched off the fuses. The cannons roared to life one at a time as huge balls of lead came flying out of them, utterly destroying everything in its path. Lindel's plan slaughtered another hundred soldiers or put them out of fighting condition. The cannon balls continued to sail through the ship and through all of the decks, making four nice little holes in the ship where water was coming in. Lindel made the man laugh at the reaction.

"Have you gone mad?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I slipped!" Lindel made the man yell back. Lindel then made the man jump through the holes in the deck and worked his way to the bottom of the ship where there was this product called "gunpowder". This man's mind was stronger than the rest.

"I don't think so little man. You will do as I say." Lindel told him in his mind. Lindel found a fuse and quickly lit it and threw it into one of the open boxes of gunpowder. There were at least one hundred boxes all together. Lindel made the man explode and quickly vanished from the boat. She appeared high above the ships and saw that Herrior and Kendall's group had begun fighting.

Lindel mind linked everybody. "I don't know what I just did…but I think you all may want to jump back in the water…soon!" Lindel vanished and quickly floated over to the rest of her group jumping in the water. Quinely had turned into a dolphin and swam away as fast as she could.

Ten second passed and then an enormous explosion happened. It completely incinerated the ship with the gunpowder and both ships by it. The surrounding ships took on considerable damage, but still remained a float.

Lindel took on her human form and floated above the water, just like Skyka. "I don't like to get my clothes wet, takes to long to dry them out." Lindel said casually to Skyka. Skyka smiled at her and nodded.

"I'm just about out of power Herrior. I can suck some more from the humans…" Lindel said hesitating.

"No, you've done enough. Besides you've upset Mohania. Your body count is higher than his."

"My body count? You should see what Quinely is doing!" Lindel said laughing.

"I will not be out done by that woman, bring those stupid boats back down!" Mohania said fiercely with fire bursting out of his eyes. Lindel, Skyka, Icis, and Tkus all began casting levitate on everybody and floating them back up on the ships.

"We could have done this in the first place!" Mohania yelled.

"We didn't know what we were getting into, I expect you to greet them warmly Mohania." Herrior said with a smile. Mohania summoned his imp and casted a green aura around his body as his hands began to burn with fire.

"Greet them warmly…" Mohania said in his sinister voice.

After a minute, everybody was levitated back onto the boat and began to lay siege to the remaining soldiers. Mohania was already starting to launch fireballs at the remaining soldiers and then called down a rain of fire on the rest. His imp started firing his fireballs as fast as he could. Herrior got on board and began running across the plank. Half way across he instantly charged at several soldiers, doing his rend and then thunderclap ability. He then began raising his shield and striking as hard as he could at the soldiers. When the soldiers realized they were being attacked, they quickly formed up and began counter attacking. Unlike the scouts, there were well trained fighters. Herrior immediately started taking damage and began stunning everybody he could; he then let off several loud battle shouts. One increased, his life and another to scare away some of his potential attackers.

The rest of the party began their attacks as well. Kendall's tanks immediately dropped their meteor spells in the middle of the crowd, and then summon their infernals at the same spot.

"Could use some heals, or another tank over here." Herrior said as he began repelling attacks as quickly as he could. Quinely landed and morphed into her fighting bear form. She quickly charged at the group of mobs and let out a ferocious shout. All of the soldiers turned their attention to her as she began to thrash at as many mobs as she could. Quinely let out another mighty roar, this time it sunk into the hearts of their attackers as they questioned they should continue fighting. Quinely landed several critical attacks and started swinging faster and grew stronger.

"I'll take the far side, you take this side." Herrior said and charge again through the crowd, knocking everybody down in his path and stunning the rest. He again did his rend and thunderclap, but this time he turned to his side and did his shockwave.

The tanks had the majority of the soldiers fighting them as the rest of the dps and healers ran, or floated over. Trackolania disappeared from one boat, and reappeared on the neck of a soldier, driving his dagger into his exposed neck. He then did this five more times, instantly dropping five of them.

Jacklyn came over and ran into a soldier with a shield. She enraged her self and brought both weapons done on him. It split his shield in two and broke his arm. A simple strike finished him off as she jumped into the crowd, stunning them and performing her whirlwind ability - striking everybody around her.

"Hunters! Get your pets on the tanks. Show us what you can do!" Herrior yelled out. Branzer and Julie gave the order to their pets and instantly off they dashed. They both fired off several explosive traps in the middle of the soldiers that quickly ignited, burning all of them within a ten yard radius.

The warlocks were running around casting shadowflame and shadowfury, and then began with their rain of fire again.

Strings started playing a song that made all of the soldiers very sleepy, slowing their attacks. As the song played on, many of them dropped their weapons and fell asleep. Strings was only able to play the song for thirty seconds before he needed a break, but it was more than enough time to finish the slaughter.

The fire mages and warlocks ran around, lighting the wood and the people on fire. Soon, the ship was well on its well to burning itself up.

"Destroy the other ships!" Herrior said. "I want to see some fire!"

"Fire it is…" Mohania said as his eyes burned with brightly with flame. Suddenly he was pushed down by Kendall as she ran by.

"I'll sink it before you do!" Kendall said in a cheery voice.

"Come on Mohania, your falling behind!" Herrior said as he ran across the plank smiling.

"Ha ha…funny." Mohania got to his feet and ran with the rest of the groups across the planks.

"Split up, Kendall you take the next one, we'll do this one. Then we'll do every other one." Herrior said.

"I'll do the last one!" Quinely said morphing into a bird and flying up into the sky. After reaching a certain height, she morphed again into an enormous blue whale and fell, back first, directly into the middle of the boat. She smashed through all of the levels and landed in the water. The boat sank within seconds.

"Come on guys, are you going to let a druid show you up!" Herrior said as he ran to the lower deck and began slicing fiercely at the floor. He was joined by Jacklyn and Dan, who in no time had created several large holes in the floor. It was more than sufficient to down the ship, so they ran to the next one. Surprisingly, Mohania and Kendall had the next boat completely engulfed in flame; however they continued to cast fire spells at it.

"I think it's good! Go on to the next one!" Herrior said. Mohania and Kendall glared at each other and then ran as fast as they could to the plank.

Within a matter of minutes the entire fleet was sunk. Then they made the long swim back to the land.

"Lindel heard the word 'Help!' in her head but didn't recognize the voice."

"What do you need help with hun?" Lindel replied back. No answer.

"Who just said help in my head?" Lindel asked quickly. "It was a female voice." Herrior and Kendall's group both said that they didn't.

"What did it sound like?" Herrior asked.

"I couldn't tell that's why I asked. But I heard a distinct 'Help!' in my head. It was a female voice. I'm not sure who it was so I can't link up with them."

Herrior thought about it for a second. The fleet was destroyed; maybe a female drowning said that? Or maybe a goblin on land. "Was it directed right to you, or was it just idle chatter you were picking up?"

"Herrior! I know the difference; some female somewhere knows my abilities, focused in right on me and said that!" Lindel said.

Herrior had a bad feeling. The only other creature in Tanaris that knew that there was a Chronomancer around was the dragon.

"Lindel! Portal us in front of the dragon!" Herrior said quickly. Lindel flew down and began channeling the portal in the water until it was big enough for all of them to fit through. Herrior went in first.

Instantly a set of enormous teeth came down towards Herrior and he deflected the attack with his shield. He then began battling the group of dinosaurs that must have been alerted to the dragon's presence as well. Herrior tried to get the attention of all of the dinosaurs fighting and then took up a defensive position between them and Brerepith who appeared to be badly hurt.

The rest of the groups came through. "Heal the dragon, protect her! The rest of you, slaughter these beasts!" Herrior commanded. Shots and spells ran out as Herrior and Quinely slowly pushed the dinosaurs back, slowly watching them drop one at a time as their dps people in their group did their thing.

"I thought dinosaurs were extinct!" Branzer shouted.

"These will be shortly…" Dan said continued to slice at the mighty beasts and enraging himself whenever he could.

Icis casted her enormous shield over the group, and then began healing the dragon with Skyka. Lindel flew on top of the dragon and started pouring healing energy into it. Kendall's healer, Tkus was the only one left to heal both groups.

The dinosaurs let out mighty roars and fiercely tried to bite and slash at the tanks controlling them. Herrior, Quinely, and Jacklyn all let off mighty roars as well, strengthening their party.

Dan and Jacklyn were the closest melee attacks and kept getting hit by an occasional talon or swipe with the tail, however with their new abilities, they were able to strike and heal themselves slightly over a period of time.

The fight lasted for several minutes, before the dinosaurs decided they had enough and began to run away.

"Hold your positions! Skyka how's Brerepith?" Herrior asked.

"Took a lot of power from us, but I think she'll be fine. We'll need a couple of minutes to recharge." Skyka replied back.

"Does anybody sense anything thing else coming?" Herrior asked. The group went completely quiet for a minute.

"There are no demons around." Crystal said.

"I sense the dinosaurs running away, but not too far. We killed more than half of their attackers, it's a good thing they aren't organized…but they are still standing about two hundred yards away, as if waiting for something. Other than that, I sense normal animals here and there, nothing that would pose a threat to us.

"Retreat and take up a defensive position around the dragons front entrance. Tanks in front, melee on our ass. Ranged, protect the healers. Quinely - let me know if anything changes." Herrior said.

They all ran back and took up positions just as Herrior had told them to. Brerepith looked better, but still weak.

"How are those eggs holding up Brerepith?" Herrior asked.

"They are fine, but I hunger and I need my strength back. Can you pull some of those dead animals my way? I will not harm you." Brerepith asked.

"Tanks hold your positions, everybody else do as she asks. If they are to big to move, cut them up. If needed, we'll extend our defensive perimeter. I want all of the defensive demons and pets up here with us." Herrior said.

As the groups were carrying out Herrior's orders, Quinely spoke up. "The groups of dinosaurs are amassing in numbers. One of them is really big. They are not approaching us though."

"I don't like this…" Herrior said. He considered a couple of different options and then said, "Kendall, I am giving you command of my group. I am going to try to contact the Dragonflight s. Herrior stepped back out of the front lines and behind the hunters. He pulled out his hearthstone and gave it an order. It vibrated intensely for ten seconds and then let off a low whine. Kendall was calling out orders to reposition both groups that she commanded now.

A minute passed and finally a portal was opened.

"I am an ambassador of the Dragonflight , who is it that I am speaking with?" A human male said. He was a huge blue aura around him.

"I am an ambassador of the King of Tranquil, my name is Herrior. I believe we have one of your dragons here. She goes by the name of Brerepith." Herrior said.

"Brerepith has not been reported as killed or missing." The human quickly said as if it was no concern of his.

"She is sitting on multiple eggs and is in danger, may I show you her? If this dragon is lying we will dispose of her and I will not bother the Dragonflight again." Herrior said apologetically.

"Yes you may." The man said. Herrior held up the portal as close to Brerepith's face as he could.

Brerepith recognized who it was and bowed her head. "Ambassador Geraldson. I'm sorry that I fell out of formation. I was with the red-winged second patrol when my contractions knocked me out of the air…"

"Silence! Your Chronomancer has not reported you as missing! What sort of trickery is this?" Geraldson said quickly. Suddenly he turned his attention away from the portal, as if listening to somebody.

"We will conduct investigations on our side. We have a fixed location on your spot. If you are lying to us, we will slay you and everybody you are with." Geraldson said and then closed the portal. Herrior put his hearthstone back in his pocket, and stared at Brerepith as if questioning her.

"I am who I say I am!" Brerepith quickly said. "Dragons can not be mind controlled; also do you feel the breath coming out of me? I am not an illusion!"

"They are coming!" Quinely said.

"I need to sit out this battle while we get this diplomatic issue resolved, Kendall do what you must." Herrior said full of mixed emotions.

Kendall ordered that her two warlock tanks and Quinely to hold the front line. She then ordered everybody to put their buffs on each other.

"How are they coming Quinely? We can't see them yet." Kendall asked.

"Single line formation so far. They've stopped right now actually." Quinely paused for a couple of seconds and then said, "They've stopped. I don't sense any other threats around us."

"Are there things Druids can not sense?" Kendall asked.

"Unfortunately a lot." Quinely said.

"Mohania send an eye out to investigate." Kendall ordered. Mohania conjured up his floating green eye and sent it forward. It moved as fast as it could, but would take several minutes to get to their location.

A minute passed and the tension began to rise in Kendall's new army.

"Any changes?" Kendall asked

"They haven't moved." Quinely said.

"I'm not in location yet." Mohania said quickly after her.

"I don't like this." Kendall said out loud to herself. "If they do come, I want freezing traps placed to the left and right. I want them coming right down the middle at us."

"I see giant stone golems coming towards us." Mohania quickly said. "I estimate about three minutes before they get here, they aren't moving real fast but it definitely is in our direction."

"Skyka, what should we know about stone golems?" Kendall asked.

"They are immune to magic. Herrior and I have fought them before, one at a time they don't pose a real threat. But they are not from this area; they protect the jungle west of us where the dinosaurs are coming from." Skyka said.

"I hate things immune to magic…" Kendall replied back. "My wartanks, distract them with your voidwalkers. Melee and hunters, it's your battle. All other warlocks, summon your succubus. She can at least do some damage to them. Use your demon armor, since we don't need the extra spell power the our fel armor gives. Quinely, how many can you tank?"

"All of them!" Quinely said cheerfully.

"How many do you see Mohania?" Kendall asked.

"They aren't real smart…I've been circling my magical eye around one of them. It started swatting at it and accidentally hit another of those stone men. A fight has actually broken out right now between some of them. They don't attack real fast by the looks of it…but to answer your question there are currently thirty. I'm going to see how many I can piss off by doing the same thing…I find this amusing." Mohania said deviously.

Kendall let out a smile and looked back at him. He was obviously channeling his spell and couldn't see her looking at him. She turned to Skyka. She just smiled and shook her head.

"Get used to it hun, he's yours now…" Skyka said.

"We're going to take down an army of stone golems with a simple Eye of Kilrogg spell…" Kendall said.

"He's done weirder things…" Skyka replied back.

"Anyways, it's going to buy us time anyways…and if he can take down a couple of them before they get here than all the better." Kendall paused for a second. "Umm…your bard…"

"Strings" Strings spoke up.

"Sorry, what can you do against these guys?" Kendall asked.

"I might be able to shatter one or two, but it might be better for me to increase our groups attack speed against them." Strings replied.

"Sounds like a plan. Lindel, what can you do? I'm not used to having these different classes under my control." Kendall said.

"I can deal holy damage to them, we have yet to find anything immune to holy magic, but I have to be on top of them. In my banshee form I can't do anything to them. I might be better off group healing." Lindel said.

"Ok how about this? Skyka and Lindel, you heal and I want Tkus and Icis to attack." Kendall asked, hoping to get an additional opinion.

"Sure thing" Skyka said immediately as everybody else agreed.

Another minute passed as Kendall eagerly awaited the arrival of their enemies.

"Mohania, what is going on my love?" Kendall asked unsure of herself.

"I have them all running around in a circle. Destroyed five of them so far. Curious though, the dinosaurs are altering their positions so that they are always behind them. My guess is they are going to use the golems as tanks while they attack from behind them. The giant dinosaur is white, he is getting pissed off and snapping at his own kind to advance, at least I think that's what he is trying to get them to do. My guess is he is the leader. I've tried pissing off the dinosaurs with my eye, but it doesn't bother them in the least. A band of goblins came into view for a couple of seconds, but I didn't get a chance to see where they went. Shall I continue?" Mohania asked.

Kendall was obviously antsy and wasn't sure what to say.

"If we leave the protection of the dragon we could slaughter the dinosaurs with the golems distracted, however our main priority is to defend the dragon. We know they will come to us eventually, maybe if Mohania doesn't kill them all off. But if we leave another set of enemies might come." Kendall said with a sigh. She looked back at Herrior and he was talking with the dragon.

"You're in charge hun, not him. We will do what you say." Quinely whispered quietly to her.

"I know." Kendall said quietly and then quickly asked, "Can I ask for other people's opinions?"

"Sure!" Quinely said.

"I need opinions people. Speak up if you have one." Kendall said turning around.

"I suggest relaxing and meditating. If you have your army on edge hours before the battle and not fully recharged from their previous battle, their endurance will falter when they might need it the most. By the sounds of it Mohania is occupied so we don't have to worry about him getting into trouble - also he seems to be taking down the golems. The more he destroys, the less we have to." Skyka said with a smile. "And may I suggest having Mohania lead them north? There is a large ogre encampment there. We have no treaty with them in this region. There is a powerful king that resides there, and the problem may just resolve itself. In the meantime have Quinely continue to scan for additional threats in the area." Skyka paused for a second. "Forgive me if I have over-stepped my bounds."

"Ok, everybody do what she said." Kendall said sitting down with everybody else. "Why aren't you a leader Skyka?"

"I have my reasons, however I advise Herrior more than he would like to admit." Skyka said smiling. "Some advice I may offer, talk with other leaders as much as you can. Many battles are won just like this. Sometimes it is steel against steel like on the boats, but there are countless stories of wars won just by giving a simple command to one of your fighters. You're a good leader, don't think otherwise."

Kendall nodded.

A minute passed of casual talk. Then an enormous portal opened and a large green dragon flew out of it. It had armor on its head and neck and talons twelve feet long. Her wing span could hardly be measured, and she kicked up dust as she flew to the ground.

"Hi Ysera, how is your boyfriend?" Skyka asked casually. Kendall quickly rose to her feet and was about ready to attack.

"Do no attack me undead one." Ysera said fiercely. Her voice echoed through the land.

"It's ok Kendall, she's a friend. Settle yourself." Skyka said.

"You have undead fighting with you?" Ysera asked curiously.

"They are free of their bounds and have a free-will mind. They do as they please. Obviously they have never seen you before. But they are loyal to our King." Skyka said standing up and walking towards her.

"Alright. My boyfriend is frustrating, men don't understand women. Has that changed here?" Ysera asked.

"No my friend" Skyka said laughing. Skyka turned to Kendall and suggested that she move her group out of the way so they could conduct some diplomatic matters. Kendall quickly agreed and everybody moved to the left side of the cavern. Mohania quickly stopped channeling his spell and went with them.

"Do you mind if I have our new ambassadors with us to hear what we have to talk about?" Skyka asked.

"That is fine." Ysera said.

"Branzer, Mohania - come over here." Skyka yelled out.

"You have an undead as an ambassador to Tranquil?" Ysera asked.

"A lot has changed hun. We are getting every type of class to ally with us against the wars we fight. We also have a new class called the Draenei that we rescued from when their ship crashed into our waste lands." Skyka said as Branzer and Mohania stood by her side.

"Forgive me; we fight undead constantly in my realm. It is just unusual for me to see one up close that is not hostile." Ysera said.

"Those are controlled, we are not. Many of us are free of the bonds that once restrained us." Mohania answered. Ysera nodded and walked up to Herrior, smiled at him and then looked at Brerepith.

"Hun, what happened? We made a mistake and thought you were with us. We knew your time for egg-laying was close, so we figured you found a cave somewhere." Ysera asked. Ysera stood nearly ten times larger than Brerepith, and was significantly stronger.

"I was the last in our flight. Everybody went through the portal, I almost made it when the pain hit hard and I lost concentration. The portal closed and I fell to the ground. I only had a matter of minutes so I found this area to lay my eggs. Apparently there are hidden treasures behind me that everybody wants. I have been attacked twice and Herrior came to my aid both times. They also fed me. There is another army approaching me to kill me from the west. I have no doubt that Herrior's group would have fought to the very last man to save my life." Brerepith said.

"How are the eggs?" Ysera asked.

"They are fine, I never left them. I sense movement out of all of them. I think they are all going to survive, but there is not telling how long they need to hatch." Brerepith said.

"Herrior, I must apologize for the losing one of our dragonkin, also for the late response in coming to find her." Ysera said.

"I too must apologize. Our orders were to come here to kill her. I believe one of our scouts was misinformed. We had full intentions of engaging her, but my heart turned after talking to her for a couple of moments." Herrior asked.

"Do you speak with all of your enemies before you engage them?" Ysera said with a smile.

Herrior thought about it, "Most of the time, yes. We have formed many friends and alliances this way. However I have disobeyed a direct order from the King."

"Had you killed her, we would have tracked down your floating city and annihilated it." Ysera said. "You are a smart ambassador. You other new ambassadors, listen to what was just said. Sometimes your intuition is your best judgment in battle. Now then, I shall speak to the King on your behalf."

Ysera opened a portal instantly and asked to speak with the King. An ambassador answered and said he was busy. Tell him it is Ysera and I am very angry with him, and Ysera closed the portal. Within seconds a portal opened and the King appeared.

"I'm sorry Ysera; my ambassadors don't always know how to handle problems when they come up. What is the problem?" The King said.

"You ordered your people to kill one of my dragonkin, which would have resulted in the death of probably twelve more baby dragonkin. Care to explain that?" Ysera said.

"I did what?" The King asked surprised. The King quickly thought for a moment.

"One of our scouts came to us and said that there was a roaming dragon out here and looked dangerous." The King paused for a second. "Wait I never gave that order! I told one of my ambassadors to investigate the dragon and engage if it was hostile, not to kill it with no reason." The King sighed. "Our city is a mess right now; our fighters are running around trying to complete assignments. I have complaints constantly coming in about their new powers. This should not have happened. I take responsibility for my people's actions and will find this scout and ambassador that gave these orders! Ysera I am sorry." The King turned to Herrior and glared at him. "Did you engage the dragon?"

"No my King, I disobeyed the order that was given to me. We saved her life twice, healed her, and supplied her with food. For disobeying your order I am ready for my punishment." Herrior said.

"You are going to discipline one of your ambassadors for using his head instead of using his brawn?" Ysera asked.

"No…No, of course not." The King said quickly.

"Brerepith, was Herrior honest with you? Did he make any aggressive actions towards you?" Ysera asked.

"He was completely honest. He actually asked me if he could sit and talk with me. I was scared; his army possessed the power to kill me. But we just simply talked. And then, as he said, he and his army killed two different attackers. If it wasn't for him, I would have died - along with my offspring." Brerepith said. "Ysera? I can't move until my eggs hatch. There is another group approaching to attack us as well and Herrior's group held their positions and would have given their lives to protect me. Our ambassador that he contacted was rude and didn't seem to care about me. He was going to cut the connection because he thought it was a trap. He saw me, I spoke to him and he thought it was a trick. I could have died because of him! He said he was going to slay me and everybody around me!"

"His name?" Ysera asked.

"Ambassador Geraldson." Brerepith said.

"I will address him myself…" Ysera said with anger in her voice. She turned to the King and said, "Just as I assume you will address your scout and ambassador as well?"

"I will handle it personally, I promise you." The King said promptly.

"In the mean time, Herrior needs some sort of reward. He saved my fellow dragonkin many times." Ysera said. She walked up to him and leaned over so that her face was directly in front of his. "Name it."

"I wish for our different species to continue to be at peace with one another. I am honored to serve my King and you as well." Herrior said.

Ysera smiled. "Stop reciting your ambassador loyalty to me and name your reward." Herrior turned to the King.

"Don't look at him, what do you desire?" Ysera asked.

"I would like Brerepith to be safe and escorted back to her world safely." Herrior said.

"That matter is not of your concern and will be addressed by our dragons, but I do appreciate your kindness. Don't make me ask again, Herrior." Ysera said sounding frustrated.

Herrior quickly thought as fast as he could. "Use dragons as mounts?" Herrior blurted out and then wished he could take that back. Ysera began to laugh.

"I'm sorry, that was the first thing I could think of. I can think of something else." Herrior said quickly trying to think of something else.

"No. We will not give you any of our fighting dragons, but we have several dragons that are not fighters and merely, for lack of a better term, are bored. They have no special abilities, but are fast." Ysera said and then looked at Herrior curiously.

"I could have increased your power ten-fold, yet you continued to think of your group. You amaze me young tauren. I can not release dragons for all of your groups, for your numbers are vast. However I will start setting aside and training dragons to become your mounts. They will be soul bound to you, and as many as your groups as we have dragons for. More will be made available as we more are trained for it." Ysera said smiling. "However under one condition, you continue to take care of any fallen dragonkin, and treat the mounts with respect. Don't let them die. And as always if we need your help, we will notify your King. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes Ysera. We take good care of our kodo's, and we will do the same for your dragonkin. How will we summon them?" Herrior asked.

"They will be invisible. They will not attack and will only come to you if there is no threat. But a mere thought will summon them. Now then, I will go finish off the threat coming towards Brerepith. I will only be gone a couple of seconds. An army of dragons will be showing up to protect her. My King, I would suggest you recall your troops and begin your investigations. I am interested in finding out what happened, and I will let you know what happened with our ambassador as well." Ysera paused for a second. "Also an army of alliance appears to be marching towards your gate. They will be burned to ashes before they know what hit them." Ysera turned to leave to engage the oncoming dinosaurs when Brerepith yelled out for her. Ysera quickly turned around.

"There are some magical things, weapons, items behind me. I wish for Herrior's group to have them as well. I didn't even know they were here when I roosted." Brerepith said.

"Of course" Ysera said and began to beat her wings. It blew everybody down and kicked up sand everywhere. Soon she was in flight and out of sight. Within a second, Herrior's group could hear the sounds of a mass slaughter.

The King turned to his ambassadors. "I hope you all have learned a lesson here! Use your heads! Being a fighting ambassador, use your best judgment. If it is a wise decision, I will back it as much as I can. The ambassador Herrior spoke with will answer to me! Along with this scout! Learn from Herrior! Skyka is another good one to learn from! If you ever contact one of my ambassadors and you question their commands or sense something is wrong, ask to speak with me personally. If they deny it, contact another ambassador, this should never have happened! It might take awhile to contact me, but that is what I'm here for! If Herrior would have charged right in and killed her, we would have been in some deep shit! Some very…deep…shit! I don't know if we could negotiate our way out of that if it took place…I don't even want to think about it…" The King said with a worried look on his face.

"How do we know who we are aligned with and who we aren't aligned with?" Branzer asked.

"Talk to them first, like Herrior did. If they fight you right away, destroy them. If they seem peaceful and express hospitality towards you, we probably have befriended them. Always announce that you are an ambassador of Tranquil. Every species that we have befriended will know that. If you run into a group that doesn't know that, use your best judgment. Making allies are better than making enemies. I will immediately relay all of this information in an ambassador meeting." The King said.

Several portals opened and several heavily armed and very large dragons appeared and began surrounding Brerepith.

"We will take it from here your majesty." One of the dragons said.

The King instantly opened a portal and commanded everybody to enter it.

"I will collect the treasures that are here and return them to Tranquil myself." The King said. Quinely ordered the kodo's to return to their city before she entered.

Herrior and Kendall's group appeared outside of the house made for the humans. Immediately all of the ambassador's hearthstones began to vibrate. Herrior, Branzer, Skyka, and Mohania all stuck their face in the portal.

"Let's go check on the little one, shall we?" Lindel asked everybody else.

"I need to go finish training my undead warlocks." Mohania said.

"I want my group to go as well so we can talk." Kendall said, as she motioned for her group to follow her.

"Riding on a flying dragon should be interesting." Strings said as he entered the home.

Outside of Tranquil, Kon had assembled several groups to meet the oncoming threat from the alliance. Suddenly numerous portals opened in the sky as huge dragons geared for battle flew out. The spells the dragon's casted had eradicated the hundreds of alliance in mere seconds. The dragons then left through the portals, not saying a word.

"I miss the old days, when we used to fight hand to hand." Kon thought as he commanded his groups to stand down. Several of the ambassador's hearthstones vibrated and they immediately responded to the call of the King.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Bernett and Samatha both came to the station that day. Bernett took his usual work station, and Samatha took Branzer's. Bernett entered in all of the passwords needed to unlock the workstation for her. They were in their normal clothes; they left their armor back at the house. There weren't any files for them to work on while they were gone, so they just casually talked to each other. The conversation eventually turned to what to name their baby.

"I was thinking a name that they use in Tranquil. I mean that is where he was born, and where they saved his and my life." Samatha said.

"Should we name him after Crystal's dad? Or after Herrior?" Bernett asked.

"Cant have duplicate names, remember?" Samatha said.

"And only one name…can't have middle or last names." Bernett said laughing. "And it is the first name they hear, our Lieutenant for example is the name everybody calls him."

"Yeah, I've gotten used to calling you by your last name. Must say it was weird at first, same with Branzer." Samatha said smiling back. Bernett smiled back and then thought about that for a second.

"Kind of makes sense though, when you are in battle and you need to give somebody a command instantly, you may not have time to rattle off their whole name, rank and serial number. If you had two names, it would confuse the other person probably because all they do out there is battle." Bernett said and shrugged his shoulders. "So, just one name then in their tradition or should we give him a full name? Also shouldn't we get him a social security number and …" Bernett started to say and then went quiet.

"I don't know. I thought about that too. Some mothers give birth at home, so we could say we did that - which would be a lie, actually two lies because Crystal gave birth to him. My OB-GYN, which I've missed the last three appointments for, would be very suspicious. I would walk in and say, 'I had the baby, and my body is completely back to normal.' She would look at me and think I was crazy. And also we have some explaining to do as it is now. Well-baby check-ups have him registered like you said, have monthly exams with him. You know the normal thing with babies. But again if he stops time, he could end up getting hurt or lure a demon to him. Again we have to face the fact that he doesn't belong in this world." Samatha said sadly.

"I didn't mean to bring up that subject again. But what do we say? Call me crazy, but I don't want to lie. It's like God is watching us closer than ever, you know?" Bernett said.

"I have the same feeling. However about we simply not answer the phone?" Samatha said. "It's not like we live there anymore or gave anybody our new address and phone number. We'll just simply, float off the grid."

Bernett shrugged. Samatha nodded, "Yeah I know the feeling. But what other choices do we have? Until he controls it, what can we do?" Samatha sighed and then said, "He is growing up in a world with other creatures and their way of living is all going to be normal to him. Then yank him out of their world and into ours? That would be a tad bit confusing for him."

"I know." Bernett said quietly. "We've both been down this road before, and it keeps running over and over in our minds doesn't it?" He paused for a second and then continued. "We both know he is safer there. Anything that he could learn here could be put into his head in a matter of minutes, but he is a born fighter. That's the bottom line and we both know that."

They both nodded at each other. They both so intense in their conversation that they didn't see the Lieutenant overhearing every word they said.

"Should I add your wife to the payroll now?" He said quietly.

Bernett immediately rose from his chair and drew his gun. The gun activated quickly and began to sprout its wings and raise it's scope.

"Easy, I'm on your side." The Lieutenant said calmly.

"It would be best to forget everything you just heard sir." Bernett said anxiously.

"I didn't hear anything." The Lieutenant said with a straight face. "We've had a couple of reports come in about weird things happening, but upon further investigation it turned out to be nothing. Several reports of vandalism, and brush fires. Kind of weird though for Halloween. We were expecting much more."

Both Samatha and Bernett stared at the Lieutenant as if he was kidding.

"Trick or treat? That kind of thing?" The Lieutenant said.

"Holy shit, where did the time go…?" Bernett asked. "How long have we been gone for?"

"Couple of days, if that. I would like one of you, umm whoever, to stick around the station if you can. Just in case something comes up, you know - if that is possible." The Lieutenant said.

"No promises sir. We've just fought several battles were the outcome was not good, one of the battles we were getting our asses kicked. It's not fairy tale land over there you know." Bernett said.

The Lieutenant nodded as if he knew, but he didn't.

"Many of my officers are out; flu/cold is spreading around." The Lieutenant said.

"Bring them in, I'll heal them." Samatha said. Bernett closed his eyes and bit his lower lip. Samatha saw his reaction and then quickly thought about it, and decided that it was probably best that she didn't say that.

"So I didn't hear that either huh?" The Lieutenant said. Silence fell among the three of them for awhile.

"Sir, if you get possessed, our entire group - everything, will be jeopardized." Bernett said. "There is a way of having your mind automatically repel any demons or alliance. We would probably have to have your wife do the process as well. We all went through the same process. Hurts like a bitch but only lasts a couple of minutes, let me empathize that is hurts like a bitch! But your mind will automatically fight off anything that tries to possess you. You wont even know that something is trying to possess you, it's all automatic."

"I've been in pain before…" The Lieutenant said casually as if saying that he would be willing to go through it.

"It would be to our advantage if we could tell you more…" Bernett said. "But let's drop that subject for now. I'll make the request."

The Lieutenant said, "Our Chief is the new temporary governor now. Did you guys hear about that? He confessed in front of a large crowd and camera's what he had done. Governors all over have suddenly resigned as well. Our government has granted us a huge grant for the uncovering of their conspiracies. The President has launched an internal investigation into a lot of governors and state representatives. Also, we have received numerous anonymous grants of substantial money to our department alone."

"You do realize if you pocket that money, we will be the first to know." Bernett said.

"Hey hey, I know what you can do. I have an entire list of where the money is going, body armor, more weapons, more officers, and better equipment for our vehicles. I have receipts for everything." The Lieutenant said defensively. "But I am entitled to give out bonuses and raises, if you guys…"

"Give it to the other officer's. We aren't home to spend the money anyways. So long as the house payment is paid, we really don't care." Bernett said instantly interrupting him and then quickly changed the subject, "Has there been any word of a large beast roaming around? Probably ten stories tall can't miss it?"

"Like Godzilla?" The Lieutenant asked with a laugh. Bernett stared at him with a serious face.

"Cant joke around with you guys anymore, which makes me feel uncomfortable quite frankly. But to answer your question, no. Should we be looking for something?"

"My guess is the army would have engaged it if they knew about it. I don't know much about it, except the battle we fought to close the portal it came through, or that produced it, or whatever we destroyed. We think it's still here, while its army was instantly destroyed with the portal thing." Bernett said. "We have people looking for it, but if you hear of something let one of us know."

"The army keeps a pretty tight lip on anything they find out of the usual. If I start asking around it might draw suspicion. Besides, no offense to your group, but have you seen what our country is packing as far as fire-power?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No don't ask around. Apparently this thing was able to stop time to a level that even our group wasn't able to withstand. Two of our people saw it, and it sucked black ghosts, or whatever they saw, right out of people's homes. If our army were to launch an offensive at it, would have to be strong and fast. Hopefully killing it before it stops time, drains the life out of everybody, and then quickly vanishes like it did before." Bernett said. "Maybe a cruise missile guided from miles away, and cramming the thing down its throat. But the way our leader was talking you'd probably have better luck with a nuke. And good luck getting permission exploding one of those on U.S. soil."

"It's been done before." The Lieutenant said with a smile. Bernett's pocket began to vibrate.

"Well, it's about my break time. Talk with you guys later." The Lieutenant said noticing it and walked away quickly.

While Bernett was pulling out his hearthstone, he suddenly turned to Samatha and they both at the same time said, "Jeffery!" Then they looked at each other weird.

"Name for the baby…" Samatha said.

"Yeah…" Bernett said opening his portal and sticking his head in. He saw the rest of Herrior's group.

"Quick short meeting. Found out the scout was bribed a thousand gold to report a rogue dragon from the goblins in Tanaris. It was chasing away business. The information got relayed to the ambassador, without investigation, was reported as a rogue dragon was terrorizing Tanaris. Bribery, as you know, is a crime. The scout will probably be killed for it. Real simple, follow the rules or die. The only time when you can break them is to save another's life, or our Kingdom. Even then, your mind will be searched and if alternate motives were in your head - you will die. Once again, if you need something - ask. If you need gold - ask. All of your needs are provided for you, or will be collected if needed. Skyka, say what you want." Herrior said.

"I wanted to apologize to Icis. Bernett, your wife can be a discipline healer if she wants. She can be anything that she wants. It was wrong of me to argue with you about that. I should have known better. Our group, especially me, needs to learn each others abilities and what we can do. Icis, I usually heal Herrior, not because I'm his mate, but because he is a warrior and with your shields on him, he can not generate rage. I do shield his hairy ass once in awhile, and if you are in fear of him dying do it. Same applies to Quinely. In her bear form, she needs to build and sustain rage as well so she gets annoyed when she is shielded." Skyka said.

"Any other thoughts? We have a mission in a different dimension, but we can start any time we want. Apparently the young banshee that Crystal rescued, her living mother is being held hostage by Lord Aurius Rivendare. The dimension is frozen and will be normalized upon our arrival. Ysida Harmon is the mother's name - apparently the wife of some dead guy a long time ago…etcetera, etcetera. A very long time ago the alliance and horde formed a band to try to stop the scourge, the things we attacked the other day at the portal, from over taking the lands. We have no records of us winning, which faction won, or anything. This Aurius guy is probably long dead by know along with the banshee's mother in my opinion. However there is speculation that evidence can be found there as to why a portal was built in this time and why that huge beast is loose here now. There are some more boring details…but that's our assignment." Herrior said uninterested.

"There maybe cult members in the world right now that built and summoned him here. While we are in this other dimension, our world will be frozen. It'll be just as if we never left. This has been done before many times with many different groups and time-travel was granted to them as well. Again, as far as we know, our city holds the only information to being able to time-travel - not even our greatest allies know, or enemies for that matter." Skyka added.

"Anyways, we will leave when everybody is ready. Any other matters to bring up?" Herrior said.

"I never got a chance to tell the King that my warlocks are ready for battle." Mohania said.

"Ok, we'll give you time to do that." Herrior said.

"Is Samatha coming?" Bernett asked.

"No? Why should she?" Herrior asked curiously.

"No…sorry that was a dumb question." Bernett answered quickly.

"No it wasn't. Bernett, Samatha is not part of our group. She is on secondary duty for fighting and will see action soon enough when she is ready." Herrior said.

"Bernett, is something wrong?" Skyka asked.

"Eh, no." Bernett said slowly. He saw everybody was glaring at him and then said, "What is she supposed to do? She's the only one left here on Earth to notify anybody about this beast? Also we want to name the baby Jeffery if that is ok?"

Herrior started to laugh. "You can name your baby anything you want. I'll run it by our scribes and see if that name is taken. I don't recall hearing any 'Jeffery's' around town though. There are a lot of things going on that you don't know about Bernett, just the ambassadors do. You can trust them. I know there's been many stories of them messing up as of lately, but we all got our ass chewed pretty well during our last meeting. You think I get upset…you haven't seen the King upset! Anything else?"

"I think our Lieutenant and his wife should have their minds become immune to the alliance and demons. He knows more than he should, and if he is possessed, they could launch a devastating blow to us." Bernett said.

Herrior thought about that for a minute. Branzer than said he agreed with him, followed by Dan and then Julie.

"Ok enough. Let me think. Obviously we are all in favor and it is a good idea." Herrior said gently and then let out a sigh. "He can not become part of our groups, I think we all know and agree on that. I believe each of us know that his role is right where he is right now, doing what he is doing. Yes we healed his body and his wife's body. Honestly I'm surprised that God didn't take them anyway, I mean his time was practically up - we all saw it. Same with his wife. However it's not the Lieutenant I'm worried about. What if his wife talks? It's not everyday that some monks appear from another world and blast the shit out of your brain. And we can't exactly wipe the memory from her can we Lindel?"

"Umm…I can put her to sleep and she can think it's a bad dream, or turn off her memory temporarily. But that may defeat the purpose of what the monks do. To be honest I try to stay away from what they do. It's beyond my power." Lindel said.

"That's what I thought you would say, but I just wanted to hear you say that." Herrior said.

"You just wanted to hear my sexy voice…" Lindel said in a sexy tone.

"I'll have to ask the King. Yes it's a good idea for the Lieutenant, but for her? Then again if she becomes possessed, would he be able to put her down?" Herrior said completely ignoring Lindel.

"I'm in the office right now, I can ask him?" Bernett asked.

"Ask if he could kill his wife if she was possessed? You know the answer to that. They aren't fighters like we are. You saw what he was willing to do to save his wife's life. What do you think he would do if his wife insisted on giving her some information, which I'm sure them two talk to each other about their work. He would probably give information out so easily and not even realize the consequence of it." Herrior said snapping at Bernett. "So they both would have to be blasted. Which brings me back to my original thought that I was having…how do we tell her not to freak out while her brain gets fried and pain surges through her for fifteen minutes? And then not tell any of her friends or family?" Herrior said sounding frustrated. After a couple of seconds he said, "No, I'll let the King decide. I'll contact him right now about the situation. We'll meet back together in an hour and then begin our mission." Herrior said smiling at everybody and then pulled his head back out of the portal and closed it. Everybody else did the same.

"So what's going on hun?" Samatha said.

"Going on an assignment. Gonna go kill the bad guy and rescue the princess, that kind of thing. Herrior will ask about the name Jeffery for our baby." Bernett said.

"Should I go back to Tranquil?" Samatha asked.

"They didn't say." Bernett said walking away from her.

"But, wait! What do I do?" Samatha asked.

"Follow me I guess." Bernett said smiling. He knocked on the Lieutenant's door. He was told that he could come in.

"Sir, new mission. Have to leave in about an hour." Bernett said holding the door open for his wife to come through and then shut it.

"Should I send some officers to watch over your wife?" He asked. Bernett shook his head and smiled. "More like the other way around. Listen, they have no problem making your mind immune to possession, but it is your wife we are worried about. This is painful sir, like being constantly electrocuted for fifteen minutes. I know you won't talk, but will your wife? She has friends and family she constantly talks to, doesn't she?"

The Lieutenant put his hand over his eyes and leaned back. This thought apparently had never occurred to him. "Yes, she does."

"The other option is, blasting you and not your wife - hoping your wife doesn't become possessed. If she does you would have to kill her, if she doesn't kill you first. It would take a lot of ammo to bring her down sir. " Bernett said and then added, "Sorry, I didn't mean to put it that way."

"I'm assuming you all had to do this?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes. It would stop the average alliance or demon from attacking your mind and would pass over to the next person. Again, you wouldn't even know what happened. If something powerful does over take your mind, it will fight it off…even then it might get some information. However you are one in a billion. They want strong weak minded followers. Not old people…" Bernett said and then stopped. "That came out wrong again."

"No, I know what you mean. They are probably targeting gang members, and troubled youths. Also probably people up to the age of thirty that are strong and healthy." The Lieutenant said. "Probably people that don't go to church either is my guess."

"Sounds logical, but I don't know for sure." Bernett said. "She won't forget the pain sir. It's intense. Herrior is speaking with the King about it right now. They don't know what to do either. Obviously you know too much already, and once we know you are safe, the more we can help you, and the more you can help us."

"Will I be able to shoot a piece of string in half at one hundred yards?" The Lieutenant asked.

Bernett smiled and said, "No sir. You will not become one of us. Your job is here. That was discussed as well. In fact the comment was made that we were surprised God didn't take your spirit even though your body and your wife's body was healed anyways, for judgment. People that are perfectly fine, all of a sudden die without reason all the time - or have a sudden accident that doesn't make any sense."

The Lieutenant paused for a second. "No point in debating God's will huh? So what do I tell my wife? Your going to have your head blown off and painfully reattached - please don't tell anybody?"

"Or the alternative. Honestly I don't know. Herrior didn't even know, and he is an ambassador and a leader." Bernett said.

"Could you kill Samatha if she got possessed?" The Lieutenant asked. Bernett closed his eyes and sighed.

"Honestly, probably not. And by the time I realize she had turned, I would be killed by her. Sir that's what happened to Dan's father. Dan had to kill him and the woman he was with. Him and Crystal started attacking right away and barely survived." Bernett said slowly.

"You need to get to that point hun! Look at Dan and Crystal! Look at Herrior and Skyka! Look at Mohania and Kendall…I could go on. Too much is at stake here!" Samatha said as if insulted.

"Dan did die in combat; Herrior has died in combat as well as Skyka. You just continue fighting on…I know." Bernett said slowly.

"Holy shit! Dan died?" The Lieutenant said jumping to his feet.

"He was brought back to life, as was everybody else that died that day and in the past. The healers can bring you back until your spirit leaves your body, then it's all over." Bernett said calmly.

After a moment of idle chit-chat, Samatha's hearthstone began to vibrate. She pulled it out and a portal opened. The Lieutenant looked away.

"Like it makes a difference anymore…" Samatha said to the Lieutenant and then stuck her head in the portal. Several seconds later she pulled it back out.

"I'm being recalled back to Tranquil to increase my training. Also the name Jeffery has been approved for our boy." Samatha said. Both of them hugged for a moment before a portal was opened and she stepped through it and disappeared.

"Crap, she went without her cloak." Bernett said after a couple of moments. "I have to get back home and get geared up if I'm going into battle."

"Body armor?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes, but only it moves with you and enhances a lot of your powers." Bernett said. "Never mind that probably didn't make sense to you." Bernett closed the door behind him, got into his car and drove to their house. He whistled, and instantly his turtle appeared as he began putting his armor back on.

"Let's go have some fun, what do you say?" Bernett said out loud. His turtle nodded his head up and down and said, "Bernett". Bernett pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Branzer and said he was ready. Lindel opened a portal and joined the rest of the group in Tranquil.

"They are doing the secondary fighters right now." Branzer said.

"Yeah…Samatha was just summoned. Any word on the Lieutenant yet?" Bernett asked.

"King is still deciding. Everybody ready?" Herrior asked. The rest of the hunter's summoned their pets. Crystal summoned her hellhound, and Mohania summoned his imp.

"It will be like we never left." Herrior said.

"Is there going to be any weird tunnels or sparks, or flying clocks…" Dan asked nervously. Lindel smiled and opened a portal. She then put her body inside the portal as if she were pushing it out. Lindel's eyes grew white as sparks started spraying out of the portal. Then several illuminated bursts of circular light began to bounce in and out of the portal as an enormous wind quickly blew through the portal and into the party.

"Done showing off?" Herrior asked unimpressed.

"Yeah, I'm good when you are." Lindel said falling backwards into the portal with a smile. The rest of the party walked through it and into a world full of evil.

"That's it?" Dan asked.

"You'd be surprised just how simple we can do things." Skyka said. "You humans put way to much thought into things."

Several ghosts and animated skeletons approached their position.

"Hunters, would you mind?" Herrior said starting to walk towards the enormous city walls. The hunters pulled their guns and began blasting the onslaught of the ghosts, skeletons. After a couple of shots, they dropped to the ground, and a white cloud came out of them as if a gas was released.

"Behind us as well" Herrior said. Julie turned around and let out a quick scream as an enormous beast, that looked like it was sewn together with different pieces of human flesh was staring down at it. Her dog immediately jumped at it as Julie got several shots off before the spirit holding it together was released from the thick layers of flesh on the ground.

"Where are we?" Julie asked in a scared tone.

"A long time ago, in a far away land…" Lindel said laughing.

"If we have the power to do this, why don't we just go back to when the alliance was formed and kill them?" Dan asked.

"Never thought of that idea…" Herrior said laughing. "Many demon bosses we merge together and fight. Just like that Devon person you met. As much as we hate them, it's an equal-hatred-partnership. Also groups have broken away from both factions and formed their own army to combat certain continuously threats."

"That's right mighty tauren that is how we were formed…" A male knight began to say.

"Shut up." Herrior said and pushed him down. "The less you know about us, the less we know about you the better. Step aside or we'll kill you."

"Now see here! I am in command here and…" Lindel possessed the man. The man stood up and apologized to Herrior and said that he had a cute butt. Then he ordered his army to allow them to pass. Lindel then ordered the return of all of his troops and to go collect rocks. Lindel made the man fall asleep and then exited his eyes. She then casually flew up to rejoin the rest of Herrior's party. Herrior had sliced the chain holding the gigantic doors open and walked in.

"Kill everything that moves." Herrior said. A rat ran in front of Herrior and suddenly burst into flames. Herrior stepped on it and equipped his shield and sword.

"I thought that was funny…" Mohania said.

"I thought what I said was funny too." Lindel said smiling.

Both warlocks and healers put their buffs on the group as Herrior charged into battle before anybody was even ready.

Herrior had engaged a group of skeletons. They all hard armor and swords, but were almost instantly destroyed after started slicing at them. Herrior turned to his left and threw his weapon at a skeleton, shattering its body but causing twenty of them to come charging at him. The hunters all ran forward and blasted multiple shots that made all of them drop.

"Icis, Strings, and Lindel, can you pick up anything that glows like an enchanted item? The sooner we are done with this place the better. Skyka, do you want to go shadow? The rest of you, go have fun, but don't get lost and don't wonder too far."

"I'll stay holy." Skyka said as Herrior charged at another group and the slammed on the ground. He then started fiercely striking at the skeletons and other abominations that were in this city.

Everybody that had a pet set it to an aggressive stance to attack anything they saw. They all fanned out and began doing just as Herrior had commanded. Quinely turned into her lion form and began running and pouncing and swiping at anything that came her way. Jacklyn's massive weapons shattered the skeletons, three or four at a time.

Mohania saw a walking ghost of a woman. She said "Hi" to him, so he ignited her on fire and then casted a fear spell on her. He chased her around while she burned, laughing sinisterly.

"Quick! Drop and roll!" Mohania said and pushed the screaming woman to the ground. Mohania than began jumping up and down on her stomach while igniting more of her on fire.

"Don't worry; I'll try to stomp out the flame! You're in good hands…" Mohania yelled as the woman continued to scream, until eventually her body vanished and the fire instantly died out. Herrior's entire group stopped what they were doing to turn around and watch.

"I saved her life!" Mohania said with a smile. A couple of seconds later a ghost of a man came running down the street.

"I heard the screams of my wife, is she ok? Where did she go?" The man said.

"Ok, calm down. What did she look like? I'm here to help, ok? Which way did she go? I'll help you find her." Mohania said in a gentle voice. The man instantly started rambling off a quick description of her, as Mohania broke a soul shard - instantly increasing his power ten fold, and launched a huge fireball into the man's stomach. The burning man flew against a building and exploded into small pieces of flame.

"I'm a counselor, as well as a knowing basic medicine. If any of you have anything you wish to talk about…" Mohania said grinning.

"Let's get moving." Herrior ordered interrupting him.

"Not even a sarcastic comment? Come on that was at least worth something…" Mohania said laughing as he ran to catch up.

"The man's on a mission…" Skyka said grinning at Herrior.

"Encouraging him only makes it worse…" Herrior said letting off a slight grin.

A wave of skeletons began running around a corner, as Herrior quickly charged to engage them. Everybody else ran forward and began dropping them easily.

Suddenly a large hook snagged Herrior's back and pulled him through the waves of skeletons. Both Dan and Quinely enraged themselves and everybody attacked as fast as they could, dropping the skeletons as soon as they were in weapon range.

"I have your leader! I will eat him!" A deep voice boomed, but suddenly was followed by a loud gargling noise and several 'splats' could be heard as Herrior tore him apart and continued to fight the skeletons.

Within less than a minute, they all grouped up again.

"Stupid hook…" Herrior said angrily as he sliced off a skeleton's head.

"You told us to stay together…and you were the one that wondered off…" Skyka said reminding him.

"Smart ass" Herrior said and slammed his shield into an oncoming skeleton.

"Cute ass" Skyka said slapping him on the butt.

"Hey! We're falling behind…" Herrior said smiling at her.

Trackolania held nothing back as he randomly disappeared and reappeared, destroyed a skeleton, and then moving on. He eventually gave up on doing that and started slicing at the oncoming skeletons and destroying them so fast, that the rest had to run to catch up.

"Strings! You guys find anything yet?" Herrior yelled out.

"A lot actually! I didn't think there would be much, but we're stuffing our pockets." Strings said and then paused for a second. "Could we borrow Skyka to break down some of these items it its magical property? It would be easier to carry then."

"Sure, not like I'm doing anything anyways." Skyka said casually walking back to the three of them.

"Just don't fall too far behind." Herrior said. He had seen that Trackolania stopped his killing at a door, and began examining the bottom of it.

"Form up! Protect him!" Herrior said as the rest of the group spread themselves out. Herrior ran forward, slicing through and slamming his shield into anything that got into his way. The rest of the group ran to catch up, finishing off anything that got in their way.

The warlocks eventually decided that their drain life spell was the fastest way of killing the skeletons. Green beams of energy shot out of their hands and pulled their life energy into their body, it only took a second or two before their bones fell to the ground and shattered. Whatever was left over was quickly brought down by the three trailing hunters and their pets.

They all caught up to the door and Trackolania stood about a foot in front of it with his hands held out. Herrior stopped in front of him and let the others catch up.

"What's the matter little one? A trap?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"Can you disable it?"

Trackolania shook his head and pointed as the thin wire weaved in and out of the door and attached itself to the sides of the wall and ceiling.

"No way around it?" Herrior asked. Trackolania again shook his head. Trackolania disappeared and instantly reappeared on the other side of the door and confirmed his findings. He shook his head again.

Herrior chuckled. "Well we all can't do that. Icis, can you shield us as we trigger this trap? I don't expect it to damage us a whole lot, but better safe than sorry." Icis raised her hand and an enormous circle enclosed over the group.

"Jacklyn, would you be so kind?" Herrior said backing up. Trackolania stealthed himself and moved out of the way. She enraged herself and began swinging angrily at the door. It was old and nearly fell off its rusted hinges in the first hit. Several more mighty blows and the door collapsed in on itself.

A black phantom appeared and said, "Master, the living are here." Mohania launched a fire spell at the phantom. It let out a high pitch scream as it burned up.

"Who are you calling 'living'?" Mohania said.

Suddenly a loud voice echoed through out the city halls. "Intruders! More pawns of the Argent Dawn, no doubt. I already have one as my prisoners. Withdraw from my domain before she is executed!"

"Argent Dawn?" Dan asked.

"Probably the people outside. Quinely, can you sense anything alive?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, it appears his threat is real. I don't who it is, but the person is human." Quinely replied.

"My guess is it's probably the person we need to rescue." Herrior said casually as large army of huge spiders, gargoyles, and evil banshees began to approach them. Herrior charged into them and began slicing away carelessly. He was bit by several spiders and cursed by the banshee. Herrior quickly realized that this would be a much harder battle. Quinely charged in and started pulling off some of the creatures attacking him. Skyka began letting off several heals as the melee and ranged group started to do their jobs.

"Trackolania! This is gonna take longer than I thought. Go save her!" Herrior said. Trackolania nodded. He pulled his dagger from the side of a gargoyle and began running towards the sound of the voice, stealthing himself as he went.

Herrior and Quinely gained the attention of all of the creatures as they slowly fell one at a time.

"Tell your pets not to cause threat, just damage - unless our healers start getting hit." Julie said as she took several precise shots at the undead army. Julie and her dog turned red and grew in size. Spark ran forward and started biting fiercely at a spider. Julie started firing her gun as it was fully automatic for several seconds. The other hunters fired as well, but watched the banshees, and fired a silencing shot into them before they were able to get a spell off.

Strings started playing a song that speed up the attack speed of the group. Jacklyn and Dan poured on as much damage as fast as they could. Dan could swing faster, Jacklyn swung her massive weapons slower but both were effective.

"Come on guys, talk to each other. I wanna here you all talk, except for you Strings. Take a break if needed." Herrior said charging into another group, he landed a big gouge on a spider and then performed his usual thunderclap. He turned to the side and slammed his sword on the ground, sending an enormous shockwave out from him.

"I tried stopping time." Dan said.

"Naw, I don't want you to do that unless I say your name." Herrior said.

"Sorry." Dan said as he began to heal himself with his attacks.

"Well I was going to heal you…" Lindel said positioned right behind him.

"Jacklyn and I should be able to keep ourselves up longer than we could before. Concentrate on somebody else." Dan said continuing to swing his blades and occasionally slamming both of his weapons on his target.

"I'm using scattered shot, should I be using something else?" Bernett said as multiple bullets flew out of his gun, hitting several targets at the same time.

"Go for one at a time. Just do arcane shots, and then steady shots. No point in poisoning these guys." Julie said as she resumed her regular form.

"Mohania and I are linked up to increase each others casting speed. We're sticking with strictly fire spells right now. Basically he's doing right, and I'm doing left."

"My body count is higher than hers." Mohania said letting off an enormous blast of fire that incinerated a spider.

Slowly they started advancing further until they got to a banshee.

"Stand back my minions…I'll turn them against each other. We shall laugh as they slaughter each other and then we will dine on their intestines." He voice echoed as she approached them. Herrior throw his weapon at her, but did no significant damage as it returned to his hand.

The banshee held up her hands and instantly the group fell under her control, except for Mohania and Lindel.

"I'll take the lady, you handle our group." Lindel said and turned into her evil form, flying towards the banshee.

"You're the leader." Mohania said as he unleashed a massive blast of shadow magic, stunning all of them. Herrior, Dan, and Jacklyn instantly regained control of their minds and began restraining the others until their minds came back.

"It's no use warriors…their powers are increasing. Their minds are mine! Minions attack!" The evil banshee wailed at them.

Crystal let out a causing instant fear within the group, causing the group to scatter. The controlled group members began to attack the rest of the group.

Lindel appeared behind the evil banshee and sunk her teeth into the banshee's neck. The banshee instantly began to bleed, and let out an enormous wail. Everything stopped attacking, and came to the aid of the banshee. Lindel put her hands over the banshee's ears and sucked more power out of her. Seconds later, the banshee burned up and Lindel sucked the life out of all of the undead surrounding them.

"Give me your lives!" Lindel said in a very evil sinister voice. Each gargoyle, spider, gargoyle, painfully died as the life was sucked out of them and into Lindel.

"Power! I desire more!" Lindel said raising her hands as green sparks flew from her hands.

Herrior's group had all regained control of their minds, as Lindel entered into the small building the building the banshee had been guarding. Instantly the sounds of several human screams could all be heard, but were silenced seconds later. Lindel reappeared and began to drift towards the direction that they had to go. As she went, large green bolts of lightning randomly shot outwards, sucking the life out of anything that came within range of it.

"Lindel is going to take lead. Everybody else follow." Herrior said.

They walked a ways and Lindel suddenly stopped. Several human cult members began to cast spells as her, but the spells simply just flew right through her.

"You pathetic weaklings…you do not understand the power I possess." Lindel held out her right hand and instantly incinerated four of the humans. The last one she made float towards her. Lindel grabbed him by the neck as he began to struggle.

"You want to see something funny Mohania!" Lindel said in such an evil tone, she could hardly be recognized as her old self. Lindel instantly lit the man's clothes on fire and he was completely nude within seconds.

"Time me…" Lindel said. She then sucked the life out of the man so fast that his skin was pulled up towards his neck. Then his eyes fell out of their sockets, as his skin stretched and pulled apart. Then his muscles strained and eventually snapped, eventually catching fire. The man became nothing but a skeleton with pieces of blood and random flesh falling off from him. Lindel then threw the man on the ground and his skeleton burst into a cloud of dust.

"That was funny…wasn't it Mohania…" Lindel said still in the unrecognizable sinister voice.

"I counted six seconds." Mohania said in reply. They both laughed in such a chilling evil way that it made the officers shiver.

"Ready Herrior?" Lindel asked.

"Whenever you are. I love what you have done to your hair." Herrior said casually as Lindel's hair moved back and forth on its own. Lindel let out a hiss and began to float forwards.

Branzer watched in awe as what his love of his life had just done, and what was actually capable of doing. Bernett looked at him as if to say, "Remember when I warned you about her?" Branzer sighed and moved forward with his gun at eye level.

"Herrior, do you mind if I join Lindel?" Mohania said as if he had been eager to ask that.

"I'm not stopping you. Just don't die on me. Rest applies to the rest of you. Hold nothing back; we're here to fight, not to dance with them! Everything dies, get used to your new abilities!"

"I'm already dead…" Mohania said running ahead of them and jumping on a cult member's head, sinking his teeth into his head. Suddenly large explosions of fire erupted from his body, causing the rest of the human's to catch fire and run around. The hunters began to pick them off one at a time. Mohania eventually ripped off his head with his teeth.

Herrior charged into the next group as doing as he usually did, Quinely by his side. Dan and Jacklyn jumped into the air and slammed next to them, then performed a quick whirlwind attack. They both enraged themselves as they began hacking and slicing at anything that moved.

"Finally, I have to fight for aggro! Come on guys, pour it on!" Herrior said and he slammed his sword on the ground causing another shockwave to burst in front of him. Quinely thrashed around, causing damage to everybody around her, and making them bleed. Both of them advanced as fast as they could, with their attackers still attacking them from behind. They would engage more enemies as the ones behind them were picked off by the group behind them.

The hunters finally started pushing out as much damage as they could, as well as Crystal. They set their pets loose and told them to attack anything and everything. Julie would enrage herself and Spark as much as she could. Bernett and Branzer's shot much faster than Julie did, and occasionally shot an extra bullet without even realizing it.

"Doing better guys. We get their attention, you finish them off! Stop being cautious! Fight with aggression!" Herrior yelled as he let out a mighty roar. Jacklyn let out another mighty roar, follow by Quinely's roar. Dan even let out a loud yell as he leaped in front of Quinely, stunning the enemies and quickly slicing them down to nothing.

"Whatever gets your fire burning young one." Herrior said as he violently slammed his shield into a gargoyle, breaking several bones in his body. Jacklyn finished him off with a quick strike and moved on to the next enemy.

The enemies seemed to consider their alternatives, but Herrior's group showed no mercy.

In the mean time, Trackolania had infiltrated the main domain where the voice had come from. There were two gates in his way. He quickly leaped through both gates without a problem and approached the main building. The door was magically held, and he could not stealth through it. He opened the door, and then quickly vanished and reappeared above the door. Several heavily armored skeleton warriors came out and began searching the area. Trackolania crept in and pushed open the inner doors and crawled up on the ceiling.

There was a warrior giving off an evil aura that encompassed the entire room. He was on a horse with an enormous sword.

"Who opened the inner chambers?" He demanded. A well armored skeleton warrior turned around and had not even realized it was open.

"I did not realize the door was open." The warrior said and shut the door.

"Worthless undead scourge! If they aren't commanded every second, they would end up fighting each other. Many of them would simple vanish." The man on the horse turned to the woman and said.

"You will tell me your secrets, or I will kill you. Your pathetic army will never reach you in time. I will suck the life out of you, and impale your head outside of my city as a warning to all!"

"You killed my husband!" The woman said crying. Trackolania very slowly put a paralyzing poison on both of his daggers and crept on the ceiling with the intention of positioning himself over the man on the horse.

"I've killed many…so many, and my thirst continues. My forces will lay siege on your pathetic rescuers. The more that die, the stronger my army becomes! This is the end of times. Tell me what I want to hear woman!" The man demanded.

"The entrance to the Argent dawn is on the right side of this land."

"I know that foolish woman! Who is in charge? I will slaughter him first! Then I will crush them. My master will increase my power and we will slaughter all of Azeroth! It's only a matter of time, you know that don't you. Tell me the name!" The man said and approached the woman. The woman quivered in her chains and turned her face away from him.

"You quiver. Why is that? You fear death. I am the bringer of death. Soon our forces will be unstoppable. If you will not speak, then maybe I should start cutting you up until you talk!" The man said. He raised his sword.

Trackolania carefully watched every movement. He saw an opening in the back of his neck and quickly took advantage of it. He fell from the wall and drove both daggers deep into his neck. The man fell off the horse and landed on the ground. Both he and the woman let out a scream. Trackolania's poison quickly took effect, as he began slicing the straps holding his armor together. He threw entire pieces of it away and began striking at him at speeds faster than the eye could see. The man had a magical shield around him, but it was quick to give way as the daggers continued to land fiercely at critical parts of his body.

The poison wore off, and the man summoned skeletons to his side. Trackolania quickly jumped off from him and quickly started slaughtering the skeletons as they ran towards him. Trackolania then quickly spun around, throw tiny knives everywhere, dropping all of the skeletons. The man was on his feet now, but barely able to move.

"So, a mere rogue has infiltrated my compound." The man said and raised his sword to swing at him. Trackolania instantly deflected it and started gutting him. The man died looking shocked at him as he fell to the ground.

"Master…I…" He began to say as Trackolania split his head open like a melon. He took the two pieces of his skull and threw them away and his foot pushed down on his brain, until it looked like mush.

Trackolania let out a soft sight and then quickly went into stealth again.

The same skeleton warrior came in and said, "I heard commotion…master!" Trackolania then fell from the ceiling again, this time he completely severed the warrior's neck in one fatal blow. The body fell to the ground and disappeared in dust.

"Who are you?" The lady asked in desperation. Trackolania looked at her and nodded. Trackolania then thought about something for a quick second, but went into stealth again and proceeded to finish off the rest of the guards in the hallway. Without somebody to command them, killing all of them took only a second as he fatally struck one, disappeared, reappeared on the other, striking him - and repeating this until all of them were dead. Trackolania opened the door outside and saw the enormous sewn together monsters stood staring at each other, as if they were completely clueless. Trackolania casually walked out and put a new poison on his blades. This one caused instant nature damage. He walked up to one and casually started swinging at it. It didn't fight back, and in ten seconds it dropped to the ground. Trackolania severed the head and kicked it aside. Trackolania then opened both gates and looked outside. All of the beasts had stopped fighting. The human cultists were trying to regain control over the beasts. Trackolania whistled at them and smiled as he started twirling his daggers.

"He's the reason we have no control over them! We must kill him!" One of the cult members said.

"You idiot! He must have killed Baron Rivendare! Only he can control these beasts, what chance do you think we have against him?"

During the argument Trackolania had crept up behind them. He dug his dagger through one of the cult members and pulled it up as fast as he could. The cult member's body split in half and fell to the ground. Trackolania twirled his dagger in the air as fast as he could and then causally caught it. He then smiled and took up an attack position. The other cultists began to run away. Trackolania put his daggers back in his belt and drew his crossbow, easily taking down the rest of them.

Trackolania put his crossbow away and walked back with pride and a big grin on his face. He figured he should probably free the woman and then contact Lindel.

"Are you here to kill me, or free me?" The woman asked as Trackolania came walking back in the inner chamber. Trackolania held up two fingers.

"Two?" The woman asked. Trackolania nodded as he sliced threw the chains restraining her, and then pointed her towards the horse.

"You want me to get on the horse?" Trackolania nodded. So she did. Trackolania gathered up all of the objects flashing different colors and put them in the pouch of the horse.

"So what is your name?" The woman said as they walked out of the chambers. Trackolania shook his head.

"Ok, my name is Ysida Harmon. Do you know if my husband is still alive?" She asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"No as in you don't know, or no as in he is dead? Why don't you talk?" She asked. Trackolania shrugged his shoulders as he led the horse out of the gates. He could hear his group in the distance off to the left, so he steered the horse that way with his passenger still on it. They were no longer fighting aggressively and had probably realized what had happened.

Lindel's voice appeared in Trackolania's head.

"Did you kill the bad guy and save the woman?" Trackolania nodded his head.

"Aww…we were just having fun too…" Lindel said and pretended to give him a kiss as she left his mind.

Trackolania pulled out his crossbow and slaughtered another group of cultists around a campfire. They all instantly dropped, almost at the same time.

"Your…not from this world…are you?" Ysida asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"Are you going to kill me?" Ysida asked again. Trackolania rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I suppose if you were going to, I probably would have been dead by now huh?" Ysida asked. Trackolania nodded.

"So you are my hero and I owe you my life. I am forever in debt to you." Ysida said looking at him with a big grin. Trackolania shot a glare at her for a couple of seconds and then looked back to where he was going. They rode in silence until they caught up with the rest of Herrior's group.

"Nice to see you finally found a woman Trackolania, a cute one at that!" Skyka said. Trackolania rolled his eyes and sighed.

"He hasn't talked to me, but I'm hoping you aren't going to kill me?" Ysida asked.

Herrior glared at Mohania.

"What? I didn't say anything. She's our mission. If she were to come back dead, the King would not be happy. Making the King mad is not good." Mohania said.

Herrior tilted his head curiously at him.

"Don't get me wrong, I would love to devour her limb by limb just to hear the screams echo throughout the land. But I'm an ambassador, remember?" Mohania said.

"Aww…is our little warlock growing up and becoming responsible?" Lindel said floating over and giving him a kiss.

"No! Just…don't want to make the King mad at me. You kill her and see what he does to you." Mohania said. Lindel laughed and floated away.

"Are you injured any?" Skyka said ignoring them.

"No, just…I would have died. I was ready for death. Any word from my husband?" Ysida asked.

"Honestly, we don't know. But we need to take you back to our time period." Skyka said. "Somebody wants to talk to you."

Ysida looked at her confused. "Time period? What? Who?"

"Normal questions, now let's go." Skyka said.

Herrior's group turned around and saw an enormous group approaching them. They quickly armed themselves and took up positions around the horse.

"Easy my friends. I am Saidan Dathrohan, one of the first Knights of the Silver Hand. I was possessed by a demon named Balnazzer. He commanded me to tell my troops to attack anybody the came towards us. You have freed me from his possession." Saidan then began to tell his history.

"I am Herrior. We did nothing to free you from your possession. Some how your beast is now in our timeline. We destroyed his portal, and must hunt him down. Our scouts are constantly searching the world for him as we speak. What do the cultists of this time know about building portals to different time lines?" Herrior asked.

Saidan looked confused at him. "You must have freed me, forgive me but I do not understand what you speak of. Portals? Time lines?" Saidan said shaking his head. It was obvious that he was telling the truth.

Herrior became frustrated. "Fine. That is an investigation for us then. We have what we came for, Lindel - portal us." Lindel opened a tiny whole in mid air, and began to channel her power into it until it was big enough to walk through.

"Wait! Please help us fight the scourge that plagues this land! I beg of you!"

"No." Herrior said as he motioned for everybody to start walking through the portal.

"We can offer gold…gems…name your price!"

"You never saw us, we never saw you. Continue the fight. There are some men outside of this ruined city. Meet up with them and offer your services." Herrior said and entered the portal as it disappeared behind him.

Back in Tranquil, Ysida looked around in amazement. Herrior's group started dropping their armor and weapons as the goblins quickly picked them up to get repaired. It was exactly as Lindel said, it was as if they had never left at all.

"Where am I?" Ysida asked.

"Safe…let's leave it at that." Herrior said. "There's somebody that wants to meet you."

"My husband?"

"No, he is dead. Your daughter." Herrior said walking his group to the fountain.

Ysida looked surprised. "I don't have a daughter!"

"According to her, you do." Herrior said as his group walked into the water and felt the instant sensation of relaxation rush over them.

"Come sit with us Ysida. Relax." Several goblins ran up to several of Herrior's members that had enchanted materials, and took them from the horse and ran back.

"This place is magical." Ysida said. Herrior get his hearthstone from his loin cloth and summoned the Queen. The Queen herself personally answered.

"That was fast." The Queen said and let out a quick laugh.

"We have her mother. Ysida, the mother, claims not to have a daughter. I leave the decision up to you." Herrior said.

"I have scanned the young one's mind. It is her mother. I'll notify her at once." The Queen said and shut the portal.

"Relax my party. You have earned it. You fought well. My suspicion is that we'll be assigned back to Earth shortly. Don't fear taking a life, you know your abilities - use them. And talk to each other. We're all still learning from each other. Especially Icis." Herrior reached over and grabbed the female Draenei, who barely had her feet in the water, and threw her in the water. She was completely shocked as she came back up gasping for air. Herrior picked her up and attempted to throw her back into the water, when she quickly levitated herself. She reached down and started splashing water at him. Quinely then morphed into a bear and charged Herrior, knocking him into the water. Quinely then took on her human form and winked at Icis.

"We women have to stick together." Quinely said winking at her. Icis smiled and floated down and pulled Herrior out of the water. They both laughed as the whole group, except for Mohania began to splash around.

"To become part of our group, you have to drink an entire flask of ale." Strings said handing it to Icis. She unscrewed it and took a swig and quickly spit it back out.

"What is this stuff?" Icis said. Everybody laughed as they passed around the flask.

"Apparently Strings gets the strongest ale he can find and enjoys the reaction from others as he offers it to them." Crystal said pushing him down in the water. "Don't worry, most of us can't drink it either…"

Herrior grabbed it and took several swigs. "If you were a warrior, you would be able to do it…"

"Oh is that so, you big hairy cow." Skyka said and pushed him backwards.

"Hey, hey - be careful with the flask…" Strings said.

"Guys, guys…settle down. Look!" Lindel said as she was about ready to throw Trackolania into the water. Everybody turned to look.

The banshee girl stood before Ysida. They stared at each other for a long time, looking each other over. Ysida reached out to touch the girl as she took on her human form. It scared Ysida at first, but curiosity got the best of her and she touched her hand.

"I know you. I don't know how, but I know you." Ysida said.

"Yes. Yes you do, mom." The banshee girl said.

"I…don't…your dead…" Ysida said as she began to cry.

"I was killed by some evil men, and they changed me into this. The demon's enslaved me, and Crystal saved me." The girl banshee said pointing to Crystal.

"What is your name?" Ysida asked.

"I don't remember. I remember your face. I cannot forget it. I remember your name, your love, and your passion for me." The girl said.

"My husband is dead. How…I couldn't have…"

"You were pregnant before you were captured…by daddy. Don't ask how I know, but I know. You took good care of me, but you were eventually rescued, only to be possessed again. The demon wiped out your memories. I am your daughter. I was slain, but brought back as a banshee and forced to work for the demons. I…eventually…was forced to kill you. You resisted too much to the demons. I'm sorry…so so sorry. I didn't want to do that." The girl said.

"That would explain why we could bring you out of your time line and not affect the time stream." Lindel said.

"I did a lot of evil things for the demons…more than I want to remember. I deserve to die…" The girl said and burst into tears. Her mother hugged her just like she was her own. Lindel floated over towards them.

"I have almost the same story; I am a banshee that was evil as well. I am not evil now, and neither is she. She is safe, and you have been reunited. Praise God! See that house over there? It's Brenna's house. She will take care of you. We are always here for you two. Go catch up with each other. Tell her Lindel sent you. You have a lot of catching up to do." Lindel said motioning them to the house.

"Can you come with us?" Ysida asked.

"Mohania would like to…" Lindel said with a big smile looking at him.

"Ok, let's go." Mohania said without missing a beat and led them to the house. Lindel looked shocked at him as he walked with them away.

When they were out of ear-shot, Lindel turned to her group and said, "That was a joke! I…what just happened there? I was kidding around! Should I go? I…"

"Let it go Lindel." Herrior said. "Everybody has a dark side and evil side to them…don't they hun?"

"Yeah…but it's Mohania! I…I was joking…" Lindel said turning around as they all entered the house. Lindel turned back around and saw the Queen in front of her. Lindel screeched as she quickly bowed.

"Do you have a problem with one of my ambassadors talking with some civilians and introducing them to our city?" The Queen said firmly.

"No, I'm sorry my Queen." Lindel said trembling. The Queen put an arm on Lindel and gently pulled her up.

"He is an ambassador. Let him do his job. He is evil in battle. Have you ever been evil in battle to slaughter your enemies?" The Queen said smiling at her.

"Yes…I don't want to…but…"

"You do what you have to do…don't you Lindel?" The Queen said.

"Yes."

The Queen embraced her. "He's a part of your group, and he's an ambassador, and he's formed a union with Kendall. Believe it or not he does have a nice side to him. He prefers his evil side, just like you prefer your holy side. It is not for you to judge, is it?" The Queen said whispering in her ear.

"I'm sorry my Queen." Lindel said quietly.

"It is not to me you should be apologizing. Go; enjoy your time with your group. Branzer is nervous around you right now. Show him you still love him." The Queen said quietly in her ear. The Queen stopped hugging her and walked away.

Lindel slowly walked into the water with the rest of the group. She looked up at Branzer. He looked back with a smile.

"So now you have seen all of my sides. I didn't even think about you, I did what I had to do to save our group." Lindel said softly.

"Lindel! We probably would have died if it weren't for you! I still love you, ok?" Branzer said picking her up and swung her around.

Lindel linked her mind with his.

"You are scared of me a little, aren't you?" Lindel asked in his mind.

"I can't keep anything from you, can I? Back in high school I had a wet dream about this one cheerleader…" Branzer said back in his mind. Lindel smiled at him, but waited for the answer.

"The answer is yes. You knew that though. But you also know I love you, and I can feel the love you have for me." Branzer said in his mind. "I have a secret as well; I can turn into superman and leap over buildings."

Lindel broke the connection and pushed him in the water.

Branzer quickly jumped back up and began chasing Lindel around in the water. She hovered above it, making her escape quicker. Branzer quickly summoned his scorpid and it jumped on Lindel, catching her off guard and bringing her low enough for Branzer to grab her and pull her back down. It made a big splash along with more laughter.

"Kids…" Herrior said.

"You were like that once before my love." Skyka said walking up to him and grabbing his arm.

"I think they are doing better in battle." Herrior said quietly.

"They have to learn, the same as the rest of us did." Skyka paused and looked up at him. "You're doing well."

"I grow angry to get my point across you mean; so they don't end up killing each other. They all seem more comfortable in battle now, I don't sense them being as scared anymore." Herrior said.

"We're all scared hun. But that's where discipline and training come in, along with a good leader." Skyka said. "Give them time." Herrior nodded.

"Should we go check up on Mohania?" Herrior asked smiling.

"Been dying too!" Skyka replied back immediately and the two of them rushed over to Brenna's house and barged in.

Skyka looked surprised. "Oops, this isn't our house. How did we confuse this one up? Anyways, while we are here how is everybody doing?" Skyka said smiling at the end.

"These two are the most annoying…" Mohania said as if he were finishing a sentence.

"Everybody is doing fine. Ignore the talking skeleton, how are you two doing?" Brenna said giving Mohania a hug.

"Well, since you asked…" Herrior said pulling out a chair and making himself comfortable. Skyka did the same as well.

"Please, we are here to discuss these two. It is a delicate matter." Mohania said calmly. Herrior and Skyka just about bit their lower lip off, trying not to laugh or respond to what Mohania just said.

"And no doubt, the rest of our party will find us soon as well. It's like there is some kind of invisible rope that is attached to all of you…" Mohania said looking at Herrior.

"I remember you coming along several times as well…" Herrior said smiling and glaring back at him.

"I get bored, your group amuses me." Mohania said and then turned back to the girl.

"It seems as though you two have established that you do have a family relationship. Question is are you going to be comfortable with this?" Mohania asked.

Ysida answered quickly. "If she is dead…"

"Again, not dead, she is called a "banshee", just like my race is called the undead. This is what she has become. Some of us turn into things such as this for a greater purpose. Some are turned for an evil purpose. Some turn from evil to good. None have turned from good back to evil, unless forced too – but we always get them back." Mohania said and then continued, "Just like many of the different races we have in Tranquil. You are from the same blood, just a different race."

"How do I raise her? I mean she's different from me?" Ysida asked.

Mohania turned to the girl. "You're old enough, what do you want to do?"

"I want to learn the ways of a holy banshee. I wish to serve the King." The female banshee said.

"Then your turn for raising her is done. She has made her choice. From here on out, Ysida, you can do as you wish. Reside in our empire, go to another world, become a fighter or just become a citizen and do whatever you wish. If we take you back to your timeline, you will die. You were brought here as a gift for this little girl that we rescued. She loves you being here, but now it is time for you to decide what to do." Mohania said.

"I wish to be with my daughter." Ysida answered.

"As I thought you would say. And, to answer your next question without you asking it, no you cannot become a banshee as well." Mohania said surprising her mother.

"We have powers our enemies don't, and vice-versa. But within our city and our allies' cities, you will be safe. If your daughter wishes to stay here and study, we can have a house built for you and her, or you can share anybody's house. I would suggest talking with each other now, alone. Wonder about our city. Get to know each other better. Ysida, don't be afraid of your daughter and what she can do. If she is like the rest of us, she would gladly give up all of her powers to become normal again. But this is how the cards fell for her." Mohania said calmly.

"You two are always welcome at my place." Brenna said eagerly. Mohania turned around and glared at her.

"Or anywhere, everybody has great hospitality here. But my door is always open; does that sound better Mohania?" Brenna asked.

Ysida let out a kind laugh. "Thank you." She turned to her daughter and said, "I guess we should start by picking out a name for you huh?" The banshee girl smiled at her and stood up. Then she reached out her hand. Her mom cautiously took it and smiled at her.

"It will get better, give it time." Mohania said as they left out the back door.

Herrior and Skyka stared at Mohania with amazement and admiration.

"I'm doing my job." Mohania said glaring at them.

"And what about in the dead village? Who was it that lit the woman on fire, chased her around laughing and then pushed her on the floor and stomped on her until she was dead?" Skyka said smiling at him.

"My job was to kill everything that moved, was it not? Did I not understand my order correctly?" Mohania said in the same tone.

"And then have the ghost man running out, offering him help and sympathy…and how did you help the man?" Skyka said.

Mohania's eyes turned into fire and he smiled sinisterly. "I helped him…he seemed cold…"

"Ah, so the old Mohania is still in there…" Herrior said.

"I grow tired of this shit, Herrior! You! Skyka! Lindel! I choose to be an ambassador and to do my duty to the King! In battle I enjoy myself, more than the rest of you! I follow my orders, and if I can amuse some of you at the same time then great! But we aren't in battle are we? We are in Tranquil, and I was doing my job!" Mohania screamed at them as he flipped the table over. "Do you think Kendall talked me into it? Do you think I got these responsibilities just for the fun of it? I'm doing my best, cut me some slack!" Mohania then stormed out of Brenna's door and into the portal that lead to the exit of Tranquil.

Herrior, Skyka, and Brenna were all awestruck. Brenna started cleaning up the mess as Herrior and Skyka let his words sink into them.

"He's changed." Herrior said.

"No…no he hasn't. Our group can learn more from than I think we could teach them." Skyka said. "Lindel released her true power, and she enjoyed herself. Our group has been stressed lately; I think this entire idea of battle still scares them – the new people anyways. Many of them haven't even died yet for the first time." Skyka paused for a second and then gave another example.

"Remember Crystal? How bad she reacted and how scared she was of giving birth? She almost killed Lindel. I think everybody in Tranquil heard her." Skyka said smiling.

"Did we over do that?" Herrior asked.

"No, not at all. Don't start questioning what we did. Our group needs discipline once in awhile; she learned it the hard way. But the previous battle we had was good. I would suggest having all of our classes talk among themselves. I don't know all of their abilities, but it would be a good way to bond and share knowledge. I need to talk to Icis, and have Lindel listen. The hunters need to talk as well as the melee. You and Quinely probably are fine. Question is, should we do it as a group or have them do it separately?" Skyka asked.

Herrior thought about this for a second. "I want it to be all together, so we can all listen and know what each other are going to do. However, are we all comfortable enough with each other to do that? Our group has doubled in size. Except for Lindel, none of us are mind readers – however if we say ahead of time what we are going to do, we can predict each other's moves. That is how I want my group to work. That is how we worked in the past. That is how many groups work now. The key being love of each other, and then anticipation of each other's actions." Herrior sighed. "Meeting in an hour? Outside of Tranquil, but inside the inner gate?"

"You're the leader." Skyka smirked.

Both of them apologized to Brenna and helped clean up the mess as Herrior made the announcement on his hearthstone to everybody in his group. The two of them left Brenna's house and walked to the human's house. They didn't see Mohania sneak back into Tranquil and go into Brenna's house.

"Brenna, I am sorry for what I did. Any damages I'll pay for or have replaced." Mohania said in a low tone.

"Hun, I've got it taken care of." Brenna walked over and gently grabbed his arm. "I don't know everything that you go through, I can only imagine. You are always welcome in my home, you and anybody else. I may not know what you are talking about, but I can always listen. So will anybody else in our city, but my heart really goes out to you and your group. No apology is needed." Brenna leaned forward and kissed him on his skull where his cheek would be.

"I love you guys, no matter what." Brenna said. "I pray for all of you constantly, as well as the rest of our fighters. Please don't be afraid to come back, ok?"

Mohania nodded and let out a friendly smile. Brenna smiled back.

"I heard everything you said today. You will make a great ambassador. Take care of yourself, ok?" Brenna said as Mohania left the house.

"I'm trying…" Mohania said softly.

On the way out to the exit of Tranquil, Herrior summoned Tess on his hearthstone.

"How are you and Kon's group's doing?" Herrior asked.

"Eh – a lot of rookie errors. They know their stuff, and are willing to fight. Sometimes though, I just stare in awe at what they just did." Tess said.

"So it's not just your group then?" Herrior said chuckling.

Tess started to laugh. "That's part of the reason why the King and so many of his ambassadors are being contacted. The queue for the arena is several hours long. Trial and error my friend."

"Any word on that green alien Mohania found?" Herrior asked.

"No, but are you going to ask him about something trivial like that? Heard that you had a run in with Ysera. Kon's mad because he was not able to fight the alliance; some dragons appeared out of nowhere and killed everything. The scout and his family were killed for bribery and giving false information and the ambassador was banished from Tranquil, exiled to Bloodhoof Village to help train the young taurens. The King and Queen are not messing around, rules are rules." Tess said.

Herrior nodded his head. "And examples need to be made of to follow the rules. Tell Kon to relax. If that beast on the human's home world is ever found, we'll need your groups and probably several others. We believe cultists are building and summoning demons into their world from some of the old rituals. I have no doubt that we'll be fighting together soon enough. Glad to hear I'm not the only one that has to talk with their group about fighting techniques."

Tess started to laugh. "Not by a long shot. As far as I know, and I've been asking around, everybody has been learning to, I guess "coop" with each other; learn how each other fight and not to do dumbass things during battle. Give Mohania our thanks for his warlocks. They aren't real smart, but they are willing to fight. Oh, tell Bernett his wife has been sent with a couple of secondary groups to Gnomeregan. Kash is back with on duty with his wee-one. Also, thanks for the dragon mounts. They are fast!"

Herrior smiled and closed the portal. He and Skyka walked outside the portal and down the ramp.

"Mind if we hang out here for a bit?" Herrior asked. A blood elf turned around and said, "As long as you do something to entertain us. I have thirteen troops under my command and we've been just talking about our new abilities and how or when to use them. I'm Tyrun by the way. I don't remember seeing you around much?"

"I'm Herrior, this is my mate Skyka. I've summoned my group out here to talk. We've been assigned to guard the human's planet. No recent orders though, and dissention is rising among the ranks, so I figured we would talk about it out here. With all of the new groups forming, our guard duty is not until next month." Herrior said.

"Feel free. Our druid has not sensed any movement for several hours." Tyrun said. They both nodded at each other and Herrior sat in the middle of the inner wall, with Skyka right beside him.

One by one, they saw each member of his group come out of the portal and sit in a circle. Some of them looking happy, some of them were looking worried. Minutes passed and finally all of them were part of the circle. Mohania snapped his fingers and started a fire.

"We're here to talk. Set aside the leadership, the ambassadors, everything. I want everybody to speak, no interruptions, and honesty. First I have news for Bernett. Your wife has been dispatched to help in the war with Gnomeregan. I do not know why, but it is unusual for secondary groups to be dispatched. If I were to guess, it is more for education than it is for fighting." Herrior said looking at Bernett. He nodded his head in response.

"Now then, all of the groups are doing the same thing we are doing right now. Lots of new people, lots of new spells/talents, people not knowing what to do or when to cast things. This is an open session. I'll begin with myself and we'll go around the circle."

Herrior cleared his throat and sighed. "We have a large group now. We are in need of a backup tank incase either myself of Quinely dies. Dan offered and I quickly turned him down. That was wrong of me. You and Jacklyn both wear plate, unless Mohania wanted to tank with his blue demon?"

Mohania shrugged. "I will if I have to, but I'd rather do destruction from the back."

"Jacklyn has always done it before, but she cannot wield a two-handed sword and a shield. She would grab my shield and just act as a temporary barrier while we figure out a retreat. Jacklyn? Dan? Which one of you would like to be our backup tank?" Herrior asked.

Jacklyn shook her head, but Dan spoke up. "While I be able to lift your shield and sword?"

"It adjusts to your body, just like your armor does. You will not be in full tanking gear such as me, but what you have would be sufficient to maintain threat on the enemies until a plan is developed. Generally Skyka is in second command, unless somebody speaks up with more information than they think Skyka has. You would have to duel-spec yourself, which is easy, put your main attacking weapons away on your back and get my weapons. You will get hit hard and often, but that is when you need to rely on the rest of your group. Rend, thunderclap, and shockwave as much as you can. Other than that, try to stay alive." Herrior said smiling. Dan nodded in agreement.

"Ok, next order of business is a lot of us owe Mohania an apology." Herrior said. Lindel was the first to speak up.

"Mohania, I was trying to make a joke. I said the wrong thing that was dumb of me. I insulted you in front of everybody. Please, I ask for your forgiveness." Lindel said slowly looking at him.

"We apologize as well." Skyka said adding to it.

Mohania nodded his head. "A bit over dramatic, but you are all forgiven. If I may add something, you are all very up-tight in battle, probably because of a lot of you being new. Don't concentrate so much, you'll wear yourself faster. I understand that a lot of you are still scared. We never leave anybody behind. Even if it is not part of our group, we move the exhausted and dead out of the way and bring in fresh fighters. We have fought for days, weeks at a time. If you are tense for an entire day worth of fighting, your body and mind will begin making mistakes. Remain calm, smile once in awhile. We are doing our job, and with everybody working together we are one powerful group."

"Well spoken Mohania. Concentrate, but control your emotions. Use logical thinking. Talking is allowed. Letting off a laugh once in awhile is allowed. Thinking of a battle cry or screaming while attacking is allowed. Fighting smart and our love for one another has won us countless victories. The alliance doesn't understand this, and the demons are usually slopping and uncoordinated. Watch them, it may even make you laugh and relax yourself. For example, chopping off somebody's head and throwing it into their ranks is an excellent demoralizer. We begin to laugh, they become either panicked or angry…either way they become sloppy. Lindel, Skyka, Crystal, or Mohania may mind control what looks like the leader and have them spout off different commands, or even attack their own troops. Like we keep saying, the love that we have for each other lessens the hold that they have over our minds. I wish to increase that love between us. For example, that banshee possessed all of us. Some of us were able to break free, and probably the others were trying. Lindel saved our butts that time. Next time it might be Crystal saving our butts, or Branzer…you get my point. That being said, it is ok to get mad. Several of the warriors enrage themselves and become a walking tower of destruction. I do it often so I can hit harder and gain more control of the enemies. Even Quinely does it. But everybody else, the healers and ranged – keep an eye out for a tank getting over-whelmed, or for a healer getting attacked." Herrior said. "Sorry, I'm rambling, next?"

Skyka spoke up. "Icis, I still feel like I'm competing with you for healing. I am working on that, and I want to be your friend and love you as one of us. I know nothing about you, and probably nobody else does as well. Your shields are excellent, you have proven that. But can you cast heal spells as well? Also are you duel-specced as well?

Icis spoke up. "As you all know I am a draenei. All draenei have been gifted with a racial heal-over-time spell that doesn't cost any mana to use, but has a two minute cool down. I use that as much as I can. But I specialize in a spell called Penance, my shield, smite, and flash heal. So I can be a fighter if needed. I am not duel-specced because this is what I want to be. My Penance is a very powerful healing spell. I don't think you all have noticed what all my shields can do, and my holy smite is very powerful, and also heals near-by allies. I have several other neat spells that I haven't casted yet, because I don't know how everybody is going to react to them. I should have casted Pain Suppression on Trackolania, shielded him, and then focused on the other tanks. I can only cast my shields so fast, as they have a cool down, as well as my Penance. However my flash heals do more healing while my shield has faded. With me it is all a matter of timing. I cannot group heal, or single heal as good as Skyka can, but, and I don't mean this in a mean way, I can take more damage from attacks and spells that she can and I am not afraid to get into the action. I understand the tanks don't want to be shielded, but can I Penance them? All it does is just heal them for a massive amount. I can also energize another person's haste, and reduce their mana cost for a limited time. I have been doing that to Skyka. Skyka can recharge her mana faster than I can, but I feel…out of place."

Herrior nodded and smiled at her. "Icis, I am very glad you are part of our group. We are blessed to have a draenei in our group. Especially one as cute as you are." Icis blushed and everybody agreed.

"Icis, I do not want you to feel timid. Lindel is our group healer, but if Skyka needs a break – you are to jump in and do what you think is best. We will not get mad if you shield us. Should we assign healers? Would that make you feel better? Skyka is my healer, and Quinely is yours? Lindel will call out when group healing or shielding is needed. Would that make you feel more comfortable?" Herrior asked.

Icis shrugged.

"No, Icis. Would that make you feel more comfortable, or would you rather group heal?" Herrior asked again in a calm voice.

"I can do both. I can concentrate on Quinely, and occasionally slap a shield on people in our group. But as far as group healing, Skyka is better." Icis said.

"I am not better hun. Stop putting me on a pedestal. You have powers that I don't understand, and vice-versa." Skyka said in a calm voice.

"If somebody gets stunned or silenced, I can shield them and reflect back damage to the caster or fighter while they regain control of their mind, and if needed put 'pain suppression' on them." Icis said.

Quinely spoke up. "If I get stunned, shield my butt or do whatever you think is best. I will not be angry with you. I'm not good as a tank if I am stunned."

"Same with me." Herrior said.

"I can shield as well, but not as good as you can. I can also chastise a person for 3 seconds, but I'm usually so busy casting heals that I don't have time. You are truly a blessing to our group Icis." Skyka said with a smile.

"Ok, so I am healing Quinely and will do my group shield as much as I can, also will keep an eye on everybody and fire off individual shields as well if needed or if Lindel says something. So is that my role?" Icis said.

"Sounds good to me, any objections?" Herrior asked.

"You could wear skimpier clothes and show off that great body that you have…" Lindel said winking at her. This made Icis blush again.

"Lindel! Icis yes you are very beautiful but you can wear whatever you want. Our group likes to build everybody up, and make each other laugh. It is all in good fun. If it ever offends you, please speak up – promise?" Herrior asked.

Icis nodded with a smile.

Crystal spoke up. "Mohania, what's a good umm… 'AOE' I guess is what you call it for large groups? A lot of our spells that we do don't really do a lot of damage and suck up a lot of mana."

Mohania thought about that for a minute and then sighed. "We have some, as you know shadowflame, and shadowfury is about it. We have instant spells, which do damage over time, and long casting spells that do a lot of damage, but take awhile to cast. Since you prefer affliction, I'd crank out as many curse of elements as you could, because that spreads quickly and then immolate I guess followed by conflagrate, which you won't have if you are affliction at the time. Seed of corruption I guess is your best bet. Keep your dog out to get rid of debuffs from our group, and buffs from our enemy. Curse of doom would be nice if the demon spawns, but if it doesn't, it's not the best spell to cast. My advice is on the harder enemies, crank off as many curses and damage over time spells as you can. They have a fast cast time. Then pick another target and do the same. While I'm destruction I do more damage, but my mana reserves will run out, unlike yours. If you ever die in a fight, then something went horribly wrong." Mohania said letting out a small laugh.

"That's actually something else I wanted to bring up, healthstones and soulstones." Crystal said. "Healthstones are an instant uh – 'heal' spell that doesn't have a cool down, and soulstones will automatically bring somebody back to life, but only last fifteen minutes now. I'm sure I'm not the only one confused by that." Crystal turned to Mohania and said, "We can both soulstone, but how do we predict who is going to die within the fifteen minute timeframe?"

"Yeah, another 'change' everybody is confused about. I don't have an answer to that. If somebody dies in less than fifteen minutes, something went horribly wrong. I consider it useless; however in my opinion we all should have healthstones before a battle, just like all the buffs we give each other before a battle." Mohania said.

"Kind of like my rend ability hitting everybody when I thunderclap eh?" Herrior said smiling.

"So by the sounds of things, and I think rogues can do this as well, but doesn't everybody have an ability to 'self-heal' themselves? Us hunters, when our pets are active regenerate health automatically, Branzer and Bernett have a shot that heal themselves. You warlocks can suck life out of people, Lindel can, and I know us hunters can…" Julie said looking around. Trackolania nodded his head.

"Jacklyn and I have several abilities to heal ourselves as well." Dan said looking at her. "Two of them are passive, but one of our major attacks that we can do heals us as well." Dan turned to Jacklyn and asked, "Usually I do bloodthirst, raging blow, and perform an instant slam when I can. After that I intercept, heroic leap and pummel to piss off the casters." Dan said smiling at Jacklyn. She smiled back and said that was generally what she does as well.

"I can't heal myself, I can lessen the damage I take…so heal me instead of them." Quinely said laughing.

"No, I'm just saying that we can all heal ourselves a little, lessening the burden of the healers. And from what I understand of Lindel and Crystal, they suck the life out of their enemies. As hunters we all can heal our pets, which should be something that the healers should never have to worry about in my opinion." Julie said.

"We know what you mean hun, and I think we all understand the point you are trying to get across. Our main focus will be on our tanks, and then if you can heal yourselves then that's the less healing we'll have to do." Skyka said smiling. Julie nodded. Julie then turned to Bernett and Branzer.

"Have either one of you had any luck with your trap launcher? I haven't been able to hit squat with that."

"I've tried…" Branzer said laughing. "But no you have to time it just right and hope they walk into it, which of course the enemy can see the trap while it automatically sets itself up before it goes invisible. Then after awhile the trap defuses itself and falls apart. Perhaps shooting an explosive trap into a group of oncoming alliance from a distance, or if you are running away, shooting a frost trap in front of you and then jumping over it to stop whatever it is from chasing after you." Branzer thought about something and then asked Julie.

"I think you were wrong about our multi-shot. Once our tanks had control of the enemies, we were blasting all of them really fast for several seconds, it doesn't hit as hard I'll agree with you on that, but the wide spread damage that it does to everybody is actually pretty impressive." Branzer said hoping not to make her mad.

"No, do whatever you think is best. Personally I think our poison shot is a waste. I do arcane shots as fast as I can, then do steady shots until I can do more arcane shots. Being a beast master, I have several other things that I concentrate on. If steady shot, multi-shot, and arcane shot are your best abilities – use those." Julie answered. Then she looked confused and looked at Herrior, "Why do we have these small guns while Kon and some other hunters have bigger guns? And is a gun better than a bow?"

Herrior began laughing hard. Skyka smiled and tried to hide her laughter as well. After a moment Herrior calmed himself.

"Julie, you would not believe how many hunters argue about that. If you ask Tess, bows are better. Kon swears by guns though. Just like warriors argue about blunt weapons or blades. You can have either, but we tried to give you something that you were already used to. They all shoot the same speed, they all have the same accuracy, and one is not better than another. If you want you can put in a request for a bow, or a larger gun. If you notice that when you pull your guns out, they quickly adjust themselves so they are just as powerful as the larger guns. We even tried to make them look like your old guns so you could blend in better on your world. We had our weapons made to disappear on your world, but, as far as I know, our new armor doesn't adjust itself to your world's clothing standards. We still have to put illusions on ourselves." Herrior said and apologized for his outburst. "Lots of arguments are started over things like that. Bottom line is we try to give people what they want and make it as powerful as we can. We aren't going to send you into battle with a weapon that would do only minimal damage, that's just dumb."

Julie nodded with a smile. All of the hunters agreed to keep their guns.

Dan then asked a question. "I briefly looked at the rogue's talent tree. There's nothing on there about shooting crossbows…"

"Eh – let me stop you right there." Herrior said. "There are many things that we don't understand about the rogues, which is why they don't talk much." Herrior turned to Trackolania and said, "Did you even learn any new abilities?" Trackolania smiled and shook his head.

"I didn't think so. There are things they can do that they don't want anybody else to know about. Mohania does things that nobody wants to know about. Lindel does things that she doesn't want to. So things are just better off not talked about." Herrior said smiling.

"Like I bet you guys didn't know that I have an evil side to me?" Mohania said smiling.

"Yeah, no clue about that…what do we do with our pets?" Bernett piped up. Herrior raised his eyebrow.

"I mean they are powerful. Can they fight on the front lines? They can quickly charge and get the attention of anything that gets through the line. But I mean, if we have the extra fire power just sitting by doing nothing, what is the point of having a pet?"

"I got this one." Julie said turning to Bernett.

"Your pets are designed for tanking. I agree with you, they should be on the front line but tell them not to taunt or do anything to get extra attention. If something does make it through, it's their job to rip it to shreds. The speeds of our pets are incredible, and your pets can do exactly what you just said." Julie then turned to Herrior and said, "I agree with them, they are being wasted just sitting there. They aren't as strong as our other attackers, but don't underestimate them. My dog is more powerful because of the kind of pet he is, but his job is to attack, not to defend – you would be amazed at how well their pets can pull attackers off from people and keep their attention. I feel as though our pets are being left out."

"I feel the same way as well with my helhound." Crystal said. "He doesn't hit hard, but he devours magical buffs on enemies, and magical debuffs on our group. That would be one less thing the healers have to worry about. They could continue healing, and not worry about dispelling the magical affect. Plus he silences magical users and the more damage over times spells I put on an enemy, the harder he hits."

"Same with me, my pet is my imp because it increases my powers, he again isn't strong and he usually just focuses on the person I attack, also if things go bad I throw him at the enemy and run the other way." Mohania said laughing.

Herrior was nodding at each comment. Silence fell for several seconds, and then Herrior said. "What is there for me to decide on? It sounds like you all have it all figured out." Herrior shrugged, "Do it. Talk to your pets, or whatever you do, and tell them to do whatever you think is best. I'm not familiar with pets, only Skyka…" Skyka smacked his arm and smiled at him.

"Same thing with our shadowfiends Icis, also we need to call out when we are going to do our hymns to recharge our group." Skyka said. "Doing them at the same time would probably cause everybody's death." Icis nodded with a smile.

Everybody looked at each other, giving the impression that they were tired of talking.

Herrior waited for a moment and then said, "Everybody ok now? Anything else we need to discuss?" Everybody was quiet, and then Dan spoke up.

"How do I know when I should stop time?"

"Test it out. I can't tell you. If I specifically call out your name, that means to do it. Generally the enemies that we just fought are immune to it, but I don't understand your powers. Just don't stop it to the degree that every one of us freezes, and the enemies don't." Herrior said smiling. "But at the beginning of a battle, see what it does even if it's just for a split second or two. You're the grand master trainer and you need to train our other time stoppers to control or extend their powers, so experiment." Dan nodded.

"Anything else?" Herrior asked.

Suddenly Quinely leaped from behind Mohania and pushed him to the ground. "Group hug time!"

"No." Mohania said as everybody else piled on him.

"Do I have ambassador powers to make her stop doing that?" Mohania asked. Herrior just laughed as his hearthstone began to vibrate.

The Lieutenant got home that day, still wondering what he was going to tell his wife. He casually opened the door and was pulled forward into his house as the door slammed shut behind him.

"I think you are on the wrong side of this war…" A man covered in golden armor with a huge hammer said with a smile. There were several warriors behind him, some of which he had never seen before.

"Where's my wife?"

"She's not hurt, and neither will you be. I may be wrong, but I believe you may be aiding the wrong side." The man said. "My name is Sir Thomas Lightbringer the fifth, captain of the first division of the alliance. We mean you no harm; just merely wish to ask you to join us by gathering information."

"I run a police station; if you kill me you'll have a mess on your hands!" The Lieutenant said.

"No, we do not plan on killing you. We fight demons and monstrosities of a dying race of pure evil. Some of your officers have reported seeing strange occurrences and 'ghosts' if you will, also large cow beasts, people with long ears, and people turning into animals. Do you know anything about these things?" Thomas said tilting his head slightly at him.

"My men have been under a lot of stress. I can perform random drug tests next week…" The Lieutenant said as he was blasted by a sudden blast to his head. He was picked up and thrown across the room.

"You talk to me now, or we'll torture the both of you until we get the information we want. Killing the both of you is no problem to us. Now, you are either for us or against us. Where do you stand?" Thomas said as his eyes turned red.

"What do you want to know? Our police station was attacked by a red demon dog thing that appeared out of nowhere in my office. Is that what you are talking about?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes. Where is it now?"

"We killed it. Bullets didn't do anything to it, so several of our officers beat it with their night sticks until it died and burned up. It spooked all of us." The Lieutenant said. "We didn't know what it was, should we have captured it?"

"No, you did fine." Thomas said smiling at him. "You and your officers will make some fine recruits, and you are going to lead them."

A portal opened in the Lieutenant's backyard and Herrior's group came out.

Time stopped.

"How long do we have?" Herrior asked.

"Thirty minutes? I don't know I haven't fully tested my powers out remember…" Dan said.

"Strip all of them of their armor, decapitate them and make them burn. The man leaning over the Lieutenant is trying to possess him right now. See the red haze coming out of his eyes? Fascinating, stopping time stops that as well. Leave that man alive. Put all of their weapons and armor in the portal." Herrior said. Herrior tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"It locks from the inside." Branzer said as Herrior bashed the glass door into an infinite amount of tiny glass shards.

"Looks unlocked to me…" Herrior said getting the Lieutenant out of the way of the red haze. He flung him over his shoulder and retrieved his wife from the living room. She was restrained by three dwarfs. Herrior easily pulled her free and put them upstairs in their bedroom.

Meanwhile, the group carried out Herrior's orders. All of the alliance was stripped naked of their weapons and armor. Then Dan, Jacklyn, and Trackolania took the pleasure in decapitating all of the alliance, twelve in all.

Herrior came back out of the bedroom and asked, "Lindel, do you sense any portals open or anyway that they could have made it here?"

"Umm…" Lindel said in deep concentration. "Can I examine the man's mind?"

"Are you picking up anything?" Herrior asked.

"Eh…no? It's hard to explain. Does anybody else sense anything around us?"

"Nope. Just people in their houses. No further alliance." Quinely said.

"No demons in the area." Mohania said.

Lindel dematerialized herself and flew into Thomas's eyes. The red haze was quickly burned up.

After a couple of seconds, she made Thomas talk.

"I'm a dumbass." He said.

Time resumed. Thomas quickly sensed his mind was being scanned and began to fight off the banshee. Herrior slammed his shield into Thomas's race, smashing his nose and the front part of his skull.

"Drain his mana!" Herrior commanded. Both warlocks quickly held up their hands and started channeling a dark blue beam of energy from the man, also both priests sucked mana from the man as well, but only they caused him to become hurt as they did. He tried to cast a spell, but Herrior again bash him in his face.

"No! No…" Thomas screamed and then fell to his knees. "Guards! To my side!" He said in a weakened voice. Eventually he created an indestructible shield around himself and started healing himself. All of the mana draining spells couldn't penetrate it, but all three warriors concentrated on his shield for two seconds and then launched their weapon at him, completely disintegrating the shield. Herrior then hit him over the head with his weapon, stunning him for another five seconds.

"Get out of my head!" Thomas screamed.

"No!" Lindel screamed back using his voice.

"He sounds confused. Here let me help him." Mohania said and grabbed several of the decapitated heads and shoved the man's hands into the bottom of the skull. Mohania did the same.

Mohania than made one of the skulls on his right hand talk in the owners original voice, as Mohania kicked the man over on his stomach.

"Hi, I'm a dead man. You will join us soon. How about we play a game of heads or tails?"

"Excellent performance Mohania that sounded just like a gnome, but I think that one was a dwarf." Herrior said. He put one of his mighty hoofs on his chest and began breaking his ribs, very slowly.

"I'm not good at talking dwarf." Mohania said and lit both heads on fire and held them inches away from his fractured face so he could watch his friends heads slowly burn and their flesh melt onto his fact.

"We will slaughter all of you like lambs! You will pay for this! Get out of my…" Suddenly Thomas's eyes glazed over.

"Could you guys let me up? I feel crowded." Lindel said calming in the man's voice.

"Certainly hun, did you do a good job in there?" Herrior said lifting up his limp body.

"I've never possessed a mind like that before. He is one of the highest paladin's that their King has. Apparently they were sent on a special assignment to get these two. They knew nothing about us. He questioned him, but that was just a tactic to scare him.

"Did you kill that evil bastard?" The Lieutenant said came out of his room with an assault rifle.

"Lieutenant, the situation is contained. We have control of his mind. Put the gun down. We'll make him suffer we promise, but you are just going to make the situation worse by using that thing." Branzer said stepping in front of the man.

"He said that I was aiding the wrong side of the battle?" The Lieutenant said nervously. Everybody stood quiet for a second to let him calm down.

"What do you think Lieutenant?" Crystal asked quietly. The Lieutenant eventually put the safety on and led his wife out of the bedroom. She was started to see the creatures and the carnage.

"I think if it wasn't for you guys, we both would have been dead a long time ago. I'm sorry."

"Lieutenant, this is the reason why we want to protect your minds. The alliance and demons will scan for you in the future and you will not even show up on the radar. If they try to possess you, your mind will automatically fight them off. If a banshee or something stronger possesses you, concentrate on the one you love as much as you can. Your mind will destroy them, or weaken them dramatically if they do escape...then just merely squash them with your boot.

Lindel moved Thomas's body closer to the stairs as the rest of the alliance quickly burned up into ashes and blew away.

"The decision is obvious now…isn't it Lieutenant? Ma'am, my name is actually Lindel. I have complete control of this man's body. He was going to enslave you or kill you. There's a fifteen minute process that you could go through and never have this happen again, but it's painful. The humans that you see have already been through it. You will not feel any different, afterwards there is no pain, and you will forget about it in time. But you must not say anything to anybody about this, any of this, or the process that we would like to do to you. Do you understand?" Lindel said in her own voice, using the man's mouth to speak her words.

The Lieutenant's was confused and worried at the same time. He turned to her and said, "I am going through the process. You have very limited information, but if it wasn't for Herrior's group – we would be dead by now. You trusted me for all of these years, trust me know…please."

His wife began to rattle of question after question. The Lieutenant hugged her and said, "I love you hun. I would do anything for you. The people that saved your life – you're looking at them. The people who saved my life – again you are looking at them. They have saved countless people's lives; many of them are our officers, complete strangers, and even an entire hospital. I trust them. Trust me. I'll be beside you the entire time. But this is a secret, ok? Nobody must know. If you tell others, you could end up jeopardizing their life. A secret, ok? Trust me." The Lieutenant said softly.

"I'm scared." She said.

"I'm scared too." The Lieutenant said.

"A voice inside of me is saying that I should do this." She said.

"Same here." He replied back.

Lindel started looking around for other banshees. She made Thomas's face turn to Quinely and shrugged his shoulders. Quinely shook her head.

"We're ready." The Lieutenant said hugging his wife tightly.

"It will be over before you know it. Just concentrate on each other, it will help." Branzer said walking up the stairs and then leading them down. Branzer activated his hearthstone and spoke with the monks. Several of them nodded and said they were ready for the portal.

"Lindel, portal please?" Branzer asked.

"Shoot, I don't dare release this man. He is still very active, trying hard to hide many secrets from me. His mind is an open book to me though. Should we get another Chronomancer to perform the portal, or restrain him?" Lindel asked.

"Hold that thought for a second." Herrior said and smiled. He summoned the King and instantly one of his ambassadors appeared.

"We have captured a high ranking alliance paladin. Does the King wish to speak with him?" Herrior asked.

"Give me a minute to ask." The ambassador said and closed portal.

"This is still Lindel talking; in the mean time can you heal parts of him? His body is going into shock from the pain and loss of blood. I can still control him."

"Sure hun." Skyka said as she casted a renew spell on him. His face slowly reformed itself, and the cartilage reformed his nose. The blood stopped as well.

"Good. His brain is a lot more active now. He is in denial that we have banshees that aren't forced to do the bidding of someone else. To him, this is just one bad dream…until I shoot electrical currents down his spine, causing him massive pain. But since I control his voice, he can't scream." Lindel said.

"Having fun are we?" Mohania said in his sinister voice.

"Eh – passes the time." Lindel said and laughed.

A minute passed and a portal opened with several trolls, taurens, and orcs coming out of it.

"Where is this scum?" One of the trolls said.

"Over here!" Lindel said waving his arm. "Once I release control of him, he'll function as if I never possessed him. Are you ready?" Lindel said forcing him to walk towards them.

"Yes. Very much so…" The troll said eagerly. "The King said to bring him in alive…" The troll gave the signal and his group surrounded the man.

"Don't hurt him too much; you don't want to make the King mad. And…I'm coming out." Lindel said as she flew out of his eyes.

Thomas quickly regained control of his mind and stared at Lindel in awe. That didn't last long though, as he began being beat severely. Bones snapping, screams, and blood squirting against the wall.

"Guys, the King does want him alive." Herrior said.

The head troll called off his men. He grabbed Thomas's hair and pulled as hard as he could. "He is still breathing, aint he?" The troll threw the badly injured man through the portal as the rest of the group followed and the portal closed behind him.

"They don't have portals like we do. They force demons to open and close gates for them. It's hard to describe. They have summoned many demons and were not able to control them, as the one paladin that we encountered was saying. Some of them they trick and enslave them, torture them, and force them to, not portal like we do, but slip through dimensions using the demonic powers. Many of their allies know how to portal like we do, but none of them have actually taught the alliance themselves how to do it. Currently they have no banshees; they killed all of them – those bastards!" Lindel said viciously. "But their powers have increased, just like ours. They are cocky and unstructured with no morals or no real attack plans. They don't have any draenei, so Icis you don't have to worry about that. They don't have any orcs either. He kept trying to tell me they have prisoners of ours, but calling his bluff was easy. I think he was trying to negotiate…but feeling his nerves all fire at the same time, sending enormous pain through his body shut him up. They lack loyalty and love.

"Will that pain that you were doing to him be like the pain we are going to have?" The Lieutenant's wife asked.

"Actually no, yours will be just in your head as your brain accepts the commands. Let's get this started; your anxiety is making things worse." Lindel opened a portal and began channeling her power into it as it grew. Two monks came out in their dark brown robes.

"Lay down on the floor, it will be over before you know it. Concentrate on each other. It will be painful, but you will not die, and there will be no pain as soon as they are done – you have my word." Lindel said as she helped them to the ground. "Then I can put you both into a deep relaxing sleep. Remember, do not tell anybody – very important."

Both the Lieutenant and his wife nodded as the monks immediately started the blasting. Screams from both of them erupted, but were quickly drowned out as their voices were unable to function anymore due to the extreme pain. Lightning bolts of different colors shot from their hands and into the heads and lit up the room.

Everybody stood by and watched, the humans having flashbacks of what it was like.

Sure enough, the fifteen minutes passed and the monks instantly stopped channeling their enormous powers into their minds and left. They both lay on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

"It's over, that's it. You're done. You did great!" Lindel said kneeling beside them.

"I wasn't ready for that kind of pain!" The Lieutenant said staring at the ceiling. He could hear his wife breathing. "I'm sorry hun."

"No, it was necessary. Can you put us to sleep now, please?" She asked. Lindel put her hands over her eyes and instantly her body went limp and she started snoring almost instantly.

"Lieutenant, I'm going to give you a hearthstone. You can only use it once a day. Think of one of us and rub it. We'll show up as fast as we can, usually within seconds. Or it'll create a portal and you can talk to any of us. I'd recommend thinking of Branzer since he's an ambassador of your world." Herrior said handing him the small pebble with strange signs on it. "Do not lose this! Bring it everywhere with you!"

"Now do you want to go to sleep with your wife? We'll put you in bed, and everything will be fine when you wake up." Lindel said calmly.

"No…no, it is exactly like you said. There is no pain…just exhaustion. I need a drink now than I ever needed before…" The Lieutenant said.

"The urge will pass. You are both safe now. Do you want me to help you relax?" Lindel asked.

"Lindel…no offense, but I have a feeling you could do a million different things to my head. I just want to go to sleep normally." The Lieutenant said smiling. Lindel casted a levitate spell on his wife and she gently pushed her up the stairs.

"You guys are amazing…" The Lieutenant said sounding sleepy.

"No…no we aren't actually. We envy you, as much as you envy us." Herrior said just loud enough for him to hear it.

Lindel gently moved the blankets and slowly floated his wife on her back in the bed and covered her back up.

"What did Herrior mean?" The Lieutenant asked.

"We fight and kill everyday it seems like. You can do your job, come home and relax, and go to sleep in bed – without the fear of someone cutting your throat in the middle of the night. I'm not going to explain how bad the war is because you don't need to know…but believe me when I say you did the right thing. If anything weird happens or if you capture any alliance and lock those up, contact us. We'll visit you more often. We have some things we need to do first. Good night Lieutenant." Lindel said helping him get into bed.

"Remember the stone, everyday. It could save your life someday." Lindel said blowing him a kiss and shutting the door. Lindel floated through the railing and down to the first level.

"Overall, that wasn't too bad. Glad one of our scouts was following him home." Herrior said. "Lindel can you portal us to Nagrand? Let's go have some fun. I think getting some more experience fighting would do us some good."

Lindel created a portal and they all vanished.

Herrior's group appeared in a world of green grass, huge brown beasts and what looked like zebras walking around leisurely, eating grass and seeming to not have a care in the world. The sky looked the same as Earth's sky, only there were island masses floating hundreds of yards above the ground. The land seemed to extend for miles. Herrior began walking towards one of the guards of their established bases in the land called "Garadar".

"Welcome my friend." Herrior said approaching him.

"Also nice to see a friendly face." The guard said back as they embraced.

"We have quite a lot of new friends in our group. I was going to send them off to explore, get into some trouble and just have some fun." Herrior said laughing. The guard stared back at him blankly.

"Haven't you heard what has been happening?" The guard asked quietly.

"No?" Herrior said looking at him curiously.

"They are returning, guards to the south side!" A thundering voice said. Quickly all of the guards assembled and began attacking. Their enemies looked like walking bodies made of pure water, fire, earth, and solid air.

"Engage!" Herrior ordered and quickly ran to help drive off the elemental invaders. The rest of his group ran after him and began attacking as soon as they were in range.

The invaders did not put up much of a fight, as Herrior's group and the guards fought them off.

"Garrosh! What is happening! If you needed additional help, why didn't you contact us?" Herrior said fiercely at the orc dressed in the heaviest armor.

"This has started happening in the past couple of days. For some reason the elementals have began summoning themselves and killing all living things that surround them. It's happening to the alliance town as well, so we know it's not them. The Halaa are being attacked in this region as well as the ogres. We have no other information then just that. We do not fear their attacks; it is mere exercise for my guards. It is happening to our surrounding outposts as well. Earthquakes also have been occurring several times a day every day. Once again, we don't have an explanation for that either. Some of our citizen's fear this is the end of days and that we'll all be consumed by fire. I say bring it on." Garrosh said and then continued, "And as far as reporting, what have we to report? Random elementals are appearing at random places in random intervals and the ground quakes? Our citizens are losing control of their sanity? We know nothing more than what I just told you. Our scouts have reported the same thing we already know, but how do I explain these occurrences to an ambassador like you; I can't and it will sound like we are cowards."

Herrior nodded as he listened. He decided that if he was in charge of this outpost he would not have reported anything either.

"Something else that is happening is human cultists are growing in number. We send out a squad once in awhile to slay them, but don't get any information as to what is happening. Again, no information to report. We are constantly attacked by the ogres, the Ethereals, the people of Halaa once in awhile for who knows what reason, the Broken or whatever they call themselves, and the blasted Draenei as well." Garrosh looked at Icis and shot her a look of distrust.

"She's one of mine and will be left alone." Herrior stated.

"There are other Draenei here? How? The only survivors were the ones that were on the ship. The Broken that you speak of are actually distant ancestors of ours…why would they fight you?" Icis asked in confusion.

"Female Draenei, do not talk!" Garrosh commanded.

"Her name is Icis, and she is one of us!" Herrior said raising his shield and sword. His group followed Herrior's lead and assumed attack positions.

Garrosh started to laugh. "Steady your group Herrior. I will not fight a King's ambassador."

"A lot has changed Garrosh. Don't be so quick to judge a race. Did you also know that the goblins have chosen to fight along beside us as well?" Herrior said still in a defensive position.

Garrosh let out a quick laugh and shook his head and said, "Maybe it is the end of the world…" walking away. Herrior lowered his weapons, and slowly the rest of his group did as well.

"We have the situation under control. We feed and raise our young and fight off our invaders. People are allowed to go outside of town with an escort. We used to commune with the elements themselves on a daily basis. Now they are angered and will not talk to us. We don't know why. The Throne of the Elements north of our city, the major elementals have asked us to leave and not to return. They have not threatened us, and we have seen them fight off the elemental invasions that occur once in awhile. So again, we don't have any information to report – simply because we don't know. It would lead to many questions and confusion, scared citizens, and doomsayers walking and preaching their words of doom." Garrosh said. Herrior again nodded listening closely.

"What do you suspect is happening…person opinion." Herrior said.

Garrosh threw his powerful axe on the ground, the head of it digging deep into the ground. "I'm not scared of any of these threats. We have made allies, we have made enemies. Sometimes our enemies become our allies. I don't have opinions, just facts. Forming opinions and guessing leads to bad leadership, and people dying. I would personally like to summon several groups and purge this land, claim it for our King and all of the resources for him!" Garrosh said and then sighed as he saw a dwarf walk up to Herrior. "Scram will you! We don't have time for your hunting group nonsense!"

"Ah, but these fine fellows might want to earn a bit ol' gold perhaps? Hemet Nesingwary is the name, and who doesn't need some extra coin these days, eh?" Hemet said.

"If Garrosh doesn't want you around, I would advise you to leave as quickly as you came." Herrior said letting out a small growl. Herrior's group sensed the tension in their leader's voice and slowly formed into an attack position.

"Now hold on here. I mean nobody any harm. I travel the world, hunting big game and…"

"You kill animals! You have a hunting group that you have and you pay people to help you hunt animals!" Quinely said angrily getting into Hemet's face.

"Hold on there missy…" Hemet said with a smile but was interrupted again.

"I am a druid! I commune with these animals, and you hunt them for sport? What have they done to you?"

"One of them attacked me, almost took out my eye! I want its head!" A brown and white male tauren said.

"It was probably protecting itself or its young…You savages! I should kill you all where you stand right now!" Quinely said and morphed into her lion form. She let out a loud roar and began circling them.

"She's gonna attack us, ready your weapons men!" Hemet said.

"You heard the man…ready your weapons…" Herrior said and launched a loud battle cry. Jacklyn followed up with hers, as the hunters and warlocks summoned their pets.

"She's an animal! She can turn on you! She can command the animals to attack you; she is not one of you!" Hemet said. Quinely let out another fierce growl as she started sticking her claws out and retracting them back.

"Garrosh, any objections?" Herrior asked.

"She's part of your group. If you attack, we will attack as well." Garrosh replied indifferently, causally picking his weapon back up off from the ground.

Hemet was considering his options as he saw that his group would be quickly overtaken by Herrior and his group.

"Ok…ok, let's just go our different ways shall we?" Hemet said with a smile. "No harm done, we came with a business proposition is all, nothing else. We will just head back to our camp."

"Your group has clothes made out of the skins of the fellow animals. I'm talking with a lot of them right now. Not only do you kill the adults, but you kill the children as well. You hunt mercilessly and without honor." Quinely said repositioning herself so that the group could not exit. "How many beasts have you slaughtered just for entertainment…just to look into their eyes and watch their last breath exit their bodies and then cheer at your victory over them? They pose no threat to you…but I do." Quinely said and lowered herself into a pouncing position.

"Herrior, we have gold and weapons…" Hemet said but was cut off again.

"So do we and what you have can be scraped off from the dead carcasses. You have angered one of my friends that I love; therefore you have angered me and my group that love her as well. The question now is how do you plan on getting by Quinely with all of your heads still attached?" Herrior said as he maneuvered himself on the opposite side of them, the rest of the group followed to block any attempt at a retreat. Quinely then stealthed herself, slowly vanishing from sight.

"What we do is control the animal population! There is nothing wrong with that! Diseases can spread and kill off more than we have killed!" Hemet said in defense.

"So heal them." Skyka said angrily. "You can't tell me that with all of the places you have been to, you haven't found or asked for any way to heal the animals."

Several tense seconds passed. Then Mohania spoke up.

"Is this the point where I create a distraction, all of them look at the distraction and then Quinely tears them to shreds? I'm not good with timing." His eyes lit up with fire.

"We have killed your kind as well, you abomination to life! Your kind needs to be wiped from the world and burned to keep you from coming back to life!" Hemet said and aimed his gun at Mohania.

"As an ambassador, I must take your words and set aside my personal feelings…but the kid inside me says to gut you and everybody you know." Mohania said with a smile.

Quinely suddenly jumped on top of Hemet and sunk her teeth into his neck so deep and with such power, that his head came off as if it were a blade of grass.

"Hold your weapons! This is Quinely's fight!" Herrior commanded. Quinely then started getting blasted by the weapons of Hemet's group and morphed into an enormous bear. She charged at them, knocking them all down and began swiping at them with unleashed anger.

"My money is on the bear…" Mohania said casually as Quinely thrashed and tore at the rest of the party until the last three of them were mere pieces of lifeless flesh.

Quinely then walked over to Mohania and said in a deep voice, "Would you ever bet against me?"

Mohania smiled, "No…but I just wanted to see if I could earn some coin on the bet."

Quinely morphed back to her normal self, wiped the blood off from her mouth and began fixing her hair.

"How do I look?" Quinely asked as if nothing had happened.

"If a male druid came wondering around, he would be extremely attracted to you." Lindel said with a smile.

"Ok…mom…" Quinely said rolling her eyes.

"Come on guys, we have a mess to clean up. Get their weapons, gold, and any valuables. Our first mission is to find their base, which would have been easier if you left one alive…" Herrior said glaring at Quinely. She smiled and casually walked away. "And kill the rest of them."

"One less thing we have to worry about." Garrosh said as he ordered his guards to help as well. "Feel free to kill any of our other enemies as well. We have enough trouble with the invading elementals." Suddenly the ground began to quake.

"Steady yourselves!" Garrosh ordered. The ground shook violently for several seconds and then stopped.

"Did anybody sense anything when that just happened?" Herrior asked his group. All of them reported nothing. Then he asked of anybody sensed the elemental attacks or any way that they could predict them. Again the answer is no.

"We've tried." Garrosh said in disappointment.

"We'll start doing what we can to lessen your troubles. We actually came here to rest and relax until we're called to duty." Herrior said smiling.

Garrosh chuckled. "Usually our guards sleep on duty and we take turns skipping rocks in the lake. Not anymore though, everybody is on full alert. We've even began to train our citizens."

"We'll see what's going on. We'll report back what we find." Herrior said as he summoned his dragon in his mind. A translucent blue dragon flew out of the skies as if it were there all along.

"A dragon?" Garrosh said.

"A lot has changed brother." Herrior said jumping up on his dragon. "Summon your dragons in your mind. They will come to you." Herrior said to the rest of his group.

"We are not fighters…" Herrior's dragon said quickly.

"I know, its ok my friend. No harm will come to you or your brethren. You have my word on that. If we have to we will jump off from you and engage in combat to keep you safe. The rest of the party's dragon's appeared and lowered their bodies so that they could jump on. They all began to flap very hard and took to the air and flew at tremendous speeds. Several screams of excitement came from Herrior's group came as they felt the enormous rush of air fly through their hair.

In a matter of seconds, Herrior saw what looked like the encampment of Hemet. There were animals being carved up, and skins being hung out to dry.

"Land twenty yards west of the camp, leave no one alive!" Herrior shouted and motioned his dragon to fly down.

"We will wait for you here." Herrior's dragon said. Herrior nodded. He pulled out his shield and sword and started thundering his hoofs towards the camp. The rest of the party was right behind him, except for Lindel who took on her banshee form and flew ahead of them.

The hunting party saw the party advancing quickly upon them and quickly started shooting at them. Quinely took on her bear form, and Herrior ran with his shield in front of him. The bullets hit them, but didn't cause any significant damage.

When Quinely and Herrior were close enough, they both quickly charged at the closest two and began attacking them. Then the DPS people in Herrior's group started shelling out as much damage as they could.

Lindel had possessed one of the women in the back. She was a female gnome. She made her drop her gun as she floated into the air screaming at the pain that Lindel was inflicting on her. The rest of her party turned to see what was happening, causing them to be mere target practice for Herrior's group.

"Salvage the armor, weapons, and gold. Heal any animals that you can." Herrior turned to the floating gnome and said, "Lindel, what are you doing hun?"

The gnome had the glazed over look in her eyes and flew down to the ground very gracefully.

"The numbers of animals that we have slaughtered are in the tens of thousands. They would kill the animal; sell the meat and the hides. Quinely was right. They would kill babies, some of them just born." Lindel said and then made the gnome explode into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

"They have no honor. Animals are free to do as they wish, not to be hunted down as a game." Lindel said.

Quinely yelled out. "Mohania! Burn the skins! I can't stand looking at them. Set this place a blaze! Burn it to ashes!"

Crystal started channeling fire at the encampment first. The rest of the group backed up.

"Hey, she said me!" Mohania said blasting fire at anything and everything. The smell of burning animals, human flesh, wood, and cloth tents filled the air.

"I'm going to be sick…" Quinely said and ran away to a rock edge and vomited. Skyka quickly rushed behind her and held her up.

Herrior turned to his group. "Do not kill any animals, unless they attack you first. Is that understood?" The rest of the group nodded. "A great many of them in this world will only attack if provoked, or controlled. They wish only to survive, raise their families, and find happiness until their bodies are returned to the ground. Obviously this greatly offends one of our members, so it should greatly offend the rest of us." Herrior said as he walked over to Quinely. She was sitting on the ground and had vomited again. Her face was white and she was very weak.

"I'm sorry that this happened. It will not happen again. We all love you Quinely. What do you need from us?" Herrior asked.

Quinely lay on the ground and closed her eyes. "What is the point…they did nothing to them. Many of the animals are talking to me. They tell me that they were curious about the humans and casually walked up to them. Then the slaughter…the slaughter…Herrior, the animals did not do anything!"

Herrior nodded and put his hand on her arm.

"The war isn't over. The Ethereals hunt the Eleeks, the elephant looking animals, simply for their ivory tusks. They cut off the tusks and leave them to die."

"I know what an Eleek is Quinely. We'll avenge them. It'll take care of another problem that Garrosh has been having. I'm sorry this is happening. Do you want to go back to the village while we take care of business?" Herrior asked gently.

"No!" Quinely said and pushed herself off from the ground, but quickly fell back to the ground. She let out a soft sigh.

"You know we'll wipe them out hun. It is probably best we take you back to the village." Herrior said picking her up.

"Their horns? Why their horns? They fight off other beasts and defend their young with them. They are not hostile creatures. My word I can hear their cries right now…many of them slowly dying…" Quinely said and started to cry.

"We'll get them. We'll heal as many as we can." Herrior said carrying her back to the village. The rest of Herrior's group followed close behind. Their dragons took to the air and disappeared, but told them in their minds that they could be summoned any time they needed them.

"If you can't heal them…" Quinely said stuttering in between her words.

"We'll do the best we can hun, you know that. Just settle your mind down, relax and concentrate on the moment. Right now you need to pull yourself together and regain your strength. You know we will avenge them." Herrior said looking into her eyes and smiled. She smiled back.

"If it helps any, I'll let you push me down." Mohania said. Quickly laughed a little.

Herrior looked up and saw that the town was under attack by humans in red tabards.

"Go! Engage them! I need to protect Quinely." Herrior commanded and the rest of the group took off on a dead sprint to meet the oncoming threat.

"I'm fine hun…go with them." Quinely said slowly.

"Don't forget who's in charge here." Herrior said smiling. He casually walked into the main hut of the village and laid her down on a mat. Quinely took a deep breath and began to snore after a couple of seconds. Herrior took up a defensive position right beside her.

"Dan and I will try to get threat, but we have no tank. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated." Jacklyn said as she drew her mighty blades. But Dan and Jacklyn threw their weapons at the two closest humans, causing them to turn at them. Their weapons flew back in their hands and met them head on. All three hunters commanded their pets to run into the heart of the battle and to get as much attention as they could. The hunters performed a misdirect spell to their animals and started blasting out bullets as fast as they could. Several frost traps were launched, causing the oncoming attacks to slow their advance, and even slip and fall to the ground.

Crystal casted her curse of weakness, and it quickly spread throughout the group. "I will drain their lives from them!"

"Easy on the threat hun, remember no tanks except for the pets." Mohania said as he began casting simple fire spells.

"Nobody get hurt, Lindel you main heal! Icis come up with me." Skyka said. The two of them ran to the very front of the bridge. Skyka whispered something in her ear and then they both started casting the same spell at the same time.

Suddenly two of the red tabard soldiers stopped what they were doing and started pushing their fellow soldiers off the bridge. The plan actually worked better then they hoped. The soldiers were flaying to grab anything, taking down several other soldiers with them.

Garrosh, who was at the front of the line, said "That's a neat trick." with a smile.

Once the soldiers knew what was going on, they would kill the possessed person and continue their advance. Icis casted her group shield and both of them started casting their prayers of healing. This attracted the attention of the oncoming soldiers. The hunters commanded their pets to go after them, but they were already swamped and had to be healed on a constant basis.

Crystal and Mohania both ran forward and began casting fear spells, once again many of them running off from the bridge and taking others with them.

"Scatter shot, concussion shot…more freezing traps. We need to slow their advance." Julie said.

Mohania unleashed a huge blast of shadow fury, causing a lot of damage and stunning them in place.

"I'm going to start seeding them with corruption." Crystal said and started casting the spell. As she released it, Mohania snapped his fingers and an infernal dropped from the sky and began attacking everything around it.

"Fine…I'll Bane of Doom everybody that I can. When your infernal dies, I'll drop mine." Crystal said.

"I'll do Bane of Agony. We need to work on our communication skills I think…" Mohania said smiling.

"Need some healing." Dan said in a weak voice. Lindel flew over to him and quickly surged power through his body. Lindel then did the same to Jacklyn. Lindel then turned into her banshee form and started sucking the life out of everybody within a fifty yard radius. She then summoned skeletons on the bridge to go attack.

Herrior's group, along with Garrosh's guards was now able to advance on the bridge. The hunters continued to heal their pets and cast fire traps in the middle of the attacks that exploded causing many of the attackers to burn.

Mohania's infernal burned up and fell to the ground as mere rocks. However many of the Bane of Doom's spawned several demons that attacked the oncoming threat. Crystal still casted her infernal spell in the middle of the crowd of attackers, causing massive damage.

Lindel had drew so much power from the people she was sucking the life from that she felt the raw power surge through her body once more. She vanished, and then instantly appeared behind the commander. He was on a horse directing his troops and calling in reinforcements. He was heavily armored.

Lindel talked in a small whisper that sounded just like his wife. He quickly looked around but didn't see her.

"Take off your helmet…I'm behind you…" Lindel said still invisible. The captain removed his helmet and commanded his horse to turn around and began frantically searching for his wife.

"I'm in here. I'm hurt. My leg is badly burned, I'm gonna die…" The voice was coming from inside one of the buildings.

"Paula…no, I'm coming hun!" The captain said quickly removing his armor and weapons. His soldiers grew confused and weren't sure what to do. The captain burst into the door and indeed saw an exact copy of his wife, badly burnt.

"The pain…it hurts! I'm going to die…I love you hun…" Lindel said in her voice but sounded very sad and upset.

"No…no you aren't. It's just a slight burn. Here I'll just heal you." The captain said and poured heal spell after heal spell with no luck.

"It must be magical…I don't know love…just finish your battle and leave me." Lindel said in her voice. She could hear the sounds of Strings playing his lute. She knew the song, in a matter of seconds the soldiers would be fighting each other. She wished she could see it.

"No, I just need to keep healing you…" The captain said. It was obvious to Lindel that he was a paladin, but had some weak healing spells.

After a minute, the sounds of battle from outside faded, but the captain didn't hear it.

"I…don't understand. You should be healed! I…I don't know what to do – please don't die on me!" The captain said frantically.

"All of your power is gone?" Lindel asked.

"Yes…let me go get another healer." Lindel dematerialized and slammed herself into the paladin's eyes with such force; it flew him back twenty feet. He was screaming and clawing at his eyes and head.

"I will control you, paladin! Lindel said in his mind as she shot pain throughout his body, causing him to have violent seizures."

"Leave him, kill everybody else!" Skyka commanded as the group separated and began aggressively knocking down doors and killing anything that moved.

"What is the meaning of this?" A man and two women came running out of a large building. They looked very powerful.

Lindel picked up the captain's body and advanced towards them.

"They have surrendered to us." Lindel made the captain say.

"Then why are all of our soldiers dead?"

"Details…" Lindel said and blasted a yellow bolt of lightning out of the captain's eyes into the man's eyes. Ten second later, he pulled out his sword and with a power swing, decapitated the woman to the left of him. The man regained control of his mind and realized what he did.

"No!" The man yelled and dropped to the ground.

"Blast him!" Skyka yelled. Everybody focused their firepower on the main. He created a shield around him, which was taken down by Dan after a second by carefully throwing his weapon at him.

"I cannot be killed!" The man yelled as the other woman began to flee. Lindel pulled out one of the captains knives and threw it at the woman. It landed in her neck and she instantly dropped to the ground in pain.

"You traitor!" The man said and sliced at the captain. It nearly split the captain in half. The captain merely smiled at him, as his body absorbed the sword. The man could not pull the sword out of the captain's stomach, and the rain of bullets and spells came pouring at him.

Lindel made the captain explode, which caught the man off guard, and then vanished. She reappeared behind the man where she met up with Trackolania. They looked at each other with surprise. But both continued to do their job. Trackolania sliced as fast as he could at the man, while Lindel sunk her teeth into the man's neck, spraying blood all over and sucking his life force out of him.

"I cannot die! I must defend Halaa!" The man said standing up and throwing Lindel and Trackolania to the side. Both Crystal and Mohania absorbed the power of a soulshard and released it into an enormous fireball, hitting the man right in the face.

"No! I cannot die!" The man said falling to the ground.

"You will die and I will feast on your flesh!" Mohania said. "Your town will burn! Your race will be wiped out!

The man got off a spell that quickly refreshed his health and he started to laugh.

"You have no idea what you are up against." He held out his hand and blasts of arcane bolts began hitting everybody.

Time stopped.

"Enough of this crap! Finish him!" Dan said running towards him.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jacklyn said enraging herself and taking enormous swings at him.

Trackolania regained his balance and was pissed. He quickly climbed up the back of him and gouged out his eyes. He then started attacking his spine in the back of his neck at speeds that could hardly be seen.

Strings played a song that speed up everybody's attack and casting speed.

Time resumed.

"I am…" The man said and fell to the ground in shock. His last words were "muffin", before he stopped breathing.

Garrosh ordered his guards back to the town, as Herrior's group stood there looking at him.

"Muffin?" Dan asked. "What a weird thing to say before death…"

"Ha! You think that's weird…" Mohania said, but was interrupted by Skyka.

"Don't get him started…you guys fought well."

"Why were they so hard to kill?" Branzer piped up, "I mean I know I hit one of their soldiers in the head seven different times before he dropped!"

"Some enemies are a lot harder than others. Don't let their appearance fool you. They are humans, like yourselves but they have been bred to fight." Skyka said. She looked up at them and said, "This is another good opportunity for you guys to learn that you aren't all powerful and must work as a team."

"I even had problems sucking the life out of them, and I was draining as hard as I could. That captain I think would have slaughtered all of us though – eh, maybe Garrosh could have tanked him. He had a big heart, no brain, and a lot of armor – the captain I mean. Seducing him was fun." Lindel said with a smile. "Love can be a powerful alley, or a dangerous weapon. In this case, he lost his life over it."

"Ok, fan out. Lindel create a portal to our treasure stores in Tranquil. Gather up anything that glows and gold. Start dumping our collections in there." Skyka said. The group did as she said, but quickly stopped after a couple of seconds.

"You guys hear the crying too?" Lindel asked.

"Let's go investigate. Branzer and Mohania follow us. Everybody else salvage what you can." Skyka said.

They all walked into a building and found a staircase the seemed to never end. It turned very dark, so Skyka created a floating light in front of them. Female voices could be heard trying to calm their children and babies down. They eventually got to a massive wooden door that stood between them. Skyka went to say something, but turned to Branzer and motioned for him to talk.

"Hello?" Branzer asked. Quickly a bunch of "shushing" came and everybody went quiet.

"We're not going to hurt you. Who is back there? Do you need any help?" Branzer asked. Nothing but silence came.

"We will leave you alone if you wish, but there is nobody left to defend you and your young. I am a human, just like you are." Branzer said. Several gasps and muffled crying started.

"Our base was attacked first, we merely defended ourselves. I will be honest with you; we left none of them alive. However if you stay here you will be killed by the elementals or other threats in this region. We will not kill you, unless you attack us – and I don't perceive you as a threat. Can we talk?" Branzer asked.

"Your murderers! You killed our husbands and army!" A female voice called out.

"We were provoked to attack, they attacked us first. I am sorry for your losses, but it is war. We can provide you with refuge to raise your young."

"You will kill us just like the alliance and the energy people will! Now the elementals are appearing out of nowhere. The earthquakes are becoming stronger! Our end is near; let us die alone with our families – or what's left of them, no thanks to you!" The female voice said.

"We are not alliance, or these energy people. I am an ambassador of Tranquil. We have provided refuge for many people of all races." Branzer said as the ground began to shake again for several seconds.

"Listen, how long do you think you will live down there? As an ambassador, I can grant you safe passage away from whatever is happening here. But I grow tired of repeating myself. You have my word that none of you will be harmed. You have one minute to decide and then we are leaving." Branzer said in a frustrated voice. Several muffled female voices began talking all at once.

Sounds of battle could be heard above them.

"You hear that? These creatures of the elements will spawn in your sleep and kill you without mercy! The earthquakes are increasing, you have no army…you have two choices: Stay here and hide, or take my word." Branzer said in a frustrated voice. "We have the power to destroy the door that stands between us, but we will not do that. Time is almost up; decide quickly the fate of your people…"

Slowly the locks of the massive door began to disengage and the door swung open.

"We will not possess you, we are not the alliance. We will not force you to do labor. But I warn you, do not attack us!" Branzer said sternly.

"I have twins in my belly. You have a voice of sincerity. Please help me." A woman came out. She looked and dressed like the rest of the soldiers.

"You will be given help, you have my word. All of you will be given help. But we must move before other attackers close in on our position." Branzer said.

"We have weaponry and armor. Some of them very advanced, as you could probably tell from the battle. My name is Gloria. Can we negotiate?" The same voice that had been talking to Branzer said.

"I'm not interested in that. To be honest, most of it has probably already been portalled to Tranquil. Come, all of you, quickly." Branzer and held out his hand. Gloria turned around to the group of women and children and nodded.

There were seventy women all together, and thirty children. They all ran up the stairs and saw that the group was still fighting the elementals.

"Skyka, Mohania, Lindel – go engage and help. I will stay here and defend them." Branzer gave the order for his scorpid to carefully watch for anything coming around.

"The elementals are getting stronger, and we don't have a tank…again." Dan said slicing away at a rock beast as fast as he could.

Skyka let out an enormous prayer of healing spell; Icis had already created her group shield and was healing as needed. Skyka smiled at her and began her healing as well.

Branzer laid down several frost traps and held his position in front of the women; his scorpid ready to attack as soon as any of them came in his direction.

"We have been taught to fight." Gloria said.

"Be my guest." Branzer said, getting off several shots. Gloria hesitated and stayed with the rest of the women.

After a minute of fighting, the elementals were subdued.

"I have a thought. With the earthquakes, could it be disturbing the elements and summoning them?" Dan asked.

"Unlikely, they usually just keep to themselves. This is very abnormal for them to be doing this. But that was a good question." Skyka answered. "If I were to venture a guess, there are some cultists behind this. Stupid bastards play with power that they can't control. Some things are better left alone. I imagine that is how the portal was built to bring in Balnazzar. Idiots worship the demons and bring them into worlds that promise them power, most of the time the demons absorb their life force and wonder the worlds looking to consume more power."

Gloria looked at her funny. "That is the same thing we think. We thought it was your race and the Draenei summoning them in. Our theory was if we destroyed both of your races it would stop the attacks."

Skyka shook her head. "We're trying to figure it out as well. It's happening all over this world and many other worlds as well. We are doing our best to put a stop to it or at least try to figure out what is going on. Trust me, when Branzer said you are safe, he meant it."

Skyka saw that all of the houses had been ransacked of their gold, armor and other equipment. Gloria sighed.

"I'm sorry, but this is what we do. We have to strengthen our forces. It's like when we first met the Draenei, they tried to barter with us as well. We don't do that. All of your needs will be met in our city, afterwards you will have the decision to stay or go wherever you wish." Skyka said as Lindel closed the portal.

"Lindel, can you portal these people to Tranquil." Skyka asked. Lindel came running over.

"You will be detained at first. No harm will come to you, but we need to know your intentions before you are released. All of your needs will be met, including delivery of your babies." Skyka said as Lindel started channeling her power into forming a portal.

"Your power is amazing…" Gloria said in awe.

"Just doing our job, there is nothing spectacular about what we do. War is not something to brag about." Skyka said motioning them to go through the portal. They all started piling through, except for Gloria.

"There is a creature south of our land. He is a dragon killer. He is enormous; we have called him Durn the Hungerer. We have witnessed him slay many dragons and all attempts to engage him have failed." Gloria said.

"We will find him, as well as the Ethereals and any cultists that get in our way. Go; take care of your children and your friends. You'll find that our hospitality will surprise you." Skyka said with a friendly smile. Gloria smiled back and entered the portal, shutting itself behind her.

Out of nowhere, Quinely fell from the air and landed on Mohania, slamming him into the ground.

"Miss me?" Quinely asked with a cheerful smile.

"For crying out loud woman, can't you just announce your presence without knocking me to the ground?" Quinely kissed him on the forehead and got off from him.

"That wouldn't be as much fun." Quinely said.

"Nice to see you are feeling better." Lindel said with a smile. Herrior landed his dragon and was quickly briefed on the situation.

"Ethereals first, then this dragon killer. Let's move." Herrior said and began to run towards their encampment.

They crossed a bridge and spotted their village. Many of them were examining jewels, the horns that they sliced off the beasts, and precious necklaces. One of the Ethereals saw them and walked out to greet them. The Ethereals seemed to be made out of pure electricity, no facial characteristics. They had body armor and each carried a one-handed sword that shot electricity out of it.

"Greetings, potential customers! How may we assist you?"

"Rumor has it you slaughter the Eleek's in this area simply for their ivory tusks." Herrior said continuing to run at him.

"We also collect expensive rocks, necklaces from the ogres in the area. They bring in a great deal of wealth. If you do some simple tasks for us, we may look on you favorably and perhaps reward you as well." The Ethereal said.

"I have a friend that objects to you killing these defenseless animals, and I think we need to put a stop to that." Herrior said, almost in range to begin his charge.

"For a price, we will do anything…but we collect quite the bounty for their tusks. They are just a beast, who cares. Although if you can match our competitors price…"

Quinely morphed into her bear. "I'm a simple beast…and you should care!" Quinely shouted and charged at the Ethereal. Herrior charged him as well. Both of them began striking fiercely at him, and within seconds his body discharged its electrical current holding it together and just his armor fell to the ground. Herrior and Quinely continued to run forward. Herrior threw his weapon at an unsuspecting Ethereal, knocking him to the ground. Quinely casted an instant spell that lowered his ability to withstand attacks. The announcement was made by the Ethereals that they were under attack, however as soon as the rest of Herrior's group caught up, it was a quick slaughter. There were only about twenty Ethereals all together, even the strongest one only put up a fight for a small time before being overcome by the massive firepower of Herrior's group.

"Destroy those portals! Gather up all of the valuables, Lindel create another portal for us." Herrior commanded as he started swinging as hard as he could at the three different portals in the camp. This time the portals fell quickly. The group knew how to attack them from the previous portal they tried to destroy. The gem cracked at the top of the portal and shattered after several attacks. They did the same attacks with the rest of the portals.

Strings started to open the chests and boxes within the camp and gasped. "Herrior, look at all of this! It's probably worth one hundred thousand gold pieces… I don't know who they were dealing with, but they were turning quite the profit!"

"Portal all of it. I look forward to attacking this dragon slayer." Herrior said as if unimpressed. "Quinely can you fly ahead and locate it?" Quinely morphed into a raven and flew overhead.

"I'm glad we got the portals destroyed before any of the other blasted Ethereals summoned for help, or left. Just like the pesky goblins…always wanting gold and people to do their hard work for them." Herrior said.

"Aren't we supposed to negotiate with other beings first?" Dan asked.

"Not when they attack us first. The dragon that we were commanded to kill did not attack us, it could have killed Trackolania but it didn't, also it could have killed me but it didn't. You have to use your intuition as best as you can. Avoiding attacks is always best. But if somebody hurts our race, we slaughter them. Should I call you 'Dan the future ambassador'?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"No, just curious." Dan replied.

"Summon your dragons and help Quinely locate this beast. My guess is that we have quite the battle ahead of us." Herrior said calling for his dragon in his mind. It landed beside him as he mounted it and took flight.

"Spread out, but do not engage him." Herrior said and took a heavy dive to the right. He saw the devastation that the beast had made. Unfortunately he also recognized several of the Dragonflight's dragons dead on the ground. Several boulders had been smashed from the mountains, and the bones litter the ground. Deep holes were made in the ground where it looked like he had stomped his foot or slammed his fist. The rest of the group did the same. They quickly flew for miles in a circular direction. Soon the three hundred foot beast was located. Herrior sent a message to Lindel to mind link everybody.

"I don't think we can take him alone. Everybody form up where Lindel is." Herrior said in his mind. Herrior's group all steered their dragons into Lindel's direction.

"I'll main tank it. Quinely you tear the shit out of him." Herrior shook his head. "I don't know guys. Your opinions?"

Everybody was quite as they witnessed the enormous beast chewing on a dragon's wing. Three other injured dragons were off to the side.

"We need to get him before he gets to those dragons. Are they part of the Dragonflight?" Skyka asked.

"I'm too far to tell. I did recognize several of the dead dragons are part of the Dragonflight. Ysera will not be happy…but we have to kill him before he kills anymore. Should we summon another group?" Herrior asked. The rest of the ambassadors let out a sigh.

"That's not an answer!" Herrior said in a bitter tone. "What do you think our odds are against him, and should we summon another group?"

"If he is able to take down a dragon, does that mean he is more powerful than us?" Branzer asked.

"No! We've taken down many hostile dragons. Since he's as large as he is, he probably isn't able to be stunned. I'm going to be taking a beating, Skyka – Icis, do you think you can keep me alive?"

"I think between both of us we can." Skyka said.

"Want me to heal or do my banshee tricks?" Lindel asked.

"Probably your banshee tricks. Piss him off as much as you can, but don't get hurt. Strings slow down his attacks. I'll do as much mitigation from his attacks as I can, I will not be doing a lot of damage. The question still is do we need another group? I want everybody's thoughts on this!" Herrior said sounding annoyed.

Trackolania shook his head and began applying poison to his daggers.

"Well if the rogue is in, I'm in." Mohania said. "I'll do curse of weakness if you want to do curse of elements Crystal."

"Not a problem. I don't sense any magic from him…but I could be wrong."

"No, I don't either." Lindel said.

"Ok, let's take him. I'll do commanding shout and demoralizing shout. Jacklyn you do your thing. No screwing around on this battle. If it doesn't look like you are doing damage, do another attack. By the looks of it though, he is probably susceptible to any attack. Redirect all of your threat abilities to me, and I'll get his attention. After ten seconds, everybody let loose. Follow me." Herrior said and directed his dragon to fly to the right of the beast about fifth yards and landed.

"Disarming obviously isn't going to work. He doesn't have a weapon so don't bother with that." Herrior said hoping off from his dragon and sending it away. "Give us our buffs and let's do this, also don't be afraid to talk it out."

Quinely casted her spell on the group as well as Skyka. Herrior began to run, but at a pace everybody could keep up with.

Durn heard the approaching fighters and sat down his dragon. It moaned in pain.

"Pesky little bugs interrupt my meal!" Durn said and then Herrior charged him, throwing his weapon at him and slamming his shield into him. The first several attacks Herrior deflected easily and then did his demoralizing shout, which made his enemies hit not as hard, and then performed a thunderclap, which slowed his attack speed by twenty percent.

Then Herrior got hit. It looked brutal, but Herrior turned around and started performing his devastate on Durn, which lowered his ability to absorb damage. Herrior performed several more strikes and then yelled out for everybody to focus their misdirection's on him and begin engaging him. The battle had begun.

"Should I stop time?" Dan asked running up to him and began slicing away.

"I would not advise it. I have sense demons approaching before when time was stopped. They have since gone away." Mohania said as he began casting his fire spells and chaos bolts.

Trackolania and Quinely snuck up behind him and launched a mighty blow to Durn. They both hit as hard as they could, but it seemed like a mere scratch. The poison did take its effect from Trackolania's blades, and they both were able to make the mighty beast bleed.

Strings started to play a song that instantly caught Durn's attention. He stopped fighting for a couple of seconds and stared at him.

"Don't piss him off Strings!" Herrior said slamming his shield into Durn as hard as he could and landing several more mighty blows.

After ten seconds Durn shook his head and began slamming his fists at Herrior. Herrior was able to deflect many of them, but took several direct hits.

"I'll get him first." Skyka said and began healing Herrior.

Gun shots rang out in the air, almost sounding like three machine guns together. All three of their pets had engaged Durn as well. Julie enraged herself and Spark every minute to produce more damage. Dan and Jacklyn enraged themselves as often as they could to do as much damage as they could as well.

A full minute passed and Herrior was trying to deflect as many attacks as he could. The longer he was in battle, the stronger his attacks became. "Talk to me guys!" Herrior said.

"He is not immune to bleed effects." Quinely said as she saw that she and Trackolania had created deep gouges in his legs.

"We've got him bleeding too." Branzer said. "I'm waiting on a lot of cool downs right now, but still doing as much as I can."

"He isn't immune to shadow or fire." Crystal said. "Our curses are up Herrior, other than that we're just hurting him as much as we can."

Suddenly Durn jumped up in the air and landed on the ground, knocking everybody backwards. Herrior quickly recovered and charged back at him, continuing the attack.

"Get up! Icis, start group healing! Skyka are you doing?" Herrior said feeling another healing spell go over him.

"Not bad. Recharging my mana a lot faster and I am landing a lot more critical heals than before. I'm doing my job, you do yours." Skyka said.

Everybody started doing what they could to help heal themselves while continuing to attack, so it was easier on Icis.

Lindel transformed into her banshee form and flew up to Durn's eyes. Durn's attention was focused on Herrior as she began to channel a spell at him. It made him miss his attacks about twenty percent of the time.

"I think that is the only thing he can do. His normals attacks, and knock everybody backwards. Estimation on how much health he has left?" Herrior asked.

"He barely looks hurt hun." Skyka said. In the background Strings was playing a song that also made Durn not attack as fast.

"Don't hold anything back guys, I have control over him. A couple of misdirection's once in awhile would be nice." Herrior said. Suddenly an explosion as loud as a cannon going off came out of Bernett's and Branzer's gun. Their attack hit Durn so hard that they could actually see the bullet piece his tough skin.

"Do that again!" Herrior commanded.

"It takes awhile to build up. Trust me Herrior; we are doing as much as we can." Branzer said and continued firing his weapon.

Another minute passed and everybody that could enrage themselves to do extra damage did so. By now, Crystal and Mohania had shattered all three of their soul shards and fired their massive fire spell at Durn. Crystal was now just putting her damage over time spells on him, and draining his life as fast as she could. Her hellhound was taking bites out of Durn as well.

"I have to lifetap. Don't heal me." Mohania said. He drained a lot of his health to turn it into mana and began launching his fire spells at him again. "Crystal, let's summon our Doomguards. The Infernals I think would hurt our group too much. They both instantly casted the spell and ordered them to attack. The Doomguards fired shadow bolts at Durn, while both warlocks continued to cast their spells. After forty five seconds, both Doomguards died.

Suddenly Bernett and Branzer's guns sounded like two massive machine guns going off at the same time. They were pummeling Durn as fast as they could.

Durn let off another stomp, sending everybody backwards. Herrior once again got back on his feet and began knocking down his ability to withstand physical attacks with his devastate ability, and slamming his shield into him as hard as he could.

Skyka activated her new Chakra effect and started casting the healing spell 'prayer of healing'. After several of these, the entire group was back at full health. Afterwards she did her instant cast healing spell that slowly healed Herrior every two seconds.

"That's a neat trick." Herrior said. "Icis, can you group shield us?"

"I did last time. The shield broke almost instantly. It can only absorb so much damage."

"Icis, switch me spots. I need to recharge. Don't let my husband die." Skyka said with a smile. Icis ran over to Skyka's spot and quickly performed her specialized healing spell called "Penance". Afterwards she just casted her "renew" spell, the instant casting one as often as need.

Skyka quickly absorbed magic from the air and into her body. She then started reciting a hymn that restored everybody's mana. Six seconds later she was at half of her normal mana.

"I can do that again in five minutes." Skyka said.

"I can do that every eight minutes." Icis answered back. "I have Herrior for now if you want to continue group healing and recharging yourself." Skyka nodded.

The fight continued for another ten minutes. Durn was starting to show signs of getting worn down. Every minute or so, Durn would jump in the air and slam on the ground, causing everybody to get thrown backwards. After the ten minutes were up, Crystal and Mohania summon two more doomguards to attack Durn.

"Obviously we're going to be at this for awhile…" Herrior said as he took another blow to his shield from the enormous brown one-eyed monster. "Ranged dps, are you as far away from him as you can be?"

"Yes Herrior…" Crystal said sounding annoyed as she continued to cast her shadow spells that blasted the beast's mind and drain the life out of him.

"And we know we are doing damage to him. Attacking for this long I know what to look for now. The gun, uh, for lack of a better way of explaining it, tells me how much damage I am doing." Branzer said.

"We are all doing just fine. We can take him, it'll just take awhile." Skyka said. She had taken over healing Herrior while Icis recharged her mana. They were both taking turns reciting their hymns to group heal and refill all of the magic users mana.

"What do you want me to do hun? I can float here and disturb his mind, causing him to occasionally miss you like I have been, but I cannot do anything else. I feel worthless up here. I can do several recharges if needed, but it'll drain my power." Lindel asked.

"What are the other dragon's thoughts over there that are being held captive?" Herrior said as he took a direct hit to his chest piece. Irritated, Herrior kept hitting at him and trying to deflect as many of his attacks that he could.

"The one he was chewing on is dead. The red one thirty yards on our left is thinking we are lunch and wants to devour us. It's pure evil. The pink one is laying down, merely watching…wait give me a second." Lindel said and stopped channeling her power into Durn. With Lindel not causing him to miss as much, Herrior took on more damage.

Strings stopped playing and the beast started swinging faster at Herrior. He blocked as much as he could and activated his shield wall as often as he could to lessen the damage.

"I've only got a couple more songs in me before I need a break…" Strings said. The healing demand on Herrior had just about doubled, but Skyka was keeping up with it.

"No problem Strings. Use your best judgment. What's going on Lindel?" Herrior asked dodging an attack, and then launching a quick attack in return. It hit its target, but again hardly looked like it was doing anything.

"The pink one's mother is dead, just behind us a couple of yards. They were both under demonic control until Durn captured them. He is young still; he was excited to see that we were coming to destroy the monster before it devoured him…but now he is losing hope. He also wanted to know Icis's name for some reason. He said that the others like here in this area are all hostile." Lindel said back.

"My race is not hostile! Herrior you saw my race, did they attack you? All we want is to live in freedom!" Icis said back as if insulted.

"Alright you two, Lindel if you are done talking to the dragon could you come back over and give us a hand?" Herrior said deflecting another attack that let out a resonating "gong" as Durn's fist hit his shield.

"Sure thing" Lindel said in her sinister voice, and continued to blast Durn's mind. Durn resisted at first, but continued to swing at Herrior in a fashion that looked like he was half drunk.

After a minute, the warlock's doomguards died.

"I'm running out of power, I'm going to disengage to change my spells and summon my succubus." Mohania said as he began to run backwards. He changed his spells to the same as Crystal's and summoned his succubus. He then reengaged Durn. The succubus stood close to the healers and tore out pieces of skin and hair with her whip.

"Ok, draining my life. Don't heal me. I'll have my power back after the first couple of casts." Mohania said. He performed several "Life taps", draining from his life but giving himself a lot of mana.

"I still have curse of elements, or was that you?" Mohania asked.

"I have curse of weakness, you have curse of elements." Crystal said as she continued her cycle of spells.

"Right, I was just testing you." Mohania said as he recasted his curse on Durn. He then started casting the same, almost instant cast, spells as Crystal was cycling through.

"Does anybody need a break?" Herrior asked. Nobody replied. Suddenly the loud cannon sound from the hunter's guns, followed by their guns once again sounding as if they were automatic machine guns.

An hour passed and they all followed the same routine. Durn's shin's were bleeding heavily now, and Durn began losing his balance.

"Icis? Skyka? How are my two favorite healers doing?" Herrior said continuing.

"We're still talking back and forth. Giving you everything we have hun. Holding up as well as you look." Skyka said looking at Herrior with concern.

Strings had stopped playing and was drinking to parch his throat. "Give me five minutes and I'll get back in the battle." Strings said sounding exhausted.

"No problem my friend." Herrior said dodging an attack.

Durn finally became frustrated with all of the attacks on his mind and started flailing his arms around his head, as if he was being swatted by bugs.

"I still have control over him. Keep the damage coming." Herrior said as he slammed his shield into Durn's shin. This time a loud crack came. Herrior checked his shield quick to see if he had broken it, but Durn had let out a loud yell and finally fell down backwards.

"Get out of the way Track and Quine! Move!" Herrior yelled as both of them sprinted away as Durn fell backwards.

"I'm going for his head…keep up the damage!" Herrior said and threw his sword at Durn's head. Herrior then jumped up on his leg, run up his chest and charged towards his head and smashed at his chin with his shield. Regaining his sword he began his attacks.

"Everybody – to the right side of him, watch his arms and legs moving. We're going to aim for his head and target that. Hopefully we can prevent him from getting back up." Skyka said as the rest of the party ran a big circle around him.

Herrior heard Skyka's plan and tried to buy them some time. He jumped up and with both hands, drove his shield into Durn's neck as hard as he could. Then he quickly ran back to his chest and began striking at him to maintain Durn's attention on him.

It worked. Durn's eyes lit up as both of his arms flew to his neck and he started gasping for air.

"Aim for the neck if you can!" Herrior said continuing to hit his chest. Trackolania and Quinely both crept up on him and launched a vicious attack at it, ripping off a good several feet of flesh. The hunters quickly aimed for the opening and fired as quickly as they could. The warlocks continued to assault Durn's mind with their spells and then draining his life as quickly as they could.

"Can Jacklyn and I go to the other side of his neck? There's no room for us here?" Dan asked. Herrior hesitated for awhile, unsure what to say. Meanwhile the two of them just stood there, along with the warlock and hunter pets.

"No, attack his stomach right below his arm. Stay together." Herrior said. Jacklyn and Dan both threw their weapon at the spot. The weapon came flying back towards them as they engaged their spot, along with the pets.

"His mind has weakened! I'm going in!" Lindel announced as she dematerialized and flew into Durn's eyes. Durn instantly stopped what he was doing and laid his arms and legs down at their sides. The melee group changed their target and started attacking his arm instead. Durn let out several violent shakes as Lindel attacked his mind. Durn then lifted both of his arms and pulled up on his head as hard as he could. His muscles flexed as much as they could; blood vessels were popping out of them.

After Durn was able to rip his head off from his neck, and his body went limp.

Herrior jumped off from his chest and ordered everybody to gather up. They all walked over to Durn's decapitated head and watched Lindel come back out of his lifeless eyes. She looked exhausted.

"I couldn't access his mind until he was severally weakened. His mind started concentrating on the pain and essentially allowed me access into his head. He had a very low tolerance to being controlled…" Lindel said breathing hard.

"Somebody catch me…" Lindel said as she fell off from his head. Skyka immediately casted a levitate spell on her as she gently floated into Branzer's arms. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Awfully big coincidence that I floated right into your arms…" Lindel said shooting Skyka a look. Skyka smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Is he dead?" Herrior asked still waiting for something to happen.

"I think so. I don't believe he has to power to bring himself back to life." Lindel answered back. "We should kill the evil dragon and then speak with the pink one. The Dragonflight s might be interested in him."

"Let's go people! Our battle isn't over yet!" Herrior said racing towards the aggressive dragon. The rest of his group began running after him.

Herrior charged the dragon and actually stunned it. He then began slamming his shield against the dragon's face and launching several 'devastates' to lower the dragon ability to repel physical damage. Herrior then stunned the dragon again, giving time for the rest of the group to catch up.

The hunters and the warlocks began attacking first as the melee attackers continued their run up to it. The dragon did not react well with the damage coming at him at all. It tried to hide its face against the attacks, but Trackolania and Quinely both crept up behind him and launched a series of deadly blows against him. The dragon let out a roar and fell lifeless within a minute.

The pink dragon stood on his feet and asked, "Are you going to kill me as well?"

"Should we?" Herrior asked. "What are you intentions?"

"I don't want to be here anymore. With Durn killed, the demons will eventually find me and enslave me again. Can you try to bring my mother back to life?" The pink dragon asked.

"What is your name dragon?" Herrior asked.

"I wasn't given one; nor was my mother. Please free me, I promise not to hurt you." The dragon said. Lindel was analyzing every word the dragon said.

"He's no threat." Lindel finally said.

"If you do attack us, we'll kill you just like the other dragon – do you understand?" Herrior said.

"I understand." The dragon said.

"Skyka, go try to resurrect his mother. I'll contact the Dragonflights, everybody else break those chains and then keep an eye on him.

Herrior took out his hearthstone as it vibrated violently for awhile. This time a different ambassador answered.

"Herrior, I am honored by your presence. How many I assist you?" The ambassador said in a pleasant, yet scare voice. Herrior guess the other ambassador had suffered a cruel fate.

"I have a rogue dragon here that is fairly young. We don't know his name. He is pink in color and can speak in our common language. He was going to be eaten by Durn the Hungerer. We are trying to resurrect his mother right now. Do you have use for another dragon?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly! We welcome all dragons. I'll have a portal opened at once." The ambassador said enthusiastically and closed the portal.

True to his word, within seconds several heavily armed dragons appeared and looked over the pink dragon.

"You have killed a dragon slayer. Well done. We wish to take his head as proof of your deeds. As for the dragon you found, he is not a fighter. But he is welcome to come.

"I got her!" Skyka yelled out. The pink dragon's body slowly rose from the ground as Skyka began casting her most powerful heal spells, one after another on her.

One of the armored dragons walked over to Skyka and began to speak to the dragon's mother.

"Are you under demonic control?" The dragon said suspiciously.

"No…no my mind is free. I'm confused…I thought I died."

"You did. I brought you back to life. I used up all of my power to heal you as best as I can. You dragons are hard to heal." Skyka said with a smile.

"Where did you come from? Are there others like you in this region?" The armored dragon quickly asked.

The mother dragon stood on her two feet and pointed west. "Reth'hedron the Subduer, he is enslaving many creatures. He has an active portal and travels in and out as he wishes. Many demons protect him."

The armored dragons sliced opened a portal in mid-air. "Travel back to our world. Your needs will be attended to there. You and your son will be safe. We will go destroy every demon over there." The armored dragon walked over and picked up Durn's head and gave it to the pink dragon.

"Take this with you. Tell them Herrior's group killed him and freed you." The ping dragon took it in his mouth and both of them entered the portal. It shut itself as soon as they entered.

"We will take it from here. We are again in your debt for saving our kind and destroying this foul beast. We will put in a good word with your King. But first, duty calls." The armored dragon said. Both dragons flapped very hard, almost knocking everybody backwards from the wind. They soared into the air. A brief moment later they could hear the brief battle. A loud explosion came; Herrior assumed that was the portal being destroyed. And then wailings of the demons being slaughter. Then a loud "I will have my vengeance!" was screamed before the dragons tore the demon to shreds. The demons both let off a loud laugh and then disappeared.

"Well fought. Let's rest." Herrior said sitting on the ground.

Everybody sat down and everybody tried to talk all at the same time, as if trying to defend the fact that they were trying their hardest to kill him.

Herrior raised his hand for silence and then sighed. "You all did well. Calm yourselves. We've had battles that lasted longer than that. I have confidence in all of you. The war is over…relax yourselves and your minds.

"Permission to speak?" Quinely asked.

"I know what you are going to say young one." Herrior looked at her and smiled. He nodded his head.

"Look, I know all of you are meat eaters. I'm not ok with that, but I've accepted it, ok? Don't be offended if I walk away while you eat. I'll summon the ones to you that you can slaughter for food. That way it doesn't upset the balance of nature. Just so we are clear. What I do not like is people killing animals just for the fun of it. If you are attacked by an animal, defend yourself. Ok?" Quinely said as if she wanted to get that off from her chest for a long time now.

"Same with me and corpses, I only eat the ones that attack me, that way I don't upset the balance of nature as well." Mohania said. Quinely reached over and pushed him to the ground.

Everybody nodded.

"Icis, I believe you want to say something as well?" Herrior asked.

"There can't be corrupt Draenei here. We are a peaceful race. I want to see it. There…there just can't be. That is not who we are. We are fighters, yes. But not corrupt. That would be like saying your orcs at that town that we were just at are corrupt." Icis said.

"Icis…many of our races are corrupt. Orcs, trolls, goblins…the list goes on. We have fought many of our own kind before. Love keeps us together. Power and greed leads to corruption. That leads to demonic empowerment and hatred towards all races." Herrior said softly. Icis continued to shake her head.

"Settle your mind Icis. Arguing with yourself will not help. Let us rest and then we will go talk to them." Herrior said laying down his sword and shield.

Branzer's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and put his head in the portal.

"Are you an ambassador?" Branzer acknowledged as he saw two upset goblins.

"Fine, settle this argument for us. He found a ring in Gnomeregan that he thinks he should have, but it would benefit me more." The goblin started listing the statistics of what the power of the ring did, and then the other goblin started in.

"Silence! Both of you!" Branzer said sounding upset. "What happens to all of the treasure that we find?"

"It goes to the King's treasurer chambers." The first goblin said.

"Yes it does. All treasure goes there, and that how does it get distributed?" Branzer asked, actually unaware of the whole process himself.

"The armorsmith's and weaponsmith's hand out the armor and weapons to the first groups, and then they decide what goes to the second groups." The goblin said still upset.

"So what you are telling me, in your own words, is that you want to keep the ring that you are supposed to give to the King, for yourselves and not tell him? Essentially stealing from him and the people of Tranquil? Is that what you are telling me?" Branzer asked. Suddenly both goblins looked surprised at him.

"No?" Both goblins said at the same time.

"Shall I contact the King personally and tell him that you would rather hide the treasure you found from him and keep it for yourselves? How do you think he would react to that?" Branzer said in a stern voice.

"That…isn't necessary…" The goblin said and tossed it into the portal with the rest of the loot.

"So far, we have to settle this argument. The treasure is safe but now we have the problem of you two, and you both admitting that you would rather steal from the King than follow protocol!" Branzer said. "What do you think we should do?"

"Umm…didn't think about that. It won't happen again." The goblin said.

"Nope, not again." The other goblin replied back.

"This is still considered potential theft from our kingdom and from the King's treasury. Do you know what the punishment for that is?" Branzer asked, again not knowing himself.

"It was a mistake. We messed up. Please I beg you, do not tell the King!" The goblin said.

"You just wasted my time over a rule you already knew! Pass the word along; I will personally take inventory of everything that was retrieved. If anything is missing or unaccounted for, I will find you two and we will discuss this personally with the King. Is that understood?" Branzer said.

Both goblins agreed and apologized again. Branzer pulled his head out of the portal and shut it.

"Do races normally argue over treasures they find?" Branzer asked. Herrior started laughing.

"You would be surprised how many trivial issues are brought to your attention." Herrior said and then smiled at everybody. "Get some sleep everybody that is an order."

The next morning everybody woke up to several large brown birds picking at Durn's dead body.

"This should be enough food to last them a good month." Quinely said smiling at them. "It'll give a chance for the other animals in this land to prosper as well. Nature will balance itself out…nothing wrong with giving them an extra helping hand though. Beautiful aren't they?"

"They sure are. We did well here hun. Their predators are destroyed and they have plenty of food." Lindel said walking over to her and giving her a hug.

"Do you guys feel the peace that has come over the land? The sense of fear in the animals is gone." Quinely said in a pleasant voice. Nobody else knew what she was talking about, but gave a moment of silence anyway.

Bernett's hearthstone started to vibrate. He pulled it out of his armor and Samatha appeared. She looked very excited.

"We're done with our attack! It was fun actually! A lot of the King's secondary groups were summoned to get a sense of what a battle was like. I didn't do a lot of healing, but I did what I could! I'm with Jeffery right now. We're both doing fine. How are you?" Samatha asked.

"Little worn out. We have a couple more stops we have to do and then we'll be heading back." Bernett said smiling at them.

"Ok, we love you and miss you." Samatha said holding up Jeffery.

"Love you too." Bernett said and closed the portal.

Skyka was grinning and about to say something when Bernett's hearthstone vibrated again. He looked at it funny and raised it up.

"Umm…hello? Is there an operator with this?" The Lieutenant asked looking all around the portal that he had created.

"Lieutenant, stick your head in the portal…" Bernett said rolling his eyes. Suddenly the Lieutenant's head appeared.

"Oh? Oh wow! Where are you guys! Look at this place…" The Lieutenant said looking around. He looked at the enormous dead, decapitated head and said, "What was that?"

"You only get one use out of your stone per day, and we have things we need to get done…" Bernett said impatiently.

"Right. There have been three different supposed sightings of your Godzilla beast. When we sent an officer to investigate and they haven't found any sign of it." The Lieutenant said.

"Lieutenant. We have better things to be doing right now then going on several supposed sightings. If you know his location, contact us immediately and we will confront him. Now is there anything else?" Bernett said.

"Two things actually. First of which is there has been a mass gathering of people that simply call themselves "The cultists". They do devil worship or something. We've arrested a couple of them, but got no additional information out of them. They aren't breaking any laws so we can't stop them." The Lieutenant said quickly.

"Interesting…" Herrior said pondering something.

"Ok what's the next thing?" Bernett asked.

"I killed a teenager last night, a boy probably only about fifteen years old. He came to my door about seven in the afternoon. I opened it and his eyes were beaming red. I made polite conversation with him, he didn't respond to any of it but I invited him in. After he came into the house and I shut the door, my guess is that he knew I was somehow immune to his, conversion process or whatever, and started frantically searching through the rooms for something. I quickly chased him down and put two bullets in his head. Bernett – it didn't even faze him! I ended up shooting four more directly in his head before he dropped. Several seconds later he burned up and disappeared." The Lieutenant recalled.

"Good, one less that we have to kill. Also if you didn't have your minds protected you would either possess everybody you knew or going on a killing spree. You did the right thing. My advice is getting a bigger gun, keep several around the house, and have your wife carry one as well." Bernett said.

"What do we do with the ones that we have locked up?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Sometimes our locks are faulty and the power goes out doesn't it Lieutenant. No telling where they went if something like that were to happen. Or perhaps during transport the vehicle has an accident, and they escape. Stuff like that has been known to happen. Sometimes they overpower our guards while trying to feed them and put our men in danger so we have to put them down…" Bernett said with a smile.

"I get your drift…sooner the better huh?" The Lieutenant replied. Bernett nodded.

"Keep an eye on those cultists! Let them do their little song and dance. If something happens that doesn't look normal, and by that a demon or something ugly appears, contact us immediately. But for now keep track of where they meet and when. We'll take care of them when we are done here." Bernett said.

"By the sounds of it, they won't need a court appointed attorney…" The Lieutenant said softly.

"You don't need to know if you don't want…anyways we have to get going." Bernett said.

"Ok." The Lieutenant said. A couple of seconds passed.

"Sir, pull your head out of the portal…" Bernett said.

"Oh…" As soon as he did the portal closed. Bernett put his stone away.

"These cultists are amassing everywhere. Something isn't right. Anybody's thoughts?" Herrior said as the ground began to shake again.

"There have always been cultists in our world, but not to the degree that the Lieutenant was talking about. Our country has freedom of religion." Dan said.

"That's horseshit!" Herrior said quickly. "Sorry, different worlds…" Herrior said after a second.

"A Draenei!" Icis shouted and ran towards the road. Herrior was right on her heals as well as the rest of the group.

"Stand your ground woman! We are doing our patrols! If we are not back within ten minutes, we will assault your base!" One of the male Draenei said.

"I'm one of you! Look at me! My horns, my tail, my color, my accent, it's all the same as you are. You are Draenei aren't you? What are you doing out here?" Icis asked.

"You're a spy and you have amassed an army to slaughter us. War will be fought between us!" The male said.

"I'm not a spy, I'm one of you! What's going on? We're not going to attack you!" Icis said unsure of what was happening.

"Then leave us be. We will report your location and if you are still here, we will lead a group to destroy you." The male said angrily, turn his face away from her and began marching away.

"What happened…I don't get it…" Icis said in a slow shocked voice.

"I'll make their heads talk…" Mohania said shooting fire out of his hands and closing in on their position.

"Mohania…" Herrior said firmly.

"I was going to use the word 'please'." Mohania said turning back around with a big grin and fire shooting out of his eyes.

"No…what's wrong with them Herrior? They…are not like us. I mean when we crashed we saw you and sensed you had good intentions about you. They are bitter! That's…not us. I don't…Herrior…" Icis said completely confused.

Herrior walked up to Icis and hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. "Many of our races have turned on us, like I said before. This group has turned on you. It hurts, but it's the reality of the situation. You may be called upon to kill your own kind."

"That's not my kind…" Icis said looking at them walking away. "My people are not like that, Herrior I swear! Don't think…" Icis said.

"Calm yourself hun. None of us think any differently of you. Let's fly. Summon your dragons and let's head back to Garadar." Herrior said as his dragon appeared.

As they flew back, they notice that the terrain had altered. The earthquakes were taking its toll on land.

When they arrived back in the town, everything seemed different. There were several guards, not guarding the perimeter of the city, but protecting the inner building.

"What has happened?" Herrior asked.

"Garrosh left, Geyah died along with many of our other shamans that commune with the spirits. I am a descendent of Geyah, my name is Ella. We were attacked, wave after wave of the elements. Garrosh's thrive for power and blood fury over whelmed him. He forced some of the cultists that fought with the elements to take him to the source of the attacks. I took command."

"Why didn't you summon for help?" Herrior said angrily.

"We don't have a hearthstone! Garrosh took our only one. The remaining orcs are only here because they didn't let their blood fury overwhelm them!"

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador.

"We need another hearthstone!" Herrior demanded. The ambassador quickly looked around and grabbed one and gave it to him.

"What's going on? All of our primary groups are fighting these cultists and elements. They are appearing out of nowhere." The ambassador asked.

"We have nothing more to report than what you just told me. The human's planet, Earth, has many cultists gathering as well. Is the alliance being attacked as well?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, even the demons as our scouts are reporting."

"What! Then who is behind these attacks! Is the city safe?" Herrior yelled into the portal.

"Nothing can make it through our city defenses. A portal of elements spawned inside the inner wall, and everything that came out of it was destroyed instantly. Our city is safe. A lot of our allies have called for help, so we started sending out groups. The elementals are not that strong, and no causalities have been reported as of yet. The groups are recalled as soon as the threat is over. Every town has strengthened their defenses though." The ambassador replied.

"Tell the King Garrosh vanished, and Geyah, the mother of all, has died." Herrior said.

"He knows. Many leaders of our towns have abandoned their posts to force the cultists to go directly to where the battle is. They are considered outcasts of our city and not part of our forces anymore. New leaders have been assigned. Hundreds of our towns and allies are secure, except for the planet that Branzer is the ambassador of." The ambassador said.

"We're on our way there now. Contact us if you need additional support." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior gave the hearthstone to Ella.

"Strengthen your defenses. We are being reassigned and have to leave. Don't be afraid to call for help if you are overwhelmed. Avoid leaving town and barricade it if you wish. And by all means…do not abandon your people! You are the new leader, hold your ground! Leaders from all over our towns are leaving their posts to fight this thing and they have been labeled as traitors. If they are found, they will be killed on sight. Ask for more weapons if needed. Shoot any cultists on sight." Herrior said. He turned to his group.

"We should never have left Earth. I have a bad feeling…we never should have left…" Herrior said with a worried tone.

Lindel opened a portal and began channeling her power into it. Herrior's group left and arrived at Branzer's house.


	13. Rise of the Cultists

Rise of the Cultists

Herrior's group arrived with two teenager's sneaking around the house. They looked at the portal and everybody coming out of it. They both panicked and fled for the backdoor. Branzer and Bernett pulled out their guns and instantly shot a bullet at then, knocking them to the ground and putting them in a daze. They both walked up to the teenagers and began roughing them up.

"What are you doing in our house?" Branzer said and slammed his fist with his mail-linked glove at the boy's face. His nose instantly broke and shattered several of his teeth. Suddenly Branzer's gem dropped from his coat.

"That's my Ametrine!" Branzer said and landed another punch in his stomach that broke several ribs.

"Please…we'll call the cops…" One of the teenagers said.

"We are the cops you idiot! You broke into an officer's home! Show me how!" Branzer threw his teenager to the ground, kicked him over to his stomach and then picked him up by the neck. He was screaming and crying in pain.

"Tell me, or it will hurt much more!" Branzer said.

"Upstairs! We have a ladder…outside. The window was open and we saw the glow of the gem. We were curious is all..." The teenager said. Branzer pulled out his gun and shot the boy in the foot. He erupted in a scream as the bullet passed right throw it.

"I was curious if that hurt…did it?" Branzer asked. The teenage boy shook his head up and down.

"Is it just you two?" The teenager shook his head again. Branzer turned to Quinely and she nodded her head.

"Now, how should we kill you two?" Branzer said throwing his teenage boy against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Bernett dragged his teenager over by the other one. They were both scared out of their minds.

"You have seen things that don't belong in this world. You have seen creatures that don't belong in this world. If word gets out, it would put us in mortal danger…and I'm tired of being in mortal danger!" Branzer yelled.

"Please…I'm gonna die…I swear…" The wounded teenager said.

"We won't tell anybody. We promise!" The other boy said sincerely.

"Herrior?" Branzer asked.

"It's your call. I would have killed them already myself…this is sacred land, and they defiled it." Herrior said.

"Lindel, can you go clean up the mess. Make it look like their entrance never happened. Wipe away any traces of any shoe of finger prints." Branzer said.

"We usually call it 'cleaning up after ourselves'…but yes my love, I will get on it." Lindel faded from her human self and looked to be just a floating image of what she used to look like. She casually floated through the walls. This amazed the two teenagers.

"You know…I'm tired of this ambassador decision making. You two have already made a mess in my house, bleeding all over the place. I've got to clean it up now." Branzer said. Skyka snapped her fingers and all of the blood stains instantly burned up. This terrified the teenagers even more.

"This isn't the first time we've had to 'clean up after ourselves'…" Skyka said with a smile.

"Bah, I'm going to grab a beer. Bernett, want one?" Branzer said.

"I do!" Strings said.

"Ok, I'll get two for us and a six pack for our flute player. Mohania can you finish being the ambassador in this situation. I need to sit for awhile." Branzer said walking away.

Mohania smiled and walked up to the two teenagers. He pulled his hood back, revealing his skeleton head.

"You think you were in pain before…you do not know pain, but you will!" Mohania said and started laughing sinisterly. The teenagers started pleading for their lives, but Mohania quickly reached forward, dislocating their jaw, smashing several teeth and ripping both of their tongues out.

"Don't want to attract unnecessary attention with your idol screaming…" Mohania said as he began to flap the boy's tongues up and down.

"No we don't…" Mohania mimicked the teenager's voice exactly, right down to his urban accent. Mohania than threw the tongues in his mouth as fire shot of his eyes. He slowly leaned forward and laughed very slowly in a deep evil voice. The teenagers clung to each other frantically. "What part of you…should I slowly digest first…?" Mohania said right in their faces.

"Mohania quit playing with your food. I need the humans to report to the police office and start investigating as much as you can. I'm going to send out Lindel to scan some of the leads. Quinely you'll fly around and do the same. The rest of us, including mister sinister over there…" Herrior said quickly pointing over his shoulder at Mohania and then continued, "Will start randomly walking the streets and talking with people, get their general feel. Perhaps even find a cultist or two. Do not kill them, anybody. Bring them back here to be questioned."

A loud crack of a bone came from one of the teenager's and the sound of Mohania chewing out loud could be heard.

"Seriously hun…chew with your mouth closed. There are ladies present you know, show some manners." Crystal said.

"Sorry…" Mohania mumbled as he swallowed a piece of the lower leg bone.

"We'll start first thing tomorrow. At sunrise we'll investigate, and meet back here at sunset." Herrior said.

Lindel flew back into the room and rematerialized and said, "It's as if they were never here. I even wiped traces of them from their parent's minds a mile down."

Branzer took a sip of his beer and then said, "You know, this is another thing that a couple of months ago I would have been freaked out by, a skeleton eating two humans. Now I look at it as if it were a picture on the wall."

"Want some?" Mohania asked looking at him. Branzer held up his hand and shook his head.

"Now, does anybody need to discuss anything – or should we go outside to give Mohania some privacy." Herrior asked.

"I don't mind." Mohania said with a long piece of intestine hanging from his mouth.

"Actually…I think the Lieutenant is still in the office." Branzer said setting down his beer. He picked up his phone and dialed his number. Sure enough he picked up.

"Glad to see you are back in town." The Lieutenant said.

"We'll be here for awhile. Has anything new turned up?" Branzer asked.

"No new bigfoot sightings. The cultists are taking on a new role, they are acting friendly and just wish to spread the news about the end of the world coming and how to prepare for it. There's a meeting tonight that I was sending some officers to." The Lieutenant said.

"Where and when?" Branzer said scrambling for a pen. He wrote down the information and stated that all of them would be in the office tomorrow, then said his good-bye.

"The cultists are trying to recruit new people, tonight at a fairground. Several officers are going, but…" Branzer said looking around.

"Dan, Crystal – feel like going to a party tonight?" Herrior asked.

"Let me finish my dinner…and I'll come too." Mohania said in a muffled voice and then swallowed.

"No, I think they can handle it. Give them time alone as well." Herrior said.

"We're on it." Dan said as he followed Crystal out the door. They took Julie's car and drove thirty minutes to the place.

"What…no beer tent?" Crystal said shutting her driver's side door. They had left their armor back at the house and were wearing normal clothes. Dan's blades however were on his back, invisible to the naked eye.

They were welcomed by several normal looking people. They were constantly looking around for alliance controlled people, but didn't find any.

Both of them were given a small pamphlet and asked if they had any questions before the lecture started. They both shook their heads and found a seat inside of the enormous arena inside of a tent. The announcer was already speaking, most of which was just pleasant talk and slight humor to put everybody at ease while everybody found a seat. Ten minutes later the lecture began.

"Welcome everybody. My name is Fred, simple enough name to remember. I am part of an enormous movement to help prepare people for the end times. Now, now…this is nothing to be scared of. I am not some doomsday person you find on the street. Years and years of research and studies, along with biblical predictions and other prophets have verified what we know now. I am not asking anybody to sell off any of your worldly goods, or to join a group, or stock pile weapons. I am here just to inform you of what we have discovered and use the knowledge how you see fit. Do we know the exact day/time/minute? Of course not… But just so you know, this and other TV and radio ads are sponsored by us. We do not want donations, we do not want people running scared and looting. We merely want to present our facts and let you come to your own conclusions. Some of you will want to join us in our research and studies, most of you will forget what we said today and go about your daily lives tomorrow. This is fine. As promised free drinks and snacks are currently being passed out, and in thirty minutes time you can go about your business or stick around and have a bonfire with us, entirely up to you."

"Notice he didn't say the world 'cult'?" Dan whispered to Crystal. She nodded.

Fred continued. "My friends, as you all recall many groups have predicted the end of the world, Waco Texas for example. Another example is a group of people taking off their shoes, expecting to jump on Haley's comet to be whisked away to another world. Another group drank tainted kool-aid – even forcing it down their children's throats. Everybody but the leader was killed. This is ignorance, and groups being led by fear. This meeting is not about that. I am not here to scare you, I'm not asking you to take off your shoes like the airport security does – but the drinks that are being offered does have sugar in them…too much of it and it'll rot your teeth." This made the crowd laugh.

"No, this isn't about any of that. At any time if you don't feel comfortable, feel free to leave. We are holding these seminars all over the country just to make people aware. Now then, time for the big speech." Fred said smiling. He seemed to win over the crowd and seemed very calm in front of a large audience.

"Many of you have heard of the predictions of Nostradamus and the Mayan Calendar signifying the end of the world on December 21, 2012. Other cultures have it narrowed down to the hour. Believe what you will, but we believe it will be sooner. It is human nature to want to know the future especially when there is a hint of mystery involved. If you are a Bible Scholar you want to know how current events are beginning to fulfill biblical prophecies. We use actual data to predict events that will occur in the near and long term that don't necessarily have to coincide with prophesy. In fact we prefer that data stand on its own as do the resulting predictions without any biasness to prophesy. Socially, there is a group currently recruiting for an American Jihad. They are using a very prominent social website to do so. Anybody may be or become part of this movement. This has been proven by the press and we have several websites that prove that it originates in the U.S. and people are responding to them by the thousands, whose IP address originates in the U.S. They are known as "Sleeper cells". Even the military acknowledges them, but they won't acknowledge what happened at Roswell, New Mexico." Fred said and started to laugh. He waited until the crowd calmed down and then started again.

"I'm not going to frighten you with what you already know. There are wars, terrorists, famine, diseases, droughts – all of which is predicted in the Bible…but all of that has been going on all of these years. We are lucky to live in a country like ours. We have many privileges and freedoms that we fought hard for and continue to battle for. That being said can I have a round of apologize for our fighting men and women in this world?" Fred said and started clapping along with the crowd.

"I don't see where he is going with this." Crystal whispered to Dan.

"You all have a television in your home, you all have access to news stories – you don't need me to repeat them to you. I'll admit most of them are fear tactics into giving their stations more ratings. But if you report on the good stuff, nobody will watch it. There are a lot of good Americans, hard working Americans that do a lot of good stuff from day to day. However have you noticed that a lot of the news shows focus on 'people's opinion's'? Sure they are well educated, but it is merely their five minutes of fame. The biggest news stories are which celebrity is marrying who, and who is cheating on each other, and who is engaged…leaving out what is really happening in this world. Tune into an unbiased radio station, tune your TV's to Europe's news, buy subscriptions to newspapers around the world. Take your eyes off from these famous people and open them up to what is happening in the real world. It would shock you." Fred said and then began to name off several channels to watch and suggested several newspapers written in English to have shipped overseas.

"While we are donating food and money to the Red Cross and other organizations, the supplies never arrive to the people that need them. They all have to be inspected by the government of that country. Even the civilian workers have to be padded down, and their vehicles thoroughly inspected. Talk with some of them; get their impressions on how much food and supplies actually reach the starving children. It would shock you." Fred then named off several different websites that gave testimonials of what he was talking about. He referred to the pamphlets everybody had.

"Everybody knows about the two main wars going on right now, because we are winning. But listen to the television programs across seas, read their newspapers, read the international news articles. There are so many wars in our world today, again not to drive fear into you, but to make you aware. As many of you know, several missiles have been fired from our land at apparently 'nothing' in the sky. Ever wonder why that happened, or why we have missiles in your backyard. Why we are pouring billions of dollars into our military? As many of you know, our debt as a nation is out of control. And what happens when you can't pay your mortgage? You get evicted from your home. How long do you think the other countries will continue to loan us money until they say 'enough'? Many countries are already doing that, some of them are reducing the amount they give us, and some are making threats to get the money back. Again don't take my word for it, look it up. The internet is a powerful tool of knowledge. The websites I gave you are only a small piece of information – do a search and look it up for yourselves. Also while you are at it, look up the average wage for a senator in Australia as compared to one of ours. Also look up Presidential speeches that they make as well as many European countries. They are uncensored. If somebody yells out a question or a remark, it isn't erased – they respond to it. Many of you saw Prime Ministers being grilled by his own people, lasting for hours about certain topics. He was sweating bullets and gave honest answers. Many of the Prime Ministers and other Presidents say 'I made a mistake, this is what I am doing to fix the mistake – I'm sorry'. How many times have you heard that from our President? Never, there is never anything wrong with our President, he is always right, he always has the right answer even before the questions are asked, he is always shaking hands with leaders of other nations that we are at war with; both smiling and posing for the cameras as if nothing was happening. Again, don't take my word for it – look it up for yourselves." Fred paused for a second and looked serious.

"So why am I telling you all of this? Because ignorance is bliss. We are forming a large group, not to over throw our government, not to attack anybody, not to ride some comet to another world…but to prepare our families and each other for the up and coming next world war. How was world war two started? A mad man wanted supreme power and killed anybody who got in his way. How was it ended, but a bomb so powerful that it wiped out miles and miles of anything living? Now there is talk of a lot of nations have the same bomb, and bombs stronger than that. If and when this next world war starts, it will be disastrous. Our best guess is that it will take a week of fighting before nothing is left of this world. Our government knows this; there is fallout shelters strategically placed for the cabinet so that they will survive. What did we all do back in our schools when we were young? Hide under our desks…how many of you thought that was stupid! A wooden desk is going to stop nuclear fallouts…" Fred took a minute to let this sink in.

"What we are doing is locating old mines. Deep shafts in the Earth's crust used for mining ore, you might be surprised how many of them there are around. Wooden buildings will be annihilated, but the nuclear fallout will only reach three inches into the soil. How many of you knew that? Also how many of you know that the 'dreaded predictions of nuclear winter' is also a fable? God made the planet to recharge itself, even if our free-will messes it up. There will be floods, fire, famine, earthquakes – all of which will be normal. We as a country exploded two nuclear warheads in the ground. This was actually on the news. One of them was on a fault line, unknown to us at the time. It sent a shockwave a hundred miles up the fault line and caused an entire city of three thousand to instantly fall into the ground. That part you may not have known about. We have scientific proof that the ozone layer is rebuilding itself; there are numerous studies that the polar ice caps are melting on the edges, but strengthening themselves at the core. You need all of the facts." Fred started really getting into his speech now.

"Did you know that insects, animals, fish have all been bombarded with radiation? Some die, but many walk away as if nothing happened. What happens when a volcano explodes? Its power is stronger than that of any bomb we can make! Afterwards new life springs up and grows, much faster than what you may realize. Forest fires destroy hundreds of acres of land. Eighty percent of the forest fires are put out by rain, did you know that? Then scientists move in after the fire and are shocked as to how much plant and animal life has survived. This world will live on. We escape the initial blast and restart life." Fred said and quieted his voice.

"I know what you are thinking…who is going to lead, myself? My leaders? We have no intention of leading, but to help. If you don't need help, then once again you are free to leave and do as you wish. No certain ethics, or religion, or organized officers will be enforced on you in anyway. We were put here to live. The Eskimo people living in the extreme cold north and south of us won't be affected by this at all. They survive by working together for their community, without money or favors. Just like the Indians that were once here, they did their job to help each other out. They often traded…I don't know…feathers for a beaver skin or something, but it was a mutual agreement." Fred said with a smile.

"What he is saying makes sense so far…which makes me uneasy." Dan whispered to Crystal.

Fred continued on, winning the crowd over with living in peace and harmony, without rulers and living like the pioneers did back in the day. The simple plan was to hide underground for a week at the most and then continue with their lives. Then Fred said something that scared Dan and Crystal very bad. The audience was so entranced by his speaking skills that they didn't even think twice about it.

"We know of a land, a city if you will, that has tremendous power and everybody lives in harmony. Just like in the biblical times, there were giants in the land but they were promised the land. And with some help, they over threw the giants and lived a very bountiful life. We are in the process of gaining access to this city; we will call it Tranquil – meaning peace and harmony. With some help, we will over throw the creatures living there, just like in the Old Testament stories. We are not asking you to be warriors, of course not, but merely participants in a ceremony that will lead us to victory." Fred said. The audience didn't even flinch as he talked about great and power forces sweeping the city and purging everybody, so that they could claim the city for themselves.

"How did we go from fallout shelters, to launching an attack on Tranquil and have nobody notice?" Dan asked quickly. Crystal looked at him very worried. They both knew they were talking about summoning demons to destroy the town.

"They already had one in the world roaming around somewhere. If they summoned more, who knows what would happen. It might explain all of the cultists and earthquakes happening all over…" Crystal said softly.

"Perhaps the earthquakes are disturbing the elements, forcing them to attack." Dan whispered back.

"As he said, these meetings are being held all over the country. I can only imagine what damage they have caused already." Dan added.

Fred continued for another ten minutes and then received a standing ovation when he was finished. Fred smiled and bowed several times and thanked them all for his time.

Dan and Crystal made their way to Julie's car as casually as they could and drove off. Crystal drove up and down several streets, taking dangerous turns and running red lights; carefully observing that nobody was following them.

Dan pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Herrior.

"We're in deep shit…" Dan said in a worried tone. He then quickly described what just happened.

Herrior closed the portal and turned to his group. "As Dan put it, we're in deep shit…and I have no idea how to stop this from happening. Crystal's vision was right; we have to be here right now…so make yourselves comfortable. I need to send a message to the King."

Dan and Crystal eventually arrived back at the house. They looked worried as much as Herrior's group was. They all stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Ok, let's stick to the original plan. Julie you come with us because you know the land here better than we do. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a cultist leader and infiltrate their organization. Killing them here and there will not stop this from happening. Everybody sleep, if you have any visions or dreams that seem odd – tell all of us in the morning." Herrior said. Him and Skyka walked outside and lay down on the grass. They both let out a big sigh.

"I don't have a good feeling about this my love." Herrior said.

"We will die with honor, and I will meet up with you in Heaven if it comes down to it." Skyka said.

Herrior nodded. "Good night my love."

"Yes, have a good night also my love." Skyka replied.

The next day Quinely and Lindel flew off into opposite directions in the air, Quinely in her bird form, and Lindel as an invisible ghost. Dan, Crystal, Bernett, and Branzer all showed up to the police station. The rest of Herrior's group had disguises put over them by Mohania as they all walked out to realize that all of the vehicles had been taken.

"Should we go buy a bigger vehicle today?" Julie asked Herrior.

"I hate those things anyways…let's just walk." Jacklyn said stubbornly. "Sure they get you from place to place faster, but they stink and they are not designed for Herrior's and my size."

"Let's do that, put all of your pets away. Julie where is the main part of town. I want us to go there and observe. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves, and by that I mean Mohania don't do anything to draw attention to ourselves. Lead the way Julie." Herrior said.

Skyka turned around and blew Mohania a kiss. He didn't seem bothered either way.

Julie led the way for several hours and then identified the name of the town. It meant nothing to Herrior's group.

"Mohania, how long can you hold up the disguises for?" Herrior asked.

"About three hours before I have to start draining my life to recharge my mana. Your disguises will fade for a couple of seconds before I can get the spell back up again. My radius on the spell has increased, but it still takes a lot of power to do it. It would be easier on me if everybody didn't wonder off to far…" Mohania said in a slightly upset voice. Herrior nodded.

"Spread ten yards apart, gather whatever information you can and report back every hour. Let's casually walk north." Herrior said.

Herrior turned around to start leading when a man ran up to him and said "The end of the world is coming!"

"Where did you hear that?" Herrior asked calmly.

"It's everywhere…look at all of the signs! Man it's everywhere…do you have any cocaine on you by any chance?" The man replied.

"Move along buddy, unless you want some trouble." Herrior said in his deep tauren voice.

The man panicked and fell backwards. "Holy shit man! You are one of them aren't you! The end of the world is here! What is it you command of me my master?"

Julie stepped forward and said, "I am a police officer and you are obviously stoned, then you just tried to buy an illegal drug from another officer. I can make a call right now and get you locked up for a very long time. Then when the drugs wear off, you'll realize that the end of the world is not coming, but that a court date is coming and you'll be put away for a very long time. We all have a complete description of you and what just happened…"

The man interrupted, "No…no I'm sorry ma'am officer…I'm just…not…I didn't sleep well last night is all…I'll be on my way if that's ok?" Julie pointed ahead of her and the man ran away.

"I don't understand your race." Herrior said quietly.

"Neither do I." Julie said with a smile. "But then there's a lot about your races I don't understand either, so I guess we are equal."

Herrior let out a chuckle and began walking. Everybody followed about ten yards behind each other, very slowly while trying to take in any information that they could.

After walking a block, Herrior saw that there was a right illuminated hand on the other side of the street. Not knowing what it meant, he kept walking. A small Sedan slammed into him from the right side. The Sedan's front end was instantly smashed, as Herrior pulled out his sword and shield and proceeded to tear pieces of the car's front end apart.

"Herrior Stop!" Julie yelled. The owner of the Sedan got out of his car and ran in the opposite direction.

"Put your weapons away, you are attracting attention!" Julie said softly running up to him. Herrior did as she asked.

"Ok…let's move along quickly and pretend like this never happened." Julie said in a hurried voice. They all quickened their pace until they were several blocks away. Julie led them down an alley with a falling apart boarded fence at the end.

"Herrior, if you don't mind, let me lead. That car wasn't attacking you, you broke the law. And for crying out loud, how are the police going to explain how the engine block was torn to shreds and thrown all over the street!" Julie said nervously. Julie sighed and looked away. Herrior shrugged and looked at Skyka.

"Mohania, can you give us new disguises? They are going to be looking for us." Julie said. Instantly their old disguises vanished and they all looked like Mexican tourists, except for Julie. Julie rolled her eyes.

"What should we do Julie?" Herrior asked softly.

"Just…let me think ok?" Julie said quickly. She took and deep breathe and looked at Herrior. She started to laugh because Herrior looked like a twelve foot weight-lifting Mexican man.

"Ok…it's almost noon and all we've seen and heard is nothing. Should we start asking around?" Julie then got excited and said, "Yeah, pretend like we are tourists and ask if there are any points of interests or shows going on. That might pull in some leads for us."

"These people are weak, let's just start randomly beating them until we get the information we want." Jacklyn said.

"I like her idea." Mohania said quickly.

Herrior glared at them.

"Hold on for just a second." Julie said shaking her head and walked out to the end of the alley. She saw a small crowd had formed around the accident and one of her officers had begun clearing traffic.

"What's going on?" Julie asked. The officer looked at her for a second as if she had seen her before.

"I'm Julie; I work in your station. I'm one of the latest additions to the force…"

"Oh, right. Sorry the Lieutenant said he assembled a special task force and not to ask any questions. Apparently you guys have done some serious investigating work. You are the one that used to work for the secret service and a covert spy for our government. I pictured you older though." The officer said shaking her hand. "Officer James Thachet, pleasure to meet you. The Lieutenant constantly keeps everybody updated on our war on the streets. Some of the things he describes that you guys do are nothing short of amazing." Julie looked at him weird.

"No, he doesn't give details…your missions are safe. But after you complete a mission it has astounding results! Your group is the reason why I am able to take my family to Disney world this year for Christmas…" James said with enthusiasm.

"Must be nice, we don't get a break. When we're not in the office we're on a case…working our asses off to get you that extra bonus. You don't know it but several of our people and their families have died while we do our 'missions', so if you don't mind…" Julie said glaring at him.

James immediately recomposed himself. "Sorry…I didn't know."

"And you aren't supposed to, so what's going on here?" Julie asked.

"Witnesses are claiming that somebody with a sword and shield tore this car to shreds." James said.

"Right, looks like a hit and run to me. Have you been hearing anything unusual in the area? Anything unusual in the car? Find the driver?" Julie asked.

"No ma'am. I haven't checked out the trunk yet, but the car looks clear. There's the occasional religious whack job claiming that the end of the world is coming." The officer said.

"Ok two things. I'm going to go open the trunk, look the other way. While you are looking the other way, find these 'whack jobs'. I need to go talk to them." Julie said.

"Yes ma'am." The officer said and turned around. A wrecker was in the distance and was going to tow the car. Julie raced behind it, pulled her gun out and let off a loud explosion as her shot hit the trunk's lock. The officer jumped as he looked back to see the trunk open.

The trunk didn't reveal anything unusual, spare tire, jack, old clothes and discarded junk.

Julie walked around to the front and said, "Trunk must have flown open upon impact, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes ma'am." The officer said.

"Now where are these 'whack jobs' that I need to go talk to?" Julie asked.

The officer looked at her with a confused look.

"Simply point and forget about it. We have a job to do." Julie said scanning the area.

"The two of them are together right now, across the street. Both are wearing brown robes…"

"I see them." Julie interrupted. "Have fun in Disney World and your vacations while we work seven days a week…" Julie said sarcastically as she walked towards the direction she had came from. She turned down the alley and saw Herrior's group.

"I found two doomsayers. They are spreading their end of the world message. They are wearing brown robes about a three minute walk in that direction." Julie said and pointed behind her.

"Let's get them." Herrior said and began walking.

They crossed the street and Herrior quickly located them and began walking quicker towards them. Luckily nobody was listening to them.

"My friends and I are very interested in what you have to say, can we go somewhere and talk?" Herrior said casually letting out a friendly smile.

"We have several meetings coming up, and you are more than welcome to come visit our seminars." One of the brown robbed men said handing Herrior a piece of paper. Herrior took it, but didn't take his glance off from the man.

"We have already been to the seminars, we want to help in any way that we can. What can we do?" Herrior said.

"Spread the word my friend." The man said smiling back at him. "Let other people know when the seminars are."

"We have a substantial amount of money and the supplies that were needed…" Herrior said quietly.

The men looked at each other for a couple of seconds.

"Oh…than I think we need to talk privately, I apologize…" The man said quickly and both of them started walking quickly down the street.

The two men started mumbling in a language Herrior didn't understand. Mohania quickly ran up to Herrior. Mohania pointed at them two, and then pointed to his illusionary ears. Herrior nodded and let Mohania lead. Herrior looked back at the rest of his group with a concerned look. They all knew what he meant. Skyka fell way behind everybody and pulled out her hearthstone.

Eventually they walked into an empty warehouse. The first man knocked on the door. A man on the other said something that nobody understood. Mohania walked forward and pushed the man out of the way, and then angrily started shouting out things in the same voice. The group quickly understood that they were speaking in a demonic tongue.

The two brown robed men stared at him with awe, and the door was quickly opened. Several people inside with guns moved made room for Mohania to walk and they all lowered their head in reverence.

Mohania walked in, with his group right behind him. The robed men walked in behind them and shut the door.

"Who is in command? Who sends out two babbling buffoons to do a simple task of recruiting and not recognize your demi-god? I want some answers!" Mohania said in common speak. Everybody quickly stared at each other and then looked at an elder gentlemen walking towards him.

"If you claim to be one of the demi-gods, prove yourself or you will die here!" The man said quickly.

Mohania dropped his illusion and engulfed himself in fire. The elder gentleman quickly dropped to the ground.

"You dare, question me! You want proof? I could kill all of you right now, would that be proof enough for you!" Mohania said his body still engulfed in fire.

"I'm sorry my demi-god. I take full responsibility for this…" The elder gentleman said, but was interrupted by Mohania sucking the life from him in a green beam of floating green skulls. Mohania stopped after two seconds. The man appeared to almost die from this.

"I'm sick of you all! How is the progress coming? How long until Balnazzar is recharged? Where are all of the portals that he promised should be completed by now?" Mohania yelled out.

"We are trying…we need more time…" The elder gentleman said, slowly rising off the ground. Mohania then started channeling circular rings of fire to radiate out from him and spoke in a loud demonic voice for about ten seconds. The hundreds of people in the warehouse began even more frightened; they stared at Mohania, wondering what their fate is going to be.

Mohania walked over and picked up the elder gentleman. "After I kill him, who is next in command!" Nobody said a word.

"Please…I beg for mercy…" The man said.

"I will tell Balnazzar personally about this, you know what he is doing to recharge himself…killing you know would be nothing compared to what he would do to you." Mohania said, completely unaware of what he was talking about. The man's eyes opened wide and nodded.

"Show me the plans, and show me your progress!" Mohania said setting the man down.

"Certainly, right this way…" The man said stumbling a little and then jogging over to a desk that looked to have several papers on it.

The man started explaining where Balnazzar was, where the portals were being placed, and an approximate count of their current followers. Julie made a quick mental note of all of the places

"Stop babbling fool! I don't wish to be told what I already know. How soon until he is recharged so we can launch this assault and where are the death knights!" Mohania demanded.

"Death knights?" The man said looking at him puzzled.

"Obviously you don't know everything, do you? Answer my questions!" Mohania yelled. Mohania recalled reading about the death knights in his ambassador journal. He asked out of mere curiosity more than anything.

"A week, I think...you have given us a lot to do in a small time period. We have twelve portals built and ready to be shipped right now. Another four can be done tomorrow…"

"No! We leave tonight! Assemble everybody and begin the mass exodus. Our enemies are assembling and Balnazzar is in trouble. With the portals, we can summon his legions to defend him while we continue to let him recharge. Call everybody, we leave now! I will meet you there." Mohania said. "The foul stench of your fear and transports disgust me. Let's go." Mohania turned around and walked out the door to meet up with a raven and a transparent ghost.

"Contact the officers, tell them to assemble at the house immediately. Julie I'm assuming you know this location?" Julie nodded. "We must attack immediately." Herrior said softly as they walked quickly from the warehouse.

"Contacting them right now." Skyka said pulling out her hearthstone.

"Dear. Do you think you should use that in front of everybody?" Herrior asked Skyka. Skyka quickly put the stone away.

"I'll do it." The raven said in Quinely's voice and flew on top of a building.

"Lindel – contact the King. Tell them we know the demon's location and we will need additional groups. Tell him three for now and that once we arrive at the location we will assess the situation and need the groups then. Tell him not to contact anybody in my group for the next hour." Herrior said quickly. The ghost nodded and suddenly became invisible. They all felt a big whoosh of air as Lindel left to do her job.

They walked for several minutes and all of them suddenly heard a woman screaming as she was falling from the top of a building. Skyka quickly casted her levitate spell on her. The woman stopped screaming and stared at the ground, only a mere foot from her. Skyka then slowly lowered her to the ground. The woman looked up and saw Skyka doing this.

Herrior let out a sigh. "Make it quick hun. Stupid humans… Everybody form a perimeter around this alley."

Skyka approached her and smiled at her.

"Am I dead? Are you an angel?" The woman said holding her stomach. She was obviously pregnant.

"Since you are talking to me and able to stand, I would say 'No' to both questions." Skyka said and walked up to her. "You look healthy to me, and I would say you have a youngling in your belly. I'm on a strict timetable; you fill in the rest of the story…"

"I have AIDS, if I give birth to him, he will die. One of my boyfriends raped me years ago and…" The woman said and then fell to the ground.

"You had a near death experience. Most people don't know how to react to that. I will cleanse your disease and restore your health. Afterwards, get a weapon. Defend yourself and don't let this happen again. Also go find a church human." Skyka said.

"Human?" The woman said slowly. Skyka held her hand up and the woman's body turned a faint purple with a small star starting at her feet and doing quick circles up her body. Afterward Skyka seemed satisfied, and then she casted an enormous healing spell on her. The blast from the holy light slammed into her body so hard it pushed her to the ground.

The woman slowly started to pick herself up and looked around. The woman that healed her was gone. Her body felt completely refreshed, all of her aliments were gone and she felt a playful kick in her stomach from the baby. "How?" She kept asking over and over.

Herrior's group arrived at Branzer's house. They met up with the officers as well as Quinely and Lindel. Julie spoke up.

"Branzer, we need maps. Silver Lake, Indiana. I estimate it'll take about eight hours to get there, does that sound right?"

"We don't have eight hours. Lindel get a lock on the area and portal us there."

"I can bring it up on my computer, come with me Lindel." Branzer said.

"Don't disturb us…" Lindel said smiling behind her as both of them ran up the stairs.

"The rest of you, suit up." Herrior said. Mohania dropped their disguises and all of them quickly changed into their new armor and cloaks.

"Pets?" Crystal asked.

"Bring them out. We are probably going to be fighting humans that are not possessed or alliance. I'm sorry I have to give the order, but Balnazzar must not gain his powers back." Herrior said.

"And an added bonus, the humans are sacrificing themselves, their families and friends to give their life force to the demon. The more we kill the less power he'll have. They all firmly believe he is god and they will be rewarded in Tranquil." Mohania said.

"Many times in our history, people have bowed down to gods – either demonic or self made idols…" Dan said.

"Which are demonic…but continue..." Herrior said.

"Yes, well. I guess my race is easily turned, there are a lot of events in our history that proves it." Dan said.

"More than what you might think hun." Skyka said smiling at him.

Icis sighed and said, "I guess that is what happened to some of my race as well."

"It happens. Listen up; only kill the humans that attack us. I don't want any humans to die that change their minds – that being said we'll all portal in directly above them, begin the slaughter and then gauge their reaction. Kill fast, and kill quickly. Everybody is to fight; no healing is to be done. Once they figure out what is going on, fear will then decide the fate of the rest of the humans. Icis, monitor our damage. Shield us if necessary, but continue the fight. Once the humans are dead or scattered, destroy the portals. Mohania, you and Quinely will monitor the beast. Mohania what is your impression of the beast's life?"

"I didn't get much of an impression from the human's. I know he isn't at full life because he wouldn't have all of these portals made, or convince all of the humans to sacrifice themselves to him. My guess is that he has enough power to scare or influence the weak-minded fools into serving him." Mohania said.

"The average person would probably become scared if they saw a demon that large and would probably do anything he said." Dan said putting his swords behind him.

"Sometimes all it takes is a whisper and a man with a good tongue to form legions for the demons." Herrior said back.

"Wont people notice if we slay hundreds of humans?" Crystal asked her helhound under her left arm.

"Do not feel pity or remorse for our enemy!" Herrior turned to her and said in a stern voice. "Why do you think an angel would visit you and tell you to go back to Earth? There is a demon in this current time that doesn't belong and there are cultists trying to summon his legions of armies and to bolster his strength. If Balnazzar regains his armies and his powers, the end of the world may come before it is supposed to." Herrior said and then walked by Crystal.

"Do you have the location yet Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Trying…" Lindel said as if she was concentrating as hard as she could.

Herrior's hearthstone shook. He pulled it out and saw the King.

"My King" Herrior said and bowed his head in the portal.

"Have you formulated a plan yet?" The King asked.

"Yes, we were just going over it actually. We are waiting on Lindel to get the location so we can engage." Herrior said slowly.

"Several cultists have found ways into our city. They were instantly annihilated, but I don't like this. Our allies from all over have reported several races leaving their ranks in the middle of the night. They are all being tracked to Earth." The King said quickly.

"What of the Earthquakes and elements?" Herrior asked.

"They are still happening, but not as much. We have discussed it and think that the demon being in the wrong timeline is affecting all worlds. The events of history must be played out in the correct time period. This demon leaping forward in time is disturbing the universe and the constant time line. He must be destroyed!" The King said.

"We intend to do just that my King."

"I'm going to send several banshees to observe, but not to engage. After the battle, I want to know who is, and who isn't a cultist. Then we will hunt all of them down and slay them! I do not want this happening again! What are your opinions on the portals, are they as strong as they were before?" The King asked.

Mohania coughed in the background overhearing the question.

"Herrior, I'm going to close this portal and open one above your heads." The King said. Herrior's portal disappeared as he put his hearthstone back in his pocket. A six foot circle opened above them and it showed the King and the Queen.

"I'm sorry for intruding my King, but I think I can better answer that question." Mohania said.

"Go on." The King said.

"When I was acting as their demi-god, I carefully looked at how they were constructing the portals. I would be willing to bet my left arm that most of them don't even have the power to work. The other ones show promise, but could probably just be pushed over and destroyed that way. They don't have the proper gems or enchants to pose a threat. That being said, there might be several functioning working portals at the sight, but from what I've seen those were flimsy."

"Are they expecting an attack? What of their weapons?" The King asked.

"Only four had weapons, all of which I could have melted in mere seconds. The rest of them were just normal people. Not possessed, but working to secure a place the demon is promising them, which is our town." Mohania said.

"Over my dead body!" The King said fiercely. "There have been no alliance attacks, and our assassins have been keeping the alliance confused by poisoning them silently in their sleep. The idiots think there is some sort of epidemic sweeping over them. There has been no portal activity for days. I want to leave at least three primary groups here, and all of the secondary groups will be activated as well. Many of them are in battle, but I will have six primary groups standing by awaiting your command. I want to hear of a glorious victory Herrior…" The King said and then the portal closed.

"Lindel?" Herrior yelled up the staircase again.

"You locate the place without ever being there and see how hard it is for you to open a portal there!" Lindel yelled down. "I've been randomly opening portals at places I think is right, but continue coming up with nothing. Give me another minute; I know I'm getting closer…"

Herrior let out a dissatisfied snort and then looked over his group. They all stood at attention, with their pets by their sides.

"Six groups can get confusing. Stick close to me, I am leading this assault. Try to save a life if you can, if you can't let them die. Any questions?" Herrior asked.

Everybody shook their head. They all knew what their mission was.

"I don't expect any hesitations, is that clear?" Herrior said. Everybody nodded.

"Got it!" Lindel said in an excited voice. Lindel ran down the stairs and hugged Herrior, but he did not hug back.

"Fine then…I will hug myself." Lindel said wrapping her arms around herself.

"Can you drop us in the middle of the groups?" Herrior asked.

"I can do exactly what you said. The groups are scattered though, it's not one big circle." Lindel said.

"Fine, use your best judgment. You'll be opening the portals from Tranquil to the places for the drop. Once you are done, I expect you to be in your banshee form." Herrior said and then turned to everybody. "I want hundreds of people dead within seconds of the drop, is that understood? And I expect their portals to be demolished, and then help the next wave. Be quick, be accurate…and try not to wake the demon. I want his head chopped off and brought back as a present to the King. Let's go in the backyard and start this."

Herrior's group all walked in the backyard. Herrior nodded to Lindel and she began opening several portals as fast as she could. Herrior's group was the first to go through, and then Lindel would have to open another portal to drop another group. By the time she was done, her power was almost drained. She stepped through the portal, transformed into her banshee form and joined the chaos.

The six groups from Tranquil immediately began attacking and slaying the unprepared humans by the hundreds in a matter of seconds. Then afterwards everybody realized what was going on and began screaming and running away from the attackers.

"No! Slay yourself for our god! He will vanquish…" One of the brown robed me began to say before Branzer's bullet exploded his head.

Herrior's voice boomed across the battlefield. "Flee now, or die! You have been misled; this demon wants your life force! If you stay you will either die by our hand, or by his!" Herrior than let off a battle shout, as the rest of the warriors in the battle field did as well. Thousands of humans immediately turned and ran away. The banshees quickly flew their minds, putting all of them to sleep.

"Only attack the humans that are left! Then focus fire on the portals – they must be destroyed!" Herrior commanded. But the mass exodus of people fleeing for their lives made it obvious that Herrior's next command was to be followed out.

Just as Mohania had said, some of the portals fell apart with a quick blow to them. After a minute of destroying the useless portals, the six fighting groups circled in on the working portals as the hundreds of cultists began chanting spells to bring out fighters.

Soon, there were ghouls, abominations, and animated skeletons coming through the portals. All of the tanks quickly raced forward to engage them. The power of the Tranquil's force quickly over-whelmed them though, as they redirected their attacks to the working portals.

The cultists began running for Balnazzar and trying to awaken him.

"I require more power…I require more souls…bring me my army. That is an order…" Balnazzar said softly and appeared to go back to sleep.

"I'll tank the big ugly, everybody else finish off these scum around me!" Herrior ordered as he charged at the enormous beast. He threw his weapon at the beast, and then charged him – followed by slamming his shield in the mid-section between his legs. Herrior regained his weapon and began making attacks to lowering his armor.

"What intrusion is this?" Balnazzar said standing up to his feet. Herrior slammed him with his sword, stunning him for several seconds while he continued striking him as fast as he could.

"Pathetic gnats!" Balnazzar said and swung his double-edged sword at Herrior. Herrior quickly disarmed him. He then let out his shout that weakened him, and did his thunderstomp that lowered his attack speed. Balnazzar began swinging at Herrior, who flawlessly avoided the attacks and landed several deadly blows in the process.

"I will turn you first warrior! Then I will turn your whole army!" Balnazzar said reaching for his weapon. He got a hold of it and began to swing it at Herrior. Branzer's scorpid clenched the weapon and threw it away before it could strike Herrior.

With most of the cultists dead, or dying, the groups began destroying the portals systematically. Each portal took about twenty seconds from all of the concentrated firepower hitting it before it exploded. Within two minutes, they had all been destroyed and all of the groups focused fire at Balnazzar.

Balnazzar drew back in enormous pain. "This cannot be possible! My reign is not done here!"

"You do not belong here!" Herrior said slamming his shield into him as often as he could.

Time stopped.

All six of Tranquil's groups continued to fight on.

"No! I control time! I control the minds of you feeble people! How…" Balnazzar said as he fell to his knees. The entire set of rogues quickly climbed up the back of him and started slicing at his neck as quickly as they could.

"No! I beg of you! I'll give you anything you want!" Balnazzar said in a very weak voice.

"I want your head! Slice it off for me!" Herrior commanded.

Balnazzar reached out his hand to attempt to take control of his attackers, but did not have the power to do so. The mighty beast fell to his stomach. The rogues nearly had his head decapitated before the rest of the melee groups could get to it.

Time resumed.

"Grab his head! Portal us outside of the gates of Tranquil. Bring as many cultists that are still alive with you. Hurry! Warlocks and fire mages, I need you to make this area look like there was some sort of mass explosion here. Cast your fire spells all over, ignite all of the plant life you see, and scorch the soil. Then when it looks like we are all through, concentrate all of your fire spells on what's left of the beast until he explodes." Herrior commanded as he put his weapons away. He started pulling Balnazzar's head away from its body, and several other warriors came over to help. Another Chronomancer opened a portal and they pulled it through. Lindel got the job of opening portals to Tranquil's jail cells as the rest of the group began tossing in the cultists.

The entire attack took about twenty minutes. Hundreds of wounded cultists members were violently tossed into the portals as the groups continued to throw them in.

"Done, mon!" One of the troll's announced.

"His body is already unstable, look at it – it is shaking violently. It won't take much to finish it off. The explosion will be huge." Kendall said.

"Close all of the portals. Open a portal just outside of Tranquil where we put the head. Everybody get in there now." Several Chronomancers powered their energy into an enormous portal and person after person began running through it.

The warlocks and fire mages began their fiery assault on the rest of the body. It immediately became engulfed in flame as the ground started to shake. They continued casting until the body began to shoot off beams of black light in every direction.

"Ok, everybody in!" Herrior commanded. Those left behind ran through the portal, Herrior was the last one through.

The beast's body exploded. It let off a sonic wave at first that radiated outwards for what seemed like a mile. Then his body exploded into an enormous fireball. The flame rose up and stopped at cloud level. It looked like an atomic bomb had gone off. Several of the people that were put to sleep by the banshees experience the sound and the heat. They quickly woke up and began screaming for others to wake up and run away. No additional causalities came from the blast. Many of them dialed "911" to remote that an explosion had occurred. Later on, the government came to the conclusion that an act of terrorism happened and many were killed. No terrorist organization admitted to it, but the government assured them that there was no radiation and that a full investigation would be performed. Which of course led to nothing, the blast had wiped out any trace of the portals or any of the bodies that were close enough to the explosion. It was eventually written off as a homemade explosive and had killed many, which again the government assured the people that they would find the people responsible for this and justice would be brought upon them. A day of mourning was held, and may allied countries offered their help in any way that they could.

Back at the front gate of Tranquil, the King had portalled out to look at his prize. He walked over and patted Balnazzar's head with his hand.

"This is a great victory indeed. Thank you my fighters. All of my banshee's have returned to the dungeons and began interrogating the cultists as we speak. Many of them are scared for some reason…" The King said laughing. Then he continued, "I have reports from all of our allied cities that the earthquakes have stopped, and any remaining cultists are being picked off. The random attacks from the elements have stopped. Come inside, everybody. I have more to discuss." The King turned around and placed both hands on Balnazzar's giant head and it melted into black goo that the ground sucked up. The King then walked through the portal his made as well as the six fighting groups.

The King was back on his throne with his Queen. He opened a portal for everybody in Tranquil to see.

"The beast has been slain. I am spreading the word to all of our encampments throughout the land. I also bring bad news though; the leaders of some of our encampments are dead. They deserted their posts, abandoned their people and let themselves die without honor to fight the mighty elements had risen up during this encounter. These elemental bosses, if that is what you wish to call them, rose up in the Throne of Elements in Nagrand. They wanted to turn our elemental bosses and wreck havoc on our land. Our elementals annihilated them in mere seconds. We have received word that Garadar is once again able to commune with the elements. Our guardian elementals knew they would be attacked first and didn't want any of us to perish in the fight…however many of them did. New leaders have been reassigned and I over-emphasized to lead their people, not to sacrifice themselves for their people – and contact us if there is a problem. Same applies to any of our groups or people of our city. We lost over one hundred of our people; the number could be higher…" The King said sadly. He then continued.

"We have a number of cultists in our jails right now. They are not to be visited under any circumstances. Once we obtain the information we want from them, they will be executed. Next subject, if anybody wishes they can become part of our secondary fighters. See an ambassador for details. Ysera also has contacted me again and wanted to give us a gift in return for the rescued dragons that Herrior's group had found. They call it a trinket, but it is sort of a button that goes on your armor. It will automatically change your armor's appearance to that of the native clothing of any village you visit. That way you do not look hostile, and you can easily engage in combat if necessary. These trinkets will be given to the ambassador's and handed out." The King cleared his throat for a second and then continued.

"Gnomeregan's destruction was a complete success. As you all may know, I activated many secondary groups to assist. Everybody fought well, and much technology and wealth was added to our town. Our engineer's are already investigating the contraptions. If you have no realized already, all of our primary fighting groups have the sound of a tiny dragon's voice inside of them. Many of you have already ridden them. Once again, they are not to be injured and are to stay away from combat. My Queen" The King said looking at her.

"We do not have enough scouts to send into all of the worlds that we know of to slaughter the cultists. We are counting on the reports from our establishments to either slay them or report back to us, or to summon for additional fighters. Kill them without mercy. They do not appear to be a threat and a normal citizen of Tranquil could easily kill one. But they spread false messages about God and must not be allowed to summon demons again." The Queen said and then stood up.

"Now then, something new that we are going to do is open portals to all of our established cities. Anybody is free to come or go. You may live there, or simply just visit. I know a lot of you are becoming anxious inside of this city, and it is unfair to keep you here if you wish to visit other places. Perhaps even bring word of things that are needed, or take food, talk with them, or even find some ore or plants that are useful. Our main gate to our front wall will be off limits due to the nature of the portal's vulnerabilities. However many other portals will be opened throughout the city and will be labeled. The only thing we ask is that if you decide to live at another establishment, let us know. Our census of our people is well kept and we do not want to lose track of anybody. This applies to our primary and secondary fighting groups as well. Now then, rest my citizens…for the invasion is over, and the battle has been won." The Queen said and closed the portal. The citizens of Tranquil all cheered and celebrated for the rest of the night.

Herrior woke up the next day to the sound of Samatha playing with Jeffery.

Samatha noticed and said, "He woke up early this morning. Excited about something I guess." Herrior smiled at her.

"Raising him in Tranquil is a lot easier than I thought it would be, sleeping through the night already, no feedings, no diapers. Just his powers are annoying." Samatha said. She then stopped tickling his belly and he began to pull on his toes into his mouth. Samatha rubbed her hands together and continued, "My shift is up, and I go back home today. Kash and the others will take care of him. Can't stay in this dream world forever you know…" Herrior nodded.

Samatha let out a sigh. "Any chance of me becoming immune to his ability?"

"No." Crystal said softly. "I know why I survived it, and why Herrior asked me to go through it. I'm sorry Samatha. It's either die trying and have him grow up without a mom, or wait a couple of years for Dan to train him." Dan acknowledged by letting out a loud, relaxed snore.

Samatha nodded in disappointment, but she had already known the answer.

Kash was at the foot of the stairs and began her walk up after she sensed everybody had quit talking.

"He loves them toes, doesn't he?" Kash asked smiling. Samatha smiled at her.

"Has he stopped time recently?" Kash asked. She always asked when it was her shift to watch the baby.

"Not that I know of. I heard him early this morning so I got up with him. I didn't pick him up, just looked at him and spoke with him. He didn't change positions suddenly on me." Samatha said.

"Well, we are going to go play in the grass today I think. See what little Jeffery thinks of that." Kash said approaching the baby. At that time dozens of fairies came through the walls and into everybody in the house. They went into everybody's bodies, waited a couple of seconds and then left. Everybody was used to it now and didn't even notice.

"Are you guys going back to our house today?" Samatha asked halfway down the stairs.

"I do not know. Perhaps some of our group may." Herrior said softly. Samatha nodded and walked out of the house.

"So, Crystal, why do you think you survived the time-stopping conversion?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Same reason why my powers recharge themselves so quickly. I haven't had to tap my life in order to increase my mana like Mohania has in battle." Crystal said and then thought a moment. "I became an officer quicker than anybody else has, that I know of anyways. I flew through all of the written tests. It seemed like any test they put in front of me my mind somehow came up with the answers. Passed any test they gave me, 100% correct every time. I had no clue what the answers were, let alone the question itself…even today I cannot recall any of it. Even when I had to stand before the board and answer questions, the words just flowed. Not only did I answer the questions but gave such a through answer and history of it, that many of them had to look it up themselves. This impressed the Lieutenant and started me on the early training program for his department. Once again, I excelled at everything and I was an officer in no time. There's something different about me, isn't there?"

Herrior shook his head. "No there isn't."

Crystal was shocked by his answer and looked at him confused.

"Many people have different skills than others. Yours is, as many have told you, have a lot of spirit inside of you." Herrior said.

"Why?" Crystal asked.

"A lot of people do. A lot of people are stronger than you, and faster, and able to predict certain events to take place. Not know the future, but you know what I mean." Herrior said.

Crystal thought about that for a minute as if she didn't understand. Herrior went to say something else but Crystal spoke first.

"Intuition" Crystal said. Then she looked at Herrior and said, "I've always been bad about that. But how did Dan know I was going to die on the street that very minute. Did you guys intervene somehow?"

"To be honest Crystal, we were tracking Dan just to make sure he didn't die. You would have died that night probably without him. We were going to approach him slowly, in disguise of course and speak with him, but he was going to die one night and had to take action. Also, to be honest some more, there were a lot of times when we were recalled to fight other battles and he was on his own. Our job was to watch over him, not you." Herrior said.

"So…" Crystal started. Herrior shook his head.

"You have to take a lot of things on faith. For reasons unknown to us, and we will probably not know until we get to Heaven. Quite simply, it wasn't your time to die." Herrior said.

Crystal nodded and pondered that for a couple of seconds. "My spirit, or whatever you want to call it, became stronger when I met Dan. It seemed to increase the more I was around him. It was as if he was giving me power…" Crystal was cut off with Herrior holding up his hand with a smile.

"You are putting way to much thought into this. Dan made you stronger, yes. But it was the love between you that made you stronger. We could put Dan in the middle of a hundred people and nothing would happen to them. Your love for him increased your spirit. Love and faith will explain a lot of things in these worlds." Herrior said.

"Then…" Crystal said sounding confused, "Have Dan's powers increased since he fell in love with me?"

"The only thing that we've witnessed is him gaining courage, and then the increased ability to stop time – but that wasn't because of you. All of his training came from us. I don't believe any of his physical attributes changed; the only thing that has changed is his magical resistance since falling in love with you." Herrior than looked at her funny and asked, "Are you looking for some physical proof of his love like what you have experienced?"

Crystal realized that she was and felt uncomfortable. "Sorry, I didn't mean too…" Crystal said and then suddenly perked up and said, "Actually yes I did. Dan and I are married aren't we?"

"Union, marriage, life-long bond, some races call it united." Herrior said casually.

"Then why don't we have rings? For crying out loud, we're married and neither one of us has wedding rings!" Crystal said in an upset voice. Several people in the house woke up and looked at her.

"Sorry…just with all of this commotion, and fighting, and arrangement preparations. Also we didn't even do our vows to each other." Crystal started to laugh and then said, "Well to answer your question ten minutes ago, before we got off the subject, I knew I would make it through the ordeal of being blasted by the monks. Also you all seemed to think I would as well. We need to get back to Earth. Wow, everything is just pouring out of me all of a sudden isn't it? I mean…"

"Crystal!" Herrior said firmly. "Why do we need to go back to Earth?"

Crystal looked at him confused and smiled as she asked, "I don't know, to get wedding rings? Go to the Justice of the Peace and get married there…umm, you look like I just upset you…"

"You just said, 'We need to get back to Earth.'" Herrior said. He commanded his group to wake up and assemble.

"No I didn't?" Crystal said looking confused.

"Yes…you did." Herrior said. He pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the King. One of the King's ambassadors answered. "Is there anything unusual happening on the human's world, Earth is what they call it?" The ambassador reported that he didn't hear of anything, but that he would ask around and get back to him.

"Did anybody have any dreams or visions last night about their world?" Herrior said closing the portal and pointing to Dan. Nobody reported that they had.

"What's going on?" Dan asked.

"I was talking about wedding rings, and we didn't do our vows…and then after that I'm not sure." Crystal said.

"Bernett, contact your wife. See if she is in any danger." Herrior said. Bernett was in a near state of panic as he quickly pulled out his stone and rubbed it.

Samatha was in the backyard picking up the garbage when her stone began to vibrate. She pulled it out and saw her husband with a worried look on his face.

"Samatha, are you ok?" Bernett asked quickly.

"Yes? Why, what's going on? Is Jeffery ok?" Samatha replied quickly.

"He's fine. Is there anything weird going on around you right now, this is important." Bernett said quickly. Samatha instinctively casted a couple of spells on herself to increase her powers and began frantically looking around the house. She went outside the front door to look.

"I see nothing. What am I looking for?" Samatha said in a hurried voice.

"Call the Lieutenant and ask him." Bernett said back.

"Ok, just a second. She raced back in the house and sat down the hearthstone, which instantly broke the portal. She didn't notice until the Lieutenant answered.

"Oh shit!" Were the first words out of Samatha's voice that the Lieutenant heard.

"Hello?"

"No, sorry. This is Samatha, Bernett's wife. I just broke something. Anyways, is there anything weird going on at the station right now? My husband seems to be in a sheer panic."

"No? I would like to talk to them, but it's nothing drastic. We have a couple of unusual reports for them to look into, but nothing that can't wait. Should we be on full alert status? What should we be expecting?" The Lieutenant asked pulling out his sidearm and making sure the chamber was full.

"They didn't say, and then I dropped the stone and lost the connection with them. I don't know what to do." Samatha said in a hurry.

"Come down to the station, I'll try to make contact with them. Usually it's not like them to practice drills like this. Do you want a police escort?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Umm…" Samatha said.

"Ok, I'll send one out. In the mean time you have a gun in your house don't you?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes, but my powers will do more to a demon than a gun would."

"Either way, get it and lock your doors. Call me directly if anything changes. I don't care if you hear a mouse squeak in your house…call me ok?" The Lieutenant said. Samatha agreed and hung up the phone. She put the hearthstone back in her pocket and realized that she was wearing everyday normal clothes. She knew she came through the portal with her enchanted priest robes on. Her silver trinket pin that was on her shirt was still there. She touched it and it quickly put her back into her robes. She felt the material and it was real. She then thought of her wedding dress and touched it. Instantly her clothes transformed into that, but she still felt the power radiating off from her robe from Tranquil.

"Huh, that's neat." Samatha said. She thought of her original clothes and tapped it again and instantly her clothes changed back to how they were. She then grabbed the two .357's from the kitchen drawer and waited by the phone.

Back in Tranquil, Bernett reported what had happened.

"Ok, we all might just be a little jumpy is all? None the less, is everybody prepared for battle?" Everybody nodded in agreement. Kash brought Jeffery over to Bernett and the baby squeezed Bernett's finger. Bernett let off a smile.

Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate and he quickly opened a portal. It was the same ambassador that he talked to before.

"Our scouts report nothing unusual. The Chief, or whatever you call him, is no longer the person in charge. Another person is there and he has gone back to his normal duties. The station that you go to has just about doubled in size. No alliance or demonic activity has been reported. No earthquakes or other anomalies have been reported. No reported gatherings or cultists, everything seems fine." The ambassador said.

"Tell the King we are going there on a hunch. Tell him to recall us if we are needed." Herrior said. The ambassador nodded and they closed the portal.

"Lindel, open a portal to the room where we usually go in the station. First see if anybody is there of course." Herrior said.

Lindel started doing just that, as Herrior gave out other commands. "Bernett, Branzer – leave your pets here to get further trained. Summon them and then command them to go to the pet trainer." Herrior turned around to Crystal and said, "Can you think of anything more?"

"Herrior, to be honest I still don't remember saying that." Crystal said nervously.

"We'll get you your wedding rings if you want." Herrior said in a quick voice. Then he stopped and said, "Does it mean you aren't married if you take them off?"

"No." Crystal said back with a smile. "It's just a symbol."

"Coast is clear." Lindel said.

"Ok, portal us there." Herrior said as Lindel poured more of her power into making the portal bigger. Kash made Jeffery wave bye at Bernett, and he waved bye as well before entering the portal.

After they were all through and the portal was closed, they all quickly looked at each other. They were all human dressed in modern day clothes. Mohania started touching his face and said, "I have skin…ugh this stuff is itchy."

"I still feel my sword and shield on my back, and my armor on me. The trinkets must have worked." Herrior said slamming his fist into his chest, letting off a loud metal "clang" noise. His two-button collar shirt gently floated upon impact and then stopped moving.

They all moved out of the conference room and knocked on the Lieutenant's door.

"Who is it?" The Lieutenant said in a commanding voice.

"Branzer, along with the rest of the gang. The Lieutenant quickly put his guns away and opened the door.

"I've moved your office. Come with me." The Lieutenant said quickly moving down the hallway.

"Is Samatha ok? I lost contact with her." Bernett said.

"She's fine; she's on here way now." The Lieutenant said and let them to a steel reinforced door. He opened the handle and let them all inside. The office looked like a very fancy office with twenty different cubicles, the best chairs that money could be bought, very expensive computers, and phones all over the room.

"I had this office especially made for you guys. What do you think?" The Lieutenant said.

"I don't know what half of this stuff is." Herrior said in his normal voice.

"Herrior? Sorry, didn't recognize you." The Lieutenant said.

"Our technology has been upgraded. We no longer have to cast illusions on ourselves.

"Lieutenant, this is a waste of money! Clear this room of everything, give it to the other officers, all we need is a room. Get rid of those windows, make a back door for us in the back and get rid of any smoke and fire alarms. Get one of those large SWAT vehicles big enough to hold everybody and park it outside of the door, and only have one phone. We need maps, and one computer I suppose, but paper maps…as many as you can get of as many locations as you can get." Branzer said.

The Lieutenant nodded in disappointment.

"Look, I appreciate the effort, but put the money elsewhere. Now then, what do you have for us?" Branzer said.

The Lieutenant handed a couple of folders to Branzer, one to Bernett, Skyka, and Herrior.

Herrior opened his and immediately said, "Oh shit…" in a sad tone. He instantly recognized what the photos where. "Dan, Mohania – come look at this."

"That's Devon's bus, and his group. Same clothes. It looked like their bodies were picked clean by the scavengers though." Dan said.

"No…it was by an undead – if you look close enough you can see the teeth marks. Odd he or she didn't eat the bones though, that's unusual. And what would an undead want with their weapons? And there must have been more than one undead, their powers weren't strong I'll give you that, but it was enough to destroy an undead. Especially the paladin…" Mohania said with a hiss.

"Was anything moved from the sight?" Dan asked.

"No, no weapons, armor, or whatever you use. Just pictures were taken. I told our officers to secure the area until our special ops can investigate. That would be you guys." The Lieutenant said.

"And gals…" Skyka said smiling at him.

"Sorry. The scene of attack is only six hours old. The stench has already made two of our officers get sick and ask to be relieved of duty." The Lieutenant said.

"What are the other cases?" Herrior asked.

"A haunting…umm, a case of cultists assembling, and domestic disturbance." Skyka said. She then looked at the Lieutenant and asked what that was.

"A fight between a man and his wife."

"Sir? Why are we investigating that?" Branzer asked.

"Our officers report that they won't let anybody in the house and were speaking in a language nobody understood." The Lieutenant responded.

"German? Spanish? French?" Crystal asked. The Lieutenant shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, Lindel get a lock on Devon's group first. We'll cause some mayhem with the cultists, and then visit the couple. Do what Branzer asked of the new room you gave us. Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Give me a second." Lindel said concentrating.

"Oh and here." The Lieutenant said tossing Branzer a cell phone. "Primitive I know, but it works. It's already preprogrammed." Branzer put it in his pocket.

"Got it!" Lindel said excitedly and began opening a portal.

"Take care of my wife when she gets here. Make her help spruce up this place." Bernett said. "No flowers or hearts…" The Lieutenant nodded with a smile as they stepped into the portal.

Herrior's group walked out of a nearby wooded area and saw that several police cars had taped off the area and were guarding the scene of the attack.

"Officer Branzer." Branzer said running towards the first officer.

"Finally, your Lieutenant said you would be coming with your investigation crew." The officer said back. "Do you want to know what evidence you collected and what we have uncovered so far?"

"Gather up all evidence of this and set it next to the bus. We'll take it from here." Branzer started gathering up the crime scene tape and wadding it up into a ball.

"Officer? What are you doing?" The cop asked.

"My job. If you didn't understand what I just said, we are going to have a problem here. If you want to phone my superior and ask him go right ahead. Now stand aside." Branzer said and threw the wadded up tape in the ditch behind the bus.

"But, don't we need a wrecker to clear the road and…"

"It is all being taken care of; we are part of the Special Operations department. Our team has everything we need along with one of our helicopters flying in, as well as several of our transports. Bernett, call our Lieutenant and tell him that Officer …" Branzer bent over to read the name of his badge.

"That won't be needed, I'm sorry Branzer." The cop said quickly turning around and signaling his men to leave.

"Men, spread out and secure this area. I want answers! Comb the grass, take bone samples, fingerprint everything and spread out." Branzer said out loud until the officers all left. He turned around to Herrior.

"I can sample the bones…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Let's take a look." Herrior said waving his group forward. Quinely sensed an odd sensation, but shook it off and she began taking a look around.

"This is their bus alright. But look at them, all neatly laid out, tallest to shortest; as if this were some sort of mockery. Herrior they were strong, I fought with them! They weren't as battle-hardened as your group, but they did well. This is no way to die, all of their skin and blood gone. It's as if something instantly killed all of them, and was placed here to mock us." Dan said. Herrior nodded.

"No not instantly, but they were all killed in less than a minute. Like I said before, it was an undead. Quinely, can you sense anything?" Mohania asked.

"I thought I did for a moment, now nothing." Quinely said.

"I smell death…you can only sense things above the dirt, right?" Mohania asked.

"Yes." Quinely said and began attuning her senses harder.

"The warrior's deserve a proper burial. Mohania let us know if you need a hand, the rest of you start digging. We'll dispose of the bus after the burial." Herrior said.

Quinely morphed into a dog, as Julie summoned her dog. They all began digging as Mohania walked off.

Mohania began counting, "Ten yards." He continued walking and after another ten yards he said, "Twenty yards." He walked another ten yards and saw freshly disturbed dirt. He casually walked on top of it and said, "Oh my, what could have happened to those bodies over by the vehicle thing…" His voice was loud enough so that Herrior's group could hear him.

Suddenly a skeleton hand reached up through the dirt and grabbed his leg. Completely expecting this to happen, Mohania said, "Oh my, there is a skeleton hand that has grabbed my leg. I am speechless with terror, or should I say I am frightened?"

"I…am death…reincarnated…" The undead skeleton said rising out of ground.

"Hush, I'm still trying to think of the right combination of words to express my feelings…" Mohania said casually walking backwards to allow the undead to rise from the surface.

"You think this is a game, human! I will cause fear in you that will shatter your very soul…then I will drain it and condemn you to Hell while I feast on your flesh!" The undead said as he began to cast a spell.

"So, are you going to do that in that order, or do you sometimes mix it up a couple different times?" Mohania said casually as his body absorbed the undead's fear spell. The undead then casted a series of other spells on Mohania, but his body just simply absorbed them.

"You do actually know you do not condemn people to Hell. I believe what you are referring to is generating a soul shard from their life force. The person's soul is free to go depending on their faith in God." Mohania said calmly as his body continued to absorb the spells.

The undead had metal strips covering his eyes and forming an "X" around his face. He was lightly clothed in tore garments and grinning from ear to ear. "You are now under my control…"

"Are there others like you?" Mohania asked.

"Silence fool! Or their fate will be yours and your friends…I will take you to our cave and sacrifice all of you."

Mohania nodded and then turned around. "My friend says we are under his control and wants us to go to his cave to be sacrificed. Did we have anything else planned for today?"

"We do have the other two cases we need to look at." Herrior replied casually.

"I wanted to go see if I could get my nails done, I mean look at my little finger!" Lindel said holding it up.

"I'm sort of thirsty." Strings said.

Mohania yelled out "You guys are forgetting that we are under his control…" Mohania said pointing behind him.

"So that means we should finish digging their graves first and bring the files with us? Sorry guys this is my first time being under somebody else's control. How does this work?" Dan asked.

"No need to apologize hun, I say what we do is bring the files with us and do their sacrificing game and then finish burying the bodies?" Skyka said with a smile looking at Herrior.

"You are all trying my patience! Your deaths will be long and suffering!" The undead said.

"He is on a deadline I think. Come over here guys, I'll take care of the burial." Mohania said waving them over. Mohania then began to draw enormous magical powers from the air and began to chant a spell.

"Let's go everybody…" Herrior said in a hurried voice as he ran towards Mohania. The rest of the group followed. Ten seconds after Mohania first started channeling the spell; the earth opened up under the bus, and swallowed everything above it. The ground then slammed itself back together, appearing that nothing had happened there.

Mohania turned around to the undead. "That was the spell you commanded me to do. We are at your beck and calling."

"From now on, you will all call me master! Come!" The undead said and turned around. He muttered something only Mohania could understand. It translated as, "I will torment sorcerer until I learn all of his spells, then I will consume his body and absorb his energy!"

Mohania bent over and picked up a rock. He casually tossed it back to Herrior, who launched it hundreds of yards into the air. The group of them continued to walk single file behind the undead, until a minute later the rock fell from the sky and hit their "master" right on top of his head. There was a scream of pain as he fell to the ground.

"Oh my, are you ok hun?" Skyka said walking up to him.

"The sky appears to be falling…" Crystal said with a giggle.

"Who threw that rock?" The undead demanded. Herrior's group all pointed in different directions. The undead growled and said, "I will feast on your souls tonight, and I will bring torment to your families!" The undead pulled out a soul shard and began to cast a spell. Ten seconds later he threw it on the ground and a pink succubus rose from the ground. The spell appeared to have almost absorbed all of his powers to do it.

"Now then, she will keep you in line. She will force each of you to turn on each other until you all kill each other, just like I did with my previous kill." The undead said in a weak voice and began to walk again.

"So that's how you did it." Mohania thought. "You turned each fighter in Devon's group on each other, and drained the life out of the others. Sneaky I'll give you that, but this succubus looks barely alive. I'm afraid if I sneeze on her to hard, it'll destroy her." Mohania turned around, pointed at the summoned beast and shook his head. Many of them seemed eager to destroy it.

A several mile walk later, they came to a forest. Occasionally a skeleton was hanging from a noose at the end of a rope. Crow's cawed in the distance. Even the vegetation seemed to not want to grow. A large cave opening was seen as they all turned the corner. The sounds of humans chanting some sort of song over and over again could be heard.

"Now then, you will meet my master and he will determine your fate!" The undead laughed in a sinister laugh. The undead's succubus had lost her power and faded away into ashed.

Herrior's group was lead through the cave and into a big opening. Hundreds of humans dressed in brown robes were bowing down to a golden idol, two other undead stood next to the idol as if defending it.

"Sento! The god of power! I have brought these humans to be sacrificed in your honor." The undead said. Mohania looked down and saw a stone slab where probably hundreds of sacrifices were made. Mohania turned around and looked at Herrior, then he looked at the opening, and then back at Herrior. Herrior nodded.

"Lindel, mind link us." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel concentrated and established the link.

"When Mohania gives the signal, blast the cave opening with everything you have. Nobody is to leave alive. Break the link." Herrior said in his mind and the link broke. Everybody understood but didn't make any attempt to do so.

"You! What is your name?" The undead said to Mohania.

"Elvis Presley the third." Mohania said. The chanting stopped and several smirks were made.

"Silence infidels or you will not be granted the power you desire!" The undead said. The undead turned to Mohania and said, "Brave last words stranger. Shall you walk up to the alter by yourself, or should I tear you to pieces and place them up there?"

Mohania considered it for awhile, but then smiled and said "I can walk, but thanks for the offer. Mohania ran forward and rolled onto the green slab. He activated his demon shield; it gave him increased resistances to magical spells, more armor, and a faster regeneration of health. Nobody seemed to notice though.

"Do you prefer me on my stomach, or on my back? How about we change it up a bit and do it on my side?" Mohania then got on his hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. "This is how Kendall prefers it."

Herrior's party was trying their hardest not to laugh, while the cloaked humans began laughing.

"You anger me human! Guards! Restrain him!" The undead said. The two other undead came up and flipped him so he was lying on his back. Their strength as well was very minimal. Mohania figured he could tear them to pieces within a matter of seconds.

"Now, we will see who is laughing. I will slice your head open and absorb your mental powers, and then I will dine on your flesh. Later sento will be pleased with your burnt offering." The undead pulled a crude dagger from his belt and with both hands thrusted it down on Mohania's head. The dagger instantly broke, and caused the undead to lose his balance and fell to the ground.

"Do you need a hand getting back up?" Mohania asked politely.

"How dare you make a mockery of me? I should ask sento to consume you now, but I want the pleasure of breaking your will and stealing your powers for my own!" The undead got back up. He then leaned over and smiled. "If I cannot break you, perhaps you will think differently if you watch one of your friends die first!"

"Do Quinely first, she's always been a pain in my ass." Mohania said.

"Hey!" Quinely said in protest. She then paused for a couple of seconds and then said, "No your right I have always been a pain in your ass."

"He does make a valid point hun." Lindel said. Quinely smiled and nodded.

Mohania then stood up on the altar, while the undead were commanding him to lie back down. Mohania then said, "Umm…signal? Forgot what is the secret word I'm supposed to say? Was it cheese? No…Piñata? Naw, that wouldn't make sense." Herrior's group immediately turned around and blasted the cave entrance. The rocks fell down and immediately sealed the exit. Mohania erupted in flames.

"Sento is not pleased with you! He is burning you alive right now!" The undead said.

Mohania reached down and picked up the undead by the skull.

"Thou shall have no other idols before me…forgot which commandment it is." Mohania said.

"Third!" Branzer yelled out.

"Thanks, anyways." Mohania started shooting out pillars of fire in every direction. He then spoke in his sinister voice. "You have two options, repent and live – or die!"

"Sento will…" Mohania threw the undead in the air, grabbed his neck and his legs and shattered his body over his knee. He then through the top remains of the undead to the right, and the bottom remains to the left.

"He chooses death! Let take care of this figure for you." Mohania said jumping off from the alter, still burning in flames. "Herrior what was the magical word I said before to give you the signal?"

"Fire!" Herrior commanded and the room lit up with spells, and gun shots, and the sound of Strings playing a song. After mere seconds the statue fell to the ground and covered the ground in hot golden liquid.

"What kind of a dumbass name was sento anyways…But as you can see the offer still stands, repent or die." Mohania said.

"Never!" A man said, instantly afterwards several gunshots rang out, but Trackolania's arrow was the first to hit the man.

"Do you know who you just killed?" A man said stepping forward. Mohania turned around and started draining the life out of the man.

"Stop! Please…I beg you!" The man fell on the ground twitching back and forth. The man's life was drained out of him in a matter of seconds, and his skin looked deformed – as if all of it had been pulled towards Mohania's green beam of light.

Mohania walked over to the man. He picked him up and threw him in the air. He then instantly charged himself with a soulshard and let an enormous fireball fly towards him. The impact was so great that his body blew up and scattered in all directions.

"The rest of the people here seem like cultists to me. Shall we interrogate them, or kill them?" Mohania asked.

"Hmm…we've already interrogated a lot of cultists. Let me try one and see if I can get any information out of them. If not, it'll be a mass slaughter. Herrior walked up to the first person who instantly recoiled away from him. Herrior picked him up by the arm and pull his hood down. The young man could not have been more than twenty years old.

"I have power!" The man threatened. Herrior plunged his hand into his chest and pulled out several ribs.

"I have your ribs! Use your power to heal yourself, or to blast me." Herrior casually tossed them at Mohania and he swallowed them whole.

"Sento will avenge us…" The boy said in massive pain.

"You mean that glob of goo over there? Here let me point it out to you." Herrior violently ripped over the man's arm and through it over in the middle of the golden circle.

"Your death is near young one. As are all of yours! We need information! My group, don't kill anybody but make them wish they were dead. First one that talks lives." Herrior stared at the man's eyes.

"The undead are superior to us…they have powers to control us…we have to do what they say." The man said.

"How many others are there?" Herrior said viciously.

"None that I know of, just us…they have performed signs and wonders…we have brought many to sacrifice to them and their god." Herrior slammed the man to the ground and then slammed his hoof on his head.

Moans and cries came from all over the cave.

Herrior walked up to a woman and picked her up. Her kneecaps were blown off and the side of her face was hit badly.

"How many others are there?" Herrior asked again.

"None! I swear! I sacrificed my own children…" The woman said but Herrior didn't let her finish. He drew his sword and cut her in half.

"Same question to the rest of you! Where are the others? How many other groups are there like you?" Herrior blasted his voice in the cave. It echoed for several minutes.

One of the undead guards stepped forward. "They speak the truth. We were raised by the leader. We do not have powers like him, but you are killing many innocent people."

"How many innocent people have you killed to this pillar of gold?" Herrior said throwing people out of his way to get to the guard.

"Hundreds. We are an isolated group. There are none others that we know of. I speak the truth." The undead guard said, he looked at what was left of their leader and said, "He may have known, but none of us have that knowledge."

"Strings, make us an opening. I grow sick of the stench." Herrior said. Strings started to play an upbeat tone on his lute, and then played several small notes. Instantly the cave-in blew rocks out from it.

"Kill them all, and then flatten this mountain." Herrior said.

"Why couldn't you have done that when Crystal and I were stuck in the cave?" Dan said.

"And blown all of the rocks at you?" Strings said with a wink.

"Yeah…ok nevermind." Dan said.

Herrior's group quickly killed the rest of the cultists and when everybody was out, Strings started to play another song. The rocks caved in and completely filled in the entire cave.

"Well, what's next?" Herrior asked.

"Let's see here…" Bernett said opening his file. "A case of cultists assembling. It says that they are practicing their own religion which the constitution, does entitle them to, and they are doing it in the middle of a field with nobody else around. They are not disturbing the peace, and there are no charges that can be brought up because they are all well within their rights to do so."

"I don't like your world's laws. Lindel can you locate this place?" Herrior asked.

"One step ahead of ya hun." Lindel said and began to open a portal.

Herrior's group appeared about seventy yards from the assembly in the middle of a thick wooded area. They had a huge fire blazing and were wearing the same cloaks the other cultists were wearing. There were several animals in the process of being slaughtered and their blood being poured on the fire.

"I'll take this one…" Quinely said in a stern voice.

"Hun, let me take it. They want to raise something from the dead; I'll give them just that…" Lindel said with a smile. They both looked at Herrior.

"Quinely's way would be a mass slaughter, and possible recognition of us." Herrior said.

"I vote for mass slaughter…or does my vote still not count?" Mohania asked.

"Lindel, what do you have in mind?" Herrior asked.

"Can it be a surprise?" Lindel said and then faded away into the air.

"Crystal and I could drop two infernals on the north and south side of the group. During the commotion, her and I could sead everybody with corruption and watch them run around until they explode and kill each other." Mohania said.

"That'll be plan B." Herrior said.

"I could play a melody that would kill them all instantly; you guys of course would have to cover your ears." Strings said.

"Ok, plan C." Herrior said casually. Trackolania pulled on Herrior's armor.

"Trackolania will be plan D, have I left anybody out?" Herrior said with a smile looking around. "Let's just watch and see what happens."

Lindel floated through the ground and directly into the fire. Before the next animal could be sacrificed, Lindel made the flames erupt upwards in the sky – as if a sudden gasoline truck was throw on the fire. Everybody backed up in terror.

"Am I who you are looking to summon?" Lindel said in her banshee voice. The crowd was silent. Lindel counted about two hundred of them.

A full minute went by as Lindel just casually watched them in the fire. Many of them were wondering what just happened. Several of the leaders announced that they had just made contact and what a glorious event this was going to be. Everybody rallied close to the fire and began whispering back and forth.

"Who is it that summons me and for what purpose?" Lindel said again in her banshee voice.

"We desire power, and wealth. We have brought you gifts and offerings to please you." One of the men said.

"I have the power to grant those things, but I am not pleased with your gifts and offerings. Who told you of this process?" Lindel said.

"Many have. This is the year that we become cultists and rise to power. With your powers we shall rule the worlds, and massacre those that have angered us!" The same man said.

"For many generations have humans tried to summon the powers of demons, but none have been successful. Why shouldn't I just kill you all now for my amusement and then return to my slumber?" Lindel said. She then thought the word "slumber" probably wasn't the right word to say, but she was making it up as she went along.

"We have the power to restrain you and control you. We also can grant you the lives of many people. We can have a mutual relationship…" The man said.

"Curious…" Lindel said and walked out of the fire in her banshee form. "Control me, and I shall grant you my powers." Several shrieks and screams came from the group. Many of them ran away terrified.

"It seems as though your loyal subjects do not trust you, why should I?" Lindel said. Lindel then rose into the air and threw her hands forward as tiny grew lightning bolts hit everybody that was running and instantly killed them.

"Anybody else care to run? You summoned me, and now you run from me? What am I to do? Did you not think that the rituals were just for fun?" Lindel snapped her fingers and the fire instantly went out. Lindel flew over to it and sat on the ashes.

"I could one hundred and seven of you left still alive. My powers have increased tenfold, and my gateway back has been closed." Lindel said with her eyes turning red.

Several of the men started reciting several sentences over and over, trying to pronounce the words just right. Lindel gave them a minute and then said, "You are not doing it right, and I grow angry. You release me into this world for a reason, and yet you have no way to restrain me? I could destroy this world, and all you have to win my affection is these mere offerings and…pieces of sheep's skin?"

"That's money, two point five billion dollars worth." The man said. The humans in Herrior's group gasped at the amount.

"The roman's offered me gold, the aztec's offered me silver, before you had established towns, you had offered me skins from animals and things made out of trees…none of this has any appeal to me. I slaughtered all of them, their attempts to control me as well as your attempts to bribe and control me obviously are failing and I grow angry." Lindel said.

"Did they really?" Branzer asked Herrior.

"Naw, she's bluffing. You are her boyfriend and you can't tell?" Herrior smiled and shook his head. "You better pay better attention to her…" Herrior's group started to chuckle.

"Our modern day weaponry can destroy you! You will do what we say or we will kill you!" The man said as the crowd all brought out guns and aimed them at Lindel.

Lindel began to shriek in laughter. She turned herself invisible and started flying around the circle of humans. Occasionally she would materialize and suck the life out of the surrounding people, and then vanish again. The gun fire erupted, killing many of them. Lindel continued to laugh as she in large circles, very close to the ground around them. Many of the humans began to fire at what they thought was the demon, but ended up killing or wounding half of their men and women.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" The man yelled out. Lindel would then randomly possess a person and unload their weapon as fast as she could at the surrounding people. Lindel would fly out of the body as soon as it was dead.

"Thirty left…better think of something quick…" Lindel said and continued to let off her sinister laugh.

"What do you want?" Several of them cried out. "We will do anything!"

Lindel then summoned a skeleton army that rose out of the ground next to each person. The skeletons were weak, but were immune to the gunfire again as they continued to shoot at each other.

"Thirteen left…seven left…four left…" Lindel counted sinisterly as she continued to fly around in circles. Lindel then commanded her skeletons to vanish. There was nothing but mere dust from their bodies as they faded away.

"What to do with four humans left…hmm…I could do this!" Lindel said flying into an elder woman's eyes. Lindel quickly scanned for other locations of humans but she didn't know anything. Lindel made her body explode and casually flew back out.

The three remaining dropped their guns and began to run. Lindel quickly ran up to them and drained the life out of them, but not enough to kill them. They laid on their backs, scared to death.

"See what happens when you summon a demon? Should I let you all go free and tell your cultist friends what happened here? Perhaps discourage them from doing it again?" Lindel said.

"Please, I have a family!" One of the grown men said.

"Megan, Veronica, and Jim; wife's name is Melina. I know where they live, and I know where you work. Shall I make them suffer for my amusement and then destroy them? You are a state representative, are you not?" Lindel asked. Lindel had no clue what that meant.

"Yes, please. I can get you anything you want, anything!" The man said.

"We want to be left alone!" Lindel said and sucked the life out of the other two humans.

"Deliver the message! If I catch any more of you insignificant peon's trying to control us, I will not be merciful! Get on your communication device and confess every wrong thing you have done. Hand the money over to the local law enforcement. Resign from your position, and hide." Lindel then flew directly into the man's face. "Repeat back to me what I just said!"

"Leave you alone, confess everything I've ever done, give the money to the police, and hide." The representative said. Several seconds passed and Lindel left off and an ear-shattering "Now!" as she vanished. He immediately called the police and started telling them exactly what he did, how everybody was killed, what his location was and how he had a lump sum of cash to turn over.

Ten minutes later, one of their police squad arrived on the scene with his gun raised and saw the mass slaughter. He quickly put the man in cuffs and surveyed the scene.

"What the hell happened here?" The officer said slowly.

"It was a demon! We summoned a demon and she made us kill each other!"

"Sir, are you intoxicated or have any illegal substances in your body?" The officer said as he radioed for backup.

"No! I swear to you! We summoned a demon and made us shoot each other! There is two point five million dollars in the suitcases over there! I will tell you everything that I have done in my career, please just keep me safe of the demon! She will kill me!"

The officer looked surprised as he put the man in his squad car. He took snap shots of the money and all of the golden bars and assortment of jewelry spread among the dead fire. The officer than radioed in and said, "This is a mess, we're going to need more officers out here."

Lindel returned to Herrior's group as they walked away in the woods.

"I like plan B better…" Mohania said sounding irritated. Herrior laughed. "Got the location of the next assignment?

"Ready and willing." Lindel said and poured a significant amount of power into the portal and opened it much quicker than she ever had before.

"Feeling a little energized are we hun?" Skyka said winking at her.

"This portal is actually inside of the house. They aren't home, so we'll have to hide ourselves…not as a pillar of fire…" Lindel said glaring at Mohania.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Herrior said stepping through the portal.

Herrior's group arrived in a very tiny house.

"Trailer park…go figure." Crystal said. Trackolania immediately went into his stealth mode and positioned himself above the doorway. The hunters made their way into the living room and held perfectly still. Their bodies slowly camouflaged themselves to their surroundings. The rest of the party placed themselves out of sight.

"Here they come." Lindel said. Only five minutes had passed. The man slammed the door open and walked over to the fridge and opened a bottle of beer. The woman behind him slammed the door shut and they began screaming at each other. Lindel mind-linked Mohania, Crystal, Quinely and Herrior. "Any demons?"

"No. I don't sense anything at all. This is a waste of our time." Quinely said in her mind.

"Any demons or alliance in the area?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Nothing." Quinely said.

"I'm just picking up simple miscommunication from each of them. They have been married for ten years. Both of them drink heavily and inject themselves with some kind of liquid." Lindel said.

More screaming and kicking things and slamming their hands on the cupboards continued on.

"Mind-link all of us Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel dropped the link and then reestablished it.

"We shouldn't be here. This is a waste of our time." Herrior said in his mind.

"What is the plan to get out?" Dan asked.

"I'm open to ideas. If one of you establishes contact, hunters – scatter shot them and then we'll portal out of here.

"I can ignite one of their cars on fire, causing them to run outside." Mohania said. Herrior thought about it for a second and then said, "Do it. In the mean time while they are gone, Crystal burn a message in the floor that says 'Be nice.' Lindel are you ready for that portal?

"Yup, let's head back to the station. I can start channeling when everybody is ready." Lindel said.

"Mohania, do your thing." Herrior said in his mind.

Mohania snapped his fingers out loud. Both of them stopped to try to find the noise. Second's later one of their vehicles exploded. They both ran outside as anticipated. Crystal began to burn the message in the floor as Lindel opened the portal. They were all out within ten seconds and back to the station, or so they thought.

Herrior was hiding in the shower and slipped on something. He lost his balance and crashed through the floor. Herrior cursed as he pulled himself back up on the floor and ran to the portal but it closed before he could open it.

"Shit." Herrior said out loud as he attempted to quickly summon his party again on his hearthstone.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" The man said angrily. He was running in to get a fire extinguisher.

"Long story." Herrior said and pushed him aside and ran through the door. Herrior ran through a barbed wire fence into a dead field and increased his speed with each pound of his thunderous hoofs. He could hear gunshots being fired at him, but wasn't concerned about that.

He crossed the field, wadded through a large stream and sought shelter in the woods. Herrior tried his hearthstone again. For some reason it didn't work. He shook it several times and it produced the same result.

"I've gotten this thing wet before, what is the problem?" Herrior said angrily out loud. He continued running until he knew he was at least thirty miles away. He tried his stone again, nothing. Herrior continued to say "Lindel" over and over in his mind with no reply back.

"For crying out loud, haven't you noticed I'm not there?" Herrior yelled as several birds took flight. Herrior shook his stone again and rubbed it with the same results. He thought of everybody that he knew in Tranquil, same results. It was as if it was a normal rock.

A voice from behind him startled him. "Sir, are you ok?" Herrior turned around with a ferocious growl.

"Easy partner, we're not gonna hurt you. We're just hunting dear. Do you need some help?" The man said in a calm voice.

"No! Forget I was even here!" Herrior said and then snorted as he took off running again. Within a matter of seconds he was gone from view.

"Was that a man?" One hunter said to the other.

"I don't know…wanna call it a day?"

"I was thinking the same thing." The hunter replied.

Herrior traveled for another fifty miles until he was sure he was safe. He tried the hearthstone again. Same result. He closed his eyes and began concentrating on thinking of Lindel and calling for her. Suddenly an enormous SUV ran right into him. It was a younger woman that was texting a friend and did not see Herrior in the road. The SUV crunched up like a violin, but had enough force to send Herrior flying onto some railroad tracks, with an oncoming train. The woman quickly ran out and yelled the word "Train!" over and over. Herrior stood to his feet trying to understand what she was saying. Suddenly a loud blast came as the train struck him. The cow-catcher in front of the train completely folded up as if it were tin-foil, and the main engine jumped up in the air about a foot and then became derailed. Herrior was squashed underneath it, until he activated his shield wall, absorbing most of the damage. He rolled over to the other side of the tracks and slowly stood up. A derailed train car slammed into him and sent him flying, knocking down several trees until he finally went unconscious – his last thoughts being that of Skyka.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" A male voice said. Herrior opened his eyes and quickly looked around.

"Easy big fella. You are in a hospital. You have been here for a week now. We are not going to hurt you." The same male voice said. Herrior sat up, quickly breaking the restraints holding his upper body to the bed.

"Should I call security?" Another voice asked. The same man shook his head and looked into Herrior's eyes.

"Are you going to hurt us? Should we restrain you further?"

"No." Herrior said, but not in common speak, but in his original tauren language. Everybody in the room was baffled. Herrior then left off several different sentences and questions in his tauren language, but then realized nobody understood him. Herrior shook his head and said, "Just a second…" in common speak.

"Ok, that we understood. Are you going to be a threat to us?" The man said.

"No? Why should I be? Have you harmed me?" Herrior said.

"Absolutely not. We are trying to help you. You are safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise. My name is Doctor Alan Pross. I am one of the lead physiatrists in Michigan. I've been called to come down and speak with you. What is your name?"

"Herrior." He said looking at the doctor suspiciously.

"Ok, are you from this country?" Alan asked.

"Country?" Herrior responded.

"Are you German, French, South Africa…umm…" Alan said.

"No?" Herrior said not knowing what he was talking about. "Where am I? Where is my group?"

"You are in one of the best hospitals in the state of Michigan. As far as your group, do you mean your family?" Alan asked.

Herrior thought about it for a second and slowly said, "Yes."

Alan smiled, easily calling his bluff and made a note of it. "Ok, Herrior, do you feel pain anywhere?"

Herrior checked out his body. His feet easily broke the restraints, and he started twitching his hands and arms. Herrior then started recalling all of the memories up until the point of impact.

"Nothing hurts, and my memory is fine. I was here a week?" Herrior asked unbelieving it.

"Yes, we have charts to prove it. However we have been unable to run a single test on you. Even a blood test, here watch." Alan stood up and needle with a plastic tube on it.

"What is that for?" Herrior asked.

"We run many tests on your blood to check for internal bleeding, complete blood counts, diseases, and many other abnormalities." Alan said and shoved the needle into his hand. The needle casually snapped in half, as did all of the other needles.

"Don't you find that odd?" Alan said. "I can touch your skin; I can feel the smoothness of it and even stretch it. But when we go to draw blood it breaks every needle we have. We've tried hooking up monitors to you; none of them come back with any readings. We've tried CAT scans, but for some reason you don't fit inside it. We expanded it out as much as we could and then the magnets inside the device suddenly blew outwards and permanently destroyed the machine. Honestly the only way we could tell if you were alive or not was by your chest moving up and down, and the air coming in and out of your nose. That is why I was called in."

"If I broke anything, I will pay the damages. However as far as sticking needles in me, I take that as a threat – had I known you were doing that, I would have fought back." Herrior said with a scowl on his face.

"Ok, no more needles." Alan said with a smile. "We have plenty of oral medication if you are in pain, or if you have trauma from the experience you went through. Also for some reason, we haven't been able to remove your clothing to insert a catheter. Do you have to use the bathroom?" Alan said.

Herrior smiled. "You will not be able to remove my clothing." Then Herrior thought about it, "Actually I do have to go, where are your bathrooms?"

"In the room behind me." Alan said. Herrior rose up off the bed, breaking the rest of the straps in half without even trying.

"Let him go!" Alan said.

"I'll be right back." Herrior said in an upset voice as he entered the room. A doctor came running in and asked for either a urine or stool sample as Herrior just flushed the toilet.

"That's gross." Herrior said and walked by him. He laid back down on the bed.

"You relieved yourself that quickly?" Alan asked.

"Yes? Is that a problem?" Herrior asked. Alan looked at him confused. He was telling the truth.

"Where are you from Herrior?" Alan asked.

"Tranquil. Where are you from?" Herrior asked.

"Fair enough question, I am from Detroit. It is in Michigan in the United States. Can you elaborate more on this Tranquil? Is it a city, state, country?"

"City" Herrior said.

"Where is it at?" Alan asked. Herrior sat up with lightning speed and looked directly into Alan's eyes. Several guards intervened to restrain him, but Herrior merely pushed them away as if they were children.

"Over my dead body will I give you the location of my city that I have sworn to protect! I will kill myself before you would get that information. Make sure you write that down and tell everybody else. Now I grow tired of talking, where is my group?" Herrior asked in a deep voice.

"Herrior? Are you going to hurt me?" Alan said.

"They attacked me!" Herrior said pointing to the guards getting back up. "I will defend myself. You have not attacked me, you bore me. But also write down that if anybody attacks me, I will defend myself. Is that clear?"

"Writing it down right now." Alan said jotting it quickly down on paper. "For our safety, can we put restraints on you?"

Herrior moved his head slightly to the side. "You do not believe me, do you?"

"Herrior." Alan said in a calm voice. "You are over twelve foot tall and weigh almost as much as my car. It took thirty men just to pick you up, and a helicopter to bring you here. I believe if you wanted to, you could snap my neck with two fingers. If you get out of control, I'm not sure how we could restrain you to be honest."

"I appreciate your honesty. Now you need to appreciate my honesty. I…will not…harm anybody…unless they harm me! Is that understood?" Herrior said repeating himself in frustration. But he continued, "I have been trained all my life in the ways of fighting, but in diplomacy as well. I have helped raise infants, and played games with children. I have a big heart. But I don't like it when people don't believe me, or when people are afraid of me. Speak to me as a normal person, and I will tell you as much as I can. Again, where is my party?"

Alan nodded as if taking in every word. "I believe you, every word. But to be honest I do not understand entirely what your 'party' is? You referred to it earlier as a group, and then said it was your family? Obviously there are a number of people that are close to you. You have had no visitors; you have no wallet, and no way for us to contact your friends. Is there a place, phone number perhaps?"

Herrior immediately spoke up, "Yes there is!" Herrior said. He then concentrated as hard as he could. After thirty quiet seconds he shook his head. "There is a phone in the house; I do not know the number. My group, as I like to refer to it, is a group of special operations that does jobs that the human Lieutenant gives to us. Usually it's cases that cannot be figured out." Alan was writing down things on his pad so fast it looked like he was going to start a fire.

"What is your Lieutenant's name?" Alan asked.

"Lieutenant." Herrior replied.

"Yes, what is his name?" Alan asked again.

Herrior let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He then leaned forward and said, "That is what we call him, Lieutenant. All of us go by a single name system. In battle, it is much easier to give a command to a single name person, than to rattle off the long names you guys give each other."

Alan nodded. "So if you get caught, you don't actually know who you are working for or who the names of your groups are?"

Herrior thought about this for a second. Then he looked at him funny. "You don't believe me, do you Alan?"

Alan stopped for a minute and looked at him. "Should I? Or are you making up a false identity? Are you a spy from a different country?"

"A spy?" Herrior looked at him and smiled. "Look at me, how could I conceal myself in order to obtain information?" Herrior said and began to laugh. It was a deep hearty laugh that seemed to frighten everybody. "We do have spies. They are called scouts and assassins; they don't necessarily killed people, but rather gather information."

"So who's country do you work for, I mean you and your group?" Alan asked.

"I do not understand the word country. Can you use a different word?" Herrior said shaking his head. Alan looked confused at him, he was telling the truth.

"Ok, so you work for Tranquil the city. You and your group defend it." Alan said. Herrior interrupted him. "Yes, that is true. I know you believe me, don't you." Alan looked at him for awhile.

"I think that is what you believe. But a lot of this information doesn't make sense. Here let me show you something." Alan said and waved at a woman outside. The young woman came in and Herrior nodded his head at her.

"This woman hit you with her SUV. She's been in police custody until you decide whether you want to press charges or not." The woman was obviously upset.

"I do not understand what press charges means, or custody, or SUV?" Herrior said.

"I hit you in my truck. I was typing a message and I hit you. I am so sorry…" The girl said and began crying.

"Did you attack me on purpose?" Herrior asked calmly.

"What? No, I didn't see you. I hit you with my truck. I would never attack anybody with my car." The girl said.

"Ok, then I forgive her." Herrior said shrugging his shoulders. "Accidents happen."

Alan pulled out pictures of the damaged SUV. "The front axle broke in three spots, the engine block cracked wide open, and the transmission was in the rear axle." Herrior examined the pictures and then asked, "Do I owe you for the damages?"

The girl looked at him strangely and then at Alan.

"I broke your vehicle, you unintentionally ran into me. How much do I owe you to fix your vehicle? Were you harmed at all?" Herrior said calmly looking at the girl.

"Is…he serious?" The girl asked.

"Just answer the question." Alan said.

"My insurance covered the damages, I was not hurt. But after I hit you, I saw you hit by a train. The impact was so great that you knocked it off the rails. My god, you are like superman or something. I screamed for you to move, but you didn't. The train looked like it crushed up on you and then flipped over."

Herrior sighed. "Ok, how much do I owe for breaking a train and your vehicle?" Herrior thought about something for a second as well and then asked, "Do I owe you anything for my stay here as well?"

Everybody looked at him surprised. "Herrior, you crushed one of the strongest vehicles on the road, you got hit by a train, you tore down several enormous trees and every box car that hit you was broken to shreds. There are no physical signs of any trauma, and you are worried about paying for the damages?" Alan asked.

"I did not mean for any of this to happen. I am sorry, and I will try to fix whatever damages that I can. We were on a mission, and my communication device stopped working, so protocol was to hang low until my group found me. It was my fault. I was so worried about getting back in communication that I caused this whole mess. I still don't understand what 'pressing charges' means though. I do not wish any harm to come to this girl if that is what you are referring to." Herrior said.

Alan studied his every word. Every word he said was the truth. "How the hell are you still alive?" Alan said and started to laugh.

"If God wanted my soul, he would have taken it. It was not my time to die." Herrior said. Alan started to laugh again. "That's for sure; you must have some guardian angel watching over you."

"Perhaps, but Skyka can do a spell called Guardian Spirit that brings people back to life instantly. But I do believe in guardian angels; however I believe that God's will has more to do with your analogy of 'guardian angels' though. Two versus that come to mind are: Matthew 18:10 'Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.' also, 'Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?' I have not seen one personally, but I do believe that they do exist. Our group has been called angels many times and we quickly insist that we are not and that the praise should be given to God. May I have something to eat?" Herrior said casually looking around.

"Sure, somebody order him a tray of food." Alan said to a nurse in the room. "Do you believe in God then?"

"You would be an idiot not to." Herrior replied back.

"So this Skyka person…" Alan said.

"My wife."

"Oh, ok well congratulations. Is that her full name? Is there somehow we can contact her?" Alan asked.

Herrior rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Then he remembered his hearthstone. He quickly stood up, startling everybody in the room and began going through his pockets. His hearthstone was still there. He pulled it out and began to rub it. Still nothing happened.

"Damn, what is wrong with this thing?" Herrior said in an angry tone. He began to look over it carefully and saw a tiny crack in the bottom of it. He pushed it back together, but ended up shattered the stone into dust.

"Damn it!" Herrior said and turned around and slammed his hand down on the bed. The bed instantly collapsed. All of the braces and crossbars collapsed. Several dozens of pieces of the bed scattered all over the room. All of the people in the room quickly raced for the door.

A minute passed as Herrior settled himself down. Then he took the dust from his hand and threw it at the wall.

"It must have broken when I fell. Those things are nearly indestructible though!" Herrior let out a sigh and turned around. "It's not unheard of though. It would explain why I cannot communicate with my group though. However I am certain they will find me. Are we done with our chat so that I can leave, or am I being detained?" Herrior said glaring at Alan.

"We…would like you to remain here…to run some further tests…" Alan said.

"You lie little man." Herrior said moving towards him. The guards stepped in front of him.

"Alan, how quickly do you think I could get to you through your little guards between the both of us?" Herrior asked. The guards pulled out their taser guns and both shot at the same time. The probes shot their electricity forward and the guns were making their clicking sounds. Herrior looked down at it confused. He picked up one of the probes sticking in his shirt and looked at it.

"What is this?" Herrior's anger subsided and his curiosity got the better of him. The guards quickly dropped their tasers and drew their firearms. Herrior saw all of this happen and gently smiled.

"You are going to discharge your weapons in this confined space? I see lots of people around, you would create more havoc than you would want. As much as you want to believe you have the situation under control, you don't." Herrior said looking at Alan.

"We don't want anybody to get hurt…ok? We want to move you to an area more suitable for your needs." Alan said.

"You lie again little man. Think about why I'm here. The girl's little vehicle ran into me, one of your train's hit me, and several trees weren't able to stop me. Do any of you believe that these little weapons will hurt me? I ask again, am I being detained or am I free to leave?" Herrior asked moving his chest up against the guard's guns. He whispered softly to the guards. "You do remember what I said earlier about threatening me?"

"Ok, ok…let's stop this. Herrior can I talk to you alone? Just you and me?" Alan asked.

"What about?" Herrior asked. Just then a nurse arrived with his food. "Is that for me?"

"Yes it is…"

"Fine then. Let's eat, just the two of us." Herrior said with a smile. Alan ordered everybody to leave and then shut the door behind him as he brought in the tray of food. Herrior kicked the smashed bed up against the wall and it exploded into more parts.

"I prefer to stand while I eat." Herrior said smiling.

"Not much left of the bed, is there?" Alan chuckled and put the tray table in front of him. Herrior stared at him for a minute. Herrior studied him and his surroundings without taking his eyes off from Alan's eyes. He let off a half smile. He walked forward, lifted the food lid and devoured the sub-sandwich, tinfoil, plastic wrappings and all within mere seconds. He then grabbed the small container of juice and tossed that into his mouth along with the carton of milk.

Alan looked completely surprised.

"Surprised are we? Hold on a second." Herrior said with a mouthful of food. He then spit out four different white pills into his right hand before he swallowed the food. Alan looked even more surprised.

"Obviously I wasn't supposed to eat the wrappers…was I Alan? But you expected me to eat this? My senses quickly told me what it was, I assure you it would have had no affect on me, but I'm making a point." Herrior said crushing the pills.

"During the time that we have been alone in here, the sounds outside have decreased by 20%, three birds have flown by the window – the red one about a week away from laying her eggs. The people to the left of us have increased in speed by 50%, but have always slowed down before walking by our window. None of them have looked in. I can feel the vibration of thirty two fighters, carrying bulky armor and weaponry heading to our room I'm assuming. Your pupils have just now dilated which means I am correct so far. I am supposed to be sleeping by now, but instead there is going to be a confrontation isn't there – and you know its coming. I estimate only thirty people are left on this floor, the vibrations in the floor are lessening and the wheels of the beds are squeaking less." Herrior stopped to let him digest all of this, and then continued a couple of seconds later.

"Your body temperature has risen one degree, you have some sort of soap smell filing the room coming from your under arms, but your feet stink like they have some sort of fungus on them. Your heart has started beating twenty beats a second faster in the last minute and is rising. Your lungs are calling for more air to help supply your 'Fight or flight' mechanisms in your body, but you are trying to maintain you're cool until your fighters arrive. Your eyes are now quickly scanning back and forth, hoping I don't notice and your senses are heightened. The fighters coming have just come up another flight of stairs. I estimate their arrival in less than a minute. How are my observations so far…doctor?" Herrior said and then let out a mean snort.

"What are you?" Alan said suddenly deciding that staying in the room with this creature was a bad idea.

"I told you, if you threaten me – I will defend myself. I sense the incoming fighters are not coming for you…" Herrior said with a smile. Herrior then tilted his head slightly and said, "You have a family at home? Don't you?"

"No." Alan said quickly.

"An obvious lie. Crystal said that when people get married on this world they wear wedding rings. You have one. I estimate your age to be around…forty two, but your physical appearance is much older – indicating that you either have a stressful marriage, which I don't believe is the case or that you have children at home. Your body has just risen another degree, and your lungs are screaming for air. Look at the veins on your hands; they are popping out trying to get extra blood circulated. Your quick glance at the door that you just did right now indicates that I am correct with everything so far." Herrior said. "Do you want to see who can make it to the door first?" Herrior started to chuckle.

"Taking me as a hostage…"

"That is dishonorable! We take prisoners, never hostages. Hide behind some weak piece of flesh like you; I doubt your body could absorb more than one bullet from their guns. I estimate we have thirty five seconds left. I am an ambassador of Tranquil and a leader of my group. I have been telling the truth and you haven't believed a word of it. I have trained ambassadors before you were even alive. If my group finds me, over one hundred miles of destruction will fall upon this city. They will locate every living relative you have and make them suffer! If I was afraid of your fighters coming at me, I would build some sort of barricade or look for an escape route. Notice how level my tone is, and the sounds of my breathing. I am obviously not afraid. This was your idea, you were in on it and I will tear you to shreds. Twenty seconds left…doctor…what do you think you should do to save your life and the soldiers lives coming?" Herrior said with a small smile on his face.

Seconds began to pass as Alan looked at Herrior and the door. He was sweating profusely now.

"Fifteen seconds. Even you should be able to hear then now. In case you were wondering, a white bird has just flown by the window. Shall I count down for you?" Herrior asked.

Ten seconds left Alan was completely panicked and unsure what to do. Herrior whipped him around and pulled out his wallet. He took out his driver's license read off his address to him.

"You know I will make it out of here alive. And I know where you live. The soldiers are taking up positions right now to the left of us. There is some guy with a round shaped device that he is fumbling with right now. You've got seconds left before he talks…" The doctor ran his fingers through his hair.

Alan ran outside of the room and yelled "Stop!"

"Pathetic humans…" Herrior said under his breath with a smile. "I was bullshitting on all of that, could have caused him a heart attack if I wanted too."

A thunderous electronic voice came. "Doctor, please step away from the door. We will take it from here."

"No! He is peaceful. Do not threaten him!" Alan said.

"We will use lethal force if necessary; but our orders are to take him alive. Stand out of the way doctor!" The same electronic voice said.

"I've reviewed him personally! He is not a threat, this was all a mistake! I will stake my career on it!" Alan yelled. Herrior walked up behind Alan.

"They are advancing towards us, they don't believe you…" Herrior said.

"Please I'm trying…" Alan whispered. Alan ran forward and kept yelling at them to stop. Several quick conversations were made, but the final sentence was they had orders to bring him in for interrogation.

Herrior rolled his eyes and stepped into the doorway.

"Halt! Right there! Drop your weapons and do not move!" The electronic voice said as six soldiers began to approach him. Herrior spread out his arms and flexed his fingers showing that he was not holding anything.

"What do you want? Also please use your real voice, that other voice you are using is annoying." Herrior said casually. The six soldiers stopped, as three of them pointed their guns at Herrior's head. The other three quickly searched him.

"He's clear!" One of them announced. Two of the soldiers tried to pull his arms back, but could not even budge them. Then all six soldiers tried pushing with all of their strength back on one arm. Herrior didn't even flinch.

"What are they doing to my arm?" Herrior asked casually.

"Put your arms behind your back!" The electronic voice said fiercely. Herrior walked forward and the soldiers all fell to the ground that was trying to move his arm.

"I said, use your own voice. I also said please and the reason why." Herrior said as multiple soldiers lifted their rifles at Herrior. Herrior didn't even flinch.

"Fine. We are with the NSA, you pose a threat to our country and you will come with us." The older gentleman said.

"No." Herrior said back. Herrior turned his head to Alan who was behind the soldiers and said his address again. Then he asked him how he thought the outcome of this standoff would end.

"It will end by you doing what we say! Put your hands behind your back!" The gentleman demanded.

Herrior turned to the gentleman and said, "I can see this conversation going nowhere. I am not armed, and you have all of these puny little weapons shoved in my face. I bet you your right leg that you can't make me put my arms behind my back."

"Cuff him! Restrain him! I want him on the ground in ten seconds! We'll drag his sorry ass out of this building!" The man said. Herrior continued to stand with his arms straight out.

"So if you can't get me on the ground in ten seconds, I get your right leg than? Is that the bet?" Herrior asked as piles of soldiers hung from his arms and pulled with all of their might. Herrior's arms would not budge an inch.

The older gentleman took out a can of mace and sprayed it in Herrior's face. The spray stopped half an inch from his body, but it looked like it was hitting him. Herrior's face and body had no reaction to that at all. Several of the soldiers were affected by it though.

"Smells like…hot peppers; no…it is more acidic than that. Definitely not the same smell that everybody puts under their arms." Herrior said as the gentleman finished spraying the can.

"It's not the smell I would have in my house, if I were to have one…" Herrior said with a smile.

"You think you can mock me?" The man said and pulled out a long shotgun. He ordered his soldiers to move away. Herrior just simply stood there.

There was an explosion, but not as loud as Herrior had anticipated. He didn't feel anything hit, but heard something hit the floor. Herrior tilted his head in curiosity and bent down to pick it up. He stood back up carefully examining as the man continued to blast away at him.

Herrior felt that it was made out of a hard cloth with small pebbles in it. He gently pulled apart the bag and put one of the pebbles in his mouth.

"It's a bean?" Herrior said and started laughing. "You're shooting beans at me?" The man than took the shotgun and slammed it over Herrior's head. The wooden stock instantly broke while the barrel flew behind him.

"Well that's better than shooting plants at me I guess." Herrior said.

"Tase his ass, everybody!" The man shouted. Every one of the soldiers pulled out their taser guns and shot at him.

"I've had this done to me before. It's slightly annoying in the fact that I have to pick these little pins off from my clothes, but I could have told you the result before you did it." Herrior said gently picking off the pins that stuck in his clothes.

"Anyways, I was serious about ripping off your right leg…and I believe it's been longer than ten seconds." The man looked sternly at him and reached for his radio. Herrior shot out his hand and grabbed it with lightning speed.

"If I can't communicate with my group, you can't communicate with yours. Fair is fair."

The man pulled out a pistol and gave the command to open fire. The bullets and the noise from the guns filled the air. Herrior ducked his head as if he was walking through a snowstorm. He grabbed the man's body with his left hand, picked him up and with one swift motion pulled off his right leg. The man screamed in pain.

Ten seconds later all of their automatic weapons were out of bullets. Herrior didn't even appear to have a scratch on him.

"Alan! I would say that about twenty percent of them missed in the first place, second of all it did drain some of my health but my mitigation absorbed most of it, and third of all I did win the bet." Herrior said and threw the leg at his feet. "Stay right where you are, or you will be going home in pieces as well, do you understand that Alan?" The doctor was as far back against the wall as he could be. He quickly let out a nod.

Herrior turned his attention back at the man he was holding without his leg. "You threatened me, you die. Call off your soldiers and I will just kill you. They were simply following orders."

"Never you son of a…"

"Call off your soldiers or I will kill all of them!" Herrior demanded and slammed him through the wall. Several popping sounds could be heard, as well as the drywall crushing and his yelps in pain.

"Order them to stand down!" Herrior screamed in his face. The man mumbled a quiet "stand down" before his body went limp.

"Good! Now then, listen to me! I only kill those who threaten me. Your leader is dead. It is now up to you to decide whether you want to continue to try to kill me, or report that nothing was here." Herrior said. "I do not like killing, but I am very well trained at it!"

The soldiers looked at each other, and eventually all looked at one person. Herrior looked at him and tilted his head. Herrior raised the dead body with one hand and with the other hand smashed the dead man's skull apart like it was a grape.

"Has there been a misunderstanding up here perhaps?" Herrior said tossing the body at Alan.

"There may have been..." The man said looking around.

Herrior walked up to him and said, "If you want, I will give you all time to reload – but I will annihilate all of you, and the support team that came with you. So has there been a misunderstanding?"

"Yes sir. We were shooting at ghosts, isn't that right guys?" The man said and everybody nodded or agreed. "Just a little spooked…" He added.

Herrior walked over to the pile of flesh and bone standing before Alan's feet. His face was pale white and Herrior could smell urine. He picked up the body and said, "I did not hear an apology from you!" Herrior punched his hand completely through his body. He grabbed the body's spine and pulled out a large chunk of it. He threw it at the soldiers. Suddenly the soldiers all started apologizing.

"That's better." Herrior walked over to Alan and picked him up with one hand. He apologized as fast as he could and threw him over at the other soldiers.

"The lesson for today is, don't threaten people – and apologize for anything you may have done wrong." Herrior said. "Now get on your communication black thingy and tell everybody the war is over, or whatever you humans call it." All of the soldiers quickly radioed in that there was no threat and they were all coming back out. Several replies back on the radios were "Is the specimen contained?" and "Did the threat have to be neutralized?" Many of them radioed back that there was no specimen and there was no threat. Just was seeing ghosts. One of the men even radioed that the Colonel had shot himself, and then named off a couple of different reasons.

"You're a smart man." Herrior said looking at him. "Listen, I'm not from your world – as many of you may have guessed already. I lead a team similar to what your team does. We take out threats to your world and other worlds as well. If it wasn't for us, your world would be dominated by creatures and demons that you can't even imagine. Believe it or not, but we are all on the same side. Had I been one of those creatures I would have killed everybody in this building as well as any of you who would have entered it. We kill only when we are threatened, but compared to what you tried to do, we are much better at it. I fight with different weapons, but I could have slaughtered all of you in under a second. Now, I will listen from a distance. If any of you do not stick with the story you just said, I will slaughter you and hunt down your family – same as I'm going to do with your doctor here. Did anybody here not understand me?" Everybody acknowledged that they understood. Herrior then stood aside and held his hand up, motioning for them to go.

"That includes…me too…right?" Alan asked nervously.

"To be honest, you stink right now. I know where you live, and I will visit you later. Keep up the same lie that they kept up and I will spare your family's lives. But I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to. If I sense that you are attempting to defend your house, I will smash it to the ground. If you are peaceful about it, we'll simply talk for a couple of minutes and then you will never hear from me again. Is that understood?" Herrior said leaning over and extending his hand to help him up. The doctor hesitated but took his hand. Herrior gently pulled him to his feet.

Alan started hurrying down the hallway and then stopped. He turned around and saw Herrior still looking at him.

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense…" Alan said trying to rationalize the situation.

"We're both in the same boat partner. I need you to help me figure out how to contact my group. You are the only one that believes me that I can trust right now. This episode will hit the press as a governmental mistake and some cover-up will be thought of. Always happens, throughout the years of history. If the people in charge can't explain something, you calm the masses by faking a story. The rumors die down, and it is as if the event never took place." Herrior said looking around.

"So…are we going to build a spaceship or intergalactic communication gizmo?" Alan asked. Herrior laughed. "I've only had experience with two different kinds of spaceships and both of them blew up, one was on purpose and the others were because they threatened the lives of my group. Ah, this is it I think." Herrior said. He pulled open two doors and saw a series of cables. He jumped down the elevator shaft, slowing his fall gradually by occasionally grabbing the cables. Herrior finally landed on the elevator carrier, pulled out his sword and made a quick opening. He fell through it and made another opening. He put his sword away and continued his descent, once again slowing how fast he fell by grabbing the cables every couple of seconds.

He made it to the very bottom of the elevator shaft and opened the doors. The room had several pipes, steam hissing in the air, and gigantic metal furnaces in it. He quickly looked around and found another door out. He pulled out his shield and charged at the door. The door flew completely off from its hinges and sailed fifty feet from its vertical position. Herrior put his shield away and began running off into the woods. Two hundred yards into the forest he heard some scampering of several large animals and he suddenly stopped. His eyes adjusted to what he was looking at and he saw a family of deer.

"Sorry, mind if I sleep here tonight?" Herrior said lying against a big oak tree. The male deer walked up to Herrior after ten minutes of listening to him snore. The deer rubbed his nose against his arm and then laid down beside him. The rest of the deer's family laid down around Herrior also for the night.

The next morning Herrior woke up and saw a brown furry back in his face. He smiled and sat up. All of the deer instantly jumped back to see what he was going to do.

"Thanks for keeping me company, I need to get going now though." Herrior said. Herrior started to walk away as the male deer ran forward and grabbed his left arm. Herrior turned around and he saw the deer backing away from him. Herrior looked at the deer funny and thought that was strange behavior for a deer, but then continued walked. The male deer again ran forward and bit Herrior's arm and tried to pull him backwards.

"What do you want?" Herrior said turning around. The male deer, seeming pleased to have gotten his attention scampered off twenty feet and then stopped. He turned around to look at Herrior.

"A druid perhaps? Or a druid communing with the animals to locate me?" Herrior asked out loud. No reply. The male deer snorted.

"Fine, I'm coming…" Herrior said as he began to run after the family of deer.

Herrior ran in several different directions, but keeping up with the deer. "I hope you know the way back!" Still no answer from anybody or anything though.

The deer came to a clearing in the woods and they all stood looking at a big pile of apples placed in the middle of a withered corn field.

"That's odd." The male deer bit Herrior's arm and pulled him in another direction, but stopped abruptly, facing him towards a small wooden house.

"Well had you shown me this last night, I would have slept and eaten here." Herrior told the deer. The family of deer slowly crept back into the woods. Herrior watched their reaction and then looked towards the wooden house. He drew his weapons and began running towards it.

He blasted the front door in and saw an alliance human eating a dead deer corpse. Herrior threw his sword at him and let out a thunderous battle cry as his sword returned to him and he engaged the alliance. Several swift bashes with his shield and a quick defensive blow knocked his head to the ground. After a couple of seconds, the human burned to ash. Herrior looked around and saw several guns and ammunition. Herrior then started smashing the support beams holding the little house up. Within a minute the house collapsed. Herrior knocked away the roof and any remaining boards that had fallen on him. Herrior then walked about ten yards away and then fiercely charged at the fallen house. He then slammed his sword on the ground producing a shockwave that blew the pieces of the house into the forest. Herrior put his weapons back and walked out to the board full of apples and brought them back into the forest. The family of deer was still there. He sat down the board as the deer began to feast.

"Even the animals know the alliance is dangerous." Herrior said out loud. He smiled at them and then jogged out of the field and found the nearest road. He looked both ways and decided to head west.

After ten minutes of travel though, an old farmer in a rusty old truck stopped to talk to him.

"Hi stranger! Need a lift?" The farmer asked in a friendly old voice.

"Yes I do actually. I have nothing to offer for your services though." Herrior said.

"Bah, hippy-cock. I would offer you a seat in the cab, but I don't think you would fit. You're a tall one aren't ya now?" The farmer said letting out a friendly chuckle. "You aint no escaped prisoner on the run or anything are ya?"

Herrior laughed. "No, I'm as friendly as they come. My name is Herrior."

"Well Herrior, tell me where you need to go and we'll see if old betsy here can make it there…no promises though, and if we break down you are pushing." The farmer laughed again.

Herrior told him the address. "Wow, fella. You are bit far from home now aren't ya? No bother though. Hope you don't mind the smell of chickens."

Herrior jumped in the truck of the bed and felt the truck groan under his weight. The farmer didn't seem to mind and started heading towards the address.

Herrior began to think of how many days had passed, and whether or not his group or the King had given up looking for him. Usually lost people are found within a day…two days at the most with the Queen's help. What's it been, eight, nine days? Maybe ten?

Herrior had been looking to the north as he saw a banshee approach him. "It's Herrior! I'm here! Come here!" Herrior stood up and kept repeating in his mind. The banshee flew right through him and continued on her way, as if he didn't even exist. Herrior sat down dumbfounded.

"That made no sense. Any banshee can read a person's thoughts. It even flew through me! Have I been kicked out of Tranquil? The alliance still sees me as a threat. What is going on…?" Herrior said out loud as the truck continued to sputter along. He continued to ponder it until the truck stopped three hours later at a beautiful home on a several acre lot. Herrior read the numbers on the mailbox and it matched the address. He jumped out to thank the man, but found him dead in the front seat.

"You're shitting me! How long have you been dead for?" Herrior started examining him and guessed that he had been dead for about a full day.

Herrior walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A woman answered it and quickly screamed at Herrior's height and massive frame.

"Ma'am, I don't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry. I got a ride from a farmer out there, and now he appears to have died." Herrior said pointing at the truck. "Is this the address of Doctor Alan? I am Herrior."

"Holy shit, you are Herrior?" The woman said and quickly shut the door and undid the locks. The door then flung open and the woman pulled him inside.

"Because of you, my husband received a huge bonus and a twenty dollar an hour pay raise. He said if somebody your size and shape was to come along to invite you in and phone him immediately. Please, have a seat." The woman said pointing to the brand new couch in the other room.

"I am all dirty and smelly ma'am, do you wish for me to wait outdoors?

"No…no no no…" The woman said pushing Herrior backwards onto the couch. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can serve you and then call my husband." The woman said in an excited voice.

"Go ahead and make the call, I will just wait here. The woman ran across the room and picked up a phone and pushed two buttons. A couple seconds went by and the woman said, "He's here! In our living room right now! Yes Herrior, he matches your description perfectly! Ok see you soon." The woman said and hung up the phone.

"So my husband tells me you are from another planet?" The woman said quickly.

"Sort of, I'd rather not discuss it with too many people."

"Do you come in peace? Do you want us to take you to our leader?" The woman said and started laughing. Herrior closed his eyes and smiled.

"Ma'am, I must stink. Do you have a shower or something similar that I can wash off to make myself more presentable to you?" Herrior asked.

"Are you allergic to water? I saw this one movie where…"

"No…I am not allergic to water. It is the substance that all life needs to sustain itself. I'm sure you have many misconceptions of what you may have been expecting. I assure you, I will not cause you any harm and will try not to make a nuisance of myself. I only wish to contact my group, or anybody from my town for that matter." Herrior said with a sigh. "To be honest, I saw one of them on the drive here. She did not even recognize me. It broke my heart."

The wife quickly settled down. "Sorry." She said and gave him a moment of silence.

"If I cannot establish communication in the next day or so, I will move on and find some way of earning my keep on this world." Herrior said.

"Nonsense, stay with us! I insist!" Herrior thought about the offer for awhile.

"I will need to speak with both of you about the offer. I will sleep in the barn and tend to the animals and whatever chores need to be done. I am a fighter though, and will need to be retrained." Herrior said with a tear running down his cheek.

"Hey, hey now…none of that ok?" The wife grabbed several tissues and gave them to Herrior. "After what you did for my husband I'm positive we can work something out. And staying in the barn is silly; we have several extra rooms in the house. Come; let me show you where the shower is."

"What is your name?" Herrior asked.

"Samatha."

Herrior closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. Another tear flowed.

After Herrior's shower, he dried himself off and came back downstairs wearing the exact some clothes. He saw that Alan and Samatha had a bottle of wine and several appetizers.

"Do you want a change of clothes, a friendly drink or something to eat?" Alan asked. Herrior smiled, but it was obvious that he had been crying.

"I had the truck towed, no questions were asked about his death or who he was." Alan continued to say, but stopped because Herrior's emotions were overtaking him.

Herrior sat back on the couch and began to weep. Alan and Samatha sat on the love seat on the opposite side of the room and waited sympathetically.

"I have just lost my entire life; everybody I have ever loved, and everybody I have ever known. Please forgive me." Herrior said not looking up at them.

Alan motioned to speak up, but figured it wasn't the best time.

Twenty minutes passed and Herrior laid down on the floor and began to doze off. "Please allow me to sleep here for now. I will be out first thing in the morning to find a way of earning currency, and to uphold my duties and honor to my King. I will continue the fight, even if it is just me. I swear my life on it…" Herrior said quietly and then gently started to snooze.

"Should we carry him upstairs?" Samatha asked.

"From what I saw, a front-end loader couldn't even carry him upstairs. Let's move the table back so he doesn't roll into it and see if we can find a blanket for him." Alan said.

"Do you still believe everything that he says?" Samatha asked.

"I believe what I saw!" Alan said quickly remembering the event. "But to answer your question, I don't know. I do not believe he is going to do any harm to us, and it was him that gave me the huge promotion. Frankly it didn't make any sense to me, but the soldiers worded everything so perfectly that it sounded like I was the hero. I'm charging double my rates and patients are coming from all over and still giving me hundreds of dollars as tips. I've even thought about building an office onto our house and having my patients come here."

"You have talked about that for awhile now." Samatha said and kissed him on the forehead. She left for a couple of minutes. Alan heard some very silent words coming out of Herrior's mouth. He put his ear right next to his mouth and listened until Samatha came back. Alan looked at her and put a finger over his mouth and continued to listen. After ten minutes he came to the realization that whatever language he was talking was not from this world. He scooted back slowly and they put the blanket over Herrior. Samatha accidently pulled the blanket over his face and was going to put it back when she noticed something strange.

"Uh…Alan?" Samatha said stepping back.

"I see it hun…don't wake him up. That would explain the CAT scan machine." Alan said leaning over closer to examine it. Herrior's face had two solid points holding up the blanket that seemed to be coming out of his face. The blanket's formation looked like a ravine with two steep mountains. Alan touched the bumps and they felt solid. He grabbed a hold of it and gently moved it back and forth. Herrior let out a groan and they both quickly jumped back.

"Look at the rest of the blanket! That's not a normal human shape!" Samatha said. Several sharp points protruded out from his belly, and it appeared that he had an enormous belt on. His legs looked massive, as well as having the spikes and several 'wing' shaped objects sticking out of the blanket.

"I believe him more…" Alan said.

"That's for sure! Will he harm us?" Samatha asked.

"He kept repeating that he was only going to defend himself if attacked. So let's not attack him." Alan said.

Two days later, Herrior woke up in the afternoon. He sat up and took the blanket off from him. He looked around and occasionally saw Samatha putting something away, or doing some other task. Some music was playing in the background and she was humming along with it. Herrior got up off the floor and into a sitting position on the floor and just simply watched.

The music kept playing and it sounded to Herrior as if a man was singing about something called a "rodeo", and apparently Samatha knew all of the words to it and all of the pitches. She casually turned around to get something in the living room and screamed when she saw Herrior. Herrior instinctively rose to his feet and turned around.

"What is it Samatha?" Herrior asked reaching back for his sword and shield. Samatha didn't know what he was doing, to Samatha it looked like he was trying to scratch an itch.

"No…no it's fine. You just startled me." Samatha said trying to catch her breath.

"I apologize." Herrior said turning around and smiling at her.

"You're…I mean…you aren't…human?" Samatha asked.

"No. I am a tauren. We recently completed a favor for the Dragonflights and they repaid us with these trinkets." Herrior said looking down at it and pulling it away from his chest. "In our city, people do things for other people and don't expect any type of reward. Most of the races that we know of don't. The Draenei that we just recently encountered had a hard time grasping the concept. The Dragonflights are not like that. They have immense power and always wish to return a favor with a favor. It angers them when you don't ask for something in return." Herrior looked up at Samatha and said. "You are scared of me."

"Yes…kind of I guess. I figured you were some undercover agent that significantly helped my husband and had some sort of cover story. But everything is real…isn't it?" Samatha said backing up.

"I am not going to hurt you Samatha." Herrior said smiling at her. "Would you like me to leave your home?"

"No. It's just when we put the blanket over you, the shape of what you look like now was a lot different from what the shape of the blanket showed." Samatha said.

Herrior smiled. "To be honest with you, this is the first time I've used this trinket, before Mohania would have to cast illusions on us to blend in with your race. It worked fine, until he ran out of power. So I'm not sure how much power this trinket has, how it recharges. I know how to turn it on and off, that's about it." Herrior looked up at Samatha and evaluated her. "But…in your current state, I think I should probably not mess with it too much. Do you mind if I stand up and stretch?"

Samatha took in every word, even more fascinated than before. She shook her head aware that he was awaiting a response. "Yes, I'm sorry."

"I didn't wish to frighten you any more than you already are which is why I asked." Herrior said slowly and again smiling at her. Herrior rose to his feet and was careful not to touch their ceiling. As he stretched he asked, "How long was I sleeping?"

"Two days, we kept checking on you to make sure you were alive – but were afraid to wake you." Samatha said.

Herrior realized that he had both of them scared shitless, and if he was going to have to forge a new life here, he would need their help.

"When it is convenient for you and your husband tonight, I would like to speak with both of you. Calm your fears about me. I was in a war situation before and it probably scared your husband really bad. I did what I had to do to minimize human causalities, establish a cover story, and disappear unnoticed." Herrior said.

"Did you really rip off the Colonel's leg?" Samatha said still looking worried.

"You and your husband are in no danger of me, ok? But to answer your question, yes I did. All the stories your husband told you are probably true. I will ask again, if you are not comfortable with me in your house I will leave." Herrior said.

Samatha hesitated for a moment and then said, "No, you are welcome to stay" in an uncertain voice.

Herrior started laughing and asked if he could go in the backyard. Samatha showed him the backdoor and he ducked to get out.

"I believe we both need time to think. You carry on with your normal chores and I am going to go for a walk. What time would be good for me to come back and talk with the both of you?"

"Alan will be home at six and we usually have dinner then. If you are hungry or thirsty now I can give you something." Samatha said more casually.

"No that is fine. I will be back at six." Herrior said and started walking away from the house.

Samatha looked at him curiously and wondered what he was going to do. She watched him walk off from their property and into an empty field. For a reason unknown to her, she continued to watch him for thirty minutes, until he suddenly stopped. Herrior got down on the ground, dug a little bit and then put a piece of the soil in his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Samatha said softly to herself. Herrior walked several feet to the south and did the same thing. He continued to do this for ten minutes and then decided that he was at the right spot and began to dig.

"An alien tauren from a different world playing in the dirt. Well, this will be one for the diary tonight." Samatha said and turned back around.

The afternoon passed and Samatha had forgotten about Herrior and eventually dinner time came around with her husband arriving right on time. They kissed and started casually talking about their day. Eventually Samatha said that Herrior had woken up and went out in the back to play in the dirt. She said it in a way that made Herrior sound like a child in a sandbox.

"What was he doing?" Alan asked.

"Tasting the dirt and digging holes. He said he would be here at six. I didn't see a watch on him, so I'm assuming he'll be late." Samatha said. They exchanged conversations about Herrior and what he had said to Samatha. An hour passed and they decided to eat without him.

At dusk, they both decided that they should probably go look for him. They turned on the barn light, the yard light as well as all of the porch lights and began walking with flashlights.

"Do you think he is coming back?" Samatha asked.

"I don't know." Alan replied back.

"Don't know what?" Herrior said. His voice came faintly from the barn. "Also thanks for turning on the light, and I apologize for missing my meeting time with you."

Alan slowly opened the barn door and asked where he was.

"I'm at the far end of the building. My professions are mining and blacksmithing. I was able to find some ore today, but without my tools, I cannot refine it." Herrior said. "Similar to your profession as being a doctor, Alan."

"You mean you found a rock?" Alan said with a smile.

"Yes, I found a rock." Herrior said laughing slightly as he came into view. "I apologize for looking around your barn a lot of these tools I am unfamiliar with, but I think Samatha needed some time to herself. I did not steal or reforge any of them, but I have a couple in mind that may help. Would you like to see the rock I found?" Herrior walked up to them and smiled.

"Sure, let's have a look." Alan said and both of them were looking at his hands.

After an awkward moment Herrior said, "I'm not holding it, it is behind the barn."

"Oh. Ok, well lead the way." Alan said stepping aside. Herrior walked by them and into the dark. He walked about half of the length of the barn and stood next to his rock that he dug up. Alan and Samatha saw the size of the rock and gasped.

"Like I said, I have to refine it still but I can make many useful items out of this. It's still dirty; I haven't had any water to wash it up." Herrior said brushing off a small section of it.

"How much did that weigh?" Alan asked walking up to it.

"A lot more hauling it up the hole than it did carrying it back." Herrior said laughing. Neither one of them even paid attention to him as they both started examining it. "If you are worried about the hole I left, I was not able to fill it in. Tomorrow I was going to do that and then, ask if you could purchase me some items. But I will pay you back for them."

Again, neither one of them was listening as they both started scrapping off the dirt of this boulder that was the size of Herrior and nine foot around.

"It's yellow…Herrior is this gold!" Samatha said quickly.

Herrior nodded. "It may not be worth much on this world. I know you do paper money, but I figured maybe I could make you some necklaces or items that you could sell. In Tranquil and the other worlds, we deal in gold coins…"

"Herrior! This enormous rock is solid gold!" Alan practically screamed interrupting him.

"Most of it is. Like I said I still need to clean it up and refine it to take out the impurities, it should take me a week at the most…"

"You're shitting me right!" Alan said quickly he tried to pick up the boulder and it wouldn't even budge. He and his wife kept scrapping off the dirt until they saw a good foot size view of the ore.

"This huge thing is gold?" Alan said again walking around it in disbelief. "This thing makes Fort Knox look small, how did you find it?"

Herrior sighed. "My professions are mining and blacksmithing, like I said before…"

"Sorry, yes you did. I can't believe this!" Alan said scrapping away another chunk of dirt and revealing the shiny gold beneath it.

"I was actually looking to find iron to be honest. I wanted to repair my gear. Iron of course isn't what my armor and weapons are made of, but it's probably the best I can do on this planet." Herrior said sounding disappointed. "But I found this and thought maybe it be best to start repaying you back for your hospitality for me. Samatha indicated to me through her body language earlier that she was not comfortable with me in the home. So I will sleep in the barn if that is ok, and I will spend my days collecting and refining ore that I find. If not, I will leave my ore and be on my way."

"You will most certainly not!" Alan said almost yelling at Herrior. "Herrior, do you know what this is worth?"

Herrior shrugged. "Some races don't value it at all; some have fought wars over it. In your past, the king always wanted gems and gold and fine linens. My wife could make you the linens, but that's not my thing. Honestly to me it's just another ore. We have ore's of much more value in the different worlds that I have been." Both Alan and Samatha stared at him in awe, not knowing what to say.

"Do…you want me to put it back?" Herrior eventually asked.

"No! No…no, right here is just fine. Herrior we will never have to work another day in our lives. We could buy half of the world with this much! We could buy planes and Ferrari's for everyday of the week. Hell, let's buy Montana and rename it Pross!" Alan said hugging his wife excitedly.

"It's just a rock guys." Herrior then thought for a second. "Would it be able to buy weapons?"

Alan laughed and said it would.

"Would it be able to buy fighters?"

Alan stopped laughing for a second and looked at Herrior.

"Yes, you could buy an entire army."

Herrior smiled. "I would like to buy some fighters with weapons. Then I will forge them some armor and we can continue the battle. I swore to protect Tranquil, even if I have been banned for some reason…which I still don't know why I would have been. Even if we have to fight and die like Devon's group, I will eventually meet up with my family in Heaven and in the mean time build my honor on this planet."

"Battle? You mean the one our country is fighting overseas? In Iraq and Afghanistan?" Alan said.

"Never heard of those places, no we fight demons and alliance. As of lately it's been the recent rise of cultists on the worlds trying to summon demons. For some reason, unknown to us, they have been trying, and succeeding, in bringing demons into this world." Herrior than sighed, "No, I should fight alone. What's the point in putting other human's lives in the way? Your race is good at ranged attacks, and Dan was good at melee. But we have no healer. We have no rogue's. Buying loyalty is similar to the soldiers that you saw Alan. As long as the money keeps coming and there is no threat of death, they will fight. Not all humans, but watching my army scatter on the battlefield would demoralize everybody else and I would die without honor – just like the alliance." Herrior shook his head and said, "No…I will fight alone. Ok, I will need maps and information…umm…I've seen people with groups of paper reading them. What is that and does it contain information?"

Alan and Samatha stopped celebrating and looked at Herrior, again questioning his sanity.

"Alliance, demons, cultists…Herrior?" Alan asked slowly. "Are you a priest or some sort of freelance religious fighter? I don't know what 'alliance' is, but the other two don't happen in this country."

"I grow tired of proving myself to the both of you and answering your questions. Do you want to see what I look like? I will then head off on first light tomorrow to hunt down and bring back a demon to show you. Will you believe me then?" Herrior asked sounding frustrated.

"Herrior, it's not that we don't believe you – it's just hard to understand everything that you say…" Alan said.

"How do you think I feel? How do you think I felt being questioned by you in the hospital? These strange sounds, smells, devices…I have hundreds of questions, but the more I ask, the more uncomfortable I make you feel. You both assume I know everything you both know. I grow tired of this!" Herrior said angrily. "You two are in a world you are familiar with, you have your family, you have your wife, and you have your friends. How would you feel if you were put on a different planet and with no practical way of going back?"

Alan carefully walked up to him and apologized.

"Do you want proof? More proof? Do I have to prove myself every day? Come in your barn with me!" Herrior said and walked angrily by them.

Alan and Samatha stood watching him walk away and out of sight.

"Alan?"

"Yes?"

"For crying out loud, you are the doctor. Is he telling the truth? Or should we ask him to leave! I'm scared to go in the barn right now!" Samatha said bluntly.

"He appears to be upset alright. I personally saw our army empty entire clips of probably armor-piercing bullets into him and it didn't even faze him. Then he brings us this. First of all, how somebody could randomly pick a spot, dig a hole, and bring up a piece of gold this big – and then bring it back as if it were a mere pebble. Honestly I think we both know he is telling the truth. He claims that a war is going on, do you want him on our side or the other side?" Alan said smiling. Samatha smacked him on the arm.

"Sorry, but I think we need to start better understanding him. I believe he is telling the truth. It's obvious he is hiding a lot of things, but I don't see him as a threat." Alan said and began walking towards the entrance of the barn.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Samatha said quickly.

"Yes, I'm going to go walk in our barn and see what he has to show us." Alan said.

"No Samatha, I am not going to hurt either one of you. Yes I have been telling the truth, yes I am upset. The bullets did hurt, but getting hit by the SUV and the train did much more damage to me. I am a warrior, I take the damage for the group and get their attention while my other fighters attack the target and the healers sustain us. The reason why I haven't left already is because I would have to explain all of this to somebody different all over again. Alan saw already what some of my powers are, so I figured he would understand the best. But again, if this is causing this much of a problem – I will leave and not come back. Now come and see the real me. The mighty taurens of our race, the leader of an assault group for hundreds of years and an ambassador to Tranquil!"

Samatha felt embarrassed and ran to catch up with her husband. They both peaked around the corner of the doorway and saw an enormous heavily armored, medieval looking knight with an enormous sword and shield.

"The sword and shield attach to my back like so." Herrior said casually throwing them behind him. The sword and shield both slammed into his back as if it was magnetic.

"My armor is made mostly of titansteel bars, and various rare elements of the ground and rare gems. I am able to forge my own armor, but my entire set was made by our armorsmith, enchanted by our enchanters, and a variety of other items were etched in to increase my power." Herrior said. He casually took off his helmet and tossed it in front of him, it sounded like a twenty pound bowling ball slamming into the ground. Alan and Samatha looked at him in shook.

"This is what a tauren looks like. I have white horns, grey hair that I part in the middle, and a long nose. You'll notice that the color of my fur is white." Herrior took his sword and shield back out and tossed them next to his helmet. Herrior took off his cloak and tossed it in front of him. Piece by piece he took off each piece of armor until he was down to his brown loincloth.

"White fur in the front, black on the shoulders, and black on my back – notice my tail as I turn around." Herrior said as he modeled for them.

"I have hoofs; they are black as you can see. Umm…I don't know, I have fingers like you do, I have teeth. I do have blood in my veins like you do. I am usually a much more laid back person, but as I said – I'm not exactly in my element here. I am more immune to nature magical forces because of my race. I have more stamina than other races, and we can stomp on the ground causing our enemies to be stunned. Other than that, I'm just a big cow – as Skyka would say." Herrior said and sat down crossing his feet.

Alan and Samatha still stared at him in awe.

"Go ahead, examine my armor and put it on if you wish. You may come up and touch me to make sure I am real. This is not an illusion, I am not a threat, I am not a monster, and I will not harm you." Herrior tilted his head and looked at them funny and continued, "Have I said that before? I'm not sure if I have…so I just thought I would say it." Herrior started to laugh.

Alan's curiosity got the best of him and he picked up Herrior's helmet. He anticipated it weighing much more than he thought it would and he nearly fell over backwards picking it up.

"The armor adjusts itself to your body and your strength. It will also adjust itself to your head, and automatically adjust itself when you turn and look in different directions. Go ahead and put it on." Herrior said.

Alan looked it over and put it on. Suddenly power surged through his body.

"Whoa…" Alan said and then quickly took it off. He reexamined it.

"It increases your strength and stamina. Let me guess, you felt a wave of enormous power come over you." Herrior asked.

"Yes…will it control me?" Alan asked and Herrior began laughing. Alan took that as a 'no' so he put it back on. He anticipated the power surge this time.

"This…is…amazing!" Alan said as the helmet did exactly what Herrior said it would do.

"Take something and hit yourself over your head with it." Herrior said.

"I wouldn't feel anything, would I Herrior?" Alan said looking at him.

"No…you wouldn't." Herrior answered with a smile. Alan took the helmet off and handed it to Samatha. She shook her head.

"Either way, I think I have proved my point. I am not going to take off my loin cloth, but I'm sure you know what is under it." Herrior got up and picked up his chest piece. He showed them the inside and showed off the dents in it.

"I can heal myself, quite rapidly if needed, but my armor does not regenerate. It needs constant repairs and upkeep." Herrior tossed it back on the ground and it let out a loud echoing crash. "Usually my shield is what needs the most repairs. I am a technically a protection warrior. It is my job to hold the attention of the bad guy, or bad guys, and absorb or mitigate the incoming blows while my DPS'ers knocks them down. I have many skills and talents that I have been trained on, all of which I can't really show you. If you are this shocked by my looks and my armor, then I will only engage my powers if and when they need to be – or when I'm positive I won't scare you two to death."

Alan picked up the chest piece, again anticipating it to be heavy but felt like it only weighed about ten pounds. "How do we fix your armor?"

"I can ding out most of the dents. The color of the armor will never fade, but I will need the same material that it is made of to patch it up. The ore required for that has never been found on this planet." Herrior said. He picked up his sword and handed it to Alan.

"Is this what you fight with?" Alan asked, and then said "That was kind of a dumb question wasn't it…" He looked it over and it seemed to give off a glow.

"Not at all, most of my fighting I do with my shield actually. A sword hitting you will hurt, but an enormous shield smacking you causes much more threat. I usually either break down the armor of my enemy with my sword, make my enemy to bleed, perform a single powerful strike and then just regular swings." Herrior reached towards Alan for him to give his sword back. Alan did willingly.

"Are we all done with this demonstration, or do you wish to examine me or the rest of my armor more?" Herrior asked.

Samatha walked up to Herrior and touched his arm. "Did you evolve from a cow?" Herrior rolled his eyes.

"Nothing evolves. God creates everything and everybody." Herrior said.

"So God created you?" Samatha asked.

"I was born from parents, just like you were born. So yes, I was created between the bond from my mother and father. We reproduce the same as you…I'm hoping I don't need to go into details about that." Herrior asked.

"No, so why hasn't anybody ever seen any of you, or your kind?" Samatha asked still brushing Herrior's fur on his arm.

"You probably have and just not known it. You have also probably have seen our enemies and just not known it either." Herrior said.

"So we're not alone in this universe then?" Samatha said.

Herrior pondered the question for awhile. "I don't know the answer to that. Again another term I'm not familiar with. If you mean the stars, I don't know. I'm not a…" Herrior suddenly stopped. "No, I better not say that word. As you may have noticed I have withheld information from you, but it is for your safety. Let's just say that…umm…well…ok how about this, Alan gets in a car and goes to work. In a similar way, we get to work in sort of the same way…only different in every aspect."

"Ok, let's just leave it at that. Obviously you can't say." Alan said smiling at him.

"So are you two happy now? Can I put my armor back on? I'll assume my human form, which is if the trinket still works, so as to not frighten you." Herrior said.

"I'm not scared of you." Samatha said calmly. "I was more scared of you when I didn't know."

Herrior smiled, "You don't know how many different races we have won over to our side with those exact words you just spoke." Herrior started to put his armor back on and it was visible that his mass and strength increased with each piece.

"Well, I think I finally won your trust…all I had to do was strip off all my clothes. Is that how you trust other people?" Herrior said with a smile. Alan and Samatha both let off a burst of laughter. Herrior reached up and tapped his trinket. It instantly turned him back into his human form with the same clothes on that he had before.

"I'm hungry." Herrior said.

"I'm sure you are…what's it been, three days without food?" Samatha said smiling at him.

"You would be surprised how long we have fought with hardly any food."

"So this 'alliance' and demons stuff…is real?" Alan asked.

"Like I said, I will head off at first light tomorrow and track done one of them and bring them back to show you. Obviously I need to show you everything for you to believe." Herrior said as the three of them walked to the house.

"No. Describe them for me." Alan said.

"Alliance on this world is human but is typically very aggressive, has red glowing eyes, and is very irritable. The demons take on any form; typically build their powers off from the fear and offerings of humans. The regular alliance rarely comes to this world for some reason. There are some alliance recruiters that regularly share their knowledge and powers in order to gain a better foothold on this world. Some possessed humans, as we recently found out, are disguised as a race called the worgen. I think it was Crystal who said that they look like werewolves. Either way, any of them could possess you or flat out kill you before you even know what happened. That is where our job comes in; or rather…my job comes in as it is now." Herrior explained. During Herrior's explanation, a cool light wind flew quickly over the barn and then disappeared. None of them noticed.

Herrior sat at the table and began eating the food placed in front of him faster than both of them could serve him. This went on for a period of twenty minutes. Herrior then rose up his hand and thanked them.

"Obviously I need to go do some grocery shopping tomorrow." Samatha said with a laugh.

"Herrior, we need to get you back with your group. You said you were from Tranquil, the only Tranquil that showed up on Google was this:" Alan said showing him pictures of a highway and a grassy field. "Obviously that isn't it, is it?"

"No. Tranquil is not on this world." Herrior said smiling at him.

"Can you give me any of your party's names? Perhaps I can track them down. You said you were part of a special operations division at a police station. What was your commander's name?"

Herrior looked at him funny.

"Ok, not commander, umm…boss, uh, chief?"

"His name was chief." Herrior said.

"That was his name?" Alan asked.

"That is what we all called him."

"Ok, what was his real name? You know the first, middle, and last name?" Alan asked.

Herrior sighed.

"Ok, sorry. So you worked for a man named chief then? Did he give you your orders directly?" Alan asked.

"No, actually he doesn't even know we are there." Herrior said smiling. "He knows the Lieutenant's station has lead to several the arrest and confiscation of lots of money, but none of us take the credit."

Alan's eyes lit up. "Great! I can work with that. What state is it in?"

"Under construction the last time I saw it." Herrior replied.

"What?" Alan asked not expecting that answer. "Oh, state of the station – you mean condition of the station! No I asked that question wrong. What city, or town, or…ugh what's another word for state? Was it in Michigan?"

Herrior shrugged his shoulders.

"Was it in Missouri where I should you the picture of the place we call Tranquil?" Alan asked.

Again Herrior shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok, well so far we have that you work for a special operations department in a police station and you take orders a man named Lieutenant, who in turn takes orders from a Chief." Alan said. "Can you give me the names of any of your party members?"

Herrior looked away and considered this question. He pondered this for a couple of minutes and then sighed.

"I…don't think it would hurt…but their asses are on the line if you get possessed." Herrior said.

"What happens if I get possessed?" Alan asked quickly.

"I would kill you."

"Oh." Alan said not liking the answer.

"You would come home and possess your wife. If the possession does not take place, you would beat her until she was nearly dead to get any information out of her. It has happened lots of times before. Our priests recently have found a way to unpossess a person from the alliance, but it doesn't always work. You would then track down all of your friends and do the same to them. Then from there it is like a virus and spreads, contaminating as many people as they can. I would save your wife's life, and the lives of people you know if you became possessed by killing you." Herrior said and then repeated himself. "Look for the red eyes, aggressive behavior, and easily agitated people. Stay away from them, but tell me where they are. I will engage them…they can not possess me."

"Engage meaning, killing them?" Alan asked.

"You know the answer to that." Herrior said back.

"What do you do with the bodies?" Alan asked back.

"Any demons or alliance that we kill, their bodies become unstable and instantly burn up into ash and float away. There is no trace of any engagement. Next question." Herrior said.

"Wow…how many have you killed?"

"Not enough." Herrior replied back.

"Ok…" Alan said sitting back to take it all in.

"How do we protect ourselves?" Samatha asked.

"Finally…" Herrior said as if waiting for this question. "Do you have any guns in this house?"

"No?" Samatha said nervously.

"While you are out grocery shopping, get at least six high powered hand guns for your home. Keep them near your doors. If a man with glowing red eyes ever comes to your door and starts breathing real hard and doesn't say anything, start shooting. As for demons, guns are worthless. I'll make, or get each of you some long knives or daggers. Learn how to fight with them. Demons appear scary, but are relatively easy to kill. Get the strongest doors that you can buy, put the strongest locks that you can on them. That will buy you some time to get your guns. Won't do squat against a demon. Simply slice at it until it dies, and try not to let it touch you. Keep a gun and a knife on you at all times. If you see an alliance or something weird…"

"Like a talking cow." Samatha said giggling.

"Yes…like a talking cow…don't engage them, but tell me where you last saw it. Don't make eye contact; leave as quickly as you can. I should write down all of this information so I don't have to recite it every time." Herrior said and sighed. "However it is my duty."

"So what about the cultists?" Alan asked.

"All you have to do is identify the location of mass groups of people wearing brown robes and doing satanic rituals, sacrificing animals and such. This is where I need information. I'm flying blind here. In order to do my job, I need to know where these things are happening so I can address the issue." Herrior said.

"And by address you mean…" Alan said.

"No, we don't kill them…but we scare the piss out of them and destroy any demon that they managed to summon, no that's a lie – we kill the ones that don't leave immediately, no again that isn't entirely true...anyways look for haunted places, look for angry people with red eyes, look for cultists, and then report back to me." Herrior said.

"To be honest I'm a bit scared." Samatha said.

"So is your husband. The object here is to inform you and to protect you. If you wish, I will accompany either one of you to any errands outside of this house that need to be done. Also your husband wants to know if I have brought this war upon your house and the answer is no. This occurs more in major cities than out here in this area. No alliance or demon, or anything like that can track me. The only people that can track me is the people in my town, and for some reason they haven't been able to. Sorry Alan, did I answer all of your questions? I wanted to speed this up a little." Herrior said.

"How did you know…?" Alan started.

"Just like how did I know your pulse was increasing, that the army was marching up the stairs, that the food was drugged…shall I go on? When you are a fighter, you learn to survive. I cannot read minds. A lady in our group can, but I cannot. However I can read body language very well."

Herrior paused for a second. "Do you have something to write with? I want to give you the names of my group. For some reason I have this faint glimmer of hope that you might be able to help. It could be false hope…but none the less."

Samatha raced into another room, as Alan pulled out one of his pens. Seconds later Samatha came back.

"Nobody, under any circumstances is to know what I am about to write. Is that understood!" Herrior said in a deep commanding voice. Herrior began to write the names of his group.

"These are the names we call them. Again it is the first name they identify themselves as. It could be their first, middle, last, ending, half – I don't know all of your terms, but we only go by one name." Herrior said giving the list to Alan. He and Samatha quickly looked through the list.

"Some of these I wouldn't know how to pronounce. The bottom ones look human though, if you want to call it that…I mean that is what they are, aren't they?" Samatha asked. Herrior marked off the ones that were human. "They have powers like mine, but only different. Each member plays a special role in my group." Herrior closed his eyes and sighed, "Or whatever group they are in, or even if they are still alive…"

"Ok that's enough of that, Herrior. We are going to do what we can to find your group. Think positive ok? I don't want you to turn into one of my clients. With you, I wouldn't even know where to start…" Alan said with a chuckle in his voice. Then he realized something odd, but didn't know how to ask.

"Yes?" Herrior said looking at him.

"No…it's just I had a weird thought. You speak English. Why is that?" Alan asked.

"What's English?"

"The language you are speaking now. That's English."

"Oh – we call that common speak. I speak a couple of different languages native to my race. Common speak was established a long time ago, I don't remember, when priests started visiting us, or we came to them…either way the Bible is actually what we established as common speak. Newer translations come out, and we alter our language accordingly – depending on what the head priest thinks and it's agreed upon by the King." Herrior said yawning.

"The Bible? Are you serious? How many different races know about the Bible?" Alan asked.

"As many that are willing to listen." Herrior said rubbing his eyes.

"Well what do you and the other races look like in Heaven?" Alan asked, sparking a new interest.

"Never been there, can't tell you." Herrior said with a smile. "If you'll excuse me, I'll head out to the barn and catch some sleep."

"You will do no such thing! You will stay in our guest bedroom across the hall from our room. Come let me show you." Samatha said.

Alan stayed and looked over the list again. "Herrior, when you are here on our planet, where do you stay? At the station?"

"No, we all stay at Branzer's house." Herrior said being led away by Samatha.

"This is merely a puzzle." Alan picked up the list and followed them up.

"Herrior this may sound weird, but do you know what a puzzle is?"

"Like a riddle?"

"No…umm, it's sort of like a kid's toy. You cut apart the pieces and then have the kid match them up." Alan replied.

"And kids like that?" Herrior replied.

"Anyways, all we have to do is connect the pieces of this puzzle together and I'm certain we can find your group." Alan said.

"If I can't locate them, how do you think you can?" Herrior said turning around to look at him.

"The internet has a lot of powerful tools at my disposal." Alan said.

"Ok, have fun…" Herrior said unenthusiastically as he didn't understand what he was talking about and didn't care. He walked into his room and laid down on the bed and fell almost instantly asleep.

Alan and Samatha went into their room. "These can't be first names…they have to be last names. Dan, Julie, and Crystal are first names, but not Branzer and Bernett. Which means Branzer and Bernett have to be officers? Herrior couldn't have traveled very far…maybe a one hundred mile radius? We'll just ask for Officer Branzer or Bernett at all of the police stations until we find him." Alan said.

"They might be first names, but…it is worth a try. You know, I feel more secure sleeping in the house with Herrior here. Is it just me?" Samatha asked.

"No, I've felt it too." Alan said. "When I go to work tomorrow, take Herrior with you."

"Kind of wanted to anyways." Samatha said. "What about the gold ball in the back?

"Well…I'm going to stop putting money into my 401K if that's what you mean…Good night hun." Alan said and turned off the light.

There was a knock outside the bedroom. It didn't wake them at first. The knock intensified and Herrior said, "Alan, Samatha, please wake up!"

Alan woke in sudden fear and then woke up his wife.

"Herrior what's wrong?" Alan asked.

"I only slept a couple of hours so I went on a long walk to clear my mind." Herrior started to explain. Alan looked at the clock; it read four in the morning.

"Herrior, can this wait until morning? We can talk about it then." Alan said. Samatha was fully awake now.

"It won't live that long." Herrior said back. A long pause came after that sentence. The sounds of a small hissing and scrapping sounds could be heard.

"Herrior, what won't live that long?" Alan asked slowly.

"You two have no faith. Words flow through you like water down a stream. During my walk I encountered a family scared shitless in their car. They were afraid to go in their house because they said it was haunted. I told them I could take care of it. The father walked in behind me and babbled about how they tried to get rid of it, but my concentration was on finding the demon. The father's fear intensified so I began provoking the demon. Its natural reaction was to strike the person provoking it, thereby intensifying the fear that was being produced…"

"Herrior…are you standing outside our door with a demon?" Alan asked.

"Yes, I wanted to show you what we fight and that the threat is indeed real. Convincing you two is about as easy as asking the skies to open up and reveal a pathway to Heaven." Herrior said. He continued, "Are you two clothed? This will only take a second and then I will kill it."

Alan and Samatha stared at each other, waiting for the other one to decide what to do. They began to motion to each other to make the decision. Samatha finally rolled her eyes and put her bathrobe on, and then she pointed at Alan's bathrobe.

"Are you two still in there?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, Herrior will it hurt us?" Alan asked.

"No, I have complete control over it. May I show you?" Herrior asked again.

Both Alan and Samatha moved to the opposite side of the room and said ok. Herrior casually opened the door and walked it. He held up the demon in his right hand as if he had done this entire life. The demon stopped trying to attack Herrior, who was still in his human form, and quickly turned its attention to the couple. Samatha let off a horrifying scream, Alan held his hands out and they moved as far back into the corner as they could.

The demon looked like a three foot black snake. Its tail came to a sharp point, and his face had two oval shaped red eyes and an enormous mouth. The demon began to make threats to them, until Herrior took his other hand and clasped it over its mouth.

"I just wanted to show you, I will now destroy it." Herrior said. He reached up and pushed his trinket for some reason, instantly transforming him into his tauren self. The demon quickly turned his head and began to cower and plead for his life as Herrior grabbed his sword.

Herrior stopped. "You threaten me for the three mile walk, and now you quiver – why is that?" Herrior asked the demon. Herrior tossed his sword on the bed and pushed his trinket again, transforming himself back into his human body. The demon saw what happened and then began hissing and trying to bite and stab Herrior with his tail.

"This is not right. Our illusions before didn't fool your kind before, nor did it with alliance. Why do you fear me, and then attack me the next moment after I activate the trinket?" Herrior asked the demon. The demon continued to threaten his life and to drain his soul. Herrior retouched his trinket and turned himself back into his tauren self. Instantly again, the demon recoiled and begged for its life.

"I will need to ponder this for awhile." Herrior said casually. He picked up his sword and sliced it in half. It dropped to the floor and wiggled for a second. Alan and Samatha watched in fascination. Then, just as Herrior said, it burned up leaving no trace of it. Herrior put his sword behind him and stood there thinking about something intensely.

After awhile he looked up and saw Alan and Samatha staring at him in shock. "Oh sorry, I will go ponder my thoughts elsewhere. Good night." Herrior said and shut the door behind him.

They both stood there staring at where the demon had burned up for several moments.

"What…the…fuck…just happened?" Samatha said still firmly grasping her husband.

"Samatha. In the future if Herrior tells you to do something, do it without hesitation…ok?" Alan said slowly.

"Your damn right I will!" Samatha answered quickly back.

"I now believe every single word he has ever said. Don't go anywhere without him tomorrow. We need to get him back with his group…" Alan said. Samatha quickly agreed and they began talking for awhile. Samatha fell asleep and Alan turned on the news. He listened for a couple of minutes and was absolutely shocked.

"My word…what has been happening in our world?" Alan asked himself softly.

Seven in the morning came around and Samatha was still sleeping. Alan listened to the news repeat itself over with a couple of new updates. He finally shut it off and walked across the hallway to Herrior's room. He wasn't there. Alan began to frantically look around the house for him, trying not to wake his wife. He glanced out the front window and saw Herrior sitting on the front lawn watching the sun rise.

Alan raced outside and said, "Have you seen the news?"

"Have I 'seen' the news?" Herrior asked calmly. "Isn't news heard and passed on?"

"No. Herrior cultists are being slaughtered around the world! Estimates are as high as fifty thousand!" Alan said. Herrior nodded.

"Well first they were spreading messages of the end of the world, and broadcasting their messages. They were filling the streets and had organized meetings. Now all of them are dead, or in hiding! I mean…doesn't that sound weird to you in the least?" Alan said still in an excited tone.

"No." Herrior said calmly and continued to watch the sun rise.

"Well! Is the end of the world coming? A lot of people think it is because there are theories that silencing these people will calm the masses. Others are demanding the freedom of religion. Herrior, they aren't being just killing – but massacred! One of the leaders said that he demanded protection from our government and demanded that an investigation be done. His house was heavily guarded; they found his head the next day impaled on a stick in the back yard! The guards and security footage showed nothing. There one second, gone the next! What is going on!" Alan demanded.

Herrior smiled and let out a chuckle. "Only God himself knows when the end of days is, not even his angels know. Anybody claiming to is a false prophet. As far as the rest of your questions, it is just that, news. But thank you for telling me. In a week it will be old news and people will forget. Calm yourself and come over and sit by me."

Alan was still hyped up. He shook his hands and took several deep breaths. He walked over to Herrior and sat down.

"None of this scares you, does it Herrior?" Alan said.

"I have been scared only a couple of times in my life. One was marrying my bride; the second time was renewing our vows. The third time was doing something stupid and feeling the vengeance of my wife." Herrior said with a smile. "I have been in countless wars, assignments, assassinations and annihilation of certain people or an entire planet, group, or race. I was not afraid then. I have died many times, but was brought back to life. I do not fear death or rumors of seeing the news, or however you put it. What is the point of waking every morning in fear? If you let it over take you, then your judgment will be clouded and the enemy has his victory already."

Alan began to rattle off dozens of questions. Herrior shushed him and pointed at the sun.

"See the clouds. They have formed a circle around the sun. The sun is still visible, yet the clouds prevent it from showing off the sheer radiance of the sun. For reasons I don't understand and honestly I don't want, but I believe I am here for a reason and was put here in this situation for the both of you. The metaphor I just gave you describes both of you perfectly. You both believe, you both know, but you won't accept the truth. The clouds in your mind are blocking the sun from penetrating the barriers that you have taught yourself about what is real and what is not real. You did not believe in demons until last night. You did not believe your own eyes with what you saw at the hospital because of the barriers in your mind. Your reaction to the golden ore I found further built up those barriers and made the situation worse. Greed and lust for worldly goods over took you. Tell me Alan, when you die – how much of what you have done on this world is going to go with you to your grave? Will your house be there? Will that gold rock be there? All of your barriers will be broken down, and you will see the full strength of the sun blasting in your face." Herrior said calmly.

"We don't believe in the afterlife. There is no proof…" Alan said.

"Just like there was no proof of all the things I said, and then proved you wrong every time? Tell me, in your mind how do you rationalize what you saw last night when I brought the demon into your room."

"I have no explanation for that." Alan said.

"Yet it was there. Next time I find one, I'll let you touch it and hold it. Would you like that Alan?"

"No."

"Oh, so that means that some of your barriers have been knocked down and you aren't sure of certain ideas and values you've held onto your whole life." Herrior said still looking at the sun.

"I'm the physiatrist. I should be asking you these questions." Alan said smiling back.

"So go to your work today and tell everybody you saw a demon last night. Tell me, what would their reaction be?" Herrior asked looking at him.

"I would lose my license to practice medicine and become a patient instead of the doctor." Alan said. "I know where you are going with this."

"No you don't. You need to turn your mind off for a second and just relax. Breath in the air, enjoy the dirt and plant life. You humans busy yourself so much that you don't realize the words being whispered into your ears on a daily basis. How many people do you administer your medicine to in a day?" Herrior asked.

"Umm…we have half an hour sessions now, the work load has doubled and I have to increase my staff, hire more doctors. Personally I see probably sixty people a day."

"Half an hour. How many days have you known me, analyzed me, tested me – trying to figure out how I work, how I survived. Useless time, all of it a waste. Have you ever seen people die, for no apparent reason at all?" Herrior asked pausing to wait for the answer he knew he would say.

"Yes."

"And have you seen people survive disasters, odds are entirely against them – yet somehow they lived? You humans have a stupid word that you associate with things like that. It's the word 'luck'. If you were to carefully analyze the people's thoughts and feelings, it would be an entirely different story…and I doubt they would use the word 'luck'." Herrior said.

"I've seen a lot of patients and told them those very words." Alan said.

"Then you are an idiot. What are their thoughts on their near death experiences?" Herrior asked.

"Most of them…" Alan began to say. "No all of them said they set the world aside and heard whispers in their heads, ears whatever you want to call it. They claim angels saved them, and that it was not time for them to die."

"Then you label them as a person with a sick mind and give them medicine to return them back to the life all of you humans think is 'normal'. Then you charge them how much money to hold up the illusion that angels and God doesn't exist?" Herrior asked.

Alan shook his head, "No it is not…"

"Yes it is. We both know you are lying. Obviously demons exist…have you even thought that maybe angels exist as well? Or are you still cleaning the piss out of your pants and trying to build your barriers back up in your mind and think of a rational explanation for that." Herrior said with a growl in his voice as he continued. "If I were to sit next to you and listen to you talk to your sick people, what do you think I would say? How long would it take for me to become pissed off and beat the shit out of you?"

Alan didn't say a word.

"Do you have sick people that see things, hear things, are afraid of things; have thoughts that don't make sense, dreams that scare them? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe they are the ones that are right, and you are the one that is wrong? Or do you rationalize it with some previous experience in their past, make a guess that they are experiencing things now because of some bad event? Tell them everything is ok, give them pills to null their mind, charge them and then send them home? Go to work today and set aside ten people. Tell them an 'expert" or whatever lie you want to make up wants to listen to them. I bet you I can solve their problems permanently within a week. Care to place a wager on that?" Herrior asked.

Alan shook his head feeling ashamed. "But I will do that. I had other plans…"

"Of tracking down my group? No, I am here for a reason. For unknown reasons this is where God wants me. As you told me when you came out in a sheer panic, our groups are still fighting the war. Those cultists are idiots. I assure you they were given a chance to repent and leave, as we have before. But if we don't break up the ceremony they'll unleash demons into this world that would destroy everything and everybody. It is our job to ensure that doesn't happen until God tells us to stop."

"How does God tell you to stop?" Alan asked.

"We know. Stop and listen once in awhile, you will know as well. By the position of the sun it appears that if you don't leave right now you are going to be late." Herrior said.

Alan checked his watch. His panic kicked in again and leaped off from the ground and ran for his car. He quickly raced down the driveway and flew down the road. Herrior bowed and said a short prayer before returning to the house.

"Breakfast?" Samatha asked.

"We just ate yesterday?" Herrior asked, but the aroma made him smile. Samatha smiled back at him.

"Bacon, eggs, hash browns, real butter, toast, and milk." Samatha said and then paused for a second. "Do you drink milk?"

"Odd question, am I not supposed to?" Herrior asked.

"Well you are a…well…never mind I shouldn't have said anything." Samatha said feeling embarrassed. Herrior smiled at her and began eating. Herrior never made the connection as to what Samatha was trying to say.

"What were you and my hubby talking about?" Samatha said sitting down to join him.

"Same talk I am going to have with you when you are ready. With Alan it is going to take some more time though. I do appreciate you feeding me. So what is your plan for today?" Herrior said engulfing his meal.

Samatha watched with curiosity as he ate. "Well, we need to go grocery shopping and you said we need to buy some weapons. I hope you know what we are going to get, because I don't have a clue. I'm almost scared to remind you, but you said you were going to show me what an alliance looked like?"

Herrior finished his plate and asked, "If I see one I'll point it out to you. Last night I was led to the house with the demon in it without even knowing it. My party used to be able to sense them…" Herrior shook his head. "I need to stop doing that. It is just me now. Not my party, but me. I need to start accepting that." Herrior let out a sigh and got up from the table and put his plate in the sink. He then examined it. It was different from Branzer's sink. He slowly started adjusting the knobs until water came out. He held his hand out and took a sample of the water.

"This water is not purified. I can taste several different elements from the ground in it…nothing that appears dangerous." Herrior said and saw something that caught his attention. He picked it up.

"What is this?" Herrior asked.

Samatha felt insulted at the water comment and then giggled at the question. "It's a steel wool scrubbing pad. It's used for cleaning food off from plates."

"How much is it? I have a use for it." Herrior said feeling it all over.

"They are cheap; you can have as many as you want." Samatha said. "Do we need to get our water tested?"

"I just did that for you." Herrior said confused. "I'll be right back. We'll need some bargaining items to get what we want." Herrior began to move the dishes out of the sink and onto the cupboard. It created a mess, but again Samatha was curious as to what was going on in his head.

Herrior left for the backyard and to the enormous gold ball that he found. Samatha heard a mighty roar and several crashes that resonated through the house. Minutes later Herrior walked back in with three different pieces of gold and a large shiny crystal. He placed all of the items in the sink and turned on the water and began vicious scrubbing at the pieces of gold. They all cleaned up rather quickly. The shiny crystal he took his time with. When he was done he held it up and it radiated prisms of light all over the room.

"Oh my word…" Samatha said.

"This is for you. These other pieces are for bargaining with." Herrior said handing it to her and putting the rocks in a behind him that disappeared, just the same as his weapons did when he put those behind them.

"Is this…a diamond?" Samatha said. Herrior nodded. "I'm sure there are others in there as well. I'm not a prospector, just a miner. Sometimes I can identify gems and other valuables, but mostly just process the ore."

"I can't…I mean this alone is probably worth a fortune. What is this for?" Samatha asked.

"Breakfast. Ok let's get going. Cut a hole in it and make a necklace, I don't know I'm not a jewel crafter either. I'm assuming the other car is yours out there?" Herrior said walking towards it.

"Yes, wait I'm not ready." Samatha said and hurried up to clear the table.

"It'll be there when we come back. We need to get some stuff done this morning." Herrior said.

"Ok, let me go put on some make-up." Samatha said.

Herrior sighed. He didn't know what she meant by it, but it sounded important to her. So he cleared the table for her and they met up in the kitchen shortly after.

"I would have done that." Samatha said.

"It's ok, can we go now?" Herrior asked. Samatha smiled at his annoyed tone, but knowing that he was trying to hide it.

They drove for about an hour into a major city.

"Where do we have to go to exchange gold into your currency?" Herrior asked. Samatha pushed a button in front of her and talked to the car. The car then waited a couple of seconds and then talked back. Herrior looked shocked.

"Is it demon possessed?" Herrior said beginning to adjust himself to get his weapons.

"No, it's called Onstar. There's actually a pawn shop right around the corner. If we don't like that one, there are three others." Samatha said and maneuvered the car into the parking lot.

Herrior squeezed his legs out into the parking lot and slowly moved himself out. The car seemed to sigh with relief when he left. He looked around and didn't see anything unusual, so they went into the store.

They were greeted by a friendly middle-aged man. It was a large store and seemed busy today.

"Who is the leader of this store?" Herrior asked looking around.

"Can we talk to the manager hun?" Samatha asked smiling at the man. He nodded and told them to have a look around while he went and got him.

After a couple of moments the manager came out to greet them and asked if there was a problem.

Herrior reached behind him and seemed to pull the gold rock from out of thin air. "I want to exchange this for currency and we need weapons." The manager looked at him in shock, and then looked at the rock that Herrior handed to him. He took out a special tool for looking at it closely.

"Holy shit! Do you know what you have here?" The manager asked. Herrior leaned forward and peered into his eyes. "Yes, I do know. How much can we get for it?"

"This must weigh at least ten pounds and it is pure. I…actually can't give you what it is worth." The manager said and attempted to hand it back to Herrior.

"Then I purpose a trade. Is there somewhere we can speak in private?" Herrior asked continuing to stare deeply into the man's eyes. The man knew he was being watched to see if he was telling the truth.

"This is worth more than my entire store…" The man said jokingly.

"I do not want your store; we require weapons and some currency. Judging by your reaction and both of our knowledge of what you are holding, you know you will be getting the better end of the deal here. However that does not concern me, may we talk in private or shall we take our business elsewhere?" Herrior said repeating himself with a sense of annoyance.

"Yes, my office is in the back. Please come with me." The manager said. He eventually introduced himself as Fred and started small talk about how his store had the best values and how long the store was open. Herrior paid no attention and continued to scan for any threats.

"Right back here. Young lady you may have a seat in the red chair, and I can get some concrete blocks for you to sit on?" Fred said laughing as he was looking at Herrior.

"Is that an insult?" Herrior's voice got deep and his eyebrows closed in.

"No, I'm sorry." Fred said as he closed the door behind them.

"Now then, where did you find this?" Fred asked.

"Fell out of the sky and into my hand. We need several small high-powered hand guns and the strongest bullets you have. The maximum range we need them for is thirty yards. What do you have?" Herrior asked.

"I have to be honest; this whole situation scares me a little." Fred said.

"If I smile would that make the situation better?" Herrior said and glared at him.

"Ok, you two aren't extremists or terrorists or…" Fred started to ask.

"Herrior, you are going to stare that man right through the wall. Settle down ok? I trust him. Fred, no – we are not any of that. Recently we had a break in, and a lot of valuable stuff was stolen. Then one of our vehicles was stolen and now my husband, who is a reputable physiatrist, has some clients that are unhappy with him. Several police investigations are going on right now. The rumor right now with my husband, which happens to be true, is he has come into a lot of money recently and wants to cut back the hours he is working and spend more time at home with me and doing hobbies around the house. His clients are afraid, and many have made threats against his life. He is fearful and hired our security guard here for my protection."

"Hell of a security guard…" Fred answered.

"Yes well, he has already stopped several more incidents from happening just by simply scaring the shit out of them. We're having a security system installed, but my husband wants exactly what he just said." Samatha replied back.

"Where are you from?" Fred asked Herrior out of curiosity.

"That does not concern our business here, nor what my name is or how I conduct my business to protect these two. Now…please…answer my question." Herrior said looking at Fred. He turned to Samatha and said, "I said please, did that make the situation more pleasant?"

"You're doing a fine job." Samatha said looking at him smiling.

"I probably shouldn't ask what you are paying him…" Fred said still joking around looking at Samatha.

"You are angering me!" Herrior said in a deep voice that didn't sound human.

"Ok then…here is what we currently have in the store." Fred pulled out a catalog and started naming off several pistols that they had.

"Strongest ones you have, strongest ammunition as well." Herrior said.

"Well that would be the…" Fred said.

"How many do you have?" Herrior said interrupting him.

"Six? We only have a thousand bullets in stock right now but we can…"

"What about knives? Smaller than two feet." Herrior said immediately right back.

"That we have a large selection of, are you going to interrupt me again?" Fred said smiling back.

"You didn't give me a chance. I want the strongest, highest durability knives you have. Four of them will do. That and how much currency can we get without drawing any attention to your store or to us?"

"Ten thousand dollars. Anything higher than that and it will draw attention. But your gold nugget is worth vastly more than that…"

"Gather up the items, we'll meet you in the front of the store." Herrior said.

"We'll need to do a background check, that's the state law. I can't get around that." Fred said.

Herrior stopped in the doorway and walked back over to Fred's desk and peered in his eyes for a moment, inches away from his face.

"You have before…" Herrior said slowly. "We were never here, you never saw us. As far as you know this rock was found alongside the road and you sold these items to another customer."

"Hun, settle down ok?" Samatha said standing up. "He is just trying to do his job."

"As am I." Herrior said looking at Samatha.

Fred turned around and fumbled with a lock and pulled out ten thousand dollars. He put it in an envelope. He then in turn put it in a box. Herrior left the nugget on the desk and followed Fred out. He gathered up all of the items he promised, put them in the box and told them to have a nice day.

"You did well in there Samatha." Herrior said with a smile.

"I was trying to stop you from crushing his skull…" Samatha said with another smile.

"Do you think I would do something like that?" Herrior replied back sarcastically.

"Oh shit…" Samatha said and tried to start the car as fast as she could. She immediately locked the doors but couldn't find the right key.

"What's going on?" Herrior asked as he rummaged through the items they bought.

"There is a gang right outside my window!" Samatha said looking at Herrior. Several shouts, whistling, and threats were being made from twelve men and women outside.

"A gang of what?" Herrior asked casually pulling out the money in the envelope and casually counting it.

"You're going to get us killed! What are you doing?" Samatha yelled at him. She heard several metal devices being tapped on the window. She slowly turned around and saw several guns pointing at her.

"We need to have a chat with you and your hubby over there. Seems as though you came to the wrong side of town. You come out, or we are coming in." A man said.

"Ok, we're coming out…just don't hurt us…" Samatha said setting down her keys.

"Naw, you stay in here. I'll go talk to them. Just some kids having some fun is all." Herrior said opening his door and setting the box back in his seat. The then closed the door and asked if there was a problem.

"Yeah, the problem is, you gots a lot of dough and weapons and we want dem – dats da' problem." The man said, the others started laughing.

"You almost sound like a troll." Herrior said walking around the front of the car.

"You calling me a what?" The man said running up and sticking the gun in Herrior's face.

"I said your voice sounds like a troll. If I was to call you something, I would say you are all a bunch of piles of shit that came out of my ass – you all sure as hell smell like it." Herrior said loud enough for Samatha to hear.

"Oh no you didn't…you did not just say that!" One of the women said. She walked up to Herrior and punched him in the side of the face. Herrior didn't flinch, but the woman's fingers instantly broke and blood start spewing everywhere.

"I believe I did just say that. And I'll take that as a threat." Herrior said. He touched his trinket and turned into his tauren self. He pulled out his sword and shield and charged at them. None of the gang members had time to react. Herrior's first swing cut a deep gouge into the man that sounded like a troll. He then quickly jumped up and slammed his hoofs on the ground. The gouge spread to the rest of the gang members, causing all of them to bleed. He then let out an enormous shout, causing all of them to run away in fear. Herrior touched his trinket again as he put his weapons away. He casually walked back around the car and opened the door back up and sat down in his seat.

"Is ten thousand enough to buy food?" Herrior asked handing her the money. She looked very scared at him.

"Do I need to repeat myself that I am not going to harm you and I am going to protect you two? They won't die, but they'll wish they had. Like I told your husband, I'm here for a reason – God only knows, but I will not doubt his will for me. Now then, time is a wasting." Herrior said.

"Are you some sort of…"

"Don't say that word! I am a warrior, nothing else! That was only a small fraction of what I can do. We are not angels, we are not guardians, we are not…I don't know what else you are thinking. Make the damn vehicle go before we draw too much attention to what just happened." Herrior said firmly.

Samatha quickly found the key and pulled out of the parking lot. They went several miles to the grocery store and conducted their business there.

At Alan's clinic he called an emergency meeting of his staff, except for his lead secretary who rescheduled all of his appointments because of an asbestos problem with his office.

Alan sat at the head of the table and spoke quickly. "As you know we are taking in record profits. More staff will be hired as well as more doctors. I will be operating out of my house more and more in the future. Something…umm…major has come up in my life and I need to attend to it. I am fully aware that most of you do not have enough work as it is now to keep you busy for the entire day. More work will be coming your way, I assure you. Now then, down to business. Two major items. I want all of our staff and doctors to pick out our worst case patients and send them to me. I will be taking them to my house to further their treatment. I don't want any second thoughts about my decision, I want it done today. Second of all, who among you is the newest member of our department?"

Everybody looked around and a young girl raised her hand. "I guess that would be me."

"Your name is Erin, is it not?" Alan asked.

"Yes." Erin nodded.

"Fine, the rest of you examine all of our files and coordinate with each other. Find the ten worst cases that we have and contact them. Tell them my address and to meet me at my house at seven this evening. Yes I know it is against the rules. I will take full responsibility for it. Everybody is dismissed except for Erin." Alan said.

His staff quickly rose from their seats and began doing as he said.

"Erin come here." Alan said and walked up against the large window in his office. Erin did as she was told.

"I will assign your work among the rest of the staff. I will give specific instructions for nobody to interfere with your work. I have a task for you that is very important to me, as trivial as it sounds to you. After you complete the task you may go back to your regular job. I will pay you your regular salary plus an additional one hundred dollars a day for this task. You are not to talk to anybody about this, is that understood?" Alan said softly.

"Doctor, I think you are getting the wrong impression of me…" Erin said backing up.

"Oh for crying out loud, it is nothing sexual. You and your hormones. You will be given your own private office. I want you to call every police station within a thousand yard radius of our station and asked for an Officer Bernett or an Officer Branzer. They are part of a special operations department. Tell them your name and tell them you are to speak to them directly about a case that they are working on. Insist that you speak to them only. If nobody has heard of such a name, thank them for their time and move on to the next police station. Keep track of which stations you call. If the thousand yard radius doesn't reveal any results, I want you to expand your search. It is of vital importance that you get a hold one of these officers. Do you understand? Yes or no?" Alan asked.

"I understand." Erin said.

"I cannot emphasize the importance of this! Do not speak with anybody about what you are doing! You will come in before everybody else does, and leave after anybody else does. If anybody questions you, send them to me and I will fire them. Is that understood? Like I said your normal salary plus an additional one hundred dollars a day. Do not tell your dog, your boyfriend, your parents, or the neighborhood newspaper boy. Is that understood? Yes or no?" Alan asked.

Erin nodded.

"You will use my desk, my internet and any resources I have to accomplish your task until we can get you your own private office. If you find them, and they are indeed the people I am looking for, I will give you an additional five thousand dollars. This needs to be done quickly and discreetly. And no more thinking about sexual favors, I ought to fire you on the spot for even suggesting that. Anyways, get to work." Alan said and left the office. Erin got right to work.

"Do we have my ten people yet?" Alan asked.

"It was hard to decide actually, but yes." A nurse said. "They all have been called and agreed to meet you at your house."

"Good, the rest of you have the day off. Report back first thing in the morning. Erin is performing a special task. You may talk casually to her, but do not ask her what she is doing. It is of vital importance and is top secret. If she asks for help or needs to contact me for some reason that takes top priority. Does everybody understand?" Alan said looking at his staff. They all acknowledged and left for the day. Alan walked back in his office and saw Erin with a notepad and in the middle of a phone call. He whispered the words "Thank you!" to her and slowly closed the door.

He drove home and met up with his wife and Herrior at the same time.

"Well how's that for luck." Samatha said.

"No such thing as luck. Are we having visitors tonight?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, tonight at seven." Alan said.

"Good, your weapons are inside along with the food we bought. Did not spot any demons or alliance during our trip. You are home early aren't you?" Herrior asked.

"Yes I am. If I told you the reason you would just say that I am lying to you so I'm not going to say anything. Let's see what you bought." Alan said. Herrior let out a chuckle at his honesty.

Alan looked over the weapons. "Wont normal bullets from one of these monster guns stop a demon?"

"Probably not. It's kind of like shooting at a parchment. It'll leave a hole, but the demon will just heal itself. Now if you slice it with a knife, it leaves a bigger hole and is harder for the demon to regenerate itself. Now when it comes to alliance possessed humans, guns are the best for taking them down. We'll practice later. Judging by your looks at the weapons, you appear to never have held one of these before. That is quite discouraging on my part." Herrior said. "Anyways we have guests coming. How I would like to arrange it is if we could have them come into the house one at a time and leave the rest outside. Introduce me as some; I don't know great doctor or something. I'll only need five minutes at the most. Then send them on their way. My guess is that they are either being tormented by demons, which I'll be able to interrogate them, or their homes are. Or it could be neither and I'll simply quote them some scriptures from the Bible."

"Many of them don't believe in religion." Alan said.

"Seems to be a lot of that going around these days." Herrior said back quickly. "Now then, I'm going to go out to your barn and attempt repairs on my armor. I'll be there for a couple of hours and then return when our guests show up. I would suggest offering them something to drink and something to eat."

"Don't you want to eat with us before they come?" Samatha asked.

"You humans eat way too much… If I get hungry I will let you know." Herrior said and left out the back door.

"He's a weird creature…" Samatha said as she proceeded to tell Alan the story about what happened that day. They both went upstairs with the weapons and attempted to figure them out. Afterwards they prepared themselves a light lunch.

One of the guests arrived early and was very nervous about what was going on. Alan explained to him that this is part of the therapy and he had a doctor from out of town that specializes in cases such as his. Alan sent Samatha out to get Herrior. Herrior put his armor back on and transformed back into his human state. He walked in the house and Alan introduced him as "Doctor Bellard from the United Psychiatry of advanced medicine and physiological disorders." Herrior wasn't sure if he could remember all of that.

"Hi. Don't let the name or my size fool you. I'm actually very good at what I do. Won't you please have a seat and I'll speak with you. I don't need charts, or your previous records or anything like that. Are you ok if Alan and Samatha leave the room?" Herrior asked.

The patient nodded. "My name is David."

"Ok David. I want you to close your eyes, as tight as you can. Then put your hands over your ears and drown out any sound in the world. I want you to think of pure light in your mind." Herrior asked gently.

"The voices, the images…you don't understand." David said frantically.

"Nothing here will hurt you, I promise. Now please do as I ask. Close your eyes and keep them closed. Put your hands over your ears and concentrate on a bright light. I'll nudge you when the treatment is over. Then you may have a drink and some food, does that sound ok?" Herrior said in a calm voice.

David nodded and did as he was told.

"Now it's just you and me demon. Release yourself from his body and face me you coward!" Herrior demanded. Nothing happened, so Herrior continued to provoke it. The demon finally jumped forward at him and Herrior grabbed it and threw it against the wall. He pulled out his sword and shield and began attacking it.

"Coward…just like all the others that I slaughtered of your kind." Herrior said, the demon on the floor spilling black ooze all over the floor. Herrior picked it up and calmly said, "Where is your master?"

"I work alone…" The demon said and attempted to enter Herrior's eyes.

"I work alone too, and I assure you that trick will not work on me." Herrior threw the demon against the wall and took several slices at it before it burned up.

Herrior put his weapons away and gently touched David's knee. David looked up at him and smiled. "What…just happened?" He asked.

"Never before have you taken the time to isolate out the world and just concentrate on the light. Always concentrate on the light, not the darkness. Is there a church around where you live David?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, but something has kept me from going there…I can't explain it." David said in a calm rational voice. "Listen to me! I am free! The voices are gone, the bad thoughts are gone…what did you do?"

"I simply asked you to concentrate on the light. You did the rest. I would suggest calling the pastor of the church and asking him to come over and speak with you. I am a very religious person, and I believe that it would do you some good. It is however, your decision. Now then, go find Alan and his wife. I believe they have some sort of food items for you." Herrior said.

David stared at Herrior in awe. "I've spent twenty years fighting that, disease or whatever it was. You simply made it go away in a matter of seconds. Are you an angel or something?"

"No!" Herrior said back quickly. "I do my job. I have done my job; and I don't want any compensation for doing my job. My job is done, now please leave and go speak with your pastor. I highly recommend you to do that." Herrior pointed to the front door.

"Can I thank you?" David asked.

"You're welcome, but one day I hope you come to the realization that you were the one that did it. I just was in the room." Herrior said and waved him away. David left the room and uttered the word, "Humans…"

Unknown to Herrior, David asked Alan if he could stay until everybody had left. Alan said that would be alright.

"Doctor Bellard, everybody has arrived." Alan said leaning into the living room.

"Fine, only bring in one at a time. You and Samatha stay. For some reason I think you need to see what is about to take place." Herrior said. He looked like he was in a praying position on the couch.

"We saw what you did that that David…" Alan said.

"One person at a time, you two stay and watch. Do not question me and do it!" Herrior said slowly looking at Alan. Alan nodded and went outside. He talked to everybody for several minutes and brought in a second man.

"Come over here and sit on the couch." Herrior instructed him.

"Thank you so much…" The man began to say but Herrior hushed him.

"Close your eyes as hard as you can and put your hands over your ears, pressing as hard as you can until you cannot see or hear anything. Concentrate on the brightest light you can imagine and hold that thought. Do you understand?" Herrior asked firmly.

"Yes?" The man said. He sat down obediently on the couch and did as Herrior instruction. Herrior then began to mock and insult the demon that he knew was in him. No response for the first ten seconds, then the man became to speak in a deep tone.

"Yeah, you ugly piece of rotten shit…get out here so I can rip you in half." Herrior said and continued to provoke the demon.

"You do not know what you are doing, human." The man said in his deep tone.

"I don't huh, prove it to me!" Herrior responded back quickly and continued to provoke the demon. The demon stuck its black head out of the top of the man's head and smiled at him. Herrior pulled his sword and swung hard. It split the demon's head in two. A couple of seconds later the top part of the demon's head burnt up, and the rest still inside of the man caught fire and burned as well. Herrior quickly put his sword on his back and the man leaped up off from the couch.

Herrior looked at him suspiciously as if he didn't know what just happened.

"My body…it just suddenly got very hot, like it was on fire. Only for a split second though. What happened?" The man asked.

"You were sitting there, I was sitting here, and they were standing there. How do you feel?" Herrior asked in a curious tone.

The man looked around and then started touching his stomach, and then his brain. "My…what happened…it's gone…what did you do?"

"Refer to what I just said; I do not like to repeat myself. I will now tell you the same thing that I told the previous male. Go find a church, and go talk to a pastor, or preacher, or whatever you call…" Herrior said but was interrupted by Alan.

"Pastor. Go talk to your pastor, now if you would please just head out here and we'll have the next patient come in." Alan said escorting him out of his house. The man looked utterly confused.

"How do you know they have demons inside of them?" Samatha asked.

"Finally…" Herrior said with a sigh of relief. "The normal person cant, normally I can't." Alan shut the door and hurried back into the room to hear Herrior. "My party had people that could sense and communicate with demons. I'm basically just as blind as I am asking them to be. Alliance you can tell right away, their stupid. Demons you can't. I've fought so many that I know what to say to provoke them and how to torture them. My guess is that not everybody out there has a demon in them. It might be a person in their family, or in their house. After provoking it if I don't get a response I was going to ask them a quick series of questions. The whole point of this exercise is to further your belief, for me to eradicate as many demons as I can, and to see if any of these scum are coming from a central location. If they are, I will go there and fight it – hopefully destroying whatever is causing them to enter the world."

"How do they enter our world?" Alan asked.

"You would probably be surprised as to how many are already here, and how many people are easily provoked by them. Some even use types of rituals to obtain entrance for demons to come into our world, which is why there was a mass slaughter of the cultists around the world. The idiots would be killed first that summoned the demon and then it would run rampant around the world." Herrior said.

"But, doesn't God fight them? Him and his angels?"

"Constantly, but nothing can happen without God's permission. Even the devil himself God has control over. But it's this "free will" part that God gave us. Some people choose to worship…actually for example, our second to last mission we destroyed a golden idol with some stupid-ass name. We gave everybody a chance to leave and repent. None of them did and they all threatened us. So the ones that we didn't kill, the song that Strings used collapsed the entire mountain on them." Herrior said and then rose to his feet quickly. "Damn this bringing up the past! I am not a leader any more, and I am not part of a group! Damn these memories! They alter my future and my present. I must not hold onto the past! I do not have their abilities nor can I command them to do my beckoning. Bring in the next human…"

"Why are you telling everybody to go to church so far?" Samatha asked, knowing full well that she was out of line.

"Same reason why you two should. Your mind can be altered, your body can be altered, and even your life force can be sucked out of you. But your soul always remains, and every soul gets judged. If you pray and tell God that you believe that he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and ask him to forgive you of your sins, you become a Christian. People call it by other names, but your name is written in a book. Upon judgment day, or the day you die, if your name is not in there you will be casted into the lake of fire for eternity. Sort of a no-brainer if you think about it, but it's people like them and people like you that put up these mental barriers, with the help of demonic activity more than likely – either that or your own stupidity, that people have and don't make the choice. If you become saved and then possessed, you are not responsible for your actions. It's like a child before the age of accountability. Until he realizes he is a sinner and understands that he needs to ask forgiveness of them, he will automatically go to Heaven. He or she…whatever. I would show you many scripts in the bible to base my facts on, but I'm assuming you don't have one in the house." Herrior said. Both Samatha and Alan starred at him blankly.

"Exactly, now go get the next person." Herrior said.

Herrior did the same thing with the next man. This time the demon looked like a snake and came out of the man's stomach. Herrior immediately grabbed it and asked where it came from. The snake demon began attacking Herrior fiercely for a minute.

"When you tire yourself out, let me know. Where are you spawning from?" Herrior asked.

"What kind of human are you? I cannot hurt you, and you do not fear me." The demon said.

"He's Santa Clause, now answer the question!" Alan demanded. The demon turned and hissed at him, but Herrior squeezed even harder on it.

"You think your human parlor tricks can hurt us?" The demon said hissing at Herrior. Herrior pulled out his sword and put it just below the snakes head.

"Talk fast, my hand grows tired…" Herrior said and slowly started moving the sword through the demon's outer black skin.

"I was spawned, I don't know." The demon said struggling.

"By who!" Herrior demanded.

"If you kill me, then you won't know." The demon said looking at Herrior trying to call his bluff. Herrior sliced his sword through the rest of the demon. The demon screamed and then burned up.

"Smart little shit…I will not negotiate with demons." Herrior said putting his sword back. Herrior pulled then man to his feet and the man gave the same response. Herrior let him talk and then again told him to go find a church and speak with a pastor. Alan then let him outside.

"Are you immune to demons?" Samatha asked.

"With my armor and resistances I've built up…sort of. Let's just say I stand a lot better chance of not being possessed by a demon then you are, and for not as long. I'm immune to alliance possession because of where I come from." Herrior said and motioned for the next person to come in.

A young lady in her mid twenty's, Herrior estimated, came running in the house and talking crazy.

"I believe in you! I've heard what you have done! All I have to do is touch you and I will be healed! Please, let me touch you!" The woman cried over and over, bowing before Herrior.

"That's it." Herrior said and picked the woman up by one arm. He dragged her out of the room and through the front door. He threw the woman on the grass to the right of him.

"What the fuck do you people think I am! Are all of you as gullible as this woman! 'Touch me and I will be healed' – you stupid pieces of shit! I am here to help, I am returning a favor for Alan. Who the fuck do you think I am? Huh? Am I some sort of angel or god to you people? Would either one of them scream at you like this and swear at you like this? Most of you are so fucked up in the head that a simple mind cleansing session and you make it sound like I've cured all the diseases in the world!" Herrior screamed and walked out among them. He picked up the David person by his shirt and lifted him five feet off the ground.

"I thought I told you to leave! What did I tell you to do? You better answer quickly!" Herrior said.

"You told me to go to a church and talk to a pastor." David said.

"Then…why the hell…are you still here you dumbass!" Herrior screamed in his face. Herrior let go of him and he fell to the ground.

"I am no healer, and none of you will treat me as such. I'm employing a new method of relaxing and settling your mind. So far it's taken, what, one minute and suddenly all of you are cured? No you aren't! If you continue to live your lifestyle as you are, continue to not get your shit together, and not talk to a preacher – your lives will be even more fucked up! Which is why I told you three to go find a church and talk with a preacher, or pastor." Herrior said looking at the three he already talked to. "And I will tell the rest of you the same thing. Now then, if you are here to get 'magically cured' – get the fuck out of here! If you are honest and want sincere advice and help, stay and I will talk with you." Herrior walked up to the front door, as Alan and Samatha quickly backed away and slammed the door. He glared at them two for awhile and then walked back over to his spot in the living room.

"Now, bring in the lady if she is still left. Tell the other ones I've already talked to, to leave and to talk with you next week. You will be able to tell if they just listened to my advice or not. They will either be much worse, or show significant improvement. If they are worse they will beg for your magical elixirs to be poured down their throat until they can't even remember how to take a piss." Herrior said. He then took several deep breaths and sighed.

Alan went outside and saw that the three men Herrior had talked to were in the process of leaving. Everybody else stayed. The woman was crying. Alan walked up to her and asked if she wanted to talk to the other doctor. She nodded and kept apologizing.

They walked in and Alan sat her down in front of her. Instantly Herrior recognized what was wrong with her.

"Stop your useless crying and look at me. I want to read your eyes." Herrior said. The woman wiped her tears away and looked up at him. Herrior stared at her for about ten seconds.

"Your face tells a self-inflicted story. I am not a mind reader so don't start that shit with me either. I do not know your name, nor do I care. I imagine if I asked to pull back your sleeves you would have scrap marks on them." Herrior said still looking into her eyes. The woman looked down at her arms, but Herrior immediately commanded her to look back up at his.

"Obviously it was some tragedy. Your mind is functioning properly so far because you seem to understand simple commands, and you understood what I said out there in the yard. So I do not believe it to be a variety of things. I also believe you don't hear voices or see strange things either, am I correct?" Herrior asked. The woman nodded and started to cry.

"Stop that! I can't help you while you are emotional; you do not think clearly when you are running on pure emotions." Herrior said.

"Alan said it was ok to let out the emotions…" The lady said.

"You're not talking to Alan right now are you, you are talking to me. Calm yourself in the next couple of seconds or I will not help you." Herrior said. The woman looked irritated with Herrior, but did as she was told.

"Now then, in ten words of less – tell me why you are crying, and do not start again." Herrior said.

"My baby died." The woman said.

"Fine, how old was your baby?" Herrior asked.

"Two years old."

"How did he die?" Herrior asked without missing a beat.

"He died in his sleep."

"Do you believe in Heaven?" Herrior asked.

"Yes."

"Then what's the problem? Are you going to a regular church?"

"Yes."

"And what has the pastor told you?"

"That my baby is in Heaven. But Alan keeps telling me that he doesn't know."

"I'll have a talk with Alan later about that…" Herrior said turning and glaring at Alan. His face turned almost white.

"Listen to your pastor. He can show you in the bible beyond a reasonable doubt that your baby is in Heaven. Now ask yourself, do you think that God and your child and all of the angels and people in Heaven would want you to suffer like this because your baby is having the time of his life in Heaven while you are here on this planet suffering and causing self-inflicting wounds on yourself over something you had no control over? I'm sure he looks forward to you seeing you, and you seeing him but let God be the judge of your life and when you die, not you. Now, what talents has God given you?" Herrior asked.

The lady looked at Herrior funny.

"Should I ask the question in a different way? What things here on this planet can you do very well. Do you enjoy fishing, construction, umm…building things…?" Herrior asked.

"I like to make things. I like to sew and gardening." The lady said.

"And…" Herrior said.

"I help out around the church. I don't have a lot of money, but I clean. I do small projects for people. I used to like to socialize. Lately I've been pulling myself away from people though." The lady said. "Can I tell you my name?"

"No. Go home and do this sew and gardening. Money in this world is useless, don't worry about that. God takes care of the birds and the animals in this world and you are worth much more to him than the animals are. Put your faith and trust in God. Find a good friend. Bring them something that you have gardened or sew. Offer to clean their house and ask them about their life. Go home and pray. Then tell your pastor when you are ready to start attending church again." Herrior said.

"How did you know I wasn't going?" The lady said.

"You gave it away in your sentences. You are so ready to talk with somebody, but you don't know who to believe. You have mixed thoughts and probably the elixirs aren't helping. Go home and pray, tell God everything, every little detail. He knows it already, but he wants to hear it from you. My guess is probably a lot of people are already praying for you. I too have lost loved ones, but I know they are in Heaven and I will meet up with them some day. I will continue to do my job until the good Lord takes me. Now you are done. Alan bring in the next one." Herrior said.

"Aren't you going to have me cover my ears and close my eyes?" The lady asked.

"No. You are already hiding from the world enough. You may if you wish, but it would do you no good. Do as I said and then speak with Alan next week. If you are looking to have me wave my wand over you and cure you, I can't…nor can I with anybody else. Do as I said and your life will be simpler. You will still have hard times as it is promised in the bible, but having God as a true friend is better than having a best friend on this world. Now, any more questions? Do you understand what I have asked you to do? If so, please leave." Herrior said. The woman nodded and asked Herrior his name and why he kept referring to Earth as this world.

"This world or Earth is only temporary. Heaven is forever. You'll probably spend another sixty to seventy years on this temporary rock and then be in Heaven for eternity. You will look back at your life now and wonder why you even put yourself through this torment in the first place. Alan if you would please." Herrior asked avoiding the name question because he forgot the name Alan had chosen for him. Alan walked forward and reached out his hand. The woman took it and went outside. She immediately went in her car and drove home. She did exactly as Herrior told her to do.

The next person, Herrior could tell that something was wrong with his brain. Herrior said he couldn't do anything with him and asked him to have him escorted out.

Alan did as he was told and then came back and looked at Herrior funny.

"Going to ask a question?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure how to word it to tell you the truth." Alan said being honest.

"Like I said, I am not a healer. I can self heal once in awhile during battle. Out of battle I continue to regenerate myself, not as fast as other races though. It is again part of where I was born. Humans cannot do that. God knows his problems. There is nothing I can do for him, now bring in the next one." Herrior said.

The next person was a young pregnant teenager. She looked nervous.

The first question Herrior asked was, "Can you feel your baby moving and kicking?" The woman smiled and said yes.

Herrior then asked her to close her eyes and cover her ears. The woman shook her head.

"I know what you are looking for. Rumors spread fast out there, and I assure you I have nothing inside of me – well except for my baby." The woman said.

"Fine, I will take your word for it for now. Tell me in ten words or less why you are here."

"I was raped."

"No you weren't." Herrior replied back immediately. The woman looked at him stunned and insisted that she was.

"I've been in this business a long time. You have a strong will, but are scared shitless. You want what's best for you and your child, but don't know how to accomplish that. You are living a lie. If I were to ask you where the male is right now that helped conceive your child in your belly, your answer would probably be – you don't know because somehow the relationship ended and you are convinced that you are better off without him. Am I wrong so far?" Herrior said.

The woman looked at him amazed. "How could you have known…?"

"Remember the part when I told you I've been in the business a long time…once again I hate repeating myself. Have you told the male about the child? My guess is no." Herrior said.

The woman looked at him and shook her head in amazement.

"First, tell him. Second tell your parents and ask for help. Third find a church and speak with a pastor, fourth take this issue to God. Don't doubt yourself, like I said I sense a strong will from you. Now would you to close your eyes and cover your ears?" Herrior asked. The woman shrugged her shoulders and still looked amazed. "Do you think I do?"

"No I don't. Escort her out Alan." Herrior said and sat back in his chair. Alan kindly took her hand and led her outside. Herrior then asked Alan to come inside and sit where the people have been sitting.

"This bores me…is this what you do every day?" Herrior asked.

"I go into a lot more detail and offer different types of medications to help people deal with the issues that they are having. Mostly I let them talk and empathize with them." Alan said.

"And this is your calling in this world? What is your calling in this world Samatha?" Herrior asked.

"I stay home and take care of the house, and Alan spent his whole life trying to help people. So yes we do believe this is our calling." Samatha said.

Herrior rubbed his eyes and let out a loud snort. "Is this why I am here Lord? I was an ambassador and a leader. I have come no further to finding demons or alliance while I stay here. Should I move on? Lord, I give the same answers over and over. My group could purge the demons faster than I could, you know that. So far I've been lucky to draw the ones out that I could. Why put me here? Why have me protect these two?" Herrior said out loud looking at the ceiling as if he were actually talking to God. Herrior then looked at the floor and put his hands in a prayer position.

"I'm sorry for doubting your will Lord. May your will be done." Herrior said. Herrior then looked up at Alan and Samatha.

"I should not doubt the Lord's will, but why you two?" Herrior sighed and shook his head. "No, there is a reason for it. I know it is not to make you wealthy, or to advance your career. It might be for safety…bah it could be for any reason. Maybe I do need to talk to a doctor such as yourself like Mohania did. It seemed to do him some good. Can we schedule some time to talk? I don't know exactly what information Mohania said, but I'm positive he did not give out any information he was not supposed to. All of us would kill ourselves if we were ever caught or possessed. It is an automatic response that we have all learned."

"We can talk day or night. I look forward to it actually." Alan said. Samatha smiled and suddenly grew eager.

"Yes, you can be there to Samatha." Herrior said with a smile.

"I can clear my schedule anytime for you." Alan said.

"No, do your normal duties. I will be in the back cutting up the gold and trying to refine it during the day. Anyways bring in the last three or however many we have left. Let's just get this over with." Herrior said. Alan nodded and he and Samatha got up. Samatha assumed her normal standing position in the doorway and Alan invited the rest of them in. The last one to come in was an alliance possessed person. Alan and Samatha did not recognize the signs. Herrior let out a sigh of disappointment.

"On second thought, I'd rather do two at the same time. Sorry sir, can you wait outside? I want to give my full attention to everybody." Herrior said. Alan stopped in mid-step and showed the man and the woman to the couch while escorting out the other man.

"Our house is possessed." The woman bluntly said. The man rolled his eyes and glared at the woman.

"Ok, what is your address? Samatha can you write this down?" Herrior asked. Samatha did as she was asked.

"It is not possessed. Look, my wife claims to see stuff and hears voices that aren't there…" The man said.

"I'm not talking to you right now. How long of a drive was it for you two to get here?" Herrior asked.

"About two hours." The man said.

"Fine, you two sit here. Alan, Samatha, and I need to step outside real quick. His car has a problem with it, and then we will come and visit tonight." Herrior said getting up. Herrior grabbed both Samatha and Alan by the elbows and escorted them outside.

"Look at him. Notice anything different about him? Perhaps anything that I've been warning you about?" Herrior said letting go of them and approaching the possessed man. The man suddenly leaped to attack him, but Herrior easily dodged the attack and slammed his foot down on his chest.

"Any guesses? Either of you? Aggressiveness, red glowing eyes, easily agitated…" Herrior said.

"Alliance?" Alan asked. Herrior pulled out his sword and drove it into the man's stomach and kicked him away. Herrior then pulled out his shield and charged at him. Herrior slammed him with his shield, making a resonating sound that seemed to carry on for miles. He then started attacking as fast as he could, until the body was mangled so badly that it fell to the ground.

"Wait for it…" Herrior said. A couple of seconds later the body burned up. Herrior put his weapons away and then said, "Ok, now you have seen demons and alliance. Let's go play in this haunted house, shall we?"

"If we get possessed by the demon in the house…" Alan said nervously.

"I'll kill you. Have I shown you enough to believe yet, or should I give you another example?" Herrior said with a smile.

Alan shook his head. "I'm good."

"Nope, I've got some stuff to do around the house." Samatha said heading back inside.

"I would suggest getting the box of weapons and figuring out how they work…" Herrior said as he walked inside. He saw the couple sitting nervously on the couch.

"Now then, would you prefer that I walk or do you wish to drive me there?" Herrior asked.

"We'll drive you, but didn't you say you were going to drive?" The man said.

"An emergency came up, let's get going. I have some business to conduct before night fall and it is already dusk." Herrior said. They all walked outside and the woman asked if there was another man around.

"No, he burned up." Herrior said with a smile.

"You mean he left?" The man said.

"Yes, he left. Sorry we use a different term from where I come from." Herrior continued to smile.

"Well that rusty pickup truck is ours. Would you mind riding in the back?" The man said.

"Not at all. It'll give me a chance to sleep." Herrior replied.

Herrior was sound asleep when they had arrived at the house. The gentle motion of the truck had soothed him to sleep and when it stopped he rose and looked around. He saw that Alan and Samatha had followed the truck.

The man got out and offered Herrior a hand getting out. Herrior declined and casually jumped out of the bed of the truck and landed with a loud slam when his feet hit the ground. The truck's shocks had quickly repositioned themselves after he left.

"You are a big fella aren't you?" The man said kindly.

"It just looks that way, what are you two doing here?" Herrior said and looked at Alan and Samatha.

"Well you were going to need a ride back." Alan said.

"Oh, horse pucky. I could have drove him back." The man said.

"I could have walked back." Herrior added. "Anyways, may I enter your house alone?"

"Sure, there's nothing expensive in there to steal and with all of us here I don't think you would attempt to rob the place either." The man said with a laugh.

"No. I will not steal from you." Herrior said looking at him.

"Well, we never leave the door locked. Head on in, unless you want us to go with you to help commune with the spirits like the previous physics did." The man said.

"Witchcraft is still alive these days huh…I was hoping that would die out. No, I'll just be a moment." Herrior said walking away from the man.

The man looked confused at Herrior and then back at Alan.

"He's not from our country, so he may seem different." Alan said.

Herrior walked into the house and shut the door behind him. He sniffed the air and began to look around.

"So do you want me to hunt you down and kill you, or do you just want to appear and we'll get this over with. I prefer the second, the less demons in this world the better." Herrior said out loud. He got no reply.

"Damn…I was hoping for the second. Well, I'm going to start pissing you off. Feel free to attack me whenever you lose your patience." Herrior said.

"Please don't swear." A girl's voice came from upstairs.

"Sorry, I thought the house was empty. Can you go outside while I do my job in here?" Herrior asked.

"I cannot leave this house." The girl said.

"Are you being tortured or restrained? I can free you and kill the captives." Herrior said following the voice up the stairs.

"I am being tortured everyday…but I already killed my captives. I have tried many times to leave this home but I can't. I don't know why." The girl replied back.

Herrior continued to follow the voice and opened a door. "Are you in here?"

"Yes, please kill me. These people are afraid of me; I am being tormented by my past. I'm being rejected by God and forced to live here." The girl said.

"Curious…are you a banshee?" Herrior said entering the room and sitting down on a rocking chair. The chair instantly broke under his weight and Herrior jumped off the floor in surprise. The girl laughed.

"If anybody asks, I didn't do that." Herrior said laughing back. The girl slowly materialized on the opposite side of the room. She was transparent, had shoulder length blond hair, a pretty face and modern day clothing on.

"You look pretty." Herrior said. The girl smiled at him and looked away.

"Usually people see me and run away. Why are you different?" The girl asked.

"I usually have the same problem. Do you mind if I talk for a little bit?" Herrior asked.

"Why? Are you like the rest of the people that the family brings in, splashing water on every room, trying to speak with me, ordering me to leave?" The girl said.

"No. You look famished. Do you want to go get something to eat and drink?" Herrior asked. The girl looked at him funny.

"If you are what I think you are, you need food and drink like the rest of us. Come, show me the kitchen. My name is Herrior by the way, what is yours?"

"Ellen. I don't understand why are you here?"

"I'm sort of a demon hunter and I hunt other things too…but you are none of them. Have you ever heard of the word, 'banshee'?" Herrior asked walking down the stairs.

"Is that what I am?" Ellen asked.

"You are certainly no demon and I will not harm you. Just by talking to you and looking at you I see you as no threat. Forgive me if I am out of line, but probably what happened is you were beaten, tortured, on the brink of death and then some person with red eyes turned you into what you are now." Herrior asked.

"Wha? Not exactly, but damn close…how did you know?" Ellen asked.

"Please don't swear." Herrior said casually looking up at her. She was floating down the stairs and looked very curious.

"I had a friend like that. She as well had other friends like herself. Just recently we found another of your kind. You pose no threat to anybody, do you?" Herrior said casually and opened up the refrigerator.

"No, I don't. You are not human…are you?" Ellen asked.

"No, and you aren't either. So what in this house would you like to eat?" Herrior was examining the contents of the refrigerator and couldn't find anything that smelled good.

"Some peach tea actually. I'll get it." Ellen said. She made a cupboard door open by itself and gently floated two tea bags to the table. Next she made the hot water in the sink run until it got hot. During that time she floated down two cups, filled them with the water and then brought them over to the table. Afterwards she shut the water off.

"You do not seem surprised by any of that." Ellen said.

"No. So how do this work? Crush up the bag into the water?" Herrior said examining the bag.

Ellen gently reached forward and took the tea bag and dipped it into the water. She did the same with hers.

"The flavors from the bag go into the cup, and then you drink it." Ellen said.

"Oh. Interesting..." Herrior said as he watched the color in his cup slowly change to orange.

Herrior shook his head and apologized. "My first cup of tea. Now then, what to do with you."

Ellen gently took a sip of her tea and sat it back down. "Kill me, please. For some reason I know that you know how."

"Cant kill you. Just like you, we both have pasts we need to put behind us and move forward. I have to let go of mine as you do with yours." Herrior said dipping his finger into the cup.

"You are weird, you know that?" Ellen said with a smile on your face.

"I bet you haven't laughed or smiled in probably ages. Perhaps you would like to come with me? I'm staying with a doctor and his wife; I haven't broken anything there yet…" Herrior said. Ellen grinned and took another drink. She slowly shook her head and said, "No, my life is here. I am bound to this house."

"Shall I knock the house down and set you free?" Herrior asked. This made Ellen look at him curiously.

"Never thought of that, did you. Like that chair breaking, this house will not last. It was made by man and the elements will destroy it eventually. As I'm sure you are aware of, there are bad things in this world that would love to gain control of you. I am stranded here as well, but I am looking towards the future and I think you should as well." Herrior said.

"I do know about the bad things…but how would you protect me. All I sense from you is human thoughts and emotions. You could be controlled just like anybody else." Ellen said.

"No I can't…wait what do you mean…You said I wasn't from this world, you read my mind and knew that, didn't you?" Herrior asked.

"No, I was actually just joking. I can read minds yes, but you are human – just like the rest of the humans." Ellen said taking another drink.

"Can you possess me?" Herrior asked.

"I can possess people, yes. Why do you ask?" Ellen asked.

"Curiosity. I will not fight back or resist you. Please, can you try?" Herrior asked quickly. Ellen dematerialized just like Lindel did and went straight for Herrior's eyes. The mist suddenly stopped a half inch from his eyes.

"What is going on?" Herrior asked.

"I cannot get past something. There's this, I don't know, invisible wall in front of your eyes. Are you doing something?" Ellen asked.

"No, I swear on my life that I am not. And right now the only thing you get from my mind are human thoughts and memories, is that right?" Herrior asked seeming eager as if he had just solved a puzzle.

"Yes, why are you excited all of a sudden?" Ellen asked still in her mist form.

"I'm going to change into my tauren form. Do not be alarmed, I will not hurt you. Please let me do this?" Herrior asked excitedly standing up from the table.

"Ok…" Ellen said unsure of what he meant. Herrior pushed his trinket on his chest and suddenly turned into his old self. Ellen let off a small scream.

"No, no…it's just me. Recognize my voice? I am from a different world, you are right. But I think you just solved a problem that I've been having for the last couple of weeks, or has it been months now…I don't remember. Ok, try to possess me again." Herrior said eagerly. This time Ellen flew into his eyes without a problem.

"Can you hear me ok Ellen?" Herrior said in his head.

"Yes…wow this is amazing! Do you mind if I scan through some of your memories?" Ellen said back.

"No actually. The less you know, the safer you are and the safer I am. I ask that you don't." Herrior said in his head.

"Ok. I sense enormous power in you that I did not sense before when you were a human. Herrior…" Ellen said.

"Ellen, please don't scan my mind."

"Sorry…I have to leave now, the temptation is too great." Ellen said and flew out of Herrior's eyes and rematerialized back in her chair. Herrior pushed his trinket and took back on his human form.

"Herrior. You could have destroyed me in your mind, couldn't you?" Ellen asked.

"Probably in less than a second. No offense to you, but your powers is weak." Herrior said finally taking a drink of his tea. "Now then, both of our secrets are out. You did sense the enemies in my mind, didn't you?"

Ellen looked ashamed and said "Yes."

"You know why we must leave then. I'll protect you with my life, but if you stay here you stand no chance. You know what I just said is true." Herrior said. Ellen nodded her head.

"But this is where I grew up, my family was here. This place as a lot of meaning to me." Ellen said.

"But…" Herrior said and then took a sip of tea.

"I'll follow you…" Ellen said sounding disappointed.

"I left a place that had a lot of meaning to me as well. I have no idea why and I want to go back, but for some reason I am here…because…" Herrior said expecting her to answer.

"Because God does exist, doesn't he? Will I still see him someday, even if I'm like this?" Ellen said.

"He sees your soul, not what you look like. I am a human, I touch this, and I become a tauren. I have a friend that can turn into anything he wants. Make yourself invisible and let's go." Herrior said walking to the door.

"Can I bring some things?" Ellen asked quickly. Herrior slowly turned around and looked at her. She sighed and turned invisible.

"I'm sorry hun, but you knew the answer to that." Herrior said.

"I know…but what if the bad things are out there?" Ellen said quickly.

"Those bad things could enter this house just as easily as you can pass through walls. Any more questions that you have that you already know the answer to?" Herrior asked with a smile. Ellen chuckled. "Can I hold your hand?" She asked.

"Ok." Herrior said and extended his left hand. Herrior felt a cool breeze grasp it and they walked out the front door together.

"Is it gone?" The man asked almost frantically. "You were in there a long time!"

"I broke your chair. I tried to fix it, I apologize. Then I had a cup of tea with the ghost friend of yours. She is gone from your house, yes. She will not come back."

"I don't understand…did you kill it, scare it off, send it to Hell?"

"No, just talked to her. Anyways, go to your church and speak with your pastor. Follow up with Alan later and let him know how things are going." Herrior said. The couple looked at their house as if they couldn't believe what he just said. Alan and Samatha noticed that Herrior was holding his hand out, as if he was walking with somebody invisible.

"Can you take us home now?" Herrior asked.

"Sure…just what exactly do you mean by 'us'?" Alan asked.

"I'll explain on the way home." Herrior said. He walked over to the back seat and held it open for awhile and it appeared that he was helping something into the car. Then Herrior squeezed himself into the backseat and shut the door. Samatha and Alan got in the car and they started driving away.

"Ellen, this is Alan. He is a doctor. I do not approve of some of his techniques; however I think he is learning. This is his wife Samatha. She is a very good cook and takes care of their house. They have been taking care of me and in return I have been doing assorted chores around the house. I also dug up a nugget of gold for them that they seem excited about. I made them get a couple of different weapons so that they can defend themselves. However if there is going to be a battle, I will be there. I will protect you just the same as those two." Herrior said to the seat next to him.

"Herrior, who are you talking too?" Alan asked.

"Ellen, I said her name first. Did you not hear me?" Herrior asked in a sarcastic tone.

"They are frightened of me." Ellen whispered to Herrior. However the sound was loud enough for both Alan and Samatha to hear.

"Calm yourselves you two. I can hear your heart racing from here. She is not a threat. She is stranded on this world just like I am. I would not do anything to harm either of you…I'm going to etch those words on your forehead so it sticks with you." Herrior said. "Alan keep driving and I will talk until everybody is comfortable with each other."

"Is she a demon?" Samatha asked quickly. Herrior let out a sigh.

"Ok, Samatha you look forward and help Alan drive. Obviously I need to give both of you two something to do to calm yourselves. Anyways, Ellen is what we call a 'banshee' back in my world. They are created through a vicious process that usually either alliance performs or demons perform. We don't have the power…that I know of, to create a banshee. She still has a soul, emotions, thoughts, feelings and can do stuff that may seem odd to you. Just like you two do stuff that seem odd to me. Apparently Ellen likes something called peek tea."

"Peach tea." Ellen said out loud.

"Sorry, I misunderstood. Samatha are you familiar with that food, or it's a drink item isn't it? They come in bags?" Herrior said.

"Yes, was that Ellen that just talked?" Samatha asked quickly. Ellen squeezed Herrior's hand harder.

"You two…please. Calm yourselves… I've introduced races to other races and never had this much trouble. I've introduced my city as an ambassador to other ambassadors of different races and never had this much trouble. With everything that you have seen, you still have these mental barriers built up. I'm not even sure if you still believe who I am, or the demons that I have shown you. Why are you two so ignorant of such things? And it is not just your race…We've had encounters with probably over one hundred of your kind in the past month or months…I can't even remember how long I've been here. Time seems different here. We even had five of them join my group personally. Honestly I grow sick of you two. What my instincts are telling me to do is leave you two and go on the hunt on my own, but something in the back of my head is telling me to stay. That is the only reason why I put up with you two. I also grow tired of having these long conversations with you two. I grow sick of a lot of things honestly!" Herrior said sounding upset. He then let out a long drawn out sigh. "But it is the will of God, and I will continue my battle while I am still alive. So can we now please talk about this tea, and eventually lead to other conversation topics. Ellen is going to be staying with us. She will not be harmed and prefers it if you do not swear. She knows more about God then both of you combined. Maybe she can get it through your heads, I haven't been able too."

Silence filled the car for ten minutes. Samatha cleared her throat and asked, "Ellen, I do not have any peach tea, but I have strawberry and mint. Have you tried those?"

A quiet "No." came from the backseat. Herrior opened his mouth to keep the conversation going, but Samatha spoke before he could.

"I prefer the strawberry one myself. The mint is supposed to be better for your health, or so I've heard. What foods do you like to eat?"

"Eggs…waffles…salads…" Ellen said softly.

"Ok, I can make a salad with eggs and waffles in it when we get home for you." Samatha said with a smile. Ellen let out a quick giggle but quickly silenced herself.

"How old are you Ellen?" Samatha asked.

"I was fifteen, before this happened. Then I lost track of time." Ellen said.

"Ok, I am forty and Alan is forty two. Where do you normally sleep?"

"On the floor is fine." Ellen said in a more comfortable voice.

"That's the same thing Herrior said. We can have you sleep on the couch, or we can buy another bed for you." Samatha said.

"No thanks." Ellen said quickly.

"Ellen, what do you look like?" Samatha asked.

"I would frighten you if I showed you." Ellen said.

"You showed yourself to me, and what was my reaction?" Herrior asked.

"You said I was pretty." Ellen said in a tone that sounded like she was blushing.

"Because you are, I showed them what I looked like and they thought I looked like a cow." Herrior said. Ellen laughed a little.

"But I'm not like you, or them. I scare people. I'm a person who is sick and twisted and…"

"Beautiful." Herrior interrupted her. "If you are not comfortable showing yourself to them, then don't. You have a pure heart; you are not some sick and twisted form of life. You are what you are. You possess abilities that we don't. Alan possesses the ability to drive this car for example. Samatha has the ability to know when danger is coming. I didn't sense the danger when the gang attacked us, but she did. She is also a good cook."

"Yeah, but do they possess the ability to fly through walls and enter people's minds?" Ellen said.

"Do you possess the ability to build walls or to tear them down? Can you drive this car, or fix it if it breaks?" Herrior asked. "Alan does, as well as Samatha too."

"I'm no mechanic if that is what you mean." Alan finally said with a smile.

"But I am the better driver…" Samatha said looking over at Alan. Alan shot her a look back and then continued to drive. The conversation continued between the three of them, and Herrior intervened in a couple of moments to redirect the conversation.

They all got home and Ellen took Herrior's hand. They all walked inside.

"Ellen, do you want to show everybody what you look like? If not I'm going to go to bed. If any of you need something, let me know in the next day or so…" Herrior said walking up to his room.

Ellen didn't wait for their response. She slowly materialized in front of Samatha and Alan.

"Well, this is me." Ellen said. She walked forward and touched both of them. She felt warm and had completely solidified herself so they couldn't see through her. "Thought I mine-as-well get this over with."

"Amazing…"Alan said as he started touching her face and hair.

"Please, I'm not some circus act." Ellen said and backed away from him.

"I'm sorry Ellen." Alan said not meaning to do what he did.

"Come, let's have some tea." Samatha said reaching down and grabbing her hand.

A month went by and everybody mingled successfully in the house. Herrior occasionally left for a couple of days at a time, only to come back disappointed. The winter came snow had began to fall. Herrior's human disguise transformed itself into the proper apparel of the season.

The next morning Samatha glanced out the back window as she walked by the kitchen. She frozen, and then looked back.

"Herrior! Something's wrong!" Herrior transformed into his tauren self and drew his sword and shield.

"Look!" Samatha said. Herrior looked outside and saw hundreds of animals in their backyard. They were all sitting, but seemed to be scared of something.

"Something's wrong. Grab the guns and stay in the house." Herrior said running around to the back door.

"Should I call Alan?" Samatha asked

"No! Do what I said! No phone calls!"

Herrior rushed out and felt something different in the air. Herrior walked forward and the animals stood up and cleared a path for him.

"I think I remember you." Herrior said looking at a family of deer. "I'm not a druid; you're going to have to talk me through this." Herrior looked around and didn't see anything. He listened for several minutes and heard nothing. Herrior started walking a perimeter around the house. The hundreds of animals stayed in the backyard, Herrior couldn't see anything wrong.

He walked back to the animals and said "I sense something, probably the same thing you all do. But I don't see or hear anything. You are all going to have to give me something to go on here." Herrior scanned the animals but they all looked at him, as if he were their protector. Herrior did another sweep around the yard and finally heard something demonic. He quickly turned around and saw demon twice his size devouring the wildlife as they tried to run as fast as they could towards their house.

Herrior immediately began running towards the demon and wondered why he didn't notice that in his first sweep. He left off a battle cry. It gained the demon's attention. The demon stopped chasing the animals and began to charge at Herrior.

Herrior threw his sword at the demon, then quickly charged him and slammed his shield into his stomach, while retrieving his sword. He began to perform his normal attacks, while the demon was dazed and tried to attack, but Herrior easily dodged and parried his attacks. Herrior slammed his sword on top of the demon's head, stunning him. Herrior continued to lower the demon's armor value and let off another battle cry.

The demon snapped out of his stun and started to back up.

"What, you can attack helpless animals but when a tauren steps up to you, you back away?" Herrior began taunting the demon as the demon became angered and started attacking again. The demon enraged itself and began swinging as fast as it could. Herrior was able to deflect most of the attacks, but began to take damage. Herrior performed his thunderclap ability to slow down the demons attacks.

After ten minutes battle, the demon was badly hurt while Herrior continued to slash at it.

"What are you?" The demon asked in a weak voice.

"The bringer of your death. How many more of you are there?" Herrior said continuing to slam his shield and land hard blows with his sword on the demon.

"None let me leave." The demon begged.

"Who summoned you?" Herrior demanded.

"The cultists. They were killed and could not feed me so I had to come out to feed."

"You came here to die!" Herrior said. He slammed his shield into the demon three times until he heard loud snapping. Herrior then sliced at him as his life drained from him. Herrior waited for a couple of seconds and then the demon burned up.

"Any others! Anybody else want to face me! Come face my vengeance!" Herrior yelled and then let out another loud battle cry. Herrior listened for the smallest sound, and looked for the faintest movement. After a couple of minutes he calmed down and took a normal position. He looked back at the animals in the yard and they slowly left. Herrior let out a loud snort and put his weapons away and returned back to a human. Slowly he walked back to the house. He opened the door and shut it.

"What happened? Oh my word, you are bleeding!" Samatha said and ran to get a towel. Herrior enraged himself and began to regenerate himself. By the time Samatha had come back, all of the bleeding was gone.

"That wasn't a battle that was a mockery of my past! I felt the feel of battle flowing through my veins. I do not belong here!" Herrior said as he walked by Samatha and Ellen.

"I've killed, what…four, no five demons in the past couple of months? Two alliance? My place is in battle, not fluffing pillows and polishing pictures on the wall. I turned into my normal self so I could not hide from my enemy but engage him as I used to. I have four walls surrounding me, I have become imprisoned! Why am I here?" Herrior yelled and stormed out the front door.

Samatha called Alan at work and told her what happened.

"Keep him around the house; I have a Christmas miracle for him. Cost me twenty thousand dollars, but our private project is complete." Alan told her and Samatha became immediately excited.


	14. Ambassadors

Ambassadors

"Ok, family meeting. Everybody around the table." Alan said. Both he and Samatha looked very excited. Ellen and Herrior sat down. Herrior expected something insignificant, but was ready to celebrate with them at any rate.

"Herrior, we found a police office station that does have an Officer Bernett, an Officer Branzer, and the first names of the people you gave us. It took months of tracking it down, but they confirmed that they had an officer lost in action. I talked to Officer Bernett directly and I described you to him. He confirmed that you did match the description and they are interested in meeting with you." Alan said with excitement.

Herrior's eyes grew wide.

"Apparently you are from a suburb of Detroit. No idea how you ended up in Tennessee, but he continued to insist that you were dead. They even said they had a funeral, but he seemed oddly suspicious when I described your characteristics." Alan said.

"Did you tell him that I'm a tauren?" Herrior said angrily.

"No, no you would have ripped my head off. I merely described the clothes you wore on your last mission, how tall and big you were, your unfamiliarity of normal everyday items, and how you escaped from an army and a hospital. I again didn't go into details. He asked me if I had exhibited any strange behavior. I told him my profession and that after a thorough examination I told him that my conclusion was that he was from another world, of course laughing after that. The officer did not laugh and asked where and when we could meet. I picked a spot in public view east of here, only about a half an hour drive. But I figure that they will take at least a day or so to get there…" Alan said.

"No, they are probably there right now. Can we leave?" Herrior said still not believing what he was hearing.

Alan looked confused at him. "I can drop you off, if that is what you mean?"

"No." Herrior quickly answered back.

"So, we as in all of us?" Alan asked.

"Yes." Herrior said back, "When can we leave?"

Alan turned to Samatha and they both shrugged at each other.

"Right now I guess…but if this is your group, you won't need us anymore." Alan said.

"This might be the reason why I am here, to bring all three of you with me. Worst case scenario they just take me and leave the rest of you. They will not attack any of you. You may have to leave your house, your job…" Herrior said.

"We know. The three of us actually talked about it, but didn't know for sure how you would react. I'm guessing you've only told us about 1% of your history, what your job is, and what this Tranquil is like." Alan said.

"More than that actually." Herrior said standing up and beginning to walk for the front door. The rest of them followed.

They arrived at the location specified and immediately Herrior noticed his group. They were all spread out surveying the grounds, looking as casual as they could. Herrior saw Skyka and his heart sank. He walked up to her first and said, "Hi." Skyka casually said "Hi" and walked away. Herrior caught up with her and said, "Don't you remember me?" Skyka stopped for a moment and smiled at him. She pretended to look him over and said, "No? Did we meet somewhere? I don't recognize you at all. I'm sorry I really must be going. Take care."

Herrior watched her walk away. Herrior walked up to Samatha, Alan, and Ellen and said, "That is my wife! She didn't recognize me! Not even my voice!"

Herrior turned to locate the person playing the instrument. "That is my bard. If my own wife doesn't recognize me, I doubt he would. I doubt any of them would. I should just change into my tauren self and show them. Obviously the trinket not only alters my appearance, but it alters my brain waves as well. I've proved that over and over.

"A twelve foot tauren, heavily armored branding a sword and shield? How do you think that is going to go over with the hundreds of people here…" Alan said. Herrior turned around in frustration as a teenager slammed into Herrior. He was riding a bicycle and wasn't watching where he was going.

Everybody quickly got down checking on him. Herrior asked if he was ok.

"Sir, you are like riding into a concrete wall. I'm fine, little shaken up. I think I broke your dragon pin though." The man said. Herrior looked down at his trinket and it was split in half.

"Perfect…" Herrior said sarcastically and then walked up to Strings. "I'm going to have to convince them the old fashion way." He thought.

"Hello." Herrior greeted him. Strings looked at him and nodded. Herrior stood beside him listening. Several minutes passed as Herrior began to hum along perfectly in tune with him. Strings thought that was odd, but continued to play.

"That reminds me of a song an old friend used to play. It was called the 'Safety Song' written a long time ago in a town called Skara Brae. Helped keep the monsters away." Herrior eventually said. After hearing that, Strings blew an out of key note and stared at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stop you from playing." Herrior said with a smile. "Let me guess, you don't recognize me and I'm just some random stranger that took a wild guess and seemed to have gotten it right on the first try. You look parched, do you mind if I buy you some ale?"

Strings quickly looked him over in mass confusion. It was obvious to Herrior that he was talking to Lindel in his mind and the rest of the group. Without looking around, Herrior said "I'll buy drinks for the rest of your twelve friends as well. Know of any good places around here? I'm not from this area, and you don't look like you are either."

Strings put down his lute and smiled. "Ok stranger, you have my attention. What is your name and business here?"

"Supposedly I'm a doctor of some kind. I forget the name that Alan told you. If I told you my real name, you would probably try to kill me where I stand. Shall we all go somewhere and talk?"

"I think that would be best." Strings said as the rest of the group casually walked up behind him. Herrior led them down a dead-end road. He turned around.

"Looks like all of you are still alive and together. That is good to know. You all seem to have different trinkets from mind though; I guess I never noticed it before." Herrior pulled his off from his shirt and showed it to him. Herrior thought for sure he would turn back into a tauren, but he remained a human.

"Where did you get that?" Jacklyn asked quickly.

"So are you in charge now?" Herrior asked. Silence fell for several seconds before Herrior spoke up again. "As far as I know, there were only a limited number of them given out. I've been out of the loop for awhile though. This just recently was broken by some human on a bike…slammed into it and busted it. Things don't last forever though, including rocks with strange symbols that glow." Herrior said and outstretched his hand. "You can have it; obviously it is worthless to me now.

Silence fell again. Herrior casually looked them over to make sure that nothing had changed. He seemed pleased with them.

"Stranger, do we have business with you or not? We are here looking for somebody, and you obviously are not him." Jacklyn said.

"Was he somebody about my height, size, and weight? Not a lot of humans around here that look like me…are there?" Herrior asked. By now Alan, Samatha, and Ellen had caught up with them.

"Easy guys" Herrior said. "We're just having a friendly conversation. I've been staying with them. Branzer I believe you spoke with Alan on the phone?" Herrior said looking right at Branzer and pointing to Alan. Branzer didn't move a muscle.

"You are either demon possessed, or you have tortured the mind of a great warrior that once lived. The friend we are looking for would not have given up any information about us…"

"He would have killed himself first…Good, you still know that rule." Herrior said finishing Jacklyn's thought. Herrior turned to look at Mohania. They were in disguise, but he could easily tell who was who.

"Sir, am I demon possessed?" Herrior asked.

"How should I know?" Mohania answered back uneasily.

"Ok, how about this. You come forward and bite my arm off. Yes you, the same one I just asked." Herrior said waving him over. Herrior held up his right arm and pulled his shirt back. Mohania looked at Jacklyn and she shook her head.

Herrior sighed. "Ok guys, enough of this bullshit. Who do you think I am?"

"Somebody you claim to be but are not!" Jacklyn said walking towards him.

"How was my funeral? Was there peacebloom and mageroyal, just like at the wedding we had?" Herrior said glaring at his wife. "What proof is there of my demise? Where is my body?"

"Go bite his arm off…" Jacklyn ordered. Mohania eagerly stepped up to him. He opened a packet of mustard and gently spread it on his arm.

"Mustard? Seriously, when did you develop a taste for mustard?" Herrior said. Mohania again looked at him funny but then widened his mouth and tried to take a huge bit. Instantly Herrior's armor deflected the attack and Mohania fell backwards in pain.

"Huh…I wonder what happened." Herrior pulled on his human skin showing that it appeared normal. "Anybody here figure it out yet?"

"Impossible! Lindel?" Jacklyn said.

"He's human, just like all of the other humans." Lindel answered back.

"Now ask Quinely if she detects anything else strange about me." Herrior snapped back at Jacklyn. Jacklyn took her eyes off from Herrior and looked at Quinely. She shook her head as well.

Dan walked up to him and handed him one of his blades.

"Why aren't you an ambassador yet? Or have you finally decided to become one? Let me guess, take your sword and run you through. That's how you won over the Orcs." Herrior grabbed the blade. The flames on the sword immediately extinguished instead of burning his hand.

"Explain that to me!" Herrior said and threw Dan's sword at his feet.

"Hunter's restrain him. We need to get to the bottom of this." Jacklyn said pulling out her hearthstone. The hunters all immediately summoned their pets, but instead of attacking Herrior, they ran over and started rubbing on his legs. They acted as if their master was gone for several days and finally returned home.

"Shall I repeat myself?" Herrior said. He bent over and picked up the scorpid. The scorpid let out a soothing sound as he started to pet it. "Order him to bite me." Spark licked his hand and wanted to be picked up as well.

"My King, we found somebody claiming to be Herrior. He knows things that only he would know. He is not demon infested, and he doesn't appear to be a doppelganger. He has shown no signs of aggression towards us. None of us recognize him, and Lindel claims he isn't." Jacklyn said. A brief pause and the King said, "No I don't sense Herrior either. He is a fraud." Jacklyn closed the portal.

"Wow, even the King can't sense me. That's odd, but would explain the lack of rescue response." Herrior said.

Skyka ran forward and pushed on Herrior. "You are not my husband! My husband is dead! I will kill you myself!"

"In shadow form or holy form?" Herrior asked calmly.

Skyka became even more angered. "My husband was a great warrior! Whatever you did to him, you will pay! I will torture you myself until you confess!"

"Dying by my own party. Never saw this coming." Herrior said. "It's not how I want to enter the gates of Heaven, but so be it." Herrior pulled out his sword and shield. They quickly materialized and he threw them off to the side.

"Those I know I can take off, I do not know how to take my armor off while being stuck in this human form. But I will not fight back. Kill me if you must." Herrior said.

"Skyka get back here!" Jacklyn said as she walked over and picked up Herrior's sword and shield. Skyka obeyed. Jacklyn held up the weapons and showed them to her party. They were all amazed.

Herrior sat on the ground. "A warrior is buried with his armaments, including his sword and shield. Which again confuses me as to how you had a funeral, without a body?"

The group looked clueless. Obviously Lindel had mind-linked them and were discussing something.

"Before you carry out my sentence for death, think about who gave you those trinkets. Perhaps the…oh what do you call them…the Dragonflights would be able to enlighten you?" Herrior said.

"Look human, you have tried our patience. Our city is almost at war with them!" Jacklyn said.

"So portal me there. If they don't recognize me, they'll kill me. Either way I'll be dead. That is of course what you plan on doing anyways."

Jacklyn considered the possibility for awhile. Then she opened a portal to the dragonflights and asked if they could come to speak with them. The ambassador told her to wait. After a minute they were cleared to come.

"Can my friends come also?" Herrior asked.

"No, just you. Your friends are to remain here. Lindel portal us." Jacklyn said. Lindel formed a portal and began channeling her energy into it. They all stepped through, Herrior told his three friends to wait here as he stepped through.

Ysera was on the other side. She saw Herrior and started to laugh. "Summon the King of Tranquil here. We need to have a little discussion with him." Ysera said to one of her ambassadors. Ysera lowered her head and said, "So how has life been treating you Herrior? Sorry we weren't able to make it to your funeral, but funeral's are for dead people…aren't they?"

"He is not my husband!" Skyka said. "Lindel cannot sense his mind! He is a human that has somehow obtained all of Herrior's thoughts!"

Ysera calmly turned to Skyka and said, "Do you honestly believe that…Lindel read my thoughts." Lindel concentrated but reported that she couldn't. Ysera slowly morphed into a middle aged human. "Ok, now read my thoughts." Lindel tried again, but still couldn't.

"Read my guards thoughts, him right there." Ysera said pointing to a tall red lizard like creature. Lindel tried, but still couldn't.

"So are we human then? Is that the conclusion you came too? Because you can't read our thoughts, we are human?" Ysera asked.

"No, you are dragonkin; I cannot read your thoughts." Lindel said.

"Notice the surprised look on my face." Ysera said sarcastically and walked over to Herrior.

"Where is your trinket?" She asked.

"It broke, I'm sorry Ysera."

"Just like your hearthstone broke. We have been watching over you, your illusion does not fool us. Our powers are far greater than yours are. You even turned into a tauren on several occasions didn't you? Why didn't your banshees detect you then?" Ysera asked.

The King arrived with fifty of his guards surrounding him.

"What is going on? Months ago we were at peace! My party rescued three of your dragonkin, and now we are at war? What has happened?" Herrior demanded walking forward.

"Stand your ground human!" The King said. "Let us conduct our business quickly."

"Why, so your tens of thousands of troops approaching from the south side and flank us?" Ysera asked casually.

"Stop this madness, what is going on!" Herrior demanded. "What did I do? Did I cause this conflict? Ysera, what can I do to undo this mess?"

"Ever since they lost communication with you, they blamed us. We continued to insist that you were alive. They called us liars, and thought we were holding you in our cells. Communication broke down, one thing lead to another." Ysera said.

"That is not Herrior!" The King insisted. "This is some sort of trick to stop our war."

"Do you have another trinket; I can change back to my old self and prove to them who I am." Herrior asked quickly.

"Yes, we have plenty of them. But words cannot be undone." Ysera slowly walked over to a table, picked up another silver dragon and pinned it to his chest. Herrior immediately touched it and became his old tauren self again. Herrior held out his hands and his shield and sword went flying from Jacklyn's pack to his hands in mere seconds.

"Only Herrior has the power to summon his weapons…" The King said in disbelief.

"Herrior, if the King banishes you from Tranquil – I want you to stay and be one of our ambassadors. You are exalted among us, and all of your needs will be met."

"Settle down, everybody! My King, I mean no disrespect, but please call off your army and put your guards away. Read my mind…please. You know things about me that nobody else does." Herrior said.

"I already have Herrior. And I have already given the order to withdraw our troops." The King gave the order for his guards to enter the portal and he shut it behind him.

"Care to explain what happened Herrior?" Ysera asked.

"That trinket that they gave us in powerful my King. Mine for some reason seemed to contain more power than the rest, is that true Ysera?"

Ysera nodded.

"Our last assignment was a flop. Everybody entered the portal while I fell through the floor. By the time I got up, the portal was gone. It had to be because the man came back into the house. I was still in human form, and for some reason my hearthstone cracked and then blew away like dust. In my human form, demons and alliance attacked me. When I changed back to my normal form, they feared me. In my human form, my new found banshee friend could not possess my mind. I changed back to a tauren and she could. It doesn't create the illusion of a human, it makes you a human. Probably the same for any other race as well, is that right Ysera?"

Ysera nodded.

"But it not only makes you a human, it completely alters your mind. Banshees cannot even detect my presence. I still continued the fight though. I slaughtered alliance and demons. Even the animals on their world knew who I was. They helped me out twice. If mere animals could detect who I was, why can't the woman I have loved for years detect who I am. I had to confuse the shit of out Strings in order to gain an audience with my group…or Jacklyn's group or whoever is the leader now.

Ysera nodded again. "All valid questions, and all statements we have been making to you, King of Tranquil."

"With all due respect my King, why didn't you listen to them? They are our allies. They couldn't give an exact location because of their orders, but they knew I was alive. Yet you held a funeral anyways. What did you bury? All items that I need are on me, whose body is in the grave?"

"Nobody's. We found no remains of you. Our scouts and banshee's found no trace of you. Even I and my Queen searched for days and could not find you. We then checked with every Chronomancer and you did not request to leave anywhere else…"

"Why would I leave my group? I love them!" Herrior said pointing back at them. "Sorry for interrupting. Many of our commanders went the abandoned their post brought dishonor to themselves while they fought the elementals. Did you recover their bodies?"

"Yes." The King replied.

"And you had them buried?"

"Yes." The King replied again.

Herrior held out his hand in frustration toward the King. The King sighed.

"Obviously there was a miscommunication here." The King said.

"Miscommunication is what happened when your scout was bribed gold to report to one of your ambassador's of a rogue dragon. You sent Herrior's group to go kill one of my dragons! That is miscommunication!" Ysera said. Her guards, personal guardians, and her King and Queen emerged through a portal.

"And what happened? My group protected her with our lives, and did not want anything in return. Then we found a killed a dragon killer, and freed two dragons giving them to you also, expecting nothing in return. Ysera, we are grateful for the gifts you gave us but we were not ready for the powers of one of the gifts you gave us. Look at the mess it caused. Two separate factions are about to go to war because of it." Herrior said stepping in the middle to defend his King.

"We return a favor with a favor. That is how we do things." Ysera said sternly.

"May I ask that I approach you and whisper a favor into your ear?" Herrior asked softly.

"Herrior, you may ask whatever you want of me." Ysera said smiling at him. Herrior walked up to Ysera, bowed before her and then got an inch from her ear.

"I have formed a union with Skyka. I have loved her and then lost her. Then I lost everything, but kept my faith in God and continued my fight. It angered me Ysera, I won't lie to you. But in the process, and you may know more than I do, I think I have lead several people to the Lord. Isn't that what this is all about? The two humans and the banshee still wait for me on Earth. The two humans were the most closed minded individuals I have ever met, very stubborn in their minds and beliefs. I ask that you open a portal and pull them through. They may hold the key to understanding this puzzle." Herrior whispered and then backed up again.

"Herrior, you are exalted among my people. This is a simple request, not a favor." Ysera smiled at him. Ysera waved her hand behind her and her King and Queen portalled out, and her guards repositioned themselves. Then Ysera cut a hole in the middle of the air, reached in and pulled the three of them through.

"They will probably scream and run around in panic for awhile." Herrior said looking at them.

"No, I have soothed their minds." Ysera said.

"Herrior, where are we?" Alan asked looking at him.

"You are in the presence of my King, a mighty dragon, also my old group over there." Herrior said pointing each one out.

"You forgot to say a mighty 'beautiful' dragon." Ysera said looking at Herrior. Herrior smiled and apologized.

"My King, Ysera and her counsel, my old friends. This couple has taken me in, housed me, fed me, and eventually reunited me with all of you. By the sounds of it just in time before our factions went to war. This was not a mere coincidence, this happened for a reason and I think that reason is to teach all of us humility and respect for each other's powers and thoughts; to work together, not against each other. We all have common enemies, and they are not each other. For example, how did all of the cultists end up being wiped out within a matter of a day? I know we did not have the power to do that, with all due respect to my King."

"We did help, but it was not all just us. Several of our allied races united and we launched a massive coordinated attack and annihilated them. It was your King's idea actually." Ysera said.

"Because of that attack, how many people stopped to rethink that devil worship is wrong and turned their hearts to the Lord?" Herrior said turning to look between his King and Ysera.

"We did." Alan said as he escorted his wife forward to him.

"I already was, but my life was eventually turning because I thought there was no hope for me." Ellen said and walked forward as well.

"Well then my time away wasn't for nothing then." Herrior said smiling proudly at them.

"Have either one of you considered that maybe with all of your rules and powers, and the stubbornness that comes with that, forgive me again for stepping out of line here, but here are two people's souls that are safe for the rest of eternity. Tell me, both of you, what is more important than that!" Herrior said looking at both of them. "And let me tell you what, the battle to win them over was not easy!"

"Yes, ultimately that is what is most important." The King said. "Ysera I apologize for my actions. My faith has seemed to have faltered when I did not believe my own senses and powers that I possess."

"No apology needed. I have done the same. You must understand though, that I could not send a fleet of my dragons to simply pick him up and return him to you." Ysera said.

"I do not think you could have anyways. Many times did I cry out to the Lord only to have no response to my prayers. His will was in motion and, for reasons that I don't know, he wanted these three brought here, and their souls saved from eternal damnation. Is either one of you going to question that? Did either one of you even pray about the situation and seek God's advice before angering each other and almost going to war with each other?" Herrior asked looking at both of them. Both Ysera and his King looked down and away from Herrior.

"Have I made my point, or should I tongue-lash both of you some more on the main reason why we are here in the first place and why we fight the evils of the universe?" Herrior asked after several awkward seconds.

"Ysera, I need another trinket. My King, I need another hearthstone. I wish to have access granted for these three into Tranquil. From there, I would suggest the same thing I've been telling your patients Alan – go speak with the preacher. Seek out his advice, pray and wait. I've learned my lesson, and I'm hoping everybody else has learned the same lesson as well." Ysera and Herrior's King quickly produced both items.

"I'm going fishing. I think both of you have some things that you need to talk about. One of you, open me a portal to the Borean Tundra. I want to go spend some time with the Tuskarr's, perhaps even help prepare them for the upcoming winter." Herrior's King produced the portal the fastest. Herrior stepped through and disappeared. Herrior then stuck his head back out and looked at Mohania.

"Mustard? Really?" Herrior smiled at him and then pulled his head back and the portal vanished.

Mohania shrugged. "I like it."

Herrior met up with Tusklord Hrak'kar, the schedule manager. The Tuskarr people lived in small huts, but shared their catches and chores with each other in harmony. Hrak'kar was merely the person that wrote down what needed to be done, and which family had surplus of a kind of food, and what family was in need. The Tuskarr race looked like a walking fat walrus. They had two large tusks coming out of their mouth and down to their mid stomach. They were mostly brown in color and had a thick layer of fur.

"Ah, Herrior. Nice to see you. What brings you to our village?" Hrak'kar asked.

"I feel the need to fish; do you mind if I fish with your brethren and help to feed your colonies?" Herrior asked.

"You are most welcome to. Pretty soon we will have to chip through the ice to catch our fish. You look troubled though." Hrak'kar said. "May I ask why?"

"Life has been hard lately, especially the last couple of months. May I borrow one of your fishing poles?" Herrior said avoiding the question.

"Certainly, they are over here. Come, walk with me." Hrak'kar said and began his waddle. Herrior looked down and noticed that he had not transformed into one of their race. Again he wondered why. "This trinket is unpredictable and is more trouble than it's worth!" Herrior angrily told himself.

Hrak'kar let out a brief cough. Herrior looked up and saw that he was attempting to hand him a pole.

"Sorry, like I said it's been a hard couple of months." Herrior said.

"Perhaps in exchange for your help in fishing, you can talk about anything you wish to me?" Hrak'kar asked. Herrior smiled at him and said, "I appreciate the gesture".

"Very well then, I feel like fishing as well. Perhaps you will stay with us so that we can feast together tonight?" Hrak'kar asked. Herrior thought about it and then nodded.

Herrior and dozens of other Tuskarrs were fishing off the shores. Some could be seen in the boats far away, but still visible to the shores. Herrior began catching fish after fish, several dozen in a minute. The Tuskarr's still did not know how he did it. Herrior would examine the fish, see if it was ready to lay its eggs or see if it was still young. If it was, he let the fish go and would recast his line.

"You truly are one with nature." Hrak'kar said observing him.

"If you don't respect the balance of nature, it will not respect you." Herrior said.

"And are you at balance with nature right now?" Hrak'kar asked. Herrior shook his head and casted again.

"Have there been any more threats to your village?" Herrior asked.

"Always the warrior inside of you, looking for a fight. The ambassador part of you looking to strengthen ties with your allies. No my friend. Our villages are prospering. No threat arises that we cannot handle. We have no shortage of food, and our homes are nice and sealed from the elements. We have offspring being born, and young ones learning our ways. As you know, we mostly isolate ourselves to the shorelines. We are fish eaters, not animal eaters. Occasionally we will pick flowers for spices and medicines. But all of this you already know." Hrak'kar said. Herrior nodded. He suddenly felt a huge tug on his line and quickly reeled it in.

"My word…it seems as though you have brought us good luck my friend." Hrak'kar said. At the end of Herrior's fishing pole was a fifty pound grouper.

"Huh, well I'll be. I thought I had a whale on my line there for awhile." Herrior said. "Would you mind if I cook this up for you?"

"Not at all, I will assemble some of our people and we shall all partake in the feast. Pardon me for saying so, but your hearthstone has been going off for awhile now." Hrak'kar said.

"Yeah I know. I've consider skipping it across the waters, seeing how many hops I could make before it sunk." Herrior said with a smile. He pulled out his hearthstone and saw Ysera.

Ten minutes later Herrior began to cook the monster fish and again the hearthstone went off. This time it was one of the King's personal ambassadors. Herrior casually pulled it out and looked at him.

"You annoy me." Herrior said looking at him.

"Please forgive the intrusion. The King would like to know if you are coming back to Tranquil or going to be an ambassador for the Dragonflights?" The ambassador asked.

"Right now I am eating fish. When was the last time you had fresh fish?" Herrior asked.

"I do not remember." The ambassador replied back.

"Tell the King that I have had several opportunities open up for me. I am not particularly happy with each faction right now, and this constant disturbance is annoying. Coming back to a die that I was labeled as "dead" in is not something I am looking forward to. What has become of Alan, his wife and the banshee?" Herrior asked.

"We sent a group to retrieve the gold that you found, and also secure the perimeter. Alan wishes to continue his practice of medicine on his planet. He thinks his calling is there, however they have both been blasted as a safety precaution. As for the banshee, she died." The ambassador said.

"What? What happened?" Herrior said with deep concern in his voice.

"She entered the city and claimed to hear God calling her. She thanked everybody and wanted to make sure that we send you her thanks. Then her body fell limp as her spirit left. We tried bringing her back to life, but the spirit was completely gone. Her body was buried back at her home planet next to her original residence." The ambassador said.

"Huh…odd turn of events I must say. I wonder if she knew all along. Anyways, I have no party to lead and no role in Tranquil. What are my incentives to come back?" Herrior asked.

"Your former party has been begging for the opportunity to reunite with you. They want you as their leader again. The King gave them specific instructions to leave you alone until you contact us. They are deeply worried about you, as are the rest of us. You are a great fighter, leader, and ambassador. Your rewards are beyond what you can imagine for what you have done…" The ambassador began to explain.

"And what would I do with the rewards? They have no meaning to me and the King knows it. I desire the love for my people and my town again. To sit among our people in church and have them not gossip about me. To walk the streets and not to say, 'Thank God you are alive.' I am resting right now. I will do some soul searching and praying. That is the same thing I've been telling everybody else that has contacted me. How is Jeffery the little time stopper?" Herrior asked.

"Surprisingly enough, he is almost a year old. No explanation that we have been able to come up with. The only thing we can figure is he was in Crystal's body and she manipulated his growth pattern. Dan has been teaching him, as well as the rest of our time-stoppers how to control and extend time manipulation. Dan also took up the role of a tank during your absence. He has not been performing as well as you have, however he is trying. Your former group, again, is eager to speak with you." The ambassador said.

"Will I still be the leader?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, they have all expressed interest that you be it."

"Ok, you tell the King what I told you. We'll go from there, but let him know that I am exploring my options and I am looking into being an ambassador for many different groups. Good-bye." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior then reached down and flipped the fish over.

"You won't be eating with us tonight, will you Herrior?" Hrak'kar asked.

"I may eat a bite or two. I do not wish to show disrespect to your people." Herrior answered.

Hrak'kar smiled and said, "No disrespect will be taken. Do you wish to go into my hut, light some incense candles and meditate?" Herrior quickly said "No", but then thought about it.

Hrak'kar pointed to the hut behind him with a smile. Herrior smiled back and did just that.

Herrior took off his armor, lit some candles and because to pray sitting down. All was quiet a long time, until a vision of an old desolate place came to his head. It was called "Icecrown" and it was north of his position. It would take probably twenty minutes by dragon to get there.

"Why Icecrown" Herrior said out loud. "Many generations have passed and it is nothing but a waste land now. Everything was annihilated." The vision again reappeared of the place, and Herrior put his armor back on and walked out of the hut.

"It is nearly dark my friend, would you like to sleep in our village?" Hrak'kar asked.

"Thanks, but for some odd reason I think I'm being called to go somewhere. Do you have any spare bandages, and food?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly." Hrak'kar responded and gave an order to have some retrieved. Moments later Herrior packed them in his backpack and summoned his dragon. Herrior thanked them again and took flight.

"Where are we going?" His dragon asked.

"To be honest…I'm not sure. North is the general direction. I had two over-whelming desires to go to Icecrown. Once we get there, I want to fly low and have both of us search for something." Herrior said.

"What exactly?" The dragon asked in return.

"I don't know to be honest. But in the mean time it is good to see you again my friend." Herrior said patting the dragon.

"As it is to see you." The dragon said back.

They flew into the torn part of this world called Icecrown. A great many battles were fought here, and probably millions of lives were lost here as well. It was cold, barren, and void of any life. As if time itself forgot about it and moved on. No vegetation grew, no animals, not even left over bones from skeletons.

"Hasn't changed much, has it?" Herrior asked.

"No. Our patrols only fly over this area once every couple of years. No point in visiting the echo's of the past." Herrior's dragon said.

Herrior nodded steering his dragon around. Then a thought occurred to him. "When I was in my human form back on Earth, I couldn't sense you. Yet Ysera could, even though my own party couldn't. Could you sense me?"

"Of course! I flew over you several times, you just never looked up. You never summoned me, so I didn't come to your aid. I'm bound to your soul and go wherever you go." The dragon said and then started to laugh. "Once your soul is released though, I go off duty." Herrior grinned at him.

"Ysera has decreased the power of your trinkets so that you can now at least sense each other's minds. I hope you are not angry with race or me." Herrior's dragon said.

"Not at all. When our fighters got our new powers, many of us didn't know what to do or understood how they worked. Same situation I'm figuring…" Herrior said and then yelled out the word "Hello?" and let it echo throughout the land. Only silence returned back.

Herrior continued to fly through the lands, him and his dragon taking turns yelling out the word "Hello" and listening to it reflect off the canyons and mountains. An hour passed and no response came back. They had encompassed the entire region twice now.

"Maybe I'm supposed to be looking for something?" Herrior asked.

"I have no idea. But I do like to hear my voice echoing." His dragon said.

"You are easy to please, aren't you?" Herrior said patting him.

"I hate to point out the obvious, but your hearthstone has been vibrating a lot." The dragon said.

"If it is annoying you, I can throw it away." Herrior said with a grin.

Suddenly a "What!" voice came echoing back in their direction. It was void of any emotion and almost sounded mechanical. It scared Herrior and his dragon as the dragon immediately started to fly away from it.

"Easy boy." Herrior said. "I won't let anything hurt you."

"I've never heard a voice like that. It sounded like death, but only human. Does that make sense?" The dragon asked.

"Let's go investigate. I'll jump off quite a distance from you so you will not be harmed." Herrior said and they flew towards the sound.

As they moved closer to the sound, Herrior jumped off his dragon and it flew away.

"Hello?" Herrior asked in a kinder voice.

"Yes." The voice said back. It almost sounded female Herrior thought.

"I can hear you, but cannot see you. I mean you no harm. I just had a vision that I needed to come here for something. If I am disturbing you, I will leave." Herrior said. No reply back.

Herrior waited a moment and said, "If you are hurt or hungry I can help you." No reply back again.

"Ok, well I'm going to leave you alone and continue my journey. I'm sorry to have disturbed you." Herrior said and began walking away.

"Are you alone?" The voice echoed back.

"I flew here on my dragon, but he is circling way overhead. He will not come down, so right now, yes I am alone. I must admit you surprised me, we thought this land was nothing but burnt out memories and destitute from the wars hundreds of years ago. I am curious as to what you are doing here?" Herrior asked. No reply came back.

Several minutes passed and then Herrior began to explore the surroundings around him. He saw places where the foundations of buildings were dug into the ground, but no evidence of it remained. He looked out into the vast ocean behind him.

"If you do not like the food I brought, I can fish some out of the ocean if you would like?" Herrior asked.

"I can sustain myself." The voice said back. "If you are here to slaughter me, I welcome it. I am a deserter and did not die in battle. I have lived with the reoccurring voices of the battles in my head for too long."

"I'm not going to kill you, nor do I have any desire to. Do you wish to talk?" Herrior asked.

"No."

"Ok. Well I am going to walk away, summon my dragon and leave you alone. I apologize for awakening you." Herrior said and began to walk away. Herrior walked several yards away when the voice called out, "Wait!" Herrior stopped.

"I do not trust you!" The voice called out.

"Nor do I trust a talking cave." Herrior said smiling. "My name is Herrior. I am an ambassador of the city of Tranquil. Shall I stay or leave?"

A moment passed as the voice considered it. Herrior let out a sigh and sat on the ground.

"I have never heard of such a place, but I do know what an ambassador is. If you attack me, I will strike back." The voice said.

"I, again, have no intent of fighting you. I'm curious more than anything, and probably you are as well – am I right?" Herrior asked.

Another quiet moment passed, and the voice said "Come." Herrior acknowledged that he was on his way up. He also said that he would leave at any time if she did not feel comfortable.

"How do you know I'm a woman?" The voice asked.

"Honestly, it was a guess. You sound more feminine than masculine. I hope I am right?" Herrior asked in an uncomfortable voice. The woman started to laugh in her mysterious voice.

"I am not familiar with your voice, what race are you?" Herrior asked.

"I am a blood elf." The voice said back, again with no emotion and making the same the same eerie voice.

"My mate is a blood elf. She is a holy priest." Herrior said continuing to climb up the rock ledge.

"I am not like her." The voice said.

"It doesn't sound like it. I am a tauren protection warrior. I used to have a group, but I'm not sure what is going to happen now. Several things have happened in the past and it has left a bitter taste in my mouth." Herrior said.

"We have that in common." The voice said. Herrior finally made it up to the cave and peered in.

"Hi." Herrior said gazing at the woman. He could not believe what he was looking at. She was a death knight. He skin was all pale, her hair white and parted on the right. She had long ears just like that of a blood elf. Herrior could tell that she was ready to defend herself, but her gear looked really old. The woman looked at Herrior and came to the opposite assumption about Herrior. He could probably kill her in a matter of seconds if he wanted to.

"What is your purpose here?" The woman said.

"Right now it is to talk to you. As to why I am in this forsaken land, I am still not sure. Perhaps you know more about this land than I do?" Herrior asked. He gently put himself into a sitting position showing that he was not going to fight her. The woman lowered her weapon and relaxed but continued to stand ready.

"My name is Veliline. As I can tell by your reaction you have never seen a death knight before." Veliline said.

"No I have not. We actually don't have much information on your class. A lot of it is mentioned in the end of days in our bible, but most of the information is just guesses." Herrior said.

"End of days I wish…" Veliline said and moved forward to sit down in front of him. Herrior gently pulled out some pieces of fish and bread and offered it to her.

"I have been eating fish for as long as I can remember, but the bread smells delicious." Veliline said. Herrior handed it to her as he ate the fish. Veliline asked what the vibrating thing in his leg armor was.

"That is probably people trying to kiss my ass. It's called a hearthstone, and we use it to communicate back and forth to each other to stay in contact. I have been ignoring it and trying to empty my mind, waiting for a sign as to what to do. I've recently stopped two of our allies from a great war, and embarrassed both of their leaders in front of each other. Now both of them are trying to butter me up to join their faction. To be honest, I want things back the way they were. But to have my wife completely look at me, talk with me, and treat me like another human just blew my mind. Sorry, I'm rambling." Herrior said.

"I have never loved, not that I can remember. We were forced to fight, and that was it. Fight and die." Veliline said.

"Many demons and alliance control people and races to do the same thing. We do not force anybody to fight. In our city you may come and go as you wish. Your needs will be met, or you may go anywhere you wish." Herrior said. He looked around the cave and said, "Or you may stay here. It looks cozy."

"It's been my home for hundreds of years. I venture out to gather food from the sea and return. I am not a demon or an alliance, both terms I know quite well. I was controlled by the Lich King during the great wars of long ago. Both the alliance and Horde fought us. A series of events happened, and the Lich King lost control of a lot of his army – I was one of them. Instead of staying true to my leader, I fled. His army wanted me dead as well as both factions, so forgive me if I am slow to trust you." Veliline said.

"Interesting. I have only heard stories myself, and the stories lost their translation as time went on. What made the Lich King lose his control over you?" Herrior asked.

"The attack was something we were not prepared for. Many of us rushed to the front gates along with his undead and scourge minions. We met the army head on, but did not anticipate what was going to happen. Several key generals were assassinated, and what he called his "eyes" was destroyed all at the same time. It was glowing orbs surrounding his fortress. He was blinded and could not coordinate his attacks. To be honest, we could have annihilated the oncoming threat…but to look upon you now I do not think we would have stood a chance. Your armor looks as though it could repel any attack. It is made with material I have never seen before." Veliline said.

"Then what happened?" Herrior asked.

"During the confusion, several huge mass dispel spells were blasted all over our army. Our front line became disoriented, and many of us became confused. We could not hear the voice of the master anymore in our minds. The scourge and his undead forces were not affected by it, but it freed the death knight's minds. Almost all of the death knights lowered their weapons and looked around in confusion. I didn't waste any time. I summoned my winged mount and flew as far as I could. Nobody attacked me, but I could hear the slaughter of my own kind behind me. Once our minds were free, we were not enslaved anymore…yet they killed my kind anyways. I came to this cave, killed everybody in it and hid for as long as I could. After awhile a loud explosion went off as the Lich King himself exploded, releasing all of his power. Before that though he entered the battle field himself and was quickly overcome with your forces. His power was great though, and his skeleton dragon came to his aid. He began summoning all of his forces to the front gates as he wiped out dozens of your kind with a single blow. At that point, I can only guess what happened. From what I heard, he began cursing his own troops for turning on him. Still no idea how you managed to accomplish that, but with his forces and your forces fighting him – he stood no chance. Then after he exploded it annihilated pretty much everything in the land. I was protected in this cave. A week afterwards I mounted my winged horse and surveyed the area. Everything was destroyed and everybody was either gone or dead on the battle field. I have survived on the fish in the sea for more years than I care to remember. My power is not what it used to be. It is still in my head, but my thirst for battle is gone. All traces of my previous memories before I was enslaved were wiped clean. I have no idea who my family was, my friends were or anything." Veliline ended with a tear in her eyes, but without showing emotion in her voice

Herrior nodded at the end of the story. "You have honored me with your story. Your words that you have just spoken to me I feel privileged to hear. I am sorry to hear about your class though and what happened to them. For what it is worth, I have ordered the retreat of my party several times. I do not believe you made the wrong mistake by flying out of the battle field. But you are free now."

"Free to do what? Live my life in this cave until my time has come to die?" Veliline said quickly.

"That is one decision of course. However let's talk about other options." Herrior said.

"I do not wish to be enslaved again! I will die before that happens." Veliline said angrily.

"As would I." Herrior answered calmly.

Veliline tried to judge Herrior's intentions for her. Herrior merely smiled back.

"I wish to stay here." Veliline said back after a moment. Herrior nodded, he gave her the rest of the bread from his backpack and wished her well. He then started his decent down from the cave.

Veliline ran to the entrance of the cave, "Where are you going?"

Herrior looked back up at her and said, "I am going to leave now. You seem content living here and you made your decision. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. I thank you again for the story though; I will pass it on to our historians."

"You will come back with an army and seize me!" Veliline said at him.

"Why would we? Many races and people live just like you do. If this is what you want, then so be it. If you wish, I will not tell anybody about our encounter." Herrior said looking back up at her. "Shall I continue my leave, or do you wish to talk some more?"

Veliline thought about the question for a while. Herrior took that as she wanted to be left alone, so he continued his descent.

Veliline continued to watch him climb down. She then summoned her flying mount. It looked like a small skeleton bone dragon. It had no skin, or feathers. She mounted it and quickly caught up with Herrior.

Herrior watched in fascination. "How does it fly with no feathers, or wings? Is it even alive?"

"It does what I command it to. It isn't alive, but merely remnants of the past like me. Long forgotten about and feared by all." Veliline said.

"The same as the orcs. They all turned on our town's people and were banished from our city. Thousands of years later, my party released a group of orcs from their demonic imprisonments by their commanding demon. Now they roam freely in our city and are accepted just the same as any other race. We have also fought orcs and were forced to kill them; recently many of our commanders at our outposts were orcs and left their towns. They betrayed their people and died a dishonorable death. Had they come back, we would have killed them. Betrayal is something we do not deal with lightly." Herrior said continuing down the mountain. Veliline commanded her bone dragon to descend at the same speed.

"Had the Lich King found me, I would have been destroyed. Had any of the Horde, Alliance, or the Argent Crusade found me they would have killed me. What puzzles me is why you haven't attacked me?" Veliline asked.

"We are not called the Horde anymore. The Argent Crusade mostly died off after the great battle, and the Alliance are still called the same cursed name. The power thirsty bastards will do anything for power and continue to repeatedly attack us. We fight them off on many different worlds - like yours, and we fight demons as well. Both of which force people to do their bidding, gaining their powers and spread their filth across all of the worlds. But to answer your question, you are not an alliance or a demon and you have not attacked me first." Herrior said and continued his descent.

"If I attack you first, would you end my life?" Veliline asked.

"I do not kill for favors or for the personal wishes of one self. You may not realize it but you have a good heart." Herrior said.

"My heart is frozen. My body was altered to serve my master, along with all of the others like me. My life force is still here, but all of my powers were drained and were replaced by runes and attacks that generate runic power for my special attacks." Veliline said continuing down with Herrior.

Herrior got to the bottom of the mountain and said, "I'm not familiar with what you speak of. Are all death knights like that?"

"Yes."

Herrior nodded at her and began to walk away from her cave. As Herrior expected, Veliline followed him.

After a moment Herrior turned around and said, "I cannot leave. My dragon that I ride is very timid and I promised to look after him. He may view you as a threat and not come to me. Tell me, why are you following me?"

Veliline gazed at him for awhile, then after a moment another tear fell. Herrior nodded at her.

"You do not want to stay here anymore, do you?" Herrior asked.

"I do not belong here, or anywhere. People fear me." Veliline said.

"I'm a big walking hairy cow with large horns and hooves for feet. Some races turn and run at my sight." Herrior said.

"You were not controlled and forced to fight people of your race." Veliline said quickly back.

"Are you controlled now?"

"No."

"Then what is there to fear? Let me quote you something: 'Come now, let us argue this out,' says the LORD. 'No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool'. It is taken from Isaiah chapter one. If the Lord can forgive then we should as well, and that includes forgiving yourself. We have forgiven the orcs; we can forgive you as well. Now then, do you wish to follow me or do you wish to stay here?" Herrior asked.

"I wish to fight beside you. I want to be forgiven, my past haunts me." Veliline said.

"Then there would be fourteen of us, not including our pets. In the past that would not be allowed, but the rules have changed. Would sort of fighting do you?" Herrior asked.

"I would control the groups attacking and force them to fight me, while the others in our army would attack them." Veliline said.

Herrior smiled at her. "Same thing I do. We call it 'tanking'. Don't know why we call it that actually, but that term has always been used. My group…as far as I know, will have three tanks: myself, a druid, and then you. Generally only two tanks per group are allowed, but our druid may take turns with you if you wish, or she may go into her cat form and deal heavy damage for us."

Veliline stared at him not understanding what he was saying. Herrior smiled at her and apologized.

"I don't even know if I'm going to get my old group back to be honest." Herrior said and then sighed. He looked back up at her and asked again, "Are you sure there aren't any more of your kind around?"

"No." Veliline said in her emotionless voice. "I've searched everywhere. I am the last of my kind. We were reformed and dominated by the Lich King. With him dead, I doubt any others are around."

"Should we come across some, would you be willing to be an ambassador to them? You probably understand your race better than any of us would." Herrior asked. Veliline nodded slowly.

"I do not wish to kill my own." Veliline said.

"None of us do, but sometimes it has to be done. As an ambassador we try to negotiate with other races to befriend them, like how I did with you. However if you would have attacked me, I would have defended myself – as I expect you would do in a similar situation." Herrior began to say.

"Have you had to kill those who you could not befriend?" Veliline asked quickly.

"Only if they attack first. Many races and people want to be left alone, however they are peaceful to us. If we are on a mission from the King, that is different. It is then up to the leader, which again I had that role, to carry out the mission. Only a dozen times or so in my life have I hesitated because something didn't seem right. Then we would gather as much information as we could, relay it to the King and then get his final orders. Almost all of the time he would stand by his initial decision; however he has changed his mind on occasion. Anyways though, are you ready to meet him?" Herrior asked. There was a long silence as Veliline stared at him.

Veliline eventually nodded.

Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and trying to contact the King. One of the King's ambassadors answered the portal and was shocked to see Herrior.

"I wish for an audience with the King when he has a moment. Also I am going to bring with me a death knight and I do not want her to be harmed." Herrior said. The ambassador said he would relay the information and Herrior closed the portal.

Herrior turned to look at Veliline. She showed no emotion of what just took place.

"Don't you ever smile or laugh or…" Herrior started to say.

"Do you know how many of your kind I slaughtered by the hundreds? They were weak and we were granted unlimited powers. Your King and your people will not accept me." Veliline said.

"I doubt I want to accept them after what I've been through as well." Herrior said with a smile. "You can relax, I will not let any harm come to you."

"I know you won't. This is why I will fight by your side. I wish to redeem myself."

Herrior nodded as a portal opened. The Queen of Tranquil stepped through holding her dress up as if she was stepping out of a portal for the first time and didn't want to get her dress dirty.

"My apologies Herrior, we are uncertain if our defenses will allow a death knight into our city unharmed. A lot has changed. The King and our citizens have been very busy; you will be surprised by all of the changes – that is, if you are coming back." The Queen said with a smile looking at Herrior. She turned to look at Veliline and did a small curtsy in front of her. Veliline merely watched.

"You look a little worse for wear young one. I hope our ambassador did not scare you." The Queen said gently to her.

"I fear nothing." Veliline said in her mechanical, emotionless voice.

The Queen merely smiled and bowed her head again. She turned back to Herrior and said, "A lot of people are trying to speak with you, and are getting very impatient about it as you can imagine. Did your hearthstone break again?"

"No my Queen, it did not. Does not duty to our city and all that it stands for come first though?" Herrior asked.

"Ah, still bitterness I sense in your voice." The Queen said slowly. "Yes it does, and I am glad to hear you refer to Tranquil as 'our' city."

"I am an ambassador to Tranquil; I serve the King and vow to protect its citizens – no matter where I am. I have been and I will continue to do so until my soul departs from me or I am relinquished of that duty. I had been meditating on the events that had transpired when suddenly a vision came to me which I had to investigate immediately. The end result was finding Veliline. During an ambassador assignment and upon first meeting a new race or people it is considered rude to interrupt with taking communications via the hearthstone until the assignment is over. Once again, I am merely doing my job and will continue…" The Queen interrupted him.

"Herrior, I know." The Queen said and held her hand out and squeezed his. "You honor and loyalty runs deep in your blood. Please just relax. You do not have to defend yourself to me or anybody else. My husband and Ysera have bonded again. They have started to combine their forces against the new threat that besieged us. Many of our other races have joined our cause and are working to repair the damage as well."

Herrior looked at her in panic. "What has been happening?"

"The cultists were successful in unleashing their goal, despite our efforts to annihilate them. A new breed of evil has entered our plane of existence. It is a dragon, forged with fire and bent on destroying worlds. Outside our gate is the desolate void where we fight the alliance, the world has been torn asunder once more. Our defenses held, but the attacks of his followers as well as many other dormant enemies have been awoken and have sided with our new enemy. Earth has remained untouched so far from this corruption. Many of our outposts and cities have been completely burned to the ground, no warning. Great chasms in the ground have formed – many worlds that you know have been altered forever. The world where you and Skyka grew up in has forever changed. Many of your loved ones have been killed. Civil war wrecks havoc between our leaders on your home world; bandits and looters are taking everything that they can and killing anybody that tries to stop them. We are combating the threat and trying to contain it, but are losing ground every minute. That is why I am here and not the King himself, you can understand why." The Queen said calmly.

Herrior immediately nodded.

"You were gone a long time young one. You have led many new races into our city and our wars. Now, the tables have turned. You are the new one that is going to be led into our rebuilt city and our wars. The question that you have asked is now upon you, are you ready?" The Queen asked.

"I will fight under any group you assign me to." Herrior said quickly.

"I will fight beside Herrior." Veliline replied before the Queen could talk. The Queen let out a quick laugh and smiled at the both of them.

"Your group that you have forged is willing to lay down their lives for you to be their leader again. Their suffering and pain have been great. I've had to restrict their constant searching for you, even after your funeral. I'm afraid that is how the tension between our army and the dragonflights grew. The King and my powers both could not detect you. Our banshees could not detect you, yet the dragonflights still said you were alive and fine. Finally our relations broke down with them, you saw the end result. It appears as though you showed up just at the right time." The Queen said with a wink in her eye. "Shall we call that a coincidence?"

"We both know better." Herrior said returning a look at the Queen indicating that they both knew what each other were thinking.

The Queen slowly nodded. "The two humans and the banshee that you found came to our city as you know. Alan and his wife have decided to stay on their home world though; Alan said he had a lot of mistakes that he had to undo. They both vowed to help us if needed and in return we granted them the immunity from the alliance. Ellen saw our city and then died minutes later. All she could say was 'Thank you' and to give you a hug when we saw you again. I shall leave that job up to your mate, who has been crying herself to sleep every night. Or defenses did not kill her, it was just her time. We of course tried everything in our power to save her, but we knew it was her time." The Queen sighed and let the words soak into Herrior's brain for awhile.

"I sense you want to see your group, but are frustrated with them at the same time. Do you wish for me to bring them here so we can discuss this? My time is short as I have other engagements that I have to attend to. Do you wish for me to stay while you speak with your group? I have also attuned Veliline's mind and body to our defenses; she will not be harmed within our city. She may fight beside you if you wish her to."

Herrior nodded in acknowledgement. "You may leave; I thank you for your time. Yes, I would like to speak with my group and then continue to do my duty to you, my King and to safeguard Tranquil and its citizens."

"Very well. I look forward to hearing about your continuous achievements and honor you bring to us as you have in the past." The Queen said. She approached Herrior, kissed him on the cheek and then tore open a portal in the air. She again gently picked up the front of her dress and stepped through.

"That is your Queen?" Veliline asked.

"Yes." Herrior said lost in his own thoughts.

"She did not order you back to service. She did not discipline you. You asked of your leader and she honored your request, without having to sacrifice or suffer." Veliline said.

Herrior smiled. "Feels kind of weird eh?" Herrior looked at her and saw that she was confused. Herrior tried to explain, "We honor our King and Queen, and they do not torment us. They ask things of us, only if we wish to take on the role. I am a leader and an ambassador, so they ask me to do a lot of things. However many races in our city do as they please, but would do what the King and Queen would ask of them anyways. Many of them do not even see them, unless they broadcast a message over Tranquil. There are rules though, the ones set forth in the Bible. We are lead by them and reinforce them." Veliline nodded looking at him.

"So again I'm going to give you three different options, stay here, become a citizen and do as you please, or join my group and fight beside me." Herrior asked.

"Fight beside you." Veliline said.

"As will we." Herrior heard his wife's voice and quickly turned around to see her. Her face looked torn with emotions, as did the rest of his group, but Skyka seemed the worst. They all started walking towards Herrior in a hurried manner when Herrior demanded that they stop.

"We need to settle some things first. Honor and duty come first, at least they will in my group. First this is Veliline. She will be fighting alongside us in battle. She only knows how to tank groups, so if we are to bring her in we are going to have to rearrange some of your talents. Also Jacklyn, was I correct in assuming you took charge?"

"Yes." Jacklyn said quietly.

"Then you made a mistake as a leader and nearly had me executed. I don't appreciate that. I also don't appreciate the lack of recognition that any of you had for your leader, especially from my mate." Herrior said looking at Skyka. "Do I look familiar to you now?" Skyka nodded as the tears flowed.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you. Any one of you can get snatched away in a heartbeat, either through death, or simply by disappearing like I did. Keep that in mind, you are not invincible. Look at Ellen that I found. She simply died for no reason. Who knows how long she was encased in her banshee form for. Her time was up. All of you have a time and when it is up, you will be taken away. In the future if you sense or hear something out of the ordinary, listen and ponder it without emotions. If it is evil, fight it. If it is not, try to understand it. Crystal had the vision during her wedding. I had a strong calling to come here to this desolate waste land, which I believe was to find her. I would have spoken with all of you first but I had to settle a dispute between our city and the dragonflights. Then I had another ambassador duty to attend to. Luckily I confused the shit out of Strings or I don't think you would have ever have brought me back." Herrior became angry and peered at his group. "Do not think with your emotions! Think logically, and analyze the situation! I know Lindel had you all mind linked, what was the problem? Did you not listen to each other? If I was a doppelganger, I would not have led you away so convincingly. I would not have recognized any of you either, know your enemies! We've fought them before, well many of you have. They are pure evil and fight immediately! Not ask if they could buy you all a round of ale."

Herrior let out a sigh and turned around walking away from his group in obvious disappointment.

Several seconds passed before Skyka spoke softly. "We tried to find you…" Herrior interrupted and spoke softly. "I know I heard the story. I would have ordered the same thing to be done for any of you. I'm sure each of you blamed yourself for my loss, as would I have, but none of you were at fault. We all know how this game is played." Herrior said and turned around to face his group. "Now then, if I may resume leadership of this group I need to figure some things out, that is if it is ok with Jacklyn."

Jacklyn smiled and agreed sounding relieved.

"Very well, Quinely if it is ok with you I would like to have Veliline tank beside me and you can assume your cat form. However if it is a big group, the three tanks would be nice." Herrior said looking at her.

"I can do whatever you want me to." Quinely said back with a cheerful smile.

"Has anybody else changed their class, adjusted their talents or anything else that I need to be aware of?" Herrior asked.

"Oh, I'll answer this one." Dan said stepping forward. He pulled a spoon from his world out of his pocket, and placed it on his nose. He waited for a couple of seconds trying to make sure it would balance and then let go of it. The spoon swayed, but stayed on his nose. "Tadaah …"

"Herrior let me apologize for my husband…" Crystal said rolling her eyes.

"Apologize nothing, just because you can't do that. Here Herrior you try it." Dan said giving Herrior the spoon. Herrior took the spoon and placed it on top of his nose which stuck out eight inches or so.

"Show off…" Dan said. Herrior gave him back the spoon and asked if anything else had changed.

"Everybody has changed their talent trees slightly. Nothing major though. The tanks are still arguing over which build is better. I swear you guys could only have 2 options and you would still fight over it." Skyka said with a quick chuckle. Herrior nodded.

"Other than that, nothing really has changed within our group. We were sent on several scouting missions like all of the other groups. Trying to help reestablish our outposts, help our allies, and tend to our dead. New worlds have been found, as well as new minerals, flowers and different types of animals. Can we celebrate your return now?" Skyka asked.

"There is nothing to celebrate, I was never gone. When I do die, I will always be with you and I am hoping my teachings will always stay with you. Now then, what is our current assignment?" Herrior asked.

"Our group has been given some time away to form our bond and fill you in on what's been happening." Lindel said slowly.

"Sounds like Hell has erupted and we have a new foe to deal with. What is the status on the alliance?" Herrior asked.

"Well…Hell has erupted for them as well. Many of their outposts have been destroyed as well. Their main attacks on our wall have ceased, for the main reason that there is an enormous crack in the earth now preventing them from getting to us. However their attacks on our outposts have increased, not as much as the bandits and other pests though. Our city has undergone a major change. We've nearly tripled our size and began stacking buildings upon buildings. Races, including dragonkin now, are coming and going as they please. Each race seems to have established their own section in the city, also each group of fighters has established their own sections as well. Our primary outpost is still on Earth, but that varies depending of course on what the King wants us to do." Jacklyn said. "The Lieutenant has fortified his station as well as increase the number of soldiers that he has. He has also filtered through some of his previous soldiers and released them of duty."

"We're called policemen…or at least were, or still are depending on the situation." Branzer said. "Thanks to Lindel we found out that several of our officers were stealing from the station or were doing things such as this. We are recruiting only the best. Also an anonymous person donated nearly five hundred pounds of gold to our Lieutenant with a note that said, 'You have changed my life and I will change the lives of others. You have saved me from myself.' We're assuming it was your therapist friend. The Lieutenant notified the Chief and we were able to upgrade many of our stations with it, as well as help out many families for this Christmas…"

"Shit! I forgot about Christmas!" Herrior said sounding afraid. "There was so much going on that I just flat out forgot about it…" Herrior paused for a couple of seconds shaking his head in disbelief. "Was Tranquil all decorated up as usual?"

"Sure was!" Lindel said cheerfully. "It brightened our spirits."

"Our Lieutenant bought us all gifts, as well as the other officers. We all refused them though; we asked to have the money given away to others during that time." Crystal said. Herrior nodded with a smile.

Herrior turned to Mohania and asked about how he got to like mustard. The group just groaned as they all tried to tell the story at once, however Quinely blurted it out faster.

"Dumbass here was going into a food store with a picture of you."

"A McDonalds." Crystal added.

"Whatever, so anyways dumbass here went in and forgot to activate his trinket. So a walking skeleton with his fighting gear on walks up to the counter. How did you put it Mohania? They were all scared shitless then when you began to talk everybody all ran away in terror?" Quinely asked.

"I conveniently forgot?" Mohania said with a grin.

"So the place clears out and then he realizes what he did. So instead of quickly activating his trinket and blending in with the crowd, he decides to sample the local food. We are all assuming that is what he ate anyways because he never did give us a straight answer…" Quinely continued.

"That's right I didn't, did I?" Mohania said with a chuckle. Quinely shot him a dirty look and then continued her story.

"So eventually he finds these mustard things. Something about it appealed to him and he took…"

"Borrowed…" Mohania said interrupting her.

"Grabbed all of the packets and then asked Lindel to get him out of there immediately." Quinely said finishing up.

"So I came to the rescue and immediately sensed the terror from the people around me. Mohania, or as Quinely likes to refer to him, dumbass quickly raced through the portal not explaining what just happened. I quickly erased the events that just took place from everybody's minds and put everybody in a daze. They all woke up several minutes later completely confused, but nobody was the wiser as to what happened. When he activated his hearthstone he sounded like he was in trouble. Being an undead I couldn't sense his thoughts so naturally I came bursting through as quick as I could." Lindel said.

"Sounds like not much has changed then." Herrior said with a chuckle. "Are your powers increasing Lindel?"

Lindel shrugged her shoulders. "I've learned to do more I suppose, still not on the scale that the Alliance has though." Then she mind linked herself with Herrior's mind.

"Skyka's really missed you hun. The rest of us have to obviously, but she was torn up pretty bad. She still is. She's trying to be strong for you right now." Lindel said in Herrior's mind. Herrior replied back in his mind, "I know, I can sense it as well. I don't need a banshee to point that out to me. So what was with Dan and the spoon?"

"Everybody has been trying to raise each other's spirits, distract each other in our down time." Lindel said in his mind.

"Makes sense, now shoo my little banshee…" Herrior said back in his mind. Lindel left his mind and smiled at him.

Herrior walked up to Skyka and smiled down at her. She suddenly burst into tears and embraced him. She started quivering and saying things that nobody understood. Everybody else embraced him as well, except for Mohania. He walked over to Veliline.

"What are they doing?" Veliline asked emotionless.

"I never understood it either, so tell me as a death knight do you eat people?" Mohania asked.

"No." Veliline replied not fazed by the question.

"Good. We'll get along just fine then. You distract them, while I rip chunks of flesh out to dine on." Mohania said.

"Why?" Veliline asked looking at him.

"No sense of humor eh? Well to be honest I wasn't joking either." Mohania said. He reached in his cloak and pulled out a packet of mustard. "Do you want to try some?"

"No." Veliline replied back, again in her completely emotionless mechanical sounding voice.

"Well, that's all I got. I look forward to fighting beside you." Mohania said laughing a little and then walked away.

Veliline stood motionless as the group exchanged terms of endearment to Herrior. After several minutes Lindel walked over to Veliline and tugged on her arm. Veliline didn't move.

"You are one of us now hun." Lindel said. Veliline still didn't move. Lindel paused for a second attempting to scan her mind.

"Herrior was the Queen able to enter Veliline's head?" Lindel asked as if Veliline wasn't stand right in front of her.

"She didn't say to be honest. She said that she adjusted her mind and body so that our defenses would eradicate her, so whatever that means." Herrior replied back.

Lindel attempted to mind link with her, but all she found was an empty void. It was as if she were trying to mind link with a dead person. Lindel shook her head.

"Veliline are you resisting my attempts to enter your mind?" Lindel finally asked.

"No. Are you attempting to control me?" Veliline said as she armed herself.

"No sweetie calm down. I'm a holy banshee and I can link all of our minds together, but I'm getting nothing from you. Once in awhile I get the hint of a brief thought that you have but that is it." Lindel explained.

"I will not be controlled again." Veliline said staring at her.

"Veliline, Lindel is a friend. She would never try to control you. These are your new friends now; you will come to rely on them to save your life. Any of them will die for you. Nobody here is a threat to you in anyway." Herrior said walking over to her. "They are just curious." Herrior turned to his group and said, "Give her some time to adjust ok? Remember when we first brought in Mohania? It took him years to adjust to us."

"Still adjusting…" Mohania chimed in.

"Your adjusting period ending several hundred years ago hun…" Skyka said glaring at him.

"So what is happening on our outpost right now Branzer?" Herrior asked.

"Actually we were just in the middle of hiring three additional officers. Don't you want to see Tranquil first?" Branzer asked.

"It is not going anywhere. Let's complete our tasks first and then see what happens from there. Does anybody have an extra trinket and hearthstone for Veliline?" Herrior asked.

Branzer stepped forward and handed her the items. Veliline just stared at him blankly with no emotion.

"The stone allows you to communicate with us, and the trinket adjusts your appearance so that other races are not frightened by you. It will not harm you." Branzer said. Veliline looked down at the items and then looked back up at him.

"Will they help me fight beside Herrior?" Veliline asked.

"Yes, they will help you fight beside Herrior." Branzer said.

"Very well." Veliline took the stone and placed it in her pocket and quickly attached the trinket to her armor.

"We are going to have to get you to Tranquil and get you some better gear; spice you up a little bit so you have all of the males turning their heads at you." Lindel said with a smile. Veliline slowly turned her head to Lindel, and then looked at Herrior as if to ask "Is that really necessary?"

"First things first, Lindel and you portal us to our outpost in the station?" Herrior asked.

"Fine, but we will dress her up later then." Lindel replied back sarcastically and began channeling the portal. Everybody followed into it. Veliline watched Herrior walk in, so she followed him.

"Is this ours?" Herrior asked inside of the station.

"Yes, there have been some changes." Branzer said as Lindel closed the portal behind them.

Herrior was looked at a room desolate of any furniture, windows, walls and only two doors. One led outside of the compound and the other into the office. Herrior looked at his hands and saw that he was in his human form again.

"We know it's you sweetheart." Skyka said putting her arm around him. Herrior looked at her and smiled. Then out of curiosity he looked at Veliline. She transformed into a women slightly older than Lindel looked. Her hair was dark black and she had tattoos and multiple piercings on her face.

"Is that what you looked like before Vel?" Herrior asked.

Veliline looked over herself and replied, "I do not remember".

Branzer pointed out a phone on each wall and explained that it only rang if there was an emergency. Branzer and Bernett were the focal points for the missions and unusual happenings that were reported. The officers made a report and gave it to the Lieutenant and then he gave it to them. Branzer had also explained that their staff and tripled, also they were able to house over one thousand prisoners in their newly built facility.

"They don't allow torture." Mohania butted with anger in his voice.

"We have to abide by their laws, as an ambassador you should know that." Herrior said.

"There are several men in their cells that beat and raped women, as well as breaking many other laws and we have to abide by it? Branzer, how about you tell Herrior how you are taking care of these men. Teaching them not to do these crimes again." Mohania said turning to Branzer.

Branzer let out a quick sigh and turned away. "Most of them are set free, back into the public. Most of them commit the same crime and end up back in prison. While in prison they are given three meals and snacks. They are given free medical treatment, entertainment, visitations, and if the prisons are overcrowded they are put under house arrest." Herrior glared at him.

"Yeah…I know…" Branzer said sounding ashamed pausing for a second. "We are not allowed to yell or abuse the prisoners. In a round-about way, they can get anything they want." Branzer said.

"We meaning your officers, or we meaning us?" Herrior said.

"I follow your commands, not my bosses or our laws on this world anymore. Everybody else in your group does as well." Branzer said. The rest of the humans nodded their heads.

"We may periodically have some strange events happen in your prisons. I assume nobody has any objections with that?" Herrior asked with a smile looking around. Everybody let out a devious smile at him, except for Veliline of course.

"By strange events do you mean…" Mohania started to say.

"Surprise me." Herrior said interrupting him. Mohania let out an evil smile and his eyes lit up with fire.

"It will be hard to explain if our entire prisoner count ends up all devoured in one night." Branzer said.

"No they do not deserve a quick death by being eaten alive. Besides if you kill them, they won't learn anything." Mohania said in his evil sinister tone. "Although sampling the banquet isn't out of the question, is it?" Mohania asked looking at Herrior.

Herrior nodded at him and then turned to Branzer. "What are our current assignments? I'm assuming I need to go on a tour to get caught up, the same as I'll need to do in Tranquil."

"I can show you an overlay of our compound, however we decided that we should not be seen a lot to minimize the questions of our assignments, the sudden disappearances, and the sudden appearances on crime scenes. That of course was one of our old rules; it can change if you wish?" Branzer asked.

"No, it sounds logical." Herrior said looking over the expansions of the station. He looked impressed and handed them to Veliline. She glanced at them and then looked back up at Herrior. Herrior then gave them back to Branzer.

"The next order of business then is the Lieutenant asked that we interview and hire three candidates for employment into our station. He wants only the best of the best working here, which I translate as people that have their heart in it and have a clean life." Branzer said walking over to a wall. "Thanks to Lindel we have had two hundred and sixty one people apply, of which she narrowed it down to three within five minutes."

"Call it, 'women's intuition'." Lindel said giggling.

"So your powers have increased?" Herrior said looking at her with a half smile. "Have I missed anything else interesting from you?"

"No." Branzer immediately replied back before Lindel could even finish understanding what Herrior had said. Lindel realized what he meant and quickly looked away from the both of them.

"Sorry, no my mind got ahead of myself. Our relationship is still the same; we're taking it slow and easy. Nobody else has established a new relationship or are with child that I know of, although Crystal has been quiet as of lately." Branzer said very sure of himself.

"How about we have Dan stop time and have him and Mohania put us all in an awkward positions…because it can't possibly get anymore worse than what you just said Branzer." Crystal said glaring at him.

"That's enough guys. Their business is not our business, as much as we like to think it is. Relationships sometimes take awhile to bloom." Herrior said walking over to Lindel and putting an arm around her. He gently squeezed her and then asked when the three candidates were scheduled to be here.

"They have been going through the physical training, the endurance, range, driving, and written tests." Branzer looked up at the clock with a sudden thought in his head. "Actually they are still here. We have another hour until they are released home. We were going to put them through more tests depending on what your opinion was."

"As far as I'm concerned if they can bring us coffee and wash my car they're good by me." Bernett said with a laugh in his voice. Herrior turned to him acknowledging his humor and then asked how he has been. Bernett replied that Samatha has been going out on missions more frequently and enjoys being a holy priest, though her powers are still limited. Jeffery, their child, almost has learned how to control his powers and has been crawling. He also explained that their lives here on Earth have become a hassle. Both sides of their family were about ready to disown them because they haven't seen their newborn yet, and they were running out of excuses. They sent pictures and videos to their family; also many of their family members have made surprise visits to their house and both of them had to have a portal summoned quickly to escape.

"It is not easy. We aren't sure what to do to be honest. If Jeffery stops time, he is vulnerable to demons, and if the alliance got word of it through our relatives that something is odd going on when they are around him, it would be a mess. We're doing the best we can." Bernett finished.

Herrior nodded and asked, "So Samatha's been ok? I know she isn't in Tranquil all of the time, unless that's changed?"

"No, she is at Branzer's house, or our house…whatever. Anyways she does the shopping and cleaning. Occasionally she will show up to the station and help out there. She knows to keep a low profile, the same with the rest of us." Bernett said.

"Except for dumbass over there!" Quinely piped up looking at Mohania. "Sorry, we all were thinking it; I was just the quickest to say it." Quinely continued and laughed.

"You know I ignore everything you say right?" Mohania said back.

Herrior ignored them and turned to Jacklyn. "Did you have a hard time keeping them in line?"

Jacklyn shook her head. "We all participated in the arenas. I felt as though it was a way to keep their skills up and to further learn their abilities. Guard duty was taken away, and most of our groups were dispatched to help contain the new threats. We were only called upon once, which angered me slightly. We escorted some of our allies several miles to one of our nearby bases. We slaughtered anything that came near us, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a fair fight."

Herrior looked at her curiously. "Arenas?" He asked.

Jacklyn nodded. "Ten more have been setup instead of just the one. Limit of five minutes per fight."

"Why didn't you make us fight in the arenas?" Dan asked.

"I didn't restrict you or make you do anything. Under my command you do what I say, however when you are relieved of duty you can do whatever you want. I stand by Jacklyn's decision; I think it was a good idea." Herrior said. He looked over at Branzer. Branzer nodded and went to the wall and placed a call on the phone. A moment later he hung up and said, "They are on their way. They will meet us in the conference room."

"Good. Now then, let's see if Lindel made the right guesses with these three." Herrior said looking back at her briefly with a smile.

"If you knew what I sense about the others…" Lindel said choosing not to complete her sentence as she and the others walked out of their room and into the conference room.

Herrior's group all sat at the far end of the table. Moments later of idle chit-chat among themselves, the Lieutenant escorted the three in. They all looked tired, but tried not to show it. There were two males around age thirty and a female around her mid twenties. They all stood behind their chairs with their hands behind their backs.

"Don't be too rough on them." The Lieutenant said with a smile on his face and left the room.

"Let me start out. We are all sitting and it would probably make you all more comfortable if you sat as well." Herrior said in a soothing voice. Immediately all three of them scooted their chairs out and sat in them.

"Fine that will work. I don't know what you heard about us, but you are to deny everything. We are the special ops for this station…" Herrior paused for a second and looked at Branzer. "That is what they call us isn't it?"

"Yes." Branzer replied.

"Fine. We all go by fake names, that way if any of us are caught, or if any of the officers are caught and questioned you will only be able to give them the information that we give you. We are not to be talked about, and can only be contacted through the Lieutenant himself. If you encounter something out of the ordinary, or something you haven't seen before you are to contact the Lieutenant." Herrior said.

"The message is 555. I apologize for cutting in, but that is our code word for something out of the ordinary or you need help quickly. You can broadcast that over your normal radios. Our call center will pick it up, ask for your location and then you will be instructed to leave the area. For example you see a man eating a deer and he is exhibiting abnormal behavior. Leave him along, broadcast the message and leave the area. The problem will be dealt with and you are to forget about it entirely." Branzer said and then turned back to Herrior. "Sorry I was out of line."

"You're fine. I've been away for awhile and you know more than I do." Herrior said looking at him. He then turned to the three applicants and asked if they understood. They said they did and started to ask questions.

"No!" Herrior said fiercely. "That is a direct order. You conduct your normal police work; call in normal backup if needed and all of that normal stuff. If you or a fellow officer has a case that you are working on that you simply cannot figure out, give it to the Lieutenant. It may get escalated to us, or he may point you in a different direction. This is another order. We want these cases knocked out quickly and punishment to be swift. If you do not ask for help, or escalate a case that you are having trouble with, you may be asked to leave our station permanently. It's a judgment call though and asking for other officers opinions will help you learn. Is that understood, yes or no?" All of the recruits quickly answered "Yes".

"Ok, settle down. You three are causing tension in this room. We are not here to slam you with questions. As far as I'm concerned you all have the job, so just relax. Branzer do you want to take it from here? I'll put in my two cents if I feel like it." Herrior said.

Branzer nodded. "I'm sure the Lieutenant or somebody has shown you around the entire station. We have free coffee, water, real fruit punch, a variety of foods in multiple kitchens as well as snacks distributed among the cubicles on a daily basis. We do not want anybody to go hungry or thirsty as long as you are here. We also have three dedicated child sitters, obviously in a secluded room from all of the commotion. All of them have degrees, years of experience, and can be fully trusted. That being said if you want your own babysitter or you have other arrangement that's fine, but shit happens sometimes. They are listed in your local directories in your phone directory. Also we have a chaplain on call twenty-four by seven days a week, feel free to contact him if needed. He will speak with you about anything in private and it will not be repeated. One more thing, we have three dedicated doctors on the premises as well. If you are hurt or sick it is important that you call them immediately. If you are hurt on duty, don't drive all the way back to get treatment – go to the closest hospital. We'll pay the bill, but once you are released you are to come to our doctors. It is not for liability purposes, and we are not trying to cut costs by having doctors that will say, 'You are fine, get back to work'. Nine times out of ten they will either send you home or have you lay down for awhile. They are authorized to write any prescription and can cure you faster than any other doctor out there. Not to brag but we have nothing short of the best of the best in this station. I would highly suggest if you are sick to still come into work and have them look at you. If you cannot drive you will be driven to and from the station. You will be surprised at how good our doctors are and will understand better as you talk with them."

Branzer took a moment to catch his breath. He then tossed all of the resumes on the table. "These are all of the other applicants. Some hiring managers ask, 'Why should we hire you when we have all of these other much more qualified applicants than you are?' You three have been chosen for our own reasons. Your training stops as of now, and you start next week. We will not disclose as to why we picked you three and you are not to inquiry why. Each of you will be starting at the normal base pay. Your performance…" Branzer said and then stopped. "Rather, your ability to handle situations, maintain order, and your ability to keep your mouth shut will earn you quarterly bonuses. Each officer in this facility is being closely watched. I realize we have several thousand, but I am not bluffing. That being said, we do not break any laws, we do not do anything illegal, we do not bend any rules. If an officer does that, look the other way. We will address it in our own way. Also the press doesn't not exist. Do not speak with them, do not give a statement. If you must express that you are doing your job and tell them if they interfere that you will arrest them. Am I going to fast, or are there some parts that you wish for me to repeat?"

The recruits were soaking in every word. They all had questions, but they dared not ask anything.

"You will catch on. Obviously this is new to all of you and Branzer has a habit of going too fast." Lindel said with a smile looking at them.

"This is probably the last time you will see any of us. If you do, just simply say 'Hi', smile and continue walking. If there is a problem we will address it with you or any officer quickly and swiftly. What is the normal length of their assignments?" Herrior asked.

"Each of you will work your forty hours. You will be paid on a salary basis. If you work anything over forty hours you will get time and a half. That being said, that rarely happens. We do have minimal staffing on the holidays, especially for the ones with families. Your wife or husband, as well as your children as I explained before, are welcome to accompany you at work. If they are sick, feel free to have our doctors examine them. No questions will be asked. This should not happen all of the time though. Also each of you will have a certain amount of money set aside each month in case you have forgot your lunch/dinner whatever. Again stuff happens, we understand. If you haven't caught on, let me emphasize this again. We want you here when it is your shift. However if you can't, you can't. Again acts of God may prevent you from coming. That being the case just call and explain what the situation is." Branzer said. He looked at Herrior. Herrior nodded in acknowledgement.

"The people that you see here sitting around me will eventually affect your life in one way or another. Each of you will see things or hear about things out of the ordinary. That is where your job ends and our job begins. Report it and forgot about it. When you see us in the field, do not acknowledge us. The information that you gathered we can assess and know more within a couple of minutes than you already know, even if you spent days collecting evidence. If you see any of us, just acknowledge that things are under control. Is that understood?" Herrior said.

The three applicants all nodded, even more confused than when they first came in here.

"Good. Take a couple of moments to meditate on what was just said. Then you may ask questions if you wish." Herrior said.

Almost immediately one of the male applicants raised his hand. Herrior tilted his head and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Are you part of the secret service group?" He asked. Herrior looked at Branzer not knowing what he was talking about.

"No." Branzer answered with a smile. "We are not associated with the military, secret service; we are not black ops or any of those other things you might be thinking of. No more questions along those lines; anything else?"

The three applicants looked at each other slowly as if they were all thinking the same thing.

"Good. Well then you are all dismissed." Herrior said standing up, not giving them another chance to ask more questions. The rest of his group stood up with him. The three applicants stood up as well and slowly filled out. The Lieutenant apparently was waiting by the door and quickly gave them instructions to report back next week. With new applicants walking away, he stepped into the conference room and shut the door behind him. "What did you tell them?" He asked.

"If they talk about anything abnormal they see or hear, we will gut them slowly and personally deliver their innards to their family with specific instruction that if they talk they will end up the same." Herrior said firmly at the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant's face looked at him in shock as he stumbled over a series of words.

"Naw just kidding, they seem alright. Lindel did well picking them out." Herrior said smiling at the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant paused for a second to make sure Herrior was kidding. He looked at everybody and then smiled back. "Glad to have you back, you were missed."

"We want access to your prisoners." Herrior said.

"Ok, are we still kidding around…" The Lieutenant said with a grin still on his face.

"No." Herrior said firmly.

"We will need a power failure to knock out the grid, that way the cameras stop recording." Branzer said.

"Dan, do you and Mohania want to go for a walk?" Herrior asked.

"Guys you just can't…" The Lieutenant said but again was quickly interrupted.

Time stopped.

"The main power lines are on the west side of the complex." Crystal said. "Electrical fires have been known to happen and won't draw a lot of attention."

"Go." Herrior replied back. Dan, Mohania both followed Crystal as they left the room in a hurry.

"I will not cater to prisoners. They have been condemned by their peers and will learn respect from us. Nobody is to kill them. Lindel, do you have a couple in mind that we need to specifically address?" Herrior asked.

Lindel smiled at him.

"Good, we'll address them first. Next we'll need to pull all of the guards out of the prison areas. Branzer?" Herrior asked looking at him. Branzer stood perfectly still in the position that he was in when time froze. He looked at Bernett and Julie as well. Also it appeared that Veliline was frozen as well.

"Forgot about that." Herrior said sounding disappointed. Then Dan, Crystal and Mohania ran back in the room.

Herrior looked at them surprised. "Did you do as I asked? You were only gone for a matter of seconds."

"Not only can I stop time, I've also learned how to 'warp it' is what I like to call it. It moves me and the people close to me very quickly. Also if my timing is right…any second…" Dan said.

Time resumed.

"…knock out the." The Lieutenant stopped talking as he realized he was standing in the dark with only the battery operated lights on.

"Lieutenant, there seems to be an electrical fire outside on our main power grid. I would suggest pulling some officers off from guarding the prisoners and investigating it." Herrior said.

The Lieutenant paused for a second and looked at him. "Should I ask how big this fire is?"

"You better hurry!" Mohania said and began chuckling in his evil tone.

The Lieutenant sighed and began paging the officers outside the building. Herrior's group left the room as Branzer quickly led them outside to the newly constructed prison blocks.

"Impressive I must say. Your people seem to have finished construction quickly." Herrior said as Branzer opened the first door.

"Unfortunately you are going to see how bad my people can be." Branzer said quickly entering the door codes that granted him access to the cells. When they finally entered the holding area, it was a large single story rectangular room that was several hundred yards long and roughly thirty yards wide.

"Any officers left in here?" Branzer yelled. The only response was complaining and swearing from the prisoners.

"Shut them up Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel instantly turned into her banshee form and let out a deafening high pitch squeal lasting several seconds. Afterwards there was complete silence.

"Who's first?" Herrior asked. Lindel took the lead turning back into her human form and quickly ran forward; the rest of the group followed close behind.

Lindel stopped and pointed to a middle aged man who, like everybody else, had his hands over his ears and was temporarily deaf.

"The one on the right. Don't harm the one on the left." Lindel said pointing at him.

"Ok that is our target, who…" Herrior began to say but was cut off by a loud bone crunching sound. Veliline quickly shot out her hand and a grey lightning bolt arched from it and grabbed the man. It instantaneously locking on to him and pulled his body towards her. The man's body slammed into the bars, producing the snapping and cracking of his bones. A quick rough estimate from the amount of sounds protruding from his body, it sounded like at least twelve bones were snapped in half, maybe more. The man motioned to scream but again Veliline casted another spell that instantly shut him up.

"Ok that's enough Veliline. Let him go." Herrior said. Veliline did as she was told. Within seconds the man was screaming in horrific pain as her spell wore off.

"Do your thing Skyka and let us get going." Herrior said. Skyka quickly casted several heal spells on the man and then ran to catch up with the group.

"Veliline, I was going to ask who wanted to attack first." Herrior said glancing over at her.

"You said that was our target, so I attacked." Veliline said, again in her emotionless voice.

"That you did. Ok from now on listen to my whole sentence, unless you suspect we are in immediate danger. Lindel, who is our next target?" Herrior asked.

"I'm sensing that somehow the Lieutenant and his officers are thinking they will be able to restore power within a couple of minutes. I suggest that I light up the targets and then the rest of you can assault as many as you can." Lindel said already dispersing her body into hundreds of tiny little balls of light.

"Go! Spread out! Scaring them will bring more of a result that we want. Do not kill them." Herrior said.

By now the affects of Lindel's banshee blast had faded and the inmates were asking what was going on and began making threats. Herrior let out a battle shout, causing his voice to echo down the long building. This again silenced the inmates as his group quickly spread out to do their damage on the illuminated balls of light that Lindel was producing.

The cries of pain started with a couple at first, and then in the dozens as Herrior's group quickly did their jobs. Fear quickly spread through the prison complex as the inmates were wondering who was going to get hit next with the excruciating pain that the other inmates were suddenly experiencing.

Nearly half of the complex was in pain when the power was finally restored. As soon as the power began to flicker Dan did his thing.

Time stopped.

"Pick up whoever is not immune and let's get back to our room." Herrior commanded. The party members immune to time stopping did just that and began to run out of the prison block.

"What do you call your room anyways?" Herrior said.

"The outpost is what we've been calling it…and it is our room hun." Skyka said correcting him.

"Sounds as good as any name. When will these camera devices start working again?" Herrior asked.

"The pictures will be sketchy and scrambled. Some of the data will probably become corrupt. My guess is that there will be no trace of us, except for whatever the prisoners dream up." Crystal said as her and Dan dragged Julie by her shoulders.

"Veliline's body is cold, as if all of the life has been sucked out of her." Jacklyn said blasting through the doors and back into the main office.

"It probably has to be honest. I don't know much about her, but she has seemed to have taken a liking to me." Herrior said. "Also it's pretty obvious that she will be loyal. Even mention the word attack and she's engaged the enemy. Be careful about what you say around her until she gets used to us."

Within the next minute Herrior's group had maneuvered around all of the frozen officers and back into their outpost. They sealed the doors and laid everybody that was also frozen down on the ground.

"How much time left?" Herrior asked.

"I still don't know that. I can only set it, there is no count down. I think we still have a couple more minutes. I didn't know how much time we would need, but given the choice I'd rather have put too much power into it than not enough." Dan said.

"Agreed. Obviously I have some catching up to do with all of you." Herrior said.

"That is what we are supposed to be doing right now." Skyka said with a hint of anger in her voice. Herrior nodded at her and said, "The fear has been set. We will talk until nightfall, and then we will strike again. Fear and torment is what these people deserve! You were right Lindel, I cannot sense them like you do, but they are all brutal – that was easy enough to sense even without your abilities."

"Not all of them. I request that one of them be set free." Lindel said.

Herrior's face turned from serious to scowling and upset as he looked at Lindel.

"Let me explain. There is a man in here. According to his mind he has to be locked up for another three years. He robbed a store, or a home I cannot tell. But his intentions are pure. He has a daughter completing her training and she, as well as him, both wish for him to be a part of it. In my opinion he needs to be let free, but that is for you to decide." Lindel said.

"Completing her training as what?" Herrior asked.

Time resumed.

The people in the group that were not immune were disoriented as they realized what had just happened.

"How old is the girl?" Crystal asked.

"Younger than Dan. I do not have an exact age." Lindel said.

"Probably high school then. It is a big ordeal here to have the whole family here for that event." Crystal said.

"Similar to what Dan did awhile back?" Herrior asked.

"I thought I saw something in the woods that day." Dan said. He then realized that it seemed like an entire life time ago.

"Yes." Lindel replied back.

Herrior grunted and thought about it. A minute passed and all of the lights were back on now.

"What is the process for letting a detained prisoner out?" Herrior asked.

"We have what are called parole hearings every year or so. At these, the prisoner is questioned and his or her actions for the year are reviewed. They are evaluated to see if they are still a threat to society." Branzer said. "If they have been good, they might be eligible for early release."

"The more I hear about how you treat your prisoners the more it pisses me off!" Herrior said angrily. Skyka moved to his side and wrapped her arm around his. Herrior looked down at her big smile looking back up at him.

"We are not keeps of all of the world's hun. Some are different." Skyka said softly

Herrior let out a sigh and smiled back at her. "You still melt my heart, do you know that? I would endure years of torture just to touch and hold you."

"Same goes for me my love." Skyka said as they passionately hugged each other.

"Yes yes…fine fine…we get the point. Now tonight I was thinking that we could have Veliline here do what she did before and then I could burn their very soul, or take a bite out of whatever bones come out of their bodies or..." Mohania said.

"He hasn't changed as he?" Herrior asked.

"His breath smells worse." Skyka said soothingly as she continued to hold her mate.

"It has?" Mohania asked as he blew into his hand and then attempted to smell it.

"Kendall still keeping him in line?" Herrior said withdrawing from Skyka.

"No." Mohania quickly said. The rest of the group looked at each other trying not to laugh.

"She's the best thing that's ever happened to you, you know that don't you?" Herrior said smirking at him.

"With her powers and mine combined we could slaughter entire worlds." Mohania said in his evil cackling laugh.

"Yeah, that's what I meant… So it appears that our time stopper has gained some new abilities, as well as our banshee." Herrior said.

"I'm just trying to improve on the old ones is all." Lindel replied back. "We all have improved, not just us. We all don't necessarily understand each other's abilities, but we've learned to adapt to them as we have in the past."

Herrior nodded. "So your improved abilities have led you to believe that this particular inmate needs to be set free?"

"Yes they have. Many of them deserve to have their bodies consumed by flame for the rest of their lives, but yes I do." Lindel said.

"So be it." Herrior said and walked over to the phone on the wall. He picked it up and a lady immediately answered and asked how she could help.

"We need the Lieutenant in here." Herrior said.

"In where?" The lady asked.

"In our outpost." Herrior replied back.

"The special operations room!" Branzer yelled loud enough for the lady to hear.

"Very well, I will inform him right away." The lady said. Herrior thanked her and put the phone back down.

"So in Tranquil this is called our 'Outpost' and here in this world it's called the 'Special Operations room'." Herrior said with a sigh.

"I voted on calling it our slaughter house." Mohania said with a grin.

"A lot of us voted on calling it a 'sanctuary', but ultimately the King wanted all of our outposts in the different worlds and our established areas within the worlds to be called the same thing." Jacklyn piped up.

"Fine, outpost it is. So the rest of you, tell me what has been happening?" Herrior said sitting down on the ground. They all formed a circle and Mohania lit a fire in the middle as usual.

They all talked for nearly two hours when the Lieutenant came running in and quickly shut the door behind him.

"A small fire would have done the job!" The Lieutenant blurted out. Mohania began to chuckle.

"We have mayhem in the cell blocks. People claiming that ghosts and demons attacked them when the power went out. When word of this gets out it will probably shut us down!" The Lieutenant said angrily.

"Everything will be resolved tonight, now then, come join us." Herrior said.

"Come join…Herrior this place is a disaster right now. I can't, this place is a mess! Word hasn't gotten out yet, and all of my officers are completely silent about the events that took place. We contained the fire, which seemed to continue burning even with all of the water we dumped on it…I'm assuming your firebug has something to do with that." The Lieutenant said glaring at Mohania.

"Why is it when something bad happens, everybody naturally assumes it was me. Need I remind everybody that Crystal is a warlock as well?" Mohania said sounding innocent.

"I'm sure Mohania did what he thought was necessary to continue the illusion of what needed to be done to secure our attack." Herrior said. His group all slowly looked at Herrior with an odd look.

"Your officers, from what I gather, will keep their mouths shut about what happened and our plan tonight will secure the lips of your prisoners for the rest of their stay here. Nobody will know what happened, and this needs to be done if we are to stay here. You should see the punishment we have in Tranquil for crimes a lot less severe than these people have done. If this is to be our outpost on this world, I will not have any crimes go unpunished. Now then, call all of your nightly officers away. Take them to a bar or a food establishment. We'll disguise ourselves as them and nobody will be any wiser." Herrior said.

"Herrior you can't just," the Lieutenant said slowly. Herrior quickly stood up and pulled his sword out and swung it so that it was gently on the throat of the Lieutenant. The rest of his party rose and readied their weapons as well.

"I am in charge. Is that understood? I do not tolerate people questioning my authority. You of all people should know this." Herrior said in a deep tone and his eyes glaring into the Lieutenants.

"I…misunderstood what you said." The Lieutenant said in a frightened quiet voice.

"You and your wife are only alive because of us; you only have the things that you have now because of us. Did you misunderstand that part as well?" Herrior asked.

"No." The Lieutenant said. It was obvious that Herrior was going to have his plans carried out, and didn't care if he had to kill him or not.

Herrior withdrew his blade and placed it behind him. His armor absorbed it and disappeared into the illusion that his trinket was producing.

"I don't know if my party wasn't as strict as I was during my absence but when I give an order I expect it to be done. Now then, we have everything under control. Settle down, or I will order my group to settle you down." Herrior said. The Lieutenant took a deep breath and faked a smile.

"In the case that you misunderstood me, I will explain once more. You and the guards that are on duty guarding the cells tonight are to leave. We want minimal lighting, and everything in your building is to function normally. Your pathetic bars of steel will not hinder what we are going to do. Tomorrow you are going to have a very good group of prisoners that will respond to anything that is told to them. Did you understand me?" Herrior said.

"Yes." The Lieutenant said quickly.

"Next order of business, Lindel wants a prisoner released. How soon can we make that happen?" Herrior asked.

The Lieutenant's eyes rose at the question. He knew what the process was. He also was reminded of Herrior's blade at his throat a couple of seconds ago.

"Within the week…maybe?" The Lieutenant answered slowly. Herrior slowly began reaching back for his sword.

"It's not that easy! I can't just randomly let people go. If that happened in Tranquil what would your King do? There are rules that need to be followed. I can get started on it right now, but it will take time." The Lieutenant said franticly.

Herrior stopped his hand at the back of his neck and started scratching it. "I've had an itch there all day. It's one of those 'come and go' ones. Skyka can you check to see if I have something there?" Skyka dropped out of her shadow form and gently tugged down on Herrior to see if something was there.

"It looks like some sort of a rash. I think it's called an 'I'm going to scare the shit out of the Lieutenant' rash. It should clear up in the next couple of minutes." Skyka said.

"Good, I hate rashes." Herrior said.

"It'll clear up faster if you don't scratch at it, and as long as the Lieutenant doesn't piss you off anymore." Skyka said leaning over and kissing it.

Herrior stood back up and thanked his wife, and then turned back to the Lieutenant.

"Ok look, we're all on the same side here ok? I'll make some phone calls and I will get him out as soon as I can. I promise. The quickest way is we will have to convince a physiatrist, a judge and probably even the Governor of Michigan that he is no longer a threat to society. If you can work those miracles than he will be a free man before this weekend. I will have to give a very good excuse…" The Lieutenant said.

"No you won't. Just let me sit next to you while you make the phone calls. Simply ask for his release and I will do the rest." Lindel said with a smile. "Herrior I ask that I be allowed to put him in a deep sleep tonight so he is not affected by what we are going to do tonight."

Herrior nodded and said, "I would like to speak with this man in the cell blocks right now."

"And I will accompany you. Do you wish to come with us Lieutenant?" Lindel asked him. The Lieutenant looked at her, then back up at Herrior.

"I'm not going to make the decision for you." Herrior said bluntly.

"I think I have some phone calls to make, actually…" The Lieutenant said.

"Not without me you don't and I'm going with Herrior right now." Lindel said casually skipping over to him and wrapped her arm around his. "Come on…this will be fun!"

"O…k… Let's go have some fun I guess." The Lieutenant said slowly.

"Branzer, do you want to come along and keep 'Miss Skippy' in line? Dan, Mohania and Trackolania we will probably need you as well. The rest of you stay here and get ready for our return. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves."

The seven of them walked quickly through the head quarters and into the prison area. The Lieutenant started giving orders for the guards to assemble themselves in the break area for an extended lunch period and at the same time Dan collected several blank pieces of paper as well as an envelope to secure them it. He handed it to Lindel and told her in his mind to just go along with it. Lindel took the folder as if expecting it as they waited for all of the officers to vacate the prison areas.

The officers all acknowledged the Lieutenant, but didn't say a word to the others. Herrior smiled with pride. His party had trained them to do exactly what he would have trained them to do.

The Lieutenant held the main door open, and just before the group was ready to walk through, Herrior whispered an order to think of what the officers just looked like and then activate their trinket, all except for Lindel. The group altered their appearance instantly after activating their trinkets. Herrior quickly shook his head not liking that idea and whispered to alter their affects so they would not be recognized. They all reactivated their trinkets, transforming themselves into older versions of the men they just mimicked. Herrior nodded.

Lindel however quickly changed her appearance to an older sophisticated looking woman. She even made herself some glasses and added wrinkles to her appearance. Herrior nodded and then looked at the Lieutenant. He opened the secondary door and let everybody file in.

Lindel instantly set up a mind link with everybody, and whispered to Mohania to follow their lead. Mohania nodded slightly as they all continued to walk. The Lieutenant felt Lindel scan his mind for the words to say and told him that she would probably do all of the talking. Lindel took the lead as they walked down the deadly silent prison area. All of the prisoners stared, curious to see what would happen next.

Lindel stopped right in front of a cell block. "Mr. Williams?" The rest of the group encircled behind her.

"I am not saying anything, nor is anybody else until we are safe!" The man replied. He was lying down on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He gestured that the conversation was over.

"Yes I heard the lights went out and some of you became afraid of things that go bump in the night and the boogey man. But we are not here to address those concerns; we are here to prevent you from killing Mr. Boomer, in the cell to our right." Lindel said firmly.

The air felt suddenly very thick. "What?" Mr. Williams said as if it were a joke. However Mr. Boomer in the cell next to his suddenly grew very angry and started spouting questions and threats quickly.

"Hold your tongue inmate! A lady is present!" Branzer said.

"I don't even know who he is. All you are doing is just causing trouble lady. We want answers to what happened. It is in our constitution that we are safe and treated fairly." Mr. Williams said slowly as if without a care.

"Apparently you do know who he is." Lindel said. Dan told her in her mind to open the folder and to follow his lead.

"There have been thirteen incidents in the past month of you bumping into him, tripping him, and leaving things on the floor for him to purposely trip on. Also we have thirty hours of video and audio footage of you speaking with different inmates about your hatred for him and his gang. Also you have spoken with three guards to try to get them on your side. You have attempted two different diversions that landed Mr. Boomer in the infirmary. He has been completely oblivious to this until now." Lindel said.

"Lady you are full of shit. I know the name of my cellmate and a couple of other inmates that is it. Quick trying to stir up a hornets' nest." Mr. Williams said casually.

"I'm gonna kill da foo! I remember all of those times, that was him huh? You got proof you say huh, that's nuff proof for me. I don't want some skinny little white guy planning on killing me." Mr. Boomer said.

"Settle down Boomer, she's full of shit. I don't know what they are trying to do here, but it is not legal." Mr. Williams said.

"Williams, get up and look at this. Maybe you will see the pictures that we have taken of you performing these acts. Once of which, this one right here, you actually swung at your friend here with your knife at dinner. Luckily he slipped on a trap you laid for him and you missed entirely." Lindel said.

"Lemme see that picture!" Mr. Boomer demanded.

"Lady, look. I will get up and look but I assure that if that is what the picture shows, it certainly was not intentional, I did not swing at him, and I did not lay a trap for him." Mr. Williams said. Mr. Williams slowly got out of his bed and his inmate was doing the same to have a look for himself. Herrior violently punched his cell bars.

"Does this concern you? Are there two Mr. Williams in this cell? This is to address an issue with him. We will address an issue with you later, lay back down!" Herrior said.

Mr. Williams looked at Herrior with amazement. "Lay off the steroids my friend, you'll live longer. Anyways where is this picture." Mr. Williams looked at a blank piece of paper and then looked up at Lindel's eyes to call her bluff when Lindel immediately took control of his mind.

"Yeah, that's me alright. I'm going to kill the dumb nigger and the rest of them in here too." Lindel made him say as loud as he could. Lindel put the paper back in the folder as she released control of his mind.

Almost instantly an uproar happened after Mr. Williams spoke those words. He remembered himself saying those words, but did not remember why.

"That's what we thought." Lindel said.

"What? No…I didn't say that! I…" Mr. Williams said confused.

"Not only did you say that, you said it loud enough to spark enough hatred against you that you will probably end up dead somehow in the next month or so." Branzer said firmly.

"You are obviously have some sort of bi-polar, schizophrenia disorder that lapses your judgment and memory." Lindel said not having a clue what she was talking about, but taking the words from the Lieutenant's mind. She made it sound very convincing though.

"I do not!" Mr. Williams said.

"You plan on sitting next to Mr. Boomer for your next meal and poisoning him by putting laundry soap into his food when he is not looking. You have gathered enough to put into a small bag which is underneath your pillow." Lindel said.

"You are full of shit woman!" Mr. Williams screamed at her. He turned around and threw his pillow across the room, revealing in fact a small bag containing about two ounces of a white powdery substance. Mr. Williams stood there in shock.

"Is it safe to assume your cellmate is in on this as well?" Branzer asked.

"Whoa…hey man, I don't know nothing about this. I knew the dude had a couple of screws loose, but I didn't know he was planning this. I would have told somebody man. No, don't be bringing me in on this; I didn't know shit about this." Mr. William's cell mate said.

"We know you don't, so just pretend like you aren't hearing any of this – got it!" Branzer finished.

Mr. Williams had picked up the bag and sniffed it. It did in fact smell like laundry detergent. He quickly threw the bag out of the cell. "No…no I didn't…"

"And yet the proof is now all over my shoes. Shall we continue in private where I can assess your mental state, or shall we continue to discuss this matter openly. What time is their dinner? I'm sure he has some explaining to do to his new friends." Lindel said.

"They already ate. We made sure he did not carry out his plans and wanted this matter closed before their recreational time tonight. Being short staffed right now due to the power outages, reviewing our footage to try to resolve this 'Boogey man' problem, and illnesses – we will not be able to look out for him as we have in the past." The Lieutenant piped up. Lindel thanked him in his mind.

"Horse shit! This is pure horse shit! I have a clean record! I have done nothing wrong!" Mr. Williams insisted. Lindel quickly regained control of his mind.

"All of the niggers need to die, and then we will be rid of their smell. The stupid bastards stink up this place and I'll be doing the world a favor by slitting their throats! Every last one of them!" Mr. Williams said. Lindel released control of his mind.

The prison was in an instant uproar. Mr. Boomer rattled off several threats against him but they could not be heard over the rest of the shouting and the threats.

"Do you remember what you just said, or should we remind you? You aren't safe here; but if you insist that you are fine, we will leave." Lindel said putting the folder to her side and motioned to walk away.

"No! Please…What did I just say? I have never spoken like that before! I have no problems with any of you! I just want to serve my time and get out of here like the rest of you!" Mr. Williams said.

"Oh? Maybe we are wrong then. Let's do some rearranging so that Mr. Boomer and Mr. Williams are in the same cell." Lindel said.

"No!" Mr. Williams quickly said as Mr. Boomer quickly agreed and promised that he would have his revenge.

Lindel leaned close into the bars. "You make threats against them, they make threats against you. Normally they are unwarranted, but your condition is getting worse. You need help. This is why I am here, and this is why there are so many guards with me. They are to protect you from yourself, from the people that can help you, and to protect you from them." Lindel paused for a second pointing behind her. "We are going to open this cell now and you will come along nicely, is that understood?" Mr. Williams nodded. The Lieutenant motioned to open the cell when he saw that Trackolania had already picked the lock in the blink of an eye and Herrior was opening the cell.

"Are you going to walk on your own, or are we going to have fun with you while you try to resist." Herrior said with a smile. "Also is your roommate going to try anything stupid as well?"

"No man, I'm cool. I'm not moving. He's obviously fucked up in the head; you are doing me a favor by getting him out of here." His cellmate responded quickly. Herrior reached in to grab Mr. Williams but he put his hands on his head and quickly walked out. The group began to walk out as the Lieutenant relocked the cell.

Herrior told everybody to stop for a second. He turned around and said, "We have video on all of you making threats, not just him. Every time you breathe, eat, and shit we know about it. When know what you dream about, who you lust about in the shower, and who you want to kill. This man has a head problem, which we might be able to fix. There are no excuses for the rest of you. So if you think we are doing you all a favor by getting rid of him, just know that we can expose any one of you as easily as we did with him! Each of you might want to think about that. So everybody just shut up and go to sleep. I have a feeling it is going to be a long night for all of us."

"Promise?" Mohania whispered with a smile.

"Yes. No let's take him back." Herrior said moving the group along.

"I don't know what happened to you, but I like it." Mohania said.

The Lieutenant opened the secondary door as they all filed in. Herrior gave the word and they all changed back into their old illusions. Mr. Williams let out a terrified scream and jumped back against the wall.

"It's all part of your condition, and your condition is about to become worse." Lindel said as she dispersed herself and entered his eyes. After a brief struggle Lindel asked how she looked in Mr. William's voice.

"Beautiful as always my dear. But aren't they going to suspect something when receptionist clearly saw a woman go in, and then an inmate come out?" Branzer asked.

"Dan." Herrior said.

Time stopped.

"Trackolania get the door open. Our job now is to make sure nobody notices that fact. Break their chairs or something so when time resumes there will be a distraction. How much time do we have Dan?" Herrior asked.

"About five minutes. That's how much power I put into the settings anymore unless I'm told different." Dan replied as Trackolania flung the door open and quickly sped off to do what was asked of him. The rest of the group followed him to carry out Herrior's orders, except for Lindel, Branzer and the Lieutenant.

Trackolania did most of the work. His blade made short work of the leg chairs, as Dan and Herrior turned people around, or damaged the sprinklers in the ceiling.

After a quick minute or so, they regrouped and waited silently until time resumed.

Time resumed.

The area fell into instant chaos as the group sped forward towards the exit. The Lieutenant said briefly that they had finished conducting their business and followed the rest of the group out of the door.

Lindel flew out of Mr. Williams eyes and allowed him to regain control of his body. Mr. Williams wobbled on his legs, but Herrior quickly grabbed him by the shoulder and forcefully dragged him into the main complex.

"Lindel, Lieutenant – do your thing. We're going to have a chat with this fellow in our outpost." Herrior said pulling Mr. Williams along as quickly as he could. Several times he lost his footing, but it didn't matter. Herrior's grip on the man would not let him fall.

They made it inside of their outpost and Herrior threw the man to the ground. The rest of Herrior's group quickly encircled him to ensure that he possessed no threat.

"This isn't constitutional! I know my rights!" Mr. Williams said. Herrior touched his trinket and his illusion quickly faded. The man instantly panicked as saw this enormous half bull like creature rushing up to him. Herrior picked him up by the throat and threw him against the far wall.

"I don't know what a constitutional is, but as far as I'm concerned you have no rights. If it were up to me I would slaughter each and every one of you. You disgust me; even the stench of you sickens my stomach." Herrior threw off his helmet and gloves. He walked forward and grabbed him by the neck and held him four feet off the floor. "Snapping your neck would require a little more than a mere twitch in my hand. One of my group members thinks you need to be set free, and I am honoring her wishes but there are two conditions. One, if you talk about anything you see here we will hunt you down and very painfully kill you and your entire family." Herrior said and he threw him to his left. Mr. Williams in the ground and tumbled several times. He had time to look up to see the large cow charge towards him at speeds that his eyes could barely track. Herrior again picked him up and slammed him against the wall, this time even harder. It knocked the air out of his lungs and he started gasping for air as hard as he could.

"You talk, you die! Everybody you know will die. This daughter of yours graduating will die, and your wife will die. Your house will burn and we will hunt down every relative you know and kill them as well. Is that understood?" Herrior screamed in his face. Mr. Williams nodded still gasping for air.

"Pain is a good reminder. Pick what bone you want broken as a reminder of our agreement. If you don't pick one, I will for you." Herrior snarled at him. Mr. Williams caught enough of his breath to begin begging for his life.

Herrior again threw him across the room. This time he flew into Mohania. Mohania caught him and quickly dropped his illusion. The man looked at the skeleton with fiery eyes peering down at him and started to scream. Mohania quickly shoved his skeleton hand inside of the man's mouth and grabbed his tongue.

"How can you scream…if you don't have a tongue?" Mohania asked. The man's mouth began to have small streams of blood come out of it.

Herrior walked over and grabbed the man from Mohania and pulled his face up to his own face.

"If we decide to let you live, you will walk out of here in a lot of pain and you are not to say a word of what happened here. Now I've repeated myself twice. I hate doing that, but I want to make sure I got my point across. Now then I asked you what bone do you want broken?" Herrior repeated himself.

"None please! I won't say a word, I swear!" Mr. Williams pleaded.

"I don't believe you. How about we open up your chest and see how many innards we can pull out of your body before you die." Herrior said. He slammed Mr. Williams on the ground and drew his sword on his less than an inch from his chest. Mr. Williams stared at the blade as his body turned white and began to shake.

"Now I'm starting to believe you." Herrior said with a smile. "The woman who possessed you will follow you around for several years. If you even mention anything about this encounter, tell me in your own words what is going to happen."

"You will kill me and my family." Mr. Williams said quickly.

"Fast learner." Herrior said sounding not the least bit impressed.

Just then the Lieutenant and Lindel walked in.

"I could use Lindel a lot more to help me out." The Lieutenant said.

"She belongs to my group!" Herrior said angrily turning around to face him. The Lieutenant stopped in mid step.

"I meant…she is very convincing on the phone…she not only convinced everybody, but I have all of his release papers here. He's a free man as of right now." The Lieutenant said. He paused for a second and then said, "If you are done with him that is, of course."

Herrior turned back to look at Mr. Williams. "Do you hear that? You are free to go. From where I come from, you commit a crime – you die. Or even worse you have skeleton boy over there slowly devour and torture you for years. And all we are supposed to do is let you walk out of here? That doesn't really sound fair to me Williams…does it?"

Mr. Williams quickly looked around for support. He was both excited and petrified at the same time. Herrior slammed his fist down right beside his head. It let out a loud "wham" and caused him deafness and mild confusion for a couple of seconds. Herrior then rose to his feet, and jerked Mr. Williams to his feet as well.

"You will go out the back door. There is a squad car waiting for you. Your story is you were released because you were a good boy." Herrior said. He then spun around and looked at the officers behind him.

"Good behavior. Plus his parole hearing came early, and our jails were over-crowded. He didn't seem to be a threat to society anymore." Branzer said.

Herrior turned back to Mr. Williams. "Remember all of that. Explain it once and then forget about it. Live life normally as if this never happened. We will be checking up on you and examining your head to see if you told anybody anything different. If you have, you and everybody you know will die. Again, the third time I said this. Is this clear?" Mr. Williams quickly nodded.

"Give this man some currency." Herrior said. The officers quickly scrambled through their pockets and wallets. They came up with five hundred and sixty two dollars. They handed the money to Herrior and he threw it in his face.

"Go buy something nice for your daughter and your wife. After the party or whatever you do for a graduation, start attending a church and begin a normal life. Collect the currency, and if I get word that you broke another law you will be killed onsite. Now get your ugly face out of here before I cut it off!" Herrior said, pushing Mr. Williams towards the back exit.

"Not one word!" Herrior shouted as Mr. Williams quickly opened the door and shut it. Outside he saw an officer waiting. He demanded that he get in the back seat he had opened for him. The officer than went around to the driver's seat and sped away, again reminding him that he did not see or hear anything that just happened. They drove in silence the rest of the way to his home.

Herrior walked back over and put his gloves and helmet back on. He punched his trinket, giving him his old human disguise again. "I still don't like the idea of letting criminals go."

"But you did it for me, you big softy." Lindel said walking up behind him and giving him a big hug. Herrior was trying his hardest to maintain his fierce attitude, but it eventually broke. He smiled and casually said she was annoying. Lindel laughed.

"I told you she was!" Mohania said.

"Mohania, I'm surprised you showed restraint. I probably scared ten years off from his life, and all you did was cram your hand down his throat to stop him from screaming." Herrior said.

Mohania looked at him shocked. "I could have done more?"

"Listen up everybody, except for you Lieutenant. You may leave and do whatever it is that you do; expect the prisoners that you hold to be very cooperative tomorrow morning and scared shitless. My guess is they won't say a word the rest of the time that they are here. Once that mission has been completed we will investigate other cases you have and continue to make sure this world is stable, while rest of the worlds we protect goes to Hell…" Herrior said motioning for him to leave. The Lieutenant quickly left, wondering what exactly would happen tonight.

"Our job is to stabilize them, not neutralize them. Is that understood? If we are under attack by a demon or a band of alliance, I do not want them or the officers to say a word. That is the point of this whole exercise, just in case you were all wondering." Herrior said.

"No. You are our leader and we will do as you say, no wondering is allowed." Dan said with a smile. Herrior nodded.

"The last thing we need is a bunch of half-brained undisciplined fanatics running loose and shooting their mouths off. That will draw attention to our outpost, and if I understand your species correctly, there is an organized group that feeds on events like this." Herrior said.

"That is true. The press is annoying. The less they hear the better." Branzer said.

"Whatever they are called, once this world is stable I am eager to get back to Tranquil and see what is happening there." Herrior said.

"So you do want to go back to Tranquil then?" Skyka asked sarcastically. Herrior glared at her as she smiled back. Skyka then proceeded to say, "Guys and gals, would you please drop your disguises and see if our leader notices anything different?" Immediately every group member hit their trinket and back to their normal selves. Each of them then took off their helmet, or pulled back their cloak if they hadn't already.

"Armor is different huh?" Herrior said looking at all of them.

"With the new worlds that have opened to us, we have sent out exploration teams to gather new materials, forcibly if need be, and return them to Tranquil where our people skilled in their profession have been working with the material. A great number of assaults have been made where we have forcefully removed the raw materials." Skyka said. "The groups of Tranquil come first, and if we can improve our armor than that is what the King demands of us. Also…" Skyka said suddenly jumping in the air and landing on a magical blue rug that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Everybody is capable of flying in Tranquil now as well."

"Impressive." Herrior said.

"It has its draw backs though. Tranquil has become so large that our defenses have weakened. Spies are slipping in and out unnoticed. Supplies are walking out undetected. Theft has become an everyday occurrence. Even Brenna has had several things stolen from her. That's why the King has been so busy. He has been speaking with his ambassadors trying to figure out how to intensify the Red Guard, without of course having them attack everybody in the town. Another thing is Tranquil has increase in radiance and power since the last time you have been there. Something else the King is trying to establish and maintain." Skyka said. She jumped off from her flying carpet and it instantly vanished. "With that much power in one city, every ally that we have wants access in. We welcomed everybody at first, but then had to start screening their minds. Many of our guards are flying constantly above the city as well as our banshees. A lot of the races and groups, including ours, have become uncomfortable with all of the changes. Ambassadors are still given the right to kill on sight any crime that they witness personally. Any crime reported the person is interrogated; the outcome depends on the ambassador's opinion." Skyka took a deep breath and then continued. "The other worlds are begging for our help, even certain alliance groups are. Many of the new people we don't trust, some of which have already lead attacks on our groups. However the alliance, oddly enough, have always helped and then gone their separate ways. Things have changed my love."

Herrior was silent and nodded at everything. "A great many things have changed indeed. I wish I could have led you all into battle during those times."

"That is the part that pisses me off! Like I said we've only been assigned to escort refugees to more established outposts. I would gladly have sunk my blades into our foes! Instead small groups have answered the call, many of which have suffered or died due to betrayal!" Jacklyn said angrily. Herrior nodded at her.

"We were able to bring the bodies back and bring them back to life; however we all feel the same way. Herrior, we want a piece of the action. Our group alone could annihilate anything that stands in our way." Skyka said.

"What were the King's orders?" Herrior said looking at Skyka sternly.

Skyka sighed. "They were to secure this outpost, look for you, and lead the escort missing. That's all we have done so far."

"Then do not question it, any of you." Herrior said looking around at his group. "If he says to sit on a rock for the next six months, we will all sit on a rock and not question his authority. Just like none of you will question my authority." His group all nodded. Herrior continued, "Has there been any ambassador meetings?"

Skyka shook her head. "No. He has been getting his information from spies and ambassadors within the city walls. From there he is making his own decisions."

"Fine, than that is what we will do. Wait for further information. I must say it is odd that the alliance has been joining forces with us though." Herrior said and paused for a second. He quickly shook his head and said, "It has happened in the past and it will probably happen in the future. However if they are aggressive towards us first, then all bets are off. Is that understood?" Herrior's party all nodded.

Herrior then changed the subject. "Have there been any reports of alliance, or worgen, or alliance converters on this rock we are assigned to?"

"Yes, they still are here, and we are immediately killing them as soon as they expose themselves. Their armor and weaponry have increased, which is probably why Skyka wanted to show you our new armor. We have to get you reequipped as well as Veliline if we are to stand a chance." Jacklyn said. "They play for keeps. Also we still do not detect that they know anything about our ability to stop time, or Dan's latest ability to warp time – as he puts it."

"Did anybody sense any alliance within the holding cells?" Herrior asked.

Several group members answered at the same time, "No." Herrior nodded.

"Fine then. Let us form a circle. I want to hear about all of your new abilities." Herrior said.

"Many of them are changing actually. Another thing the King is doing. He is getting together with Tonect and seeing if he could expand certain abilities. Many complaints have come in, and he is trying to accommodate for them. He is also meeting with the monks as well as all of the time stoppers to attempt a safer way of converting people to become immune to time stopping. All attempts have failed so far." Skyka said in a low voice.

"It would be useful if everybody in my group was immune to it." Herrior said also in a low voice. "However that is what we have to work with. We will make do with what we have."

"I would like to volunteer for the process so I can be with…" Branzer started to say but Crystal fiercely shut him up. "I will not have you die for the one you love. I will have you die for honor and duty. Besides Lindel doesn't want you to do it." Lindel turned the other way.

"But I love her…" Branzer said.

"Enough! Do you think Bernett and Samatha enjoy having their newborn stop time randomly? Do you think Julie or any of the others not immune enjoys being frozen in time and then being dragged to a new location? None of you do, and none of you could within stand the conversion process. That is final!" Herrior said fiercely. "This bickering is going to stop. Many of you were born in Tranquil, some of you weren't. Many of you are immune to time stopping, many of you aren't. Some of you are immune for reasons we have no idea. Hell we have no idea how it works in the first place. Only Dan does." Herrior said pointing to him. Dan looked surprised and started looking around. "And by the looks of it he still isn't positive how it works. So let's drop that topic. Let's also drop any relationship issues, and personal bickering with each other. That all ends now. I want my group back. Now what else is there to talk about?"

A pause came over the group as they all looked at each other.

"Fine, Veliline let's start with you. Being the only Death Knight we have ever seen in the history of Tranquil, I would like you to become an ambassador of your race." Herrior said.

"Fine." Veliline said.

"Are you doing this just because I suggested it of you?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." Veliline answered.

"If I tell you to stand on your head, you would wouldn't you?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." Veliline replied back in the same tone.

"Veliline. You are among friends now. You may talk with any of us if you want. I want you to relax and start letting your guard down. Myself, Branzer, Skyka, and Mohania are all ambassadors and also Lindel seems to get into everybody's business anyways. It'll come with time I know, but it's something I want you to work on." Herrior said again and then turned to the group. "Now you all have had some thought into this. I want your ideas for carrying out our assignment tonight. I want those prisons so scared that they do not piss without spraying themselves. Mohania I want you to produce a disguise for us and then we'll activate our trinkets to mimic your disguise. Something horrifying that'll strike fear into their very souls."

Mohania stood up and chanted some words. A quick wave of air flew from his head to his feet in less than a second. The illusion he conjured looked exactly like Quinely.

"Hey!" Quinely said sounding upset. Everybody burst into laughter.

A moment later Mohania casted another spell and he looked like a black shadow, void of any human caricaturists. It was the same spell he casted on Skyka and Lindel when they were tormenting the Lieutenant.

"Eh – that's been used before. Got anything else?" Herrior said. Mohania the changed his illusion to appear as one of the green aliens that he and his undead had completely annihilated.

"Personally I vote for that one." Crystal said.

"Eh…anything else?" Herrior asked.

Mohania altered his illusion back to his normal self, only he removed his hood and ignited his hands and head on fire.

"Not much originality." Herrior said casually.

"You have to admit though; most of these creatures seem terrified of a walking corpse on fire." Mohania said.

"I'm not going to argue that. They seem terrified of anything out of the ordinary." Herrior said.

"I could just play a little tune that would drive them all insane that would cause them to see whatever their deepest darkest fears are." Strings piped up.

"Also our battle shouts as well as our fears would do the trick as well. Shall we go in groups then?" Herrior asked.

"I could summon a legion of ghouls to scamper around, taunting anything they see. Then change them into powerful undead monstrosities, as well as summoning gargoyles and blasting the entire building into a deep freeze." Veliline said. "I would command them not to harm anybody, unless you want me to spread a minor pestilence among all of them. It would not kill them, and it would fade within an hour. Then I could run through and knock them all down using my blood boil attack, causing slight damage but it would disorient them more and anything. Afterwards I can defile the ground, causing every one of them to stand on unholy ground. This would cause random panic, slowing of their movement, and skeleton arms to reach out and grab them. This affect would only last for five minutes or so. If we are talking about simple minds here as I am gathering, it would probably make all of them beg for their lives – with minimal infliction of damage among the prisoners."

The group listened with amazement as the seconds ticked by.

"Wow. I'm glad you are on our side." Bernett said.

"I'm on Herrior's…" Veliline was about to say when Herrior shot her a quick dirty look.

"I am on your side I mean." Veliline said correcting herself, still with no emotion in her voice.

"I was just going to suggest all of that myself." Mohania said looking around. He walked over to Veliline and whispered to her, "Can we talk later on? I'd be interested in learning some of your abilities."  
"No." Veliline said replied back quickly glancing at him.

"I'll take that as a maybe." Mohania said grinning.

"Mohania leave her alone. Let's all go with a ghoul theme to go along with what Veliline is going to do. I'm assuming our trinkets won't perform that transformation." Herrior said and tapped his trinket. As he predicted his human form didn't alter.

Mohania chanted a quick spell and Herrior's party all transformed into deformed ugly looking ghouls.

"Naw, we're going to need a leader. Maybe some variety…oh! Make me look like the Grim Reaper!" Dan said.

"I can alter your appearance, not your voice. Make it sound a bit more convincing…so what is a Grim Reaper?" Mohania said.

"Make my appearance very tall, void of any facial features just black, covered by a full length cape." Dan said. Mohania said quick wisp of words and Dan was instantly transformed into what he had described.

"You need the stick thing…" Crystal remarked. Dan pulled out his sword as it lit up with a small glimmer of flame. "This will work. Don't want to tax Mohania too much."

In the mean time Veliline was looking over her body. She was getting nervous and when said stopped talking she yelled, "Take it off! Please!" Mohania instantly dropped the illusion on her.

"Veliline, it was just an illusion." Herrior said reaching forward and gently touching her.

"I don't want it!" Veliline said quickly.

"Ok, sorry about that. I'm going as a pillar of fire." Mohania said igniting his body on fire. "Less of my power that I have to consume."

"I wish to use my own power, no illusions." Veliline demanded looking at Mohania, and then she turned to Herrior. Herrior smiled and nodded, but the illusion portrayed a big glob of slime coming out of his almost toothless mouth and a quick shake.

"Don't feel bad hun, I'm going to go as myself as well." Lindel said transforming into her banshee form. Veliline looked at her and then looked at Herrior with little interest.

"Veliline after our work is done tonight, I order you to befriend our group." Herrior said. He then looked at Skyka. "Take her to Tranquil; show her around her new world."

"Don't you think you should do the same with yourself as well?" Skyka said in a sweet voice that again didn't reflect her appearance of a ghoul.

"I am not ready yet." Herrior said. He turned to Bernett and said, "What can we do with your dumbass cameras again. Igniting the side of the building probably won't work again."

Mohania motioned to say something, but Bernett spoke first. "Sorry Mohania, but I think we have a better solution." Bernett turned to Herrior, "We can just have them loop record a feed from a couple of nights ago. It will show that it has the actual date and time stamp on it but it will not show the events of tonight."

"Fine do it." Herrior said sounding not interested.

"I'll need to get access to the…"

"Fine! Lindel generate the portal. Let's do this." Herrior said sounding agitated.

Lindel began channeling a portal to the prison area. She had established a mental link with Bernett and he told her where to open it to. After the portal was opened, they all walked through.

They all arrived in a large storage closet filled with many archived tapes and boxes.

"Dan, I'll need about three minutes." Bernett said, and then sighed realizing what he just said.

"I'll do it, do your thing Dan. I'm sure we can figure this out." Crystal said.

Time stopped.

"Wait here." Crystal said as her and Dan opened the doors of the storage facility and both of them set to work.

"Continuous automatic recording. No need to switch the tapes, with technology like we have you would think that they would dump all of the footage on a computer instead of these things." Dan said.

"Can't bring a computer to the court room, plus tapes are more credibility than computers. Computers can be hacked and manipulated." Crystal said beginning the loop recording. "You know you look pretty good as an undead ghoul."

"Let's give the Lieutenant a recording of two ghouls having sex…that would be…" Dan said almost laughing.

"Are you two almost done yet?" Herrior said in an upset voice.

"I think it's working now." Crystal said. As soon as she stopped touching the controls, the recording stopped. "We won't find out for sure until time starts again."

"Dan?" Herrior asked.

"About a minute, give or take a minute." Dan said.

Time resumed.

"I thought for sure I had that timed better…" Dan said disappointed. Crystal confirmed that the camera was in fact still recording, but was simply recording the events of the night before. Bernett walked over to check on their work.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that." Bernett said with a sense of pride in his voice looking at Crystal.

"Great job Crystal, let's move out." Herrior said emotionless.

"There will be the attendant, and the night shift crew that we need to by-pass also. And looking like this will probably create…" Bernett said.

"Bernett!" Herrior said in a loud frustrated voice. Bernett instantly went quiet and backed up. "Lindel another portal please, put us in the middle of the prison cell." Lindel began to channel another portal and within seconds they all walked into the prison cell.

It was mid evening, and the prisoners saw everything. Most of them simply stared at the events that unfolded. A white circular portal opening and a whole slew of hellish looking creatures stepping out as they took up their positions. The large one in front walked in front and looked around.

"Don't kill them…" Herrior said in a low tone. "Engage."

Several of the prisoners began to laugh and mock what just took place until Lindel took on her banshee form and let out her piercing scream. She began raising her skeleton army from the cement floor, at the same time Veliline instantly froze the ground beneath them as she too began summoning an entire legion of ghouls. Then she raised a special ghoul and began pumping a lot of her power into him until he morphed into a large monstrosity. The ghoul doubled in size and his chest completely filled out, unlike that of the ghouls. Its face had only one eye, the other was dangling out but he looked extremely powerful. The monstrosity ran off with the other skeletons and ghouls, terrifying the prisoners. Veliline then suddenly had a green skull appear above her head multiple times. Her voice then let out a lot drone sound that sounded almost as if she were trying to yodel from one mountain to another, but only a single tone. Then a gargoyle appeared above her head and she gave it her orders as well.

Once complete, a blue skull appeared flashed several times above her head. After which she held out her hand and a cold breeze blasted through the prison holding area. Herrior's group looked on amazed. Herrior gave the command to shut up the prisoners.

Many of the raised minions were doing as they were commanded, as Herrior's group started shooting and launching their attacks that silenced the prisoners, including Veliline.

"You will all repent, or die!" Herrior screamed. "You think this is punishment! Being babied in these bars, you haven't seen anything yet and you will beg for death by the time we are done with you!"

Herrior's group, still disguised as disfigured ghouls continued to launch their attack for several hours. Herrior then gave the command to begin poisoning the prisoners. The hunters started tossing traps with poisonous snakes inside of them into as many cells as they could, while Trackolania coated his blades and quickly blinked from cell to cell. His blades inserted the poison quickly and then moved onto the next victim. The warriors and warlocks continued to release their abilities to drive fear into the prisoners, as Lindel floated in and out of the prisoner's minds. She instantly brought up every fear she could find in their minds and then flew into the next prisoner.

The ghouls and skeletons that Veliline and Lindel conjured never attacked the prisoners, but tried their hardest to. It was more for the affect. Veliline constantly slammed the prisoner's minds with a quick burst of ice, preventing them from breathing for several seconds until the spell wore off.

Herrior finally gave the order to stop. Herrior's group quickly disengaged and came to his side.

Herrior's voice roared as he said, "If any of you speak a word of this to anybody, you will know a fear much worse than what you have seen here, and endless torture. Spread the word!" Herrior looked at Lindel and nodded. Lindel opened a portal and they all walked through it. Once the portal closed, the ice on the ground, the snakes, the ghouls, the skeletons – everything that was summoned had instantly vanished and the cells were returned back to normal. The prisoners were so badly shaken up by the events that not one of them said anything for the rest of the night nor did any of them sleep.

Herrior's group reentered their portion of the police station. Bernett explained that the recordings will not show any of the events; however the screaming might be a problem.

"Nobody came in to see what was going on." Herrior said calmly as Mohania murmured some words that dropped everybody's illusions. "We have control over the officers in this compound, now we have control over the prisoners as well. Fear and power is a great motivator." Herrior motioned for everybody to sit in a circle; Mohania produced a small fire in the middle of them.

"Now then, let us relax ourselves. Veliline you were interesting to watch, as I'm sure everybody else thought the same as well." Herrior said smiling at her.

"I did what was asked of me." Veliline said. "I did not hurt anybody as ordered and I am certain I drove fear into the prisoners. I silenced them as much as I could, but my powers needed time to regenerate. I did what was asked of me to my full potential, but I am not designed to do what I did. To be honest, I wasn't even sure I could do what I did. I have only seen it done. Please forgive me."

Everybody was quiet for a minute, knowing that Veliline was expecting to be disciplined. Herrior let out a quiet sigh.

"Veliline, what do you think of changing the color of your hair to purple?" Herrior asked. This time Veliline showed emotion. She looked at him with deep curiosity and did not expect that answer.

"Skyka what do you think. Maybe some pig-tails in the back, some 'shoosh' things in the front and some armor to better reflect her personality. Maybe even put her in a dress." Herrior said with a smile.

"We can fix you right up, a quick trip to Tranquil and we'll get all of that done." Skyka said excitedly.

Veliline looked at Skyka confused as well. Skyka just smiled back at her. "You did well hun, you need to relax just a tiny bit more. And by a tiny bit I mean a lot more."

"You are not going to whip me and torture me?" Veliline asked.

"Well if that's what you are into…" Mohania said.

"Shut up you big sack of bones! No we are not going to whip you." Crystal said.

"Did anybody bring any food from Tranquil?" Herrior asked changing the subject. Everybody rummaged through their bags and only produced half a loaf of bread.

"Sorry, it's been awhile and food right now is scarce in Tranquil." Bernett said. Herrior gave the loaf to Veliline with a smile. Veliline and showed emotion as to what Herrior just did.

"So how are the people being fed?" Herrior asked.

"The ambassadors have sent many groups on food finding missions, but the main priority is to reestablish our bases and to rescue as many of our allies as we can." Skyka said sadly.

"How many perished?" Herrior asked.

"The numbers have been in the hundreds of thousands, and still rising as the bodies are being counted…" Skyka said sadly.

Herrior looked at her astonished. "Have any of our groups? Primary or secondary?"

"No our forces are fine. Tranquil as you know is hidden from everyone. The portals are still open and we still have refugees pouring in. Part of the reason for the food and security shortage; also again part of the reason why we've had to adjust our shields in the city. We've had thieves stealing our resources and races that aren't part of our alliances enter our city as well." Skyka said.

Herrior let out a sigh. "I'm assuming our ambassadors are providing swift punishment?"

"Yes they are. Kill on sight." Skyka said. "However our banshees are doing the majority of the scouting.

"Herrior something is wrong!" Lindel said quickly butting in.

Herrior rose to his feet and armed himself.

"No, not that three officers are badly wounded and entering the station. Each of them badly hurt." Lindel said.

"Icis, Skyka go take care of them. Lindel clean up the mess. Keep this quiet." Herrior said. "Mohania, make both of them look human." Mohania chanted a quick spell and an illusion quickly enveloped both of them. They looked like elder female doctors, whose dress barely covered their waist, and their breasts virtually popping out.

"Mohania…" Herrior said.

"Naw I like this." Skyka said strutting around the room.

"Veliline do you want to go with them?" Herrior asked. Veliline wanted to ask if that was an order, but knew not to do that anymore.

"You can look like one of us…" Skyka said walking over and giving Icis a hug. Icis smiled back. Veliline continued to look at them, trying to decide what to say.

"Decide later, we've got to go. They are currently in the break room." Lindel said with urgency.

The three of them left their room and ran for the break room.

The officers carrying them quickly started telling them the story when Skyka told them to shut up, quite violently, and asked all of them to leave. Icis quickly produced a shield over each of them. This stopped the pain and also stabilized their condition. Both her and Skyka began to cast their healing spells as Lindel pushed the officers back outside, burning up any trace of blood that was on the carpet along the way.

"The press followed us here. They are going to want to know why we took them here, and the full story." One of the officers said.

"There is no story here." Lindel said. "Nothing happened. You three did exactly what you were supposed to do. Now forget about it, do what you were told to do and get out there and do your job."

The officers walked out and were instantly swarmed by the press, all asking questions with microphones and cameras pointed at their faces. The officers distracted the press as Lindel slipped away and started burning up any traces of blood from the ground and in the vehicles.

Lindel was several yards away when she saw the three injured officers walk casually out of the station, all eating a piece of fruit. Everybody was shocked.

"Don't you guys have something better to do? We have work we have to do. Why don't you go chase an ambulance or get some footage of a cat stuck in a tree or something?" One of the officers said that was shot four times. He was casually eating a peach. Lindel disappeared and slowly floated through the building and back to their room.

"You were shot! We followed you here, you…and both of you…you were shot several times. It looked like you were going to die, what happened!" One of the younger men said shoving his microphone into his face.

"If you are looking for a story, we could do an obstruction of justice and harassing an officer. Our efforts could better be utilized tracking down the 'bad guys', instead of some story that one of our own was shot and could have died." The officer said casually and took another bite. "Or is this a big story for you? Let me guess, this would give you some big promotion if you were able to catch one of your officers, who protect you assholes, dying and then having a mass assemble of officers to avenge this person, or persons involved. You're wasting your time. Get out of our station." The officer said finishing his peach and tossing the pit at the man. "How about you grow a tree with that and help with global warming." The officers turned around and reentered the compound and shut the door behind them.

Nobody said a word. The officer's returned to their workstation and saw a note. They all said, "Their heads will be delivered to you within the hour." After they were done reading the note it instantly burst into flame and the ashes blew away. Some of the officers glanced at them in concern, but knew better than to ask.

Lindel had obtained the information needed to track down the people who had shot them. They had a brief discussion and Jacklyn was sent to go avenge them. Lindel opened a portal and Jacklyn jumped through, both of her massive swords in each hand.

Jacklyn arrived in a small room and quickly enraged herself. There were three people in the room, all of which were sliced in half before they even had time to take in what had just happened. Jacklyn identified two of the men and tossed them through the portal that Lindel left open. Jacklyn then heard another man in a room. She smiled and walked up to the door. She gently knocked on it and the man yelled out that he was showering and would be another ten minutes. Jacklyn stood back and brought her swords down on the door, slicing it in three pieces. The man yelled in panic and leaped for his gun. Jacklyn quickly sliced off his arm. She then spun around and her blade sliced through his head as if it were a blade of grass. She put her blades behind her and started gathering up the remains. She casually tossed them through the portal and stepped back through.

Jacklyn saw that Mohania was already dining on some of the humans pieces. Herrior cut off the heads and told Lindel to go send the message to the officers. Lindel turned invisible and floated through the air and into one of the officer's desks. He was casually sitting there looking at a picture of his family, apparently reflecting on the events that happened in the past couple of hours. Lindel blew a quick cool breeze across his left arm to get his attention. The man looked over and the words, "Do you want to see their heads?" quickly appeared on a pad of blank paper. The officer looked shocked at first, and then quickly scribbled the word, "No" underneath the sentence. The words, "Suit yourself. You have been avenged, tell the other two as well." appeared underneath the word "No" for several seconds and then the piece of paper burned up. The officer got up and whispered what just happened. The one officer had the same reaction, but the other got up and walked back towards the special operations room. Lindel glided past him and warned that one of the officers was coming. Skyka and Icis had the same illusion put back on while the others in the room disappeared. Skyka held two of the heads while Icis one of them as Icis opened the door.

The officer began to thank them, but Skyka said "For what?" The heads caught fire and burned up within seconds in their hands. "Nothing happened, did it?" Skyka asked after the decapitated heads turned to ash.

"No, I guess it didn't." The officer said.

"Go finish your shift, and get a drink. You look parched." Skyka said starting to shut the door.

"Bye handsome." Icis said in a flirty voice before the door was shut. Skyka locked the door and their illusions dropped as everybody came out hiding.

"Interesting how some seek revenge, while the two others didn't." Jacklyn said.

"I seek revenge." Veliline said.

"I just digested it." Mohania said grinning and the continued. "Veliline, we all seek revenge. There is always somebody, some race, some event that happens that sparks a new hatred in us; forcing us to refocus our attacks, adjust our tactics and destroy those that will harm us and our ways. There's also some other things as well, but I feel some heartburn coming on…" Mohania said and belched out a burst of flame.

"Very descriptive Mohania…and the visual affects was something else I'm sure she'll be trying forget." Herrior said looking at him with a smile. "I'm sure your undead would be proud."

"Herrior!" Skyka said in quick desperation.

Herrior's face instantly reacted and looked as if he had just dropped a child. "What?" He questioned quietly.

Mohania let out a sigh and looked to the side. "I suppose I should be the one to tell the story. My undead that I commanded for hundreds of years, the ones that I had collected, taught, and fed. They were all destroyed. The demons that they were still there to protect the wall, the red women, never did give them a name, all dead. The tunnels all collapsed from the world shifting, changing, altering – whatever you want to call happened. So end of story, they are all dead now."

Herrior stared at him and then quickly looked at his group as if to say, "Why didn't anybody tell me?"

"Relax Herrior. They could never enter Tranquil and they always needed a master to control them. We had a funeral for them, as well as the others that have died. It's in the past now." Mohania said. He then paused for a second and then said, "Kendall's group was broken up as well. Our voidwalkers took too much coordination and didn't last very long. Being the undead ambassador I told the King that our warlocks could not handle the tanking needs and recommended that the group be disbanded. Kendall hasn't spoken with me since, almost as long as you have been gone."

"So why didn't they just merge with another group, or bring in a couple of tanks?" Herrior said.

"Pride." Mohania said sounding guilty. Herrior studied him for awhile and then nodded.

"I am sorry to hear that my friend." Herrior said slowly.

"Like I said, sometimes we have to adjust our tactics. Speaking of which, we need to get you, and our new friend, to Tranquil and outfit you two. We probably need to adjust our armor as well. To be honest, Dan could probably absorb more damage than you could right now and he was outfitted with just the basic armor that we are assembling right now. New designs and materials are always being brought in. Plus word has it you meat shields now have ways of restoring your own health. We did that with our voidwalkers, but the new demons and enemies that have arisen need more strategy rather than just absorbing damage." Mohania said.

"We still use them. Mohania is talking about the bigger mobs. Watching them torment and bring suffering to our foes is still entertaining." Crystal said speaking up. Mohania let out a chuckle, or what sounded like one.

"I plan on it. By the sounds of it I should probably take a leave of absence from all of you and go now to obtain these items, and take Veliline with me as well." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone. He summoned a portal with an ambassador that motioned him to wait a second.

"Kill him at once." The ambassador said. The ambassador then turned his face to a different location and said, "Kill the entire patrol and burn their bodies." Then again his turned his face to another place and said, "Honestly I don't know. We haven't established them as an ally yet, and we do not want them to become an enemy. If you can't negotiate a trade with them, just leave them and let them have it."

The ambassador turned to Herrior's portal and said, "Yes?" Herrior blinked his eyes in amazement. Tranquil was busy, busier than he had anticipated.

"Herrior make it quick…sorry hold on a second." The ambassador said and left Herrior's portal. It looked like the ambassador opened up three more portals. Herrior could hear the ambassador telling them to hold on a second; however one was a higher priority.

"Get out of there! We'll send a party to recover our dead when we have the forces too." The ambassador almost screamed. The ambassador closed that portal and then went back to Herrior.

"What can my group do to help?" Herrior asked in a concerned voice, but more out of curiosity.

"Stay where you are, those are your current orders. Anything else?" The ambassador asked in a hurried voice. He then turned around and said that he needed several groups to a city that he couldn't recognize, of which he got the reply back that nobody was available.

"My group can…" Herrior started.

"Your group is to stay where you are!" The ambassador yelled back at Herrior spinning around quickly. "There is not enough time to explain, now are we done?"

"I and Veliline would like some new armor and weapons if possible?" Herrior said quickly, making a mental note to speak with this ambassador in private later.

"Why? Did something happen?" The ambassador asked quickly.

"No…" Herrior said

"Then why send you the new armor and weapons? Our crafters are literally working almost all day and night to construct and experiment with the new materials we are obtaining. We are sending out groups that in armor that does not enhance any of their abilities. Take Dan's, he was your group's former tank, and I have no idea what a death knight wears or what attributes she needs. Forgive me for sounding like an ass, but I have three other portals. Are we done?" The ambassador asked. Herrior nodded and the portal closed.

Herrior stared at where the portal used to be and slowly put his hearthstone away. He turned around and glanced at his group. He saw that Dan was already moving a couple of packs from the side wall and placing them at Herrior's feet.

"I'll let you take the hits…I preferred doing damage. Tanking hurts too much." Dan said with a half smile as he continued to move the packs back and forth.

Herrior started to shake his head in disbelief.

"We warned you hun. My guess is that we are stationed here the same as many of the other primary groups are permanently stationed in key locations, for the time being at least. Something big happened and for some reason it hasn't hit this world. My guess is if it does we are here to address the situation, the same as the other groups. Fourteen of us to monitor the activity of billions of people and the activities of this world." Skyka said.

"Tess? Kon? Gernack?" Herrior said as he started naming off several other leaders of Tranquil's main fighting groups.

"All dispatched and monitoring, same as us. All probably wondering the same thing." Bernett said.

Herrior let out a sigh and nodded. He took off his armor and put on the armor Dan had given him. The armor instantly adjusted itself to Herrior's bigger size as he put it on. Slowly with each piece he felt his powers increase. After putting all of it on, and replacing his sword and shield as well, he looked confused at Dan.

"Yeah, more health, better ability to mitigate damage, things like that right?" Dan said. "I don't even know if I am using the right phrase. I never actually had to use it. I'm more in a competition to see if I can swing and kill people faster than our rogue." Dan ended with a laugh looking at Trackolania. Trackolania let out a half smile and shook his head in a cocky way.

"Well, Veliline you can have what I used to have if you would like." Herrior said looking at her. Veliline walked over and began to examine Herrior's old armor. She quickly moved his sword and shield aside while looking at the other pieces.

"You might do a better job absorbing damage with a shield." Herrior said.

"We do not use shields, or weapons of this type." Veliline said as she continued to rummage through the items. She tried on a couple of items, but quickly took them back off and let them fall to the group. The only pieces that she took were Herrior's old cloak and boots. She felt the armor quickly adjust to her body as if expecting it to do so.

"I do not need the rest." Veliline announced. Herrior seemed to hesitate for a second and then realized that he did not know much about death knights. He simply nodded and asked if the portal to Tranquil was still maintained in this room. Lindel said it was and everybody started throwing the old armor into the portal. They could hear the commotion on the other end as voices began grabbing the armor and saying among themselves that they were taking it to the blacksmiths.

"I need time to reflect on the events that took place today. Veliline we discussed this before, and I wish to discuss it again. None of us know more about your kind than you do. I ask that you become an ambassador of Tranquil. If any of our groups come across any more death knights you would be best to speak with them." Herrior said.

"You won't, my kind are all dead." Veliline said.

"I thought that about my kind as well. Turns out I was wrong." Mohania said.

"Good night everybody." Herrior said walking over to Skyka and embracing her. They laid together on the dirt ground. The rest of his group took the queue and figured enough was said for today.

During the night, several bags of food were delivered through the portal by Brenna. She set them down beside each one. Trackolania sensed her immediately as she passed through the portal. He smiled at her and then went back to sleep. Mohania was in the corner, sitting up staring at her. Brenna walked over to Herrior, knelt down and kissed him on the cheek and whispered "It's good to have you back." Brenna then walked over to Mohania and squatted down beside him. Mohania turned to look at her. Brenna smiled at him and then looked over at Veliline.

"She's safe." Mohania said.

"No…I…" Brenna said off guard.

"Same thoughts that everybody had about my undead, the orcs, the draenei, and probably many of the other races walking through our city. Does anybody know you are here?" Mohania whispered.

"Yes." Brenna answered. "I would not be allowed if I was gone for only five minutes and not to leave the presence of your group." Mohania nodded.

"No word from Kendall?" Brenna asked.

"She has not tried to contact me if that is what you are asking." Mohania said.

Brenna leaned over to within inches of Mohania's skeleton head. "I hope you start talking again." Brenna kissed Mohania's hood and made her way back through the portal.

Trackolania watched her step through. He heard the entire conversation. He sat up and looked over at Mohania. Mohania returned the stare. Trackolania smiled and opened his bag. Inside was an assortment of dried meats, berries, and bread. He pulled out a single berry and threw it in the air. As the berry descended, Trackolania's dagger flew out of its sheath and split it directly in two. Trackolania's other hand grabbed the berries as he put his dagger back into his sheath.

"Don't you do anything else to amuse yourself?" Mohania asked. Trackolania looked at Mohania with a smile. Trackolania quickly switched the two halves of the berry into his left hand and threw them at Mohania. The berries flew through the air and landed perfectly into Mohania's empty eye sockets.

"Do you have anything else to amuse yourself without involving me?" Mohania asked. Mohania ignited his eye sockets on fire, burning up the berries. Trackolania's smile faded as he looked away from Mohania. He let his head hit the back of the concrete wall and took a deep breath.

"My thoughts exactly." Mohania said quietly. "I haven't eaten anybody in a week." Trackolania slowly turned to glare at him.

Mohania let out a smile. "Give or take a day. Feel like sneaking out and eating some prisoners?" Trackolania turned his head back to the ceiling. He let out a quick sigh and then laid back down.

"Good night my friend." Mohania said.

The Lieutenant drove in to the station early that morning expecting something out of the ordinary. He was not let down.

"Care to comment on what happened last night?" A reporter said shoving a microphone in his face."

"What is your official report? Is there going to be a press conference?" Another said.

The Lieutenant rolled down his window and yelled at them to move out of the way so he could pull his car into the compound.

"Are you refusing to comment? Do you not know what happened to your own officer's last night? If you don't should we expect to see your resignation?" One female reporter said following his car into the parking lot.

"Let them through." The Lieutenant said as the guards stopped closing the gates. They reopened them and several dozen press members armed with cameras and recorders came storming into the station.

The Lieutenant cursed as he put his car into park and got out. He painted a smile on his face and welcomed everybody to the station and invited them in.

"I'm not sure at this point what any of you are talking about, but come on in. Many of you aren't dressed appropriately for the weather." The Lieutenant said and he led them into the station. The press continued blasting him with questions as the Lieutenant walked them back to his office. He opened the door and invited them all to come in and assured them that all of their questions would be answered.

"Ok, from what I gathered from your random blurting some of my officers were killed?" The Lieutenant asked?

"Which of your officers were killed?" "Where did this take place?" "Why are you not aware of this?" "We had word that they were shot, did they die?"

The Lieutenant held up his hands as the questions continued to fire at him.

"Ok, slow down. Our normal procedure is if one of our officers's are injured while on duty, I get notified of it after they are rushed to the hospital and stabilized. Ok so now let me check my pager and my cell phone." The Lieutenant said pulling out his pager and phone.

"The rumor is that the officers were brought here instead of the hospital?" The other press members seemed to all agree on this. The Lieutenant looked at them confused.

"Why would they come back here?" He asked in a serious tone. The press started shooting off random questions again, but the Lieutenant held up his hand for silence as he made a phone call to his secretary. Afterwards he made several more phone calls all while checking his pager and cell phone as well as looking for notes on his desk.

A moment later he stood up with a confused look. "I have no information on that. Procedure states that I am to be notified of all injuries, fatal or not. I have no information to that affect, and all of my personal are reporting that nothing happened last night. I would like to know how you know this information about my officers?" The Lieutenant asked looking around.

"Several members of the press were here last night and had seen the wounded officers brought in to your station." The Lieutenant held out his hand for silence, and looked confused.

"Follow me." The Lieutenant said as he walked out of his office.

"Who was shot last night?" The Lieutenant asked out loud. Most of the officers ignored his question and carried on with their business.

"I want an answer! The press is never wrong… They claim several of our officers, or other officers, or people in our officer's uniforms were shot and brought into our station last night, who knows about this?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Sir, did you try the hospitals? Nobody would have been brought back here." An officer said spinning around in his chair to look at him.

"Did night shift say anything? Come on, anybody who isn't busy help me figure this out." The Lieutenant said. For awhile nobody moved. Then two interns got up and walked over to him as well as one of the wives of a fellow officer.

"Thanks for your help." The Lieutenant pretended to whisper to them. The Lieutenant turned back around to face the press. "I could command everybody to stop what they are doing and investigate your allegations, but you will have to forgive them. They are busy doing cop stuff, you know, keeping the crime rate down and solving cases." The Lieutenant ended on a sarcastic tone.

"Ok, let's start this little parade. If somebody was shot, there would be evidence of blood on the floor. If it was cleaned up, there would be evidence of it underneath a black light." The Lieutenant looked around. The interns offered them theirs. "Great, ok turn them on and begin sweeping the area for blood stains."

The interns started doing as instructed and the press members saw that there was no trace of blood on the tile floor. Eventually they walked all the way to the exit door. The interns scanned the door and the walls as well.

"Lieutenant, are you calling our informants liars?" One of the lady's in the press said.

"I haven't said anything to that affect. We're still investigating for blood. My entire staff has reported nothing, and the previous shift reported nothing as well. If there is something, we are going to find it. Now please everybody outside and show me where the vehicle is, the path the officers went, and…also I'm assuming it was our main door, was it another door perhaps?" The Lieutenant asked. Nobody responded. The Lieutenant opened the door and led everybody out. The Lieutenant suggested scanning the door knobs on both doors very thoroughly because that would be where the blood would have to be. Afterwards none of the press members could point out what car the officers were brought in, or even if it was one of the squad cars.

"Should we check every vehicle then? Let's see, we have eighty five out right now so we'll have to do those later. Including our staff and officers vehicles we have well over three hundred vehicles on our premises, not including our visitors." The Lieutenant said and paused for a second. There was no response.

"Well now I'm tired of playing this game, in fact I'm pissed off! Get your facts straight next time. All of the evidence does point to the fact that nothing happened last night and until you have proof I suggest you present it before blasting me with your wild allegations!" The Lieutenant said. He asked the interns and the officer's wife that was helping to go back inside. The Lieutenant then walked quickly over to the front gates and said, "Check all of their vehicles! Make sure you stay within the law. Check for expired tags, lights out, possible drugs and weapons in their vehicles." Several of the officers acknowledged the order and began to conduct the search. The Lieutenant then spun around and said, "Just returning the favor, and when cases this week aren't as solved as quickly as we have been turning them out, I will blame all of you! Now take your allegations and your dreams of catching one of my officers dying and get off my base!" The Lieutenant screamed at them and walked back in the main compound, slamming the doors behind them. He let out a sigh.

"What happened last night?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No idea what you are talking about." One of the officers said. A dozen of them stood up with bags of flowers and gifts. "These were delivered here first thing this morning, again with no particular reason. They look like thank you gifts. Don't know what would have happened that would have caused a sudden burst of gifts to come in this morning."

"Thank you for hiding those." The Lieutenant said with relief in his voice and gathered up all of the bags.

"For hiding what sir?" The officer with the tooth pick in his mouth said.

"Also, for no particular reason as well, our prisoners seem shaken up this morning. All of them are refusing to leave their cells or to eat. They are all pale white with blood shot eyes. We reviewed the tapes from last night."

"Let me guess, nothing out of the ordinary?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Honestly that's the truth. No clue what happened." The same officer said.

The Lieutenant made his way to the special operations door and knocked on it.

"Hold on, we aren't decent." Crystal called out. The Lieutenant rolled his eyes. Herrior unlocked the door and allowed him to come in. They were all in their human form; Mohania had put an illusion over Veliline because she did not have a trinket yet. She still was obviously not comfortable with the idea, but Herrior insisted.

"Apparently you all had a busy night last night." The Lieutenant said setting the bags on the floor and shutting the door behind him.

"Ooo…presents!" Skyka said and ran over to the bags.

"Our prisoners are scared shitless, our officers won't say a word – even to me. Also apparently I need to thank you for saving the life of three of my officers who were shot last night." The Lieutenant said.

"Less talky, more explainy…what are these?" Skyka said holding up several bouquets of flowers.

"Roses, daffodils, tulips, umm…the others I don't recognize." Crystal said walking over to them.

"We don't eat this right?" Skyka asked.

"No, just a thank you gesture." Crystal said looking through the bags. "No cards, that's good. No letters and several wrapped up pieces of sausage? Who gives sausage as a thank you gift?"

"Maybe that is all they had hun? Who knows...split it up among the group so that everybody gets a taste." Dan said.

"Does anybody have any explanation as to why our prisoners won't speak, eat, or even leave their cells?" The Lieutenant asked. Mohania's eyes burst forward with flame as a big grin came across his face. "Do you need an explanation?"

The Lieutenant sighed and looked away. After a moment he thanked them.

"For what hun?" Lindel said.

"For all that you did last night. Those scum locked up deserve whatever you did to them, and for saving the lives of my officers." The Lieutenant said.

"What makes you think it was us?" Lindel said starting to giggle.

The Lieutenant turned to Branzer and said, "You have your hands full with her."

"Yes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love her." Branzer said looking at her. Lindel turned to look at him and saw that he was smiling at her. "I love you hun." Branzer said again. Lindel blushed.

"Ok fine, invite me to the wedding. In the meantime can I still give you some cases? How long are all of you going to be here?" The Lieutenant asked.

"We do not know. I made contact with one of our ambassadors from Tranquil last night and he seemed insistent that we stay here." Herrior said. Then his voice grew angry, "Our people are dying in other worlds and we have to babysit your race on this rock filled with greed, lust, and every other sin you can think of. It disgusts me!"

"Herrior…" Skyka said gently.

"Continue to monitor for any abnormalities. Having all of us in this room probably isn't the most efficient way of scouting for these events." Herrior said.

"What are we looking for? The same thing? Demons, alliance, werewolves…" The Lieutenant asked.

"Sudden volcanic activity, huge rifts forming, elementals walking around, dragons flying around, and creatures you haven't seen before." Herrior said.

"The usual, I'll spread the word." The Lieutenant said. "Looks like you have all eaten already. I'll gather up some cases…"

"How about letting us come out and help with the officers? As long as we maintain our illusions it shouldn't be a problem." Herrior said.

"I'm not one to argue with you, mostly because you could kill me before I even know what happened, but do you think that is the best idea?" The Lieutenant asked.

Herrior let out a sigh and turned around to his group. He saw the answer in their eyes. "Go…" The Lieutenant walked out of the secured door only to find several of his officers standing in front of him.

"We were the ones. They saved our lives last night." The officer in the front said.

"Nothing happened last night, and you would do best to forget about it. That is probably the best advice you have ever gotten in your whole life, trust me." The Lieutenant said. He looked behind them and saw kids and women, probably their families.

"No, absolutely not. You are here to take them on a tour of the facility and then leave, that is an order." The Lieutenant said opening his door and walking over to his desk. He began to log onto his computer when he saw the same three women and the children walked towards him. The Lieutenant put a hand over his eyes and sighed.

"They got your gifts, they simply did their job. Please just leave it at that." The Lieutenant said. Two of the wives began to cry and asked their children to leave, but the wives stayed in the office. The Lieutenant noticed the third one; not crying had a red twinkle in her eyes.

The Lieutenant closed his eyes, knowing exactly what was going on and quickly pushed the warning button under his desk.

"Ok, let's do this. Everybody out of my office, I have work to get caught up on. First it was the press, now this. Ok, everybody out. Let's go to the conference room across the hallway. We'll do this one at a time. Let's have this young lady first, you stay here." The Lieutenant said gently pulling the lady with the red glimmer in her eyes back into the office.

"Help yourself to the breakfast items, this won't take long." The Lieutenant said.

"I would like to be there with my wife, as my child would as well." One of the officers said. The Lieutenant turned his smiling face from the woman back to the officer and quickly shot him of fear and mouthed the word, "No" to him. The Lieutenant closed the door and saw that Herrior's entire group was in his office, they were all in their human illusion. Before the woman could ask where they came from, both Icis and Skyka were preparing a spell. A couple of seconds later they released it and it blasted the woman. Her body fell to the ground as a ghostly spirit came out. Herrior began to attack it; once his sword hit the spirit the rest of the group blasted it as well. The spirit dissipated as the woman looked around on the floor. Herrior lifted her face and peered into it. The woman looked frightened and asked what was going on and where she was at. Herrior commanded her to shut up. Herrior let her face go.

"I've checked for several seconds, I don't see any residue. Does anybody sense anything?" Herrior asked. The group reported that they didn't.

"Get her out of here." Herrior said.

The Lieutenant helped her up off from the ground and escorted her out of his office, making sure to close the door behind him.

"What just happened? Where's my family? I…don't remember…" The woman said.

"Here is the woman, whose wife is this?" The Lieutenant asked. Her husband quickly ran up and asked what was wrong.

"She fainted actually. She doesn't remember much. She's fine, probably just low on fluids." The Lieutenant said.

"Hun? Luke? I don't remember…my word, I love you. I don't remember." The woman hugged him hard and pulled their child in as well.

"A police station can be intimidating sometimes. The cold weather and not having a proper diet and lack of fluids can trigger these sorts of events. It's not all that uncommon." The Lieutenant said.

Luke kissed his wife and asked her to stay with their son for a second and asked to speak with his Lieutenant outside.

They went in the hallway and Officer Luke demanded to know what happened.

"She was possessed if you must know. I told you as well as the other officers to look for unusual activity. Let me guess, she's been mean and a real bitch around the house." The Lieutenant asked. The officer was speechless; all he could do was blink.

"Take her home; spend the rest of the day together." The Lieutenant pulled out his wallet and gave him two fifty dollar bills. "Treat yourselves and take care of each other. Take care of that great kid of yours too. Call my line directly if you need tomorrow off as well. You know what to do if this happens again."

"She has been…she was possessed? I should have…" The officer started to say.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Now then, you were just leaving weren't you?" The Lieutenant said walking into his office and closed the door behind him.

Herrior's group was still there as he heard them talking.

"I didn't actually think that would work." Skyka said.

"Thoughts…should we follow her and find out who did this to her?" Herrior asked.

"Why didn't she possess her kid and husband?" Bernett said thinking of his own family, and then wondered how they were doing in Tranquil.

"My vote is no. We can't be everywhere all at once. It could have been an unknown stranger in the grocery store, or even a passing driver. Can we all agree that she didn't seem to pose as much of a threat as a worgen or a fully possessed by an alliance?" Crystal asked.

"She was possessed enough to not know what was going on, you saw her reaction after we dispelled her." Skyka said.

"Dispelled?" Herrior asked.

"Priest words. I'm sure you warriors have your own words that probably are small with several grunts afterwards." Skyka replied back smiling at him. Their eyes met and their passion once again sparked inside of them. Skyka walked over to him and whispered, "I love you…" quietly.

"I didn't hear any grunts; I don't think I understood that." Herrior replied back looking deep into her eyes. He looked up at his group.

"I think we are looking for major catastrophic events to occur, not analyze some weak possession by the alliance." Branzer said.

Herrior nodded and then paused for a second before speaking "If that was a weak possession, could it mean that the alliance is less interested in this world? What new from our scouts?"

Herrior's group showed the impression that they did not know. Herrior nodded and looked at the Lieutenant.

"That's probably my queue to leave eh?" The Lieutenant said turning towards the door. "I think I'll go take a stroll through our prison area after I get my paperwork caught up. See if the Easter bunny left any presents."

Herrior turned to Branzer with a confused face after the Lieutenant left.

"It's not worth explaining…" He said.

"What is Easter?" Veliline asked.

"Something you need to know to become an ambassador." Herrior said glancing at her. Veliline nodded and the group began to explain.

The Lieutenant made his way to the holding cells. He casually walked in and made it a point to stop and talk to everybody he saw. All of his staff and officers reported the same thing. The prisoners refuse to come out of their cells, and seemed to have a rough night. The Lieutenant grinned on the inside as he heard the story told over and over. Finally he entered the prison area. The steel doors slamming open and shut behind him. The echo died down and complete silence engulfed the room. His footsteps echoed as he walked; not even a cough or heavy breath could be heard.

He walked by several cells looking in. The prisoners were all in their bed, either sleeping or looking as though they were trying to rationalize something.

"Good news everybody!" The Lieutenant yelled out. "You are all being released today!" After his echo died down, the cells were quiet again. The sound of vomiting could be heard further down the room. Several prisoners were quick to tell him to be quiet. The Lieutenant quickly walked down to where the prisoner was.

"Son, you look like you are on a three day binge. Have you been taking drugs on my premises?" The Lieutenant asked. The prisoner was a twenty-five year old male with tattoos all over his body. He quickly shook his head and apologized.

"Sorry? Did you do something wrong?" The Lieutenant asked getting out his phone. "How about I call our medical team and see what drugs you had in your system?"

The man's face turned even paler and quickly shook his head. "I'm not on anything, I swear! It's just…"

"Shut up…" Several of his cell mates said in a muffled tone.

"It's just what, did something happen last night? Nothing showed up on any of our tapes, it looked like any other night. Same thing all of our officers are claiming as well. No unusual activity, unless anybody saw anything differently?" The Lieutenant asked looking around. The man again vomited in the toilet.

"Case of the flu going around maybe?" The Lieutenant said looking at the man puking. His cellmate did a half nod at the Lieutenant and then laid back down on his bunk.

"By law, we have to offer you three meals a day. So far, all of you have refused two of them. Since nobody showed up so all of us had free meals compliments of you. Also, by law, you all have visitation rights, and rec time. Nobody wanted to do that either. Is it safe to assume nobody will be having dinner either?" The Lieutenant asked. He let out a smile and started walking back to the exit.

"Perhaps we should leave a night light on tonight? If anybody needs anything let us know. By all means we want to make all of you comfortable during your stay here while you pay your debt to society." The Lieutenant said and left the prison area. He left the building and immediately saw Lindel.

"Don't you get cold?" The Lieutenant asked as the snow gently began to fall. Lindel was still dressed in her low cut shirt and skirt.

"Have any trouble in there?" Lindel said, her smile beaming with pride.

"Seems as though there might be a mild case of the flu going around. Nobody is eating, one was vomiting and nobody seems to have any motivation. It's almost as if nobody slept last night." The Lieutenant said offering her his coat.

Lindel held up her hand in refusal, "Thanks for the offer. Well golly and gee…I wonder what would have happened last night that would have caused all of these events?"

"Word might get out." The Lieutenant said casually picking up his pace.

"No…it won't." Lindel said with confidence. "However we do have a problem that you need to address. The officer that was hurt last night, also the same one who's wife's mind we freed, doesn't seem to be able to control his excitement. He hasn't said anything to anybody yet…but we think it is only a matter of time."

The Lieutenant pulled out his cell phone. He punched a button and then rubbing his finger up several times until he found the number he was looking for and dialed it. The other line picked up almost immediately.

"Hello!" Officer Luke said in a jolly voice.

"Officer, I got word that you might be doing something you aren't supposed too." The Lieutenant said opening the door for Lindel. She grinned at him and walked in.

"What? I haven't been…how do you…" The officer said on the other line.

"Nothing happened that I am aware of, is there a reason to celebrate? Did I miss your anniversary or a holiday?" The Lieutenant blasted his voice into the phone. All of the other officers knew what was going on, took a quick second to look at the Lieutenant, and then went back to their work.

The other line went quiet for several seconds. Eventually the Lieutenant asked if he was still there.

"Yes Lieutenant I am. I am just excited that my wife and I agreed to renew our vows is all. You know my love for her, I feel like we are dating again. The passion between us…"

"That is enough officer I don't need a description. I also don't need to call again do I?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No sir, sorry sir." The officer said quickly.

"Let me know when the date is and I will notify our department. Take tonight off to plan your vows. Nothing to elaborate I hope." The Lieutenant said ending the call. He looked around and saw that Herrior's group was interacting with his officers.

"It got stuffy in that room." Lindel said skipping away. Lindel then spoke in his mind, "Veliline and Mohania are still in there. Veliline is in the process of learning the ways of an ambassador."

"I hope you aren't making a scene…" The Lieutenant said in his head making his way to his office.

"We aren't." Lindel replied back. This spooked the Lieutenant at first and then remembered Lindel's powers.

"Can you leave my head now?" The Lieutenant said in his head.

"Are there any memories about you and your wife that I would find entertaining?" Lindel asked back. The Lieutenant felt Lindel's presence leave his mind.

The Lieutenant passed by Branzer and quietly whispered said, "She's a pain in the ass…"

"Who?" Branzer asked.

"I heard that…" Lindel's voice floated out of several cubicles away from them.

Branzer smiled back at him and then turned his attention to the current case he was helping with. By the end of the day, with everybody working together, they had accumulated enough evidence to issue one hundred and twenty six search warrants.

The next day came and Branzer opened the door to their room. He looked out and saw the office bustling with activity. He didn't expect anything less after the work they did yesterday. He casually walked into the break room and grabbed a banana and a glass of fruit punch. He wondered back out and found the Lieutenant on the phone. He wasn't in his office, but in his old cubicle. The Lieutenant was obviously talking very intently to somebody when he saw Branzer looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly lowered the phone and looked at Branzer. Branzer shook his head and took another bite. The Lieutenant then went back to his conversation. It was as if they had a quick conversation as if to say, "Is something wrong?" with Branzer saying that there wasn't.

Suddenly a woman flew into Branzer's right side. The force would normally have knocked him over, or even fazed him. Branzer just simply looked down at the woman and said, "You almost spilled my juice."

The impact left several cuts on her face and arms, but the lady was obviously under the influence of some type of narcotic. Branzer was in his human form, but his armor was still on – most of which had sharp jagged points on it.

"You are handsome for an officer…" The woman said and stuck her finger in her mouth with a big grin. Another officer ran over and grabbed her, pulling her to her feet.

"Sorry sir, I was on the phone." The officer quickly said as he handcuffed her and brought her back to his cubicle.

"You might want to have her cuts looked at. She got them falling down." Branzer said as they walked away.

"You might want to have look for her body parts because I'm going to possess her and force her to rip her own limbs off!" Lindel began to say. Branzer turned around and kissed her on the forehead.

"No dismembering people today love, is everybody else awake yet?" Branzer asked.

"Yes…" Lindel said still staring at the woman in anger.

"Ok…let's go back and see what is happening then, shall we?" Branzer asked gently nudging Lindel's arm. Lindel turned around, looking up at Branzer with a smile and then led the way back to the room.

"Herrior, can I go kill somebody?" Lindel asked.

"Oh, me too?" Mohania asked quickly.

"What did they do, and no to Mohania's question." Herrior said.

"Nothing, everything is fine." Branzer said.

"Some drugged up lady was flirting with my love." Lindel said.

"She has good taste then hun, consider it a compliment." Skyka said. Branzer casually nodded as Lindel's head spun around and glared at him. Branzer then quickly shook his head. Lindel then slowly turned her head back around to realign it with her body.

"Is something wrong Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"No." Lindel said quickly.

"Good, Branzer what does it look like out there?" Herrior said staring at Lindel and smiling.

"A zoo. I wasn't able to speak with the Lieutenant, but the officer is crawling with suspects and it even looks like officers from other divisions were called in to handle the overload." Branzer said.

"What's a zoo?" Herrior asked.

"Don't answer that!" Crystal said quickly, looking briefly at Quinely hoping that she wasn't looking at her; however she was though.

"What's a zoo?" Quinely asked more curious than ever.

"It's a place where animals are locked up to be viewed by the public. People make money off from it." Dan said quickly looking away from her.

"What do you mean by locked up?" Quinely asked. "Did the animals do something wrong? Are they rabid, or a threat to other wild life?"

"No. Boy am I hungry! Did anybody leave any treats for us this morning by the portal?" Branzer said quickly hoping to avoid the subject.

"You just ate and are avoiding the subject." Quinely said getting upset.

"Everybody please, let's just take a moment. Lindel stop trying to locate the woman in your mind." Herrior said. Lindel shook her head and looked around as if she was in a trance. "Quinely this world has a lot of things we do not agree with. One of them probably being the question that I hesitate to ask. Branzer, what are suspects?" Herrior said motioning everybody to sit in a circle.

"A person who has been accused of committing a crime but has not been tried in front of a judge or jury of their peers." Branzer said.

Herrior looked at him confused. Branzer said, "You asked, that is the definition of a suspect."

"But they are guilty, several cases yesterday we tossed away because the people were not guilty. We judged them and found out that they are in fact guilty, that was the whole purpose in helping out yesterday. I'm a leader, and yourself being an ambassador, have the authority to inflict punishment as we see fit." Herrior said pausing for a second studying Branzer's face. "You know what question I'm going to ask next, should I even ask it?"

"The suspects are confined in jail. If they can pay their bond, buy their way out of jail, until their court hearings then they are free. Sometimes they don't show up and skip town and tracking them back down is harder. Many of the court hearings can take several months or even a year to pass judgment upon them. Depending on the nature of the crime, they may not even be imprisoned, especially if they have a good lawyer. Was that the part you didn't want to hear?" Branzer asked.

"Yup." Herrior said and then sighed. A couple of seconds later, there was a knock on their door. Everybody activated their trinkets, Branzer's illusion instantly disappeared and his armor was exposed as Herrior opened the door.

"Branzer!" Lindel yelled quickly, but he did not understand what she was talking about. Mohania quickly created an illusion of the Lieutenant around him, as the Lieutenant walked in.

"Good, I could use two of me out there." The Lieutenant said looking at Branzer. Branzer looked at his arms and chest, realizing that he was an exact duplicate of him.

"Shit...I forgot…" Branzer said. The Lieutenant continued to talk regardless of Branzer.

"Well the paperwork is a mess, but that was inevitable considering what your group did to help us last night. I wanted to thank you guys, even though you won't get any of the credit – and actually our department will not be as well. Just headache after headache. It's almost as if leaving them all on the streets would have been easier. Even our chief hasn't called to congratulate our department, on the plus side though the press has left us alone." By now Branzer had reactivated his trinket and Mohania dropped his illusion.

The room fell silent for awhile, leaving the Lieutenant feeling kind of awkward.

"Ok then, I just wanted to give you an update." The Lieutenant said and turned around to leave.

"Lieutenant, what do you want – a congratulations and a pat on the back? Shall we drink in our victory to round up these 'suspects' as Branzer calls them, only so that they can go free again? What justice is that?" Herrior asked.

"Some of them are being jailed immediately." The Lieutenant said, but knew what Herrior was getting at.

"How about bringing in all of the suspects into our room and having our warlocks lit up the ground with fire, slowly watching them burn and scamper around like bugs on a hot summers ground?" Herrior asked and then continued, "Then we can portal them hundreds of miles away and have our healers control their minds forcing them to fight each other, then have Lindel erase…"

"Hun…" Skyka said in a kind voice. "Perhaps we need to get some air today?" Herrior stopped as he felt himself on the verge of becoming enraged. "Mohania, could you please stop the fire?"

Mohania immediately stopped casting and then slowly said, "This wouldn't be a good time to say something sarcastic would it?"

"Herrior, I know how you feel." The Lieutenant said. "If it was up to me I'd kill half of them myself, no questions asked. What you did in our prison brought satisfaction and joy to me. Our job is to merely round up these suspects and then let our laws take over from there, which obviously are different from your laws."

"If somebody robbed somebody else, was caught, and strung up in public where he was slowly gutted, how many more people do you think would consider robbing somebody?" Herrior asked. The Lieutenant nodded as Herrior kept talking.

"If a man rapes another man's wife, how many other rapes would occur if he and his entire family were slowly burned to death over several days? The screams and cries of agony would echo through the night as a reminder to the entire city." Herrior slammed his fist in his hand so forcefully that it made the entire room vibrate as small chunks of rock and debris fell from the walls.

The Lieutenant quivered for a second at the blast and then said, "What do you want me to do?"

Herrior shook his head at him and slowly walked away.

"Hun, now probably is not a good time for a visit." Skyka told the Lieutenant and followed Herrior. The Lieutenant nodded and left the room, locking it behind him. He saw everybody staring at him.

"A big…heavy thing…fell…" The Lieutenant said. Everybody slowly turned their glance away from him as he entered his office, slamming his door shut. He walked over to his phone, the message light on it indicating that he had only one message.

"Phone is probably broke…" The Lieutenant said and he slammed his finger down on the button.

"Hi this is Bill Keenist, public relations director of the Detroit Lions. We are in need of some additional security and it seems that all of the police forces have been tied up lately. If you could help us out it would be appreciated. Call me back at…" The Lieutenant slammed his finger again on the message button, silencing the recording. The Lieutenant spun his chair around and looked out the window. "Just what our department needs right now, baby-sitting a bunch of over-grown…"

"I can handle the lions; they aren't in a zoo are they?" Quinely asked behind him. The Lieutenant jumped and quickly spun around.

"Do you people materialize out of thin air or something? I knock on your door, could you at least knock on mine?" The Lieutenant said bitterly.

"No. So how many lions are there?" Quinely asked with a small smile on her face.

"There are no lions, it is a football team. They want us to go there and make sure nothing happens to them while they play their game. I used to be a fan of them, until this job overwhelmed me." The Lieutenant said. He paused for a couple of seconds and then said, "No, before I overwhelmed myself I should say."

Quinely looked at him curiously.

"I know…what is football? Why is a team named after an animal, blah blah blah…What do you guys do in Tranquil for fun? Isn't there any entertainment, or things of that nature?" The Lieutenant asked.

"We keep people alive; stop the advancement of demons, the alliance, and any other creatures from destroying worlds and the people there in. Would you rather we not do that?" Quinely asked.

"Fine…fine…I'm sorry I asked. You guys do a great job of that, and many worlds or whatever is probably thankful for it." The Lieutenant said and got up to start pacing.

"That didn't come out the way it should have." The Lieutenant said after realizing what he had said.

"No, it didn't." Quinely said in an upset voice.

"I'm sorry." The Lieutenant said and walked over to his desk and pulled out two small bars.

"Snickers, it's supposed to give you your energy back. Make you 'yourself' again; at least that is what the commercials portray it to do. Basically it's just chocolate and…"

"I'll take that!" Lindel materialized out of thin air and grabbed the Lieutenant's candy bar. She took her first bite and felt the chocolate instantly hit her taste buds and let out a moaning sound.

"You should probably take the wrapper off first." The Lieutenant said casually. Lindel took another giant bite ignoring his advice.

"So is it safe to assume that all of you are in here?" The Lieutenant said out loud.

"Nope…just us…how many more of these do you have?" Lindel asked.

The Lieutenant opened his drawer and pulled out two more. Lindel quickly snatched them and then flew through the wall in excitement.

"Is the parchment on the outside the wrapper?" Quinely said trying to figure out how to take it off.

"Yup." The Lieutenant said and quickly took it off for her. Quinely took a bite and seemed pleased.

"So you were sent to cheer me up, calm me down, or convince me to kill all of our suspects?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Neither…oops." Quinely said with a piece of chocolate falling out of her mouth. "I can see why Lindel likes it. No Herrior stated that we all need a break and asked everybody to walk away for awhile. I chose to take my break in here with you."

The Lieutenant's phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. Lindel's head and upper body materialized out of the phone and gave him a kiss on the head. "I love chocolate!" She said and then vanished back into the phone.

The Lieutenant casually put the phone back down in its cradle and sighed. He saw the message light still showing the message that was stored.

"Oh why not, I mean what could go wrong with you guys there right?" The Lieutenant laughed as he returned the message. Quinely shrugged as she finished off the rest of her Snickers.


	15. Realign

Realign

The Lieutenant lowered the phone and let out a chuckle. "Well looks like we are going to a football game. The PR guy, eh…what's his name…anyways asked for one hundred of my personal. I told him that I can't spare that many, but he sounded desperate and would pay fifty thousand a head."

"Is he a bounty hunter?" Quinely asked.

The Lieutenant looked at her confused. "No?" and paused for a second. He then chuckled and shook his head, "No for one of my officers to go help, wrong terminology, anyways I will send out a notification to all of the officers and see who wants to go. If the number exceeds one hundred, depending on their work load of course, then we will draw names." The Lieutenant then thought of something and looked to have a touch of sadness come over him.

"I won't be able to go, who will fill in for me? Damn it…" He said in frustration.

"Who fills in for you now when you are gone?" Quinely asked.

"The work load is too intense; I'll have to confirm delivery of our suspects to our surrounding stations. I'm sure there are going to be people harassing us because we pulled so many bad guys off the street so quickly. Lawyers and judges will be up my butt, figure of speech, and this place is going to be a mess for the next couple of days." The Lieutenant said ranting in a monotone voice.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Quinely morphed into a fly and flew up to the ceiling.

"You don't know how many times I wish I could do that…" The Lieutenant said softly. The door opened and one of his head officers came in.

"I'm glad I wasn't on the phone or with some people." The Lieutenant said harshly.

"Sorry sir, I thought I heard you say to come in." The officer said.

"No I didn't…wait, are you here to tell me that all of the paperwork is done and all of our suspects have been successfully processed so that we can have tomorrow off?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I wish." The officer chuckled. The two of them talked for an hour and Quinely was growing bored of the conversation. "Ask him who would fill in for you if you weren't here…" Quinely said. Her voice was just as loud as it was before in her human form. The officer quickly stopped talking and looked around. The Lieutenant rolled his eyes.

"Did you just hear something?" The officer asked.

"No. Do you have any recommendations for officers that would be able to fill my position if I were to walk into the path of a semi, or jump off a bridge?" The Lieutenant asked.

The officer was obviously confused, "Sir?" The Lieutenant stared at him waiting for an answer.

"Well, you know what we have done in the past when you were sick. Officer Briggs, Issac, or I fill in. The calls that demand your personal attention we transfer to your home phone. Maybe I ask what this is about. Sir are you ok?" The officer said in a concerned tone.

"Never felt better, perhaps I should promote you three to a higher rank. Give you more responsibility, cushy chair to sit in all day along with a raise." The Lieutenant said. "Would you be interested?"

"If I answer yes, are you going to tell me where that voice came from and where this subject came from all of a sudden?" The officer asked.

"No."

"Sir, are you dying?" The officer asked.

"As fast as everybody else is. If you want I can get a lazy-boy for you three instead of these office chairs. The ones with the cup holders that vibrate, not the cheap ones." The Lieutenant said.

"I don't feel comfortable answering that question, and probably the other two wouldn't either without a more refined explanation of what you mean?"

"I think you three should have a promotion and a raise. I need to have some of my workload lightened. It would be a 'win-win' situation for everybody. So…yay or nay?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yay, with some conditions…and several questions." The officer said.

"I gave you the conditions, and you are allowed one question." The Lieutenant said.

"If you aren't here, will we be able to…" The officer said and motioned his head towards the room next to him.

"That room is for storage. Sometimes it is used for other things. Always knock before you go in, and be careful of large objects falling. I am going to say the word 'Yes' for no particular reason. Are there any words that you wish to say for no particular reason? Any words that you haven't said in awhile?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Guardian angel?" The officer asked.

"Yup, that is a word that I haven't heard in awhile. I haven't heard the word 'Yatzhee' in awhile either. It's funny how some words disappear in your head and then surface for no particular reason. Anyways the answer is yes, just tread lightly and keep your sentences short. Also, keep a lot of chocolate on hand." The Lieutenant said.

Lindel's upper body flew through the wall and said, "Did I hear…oops…" Lindel said and quickly retracted herself as she saw the officer in the room. Lindel began cursing herself for not scanning the room ahead of time.

"Why are you looking at that wall? Something in particular caught your attention? I was thinking about putting up a picture up there…something with some wildlife in it." The Lieutenant said.

"So…" The officer said pointing at the wall.

"Let's call it a day; tomorrow we'll get some things sorted out. Lots of stress today, don't you agree? Go home and get some sleep, I'm going to contact the other two right now." The Lieutenant said standing up and walking to the door. Before the officer left he whispered, "I didn't see anything today, is that understood? I cannot stress that enough, because it is a matter of life and death." The Lieutenant patted him on the shoulder as he left. The Lieutenant walked back to his computer, sent out several emails and then announced that he was going to go home for the day.

"Good night!" Quinely said flying out of the room and under the crack of their secure door.

Herrior's group reformed back up in their room at midnight. Their spirits were lifted, and Quinely reported what the Lieutenant said.

"I'm surprised he hasn't done that sooner. So everybody make sure their trinkets are activated tomorrow." Quinely then went on to explain that they were going to a football game with the lions playing. The humans were in shock, and asked how the Lieutenant how he managed to do that.

"Some message on their phone from some guy." Quinely said.

"Well at least it is a vague description…" Dan said smiling at her.

"They bored me, besides…oh hi Samatha!" Quinely said as everybody turned around. Bernett ran up to her and embraced her. He began shooting off a dozen questions all at once.

"I can only stay for five minutes. I love you, do you understand that? I love you very much. Jeffery is doing great." Samatha said kissing Bernett repeatedly. She then turned to the rest of the group and said, "Tranquil is still a mess. Well not really a mess, but more of a major construction zone. The power there has increased. I miss all of you a lot. An ambassador came up to me and asked if I still had a home on Earth, well he didn't say Earth, but I told him I did. He suggested that we get rid of it. The reason being is that on many of the worlds, or whatever, our enemies have been tracking down our establishments and attacking them. It would be easier if we had one less thing to defend."

"Sell my house?" Branzer asked.

"Don't shoot the messenger." Samatha said and appeared to try to say more, but was interrupted by Herrior.

"Samatha, how are the ongoing battles?"

"I'm not involved in any of that. I was going to ask you. I have been deployed, or assigned, whatever you want to call it, to help many different areas. The battles that I am involved in we have always won, afterwards a crew is brought in to reinforce the outposts. But the major battles, or whatever you guys are doing, I have no idea."

"That makes two of us…" Herrior said sounding upset.

"So I am in a primary fighting group, while my wife is a secondary and she is put in more battles then we are?" Bernett said glaring at Herrior. Herrior just shook his head.

"Ok, I need to go. Remember I love you ok?" Samatha said and kissed Bernett very passionately. She then turned around and walked through the portal.

Bernett turned to Herrior with an obvious upset face.

"Don't say it Bernett, I know. People I have known for hundreds of years are battling, yet we're sitting here. We have our assignments and have to carry them out. Nobody here likes it anymore than you do. The only thing I can add to it was after I contacted an ambassador for better armor, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week and he was carrying on almost four conversations at once. The majority of what he said was to kill somebody, or to annihilate an entire group. I have no answers, but we have to follow orders." Herrior said. He then thought for a moment and then said, "We have had similar events like this in the past, but always with an explanation. This time we don't, and that is how it is. We all, including myself, have to accept this."

"What about our stuff in our house, or Branzer's house? What about my car?" Julie asked.

"Yeah, what about my house?" Branzer asked.

"We had to sell ours." Bernett said with a sigh.

"Why do we have to be on the move, and hide out in rooms like this? Why can't we just, I don't know, have normal lives?" Branzer said. "My house will be paid off in seven years."

"Rather than constantly be on the move like Devon's group was? Because that worked out well for them." Dan said sarcastically.

"You know just shut up! I worked hard for what I have. I spent a lot of time and money on it. You were brought in right out of high school for crying out loud!" Branzer said yelling at Dan.

"Knock it off you two." Herrior said calmly. "I am sorry about your home and Bernett's home. I am not sure what we are going to do with your stuff. As far a normal life, any of you can walk away any time you want. You have always had that choice, but once you do your hearthstone will be deactivated and you will not receive help from any of our forces. You will still have your powers, since your minds have been altered with the information but you will not receive any new powers or additional armaments. Nobody has ever walked away from our city before, if you want to be the first the door is behind me. I'm going to sleep." And with that Herrior laid down and closed his eyes. Skyka walked over and positioned herself in front of Herrior on the ground as he put his arm around her. Mohania walked over to the corner of the room and sat down. Jacklyn, Strings, and Trackolania all followed him as well. Branzer let out a sigh of frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. Lindel walked over and gently squeezed his hand. Branzer looked at her as she smiled at him, then Lindel walked over to join the rest of the group.

The faint cries of Bernett could be heard as he walked away from the group. Branzer let out another sigh as he realized he was out of order. A lot his group had given up more than he had. Then he recalled the battles where he watched Herrior die and then suddenly brought back to life by Skyka, however the entire time the tears flowing from Skyka's eyes.

"And I'm worried about my dumbass house." Branzer said in his mind. "Bernett's wife is off fighting, risking her life probably everyday and here he sits. And when was the last time he even saw his own child?"

"Dan, I'm sorry." Branzer said.

"No, I was out of line." Dan said back. Crystal, who had been sitting next to Dan smiled up at Branzer. She then looked at Bernett and then back at Branzer as if to ask, "What about him?" Branzer shrugged his shoulders. They all watched as Bernett slowly knelt down to the ground with his eyes closed, tears still running out of them.

"Do you think it's easy for any of us?" Mohania said as he watched everything that had just happened. Quinely was distracted in her own thoughts about what happened in these "zoo's" on this planet, but snapped out of it when she hear Mohania's voice. She looked over at Bernett and saw that he was crying. She walked over to him and laid down beside him. Bernett wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed hard. Quinely quietly said, "I'm sorry Bernett. We all love you, and the King would not put her in danger. She's probably safer than we are right now." Bernett nodded and firmly squeezed her again.

"Love binds, anger breaks. Mourn with those mourning, celebrate with those who celebrate. Now go to sleep." Jacklyn said with her eyes closed. Julie walked over and hugged Branzer and then gently pushed him towards Lindel. Lindel smiled at Julie, as the rest of them settled down for the night.

There was suddenly a series of frantic knocking on their door. Skyka woke up and looked around.

"Go away…" Skyka said softly.

"There have been five people, I think, standing outside our door for twenty minutes now." Mohania said.

Skyka let out a sigh as she sat up and looked around. Everybody else was sleeping, except their rogue who was quietly staring at Skyka as well.

"Why don't you answer it?" Skyka said rubbing her eyes. Mohania chanting a quick series of words as an illusion flooded over her, making her look like a mid-aged nurse.

"Yes fine, but if I have to get up so are you…" Skyka said and started nudging Herrior. Herrior let out a series of grunts and finally a loud sneeze as he looked up at his wife.

"Something big planned for us?" Herrior said closing his eyes again. He heard the knocking on the door. He rose to his feet and stretched as he activated his trinket.

"I hate being in human form…Mohania can you do something about…oh you already did." Herrior said turning around to see that Mohania had created an illusion of large wall where their group was sleeping.

Herrior turned back around and released the locks. There was a middle-aged couple outside whose faces showed the sign of utter desperation. The lady was carrying a lightly dressed young child in her arms. They both began to talk at the same time.

"Silence!" Herrior said in a commanding voice. He looked at the other officers that had been with them and then produced a glare. They all left to continue their job.

"Let me see him…" Skyka said reaching out for the child. "He's very sick! Why did you wait so long to bring him in?" Skyka said as she walked back into their room and kicked the door shut with her foot.

Both parents were startled at first and then began asking question after question, eventually demanding to see their child and wanting to know what was going on. Herrior reached out and grabbed both of them by their jacket lifting them into the air. Then he pushed them into the wall behind them, gently enough not to hurt them, but causing the air in their lungs to be completely expelled. Herrior then walked both of them over and set them down gently in the corner.

"First of all, this is not how this works. You will shut up, you will ask no questions, you were never here, and you do not recall seeing me or my wife right now. Forcing the air out of your lungs gives me the chance to speak without being interrupted. You will recover, I promise." Herrior said as both of them were gasping for air.

"Now then, both of your anxiety levels are through the roof. Then you bring your child in who is obviously sick. Remember this in the future, stay calm – always. Your fears and anxieties are unwarranted and only making things worse for everybody. You will begin relaxing or the next thing I will do is knock you out, is that understood?" Herrior said. The couple was now able to breathe normally. They both nodded, but Herrior saw that their eyes were still racing with thoughts and questions.

"Yes, it is your child. I understand that. Your wife seems very hesitant in the first place for bringing him here. You on the other hand forced her to come. Obviously you two do not see eye-to-eye on things, but there is no point in settling this dispute now. You're child will be stabilized and if need be will be transported to the nearest hospital. My wife took him away from you because you were making the situation worse." Herrior said.

"What is she, is she a nurse, does she…" The wife started spouting off questions.

"Shut…up…" Herrior said moving his head slowly and glaring at her. "Give her a minute to look him over. Then we will talk. Until then, we will sit here in silence." However after only a few seconds the wife moved towards the door and began to say something. Herrior immediately grabbed her and forced her back into her sitting position. He then looked at her as he would a child who knew they just got into trouble.

After a minute passed, Herrior sensed that both parents had finally given in and calmed down. "Ok now that your minds and hearts of slowed, listen." Both parents looked at him confused, but suddenly heard the voice of their child talking. Both of their eyes lit up, but Herrior again had to grab them and force them back onto the ground.

"Do you two ever stop moving? How do you sleep at night? Just…wait…" Herrior said in a sarcastic voice, but ending in a firm tone.

The parents waited for another five minutes when Skyka opened the door and led the child out. The child continued talking to her as if she was his best friend. Herrior stepped aside as the parents both started hugging him.

"Ouch, mom – dad…you are hurting me." The child said calmly. The parents let go of their son and stared at him with relief; he looked back with curiosity.

"Things are ok, but my new friend here says that I need to talk to both of you about some things." The child said and then looked at Skyka confused. "I don't remember your name."

"Well, who do I look like?" Skyka said grinning at him. The child thought for a moment and then said, "Sort of like that lady with the umbrella that talks a lot and sings. I never liked the movie so I can't remember her name."

"Mary Poppins?" The dad asked.

"Let's go with Mary, shall we?" Skyka said still looking at the child.

"Mary is a good name for you." He said smiling at Skyka and then turned around to look at his parents.

"Mary says my condition was brought on by stress of my environment, withheld anxiety, and a poison." The parent's eyes grew wide as they stared at their son. He didn't see it though as he turned around to confirm what he just said with Skyka. Skyka nodded and walked to the left side of him and knelt down.

"What he is referring to is in his home he is talking about many of the fights that you two have. It's hurting both of you, your marriage, and your son. That was problem number one. The solution is to solve these issues; I would suggest finding a pastor and speak with him. The withheld anxiety that he spoke of goes along with the poison. Which one of you is poisoning his lunch that he takes to school?" Skyka asked.

"I pack his lunch's everyday but I most certainly do not poison him!" The mom said defensively.

"Has he ever told you about what happens after he has his lunch?" Skyka spoke back in the same quiet voice. The mom, still looking angry, slowly turned her head to her son.

"I don't like the sandwiches mom." The child said.

"What happens when you eat the sandwitch?" Skyka asked the child, but mispronouncing the word sandwich.

"I get very tired, my chest hurts, and I have trouble breathing. I've told you this before. I've told the lunch ladies this before, nobody believes me. Only Mary believes me." The child said in a hurtful tone.

"Your child's body constantly fights off a particular food as soon as it enters his system. It is a type of nut, from a butter tree?" Skyka said turning to the child.

"No, it's the peanut butter." The child said with tears flowing. "That is what is hurting me, and you won't stop giving it to me!" The child turned his body and thrusted it at Skyka. Skyka embraced the child and began to comfort him. Both parents were in shock.

"So your child, who knows his body better than you both do obviously, is saying that this nut that you are giving him has been slowly killing him and he's been trying to tell you, yet you wouldn't listen?" Herrior said moving his body between the parents and the child. "How about I break both of your legs, that way you are forced to sit and listen to your son!" Herrior said in a firm tone slamming his hands down on each of their upper right legs and began to squeeze.

The child heard his parents begin to cry in pain, so he left Skyka and told Herrior to please stop. Herrior did as the child asked and moved aside.

"We just had a lesson here. The child saw you were in pain and was able to identify it and stop the pain. In the future I would suggest doing the same with him!" Herrior said eying both of them. The child walked forward and hugged his parents, and they quickly hugged him back. Then they both started to cry and apologize to him.

"Lindel! Wake Dan up, now!" Herrior yelled in his mind. Inside the room Lindel quickly snapped out of her deep sleep. She shook her head and looked for Dan. She flew into the air and over to Dan's side, violently shaking him.

"What? What?" Dan said waking up. Lindel setup a mental link with Herrior Dan herself. Once Herrior felt the connection he yelled "Stop time, now!" In his head.

Time stopped.

Herrior and Skyka both instantly saw the family in front of them freeze. They stood up and Herrior told Skyka how good of a job she did as they both entered the room again. Re-enabling the locks, they both settled back down and took a deep breath.

"Ok, Lindel you can drop the link. Mohania you may have to extend your illusion depending on what happens. Lindel when time starts again, can you monitor the family's activity outside the door. If they try to reenter the room, which I doubt, Mohania we'll need you to do your thing. If they penetrate it, which again I doubt, Lindel you'll need to wipe their minds of the events. Good job guys and good night again." Herrior said.

"That's it? I thought we were being attacked? My heart feels like it's going to burst out of my chest, and I'm supposed to just go back to sleep?" Dan said.

"Yup." Herrior replied back. Dan sighed and laid back down.

Time resumed.

Outside the family continued to comfort their child and when they turned to thank Mary and her husband, they were suddenly gone. This startled both of them, and they both rose to their feet.

"Let's go home, I'm tired. Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" The child asked. The mother quickly grabbed a hold of her son with both arms and looked around. The father heard of things like this happening at his station and urged his wife to leave quickly. His wife stopped several officers on the way out and asked what had happened. They all said pretty much the same thing that they were curious as to why they had their child up so late, and why they were here also, but everyone figured their fellow officer had a good reason for it.

"You didn't see them? You didn't talk to them? They were right there…" The wife said pointing down the hallway. The officer in full uniform casually took a drink of his coffee and looked where she was pointing. "Many of you were there, you had to of seen them!"

"You were a mess when you first came in. Probably most of the officers wanted to know what they could have done to help. Eventually you or your husband said you wanted to be left alone. All of you huddled down by our storage facility, and are now coming back here." The officer said sipping again on his cup. "So why are you here?"

"No reason. Sorry about this everybody. We're going to go home and get some sleep. I hope we didn't cause any disturbances." The dad said.

"None at all. Take care." The officer said walking away with his coffee. His wife turned around and stared at her husband.

"I think we all need some sleep. Let's get going hun. How about we both stay home tomorrow and talk?" He said starting to nudge her along.

"No! I want to know what just happened! Nobody saw that, you mean you didn't see that either? We come in here with our son almost dead, and nobody sees anything?" The wife said and began ranting. A small female voice whispered, "Take your son in your arms, now!" to the dad. The dad instantly pried the child from his wife almost violently.

"Now what did you do that for?" The wife demanded staring at her husband. Suddenly an invisible force spun her around and she let out a quick scream. Then her body seemed to shake for a quick second and then fell limp. She then turned to her husband and said, "I think we caused enough commotion for tonight, let's get going." Lindel then turned her body around to the door and began walking. As soon as she was outside, with the dad and child close behind, Lindel flew out of her eyes and disappeared into the air.

"Hun, I made an ass out of myself. I apologize; let's not speak of this night again. I agree, let's take tomorrow off and talk." His wife looked at him with a smile and said. They both took off in their car.

The Lieutenant walked into the office the next day. He had a serious look on his face. He walked back to his three officers that he emailed ahead of time yesterday and wondered how the meeting would go over. They were all standing outside his office.

"Are all of your life insurance policies paid up?" were the Lieutenant's first words to them as he walked past them and knocked on Herrior's door. Skyka immediately answered it as she flung the door open.

"Guests! Did you bring presents?" Skyka asked in her human form.

"No, just wanted to introduce to you the three personal that I said I was going to bring by." The Lieutenant said.

"We know, bring them in." Herrior said as his group studied each of them. The Lieutenant let all of them in as he shut the door behind him. The three officers quickly recognized Branzer, Bernett, Crystal and Dan.

One of the officers stepped forward and said, "My name is Officer Briggs."

"We don't go by titles. We will call you Briggs." Herrior said. Quinely then piped up and said, "That must make you Isack, and you I saw the other day. This is I." The three officers let out a quick chuckle. Herrior immediately rose to his feet and stared down at the officers.

"My group is not laughing, did my friend tell a joke?" Herrior said glaring at them.

"Those aren't our names." I said quickly.

"Too bad, that is what we are going to call you." Herrior said walking away letting out an annoyed snort.

"That's how I got the name of Lieutenant." Their Lieutenant said.

"So I am going to be called 'I' then?" The officer asked.

"Yes, does anybody have any questions?" Herrior asked not caring about his question. The three officers had many, but Herrior quickly quieted them. "Not you idiots, my group."

"Did you bring any chocolate?" Lindel asked.

"I didn't." Briggs said double checking his pockets.

"No presents or chocolate? Toss these three out and bring in three more…" Lindel said flicking her hair behind her and walked away. "I also doubt they brought any corpses for you to eat Mohania, so there's probably no point in asking."

"Am I that predictable?" Mohania asked with a smile. The officers chuckled as if it was a joke. They didn't see Trackolania vanish, and reappear behind each of them. He quickly sliced through all of their belts, only to vanish again and reappear in his same spot. The officers began to realize what just happened and quickly reached down to grab their pants to prevent them from falling.

"That was somewhat unpredicted." Mohania said and began chuckling the same way the officers had just done.

"How did…" Briggs began to ask but was quickly interrupted by the Lieutenant. "I'm sure we have some spare belts in our station somewhere. Anyways, should we be leaving now?"

"That would be fine." Herrior answered back. The Lieutenant reopened the door and gently pushed the officers out. The Lieutenant shut the door and locked it from the outside.

"Was that really necessary?" Skyka said smiling at Trackolania. Trackolania smiled back and shook his head.

"Now that that is over, I want to explain a couple of things." Herrior said walking over to the center of the room. He tapped his dragon trinket, instantly turning him back into his tauren body.

"The fate of Devon and his group was inevitable. They were smart in that they did not stay in one place. The demons and alliance are constantly looking for us as well as each other. Their mistake was that they moved too much. The reason why probably all of you are uncomfortable is because deep down you all feel the same thing I feel. We're caged in prey, relying on the ability for thousands of people in this compound to hold a secret. Branzer, I wasn't surprised at the request for you to sell your home. Like you said yesterday you have worked for a long time for the things that you have. Your home has already been compromised; we are just fortunate that the demons have not picked up on it and began setting up sentries to investigate it."

"Already called a realtor and expressed my urgency to sell. I can see your point though. What about our paper trail though? We're still getting paid, and like Julie said we still all have our stuff." Branzer said.

Julie had summoned Spark and had been playing with him. He barked the name "Julie" after Branzer stopped talking.

"Spark says we don't need stuff." Julie said petting her over-sized dog. "Isn't that right boy, all we need is each other." Spark started panting harder as Julie petted him some more. Spark let out a moan of satisfaction as Julie continued, "Spark also said that we should all stop getting paid. No address, no job, no doctor visits, eliminate all traces of us and we'll just eventually fall off the radar."

"Spark's pretty smart." Bernett said with a smile. "I was considering the same thing as well, but we'll give Julie's dog the credit. All of us have family we would like to visit; we just will not give any information about what's really happening."

"It gets hard to remember the same lies year after year…" Herrior said. "Continuing to lie to others will sometimes lead to others thinking that you are lying to them as well."

"It is hard to stay in touch with others when you are constantly reassigned though." Skyka said adding to Herrior's thought. Herrior nodded. "As far as our items, could we have your doctor friend store them for us, or do you think his house would eventually become compromised as well?"

"I doubt it would. Neither one of them were given any abilities, both are immune to the alliance and the demons. During my stay there, I killed everything I came across and it wasn't nearly as bad as this city. They were only stragglers anyways, nothing organized. Branzer can you make that all that happen today?" Herrior asked turning to him.

"Most of it I can. Selling a home usually takes awhile." Branzer said.

"Not if you give it away like we did." Bernett said. Branzer let out a sigh as he wanted to retract his previous sentence. "I need to do more thinking before I say things…but yes I will get it all done as fast as I can." Branzer said releasing the locks on the door and exiting the room.

"He is doing fine, as well as the rest of you. Arguments and anger will arise, like it did last night. It will just take time for our new ones, like it has for the rest of us." Herrior said. They all talked for awhile as Spark took turns walking around and licking everybody.

Several hours later Branzer walked back in and said, "Well that's all done, hi boy." Branzer said as Spark put his paws on Branzer's shoulders.

"Get it sold did you?" Bernett asked.

"Yup, we have two days to get our things out that we want to take. The realtor said he would buy it. Told him it came with all of the furniture. He was shocked and then started asking questions – so I asked if he could recommend another realtor. He shut right up. Also as of today, none of us are getting paid and all of our bank accounts are being closed – pending our signatures of course." Branzer said. Lindel walked over to comfort him. He looked over at her and smiled briefly.

"Come on…you can do better than that…" Lindel said squeezing him around his stomach. He could actually feel his skin and muscles being compressed.

"I have my armor on, how are you doing that?" Branzer asked.

"Apparently I have a couple of surprises still…" Lindel said winking at him.

Skyka's hearthstone began to vibrate. She pulled it out and the portal showed Tess on the other side.

"Are we supposed to be talking with each other?" Tess asked quickly.

"I haven't heard otherwise. Just that we are to hold our positions until further notice." Skyka replied back.

"Same thing we were told. So is that pain-in-the-ass that you call a husband around?" Tess asked.

"I'll check he was busy cleaning his teeth with his nails. You know how men are; can only do one thing at a time." Skyka said giggling as Herrior pushed her to the side.

"Well you look pretty good for being dead as long as you were." Tess said with a burst of excitement.

"And you look…Tess, are you naked?" Herrior asked.

"We're not fighting anything, all there is around here is just sand. Nothing has moved since we got here. Besides the goblins did something to our armor that automatically puts it on us should we need it, or something to that affect I wasn't really listening. So how are you?" Tess asked with deep concern in her voice.

Herrior paused for a second and smiled as he said, "Tess, you really do care. For awhile I thought you were just harassing me to make my life miserable."

"You've got the rest of us to do that for you love…" Skyka said giving Herrior a good shove.

"I was asking for a friend. Anyways have you heard any rumors about what is going on?" Tess asked.

"Ambassadors in Tranquil are busy, construction is still going on, our secondary groups are apparently doing a lot of battle, and we are bored. What have you heard?" Herrior asked.

"More than I have apparently. I knew Tranquil was busy right now, but I didn't want to contact them. Did you get your ass chewed?" Tess asked.

"In the nicest way possible." Herrior replied back. Tess let out a chuckle.

"I also picked up a death knight in our group along the way. Have you heard that rumor?" Herrior asked.

"No?" Tess said back thinking that he was kidding. Herrior nodded and asked Veliline to come over. Tess saw her and was still trying to determine if this was a joke.

"What?" Veliline said in her death knight voice. Tess nearly jumped backwards.

"Hi, no I'm sorry I thought Herrior was joking." Tess said.

"What is so funny?" Veliline asked.

"Nothing, I apologize again. Apparently things are pretty tight-lipped right now. Who all knows about this Herrior?" Tess asked.

"Well there is me, herself, you, Skyka, Jacklyn…" Herrior said as he slowly named off the members in his group.

"No I'm serious." Tess said quickly.

"The King and Queen know. The Queen said it is safe for her to enter Tranquil. I sort of assumed the ambassadors knew…" Herrior said sounding unsure of himself.

"No, not a word. At least to me and Kon, and all of the other ambassadors I may have contacted…So what is she like?" Tess asked.

"Mostly keeps to herself. She has become an ambassador herself, as soon as she speaks with the King that is. This way she can train any additional death knights we may come across that wish to join our city." Herrior said.

"Should we be expecting others to be showing up?" Tess asked.

"No." Veliline said in her same voice, emotionless and almost mechanical sounding. Several seconds passed of awkward silence before Herrior asked how Kon was doing.

"The same as us. Sorry, I would like to meet her when we get the chance." Tess said.

"I imagine a lot of people have the same thoughts and questions as you have." Herrior said. "Probably when things settle down a proper introduction will be done."

Tess nodded and then said, "Well my apologies again to you Veliline. I am honored to have you fighting on our side. Good seeing you again my friend and tell Skyka to not be too rough on you. I would like to see you in person." and then the portal disappeared. Herrior gave Skyka back her hearthstone.

"Odd that the King and Queen did not tell anybody about Veliline." Herrior commented.

"Odd that Tess showed emotion." Skyka said with a smile looking at Herrior.

"Odd that she did not have her armor on." Veliline said.

"She showed emotion!" Mohania blurted out in excitement.

"No I didn't." Veliline replied back. "From what I understand our jobs are to remain vigilant. An attack could come from anywhere at any time, yet she dropped her defenses."

Mohania looked her over for a second and said, "Naw that wasn't emotion. It'll come eventually. Also you have a lot to learn about our city. Most of them like to walk around naked, I'll never understand that. Anyways did any of you notice the radiance that…Crystal are you ok?"

Crystal was slowly gasping for breath, which turned into larger gasps. She half blurted out the word "Dan" as she collapsed to the ground. Dan reached out to grab her, but wasn't quick enough. He rolled her over and Lindel immediately flew into her eyes.

"Has her diet changed? Is she getting enough water? Has she been out of Tranquil to long?" Herrior started blurting out questions. Crystal nodded her head to all of them, but it appeared as though she stopped breathing. Slowly her eyes rolled back in her head as her eyelids slowly closed.

"Is she dead?" Dan said looking at her.

"No, I turned off her body for awhile." Lindel's voice came out of Crystal's mouth. "Give me a minute to take a look."

Dan reached down and grabbed her hand. Skyka slowly reached down and released Dan's grip from her and pulled him away. "Let Lindel do her job hun."

"What is happening to her? Why her? What did those monks do to her? She wasn't like this until the monks turned her inside out." Dan said.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and activated it. A portal opened and a monk in their brown robe appeared.

"Yes?" The monk asked.

"Crystal has been having health problems since her conversion, did anything unusual happen during the process? Was there any complications?" Herrior asked.

"No. It was a standard conversion. Word did spread that she had health problems; however we have done the same process on many without any side effects. The only thing that we could think of would be mental and physical shock, however that should have worn off during the healing process. We are not healers, however I can come look at her if you wish?" The monk answered back.

Herrior considered it for awhile. "Dan, has Lindel said anything yet?"

"No." Dan answered back quickly.

Herrior turned back to his portal and asked if he could visit them. The monk agreed and said he would be there in a moment. Herrior closed the portal and put his hearthstone away.

"Should I contact Tranquil?" Herrior asked looking at Crystal. It was a general question to anybody, however no response came. "Skyka? Anybody have any ideas?" Again no response as everybody looked at each other.

A moment later the monk Herrior spoke with walked through the portal and saw Crystal lying on the ground.

"Wake her up; I want to speak with her." The monk said. Lindel heard it and reactivated her brain. Crystal opened her eyes and looked around.

"Banshee, leave her please." The monk asked. Lindel flew out of her eyes and materialized beside Branzer.

"Look up at me." The monk said. Crystal staggered to her knees and looked up at him. Her face was white and her eyes were blood shot.

"You know what is happening to you, don't you?" The monk asked.

"No. What is he doing here? You don't belong here!" Crystal yelled with the rest of her strength as she collapsed to her hands on the ground.

"Nothing is wrong with your body." The monk said plainly. "Whatever happened to you before you convinced yourself that it healed you, so therefore you were healed. But you were never sick, were you warlock?"

"It is something you did!" Crystal said with saliva pouring out of her mouth.

"No, it wasn't." The monk said and turned to Herrior and Skyka. His face was still concealed by his brown hood.

"Why were you so scared before when Crystal went into labor?" The monk asked.

"Because she was scared." Skyka replied back.

"No."

"Yes!" Skyka said back with more intensity.

"No." The monk said calmly again. Skyka moved forward towards him in anger, but Herrior reached out and grabbed her.

"What is your point monk?" Herrior asked.

"She knows more about what is happening than I do, ask her." The monk said pointing at Crystal.

"I'm dying! I'm weak, I can barely move…" Crystal said rolling over on her back.

"Your power is radiating outwards with such intensity, I feel myself recharging just by being in the same room." The monk said. "Has anybody else noticed this?"

The room went silent as the group realized that the monk was right.

"What's happening to her?" Dan asked.

"I don't know." The monk said back. "We merely perform our rituals; we don't increase or decrease the amount of power the person received. That is supposed to be learned by your class and talent trainers, along with time and several other variables. My guess is that her powers are magnifying themselves the longer her life continues." The monk paused for a second and then looked around. "Why didn't any of you pick up on this? Let her powers grow. My work here is done and I had better leave before my presence is detected." The monk turned to Veliline and said, "Hello. I wish to speak with you if you have a moment. Not now, but later." Veliline looked at him indifferently as he walked back through the portal.

"So what now? I mean, just let her suffer? How long will this continue?" Dan asked looking around.

"Dan, just relax." Crystal said taking small breaths. "He's right. I was fighting it at first, actually I didn't recognize it either; but he is right. Your powers are increasing, so are mine. You can manipulate time; actually I'm not sure what I can do but I do feel more power radiating through my body. Herrior, permission to relax for the next hour or so."

"Granted." Herrior replied back.

"It's not like we're doing anything anyways." Skyka said.

"Mohania, do you hear that?" Crystal asked. Mohania looked at Crystal with curiosity and said, "No? Hear what?"

Crystal was staring up at the ceiling and seemed to be concentrating on something. "Demons." She said slowly.

Everybody turned their attention from Crystal to Mohania.

"I've been scanning for and listening for any demonic activity. I haven't heard anything." Mohania said defensively.

Crystal laid on the ground for a couple of seconds. She then spoke several words and raised her hand as fire launched from it. A shrill of pain came shortly afterwards as a blackish figure exposed itself. Instantly everybody attacked it, and the demon burned up.

"There are many of those. All around us. They have been talking to each other. They have been entering the portal into Tranquil, five of them to be exact. All of them instantly perished. They are devising a plan. I can hear them. The one I just exposed has been here for the last day. He is supposed to report back tomorrow. They mock us and insult us. Many of them have attempted to control us, but with no success. They do not know that we are immune to them; they are blaming each other for their failures to overtake us. Can you not hear their voices Mohania?" Crystal asked still staring at the ceiling.

"No, I cannot hear them! If I had I would have alerted everybody about this sooner! Even after that one was exposed, I still could not sense him." Mohania said defensively.

"We need to close the portals. The King must know. Crystal are they attracted to the power the portals give off?" Herrior asked.

"They are, and they are attracted to us now. The more suspicious the humans become, the greater their curiosity is. Hush for a moment please." Crystal said. Slowly her eyes faded into complete blackness. Herrior withdrew his sword and shield as the rest of his group readied their weapons as well.

After a moment, Crystal spoke in a voice that was not her own. It sounded dark and sinister. "Strings, can you play a song that will destroy the demons?"

Strings nodded as he began to play on his lute. Within seconds of him playing his melody, there were quick bursts of screams as the demons around them caught fire and died.

"We are getting their attention now." Crystal said in her dark voice. "Herrior I would suggest taking the group outside the room. There is a powerful demon approaching that are making these Shades, that's the name he is giving them anyways."

"A Shade is a demon, but they are invisible and are very hard to detect." Mohania said defending himself. Herrior wasn't listening as he directed his party out the back door. Crystal stayed on the floor in her trance.

"Activate your trinkets people." Herrior said before anybody could notice them. Strings continued to play his up-beat melody and occasionally they could see another Shade erupt in fire.

"Quinely, give us an aerial view. If anybody sees anything or hears anything let me know immediately. Lindel, mind-link all of us; those of you that can hide or stealth yourselves do so." Herrior commanded.

All of the hunters slowly vanished from sight. Quinely turned into a bird and flew hundreds of feet into the air. Trackolania and Lindel disappeared from sight as well.

A few seconds passed when Quinely's voice came into their minds. "Two hundred yards away, I just saw slight movement in the field. It's too far away for me to identify what it was. It's to the left of where you are standing Herrior."

Herrior tapped on Mohania's shoulder and pointed to the left. Mohania looked for a moment and shook his head.

They continued moving off the premises of station, over the twelve foot barbed-wire fence and into the field. Strings continued to play his melody and occasionally a black figure would burst into flames. Mohania grew more upset that he wasn't able to detect them with each one that burst into flame. Finally though, after another couple of minutes of walking, Mohania turned around to face Herrior and pointed towards a small patch of trees. Herrior nodded and relayed the message to his party. Quinely flew down to the ground and morphed into her cat form, but also disappearing from sight as well.

"Lead us out Veliline." Herrior whispered. Veliline nodded and started her quickened pace towards the trees.

Within fifty yards, Veliline heard the sounds of a young girl crying. Veliline paid no attention to it and continued to scan for her enemy.

"It's the demon, don't let it fool you." Mohania whispered. The advance continued with Strings still playing his lute.

"Please stop playing that…" The girl cried.

"No." Veliline said and quickened her pace, the rest of the group hurrying to catch up.

"It hurts my ears. I am lost…" The girl started to say.

"Shut up and die." Veliline said as she began to analyze her enemy.

"Die?" The girl said in her soft voice. "No, you don't mean that? I'm looking for Crystal. She's my mother."

"Never heard of her." Veliline said as she let out her long droning sound out of her voice. Then Veliline's body suddenly was surrounded by four twirling bones, constantly spinning horizontally around her. She then held her hand up and blasted the child with a spell that none of Herrior's party had seen before. The child-like cry suddenly turned into a demonic roar. Veliline ran up to the child and took her first swing. As expected, the child turned into a demon. It rose sixteen feet in the air, had no eyes and six arms with three spikes at the end of them. They constantly reached for and successfully hit Veliline.

"Give me Crystal you meddle-some insect!" The demon demanded. The rest of Herrior's party engaged the demon. All of the warriors jumped at and slammed their weapons down on the demon. The hunters placed their misdirect spell on Veliline, which tricked the demon into thinking that she had actually done the damage, and they fired away. Trackolania and Quinely barely had time to sneak around to his back to launch their fierce attacks.

Skyka and Icis were taking turns healing Veliline. They were surprised at first how quickly her health dropped, but then saw that she was able to self-regenerate. After awhile, she had formed a small shield around herself that absorbed the incoming damage. "That's interesting." Skyka commented to Icis.

"What are you people!" The demon demanded, but then was quickly silenced by a blast from Veliline's hand. Veliline went back to swinging away at the demon. Seconds later the demon mumbled a quick couple of words in his demonic language.

"Strings play as long as you can. Herrior, we are going to have incoming Shades. He is summoning them to heal himself." Mohania said as he left off an enormous ball of fire.

"Summon your pets and have them encircle the demon. Lindel destroy any that come close to him. Quinely, you and Bernett do the same. I expect to see him dead in the next couple of seconds." Herrior said.

The Shades that Strings had been destroying had come in faster than the party had time to anticipate for though. Several of them were still being destroyed by the music, until they knocked away Strings's lute and knocked him to the ground. Icis quickly put a shield around him as he began struggling to regain control of his instrument. Many other Shades flew very quickly into the demon as he regained his strength. The hunters began tossing out as many traps as they could, and performing their 'multi-shot' as well. Bullets flew everywhere but hit every target that came into view. Strings was able to regain his lute and began to play the same melody.

Veliline quickly hit the ground with her weapon, causing everything within a thirty yard radius to instantly burn. As soon as the Shades hit the fire, their attention was redirected towards Veliline and began attacking her. Veliline's body was having a hard time keeping up with the damage she was taking, even with her ability to shield herself – however Icis and Skyka brought her health back up quickly. The attack only lasted for several seconds later as the demon finally stopped attacking and dropped to its knees. All of the Shades that it was controlling instantly burst into flame as the demon began to let out a dying shriek, but Veliline would not give it a chance as she blasted it with another quick blow from her hand. The demon burned up and Herrior's group surrounded it as Skyka and Icis continued to top of everybody's health.

"While we were killing it, I could tell when the Shades were talking. I don't know how Crystal knew, it is very quiet and they move very swiftly." Mohania said.

"We've got to close the portals…" Herrior said quickly afterwards pulling out his hearthstone and relaying what they had just learned about the portals. The ambassador acknowledged the information and Herrior put away his hearthstone.

"Lindel and Quinely, fly back to Crystal as fast as you can." Herrior said in a hurried tone. Herrior then turned his attention back to the ground.

"What did you do Veliline?" Herrior asked.

"It's a spell called 'Death and Decay'. It drains the life out of everything, and causing everything within in to become greatly angered at me. By your observation it looks as though you are worried about the plant life and everything else." Veliline said.

"Just curious is all. You lead that attack well." Herrior said as they all started walking back.

"These enemies that we face are a lot stronger than what I am used to." Veliline replied back.

"Oh?" Herrior asked. Veliline did not reply back.

"I need to get a backup lute." Strings said sounding upset.

"Are there any in our current time period?" Herrior asked.

"No, there are not." Strings replied.

"You could hum and still produce the same magical affects that you do." Mohania said quickly.

"Yes, but it doesn't resonate as far or as long. An instrument is better, and I prefer the lute." Strings said.

"I'll make a request for you." Herrior said. "How are you doing Dan?"

Dan looked at Herrior curiously and said, "Fine, how are you doing?" with a smile.

"I meant with everything going on. Crystal may change." Herrior said.

"I've changed. I'm not the same person you saved from death on my couch at home. My power has increased and hers is as well. Lindel's power has increased as you know. Also all of our powers in our class have increased. All of us, except for you that is." Dan said.

"And mine obviously." Veliline said. "I want to absorb their life into me, like Lindel was doing. I can only shield myself now, but to do that would increase my usefulness."

"Most of us have been able to absorb parts of our enemy's life, in one way or another." Dan said. "Sometimes it's just an instant burst of energy flowing through our veins. But to answer your question if she changes will I still love her? The answer of course is yes, and I am doing fine." Herrior nodded.

They walked back into the room and saw the three of them sitting on the ground telling jokes and laughing. The portal had closed and there was no trace of anything that had happened.

"The Lieutenant came in, asked what was going on. Told him we were off fighting bad guys. He said tomorrow we are going to the Lions game. Lindel has already found a way to get us there undetected." Crystal said.

"I had a quick look around. There's enough room for probably half a million people." Lindel said. "So this is a pretty big deal then?"

"Only about one hundred thousand. Did the Lieutenant ask why there is a big hole is the perimeter fence yet?" Branzer asked. Lindel listened for a second and acknowledged that several officers had reported it and were currently underway of fixing it. "Why would there be a hole, didn't you jump over it like you did the first time?"

"No, Herrior – one hundred thousand of these humans?" Jacklyn said looking at him with desperation in her eyes. Herrior knew what she was asking.

"Perhaps we should leave some people here, just in case something happens." Herrior said with a small smile looking at Jacklyn. Trackolania walked over to Jacklyn and grabbed her hand with both of his.

"Ok, two – anybody else?" Herrior asked.

"Aye, perhaps I should stay as well. Also might I recommend that our fair lady stays as well?" Strings said squeezing Veliline's shoulder. Veliline looked at him briefly and then back at Herrior.

"I will carry out the orders of my leader." Veliline said looking at Herrior.

"Veliline that needs to stop." Herrior said with patience in his voice. "But I agree with Strings. Icis, could you stay as well? This way you will have a tank, a healer, some dps, and Strings to drink with."

"And drink I will!" Strings said in a golly voice.

"Anybody else wish to stay?" Herrior said looking around. "No summoning pets, no demons, no drawing attention to ourselves, no eating people, no igniting people on fire, and no igniting anything else on fire."

"This of course applies to everybody else, not just me right?" Mohania asked.

"No, just you." Crystal said with a smile.

"Keep your hearthstones on hand. If something happens, summon us." Herrior said.

"In the world that I come from, we say the same things to our young ones when the adults leave the home." Icis said. Mild laughter came from the group.

"Icis, you're getting to be a pain in the butt like everybody else…" Herrior said walking over to her and kissing her on the forehead. She smiled at the affection as Herrior ordered Lindel to open a portal through the wall and into the Lieutenant's office.

The Lieutenant was on the phone and simply rolled his eyes as Herrior's group walked through the portal in the wall and into his office. A minute later he ended the phone call.

"Our fence apparently was slashed, in several different spots. Not only was it slashed clean through, but it was smoldering when our officers found it." The Lieutenant said.

"It was in our way, anyways what should we look like tomorrow?" Herrior asked.

"Can I ask a question first?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Is it a question you already know the answer to?" Herrior replied.

"No. How much fire power are you guys packing? I mean, we have soldiers with guns, bombs, tanks, jets, aircraft carriers…how would you fair up against such things?" The Lieutenant asked.

"That's an irrelevant question. Answer Herrior's question." Branzer said.

"Well, could you end the wars we are in right now? I mean, if you can appear anywhere could you just show up where our enemies are and melt them, slice them in half or whatever you do?" The Lieutenant said and wanted to continue to ask questions pertaining to this subject. Herrior held up his hand for silence.

"And make your city more powerful? Fight and win every war? Control this entire world? And then what? It would crumble from within and you would still have the same problems you have now. Internal conflict, sicknesses, famine, diseases spread rampant, greed, corruption, people constantly fighting for power. Happens in every world, more so with the alliance – even in our city it happens. The more we fight, the more we put your world at risk of more battle. If another city knew that a man could turn anything he touched into gold, don't you think wars would break out to seize him – threaten his family and his loved ones? If a man is able to slay thousands of men with a mere jaw bone, cities would bribe him to fight for them. Think of your history, a lot could be learned. Our King's orders are very specific along with our ambassador's orders to prevent such a thing from happening. Which is why we all have vowed to kill ourselves if we ever get caught, or have one of us kill the person caught if such a thing were to happen. Are you done having your delusions of grandeur, or should we continue this pointless subject." Herrior said.

"But there are wars, famine, children dying, diseases…" The Lieutenant said but was cut off by Herrior.

"Apparently we aren't done. What makes you think they aren't being watched over? There are forces at work much more powerful than us, or your bombs and vessels. Here you sit in this heated room, access to food and healing while others in this world suffer. Keep in mind that the only reason why you are alive is because we were authorized to heal your body. However, even without our intervention, you can die in an instance and be taken away for no reason. You may go to sleep one night and wake up standing before the Lord for judgment; the same for any of us, the same for anybody else in this world. People may struggle for ten years, fifty years, or even one hundred years…but judgment will come for everybody. Now getting back to my original question, or do you have more?" Herrior asked.

The Lieutenant paused for a second. He rose out of his chair and looked out his window. "My niece had a baby. It was born, but died an hour after coming into this world. I wanted to summon you so badly, to bring it back to life, to ease her pain. But…I…" The tears started to flow.

"Was that what the phone call was about? Hun, look at me." Skyka said walking over to him. The Lieutenant paused for a second and then turned as Skyka embraced him. They both started to weep together.

After a moment Herrior spoke in a soft voice. "So, this is what all of these questions are about."

"Herrior, not just that but our men and women are dying…" The Lieutenant said softly.

"We have lost many as well, in fact just recently, some very close to us. Our wars are constant and brutal. Just now if we hadn't destroyed that demon, it would have annihilated you and the rest of your forces. It actually caught us unaware. But getting back to the point, God gives life, God takes life. Life is precious, yes. Life is a gift though, given by him. Our job is to serve him, accept his free gift of salvation, and do what good we can. Middle one of course being the most important. We will grieve with your loss if you wish, and the loss of your loved one." Herrior said, but more in an asking tone.

"Can you bring her baby back to life?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No and you knew that before you even asked." Skyka said hugging him tighter. The Lieutenant sighed and nodded. He let go of Skyka and walked over to several uniforms on the wall.

"This is what we are supposed to look like. I need to be with my family tomorrow. Think you can handle things on your own?" The Lieutenant said as he turned around and saw that everybody looked exactly like an officer with the uniform that he showed them.

"We were going there tonight to scout things out. We're leaving a small attack force here in case something happens. Is one of your lesser generals going to accompany us?" Herrior asked.

"The person you named 'I' will be coming with you. I was hoping that he could do that portal thing with you guys, in fact…" The Lieutenant said but was quickly interrupted by Herrior, "It could kill them." The Lieutenant paused for a second and then said, "Well, I will make other arrangements for them then."

"We will be present, but please inform your officer's not to make contact with us unless there is a problem. We will be looking for our enemies first and foremost, and then we will watch this sport of yours." Herrior said and then his hearthstone started to vibrate. The rest of the ambassador's hearthstones began to vibrate as well.

"Back to our room. Lindel seal up this portal and make sure we are not bothered. I am eager to hear what this is about." Herrior said as they all walked back through the portal. Lindel closed the portal as Herrior, Skyka, Branzer, Mohania, and Veliline all pulled out their hearthstones and stuck their heads in.

They saw thousands of different ambassadors head's all in the King's newly established throne room. The King and Queen were standing side by side, both with a smile on their faces.

"I've tried to pick a time where none of you were busy. Many of you have been fighting nonstop for days; some of you haven't fought for months. We have about eighty percent of our outposts secured at this point in time. Once again, many of our leaders have felt the need to venture forth on their own, and once again, they have all died. And, once again I feel the need to remind all of you to tell your leaders to follow my orders. If you are unsure, contact one of my ambassadors. Our old worlds that we were once familiar with have completely changed. We have a main enemy, some dragon called Deathwing. It is the main cause for destroying the lands and disturbing many of the elements, altering the animals, and enhancing the powers of our existing enemies – not including our friends the alliance or the demons. Several of our spies have reported the alliance took more of a pounding to their outposts and personal than we did. Also, many demons seem to stay away from this beast. However many cultists have aligned themselves with the beast and are empowering him. I'm sad to say some of our citizens and groups that have previously aligned themselves with our city have joined forces with this new beast." The King paused for a second to sigh. "This isn't the first time this has happened, and probably won't be the last. Different races desire for power overwhelms them, as well as their ego. Ultimately this has always led to death, either by the powers they align themselves with or by us. Moving on, many classes made it clear that they did not like their new powers. If you don't like them, research your own. This is what we were given, and none of you can say that you are now weaker because of them. I want all of you to pass this word on. You know your classes better than I do, I don't want to hear any more complaints. If you learn something new, run it by several of the personal in your same class. Then decide if it is a good change or a bad change; many of you have already done this. Settle it with an ambassador of your class if there is a dispute. Last bit of business many alliance, including the new worgen race, have helped us but wish to remain anonymous. Ready yourselves for battle, but use your intuition." The King took a deep breath and then spoke quickly, "We are realigning our portals to a different area in our newly built city. All existing portals will be shut down for a day or so until our defenses and guards can start their patrol on the new portals. Any Chronomancers will still be able to open temporary portals. Also we are almost positive that we have killed all of the alliance's banshees, and the rumor has it that the current alliance King has been over-thrown. They could be in civil war right now, but don't underestimate them. Many spies have been found in our towns, however it is pretty obvious who they are and their intentions. To end this announcement, our groups will start rotating to lighten the load on other groups. I also want to thank all of you for staying loyal to me, to our city, to each other, and to those you love. Take care." The King said and waved his hand as all of the portals closed.

The ambassadors in Herrior's group pulled their heads out of the portals.

"Is that your ruler?" Veliline quickly asked. Herrior let out a quick laugh before he had time to think. "After all that, that is your only question?" Veliline stared at him emotionless waiting for an answer.

"No Veliline that is not our ruler. That is our King, and let me emphasize the word 'our' because he is your King as well. I'm sure you recognized his wife our Queen. We follow his orders yes, but does he rule over us? Of course not. It is because of him that millions, probably more than that actually, lives have been saved and why we aren't slaves or worse right now. Veliline, I need to you understand that your old order is wiped out. It's gone. Your will is free now. You may fight beside us, or go wherever you want – as I stated when I was leaving your cave. You chose to follow, and you can choose to leave at any time. I have a lot of patience, which is probably why everybody here has put up with me being leader as long as they have, but hun you have to understand that your old way of life is gone." Herrior said in a soothing voice to her.

"I apologize." Veliline said in her some monotone voice.

"We'll work on that ok? Curious that the King again didn't mention anything about you. However it was probably because of you Crystal that the portals are being closed, he will probably thank you later once things settle down." Herrior said.

"I'm surprised I didn't get my ass chewed for not picking up on it…" Mohania said in an upset voice.

"You didn't sense them. It's not like you knew they were coming and didn't tell anybody." Crystal said trying to comfort him.

"Thanks for the pep talk." Mohania said turning around and walking away in frustration.

Herrior turned to Veliline. "You see, everybody here is honored and willing to freely use their powers to help our city and our King. Mohania is frustrated because demons were getting to our portal and he was not able to sense them. That was a threat to our city and he would, as well as any one of us would give our lives to save our city and protect it. Does that make sense?"

Veliline was quiet for a second. She looked at Mohania, then at Crystal. Afterwards she turned her attention back to Herrior. She slowly shook her head. Herrior smiled at her the same way a father would smile at a rebellious daughter. "You're trying. You've already taken a lot of steps, it'll come."

"So what's going on? How are the Draenei holding up?" Icis asked.

"Nothing was said about your race." Herrior said and then filled in his group as to what the King had told them.

It was getting late into the night and only Herrior, Skyka, Veliline, and Mohania were still talking. Mohania was in the middle of venting his frustrations still when his hearthstone began to vibrate. He quickly pulled it out and it formed a portal. Kendall was on the other side.

"Hi." Mohania said quickly. Kendall smiled back and said "Hi" as well. Then several moments passed of awkward silence.

"Are we alone?" Kendall asked.

"Yes." Skyka said out loud. She could hear Kendall starting to laugh.

"Do you want us to leave Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"No, unless you want them to Kendall?" Mohania replied back.

"That's the problem we are having Mohania! You are not you! Your undead that you survived with for countless years die and you don't show any emotion. You are a ruthless killer and we both know that. There are people in Tranquil that have never seen you and they know that. You show emotion for my leader when he died, but not for your own kind that you raised? Would you show the same emotion for him now? What have I done to you Mohania, was getting married a bad idea? I have obviously changed you and you aren't happy with it, and I am not happy with what I did. I pressured you into it and I am sorry. Look, just…I just wanted to see you and hear your voice. I…don't know… To be honest I am trying to be something different from what I am, and I am not accepting who I am. You have fully embraced who you are, and I'm just…really tired and emotional right now. I'm sorry I will leave you alone." Kendall said in a mixed stated of emotions as she closed the portal. Mohania continued to stare at his hearthstone for awhile. He eventually let out a sigh and put it back in his pocket.

"Well, shall we discuss our touchy feely emotions and how it pertains to this situation?" Mohania asked.

"No." Herrior replied back.

"Good because I don't want to." Mohania said in a weakened voice. His undead face altered in such a manner that it seemed to indicate that he was sad. Several seconds passed and Mohania's breathing became staggered, as if he was trying to hold in his cries.

"Our perimeter needs to be checked out. Let us know if you see or hear anything ok?" Herrior said. Mohania got up and walked out the back door.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Skyka asked Herrior.

"No it was easy enough to figure out. He's been through a lot, in more than one way." Herrior said slowly. Skyka squeezed Herrior's hand, and he smiled back at her.

"I leave for a couple of months and all hell breaks out huh?" Herrior asked.

"What can I do?" Veliline asked.

"Learn to love him, and the rest of us." Skyka answered. Herrior nodded and said, "Let's get some sleep before we do this football thing tomorrow."

Skyka looked at him confused. "Why did you agree to go to this?"

"Lots of people in a confined area, there are bound to be some alliance there. Maybe we'll get lucky and some recruiters or some of their generals. I could give two shits about their little game that they play and I have a feeling the rest of my group does as well." Herrior said.

"We'll have to kill them quietly." Skyka said.

Herrior nodded and said, "We'll figure that out when the time comes. Good night my love." He lay on the dirt floor as Skyka lay in front of him.

The next day Herrior's group was split up, the ones that volunteered to stay behind did so and the others activated their trinkets to look like the uniforms that the Lieutenant showed them. Lindel created the portal and they all stepped through. Lindel's room was perfect, it was completely dark and when Herrior opened the door they walked out completely unnoticed.

"Lindel, try to establish a link with all of us every twenty minutes or so. We are here to look for alliance. Other than that, I don't anticipate any other problems. No demons or pets, and don't eat or drink anything here. This place reeks and has a bad aura around in." Herrior said. "If anybody detects anything notify me immediately and wait for instructions."

"Twenty dollars says the Lions win!" Crystal said excitedly.

"The Bears have a better record, its bad luck to bet against your home team but the odds are against you." Branzer said.

"Let's get this over with." Herrior said and led the way.

They walked up several flights of stairs and out into the field. Almost immediately they were greeted by several of the officers that volunteered to come. The man that chewed on a toothpick spoke first.

"Good to see you guys here. Here's the current layouts and where they want us to be." He said handing Herrior several pieces of paper. Herrior quickly took them and tossed them on the ground beside him as he looked around.

"What's your name?" Herrior said casually.

"George. It's not actually my name, but how about we go with that." He said.

"Fine, we are all named 'Crystal'. If you need something call for her. In the mean time we are going to conduct our mission and you guys do whatever it is you are supposed to do." Herrior said.

"We might need you if something happens, there needs to be a certain number of officers and security personal…" George said but was interrupted by Herrior.

"Do your job and we'll do ours. We are here for different reasons. If a minor problem comes up we will have it handled before your people are even able to respond to it. As far as you know we aren't here. Is that understood George?" Herrior said and walked past him. The rest of Herrior's party walked by as Crystal gave him a small wave and a smile.

"What are those places up there? Tell me where all of the entrances and exits are. Where are the people playing on the fake grass coming from and why are there women wearing hardly anything in this weather? I don't sense any illusions or ill intentions from them." Herrior said.

"Herrior, those are cheerleaders." Crystal said rolling her eyes. She then filled him in on the rest of his questions. Branzer and Bernett filled in some additional details about the stadium, and then got side tracked about some facts about the football stadium and the Lions.

Dan turned around and said, "I think I see one. Opposite side of where we are and is on the grass and he is talking with several of the security personal right now."

"Excellent. Good job Dan. There are also two others. Stop the idle chit-chat and spread out. Bring them back to this spot, come up with some excuse. We'll take them back to where we portalled in and kill them. Lindel you stay in this spot and scan all of the minds here." Herrior said. Lindel turned around and looked at Herrior with a confused look.

"Did you not hear what I said? Your job will be much harder will this stadium is filled, show me what you can do girl." Herrior said and motioned for this group to split up. Lindel turned around and faced the field. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slowly opened them and a faint blue light came out of them.

Branzer, Crystal and Mohania were the first to arrive to the male. He was creating a scene currently. Branzer grabbed a hold of him and spun him around. "What is going on here?"

"This man, and apparently several of his friends insist that the field is safe to play on. He said there are poisons on it and they need to search for them. It will delay the game if we do and he won't tell us how he knows. I'm the groundskeeper, I know for a fact nothing is wrong with the field."

"Come with us please." Branzer said and grabbed his arm. He started to pull him away and felt the man's strength try to resist him. Crystal saw and grabbed the other arm and pulled him away.

"Did he say who his friends were?" Mohania asked the groundskeeper. The groundskeeper looked at him funny.

"Sorry, I'm sick. My voice sounds funny." Mohania said trying to alter it.

"No, is this something that we should worry about?"

"No. This matter will be handled. Your field is fine, carry on." Mohania said and followed Branzer and Crystal.

Icis and Dan brought back another one with the promise that she would get front row tickets. Skyka and Strings said to two of the teenagers that some of the cheerleaders were interested in them. Ultimately they were all brought back to Herrior. Herrior nodded at all of them. Herrior leaned over Lindel's shoulder and asked if she sensed anything else. She quietly responded that she didn't, but a lot of people were going to come in soon. Herrior kissed her on the cheek and thanked her.

"Ok let's get going everybody." Herrior said.

"What's the name of the cheerleaders?" One of the teenagers said eagerly.

"Let me go! I will kill you where you stand! You do not know the power I have!" Branzer and Crystal's man screamed out. The rest of the alliance suddenly grew suspicious as they were all quickly restrained and tossed down the flight of stairs at Herrior's command. Herrior drew his sword and shield as he quickly charged them. The rest of his party quickly engaged them as well. The teenagers quickly burned up, the woman put up a longer struggle, but have being hammered with bullets one after another her body eventually gave up as it burned up as well. The man attempted to cast several different spells, but was interrupted each time. A massive blow from Herrior's sword sent his body bursting into flames as well.

"Four down. Let's see how many others we can get." Herrior said putting his sword and shield behind him. The weaponry immediately slammed into his armor and disappeared into the illusion.

They walked back out and Lindel reported that she was scanning as fast as she could, but so far she hasn't sensed anything evil yet. As if to continue her thought, George stepped in and asked what happened.

"We just killed four alliance. Their bodies burned up and their ashes floated off in the wind. We are continuing our search now, please don't bother us." Herrior said and split his group up in half, commanding them to go one way and Herrior and his side to go the other.

"Is he joking?" George asked.

"If it will make it easier for you to sleep at night than go ahead and think that." Lindel said as she continued to scan the minds coming into the stadium.

After more than an hour everybody was seated and they began the opening ceremonies. The concession stands were quickly turning a profit and the die-hard fans were started to scream and cheer on their team.

"Reminds me of the barbaric rituals that we had to attend years ago in their city called Rome." Herrior said to Skyka.

"Hopefully one side kills the other off. There will be less for us to do." Skyka agreed back.

"Herrior can I share a thought that I've been thinking with you?" Bernett said.

"Certainly." Herrior said continuing to survey the audience and everybody around him.

"Would it be better for our group if I changed my hunter spec to survival instead of marksmenship?" Bernett asked.

"I don't know." Herrior answered back, "I'm not a hunter."

"Well Julie is beastmaster; Branzer is markmenship as well as myself. Branzer and I share the same abilities. It just seems it would be an added benefit if I could do different attacks. Julie commands Spark to rip apart anything; Branzer can silence, slow down large groups of mobs, and do what Julie calls burst damage, so that is where I got to thinking that maybe it would benefit our group if I were able to handle our traps, poisons and magical attacks better from a hunter point of view." Bernett asked.

"You can do whatever you want." Herrior said. He paused briefly and then said, "What makes you sure Branzer is going to survive today or even tomorrow though? There is also the possibility, which hasn't happened in my group yet but it may, that one of us be assigned to do something special or go with another group. Don't base your decisions solely upon a member in our party, base it on what you think is best. I wouldn't care if I had eight hunters that all had the same talent tree and same abilities."

Bernett looked as though he wanted to say something else, but then stopped. He continued his survey of the people. Several minutes passed and Herrior asked if he had put a lot of thought into this.

"A little. I just want our group to be more powerful. I don't want somebody to die because of me. If Branzer can slow down an incoming group, than I can do a lot of damage to them. Also it enhances my traps and gives me the damage of time affects versus the burst damage, which I don't know if we need that or not." Bernett said sounding confused.

"Settle your mind young one. Meditate and pray on it. I'm sure there are advantages and disadvantages to both, but both probably provide the same amount of damage. The talent trees are equally balanced as far as that goes. Personally I like your ability to silence casters, it's one less thing that I have to worry about but the decision is up to you." Herrior said and then quickly changed the subject. "I think I see one up there. Male, about forty years old. He is sitting quietly and just staring off, as if not concentrating on the game or what is around him."

Skyka quickly saw who Herrior was talking about and observed him for awhile. The man eventually shook his head and smiled as the crowd began to suddenly cheer for something.

"No…maybe he isn't." Herrior said. "This is very hard to identify alliance, much harder than I thought it was."

The two groups eventually met up on the other side of the stadium, both exchanging stories of possible alliance. Many of them they casually talked to, but were quickly dismissed as normal people.

"This is a waste of our time. Let me see how Lindel is doing." Herrior said. Herrior then looked straight at Lindel and spoke her name in his mind. Lindel quickly answered back.

"Take a breather for a second hun. Has anybody caught your attention?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"I would say ninety-nine percent of the people I quickly scanned are here for the pure enjoyment of this game. I am trying to sense just emotions; picking up on their thoughts would take too long. Apparently this is a big activity for these people, but as far as anybody with any malicious intent, no I don't sense anything of that nature." Lindel said back in Herrior's mind.

"Same thing we've seen. Anybody's mind that you can't penetrate?" Herrior asked.

"No, the problem is filtering it. I'm draining a lot of my power to extend my range and filter out miscellaneous thoughts that do not pertain to our mission. People keep coming and going though. The job you gave me is very difficult, but I am trying my best." Lindel said back in Herrior's mind.

"I'll get you some chocolate when we get back. Any word from our friend George?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"He isn't asking any questions and he's lied to cover up what we are doing and what happened to the four alliance that we killed. All of the officers from our station are doing exactly what we should be expecting them to do. Do you wish for me to continue scanning?" Lindel asked.

"No. Start recharging your strength and we'll meet up with you over there." Herrior said in his mind and then asked her to cut the mental link.

"If there were any alliance they should have heard and reacted to that." Herrior whispered to his party. They all saw Lindel sit down and take a deep breath while closing her eyes. Nobody noticed, and if they did they didn't care.

"Mohania, Quinely, Crystal, anything showing up that you can sense?"

"A bunch of disorderly humans. Other than that, I haven't sensed anything." Quinely said first.

"Not a thing." Crystal said. Mohania agreed.

"Out of everybody here, there were only four alliance? I don't believe that." Herrior said in disgust as he started walking.

"One demon and four alliance, that is more action than Tess and a lot of others were seeing." Skyka said. Herrior let out a grunt as he continued to scan the audience.

They made it back to Lindel not seeing any activity that would indicate any trouble. Lindel opened her eyes and slowly stood back up.

"You try doing what I just did." Lindel said looking at Herrior with a smile. Suddenly a man walked up to Herrior and asked him what his name was.

"Crystal." Herrior immediately responded.

"Hi Crystal, my name is Jim Schwartz. I am the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. If you don't mind me noticing, you are one of the biggest people I've ever seen. You could be our entire defensive line." Jim said laughing. Herrior simply stared at him.

"Ok then, I was wondering if you have any experience at football. If so I would like to talk to you after the game. Seriously though, you must weigh what, seven hundred pounds? I bet you could flip a car over by yourself."

"Go away." Herrior said and looked away from him.

"How much do you make as an officer? What forty, fifty thousand a year? You could make two to three million in one season not including endorsement deals. I mean I have to make an offer before our opponents do. I'm surprised they haven't yet. How well can you catch a football?" Jim asked. He turned around and made a motion with his hand. Herrior saw out of the corner of his eye a ball similar to the one the teams were playing with was being thrown at him. The ball quickly approached him and the second before it hit his head, his left hand moved with incredible speed. It grabbed the ball and quickly flattened. He then crammed it in his mouth and bit it in two. He spit one part on the floor between his legs and tossed the other half to Jim.

"I said, go away. And I warn you not to do that again." Herrior said leaning over and glaring into the man's eyes. Jim was amazed, but had a sense of freight come over him at what Herrior just did. Jim nodded and slowly walked away.

"I bet I could devour him in two bites." Mohania said.

"Tempting…" Herrior snarled back.

"Probably three realistically, depends on how much he struggles."

"How much do you weigh Herrior?" Branzer asked curiously.

"With or without my armor?" Herrior asked back.

"Hmm…without I guess."

"I have no idea."

"Ok with your armor."

"I have no idea." Herrior replied back with a smile.

The game was in its fourth quarter and Herrior was looking as bored as ever. The rest of the group seemed to be getting into the game, and Lindel appeared to have gathered her strength back. The ball was punted down the field when Herrior's hearthstone suddenly vibrated.

"Surround me, quickly!" Herrior ordered. The group did as he said as he pulled out his stone. An image of Veliline came up and she quickly announced that they had engaged and defeated two different demons, one another hellhound – the same red dog that had appeared in the Lieutenant's office and what looked like a man made of pure energy wrapped up in armor.

"What would the consortium race be doing here?" Herrior said at Veliline. She gave him a confused look.

"It looked more of a demon." Jacklyn piped up. "The hellhound appeared first, right in the middle of the group of officers, and the second one showed up in the same spot shortly afterwards. They used a dark portal. My guess is they were rogue. The demon came through very weakened and didn't expect to put up a fight. He probably sent the dog first to see if the ice was thin."

"Any causalities?" Herrior asked.

"No, oddly enough we were out eating at the time when it happened. The battle lasted only seconds but enough to create a ruckus with the officers. Icis didn't even have a chance to heal, it was over that quick. Nobody was hurt, but I did emphasize that nothing had happened and to continue to do their duties. We went back to our room and it's been quiet ever since." Jacklyn said.

"Ok, thanks for the update. We'll be there soon." Herrior said and closed the portal. He put the hearthstone back in his pocket and ordered everybody to quickly look around. The commotion and energy from the hearthstone would surely have attracted some alliance or demons. After quickly scanning everybody, including Lindel scanning the thoughts of the people around them, everybody reported that nobody saw or even cared about what had just happened.

"My thirst for battle grows." Herrior said in a deep quiet tone.

"Herrior." Skyka said in a quiet voice and moved very close to his ear. "Ever since you came back, your heart has been troubled. You are my leader, but I am your wife and closest advisor. What is the matter?"

Herrior looked at her. Skyka's eyes looking into his and penetrating his very soul, or so it felt like to him. He let out a sigh and looked at the field. The ball was once again airborne and flying to the other side of the field. Herrior shook his head.

"That's not an answer my love." Skyka said in a tone as if she were disciplining a child.

"Wars are being waged, our people are dying…" Herrior said but was immediately cut off.

"Happens all of the time. Tranquil is changing, new armor and abilities are handed out, and our party seems to always attract some sort of danger – while we both know full well that it happens to every party. It's just the timing. So enough of those excuses, what is bothering you?" Skyka asked sincerely gently grasping his hand.

Herrior took a moment to stare at Skyka. Her beauty, even with her illusion activated, was still very alluring to him. "I cannot lie to you."

"Especially with me listening in." Lindel said in a cheery voice.

"Branzer, can you go find something to entertain her with." Herrior said. After a small laugh Herrior's party gave them space and continued their search.

"I lost my group. I lost you. I lost everything." Herrior said.

"Remember the same speech you gave us?" Skyka asked smiling. Herrior nodded and looked away. He let out a long sigh and slowly shook his head.

"Come on, I want to hear it. It is affecting your duties as a leader and is affecting our group as well." Skyka said.

"I feel like I failed all of you." Herrior said quickly. The words hung in the air for a moment before Herrior continued. "When I was gone I felt like I failed everybody. When I came back, I stopped a war between us and the dragonflights. Then I found Veliline. She sounds like she is still possessed, had I not come back when I did more lives would have been lost, and when I did come back I wasn't even sure I wanted to be here. My heart nearly pounded out of my chest when Alan said he found you guys. I didn't know what to think, it was either you were going to kill me or accept me back in, but I wanted to know. I stayed loyal, to you, to our group, to our city, and to our King; and when I return nobody recognizes me and wars are almost raged. Now we have some new enemy…"

"We will always have some new enemy, we always had and it will continue to be like that. It sounds like the enemy is within you though. When was the last time you went to church or prayed? When was the last time you spoke with God about this issue? Possibly even ask him to allow you to forgive yourself and move on." Skyka said. Herrior closed his eyes slowly and then he looked away. Skyka reached around him and hugged him; she could tell that he was in deep thought.

"Who else knows?" Herrior asked.

"Everybody my love. Being your wife I nominated myself to speak with you. As morbid as Mohania is, he said the same words I just said. Even Veliline seemed to not understand your expressions several different times." Skyka said.

"What's to become of her?" Herrior asked. "Are the end times upon us because a death knight has returned?"

"By the sounds of your story, they were around for awhile. She is loyal to you to death; I do not question that at all. I've read our ambassador books as many times as you have. Perhaps our information about the race was inaccurate, or it was assumed at the time that the death knights, under control of their master, would annihilate that world. I don't know, but what is to become of you?" Skyka asked.

Herrior nodded as he detected Skyka was attempting to put the question back in his mind. He looked away from her and at the crowds on either side of them. It seemed as though they were making their ways out of their seats and towards the way they came in from.

"I've got some meditating to do." Herrior said slowly.

"Do you want me to come with you, or your group?" Skyka asked. Herrior thought about that for awhile. He saw the crowds continuing to thin out and the annoying loud speaker stating the final score and some other gibberish he didn't understand.

"I don't know. I feel lost." Herrior said softly. "Do I need to apologize to our group?"

"No, I don't feel as though you need to." Skyka answered back. Just then George came up to them and saw the two of them very close together whispering.

"Umm…so I guess this is a private moment, but we need to ensure these people leave in an orderly fashion and then secure the premises." He said.

"I'll relay that order, and then we will disappear." Herrior said quickly. George nodded and began to walk away.

"Wait." Herrior said quickly. George halted and spun around.

"What are the officer's plans for afterwards?" Herrior asked.

George gave an unknowing look and slowly shook his head. "Go home I guess, and then report to work as usual."

"Would all of you want to go out for a drop of ale after this?" Herrior asked.

"Ale?" George answered back, but then quickly figured it out. He smiled and shook his head. "No it would look bad for us driving home while intoxicated. Perhaps another time though?"

"Perhaps." Herrior answered back with a smile. George left and Skyka immediately said, "That's a promise you don't intend to keep."

"Perhaps." Herrior said smiling at her. "But first I need to have some alone time I think. Let's finish our job and leave this place."

Herrior's group arrived back at their room in the station. Lindel felt a twinge and said she thought something didn't feel right. Herrior immediately drew his weapons as well as the rest of the group. Lindel casually floated through the wall and began looking around. She felt something coming but couldn't sense what it was. After a minute she floated back through the wall and said maybe she was just paranoid.

"Lindel stay outside and continue to monitor. I want the hunters and our rogue to disappear and start surveying the premises. I'll go talk with the Lieutenant. The rest of you act casual and report anything unusual to Lindel immediately. Mohania, stick close with Strings. I don't want any music or anything to draw attention to us until we know what is happening." Herrior said.

"Herrior, it's probably…" Lindel said and felt an overwhelming force hit her. It was almost as if she was suddenly shocked by electricity.

"Spread out, now!" Herrior ordered. The group kept their illusions on as they all left and began to take up positions.

"Shit…" Lindel said quietly. She quickly flew outside and turned invisible. She felt a force approaching them, something very powerful. She sensed it coming from the right. A middle-aged male was driving erratically. His mind was filled with nothing but evil.

"Herrior, it's coming from the east. He's coming in fast, but I cannot sense his intentions, other than pure evil." Lindel said quickly linking the minds of his party together.

"What is he driving?" Branzer asked quickly in his mind as the group repositioned themselves to handle the oncoming threat.

"Some enormous vehicle. He is about a mile away now. His intention is to come here, other than that I can't sense his intentions."

"Herrior, I may need to stop time. If he is hauling explosives it will kill hundreds." Dan said in his mind.

"Lindel, can you sense the Lieutenant around?" Herrior asked. Several seconds went by and then she replied that she couldn't.

"Branzer is this normal for a crazed driver to come to the station for some reason?" Herrior asked.

"No." Branzer answered quickly. "We purchase gas from regular stations, so there is no reason for a tanker truck to be coming. Ammunition is brought in by armored cars."

"Fine. Quinely can you take to the air without anybody seeing you?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…no?" Quinely said as she looked around and saw two officers on break trying to start up a conversation with her.

"Do it anyways! Find out where he is and what is going on." Herrior said. Quinely immediately morphed into her bird form and quickly flew away. This astonished the officers, leaving them awestruck for awhile.

Within seconds, Quinely was flying over the truck. "This is bad Herrior. I've noticed people driving and it's fairly predictable. This man is all over the place, and like Lindel said I can feel the evil coursing through my veins. I estimate he will be here in less than twenty seconds.

"Lindel do you have time to possess him?" Herrior asked.

"No, something is blocking me…I've already…" Herrior cut her off.

"Skyka how long does it take for a mind control?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"I can't perform the spell quickly enough, and if Lindel can't then I doubt…"

"Dan I think it is up to you. Quinely judge where he is going, you too Lindel."

"He's coming towards the station." They both said at the same time.

"Crystal, do you sense any demons?" Herrior asked.

"No, but I could be wrong…" Crystal said unsure of herself.

"How much time?" Herrior asked as the semi crashed through the perimeter fence and headed straight for the main headquarters. The explosion started, but was quickly frozen.

Time stopped.

"Lindel open us a portal, preferably over an alliance city. The rest of you pick this thing up and move it into the portal!" Herrior said. Lindel immediately began channeling her energy into the portal while the rest of the group grunted and pushed as hard as they could. The semi would not budge, and they were getting burns from the frozen explosion.

"Shit! Ok new plan. Lindel close that portal and open it right in front of that truck. The momentum should carry it through. In the mean time move everybody out of the way, quickly! Dan can you give us more time?" Herrior asked.

"I've never stopped time while time was already stopped." Dan said and realized that sounded weird.

"What might happen if you do?" Herrior said as Lindel channeled a portal big enough to absorb the entire truck. The rest of the group was hauling people out of the way as quickly as they could to a distance they thought would be safe from the blast.

"It may stop time to the point that you guys might not be able to move." Dan said.

"Not good. How much time?" Herrior asked.

"I stopped it for fifteen minutes, or so." Dan said.

"Faster people!" Herrior screamed as his group continued to pull officers from their seats, several at a time sometimes and far away from the building.

"Herrior, for some reason it's draining my power holding a portal open this big. I am going to have to stay with it and continue to channel it." Lindel said.

"I don't like that plan…" Herrior said as he dragged five officers out of the office.

Dan then started his time-warp ability. This speed up the process of pulling the officers out of the building. The group was moving in excess of fifty percent faster.

Time resumed.

The explosion sent a shockwave across the land and an enormous fireball into the sky for a quick second until the truck flew through the portal and disappeared. The building shook violently on its foundation and left enormous cracks in the wall. Lindel was blown clear across to the other side of the building. Skyka raced to catch her, but all she heard was a dull thud as she hit the ground.

"I couldn't catch her Herrior. She hit hard. I might need Icis for this one." Skyka said in her mind.

The officers in the mean time were in shock. One moment they were in their office, the next moment they witnessed the quick explosion and the tremors that followed. Herrior's group did not explain what just happened as they all raced over to check on Lindel condition. Skyka was already casting a resurrection spell on Lindel. Herrior got there just in time to see the blast of light slam into her body. Shortly afterwards Lindel let out a moan. Skyka then started casting healing spell after healing spell until her body was fully repaired.

"Don't die on me again, that is an order." Herrior said sternly but with a smile.

"I did what I had to do." Lindel said in a weak voice.

"I know hun. We saved many lives today, but there are still many inside that we didn't pull out. Lindel you are to stay here. Everybody that can't heal guard the perimeter. I'll go speak with the officers. Everybody else inside and tend to the wounded." Herrior said.

Herrior's group quickly split up, except for Lindel who just sat on the concrete trying to regain her power.

"Listen up everybody!" Herrior said. "A truck carrying massive explosives ran into your building. The truck, the majority of the explosion, and the driver we made disappear – don't ask questions. The reason why many of you are out here is we only had a limited time to carry as many of you out here away from the blast site as we could. Our healers, I mean doctors, are inside tending to the wounded. The structural integrity of your building has been compromised as well as your perimeter. I would suggest fixing that as well as keeping your mouth shut about what just happened. We did not have the time or capability to see who the man was working for, we gave it our best shot. However, and I cannot stress this enough, keep this whole thing quiet. Our presence here I feel has been breached and we will be moving on shortly. Does anybody know where the Lieutenant is?"

"Sir, he's dead." An officer spoke up quickly. The rest of the officers were listening intently.

"Dead? How?" Herrior asked.

"The initial report states that he fell asleep behind the wheel. His car crashed into a tree, killing both him and his wife." Another officer said.

"Another Lieutenant is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Nobody has a good feeling about him. They said he is quite the hard-ass." Another officer spoke up.

Herrior nodded and looked all of them over. The rest of the officers came walking out of the building, a little shaken up, but not even a scratch on their bodies.

"We have to leave, our job here is done and it is only attracting more attention to your department." Herrior said.

"If it wasn't for you guys, the guardian angels or whatever you are, most of us would have died!"

"Yes, many of you would. Let me leave you with some advice. Beware of anybody with red eyes and that is usually aggressive. Keep yourselves armed at all times. If one weapon doesn't appear to be working, switch to a different one. There's probably no harm in doing what I am now going to do. Most, if not all, of you know what is going on." Herrior said. He pulled out his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador. He stated that there was an explosion to their compound and it needed to be repaired quickly. The ambassador stated that he would dispatch several energized geodes, along with a goblin engineer to oversee the reconstruction. Herrior thanked him and closed the portal.

"Please, everybody, go back into your building and continue to conduct your work. Simply make up an excuse that all of you had to leave the building quickly." Herrior said.

"Fire drill." Branzer said quickly. "We all had a surprise fire drill. Everybody did exactly what they were supposed to, so good job everybody and let's go back inside." Branzer said waving his hands in the general direction. After several minutes all of the officers were back inside. They all saw several orbs flying quickly around the wall. The orbs seemed to consist of four to five solid masses that constantly shifted direction, almost in a circular pattern. They let off a small white glow, and seemed to coordinate their efforts with each other. As promised a goblin was in worst of the explosion, pointing and cursing at the orbs to work faster.

"Just a man in a costume is all." Branzer said.

"Woman actually!" The goblin yelled as she turned around and glared at Branzer.

"My apologies…" Branzer said with a smile. She went back to work. Within five minutes the wall was completely reconstructed with no trace of smoke or broken drywall.

"Energized geodes?" Herrior asked walking over to her.

"Yeah…we sort of 'borrowed' them, along with many other things. They repair things faster than any blacksmith or engineer could. We're using them to build our city." The goblin said with a smile. "Our Chronomancer is outside, I'll secure the perimeter fence and then we'll be gone." The goblin said. She gave a command and all of the orbs lined up behind her as she ran out the door.

Herrior gave the order for his party to go into their room. Many of the officers had questions or wanted to thank them. Herrior held up his hand and said, "None of this happened, believe me when I say that you are better off forgetting what just happened. I will however speak with this new Lieutenant. I will not leave all of you in the hands of an incapable person." Herrior then turned and walked to the room. He closed the door behind it and engaged the locks on it.

"Lindel, could the reason be that you could not contact the Lieutenant is because he was dead?" Herrior asked.

"I had a feeling, but I also have limited range; also not to make further excuses but it takes time to locate and identify the person. If they aren't giving off any thought patterns I can't tell what they are doing." Lindel said.

"You all did well today. We have saved many lives. Skyka, Branzer, Bernett, and Julie do you want to start moving your stuff out of Branzer's house? Lindel if you have the power I would like to move everything to Alan's house. I can contact him real quick to confirm it." Herrior said. Everybody went silent as Herrior activated his hearthstone.

Alan was in the middle of a session when his pocket began to vibrate violently. It scared him so bad that he dropped his notepad and loss his train of thought.

"Excuse me for a second, I need to take this. It's an emergency." Alan said and quickly left his therapy room. He had done what he wanted to, and that was to build an enormous therapeutic office complex on his property where all of his staff, which had doubled, came to work. He ran into his office and pulled out his hearthstone. Immediately a portal of Herrior came up.

"Yes…yes, I'm here. What's going on?" Alan said quickly.

"Calm yourself. We are in need of moving some of our personal items to an undisclosed location, and we were wondering if we could use your barn behind your house?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly you may! Is there an emergency or some reason for this move to happen?" Alan asked.

"Our position here has been comprised and we must move, that is until we get new orders. The items will begin arriving at once. My wife, Skyka, will personally oversee it and make sure that nothing of yours gets broken. The portals will begin opening as soon as Lindel is able to. Thank you Alan." Herrior said and closed the portal on his hearthstone. Alan raced to his phone and quickly called his wife to let her know what was going to happen. She seemed just as surprised as Alan did and said she would begin moving stuff around in the barn.

Herrior looked around at his group and they all seemed to have something on their minds.

"Yes?" Herrior asked.

Branzer, Bernett, Dan, Julie, and Crystal all continued to look at each other.

"Our stuff is worthless, isn't it?" Crystal finally said.

"No?" Herrior said in a surprised tone.

"No, I mean its all material shit. Some of it has importance to us, but for the most part we could live without it." Crystal said.

"I mean yeah, look at me. I came with just my clothes. Everything then was given to me, even my dog." Julie said and quickly summoned Spark. Spark let out a series of whimpering and laid down on the ground.

"I want the crystal Lindel gave me, but if we're going to be on the move constantly and I don't mean to offend you my dear, but if it gives off power – won't it just attract our enemies to it?" Branzer asked.

"No it won't. Every present that we have given to all of you, including your armor and weaponry, does not attract demons or alliance or any of our enemies." Lindel said.

"We would not give you anything that would jeopardize your safety. The only thing that we know for sure that does attract demons is Dan, and that is only when he stops time." Herrior said. "It is ok to move the things that are valuable to you. Anything that has sentimental value is what I am referring to."

"Yes, we know what you meant." Branzer said. "I can only think of a couple of items I would like to save."

"As do I. I'm not sure what Samatha would want to save. May I contact her and ask?" Bernett asked.

"You may contact her as often as you wish. If she is in battle, she will not answer. Also if your hearthstone's power is depleted for the day, you can always ask one of our ambassadors." Herrior said. Bernett immediately began to tear up again and turned away. He took out his hearthstone and Samatha almost immediately answered. The two of them began their conversation, but Herrior signaled everybody to give them space.

"I have nothing I want." Crystal said. Dan and Julie agreed with her. Herrior nodded.

"How is your strength hun?" Branzer said gently touching Lindel on the arm.

"Not full yet, but I have to power to complete this task." Lindel said and began the ritual to open the portal. Branzer leaned over and kissed her on the head and was immediately zapped by a powerful force. To Branzer, it felt like the biggest static electrical shock he's ever felt. Lindel slowly closed the portal and knelt down beside him.

"My love, you can't do that. That's the reason…" Lindel suddenly stopped in mid-sentence with her mouth wide open. She shut it and stood back up and began to channel the portal.

"That's the reason what?" Branzer said softly standing up. Herrior began to move to hold Branzer back from Lindel until she was done channeling the portal. Branzer waved him away. After the portal was open, she told him to go in an upset voice. Branzer hesitated and tried to look at her down turned face.

"Just go!" Lindel yelled. Branzer jumped in surprise. He slowly walked over to the portal and stepped through.

"Samatha said she doesn't want anything and that Jeffery has aged incredibly fast and…" Bernett said as he looked at the situation closer. "And now is probably a bad time, but no we don't want anything."

"I can't ever be with him! Why did I even start this relationship! I can't bear him children, and my power could accidently kill him!" Lindel screamed.

"Similar problem Kendall and I are having. We can grow our reproductive parts, but they are useless. We're undead, we were created in a similar way you were. We cannot bear a child either." Mohania quickly said. Lindel turned quickly around to face him.

"But at least you are the same race!" Lindel said angrily.

"But with a lot of differences. She could pass for almost a human, while I prefer to hold on to my true form. I have lost myself in love and have altered myself." Mohania said.

"I to have altered myself, as Skyka has pointed out to me." Herrior chimed in.

"My problem is just the opposite. The more I alter myself, the more I like it, and I hate that feeling!" Lindel said. "But the power I have is magnified tenfold. What if one night while I lay in bed with him I take on my dark banshee form and feast on him?" She let out a deep sigh as she looked through the portal to make sure Branzer wasn't listening.

Trackolania walked up to Lindel and tucked on her arm. She looked over at him as he pointed to his heart. Then he pointed to his head; waited a couple of seconds and then shook his head back and forth. Lindel let out another sigh as she agreed with him.

"I know…" Lindel said softly. "For a rogue that doesn't say anything you sure have a way with words.

"You know the answer all along hun." Herrior said. "Cancel out the 'what ifs' that you have and let love lead you. All of you, if your heart leads you in a direction – go with it."

"I want to marry him." Lindel said quickly. "But how can we be intimate?"

"I think the Queen answered that question for you awhile ago." Julie said with a giggle. The group looked at her, some with confused looks, while some of the others looked upset.

"What? It's the truth! I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, but there are many things you can do to be intimate with each other, to express your feelings towards each other in that way. Your problem is you are scared and you are hesitant. Let go of it and take Herrior and Trackolania's advice. Stop worrying and just let things be. It doesn't have to be sex; it can be something else you both enjoy. Take him flying or visit some place he has never seen before, or take care of the children in Tranquil. Have you ever asked him what he wanted from you to satisfy him? Same applies to you Mohania and everybody else in this room. Believe it or not, but I would love to go swimming with Quinely for hours than to have sex for fifteen minutes. I would love to summon my dragon and fly from place to place; discovering new items and feeling the wind whip through my hair. Is anybody listening, or am I just babbling to myself?" Julie said looking at everybody staring at her. Suddenly Spark said Julie's name and began to lick her.

"Everybody else has dragons?" Herrior asked.

"Most of us. Icis, myself and Mohania have flying carpets. Mohania kept threatening to eat his so he was given a carpet instead." Skyka said.

"It looked like it would have tasted good…" Mohania said.

"Ok, well apparently I was just babbling to myself, but Spark liked the speech." Julie said and started petting both sides of his head. "Who's a good boy, huh? Who is a good boy?" Spark moaned with satisfaction as Julie continued to pet him.

The group watched silently as Julie kept petting Spark. Spark eventually rolled on his back and Julie petted his stomach. Spark let out a loud satisfying moan of happiness as his back right foot began to scratch in midair.

Branzer arrived back through the portal with only his crystal. "This is the only thing that matters to me. The beauty of this is mesmerizing, but it is nothing compared to the beauty of the giver." Branzer thought for a quick second and then said, "That sounded better in my head." Lindel jumped up into Branzer's arms and kissed him passionately as the portal behind him quickly dissipated into thin air. Lindel took the crystal from Branzer and tossed it at Herrior. Herrior quickly caught it as Lindel continued to say over and over that she loved him. Branzer said he loved her too as he felt a magical energy enter his body. He grew concerned when he couldn't feel anything from his neck down. Lindel sensed his concern and got off from him. The power in Branzer's body quickly dissipated and he was his old self again; Lindel apologized.

"No, no that's fine. Whatever brought that on; I'm going to do that again. Herrior can I have the crystal again?" Branzer asked looking at Lindel.

"You really love me, don't you?" Lindel asked.

"Yes." Branzer replied back.

"You do realize that I am different, and I won't be able to do…certain things, but I can do other things." Lindel said staggering her words.

"I don't care if we don't do any of those things, so long as I'm with you." Branzer said in a confused look. He looked around and asked, "Somebody gave a speech didn't they?"

"Julie." Spark said as he continued to moan in satisfaction.

"You can't keep a secret can you Spark?" Julie said and gently pushed on his head. The enormous dog took his paw and gently pushed on Julie's head. His claws scrapped her cheek and blood immediately began to flow.

"Spark!" Julie said quickly putting her hand over her wound. Spark immediately got on all four feet and began to whimper as he tried to lick the wounds clean. Icis walked over and quickly healed Julie. Spark walked over to the side of the wall and laid down, still whimpering.

"You're a good dog Spark; you just have to realize how strong you are." Julie said walking over to him and flopping his ears around.

"I need to call Kendall." Mohania said.

"I would like to call Samatha again, if that is ok?" Bernett said. Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and tossed it to him.

"I would like to spend the rest of my life with Branzer." Lindel said joining in on the conversation. She then gasped and stepped back when she realized what she just said. "Shit, I didn't meant to say that, I mean I did, but I didn't, I mean not right now, but yes…I should be opening a portal to Alan's house we have things to do." Lindel immediately began to channel a portal. Branzer walked up to her but didn't touch her this time. When the portal was fully opened, Lindel quickly grabbed the gem from Herrior and went through. The portal forcefully slammed shut so quickly that a sudden burst of air blew into the room.

Branzer just looked at where the portal was. Slowly he turned his head to Herrior. "Give it time." was all Herrior said.

Samatha was in the barn when she witnessed the opening of the portal, Lindel stepping through and then it slamming shut behind her. The wind blew hard for several seconds, similar to what happened at the police station.

"I'm an idiot! Why is it I'm am able to help other people with their relationships and when it comes to my own I screw it up? 'Just say the first thing that pops into your head woman!' Ugh, he probably thinks I'm an idiot. I've always done that, just like each of our members of our group has their own personalities. Lately it's been causing more harm than good though. Sorry, here Samatha. I'll portal out of here and let you carry on with your life. This is the only thing our group wanted to save, everything else they are leaving or being sold with their house or whatever." Lindel said in a frustrated voice.

"You must be Skyka?" Samatha asked.

"Lindel, sorry. I'm the groups Chronomancer and banshee, and as of lately the biggest jackass." Lindel set the glowing gem down on a table and began to channel her power into opening another portal.

"Do you have to leave so quickly? Why don't you stay if you can, I prepared a big meal because I didn't know how many of you were coming." Samatha quickly said. Lindel instantly stopped channeling the portal; she lowered her hands which were still radiating power off from them.

"My husband would love to meet you, as well as the rest of your group. If it would help any, I can fix us some tea and we can have a talk if you want?" Samatha asked. Lindel turned around and looked up at her.

"You're so young!" Samatha said having a moment to quickly examine her. "I mean, you look great."

"I'm a lot older than you might think." Lindel said with a smile. "Thanks for the compliment though, and it seems I'm not the only one to speak quickly."

Samatha smiled back. "Guilty as charged. To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect. Herrior showed us his true form. He looked young, I guess, for being a Tauren. Is this your true form?"

"No, but it is the form I take on; eh long story and one I'm tired of telling. I'm sorry I'm not much for conversation right now." Lindel said sounding upset.

"Well I'm hungry, let's go have a womanly chat over dinner shall we; that is if you are off duty, or whatever you call it." Samatha said.

"If I'm off duty…" Lindel said with a smile. "We haven't had any real battles in months; our city is being turned upside down, wars are being waged across all known realms and our group has added on another member. Also it sounds like we are being reassigned. But as of now I guess I am off duty. If I am needed Herrior has several ways of contacting me, maybe I should contact him and let him know I'm going to stay for awhile." Lindel pulled out her hearthstone and opened a portal to him, of which he quickly answered "Yes".

"Womanly chat it is then. Honestly, I think Veliline should be here as well. I believe I could retrieve some of her lost memories from her mind, but I haven't dared purpose the question yet." Lindel said. "We're just now getting to understand her and her powers, the same as she is with us, eh long story." She paused for a second and let out a sigh of frustration. "Why is purposing so hard to do! Why did I even bring that up again?"

"Ok hun, how about we skip right to desert. I made a two layer chocolate cake…" Samatha said walking over to her, but was unsure how to comfort her.

"Chocolate! I love you!" Lindel said and hugged Samatha hard. "Come, let's go eat!" Lindel then grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the house. Samatha was again surprised at just how strong this young woman was.

Once inside, Lindel quickly located the cake and started grabbing handfuls of it and shoving them into her mouth. On the fourth handful she let the taste savor in her mouth as she let out a pleasurable moan of satisfaction.

"Found your weak spot eh?" Samatha asked in shock while smiling.

"I love this stuff…" Lindel began to say in Samatha's mind. Samatha was slightly scared at first hearing another voice in her head as Lindel continued to talk about her first encounter with chocolate and all of the different kinds of foods that she liked. Lindel finally swallowed her food and began talking normally. Lindel went to reach for another bite when she saw that Samatha was carefully cutting out a piece of the cake for herself and putting it on a plate.

"Oops." Lindel said.

"That's alright, it's glad to see somebody enjoy my cooking as much. So you can read other people's minds?" Samatha asked.

"Yes, sorry that was scary for you wasn't it. That is one of my abilities. I just didn't want to talk with my mouth full." Lindel said with a smile.

"Can you read anybody's mind?" Samatha asked.

"Yup. For example I know that Alan is bringing home a present for you, do you want to know what it is?" Lindel said taking another bite of cake, this time using her fork. "He is currently with a patient right now that is on a drug called cocaine, whatever that is. He isn't going to pay his bill and he doesn't like what Alan is telling him. He is planning on going home and over dosing on the drug, which he knows will probably kill himself."

Samatha looked at her shocked.

"Sorry, too much information? I'm sure we can compensate for you for his bill. So what other goodies do you have? Everything smells so good." Lindel said casually looking around at the assortment of food.

"Should I tell Alan? If you know he is going to kill himself, shouldn't we intervene or do something?" Samatha asked.

"No?" Lindel said again casually and picked out a bread roll and tried to cut that up with her fork and knife. After the first bite she looked up at Samatha's concerned face.

"He's been slowly killing himself for years. It's his choice. If we save him now, it'll only be a matter of time until he kills himself later on. His mind is focused purely on that one drug, which has deteriated his thinking. Save him now, or save him later. My opinion let him roast himself now to save the trouble later on. Am I doing this right?" Lindel asked.

"Rolls you can just eat with your hands. Are you sure about this, I mean my husband's job is to help people like that." Samatha said.

"Yes, and he is doing very well at it. However he can't save the world, and if somebody insists on killing themselves for a reason as stupid as this, then there is no helping him. He doesn't become emotionally attached to his patients that he helps does he?" Lindel asked in Samatha's mind as she was chewing up the roll.

"He isn't supposed to." Samatha said out loud.

Lindel swallowed it and then said, "So it shouldn't be a problem."

"Aren't there drugs in Tranquil, I mean do you give up on people there?" Samatha asked. Lindel immediately stopped eating and quickly questioned how she knew about the name of their city. Then she remembered that they had actually been there and calmed back down.

"We drink ale. It's a lot stronger than what you have here, but it is designed to quickly sober the person up if there is a battle. As far as items with addictive properties, none that I am aware of. We do help everybody that we can in tranquil, yes. I believe that is the answer you are looking for, but nobody intentionally injuries themselves or alter their minds in the same fashion this man is. We are constantly at war; would you want somebody with only half of their mind fighting beside you?" Lindel asked.

"Well, no." Samatha replied.

"We do have emotional problems and dissention among us, but those problems are quickly set aside if war breaks out. The problems are then later resolved." Lindel said and then paused for a second. "What all did Herrior tell you during his stay here? I seem to be answering a lot of questions for you."

"His biggest concern was continuing his battle, upholding his honor, and had thoughts of his group as well as his city." Samatha replied.

Lindel nodded. "So is this considered 'womanly-talk' as you referred to earlier?"

"No." Samatha replied back. She shook her head to alter her thoughts and then smiled at her. "Sorry, it's just hard to grasp that you know somebody is going to die and there is nothing that we can do."

"His mind is destroyed. If I were to enter it, it would probably overload him and kill him. I could cleanse him, but he would only return to his old habits again. If you knew what I knew it would not be hard to grasp the same ideas that I have. Death is part of life. Heck, I was killed what…two hours again? Maybe more than that, but it was in effort of saving hundreds of lives. I was brought back to life because it wasn't my time to die yet. The Lieutenant of the police station recently died after we cleansed his body and his wife's body, but it was only a matter of time in my opinion. When God wants you dead, there is nothing we can do. The banshee that Herrior rescued, she died only moments after entering our city. She knew her time was up and she even said something to that affect. We don't have power over life and death, as powerful as you think we are…" Lindel said trailing her sentence off as she took another bite.

Samatha paused for a second and then realized that Herrior had told them the same thing, in a different way. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be, what is this?" Lindel asked looking at the mashed potatoes. Samatha explained that she made them herself and hoped she liked them.

"So how do I ask my future mate to marry me, when I have nothing to offer him and I potentially have the chance to kill him accidently?" Lindel asked.

"Does he love you?" Samatha asked ignoring the last part of the sentence.

"Yes, and I love him." Lindel replied back.

"Do you know by reading his thoughts?" Samatha asked.

"No, I've shut off his mind to me. Also him being an ambassador, I have to do that as well. Only when told to, or if there is an emergency, or during a tight spot in battle can I link my mind up with his and the other ambassadors." Lindel replied. She took a bite of the mashed potatoes and nearly gagged on them. She bent over in her chair and coughed them up as Samatha raced over with a towel to help her.

"Sorry about that I didn't know." Samatha said quickly.

"No I'm sorry, that was pretty embarrassing." Lindel said feeling very upset.

"It's not poisonous; I wasn't trying to harm you." Samatha replied back quickly.

"Relax hun; I sense no ill intentions from you. Was Herrior kind of jumpy when he was here?" Lindel said wiping her mouth. Samatha let out a quick burst of laughter and said he was at first. She then paused for a second and asked if she loved Herrior.

"Of course, he is like a father to me – to all of us actually. I also love every other member in our group. Do I love them in the same way that I love Branzer? No, and I believe that is what you are trying to see by your question." Lindel replied back. A couple of seconds later Lindel said, "Yes I am sure."

"Sorry. I was thinking it but was debating whether to ask it or not." Samatha said. "Can I ask you a couple of questions without you knowing what the questions are ahead of time?"

Lindel laughed and said sure. She then apologized and said to go ahead.

"Are you scared of marriage?" Samatha asked.

"Yes." Lindel replied back. "No use lying about it, you have your own way of seeing if I'm telling the truth or not."

"Why?"

"I'm different, he's different. We both have different needs, of which Julie sort of gave me, as well as other members of our group a wakeup call as to that problem. I cannot produce offspring." Lindel replied.

"Does he want offspring?"

"I don't know, I never asked."

"Why should a total stranger ask that question instead of having you ask him that question?" Samatha replied back. Lindel sat in a confused daze for awhile.

"You want offspring don't you?" Samatha asked.

"Yes, but as long as we have known about banshees, we have never been able to produce offspring. While imprisoned we were forced to try, but nothing ever happened."

"It sounds like more of an issue concerning you than it is him." Samatha replied back.

"It is…" Lindel said slowly. "Julie said that there were many other ways of showing affection and love towards one another. For example Alan is about to arrive within moments with twelve red flowers with thorns on the stems. He is going to walk in and kiss you and tell you that he loves you. So we could do things like that."

Samatha blushed and looked away. Lindel had realized what she said and cursed at herself and apologized.

"You see the problem I have?" Lindel said in a bitter voice.

"No, I see you thinking you have a problem – but as far as there being a problem? I don't see it." Samatha said. "You said yourself your mind is cut off from him, so he could surprise you. You said you are a banshee, what is Branzer?"

"A human."

"And Herrior is a Tauren, what is his wife?"

"A blood elf."

"Has that stopped them from showing love towards each other?" Samatha asked.

"No, but their situation is different."

"How?"

Lindel remained silent and couldn't come up with an answer. Lindel sighed and looked away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to drill you. You might be able to read my thoughts, but I can tell when a woman is in love and confused. Trust me, I've been there." Samatha said.

"Does every woman go through this?" Lindel asked.

"Yes, but some won't admit it." Samatha said with a smile remembering her past. Then something dawned on her. "Have you had a bad experience in the past maybe?"

Lindel let out a burst of laughter. "I'm a banshee, what do you think?"

"No, I meant…with a relationship." Samatha said as Lindel walked away from the table. "I'm sorry Lindel; I didn't mean it that way." Lindel held up her right hand. The front door automatically unlocked and opened up. It revealed a confused husband fumbling with his keys. He was in fact holding a dozen roses; Samatha tried to look surprised and greeted him.

"How did you know I was here?" Alan asked.

"I didn't." Samatha said and pulled Alan in to look at Lindel.

"Hello! I'm glad you are here! How is the moving process going?" Alan said.

"We're done." Lindel said in an obvious upset voice. "I'm going to go for a walk." She turned and walked through the living room wall. Alan and Samatha immediately started to follow her, but as soon as they went outside they only caught a glimpse of her before she vanished.

"What did you say to her?" Alan quickly asked.

"She wants to marry a human called Branzer, so we talked about that. I might have pushed to deep into her personal life too much." Samatha said.

"Samatha! They can kill people just by simply thinking about it. Next time let me do the talking, this is my specialty." Alan said obviously upset.

"You don't know everything about women though; I was simply trying to help!" Samatha said defending herself.

"Cool it you guys. We can't kill people by a simple thought, and your wife meant well." Lindel said in their minds. Alan quickly looked around to see where the voice came from.

"It's Lindel hun; she did that with me as well." Samatha explained. "Lindel I'm sorry."

"You're fine hun. Maybe this explains my problem better." Lindel said out loud. Her voice came from in front of them. Lindel slowly materialized in front of them with tears on her cheeks.

"Ok let's just all calm down. You're safe here, ok Lindel. You don't have to talk right now, or at all. Do you just want to come in and relax?" Alan said.

"Alan. Can you sense anything around you? Do you know if anybody is actually here planning on hurting you, or if we are going to be ambushed?" Lindel asked.

"No I don't. But you do know that I have a lot of security in my house. Also, do you sense anybody is going to hurt us?" Alan asked.

"No." Lindel took awhile to say. "Sheesh, am I acting like a child? Am I over-reacting to this situation? Why am I putting so much thought and worry into it?"

"I want you to do something Herrior taught me. Everybody sit on the ground." Alan said. Alan still had his winter clothes on, but Samatha only had on her slippers and no coat. Lindel was dressed in her normal revealing outfit, showing no indifference to the weather.

"Sounds like something Herrior would say." Lindel said as she sat on the ground.

"Ok, close your eyes and put your hands over your ears." Alan said.

"Why?" Lindel asked.

"Because I want you to get rid of all of the variables around you, including yourself. Just sit and close your eyes and shut out the sounds of the world. After a couple of minutes tell me what you are thinking." Alan said softly.

"In your head or out loud?" Lindel asked.

"Whichever you prefer." Alan said, trying to act like he's been asked that question a dozen times before.

Lindel did as she was asked to. At first she only churning over the uncertainties in her life, then she felt a warm presence slow embrace her as images of her group entered her mind. Next she thought of flying around Tranquil and how she loved seeing everybody from above. Lindel was so lost in her thoughts that Samatha said she couldn't sit outside anymore. Alan nodded and she went back inside. Alan lasted another hour and decided that she was in deep meditation, and also realized he was absolutely clueless what to do next. He went inside and wrote Lindel a note and placed it back in front of her, then returned back in the house.

"Do you think she's ok?" Samatha asked.

"I guess. I've never counseled a banshee before." Alan said. He then smiled and asked how he did. Samatha replied back and said about as good as she did.

"Oh, she said that the man you spoke with before you come in is going to kill himself. Lindel said not to interfere, but I didn't want to hold that back from you. She also predicted exactly what you were going to do, loves chocolate, hates mashed potatoes, and apparently as the abilities to move objects just by thinking about it. So how was your day?" Samatha said with a smile.

"I got the same feeling about the man. Instead of counseling him, I tried to show him how to have his sins forgiven. That way he'll have a better life in Heaven. Some of these people are down-right idiots." Alan said.

Samatha let out a quick laugh and said, "That idea is not going to leave this house."

"No it shouldn't. But ever since receiving the Lord into my heart, I look at some of these people from a distance and I'm thinking, 'You're repeating the same mistakes over and over. Learn from it, ask for forgiveness and stop sinning. Your life would change dramatically.' But they just keep running into the same wall over and over and wonder why they keep getting hurt." Alan said. He looked at the large feast Samatha had made. "It looks and smells wonderful hun."

"I was expecting more." Samatha said disappointed.

"How about some wine and some dancing tonight as a reward?" Alan said smiling at her. Samatha smiled back at him and went to retrieve two glasses and a bottle of Moscoto.

Half a bottle and several hours later, both of them had dozed off on the couch. Suddenly Alan's hearthstone began to vibrate. This time Alan was slow to get it and pulled it out. The portal opened and he saw Herrior.

"Is Lindel ok? She isn't answering her hearthstone." Herrior asked.

"The last place we left her was in the backyard. Let me go check." Alan said slowly rising up off from the couch.

"Alan, are you drunk?" Herrior asked curiously.

"Trying to be; well Lindel is still sitting out there. I would say she is in the deepest meditation I have ever seen. And…I'm either seeing things or she seems brighter." Alan said as he began to put his shoes and coat on.

"Did she destroy anything?" Herrior asked.

"No, hold on a second I'm walking out to her." Alan said as he slurred his speech and half staggered to her.

"Lindel? Herrior's on the…stone. He is wondering about you. Are you ok?" Alan asked. Lindel did not reply.

"Herrior she isn't breathing or moving, normally I would be worried but she is still sitting in the same position I told her to be in, eyes closed and hands over her ears. She has a smile on her face and she seems to have some sort of white, kind of light coming out from her body." Alan said.

"Ok, just leave her be. If she wakes up, just tell her that we are sleeping and we'll contact her if we need her. Good night Alan." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Ok, Lindel. We're going to bed and your group is going to bed to, so good night." Alan said to her. No acknowledgement or movement came out of her. Alan put the stone back in his pocket and went back inside to go to bed.

The next morning Herrior was quickly awaken by a loud slam of a door and a man cursing at anybody and everybody he saw. He looked back at his group and saw that they woke as well.

"Skyka and I will handle this, but the rest of you stay close." Herrior said. Both of them touched their trinkets and they casually walked out and immediately saw that he was a high ranking alliance personal. The man knocked over every drink dispenser and had punched three officers, two males and one woman. He threatened the rest of them constantly and continued to curse at them. Herrior and Skyka casually walked into the break room and poured themselves a cup of coffee. They walked back out as Herrior took a casual sip. He then immediately spit it back in the cup.

The man grabbed the cup away from Herrior and splashed it in his face.

"Don't like the coffee? Huh? Not good enough for you? How about I piss in the cup and make you drink that you miserable piece of shit."

"No sir, sorry sir."

"My name is Corporal Lieutenant Jerardo of the eleventh district. I have served in more battles than you could probably count." He turned around to the rest of the officers and screamed for their attention. A second later he took out his pistol and fired off two shots into the air. Several screams came out.

"Do I have your attention yet? You will hand over all of your weapons, body armor. You all will take a ten percent pay cut, and we will stop donating monies to the community. You will serve me or you will lose your job and I will mess up your life, I promise you that…" Jerardo said with a happy grin on his face. "Any questions? Good! Put all of your weapons and armor into my office now!" He screamed firing another shot into the ceiling. Herrior and Skyka just casually watched as all of the officers did as they were told. Afterwards Jerardo slammed his hand into all of the extra weapons lockers and pulled out all of the guns and threw them to the ground.

"Pick those up coffee man and put them in my office. The rest of you go in your cars and get any additional weapons, shotguns, pistols, and I even want any flare guns pulled out of your cars and put in my office." Herrior nodded at everybody as he bent over to pick up the guns and did as he was told.

Thirty minutes later, several officers confronted him about their safety but Jerardo instantly cut them off.

"You bunch of pansies! The crime rate is down; the last thing we need is a bunch of rogue cops running around armed to the teeth with weaponry. I need them more than you do. Next I will be reviewing each of your files, deciding who I am going to fire and who is going to be part of my…elite…force." Jerardo said smiling at the word "elite". Jerardo walked into his office seeming very pleased with himself and slammed the door behind him.

The entire department immediately looked at Herrior. "Do I have something in my teeth?" he said with a smile.

"Well now you have seen our enemy that we fight. He will fire you, have you arrested, screw your life up, or convert you into an alliance – just like himself. Then you will go home and convert your family and your friends. Then if they can't be converted, you will kill them. The weapons he just took are to stock his army, of which it's obvious that they are desperate for weaponry." Skyka said.

"If we kill him, which it's not an "if" it's more of a when; another one could take his place. My guess is that you could have unloaded an entire clip into him and it wouldn't have done anything. That's the enemy, and they will do nothing but forcefully recruit people and begin the slaughter of this town. Also this stuff tastes like shit, why do you drink it?" Herrior said wiping off the rest of the coffee from his face and clothes.

"So you have a choice…" Skyka began to say.

"No we don't." George said, still with a toothpick in his mouth. "None of us do! What are we supposed to do?"

"Tend to your wounded. My dear, would you mind accompanying me to speak with dumbass?" Herrior asked.

"I would love to my dead. The rest of you stay low." Skyka said. Skyka started to walk when she was suddenly stopped by Herrior.

"If we kill him outright, it will draw suspicion. From what I hear, he is really upset at our prisoners. I believe he is upset because one of the prisoners killed a family member of his and he wants revenge." Herrior said. He then turned to the rest of the officers and said, "That's what he was saying wasn't it?"

"Anything you say chief." Another officer said. It was somebody Herrior didn't recognize. Herrior nodded and looked at Skyka. She knew exactly what he wanted her to do. Both of them walked over to the door and Herrior gently knocked on it. There was no answer, so Herrior pounded on the door.

Jerardo began cursing and screaming at them. Herrior kicked in the door and saw that he was on the phone. He began taking shots at Herrior when suddenly his body froze.

"Cancel what I just said. It was all a lie. I am going to expose our operation and let everybody know." Jerardo said as he hung up the phone. Skyka had obtained control over his mind and made him pick up several hand guns.

Herrior walked out and said, "Somebody has an apology."

"We heard shots fired, is everything ok?"

"I didn't hear any shots fired, neither did my wife. Did you Jerardo?"

"No." Jerardo said. A black haze floated above his head. "I apologize for my behavior. I am going to go into our prison cells and take vengeance on several people that were involved in the death of my family member. Anybody can come watch, but from a distance. I don't want to hurt any of you." His voice was obviously not the same and it was very apparent that he was being controlled.

"Are those video things still recording?" Herrior asked. Several "yes's" came back and Herrior motioned for everybody to follow him. Everybody got up to follow them.

During the walk, Jerardo was very talkative about where his alliance base was, how many people were there and what their plans were. He also reported that their armaments and weaponry were very limited.

Upon entering the jail house, Herrior asked to have all of the doors opened to the jail quarters. Herrior then turned around and looked at the officers, who were all packed in as tight as they could be.

"There will be shots fired. I will deflect any random bullets but none of you will be in arms way. Don't disturb my wife. Let's begin." Herrior said in a low whisper.

Jerardo walked forward and screamed, "Who of you killed my family member?" He pulled out his pistol and shot one of the inmates in the head. This immediately sparked fear in the rest of them.

"Who killed my family member?" Jerardo yelled again.

"Whatchu talking 'bout?" Jerardoheard the voice and he spun around shooting him as well. He then began wildly shooting at the prisoners.

"I'm sick of you assholes, and I'm sick of myself!" Jerardo said shooting several bullets into his legs and arms.

"Hey! Hey, what's going on here!" Herrior screamed and ran in and tackled him. They pretended to scramble around for awhile. Herrior had to slow his reflexes down in order to make it look like real.

"They killed my family member! I know it!"

"Put down the guns! Now!" Herrior said as he ripped away two of the guns and shoved them into his coat. Skyka walked out of the doorway and slightly to the left and she released his mind.

Jerardo immediately started cursing at him and then felt the pain shoot up into his head.

"Help me with him, I need some help!" Herrior yelled. Dozens of officers immediately came pouring in and subdued him.

"What happened? Unhand me you bunch of pricks!" Several of the officers began reading him his Miranda rights and cuffed him.

"You have no right, I didn't do anything! I will have you all arrested! I will fire all of you!"

George piped up and said, half looking at the camera, "You burst into the prison cell and started shooting the prisoners shouting about some family member that they killed."

"I did no such thing!" Jerardo screamed back and spat in his face.

"Get this guy out of here; get the paramedics in here to tend to the wounded. I want documentation of everything that happened. It appears that our Lieutenant was conspiring this all along. Herrior and Skyka recognized the voice as one of the men that their previous Lieutenant introduced them to, but they didn't know what his name was. He walked up to both of them and told them that they had better leave the scene. He also stated that the video would show a random officer attacking him, but in all of the commotion they would forget what his name was. Then he said he wanted to talk to them personally later on. Herrior at first said no, but then the officer asked again and said he would beg if he had to. Herrior nodded his head slightly and they were quickly escorted out of the building.

Herrior and Skyka went back in their room and told the rest of the group what happened. Then Herrior spoke up.

"It appears as though we have a battle waiting for us. The odds are in their favor, could be dangerous…" Trackolania immediately rolled his eyes all while pulling out his daggers and tossing them in the air. He caught them with such precision that it didn't even look real. The rest of the group shared the same excitement. Julie and Crystal started screaming in delight.

Herrior gave the location to Branzer and he reported that it was in a secluded place in a state called Wisconsin.

"Fine, call Lindel back and give her the location. I'll contact Tranquil and relay the information. We can stop wearing these illusions and charge head on into combat!" Herrior said changing back into his tauren self. As he pulled out his hearthstone a knock came on his door.

"Damn…" Herrior whispered.

"Can you wait a couple of minutes?" Skyka yelled out. The same officer that wanted to talk to them reported that he could. Herrior continued with the communication. The ambassador he spoke with seemed as eager for them to battle as his group was, however he would need confirmation from the King.

"Why?" Herrior asked.

"We could learn more by infiltrating the base, rather than just annihilating everybody in it."

"Alright, let me know." Herrior replied back.

"Before you go, I think it's about time you come back into Tranquil and rest up for a bit." The ambassador said.

"Sounds wonderful!" Herrior said. Strings immediately spoke up and reminded Herrior of his new instrument that he would like to get. Herrior relayed the information back to the ambassador.

"I will need to ask the King about that as well. You know the rules on time travel. In the meantime we have armor upgrades for your entire group, except for your bard and death knight. Do they want to stick with the same armor?" The ambassador asked.

"No!" Strings immediately spoke up.

"Well that answers our bard's question, as for our death knight what do you want?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing." Veliline said. "I do not want to use up your cities resources…"

"Veliline wears plate. She doesn't use a shield, so find a two handed weapon, I'm assuming a lot of stamina, dodge, parry, and mastery." Herrior said.

"And make it dark pink!" Skyka chimed in.

"Strings what do you want?" Herrior asked.

"I can only wear mail; plate limits my movements for some reason. Give me a high armor value, stamina and high magical resistances. Also many pockets and a disarmerment chain for my instruments." Strings said.

"Do they make such a thing?" Herrior asked.

"We will see what we can do. Any other requests?" The ambassador asked.

"Skyka and I would like to take Veliline to get her hair done." Lindel said stepping through her portal. The ambassador raised his eyebrow at Herrior as Herrior shrugged his shoulders.

"Very well, you will be hearing from me shortly." The ambassador said and closed the portal.

"Good to see you back hun. Feel better?" Herrior asked.

"Much. Sometimes a girl just needs to get away."

"Did you cause any trouble?" Herrior asked.

"As Mohania would put it, 'Not that I can recall at this time.'" Lindel said.

"I don't say it exactly like that, but the next question would be did you bring back any human flesh?" Mohania asked.

"No hun I didn't. Yes Herrior I was good. Alan and Samatha are good people, I'm glad you ended up with them. Both of them are doing fine. On a side note, there is a food here called mashed potatoes and they are disgusting." Lindel said.

Several of Herrior's group members spoke up and disagreed with her. During the friendly argument, Mohania asked if it was made out of human flesh.

Suddenly the door to their room opened, and instantly everybody drew their weapons.

"Whoa, truce…truce…" The officer said quickly.

"Oh, it's the officer named 'I'." Quinely said.

"Do you really have to call me that?"

"Yes. What do you want?" Herrior asked sounding upset.

"The question is what do you want us to do?" I asked.

"Don't understand?" Herrior said putting his weapons away.

"You've saved our lives, some of us multiple times. We are more in debt to you than anybody we've served under. We could make you the next Lieutenant, or even Chief of police if you want." I asked.

"No, we are leaving. If it is easier we can erase those memories from your mind." Herrior said no caring.

"From all of our minds?" I questioned back.

Herrior let out a snort in frustration.

"Sergeant dumb shit, or whatever he called himself, will very likely not get the medical attention he needs in a timely fashion. He'll probably lose both legs." I said.

"His credibility and information is what we were after. We'll finish off the job later." Herrior said. "Now leave, we must meditate."

The door slowly swung open and officer upon officer came walking into the room.

"Many others are on their way and heard about what happened today. We'll fill up this entire room if we have to." I said.

"You have become a thorn in my side." Herrior said and slammed him against the wall with one hand. "Listen to me, all of you! I admire your loyalty and the point you are making. But don't you think it would look a tad suspicious when an entire police department suddenly vanishes from the face of your planet? We have recruited some, yes. We have also sought help from some of you also, of which we thank you for your service. However this is far from the first time we have sought the help of another race and asked them to house us and fight with us. And this isn't the first time a race has begged us to stay and help, but that is not our job! All of you have assignments the same as we do. You uphold your laws; we do the same with ours. Now away with all of you! I grow sick of this masquerade! We will discuss it, but the decision is not up to us. Now be gone!" Herrior tossed I into the crowd of officers as he began pushing the rest out of the door. Several minutes later Herrior made sure the door was locked and snorted again in frustration.

"Tough crowd." Branzer said.

"The five of you…" Herrior said looking at the humans, "Would you recommend any of those people to fight beside us? Does their courage and honor impress you that they would die for our city and our groups?"

"Being an officer you have to have those qualities, you can't survive without them in this line of work. Personally my vote is no. Like you said, we've already had enough people asking about the whereabouts of Samatha and Jeffery – probably most of my family has disowned me at this point. More questions will raise more suspicions, and more suspicions will attract more attention, which very well may lead to more battles being fought here; battles of which we will not be around for." Bernett said.

"Same with the army. It was easier for me to fall of the radar, so to speak, but I agree with Bernett." Julie said. Spark barked her name, but Julie quickly told him no.

"Well that's two and a half votes. I say no myself. Others?" Herrior asked.

"My vote is no as well. I've served with many of them, I am friends with many of them as well but to start this whole process over fresh with them? Get them caught up to speed on what's happening?" Branzer questioned.

"That's not a concern of mine. Would they fight and die, or would they run in the sight of over-whelming odds?" Herrior asked. Branzer sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair.

"I don't know. There are many out there that are good at what they do. Many of them exhibit the same qualities that you are asking for. Do I feel compelled to name off names? No, I do not."

"Dan? Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"You brought me in because of my powers. You're brought Crystal in because of our relationship and the power you sensed in her." Dan said.

"Technically we sensed she had a lot of spirit in her and love for you, not necessarily power. Some of those people out there possess other untapped abilities, similar to Crystal's, however the problem being if we take a couple it would piss off the rest and cause dissention." Herrior said. "Everybody has a source of power within them, not necessarily the ability to walk through walls, but take you and Crystal's plans. Because of the two of you, not your powers, you were able to launch an attack, excuse me, multiple attacks on the alliance base that absolutely wrecked havoc on their base. Keep in mind you had weapons at the time, but you weren't granted real powers like you have now. Also, through means of some parchment folding, you created allies with us and the orcs. Your powers had nothing to do with that. On a side note, why aren't you an ambassador yet – question applies to both of you."

"Is that an order?" Dan asked.

"No, just venting a frustration. So what's the vote?" Herrior asked.

"I say no as well." Skyka said. "So we all agree then. The question is, should we all vanish in the night, or have a talk with them?"

Herrior rubbed his temples knowing that he was the one to do it.

"No, I'll do it." Dan said immediately standing up and walking towards the door.

"I'm coming as well." Crystal said. Trackolania followed her as well. Crystal noticed and turned around and asked if he was going to give a speech. Trackolania shook his head.

"He's going to make sure you are safe. He'll slaughter anybody that shows any sign of attacking you." Herrior said still looking at the dirt. Trackolania instantly nodded with a smile.

"Hell, I'm going to then. I'm not letting the little guy get all of the action…" Mohania said standing up and walking towards them.

"Trackolania can kill them quickly and without any pain." Herrior said.

"Yeah, and I can lit them on fire and watch them run around screaming in pain, what's your point?" Mohania said. This made Herrior laugh.

"Herrior, is it just me or do you really think my jokes are funny?" Mohania asked.

"I don't think you are joking." Herrior replied back.

"I wasn't, but that's beside the point. Has Skyka spoken with you yet, if not I feel as though we should have a talk." Mohania said.

"My friend, I am fine. I love all of you – even if I have to order you to die, I will still do it with love and weep over you. I'm not one-hundred percent yet, but yes, I am doing better. I could use a hug Mohania." Herrior said.

"Whoa, I don't do hugs. Go find a tree or something. Anyways if you smell flesh on fire, I have full intentions of blaming it on Crystal." Mohania said. Crystal reached behind her and raised her middle finger at him as they walked out the door. Mohania let out a chuckle.

Dan was the first to stand before them. The rest of the group stood behind him.

"I'm going to make this short and brief. Many of you wish to repay us for what we have done. Many of you want to help us. I don't know all of you and I regret that. I look upon all of you and see the bravest men and women in the task force. Learn to rely on each other. Love one another. Stay in contact with each other. The simple fact is you are helping us more than you can imagine. Almost all of you have seen things humanly impossibly done in the past. Believe it or not, you all have the abilities to excel in your job as we do in ours. You have seen healing done. Many of us had to go to a hospital and receive healing there. You have seen the ability for us to defend you in combat, take out the enemy, and perform things that don't seem possible. But there are many things that we cannot do, and one of them is taking you with us." Commotion began to erupt at what Dan was saying.

"Hey, listen to yourselves! You all have training beyond what I have had. How many lives have you altered and saved without our help? As a group of one, you are unstoppable. As a group of complainers and whiners; people that can't see your accomplishments that you have had already or see the potential that you have, you will fall apart. My best advice, go to church. There is more power there than any of us hold. Read the bible, pray together before each shift. Keep your bodies and minds healthy and you will see an enormous difference, I guarantee it." Dan said. Questions started rambling off, but before Dan could answer any Crystal stepped up.

"Shut up! All of you! Do your damn job! Listen to what he just said! Without any prior experience or knowledge, many of your have taken down demons and alliance, or arrested them. Stop being a scolded dog with his tail between his legs and thinking, 'I can't do it' when in fact you have been all along! From my understanding, we will be checking in on you as well as doing several other missions. But God is everywhere at once, you need to rely on him and trust in him. From what I gathered one of our members was sent to kill a demon, but a pastor was already there and did the job for her. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!" Julie said sounding pissed.

Silence fell on the crowd for awhile. Mohania bent over and whispered, "Can I light them on fire now?"

"Do you think that would help or hind the situation." Dan said turning around and asking him.

"Is there a third choice?" Mohania asked.

"We all have had the pleasure of being with you and serving with you. Keep in the faith and listen for a whisper in the dark. It might just be a 'guardian angel' watching over you." Crystal said.

The crowd slowly agreed and began to disperse. The officers on shift returned to their cubicles and duties. The ones not on shift left the building. Dan, Crystal, Mohania, and Trackolania (who was stealthed the entire time) returned to their room.

"Bunch of whinny little pussies; I don't ever remember us being like that, were we?" Crystal asked. Branzer let out a quick laugh. He turned around to hide his laughter.

"So are we taking anybody with us?" Herrior asked.

"No? I thought it was decided that we weren't. So I gave them a quick pep talk and sent them on their way." Dan said.

"I would have agreed with anything you would have decided out there." Herrior said with a smile.

"Hey, I just did my job. I was following orders, and I don't dare deviate from them." Dan said.

"I'm glad I have you in my group. I'm glad I have all of you in my group. I missed all of you when I was gone. I cried; I cried like I have never cried before. I mourned for days, but I continued to honor our memories. I still had the feeling like I let each and every one of you down though. There, I said it." Herrior said slowly. This time Mohania was the first to approach him.

"You're a pain in the ass sometimes." He said. Mohania's bony hands came down gently on Herrior's shoulders and squeezed him a little. "But it was good for you to finally say that my friend."

"Aww…Mohania that was so sweet!" Lindel said floating over to him.

"Go away woman, shouldn't you be making a gate to Tranquil or scanning for…bad people…or anything else?" Mohania said.

"I love you too Mohania." Lindel said and kissed him on the side of his skull.

Suddenly Mohania was knocked to the ground. Mohania was half-expecting it, but it still shocked him anyways. A lion began licking his skull.

"I hate all of you!" Mohania said. Quinely lay on top of him and started purring.

"Lindel if you would please, portal us to Tranquil? We need to get our armor and then make a trip back to Strings's old land. Afterwards we have some alliance to play with." Herrior said smiling at Mohania.

"Can't say that I'm looking forward to heading back to my homeland. However that is where the item is that I want. This lute has become cumbersome. I want an item called the 'Pipes of Pan'. It can cast an instant strong healing spell every couple of minutes, along with my normal songs." Strings said.

"Bad memories?" Dan asked.

"Just a bunch of pussies as Crystal put it." Strings said laughing. "If we run into my old group, they may engage us in battle – also we may have to steal several of these pipes for the other bards in Tranquil. Personally I want at least two."

"We have Trackolania, so that shouldn't be a problem." Herrior grinned at him. Trackolania pulled out several dozen wallets and tossed them on the ground.

"What the…we were only out there for a couple of minutes. How did you…" Dan started to ask.

"You are probably better off not asking. Lindel begin the portal; Crystal can you toss these out and hope they find their rightful owners?" Herrior asked.

After Herrior's group entered Tranquil they were instantly awestruck. They looked around and saw that the buildings were no longer a single story, but multiple stories high. Also the power emanating from the city had increased tenfold. A guard walked up to them and greeted them.

"What…did I miss…" Herrior said slowly. The guard let out a couple of chuckles. "Yeah, that's the same impression that a lot of groups have had. Welcome to Tranquil. Our population has increased and so has our city. You'll notice that we have flying discs, dragons, flying carpets, and portals that transport you within the city. I was instructed to lead your group to the armory, then the trainers, and lastly the King himself."

"Wow." Veliline said, again showing no emotion in her same mechanical voice.

"Yeah…that pretty much sums that up." Dan said taking in everything. "I thought Tranquil was beautiful and powerful before, but this is completely different."

"Many guards have been assigned throughout the city, the more powerful ones by the open portals. We also have a constant vigilance on the city from the skies. But explore for yourself, it is your city after all." The guard said.

"Herrior, permission to do…I have no idea…" Skyka asked.

"Granted." Herrior said still staring at the city in awe. "Remember the armory, trainers, and when you are done we have an appointment with the King. Don't get lost." The guard started to laugh.

"Summon your flyers; simply tell them where you want to go. Brenna and Samatha have made it known that they want to see you when you are in the city. Thank you for your service that you have provided for our city. It was because of you that we were able to build and fight off several ongoing threats at the same time." The guard said.

"Do I need to go see Cenarius for my training?" Quinely asked.

"No, we have consolidated all of our trainers in one area within our city – uh, that is except for your death knight. She can request any items that she needs and we will build it according to her specifications, but we wish to know her abilities." The guard said.

"No." Veliline instantly said.

"Sorry, I worded that wrong. Our trainers would like to learn so we could train other death knights." The guard said.

"No." Veliline said again.

"Ok, well that is an issue you have to address with the King." The guard said. Suddenly Samatha flew in on the group on a small red dragon. The dragon landed next to Bernett and a child instantly ran up to him and hugged him.

"Hi." Bernett said.

"Is that all you have to say to your son?" Samatha said. Bernett looked at her in shock. He looked down at the boy. He guessed he was about four years old.

"Jeffery?" Bernett asked.

"Yes daddy. I've heard stories about you and Samatha and I constantly prayed for you, that is when mommy didn't have to go off to fight. Then I played with the other kids or Kash took care of me." Jeffery said in perfect English. Bernett looked from him to Samatha and then back to Jeffery.

"Don't you remember me? I am your son. Mommy?" Jeffery said and began to back away from Bernett.

"No no…Jeffery of course, I love you very much. I'm just sorry I haven't been here to watch you grow up – so quickly…over the course of a couple of months…" Bernett said confused.

"Daddy, I am your son. Please don't be confused." Jeffery said. Samatha piped up.

"The time inside of Crystal increased his, umm powers or something. Plus the powers in the city helped it as well. He is your son I assure you."

"Daddy, I have been trained to control my time-stopper powers. I will not use them when you are around or when mommy are around. You have no reason to be afraid of me; you aren't afraid of me, are you?" Jeffery asked.

"No…" Bernett got on the ground and hugged him. "No my son, I am not afraid I love you and I love your mommy. I will love you no matter what, even if you grow up, uh, faster than what I am used to."

"I will stay this age for awhile. I will age again much later on; at least that is what Kash said. She's very smart, have you met her?" Jeffery asked.

"Yes, yes I have. She is a wonderful person isn't she?" Bernett said. "I have to go to the armory and then my trainer. Do you want to come with me?"

"I can't, those areas are off limits to children. It can be dangerous." Jeffery said. Bernett quickly thought about that and realized his child was right.

"Of course they are. Ok, umm…I'm not sure what now. Jeffery I do love you but I have orders to follow." Bernett said.

"I know daddy. I will continue to pray for you, but I wanted to see you." Jeffery said.

"I absolutely wanted to see you as well. You bring love and joy to my life. When I get a chance I will come back and we will go do something as a family. Can I talk to your mom for a bit now?" Bernett asked.

"Sure, I'm going to go play in the water. Bye dad!" Jeffery said and ran off.

Jeffery watched and then turned to Samatha.

"A million questions, I can only answer some of them and most of them I already did. I was surprised every time I came back from a mission. I knew he was growing fast, but not this fast. I was assured several times that he is healthy and will live a normal life. Like he said, Kash knows more than we do. She actually anticipated this, and didn't tell us. Another one of the features of this place. I'm sorry Bernett, I should have warned you or something." Samatha said hugging him.

"No, just unexpected. I love you Samatha." Bernett said.

"I love you too you big bad hunter." Samatha said embracing him even harder.

"Do you three want to spend time together while we go to the trainers?" Herrior asked.

"No." Both Samatha and Bernett said at the same time. They smiled at each other, but they knew that they had their orders.

"I will see if we can have some down time after our missions, offspring are very important." Herrior said. Herrior's group began to summon their dragons; Icis, Skyka and Mohania summoned their flying carpets and started to fly off. Herrior summoned his dragon and it quickly flew down.

"Still been looking over me?" Herrior asked.

"You're not dead yet." The dragon replied back and let out a chuckle. Herrior mounted him and joined up with the rest of the group.

Everybody stared down at their new city. Dozens of new fairies traveled in and out of them and continued on their way. They were traveling much faster than before. Herrior felt this many times before but felt even more power surge through his body after the fairy left. Skyka saw his confused face and said, "The food that we are producing now enhances your primary attribute. It lasts for about a week and then slowly fades away."

"The power…the power from this place is amazing." Veliline said, still with no emotion in her voice. "Had my master had this type of power he could have annihilated anybody in his path. How safe is this place?"

"This is what we are fighting for hun." Lindel said flying several quick circles around her. Lindel had her wings out and seemed almost intoxicated on the power coming into her body.

"I heard your stories; I was just unaware of the magnitude." Veliline said.

Skyka made a sudden descent as the rest of the group followed her. They all landed on a large platform and dismounted. Several of the town's people greeted them.

"How many of our primary groups have checked in?" Herrior asked.

"Nearly all of them; this is the same place where they came as well. Our secondary's are still out, well most of them are." A male blood elf said as he began to feed the dragons a type of meat Herrior had never seen before. The flying carpets merely disappeared when Icis, Skyka, and Mohania walked off from them. They all walked off in different directions as if they knew exactly where they were going. Herrior and Veliline simply looked around.

"The warrior trainer is off to your right. Not sure what we are going to do with Veliline though." The same blood elf said.

"The King spoke of her?" Herrior asked.

"We all know. Many of our allied races have come and gone, or stayed. A lot of the Taunka have stayed and become guards." Herrior nodded and motioned for Veliline to follow her.

"I am not a warrior." Veliline said. "I do not belong where you are going, nor should I know your abilities and secrets that you have." Her face looked almost worried as she kept looking around.

"Go ahead Herrior; I'll see what we can do to accommodate her needs." An older tauren said from a distance walking up to them. Herrior immediately recognized Uglar their old trainer.

"So they haven't taken over your job then?" Herrior said embracing him.

"Just lightened the load is all. I've been able to sleep and help build, I even had time to do some fishing. Anyways go on, I need to speak with this beautiful woman." Uglar said.

"Who?" Veliline asked. Uglar took a slight bow at her while smiling and outstretched his hand. Veliline looked at it and then back up at him.

"Careful with her." Herrior said walking away.

"Can you explain to me your abilities…" Uglar said slowly, which Veliline abruptly said "No."

"I actually anticipated that response." Uglar said with a big smile. "We will not turn your powers against you if that is what you are thinking. We just merely wish to train other death knights that we may come across."

"No, there are no more." Veliline said quickly. She looked over at Herrior and he was laughing at something as several other warriors with shields, just like Herrior, were standing around him.

"I will train them. I require a runeforge, and targets to practice sparring on." Veliline said turning her gaze from Herrior and looking at Uglar.

"We do have the second; but a runeforge I am unaware of what it is." Uglar said.

"It is a special type of forge used by death knights to emblazon their weapon with runes. I've depleted mine and need to reforge it." Veliline said. Uglar listened closely and asked if she knew how to build one.

"Yes. I need some materials. I also want some place…dark, away from everybody." Veliline said looking around at all of the commotion.

"We've made a separate area for our monks and undead. We can alter a similar environment for you." Uglar asked.

"No." Veliline said.

Uglar started to laugh. "We'll get everything figured out for you, I promise. I'll summon some engineers and we'll start work on your runeforge. First things first eh?" Uglar used his hearthstone to speak with one of their primary engineers. Within seconds a goblin flew up and landed on the platform.

"Rocket boots!" The goblin said. "Problem with them so far is they seem to turn on unexpectedly. However compared to our other inventions the consistency of these has a higher success rate. Now what is it that we can build for you today?" The three of them started to explain what a runeforge was and what materials were needed.

Herrior in the mean time was shocked at how his talent trees had changed and abilities. He didn't notice the rest of the group walking up behind him.

"Herrior we need to head to the armory, are you all set?" Skyka asked. Herrior completely ignored her as he continued to ask questions about different shield techniques and was intrigued about the abilities for warriors to self-heal themselves.

"Herrior?" Skyka asked again. Still no response as he asked if all warriors had this ability and how well it worked.

"Herrior, we women are going to go bathe each other in the fountain – the one in the middle of Tranquil." Skyka said. The group started to laugh as some of the other warriors saw that she was trying to get his attention.

"Sorry, what hun?" Herrior asked turning around.

"I was asking if you were done." Skyka said with a smirk.

"Yes, so many changes. I want to hear more stories though, it will further my skills as a warrior." Herrior said turning his attention back to the other warriors.

"Deadline hun. Off to the armory we have to go." Skyka said pulling on his arm. Herrior allowed her to pull him away.

"Did you guys learn anything new?" Herrior asked his group.

"Some, not much has changed with us." Skyka said. Just then Quinely flew at tremendous speeds and landed on Herrior while transforming from her bird form into her human form.

"I can heal!" Quinely said excitedly. "I never could before, but I can now! Cenarius allowed me all the powers of a druid! I'm more powerful now, and now I can assist healing! I can also recharge their mana, and bring people back to life in the middle of battle!"

Herrior smiled at her excitement. Quinely's eyes then opened wide and quickly got off from Herrior and apologized.

"Its fine my druid, I'm glad that you are excited." Herrior said.

"Yes, it's wonderful!" Quinely said and looked at the rest of the group. They were happy for her as well. She looked at Skyka and Icis and then suddenly said, "I can't heal as well as you two can…"

"Quinely I'm sure your abilities are exciting and they will be a great value to our group." Skyka said.

After the visit to the armory, Veliline again was amazed at the armor and new two-handed sword that she was given. They made their way to the center of the city and casually walked into an open building when the King suddenly greeted them. Herrior's group froze and stared at him, then instantly they all bowed to one knee. Veliline merely watched and then tried to mimic their movements.

"First question I sense from all of you is why am I so exposed and not in my protected chambers? My Queen and I can better utilize our abilities out in the open, it makes our citizens more relaxed around us, and I believe that we are very well protected anywhere within our city. As you see we still have our guards, but we have released our banshees into the battlegrounds and throughout the city. I expect that you show respect in our presence, but rise from the ground – you do not need to bow anymore. Please come forward, all of you." The King said.

Herrior's party all walked up to within ten feet of their King and Queen.

"A couple of things first, I am glad to see all of you. From your faces and reactions to the new city I get the impression that you like the changes. We have water rails running throughout the city, many more fountains and a vast array of gardens. Also, we've expanded upward." The King said with a smile. "But down to business. Trackolania, I'm afraid your rogue friend has taken a liking to another male. However I sense that you already knew that." Trackolania nodded with a small sigh.

"Aww hun I'm sorry. You didn't say anything." Skyka said. Trackolania made a quick glance at Skyka. "Oh right, you don't say anything."

"Quinely you seem happy with your new abilities, I'm glad to see that." The King said.

"Yes! I hope I'll be able to help out our group better with them. Also thank you for the new armor!" Quinely said excitedly.

"In order to heal more effectively, you will need to carry around a completely different set of healing gear." The King said. Quinely's face froze.

"I didn't think of that…I mean you are right of course, just didn't dawn on me."

"The decision is up to you. Bernett I saw that you were slightly confused about our newest time stopper." The King said turning to look at Bernett. "I assure you that he is fine, normal, and completely healthy. He's come to visit us several times along with his friends. He is receiving the best possible care that we can provide. His sudden grown will be halted from awhile as he will mature at the same rate as the other offspring. Have you decided whether or not you wish to alter your talents, go from marksmanship to survival?"

"I don't know to be honest. I would have to talk to other hunters to see their opinions and how it affects their groups." Bernett answered back. The King nodded and then looked at Herrior.

"Herrior, who won the football game?" The King asked.

Herrior looked surprised. "The game?"

"Do you not remember? The large stadium that most of your group went to filled with almost fifty thousand people. Your insistence to be on the constant alert for demons or alliance, even after you knew the place was secure. Do you even remember the names of the teams that were playing?" The King asked. Quinely began to morph into a lion but the King said not to help him. Herrior didn't see what had happened.

"I'm…not sure my King."

"You do not know the teams, and you do not know who won? Do you even remember the name of the stadium where you were at?" The King asked.

"I do not know the answers to any of those questions my King." Herrior replied back.

"A lot of your members in your group were interested. In between getting ordered to do several things, they tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening. You took the fun away from them. Crystal answer my questions for me please." The King said looking at Herrior.

"The Lions won against the Bears. The final score was twenty four to twenty one. There were three injuries on the field. The Bears, for some reason, played lousy defense and the Lions got a lucky field goal in the third quarter." Crystal said.

"Once the area was secured, why did you not let your group enjoy themselves? I understand that you had some issues, but why let it affect your group? Also did any members of your group draw unusual attention to themselves, such as biting a football in half?" The King asked.

"That was me." Herrior answered slowly.

"Yes it was. Now what do you think they were going to talk about the following day? Perhaps it was fate calling you to go to a certain area to tend to a situation. Did that thought ever cross your mind? It might have even been an involuntary cry for help that he wasn't consciously aware of. But you shut that down pretty quick didn't you?" The King asked. "The rest of you did great that day, except for poor Lindel. Herrior did you ever consider the fact that scanning that many people is an impossible task, something the Queen and I would have trouble doing ourselves. You exhausted your Chronomancers powers. Let's say you had to make a quiet exit, she would have been powerless. Not a good call on your part was it?"

"No, I made the wrong judgment call in both situations." Herrior said admitting his mistakes.

"And what happened when you returned to your outpost? Was it not Lindel that created the portal that consumed all of her power which lead her to death? Why did you not ask one of your priests to levitate up there and catch her immediately and begin the healing process sooner? Her death was on your hands. I, as well as your group, have been questioning your abilities to lead. Are your thoughts and emotions straightened out now? Are you able to lead?" The King asked.

Herrior wanted to respond quickly to the answer but took some time to think about it. "I had some personal issues that I had to confront. I should have stepped down while I dealt with those. I feel as though I have worked through them now. I apologize to you and my group."

"Keep this in mind, all of you. Battle, honor and duty come first – always. I'm tired of having good leaders run off to get themselves killed in battle for some personal vendetta that they feel they must fulfill. You have a well rounded group, and your latest addition makes it even more interesting. Veliline, at some point in time you must speak with a class trainer about your abilities. Even if there are no other death knights, our trainers research the abilities and talents extensively and report back any improvements or additional features that they have discovered. You are in a group, and you can be an ambassador to your race – that I have no problem with. But if we ever come across an unfriendly death knight we'll have the strategies to know how to defeat them better. Is that understood?" The King said looking at her. Veliline nodded. This made sense to her and she thought that this new master was looking out for her best interest.

"Veliline, please don't say the word 'master' anymore. Erase that from your mind…ok?" The King said with a smile.

"I'm sorry." Veliline said.

"Now then…off to Skara Brae with you?" The King asked looking at Strings.

"Thank you my King. The Lute has served me well, but I think a smaller wind instrument would serve me better. The one I'm thinking of can heal a large amount of health once a day. I'll bring back as many we can afford." Strings said.

"I am not going to support this purchase. Their demon is dead and they have no need for weaponry like that. Lindel, I want you to arrive several weeks after they defeated Tarjan. Then arrive back here in our current time stream. Don't spend a long time there. I'm going to send some assassins ahead to scout out this alliance encampment you have uncovered on your planet you are watching over but not to engage them. You uncovered their base; you get the privilege of destroying it." The King said with a smile and nodded at them to leave.

Herrior's group walked out of the King's new building and started quickly speaking with each other. None of them noticed that Brenna, Kendall, and Samatha were watching from a distance. Neither one of them could hear what they were saying. They saw Lindel begin channeling her portal and when it was fully empowered they all walked through and disappeared.

"Does it get easier?" Samatha asked.

"I thought you were used to this. Bernett was a fighter on your world wasn't he?" Kendall replied.

"An officer is what he was. There was always that concern, but now it seems more surreal." Samatha replied.

"They always come back, most of them alive depending on the battle. But when their time is up they won't come back." Brenna said. "It's all part of the job."

"Yes, yes…I know. Everybody says that…" Samatha said.

"When you two are in battle, you feel more comfortable because you can see what is happening. It's what you can't see or don't know that frightens you, doesn't it?" Brenna asked.

A moment of silence passed before Kendall quietly said, "This isn't new to you, is it?"

"I've been here hundreds of years, and my family before that. We've always looked out for our fighters, and to curve the anxiety we garden. You two should look into doing something to keep your minds busy." Brenna said.

Samatha looked over at Jeffery. He was playing with several trolls, blood elves, and a female tauren splashing around in a fountain. She knew that no harm would come to him in this city and he accepted the other races as if they were just like him.

"You're lucky Samatha. I can't give one to Mohania." Kendall said. Samatha nodded and gently reached out to hold her hand. She felt warm flesh and didn't even realize at first that she was undead.

"Give him something else, you're heart. That's all he wants. What happened to the stories of you and him slaughtering an entire planet? As I recall you won the contest and it was probably the most fun you ever had in your life." Brenna said.

"It was." Kendall said remembering the time as a smile came across her face. "I want to be human again. Mohania embraces his race. He leaves his body fleshless while I regrow my flesh."

"I hate to be the one to point this out hun, but you are undead. You are as undead as I am a human. There are powers you have that I don't understand and could never obtain." Samatha said.

"You have different powers than I do." Kendall said.

"As do I, but all together we are a powerful race. Samatha, would you consider allowing Kendall and Mohania to watch over Jeffery while you or Bernett are gone on a mission? This would free up Kash's job and give her a chance to look after the other younglings in our city." Brenna asked.

Samatha and Kendall looked at each other, first in shock of the idea and then Kendall's face appeared to plead at the offer.

"That would be fine with me." Samatha said with a smile. Kendall immediately thanked her, and then hesitated.

"Should I continue to grow my skin to not scare him, or revert back to my old self like Mohania would want…" Kendall said but Brenna quickly put her hand over her mouth.

"Mohania…loves you the way you are…period. Quiet trying to alter your appearance and attitude for him. Relax and just do what you want with your body. As for Jeffery, he's seen you before, he's seen Mohania. To him, you are just another person in his city – that's all. Now both of you go play with him and then find something to occupy your down time. There are plenty of professions you can learn and jobs you can do. If you can't find one you like come play in the dirt with me." Brenna said shoving both of them in the direction of Jeffery.

The two of them started walking when Samatha turned around and asked if she was a counselor.

"Nope, just a gardener and a friend. Those are my jobs." Brenna said smiling at her and walking away.

Strings was the first to walk through the portal. He was dearly hoping nobody would see him, but of course Lindel opened the portal in the same spot where they originally came and got him – in the middle of the city. Only this time the streets were bustling with activity and cheering immediately started. Strings rolled his eyes and turned around to see if the portal was still open.

"Nope. We have a job to do hun." Lindel said.

"Strings! Strings! I knew you would come back Strings! I love you!" A female child that looked like a small alliance gnome, but only with long ears like that of a night elf gave Strings a big hug. "Let me go get my mom! She will be so excited!" The girl then ran off.

"One of yours?" Skyka asked.

"Hardly, Mohania can you change me into something real quick…please?" Strings said. Suddenly a loud shriek came from a middle aged human that was quickly approaching him.

"Mohania? Lindel? Dan can you stop time?" Strings pleaded, but suddenly he was in a full embrace by this woman.

"Strings, I am so glad to see you again! Look at what we have done with our city, and it is all because of you and your party! You freed us! You have given us the power to prosper and to rebuild our lives. I have waited for you, everyday that you left with them. I cursed them for taking you and counted the minutes until your arrival with us again." The woman was obviously ecstatic to see him and was randomly kissing him.

"Strings…we never knew…" Skyka said smiling.

Strings paused for a second and then said, "Elshara I have come back on a mission, not to stay."

"Skyka in case you were wondering, Strings just called you an ass." Lindel said giggling. Mohania started to laugh as he said, "That's what I always call you guys."

"But you must stay. Your group is training and leading expeditions. The catacombs have been sealed. I will send for them at once, they will be excited to know that you have returned!" Elshara said and yelled over and over for their trainers to be brought in quickly. She let her grasp go of him as she went off to join the search while Strings quickly walked away.

"We could have a problem guys. My group that defeated Tarjan wasn't real happy with me when I left. In fact, several times during our battles we would settle our differences by battling each other to death. We also ran into some real cocky jackasses along the way of which I would like to avoid as well. Quick, let's duck in here." Strings said opening a door as they all poured in.

"Maybe if we hide for awhile, the crowd will come down and we can conduct our business…" Strings said but was interrupted by a elder male voice.

"Yes, you are the prophesied ones, but you have come too early. No matter."

"Oh for crying out loud! You are still alive?" Strings said in a furious tone. "You're the dumb shit that sent us out with no power, no weapons, no armor – yet you had the power to give us the abilities we needed to do our job!"

"Beneath Skara Brae you will find one of Tarjan's devotees." The old man continued to say.

"Herrior permission to kill him…please!" Strings said in a sincere voice.

"It might alter the time stream." Herrior said.

"It might alter the time stream if we don't kill him." Mohania said casually. The old man continued to talk in the background as they talked.

"I can't remember the last time I said this, but I vote for Mohania's thought." Strings said.

"That is rare hun." Skyka said with laughter in her voice.

"Trackolania, shut him up." Herrior said. Trackolania instantly vanished in the shadows and within seconds later the man's head went completely limp and swayed back and forth. Trackolania had an ability to land an attack so accurately that it didn't harm a person, but simply knocked out their conscious mind and awareness for several minutes.

"While you are at it, I bet you can't kill him in one shot." Strings said. Trackolania reappeared in front of Strings with a cocky glare and then looked away.

"I bet I could kill him in one shot…" Mohania said as his eyes and hands lit up with fire.

"Mohania what do you have against this man?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing that I'm aware of, but do I need a reason?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Lindel can you go check to see if the crowd levels outside before this house bursts into flame." Herrior said.

"So…does that mean I can light this house on fire and see if I can burn it down before Lindel gets back?" Mohania asked. Lindel quickly flew back through the door and reported that everybody was at the front gate for some reason.

"The weapon smith is five houses down on the right." Strings said as he flung open the door and ran for the building. He slammed into the door and it flew off its hinges as the rest of Herrior's group came charging in. The storekeeper looked shocked. Strings quickly apologized and see he needed several instruments called "Pipes of Pan".

"Is everything ok?" The storekeeper asked.

"Fine fine…do you have any in stock?" Strings said as Herrior and Jacklyn propped the door back up as best as they could.

"That's a dangerous weapon, used only for bards."

"I am a bard, and I helped retrieve several dozen of them!" Strings said.

"I recognize you, but we have a commerce system. I can't just give them away for free. They are valuable to us if another attack ever comes along. Proper authorization needs to be given, by your group which disbanded you. You left on a sour note…pardon the pun."

While Strings and the store keeper argued, Herrior looked at Trackolania and nodded. Trackolania instantly vanished and began his duty. Herrior then looked over at Lindel. As they made eye contact, Herrior quickly looked at the door and then back at her. She nodded and disappeared as soon as the store keeper looked away. Herrior knew that this negotiating would take awhile and they might need a diversion, also if Trackolania could identify what the instrument was, he could snag several of them and they could be gone before any other disturbances arose.

After a couple of minutes of Strings arguing with the store keeper, who's name turned out to be Ulases, he agreed to an offer and stated that he did in fact have the same amount of the instrument that Strings was after.

"I have it under lock and key. Let me just find it…hey where did I put my keys? They were just in my pocket?" Ulases said curiously. He checked the rest of his pockets and couldn't find it. He then said he probably left it in the back room, but if he couldn't open the box then he couldn't get to them; and then he reminded them the enormous amount of gold that it would take to buy them.

A moment later he said, "Found the box; just let me find a way of opening it." Ulases announced. A second later he stated that his gold purse seemed to have been misplaced as well.

"Are you guys doing anything funny out there?" Ulases said in a mean tone.

"We're all still here, waiting for you…" Strings said impatiently.

Ulases turned around and saw that the box was gone as well. "What is happening?"

"What is happening is we are growing very impatient!" Strings said. "We don't have time for you losing your mind, let alone everything you touch! Did you try looking on the floor perhaps? Maybe you dropped it, or maybe it is in your hands and you don't even realize it!"

Lindel established a mental link with Herrior and described the situation outside as growing hostile. The townsfolk were taking sides, and three of them she sensed were in Strings group – and they were not happy.

"Establish a link with Trackolania. Tell him to yank everything. In the mean time we'll go out and settle things down." Herrior said in his mind. He felt Lindel leave his mind as he picked up the door and moved it out of the way. His group followed him as he left, except for Strings and Trackolania.

"You! Where is that back-stabbing bard of yours? I will take pleasure in gutting him and hanging him in a tree for the birds to eat!" A human said racing towards Herrior. Herrior armed himself, but before the human could get to him a large seagull flew at speeds so quickly that nobody really saw what happened, expect that the humans sword was dislodged from his hand and dropped in front of Herrior. The seagull flew back to Bernett and landed on his shoulder. Herrior stomped on the sword as hard as he could, feeling the metal crack and distort under his mighty hoof.

"We are here on business. You keep your distance and you will remain alive. Once we are done we will leave." Herrior said. "That applies to all of you. Our business does not pertain to any one of you and our transaction is almost complete." Just then Ulases yelled out that there was a doppelganger in his shop. This immediately sent the crowd in an uproar.

"You brought the demons back with you! If we slay you, they will leave again!" The swordless man said. The crowds quickly armed themselves and advanced toward Herrior.

"Ice traps, fear them! Don't harm them yet." Herrior said. All of the hunters quickly started shooting traps into the air that landed and quickly froze the group they were walking on. This made them slip and stumble over each other. The warriors and warlocks began to cast their fear shouts and spells, making many of them run awkwardly in any direction. The rest of the crowd didn't anticipate this and started to back off.

"Stop this, immediately!" Herrior shouted. "We are here for a couple simple reasons. It was supposed to be a quick 'in-and-out' operation. However I have no problem giving the order to let my group their attack."

"Let them attack! They stole all of our weaponry from my store!" The store keeper came out yelling.

"Prove it!" Herrior shouted back. The store keeper instantly shut right up.

"If you stole the weapons that we have been collecting and selling to our townsfolk, how are they supposed to defend themselves?" The man said asked as he pulled another sword out of his belt.

"You collect weapons, give them to him, and then sell them to these folks?" Herrior said ferociously. "Does anybody else see a problem with that?" His head turned and surveyed the townsfolk. Herrior then turned back to the man who appeared as though he was ready to strike at any moment. "So I am assuming you give them willingly and freely, without a cut?"

"That is none of your business you over-grown cow!"

"What happened to the millions of gold and weaponry that Tarjan dropped when I killed him?" Strings asked.

"You killed him?"

"The rest of you were dead! I was the only one left! If I remember correctly you died first! I personally brought the priest from his shrine to bring the rest of you back to life, and you know the price he charges!" Strings said recalling the past. "And yes, it was me that danced with him for several minutes before he dropped. To you this all happened a week ago, or did you change the story since I left?" The crowd stared at Strings in awe and then they slowly turned their gaze to the fighter. He felt the eyes piercing into his soul; they knew he had been lying.

"If it wasn't for our Chronomancer, you would not have the powers that you do now! We do what we can to survive. You stole our powers and left to fend for ourselves!"

"I grow tired of this. I was contacted; our Chronomancer knew this and opened a portal. What happened to her after that I have no idea. When I arrived at my location she did not follow me." Strings said.

"And where is that location?"

"I will tell you over our dead bodies!" Herrior said and aggressively walked towards him. "My friend speaks the truth and we have caught you in your lies! Give the people the gold and weaponry for free to defend themselves; also I have a feeling if I kill you nobody will miss you!"

"I would." A women said quickly stepping in-between them. She was a human older than the fighter, but slightly shorter. Herrior let out a loud breath through his nostrils and stopped his approach.

She turned her back to Herrior and looked at the human. "Is what he says true? Have you been making us work, do your bidding in order to survive? I do not believe they would have come here just to argue. I believe them." She stopped for a minute and then said in a stern voice "Where is the gold at?"

The fighter backed up a little looking afraid. "She's a witch! She's a banshee, a doppelganger!"

"You're a liar and a crook." The woman said slowly walking towards him. The man lunged at her with his sword. Herrior moved at speeds unseen to the eye and intercepted the sword with his shield. The sword harmlessly flew down towards the ground. Herrior quickly disarmed him again and tossed his side aside.

"Do you want to dance some more, because I'm more then eager too. Now if you don't mind, answer the lady's question." Herrior said putting his weapons behind him and picking him up.

The fighter stared at Herrior at his brute strength and speed that he showed. "It's…It's still not safe…out there…"

"Oh please, you're children could annihilate what is left of the evils in this world." Strings said.

"He's lying!" The fighter insisted and then cried out in fierce pain as Herrior twisted his right leg behind him.

"Where…is…the…gold!" Herrior shouted in his face.

"At the refugee camp! All of it, I swear!" The fighter said screaming in pain. Herrior tossed him aside as if he were a bag of salt.

"Go claim what is yours! Don't let tyrants let this control you! Build your city up, raise your families, and train your offspring so that you can rise up against shit like him!" Herrior said pointing at him. Herrior felt a slight tug on his belt as something was quickly placed in his pack.

Herrior turned around and approached the Ulases quickly. Herrior reached into his pack and pulled out a bag of gold. He estimated it to weigh about ten pounds.

"This should pain for the repairs and your time." Herrior took the bag and threw it into his chest. The bag seemed to explode and gold coins shot outwards in all directions. The townsfolk look astonished.

"You said you were poor. My child died because I could not afford the healing that he needed. You were one of the people I begged for money to heal him." A man came out from the crowd. He stepped over the coins and landed a right hook so hard on the Ulases that the sound of his jaw breaking was audible. The man looked up at Herrior and said, "Take whatever you need, or whatever it is you came for; we have some executions that need to be carried out." The crowd roared in delight.

"Lindel." Herrior said nodding at the man. Lindel began to channel a portal.

"Strings! Please! Take us, I beg you!" Elshara said.

"You do not belong where we are going." Strings said.

"Nor do you! Look what you have just accomplished in a matter of minutes! You could stay, all of you could stay!" Elshara said.

Lindel had the portal ready and she looked at Herrior. Herrior felt her glance but wanted to see where this conversation was going.

"There are evils in this world worse then what you have seen or heard of." Strings said.

"Then I will train with you! I will fight alongside of you!" Elshara said.

"Many of us will." The man said who landed the fierce right hook.

"The past needs to continue in order for the future to happen. These are noble requests but we cannot grant them." Herrior said. Lindel then quickly linked her mind up with Herrior's.

"This dimension collapses and everybody dies, I think. Isn't that what our historians told us?" Lindel asked in Herrior's mind.

"Could very well be but I cannot recall that information. Guard the portal, do not let anybody through." Herrior said and then told her to break the mental link.

"Nobody move! My group, guard the portal - nobody is to walk through it or come close. Make examples if people get close." Herrior said walking to a residence. He felt the lock on the door but quickly crushed it and pushed the door open. He closed it and brought out his hearthstone. This time the King himself answered.

"Herrior, good to see you. How goes the mission?" The King asked.

"We've liberated the people of Skara Brae from several corrupt pieces of shit and got many of them the gold back that was taken from them. However that is not why I contacted you. Strings apparently has a female human, I think she's human, and a child that seems attached to him. He seemed afraid to speak with her, but she seemed very affectionate towards him. She and her child are now begging to come with us. Lindel said she thinks this dimension eventually is destroyed." Herrior said but was immediately stopped by the King.

"In two hundred and thirty seven more days we lose all contact to this world and anything around it. We believe it is swallowed up by an exploding star, but I do understand the problem. I say bring her and her child. Bring them before me. If they were meant to die, it won't matter where they are. Were you able to obtain the instrument that Strings requested?" The King asked.

"I think Trackolania obtained every instrument in this entire town…" Herrior said looking out the window.

"Knowing him he probably did. Very well, I look forward to speaking with you soon." The King said and closed the portal. Herrior put his hearthstone back in his pocket and walked back out.

"Bring them two, let's get out of here." Herrior said pointing at the woman. Jacklyn immediately grabbed the woman and dragged her through the portal. Mohania did the same with the child. After all of his party was through Herrior said, "Find a preacher, one that does not charge for his services and pray to the real God." Herrior stepped through the portal and it collapsed in on itself.

Elshara and her child were awestruck as they gazed around them. "Bring them to the King; he will decide what to do with them." Herrior commanded. Jacklyn pulled on Elshara's arm hard as she let out a yelp of pain.

"Jacklyn, please don't hurt her." Strings said. Jacklyn apologized to him as she kept a firm grip on her as she led her away.

"Strings?" The child said in a scared voice.

"Mohania can I carry her?" Strings asked. Mohania handed her over and Strings walked behind Jacklyn. Kendall walked up behind Mohania and grabbed his hand with hers. Mohania looked down in confusion and then looked up at her with surprise. She smiled at him and whispered, "I love you" to him.

"I love mine more!" Samatha said jumping on Bernett's back knocking him to the ground.

Samatha let out a quick laugh and quickly apologized as she helped him up. Bernett turned around and embraced Samatha.

"Now you know how it feels…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Quinely loves you, that is how she expresses her love." Kendall said.

"She's a pain in the ass is what she is." Mohania said. Kendall then pulled Mohania because she wanted to hear what was going to happen in the Kings quarters. "You think everybody is a pain in the ass."

"No…just everybody I've ever known…" Mohania said getting dragged behind her.

"Strings, is Elshara your wife?" The King asked almost immediately.

"No my King she is not. You recall the destruction of their demon…" Strings said.

"Yes yes…which is why we summoned you and your Chronomancer. Did you mate with her?" The King asked.

"No?" Strings said with a curious look. "You brought our Chronomancer into our city?"

"It would explain why we are able to travel through time and space huh? But I'm sure you would have made that connection eventually. Now getting back to the questions I have is why is this woman in love with you, as well as her child?" The King asked.

"Upon the defeat of Tarjan I went back to the old man and he continued to babble about how our quest was finished. I waited a couple of minutes and then he began to babble about what he originally said to us when we first formed up. I left and dragged our dead members of our group to the shrine with enough money to resurrect them. Afterwards I went back to our refugee camp and spoke of what happened. That is when Elshara embraced me, caught me off guard actually. She said her husband had been killed during the battles to keep the enemies away from the refugee camp and said she would do anything if I would take her hand in marriage. She said she wanted to be safe and then went on to say how powerful and noble I was, I think you get the drift." Strings said.

"I was not aware of this." The King said.

"Many other women were grateful and I didn't think much of it as we reorganized our city." Strings said.

"I gave you my husband's wedding band that I retrieved from his dead body! Don't you remember that? We shared moments together; you said you cared for me!" Elshara said.

"I cared about all of you, which is why we formed together to kill the demon." Strings said in an annoyed tone.

"Strings?" The King said smiling at him as he turned to look at him.

"Yes, Elshara, I did care…no I do care for you." Strings said pulling a golden ring out of his pocket and held it up. "As far as you know, I've only been gone for a week; but it's been hundreds of years in my time…and a day doesn't go by that I didn't think of you. But times have changed. This is not your world, our city is not yours, and our battle is not for you to fight."

"Impossible." Elshara said. "Strings you haven't aged." She said walking up to him. Elshara looked him over carefully. His armor was made out of a material she had never seen of, however she pointed out every detail of his body as Strings slowly revealed that she was correct.

"My King, I was unaware that she had studied me this closely." Strings said.

"I know." The King said. Strings sighed and said that he needed a drink.

"I know that as well." The King said with a smile. He turned to Elshara and said, "Strings is right with everything he just said. You do not belong here, this is not your city, and our battles are not yours. What say you?"

"My…King. I…don't know what to say. I love him, and he proved that he loves me with the ring he kept."

"It keeps memories in my head." Strings said.

"Elshara, many of us keep things that are special to keep memories of good events and past loved ones. This is normal for us and your kind alike. This is not out of the ordinary for Strings to have done this. The human behind you was given several special gifts from a woman that loves him and to remind him of events." The King said looking at Branzer. "The same holds true with many others that stand before you right now. But it does not mean that Strings loves you. Have you fully grieved the death of your former husband, or did you just see your 'savior of your world' and quickly turn your heart to him?"

"My husband was a good man, and yes I did mourn for him!" Elshara said. Strings quickly reached out for her arm and whispered for her to lower her voice.

"Let's let time reveal what happens. I will meditate on this, but for now where is Trackolania?" The King said with a smile. Trackolania made his way forward and began to empty his bags. At first it seemed to be trivial items, but then items continued to flow out. Dan and Crystal watched in amazement as items that were larger than him he pulled out of his bag and added them to the pill. He also threw out an assortment of gold items and gems, and weaponry, armor, pictures, clothing and things he didn't recognize.

Several minutes later and Trackolania was still pulling items out of his bags. Dan finally blurted out, "How is that possible?" Everybody, except the rest of the new members stopped what they were doing and slowly turned to look at him.

"Sorry, apparently there are still some things that I need to learn – such as apparently the rules of physics do not exist for rogues." Dan said.

"Is 'physics' a bigger bag?" Herrior asked.

"No, just some dumb rules we made up on our planet. Please continue."

Everybody turned back around and watched as Trackolania continued to pull items from his packs. Thirty minutes later Elshara piped up and said, "Hey that's mine!" She bent over and quickly picked up a leather journal with her name on it. Trackolania looked up at the King and smiled while shrugging his shoulders. The King motioned for him to continue. Several more minutes of Trackolania pulling items from his bags he finally pulled out twenty lock boxes. He quickly snapped off the lock with his dagger and dumped out the contents. After he was done he looked back up at the King and shrugged his shoulders.

"Strings, are any of these items of use to you?" The King asked.

"Yes, I found the instrument that I wanted awhile ago. It will have to be strengthened for battle, but yes it will do. I counted seven Pipes of Pan that I can distribute as well, but this is the one I wish to have. The rest of the items are of no practical value to me." Strings replied. The King ordered several of his guards to begin moving the items to the historians to be evaluated.

"Your majesty, if all of the weapons and armor are here, what do we have back in my town?" Elshara said.

"Is that your concern?" The King asked. Elshara motioned to say something but realized that it was a trap. Did she want to stay, or did she want to go back.

"Mommy? Are we going home?" Her child asked.

"No hunny, this is our home now." Elshara answered back. "Is it ok if she picks out some of the toys Trackolania seemed to have brought back with him?"

"That would be fine. A house will be constructed for you, and an ambassador will be assigned to you for several weeks as you get use to our city. You will not be able to share a home with Strings; your thoughts are not what they should be. Strings is part of our primary attack groups. You may not see him for awhile…" The King said and suddenly Elshara tried to speak up. The King raised his hand and her body was picked up by an unseen force and thrown against the back wall.

"You also need to learn the rules; this is your first lesson. Do not interrupt me. The rest of you may leave; I have some matters to attend to."

"Thank you my King." Herrior said and they all left. As they walked out of the building everybody stopped and looked at Strings. He let out a gentle sigh. He then clapped his hands together and said, "Who wants a drink? Nobody? Alright then, I will see all of you later." Strings turned and attempted to quickly walk away when Lindel quickly materialized right in front of her with her left hand pushing on Strings chest. She had a big goofy smile on her face.

"Lindel let him go." Herrior said. "Take all the time you want Strings, none of us will bother you. I'm going to go find the nearest fountain, and then I'm going back to the warrior trainers to talk with them more. My guess is that we'll be assigned to annihilate the uncovered alliance group we found in the next day or two."

Strings then walked through Lindel as Lindel asked, "By you saying none of us, does that mean I can ask somebody else to get the story out of him?"

"No." Strings said walking away.

Herrior walked in the opposite direction until he came across a fountain that had crystal clear water and a white aura coming off from it. He took off his armor and jumped in. He slowly floated back up and saw the tiny little crystal formations swirling around his armor and then flying away. Herrior began to take enormous gulps of water and instantly felt the power revitalize his body.

"The city's power amazes me every time I come back, this time even more so." Herrior said to himself. He swam to the edge of the fountain and realized his party didn't follow him, but he did see Jeffery standing in front of him.

"Are you Herrior?" He asked.

"I believe so, are you Jeffery?" Herrior said with a smile.

"Yup! I'm a time stopper!" Jeffery said bragging, completely unaware of the power he held within his mind.

"So I heard." Herrior said allowing himself to laugh a little.

"You knew that didn't you?" Jeffery asked.

"Yes I did." Herrior answered.

"My mom told me I'm going to have another mom and dad to watch over me. Did you know that?" Jeffery asked.

"No?" Herrior said thinking he was joking.

"Yup! Mohania and Kendall!" Jeffery said excitedly.

"Oh?" Herrior said thinking he was still joking.

"How many mom's and dad's did you have? I think it's neat to have more than one set. If one is gone on a mission, I still have another mom and dad in the city. I like everybody here, but it's always nice to have an extra pair…I guess is how it is. Anyways, have fun!" Jeffery said and ran off.

"Was he serious?" Herrior thought.

"Cute kid." Brenna said. Herrior quickly turned around and saw her next to him, bathing naked as well.

"My senses must be off; I didn't see you or him." Herrior said.

"No they aren't, it's a word I call 'relaxing'. Look it up sometime." Brenna said. Herrior pushed himself out of the water and sat on the edge with his legs and hoofs still in the water.

"My senses tell me that you had something to do with Jeffery having more than one set of parents." Herrior said.

"Nope." Brenna said swimming around to the front of him. "Just offered a random thought at a random time."

"And do you have a random thought for me?" Herrior asked.

"Nope." Brenna said. She winked at him and swam away. Herrior watched her for awhile and then gazed up at the sky.

"Amazing…absolutely amazing…" Herrior thought as he lost himself watching the activity. Eventually he fell asleep and let the power of the city absorb into his body. A smile came over his face as he began to snore.

He had a dream of a puzzle. It had many pieces, hundreds of them. The pieces slowly moved and lined themselves up. After a couple of minutes the puzzle was complete. It spelled the words "realign complete". Unconsciously Herrior smiled again, knowing that everything was going to be fine.


	16. Water World

Water World

Herrior slowly started to wake up when he felt a pair of hands rubbing on his chest.

"You had better be my wife." Herrior said with a smile.

"And just who is that, and when is she coming back?" Skyka said giggling.

Herrior slowly sat up and opened his eyes. "I feel like I slept for a year."

"A day and a half actually." Skyka said. "You must have been tired, one of the King's ambassadors came to speak with you but you merely replied with just snoring. So he came to talk to me instead."

Herrior stood up and stretched. "Story telling now are we?"

"No actually. Half of Tranquil could hear you snoring." Skyka said. "He said that we can be dispatched as soon as your sleeping was done."

Herrior looked at her for awhile, and then suddenly realized she wasn't kidding.

"Did it upset the King? Was I really sleeping for that long?" Herrior asked quickly.

"No it did not upset him, and you were really sleeping that long. Let me brief you really quick. The Draenei women, including Icis, decided to give Veliline a new hair cut. Trackolania has been walking around with a smirk on his face; based upon past history it usually means he's learned how to kill somebody faster. We found out the reason why Strings did not pursue a relationship with the woman we brought back. The blood elf ambassador assigned to her felt uncomfortable with how he was being talked to by her and pleaded his case to the King. She was reassigned to a female ambassador. Then she started flirting with Kon; Tess's response was quite amusing." Skyka stopped to let out a brief chuckle. "Kon had her thrown in prison. None of them are showing any signs of any powers. The child acts lost and doesn't want anything to do with the other children. They aren't adjusting; Strings was right they should have been left behind. The King wanted to give them a chance though, but ultimately he ordered one of our Chronomancers to open a portal and sent them back."

"How's Strings doing?" Herrior asked.

"Distant." Skyka said looking away from him and towards the inner city. Herrior nodded.

"Shall we depart then?" Herrior asked. Suddenly a large lion appeared in mid-air and slammed into Herrior, knocking him backwards into the water. Herrior swam up gasping for air as he saw Quinely morph back into her human form and swimming right next to him.

"Whenever you give the order, I'd suggest drying off first. The reports of the alliance encampment are that they are fighting with each other along with drinking and debauchery." Skyka said walking away with a big smile on her face.

"She told me too!" Quinely said as she morphed into a dolphin and started to swim circles around Herrior. Herrior smiled at her as he pulled himself out of the fountain. He put his armor on, taking a brief moment to examine it. The floating crystal things, what were they called; "Energized geodes" did a great job of not only repairing it, but also shined up the metal as well. Herrior summoned his dragon and it gently flew down beside him.

"How have you been doing my friend?" Herrior asked.

"I grew bored of listening to your snoring, so I flew around with your banshee and other dragons for awhile. You're wife told me to tell you that." Herrior's dragon said and gently shook his head. He could hear Skyka laughing again as she continued to walk away from him.

"Has my wife told anybody else to tell me smart-ass remarks?" Herrior asked.

"Yes she has. Do you wish to go flying?" The dragon asked.

"You weren't supposed to say anything!" Quinely said as she jumped out of the water. She morphed into a lion and ran away laughing.

Herrior began to pat him on the head as he thought for a moment. Herrior then jumped up on the dragon and said, "Yes, I think I am probably safer in the air." The dragon flapped hard and jumped off the ground, instantly soaring into the air.

"Do you know where Mohania and Kendall are?" Herrior asked.

"I do not, however I can take you to the undead catacombs of the city that the undead wished to call theirs" his dragon said.

"Very well" Herrior said as his dragon turned sharply to the right and quickly built up speed. The dragon then took a sharp dive and held his wings in as he shot down a hole in the ground. There was a dim light above it, but it didn't seem to affect their speed. The dragon explained that it was to keep the children safe so that they fall in. They could, of course, enter if they wanted to but the hole was pretty deep.

The hole suddenly widened up as the dragon quickly extended his wings to abruptly stop their descent. They both looked around and saw a large room. The floor consisted of plain dirt and there wasn't anybody around.

"Guess nobody is here." The dragon said.

"Is this what they wanted, or are they still building?" Herrior asked.

"No they are done here. From what I have observed they fly in to sleep and then fly out during the day. As you can see it is only briefly lit by the city's aura. I think they like to sleep in the dark and in the dirt" his dragon said.

"I see. Ok, can you take me to where they are putting the death knight's home in the city?" Herrior asked.

The dragon attempted to turn his head around to look at Herrior. "Veliline has not slept and has not wanted to establish an area in the city. Her rookforge, I think it's called, was built next to the blacksmiths. She's been mostly walking around and looking at everybody."

"Runeforge I think is what you meant. Do you know where she is now?" Herrior asked.

"No, I can look for her if you wish but probably your hearthstone would reveal her location faster" his dragon replied.

"Yes of course." Herrior said. "Ok, can you take us out of here?"

"Certainly." The dragon said as he turned himself around in midair. He then sat on the tube they flew in on. Herrior looked around and saw that the dragon would not be able to flap its wings and was about to ask how they were going to get out, when suddenly they lunged forward at speeds faster than he had ever flown on his dragon before. Herrior held the reigns tighter as the dragon let out a smile as they quickly gained altitude. They hit the apex of their flight and before they began to descend a white orb flew up to Herrior and kissed him.

"Remind me later that Skyka told me to play a trick on you." Lindel said as they began to lose altitude quickly. The dragon held his wings in as he continued to descend. Herrior could tell that it really enjoyed doing this.

As the ground approached quickly the dragon held his wings out and redirected their flight path.

"What happens if somebody falls off their dragon, or carpet, or whatever else there is now." Herrior asked quickly.

"I apologize if I scared you. I think that is one of the most fun things to do in the city. The banshees keep a constant, I don't know what you call it a mind-read on people, and if they sense trouble they fly to get them. Usually the mounts will recover the person within a second or so though. To further explain, there are magically barriers set up that further prevent injury from falling from great heights. Many were nervous at first, but once they saw that the barrier caught them several feet from the ground and let them down slowly, many tried it. The King and the engineers are marvelous in this city, they have thought of everything. I would say it is virtually impossible to hurt yourself in this city, it's nothing like I've ever seen before." The dragon said.

"I marvel at it every time I come back to the town." Herrior said. Several fairies quickly flew through Herrior and his dragon. It was hard to even see them because of their speed.

"Lots of things have changed…" Herrior said trying to see where the fairies went. "Can you take me to the King's, uh house, I guess it is now?"

"He still likes to call it his throne, but yes I can take you there." The dragon said quickly changing its direction again. Within less than ten seconds the dragon landed in front. He then turned his head around to scratch an itch that he had under his right wing.

"Thank you my friend." Herrior said jumping off from him. His dragon nodded at him and then continued to try to find his itch.

Herrior walked in and saw the King telling a story to a dozen children sitting on the floor in front of him. Herrior immediately recognized the story of when Jesus walked the Earth; it was the time he was in the desert with no food and being tempted by Satan. Herrior sat and listened for several moments as the King vividly told the story. He didn't see Herrior walk in and suddenly stopped the story. Herrior shook his head and motioned to continue.

"You and you're party are ready to leave to take out the alliance group. Afterwards you are to go to Kalimdor. A ship is ready with a strike force. You are to lead them into battle, against what – we don't know exactly. Many of our cargo ships are being destroyed and a rumor of a large creature attacking the seas has been reported. Destroy it and recover what you can. I'm not sure if Lindel will have access to pull you out if something goes wrong. Many of our shamans who have the power haven't returned, dismissed." The King said to Herrior and then turned his attention back to the children. Herrior quickly got up and summoned his group through his hearthstone. They all quickly showed up within a minute and Herrior began to explain their mission when he stopped and looked at Veliline. Her hair was a light purple, it had two pigtails coming out the side of her head. Her bangs were carefully brushed up and back while the sides of her hair gently fell just over her ears.

"You look good Veliline." Herrior said.

"You look good too." Veliline repeated back in her same emotionless voice.

"Eh – it's a compliment. Still got some work to do with her. Been trying to find her tickle spot, but she just merely stood in one spot and looked at me funny." Lindel said smiling at her.

"I did not understand what you were trying to do." Veliline said back.

"Anyways, is everybody ready for battle? We are being sent out as soon as possible." Herrior said. They all seemed eager so Herrior gave the order to open the portal. Lindel began to channel her power into it.

"I'm going to set us about one mile south of the camp. The reports are that they are wondering around aimlessly." Lindel said.

"Don't anybody get cocky. Battle is still battle. Good location as always. Go ahead Lindel." Herrior said and Lindel began to channel her powers into her portal.

Meanwhile at Alan's house on Earth, the both of them were about to sit down to dinner when a gun shot rang outside of their house. Alan and Samatha stood there in shook as they realized how close the shot was to their house. Then several more shots were taken at their front door and it was kicked open. A very distraught man was wielding a gun and apparently had shot their property guard in the stomach. The man pushed the guard in the house and he fell to the floor. Alan instantly recognized who the gunman was.

"Welcome to dinner Vick." Alan said calmly.

"Shut up! Just…shut up!" Vick said and ordered their guard to move out of the way of the door way. The guard started to move, but Vick kicked him in the stomach where the bullet had entered. The guard cried out in pain as he rolled inside and into the dinner table.

"You! You are the reason!" Vick said and then quickly shut the door behind him. He quickly turned around and let another shot fly randomly through the air above their heads. Samatha screamed as both of them ducked to the floor. Alan quickly grabbed his hearthstone and rubbed it thinking of Herrior.

"Get up here, I want to see you!" Vick said. Alan dropped the stone on the floor as both of them rose to their feet.

"Don't make and sudden moves!" Vick said. His body was shaking violently; his eyes were blood-shot, but not glowing red. His hair looked like he hadn't showered in a week. He had several cuts on his body. It was apparent that he was beyond the point of reasoning with.

"What can I help you with Vick?" Alan said softly and in a kind voice, suppressing the fear in his voice.

Vick started to laugh. "Help?" He started to laugh even harder. "Look at me!" Vick screamed and shot another bullet into the ceiling above them. "You had your chance to help and this is the result of it! Look at me!"

"Vick, we have only started counseling for two weeks now. The medication hasn't taken its full affect yet, however we can change the dosage…" Alan said but was interrupted by another blast of his gun. This time the bullet flew inches from his head. Had Vick's body not been shaking so bad, Alan would probably be dead. Instinctively Alan ducked down, but it was merely a reflex – looking back at it later on he thought that was probably dumb.

"Vick, please! Put the gun down and let's talk." Alan said frantically. He said quickly knowing that wasn't his intention for being here.

"We've talked already doctor, we're tried you're medication." Vick said in a sinister voice. "I'm tired of being like this!" Vick pulled the trigger again, but this time the bullet flew through the ceiling. Alan thought it was an attempt to kill himself. His guard on duty had started crying in pain and blood had started to create a circle around him.

"I have medication in my home, if you let me go get it that will instantly relax you. Then we can talk. We can alter the course of things happening right now, but the last thing you want to do is kill anybody. Our guard is almost dead and killing me won't help. Killing yourself won't help either." Alan blurted out all at once. He was surprised he was interrupted.

"My mind…it's not right! Make it right! It can't be right! It can never be right! Why is this happening to me!" Vick yelled at he put his hands to his head.

A portal opened several rooms away and Kon's party walked out and Kon asked. "Druid, where is the battle? Does anybody sense any demonic activity?"

"Who's that? Who's there? I'm armed and have hostages!" Vick yelled out.

"Four humans ten feet to the right of us." Kon's druid said. Kon nodded and pulled his weapons out. He walked out of the room and approached the humans; his tank beside him, and party right behind him.

"What the hell…" Vick said as he saw the enormous Tauren walking towards him with two swords nearly as tall as he was. Vick pointed the gun at him and fired off a shot. In the next second several things happened all at the same time. Kon's tank intercepted the bullet, while the rest of his party opened fire and casted their spells at Vick. A second later Vick's body had literally burst into several different parts, most of which were on the wall behind him.

Kon let off a snort and said angrily, "You didn't let me get a chance to attack him!" He paused and then began to laugh as he walked forward and began tossing the remains of Vick's body around as if he were looking for something.

"Yes, I know the rest of you are here. I do not sense any danger out of any of you, but if I sense differently you won't know what hit you." Kon said continuing to examine the lifeless body.

"His body is fine." Kon said after a moment. "He wasn't demonic or alliance." Kon stabbed his sword into what was left of the lower portion of Vick's chest and flung it into the air as if it were a doll. Kon then enraged himself; he grew in size and strength and swung several times at the body, separating it into several pieces before it hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Humans…" Kon said. He then turned his attention to Alan and Samatha. "I don't recognize either of you. Who summoned us?" His voice thundered through the room, rattling the cupboards and making the windows reverberate the sound.

"I tried to contact Herrior." Alan said.

"Never heard of him, who are you?" Kon said walking over to him.

"Herrior gave me the name of Alan, this is my wife Samatha. He gave me a hearthstone to talk with him if needed." Alan said quickly as the mighty tauren leaned over in his face.

Kon paused for a second and then stood up. "Heal him" he said pointing at the guard. "So you are the Alan and Samatha that took in Herrior when he was lost." Kon said and put his weapons behind him. He started looking around the house. "Cozy" Kon said as he started to walk away from them as the guard rose to his feet looking astonished.

"Will this one keep a secret, or should we make it so he can never tell a word again." Kon said.

"He can." Alan said quickly.

Kon let out a loud snort in his direction as he eyed him up and down. "See that he does. Open a portal, let's head back."

"Where's Herrior?" Alan asked quickly.

Kon's voice changed. He was no longer aggressive. "He is probably in the middle of a battle. You're stone figured that out and quickly searched for another ambassador. This is you're one communication for the day, so don't cause any more trouble ok?"

"Battle? Is he ok?" Samatha asked concerned.

"We'll find out when he returns from his mission." Kon said as his party began walk through the portal. Kon stopped one of the members of his party and gave him a command. He turned around and quickly casted a spell. The remains of Vick's body and any trace of blood quickly burned up.

Before Kon walked through the portal he looked back at all of them and said, "Never happened, you would do good to remember those words." Kon stepped through and the portal closed.

Alan's guard slowly turned to look at Alan.

"Do you want to join us for dinner? I insist." Alan said with a smile on his face.

Herrior's group arrived in a dense forest. As his group stepped out of the portal he gave the same commands Kon gave. Quinely reported the alliance ahead of them, and something else.

"What?" Herrior asked.

"I…don't know…" Quinely said with a confused face.

"I sense it too." Lindel said. Trackolania was on high alert and looked as though he sensed the same thing.

"Can you give me something?" Herrior asked sounding concerned.

"Eh…" Quinely said looking around. She then turned to Lindel who shrugged her shoulders. "No. But something isn't right. Nothing is blocking my senses, but it's as if the trees are looking at us. Sounds stupid I know, but that's the best way I can describe it."

"Everybody summon you're pets and put your buffs on. Let's do our job, we can investigate this later." Herrior said as he drew his sword and shield.

They began to walk forward and Dan suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.

"Sheesh I'm a klutz." Dan said picking himself back up. He had several cuts on his body which were instantly healed by Skyka. Dan paid no attention and turned around. He saw a Silver scroll case with writing at the top and the bottom he didn't recognize. It was sealed tightly.

"Ready?" Herrior asked. Dan quickly grabbed the scroll and tossed it in one of his packs. "Yes, sorry about that" Dan replied back quickly.

"It happens. Was it one of the trees that attacked you?" Herrior asked.

"No, I just stumbled over something. I'll take a look at it later, probably just junk." Dan said. "But I have seen several horror movies where the trees do come alive and attack people."

"It happens." Herrior said and motioned for his group to move forward.

Herrior's group got to the edge of the woods and heard the alliance talking. They were unaware of them, and the reports were accurate – they appeared to be complete idiots.

"I've got the middle, Quinely take the right, and Veliline take the left. Don't engage until we have their attention. Skyka, what do you think the healing orders should be?"

"I'll do single target, unless things get hairy. Icis will take group healing and Lindel will do backup single target if one member of our group becomes hurt badly and I have to concentrate on the tanks." Skyka said.

"Sounds good. Jacklyn what do you plan on doing?" Herrior asked.

Jacklyn looked at Herrior confused. "I plan on killing more than anybody else will." Several coughs of disagreement and glares shot out at Jacklyn.

"Sounds good. Let's proceed." Herrior said with a big smile. Quinely morphed into her bear form as her, Veliline and Herrior charged forward. The rest of the group followed at a distance.

Most of the alliance were either fighting among themselves or passed out. One of the men saw the attack coming and yelled out the warning. Only half of them grabbed their weapons and began buffing each other. They started screaming at the ones sleeping, and then a quick argument broke out about who was going to lead the attack. By then Herrior threw his weapon at the closest alliance member. This time instead of his weapon actually leaving his hands, it was a magic sword that flew from his hands. It was something new that he had recently learned from the rest of the warriors. Herrior then jumped and slammed into the group with Veliline and Quinely close behind. They had established the attention of the group when the rest of Herrior's group engaged. The hunters let their traps fly into the air and into the group and they exploded into fire upon hitting the ground. Also they commanded their pets to randomly engage as they started shooting with immense power; again it was a bullet for every person there.

Strings quickly played a song on his new instrument that began to have drops of acid fall from the sky and land on the alliance. The alliance were unaware of this ability as Mohania channeled his rain of fire, which also poured out of the sky and hammered into the alliance.

Dan and Jacklyn had also thrown their magical sword at a target and jumped into the crowd as well. Both of them quickly enraged themselves and began swinging as hard and fast as they could.

The alliance healers began their job and began recovering the health of their warriors, when suddenly Branzer and Bernett shot a precise bullet into their mouths, silencing them for several seconds. Trackolania suddenly appeared behind one of them and tore her to shreds in a matter of seconds and quickly leaped to the next warrior.

The alliance personal quickly shouted out orders to each other, but they were completely unorganized. Some followed the orders, others completely ignored it. Suddenly the alliance members began having explosions coming out of their body and affecting other members with a spell called corruption. It burned away from within their bodies. Crystal was launching a spell called "Seed of corruption" into every person she could see. Initially she casted a quick spell that decreased their ability to resist magic, which further amplified their damage that they took.

"Form up you idiots! Healers get your ass in…" one of the alliance personal said when suddenly a burst of dirt flew into his face. Trackolania took the advantage and began swinging at him with speeds that were almost hard to see to the human eye. Each strike from his dagger sent poison into his body, weakening him further.

The battle lasted a little longer than a minute until they were all killed. Healing was very minimal to Herrior's group. Lindel was in her evil banshee form and had a green aura floating around her. She turned back into her human form with a smile.

"Look for anything salvageable." Herrior said. Their armor and weaponry was old and outdated. It explained why their leader was trying to obtain money and weapons from the police station. Many of them had regular currency, no gold or other gems. Branzer collected it all and put it in his pocket.

"Stack the bodies, we'll burn them. Mohania, Crystal – feeling a little hot?" Herrior asked. Mohania's entire body was instantly engulfed in flame as he let out a big smile.

The warlocks set the pile ablaze afterwards, and it burned so hot that Icis had to shield everybody as they stepped back away from the fire. For several minutes the metal, flesh, and blood all boiled together. Everything eventually combined into a mixture of ash and unrecognizable material.

"Good job everybody. Let's get out of here." Herrior said. A soft female voice said, "So quick to leave?" Herrior's group quickly rearmed themselves and began looking around.

"Quinely?" Herrior asked.

"I still sense the same thing…which is nothing…" Quinely said. Suddenly hundreds upon hundreds of arrows flew from the sky and rained down upon them. Herrior's group had no prior warning. The arrows inflected a paralyzing affect on the group. They all struggled, but wave after wave of arrows continued to pelt them until they were all incapacitated on the ground. They were conscious of what was happening, but could not move.

Hundreds of night elves began to appear out of thin air and moved towards them. "Interesting. You knew something was around you, but could not tell." The soft female voice said walking up to Herrior. "We were eventually going to do the same thing to these idiots that you killed. The alliance has broken, as I am sure you are aware. Given enough time I'm sure they will reunite. Our race will not be part of them until they have unified themselves again. Their squabbles do not pertain to us. However we are interested in your armaments and powers."

"Madam, this one has the lost scroll." Another female voice said in surprised tone. The female talking to Herrior immediately turned and ran over with her bow in her right hand.

"It fell out of his bag, probably when he hit the ground."

"Heal this one, quickly!" She said and several healers ran up and healed him.

"Do not reach for your weapons young human. Where did you find this?" The night elf said in her quiet voice.

"In the woods, about a mile south of here. I found it on accident actually, I stumbled over it." Dan said. The night elf analyzed his voice and after a moment figured he was telling the truth.

"Do you know what this is?" The night elf asked.

"No, it looked interesting so I was going to examine it later. Are you going to kill me and my party?" Dan asked still on the ground.

Silence fell over the night elves. Several murmurs spread through the group in a language he didn't understand. The night elf talking to Dan quickly spoke three words and they all went silent.

"This is worth more than killing you, also there might be more items like this in that area. Swear to me as one warrior to another that your group will not raise a blade towards us, and we will swear to do the same." The night elf said.

"I swear it. My name is Dan by the way." Dan said.

"Mine is Laaraae. Heal the rest of them and remember our pact Dan." Laaraae said.

Herrior's group slowly rose from the ground and put their weapons away.

"Dan, you are the luckiest son of a bitch I've ever seen." Herrior said.

"I made a pact with them, but I wasn't sure if you…" Dan said.

"You did fine and we will honor the pact. We will walk away from this attack because of you." Herrior said. Some commotion came from the night elves but was quickly silenced by Laaraae. She then spoke several words in their language. Some of them hesitated at first, but then Laaraae said another word and they all walked away.

"Lead the way Dan." Laaraae said with a smile. "I ask that your group keep its distance as I gave the same command to my people as well."

"We will honor that." Herrior said.

Dan and Laaraae walked forward and when they were about thirty yards away, both armies began to follow them.

"I must apologize. Here is the scroll back. We have not bartered for it yet." Laaraae said handing it back to him.

Dan took it and said, "I do not wish to barter if it is yours. I merely found it. If you found something that belonged to me I would hope you would do the same."

"I would not" Laaraae said in a quiet voice. She paused for a moment and then stopped and looked at him. Dan finally got a good look at her. Her skin was light purple, and her ears were very long that came to a point behind her. Her hair was well kept, and her armor looked very light. She tilted her head slightly at Dan.

"I'm sorry; I have never seen one of you Laaraae." Dan said. "Night elf is it?"

"Yes. I have seen many of your kind, both fighting for us, against us, and for the demons. However I have yet to meet someone like you. You have a kind heart and a soft face." Laaraae said. Dan looked confused by the term.

"It means you look better than the average human, shall we continue?" Laaraae asked. They smiled at each other and Dan continued to retrace his steps.

Eventually Dan showed Laaraae where it was sticking out of the ground. Laaraae examined it and it did look as though it did come from the spot. She began to dig with her hands around the same spot. Dan began to help her, but she quickly said something in her own language fiercely at him. Dan stopped and stood back on his feet. Their eyes met and Laaraae eventually asked what his intentions were.

"To help; we can find more if we work together." Dan said.

"If you find an artifact first you'll merely take it and I'll have to barter for that as well." Laaraae quickly said in her quiet voice. Dan took several steps forward and held the scroll out in front of him. "I will not barter for something that is not mine. If I find something I will give it to you to examine, I will make a pact on that."

Laaraae looked at him questionably. A short time passed and Laaraae said, "I think I have judged you correctly, it's just my instincts. It's kept us alive as long as it has, and I need to fight those when speaking with you. You do have a kind heart. I accept your pact."

Both of them began digging with their hands. Both armies sat down away from them and kept silent as the hours went by.

Laaraae found a comb that she thought belonged to her race, but it was badly destroyed. Dan eventually walked over with a collection of items and laid them down at her feet. One looked like a music box, one was an old Pepsi bottle, another was a green ring, and several kinds of necklaces he didn't recognize. Laaraae quickly tossed the bottle aside and was astounded by what she saw. She slowly picked up each item, the music box being the first. She cleaned it off and slowly opened it. It began to play its song. She said several sentences in her language as a tear fell from right eye. She set it down and quickly identified each of the other items in her language.

"If I had a metal detector I could probably find the items faster." Dan said.

"This does not make sense. Why would our race be here? This is not our world, yet this proves that we were here. Why and for what purpose?" Laaraae asked in common speak. Dan shrugged his shoulders and slowly shook his head.

"Call your leader over." Laaraae said. Dan did just that and Herrior quickly ran over.

"Dan speaks with a pure heart, will you as well?" Laaraae asked.

"Answering as a leader with a pure heart as well, I can say that I will answer some questions, but we all have our secrets as I am sure you are aware of." Herrior said.

Laaraae ignored him and asked if he knew why Night Elf artifacts would be in this place. Herrior thought for awhile but shook his head. "To be honest we were surprised to see you here on this world. Have you found any other artifacts like this before on your worlds?"

"No, only our historians have spoken of them." Laaraae replied quickly.

"May I ask how you all got here?" Herrior asked.

"Only if I can ask you the same question." Laaraae quickly responded back. Herrior smiled and slowly shook his head.

"There are open gates on this world, the same with any world. The worlds create them, but they are unpredictable." Laaraae answered. "So what now? We go our separate ways; forget this ever happened?"

"I prefer not to. I would like for us to be friends between our races." Dan said.

"That is not possible at this point in time. If it was not for me, you all would be dead right now." Laaraae said.

"If I may be so bold, if it was not for me you would not have these items that you seem so excited about and without bartering." Dan said. Laaraae went to say something, and then slowly sighed. "I will send word that you have helped us. I also apologize for attacking you. Maybe someday we will be able to open negotiations between our races, but not today. I still wish to give you something for these items."

"What you just said is payment enough. Let us depart ways. We both have missions to fulfill. Let this bonding between us spread throughout our people and help to soothe the hatred between our people." Herrior said.

"We will eventually realign ourselves with the alliance…" Laaraae said.

"Why?" Herrior asked. Laaraae looked dumbfounded. She let out a sigh and looked at her army. They still looked posed to attack at any second. She spoke several words in their native tongue and they walked even further away, eventually disappearing into air.

"They are the ones that advance our powers." Laaraae said softly.

"Is that the only reason?" Herrior asked.

"What other reason is there? You saw what you did to the unprepared alliance today, you slaughtered them." Laaraae said.

"Their boss attacked us first and gave up their location. That gave us a reason to attack. Unless you attack us first, we have no reason to attack you. We are enemies…but we don't have to be." Herrior said.

"It's always been this way, you know that." Laaraae said.

Herrior nodded and said, "How are the alliance treating you and you're people?" This sparked pure hatred in Laaraae as she glared and hissed at Herrior. Herrior expected this reaction, but also knew that it made her face reality.

They looked at each other for awhile. Herrior's face was calm, and Laaraae's face was of pure hatred. Eventually it calmed down and she began to shed tears.

"Go now. I know what you are trying to do and you succeeded. I will spread the word, however our roots grow deep. Good bye Dan and thank you. Thank you for your help." Laaraae stood up bowed at him. She walked towards the rest of her group. "We will not watch you leave if you do not watch us.

"Agreed." Herrior said as he motioned his party to come towards him. Herrior began to walk at a hurried pace in the opposite direction.

"Quinely, Lindel – tell me when you don't sense the trees watching us." Herrior asked.

"They aren't I don't sense anything. Either that or they are out of my range." Quinely said. Lindel agreed. Herrior looked at Trackolania and he nodded his head.

"Let's head for that opening under the road and portal there. If anybody senses anything along the way make it known right away." Herrior said. They continued to walk and stepped in the ditch filled with knee high water. They entered underneath the bridge and Lindel opened the portal. They all walked in and vanished without anybody knowing what happened.

Herrior quickly activated his hearthstone and told one of the King's ambassadors what had happened. The ambassador said he would pass on the information and then Herrior reported that they would start their next mission. The ambassador quickly to Herrior what happened to Alan and suggested that they visit him. Herrior said they would immediately and closed the portal. He then asked Lindel to open the portal to Alan's house.

The time was eleven pm and Alan and Samatha were both in bed, sleeping heavy from the ordeal they had earlier. Lindel's portal open and they all walked out talking casually not knowing what time it had become.

"Oh. It's eleven at night. Tranquil sure messes with your mind and concept of time." Julie said.

"Time is only what you make of it. I will go wake up Alan." Herrior said walking towards the stair case. His voice was still loud with the recent battle still in his mind. His hoofs pounded on the stairs as he made his ascent.

"Hun, a little more subtle perhaps?" Skyka said.

"A subtle Tauren?" Herrior asked looking back at her with a laugh. "Have you ever seen a Tauren rogue?" He turned to Trackolania who was smiling and shook his head back and forth.

"We could gently wake them up by burning their house down." Mohania said calmly. A moment passed before Herrior asked, "How would that wake them up?"

Mohania shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just thought I would put that out there. You've been going with some of my ideas lately."

"It felt good to be back in battle again. It also felt good burning their bodies didn't it?" Herrior said with a grin. Mohania nodded with an evil grin.

"Please don't burn my house down." Alan came out of his room with a bathrobe and slippers on. He obviously was very tired but recognized who was in his house.

"It's not your call, it's Herrior's." Mohania said.

"Alan, my friend. How are you?" Herrior said hugging him. Alan gave him a tired hug back. "I present to you my party."

"You smell like blood and death." Alan said looking them over. Mohania let out a loud sinister laugh. It sent chills down Alan's spine.

"The other tauren said you were in battle." Alan paused for a second and then said, "What do I say after that, 'How did it go?'"

Herrior's party let out smirks as Herrior said it was ok to ask that. "The question is though, how was your perimeter breached?"

"One of my patients was screwed up bad. That's my official diagnosis." Alan said with a smirk of his own. "He fried half of his brain from constant drug use. He was then court ordered to visit with me weekly. I started him immediately on several detox drugs; my guess from what I saw though is he was still shooting up and the combination of both made him flip out. If you want proper 'psychological terminology words' talk to me when the sun is up."

"Screwed up is fine. We used that all the time in the office, along with some other words..." Branzer said with a smile.

"The odd thing was, I mean beside the close encounter with death and the sudden explosion of our screwed up gunman and the sudden healing of our guard, but afterwards a small green leprechaun came out of nowhere, like you guys do, along with some floating white rocks that quickly repaired all of the damage and then left without saying a word. It not only fixed everything, but polished everything in the room. Not a speck of dust remained. Maybe I should give myself an evaluation." Alan said rubbing his eyes.

"Goblin, not sure what a leprechaun is." Herrior said. "Anyways do we need to enhance your security? Did your guards not do their job?"

"He was shot and half dead on the floor, there was blood everywhere." Alan said.

"Not an excuse, I've killed many almost on the brink of death." Herrior said.

"I'm dead and I've killed more than you have, and then digested them afterwards." Mohania said.

"My, you are chipper tonight aren't you?" Skyka said turning to look at him.

"I didn't know we were keeping count." Herrior said back at Mohania with a smile.

"Starting now we are, and it has to be a complete kill with nobody else's help. Then you have to consume their body afterwards." Mohania said.

"You two can have your pissing contest outside. Alan if you are ok we have to get going and you need your sleep. Do you or your wife require any healing?" Skyka said.

"No, just a little shaken up is all." Alan said. His eyes had become used to being awake now as he looked over Herrior's group. "You sure have some diversity in your group, and you really are a walking skeleton aren't you?" Mohania's eye sockets turned red as he smiled.

"Hundreds of questions fill my mind, none of which I should probably know huh?" Alan asked.

"You may ask, but would it matter one way or the other?" Herrior asked.

Alan gave that thought a moment to sink in. "Probably not" he answered.

"Go back and lay with your wife hun. We've been here long enough, Lindel if you would please?" Skyka said. Herrior nodded at Alan and said farewell as Lindel opened another portal. They all vanished and Alan went back into his bed, his wife still snoring.

"Just when you think you know everything, you come to realize that you don't know anything." Alan whispered to himself. He then tried to think of the person that coined that phrase, but fell asleep before he could come up with the answer.

"Ah, Durotar. This is my home land." Herrior said when his party stepped out.

"Yes, lots of dirt, dust, and cliffs." Skyka said in an annoyed voice. She looked around and saw that in the far distance to the south was a large swamp. "Well that's different."

Herrior saw what she was looking at and summoned his dragon in his mind. "Wait a moment." His dragon flew down as he leaped on it and immediately flew up into the air.

Herrior looked around at the destruction of the land and how several outposts had been destroyed, while others were reinforced. He saw several of their old enemies: bandits, gnolls, some alliance outcasts, and even some of the animals had changed. He asked his dragon to fly as fast as it could as he looked over the lands.

Ten minutes later Herrior returned and hopped off his dragon. "The land has been altered, but as the King said everything looks like it is under control."

"Doubts are hard to get rid of huh?" Skyka asked.

"No I didn't mean…" Herrior said.

"We all did huh. Now then, do you want to show everybody where you cows used to graze in the fields?" Skyka said with a smile.

"You annoy me…" Herrior said walking away. Skyka slapped him in the butt as he walked.

"What caused all of the grounds and elements to alter themselves?" Herrior asked out loud.

"I know. It was Deathwing. I remember it like it happened yesterday." A tauren said staggering to his feet. He was sitting around a fire roasting a pig along with several other tauren, blood elves, and goblins. He stood straight up and then fell backwards.

"Think you had enough to drink?" Herrior asked.

"Not yet. Anyways the skies turned red and blood fell from the sky. That is when I looked up and saw him fly over. I said, 'I'm going to punch that dragon in the nose!' So I ran after him, punching all of the elements that rose up in my way. I then saw the vicious dragon transform into his human form so I ran right up to him and punched him in the face."

Herrior looked at him unsure, but before he could question him a goblin spoke up.

"That's not how it went. It was raining but it was not blood. I was showing off my motorcycle off to some hot babes when all of a sudden Deathwing flew over head. I only had room for one of them and the cavern I was in was collapsing in. Naturally I took the female goblin on my bike and we sped away in pursuit. I expertly maneuvered my bike and accelerated so fast that the boulders that fell I burst right through them. Once we were out of the cavern I remembered that my bike could fly, that would have been helpful to know before. Anyways we flew up to where Deathwing stood. I began to accelerate towards him…"

"And then I ran up to him and stabbed him with a knife!" The tauren said interrupting him.

"Hey, let me tell my version of the story. I let you tell your version of it." The goblin said sitting back down and took another long drink from his large cup. The group then started telling their own versions of the story as Herrior slowly walked away from them. The group walked out of audible range and Herrior turned to his party with a smile.

"As amusing as that was…apparently our enemy is called Deathwing, he is a dragon and can turn into human form. However I wouldn't believe much else." Herrior said.

"Can goblins really make motorcycles that fly?" Branzer asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "I have no idea, they come up with the weirdest inventions. Most of them backfire and it is amusing to watch until they perfect them. Anyways, Dan I have a question for you. What are you?"

"A human?" Dan said smiling and looking at him weird. Herrior looked at him with a serious look and he was waiting for a different answer.

"A male human." Dan said in a more serious tone. "A young male human, who is currently confused."

"I don't believe in coincidences, but since you have been around we've been having so many happen that it's almost unbelievable. Are you holding anything out on us?" Herrior asked.

"No?" Dan replied back. Crystal was just as confused and asked what the meaning of this was.

"We were vastly out-numbered in battle, and once again you did something that helped greatly, this time it saved our lives. I'm not accusing you of anything, but are you more than just a time stopper?" Herrior asked.

"No?" Dan replied back.

"What are you getting at Herrior?" Crystal asked.

"You just happened to stumble across an item, and it just happened to fall out of your bags, and then you were able to find all of those other artifacts…" Herrior said.

"That's exactly what just happened. And for your information I tried my hardest to stop time to save our asses but I couldn't. Probably everybody else tried their hardest to fight to the death as well but being paralyzed, or whatever we were, we couldn't. And also I helped contribute to having the Orc race rejoin our city; Mohania seemed to have taken a liking to me over you as well and I am able to balance a spoon on my small nose. What's your point?" Dan asked.

Herrior's group became confused and began wondering the same thing, except for Trackolania who was writing his name in the dirt with his dagger.

"Do you have a guardian angel that walks beside you? Isn't that what the other officers called you? Is that true?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know, you tell me. Lindel can read my thoughts and can retrieve memories faster than I can. Skyka can levitate me in the air, and Mohania could digest me in a couple of seconds." Dan said.

"That's true." Mohania said nodding his head in a serious manner.

"Your group can look at me and know more about me than I know about me. So I don't know. All of you look at me and tell me what you see." Dan said holding his arms out and slowly turned around.

Dan turned back around to face Herrior. "Do you have something against me?"

"No." Herrior said quickly shaking his head. "Not in the least. I am honored to have you in my party, but my curiosity just got the better of me I guess."

"My powers are growing, yes. Actually I have to give most of the credit to Mohania for increasing my time stopping abilities. But yes I have been experimenting with altering time. It is always out of battle, and it is never in a situation where it would hurt anybody. I have permission directly from the King to do so. As far as my powers as a warrior, yes they were enhanced like everybody else's was. I can now swing just as fast as Trackolania now." Dan said and Trackolania quickly looked up at him with a smile and shook his head in disagreement.

"Almost as fast?" Dan asked. Trackolania shook his head again.

"Faster than I could before, anyways haven't any of you experimented with your powers? I mean Crystal is showing signs of her power increasing, Mohania can do things that I know a regular warlock can't do, and up until recently Lindel has been using more of her evil banshee powers, or whatever she calls them." Dan said defending himself.

Mohania ignited his entire body on fire and casually turned to Herrior and said, "I don't know what he is talking about."

"I'm sorry if I have offended you. Yes, our group does have a lot of diversity in it, as Alan said. As a leader though, I need to know what my group can do. It seems as though you are luckier than the rest of us, and you seem to possess the ability to know things ahead of time before they happen." Herrior said.

"If I knew that, I would have not been laying on the ground paralyzed with the rest of you." Dan said.

"Hmm…" Herrior said. "Perhaps I worded that wrong, but more of a foresight…"

"Herrior, please hold on just a second ok?" Crystal said interrupting him. "He's had several great things happen that are unexplainable. Can we leave it at that? I thought the same thing about him, and that is part of the thing that fascinates me about him. You never know what he is going to do next, even if it is being a dumbass and trying to balance a spoon on his nose… But I know him better than all of you; he isn't an angel if that is what you are talking about. He has these sudden bursts of ideas and sometimes it's just something funny or weird, or sometimes it saves our asses. If he were able to see into the future, he would have told us not to do the attack. He loves all of you, when we have alone time he talks about all of you a lot, too much sometimes, but his heart and his mind are that of a warrior."

Herrior slowly nodded. "I just haven't seen anybody with some of the powers you exhibit."

"I haven't seen anybody exhibit some of the powers you guys can do. Tell you what, you let me ride on your shoulders and we'll call it even." Dan said. Herrior looked at him funny for a second as the group burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry hun, I'm the only one allowed to ride him. Anything else we need to discuss before we got on the boat?" Skyka asked winking at Dan.

"Wait, boat?" Jacklyn quickly asked. "I don't do boats. Can we just fly to our location?"

"Our orders are to take a ship to investigate the reason why our shipments are being ambushed. So we need to simulate the same environment and if we battle our dragons cannot be around. Having you dismount in mid-flight would cause injury to you, or one of our healers would have to levitate you down. Also the attack could be from the air, giving you no time for your dragon to fly away." Herrior said.

"I hate boats; can I just swim beside it?" Jacklyn said glaring at Herrior as he gently shook his head.

Jacklyn led the way to the docks. Several other guards reported that they were waiting for them and had the ship ready for sail.

"I've installed rockets on the back, and a wave disperser. In the event something happens I have these rubber tubes that we can float on." The goblin said holding up a two foot long plastic looking horse.

"Herrior…" Jacklyn said sternly.

"Can we just have a normal calm ride?" Herrior asked the goblin.

"Statistically sixty percent of the boat could be destroyed and we could still make it to shore. In the event that happens, I figure we can accelerate to speeds so fast that we could just skip along the water." The goblin said sounding eager to show off his modifications. Jacklyn started to draw one of her blades and Herrior grabbed her hand. She glared at him and put it back.

"Ok, I figure it is about eighty percent sea worthy, and by goblin statistics that is quite high. All aboard!" The goblin said.

Herrior's party, along with a dozens of other guards boarded the boat. Jacklyn looked upset with a sense of overwhelming fear. She suddenly turned to Herrior and asked if Trackolania could knock her out until they arrived. Herrior smiled and shook his head. The goblin dropped the sails and off the boat went.

Ten minutes later a nail flew up from a floor board and a steady stream of water flowed up like a fountain.

"Huh, out of everything that broke, that is the first thing to fail?" The goblin said. He quickly pulled out a small gun object that looked like it had a whoopy-cushion under it. He sprayed some liquid on it and instantly stopped the leak.

"Is it possible to not worry the crew as much captain?" Herrior asked. The goblin began to laugh.

"I wish I was a captain. I don't have a clue how to drive this thing; I just offered to fix it up because we didn't want one of our good ships being destroyed. I figure if we just go in that general direction we'll be fine. I'm just hoping we get lucky and not run into any whirlpools, water spouts, rain, heavy waves…"

"Ok, well let me know if you need any help." Herrior said and returned to his group. They were looking to him for reassurance. Herrior smiled and said, "Sorry".

"For some reason I feel safer being paralyzed by the Night elves." Jacklyn said.

"Aw come on, think of this as an adventure! Why don't you get some shut eye and enjoy the ride." Strings said letting out a hearty laugh. Jacklyn didn't say anything as she just stared out at the sea.

"Can you guys keep an eye out for anything unusual?" Herrior quietly asked his group.

"Have been already." Lindel said with a smile. "Your goblin friend seems to be quite proud of himself."

"I don't sense any large fish in the ocean. No sharks, whales, or anything like that. Just the passing school of small fish. I can't communicate with them, but they don't seem to be alarmed by anything." Quinely said.

"I've never rode in one of these. I don't think I like it." Icis said nervously.

"None of us do Icis, but it's our mission. You didn't have boats on your world?" Herrior asked.

"No. We had flying ships, and they didn't bounce around like this." Icis said.

"Strings, if it gets real bad can you play us a song?" Herrior asked. Strings nodded with a smile.

The first night and following day passed uneventful. The goblin became bored and asked if he could turn on his gizmos. Nobody on the ship said he could. Rations were handed out and talk was real light among the passengers on the boat. The same thing happened the next couple of days.

On the fourth day Herrior asked the goblin if they were on course.

"I think so" he said pulling out a circular device. He pushed a button and it began to whirl to life. Several metal fragments flew out of the device and a large arrow on a spring popped out and pointed in the direction they were going. "Yup, we look good." The goblin said resetting the device.

Herrior looked at him unimpressed. "Does that actually tell us if we are on course?"

"Absolutely! How insulting; of course it works most of the time."

"The goblin is right. Look ahead of us." One of the tauren said at the front of the boat. "I see pieces of boards floating, and the bodies of our brethren. We'll probably be there in about an hour."

"I can make it a minute, give me just a second." The goblin said excitedly.

"If we are heading into a trap, would it make more sense to go slowly so that we can anticipate the threat and counter it versus running into battle without knowing our enemy?" Herrior asked.

"Bah, what good are my modifications if I can't use them?" The goblin said.

"We may need them still. How much power are those rockets things able to produce?" Herrior asked.

"Enough to break through this ship and sail all the way to the Eastern Kingdom." The goblin said eagerly and then paused for a second. "Maybe I should go alter the power valve." Herrior nodded and glanced at Quinely.

"Nothing. Same thing for the past couple of days. It's like the ocean is void of life. This isn't right Herrior." Quinely said.

Herrior nodded and looked at Lindel. She shook her head as well.

"Ok, well within the next hour anticipate something happening. We're nearing our destination." Herrior said.

Thirty minutes passed and one of the guards said, "I smell battle."

"I sense the same thing brother. Lindel, Quinely?" Herrior asked.

"I don't sense anything…" Lindel said but was cut off.

"Something…what is that?" Quinely said. She raced over to the side of the ship and looked over. She couldn't see anything. "Something huge is coming at us and it will easily over-power us! It's a…squid? It's being controlled, I can't communicate with it. It's moving fast towards us!"

"Form up! We've been waiting for this. Get your pets out, guard the healers, stay near the tanks." Herrior yelled out as he drew his sword and shield.

"It's coming, it's huge!" Quinely was almost hysterical.

"Bear form Quinely! I need you to help tank!" Herrior commanded. Quinely morphed into her bear form and seconds later the squid rammed the ship, easily breaking it in half. Its arms easily ripped apart the ship and the crew was swimming with the beast now. Herrior made the first attack by launching his sword at it, and then charging at it. The beast paid no attention. Once the ship had been sunk it quickly swam off.

"Naga! Approaching from all around us!" Lindel yelled.

"Mohania, Crystal give us water breathing as fast as you can. The rest of you engage!" Herrior said and dove under the water. Herrior saw them coming, hundreds of them.

"I hate Naga." Herrior said in his mind and swam forward to engage them. The naga looked like blue mermaids, only with scaly faces with armor and weapons.

"You will make good slaves to our mistress. We have hundreds, and you are nothing more than a mere inconvenience. Take them to the depths with the rest of them." A Naga said. Herrior charged at her and slammed her hard with his shield. She hissed back as a group of naga swam towards her to assist her. Herrior felt the whoosh of bullets and fire fly past him, hitting the naga around him. Herrior dove his sword deep into the head naga, causing her to bleed and then performed his thunder clap, which again he didn't understand why but it caused all of the naga around him to bleed.

Quinely was off tanking several dozen at a time. Several of the guards engaged the naga around her, but Veliline was struggling. Her spells didn't seem to be working. She tried her Death and Decay spell, which would capture the attention of anybody within the radius of it, but the spell quickly fizzled out in the water. She tried it again, trying desperately to get the naga off from their healers, but with no use. She then reached out with her hand and a long bolt of dark lightning grabbed a hold of one of the naga and pulled it towards her. She quickly infected it with both blood plague and frost fever, both of which caused the naga to suffer damage over time. She then grabbed the naga's chest and dozens of bolts of white light shot out from the naga and landed into the surrounding naga, by doing this she spread the diseases to almost all of the naga that were in melee range. Afterwards she summoned her army of the dead. Ghouls rose up from the bottom of the ocean and began biting and scratching at anything in range.

By now, Crystal and Mohania had cast the water breathing spell on everybody and began to engage the naga as well. While the battle progressed, with waves and waves of the naga pouring down on them, a sudden loud explosion occurred followed by what was left of the ship racing towards the middle of the naga. They froze in curiosity at the giant half boat flying towards them. Several more explosions occurred sending wooden shrapnel flying in every direction. Dozens of naga died almost instantly as others had chunks of wood blasted into them. The rockets powering the boat had finally blown through the boat, sailed into the majority of the naga and created a powerful shockwave, followed by a large fireball. Pieces of naga flesh and blood flew in every direction.

Herrior's group didn't have the luxury of watching as they continued to attack the naga. The warrior's began letting off their mighty roars, and Crystal has changed into her demon form. She ignited her body in fire and began shooting shadow bolts in every direction.

Strings and Trackolania seemed to be working well together. Once Strings was able to breathe underwater he began to play his instrument. The naga forces quickly began attacking one another as Trackolania would appear behind one of them, take several quick stabs and then disappear and reappear behind the next naga.

A large female naga came swimming towards them from amidst the explosion. She was significantly bigger and carried a long trident in her right hand. "Who is this that dares to face the naga? I will have all of your heads on poles within the hour! Get them my guardians!"

"I got this, give me a couple of seconds." Lindel said and quickly vanished. The guardians hit much harder and faster than the previous naga. Icis and Skyka were healing as quickly as they could, but they knew they could only keep this up for only a couple more minutes. It was also obvious that Veliline was becoming frustrated with herself because most of her spells were not working.

The large female naga held out her hand and several lightning bolts came out of it, hitting nearly everyone in the group. Crystal transformed back to her human form and began to perform her normal warlock attacks on her. She put several curses on her and then began to drain her life from her. It did not seem to affect the naga at all though.

"You will all die!" The naga said as she raised her hand again. Suddenly it looked as though she was hit in the head with something very large.

"Get out of my head you witch!" The naga screamed over and over for several seconds. She then floated back to her normal swimming position as her guardians had retreated to assist her.

"Now then, let's finish this!" The naga said. The guardians turned back around, but before they could swim the female naga let out a spell that looked like large red lightning bolts that slammed into all of her guardians. They all instantly cringed in pain as she continued to fire off the lightning bolts.

A matter of seconds later, the female naga had destroyed all of her guardians and began swimming after the other naga, shooting her white lightning bolts at them.

Lindel controlled her for as long as she could, but after a minute she had to leave the naga's body.

"Nobody…controls…the mistress…" The naga lady said sounding out of breath and barely able to hold her trident.

"You are powerful I will give you that, but have become over confident making you vulnerable." Lindel said, sounding almost equally as weak.

"Come my minions, let us regroup. Your days are numbered…and you will all die…" The mistress said as she and the rest of her naga swam away.

Herrior's group had joined up together as Skyka began channeling a spell that attempted to heal everybody.

"That worked better than I thought it would!" The goblin said swimming over.

"Can our healers go resurrect our fallen guards and bring them over as well?" Herrior asked. He then turned to the goblin and asked what he did. The goblin started rattling off several terms and construction components that he assembled quickly. Several minutes later he said that the wave dispersion device was used to shoot off the wooden shrapnel and then the rocket caused the explosion. The goblin then paused for a second and said that it was actually supposed to go through the crowd and not explode, but quickly said it worked out for the best anyways.

"You did well. Quinely what is around here?" Herrior asked.

"Oddly enough, there are six orcs in a boat on the sea floor down there. There must be a trapped pocket of air or something. They are alive because I've sensed them moving from one end of the boat to the other." Quinely said.

One of the guards swam up to Herrior and reported that they had lost ten men and they were not able to be resurrected. Herrior nodded and then gave the order for all of them to swim down to the boat.

Lindel gently floated through the water just as if it was air. She looked at Branzer and said, "You know you can talk out loud. The breathing spell allows that as well as increasing your swim speed, and yes I know you love me."

"Why are my spells not working?" Veliline said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Have you ever fought underwater before?" Herrior asked.

"No." Veliline responded.

"Some spells have different affects than on the land. Some may not work at all. The same as if you were fighting in the air." Skyka explained.

"Your ghouls you summoned seemed confused; they fought – but not our attackers. Your spell you call death and decay was working, but it just fell to the sea floor. We can experiment with them later." Mohania said.

"That would explain why our traps weren't doing anything…" Julie said in an upset voice. Skyka nodded at her.

Herrior swam down and popped his head up first in the boat. He stared at the half dozen male orcs, barely dressed and obviously starved.

"How did you get here?" Herrior asked as he pulled himself up on the underside of the boat. The rest of the group followed.

"Please don't harm us. The naga will follow you and we will be tortured like the rest. Please just go away." One of the orcs said quickly backing away from him.

"You mean the naga we just slaughtered? The sea is bathed in their blood. Did you not hear the battle?" Herrior said wanting answers.

The orcs just stared at him in awe. "There are hundreds of them…"

"Answer my question, how did you get here?" Herrior said in a commanding voice.

"The alliance…they enslaved us. They made us fish and mine ore for them. There's hundreds of us down here…were down here. Many of them are probably dead or worse…" the same orc answered.

"Are there more orcs being enslaved by the alliance and where at?" Herrior asked reaching for his hearthstone.

"No, we were all brought here in their huge vessels. Many of us were sentenced to die as an example to the others. We are all that are left." The orc said timidly.

"Horse shit! You're a liar! I sense seven more of you as far as my range can go." Quinely said.

"What? No…where? We've looked…" The orc said.

"Even I can tell you are lying about that. Listen up, you have two choices and one of them is being burned or eaten alive – whichever Mohania feels like." Herrior said looking at them.

"Both." Mohania said with a smile.

Herrior ignored him and grabbed throw the orc on the floor of the boat. "The other choice is to arm yourselves and fight with us. I will not let the six of you be recaptured by the naga or the alliance. You have been down here awhile by the looks of it. Tell me what you know about the fish, plants, ore, naga and other enemies." Herrior said as he put his stone away and emptied his entire bag filled with food at their feet. The orc's eyes grew wide at the bounty and then looked back up at him. Herrior gave a slight nod and that was all they needed to begin the feast.

"You're not going to contact the King?" Skyka asked.

"I thought about it, but these brutes are hardly worth reporting about and I want to survey the wreckage and find these other orcs. I want to give answers, not have questions asked without them." Herrior said.

"There is armor…" another one of the orcs said in between bites. "Crates of them among the sea floor, and weapons."

Herrior turned to his guards that were on the boat. "Stay here with them, tend to their wounds. I'm going to split my party up, we won't be gone long. Lindel will monitor you and sense if you are in danger. Let's go." Herrior said as he jumped back in the water and began to swim away. The guard saluted him as he and his party swam away.

"Quinely, Lindel, Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"I sense they are relieved to see us. I sense a few naga still slithering around, but there are other humanoids down here; small goblin-like creatures." Lindel said.

"The orcs are to our south. My hunch tells me there are more of them." Quinely replied.

"I say we eat them." Mohania said.

"Demons?" Herrior asked.

"None." Mohania replied back.

"Ok, Mohania you and Jacklyn take Crystal, our hunters and Veliline. Go recover what you can, experiment with your spells and abilities and familiarize with your surroundings. Lindel you secure the perimeter. Let me know if our guards or new found 'friends' have any problems. Also relay any information between our groups. The rest of us will go in the opposite direction. Find anything that might be edible, salvageable, or anything you might think may be useful." Herrior said. He then turned to swim away.

The seafloor had a variety of life, the normal seaweed and plant life that they were used to. Many of the fish seemed normal as well, some easily identifiable, some they had never seen before. One of the exceptions was several large crab like creatures. They stood twelve foot tall, and Herrior estimated them to be around five hundred pounds. They walked on their back four legs and had large pinchers in front of them. Herrior swam up to one and asked, "Do you speak common?"

The creature suddenly turned aggressive and began to snap its claws at Herrior. Herrior easily deflected the blows.

"Yes, I speak common. You are not welcome here. My kind will kill every last one of you!" The beast said in a muffled sound. Herrior then let out a ferocious roar and began attacking it, easily subduing it in several seconds.

"One less ally we will make." Herrior said as he searched the remains. As he did that a goblin-like creature threw a large cannon ball like object at Herrior. Dan saw it coming and sprung into action.

Time stopped.

"Herrior, you're about to get hit by that thing!" Dan said. Herrior stopped and looked up. The cannonball was several feet from his face.

"Huh? Wonder what that does?" Herrior said. He grabbed the cannonball and swam behind the goblin and then resumed his position before and waited.

Time resumed.

The cannonball exploded, incinerating the goblin – which still had the smirk on his face. Large amounts of armor and gold fell from his remains and gently glided down to the seafloor.

"Apparently this isn't the first time they have attacked people. Gather it all up, Trackolania I want to send you out and figure out what is going on here. Pickpocket every last one of them and then report back." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and instantly vanished from sight. Dan watched where Trackolania was and looked for any sign of ripples in the water or where he might have gone. He couldn't see any. "Damn, he's good."

"He surprises us every time he enters combat with us." Herrior said stuff his bags. "I'm certainly I can repel several of those blasts. But where there has to be a stock pile somewhere. I'm sure our goblin can make an explosive device out of them." Herrior paused for a second and then looked back at his party, "You know, just in case we need a large explosion. In the mean time fan out a little. Engage everything until you know what every underwater creature holds. Get any flowers, ore, cloth, gold – anything that you can salvage, we'll figure it all out later."

Jacklyn's group was doing the same, however they seemed more interested in engaging the left over naga and killing them. Through a series of torture techniques, which included hacking off limbs and igniting them on fire, they found out that this area was in fact called Vashj'ir and that they had launched attacks on every vessel that entered their new territory. Some of the naga pleaded for their lives, but the party showed no mercy. The party was singling out a naga by itself and engaged it. The fight was over within seconds; it wasn't a fair fight, but they weren't out to fight honorable, especially what had just happened to them. All of the hunters had their pets out and were testing out their abilities under water. They did function differently, however they quickly found out how to adapt to them.

Veliline summoned her army of ghouls and again the same thing happened. Instead of protecting her, they ran in every direction attacking anything they saw; most of the time dying from the battle. She did find out that her "blood boil" spell worked normally. It was an instant cast spell that radiated damage to everything within ten yards within her. She then performed an attack that struck three creatures at the same time. Icis continued to heal her as she continued her attacks. Veliline eventually found out what worked and what didn't seem to.

Veliline stopped attacking after she obtained the fighting knowledge that she needed. She saw the rest of her group gathering supplies and looting the bodies of the corpses.

"All done already?" Mohania asked smiling at her.

"I have learned and adjusted my fighting tactics underwater. I do not like it underwater, but I should be sufficient to fulfill my role. I failed in the previous fight, but I should be better in the next battle." Veliline said in her same tone as she began gathering supplies as well.

"Veliline, you did fine. That is the point of fighting in a group. If one of us fall or is mortally wounded, the others protect that person until they are healed or if they die." Jacklyn said and redirected her group towards the north.

"You'll learn that's half of the fun!" Quinely said in a cheery voice as she morphed into her dolphin form and began swimming around them.

"Many ships were lost here. I wonder why it wasn't reported sooner." Jacklyn said ignoring her. "Strings can you blow away some of this rubble without damaging the supplies."

"Aye, can't guarantee that, but it would be fun to try." Strings said.

"We could burn it." Mohania said.

"Burning it would damage the supplies. No we'll just have to shuffle through all of the debris. Odd that there aren't any bodies. A ship holds a crew of several dozen, yet there aren't even any remains. If there are scavengers, or the naga took them, it would seem as if they would take the supplies as well. Even if the weapons, food, armor is not up to their standards, they would at least be able to melt it down into a form they could use." Jacklyn said as she was pushing large logs and ship debris off to the side. Quinely morphed back into her human form and began to search as well. Several seconds later, Mohania said "It would be easier just to burn it."

An hour passed and Herrior sent a mental message to Lindel telling Jacklyn to bring her group back to the ship. They were all carrying as much as they could and it was slow getting back to the ship. One at a time they popped up in the overturned boat, and the guards helped sort the supplies. Even the stranded orcs helped out.

Lindel was the last one in the ship and Trackolania suddenly appeared behind Herrior as he began sorting his assortment of goodies as well.

"Some of this armor is useless. I wouldn't want to be caught dead in it." One of the guards said examining a rusted breastplate.

"I agree, however some of these weapons are emanating with power. Trackolania what did you find out?" Herrior said.

Trackolania smiled as he started pulling bag after bag full of gold out of his bags.

"Yes, lots of gold. Any clues or insight that could help?" Herrior asked. Trackolania stopped pulling the bags out and reached into a pouch in front of him and pulled out several pieces of paper and handed them to Herrior.

"This one is stained with blood. Did the person you get it from not want to give it up?" Herrior asked looking over it casually. Trackolania smiled innocently and shrugged his shoulders.

"You are too cute, you know that?" Julie said with a smirk on her face. "You didn't by any chance have to pry it out of his hands did you?" Trackolania shook his head at her and continued to empty his pockets.

Herrior read the documents carefully and when he was finished he handed the paper he was done with to Skyka. She in turn handed it to Branzer and he handed it to Mohania, which finally ended up with Veliline. "Ambassador thing?" Dan asked.

"Yup, you want to be one?" Herrior asked continuing to read. A minute later he was done with the last paper and pulled out his hearthstone.

"Before I contact an ambassador, I just want all of you to know that we are going to be here for awhile. Our goblin engineer, captain, or whatever you call yourself – can you start looking over what we recovered? We're going to eventually need something that is fairly small that will generate an enormous explosion."

"Prat is the name, explosions are my game. Are we talking about a shockwave, general fire, or some type of projectile dispersion bomb?" Prat asked.

"All of the above, and make it powerful." Skyka answered. Prat got excited and began looking over the materials he had.

Herrior had a thirty minute conversation in a private portal so nobody else could hear. Herrior's body then made a motion that he was nodding and pulled his head out of the portal.

"Our guards and orcs are to report back to Tranquil immediately, as well as all of our gathered information, gold and supplies – except for food. We have several primary groups ready to assist us if necessary. We are to rescue anybody or anything that wants to be rescued and slaughter anything that doesn't. Lindel if you would please." Herrior said.

"What will become of us?" One of the older orcs said.

"You will be evaluated through our banshees. Every shred of your memories will be read from you minds, and then you will be handed over to our orc ambassadors. From there it will be up to him what is to become of you." Herrior said. Lindel had created the portal and the guards began to escort them out.

"Will they kill us?" The same orc asked.

"I doubt it. But we will if you don't hurry." Herrior said. One of the guards gave him a shove, pushing him through the portal.

When Lindel closed the portal, Prat asked why he didn't go and also why he didn't get anybody to help him.

"You have proved to me that your skills are more than sufficient to perform the task that we need. If you are killed, then you will be replaced. As for the rest of us we will sleep here for the night and we will put all of the items we recover in Tranquil to be analyzed before bedding down. If it is too far of swim or we are engaged in combat, we'll bed down somewhere else." Herrior said.

Prat looked at him funny and said, "How am I supposed to build this bomb and come with you as well?"

"You are not a fighter, you have your assignment and you will carry it out until it is finished or you are dead – same as us. Given the fact that the orcs survived in this overturned boat for so long unnoticed, you should be fine. Just don't do anything to draw attention to yourself, or as the King put it 'No practice explosions'. We are not to summon our mounts or draw excessive attention to ourselves. By what we read, most of the damage they do down here is either physical or shadow, so we'll need the priests to keep their shadow protection up on us. We are to rescue as many survivors as we can, kill as many naga as we can, take out their leaders and destroy this squid thing that wrecked all of our ships. Any questions?" Herrior asked.

Mohania went to say something but Herrior quickly said, "Any legitimate questions?"

"First of all, that offends me. But I was going to say that when our little time stopped did his thing, it immobilized all of us. I'm assuming it did the same thing for your group as well?" Mohania asked.

"No it didn't. Dan stopped time to stop an explosive device from hitting me. I grabbed it, swam around behind him and watched his body explode." Herrior said. They both looked at Dan.

"I don't know." Dan said.

"When you did you're week long time stopping thing, we were able to walk on the fountains because the water was solid. Why was Herrior able to move and we weren't?" Mohania asked.

"I remember that, for some reason my nose was in somebody's ass." Herrior said.

"Quiet, let him explain." Mohania quickly said.

"I…don't know." Dan said again. "I was considering doing it during our initial battle, but was unsure if the naga were immune to it or what would have happened – so I just waited for your order."

"You've never stopped time underwater before, have you?" Skyka asked.

"No."

"Does that answer everybody's questions then?" Skyka said defending Dan. "He doesn't know what the affects are, and as far as I know all of our other time stoppers have not tested their abilities fighting in the air or underwater." Skyka then turned to Dan and said, "I did see the explosion coming and had shielded Herrior. It would have absorbed the blast; also Herrior could have taken the damage. But I do appreciate you looking after my husband."

"It doesn't answer my question of why all of our heads were in each other's asses." Herrior said.

"Quiet, he's still explaining." Mohania quickly said again. Dan just stared at both of them and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm done I think."

"Well that explains everything then, shall we begin our assignment now or rest for the night?" Mohania said pretending to let out a yawn.

"Why have you changed so much Mohania?" Dan asked. Mohania looked at him funny.

"Hey, if I can be questioned whether or not I'm some sort of angel or whatever, I'm entitled to ask this question." Dan said.

"I haven't changed; you are all still a bunch of asses and all of you annoy me." Mohania said.

"No I'm serious." Dan replied back.

"So am I." Mohania replied right back.

"Before you were dark and sinister, wouldn't talk to anybody and kept to yourself with your other warlocks in your cave. I mean am I wrong or has he changed?" Dan said looking at Herrior and everybody that was in his original group. They all nodded.

"I'm still dark and sinister, here I'll prove it. Where's that little goblin?" Mohania said looking around for him.

"Yes hun you still have that side of you, but another side has surfaced upon meeting Dan. I must admit that he's changed all of us either directly or indirectly." Lindel said.

"You have a mushy, gushy part of you. That's why you joke with us." Quinely said with a smile.

"I wasn't joking; what was that goblin's name?" Mohania said.

"Don't eat the goblin. So Mohania has developed a sensitive side, let's let it go at that." Herrior said. "Let's rest up for the night before we begin the mission. Dan, how about you go experiment with stopping time in the water with a couple of different people and observe the affects.

"By sensitive you mean dark and sinister right?" Mohania asked.

"Yes." Herrior said and then said, "Prat, what have you discovered so far?"

"A good hiding place from Mohania." Prat said.

"I love this game…" Mohania said.

"Settle down, both of you. Prat?" Herrior asked again.

"The ore that you brought back up is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It does produce sparks, but I think would be more useful in the hands of a blacksmith. The cannonballs and kegs of gunpowder will obviously produce an explosion, but I don't think it will be big enough for what you want. Also some of this cloth that you brought back has magical properties unlike that I have ever seen. It would be a waste to house the explosive material in it. I've got several different plans but with the inability to experiment I can't say for sure if it would work. But you want a small compact device with a huge explosion, and this primitive gunpowder takes a lot to get a big bang." Prat said. His voice went from slow at first and then to excited, and then back to slow. He seemed to like his assignment given to him but did not like the idea of not being able to experiment.

Herrior nodded. It was obvious he had started brain storming ideas and that is what Herrior wanted to hear. Herrior reached out and picked up a piece of the ore. He turned it over twice and then rubbed his thumb over it. "It would take a lot of work; Skyka what are your thoughts on the cloth?"

"I knew that question was coming. I do agree with Prat, but I would need lots of cloth to make bolts out of them, and then experiment with them. However sending the items back to Tranquil, our professions personal would have more time to analyze it." Skyka said. "Probably the same with the flowers we've collected. I think Quinely knows what flowers hold powers, and which are natural to the environment."

"Sure do! I'll be on flower patrol!" Quinely said enthusiastically.

"Are you ever 'not happy'?" Mohania asked.

"Life is too short to not be happy." Quinely said at him smiling.

"Well at least you are in front of me and not behind me…" Mohania said as he was abruptly knocked to the ground. Spark appeared on top of him and began to lick his skull.

"Does everybody have the power to turn invisible?" Mohania said angrily. Spark started nudging his head as Julie tried to call him over and not laugh.

"Well I'm glad I can amuse you all by being knocked to the ground…" Mohania said gently getting off the ground and into a sitting position. "Wasn't it Skyka's idea to prank the big cow anyways? Why don't we all focus on him for awhile?"

Time stopped.

"I was knocked in the water as well my friend. It's good for you, keeps you on your toes." Herrior said.

"Somehow getting knocked down is good for me?" Mohania asked looking at him.

"Suddenly appearing with my nose is somebody's ass is somehow good for me?" Herrior said right back.

"Quiet, he's not done yet." Mohania said looking at where Dan used to be. Mohania then looked around and saw that time had stopped.

"If you want, we can all pretend he is here." Strings said as he took a small drink from his wineskin.

"You're an ass." Mohania said.

Time resumed.

"So Dan, how are things going? Is there something you wanted to say?" Skyka asked looking in the same spot. Trackolania walked over and pretended to pat the air where Dan used to be.

Time stopped.

"Ok that's enough. Let's all meditate on the events that took place today and see if we can gain any further insight that would be helpful." Herrior said. Herrior's group that wasn't frozen made themselves comfortable on the bottom of the boat and waited for time to resume again. They didn't have to wait long.

Time resumed.

Shortly afterwards Dan popped up and pulled his body on the boat. Crystal, Jacklyn, and Branzer came up as well.

"Well, I still have no clue. Sorry guys." Dan said. "I did focus my attention on one person when I stopped time and it gave them the ability to move in water as well as myself. Branzer still froze no matter what, and when I didn't focus my attention on anybody, only I was able to move. I can still accelerate time around me that still affects everybody and slows the surroundings. Question is though, I haven't actually used it in combat; would it speed up our enemies as well, or just us. Also can I expand the…uh…bubble to include the entire party."

"Dan was making bubbles in the water." Crystal said with a grin.

"You're a regular comedian. I don't know how to describe it. How would you describe it then?" Dan asked her.

"Bubble is fine hun. Let's get some sleep." Crystal said as she looked around and saw that everybody was lying down.

Quinely walked slowly over to Bernett and asked if he was ok or if he wanted her company tonight. Bernett's first thought was quickly shaken out of his head and he said he was fine. Quinely nodded and morphed into her lion form and gently walked away.

"Bernett, what is the proper way of asking that question?" Lindel asked. She was lying down with Branzer's arm around her.

"Nothing, that was fine. It just caught me off guard. I apologize." Bernett said feeling embarrassed.

"I didn't need my powers to sense what just happened. If you need comfort, let us know ok hun? Same thing applies to everybody else." Lindel said quietly back to him.

A moment later Julie let out a sigh as she put an arm around Spark. Spark let out a tiny whimper. Trackolania walked over to the other side of Julie and put his arm around her as he laid down. A quiet, "Thank you" came from Julie before she dozed off.

The next day they were up early and prepared themselves for battle. It opened up with a question from Dan.

"Strings, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Aye, go ahead." Strings said adjusting his armor. Mohania was in the process of casting the water breathing spell on everybody.

"How can you fight under water, I mean with your instrument?" Dan asked.

"The same as on land." Strings said not giving it to much thought.

"But…it's a wind instrument and you blow into it." Dan replied back.

"Aye that I do." Strings replied back looking at him. Dan was obviously confused about something that he didn't give a second thought.

"Sound actually travels further in the water, so it enhances my spells. Is that your question?" Strings asked.

"No, there is no air underwater. How do you make your wind instrument work underwater with no air?" Julie asked piping up. The thought suddenly occurred to the rest of the new members of the group, except for Veliline who was in the water already and swam out of sight.

"I don't need air; neither does miss snoopy over there." Mohania said motioning towards Lindel.

Strings let out a chuckle and said, "That's a secret of being a bard. I've actually spent a year underwater back in the day. I'm hoping we don't have to spend that much time down here, but any instrument in my hands will cast my songs in any situation. Does that confuse you more than you were before?"

Dan nodded his head as the rest of the group continued to jump in the water.

As Herrior's group formed up and began to swim south, Lindel quickly said "We are going to have a visitor. It appears as though the goblin king, or whatever they are, is approaching us. According to his mind, there is a vast army behind him."

"Good, I was hoping for the chance to battle early this morning." Herrior said. They continued to swim until they saw a well armored black goblin that had numerous jewels on his body and even a crown. He had dozens of guards around him. Herrior continued to approach until the goblin yelled out for them to stop. Herrior did as ordered.

"Our numbers are in the hundreds; our weaponry and armor surpass what you have. You either surrender to us for a quick death or we will take your shinies and hand you over to the naga for more shinies."

Herrior was about to say something when Trackolania swam up to Herrior and tugged on his armor. Herrior looked down and Trackolania motioned that he wanted to talk to him.

"Be my guest. Just don't use big words. I think it would confuse them." Herrior said. Trackolania smiled but gave Herrior a glare.

"Trackolania is going to negotiate?" Dan asked.

"You're full of questions this morning…" Mohania said sounding annoyed.

Herrior turned around with a smile and said, "He's negotiated before. Any of you can take your turn if you want."

Trackolania swam in front of Herrior and looked eye to eye with the king. Trackolania's eyes dead-locked on the king.

"Do you want to be the first to die? Is that what you want?" The king asked. Trackolania slowly let out a smile and then in less than a blink of an eye he pulled out his crossbow and fired an arrow. The king and the guards ducked as it sailed above their heads.

"Ha! You missed!" The king said. Trackolania slow shook his head and pointed at his arrow.

The arrow sailed quickly threw the water letting off a small humming sound. It was heading directly towards the middle of the goblin army. The arrow then stopped and began to out a hum in the water. The goblins had begun to laugh at first and then grew curious as the seconds past. Suddenly the arrow shot downwards and flew into a giant stack of cannon balls. The explosion was enormous, sending a huge shock wave outwards and a small blast of flame. The explosion didn't kill or even hurt the army, but the explosion triggered another explosion, and then another. Herrior had begun to count but lost count at fifty when the explosions began happening very quickly.

The initial explosion had begun to topple a giant piece of coral that the goblins were living on. The following explosions not only encouraged the massive plant but started sending metal shrapnel into the ranks of the army. They began to swim away when their bombs had begun to explode in their packs as well. During the confusion the coral fell towards them, squashing the entire army and the king as well as his guards as well. The top of the coral came within a foot of Trackolania as it crashed to the sea floor.

Several moments passed as the sediment began to settle when Herrior said in a casual voice, "Huh, it almost seemed like you had that planned all along…" Trackolania turned around smiling and shrugged his shoulders.

Skyka turned around, who was talking with Icis and said, "Sorry what? Has Trackolania killed everybody yet? Anyways Herrior you should hear about a holiday that they have it's called 'Lunar Festival'."

"Sounds interesting, Trackolania you did move all of the valuables out of the way didn't you while setting this trap?" Herrior asked. Trackolania folded his arms in front of him and looked at him as if he was insulted. Herrior started to laugh and said, "Ok lead the way."

"That is impossible." Veliline said.

"Probably many of you are thinking the same thing as well…" Herrior said with a smile continuing to swim.

"Battle is always head on confrontation." Veliline replied back.

"Battle is using all of your available resources, and altering your tactics depending on the situation." Herrior said. "By the sounds of your story, that is probably why the Lich King was so easily defeated. For centuries king's hiding behind heavily fortified cities with vast armies could be destroyed by mere whispers of a peasant."

"Don't you mean peasants that were being controlled by a banshee?" Lindel piped up quickly.

"However you want to tell the story is fine." Herrior said recalling several memories with a smile.

"We were never taught that." Veliline said.

"Trackolania is a good teacher. We still have many battles ahead of us that you can learn from. Lindel how about you take Quinely, Branzer and Dan ahead and scout out the area. I don't anticipate much resistance." Herrior said.

"Will do." Lindel said changing her course and continued to fly through the water as if it was air. Her body made no waves or disturbances in the water as she moved.

"I'm sensing multiple voices, Quinely what do you got?" Lindel asked.

"Two humans almost directly beneath us, an orc to our left and lots of sharks coming our way to investigate all of the blood. Do you mind if I join them?" Quinely asked.

"Maybe later, Branzer go grab the humans below us and Dan go to where the orc is. I'm not sensing any voices from him." Lindel said.

"He's in a cave in that direction. It's about sixty yards away." Quinely said pointing south east from their position.

"Hmm…I'm going to speak with Herrior and have either Mohania or Crystal come with us. I'm not sure how the humans are staying alive, but I'm sure they would appreciate the opportunity to breathe again. Branzer and Dan, you go ahead and find the orc and we will meet up with you." Lindel said and began to establish her mental link.

"What about the sharks?" Branzer asked.

"They don't care about you. They will only attack you if you attack first. But you might want to have your turtle out just in case." Quinely said as she morphed into her dolphin form.

Branzer summoned his turtle and it swam beside him as the two of them began to swim for the cave. After twenty yards or so, Branzer said "I've always had a thing about sharks."

"I'm not too fond of things that can bite me in half either." Dan said. A little while longer they saw the dozens of sharks; all shapes and sizes swim casually right by them. Branzer and Dan froze, but just as Quinely said they swam right past. After they past Dan said to look up. There was a whale, not just any whale but one that looked almost a mile long. It moved slowly and care free at the top of the water.

"I have a thing for whales that are the size of a country also." Branzer said. Dan nodded and continued to swim. Branzer followed shortly behind.

They reached the cove and watched several more sharks swim by, again paying no attention to them. They swam up and Dan was the first to surface. He quickly ran towards the orc and started looking him over and asking him questions. Branzer was right behind him.

The orc became responsive and asked where he was.

"A cave under the water; also apparently able to have enough air pressure to hold out the water." Dan said.

"Wha?" The orc asked.

"How old are you?" Branzer asked.

"I'm only a couple of years past being a youngling." The orc said and then sat up. Suddenly his eyes opened wide as the memories came racing into his head.

"Where's the naga? Where are my friends? We escaped the alliance, only to be captured by the naga. They were captured, we have to save them!" The orc then paused for a second and then quickly looked around. "Why am I here and not captured?"

"That answers some of our questions and adds more to the question pool." Dan said.

"The naga will find us; it's only a matter of time!" The orc said frantically. So far the orc hadn't realized that he was naked.

"We killed a lot of them, along with some bandits in the water – well Trackolania did…" Branzer began to say.

"You fought the naga? How many did you kill?"

"I didn't keep count." Branzer said looking up at Dan.

"I didn't know we were supposed to keep count. But somebody called their mistress I, think they called her, came along and we forced her to retreat." Dan said.

The orc stared at him in disbelief. Branzer's turtle walked up to the orc and liked his face with its coarse tongue. The orc shook his head and start sputtering gibberish.

"Must be their native language." Dan said.

"Or demonic." Branzer said standing to his feet preparing to shoot him.

"No, not demonic this is just all over-whelming. How many of my brethren have you found?" The orc asked.

"Three so far. We've secured safe passage for them. Same thing will probably happen with you I'm assuming, unless a demon bursts out of your body then I'll put you down faster than you can draw in your next breath." Branzer said still hesitant.

"Sheesh, relax a little will ya, your skin will fall off if you worry too much." Mohania said as he walked up beside him. Quinely and Lindel were walking behind him with two adult males and a female.

"I never thought I would be saved by a Horde faction." The female said.

"Horde doesn't exist anymore and who says you are safe?" Mohania said igniting his eyes on fire and he quickly turned around to look at her.

"They found several cracks on the sea floor spewing out air; also they had made a little house out of seaweed which eventually did house the air. Apparently it worked." Lindel said. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't read it from their own minds. Herrior and the rest are on their way. They are slow moving though with the amount of salvaged goods they found. Oh, and Herrior said feel free to kill any of our survivors if they cause any trouble."

Mohania's hands lit up with fire as he began to cast a spell. Lindel reached over and casually pushed his hands down. "Only if they cause trouble."

"Sorry, didn't hear that part. Water in my ear or some other excuse that you may believe…" Mohania said sinisterly glaring at the woman.

"Did you see that giant whale?" Quinely said in a worried voice. "Stay away from that, I have no control over it – same as the squid."

"The squid is the same thing that attacked our boats." One of the males said sitting down on the sand.

"Which is a blessing because it kept many of our people alive, the ones that you didn't torture and kill that is. Now we are being held captive by the naga, when will we have freedom?" The orc said angrily at the man.

"If you would have done your jobs, we would not have to have made examples out of you!" The man said. Suddenly the man was knocked to the ground and a huge set of jaws closed around his neck.

"Why does she get to kill him and I can't kill her?" Mohania asked.

"None of you say another word. Quinely if he so much as breaths to hard all bets are off. We are all going to stay here in silence until Herrior arrives." Lindel said.

"If I talk, can we kill them? No wait I have an idea…" Mohania said and instantly banished his imp. He then summoned his succubus.

"No." Lindel said staring at Mohania.

"Just securing the area…" Mohania said casually as his succubus cracked her whip beside him.

Herrior arrived twenty minutes later, pulled two large treasure chests behind him. The rest of the group was weighted down as well.

"I think we'll have to make another trip…" Herrior said letting go of the chests and dropping to his knees.

"How much stuff…do you think…they had?" Bernett said sounding exhausted.

"Too much." Herrior said. He looked at Quinely and then let out a brief smile and asked, "Are you hungry Quinely?"

By now the man's neck had several small puncture wounds and saliva dripping all around his neck.

"We had to have a little demonstration." Lindel said.

"By the looks of it, you told the man not to say another word – which is probably why Mohania's imp is gone and his succubus is out."

"Just securing the area…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Pushing the boundaries of orders again are we?" Herrior asked but before he got an answer back he asked his group to restrain the rest of the survivors. Afterwards he asked Lindel to open a portal to start delivering the goods.

"If any of you resist or move, you will be killed. If you do make it in the portal you will be instantly killed." Herrior said and walked through the portal. Everybody heard him ask for help. Upon walking back through several trolls and taurens saw the captive alliance and instantly glared at them.

"My orders are to keep them alive, which apply to each of you as well." Herrior said leading the way to the huge pile.

"Technically we can do a lot to dem and dey be still living mon." A troll said snarling at the woman.

After ten minutes all of the items were all moved through the portal and Lindel closed it.

"Well, the first trip is done. Lindel how is our little explosion happy goblin doing?" Herrior asked.

"Frustrated. I'm too far away to sense anything else." Lindel said.

"That's makes two of us. Ok, feel free to do your thing." Herrior said. Lindel's body dispersed into a mist and painfully pushed herself into the female. They all knew she was doing it as painfully as she could.

"What is happening to her?" One of the males said in a panicked voice.

"He talked! Can I kill him now?" Mohania asked igniting his hands on fire again.

"He has information we might need. If he doesn't, technically we don't need him and he did break the rule…but the King said to keep them alive. Trust me, we are all thinking the same thing and if the roles were reversed I'm sure we wouldn't have been shown the same mercy." Herrior said.

Mohania shook his head. "Sorry you must have said something boring, so is that a yes?"

"Apparently this woman is married to a knight; sir shithead I think is his name. What he doesn't know is that she frequents other knight's bed chambers as well, not a real big surprise." Lindel said using the woman's voice. The other two males stared at her in awe.

"The one on the right is John, the left is Peter. Her name is Elizabeth and unknown to her she is dying from a toxin in her liver. She also knows lots of useless gossip, nothing of which is useful to us. She does not know anything else about the alliance that we already don't already know. Shall I speed up the toxin? The pain should be pleasant to watch and it would be a natural death." Lindel said, still using the woman's lips to talk through.

"No, move on to the next." Herrior said. A vapor quickly came out of the Elizabeth's eyes and flew into John's eyes. John let out a horrified scream as Lindel possessed him while Elizabeth fell to the ground from loss of strength.

John's head unnaturally turned quickly to Peter and said "You're next!" in Lindel's voice as she laughed.

A couple of seconds later Lindel reported that this one was ignorant as well. He did possess some mage abilities, but kept them hidden because he didn't want to be part of the army. He also enjoys fishing and is a good cook. Lindel then said she could interrogate Peter but said it wouldn't be worth it. These two were good friends and stayed away from the alliance armies. Herrior agreed and Lindel exited the man's eyes and materialized in front of him.

"It's too bad your heart got broke. Just can't compete with another man who knows what his penis is for..." Lindel said to him and walked away.

"Shall I do the orc next?" Lindel asked.

"Is that necessary?" Herrior said looking at the orc.

"I already told them everything I know…" the orc's voice said with a slight quiver to it.

"Fine, the next step is what to do with you four while we go rescue the rest. I have no doubt that any one of my party members could handle you, but that would take away the fun they would have slaughtering the naga." Herrior said.

"We could take them with us; use them as bait or as a shield." Mohania said.

"Are the rest of us allowed to make sarcastic remarks also, or is there a certain time period that we have to be in the party for to have that privilege?" Dan asked with a smile.

"Great, it's contagious…" Skyka said glaring at both of them.

"I could summon a couple of demons to restrain them, however I think after I'm out of a certain range I would lose my link with them." Crystal said.

"You would." Mohania said. He then realized what he said and then quickly said, "I mean maybe, you never know with the water and the fish…"

"I can just go kill all of them." Quinely said. "That's not the problem that I see though, bringing the captives back, along with collecting the rest of the loot and getting Prat the materials he needs is the main problem."

"I agree with the last part, but explain the first part of your idea." Herrior said.

"I'll take on a shark form, communicate with the other sharks that were sedated before and we'll go on a shark frenzy. After wards though, I'm not sure if I could explain to the sharks to gently carry the captives back in their jaws." Quinely said.

"I see your point. How confident are you with your plan?" Herrior asked.

"They are starving Herrior. I can summon all of them out there right now and begin the attack. As blood is spilled, more oceanic creatures will be awoken and I will control them as well. I didn't sense them before because they are a threat to the naga, so the naga had them confined and sedated. After our initial battle it weakened their hold on the creatures."

"What about the squid?" Herrior asked.

"The squid is almost mechanical…either that or something much stronger is controlling it. Is that what you are planning the explosion for?" Quinely asked.

"No it isn't. Icis, Crystal and Veliline go with her." Herrior said.

"Herrior…once the sharks start eating I won't have much control over them. The captive orcs should be secured; I don't see the naga releasing them to fight the sharks. Might I suggest having them come out after the area is secured? I apologize for interrupting." Quinely said quickly.

Herrior nodded. "You three stand by then, Quinely give the signal once the attack is done. I'll contact an ambassador to decide what to do with these four. Lindel go check on Prat and see what he needs. Also search the area for any additional threats that have not been dealt with and make a note of it. Once this place is secured, we'll then begin mining its resources."

"What do you want me to do?" Skyka said smiling seductively at him.

"Don't distract me and make sure I don't sound like an ass to our ambassadors. Otherwise find something to entertain Mohania." Herrior said back.

"Turn them all around. Face them towards the wall." Skyka said. The party did just that just before Herrior pulled out his hearthstone.

"That's what I meant…" Herrior said quietly. Skyka made an "mmhmm" sound as Herrior opened the portal.

While Herrior was speaking with an ambassador, Lindel ran and jumped through the wall and began sailing through the water surveying the area. Quinely jumped into the water and immediately morphed into a shark form and swam away. Branzer walked up to Skyka and whispered if he could talk to her.

"Sure, it won't interrupt Herrior." Skyka said back.

Branzer shook his head and said quietly, "No, it's about Lindel."

"Oh? You can still link up with her if you want? Did she forget something?" Skyka asked.

Branzer shook his head and said that she didn't. He walked back to his turtle and sat beside it. Skyka looked at him curiously and walked over to him.

"I should just be quiet and listen huh?" Skyka asked kneeling down beside him.

"Can she hear us right now?" Branzer asked.

"Not unless we think about her and project our voice into her mind. Being an ambassador she can't randomly drop in on our thoughts, the others probably." Skyka said turning to Crystal and gave her a wink.

"What?" Crystal asked.

"Nothing…so what's up?" Skyka asked.

"It's not going to work between me and Lindel is it?" Branzer asked quietly.

"Why wouldn't it?" Crystal asked walking over. Skyka was hoping she would take the hint, and she had.

"She wants you badly, she even said it herself – of course afterwards she nearly shit herself and flew off into a different dimension or whatever she does." Crystal said.

"Crystal, if I talk to you about it then Lindel might hear you." Branzer said.

"If you haven't noticed, most of our group is attuned to the slightest noise. Trackolania exceeds in that department, the only exception being…Mohania stop that!" Skyka said. Mohania was channeling a green been of energy into Peter. His body was on the ground and he was shaking badly.

"Sorry, what? I was just doing something…that I can't think of an excuse for right now. Carry on and pretend like I'm not here." Mohania said quickly breaking the connection.

"We might need them alive, and unharmed." Skyka said.

Mohania reached down and pulled him up by the hair. "I don't see any wounds or bruises."

"Don't drain the life out of them…" Skyka said not amused.

"Oh…ok, I misunderstood." Mohania said with a smile letting go of the man.

"No more misunderstandings, ok?" Skyka said and turned back to Branzer.

"What makes the situation so uncomfortable for you?" Strings asked. "She took the first step, and has repeatedly expressed her feelings for you."

"Let me give you an example." Branzer said and walked over to the wall Lindel walked through. He put his hand on it and pushed, demonstrating that he wasn't able to do the same thing that Lindel did. Branzer brushed off the dirt and walked back over.

"We've talked about this a lot before." Bernett said chiming in. "He's always been a little timid around her, might be my fault. But the things she can do are…well…unnatural – I can't believe I just said that sitting here with you guys."

"Herrior and I are different; different races with different powers." Skyka replied back.

"When you say race it reminds me of Asians, African Americans, and Chinese…not a tauren and a blood elf." Branzer said.

"Yeah, different translation." Bernett said with a smile.

Elizabeth walked over to Skyka and bumped into her. Skyka caught unaware looked up quickly saw that she was in a trance.

"I want to mate with Herrior your husband. I want to mate with him and then Mohania can kill me." Elizabeth said.

"Mohania, find something else to do. Write your name in the sand or something like Trackolania does." Skyka said.

"Wha? Oh…bad succubus! My apologizes…" Mohania said as he banished her. Elizabeth quickly regained control of her mind and Skyka told her to go back over by the other humans.

"I know, how about you come over and join our discussion – or count how many fish swim by." Skyka said.

"Neither sound amusing, but for the record over sixty sharks swam by so far." Mohania said.

"Apparently several things are bugging our group. Branzer, this discussion needs to be taken up with Lindel. Talking with us will only cause gossip within the group – possibly leading to dissention. I will see to it that later on you two will get some alone time." Skyka said and turned around. "So what's bugging you Mohania?"

"Nothing, I'm entertained now." Mohania said looking at what Trackolania was drawing in the sand.

"I am relieved, yet worried at the same time." Skyka said standing up and brushing the sand off from her. She walked over and saw an enormous map that Trackolania had drawn in the sand. He had specific "X's" and circles in certain areas, but it was the basic geography of what they had just swum through. He had several question marks that they haven't been to. Trackolania looked up at Skyka and then with his dagger touched very gently a question mark. He then looked back up at Skyka.

"Do we need to attack something there?" Skyka asked. Trackolania put his dagger away and thought for a couple of seconds and then slowly shook his head. He then shrugged his shoulders.

"But the "X's" is where we need to attack." Skyka said. Trackolania nodded. Suddenly Trackolania drew his daggers and jumped into the water. He began to stab and strike quickly and a second later he pulled up a head of a naga. He threw it on the sand.

"It appears as though Quinely's plan is working." Herrior said closing the portal. "Same plan as before. Offer them the same offer that we gave the previous alliance and orcs."

"And what might that be, slavery? A quick death? Torture?" Elizabeth asked. Mohania nodded his head grinning.

"Your options are to be left here, transported to wherever you want, returned to the alliance with your minds wiped of what happened, or join us in our assault. If you are left here, you'll probably end up killing each other, or being killed. Either way, think about it. Any word from our scouts?" Herrior asked.

Mohania walked over and picked up the head of the naga. "Sheesh this guy is ugly."

"I've never liked them. As many treaties that we tried to make with the naga have failed." Herrior said.

"Oh, yeah the naga's are ugly too." Mohania said looking up at Herrior.

"Couldn't resist that one could you?" Herrior asked.

Lindel flew back into the cave and reported that Prat had little to nothing to work with. He had several ideas, but without testing them he couldn't be sure. He really doesn't like the old gunpowder and would prefer to get some supplies from… Lindel paused and then said "elsewhere".

"He's going to need a testing ground, I agree." Herrior said. Almost immediately Trackolania tapped on Herrior's leg and showed several him the circles he drew on his map.

"Several steps ahead of us already huh? Are those places safe?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania nodded and Lindel quickly agreed with him. "There are some bandits left over, but for some reason they hate having the life sucked out of them and being exploded from the inside out. Which reminds me, sorry for being late." Lindel then knelt down and gently moved the "X's" out of the sand picture.

"How's Quinely doing Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Oh she's fine. Her army that she's accumulated is actually doing more than she anticipated. She told me the battle should be over within a couple of minutes. She's trying to get some of the naga that are fleeing, but she has to let some of them go to concentrate on the main battle. The sharks probably won't have to eat for the next couple of weeks. The enslaved humans and orcs are fine, but I can understand why she didn't want us to be around. Oddly enough, the captives are encased in an air bubble – she didn't give any more specifics but said they appear to be fine. She estimated about sixty of them."

"Wonderful." Herrior said. "After the fight is over, we're all going to go out and retrieve them. This means you four decide quickly what you want, because we are going to have to do a lot more babysitting, and that is not in our job description."

"I'll stand with you." The orc said. "I have no weapons, but I want to help free my brethren.

"So will I." John said.

"You took an oath!" Peter said.

"And was betrayed! Stand with me or not, I'm going to help. If it weren't for them we would have died eventually. If I'm going to die, it's not going to be hiding, it will be fighting." John said.

"You will be given minimal weaponry. Your main job will be to haul the prisoners back to this cave." Herrior said. "The rest of you can wait for any remaining naga to show up to be used as bargaining chips. That being the case we will kill both of you; we aren't real good at negotiating." Herrior said with a chuckle.

A giant shark flew out of the water and landed several feet on the sand. "The fight is over. The rest of the naga are fleeing west of here. Shall we pursue them?" Quinely said.

"Let them go. I want a full report." Herrior said.

"Their weaponry is better than ours. However they are stupid. I had several sharks stare at them, while other swam from above them and massacred them. There seemed to be several leaders, or commanders – whatever that were calling out orders. I took out two of them myself. Their magical powers are the same as ours, but it's hard to cast a spell with their arms bit clean off." The shark said in Quinely's voice. "The battle is over, however with all of the blood in the water, their natural instinct is to stay and feast. I can command them to move away, but they are starving. They are feasting right now only on their heads and extremities. Their armor, weapons, and items they were carrying are falling to the ground. Should be easy pickings for us." Quinely morphed back into her normal self. "Forgot, sharks need water to breath" she said and then continued: "Also, once they saw that the battle was going in our favor a man, I think he was a man, said he was with a group called the Earthen Ring and wanted to speak with me. I told him that afterwards I would send an ambassador to speak with him. I didn't recognize his race." Quinely said. "It was odd though, he specifically talked to me while I was eating a naga – as though he knew I could understand."

"Probably you talking back to him sort of gave it away as well." Herrior said.

"Maybe…" Quinely said with a smile. "However we should probably remove the captured people in awhile, or should I tell the sharks to stop while we get them?"

"The sooner the better." Herrior said.

"Very well." Quinely said and jumped back into the water. She morphed back into her shark form and swam away.

"Don't attack any of the animals. Bring as many survivors as you can back here. Reminder to the warlocks that you will need to monitor our ability to breath underwater and recast your spell on us before it runs out preferably. As for the rest of you, follow us or stay here." Herrior said and walked into the water.

Herrior swam towards the slaughter and saw that Quinely had all of the sharks, well over one hundred, swimming in a large circle to the west of them. Herrior quickly turned his attention back to the battlefield.

He swam past several of the survivors, contained in some sort of air pocket, and looked over the items that were dropped.

"Tauren, over here please." Herrior recognized the race and he drew his weapons. He turned around and swam over to the male. He was the size height as a human, had green skin, blue eyes, long tentacles coming down from the sides of his fish like mouth.

"I thought we killed all of you." Herrior said.

"My name is Erunak Stonespeaker, and yes I am part of the Broken or known to your draenei as the Krokul race. I assure you, I mean you no harm. Are you an ambassador?"

"Yes, what is it that you want?" Herrior asked.

"We have formed an attack force called the Earthen Ring. Many of us saw the destruction that Deathwing made as he twisted the lands and rose from the ground and are helping to contain the damage. We have made several strategic attacks, this one obviously failed. Our main outpost is west of here, the same direction the naga fled to. I fear for my people. Let us join forces to drive out the naga and form strategies for attacking this beast." Erunak said.

Herrior saw that he was speaking the truth and put his weapons away. He swam over and told him to take a deep breath as he pulled him free of his restraining bubble. Crystal quickly casted her water breathing spell on him and then turned back to her job. Mohania had created an enormous green restraining bubble and everybody was putting the survivors in there. It was either human or orc.

"No dwarf's, gnomes, night elves…wonder why?" Skyka asked pulling another survivor into Mohania's bubble. She saw all three humans and the orc working together to gather the survivors as well. She let out a quick smile knowing that they would help despite their past.

"Erunak, you will be restrained for now until we can secure this area. Then we will move on." Herrior said putting him into the green circle.

"They might all be dead by then!" Erunak said. He casted a powerful spell that shot a bright white light again the shield, but had no effect.

"My orders come first, not yours." Herrior said.

"Our weaponry and armor is better than what you have. Let us barter then, or set me free so I can go fight with my brethren. Please consider my situation, I beg of you." Erunak replied back.

Herrior thought about it for a moment. "Quinely, Lindel, Trackolania and Icis – go with him. If he attacks you, make his death last long and painful. Quinely take your sharks with you."

"Hey, I'm the best at giving long painful deaths – I should go." Mohania said.

"Do you want to teach somebody else how to do that little green bubble thing?" Herrior asked.

"Not particularly." Mohania said with a grin.

Quinely swam over as Trackolania and Icis sat on her back and then quickly swam away. Herrior pulled Erunak out of the shield and tossed him aside as a shark swam up and grabbed him by the arm and speed off with the rest of them.

"What's our current count?" Herrior asked.

"Sixty seven alive and contained, the rest are dead." Skyka said.

"Did everybody see Trackolania's map? If not, make sure you don't disturb it upon reentry into the cave. We'll split up and attack the threats that he has marked. First things first though, we'll bring our recent friends back. Afterwards a secondary group will be able to clean up some of this for analysis." Herrior said beginning to swim back to the cave.

In the meantime Quinely sped through the water with amazing speed. She had even caught up with several slower naga and in a single bite, chopped off a leg and then continued on. The rest of the sharks behind made quick work out of the wounded naga and continued to follow her.

Eventually they came to a long underground cavern which had several twists and turns in it. Trackolania was able to pick off several naga during the twists and turns with his crossbow. Then they came to a large cave opening, and just as Erunak said, the naga were attacking his brethren. Oddly enough it contained a variety of every race they knew. Quinely shot out of the water and morphed into her bear form and let out a ferocious roar. The naga stopped their attacks, and turned to go attack her.

Erunak's shark let him go and he swam the rest of the way. His arm was bleeding, but he quickly healed himself. "Form up behind the bear. Drop your totems, and focus fire on one at a time." Erunak said and then saw Trackolania moving swiftly from one naga to another, stabbing with speeds that he had never seen before. Lindel turned into her banshee form and let out a loud screech. This stunned the naga as she summoned her skeleton army and began sucking the life out of the naga.

There were five naga attacking Quinely, when she spotted a naga trying to cast a spell. She quickly charged at her, and knocked her into the water – where the sharks instantly engulfed her. Quinely then let off another roar and began to attack again.

Before Erunak could tell his group to begin healing, Icis had created a bubble around their group and had begun healing with powers superior to theirs.

Suddenly Trackolania vanished and reappeared every half a second for a minute, sinking his poisoned daggers into the naga and then moving on to the next. His daggers were moving faster than before, landing blows in-between the naga's armor.

"I am Fathom-Lord Zin'jatar, who dares attack my naga?" A large well armored naga came out of the water with several more forces. Lindel quickly forced herself into his body. She took over his body with very little effort. He then turned around and quickly slaughtered half a dozen of his troops with a swift swing of his sword. Lindel then forced him to fight the rest of the naga.

"My lord, what are you doing?" one of the naga asked. Lindel then decapitated the naga and said, "Killing you, you idiot!" The naga became afraid and some of them jumped back into the water to retreat, where they were met by the sharks. After seeing the shark frenzy, they turned back around and within less than a minute the rest of the naga were slaughtered.

"These naga are stupid." Lindel said using the naga's mouth. She made him throw down his armor and weapons. "Unfortunately he doesn't know anything useful, so I'll carefully and silently destroy him." Lindel released control of his mind.

"What happened? My army! You will all pay…what is in me?" Zin'jatar said looking down at his stomach. His body then exploded into hundreds of different pieces that flew all across the cavern. Lindel rematerialized into her human self and started brushing her hair. Trackolania glared at her with an arm on his hip.

"What? Ok…maybe I wasn't as careful as I could have been… But look at what you did. Many of these naga died paralyzed and are loaded with so much poison that it could take down a whole herd of Clefthoof's. Probably many of them aren't even dead yet, unable to move and feeling the poison burn through their bodies, and you judge me?" Lindel said. Trackolania let out a big grin and shrugged his shoulders turning around.

"That's what I thought." Lindel said laughing.

"That took more of my power than I thought it would." Icis said sitting down.

Quinely morphed back into her human form. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine. Just need a moment to catch my breath. They attacked fast is all."

Erunak spoke up, "Apparently we have just made some powerful allies."

"No, just doing what we were told to do. We attacked doing our normal tactics, ignoring your group…" Lindel said but was interrupted by Icis.

"I was healing them, but my main priority was our group."

"Until we receive further orders…actually speaking of I should probably contact Herrior." Lindel said. She pulled out her hearthstone and reported that their battle was a success. Herrior reported back that they were currently taking out minor threats and would be with them shortly. Lindel acknowledged and closed the portal, putting her hearthstone away.

"Providing you with armor and new weaponry may just give us the advantage to freeing Nespirah, and L'ghorek." Erunak said.

"The answer is no until an ambassador arrives to decide. In the meantime we are to remain here until Herrior arrives. No treaties or promises will be made until then. Your group go to the far end of the cavern, and we'll sit at the other end." Lindel said as she began walking away. Quinely, Trackolania and Icis followed her.

"Trackolania, did you learn a new ability? I haven't seen you move that fast before." Quinely asked. Trackolania looked up at her and smiled.

"I mean I've seen you strike fast, but it was almost as if you were hitting five naga at a time, in less than a second. Can you do that all of the time?" Quinely asked.

Trackolania shook his head and as he began rubbing his arms. He thought about something for a moment and then held up two fingers.

"About every two minutes or so eh? You rogues are always coming up with neat ways of killing your enemies." Quinely said smiling at him.

They talked among themselves for awhile. The sharks had left awhile ago and one of Erunak's taurens had constructed a fire and offered them food. They all said no and to not speak with them until Herrior arrives. The tauren nodded and walked over to his side of the cave.

"I wonder what's taking them so long." Icis said.

"I can't sense them, and Quinely probably can't either. It's a large territory to cover out there. It could be awhile." Lindel replied back.

"I still am unfamiliar with all of the rules. I saw Herrior's reaction to the one called Erunak; my reaction would have been the same. Some of my people became enticed by the demons, and joined with them. The terms he used to describe himself are the ones we fought. I am not comfortable with his knowledge of my people." Icis said.

"He looks funny too. But we are supposed to remain neutral with anybody unless attacked upon first." Quinely said. After Quinely was done talking Lindel's hearthstone began to vibrate. She was instructed to open a portal and expect a lot of guests. Upon completing the portal Herrior walked out first and motioned for Erunak to stay where he was. He then walked over to Lindel and asked what happened. As Lindel told the story about their battle, the rest of Herrior's party came out, along with over one hundred other humans and orcs.

Herrior nodded when Lindel's story was finished and Herrior asked her to close the portal.

"For now, all of you just go up beside the back of the cave. If you need medical attention let me know. In the mean time make my job easier and don't talk – it might lead to bickering and then I would have to kill one of you as an example. I will speak with you later." Herrior said. Herrior then called for all of his ambassadors and approached Erunak and his group.

"Lindel tells me that my group has saved your life twice now and the rest of your group once. This was not our intention, we are here to investigate why our cargo ships keep getting destroyed and to hunt down this squid, or whatever it is, and destroy it. We have gathered enough intelligence to know that there seems to be a lot of activity down here, much of which isn't our concern. Right now our plans are to continue with our mission as ordered. However you might be able to fill in some additional information to aid us." Herrior said.

"And I believe you were sent here to aid us. If not for your arrival I can only imagine what might happen to us. So I give you my thanks, if that is what you are looking for, but I think fate and intertwined us for a reason." Erunak said in a slow voice.

"Don't believe in fate, and I hate being intertwined. You said you had some better weaponry and armor for us, am I safe to assume that was not a lie?" Herrior asked.

Erunak studied him for a second. "You do not trust me, do you? To help build your confidence though, yes we do. But if I give them to you, will you help us in our mission?"

"No." Herrior replied back.

Erunak seemed surprised.

"Bribery does not work with us, and given enough time and materials I believe our people could develop weaponry better than what you have to offer. What do you know about this squid and where it lives?" Herrior asked.

"Not much I'm afraid. The naga have enslaved many more of the ones you have already rescued. You might get more information out of them, or the ones that have yet to be rescued." Erunak replied back.

"Checkmate" Herrior thought. He clearly had to help them in order to get the information needed to carry out his orders, and Erunak appeared to be telling the truth.

"Did you also know that our people are in Deepholm as well? You may not know of the place but it is where several goblins and people that look like you make your portals, take the floating white rocks and then leave. Our people continue to fight there as well. We cannot move from place to place as quickly as you can, but if we are to complete our mission, we can help you collect more of those rocks." Erunak said.

"Haven't heard of the place and I am not interested in collecting rocks. Where are the rest of the people that need to be rescued at so that we might withdraw the information that we need from them."

"Being held captive in Nespirah, and L'ghorek. Nespirah continues to fight off the naga, but unless we get to L'ghorek quickly he will die. What we don't understand is why Neptulon the Tidehunter, the lord of the waters does not come to our aid?"

"I have squashed more gods under my hoof than I care to count. So you are saying these creatures are alive, are being attacked by the naga and are holding more hostages there? What direction do we have to swim?" Herrior asked.

"Let us fight with you. Please, do not think of us as an enemy." Erunak said in a calm voice. "I do believe we have the same purpose here and a common enemy. A vortex has opened in the water north of here, and naga have been pouring out of it in the hundreds. If you destroy the squid that has been destroying your ships, they will simply command another animal or construct something that will continue to destroy your ships. Help us to destroy this vortex and it will accomplish both of our goals."

"Checkmate again. This is not going as was planned" Herrior thought. He let out a grunt. "Is it safe to assume this vortex of yours was created when Deathwing appeared?"

"From the information we have gathered it appears so."

"What can this Nespirah and L'ghorek do to aid in destroying the vortex?" Herrior asked.

"They would know more than we would. They were put here by Neptulon himself to help safeguard the waters." Erunak said.

Herrior closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

"It is clear that we have different beliefs, but let us look past that to accomplish this goal." Erunak said.

"Can you talk to these creatures? What is their current health at and what do they need to regenerate themselves?" Herrior asked.

"They commune with us through meditation and in exchange we offer them gifts…"

"I've heard enough." Herrior said cutting him off rudely. "How many fighters do you have to offer?"

Erunak looked to the five people beside him and then slowly looked back at Herrior.

"That is what I thought. We will need to address several things first in order to launch a series of attacks. The vortex is actually something we already know about and have plans of destroying. It will upset the balance of probably everything within a several mile range though, by that I mean it will be destroyed. That is just the bomb, the vortex itself may fold in on itself and create a bigger explosion; best case scenario though is it will simply destroy the powers causing it to exist in the first place."

"It is being protected by many naga, many of them generals of the mistress." Erunak said.

"We've fought her already and have plans of doing so again. The generals you speak of seem to lack common battle strategy." Herrior said.

"I digested one." Mohania said.

"Feeling left out of the conversation?" Herrior said turning to him.

"I…should probably think before I say things sometimes." Mohania said and then let out a fiery belch. "Sorry, heartburn."

Herrior turned back to Erunak and said, "Let's make this our base camp. You provide us with knowledge, I'll coordinate the attacks. We already have begun sending parties to mine the seafloor for food, plants, ore, weaponry and anything else that may be of value."

"What about your hostages that you have saved? What is to become of them?" Erunak said.

"They are free to do whatever. Part of our mission was to save anybody that needed to be saved, regardless of whether they fought against us before in battle. Most of them will probably want to go back to their way of life. If they are aligned with the alliance, we will alter their memories and send them back to live among our enemies with no recollections of these events." Herrior said.

"You will not take your enemies and use them as slaves?" Erunak asked.

"We don't have slaves from where I come from. If they do not attack us first, we have no reason to kill them. If they wish, they can all stay here and help you in your group." Herrior said.

"You would do that for us?" Erunak asked surprised.

"No, it is their decision. Let us go speak with them and tell them of their options. I will speak kindly of you and your group and if they decide to join with you then that is their decision and I expect them to be treated the same as you treat the rest of your group." Herrior said and then started walking away.

"Many of you hate us, and we hate you, and you may hate each other. Let's set that aside for a moment and then we can get back to hating each other. First things first, you are all free to do whatever you wish. If you want to go back home, wherever that may be, we will do that. We've had several people express much gratitude towards us and want to fight alongside us. You may not fight with my group; however there still are battles to be fought. Erunak has informed me that many of your people have been enslaved in two different…uh…creatures by the naga. I have no reason to think he is lying and we are going to launch a series of attacks to rescue them as well as destroying the vortex the naga are coming through and preferably killing as many of them as we can along the way. That is as much information as you need to know. Now make your decisions, stay here, join the fight, or go home. Keep in mind though if we send you home you will probably be questioned as to how you escaped and why you made it back while the others haven't." Herrior said and then sat down on the ground.

"Just like that? You aren't going to interrogate the rest of them?" Peter asked.

"By the looks of their faces in comparison with yours I doubt we would get any more information than we did with you." Herrior said.

"My wife was taken from me. I saw the naga take her while they imprisoned me. What do I have to do to get her back?" A man asked. Many others began reporting that they were missing their loved ones as well and asked the same question.

"Love is a strong bond Erunak; that is stronger than any hatred and when given hope of reuniting with the ones they love, you will raise a loyal army quicker than forcing anybody to fight." Herrior said picking up a handful of sand and letting it slowly sift between his fingers.

"You are a wise tauren." Erunak said.

"And your group has just increased in numbers. Now, I need information, weaponry and armor. Also you will need to feed them and clothe them; arming them would probably help also. I would suggest assigning each of them tasks. My group will bunk here for tonight and we will leave a wake of destruction tomorrow." Herrior said. "If you need advice, feel free to ask any one of us before you. I only ask that you let them choose their own beliefs, just like I let them choose their futures just now." Herrior grabbed another handful of sand and stood up. "Intertwined? I don't believe so. All of us were put here for a reason, just the same as this sand in my hand was put here. I believe you fight for a good cause, and I believe our groups will meet each other in the future. I also believe you are a good leader; go prove it to me now."

"Open the doors. Give Herrior and his group anything they desire." Erunak then asked several of his men to go gather resources, but Herrior couldn't understand their names. One of his trolls walked up to the side of the wall and pushed his hand into it. A wall that appeared to be made purely out of sand popped out and he slid it open. Herrior walked into it.

"I can give you the plans to make anything you see here. It not be much, but maybe it be helping a little?" The troll said. Herrior thanked him and the troll dove into the water with the rest of his group.

"Impressive." Skyka said slowly clapping her hands.

"I would have done the same." Mohania said.

"I was talking about Herrior's ass." Skyka said turning to him with a smile.

"I wasn't." Mohania quickly said.

"This was an example of how to greet another group. The outcome eventually came into our favor, but I was having my doubts there for awhile. Sometimes you will have to lead the negotiations, sometimes you will just have to let them lead themselves." Herrior said.

"I could not have done that. I cannot fulfill this role I have taken on." Veliline said.

"Yes you can." Herrior said slowly looking at the armor. "Just listen to your heart and you'll be fine. Being a new ambassador you will not be put in a position like this right away. Branzer is new as well and has resolved many issues. Just be patient, calm, and listen – not necessarily to what they are saying, but what is being said from within you." Herrior pulled out several pieces of armor, "Cloth items…I still don't understand why you favor these?"

Skyka quickly yanked them away. "Because you're a big dumb cow. Let me take a look." Skyka looked over them quickly and started naming off who would get them, she wedged herself into the room and began looking over the items.

"You know this might be easier if you stood over there." Skyka said.

"I can take a hint." Herrior said jokingly.

"Not very well…" Skyka replied back with a smile. Skyka then started tossing items to the group in what seemed to be a random order.

"Whoa…hey just a second…" Bernett said trying to catch the things being thrown at him. Rings, chest plates of every different kind, and cloaks came flying out.

"Hun could you slow it…ouch." Herrior said as he was hit in the head by a pair of leg armor. The same pair was tossed to Veliline who quickly caught it and replaced it with her old kind immediately.

"This is better…much better…" Veliline said seeming satisfied. Skyka stopped tossing the items out and said, "There is only one piece in here designed for healers Icis…but these other pieces do improve our stats." Skyka then paused for a second and turned to Herrior. "There is gear in here designed for paladins only."

Herrior's face became very serious and asked if she was sure.

"It's plate with intelligence and spirit bonuses, what do you think?" Skyka asked.

"I believe we have some unanswered questions." Herrior said. "Everybody get your new gear on, save your old gear as we will be sending it back. I will speak of this in a private matter with Erunak. Skyka you get the designs used for making these items when his group returns. In the mean time, everybody smile and appear to be impressed and grateful."

"I am. I want to test these things out." Mohania said.

"I'm with Mohania on this one." Crystal said anxiously.

"Do new groups like this always have such advanced gear?" Dan asked.

"No, sometimes we've been given bugs and fish. I honestly thought it would be the same with these guys." Skyka answered back. "If they are capable of making armor like this, why are there so few of them?"

Herrior looked at Erunak, and then back at Skyka. "Yeah I think you are right…" Herrior didn't even have to answer it with the way Erunak was organizing the group. Herrior guessed that in probably less than a month half of them would be killed.

"Lindel, can you go check on our goblin? There's no point in leaving him in the boat if he is not making any progress. He would probably enjoy the company here rather than by himself." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and began to channel her power into opening a portal. She left it open and casually walked through. Everybody that was rescued stared at the portal in awe.

"Nothing to see here, just a reflection off from the water mixing with the northern lights and combined with some swamp gas…" Dan said.

"Get that from a movie did you?" Crystal asked.

"Do you think anybody is buying it?" Dan asked.

"No, and you might want to go back and rewatch it, at least get the line right." Crystal said.

Prat came jumping through the portal with several pieces of wood that he used to carve on. He started quickly explaining to Herrior what he had come up with, but said again that he would need more parts. Herrior listened, and understood only about half of what he was saying, and when he was done Herrior knelt down beside him and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh? Ok, well let me gather up some of my items that are usable and bring them here." Prat said and jumped back through the portal.

"Is that an ambassador thing?" Dan asked.

"Nope." Herrior said looking at him. Herrior continued to look at Dan hoping that he would figure out what he just said.

"Ok charades, but only with no motion. Frustrated goblin comes here, you whisper something quickly in his hear and all of a sudden he is happy and runs back. That must mean that you know something useful to him to complete his assignment." Dan said.

"Wow…you know I lost an earring a couple of years ago. Think you could find out where that went Mr. Sherlock?" Crystal said.

"It was wedged in-between your cruiser's seat while you were one month into the job. It fell out because the back wasn't snug. The reason you didn't find it was because later that day the car went to be cleaned." Lindel said.

Crystal looked at her weird. "Seriously?" Lindel nodded.

"Oh, I got one. Where is my teddy bear that I lost when I was six?" Bernett said jokingly.

"It was run over by your dad's car. Nobody noticed it until, something you call oil, dripped all over it so your mom threw it out. From that point on they lied to you and said you were too old to have a teddy bear." Lindel said back.

Bernett stared at her in amazement.

"If you didn't want to know, don't ask." Lindel said with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind…" Bernett said slowly. He turned to Branzer and raised his eyebrows and walked away.

In the meantime Herrior continued to stare at Dan with a grin. "You're thinking that there is something that we will find in these creatures that will help with the explosion."

"More specifically." Herrior replied back.

"Ok let's assume for a moment that these things aren't real and they are merely just some sort of cave, just like this one. The information that we have collected is that they have been moving slaves in there to either try to find something, or to continue to collect something. But what?" Dan asked.

"I have no idea. But our enemies usually only go after something that will increase their power. They usually don't force people into slavery just to have their pockets filled with gold. The goblins were the exception, only they did it by killing randomly and not coordinating their attacks like the naga are doing; my guess is that they probably stoled and killed each other for profit. Also if they were dumb enough to not see cannonballs floating in mid-air and being perfectly lined up to explode their entire colony into pieces, then that just proves how stupid they really were. Nice job by the way Trackolania." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded at Herrior.

"Did you know about Trackolania's plan?" Dan asked.

"No. But usually when one of you wants to negotiate it's because you know something that I don't. I think he did a good job at negotiating." Herrior said.

"It killed all of them. How is that negotiating?" Dan asked.

"After they came out and made their threats to us that was when their days were numbered. They had no intention of negotiating with us, they wanted us to plead for our lives and their king wanted to prove his power. I would have talked with them, and Trackolania's trap would not have gone off if they offered a peaceful resolution, but upon our first encounter with them it was obvious what their intentions were. Plus if you noticed they had built their colony close, but not too close to where the naga's squid thing was destroying the boats. After the naga were done, they came in and took whatever was left over." Herrior said.

"Oh." Dan said feeling like he was back in school.

Herrior sensed it and said, "Take note of all of your surroundings. Your weapons are only a small part in the battle. Hunters, if you can throw one of your trap things that explode by a cliff and have it topple down on a dozen naga, do it. Mohania fights with powerful spells, mixed in with causing fear as well as eating parts of them to further anger them."

"I do?" Mohania asked with a cocky smile.

"Julie sets her dog loose on one target, and then moves to a different target. Jacklyn drives her massive weapons into one target, and then moves on to the next – this intimidates them. Causing huge area of effect damage on a large group of enemies is not always the answer. Fear them; silence their spells, do whatever to help control the battle. You know your classes better than I do. I'm sure you have more than two or three abilities. Practice them, even if it's in combat. If something goes wrong, probably all of us will let you know." Herrior said.

"I'll take it from here. For example let's say the big talkative cow won't shut up and is hacking away at one person. Calling down a rain of fire isn't the best spell for the job. What is amusing though is casting fear on the person and making Herrior run after them." Mohania said.

"You get your 'amusing' and 'annoying' words mixed up sometimes." Herrior said.

"Depends on your point of view." Mohania said back with a smile. "But always keep in the back of your mind your 'Oh shit!' spells in case there is a sneaky rogue or enemies attack from all sides and they can't keep all of their attention. Or if you are fighting someone by yourself."

"Very well said Mohania." Herrior said.

"Yeah, you should see your frustration when the person you are attacking suddenly runs away in fear and then comes back at you, and then runs away again in fear. It's hilarious!" Mohania said laughing.

"Let's pretend we only heard part of what Mohania just said." Herrior said.

"Like what I do with you." Mohania said.

"I thought that you got confused sometimes, you know water in your ear or something…" Skyka said.

"It's been known to happen…" Mohania replied back.

"You don't have any ears." Dan said.

"Minor details, look the point here is Herrior talks too much and let's focus on that while I quietly slip out of the conversation." Mohania said.

"You guys are too funny; all of you." Julie said. "Are all the groups like this?"

"Every group is different, each composed of different personalities, thoughts, and ideas. Sometimes the King assigns a person to a different group based on his observations. I think that is what happened to you hun." Skyka said. "If a group is composed of personalities that clash, it wouldn't be very effective. There is a method to it; however I'm not sure how we got stuck with the walking skeleton…"

"Undead is the proper term." Mohania said correcting her.

"Oh, you heard that?" Skyka said.

Mohania quickly looked around and said "No…".

"How did I get put into this group then?" Icis asked.

"We needed at least one other person to look as beautiful as I do. Carrying that responsibility alone is hard on oneself." Lindel said. The woman began to quickly argue among each other.

Bernett walked over to Branzer and said, "I can't believe I was lied to all these years about my teddy bear." Branzer let out a chuckle and turned to look at Bernett. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds and seemed to pass thoughts back and forth without them even saying anything. Branzer finally nodded and let out a sigh.

"I think it's worth it." Branzer said.

"Of course it is." Bernett said. Suddenly a small rock flew between their heads and smacked Lindel in the back of her head.

"Ouch…" Lindel said in a playful voice turning around. Strings pointed to Branzer and slowly walked away.

"Did you throw a rock at me hun?" Lindel asked.

"No." Branzer replied quickly.

"Strings says you did." They all turned to Strings.

"Oh, sorry I was just stretching my finger was all. Didn't intend for it to point at him. Sometimes you know the old fingers just need to be stretched if you don't you could get cramps in them." Strings said walking away opening and closing his hands.

"How's your throwing hand these days Strings?" Branzer asked.

"Pretty accurate I'd say." Strings said as he began to chuckle.

"Do you want to have alone time?" Lindel asked. Branzer shrugged his shoulders and asked if they had time, it was almost nightfall and they were going to have a big day tomorrow.

"Come on hun." Lindel said taking his hand gently and led him into the water. They ascended so quickly that Branzer didn't have time to take a breath and quickly struggled back to the surface.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I forgot. Crystal a little help please?" Lindel asked. Crystal turned around and instantly cast the spell on Branzer. Branzer sighed and let the water fill his mouth and nose as he gently sank into the water.

"Umm…do you want to go for a swim?" Lindel asked.

"Sure." Branzer said. Lindel held his hand and pulled him forward. Branzer made no effort at all since all he had to do was just hang on.

"Something on your mind?" Lindel asked.

"Lots actually." Branzer said. Lindel stopped pulling him and grabbed his other hand.

"Anything about me?" Lindel asked.

Branzer smiled and said, "Always about you." Lindel blushed.

"We're not spending enough time together are we?" Lindel asked.

"I…don't know…" Branzer said sounding relieved that to at least have the conversation started.

"Ok. What do you want to talk about? Am I doing something wrong?" Lindel asked.

"No." Branzer said and looked into her eyes. She was beautiful, but had a worried look in her eyes. "I think I might be doing something wrong."

"Oh?" Lindel asked.

"What do you need from me Lindel?" Branzer asked.

"Your love, a loving companion, somebody I can talk to about anything. Somebody to love me back. I…guess I don't understand." Lindel said.

"You have all of that; I love you – a lot. During combat though I have to push those feelings aside and fight regardless of what you are doing." Branzer said.

"We all do. We may shed a tear or two listening to the cries of our loved ones dying but we fight on." Lindel said.

"Sorry, that isn't where I wanted this conversation to go. I feel like I am not fulfilling your needs. That is why I asked earlier, what do you need from me?" Branzer asked.

Lindel shook her head slightly and said she didn't understand. She then asked what he needed from her.

"Nothing." Branzer said looking at her with a smile.

"You have the advantage over me hun, I've never dated and I died when I was…well…this age. I don't really know how these things work. I…obviously let some things slip and that might have upset you." Lindel said. "I'm sorry about that."

"No it's not that. I was glad to hear that." Branzer said.

"You looked surprised; it terrified me and I ran. I feel like a little child. I've been trying to do what I think is right, and I think I started our relationship ok…maybe I didn't?" Lindel said. Branzer leaned over to kiss her, Lindel was in a ghost form and his head passed right through hers. Branzer recoiled back in shock and Lindel quickly looked up realizing what just happened.

"Oh, sorry. I can move faster in the water when I'm like this. I'm sorry…here let me change." Lindel said as she solidified her body and started to tread water like Branzer was.

Lindel then looked up at Branzer. "I kind of ruined the moment huh?"

Branzer just smiled at her. "You're beautiful. How many people have ever told you that?"

"Err…a lot but not like how you are saying. Usually I try on a dress and Skyka says I look beautiful in it. That's different though huh?" Lindel said.

Branzer smiled at her and then Lindel became frustrated with herself and said, "Ugh, I did it again didn't I?"

"No, Lindel why do you think the Queen gave you the order to do, you know, to me?" Branzer asked.

"Because I'm scared shitless of becoming close to somebody and I would have to jump in feet first if I wanted to have a serious relationship." Lindel replied back. "I love seeing people in love, but scared of being in love. I love everybody, but in general, not ever specifically one person. She commanded me to do that because I have never brought somebody physical joy and…I don't know what I am doing…" Lindel said and began to cry.

Branzer quickly embraced her. Lindel's body was still solid and was glad. Lindel slowly hugged him back. "I'm scared." Lindel whispered to him. "For crying out loud, I only had to be helped by Samatha and Julie and then finally you – but it was not the desired effect you were looking for, was it? Is this what this is all about? You love me, but don't think we could be in a relationship?"

"No…" Branzer said and pulled back. "No, not at all. I'm glad we are in a relationship. You have done everything fine, but you just need to relax…and I need to relax. Lindel…I'm scared of you sometimes."

"Scared of me? Why? Because of all of the dumbass things I just said. I'm scared of doing or saying something stupid or not pleasing to you. I'm scared I'm not giving you enough space, or too much space. Heck, I'm scared that some of the food I eat might poison and kill you. I am so sorry about the snack I got for you." Lindel blurted out quickly.

Branzer smiled and ran his hand through her hair. He did this several times until Lindel finally asked why he was doing that.

"Because it's beautiful, and this is my way of showing you affection." Branzer said.

"Oh." Lindel said. Her mind started churning pretty hard and Branzer saw it and lifted her chin up to make eye contact again.

"Relax. I won't do that again if you don't want me to." Branzer said.

"No its fine. Do you want me to do that to you?" Lindel asked.

"Eh – not particularly." Branzer said.

"What can I do…to uh…" Lindel began to say.

"Not that. Walk over to me and hug me, kiss me, spend time with me if you can. You jumped in with both feet, you know what intimacy is about so you got over that fear, but let's work on learning to show affection to each other." Branzer said.

"But you liked that." Lindel said.

"All men do…" Branzer said with a laugh escaping. "But do you know what I want from you?" Branzer paused for a second and then said, "You."

Lindel looked at him and smiled. "You want me relaxed, and I want you relaxed."

Branzer nodded and said, "Let's work on that ok?"

"Ok, we better head back." Lindel said. She leaned over and kissed him and then started to swim back.

"Lindel? Can you do your trick that you did before?" Branzer asked.

"What trick, or the water thing?" Lindel's body faded slightly and floated over to him. She materialized her hand to grab his. Branzer went to smile but was pulled forward at extreme speeds. The water was hitting him so hard that he had to close his eyes.

Lindel burst out of the water, did two forward flips and gently landed. At the same time Branzer crashed into the shore with a powerful thud followed by him rolling twice and gasping for air.

Mohania began to clap and Lindel gave a slight bow. "I give you an eight because; you didn't keep your legs together upon landing. However Branzer's entry was more of an explosion and much more amusing. I give him eight and a half."

"Huh?" Lindel said and turned around and saw Branzer. "Oh shoot, Branzer are you ok?"

"Yup…no worries…" Branzer said in-between gasps for air.

"Ugh, I'm sorry…I did it again." Lindel said.

"I'm ok." Branzer said forcing his lungs to expand and contract. He then spit the sand out of his mouth, nearly gagging on it. Lindel sighed and walked away. She immediately formed a mental link with Bernett.

"I'm going to end up killing him someday…" Lindel said crying in his head. "That's why he's scared of me, isn't it?"

"He loves you, he's just more fragile." Bernett said looking at her.

"You know him best. What should I do? What does he like? What can I give him?" Lindel started blasting him with questions.

Bernett couldn't keep up with the questions but suddenly start yelling, "Lindel! Lindel!" in his mind.

Lindel looked up and saw Herrior looking at her. She quickly broke the connection and smiled.

"If you aren't too busy, could you please close the portal?" Herrior asked.

"Oh! Yeah no problem." Lindel said and walked over to it and started closing it.

"I need you at one hundred percent tomorrow, is that understood?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry Herrior." Lindel said turning to look at him.

"Link up our ambassadors; we need to have a talk." Herrior said. Lindel established the connection and Herrior began to talk in everybody's mind.

"That's ok, I can lip read…oh wait you are talking. So I'll just guess as to what you are thinking." Mohania said.

"Sorry; it's been a long day for everybody?" Herrior said. He walked over to Mohania and whispered several things in his ear socket. When he was done, Mohania's eyes lit up with fire. Herrior nodded, as if it was his reply.

"Apparently this Earthen Ring has helped out alliance in the past. So they may have the same armor upgrades that we have. I don't trust him. Tomorrow we attack and carry out the plan. We finish our mission, but we are taking Prat with us. He doesn't know it yet. I'm going to tell him that it is to look for parts, which is true, but I don't want him here with the rest of them. Break the link." Herrior said. Lindel disconnected all of their minds as Herrior sensed several orcs walking up to him.

"Can we fight with you tomorrow?" One of them said.

"You have no weapons, and are not used to our tactics. We'll be able to get in and out with maximum damage with minimal causalities. I don't order people to fight unless I know them, and they know our group. I would suggest doing what your leader tells you to do." Herrior said.

The orc paused for a second looking at Herrior. "Our previous leader beat and killed our kind. This new one wants us to sniff incense with our former slave masters."

Herrior looked at him and nodded. "Lindel link me up with him." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel performed the connection and the orc looked at her with a confused look.

"No, keep looking at me. Pretend we are mad at each other and unsure what to say." Herrior said quickly in his head. The orc looked back at him.

"The offer still stands. Once our assignment here is done, we will leave. If you and the rest of the orcs want to come back with us that is fine. I will make the same offer again when the battle is over. For the time being we need this area secured. As you saw our engineer is planning on building a bomb. Most of the materials are here, it must not be jeopardized. We just had a quick discussion about our feelings of your new master as well and we have the same feelings. Play along for now, raise no suspicions and accept their hospitality. Also don't do anything to get yourselves killed. Cut the connection Lindel." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel quickly cut the mental link and Herrior said, "I think that's about enough out of you tonight. I would suggest maybe going for a swim tomorrow; cool off that temper of yours." Herrior turned around and walked away.

"What's he doing Lindel?" Herrior asked in his mind walking away and sitting next to Skyka.

"He understood everything. Can't blame them though, I would want to do the same thing. He wants to talk with the rest of the orcs, but knows better."

"Good. Get some sleep hun." Herrior said breaking the mental link.

The next morning came early. Herrior was the first one awake and looking at a crude diagram of the inside of this "Nespirah". Herrior asked a couple of questions, but only received vague answers. Either Erunak knew the answer or attempted to pretend like he knew the answer. So far he established that the entrance was not guarded, and there were only minimal patrols from inside. He said there was a certain room where you could communicate with her. Herrior nodded and said he would take a look.

"Let's go!" Herrior said. Herrior's party immediately woke up, startled out of their sleep.

"I want three tanks going into it, all pets out. Let's go in silent until we know what we're up against. Mohania if you don't mind." Herrior said pulling out his weapons and jumping in the water. Mohania casted his spell before Herrior hit the water. Crystal and Mohania quickly began casting their water breathing spells and followed them in. Prat stayed close to Herrior.

They swam a distance and past some thick seaweed until they came to the opening Erunak had described. Herrior swam into the opening and began running into it; the rest of the group did the same.

"Lindel do you sense this dumb thing talking?" Herrior asked.

"No, it's a cave. There are many slaves in here though. A lot less naga then I originally thought." Lindel said.

"I was thinking the same thing. Let's get some more information." Herrior said as he saw a passing naga. Herrior jumped at her, catching her off guard and knocking her to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Herrior demanded.

"You, earth-walker, I will never say…" The naga said with a smile. Herrior quickly cut off her left arm and she let out an enormous scream.

"Same question as before, I want a different reply though." Herrior asked.

"You will never walk out of here alive!" The naga yelled back. Herrior then went to slice off her other arm when she yelled out, "Farming pearls!" Herrior then sunk his sword in her chest and then decapitated her.

"Why would they want pearls?" Herrior said. A group of naga heard the commotion and began to slither towards them. Herrior picked up the lifeless female naga and threw the body at them. Herrior then charged forward and engaged them in battle. Within seconds of attacking the naga dropped to the ground, lifeless.

"I was expecting more resistance." Herrior said. "Leave the slaves alone for now, spread out and kill anything that even resembles a naga; however you want." Quinely morphed from her bear form into her cat form and quickly sprinted away. She jumped at one sinking her teeth into his neck and twisted several times before landing. With her target dead, she quickly saw several other approaching and let out a growl as she started circling her position. A rain of bullets flew through the air, dropping them before Quinely could attack them.

"I could have taken them…" Quinely said turning her head to the hunters as they all spread out.

"Prat, stay close and don't get yourself killed." Herrior said running to engage another naga.

It was a slaughter. Even the healers were engaging in combat. Occasionally the voice of a naga screaming in terror could be heard.

After several minutes Herrior yelled out, "Who is in charge? Face me!" No reply came back. "Face me you coward! We've just killed all of your naga; we will hunt down every last one of you and kill you!" Again no reply.

"Ok, you little plant thing! Talk to me or we will burn you down!" Herrior yelled out.

"You're scaring the slaves hun." Skyka said as her, Icis, and Lindel started levitating them out of the pits. They seemed very timid.

"Why didn't you form a resistance against them?" Herrior said with a growl in his voice.

"We're weak…" was all one could say.

"They are barely alive. My guess is once their will was beaten out of them they accepted the slavery. Then when they died they were replaced by the ones being held in the bubbles." Skyka said.

"Get all of them out and put them in a circle. Prat start looking around, Trackolania go with him. Jacklyn, Mohania and Julie stay here and setup a perimeter. The rest of you come with me." Herrior said and ran away.

They ran the entire circle and found no other naga. Herrior then heard a noise and ran towards it. He drove his sword into a wall and it sailed right through. He quickly cut out an entrance and ran up the ramp.

The noises became louder the closer Herrior ran up the ramp. He came to a small opening and saw a large male naga channeling some type of spell with three other naga.

"Did you not hear my challenge?" Herrior roared out. The four of them jumped in surprise. Herrior let out a battle cry and ran forward towards the male.

"You will pay for this interruption!" The male casted some type of spell at Herrior, but Herrior quickly deflected the spell, sending it back to him. This confused the naga greatly, as Herrior engaged him. The rest of the group began to engage him as well.

"Foolish mortal." The naga said growing in size and producing a shield around himself, deflecting all attacks. "Interfere with my plans will you!" The naga swung with his trident at Herrior landing a powerful blow, knocking him to the ground. Herrior quickly swore and jumped back to his feet.

"No! Nooo…" The male said as he saw his female naga being killed. Herrior threw his weapon at the male redirecting his attention. His magical shield had dropped and began to shrink in size. Herrior began to violently swing and slam his shield against the male, while the others finished off the female nagas.

Herrior quickly disarmed him and sank his blade deep into his armor. This sent the naga flailing backwards. Herrior charged at him again with lightning speed and slammed his shield into him as hard as he could. A large crack came from the blow.

"Who else is here? I thirst for blood!" Herrior said looking down at him. The male started to laugh. "You will not make it out alive."

"Why not? The naga you had patrolling around, they are all dead. Who is going to stop us?" Herrior said and then took another swipe at the naga.

"Impossible…I will be avenged." The naga said hissing at him.

"By your generals? Your mistress? We killed them as well. Who will avenge you?" Herrior said picking him up and throwing him against the wall.

"Impossible! You lie!" The naga said.

"Why are you collecting the pearls in here? They are of no value to you?" Herrior said.

"Foolish mortal…you have no idea what lies ahead of you." The naga quickly turned to a group of pearls and began to cast a spell, which was quickly interrupted by Herrior's fist bashing into the naga's mouth. Herrior then began to chop at the naga until only pieces remained.

"Prat!" Herrior said with blood dripping from his body. He saw the goblin was scared. Herrior took a deep breath to calm himself. He put his weapons away and then said, "Go investigate those pearls. Prat quickly ran over to them. They were roughly three feet in diameter, and weighed nearly fifty pounds apiece. Prat pushed one off from the pile and it began to vibrate.

"Umm…pearls don't vibrate…" Prat said running over to Herrior. The vibration continued to resonate as Herrior's group ran out of the room. The explosion that followed was enormous. Herrior reached down and grabbed Prat, then put his shield in front of Prat as the blast blew them down the hole and back out into the main hall.

Herrior quickly rose to his feet and let Prat go. "Is everybody ok?" Many of his party had been burned badly, but they were able to walk.

"No practice explosions." Herrior said looking at Prat.

"I didn't know what it was going to do." Prat said quickly back. Herrior then began to laugh. "Go investigate one, be gentle. Let's go get healed."

Herrior's group meet up with the rest of his party as Icis and Skyka started their healing spells.

"Find something explosive did we?" Skyka asked.

"It's being investigated right now. Lindel can you or Quinely sense anything else living in this cave thing?" Herrior asked.

"No, and I still don't sense any voices coming from this cave." Lindel said.

"I am completely shocked by that." Herrior said. "Any useful information out of the slaves?"

"Apparently this other cave is where the army is amassing. Apparently the naga didn't anticipate this cave to be attacked." Skyka said.

"Good, maybe we'll have a decent fight then. Lindel open a portal back to where the earthy people are." Herrior said. Lindel channeled for a couple of seconds and then Herrior walked through.

"If you want to help, follow me." Herrior said and then walked back through the portal.

Everybody that was in the cave walked through the portal and looked around in amazement.

"We killed everything here. I believe some of you may know some of the slaves?" Herrior said. Some of the humans and orcs looked around cautiously, followed by several screams of delight and hugging and kissing.

Herrior turned to Erunak and said, "We need your help. Secure this area and help Prat. Make sure he gets everything he asks for. Guard this portal. Assign several body guards to Prat; I want him to go in-between this place and your home securely. The first battle is won, but there is a bigger one ahead of us."

"Absolutely. I never dreamed of actually being in here. This is truly a blessing. You have freed her of corruption." Erunak said.

"Yeah. Ok let's head out." Herrior said and began to run to the exit.

Once Herrior's party hit the water they began to swim west. "This next one is quite a ways away, so feel free to talk until we get there."

"We freed her of the corruption eh?" Skyka said with laughter in her voice.

"Yeah…well more power to him. Maybe he'll realize that talking to rocks won't save him in the afterlife."

"What are your thoughts on the pearls?" Dan asked.

"Prat will know more when he is done with his investigation. It's just as I thought though. They are planning something big…well something is anyways. Good job on bringing down the naga's shield by the way." Herrior said.

"Well it made sense. If we weren't damaging him, he must have been getting his shield from somewhere else. So we just began to randomly blast anything we saw." Branzer said.

"Good logic, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes we have to damage the shield so much that it weakens and allows us to attack him. Sometimes there is a switch, or computer like what Dan found. But good job just the same."

"Why am I not feeling cold? Or sinking for that matter?" Bernett asked.

"Yeah actually, I didn't know how to ask that question. We have some heavy gear on, yet we glide through the water faster and more agile than I have ever been able to swim. And the temperature of the water can't be the same as that of the air." Julie asked.

"Julie." Spark barked.

"Your armor adjusts itself to the situation. I wasn't sure about the new armor we were given but it seems to have the same affect. It'll protect you against a lot of the elements, but it will not let you walk on lava or keep you from freezing if fall through some ice. As for Spark's question I have no clue." Herrior said. Spark started to whimper as if his feelings were hurt.

"Quinely can you talk to our pets? Tell me what Spark is thinking?" Julie asked.

"I can sense they are there, but no I have no control over them or could tell you what they are thinking. They are dominated by you, once a hunter dominates a pet, only they have control over it." Quinely said.

The party continued the long swim until eventually Lindel said, "There is an enormous power radiating off from something up ahead of us."

"I feel it too." Herrior said.

Several minutes later they closed in on a huge structure. Again there were no guards and Herrior eventually found the entrance. He swam up out of the water and onto the sand. He cautiously walked into a large open area and saw thousands of large sea creatures he had never seen before, along with cultists of every race. There were also several robotic creatures standing guard on top of a set of stairs. Two naga looking creatures stood next to it. They were all chanting something.

"How many?" Herrior asked.

"Over three thousand. I can't penetrate inside the structure though. Their power is beyond ours, and as you can see they have defenses setup." Lindel said.

"Options?" Herrior asked. Nobody said anything.

"Any dumb ideas? I'm willing to settle for that at this point."

"I don't think they know we are here. Can we investigate the perimeter; possibly get closer to see what we are up against?" Dan asked.

"Trackolania, go do your thing." Herrior said as he quickly disappeared.

"What's the chances of you possessing one of them Lindel?"

"I doubt it. Even if I did, they would slaughter it faster than I could get an attack off."

"Strings?" Herrior asked.

"Aye, mechanical creatures I can't do much with."

"Three thousand…" Herrior said to himself and then sighed. "We'll have to call in for backup. Even then, I can see great losses."

"Hold on a second, look at what Trackolania just did." Dan said pointing at one of the cultist. He went from a sitting position to a having his head hanging straight down. Trackolania did the same thing to him that he did to the old man.

"What's that called?" Dan asked.

"Sap I think…rogues don't talk much." Herrior said.

They then saw Trackolania appear from behind one and land a deadly blow to one. The cultist dropped dead as Trackolania held a smoke bomb ready to drop it. He looked around and nobody seemed to notice. He then waved his hand in front of another cultist. It didn't seem to affect them. He looked back at Herrior and shrugged his shoulders. Herrior waved him back. Trackolania disappeared and seconds later reappeared in front of Herrior.

"Well that's odd." Herrior said. "Probably if we started taking out more than one they would notice though. Some appear stronger than others. The witch-looking things seem quite powerful, and the big purple human things with tentacles hanging down that seem to be hands seem powerful as well. How many of them do you think are spell casters?"

"All of them." Lindel said.

"I have a dumb idea." Dan said.

"Go ahead." Herrior said.

"Ok." Dan said and began running into towards the crowd.

"Yank him back!" Herrior yelled.

"He's out of range…" Skyka said in desperation.

"Get back here Dan!" Herrior yelled. Dan ignored him and ran through the crowd and up the stairs. The mechanical creature's eyes turned on and began to shoot electrical bolts of energy at Dan, along with the witch's shadow spells.

"Shit! He's going to get us all killed!" Herrior said and began to charge forward. Before he got to the defensive perimeter he suddenly stopped in his tracks as an enormous blast of energy came out of the robot, blinding everybody in the room.

"Dan!" Crystal yelled in desperation. The light slowly vanished and they saw that the mechanical creature was annihilating the cultists. They were trying to cast their spells when the creature would pull all of them towards him and then let out a blast that destroyed all of them. The creature began to launch a series of blasts in every direction he pointed. The other mechanical creatures came to engage them. Once again the creature sucked everything towards him and then let out a powerful blast. The creature then began to dance in a way that only Crystal knew about.

"I'm going to kill him…" Crystal said.

"Is that Dan controlling him?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…nobody else dances that bad…" Crystal said.

Dan then reengaged the armies coming at him, slaughtering them by the hundreds. The big purple creatures he seemed to suck the life out of them, energizing his robot.

Moments later, nothing but corpses remained. Dan then turned around to walk up the stairs and into the room behind him.

"Dan!" Crystal yelled. The robot turned around and held his hand up. He then let it down and entered the room.

"I think he wants us to wait." Herrior said.

"Herrior, permission to kick my husband's ass." Crystal said.

"I'm not sure what he is doing, but I think he knows." Herrior said.

"Can we go up and assist him if he needs it?" Crystal said in desperation.

"No. In fact everybody fall back and get ready to exit. If he fails then we will engage, however if he succeeds he might destroy everything here." Herrior said putting his weapons behind him and running backwards. His group did as he was told.

"So…you decide to defy me? You will pay for this!" A sinister female voice cackled out. There was a couple of seconds of nothing followed by the female voice saying, "One? One what? Hand…five fingers…middle finger…" Followed by more silence.

"Herrior…" Crystal said sounding annoyed and still scared.

Suddenly a large explosion followed afterwards, and the battle began. Large magical blasts were exchanged back and forth. Eventually the chamber that they were in began to crack and stones began to fall from the walls.

"It's out of our hands now. They could very well destroy this place and I refuse to let my party die because of this. Everybody out!" Herrior commanded. They all did as ordered, except for Herrior who stayed behind.

"Herrior?" Skyka asked.

"I can withstand a greater blast then the rest of you. You have your orders." Herrior said as he continued to watch. Skyka then left with the rest of them. The rest of them met up several meters away from the structure and just watched.

Crystal turned to Lindel and said, "Well?" in an upset voice.

"I can try to communicate with him, but it may kill him."

Crystal let out a loud grumble followed by a scream. It was drowned out by the explosions occurring in the cave.

Herrior watched as the side of the wall was blown out as the robot Dan was controlling flew out of it. Dan got back up and ran towards the woman. Several more explosions happened as Herrior continued to watch the battle.

"I'm not leaving until I know for sure…one way or the other…" Herrior whispered to himself. Suddenly the female voice let out a loud screech followed by immediate silence and another magical explosion. The room lit up with a flashing yellow light for several seconds and another explosion happened. The female screeched again. She then cursed at him and began to channel a spell. The female quickly fell silent again followed by a large "crack" sound.

"Why?" The female said quivering. "We are so close…I'll give you anything you want…"

A long pause came after that. Herrior estimated it to be several minutes.

"Don't you dare Dan…don't you dare make me kill you…" Herrior said to himself.

Several seconds later large metallic pieces began to clang together, to Herrior it sounded like Dan's robot fell apart.

"That's what I thought." The female voice said. "Now…bow before me."

Herrior felt something weird happen around him, he didn't know what it was. He couldn't tell if it was evil or good, but the air filled with static electricity – making some of his hair stand up.

"Don't make me kill you…" Herrior said again to himself. Seconds later the feeling was gone and complete silence filled the air. Herrior adjusted his grip on his sword.

"Dan?" Herrior called out. No reply back. Herrior continued to wait. The sounds of several things falling could be heard. Suddenly a large crash occurred and he heard Dan say "Oops."

"Dan!" Herrior yelled out again. Dan walked out and shook his head and pointed to his ears.

Herrior started to approach him cautiously as Dan started fumbling with a couple different items. Herrior saw him find a golden orb and placed it next to another one. He then walked back in the room. Herrior started jogging towards him. When he arrived at the doorway he saw the woman dead and several other pieces of something. Dan didn't know he had arrived. He found another golden orb and placed it in the pile. He looked up and saw Herrior and jumped in surprise. Dan again pointed to his ears and shook his head.

Herrior nodded and motioned for him to look at him. Dan nodded. Herrior pointed to the woman and then pointed to Dan. Dan looked at him funny and shrugged his shoulders. Herrior then walked over and pretended to pick up the woman and placed the pretend image over Dan. Dan watched curiously trying to figure out what he meant. Dan took over his helmet and looked at it. Herrior grabbed it and threw it away. Dan looked at him in shock. Herrior then pointed to the woman and then pointed at Dan's eyes. This time it clicked, Dan smiled and shook his head. Dan then waved Herrior over and showed him the orbs. He pointed to it and then pointed to the mechanical robot, which was in pieces against the wall. Dan then held up five fingers and point to the pill which only contained four and shrugged his shoulders and looked back and forth. Herrior grabbed his shoulder and gave him a curious look. Dan nodded and picked one up and handed it to him. Herrior backed away immediately. Dan shook his head back and forth very quickly and set it back down. Dan then put his hands around it, and then slowly pulled them away. Then Dan mimicked as if the orb just exploded. Dan started making several gestures with his hands. He held his hand out about three feet off the ground, and then made a circling motion with his fingers with all of the orbs. He then motioned to get all of them and put them somewhere. Dan then made the same gesture holding his hand about three feet off the ground.

"Bomb?" Herrior asked. Dan nodded.

"Gather these up and give them to Prat?" Herrior said quickly. Dan tried to read his lips, but he spoke to fast. Suddenly Dan just had a massive pain in his head and put his hands against his head. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. Herrior quickly rearmed himself and watched. Dan eventually passed out.

"Lindel! Get the group and get in here quickly!" Herrior said thinking of Lindel. Within seconds he heard a distance splash and then the sound of distance running coming towards them. Herrior picked Dan's helmet back up and placed it beside his head. He was breathing, and tears were coming out of his eyes.

"Lindel – get in him now!" Herrior yelled. Lindel stopped running and flew through the air, straight through the wall and into Dan's eyes. The first thing Lindel sensed was the pain so she immediately shut off those nerves.

"Dan? Are you ok?" Lindel asked inside of him.

"Yeah…I'm deaf though, and my head is spinning." Dan replied back to her.

"Is it just you in here?" Lindel asked.

"I killed her. She didn't have the power to possess people. The woman had a lot of fight inside of her though. I didn't stop time, but I warped the hell out of it. She would have won, stupid robot…if I knew ahead of time what it could have done instead of just guessing I would have won. Now it's shot to hell. However these power cores and extremely powerful. Tell Herrior to find the last one and give them to Prat." Dan said in his mind.

"Healing you comes first." Lindel said scattering herself all over his mind.

"There's several large creatures coming through the vortex…it needs to be destroyed immediately or we won't stand a chance. Go tell Herrior, please!" Dan said. Lindel left Dan's eyes and materialized in front of Dan.

"Dan said he's fine. He said we need to destroy the vortex quickly or we won't stand a chance. He said we need to find the fifth orb and give it to Prat." Lindel said. Dan slowly pushed himself up on his hands when Crystal came running in. Herrior grabbed her before she could embrace him.

"He's fine. I am going to give you an order and you will follow it. Is that understood?" Herrior said looking at Crystal. Crystal immediately nodded.

"Lindel open a portal to the other cave, get Prat in here." Herrior said.

"I can only have one portal open at a time…" Lindel said. Herrior turned around quickly and glared at her. Lindel then began to channel another portal. It opened up and she quickly ran through and collapsed the other portal. She grabbed Prat and raced back through the portal.

"Analyze this, quickly!" Herrior said handing him the orb. "The rest of you look for all of these that you can find. Hurry!"

Prat turned it over several times and then pulled one of his crude instruments out and put it in the orb. He then quickly pulled it back.

"Herrior…this is a power source I have never seen before." Prat said.

"Will it explode?" Herrior said tossing items out of the way.

"Yes." Prat said and then began thinking about several things at the same time. He then started talking to himself about his plan.

"Found it!" Mohania said. He picked up a decapitated head. "Darn…nevermind" he said and threw it away.

"It's a golden circle and glowing, it's got to be here somewhere." Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone. He said to evacuate everybody from Vashj'ir as quickly as possible to an ambassador and said it was very urgent.

"I see it." Strings said and began running away. He came back several seconds later with it.

"Good, gather all of them up and go back through the portal. Keep talking Prat." Herrior said. Herrior reached down and picked up Dan and his helmet and stepped through the portal.

On the other side he sat Dan down out of the way and saw that Prat had taken apart many of the pearls and had combined certain components together.

"Good, looks like you are doing something. Keep talking." Herrior said. Herrior had no clue what Prat was saying, he wasn't familiar with any engineering terminology.

"Have you freed L'ghorek?" Erunak asked.

"Shut up!" Herrior said looking at him. He stared at him for awhile and then turned back around to make sure the rest of his party had come through. Lindel closed the portal.

Prat finally stopped talking and said, "I'm pretty sure that will work."

"Good, what do you need to finish it?" Herrior said.

"Wire, a detonation device, some screws, and a container." Prat said.

"We don't have those, what else can we use?" Herrior said.

Prat looked around quickly and frantically started going through the tools he had. He then suddenly stopped and an idea came to him. He took one of the pearls he opened and gently put all of the explosive items inside.

"Ok, a detonator." Prat said looking around.

"What button do you have to push to make it explode?" Herrior said quickly kneeling down beside him.

"It's not designed that way, it's a chain reaction designed to make…"

"How do you make it blow up?" Herrior said quickly.

Prat stopped in mid-sentence and then let out a sigh. "You will need to put me next to the vortex so I can start the chain reaction."

"Not a good answer, think of another one." Herrior said.

"It's not that simple!" Prat said turning to Herrior obviously frustrated.

Dan got up and staggered over to Prat and pointed at himself.

"Like hell you are!" Crystal and Herrior said at the same time. Dan just gave them a dull stare. He pulled his swords out and put them on the sand.

"Pick those swords back up!" Herrior commanded. Dan pointed at Herrior and then pointed to everybody around him. Dan then pointed again at Herrior and pointed to the rest of the ambassadors. He then pointed to himself and shook his head. Dan then pointed at himself again and snapped his fingers.

Time stopped.

Dan pointed to everybody around him and then looked back at Herrior.

Time resumed.

Dan continued to take off the rest of his armor. Herrior sighed and looked away.

"This might not work…let me look this over a second time." Prat said. Dan sat and concentrated on what he was doing.

"Leave them alone – all of you!" Herrior said. "Give them space. Lindel find out where this vortex is and get ready to open a portal to it." Lindel opened a random portal and immediately saw it. It was circling around like a whirlpool, but nothing was going in or coming out. It didn't seem to disturb the water around it. She then closed the portal and opened one directly below it and poked her head through it. She felt the immense energy coming out of it.

"Prat where do you need the bomb? At the bottom or at the top?" Lindel asked.

"Bottom." Prat replied back. Lindel closed the portal and said she found it.

"Can you open a portal; put the bomb there and then slam the portal shut before it goes off?" Herrior asked.

"I've already thought about that. Give me a second." Prat said. "Open up some more of those pearls and get the little white ball out of it. Disconnect the white strings from it first, don't just pull it out."

Herrior ran over and drove his sword into one of them and began to make an incision.

"No!" Prat said. "Get rid of that one, quickly!"

Herrior picked it up and threw it away. Seconds later it caused an enormous explosion.

"There's a panel. Open the panel…" Prat said.

"Need to know information Prat…" Herrior said sounding frustrated. "Lindel monitor that vortex. Make sure nothing comes through." Lindel opened the portal back open and saw a naga looking directly at her.

"Hello." The naga said. Jacklyn ran by her and drove her sword through his skull. Jacklyn then looked inside the portal and saw several creatures circling above the portal. The mistress that they fought before was there also. She was obtaining control over the creatures that were coming out of the vortex.

"Time's up." Jacklyn said pulling her head back through the portal.

"Put the rest of the white balls in here, quickly." Prat said. The group had managed to get five of them. Prat then throw in a device that began to vibrate and slammed the panel shut. Prat then tried to pick up the ball and move towards the portal. Dan grabbed it from him and flew through the portal.

"Close it, now!" Lindel said. Lindel did as she was told.

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours.

"Shit…if they fail we don't have a plan B." Herrior said. He pulled out his hearthstone when an enormous explosion blew everybody against the back of the wall. Water rushed, filling the cavern. Herrior grabbed his hearthstone as Mohania and Crystal began to cast their water breathing spell on everybody. Skyka then started showing everybody where the exit was and encouraging them to hurry. Everybody got out and saw miles of scorched land to the north of them. The bomb wasn't done yet though. It sucked in the shockwaves it sent out and began to vibrate brightly.

"Lindel, portal us to where the ship was." Herrior said. Lindel began to channel her power into the portal as the bomb continued to draw in power and everything around it.

"Move!" Herrior yelled. Herrior started grabbing people and throwing them into the portal. He ensured that his party got through first and then he and Skyka began pushing people through as fast as they could.

"It's going to blow…" Skyka said.

"Move it people!" Herrior yelled. Only a dozen remained and they were thrown into the portal as Herrior and Skyka jumped in and Lindel slammed the portal shut.

"Good we got everybody." Skyka said.

"Doesn't mean we are safe. The ship began to vibrate and then shockwave after shockwave slammed into the ship. Eventually the ship broke apart and all of them swam to the surface, constantly being pushed away from the explosion by the shockwaves.

"I designed it to do that. The next part is going to be huge." Prat said.

Suddenly a huge rubble came from a distance and an enormous explosion rocked the entire area. The explosion was so powerful the fireball rose up from the seafloor all the way up to the air and created a huge mushroom cloud.

"That should be it. The part I'm not sure about is what is going to rain down on us. It could be toxic." Prat said.

"Everybody back underwater." Herrior said. They swam down about a hundred feet and saw several pieces of ashes hit the water and instantly steam as they burned out.

"I think that should have done it. The gunpowder would never have done that. The initial explosion was to catch their attention, then pull in all of the enemies, and then create the explosion you just saw. If anything survived that…I will walk up to them and shake their hand.

"What about Dan?" Crystal said. "Are you going to shake his hand when we find him?"

"Umm…" Prat said unsure what to say.

"Crystal, come here." Herrior said. Crystal swam over and Herrior embraced him.

"Why are you hugging me? He's fine. He's still alive. We just have to find him." Crystal said. "He could be anywhere. Lindel and Quinely can find him. Let's go look for him."

Both Lindel and Quinely let out a sigh and looked away.

"Hun." Skyka said swimming up to her.

"No, you aren't even trying. Let's go look for him. Don't give me this sighing, you aren't even trying. Prat's bomb was just designed to blow up the vortex; he's probably looking for us right now. Do your little mind reading thing and let's go find him." Crystal said in tears now.

Herrior began to talk to the rest of the group. "The option still stands. You can continue to stay here and fight, go wherever you want, or join our city. We'll be leaving soon though."

"No we aren't. Dan is still out there. We can't go back without him." Crystal said.

All of the orcs swam over and said they wanted to go with them. Many of the humans said they wanted to as well.

"I'll need to contact an ambassador to turn off our defenses so you aren't instantly killed. You will be imprisoned until all of you are interrogated. It is simple mind reading, you will not be hurt and all of your needs will be met." Herrior said.

"No…no…no…" Crystal kept saying over and over.

"Erunak it's been a pleasure. The threat should be over now. May you build your forces and live in harmony." Herrior said.

"Thank you again my friend." Erunak replied back.

"Lindel…go ahead." Herrior said.

"We're not even going to try? Just assume he is dead and move on? Is that how it is?" Crystal said hysterical now.

"I have his armor and weapons." Herrior said.

"Who gives a shit? If that was anybody else would you go after them?" Crystal said.

"Crystal." Herrior said slowly. "That blast destroyed everything within a several mile circumference."

"Bigger than that actually." Prat said. They both looked at him. "Sorry…"

"This is not the time to grieve. We need to get back and report what happened. That is an order." Herrior said. Crystal began to cry uncontrollably now. Herrior put an arm around her chest and pulled her through the portal. Skyka stayed behind and made sure everybody else that wanted to come made it through. Skyka eventually went though and told Lindel to close the portal. Crystal watched in close and dropped to her knees and completely lost it.

"Guards put our guests in some cells. They are just here for interrogation. They are not to be harmed." Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador. He reported what had happened and their loss. The ambassador expressed his condolences and said he would relay the information.

Herrior then leaned down and Crystal quickly said, "Leave me alone! All of you leave me alone!" Crystal said and continued to cry. Herrior nodded and the group left.

Once outside Herrior's hearthstone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw the King.

"Did you make sure the vortex was closed?" The King asked.

"No my King, we will go back immediately and investigate. I apologize." Herrior said.

"I checked for you. The bomb Prat put together was way overkill. I want all of you to report to me immediately. Bring Crystal with you, by force if necessary." The King said and then closed the portal.

"I'll go get her." Branzer said as he turned around to go back in the cell blocks. The guards let him in and saw that Crystal had not moved.

"This is a bad time, and I apologize, but the King wants to see you immediately." Branzer said. Crystal nodded and staggered to her feet. Branzer put her arm around his shoulder and they walked out. They caught up with Herrior's group and slowly walked to the King's chambers. It was completely cleared out, and Herrior bowed.

"Crystal come here." The Queen said as she walked forward. Crystal walked up to her and they embraced.

"He is a fighter. He did his job well. You should be proud of him, and not mourn him. We all are proud of him" The Queen said. Crystal continued to cry.

"Herrior, Cenarius contacted me. Apparently a group of rogue night elves contacted him. They are talking to Dan in Hyjal. Ysera is there as well. That is your next assignment."

"My King, Dan is dead." Herrior said.

"If Dan was dead, then how can he be talking to them right now?" The King said. The group looked at him in surprise. "Do you doubt your King? Do you know the penalty for that? Go to the portals, you are to leave immediately. Also, why isn't he an ambassador yet?"

Crystal quickly let go of the Queen and turned around and sprinted past the group. She summoned her dragon and sped off to the area where the portals had been established within the city.

"Which one is…" Crystal asked.

"That one." A Chronomancer said pointing at the portal. She flew through the portal and gasped at what she saw.


	17. Flight of the Dragons

Flight of the Dragons

"Dan!" Crystal screamed. Dan quickly turned around and saw Crystal flying towards him.

"Let us pause for just a moment." Cenarius said upon hearing the voice. Crystal's dragon flew down as fast as it could and Crystal jumped off from it and tackled Dan.

"Don't you do anything stupid like that again!" Crystal said kissing him. "I love you so much! Don't get yourself killed! I will personally kick your ass if you do! I love you!" Crystal said continuing to kiss him.

The rest of Herrior's group landed calmly and watched.

"Crystal…you may want to compose yourself." Herrior said quietly. Crystal heard him but got in several more "I love you's" before she stopped to look up. Looking down at her was the mighty Cenarius, hundreds of armored dragons and Ysera standing close to him.

"Sorry." Crystal said and quickly got off from Dan.

"No apology needed young one, for it is love that binds us together." Cenarius said. He looked over to Herrior and said, "You should be proud of Dan. Because of him we have gathered invaluable data and are preparing to launch an assault against Deathwing's forces. I never thought I would see night elves again, and it has been too long since Ysera and I have communed with each other."

Herrior nodded with a smile.

"I sense all of your minds full of questions, same as the passionate female here. There will be time for answers later. But for now, Ysera you may begin. I will take these fighters and perform our task. We will all meet up with you as planned before the suns set upon the horizon. May you fight well." Cenarius said.

"As you as well Cenarius." Ysera said. She then ran towards the cliff of the mountain they were standing on and jumped off. Her body changed into an enormous dragon and let out a deafening screech. The rest of her armored dragons took flight and followed her.

"We will wait approximately twelve minutes or so to let the heat die down, then we will begin our journey." Cenarius said as Ysera's forces began scorching the lands with fire. They were met with no resistance and only an occasional scream came as fire engulfed the only path that they could take.

Dan turned to Herrior. "The night elves contacted Cenarius and relayed the information they found here. Several of Deathwing's own dragons fly at the top of the peek several miles from here." Dan said pointing. "This is merely a distraction though. He has summoned a fire lord calling himself Ragnaros. That is our main target. A head on attack with Deathwing is impossible, we need to find the source of his powers and stop it. What Ysera is doing is merely…uh…clearing the path for us. Many cultists loyal to Deathwing stand before us, or were standing before us."

"Does the name sound familiar do you Herrior?" Cenarius asked.

"Yes, we killed him before." Herrior replied back.

"Yes you did. However many of the cultists like to use the same name. He will be dead before the moon rises this very day. These night elves were invaluable at gathering the information needed. I would have slaughtered them immediately if they did not come to be bearing Dan's name and the information they had gathered. We communed for awhile and have formed a treaty; I expect your group to honor it as well." Cenarius said.

"We will honor it." Herrior said.

"Very well then. The night elves do not have flying mounts, so we will attack on foot. I will lead the way. I expect to not encounter any problems." Cenarius said looking at Herrior and then looking back at the group of night elves. Before any of the groups could say anything Cenarius said, "Let us begin our walk." He gently stepped around everybody and led the way as Herrior's group and the night elves converged as one group.

"Were you able to find any more artifacts Laaraae?" Dan asked.

"No. What is it about you that gives you the ability to find such items?" Laaraae asked.

"I don't know. Like I said the first one was on accident. The rest just sort of…reached out to me." Dan said.

"Have you found any more since our last encounter?" Laaraae asked.

"No, we spent quite some time underwater fighting naga." Dan said.

"A mutual enemy. I am assuming you slaughtered many of them?" Laaraae asked.

"Too many pieces of them were scattered around, but it was well over a thousand. We also disrupted the vortex that was created by Deathwing to increase his forces. Tell me, if a powerful being like Deathwing emerges, why does he have to have summon other generals or leaders and additional enemies to help him fight?" Dan asked.

"Because he knows he can die, just like the rest of us." Laaraae said.

"Every great leader that rose to power knows that time is not infinite for them. As stubborn as they get, they know deep down that they have a weakness and it is only a matter of time until it is found." Herrior said. Laaraae nodded her head in agreement.

"Dan, may I have a word with you?" Herrior asked.

"I don't think I can, we are on a mission." Dan said.

"Of course, everybody be on the lookout for anything that may have survived." Herrior said. Seconds later Lindel was in his mind along with the rest of the members of his party.

"Herrior, I was serious. I don't think I can discuss what happened." Dan said in his mind.

"Dan, you shouldn't be alive right now. I want to know what happened." Herrior said in his mind.

"I can only say certain things, but others I cannot say. You were focused on the entire army that stood before you. In the meantime I was focused on the robot, or mechanical creature – whatever you want to call it. A cultist was inside controlling it; all robots have something always controlling it. I did ask permission, and I did hear you but by the time I entered the perimeter it was too late…or as Mohania calls it 'I had water in my ear'. I was blasted hard at first until I killed the cultist and threw him out of the robot. There were only a couple of buttons and it was activated by some sort of mental link, leaving my legs and arms to move freely. Not having the luxury of time to analyze them I started pushing all of them at the same time. Upon seeing their affect, I quickly formed a battle strategy and soon found our enemies weakness. The slaughter outside was easy enough. The robot wasn't designed for that kind of engagement, but it worked out well. The lady inside was a different story though. She kicked my ass for quite awhile and started summoning in those purple creatures that she called faceless ones or merciless ones…something like that. But the more that poured in the more power I absorbed from them, the faster I could cast my spells and attack. She eventually caught on to this and changed her strategy. Soon my normal attacks we not harming her anymore, all I could do was interrupt her spells. Even then it caused an enormous explosion of magical energy. I got in several good hits, when all of a sudden she blasted me with something hard. That's when I flew through the wall. She then started strategically blasting off parts of the robot; however what she didn't anticipate was a swift kick to her knees followed by a blow to her head. That weakened her greatly – had I known that I would have attacked that first. That is when she started babbling and my robot fell apart. I ignored most of what she said when I found the first glowing golden orb. The power it gave off was incredible. I set it aside and carved her up like a turkey, through my ability to warp time. However upon her dying the energy that was released, causing me to go deaf and shook every bone in my body. It caused an enormous headache…something even Excedrin could not take away. I was not possessed by the way…" Dan said.

"Fine, get to the part where you died." Herrior said listen patiently but wanting to hear what had happened during the explosion.

"I tried to explain to you as best as I could. You were the leader and an ambassador, I was neither. Also as I demonstrated I could stop time, giving me the best chance to survive the blast. Sending you out there would have killed you and you are more valuable than I am. I do understand I am a time stopper; however I hold no significant rank in our city." Dan then paused for a second. "The rest I can't talk about."

"I can have Lindel probe your mind to retrieve the information if you can't remember it." Herrior said in his mind.

"Oh I remember it just fine, and if Lindel were to try to access that information I have no doubt that it would kill her. Upon the initial explosion I activated my ability, only it was a hundred times more powerful – no greater than that, than things happened that I have never experienced before in my life. The bomb somehow magnified my ability. I saw things…heard things that cannot be repeated. The rest I cannot say, please do not ask because I fear the repercussions of it. Let's just say I survived it. Eventually after everything was done, I summoned the King and he brought me before him. We looked at each other for awhile and then he nodded and said 'Well done. Do not speak of any of those events…even I don't have access to them.' He then ordered me to where I am now because of my allegiance I formed with the night elves. That's all I can say." Dan said in his mind.

"Then why did the Queen say you were dead?" Crystal said.

"She didn't." Herrior said back to her in her mind. "She grieved with you because she loves you and saw you were hurting. She loves everybody else in our city the same way, but did she specifically say you were dead? No she didn't. She kept saying 'is', not 'was' if you remember correctly." Herrior then continued to ask Dan questions.

"How long was time stopped for, and why wasn't Mohania affected?"

"I don't know, and I can't say – both of which I can answer honestly. But I feel very uncomfortable answering anything else. Let's change the subject please?" Dan said in his mind almost pleading.

"Ysera doesn't leave much behind." Herrior said out loud as the mind link was dropped.

"No, she doesn't." Cenarius said. "The plants and animals will return in time, but it is hard to tell what got corrupted. My druids will follow up after our mission to help restore the lands. Quinely you are welcome to help if you wish."

"I would be honored too!" Quinely said quickly. She then bit her tongue and said, "Depending of course on what our next assignment is."

"We would all be honored to help, but like Quinely said it is up to our King." Herrior said.

"We will lend a hand as well." Laaraae said.

"The path you have chosen to take has altered your future Laaraae. You know you will never be able to go back." Cenarius said.

"I know. I have spoken to the rest of my army as well, and they accept the consequences as well. Herrior we would like to one day stand before your King and accept our punishment, but this assignment is key to landing a devastating blow to the enemy brought forth from the fiery hell itself." Laaraae said.

"That will not be spoken of right now. It is not for humans to pass judgment for past events. This dispute will be handled after our mission is completed and it will be discussed by many leaders and ambassadors, not just your King." Cenarius said.

The dragons continued to launch several organized attacks, raining down fire and incinerating anything they attacked. Ysera was the lead dragon. She was not only breathing massive amounts of fire around her, but also destroying any type of structure that was built with her enormous claws. The other armored dragons terrorized anything left over and made sure to blast a huge ball of fire into any caves or holes in the ground. Several dragons in the back seemed bored because the initial destruction left everything in ruins; however they were posed to strike at anything that even moved.

The blasts of fire from the dragons seemed to actually hit each other, although not on purpose but they seemed immune to it and simply ignored it. Eventually the dragons were out of sight, but the sounds still filled the air.

"Up here we are going to make a left. I will command the earth to make a bridge that will speed up our travel." Cenarius said. A minute later they came to a huge drop off and Cenarius held out his hand as the trees below him suddenly grew up to their level and roots shot out from the cliff to reinforce it. It wasn't a steady slope, but an amazing sight none the less. Cenarius walked down the bridge, continuing to build the bridge as they went.

An hour later they were back on the ground and continued their journey. Ysera's group had not come this way yet and cultists as well as bodies made completely out of fire roamed the grounds. Cenarius waved his hand, causing an enormous wind to knock them all out of their way.

"Cultists…their kind makes me sick." Cenarius said. "However many more are recruited each day; just like the demons they seem to multiply."

A group of cultists saw what had happened and had sent out a warning. Cenarius and his group continued walking until they were meet by several ogres and hundreds of fighters behind them.

"You will go no further." A woman's voice said walking forward to confront Cenarius. Cenarius slammed his hoof down sending a shockwave in from of him. The earth trembled and rocks flew in every direction. Cenarius continued forward squashing many of them under his huge hoofs. The other cultists quickly scrambled to run away but where met by a rain of arrows from the night elves. Herrior's four hunters joined in on the assault as well.

Mohania ripped off one of the heads of a mangled cultist and said, "Hey watch this." Mohania's hand ignited on fire and eventually caused the decapitated head to burst into flame. He then threw it at a group of cultists running away. Mohania was letting out a sinister laugh until Cenarius altered his course and got hit by the flying head. Cenarius stopped and looked back at the group. Mohania quickly pulled Dan in front of him and pointed to him.

"It seems as though you have some members of your group that take pride in their work." Cenarius said and then continued to walk forward. Herrior's entire group looked back at Mohania.

"Well…do you take pride in your work?" Mohania asked. They all turned away from him and continued walking.

"Thanks again for using me as a human shield." Dan said.

"Anytime. Hey I have a joke for you. These two paladins and a dwarf walk into a tavern. One of them is engulfed in flame while the other two run around in a panic until several diseases eating them until I have a chance to devour all of them." Mohania said.

"I don't get it." Dan said.

"Eh – you had to have been there I guess. So have you learned any new spells or tricks that you wouldn't mind sharing?" Mohania asked.

"Do you remember your spell that you used to open the ground and crush that tank?" Dan asked.

Mohania looked around nervously. "Spell? That was a sudden earthquake that just so happened to be under our enemy…"

"Anyways, I know how to make that an instant cast instead of taking the ten minutes to cast." Dan said.

"Herrior, Dan and I are going to go for a walk – you know take in the sights and sounds of our surroundings. Umm…watch the birds collect worms and squirrels…do whatever they do." Mohania said.

"Stay in formation." Herrior said sounding annoyed.

Mohania let out a displeased grunt but quickly turned to Dan. "Shall we talk later then? About…stuff…and other things having to do with that?"

"Ok by me." Dan said smiling back at him.

A moment passed and Mohania asked Dan if he was serious.

"Do I seem like the joking kind? I mean you don't seem like the joking kind…" Dan said.

"No, I'm serious." Mohania quickly whispered back.

"Hun, is Mohania bugging you?" Crystal said walked back and placing herself in-between them.

"No, not bugging. Hey Skyka wanted to talk to you about, uh hair…and feelings or something." Mohania said.

"No I don't." Skyka said back without turning around.

"I think it's time for Dan and I to have alone time." Crystal said.

"Yes, alone time with the three of us. Sounds good." Mohania said eagerly.

"What are the chances of you not bugging me about that until I tell you?" Dan asked.

"I don't believe in chances." Mohania said.

"Let me give you this piece of advice to start with, you talk too much and don't think enough." Dan said.

The entire group chuckled as they continued to make their way.

"Yes and you smell funny…" Mohania began to say.

"No…" Dan said looking directly at him. "You talk…too much…and don't think enough…" Dan said quietly to him and winked his left eye.

Mohania looked at him frustrated and then Dan winked at him again. He then turned and walked forward with Crystal's arm around his shoulder and his around her waist.

"Is that a joke?" Mohania asked.

"He thinks he's a comedian, but isn't very good at it." Crystal said. Lindel then linked up Dan and Crystal's minds and asked what was going on.

"If Mohania would concentrate more on what he is thinking and the power inside of him, rather than chanting words over and over he would be able to cast his spells faster." Dan said to Lindel.

"Do you think he'll understand it?" Lindel asked.

"Doubt it." Crystal said. "So where did that advice come from Dan?"

"I've learned several things, some of which I can reveal to all of you, some I can't. However when I was fighting the witch lady, it wasn't a matter of striking with my swords and timing my attacks, it was a matter of instinct – no not instinct but something else – something that Allowed my mind to predict the next move while my body performed its normal attacks. You know how it takes Icis and Skyka several seconds to launch a powerful healing spell? That's because they were trained to take that long. Have you ever noticed that Trackolania's speed surpasses that of anybody else? You could put the same weapons in somebody else's hands and they would not be able to swing as fast." Dan said in his mind.

"Because he's a rogue." Lindel said back.

"No…it's not because he's a rogue. Jacklyn swings the slowest because of her massive weapons – give them to Trackolania and his attacks would still be the same speed." Dan said.

"No they wouldn't. It takes a certain amount of time to swing those things." Lindel said back.

"No…it doesn't." Dan replied back.

"They are heavier than your swords and his daggers." Lindel said back.

"Yes they are. The swords probably weigh as much as I do. It doesn't matter." Dan said back in his mind. It was quiet for some time and then Dan felt Lindel's mind link break.

"I could see a lot of potential for this place. How long do you think it will take to rebuild this area Cenarius?" Dan said.

"Years probably. The ground will naturally dissolve the evil but it takes time. I am hoping to speed up the process though with a series of mass cleansing from my druids." Cenarius said. Dan and Cenarius continued idle chat as Lindel attempted to reestablish the link in his mind, but not interrupt them. This went on for an hour until Lindel finally gave up. He heard Herrior let out a grunt but didn't say anything. Quinely had joined in on the conversation as well and talked about their powers to restore nature.

"Look over there in the sky. Ysera has engaged the dragons, just as the night elves said they were at." Cenarius said pointing off to the west.

"We are true to our word." Laaraae said. "But I don't see Deathwing. We saw what we thought was him, but none of the dragons in the sky look to be the same one that we saw."

"He probably moved on. We will get our chance Laaraae. In the mean time their fight seems to be going well and we are making steady progress to our battle." Cenarius said.

"Why didn't we just go directly to our enemy, instead of making this long hike?" Dan asked.

"We cannot cleanse the lands as long as they continued to become defiled." Cenarius responded back.

"Oh…yeah that makes sense…" Dan said sounding like he just asked a dumb question.

"The lands ahead of us burn with lava. I will build a bridge out of rock allowing us passage; however we may get attacked along the way. I will destroy what I can, but Herrior I would suggest dispersing your tanks throughout the group as a precaution.

"I will. Veliline go stand in the middle of the night elves. Quinely you stand between our group and theirs. I will stand by Dan." Herrior said looking at Dan seeming to be upset with him. Both of them took up their positions and Herrior stood still waiting for Dan to walk up to him.

"Do you think the King will allow our people to help with the regrowth?" Dan asked.

Herrior looked at him and took awhile to answer. "I'm sure he will. Do you have something on your mind you wish to talk about?"

"Right now I'm calming my mind and analyzing my tactics. If we are attacked from either side of the bridge, it will probably separate our forces and our main attacks may be focused on the wrong side." Dan said smiling at him.

"Right now I'm calming my mind as well…" Herrior said smiling back at him.

Cenarius came up to the giant lava pool and raised his hand. Several pillars of stone rose up from the lava, forming a bridge about six feet wide.

"On the other side is a small patch of land. On it is the portal to where Ragnaros is building his power. Once we enter, I do not know what to expect. I will personally battle him, but will need healing. He is made of fire, so fire attacks will probably do nothing to him. If he does not come on the land, our melee will have to find different tactics to fight him. Nobody speak a word, you all have been in battle before so you should know how to adapt to a fight. Ysera was supposed to have met up with us by now, however this cannot wait. Ready yourselves." Cenarius said and began to run forward on the bridge he constructed. Everybody pulled out their weapons, summoned their pets, and applied their magical enhancements to the party.

Halfway across the bridge a large lava giant rose up from the lava. Cenarius held out his hand as white pulses of light shot out and hit the giant. Several seconds later the giant's fire burned out and nothing was left but rock that tumbled back into the lava. Cenarius continued his run as he made it across and stepped into the portal. The rest of the party made it in as well. The room was only about fifty meters wide. A large pool of lava was in the far end with two ramps of solid on both sides. Cenarius charged forward and stopped inches from the lava.

"Face me you coward! Come forth and be judged for your treacherous deeds, defiling the land, and for people you have misled. Come forth and face me!" Cenarius yelled.

"Sticks and stones Cenarius." A deep voice came from beneath the lava. "But after I devour your corpse, it will be another nuisance that is out of our way. Your pathetic dragons seem to have...how shall we say…disappeared..." A face and a body formed quickly out of the lava. Two hands came out dripping with lava. He was taller and looked much stronger than Cenarius.

"Where is Deathwing?" Cenarius demanded.

"Busy. And what do you have behind you? Ah, little people with their sticks and arrows. Shall I give them time to collect rocks to throw at me?" Ragnaros said.

Cenarius let out a powerful blast that caught Ragnaros unaware.

"Alright, but I don't take prisoners." Ragnaros said and summoned a wall of fire. He then pointed it towards the group and it rushed towards them. Cenarius absorbed the damage and proceeded to engage Ragnaros.

The entire group found pockets within the wall of fire rushing towards them and raced to them. Skyka then ran up behind Cenarius and began to continuously heal him. The ranged took up positions just close enough to hit Ragnaros as began to unload on him. Cenarius was right though, the melee attackers were not able to attack – until Veliline casted her frost spell and ran right up to Ragnaros taking a massive strike at him. The rest of the melee attackers followed her and began to do the same as well.

"Interesting that your ants have control over the elements." Ragnaros said. He held his hands up and summoned two giant fire elements on either side of him. They had no legs and seemed to just float in the air. They began to rain fire down on the melee attackers, causing them to retreat back. The elements then turned to Ragnaros and began to channel power into him.

"But fire…melts ice…" Ragnaros said and produced another wall of lava and threw it at them. Cenarius again absorbed the blast and continued to blast Ragnaros over and over.

Herrior ran over to Quinely, grabbed her and pointed to the right. Then Herrior ran off to the left. Quinely morphed into her bear form and charged up the ramp to the element that was summoned. Icis was conflicted, but decided to stay where she was. Lindel followed Quinely up the ramp to heal her. The melee fighters broke up and followed the tanks up the ramps.

"Pitiful attempt, amusing none the less though." Ragnaros said as he began to absorb power from the elements. The power suddenly stopped though as both Herrior and Quinely smacked each of their elements hard in the face, disrupting the spell.

"So be it!" Ragnaros said and began firing balls of fire in random directions. Icis put up her group shield but it instantly was destroyed by the power. The ranged groups scattered to avoid the incoming balls of fire and reengaged whenever they had a chance.

Strings had been playing a song to increase their attack speed, but switched over to a different tune that began to heal the party. Veliline continued to pour on ice attack after ice attack, until the elemental began so weak that Quinely shattered it in the next blow. Shortly afterwards Herrior's elemental died a violent death as well. Herrior was damaged quite badly though. Veliline remember what Quinely said and ran over to her and point to Herrior. She then pointed to herself and then pointed to the ground. Quinely nodded and morphed into a bird and flew over to Herrior. Veliline produced a red magical skull above her head and grew slightly in size. As expected another elemental appeared and Veliline quickly engaged it.

Quinely landed and quickly began to heal Herrior as Herrior reengaged the new elemental that arrived.

The ranged group repositioned themselves again as the lava pools cooled and unleashed upon Ragnaros as fast as they could. Cenarius continued to unleash spell after spell on him.

"You have no idea what you are doing, do you Cenarius. You come into my chamber, threaten me, and destroy my elements?" Ragnaros said. He summoned more lava into his body refreshing himself as if he had not taken any damage at all.

"You will pay for what you have done!" Cenarius said.

"And you sound weak…what no lava pool to recharge you?" Ragnaros said laughing as he threw out more balls of fire. Afterwards he summoned another wall of lava that flew through the entire room so fast that nobody had a chance to dodge it, and then instead of two elements, he summoned dozens upon dozens of them.

The elementals began attacking anything that was closest to them. Strings picked himself back up and immediately switched tunes. The elementals stopped attacking and looked at Ragnaros.

"Attack them fools! I command you!" Ragnaros yelled. All of them held up their hands at the same time and began to drain the life out of him.

"No!" Ragnaros screamed and began to channel a large spell. Veliline quickly turned to Lindel and put her hands around her waist and point at Ragnaros. Lindel picked her up and flew right in front of him. Veliline then produced a light green rotating shield around her. When Ragnaros finally got the spell off it hit Veliline but did hardly any damage. Veliline then held her hand out and recasted the same spell back at him. Ragnaros screamed in pain while Veliline and Lindel flew back to their positions. Ragnaros picked himself back up and began drawing power from the lava again when Cenarius began commanding the rocks above and behind him to fly at him. Lava began to splash everywhere as everybody quickly moved to get out of the way. The elements were all destroyed and Ragnaros was slowing pushing a rock off from him.

"I don't know if you noticed…but we are surrounded by lava…not by rocks." Ragnaros said beginning to recharge himself again.

Cenarius then began to summon a spell for several seconds and then threw his hands into the air. A large pillar of rock lift Ragnaros off from the lava and slammed him into the ceiling. The rock continued to press up against him until large streams of lava flowed out of him.

Icis ran up to help with healing Cenarius. Lindel and Quinely left to do the same.

Ragnaros eventually lost so much power that he became nothing more than a man. He fell from the sky and into the lava pool. He quickly made a portal and escaped through it before Cenarius could get off another cast.

"He has been banished for now, but will be back." Cenarius said as he held up his hand and produced rain drops that healed everybody almost instantly.

"Now, let us leave and destroy this portal so that the healing of this land may begin. Cenarius turned around and started to leave. Everybody ran to catch up with him as he exited the portal.

The lava around them seemed cooler now. Many spots it seemed to have receded and more rock was exposed.

"This place will continue to burn, but for now all of you leave and I will have the earth retake this portal." Cenarius said. The group all left on the stone bridge that he made while Cenarius commanded the rocks from the mountains on both sides of him to break loose smash into the portal until it exploded.

Cenarius then joined up with the rest of them and ordered Quinely to go find Ysera.

"Ok." Quinely said and morphed into a bird. She rose less than a hundred feet into the air and yelled "Found them!" and flew back down.

Ysera and her dragons flew over to Cenarius and Ysera transformed into her human self.

"Sorry about the late arrival. We found a roost purely on accident along side of the mountain. They were Deathwing's eggs, they had the stench of evil and some of hatchlings even looked like him." Ysera said.

"Males don't lay eggs?" Dan said suddenly. Ysera stopped talking and looked at Dan.

"Sorry." Dan said quickly as his face turned red.

"Dan is correct though, there must be a female. After destroying everything inside, we then destroyed the cave entrance. Then we split up and looked for other possible roosting places. None of us could pick up on their scent, so we didn't pursue that. But all of the dragons surrounding the area have been killed. What puzzles me though is I have never seen them before, and they were attempting to generate a force field around some of the older ones. It worked…for the first few seconds, but I don't like what I saw." Ysera continued.

"I'll have our engineers take a look at it right away." Herrior said.

"Good." Ysera said and turned to Cenarius, "I assume the battle went well?"

"It was simply a man given powers…nothing more. He was powerful none the less though. He escaped through a portal, or so he thought. The coordinates to return back are lost because I destroyed the portal we went through. If he resurfaces it will be somewhere else." Cenarius said and then turned to his party and said, "Thank you for your assistance, you all have fought well today. I must say I was impressed with your death knight. It was an honor to fight beside her today as well as the rest of you. I have never seen a death knight, let alone in battle."

Veliline stared at him casually and then looked away uninterested.

"Next topic of discussion is the night elves. I deem them worth of joining us, but to which group?" Cenarius said.

"May I contact my King to negotiate this?" Herrior asked. Cenarius nodded and Herrior brought out his hearthstone. In the mean time Ysera gave an order for her dragons. They quickly flew into the air and sped off.

"They will clean up anything that may have been left behind." Ysera said with a smile. "Then they will return to our homeland."

The King ripped open a portal and stepped through. "Greetings and thank you for inviting me."

"How goes the expansion of your city?" Ysera asked.

"Good so far. Thank you again for letting your dragons live with us." The King said. Ysera smiled and gently bowed.

"Ah, night elves. Rumor has it that you attacked my people, and then formed a friendship with Dan – which lead to this successful attack. It angers me, but makes me gratified at the same time." The King said.

"I am Laaraae, the leader of these night elves. We did as you say and are willing to accept punishment for it. We cannot go back to our kind, nor will the alliance take us in."

"So you seek atonement, or do you wish for us to place you on another world?" The King asked.

"We wish to fight by your side." Laaraae said.

"And…" The King said.

"You can read my thoughts, so I will speak the truth. I am personally interested in finding more artifacts. At one point in time we fought everybody, and then aligned with the alliance, then with the Horde – while some of us became corrupted by the demons. Currently, I am not sure what the rest of the night elves are doing. I want to know what happened in the past to alter our allegiances and what lead us up to this point." Laaraae said.

"We have lots of historians and documents that can fill in most of the story. Once you are satisfied with this information, then what?" The King asked.

"You've kept records?" Laaraae asked astounded.

"Since as early as we our race started keeping them. Every battle, every death, every birth, every marriage, every allegiance that we have and ones that turned on us. Dates, times, worlds, dimensions – everything. And yes they are unaltered." The King said.

Laaraae looked at him not knowing what to say.

"As a reward we can give this information to you freely right now if you wish. You need not join our forces to do so or give us gold." The King said. A second later he said, "No, we desire nothing from you, but I am curious as to what you will do with this information. We will educate you and then…send you on your way? To a different world? To go with Cenarius or Ysera perhaps?"

"I have not thought about that." Laaraae admitted.

"The artifacts that Dan found he gave freely to you. Would we have liked them to study them, of course – but merely for the knowledge that they possess, not to barter with over with mere bags of gold…" The King said. "And what of their records? I'm sure they hold information that maybe different from ours – would you seek there's as well? When will this 'information hunt' cease? You will find that we have killed your kind, and the alliance has killed your kind alongside with the demons. Will you turn on us for revenge, or plot an assassination to get even? That is not going to happen. We plan assassinations only to prevent a bigger blood spill. We have our spies just the same as everybody else does. But as long as we don't see a threat to us, we don't randomly kill our enemies without a just cause. And when we do attack, we try to only attack the fighters; we don't burn the houses or take the others as slaves. You might be surprised to know that we recently took in a lot of alliance…actually on several occasions, interrogated them and then set them free to do as they wish. No torture was used; they were clothed, feed and provided for. Can you say the same for your race that lives today?"

Laaraae sighed and looked away.

"You would have killed one of my primary fighting groups in cold blood, took their things and then slaughtered them like pigs in a field – or am I not reading your mind correctly?" The King said.

Laaraae nodded.

"Well, speak on your behalf. I grow tired of hearing my own voice." The King said.

"I have no words to say. I have no reason to think you are lying to me and I did not know this information about you and your people. We have troubled you to long, we will take our leave of absence now." Laaraae said and stood to walk away.

"You are good at bartering with gold, but not with words? You learn our principles and turn your head? Come back and sit with me Laaraae. My ambassadors, Ysera and Cenarius included of course, the rest of you walk away." The King said.

Laaraae turned back around and did as the King said. The King smiled at her and then motioned to her to look over her shoulder. Laaraae yelled out something in her language and her party quickly left.

"They follow your orders and not mine. Not a good first step. If you were to come into my city the chances of splitting up your group are very good. I do not assign groups based on who likes who; I do it based on their fighting styles and personalities. Judging from what I just saw I don't see your followers being able to do that. However…based on the information Cenarius and my group has just told me about the recent battle and how you all fought as a team, I do believe there is potential. So I ask again, what is it that you want?" The King asked.

Laaraae sat thinking for awhile and then looked up and said "Freedom".

The King slowly nodded his head. "There is a new group called the 'Earthen Ring' that the same group you fought with has just recently freed from captivity and destroyed their enemies. They freed many humans and orcs. They were all given the same choice you are given now. They were all alliance and the orcs were all tortured by them and their hatred runs deep. The orcs are now within our walls, and the remaining humans have pledged to help that group. I don't know what it takes to get into that group, or the other groups that we have form alliances with. But speaking on behalf of your group, can you tell me that if we let you within our walls, show you our secrets, and have you abide by our laws that all of your group would not betray us and return to your old group to offer information for gold?"

"I would not." Laaraae said.

"That was not my question." The King said. "My decision is made, but I want opinions – Herrior?"

"I don't know what else to add that hasn't already been said. My gut feeling is that most of them are sincere and follow their leader's orders. I have my doubts about the others. They did fight well, and I believe we could learn new fighting techniques from them as they could from us. But as you said, would they betray us? I do not know." Herrior said.

"I don't know much about their group or the history. I fought side by side with many of them shooting at the fire guy. Many of them made sure we were in a position as to not get hit by the firewall and were quick to point out where his vulnerable spots were. I would have no problem fighting beside them again." Branzer said.

"My vote is no." Skyka simply said looking at her showing no emotion.

"Do you eat human flesh?" Mohania asked.

"No?" Laaraae answered with a weird look.

"Hmm…I might be the swing vote on this, and that might be the deciding question. Walking beside them the entire way I did not suspect any betrayal or other reason to look over my shoulder. They did as was ordered…by Laaraae. But if I was their leader would I have a problem leading them into battle? Absolutely. However seeing that they don't eat human flesh that does appeal to me, but I would rather eat, not be eaten. I'm voting no." Mohania said.

"My thoughts are the same as Branzer's. Herrior for some reason took me in and I became very loyal to him quickly, the problem I am working on is being loyal to my other leaders – which I am trying." Veliline said looking at the King. He smiled at her as she continued "I do slip though, but it is not out of betrayal, it is because of my past and I quickly apologize for it. In mid battle if one of them turned on our group, I would kill them…but I did not see that in our recent battle. I vote…undecided."

"Normally it's a yes or a no." Herrior said smiling at her.

"You didn't say yes or no." Veliline said. Skyka and Ysera smirked turning their heads away.

"Alright…I vote we put them to a test. I say yes, but with stipulations. We watch them for several months; send them out on guard duty or even with our secondary groups with one primary fighter along to watch. So…what is your vote then Veliline?"

"No." Veliline said. "I wasn't watched; I granted my unconditional loyalty to you and proved it in combat. Watching to see if they are going to rebel or not is a waste of resources. I did not attack you when you found me, we talked, broke bread, and then you left. They attacked us and the only reason we are alive is because of a silver scroll. If they find out we have a gold scroll will they rebel?"

"Hmm…" The King said out loud. Laaraae sighed and looked to the ground.

"We do take in people, not as often as your King does, but occasionally we do. Not this time though." Ysera said.

"Only druids walk our lands. Our loyal friends may visit if they contact us, but our races are sacred. You are not a druid, and I don't have any use for you or your army." Cenarius said.

"I apologize and shall leave at once then." Laaraae said knowing what her future held for her and her group. A single tear dropped as she turned to walk away.

"Laaraae**, **you have not been excused yet." The King said.

"I have sat here and been insulted enough. There is nothing here for us." Laaraae said softly.

"If you had to choose your most loyal subjects, to let's say a group of seven – who would it be?" The King asked. Laaraae motioned to walk away but stood there thinking about the question. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it with a sigh. She then waited a moment and let out another sigh.

"Can all of you read my mind?" Laaraae asked.

"Just me and I am not doing that right now, but your body language is talking for you." The King replied back.

"If I talk, will the words I say leave this circle?" Laaraae said turning around.

"No, that is why we have these talks." The King said. Laaraae walked back over and sat down.

"I do not wish to betray my people. I wish to bring peace, but I am out voted. What we have is not like what you have. If I was the leader and said sit, probably only half of them would. We all fought with the intentions of getting more power, more information and to be safe. If half of my group heard the words spoken just now they would draw an arrow at each and every one of you. I try to keep our group safe and at peace with each other. Will it eventually end? It is only a matter of time. Many of them crave power and their own safety. Others are just like me. Some simply just want to live their lives – they have no interest in fighting but do so to survive. What you are asking me to do is betray my people." Laaraae said in tears.

"My race is tauren, as you probably know. I have slaughtered many of my own kind and had intentions of doing so again depending on our negotiations with the Earthen Ring. I do not enjoy it, I hate it. But everybody makes their own choices in life and they take different paths. I have watching many of my own people executed in our city for capital crimes. I have seen my own friends betray our King. We have rules in place for a reason, and it isn't to keep everybody happy. You have dissention in your ranks and you know it. You also know what it will lead to. We are not asking you to betray your people, the question was if you had to choose which ones you had to pick, who would they be?" Herrior said.

Laaraae wiped away the tears and nodded. "I know who they would be, and all of you knew this." She looked up at the King and apologized. The King shook his head. She said the names quietly. She then also said the names of the others that would have to be killed. She then said she knows of an outpost that will need to be destroyed. It was full of night elves planning on attacking one of their towns.

"My information may be outdated, but I can give you the locations of several night elf encampments if you want." Laaraae said.

"Do they plan on attacking us?" The King asked.

"Not that I know of, and that's the truth." Laaraae said still looking at the King with tears coming down her cheeks.

"We will send spies and if they don't seem to be bothering us, you have my word that we will leave them alone." The King said. "On the flip side, if they are attacked and our spies eliminate the threat, would they attack us?"

"It's hard to say. I cannot speak for all of the night elves. My gut feeling is they would be surprised, but after that I do not know." Laaraae said.

"I'm changing my vote to yes." Skyka said looking at her. Laaraae looked up at her. "Laaraae, I have killed so many of my race I can't count. My race was almost wiped out entirely, many were altered – some even turned into magical zombies. Like Herrior said, we kill them because we don't have a choice. Since the unification of our city, our race has increased in numbers once more. Will I kill more blood elves in the future? I have no doubt. Your friend Dan over there, he had to kill his own father and watch his mother get tortured. Guess which faction he had to kill to keep himself and his mother alive? The stories go on and on."

Laaraae nodded and asked "Do I have to kill them?"

"Not unless it comes down to it." Ysera said. "My King, I suggest we separate the group by the names she said, call it a picnic or whatever. We will hide ourselves for a day and watch what happens."

"No. It would not take a day. I know what you are trying to do and it would take only a matter of hours." Laaraae said.

"Would it?" Ysera asked as if she already knew the answer.

"Let's do what must be done." Laaraae said. She turned around and called over the names of the people she could trust. They promptly ran over. Some followed but Laaraae said for them to stay. The argument started almost immediately. Within less than a minute two males drew their bows and fired an arrow at Laaraae. The arrow bounced off an invisible force, falling harmlessly to the ground. Several fights began to break out among them; many drew their knives and began to face off. Many were stabbed in the back, not even seeing the person that killed them.

A minute later only a dozen remained. They quickly scavenged what they could off from the dead night elves, when four of them began to argue over a certain item. Two more were shot in the back with an arrow, and the rest continued to shoot at each other until only one remained. He was shot in the leg, grabbed the item they were fighting over and tried to hobble away.

"Laaraae." The King said. She drew her bow and shot an arrow into his head.

"Are those the people you wanted to bring with you?" The King asked.

"No." Laaraae said almost in relief.

"We have a place for you if you want." Ysera said. "That is if your King and Cenarius don't have an issue with it."

"They may visit with an ambassador, but they are welcome in the druid realm."

"Same with me." The King said. "After Ysera bores you with her endless chattering, contact one of my ambassadors. They will give you all of the information you want."

"And then when your King bores you with his stories of victories long ago…you may return." Ysera said looking at the King. Ysera ripped open a portal in mid air and stuck her head in. "Take these night elves and show them around. They are to be unharmed and fed until I come back."

"Yes Ysera." Two of her guards said. Ysera then stepped out of the way and motioned the way for them. They stepped through and the portal closed.

"I must leave; I have been gone too long. I will contact you when we begin rebuilding this forest." Cenarius said. He stood up and knelt his head all the way to the ground and with his horns he ripped open a portal big enough for him to walk through. He walked through and the portal disappeared.

"Same with me. Herrior return when you are ready." The King said doing the same. When he left Herrior turned to Ysera.

"I still have some unfinished business here…" Ysera said.

"Very well, let's go join up with our group. I believe we have some unanswered questions that need answering." Herrior said getting up and walking over to his group. His group looked poised and ready to strike after the night elf battle, but seemed to let their guard down after Herrior walked over.

"Herrior with your permission, I would like to have a word with Strings." Ysera said.

"Certainly." Herrior said looking at Dan. "Anything in particular you want to talk about that the rest of our group should know about?"

"It appears that not our entire group is here." Dan said watching Strings walking away with Ysera. Dan turned back around and saw Herrior glaring at him. "Ok…ok…Let's have a seat."

"Does what you have to say involve sitting?" Herrior said.

"No." Dan said, "I have a secret about Trackolania that I discovered." Herrior raised an eyebrow at Dan. Trackolania simply rolled his eyes.

"Do you know why he swings so fast?" Dan said.

"It's not because he is a rogue, I've got that much." Herrior said.

"Umm…it will probably be easier to demonstrate then to describe. May I?" Dan asked.

"I volunteer Mohania." Herrior said.

"And I volunteer Trackolania." Herrior turned to look at Mohania.

"Ok, he is the best person to show anyways. He just hasn't figured out the puzzle I gave to him."

"That I talk to much…blah blah blah…" Mohania said.

"No, come with me Mohania." Dan said grabbing his hand and leading him away. They walked about ten paces from the group. Dan reached down and grabbed a rock and tossed it about twenty yards in front of him.

"Now, command the earth to open that up and swallow it." Dan said.

Mohania let out a sigh and began the spell. Dan started counting, "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…" He counted to three hundred before the earth opened up, swallowed the rock and then crashed back together.

"That was pathetically slow." Dan said.

"I would have done it faster if you weren't babbling in my ear." Mohania said.

"That's exactly my point!" Dan said excitedly. Dan bent down and picked up another rock and threw it the same distance. He then leaned over and whispered several sentences into his ear socket. Mohania turned to him and said that wouldn't work.

"Prove me wrong." Dan said.

"Fine." Mohania turned back and face the rock he held out his hands and within seconds the earth opened up and swallowed the rock and then slammed back in on itself.

"Holy shit!" Mohania said. He then did the same thing at least a dozen times saying the same thing over and over. He then looked up at a mountain and pealed it back in two. Then he slammed his hands shut and the mountain slammed close. It started a rock slide and Herrior's group had to quickly move out of the way.

"Ok, let's not get killed here before we learn what Dan just taught Mohania. Mohania stop trying to kill us."

"Accident." Mohania said with a smile.

"This doesn't work for everybody, but Trackolania knew this secret all along…didn't you?" Dan said looking at him. Trackolania became very nervous and started sweating.

"Jacklyn, hand him your swords." Dan said.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Jacklyn said laying the swords down in front of Trackolania. Trackolania made a vague effort to lift them and showed that he couldn't. Dan continued to stare at him. Trackolania then sighed. He lifted both swords with ease and began twirling them around so quickly nobody could see what was going on. He then threw both swords in the air and caught them on the tip of his finger. After which he tossed them back to Jacklyn.

"He prefers daggers though. I'm not saying everybody needs to change weapons. If you favor an axe, use that." Dan said. He drew his swords and asked permission to attack Herrior. Herrior drew his sword and shield.

"Try your hardest." Dan said.

"Don't do your time stopping thing." Herrior said.

"Ok, I will begin now." Dan said. He struck Herrior's shield over a dozen times, finally knocking it out of his hands and stopped with his blade at Herrior's neck. He quickly withdrew it and apologized.

"What the hell…" Herrior said.

"Like I said it only works for some classes. Since I figured it out, I know how to do it. Trackolania knew how to do it all along. Mohania just can't take a hint." Dan said. Another suddenly blast of the ground smacking together engulfed the air.

"What? Sorry I didn't hear that." Mohania said as he casted the spell again.

"Mohania that's enough. How did you do that?" Herrior asked.

"It's not manipulating time; it's manipulating your training. Jacklyn what is your average swing speed?" Dan said.

"About three seconds." Jacklyn said, "Until I build up enough rage."

"Then why was Trackolania able to swing thirty times in one second?" Dan asked.

"I am still trying to figure out how he was able to pick up the swords…" Jacklyn said.

"Skyka how fast can you cast your most powerful healing spell?" Dan asked still looking at Herrior.

"About three seconds, a little more." Skyka answered.

"Why?"

"Because…that's how long it takes." Skyka replied back.

"Says who?" Dan said.

"Says my trainer, and the trainer before him and so on and so forth. It's the same for everybody." Skyka said.

"Well do it faster." Dan said.

"I can't." Skyka said as another thunderous slam occurred.

"That was an accident." Mohania said laughing.

Dan walked over to Skyka and whispered something in her ear.

"That doesn't work for healers; even if it did it would drain our mana to fast."

"Who says you need mana?" Dan asked. Skyka looked up at Herrior like Dan had gone insane. Another thunderous crash happened.

"That was on purpose!" Mohania said laughing even harder.

"Ok…" Skyka said and began to channel her big healing spell.

"Stop stop stop…Enough with the waving of the hands. Leave your hands at your side and close your eyes." Dan said.

"I can't." Skyka said looking down at him.

"Fine, Icis do you want to try?" Dan asked.

"Sure." Icis said. She closed her eyes and said, "Ok now what?"

"Heal Mohania." Dan said.

"I don't know where he is, except for the loud crashes of dirt that is…" Icis said.

"Mohania could you stop for a minute? Please?" Dan asked.

"Ok." Mohania said.

"Now run as far away and hide." Dan said.

"So far I like this." Skyka said.

"Give him ten seconds and then heal him." Dan said.

"Ok." Icis said. She waited and then without doing any movements a huge blast of healing fell out of the sky and blasted Mohania.

"Do it again, only faster. Do it so fast that the only thing you are thinking of is blasting him with heals. Concentrate only on that…nothing else." Dan said.

Icis did, the heals became faster and faster.

"Come on Mohania, run around – try to hide from her." Dan said. Mohania tried but anywhere he went he was constantly bombarded with heals.

"Now heal Jacklyn." Dan said. Immediately Jacklyn started receiving blast after blast of massive healing spells.

"Now Strings." Dan said. Same affect, even though she had no idea where he was.

"Do you mind?" Ysera yelled out.

"Ok stop and open your eyes." Dan said. Icis did and smiled at him.

"How much mana do you have left?"

"I didn't use any, how did I do?" Icis asked eagerly. Dan turned to look at Skyka.

"You're a little pain in the ass you know that?" Skyka said looking at him. Another thunderous crashed occurred, only this time it was follow by an enormous explosion.

"Oops." Mohania said running away from the fireball rising into the air and towards the group. He arrived and smiled.

"Anything we should be concerned about Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"About what?" Mohania said with a bigger grin.

"So what's the secret?" Herrior asked.

"When you activate your shield wall, what happens?" Dan asked.

"I take 50% less damage." Herrior replied.

"Why?"

"Because…" Herrior said. He never really thought about it.

Dan reached for his shield and asked, "May I?" Herrior handed him his shield.

"Now do your shield wall." Dan said.

"I can't without my shield. You know that." Herrior said as Dan handed him back his shield.

"Ok, now when you activate your shield wall, why you do take 50% less damage from attacks behind you?" Dan asked. "Why do you take 50% less damage from above you?"

Herrior thought about it for awhile and couldn't answer the question.

"You attack with your shield in front of you at all times." Dan said to Herrior. He turned to Skyka and said, "When you group heal, why do the ones that need healing get more than the ones that don't. Why is Crystal able to fire off spells faster than Mohania?"

"I heard that!" Mohania said.

"Don't you see what I'm trying to point out?" Dan said.

"I'm even more confused than when you started." Herrior said. Another loud crash happened followed by a group of rocks rolling down. "Mohania would you quite that!"

"Why are things the way they are? I knew I had my ability but then started playing around with it I found out I could do other things with it. Nobody else taught me. I can stop time the longest, and warp it to do pretty much whatever I want. The new powers that everybody was so excited about learning – they existed the whole time, it's just somebody else learned it first. Are there more powers to be taught…you tell me. Herrior how many times in your life time have you been taught how to improve your fighting skills or better ways of doing things?" Dan asked.

Herrior looked at him and then looked away. "Twenty or so, probably more."

"And you accepted it without question and went back out into battle; probably the same with all of you." Dan said. He then turned to Mohania and said "Except for you and Lindel. Mohania, tell me why you are immune to time stopping."

"Because I am undead." Mohania answered.

"Lindel's not alive, why does it affect her?" Dan asked.

"Because she's a banshee."

"Does she need to eat, breath, sleep?" Dan said turning to her.

"No." Lindel said quietly.

"So why are you immune and she isn't? Why are the undead immune and everybody else isn't?" Dan asked.

"I don't know, you are the time master, you tell me." Mohania said.

"My guess is probably because you race has the same power I do. When I was in Tranquil and maxed out my power, it stopped everybody – even the other time stoppers, including the monks that boosted my power and the King that helped decipher the codes." Dan said.

"Don't you think if I had that kind of power I wouldn't be randomly abusing it?" Mohania asked.

"Don't you think if you knew how to command the earth to open up and randomly crush your enemies in about a second, you wouldn't randomly abuse that?" Dan asked.

Mohania paused for a second and then said, "I hate cocky people."

Dan stepped back and asked, "Why don't the spell casters carry around staff's or magical wands? In all of the movies I've seen they always did. Have you ever done that?"

"They are an annoyance." Icis said. "That's my races reason anyways. Healers don't fight, I mean we can but our abilities are better used for healing."

"Pretty much the same answer for us." Skyka said seeming to be annoyed with Dan.

"Have you guys ever considered sewing it into your sleeve? It would always be there and to use it all you would have to do is hold up your hand. Granted it's probably not as strong as your spells. But does it take your energy…err mana to use them?" Dan asked.

"No, they recharge by themselves." Skyka said.

"So why not then? Fire your wands during times of low healing and then heal when needed. Sown into your sleeve it would never be lost, broken and it would always be there." Dan said.

"The wand's handle could be removed, only the magical part could be sown on. Many of us wouldn't even know it's there." Skyka said.

"There you go! I just took a shot in the dark on that one and probably would have made a fool out of myself for asking that, but Skyka just came up with the idea on how to finalize it. I do not know all of the answers, but I have questioned things ever since I have…been alive. Why is this like this? Why does this do that? I don't know how strong the wands are, but if all of the spell casters did that…would it not produce a powerful result?" Dan asked.

"They do fire quickly and are powerful. If all of us did that, it would produce some serious damage at the cost of spending no mana." Skyka answered back.

"Probably not useful in every situation…but if you have no mana left, what do you normally do? Just wait for it to recharge and hope you aren't attacked? This way you could at least contribute in the battle." Dan said and Skyka started to ponder the idea.

"Lindel, why do you limit your powers?" Dan asked.

"Whoa…Mohania already got after me for that one. I'm getting used to my evil banshee form…" Lindel said.

"No no no…not that. That is cool don't get me wrong, but if you can read people minds just by looking at them, why don't you do that more often?" Dan asked.

"It's not that simple." Lindel said with a smile.

"What happened to Bernett's teddy bear? What happened to Crystal's earring? Where did those answers come from?" Dan asked.

"Those were simple, but it takes a lot of power to read somebody's thoughts without actually being inside of them." Lindel said.

"Why?" Dan asked.

"Establishing a mental link with somebody I can do. Can I tell what they are feeling/thinking? No because it changes to quick. Upon possessing somebody I can tell because I am physically there to see all of the changes and halt their brain process so I can analyze it…" Lindel said and then said, "No that might not be explaining it right."

"Can you turn invisible?" Dan asked. Lindel did so instantly.

"Can you pass through walls, water, fly through the air?" Dan asked.

"You know I can." Lindel said reappearing.

"So why can't you turn invisible, pass through somebody's body and gather information – not possess, but just get…I don't know…a quick snapshot of them." Dan asked.

"I can't do that with ambassadors or leaders." Lindel said.

"No, but what about our enemies?" Dan asked. Lindel looked at him funny.

"I might be wrong again, but give me a second." Dan said and ran backwards a ways. "Without breaking any rules, turn invisible, pass through somebody and reappear. Tell me what you saw."

"Herrior?" Lindel asked.

"Will it hurt anybody?" Herrior asked.

"No."

"Go ahead." Herrior said. Lindel disappeared for several seconds and then reappeared.

"Ok, Lindel don't say anything. Who thinks Lindel just passed through them?" Dan said looking around. "Was there some warm tingly feeling, or anything?" Nobody said anything. Dan then turned to Lindel and asked who she just passed through.

"Jacklyn." Lindel said. Jacklyn looked surprised at her.

"And what information did you grab when you did that?" Dan asked.

"Not much. She was thinking about Trackolania, wants to know how to swing her weapons faster and is wondering if you are going to grow wings and fly away." Lindel said.

Jacklyn's eyes opened even wider.

"Is she right?" Jacklyn nodded.

"So this time pass through somebody else, without breaking the rules, and tell me their skills, uh…attributes, weaknesses, umm…"

"Their stats." Herrior said.

"Ok." Lindel said and disappeared. Seconds later she reappeared.

"Bernett's health is around ninety thousand, is a hunter capable of setting traps quickly. He is very quickly and accurate with his gun, but would be almost useless without it. Also if you can withstand his first barrage of gun fire, it takes him awhile to recharge his energy to launch another series of attacks. Standing still he's powerful, but if you make him move around he losses about thirty percent of his damage." Lindel said.

"With that information you would want him to stay on the move and in theory somehow get that gun out of his hands, would you not?" Dan said.

"I would prefer not." Bernett said with a smile.

"Where is his armor the weakest?" Dan asked.

"The back of his knees, and a small spot on the back of his neck." Lindel said. Bernett reached behind his neck to try to find it.

"Would that information not be valuable when fighting an enemy?" Dan said turning to Herrior. "The enemy doesn't even have to know she's there. She could pass right through them, relay the information to the group and then either attack or heal. Is that allowed?"

"It is now." Herrior said in shock.

"May I continue?" Dan asked walking over to Branzer.

"Be my guest." Herrior said.

"Branzer let me see your gun." Dan said. Branzer handed it over and Dan started looking around. He saw a tiny lizard on the edge of the cliff about thirty yards away. Dan pointed it out to him and told him to concentrate on that. Dan then held the gun straight up in the air and fired it. The lizard instantly burst into pieces.

"Oops, I was completely off. What happened to the lizard Branzer?" Dan said still looking at him.

"You shot it." Branzer said in amazement. Dan handed the gun back to him.

"Huh, I wonder why that is. I wasn't aiming for it, there's certainly nothing straight up above us that it could have ricocheted off from. I wonder if Trackolania would know why?"

Trackolania wasn't amazed at all as everybody turned to look at him. He closed his eyes and looked away. He took a deep breath and then looked back at the group.

"I'm not trying to upset you Trackolania that is not my intention. But I am trying to point out that our hunters have the same ability you have, as well as our melee attackers." Dan said.

"Does the King know any of this? And how did you shoot that lizard?" Herrior asked.

"The same way Trackolania shoots things. It wasn't me it was Branzer. Herrior to be honest I didn't know any of this. It was just all questions until I started gathering more evidence…and asking myself the question, 'Why?'".

Trackolania disappeared and instantly reappeared in front of Herrior drew out his dagger and quickly wrote something in the dirt. When he finished it read, "These are secrets." Trackolania then looked up at Herrior in almost desperation.

"He's right, and not everybody is going to be able to do what I just showed you or be able to accept the concepts. The King knows everything I was thinking, yes. Am I hiding anything from him? No." Dan said and then paused for a second. "I don't think I could…but the point is, not everybody will be able to do what I just revealed to our group. I can stop time, and I can also make it slow down so much that it is almost stopped and not attract any attention…because I asked myself, 'Why?' Why didn't I do it in the last battle? I didn't know how the night elves would have reacted, or Cenarius, or the fire guy. I could have stopped it, finished him off, and then when it resumed have him lying mysteriously dead on the ground…don't you think that might make people wonder what just happened? And if I didn't kill him, he would escape and the bounty on my head would be huge." Dan took a breath and then continued. "I am not an ambassador or a leader. If I die it is a loss. When we thought you were dead we sent search party after search party to find you. When you thought I was dead, how long did you search for me?"

Herrior looked at him sternly and thought about what he just said. "It's logical and I see your point, but don't think we didn't mourn."

"I'm not saying you didn't…judging by Crystal's reaction that was obvious. But you see now why I cannot become what you want me to be. I was the best choice for planting that bomb and everybody knew it." Dan said.

"Oo…oo…do me next. Enhance my powers!" Quinely said eagerly. Dan walked over to her and asked her to hold her hands out. He put his on top of hers.

"Quinely…I don't have any idea how you do what you do, nor do I have any suggestions for you to improve your powers." Dan said.

"Aww…that's not fair." Quinely said.

"Sorry." Dan said with a smile, "But you are the prettiest druid here."

"Thank you." Quinely said.

"So those are all of my thoughts for now. I will continue to observe and question things, but like I said some will be able to do it, and some won't. I am not saying this to be rude, but Icis could do something that Skyka couldn't. Maybe Skyka can do something else that Icis can't do…I don't know. But you understand, as Trackolania pointed out, that much of this information probably should not be passed on. Don't just accept things because somebody told you what you can and can't do, ask 'Why?' and experiment. I will report back to the King my findings, but I'm almost certain he will summon our group and tell you all the same things – basically to keep quiet about this." Dan said.

"Quiet…yes quiet is good." Strings said walking up behind him. He opened a wineskin and completely drained it in a few large gulps.

"Thirsty are we?" Skyka asked as he put the cover on the wineskin.

"Actually not really." Strings said and opened another wineskin and began to drink that. He finished that off and asked if he could go back to Tranquil.

"I think our work is done here, Lindel if you would. Is everything ok Strings?" Herrior asked.

"Oh just fine…yeah…just fine. I'm going to go to the closest tavern and see if I can drink myself into a long sleep." Strings said.

Lindel channeled her power into a portal and they all passed through. Strings immediately did as he said he would, staggering a little.

"Well something is obviously wrong…" Herrior said.

"I'll go find out." Lindel said.

"No. He'll come to us when he is ready." Herrior said.

"I've got some testing I want to do." Skyka said summoning her flying carpet and flew away.

"I need to go to the King." Dan said. "Afterwards I was wondering if you were free Crystal?"

"Yeah I'm good." Crystal said smiling at him.

"You know…a drink doesn't sound bad right now…" Herrior said and followed Strings. Herrior's group split up to all go do their own thing.

Herrior walked into the tavern and saw Strings sitting in the furthest booth away, staring at the wall.

"Bad time?" Herrior asked. Strings let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Alright my friend, you know where to find me. I will leave you alone." Herrior said and walked away. He ordered a glass of ale and sat down on a booth. He took a sip, but wasn't interested much in the drink. He sat and thought about what Dan had said and just showed them. Several minutes later he shook his head slightly and took another sip.

A day passed and Herrior walked the streets. He watched everybody come and go, carrying on with their day to day chores. His hearthstone never vibrated, nor did he see any of his group. His mind still trying to digest everything that he saw, also cursing himself for not thinking of the things soon – which eventually led to why was Dan thinking of all of these things and their experienced trainers not? So many unanswered questions. Not only did they rescue a time stopper, but they rescued somebody that devised several plans that he never would have thought of and saved their asses a number of times. He thought back at the time when he asked Dan, "Who was he?" The more he thought about it, the more he wondered.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Brenna asked Herrior. Herrior looked over and saw that she was walking next to him.

"How long have you been there?"

"Not as long as you have been wondering aimlessly around the city." Brenna replied.

Herrior pulled out a bag of gold and handed it to her. "This will cover some of them, but I still owe you more…"

Brenna laughed and put it back in his pouch.

"Might help if you talk about it?" Brenna asked.

Herrior kept walking and after a moment said, "I don't think it will."

"Oh. Well then I'm not going to talk to you either." Brenna said with a smile continuing to walk beside him.

Herrior continued to walk but saw that Brenna kept beside him. Herrior looked over at her.

"I'm just doing my own thing, going about my business. You do whatever you want – also I'm not talking to you." Brenna said.

"I can't talk to you about this Brenna." Herrior said turning to her.

"Well…I have my own secrets as well." Brenna said trying to look serious. Herrior smiled at her.

"Oh my…and your face didn't crack." Brenna said. "How about we go have lunch?"

Herrior sighed and looked away.

"You ambassadors suck at keeping secrets you know that? Well the sun is still going to rise tomorrow, and you will still be as stubborn as ever…now come, let's go eat." Brenna said pulling on Herrior's arm.

They went to a large garden filled with fragrances he didn't recognize.

"I am not familiar with the new flowers. What are they?" Herrior said.

"They are designed to hypnotize you into telling me your deepest darkest secrets." Brenna said looking at him. "Azshara's Veil is the name. We've been finding ways of growing them faster and researching possible uses for them. Your group is responsible for clearing the path for our secondary groups and gatherers to obtain them. You've been through a lot in the past couple of days haven't you?" Brenna asked.

"We've been busy." Herrior said back.

"So how is Skyka?"

"Probably just as dazed as I have been." Herrior said.

"She is, but seems to be focusing her efforts on something instead of just walking around aimlessly. The same as the rest of your group…not that I've been keeping track…" Brenna said. Herrior smiled again.

"It's been hard to do that lately huh?" Brenna said and pulled out a napkin with an assortment of bread in it. "Guess which one of these is poisoned."

"None of them." Herrior said reaching for a dark slice.

"Well I figured I'd at least get some reaction out of that." Brenna said taking a piece of her own.

"Have you attended any church services lately?" Brenna asked.

"No, but it's not that. I have prayed and meditated. How's Jeffery been doing?" Herrior asked.

"He seems happy to have his dad back, but Bernett seems distant from him and Samatha. I'm sure Samatha is drilling him like I am with you." Brenna said.

"This needs to stop." Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone as he stood up. He looked down at it for a minute. He then put it back away and sat back down.

"Conversations usually start with some sort of greeting." Brenna said taking another piece. "Do you want to practice? I'll go first." Brenna coughed and tried to do her best voice impression of Herrior. "Hi, this is Herrior. Can we all get together and talk?"

"Are you mocking my leader?" Veliline said standing next to them. Brenna nearly gagged on the piece of bread she just ate.

"No Veliline its fine. How are you doing?" Herrior asked.

"I requested a fresh corpse that has recently died so I can experiment. The King said to come see you." Veliline said.

"I'm sure you can go to any of our outposts and help defend them." Herrior said.

"No, I require one of you to be dead." Veliline said.

"Seeing how I don't like to die, I'm going to pack up and let you two talk." Brenna said quickly wrapping up her napkin and leaving in a hurry.

"Have you been talking to Mohania lately?" Herrior said smiling looking up at her.

"No. I have an ability to raise a ghoul to fight beside me. I also have the ability to raise a fallen group member into a weaker ghoul to fight. However I believe I can raise their body back from the ground into their old normal self instantly. The Lich King's ability was not that of power, but of the ability to raise an army. When one fell, either one of us or our enemy, we were given the power to raise them as a ghoul." Veliline said.

"I'm not sure you are going to get a lot of people to volunteer for that." Herrior said with a smile on his face. "Have you been thinking about what Dan was saying as well?"

"Yes and I have been reviewing all of the spells I know. I'm not sure how I can alter some of them. I still question my own perception of what I saw that day." Veliline said.

"Have a seat. It seems everybody else has been doing the same as well." Herrior said.

"It was not a dream, and my body seemed to be functioning fine that day." Veliline said as she continued to talk in her normal non-emotionless voice. "All of my spells are instant casts, so I cannot improve on those. My ability to spread pestilence I believe I can increase my range on that, however…" Veliline said as she seemed to drift off.

"I know what you mean…err not about what you just said…but I know that same look." Herrior said. "What do think about what the night elf did?"

"I think she is weak. Given the same choice I would have engaged my own kind and not hesitated about it. You are either stronger than your enemy or you die." Veliline said.

"What do you think about the new ability Lindel learned, you know, how to fly through our enemy and learn their secrets and abilities?" Herrior asked.

"I would be angry with her. She acted like she didn't know she had that ability though. Still not knowing is no excuse; however that is your call. I think the same of her regardless. It does make sense when you think about it though; we have all seen what she is capable of doing – she just never realized she could perform that ability. Having her ability back in my time would have brought down the Lich King faster. That is what I am doing with myself though. I could be the same way which angers me. Is there something about me that I can improve and I am just simply too blind to see it?" Veliline asked Herrior.

"This does need to stop." Herrior said standing back up but only this time activating his hearthstone. He summoned all of his members of his group at the same time and asked them to meet with him in the gardens. They all acknowledged, except for Strings.

"Ysera wants to know if it is urgent…sorry she asked." Strings said.

"Why are you with Ysera?" Herrior asked surprised.

"Uh…having lunch?" Strings said. Herrior then heard Ysera say several things in the background.

"Strings are you going to join her forces?" Herrior asked.

"No…no not at all." Strings said back immediately.

"Well I would like to speak with you, and then you may resume doing…whatever you are doing." Herrior said and closed the portal.

After ten minutes his party had assembled. They all had the same look, except for Dan and Crystal. They were laughing and tickling each other.

"I need all of you, including myself – with the exception of Dan and Crystal – to stop over thinking things and enjoy yourselves. I'm ordering all of you to relax. We're in the most beautiful city I have ever seen and all of us are so busy questioning ourselves that we aren't able to relax. Look around and take in the beauty. Take time to stop and realize what we are fighting for; stop analyzing yourselves or what you can do in the next battle to increase the outcome. That is how battles are lost. Dan obviously showed us many things that one day and I am putting Dan in charge of figuring out how we can improve our spells and attacks. The rest of you, if something new was taught to you, use it. If you can't, do your normal fighting. I want my group back, not a bunch of people second-guessing themselves. If you don't change I will lead another group into battle and leave you here. Is that understood?" Herrior asked sternly looking at everybody. They all nodded in acknowledgement.

"So go have fun. I have not received any new orders yet, but until then I don't want you questioning yourself anymore. If it wasn't for Dan, we wouldn't have this problem. However if it wasn't for Dan we would not be aware of this situation. I put the burden on his shoulders. If he doesn't come up with anything new, then so be it. If he figures out how to make all of us fly or destroy legions of armies by shooting lightning bolts from our eyes – I order him to report it to me. Is that understood?" Herrior said.

Mohania became excited and asked if he could be the second one to tell.

"Ok? Go have fun – find something to do. Our town stretches for hundreds of miles, there must be something you can find to entertain yourselves. Crystal, what have you and Dan been doing to have fun?" Herrior asked.

"Playing hide and go seek." Crystal said and burst into laughter.

"I have no idea what that is – teach it to the rest of the group. Strings may I ask you what you were doing?" Herrior said turning to Strings.

"Remember when Ysera pulled me aside after our battle? She has expressed interest in me. It didn't click with me until she came right out and said it. So we have been spending time together." Strings said.

The group looked at him in shock. "Yeah, that's sort of the expression I had."

"Details! I demand details, and don't leave out a second…" Lindel said walking over and gently shoving him.

"Umm…" Strings said and looked at Herrior in desperation.

"He wasn't talking to you, I was…come on spill it! What did you do to win her over? I mean…its Ysera! Could you have picked a more powerful person? Who made the first move?" Lindel said almost ecstatic.

Strings clapped his hands together and said, "Hey I feel like a drink does anybody else? No? Ok well I'll just be on my way then." Lindel performed the same move, but only this time Herrior didn't say anything.

"Well?" Lindel said.

"I'm hoping Herrior says something or my hearthstone vibrates or for the world to come to an end." Strings said.

"Yeah I don't think so…" Lindel said pushing him backwards.

"Is Ysera waiting for you?" Herrior asked.

"No she said we can visit another time." Strings said.

"Well then…it seems you aren't keeping her. So…I have to side with Lindel on this one." Herrior said with a smile. Strings looked over at him disappointed. "Sorry my friend."

Strings let out a sigh. "I meant to say that she has business for me?"

"Oh horseshit…how in the world did this start and why didn't you tell me…err us…sooner?" Lindel said continuing to push him backwards until he fell on the ground.

"Oops." Lindel said giggling and floated above him.

"For a second there I was able to see the sky, oh what sweet but brief freedom it was." Strings said.

Lindel started saying the word "talk" over and over and started tickling him.

"Can I have a private life?" Strings asked laughing. Lindel stopped for a couple of seconds and then said, "No" and continued to tickle him.

"Mercy…mercy…I'll talk…" Strings said seeming to have enough of the torture. "You're a pain in the ass you know that?"

"I've been saying that all along." Mohania said with a grin.

"Yeah yeah…so start at the beginning…" Lindel said.

"Branzer, you have your hands full with this one." Strings said sitting up.

"Me? I wouldn't be the one to talk there Strings." Branzer said with a cocky laugh.

"You hush, you talk." Lindel said pointing at Branzer and then at Strings.

"Well it all started…and then that's where we are now." Strings said.

"Wha?" Lindel asked.

"Dan, did you stop time?" Strings said looking at him. "I could have sworn I just told the whole story."

"If Dan would have stopped time, my nose would be in somebody else's ass." Herrior said looking at Mohania.

"That's true!" Mohania said laughing. "I meant…Dan did it…"

"Fine. Give me some space please." Strings said gently pushing Lindel away.

"You all remember when Ysera came up and asked permission from Herrior to speak with me?" Strings asked.

"Yeah yeah…speed it up…" Lindel said.

"We walked a distance and she asked if we could talk. I said certainly. She said she hasn't heard the music of a bard in years and asked me what my favorite song was. I thought for awhile and said the 'Sir Robin's Tune' because of its calming affects on the group. She shook her head and asked me what my favorite was again. I then asked it sort of depended on the situation. She asked if I get together with the other bards and just randomly play. I said of course and said he could gather up some of the other bards and play for her. She shook her head and said she only wanted to hear me play. I said ok and asked what song. She then smiled and asked what I like to do. I named off many things and she chimed in once in awhile and said she liked to do the same things. When I was done she asked if we could do some of those things together. I said certainly and said my group would love to join us." Strings said.

"You're a dumbass…you do realize that don't you. That is your new title, 'Strings the dumbass'." Skyka said.

"She said she wanted to do those things with me, nobody else and wanted to get to know me better." Strings said.

"So did it sink in yet, or did she have to transform into a dragon and smack you in the head with her claw?" Skyka asked.

"I sort of took the hint awhile ago, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. I mean…its Ysera. If I may be so bold to ask, what were those explosions that we kept hearing?" Strings asked. The group looked at Mohania and his head was tilted all the way back and he was snoring silently.

"Usually he doesn't miss an opportunity to blame me." Dan said.

"You do realize a woman you can transform, or whatever you call it, into a dragon that weighs over sixty tons is interested in you. She also commands what, hundreds of dragons at her side?" Bernett said.

"Sixty? I'd at least double that. She could step on you and wouldn't even know it." Branzer said.

"Why you? I mean she…" Herrior said.

"That's it! All males leave! Where you be without us females for crying out loud…Crystal could you pick Mohania's head back up and move him along." Lindel said. Crystal reached down and shoved Mohania's head into his stomach.

"Dan did it." Mohania said quickly as he put his skull back on his neck.

"Sounds good to me." Strings said and began to follow them. Lindel quickly restrained him. "The rest of you…shoo…"

"Are you ordering your leader to leave?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Are you helping or hindering? Also, if it is ok with you, yes I am." Lindel said smirking at him.

The men walked out of the garden until they were out of audible range.

"So how has Ysera's other dates gone? I mean…are they still alive or burned to a crisp?" Bernett asked.

"She never dated…that I know of." Herrior said.

"Should we tell the King?" Dan asked.

"Following normal protocol - no. She asked me permission to talk to him, and I said yes. From that point on the relationship is on their hands. One of them has to ask me if they want to become closer. That rule is simply in place because as a leader I want to know where my party is. Until they take that next step, he is free to spend time with her as much as he wants. They know the rules; I'm not worried about that."

"Blah blah blah…so he's hooked up with the most powerful dragon known to us. I say more power to him. Just imagine the death and destruction he could reign down. 'Run little people…run as fast as you can…' but it would be useless, the fire would engulf them. She could instill fear in many worlds and rip entire cities apart." Mohania said as his voice became more sinister the more he talked.

"Jealous?" Herrior asked.

Mohania smiled and then quickly became serious and said, "No".

"You do realize she doesn't do things like that." Herrior said.

"Of course not, I was just simply…having a daydream…Branzer don't you have a question?"

"Actually I do." Branzer said.

"You do?" Mohania said twisting his head completely around looking at him surprised.

"That is disturbing every time you do that. Dan what can I do to make my gun fire faster?" Branzer asked.

"Pull the trigger faster?" Dan asked back.

"Naw it doesn't work that way. Hunter's have to channel their energy into their weapon to let out the ability they want to happen, have happen." Branzer said.

Dan shrugged, "Channel your energy faster? I don't know. Actually have you visited the engineers recently? They might have better advice than I could give. They have a device they have been trying to impress me with. It fires six rockets every second at a target, but only hits the target about half of the time. I like to upset them by asking, 'Only six at a time' and 'You do know where the target is, don't you?' Their reaction is funny."

"Well…sounds somewhat useful. But I want to hit the target every time, faster and causing maximum damage." Branzer said.

"So…are you asking to shoot faster, or hit harder, or get more critical hits in with your bullets?" Dan said sounding confused.

"Uh…all of the above I guess." Branzer said. "If the goblins can shoot that fast, they should be able to make my gun shoot faster."

"No, engineers. May other races have been helping, not just goblins. What you are thinking of is the machine guns back in our world, or possibly have a 51 caliber gun fire a dozen rounds in a second with superb accuracy?" Dan asked.

"Something like that." Branzer said with a smile.

"From what I've observed, they have been using ammunition and now they aren't. I haven't a clue about that. They rockets that they somehow user recharge themselves, again I have no clue. I just like asking them if they can improve on it." Dan said smiling. "Let me see your gun."

Branzer pulled it out and it sprung to life, adjusting itself as it normally did. He handed it to Dan and it quickly retracted all of its gizmo's and became a normal looking magnum. He handed it back to Branzer and it quickly sprung back to life.

"Are you doing that?" Dan asked.

"No, not that I know of anyways." Branzer asked.

"That's odd…so why did it not do that in the caverns?" Dan asked. "Anyways go up and ask them. I'll think about a couple of things, but I think you will come up with answers faster than I will. Also, ditch the scope - obviously you aren't using it. Ask them to put some other gizmo in place."

"Will do." Branzer said as he called down his dragon. Bernett followed him close behind.

"You should probably give the same advice to the Julie." Herrior said.

"I don't know if I should. I mean she may have figured more out than I have. She figured out everybody's talent trees and spend days researching that stuff. She's probably leaps and bounds ahead of what I could suggest. As far as her making her dog increase in size and all of them making their pets move as fast as they do and attack without constant orders from their masters…I haven't a clue how they do that. I've thought about getting blasted into every different type of class we have – but I would have to be that class for awhile, and would probably have to learn everything all over again. I don't think it would get anywhere though." Dan said.

"How did you know I could cast my Earthmaw spell faster?" Mohania asked.

"I didn't. Actually I was half expecting to make an ass out of myself…and since you already think I'm an ass I wouldn't have anything to lose." Dan said.

"That's true." Mohania said.

"I'll take that as some sort of compliment. Anyways from that point on I suggested several other things, some worked, and some didn't. Some results I didn't expect to be honest. Others were hard to communicate because of constant explosions." Dan said.

"That's true also." Mohania said with a straight face.

"Herrior, you can throw your sword, like I could – but it always came back. Then we were taught to throw a magical sword equivalent to the same damage we do with our attacks. Can you through your shield as well?" Dan asked.

Herrior pulled out his shield and through it against a wall. It made a loud thud and quite a ruckus when it landed.

"Hmm…ok, can you summon it back?" Dan asked.

Herrior tried for several seconds and said, "No."

"See, that idea didn't work…but it worked for your sword. That puzzles me. However on the flip side throwing a magical sword instead of your real sword is better because it gives you the chance to parry your attacks, instead of just dodging or blocking them." Dan said. Herrior walked over and picked his shield back up and put it behind him.

"Like I said, just had collected a series of theory's. This was proven wrong. Anyways though I wish to take a leave if that is all?" Dan asked.

"Have you learned how to fire lightning out of your eyes and annihilate entire armies?" Mohania asked.

"Not yet." Dan said with a smile.

"Actually, Mohania Veliline is request a corpse." Herrior said.

"Why would you ask a question like that to me?" Mohania said with a smile.

"Call it a gut feeling. Anyways, do you think you could help her out with that?" Herrior asked.

"Well…I don't know…you know those are hard to come by these days…" Mohania said.

"How many do you have stored in the warlock cave?" Herrior asked.

"Over two hundred." Mohania said casually.

"Could she practice on one of those? She said it needed to be a fallen ally though." Herrior said.

"Uh…that would be a problem. Sending one of our people to die for Veliline to practice on I'm pretty sure is against the ambassador rules." Mohania said.

"Same answer I gave her. Could you just tell her that it is? If it comes back as a dwarf…or whatever you have stored down there…do you think you could kill it again?" Herrior asked. Mohania let out a sinister laugh as if Herrior made a joke.

"Yeah…pretty certain with that…" Mohania said. "Ok I'll go talk with her after they are done grilling Strings. The torture they are putting him through is almost the same that I used to do…and those are his friends."

"Has the King called on you recently to torture people?" Herrior asked.

"I believe that information is confidential." Mohania said with a big sinister grin.

"Never mind. I am assuming that after you got the information you let them go?" Herrior asked.

"Same answer only with a more convincing face." Mohania said with the same grin.

"Fair enough. I'm going to go to our warrior's and speak with them." Herrior said summoning his dragon. Dan flew off as well.

"Eh – I'm all alone. I wonder what sort of trouble I could get into." Mohania said out loud.

"You aren't very secretive are you?" Brenna said looking at him.

"What the…how long have you been there?" Mohania asked.

"Oh, just uh…dusting this wall…" Brenna said turning around and pretending to clean a house behind her.

"Are you some sort of banshee that appears instantly only to spoil my fun?" Mohania asked.

"No, but I do enjoy spoiling your fun." Brenna said walking towards him. "How are things with you and Kendall?"

"Eh – good I guess. Her powers are stronger than mine, but I have more burst damage. Being a fire mage though she has the ability to run and cast at the same time – that's annoying. Also what's annoying is she has the ability to frequently cast spells with no mana, while all I do is replenish people's mana. I think I have more immediate defensive counter spells than she does, but her silence spell I would love to have." Mohania said.

"Here…" Brenna said handing him a full bloomed black rose. "Go find her and give this to her."

"Why?" Mohania asked.

"Have I ever steered you wrong before? Tell her that you love her and that she has beautiful eyes." Brenna said and walked away.

"Did she put you up to this?" Mohania asked.

"No." Brenna said continuing to walk away. Mohania pulled out his hearthstone and found out that Kendall was in the infirmary.

"What are you doing there?" Mohania asked.

"Washing windows, what do you think?" Kendall replied back. "I don't have the strength, I have to lie down." Kendall said closing her portal.

"How did you know that Brenna?" Mohania said out loud but couldn't find her.

"Women…" Mohania said and summoned his magic carpet and flew as fast as he could to her.

Mohania arrived and gave her the rose and said she had pretty eyes. Kendall looked up at him as she smiled back with a tear coming down her fleshy cheek.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear." Kendall said.

"What happened?" Mohania asked.

"Explosion. Turns out fire mages don't have much resistance to fire, even with our defensive spells active. I'll be fine, just a couple more hours. Will you stay with me?" Kendall asked. Mohania nodded and sat down beside her.

Dan flew to the King's quarters and asked to speak with an ambassador.

"No, the King was expecting you. Go on it." One of the guards said.

"Oh?" Dan said walking into his chambers. He walked in and saw that he was having a meal with his Queen.

"Oops, sorry to interrupt." Dan said turning around.

"You aren't interrupting hun, we have a seat for you right here. Come feast with us. You are an expected guess." The Queen said. Dan walked over and sat down. He looked over the food and decided to get a group of grapes to put on his plate.

"Dan…I admire you. I hope you find Tranquil an enjoyable place because I would like to keep you here forever." The King said.

"I don't plan on going anywhere." Dan said popping a grape in his mouth. His tastes buds instantly flared and instinctively spit it back out.

The King laughed. "That's decoration for the table, try this." The king said handing over a piece of what looked like spinach. Dan tried a small piece and was instantly filled with power.

The three of them continued to eat in silence, Dan half expecting to be quizzed on several different things. When the King and Queen finished eating, Dan offered to help clean up.

"Not necessary." The King said as all of the dishes and silverware flew off the table, past several rooms and splashed into a sink.

"Huh, well that's handy. Is there something you wanted to speak with me about?" Dan asked.

"No, just wanted to have your company here. Feel free to join us anytime. You may go about your business or do as you wish now." The King said.

Dan slowly got up to leave as he looked at both the King and Queen in question.

"We have started to do this with everybody hun, you are not in any trouble and we do not want to question you." The Queen said looking up at him.

Dan shrugged his shoulders and thanked them for the opportunity to eat with them and left – still half expecting them to call him back. He still stuck around their entrance for several minutes just in case, but eventually left.

"So did you use your napkin?" Crystal asked as he walked past a street.

"Actually no…and I believe I used the wrong spoon." Dan said smiling at her. "Aren't you guys supposed to be torturing Strings?"

"Several of us left. Lindel for some reason likes every little detail. So what do you want to do now?" Crystal asked. She then continued, "I started looking for you. Nobody knew who I was talking about until I asked, 'goofy looking guy, probably stumbling over everything, and more than likely in trouble because of something Mohania blamed on him for'. They immediately said you were dining with the King and Queen."

Dan let out a laugh and turned to Veliline. "So what's your excuse for hanging out with this goofball?"

"Mohania is busy. I need a fresh corpse." Veliline said.

"I don't understand either one and am equally curious about both sentences, but I want to do something right." Dan said turning his head in the direction of the church.

"Need some alone time?" Crystal asked.

"No." Dan said and then paused for awhile. He then continued and said, "I don't know."

"Ok, let's go see if somebody in Tranquil has a fresh corpse." Crystal said looking at Dan. "If you need to talk send me a text message."

"I don't think we would get much reception up here…or down here…or wherever here is…" Dan said with a laugh. Dan looked back at her and smiled, then turned and walked away.

Dan entered the church and saw several people praying and reading. Services weren't going but that didn't seem to matter. Dan walked by them, smiling at several of them and sat in the front row. He sat down and let out a deep breath. Before he could start praying though, he felt a gentle poke on his left hip.

"Oh sorry." Dan said surprised as he jumped out of his seat and turned to look. He saw Trackolania smiling at him.

"You have to stop sneaking up on people like that; you could kill somebody like that." Dan said and they both shared a smile.

"I just had some thoughts weighing on my mind. Something's I can't talk to anybody about and this seemed like a good place to come to." Dan said looking at him. Trackolania nodded at him.

"Did you want to talk to me as well? Question me about how to kill people faster?" Dan asked with a sigh. Trackolania looked at him for awhile and slowly shook his head.

"Not anymore huh…" Dan said with a smile. "I'm sorry I stumbled on some…uh…secrets." Trackolania quickly shook his head looking at him.

"Not it huh? Well I would like to have some quiet time if that is ok?" Dan asked.

Trackolania nodded with a smile. He then looked over Dan's shoulder and saw Skyka. She looked very hesitant and unsure about what she wanted to do – but it was obvious she wanted to talk to Dan. Trackolania poked Dan again and motioned with his head over at her.

"Is there any place that I can go to be alone?" Dan asked. Trackolania nodded his head but Dan didn't see it as he walked over to Skyka.

"Hello Skyka, perhaps you have a question or two?" Dan asked. Skyka replied and she then exploded with all of the things she has tried, things she has tried to alter, and many other things she has tried. Dan pulled out his hearthstone.

"What are you doing that for?" Skyka stopped talking quickly and asked.

"I believe we have orders to relax. There might be something Herrior can do to help you relax." Dan said.

Skyka sighed and looked away.

"Have a seat with me." Dan said gesturing to one of the pews. They both walked over and sat down.

"I've come here to be alone, but when I see somebody as troubled as you I will take the time to talk with you." Dan said.

"Turning into a clergyman now?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"Stop your mind. Turn it off. If all of Tranquil has seen your face, they are probably worried that the sky is falling." Dan said and then sternly said, "They look at our ambassador's for strength and guidance, so start projecting that image."

"I can't do what Icis did. What if I could have in the past, would Herrior or our party members have died as much? They depend on me!" Skyka said frustrated as a tear fell and she started shaking. Dan reached over and embraced her. Skyka began to cry but then quickly sat back and wiped her tears away.

"Been beating yourself up pretty good huh?" Dan asked. Skyka nodded and looked away.

Dan looked away and thought for a moment. "Strange how life changes. Look at me, I went from watching horror movies and a normal life to basic training at the academy, then joining your group with the title of 'being the guy everybody has to teach everything to' and now I have the title of 'the guy that is making everybody question themselves'. What's my next title going to be, 'the guy that split up Herrior's group and broke life-long relationships'"?

Skyka's tear filled eyes turned to him and smiled. "You won't break up our group or any relationships."

"Promise?" Dan asked uncertain.

"Promise." Skyka replied back.

"Deep breath time?" Dan asked. Skyka smiled back at him and they both took a deep breath and settled down.

"Complete sentence time?" Dan asked.

"Crystal is lucky, you know that?" Skyka said looking deep into his eyes.

"Uh…none awkward time?" Dan asked.

"That's not what I meant and you know that. Umm…can you help me later when you have a moment?" Skyka asked.

"I would do anything for you, and you know what I meant by that." Dan said smiling back.

"You can say stuff like that to us. We know what you mean." Skyka said with a smile. She then seemed to recall a memory. "What did you mean by riding on top of Herrior?"

"Haven't you ever wanted to sit on his shoulders and hold on to his horns as he ran as fast as he could? We call that a rodeo back on Earth, only the bull tries to shake us off. Sorry, I should have explained that at the time." Dan said.

Skyka let out a quick burst of laughter. Then she started to laugh quietly as she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead and walked away. Dan watched her leave; just before she left she turned to him and gave him a smile. Dan turned back around and saw Trackolania sitting where Skyka was sitting.

"You're a fast little bugger you know that?" Dan said to him. Trackolania then pointed at him and where Skyka left. He then put his hands over his ears and shook his head.

"You have an ear infection and you are blaming it on us…" Dan said. Trackolania looked at him and rolled his eyes. He then started to do something else.

"I know what you mean." Dan said putting his arms back at his side. "Why are you following me around? Do you think I'm going to come up with a sudden idea and you will miss it if you aren't around?" Trackolania shook his head. Trackolania held out his hands to Dan. Dan paused for a second and then held his hands. Trackolania then closed his eyes.

"You know something is troubling me and want to pray with me." Dan whispered. Trackolania slowly nodded. Dan smiled at him and closed his eyes.

Two days passed, unknown to Dan. He was suddenly awakened by the sounds of singing. He quickly looked up and saw that church services were going on. He also saw that Trackolania was there as well, who had opened his eyes and looked up at Dan. Dan became worried, but Trackolania gave him a smile and gently shook his head.

"What happened?" Dan asked.

A female troll whispered that was standing next to him. "You've been here for two days mon. People be doing dat all da time, no worries." She then went back to singing.

"Two days?" Dan asked looking at Trackolania. He nodded.

"Two days of praying and I still don't have the answers I wanted." Dan said out loud.

"Dat not be de da tune, hear - you be sharing my hymnal wit me." The troll said and showed Dan with her long finger nail where they were. Eventually Dan began to sing along, but didn't show much enthusiasm. The priest talked for several hours, but nothing seemed to really speak to his heart. Afterwards he quickly excused himself and left the church.

Dan looked up in the sky and slowly shook his head. He was upset, but knew that wasn't how things worked. Dan then summoned his dragon and flew away.

"Think he's ok?" Skyka said to Herrior.

"Yeah, I think he's ok." Herrior said back. Herrior's group followed him out quietly and watched him take flight.

"He probably needs to eat some human flesh." Mohania said.

"Speaking of, did you and Veliline get a chance to do what she wanted?" Herrior asked.

"Actually yes…umm, dozens of times until the body exploded into hundreds of pieces. I blamed Veliline naturally, but we sort of took that as a hint to stop doing that." Mohania said. "Did you ever get that 'wand thing up your sleeve' working?" Mohania asked turning to Skyka.

"No." Skyka said shaking her head. "I don't think it's possible. It was a good idea, but unless he knows something that I haven't tried I don't see it working."

"Did he mention anything about annihilating entire armies with beams of lights from his eyes yet?" Mohania asked Herrior.

"Yes. In fact he said it was so powerful that he made me promise not to tell anybody." Herrior said smiling and looking at him.

"I didn't hear the last part…so how does the spell go?" Mohania asked seeming quite interested.

"Let's get going Mohania, we're holding up the line…" Kendall said dragging him away.

"But…unlimited power…and destruction…" Mohania said being dragged away.

"Do you suppose he dreams about rabbits and deer frolicking in a meadow?" Bernett said with a smile.

"What are those animals?" Jeffery asked looking up at his dad.

"Well they live in the woods…" Bernett said and then stopped. "Ok, well they live in the woods where daddy and mommy come from."

"Can I see them?" Jeffery asked.

"Umm…" Samatha said looking at Bernett.

"I always thought the 'birds and the bees' talk would be the hardest." Bernett said back.

"What are those?" Jeffery asked.

"Why don't you go show him?" Skyka asked smiling at him. "Lindel do you have any plans?"

"Nope, do you want to go through a portal Jeffery?" Lindel asked.

"Yeah!" Jeffery said excitedly. He then paused and asked if it hurt.

"Not at all. Sometimes it tickles though." Lindel replied back winking at him.

"Alan's house?" Herrior asked.

"That's what I was thinking, is that ok?" Lindel asked.

"Yup. Things have been pretty quiet for awhile, except for our gatherers and profession masters. If something comes up I'll let you know." Herrior said.

"And no time stopping or talking about Tranquil." Jeffery said.

"That's right little one, and who taught you that?" Lindel asked.

"Dan did of course." Jeffery said.

"When did Dan have time to do that?" Herrior asked. Jeffery shrugged and asked when they could leave. Lindel started channeling her power into the portal and the wider it got, the wider Jeffery's eyes got.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Jeffery asked excitedly.

"Someday maybe." Lindel said. "But first let's go find some birds and bees."

Lindel stepped through the portal and said, "Hellooo…" in a long drawn out voice. Jeffery, Samatha and Bernett followed as well.

"Hello?" A female voice came back, but it wasn't Samatha's – but it sounded kind enough.

"Are Alan and Samatha here?" Lindel asked walking around the corner. "Oh? Hi!" Lindel said surprised and turned back around quickly and signaled for Bernett and Samatha to quickly activate their trinkets.

"Ah, they are here. I wasn't sure they were going to make it." Alan said getting up and walking over. "These are our friends as well; you must have snuck in the back."

"Nope! Lindel created a portal and we walked in through that! Have you seen what she can do? It's amazing! Hi everybody!" Jeffery said.

"Portal…eh the video games these kids play these days…" Alan said as Lindel closed the portal and Bernett and Samatha walked out.

"What's a video game?" Jeffery asked. "I'm here to learn about the birds and the bees." The dozens of people in the house roared into laughter.

"Sorry about that…Jeffery how about we go outside and let these people talk?" Samatha asked.

"Sure mom." Jeffery said as Samatha led him outside.

"He's sure grown fast." Alan said.

"You have no idea." Bernett said back.

"Usually I leave that conversation to the parents; however I can talk to him about it as a doctor." Alan said chuckling.

"He has quite the curiosity that's for sure. However he did actually mean he wanted to see some birds, and then we got on the topic of how they eat bees sometimes." Bernett said to help smooth out the confusion. "I believe you have meet Lindel."

"Yes we have." Alan said reaching over to shake her hand. Lindel looked down at it. She then immediately read Alan's mind and reached her hand up to shake it.

"I drop by unexpectedly once in awhile." Lindel said. She then turned to his guests and said, "Usually when Samatha cooks up one of her chocolate cakes…which is what I believe I smell right now?"

"There's no fooling you is there?" Alan asked back with a smile.

"You can try." Lindel said with a big smile back.

The conversation resumed without any further questions and even Jeffery and Samatha came back in eventually. Lindel scanned each of the people's thoughts and none of them appeared to be a threat. She then relaxed and enjoyed a giant slice of cake.

"Herrior! Dan is a genius!" Quinely yelled into her hearthstone. Herrior on the other side of the portal leaned back a little from the sudden excitement.

"Instead of taking years to rebuild what was destroyed, it will only take a week! Maybe even a couple of days! Ysera and several of her dragons came out to help and it was amazing!" Quinely said still excited.

"Good to hear, that's great news! How did he do it?" Herrior asked.

"He is out here right now with me and we have been talking for awhile. He then helped plant the seeds necessary to start the life cycle again. Then he suggested the idea of dropping the seeds from the dragons, and having Strings call in the rain. There are no birds to eat the seeds, and then after that all of us druids have been casting Tranquility on them and they are shooting out of the ground like crazy!" Quinely practically shouted.

"Wow, it sounds like you are really excited." Herrior said. "Where's Dan at now?"

"Talking to Cenarius about something…I don't know. Ysera is here with the night elves as well. They helped also, but they asked us to leave and continue to heal the forest. Dan also asked me several questions about myself and other druids. I think he has a plan for me, but I don't entirely understand it yet. He was saying I would have to change clothes or something…and then the forest jumped to life and I got distracted." Quinely said back.

"Ok, well, do they need our help?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know. I suppose if they need you they will contact you." Quinely replied back.

"I suppose so. Ok well that sounds great and keep me informed ok?" Herrior said. Quinely excitedly said ok and closed the portal.

"Huh…that's not like Quinely to become distracted…" Skyka said eyeing Herrior.

"Ever get the feeling that we are going to lose him in our group?" Herrior asked back.

"Yeah…" Skyka said in a long breath.

"Can we pretend we're not eavesdropping anymore?" Crystal asked.

"Sure." Herrior said looking up and seeing the rest of his party come around the side of a house.

"What's happening to my husband?" Crystal asked.

"Crystal, I am your leader and an ambassador and I can withhold information at my discretion if wanted to. That being said, I have no idea Crystal. I honestly have no clue." Herrior said.

"So you don't know how to shoot energy out of your eyes then…" Mohania said.

"It's not energy, he calls it lasers. But that's not the point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I want you all to remember though that our group can be broken up and any one of you can be asked to go fight for one of any of our groups that we have formed a bond with." Herrior said.

"What's a laser?" Mohania asked.

"Permission to ignore Mohania." Crystal asked.

"Granted." Herrior said.

"What?" Mohania asked.

"I knew that all along, just never sank in I guess. If he is called to go elsewhere then I'll have to accept it. Just the same as if I had to kill him…I guess I would hesitate." Crystal admitted.

"He wouldn't. I stayed behind back in Vashj'ir because if I had to kill him, I would be fighting him and you. I believe he would have won, but on the chance that whatever possessed him didn't obtain his powers I would have put him down. In order to save the lives of the rest of you, I would not hesitate for an instant to kill him or any of you. I expect all of you to accept this, and I don't expect to give this speech again." Herrior said looking at Crystal sternly. Herrior looked back at his group and said, "If Dan is ordered to leave, or chooses to do so, then he will be missed – but still loved. To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't been pulled yet. Look at everything that he's done in the last week. I almost anticipate it to happen." Herrior stopped talking as his hearthstone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw Dan.

"How do you calm down a young female druid?" Dan asked with a smile.

"Ignite her body on fire." Mohania said.

"Is he serious? Sometimes I can't tell." Dan asked.

"Should we come out and talk with her?" Herrior asked.

"Ok by me. She's morphing into every creature I've ever seen, and a lot I have never seen. Should I keep my distance from her? Some of the creatures look pretty fearsome." Dan asked.

"We'll be out there in a couple of minutes." Herrior said and closed the portal. He put his hearthstone in his pocket and staring blankly at his group he summoned his dragon and flew towards the cities portals. The others followed.

When they arrived they saw Dan, Strings and Ysera sipping some kind of drink with Cenarius below them. They flew over and landed by them.

"Dan seems to have problems accepting credit for his accomplishments." Ysera said taking a drink.

"I didn't do anything. Herrior they were planting seeds by hand. Somebody made the comment that nothing would eat them and the ground would slowly absorb them. Bending over all of those times was hard work. But you guys remember the old crop duster…hey where's Bernett?" Dan asked.

"Talking about the birds and the bees with his son." Skyka said.

"Oh…yeah I'd rather be here. My talk didn't go over so well." Dan said taking a drink. "Anyways the crop dusters; they would drop seeds from the air so the farmers didn't have to by hand."

"No hun, those are combines. The crop dusters would spread weed killer on the plants." Crystal said.

"Oh." Dan said. "Well I feel like an ass." He said smiling.

"But it worked." Ysera said. "Would you like to join us?"

"Certainly." Herrior said sitting next to Dan.

"I told you he's an ass, everybody remember this moment when he finally admitted to it." Mohania said.

"Mohania…" Ysera said in a quiet voice smiling at him. "Do you call people an ass because you are upset that you don't have one?"

"No, I call them an ass because they are an ass…what's so funny?" Mohania asked as his group.

"Nothing that will sink for awhile." Ysera said and spoke several words in the night elf language. A couple of them came out at first, followed next by dozens.

"Quite the gathering you have here." Herrior said slightly confused.

"Word spread quickly. I told them they would not be allowed in your city without your defenses down, and with the King's permission, and with an ambassador." Ysera said.

"That can be arranged, but for what reason?" Herrior asked.

"They are all hunters. The only class and talent trainers I know of are within your city. If they were dragons, I could teach them. If they were druids, Cenarius could teach them – but they are neither. I need them to secure this area and for my defenses. The other problem of course being that with their abandoned houses and cities, they cannot pay their taxes to their newly established alliance King – also they keep an accurate head count of all of their fighters. My dragons have burned everything and we tried our best, with the help of Strings, to make it look like a natural disaster wiped them out. Unfortunately though, the Alliance will catch on after awhile. That being said the next question your eyes are asking is 'Do I trust them, should you trust them, and will the King trust them?' am I correct?" Ysera said.

"That and I was also wondering what flavor tea this is."

"It's that of a Warwick tree. Tiny drops of sap are collected and boiled, then stirred and served hot. It is not often that we have this. It will not produce any ill effects and is safe to drink." One of the female night elves said in a kind gentle voice.

"So I'm going to be the 'go-between' person for this. On the one hand I trust you, and the other I trust the King. Them I have fought for years." Herrior said looking at the female and took a drink.

"The wonderful job of an ambassador huh?" Ysera said smiling at him.

"Reaccepting the orc race back into our city was hard enough. Many are still leery of them and having the undead as well. There have been a lot of changes, and many still going on. This request would be like adding another flavor to this delicious taste of this tea. It might ruin the taste and cause it to turn sour." Herrior finished off his tea and set his cup down. "I feel it already leaving a bitter taste in my mouth."

Ysera nodded. "I can see the problems it might cause, having your enemy walk the streets that slaughtered your people. They slaughtered mine as well though, and you remember the discussion we had with their leader. I do not wish to cause the taste of sour as you refer to it. Could the trainers be brought here instead?"

"Anticipated that question." Herrior said smiling at her. "And you know the answer to that."

Ysera shrugged with a smile and said, "It was worth a shot. So how much water would have to be added to the tea to dilute the bitter taste?"

Herrior didn't anticipate that question. He turned to Strings and asked, "How are you holding up these days? I hope our ladies didn't torture you too much."

"I am not leaving your group and you know that. I have not over stepped my bounds, and I am not participating in any attacks without specific knowledge of the King. I had dinner with him and believe I spoke too much. However the King merely listened and said that I know the rules and he will support any decision I chose to make." Strings said quickly.

"Herrior, I know your rules. The attacks would have been carried out without him, in fact I didn't even ask him – he offered his assistance with both the attacks and Dan's plan. Shortly afterwards I was unsure about accepting it because of the situation we are in, however he said he wanted to contact your King first. We didn't even know Dan was here to be honest. We saw him fly over on his dragon, so I sent one of my guards to go ask if he would join us."

"Have you found what you are looking for yet Dan?" Herrior asked turning to him.

Dan shook his head. "I would request to speak with you alone, however that would be unfair to my wife and the rest that I love. I would speak these words to my wife, but I know she would not know the answer. I prayed with no answer, so I decided to fly away from everything…clear my mind to try to see what the answer is. But I cannot ask even the question because I don't fully understand it." Dan paused for a second and shook his head again, "Not fully, I barely understand…anything…it doesn't make any sense Herrior and I have nobody to turn to. I have adapted and answered many questions myself…but this…this is nothing compared to that. I know even if I utter one word it would destroy everything within eye sight."

"Can you spell the word?" Mohania asked. "Does it start with an 'M'?"

"Am I dead?" Dan asked looking at Herrior with a serious face.

"No, you seem to be the same as before – only…different." Herrior said.

"Hun, you're fine. You are the same Dan, you are still human, you are still a fighter, and you are still married to the second prettiest woman here…" Skyka said with a smile batting here eye lids.

"All of my senses work, but my brain seems different – altered almost." Dan said.

"Is it, or have you put so much thought into it that you think it is?" Herrior asked.

"You are all missing the point here. Dan, does it start with the letter 'B'?" Mohania asked.

"It doesn't have a starting letter." Dan said and then became agitated. "I can't!" Dan screamed suddenly.

"Mohania would you go check to make sure there are some leaves on the ground for me?" Herrior asked.

"Sorry." Mohania said quietly and walked away. He walked out of ear shot and Dan asked, "Has he ever apologized before?"

"No, well not that direct. He usually wiggles out of it somehow." Herrior said.

"No…let's get back to you two talking, can we please? I don't want to talk anymore." Dan said looking very uncomfortable.

Herrior nodded. "Ysera, I will bind my trust to your word. I have doubts about swaying the King and I am unsure of the meeting grounds. But the future worries me, and both of us know why – and it's not this Deathwing flying around."

"I am honored by your words, and I know what you speak of. Those events have not happened yet and building all of our forces will help." Ysera took a quick glance over her shoulder at the night elves. "I trust them, and will devour them myself if they even think about rebelling or deceiving me. I only picked the ones that I knew I could trust, such as what happened in our previous discussion. The rest were slaughtered." She said casually as if it was not a big deal. "Have your assassins been assigned to investigate further establishments?"

"I cannot answer that in the presence of our company." Herrior said.

"Sorry, I should not have asked that." Ysera apologized quickly.

"We can leave if you desire Ysera?" The female night elf said.

"It is not you. That information is only known to individuals that need to know it, most of the time we don't know until it is over." Herrior said.

"We can gather information if you require it." The female said.

"No, go continue to do your jobs. Thank you though." Ysera said.

"As you wish." The night elf said and they all walked away.

"What happened to Laaraae?" Herrior asked.

"Killed by a dwarf hunter. He asked what she was doing and she replied that she was looking for artifacts. The dwarf shot an arrow into her leg and asked again. She said it was the truth. The dwarf then demanded gold from her. She replied that she had none, and then the dwarf became angered and commanded his bear to attack her. Lying dismangled on the ground, the dwarf demanded that she mate with him or be killed. She spit in his face the same time their arrows went sailing through the air to kill the dwarf…but not quick enough." Ysera said nodding to where the night elves were standing.

"Are you sure he is dead? I wouldn't mind having a word with him…" Herrior said with anger in his voice.

"My thoughts were the same. I even sent several of my scout dragons to confirm the kill. The remaining night elves returned and spoke to me of what happened. They were not lying, but I threatened them within an inch of their lives. I knew their story was true though, my scouts confirmed it. I trust them Herrior." Ysera said with sincerity in her voice. Herrior nodded.

"I will make my leave of absence then as I have much to discuss. The ambassadors I require you to come with me, the rest of you may do as you wish." Herrior stood up. He reached down his hand and helped Ysera to her feet and then embraced her. "I am sorry for your loss." Ysera nodded.

Herrior turned to Dan and said, "Quinely will eventually run out of energy, she will either nap or just sit and rest. Until then, you just have to wait. I hope that answers that question. As for the rest, I don't know what to do for you and I am sorry I do not have advice to help you."

"I need to speak with your wife soon; I made a promise to her. I will calm myself and do it soon, and I apologize for the delay." Dan said.

"No need hun." Skyka said. "Herrior's words are the same that I would have spoken."

Dan nodded his head as he summoned his dragon. He mounted it and looked back and said, "I am sorry to all of you. Crystal my love, I can't explain this but I need to go."

Crystal nodded and smiled at him as he took flight.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Crystal said fighting back the tears.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Mohania. "We have work to do. Fly to us and I will make contact with a Chronomancer." Mohania nodded and quickly flew out of the woods. All of the ambassadors flew into the sky until a portal opened and they flew through it.

"What can we do to help?" Jacklyn asked. Ysera smiled at them. "You already have. Walk with me through our new forest." The rest of the group followed Ysera into the newly built forest.

Dan flew through the air as fast as he could. His thoughts kept churning over and over. They continued for hours, but no matter how far or how fast they flew – he wasn't able to outrun them.

"The end of the world is coming upon us." Dan heard all of a sudden.

"Huh?" Dan asked, wondering if the voice was real. His dragon frantically began to stop its speed and held its feet out anticipating a collision. The dragon smacked itself into an invisible wall and let out a loud screech as it fell to the ground. The dragon quickly descended towards the ground and flew towards a clearing. It struggled and screeched again as it tried with all of its strength to make a smooth landing.

Both of them hit the ground and rolled for a distance. The dragon letting out several loud screech's of severe pain. Dan quickly got to his feet and ran over to the severely injured dragon.

"What happened? I am so sorry, are you ok? What can I do to help?" Dan asked quickly.

"You survived…good. I have fulfilled my duty…" The dragon said struggling to get the words out. Its breathing was really shallow.

"Huh, would you looky that. It's been awhile since I've filled my belly with dragon flank. By the looks of it we'll fetch a large profit with this one." An old rustic voice said behind him. Dan spun around and saw a dwarf talking. He smiled at him, "Why don't you be a good boy and go fetch us some sticks while we carve him up. We may even give you a piece." Several dozen other alliance members began to laugh.

Dan drew his swords and in a fighting position.

"Boy, you had better be using those for carving up the dragon and not pointing those at me." The dwarf said standing to his feet and lifting his axe.

"Is that all you have? You're an old man that can barely lift his weapon. How many times have you clipped that beard of yours swinging that thing around?" Dan asked.

"You just crossed the line boy; you will learn to show respect." The dwarf said as him and his group began to approach him.

Dan quickly turned to his dragon and whispered, "This is going to hurt, but I'm going to fix you and slaughter these men. I'm sorry ahead of time." Dan then warped time. Dan turned around and saw at first that the approaching army had stopped. He watched for thirty minutes and confirmed that they were moving, so Dan began launching a series of attacks. He ran through their ranks and removed their helmets. He then chopped at their neck until he was able to pull their head off and tossed it aside.

After the bloodshed, Dan gathered up as much cloth as he could and took it to his dragon. He gently pushed him to his side and saw several bones were sticking out of his skin along with several other deep gouges. Not completely knowing what he was doing he reached in and reset each bone to the position he thought it should be in. Afterwards he ripped the cloth that he scavenged from the corpses and wrapped them around the wounds. The assortment of feathers he didn't know what to do, but he tied up as many wounds as he could find and the rest he shoved in the cloth as much as he could.

Dan unwarped time and instantly the dragon let out another loud screech in pain. At the same time all of the alliance members instantly fell to the ground. Dan covered his ears as the dragon's screams of pain continued.

When they eventually died down the dragon began to take deep breaths and collapsed on his back.

"What did you do?" The dragon asked.

"I reset a lot of your bones and tried to control the bleeding of many of your wounds. To be honest, I guessed a lot. I'm not a healer, I'm sorry." Dan said.

"The pain was intense, I know not what you did but I do feel better. Are there any wounds on my stomach, neck or face?" The dragon asked quickly. Dan quickly looked it over.

"I don't see any, what else do I need to do?" Dan asked.

"My vitals seem fine then. I cannot fly though. Let them eat me, barter your life for me." The dragon said.

"No, I killed all of them." Dan said.

"I remember you saying that, but I do not remember a battle – just the pain." The dragon said.

"I'll get help, hold on." Dan said pulling his hearthstone out. He began to rub it and nothing happened. He then realized he could only use it once a day and had already for that day.

"Ok, well we'll just wait until tomorrow and then I'll get help. What can I do for you?" Dan asked.

"The pain is intense. You can make it stop. Sink your sword into my heart." The dragon said.

"No, where does it hurt?" Dan asked.

"I cannot feel my legs and my wings are broken. I am useless to you know. Another dragon will be assigned to you; I will not make it through the night." The dragon said in a whisper.

"Yes you will. Ok let me look you over again and see what I can do to help." Dan said and began to examine him.

"I am on the brink of death and giving off the smell of death. Go, run from me. You may still survive the night if you hide." The dragon said.

"If you are going to talk, tell me where it hurts and what I can do. If you don't know those things then keep quiet." Dan said angrily at him. The dragon let out a quiet sigh.

"No sighing either. Would food help?" Dan asked.

"Not if my stomach is wounded. It is not wise of you to die with me." The dragon said.

"I didn't exactly graduate with honors, now let's change the subject. What is this 'end of the world' thing?" Dan said walking past the dragon. The dragon kept silent until he heard Dan run into a wall.

"What the heck?" Dan said picking himself back up. He held his hands out and felt an invisible barrier. He then kept reaching around trying to figure it out.

"It's the end of this world. Some worlds stretch on forever, some are circular, and some suddenly stop." The dragon said. "By your fascination by this, I assume you world stretches on forever?"

"No, it's circular." Dan said continuing to study the invisible wall. He looked through it and saw the world continue. He then looked up, "How high does this go?"

The dragon let out a quick laugh, followed by a moan. "It is not a cage. It goes into the blackness. It is nothing more than the end of this world. I should have known this and stopped sooner. It was my mistake."

"No, it was not a mistake. It was a…abbreviated absence of knowledge…" Dan said wondering where that just came from. It made the dragon laugh again.

"Sorry, that probably didn't make any sense. Tomorrow my hearthstone will work and I will get us out of here. Besides they are probably out looking for us right now." Dan said reassuringly.

"No they aren't. I am soul bound to you. I would only return if you died. Your leader will only know you are missing if you don't respond to his calls." The dragon said.

"Well…umm…" Dan said trying to think of a response.

"Go find a river and wash off my blood. Then go far away from me." The dragon said.

"No, and if you say that again I will tie your mouth together." Dan said.

"You don't have enough cloth." The dragon said with a smile.

"Try to get some rest, let your body heal. I will guard you for tonight." Dan said. "If you need something, something relevant, let me know. In the mean time if you hear something let me know. I'm going to setup a perimeter."

"Your actions are noble young one." The dragon said as Dan start gathering up the decapitated heads. He then sliced through several young saplings and impaled the decapitated heads upon them. Next he removed all of the armor, robes and anything of value and stacked it in a pile near the dragon. He took the bodies and set them up all around them.

"Your actions are questionable, but still noble at the same time." The dragon said.

"The impaled heads will serve as a warning. Any animals that come around will attack the dead corpses first, giving me time to attack. As for their armor and other useless crap, I'll use some of it to change your bandages or apply more if needed.

"If an alliance member sees another alliance members head impaled, I believe it would anger them instead of serving as a warning." The dragon said.

"I've clustered most of them together. I'm hoping it will make them think twice, or at least be able to hear any incoming personal so I can set myself up to attack them." Dan said.

"The trolls that cannibalize do the same thing; most of them were killed if they did not brag about their kills by doing what you just did." The dragon said.

"Hmm…didn't know that. What would you suggest then?" Dan asked.

"I don't know. We will see what happens. Usually the alliance doesn't patrol this close to the end of the world. More than likely it will just draw flies or birds." The dragon said.

"Ok then. Are you cold, do you want me to cover you?" Dan asked.

"You do not have enough cloth to cover me, nor would a fire help. I am fine though, thank you again for your concern." The dragon said.

"Ok, well let's talk. Tell me about your family. It will help keep your mind off your wounds and help pass the time." Dan said.

"I was hatched in a nest of thirty four eggs. Six of them never hatched. My mother and father fed me until I was strong enough to fly and hunt on my own. I grew stronger and began to fly further and further. After my journey I returned and told Ysera I wanted to help. She said I was not the right breed to fight, nor could I breathe fire. She said I could patrol the area and let her know if I find anything suspicious. I did so for a long time, but never found anything. Then Ysera summoned all of us and asked if we wanted to become soul bound to many of your King's fighters. We instantly jumped on the chance, while others entered your city to live. That's it." The dragon said.

"Well…that killed two minutes…" Dan said. "Have you ever had a girlfriend dragon…or boyfriend dragon?"

The dragon laughed and said, "I am not a breeder. You may call me whatever gender you wish. But no, I have not expressed interest in another dragon the same as your kind does." The dragon said letting out a moan followed by a searing pain. He didn't screech though, and slowly just let his breath go.

"Talking hurts huh?" Dan asked. The dragon slowly closed his eyes and opened them.

"Ok. Try to get some sleep that might help with the pain. If I'm attacked, I'll try to make it quiet." Dan said. He saw the dragon's eye glance over at him and then looked back up into the air as he closed it.

No activity happened as the sun set and nightfall came upon them. The dragon continued to let out moans every so often.

Hours passed and Dan began to feel sleepy. He thought about when the last time he slept was, and it only made me sleepier. Dan shook his head and rose to his feet and began to slowly pace around the dragon. He casually looked into the woods as his heart suddenly pounded hard in his chest. He saw many pairs of yellow eyes looking at him. He never heard anything.

Dan ran quickly in front of the dragon with his sword drawn as the cat like eyes watched his every move.

"Well? Are you just going to watch me?" Dan asked looking into the woods.

"For the time, yes." A male voice came back. He was a Worgen, no doubt in Dan's mind. But he spoke with almost an Australian accent.

"Looking for my weak spot? I have a gap in-between the back of my neck where my chest piece and head piece come together."

"You aren't alliance, are you?" The voice asked.

"What gave that away, the heads in the trees, or the scattered bodies I've littered among the forest?" Dan asked.

A long pause came as the eyes continued to glare at him. Even the air itself seemed to stand still.

"Well, come and kill me. The sentence for killing alliance is death. So I need to die what…thirty times? I don't remember for sure, my blades don't keep count." Dan said.

"We will spare your life for the dragon." The male said.

"The heads next to you tried to make the same deal. Ask them how it went." Dan said back pointing with his sword.

Silence again filled the air. Dan looked around him and tried to count the pairs of eyes looking at him.

"Fifty? Am I close? Tell you what; I'll make this fair and only use one sword." Dan said tossing his sword. It sunk into the ground and began to hum. Silence still filled the air.

Nearly twenty minutes passed and Dan finally said, "Still not fair? Fine I'll take off all of my armor, and lay on the ground. I'll even give you all a two second head start."

"Your dragon will die if it does not receive help. I will barter with you, but first where do you come from?" The male Worgen asked.

"The land of Oz. I've trained with a scarecrow, the tin man, and a lion." Dan replied back.

"Is that a different world?" The male asked.

"It's a far away land, and a long time ago. Not in that order…what is your offer and why should I just not slaughter all of you right now and just take what I need?" Dan said.

"We could ask the same question, but you fear us." The male said.

Dan held out his hand and his sword came out of the ground and flew into his hand as he began to walk forward. "Let's just see how much I fear you."

"One hundred gold coins." The male said quickly.

"For what?"

"A healing potion."

"Never heard of one." Dan said back.

"It will provide instant healing to your dragon." The male said.

"I don't have any gold." Dan said.

"You lie."

"Do I?" Dan asked back. Dan walked back to the dragon and kicked the pile of scavenged armor and weapons that he had collect.

"How about I give you all of these for a potion?" Dan asked.

"Not a fair trade. I will give you three potions for all of that." The man said.

"Three potions for all of this? I don't know what value system you have, however all of these items could probably be sold for much more than the value of three potions. There's probably more gold in here than it is worth for three potions." Dan said.

"You are in no position to barter…three potions and that is all." The voice said.

"Talk it over with the severed heads next to you. Get their opinion on how well I barter and think it over." Dan said. Silence fell into the darkness again.

"All we have are three potions." The male said.

"A lie." Dan said.

"Fine, we have more but all I am comfortable with is giving you three. We will provide healing, three potions and an elixir that will slowly heal over time. That is all I can do without causing any suspicion."

"And then you will leave?" Dan asked.

"We grow tired of your stench and have stayed longer than we wish, so have we formed a pact?" The voice said sternly.

"Send your healer forward; give her the items we negotiated for. Have her administer the items and the healing; she then can carry the items out." Dan said.

"There is more in that pile than she can carry." The voice replied back.

"She can make multiple trips." Dan said right back. There was a lot of grumbling and talking in a language he hadn't heard before. A minute later a woman walked out of the woods carrying several items. She looked just like a female werewolf. She actually smiled at Dan and walked up to him.

"You can only administer one potion every hour. Any more than that and it will be wasted. The elixir will only last for an hour. They choose me because I am the weakest healer, but I will drain my powers into your dragon." She then lent forward to his ear.

"I saw the head of the man that killed my son. Thank you." She then gave him all of the potions and began to perform her healing on the dragon. As she said, her healing abilities only lasted about a minute, but it did show signs of improvement.

"There, I have healed your dragon per our pact! I expect to get the items without any trouble now." The woman said in a vicious voice. The woman walked behind him and quickly said, "He'll be fine" as she started gathering up the items.

Dan walked over to the dragon that had been awake and witnessed everything.

"One of the red ones every hour, and this orange thing…uh right now I guess." Dan said. The dragon nodded as Dan poured the bottles into his mouth. His body instantly turned red as it healed many of his wounds instantly. The elixir showed no immediate visual effects like the red potion did.

The female was on her second trip and looked briefly up at Dan with a tiny smile and continued her work. Dan held his thoughts to himself as he distracted himself with concerns just of the dragon, just in case one of them could read his thoughts.

The last trip the female scuffled something quickly in the dirt. "I hope we never meet again, your kind makes me sick." She walked into the woods as Dan heard all of them running away. Dan walked over and looked down at it. It was a picture of a heart. Dan quickly shuffled it away in the dirt.

"Made a friend did we?" The dragon asked.

Dan turned to him and said, "I think we did. How are you feeling?"

"Much of the pain is gone, however my body still aches. I cannot fly though." The dragon said.

"I'm glad the pain is gone – the rest doesn't matter. Let me know when an hour goes by." Dan said. "When day light comes I'll try to make contact every hour."

"Thank you. Not many would have done what you did." The dragon said softly.

"Good thing I'm not like many. I'll probably end up having to apologize for something, or end up saying or doing something that will cause more people to be angered at me. I'm glad for the night away, I mean under different circumstances of course." Dan said. "Sorry…"

"No apology needed. I am honored to be your dragon, and will do what I can to help soothe those that are upset with you. What are their names?" The dragon asked.

"Oh…everybody. Just randomly pick somebody it doesn't matter. I have these random ideas that enhance powers in one person that another can't do. My idea for replanting the forest was stupid." Dan said.

"The forest has been regrown, almost instantly because of you. That was a magnificent idea. So you have advice for a particular person and it works. Don't you think they would have figured it out eventually? If you didn't break any rules and brought joy to a person, how is that a bad thing?" The dragon asked.

"It could spark jealousy." Dan said.

"It could not spark jealousy. Has it yet?" The dragon asked.

"Not that I know of. My group wants to spend more time with me now; see what new and amazing things I can show them. But to be honest, I don't know. I don't know anything. It just suddenly comes to me. For example your right wing would hurt less if you elevated it." Dan said looking at him.

The dragon lifted it up and felt a bone snap back into position. He grimaced for a moment and then started moving it freely up and down. The dragon smiled and looked at Dan.

"I know nothing about healing…that just came to me. What if one day I say something and it destroys worlds or gets one of my loved ones killed because they took my advice." Dan said sounding upset.

"How many different worlds are you holding upon your shoulders? That must get pretty exhausting carrying all of those around." The dragon said smiling at him.

Dan understood what he meant and sighed looking away.

"If these thoughts suddenly come to you, what good is it to think about them ahead of time?" The dragon asked.

"But I've seen things I'm not supposed to see. I know things I'm not supposed to know." Dan said.

"Well good for you. I am grateful for what you have done, but if I may be so bold – stop thinking about them. If you weren't supposed to see them you wouldn't have been shown them. Do you think your powers allowed you access into Heaven without God knowing?" The dragon said and began to laugh.

"You are mortal, your powers are not infinite, and you will die someday just the same as I will. Drop the worlds off from your shoulders and embrace those who you love. You have been provided with a gift, so what. Can you fly? Can you absorb as much damage as I just did? Can you breathe fire like our fighters? Don't flaunt your powers because they might be taken away someday. Keep suggesting your ideas. If you aren't thinking them up, they must be given to you by somebody else. You are a young human and that is all that is expected of you. Let the rest go." The dragon said. He paused for a moment and said, "You've probably already heard all of that before."

"No." Dan said. He appeared to have every question he had suddenly answered.

"By your awkward silence and your confused face, I think these events happened to snap you out of your previous thinking. I just wish it wasn't as painful for me." His dragon said with another laugh. He then began to cough and his wing collapsed to the ground.

"What? Are you ok? Has it been an hour?" Dan asked frantically.

"I'm fine, just tired."

"Well then sleep my friend. I will wake you later. But if you die on me I'm going to kick your ass…" Dan said.

The dragon let out a burst of laughter. "My body is rebuilding itself. I will not die."

"Thank you for the talk." Dan said with sincerity in his voice.

"I said nothing that you already knew yourself. Thank you for saving my life. Don't let the clouds of doubt hinder your judgment. I wish to sleep now." The dragon said.

Dan nodded and began his patrolling again.

Daylight broke over the horizon as the dragon woke up. He saw that Dan was trying his hearthstone but with no success.

"I feel much better this morning. Still no luck eh?" The dragon said. Dan turned around and reveal that his arm was wrapped up and bleeding badly.

"What happened?" The dragon asked quickly.

"Apparently administering medicine to a sleeping dragon isn't as easy as it looks…"

"Well, take a potion yourself." The dragon said.

"Cant, they are all gone. Besides I have most of the bleeding stopped."

"I am so sorry." The dragon said silently. The dragon tried to stand on his legs but quickly fell over. "I still cannot fly yet. We have to get you some help."

"Help will come. In the mean time can you keep watch? Wake me if there is a threat. Also can you try this every hour or so?" Dan asked.

"Yes I can do that." The dragon said as if it was scolded.

"It's fine." Dan said walking over to the dragon and leaning down beside him. Almost instantly he was asleep. The dragon covered him with his wing to block out the sun. Next he moved the hearthstone in front of him and rubbed it occasionally.

It wasn't until about noon that the hearthstone sprang to life. It startled the dragon after attempting to repeatedly rubbing it with his toe.

"Ysera? Ysera is this you?" The dragon asked frantically.

"Yes, what is it my child?"

"I am injured and so is Dan. We require assistance immediately." The dragon said. Ysera immediately turned around and commanded several of her dragons to fly.

"Help is on the way. What happened?" Ysera said.

The dragon looked over at Dan who was still sound asleep. "I think you had better contact Dan's leader as well. What happened exactly? I am not really sure, but it was nothing short of a miracle."

"I will contact them and meet you out there as well. Are you in any danger?" Ysera said quickly.

"Not at the moment no." The dragon said back.

"Keep it that way, expect our arrival soon." Ysera said and closed the portal on her hearthstone and quickly summoned Herrior.

"Dan's hurt, don't know much else. I'm sending a squad and flying out myself." Ysera said.

"Where?" Herrior asked quickly.

"Don't know specifically. Tell one of your Chronomancers to lock on to me and open a portal next to me. I would suggest that you hurry." Ysera said and closed the portal. She transformed into her dragon form and quickly flew off with her guards following close behind her.

In less than a minute later, a portal opened and Herrior's group came flying out.

"Haven't located him yet. It was his dragon that contacted me. I don't want to assume the worst, but my dragons don't have hearthstones." Ysera said.

"Spread out! Look for a possible crash site of Dan and his dragon." Herrior ordered his group.

"Already on it. My scouts ahead of me have not found anything yet." Ysera said.

"He's going to shorten my life making me worry about him…" Herrior said under his breath.

"We'll find him." Ysera said and increased her speed.

After a minute though, she saw her scouts circling a spot in front of them. Ysera pushed herself even harder and flew to catch up with them. She landed and ordered the others to land as well.

"Dan saved my life, many times. I made a mistake, and not only did he forgive me but he saved my life. We were attacked twice, and because of his bartering and his abilities is the only reason I am talking to you know." Dan's dragon said to Ysera. The dragon lifted his wing and showed him sleeping quietly underneath it. "He stayed up all night, administering to my wounds. His arm is apparently where I bit him, or something. That is my fault."

"He looks to be alive. He will be well rewarded when he awakens. His party is on their way, they will heal you and him." Ysera said. "You should be proud to be soul bound to him."

"I am. I am forever grateful." His dragon said.

Herrior's group landed and Herrior ran over to Dan and tried to wake him up.

"Mohania…I need to talk to…Mohania…" Dan said quietly and in pain. Herrior tilted his head back and looked funny at him.

"Mohania, he wants to talk to you." Herrior said looking over at him.

"Great…I know I'm going to get blamed for this somehow…" Mohania said walking over to him."

"Closer…" Dan said in a weak voice. Mohania knelt down on his knees.

"Closer…" Dan said almost silent. Mohania leaned his ear down next to his ear. A couple of seconds later Dan grabbed the back of his skull and kissed his cheek. "You do love me!" Dan yelled.

"He's fine." Mohania said pushing him back down and walking away. Dan burst into laughter.

"Herrior you should have saw it; there I was surrounded by alliance. There had to be at least forty of them."

"I only see fourteen severed heads." Mohania said picking one off and eating it.

"They attacked but they were nothing compared to my skills."

"Stopped time did ya?" Mohania said picking off another skull and devouring that.

"Then in the middle of the night we were surrounded by dozens of Worgen." Dan said enthusiastically.

"I only see human corpses…and they are all naked…" Mohania said.

"Hush, let me tell the story." Dan said.

"Does it have to do with flying motorcycles?" Herrior asked sounding relieved.

"Not anymore…" Dan said enthusiastically.

"Dan may I speak on your behalf?" His dragon asked. "We require healing if I may ask." Skyka and Icis shook their heads as if they didn't even realize it and began to blast both of them with healing spells. Seconds later they were both fully healed.

"Ysera, I would highly recommend that you consider Dan for an ambassador position for the Dragonflights." His dragon said.

"Hmm…somebody else offered him an ambassador position…" Herrior said in a cocky voice.

"Dan is more than welcome to take on that position if he desires it." Ysera said back.

"Dang…I can't think of his name, but I could have sworn that somebody has offered you an ambassador position…" Herrior said again putting his hand on his chin and appearing to be thinking hard.

"I know I have not much say in your kingdom, however the courage, bartering skills and kindness – not to mention his selfless acts that he performed to heal me at the cost of becoming hurt himself has very much impressed me." His dragon said. Ysera agreed but was interrupted by Herrior.

"You know…it's on the tip of my tongue. It's a very handsome looking guy…but I just can't remember the name of the person that's been constantly asking you to become an ambassador…" Herrior said.

"Sheesh knock it off you guys. That's not the reason why I am here." Dan said.

"Why are you here?" Herrior asked.

"What?" Dan asked looking at him confused. "Oh, apparently this world ends and we sort of crashed into the wall. Then we fell. It was my fault."

"Yes, some worlds have invisible barriers. So is that what you meant when you said, 'That's not the reason why I am here'?" Herrior asked.

"I didn't say that." Dan said looking at him confused.

"Yes you did." Herrior said studying his face.

"You did indeed." Ysera agreed.

"I…don't remember saying that…" Dan said looking at both of them with an even more confused look.

"Interesting. Your face speaks the truth, yet, you lie at the same time." Herrior said.

"Whoa, hold on. Herrior I was making up the story about the number of alliance I had to fight. I thought that was obvious though." Dan said.

"Continue Dan. Let's hear what you have to say." His dragon said. Herrior nodded at Dan.

"I…uh…killed the dwarf and his army. Took their stuff, setup a perimeter. Dragon here kept telling me to leave him to die. Some Worgen came along and they seemed afraid of me. I traded the stuff I collected with them for some potions and healed my dragon with it. The female that healed him thanked me for killing the man that killed her son, put on an act to pretend like she hated me. She drew a heart in the dirt and then they left. The sun came up, and I went to sleep. Did I say anything weird just now?" Dan said quickly.

"You bartered with some Worgen?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah, that was the weird part. They always attacked us on sight. They could have killed me easily, but waited until I saw them. They were quiet; I mean I didn't hear anything. I was walking back and forth and looked up then suddenly they were there. They made some threats, I made some threats, they offered an exchange, and I offered a counter exchange. Finally we came to an agreement. They took the stuff, helped me recover my dragon and left. Did I mention the woman that seemed happy that I killed the man that killed her son?" Dan said.

"Interesting…interesting indeed…" Herrior said seeming to be in deep thought.

"What…did I say something weird again?" Dan asked.

"Would you object to having Lindel examine you?" Herrior asked.

"I am not lying, but no I have no problems with it." Dan said sounding slightly offended.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Lindel. He asked all of them to come to him immediately.

A portal opened a few seconds later and eventually as it grew bigger Bernett, Samatha and Jeffery came through, followed by Lindel who closed the portal behind her.

"Wow, they are huge!" Jeffery said looking at Ysera's personal guards. Ysera smiled at him and asked if he wanted a closer look.

"Go inside Dan and figure out what is going on." Herrior said.

"Anything in particular I'm looking for?" Lindel asked.

Herrior turned to Lindel and said, "Go". Lindel quickly scattered her body into thousands of different particles and attempted to enter Dan's eyes. It was obvious that her first try failed and she began to summon more strength and attempted a second time. Same affect – she could not get into his eyes. Something was blocking it, as if an invisible wall was shielding her.

Lindel then summoned all of her powers, illuminating the surrounding area so bright that it was almost impossible to see. Lindel pushed as hard as she could, but the same thing happened. She then dispersed herself and attempted to enter his stomach. She was successful with that. She attempted to go up to his throat but was met with the same resistance. Lindel then removed herself and surrounded Dan's head, trying hundreds of different ways to get in – all unsuccessful.

"What are you doing Dan?" Lindel's voice came from the particles.

"Nothing, what's wrong?" Dan asked.

"I can't get in. You aren't resisting, but it's like there's a force keeping me out. I've always been able to pass through anything. Why can't I pass through you?" Lindel asked.

"I don't know." Dan said back.

"Crystal, check him for demons." Herrior said. Crystal summoned her voidwalker and he just stood there.

"Go pull the demon out of my husband!" Crystal demanded.

"There is none in him. Do you wish for me to engage him in battle?" The voidwalker asked back.

"Pull the darkness away from him. See if something is controlling him." Crystal commanded.

"Yes my master." The voidwalker flew over to Dan and began to channel power into the voidwalkers body. After twenty seconds the demon stopped.

"That would have even revealed Trackolania." Crystal said.

"Lindel what is Dan thinking?" Herrior asked.

"Judging by his face – confused. But I cannot read his mind or his thoughts. I can't even establish a mind link with him anymore." Lindel said returning to her physical form. "I wasn't here, what happened to him?"

"Odd. Crystal, banish your demon and summon your succubus. Try to use her to control him." Herrior said. Crystal did as she was told and several seconds later her succubus appeared and she gave her the order. The succubus held out her hand, but the link instantly failed.

"Do it again!" Crystal told her. The succubus attempted over and over to control his mind and failed every time.

"Am I dead then?" Dan asked. Herrior reached forward and pinched his ear.

"Ouch!" Dan said. "Well I guess that answers that question."

Herrior stared at him as if not certain what to do next.

"I'm sorry; I just had a thought come to me. Herrior may I?" Dan asked.

"By all means." Herrior said.

"Mohania come here. Let's do a bit of role-playing." Dan said.

"Ok." Mohania said and set down the head he was about to devour.

"Summon up an image of Herrior and Skyka." Dan said. Mohania chanted a couple of words and two images suddenly appeared.

"Let's pretend these are two normal alliance peasants living in a house. Mohania?" Mohania duplicated Herrior's voice exactly and made his image say, "I'm a normal alliance peasant living in a house…and I'm a dumbass."

"Close enough. Now summon up an alliance soldier." Dan said. Mohania again chanted several different words and an alliance soldier appeared.

"Great, now let me control them." Dan said.

"Ok…and how do I do that by the way?" Mohania asked.

"Just watch my queues and move them as I try to move them." Dan said. He walked over to the alliance soldier and said, "I am out on a recon mission. I know the Grand Marshall is on his way and he will need housing and food."

"Where is he at? How many troops are with him?" Herrior demanded.

"Role-playing Herrior, I'm making up the story." Dan said turning to him.

"What type of power is role-playing?" Herrior asked.

"He's telling a story." Crystal said.

"How do you know he is coming? What path is he on right now?" Herrior asked again. Dan smacked himself on the head.

"Herrior, settle down and enjoy the show." Skyka said.

"Yeah, this is certainly interesting." Ysera said.

"So where would be a good place to provide relief? Oh I see a home, I will go ask them." Dan said continuing his story and moving the alliance soldier as if he was a manikin.

"Why, hello good fellows. The Grand Marshall is heading this way, could you provide him with rest and food if needed?" Dan asked. Dan then quickly ran over to the image of Herrior and nodded his head saying, "Why yes, we would be honored." Dan then ran over to Skyka and said, "I can go harvest some fruit right away, it would be an honor if you would accompany me."

"Mohania make Skyka and the soldier walk over there." Dan said.

"Ok, but is there a moral to this story?" Mohania asked.

"Umm…no, but there is mass slaughter and the good part is coming up." Dan said.

"Ok." Mohania said and commanded his conjured images to walk off into the distance.

"That's far enough. At this point Trackolania or another assassin immediately kills Skyka and the soldier – they are useless because at this point we know where he is coming from. Mohania conjures an image of the wife and she walks back to his husband."

"And strangles his husband to death!" Mohania said excitedly.

"No! You are not thinking ahead. They do their normal talk and she is excited and insists on leaving immediately. So they meet the Grand Marshall and offering them fruits and breads as well as offering to help with any projects. The soldiers push them aside because it's top secret, but the Grand Marshall is impressed. One of two things will happen now. He tells us the information we need, which I doubt, or he says to speak with one of his soldiers. Herrior and Skyka then say they are walking in the opposite direction but would love to enlist. When they are out of earshot, Trackolania again makes another kill – quickly and quietly. This time it's the soldier. This panics Herrior who in turns becomes panicked, but is quickly diced up again. I'm pretty sure Trackolania has the power to kill an alliance soldier and then an unarmored peasant pretty quickly." Dan said all in one breathe turning his face to Trackolania. He motioned for him to continue.

"So now we have established the perfect alibi. The soldier quickly runs back and reports that he sent those two to the training area. Only this time there are no conjured images, it is Mohania in disguise. He continues the walk as he over hears the conversations." Dan stopped for some reason suddenly.

"And then I burn them all up, opening the ground and smashing them in it – listening to their screams of panic and then igniting their hair on fire." Mohania said.

"They are establishing four new bases. I don't know how I know, but I know. They have no idea what happened in this area. To the far east they have a major outpost." Dan said pointing. "They are setting up camps to gather wood and resources. They do not know we are here." Dan said. He looked up at Ysera and asked, "How do they not know we are here?"

"Is this still part of the story?" Ysera asked sounding confused.

"No. Everybody stay here, I want to go…no I need to go. I'll be right back." Dan said and hopped on his dragon and instantly took to the air. Within seconds he was out of eye sight.

"So is the story over then? That wasn't really a good one." Mohania said.

"Herrior?" Crystal asked.

"I have no idea. But I do not sense betrayal in him." Herrior said.

"Nor do I." Ysera, Skyka and Lindel all said at the same time.

"I have an opinion." Mohania said.

"Is it relevant?" Herrior asked.

"No." Mohania said.

"Ysera, can we make the surrounding corpses disappear? I don't want any trace of what took place here." Herrior said.

Ysera gave a couple of commands and the dragons began devouring the corpses.

"There goes my desert." Mohania said sounding disappointed.

Then Dan came flying back and landed quickly. "I was right. How the hell did I know that? Screw my idea…Herrior do you want to go slaughter hundreds of alliance?"

Herrior hesitated to answer. "Did the Worgen do something to you?" He eventually asked.

"No, my dragon did more than anything else." Dan said.

"Whoa…I spoke several words to you, much of which was in agony and thanking you. I didn't give you this ability or knowledge." His dragon said quickly. Ysera quickly scanned the dragon's mind and confirmed he was telling the truth.

"Do you know what their plans are Dan?" Herrior asked.

"They are gathering wood…but for what purpose?" Dan asked himself. Dan continued to talk to himself out loud as he made big circles seeming to argue with himself and pointed in several different directions. He suddenly ordered the dragon to stop and flew within feet of Herrior.

"I don't know…but they are going to slaughter the woman that helped me last night. We need to intercept it; she only has about five minutes until she is executed. She's important Herrior." Dan said quickly.

"Mount up." Herrior said as he jumped on his dragon and flew to catch up with Dan. The rest of them followed. Ysera and her dragons flew behind them – but more out of curiosity.

Dan made a sudden left turn and then dove in a circular direction down to the ground. Dan jumped off his dragon and flew through the air. He drove his swords into the male with the knife walking towards the female. Dan pulled them out and enraged himself and began to engage the other Worgen coming at him.

Herrior was the first to land and taunted all of the Worgen to attack him. Herrior charged forward and knocked all of the Worgen to the ground. Dan cut the female loose and grabbed her hand. He dragged her over to his dragon and then commanded his dragon to fly as high as he could. A Worgen came running towards him on all four feet and jumped in mid air, his daggers pointing direction at Dan. Jacklyn fell off from her dragon and crunched him under her weight. She then took several deep stabs to make sure he was dead.

"Thanks, but I knew you would do that and getting her out of here by this method is the fastest way I could think of." Dan said running back into combat.

The rest of Herrior's party landed and engaged as well. Dan let out a roar that caused all of the Worgen to look at him. Dan then moved so quickly that the Worgen could hardly see him. When he finally stopped, the Worgen he was fighting fell into dozens of pieces and seemed to melt into the ground. He then pointed at the rest of them with his sword. The Worgen quickly dropped their weapons and put their hands on their heads.

"It's your call Herrior." Dan said.

"Lindel open a portal to our jails. The rest of you gather what you can. Once they are all secured, I wish to leave this place." Herrior said.

The group did as he commanded. Dan summoned his dragon back down and thanked him. He helped the female Worgen off the dragon and repeated to Herrior that she is important. Herrior nodded.

"Lindel, open a portal outside of our old wall. We will discuss this there." Herrior said.

Ysera landed and transformed back into her human form. "Well this has been entertaining. Do you mind if I come along to see how this story ends?"

Herrior looked at Dan. He shrugged and said, "You're the leader, it's your call not mine."

"Let us do our work. It seems we have many things to talk to the King about. Afterwards I will contact you about the decision about the trainers." Herrior said.

"So be it." Ysera said with a smile as she transformed back into a dragon and flew away.

"This way if you would." Dan said leading her through the portal.

Once on the other side, Herrior then asked Lindel to take Samatha and Jeffery on the other side of the wall and "return them". She did as she was asked to.

"I knew I wasn't going to die." The Worgen said.

"Day's not over yet." Herrior said.

"I don't want to know your name and you are to forget ours. Tell us what you know." Dan said. Herrior drew his blade and began to walk towards her.

"That's not necessary. I am no threat and I will talk freely. The alliance doesn't care about your outposts much anymore. They are going to seek a pact to attempt to defeat Deathwing. They will betray you and slaughter you. There are three spies currently in your city. One of them is a troll in the engineering area; the other two are in the gardens with a female tauren. Their job is not to kill, but to learn. I would suggest killing them immediately."

"Names?" Herrior asked.

"The troll's name is gerdner. The troll's names are ak'lev and hak'la. All of them are male." The Worgen woman said.

"Skyka." Herrior said.

"I'll take care of it." Skyka said pulling out her hearthstone.

"The night elves are of no threat to you. The female dragon, Deathwing's mate, that you seek is not one but many. The alliance has found one of his roosts and is attempting to hatch and tame his eggs. Once Deathwing finds out, he will annihilate their base…the one east of where we were." The female Worgen said.

"That explains it! My idea failed because the images I saw were that of my own and I did not allow the ones to come in that I needed to. Once I stopped to listen, I heard your heartbeat and your panic. That is what drove me to you and this is the information that we needed!" Dan said. "Now how the hell did I know all of this, and what the hell is happening to me?"

"I cannot answer that. I would if I could." The female Worgen said.

"Damn it! This is frustrating!" Dan yelled out loud.

"Is she of any more use to us?" Herrior asked.

"Please I beg of you not to kill me." She pleaded. She then sighed and said, "No…you have to kill me. I'm just scared of dying. I just wanted to raise my family. Watching my son and husband killed scared me. Seeing him and the aura he was giving off that night I knew that he would avenge me."

"Aura? What aura?" Dan asked.

"The bright yellow one. It was hard to miss…did you not know about it?" She asked.

"Herrior do you see anything around me now?" Dan asked. Herrior shook his head.

"Anybody! Does anybody see anything around me now?" Dan yelled. No response.

"It is not there now. It prevented us from attacking right away. If not for that you would have died." She said.

"But the skulls…"

"We could care less about that. So you slaughtered some of the masters that enslave us…we were hungry." The woman said.

"Do you want to feast?" Dan said throwing his sword down and removing his helmet and chest piece. He walked up to her and tilted his head to one side. "Bite me. You will die will a full stomach at least."

"I can't, and you know I can't." The woman said. Dan then slapped her hard as she fell to the ground. Dan then picked her up and pushed her against the wall.

"Self defense, I hit you first. This way you will die honorably in a fight. Bite me!" Dan yelled.

"I cannot do that!" The woman yelled at him.

Dan backed away. Skyka informed the group that the three people she identified were quickly scanned by a banshee and her story was true. They were all killed shortly afterwards.

"So what now…you can't go back, you can't stay here, and no other race will accept you." Dan said to her.

"I will wait out my life here. When the hunger pains get too much, I will bash my head with a rock." The woman said. Dan walked back and put his armor back on and his weapons behind him. Dan saw that Herrior was watching him, so he turned around and said, "It's your call."

"Lindel…put her in a separate prison than the others. Don't let the others know she is there." Herrior said looking at Dan.

"I have two more things I need to do. I need to speak with your wife and with Quinely. Alone preferably, but if you do not trust me then…" Dan said but was instantly cut off.

"Dan…I don't care if you can see into the future and know when we are all going to die. My love and trust for you has not faltered. I questioned as to whether you were being controlled and I apologize for that, but you do understand my position." Herrior said. "You can spend as much alone time with my wife as you want."

"It will only take an hour or so. I made a promise I want to keep." Dan said and began to weep. He fell to his knees and began to cry harder.

"Hun? Dan? What's wrong?" Crystal said running over to him.

Dan shook his head as he continued to weep harder and harder.

"Lindel…take us home. I think we all need to take a break." Herrior said. Lindel opened another portal to Tranquil and they all walked through.

Upon entry into Tranquil, they were all meet immediately by the King.

"Hello." He said as he saw that everybody was surprised to see him.

"My King, why do you keep me in your city?" Dan asked wiping away his eyes.

"Because as much as I try to get rid of you, you keep coming back." The King said with a smile.

Dan was shocked by the answer and slowly produced a laugh by a short laugh. "You do realize that if sensed the Alliance was following God's rules I would immediately join them. Or if he wasn't praised and worshipped here – I would leave immediately."

"I would as well. I would rather be a farmer on a lonely plantation then to be ruled with an iron hand and forced to worship as another ruler sees fit." The King replied back. "Ysera contacted me about you; she asked me permission to give you several different things. However I don't think you would be interested in any of that."

"No I wouldn't be." Dan said trying to wipe his tears away.

"Do you wish to go somewhere private to talk?" The King asked.

"No. I apologize for my current condition, something drained me." Dan said.

"I assure you this isn't the first time I have seen somebody cry. As hard-headed as I appear sometimes, I cry as well."

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Dan asked.

"No." The King said back casually.

"Information flows in and out of me, things happen that I cannot explain – and as of lately apparently I'm saying things that I have no recollection of. Lindel can't read my mind, and you probably can't either." Dan said as if apologizing.

"It's been awhile since I've been able to read your mind. I must admit that I was caught unaware of your ability to stop the entire universe from spinning – however after talking with my Queen about it, our worries have been put aside. By worrying will it cause an extra hour to be added to my life?" The King then paused for a moment and said, "Seems like I've heard that before somewhere…"

"Did you know that the portals you create cause ripple effects? It actually hurts the…air…I don't know – but it's like throwing a stone in the water or passing your hand through the air. It heals itself afterwards, but leaves a residue. It eventually fades or heals itself. Also stopping time leaves a…string like object that floats above my head – as if it tries to realign the events of what happened with that of what stopped. Trackolania can attack fast, with speeds faster than anybody has ever seen – but what he doesn't realize is that he can dodge and use the same abilities to provide himself insight as to the incoming attacks. Where do these things come from?" Dan asked.

"I don't know." The King said.

"The Chronomancers have come to believe they have the power to go anywhere and open portals to anywhere. This is not true. They need a predefined point 'A' and point 'B' – that you already knew. But did you that sometimes they cannot get the point 'B' because they aren't allowed to, just like I am not allowed cut my own head off without repercussions. You can't go anywhere in the past, you can't go anywhere you want, and you can't go into the future. There are limitations that probably none of you are aware of. It's not because they can't locate the target, it's because they are not allowed to locate the target. Hooping into the future is possible, but strictly not allowed. If you do you will not be able to go back, and you will only be able to observe events for a short time until your life force is taken from you. You cannot simply just rip holes into the air and move from place to place at will unless it is according to his will." Dan said. The King nodded in response.

"Don't kill the Worgen woman." Dan said starting to cry again. "I don't have a reason that I can say, but…you can't…even if you tried to."

"We won't." The King said.

"I…need to sleep. I'm tired…" Dan said completely exhausted with tears still flowing down his cheeks.

"Herrior, would you please assist Dan?" The King asked.

"Certainly." Herrior said walking over and gently picking up Dan. He then turned and walked him into the house that was built for them.

"What's happening to him my King?" Crystal asked.

"I don't know." The King replied back.

"Has this ever happened before? Will he be ok?" Crystal asked.

"Yes to both questions." The King replied back turning to face her. "So how have you been feeling?"

"Me? Confused…frustrated…" The King shook his head. "Any more power surges lately?"

"No?" Crystal answered back confused. Her face then showed an expression of what he meant. "No…not that I'm aware of anyways. I can cast faster, however I haven't been able to do anything else significant…well that I know of anyways."

"That's fine." The King said. "Trackolania I would suggest you meditate on what Dan just said. Obviously that was a message to you specifically. The other information…well it appears as though I have been wrong about. I'm going to have a talk with our time stoppers and Chronomancers. Excuse me please." The King said and quickly walked back to his palace.

Herrior came running out of the house and quickly caught up with the King.

"My King, several of our spies are in danger. I don't know if Dan was aware of what he said…but the alliance can see them. They have somehow developed a method for tracking invisible and stealthed people. You need to pull them out quickly! I mean…if you want. Sorry I'm just relaying what Dan said." Herrior said quickly.

The King quickly pulled out his hearthstone and instructed as many Chronomancers as he could to pull their current spies out as fast as they could. The King then began ripping holes in the air and pulled out as many as he could. He saw the alliance reactions and began attacking his spies. He would pull one back, close the portal, rip open another one and pull another spy back. He continued this until eventually he saw that the rest of his spies had been killed. He closed the portal and yelled, "Damn it!" in extreme frustration.

"What else did Dan say?" The King asked furiously turning to Herrior.

"That's all." Herrior said.

"How did they develop that technology? Herrior I want at least one of your members at his side continuously until I say otherwise. If he even utters a word in his sleep, tell me immediately is that understood!" The King said angrily and stormed away.

"I'll take the first watch." Herrior said calmly and turned to walk back to the house.

"I wonder if Dan knew that and neither him nor us caught on to it?" Skyka asked watching Herrior walking away.

"What!" The King said suddenly in front of Skyka. Skyka let out a scream and fell backwards.

"My King, Dan did something called 'role-playing'. He asked me to produce images of Herrior and Skyka…" Mohania began to explain the entire story. "But then he suddenly stopped…he didn't say why but said he had to leave immediately. He came back and reported several smaller outposts being established by the alliance to collect wood. He didn't explain why he stopped the story or how he knew, but then afterwards said we had to rescue the Worgen woman. That might have been why Skyka said what she did. If the alliance can see stealthed and invisible people, they may not be able to see conjured images or know the difference."

The King stared at him and eventually said, "That doesn't make any sense."

"I'm sorry my King…" Mohania said beginning to apologize.

"No not you." The King said and again turning to walk away from them obviously upset. Mohania turned around and helped Skyka to her feet.

"Thank you hun." Skyka said to Mohania.

"Thank me later, something weird is happening. How about we all go join Herrior?" Mohania said.

"Yeah…good idea." Skyka said leading the way.

They all walked up the stairs to find Herrior sitting next to Dan.

"Anything?" Skyka asked quietly.

"Nothing is going to wake him up. It's as if he can't hear any of us." Herrior said back in his normal voice. They all looked at Dan. He was gently snoring on the mat.

Ten hours passed and Dan stretched and slowly opened his eyes. He saw his party looking down at him.

"Uhh…awkward." Dan said. Herrior immediately contacted the King.

"Ok…what happened now…" Dan said sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing. You just laid there and slept. I was expecting something to at least jump out of your chest at the minimum." Mohania said.

The King arrived and said, "Good morning, and how did you sleep?"

"Very well actually, the waking up part is where things got weird." Dan said.

"I ordered them to watch you. How are you feeling?" The King asked.

"Other than the sensation that everybody has been watching me sleep the whole time, not too bad." Dan said.

"How did you know that the alliance knew where our spies where?" The King asked.

Dan looked at him confused.

"Fair enough." The King said and started to walk down the stairs.

"What, did I say that? When?" Dan asked.

"I was carrying you up the stairs; you were sleeping and quietly said that. I quickly set you down and left." Herrior said.

"Great…so now I'm going to have people constantly watching me sleep and listening to me?" Dan asked.

"I don't think that is necessary anymore. You are all free to do as you wish." The King said looking back at Dan. He then continued his walk down the stairs and out the door.

"I had a talk with the King." Branzer started to explain, "We have FLIR technology at our station and I explained what that was; I also explained that our world has thermal imaging and radar surveillance systems, and able to detect chemical and explosive materials. The King said that made more sense and asked if we could obtain that technology as well. It's currently in the process of being done."

"Also it seems that Trackolania has taken your advice. He has learned how to nearly avoid any incoming melee attack for a short time, and several other defensive techniques." Skyka said. Trackolania held up three fingers.

"Ok three different defensive techniques. Do you remember telling him that?" Skyka asked Dan.

"I do, but it made sense. If he can attack that fast, why couldn't he defend himself that fast." Dan said.

"Also you helped me out. I took your advice and now I'm dual-specc'ed. I have a complete set of healing gear. It would take a moment to change, like it did for you, but your idea worked." Quinely said.

"That was your idea. I just asked why some druids are able to heal and why some preferred being animals." Dan said.

"And then afterwards you asked if they required different gear. I said no…and then suddenly realized that they did. After which I exploded in excitement." Quinely said smiling at him.

"The other hunters and I have had our weapons modified as well. They hit much harder, are slightly faster, but more importantly try to hit any weak point on our enemy." Branzer said. "I know it was your idea, but I took your advice with our engineers. They are quite funny just as you described. However the end result is this." Branzer said pulling out his gun. It quickly sprung to life and looked completely different. The normal looking magnum's chamber doubled in size and several arm-like looking thin metal rod-looking things reached forward and grabbed the end of the barrel. Branzer then put it back away as it quickly changed back into a normal looking magnum.

"That's pretty cool." Dan said obviously impressed.

"Ok, enough showing off. Dan and Skyka need to talk, let's go everybody." Herrior said.

"No that's ok. Please stay." Dan said. He turned to Skyka and said, "As you see I merely offered a suggestion, I did not enhance any of their powers. I would if I could, but I don't possess that ability and you all know that. Ok, so Skyka. Tell me all there is to know about healing."

Skyka began rambling off several different spells, how much mana they took, how much threat they produced, how much healing they produced, and sometimes what happens if she gets a critical heal off. She talked excitedly for twenty minutes and then looked at Dan eager for his response.

"You lost me a long time ago, however I tried to understand as much as I could. Can we write some of this stuff down? Maybe we can figure something out that way." Dan said.

"Sure, let's go get some parchment." Skyka said holding out her hand as she stood up. Dan grabbed him and the two of them walked down the stairs.

"Do we follow?" Icis asked.

"You may want to…I don't know about the rest of us though. I didn't understand much of it either. But it might be easier for Dan to figure something out without all of us distracting him." Herrior said.

Icis left and quickly caught up with them, however the rest of the group casually left and went in separate directions.

"I've come to listen in on your conversation." Icis said smiling at them.

"Fine by me. It's just over here." Skyka said pulling Dan in a different direction. They entered a building and Skyka quickly grabbed several pieces of empty parchment and a feather. She then sat down at a booth and quickly started writing down all of the information about her healing spells. She filled six pages and then went back for more. Icis helped provide some of the information; however Skyka already knew the information.

Upon completion Skyka handed Dan twelve pages and smiled at him.

"Wow…ok." Dan said spreading the pages out on the table in random order. Apparently he wasn't doing it right and Icis and Skyka quickly took over the shuffling.

Dan started to laugh and looked up at Skyka. "I have no idea where to even begin. Show me where page one is."

"Umm…there really isn't a page one. Would it help if I drew diagrams?" Skyka asked.

"No…I don't think it would. Ok let me have a look." Dan said starting to read what she had wrote.

"All of these obviously cost mana. Are there any spells that don't?" Dan asked.

"No, but teach me how to cast them without using mana, like you did with Icis."

"Actually I can't do that anymore. I don't know why I could then and not now." Icis said.

"What would the difference be? I mean we're in Tranquil, filled with magical forces – or whatever is floating around in our city." Dan asked.

"I've thought about that. During our battle with Cenarius my mana constantly recharged itself, my spells were weak and didn't deflect much damage. But after he left I still felt the same residue in my body. That's the only thing I can think of." Icis said.

"Did you feel the same thing Skyka?" Dan asked.

"I did feel the same, but didn't give it much thought." Skyka said.

"Ok, let's get back to looking at this information. According to your talent tree, when you cast a healing spell you automatically receive an additional 15% boost in healing and get this echo of light for a several seconds." Dan said.

"Yup, that is a heal over time affect. That and my renew spell are my only heal over time spells, the rest are direct healing – which is why I'm usually on the tank. Usually they take heavy damage and need to be healed quickly." Skyka said.

"Well according to this, if you enter your chakra state, you can increase your direct healing and chances of doubling your healing affect on the target." Dan said.

"Yup, I've been doing that." Skyka said.

"Ok, so you have been putting your renew spell on the target and then direct healing them probably as well." Dan said continuing to read the information.

"No?" Skyka said looking over at what Dan was reading.

"Well if I'm reading this right, your chakra will increase your direct healing, renew your…uh…renew spell, and also give you this echo of light thing." Dan said pointing at what he was reading.

Skyka read it over and then eventually said, "Oops".

"Ok so you enter this chakra state, and you start with a renew. According to this it acts as a direct healing spell because of this talent point, option, thingy – so it should kick in your echo of light as well. So which healing spell do you prefer?" Dan asked.

"The flash heal. The problem with that is it drains a lot of mana fast and causes a lot of threat. My mana does recharge but not as fast in combat." Skyka said. "But what you said so far will definitely help."

"Hold on hold on…Give me some numbers. How fast in combat?" Dan asked.

Skyka started rambling off some numbers and Dan interrupted her.

"This spell, the simple one called 'Heal' – good name by the way. But basically what you just told me is your mana actually recharges faster than it takes to cast this spell. So why don't you use this spell?" Dan asked.

"It's not as powerful."

"I can see that, only about half as much. But if you figure in your bonus healing abilities, you're healing over time spells which automatically are reapplied upon a direct healing spell – in theory you could cast this spell until the cows come home and actually increase your mana while casting it." Dan said.

"What?" Skyka said looking at what Dan was pointing at.

"I'm just going by what you told me. Obviously if needed you could get off several flash heals if needed, but if the numbers you are giving me are correct and these numbers are correct – there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to constantly cast this spell. Additionally you have written here that it doesn't cause as much threat as your flash heal. Then do your Serenity spell every, uh seven seconds I think it is if I'm doing the math here right. That is a very low mana high healing spell. In addition to your constant direct healing, the chances of you getting a critical heal increase, including the affects you get from your chakra affect which would kick in this ability." Dan said pointing to another talent in the tree.

"Well holy shit…" Skyka said reviewing everything he just said.

"I'm not sure how much mana that spell costs…" Dan said smiling. "Does this make sense, because I'm not really sure I understand all of this?"

"Yeah, it makes perfect sense…" Skyka said looking at the charts in disbelief.

"I want to go holy! That is awesome!" Icis said excitedly.

"How many renews and echo's of light can you have on one target?" Dan asked.

"Only one per caster." Skyka said.

"Aww…" Icis said. "Well can you take a look at mine real quick?"

"Ok, you specialize in doing your shield thingy - but many of these talents seem to focus on assault and healing yourself." Dan said and began to talk to himself. He took the feather and began to check several talent options. Several times he said "No." to himself and quickly rubbed it away. Ten minutes later he set down the pen.

"Skyka will have to stay in inner fire, and you will have to stay in inner will…I'm assuming it's an affect just like chakra. But Icis, it will cause you to not use as much mana because most of your spells are instants…except for the ones that aren't." Dan said and laughed. He apologized and continued, "But it looks like inner will reduces your cost for instant cast spells, while inner fire increases healing for direct healing."

Icis looked it over and said several comments and questions out loud, but eventually answered herself.

"Huh…would it work?" Icis asked.

"I don't know." Dan said.

"No I meant…" Icis said and then continued to examine the paper and then set it down and looked at several different things.

"Huh…" Icis said more surprised this time. "I don't like the idea of not being able to fight, however some of this equals it out – but in the mean time it makes sense. I mean I can still attack, especially with this talent here." Icis said pointing to one. "However…huh…" Icis said.

"It's up to you, if you don't want to its fine with me." Dan said.

"No it's neat. Usually we just used all of the talents in the tree. Not only will my shields automatically activate like before, but it has the chance of getting the same affect that Skyka gets, reducing physical damage that is. Plus my casting speeds will increase with these, well not with all of my spells – Skyka will still be faster, but…huh…" Icis said.

"Is 'huh' a good thing or a bad thing?" Dan asked.

"It's definitely a good thing. Does everybody have their trees entirely filled or have talents in other trees as well?" Icis asked.

"Julie originally put hers together and they are in different trees. The tanks have them in different trees. I don't know about the rest, but being a tank and a dps I always had mine in different trees." Dan said.

"Huh." Icis said looking at it again. "Do you mind if I take this for a moment?"

"It's yours for all I care." Dan said.

"Skyka?" Icis asked.

"It's yours." Skyka said with a smile.

"I'll bring it back. I'm going to go talk to our talent trainer." Icis said. She stepped outside, summoned her dragon and flew away.

Dan looked at Skyka who was smiling at him and said, "Huh" and they both shared a laugh.

"I don't know if I helped any, but hopefully I did." Dan said.

"You did. The answer was always in front of me, I just never saw it - the same as the rest of our group." Skyka reached over and squeezed Dan's hand. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." Dan said.

"Now if you don't mind I'm going to go scamper off as quickly as Icis did and talk to our healing trainers as well." Skyka said gathering up her notes and ran outside. She summoned her carpet and flew in the same direction.

"Well…I will just sit here alone then." Dan said. He started looking around and saw that the room was occupied with other people as well. Many of them looked busy writing something and getting books from a back room.

"Or not…brings back to many bad memories of high school." Dan said quietly and walked out. Suddenly his hearthstone began to vibrate.

"Dan! You have to get up here and watch this! Everybody else is here, and so far it's been pretty funny." Crystal said appear in the portal.

"Where is here?" Dan asked.

"The engineer's testing area. Hundreds of people are here. They are levitating people so everybody can see. Hurry up!" Crystal said and closed the portal.

Dan summoned his dragon and flew for about a minute until he landed up on the perch. Crystal was waiting for him and quickly motioned for him to come over. The King and Queen were there along with many primary and secondary fighting groups. Dan's dragon quickly flew away as he raced towards here.

"And that's why we cannot fire more than six rockets, because of the simple fact that they interfere with each other's trajectory in flight. However, oh good Dan's here. Watch this." The goblin said. He quickly spun around stuck his arm out and a large tube came out of a metal bracelet. It then fired one rocket at a time in rapid succession, but all of then hung in mid air for a second. Then each one shot forward to its target and provided several different unique explosions while another round of rockets shot out of the tube.

"They have to wait for each other to come out, and then study their path. Afterwards they speed forward in a certain pattern. The benefit to this is each rocket is designed to inflict a certain type of magical damage. And…as you can see from the target, they all hit it dead center. But…let's say you are firing a fire damaging rocket at a fire elemental – it's worthless you might say. The rocket detects this and switches to its secondary explosion. It does hit with fire damage, but produces a shockwave capable of stunning the target for several seconds instead of just doing no damage. During this time the tank has the advantage of getting in several hard hits and is capable of being healed while the elemental regains his ability to fight."

"I thought you were going to the trainer?" Dan whispered to Skyka.

"After this…I wouldn't miss this for the world…" Skyka said and motioning him to be quiet.

The goblin took off the metal strap and tossed it aside. "We currently have fifty five working, and can produce more if need be. But the latest project that we were given took top priority. The King assigned our research team, an ambassador and a Chronomancer to obtain the same devices the alliance used to kill our people. Mohania, feel free to explain what happened."

"Oh dear…" Crystal whispered.

"Thank you…thank you…hold the applause for later." Mohania said walking in front of everybody. "I would like to thank the King first of all for this assignment, and our Chronomancer for putting us in the correct position – but most of all I would like to thank myself and the powers I possess, both as an ambassador and the most powerful warlock I can think of right now. I will be accepting praise afterwards as well as gifts." Mohania pretended to clear his throat. "I'm not exactly sure where we went…nor does our portal opener, but it seemed to be some sort of underground secret laboratory. We arrived in a closest, of which I quickly instructed the Chronomancer to leave – I didn't want him to get hurt. I was also concerned about the engineers with me as well…didn't mean to leave them out." Mohania said waving towards them.

"You said you would have used us to deflect incoming fire!" A goblin said.

"Please settle down, now then. I asked them to stay put while I go and ask the people in this cave if I could get the same items the alliance were using. The first lady screamed and spontaneously burst into flame…it's been known to happen. However, I looked around and saw a door marked "Top Secret". I melted the locks and walked in. I than asked for the items but they seemed sort of…frightened by my request."

"You bit off the first persons arm and ignited another person completely on fire!" The same goblin said.

"Both of which cannot be proven. However once there was only one person left in the room I showed him the list. He seemed willing and eager to help. I insisted that we hurry or there would be consequences, such as I would tie his shoes together or murder his entire family…can't remember which I said." Mohania said. "Anyways minor details, I led him back to the goblins, which didn't stay in the closet by the way, and they started in with their questions. The man talked fast, but not fast enough and I became bored."

"Igniting the room on fire probably wasn't a good idea." Another goblin said.

"Who would have known that there were so many flammable materials in the room? Did you know? I sure didn't. So the man talked faster and quickly showed us where the items were kept. Several people passed us, asked questions but we didn't have time for idle chit-chat."

"Could you at least have taken on a human form? You did have your trinket on you right?" Herrior asked.

"Good after thought, I'll remember that for next time. Continuing on, many of them panicked at what they saw – so a quick solution to that was to melt their eyes. You cannot be afraid if you cannot see." Mohania said with a grin and then continued, "He eventually led us to what he called the armory but said it was locked. I melted the door down and told him it wasn't locked any more. We went inside and gathered up what we needed, I summoned the Chronomancer and we left. Very simple in and out procedure which I'm sure didn't draw any attention at all."

"What happened to the guy that showed you where the stuff was?" Herrior asked. Mohania reached behind him and pulled out a severed hand. "He waved goodbye like this." Mohania said moving it up and down. Mohania then paused for a second and said, "No, it was the other hand." Mohania then reached behind him and pulled out the man's other arm. "Yeah I'm pretty sure it was this one." Mohania tossed them aside and said, "Either way it was polite of him."

"You waved back…would you mind telling them what happened then?" The goblin asked.

"I was being polite. I am trying to turn over a new leaf. My mannerisms have been getting better." Mohania said.

"He burned the guys face with so much heat that it melted down to his skull. It was pretty gruesome." The goblin said.

"But I was polite about it. The point is we have obtained the same technology. So again I wish to thank myself for a successful operation and I will turn it over to these engineers that came with me." Mohania said leaving the circle that formed around them.

"Yeah…so anyways the King gave us a list. We didn't know what we were looking for, but obtained the items thanks to the help of our ambassador. We brought them back and examined them, scanned them, and reversed engineered them. No offense to the humans from that planet – but these items that we obtained are junk. But it did provide several insights for us. They sense heat patterns. The ability for them to sense invisibility items is actually quite simple. They take continuous photos with this thing and have somebody analyze them. If anything moved unexpectedly it would send up a red flag. For testing purposes I would like to ask that Dan come forward and help us, since he was the one that initially flagged their new abilities." The goblin said and waved him forward.

"Will this explode on my head?" Dan asked.

"We haven't had an explosion in days." The goblin said reassuring him. Almost on queue an enormous explosion occurred in their lab – sending one of their goblins flying through the air. A banshee quickly flew down and caught him and brought him back.

"That doesn't count. Go ahead and put this on." The goblin said. Dan slipped the device over his head as the goblin turned it on. "This allows the user to see things in different light spectrums and also in very low light settings. Dan can you confirm this?"

"It appears to be working yes." Dan said.

"Can you count how many people are stealthed behind you?"

"Five."

"Exactly. Now take it off." The goblin said. "Of course now you can't see them." The goblin said and quickly pulled the batteries out. "This is the power source. Without it, the device cannot run. We quickly tried to duplicate the same power source but started to laugh at the components inside and how little power it was able to sustain. It has no way of recharging itself. I estimate in a week their equipment will all fail unless they have a steady supply of these worthless, batteries I think is what you call them?"

"Yes." Dan said.

"We not only developed a better technology for detection, but found ways of beating the current sensors this has." The goblin said pulling out a tiny piece of glass. He handed it to Dan.

"Put this by your eye, it will dissolve into your eye. It will not hurt and you can take it out whenever." The goblin said. Dan did as he was instructed. As soon as the glass dissolved into his eye he not only saw the stealth people but saw a large beast looking down at him in a cage. Dan let out a frightened scream and fell backwards. He held up his hand and the glass fell out just as the goblin has instructed.

"Well huh…I wonder what he saw…" The goblin said. He then pulled out another device and threw it at the ground. It not only showed the stealthed personal, but the same beast. Everybody gasped.

"Calm down, he is caged and heavily sedated. Given the order we can kill it instantly. So not only have we obtained technology more advanced than what the alliance has, we have obtained ways of defeating what they have. But wait, there's more. Bring me the test subjects!" The goblin said turning around. Several goblins came running out and stood in a semi-circle around him. One of his handed him an oval shaped egg.

"Their items are powered by an electronic force produced by these batteries and are made of a metal that we used many years ago…I was told a number but forgot. Anyways, this egg has a thousand yard radius. When dropped in the middle of the fortress, watch what happens." The goblin said and casually tossed the egg in the air. The crowd watched it go up, and then come back down. Upon impact all of the electronics on the goblins heads quickly dissolved and fell to the ground in pieces.

"Fragile, limited usage, and easy to defeat. The alliance are a bunch of morons, they steal technology, convince people to show them the purpose of it and then use it. The egg as you can see dissolves into water which quickly dissolves into the ground. They will have no idea what happened. It's light and sleek form can cause it to be launched from several miles away and land undetected." The goblin said and took a bow. Everybody began to clap.

"But wait, there's more. A new type of incendiary landmine. 'Bring the prototype'!" The goblin turned around and yelled. A blood elf can running with what looked like a Frisbee under his arm.

"Activate it; set it on the ground and walk away – or portal away, whatever." The goblin said pushing the button on top and tossing it to the ground. The Frisbee sprung to life as four legs popped out from underneath of it and began to run towards the King. I then immediately sat still and turned invisible.

"No heat detection, no metal detection. And the best part is it fires invisible bombs of fire into the air and igniting only upon impact, therefore protecting itself from being discovered. The landmine quickly materialized and produced a white flag out of the top of it that said "boom". Many people laughed.

"Ok, let's say it just let off its first round of fire. Now watch." The land mine pulled the flag back in and began to move at very quick speeds about fifty yards away and then sat perfectly still and disappeared again.

"It takes five minutes to recharge and then is ready to fire off again. It targets any living thing around it and fires only at that. We haven't taught it to fire only at the alliance…so some animals may get harmed in the process. It will not fire at us though, I made sure of that. The flame will seem like it came from nowhere and instantly ignite the person or persons within its range." The goblin said and then said, "Moving on, our bodies give off heat. This was a problem since we have no way of not giving off heat. Another method for the alliance to detect us. So the work around that we have for this, besides the egg bomb, is we applied a thin coating of paint around all leather armor – the same as apply enchants or glyphs. You will have no idea it is even there. This way our rogues and druids continue their assignments unhindered by their heat signatures.

"What about hunters?" Branzer asked.

"Why would you need this?" The goblin asked. Branzer instantly made himself disappear.

The goblin pulled out the pencil from behind his ear and a pad of paper from his pocket and wrote down some information. Branzer reappeared right beside him and saw what he was writing.

"I was not aware of that information…we'll get right on that. Since banshees do not give off heat or motion patterns, I still believe we can send them in to screw with them. My King, may I explain the plan that we established and agreed upon?" The goblin said.

"That is why we agreed upon it. Go ahead." The King said.

"We will position several of our assassins out of range of these devices. We will launch a series of eggs. Upon landing it will destroy their little toys. Then our assassins will move in and launch a volley of arrows, taking down any guards on their walls. Once they declare they are under attack, our assassins will disappear – leaving our little presents as a gift. Screw with us will they…we will confuse the shit out of them and they will pay back tenfold for what they did to us!" The goblin said.

"Why not just steal an atomic bomb and drop it on them? I mean if they are stealing technology it's only a matter of time until they get one. They've obtained missiles, these devices, and are able to build mechanical creatures. What's to say they would eventually get one of those?" Branzer said.

"What's an atomic bomb?" The goblin asked.

"It destroys everything in a forty mile radius, poisons the ground, land and air – and releases poisons for over thirty years. We used them on Earth and it killed over two hundred thousand people." Branzer said.

The crowd went silent and everybody stared at Branzer.

"You idiot…do you realize what you just said?" Mohania said. Branzer figured he would agree with him for sure.

"When we besiege a fortress we only kill the guards. We leave the structure intact and head directly for the commander. Once he is killed, most of the guards surrender. We then give them the option of surrendering and handing over their weapons and armor, but leaving them with their gold. They are people just like us. We want to knock out their moral…not level everything within sight." Mohania said in disbelief.

"Well what about what Ysera and her dragons did?" Branzer asked.

"Our spies reported a deep corruption in everything alive. There was nobody to rescue and there were cultists everywhere. Even the ground, animals and plants were corrupt. They burned everything to start a new beginning. We then fought the demon that produced the corruption and made sure he could never do that again, and then they began replanting the forest. There are times when we are ordered to destroy everything and everybody, salt the ground and leave no stone unturned – but that is for the King to decide, not some bomb. Murdering thousands of people is just insane, even the alliance wouldn't do that. They want power, not the type of power to wipe out entire areas. What about our allies? What about our food sources? Poison for thirty years? What kind of insane person would build such a device? I am assuming of course that your bomb was dropped on just fighters…not peasants?"

"Uhh…actually just the opposite." Branzer said.

"That's the most dumbass idea I've ever head. I'm assuming of course you have the cure for this poison and can restore the lands after the bomb has been dropped." Mohania said.

"Well…sort of…" Branzer said wishing he never said that.

"Good answer. So when Ysera's dragons start dying and dropping from the sky, we'll go to them and say, 'we'll…sort of cure the poison that is killing your army…' Don't think that would go over so well." Mohania said.

"Sorry." Branzer said and walked back into the crowd.

"That's enough you two. Mohania you make very good points. Branzer it is nice to know that such a power exists, however as Mohania said even if they used it on us – it would probably destroy them as well. The alliance has bases located all over and simply destroying one would not solve the problem. Destroying their equipment and moral is much more effective. Plus such a blast that powerful would no doubt draw the attention of demons. Your country is powerful, but a couple of spies placed in certain locations, along with a couple of banshees, would put your country in devastation and in complete ruins – despite your mighty weaponry. I have ordered the total extinction of several races and lands to be wiped clean…however it is for the greater good. Many of those lands did nothing but continuously spawn demons that threatened to over run our encampments or our allies; however we left the wildlife and plants alone. Saving our people is one thing, but to watch them slowly starve to death is much worse. I would liked to have learned more about the planet I sent Mohania on to annihilate their race – many lives could have been saved that day. However it did not work out that way, they did not destroy the planet on purpose, but they did accomplish their mission I sent them out to do." The King ended as another explosion occurred. The same goblin went flying through the air, and the same banshee caught him and put him back down.

"What is going on?" The King asked.

"We are attempting to find alternate ways of transporting people like the Chronomancers do. Also we are have almost finished the production of our tiny sappers, auto attackers, and trying to figure out how Prat's explosion worked." The goblin began to shake his head and his arms back and forth. "There is no way that it could have worked. Not the way he described, it's impossible. We have duplicated everything down to the very last detail and have produced only minor explosions…nothing compared to what he was describing. Most of the time it simply just sits there and does nothing. I would bet my job that his bomb is still in the bottom of the ocean just sitting there."

"It exploded, I was there." Dan said.

"There was an explosion, we all felt it." Herrior said.

"I do not doubt there was and the damage we saw so far is something far superior to what he could have assembled, even with your power cells, and pearls that he collected. But a pulsating iron rod as a trigger? That would have triggered it immediately, not a time delay. The power cells were extremely stable and it would have to have a meltdown in order for it to explode – not a generalized explosion around it. The pearls I have to give it to him were highly explosive – but nothing else about that makes sense." The goblin said. "But the vortex is gone and pieces of naga are scattered all over. It obliterated everything within miles around it…which again is impossible. Water reduces the affect of explosions, not to mention the vortex would have sucked in the explosion. To close vortex's you have to have it suck the bomb in to it to destroy whatever is producing the vortex, not setting it right beside it. I have gone over every single detail and none of it makes any sense." The goblin said obviously frustrated. "Anyways show is over. You can stay if you like but we have some work to do."

"Magnificent as always" the King said as him and the Queen started to applaud. Everybody else quickly began to clap as well.

All of the engineers took a bow and bathed in the attention. Afterwards Icis and Skyka jumped back on their flying mounts and flew off to their trainers. The King walked over to Dan and asked, "So what do you think?"

"Much of what he said didn't make sense. But he seemed confident and his demonstrations proved that it did work. It feels…kind of awkward seeing our technology not only duplicated, but become useless within a second. I have to hand it to you, your engineers are good." Dan said.

"They have impressed me just the same as every member of Tranquil impresses me. Some build devices like this, some grow flowers, and some do nothing but give encouragement. It's a fine city as it has been for thousands of years – but it is the citizens that make it this way, not me." The King said.

Dan nodded. "I guess I'm curious about the bomb, probably you are to and obviously the goblin is. My King I saw it start to explode, the rest I don't think I can say or maybe I could but just don't understand…"

"Settle down young one." The King said quickly. "It's gone and the threat is over. Do not dwell on it, nor am I going to command that you speak of those events again. Now, go exercise that smile of yours." The King and Queen gently glided down from the engineering levels and took the time to look at everybody. The rest of Herrior's group came over.

"Being polite huh?" Dan asked Mohania.

"I'm not quite there yet, but mannerisms are important. Treat people how you want to be treated and you'll get further with negotiations." Mohania said.

"I don't think anybody here believes that." Dan said.

"Naw I don't either." Mohania said. "But it sounded good."

"So why were you picked exactly?" Herrior asked.

"Because of my powers that I possess and ability to…"

"Seriously." Herrior said cutting him off.

"No idea actually. I didn't volunteer for it; he just gave me my orders so I followed them out. What was I supposed to say, 'No – I think another ambassador would be better for the job' – yeah I don't see that going over very well." Mohania said.

Herrior nodded.

"So are we going to strike back at the alliance?" Branzer asked.

"I have no doubt about that at all. As far as our group, I don't know. I haven't received any orders to do so. I hope we are assigned to do so, but so does every other primary fighting group we have." Herrior said.

"Do you know where you were portalled to?" Bernett asked.

"I don't know. It was hard to ask questions with people screaming and running around on fire. Next time I'll ask." Mohania said.

"Huh…wonder where he was? I have no doubt it was a government facility and it'll probably be written off as an 'explosion' or…actually they will probably deny everything." Bernett asked out loud, but not really wanting an answer back.

"Were there no other options to negotiate for the items needed other than by slaughtering them?" Veliline asked.

"None that I thought of at the moment. You see, negotiating you have to read into the situation and predict the next step – anticipate what they are going to say and have a response ready…I think that's what Herrior said anyways, I don't know I just winged it." Mohania said.

"In this situation it was probably the best. Obtaining the information, leaving no witnesses and only leaving a trail of mass confusion and slaughter behind with no apparent entrance or exit. I think he did well." Herrior said.

"That was my plan all along; you know this is about the tenth time you agreed with me. Are you sure you are ok?" Mohania asked.

"Just fine. You killed to avenge the lives of our fallen and to prevent the deaths of possibly thousands in the future. We needed that information and equipment. You got in, got the stuff, didn't get any of your party killed and left. I think you did great." Herrior said.

"Like I said my plan all along." Mohania said looking at Veliline.

"Could the information be obtained simply by asking or by torture, or by sending one of our banshees to get the information that way?" Veliline asked.

"No, there wouldn't be any fire involved that way." Mohania answered back.

"Not sure what…" Herrior said questioning Mohania with his face and then turned to Veliline. "Anyways Veliline, you may be called upon to do the exact same thing. Trust your instincts, get in, get out, and keep everybody safe. We have no banshee's that are ambassadors and therefore have no rank to lead these minor assaults. Having an entire primary group going in would be a waste and probably would cause more problems. However there are exceptions, for example Quinely was on an assignment to hand over some alliance to a priest recommended by Samatha. Speaking of, I wonder why we haven't been reassigned to go back to that planet?" Herrior asked.

"Probably our scouts haven't noticed anything." Jacklyn said back.

Herrior nodded and said he was going to go meditate. He summoned his dragon and flew off. Dan walked over to the discarded rocket bracelet and began investigating it. It looked about six inches wide and quickly strapped itself to his right wrist.

"Won't work for ya handsome." A female goblin said walking up to him. It scared him and he quickly took it off.

"It aint going to bite either. It's designed only to work for an engineer and only the ones that can correctly give it the correct sequence of thoughts to work. It's also designed to destroy itself if left outside of Tranquil with no contact from any of us in Tranquil in seven days. So even if the alliance or any other person gets it and tries to figure it out, it'll simply fall apart. Our technology always has fail-safes on them. Part of the reason why it takes so long to design what we have. So if you aren't busy would you like to go for a walk together, I could show you some other things that might interest you?" The goblin said with a flirty smile.

"I'm…actually married if that is what you mean." Dan said nervously.

"Rats…all of the good ones are taken. But the offer still stands though – as far as the tour. I've seen you around many times, just haven't had the nerve to ask or approach you. I apologize." She said sounding disappointed. She took the bracelet from him and strapped in on her wrist and it immediately sprung to life. She shrugged and said, "Just have to have the right touch." Dan smiled at her as she started to walk away.

"She is a cute one." Crystal said innocently.

"I…don't know…what's cute for a goblin?" Dan asked.

"Probably another goblin would know, I don't know. I can't help but think of Yoda sometimes when I see them." Crystal said with a smile.

"Voice is way different, also I don't think even Yoda could develop such technology or think of things as fast as they do." Dan said turning to her.

"I'm glad they are on our side." Crystal said.

"I'm sure the alliance has their own as well…just seems like a race to obtain power quicker and counter it with different powers. You have to wonder if all of this is going to one day stop." Dan said.

"Doubt it. Kill one demon, another comes. Wipe out some cultists, and more arrive and so on and so forth. However we seem more focused on the root cause versus flat out attacks. Anyways been having any more weird thoughts in that head of yours?" Crystal asked.

"No…" Dan stopped and his eyes rolled around as if he was trying to figure out why.

"Well good. For awhile there I thought you were going to turn into some superhero and start leaping over tall buildings. Feel like jumping off this building with me?" Crystal asked.

"Why not. I've always wondered what it would be like to fall to my doom." Dan said. The grabbed each other's hands and walked towards the edge and stepped over it without hesitation. Their bodies quickly began to pick up speed, and then within seconds later they slowed down and gently were turned so that their feet would touch the ground and landed gently on the street.

"Kind of takes the thrill out of sky-diving or bungee jumping." Dan said.

"I think that is supposed to be the intention. No clue how it works, but like the goblin said there are fail-safes all over town." Crystal replied back. The two of them walked off.

The next day Herrior contacted his group and said they should probably go check on Earth, see if any new developments happening there. They all assembled and Lindel opened a portal to the Lieutenant's office.

The new Lieutenant none of them recognized but sensed no evil from him. He was on the phone in a heated conversation with somebody. He was looking out the window and didn't see them arrive. Lindel nudged Mohania and Trackolania. Both of them nodded and suddenly the entire room went black. Even the light coming in from the opened windows vanished.

"What the…" The Lieutenant said. "Hello? Are you still there?" The phone was yanked out of his hand and he could hear it smash up against the far wall. He drew his flashlight and gun, but both of them were instantly destroyed in his hands.

"Who is there? What do you want?" The Lieutenant asked in the dark. He was answered by nothing but silence. He started to move around his desk when a force enveloped his body and threw him against the cement wall.

"You will be visited by three ghosts tonight. The ghost of Christmas past, present, and future." Dan said trying to mimic the old Charles Dickens ghost voice.

"Put me down, right now!" The Lieutenant yelled.

Mohania pulled his hood back and ignited his head on fire. He stood there letting the Lieutenant stare at him.

"Hi." Mohania said and then began to laugh in a sinister voice. The Lieutenant saw his skull alter in shape and size as he laughed. He began to scream.

"Ok he's had enough, he's not our target. Let him down." Herrior said. Instantly the room lit back up and Lindel let him down gently.

"Who are you? What are you?" The Lieutenant asked hysterically.

"Oh…yeah, ok everybody do your trinket thing. Forgot about that part didn't we?" Herrior said smiling as he pressed his tiny dragon, instantly changing from a tauren to a male human wearing the exact same uniform. The rest did as well, and the Lieutenant pushed himself back into the corner not knowing what to be afraid of more, their original looks or the fact that they could alter their appearance.

"Apparently they don't play jokes anymore around here huh?" Branzer asked with a smile. "I am Officer Branzer; this is Officer Dan, Crystal and Bernett. I'm sure you've heard of us at one point in time or another; or possibly the phrase 'guardian angel'?"

The Lieutenant quickly looked them over. "Yes I have heard the phrase and you two vanished off the face of the Earth, the other two why are you called by your first names?"

"We don't know…same reason why everybody here is going to call you Lieutenant." Dan walked forward extending his hand towards him, "Pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the scare, well most of us are probably sorry…others probably thought it was funny. And to answer your question we did vanish off the face of the Earth. My guess is you can resolve five of your missing person's reports right this very moment." The Lieutenant took his hand and helped him up.

"I'm Lieutenant…" He started to say.

"Yes you are. The previous one died. The second one we framed him and eventually caused him a slow painful death – also we killed many of his friends. You're name now is Lieutenant and that is what we will call you." Herrior said. "Have you had any strange reports come in?"

"That's confidential." The Lieutenant said still staring at them in disbelief.

"My ability to yank your heart out and devour it while you watch is confidential as well." Mohania said. "Shall I demonstrate?"

"We are not here to cause you harm. This was our base camp for awhile while you and your officers conducted their business. If you have heard the stories, you will know that many lives were saved because of us." Herrior said.

"Yes I have heard those. If you aren't here to cause me harm, they why did you scare the shit out of me? I have a door, you could have knocked!" The Lieutenant said venting the last of his freighted frustration at them.

"Doors are useless. Do you have any chocolate?" Lindel asked.

The Lieutenant looked at them for a moment. He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out an entire box of Snickers and tossed it to her. "I was told to tell you to take it out of the wrapper first. Honestly I thought all of those stories were made up – being the new guy in charge, usually tricks and stories are told like this."

"Glad to hear that tradition still stands." Branzer said with a proud smile. "Lindel the wrapper is the paper on the outside…never mind…" Branzer made an attempt to show her but she engulfed several of them at the same time.

"I was also told she would do that as well." The Lieutenant said.

"I've been trying to teach her manners and how to act like a proper dignified woman." Branzer said as Lindel quickly turned around and shot him a nasty look. "You look lovely hun."

"So…the infamous 'guardian angels' are here. Is it safe to assume that our world is coming to an end?" The Lieutenant said walking around his desk and sitting on top of it.

"Not that we're aware of. Also don't use that phrase…hmm…any suggestions on what to have them call us?" Herrior asked.

"The wraith bringers of death and destruction." Mohania said.

"Something shorter perhaps, maybe something that won't scare the kids." Herrior said back.

"The Outsiders? Langoliers?" Dan asked.

"Something besides a movie title maybe? I mean how about The Notebook?" Crystal said in a cocky voice.

"Good movie!" Julie chimed in.

"What's a Langolier?" Mohania asked.

"A floating black ball composed of three sets of teeth that will devour anything and everything in its path, there is no known defense against them." Dan said.

"I vote for that, but I still like mine better." Mohania said.

"How about Herrior's group? That's what we are called – make things simple." Herrior said. "Now then, back to the question of is there anything weird or unusual going on?"

"You mean besides having complete blackness engulf me, a skeleton with his head on fire and seeing species that I couldn't even have dreamed up of?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes." Herrior said with a smile. The Lieutenant walked behind his desk and pulled out several files and then went to reach for his phone. He then recalled who he was talking to and gave them a glare.

"It was Dan's idea." Mohania quickly said.

"Trackolania did it actually." Dan said. Trackolania nodded with a smile and walked over and started picking up the pieces.

"Don't bother." The Lieutenant said and pulled out his cell phone. He requested several cold case files to be brought in. "Did you scare the shit out of the previous Lieutenant; I mean the one you didn't kill?"

"Of course!" Lindel said in-between bites.

"Hun, if Mohania has to eat corpses with his mouth closed the same rules apply to you." Skyka said and then turned to the Lieutenant. "It's easier this way. Would you believe us if we walked up to your gate and said that we needed to speak to you about confidential files?"

"We would take your statements and question you involvement with the cases and why you know additional information concerning them." The Lieutenant replied back. The door opened and a secretary walked in. She looked at Herrior's group surprised and instantly smiled.

"You're back! I mean…are we still not supposed to talk to you?" The lady said quickly.

"Not yet. We need to conduct some investigations first. Give me a quick head shake one way or the other. Are there any alliance in your building?" Herrior said. The lady quickly nodded, gave him the files and then quickly left.

Herrior shoved the files at Branzer and drew his sword. "What the hell are you doing with alliance in your force?" The Lieutenant saw the size of the sword and couldn't think of an answer. "Look for red eyes, aggressive behavior, and somebody looking for power. Is that so hard to remember?" Herrior threw his sword in the cement floor and it sunk in about two feet followed by a loud resonating vibration. "Lindel, I think one of them is about to have a heart attack. The rest of you that can turn invisible go find the others and kill them during the commotion!"

"You can't kill a one of our officers!" The Lieutenant said with authority in his voice.

"Any strange occurrences with them? Their entire family getting killed, their friends, neighbors, anything suspicious like that happen?" Herrior asked.

The Lieutenant looked at him shocked.

"I'll take that as a yes. Did you ever suspect the officer doing that? That thought ever occurred to you?" Herrior asked pulling his sword out of the floor with pieces of concrete flying out with it.

"There were accidents – everything seemed…" The Lieutenant said questioning himself.

"I'm sure it was an accident. Give me the damn files, the rest of you go!" Herrior said in frustration.

Lindel and all of the hunters turned invisible. Lindel flew through the wall as the office door opened by itself and then closed by itself.

"Three rows ahead of me two seats over." Lindel said as she mind linked to the others. "I can only sense one more in here."

"In the back row, already on it." Branzer said as all of the hunters moved quickly into position.

Lindel gently slide into the female's eyes. Half way in, the woman realized what was happening and quickly threw herself backwards shaking herself vigorously. She pulled out her mace and sprayed herself in her eyes while screaming obscenities and saying they were not going to take her alive. The entire department stopped what they were doing and quickly stood up to see what was going on.

The woman's body suddenly went limp. She then floated up in the air and said, "What did we tell you! If you find an alliance like this woman, kill them immediately!"

The man in the back quietly said, "Shit…" as he tried to run for the door. An invisible hand grabbed his throat and threw him to the ground. The hunters opened fire on the man, revealing their position and almost instantly blowing his body into pieces.

"Do not allow the alliance to live! This woman killed twelve people including her own two children, and all of you dumbasses believed her story!" The lady yelled rising higher into the air. "We give commands for a reason! To keep your asses alive! Now tell me, are there any other alliance on these premises?" Lindel said in a high pitch shrieking voice.

"The guard at the gate, the one on the left. Two others are on patrol right now." The man with the toothpick in his mouth said.

"Go kill them!" Lindel said and then made the woman's body explode. Both bodies had burned up leaving no trace of them. Lindel gently floated over and stood on the inch boarder walls that separated the cubicles. All of the officers immediately drew their weapons and ran out. Several seconds passed until the gunfire started. Many others got in their squad cars and began to track down the locations of the other two officers.

"How's my hair? Did I mess it up?" Lindel said brushing it back.

"You look fine." Branzer said and yelled out to Herrior that the threats had been neutralized.

"Apparently there have been numerous tremors in this world – to many to count, along with magnetic fluctuations and something called the 'Northern Lights' completely disappearing. Our portal that we used to use to come back and forth to this world, apparently called the 'Bermuda triangle' – name changes every decade, has began to expand and has permanent clouds enveloping it. Why didn't our scouts report this information back to us?" Herrior asked to himself.

"What about the other cases?" The Lieutenant asked as Herrior tossed the folders aside.

"There won't be any more cases if we don't investigate and find out why this world has become unstable." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and relaying the information to an ambassador.

"Our scouts are monitoring this, however there is no additional information they are reporting back. No threats have come in or out. We all know the same thing you are thinking, however it could be just the world readjusting itself or something that species is doing to interfere with it. Go ahead and investigate, report back any additional information." The ambassador said and closed the portal.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Already on it." Lindel said beginning to channel a portal. Herrior turned to the Lieutenant and said, "None of this happened, kill the alliance – we will be back and if we find any more in your department your head is going to roll. Let's move out!" They all entered the portal and appeared on a deserted sandy beach. It was uninhabited as they all gazed up at the large groups of clouds that had formed.

"Go ahead Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel began to chant several words in a language the latest members didn't understand. Small beams of lightning shot out of her fingers and towards an invisible target. A small portal opened and Lindel stuck her head in.

"A banshee?" A small goblin voice said looking up. "We're in danger. The Earthen Ring has joined our defense, but this world will crumble – we're only buying time.

"What happened?" Lindel asked quickly.

"Don't know for sure. We were mining materials as usual, also finding different uses for these energized geodes…" the goblin said but was quickly interrupted by an enormous earthquake.

Lindel pulled her head out and asked if anybody felt that. Nobody knew what she was talking about. She put her head back in and saw several large stone structures had collapsed, but then reformed back to how they were.

"How did they do that?" Lindel yelled down.

"We have no idea, nor do we have time to investigate. Can we talk in this life and not afterwards?" The goblin yelled back.

Lindel pulled her head out of the portal and relayed the distress call.

"Horseshit…if there was a problem they would have used their hearthstones." Herrior pulling his out and began to rub it. The stone didn't produce its portal or even vibrate.

"Skyka?" Herrior asked.

"Already trying." Skyka said trying hers and everybody else tried theirs as well.

"Lindel can you sense any of our scouts around here?" Herrior asked. Lindel closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Seconds passed as her head began to glow with more power.

"Ok save your strength." Herrior said putting his hand on her shoulder. "Can you get us down there?"

"I can try." Lindel said unsure about herself. She began to channel more power into the portal already opened and it began to expand as usual.

"Watch the first step." Lindel said looking into the portal.

"Icis, Skyka begin to levitate us and let's go. Lindel any idea what we're jumping into?" Herrior asked.

"Nope…exciting isn't it?" Lindel said smiling.


	18. Land Down Under

Land Down Under

"Where are we at?" Dan asked gently floating down from the portal that had closed once everybody was through.

"The center of your world." Herrior said.

"It can't be it's full of lava and molten fire." Julie said looking around.

"Some spots are some aren't. Look at the devastation…I see cultists, elementals, troggs, and those rock men I've never seen before. Careful who you attack when we land." Herrior said.

"Yes, please don't attack me. They call themselves the Earthen. The Earthen Ring group was already here, they must know how to portal or something…but they seemed ignorant of you rescuing their leader. There are…err…were twenty of us. There are five of us left; only I and Epoose are able to walk. I'm trying to figure out how to heal these guys. They are composed entirely of rock. Between them and the shaman's, we are dropping like flies." The goblin said franticly.

Herrior's group landed. Herrior ordered Lindel and Icis to see what they could do with the stone man while the rest of them ran into battle.

"Quinely take the south group, Veliline the middle and I'll take the north." Herrior said as he let out a roar and jumped into battle.

Before Herrior could give another command to his group he saw that everybody had engaged the troggs but were merely slowing them down or stunning them while their tanks obtained aggro on them.

"Everybody who isn't in my group get in the building!" Herrior yelled out.

"We can't let them take the temple; most of it is already damaged and infested. If we leave you will die." An elder tauren said. There were many other taurens as well as many other races.

"Won't be the first time. Get in there and clear out the temple, we'll buy you time. Tend to your wounded and rest yourselves." Herrior said in between attacks. The tauren commanded his group to fall back and did as Herrior told him to.

Icis had cast her healing spells one after another on the stone man with no result. "I cannot heal him Herrior; his body is not like that of ours." Icis called out.

"Leave him and help Skyka." Herrior yelled back and let out another thunderous battle cry.

By now everybody had fully engaged the onslaught of troggs. Quinely was in her bear form and thrashing at anything in her range. Veliline had infested a large group with her diseases and made the ground beneath her burn. Herrior looked back and saw that several of the hunter's ice traps had prevented the troggs from attacking Skyka, and the others were being handled by their pets. Icis quickly ran over and engaged her shield around the group and began healing beside Skyka.

Lindel was looking over the stone man and was quickly asking the goblin a series of questions that he didn't know any of the answers to. Finally Lindel yelled at him to shut up and blasted the man with tremendous explosion of power in his chest. The man's eyes opened and he sat up. He looked around and quickly became afraid.

"My name is…" The man said as Lindel interrupted him.

"Yes fine, now both of you go in the temple. I got some killing I need to do."

"But out King is being held hostage, and the Prince has been ordered for execution! We must help them!"

"I'll pass that along, now get!" Lindel said and vanished into the air. She made a quick mental link with Veliline and she flew to the middle of the hundreds of troggs pouring in on them. Several seconds later Lindel appeared in her banshee form in the middle of the hundreds of troggs waiting to attack and let out a loud wail. The troggs all cowered in fear and then looked at her, many of them instantly dying or turning to stone.

"Now!" Lindel yelled as she summoned her skeleton army. Veliline summoned her ghouls at the same time. Lindel entered one of the trogg's bodies and pulled him up into the air and then made him explode. She then came down and started launching dark bolts into as many troggs as she could. It didn't do much damage, but it replenished her strength.

Her plan had worked though. With the troggs attention turned at the newly formed army and distractions, Herrior's group began slaughtering them with ease. Strings had made his way to the far side of the troggs, farther north of Herrior, and began to play a tune that caused the troggs to turn on each other. Then he altered the tune and the troggs started yelled out several different commands to the rest of the troggs while still fighting them.

The mass confusion was further compounded when the warriors and warlocks began letting off their fearing abilities. Herrior, Veliline and Quinely constantly pushed forward into the crowd, catching the attention of the troggs and forcing them to fight them. The hunters had turned their attention from doing moderate damage and keeping an eye on the healers to unleashing their full force onto the troggs. Several kinds of traps went launched through the air and upon landing produced groups of venomous snakes, large fiery explosions, and froze the ground causing the troggs to lose their balance – depending on where the trap landed. Crystal and Mohania summoned their infernals adding to the chaos, and once in awhile had their demon seed that they planted erupt from a single trogg and producing its large winged demon that randomly attacked anything around it. Crystal continued to launch her seeds of corruption into the onslaught while Mohania channeled down fire from the sky. Occasionally Mohania would unless a massive spell that would blast a group of troggs, injuring them severely and knocking them to the ground.

This bought them time as the fight continued. The elder tauren and his group were able to clear out the temple of the remaining cultists and trogg. Shortly afterwards they all channeled a spell into the middle rock pillar. Dan caught a glimpse of this after decapitating a trogg and then continued to fight.

"Dan if you could lend us a hand…" Herrior said in a muffled painful voice as he continued to take constant damage from the incoming troggs.

"Already tried. None of my abilities work down here; also our friends seem to be producing some sort of force field in the temple holding up a bunch of rocks." Dan said back frustrated as him and Jacklyn continued to fight together.

"Glad they are having fun with their rocks…" Herrior said sarcastically as he let out a terrifying roar scattering the troggs that were amassing on him. He then launched himself into the air, crashing down on an incoming group of troggs.

"I can't do a lightwell, we're moving around too much. Icis you take the south part of our group and I'll take the north part. They are getting out of our range." Skyka said and they quickly split.

Lindel flew over to Strings and blasted him with an enormous amount of power, healing him and causing his song he was playing to increase its affect. Dozens of more troggs succumbed to his musical trance. The troggs under his control poured into the crowd of troggs, scratching and hitting as fast as they could.

After several hours the troggs army had began to disperse. There never appeared to be a leader and seemed to fight only on instinct.

"Kill as many as you can, but don't pursue them." Herrior said slamming his shield into a trogg and then launching a magical sword at one of them fleeing. Moments later Herrior's group gathered together.

"I'm proud of all of you. Your group fighting skills have improved a lot." Herrior said as Skyka continued to heal everybody.

"We could have done more. They were flanking us and we should have…I don't know I'm tired…" Branzer said excited at first and then began to catch his breath.

"When you get your own group you can command them as you wish. However all of you did fine. You all held together, altered your fighting tactics to keep each other alive and created as much chaos and damage as you could. Do not second guess yourselves. You are all learning to fight as a group and that is what wins battles. Come now; let us see what they are doing in the temple with those rocks." Herrior said.

The elder tauren approached Herrior almost in disbelief.

"First things first, Icis, Skyka and Lindel go try to resurrect as many of our goblins as you can."

"Already ready done." The tauren said with a smile. "They are in the back of the temple trying to establish a connection, or whatever you call it back to your world."

"Connection is fine. So you are part of the Earthen Ring? We have built some trust with other members of your group." Herrior said.

"As I have been told, and once again I believe I owe you a thank you for saving our group once again. My name is Maruut. Once Deathwing was created and rose to unleash his destruction we formed a group to minimize the damage and attempt to find any weaknesses to destroy him. As I understand, some members of our group may look familiar to you, some you may have reservations about."

"For example the alliance you have behind you…" Herrior said glaring at several dwarfs.

"They will not attack you; we all fight for the same cause. We seek to bolster our forces and they only join if they so desire." Maruut said calmly.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"He's speaking the truth. I don't sense any aggression out of them." Lindel said.

"Ah, you have a seer among you." Maruut said.

"Sure we can call her that. So explain to me what is happening here." Herrior said.

"Gladly." Maruut said turning and raising his arm at a huge stalactite and stalagmite in the center of the temple. It appeared that they were once formed together at one time but now the spells Maruut's group was casting seemed to fill the gap of the missing spots. "This is known as the world pillar. It controls all of the elemental and magnetic forces for this world. There are three pieces missing – stolen for their powers. In doing so it has altered this world and began to bring in creatures from other worlds seeking war for these pillars. Once united again, they will reestablish this world's natural balance and will destroy all that oppose it. Our shamans have been able to stabilize it, but the pillars must be restored."

"So Deathwing has sent forces to steal the pillars?" Herrior asked.

"We assume so; however many of the creatures we are fighting does not seem associated with him. There are massive cults forming and those we believe are either attempting to bring in more forces or have a pillar and are attempting to remove it from this world." Maruut said.

"I do not fight on assumptions. Why this world and not other worlds?" Herrior asked.

"It might be happening to other worlds as well, but until we obtain more of an army and ways of moving from world to world faster we are not able to tell." Maruut said.

"How did you get here in the first place?" Herrior questioned.

"I called them here." The stone man said walking forward. "My name is Flint Oremantle. We sabotaged one of their portals and let out a desperate cry for help, unfortunately it brought more trouble than help. I fled here seeking help when I was mortally wounded. We have a piece of the world pillar heavily guarded, but our forces are weakening and our King and Prince have been kidnapped and are being held hostage for the pillar."

"Another of the pillars we know are in the cultist hands, just not sure where. The third we sense is here, but not sure where." Maruut said.

"Doesn't give us much to go on. I would say it is safe to say that if the goblins have not been able to establish a connection that we will not be able to either. Probably your connections will not work either Lindel, and could explain why some of our war tactics have been hindered." Herrior said first looking at Lindel and then at Dan. "Normally worlds collapse on their own when their time is up, however these pillars concern me. I do not wish to have Deathwing become stronger than he is. Given our choices, the only logical thing to do is to recover these pillars and hope that our connections become reestablished."

"Or you could join with us. Help us rebuild, and mend these worlds. Deathwing is an admirable foe and needs to be defeated. Your help would be greatly bolster our forces." Maruut said.

"We have our own agenda, which strangely enough does seem to tie in with what you are attempting to do. We will obtain these pillars, neutralize the threats here, and then figure out why our connections have been severed. Once that is done we will leave this place." Herrior said.

"Perhaps some of your group may want to stay. We fight for a good cause." Maruut said.

"Their will is their own, as it always has been." Herrior said seeming not to care much.

A troll came running into the temple and said that the elementals are attacking the west side of the temple. Maruut immediately ordered many of his forces to counter the threat. Herrior motioned his group to follow them. They watched at Maruut's forces repelled the attacks and were successful in their attempts to prevent them from closing in to close to the temple.

"What should we do?" Branzer asked with his gun in his hand.

"Observe for now." Herrior said in a calm tone. In addition to the different types of elementals they were fighting there were creatures with long tails and claws that acted like animals. They stood about five feet tall and seemed to only attack when provoked. Past them in the distance is what Herrior was focusing on. Huge giants made of stone were watching the battle. They had all of the characteristics of a normal person, but were twenty times as big.

"Follow me. Attack some of the elements along the way but do not provoke them. I wish to speak with them." Herrior said pointing off in the distance.

Herrior's group began to slow walk behind the battle, many of them attacking some of the elements but nothing aggressive. As they walked past the battle, one of the large stone creatures saw their advance and walked forward to greet them.

"Stay here, do not attack – that is an order." Herrior said as he continued to walk forward.

The two approached each other and stopped about twenty feet apart.

"What are you doing in our realm?" The stone creature said, his voice sounding deep and rough.

"We originally came here to rescue our people, but upon hearing the damage that has been done we wish to help fix it." Herrior said.

"You are not welcome here, and you bring war to our realm!" The creature said in an angry tone.

"We will leave if you wish. However you must sense the powers that have been altered in your realm. What can we do to help?" Herrior asked.

"Leave! This is our realm, you are not welcome here!" The creature bellowed again.

Herrior nodded. "I apologize for us being here. The way we got in has been closed and we cannot leave until we figure out a way to reopen it. In the mean time though wars rage all around us."

"Your wars do not concern us; you are mere bugs to be swatted – nothing more." The giant said and turned to walk away.

"How can we prove ourselves to you?" Herrior asked calmly.

The giant stopped in his tracks. He thought for a moment and then turned around. "There are many like you in our realm; flying gnats that could easily be squashed. We've watched you fight; you were overwhelmed and still came out victorious. It made us curious, which is why we are talking now. We will continue to observe to see if you are worthy, until then we will talk no more." The giant said and then continued to walk away. Herrior nodded and walked back to his group.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I can't sense them just the same as I cant sense the rock man inside the temple. Their bodies are different. You probably have a better impression of them then I do." Lindel replied back.

"I got the impression that if they wanted to war with us, they would have by now – but I sense they want the same thing we want. Restore order and leave – that made that certainly clear." Herrior said. "Anyways I am going to meditate on these events, go help them kill the incoming elementals. Make sure you distinguish between the elements and our new friends when you attack."

"You mean don't accidently kill the alliance without it making it looking obvious that we did?" Skyka said with a smile.

"If they die can I eat them? I mean technically they are dead and it would be a waste to let them go to shame." Mohania asked.

"Would you be attacking them or the elementals?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"You're avoiding the question."

"And no changing into an elemental or cheering for them either…sheesh I have to go into detail with you guys don't I?" Herrior said with a smile walking past them. "And no opening the ground and smashing them into it!"

"What is he a mind reader?" Mohania asked. "However there are alternatives…"

"And no alternatives!" Herrior said turning to walk into the temple.

Everybody began to help fight off the elementals except for Mohania. He seemed to be in deep thought walking slowly behind them.

"Come join in the fun!" Julie said with enthusiasm as Spark began to tear at one of them.

"I'm thinking of an alternate word for alternatives…" Mohania said raising his boney hand to his chin as if he was thinking while staring at a female dwarf.

"Hmm…I wonder if Kendall's body count is higher than Mohania's right now. I mean he was pretty slow with his spells in our previous encounter…" Crystal said loud enough for Mohania to hear it.

"I think my turtle even got more kills than he did…" Branzer said and then let off a series of blasts with his gun.

"Your turtle doesn't do anything. He just stands there and gets hit!" Mohania said, "And don't think I don't know what you are trying to do."

"Oh, there's number seven for him. I bet he could get two at the same time. That would be nine times more kills than Mohania has; just making a general observation…" Branzer said out loud with a smile

"I hate all of you." Mohania said joining in the fight.

The wave of elements was suppressed within minutes. Skyka was the first to speak.

"So how often do they attack?" she asked.

"About every twenty minutes or so. It's more of a nuisance. I tell ya though if you hadn't dropped in when you did we would all be riding the golden gryphon to the skies." One of the dwarfs spoke up. "Thank you kindly for arriving when you did my dear lass."

Skyka nodded not knowing what to say in return. She felt the same hatred that Mohania expressed and she had a hunch the rest her group did as well.

The dwarf read the expression on her face and smiled, "We joined them a long time ago. We have no desire to return back to the alliance. You'll find that you may be fighting alongside us more in the future."

"We have several strike teams in place for a retaliation strike against what you did to us a couple of days ago. I look forward to seeing severed heads of the alliance lined along your walls." Jacklyn said putting her swords behind her. "Why don't you send word ahead so it's more of a challenge for us?"

The dwarf let out a sigh, but before he could say something a female troll spoke up. "If ye be needin' help, we be fightin' by your side – any day, any time."

"She's right. Not everybody belongs to the alliance; we certainly don't and will strike them if we need to. You have my word on that." The dwarf said.

"Hatred runs deep; I apologize on behalf of my group. We will try to set aside our prejudices while we accomplish our task. Did you hear that we freed hundreds of alliance? Then we freed their family members from slavery from the naga, and then simply turned them free?" Skyka said sarcastically.

"Aye we have caught bits and pieces of it. Because of your actions the Earthen Ring is becoming stronger once more to contain the damage. And it appears by luck that you happened to drop in again to help our group. Do you believe in luck miss?" The dwarf asked.

"No." Skyka said and hurried past him.

They walked into the temple to see Herrior and every race sitting in a circle and eating break while the shaman's continued to channel their spells.

Lindel quickly mind linked everybody. "Enough of that everybody, that's our leader. Most of you thought the same thing all at the same time. What he says we will do."

"I would hope that you do." Herrior said back in his mind and continued on the conversation he was having not skipping a beat.

"Oh shit…sorry…" Lindel said and broke the link. Herrior casually looked over his shoulder at them with a blank stare and then looked back.

"Well I get the dumbass of the year award…" Lindel whispered.

"I agree, but it's actually a tossup between you and everybody else. Did I miss something?" Mohania asked.

"Go mingle with them." Skyka said letting out a sigh. Mohania pulled out a mustard packet and began to shake it. Skyka reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Now is not the time hun. Please." Skyka said in almost desperation. Mohania put the mustard packet away and nodded.

"It has been to long since I have seen an undead." Maruut said motioning him over. "It is an honor to fight beside you. Herrior speaks highly of all of you. We have formed a plan, but it involves risks."

"I've tried to summon my dragon. No response, probably the same reason why some of our additional powers don't work as well. That means we will have to climb, which as you know fighting from the high ground, especially climbing steep rocks, we will give us a severe disadvantage. That is a last resort. Our fellow goblins are working on a series of explosions, but nothing significant and will serve as a distraction only. We have decided to aid Flint in his battle against the Troggs. The problem being of course that we only have a few members that can fly or make the climb quickly without being seen. The rest of us will simply serve as a defensive perimeter for the temple." Herrior said.

"What about levitation?" Skyka asked.

"To slow, and if the person is attacked you run into the same problem as climbing the rocks. Either drop quickly and die, or die by their attacks. We don't have many options. So Lindel, Quinely and Trackolania will go. Quinely you are the only one I'm really worried about, but you have to make it up there quickly and undetected. For some reason Flint here is able to scurry up the cliffs just as easily as us walking on the ground. He will go first and locate a safe passage for all of you. Then the three of you will lead the assault. Quinely you will be in charge – do what is best for you three, even if their generals tell you otherwise. I want to see all of you back in one piece. As for the rest of us we will work on barricading the temple and reinforcing it. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the attacks on this place. I've got the impression that many of these attacks are not coordinated and are attracted to the power in this temple. What many of our attackers don't know is there is no power until we can get the pillars back. Good thing they don't talk to each other…" Herrior smirked

"Flint is certain that one of the pillars is up there. The rest of us will attempt to locate the others. I want our hunters to stealth along the out perimeters looking for clues. Mohania I want you to assume any form possible to get close, but do not engage unless you know for a fact you can kill the person or creature without drawing attention – same for the hunters. You all will be without healers – so don't get killed. The large stone beasts that I spoke with, do not engage them but if you see an opportunity to assist them do so. Let us rest our minds and bodies before our missions." Herrior concluded by eating the last piece of his bread and laid down on the concrete like floor.

"You speak with much wisdom. I would have attacked right away. But our shamans are able to keep the force field going without much trouble and calming your mind and body leads me to believe that you have led many battles." Maruut said.

"I've stopped counting. Going into battle with anxiety and a high-strung mind clouds judgment. Also relaxing your body provides renewed strength to battle longer. If a threat arises we will assist, but meditation has produced much better results and sometimes strategic advantages that none of us have thought of. I would suggest that your group do the same." Herrior said.

"I wish to learn more from you." Maruut said lying down as well.

"You may, but you must do what you think is best for your people and I for mine." Herrior said and then said enough chatter as he closed his eyes. He felt Skyka lie down next to him and embrace him. The rest of his group did the same as if they were used to it.

A couple of moments passed and Bernett said, "You know what I miss? My tempurpedic mattress. I mean lying on solid rock with metal armor is ok, but it's not quite the same." Several seconds passed and the humans began to laugh.

The laughter died down and minutes later Dan said, "I miss twinkies." Crystal let out a brief chuckle in his ear and squeezed him.

"I miss Brenna." Mohania said. Another brief pause came and everybody seemed to ask why at the same time.

"She's less than of an ass as the rest of you." Mohania said with a smile.

"Is that all you think about is asses and eating people?" Julie asked.

"No." Mohania said solemnly. "Sometimes I dream of destroying entire worlds by igniting their people on fire and watching them run around frantically trying to escape. Launching heavy assaults on buildings and watching the people fall to their death or hear their cries for help as they slowly burn as their world collapses around them."

"A dream or a flashback?" Skyka said trying to hold in her laughter.

"What's the difference?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Pardon me for asking, but are you serious?" Maruut asked.

"I just do what I'm ordered to do." Mohania replied back.

"Exactly as you are ordered to? No deviations or misunderstandings?" Herrior said solemnly with his eyes still closed.

"I like to refer to it as improvising." Mohania said.

"I think you mean the phrase 'sometimes I stretch my limits to their fullest extent without breaking orders'." Skyka said back looking up at him.

"Call it what you will, I call it getting the job done." Mohania said back smiling.

"I miss my family." Veliline said out of nowhere. The room fell absolutely quiet for several minutes. Nobody quite knew what to say.

"What were they like?" Herrior asked eventually.

"I don't remember, just faint glimpses – feelings mostly." Veliline said in her same tone of voice.

"I can help you Veliline if you want?" Lindel asked.

"No. I have a feeling I don't want to know, or remember the countless people I slaughtered during my servitude." Veliline replied back.

"Ok." Lindel said laying back down in Branzer's arms.

"Veliline, why are you immune to my abilities?" Dan asked. The question slipped out so fast that he regretted it almost immediately.

"I can become undead, similar to that of Mohania. Frees me from any movement impairing spell or trap and regains control of my mind – even from possessions." Veliline replied back.

"That's enough." Herrior said quickly and the temple fell quiet.

Five hours passed and Herrior woke his group up.

"It is time. I have not sensed any conflict among us or I would have woken all of you sooner. Let us split up into our groups and go on our missions. Obtain these pillars and return back. I hope to see all of you soon." Herrior said looking at all of them and then nodded.

"Finally, let's hurry! I'm not sure how much longer our forces can hold out! I had just about given up on finding help…" Flint said.

"Go then, use your best judgment." Herrior said. Flint, Lindel, Trackolania, and Quinely all left the temple. Lindel turned invisible, Trackolania faded from sight and Quinely turned into a small bird flying just slightly above Flint.

"Escort them as far as you can you four, but then split up and gather information." Herrior said looking at Mohania, Branzer, Bernett, and Julie. They summoned their pets; Mohania summoned his imp which quickly phased out of existence. Mohania then casted a short spell that made him look like Flint and the four of them followed.

"The rest of us will hold the perimeter and scout from here. Do not engage any of those large rock creatures, but again defend them if necessary. Call it a hunch but I think we need them as much as they need us." Herrior said.

"Leaving already? I believe we have much to talk about." Maruut said.

"No…we don't. When it is time for your assistance we will call upon you. Until then help our engineers obtain any parts they may need, provide healing and continue to have your shamans do whatever they are doing to that pillar." Herrior said.

"Your party possesses powers and secrets that may be valuable in our battles." Maruut said.

"You are correct in your assumption, only it applies to our battles – not yours." Herrior said walking away from him.

The rest of the party left the temple and Herrior assigned the rest of his party to start patrolling the outside perimeter.

"Collect anything that might be useful. Veliline, Icis, Dan and Crystal take the east side, the rest of us will take the west. Only engage if you have to, but our job is to defend."

A blood elf and the same goblin came running out and asked if they could go as well.

"We need more raw materials if we are to carry out our orders. The rest of the engineers are fixing and reinforcing the temple, but having automated flak cannons and elemental disruptors would be useful in our defense." The goblin said. Herrior nodded and assigned one to each group.

"Meet back up every hour in the entrance of the temple." Herrior said and walked away.

Herrior's group turned the corner to see several air elements charging towards them. Herrior leaped at them and began to attack. Jacklyn began to attack several seconds later, and Skyka began to heal them.

A minute into the fight all of the elements stopped attacking and just stood there. Strings was playing a tune that was slightly different from the one he was using to control the troggs.

"A portal has opened…a rift in the ground. It has disturbed all of us…granting us strength to rise up. Without constant power…we will be destroyed." One of the elementals said.

Herrior just finished slaughtering one and heard the words as it disintegrated into its basic elements. "Go convince the rest of the elements to go to the rift and destroy it." Herrior said.

"Our powers are not sufficient to do so…" The same wind elemental said.

"Show us where it is." Herrior said back.

"My power is draining…we need more to survive…" The elemental said as he became weakened and started to fall apart.

"Where?" Herrior demanded.

"Behind us…two hundred feet…" The elemental said and the dispersed into pieces of rock.

"You have a way with people Strings." Skyka said.

Strings stopped playing. "Aye that I do. To be honest I wasn't sure it was going to work."

"Maybe we can shove something big into the rift." Herrior said and started walking towards it.

"If it's like the previous rift, wouldn't we have to have an explosion to seal it?" Jacklyn asked.

"I don't know, I'm not sure how that works – and to be honest I don't even think our engineers or even the King knows for sure how the other rift was sealed. But it wouldn't hurt to try eh?" Herrior said smiling at her.

Herrior and his group began walking along the way, trying to avoid any unnecessary combat. They attacked any wondering elemental that came their way, and observed another type of animal down here.

"What did the goblin say those were?" Herrior asked pointing at one. The creature looked like a giant praying mantis, but with longer and stronger arms. It was made out of a type of rock. Several of them were following them, but then quickly dispersed. Occasionally one would charge up to them and Herrior would knock it away with his shield.

"Don't remember. Let's call them rock bugs." Skyka said with a smile.

"I have a feeling they might be closing in on us, possibly testing us to see where our weaknesses are." Herrior said.

They continued to walk until they saw one of the large stone creatures battling the elementals. Herrior quickened the pace and took up a strategic position behind a giant rock sticking out of the ground.

"Stay here…but come if I get attacked." Herrior said walking out slowly.

"Seems as though we meet again." Herrior announced.

The giant was attacking several of the elements. He was stomping and swinging at them, but his speeds were much to slow to defend himself.

"Leave me!" The giant yelled.

"If you agree not to attack us, we will assist you." Herrior said back.

"You lie! I will continue to destroy these abominations without your assistance. Our race will cleanse this place without any help!" The giant yelled back continuing to battle. Some of the elements broke free from fighting the giant and came after Herrior.

"Need some help." Herrior said as he launched his weapon at one, and charged to engage the other three. The other three came out and began to do their jobs. Strings played a song that began to heal the group, while Jacklyn pulled her swords out and leaped into battle. Skyka began blasting the elements as well since nobody needed any healing at the moment.

After they destroyed the elements, Skyka began healing the group and Herrior attempted to speak with the giant again.

"Mind if we take some others? We think there is a rift that opened further ahead of us and we wish to destroy it, it should stop these elements from coming in." Herrior said in a commanding voice.

The giant slammed his foot down on the ground, knocking back the attacking elementals. "I do not trust you; but if you were to attack me you would have done so by now and we both seem to have a common foe. Prove to me you speak the truth, heal me and let us drive back these foes." The giant said not looking at them and started to walk forward. He continued to deliver fierce blows, but it was apparent he was weakening.

Herrior and Jacklyn quickly joined him in the battle, making sure their attacks didn't hit him. Skyka began letting off heal after heal as fast as she could, and Strings continued to play his healing song.

The battle continued until Herrior noticed a small cave at the edge of the wall. It was pulsating different colors. Every twenty seconds or so an energy ball floated out and summoned the elements around it. Once complete the elemental ran towards the battle.

"There! I know not your name, but we will deal with the elements if you find a rock big enough to jam into that hole." Herrior said pointing at where he was looking.

"I see little one." The giant said with renewed strength. "Back away from me so you will not be harmed. I will smash these remaining and then seal it."

Herrior's group immediately retreated and several seconds later the giant jumped into the air and landed with an enormous crash. The elementals were stunned as he walked as fast as he could over to a stalactite a pulled it from the ground. Herrior saw the elementals recovering and quickly ran to engage them, but before he could, the giant swung at all of them – destroying them almost instantly and then threw the rock in the hole. Amidst all of the rumbling of stone a faint explosion occurred. The rest of the elementals quickly disperse and fell to pieces.

"Good job. Now we will go back to the temple and leave you alone if you wish." Herrior said making eye contact with him and then turned to walk away.

"Diamant." The giant stone creature said. Herrior stopped and turned around.

"My name is Diamant. Many of us have been sent to destroy these intruders; many of us will perish in doing so. I would have perished. Now, what is to become of this?" Diamant asked.

"My name is Herrior. I give you my word as a fighter that we will not harm your kind. As I said before my group's interest is simply restoring the pillars so we can leave. Until then we are trapped down here. I have sent several of them to go searching for any clues as to their whereabouts. They may perish as well, but it may save this world and your race in the mean time."

"And the Earthen people?" Diamant asked.

"They have befriended us and I have also sent a group to go assist them." Herrior said.

"Should the Earthen people fall, we will be overrun by the troggs. We already attack the worms that devour bodies, endlessly chewing away until they have their fill and then burrow into the ground. We are unable to get the crystals needed to bolster our forces because of their sheer numbers now. We have our own battles, and now all of this happened." Diamant said.

"What will you have us to do to help?" Herrior asked.

"You want to prove your allegiance? In what you call your temple, northwest of that is an encampment of insects just like yourselves. They have several of our children chained up there. Penetrate their defenses, and seek the green skinned one with the big hat. Get his horn and blow it. An enormous worm emerges from the ground and attacks us anytime we try to retrieve our young."

"Wont the worm attack your young?" Herrior asked.

"No. We taught them to stand still. The worms do not have eyes and can only sense large movements in the ground. Get those insects to create a big ruckus and make the worm turn on them. We will be watching." Diamant said and began to walk away.

Herrior nodded at him and they began to return.

In the meantime Veliline, Icis, Dan and Crystal were at the encampment studying it over. They had spotted the orc with the trumpet and several smaller versions of the rock people chained up. The cultists were obviously searching for something. They would dig at the rock, sift through it and discard it – only to repeat the process all over again.

"Two hundred?" Dan asked quietly. Veliline nodded silently continuing to survey the area. She motioned for them to slowly retreat and walked back to the side of the temple.

"Four against over two hundred are not good odds." Veliline said. "I did not find any weak points or any way to take out some of them without the rest knowing."

"Nor did I, my healing would only last about ten seconds and then I would die." Icis said.

"The large tent on the far side of the encampment, did anybody notice what they were putting in there?" The engineer asked.

"Rocks, gems of some sort I'm assuming." Dan replied back.

"Did you see how gently they were walking around with them, and how one of them was severely scolded when he almost dropped it? I suggest we launch a rocket at that tent with a high blast detention device. The blast would certainly hinder their work, kill many of them, and just may buy us some time." The engineer said and seemed to drift off as he thought about the components necessary to do this.

"I am not used to fighting with diversions, but it seems to keep us alive longer." Veliline said.

"Who are…" A male voice said sternly behind her as Veliline quickly turned around and blasted him with ice. It silenced him while everybody began to attack him.

"A key." Dan said sorting through his corpse on the ground a couple of seconds later. "To unlock the stone creatures down there perhaps?"

"Where did he come from?" Veliline asked at the same time and started moving around to secure the perimeter. There was nobody else around. Her best guess was he came from the huts next to a small pool of lava. Bridges were constructed to move over the lava with ease.

"Should we investigate?" Veliline asked.

"We have about thirty minutes left until we have to meet back at the temple. I saw we take a look." Crystal said.

Veliline started walking forward toward it and caused the ground beneath her to turn to ice as she walked over the lava. Large jets of steam were produced, but it didn't seem to bother her. The others walked around the lava and the ground next to her.

"Who douses my fire?" A voice from the lava said. Veliline then blasted the entire area with an enormous ice spell, sending up a huge amount of steam.

"I told you not to disturb me, what is the meaning of this!" A fire element slowly rose from the middle of the lava pool and looked at them. Veliline held her hand out and quickly infected the elemental as she ran back towards the ground. The elemental roared in anger, but again was quickly silenced by Veliline. She reached out her hand and her black lightning bolt quickly pulled the elemental out of the lava and began to attack him.

"No…my lava…" The elemental said trying to move back towards it. Veliline continued to taunt it as the others slowed its movements and eventually the elemental's fire burned completely out, leaving a naked male human on the ground. Veliline walked up to him as he cowered and picked him up.

"Talk!" Veliline demanded.

"I was given the power of fire to guard our prisoners. We need more lode stones in order to get the portal working. My death will mean nothing; the others will look for me and then…" the man said as Veliline chopped over his head and dismembered him.

"And then they will find you in pieces. Let's go continue." Veliline said discarding the remains and resumed walking.

She stepped inside the tent and found several books and scattered notes. The engineer with them seemed very excited about various other items that he found. He started gathering as much as he could and then asked if he could go to the other tent.

"Wait." Veliline said as she continued to pick up the books and papers. She tried at first to sort them out, but eventually gave up and began handing them to whoever was behind her.

When they were finished, Veliline ordered Crystal to burn the tent. The next tent across the bridge was filled with discarded remains and bones. It was nothing of any practical use so Veliline ordered that one to be burned as well. Veliline gave the order to head back. They eventually met up with Herrior and discussed what happened.

Up on the top of the hill Flint ran to where his captain was.

"Did you get any help?" The captain asked in desperation.

"He got us." Lindel said and materialized in front of him. Trackolania also appeared in front of him and Quinely flew down on the ground and morphed back into her human self.

"I am astonished, but let down just the same. Our troops are wounded, they are constantly pushing us back and we don't have the weapons to defeat them." The captain said back.

"I'm going to fly around, see if I can find out who is in charge. Quinely how about you take the right side and Trackolania do the left. Let's show them what we can do." Lindel said and disappeared again.

"No wait, here take these. These rocks empower our soldiers, and here are twenty repair units for our soldiers that have fallen." The captain said quickly handing them over. Quinely grabbed them as she morphed into her cat form and disappeared. Trackolania slipped into the shadows as well. The captain turned to Flint and asked, "Is that all you were able to bring?"

"They saved my life, and they killed huge numbers of troggs. I believe we stand a chance. Now then, what are my orders?" Flint asked.

"Ah, what have we here? A large trogg well dressed yelling out orders…let's just see what this little one is thinking." Lindel said as she casually floated through the air and pushed herself into his eyes. Taking over his mind was easy, but it took awhile to learn their language.

"The gods are with us, everybody come to me! They have given me a vision, our path is clear! We will slaughter all of them! To me my brethren!" Lindel made the trogg yell in his voice. The troggs obediently stopped fighting and ran up next to him. The Earthen people disengaged from battle and simply watched.

"The gods have formed a bridge for us! Everyone to the western cliff!" Lindel made the trogg yell. The troggs immediately obeyed and Lindel continued to shout it as they ran.

"Be not afraid, charge forward and claim the powers that lie before us. The gods have guaranteed safe passage. Hurry, everyone off the cliff!" Lindel yelled and wave after wave of troggs obeyed the order and jumped off.

It wasn't under hundreds of them fell to their death that the remaining troggs began to hesitate. Lindel jumped off but kept the trogg floating in air.

"You must have faith, it is a sign! Come my brothers and let us fight!" Lindel said in their language and slowly started floating down the cliff. Dozens more fell off to their death until once again they stopped.

Lindel quickly flew back up to the top of the ledge and saw Trackolania swiftly moving from one trogg to another, slaughtering him as fast as he could and moving on.

"Look at me! Keep looking at me! Don't turn around…umm…" Lindel said in their language and then quickly made the leader explode. She turned into her evil banshee form, killing half of them instantly, and making the other half run away in freight. Trackolania continued to kill as fast as he could, but couldn't keep up. The troggs retreated back to their outpost far away from the battlefield.

Lindel turned back into her normal self and said, "Is that all you were able to kill?" Trackolania's entire body was covered with blood as several dozens of dead troggs lay on the ground. He was panting for breath and gave her a stern look.

"Ok fine…you did well. I can't believe they fell for that…get it? Fell for that?" Lindel said laughing. Trackolania smacked himself on his forehead and let out a moan.

"What? That was a good joke. You come up with a better one." Lindel said. Trackolania then pointed to where Quinely was still fighting.

"Dang didn't get all of them." Lindel said and the two of them began moving at high speeds to help her out. The Earthen people followed them as well.

"Nice of you to join me…" Quinely said sarcastically. Lindel flew over and blasted her with a large blast of energy, healing all of her wounds.

"From what I gathered, there are several key buildings that the earthen people fortify themselves in, all of which have been overrun with troggs. Take the bandages or whatever they are and start healing them." Quinely said tossing them to Lindel and then morphing into her bear form. She let out a growl and then charge into the crowd, mauling and thrashing anything around her.

The Earthen people caught up with them and began to battle as well. It was apparent that none of them had any skill in fighting. One of them would run up to a group of five troggs and begin to fight them. Trackolania sighed many times and rushed over to help. He would poison many of them and then move on to the next trogg. The poison slowly crept through their veins, giving them a slow agonizing death.

"Can you hold up for awhile Quinely, I'm going to clean house." Lindel called out.

"For a little while." Quinely yelled back and continued to strike as fast as she could. Lindel flew into the first building and found five troggs there. It looked like they were trying to figure out how to use the weapons. Lindel turned into her banshee form and began to drain their energy. They all turned around and instantly died upon gazing on her. Lindel flew in and out of the buildings over to Quinely and blasted her with a healing spell. Lindel continued doing this until all of the buildings were vacant.

"There are guardians, past the front line. Activate them and it may turn the tides on the troggs!" The captain yelled out as more earthen soldiers ran into combat.

"I need to stay and heal. Trackolania can you do that?" Lindel asked. Trackolania nodded and instantly vanished into thin air. Seconds later the sound of mechanical robots came to life. Trackolania turned on as many as he could and they began to slaughter the troggs with ease. Trackolania then sprinted back and began to help Quinely; by now though the troggs numbers had diminished a lot, leaving only a dozen or so behind. Lindel began to blast any many earthen people as she could with a healing spell, bringing them back to life. When her energy was drained she turned into her banshee form and began to suck the life out of the troggs that were left. They didn't let any of them escape alive.

Lindel continued to blast as many fallen earthen people as she could until her powers were gone, and then she started to apply the bandages to the others. It looked nothing more than a rock with a series of sticky tape on either side, but it seemed to do the trick.

"Unbelievable." The captain said running up next to them. Quinely morphed back into her human self and began healing until she was out of mana.

"Rumor has it you know where one of the pillars is?" Quinely asked the captain.

"Locked up in the vault behind us. I would like it to stay there until the threat has been neutralized, if that is ok?" The captain replied back. Quinely nodded and asked how many more are there.

"This is just the waves that got through our first and second lines of defense. We should group up with our catapults. I'm sure they are in need of repair as well as our men."

"Lead the way, but let us engage first if any troggs appear. Your battle strategies lack…well…everything." Quinely and morphed back into her bear form.

The captain looked upset, but commanded his troops forward. Quinely, Lindel, and Trackolania followed right behind the captain. The captain gave a series of commands to turn the mechanical robots on stand-by so they would only engage if they were attacked first.

"Gather up our fallen men, get as many lode stones as you can, gather up as many extra catapult parts as you can. Hurry, victory draws near!" The captain commanded as he started picking up several blue rocks on the ground.

They continued to run through the series of stone boulders and rifts.

"This is the Needlerock Slag. Our war constructs are holding the front line while we pummel them with boulders." The captain said. "Get those catapults fixed, relieve our men, and concentrate fire in the middle. Pyrium, what's the status?"

"Better now that you are here. We're holding them off as best as we can. The Fungal Terrors are our biggest threat. They are approaching with those mushrooms, which deflect our bombardments, allowing the troggs safe passage by us."

"Fungal Terrors I'm assuming are the twenty foot tall green walking plant things." Quinely asked. The Fungal Terrors almost looked like a giant green giant with long tentacles coming out for arms and their heads were covered with mushrooms.

"Yes."

"We've fought a variation of them before. Form up your defenses here, and show us where your prince and king are being held." Quinely said.

"We have more than enough men and weaponry to drive back these foes!" The captain said sternly.

"Do you have enough time to get in and save your prince and king before they are killed? Can you guarantee that they won't be hit by friendly fire?" Lindel said sternly right back.

The captain grunted in frustration. He looked over his forces. They were rebuilding the broken catapults. Many of them had ignored his orders and ran out to engage them in combat.

"Get back in line! Hold this line!" The captain yelled out as he saw a dozen of his men quickly fall.

"Fifty yards ahead. There's a small cavern to the left. There is where we have heard their screams. We can't just sit here and let you rescue them; they are out prince and king."

"Fine, get control of your men and advance ahead slowly. Trackolania I'll meet you there, Quinely take to the skies. We'll clear the ground and let you land." Lindel said as both she and Trackolania disappeared. Quinely morphed into her bird form and flew as high as she could.

Seconds later Trackolania was peering inside of the cave. A minute later Lindel floated over his head.

"Damn your fast." Lindel whispered. "No guards and I sense all of the attacks are behind us." Lindel materialized and waved Quinely down. Quinely landed and materialized into her bear form.

"Hello? We're looking for the earthen people's king and prince. We were told they were being held captive here?" Lindel asked. Trackolania stayed stealthed and moved into the cave.

"Who goes there? I will kill them! I want the power! I want it!" A trogg said in a fierce voice.

"Ok, it's out here." Lindel said. Silence came from the cave.

"You lie! My army would have brought it back to me! My army is unstoppable, and with the power we will kill everybody!" The voice said in a quick excited tone.

"The power is here, we will exchange it for the prince and king. How do we know they are still alive?" Lindel yelled back.

"You! You are not earthen, you are a witch! I will kill you and take your power!" The trogg said.

"Ok." Lindel said calmly. She heard the trogg beginning to run towards her and then suddenly the trogg let out a fierce cry of pain.

"It burns! Who goes there! I will crush you! Kill them!" The trogg said.

"After you are done with that, I'll be waiting out here for you." Lindel said.

"Should we go in and help Trackolania?" Quinely asked.

"Naw, he sounds like he is having fun." Lindel said listening to the screams of pain and frustration coming from the cave. "Let us know if you need a hand hun…" Lindel said casually calling to cavern.

Thirty seconds later the cave fell silent.

"Who are you, where are you? I beg of you, do not kill me." The voice was that of an earthen male.

Lindel held up her hand and illuminated the cave. It revealed Trackolania decapitated the rest of the dead troggs. "I think they are dead hun." Trackolania let out a sigh and looked up at her.

"I'm sorry, you can kill some more later but we have to get these two back. Come here and give me a hug." Lindel said with a smile. Trackolania rolled his eyes at her again and turned around. The prince and king were tied to a large plank at the end of the cave. Trackolania's daggers sliced through all of the ropes with such precision and speed that the ropes fell to the ground before the prince and king even had a chance to close their eyes and brace for themselves.

"Ok, you are free and unharmed. Come with us." Lindel said.

"I…don't understand… Thank you." The King started to say as he looked over his body to ensure he was fine. He turned and embraced his son.

"Touching, now your men are dying out there because of you two. How about we move things along a bit?" Quinely said sounding annoyed. Trackolania gathered up four of the severed heads and sprinted out of the cave.

"Yes…yes of course let's go end this battle!" The King said and ran to catch up.

Quinely and Trackolania took the lead as they began to run back to the battlefield.

"Wait…no we can't. So we slaughter the forces, they will merely regroup and the battle will continue. Over there is their king and queen. Slaughtering them would end the war forever." The king said.

"Politics…alright fine. Quinely and Trackolania make sure these two don't get killed, I'm going to go have some fun." Lindel said and vanished in the air.

"You cannot fight them alone! They are powerful!" The king yelled out.

"This isn't up for discussion, let's get you back. Trackolania take the lead, subdue anybody in the front. You two stay behind me." Quinely said. Trackolania threw the severed heads back towards the king and prince and all of them began to advance along the side of the large rock wall trying to be unseen.

The king and queen of the troggs were laughing and enjoying themselves. It looked like they had slaughtered hundreds of the earthen people and piled their bodies up in a pile.

"Idiots…" Lindel thought and flew into the pile of bodies.

"We will be avenged!" Lindel yelled out in her evil banshee tone. This caught the attention of all of the surrounding troggs, including the king and queen. Silence and confusion fell upon everybody.

"Who said that?" The king demanded. Silence continued and eventually he demanded it again.

"Those who seek ultimate power, end up being ultimately consumed by it." Lindel said back.

"Burn them! Destroy them!" The king immediately ordered. Lindel flew out, still invisible and landed behind the king. "Won't work." Lindel said in a soft voice. The king suddenly turned around and saw nothing. He pulled out his sword and started looking around in paranoia.

"Show yourself, I will gut you myself!" The king demanded.

"Over here." Lindel whispered gently. The king ran behind him and started swinging.

"Find this ghost and kill her! One thousand gold to the one that kills her!" The king yelled. Lindel continued to let out whispers, turning him in circles.

"Stop this nonsense…you are chasing whispers in the…" The queen started to say and then sucked in a quick burst of air. Gargling sounds came out of her as the king quickly pulled his sword out of her.

Lindel quickly pushed herself into her dying eyes. She energized her body and pulled the sword out of her stomach.

"Assassination attempt, on your own wife!" Lindel yelled in the queen's voice. "This is unacceptable by the gods and they have given me my vengeance before I die!" The queen yelled and shoved the sword into the king's neck. The shocked king grabbed the blade in his throat and slowly fell to the ground.

"You all planned this; all of you were in on this! Guards, slaughter them!" The guards immediately began to attack the troggs, slaughtering many of them before they began to fight back.

"Avenge me, the gods will show mercy on you…" the queen said as Lindel pretended to die. She left the limp body and casually floated out of her eyes.

The entire army was in arms with each other. Lindel materialized and took several cuts at the king and queen's neck until their heads came off.

"Trackolania makes it look so easy…" Lindel said grabbing the decapitated heads and flew off into the air.

Lindel arrived back at the front line where she saw that Trackolania and Quinely had successfully escort the king and prince back. Lindel flew into the middle of the battle and let out a deafening screech. The troggs stopped attacking and the Fungal Terrors weren't sure what to do. Lindel threw the heads of their king and queen in the middle of the battlefield.

"We have our king and prince back, and I've also brought your king and queen to the battlefield – their heads that is! Your kind will be wiped out of existence!" Lindel turned into her evil banshee form and began blasting the troggs below with her black lightning bolts.

"Continue bombardment!" The captain yelled. The troggs ran around confused and eventually tried to retreat, but the fierce bombardment from the catapults were much more effective in killing them now. The ones that were able to run back to their encampment were met by the king and queens soldiers who began to slaughter them.

"Leave none alive – attack!" The captain yelled.

"No!" The king yelled out. "Stand your ground. Leave the war constructs here, I want fifty of our men on the front line with them and everybody in a catapult. The rest of you follow me back to our cities." The king then turned to Quinely and asked, "I am in debt to you, me and my people."

"We want the pillar." Quinely said back immediately.

"Give it to them!" The king commanded. Several of the earthen men ran back and the three of them followed. The vault was opened up and the rock was handed to Quinely.

"What else do you wish?" One of the earthen people said.

"Nothing. We will restore your world and leave." Quinely turned into her bird form with the long cylinder looking rock in her talons and flew away.

"We have gold, gems, weapons." The man yelled.

"Keep them." Lindel said grabbing a hold of Trackolania and flew away.

During this time the last group that Herrior sent out had found a huge portal that was letting cultists in and out with supplies. The hunters, who were blending into the surroundings around them, and tried to think of a plan – but there were too many of them. None of them said anything, but many of them pointed at a series of places to launch an attack from.

"Damn, you are looking fine. Come here and give me a kiss." A human woman said and walked over to a man and started kissing him passionately. Everybody, including the hunters were instantly confused.

"What are you doing, you are married! Fred, what is wrong with your wife?" The man said looking around. The woman quickly dropped his pants and started touching his privates passionately.

"Get away from me! What are you doing!" Suddenly the man was spun quickly around and punched hard in the nose.

"What are you doing to my wife?" A human male appeared out of the portal and saw what was going on.

The man flew backwards and immediately the woman screamed. "What did you do to me you sick pervert!"

"Me? You ran over and seduced me!"

"I did no such thing!" The woman yelled back. A fight started to break out, and what looked like one of the leaders ran over and started killing the people fighting.

"Too much is on the line here! Any more of this and the rest of you will be killed! Now get back to work. Decode those coordinates and summon the demons!" Suddenly the man's pupils suddenly shrank and began to move around as if being controlled. The man walked behind a tent. A quick gargling sound came, followed by the sound of a body being impaled on a rock. The man then walked back out and said, "What are you all looking at! Cant a guy take a piss in private!" The man's voice was that of Mohania. Mohania then pointed at where the hunters were at and then pointed back at where he came from. Mohania's succubus was following right behind him, but was invisible.

"Man's got some balls…" Branzer said as they all walked over to where the other man was slowly regaining consciousness. The three of them beat him to death and dragged his body far away from the encampment. They then blended back into his surroundings and got back into position.

"Where's the pillar at?" Mohania yelled out loud.

"Still in the energizer…where it's always been…" A man replied back.

"But what is the power level at? Are we going to be able to complete the summoning soon? You know what is going to happen if we can't!" Mohania yelled back.

"It has plenty of power, but decoding the coordinates is extremely difficult. Sir are you feeling ok?" The man asked. Mohania pulled out his sword and stabbed it into the man's stomach.

"I'm feeling fine, how are you feeling?" Mohania asked back. Mohania pulled the sword out and kicked him to the ground. "Hurry up! We don't have time for this bullshit!" Mohania saw everybody instantly get back to work. He observed several men and women of different races running back and forth to a circular device that continued to turn and shoot power at the portal. He walked towards it and followed one of the men into the tent with him. Moments later the man walked out with several explosive devices around his body. He casually walked to the device and exploded himself. The portal instantly shutdown, and it sent a burst of air and magical power flying out of it.

The people stared at it in shock. "No…no…nooo!" One woman said sounding terrified. A large dragon flew over to the site and saw what happened.

"You incompetent fools! Do you know what you have done! I will kill all of you!" The dragon said as she began thrashing around fiercely, killing as many cultists as she could.

"Idiots! It is not repairable; I must take the pillar to a safe place." The dragon walked over to the device and pulled the pillar out of it with her mouth but before she could fly away she was attack by a rain of bullets and magical spells. The three hunters ran forward and all of them misdirected their shots to Branzer's turtle, so it appeared to the dragon that all of the damage came from the turtle. The dragon dropped the pillar in shock and began to attack.

Mohania began to launch magical spell after magical spell as fast as he could.

"Who are you people? You do not know what you are doing!" The dragon screeched in pain.

"Most of the time we don't." Branzer said launching a snake trap and an immolation trap at the dragon. The rest of the hunters did the same. All of them had all of the pets engaged on the dragon. Branzer healed his turtle as much as he could, but surprisingly his turtle absorbed a lot of the damage.

"Stop! Stop! You do not…Ahh!" The dragon screeched as Mohania shot a green skull at the dragon. The skull screamed all the way to the dragon, leaving a green trail behind him. The dragon ran around in a confused state for several seconds. In the meantime the hunters landed multiple deadly shots, blinding the dragon and puncturing her throat. Blood spilled everywhere until the dragon fell to the ground in defeat.

"You guys need to learn how to improvise better…" Mohania said walking over and picking up the pillar. He looked it over and felt no power coming out of it.

"It's a dumb rock. We just risked our lives over a dumb rock…" Mohania said.

"If it makes you feel better we'll drag some of the bodies back for you to eat." Julie said with a smile.

"Yes it would." Mohania said not looking at them and began walking back.

"Even you have to admit that my turtle took a beating and did his job very well." Branzer said with his turtle by his side.

"Yes, with a name like Pokey – that is sure to drive fear into our enemies. He makes for a good meat shield. Good thing about him is he doesn't keep babbling like Herrior does." Mohania said.

Herrior's entire group met up together at the front of the temple.

Maruut looked at them amazed. "You have recovered two of the pillars…how?"

"I expected nothing less." Herrior said with pride looking at them.

"Yeah yeah…here's your dumb rock. Now I have to have dinner." Mohania said giving Herrior the pillar and walking back to Julie to get one of the corpses.

"Anybody wish to talk about their adventures?" Herrior asked.

"Killed people; Dragon came; killed dragon; got rock; now eat." Mohania said chewing on an arm as the bones cracked in his mouth.

"Mohania…what did I tell you about chewing with your mouth closed?" Crystal asked smiling at him.

"Sorry." Mohania said back with a grin.

"Trackolania will explain what happened with us." Lindel said. Trackolania nodded. He walked forward, drew one of his daggers and made several stabbing motions. He then threw his dagger in the air as it landed in its sheath around his waist. He then pointed to Lindel and rolled his eyes. Then he pointed to the rock and then put his hands together and started shaking them back and forward around his head, as if he was accepting an award.

"Well spoken. Your story has more depth to it than Mohania's does. By the annoyed look that you made at Lindel, is it safe to assume she made a bad joke?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania nodded, but Lindel spoke up and said, "It was a good joke! I can't believe they fell for that? You just don't have a sense of humor is all…" Lindel said pushing on him in a flirty way. Trackolania waved her away and sat down.

"Amazing…simply amazing. The elementals have stopped attacking, and it is safe to assume the earthen people are safe because we have their pillar – also we can hear their cheers from here. Also from the explosion and the dying sounds of a dragon it is safe to assume that your group has neutralized half of the threats down here in a single day." Maruut said.

Herrior started to laugh. "No…no Maruut. Remember there are three pillars. We have two. I have a feeling I know where the third is, but it will require diplomacy."

"I hate diplomacy." Mohania said taking a huge bite out of the man's chest.

"It has to do with the death of hundreds of people." Herrior said.

"I love diplomacy." Mohania said crunching up several ribs. He turned his head to Crystal and said, "Sorry."

"Well, at least you are trying." Crystal said.

"Not really." Mohania said with a big smile.

"Here is what I suggest, feel free to suggest ideas as I tell my plan." Herrior said and began to talk.

Crystal suddenly felt a surge of power blast through her body. He instantly turned around and started looking around.

"Are you ok?" Dan whispered to her.

"Yeah, just having a moment." Crystal whispered back. Herrior and Maruut continued to talk. They spoke of combining forces with the Earthen people, winning over the stone giants confidence in them and several other things that Crystal tuned out.

"Does anybody have any water?" Crystal blurted out quickly. She stopped Herrior in mid sentence.

"Sorry…I just…" Crystal said standing up and putting her hands on her head.

"You can have mine miss." One of the dwarfs said handing her a bottle. Crystal quickly drank it and tossed it away.

"More…I need more water…" Crystal said looking around.

"Hun…are you ok?" Skyka asked

"No! My water, that'll fix it. I'm just thirsty…" Crystal said and took several wineskins that were handed to her and drowned each of them without taking a breath.

"I just need to relax…and I need more water. I've been outside…to long." Crystal said and hesitated at the end. "I'll just let it pass…it'll pass, just need more water…just like before."

"Crystal?" Dan asked.

"Shut up!" Crystal said yelling at him. She stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "I didn't mean that…I didn't…I'm so sorry…" as she started pacing around.

"Crystal what is going on?" Herrior said standing to his feet and equipping his weapons. The rest of the party did the same.

"Nothing!" Crystal said in frustration, followed quickly by yelling, "Everything! Don't you hear that! It's all over! Nobody else hears that?"

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I don't sense anything." Lindel said quietly. "Crystal can I come inside of you and see what's going on?"

"Should I fight it? Should I let it over take me? Last time it saved our lives, but should I fight it? Will I have control of it?" Crystal started saying frantically over and over. Crystal ran over to Mohania, kicked the corpse away that he was eating and lifted him up with one hand and in a demonic voice said, "What is happening to me?"

"You are interfering with my dinner is what you are doing, also you are now higher than everybody else on the 'ass' list." Mohania said back.

"You are a warlock! What is happening to me?" Crystal said back in half of her voice and the other half in her regular voice. Crystal than tossed him to the side and said, "I'm going outside, do not follow me!" Crystal said. She morphed into her demonic form and ran outside.

The rest of the party watched her leave and looked at Herrior.

"Well that's new. Mohania has that ever happened to you before?" Herrior asked.

"Getting thrown around or having somebody interrupt my lunch?" Mohania said getting back up to his feet.

"I don't sense her anymore. It's as if her mind suddenly disappeared." Lindel said in a scared tone.

A large heavy toned demonic voice thundered through the temple and rocked every stone in the entire area. "You feast on the weak and play with powers you do not understand! You want to see what powers are? I will oblige!" A huge blast of wind threw everybody on the ground, as if a giant fan suddenly turned on.

Outside Crystal had morphed into her demonic form and had grown as large as the tower. She flapped her wings and began to fly around.

"You pathetic insects feast on crumbs and beg for more. The thirst grows until it overcomes you. Let me show you what will become of you!" Crystal said in a dark demonic voice. She held her hands down and rained down infernal balls that erupted into large infernals and began destroying and burning everything they touched.

"You dig for rocks for small fragments of promised power, only to have it turn on you. Open your eyes and watch them turn on you!" Crystal said as she circled around their attack site that Herrior was planning and unleashed infernal ball after infernal ball. The screams of pain and of help were short and quick.

"Your fear feeds me, scream and let me hear your cries!" Crystal said and landed in the middle of the dig site. As Herrior said an enormous worm did surface and began to attack her. Crystal casually reached over and grabbed it. Then the worm burst into flames and fell to the ground.

"Is that your guardian? You torment these children and hold them hostage from their parents while bolstering your forces. These rock creatures are not yours to enslave and hold hostage. I enjoy destroying you orc." Crystal said walking towards him. The orc desperately fired arrow after arrow at the demon until Crystal picked him up. Crystal began to hackle in laughter as she grew in size. She continued to grow until her head was just short of the stone roof. Crystal took his body and slammed it into a spike sticking down from the ceiling.

"Hurts don't it? Can you feel your blood and life pouring out?" Crystal said as she ignited his body on fire. The orc's body screamed and wiggled furiously until it freed itself from the spike and fell to the ground, where it burst into ashes.

Crystal shrunk back to her size previously and spoke several demonic words as many winged demons were summoned to her side.

"Destroy the worms in that tunnel! I have some matters to attend to." Crystal said and flew off to her right. Her demons did as she commanded. Crystal flew over several rock shelves; like that Lindel, Trackolania and Quinely flew up from and found her destination.

She landed on the rocks with a powerful thud that shook the ground again. Many of the cultists began to attack her and she began to laugh as she ignited herself on fire. After a moment she turned to her right and launched a series of shadow bolts. She turned back to her left and launcher another set of shadow bolts.

"You will not prey on the weak without consequence!" Crystal yelled and began to walk towards a fortified building. Arrows, bullets and other projectiles flew at her without any affect. Crystal reached down to the side of the very right of the wall and pushed it all the way over to the left, completely obliterating it and everything in the way.

"Your puny wall is gone, your defenses are down, and your army is feeding me. Come and face me!" Crystal yelled.

Crystal heard several people inside chanting several words over and over. She pushed her wings all the way behind her and leaned down.

"Praying to a rock? That seems to be helping so far doesn't it? Here let me help." Crystal said and launched a blast of green clouds out of her mouth which quickly ignited and burned everything. Crystal than stood back up and crushed the rest of the structure.

"Let be a lesson to those who prey on the weak! The rest of you in hiding will be hunted down and slaughtered! Your death is inevitable." Crystal said. She said walking away from the structure. She looked around and saw what she had done and began to laugh. Then she heard some voices and looked down. Many of the people were bowing before her, offering their bodies to her.

"Foolish mortals! Have you learned nothing!" Crystal said igniting her body back on fire and ran several yards in front of her until she was sure everybody was burned to death. Crystal then flew back around and spoke several words in demonic that quickly banished the demons she had summoned. She landed just to the side of the entrance of the temple and returned back to her normal size, then back to her normal self.

She casually walked in and saw that Herrior's party was ready to attack her.

"Can't a girl let off a little steam? Mohania I'm sorry I interrupted your lunch. I believe there are a couple more bodies out there that you can have." Crystal said and walked up to Herrior.

"The voices are gone now. You are cute for a tauren you know that?" Crystal said winking at him.

"Crystal what just happened!" Herrior demanded pointing his sword at her throat.

"To be honest…I'm not entirely sure. I felt the sudden surge of power, and it kept exponentially expanding inside of me. Nothing I did could get rid of it. I heard the cries of the tortured, of those being held captive and it only fed me more. I apologize for running off." Crystal sat on the ground and took a deep breath and let it back out. "You can have Lindel come in and examine me if you think I am a threat."

Herrior quickly put his sword and shield away. "Please ask next time. I'm responsible for you and I would like to know where you are, especially when you plan on slaughtering hundreds of our enemies." Herrior knelt to the ground and embraced her. "No, I do not think you are a threat to us." Herrior whispered to her. Crystal embraced him back with a smile. The rest of the party put their weapons away and went about their business.

"What! What are you doing? She's a threat!" Maruut yelled. Dan pulled his swords out and leaped right in front of him.

"If you are going to harm her, you are going to have to get through me." Dan said with both of his swords pointed directly at his throat. Unknown to Dan, the rest of Herrior's party had drawn their weapons and positioned themselves behind him.

"We have two options here." Herrior said letting go of Crystal and rising to his feet. "Attack one of us, and we slaughter you. Call off your army and we'll begin developing another plan and put this little incident behind us."

"She's a demon! She cannot be controlled!" Maruut said.

"I do not control any of my party members. However…" Herrior said and turned around lowering her hand to Crystal. Crystal took it as he helped her to her feet.

"Crystal, may I have this dance?" Herrior asked.

"I would be delighted good sir, Strings a little music please?" Crystal replied back. The two of them began to move around the room in perfect rhythm in tune with the music.

A minute passed and Skyka said, "You haven't stepped on her toes, who taught you how to do that you big cow?" and started to laugh.

"Just depends on the partner…" Herrior said back.

"Hey, I can dance circles around you and you know that!" Skyka said back smiling and putting a hand on her hip.

Herrior let go of her and bowed. Crystal bowed back.

"Wonderfully entertaining...so are we going to kill these people, or can we go out and kill whatever she didn't kill?" Mohania asked.

"That isn't my call." Herrior said looking at Maruut.

"Is it mine?" Mohania asked igniting his eye sockets and hands on fire.

"Lower your weapons. It is considered rude to raise a weapon to a friend, and I apologize." Maruut said. Maruut's warrior's lowered their weapons and settled back down on the ground. Herrior's group did the same.

"Did we come to a decision yet?" Mohania said in his sinister voice.

"Your powers continue to amaze me. You spoke of such things, but I thought you were bluffing. Apparently I was wrong, and such things should not be spoken of."

"No they shouldn't. Let's go assess the damage and see what is left." Herrior said and walked out of the temple.

"Turn your fire off hun, we're not fighting…" Skyka said laying a hand on Mohania's shoulder.

"Rats. You know how I get when other people get to slaughter hundreds and I do is just sit and listen." Mohania said extinguishing his body. Skyka hugged him.

"I know hun; it's hard to know that there are better killers out there than you huh?" Skyka said letting go of him quickly and jogged away giggling.

"You're more of an ass then Crystal, you know that don't you?" Mohania yelled back and began to follow them.

"Love you too!" Skyka yelled back as she walked out of the temple.

Outside the temple Herrior had first glimpse at what Crystal did. Fires were still burning, but a disturbing silence surrounding all of them. Herrior looked all around and saw small puffs of smoke burning themselves out and gently fading into the air.

"Well I guess our plans that we were devising aren't going to work. Crystal do you remember not killing anybody?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Not that I can remember." Crystal suddenly fell to the ground in pain. "Ah, shit!" She yelled.

Herrior's group quickly turned around and saw her drift off into sleep.

"Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel reached down and opened her eyelids as she dispersed her body and fly into Crystal. She was only in there for a couple of seconds and then came back out.

"She's in a deep sleep; probably wore herself out. My guess is she probably over did herself. Also if you are wondering, it is the Crystal that we know." Lindel said rematerializing into her human form.

"I had no doubt about that. Dan and Strings, can you take her back into the temple and watch over her?" Herrior asked.

They both nodded and picked her up.

"Alright let's go see how many of the stone giant's children we can free; hopefully none of them were killed during the assault." Herrior said walking towards the camp.

They walked to the camp with the same quietness hanging around them. As they walked they saw what exactly Crystal did. It looked like an enormous bomb went off, only it killed select people and structures instead of everything. They saw movement off to their right.

"Slaves. Look at their chain restraints." Herrior said pointing at them. Skyka nodded and they continued to walk towards the camp.

Once they entered they saw several of the younger stone giants looking at each other and trying to break free. One of them saw Herrior's group and said something. The rest of them instantly froze in place.

"Let me go first." Herrior said. He gently slide down the gentle slope and quickly cut the chain restraint with this sword. The young one looked down at the chain and then back up at him. Herrior smiled at him and then walked over to the next one and did the same. The two freed young ones didn't move, but just simply stood there.

"You are free. Your captives are dead." Herrior said slicing another chain and releasing another one. This one immediately ran into a tent. Herrior thought he scared him, but the young one ran back out with a green crystal and handed it to him. Herrior took it and looked at it. The other freed ones gathered around him.

"Suggestions?" Herrior asked out loud.

"Payment maybe? Expression of gratitude?" Skyka asked.

"Free the rest of them, and get anything they give you. Do not scare them." Herrior said as he smiled at the young one and walked over to slice another young free.

The young stone giants quickly started gathering the green crystals and handing them to Herrior's group when they were freed. Once the last one was freed, they all ran over to Herrior and surrounded him.

"You're welcome, but I need to walk." Herrior said trying to move, but found that he couldn't because wherever he put his foot a young one put his body there.

After several attempts Herrior gave up.

"Didn't expect this…" Herrior said unsure what to do.

"They want to be fed." Diamant said looking down at him. Herrior jumped in shock and looked up at him. Not only was there one stone giant, but dozens of them. The young ones quickly ran over and embraced their parents.

"Whew…I would have had no idea how to feed them. Also how did you approach us without us knowing?" Herrior asked.

"They walked hun; you were too busy playing father to apparently notice." Skyka said.

"Oh." Herrior replied back.

"Yeah, that instills confidence in me. Our main tank didn't hear their pounding feet and the ground rumble as they approached us." Skyka said sarcastically.

"Therazane the Stonemother wishes to seek an audience with you." Diamant said.

"Of course. What shall we do with these gems?" Herrior asked.

"They increase our power; they are gifts to you for freeing them." Diamant replied back.

"I appreciate the gesture, but they do not increase our power. If they are of more value to you, then I wish for you to have them." Herrior said.

Diamant looked at him confused. "You do not wish payment for what we asked of you?"

"No." Herrior replied back.

"You intrigue me the more we observe you and your group. Come; let us go to her throne." Diamant said.

"May I present these gems to her, or do you wish for us to just leave them here?" Herrior asked.

"Bring them. The children should not see their gifts being tossed aside that they presented to you." Diamant said. Herrior turned around and quickly collected all of the gems and stuffed his bags and arms with them.

"Go free the slaves. Heal them and bring them back to the temple. Find out what they know and figure out our next attack. I'll return later." Herrior said to his group and jogged away to catch up with Diamant. The young ones jumped up and down all around him.

The stone giants and Herrior walked to a portal several hundred yards away. Each of them walked in, as Herrior did.

Herrior saw the Stonemother and bowed his head. She was an enormous floating brown rock with arms and hands. She had purple hair and a mouth larger than the rest of the stone giants.

"I have not been bowed to in awhile." She said sounding impressed. "Leave us, I wish to speak alone to this one."

After all of the stone giants left, Herrior put all of the gems in front of him in a pile.

"And just what is it that you plan on doing with those?" She asked.

"Diamant said you are in need of these, but to give them to you so that the young ones do not see." Herrior replied back.

"You are intriguing, just as my family has said." Therazane said as she floated over and collected the rocks. "And just what is it that you wish from us?"

"The third pillar." Herrior said back.

"Oh? And just what makes you think we have it?" Therazane replied back.

"The first was being guarded by the earthen people; the second was generating an enormous portal. There seems to be no other place down here where it might be safely stored. Its powers would have been channeled to destroy one of my party members if the cultists had it, that I have no doubt." Herrior said back.

"The demon?" Therazane asked back.

"Two of my party members can become demons, yes. It wasn't until now that we all witnessed the power of the women demon." Herrior said.

"We watched with amazement, did you also watch?" Therazane asked.

"No we did not." Herrior replied back.

"She instilled fear in everything, summoned demons by merely thinking about it and slaughtered many – that being said she slaughtered only the ones that sought to harm us and you. She shot dozens of dark beams of light out of her hand, killing many but avoiding the ones that did not need to be killed. Her power seemed unlimited, but her command over the demons and her attacks were very precise. It was amazing to watch." Therazane explained. "Where is she now?

"Sleeping inside of the temple. I am unsure how she did it, but I trust her with my life." Herrior said.

"I sense that from you. Yes we do have the third pillar. The earthen people have sent word of your help, and others have spoken of your deeds. Our forces are combining and vanquishing our foes. The question I have though is why do you seek the third pillar?" Therazane asked.

"To get back to the surface. Many of our powers do not work down here, including the ability to portal out of here. We do not wish to disturb you and your kind anymore than we already have. Once the pillars have been combined it should restore this world and we will be able to leave." Herrior said.

"So certain about that are we?" Therazane asked.

"Certain? No, but that is the theory we have." Herrior said.

"I have lost many of my children in the battle to get this pillar out of the hands of those insects. I wish vengeance for them. You have proved yourself, but there are still many battles to be fought down here. So you want the pillar because you are trapped here, what other payment do you expect?" Therazane asked.

"None. Tell us where your children have fallen and we will strike at once to avenge them." Herrior said.

"There are three commanders on the western side of this plane. They control powers that are capable of killing us. However, it seems the tides have turned thanks to you. I purpose a joint attack. I will recall my fighters, you gather yours, and I will send word for the earthen people. Word has it they tried to repay you as well, but wouldn't accept payment. We are all eager it repay you, and you will be rewarded if you accept." Therazane said.

"We accept, what do you purpose?" Herrior asked.

"The earthen people will attack randomly creating a diversion. I will create a portal at the very north side and we will fight until every last one of them is dead." Therazane said.

"We have the abilities as well to create diversions, but if this is what you wish then so be it. When do you purpose that we strike?" Herrior asked.

"Give it two rotations and then we will seek you out in your temple. We need to finish our current battles first and give my children time to recover." Therazane said.

"I offer our assistance if you wish." Herrior said. Therazane studied him for awhile.

"I do not understand you. You have just met us and you are willing to die defending my children? You fight with the earthen people, again willing to die to save their people – then you free our young ones, and return the rewards they gave you – just simply out of kindness and the theory that it will allow your powers to return so you can rise to the surface? Hard to believe…" Therazane said. "What if your theory is wrong and you cannot return? What then?"

"Then we will have made friends and will live out our lives down here. It seems as though we had to come at the time that we did. We fight these cultists and many others, as well as the alliance and demons." Herrior said.

"You fight demons…yet you have people that can change into demons and summon demons?" Therazane asked.

"They are completely under our control and can be banished at any time. They fight for us; never have they ever turned against us. To be honest I do not completely understand it myself, but I trust them. The city where we come from, any type of demon is not allowed, and until just recently have we obtained additional powers that our warlocks can use to unleash havoc on our foes. They will not harm you, you have my word." Herrior said.

"I do not need your word; I saw firsthand what your party can do. So be it then. I will give you one rotation to recover your strength and then Diamant will help lead the assault. After two rotations we will end this battle – once and for all." Therazane said.

"I agree and will fight by your side." Herrior said and bowed.

"Wait." Therazane said as Herrior motioned to leave. "D'lom! Come before me."

A different type of elemental came floating over to her. He had a stone body, no legs and no face, but had arms and a head.

"Give them what you have collected. If you are willing to die in battle beside my children, I would rather give you the option of outfitting you with what we have. It may or may not be of benefit to you, but is useless to us." Therazane said.

"At once." D'lom said and flew away. He moved his arms up and down as if he was running, which did look odd because he was floating. "While he is gone, I wish for our races to befriend each other."

"That would be an honor. I am an ambassador of our King and I will send word once we leave. We will establish a portal link to the temple and visit often. What is it that you wish from us?" Herrior asked.

Therazane began to laugh and said, "To be honest, we wish to be left alone and raise our young."

"Then I will make your wishes known and will honor them." Herrior said.

"No. If you need assistance we will fight beside you, and I wish the same for us." Therazane said.

"I understand." Herrior said.

D'lom came floating back out with three enormous bags dragging on the ground. Herrior's eyes raised at he looked at them. The bags were three times taller than him, and twice as wide.

"I do not know what to do with these gifts, and I do not know if I am even able to carry them back." Herrior said. Therazane laughed again.

"I will send help. If there is something you do not want, just merely put it beside the entrance temple and when you leave we will collect it. Help us return this realm peace. I look forward to hearing about what is to become of our friendship and the battles that follow." Therazane said.

"Thank you, I look forward to it." Herrior said and attempted to pull one of the bags. He couldn't even budge it.

"Interesting how you can kill so many, help those in danger – and yet you are so tiny. D'lom take those with you and put them wherever Herrior instructs you to do so." Therazane said and immediately D'lom grabbed all three bags and moved swiftly towards the portal. Herrior bowed again and followed him out.

"D'lom, could you bring the bags to the entrance of the temple?" Herrior asked once they were on the ground again. D'lom moved very quickly to the temple, and no matter how hard Herrior tried, he could not catch up. D'lom set the bags down in front of the temple and passed Herrior on the way back and vanished back into the portal.

"Ooo…you brought presents!" Lindel said excitedly.

"Actually I'm not sure what I brought." Herrior said cautiously. "But we have a battle tomorrow to assist the stone giants, and then we have a coordinated attack the next day. Apparently there are three generals that are killing their forces. That's where we come in."

"That's where you come in." Mohania said looking into the bag. "You stay alive and I will continue tossing out fire. What is all of this stuff?" Mohania asked pulling out several different types of rocks.

"Rocks!" Quinely said running over and pulling it out of his hand.

"Thank you for your insight…once again you have solved the riddle for us." Mohania said sarcastically. Mohania turned around and said, "So we are fighting for a bunch of…oof!" Quinely morphed into her cat form and knocked him to the ground and began licking his skull.

"Nope…we are not fighting for oof, we are fighting for rocks." Quinely said gently pouncing up and down on top of Mohania.

"So did everybody behave ok?" Herrior asked Skyka.

"Same as usual." Skyka said smiling back at him. "The prisoners were forced to dig for Elementium. I'm sure our blacksmiths will have fun figuring that out, but they are all healed up and being fed. So what's the plan for now?"

"Well we have time to kill, Diamant will not be here until tomorrow – which is what I'm assuming is a 'rotation', so I was thinking about finding a private room somewhere and teach you some dancing moves." Herrior said walking over to her and hands around her waist.

"Oh? And just want do you plan on teaching me that I don't already know?" Skyka replied back.

"Somebody kill me! You two go hide in a cave, and take this annoying cat with you." Mohania yelled out.

"You love me…" Quinely said stepping off from him and licking his skull again.

Mohania sat up and said in a soft voice, "Yes Quinely I love you very much. But I think we have become to close and we need to spend some time apart so that I can sort out my feelings." Quinely morphed back into her human self and looked shocked.

"No, that's not what I meant…" Quinely said immediately.

"Quinely, my heart beats just for you and being away from Kendall this long…it's hard on me…" Mohania said in a serious tone.

"No…no no no no no…" Quinely kept repeating over and over. She turned to Herrior and tried to explain herself but her feet were quickly pulled out from beneath her. She fell abruptly to the ground in surprise, and Mohania started to jump up and down on top of her.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it!" Mohania said in a sinister tone. "Eat dirt woman! Tell me how it tastes!"

"Are you glad we don't have kids…" Herrior said unimpressed.

"Got too many as it is…" Skyka replied back and both of them walked into the temple.

"So what do the rest of us kids do?" Branzer yelled out chuckling along with everybody else.

"Just don't kill each other…" Herrior said.

Quinely morphed into a bear and Mohania slipped off from her. The two of them then proceeded to try to throw each other to the ground. Eventually they wore themselves out and gave up, and everybody went to go to do their own thing.

"Feel up to going for a walk?" Dan asked Crystal.

"Sure, the view down here is great." Crystal said smiling back at Dan.

"Actually Dan can I talk to you, I mean if that is ok with Crystal?" Branzer asked.

"Yeah you can have him. You could help by finding a place for him to bathe in." Crystal said letting go of Dan's hand and walking away.

"Well…yeah I mean go ahead and just let me go…" Dan said sarcastically to Crystal.

"Sorry, what did you say? Oh Lindel, I've been dying to talk to you about your robe. Did you design that yourself?" Crystal asked.

"Sure did. I can alter your armor as well. Do you want a different color perhaps or perhaps some different cloth so it makes you look flashier?" Lindel said waving good-bye to Dan and Branzer.

"Ooo…girly talk! I'm coming!" Quinely said morphing into a lion and running to catch up. "Mohania said he wanted to come too!"

"Haa haa, yeah 'Mohania said he wanted to come too.' I tell you all of you are competing for the biggest ass of the award down here. It's going to be close." Mohania said rifling through the bags.

"Are you going to join them as well Jacklyn?" Branzer asked smiling.

"What's wrong with my armor?" Jacklyn answered back in a serious tone.

"Nothing, it looks fine." Branzer said wiping the smile off his face.

"Is fine not good enough? It protects me, I don't need it to draw attention to me and the stat bonuses are exactly what I need." Jacklyn said back.

"It does look good, and you do perform very well in it. Ok then, let's get going Dan." Branzer said quickly walking away.

"What's wrong with my armor?" Jacklyn asked Julie.

"Do you understand men?" Julie asked with a smile.

"No."

"Don't try. Sometimes they say dumbass things for no reason. Luckily we have Mohania here to keep track." Julie said back.

"Is that an insult or a compliment?" Mohania yelled out from inside the bag.

"Insult." Julie replied back.

"You're an ass." Mohania said back casually still sorting through the items.

Branzer led Dan far away, with Bernett not far behind.

"Where are we going?" Dan asked.

"Far enough so they can't hear us." Branzer said.

"May not be a good idea Branzer…if you are going to talk about what I think you are…" Bernett said.

"What's going on?" Dan asked. Branzer sighed and looked back. He figured they were far enough away.

"Does Crystal scare you?" Branzer asked quickly.

"No?" Dan replied back with a goofy face.

"No I mean her powers. You saw what she did, doesn't that worry you?" Branzer asked.

"No?" Dan replied back looking back and forth from Branzer to Bernett thinking this was some sort of joke.

"Nothing concerning the fact that she could step on you, blast you with something that could kill you instantly?" Branzer asked in a frustrated voice.

"Uh…no? Are we talking about Ysera and Strings?" Dan asked.

"Yes. Yup, that is what he is talking about." Bernett said jumping into the conversation.

"Why would Strings be worried about somebody who obviously likes him? She wouldn't hurt him or kill him – I must have missed something. Is Strings ok?" Dan asked.

Branzer sighed and turned away. "No…no I'm sure Strings is fine. Nothing happened to him that we know about."

"So…Bernett?" Dan asked.

"I'm just here for moral support." Bernett replied back quickly.

"So this isn't a joke, doesn't concern myself, Crystal, Strings…and I'm confused." Dan said back.

"No, you're right. It's nothing." Branzer said and started to walk away from them.

"Does it have to do with you growing a pair of balls?" Dan asked. Bernett quickly laughed but coughed trying to conceal it.

"Who said that?" Branzer said turning around.

"If it's concerning you and Lindel…uh…pretty much everybody – including everybody in Tranquil." Dan said.

"Great…" Branzer said quietly to himself.

"Ah, so that's what this is about. Lindel is head over heels in love with you, but she is waiting on you. You have to remember her life was taken at an early age and she hasn't had the time to experience everything or know what to do. She still thinks she pushed you into advancing your relationship and she has dropped many settle hints, uh actually to everybody, about taking it further." Dan stopped himself as he put all of the pieces together. "You're scared of Lindel? Why?"

Branzer let out a sigh and walked back to him. Dan started to laugh.

"I'm sorry, this is slightly ironic don't you think? I learn from both of you as much as I can about becoming a police officer, and now you come to me for advice? My advice is you are talking to the wrong person; here let me help you out with that." Dan said and suddenly closed his eyes. They all felt a quick rush of air encircle them as Lindel materialized in the middle of them.

"What's going on? Who's hurt?" Lindel said frantically looking at all of them.

"See, that's a neat gift to have. As you just saw, Crystal did just the opposite with me. Why don't you two have a talk and Bernett and I will go do some target practice?" Dan said with a smile and walked away.

"Gift? What gift? What's going on?" Lindel asked.

"Nothing, there is no gift. Dan was just making a point." Branzer said glaring at him.

"And…" Dan said.

"And he made his point. Let's go do some target practice." Branzer said.

"Branzer, have the 'boys' even dropped for you yet?" Dan asked. Bernett burst into laughter and walked away.

"You have kids?" Lindel said looking strangely at Branzer. This only fueled Bernett's laughter even more.

"Yes, also the hair he has on his head isn't real. It's a wig." Dan said.

"You're an ass." Branzer said.

"I'll let Mohania know, he's been keeping track. In the meantime let me ask a couple of simple questions. Lindel do you love Branzer? Would you stick by through sickness and in health until death do you part?" Dan asked.

"Of course." Lindel replied looking at Dan completely confused. She looked back at Branzer and asked, "Your hair isn't real?"

"And would you Branzer do the same thing I just said and everything else associated with such a thing back in return?" Dan asked.

"I would." Branzer said turning to look at Lindel.

"Wow…shocker there. Anyways I'm going to see if I can piss off Mohania some more and try to take the lead in being the 'top ass' or whatever he calls it. Bernett don't you think that might be a good idea for you as well?" Dan asked.

"Way ahead of you. I say we throw tiny rocks at him from different directions and see how long it takes for him to erupt in fire." Bernett said walking away with Dan.

"I'm guessing one." Dan said.

"I'm not betting against that." Bernett said as they both walked away. They both whispered something back and forth and erupted in laughter.

"Branzer, I'm completely confused. You never told me you had kids, and why would you have fake hair?" Lindel asked.

"My hair is real, and I don't have any kids…also Dan is an ass. Those are all figures of speech, except for the last one." Branzer said looking back over his shoulder.

"Well, what is going on then?" Lindel asked.

Back at the temple Dan and Bernett came in still laughing. They saw everybody looking at them. Herrior looked concerned and asked why Lindel was summoned so quickly.

"Well, one of two things is going to happen. Either she kills Branzer, or we are going to experience an ear-shattering squeal…which may again kill Branzer." Bernett said.

"Can I eat his corpse?" Mohania asked.

"Mohania…have you ever considered becoming a therapist? I'm sure Alan would just love to have you talk with some of his patients." Dan said looking at him. Dan then tried to mimic Mohania's voice and said, "I'm sorry you are going to die sir, would you mind if I devour your corpse at your funeral in front of your loved ones and family?"

"Makes sense to me." Mohania said.

"That's supposed to be an insult to you Mohania…" Julie whispered to him.

"Oh, well in that case you are an ass." Mohania said.

"Actually was just called that, so put down two check marks for me." Dan said.

"Done." Mohania said smiling.

"Anyways, Crystal you would be proud of Dan. This guy has a pair of balls so big I'm surprised they aren't dragging on the ground…that shit would never fly at the police station. We would have laughed our asses off, but he would have been kicked off the force immediately for what he just said." Bernett said beginning to laugh again.

"Too bad I've never seen them…" Crystal said crossing her arms and looking at him with a smile. This was followed by laughter from everybody.

"Hey, just saying what everybody else was thinking…that's all…" Dan said smiling back at her. The sound of Lindel's voice could be heard, and was increasing in volume.

"Ok this is it; I'd recommend covering your ears." Dan said putting his hands over his. They thought he was joking until Bernett did the same.

"What's going on?" Herrior asked but his voice was drowned out by the laughter and squeal of delight from Lindel. The blast intensified so quickly that the walls vibrated and everybody could feel the sound all the way into their bones. Then Lindel's voice quadrupled in volume, forcing everybody to the ground and covering their ears.

"What's going on?" Herrior yelled as loud as he could at Dan, but even he could not hear his own voice. The laughter and squealing continued and seemed to start circling their temple for several minutes.

Her voice slowly became quieter as she flew into the temple and slammed into Herrior knocking him backwards.

"Please say yes…please say yes…please says yes…" Lindel kept saying over and over so quickly that it took Herrior a minute just to take in what just happened.

"Ouch…" Branzer said after he landed on the ground and tumbled for a ways.

"Oh shit…sorry…" Lindel said quickly and flew over to him. Lindel blasted him with her healing spell and then realized that she had used up all of her power.

"Ah shit…" Lindel said falling to the ground. She started panting for air, but had a big smile on her face.

"Love hurts…doesn't it my friend?" Bernett said walking over and clapping Branzer on the shoulder. Branzer jumped and looked at him. He then pointed to his ears and shrugged.

"Yeah, but you can't say you didn't see that coming…" Bernett said. Branzer motioned that he couldn't understand him.

"Somebody give me power…I don't want to sleep…not now…not now…" Lindel said quieter and quieter. She changed back into her banshee form and drifted off to sleep.

"Why can't we have a normal group?" Skyka asked.

Herrior laughed and said, "Our group has never been normal."

"Shall I heal him?" Icis asked.

"No, this way we can make fun of him and he can't hear what we are saying." Dan said.

"That's mean!" Crystal said punching Dan gently on the arm. "However he does have a good point."

"Yes, heal him and everybody else. Then in thirty seconds or less bring me up to speed, however I have a hunch about what just happened." Herrior said letting out a smile at the end.

"The deduction of you guys is absolutely amazing! Somebody help me find the rest of my body…" Mohania's head said on the ground.

"Did you fall to pieces in excitement over the news?" Skyka said reaching over and picking up his head.

"I'm giving you two asses; now put me back on my body." Mohania said as Icis blasted everybody with her healing spell.

"Ah that's better, I can hear again. So I'm assuming Lindel told you?" Branzer asked.

"Don't have a clue what you are talking about. Tell us what?" Skyka said with a straight face.

"That her and you are an ass!" Mohania said. Skyka tossed Mohania's head behind her as Mohania's voice yelled for somebody to stop it.

Branzer looked down at Lindel and saw that she was sound asleep and weakened so much that her evil banshee form was barely visible on the ground.

"Is she ok?" Branzer asked.

"I don't know, you tell us what happened to her? Were you attacked?" Herrior asked.

"I asked Lindel if she would marry me. She then got carried away…rather she carried me away. I lost my hearing shortly afterwards, and lost my vision as well because we were flying so fast. I think at one point I may have actually passed out." Branzer said.

"Huh, well that's what happened. I wouldn't have guessed. So anyways I think everybody had better bunker down for the night for tomorrow's battle." Herrior said and laid down. Skyka laid down beside him, and the rest of them took the queue from Herrior as well.

"Ok…not exactly the reaction I expected…" Branzer said looking around.

"Do you have anything else to say, because I want my group ready for battle tomorrow?" Herrior asked with his eyes closed.

"This is great. I'm being rescued by a dwarf. I've had dreams about this, but only it was the other way around…now gather up the rest of my body servant or I will melt the flesh from your body!" Mohania said.

"Actually I think we would sleep better if Mohania's head was outside the temple. Branzer why don't you go ahead and take it out there." Herrior said.

"Herrior…you are an…" Mohania said very slowly.

"Wonderful guy and the best lover in the world, Mohania how did you know?" Skyka asked loudly interrupting him.

"Gah – I hate all of you! Give me to the human dwarf! He will follow my direction!" Mohania said in an insulted tone.

"You know, we had a game we used to play that reminds me of this. It was called soccer, or football depending on where you lived. The object was to see how many times we could kick the ball, this of course being Mohania's head, until you get it in the other person's net." Dan said.

"My head is not a ball! Over there dwarf, attach my head so that I may regain my powers!" Mohania said in the same frustrated tone.

"Is he going to kill us if I put his head back?" The dwarf asked.

"Hardly." Herrior said casually.

"Yes…I will burn all of you in your sleep! I will wait until you all start snoring and then rip your hearts out and show them to you just before you realize your death is on its way!" Mohania said.

"What he meant to say was, he is very happy for you Branzer and wishes the best for you." Crystal said trying to hide her smile.

"Haa haa, yeah that's what I meant. Have I mentioned that I hate all of you?" Mohania said as his head was placed back on his body. Mohania then summoned a dark sphere in his stomach that sucked the rest of his body parts back into place. Once he was reassembled he walked quickly over to Lindel and began blasting her with a dark beam of black light. Lindel's body brightened and rematerialized as the power as absorbed into her body. Lindel opened her evil eyes and looked up at Mohania.

"Not…too much…" Lindel said quietly as it was evident that her body was increasing in power.

After a minute Mohania stopped the channeling and fell backwards. "I think that's more than enough for you…" Mohania said looking at her. He rose to his feet and began summoning power back into his own body. Twirling colors of black and dark purple floated around his body for several seconds and he regained his strength.

"I thirst for more…" Lindel said looking around. Lindel suddenly saw Branzer and changed back in her human form.

"Sorry…sorry, umm…that is the old me. Not that way anymore." Lindel said.

"Oh horseshit. Where's the dwarf that carried my head? Walk in front of her and expose your neck to her, see what happens." Mohania said.

"Mohania!" Lindel yelled back.

"If you are going to marry him, he needs to accept every aspect of you – even if it means you absorbing other people's lives in order to sustain your own!" Mohania said.

"I do." Branzer said gently looking at her with a smile.

"Don't interrupt. She is going to need power on a constant basis; I'm not always going to be around to funnel it into her like this. She is a banshee, you are a human. You eat and shit; she eats and shits, but doesn't do much for her. She is more like me than you realize." Mohania said.

"She looks better than you, has bigger tits, and a much nicer ass." Branzer said looking over at Mohania.

Mohania stopped in mid-sentence unsure what to say about that. He turned his head around and looked down his back. "My ass is nice."

"So Herrior, what do you say?" Branzer asked. Herrior was gently snoring on the ground. Skyka gently nudged him and saw that he was in fact sleeping. She grabbed a hold of one of his horns and began to shake it, "Wake up you big cow!" she yelled at him.

"Wha? Is it tomorrow already?" Herrior said looking around startled.

"You were supposed to fake sleep…not actually sleep." Skyka said rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yeah that's right." Herrior said laughing gently. "Did somebody give him a big long speech?"

"Bonehead did over there, the one trying to look at his ass – he's trying to compare it with Lindel's." Skyka said.

"I think Lindel's is better." Herrior said. Mohania's left hand rose along with his middle finger.

"Well from what little I gathered Lindel wants me to say yes…I think that's what she was trying to say anyways. It was either that or she wanted to talk about changing the color of our armor. Jacklyn of which is still confused about and I am happy with what I have."

"And Mohania looks just fine in the dresses that we have." Crystal said. Mohania's middle finger moved from Herrior to her as Crystal let out a giggle.

"An ambassador marrying a non-ambassador has always been avoided due to the complications. This union will not only raise those issues, but Lindel also has the abilities to read minds and locate lost teddy bears. Plus we are looking at a union within the group is always a problem, and the other issues of her having Chronomancer powers and one of our few banshees. An ambassador marrying somebody with those powers will not bode well with the King, nor will it with the other ambassadors." Herrior said.

"Herrior…just say yes! Quit messing around!" Lindel said excitedly.

"I'm not, these are legitimate concerns." Herrior said.

"But Dan and Crystal…" Lindel started.

"Are not ambassadors, one does have special powers that we knew of ahead of time, and the other is showing new powers as well. I am pleased with Dan, and I still have concerns with Crystal though. Not with her powers but with her heart. You have to be able to kill the other one if need be, Crystal I don't see that with you and if that doesn't change I will ask to have you reassigned to a different group." Herrior said looking at her.

"Whoa…wait…what?" Crystal asked. "How did I get involved?"

"As a leader I am constantly evaluating all of you. If there was a conflict that could not be settled between Skyka and me, I would have her reassigned – same goes for the rest of you. Our group is larger than the average group and that is a concern that still weighs on my mind. I don't care if you can kill just by the mere thought, if you do not follow orders or have constant conflicts with a certain person – they are reassigned." Herrior said. "You fight, you follow orders, and you kill your fellow mate or group member if commanded to – period. That's always been the rule; everybody's known that from the start."

"Wait…what about Mohania and Quinely? I mean they are constantly pissing each other off, well one more than the other…" Crystal said.

"Crystal!" Herrior yelled. "It is my decision, not a group decision and I will not have you harboring thoughts of dissention among my party or isolate any particular person in defense of yourself! If you wish to challenge me to leadership there is a time and place for that, not here and not now. If you kill me in the middle of my sleep, the rest of my party will kill you – including my husband to seek vengeance. Am I making myself clear?"

Crystal slouched down and nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Doesn't fix anything! What has been spoken has already been said. Words sometimes cut deeper than the sword, and I would have you imprisoned for what you just said! My group runs smoothly and effectively because we don't have any of these accusations or backstabbing, and I will not allow it!" Herrior said continuing to yell at her. "But to answer your question…Quinely and Mohania work well together, and I have sensed nothing but friendship and loyalty between them. Just like the fact that my attention has also grown on Julie's attraction towards Trackolania – another issue I have churning in the back of my mind."

Trackolania looked at Herrior funny and then looked at Julie. Her face turned red and looked away.

"I am not telepathic, but don't play me for a fool. Discipline, love, and honor above all else to preserving our city. I will not die or watch my party members die because their loved one dies on the battlefield. If all of my party members marry one another and half of them die, then have the other half run to their aid and all of us will parish – not in my group you aren't. I would rather fight alone than to die disgracefully like that on the battlefield! If our armies fall, then our city falls - if our city falls, than we have lost all that we have fought for, and our fathers have fought for, and their fathers have fought for – just because you saw your mate die on the battlefield? No, not in my group you aren't and not in our King's army either. The union of Mohania and Kendall was a logical choice. The union of Bernett and Samatha had already happened, so it hurt nothing for them to remarry. The union of Dan and Crystal was logical at the time, and now things are happening to question that. If we had seen that ahead of time we would not have allowed the union. If Strings and Ysera form a union then that issue would become complicated…especially seeing how we were just about ready to wage war against their race not too long ago, it raise concerns and Ysera would have to promise to keep our rules. Strings I have no doubt will – but the problem there lies in the fact that Ysera leads her own people just as the King leads us. They would have to keep secrets from each other…even if they are joined together. An ambassador and one of our banshee's, especially a Chronomancer banshee will raise concerns. I have not sensed any information being leaked to Lindel, nor do I think will – but it will raise concerns, and I will be held accountable for them. Just because you are madly in love with somebody and willing to die for them means nothing. I love Jacklyn and would die for her, but I would not marry her." Herrior stopped and took in a breath. "Mohania is my speech better than yours?"

"More winded, but I said the word 'ass' more than you did." Mohania replied back.

"As threatening and as scary slash annoying Mohania is, he has risked his life for all of you, many times. He would give his last dying breath to help each and every one of you – just as he shown to Lindel…I'm assuming anyways because she went from no power to being almost completely back to normal." Herrior said looking at Lindel.

"She's still an ass." Mohania said.

"That's what I thought happened. I have to admit I was, and still am, baffled about the command the Queen gave Lindel a long time ago. However the Queen specifically told me not to think about it, so I have put that thought aside. She may know something that I do not, however that is not for me to question. But as of right now, that is what I am thinking. We obviously can't have an ambassador meeting concerning these issues and I cannot consult other ambassadors or the King as of right now either. Skyka and I could talk in private, just the same as the rest of you talk in private, however if we came to a decision it would have a ripple effect within our group…and all of this before we battle tomorrow and the next day? I will not have such talk or have any of this weigh on any of our minds. Get some sleep, clear your minds, and get ready for battle – that is an order!" Herrior said looking around at everybody. They all nodded and lay back down.

"I shouldn't have to say this, but no mental linking either unless I order it or anybody senses something." Herrior said and rolled over. "I am not a damn baby-sitter, or a relationship maker. I am a leader and responsible for all of you on the battlefield. If need be, I will issue an order to have some of you paralyzed until we complete our battles so that I know for sure my party will fight with clear heads."

Maruut listened and was over-whelmed by what was just said. He recalled each of Herrior's sentences over and over as he listened to the quiet hum of his shamans holding the pillar steady in place. He didn't sleep that night, his mind continuously digesting what Herrior had said.

"Hello again my friend." Diamant said.

"Hello Diamant. Are your forces in position?" Herrior replied back. That night nobody slept well, but they were all prepared for battle the next day. Nobody spoke to one another.

"They have already begun the battle. Your demon lady has destroyed many of the worms and we were able to gather more crystals from the cave. Our main assault will be on a dragon called Aeosera and her stone drakes. They are not to be trifled with. We can knock them out of the sky, but once they are on the ground our attacks are too slow against them. Taking out as many of her stone drakes as we can before engaging Aeosera will make it easier to defeat her. Therazane asked for your opinion on the battle strategy before I escort you to the battle."

"You know our foes better than we do. If that is to be the plan though, I ask that I assign each one of my party members to one of your personal, that way we can kill them before they strike you." Herrior suggested.

"There are too many of us. Some of us will indeed perish in the battle, but with your support we stand a better chance." Diamant said.

"Are the earthen people joining us on this assault?" Herrior asked.

"No, they are still licking their wounds. Let us begin." Diamant said and began to walk away.

"I do not want to see any of their people fall in battle." Herrior said turning around and looking sharply at his group.

"I and my people wish to join the assault." Maruut said.

"No, that will leave the pillars unguarded and the temple open for attack. We've already recovered two of them, and I don't feel like hunting them back down again. I knew you were going to ask that question and you knew the answer to it, but I have noted your loyalty." Herrior said walking away from him.

"There will come a time when we will stand together, we both know that." Maruut said.

"Yes we both do." Herrior said drawing his sword and shield as he began to jog to catch up with Diamant. Diamant led them far away from the temple and eventually against a stone wall where a portal was opened for them.

"Initial plan is to have our three tanks form a triangle perimeter. That may change once we get into battle." Herrior yelled behind him. "I'll take front, Veliline left, and Quinely right. Make sure your attacks and spells do not injure our allies!

Herrior ran past a large stone giant stuck in the ground.

"Diamant, why is he in the ground?" Herrior yelled out.

"He fell during a quake and has been trapped ever since. We have been unable to free him, but have kept him alive." Diamant said back.

"Mohania get him out of there…" Herrior yelled back. Diamant stopped running and turned around unbelieving what he just heard.

Mohania chanting the words and threw his hands apart. The sides of the ground moved with his hands, instantly freeing the giant. The giant pushed himself out of the ground and back onto his feet. Once he was clear Mohania slammed the ground back shut.

"Thank you." He began to say.

"The more fighters we have the better chance we have. Now with all due respect let's get moving, the sooner we engage the drakes the less your people will die." Herrior said taking the lead.

Herrior ran through the portal and immediately engaged one of the dragons that had fallen. They were all black, with a dark blue head and a light green glow around them. He dug his sword into it, pulled it out and began charging and taunting as many of the dragons as he could to attack him. The rest of his party fanned out and did what they were trained to do.

Veliline took her side and reached out her hand, casting her black bolt of lightning that grabbed a dragon and pulled it back to her. She struck at it several times and then began attacking others, trying to gather up as many as she could – trying to implement the same strategy Herrior and Quinely were doing.

The healers quickly fanned out to try to cover the groups forming. All of the hunters and warlocks released their pets and all of the ranged groups focused their fire on one target at a time, quickly bringing it down and moving on to the next. The melee attacks all followed Herrior and assisted him. While Herrior had the dozens of drakes snapping and clawing at him, he continued to anger them while blocking and dodging their attacks. One at a time each of them fell. The warriors in Herrior's group let out many battle cries and attacked with no remorse.

"This isn't quick enough! Jacklyn stay with me. Dan and Trackolania take opposite sides and defend them. Strings I would like to see you suddenly control them!" Herrior yelled out.

"Cant, already tried." Strings said stopping long enough to relay the message and then continued to play. His song was slowly healing everybody, but not enough without the help of Icis, Skyka and Lindel.

"Tanks get more on you! Divert their attention from the stone giants, we need to buy time everybody!" Herrior yelled and then jumped into the middle of a group of drakes, knocking all of them. Herrior cut one of the drakes deep and then performed his thunderclap, causing all of them to bleed. He then charged out of the group and slammed his shield hard on a drake that just fell and then threw a magical sword at another in the process of falling.

"Hunters, let's do our freezing traps. Get your pets to grab another's attention. Stun as many as you can. I will mark a target and then focus fire on that one." Branzer said. Julie and Bernett did just as they were told.

"Yeah…ok all of the warlocks…umm…kill them." Mohania said.

"Crap…I was doing it wrong this whole time…" Crystal said back sarcastically as one of her explosions took out three of the drakes. "What about sending out our voidwalkers to tank one, fear another and attack a third?"

"That was my next suggestion." Mohania said banishing his imp and summoning his voidwalker. Crystal did the same, which bought them more time to battle and made healing the tanks easier.

Doing these strategies though, the drakes were not dying as fast but gave the stone giants more time to maneuver around and grab stones to throw at them. Many of them even got the chance to land several mighty blows to them.

"Fear them if can. How are my beautiful healers doing?" Herrior called out.

"It would be easier on us if you stopped getting hit!" Skyka replied back.

"I want to hear more talking! Obviously the drakes don't speak our language and are able to be taunted. Call out when you need to blow a cooldown! Lindel, can you drain their energy or control them?" Herrior asked.

"No to both and many other things. I can heal and I can slow their attacks." Lindel yelled back, and blasting a healing spell into Quinely.

"We're going to be here awhile everybody. Diamant how many drakes do you estimate there are?" Herrior asked. There was no response back. Herrior turned around and saw that he was several injured by a drake.

"Damn it, who didn't do their job!" Herrior yelled and fear the drakes attacking him. He then ran over to the drake attacking Diamant and slammed into it so hard it knocked it over.

"Need some healing over here!" Herrior yelled. Skyka immediately ran over and began casting healing spell after healing spell on him. Diamant slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"I need information out of you, stop dying on me." Herrior said as a whole swarm of drakes flew on top of Herrior. Herrior again performed another thunderclap followed by a shockwave, stunning everything around him. Herrior pulled back and request a fear in his area. Mohania was the closest and ran over to him. Mohania let out a fear that drove everything around him away.

"How many drakes do you estimate there are Diamant?" Herrior called out again.

"Hundreds." Diamant replied back.

"Rats…" Herrior said to himself. "Only a couple dozen more everybody, I want them contained and brought down!" Herrior yelled out.

"Couple dozen huh?" Mohania said fearing one of the approaching drakes and putting his voidwalker on another.

"I've never been good with math." Herrior said as he ran back to his previous position.

"Fall back Jacklyn, get some healing." Herrior said and taunted all of the drakes around her. Jacklyn disengaged and did as she was told. She was bleeding badly and it was a minute before she received any healing. Jacklyn then went back into the swarm and focused her attacks on one at a time.

"Running low on mana, I need to hymn." Icis said.

"Taking over." Skyka said and start letting off large group healing. Icis held her hands into the sky as recovered her power.

"Whoever she was healing, you need to strengthen yourselves!" Herrior called out as he activated his shield wall.

"Have been, every chance I am able to." Veliline said.

"Same here." Quinely replied back.

"Well then remind me to." Herrior said back

"Shall I summon an army of ghouls?" Veliline asked.

"Can you promise they will only attack the drakes?" Herrior asked.

"No." Veliline replied back.

"There's your answer." Herrior said back leaping on top of a drake that had just fallen to the ground. Herrior looked up and saw that Trackolania had taken down so many drakes that he was actually fighting on top of them. He was dodging and landing attacks so quickly the drakes did not stand a chance.

"At least take some hits Trackolania! You're making the rest of us look bad!" Herrior yelled out. Trackolania shook his head and continued to land deadly blow after blow.

"Haven't healed him once, he hasn't needed it. Dan do whatever he is doing, I'm tired of healing your ass!" Skyka yelled out.

"Dan fall back in with me. Bring as many as you can with you so the healing is easier." Herrior ordered. Dan leapt from his position and flew through the air landing with a powerful crash and began running towards Herrior.

Icis had regained her mana and began to heal again.

"Lightwell?" Icis asked while healing and producing her shields on the group.

"Everybody keeps moving and is too far away, wouldn't do any good. Group shield?" Skyka asked back.

"Same problem, would do my shadowfiend to restore my mana – but on which one? I wouldn't be able to control it and focus my healing at the same time." Icis replied back.

"Same problem with that as well. We'll just have to coordinate our hymns as much as we can." Skyka said back.

Hours went by and the battle continued. The stone giants moved with Herrior's group as they preceded forward, making slow progress. None of Herrior's party had fallen yet, but Herrior counted the loss of four stone giants. He cursed to himself every time he saw one fall. The party continued to call out their needs and answering those who needed help.

"How many more dozens do we have?" Branzer asked.

"Couple more." Herrior replied back.

"Couple more than three hours ago, or a couple more three hours from now?" Branzer asked.

"Yes." Herrior said and then let out another battle cry.

"I'm still teaching him how to count to ten." Skyka said. "Icis it's my turn to hymn now. I'll restore my mana and then do my healing hymn to catch everybody back up, same as before."

"Strengthen yourselves!" Icis called out and began to heal only the ones that needed healing the most as Skyka channeled mana back into her body. However as soon as Skyka started a drake fell on her, interrupting the spell immediately. The drake got up and started to attack her when Skyka let out her fear spell.

"Well there goes that hymn. Doing my healing one." Skyka said and began to channel her healing into everybody around her, restoring health very quickly to each of them. The drake came back down to attack her, but had a chaos bolt fly through its wing. Mohania then commanded his voidwalker to attack the drake as he feared another drake away.

"You need to learn to do both hymns at the same time." Mohania said.

"You need to learn to shoot chaos bolts out of both hands at the same time." Skyka said right back.

"I wish…" Mohania said igniting a drake on fire and launching waves of fire bolts at it until he had enough power charged up to launch another chaos bolt.

Seconds seemed like minutes; minutes seemed like hours. The battle continued as the stone giants continued to knock the drakes out of the air.

"Throw the rocks at their heads if you can, it may cause them a concussion and fall to the ground, possibly even killing them. All you are doing is merely disrupting their flight." Dan said.

Diamant seemed offended by this idea and Herrior had sensed it. "Dan say please, it's rude otherwise."

"I'm sorry, please throw the rocks at their heads if you can I would appreciate it – with sugar on top." Dan said as he was violently knocked backwards and slammed into Herrior.

"Was that better?" Dan asked as blood flowed from his face and chest.

"I'll teach you manners yet." Herrior said as both of them separated and continued to attack.

Diamant gave the command and the stone giants started to throw the boulders more precisely instead of randomly. Diamant was pleased with the results as the drakes did as Dan said they would.

"More suggestions would be appreciated." Herrior said.

"Don't die on me…" Skyka said as she casted her guardian spirit on Veliline and blasted her with as many heals as she could. Veliline quickly recovered her strength and continued to fight again.

"Permission to do something stupid…as Dan would put it." Veliline said.

"Will it get you killed?" Herrior asked.

"It seemed to work for Dan." Veliline said back.

"Good enough for me." Herrior replied back.

Veliline began releasing tiny little worms out of her arms, four at a time. They gorged themselves on the drakes until they were full. Once they were full they worms blew themselves apart, causing a moderate amount of healing to the entire group.

"What was that?" Herrior asked.

Veliline then held up her hand and blasted the group with another moderate healing spell and began launching as many worms as she could while still maintaining threat on the drakes.

"Are you a tank, or are you a healer?" Herrior asked.

"You've been healing yourself, Quinely has too. We used to release these all of the time in battles. Imagine thousands of death knights releasing these, healing each other, raising the dead as ghouls and summoning our armies. Those fights were legendary." Veliline said all in the same tone.

"Veliline – you have permission to do anything stupid that you want in the future…just as long as you ask first." Herrior said as another sudden burst of the worms healed everybody for a moderate amount.

"Why didn't you do that sooner hun?" Skyka asked sounding upset.

"Didn't know what it would do. They may fight the drakes, they may fight our group, and they may fight the stone giants. The worms typically fight who I attack…most of the time." Veliline said and then yelled "Herrior same request different idea."

"Go ahead." Herrior replied back.

Veliline summoned a single ghoul and it attacked one of the drakes.

"I said no ghouls!" Herrior said sounding upset.

"This one I have control over. Every couple of minutes I can death pact him and restore my health entirely." Veliline said. "I will get rid of him if you wish."

"Veliline I don't understand anything you just said, but you sound confident so I trust you." Herrior said engaging his shield wall again. "Trackolania what the hell are you doing? You have killed more drakes then the rest of us, to the point where they are actually avoiding you. Fall back and help out the group."

"I can't heal anymore. I'm sorry Herrior." Lindel said sounding exhausted.

"Do what you can hun. Quinely fall in closer to Icis and Skyka. Trackolania go lighten her load.

"I'm almost tapped as well Herrior." Strings said as he stopped playing and quickly took a drink from his wine skin.

"Fall in between the healers. Everybody fall in together. Diamant we are running out of options here."

"We still have a ways to go to get to Aeosera. Her nest lies above us, on those floating rocks ahead of us." Diamant replied back.

"Fine. We're going to fear bomb. I'll start and then we'll work our way around. In the mean time were else continue what you are doing." Herrior said as he let out an enormous battle cry.

"Diamant, can you throw me on one of those rocks?" Crystal asked.

"Yes, but you cannot fight her alone." Diamant replied back.

"What are you thinking Crystal?" Herrior asked as the drakes continued to fly around in fear and be knocked out of the sky.

"Nothing, making this up as I go along. What is her typical battle strategy and what will happen if I kill her?" Crystal asked.

"She breathes fire. That is all we have seen her do. If she falls, the drakes will scatter." Diamant said. Another one of the stone giants fell as Herrior cursed again.

"Do it Crystal!" Herrior ordered.

"Diamant can you throw me up there?" Crystal asked. Diamant picked her up and threw her into the air. Crystal flew with tremendous speed and landed on the dragon's stomach.

"Hi, thanks for the soft landing. I'm going to have to kill you know." The dragon gave her a strange look as Crystal placed a curse on her and began casting her damage over time spells on Aeosera. Aeosera let out a scream and began to flap her wings. Crystal jumped down to a stone hanging in mid-air and continued to blast her with shadow bolts and refreshing her current spells. Aeosera was slow to move and seemed quite ignorant. After the dragon stopped breathing fire she looked around for the remains, even though she continued to get attacked. She eventually spotted Crystal and flew from her nest and as she took in a breath, Crystal jumped down to the next ledge. Aeosera again blasted the stone with fire as Crystal again refreshed her damage over time spells and launched shadow bolt after shadow bolt into the dragon. Aeosera once again looked over the stone that she had just blasted with fire to see if she had killed her attacker, all the while be pummeled by Crystal's magic. Aeosera would then fly over to where Crystal was and take in a breath again and blast the rock Crystal was standing on. The two of them continued this dance for awhile.

"How's my healers?" Herrior asked after he let out another shout, fearing the dragons around him.

"A nap and a swig of wine sound good right now." Skyka said sounding weak voice.

"Herrior I can innervate the healers, but I would have to dump the mobs that are on me." Quinely said.

"Is that a dumb idea?" Herrior asked.

"It would restore some mana to one of our healers, but would probably end up getting me killed because I have aggroed so many drakes on me. I can do this every three minutes. Also I can take over healing, but as I said I'm not as good at it as Icis and Skyka." Quinely said and then took a deadly scrape on her right paw. Quinely ferociously bit back and continued to bite and thrash at anything around her.

"The first part sounded good, but no keep doing what you are doing. Everybody fall in tighter. Mohania why am I not seeing any additional demons being summoned, also you seem to be dealing less damage?" Herrior asked.

"First of all, you're an ass. My voidwalker has taken aggro from the drakes our other warlock had before she went flying through the air. I've been funneling health into him to keep him alive and fearing the others to keep us alive. We were taking them down quickly at first until 'only a couple dozen' came on us all for a sudden for the past eight hours'." Mohania said.

"Yup, only a couple dozen more. Anybody else have any surprises you want to pull out of your ass – now would be the time." Herrior said.

"I need to hymn." Icis said.

"Do it quickly hun." Skyka said in near desperation. She looked over and saw Trackolania being ripped at and almost pulled apart. She extended her hand and pulled him back. Trackolania lay on the ground dripping blood all over. He took several deep breathes and then tiny little red streams of little surrounded his body. He stood up and went to go back into the fight.

"You aren't invincible hun. Take a breather while Icis is restoring her mana." Skyka said. Trackolania turned around and Skyka saw that his body was slowly repairing it and he slowly shook his head and pointed behind him.

"Herrior yell at Trackolania to stay put." Skyka said.

"Trackolania consider yourself yelled at; now do what you need to do to keep us alive." Herrior replied back.

"Remind me to yell at you later." Skyka said sarcastically back to Herrior.

"I have considered myself yelled at – Strings your help would be helpful right now." Herrior said. Strings nodded and rose to his feet and began to play. He looked winded and about ready to pass out at any time, even his completion in his face looked bad.

"Diamant – could you focus your attacks above us? I would like to buy some time so we could get closer to engage Aeosera."

"Our forces are falling. We cannot engage Aeosera, she would destroy us." Diamant said.

"I've been counting your fallen brethren, and it isn't looking to promising for any of us right now." Herrior then let out a scream as he was struck in the back. Herrior quickly rose back up and stunned the dragon, while still attacking the others.

"Lindel take command. I can't have Herrior letting down his guard anymore, and your powers will not let you do much else at this point." Skyka said. She went to cast a healing spell on Herrior but nothing happened. "Shit, I'm out!"

Icis stopped channeling and took over healing. Skyka began to recite her hymn to recharge her mana as blue clouds surrounded her.

"Crystal is on her own. Mohania go fear everything around Quinely. Quinely do that inner-thingy once the fear starts and heal for as long as the fear lasts."

"Seven seconds is all I can give you." Mohania said running over and unleashing his group fear spell. Quinely did exactly as she was told and got off as much healing as she could before morphed back into her bear form.

"Veliline are you still dropping those worms?" Lindel asked.

"I've been doing it on instinct now, but my blood shield, my group healing and strengthening myself I've been doing as much as I can. Lindel how do you drain the life out of people?" Veliline asked back.

"Difficult to explain. Branzer what is your current strategy?" Lindel asked.

"We're in to close to use our traps. Freezing them or slowing their movement is out of the question. We've been redirection our attacks to our pets and scatter shooting as many as we can. In between that and healing our pets it's been hard getting in shots to bring down the drakes that are on our tanks." Branzer said.

Skyka stopped channeling mana into her body and began to recite her hymn of healing. It quickly healed everybody during this time as she began to cast her heals again.

"Mohania stay on Quinely. Quinely as soon as you can do that innervate again call it out, in the mean time try to keep the drakes off from the healers." Lindel looked up and saw several of the stone giants launching rocks at drakes hanging on the roof of the cave, knocking them down.

"Diamant! If the drakes aren't attacking us, why are your men provoking them?" Lindel yelling back at him.

"They all need to be killed." Diamant said letting down a fierce stomp on a dying drake.

"I agree, but let's do it systematically. Tell your army to stop doing that, defend themselves and help us out. If the drakes are not attacking us yet, please don't provoke them!" Lindel demanded.

"Please." Herrior said.

"Yes, please with sugar on top." Lindel said right back. After Lindel was done talking Strings dropped to the ground.

"Ok hun, just relax. Do you want a drink?" Lindel said kneeling at his head and wiping the sweat off from his forehead.

"No…" Strings said sounding completely out of breath.

Diamant ordered his stone giants back and they formed several lines behind Herrior's group. "What would you have us do?" Diamant asked.

"The drakes are distracted by our tanks. Have a few of your men gather boulders, and the rest engage the drakes. Crush them, break their spines, and rip off their wings…whatever you can do." Lindel said.

"At once." Diamant said and gave the order.

"Be careful with your area of effect attacks and spells everybody. Do not hit the stone giants!" Lindel yelled out.

Within minutes the stoned giants had massacred over half of the drakes attacking Herrior's group.

"They are starting to attack you now, recall them back and let our tanks aggro the drakes. Then when I give the signal do your attack again." Lindel said.

"What about our stone throwers?" Diamant asked.

"Tell them to stand ready. I will give the order once the numbers have dwindled. If any drakes approach us, tell them to take careful aim and hit the drake in the head." Lindel said.

Herrior's group finally had some relief from the constant battle. They finished off the rest of the drakes and got a minute to look over each other. Icis stopped healing and Skyka proceeded to top everybody else off.

"Thanks Lindel. It's hard to give orders will being constantly pummeled from every direction and trying to keep an eye on our group and theirs. You would make a good leader one day." Herrior said.

"No thanks." Lindel said quickly back.

"Take a breather everyone, we reengage in five minutes. Looks like Crystal is still alive." Herrior said squinting to try to see the battle far ahead of them.

"If she dies, I suggest either myself or a hunter go. From what I've seen melee attacks wouldn't be very effective." Mohania said and instantly the three hunters volunteered themselves.

"Well seems like I'm going to be the one to save the day again. I'll keep tabs on her and Lindel order your little friend to toss me up there if she dies." Mohania said. "Also I have to agree with Herrior you have been doing good, I'm going to knock off two asses from your current count."

"Are you seriously keeping count?" Dan asked.

"Yes, and you just got another one for asking a stupid question that you already knew the answer to." Mohania replied back.

"Let's move out. Lindel continue with giving orders." Herrior said.

"Well…you aren't attacking anymore, shouldn't you give the orders?" Lindel asked.

"Mohania give her back the two asses that she lost." Herrior said.

"Way ahead of you." Mohania said smiling. "I was going to add an extra one for her having long hair."

"That isn't fair!" Lindel said right back.

"He's the one keeping track, it's his rules." Herrior said moving ahead.

"You little ones confuse us. What is it that you are talking about?" Diamant asked.

"Herrior am I allowed too…" Mohania started to ask.

"No." Herrior replied back sharply.

Mohania paused for a second and then said, "You didn't let me ask my question."

"Did it have to do what I think it did?" Herrior asked.

"You mean picking flowers in a field and frolicking with the butterflies?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Skyka make a note to tell Kendall what Mohania would like to do." Herrior said.

"Way ahead of you." Skyka said smiling at Mohania and walking past him.

"I'll subtract one ass from all of you if you don't tell her that…I'm even willing to go two!" Mohania said in desperation.

Lindel gave the order to the stone giants and they began to throw their mighty boulders as Mohania continued to plead with the party. This time though, Lindel ordered them to start at the left and work their way right at the drakes hanging from the ceiling. Many of the drakes were killed even before they had a chance to know what happened, and the ones that did fall were picked up by Herrior immediately. Once the drakes realized they were being attack they started to fly down and swarm Herrior's party.

"Pick them up guys! Stop the boulder throwing. Don't order your forces to attack yet Diamant." Lindel said and began coordinating the attacks.

The next couple of hours went much smoother. They were getting back into the rhythm of things when they all heard an ear-piercing scream.

"Well one of them died. Ok load me up." Mohania said.

"Haa haa, take that you stupid bitch!" Crystal's voice echoed through the cavern.

"Still don't know for sure which one survived, and it sounds dangerous – I say we go ahead and shoot Dan first to take any initial damage and then I'll follow to continue the attack." Mohania said.

The drakes heard the cry and immediately stopped fighting. They all bowed their heads towards Herrior's group. The ones still on the ceiling flew down and did the same.

"The stone drakes have submitted. They will once again fight by our side. The war is over, and we have not suffered a defeat." Diamant said slowly and continued, "My brethren who fell in battle shall be returned to the earth and remembered for their bravery."

"Skyka, Icis – go see what you can do about that situation. Lindel come with me, the rest of you return to the temple." Herrior said.

The drakes parted apart from each other, allowing Herrior to run through them with Lindel close behind.

They saw Crystal ahead of them still on a floating stone pillar. Many of the stones around her were glowing red hot from the intensity the dragon's fire. She appeared to be trying to find a way to navigate down. The dragon below her was badly deformed and had appeared to have been burned from the inside out. She turned into her demon form and attempted to fly down, but had trouble navigating for some reason. She returned to her human form to grab a pillar just in time before falling. Crystal pulled herself back up and summoned her voidwalker.

"Silence, I want to see what she does." Herrior said stopping in mid run and catching Lindel with his outstretched arm. Crystal then made a series of long leaps down, including on the pillars that were on fire as her voidwalker followed her down.

"Shield me more you idiot!" Crystal yelled at him. Herrior didn't hear the voidwalker's response, but Crystal kept jumping until she landed on a regular stone. She stood up and looked down. The voidwalker floated down beside her. She appeared to be talking to it, and kept shaking her head. She looked around in frustration and saw no other way down. She attempted her demon form again, but quickly changed back and fell on the ground. They heard her grunt in frustration. Crystal looked underneath the stone from all sides and then proceeded to jump up and down on it. The stone didn't move. She let out a sigh and looked around some more and finally saw Herrior and Lindel watching.

"A little help please?" Crystal asked.

"No." Herrior replied back.

Crystal closed her eyes in frustration and said, "Please can you help me down from this rock with sugar on top, please?"

"No." Herrior replied back and turned around and walked away. He spoke to Lindel and she hurried to follow him.

"What…why? I did my job!" Crystal yelled back in frustration as she watched them walk away.

"What are we doing Herrior? I can fly up there and get her, that's why I came with you right?"

"No, and I do not want to hear another word out of you for the rest of the night." Herrior said turning to face her. Lindel looked shocked at him. Herrior turned away, walked over to the edge and jumped off.

"Herrior!" Lindel yelled and quickly flew over to catch him. She saw that he was only ten feet down on a stone walkway glaring at her.

"Still not following orders are you? I tried to keep you focused, but it didn't work. Clear…your…mind!" Herrior screamed in her face and then pushed her aside as he continued to jump from one stone ledge to another until he was at the bottom. He then ran to catch up with his group. Diamant was returning to their portal with all his other stone giants, including the ones that died in battle. He clearly looked impressed.

"Ah, the great warriors have returned and we have prepared a feast in their honor!" Maruut said greeting them.

"Thank you my friend." Herrior said.

"We are low on water, so we will have to use it sparingly…"

"Not a problem, gather up all of your empty water containers and set them outside the temple. I'll take care of that." Herrior said walking into the temple.

"Do you also possess the ability to conjure water out of thin air?" Maruut asked.

"That would be handy, but nobody has that ability that I know of. Come everybody, let us feast!" Herrior said. Everybody walked by Herrior, excited – but extremely tired with their victory today.

"Where's Lindel?" Branzer asked.

"I left her behind." Herrior said and waved him away.

"Wha?" Branzer asked himself moving along.

When everybody was in the temple eating, Herrior had assembled all of the water containers in one spot and watched where he left Crystal and Lindel. Lindel was looking back at him, unsure what to do. Crystal had somehow found a way down and was proceeding to climb down the stone wall. Herrior patiently waited for both of them to walk up to him.

"It was a good battle we had today; everybody is celebrating with a feast that the Earthen Ring assembled for us. Smells good doesn't it?" Herrior asked.

"I'm famished…pissed off, but more famished." Crystal said trying to walk by him. Herrior immediately shot his hand out blocking her way.

"Those water containers need to be filled Crystal, go find some water." Herrior said. Crystal looked up at him and saw that he was serious. She closed her eyes and nodded slightly. She picked up the containers and set out to find water.

"The engineers are working on their devices…see if you can go help them. Gather what information you can and relay it to the earthen people up there, and remember I don't want to hear a word out of you." Herrior said turning to look at Lindel. Lindel nodded and floated around him and through the temple. Herrior then entered the temple and saw everybody eating except for Branzer. He seemed to be questioning everything Herrior had ever said. Herrior acted like he didn't notice and casually talked to everybody with a smile. He knelt down beside Branzer and said, "If you raise that gun against me, I assure you, you will be dead before your finger ever touches that trigger. How's the meat? Good? Glad you are enjoying it." Herrior patted him on the shoulder and walked over to Skyka.

"Having fun my dear?" Skyka asked.

"So far so good, how do you think things are going?" Herrior asked back out loud.

"I wouldn't have done anything differently." Skyka said back at the same volume. "You have to try this, it's from a basilisk. Apparently they can gut it and eat it, but the best part is the liver that they saved for all of us here. See, even Quinely is eating it."

"In cat form." Quinely said back lying on the ground as a lion chewing on it. "No way would I be touching this in any other form."

"Oh, and who was it that was biting and chewing on anything within reach in today's battle?"

"I would have but nobody would let me." Mohania said.

"Mohania…do you ever get the feeling that nobody is talking to you, and you don't have to be in every conversation?" Skyka asked.

"No; could you please pass me the dwarf?" Mohania asked.

"Herrior, can I ask what is going on?" Branzer asked.

"Oh, this is food. What it does is replenish your body with strength. It's called eating." Herrior said back.

"Damn that's funny…ok I will subject an ass from Herrior and give it to Branzer." Mohania said laughing.

"Dan could you tell us what you think is going on?" Herrior asked. Dan looked at him in surprise as he had just taken a giant bite. He immediately set his meat down and motioned to spit it back out.

"No…no…that's fine hun. Go ahead and finish." Skyka said looking away. Dan chewed quickly and swallowed followed by an apology.

"Yeah, just don't gag on it. That's the last thing I want to remember before I go to sleep tonight is reaching down your throat to pull it back up…" Skyka said.

"My guess is Lindel and Crystal is going to be separated from our group when we get back…possibly even imprisoned. I'm not altogether sure about the punishments, but I don't think it would warrant being imprisoned. I'm guessing your keeping a tight leash on them right now because of what you had to say yesterday. Like you said you don't care if they can kill thousands in a second, you want peace and harmony in the group…no you used a different phrase. Anyways, personally I do not see it hindering my relationship with my wife – whereas I believe you are testing Branzer and Lindel to actually see if they are ready not only to get married, but if you are ready to go before the King and ask the request. You are obviously not ready with that right now per your actions tonight. I'm also thinking that you like the meat but think it's a tad overdone because your face seems to squint a little when you eat certain parts of the meat – you are also thinking you are madly in love with Skyka, your favorite color is green, and you're lucky number is 42." Dan said.

"Mostly correct." Herrior said taking another bite.

"He had better be correct about at least one of those things…" Skyka said turning her head and glaring at him.

"As for Crystal and I, I sort of saw this coming. For reasons, that I can't say, I am part of an important part of, another word I can't, because of my reasons I can't say…I'm hoping nobody understood that, but strategically I would do such a thing if I was in charge. Would I miss her? Absolutely! Would I cry some nights like Bernett does? I have no doubt about it, but the key that I think you didn't point out yesterday…or maybe you did and I apologize if I missed it, is everybody fights for honor, does what they are told and if they die we'll all end up in Heaven – so what is there to fear? Fear leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side…I'm rambling aren't?" Dan asked.

"Yup." Mohania said.

"Are you just saying that because you can't get a sarcastic word in, or haven't called anybody an ass in the past five minutes?" Dan asked back.

"Both…ass." Mohania said.

"Have you ever considered adding flavor to your favorite word? I mean experiment a little, say stuff like 'asshole, asswipe, assmunch, assclown, asshat' – or whatever ever happened to the favorite word 'dumbass'?" Dan asked.

"Hmm…ok I subtract one ass from you for giving me ideas." Mohania said seeming to be entertained with the idea.

"Getting slightly off the subject here, but Dan's mind is exactly where it needs to be. That is why I asked him." Herrior said.

"Thinking about asses?" Skyka said giggling.

Herrior rolled his eyes. "Can we all not say the word ass in the next five minutes?"

"Can I barter with you on that?" Mohania asked.

"Anyways…not knowing what Dan is referring to as the 'dark side', he seems to completely understand. Branzer, your thoughts?" Herrior asked.

"That's not how Yoda said it, but yeah. My gun is holstered for the night and I will not raise it to you. I need to fire with my instincts, not with my emotions. I have forgotten the face of my father." Branzer said.

"That's not how Stephen King said it." Dan said back.

"Yeah it was." Julie said back. "Read all of the gunslinger books; last one sucked."

"Getting slightly off track again…" Herrior said sounding confused.

"Ass!" Mohania said out loud.

"It hasn't been five minutes yet hun." Skyka said.

"Am I close?" Mohania asked.

"Who's Yoda?" Bernett asked.

"You have got to be kidding…what do you live under a rock?" Julie said back.

"No, but I know that fifteen minutes could save me fifteen percent or more." Bernett said.

"I have absolutely no idea where the conversation has lead to right now." Herrior said.

"Little green dude, could life things by using the force, could deflect bullets with his light saber, could see into the future – you are telling me you have never seen any of those? Not even the old ones?" Julie asked.

"A gnome?" Skyka asked.

"No…actually it didn't say what he was…just a little green dude. I mean he was freakin' Yoda for crying out loud!" Julie said.

"How does he have the ability to see into the future?" Herrior asked.

"Look, all we're doing is confusing one civilization with another. We ask a bunch of questions about their world, now all they are doing is the same with ours." Branzer said.

"There are people in your world that has the power of banshee's that can deflect bullets?" Herrior asked sounding confused.

"Mohania…don't you have something annoying to say right now? Isn't there some reason to say the word ass right now?" Branzer asked.

"I have no idea why I would say something annoying, that is not like me. Also I do not know what ass means or even how to properly use it in a sentence." Mohania said sounding innocent.

Everybody paused for a second and Julie asked, "Did we just enter the Twilight Zone…because things just got weird…"

"What's the Twilight Zone?" Herrior asked.

"Oh for crying out loud." Branzer said.

"I'm a sci-fi junky, what can I say? I'm not normal…" Julie said laughing.

"It seems like I'm the only normal one here." Mohania said back in a calm voice.

"Do you know how old the Twilight Zone is? It was before I was born…probably before Herrior was born, and you like that stuff?" Dan asked.

"Yes! Especially when they are the ironic ones, 'Finally I am all alone with my books' then the guy breaks his glasses and says, 'No…no it's not fair. It's just not fair'. The monster on the airplane wing – that is some original thinking, nowadays all you get is a basic plot filled with special effects and random romantic scenes, and don't let me started out how all of the women start fully clothed and then end up with just the bare essentials at the end up the movie and end up falling in love with the other main character because of the ordeal they have been through…please… But the classics, the original ones, the original star trek – the next generation wasn't bad either but don't get me started on the spin offs from those – they came up with things and situations that were unknown to them, even with their advanced technology." Julie said excitedly.

"Have you ever attended a convention in your life?" Dan asked.

"I'm not saying at the expense of keeping a shred of my dignity, obviously you all don't understand…and are you serious you have never seen Star Wars?" Julie said turning to Bernett.

"I've seen commercials of it." Bernett said shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh my word…" Julie said looking away from him shaking his head. "Look around us! We are living in a sci-fi movie for crying out loud! Name something that happened this year that if you saw last year would have scared the shit out of you! I've adapted quickly because my mind is open to this stuff. Your son doesn't know differently because he was born…in a place I can't say…but from what you and Samatha say he's going from…places I can't and doing stuff I can't say…and absorbing it with an open mind. I mean…free your mind and the rest will follow."

"That song I remember…please don't start singing…" Dan said.

"Are you saying I have a bad voice?" Julie asked back.

"No…I'm sure after having a couple of beers your singing voice would sound just fine." Dan replied back with laughter.

"Ugh…you're an ass you know that! And why are you two laughing?" Julie said looking at Bernett and Branzer.

"Thought of something funny the same time Dan said that…no connection what-so-ever to the topic at hand." Branzer said as a piece of meat flew across the air and landed on his helmet.

"You did not just do that." Branzer said picking it off and eating it.

"Oh yes I did. Are you going to do something about that?" Julie said ripping off another piece.

"Shouldn't we be relaxing, eating, meditating for tomorrow's battle…" Branzer said looking at Herrior.

Herrior paused for a second and said, "To be quite honest I forgot about tomorrow's battle – but the entertainment tonight has been amusing, even though I don't have a clue what everybody is talking about. Yes you can Trackolania, go ahead."

"To do what?" Julie asked as she watched a piece of meat fly through the air, bounce off from Branzer's head, ricochet back hitting Dan, then flying over to Bernett and finally unfolding itself and completely covering Julie's face.

"You little punk!" Julie said scraping it off from her face. "I don't know whether to be upset or to ask 'How in the world did you do that?'".

"It's all in how you handle your meat, and he's very experienced at that." Skyka said grinning at Trackolania. He rolled his eyes as everybody laughed.

"So…Herrior, I think I understand what you are trying to do – and you were right with my thinking. The reason Lindel isn't here right now is because if our engineers and the earthen people launch different diversion tactics tomorrow at different times, it would end up creating a mess rather than doing what is supposed to. You picked Lindel because of her ability to turn invisible, the fact that she doesn't need food, and she can regain her powers in battle tomorrow. Also you are judging my reactions and hers at the same time." Branzer said.

"I never underestimate our enemies. If they saw Quinely for instance constantly flying up and down, I would expect them to slit our throats in the middle of the night or attack the earthen people. Trackolania could do the same; however since he doesn't talk it's sort of a mute point." Herrior said with a grin. Skyka groaned and asked Mohania to give Herrior an ass. Mohania acknowledged.

"My idea of marriage and yours is different." Branzer said.

"No it isn't." Herrior replied back quickly.

"No I mean I see Dan and Crystal and you and Skyka – I sort of figured after awhile Samatha would join us as well." Branzer said.

"She can't, she has other responsibilities." Bernett said. "She's in the secondary groups, and possibly even assisting our primary's sometimes. She couldn't handle what we do though; she doesn't have it in her."

Herrior raised an eyebrow at what Bernett said and seemed impressed.

"Not…to insult my wife I mean…" Bernett said.

"Not at all, it's a compliment from my point of view." Herrior said back.

"Why did you let me become an ambassador? I mean it seems obvious that everybody else here knows more than I do…" Branzer said slightly frustrated.

"No they don't. You choose that path and I agreed. The King can disagree with me, but he didn't either. You have proved your worth time and time again, not in battle but in diplomacy. You're still young…give it a couple hundred of years. You may even become one of the King's personal ambassadors." Herrior said.

"How does one become that?" Branzer asked.

"You ask the King." Herrior replied back.

"Can our powers ever be taken away from us?" Branzer asked.

"No…wait I guess I don't understand, what do you mean?" Skyka asked.

"I mean, has somebody ever rebelled so you took their powers away from them so they aren't a hunter or a warlock anymore and erased their memories of, places I can't talk about and everything else everybody has been saying about things like that and put them back in their old life?" Branzer asked.

"Oh…no. Usually if somebody wants out, we ask where and put them there. We only wipe memories to a certain point…something about if we do more it screws up other memories…or something…I don't know you would have to ask Lindel. Generally that's only done to protect our identities, most of the time it's used to retrieve information though. As far as taking away your powers?" Skyka asked and started to chuckle, "You've had those all along. Some people, who cannot be named, have had to go through certain procedures that cannot be said to do what we cannot speak of, but no – we can't take those away…that I know of anyways."

Herrior shrugged. "Nobody's ever asked that before. But just like with some of our abilities we have learned new ways of doing things, or barter with other people to gain additional knowledge on how to improve. If somebody leaves, depending on the situation, the most extreme case would be to take away their weapons and armor, but we would still put them anywhere they wanted. We have had some of our people, and alliance as well, seek to conquer worlds and completely disband from their group. Eventually us or them find out and they end up getting disposed of…usually in public humiliation. The alliance has their secrets like we do, and to have somebody go off on their own to conquer and destroy with their powers and weapons – it's an insult to their group and are dealt with. Normally I would ask why you asked that, but your face tells me it is just out of curiosity."

"We are used to interrogating people, but most of the times those people are used to being interrogated and we assume they are guilty until proven innocent by their stories and cold-hard facts. How can you just look at somebody and know what they are thinking?" Branzer asked.

"Hun, look at Mohania and tell me what he's thinking…" Skyka said. Branzer looked over at Mohania and stared into his emotionless skull, void of any facile features.

"I haven't a clue. He doesn't blink, he doesn't have a pulse, I can't tell if his skin is turning red or not…my guess is that he wants to eat a dwarf and wants to call me an ass."

Mohania turned to Herrior and said, "He's right."

"Ok bad example. Give it time hun…nobody expects you to know everything now. Study your ambassador papers, ask questions, keep your mind focused on a battle – but try to take notice of things that may give you an advantage. I don't need to give examples; you already know what I'm talking about. Like today, Lindel led the assault – she has in the past. Dan has before, Mohania has before, Trackolania has before, and Crystal as well – especially with this previous because Mohania just didn't know what to do." Skyka said

"Normally I only award one ass at a time to be fair. This time I'll give you one and a half." Mohania said.

"So you and Lindel want to marry; now you know what you are up against. We all love both of you want and want this if you two are ready for it. But after you marry, she may be reassigned or you might be and wouldn't see each other for possibly a hundred years. That's how this game is played, and I was impressed with Dan's answer that he gave. I would like to see you two stay together, just the same as myself and Skyka, and Dan and Crystal – but as a leader and as an ambassador I have to think of what is best for everyone in the place that we can't talk about, and as of right now I don't see it. Go order your future wife to kill as many cultists right now so that less of us will fall in battle tomorrow…as an ambassador that is an order you will probably have to give, and you cannot think twice about it knowing full well that she will die. You will have to do the same with other mates as well that have young ones. Like I've said I'm not pleased with you, Crystal or Lindel today and my opinion will not be altered in one night or possibly even a year's time. The reason I didn't send you off is because you are an ambassador and need to learn these things, even if your marriage is denied I've helped you out more than what you may realize." Herrior said.

"Yes, you can ask to no longer be an ambassador – but to lose that privilege over a mate? You love her…thanks to Lindel everybody that we know knows that…but what if she falls in combat tomorrow and her spirit is taken? You chose to lose an honored privilege to take on a mate, and then what? The King will no longer look at you the same, and finding a mate for the rest of your life will probably be impossible. You would be thought of one that does not have good judgment and won't be able to rise in ranks, probably even taken out of a group entirely. Also upon hearing what I just said, you are no longer thinking that and probably want to deny that now." Skyka said.

Branzer looked at her bewildered and didn't know what to say.

"Wow…Skyka, is Lindel right beside you whispering things into your ear?" Dan asked.

"No she isn't." Skyka said smiling and looking over at him. "I think most people could anticipate that question coming though. For example guess what Mohania thinks of Quinely after he begged her to promise not to tell anybody that he had to eat dirt in order for her to get off from him?"

"You promised you wouldn't tell!" Mohania said standing up and pointing at her.

"Mohania…I made that up…" Skyka said.

Mohania put his hand down and looked around. "I was talking to somebody else…because obviously my powers are stronger then hers and everybody else's here so that would never happen to me…and I hate all of you…" Mohania said sitting back down as everybody started to laugh.

"So what's the ass count now?" Dan asked.

"Done counting for today, sleep time now - kill things tomorrow." Mohania said lying down and covering his chest with his arms.

"Good point. The day is done, what needed to be said has been said." Herrior said lying down as well.

"You could have done the same with a couple of words and signs instead of the boring repetitious babbling that you and everybody else did." Mohania said.

"Thought you were sleeping?" Herrior said with his eyes closed.

"I cannot be held liable for anything I say or anybody I eat while I am asleep – which I am right now." Mohania said.

"That's not a loophole Mohania." Herrior said.

"Rats."

"I still think all of you guys are hilarious…but honestly you didn't watch any Star Wars? You know you are going to get some flack about that for the rest of your life from me…" Julie said lying down, and Spark right beside her. "I bet Samatha has even seen them."

"I bet she hasn't, trust me I know my wife." Bernett said.

"What are you willing to bet?" Julie asked.

"Ixnay on the ettingbay Bernett…" Branzer said in a deep tone.

"Not a chance I know when my dice are hot, so what do you purpose Julie?" Bernett asked.

"Shut up Bernett…" Branzer said in a whisper.

"If she even saw one of the Star Wars movies than you have to wear a dress that I make, with help of course, and have to parade around it in, a place I can't say, for a month. If I win, I'll shave my head, and Spark's fur." Julie said. Spark let out a grunt as if to disagree.

"No no…Shaving your head is one thing, let's add to it. I say if I win you not only shave your head, but have to stand on the street corner wearing a sign that says, 'Bernett is right' and ask to shave anybody that walks by." Bernett said.

"Can I help make the dress?" Skyka asked.

"I would love some help, and yes I will take that bet. Shake on it?" Julie asked sitting up. They both shook hands and then laid back down.

Ten minutes past before Skyka burst out the sentence, "Did she say she likes the ear-walks the best because they were cute?"

"Not fair! There is no way that she would have seen that! No way…" Bernett said.

"Ewoks is the correct name." Julie joining Skyka in laughing.

"No, this isn't settled until I talk to her. She has never mentioned anything in our marriage or while she was dating about Star Wars or anything even about it." Bernett said.

"Your wife, Skyka, Lindel, Julie, and several other women were talking about you…Lindel told me. She said you hate those movies and never wanted to see them. Listen to your friend next time…" Branzer said.

"No way Lindel would tell you, there's no way she would tell Skyka!" Bernett said.

"Oh believe me…Lindel talks a lot…more than Skyka and Samatha combined!" Branzer said smiling and then was suddenly slapped across the face as a whoosh of air passed over him.

"Apparently somebody else talks too much as well?" Herrior asked. "Julie may I make some suggestions about the color?"

"You may." Julie said holding back laughter.

"That is not fair! I didn't know that! Let's bet on something else that we both don't know about to cancel out this bet." Bernett said.

"Oh, are your dice feeling hot again?" Julie asked sarcastically.

"You are a pain in the ass…" Bernett said sitting up and staring at her.

"No – only Mohania gets to tell who is an ass and who isn't." Julie said pointing at him.

"You're both asses…now shut up and go to sleep." Mohania said.

After everybody settled down again, Mohania asked if he could put parts of corpses he was saving in the dress.

"That isn't a part of a dress, nor has it been, nor will it ever be part of a dress." Bernett said.

"I welcome your opinions and ideas Mohania, you are very wise and powerful and I think you would be a valuable asset in helping to make this dress." Julie said.

"You're an ass." Bernett said.

"Nope, I'm keeping count. That ass doesn't count. I remove five asses from Julie for ass-kissing, and add one to you for thinking you have the power to call somebody an ass. Also for the record I don't know much about women's apparel, but I have some general ideas…" Mohania said grinning.

"This still isn't over until I talk to her…" Bernett said.

"No it's pretty much over, good night everybody." Julie said seeming pleased with herself.

"Ouch! Ok, sorry!" Branzer said as another slap came from the opposite direction followed by another whoosh of air.

"I have seen what Kendall has done to Mohania, and look forward to what Lindel does to you." Herrior said with a smile.

"Am I allowed to call Herrior an ass?" Branzer asked.

"No." Mohania replied back.

"Oh and why is that?" Branzer asked.

"Because he has to power to order everybody to be silent about what I may or may not have said about picking flowers in a field, also about eating dirt – which I conveniently forgot about. Currently he is thinking he will give that order and I do not wish to upset him." Mohania said.

"So Herrior's going to win by default so that you don't get in trouble with Kendall?" Branzer asked.

"It's his game, his rules." Herrior said.

"I don't remember agreeing to play this game." Branzer said with a smile.

"By default, everybody in our group plays. Part of the contract you signed when my succubus had you mind controlled." Mohania said.

"Branzer…do you really think you are going to get anywhere arguing with him?" Herrior asked.

"I challenge you to a staring contest; first one to blink gets to eat the other person's arm." Mohania said.

Branzer sighed with a smile on this face.

Branzer felt a light kiss on his forehead after a minute and said, "I love you too hun."

"That's nice…so are we playing or what?" Mohania said with his head directly above his. Branzer quickly looked up and let out a quick scream. He then pushed him away and said "No! Is that how you wake people up?"

"It is now! I didn't expect that kind of reaction…" Mohania said laughing.

The next morning Dan woke up when he heard Crystal's voice. He sat up grimacing from the pain of sleeping on stone this whole time. Her, Lindel, Maruut and Herrior were outside the temple talking. He sat and listened for awhile, unsure about whether he should go see what was going on.

"I'll stay at the temple and hold her off when she arrives." Crystal said.

"It will take more than her to ward off her attacks." Maruut said.

"I've heard that phrase before. I'm weakened and cannot battle on the frontline with all of you. I'll need somebody to wake me, preferably before the temple is compromised." Crystal said. She sounded like she hadn't slept all night.

"What will happen when she attacks?" Herrior asked.

"We don't know. But she has the abilities to portal people, similar to what Diamant does." Maruut said. "Once the pillars have been recovered and reset into place, the war will be moved here again."

"Then we must defeat them before we put the pillars in place. The distractions are all in place, I see Diamant coming now along with some other stone giants. We war within the hour. How many of your shaman's do you need to maintain stability?" Herrior asked.

"Three, but this temple has many rooms to it. You have only seen the front entrance. It is safe to assume they know we are here." Maruut said.

"Yes, I agree. Diamant just in time." Herrior said welcoming him.

"It will be an honor to fight by your side again." Diamant said.

"Any special requests from the Stonemother?" Herrior asked.

"She will join us in battle, along with all of the rest of the forces we can muster. The stone dragons are ours to command."

"I do not agree with that, however we do not have the time. We need to decide here and now who is to lead this party. The earthen people have pledged to follow my orders, is that ok with your people and the stone giants as well?" Herrior asked.

"She said you may say that and said to agree to that." Diamant said.

"As will I." Maruut said.

"Fine, Maruut you stay here and I'll leave some of my forces here. I want to follow Therazane's orders by portalling in where she recommended, but I do not want the distractions to hit until I give the order. Lindel go tell their king, Crystal go speak with their shamans and start setting up a defensive perimeter around the pillars. Choose three people to stay here with you. Everybody in there that can't fight I want them with us, not here in the temple. Diamant I want you to hold the portal secure and hold the line at first until I can judge the battle. Assign your people to attack with us, some to stay, and some to guard Therazane. No time like the present to shed some blood." Herrior said. Lindel disappeared and floated away. Diamant returned to the portal to relay the orders.

"Rise and shine people…we have some blood to spill this morning." Herrior said.

"Veliline, Jacklyn and Julie you are staying with me. Let's head back and I'll discuss what we are going to do." Crystal said walking by Dan and smiling at him.

"Awake our people, rotate the shaman's, and order everybody around the column." Maruut said.

"Everybody left, including our engineers, and anybody else that cannot fight come with me." Herrior commanded. Once he saw everybody moving, he left the entrance and began to jog towards the portal. Before entering he did a quick head count.

"I want the same number of people coming back here tonight, that's an order. Those of you who cannot fight, we are going to go through this portal…and maybe another…but once we engage in combat your job is to be very aware of your surroundings and call out any surprise attacks that may come. Also nothing is to harm Therazane or get through the portal. Our engineers, I want you…where's that goblin? Ok, I want you to realize a voice is going to suddenly come booming into your head, that's when I want you to do your thing." Herrior said.

"I'm from the same place you are…" The goblin said back sarcastically.

"Right, well that will be your signal. After you are done, I want you to use anything you can to help defend the non-fighters. I'm not sure how the attack is going to go down, Quinely we may need you to fight or tank. Trackolania stay stealthed and mark out the battlefield. Find the three generals and engage them if you get a chance. Mohania I'm going to start you out by opening the ground in several places…you seemed to enjoy that before. As the battle progresses, all of my party will advance with me through the ranks and some of the stone giants will come as well. This is the plan as of now, it could change though. Right now go for maximum damage and redirect your shots to me. Call out your special attacks that you are going to do, do not argue with one another – if you have an idea and call it out, but another person calls out their idea and it makes more sense – tell everybody to do that instead. Anything else?" Herrior asked.

"Ass?" Mohania asked.

"Yes, those of you who stay alive will get one ass knocked off from your record. Let's get going." Herrior said and stepped through the portal.

Herrior appeared before Therazane and bowed. "We are ready my lady. Everyone is in place. I suggest we begin our assault."

"We are ready as well. Let's begin. Per your request I will stay behind and guard the portal. How confident are you that this will succeed?" Therazane asked.

"I'll let you know when the day is over." Herrior said smiling and readying his weapons.

"Very well, head west to where Diamant is. When you arrive I will muster my strength to open the portal." Therazane said.

Herrior and his party ran to meet up with him. He saw the portal being opened and said to let him go first. Herrior jumped through the portal, landed on the other side with a nick "tuck-and-roll" and rose to his knee to look at the scene. There were plenty of cultists there, but strangely enough they all looked at him with an odd expression. The rest of his party ran through along with the stone giants and quickly took up positions.

"Oh I'm sorry, must have the wrong place. I'm looking for a bunch of pricks. Are there a bunch of pricks here?" Herrior yelled out.

"You have no idea what you just walked into tauren. Surrender now and we will only use you as slave labor." Another tauren said walking up to him.

"Never been good at either one. Mohania will you please show our guests where the escape hatch is?" Herrior commanded.

The tauren looked at him odd only for a second before him and a dozen other cultists fell into the earth below them and then were smashed to pieces as the ground slammed back together.

"There's plenty more where that came from! However I would like to leave some of you alive to eat later…" Mohania said as he casted the spell two more times.

"Alert the generals, summon the troops, kill every last one…ahh…" The man yelled as he fell into a hole and was crushed.

"Didn't catch the last part…what did he say?" Mohania asked to everybody. Herrior then let out a battle cry and charged into the majority of the cultists. Herrior's party followed behind him and the battle had begun.

Herrior felt the spells and bullets fly towards him and away from him. He reflected several spells at their attackers and silenced some by throwing his magical weapon at them. He would charge as much as he could, knocking people down and fly through the air to engage another group. Herrior then let out a fear shout and then yelled for Diamant and his forces to attack.

"Dan, jump ahead of me and see if all of their forces are converging upon us. Then take that ramp over there, run up it and then fall behind me." Herrior said.

"On it." Dan said performing the same kind of leap that Herrior did. He did see that everybody was converging on them, many of them well armed and many spell casters as well with dark auras around them. Dan crashed down in the middle of a group, dealing damage to everybody. He pummeled his fist into the mouth of one spell caster and began to run away.

"Is that your strategy? Throw your people at us and then run away? Plant explosives under the ground beneath our feet to create sink holes? Kill them all, ignore the tauren." An orc said laughing after he saw what happened.

"Now." Herrior said in his mind thinking of Lindel. Seconds later dozens of rocks came flying through the air, destroying buildings and huts, smashing into people and sending shrapnel everywhere. From behind Herrior he heard hundreds of tiny clinking sounds as he ordered Quinely to dps and told his group to hold the line.

Herrior waited for the boulders to stop and then ordered the attack. Tiny little silver discs exploded beyond Herrior, causing a bright flash and a high burst of flame.

"Hold it tauren! Call off your troops or I will kill this one!" A lady said in a hut above him holding a knife to his throat. "Poor decision that you made, didn't know your troops were so disposable to you."

"He's not one of mine, when you are done killing him could you hold hostage some of these others in front of me as well? Instead of the speech though, just go ahead and kill them." Herrior said and continued to run forward.

"You piece of trash…" The woman said and threw Dan across the room. "So you are a traitor then? One of my own, foolish enough to confide in this new army as soon as they approached? You will pay…"

Dan rose to his feet and drew his swords. "My name is Dan, what's your name?" he said with a smile on his face.

"Lorthuna, and you will be begging me to kill you in the next minute!" Lorthuna said as she began to cast a spell at him. Dan ran forward and pummeled her, stopping the spell and then began to slash at her quickly as she put some sort of magical shield up.

"Swing all you want, you'll just die tired." Lorthuna said mocking him.

"I've been tired ever since I came here!" Dan yelled back and let out a battle cry followed by strengthening himself and unleashing deadly blow after blow.

Lorthuna felt her shield weakening quickly and began to cast as fast as she could. Dan stopped her spell casting as often as he could, each time he did it increased his power that he hit her with.

Eventually Lorthuna's shield fell and she began to laugh. "Do not expect to kill me so easily. I will meet up with you again." Lorthuna said and vanished into thin air, her laughter echoed off into the distance. Dan ran back down the ramp and caught up with Herrior.

"Sorry, didn't recognize you. I guess you are one of mine." Herrior said letting off another battle cry and ordering the stone giants to attack. "So how was your date with the lady?"

"Same as always, something came up and she had to leave." Dan said. "By the looks of the orc's head impaled on the stick next to the tent I would say Trackolania's been here."

"He's also been there, there, there, and I think he's…there." Herrior said pausing for a moment to point at several locations. Suddenly a man screamed and then gargled up blood from their left.

"Nope, guess he's there." Herrior said and charged into an oncoming group of cultists. The ground then opened up beneath his feet and Herrior began to fall with the rest of them. He shoved his swords into the wall to slow his descent as he felt a magical beam catch him and pull him back to Skyka.

"Accident." Mohania said looking at him with a smile.

"No more accidents." Herrior said and charged back into the mobs. Suddenly he was stopped by a swift pull on his left. He raised his sword down to take a swing and saw Trackolania. He raised his dagger in an attempt to parry the attack, but Herrior quickly stopped his sword. Trackolania quickly pointed to the far west side of the battlefield.

"Have to go there huh? Ok." Herrior said.

"Diamant bring all of your soldiers up here, engage them! My party follow me!" Herrior ordered out and let out another battle cry. Jacklyn and Dan did the same and continued the attack.

"You think you are so smart eh? Coming here and attacking us? We see what you can do?" A troll said entering the battlefield and quickly engaging Dan.

"I'm not one of them." Dan said with a smile beginning to attack him back.

"Icis, top him off – Dan stay with him. Everybody else slow the rest down as much as you can.

Mohania let off a massive blast of a shadow attack, stunning everybody for several seconds. The hunters stopped firing their normal attacks and began launching their freezing traps, immolation and snake traps following by the scatter shots and concussions shots – anything to stun or disorient them. Trackolania sped ahead of them slashing as many as he could, some of them turned around to attack, but were met by Herrior and Jacklyn as well as the hunters pets and the other stone giants that had made it this far.

"Your littlest one is quick." One of the stone giants said.

"He could be faster…" Herrior said continuing to attack the people fleeing towards the portal. Soon after he said that, several people cried out and their fingers were severed and throw at Herrior. He examined several of them and it appeared to be their middle finger.

"Joking…joking…" Herrior said laughing.

"So you and me eh? What makes me think you aint nothing but a little shrimp?" The troll said.

Dan stood tall and said, "We're about the same height."

"A jokester eh?" The troll said launching a series of attacks with his giant sword at him. The troll enraged himself, swinging his sword faster and harder. Dan did the same thing followed by another battle cry. The two of them fought for several minutes, but he noticed Dan would quickly regenerate some of his wounds very quickly.

"What you be mon, some sort of da voodoo be following you?" The troll said lunging at him.

"No clue what you just said." Dan said and enraged himself again, only this time his eyes glowed dark red and he began to land deadly attack after attack. He was still getting hit; however the damage he was dealing was far greater.

"I not be dying dis way…" The troll said and threw some dust in Dan's eyes and ran to a stone drake and flew away.. Dan threw a sword on the ground and quickly wiped the dust away. It was a type of acid, but his helmet had absorbed much of it from hitting his skin – but the burning sensation hindered his thoughts. He picked his sword back up and began to run after him.

"Take the stone drake." Diamant said as one flew down. Dan grabbed a hold of its foot and commanded it to follow him.

"It's safer between the wings on the back." Diamant yelled as the drake began to follow its orders.

"He's never been the smart one." Skyka said running alongside of Herrior cast small heals as needed.

"I don't even think he's in our group." Herrior said back smiling.

"I think he's an ass." Mohania said letting out another burst of concentrated shadow magic, stunning the cultists for a couple of seconds.

"You really need to find a new word." Jacklyn said before she took a leap and landed in the middle of the cultists.

"It's not as easy as you might think!" Mohania yelled at her.

"Really, that's your answer?" Skyka asked.

"Middle of a battle, concentrating on that; go do whatever it is that you do." Mohania said.

Dan hung onto the stone drake's leg as it followed the troll's drake's flight path. They flew around for several minutes, but the troll was much better at navigating his drake.

"Let go" said a voice inside of Dan's head. Dan instantly let go as his drake spun around and struck Dan with his tail. This sudden jolt sent Dan flying towards the troll. He didn't have time to react as he grabbed the troll's body, knocking him off the drake. The troll instantly panicked, and was hanging on to the reigns. The drake became confused and started flying erratically.

"Yo gonna get us both killed!" The troll said, with his voice going from quiet to louder.

"Fine by me." Dan said as he pulled his out his left sword and launched it at the drake's head. The flight path of the sword altered and went through one eye socket and out of the other. The drake instantly let out a scream and began to fall.

The troll became more frantic as Dan pull his other sword out and began stabbing him with it.

"We both gonna die, and you not be needing to kill me first." The troll said while Dan drove his sword into the troll's expose stomach and pulled himself up. The troll began to curse him as Dan continued to climb up him and grabbed the reigns. He then kicked at the troll's head several times until he let go, but they were both descending at the same speed.

Suddenly Dan descent stopped as the drake's body was impaled on a large spiked rock sticking out of the ground and Dan's body twirled halfway around it and smashed into the other side. The force caused him to let go of the reigns and fall the rest of the way to the ground. He was banged up pretty good but started moving towards the temple. He reached his hands out as both of his swords flew into his hands and he began to force himself to run.

"Finally decided to show up huh?" Skyka said smiling.

"Herrior drew me a bad map." Dan said as he felt the surge of healing course threw his body.

"Not the first time that's happened." Skyka said and redirected her attention.

Dan looked inside and saw that the temple was filled with the remaining cultists. The stone giants had not followed them because they wouldn't fit. He also realized Mohania couldn't open the ground in here. It was a brilliant plan on their part; however both armies seemed equally balanced.

"What's the score?" Dan asked.

"You're up by two asses!" Mohania yelled back as he launched his chaos bolt into one of their healers.

"Fair enough" Dan said jumping towards Mohania's target and finishing him off. Dan let off a battle cry and engaged the battle.

"This one is closed; fall back to the other room!" Herrior said as the woman channeling the portal fell to the ground in pieces.

"Veliline – help the main room, Quinely go dps for her – heal Crystal if she needs it." Herrior said pointing at as both of them ran by.

"We have plenty of ammunition left and we're itching to use it!" The goblin yelled over the commotion. Herrior nodded as they ran around the corner and saw several large fire and earth elementals standing in front with dozens of cultists behind them. They were severely outnumbered.

"Cease this foolish attack! We will bring the very walls down around you if we must in order to get those pillars! Our deaths will mean nothing and in the afterlife we will increase ten-fold in power!" One of the cultists said.

"That's worked out pretty good for your other friends that we killed." Herrior said.

"You have mocked us for the final time!" The cultist said.

"No wait, I have more…" Herrior said. He turned around to the goblin and nodded. The tiny sounds of the guns firing filled the air. This time the accuracy was much better as it instantly blinded and burned up the eyes of the humans. The elements that were summoned by them dissolved into the ground as their masters that summoned them dropped to the ground in pain. Confusion and screaming filled the air as the hunters started tossing their traps out as well adding to the screams and disorientation.

"How much ammunition did you make?" Herrior asked.

"We have ten thousand a piece." The goblin said laughing at the onslaught.

"Well…fire faster." Herrior said with a smile. "The hunters stay here and when that portal is closed I expect to see you in the main chambers. Herrior and the rest ran towards the main hall.

"Remember me you foolish tauren? It appears I have the upper hand." Lorthuna said as she floated next to the crystals in the middle of the temple. The shamans had diverted their attention to defending themselves.

"I thank you for finding these for me, and when I recover the third you will beg me for a quick death!" Lorthuna said as she turned to reach for the crystals. Herrior launched his magical sword at her, and unknowingly at the same time Jacklyn and Dan did as well. The weapons all flew towards her hand and sliced it clean off.

Herrior ran over and picked it up. "Now you have an upper hand and a lower hand."

"I will enjoy killing you!" Lorthuna said and began blasting spell after spell at her. Herrior began taking damage. Herrior charged to a cultist behind him, picked him up and threw him at her. Lorthuna tried to destroy him, but was unable to as the lifeless corpse slammed into her. She fell to the ground and began to regenerate herself. She began chanting a spell and aimed it at Herrior as he tried to move out of the way when suddenly she stopped. A fiery hot blade was held against her throat.

"Call off your troops or I will kill this one!" Dan yelled. The cultists quit fighting and looked at Dan.

"You fools, attack them!" Lorthuna yelled.

"If you die, then we lose our powers." One of the cultists said. Lorthuna began to curse at him.

"Well that's good to know. You - the tauren, why do you want the pillars?" Dan asked.

"If you let her go, I will tell you." The tauren cultist said.

"Agreed." Dan replied back.

"No!" Lorthuna screamed in desperation as Dan's blade cut deeper into her throat.

"Deathwing needs them. He has specific places that hold artifacts that contain immense powers. Now, let her go as you promised." The tauren said readying his weapon and walking towards him.

"As promised." Dan said and sliced her head off. The tauren stopped in mid-step as he watched her lifeless body fall to the ground.

"You have dishonored yourself! You are a disgrace and will die with nobody to remember your name!" The tauren yelled.

"You didn't say let all of her go at the same time…" Dan said holding her head. He tossed it to him and said, "There, now I have completely let go of her…no wait a second I think Herrior still has a piece of her. Herrior I made a promise to have her let go."

"Already taken care of." Mohania said as he belched out fire.

"You! You know what I meant!" The tauren said as his size and strength was reduced. Trackolania suddenly appeared behind him with a dagger to his throat.

Dan let out a sigh and said, "Trackolania, why don't you let him go?" Trackolania decapitated him as well and landed on the ground with the tauren's head in his hand.

"You liked that joke didn't you?" Dan asked. Trackolania tossed the head at another cultist and waved his hand from side to side with a smile.

The rest of the cultists gathered together at the west side of the room and began pleading for their lives.

"What will become of these?" Dan asked.

"Hmm…technically they are still our enemy. Crystal died in the fight, what you want to do with them?" Herrior asked.

Dan thought for a minute, and then turned to look at Herrior his face was solemn, but he knew he was lying. "Well since she's dead, I'll have to find another wife. The woman one over on the far looks attractive, would you mind if I…"

"I am going to rip your balls off and shove them down your throat!" Crystal yelled as she ran up to Dan and pushed him to the ground.

"Huh, I called your bluff. Were you actually trying that time?" Dan asked.

Herrior laughed and nodded, "Yes, I was serious. I actually didn't know if she was dead or alive, but I had a hunch she was alive."

"Forgive me Herrior, but I knew she was alive." Dan said rising to his feet. "You see, when you get married you form a bond with that person – and I believe something clicks inside of you when you know your mate dies. Yes Mohania it's ok with me if you want to burn them all alive, you just have to ask Herrior." Dan said looking straight at Herrior.

"He already knows my answer." Herrior said look straight back at him.

"Excellent! Wait…what's the answer?" Mohania asked.

"That everybody else will kill more of them then you will." Herrior said still looking at Dan.

"We'll see about that!" Mohania said running towards them and spraying fire everywhere. The rest of the party engaged the helpless cultists; slaughtering all of them within a minute.

"So I assume you sent Lindel to watch over me when was flying on the drake's leg?" Dan asked.

"No? She should still be with the earthen people as I commanded her to. If she abandoned her post she will be imprisoned, why do you ask?" Herrior asked immediately sounding upset.

Dan saw that he was serious. "I heard a voice, thought it was her. Can the stone drakes talk?"

Herrior looked at questioning what exactly he experienced. "If they are able to speak, they would have yesterday and today. What did you hear?"

"A phrase…of which I'm not sure I can repeat, even when we get back to the place that I cannot say." Dan said unsure of himself.

"Lindel said she is still with the earthen people, she said she didn't even know you were flying on the drake." Herrior smiled at him with curiosity.

"Huh…must have been the wind then. Because when I followed the command it gave me a huge advantage over the troll, and somehow I ended up surviving the fall whereas he and the drake didn't. Stranger things have happened huh?" Dan said looking back at him and shrugging his shoulders.

"Not since you've been around." Herrior said to himself. "Maruut stabilize the pillars, everybody tend to the wounded – I have a pillar I need to go get." He walked out to the entrance of the temple and saw huge piles of rock before him. One of them was the same color as Therazane. The pillar was in front of her along with a note. It read, "We knew this was going to happen. This realm will realign itself with our help as we are no longer needed here. Much work needs to be done; I wish to hear for you soon." Herrior put the note in his pocket and picked up the pillar. He saw the earthen people all looking down at him and heard rocks slamming into themselves all around him. Pillars were being formed there were destroyed. Rumblings in the ground could be seen off in the distance as the creatures that looked like giant rock bugs were instantly destroyed. Damaged walls were repaired and new rock formations were being created. The destroyed buildings and left over corpses were smashed to pieces. The entire area looked to be rebuilding itself.

"Can I come down now?" Lindel whispered in Herrior's mind.

"Yes." Herrior said back in his mind. He turned back to see that the earthen people started to walk away and were doing the same repairs to the damage that the mounds of earth were doing.

"Fascinating." Herrior said as he walked back in with the last pillar.

"Bravo, you got the last pillar. Let me give you a hand." Mohania said as a severed hand flew through the air and smacked him in the face.

"You know, the more I think about it – I don't think I will promise everybody to be quiet about those secrets.

"Dan did it…" Mohania quickly said as he stopped devouring the corpses.

"No…I don't think Dan did, did he?" Herrior asked looking over at him.

"Strings might of; his throwing arm is pretty good." Mohania said.

"Strings…is on the other side of where the hand hit me…"

"It could have ricocheted." Mohania said.

"Maruut, I believe this belongs to you." Herrior said handing over the pillar. Maruut took it from him and motioned another shaman over. The shaman produced a blue beam around it and put it back into place. The three stones slammed into each other and a long sonic blast resonated through the building as everybody was knocked down on the ground.

Time stopped.

Dan looked around quickly.

Time started.

Nobody seemed to notice what he did. He started churning over several ideas in his head as to what happened.

"Lindel see if you can get us out of here." Herrior asked.

"She'll be able to." Dan said.

"Oh and how do we know this?" Lindel asked him.

"Do you want to bet on it?" Dan asked smiling at her.

"Herrior, are we in a hurry?" Lindel asked.

"No, by all means, how do you know this Dan?" Herrior asked.

"If I win the bet, Bernett doesn't have to wear a dress and Julie doesn't have to shave her head. If I lose, I'll do both of them. Also…if I lose, I'll dress up as Herrior and you can whip me and order me all over the place…to the place where we are going to go…if I win I get to ride on top of Herrior and steer him around by the horns and you can whip him around that place." Dan said.

Several bursts of laughter came, intertwined with "That's not fair", and one, "Sounds good to me" happened all at the same time. Dan continued to stare at Lindel feeling confident with himself.

"So…Lindel, what say you?" Dan asked.

"I hope I lose, or win!" Lindel said excitedly.

"Wait wait…I can't be allowed in this bet, it involves you two." Herrior said.

"Mohania's rules, by default everybody is in the bet if you are part of the group." Dan said. Everybody, except for Dan and Lindel turned to look at Mohania.

"What?" Mohania said devouring a leg and had a severed arm in each hand.

"No no…you guys can't…" Herrior said.

"Deal!" Lindel said shaking his outstretched hand.

Lindel turned around and immediately produced a portal. She looked shocked at it. She began channeling her power into it as it grew larger.

"How did you know?" Lindel asked.

"Dan I would like to speak with you in private." Herrior said sternly.

"Before or after the whipping?" Dan asked.

Herrior sighed, "After…"

"Can I whip too?" Skyka asked.

"Mohania's rules. Mohania, can Skyka whip too?" Dan asked looking at him.

"Yes…" Mohania said nodding up and down. Herrior looked at him sternly. "I meant no…" Mohania said shaking his head back and forth.

"Let's get out of here. Thanks for your assistance Maruut, we will see each other again and I will request that you be relocated if you wish. I will send our gatherer's to obtain the three bags and sort through them. Fighting beside you has been an honor." Herrior said.

"Good luck in your travels my friend; I look forward to fighting beside you again." Maruut said.

Herrior nodded at him, looked back at his group and produced an annoyed look at them as he walked through the portal. This sparked more laughter as the rest of them followed.

"This isn't Tranquil?" Dan said.

"No, this is the junction point that we've always used. It's been here ever since we've known and has served as a…" Lindel started to explain as a lady started to scream hysterically. They all drew their weapons as the portal closed behind them.

"That's far out man…you dudes totally came out of nowhere and have some killer disguises on, probably some sort of government cover up right? I know it man, they have been hiding secrets from us man…" A man said looking at him slurring his words.

"Lindel shut up the first one and the screamer. You others just hold still." Herrior said. Lindel dispersed herself into thousands of different pieces and flew into the man's head and the woman's head.

"Far out…" The man said as both of them collapsed to the ground.

"What…what did you do?" The man said grabbing an ore from the boat they came in on and positioned himself to attack them.

"You'll be next, just relax – you won't feel a thing." Herrior said.

"Hold on, everybody just calm down for a second." The farthest man said walking up to the other man. "Put down the paddle, do you honestly think that is going to hurt them? I am not going to hurt you." The man said.

"You can try." Herrior said with a big smile.

"No…no…put the paddle down if you want to live, let's just everybody calm down. My name is Dennis Watts; I'm with the NSA of the United States Government. If I am killed people will hunt you down and that is not what you want."

"They can try." Herrior said with the same smile on his face.

"You are not; you're a scientist studying the quakes and affects of the Bermuda Triangle." The man said still holding his paddle.

"You would be surprised how many of us you will find doing day-to-day jobs, now let me talk." Dennis said. "I can go get my badge; it's in my brief case. I also have a gun in there, but I am just going to get my badge – not my gun." Lindel rematerialized out of both the man and the woman.

"That man is an idiot…anyways; want me to do the next two?"

"Hold on just a second, I want to see where this goes." Herrior said.

"You're not killing me!" The man said running towards Lindel and swinging the paddle at her. She disappeared and reappeared behind him. Lindel grabbed the man's hands and sent a quick jolt of holy magic through them. He quickly dropped the paddle and began begging for his life.

"I didn't kill either one of them, but I may kill you." Lindel said.

Herrior rolled his eyes and told Lindel to do her thing. Lindel dispersed her body and entered the man's eyes, the whole time the man screaming.

"Ok…ok…look, this is my briefcase. I'm going to set it down on the sand." Dennis said as he did what he said. "What I am doing now is putting in the right combination to open it, it will not hurt you."

"Just open the damn thing, sheesh for crying out loud I used to carry one of those." Branzer said.

"Ok." The man said. His right hand pulled out the badge and raised it in the air as his left hand moved slightly to the left. Branzer and Bernett both quickly pulled their guns out and fired. The man's briefcase exploded and eventually burst into flames. The man looked back and then looked in front of him to see Herrior's blade right at his throat.

"Why did my party just fire at your black box?" Herrior asked.

"I was going to activate a recorder, to record our conversations." Dennis said very slowly dropping his badge and looking down at the blade.

"For what purpose?" Herrior asked.

"You are all some sort of alien race, or different beings – our job is to gather information and analyze if you are a threat to our government." Dennis said.

"You seem to be perspiring a lot, your heartbeat just doubled in intensity, and you are on the verge of crying. We could take you off the face of this planet and nobody would know any different, or you could be tortured and slowly digested until your body is on the verge of death and then slowly let your body heal in agonizing pain until we start the process all over again!" Herrior said yelling in his face.

"Gee, I wonder where you got that one from?" Mohania asked sarcastically.

"I can have another person do it." Herrior said back.

"That's a great idea Herrior! May I volunteer for it?" Mohania asked back.

"I…I…What do you want? I can get you anything?" Dennis said.

"Name it, your stink disgusts me and you are wasting our time." Herrior said.

"Secrets, weapons, money…you name it. You want to be President; I know the people that can make that happen."

"Huh, I always that the American people voted on the President…" Bernett said.

"What kind of secrets?" Herrior said tossing him to the ground and putting his blade behind him.

"You name it…what do you want to know? Weapons, our technology, umm…aliens…bigfoot." Dennis said.

"How about the secret of when you had sex with your secretary and then came home and celebrating your anniversary with your wife?" Lindel asked. "Can't have kids my ass, you have three of them."

"I only have two." Dennis said back.

"Not what your body is telling me. Ah…your thoughts flow rapidly now. Oh here's a good one, tell me about the reason why you just hired Kelly the intern?"

"I'm not having sex with her." Dennis said quickly back. Lindel laughed and walked closed to him. "No, you aren't…not physically anyways…but what is the name of the club that she is in? The "Underground Prostitutes" – or as you call it, 'Going up in the business?' as you and your coworkers refer to it as." Lindel leaned over and whispered in his ear. "If I can get this much information out of you just by your thoughts…just think of what I could do if I entered your body like I did with the others just a moment ago. I learn all of your little secrets…and give them away, then take over your body as you watch me shatter your career and marriage – doesn't that sound like fun? The other three women don't know you are married do they? Wouldn't it be fun if I made you call all of them up to your office; show them your marriage license and wife? Oh that would be fun…" Lindel said ending in her banshee voice.

"I want powers like that." Mohania said.

"If you didn't devour people so fast and asked more questions you could get the same information out of them." Herrior said.

"Eh – pass." Mohania said.

"What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?" Dennis said.

"Nothing that I know of, Herrior do you want me to erase his memories? We've only got about two more minutes until those three starts to wake up." Lindel said back in a cheery voice.

"You mean you didn't kill them?" Dennis said.

"No. The first one was annoying, the second couldn't comprehend what she was seeing and the third was simply afraid. You attempted to betray us…that's different." Herrior said. "Had you just wanted to talk like you said, I wouldn't have had a problem with that. However we will have to erase your memories of us for your safety."

"For my safety? I don't understand…" Dennis said.

"Long story, longer ending – Herrior if we stay here much longer we are going to be found out." Branzer said.

"We recruited all of you with the same story, who knows; maybe we need to recruit him?" Herrior asked.

"Dennis, how many satellites are taking pictures of us right now?" Branzer asked.

"We have three, two airplanes and a high altitude weather balloon, but it was purely to explore the phenomenon that was happening. We had no idea what caused it and wanted to know what it was going to do. So yes there are people taking pictures of you right now." Dennis said.

"Pictures like that camera you showed us?" Herrior said turning around to Dan. Dan nodded.

"Shit!" Herrior looked up and all around.

"I don't see anything, but he isn't lying!" Herrior said almost in desperation.

"No he's telling the truth." Branzer said.

"Lindel, portal us somewhere, not our town but somewhere…quickly!" Herrior commanded. Lindel created a portal and channeled her power into it. Herrior ran over, grabbed Dennis and threw him through the portal as the rest of them ran through as well.

They were in the conference room of the police station.

"Damn it! This information I need to know!" Herrior yelled picking up the long table and smashing it into pieces. "That's how they could be tracking us, they could know about us and we wouldn't even know it! The alliance could know about us and where we are! Damn it Branzer! Do you think I should have known this ahead of time?"

The door opened with several officers looking in. "Shut that damn door!" Herrior commanded and it instantly slammed shut.

"I can help." Dennis said.

"If he speaks again, I want him cut up into exactly seventy two pieces – all the same size!" Herrior said. He pulled out his sword and began slashing at several chairs at the room.

His party let him vent until he took a deep breath. He put his sword away and asked Branzer the same question.

"When we are here, most of the time we are inside or have no reason for to be tracked – that is why I asked that question. As Dennis said when there are unusual phenomenon's happening to the planet they investigate it. As you saw though all of the clouds dissipated and everything looked normal. The satellites cannot see through buildings." Branzer said. Dennis slowly raised his hand.

Herrior looked at him and sighed, "Yes?"

"Not entirely true. We have the abilities to see almost a one hundred percent perfect picture, but it takes time. I could explain it?" Dennis asked.

"Are you certain they were taking pictures of us at the time we arrived?"

"Positive, not directly of you – but I have no doubt you are going to show up in the pictures and other sensors we had at the moment. I can destroy the evidence and convince our government it was a hoax. The media might have a field day with it, but it will eventually fade away." Dennis said.

"Like Roswell?" Branzer asked.

"Roswell was a hoax. There have been many alien landings and only three have crashed – that we know of. We haven't been able to communicate with them because they keep killing us. We have special equipment setup to monitor their activity – however, and as the press puts it, they all of a sudden stopped appearing. That's the honest to goodness truth. The actual landings have been happening in North Dakota, and on the night we detected six of them coming in to land we were going to destroy them and salvage their technology – but we needed a diversion." Dennis said.

"Translate that for me." Herrior asked.

"Those little green men that we fought? The planet Mohania supposedly blew up all by himself on purpose, single-handedly without the help of anybody else because he is so powerful – that is what he is talking about." Branzer said.

"That's how I remember it…" Mohania said with a grin.

"You destroyed their planet?" Dennis asked in shock.

"Yup, and on purpose – just like he said." Mohania said.

"Is he really a talking skeleton?" Dennis asked again in shock.

"He gets that a lot. Ok fine, obviously we need each other. I can send a command to destroy those objects but my guess, from what I've seen in his eyes, is that the objects probably have already put the pictures somewhere else – am I right in assuming that? Herrior asked.

"They are live-streamed down to our servers were they are stored and analyzed. That is just our data, which is encrypted, but there are also live video feed being published on the internet that we have no control over and could very well be seen all over the world." Dennis said. "However like I said we could falsify the pictures, setup hoax's, ruin people's reputations – even put people in prison within days. It will run its course and the majority of the world forget it…eventually, any of the stragglers we could hunt down, discredit their allegations and make their lifespan considerably shorter."

Herrior looked at him for a minute. "Ok, from now on answer 'Yes' or 'No'. That's all I need because you are talking gibberish to me." Herrior said walking away. He pulled out his hearthstone, and produced a portal and scrambled it so nobody could see who he was talking to. He then put his head inside.

"Are these the same idiots that make the atomic bomb you were talking about?" Mohania asked.

"Yup." Branzer said.

"Is it safe to assume you've improved on that?" Mohania asked looking back at him.

"Yes."

"Let me guess, the 'Neutron bomb'?" Branzer asked.

"No."

"I thought that was the next biggest bomb?" Branzer asked back confused.

"No."

"Say something besides what he just told you." Branzer asked.

"The latest confirmed bomb that we made is the H2n1P8 bomb. We shot it off at a comet with several other rockets to track what it did. It obliterated everything. The comet was larger than Jupiter. There are other prototypes in design, but none of them have been tested. We also have various other bombs designed for different scenarios." Dennis said.

"I still think your race is stupid." Mohania said turning to Branzer.

"Why are you building bombs so big?" Branzer asked.

"Interstellar combat. The atomic bomb that you mentioned earlier everybody in the world has one hiding in their closet, most of them don't know how to turn it on though. The threat that we are looking at is creating a new sun when ours fades, developing new planets for us to inhabit, and destroying anything that attacks us. Sending a man to the moon was idiotic. Do you know how many photos and video we had to destroy? The main mission was to outdo the world and show that we are the superpower. Same reason for the atomic bomb, same reason for launching strategic attacks, both in cyberspace, chemical agents and bombs that never reach the media – it's just merely written off as an embarrassment to the city/country/organization because they don't know what we do."

"Sounds familiar." Lindel said smiling at him.

"So what do you guys do?" Dennis asked. "Obviously if you wanted to, you could have killed me, and ruined half of the world if you wanted to."

"Not what we do, in fact most of the time we aren't even here. We are assigned to this world, but our scouts relay information back when we are needed. Most of the time we would rather not be here, some of us anyways, because your food is disgusting, your air stinks, and your water tastes like acid. No offense to the humans among us." Skyka said turning to smile at them.

"Compared to where we live, I think we all completely agree with you." Julie replied back.

"We fight the alliance and the demonic forces that amass. Had you been either you would have been killed immediately, same with the other three." Skyka said and then continued to say, "Thank you for being honest with us. Most of what you speak of our party doesn't understand – but your honest and sincere face is appreciated. None of your secrets will be passed on; in fact none of that business really pertains to us. Our concern is our presence, usually we look like this." Skyka ended by pressing her trinket. Immediately she took on a human form, completely hiding all of her robes and looked just the same as any other woman.

"Had we known you were there, we would have taken on this form – however it wouldn't have mattered because where we were there was only one way in and one way out. Also the sudden appearance of fourteen of us out of thin air would have been hard to explain. Since you claim that so many people saw us, that's the concern. You've explained that you are able to help with this mess, so that is why you are here with us now. Otherwise you would be waking up on the beach with the rest of them, completely clueless as to why all of them suddenly fell asleep."

"And if I can't help you?" Dennis said.

"Aww…but you said you did. But if you can't we'll kill you." Skyka said gently patting him on the face.

"Can I ruin his life first?" Lindel asked.

"That's fine." Skyka replied back

"Can I digest his body and all of his family members?" Mohania asked.

"That's fine as well." Skyka said back.

"Can…I ask a question?" Dennis asked.

"Sure, we're all friends here. What is it?" Skyka smiled back at him.

"Why the swords, and armor? I mean it's obviously high-tech, but wouldn't modern day weapons work better?" Dennis asked.

"How many of your soldiers can sustain a direct missile attack three times, and be hit by a high-speeding train and not die? You can take all of the weapons in this station and unload them on me and I'll just sit back and smile." Branzer said.

"I thought he was hit four times?" Dan asked.

"No…you know…I don't remember, it could have been. Anyways can one of your soldiers take down an entire tank just by a mere thought? Shoot, there are countless other examples…but either way the answer is no they can't." Branzer said.

"That was me." Mohania said proudly. "I can demonstrate, go stand over there."

"We haven't received the order as to what to do with him yet." Skyka said. "And if you have the ground swallow him up, how are you going to devour him and his family?"

"Bah…useless women and their logic…" Mohania said walking away.

Herrior pulled his head out of the portal and looked at him. He walked over and put his face a foot from his, his horns nearly touched the wall.

"I am going to ask a question and I want a truthful answer to it, and I want you to think long and hard about this one. Can I trust you now, and can I trust you in the future without threats of death?" Herrior asked.

"The NSA has…"

"Don't care – Yes, or No." Herrior said.

"If I say no you will kill me." Dennis said.

"No, I have my orders the same as you have yours. We may kill others around you, but we are not to touch your family or you if we come to an agreement." Herrior said.

"Yes." Dennis said.

"What I wanted to hear." Herrior back away and started rearranging the conference room so that they all could sit in a circle.

"Sit with us." Herrior said.

"I have been given some conditions, but the decision is up to me. We can ultimately ruin your life – and you would be surprised how much pain and suffering you and your loved ones can endure without dying…that being said what do you want?" Herrior asked.

"What do I want?" Dennis asked.

"Yes." Herrior pulled out his bag of gold and tossed it at him. Dennis looked at it and then looked back up at him. "Normally how we form allegiances is by doing things for each other. You mentioned wealth. I protest buying people off, however if that is what needs to be done, then so be it. We cannot give you much else without putting you in danger."

"I'm not in danger now?" Dennis asked.

"Far from it, you are the safest you have ever been in your life. Now hurry up I want to get back home." Herrior said.

"Oh that's right, Lindel lost that bet. I look forward to your humiliation." Skyka said.

"On second thought take your time." Herrior said mumbling and turning away from her.

"Wow…ok, this is like rubbing a magic lamp and having a genie pop out." Dennis said looking at a couple coins.

"That's demonic, those were all destroyed and if you know of any else we will destroy those as well." Herrior said.

"You have to watch what you say around them. My advice is cut right to the chase." Crystal said back.

"Umm…world peace?" Dennis asked with a smile.

"Not until the correct time comes, and that is unknown by everyone besides the creator himself, next." Herrior said.

"Ok…umm…I have some people in the IRS that are bugging us…" Dennis said with a smile.

"Lindel get an image of them and as much information as you can, then find the location. We will go slaughter all of them and wipe their families off the face of this planet. You do what we ask, and we will do this for you." Herrior said.

"Whoa…wait a minute." Dennis said as Lindel flew into his eyes.

"Don't joke around hun…now is the time to say something if you want something different." Lindel said in his head.

"Something different…I want something different." Dennis said.

"Then quit fucking around and tell us before I get upset!" Herrior yelled at him.

"Umm…umm…I want a normal life. How do I get a normal life – I want out, I want to raise a family and have nobody remember me or have any recollection of me. Can you do that?" Dennis asked.

"So that is your answer and we can move on with our agreement then?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…yes, more than anything. Even if it's in an igloo and I have to fish all day and night. I want a normal family, I want a normal life." Dennis said.

"Fine, for starters we'll kill your wife. We'll kill the other women and you'll have your children. You will then find another wife and will have your kids." Herrior said.

"What? You can't…I mean I love them…her, I love her." Dennis said.

"Shut up." Herrior said getting frustrated again. "We have laws we have to follow, and you have laws you are supposed to follow. You haven't, and this is the only way for a fresh start."

"You just can't kill somebody without raising suspicions?" Dennis said. Mohania burst into laughter, which eventually led to everybody else either laughing or at least smiling.

"Adultery, murder – same sin. But if that is what it takes for you to learn what having a normal life is with your children then so be it. You will never how or when it will happen and you will have what you desire – that is if you do what we desire of you." Herrior asked. "Also I don't know what an igloo is…"

"Agreed, but I would like to live in this area…despite the fact that all of you scare me shitless, I somehow feel safer here. Can I keep the gold to live off from?" Dennis asked.

"How are you going to explain that? Daddy doesn't work, but is an instant billionaire because of no reason." Branzer said.

Dennis thought about it for a second. He then tossed the gold bag back at Herrior.

"You're a wise man; you are starting to alter your thinking. I'm sure we can arrange for you to get work somewhere in this area, as for the gold I could give two shits about it. Keep it, but for your safety don't flash it around and don't make huge purchases. So are we in agreement then?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." Dennis said standing up and walking over to him and holding out his hand. Herrior looked at it funny and put the bag of gold in it.

"They don't shake, their word is their bond." Branzer said.

"Sorry, ok what do I do?" Dennis asked.

"Sabotage as many of those pictures and evidence as you can…everything. Create hoaxes, or whatever. I am going to send three of my group members with you, not to follow up on you, but for you to command. You know better than the rest of us how to accomplish this task, they can do it. Lindel, who is in you right now, can put you anywhere you want in the world. Mohania and Trackolania will also go. I want everything destroyed, within the next twenty four hours or sooner." Herrior said.

"Don't say that's impossible hun…you don't know what we can do." Lindel said in his mind. "Just say ok."

"Ok." Dennis said.

"Good, now say don't go back to our city without me." Lindel said in his mind.

"Don't go back to our city without me." Dennis said not understanding. "No, without the other me – Lindel, he can stay behind but I want to be there to whip Herrior…What is she talking about?"

"Lindel shut up. Come out of there and portal them back seconds before we left. Mohania disguise you guys as the others – kill all of them on the island and destroy it, make sure there is no evidence left anywhere. It will look like a tremor, or some weird ass thing you guys call it. You will then be rescued and then you will go to an isolated area, portal back to your base and begin your task. Say in your mind what needs to be done, you'll be surprised how fast it happens. Once you are confident that your task has been completed say it in your mind and you will be brought back here. You then have my word that we will perform our end of the bargain." Herrior said while Lindel floated out and created the portal.

"How many people are going to die because of this?" Dennis asked.

"Many…hopefully more, but you do not want the alternative." Mohania said.

"You said you wouldn't kill me?" Dennis asked quickly.

"We just made an agreement, break the agreement – that you just agreed to and you'll be tormented day and night. Yes, people will die because of this – but if the alliance of demons gets wind of what happened, millions will die. Worlds you never knew existed will die. Like you said yourself, you feel safer with us here – it's because of the aura we are giving off." Herrior said.

"Except for Mohania, that's the smell of dead people…" Skyka said chuckling.

"Anybody else have anything cute to say?" Herrior asked. Skyka apologized.

"Twenty four hours – go!" Herrior said pointing to the portal. The four of them raced to the portal and disappeared. Herrior waited for a couple of moments in silence. He then activated his trinket and got up to leave. He slammed his fist down on another chair, completely demolishing it. He opened the door and saw the Lieutenant waiting for him at his office.

"Rodent infestation, I think we got all of them." Herrior said.

"Normally this exciting with you guys around?" The Lieutenant asked extending a box of donuts to him. Herrior picked one up and examined it.

"You eat it." The Lieutenant said.

Herrior bit into it and thanked him. He turned around and walked out the back door. The Lieutenant raced to catch up with him, setting the box down on one of his officer's cubicles.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked.

"I'm not in the mood." Herrior said back.

"Ok." He said and opened the door for him. Herrior started to walk away and sighed.

"What do you want to talk about?" Herrior asked.

The Lieutenant ran up beside him as Herrior began walking.

"I had a meeting concerning your group." He said.

"Sounds great." Herrior said.

"I heard more stories, the lives you saved, the crimes you solved. The people that we killed when you first showed up – nobody asked any questions about their deaths, and after they burned up their ashes floated away as if they were never there. What are you guys?" The Lieutenant asked.

"What did the people in the meeting call us?"

"The guardian angels, but it sounds like you didn't want to be called that anymore. Here let me get the gate for you." The Lieutenant said running ahead to and fumbling with his keys. Herrior walked right through another part of the fence. "Ok, we'll put in a door there also."

"Did anybody say the less you know the safer you are?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, but there are people that need to know." The Lieutenant said.

"No…there aren't." Herrior said back.

"Do you know how many lives you could save?" He asked.

Herrior turned around and walked up to him. "Do you know how many lives I have just given the order to kill? The people that are going to die are not fighters and are only being killed because of my order. We saved your world and what do you do in return? Expose us and leave us vulnerable to the enemies that we fight constantly to keep your world safe! Many young ones will have the news broken to them that their mother or father was killed and will be given some made up bullshit story. They will never know the truth, they will never know the reason, and they will probably grow up hating the jobs their parents loved! Don't think we are here to save people! I've got a lot on my mind right now and killing innocent people is a command I hate to give! Not including the bullshit with my party that hasn't been resolved and I haven't slept in days! We have just fought battle after battle for your planet that nobody will ever know!" Herrior yelled in his face and then walked away. He then walked quickly back and said, "Do you want the same thing the other Lieutenant had? A 'save me I'm in trouble' button! You know what, let me save this world filled with people that doesn't even know who created them first. Let's save them so they can continue committing the sins that they do without a second thought. I have just committed several sins right now and I am accountable for each on! I mourn for each of them, but yeah – afterwards let's all have a meeting and we'll drink your sickass nasty coffee and heal your people and cure diseases because that is what we are obviously remembered for! We saved this life, we saved that life…and in the meantime nobody has a damn clue what happened two thousand years ago – the whole reason for our existence for crying out loud! I'm just tired, leave me alone." Herrior dropped to his knees and started to cry.

The Lieutenant knelt down beside him and put an arm around him. Herrior continued to cry as the minutes passed.

"Leave me alone…I need to suffer alone…" Herrior said still crying.

"No you don't." The Lieutenant said and fully embraced him. Herrior embraced him back and he continued to weep.

His party had heard him; they heard his cries, and his pleading to have the burden lifted from him. They felt his heartache. Many of them were seeing their leader mourn like this for their first time.

"I wouldn't want to serve under anybody else. Everybody, I apologize to you if I have said or did anything to upset you." Branzer said. Dan and Crystal started to say the same thing but Skyka stopped them. "This isn't the first, this won't be the last. The leaders put up a good front, but this is what they get. The King and Queen cry more. Don't think orders are given out lightly." Skyka walked forward and turned around. "You want to be a leader – you have that to look forward to. Jacklyn is the only one among you who can stomach this! I'm surprised she hasn't been pulled to a leadership position. You think killing is fun, you think you're good at it? Well good for you. Think long and hard about what you see this day, you don't carry the burden he does. You simply follow orders which are the reasons why the weight of guilt isn't upon you!" She began to cry and said she would be back. They were all transformed into their human attire and forms.

"They'll be back. I'll need one ambassador to stay with me, and Branzer you are the only one left. The rest of you may do whatever you wish. I'm going to go relax for awhile." Jacklyn said walking back into the station.

The rest of officers and personal saw that everybody heading back either saluted or began to clapping for them.

"Stop that! There is no reason for a parade for doing our job, especially now. Had it not been for him, half of us would not be here right now. Had it not been for us accomplishing our mission, nobody would be here right now. And these are just minor battles; the big ones have yet to come." Branzer said. They all followed Jacklyn back into their original room; Julie was the last one in and slammed the door behind her. They all bunkered down for the night.

The next morning Herrior had not returned. The morning shift reported that the Lieutenant was still out with him. Skyka nodded as she went into the break room as the rest of her party followed.

"You guys didn't have to do this." Skyka said. On the table before them was a large buffet filled with an assortment of different breakfast foods. On the front of the table was a large "Thank you" sign.

"Don't know what you are talking about. We all normally have breakfast like this every day. Now come and fill your plates before it gets cold. Strangely enough nobody wanted to eay until you guys did." One of the cooks said stirring a warmer filled with sausage and gravy.

"Yeah…" Skyka said smiling back at him, but taking him up on his offer.

"Is this edible?" Jacklyn asked looking at some of the items.

"Manners hun…I'm sure it tastes just fine. She's just a little cranky in the morning." Strings said.

"No I'm not." Jacklyn said back.

"Ma'am, I assure you that everything here is edible and cooked to perfection." Another one of the cooks said.

"If you cook like your wife does, I'm going to need three plates." Branzer said jokingly looking at him.

"Need an extra hand?" Mohania said removing his and handing it to him.

"Do you know what discretion means?" Branzer asked.

"Does it have to do with you being an ass?" Mohania asked back.

"Knock it off you two. Neither one of you is allowed to remove any more of your body parts while we are here." Skyka said.

"He started it." Mohania said reattaching his hand. "Do you have anything cooked rare, like perhaps something with blood still on it?"

Skyka let out a sigh as she continued to eat.

"Hi!" A little girl beside her suddenly said.

"Oh, hello! Are you here to have breakfast with us?" Skyka asked back.

"Now that is for you." The girl said and then started to think about something really hard. "I have a disease called a pa-tu-ta-tary-knee mal-fun-shin, and I would like to be not sick anymore so I can make my mommy and daddy happy."

"Oh, well I think your mommy and daddy are happy with a cute adorable little girl such as yourself. Who taught you all of those big words?" Skyka asked.

"Oh…and also you are very pretty and…umm…" she turned around and whispered, "I forgot, what else?" Skyka pretended she didn't hear her whisper but was grinning from ear to ear as she took another bite.

"Ok I remember now. You are very pretty and beautiful and I want to grow up to be like you someday." The girl continued.

"Why thank you! But do you know what, you are prettier than I am and I want to look like you." Skyka said.

"Why?" The girl looked at her curiously.

"Because your dress is beautiful, you have pretty eyes, your hair is nicely done, and you have a spirit inside of you that warms my heart." Skyka said.

The girl tried to think of something to say back and it looked like she was trying to remember some of the other things her dad wanted her to say.

"How old are you?" Skyka asked.

"Seven."

"That is a wonderful age; tell me what do you like to do?"

"I like to play with my kitties, and eat cookies, and play with my friends – I like to play Frisbee but I'm not good at it, but I like to try. I like to pretend I'm a ballerina and my mom and me play dress up sometimes with real makeup." The girl said.

"That sounds like a lot of fun; can you show me how to do those things?" Skyka asked.

"Sure! Daddy can we go play with the kitties?" The girl yelled out.

Skyka looked at Icis real quick and motioned for her to follow her. Skyka got up and walked slowly to where the girl ran to. She knew the whole story before she saw her father's face – which just reinforced her conclusions. His face was wrinkled badly and his eyes were blood shot, holding back tears and he looked like he would die in a heartbeat to have his daughter cured.

"I'm not sure how to play with kitties, is that something you could show me?" Skyka asked kneeling down beside the girl.

"It's fun, but they won't hurt you. They like their toys, and chasing string – and daddy sometimes lets me stay up at night and makes them chase a flashlight." The girl said and then became serious and held out her fingers and starting counting them off while she spoke. "But they need plenty of rest, food, fresh water every day, they need a warm place to sleep, they need their poops cleaned up, and food. They are some hungry kitties."

"Oh my, that sounds like a lot of responsibility. It sounds like your mommy and daddy trust you to take care of them." Skyka said in a serious tone.

"I…don't always remember…" she said being honest.

"Carrie, can you go get us some juice? Daddy is thirsty." He said.

"Sure daddy" she said and off she ran.

"She's got only…"

"Shut up." Skyka said turning to look at him. "I knew what was going on two seconds after I saw her, and your pathetic attempt to win me over using your daughter's affection. If you want to feel depressed and not enjoy the last years of your daughter's life then fine – that isn't my problem. But you need to get your shit together, be honest to her, and stop buying her affection. She's not dumb; she knows what's wrong with her and she knows what her future holds. Hell there's probably not a single person in this room that doesn't know just by looking at her and then at you what the situation is. You are absolutely pathetic…and your face is turning more desperate. She's your daughter and when her time is up there isn't a thing in the world anybody can do about that. So continue feeling sorry for yourself…keep lying to her and giving her false hope, and then at her funeral you can say 'I lied to her and gave her false hope'…you've turned out to be a great dad." Skyka said quicker at the end before the girl came back.

"I got some, but the fat man said I should also get some for you." Carrie said in a sweet voice. She then gasped and said, "I'm not supposed to say fat, I'm sorry. Daddy I'm sorry." She then looked at her dad in curiosity and asked, "Daddy why are you sad again? I brought you some juice to make you happy."

"That is a lovely gesture, and it is ok to call that man fat." Skyka said.

"Thanks Skyka…love you too…" Strings called back.

"Him and I are good friends, we love each other like your daddy loves you. Sometimes daddy's and mommies cry. I'm married and my husband cried all last night. Nobody likes to cry, but that is how God made us. Did you know that God is sometimes sad also? What do you know about God?" Skyka asked.

Carrie immediately said "He made the whole universe. And we pray to him every night for me to get my putut-knee sickness better. Do you think he will fix me?"

"I don't know, but I know when I get to Heaven I will ask him for you." Skyka said.

"I'll be in Heaven before you, so I will ask him first." Carrie said.

"Ok, well how about this. If I see him first, I will ask about you – and if you see him first you ask him about why he gave me such long hair. I have a hard time keeping it pretty like yours, how do you keep your hair so pretty?" Skyka asked.

"My mommy does it, daddy tries sometimes but mommy is better. Do you have a mommy and a daddy?"

"Yes I do, and they are both in Heaven asking God different questions as well." Skyka said.

Carrie looked at her strange. "You don't live forever?"

"Living forever would be boring, there's a lot of sadness down here. I want to go see the palace that he built for me and walk the golden streets and see all of the precious jewels that sparkle – just like your eyes. But mostly I want to live where there is no sadness, no pain, and no crying. I want to wrap my arms around Jesus and thank him for what he did for me, and then see all of my family that is up there. But I can't go until it is my time." Skyka said.

"My doctor said I have two years until I die." Carrie said.

"I bet he's wrong." Skyka replied back.

"Why? Doctor's are the smartest people in the whole world, and you are a doctor. And you are also are very pretty and…oh the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!" Carrie said excitedly knowing that she finally remembered what her dad told her to say.

Skyka smiled again and said, "Who is the only person in the whole world that knows when people are going to die?"

"Doctors?" Carrie asked. Skyka shook her head. Carrie thought about it for awhile and then said, "God?" Skyka nodded her head.

"So God is smarter than doctors?" Carrie asked.

Skyka nodded.

"So what the doctors tell me is wrong?" Carrie asked looking as if she was questioning the entire universe.

"Doctors sometimes know what is wrong, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they pretend to know, or they guess – and sometimes they make mistakes. Did you know that back in the day they used to put yucky slimy worms on your skin and they thought that would make you feel better?" Skyka asked.

"Eww…that sounds gross." Carrie said.

"Yeah it was, and sometimes they would put medicine on you that makes you hurt." Skyka said.

"Like the needles they put in me?" Carrie asked. "I don't like that."

"I wouldn't either, but the person you can always trust to be there is God. Your mother and father love you very much, but God loves you even more. And because of you, you just made my whole week better – did you know that? I was sad like your daddy and didn't know what to do, but now I want to go play with you with the kitties and have your mommy teach me how to make my hair as pretty as yours. Could I do that if it is ok with your mommy and daddy?" Skyka said excitedly.

"Yes! Daddy would that be ok?" Carrie said turning around. He had composed himself again and said that would be fine after work.

"Work is boring…let's go play now!" Skyka said keeping the excitement going.

"But you haven't finished your breakfast?" Carrie said observantly.

"The fat man will probably eat mine." Skyka said. A second later a sausage link hit her on the side of the face. Carrie burst into laughter and then covered her mouth trying to hide it. "You're funny…" she eventually said.

"Do you know what helps in life while we are here? Laughter. Playing and having fun. Tickling each other. Hugging each other. Praying together." Skyka said listing off the things as she counted them off on her fingers like Carrie did. Carried giggled again at what she did.

"So let's go teach the kitties how to play Frisbee." Skyka said.

"Kitties can't play Frisbee!" Carrie cried out almost hysterically in laughter.

"Well you will have to teach me what to do then. Let's go."

"Ok, daddy is it ok if we go?" Carrie asked.

"Daddy is coming to, and your daddy is going to call your mommy so all of us can play together today."

"But she is working." Carrie said back.

"I'm working also – but I have time to play with kitties, and I'm sure your mommy has time too. Did you know that if you don't make time to play together, that sometimes you forget how much fun playing is?" Skyka asked and made a quick glance up at her dad. "And as a doctor, I say we should all go play together. How many doctors have told you that?"

"None…" The girl said dragging out the word. "Come with me, I'll show you where our van is!" The girl said running to the door.

"I just wanted you to hear that Icis. We need a healer to stay behind so I'll go with the child. Go kick Strings in the balls for me – then don't heal him afterwards." Skyka said smiling at him.

"Will do." Icis said walking away.

"She is kidding, you know that don't you? Icis? Hun, she was kidding…" Strings said as Icis got closer and closer to him.

Skyka turned to the dad and said, "We are going to go play with kitties, I haven't got a damn clue what that is or what a Frisbee is. Do you think your child cares? In the past couple of minutes she has learned more from me and taught herself not to be afraid of what is going to happen to her. Hell – we all could die before she does! So some idiot of a doctor put a time on her life, stupidest thing to do. If you want to count down the days then fine, but I suggest you lose that idea and start enjoying the time you have with her. Millions of people are dying every day, much younger and sicker than she is. She isn't suffering, she isn't hungry, and she isn't in constant pain. She's a beautiful young girl full of spirit and joy. Do you want to remember the times where 'I tried so hard, and I'm so sad…' or 'I love my daughter and I know I will see her again'? It is easier for a child to understand these concepts than most adults - hopefully you were listening, now hurry up compose yourself and call her mommy – I don't want to keep Carrie waiting." Afterwards Skyka turned and walked away from him and said "Hopefully the rest of you were listening too…"

"You are going to have to wear a seatbelt, it keeps you safe." Carrie said.

"Keeping safe is a good idea; will you show me how to use one?" Skyka asked closing the door behind them as the dad franticly pulled out his cell phone and tried to see what he had to do really quick for the day. Then he asked quickly if he could have some of the officers take his cases and tried to explain them when several of the officers finally stood up and dragged him to the exit.

"Have a nice day." One of them said and closed the door behind him.

Mohania, Lindel, Trackolania and Dennis appeared just as the previous portal disappeared. Mohania instantly opened up the ground as water came pouring in, engulfing the entire island. Mohania, Lindel and Trackolania grabbed the unconscious bodies and dragged them underwater to where the opening was. Mohania said where to put them and said they would need to force them to exhale any air so that they didn't float back up when the land engulfed them. Mohania punched the man with the ore in the stomach as hard as he could. He was holding his breath but quickly exhaled as Mohania pushed him down. Trackolania cut the woman's stomach open as she tried to scream under water, then turned around and quickly cut open the other man's stomach. They were all struggling to get to the surface when Lindel blasted each of them with her shadow bolts, pushing them further down. So much water had rushed over them that Mohania slammed the hole back shut the water still covered the land. They all took on the different looks of the people they just killed by hitting their trinkets and then surfaced.

"Ok, now we get rescued." Mohania said looking around and saw that the boat they came in was destroyed in the process. He didn't see anything else.

"Ok…now we swim." Mohania said and began to swim.

"I can't swim that far!" Dennis said.

"Let's get things straight right now. You will not say, 'I can't do this, or this can't be done.' You are in charge as Herrior said, but we are here to do our business…even if it means sucking every little bit of life out of you so all you do is just stare up at the sky for the rest of your life. For now I won't be in your mind, later on I will. I can speak directly to Trackolania – he will not talk back to you. I cannot speak to Mohania because his race is different, you will talk to him the most – pretend you're new best friends or something. He will change his disguise often. Trackolania will be invisible to you as well, but any mere thought you have or idea I have, or suggestion that Mohania purposes in a joking manner – he will take care of it. Now swim!" Lindel said as the three of them began to swim in one direction. Dennis began to swim as well.

After fifteen minutes a helicopter hovered above them. A diver jumped into the water as another was lowered in a basket.

"We received your distress call – what the hell happened back there?" The diver asked, but before he could get an answer he was immediately pulled underwater and had his throat slit. Trackolania waited for his body to fill with water before letting it sink. Mohania then hit his trinket and swam back up.

"These waters are dangerous; we have to get them out of here!" Mohania yelled at the guy in the basket. "Let's get our officer and the lady up first – to us this is just another day at work. Watch the undercurrents though." The officer nodded and jumped out. Mohania helped Dennis and Lindel in the boat as Trackolania stealthed himself and jumped up on top of the basket and scurried up the rope. The basket was then lifted up when both him and the officer gave the thumbs up.

"Some weird-ass shit happening huh?" Mohania yelled out to the other officer.

"You're telling me! I can't wait to hear what this guy has to say. He was right there when everything disappeared. Where's his stuff with the homing beacon in it?"

"Probably back there a ways I'm guessing. Do we have orders to retrieve it?"

"If he can't remember, and if we don't retrieve it while we are here, we'll be cleaning toilets with a toothbrush for the rest of our lives." The officer said joking.

"We'll have to do something about that then." Mohania yelled back. He let his body sink down as far as he could will still having his head above water and then reached out and grabbed his leg.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Igniting you on fire!" Mohania yelled back as an instant burst of flame ignited his leg and travelled up to his chest. Mohania then pulled him down and burned the rest of him up. Mohania waited a minute and then surfaced. He looked around confused as if he was trying to find him.

He saw the basket being lowered again and looked up and raised his arms at the men looking down at him. The basket hit the water as Mohania began to franticly look around some more. He swam out a ways in every direction and made it appear that he was making every attempt to find him.

"We have to go!" A man yelled down from the helicopter.

"Where is he?" Mohania yelled back up. The people in the helicopter were looking as well but couldn't find him either.

"We have to go!" The same man yelled back down. Mohania climbed into the basket and still looked frantically around for the other officer.

"He was right beside me! We were bull shitting when we were both sucked under. I was disoriented at first but after surfacing I figured he did the same thing! He's still down there, we can't just leave!" Mohania yelled above the helicopter noise.

"We're low on gas; we've already radioed in the last known coordinates. You guys live to swim, I'm sure he's fine!" Another officer said as he shut the door and the helicopter flew away. Half way back to land Mohania slammed his fist against the wall for dramatic purposes.

"I'm sure he's fine!" The officer yelled again to assure him.

They landed on a big "H" and everybody was escorted out as the engine started cycling down. Several high ranking officers were waiting for them and said they needed to talk urgently. Dennis nodded.

"Let's bring in the diver and the lady, get them dried off. He just lost his buddy out to sea, and she's scared shitless. It's the least we can do for them.

One of the officers nodded as all three of them were led to a building, Trackolania again right beside them.

"Welcome to the Coast Guards rescue base. "I'm General Mcraff, Dennis it is imperative that we debrief you immediately. These other men will take care of you.

"Excuse us for a moment." Dennis said and hurried away with the General. The General opened a door and lead him into a small room. It was only the two of them.

"What's going on?" Dennis asked.

"You tell me! First we're tracking the storm and then we see creatures out of nowhere, and you are asking me what's going on?" The General asked. The General was quickly struck over the head and stood unconscious in the room. Dennis walked back out and said, "The General requests that the lady and diver come too, he wants to know their sides of the story."

"Right away sir. Come with me please." The soldiers said starting to escort them. Both of them walked in the room and saw what Trackolania had done, Mohania shut the door behind them. Lindel opened a portal and pushed the General through as Mohania took on his appearance. Lindel shut the portal as soon as the General started to scream.

"Where did you put him?"

"Remember where Herrior said Veliline came from? I'm sure he'll find a happy home there." Lindel said.

"I doubt he'll survive the fall." Dennis said.

"I'm not betting against that." Lindel said as the four of them walked back out.

"All set?" Another General asked.

"Yes, let's start investigating this. Where is all of our data, and are they starting to analyze it?" Dennis asked.

"Right this way." The other General said as they started walking.

"The initial alibi that we we've established is the unknown natural phenomenon was nothing more than a mere cumulus nimbus cloud heavily saturated with rain. We performed a cloud seed which dispersed it, and ties in nicely with the disappearance with your island." The General said.

"Makes no sense, but sounds logical to the average person. What about the weird shit I saw – I'm sure that's all over the world by now?" Dennis asked.

"All part of the sudden cloud dispersion. We're blaming it on all of the toxins in the air and the reflective light it may have produced when it suddenly exploded. That bullshit aside, did you speak to them?" The General asked.

"To be honest it was over in a second. I know I saw something, I'm positive of it – but next time you are going to drown me, at least give me an umbrella." Dennis said chuckling.

"In our top secret room the photos are being analyzed. I'll show you what we saw, might help jog your memory."

"Looking forward to it." Dennis said. Then in his mind he said, "All of these people down here might have to die."

"Already have a plan, just move to the outer door when I tell you too." Lindel said back in his mind.

"Miss, you and our diver can't come in." The General said.

"No, I'm sorry. We've probably heard and seen too much, I mean of the same thing Dennis saw. We probably wouldn't be able to contribute anything; can you show me where the bathroom is?" Lindel asked.

The one General looked at the other. He sighed and said to open the door.

"Ma'am this is top secret, after words we'll have to have you sign some documents." The General said.

Lindel nodded and said she still had to use the bathroom as they were all escorted in.

"Pictures please." The General asked. A soldier quickly gathered up what they had and showed them to the three of them.

"We weren't focused on the island, assuming of course that you were there taking your own recordings. But as you see there's a tiny blast of light, people coming out, and then followed by several more tiny blasts of light. The next picture we have is you and everybody else swimming."

"This isn't real high quality." Dennis said. "What is it?"

"To me honest it looks like a walking cow with horns." Dennis chuckled and looked up at him. "I didn't see this, was it above me? I saw the lights, I saw the blasts around me, and then I started swimming.

"This is all we have. Most of our instruments as you know were Doppler's. The media is eating this up and sites already are claiming of extra-terrestrials visiting us."

"Same excuse for everything. When something is unexplainable – blame it on the E.T.'s. Is there any way to enhance this image?"

"Any more and the DPI becomes unrecognizable. That is the best shot we have and it's been cleaned up a lot. To be honest we're only about eighty percent sure, our instruments may have been interfered with when the cloud dispersed, not to mention all of the magnetic forces realigning themselves all of a sudden." The soldier said.

"I don't know anything about that; I wasn't looking at my magnetic readings then. I'm assuming this little dot is probably you. I…can't see me, but I would have been right here." Dennis said pointing off the page.

"Ma'am do you remember anything?" The General asked.

"Uh…to be honest I was thinking about different ways of getting to know Dennis here…in friendlier ways, but I only remember the same thing Dennis said. I was taking photographs and monitoring seismic abnormities…which I'm sure is probably at the bottom of the ocean right now. Had I seen a big cow, I'm certain I would have remembered it. Usually aliens are green and in flying saucers though aren't they?"

"Thank you for your help. I assure you Dennis is happily married and we have much to do." Mohania said. He turned to the other Generals and motioned for them to leave. They nodded. "Now if you will just head outside and up the ramp to your right one of our officers will take care of you." Mohania said gently pushing both of them outside the door.

"Wonderful…now we have aliens teaming up with flying cows." Mohania sighed in frustration and sat the papers down on the desk next to the soldier.

"Sir? What the hell? Sir come take a look at this…" One of the soldiers said. This attracted the attention of everybody in the room. Mohania stayed by the door.

"'We want to discuss the terms of your surrender; any hostile aggressions towards us will result in your death?' When did this come in?" The General asked.

"That's the thing…it just came up on my screen. I was working on reading the data, when all of a sudden instead of numbers, this came up and my computer froze.

"This is horse shit, they never talked to us before…and surrender to who? This is from this world…what the hell?" The general said as the middle of the ground quickly opened up sending all of them and the computers falling into the ground.

"Am I going to squash any rogue's?" Mohania asked. Trackolania appeared above his head with several documents and keys.

"Still reaching into random people's pants eh?" Mohania said slamming the ground shut. The entire building shook and the top level suddenly fell into their room. Mohania shouted in surprise and opened the door. Cries of help came as the rest of the building began to shake and crumble.

"I take it that's our queue to leave?" Dennis asked.

"No, you stay here and watch – let me know how it turns out." Mohania said running away with Lindel. Lindel activated her trinket, turning her into one of the male generals. They ran up to the entrance and saw that an unseen force was holding the door.

"Warlock's first." Mohania said running out. The three of them ran out.

"This job is done, now that we know they don't have much to go on and a cover story is already in place and the only credible eye-witnesses are dead, the next plan is to create a diversion. It will have to be something big." Dennis said.

"I can blow up the world." Mohania said.

"Too big, I've got an idea…not something I want to tell my children one day but it would work. We need to get a plane and fly to the White House. Underground they have a central processing system for everything on the planet – nobody sneezes without them knowing it. Probably most of the data was sent there, it could be in other places but after my idea nobody will give to two shits about it." Dennis said.

"See Mohania, two shits sounds better than ass." Lindel said. Mohania flicked her off and asked which white house.

"The White House…where the President lives?" Mohania shrugged and looked at Lindel.

"We need to get in a plane and get there quickly. There's a hanger over there. There's bound to be some guards and I doubt we'll get past them…and two of them just died all of a sudden." Dennis said looking over at what just happened.

"Let's move!" Lindel said starting to run.

Trackolania was assassinating every person that came out to investigate what just happened. The current count was up to seven.

"That plane would work." Dennis said.

"Great…how does it work?" Mohania asked.

"Shit…I was hoping you guys knew how to fly." Dennis asked.

"I can fly…just not a plane thingy." Lindel said.

"Ok leave this to me." Mohania said. He saw a door and quickly barged into it and yelled, "Quick! Are there any dwarfs or gnomes in here?" Mohania said looking around. Everybody stared at him blankly.

"Sorry…bad habit…" Mohania closed the door waited a second and burst back into it and said, "Quick, are there any people that can fly that piece of shit out there! We're under attack, and I've got information I need to personally deliver to the White House!" Several people volunteered and began running past him.

"I'll begin assembling our air force. What are the details" several commanders said and began to respond as Mohania motioned to leave the room.

"They are coming in at high altitudes. Get them ready, but don't launch them yet. I don't want a bunch of people watching hundreds of fighter jets taking off, especially after what just happened." Mohania said.

They all looked at each other and said, "What just happened?"

Mohania became frustrated and ran up to them and blasted a wave of intense fire at them. He then continued to cast his fire spells until the last one lay motionless.

Mohania ran out as Lindel asked how the diplomacy went.

"Same as usual." Mohania grinned.

"Stop prepping the damn plane; it's supposed to be ready to go! Is it fueled up?" Dennis asked.

"Yes."

"Where's my pilots?" Dennis asked.

"Already beginning the preflight check list." The same soldier replied back.

"Great! Let's get there before they get us…" Dennis said running up the ramp with Mohania, Lindel, and Trackolania right behind them. One of the soldiers closed the door behind them and was shown to their seats.

Ten seconds past when Mohania blurted out, "What are they doing, building the damn thing before we leave?"

"Sir, this is normal routine." Getting in front of Mohania to stop him from moving towards the cockpit.

"Are you doing what I think you are doing soldier?" Mohania said sternly down at the soldier.

"No sir. Sorry sir, just force of habit." The soldier said.

"Is it normal routine for people to suddenly appear out of nowhere, take down our ships and send us death threats that we don't know where they originated from? Let me reply back with, 'Sorry, this isn't normal routine let us get our shit together first and then you can attack us.'" Mohania said.

"Sorry sir won't happen again." The soldier said extremely uncomfortable.

"You, stay here. Come with me General." Mohania said to Lindel. Both of them raced forward to the cockpit and saw that the cabin crew was still flicking switches and making radio contact.

"We have a problem here. The problem is this plane is still on the ground. I've flown many of these things…push the damn on button!"

"Yes sir, just as soon as we are done." Mohania drew one a magnum from one of the soldiers doing something on the right side of him and shot him in the head.

"Go!" Mohania yelled. The captain powered the engines up as fast as he could and released the brakes. The plane leapt forward and burning everybody alive in the hanger.

"I want this thing going as fast as you can the entire way, I don't care if we break any rules. Keep it low, quiet and fast – you people have no idea what is coming at us. I apologize for what I just did, but if you knew what we have evidence of and have seen you would be shitting yourselves and running for the hills." Mohania said.

"You will be facing a court marshal for that." The co-pilot said.

"How many people does it take to fly this plane?"

"One, but it's easier with…" Mohania unloaded another bullet into the co-pilot's head.

"I think I've made my point. Lindel make sure we get there ok." Mohania said running back.

"Your name isn't Lindel…what the hell is going on?" The pilot said as he saw tiny particles of dust flying into his eyes. Seconds later he reached down and pushed the plane even harder.

"Damn it Trackolania, I was going to kill him!" Mohania said. Trackolania smiled and scratched the word "Accident" on the carpet with his dagger.

"Fine but I get to kill the next one." Mohania said back to him. Trackolania scratched the number two on the ground and pointed where he just was.

"Those didn't count."

"Why doesn't he talk?" Dennis asked as he saw Trackolania vanish and a dagger being held against his throat from behind him.

"Why don't you ask him again?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Sorry…sorry…" Dennis said holding up his hands. Trackolania lowered his dagger and walked to the front of the plane.

"These people are idiots. I probably would have had a better chance portalling us there." Lindel said in the captain's body. "But according to his mind we should be there in ten minutes."

"Can you do eight minutes?" Mohania asked as they crashed through a billboard and then hit an enormous updraft. Mohania was thrown to the ground and rolled backwards. He picked himself back up and walked up to meet up with Lindel.

"Ten is good. Just don't kill us in the mean time." Mohania said sitting down in a chair.

"He keeps telling me we need to go higher, but the straightest point between two distances is a straight line. I don't understand what he is talking about.

"Depends on who is standing on the line I guess." Mohania said.

Lindel saw what he was talking about and quickly pulled back on the controls. The jet rocketed almost straight up as the oncoming skyscrapers approached them.

"I would just like to reemphasize that I would like to not die in here." Mohania said.

"Fine fine…I'll do what he says." Lindel said sounding frustrated.

"Ok beeping light and more beeping lights. Probably we should think about leaving from what he is telling me. Lindel began to make a portal in front of them and channeled her power into it. It quickly became as large as the plane, but was matching the same speed as them.

"Ok, now for us. I'll need more power, anybody else left alive?"

"No…thanks to Trackolania." Mohania said.

"But you probably would have killed him anyways, right?" Lindel asked.

"You're missing the point."

"We need that door blasted open then and I'll float you and Dennis down, Trackolania is on his own." Lindel said running away from the cockpit.

Mohania followed her back and saw that Trackolania had already blown the door open.

"You owe me two now!" Mohania said as he grabbed Dennis and jumped out of the door. "By the way we're jumping now!"

"We're going to die!"

"Probably, so what are you feeling right now? Anything in particular you want to talk about?" Mohania asked as he looked up at the plane fly through the portal and disappear. Several missiles flew up at the plane completely missing it and flying off in several different directions.

"Huh…well that's bad news for somebody…" Mohania said casually as he summoned his carpet a couple of feet before they hit the ground and quickly flew away. They landed on top of a rooftop with only limited exposure to what just happened. Lindel flew down casually with Trackolania next to him.

"Did we make a change in plans?" Mohania asked banishing his carpet.

"Trackolania was scared, so I had to improvise."

"Your improvise and my ass are going to meet if that happens again." Mohania said.

They paused for a second. "If you don't think about it, it makes sense." Mohania said.

"You guys are going to get me killed!" Dennis yelled.

"Only if we are taking fire and I have no other way of protecting myself. So time is running short, how do we get into this subterranean hell hole?" Mohania asked.

Dennis took several deep breaths and sat down.

"Fine, you rest, I'll figure it out." Lindel said flying into his eyes. She ran through all of his ideas and finally said, "Holy shit – that's hilarious! You are even more sick and demented than Mohania!" Lindel said out loud using his voice. Lindel flew out of his eyes and reformed in front of him. Mohania glared at her.

"He said it…not me. Anyways let me start poking my head around. Go put Dennis somewhere safe." Lindel said and began to open a series of portals and sticking her head in them. After a moment Lindel felt a tug on her robe. She turned around to see Trackolania pointing at Mohania.

"He's safe." Mohania said. Dennis was hanging at the end of a flag pole trying to hold perfectly still.

"What if he falls?" Lindel asked.

"Hadn't thought that far ahead…ok let me pick another place." Mohania said.

"Ok, how about you let Trackolania find a safe spot for him – you had your turn." Lindel said still creating portals and sticking her head in them. She finally found one that she leaned halfway into and then pulled herself back.

"Got it. Mohania I need you to stay out of trouble." Lindel said and began to speak to Trackolania.

"No problem." Mohania said back. Lindel just smacked herself in the head realizing what she just said.

"Ok, you know what, let's all go together. Dennis stay put…do not move…" Lindel said as she channeled her power into the portal and made it open wider.

The three of them stepped into a storage closest as Lindel closed the portal behind them and softly whispered the plan. The three of them nodded as Lindel disappeared and floated outside the closest.

"Crap…what was I supposed to do again?" Mohania asked. Lindel's arm appeared in the door as she flipped him the bird.

He summoned his succubus and commanded her to instantly disappear.

"Ok, now we need to get out of the closet without anybody seeing us." Mohania whispered. Trackolania nodded, instantly vanished and opened the door from the other side.

"You're an ass…" Mohania said at Trackolania as he smiled back at him. Trackolania then disappeared and Mohania's succubus ran out and into the middle of the room. Mohania stuck his head out far enough just to ensure that she was in the right place. The plan then went flawless.

"So you catch the game last night?" One of the men said with his hands behind his head and his feet up on the desk.

"In between banging you mom I did." The other said not looking at him.

"You're what…forty seven and you still use that joke…"

"It wasn't a joke…" The other man said smiling.

"You know, the nicest piece of ass could fall in your lap and it would take you at least two hours to get a hard on."

"Shit…you have no idea…" Both of the men suddenly stopped talking, leaned forward and began typing away at their keyboards as fast as their fingers would let them. Windows were opening and closing, code was flying across the screen and everything appeared to be forming into a little ball in the center. A co-worker was interested in what shut them up and walked over. The succubus instantly took control of the man's mind and walked back to his desk and sat down. The succubus then released control of his mind and he looked around in a daze.

The succubus had to do this twice until the two men stopped typing and the circle was complete with the word "Execute?" blinking. They body activated their screen savers and Lindel made their minds go dormant. They just simple sat there looking ahead as if they were doing their job. Lindel then flew over to two other programmers and did the same thing. Their fingers flew across the keyboard – never missing a letter. Within minutes the same word "Execute?" started to blink. Mohania and Lindel coordinated their efforts as the hours passed. Trackolania was causing minor distractions as well to keep everybody's attention away.

Then all at once, everybody reached down and pushed "Enter". Lindel flew back into the closest, Mohania banished his succubus and Trackolania popped back in as well.

"Dennis is one sick, twisted pervert." Mohania said.

"Jealous?" Lindel asked.

"He learned it from me." Mohania said. Trackolania looked back at both of them with his finger to his mouth, motioning for them to be quiet.

Everybody suddenly snapped out of their trance and looked around.

"Wow, where did the time go?" One of them said.

"Yeah no kidding…is it really five already? Well…another day another dollar." A man said standing up and gathering up his belongings. Suddenly the vast array of monitors in front of them all went fuzzy for several seconds. Then back to the normal stations, except for the top one. It was a live feed from the President's office with the President speaking.

"What the hell?" One of the co-workers said. "You see this is stuff we should know about…not be the last ones to know." Everybody started their usual pissing and moaning went about packing up their things. Suddenly another television flicker on, then another – as each second passed each other of them flickered on until all two hundred of them showed the President speaking.

"Shit! What's going on? Check the logs! Who authorized this? Where is this feed coming from?" A man said blasting out orders.

"It's a live feed from the President himself…it's his authorization codes." Several of the people reported back. "It's live!"

"What the hell is he doing?" The man yelled back at the TV's. The President was talking about normal topics such as rising costs of fuel, the economy, preserving our monuments and forests. So they didn't think anything to bad was happening.

"Every one of our satellites are beaming this, including our spy satellites! All of the radio bands are broadcasting this…everything that we planned for to take over the world has been begun!"

"Impossible! What the hell is he doing!" The man yelled again. His blue tooth phone rang and a loud voice came blasting out of it.

"Shut it off! Everybody shut it down!"

"Initializing shut down commands…and done!" A man said and looked up at the monitors as they continued to broadcast. He looked back down and typed the same command again. Their phones all started ringing and they were constantly bombarded with demands and answers.

"Shut it down!" The man said again even louder.

"It's not responding! Nothing is…the codes are from the President himself – he's the one broadcasting it!" One of the technicians said.

"That's funny, because he just called me from the same location that it is showing on those monitors and he's bitching a fit at me! Are we being hacked? Where else could it be coming from?"

"And that concludes the normal bullshit that you hear everyday – most Presidents say that stuff just to keep you all happy, but you know what keeps me happy? My huge penis! Through history all Presidents have had large penis's, which is why a woman will never become a President because you need a cock to steer the country in the right direction." The President said. The entire room fell silent as they heard what was just said. Everybody in the room then heard the President screaming into the man's ear piece.

"Blow the transmitters, now!" The man demanded.

"Blowing transmitters…now!" A man said as a series of explosions rocked the ground above them. The signal kept transmitting.

"Blow the satellites!" The man blasted back.

"Blowing them…now!" Another man said. The picture continued to be broadcasted.

"And Presidents with large cocks generally get what they want. For example, I have the Queen of England under my desk right now sucking on my cock." The image showed the President wheeling his chair back and standing up. The Queen of England, or somebody that looked exactly like her, appeared to be going down on the President.

They all stared in shock again.

"Fire our missiles at any transmitter within a one thousand yard radius. Locate any aircraft in the sky right now above us and shoot it down!

A man in the back typed in several coordinates and began flipping switches, but the President kept talking.

"Just a while ago, you had a President…just a second…" the President said and leaned over. "You're going to have to let go of daddy's dick for awhile, I need to speak to the people." Then the Queen of England, who apparently sounded just like the Queen said several profanities and walked off the stage.

"Ok, we'll go shove something in your ass until I'm done – then you have to wait in line again."

"Cut the hard-lines!" The man yelled in desperation. "Turn off all power, pop the breakers…somebody fucking do something!" People were frantically running all over the place trying to do as much as they could to stop the transmission. Lindel made the portal and the three of them left.

"So anyways as I was saying, the President's cock is directly proportionate to the strength of their country. A little while ago, we had a President for getting head from an intern. Had she not gagged on his cock and spit it out when he ejaculated, it would have been no big deal. And that is the lesson for today boys and girls…always swallow…never spit."

"Shit…shit…shit…" The man said over and over as the line went dead and he heard a giant thundering sound coming their way. The bunker-buster flew through the ground, landed in their headquarters and exploded. Everybody and everything in the room was destroyed instantly. As the commotion settled a monitor hanging out of the wall flickered on and said, "As my President I wish to fair you well, and say… "April Fools!" – hope you are laughing, but the way this wasn't broadcasted throughout the entire world…just wanted to see what you would do. Good bye."

Several secret service men burst into the President's office and quickly surrounded him as the leader began giving out orders.

"What's going on?" The President asked.

"You just were broadcasted all over the world on every channel and radio station and you insulted the Queen of England and were talking about your penis. Your life is in danger sir we have to move you, now!"

"Look around you idiot!" The President said as the leader did just that.

"What did the President say about me, might I ask?" The Queen of England said lowing her phone.

"I assure you my majesty, I said nothing of the such and there is a good explanation for this, isn't there!" The President said turning around looking at him.

"There's a camera located in here…it broadcasted you…" The leader said looking around and seeing many world leaders staring at them watching a game on their phones.

"Isn't it my understanding that this room is constantly swept for bugs and monitored for transmitting signals?" The President asked.

"It is." The leader said back.

"We are all currently watching a football game, the national championship in Brazil at the same time on our new phones I have just given everybody. Is it safe to assume that this signal was broadcasted on every station, except for this one? Afterwards we are going to have brunch and discuss issues between our countries. I assured everyone that this place is safe, and I will further assure that this place is safe for us to socialize, just like you are about to assure everybody the same thing as well and give a better explanation as to why we are all staring at you and I missed that goal?" The President said.

"Look behind you sir, we fired missiles our missiles, and we blew our transmitters – the evidence is all out there." The leader said. The President sighed and turned around.

"I'm assuming what you want me to look at is the gardeners trimming the hedges? They come highly recommended. It is a beautiful view isn't it?" The President asked calmly.

"We had to drop a bunker-buster to stop it from continuing!" The leader said.

"On my watch, you ordered to drop a bomb on American soil, killing how many of our citizens to disrupt something that obviously didn't happen. Get him out of here!" The President ordered. "I want him imprisoned, now!"

"Yes Mr. President." The secret service agents said and quickly detained him. The President followed them out and closed the doors behind him. He spun one of his secret service personal around and said, "This never happened…he is obviously on some sort of illegal drug isn't he? He's been having issues like this for awhile and finally flipped out today…Do you understand?"

"Completely Mr. President, we'll take care of it." The secret serviceman said.

"Good, I'm in need of a new leader – come and discuss this with me after the damage has been contained. I want a full report, and I will hold a press conference afterwards explaining what happened today. A missile was never launched today, is that understood? There was an explosion, it is still under investigation but nobody was hurt. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes Mr. President, I will personally see to it." The secret serviceman said pulling out a syringe. He pushed the pump forward and it let out a pop sound and liquid began to spray out of it.

"Glad you understand. Congratulations on your new promotion and uncovering this madman before he had the chance to do anything stupid. It's a shame that you had to beat him up so much in order to subdue him. Send word that I need people in here now explaining what just happened to my guests and to quickly divert their attention – make sure their story coincides with what I just told you."

"It will be done Mr. President." The secret serviceman said and began delivering orders.

"Pardon the intrusion everybody. I assure everybody this will be fully investigated by my staff. I have ordered my staff to present us with some possible Hors d'œuvres. Also I have arranged a personal flight out to the game for all of us – that is if your country doesn't win it before we get there." The President said smiling and clapping his hands together.

On the stairs of the White House reporters were swarming and asking question after question about this incident. The truth telling leader of the Secret Service was now under the influence of a heavy drug, and badly beaten up. The new leader of the Secret Service gave a brief statement, but said a public relations personal would be out to explain it while this criminal was taken care of.

This time…everything was in live broadcast.

"Flawless." Lindel said bringing everybody back into the room in the police station and closing the portal. She had a big smile on her face.

"Oh shoot…how long have we been gone?" Mohania asked.

"Eh – about six, maybe seven hours…why?" Jacklyn asked.

"We still have twenty four hours…minus whatever you just said. That gives us plenty of time to go…uh…ensure the job has been completed." Mohania said.

"Jacklyn, our mission was successful. Everything happened according to plan, the pictures of us have been destroyed and a huge distraction arose that everybody will focus on instead. If it wasn't we would not have returned." Lindel said.

"Hush woman…let me tell the story." Mohania said playfully pushing her aside.

"How big was the fish this time Mohania…" Strings said in an unamused voice.

"No fish, but I did end up killing more people than everybody else did." Mohania said quickly. Trackolania started yanking on Mohania's arm. "Yes yes…you killed some, but luckily for me I was there to rescue you…"

Trackolania stared at him and then looked over at Jacklyn. She smiled back at him nodded.

"Where are Herrior and Skyka?" Lindel asked.

"Herrior is still gone, Skyka left to go kick some ass – also I was ordered to kick Strings in the balls." Icis said seeming proud of herself.

"She was joking about that Icis." Jacklyn said looking over at her.

"Oh my…I've made a terrible mistake. I misunderstood…Strings are you ok?" Icis said in an unapologetic voice smiling at him as he still groaned in pain.

"I…hate…all…of you…" Strings said in a painful high pitch voice.

"Get your own line, I came up with that one first." Mohania said as Icis walked over and healed Strings.

"Mohania I have another job for you. Create a duplicate image of yourself over there standing in the corner." Jacklyn said. Mohania anxiously casted the spell and then waited for his next instructions.

"Ok, now go ahead and tell the entire story to him. Make sure he understands every word." Jacklyn said. Mohania nodded with excitement and ran over to begin telling the story.

Everybody stared in awe as Mohania told the story to himself.

"I didn't think that would actually work…" Jacklyn said laughing to herself.

"The problem is going to be which one is going to figure it out first. We may have to separate the two." Lindel said. Lindel turned to Dennis and said, "So we did your plan and it seems like we accomplished our goal. I have no idea how what we did is going to help you live a different life, but what's done is done. Time to return the favor."

"The place with all of the monitors that I told you about…or you read my mind about, that is where I worked. We were given vacation time, only with the exception that we had to work during this time. I put in for vacation many times and was denied, this time they thought they could kill two birds with one stone by sending me out. I know some people, I'll get a fake name, social security card, and birth certificate and it will look like I've been in the system the whole time. Are you really going to kill my wife and the other women?" Dennis asked.

"That is what you agreed to and those are our orders. I have an imprint of what they look like and what your children look like. I didn't have the time to bring up any other memories or an exact location to open a portal to. I'll need to get this information from you; this will only take a minute or two." Lindel said and dispersed herself into thousands of tiny particles and flew into his eyes.

"I can give you their address." Dennis said out loud.

"Naw she does things differently. Don't have a clue how she does it, but she's been accurate every time." Branzer said. "She won't hurt you."

"When you guys normally go out, is it normal to be absolutely scared shitless at what happens – even if you have a plan that works perfectly?" Dennis asked.

"To be honest Dennis, fear is always on our mind. But in battle we channel our minds and bodies on the battle. You must not allow your mind to alter or you will fall in battle. Even if you are mortally wounded, you may still be able to do something to prevent others from dying. Like Herrior told you, we are the good guys. There are things much worse out there…things you couldn't even imagine." Jacklyn said.

Lindel floated back out and said she had the information.

"I don't remember telling you anything?" Dennis asked.

"You didn't ask. I'm scanning different parts of your brain so quickly that sometimes people don't even know what I'm doing. Anyways, Jacklyn I am weak from the battle but it is your call. Shall we strike now?" Lindel asked.

"Do you have enough power to do the trips?" Jacklyn asked.

"No, I can create three portals before I would have to feast. Leaving a withered woman lying in her house would raise questions." Lindel said.

"Ok, give me a moment." Jacklyn said and got off the ground. She activated her trinket and walked out the door.

"What do you mean feast?" Dennis asked.

"Have you noticed that I'm different from you?" Lindel asked back with a smile sitting down on the ground. "That last trip really drained my power. It will recharge over time, but to complete this agreement I need to reenergize my powers."

Jacklyn walked outside the door and stopped the closest officer. "We need some help."

"Absolutely, name it." The officer said.

"Are there any prisoners in your holding cells that are scheduled to die?" Jacklyn asked.

"No, we don't have the death penalty in Michigan. Sometimes we find loopholes and send them to another state for their execution, why?" The officer asked.

"One of our party members needs to feast on a living person." Jacklyn said.

"Whoa…you've just overstepped my bounds. Lieutenant Eye just came in, go talk with him. Jacklyn nodded and walked over to him.

"I need to see you outside." Jacklyn said grabbing his arm and pulling him back out.

"Ok…good thing I still have my jacket on." Eye said back with a smile.

"Our banshee needs to reenergize her powers for our next assault. To do so, she needs to feast on a living human. Pick one." Jacklyn said.

"Uh…what now?" Eye said back.

"Your officers are not the prime choice given our friendship we have built; however your prisoners would make fine meal. Which one of them can she use to get her power restored from?" Jacklyn asked.

"You are asking me which of the prisoners should die." Eye replied back.

"Yes, if you don't make the decision I will for you." Jacklyn said back.

"You guys don't mess around do you?" Eye asked back with a smile.

"Fine, I'll do it for you." Jacklyn said and summoned Lindel with her mind. She floated up to her and materialized.

"Make it quick. None of them are off limits. Fill your powers and then continue with the mission." Jacklyn said.

"Whoa…ok let me give you some names of some of the ones I'd rather not put up with." Eye said.

"Which ones Eye?" Lindel asked.

"You're still going to call me that?" He asked back.

"Yes." Lindel said smiling back.

"Fine, I'll give you their full name, cell block, and report." Eye said back.

"No, Lindel to retrieve the information from him. Gather what you need, perform your feeding and then return to our room." Jacklyn said and began to walk away. Lindel banished into Eye's mind and began to rapidly retrieve the information.

"Careful what you touch in there." Eye said. Several seconds later Lindel flew out but was invisible.

"Act confused when this happens." Lindel whispered into his ear and then flew away.

"Not a problem. Most of the time I am confused around you guys." Eye replied back.

Lindel flew through several walls and into the cell block. She floated through the room and into cell number three twenty one. There were two males in the cell, one on the bottom bunk reading a magazine, and the other using the toilet. Lindel flew down to the one on the bunk and whispered softly into his ear.

"If you want to live – don't move." The man immediately looked around and tried to find where the voice was coming from.

"Don't…move…don't scream, don't yell, lay there and shut up or I will kill you as well." Lindel whispered back into his ear. The man went back to reading his magazine but was very scared. Lindel floated over to the man and waited until he finished his business and asked, "Still reading that crap?"

The man on the bed didn't say a word. Lindel materialized behind the man that was on the toilet in her banshee form and sunk her teeth into the man's neck. She then shoved her hands inside of the man's chest and squeezed his lungs shut. He couldn't scream as he felt his life empty from his body. He eventually fell to his knees, and then face first onto the concrete.

"You did well; if you look at me I will kill you." Lindel said in her banshee voice. Lindel moved her hand over the bite mark and sealed it shut.

"The next two I'm going to kill is next to you. Count to three hundred and then start yelling for help. Count slowly." Lindel said vanishing again into the air.

The man was petrified as he started counting. He heard several gasps of a man trying to breath, a gargling sound, and then the sound of a human head hitting hard against the wall, and the other falling completely to the ground with a dull thud.

Afterwards Lindel flew back to him invisible to he couldn't see him. "You should be on one hundred now, if you aren't count faster. You have done as I have requested and you will be rewarded. I will see if I can reduce your sentence or have you released all together. You have my word." Lindel then flew through the roof as the man started to count faster. He reached three hundred, looked over and screamed.

"I'm back. Jacklyn can I make a request? Seriously is he still talking to himself?" Lindel asked.

"He's called himself an ass three times now. What is it?" Jacklyn asked back.

"A man helped me and did as I asked him to. His name is Tyron Becker. In my opinion he should have his sentence reduced or released." Lindel said.

"I'll see what I can do. Since Mohania is busy, and Dennis can't go – Strings how about you go with Lindel?" Jacklyn asked.

"Aye that be fine. Can we all lay off the kicking in the nuts?" Strings asked.

"Report back within the hour. You may drain more power if you need Lindel." Jacklyn said. Jacklyn walked over to the door, opened it and closed it behind her as Lindel opened the portal.

"Are you ready to toot that horn of yours?" Lindel asked walking through the portal.

"They won't know what happened." Strings said following behind her as the portal shut.

Jacklyn looked around and saw Eye again. She walked over to him, took the metal device from his ear and tossed it aside.

"I could have asked my wife to call me back later." Eye said sounding annoyed.

"Lindel wants a man called Tyron Becker released or have his sentence reduced for helping us. Make it happen." Jacklyn said staring down at him.

"I…will see what I can do." Eye said back and began to type on his computer.

"His parole hearing is in two months, I can put in a good word for him then." Eye said studying his information.

"Is that all you can do?" Jacklyn asked.

"Without raising much attention yes. I can go up the chain of command though and see if we can move that up to a sooner date and will speak with the Lieutenant concerning this. He was sentenced to ten years for robbery; he's served two of them. I know we can knock off two of those years right off the top. I'll throw in good behavior, and the possibility of house arrest along with community service. It might shave off another two years, but the problem being is if he creates any problems we have to document them, that I can't get around." Eye said back.

"I'll go speak with him." Jacklyn said and went to turn around to leave. Eye quickly jumped up from his chair, forgetting about his cell phone and said, "This might be easier if I come along and we do this professionally."

"Fine." Jacklyn said.

They walked into the jail cell where the paramedics were on the scene and Tyron was moved to a different cell while the investigation took place. Both Jacklyn and Eye walked towards his cell in the back and Eye opened it for her. Jacklyn picked him up and slammed him against the wall.

"Listen real close. My friend tells me we owe you a favor. The officer behind me thinks he can knock off four years of your sentence. He is going to try for me, but you cannot create any problems. Is that understood?" Jacklyn asked.

"Whoa…I'm the one that saw what happened. You should be cutting me a bargain." Tyron said back smiling.

"You're right. What you saw today will happen to you tonight. Pleasant dreams." Jacklyn said suddenly releasing the man as he fell to the ground.

"Whoa…wait a second…hold on." Tyron yelled quickly. Jacklyn turned around and looked at him.

"Change your mind did you?" Jacklyn asked.

"Look, there are rumors all over that this place is haunted and a lot of the people that come here don't make it out alive. I want to make it out of here alive. I agree, what do I have to do?" Tyron asked.

"I told you and I do not repeat myself. The next week we'll be observing you. If you do not do as we ask, then a ghost may visit you. Pleasant dreams." Jacklyn said and walked away. Eye locked the door, and ran to catch up. Both of them walked outside and Eye was curious about something.

"You run things differently than Herrior does, don't you?" Eye asked. Jacklyn stopped and looked around to make sure nobody was listening.

"Herrior is busy. In his absence he assigns leadership roles. If he doesn't, I take control of the group. I lead differently than Herrior does, just the same as the rest of our leaders lead differently from both of us. Same is probably true in your party. Are we done shooting the shit now? I've got some problems I need to handle." Jacklyn said turning around and walking away from him.

"Wow, ok." Eye said. For some reason he glanced over and saw his Lieutenant next to Herrior with two other officers. He walked over and asked what was happening.

"He's asleep, and I don't want to wake him. He is in rough shape and I think it would be impossible to drag him back inside. Even if he could, he would probably slaughter all of us. I'm rotating guards, but I'm sticking with him until he wakes up. Go run the department until I come back." The Lieutenant said.

"Do you want to know what's happened so far?" Eye asked.

"Good news or bad news?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Three people were just killed in our cells – natural causes of course. A group of them came back, and another group is heading back out."

"Could go either way then; I hear they get antsy if they are sitting in one room for too long. Has any of this leaked out to the press yet?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Are you shitting me? I would like to go home alive, and everybody else has the same thoughts. Help them and they help you. Betray them; they kill you and all of your family. Everybody knows that, nobody is stupid." Eye said back.

"Good, let's keep everybody alive." The Lieutenant said and told him to leave.

"Should I tell them a message about how he is doing?" Eye asked.

"I've considered that…but then I also considered the fact that I would like to go home alive as well. Have they asked about him?"

"No."

"Then until they do, let's just do what we are doing."

Lindel and Strings appeared inside of a small home. Strings began to play a song that drew everybody's attention in the house.

"What is that? Who is there?" A lady called down.

"A simple song to serenade the lady of the house." Lindel said and vanished as Strings continued to play.  
"What? What the hell!" The lady screamed and suddenly was quiet. Lindel had obtained control of the lady's body and walked down the stairs.

"The child is dead." Lindel said using the lady's voice.

"Rats. Well we can't uphold that part of the bargain. You feast on her; I'll start destroying the house." Strings said and began to play his instrument again.

Lindel flew out of the lady's body and quickly sank her teeth into her, draining her of her life. The lady's body slowly became wrinkled and fell to the ground, unable to stand anymore. Lindel began to open a portal as acid rained down on the house. Once the portal was opened, Strings began to play much faster as the acid rained down much quickly, dissolved the roof and everything it touched. Strings then quickly changed tunes once he saw the acid had penetrated every section of the house and produced an enormous fire ball. He launched it at the far wall and quickly jumped through the portal. Lindel shut it behind them as the fire interacted with the acid, producing a huge explosion – throwing the potent acid and fire all over the home. Five minutes late the house had half dissolved and the rest caught fire. There would be no way to explain this when the firefighters arrived. The acid would continue to eat away for days, well beyond when the fire burned out.

"Sorry Dennis, the first child is dead. I scanned the woman's mind. Died four years ago crossing a road and got hit by a car." Lindel said sympathetically.

Dennis looked at her not knowing what to say.

"I know…I'm sorry. It appears that more than just you have been lying. We will attempt the next one now." Lindel said opening a portal and channeling her power into it.

Strings and Lindel appeared in the backyard and heard children laughing and playing on the opposite side of the house.

They both looked at each other and sighed. "We have to do what we have to do." Strings said. Lindel nodded and disappeared while saying, "I'll scout it out first, and then we will attack."

Lindel flew around and found out that a birthday party was going on. She hovered above them trying to figure out who was Dennis's child. After five minutes of reading random thoughts she couldn't figure it out.

"Strings I don't know. Lead all of them back to you and I will try to identify which parent inside of the home is the one. We may have to start killing one at a time in order to find out which one it is." Lindel said in Strings's mind.

"Don't like the idea of killing a kid one at a time – what if we kill the wrong one? I'll lead them back here and have them create a ruckus. But eventually, we will have to kill all of them and burn the house down." Strings's said back.

"Matthew why aren't you celebrating with the rest of the kids?" A mom came out and asked.

"I'm sad; I want to see my daddy." Matthew replied back.

"Your daddy died hun, but you have a new daddy and he loves you very much."

"That isn't my daddy! He beats you and me! I hate him, and you are a liar!" Matthew said and ran away.

"Hold on Strings, hide yourself somewhere. I want to see what is happening here." Lindel said in Strings's mind. Strings quickly found some cover. He heard the boy running back towards him and into a tree house.

"Matthew Watts! You get back here right now and apologize! He is better than most dad's out there, much better than your previous dad. Do you want me to tell the story again? He ran off, joined the government and killed himself. Is that the role model you want? Is that how you want to become?" The mom said running after him. Lindel flew over and materialized in front of her.

"That's not the story we heard…" Lindel said and quickly flew into the ladies eyes. She didn't have to dig real deep until she found out what she wanted. She told her mind to instantly fall asleep when Lindel flew back out.

"Matthew?" Lindel asked walking forward.

"Who are you?" Matthew asked looking out of the window. "What's wrong with my mom?"

"She's sleeping. Do you want to see your dad? He is very excited to see you." Lindel asked in a sweet voice.

"He's dead." Matthew answered back still sounding scared.

"No he isn't sweetheart, and you've known that all along. Don't be afraid of us, we are here to help you. Do you want to leave this life and start a new one with your dad?" Lindel asked.

"I don't understand." Matthew said. He was about ten years old and tried to figure out what was happening.

"You are safe, but we need to hurry. Can I climb up there with you?" Lindel asked in a hurried voice.

"Who are you? How do you know my dad?" Matthew asked.

"He is in a police station that we work for. Your mother is not able to care for you and you know it. Her husband is a worthless piece of crap. He is safe and he wants to see you, but we have to hurry. Matthew, this is a very grown up decision you need to make in a short time. Look at me. I am not lying to you and you know that. Your dad loves you very much, and you can start a new life with him. No we are not going to kidnap you, or offer you candy." Lindel said reading his thoughts.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Matthew asked.

"I am not like your kind. We are here to right the injustice. Your father fought a great battle with us and in return would like to see you. How about this, I take you to see your father and if you do not want to see him after five minutes, we will bring you back here. I promise." Lindel said.

"Promise?" Matthew asked again.

"You have my word. Matthew I'm going to come up there and we are all going to leave. If when the five minutes is up and you want to come back, the tree house is a perfect place to bring you back unnoticed." Lindel said.

"Matthew! Where are you at?" A yelled out vicious and smashed something in the front yard.

"We have to go quickly." Lindel said floating up to him. Matthew look shocked at her ability to do that.

"Are you an angel? An alien…uh…" Matthew asked.

"None of the above. I have blood just like you do and emotions as well. Do you trust me?" Lindel asked. Matthew nodded.

"Ok keep quiet, what you are about to see will amaze you – but you have to keep quiet. Can you do that?" Lindel asked floating through the tree house wall.

"Whoa…" Matthew said watching her.

"Matthew if you don't show yourself I will punish you for the rest of the summer!" The man yelled.

"Save me from him…please!" Matthew said quickly. Lindel held her hands out and formed a portal. She then channeled her power into it and expanded it big enough for them to both go through. She then closed it behind him. Strings then started to play a song knowing they were gone.

"Dad?" Matthew asked looking at Dennis.

"Holy shit, Matthew!" Dennis looked surprised and ran over and hugged him. Dennis then started rambling off several things that his son would remember that they did and the times that he saw him.

"Slow down dad, I remember. Who are these people…what are these people?" Matthew said looking around.

"They are friends. They will not harm you, oh my word I am so happy to see you!" Dennis said embracing him again.

"Take the child out of this room. I need to go back." Lindel said.

"What's going to happen?" Matthew asked.

"I'll explain later, quickly come with me." Dennis said grabbing his hand and leading him away.

Lindel made a portal and came back into the tree house. She saw that Strings had control over the man's mind and beat his wife to death. She was still unconscious so there wasn't any screaming. The man then said, "I will go into the house, turn on all of the gas valves and after ten minutes I will light a match in front of them. I will do as I am told."

He walked back into the house as Strings followed him in.

"Who is that?" Several people asked as they were suddenly controlled by Strings's music.

"We have to burn this house down. Open all of the gas valves, break the pipes, and then I will light a match." The dad said.

"It will work better if we close all of the windows and doors." A woman as the seven adults quickly ran throughout the house to complete their tasks. Several minutes later they all came back together. A sickening odor was filling the house. Strings changed his tune and they all became vicious and began to fight each other.

"I will be the one to light the match!" They began to say stabbing each other with whatever they could find and gouging at each other. Once the adults were either dead or badly wounded, Strings walked out of the house and shut the door behind him. He climbed up the ladder and got into the tree house with Lindel.

"Maybe Skyka was right; I could probably stand to lose a pound or two." Strings said looking below him and seeing the boards on the ladder that he had broke. Strings then began to play a tune that produced a fireball. As he ended his song the fireball tripled in size outside the tree house and slowly started moving towards the house.

"Well, shall we depart young lady?" Strings said holding out his arm.

"I would be delighted." Lindel said back as they walked through the portal as it closed behind them. The fireball took around twenty seconds to hit the door Strings walked out of. It immediately erupted and engulfed almost the entire back side of the house. As it burned the side of the house, eventually it melted a glass window – igniting the gas inside of the house. The explosion and the shrapnel that was produced from it was a devastating. There would be no explanation of what happened, except for a few bits and pieces of what was obvious.

"Ok two down, one to go." Lindel said.

"Take a breather for a second Lindel." Jacklyn said and patted on the ground next to her. Lindel walked over and sat by her.

"What are your power levels at?" Jacklyn asked.

"Doing ok should have no problem doing the next one – even if we run into trouble and I have to fight." Lindel answered.

"Strings, how are you holding up?" Jacklyn asked.

"Ok, has he taken a break yet?" Strings said turning to look at Mohania.

"He's tiring himself out. I'm slightly concerned about that but I'm not sure how to break the news to him that he's arguing with himself, but I want him ready if we have a battle." Jacklyn said.

"How are our two missing companions?" Lindel asked.

"Herrior is still outside, not sure where Skyka is. However she will probably contact you before she does me to come back. Don't tire yourselves out on the last mission. So far nobody has sensed anything and that's how I like it. I've sent word to Tranquil about the bags of items we've acquired from Therazane. They are collecting them and surveying the grounds as we speak. Lindel can you take a quick fly around the perimeter and see what the general thoughts are? The three you killed shouldn't be a problem, but I just want to get a basic feeling of what's happening." Jacklyn said.

"Will do." Lindel said vanishing and floating up through the roof.

"Crystal, Quinely – still nothing?" Jacklyn asked.

"Nope." Crystal said and Quinely shook her head. Quinely offered to fly around to help, but Jacklyn said that wasn't needed after considering the idea.

"I really don't like to be held up in a building, however we have another assault that may need additional forces, plus we have an exhausted leader and down one healer. I have no doubt that we could handle any moderate force that comes. I have considered sending out groups to survey the area; however that may only draw attention. Either stay or change into your human forms until otherwise ordered. I'll stay and monitor the situation, the rest of you don't have to – but you know my rules I want all of you within ear shot of me." Jacklyn said.

"Jacklyn…" Icis said standing up and walking over to the door.

Jacklyn pulled her blades and asked what it was.

"Somebody is hurt, one of them dying. I can sense it but Lindel is also relaying the information to me as well, three of them, two females and a male." Icis turned around and asked what she should do.

"Stay here." Jacklyn said putting her blades behind her, disappearing into her disguise and walked outside the room. She hurried to the entrance just as they officers were bringing in the wounded.

"She's got five bullets in her. We're not supposed to move her. We have the wounds covered but she's still losing blood and losing consciousness." An officer said. "The other two aren't as bad; they killed the attacker but still could be mortally wounded."

"Did anybody see you leave the area?" Jacklyn asked bending down to examine her.

"No, he shot first. It was unprovoked, we didn't do anything actually. We were walking down…"

"Ok fine shut up. What did you do with the body?" Jacklyn asked.

"Left it there. Should we go secure the scene?" The same officer asked.

"No. Keep for alive for the next minute." Jacklyn said as she stood up and walked away.

"Lindel – can you go find this guy and make sure he's dead? Then find a place to put him. If you need help let me know." Jacklyn said in her mind thinking of Lindel.

"On my way." Lindel said back in Jacklyn's mind.

"Icis, you're up." Jacklyn said holding the door open for her. Icis ran out and over to the wounded.

"Is there new people here that we have to pretend we are bullshit doctors still, or do we have to move them elsewhere to handle this situation?" Jacklyn asked looking at everybody.

"Same people. Getting in his department anymore is very hard, mostly because we don't want anybody new." The officer said.

"Smart man, do your thing Icis." Jacklyn said. Icis stood up and did three quick healing spells on the three of them, and as they did their healing over time affects, Icis began to blast each one individually with the most powerful healing spell that she knew. When the healing spell hit them, they were each covered with a yellow glowing aura.

"That's new." The woman said looking around her as she felt her strength returning. Icis continued to blast each one until they were up able to walk around again. All of the bullets fell out of their bodies and onto the ground.

"You know producing the shield affect is useless in this case. They aren't going to be attacked in the next ten seconds…why even have it? If I was Skyka then my healing would have been stronger and quicker; not only that but I wouldn't have drained myself." Icis sighed and looked over at Jacklyn.

"You did fine." Jacklyn assured her.

"In our previous battles my shields exhausted my mana quickly so I stuck with healing. There are some perks that I have that Skyka doesn't, but she is out healing me by a large portion and she doesn't require as much mana as I do. Even with Dan's help I still am not doing as she can." Icis said.

"You did fine, now is not the time to discuss this. Once our assignments are complete we can talk about that further. Let's head back and talk about this further." Jacklyn said as she turned to walk back.

"Hey…can I thank you guys?" The woman said looking unsure at them.

"No. We were in the right place at the right time. We're investigating your attacker and will clean up the mess. As far as we're concerned nothing happened here, did anybody notice anything otherwise?" Jacklyn asked looking around for a moment. Then she continued, "We're not always going to be here, so bringing your wounded back here may end up killing them. Also don't you have some sort of armor against those weapons?"

"We weren't wearing them." The man said.

"I would suggest wearing them." Jacklyn said as she opened the door for Icis as she walked in. Jacklyn followed behind her closing the door.

"I've incinerated the body. Couldn't get any information out of him, his brain was on several chemicals and by the time I started decoding the information out of it, it quit on me. It drained me, but I can still create a portal and toss him through it. Then I'll need to clean up the mess." Lindel said in her mind.

"Go ahead. I will probably send another member along with you to collect the last child completing our mission to conserve your power." Jacklyn said back in her mind.

"Herrior knows Lindel better than I do. She has several tasks ahead of her and being this long out of Tranquil is putting a drain on her. I want to rotate my people. Bernett you are going with them next. Julie you are on stand-by. I want you stealthed as much as you can. The rest of you do what you have to do to replenish your bodies." Jacklyn said and walked over to Mohania.

"Mohania!" Jacklyn yelled in his ear. He jumped at the sound and turned around to look at her. His conjured image quickly disappeared.

Mohania looked around as if he didn't know where he was. Jacklyn looked at him curiously.

Mohania put his hands to his head and tried to focus. "Where are we, and what's going on?" he asked.

"We're at the police station, you've been arguing with conjured image of yourself." Jacklyn said. Mohania then let out a quiet curse as he fell to his knees and then face first on the floor.

"Mohania?" Jacklyn asked knelling down beside him.

"I feel like shit…what happened?" Mohania asked. Jacklyn rolled him over and he laid perfectly still looking up at the ceiling.

"This is no time for joking around; I'm not in the mood." Jacklyn said.

"I agree, what happened?" Mohania asked looking at the ceiling. He shook his head back and forth as if he didn't recall what happened. "Why are you here did something happen to Herrior?"

"He is resting right now, Mohania what is wrong with you?" Jacklyn asked.

"I'm exhausted…Jacklyn I feel like I'm falling. I don't feel right." Mohania said in a concerned tone looking around. "Where are Skyka and Lindel?"

"They are on a mission right now and we are about ready to deploy for another mission. As soon as we are doing we are going to head back to Tranquil. Now tell me honestly, what is wrong?" Jacklyn asked.

"Jacklyn I have been honest. I feel like I'm falling. I'm dizzy; I've never felt dizzy before. The room is spinning. I feel my life force still strong in me, but…I don't know." Mohania said back.

"Shit, we're down one warlock. I should have pulled you away sooner. Do you feel injured? Icis is here and she can heal you." Jacklyn said.

"No…I mean she can try…but…hell Jacklyn if I didn't know anybody I would say that I was sick. I honest to goodness feel like shit. When was the last time I eat and slept? I don't ever remember a time feeling like this before – even going months without eating and sleeping…Jacklyn I don't know." Mohania said in a sincere voice.

"Branzer contact a Chronomancer, get Mohania back to Tranquil. Stay with him." Jacklyn said. She turned to Mohania as Branzer pulled out his hearthstone and said, "You better not be shitting with me!"

"Not this time, you have my word. Ugh my head…what is happening to me! I would be puking if I had a stomach…" Mohania said in quick desperation.

A portal opened. A blood elf can out and helped Branzer take Mohania through the portal back to Tranquil. After the portal closed Jacklyn took a deep sigh and said, "That was my fault. Damn it that was my fault! Whatever happened to him was my fault! It was supposed to be a joke; I should have stopped him earlier. So now we are down two more, a healer that is unsure about herself and sending out another hunter on the next mission. Once we get back to Tranquil I will take full responsibility for this, but for now after Lindel has finished her job I'm going to give her the order to accomplish the next task. Crystal are you sure you don't sense anything that might be messing with him, any unknown warlock things that we should be aware of?"

"Jacklyn I will help in any way that I can, but I don't sense any demons and I haven't got a clue what he was going through, but I believe what he said. Also he would not leave our group, especially if he got the chance to do some more killing – I mean we all know that." Crystal said.

"The blood has been cleaned up and the body has been disposed of, I'm going to continue my sweep and then meet back up with you in a couple of minutes." Lindel said in Jacklyn's mind.

"We just lost Branzer and Mohania. I sent them back to Tranquil. Something is wrong with Mohania, he might not survive and we haven't a damn clue what is wrong. All we can do is just wait. Go ahead and continue gathering information and then come back." Jacklyn said back in her mind.

A small knock on the door came.

"No what?" Jacklyn said walking over and opening. She saw the same three cops that Icis healed.

"Look, a lot of shit just came up and we only have about half of our party – most of which aren't fully refreshed yet." Jacklyn said quickly. She looked at them as they weren't sure what to say. "Come in." Jacklyn said opening the door further for them.

The three officers walked in with eight more behind them.

Jacklyn shut the door behind them letting out another sigh and shaking her head. She said, "Now really isn't the time, however go ahead and speak your minds while Lindel performs her sweep. When she returns I'm going to have to have you guys leave so we can concentrate on our next assignment.

"Did you find who shot us?" One of the officers asked.

"Yup, we confirmed that he was dead. Lindel said he had some chemicals in his brain, but wasn't able to access anything else before it turned off. Lindel reported that the mess is cleaned up and the body has been disposed of." Jacklyn said back sitting down on the ground. She extended her hand in front of her as a gesture for them to sit as well.

"I have a husband and a newborn at home." The severely woman said. "I…have no idea how to even express my gratitude…"

"You don't need to. From now on wear your armor and take more precautions. If you are unfit for duty then go home. I don't know how your rules are here, but that is what I would suggest to my party. For your sake though, I wouldn't mention what happened here today. Nobody here is immune to alliance or demonic possession that I know of and the less you say the better off you are." Jacklyn said.

"So…do I just go home and forget this ever happened?" The woman asked.

"No, learn from it." Jacklyn said annoyed.

"But what about my husband?" She asked quickly.

"Does he ask you every day, 'Hi my wife, did you get shot today?' if he doesn't then don't mention anything about it. You won't have to lie to him then, same applies to the rest of you. Wear your armor, take more precautions and be aware of your surroundings." Jacklyn said.

"How do I explain the bullet holes in my uniform" she said holding it out. Jacklyn quickly drew one of her blades and quickly slashed it down the middle, exposing her stomach and her bra. She jumped back in surprise.

Jacklyn put her sword back and said, "Huh, it got ripped. You are going to have to get a new one. That one is obviously no good. Do you guys have extra uniforms?"

"Several, but we want to help in return – that's the point she was getting at. All of us out there want to help. We wanted to before and when you were gone it only further fueled that emotion. Now that you are back we want to help even more." A man said taking off his jacket and handing it to the woman.

"Ok…all of you settle down. First of all you are helping more than you think. It was because of all of you that we were able to save your world. It is because of all of you that we are safe. Keep the alliance out, and report any demonic activity or anything weird – investigate from a distance but do not engage. If they possess you, we will kill you without a second thought. Keep the reports coming, and keep everything quiet as much as you can. Also, thank you for the food this morning. You can also help by not repeating what happened just now, but making sure all of your officers have armor, extra weapons, and their knives. Is Dennis still out there with Matthew?" Jacklyn asked hoping to change the subject.

"He's showing him the engine of one of our cruisers. Apparently Dennis is a grease-monkey." A man said smiling at her.

"Don't understand any of that, but your cruisers are pieces of shit. If you can continue to do what we ask of you, and do all that you can to keep yourselves alive, in return I'll have some of our engineers see what they can do to improve your cruisers. Yes Lindel you are fine." Jacklyn said.

Lindel quickly materialized next to her and said everything seemed fine. The deaths were written off as natural causes, nobody seems suspicious and she was eager to start the next mission. She also said "The Lieutenant along with several other officers are guarding Herrior. They set up a make-shift tent and trying to keep the snow off from him. Their intentions are pure though."

Jacklyn nodded and then turned to the officers "Let Dennis know we're going to start the third mission. It shouldn't take longer than thirty minutes to complete." Jacklyn paused for a second and then said, "Actually, there is something you can do to help. Dennis is going to need a job as a cover. He doesn't need money, and by the sounds of it he can make it look like he was here the entire time. He wants to be around this area…so…I don't know can you give him a job walking around the perimeter several times and then go home, or something along those lines."

"We can certainly arrange something." The woman said concealing her exposed chest with the man's jacket.

"Good. Ok may I ask that all of you leave now? The next mission I do not want you to see or hear what is going to happen. Lindel Strings and Bernett you're up." Jacklyn said as she rose to her feet and motioned all of the officers to leave.

"The next one is a young woman named Jessica. Dennis doesn't know much about her." Lindel said forming the portal and then dumping her power into it. Once fully formed they all stepped through and entered into a bedroom filled with a lot of gothic items. Black lights, satanic posters, skulls hanging from the ceiling, and items that looked like Mohania might have.

"Cute, charming girl I'm sure. My guess is she isn't into balla dancing or playing with dolls." Bernett said.

"She's not here. Damn…where is she? This is where Dennis said she lived. The mom is downstairs and I am reading her thoughts – but I'll spare you what she is thinking. But we need to access her brain to find out where Jessica is." Lindel said.

"Ah, I'll handle this. My wife didn't marry me because of my money…" Bernett said with a smile. "Don't answer that question." Bernett said immediately looking at Lindel.

"No, I've sensed your uneasiness. I only answer questions if you ask. Other than that your thoughts are your own." Lindel said back.

Bernett smiled back at her as he opened the door and casually walked down the stairs. Immediately Bernett saw the mom and before she could ask him a question Bernett throw his hand out as his gun flew into in and he began firing. The woman started to scream and cowered to the ground.

Bernett then produced one of his circular traps out of thing air and tossed it over towards her. The trap quickly exploded and the poisonous snakes popped out of it and quickly surrounded her.

"Now that I have your attention, you are late paying your water bill – I've come to collect on it." Bernett said.

"We have well water…who are you?" The woman screamed back horrified.

Bernett sensed a man coming in from the back. Bernett raised his gun towards the air he was coming and as soon as he turned the corner his gun let out an enormous blast. It hit his chest and sent the rest of his body flying in different directions. Bernett then quickly spun around shot all of the phones in the house as well as a cell phone.

"Where is your daughter?" Bernett asked.

"At her boyfriend's house, why?" The woman screamed hysterically. Bernett gave the command as his snakes began to vicious bite her as she struggled to run away from them. Bernett then snapped his fingers as all of the snakes died and Bernett walked up to the dying woman and shot two blasts on both sides of her neck, barely brazing her. Bernett knelt down next to her.

"So how's your day? Mine hasn't been too bad so far. I couldn't help but notice that you look beautiful and…" Bernett stopped and looked up at the remains of the man and continued, "I couldn't also help but notice that you are single. How about we go out sometime for a milk shake? Would that be ok, I mean if you are allergic to milk we can get something else, I just wanted to spark up a conversation with a lovely woman such as yourself." Bernett rolled the woman over and saw the poison coursing through her veins, changing the color of her skin and her mouth and nose were dripping with a combination of blood and foam.

"You got a little something right here…here let me help…" Bernett reached over and wiped some of the foam away. "Where is your daughter?" Bernett asked again.

"At her…boyfriend's house…she only visits once in awhile…" The woman said.

"Lindel do you want to give her a hand? She doesn't look very well; I'm going to go see if they have any milk in the refrigerator. Hopefully you have the chocolate kind." Bernett said walking away.

"And that is how Samatha became attracted to you?" Lindel said smirking at him as she flew into the woman's eyes.

"Oh my word, you have yogurt! Strings you have got to try this." Bernett said pulling out a six pack, ripping one off and tossing it to him. Bernett opened several drawers and found the silverware drawer.

"Here, open it like this." Bernett said opening it for him. "Lucky man, you got strawberry, but I can't resist the raspberry." Bernett said diving into it. He let out a moan and rolled his eyes. "Oh may word, I have got to bring some of this back to the King. He would love this!"

"Tastes like cream…with a sugary flavor to it and a berry flavor to it, which I'm assuming is the strawberry you are probably referring to." Strings said thinking it over. He took several more spoonfuls and said it was delightful."

Lindel flew out of the woman's eyes and materialized in front of them. Bernett quickly hid the remaining yogurt behind his back with a big smile on his face.

"You're pathetic." Lindel said reaching through his body, grabbing one and then pulling it back through his body.

"Same thing Samatha said when I tried to win her over at first. Also…neat trick." Bernett said.

"Shall we leave?" Lindel asked holding her hand over the cover and quickly incinerating it and then putting the entire cup into her mouth, sucking everything out of it and tossing it behind her.

"Damn…tell your future husband you can do that…" Bernett said tossing his cup aside.

"You're disgusting…" Lindel said smiling at him and turning around.

"Thought you weren't reading minds?" Bernett asked reminding her.

"Strings…would you mind doing your thing? We have to go to another house." Lindel said grabbing another cup of yogurt tossing the entire thing into her mouth and second later spitting out the plastic up with the lid still attached. She looked back up at Bernett as if to brag.

"Would you mind not reading my mind right now?" Bernett said with a big smile.

"mmm…no." Lindel said as Strings began to rain fire down in the house. She then walked over and sucked what little life remaining in the woman. Bernett tossed one of his explosive traps into the living room. As soon as it landed it instantly exploded – engulfing the entire living room. Lindel created a portal and once the house was fully engulfed they walked through it.

"Somehow I expected this." Bernett said as they all walked out of the portal. They saw a rundown trailer, the front half held together by pieces of plywood and duck tape.

"She's in there, currently having sex with a male – I'm assuming it's her boyfriend. There are three other males in another room. Don't know what they are doing." Lindel said.

"I'm not sure a safe way to approach this. If we do something the roof could come caving in on us. Also I'm not sure when my last tetanus shot was." Bernett said walking towards it.

"Is that something that made your testicles bigger to win Samatha over?" Lindel asked.

Bernett stopped, turned around and looked at Lindel with shock as she began to laugh.

"You two stay here, I'll bring her out." Strings said walking past them. "Kids…" Strings said chuckling to out loud. He walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"Who is it?" A male voice called out angrily.

"Yes my good man. We are here to kill all of you and take Jessica with us. Perhaps if you could share some yogurt with as well I would appreciate it." Strings said.

"What the…you had better fucking run when I get out there!" The male said. Strings said heard a lot of scrambling inside and quietly began to play his pipes. The male kicked the door open and raised a shotgun to Strings's face for only a quick second before the half dressed man's flesh began to melt off from his body and onto the ground. The rest of his body fell with a sickening thud on the ground as he continued to disintegrate. Strings stopped playing as he heard the female inside let out several loud screams and frantically ran to the other side of the trailer.

Strings walked into the trailer dragging the remains of the man with him. He threw it towards the four of them and they all joined in the screaming.

"Hey, you know what I just realize? There are five of us here. I say we play a game, are any of you with the practice of card playing?" Strings said walking towards them. Many of them started screaming obscenities at him. Strings walked over towards them as they tried to back into the walls as if trying to exit the trailer by pushing up against the wall.

"Well that isn't very nice. A lady is present. Let me teach you through the means of a song." Strings said and began to play another song. Within seconds the three remaining males all walked over to Strings and stood in front of him.

"Jessica, I apologize for using such language in front of you. You are a fine young woman with a promising life ahead of you. I have done nothing to encourage you, in fact I have done just the opposite. I feel miserable for what I have done and for that I will punish myself." Then young man reached over and turned the stove on high and slammed his head down on it as hard as he could. His hair instantly caught fire as seconds later his flesh began to melt. The smell engulfed the trailer as Jessica puked at what she saw and became even more terrified.

"The man's got a point though." Strings said as he stopped playing. "Personally I wanted to kill your boyfriend quicker but the circumstances prevented it." Strings then patted at the young man's back as screamed in agony back while he struggled to get his head off from the burner. "You know you, your two other friends will die as well and we will take you with us. So how about coming with us quietly…or you can come kicking and screaming. Either way I have my orders and they will be carried out. One of the other young men had grabbed a knife and began to repeated stab at Strings's.

"Ah, here's another example. This young lad here is stabbing completely wrong. The way he is doing it is frantically without putting much though into his thrusts. Breaking your weapon in combat leaves you defenseless. What you want to do is strike evenly and aim for a critical spot." Strings said. He quickly turned around, grabbed the knife from the young man and stabbed it into his throat. He began to let out gargling sounds and threw his body at Jessica.

"I'm not good at using hand-to-hand weapons, nor do I claim to be good at ranged weapons either. However learning a simple tactic like that can save your life. Oh, sorry go ahead." Strings said as the other young man ran beside him and outside the trailer. Once outside he was suddenly blasted with what sounded like artillery fire.

"You see, that is being polite also. He wanted by, and I did the proper thing by apologizing and moving out of the way. What he could have done was ask if I could move first." Strings said. "Now then, would you please get dressed? We have to go see your dad."

Jessica looked at him weird, completely forgetting what she just witnessed. "My dad set you up to this?"

"Not the way you describe it no, but this more to help us then it is him. Honestly I could have given two shits about your life or your mother and the male in his house that we just came from – oh they are dead also, but we have to go. Jessica, please get dressed and make yourself look presentable. I will step outside while you do so."

"I'm not going! I'll call the cops and I'll kill all of you!" Jessica said frantically looking for a weapon.

"You've got ten seconds, and I assure you nobody will come to help you. I'll count slowly and then we'll burn down your house. Once it ignites, I would suggest you leave." Strings said back and then walked outside.

"You have a way with teenagers don't you Strings?" Bernett asked.

"I am pretty persuasive. Oh, do you mind if I borrow that?" Strings asked pointed to the male's head half blown off lying on the ground.

"I was thinking about saving it…but yeah go ahead." Bernett said. Strings walked over and picked it up. He turned around and saw Jessica wrapped herself up in a towel standing on the deck.

"Hello Jessica. You may want to wear something better than that." Lindel said in a kind voice.

"I don't want to die…" Jessica said trembling.

"Ah, I got my point across. Guess I won't need this." Strings said and tossed the head away.

"Jessica, my name is Lindel. No harm will come to you, we have orders to bring you in and as protection for us we have to make it look like you fell off the face of your world. There's more to it than that, but your dad did a great thing for us and we are repaying him."

"Who are you guys?" Jessica said still trembling.

"If I had a quarter for every time we were asked that question." Bernett said giving her a friendly smirk. "Call us whatever you want, but go make yourself presentable. You have a brother Matthew as well and we are going to see him with your father as well. We promised to deliver you…if you choose to run away once you see him, then that is your choice."

"You aren't going to kill me?" Jessica asked still trembling and looking back inside.

"Not unless we get orders to, go on hun – go get dressed. Also the child of yours that you had killed is in Heaven. I would recommend not thinking about having a child until you are married though." Lindel said. Jessica shot a surprised look back at her nearly dropping her towel.

"How the hell did you know I had an abortion?" Jessica said losing more of her grip on her towel.

"Hey hey, I'm a married man…" Bernett said.

"I'm not." Strings said looking at her giving off a laugh. Lindel held her hand up and both of them were picked up and flown to the other side of the trailer.

"Men are pigs…would you like some help?" Lindel said as he heard Bernett and Strings making comments about what they said.

"No! No…please I'll get dressed and come right out, I promise." Jessica said holding her hand out, she then reached back realizing what she did and pulled her hand back.

"But they are right though, we need to hurry." Lindel said. Jessica nodded and ran back into the trailer. She let out a brief scream and began crying as she quickly got dressed and ran back out crying. She ran down the stairs and over to Lindel.

Lindel reached out and hugged her. "Settle down hun. You are going to be fine. I'm going to open up a portal and I'll go through with you as the rest of my party finishes their task."

"Am I going to die?" Jessica asked again still crying holding onto Lindel.

"No lass, we aren't going to kill you…" Strings said walking back around the trailer.

"Hush Strings, she's not talking about that. It was a sin, and all are punished for their sins unless they ask for forgiveness." Lindel said in a soothing voice holding her. "Ok, I'm going to let go of you so I can create the portal." Lindel said slowly doing as she said. Lindel turned around and quickly produced the portal and began to pour her powers into it, enlarging the portal. Jessica looked on with amazement.

When Lindel had finished she shook her arms and stretched her back.

"Can you teach me that?" Jessica asked.

"If you would like, however something tells me you want to stay here and watch this place burn." Lindel said. Jessica nodded.

Bernett produced one of his traps and shot it into the air. It landed in the middle of the roof and instantly erupted. Strings in the meantime played his pipes, and after awhile a fireball appeared in front of him. Strings suddenly stopped and commanded it to incinerate the building.

Bernett then aimed his gun within a foot of the propane tanks and fired two shots as each other. Immediately they exploded, engulfing him and the front of the trailer. Bernett walked out of the ball of fire smiling and said, "I've always wanted to do that."

"Glad you got that out of your system. Jessica, this symbolizes a possible end to your old way of life and an opportunity to start new one. Do you want to start a new life, or cling to your old ways?" Lindel asked.

Jessica shook her head and said, "No I want out. Others will look for me though."

"They won't find you, and the calling cards we left should be more than sufficient to discourage that. Also…did you realize that sentence you just said was the same thing your father said as well?" Lindel asked.

Jessica was going to say something and then stopped herself.

"Yeah…the power of love and family is stronger than you might think. Come; let's leave this old life behind." Lindel said putting here around hers and motioned her towards the portal.

"I can't go to Heaven…I don't deserve it…and that's where you are taking me isn't it?" Jessica said hesitating.

"Actually we're going to a police station. It's our primary outpost while we are on this planet. It's safe there…and no you aren't going to get arrested. No hun that's not the reason why we are here. Please, trust us." Lindel said reading bits and pieces of Jessica's mind and it whirled around with questions. Strings fired another fireball at the trailer as the heat intensified.

"I think that's probably enough hun." Lindel said looking back over at him.

"Will this hurt?" Jessica asked.

"No. Close your eyes if you want." Lindel said. She did as Lindel lifted her off the ground and pulled her through the portal. Strings and Branzer followed behind and the portal closed behind them.

"Dad?" Jessica asked looking at Dennis.

Dennis nodded back at her and looked just as shocked as she did. "I'm sorry hun. I'm so sorry…both of you, I'm a terrible dad and I am so sorry." Dennis said dropping to his knees and began to cry as Lindel closed the portal behind him. "I did a favor for them, left behind my old life so that I could see you two again. I understand if you don't love me, but please I beg of you – both of you, give me a chance. If you don't accept me, then I will help you as much as I can with whatever you want. Please…" Dennis said as his voice became incoherent from the crying. Jacklyn looked over at Lindel and nodded at her. Lindel began to create another portal. Jacklyn then turned to Dan and motioned her over towards Lindel. Dan nodded and both of them left without wither one of the kids or the dad knowing.

"I'm with you dad." Matthew said. His dad looked up at him and smiled between his tears and snot running out of his nose. He turned to his daughter and she looked at him not knowing what to say.

"That decision is not to be made here. Decisions like this have to be given thought and not pressured which is what is happening here. Give the child time to think about it. You three may remain here, but I will not have any more pressure of this matter. Dennis you have pleaded your case and it has been heard. I ask that you leave now Dennis and compose yourself as I speak with them." Jacklyn said. Dennis nodded as he staggered to his feet and left.

Jacklyn then turned to Matthew and Jessica and said, "What happened was we received word that your world was show signs of collapsing. We found out the problem and resolved it. When we came back your father saw us in our true form. Instead of erasing his memories he stated we were being photographed. We gathered more information from him and formed an agreement with him. He completed his part of the agreement, and one more mission we will have completed ours. I have just sent another group out to finish it. Our agreement was to remove all of you from your previous lives, including his life, so all of you could start a new life with him. However we are not forcing any of you, nor will we to accept the new life. The choice is yours; we are simply upholding our part of our agreement. Generally we don't do favors like this. We had to kill hundreds of people in order for this to happen, so the decision was not taken lightly. In the meantime we are short several members of our group – all of which is making me very uncomfortable. I have no doubt that many questions are running through your heads, all of which is normal. Those memories we cannot wipe – nor would we. Both of you look strengthened because of what just happened. The cold hard fact is we are constantly under attack."

"By the demons?" Jessica asked.

Jacklyn looked at her surprised. "Yes…how did you know?"

"They ruined me my life, but I enjoyed it. The voices are gone and I don't want to hear them ever again. How do I get rid of them? I do not want to hear them again." Jessica asked.

"You are safe here, but there is a process to convert your mind to automatically repel them. Hurts very badly though." Jacklyn said.

"I'll do it - whatever it takes. When can I start?" Jessica asked eagerly.

"To be honest I didn't anticipate this." Jacklyn said looking at the sincerity of her face. "I'll need some time to ponder your request."

"Do I need my father's permission?" Jessica said speaking up.

"Has nothing to do with your father or his permission." Jacklyn said unsure of why she asked that. "There are rules to such a request that I have to speak with my ambassadors about and they will ultimately make that decision. Being in temporary command and having no current ambassadors among us currently I cannot say one way or the other. As I said I will ponder your request and speak on your behalf. Until then, both of you have a lot to think about."

"Are we going to go live with Dennis and his wife?" Matthew asked.

Jacklyn turned leave when she was suddenly caught by that question.

"My guess is that she is dead right now; part of the conditions. He gave up everything for you two. His house and everything he owns, as well as any connections he had and any jobs that he had. It will look like all of were mysterious killed, and then you will have the choice of living with your father or doing as you please. The decision to do what we did was not taken lightly. But ultimately concealing our identity and fulfilling our agreement will prevent the deaths of millions – possibly even more than you could ever imagine. I'm going for a walk." Jacklyn said walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Skyka was in the backseat with Carrie riding to their home after they picked up her mom. The two of them were talking like they had been best friends their whole life. Neither one of the parents said anything the whole trip.

Upon arriving Carrie announced that this was her home.

"Ok, you go ahead and run up there. I need to stay behind and talk about boring stuff with your parents." Skyka said.

"Ok – I'll go see if I can find all of the kitties." Carrie and skipped towards the entrance of the home.

"I was never here, I never did a single thing, I cannot guarantee that I can heal her and I cannot guarantee that will lengthen her lifespan. Whatever happens today, neither one of you know about and have no clue as to what happened. As far as you know, you know nothing – is that understood out of both of you?" Skyka asked after Carried shut the door. Both of them said they understood.

"Good, I got after your husband pretty good in the station and if need be I'll put you in your place as well. Schedule a doctor's appointment for tomorrow, or however you guys do it here. Tell them she seems suddenly better and insist that she stops taking her medication because all it is doing is making her sick. From what I've seen throughout the years, people hate to be wrong and this will immediately get her in for a number of reasons – I'll let you ponder that for awhile. Again, I'm making no promises and your approach to handling this problem was complete bullshit. I would have healed her there, if it wasn't for the fact that I have to play along and teach both of you a lesson. The child does not lie. How would that look, she coming into the station to see a doctor and suddenly become healed? The station would be swarming with doctors and reporters. I need to look out for what is best for my group. When I feel my mission here has been accomplished I will disappear. I will tell her to keep several secrets, most of which I am going to make up and blend it in with some slight truth. It will confuse the doctors and they will turn to you. Let me repeat – you do not know anything. Adults can read lies easier from children than they can from other adults. So she will speak her truth and you will simply acknowledge her story and then in private state that you don't know what happened. It is not a lie because you will not know what I am going to do to her to heal her, nor the magical powers involved in the process. She won't even know when it happens. Do we have an understanding?" Skyka asked. Both of the parents agreed again.

"We have healed but done it in discretion. Keep it like that from now on – and pass that word along, keep it quiet or we will leave." Skyka said looking at the dad still in his uniform. "A simple disease is not worth our time – your daughter has a legitimate problem. This is a lesson to both of you…keep your mouths shut about this or I will personally put both of you into the ground myself." Skyka said ending her speech with a threat.

Carrie opened the door back open and said, "Are you guys coming or what?"

"Of course we are, I just couldn't figure out how to undo my seatbelt." Skyka said.

"You push the button down there. Were you talking about me?" Carrie asked looking at all of them.

"About some things, mostly just boring grown up talk. Have your mommy or daddy ever talked about stuff that made you bored?" Skyka ask smiling at her.

"Umm…" Carrie said and began playing with her hands as she looked at her parents looking back at her as everybody was beginning to get out of the car.

"Sure we have. Your daddy and I bore each other all of the time about what we do at work. So did you find all of the kitties, or are we going to have to split up and go find them?" The mom ended by reaching down and tickling her.

"We'll split up! I'll take…what is your name?" Carrie asked Skyka.

"My name is Skyka. You can call me that from now on instead of doctor or anything else." Skyka replied back.

"I like that name! I want to name one of the kitties that. Come with me and I'll show you where they hide." Carrie said running towards the house with Skyka running right behind her.

"We need the key to open the door; it's not safe around here." Carrie said standing next to it.

"Oh, I can open it." Skyka said reaching out and putting her hand on the doorknob. "What is that over there with the birds flying around it?" Carried quickly turned around to talk about the bird feeder, and Skyka let out a blast of white light from her hand that melted the doorknob instantly and began to burn other parts of the door. Skyka quickly ran over and picked up Carrie tickling her and ran into the house without her seeing the door. Both parents looked astounded by what just happened. The dad ran over to the garden hose and quickly sprayed the door, putting out the fire as the mom ran in to see that they were in fact looking for the kitties.

"They aren't on the ceiling; do they climb on the walls?" Skyka kept asking several questions trying to figure out what exactly she was looking for.

"Here are two of them." Carrie said excitedly and brought them over to Skyka. She picked one up seeming happy to have found them. Later on she would explain to Herrior that they were the most useless animals she has ever seen, without Quinely around of course.

Skyka turned around to both parents and said, "Here are two of them, how many more do we have to find? Oh, was there some trouble with the door?"

"It sticks a little, nothing we can't fix. There should be seven of them all together." The dad said shutting it quickly as Carrie announced that she had found another. Everybody then proceeded to find the rest of them and do what they could to play with them.

Later that evening Skyka announced that she was getting tired and asked Carrie's mom and dad for permission to take Carrie to bed.

"It's not time for bed yet." Carrie said sounding upset.

"You need your sleep little one – come, doctor's orders." Skyka said smiling to her.

"Ok…" Carrie said in almost protest as she began walking to her room.

"I'm going to go talk with her for about fifteen minutes or so, and then I'll be on my way. It was a pleasure to meet all of you." Skyka said smiling at her parents and followed Carrie to her room.

"Do I need to go to bed early for me to get better?" Carrie asked climbing into bed and pulling the blankets over her.

"Every little boy and girl needs extra sleep when they don't feel well. Close your eyes and I will tell you a story." Skyka said. Carrie obeyed as Skyka began to talk about a beautiful place far away where she had grown up. Carrie listened as Skyka casted a series of spells on her. Carrie tried to ask questions, but Skyka told her it was time to sleep and tomorrow there would be plenty of time for answers as she continued her story.

As Skyka predicted Carrie dozed off after awhile as her body quickly mended itself. Skyka then contacted Lindel and asked for a portal back to the station. A portal opened and began to enlarge itself as Carrie continued to sleep quietly. Skyka said a quick prayer for her and left.

"So what is the situation?" Skyka asked in front of everybody.

"I'm awake now." Herrior said smiling at her.

"Well…everybody little boy and girl needs extra sleep when they don't feel well." Skyka said in the same tone that she did to Carrie.

"Are you going to bore me to sleep with a story as well?" Herrior replied back.

"You're an ass." Skyka said looking around. "I see we have accomplished our agreement since we have two new people among us…also where's Mohania at?" Skyka asked.

"Him and Branzer were taken back. Something is wrong with Mohania and we couldn't figure it out. He came back excited from one of his assignments, I asked him to make a duplicate image of himself in the corner and tell the story to him. We all thought it was funny and we figured Mohania would play along until he called us all a bunch of asses or something. He got into a heat-debate with the image though. Eventually we pulled him away and he became very ill. Healing him didn't work. I will take full responsibility for it since I gave him the order." Jacklyn said.

"It doesn't sound like the order she gave him was the result of his illness. According to the rest of the party nobody sensed anything around us and we have no explanation as to what may have caused it. I think he's having an on-going battle with himself and lost. As of now though, our agreements have been fulfilled and we may return now that we have everybody back together again. I have received no further orders and I have a deep concern for Mohania. There are also several items we need to discuss with other ambassadors concerning the events that took place here, one of which being the eldest female child wishes to become immune to demon and alliance possession. She has also become interested in helping us and to join our ranks." Herrior said.

Skyka looked uneasy at her and then back to Herrior and said, "That wasn't part of our agreement."

Herrior nodded and said, "I'm well aware of that, we have much to discuss. Dennis has found a home for him and his children to stay. He has also started the process to begin a new life." Herrior turned to both of them and asked them to leave and go find their father.

"Will we see you guys again?" Jessica asked with the tone that she came to the conclusion that she wasn't.

"We need to discuss your request. We will let you know either way; afterwards I do hope to see both of you and your dad again in the future. In the meantime I hope both of you take our advice and to go seek out a priest, give your father a chance, and keep your eyes open for what we told you to look for." Herrior said and then walked over to the door and opened it for them. Both of them walked out and Herrior gave Lindel the order to take them home as he shut the door. All of them stepped through the portal and went back home.


	19. Heat

Heat

"How's my favorite warlock?" Herrior asked looking down at Mohania in the clinic.

"Herrior, I need to request that I be relieved of your group. I cannot battle like this. My power levels are fine; I've have been healed time after time. I've spoken with several different ambassadors and healers – nobody knows what is wrong." Mohania said in a weak sad voice.

"Can I speak with him alone?" Herrior asked everybody in the clinic. They all nodded and left. Herrior then pulled up a chair and reached to embrace his hand.

Several minutes passed before Mohania spoke up.

"We're not talking much." Mohania said.

"Do we need to? I'll grant your request, but it does not mean I don't love you and have a deep concern for you." Herrior replied.

"Yeah back at ya. I figured I would get kicked out, not asking to leave on my own accord." Mohania said.

"You are a pain in the ass; however I wouldn't want it any differently. You will be missed." Herrior said.

"Yeah" Mohania said back.

Several more minutes passed as Herrior just sat next to him.

"You don't have to stay here. Once I get my strength back I'm going to work with our enchanters." Mohania said.

"Sounds like fun." Herrior said.

"I doubt it…" Mohania said back sarcastically.

"Does Kendall know?"

"She was the first to be contacted. The other undead came as well. Both of them and our historians have no idea what is happening. Guess it's just time for me to stop being a fighter. Maybe I'll take up sewing and sit in rocking chair telling about the adventures of old." Mohania said.

"So enchanting, tailoring, and storytelling – you are going to stay quite busy. Are you going to stay in Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"I want to…also you're an ass." Mohania said. "But I'll take on any assignment that they want me to do."

"So you still have your powers then?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah, but…it's different…something is different – hell what am I talking about everything is different. I can't concentrate enough to focus my mind to produce my spells." Mohania said.

"And all of this happened after you started arguing with yourself?" Herrior asked.

"Believe me, I've been down that road with almost everybody in Tranquil and have been asked hundreds of questions concerning that. I knew it was a joke and I was going to follow it up with another joke…until everything went weird. I'll tell you the same thing I told everybody – I felt threatened from within, and then overwhelmed, and then all over the other emotions I said." Mohania said.

"Ok. What do you want me to do?" Herrior asked.

Mohania sighed and shrugged.

"Fair enough. Contact me if you need anything, even if you just want to talk." Herrior said letting go of him and standing up.

"Thank you." Mohania said looking up at the tauren smiling down at him.

"I…have a suggestion…" Herrior said unsure of himself as he stopped himself from walking out.

"Does it have to do with publicly humiliating you?" Mohania asked.

"Your personality hasn't changed. Your powers are the same, healing does not help, physically you are fine, and being in Tranquil would have banished anything inside of you. Can you walk?" Herrior asked.

"Sometimes, where are you going with this?" Mohania asked.

"I wonder if Alan could help with this. He helped me and Lindel." Herrior said turning around and looking at him. Mohania was silent for a long time.

"Do you want me to put in a wise crack for you? Usually you are right on top of those things." Herrior said.

"Don't have a clue what he did with you or Lindel – but if you think he could help I'll request to go see him. I'll get my strength back and then put in a request for it." Mohania said.

Herrior walked over to him lying down, and picked him up. He threw him over his shoulder and walked out.

"Lindel, can you take us to Alan's house?" Herrior asked.

Lindel began to create a portal and began to channel her power into it as she said, "I hope they have more chocolate cake."

"Hey, this is against the rules." Mohania said.

"I'm still the leader and an ambassador with access to a Chronomancer in my group. Skyka have I broken any rules?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I know of." Skyka replied.

"You guys are still a pain in the ass, even when I'm not in your group…" Mohania said.

"I conveniently forgot about that part. Us taurens have short memories, and sometimes stretch the rules to the absolute breaking point…plus we like to call other people an ass." Herrior said walking through the portal.

"I hate taurens…" Mohania said inside of Alan's house. The rest of his party, along with Bernett's wife Samatha and Jeffery came as well.

"I'll see if they are home, Samatha! Alan!" Lindel yelled loud enough to send vibrations through the house.

Samatha came running in and saw them in a panic. She let out a sigh and said, "Could you please use the door?"

"Not the way portalling works. Once a place has been located, adjusting it to a different spot takes different coordinates – having to refigure the dimensional codes and…" Lindel began to explain.

"We'll start using the door. Is Alan home?" Herrior asked.

"He's at work, is something wrong?" Samatha asked.

Herrior walked over and dropped Mohania on the floor next to the couch. He hit with a loud thud. "Crap…sorry about that I meant for you to land on the couch."

"Yeah… If I don't die being overwhelmed by your love and concern at least all of you can have a good joke at my expense." Mohania said pushing himself up off the ground and sitting back down on the couch.

"Tauren's don't have good aim either. I can go into detail if you want." Skyka said seductively walking over and putting an arm around me.

"Can't you guys just kill me now?" Mohania asked.

"Samatha, can you call Alan and let him know we have a skeleton that needs his help."

Both Samatha's replied back, and then they looked at each other.

"Alan's Samatha, not Bernett's. We are going to have to change that. Even our townsfolk and historians are having trouble with that." Herrior said.

"Call her Samatha, and call her associated with a dumbass." Mohania said.

"That's a compliment hun; you would have to know Mohania." Bernett said turning to his wife.

"He's the one calling you the dumbass." Samatha giggled back.

Mohania then passed out. Skyka quickly caught him, laid him back down on the couch, and tried to make him comfortable.

"Alan wants to know what I mean by what you told me to tell him." Samatha said and then paused for a second listening to Alan. "Yes they are here." She paused a second later and said, "No they didn't use the door" followed up with, "Ok see you in a little bit."

"I can take a hint… Give me a couple of minutes to relocate our arrival spot." Lindel said as she flew into the air and out the back door.

Herrior looked at Samatha after she hung up the phone and asked, "Do you have a middle name, or a different name possibly we could…"

"Sammy…I was called that when I was young. Is that name taken?" Samatha asked back anticipating the question.

"Branzer?" Herrior asked.

"On it, give me a second." Branzer said moving to a different area of the house and activating his hearthstone.

"So…umm…can I get anybody anything?" Samatha asked still bewildered.

"Any thoughts as to what is wrong with Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"Last time I got in trouble and upset Lindel, also I don't know much about walking skeletons – so I'm not going to give a diagnose or try to help."

"Forget the past, I want your advice. I want you here while Mohania talks to Alan. The rest of us will leave, but would like to be updated on what happens. As always you will be compensated for your help." Herrior said.

"We're set for life, and many other life times. We have twelve different bank accounts with several billion in each. Alan just does this because he enjoys his work. I can buy and go anywhere I want – but I feel as though I belong here. Sounds weird, but for times like this when you arrive; also for crying aloud knock before you come in! We have nothing to hide but I'm tired of having my heart skip several beats when you arrive." Samatha said sounding frustrated.

"Sammy is ok." Branzer said walking back.

"Also I've established our portal place inside the run down building in the back – and you are out of chocolate frosting." Lindel said flying around her several times and landing next to Herrior.

"I'll add that to the grocery list…" Sammy said sounding upset and walking over to the refrigerator to write that down.

"Lindel, don't do that again." Herrior said scolding her.

"Sorry." Lindel replied back.

Alan flung open the door and appeared as though he had been running.

"Sorry, I needed to reschedule some of my appointments. I wasn't in the middle of session, but thinking of a spontaneous excuse and frantically running away doesn't always look good to my clients." Alan said quickly and looked over everybody. "Is this your group?"

"Most of them. Mohania's wife couldn't come, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her show up at any time. He is not himself, I need to know what happened and if you can fix him." Herrior said looking at Mohania.

"For starters he needs skin. I would say this was a joke…" Alan said as every face suddenly turned to him, some of them reaching for their weapons.

"Not a joke…ok well since I don't know much just by looking at him I'll have to observe him and talk to him. He's sleeping I'm assuming?" Alan asked.

"He just recently passed out." Skyka said as he began to explain everything that happened to him. Alan listened intently as he removed his coat and shoes.

Skyka stopped halfway through the explanation and asked if she needed to elaborate on anything.

"No, I've got an idea of what he has and it is curable – but I want to know everything. I'd prefer to hear it from him, but any input for the rest of you is welcome." Alan said. By now he had written down multiple things on a piece of paper.

"Hold on Skyka, Alan are you serious?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, I specialize in situations like this and have several theories but my mind continuously goes back to my original diagnoses. Also I've learned not to joke around with you guys." Alan said finishing his notes.

"What do you require for us to do to aid the healing?" Herrior asked.

"It's not healing that is required; it's him coming to terms with himself. He's been through a traumatic event, followed up with an emotional overload by his marriage – not so much that but again coming to terms with being unable to reproduce followed by another sudden emotional overload by being offered to become a parent. This mission that he was on, or missions sorry, finally triggered the shutdown in his mind. I'm surprised he made it this long. But the symptoms you describe, especially with him finally facing himself, literally in this case, describes it exactly. His symptoms that he experiencing now both physically and mentally is exactly a textbook case of several different theories. It's also interesting on my part, obviously all of you are different, skin or not, but your minds, emotions – everything is exactly the same as ours…err…ours being a relative term. Didn't mean for that to sound like it did." Alan shaking his head quickly catching himself and asked to hear the rest.

Skyka continued the story when suddenly Mohania started to groan. Alan held up his hand to Skyka to stay quiet.

"Mohania, can you hear me?" Alan asked.

"Yes, I can also smell the stink of my group as well. Where am I and who are you?" Mohania asked as he rolled over and fell off the couch. He started to scream and thrash about yelling that he was falling and he was going to die.

"Leave him alone! Let him be. Move the things away from him so he doesn't injure himself." Alan commanded Herrior's group. They did as he said. Alan sat down on the ground and began to tell him words of encouragement and reassurance that he was safe.

Minutes later Mohania regained control of himself and looked over at him.

"Ok, just relax. I'm Alan and your friends brought you here to for help." Mohania threw his hands to his head and began to curse himself. Alan started back in with the words of encouragement and reassurance until Mohania regained his composure.

"What is happening to me?" Mohania said sounding frantically.

"Several different things. We will address one at a time. There is no instant cure for this and I can only help you if you are open and honest with me." Alan said.

"Cant I just kill somebody and devour them?" Mohania asked.

"No, that will not help. We need to talk for awhile. Do you want your friends with you, or do you want them to leave?" Alan asked.

"What are we going to talk about?"

"Your feelings and…"

"Gone…have them go away…" Mohania said quickly.

"Keep us up to date Alan. Lindel take us home." Herrior said. Lindel quickly produced a portal and all of them left.

"I don't want to talk about that." Mohania said.

"We have to in order to get things straightened out. I am a doctor and things are confidential with me. I will not tell anybody else what we discuss." Alan said professionally.

"What about her?" Mohania said pointing at his wife.

"She can verify what I just said. If she makes you uncomfortable I will send her away." Alan said back.

"I have some paperwork to get caught up on in the office. The usual excuse, or did we have a family emergency?" Sammy said.

"Family emergency, you are on your way to the hospital right now." Alan said back.

"Gotcha, well I'll be back later." Sammy said quickly grabbing her purse and coat and walked out the door.

"So you won't tell anybody?" Mohania asked still pushing himself to a sitting position on the ground.

"That is my line of work. Also Herrior trusted us for months and we still hold the secret that he was here, along with the multiple times you guys just happened to show up unannounced and we had to think of instant excuses for why you are here." Alan said.

"We have a habit of doing that." Mohania looked over at Alan and smiled. Alan looked shocked because he saw his face alter in emotion.

"Sorry, I apologize. I thought you were a skeleton, seeing your mouth and facial expressions startled me."

"I am a skeleton. I can take on other appearances, but this is who I am." Mohania said getting back up on the couch.

"No, that was my fault. I want to see and hear the real you. Skyka filled me in on your condition up until this point, also all of the events that lead up to the point where you produced an image of yourself. That is the point where things went bad. We'll explore that later, but first I want to ask you several questions and I want your honest opinion and all of your ideas about them. If you get off subject I'll redirect the conversation." Alan said.

"Promise you won't tell anybody?" Mohania asked again looking concerned.

"I promise."

"Can you fix me?" Mohania asked back.

"Depends on how you react to the questions and how honest you are with me. It might take time; it might only take a couple of hours."

"You're kidding?" Mohania asked surprised.

"Shall we begin?" Alan asked.

"And if we do fix me, what then? What do I tell everybody?" Mohania asked.

"You do what skeletons do, but you don't have to tell anybody anything." Alan said.

"We like to be referred to as 'Undead'. But ok, let's start." Mohania said.

Back in Tranquil Kendall and many other people were firing off question after question when Herrior and his group came back.

"He is getting help, but neither I nor my group, will say anything else. Nobody is to go visit him. I will speak to the King's ambassadors and make sure that rule is implemented. He is not to be contacted in anyway. I am confident that he is in good hands and it will help him. I don't want another question asked and I will send word to enforce this." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and making a scrambled message to relay what he just said.

Everybody began to scatter as they heard and saw what just happened. A minute later pulled his head back out of the portal and looked at Dan and Crystal.

"Saw this coming. When does he want to see us?" Dan asked.

"Right now, Lindel you are up after them. Veliline I need to speak with you in the arena. Skyka you and Icis need to talk, and Bernett if you still wish to alter your talents now is the time. Eventually everybody should go to the blacksmiths for your new armaments." Herrior said.

"What do I do?" Jeffery asked.

"I need you to go find the prettiest yellow flower in Tranquil and give it to Skyka."

"That's easy!" Jeffery said running away. Herrior summoned his dragon and got on top of it, Veliline did the same with hers.

"Are there any yellow flowers in Tranquil?" Veliline asked.

"Got me…let's go to the arenas." His dragon flapped hard and took to the air.

"Why do I feel like a kid about to be scolded by the principle?" Crystal said grabbing Dan's hand.

"We're in this together." Dan said as they started the walk to the King's quarters.

"Hello you guys, come on in. Have a seat before us." The King said upon their arrival.

"Crystal I hear tales of you become a large demon and destroying lots of things." The King said smiling at her.

"I have no explanation for that. Also I have no explanation as to why I can't do it when I need it to." Crystal began to explain frantically as the King sat and listened for several minutes until Crystal seemed to get it all out of her system and said she felt dizzy.

"Breathing in-between sentences have been known to help with that." The King said with a smile. "Dan you seem to be doing well." The King said turning to him.

"Thank you my King. You and your Queen look more majestic as ever." Dan said back.

"I have done something new with my hair…" The Queen said feeling flattered and patting on it.

"Flattery…Dan have you learned anything new with your powers?" The King asked looking back at him with a smile.

"I learned that they are limited in certain areas. I have no explanation for it my King; I tried many times to trigger the affect. Afterward we put the pillars back together it restored my powers. I had several ideas, but none of them made sense and…I don't know to be honest." Dan said back.

"I don't know how you do what you do in the first place. I've sent one of our time stoppers to the same area to gather supplies. It worked fine for her as well. Interesting, well if you have any more ideas let me know. You may go now, and ask Lindel only to come in." The King said.

"At once my King." Dan said and left the room.

Lindel walked back in with a fake smile and sat next to Crystal.

"Herrior spoke of the situation both of you are in. His concerns are the same as mine, he also said he gave both of you a good tongue-lashing and said he was not comfortable with the situation. So…" The King said taking in a deep breath and leaning forward, "I see no point in repeating what he said. You understand all of our concerns and what could possibly be at stake here. Ultimately the decision is mine, but I want to hear it from you. Crystal you go first."

"I'm sorry my King." Crystal began.

"Don't apologize; I want to hear your thoughts." The King said immediately.

"I love Dan. But I need to control my emotions. I was out of order several times. I would like to fight by his side, however if it is going to affect my performance I will do as you request." Crystal said.

"I know, please continue." The King said.

"Uh…do you want to know what I did?" Crystal asked.

"No, I already know. I want to hear your thoughts." The King said again.

Crystal paused for a moment and looked confused at him. She then took a breath and looked off to the side. "I love him…and I'm married to him. Usually where I come from you live together in a house and raise babies and get a job. Umm…I love the rest of my group the same, I would die for all of them…"

"I know you would die for them, let's get back to what you just said. Why aren't you pregnant?" The King asked.

"What?" Crystal said looking at him surprised. The King looked back at her with a serious face. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting that question. I would say because I'm still on the birth control pill to help my condition."

"No you aren't." The King said back.

Crystal again looked at him surprised.

"That was stopped after you body continuously expelled it. Your body only accepted it for a short time and then rejected it the rest of the time. Obviously that isn't the problem was it? Your sudden surges of power are the problem, not anything to do with your body. Your diet has been altered, just the same as some of our other fighters. Even my ambassadors don't know this information, which is why nobody told you. I wanted to catch you off guard with this information. You obviously can carry and deliver a child, and I do not know the reason you are not pregnant either. Now that I have you completely confused, take this sword and go kill Dan." The King said tossing a sword on the ground in front of her. It clanged several different times as it finally came to a rest.

Crystal looked even more confused, but she grabbed the sword and stood up. Dozens of questions flew through her head, but she readied the blade and left to go find Dan.

Dan was facing away from her talking with Brenna. She ignored the conversation and ran up to Dan driving the sword into his back as hard as he could.

Dan let out a laugh and turned around, "That tickles what are you doing?" Crystal said looking into Dan's eyes with tears coming out of her eyes.

Dan looked down a saw a long piece of smashed sausage in Crystal hand. "You stabbed me with a piece of sausage. That's kind gross…" Dan said reaching down and breaking off a piece and eating it. Crystal dropped it and jumped backwards in shock.

"It's not that bad, kind of spicy. So are you done talking to the King?" Dan asked.

Crystal ran back into the King's quarters and didn't know what to say.

"Well, what did he think? Too spicy?" The King asked smiling at her.

Crystal stuttered incoherently until the King told her to be quiet as he walked over and embraced her.

"I didn't think you would. Herrior is a good leader and I agree with his decision. You may remain in his group, but remember this moment." The King said and let go of here. "Now then, I order you to run out of here and tackle Dan to the ground."

"Yes my King!" Crystal said excitedly and ran out, and seconds later Dan's surprised cry echoed through the area.

"Kids…" The Queen said with a smile.

"Now then Lindel – your situation is vastly more complex, not unexpected though. Upon first having feelings for Branzer it made us both worry. The Queen gave you an order and you hesitated immediately. Then when you went to carry out the order you hesitated again and had to have help. Eventually it was Branzer that had to help carry out the order that was given to you specifically. I can name many examples, time after time, where not only are you not ready to marry, but have proven to hesitate more than Crystal. Both of you are not comfortable with each other, and don't understand each other. Also, you want to have children. Do you realize that you can't if you marry Branzer? My suggestion is to break off the relationship with Branzer and find somebody else. You two are completely different; if you want children go find a male banshee. He constantly thinks about you and his group and assignment on hand. Your mind has altered and I do not wish to lose a banshee with Chronomancer powers. I do not approve of it and I suggest you think hard about what I just said, that is all." The King said.

Lindel had tears flowing from her eyes and walked out. She staggered outside and fell to the ground and began to cry harder. Dan, Crystal and Brenna took her inside of a home and made her comfortable as she cried harder.

"Veliline these are our arenas. Nobody is ever killed, it's physically impossible to. But I want you to fight me. I want to know what you can and can't do. We'll stop every couple of minutes and we can talk then." Herrior said.

Veliline looked around and saw a blood elf hovering above them along with several healers nearby. "Why all the precautions then?"

"Simply that reason, some come to simply watch. Don't raise any ghouls; just do your normal attacks at me. Step to the other side of the ring." Herrior said.

"I do not feel comfortable fighting you." Veliline said.

"Which is why I picked myself and not somebody else. You can start." Herrior said.

Veliline hesitated for a second. She then reached out with her hand, grabbing Herrior with a dark bolt of lightning and pulling him towards her. She then casted her death and decay spell which began to burn everything around her, but before she could do anything else she was knocked on her butt.

Herrior ran out of the circle as Veliline quickly got back up and held her two-handed axe in front of her. Herrior then charged her, and slammed his shield into her. Her armor absorbed the attack and she launched her diseases in Herrior. In return Herrior stuck her deeply and then performed his thunderclap. Both of them moved away from each other, both hurting and both having their attack speed slowed. Herrior leaped at her position, knocking her backwards, but she quickly rose back up and let out what sounded like her battle cry – the sound of a long horn echoing across the mountains. Herrior let out a battle roar and both of them charged at each other.

Both were in heated combat, swinging at each other and trying to avoid the others attack. Herrior didn't understand why she didn't have a shield; he was easily absorbing more damage than she was.

Veliline began to take less damage as the battle went out and Herrior didn't seem to be landing any more blows. The tables had turned and now Herrior was taking more damage. Herrior enraged himself and then commanded his body to regenerate itself. Veliline look at him in shock, but didn't let her guard down.

"You do it, regenerate your health." Herrior said calmly. He ran away, and then charged back at her, slamming his shield at her. Veliline dropped several blood worms as she attacked, but Herrior's thunderclap instantly killed them. Veliline then casted her ability to heal herself, but Herrior quickly slammed her on the head, stunning her for several seconds as Herrior continued to attack her. Afterwards Veliline began to land blow after blow on Herrior, which again produced the affect that allowed her to absorb damage.

The two continued to attack for several more minutes. Veliline's health became low and she was instantly shrouded in a red glow, and again casted her spell that gave her more life. Veliline continued to cast her two diseases on Herrior and kept swinging at him. Herrior allowed his health to get low, and then he suddenly slammed her twice – instantly regenerating half of his health back.

She put down her weapon and looked at him confused. Herrior lowered his as well.

"How are you doing that?" Veliline asked.

"Every tank has an ability to self-regenerate. Knowing that you can drop your worms is a huge disadvantage to you if your enemy knows that. You have been regenerating yourself, but it seems to take away your attacks to do it. In addition, you seem to form some sort of shield around yourself and when your health was low another shield activated. These are good things to know, but don't you have any other way of healing yourself?

"No. We always fought side by side. Dropping our bloodworms was the least of our enemies worries when we would raise their fallen as ghouls to attack them. The worms constantly regenerated all of us as we would raise our armies to overwhelm our attackers." Veliline said.

"You said you could heal yourself using a ghoul that you could summon, did that work?" Herrior asked.

"No. It used to. We would raise a personal ghoul to fight beside us, and to dump their life into us when we were low. Instead this time all it did was heal him. I stopped after I found this out." Veliline said.

"So your powers are changing and we need to figure out what you can and cannot do anymore. Let's continue." Herrior said raising his sword and shield again. Veliline raised her weapon and then lowered it again.

"Veliline." Herrior said stubbornly.

"Some used to be able to regenerate themselves with strikes, why can't I? I can produce my shield, but at the same time others could regenerate themselves while producing the shield. They were sent on expeditions to retrieve fallen hero's and recruit abominations for the master's creations…ambassadors similar to you." Veliline said.

"And you as well." Herrior said.

"Herrior, may I go ponder some things? I try to forget the things of the past, but the past is where I am from and I should embrace it, not flee from it." Veliline asked.

"May I follow you and learn from you?" Herrior asked putting his sword and shield behind him.

"It matters not to me. I am sorry for ending our battle early." Veliline said putting her sword away and summoning her undead gryphon.

"Not at all. This information is vital to me and our town. I may not understand what you say, but all of it is important." Herrior said summoning his dragon and they both flew away.

"Yes, I want to have what she has. I run out of mana way to quickly and Skyka can regenerate hers much faster than mine." Icis said to the priest trainer.

"Are you sure hun?" Skyka asked.

"Many of your kind have asked me the same request." The priest trainer said back. "Unless there are any objections with you or your leader I can start the tree pattern and absorb it into her head immediately."

"I have no objections, just curious is all." Skyka said.

"We fought together like we did now, but we never did one role. That's why it baffled me at first because I wasn't sure how it would work. After many of our battles I can see the advantages of your talents versus mine. Before all of us would fight, and now since that is not so, it is not needed anymore." Icis said.

"I still fight, but when I do I do it with shadow magic – similar to what Crystal does. I cannot heal when I attack, versus you who can attack and heal at the same time." Skyka said.

"You are confusing me. My shields take a lot of mana, and my group shield hardly does anything anymore. I have the same spells you cast, some are for fighting, and some apply additional healing. However I am no good if I continue to drain myself in a matter of minutes. If you fight with shadow, how do you heal as well?" Icis said getting flustered.

"Sorry, ok just relax. I didn't mean to upset you. If I am going to fight a demon or an alliance one on one, I use shadow. It takes a couple of seconds to switch, but it is far more devastating to them. During battle if healing is needed, I take a couple of seconds to switch back to healing. It's called 'dual-specced'. The disadvantage to that is during the battle you have to take time to unlearn one set of talents and relearn the other, sort of like flipping a page over in a book." Skyka explained.

Icis turned to the trainer and asked how many Draenei have changed and how many have dual-specced.

"I've done seven personally, I know of five more that have but I don't have an exact count. The choice is up to you though."

"Then I choose what Skyka has." Icis said.

"Ok, follow me." The trainer said as he led them over to a table. He brought the charts and began touching a series of pictures on the paper as they began to glow. After words he lifted the tree like looking pattern of lines moving back and forth with boxes glowing on them and was about to put it on when something caught Icis's eye.

"Why do you have standard there in your notes versus what Skyka has now? They are different." Icis asked.

"They are different. I was doing your holy tree first. We have developed a new more aggressive shadowfiend that will attack anything your party is attacking, has no mana cost, reduces its cool down and even if it dies it will restore five percent of your maximum mana. It's all fairly new, but everybody is reporting that it is working well in the battlefield." The trainer said still holding together the lighted tree in the air.

"Wait…why wasn't I told of this?" Skyka asked.

"You have been away. I…sort of thought this kind of thing was talked about in your ambassador meetings. The only way we can get our new spells and ideas broadcast is by word of mouth or by visiting us." The trainer said as the tree began to dissolve into the air. Skyka waved it away and said, "Don't tell my husband this…I'll never hear the end of it."

"Also the same for our weapon and armor smiths. New advances are being made all of the time, and similar to us, unless they see what you have now they don't know if they have something better for you or not." The trainer said.

"Every time we are in Tranquil Herrior says…" Icis said.

"Yeah yeah…he's a big dumb cow. Uh – no offense to the other taurens in the room. Ok fine, give us both the same thing and trim my nails while you are at it." Skyka said. The trainer smiled and implanted both of the talent patterns into their minds.

The trainer then went back to his papers and unrolled another one marked "Shadow". He began to push several different small pictures as they lit up again.

"Is this different from what I have?" Skyka asked.

"If it is, will I have to trim your toe nails as well?" The trainer smirked back, making many people smile at him.

"Fine fine…give me that too. Are the targeting dummies still in place?" Skyka asked.

"Those haven't moved. If you wish to change something just come back and see me." The trainer said holding up the pattern in the air and walking over to Skyka with it. He then did the same thing with Icis.

"Ok, let's go have some fun Icis." Skyka said smiling as Icis tried to understand what just happened in her head. Skyka grabbed her hand and pulled her away excitedly.

"Compensating for something?" Julie asked as Branzer showed his new gun to everybody. It looked like a gantline gun with enormous barrels.

"Surprisingly this is pretty light weight." Branzer said back.

"It has the same amount of power as your 'little gun'." A female goblin said and both she and Julie smirked.

"You two are funny. Anyways why would somebody want something like this?" Branzer asked.

"Personal preference." The goblin said as she got the gun back from Branzer. "Our assassins and snipers have smaller more concealed weapons while some of our guards have the larger guns for intimidation."

"It would work for me. So get your brain scrambled again Bernett?" Branzer said as he walked up.

"Probably is safer than sticking your head next to a microwave while you warm up a burrito. Actually it's probably safer than the burrito…but I'm looking forward to doing some more killing. It's not so much direct damage, as it is watching the target painfully die over a couple of seconds. Also they painted my gun in psychedelic colors." Bernett said retrieving it from his holster. Both Branzer and Julie started to laugh.

"They are working on getting me the Mystery Machine as well and tie-dying my armor. The sixties are coming back, just you wait and see!" Bernett said.

"When you go clothes shopping, does Samatha pick out everything for you?" Julie asked.

"Julie, don't you need to go running along and play with your dolls or something?" Bernett asked.

"Me? Don't you need to go cook for your wife and clean the house?" Julie asked smirking back at him.

"Naw that work is for my wife. She knows who is in charge of the household." Bernett said.

"Oh, and just who is in charge of the household?" Samatha asked behind him.

"That just made my day. Have fun getting your foot out of your mouth Bernett." Julie said summoning her dragon and flew away laughing.

"Glad to see you are having fun." Samatha said and passionately kissed him.

"Wow, that's it? Bernett you are one lucky man." Branzer said.

"You should have heard what I just said about him. It equals out…" Samatha said stopping long enough to say that and continued kissing him.

Branzer laughed as he summoned his dragon and flew away.

Inside the house with Lindel still crying Dan's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out as a portal opened and a smaller tauren revealed himself.

"We believe we have located another time stopper on your planet. The King wants you to meet up with me at the coordinates already specified by a Chronomancer and investigate. You may bring four others." The tauren said quickly.

"Don't you need to give the coordinates to Lindel, I don't understand that stuff." Dan replied back.

"She isn't your Chronomancer anymore, another is waiting outside. I suggest you make haste." The tauren said closing the portal.

Dan put the hearthstone back in his pocket and didn't know what to say. He slowly turned around and saw everybody looking at him.

"I have to go." Dan said looking away from them.

"I'll stay here with Lindel." Crystal said as Lindel's heart broke again.

Dan walked outside and saw a male blood elf waiting for him.

"Probably not the best of times to greet each other…my name is Serlaq. I will not be going with you."

"My name is Dan. Let me contact some people and we'll begin this mission." Dan said pulling his hearthstone back out and brought up an image of Herrior. Dan explained the mission and Herrior said he would meet up with him as fast as he could.

Herrior, Julie, Branzer and Jacklyn were the first ones to arrive. The others arrived shortly after but Herrior said they weren't needed.

"Can you open the portal for us?" Dan asked.

Serlaq nodded as he opened a portal and began to pour his magic into it to make it bigger.

"Where's Lindel? She usually does this for us." Branzer asked.

"She's not coming." Herrior said as he read Dan's face and knew what happened when he first arrived.

"Ok. Do we have a healer coming with us?" Branzer asked again.

"This isn't that kind of mission. Dan is in charge. Turn on your trinkets and let's begin." Herrior said.

They all walked through the portal and the trinket automatically adjusted their clothing to make them look like they were members of a street gang.

"Quarter of a mile due east of me is where I sensed the last stoppage. I've been tracking her for two days and I'm positive I know she is a time stopper. She's a common street thief. She uses her powers to steal from others and to bolster her group's forces. She knows she is hearing the calling of the demons, so far I haven't seen any alliance tracking her." The tauren scout reported.

"Alright, I'll speak with her. Do you have any money on you?" Dan asked. The tauren handed him a wallet with several hundred dollar bills in it. Dan reached down through his disguise and made sure his gold bag was still there.

"Good, I'll need some paper and a pencil." Dan said.

"What is your plan for separating her to talk with her?" The scout asked.

"I have several of them right now. We don't want to scare her; I want to use the same tactics for how Herrior retrieved me." Dan said scribbling down several sentences. "Simply pulling her out of her environment will create havoc and if the demons are tracking her then stopping time is not the solution." He folded up the paper and put it in the wallet the scout gave him.

"Should I ask how you got this?" Dan asked. The scout smiled and turned invisible for a second.

"Sorry, ok let's go." Dan said walking out from the back alley and into the streets.

Dan immediately saw the ribbon created from stopping time distorting the air. It was altering in shape and looked different from the other ribbons he saw.

"Could you possibly leave a bigger calling card…" Dan said sounding annoyed and began to run towards the ribbon.

"What do you see?" Herrior asked.

"She's a time stopper alright, but a horribly sloppy one. I wonder if I was ever like that. How did you ever find me?" Dan asked.

"It wasn't easy. What are you looking at?" Herrior asked trying to see what Dan was looking at.

"You don't see the enormous ripple in the sky casually floating and altering shapes? It's as big as a two story building. She might as well have a billboard pointing directly at her with neon lights flashing." Dan said continuing to run and looking at the patterns fluctuating.

"I don't see anything." Herrior said.

Dan got to the area and didn't see anybody around. It was a normal rundown street corner with several recent broken windows and a man lying on the ground.

"Help me…" The man said. He was obviously dying.

"Which way did they go?" The man pointed north.

"That makes no sense. The ripple is still here." Dan said.

"I can't see them, but I hear demonic voices in the distance getting louder." Herrior said.

Dan looked around quickly trying to see where they might have gone.

"Help me…please…" The man said again.

"No." Dan said casually and began to run north. The rest of the group followed.

"Your scout's information wasn't correct. With the way that ripple is dissipating, she could have stopped time a long time ago." Dan said.

"It's very hard to detect your kind." Herrior said sounding insulted.

"Sorry. The only lead that we have is from the man. I'll keep my eyes open and you guys look for anything that might be a danger to us." Dan said.

"Besides everything around us…" Branzer said looking at everybody staring at them sitting. Everybody around them looked like they killed at least a dozen people or so, and adding another to their count wouldn't faze them at all.

Dan ran and stopped at every intersection despite the sudden braking and honking of the cars and looked around. Dan looked back and saw the ripple has finally dissipated.

Dan looked north again with the cars still honking at him and curses being tossed around. He saw a faint flicker in the sky and began to run in that direction. He ran another half mile and saw that the road ended and lead into a boarded up alley. Dan climbed up and looked over it. There were hundreds of people playing basketball, but Dan's eyes immediately glued on the one they were looking for.

"She has a demon flying around her, but I located her. Shit…didn't have a plan for this scenario." Dan said and began walking around the corner.

"We can't kill her with that many people around and luring the demon away is almost impossible." Herrior said.

"Yup…working on something…" Dan said continuing to walk. He wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into a large man.

"Boy, you best be kissing my ass…" the man said looking down at him. Dan pulled out his blades and enraged himself in front of everybody and diced him up in seconds.

"Anybody else want their ass kissed?" Dan asked looking around. Everybody around him was dumbfounded as he put his blades behind him, disappearing into his disguise.

"What are you, some sort of ninja?" A man asked.

"They're not shit compared to what I am." Dan replied back and continued walking. This time everybody made sure to move at of his way.

They arrived on the courts and made their way over to a seat next to the woman. She was talking to several other women about who made the best love. Dan sat quietly as the rest of him waited for his order.

Dan quickly made the connection as to which one was her boyfriend and started thinking of several different ideas, but the best idea dropped fell into place without him knowing it.

Her boyfriend walked over and grabbed his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face and kissed her.

"You guys are pretty good." Dan said sounding impressed.

"Thanks bro." The man said and looked away from him continuing to talk to her.

Dan sat and listened to the conversation happening between them. They finally stopped talking and Dan spoke up quickly, "Can you teach us some moves?"

He looked back at him and let out a quick burst of laughter. Dan raised an eyebrow back at him.

"Serious?" He said back.

"Wouldn't be asking if we weren't. You seem to be the best out there, I was wondering if you could just teach us some moves." Dan said back.

The man's attention had been caught and looked back over his shoulder. He let out a smile and walked over to Dan. "You think I'm the best huh? What makes you say that?"

"Watched you for awhile. Your team is ok, but you seem to take the lead. If it wasn't for your ability to drop the three's and drive it in, I would be asking somebody better than you – that is if you know of somebody better I'll go talk to them instead." Dan said.

"You talk quite a bit you know that? I've got some money on this game; I don't have time to babysit you and your friends." The man said smiling at him and shaking his head walking away. The man looked down and saw a gold circular object roll past him, do several circles and come to a rest in front of him.

"Sometimes…there's more money in babysitting then in the game." Dan said back. The man bent over and picked it up. He examined it and quickly put it in his pocket before anybody else saw.

"Ok, you got my attention." The man said whispering to him walking back. His teammates were telling him to come back and play.

"Just a second, got a friend to talk to." The man said bouncing the ball towards them. He knelt down in front of Dan and said, "This aint about basketball is it?"

"Did I catch your attention? Can we go somewhere and talk?" Dan asked.

The man looked worried and started to look around.

"Not now, go ahead and play." Dan whispered back.

"Look man, I've got a lot of friends in the slammer and I'm trying to go straight you know what I mean." The man whispered back.

"Not asking for you to do anything illegal. Go play, but remember to catch up with your new 'friends' later." Dan said.

"You gonna stick around then?"

"I don't drop coins and run." Dan said back.

"Ok man." The man said looking confused about the entire situation and ran back into the court.

They sat and watched for several minutes as his girlfriend kept glancing over at him, expecting him to do something.

Dan noticed it every time out of the corner of his eye but continued to watch him play with fascination.

"He's good. NBA material. Has he tried out?" Dan asked out loud.

The girl was looking at Dan at the moment as Dan quickly turned to look at her and then back at him.

"You talking to me?" The girl asked.

"Unless he has another girlfriend." Dan replied back.

"Oh he better not. So what are you, some sort of scout or something?" She replied back.

Dan smiled and slowly turned to look at her. He saw the demon up close. It was a small black snack with a big red mouth constantly spinning around in her hair.

"No, name's Dan."

"Charlette. So why are you so interested in my man and whatchu gonna do to him?"

"His father's a scout." Dan said leaning his head over to Herrior. "I get him a lead, I get half of his cut when he signs. Got six so far, going for seven."

"You're looking for talent here?" Charlette said as her entire face questioned him.

"You think he's not good?" Dan asked looking back at him.

"Hell ya he's good." Charlette said right back.

"He just dropped three, ten feet behind the three-point line. I bet he could drop them from half court and not think twice about it. He steals the ball like it's his court, has blocked four shots and has five assists so far. Damn right he's good." Dan said back.

Charlette looked surprised that Dan paid that close attention to him and looked out at him. Dan of course made up those numbers, but by chance Charlette looked out and saw him dunk the ball in one-handed.

"So what's the deal?" Charlette said moving closer to him.

"Between me and him." Dan said.

"Uh uh it aint. It's between you, him and me." Charlette said.

Dan shrugged his shoulders.

"Just what das that mean?" Charlette asked.

"How long you two been dating?" Dan asked.

"Four years, what's that got to do with it?"

"Nothing, just casual talk." Dan said back watching him, while Charlette continued to figure out what was going on.

"Him and I are in it together, is that what you are thinking? I'd take the money and run?" Charlette asked.

"Wasn't thinking about that. Having a girl by his side helping him is actually an incentive. Shits hard when you go at it alone – most don't make it." Dan said back continuing to watch him. This was the third time he threw a bad pass and it went out of bounds. Luckily Charlette was more interested in the money and the future possibilities opening up in front of her than to actually pay attention to him.

"Go to church?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, I pay my dues." Charlette said back. The demon instantly hissed and rose above her head. Dan thought he could easily slice that thing in half without touching a hair on her head. He was hoping the rest of the group wasn't thinking the same.

"Got a job?" Dan asked.

"I make money, aint none of your business what I do though." Charlette replied back.

"No it isn't. What was last week's sermon about?" Dan asked.

"Hell if I know, I just go in there because of him. You some sort of Jehovah's witness with your pamphlets about Heaven and Hell?" She asked.

Dan quickly laughed at that question. "Killed two of them last week. Never read the pamphlet so I guess I'm going to Hell. Bet I can persuade my way out of there though, come back as some badass NBA all-start, make me some millions. Instead of blowing it on some dumb-ass shit, put it in the bank. Most of the players these days blow their money and they don't realize that the average career life of a player is 3.5 years factoring in injuries and resigning contracts. You go in, you make your money, you get out. It's like the casinos, you walk in, you hustle the dealers, and you get the hell out before you blow everything you have." Dan paused for a second hoping she didn't know anything about basketball. He looked back over at her and said, "You know how many NBA players have filed bankruptcy within five years after they stop playing? You don't put anything aside, you don't have anything to fall back on, you aint shit. The younger you are, the quicker your body is – the faster the mind is able to process what's going on. The older you get, well, you do the math."

She paused for a moment and said, "Yeah I hear ya."

"You go robbing a jewelry story; you don't keep stuffing your pockets with the cops running in. Watched your boy for awhile now, many people have been. Surprised as shit nobody's picked him up yet." Dan said continuing the lie.

"Aint never seen you 'round before." Charlette replied back.

"You remember seeing any of my friends around?" Dan asked leaning back. Herrior quickly glanced over at her and then looked back at the court.

"First time we're all here. Didn't believe half of the shit they were telling me – telling me some stories about him having a hang time of five seconds…guess my dumbass lost the bet." Dan said sounding upset.

"You never paid me from the last bet." Herrior said going along with the story.

"Like hell I didn't!" Dan said back reaching for his wallet. He opened it and thumbed through dozens of hundred dollar bills and handed him three. "There, shut your yap…"

"Feels kind of light." Herrior said putting the money casually into his pocket.

"Yeah, so did your ma last night. She been losing weight? I have three stocks that have matured and I'm cashing two out tomorrow – you saw the slips yourself, they're in my wallet. So why don't you wipe your ass with those and buy yourself another yelping ankle bitter." Dan said seeming angry at him.

"Made more than you did last month with them." Herrior said.

"Still made several K's on my investments…now shut up will ya, trying to give the lady some advice." Dan snapped right back at him.

"Several K's? What does that mean?" Charlette asked swinging her legs around completely ignoring what was happening.

"It's like several G's, only hundreds more…" Dan said appearing still upset at him.

"You're full of it…" Charlette said.

"I go where the money is and it led me here. You don't make money by knocking off stores and stealing cars, you do it by blackmail and laundering. Grew up pretty good with computers. Dumbshit's have no idea where deposits disappear. You go teach yourself Microsoft Office and get a job being a secretary, I'll teach myself packet sniffing. The more people wire money, the more transactions that take place, the more packets I collect. Shit's encrypted and gives off a scrambled message. Decrypting it is a waste of time, you get yourself a crew that you can trust – somebody applying for an intern position that has a sweet looking ass in a mini skirt, you get a normal looking business man with a fudged resume, and yourself a security personal to apply at a business launching the most encrypted packets. You decided who is who." Dan said leaning over to his group.

"Ninety days later you have gained access to everything you need. I monitor when the most transmissions are sent, relay that information to where and when it's happening, take some incriminating photo's, digitally record some voices…you have that business by the balls. That shit you aren't interested in though, what he just did is what you are interested in and why I am here. You think I'm full of it, you think he's not good, we'll leave and I'll get my money back." Dan said looking over at Herrior.

"He's easy cash, put person 'A' with person 'B' – enjoy watching a few games, walk away with large amounts of legal, untaxable money and season tickets. Uncle Sam will never know what happened." Dan said.

Charlette didn't know what to say. Her mind was churning fast, but didn't want to show it.

"You need a person you can trust, which is why I asked how long you were with him. Most of all you need a lot of luck – I find that in church. Clears your mind for some reason. Keep yourself thinking straight and always one step ahead. Inside a church it's…I don't know like a sanctuary. You don't have to anticipate the next move. Even if you stole the person's 401K and job singing next to you, it's like all is forgiven. What do you find in a church?" Dan asked.

Charlette was quiet, she didn't anticipate that question. Her mind started churning and the demon fled from her and flew around the corner. Julie got up and followed after it.

"I…don't know…" Charlette said still thinking about it.

"No, you have got to have an answer to everything. You take from the offering plate as you confess your sins. You take a woman's savings as she lies dying on an operating table. The corporations finding a cure for Aids, you dump their funding into a bogus account and delete it from the tables. Help save the rain forest my ass…" Dan said in a bitter tone. It produced the result he wanted.

Time stopped.

"You're full of shit, stealing from you is going to be a joy. You wanna hook my boy up with a career fine, but you are going to pay heavy for what you are doing!" Charlette said in a bitter tone as she started rifling around in his pockets. She found the small bag of coins and his wallet. She stood up and quickly put the bag into her pocket and opened his wallet. She started counting the bills when she noticed something.

"All of these are fake, read the note" was written on every bill.

"The hell is this?" Charlette said in surprise as she found the piece of paper at the back of the wallet. It was folded up and said, "Greetings, fellow time stopper" with an arrow pointing to where it was folded. She unfolded it and read the note: "If you are reading this than you have successfully robbed me. Congratulations. However you are attracting demons when you stop time. You can hear them, right now just as I can hear them. They will find you, and they will get you – it is only a matter of time. You and everybody else you know is in great danger, more than you can realize. I don't know how much time you have left, but I would advise putting everything back the way it was before you are noticed. Signed…the person staring at you." She looked up from the note and saw that Dan's face was turned from looking at his boyfriend and directly into her eyes. Her eyes widened and let out a scream.

"Get a hold of yourself! Do you want people to know what you can do?" Dan yelled at her.

"Holy shit…holy shit…holy shit…" Charlette kept repeating over and over.

"You can shit yourself later; get back into your position." Dan said quickly.

Time started.

Her body wasn't in the right position. To everybody else she went from a listening position to a standing position looking terrified at Dan.

"You've got to time those things better…" Dan whispered to her. Dan looked away and continued watching as he did before.

Charlette quickly hid the note and the wallet and tried to take in what just happened. Her boyfriend saw her all flustered and called for a time out.

"What's wrong baby?" He asked.

"I…nn…nothing is wrong." Charlette said back still panicked.

"We were sitting here watching you, having a discussion about church. My lady got up to leave. A minute later she started to scream." Dan said.

"Yeah…sorry, no nothing is wrong. I just…I'm hot, and I don't feel good. Take me home baby please?" Charlette asked in desperation.

"Yeah…yeah ok, no problem." He said.

"Guess we'll have to catch up with you some other time. Keep practicing, another opportunity will come along." Dan said getting up to walk away.

"No wait." Both of them said at the same time. They looked at each other with curiosity.

"What for?" Dan asked.

"Baby take me home please…right now…let's go. Bring them with us. We'll talk basketball at home. I trust them, please just take me home." Charlette said in further desperation.

"My lady has experience in nursing, but if you think it's something serious we can go to the hospital." Dan said.

"No it's all good. You ok to walk?" The man asked Charlette.

"Yes fine, let's go." Charlette said walking past everybody in a hurry.

"We'll meet you there, go ahead and take her home." Dan said motioning to him to leave. Charlette's boyfriend ran to catch up with her as she appeared to still be frantic about what just happened.

"So you think I would have a fine ass in a mini skirt eh?" Julie asked smiling at Dan.

"Naw, I was talking about Herrior. Let's go somewhere private and have our Chronomancer track her." Dan said walking away.

"What's a mini skirt?" Herrior asked.

"You pulled an awful lot of shit out of your ass just now, either that of you actually knew what you were talking about." Branzer said smiling and following them.

"Completely made it up; apparently it sounded convincing though. Julie did you get rid of our unwanted guest?" Dan asked.

"Yup." Julie said sounding proud of herself.

They walked into a dark alley where nobody was looking and Dan asked Herrior if he could have the scout follow them and then have them portal to their spot. Herrior nodded as he activated his hearthstone and began to relay instructions.

"Lindel could do all of that." Branzer said.

"Lindel isn't with us right now." Dan replied back quickly. A portal opened and they all walked through it, and instantly appeared in the front yard of the house the man and Charlette arrived at.

The man ran out and said, "How the hell did you get here before us?"

"Ran fast, how's Charlette doing?" Dan asked.

"I'm fine, hun can you go inside while I talk to them? It'll just take a moment." Charlette said even more terrified but trying not to show it.

"Yeah sure, but if any of you try anything funny…"

"We won't, we will be here on the law sitting on the grass." Dan said sitting down with the rest of his group doing the same.

The man looked at them, not know what to think, but the woman assured him she would be fine.

As soon as the door closed she started rattling off question after question.

"Hold on Charlette. We're not here to hurt you or threaten you. We are here to inform you. When we first saw you there was a demon flying above your head. Julie killed it. With it gone we can talk now. Your ability to stop time is sloppy. You activate it and leave a huge calling card behind when you do it. If I can track you, then the demons, which already know you have the ability or the alliance, will eventually get to you. Both of which will make you suffer and dissect you until you reveal how you do it – which you don't know how – or until you pledge your life to them. Ultimately you will be killed either way. So you have a couple of options: Number one, stop using the ability as much and pray they don't find you. Number two, continue using the ability and have them find you. Or number three would be us helping to protect you." Dan said.

"You just…want my powers…I don't believe you…" Charlette said and began to stutter.

Dan let out a laugh and said, "I'm vastly more powerful than you are, I could give two shits about your powers. I followed your ripples that you are making in the air when you stop time, I'm not only immune to it time stopping – I can do things with time that you probably have never even thought of. We're not here to convince you to come with us – those are your three options, take it or leave it."

Charlette looked at all of them dumbfounded. "You all aren't human are you?"

"Three of us are the big one isn't. Three out of four is a passing grade. Now that I answered your question, answer mine." Dan said.

"I…don't believe any of this nonsense and I'm going to stay here." Charlette said.

"Very well, we will be on our way. Have a nice life." Dan said and began walking away with the rest of his party doing the same.

Charlette looked astonished. "That's it?" she asked.

"That's it." Dan said back. They quietly walked away before Charlette began to scream after them.

"Hmm…wonder what she wants?" Dan whispered to himself. Herrior let out a grunt.

"Sorry, what?" Dan asked walking back.

"Is this shit real? You aren't making this up?" Charlette asked frantically.

"How many people have you seen immune to time stopping and have also been able to communicate with you and track you down. I specialize in that. The demons know who you are and will eventually overtake you. We bought you time and if need be we can fight them now if they return. The more you stop time, the more they will close in on you. My advice personally would be to move, get far away and arm yourself. Also don't use your power at all, and the chances are pretty good you will not be tortured day and night. I'd give it fifty-fifty. It's the same as you explaining to somebody you can stop time. They would have asked the same questions you just asked. We're not here to convince you to come with us. If you do you will be safe, but you'll leave everything and everybody you know behind. So think about the options and if you play your cards right you might live a normal happy lifestyle. Now look, we are not here to play 'footsie' with you. You have your options, you decide right now because we have other places to be. We are not threatening you, just merely stating the facts." Dan said.

"All of that stuff you said on the courts?" Charlette asked.

"Used to get your attention, get you out of ear shot from everybody else and to get rid of the demon circling your head. Yes, all lies though. If you think I am lying now, go back in your house and call us a bunch of fruitcakes, bothers me none. We're leaving in two minutes, just need to find a place to conceal our departure." Dan said looking around.

"Behind the dumpster over there might be good." Branzer said pointing. "It's behind everything with the doors up, shouldn't have much of a problem there."

"Sounds good to me. Decide quickly, we'll be over there." Dan said walking towards it.

Charlette again began to ask question after question. Dan walked away unphased as they all walked behind it and sat down. Charlette became extremely frustrated and started walking to them, and walking away from them.

"One minute." Dan called out as Charlette continued to curse in frustration. Her boyfriend heard the commotion and walked out to her side.

"Nothing is wrong, get back inside!" Charlette yelled at him.

"Are they messing with you?"

"No! Nothing is wrong, get out of here!" Charlette yelled back at him. The man started moving towards the dumpster when Charlette grabbed his arm and yanked him back. The man turned around and pushed her down and continued towards them.

"No! Leave them alone!" Charlette said getting back up and tackling him to the ground. He tried to resist but Charlette slammed her hand down on the man's head, breaking his nose instantly and causing him to go in shock for awhile.

"Thirty seconds." Dan yelled out.

"Damn it! I'm supposed to make a decision like that in thirty seconds? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Charlette screamed at them.

"A decision about what?" the boyfriend asked pushing her off from him.

"Shut up! This doesn't pertain to you!" Charlette screamed back and kicked him in the face. The man yelled in pain as he started after her. Herrior got out from behind the dumpster and intercepted the attack. The man's fist landed on Herrior's armor and instantly cracked several of his fingers. The man looked up at him in surprise as he fell down in pain.

"Stay here with a man that abuses you, or make something with your life – we're leaving. Branzer?" Herrior called out kicking the man to the ground.

Branzer had contacted their Chronomancer and he began to open a portal, only it was on the outside of Tranquil where their old wall was per Branzer's request.

"Good luck with your life Charlette, you might be safe for another year if you are lucky." Dan said looking at her for a final time and then watched as his party walked through the portal one at a time. Dan began to walk towards the portal as Charlette ran over towards them. Dan grabbed her and jumped through the portal as it closed.

"Where the hell are we?" Charlette asked looking around astonished.

"Just outside our city walls. You are safe at the moment. Once you enter our city, you cannot go back unless we feel comfortable with you going." Herrior said.

"You know the life you had before. They recruited me the same way, saved my life many times. I've also saved their lives several times. Notice the call of the demons in your head is gone. I never had that problem; I had something in my head preventing the alliance and the demons from tracking me. There are still many options for you. I would personally suggest meeting with our King and having him evaluate you. Time stoppers are very rare and everybody tries to get them. We're different; I choose to come because I eventually saw what our enemies could do first hand. It's something I'll never forget. If you choose not to come, we'll put you back where you were, or anywhere else you want to be. I was serious about you being tracked, and I am very serious about them torturing you day and night to figure out how you do it. They don't care about your well-being; your body might withstand their brutal punishment for maybe three days." Dan said.

"And how long am I going to be tortured if I come with you guys?" Charlette asked back quickly.

"None. If fact it does no guarantee that you'll be accepted. It's up to the King, we merely do our mission. You came here on your own free-will, signifying that you do believe us and do know of the danger. However with the mind you currently have, the confusion, the betrayal, the harsh past, lack of discipline…I don't know. Herrior what is your opinion?" Dan asked.

"I could name off several other examples, however Dan is right in all that he speaks of. I will establish contact with our ambassadors to have our shields adjusted to her body. The King will make the decision. If he decides not to accept you, just think of all of this as a dream. Carry on with your normal lifestyle and we will place bets on how long it will take before you are overtaken by our enemies." Herrior said and activated his hearthstone and stuck his head in for awhile.

"Lot to take in huh?" Dan asked looking at her. She seemed beyond confused and flustered. "Before you say anything we should probably show you what you are up against." Dan touched his trinket and exposed the armor he was wearing. Branzer and Julie did the same and summoned their pets. Charlette again let out another scream as she quickly moved away from them.

"Even with all of this armor, many of us still perish in battle. Time stopping against a demon is foolish, time stopping against the alliance is vital. You are stopping time to suit your needs and desires. You are a complete idiot…just like I was before I realized what was happening around me." Dan said.

Herrior pulled his head back out and a portal began to form next to Dan.

"Our King wishes to speak with you and the lady at the same time." Herrior said deactivating his trinket as well. She let out several more screams as Herrior revealed his true form to her.

"Yeah, same reaction he gets with the ladies." Dan said walking over to her and forcefully pulling her through the portal.

They both appeared before the King and instantly Charlette looked amazed around her and then started to scream again when she saw his guards and ambassadors casually walking around.

"Charlette, I need you to focus on me for a minute." The King demanded and walked forward to her. Charlette paid no attention and desperately looked around for the exit.

Time stopped.

As she began to run, the King held out his hand as a white beam of light grabbed her and pulled her within inches of her.

"Your powers do not work here. Also I gave you a command and you didn't follow it. I do not like what I am seeing so far." The King said and then threw her towards a guard who quickly restrained her.

"Continue time…there is no reason for this foolishness." The King said.

"I…I can't…it does it on its own…" Charlette said in tears. Dan snapped his fingers.

Time resumed.

"Full of surprises aren't we Dan?" The King said with a smile turning to look at him.

"You gave a command, I merely followed it. She was obviously not able to perform the task. I apologize if it upset you." Dan said.

"Not at all…" The King said beaming at Dan with pride and sat back down. "So, Dan, I want your opinion of her?"

"Kill her." Dan said bluntly.

Charlette looked at him surprised and started pleading for her life.

"Silence her!" The King said as the tauren holding her drew his blade and pressed it hard up against her throat.

"Will you be my ambassadors of our time stoppers? Your powers continue to amaze me, and there is not a single person in Tranquil that you haven't taught how to channel and control their powers." The King asked.

"I will do as you command." Dan replied back.

"And if I do not command it?" The King asked back.

"My King, I am willing to give my life and serve you in any way that you think best. It is logical in your proposal; however I am more than willing to take my life as I have shown in the past to save the lives of thousands and I will do so in the future. By becoming an ambassador, I do not want to put others at risk of saving my life if I become caught." Dan said back.

"You're repeating yourself. I am well aware of what you have done and have no doubt in the future you will continue to do so." The King looked at him curiously for a second and then asked, "You know something you aren't telling me."

Dan looked at him shocked.

"During your previous mission, set your mind at ease. You can track the time stopping waves?" The King asked him.

"Oh, yes my King it wasn't until recently I have been able to actually see them. I'm still experimenting with the before and after affects. I'm certain I can stop and start time producing a single wave that almost instantly disappears. I'm constantly testing and learning. It was only a theory and as far as I can tell nobody else in Tranquil can see it. My party wasn't able to see her waves she was producing, but my King her waves, lines, whatever you want to call it was enormous, and knowing that if we began to talk about her powers would have endangered all of us. We had to remove a demon around her before we could isolate her and discuss the purpose of the mission. If she refused to come with us, we simply would have killed her. She is obviously not a fighter and has a lust for money and power. Her mind is clouded and in my opinion is useless. I would not want to fight beside her in my party, nor would I recommend sending her back. The demons will find her again." Dan said stopping to take a breath then seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "My King, if the demons knew about her abilities than that raises several questions as to why they left her still alive and didn't immediately take her; but if that is true why didn't the demons take me immediately either? I fought many of them even without my powers that I have now. My King, the one demon that we fought was able to stop time for everybody except for me and Mohania…if they have that power, why keep it? Then there were other demons I fought that were immune to time stopping." Dan shook his head and apologized.

"No apology needed. This is the same reason why I want you to become an ambassador to our time stoppers. We have never learned even half of what we learned from you. Have dinner with us again soon, I just wish to listen to you talk and your ideas." The King said smiling again at him.

"I will become an ambassador under the condition that I am able to use my powers to continue to save lives – even if it means my own…if that is ok with you my King." Dan said at the end realizing what he just said. The King chuckled and nodded. He held out his hand and pulled Dan's hearthstone from his pocket. The King put it between his hands and a blue burst of light came out of the cracks of his fingers. Several seconds later the King then held his hand out as the hearthstone flew back and hovered in front of Dan. Dan grasped the stone and put it back in his pocket.

"Thank you my King, it is an honor." Dan said bowing before him.

"So, now that you have become one of my ambassadors, shall my guard carry out your first order?" The King asked Dan.

Dan was about to say "Yes" before he caught himself as an idea suddenly appeared in his head. "We could use her as bait. Obviously the demons know of her and could have begun torturing her. I say we drop her back in the place where the demons seemed the loudest and see what happens. Possibly have several of our assassins in place and begin picking them off, have several groups in place to reinforce our snipers. I would like to know the reason why they didn't take her."

"Intriguing idea. In the past we would have swept her up and saved her at all possible costs, now you purpose intently dropping her in arms way to find out if there is a controller trying to siphon her, and possibly others. Demons attack randomly, but from what you just described it would be able to give more information about what exactly we are up against. Several things happened today that I never thought I would agree to, or learn." The King said looking again at him with pride. He pondered the thought for awhile and after awhile he asked, "Well?"

"My King?" Dan asked back confused.

"You're an ambassador now and your plan involves retrieving more information about time stopping. You are now out ranked everyone else concerning this subject; you do not need my permission. I was just wondering what else you wanted?" The King said smiling at him.

"Yes my King. Bring her with you. I need to take her to the engineers; I want a failsafe device attached to her in case she gets away from us." Dan said and took out his hearthstone and began to summon his party in multiple windows as he walked outside.

"Dan you can't give that order." Herrior said quickly back.

"I am an ambassador of the time stoppers now, as the King said this involves obtaining more information about time stopping and I currently out rank you. If you disagree feel free to contact the King, I just came out of his chambers. Now than everybody immune to time stopping meet me in the engineering section. Trackolania I'm going to need a couple of rogue's that can drop demons from a long distance with both of their eyes closed. I will meet you all there." Dan said and closed his portals. Dan summoned his dragon. It flew down and smiled at him.

"Saw this coming did you my friend?" Dan asked.

"I don't think a single person in Tranquil didn't see this coming." His dragon said back. Dan relieved the guard of Charlette and pulled her onto the dragon as they took flight.

"I don't want to die…" Charlette continued to repeat over and over.

"If you do everything correctly, you'll probably live. I'd start praying right now though." Dan said as his dragon picked up speed passing over Tranquil.

Dan landed and saw everybody in his party there. They all smiled and began to clap for him.

"Yeah, big surprise huh…anyways let's get this over with. Trackolania I see you brought a couple of friends." Dan said looking at him and several dozen other rogues behind him.

"Strings, after this I'm going to need something to drink." Dan said as he walked by him.

"Already taken care of." Strings said proudly following him.

"I need an engineer, one that is the smartest one here?" Dan asked out loud. Several engineers began to run towards him and began arguing.

"Hush. I need a device attached to our friend here that cannot be removed that can be remotely activated to kill her." Dan said.

"That's it?" One of the goblin engineers asked surprised.

"How soon until you can have one built?" Dan asked. The goblin pulled out a small silver box and casually tossed it on the ground. It grew into a work bench producing several small devices and equipment on the table.

"Method of death?" The goblin asked looking over three different devices.

"Surprise me." Dan said smiling back. The goblin closed his eyes and moved his hand quickly between all three devices and eventually landed on a small spider looking device. He then took a small circular tube and walked over to Dan.

"Spider goes in her ear, push the button on the detonator and her bones will melt, causing extreme pain and leaving a pool of human goo behind." The goblin said.

"Perfect." Dan said getting the detonator from him and putting it in his pocket. He then took the spider from his hand and shoved it into Charlette's ear. She was screaming and struggling the entire time. The spider quickly activated and fled inside of her brain. Charlette quickly went silent as her body seemed to bulge in various different locations.

"By the way, how did our counterattack go on the alliance fortress?" Dan asked.

"It's still underway…only we aren't there and they don't have a damn clue what happened or what is currently happening. They actually are at the point of burning people at the stake to try to please their gods, or kill witches or something. It's quite funny to watch." The goblin said back with a smile.

"Strings, I think our goblin friends need a drink as well when we return." Dan said looking at him smiling.

"Duly noted. As a bonus, I'll match everybody drink for drink." Strings said with a chuckle.

Dan turned to Lindel who was happy for Dan, but her eyes still burned with sadness. "Are you up for this?"

"Yup, ready when you are." Lindel said.

"I are if everybody else are." Dan said smiling at her. Lindel tried to smile back but couldn't as she produced the portal.

"Herrior, our friend might need some assistance walking." Dan said turning to look at him.

Herrior was still smiling at him, proud of what he became.

"Also afterwards the ladies will whip you as I ride on top of your head while you run around Tranquil." Dan said smirking back at him. Herrior then lowered his eyes at him and slowly shook his head.

Dan turned to Skyka and asked, "That was the bet wasn't it?"

"Herrior mentioned something to me about forgetting that and not bringing it up…but I forget what exactly he said about it…so I guess it's still on." Skyka replied back smiling at Dan.

"Both of you are disposable." Herrior said walking in-between them with Charlette and into the portal. Everybody laughed as they entered the portal.

"Crystal, this is where the attack was." Dan said on top of the roof.

"Nope, we need to be about a mile that way." Crystal said pointing south west of where they currently were.

"Lindel can you move us there?" Dan asked her. Lindel nodded and produced another portal.

They all walked through it and the demonic language was so loud that everybody could hear it. Dan gave the signal for everybody to be quiet. He then started pointing at Trackolania and his rogue's and pointed to a place he wanted them. The rogue's moved so quickly and silently it was hard to tell if they were actually there. Dan then pointed to Skyka and Icis and pointed to his feet. He then motioned upwards. Skyka instantly levitated him as Dan pointed to the opposite side of the roof. Skyka flew him over as Dan pointed at the rest of the group. Skyka nodded in acknowledgement. Dan and Charlette were lowered to the street when Charlette became aware of what was happening. Dan sensed it as she began to struggle. He quickly slammed his hand over her mouth and slammed her against the back of the wall.

"Keep praying that our aim is true. You are going to walk around this building. You will see and hear things you have never seen before. We move into place and take out whoever is controlling the demons. Do something stupid and you'll die either an agonizing death by us or them. Your life changes from here on out. After completing this task I will drop my order to have you killed, and you might even be given a chance to fight beside us. Do you understand?" Dan asked as silently as he could in her ear. She nodded.

"Good. Control your thoughts and emotions. Your job is a simple diversion – couldn't be easier." Dan said and looked back as the rest of his party landed. Dan pointed at Herrior, Skyka, Strings, and Jacklyn and pointed at himself. They walked over and he pointed to the rest of the group and motioned for them to go the other way. Dan then looked at Lindel and pointed to his head.

"Thank you Lindel. Can you mind link everybody?" Dan asked in his mind. Lindel cut the connection and several seconds later reestablished it.

"Thank you again Lindel. We'll attack from the front, the rest of you are to cut off any retreat they are going to make. I don't anticipate any attack with our rogues in place, but I wouldn't mind sinking my blades into some of them myself. Let's keep this quiet everybody…remember all of you are disposable." Dan said in his mind. Several laughter's came back into everybody's head as they moved into position.

Dan realized nobody had their trinkets activated but nobody was around so it didn't seem too important.

Dan then pointed at Charlette and pointed at where she should go. She shook her head quickly and backed away. Dan pulled the trigger out of his pocket and put his thumb above it. She suddenly stopped and became trembling. Dan rolled his eyes and pointed at where he wanted her to go. Charlette began to tremble as Dan again pointedly violently where he wanted her to go. Charlette shook her head again. Dan looked up at Herrior. Herrior picked her up and threw her at the entrance of the alley.

"Ah, the lady of the hour has finally arrived. Come closed my future wife and see what your destiny holds for you." It was a young human male voice. The demonic chatter intensified. Charlette scrambled to get up but was quickly grabbed by the demons and pulled her in.

"Trackolania, get ready to take out the demons. Everybody else I want the man." Dan said in his voice. A small series of quiet clicks suddenly occurred, Dan figured they were readjusting their position or loading up their crossbows.

"It will be ok Charlette. Yes…I know your name. I know all about you, and I know what drew you to me. You want power, and together we shall gather our forces and dominate this world. My fellow pets - be nice to our lady. I would be disappointed if she is harmed." The man said again.

"Let me go! I would rather die!" Charlette said struggling.

"They are here to serve us, they are under my control. With more sacrifices my power will grow, and you will help. The rewards are unlimited by only your mind." The man said.

"They are demons and the people behind me will kill all of you!" Charlette yelled out.

"Dumbass woman…" Dan said in his mind pressing the trigger. Charlette immediately let out a terrified scream as her voice was drowned out by the splash her body made on the ground.

"Take out the demons! I want him alive!" Dan yelled in his mind as arrows and bullets quietly whooshed by them instantly killing many of the demons.

"What the hell is going on?" The man asked aloud as if he was questioning himself. Herrior ran around the corner as he drew his shield and sword.

"Kill him! I command all of you!" The man said in a terrified voice and began to run away. The demons began to burn up all around him as Herrior was finally close enough to charge him and knocking him to the ground.

"Take over Herrior, we need to know where he gained this knowledge. Crystal please illuminate any demons that may have disappeared. Trackolania I want you knock them out instantly.

Herrior picked him up and slammed his body into a brick wall. Several of the man's bones instantly snapped like twigs. He let out a terrifying and painful scream.

"Talk…now!" Herrior said yelling into his face.

"I…can't…" The man said gasping for breath. Herrior drew his sword and cut off his right arm. The man yelled out in pain as blood gushed from his chest.

"How about now? I wonder how many limbs I can take off without you dying?" Herrior yelled in his face.

"It's the orb…in my pocket. I found it and it called to me…I don't know anything else!" The man said desperately. Herrior put his sword behind him and felt for the orb. It was in his coat pocket and it pulsed with evil powers. Herrior smashed it on the ground as a demonic voice called out in a dying breath.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with strange looking rocks?" Herrior said throwing him into the air. "Veliline split him!"

Veliline held her hand out and quickly pulled him toward her waiting sword as it cut him in half.

"Damn it…stupid woman!" Dan said yelling at the pile of blood and goo that was the remains of Charlette. "Crystal what's happening?"

"All the demons are dead, I can't sense anymore. The orb had contained a powerful demon inside that needed more power to escape. Its demons obeyed its commands, he was never in control. They just so happened to find Charlette and suddenly focused all of their attention on getting her." Crystal explained.

"That explains that story. It's a shame that we had to sacrifice a time stopper to kill this demon." Herrior said.

"I had ordered her to be killed, but then thought of this idea. I told her to not say anything, but I am not going to jeopardize our party over a sloppy time stopper that never had any intention of helping us. They would have gotten her eventually, one way or another…I gave her the chance though – she chose death." Dan said.

"You made the right call." Herrior said turning to face him. "So…how does it feel to order me around?" Herrior asked smiling at him.

"The same as Skyka described, not a real big deal. Lindel can you take us home?" Dan asked.

Herrior raised an eyebrow and turned around to look at his wife. She was talking to Icis about something as she turned to look at him. "Yeah, told ya it was no big deal…so if we are done killing things can we go back? I have several wipes custom made for Herrior."

"Healers…" Herrior said shaking his head.

"What? You kill, we heal. If you don't get hurt, we're just here for looks – and I'm damn good at both…sorry, is Icis too." Skyka said beginning to laugh.

Lindel had created a portal during the conversation and stepped through already. Trackolania and his rogue's ran through the portal quicker than anybody else had a chance to go through as the rest of Herrior's party walked through.

"Hi guys, had some fun without us eh?" Branzer said walking towards Lindel.

"Yeah, we actually got something done." Dan said intercepting him.

"You're still full of shit aren't you? Lindel are you feeling ok?" Branzer asked looking at her.

"Yup." Lindel said quickly not looking at him.

"Drinks are on me! Everybody to the nearest pub!" Strings called out.

"It would be different if you had to pay for them..." Branzer said back sarcastically. He attempted to walk around Dan, as Dan casually repositioned himself to intercept him again. Crystal walked over to him and started talking really close to him.

"Hun, can we talk for a little bit?" Branzer asked.

"No, and don't call me that." Lindel said closing the portal, then transformed into a ball of light and shot off towards the sky. Branzer watched her go.

"Did I do something wrong?" Branzer asked watching her go.

"It was nothing you did." Crystal said back.

"Usually when women tell me that it means I did something wrong." Branzer said.

"You guys go ahead, we'll catch up." Dan said.

"Way ahead of ya." Strings said back. Herrior looked back and nodded.

"Come with us." Crystal said as her and Dan led him into the home where Brenna still was.

"See the tears Lindel spilled for you." Dan said walking over to a small pool and then looking up at him.

"What did I do?" Branzer asked more sincerely this time.

"The King won't agree on your marriage. In fact he doesn't want you to even seeing each other anymore, and chances are one of you is going to be pulled from the group." Dan said.

"Wha…why?" Branzer asked as he sat down with the rest of them.

"There's several reasons, some of which I think could be worked out. The main ones are she holds tremendous power and you do as well. Lindel doesn't think straight with you around anymore. Also Lindel wants kids. You are a human, she is a banshee – it would never happen. Lindel has loved kids – well you know more about that then we probably do – but she has always imagined having a large family. Another big one is she's young and been through hell and back. You are older and have more experience, that's always hindered you two. She's been around thousands of years, but in slavery and tormented. She was relieved to finally break her bonds, and then have you come along her mind went topsy-turvy. She got a sudden blast of reality by the King about what she is and had to come to terms with it. Branzer – she's basically been an abused kid, and then suddenly had all of her dreams come true. She was tested by the King repeatedly and failed each test repeatedly. I don't…entirely know the reasons about you, basically because it was just Lindel talking. Which leads me back to what Crystal said, 'it's nothing to do with you'." Dan explained.

Branzer didn't know what to say, except for "I should probably apologize to the King."

"I don't think that would solve anything, and may just make him more frustrated with you. Apologizing to Lindel would probably produce the same affect." Crystal said quickly. "It's basically an over-excited child that hasn't mastered her emotions. She's mastered powers that are beyond our comprehension, but not her own emotions."

"I…sort of got that feeling, and can't say this wasn't all that big of this wasn't a surprise to be honest." Branzer said letting out a sigh.

"Brenna, three cups of tea and step on it." Dan said with a smile looking at her.

Brenna quickly filled up three cups, placed them on the floor and smashed them with her hoof.

"Thanks Brenna, now then back to the subject matter on hand." Dan said.

"Once again I must apologize again for my husband…" Crystal said shaking her head with her hand over her face.

"So what should I do?" Branzer asked seeming to have his spirits raised a little.

"I got this one, you two step aside." Brenna said pushing Dan and Crystal away.

"First of all, I'll need you to get me three replacement cups. Next give her time, and give yourself time. Love just doesn't fade away, and Lindel is a fighter – always has been. Give her time to come to terms with some things in her life and then let her come to you. In the meantime give her small presents and short notes – not apologizing, and nothing in depth. She'll come back to you, I guarantee it. In the meantime treat her like any other member of your party." Brenna said.

"Regular Dr. Phil aren't we?" Dan asked.

"Do you even think before you talk?" Crystal asked looking at him. Dan was about ready to reply back to her but Crystal asked how she knew all of this information.

"Oh…you know…I'm just a simple gardener. Now then, shouldn't you three be out getting drunk with the rest of your group and making asses out of yourselves?" Brenna asked.

"Speaking of, has anybody heard from Mohania?" Dan asked.

"He'll be fine, now away with all of you. I've got a mess to clean up." Brenna said shooing everybody out of the house.

"How do you know he'll be fine?" Dan asked back to Brenna as he walked out the door.

"Just a simple gardener – that's all I am…" Brenna said smiling at them and shutting the door inches in front of him.

"Apparently gardener's know a lot." Dan said to the door inches from his nose. Crystal grabbed Dan's arm and twirled him around. Lindel and Branzer were looking at each other from a good distance away. Lindel eventually turned into her wisp form and flew back into the air.

"Did she say anything?" Crystal asked.

"No, I'm an ambassador. She can't read my thoughts without permission." Branzer said.

"She didn't need to, and I don't have her powers but I can. Come on, nothing a stiff drink can't fix." Crystal said nudging him away.

The three of them walked into the loudest tavern where they heard an intoxicated Strings telling his stories.

"There he is! The man able to move worlds by mere thought, and the capability to woe women over by a mere thought." Strings said seeing Dan. He stood up and started clapping for him.

"Had a bit too much to drink Strings?" Crystal asked him smiling.

"I can still see straight with my right eye, if I squint – so no. Get over here and have some!" Strings called out.

The three of them split up as they filled up the three open seats reserved for them. Dan sat beside Herrior and straight across from him was Trackolania.

"When nobody was looking, I swapped your drink out with water…" Herrior whispered to Dan.

"Thanks." Dan said as he took a big swig from a wooden cup. Dan immediately spit it all back out as he keeled over, trying to breath in-between gagging.

"Wait…I think that was Crystal's cup…" Herrior said aloud as everybody laughed as he took another long drink.

"That shit burns!" Dan said slowly composing himself. This only fueled more laughter from everybody.

"Welcome to the initiation of becoming an ambassador!" Strings yelled out.

"You didn't do that to Branzer…" Dan said still trying to breath.

"He hasn't tasted his yet." Strings announced with everybody looking at him. Branzer slowly pushed his cup in front of him smiling. Several moans came from the room.

"You have to do it, its part of the initiation – come on, it's not all that bad." Herrior said.

"Not bad huh? Are you able to breathe yet Dan?" Branzer asked as Dan slowly shook his head.

"Drink it…drink it…drink it…" everybody in the tavern began to chant.

"And just how old is this initiation?" Branzer asked.

"Just started today and only applies to my group present right now." Herrior said back smiling. "Tip it back."

Branzer smiled as he shook his head. He let out a sigh and took a sip expecting the same reaction Dan had. He was surprised to taste pure water and realized it was a joke. Branzer than continued to drink the rest, slammed his cup down, and said, "Is that all you got?" The tavern erupted in laughter.

"Wait a second…" Dan said standing up and pointing to Branzer's cup as the laughter continued.

The laughter and jokes carried on until late into the night. The tavern began to slowly empty out and Dan struck up a conversation with Trackolania. Dan was used to the usual nods and shaking his head back and forth.

"Got something for ya. Since our group has been doing a lot of bets lately, I'll bet you something." Dan said smiling at him with a challenging face.

"Oh shoot, speaking of – eh, can't really do that right now with everybody sleeping. First thing tomorrow morning, Herrior you lost the bet." Skyka said.

"Thanks my loving wife, I can always count on you to remember that I need to be humiliated in front of everybody." Herrior said back sarcastically.

"That's why you married me." Skyka said with a huge smile beaming back.

"Anyways, you seem like the cocky type. I bet you know everything that happened with you and your rogue's. I doubt this. You write down how many arrows and bullets were fired from your assassins, and you win. If you are even off my one number, I'll win." Dan said.

Trackolania quickly pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled several numbers down on the paper and tucked it away. Trackolania then pointed at Dan and then motioned down with his thumb, and then he moved it to his lips and kissed it and then stood up and touched his butt. This caused the laughter to reignite itself

"Confident are we? Fine, I'll kiss your ass – but if I lose you have to kiss Julie on the lips." Dan said. Julie suddenly looked at Dan surprised.

"You're part of the group – its part of the conditions when you signed on." Herrior said glancing over at Julie. Julie looked over at Trackolania as he smiled at her and looked back at Dan and nodded.

"First of all, are all of your rogue's present?" Dan asked. Trackolania looked over and saw that they had all had a piece of paper and had papers in their hands eager to give them to Dan. Trackolania smiled back as he stood on top of the table and began to undo his pants.

"Eh – not yet cocky little man. Julie you take Trackolania's paper and I will read off their numbers." Dan said. Julie took the paper and it read, "Arrows – 652, bullets 478."

Dan took the pieces of paper and read the first one out loud. Trackolania looked at Dan confused and yanked the paper out of his hands. He dropped the paper and gave the rogue's a confused and angry look. A female troll stood up and showed that her crossbow's string had snapped. She then dropped it and pulled out her gun and held up two fingers. Trackolania then glared back at Dan.

"Honestly I didn't know." Dan said beginning to laugh. Trackolania held his finger out and shook his head. He then jumped from the table he was standing on and over to the rogue's table and showed him the broken crossbow shaking his head again as he showed that it had broke.

"Trackolania…you lost. Even if it did break, that wasn't the bet Dan made with you." Herrior said. Trackolania suddenly disappeared and a second later reappeared sitting quietly in his chair with a big smile on his face and his hands folded above the table.

Julie looked at the note, saw that 478 scratched out, and then number 480 written next to it. Julie set the paper in the middle of the table.

"Hmm…a rogue who was just shocked and trying to defend himself is suddenly sitting in front of me smiling. Naw, this is not suspicious at all. Let's see what we have here…ah – change our mind did we?" Dan asked.

Trackolania let out a brief chuckle as he turned Julie's head towards him and kissed her hard. Julie was completely surprised, and still was afterwards. Herrior's group began laughing again.

"Now the question is did Trackolania lose on purpose?" Strings bellowed out. Trackolania flicked him off without turning to look at him.

The next couple of days in Tranquil went smooth, including the shameful loss that Herrior had to endure – running around Tranquil with Dan steering him as Skyka ran behind him with a silk whip.

Herrior got a message from one of the King's ambassadors in a desert world called Uldum, and asked his party to investigate it.

Herrior summoned his party and Lindel created a portal for them. Branzer winked at her as he walked through.

As soon as everybody was through the portal instantly dissolved.

"Well that is how it works; I told you we would figure it out eventually. Now that we have more of you we'll have more of your stones and turn more of you into slaves or you'll die like the rest." A half-man, half-lion creature said.

"We don't have any stones, but if you let us out I'll show you where I would like to stick one." Herrior said. His entire party was in a cage, shielded by a magical barrier. Trackolania and Lindel tried everything they could to escape, but their attempts were worthless.

"Each of you has a stone. You will give them to us along with your armor and weapons or we will torture all of you until death or you pledge your allegiance to us." The lion-man said back.

"Oh is that all?" Herrior pulled out his sword and throw it at his side. "Come and get it."

The lion-man began laughing at him as he ran away on his hands and legs just like a lion would.

"I think we just made a new enemy." Herrior said putting his sword away.

"They have killed two of my group; the third is the one crying in pain right now." Tess said as Herrior looked over at her. "The good part is the alliance to my left is dying as well. I just hope I'm not buried in the same spot as them." The alliance members began to yell and curse at Tess for what she just said.

"Who was the one that betrayed us?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know. They probably do not even know. They strip down our people, investigate every piece of armor and weaponry we have, including the stones, and asked questions about them. Every one of my party held their tongue as they whipped them over and over. My healer bleed to death right in front of us. They stayed loyal till the end and our secrets died with them. The scum behind me are bartering with them, telling false stories about us, and joining their ranks." Tess said.

"Damn." Herrior said in an upset voice. His mind began churning idea after idea and Tess immediately said, "Tried all of that and then some. You know us; we don't die quietly and without a fight."

"I will not sit by and watch my people fall to these half-breeds, get spat upon by alliance betraying each other, and jeopardize everything we struggled for!" Herrior screamed out.

"You think I like it! You think we have not tried everything! I know damn well, what is at stake here and I have had longer to plan things! If you have an idea in the few seconds we've been here that you think I haven't thought of for the past couple of days, by all means share it with me!" Tess screamed back. The two of them stared at each other fiercely for awhile. Herrior suddenly turned around and punched the other side of the cage. It instantly shot an energy bolt through his body, slamming him backwards as his vision became blurry. Skyka attempted to heal him, but found that her power did not work inside of the cage.

"Tried all that…" Tess said looking away and letting off a sigh. The remaining alliance laughed at what Herrior just did.

Herrior slowly rose to his feet and turned to look at Tess who apologized for her outburst. Herrior apologized back. A troll screamed aloud in agonizing pain, "Just kill me, you aint getting nutting out of me!"

"One of my hunters…" Tess said sadly.

Herrior turned to his group and in a single motion; they all shook their heads, signifying that none of their powers worked. Herrior sighed and looked away.

"Shall I kill you so that you do not have to be tortured?" Herrior asked without looking at his group.

None of them said a word.

"If you think you cannot withstand torture to the death let me know now. It's the best for all of us." Herrior said.

"I'm ready to die, but I'm going to bite and claw as much as I can before I die." Dan said almost on queue.

"The rest of you?" Herrior asked.

"No way in hell I'm going peacefully. Bring it on." Branzer said as the rest of them said they would die honorably.

"That isn't how you torture somebody; you killed two of them and got nothing out of them! I want their secrets! Put them in front of their friends and gut them slowly!" One of the lion men said.

"None of you have to look if you don't want to." Herrior said to his group.

"How many of you does it take to move a half dead troll? I think one is more than sufficient, the rest of you report back to the front lines. More of those pig-skinned creatures are coming. I'll deal with the torture personally." The voice said. The alliance members began to cheer.

Eventually the same lion-man came back and threw the troll on the ground. He was bleeding badly and severely disfigured. He looked slowly up at Tess who wept for him and nodded. The troll nodded back and his face fell to the ground. He was still alive, but his breathing was very shallow.

"I'll finish him off; just make sure he doesn't move. I think we need to make our point more clearly to our prisoners." The same voice yelled out as he ordered the rest of the soldiers to the front line.

"Greetings, I am the head slave master and I am in charge of slowly torturing all of you until you die – or you join my ranks." The slave master said. An alliance soldier walked next to him and grinned. Herrior looked behind them and saw an extra set of footprints that he could not account for. Two more alliance soldiers came out of a building and joined them.

"We are discussing negotiations right now. Right now both of our people are talking, and we can bolster our forces if we join forces with them." An alliance soldier said to the remaining alliance in the cage. Tess and her group looked at him in shook. Herrior also took notice of this. The alliance immediately cheered and the same alliance soldier promised that they each could kill each one of their enemies personally as a favor to their new allegiance.

"Good, let the weak and gullible bastards try to drive a sword through a true warrior. I bet they can't even penetrate my fur!" Herrior yelled out. That made the alliance get even more worked up.

The alliance standing outside the cage did not cheer on queue with the rest of the alliance and Herrior quickly knew what had happened.

"Kill the loud one first; he's the biggest ass out of all of them." Mohania's voice came from another of the alliance members.

"Are we still playing that game?" Herrior asked back.

"Haven't stopped." Mohania said back as he dropped the illusions and the dead members of Tess's group began to repeatedly stabbed and slashed at the slave master until he lay dead on the ground. Mohania held his hands out as he conjured up a green glowing stone and put it on the troll. The troll's body immediately repaired itself as Mohania helped him up.

"I believe these belong to you." Mohania said unlocking the cage, letting Tess and her group out. Tess screamed in delight as he ran over and embraced all of them. The alliance became silent as they watched Mohania unlocked Herrior's cage, and then several other lion men chained to the wall. He finally walked over to the alliance cage. They all began to plead for their lives.

"Sure, hold on." Mohania said reaching forward with the key. His hand burst into flames and melted the key from his hand before it reached the lock. Mohania looked dumbfounded at his hand and said, "Oops, well I'm sure they have another key around here somewhere."

"So how long have you been around?" Herrior asked.

"Same time I was summoned by you, just Lindel closed the portal before I could go through. Something didn't seem right so I requested to be portalled several yards away from you." Mohania said.

"You were in Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"For the last day or so, Kendall says I missed you looking like an ass as Dan rode around on you. Can we do that again?" Mohania asked smiling.

"No. If you were in Tranquil why didn't you come talk to us?" Herrior said.

"Alan said not to. He said spend more time with Kendall and slap our asses together." Mohania said.

"I'm sure that's how Alan put it..." Skyka said rolling her eyes.

"What about us? You can't just leave us here. Let us out and we will fight beside you. There's gold in the sands, we'll show you where it is." A dwarf said.

"Sorry, Herrior may I help these kind folks out?" Mohania asked.

"If I may have the honor to watch, my friend." Herrior said back with pride.

"Yes, and friend back or something." Mohania said banishing his succubus and conjuring his voidwalker.

"Pull their cage with me." Mohania command the voidwalker.

"Yes my master." The voidwalker said. It flew over to the cage and pushed it as if it was a tiny block. Herrior's party followed Mohania as he walked into a river and sank to the bottom. The voidwalker continued to follow him. The alliance realized what was happening and quickly began to beg for their lives as their cage was pushed into the water.

"Hold it. This is Mohania's privilege. Everybody just watch." Herrior said as the air bubbles began to slow down and streams of blood began to suddenly rise to the surface.

Minutes later Mohania walked back out of the water as he banished his voidwalker.

"Still hungry?" Herrior asked.

"Always room for desert." Mohania said smiling back. Then something happened that nobody expected. Mohania walked up to Herrior and embraced him and thanked him. Herrior thanked him back. Mohania let go of him and said, "You're still an ass."

"Whatever you say." Herrior said.

"What will become of me and my guardians?" A lion man said behind them.

"You don't seem to have any desire to kill us, so perhaps we'll go our separate ways then?" Herrior asked.

"I cannot. The Dark Pharaoh Tekahn has killed my father and I am prince Nadun of the Ramkaken. Their soldiers, the Neferset scum, are being led by Siamat to obtain artifacts for some Deathwing. I can reward you substantially if you help me."

"Our paths have just crossed my friend. I have no idea how Deathwing reached here, but anything we can do to help destroy his ranks or obtain any artifacts he is looking for is of great interest to us. My name is Herrior, I am the leader of my party, and this is Tess, the leader of her group." Herrior said.

"Our gold supply has probably been broken…" Nadun began to say.

"Not interested in your gold. You know this area better than we do, point the way and we'll strike." Herrior said.

"Aren't you interested in how I was able to bring Tess's members back to life?" Mohania asked.

"Are you going to give a simple answer without exaggerating it or using the word ass?" Herrior asked.

"No." Mohania replied

"Ok Nadun show us the way." Herrior said.

"This area is obviously overwhelmed with Neferset; I want to get back to my palace. From there we will establish a perimeter and see which of my generals are still alive. It's set on top of a mountain and will give us the advantage if my people can see that I still live." Nadun said. "It lies northwest of here. The best attack strategy that I would recommend it hiding in the trees that run along our rivers to disguise us, and then ambush them. I think that is the only chance we stand."

"Lindel rogues and all hunters go immediately. The rest of us form a perimeter around the prince and protect him at all costs. Lindel, find out who is aggressive and mind link with everybody to coordinate the attacks. When we arrive I want to see blood flowing in the streets." Herrior said. Trackolania looked up at Herrior with a smile as he drew his daggers and faded from view.

"That little twerp isn't going to leave anybody alive for the rest of us." Mohania said.

"My guess is he's halfway there by now. Let's get moving." Herrior said as they formed a circle around Nadun and began to advance through the city.

"Good to be fighting beside you again." Tess said.

"Likewise my friend." Herrior said smiling back at her.

Herrior led the people out of the city, with only meeting minimal resistance. They walked between the tree lines and came upon a small group of Neferset standing around several boxes. They had their backs to them and told Veliline to pull one. The Neferset man quickly was killed and brought the others with them. The battle was over in mere seconds.

"One come, the rest come. They aren't as intelligent at fighting as I thought." Herrior said.

"Not at all. The Neferset have better armor and weaponry than my people, but their leaders are easily confused, and their men tend to ignore the commands." Nadun said.

"This should be a simple task then." Herrior said with a smile and continued towards the city.

"There are pyramids and goldmines in these lands. All of it is yours, and whatever you wish for helping me." Nadun said as they continued to walk.

"We'll figure that out later. It may take some money to rebuild your city. I hear the sounds of slavery on the other side of this river, and the talk of people in the city just ahead. I do not hear the sounds of war though." Herrior said with slight curiosity as they sat behind the trees of the spot Nadun had marked out.

"My people walk freely in the city. It was under siege to kill my father and enslave me – but they left the city alone? It might be a trap." Nadun said.

"Lindel, how are things in the city?" Herrior asked in his mind thinking of her.

"We haven't fought anybody, nobody needs healing and they are carrying on with their lives. However they are afraid and mourn the loss of their king, and believe their prince is dead also. I've got the impression that they fight like we do. I don't sense any alliance anywhere – I'm confused about that." Lindel said back in Herrior's mind.

"Quinely take to the skies and look for alliance. Mohania where did the alliance come from and where did you send Neferset guards to go fight?" Herrior asked as Quinely morphed into her bird form and flew away.

"I don't know, I just made up a story and went with it. You know as much as I know, my succubus controls the body, they don't read their minds." Mohania confessed.

"Obviously there is more alliance around and there is a battle taking place somewhere then. Nadun where might the other attacks be taking place?" Herrior asked.

"I've been chained up for more than a week. I figured my city would have been destroyed, yet it stands before me." Nadun said.

Herrior rose from his spot and casually walked into the city. The people looked confused at the group until they saw their prince walk in and greet them. Instant celebration erupted in the city as Nadun walked past the group and began to embrace his townsfolk. Many questions came, and Nadun answered as quickly as he could. He walked back to his palace and found his advisors unharmed.

"What happened?" Nadun asked.

"Once they killed our king and took you away, by default they became our ruler. They took our fighting men and women away to fortify their cities. Several pockets of resistance has formed, but are not armed as well as these people that come with you are. I do know that the Neferset city are not only gathering resources, but seem eager to find something – even at the cost of losing dozens of their men. I have no idea what the Dark Pharaoh Tekahn is looking for; these are only rumors from our workers. We are gathering supplies and producing armor for them." One of Nadun's advisors said.

"Not unexpected – but we need to find what they are looking for before they find it." Herrior said. "Trackolania you are in charge of poisoning each batch of food that is delivered to them." Trackolania made several quick gestures.

"Mmm…make it a slow painful death. Just make sure none of his people eat it. Tess I need your group to do nothing because my group is better…" Herrior said still looking at Trackolania and was knocked to the ground by her as Herrior smiled.

"We're going to have to attack their city, keep this city safe, and kill any stragglers along the way. Babysitting is what you do best, so I think you should stay here where it's safe and hide behind the wooden doors." Tess said back with a grin.

"We must gather my generals and vote on what action to happen next. I will not send my people into battle without knowing the strength of my army and without a battle strategy that minimizes the loss of my people." Nadun said.

"I can respect that." Herrior said as he quickly flipped over grabbing Tess's leg and pulling it up, knocking her to the ground. "You go ahead and pull your generals and vote, we'll go attack. When we have what we are looking for, even if it means destroying their towns and slaughtering everybody in our path, we'll continue our search for what Deathwing is looking for. In the mean time Tess can pick flowers and fish your rivers."

"Pick flowers my ass!" Tess said standing up.

"Unusual way of picking flowers, but you know best." Herrior said back.

"How do you put up with him Skyka?" Tess asked looking at him.

"You have to ignore him, in fact I didn't even know what his name was until a couple of minutes ago." Skyka said back.

"Your people are most unusual." Nadun said observing them.

"It gets worse the more you get to know us." Herrior said and then turned to Tess and continued, "We're going to have to spread our forces out. You take the north and we will go south. Gather as much information as you can and meet back here at sundown."

"The sun never sets in our lands." Nadun said.

"Fine by me, I won't have to look at his ugly ass anymore." Tess said letting out a smirk, "How about in eight hours instead?"

"No problem, my party will come back in eight hours and then come look for you because if I remember correctly you can only count to six." Herrior said.

"Yeah, well walking in circles doesn't count and we'll have a higher body count than your party." Tess said back.

"Fine, but tripping over rocks and impaling yourself don't count and as it stands now I believe my warlock has killed more than your group has." Herrior said turning to Mohania as he was showing a child a magic trick. The child screeched in laughter as Mohania exposed both hands behind his back and showed him that the red dancing woman was in both hands. Tess started to laugh as Herrior rolled his eyes.

"Let's go, you to Mohania whenever you are ready." Herrior said walking away. "Nadun – we'll be in audible range, yell if you need us."

Herrior's party walked through the town to the opposite side of the rived and waded through it. Herrior instructed everybody to get their pets out and be prepared for anything.

"Where is this food going?" Herrior asked a Ramkaken working in the field after a long walk.

"To the Neferset army of course." The Ramkaken man said back.

"Do you mind if I piss in it first before you send it?" Herrior asked.

The worker looked up at Herrior strangely and began to look around quickly.

"Who is your slave driver; I'll go have a word with him. Your prince has returned and is building an army." Herrior said. Herrior then turned to his group and said, "This is another lesson of becoming an ambassador. You need to approach the situation carefully and with tact; otherwise you may jeopardize the situation."

"I'm surprised you even know what half of those words mean…" Skyka said back.

Herrior turned around and yelled as loud as he could, "Any Neferset scum come and face me! I will kill all of you and wipe your race off the face of these grounds!" His voice echoed into the distance and scattered the wildlife around them. Three of them ran quickly to see what the commotion was about and Herrior suddenly charged at them and letting out a thundering battle cry as he slashed with his sword and slammed with his shield. The rest of his party had engaged as well and the three half-man, half-lion creatures were killed.

"Is that all of you? Have you no more to face me?" Herrior thundered out.

"Us Herrior, face us. Also this really isn't ground its sand." Skyka said back. Herrior looked down as if to confirm it.

"Is it true? You have come to save us?" The same Ramkaken asked running up to him.

"Technically no, we're here to find out why your enemies have sided with our enemy and why they are looking for items of interest to us. Releasing your from slavery is just a side effect. Go spread word that your prince lives and take up arms to defend your city." Herrior said.

"Who is making all of this noise?" A large Neferset man came running towards them. The hunters instantly be firing at him and dropped him before he got to Herrior's feet.

"Nice of you to bow down to me, but not necessary." Herrior said smashing his head with his hoof. Herrior then began walking towards the town telling the slaves to go back to their town.

"Ok, I need to know whose side everybody is on here." Herrior called out in the streets.

Many of the lion-men and women filled the streets and looked at him in wonder.

"Your faces answer my question. We have freed your prince and fortifying your city. I can't guarantee that this town will be safe, but I can guarantee that we will kill as many that enslaved you as we can." Herrior said continuing to walk the streets.

"Two of our generals are being held captive south of here. One is in a pit full of crocodiles, and the other is beaten constantly." A woman whispered to him.

Herrior nodded and began to jog in the direction the woman pointed. Along the way Herrior's party dropped several more Neferset creatures and gathered up their armaments.

Herrior saw the pit in the distance. It was only a two foot drop, but he did see a Ramkaken suffering from a poison in there.

"Quinely and Skyka, go take care of that situation. I'm going to go try to find the other general with Icis. The rest of you secure the area. Kill anything that looks threatening." Herrior said. Mohania instantly held out his hand as a fireball engulfed a butterfly.

"And somebody baby-sit Mohania and teach him what the meaning of the word 'threatening' is…" Herrior said running away.

"It was charging at me!" Mohania yelled back. "It could have been poisonous…" Mohania said turning back around smiling.

"Where is it going to bite you at?" Julie asked.

"I wasn't thinking of me, I was concerned about you guys. It was charging at me and could have poisoned you. I'm insulted that you think I was just thinking of myself." Mohania said.

"Yeah…ok so let's spread out and see what we can kill." Julie said. Branzer slipped a flower into Lindel's hand before she turned to walk away. Branzer did it so quickly and moved away that it looked extremely clumsy of him, making Lindel laugh. She then looked at him walk away and then looked down at the flower. She put it in her bag and walked in the opposite direction.

"Are you one of the Ramkaken generals?" Skyka asked approaching the lion-creature in the pit. He looked up and saw the blood pulsing through his veins and his blood-shot eyes looking at her.

"That name is not to be spoken of! Who might I ask is the name of the next person to join him?" A Neferset soldier came out of a house with several alligators following him.

"Ooo…alligators!" Quinely said excitedly, morphed into a large one, and ran over to the rest of them.

"What manner of creature are you that can take on other animal forms?" The Neferset soldier said surprised.

"I am a druid, and I can also do this!" Quinely said in her animal form. Seconds later birds, alligators, giant wasps and every type of animal in the area quickly attacked the soldier as others continued to pour in, trying to get a bite out of him. Quinely waddled over to the chained up quickly snapped the chains in half. The general fell on top of Quinely as she attempted to waddle out of the pit with him on her back. Skyka ran up and began to heal him. The general let out his last scream in pain as the animals ripped the life out of him.

"Are you one of Nadun's generals?" Skyka asked.

"Was. I thank you for my life, but I have nothing to live for now."

"We rescued Nadun, and released control of the city. He's requested your presence and currently is fortifying the city." Skyka said.

"Impossible, I saw him carried away to be killed. What manner of creature are you to speak such things." The general asked back.

"I'm a blood elf that just saved your life. My name is Skyka, and we're currently launching another rescue for your other general across the river. Your people are no longer enslaved and we've sent them back to the city – we also left a nice surprise for the Nefersets when they come to collect their food." Skyka said.

"Skyka, they are raising their young in confined areas and it angers them. Can we release them back into the river?" Quinely asked.

"Go ahead, I'll take the general back to our group." Skyka said. Quinely morphed into her bear form and began to tear at the bars restraining the baby alligators. They quickly ran towards their parents as Quinely told all of them to run for the river.

"What manner of creature is she? You will be rewarded for what you have done today. Where do you come from?" The general asked.

"Heard all of that before, we're not interested in that. As our leader said 'Our paths just so happened to cross', we are pursuing a large dragon. Your enemies have information that we need. We'll build relations with each other at a later time, but as of for now our battle has just started. Follow me quickly." Skyka said running back to the group.

"My name is Herrior; I'm here to free you. Where are your captives?" Herrior asked running up to the chained Ramkaken.

"They ran to the west, most of them are being attacked by the creatures of the land." The general replied quickly as Herrior cut through the chains.

"How are you feeling? Can you fight?" Herrior asked.

"Exhausted, but I'll fight to the death." The general replied.

Herrior quickly looked him over and decided that if he were to fight that his death would be swift. "Icis – take him back with the other generals. Tell Lindel to come find me."

"No, I wish to fight! You do not know what they did to my people, I will stand beside you!" The general insisted.

"You'll get your chance to fight, but now is not the time. Please go with my healer." Herrior said drawing his shield and sword and running towards the commotion.

"Please come with me, my leader knows what he is doing." Icis said and pulled on his arm.

"I do not wish to back down from a fight…" The general said and nearly fainted. Icis levitated him and pulled him back to the group assuring him that he would get his chance to fight.

Herrior arrived at the scene but saw dozens of crocodiles snapping and tearing at the Neferset's bodies. He looked around to find one available to attack without injuring the animals.

"How are you holding up Quinely?" Herrior called out.

"We're having fun!" Quinely said excitedly. A crocodile snapped its jaws on one of their legs and twisted fiercely, cracking the bone and bringing the half-man half-tiger down to the ground while another crocodile snapped down on his head. Quinely saw three of her attackers coming from the left as she commanded several enormous wasps down on them. Their poison was almost instant as their stingers landed in their necks.

"What do we do?" Lindel asked standing beside Herrior.

"I'm not sure." Herrior said with a smile.

"I can't control all of them; you're better off staying away." Quinely said and then command three crocs next to her to charge at a group of Nefersets that were running away.

"Let's do just that." Herrior said putting his weapons away and quietly began to walk away.

When they were a distance away where the crocs could not see them, Herrior apologized to Lindel "I thought we might have needed a healer. How is the rest of the group doing?"

"Surveying the area and learning as much as they can about the land." Lindel said quickly.

"Good, but I think this will be our last battle for today. Once Quinely finishes up we'll head back to the town and see if Tess is back." Herrior said.

"I don't sense that she is." Lindel said quickly again.

Herrior looked at her and nodded. Lindel looked away and tried to hide a whimper.

"My heart aches for you. I don't know what to say to ease your pain though." Herrior said.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Are we done?" Lindel asked.

"Not by the sounds of the cries in the distance. If Quinely becomes overwhelmed, I want to be able to get in there and help her out. With you here you'll be able to sense her pleas before she's able to yell them out." Herrior said. Lindel looked in the same direction Herrior was looking and nodded.

"I sense an evil in this land, but I…" Herrior became to speak softly aloud when Lindel interrupted him.

"What do I have to do?" Lindel said almost bursting into tears.

"Calm yourself." Herrior said back anticipating the question.

"No, not about in battle but about me and Branzer?" Lindel replied.

"Calm yourself." Herrior said more sternly turning to look at her. It was obvious that was not the answer Lindel was looking for. Lindel let out a sigh and started talking about what Quinely was doing in the battle.

"No, Quinely is fine in battle and if she needs help she will notify you first. I know what you meant, and my answer is the best one I can give you." Herrior said. "My guess is the crocodiles have been under their master's control for too long and revenge for them right now is bittersweet. The same will probably be true for the Ramkaken people. What do you sense about them?"

Lindel cleared her throat and said, "You don't need to be able to read minds to know that the idea of freedom in their minds is something that they cling to with all of their hope. I get the impression they all lived together until a division rose among them. The Nefersets have amassed more power and easily subdued them. I sense that if both sides were equal they would not be at war right now."

"I get the same impression. I wonder what it is that made them more powerful. What I want to do is find out what and get it before the Ramakaken's know what it is. They have offered gold but if they know that something can increase their power, I sense only more war between their people. In the end, we will take the rewards they offer to us and leave them. You need to establish a link inside their city where we can portal in and out of for our ambassadors." Herrior said.

Lindel nodded and said, "I've got a couple of places in mind already. I apologize for my outburst earlier." Herrior leaned over and hugged her with his right arm.

"It's the same as the rest of us. I know you might hate me, but I gave the King the best advice I could based on the situation. If you love you have to be able to lose and you have to be able to fight no matter what happens." Herrior said.

"I did for awhile…I hated everybody for awhile…" Lindel said softly.

"And you still do, but we all love you and would die for you. Once your emotions settle and your mind is clear, your heart will lead you in the direction you should go." Herrior said. Lindel sighed and looked away. She then rummaged through her pack and pulled out the flower that Branzer gave her. It was crushed and its pedals had fallen off.

"Kind of dangerous picking flowers when our collectors haven't had the chance to analyze them yet." Herrior said looking briefly at it.

"Not to me it isn't – might be to Branzer." Lindel said back.

Herrior nodded with a smile.

"Quinely's done fighting. She's just playing with them now." Lindel said.

"Oh?" Herrior said sounding surprised. "Should we call her back, or do you need to talk some more?"

"I don't know what I need right now." Lindel said tossing the flower in the water and leaning back on her hands.

"That's a good start. Calm yourself and call Quinely back. We've got a mission to complete." Herrior said standing up and starting to walk away.

"It's me isn't it?" Lindel asked.

Herrior stopped not knowing what to say. Silence passed between them for a while before Herrior said, "Calm your mind, and follow your heart" and continued to walk away.

Herrior joined up with the rest of his group and Skyka relayed the information that the generals had given her. Lindel and Quinely quickly followed up behind him.

"Good to hear, Trackolania take one of the generals with you and prepare the food to be delivered. Make it look like how they normally deliver it, then I want both of you back quickly and unseen." Herrior said. Trackolania quickly grabbed the closest general and began running away to the fields with him.

"Let's head back to the city. I want more information about our situation. I have no doubt we'll be having visitors shortly." Herrior said peering over his shoulder and into the horizon.

"Do you think we'll have enough men and women to fend off their attacks? Most of our people were scattered and enslaved." The other general said walking quickly with the rest of the group.

"I doubt that you do, and I hope that is the impression they have as well. Everything should fall together nicely." Herrior said with a smile.

Upon arriving back at the city, Herrior saw Tess and her group helping to fortify their city. Herrior quickly realized the same thing that he was thinking. Tess and her group were making the same design flaws and vulnerabilities that the Ramkaken people were making. Tess glanced over at Herrior and gave him a nod to confirm his theory.

Several of the other members of the group looked confused and worried, Dan was the first to speak up, but Herrior quickly silenced him by telling his group to go rest in a building.

"You guys too, Herrior and I need to talk." Tess said to her group. They nodded in acknowledgement and joined up with Herrior's group.

Nadun came out to speak with them at the same time Tess joined up with Herrior.

"I fear our city will fall, you have set our people free and given them hope. More importantly they will be able to die fighting for their lives then death in slavery." Nadun said sounding depressed.

"Several hours from now the battle will begin. Command your troops to hold the city; do not leave the city walls. Reinforce the doors and any entrances with your troops. Leave the rest to us." Tess said.

"We have no other choice." Nadun said.

"And that's exactly the impression we want to give them. Overconfidence has lead to many leaders to fall in battle. They are fighting to regain control of you, while you are fighting for freedom. You have more advantages than you realize. Everything that is happening right now is exactly how we want it to happen." Herrior said.

"You will stand beside us in battle, wont you?" Nadun asked.

"Beside you? Not exactly, but we will kill swiftly and strike fear into them. Afterwards we will follow them back to their city and kill every one of their fighters. I'm assuming your rogue is doing what I think he is doing?" Tess asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "He's probably being held up by the general we rescued though."

"All of my generals are accounted for; each of them has taken up strategic positions among the city with a group of our fighters. There is no telling what direction they will come from."

"Southwest" Herrior said pointing in the direction. "But do as you would normally do to defend your city. If you wish to help us, spread the word to your fighters to act confused and shout out commands to each other that makes no strategic sense – but I don't anticipate you'll need to do that."

"How do you know such things?" Nadun asked questioning him.

"We've been in battle a couple of times before…" Tess said defending him. "Now we need to discuss our strategy and take up our positions outside the city."

"Outside? Therefore, you will not stand beside us in battle. You have freed us to leave us to be slaughtered in our city?"

"No, as far as they know you have freed yourselves somehow and don't anticipate much resistance. They will make it to your city walls, do not leave the city – if you do you will die. I trust you, but you must trust us. If I were to tell you our plan, it may confuse some of your advisors and we need to give the exact impression that you and your people are giving right now." Herrior said.

Nadun looked at both of them and then finally agreed. Herrior and Tess's face were serious and both of them did not intend to lose this battle. Nadun said he would continue to do as he was doing and left.

"We do have a plan, right?" Tess asked with a smile.

"I was hoping you had one." Herrior chuckled back as they both walked to the south side of the city wall and looked at the vast river below.

"Hunter's and rogue's about fifty feet out, everybody else in the water and launch all at once?" Tess asked.

"I have a warlock that I think would like to have some fun, but yes that is what I was thinking. What did you discover north of here?" Herrior asked.

"Bandits and scorpions mostly. There are two main channels of water intersecting and forming this river. What bothers me is we did not find any trace of any alliance. I wish we could have interrogated them." Tess said.

"We did not encounter any either which bothers me as well. When you were captured with them, did they say any reason why they were here?" Herrior asked.

"Gold and riches – but that is the reason why any of them are anywhere. There are many buildings to the northeast; many of which look like shrines to their gods or something. My guess is they are here to raid the tombs. Any word from our friends about those?" Tess asked.

"Nothing. Let us keep a tight lid on those for now. If it is brought up in conversation, ask about it. We will accept whatever petty little reward they have for us and then I suggest we separate ourselves. You go investigate those to the north, and we will continue our investigations to the south and west." Herrior said.

"And if we happen to stumble into them…" Tess said with a smile.

"Accidents happen…" Herrior said back smiling back at her. "You had better check in with Tranquil, let them know your status."

"Already did and briefed them on the situation. I don't know what is going on exactly, but the ambassador I talked to said the decision is up to you and I concerning Lindel's situation." Tess said inquisitively.

"Figured it would be." Herrior said with a sigh.

"Easier leading a group into battle eh?" Tess asked.

"At least that way you know some idea of the outcome…" Herrior said shaking his head.

"You know I will help you." Tess said.

"As you have in the past." Herrior said.

"As I will in the future." Tess replied. Herrior looked at her and nodded. Tess knew there was another war going on inside of his head.

"Shake it off, let's go get into position." Tess said hitting him gently on the shoulder.

Both leaders gathered their groups and led them down to the water. Tess took the hunters and rogues in the group and moved into position. Herrior took the rest and gave them quick and precise instructions and the correct timing. They all understood and eagerly waited for their enemies to come. They all waited silently and motionless for nearly three hours when the first wave come.

"Nadun! Lay down your weapons and come out and we will spare your women and children!" The Neferset in front said. He appeared to be well armored and was out of arrow range from the city.

"You have enslaved us long enough! You will not kill us because you are too lazy to down your own harvesting! We will work for you, but with pay and better treatment!" Nadun yelled back on top of the city wall.

"You think we need you as slaves? We have ascended into power, and have been promised to rule the worlds beside our new master. You have a choice to die quickly, or to serve us!" The Neferset said.

"We choose freedom! Your kind has been corrupted by whatever you speak of and you dishonor your ancestors!" Nadun yelled back.

"Our ancestors never had the gifts bestowed to us that we have received and would have done the same thing we would have! Join us as slaves or die!"

"Ready the arrows! Don't let them in the walls!" Nadun yelled to his forces.

"You fool! You have just damned all of your people to death! You have no idea what is to become of this world! Attack – leave none alive! Burn everything and tear down every building within! You had your chance Nadun and you will be begging for your life in a matter of minutes!" The Neferset yelled as his army raced towards the wall. Dozens of them were at the sealed doors hacking at them and prying away the boards when Mohania walked up.

"Excuse me for a moment, but do any of you know where I can find a camel?" Mohania asked.

"Take him alive!" The commander yelled. Mohania pulled his hands together as dark clouds of magic formed. His hands shaking with power he quickly pulled them apart as the ground underneath them instantly opened up and all of the Nefersets fell into it. Mohania then slammed his hands shut, killing all of them instantly.

Herrior and his group rose out of the water and began running towards the rest of the army, Mohania leading the way.

"I was alive once, so if you are going to take me prisoner you'll have to take me dead!" Mohania said and launched off a series of short bursts of fire.

"Is that all you have? I thought for sure you would have said something funnier…" Skyka said right behind him.

"Didn't have enough time to think of something." Mohania replied.

"You had hours waiting in the water."

"I was sleeping." Mohania replied as he began launching his arsenal of shadow and fire magic at the rest of the soldiers. The warriors jumped over them, landed in the middle of the army, and began launching several devastating attacks and battle cries.

Just a predicted the Nefersets began to retreat and the hunters began launching their traps in front of them. Many of them fell on the solid ice froze over the sand, and many other had snakes biting at them from every side. The hunters released their pets and it added to the confusion.

Veliline was close enough to pull the commander towards her and began to fight him. It only took a moment until he dropped his weapon and surrendered. Veliline kicked his weapon aside as Mohania enveloped him in his green circular force field and they all continued to run after the retreating Nefersets. The commander yelled the entire way that they were fools and had no idea what they were running into.

Eventually Tess and Herrior's groups saw what the commander meant. There were hundreds of Nefersets lined up outside of the city, along with several enormous Colossi. They were enormous looking robots made of pure gold and gems. They began to advance on the groups as Herrior and Tess continued to run forward. Suddenly Herrior and Tess's group separated and began attacking each of the robots systematically, completely ignoring the incoming Neferset army. Trackolania, Quinely, and Lindel all vanished and slipped through the armies and into the cities.

"You fool! You choose to fight our Colossi with hundreds of our armies approaching! You are powerful indeed, and you will serve our master in the end!" The commander yelled inside of his green force field.

Herrior had two of the Colossi attacking him with Skyka healing him and Veliline had one on her, with Icis right behind her. As the additional armies approached, they appeared to suddenly trip over each other, began to vomit profusely, and dropped to the ground unable to move. The commander looked at what was happening to his army in surprise. Mohania released the force field restraining him as his back right leg landed in Mohania's mouth. A large burst of fire erupted from his mouth as he bit down hard and snapped his leg off.

"I've never been good at serving masters. You stay here and watch what happens." Mohania said spitting his chewed off leg out of his mouth and into his face. Mohania then joined in the fight.

Herrior and Tess's group were making no progress at attacking the Colossi, but were simply buying time for Trackolania, Quinely, and Lindel. They all arrived at a device that appeared to be some sort of gun.

"You two go see what kind of damage you can do to the commanders; I'll see how to work these things." Lindel said in their minds. Trackolania and Quinely quickly sprinted off taking in every aspect of the city that they could. Lindel saw several men walking around the gun shaped object. She floated behind a building and let out a cry for help. She then floated up above the building as she saw all of the men run behind the building except for one. Lindel flew down, forced herself into his eyes, and possessed his body. She quickly scanned through his memories and found what she was looking for. The possessed Neferset quickly ran into a small building just below the gun and a platform raised her up to it. She slammed his hand into a control panel and it quickly came to life. The gun spun around and blasted several other guns located in the city, quickly destroying them. The other Nefersets appeared confused and began to yell at him. Lindel turned the gun around and fired it at them, burning them instantly to the ground. She fired at several other groups at Nefersets until they were all running away from her.

Lindel stopped firing and began to access other parts of her host's brain. She then quickly started ripping apart the gun and found what she was looking for. The Neferset threw the small purplish glow cylinder into the air and Lindel made his body explode. Lindel flew up, grabbed it, and quickly flew away.

Lindel floated above the range of arrows until she found her target. She quickly flew down and threw the cylinder at the goblin at a control panel. The cylinder landed in front of his feet and then exploded. The goblin was blown to smithereens and the control panel was demolished. A Neferset ran out of a building and looked in shocked at what happened. He was heavily armored and had several pieces of cloth signifying that he was probably the one they were after.

"Who did this? Who is responsible?" He screamed. Lindel floated above in silence. The giant Colossi guarding his temple began to fall all around him, destroying houses and stone structures.

"Where are my generals? Come to me at once!" The man screamed. Quinely and Trackolania appeared ten feet in front of him on queue and through their heads at him.

"If you want the rest my dear, they are scattered among the city. Your toys fall, your army dies of the poison we gave them, and right now, our groups are slaughtering them by the hundreds. You death will come within the hour." Lindel said floating down and landing behind Quinely and Trackolania.

"Impossible!" The man yelled and ran back into his home and sealed it with an enormous stone door. Lindel casually floated through it and began to suck away the man's life. Quinely charged at the door and made an enormous crash against it.

"Let go of me! This is not what we were promised!" The man yelled in frustration. Lindel summoned her skeleton army and they began to attack everything in sight. While the man was distracted, Lindel grabbed the key and unlocked the door. Trackolania and Quinely came running into the building and killed all of their guards.

"Now…you are going to tell us what we want to know." Lindel said as Quinely clenched her razor sharp teeth into the man's neck.

"Never! You may have retaken the city, but you have no idea what lies ahead for you! Killing me will make no difference!" The man said.

"Oh – do tell." Tess said walking into the building covered with blood. Both groups walked in and saw what had happened.

"Herrior, his family is in the next room. I could obtain the information easily by taking over his mind, but I have a feeling everybody here would like to see him squirm." Lindel said.

"I got one!" Dan said pulling a woman into the room and throwing her to the ground. The woman started to scream hysterically and said, "We would be safe! You promised! Siamat promised! Deathwing gave us his blessing!"

"Shut up!" The man yelled back.

"Ah, well let's see what else we can get out of her." Mohania said kneeling down beside her. He put one hand on her lead and instantly igniting it on fire. The woman began to scream. Mohania let out after twenty seconds and asked calmly what else she knew.

"Siamat is a god brought to us by Deathwing. He is the master of air and can bend it to his will. He empowered us and promised us victory, and would bring death to our enemies…" The woman said sounding exhausted and in severe pain.

"Shut up!" The man yelled back desperately.

"Where is this Siamat?" Mohania asked.

"I can't say he'll kill my children…" The woman said.

"Oh these two?" Crystal said throwing two child-aged Neferset's to the ground.

"No!" The woman screamed. "He's west of here, in a camp. He is looking for the coffer of life. He did not say why – that is all I know, I swear! Please spare my children!"

"You stupid woman, you damned us all!" The man screamed.

"Kill him." Herrior said. Quinely immediately clenched down as hard as she could as blood sprayed out from his neck. Quinely twisted his body back and forth before it became lifeless and she dropped it to the ground.

"Please spare my children…kill me instead!" The woman pleaded.

"We have no desire to kill any of you. Give us the location of where he is, where you think the coffer is, and any other information that you know of." Herrior said.

"He's west of here. The remaining Nefersets will kill me if they know I talked. What am I supposed to do?" The woman pleaded.

"As long as you cooperate, no harm will come to you. Turn on us and we will slaughter your children in front of you and you will experience an agonizing death. Where at in the west, what do you know about this coffer?" Herrior asked.

"I've never seen it, I swear. I never even knew it existed. I have only over heard talk of it. There is a goblin called Schnotz west of here. He is leading an expedition with the sole intent of finding it. He is heavily guarded and I have seen many dragons flying over his camp. He commands ships to arrive and leave daily – I have no idea what he is doing other than that. I do not know why the ships and coming and going or where they are going, I don't know anything about the dragons, I don't know much else." The woman pleaded as her emotions began to settle down.

"Deathwing?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know if I saw him or not. I know he is a dragon, but I doubt he is one of the one's flying over his camp. The base camp is about half a day's walk from here, directly west. From what I heard, he is very powerful. I do not know anything else." The woman said continuing to plea.

"Thank you for the information. What do you wish do to with you and your children?" Herrior asked.

The woman thought it was a trick question and looked around at everybody. Skyka walked over, healed her wounds, and said, "You are safe. No harm will come to you. What do you wish for you and your children?"

"We have no place to go. We will be killed anywhere we go. It is only a matter of time. Once we leave this building, our army will kill us. Hand us over to the Ramkaken and they will kill us. As long as we stay in this land, we will be killed. We cannot go anywhere." The woman said.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and opened a portal. He spoke with an ambassador and told him about the situation. He said that she and her children could be placed in the same tent outside of the city that the worgen woman was being kept at. Herrior seemed confused but said that would be fine. Herrior closed the portal and said, "You will leave this world and go to a temporary place that is unknown to any of the people on this world. Nobody will be able to find you, and from there you can make a choice as to where you want to go. Your needs will be met and no harm will come to you." Herrior finished saying as a portal was opened up beside him.

The woman looked at it in shock and looked back at Herrior questioning him.

"As a fighter you have my word. You have helped us and we will help you in return. One of our ambassadors will speak with you on the other side, but you must go." Herrior said. The woman rose up to her four feet, took her children's hands, and stepped through the portal. When it closed Herrior and Tess began making plans immediately as they told everybody else to leave them and slaughter anybody that attacks them.

"I wonder why they kept the worgen woman alive?" Tess asked.

"I haven't heard. Do you think the lion woman was telling the truth?" Herrior asked back.

"As much as she knew. It does not sound like they give much regard to their women in this culture. We need to gather more information before infiltrating their compound. So what's a coffer?" Tess asked.

"Coffin was my first impression; I thought maybe I was just translating their language wrong. Obviously, I was not because you heard the same thing as well. That seems to be our goal. We need to play this game quickly because I have no doubt this 'god' of theirs will want to check up on his servants. Also hearing that there are ships docking and leaving makes me nervous as well. Could be the alliance are funding their operations this way – or some other people we have yet to make enemies with." Herrior said.

"I agree. Let us send our druids to monitor the ship activity and rogues into the compound. If the dragons can sense them in stealth then they stand the best chance at getting out of there alive. In the mean time I say we hold our position here, and send a runner back with what Quinely left of their leader to the Ramkaken." Tess said.

"By the sounds of it, we could send several more remains back as well. I'll send one of mine back with it." Herrior said walking out of the building. He saw his and Tess's groups attacking several stragglers.

"Branzer, I need you to do something." Herrior called out. Branzer disengaged his target and ran over to him with his turtle by his side.

"Take that worthless sack of meat in there and show it to Nadun. Tell them we have recaptured the city and are killing off many of his loyal followers. Relay back to them also that they can start rebuilding their lives and that we will be sending an ambassador from our city to speak with them. Do not accept any reward as of right now. Tell them we have acquired the information we needed and are going to continue fighting." Herrior said.

"What if they want to fight beside us?" Branzer asked. Herrior did not anticipate this question, but thought it would be logical that they would ask. He started thinking about it but was interrupted by Branzer, "I mean if a group freed us from slavery we would want to help."

"Yes I know I haven't come up with an answer yet. They are more than eager to fight, but I do not trust them entirely yet, and they are weak. They need at least another day or so of resting before they are battle ready. They would benefit from the armaments that are coming off from their enemies. Tess?" Herrior said turning to her.

"Nadun did follow our instructions, however I do get the impression they are willing to run into battle without any weapons as well. Let's pass this off on one of our ambassadors." Tess said chuckling.

"Sounds good to me. Branzer you will think of something during your walk. I want you back here as soon as you can. I need everybody if we are going to down some dragons." Herrior said smiling at him.

Branzer smiled and nodded. His turtle, Pokey, walked over to the body as Branzer lifted it up and put it on its back and off they went.

"Gather up all of the armor, weapons, precious metals, gems, and gold you can find and put it in a pile. Veliline, Icis, and Lindel I want you patrolling the west side of the town. Let us know if you see anything bad. Quinely I need you to go swimming and figure out what the boats are doing. Trackolania go find out what they are doing in the camp. If you feel like they are tracking either you, get out of there." Herrior said as Tess yelled out her orders to her party as well.

"Can we gather up the bodies and slowly burn them, whether they are dead or not, and run around laughing at their agony?" Mohania asked with a big grin on his face.

"Is he always like that?" Tess asked.

"Just don't 'accidently' burn anybody you aren't supposed to. You do understand what I am telling you don't you?" Herrior asked smiling at him.

"Haven't a clue." Mohania said smiling – then turned around and yelled, "I will boil your blood inside of you while you are still alive. You think its hot now? Just wait until your face melts off and the last thing you hear is my laughter!"

"He seems to take pride in his work." Tess said.

"Don't encourage him…" Herrior said and ran off to help his group.

Branzer made the journey back to Nadun's city and was greeted by the people with cheering. Branzer smiled but did not feel as though he had accomplished a great task. He just felt like he did his job. The barricades were quickly dismantled and the gates were opened as Nadun greeted him. Branzer took the dead prince and tossed him to the ground.

"We've taken over the city, all of their defenses are down, and we are killing any remaining soldiers that haven't fled the city yet." Branzer said casually as Nadun rushed forward to embrace him.

"Come, let us feast, and celebrate! This day marks the end of our enslavement and the destruction of our enemies!" Nadun suddenly realized he was the only one that came back. Branzer picked up on it and said, "We're still fighting. We have obtained some information about what it is that we are looking for and will continue fighting for it."

"Then we shall join you, I will summon our fighters at once." Nadun said and turned around to yell. Branzer quickly interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder and a quick no.

"This is a battle we have to fight alone. Your job is to keep your people safe. We have other enemies that may come looking for us and for you as well." Branzer said anticipating the question.

"You have saved us, how then shall we repay you?" Nadun asked.

"Are there any more of your people enslaved that you know of? Free them, build your cities, and gather resources for yourselves. After our battles, we will come back and feast with you. One of our ambassadors may visit your people, please make them feel comfortable." Branzer said.

Nadun immediately followed up with, "We know these lands better than you. You are foreigners in a new world. With our knowledge of the land, we can give you a better advantage in your battles."

Branzer had not anticipated this question, and it did make sense, but he spoke quickly hoping that the words would come out just right, "I do understand that, but your people are broken right now and need a leader. They have endured a lot and now their lives need to be rebuilt. You must have families that had been separated for years. Give them time to reform their family bonds; give them time to properly mourn for their losses. Love comes first – even for us. Without love, there is no point in fighting a war or for living. Give your people time to do this and your city will become stronger with each passing moment. I give you my word though, if we need additional fighters we will contact you. If the roles were reversed, you would understand what I mean."

"I do." Nadun said. He then extended his hand and put it on Branzer's shoulder. "I owe you…we owe you everything. I sense you are not saying everything that is on your mind, but I also sense that you do have your own mission that you have to fulfill. Return to us, and we will prepare a grand feast."

"I look forward to it my friend. I must leave now. We have many more battles ahead of us. The reason for the corruption in the Neferset's is the same corruption we are tracking down. If we succeed, it should bring peace to your people for years to come. With you as a ruler, I have no doubt that your people will prosper." Branzer said and turned to depart.

"If you don't return, a lot of food will go bad…" Nadun said.

"We will return." Branzer said smiling back at him. Pokey followed obediently beside him.

Half way back to the camp an elemental looking creature floated up to him. He was three times his size, had no legs, and radiated with power.

"So, you are one of the fools that dared to trifle with me? You will face the full wrath of my power!" The elemental held his hands up as lightning began to channel out of his hands and radiated out in all directions. Branzer commanded Pokey to charge at him as he put his misdirect spell on the turtle and let loose a barrage of ammunition.

"Foolish mortal! You cannot hurt me! I am Siamat, created by Deathwing and given powers your mind could not comprehend!" Siamat yelled and shot a lightning bolt just off to the side of Branzer. The lightning bolt created a smaller elemental that charged at Branzer, knocking him over. Pokey charged back, got the elemental's attention, and began to attack it. Branzer rolled away as lightning bolts constantly shot into his body. It was not that painful, but the blast from the smaller elemental did hurt quite a bit. Branzer rose to his feet and began to fire when he was struck from behind by another elemental.

Frustrated Branzer rose back to his feet and tossed a freezing trap at the other elemental. It instantly froze it as Branzer redirected his fire back on the elemental Pokey was still attacking. Branzer held out his hand and quickly healed Pokey, then took another shot that healed him slightly as well. Branzer then tossed an immolation and snake trap at the elemental, which both immediately exploded on impact, poisoning and setting it on fire. Branzer then unleashed a rain of bullets at the elemental, occasionally stopping to heal Pokey.

Siamat continued to taunt him at his foolish attempts to defeat him. Branzer ignored him and listened to his shots, Pokey's voice inside of his head, and the duration of his traps. After a minute he heard the ice trap holding the elemental behind him break. He quickly turned around and fired a silencing shot into its mouth. The angered elemental ran towards him as he dropped another freezing trap and jumped out of the way, as the elemental froze again. Branzer continued to toss his immolation and snake traps as often as he could.

This dance went on for a while until the elemental Pokey was fighting eventually died. Siamat laughed as he produced another. Branzer ordered Pokey to go attack it as he tried firing again at Siamat, causing no damage again.

"He does look weakened though. If this is how I'm going to kill him then this is what I'm going to have to do." Branzer thought as another thought came into his head wondering who was going to be weakened first. He shook the thought away as he began to unload his gun on the elemental Pokey was biting and taunting.

A couple of minutes later of freezing the elemental behind him he eventually destroyed that elemental, healing himself and Pokey as much as he could. Siamat merely laughed and launched another one. Pokey immediately charged at it as Branzer's immolation and snake traps were tossed at it along with a barrage of more gunfire.

At this point Branzer was counting the seconds before he could fire another shot to heal himself. The realization that Siamat was going to outlast him kept surfacing, but he would not accept the thought. Pokey was able to absorb much more damage than he could, and healing him was easy. However if he died Pokey would die with him.

"Stop thinking that!" Branzer yelled out loud as he dropped another freezing trap behind him and ran towards the elemental firing the entire way. He then ran behind him and fired an enormous blast at the elemental, followed up with a blast that healed himself. He then paused to recharge himself and noticed he was not taking damage anymore. He looked around and saw that Siamat could only extend his lightning field a certain distance.

"You idiot…" Branzer said as he began firing again.

With the third elemental destroyed Branzer anticipated another to be formed, and quickly looked around for it.

"I will crush you with gale force winds. Your pathetic body will be a mere toy." Siamat said as he lifted Branzer and Pokey in the air and began spinning them around. Branzer command Pokey to attack him if he had the chance while Branzer continued to fire round after round into his body. This time the shots were hitting their mark as Siamat flinched with every hit. Again, Branzer counted down every second until he could fire his shot to partial heal himself.

The spinning around eventually caused him to lose orientation, however every time he fired, his bullets met their mark. Siamat threw both of them to the ground, flew towards Branzer as Pokey ran to intercepted Siamat. The turtle took blow after punishing blow, but did not weaver as it continued to attack its target.

Branzer picked his head up to see what was happening and held his hand out to heal his loyal pet. Branzer then ripped off his helmet and vomited heavily. He was severely disoriented and all of his senses were screaming louder than the physical pain. He held out his hand again to heal Pokey as it continued biting and slamming itself into Siamat.

"Get it together!" Branzer yelled in his head. He put his helmet back on and rose to his feet, only to get blasted by an elemental's lightning bolt and then taking several severe beatings until Branzer was able to drop a freezing trap – encasing it in ice. Branzer quickly fire a healing shot into Siamat and rose to his knees.

"You dumbass…didn't you learn you learn before?" Branzer yelled at himself. Pokey was taking the brutal punishment Siamat was dealing out, and also making sure he healed him every twenty seconds would keep him alive. Branzer then looked around and assessed the situation. He did not see anybody coming and his hearthstone would not work in combat. He made it a point to ask why later. It would be of no use running to where Herrior was, or back to Nadun – he was half way between both. In addition, he had severe pain all over his right leg, right side of his stomach, and blood coming down his right side.

"If I'm going to get hit, make sure it's from the left side." Branzer said to himself as he continued to blast away at Siamat. He also came to the realization that looking down the sights of the gun was useless; the bullets flew to the most vulnerable spot at the time to do the most damage that they could. Another thing his years of training as of officer that he had to forget.

He created and threw his snake and immolation traps at Siamat – both of which seemed to piss him off. It also gave Pokey a break as Siamat tried to kill the snakes as soon as they appeared. While unloading his weapon at him, he casually laid down another freezing trap as the elemental ran up to his side and refroze it.

"Study his moves…find his weakness…exploit it…and for crying out loud heal your damn self!" Branzer said in his mind as he held his hand out to heal Pokey. Siamat began to cast his normal lightning bolt at Pokey when Branzer fired his silencing shot at him. Siamat seemed confused but continued to attack. Seconds later, he began to cast the same spell, but was knocked to the ground with a series of scattering shots by Branzer. Pokey followed him down and continued to attack him.

Branzer recharged himself as much as he could before launching devastating attack after attack, and tossing out his traps as often as he could. Almost every spell that Siamat casted was interrupted and his body had begun to fade from existence. The spells he did cast he lost track of what he was attacking by the dozen snakes constantly biting at him and pumping more poison into his system.

Branzer began to slowly heal himself but was not able to move very far as the minutes went by. Every three minutes he unloaded his gun so fast into Siamat that it sounded like a machine gun followed by a couple of explosive projectiles flying out of it as well.

"Keep it up. I might die, but it will not be today." Branzer said aloud.

"This cannot be! Join me, harness the powers through a sacrifice, and become more powerful. You can be stronger than this – you are on your knees already, just bow down to me and I will stop the attack." Siamat said as he began floating over towards Branzer. Branzer shot a concussion shot at him, slowing his movement and then misdirected several shots so that it looked like it came from Pokey. Siamat redirected his attention and continued talking to Pokey. Pokey continued to bite and slam at him regardless of what Siamat said.

Branzer continued to blast away at him for several more minutes, launching his traps and dropping his freezing trap beside him. He felt the power draining from his body and knew he could not endure much more.

"Just die will you! I am tired of fighting you, I am tired of your bullshit, and I am tired of not being able to hold the woman I love! Just die until you are dead from it!" Branzer said in almost a delirious voice. He had his wish. Moments later the last fire and snake trap follow by a healing shot caused him to explode. It sent out a tremendous gust of wind knocking him down and blinding him with sand. Pokey seemed immune to it and ran back to his side. The frozen element shattered as well.

Branzer woke up to Pokey licking his eyes, trying to get the sand out.

"You are now man's best friend; I don't care what anybody says." Branzer said and coughed up blood. He rolled over and spat it out. Pokey continued to lick him and Branzer eventually let out a laugh. "You aren't exactly a dog, and your tongue feels like sand paper. Go do something constructive – let me die in peace."

Branzer reached for his hearthstone but could not find it. "Typical" he said. He summoned his dragon and it flew down beside him.

"I am here my master." His dragon said.

"Take me to Herrior…please…" Branzer said spitting out more blood.

The dragon gave him a confused look and responded back with, "How much closer do you want me to take you to him?"

"Close enough…what are you talking about…argh!" Branzer yelled in pain.

Skyka and Icis walked up to him and after a couple of seconds blasted him with an enormous healing spell. Every scrape healed instantly and the sand fell out of his eyes. He stood up and looked around in confusion as he saw his group looking at him.

"Eh – I could have beaten him in less time…good show none-the-less though." Mohania said.

"What? At what point where you guys going to jump in and help?" Branzer asked completely frustrated.

"We only got here a little while ago when you didn't follow orders, and when I asked Lindel what happened to you." Herrior said.

"Didn't follow…what? He attacked me – there was no way I could have made it back." Branzer replied back still frustrated.

"Calm yourself Branzer." Lindel said looking deep into his eyes. They had a moment of having their eyes locked together. Lindel eventually asked if she should go back to her post. Herrior agreed and she disappeared into the air and floated away.

"Let's collect up the loot and head back to the town. Tess is still rounding up all of the possessions they had, and I'm eager to hear back from Trackolania and Quinely." Herrior said. Skyka walked over and picked up several belts, weapons, and a cloak – all radiating purple. She then gathered up the rest of the items and they all began to casually walk back.

"What did Nadun say?" Herrior asked.

"They want to have us come back to hold a feast in our honor. I also convinced them to grieve for their fallen and to allow their families to celebrate returning to each other. He said I wasn't telling him the whole truth, but he didn't inquire as to what our mission was." Branzer said.

"Did you learn anything from your battle?" Herrior asked.

"I learned that my hearthstone doesn't work and made a note to ask you why." Branzer said having a sense of frustration in his voice.

"In combat, you need your full attention on the battle. Not taking in the entire battle can turn the tides against you. Also for our safety, if our enemies figure out how we communicate, and we fall in battle – the technology is now theirs. When they rifle our bodies for our armor and weapons, they will pay no attention to a mere rocking falling out of our pockets. What else did you learn?" Herrior asked returning to his original question.

"I learned that my traps saved my life. I learned that I need to be aware of everything – elements were flying all over the place and as soon as I focused my attention on one thing, I paid the penalty for it. Siamat was invincible – but his powers drained the more he conjured up the elementals and the more lightning he shot out of his body. Halfway through the fight I realized I could stand outside of his lightning and not take any damage…I felt like an idiot…" Branzer said trailing off.

"No need to, none of us would have known that. Each battle is different; each enemy has their own tactics. Brunt force only wins about twenty percent of battles with causalities. Watching your enemy's attacks and countering them is far more efficient. What were his main attacks?" Herrior asked.

"Summoning those elements was a pain. Catching me off guard gave him an enormous advantage…" Branzer said beating himself up again. "His sand storm, control of the wind and lighting gave him a huge advantage."

"So he had control of those elements, what were his weaknesses?" Herrior asked.

"He hated the snake traps - pissed him off a lot. My firetraps did damage to him, and freezing his elements he summoned gave me an advantage. Finally, silencing him and scatter shooting him gave me a huge advantage along with my shot to heal myself. It does not heal a lot, but I counted down the seconds until I could fire it again. It probably saved my life." Branzer said.

"You pet seems fine." Herrior said not looking down at it.

"He saved my life – no doubt about that at all. He always attacked, never gave up. When his health was low, he would reinforce his shell until I could heal him. I owe Julie my life for choosing a turtle." Branzer said with gratitude in his voice.

"You don't owe anybody anything. You could have done that with any pet. Bernett's seagull could have done the same thing. It's all about timing." Julie said.

"She is right. The reason why I am asking you all of these questions is to allow yourself to hear what you learned, and for others to learn as well. We do fight as a group most of the time, but look at Trackolania and Quinely right now. If they are detected, chances are very slim they will make it out alive. However, they followed orders down to the letter. I did not anticipate Siamat to attack you, I figured he would attack the town we over took – however I was wrong. Essentially I sent you to fight an enemy against incredible odds, same as I am doing with them." Herrior said and turned to Jacklyn. "If I told you to go into the camp and kill as many as you could before you die, what would you say?"

"I would leave this very instant. I would not charge into the camp, but rather take out as many as I could undetected. When I was found out, I would hop from building to building because of the dragons and only strike at them when I had the chance. Dragons cannot go in water so I would use that to my advantage if they burned the buildings. Dragons attack slowly, so their attacks would be easily avoided while I would kill the faster attacker's first, rally as much support among their soldiers as I could and sabotage as much of their equipment as I could. I know I would die, I would try to avoid it, but if I could destroy their weapons and take out their main structures along with more than half of their fighters before dying then it would be worth it." Jacklyn said.

"The same as the rest in our group." Herrior said.

Branzer nodded as he continued to walk. He was still shaken from the battle.

"As you know already I send people ahead to do just this sort of thing – and I will continue to do so. I will give you time to rest to calm yourself, but I expect you to be battle ready when we strike." Herrior said.

"No, I was out of line. I am ready to fight again. What's our next target?" Branzer asked.

"Have not established one yet. We are waiting for our scouts to return; could take another day or so before we have enough information to know when and where to strike. In the meantime we are still gathering up possessions and trying to analyze what we found for any clues as to where this coffer is and what it does. In the mean time, Julie and Bernett we need some food. Go find whatever wildlife you can find and bring it back. It has been awhile since we have replenished our bodies. We're unsure about the foliage in this area, so I would advise everybody not to touch any of it until it is examined by our collectors." Herrior said and made a quick glance at Branzer. Branzer saw it and understood that what he did could have killed him. Julie and Bernett went towards the rivers to see what they could gather.

"I think we've killed the rest of the stragglers. Other than a bunch of junk, we have not found any additional clues. Any word on this Siamat guy?" Tess asked.

"He's dead." Herrior said.

"Well that's one less thing we have to do. I have sent some of my group to patrol the south side of the city and to find some food. Your patrols have not picked up anything yet. No word back from our scouts yet." Tess said seeming bored.

"Have you spoken with a Chronomancer about delivering these items to Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"Not yet, but I think we're thinking along the same lines. There is no need for our friends north of here to get their hands on this. We'll send some of our engineers to repair their structures, help plant some food – but handing over an enormous supply of armor and weapons to a race we just encountered I would not do." Tess said.

"Their commerce seems to be gold, so I have no problems leaving them half. Have you spoken with Kon lately?"

"Yup, several others have had the time to communicate with others as well. Apparently a group of trolls unlocked something east of the island that we over took for them a while ago. Some lost artifact or something. Anyways they quickly reported it and left the area. We sent scouts to investigate it and as soon as they got there, they saw several trolls transformed into something wicked. These trolls radiated with enormous magical power and setup a meeting with the trolls of the land. All of the trolls refused their offer for greater magic and the right to rule the lands again. We sent an ambassador in disguise to gather more information and to assess the threat. These cursed trolls made their way to several different parts of the Eastern Kingdoms, rallying support. The promise of more power – take a guess as to who joined up with them… Anyways they have been launching several attacks against some of our cities. In response, we sent more fighters and guards to those towns. It has interrupted commerce and we evacuated our non-fighters and began to build defenses within the town, nothing we have not done before. We located where they took the artifact and it is heavily guarded. Kon and several other leaders are launching attacks to get it and destroy it, while other groups have setup a perimeter to keep out 'new recruits'. Makes you wonder what other 'artifacts' are just lying around, dormant, waiting for somebody to kick them or dig them up." Tess said.

Dan looked worried and Herrior sensed it. "What you have been finding is small items, but I would like to know what you find just for this reason." Herrior told him. Dan nodded in agreement.

"These are war-torn lands aging back before our ancestors. It probably applies for any world. The night elf woman that befriended Dan seems interested in simple artifacts and the past. I do not view her as a threat, anymore, and I feel would turn over anything harmful they find." Herrior said.

"Friends come and go – the same as leaders. Who threatens to kill you one day, saves you life the next day. Friends that have saved your life for years, go into war, and kill themselves – revealing some of our secrets and endangering all of us. I would not want to be a Chronomancer, learning the new paths or portals and codes – whatever they do to keep our arrivals and departures safe. The more you learn about what they do, the more confusing it is." Tess said.

"The girl child we rescued per the pact we formed with the human male stated she would like to become a Chronomancer to me." Jacklyn said.

"Not good with names?" Herrior asked turning to her.

"They're not part of our city, and expressing interest in something we do does not make them worthy of a name in my mind. Just because they see pretty lights and dazzling sounds that baffle the mind – sparking their desire to do the same thing I generally ignore them. She has a broken past, a constantly altering mind, and is reliving her past while trying to accept her present and is also confused about her future – I pay little heed to their wishes. However, that thought did not come to me until Tess brought up the subject. Wiping their minds would not have worked, and we did what we could to alter them. The rest of all of their futures lies in their choices. Only if she proves herself and steadies her mind would I give a recommendation for the training. Otherwise, she is just another human." Jacklyn said.

"I agree with you. You know the situation better than I do and my opinions will be based on what you tell me." Herrior said. He then looked over at Mohania who seemed to be taking pleasure in giving one of the Nefersets a long agonizing painful death. He shook his head in slight confusion.

"It's still a mystery what happened to Mohania; it's a bigger mystery how we were not able to heal him, and Alan did in what I understand was only a matter of days. That was the most depressed I have ever saw him, but he had full intentions of taking up other jobs in Tranquil. I would love to ask what happened, but I do not think he would tell me – nor do I think Alan would tell me. Alan has healed three of us now, simply by talking. During the months that I spent with him, I know he does not possess any powers. He has a kind heart and is soft spoken; he has a genuine desire to help people. It baffled me why he and his wife did not want to stay in Tranquil, but their intentions were pure. Many mysteries surround us and more popup all the time – no point in trying to figure them out though. Some will be revealed in time, others may never be revealed." Herrior said, as his voice seemed to trail off.

"Many of these mysteries seem to revolve around your party lately. To be honest I would be letting go of some of your people – I want to know everything about my party and their abilities. To have something 'all of a sudden' happen and hope it doesn't kill us…no I'm not comfortable with that." Tess said.

"That and many other issues plague my mind right now. Curiosity keeps me from dropping some, that and the feeling that I need some, we need – hard to explain…" Herrior said. He shook his head and walked away.

"I don't understand is there something I can do to help?" Dan asked.

Skyka let out a small laugh and said, "No hun, it's nothing anybody can help him with. As you know, the size of our group nearly doubled and no leader is comfortable with that. Taking on an extra fighter or two is fine. Fighters that are trained that is, and spend time learning the tactics their leader has on the battlefield. Why don't all of you go see what information Mohania has gotten out of the Neferset."

The rest of the party took that as a hint and left. Jacklyn, Skyka, and Tess stayed behind and walked to the north side of the city.

"How's he been holding up lately?" Tess asked.

"He's had his moments. Recently he had to order the slaughter of hundreds of non-fighters. That weighed on him pretty hard. He has been thinking the same as you just said though. So many unpredictable things have happened that I think he feels he is losing control, and a leader that losses control of his party, losses his party. We have had a bit of drama in our party as well. Things have been hitting him one after another. You know what he is like – he screamed at us several times, that is unheard of from him. We had to restrain Crystal as Dan fought an entire army, and then we thought he died – still do not have a clue how he lived. Afterwards he fought of an entire alliance camp, and warded off dozens of worgen from killing him. He has began saying things, and doing things that we have never seen or heard of before. The idea of him being a traitor has crossed our minds – however he will prove his allegiance tenfold after we ponder the idea. His powers increase with each passing day – he is to the point where he could wipe out the entire alliance allegiance just by a mere thought and we would have no idea what he just did. He is constantly testing and retesting ideas – we have no idea where they are coming from, but it enhanced Mohania's powers greatly. Mohania looked shocked and did not believe what he just did…then Mohania ran around as if he was a kid in a candy store with unlimited money. He gave the rest of us some ideas, but it was not anything significant. Then the problem with Lindel and Branzer came up. They want to marry – she is a Chronomancer and a banshee, and he is an ambassador. King is against the idea, so we are going to have to split them up." Skyka said as Tess cleared her throat hard. Skyka looked at her as she apologized and looked back at her.

"Recently Strings has began spending time with Ysera. You know…the same Ysera we were going to battle with earlier. Then Crystal has begun showing extreme use of her powers…things that again none of us has ever seen. We think it's some sort of power that she is feeding off from Dan, or the other way around. If they produce offspring, there is no telling what the child's powers would be. Bonding them together was a great idea at the time; now that we see how fast they are progressing, it has us worried. I am not a leader, and I do not know what the King and Queen has told them – these are just my thoughts." Skyka continued.

"And then the death knight he found." Jacklyn said.

"Remember the days when things were simple? Bringing in the undead and the orcs back into the city has complicated some things, but the townsfolk seem to have accepted them. Then the sudden desire for the King to expose himself to everybody on a daily basis? That was unexpected. The rebuild of the city has amazing, but I thought he would raise his defenses more, not leave himself entirely exposed. As far as Dan goes, I am so glad he is on our side. Whatever you did to convince him to join your party worked." Tess said.

"Did you know he killed a time stopper?" Skyka asked.

"What?" Tess asked surprised.

"Yup. He had a discussion with the King concerning her – he also told us our ways of tracking time stoppers was pathetic; here I thought we were doing better. Apparently something was said, and Dan had a bug planted inside of her and used her as bait. We killed the demons stalking her, but she didn't do what he said and he killed her." Skyka said.

Tess still looked at her surprised as Skyka continued, "He's an ambassador of the time stoppers now, and so whatever he had discussed with the King apparently pleased him."

"Do you know how many of our people were killed to obtain one of them, and how many we had to kill because the alliance had them, or were demonic controlled - and then Dan kills one?" Tess said angrily.

"You can ask him if you want." Skyka said shaking her head.

"I'll pass." Tess said quickly and followed up with, "Sheesh, why hasn't Herrior said any of this?"

"I'm sure there is more. I am his mate, but he does not tell me everything – just the same as you and Kon. There are rules that have to be followed. He's been distant lately; still a great leader and a fighter, but I've been missing him." Skyka said.

"Not to mention the problem I revealed to him about the young female wanting to begin Chronomancer training. He is not entirely confident with our party yet. He has a big heart and wants to help fighters become better – but he has dismissed many in the past, why he hasn't now, or why he is taking so long to do so I do not understand." Jacklyn said. "I had a feeling you wanted me here, but I can leave if you wish." Jacklyn followed up.

"No, our talk is over. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Tess said getting up to walk away. She seemed flustered as she walked off on her own.

"Which do you think will be the first ones to be removed from our party?" Jacklyn asked.

"Please I beg of you, just kill me…" The Neferset pleaded with Mohania.

"No, you will talk!" Mohania said.

"I've told you everything I know, I swear! I told you the same thing dozens of times; I can't tell you what I don't know!" The Neferset said.

"Spell your name backwards, add in three V's and two numbers…too late!" Mohania said ignited his hand on fire sending another wave of flame over the man.

"Ok, now I'm thinking of a number between…too late!" Mohania said and sent another wave of flame over his body.

"Oh my, your fur is on fire. Let me help you out with that." Mohania said and started beating at it with a stick.

"That's probably not the proper way to heal a burn." Dan said startling Mohania.

"Hey – who's been alive longer?" Mohania said. He then paused and said, "Don't answer that."

"Please, let me die. Run me through with a sword." The man pleaded. Dan pulled out his sword and Mohania said, "We don't have any" pushing Dan away.

Mohania then stopped and said, "Oh – what was that? Oh, my word is that…I think that is Cleo, your wife. She must have escaped somehow and came back to die beside you. That's romantic. Tell you what, if she can prove your loyalty to you and not beg at my knees to for me to take her as a bride – I will let both of you go." Mohania then chanted a couple of words and a female Neferset walked around a building. Mohania remembered killing her earlier and made her motion over to him. The male Neferset's hopes suddenly grew and began to speak quickly to her.

"My love, what have they done to you? What must I do to let him free?" The female turned around and saw Mohania. She then walked seductively over to him and said, "I'm sorry, I usually don't throw myself at men like you, but you are the sexiest thing I have ever seen. I will give up everything I own if you have sex with me right here and now."

The male Neferset's face looked shocked. Mohania said, "Yes, I know I am the sexiest man alive. What can I say; I have a gift. However, what about your husband behind you? Aren't you married to him?"

"Looking at you has caused me to forget everything about him; he is a worthless provider, and a pathetic lover. If you promise to say that I at least stand a chance with you, I will kill him myself." The female said.

"No, no Cleo it's me! What are you saying?" The male said trying to regain his strength.

"My name is Cleo, but you can call me your sex goddess. I will do things to you that you have never even thought of. Kill this piece of shit behind me and let me show you what I can do." The female said.

The male's face and emotions looked more damaged than his body was. "Cleo…my love…"

Mohania then reached his hand forward and engulfed her in flames as she started to scream and run away. Once she was a distance behind him, Mohania cancelled the conjured spell and she disappeared.

"Darn, that's the third time today that I used the wrong hand. Right hand fire, left hand pleasure…or is it the other way around." Mohania said looking at his right hand as it ignited on fire, then he looked at his left as it also ignited on fire. Mohania shrugged and smiled at the Neferset. He was crying hysterically.

"Well, that's women for you. Here one day, on fire the next. Anyways are you sure, there isn't anything else you want to tell me? I believe there are some children around here that would like to be burned alive. I think Cleo said she had some children…" Mohania said with his voice trailing off pretending to look around.

"The coffer was guarded by Siamat. He gave us our powers. Commander Schnotz is holding it for transport. He is trying to raise the Colossi to help defend it for when Deathwing comes. There is an outpost west of here. You can get some uniforms from the guards if you kill them. Go to him with a desert fox and eight idols in our temple. Tell him the ceremony is ready. Let me go so that I can die. Please do not kill my children." The Neferset said.

Trackolania suddenly appeared next to Mohania and tossed down a dozen uniforms. "Well he was right about the uniforms. You did ask to borrow those I'm assuming?" Mohania asked picking up a shirt as it began dripping with blood. Trackolania nodded with a big smile.

"Why does he need idols though, and a fox? That sounds like some sort of ritual to me, or some weird bizarre rite of passage. You know I did a bizarre rite of passage once…" Mohania said trailing off into some sort of weird conversation as he leaned up against the man and lit his hand on fire with such intensity that it burned the man alive.

"…and then we had to…shoot; now I have to find another one. Wait – did he say let him go first and then kill him? I got confused." Mohania said.

"You are a pretty morbid person you know that Mohania?" Dan said.

"This is nothing…I only tortured him for a couple of hours. Breaking the body is nothing, breaking a person's spirit and will to live – that will make a person talk every time. However, there are ways of breaking all of those. If you find the person's mate, rip off their arm, and beat them with it – you can do all three at the same time. Oh, and then there is the classic, rip open their chest cavity and say, 'Look, their heart beats only for you' and then after they bleed out you slowly countdown to when their heart stops beating and then cheer. Afterwards you turn around and say, 'Sorry, but it doesn't look like their heart beats for you anybody' – and then you eat them in front of the person – which of course can vary depending on if you want to for them to eat their mate's organs." Mohania said.

"That's disgusting…and just…disgusting…" Dan said turning white.

"But effective." Herrior said walking up. "So we need a fox and some idols. Did you get a chance to hear what kind of idols we need?"

"Oops…well let me see if I can bring him back to life…" Mohania said and channeled an enormous amount of power as he cupped his hands together. A black glowing orb appeared and Mohania threw it at the Neferset. His body immediately jerked back to life.

"Wait for it…" Mohania said as the man tried to reason what just happened. Then he looked at Mohania and felt all of the pain rush to his brain from all over his body and let out a deathly scream.

"Relax…are you trying to wake the dead?" Mohania said in a calm voice.

"You have brought me back to torment me more?" The Neferset screamed in agony.

"Yes, but only because I forgot a question. What do these idols look like?" Mohania said.

"One foot tall black looking dogs with long ears, now please kill me!"

"Naw" Mohania said and turned around to Herrior and asked, "Was there anything else?"

"Is that how you brought back Tess's fighters?" Herrior asked.

"Only more silently…sheesh this guy is loud. I think he is upset about something. Let me see if I can calm him down." Mohania said and jammed his skeleton hand inside his mouth and burned off his tongue. The Neferset started gagging and gasping for air as he died slowly, drowning in his own blood.

"Well here's the problem, he was using this to make the loud noise." Mohania said carefully examining it. He then held it out and burned it up in his hand.

"Mohania, promise me you won't become a healer?" Dan said.

"Why? I did fix the problem didn't I?" Mohania said back.

"Spread out, look for these dog statues. Lindel find out what Quinely knows and bring her back. Good job on the uniforms Trackolania, but all of the blood and the tears in them is going to be hard to convince them that we are their troops." Herrior said. Trackolania quickly shook his head and motioned for Herrior to watch him. Trackolania then threw the uniforms onto the ground as they landed with the shirt on top and the pants on the bottom. He walked over to the first shirt and turned it over. He ran his hand over it and revealed that there were no dagger marks in it. He then put it back on the ground, threw a lot of sand over it, and began to rub the shirt vigorously. Afterwards he held up the shirt to reveal that nearly all of the blood was gone.

"Ok, you answered my first two questions…next is how?" Herrior asked. Trackolania pointed at Branzer, Bernett, and Julie.

"Interesting. I don't like the idea of them going in without their weapons and armor, but if they can detect stealth and invisibility – which is the point I think you are getting at…" Herrior said looking at Trackolania as he nodded up and down. "Then we can sneak those three in and have they infiltrated the base. What about the water and the ships?" Trackolania shrugged to that answer but held up his finger. Herrior nodded as he pulled out a dagger and began to draw a quick picture in the sand. He then pulled several grenades from the backpacks, set them on the ground and drew a line from them to each different location on the map.

"What are the chances that you think it'll be successful?" Herrior asked. Trackolania looked down at the map and reviewed his plans. He looked back up and shrugged.

"Sounds good enough to me. You three, you're up! Get over here and suited up." Herrior said.

"Quinely says that she has sunk five ships undetected. They have closed the docks and have begun investigating. She said she has killed over one hundred people so far and rumors of a sea creature are being spread around. She is on her way back now. She said the ships were only transporting sand." Lindel said.

"That makes no sense. I need ideas about this." Herrior said quickly.

"Diversion?" Branzer said completely naked and trying to fit into the pants.

"That's a lot of work just for a diversion, and who would be watching?" Herrior asked.

"They could be digging up an area and transporting the sand away in an effort to uncover multiple different objects." Skyka said.

"Trying to build a reef, a breakwater wall, building an island, fortress, or trying to bury something somewhere else?" Julie said as she finished putting the shirt on and began to put the backpack on.

"To many ideas, we need to find out more information. You three only use the weapons Trackolania recovered. Pull some shit out of your ass, like Dan did with the time stopper, if you have to. Lindel maintain a link with Julie and communicate back and forth. If any of you are found out, pretend as if you do not know each other and shoot the person. I would rather have one of you killed then all three of you; do not screw up so you will not have to do that in the first place. The rest of us will position ourselves based on what Julie says to Lindel. Do not bring out any of your pets or use any of your magic. Do not go too far from each other so that Julie can hear everything that happens. Get going." Herrior said as the three of them rushed off. Herrior gathered up their armor and weapons, placing them in his pack as Quinely flew in.

"I couldn't have stayed much longer. I did what I could, but I didn't get much information." Quinely said out of breath.

"You did fine. We cannot approach from the water; they will be searching it for clues. We cannot go from the base they are going to because our three spies will need to use it as a diversion; the only other option is from the north. Stealth and invisibility is out of the question, kind of figured that with the amount of guards they have, which means illusions are probably out of the question too. There is no telling what lays to the north, all I can see is flat land – certainly nothing to conceal us from a dragon. Here we at least have cover from all of that and the element of surprise. Something tells me they could care less about Siamat and the Neferset's though. Tess what are you thinking?" Herrior asked turning around. Her head was in a portal and she was talking to somebody. Herrior waited for a moment as Tess pulled her head out.

"Sorry to kill and run, but we have been reassigned. We'll have to do this again sometime." Tess said as a portal was created and began to widen.

"Take care and fight well." Herrior said as he saw Tess's group leave.

"Damn…" Herrior said quietly and then yelled, "Who was supposed to bring back some food?"

Branzer, Bernett, and Julie wandered into the small encampment and saw blood splattered everywhere. A walkie-talkie was attempting to contact them. Branzer ran over and grabbed it.

"Sorry about that, whatever was in the food made us shit our brains out. Everything is clear here though." Branzer said in a deep tone.

"Same here had two casualties already and the rest of us are the same. You need to keep somebody by the walkie-talkie though." The voice came back, but Branzer interrupted him and said it actually fell to the group while he ran outside. It was a believable story as Branzer asked if anything new had come up.

"You mean besides our ships sinking and Schnotz tearing us a new asshole? He has every one of us shooting at fish in the water. I say it was one of those dumbass goblins running his ship into a rock or something, and the rest of them doing the same thing…worthless idiots…"

"You've got my vote. Anyways we're tying up the airwaves, any new orders for us?" Branzer asked.

"Yeah, fall in and help us shoot fish…" The man on the other end said in a cocky voice.

Branzer made a mock laughter in the radio and said they would be right there. Branzer turned around and saw that Julie and Bernett had rigged up the building with the grenades. The places Trackolania was pointing to were barrels of ammunition. Julie had found a piece of rope in her pack and tied all of the pins together as Bernett came back in with a chicken.

"I'm missing something here."

"I got the idea from Robot Chicken. You two go ahead and go incase this fails." Julie said as she tied off the rope to the chicken's neck. As ordered Branzer and Bernett walked out of the encampment and casually walked to the base. A minute later Julie came running out of the building and caught up with them.

"What do you suppose is sinking those ships?" Branzer said aloud when they were in audible range.

"I don't know, but I've got a bullet with its name on it." A small goblin dressed in all black leather came running out, began cursing them for not coming faster, and demanded to know where everybody else was. The standard excuse for the illness spreading tided him over and he continued to curse at them to go find out what was sinking those ships.

"One hundred gold to the person that finds out what is sinking our ships! If I find anybody slacking off I will have them killed!" The goblin yelled out. Julie saw a series of ropes behind the goblin and quickly pushed Branzer forward. Branzer fell to the ground in front of him and then swore he stumbled over something.

"What? Where? We have checked this area! Get over here and dig and kill that sea beast." The goblin yelled jumping up and down. Julie was still cutting the ropes and Branzer wanted to keep his attention as he began to dig in the sand with his hands.

"I was just thinking…"

"You aren't paid to think you idiot! You are paid to dig and shoot, I do the thinking, and you do the digging and shooting! So far all I see is you digging and not shooting!" The goblin yelled in his face.

"It seems like if the captain of one ship saw their boat sinking, wouldn't he signal the other ships to turn around or do something instead of all of them going to the same place and sinking?" Branzer said. The goblin stared at him for a moment and then ran off screaming that he wanted all of his captain's in front of him immediately.

Julie finished cutting the ropes and then quickly ran over into a building and started throwing shovels out of the wooden building.

"What are you doing with those?" A goblin ran up to her and asked.

"Digging. He just gave us an order to dig." Julie said sounding nervous.

"Well then get out there and dig!" The goblin yelled back and shoved her out of the building. Julie ran out and saw a dozen people grabbing a shovel and digging as black dressed goblin began to yell at his captains.

Bernett wondered off a bit to an ammunition bunker and dug as franticly as he could. He then dropped a grenade into the hole as he pretended to trip over himself. Getting back up he pulled the pin and walked several feet away. He casually looked around and nobody noticed what he did. He also got a chance to see what Julie had done. The one dragon was tethered to the ground and had finally broken free of its bonds and began to wrestle the ropes off from it.

"I hit something! We need bigger shovels!" Bernett yelled with excitement as he lowered shovel and ran into the building. Julie and Branzer immediately followed, not exactly knowing why. Then the grenade went off, creating an explosion and sending shrapnel everywhere. The three of them had made it inside to escape the collateral damage, but the sounds of pain and people dying echoed from outside. The dragon became frightened and flew away.

As the commotion died down, the three of them ran out shocked with their rifles in hand and began questioning as to what happened. Before anybody could say anything the outpost they were at erupted in a magnificent explosion. The freed dragon flew back and was in a rage as it flew down at anybody it could find.

"Somebody is shooting at us? Who is in the ships right now?" Branzer yelled out. The dragon spun around and began to bite at Branzer as he rushed back into the building. The goblins inside demanded to know what was going on. Bernett quickly picked up two of them and threw them outside, and was instantly devoured by the dragon. Branzer and Julie began fighting the rest and threw their bodies out as well. The three of them then ran out a distance, and dove into the water. They swam underwater for as long as they could to some parts of the wreckage and surfaced.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Branzer asked immediately.

"Got me, but I'm not going out there. Hey where did you come from?" The man asked turning around and meeting Bernett's butt of his gun slamming into his nose. The three of them then held him underwater until he stopped squirming. They pulled him back up and rifled through his pockets.

"Bastard doesn't have anything. Our guns probably won't work now because they are wet." Julie said and began to look around.

"They might have survived; they look to be fully encased." Branzer said looking his over.

"Leave them! Let's each of us take a ship and begin our assault. That dragon will only buy us some time before they kill it." Julie said and dove back underwater. She swam over to where several goblins were treading water and asked what the plan was.

"I'm not going up there while Schnotz is putting us to the firing squad! That dragon will eat all of them before it finds us!" One of the goblins said.

"Can't make money if you are dead." Julie said.

"You're darn right!" The goblin said looking back at her.

"We need to find a ship. If they kill that dragon, Schnotz is going to see us just sitting here without a ship. We mine-as-well just shoot ourselves if we stay here. This way it will at least look like we are doing our job, and if things get out of hand we can get out of here." Julie said.

"I like your thinking! What's your name again?" The goblin said.

"You can call me whatever you want, and then later on you'll be screaming my name over and over if we can salvage this mission." Julie said.

"You're my new co-captain!" The goblin said in excitement.

"I thought I was your co-captain?" Another goblin piped up. The goblin pulled out a rifle and shot him in the head.

"Now that the demotion is official, let's gather up a crew, board a ship, and make it look like we are helping. Either way there is profit to be made." Julie said looking around.

"The little skimmer. That ship is the fastest one we have and the most heavily armed. The black one typed up over there." The goblin captain said.

"That's Schnotz's personal boat!" Another goblin said. Julie reached down to the captain's waist, pulled his gun up, and blasted that goblin in the head as well.

"Sorry, I was reaching for something else." Julie looked back at the goblin and winked at him. "But we'll have time for that later. Who are some people we can trust?" Julie said turning herself around quickly.

"We just killed two of them, but flash a coin in anybody's face and you can buy their trust." The captain said.

"You two, get over here now!" Julie yelled at Branzer and Bernett. She then turned around and called out several others to come. Once they all arrived, Julie ordered them all to swim to the little skimmer as fast as they could.

Once they boarded the goblin quickly started yelling out commands. The ship was moving within minutes. Schnotz noticed it and ordered that it be sunk. Julie ran below the deck and into a room with an open window. She stuck her head out and took two shots. One of them cut all of the ropes with straining the other dragon, the other struck him in the butt. The dragon became berserk just like the other and began wrecking havoc on the buildings and the guards around it.

Julie saw that Branzer had followed her down there and Julie whispered, "Go help Snot – find out what he is up to. We are going to go up top, grab my ass in front of everybody. I am going to push you off the ship and take two shots at you. Pretend as if you are dead, swim under the boat or something." Julie said and ran past him. She ran over to the side of the ship away from the captain and said, "Don't do anything to draw the dragon's attention to us. Captain, what can we do to, what the hell?" Julie yelled aloud. Julie turned around fiercely, pushed Branzer off the ship, and took two shots at him. They missed him by inches, but he played along.

"I'm his co-captain, if anybody does that, or even looks at me in such a way, your fate will be the same!" Julie yelled out.

The goblin ran over to her and looked down. "Are you sure you got him?" Julie reached down with her hand and gently turned his head seductively towards her face, "I…don't miss my target…" Julie said with a grin.

Suddenly an explosion happened and the ship next to them burst into splinters.

"Was that your idea?" Julie said quickly turning to him.

"Who fired that shot?" The goblin's face turned from putty in Julie's hand to absolute seriousness.

"It came from down below, one of our cannons." A man human said.

"This is not good. Where are your coins at now? I trust bullets more than I trust gold and somebody betrayed us." Julie said frantically.

"Get down below and shoot whoever did that!" The captain yelled.

"Let's get this ship moving! If the traitors don't get us, the dragon or Schnotz will." Julie said.

"If Schnotz dies, we can claim the prize for Deathwing." The captain said suddenly coming to that conclusion.

"If the dragon dies, Schnotz will come after us. How many troops does he have again? They took down the last dragon pretty quick. It is simply a diversion, he will have our heads." Julie said in desperation.

The captain looked at the scene unfolding on the land. The dragon was almost dead, and their ship was more than fifty yards out to sea. It was at a perfect angle for the attack.

"This will work, let's get down below." The captain said and grabbed her hand. Julie made a vow that she would personally rip this goblin limb from limb when they were done.

"I killed the traitor. I was trying to ready the ship and I asked her several times what she was doing. Finally, the cannon went off and I nearly shit myself. I ran over and beat her to death before anybody could come to help. Everybody is standing around with their thumbs up their asses staring at her and I'm trying to get this ship moving!" Bernett yelled.

"Man the cannon's! All of them. Load all of them and aim them at the depots. Fire on my word, and be ready to reload them!" The captain yelled.

"Sir we can't do that!" A man behind Bernett said. Bernett spun around, kicked him in the scrotum, and then bashed his nose in with his hand.

"Anybody else want to question the captain? Mutiny is not something I put up with!" Bernett said. "This operation is going to hell, and I want my cut!"

"I trust him." Julie said quickly as both of them started rolling over cannon balls. They watched as to how they were packed in as they pretended to be doing something else.

"Fire!" The captain yelled. All of the crew pressed a button on the top of the cannon as a long blast came out of each cannon, picked a target on the land, and sailed towards it. When the cannon balls landed, they each let out an enormous explosion, sending metal and wood shrapnel everywhere. Julie and Bernett went to load the next cannon, and before the captain could say fire, they pulled the cannon out from the window, pointed it at the crew, and pressed the button. They immediately jumped out of the window as the ball sailed through the ship, hitting several crewmembers and exploding when it got to the front of the ship. It caught fire and sunk within a minute.

Julie and Bernett escaped, but not without injury. Their bodies did not fall fast enough to escape the wooden shrapnel and the explosive cannonball. Both of them had pieces of wood thrown into them and explosive burns on their back. They did not feel any of the pain underwater as they tried to swim away. Julie immediately found out that she could not move her left leg. She tried to swim up but the pain spiked hard and she let out a scream. Bernett pulled her up as blood quickly pooled around them. Several pieces of debris were floating around and both of them tried to find something large enough to keep them afloat.

"The pain is bad Bernett; we have to get to shore." Julie said in a frantic voice. Bernett could tell that she was going into shock. Bernett's backpack for some reason had taken the majority of the explosion. He had several cuts, but was not bleeding as bad as Julie was. He pulled her over to several boards he had collected and put them under her body. He looked at her leg and it look an entire two-by-four had been lodged in it. Bernett took off his backpack, rummaged through it quickly, and then let it sink to the bottom of the sea. He then took off his uniform and quickly tied it around the upper part of her leg to stop the flow of blood down her leg.

"Yup we're going to shore. I need you to talk to me though ok?" Bernett said and began to pull her towards the shore.

"How bad is it?" Julie asked.

"Pretty bad, I'll be able to do more once we get to shore. I have stopped the flow of blood for now. Try not to move your leg." Bernett said.

"Branzer?" Julie asked.

"I have no idea what happened to him. I'm sure he got off the boat and is safe somewhere." Bernett said as he his body started to feel the pain in his body as well.

"Are we going to die out here?" Julie asked

"I don't want to. We're making progress. I see a place on the land where we can safely hide ourselves. I'm heading in that direction." Bernett said as he described the small hull of the ship that they blew up. It lodged part of itself on the beach and protected them from sight, along with the heat.

"I didn't realize how hot it is here. It's got to be over one hundred and thirty easily. What do you think Julie?" Bernett asked. Julie gave a mumbled response.

"I hear ya, we're almost there. We'll take cover for awhile and heal up." Bernett said forcing his body to continue swimming.

Bernett pulled Julie's unconscious body under a makeshift shelter and pulled it over them. It almost resembled an igloo. Bernett retied his tourniquet on Julie's leg. He then took off his pants and began ripping them into strips to stop the flow of blood in other places. He stuffed as much clothing around the board to contain more of the blood from escaping. He then turned his attention to himself. He only had a couple of cuts, most of which had healed themselves. Julie took the blast of the explosion for him. Bernett closed his eyes, concentrated his thoughts on Lindel, and kept repeating the word, "Help!" repeatedly.

Unknown to Julie and Bernett, Branzer had made it ashore and had changed uniforms with one of Schnotz dead bodyguards. Schnotz's body was torn to pieces and Branzer moved it to a secluded place. Nothing looked like it survived as the artillery was exchanged back and forth between the land and the ship. Branzer began to read several different pieces of paper he recovered from Schnotz's body and began to piece together the puzzle.

"We're in the wrong spot; the coffer is north of us. Why are they digging here?" Branzer said to himself as the continued to read and translate the diagrams. He figured out that hundreds of guards as well as somebody called, "Myzerian" were protecting it. According to Schnotz's notes, he did not intend to hand over the coffer. He put the rest of the notes away and quickly armed himself. He snuck around the encampment and did not find anybody alive. He gathered up several more guns and survival kits. He figured there was enough ammunition here to ward off several platoons; all of it was directed towards the water. Branzer thought he would do a bold move, but had two machine guns in each hand. Perhaps the feeling of being "Rambo" entered his veins and clouded his mind at the time.

"Is anybody alive?" Branzer yelled out. He then took up a defensive perimeter inside of a building. There was no response. He continued to sneak around for several more minutes before heat exhaustion started to creep up on him. He walked over to a shady area and sat down.

"Why is it so hot?" Branzer asked himself aloud. He looked above him and said, "Whoever has the magnifying glass up there knock it off!"

"Branzer?" It was Bernett's voice. It was very weak and coming from some wooden rubble by the ocean.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Are you ok?" Branzer said running towards the sound. There was no response.

Branzer came into the hut, immediately cursed aloud as he stripped down, and ran to the ocean to soak his clothes and bring back the water.

"Don't drink this; I'm just going to cool you off." Branzer said as he put the wet clothing around Julie and Bernett's head, neck, and chest. Bernett's eyes opened and asked about Julie. Branzer leaned over to take her pulse. It was weak, but she still had one. Branzer pulled out his hearthstone and immediately contacted Herrior.

"We've killed everything, but we're on the verge of death. Plus it got hot very fast. We're not going to be able to hold out much longer." Branzer said. Herrior acknowledged and said they were on their way.

"Ok help is coming you guys." Branzer said putting his hearthstone away. He then realized he did not put his hearthstone on him, it was with his armor.

"Did you guys bring your hearthstones?" Branzer asked as Bernett fell into unconsciousness. "No, that's not what you are going to do on me. Wake up partner." Branzer said patting him on the head with more water.

"I've got to buy us more time." Branzer said and looked around. He saw some movement aboard a couple of ships. That concerned him, but not as much as getting every to the water and in a shady area. The structure they were in would never make it to the ocean, and there was no way he was going to drag them to the ocean. He started tearing into his survival kits he found several packets of water. He gently moistened both of their lips with the water, and both of them instinctively began to lick at it. He took a big drink himself to rehydrate himself and began to administer the water a couple of drops at a time as he continued looking through it.

"What is half of this shit?" Branzer asked himself as he started throwing stuff out, franticly looking for something that would help. He found some cloth wrapped up in a nice little roll and began wrapping it around Julie's leg. As soon as both pieces of cloth touched each other, it ignited on fire. Branzer quickly ripped it off and threw it aside.

"Survival kits my ass." Branzer said in frustration but it caused Julie to let out a soft moan.

"Sorry about that, I had no idea what that was going to do. Blue bottles, red bottles, orange bottles, stuff that looks like food. For crying out loud give me something that cools them off!" Branzer yelled. A small pack began to vibrate and then exploded into a giant canopy, destroying the wooden structure and engulfing all of them in shade. The temperature instantly dropped at least fifty degrees and continued to lower.

"You're kidding…ok now I want a nurse to heal my friends." Branzer said. Nothing happened. "Give me something to heal a wound!" Branzer yelled out again but nothing happened.

"Not so loud…" Bernett said recovering from heat exhaustion.

"Easy there, here take small sips of this." Branzer said handing him a bag. "I'll go get some more water to cool you off more." Tiny drops of rain began to rain down from the structure that formed.

"How are you doing that?" Bernett asked.

"I haven't got a damn clue." Branzer responded back.

"Where are we? It's not hot anymore." Bernett asked confused.

"Uh…underneath something that responds to voice commands." Branzer said.

"Tell it to bring me a hot female doctor with a frozen slushy." Bernett said with a smile. Just then, Lindel flew inside of the structure and immediately hugged and kissed Branzer. She then dematerialized and flew inside of each of their bodies.

"Where's my slushy?" Bernett asked as his voice sounding almost immediately better. Quinely came in and began to heal both of them. The wooden shrapnel instantly burned away as both of them began to sit up.

"Why am I the only one dressed in a tent with two naked men?" Julie asked and then laid back down.

"There is a logical explanation for that…but it escapes me right now." Branzer said.

"I'm here too." Quinely said continuing to cast her healing spells.

"Lindel told me to say that. Did we kill everybody?" Julie asked with a smile.

"On the land I think so, but I saw some movement on some ships that has me worried. How far away are the others?" Branzer asked Quinely.

"It'll be a couple of minutes before they get here, if they don't run into trouble on the way." Quinely said as she sat down exhausted.

"I'll be right back then." Branzer said as he stepped outside of the structure and nearly fell over as the wall of heat engulfed him. He looked out to the ocean and saw several ships coming towards them, and many others had climbed back on the ships. Branzer looked behind him and saw a cannon. He ran towards it and looked around for a ball to put in it. He then saw a panel in the shape of a hand. He put his hand on it, and instantly the cannon came to life and asked him a series of commands.

"Fire repeatedly at all of the incoming ships until there is nothing left." Branzer said aloud as the cannon said, "Acknowledged" in his mind and began rapidly firing ball after ball into the air.

Branzer watched in awe as the cannon balls that were flying in a straight line instantly changed trajectory and slammed into every ship – causing an enormous explosion when it hit.

"Intercept any incoming cannon balls and fire faster." Branzer said as the cannon obeyed his commands.

"Now stand up and dance the jig." Branzer said with a smile on his face, but was shocked when the cannon grew legs and started doing just that. "You've got to be shitting me."

"Intruders are coming from the east; shall I change my firing pattern?" The cannon asked him.

"Intruders? Who is it?" Branzer asked standing up and trying to get a better look.

"Several taurens, blood elves…"

"No, do not fire at them." Branzer said quickly. The cannon stopped firing as Branzer looked back down at it. "Why did you stop firing?"

"I have fulfilled my orders." The cannon said back. Branzer looked up and saw that it had. Nothing but scraps of wood was left floating on the water.

"Good work." Branzer said amazed.

"May I recharge? My energy levels are low." The cannon asked in his head.

"Go ahead." Branzer said as the cannon withdrew its legs, sat back down, and settled into normal cannon.

Branzer watched amazed, but felt the intense heat getting to him as he stumbled his way back to the hut and fell into it.

"What happened out there?" Bernett asked.

"I told a cannon to dance and shoot things. Everything else is a mystery to me." Branzer said as Quinely began to heal him as well.

"Why can't your bodies withstand the weather? It's just the same as it was when we first arrived." Quinely said as Branzer's body was refreshed.

"It can't be – you could fry an egg while it's still inside a chicken in this heat." Branzer said standing up.

"You don't have your armor on. The uniforms must have provided some sort of increased tolerance to heat when you had them on. Sorry about the entrance…" Lindel said looking away.

"No it was fine." Branzer quickly said.

"What happened?" Julie asked.

"I asked for a hot nurse and a slushy – then Lindel showed up." Bernett said.

"I used to work at a seven-eleven. Those things were addictive." Julie said.

"You worked as a hot nurse at seven-eleven in the morning or at night?" Quinely asked.

"No…" Julie said.

"At night!" Branzer quickly said and burst into laughter.

"Jackass…" Julie said punching Branzer.

"All I heard was ass, so Branzer gets one added to his score." Mohania said.

"What did you find out?" Herrior asked pulling out their armor and weapons and distributing them.

"The coffer is north of here and heavily protected. The dragons were mere pets, probably why Trackolania couldn't sneak past them. I don't have an answer about the ships. I have all of the notes the worthless goblin had right here." Branzer said and reached into an invisible pocket, then quickly realized what he did with them. He then looked over where Bernett was lying down and saw them soaking, and falling apart. He closed his eyes and cursed himself.

"I screwed that up. Damn it, I wasn't thinking straight! I saw them on the verge of death and tore off my clothes to soak them in water to try to save their lives." Branzer said.

"What do you remember?" Herrior asked patiently.

"It's several miles north of here. Schnotz did not intend to give it to Deathwing. It is a silver box, about six feet long and three foot wide. They have planes, tanks, and mines – the works. It's impenetrable. There was also another name, I forget the name, but he was described as having great powers." Branzer said and then sighed in frustration.

"You made the best decision that you could based on the situation that was presented to you. Although that information is why we sent you here, if something were to happen – fighting with three people is better than one. Nevertheless, I think we have enough to form a plan." Herrior said.

Branzer finished putting his armor on and it instantly cooled him down and refreshed his body. "Much better" he said.

"Finish filling your bellies with water and then we'll leave." Herrior said in an upset tone as he left the tent.

"I'm not on his good side." Branzer said.

"I would have done the same thing." Bernett said.

"Including kicking your own ass for screwing up the initial mission?" Branzer asked.

"He's struggling with a lot right now. A lot of us are. It's in the past, stop living there, and start looking forward." Skyka said walking out. Branzer nodded as the rest of them followed them out.

They started walking away from the camp when an idea suddenly struck Branzer. "I'll be back in a second," he said and ran back. Several minutes later, he caught back up with them with his cannon keeping step with him.

"Made a new friend?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"I saw what it can do. It told me there are others like it. It's probably safe to assume that they can link together somehow if it knew that. It can help us with a possible diversion." Branzer said.

"It's not alive…that doesn't make sense. Ask it if there is a central link connecting all of them." Dan said.

"He said there is a mac driver they all respond to. Macintosh computer?" Branzer asked.

"Rats…I hate those. Where is it located?" Dan asked.

"It doesn't understand what a Macintosh computer is, but said it's west of here." Branzer said.

"Herrior can I go investigate?" Dan asked.

"Sure, take Lindel with you." Herrior said continuing to scan the horizon. "Everybody else summon your mounts, but stay low. Walking is taking too long."

Everybody summoned their mounts as Dan took off to the west with Lindel flying beside him while everybody else flew straight.

"There has to be some sort of transmitter and receiver. It is too far away to be a wireless connection, and there are not any satellites – well I'm assuming anyways. Just to have one point of origin to direct the cannon and whatever else seems somewhat idiotic to me. So what we are looking for is probably a very large omnidirectional antenna, probably in the height of at least one hundred foot high. It should be stick out in this landscape quite easily." Dan said aloud as he reviewed his thoughts.

"What are we looking for?" Lindel asked.

"A large metal pole sticking out of the ground with smaller poles coming out of the top of it." Dan said. "I would assume that it would be guarded, do you sense anything around?"

"Nothing." Lindel said back. She flew over, landed on Dan's dragon, and materialized herself.

"Getting tired?" Dan asked.

"No." Lindel said and wrapped her arms around him. Dan nodded and continued to look around as he talked to himself.

"I have no idea what a mac driver is; abbreviation for something probably. I hope I'm able to do something with it, I'm just sort of guessing here. I can't think of what it could stand for though. I wish I had a chance to speak with the cannon the way Branzer did, it would give me a better idea of what I'm up against. This world is weird…well not any weirder then any of the other worlds, but cannon's that automatically fire, doesn't need reloading, and responds to your thoughts? Our engineers are going to go 'gaa gaa' over this. I'll tell them I invented it, see how pissed off they get." Dan said with a smile. Lindel let out a sigh and said she was tired.

"Ok, just let me know what I'm up against if you sense anything. Once we find our target you should be able to rest then." Dan said.

He continued to fly over the tree line and heard a faint humming sound. He turned his dragon to fly towards it, but told it to slow down.

"This doesn't seem right. Humming sounds shouldn't be what we are looking for – not to produce the energy needed to power the antenna. In an environment like this, you could generate enough solar energy to continuously power it uninterrupted forever. But this is the only lead we have to go on so far. Lindel do you sense anything?" Dan asked. Lindel didn't respond back. He turned around and saw her sleeping. "Great…" Dan said and turned back around upset.

He found the antenna just that he had described and set his dragon down fifty feet from it. Dan carried Lindel down, put her in some brush, and tried to camouflage her.

"Well my friend, it looks like it is you and me again. Do you hear or see anything?" Dan asked his dragon.

"Just the annoying sound. Should I stay here and guard her?" His dragon asked.

"Herrior would shoot me if he knew Lindel was sleeping, and Ysera would shoot me if you are killed – not to mention the King would shoot me as well if he knew that I left you here to guard one of our primary fighters and both of you were killed. No, go ahead and fly away. I'll summon you if I need you." Dan said sounding upset.

So Dan's dragon nodded and flew into the sky, fading from sight. Dan looked at Lindel and shook his head. He then drew his swords and stood there listening for a while. Only the sound of the humming could be heard. He slowly looked around, taking in the environment and making note of any path, hill, and stream. Then he walked towards the humming sound. He was extremely on edge as he saw a miniature computer connected to the antenna, but still didn't see anybody around. He walked up to it and say that it was running a series of self-diagnostics, but repeatedly failed on the last one: "Confirm user: Failed" and then began to repeat itself.

"It's got power, not sure how but that checks out. The reception checks out. The memory and processor check out. Wonder what it means by user?" Dan asked.

"User acknowledged – please speak password." The computer said instantly coming alive when Dan said "user".

"I don't know what the password would be." Dan said looking it over.

"Password confirmed. What do command do you wish to execute?" The computer asked.

Dan chuckled and said, "It did tell me to speak the word password. Ok, show me all of the nodes you are connected to and what type of interface you are using to access each one." Dan said.

"Unknown order. Do you wish to view current status?"

"Yes." Dan said unsure of himself. The screen lit up with a map full of dots and symbols. Dan studied it over for a while and asked what each symbol meant. The computer responded and explained the devices it no longer had contact with. It then went into full detail about its primary mission and to self-destruct when the mission had been completed.

"Can I give you a new primary mission?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." Dan said tapping his fingers together, doing his best impression of Mr. Smithers on The Simpsons. Dan then issued a password change and ordered it to halt all current processes until he returned. The computer confirmed and Dan went to retrieve Lindel. When Dan came back he set Lindel down next to the computer, spoke his password as the computer came back to life and issued a command to engage it's perimeter defenses and engage anything that came close to it. The computer confirmed the command, and Dan pulled out his hearthstone to contact Herrior.

"I've got the distraction ready; just wish I was there to see it. Lindel and I need to operate it from this end. We should be safe here, let me know when you are done with your scouting and I'll begin the attack from here." Dan said.

"What should we expect?" Herrior asked back.

"Total annihilation. Keep a safe distance away – I would say at least one thousand yards minimum, no probably more than that. I can't tell it who to shoot at and who not to. It's probably motion censured since the temperature is so hot here…however if it is using infrared that would be a problem. I would have to examine the devices it's controlling to be sure, but I would highly recommend not being anywhere near the area." Dan said.

"You're going to upset Mohania. He's looking forward to killing some people. You know how long it's been since he's killed somebody?" Herrior said smiling.

"Yup, and he'll probably call me an ass later. Let me know when you are ready." Dan said as Herrior closed the portal. Dan looked down at Lindel and said, "You owe me one."

Herrior relayed the message to his group as Branzer's dragon carried the cannon in its claws. They flew across several mounds of rolling sand for a while, until Herrior saw what he was looking for and immediately directed everybody to fly away from the grounds. Herrior landed and ordered his dragon to disappear as he quickly ran over to the edge to see if anybody had seen them. The rest of the party did as well.

"Branzer I'm not entirely sure what to tell you to do with your little friend. Dan said to stay away once our scouting is done. It sounds like it will turn on us, so we may have to abandon it somewhere. Everybody start counting people and make notes of anything you see." Herrior said calmly while scanning the area.

Several moments passed and Skyka said, "It's not the army I'm worried about so much as the man in a black robe walking around with his hands and feet on fire. There is no way we can kill him. We'd have to summon several groups and even then I don't think our tanks could withstand his attacks. But I'd estimate over three hundred well equipped soldiers and who knows how many more are inside. Not to mention the firepower I'm sure everybody has seen down there."

"Sort of the feeling I was getting. Even with Dan's diversion, I don't see any way of dividing their forces. We might just have to flag this area and investigate it later." Herrior said with a lot of hesitation in his voice.

Herrior scanned some more and then turned around and seemed to ponder several different ideas. He pulled out his hearthstone, hesitated, and then put it back in. He shook his head and then ordered his group in half to encircle the base and meet up on the other side.

They landed only to find more men continuously marching back and forth.

"This is just frustrating. The problem I'm having is if Dan activates his distraction, or whatever he is going to do, they are going to come at him. Depending on how fast they move, or if they can teleport, he and Lindel will not stand a chance and they will die for nothing. Branzer drop your toy off here next to the others. I'm sure we could kill some of them, but in the meantime I can see us getting wiped out within seconds." Herrior said.

"Do you want to have a meeting?" Skyka asked. Herrior pondered the idea and slowly shook it off and continued to think.

"No, I'm going to go with what Dan said. Everybody mount up and let's fly out of here." Herrior said summoning his dragon and flying further north as the rest of the party followed him.

Several moments passed when Herrior finally landed, pulled out his hearthstone, and gave Dan the order. He then put his hearthstone away and told his dragon to stick around.

"Begin primary attack." Dan said to the computer. The computer let out a loud hum and then went silent. He watched the display as the tiny dots and symbols became active and showed several different bars underneath them. It displayed how much health the unit had, and how long it had until it had to shut itself down in order to recharge.

Back at the camp, all of the explosive charges instantly went off all at the same time. The surrounding land mines detonated themselves, and all of the dormant machine guns sprang alive and began firing. The aircrafts took control of themselves and took to the air, while the cannons systematically fired at their own designated targets. All of happened in less than a second and hundreds were immediately slaughtered before the soldiers began to take cover. The man walking around turned immediately into a dragon and began to take out the guns, but was severely wounded by the initial explosions. The airplanes circled around him, firing their guns and missiles as fast they could recharge them. Several Colossi inside of the base sprang to life and began focusing their eyes on targets and shooting lasers out of them.

"Somebody activated the defenses!" A general said, but were his last words before an airplane unloaded it's bullets on him.

"Stand and fight you cowards!" The dragon said in a deep voice and continued to attack the defenses.

The cannon balls knocked down an entire section of the base. They all rested for half a minute, reacquired their targets, and began firing again. This time they all focused their fire at the dragon. It had its back turned and didn't know what happened until it began being pelted with explosion after explosion. It howled in pain as it fell to the ground. The dragon put his wing over his face and deflected the rest of the attacks.

"I'll deal with the defenses, the rest of you find out who activated the computer, kill them, and deactivate it." The dragon roared as it turned around, spraying fire on everything and then flying to where the cannons were attempting to reload. He bit at the first one and it exploded in his mouth. He let out a yelp as the rest of the cannon's began to unload on it again.

"Let's move!" Herrior ordered as he drew his weapons and began running towards the dragon. Herrior was watching and calculating how long it took for the dragon to destroy one of the cannons, before it had to repel the attacks. He was positive he would be able to engage it before the last cannon was destroyed.

"Quinely you are healing. Everybody misdirect to me. Veliline when I die, you take over as tank. Everybody summon your tanking pets and after the first misdirect try to have your pets pull as aggro. I want the heals poured on me when I engage. I'll move him away so that the rest of you don't take as much damage, Veliline I expect you to do the same. If Veliline dies, your pets will be the next to tank – begin healing them as much as you can. Resurrect as many people as you can during combat – healers first, tanks next. If your pets die, leave them. I didn't anticipate the dragon to make this move, but I will not pass up the chance to kill it!" Herrior said pounding his hoofs in the sand and running as fast as he could.

"Can I summon my ghouls?" Veliline asked.

"Do whatever you think will help. No restrictions people – hold nothing back! I just pray that Dan does not stop time. We'll lose half of our party, and the dragon will immediately go to engage him – probably as well as anything else powerful enough to withstand his power."

"There are incoming hostiles; shall I redirect the defenses to accommodate?" The computer asked.

"Yes." Dan said pulling his swords out and squatting down to try to see where they were going to attack.

"Less than twenty-five percent of the defenses are responding. It is advised that you leave the area." The computer said as the sounds of aircraft and machine gun fire came closer.

"Is there a self-destruct option?" Dan asked.

"Yes, do you wish to set the timer?" The computer asked.

"Two minutes and then engage the option." Dan said putting his swords away and picked up Lindel.

"At the current rate of decline, the advised time is forty seconds. Do you wish to alter the time?" The computer asked.

"Yes."

"Command confirmed. Count down has begun." The computer responded and began to generate a deep resonating sound from under his feet.

Dan summoned his dragon, flopped Lindel over its back, jumped on the dragon and flew to the south – staying as low to the ground as he could. The defenses never picked him up as his dragon expertly dodged tree after tree.

"How far do we need to go?" His dragon asked.

"I have no idea. Let's just keep flying until we get over the ocean."

"Wha? What's going on?" Lindel asked waking up.

"You and I were assigned to perform a distraction for the rest of the party – you slept through the entire battle, I saved your ass and Herrior doesn't know." Dan said in a bitter tone.

"Oh shit!" Lindel said waking up and nearly falling off the dragon.

"Yeah, you owe me one. We're not out of battle yet, but rest assured I'm going to chew your ass off if we live." Dan said.

"If we live, what's going on?" Lindel asked looking around.

"Just shut up until we are safe." Dan said sounding upset. Lindel did just that and repositioned her on the dragon as it continued to fly as fast as it could.

"I can make better time if I get out of the forest." Dan's dragon said.

"I'm not sure if it's safe yet my friend. I think we only have about ten seconds left until it explodes anyways. Just keep flying as fast as you can." Dan said in desperation as he mentally started counting down the time.

Herrior began to yell at the dragon as it turned to see him. The last cannon unloaded on the dragon as it turned to see where the voice was coming from.

"Are you here to serve?" The dragon asked turning to destroy the last cannon.

"We are the ones that destroyed your soldiers and made your own defenses turn on you!" Herrior yelled.

"You meddle-some little insects did that?" The dragon asked sounding confused. "I do not believe you" as it turned to fly away. Herrior threw his weapon at it and hit his leg as he began to take flight. The dragon casually turned around and looked at him.

"You can't be serious." The dragon said as Herrior charged it and slammed his shield into the dragon's foot. Herrior began taunting it and hitting it as fast as he could, while the healers began dumping heal spell after heal spell on Herrior. The rest of the party engaged at the same time and the dragon let out a cry of horror as they all scattered in fear.

The warriors, warlocks, and Veliline quickly regained control of themselves and continued to engage the dragon. Herrior strengthened himself and put his shield in front of him to attempt to deflect any attacks. The dragon conjured a spell and spikes appeared out of the ground, impaling many of the party. Herrior pushed himself off from the spike and continued to engage him. Mohania quickly created a soulstone and a healthstone and gave them to Herrior. The healthstone was quickly absorbed into his body, while the other one would prevent him from dying. Mohania then continued to create healthstones and tossed them out to everybody that wasn't feared while his voidwalker continued to run around in fear. It made little difference though, Mohania saw Herrior drop as Veliline began to engage the dragon. Herrior brought himself back to life with the soulstone and continued to fight the dragon.

Everybody else regained control of their bodies; Skyka and Icis both dropped lightwells and began pouring out healing spell after healing spell in frantic desperation. Quinely tried to keep up, but wasn't as good as healing as the priests.

"Fear ward yourselves! We can't go without healing again. I've already died once and Veliline isn't looking to good." Herrior said and taunted the dragon off from her. They continued to take turns taunting the dragon, while everybody else dealt as much damage as they could. The dragon continued his heavy attacks, causing spikes to jab up from the ground, deflecting attack after attack, and letting out bellowing howls – causing the group to run away in fear until they regained control of their minds. A minute into the fight, Herrior, Quinely, and Bernett were lying dead on the ground.

The explosion was enormous as Dan and Lindel braced themselves on Dan's dragon. The fireball erupted into the air and the shockwave blew past them. The dragon steadied itself and flew above the tree line to give it more room in case it lost control. The dragon raced forward, landed on the edge of the beach, and turned around to see the fireball begin to dissipate.

"Our job is done; hopefully Herrior is able to do his." Dan said.

"I am going to be in so much trouble…I am so sorry…" Lindel started to so when Dan turned around and backhanded her on the sand.

"This stays between you and me, whatever happens right now is not to be spoken of again! You owe me a favor, and I'm cashing it in! You could have killed of both us and everybody else because your power was drained." Dan threw his swords away from him, got down on the ground, grabbed Lindel's hair, and slammed her head on the sand. "What is your problem?" He yelled.

"Stop it! I screwed up!" Lindel yelled trying to push Dan away.

"Yeah, it seems like you and Branzer are screwing up a lot lately! This is not you! I've known you for awhile and this is not the Lindel I know – get your shit together and tell me what is going on!" Dan yelled.

"Nothing!" Lindel yelled back grabbing Dan's arm but could not release his grip.

"Nothing my ass! You start using your powers on me and I will on you! Why hasn't Herrior thrown you out of our group yet? Why hasn't he thrown Branzer out? I fully anticipated myself of Crystal leaving and I'm absolutely shocked he hasn't done that yet. I think he is going to get rid of Julie as well, but why hasn't he tossed your sorry ass out?" Dan continued to yell.

"I don't know!" Lindel yelled back in Dan's face.

"Bullshit you don't! What did the King tell you? You can't marry Branzer – fine. You are a fighter and you and Branzer have been making way to many mistakes ever since then. There is nothing going on between you two physical, but you both still love each other. What is your heart telling you?" Dan asked letting go of her.

"It's telling me to kick your ass right now!" Lindel yelled back.

"What else? You love each other and you aren't going to marry – why not?" Dan yelled back.

"Because I'm a banshee! Because I'm a fucking banshee!" Lindel screamed back.

"And I'm a time stopper, but deal." Dan said.

"I have been tortured, I have been raped, my parents were murdered, I was killed!" Lindel yelled.

"I killed my father, I've put my life before everybody else's, my heart is torturing me as well – but how long ago was that? Huh Lindel? How long are you going to hold onto the past?"

"You don't understand!"

"My mother betrayed me! I saw her beaten by the alliance! I've killed many, I was taken out of my world and put my life on the line every since then. Every day I know I will probably not live to see the sunset, but it is not my time. I didn't ask for my power and you didn't either. Quit screwing around and learn to embrace it. It is not a curse, it is a gift!" Dan yelled at her.

"It is not a gift! I see people getting married all of the time and having babies. I will never be able to have babies unless I marry a male banshee!" Lindel screamed back.

"And what is your heart telling you?"

"I want to marry Branzer!"

"So do it!" Dan replied.

"I can't, look at me! Look at me!" Lindel yelled.

"I can see you just fine. I see a woman whose self-pity and dreams have changed because you fell in love. Sure you have been through a lot, but what are the happiest moments you remember?"

"Being in Herrior's party…and then seeing Branzer…" Lindel said softly turning away.

"And you are going to give up both, regret it for the rest of your life and go from the beautiful, carefree, loving Lindel that we all know to a banshee that mine as well dig her own grave and lay in it until you die." Dan said.

"I should kill you where you stand!" Lindel said turning around extremely upset.

"So is that your plan? Keep thinking 'I wish I did this' or 'I wished things were different' – is that how you are going to live your life? Constantly hoping things get better while what you want keeps getting further and further out of reach because of what you are doing to yourself. Tell me, what is our group doing right now?" Dan asked.

"They are fighting a dragon…shit half of them are dead!" Lindel yelled and began to open a portal. Dan pushed her away and onto the ground.

"Think about this Lindel! Half of them are dead, what good are we going to do running into battle and dying beside them! I'm not a tank, and your power is probably still too low to do any good. We would probably last about ten seconds before our corpses are added to the pile. The question is why didn't you sense this before?" Dan asked.

"Because!" Lindel yelled back. She motioned to say something else, but nothing came out.

"Because you are not a fighter, you are not thinking about what is best for the group! If they are dead, their bodies could end up rotting before a group is sent to check up on us. When their battle is over, we stand a better chance of waiting for the thing that killed them to leave and then trying to resurrect them then. Did that thought occur to you, or where you just thinking about your dead husband?" Dan said.

"I hate you!" Lindel yelled.

"Well I love you, and this is what you need. You know I am right. Let me guess my wife is dead also. Fine so be it. There is time for war and there is time for peace. She's knows the responsibilities each of us holds. She had to learn it the hard way – I learned it quicker. If we go there right now, the only chance we have is if I stop time. If whatever they are fighting is capable of killing them then are probably immune to my power. Even if I scaled it all the way up, our group is packing much more firepower than I am. I could probably whack away at it for years and not kill it. I would be captured, and they would find out my secrets and potentially kill everybody in Tranquil. These are the thoughts of a fighter! Not living in the past, not crying about what you don't have, not mopping about not having children, not feeling sorry for yourself, not being pissed at everybody. Am I way off basis here?" Dan yelled and then gasped for breath.

Lindel sighed and looked away from him.

"Don't do that turn, and face me. You want to learn how to face your problems – then face me now." Dan said.

"Fine! Is this what you want? I have to go back to Tranquil, I am going to leave Herrior's party and I am going to spend the rest of my days being a banshee." Lindel said looking at him.

"You're not going anywhere and your heart knows it. Your heart is telling you to go avenge your husband – because in my mind you are married already. Your heart is telling you that you love Branzer more than you love children. What happened to Bernett and Samatha? Their child was taken away from them so that they could do their duties – did you realize the same thing would happen to you? Hell, did you see Bernett's face when he saw his son? He didn't recognize him and he felt like shit! Look at Mohania and Kendall! They've been through the same shit, can't have kids, and adopted Jeffery as their own. They made it work! What isn't working right now is you!" Dan yelled back.

Lindel began to shed tears. Dan ignored them and said, "What do you think would happen if Crystal and I produced a child? With my powers and hers combined into a child, do you really think we would be able to keep him? I have no doubt that we could spend time with him or her, but it would be under so close observation that if anything went wrong it would have to be killed – did you ever think of that? Our child that we make could potentially destroy everything and not even realize what it did. Herrior and Skyka can't have kids – they would kill to have one, but it's not in the cards. You heart is telling you what you need to do, but you have so many expectations of what you want that you are willing to let everything go…everything…because things are not working out the way you want them to. Who really has control over your life? Huh? Do you really think that you can lead your own path? Do you really think that you can have everything you ever wanted in life and live happily ever after? That is not in your future. That is not why you are here, that is not why I am here. We are here to defend ourselves and others against the dangers that arise…and you aren't doing that!"

Lindel stared at Dan with the tears still flowing. "I'm going to open a portal, and we are going to engage whatever it is attacking them. When we kill it, then I will ask to wed Branzer again. That is what my heart is telling me right now. The group is frantically resurrecting each other, and fighting for their lives. I need to do my job."

Dan held his hands out as his swords flew into his hands. "Then let's go."

"If I don't live, tell everybody I am sorry. I'm sorry for what I said to you as well Dan." Lindel said.

"I forgot about it already. Love forgives and I love you." Dan said.

"I love you too." Lindel said with a smile and began to open a portal.

"Are you ready for this?" Lindel asked.

"Yup. You have permission to kick my ass in the future if I need it." Dan replied.

"I won't need to." Lindel smiled at him as she wrapped her arm around his and walked through the portal.

"You idiots, what are you doing! Get out of here!" Skyka yelled when she saw them arrive.

"I'll take it from here." Dan said and walked up to the dragon that was currently attacking Pokey.

"I'm the one you want. I destroyed all of your defenses, I am the one that caused you so much pain, and I will be the one pissing down your throat when you are dead." Dan yelled out.

"You did this?" The dragon asked breaking off his attacks.

"I also have the coffer. This was merely a diversion. You want the coffer back; you'll have to kill me." Dan said.

"Gladly." The dragon said walking over to Dan and thrusting his mouth down, swallowing Dan whole.

"For crying out loud! Lindel get out of here, and try to summon reinforcements!" Skyka yelled.

"She doesn't need to. I'll kill him." Dan said walking out from behind the dragon.

"How did you?" Skyka and the dragon both said at the same time. The dragon instantly turned around and began to fiercely bite at him. Every time it thought it had Dan, he would reappear somewhere else.

"You annoy me little insect! Give me the coffer!" The dragon yelled.

"No." Dan said, disappearing and reappearing several different times until he was over one hundred yards away from him.

"Give me the coffer!" The dragon yelled charging after him. Lindel began to fly into all of her dead party's bodies and bringing them back to life. After several minutes, Herrior's entire party was back to life.

"What is he doing?" Herrior demanded.

"Saving your asses. He will draw the dragon away, while I send all of you back to Tranquil and bring in fresh fighters." Lindel said.

"Is there ever a time when he isn't putting his ass on the line for us?" Herrior asked sounding annoyed as Lindel opened a portal.

They all walked through it, expect for Lindel. She poked her head through and said, "Forgive me Herrior, but we have a plan for killing it and don't want to watch the rest of you die." She then pulled her back and closed the portal. Herrior looked at her surprised, unsure of what he should do next.

"I guess we wait." Herrior said.

"Welcome back Lindel, are you ready to kill this thing?" Dan asked continuing to move back and forth effortlessly dodging the dragons attacks.

"Kill me? I've killed hundreds of your armies, and now two of you are going to kill me?" The dragon asked. Lindel flew over to the dragon and entered its eyes.

"What do you think you are doing?" The dragon asked curiously. Seconds later, it let out a loud howl in pain and Dan began to taunt it. The dragon slammed his mouth down where Dan was, only this time Dan jumped up inside of his mouth. He instantly torn through several of his flame sacs, and drove his sword into the back of the dragon's mouth. The dragon howled in pain some more as Dan finished destroying the flame sac's, and then enraged himself and he began to climb up the back of the dragon's throat. Lindel melted a hole through the top of its mouth and pulled Dan up. The two of them then ran in opposite directions attacking the dragon's enormous brain. The dragon shook violently, and tried to reach in his mouth to pull them out but the trap had sprung and he knew his time to die was only moments away.

Lindel summoned her skeleton army, turned into her evil banshee form and began to suck away the life of the dragon, while blasting it with black shadow bolts as she flew around it. Dan sliced off large chunks quickly and efficiently. The dragon began to have convulsions, fell to the ground and shook violently for several seconds until it stopped – permanently. Lindel melted a hole out of the top of the dragon's head and eventually pulled Dan out.

"I know where the coffer is." Lindel said beginning to open a portal.

"Good, let's get this thing." Dan said following behind Lindel.

They arrived in a large room filled with many large Colossi that had fallen apart. Many dead soldiers were littered around the room.

"That must be it." Dan said climbing a set of stairs to a large silver box. Lindel opened a portal at the bottom, and Dan gave it a push. He jumped on top of it and rode it down the stairs and through the portal as if it was winter and he was sledding.

He flew into Tranquil yelling "Yee-ha!" as Lindel followed behind. They flew into Herrior, sent Dan sprawling into his chest, and toppled over to the side. Lindel stopped sooner and avoided the collision.

"What do you give that? It has to be at least a ten out of ten! The landing was a bit rough thought." Dan said standing up with his face broken to pieces, but quickly being mended by the magic of the city.

"What happened?" Herrior asked.

"After we got done fighting off our enemies, we came to help you. We saw that doing basic attacks against it were doing no good, so Lindel and I had a talk…maybe it wasn't in that order…but with every enemy there is a weakness. The dragon's scales and wings were too strong to be penetrated, so I let him eat me. Working together, we got inside the dragon's brain and sliced it down. Well before then Lindel found out where the coffer was before it died, so we portalled to there, I pushed the coffer down, and then I was making great speed…until I ran into you. They call that sledding where I come from." Dan said.

Herrior looked at him weird.

"I also tested out a new idea I had called 'time-flipping'. It seemed to work. It's based on the idea that you cannot be in two places at one – which is what we were taught on Earth. Technically, it's true…with the exception that it isn't. It's not time stopping, it's not decelerating time, it's simply moving it…maybe I'm not explaining it correctly…" Dan said.

"I need a drink…" Herrior said walking over to Strings and took a long swig of his wineskin.

"Herrior I want to marry Branzer." Lindel said. Herrior immediately gagged on his wine and began coughing.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll go speak to the King about this matter." Lindel said with a smile.

"You…can't…" Herrior got out before he finally vomited the rest up. The vomit was instantly cleaned up by the magic in the city and Herrior said again, "You can't marry him."

"I am a banshee, he is a human. I would love to have kids, but will never have them. The solution I have is to adapt all of the children in Tranquil. I'm following my heart and it is leading me to him. I am a Chronomancer and a banshee; he is an ambassador and a hunter. He is not following his heart and making mistakes – the same as I. We were meant to be together and everybody, including you, knows that. We fight from our hearts and we fight with love. It separated us, and cost critical mistakes on both of our parts. We will wed, and then if you so desire I will leave your group – but that is not in your heart. You have spent many hours trying to figure out a solution, and you love me as if I was your child. My past is behind me, and my future is ahead of me and it involves wedding Branzer. You need not worry about me; I do not need to be sheltered anymore. I will fight and die beside him, or will kill him if I need to. If we are wedded and are separated, then our hearts will be fulfilled and we will fight with more passion. You know this is true." Lindel said.

"I have been waiting to hear those words." The King said walking up behind Herrior. "Yes Dan, that was excellent sledding. The dismount does need work." The Kind said smiling at him.

"Well, if it is ok with Herrior than we have preparations that need to be made." The King said.

"Our mission isn't over…my King…" Branzer said speaking up. "We need to go back to the Ramkaken people and deliver them the gold and supplies. We said we would go back and have a feast with them. It would hurt relations with them if we didn't."

The King started to laugh. "A true ambassador. Go then and finish your mission. Befriend the people and tell them to expect the arrival of our people to help rebuild their lives. I'll have our engineers investigate this 'sled' as Dan so eloquently put it and try to find the reason why Deathwing wants it so badly. In addition, as many of you are thinking, the trolls have been subdued. We didn't know what to expect so we sent five groups to counter the threat. It wasn't an artifact, it was a group of trolls that made a pact with demons. They were granted powers in exchange for their souls and hundreds more. They made a blood pact on a stone – nothing more." The King finished and began to walk away. He talked to the local townsfolk along the way.

Herrior, looking even more surprised, turned to Lindel.

"Expecting me to scream in delight and act like a gitty child? Maybe later, but as of now we have to complete our mission. Shall I open a portal?" Lindel asked with a smile.

"Strings do you have more wine?" Herrior asked.

"Ha - does Mohania like to torture people? Did you forget who you are talking to?" Strings replied with a smile.

"I help people, I don't torture them…just like I helped figure out what was making all of that noise coming from the Neferset." Mohania said with a smile.

"Open the portal…" Herrior said.

Herrior's group arrived and saw the Ramkaken in deep mourning.

"What's wrong?" Herrior asked and instinctively armored himself and began to take in his surroundings.

"Just taking a friend's advice." Nadun said walking over to Herrior. "Steady your weapons my friends. The realization of our freedom and the lost of our loved ones finally over took us." Herrior slowly put his weapons away as he nodded.

"Grieving is a natural process. Fighting with these emotions can overwhelm the mind and may lead to irrational decisions at critical moments in battle. We will grieve with your people as well." Herrior said and nodded towards Nadun.

"You need not do that my friend. We promised a feast and we haven't fulfilled our obligation. I'll order that it be prepared immediately." Nadun said.

"We aren't hungry, but I appreciate the offer. Can we go somewhere private and talk?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly. Let's go into my chambers." Nadun said and led Herrior's party through the crowd as many Ramkaken rushed up to them and hugged them. Herrior stopped to ensure that everybody had a chance to pay their thanks and to make sure his party followed.

Hours later, Nadun led them into his chambers and closed the doors behind them.

"These are my generals. We're drawing up a set of rules, duties, and jobs that need to be established to begin our kingdom. I assure you that we will not enslave any of our people to their jobs. The problem that we are having is currency. For awhile we'll have to convince our people to work for free, which brings me back to my previous sentence – I don't know how we are going to do that without enslaving them. Our gold reserves have been drained, as expected." Nadun said sounding depressed.

"Still your mind and listen to your heart Nadun. I know many tribes and groups of people that work together for no gold. You may establish commerce eventually, but if you are honest with your people and tell them that jobs need to be done in order to reestablish your city, I bet you will have many volunteers stepping forward to help. You may need gold someday to open up exchange with many of our allies, however not all of them accept gold. Some of them accept labor, food, and even water in exchange for services that you need. We do have a gift that we wish to give to you, but first we need to make you and your generals aware of what we did. May I speak of this now, or shall we wait?" Herrior asked.

"A gift? You free us and then want to give us a gift?" Nadun asked confused.

"We collected many things during our battles and have no need for them, however you and your people may. That is what we do. I have no doubt that when our ambassadors and engineers come to fortify your city and to learn your ways and customs that you will be able to repay us with knowledge – possibly even knowledge of how to work with metals and the plants of this area. There were many things we encounter that, had we known about ahead of time, would not have killed us. We need to know how those cages were constructed and why our powers were ineffective against them, plus many other things. As a leader yourself, you know that going into battle you need to know as much as you can against your foe. We learned much, but we need to know more – also if any of your people come across any more information about Deathwing or any of our foes, we would like to know about it as well. Information is more valuable than gold." Herrior said.

"Yes I agree, however I do not feel that this is an even exchange." Nadun said.

"Do you believe your people will befriend our people in the future?" Herrior asked.

"Absolutely, however…"

"And do you believe that your people will teach us about your lands, and help our allies as well?" Herrior asked interrupting him.

"Yes, but…"

"Then that is all we ask. Building friendships and gathering information is a fair exchange and I do not wish to talk anymore about this subject because I consider it an even exchange." Herrior said.

Nadun looked perplexed and turned to his generals for help.

"We will not enslave you in the future, nor do we have any desire to take anything from you if that is what you are thinking." Herrior said.

"If I may speak, such an offer that you are proposing has never been presented in our history and it makes us nervous." A general said.

"That is understandable. But let time answer the question for you and help to seal the friendship between our peoples. Now if this matter is closed, let's discuss what just happened and our advice to you." Herrior said.

Nadun nodded and held his hand out for Herrior to walk over to his generals.

"Your land, however big it is I am not sure, but in the immediate area has been neutralized to the north, south, and west. We have not explored the east, but we did see several of your grave sites, I think they are?" Herrior asked.

"That is where we have buried our leaders when they die." Nadun said. "We build giant monuments and underground caverns to praise their achievements."

"Alright, so there may still be threats there. If you want we can scout the lands for you, but I don't believe you want us going on your sacred grounds. I would suggest sending out attack parties to ensure that they are still safe and having them report in frequently. To the north, many bandits fell to our blades. I feel if they know something in these lands is of value then there might be more of them. I have a feeling our enemies may know this information as well, the alliance. They are a foe not to be trifled with. I will spread word through our city that if anybody comes to your city they are to announce that they are friends of Herrior. If you encounter people and ask if they know me and do not, I would suggest immediately leaving the area and contacting us. I will leave what we call a 'hearthstone' that can only be used by you to contact one of our ambassadors. If we have not heard from you or your people in a time period of thirty days, one of our people will come and investigate. They might make their presence known they may not. This is what we do with all of our friends." Herrior said and began to feel around for an extra hearthstone. After not finding one, he asked if anybody among the group had one. Nobody had an extra.

"Very well, one of our ambassadors will bring one. The threats to the south of your city have been neutralized, including the Neferset's city. We killed many of them, but some still might have gotten away. I would not consider them a threat, my guess is that they will leave this land, or surrender themselves to you. You may do as you wish with the city. West of the city was a goblin establishment we also destroyed. They were looking for something valuable for a long time, but we were not able to figure out what. We destroyed their ships and most of the buildings. I do not believe anybody there is alive, so you should be able to take whatever supplies you want from there without much trouble. Some ships may still arrive, as I said we were not able to determine what they were after. However, our attack on them lead us to the item we were after. North of that area was an enormous army that could have leveled your city in mere seconds. We did a series of attacks on them, which lead to many of their deaths. We obtained the item we were looking for and secured it within our city. Their leader is dead, but there might still be more of them there. We did take out all of their defenses and halted the entire operation. Given enough time, the remaining fighters will probably end up dying off. I'm going to request that another group of our fighters investigate the area to ensure they pose no threat to you or us. That was our mission and we completed it. Initially our mission was to find out what happened to one of our groups, but then we stumbled across information against a foe that has killed thousands of our people, which is why we joined forces with you. After our attack on the Neferset city, Tess and her party were reassigned to another battle and had to leave. What we are going to do now is transport our parting gift to you, and I believe putting it in this room would be sufficient – or do you have another room that would be safer? According to you, gold is valuable and just casually dumping it on the streets would create havoc within your city walls. There is also armor and weapons as well as many other things we collected that you may have use for, if not then do as you wish with it." Herrior said ending his report.

Nadun continued to look at him, trying to take everything in. "This foe, or Deathwing as you named him, is he part of the alliance we should avoid?

"We don't believe so. We have many enemies, but those two in particular we continue to fight constantly against." Herrior said and then continued with a slight pause, "Some of our enemies may approach you to do commerce with you. If they do not attack you, then do as you wish with them. We are not here to convince you that all of our enemies are your enemies."

"And if we do, we can pass on information to you about their whereabouts and motives." Nadun said.

Herrior smiled and shook his head. "No, we are not going to launch attacks against them unless we have reason to do so. Treat everybody you meet with respect. Ask them if they are friends of Herrior. If they do not know, then simply talk to him. Your people are wise and will know after a couple of seconds what their intentions are. The alliance will brutally attack and steal anything you have; you will be able to determine easily who they are. Now then, shall we begin bringing in the items we collected for you?"

"I still do not feel comfortable receiving gifts for what you have done to me and my people." Nadun said.

"Your fighters need armor and weapons, your traders need money to grow their businesses, and the supplies will be needed to help fortify your city and houses. However, I will not push this matter anymore. The items are stacked in a pile in the Neferset city if you wish to get them yourselves. If we are done here, then we shall leave you and your people to begin rebuilding their new lives." Herrior said and motioned to leave.

"How much…I mean how many items are there?" Nadun asked.

"It would probably take your people many days to move everything back into your city, and in my opinion they would have to be guarded. Not against theft, but potential bandits or other foes that are in your land still." Herrior said.

"We have our gold chambers in a room below us. Could you move the items there?" Nadun asked.

"Show us the way." Herrior said smiling at him.

Nadun and his generals lead Herrior's group out of the large room and down a narrow corridor into another large room that had obviously been ransacked.

"They left some of our paintings and pottery, everything else though is gone." Nadun said.

"Lindel open a portal against that wall and connect it to where we left the pile. Strings I need you to go through and blow everything back in through." Herrior said and both of them began walking forward.

"Let's get all of the other stuff out of the way temporarily so that it isn't destroyed." Herrior said to the rest of his party.

"Nadun, I would like to take a sample of each piece of armor and different weapon we found to let our engineers look at it. That way we can learn from it and duplicate it if possible." Herrior asked gently moving several paintings.

"Of course, do you wish half of the gold as well?" Nadun asked back.

"It wouldn't benefit us any; however I have spoken my opinion about it and if you wish for us to have some then we will take what you want to give us as a gift. We are more interested in building better armor and weapons." Herrior said as the last pieces were moved safely out of the way as Lindel created a portal. Both of them walked through as Herrior suggested that everybody move back onto the stairs.

"Just the two of them are going to move everything?" Nadun asked.

"Actually just the one." Herrior said as he heard Strings begin to play his song. A soft gust of wind began to blow into the chambers, which gradually began stronger. Then suddenly, as if a bomb went off, the entire room was blasted with all of the gold, gems, armor and everything else that was collected. It was packed so full that it started going up the stairs and Herrior quickly began to move everybody back up the stairs. It kept flying out as everybody continued running out of the door that it filled the floor of their conference room.

Nadun and his generals looked amazed as another portal formed next to Herrior and Lindel and Strings walked out.

"That's not all of it, but the portal couldn't withstand so much going through it so I had to close it down. Where should we put the rest of it?" Lindel asked.

Nadun, still in shock, looked over at Herrior and didn't know what to say.

"I would say go ahead and send it to our city." Herrior said smiling back at him.

"Will do." Lindel said opening another portal.

"This…I…uh…" Nadun said continuing to stumble over his words.

"It's not all gold as you can see. It will take you awhile to sort everything out, but as I said what you don't use you can offer in trade with other people or do as you wish with it. After Lindel returns from completing her job, we will leave you to your business." Herrior said.

Nadun's generals walked over and began to examine the items. "Nadun, many of these items were your father's. This is the necklace your mother made for you when you were born." One of them said holding up an intertwined golden necklace made of gold and emeralds.

"She did a fine job making it." Herrior said as the rest of the generals continued talking as they sorted out what was in the room.

"Herrior this is too much. What are we supposed to do with it all? We're wealthy beyond our wildest dreams, but it makes us an enormous target if word gets out." Nadun said.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and one of the King's collectors appeared.

"We need some help. Our new friends need to sort out what is theirs and appear that they don't want the rest. Can you send a group of our people to help them sort out what they need and don't need?" Herrior asked.

"Will do. Lindel just closed her portal to our treasury. I'll send a dozen of our people to come assist you, and ask for more help sorting what we just received. We're still sorting out what was taking from the attack on the trolls." A blood elf said.

"Can you also ask for an ambassador to come with an extra hearthstone as well along with some of our engineers?" Herrior asked.

"I will do that. Anything else?" The blood elf asked.

"Nope, thank you." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior turned to Nadun and said, "If you identify anything of personal value or remember something sentimental to you or your people, tell my people and they will try to find it."

Several portals opened up in the room. Lindel and Strings came through one, an ambassador through another, and five goblin engineers with their energized geodes floating above them, and twelve other people to help sort out the gold.

"Acquire some gold did we?" The ambassador said smiling at Nadun. "My name is Din, and I will be your ambassador."

"She is a troll; the goblins over here with the floating rocks are our engineers. I would suggest overseeing their work and having your generals and our people help sort things out here. As for us though, I would like to get back to our city and have some time to rest. Take care my friend." Herrior said.

"I can't possibly thank you enough…" Nadun started.

"No need to be tanking us, this is what we do. Come let us be talking for awhile." Din said.

"Herrior, can we go back to our station so I can announce that Lindel and I are getting married?" Branzer asked.

Herrior sighed and shook his head, "Fine, let's go there first."

"If there is going to be ridiculous screaming and hugging, can I drive a wooden spike through my head instead?" Mohania asked.

"Oh Mohania, you are just as excited as I am and you know it." Lindel said running over to him and hugging him.

"We'll see what we can find, go ahead and open the portal." Herrior said.

Herrior's party arrived inside of their room in the station and instantly they sensed something was wrong. The room was filled with abandoned equipment, computers, chairs, and cubicles.

"Why is it everywhere we go, something weird happens?" Julie asked.

"Welcome to the club. Keep your disguises on, act casual – but be ready to act on a moment's notice. Lindel, Mohania, Quinely – what are you sensing?" Herrior asked.

"Everybody is gone. There is nobody here as far as my senses allow me to feel."

"There are no voices on the base. An occasional thought as a person drives by." Lindel said.

"Impossible, what happened? The base would never be abandoned." Branzer said.

"No reason why everybody would leave? Some custom of yours possibly?" Herrior asked.

"No – absolutely not, and this is our room. Everybody knows that. Look at all of this junk, none of it belongs in here." Branzer said frustrated.

"Any demonic residue?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I can sense." Mohania said as he joined everybody else looking around the room.

"Great, I get my first real job and everybody gets fired." Dan said.

"Herrior…I think this is a message for you." Skyka said as she looked at the wall where they portalled into the room. A message was carved into the wall.

"Harryor – call 555-728-9001." Herrior read aloud. "I don't understand it."

Branzer ran over to the phone on the wall and lifted it only to hear dead silence through the receiver. "Phones are dead, but the lights are still on? I'll write the number down and we'll call whoever it is trying to contact us."

Herrior walked over to the door that led to the rest of the station and tried to open it, only to find out that it was locked from the outside. Herrior punched at the door's locking mechanisms until the door gave way and swung open. "Lindel I need a light out here."

Herrior's party walked through the darkened hallway as they saw everything completely shut off. All of the remaining computers and furniture were covered with plastic.

"Did we portal into the future maybe?" Julie asked.

"You can't, it's against the rules." Dan said before Lindel was able to answer.

"Normally I would ask how you know that, but I'll pass this time. Let's get out of here." Herrior charged towards the outside door, knocking it completely off its hinges and sending the steel reinforced door flying several yards away.

"Anybody sensing anything yet?" Herrior asked again, when they were out the station. Everybody gave the same response.

"We need to get a phone." Branzer said as he scanned the abandoned yard. Not a single car was in the parking lot – even the construction equipment was gone.

"Where do we find one of those?" Herrior asked.

"People usually carry them, and they are in any house. Look at this place, it looks awful." Bernett said turning around and taking in the entire site. "The neighborhood looks like it's been a rioted."

"I don't see any signs of any alliance. Dan do you see any ripples in time?" Herrior asked leading them off the grounds.

"No, that was the first thing I was looking for." Dan quickly replied.

"There's a man talking on a cell phone. Let's go ask if we can borrow it." Branzer said starting to run towards him. Branzer caught up with him, grabbed the cell phone from his hand, and shoved him to the ground.

"Hey, that's mine!" The man said. Branzer pulled out his gun and the man watched it quickly change itself into the biggest handgun he had ever seen. The man scrambled to his feet and began to run away. Branzer put his gun away as he began to type the phone number.

"Hello?" A male voice came over the phone. Branzer quickly realized who it was.

"I? What happened to the station?" Branzer asked.

I started to laugh a little and then spoke with relief in his voice, "I've been wanting to hear those words. Our governor made budget cuts, and our Lieutenant was accused of keeping false books."

"Butt shit he was!" Branzer said back.

"Everybody knows he kept accurate records. We had two independent companies come in and review our paperwork. I assure you everything was on the up and up." I said back.

"If it wasn't, we would have relieved him of his duty." Branzer said.

"Well there is that, but he was a good Lieutenant. Look basically what happened is he is locked up, everybody was fired, and our prisoners were all released." I explained.

"Say what?" Branzer said back astounded.

"There was nowhere for them to go. Even our Chief is under investigation and has been under house arrest. They are trying to balance our state's budget. Half of us are unemployed, and the rest of us are begging for jobs at burger flipping joints." I continued.

"Alliance involvement?" Branzer asked.

"No. That's the first thing we thought of and setup our own investigations. Nobody matched the criteria. Our country is in a recession and they needed to make cuts. Listen, we all made a pact that if you contacted me I would make some phone calls. Everybody wants desperately to speak with you guys. Can we meet somewhere?" I asked.

"When and where?" Branzer asked.

"Remember the factory that used to produce clothing on 3rd street?" I asked.

"We'll meet you there." Branzer replied quickly.

"There might be drifters in there…"

"Not when we get there - there won't be." Branzer said and hung up. He threw the phone on the ground and crushed it under his foot.

"We have a meeting. They completely shut down everything, let the criminals loose, and imprisoned our Lieutenant and Chief." Branzer said.

"I know your Lieutenant; he would not do anything to deserve imprisonment." Herrior said back with a hit of anger in his voice.

"Same thing we all said. Our governor decided to make budget cut backs, dropped this station entirely, and fired all of our officers."

"Show me where this governor lives…" Herrior said making his intentions clear in his voice.

"Right and I'll take it from there." Mohania said in response to what Herrior said.

"We are going to get the whole story in an abandoned factory. It's a couple of miles from here." Branzer said as he began to walk in the direction.

"Your world still pisses me off." Herrior said following behind him.

"Yeah…" Branzer said not knowing what else to say.

They arrived at the factory an hour later to find Officer I on his cell phone rapidly calling a list of people he had, saying "They are here, meet us in the playground" and then hung up and dialed another number. I acknowledge their arrival but asked if they could wait a couple more minutes.

"Spread out, secure this area. Anybody that doesn't belong here, make them leave." Herrior said. His party immediately spread out.

"Our officers are in the room behind you, please don't kill them." I said.

"Scan them for signs of being alliance. Keep your senses on heightened alert." Herrior said.

Ten minutes later I finished his phone calls and sat down in a chair behind him emotionally drained.

"We have about three hundred people en route right now." I said.

"Why so many? What is going on?" Herrior asked sternly.

"Our lives are over and in jeopardy. We've made plea after plea to join you. You name it and we'll do it. The people we've arrested are strategically setting out and killing our families in retaliation. We aren't safe." I said.

"We don't protect that which isn't ours." Herrior said.

"They are killing us, our homes are being repossessed, and our families are desperate. My house alone we have four different families living with us. We'll work – doing anything. Name it and we'll do it. We just want to raise our families and not watch our officer's randomly slaughtered in the middle of the night." I said in desperation.

"We can relocate you." Herrior said.

"Some may want that option, but the rest of us will fight for you." I responded.

Herrior sighed and pondered the idea. He then turned to Officer I and said, "Do you swear that you are telling me the truth, from one fighter to another?"

"Absolutely."

"You do realize if you come with us, each day could be your last." Herrior said.

"Not any different from what we have been doing. That we can live with, but watching our children starve and falling ill is something that we can't live with. We don't have the money to provide for our families, and you have seen us in combat – we will not falter." I said.

"Do you speak for everybody?" Herrior asked.

"I believe I do." I said.

"Not the answer I wanted." Herrior said.

"I know the majority are just like me. If I have to farm fields, or clean up sheep shit for the rest of my days to provide for my family then so be it. I don't know where you guys go, but we are trained to fight and to kill if need be. You give the command and we will do it." I pleaded.

"I cannot accept any more into my group. Justice needs to be fulfilled in this world and we will see to that, however the damage has been done. We have several other contacts in this world; I'll consider those options first. I am not comfortable taking all of you into our city and I will not allow that." Herrior said.

"I have the list of criminals that were released, and the address of the governor and her schedule. Give the word and we'll take care of them." I responded back.

"It is not for you to do. Your attacks may lead to your deaths and are trained in assassination." Herrior said.

"So be it, we'll die in the process." I said immediately back.

Herrior heard what he wanted to hear. He let out a sigh and knelt down beside him as he said, "Suddenly moving three hundred people is going to be extremely noticeable. If they move, they cannot come back. Questions will be asked and suspicions will arise. You have to look at this from a leadership role. I can move entire cities, but it will be noticed. We have moved entire islands before and entire groups of people, but this is a large city. Suddenly moving large amounts of people is complicated."

"Got that figured out. We have this place wired with explosives. Everybody knows that each family is coming here. If you decide to take you with us, we'll blow this place up. It'll look like we all died in the fire." I said.

"And when they find no bodies?" Herrior asked.

"It will be a mystery, but who is going to investigate it? We were the best of the best. We solved cases within twenty-four hours and rounded up everybody involved. Nowadays if somebody murders somebody else, chances are they will never be apprehended and the crime will go unsolved. This explosion will be enormous and the collateral damage will be the biggest concern. We've tied it in with the gas lines underground and it'll shut down probably everything within a mile radius." I said.

"Interesting" Herrior said giving him a smile.

"We also considered stock piling weapons, but thought it was pointless to do so."

"It is your weapons and armor is useless." Herrior replied.

"So what do we have to do? Sell all of our worldly possessions, leave all of our lives behind us, drink poison, and jump on a near-by comet?" I asked with a smile.

"Vague attempt at humor?" Herrior asked.

"Sorry, but what are the requirements?" I asked.

"When we took your officers, they brought everything with them – eventually they sold everything on their own and gave the money to somebody that needed it. It was their option. You and your officers will be presented the same options. Drinking poison on purpose seems ridiculous, and I'm not sure what a comet is. Dedication, loyalty, love, and willingness to lay down your life to another is what we look for. Other than that, what you decide to bring is entirely up to you." Herrior said.

"Done," several officers said walking out as they overheard the conversations. More started pouring in through the entrance as Herrior's group gathered and reported that the area was secure.

"Herrior, they all have gone through training and have proved themselves over and over again. Constantly putting themselves in arms way to protect the innocent. That was our job and we were good at it. We lost officers because of their dedication." Branzer said.

"Are you willing to speak on their behalf?" Herrior asked.

"Absolutely" Branzer replied.

The warehouse began filling with more and more people. Herrior waited for awhile and then repeated the question to Branzer, the reply was the same.

"They haven't proved to me that I can trust them in our city, nor will I give permission to lower our defenses. Prove their dedication and loyalty to me and I will speak with our King." Herrior said to Branzer.

"You took a chance with me, Bernett, Julie, Dan, and Crystal." Branzer said.

"Five people we could easily subdue if there was a problem. Killing three hundred would upset our people. I don't want that responsibility of having to explain myself after giving my recommendation to bring in these many people." Herrior said.

"I'll train them myself. When I feel that they are ready, I will speak with the King and bear that responsibility." Branzer said.

Herrior smiled at him and took great pride in what he just said. "You make me very proud. You don't report to me anymore. I have raised a leader in my group and now you are ready to take on your own leadership role."

Branzer looked dumbfounded for a second.

"That's exactly what you just said hun." Skyka said.

"I…don't think I said that…" Branzer said with hesitation.

"No, but your heart spoke for you. Your role as an ambassador has prepared you for this moment. You train your people and report to the King's ambassadors. I'd suggest taking your people to live with the Taunka, they are similar to Taurens, but don't have horns and have different customs. My advice is to start them out with basic armor and weapons and give them jobs of gathering materials in between their training; however, it is your call now." Herrior said.

Branzer scanned Herrior's party back and forth. "I didn't anticipate this…"

"It's where you future is taking you. Will we see each other again? Absolutely, and I have no doubt we'll fight side by side again. You have learned all that you need to know, and taking on this responsibility proves it. It's an honor and except it as that." Herrior said.

"But…Lindel?" Branzer asked.

"It makes sense hun. My heart still belongs to you and we will wed, but I am just as proud of you as Herrior is. We will have our time together, but we are fighters – that is our primary mission. If we can bolster our forces and you can lead them then that is more important." Lindel said smiling at him.

"This may sound weird…but I feel obligated to help. I consider all of you my family and I love all of you, but…my heart tells me to help." Bernett said.

"Then go as well. You are not betraying us, and our love for you will still be the same. Love binds us and strengthens us." Herrior said.

"Does this make sense Herrior?" Branzer asked.

Herrior let out a small chuckle. "Yes Branzer, this makes sense. Follow your heart, fight with your mind, and lead with love. Anybody in my group can leave at any time, there are no restrictions." Herrior said and turned to his group and said, "Does anybody else want to help train Branzer's party?" Nobody made a move.

"Dan perhaps?" Herrior asked.

"No, my heart is telling me to stay here. If the King reassigns me, or if you choose to do so I'll take on whatever role that is given to me – but I don't see that happening. I don't know why, but I need to stay here with your group. I mean no offense by this, but I sort of anticipated Crystal leaving our group as well." Dan replied.

"My heart is telling me to stay, and to be honest I anticipated you leaving." Crystal said with a smile.

"Julie?" Herrior asked.

"I'm confused as to why I was pulled from Tess's group, but I don't feel I belong with Branzer. No, I belong here." Julie responded back.

Herrior turned to face Branzer. The realization started to set in for him as he nodded to Herrior. "I don't know as much as you do."

"Doesn't matter; you've seen our fighting tactics, you've learned personally in battle how to fight, and you know how to keep yourself and others alive. More knowledge will be passed down as the years pass. Nobody expects you to know everything – even I'm learning something new every day." Herrior said.

"I'll need tanks, healers, dps both ranged and melee…" Branzer said starting to have concern in his voice.

"It will come. Even if everybody becomes a hunter like you do that is fine. Let your heart lead you, the rest will fall into place. If you personally want the responsibility for all of these people as you said, then so be it. I will inform the King of the events that took place, and Lindel will open a portal to our Taunka friends. I'll notify them ahead of time. Patience and love, lead with those principles and the rest will fall into place. You can contact me or anybody in my group as much as you want. Take care my friend." Herrior said concluding the conversation.

Branzer turned to look at his new party. They heard everything that was said and looked to him for guidance. "If you are willing to accept me as your leader, then follow me. Lindel if you would do us the honors please?"

"It would be my pleasure as she started to channel a portal. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and notified the Taunka of their arrival.

"Everything is going to be new and strange to you. I will not let anything happen to you though and no harm will come to you as long as you follow our rules – I'll explain everything upon our arrival. I need your trust the most. If you trust me, then step through the portal. Bernett you go first and help organize everybody as they come through. If you have any doubts, then don't go. I need loyal fighters that will obey my every command, even if it means to die. If you can't accept these terms, then stay here. I will be the last one to come through." Branzer said to his new party. To Branzer's surprise, everybody quickly made their way to the portal and went through it.

Moments later nobody was left as Lindel continued to channel the portal.

"I didn't anticipate this." Branzer said again turning around to Herrior's group.

"I had a hunch." Herrior said. "Go now, they need a leader."

Branzer walked up to Lindel, kissed her, and then apologized. Lindel quickly shook her head and said, "I had a hunch as well. It will be fine, I promise. You have my heart, but duty comes first. I look forward to hearing your stories. Now get going, my power is draining. They kissed passionately one last time and then he stepped through the portal. Lindel shut the portal and then looked to her group.

"Somebody wake up Mohania. I think we have some unfinished business to attend to here." Lindel said.

Mohania had his head tilted back and was snoring loudly. Herrior looked at him and said, "No, I think this world needs to run its course. Mistakes have been made in the past, and correcting them has only made things worse. The people need to learn by themselves. However, I do want to get the Lieutenant out of prison. I have a special bond formed with him and I will not betray it. Crystal, where do you think he is being held captive at?"

"With this station closed, it's safe to assume the smaller one north of us is as well. They wouldn't have transported him out of state. My guess is probably the penitentiary east of here. How do you plan on getting him out?" Crystal asked.

"I'm going to walk in, get him, and walk out." Herrior said. "To bad Mohania's sleeping, he's going to miss all of the killing. Anyways let's get going."

"Wait…killing?" Mohania said waking up immediately.

"No, I said milling. We are going to go weave some cloth together." Herrior said walking out of the door.

"No, I heard killing. Don't joke around about something like that." Mohania said hurrying to catch up.

Herrior had notified the King of what happened and requested a search begin for the Lieutenant. The King agreed and sent several of their banshees to search. Lindel vanished and began to join them in their search. She linked her mind up with the other banshees and relayed who they were looking for and what his thoughts might be.

"I did not expect things to turn out as they did. Lindel appears to have had a change of heart. Watching her deteriorate before my eyes was hard. Dan you were the last one to fight with her, did she say anything that changed her mind?" Herrior asked as they continued to walk the streets waiting for information to be relayed back from the banshees.

"Herrior, I set her straight. It wasn't pretty, but it had to be done. The truth is, she fell asleep and I fought the entire time. I was upset and gave her a good tongue-lashing and figured I would address the main situation." Dan said.

"I figured as much." Herrior said. "Normally you are one for telling stories, but what you said was very brief and you spoke it as if you had rehearsed the lines over and over in your head."

"That wasn't the time to explain in detail what happened. It would have upset everybody, and I wasn't quite sure what my punishment would be." Dan said.

"You fixed the problems I was struggling with inside of me, and made our group able to fight a party again. Sometimes extreme measures are what it takes." Herrior said.

"So what do you think will happen with Branzer?" Dan asked back.

"Nothing? What do you mean?" Herrior asked.

"I mean do you think he'll be a good leader? Do you think his party will follow him? Three hundred people is a bit much don't you think?" Dan asked.

Herrior laughed and said, "No, not at all. He will be fine and if I didn't think so I wouldn't have let him go. They will probably set up a base somewhere and live their lives there. I didn't sense any betrayal in the group or I would have notified him. Not all of them will become fighters. Probably not all of them will be able to adjust in the first year; however, I think he will be fine. Setting up and running an outpost is more involved than you might think. The Taunka have always wanted more people to learn their ways, they were the perfect group to send them too. Some of them will see Tranquil, some of them may request to be reassigned, while others may just live out their lives and raise their offspring. Time will tell."

"So moving large groups of people like that is normal?" Dan asked.

"No, and generally as a rule we don't. Nevertheless, they were persistent in their eagerness to join us, and this time their stories touched my heart. If I did not think Branzer could handle the task or if I did not trust the people we would never have come here, and let the events unfold as they did. Also as a general rule, we don't kill time stoppers, unless they have turned on us. Maybe I ask why you did what you did?" Herrior said.

"She already had turned. My impression was she could not be turned back, you heard the conversation unravel, and her interest only peaked when she heard how it could benefit her. I never had a lust for power or wealth or popularity. I watched her and listened very close. I remember every word she said and motion that she made. I even counted her breaths and sensed when her pulse rose. She would have endangered us, if not now then later on. I approved everything with the King and he agreed." Dan said.

"I'm not arguing against what you did, but was merely curious. I sensed the same thing as well. To be honest I thought the same thing and wasn't sure how we were going to get her loyalty." Herrior said.

"That's the thing; I've been training our time stoppers and know what how much power they have and what their limitations are. Even if they can only stop it for a couple of seconds, but have a loyal heart I continue to train them. You didn't keep me and Crystal around because of my powers and because I loved her. You kept us around because of our loyalty, wiliness to adapt, to follow orders and eventually our ability to fight." Dan ended.

"You were a pain in the ass; however Crystal was easy on the eyes which is why we kept her." Herrior said with a smile.

"You're all a pain in the ass." Mohania added during the laughter.

"Herrior, does the King sometimes say things that aren't true in order to catch us off guard?" Crystal asked.

"You mean does he lie, give orders to test you and judge your reaction? Every leader does that – but yes he does." Herrior said.

"He told me I could never become pregnant. Is that true?" Crystal asked.

"I have no idea. Your body was able to carry a child before, so I don't see why not - unless there is something wrong with Dan." Herrior said.

"Hey, I do just fine in that category thank you very much." Dan said quickly.

"That's not what we've heard…" Skyka said smiling.

"But no Crystal I don't know why the King said that to you. It may very well be true, I don't know. Lindel could probably tell you more than I could about why you haven't been able to conceive." Herrior said ignoring Skyka.

Several more minutes of casual talk passed when a banshee voice entered Herrior's mind.

"There is a young lady I made contact with, her name is Jessica. She actually made contact with me and asked about your party. I haven't spoken back with her. I wanted to talk to you first," said the male banshee's voice in his head. The voice then continued, "It sounds like Lindel knows her. She will speak with you while I continue my scan."

"Herrior, it's Jessica. She's the child of Dennis that we rescued. I have established a link with her, but she can't hear what we are saying. How should I proceed?" Lindel asked in Herrior's mind.

"What are her intentions?" Herrior asked. Lindel was quiet for a while but eventually came back with, "She still very much wants to become a Chronomancer and became very excited to her my voice inside of her. Her intentions seem pure; it might be worth looking into."

"Tell her we're on an assignment right now, but will speak with her afterwards. Any luck on finding the Lieutenant?" Herrior asked back in his head.

"Nothing, we have already widened our search and are flying hundreds of miles in our usual sweeping pattern. If he is still alive we'll do our best to find him." Lindel said back.

"No sign of the Lieutenant yet, but Jessica seems eager to talk to us. Jacklyn what are your thoughts about that?" Herrior asked.

"I figured we wouldn't hear from her again to be honest. You know my impression of her, and unless she's changed it stays the same." Jacklyn said.

Herrior nodded. "Where would they take the Lieutenant? If he is imprisoned, he should be close, but our banshees haven't found anything yet and are widening their search" he said out loud.

"What's their range?" Dan asked.

"When they work together they can sweep hundreds of miles in a matter of minutes." Herrior said.

"Do you think he was killed?" Jacklyn asked.

"It doesn't make sense as to why they would. It also doesn't make sense that they can't find him. If he is being charged in state, which if the crime is committed in state the hearing has to be held in state. He's got to be here somewhere – and killing him because of accusations of mismanaging funds? No I don't think they would kill him." Crystal said.

"Any thoughts as to where he might be?" Herrior asked.

Crystal shook her head. "I'm not a banshee, but if they are covering an area that big and with that much speed – all of my guesses are pretty much worthless. There are several other jails locally, ours was the largest though. There are some federal prisons, but I doubt he is there. Typically for something like this he is either held in jail or released on bond. But again it goes back to the banshee's abilities to cover a huge area. Everywhere I'm thinking of, they have probably already scanned over. Unless he jumped state or is hiding somewhere, however that would ruin his career and everything he worked for. I don't know him personally; does he have family in state?"

"We did not speak much." Herrior said recalling the time he spent with the Lieutenant, "and he is not one to run from his crimes. An assassination seems to be out of the question by the sounds of your description."

Strings's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and a portal showed Ysera on the other side.

"This is a pleasant surprise." Strings said smiling at her.

"It's been awhile since I've been able to contact you, is everything alright?" Ysera asked.

"We were in battle for awhile, and I died a couple of times. Currently we're on an assignment so I should probably speak with you another time so I do not draw unwanted attention towards our party." Strings said.

Ysera let out a sigh and then smiled at him, "Tell Herrior to stop slave driving you and let me know when he gives you some free time."

"I can hear you…" Herrior said aloud.

"I will let you know, goodbye for now." Strings said smiling and closed the portal.

"Your woman has you on a tight leash already…" Mohania said letting out a chuckle.

"She is not my woman, and we are cordially speaking right now my dear sir." Strings said eloquently to him.

"Like I said - tight leash. Take me for example, Kendall does exactly what I say and when. She knows I'm busy and knows not to interrupt me. You have to set them straight from the beginning or they will walk all over you." Mohania said in a cocky voice.

"And just where am I walking?" Kendall's voice came from in front of Skyka as she turned her hand around with her hearthstone in her hand and a portal of Kendall's face glaring at Mohania.

"Hi hun." Mohania said quickly.

"Yes, and hi yourself. So when are you coming back into Tranquil my dear?" Kendall asked.

"Just after I kill Skyka…" Mohania said back. Skyka burst into laughter as the rest of the group snickers.

"I think we need to have a little discussion don't we?" Kendall asked.

"Absolutely…shoot we have incoming attacks, have to go." Mohania said quickly and knocking Skyka's hearthstone out of her hand. The portal instantly disappeared as Skyka spun around to pick it back up.

"I hate all of you." Mohania said.

"Love you too hun." Skyka said smiling at him. "So did we learn a lesson today?"

"That you're an ass…" Mohania said.

"Wait a second, are the banshees looking for the Lieutenant above ground or underground?" Dan asked.

"Usually they can penetrate any buildings or underground, or in the air. There's a certain thought…pattern…or something that they look for, why?" Herrior asked.

"Just wondered. If he was in his basement or something then they might not pick him up. Anyways, go on insulting Mohania." Dan said.

"No, Dan has more ideas – let's let him talk." Mohania said.

"No I'm done." Dan said. The party continued to joke around with each other as they walked in a straight line for the next couple of hours, still not any luck finding the Lieutenant.

Dusk came and went, and the stars began to show themselves. Crystal made a note of another smaller police station several miles to the north, so they altered their course towards it. Upon arrival they all switched to police uniforms instead of their casual clothing and walked in.

"Good evening, may I help you?" An elder gentleman said sitting at a desk. His screensaver on his computer was drawing different colored lines and the television in the corner was showing an old football game.

"Hi, we're actually looking for our Lieutenant from our district…" Crystal said, but the man instantly fell off his chair backwards in shock. Crystal leaned over the desk and asked if he was ok.

"Yeah, darn chairs. Nope, I'm afraid I can't help you." The man said as he quickly grabbed a piece of paper and quickly began to write down several sentences.

"Can I help you?" A marine asked walking out from the back in full uniform carrying an automatic assault weapon. The man casually tucked the paper aside as if he was doing some paperwork.

"Yes, we are looking for a person of interest – our Lieutenant that seemed to have mysteriously disappeared." Crystal said.

"That's not interesting to me, now how about all of you wait for Halloween before you go impersonating an officer." The marine said and motioned them towards the door.

"We're not impersonating an officer, we are officers. You may notice the uniforms – they were from our station that mysteriously closed." Crystal said.

"Not my concern, now move along." The marine replied.

"The governor doesn't have money in the budget for police work, but he has money to bring in the marines? How does something like that come about?" Crystal asked.

"Move along!" The marine said walking towards her with a serious face.

Crystal took two steps towards him. "There I moved. Now I want some answers."

The marine went to grab her arm but felt a pulsating power emanate from her shirt. He recoiled back in confusion.

"I'm called a lady. Apparently you haven't ever touched a real one before. I know where the door is, but pass the word along that we are going to watch this building very closely." Crystal said and walked out. Everybody else walked out as well, except for Trackolania. He snuck around, grabbed the paper that the officer was writing on, and snuck out, but not before clobbering the marine over the head, knocking him unconscious for several moments.

"He's being held in" Herrior read aloud. "Well that doesn't give us much to go on, other than he is being held against his will at a location."

"I'll make him talk…" Mohania said walking back in.

"Decapitating him and moving his mouth up and down doesn't count." Skyka said.

"I thought mind-reading lady was gone?" Mohania said turning around to look at her.

"Quinely what do you sense?" Herrior asked.

"There are four humans in there. Two we met already, two farther back in the building." Quinely said.

"What? This is a prison – where are all of the prisoners? What is this, Presidential pardon week for everybody?" Crystal asked.

"No signs of alliance…demonic activity?" Herrior asked.

"If I say yes, can I kill all of them?" Mohania asked back.

"This is odd." Crystal said ignoring Mohania.

"What are all of you doing here?" A commanding voice said behind them. Several more armed marines, one of them looked highly decorated came walking up to them.

"Causing trouble. Two miles back I jaywalked two feet outside of the lines." Crystal said casually back.

"I heard you were causing trouble, and I suggest you head home before there is more trouble." The decorated man said.

"Are you recruiting prisoners to become servants for Deathwing or some sort of cult?" Herrior bluntly asked.

"What?" The man asked back looking confused.

"Just a random question, sorry for the trouble we'll leave." Herrior said and began walking away from the station. The rest of his party followed and the soldiers made sure they left before they resumed their hiding positions, or wherever they came from.

"He was clueless. They are fighters just like us, I didn't sense any of them knew what we were asking about and were merely following orders." Herrior said.

"I'll make them talk…" Mohania said with a grin.

"I'm sure the banshees have scanned this area. There is no known force or energy that they cannot penetrate – aside from the undead that is. Trackolania go see what you can find out and meet us back here in five minutes." Herrior said. Trackolania instantly vanished from sight and sprinted back into the police station. He successfully maneuvered himself around the entire building, tried to find anything that might help them with what was happening but couldn't find anything. He eventually snuck up to the old man and scribbled the phrase, "tell me where he is" on a piece of paper, then quickly pulled the man's hand and placed it on the note. The startled cop looked down at the paper and froze in fear. He looked around and didn't see anybody. He looked back down and saw a pencil roll towards him. The cop quickly scribbled down the rest of the information and then saw the note quickly vanish into thin air. He looked around and couldn't see where it went. Utterly confused, he figured the best thing to do was to continue to put on his act.

"The Highland residence north of Cumber Street." Herrior finished reading it. He looked down at Crystal and she shrugged.

"Well it's another clue I suppose…" Herrior said tucking the note away.

"Should we ask Lindel?" Skyka asked.

"She wouldn't know if Crystal doesn't. Maybe Branzer would know?" Herrior thought back.

"Where did Lindel portal Dennis and his family to?" Dan asked quickly.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Skyka said.

"He wouldn't be stupid enough to betray us – he knows what would happen." Herrior said passing off the idea as if it was preposterous.

"Has Lindel scanned that area yet?" Skyka asked.

Herrior sighed and pulled out his hearthstone. Lindel came back and said she knew exactly where that was, not the street name of course, but the portalling coordinates and that no that hadn't scanned in that direction yet. Herrior asked her to cancel her search and go to where the coordinates are. She acknowledged and Herrior closed the portal.

"He wouldn't. Everything we did for him? We brought his children to him; we gave him a new life. I suspected nothing of the sorts from him." Herrior said.

"It might be a long shot, but so far we have nothing. This may turn into nothing as well." Skyka said.

"In the meantime we can find a phone book. Our cruisers had GPS, but those are long gone." Crystal said.

"This car has a GPS unit." Dan said. Trackolania quickly ran over, jammed his dagger into the lock and pulled the entire mechanism out. Dan opened the door and said, "Well, since it's unlocked…"

Dan typed in the street name and it processed for a second before telling him the street ran from west to east. He then typed in the name of the residence thinking it was a long shot, but the GPS quickly revealed the address to his surprise.

"It's only a couple miles from here." Dan said and yanked the cord out of the cigarette lighter.

"This is a long shot…but I've been wrong before." Herrior said as Dan started to lead the way.

An hour later Lindel reported that Jessica was outside of her home and seemed tense about something. She scanned the house and only found Dennis and her brother in there. She didn't sense anything abnormal. Herrior told her to make contact with her and see what was going on.

"Jessica?" Lindel asked materializing from behind a tree across the road.

"Lindel! Thank God, you have got to get me out of here. They are going to kill me!" Jessica said running over to her.

Lindel took her hand and ran across a yard and into some woods behind them. She pulled out her hearthstone and opened a portal to Herrior.

"Jessica is terrified. I still sense nothing is wrong, but I have no reason to believe that she is lying. She claims some people are going to kill her." Lindel said.

"Who's Herrior?" Jessica asked and Lindel turned to portal so she could see. "You're a cop?"

"Jessica, what is going on?" Herrior asked.

"My dad betrayed you. You left, he sent several private eyes's to follow you and when he was convinced you were gone, he took the pictures he had and sent them directly to our government. He got his job back, but said he was in charge of bringing you guys in. Several men from whatever organization showed up and started sniffing around. Several officers guarded our home and people started disappearing." Jessica said quickly.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I don't sense any alliance. I haven't seen anything to indicate any of their activity or demonic activity. It's a calm night with people sleeping in their beds." Lindel said.

"I'm telling the truth!" Jessica nearly screamed.

"Hun calm down, we believe you ok. Just relax. Yes there is obviously something wrong, but what Herrior is asking about is our normal enemies that we battle. Does your dad know where you are?" Lindel asked.

"I told him I went out for a walk. I've done this ever since we moved into this place." Jessica said.

"Jessica, what is your brother doing?" Jacklyn asked.

"He's involved as well. To what degree, I don't know. He's younger than I am, I'm sure he doesn't know any CIA secrets. It just feels weird, like I don't belong and like they are chastising me." Jessica said and then quickly added, "I know what you are thinking, we are all new to each other, and I am a rebellious teenager…"

"Lindel get her out of there." Herrior said in a commanding voice. Lindel quickly put her hearthstone away and began to channel a portal. Seconds later they stepped through and arrived next to Herrior.

"I…do I bow? Are you the leader?" Jessica asked.

"I am the leader, no you don't bow, and no we don't think you are lying to us. Settle down." Herrior said slowly and smiling at her.

"You aren't human are you?" Jessica asked.

"Not many of us are, and the other half is debatable." Skyka said with grin. "It's ok though, we aren't going to hurt you. Now slow down and start from the beginning."

Jessica looked around her and seemed nervous.

"If anybody comes around we'll kill them. We have several scouts looking around for people right now." Herrior said assuring her.

"Speaking of, there is a group of humans approaching from our previous position. They are moving slow, but are definitely following us." Quinely said.

"I hate humans…" Mohania said.

"Jacklyn, go open that door for us." Herrior said pointing at a house. She drew her enormous blades out from her back and with a sudden crash, the door split in several pieces as she pushed the rest of it in.

"Lindel, go make the residents sleep. Trackolania and Julie go guard the front entrance. Quinely go monitor their movement and anything else that moves out there. Dan and Jacklyn secure all doors." Herrior said as everybody spread out to do their assignments.

"Jessica what do you know about Lieutenant?" Herrior asked.

"Who?" Jessica asked back.

"His name is Lieutenant. He was in charge of the police station that we portalled in and out of. He was a trusted friend. Did your father do something to him?"

"What? Lieutenant is a rank, what police station? I'm confused." Jessica answered back quickly.

"These people and their multiple names…no wonder Tess got so pissed off at the humans. Ok, what all do you know about what your father has done." Herrior said.

"Am…I going to start some intergalactic war or something?" Jessica asked.

Herrior and Skyka looked at each other and shrugged. "We haven't learned all of the terms for everything yet, but no we are not going to attack anybody unless we are attacked first."

"How do you know English?" Jessica asked.

"Don't know what that is either." Herrior said back.

"The language you are speaking…how is it you and I are speaking the same language and understanding each other." Jessica asked back.

"Oh, common speak. All races have different languages and different ways of communicating. When we meet a race for the first time, we ask if they speak common speak. If they don't, we listen closely and see if we understand their language. We attempt all forms of communicating first, and if it fails we have a banshee go into their minds and learn their language. Afterwards it's passed on to everybody else. We made common speak our normal language based on the bible's that we obtained and accepted it ever since then. Anyways, can you tell us what you know?" Herrior asked.

"I don't understand…" Jessica said.

"Jessica. Where is the Lieutenant?" Herrior asked firmly.

Jessica turned her head slightly and ran through several conversations she overheard. A minute passed and she couldn't come up with an answer.

"Lindel search her mind." Herrior said. Lindel dissipated in millions of tiny little lights and flew into Jessica's eyes.

"Jessica don't be afraid. This is part of my ability. I'm going to search for any clues in your memory that you might not be able to recall." Lindel said in her head.

"She's in my head?" Jessica said afraid and held her hands up to her head.

"She's not going to hurt you. You can talk with her in your mind. When she's done, she'll come back out." Skyka said.

"Can she see all of my memories?" Jessica asked quickly feeling ashamed of herself.

"Yes, but she is only looking for certain parts right now." Skyka said as Lindel flew out of her eyes and rematerialized.

"He's in the house. I didn't sense him and I don't know why I wasn't able to pick up on him – but all of her memories up to a certain point say he's in their house." Lindel said.

"What happened after that point?" Herrior asked.

"Jessica didn't want to know what was happening and stayed away as much as possible." Lindel said.

"Damn." Herrior said letting out a sigh.

"I can go back in and ask. What do you need me to do?" Jessica asked quickly.

"Nothing. There is either a portal sending people in and out, or he is dead. All of us would have picked up on portal. Lindel, you of all people would have picked up on that before any of us. Any power fluctuations or anything?" Herrior asked.

"That's the first thing I would have reported." Lindel said quietly.

"I know…but I had to ask." Herrior said.

"Should we go look for his body?" Skyka asked.

Herrior shook his head not knowing what to say.

"I'll go back and look around. Tell me what to do." Jessica said.

"Your life is in danger and you have proven yourself to be an ally. We'll put you somewhere else so you can rebuild your life. But betrayal is not something we deal with lightly." Herrior said.

"I know where my dad keeps his guns; do you want me to kill him?" Jessica asked.

Herrior turned to give her a funny look. "I'm not sure how to answer that one. He betrayed us, not you. Has he harmed you in anyway?"

"No, but if he has done something wrong and if he has some kind of bounty out of you guys then I can get in and kill him." Jessica said.

"We can get in and kill him and out in a matter of seconds. That's not the problem. The problem is…why did he betray us and to whom?" Herrior asked. He pulled out his hearthstone and summoned everybody back. He told them briefly what plan he had and Lindel opened a portal.

Mohania casted a spell and turned himself in an exact replica of Jessica and casually walked in the house with Julie, Trackolania, and Lindel behind him. Jacklyn and Dan were sitting at where they had portalled in from.

"Dad, I'm pregnant!" Mohania called out from inside the house. Nothing came back.

"Maybe that's normal for people here…Dad I killed a dozen people, carved their hearts out and made a necklace out of it!" Mohania yelled again. Still no reply. Mohania casually walked around the house looking for anything suspicious. Everybody else with him immediately spread out and began searching every room. They found her dad sleeping in one room, and her brother in another. Nothing was suspicious there.

"Dad! I'm going to eat all of the food in the food box…thing." Mohania yelled again. Still no response. Mohania opened the door and casually closed it. He continued to walk around and opened every door that he could find. He found one that eventually led to a basement.

"Dad, I'm going to go downstairs and…do whatever people do…downstairs. Hell I don't know, I'm going to burn the house down." Mohania yelled aloud as he started down.

When Mohania arrived at the bottom he saw the Lieutenant's head among several other heads.

"Dad! I found a collection of heads down here!" Mohania yelled out. The rest of his group heard that and hurried to Mohania's location. Mohania ignited his hands on fire so he could see better and began looking around.

Trackolania arrived and quickly scurried around the entire basement. He found nothing out of the ordinary and told Lindel in her mind. Lindel arrived and began to collect pieces of the Lieutenant. She found the rest of his body buried underneath some loose dirt along with some other bodies. She pulled the body over to the head, flew into the Lieutenant's eyes and began to slowly reattach them together.

"He's probably too far gone." Mohania said as he began to conjure his soulstone.

Lindel had successfully reattached everything as Mohania blasted him with his soulstone as Lindel attempted to get his organs operating again.

"I can blast him again, but usually if it doesn't work on the first time it's useless." Mohania said.

The Lieutenant suddenly drew in a big gasp of air as his eyes flew open.

"Show off…" Mohania said. "So is he actually alive, or reanimated as a ghoul or something."

The Lieutenant slowed his breathing and looked as if he was listening deeply to what Lindel was saying.

"All right fine." Mohania said conjuring up a healthstone and casually dropping it on the Lieutenant. It instantly energized his body with a burst of healing.

"Am I dead? I died…how can this be?" The Lieutenant asked looking around quickly.

"Yes you were dead, don't have a clue how we brought you back. Your head was severed and tossed in the pile over there, and your body was over there. I would have never thought we would have been able to bring you back. Usually it's within a couple of minutes, and even then it's debatable. So let me know when Lindel is done doing her thing so we can torch this place and leave." Mohania said.

"Who's down there?" A man asked.

"Your daughter." Mohania said quickly altering his voice.

"Jessica? What are you doing?"

"Bringing back to life the people you killed." Mohania said. The man hesitated and the cocking of a gun could be heard. Then the sound of Trackolania's daggers sinking into his back and him drowning in his own blood could be heard.

"Well we're not bringing his ugly ass back to life that's for sure." Mohania said in his own voice. He turned to the Lieutenant and said, "So can your lifeless ass get up and walk yet?"

"Lindel said to wait." The Lieutenant replied back.

"I hate waiting…does she need some more healthstones?" Mohania asked.

"She said no…she also called you an ass." The Lieutenant replied back.

"Typical. Can't think of her own words and has to use mine. So has anybody found out anything usual about this place yet?" Mohania asked.

"Nope" Julie said reappearing with Spark. Trackolania shook his head as well.

"Fine…ok I'm thinking of a letter between one and two. You get two guesses." Mohania said.

"Is it 'ass'?" Julie asked.

"Fine, let's play another game. You guys know me to well." Mohania said.

"Lindel said give me another minute. Some of my organs are unrecoverable, so she is attempting to regrow them. Is that even possible?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I have no idea. We should probably continue to monitor the area." Mohania said and summoned his succubus. Mohania casted a spell and turned into an illusion of his father. He walked up the stairs and casually threw the real father down the rest of the way.

"Do you hear them coming?" Jacklyn whispered.

"Pretty sloppy if you ask me, do I have permission to use my powers?" Dan asked.

"We need information from them." Jacklyn whispered back as Dan nodded. They both casually walked back and forth as a group of soldiers moved in on them.

"Hold it, don't move!" Dan eventually yelled out. "Wait, sorry that's your line…" The soldiers suddenly stopped and waited for their next order.

"What are you doing here?" A female soldier yelled out.

"Waiting for you guys to show up. Now are we going to fight because there is no way you are taking us in alive." Dan said.

"We have orders to restrain you for investigation." The female said and then gave the command to. Dan and Jacklyn both pulled out their weapons and positions themselves for the first attack.

"Drop your weapons!" The command kept being issued repeatedly.

"You attack first, all bets are off!" Dan said continuing to reposition himself.

"Lower your weapons or we will lower them for you!" A soldier said walking up to Dan with his rifle in his hand.

"Closer…little bit closer…" Dan said to him with a smile.

"Sir, I will kill you, lower your weapons!"

"No you won't. Look at how your men are lined up. You shoot, I duck, and you kill another one of your own. Plus the lady said to restrain us for investigation." Dan said.

"You can't dodge a bullet." The soldier said smiling at him. Dan instantly vanished and reappeared behind him with a sword pushing back on the front of his throat. Dan said with a grin, "You can't dodge a blade."

The soldiers suddenly backed away as the soldier dropped his gun to the ground and held his hands up. "I've got nothing against any of you, and all you are doing is following orders. Both of us are following orders as well, only ours are different. We have no intention of killing any of you and want to investigate the same as you."

"You're making a terrible mistake son, let me go." The soldier said.

"If I can move this quick, disarm him, and leave the rest of you wondering what just happened, don't you think we could have killed all of you by now? We don't have any intention of killing any of you, but we are on a mission and when it is complete we will leave. I'm guessing another couple of minutes." Dan said.

"We can't have you leave; our mission is to bring you in before you disappear again." The lady said seeming eager to take a shot.

"All you'll do is end up getting killed. We've been shot many times and walked away from it fine. Back away slowly and I'll let this one go." Dan said.

"Can't do that!" The woman yelled back.

"I can respect that you are following orders, and that everybody else is following orders. Once an order is given everybody has to obey it. But so far all of you are hesitating. If he can do what he just did, just imagine what I can do. Let's all back away from each other and call this a truce." Jacklyn said turning her blades from side to side.

The woman and several others quickly approached her and attempted to disarm and hold her hostage in exchange for their other soldier. Jacklyn let out a battle cry and enraged herself. Her first swing successfully hit its target as the other sword flew through another. Gunfire began to erupt as Jacklyn let out a loud howl that scared everybody. Dan joined in the fight and both of them sliced through all of the soldiers and Jacklyn knocked the lady to the ground in several seconds. Jacklyn's blood tipped blade touched the woman's throat as Jacklyn glared down at her.

"They died following orders, the same as we would. Now that we have an understanding of each other, I need to know why you are hunting us." Jacklyn said.

"The government had an unknown source give us several tips as well as a lot of evidence. Our mission was to secure you and to interrogate. Who are you?" The woman asked.

"I know who the leak was and we took care of him. You will not find us anymore. As far as who are we? We're the ones that have saved your world countless times since its beginning. We heard you coming, and let this happen to understand why you are after us. I want names. Who else knows about us?" Jacklyn asked.

"Only a few select members that I know of…maybe more, I don't know." The woman said.

"You're wearing a wire right now aren't you?" Dan asked walking up to her.

"Yes."

"Right now our conversations are being overheard and analysed the same as we are doing to you. Well listen up to whoever is listening, we only attack when we are attacked. If there is any demonic activity behind this or if there is any alliance activity behind this – we will hunt you down and kill you. Other than that, it's useless to continue to pursue us. We may not come back for another hundred years, and we may come back in a different form. Stop spending so much money trying to capture us, and put the money back into the police force you idiots. Whoever shut down all of the police stations – if I find you I'm going to shit down your throat." Dan said.

Jacklyn pulled her sword away and both of them started to walk away. The woman jumped to her feet and pulled a pistol on them. "Stop! Both of you!"

"Are you serious?" Jacklyn asked looking over her shoulder at her.

"Empty all of your rounds into me, and then throw the gun at me – see what is more effective." Dan said casually as he walked away.

The woman started to call for backup when Jacklyn leaped through the air and brought her sword down, cutting her in half. Jacklyn picked up her head and said, "Stop fucking around with us! This is not why we are here, but if it takes killing thousands of you to complete a simple mission then so be it!" She ended by decapitating her and throwing her head away.

"Idiots…" Jacklyn said under her breath walking back up to Dan.

"Are you two done playing around?" Mohania asked walking up to them.

"We killed people and you restrained yourself?" Dan asked.

"I have no doubt they are watching us, possibly listening to us as well. They see me disguised as Dennis and I'm talking to you. It'll look like I'm betraying them – it works both ways." Mohania said whispering with a smile.

"What happened to the real Dennis?" Jacklyn asked.

"He was going to shoot his daughter. Little pain in the ass killed him before I got the chance." Mohania said looking over his shoulder.

"Upsetting to you?" Dan asked smiling.

"Little, but my body count is still larger. Lindel found the Lieutenant decapitated and was probably dead for days. Somehow, and I haven't got a clue, we brought him back to life." Mohania said.

"A ghoul?" Jacklyn asked.

"Naw, same thing I asked. It's the real him. Doesn't make any sense. But there are also a lot of other bodies down there. It looks like he's been storing them up." Mohania said motioning for them to go in the house.

"Does that upset you?" Dan asked smiling again.

"Naw, my collection is bigger. Plus he's sloppy." Mohania said opening the door and walking in.

"Lindel is still doing whatever she is doing. Trackolania watched the battle and did what you told him to. We haven't sensed anything else in the house. Their son is still sleeping." Julie said.

"Jacklyn?" Dan asked.

She sighed and said, "Collateral damage…I'm sure Lindel is going to need to recharge after what she is doing."

"That's what I told Branzer. She needs to be able to do that in a pinch to get her powers back, even if it means sucking the power out of somebody. She is 'goodie-little-two-shoes', and doesn't want to hurt anybody but she cannot deny what she is. Just the same as I cannot deny what I am. I feast to regain power…plus I've acquired a taste…but that's not the point." Mohania said.

"You're ranting." Dan said.

"Yeah…so anyways they know we are here, how much time until they launch another attack?" Mohania asked.

"Five minutes? Maybe less; it depends on how close their forces are and what kind of firepower they can get around." Dan said.

"I'll go get the living battery, Julie you and Trackolania keep a look out, and the rest of you go encourage Lindel along a bit faster."

"I'll make contact with Herrior. We should probably get them out of here so we aren't sacrificing our entire group." Jacklyn said pulling out her hearthstone.

"Should we burn the house down?" Mohania asked before opening the door.

"No…perhaps call the media and have them come and investigate. That will turn the tables on the government or whoever is relaying the orders. I'll do that." Dan said with a smile.

After Jacklyn told Herrior and the rest of his party to leave, she walked downstairs and saw the Lieutenant sitting up, but in a lot of pain.

"Lindel, we are going to need a portal out of here. Don't use up all of your power on him. He looks stable at the moment, but we need to leave quickly." Jacklyn said.

"Ugh, the pain!" The Lieutenant said crying in misery. Lindel flew out of the Lieutenants eyes and materialized beside him.

"Lay down, your organs are regrowing and it's going to hurt awful for probably a long time. Also, your muscles and nerves and attacking the dead tissue in an attempt to discard it and regrow new ones. Best advice I can give you is focus on something in your mind, ignore the pain, and try not to move." Lindel said and then nearly fell as Jacklyn caught her.

"We have a kid coming down. Suck away his life and then get us back to Tranquil." Jacklyn said.

"I hate doing that." Lindel said quietly.

"That's an order!" Jacklyn commanded her. The voice of the terrified boy could be heard throughout the house as Mohania dragged him through the house and down the stairs. He threw him at Lindel's feet and then looked up at her.

Lindel bent down as her arms dissolved into black, ghostly hands and touched his chest. She began to absorb his life as the boy screamed and then shook violently. After ten seconds, the boy laid motionless on the ground. Lindel then returned to her normal self and began to channel a portal back to Tranquil. Once it was open, they lifted up the Lieutentant and put him inside where the air quickly engulfed him and sped up his wounds. Lindel sent a message to the rest of the group to come down to the stairs as well as the other banshees. Once everybody was through, Lindel stepped through it and closed the portal behind her.

"It hurts!" The Lieutentant wailed as Lindel and several over banshees flew into his eyes. Lindel immediately shut off the pain receptors and began to talk to him.

"What happened?" Herrior asked.

"We had to kill some people. It wasn't by choice, and there is some group constantly looking for us. We left a message, and also all of the dead soldiers, should get our point across. With Dennis dead it should lessen his credibility. What is she doing here?" Jacklyn asked.

Jessica was absolutely amazed by Tranquil and didn't hear the question as she continued to try to take everything in.

"Couldn't leave her. We killed everybody she knows, and she helped us a lot." Herrior said. "I'll take the responsibility for bringing her here, but she's proven herself loyal to us and able to be trusted. I don't think she belongs on that world anymore than Dan, Crystal, or Julie does." Herrior turned to Jessica and said, "Jessica, look at me." Jessica immediately turned to look at him. "These are not our true forms. We are going to change back to how we normally look, and I don't want you to start screaming and frantically running away."

"You mean you look like them." Jessica said pointing over to a group of taurens and trolls talking.

"Actually, yes." Herrior said surprised. Herrior touched his trinket and immediately transformed back into his normal self, and the rest of his group did as well. Jessica did gasp and jump back at first, but quickly asked about their armor.

"Our forms don't scare you, but our armor does?" Herrior asked curiously.

"No, it's just I've never seen anything like it before. I would ask more questions, but this isn't the right time is it? What do you want me to do?" Jessica asked.

"Curious…" Herrior said looking at her in deep thought.

"I wasn't scared of you guys when you first approached me." Dan said.

"That was something we had discussed as well." Herrior said, "But Jessica I need to introduce you to the King and explain why you are here. I am responsible for you and bringing you here was not my first choice."

"My father and brother are dead…aren't they?" Jessica asked. Herrior looked to Jacklyn as she nodded.

"What were they doing?" Jessica asked.

"We are not entirely sure, but we confirmed that your father had betrayed us and sold us out. The soldiers we killed further proved it. He was going to kill you Jessica." Jacklyn said.

"It was a matter of time, I knew he would." Jessica said.

"Come with me Jessica." Herrior said and held out his hand. Jessica took it and felt the cold steel from his gloves radiate with enormous power into her hand.

"Keep me updated on the Lieutenant." Herrior said as they walked away.

Herrior walked into the King's palace and looked surprised to see him smiling at him. "Ah, you brought a friend with you. Come Jessica, let me look you over." The King said standing up and walking over to her.

"How do you know my name?" She asked walking slowly towards him.

"Everybody keeps me updated on what is happening in their parties. Also, I can read your mind. You seem very eager to be here, and you act as though you belong here – why is that?" The King asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Jessica said and quickly bowed to the ground. The King laughed and knelt down beside her. "I appreciate the gesture, but I wish to talk right now."

"This place is beautiful, the most beautiful place I could ever imagine. There are people, uh, I guess you call them something different, but they don't scare me. I sort of knew…maybe that isn't the right word for it…but figured something like this existed. My King…" Jessica quickly paused, realized what she said and looked at him in wonder; shortly after she began to cry.

"You didn't insult me, and you do not need to ask me for forgiveness. We are all judged by the same God. Your past is your own, it's the present and your desire for the future I'm curious about. Settle your mind and heart, just relax. Nobody here is going to hurt you for your past deeds, only yourself." The King said.

Jessica shook her head and apologized. She looked up and said, "I don't know what I want to do."

"Yes you do. Steady your emotions. You desire to be a fighter, but you need to learn a lot before then. Lindel tells me you want to be a Chronomancer. We do need more of those, but it is very difficult to learn, and most people who continuously study the powers for years cannot master the abilities. You are welcome in our city though, I will assign an ambassador to show you around. Then you may do as you wish. However if you wish to go back to your world, we will have to make you immune to demonic and alliance possession. Our secrets cannot fall into the wrong hands. But now you say…" The King said.

"I don't want to go back." Jessica said.

"Ah…an unexpected answer..." The King said smiling at her.

"What am I supposed to do? I'm confused." Jessica said.

"And scared. You can do whatever you want; I do not force anybody to do anything they don't wish. Take some time, relax and take it all in. Get some sleep and listen to your heart." The King said motioning over one of his ambassadors. "This is Jenu she is a tauren just like Herrior. She will show you around and answer all of your questions. I am glad you came here and look forward to seeing you again." The King said and walked back to his throne.

"Come with me child, I have much to show you." Jenu said and led her out of the throne room. Herrior motioned to follow

"Herrior wait." The King said quickly.

"Yes my King." Herrior said walking up to him and kneeling.

"I have some bad news, and I wanted to tell you first. There was an attack, among many going on right now, but this was from some orcs that alliance led us to. I have no reason to believe that they set us up. Two of our ambassadors were killed along with twelve of our fighters. We sent a retaliation attack against them, and I'm sure they have subdued the forces by now." The King said and then paused.

Herrior slowly nodded and asked when the funeral was going to be.

"That is where I need your advice. As a leader, you knew him best and what he would have wanted. Branzer was one of the ambassadors killed." The King said.

Herrior looked at him in shock, and then steadied himself and let out a sigh. "I will ask at once. I do not remember if he had family on his home world. Any time we have a death among our ranks it is tragic. However, I understand you telling me this first. He was a good fighter my King."

"He was slow to learn, but yes he was. He will be missed, but you do know the reason why I am telling you this don't you?" The King asked.

"Yes…I will tell her…" Herrior said as a tear ran down his cheek.


	20. Languish and Flourish

Languish and Flourish

Herrior summoned his party to the vast gardens in Tranquil. The Lieutenant was the first one he spoke to while the others left.

"How are you holding up?" Herrior asked.

"Other than in complete shock and being brought back from the dead you mean?" The Lieutenant asked with a smile.

"I wish I could join you in your celebration at another chance in life. You helped me - I helped you. We are even. You may ask any of our guards or anybody where you want to go and go there…" Herrior said losing interest.

"Unfortunately I know that look." The Lieutenant said reading his face.

"Some we can bring back, some are gone for good. Why we were able to bring you back and not my former member of my party I do not know. Once the spirit is called, nothing anybody can do will bring that person back." Herrior said and started walking towards the gardens. The Lieutenant followed him.

Herrior walked slowly trying to think of what he was going to say. He had done this before, he had seen his own party members killed in battle, and it never got any easier. What was he going to say this time? The same thing he has always said. What was he going to tell Lindel?

"I have a shadow following me." Herrior said looking behind him.

"I have a feeling I am needed again. I'm sure a lot of people vacation here and have the same thousands of questions circulating through their head like I do, but I don't let one of my own down." The Lieutenant said.

"What happened that day?" Herrior asked.

"You mean why was I killed? I was hoping you could tell me. A bunch of men in business suits and soldiers came in, started firing off wild acquisitions, and instantly took me into custody. Naturally, my officers resisted, but I told them to investigate the allegations on hand. I had a clean paper trail I assure you, and everybody knew that. Hiding something from them or you people would have cost me dearly. Anyways, I was thrown into a van yelled at fiercely about what I know about you people and was threatened to speak or would be executed. You can tell which one I chose. After that, I remember gasping deeply and then numbness – followed by extreme pain. What happened to my officers and our department?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Your officers were moved to a different world with a race called the Taunka, similar to mine. Branzer volunteered to be their leader, and Bernett went to help. As far as I know, they are all fine. They all have the same options you have, do whatever you want, go wherever you want. For our safety if they return to their world, we would have to make them immune to possessions to protect ourselves. Usually people who are exposed to other worlds decide to not go back." Herrior said and then paused, "with the exception of Alan and Sammy. Their calling was to go back - but just goes to show that you can do whatever you want. He is another close friend that helped me out a lot. Anyways, I don't want to keep my party waiting." Herrior said turning to walk away.

"How long do I have to decide?" The Lieutenant asked catching up with him.

"As long as you want." Herrior said back. "You don't have to come."

"He was one of our officers at one time wasn't he? That's the rumor anyways, and if so I would be honored to attend." The Lieutenant said back. Herrior nodded.

They both eventually walked into the garden and Herrior saw his party talking and laughing among themselves. Skyka looked over and locked eyes with Herrior. She saw that look before and immediately knew what he was going to say. She hushed everybody and slowly walked up to Herrior and embraced him.

"I'm going to need your help." Herrior whispered in her ear.

"Anytime" Skyka replied as they both walked up to the group and Herrior sat down.

Herrior started out by letting out a sigh and then looked up at each member in his group. "I love each and every one of you. There is a special place in my heart for each of you, as well as everybody else in Tranquil. It is an honor to personally be with all of you and fight by your side, but there comes a time when, as everybody knows, that you are taken home. The time has come for Branzer to be taken home."

Everybody was silent for a while and let Lindel speak first, but she never did. She just sat motionless, numb to the world.

"I hate this part of being a leader, but I've had to do this before. It never gets any easier. He was a good man, and I enjoyed fighting beside him…" Herrior said but was interrupted by Lindel, "How?"

"He was an ambassador and therefore takes on extra responsibilities as an ambassador. He was chosen along with another ambassador and several others to investigate an Orc encampment. There was a tip given to us by an alliance scout. We didn't trust him, but upon seeing the results of what happened well, it makes no difference. We don't know how this Orc encampment was established, nor did we know anything about them. Following normal protocol, we sent ambassadors and workers to offer help and to build relations. They were all struck down. The King launched an offensive to wipe out the entire encampment. I have no doubt that our people have been avenged, but that matters little to the ones that really loved and knew him." Herrior said.

"Where is his body? I brought back the Lieutenant, I'm sure I can bring him back." Lindel said desperately.

"The King said he was dead. Given what he said, I'm sure they already tried everything. You know as well as I do that he is more informed than we are." Herrior said.

"No, I brought him back…" Lindel said losing the battle with her emotions and pointing to the Lieutenant.

"It wasn't the Lieutenant's time. Lindel…it was Branzer's time." Herrior said crying along with her.

Lindel continued to shake her head in disbelief as the emotions poured out. She kept repeating, "This isn't fair…"

Nothing could be said though. Her dreams were shattered. There was no, "It's going to be alright" said because it wasn't. All of her life she waited for a mate, and finally when she was ready to marry him – he was taken away from her. Lindel stood up and started pacing back and forth crying, until she eventually dropped to her knees and cried hysterically.

"Damn it…" Mohania muttered under his breath and shook his head in disbelief as well.

"What the King wants me to do is carry out his procedures for a traditional funeral for his race. I know he was closer to us than anybody was, so I thought I would start here. We can delay these discussions for another time." Herrior said quickly.

"No. This has to be addressed." Lindel said trying to compose herself and turned around. "I don't think he would want his body buried on his home world, I think his heart belonged here. Usually we bury our dead in the fields and let the ground reclaim them. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Herrior looked at her and nodded. "Lindel I can dismiss you of your duties as long as you wish. The same goes for the rest of you. I don't anticipate our party being activated given the circumstances, but there always is that possibility."

"No, Branzer was a fighter. I wish to continue the fight. We'll hold a ceremony for him where we decide on, and then carry on." Lindel said wiping away her tears.

"I will relay that our group is ready then. Where would a good place be then?" Herrior asked.

"In the ground you idiot! Where do you think? We'll bury him in the ground! Does it really matter where? He's dead, and he's not coming back!" Lindel screamed back. She then looked horrified at what she said and burst into tears again.

"I expected that Lindel, and I will not take it to heart. I will dismiss you for a week and then check up on you. During that time, you are to stay in Tranquil unless specifically ordered to leave. We will reconvene tomorrow about a decision as to where to lay him to rest. I'll leave you all with the same words I also said in a matter like this, the same that was passed down to me. 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'" Everybody said "Amen" afterwards. Skyka reached over and squeezed Herrior's hand, reassuring him that he did well.

Everybody rose to their feet and wondered off to mourn by themselves, each of them giving Lindel a hug before they left. The Lieutenant did as well and asked Lindel if she wanted him to stay with her.

"No." Lindel said quickly and walked away. She stopped, turned around, walked back up to him and hugged him.

Herrior's group saw what happened and moved back towards Lindel. They all slept together for the next two nights.

Late one night, Lindel lay awake looking up at the sky. She reached over and woke Herrior up.

"Look at the sky Herrior, isn't it beautiful?" Lindel asked quietly.

"It is. I'm not sure where our town is, but it provides a beautiful view of the stars and several moons." Herrior said.

"I know where it is, all Chronomancers do. The powers that we have to project, the timing, and the locations – I know you probably know some of this, but simply opening a portal back and forth takes a lot of power, not only from your mind but also from your body. I'm rambling." Lindel said.

"It's good to hear your voice. You know much more than I do, and you have more power than I could imagine. You do your job very well." Herrior said.

"He would have killed me. If I was taken, he would have dropped me – I guess I never really knew what that meant until now." Lindel said.

"It is a hard lesson to learn. But you know the alternatives better than the rest of us." Herrior said.

"I do. Are banshees cursed Herrior?" Lindel asked.

"Not that I am aware of, why do you ask?"

"The banshee you found was brought here and then died. My life has been torment and continues to cause me anguish. All banshee's share a similar story. I came here and immediately started my studies, and I studied in all of my free time with your group." Lindel said.

"Before you start divulging into the sorrows that are surrounding your mind, take a minute to look around. You have us. You have everybody in Tranquil. You have the delightful squealing of children that have fond memories of you. Don't give into the torment that you are bringing on yourself. What is happening now is your mind is recovering from the loss and trying to return to a natural state. You have learned much, and your powers continue to advance – and one of those powers is the gift of happiness and love. Learning hurts sometimes, but time will heal the wounds and it will lessen the pain. I'm very proud of you; you know that don't you?" Herrior asked.

Lindel nodded and kept looking at the sky. "I wasn't me. When I was with him, I wasn't myself. If I fall in love again, I know what to do next time. Branzer taught me a lot. I'm still learning Herrior."

"All of us are." Herrior said.

"No, not the same as I am. I need to continue my studies, explore my powers further and accept who I am. Look at Dan – he's constantly experimenting with forces none of us understand. He could easily rip his body apart and nobody would even know. But he documents everything and passes on knowledge. Veliline has trouble accepting who she is, and still fights with her mind about many things. Mohania the same. The list goes on. Here I was sulking, feeling bad for myself while I could have benefited others. I have powers that can heal myself in combat – if I can teach that to other fighters, less might die. I know how to portal myself from place to place. I can read minds, and sense when we are being scanned. I can lift objects by merely thinking about it, and all I focused on was myself and what I had to do to marry Branzer. Life wasn't fair; I couldn't marry the one I loved. Now life isn't fair because I can never marry the one I loved. What would he want for me? To continue my sulking or to teach others, experiment and try to advance my powers. Lately Dan has more theories about the powers I am supposed to know and he doesn't have a clue what I do. I am what I am, and I need to become better at what I am. If love finds me again, then so be it – but being a fighter comes first. Dan kicked my ass and screamed at me…did he tell you that?" Lindel asked.

"Is less words, but to be quite honest you needed it – and I couldn't do it." Herrior said.

"Dan will make a good leader someday, but you are much better. I give you permission to kick my ass in the future." Lindel said smiling at him.

"Anybody can be a good leader, it's just you have to make some tough decisions sometimes. No one leader is better than another is. But to answer your question, yes I believe Branzer would have killed you if you were captured. It's out of love, you know that don't you?" Herrior asked.

Lindel nodded and said, "I guess I'm similar to Crystal. Dan puts his life on the line every day, sometimes many times a day, in order to better himself or to save our asses. But that fear is still in Crystal."

"That boy is going to give me an ulcer…but Lindel that fear is in everybody. It's a normal reaction, but in battle you have to look at the group and what is best for them. Does it scare me when Skyka falls in battle? Absolutely. The same when I die, I have no doubt. Nevertheless, the battle lives on and we will all end up in the same place in the end. During our time here though, we have to make the best decisions at the time with the knowledge we have. If you can't improve your powers, then you need not worry about it. You are scared of your powers though, and you need not be. Do you think you will turn on us if you dive into your evil banshee form or whatever you call it? During our attack on the ships, you heard my voice in your head and instantly apologized. During our attacks in the forgotten city you unleashed your powers and used them to their full capacity…I think anyways. Look at Dan, Crystal, and Trackolania – any of them. Crystal's powers frightened her, but once she embraced them she killed hundreds of cultists, saved countless lives, and who knows what all would have happened. She had full control, only killed the ones she needed to, and didn't harm us or the ones enslaved. You've had full control the entire time, but you act like a shy child that is just coming of age to grasp the concepts of the world. You are a healer and can instantly dump enormous amounts of health and power into people, but you have shown that you can do so much more. Go where your heart is telling you to do. Go into the arena with several practice dummies and experiment. Now I'm rambling." Herrior said smiling.

Lindel nodded and said "But I need to hear this. I know this, but I needed to hear it."

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Herrior asked.

"No, I want to just lay here and look at the stars." Lindel replied. Herrior nodded at her with a smile and went back to sleep.

The next day the King held an ambassador meeting to discuss what had happened.

"We have overthrown the orcs and slaughtered every last one of them. Their bodies will be meals for the water life now. Their leader was a demonic orc, similar to the ones that we have fought many years ago. We didn't go in to simply over throw the leader; we wanted blood to be shed for vengeance of our fallen. The alliance has not contacted us since we over threw them, but anticipate an attack at any moment. Our scouts are currently surveying the area and found many different groups of people living in the lands – many of them cultists summoning elementals and answering to some ogres. The land has many different types of wildlife, minerals, and a significant amount of dragons. We're not sure if they are aligned with the alliance, or if they are on their own. We have not attempted to communicate with anybody out there yet, I will not make the same mistake twice. We will send guards and several parties to establish contact once we have the base fortified. Without interrogating the orcs, I don't believe that they have any additional bases in the area. However, they left behind a good number of blue prints and metals for us to use. Our engineers are looking at them as we speak, and probably have many armor and weapon sets made already. I will send several of our primary groups to this base and rotate them in and out as well as numerous guards and assassins until I feel the base is secured. The alliance ambassador, or whatever he claimed to be, said that the orcs had been in the area for awhile, constantly attacked them, and asked for our help in understanding their situation. I saw it as a chance to bring in more orcs into our army, but I was wrong. Many of the orcs out there are still demon controlled. I don't believe a word the ambassador said, however from the impression given to me, he seemed to be honest. I don't believe it to have been a trap for us. In the mean time, we still have the issue of the worgen woman and the ramkahen woman as well. As all of you may know I've ordered the rest of the worgen to be executed, but I don't see either one of them blending in with our allies. Perhaps we can find them a suitable home on a world somewhere. We also have over three hundred humans that pledged their allegiance to us. I've assigned a new leader and several ambassadors to go among them. I would like to break them up if I could; having that many humans in a confined area might provoke an attack by the alliance by having them think that we captured their people. However, we will see what comes of it later. I would like to encourage them, as well as everybody else, to study the new resources we have obtained and try to identify them in their area. We are still working on Veliline's forge for her weapons, but haven't been able to get it working. I may order a party to go in the past and steal one. I would also like to encourage everybody to continue their training and pass on any additional information they may learn. We have our scribes and enchanters testing out new ideas as well – they have come up with some unique things that many of you may be interested in. My heart goes out to the ones that have fallen in combat, and all of you fight with love. That is all." The King said and waved his hand as all of the ambassador's portals closed.

"The King said you're an ass." Mohania said turning to Dan.

"Lindel, do you want to come with me to a couple of different worlds and experiment with different techniques?" Dan asked ignoring Mohania.

"No." Lindel said quickly. She then let out a deep sigh and said she would rather speak with the other Chronomancers and see if they learned anything new. She turned into a brilliant white light and flew away.

"I have a feeling that we could learn a lot from her." Dan said.

"Give her time. What are your thoughts?" Herrior asked.

"She can drain life. Many of our fighters can refill their life, or whatever you call it in battle, but she can do it all of the time. I know she's a banshee and her race can do that, but why can't we? Warlocks can drain life, and their spells periodically suck life from their enemies as well. Jacklyn and I can recover some of our health, but it's almost insignificant. Lindel can drain life from people and pump it back into us at the same time. I would like to know how and see if there is a way that we can do the same. Anyways, another question I have is when I was defending my dragon; I had three healing potions and some other weird stuff. Why don't we use healing potions?" Dan asked.

"Don't have time. I have a significant amount of health and have to be constantly guessing where the next attack is coming from. I would have to take my eyes off the enemies, lower my defenses and drink a potion, then reengage. Besides we have yet to produce a potion significant enough to restore enough health to do any good." Herrior said.

"Hmm…that gives me an idea. Herrior I would like to go bother the engineers and then continue to conduct my time stopping experiments." Dan said.

"Dan…could these experiments kill you?" Herrior asked.

"Absolutely, why?" Dan said back with a smile.

"I would like to keep you alive if possible, but I do understand that what you have learned so far is important." Herrior said.

"Live, die…either way I'm going to the same place as Branzer and I'll catch up with the rest of you later. However, I do take extensive notes, pass on the information, and always start my experiments slowly and then gradually increase the power to observe the result. Take this for example." Dan said. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a second, and suddenly dozens of replicas appeared behind him.

"Hi Herrior." They all said. Then dozens more appeared, and dozens more behind them.

"Should I even ask how you do that?" Herrior asked.

Dan walked forward as the rest of his replicas instantly vanished. "I haven't thought of a name for it yet. But time is more like a mold of clay. You can create whatever you want with it, you just need to embrace it and try new things. I can move like Trackolania does, but in a completely different way. It's similar to how we defeated the dragon. Simply halt time to barely a crawl, walk out of the way, and then speed it up again. Just that easy. Similar to what I did to the worgen when he fell into mush, assuring their surrender to us and giving us the chance to interrogate them. Time stopping anymore is only on an 'as needed' basis because of the side effects. I haven't completely been able to mask my ability to halt it, so I'm sort of leery about experimenting with it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to teach the other time stoppers my abilities. I have no idea why." Dan said.

"Need a drink?" Strings asked looking at Herrior.

"Always. Just don't kill yourself or I'll get upset at you, ok?" Herrior said at Dan.

"No promises, but for now I have ideas that I want to talk with our engineers about." Dan said and summoned his dragon. They watched him fly away as Skyka said, "He's going to end up getting himself killed."

"Probably, but he doesn't fear death. Nor do I fear losing him. The advancements he's made so far have been significant." Crystal said.

"Aye, he is one brave lad." Strings said matching Herrior drink for drink.

"I guess the time has come for me to leave. I'm no good to you here, and my eyes have been wondering too much," admitted the Lieutenant.

"Same as every other human that we brought into Tranquil. You get used to it after awhile and think nothing of it. Whether it is a beautiful woman, strolling past you naked or a powerful tauren heavily armored walking by. However you are free to do as you wish, where do you want to go?" Herrior asked.

"If I go back to Earth, and I'm found out – I have no doubt I'll lose my head again. Since I've grown attached to it, I'd rather keep it on if at all possible. Perhaps I should go join the rest of the officers. I might be able inspire them." The Lieutenant said.

"I'll get in contact with a Chronomancer right away. Another option would be to protect Alan, a close friend of mine. His guards that he hired are worthless, and you know more about fighting then they do. Either way is fine." Herrior said.

"I may request to go there to look over his layout, possibly have some of our officers deployed there, but I feel responsible for the officers." The Lieutenant said.

"So be it." Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone to summon a Chronomancer. A portal was opened and he was sent to the Taunka that were watching over the rest of the humans. They all seemed excited to see him alive and well.

"Not eager to bring in anybody else into the group?" Crystal asked.

"Just the opposite. The more people we have in our party the safer I feel. It is more stressful, especially when people don't tell me important things and I have to make decisions that may split the group apart, but in battle the more people we have the better our odds." Herrior said.

"So why send him away? Why send Jessica away?" Crystal asked.

"I didn't send them away, they followed their hearts. The Lieutenant's heart reached out towards his people. Jessica wants to be a Chronomancer. Nobody else in Tranquil has asked to join our party, nor has anybody been assigned to do so." Herrior replied.

Crystal nodded and folded her arms across her chest and had a distant look in her face as she gazed away.

"We've fought with a lot less." Skyka said smiling.

Crystal asked how she knew for sure if she was in the right party or even the right class.

"Those are questions we cannot answer. It's something that…" Herrior began to say as his hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out as a portal opened to reveal the new base that they overthrew.

"We need your assistance in a matter out here." A male blood elf warrior said.

"I'll be right there." Herrior said as he banished the portal and summoned a Chronomancer to open a portal for him.

"We have captured the scout that gave us the information. We have several leaders ordering his execution, but we need an ambassador to speak with him first." The blood elf said escorting him into a building across from the camp that was heavily guarded. Herrior saw the remains of a great battle and wished he had the chance to be part of it.

"What is happening with our dead?" Herrior asked.

"We were holding them out by the docks, stored in coffins. Many of them were stolen. They did not bear any marks of anything valuable and we have searched the ocean and land for them. The scout claims he knows, but pleads to speak with an ambassador. The sniveling alliance always claims to know everything." The blood elf said.

Herrior nodded and asked how he was caught.

"He simply walked up to our gates and knocked. We saw him coming from a distance, but we had our orders. Finally one of our leaders ordered him to be taken prisoner and interrogated."

"That's odd alliance behavior. Nobody else was with him?" Herrior asked.

"No, he was carrying a gun and a simple sword. He left those twenty feet behind him in plain sight when he knocked on our gates."

"An alliance traitor perhaps?" Herrior asked as he saw the man. He had obviously been roughed up and had many open wounds. He looked only a little older than Dan.

"I am not a traitor. I came here peacefully and look at what happened!" The man said obviously upset.

"Your information lead too many of our people's deaths, and then you stroll casually up to our doors? Sounds a little suspicious don't you think?" Herrior asked trying to suppress his anger. He had already decided that he was going to rip him to pieces and catapult them back to their base.

"That was not our intentions, and I am sorry for your loss. We thought them being orcs that you could reason with them." The man said.

"Orcs were banished from our group years ago. Just recently, we saved a few of them from being butchered from your group. For some reason…they seemed upset for being enslaved and beaten for years." Herrior said.

"I didn't know that." The man said. He was telling the truth. "Where was that happening?"

"What do you want?" Herrior asked obviously tired of talking with him.

"I am a scout, and training to be a soldier. We watched the slaughter of the orcs and the occupation of your group. This was actually a trip to thank you and to speak with you about these lands and ask for you help in observing why Deathwing frequents this area so much." The man said.

"What did you do with our dead?" Herrior quickly asked to gauge his reaction.

"We took them. Usually if we can, we raise them into banshees to serve. I wasn't part of that group, and to be honest I'm not allowed to know how they do it. To be honest we thought you were just going to throw them into the water and let them float away. I can have them returned if you wish." The man said telling the truth again.

"When do you plan on invading our base to turn the rest of us into banshees?" Herrior quickly asked back.

"Invading? We are barely holding our own in our base, why would we bring more trouble on ourselves?"

"You already have! Giving us information that led to the death of our people!" Herrior yelled at him.

"We didn't know they would be killed or we would never have asked for help!"

"Next you steal our dead. Then you come back to gauge our forces and see how easily it would be to retake this base! When is your next attack?" Herrior yelled at him.

"I already told you we are not going to attack!" The man said and then braced himself to be beaten again.

"Stop." Herrior said casually before the guards could hit him. "I would like to speak with him alone with your leaders. Keep the door open and look for their attack on this fortress. I have other ways of making him talk." The guards did as Herrior ordered and for a while, it was only him and Herrior.

"What is your name?"

"Kevin"

"Your full name, rank, position, and the name of your father before you…you aren't going to rattle off all of that?" Herrior asked.

"I can if you would like me to." Kevin said.

"Naw it would bore me. Generally though all of the alliance we encounter like to brag about how long their names are." Herrior said and was about to let out several insults when Kevin spoke up.

"Our mission is different. As I'm sure you are aware we have many outposts on many different worlds. This outpost is merely a fact-finding mission. Deathwing has slaughtered thousands of us and we haven't been able to find a weakness or any reason why he attacks. I'm sure he has done the same to your people as well." Kevin said.

"No, we control Deathwing and tell him to kill." Herrior said to see what Kevin's response would be.

Kevin smiled at him and said, "Then why order him to kill thousands of your own people? You have no more control over Deathwing than we do. Can we drop the interrogation and just talk?"

"Everything you have said so far is true, which either leads me to believe that you are ignorant of what is happening or simply wish help. It is true that our people have helped each other in the past, but a lot has happened since then." Herrior said.

"I can't apologize for everything, since I don't know what all has happened in the past. I do know that we did not give you information that led to the death of your people, and that I would not come casually walking up in a peaceful gesture to be simply beaten as tortured. If I wanted that I would have stayed home with my wife." Kevin said.

Herrior looked serious at him, trying to judge his intention of being here and concluded that he was right.

"I will order that you are healed, fed, and tended to. It still puzzles me as to why you would do this?" Herrior asked.

Kevin sighed at the false hope and repeated what he said before. "We are here to find any sort of weakness that we can against Deathwing and to try to kill him. I am here to give you maps, locations of several outposts we have charted, lakes in the area, and to point out where our people have been able to collect food, ore, and flowers. There are many areas that we have not been able to get into; I will point out these areas as well. I don't know why but they can sense when we are stealthed and invisible. Mountains and ruptures in the ground prevent us from getting an aerial view, and the dragons that fly the skies knock down anything that goes into the air. We're fighting off the ogres, ettiens, dragons, naga, - and any other creature that mysterious shows up. If an effort to relief some of the stress, we notified you of this base. The orcs never attacked our base, but took every chance they could to kill a group that tried to work the land. It didn't seem like your people's normal behavior, and so we sent a plea to have you stop. We never attacked the orcs or did anything to upset them. By the sounds of it, you do have reason to doubt us and this probably wasn't a good idea. I would like to go back home to my family but I don't see that happening. When can I expect to be executed?" Kevin asked.

Herrior walked out of the building and called for a healer and for some food and water to be brought in. Herrior walked back in and untied him. He then started placing his own bandages over the wounds as the healers came in and healed his body. Herrior pulled out several pieces of dried meat and bread and offered them to him as more arrived.

"An ambassador having a feast with our enemy? What kind of conclusion should we draw from this?" As several of the leaders finally arrived and came into the house.

"He is our enemy yes, but at this moment he has told me more about the land and their intentions here then we would be able to uncover in months of investigation. Come, sit with us." Herrior said.

"Sit with alliance and get his stink on my armor?" Another leader said.

"I am the ambassador, and I am dictating this situation. He has no powers and I can easily snap his neck faster than the rest of you. But as of right now, he is a friend united against our common enemy." Herrior said.

"A traitor then?"

"No, come and sit." Herrior said more sternly. The leaders complied with Herrior but did not let their weapons leave their hands.

"I will need paper and a writing utensil, and then we can conduct our business." Kevin said. Herrior asked for some, and a female troll pulled some out and shoved it over to Kevin. He began to quickly draw several things on the paper as everybody watched.

"I'll explain it in more detail afterwards." Kevin said continuing to draw and label things.

Several minutes passed and then Kevin started to talk. "This is our base. We are constantly attacked from the south side, and our west side." Kevin then looked up at the leaders and said, "So if you are going to launch an attack on us, I would suggest coming at us from the north."

"Continue please." Herrior said.

"This is your base here. As you can see there is a peninsula and a dense forest separating us. Just north of your camp is a series of streams. We haven't gotten close enough to investigate it, but we're assuming the same fish that we catch can be found in those streams. To your north we have spotted several naga coming ashore and watched them engage in battle with the orcs. That is probably your immediate threat. West of your base are two different encampments. Both of them have been burned to the ground. We don't know who did it, or who lived there. Continue going west and you'll run into the cultists against this stone wall here. The wall is enormous and spans for miles and miles in a north and south direction. Their bases aren't that well fortified, but hundreds of them as well as many ogre guards. As far north as we have investigated, we have been able to find a very deep chasm with large tentacles reaching out of the ground and snagging anything they can. We're assuming it's some sort of beast and the hole in the middle is its mouth. Anyways, what we do know is directly west of our base here are entire legions of ettiens and dragons, as well as your normal cultists, ogres and elementals. We speculate that there are vast caves inside. Also we've heard the cries of people being tortured, both of your people and ours. And this big area here behind all of this is completely unknown to us. Also what we do know there are groups of dwarfs and trolls that roam the woods as well. They usually are in groups of twenty or so and are quite powerful. Why they are joined up together we don't know, but we do know this area here in the middle of the map is where they do their sacrifices. The people they catch, they drag them here, and do some sort of chant while their prisoners burn alive. The dragons seem to leave them alone, the reason for that is unknown as well. We're assuming they have control over the dragons somehow." Kevin said and then sat his pencil down.

"We can confirm most of what he is telling is true; our scouts have already reported much of this." One of the leaders said.

"I do not believe he is lying, and interrogated him myself. Now that we have this information, what do you purpose we do with it?" Herrior asked looking at Kevin.

"We were hoping that we could get some help. The alliance has completely cut off all communication with us, and we have not had fresh soldiers or supplies since the day Deathwing appeared. Before we die, we would like to be able to gather as much information and…I don't know write it down in a bottle and throw it out to sea before our defenses give up." Kevin said in near desperation. He then took a deep breath and waited for the laughter as he said, "I would like to be released. If you won't help us, then I would like to die beside my family."

The room filled with silence. One of the leaders finally said, "No he isn't lying. We have to report to our 'higher ups' as your people put it and make a decision. If we let you go, what are you going to tell the rest of your people?"

"That you believe us, have the same information that we have and…hopefully…agree to help us. I hate to put it in these terms, but we're desperate. Before our deaths, we are hoping to find a weakness against Deathwing, or formulate some sort of plan to destroy his army…or something. I mean no offense by what I said. I am young and know not of all of the stories of the wars between our people, and even if I apologized, it wouldn't soften your hearts to our people. To be honest, if you want to sit back and watch our people die to satisfy your hatred towards us, you can do just that. I am completely unarmed and have no armor. You can kill me to satisfy your hatred if you wish." Kevin said frustrated.

"We don't kill unless provoked." Herrior said quickly.

"Your guards sure made it sound like you do when they were beating the shit out of me." Kevin said sarcastically.

"Interrogation, we could have easily healed you. Now silence." Herrior said and turned to the rest of the leaders to judge their reactions.

"What of our dead?" A leader asked.

"They are probably either still dead or turned into banshees. I speak the truth when I say that we didn't know what you were going to do with them. Our Necromancers can sometimes turn them into banshees, I have no idea how they do it and nobody is allowed in the room when they perform the ritual. The ones that have been risen as banshees, their bodies are burned in the process; the others simply just lay there. I can leave at once to try to halt the process, but to be honest it's probably over with already. I'm sorry for the confusion and stealing of your dead. If you were just going to let them go out to sea, which it looked like, we stole them in an attempt to bolster our forces. We've even tried negotiating with the dwarfs and trolls to help. Now I am here in an attempt to negotiate with you to bolster our forces." Kevin said.

Silence fell in the room again. The answer of how banshees were created was finally solved.

"Can you make it back to your fortress unassisted?" A leader asked.

"We have several established routes for going into the forest. They are mostly clear of any enemies. Most of our routes are trial and error to be honest." Kevin said as he started drawing a series of lines on the paper.

"Your line comes up on the beach for a ways; you said the naga attack from the ocean." Herrior said.

"Not here they don't, only north of your base, and south of ours. We have no idea why, but the beachfront is safe between these areas. Avoiding the forests as much as possible is your best approach to moving around. You can hear dragons coming, but you can't hear an ambush until it's too late." Kevin said.

"Come with me." Herrior said standing up and walking out. Kevin followed him out as the rest of the leaders remained in the house.

"Give the weapons back to this man, and suit him up with armor and rations. He is to leave here unharmed and order our scouts to escort him one hundred yards south of this base. He is to be guarded by our scouts, not killed." Herrior said. Several evil glares poured out, but the guards did as they were told.

Herrior walked back into the house. "Did we all come to the same conclusion?"

"There isn't anything to debate. My instincts are telling he is wrong, yet my mind is saying he is telling the truth. When shall we send our reinforcements?" The female troll asked.

"I'll contact the King and tell him of the events that took place. I don't approve of them stealing our dead, but I understand their strategy for it. In the mean time let's make some copies of this map and see where this situation takes us." Herrior said. They all explained their concerns to each other for a while and began sending scouts in each direction to confirm what was written on the map.

After the King heard that Herrior wanted to speak with him, he ordered him to return to Tranquil immediately. Herrior arrived back in Tranquil and walked into the King's chambers. Several ambassadors and leaders were there as well.

"Explain to me briefly what happened." The King said quickly. Herrior explained what had happened and before Herrior could finish the King asked if he knew where Dan was. Herrior looked concerned and said he didn't.

"The last time I knew he went to our engineering section." Herrior said.

"If he was there, I wouldn't be asking. Has he said anything to you lately about any places he's wanted to go, anything out of normal? Any unusual experiments he wanted to do?" The King asked.

"Not that I recall." Herrior said.

"Damn…" The King said and turned away from him. He stood up and started pacing back and forth. "The last known place that we saw him was his usual iceberg in the Borean Tundra. For some reason he likes that area. He gave our engineers several different ideas, things we haven't heard of before, and then suddenly it looked like he was in a trance. He summoned a Chronomancer, opened a portal a left. The Chronomancer followed him through and watched Dan instantly disappear. I've questioned her, as well as Crystal and now you. His dragon returned to Ysera, the same that the other dragons did when our other fighters died. His hearthstone isn't responding and we don't believe he is alive anymore. However, we have no evidence to think that he isn't alive. We have contacted all of our allies to look for him, but it's useless. He walked through the portal, took a couple of feet, and simply vanished." The King said obviously frustrated.

"I don't believe he would turn on us." Herrior said.

"He's loyal to a flaw. If I told him to rip off his arm, he would. Not only is he an ambassador and possess the same powers that all of our other ambassadors do, but he is by far the strongest time stopper we have. He has manipulated time and it binds to his will. He has proven repeatedly that he could kill all of us and we would not even know what happened. He plays with it as if it is a simple toy." The King said.

"If he shows up, shall I take him prisoner or kill him immediately?" Herrior asked.

"If, when, maybe he shows up. As far as he might now, he's just conducting an experiment and not knowing what is happening." The King said walking back and forth.

"He's immune to alliance and demonic possession. He hates the alliance with a passion, and I don't feel he would turn on us. His heart belongs here." The Queen said calmly.

"I don't doubt you. However we have had several of our leaders turn on us in the past." The King said still frustrated. "He's already shown before that cannot be explained. Things he said and doesn't recall. Ideas that come to him, knowledge he is suddenly presented with that comes out of nowhere. I thought it was coincidence at first, or just an extra sense, but now I don't know what to think." The King took a sigh and put his hand over his face.

"The other idea that we have is he is following his heart. Perhaps he doesn't belong here; maybe it was just a stepping stone for him." The Queen said.

"If that is the case, then I wish him well. However, I wanted to keep his power within the city – and that is probably wrong of me to think that. If he wanted us dead, or the alliance dead, I have no doubt we would see that happen instantly." The King said and made a final sigh to change the subject. "Herrior, go to the alliance encampment. Go unarmed with no armor. Present to them some food and tell them you are there to assess the situation first hand. Help them if needed, but keep an eye out for our dead and these 'Necromancers'. I have no doubt that they are using some sort of demonic powers to create these banshees. I want to know everything, and I want to keep them alive. After we kill all of them, I want one heavily interrogated. Obviously taking into consideration what Dan said, they are going to make an agreement with us and betray us. I don't believe what that man said and I don't think anybody else does – could probably be just our prejudice coming out though. Leave your hearthstone and begin your mission. Return in two days and report what you have learned. In the mean time if Dan contacts you tell him I want to speak with him immediately." The King said ferociously.

"My King, please calm yourself. As you said yourself, he might not even know he is gone." The Queen said. Everybody knew that when the King and Queen spoke to each other, nobody dared speak during this time.

The King nodded. "Continue to look for him, but conduct your mission. Dress in casual tauren clothing and leave at once." The King said as Herrior acknowledged and left.

Herrior walked out and saw the rest of his party waiting for him.

"I'm going to go walk right into an alliance base unarmed. Also, if Dan contacts any of you – notify the King immediately." Herrior said.

"Should I get make a necklace of the alliance heads I have and put it around your neck?" Mohania asked.

"It's my orders and I'm going to do just that. In the meantime Jacklyn will be in charge. Keep an eye on Lindel – this is still a hard time for her. Everybody continue your training and I will return shortly." Herrior said.

"What about you?" Julie asked.

"I've died before. Missions like this don't scare me." Herrior said. Skyka nodded to confirm it.

"Veliline what have they decided of your runeforge?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing. The ones they have made don't work for me. Taking one from the past has been ruled against. The runes they make for me don't work either." Veliline said.

"I hope something works out. I'm going to go get dressed and leave at once." Herrior said and left.

Herrior approached the alliance fortress and it looked badly damaged. He came with only his tradition tauren shirt made of leather and ambassador designs on it. He wore short leather pants that were frayed at the end. An alliance scout eventually noticed him and announced this presence.

"A tauren approaches from the north!" The man yelled out.

"Keep the forces to the south, focus fire on the naga!" A general yelled out.

Herrior kept his mind and senses on high alert. It was inevitable that the alliance was going to form a treaty with them and then break it. In addition, he had to seize a Necromancer and bring one back, and if he wasn't back in two days a full scale invasion would destroy everybody in this fortress. In the meantime, he had to keep his face and intensions away from his thoughts.

"Do you need help?" Herrior called out. There was no response, but the sounds of battle could be heard on the other side. Herrior decided to risk it and run to the other side of the fortress. There were in fact Naga attacking the alliance soldiers, and arrows raining down from on top of the walls. Herrior approached as his eyes and senses entered into his battle mode.

He fought his instincts and charged forward to intercept a blow coming to a female warrior. The sword from the naga sliced across his chest as he realized he didn't have his armor on as the pain shot to his head. Herrior quickly disarmed the Naga and began attacking it back. The woman came up next to him and they both subdued the Naga.

"Sorry, instinct." Herrior said, as he stood ready for the next attack to come.

"Melee attacker?" She asked.

"Tanking usually." Herrior said beginning to deflect the incoming blows. Without his shield and armor, he began watching closely at the incoming sword swipes, but the woman stood in front of him and took the blows.

"You're going to die out here." She said.

"Done that before. Where are your healers?" Herrior asked.

"All dead." She said back. Herrior began to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach as he quickly began to bandage himself up.

"Good idea. I admire your eagerness for battle, but we were hoping for more than just one of you to come." The woman said back deflecting attack after attack.

"I came to finalize negotiations. We'll do that afterwards. Where are they coming from?" Herrior asked.

"If we knew we'd shove a bomb into the hole and chum the water…" The woman said and then took several hits.

Herrior chopped up the Naga that they just killed and started throwing the pieces into the water. Once completed, he worked side by side with the woman and double-teamed each Naga that engaged her.

Several minutes later sharks came to investigate the smell of blood. The Naga slaughtered some of the sharks out of frustration and it induced a shark frenzy. The Naga turned their attention from the alliance and began attacking the sharks.

"Who invited the sharks?" A man yelled out.

"I cut up a Naga and chummed the water with it. I got the idea from the woman I fought with. Afterward the sharks are done feeding; it should bring in fresh fish." Herrior said.

"You are a tauren!" The man yelled and began to approach him with his sword drawn.

Herrior tossed his sword behind him and said, "I came here to finish negotiations and to offer help."

The man continued to approach him. Several feet before him, he dropped his sword, embraced him, and laughed. Herrior was glad that he didn't have to kill him.

"Where are the rest of your armies?" The man asked.

"It depends on what we decide on. I will spend the next two days evaluating your situation and then return to our newly reclaimed fortress." Herrior said.

"Evaluate all you want! Bring out the wine and let us feast!" The man said and the cheering began. Herrior held his makeshift bandage to his chest and gripped it hard to attempt to control his anger.

"Slaughter the tauren! His kind isn't welcome here!" A man yelled coming out of a broken castle.

"He was going to give his life for me!" The woman yelled back. The arguing continued for quite awhile, so Herrior sat down and tended to his wounds. Most of the heavy bleeding had stopped, but had only a small scab holding the blood back. Herrior found a bonfire cooking some type of meat he didn't recognize and he asked if he could approach it to seal his wounds. The mom with her children didn't answer back, and the children just stared. Herrior nodded and continued to hold his makeshift bandage as the arguing continued.

The woman finally threw her hands up, grabbed a fresh bandage, and placed it over Herrior's wound. The bandage had magical properties in it, and soothed the pain.

"If he was going to kill us, he would be armed. He wouldn't stand next to me, take a blow for me without armor or weapons, and then find a way to slaughter the naga without losing any more of our fighters and bringing in fresh fish! Look at him; he is on the ground and bleeding out. We sent one of our scouts to him, he came back to offer help." The woman said defending him.

"Kevin you speak of? He would befriend a snail!"

"He is my husband and I will not stand will you insult him!" The woman said and drew her sword. The man drew his sword and shield and the two began to face off.

"May I say my peace? You've just lost fighters in the previous battle; killing each other will decrease your forces and create more dissention. My first piece of advice is having everybody lower their weapons among your ranks. My second piece of advice is to gather the armor and weapons left on the battlefield and work on reinforcing your defenses." Herrior said calmly.

"Silence you overgrown cow! I will deal with you later!" The man said. The woman put her sword down and glared at the man.

"You challenge me, and now you are lowering your weapon? So be it." The man said and charged towards the woman.

Kevin shot an arrow out from on top of the surrounding wall and it crashed against his leader's helmet. He stopped and looked up at Kevin.

"Listen to the tauren. I have heard his words, and he has kept his word in returning to us. He fought beside us and may very well die because of his wound. He has fixed our problem of the orcs attacking us; he has helped us secure the south side and has offered ideas besides squabbling among ourselves. Our weapons are breaking, as well as our armor. Our family's bellies go hungry and he has provided food. He came alone; they accepted me alone and sent me back with more armor and weapons. He came unarmed and saved some of our fighters. Does he look like a threat?" Kevin asked walking down the stone stairs.

"He is a tauren! I will kill him myself! We don't need his filth and disease in our town. He probably has ticks and fleas in his fur!" The man yelled back.

"I will stay outside of your walls if you wish. I have merely come to offer our help. I will leave immediately if you wish." Herrior said.

"To assemble an army to come back?"

"We overthrow the orcs, if we wanted to overthrow you we would have come in force, not a single fighter unarmed." Herrior said back.

"He stays!" The woman said raising her sword again.

"Fine! But he stays in your house and when you have your throat slit in the night and devours your young we will see who is right!" The man screamed and then walked back into the castle.

"I do not eat humans. I eat fish, wildlife, grass, and grains provided by the ground, but during my stay you do not have to feed me. I will sleep outside of the walls and help guard the walls from there. During the next two days, or whenever you choose to have me leave, my mission is to attempt to form a pact between our people against a common enemy. If any of you feel that we cannot form a pact, I shall leave at once." Herrior said.

"Well, seems as though our self-appointed King is not very happy with you." The leader of the army said. "But I am happy to have you, as are many others. Turning his heart seems impossible, and I fear for your life. You should probably leave."

Herrior nodded and got up to leave.

"Just like that?" The woman asked. She looked around at everybody looking at Herrior.

"I'm a man of my word. I am a fighter and I follow the code. I have brought more harm than good. We do have an army, and we will help you – you all have my word as a fighter. However, I will not stay if I am asked to leave." Herrior said.

"This is stupid." The woman said and walked over to a wooden box. She opened the crate, pulled out a red potion and threw it over to Herrior.

"What are you doing?" A man asked frantically.

"Saving our asses! Where are our reinforcements? How many of you have lost loved ones? How many of you are sending your children into battle that can barely lift a sword? How much longer do you think we can last here? There are eight-year olds on the walls firing arrows. Look around people! We went to them in desperation! They came back, armed my husband for his journey back, and now we spit on him and mock him? Tauren drink the potion and heal your body."

Herrior drank it, and instantly felt the healing affects surge through his body.

"I will not drink anymore. If I fall in combat, then so be it. However, I do not run from combat, and if all I have are rocks and sticks, I will fight with those. Now then, let me speak my peace, if you do not like my proposal than I will leave. We have a common enemy – Deathwing. His forces are amassing and everybody knows that. He has killed many of our people as well as yours. Together we can gather more information and launch strategic attacks – not right away because your armies need rest and to be able to rebuild your defenses and weapons. Many of you are scared, I can tell it in your eyes just by looking at you. You are scared of me. You are also scared about the constant attacks and by the enemy that – even with both of our forces combined – I doubt we'll be able to kill the dragon. However, as it was reported to us, he frequents this area. I would like to know why. If he is raising young, then let's destroy them – disguised as his followers. Betrayed by his followers, he will become enraged and kill his entire operation going on. A full onslaught will get all of us killed; however, trickery will turn his armies against him. I do not have a plan, but I have no doubt we can devise something. If nothing else, we can reinforce your fortress, and begin building tunnels. Store food, kill the dwarfs and trolls that harass you, find out where the naga is coming from, and kill them. Possibly even build some catapults, launch a series of attacks from known troll bases against Deathwing's forces. Have them fight each other and keep them off from your backs for a while. I have said my peace. I look upon all of you and see a sparkle of hope in your eyes. The question is can I do what I promise? We will do what we can. We have a vested interest in this as well. Our races have joined in the past to overcome impossible obstacles. I have no doubt that you have prejudices against us as the same we do against you. Nevertheless, I come to you unarmed, and without armor. I fight by your side, and sit here while my life was draining from me and all of your faces mock me. You need healers. I will send for some. Many of you are sick we will heal you. We have strong backs and the senses of fighters. We can help, or we can squabble among each other as both of us are attacked. We have killed the orcs that you asked us to, and lost a great number of fighters. We did as you asked; now I ask of you to trust us. If you cannot, then I will leave. You leave our people alone, we will leave yours alone, and we will watch your city fall and hear your people scream in death. We are rebuilding our fortress, arming our fighters and sending out our scouts. I have no doubt that we have engaged several enemies in this land, and began accumulating food. When was the last time you left your walls to collect food? To collect wood? Look at these children around their mother by the fire; they shiver not in cold, but in illness and hunger. I have spoken my peace and I will leave the gates and attempt to catch some fish north of here. Come to when all of you have an answer." Herrior said. He opened the gates and left.

Herrior began walking north along the wall and heard the instant commotion among the people. Herrior let out a smile because he knew what the result would be. In the meantime, he was hungry.

Herrior entered the water as he heard a large group of people walking up to him. He washed his wound and began looking for sea life as if he was completely oblivious to them approaching. He dove his head underwater and saw several different types of seaweed growing, small fish – nothing of any significance, and began to further out.

He swam to a drop off, and saw several groups of larger fish swimming in pools, eels among rocks, and further down was were the sharks and larger fish were. He surfaced and heard the calling of the alliance from the shore. Herrior turned around surprised and said, "There are schools of fish here. Further down there are larger fish that could sustain dozens of your people."

"Come back to us. We want your help." Their King said.

"Alright" Herrior called out and began to swim to shore.

"Dangle a pretty toy in front of a baby, they instantly reach for it." Herrior thought in his mind as he swam.

"If you do not have fishing poles, I would suggest spear fishing. Your bows are too valuable to be used in water. It is unsafe to go by yourself, I would suggest at least three or more. Some of the plant life I recognize and if you have any types of nets it would help as well." Herrior said sealing the deal.

"What do you purpose?" The King asked.

"What is it that you need? From what I saw you need healing, food, supplies, and additional fighters. I will return to our fortress and begin sending supplies. I want safe passage to and from our bases. I do not want them to be slaughtered and their heads impaled on stakes. In exchange, you give us knowledge of this land. The more we know, the more we help you, the stronger we are. Obviously, there are secrets among our people. Nobody will ask about these. You have yours and we have ours, and we will respect that. If the rest of the alliance knows that you were helped, they will probably kill every last one of you. I suggest having a possible meeting point." Herrior said and waited to be interrupted.

The King laughed sarcastically and said, "They left us here to die. What of your people? If they know you are working with us?"

"Our leaders suggested the idea." Herrior said. The King looked at him untrusting.

"We know when we are out-numbered. We know when there is a foe we cannot defeat, and we look for every advantage we can get. Killing you is not logical. You know the lands better than we do, and since you have not attacked us – we have no reason to attack back. This is a new land with new beginnings." Herrior walked to the King with his hand outstretched. "To new beginnings?"

The King walked forward and embraced his hand. "To new beginnings."

"I will send my people immediately to help. In the mean time, we will escort our people and supplies to ensure they are safe, but with forces small enough to not intimidate you. Let our bonds grow slowly. Our guards will stop a distance from your walls as our supplies are delivered. I do not expect our people to be attacked, nor will we attack yours. We do have trolls among our fighters, but you will know that they are different – as you have dwarfs among your group, but we will know the difference as well. Does this sound reasonable?" Herrior asked.

"It does. But the moment you raise a weapon to my people, we will be at war – is that understood?" The King asked back.

"The same goes for my people as well. However, you will see in time that they will fight beside you. I bid you farewell." Herrior said and walked away. He felt the eyes peering at him as he walked out of distance and eventually back into the newly reinforced fortress. It looked like it could withstand any attack, even from the dragons in the land.

Herrior entered the fortress and immediately grabbed a bucket of water and poured it over his body.

"You are wounded, shall we launch our attacks?" One of the leaders asked.

"No, they will end up killing themselves. Bunch of undisciplined excuse for fighters; some of them think logically and some of them are just idiots." Herrior said setting the bucket back down. "Did I get their stench of from me?"

"So what is the plan?" The same leader asked.

"I've made a pact with them. They need healers, food, and supplies. I will lead every mission myself. However, I want the lowest grade armor and weapons we have. They are fighting with swords and armor older than ours and I do not want to draw attention to us with our latest armor." Herrior said.

"Speaking of, we sent the plans and ore that we found to Tranquil. Our blacksmiths and engineers are producing them right now. The orcs had the advantage of better armor, weapons, and this fortress – but our parties slaughtered them."

"Same as the alliance. People squabble for power, distrust each other, and do not have coordinated attacks. I wish I lead my group in the assault against the orcs, however I'm sure several distractions, and explosives were used." Herrior said.

"I'll tell you all about it tonight." The female troll leader said with a smile. "So you are going back then?"

"Yes. How soon can we have the supplies gathered? I want to uphold my end of the bargain and return to them as soon as I can." Herrior said.

"Are we still planning on killing them?"

"All but the Necromancers; they are to be tortured." Herrior said.

"Did the King say we could torture the rest as well?" The troll said with a smile.

"He just said we had to kill them. There are several methods to kill somebody I believe." Herrior said smiling back at her.

"I know of a couple..." The troll said back with a gleam in her eye. She turned around and began shouting out orders. Herrior was loaded up with supplies, and lead a group back several hours later.

In Tranquil, the King was talking to several of his ambassadors. They were discussing their next plan of action and the new blue prints that they had received. Suddenly Dan walked into the throne room.

"My King, I need to speak with you in private." Dan demanded.

"I should have you jailed! Where have you been? We are in the middle of discussions and you dare intrude upon us as if you belong here?" The King snapped back. Dan held up his hand and instantly everybody, except for the King and Queen were thrown out of the room in mere seconds.

"I said we need to talk in private." Dan said again in the same tone. The King rose for his throne and shot an enormous blast of white magic at Dan. The spell stopped a foot from him and dissolved into the air. Dan held out his hand and drained the King of all of his powers within seconds. He fell to the floor in shock; he quickly looked up at Dan and asked what his intentions were.

"We need to talk in private." Dan repeated himself.

"If you are here to assassinate me, give me the honor of dying in my city." The King said rising to his feet.

"I have no intention of assassinating you. I am loyal to you and Tranquil, but there are several matters that need to be addressed immediately. Your powers will be returned to you, and then you can have me executed. However if we do not speak privately, this entire town will be destroyed within the next couple of days. Please, let us talk in private." Dan said again.

"My Queen, it seems as though I am going to go away for awhile." The King said in an untrusting voice.

"Dan, is either one of us going to die today?" The Queen asked calmly.

"My Queen, I cannot speak of such things to you and I do not wish to dishonor you by not answering your question. Can you please open a portal for us so that the King and I can speak privately?" Dan asked.

The Queen looked up at her husband. He looked over to her and nodded. The Queen stood up and ripped open a portal in the air.

"He will return within the hour unharmed, you have my word." Dan said and walked through the portal.

The King let out a sigh and followed behind him.

Dan and the King were standing on a floating rock in the middle of space. The air was thin, and breathing was hard. There were no animals, only vegetation.

"You will die within the hour if I am not returned – even if I don't have my powers." The King said.

Dan dropped his swords, and took off all of his armor. "It is not for anybody to determine when somebody will die or not. I stand before you naked. If I return your powers now, you will kill me within a second and all hope of our future will be lost."

"You have crossed the line Dan. I don't care if you are the most powerful time stopper that we have ever seen, this is treason!" The King yelled.

"How many rapes occurred in Tranquil in the last week? Forty-two. How many people were taken out of Tranquil and were beaten viciously, healed, and then brought back in? Three thousand. How many of your people are smuggling food and gold out of Tranquil and selling them to the alliance? Seventy two. How many times have you made agreements with our enemies in order to obtain new powers, weapons, and armor for our fighters? Many, many times. Crimes are committed all the time in Tranquil, including you!" Dan said in a stern voice.

"Impossible! How do you know of such things?" The King asked. Dan held up his hand and an image appeared above it of the King making deals with the alliance and other enemies in exchange for women to be raped, children to be sold into slavery, and gold to be plundered. Imagines appeared continued to flash every twenty seconds or so. Several minutes passed until the King yelled, "That's enough!"

"I am not here to bring judgment upon you. You're intentions, as devious as they were, was to ultimately bolster our forces and save countless lives. Your heart aches because of your actions and you have sought forgiveness for it. I begged, I pleaded with the people I spoke with to spare your life. I was on my knees crying and asking to give you another chance. My King, your life was put in my hands. I cannot say where I was, because I do not know. I also cannot say whom I was talking to, because again I do not know. The same voices that have been coming in my head were the same ones that spoke aloud to me. Nobody else needs to know what you did, and my mind has been further protected so that nobody else can access it." Dan said pausing to gauge his reaction.

"What do you want?" The King asked.

"Nothing." Dan said back.

A moment passed with both of them waiting for the next one to speak. Dan eventually broke the silence.

"My King, as I have said before I am loyal to you and Tranquil. Do you believe me when I say this?"

"I do. I have no idea how you got this information, or what powers you have that can drain mine. However you appear to have the powers to read my mind and have the power to blackmail me." The King said still uncertain of the situation.

Dan held his hand back up again and another window opened. The King watched as many of his people in Tranquil did as Dan said. Rapes were occurring; people were in fact being beaten to near death, yelled at, and spit on. He also saw his own citizens stealing from his treasury, asking for a portal and selling the gold for sex and power.

"If I can read your mind, then you know all of this is going on." Dan said as the projected images flashed from one scene to another.

"I do not! I will personally kill each and every one of them!" The King yelled at the images flashing.

"Is that so different from what you have done?" Dan asked.

The King turned to Dan and was ready to unload on him in anger but something inside of him stopped it. The King's heart sunk as he turned to watch the images continue to flash different scenes.

"Is all of that happening right now?" The King asked.

"Yes." Dan replied.

"What have I done…?" The King said to himself. He fell to his knees and his body began to shake.

"In Herrior's group, I know nothing of this sort has been happening. I did the same thing you are doing when I was shown these images myself. I cried and cried, but I continued to beg for your life and to keep Tranquil safe. So you can see the importance of why I needed to speak with you alone. Your own Queen does not need to know this, and if word got out in Tranquil there would be unrest among your people. The reason for the urgency is there is going to be an attempt on your life tonight. Tomorrow a separate group will attempt to poison your Queen. There are many people attempting to overthrown your throne and rule Tranquil. The power it gives off is overwhelmingly tempting to people to leak to our enemies. The betrayers will be given crumbles of bread while the enemies kill everybody that they know. Your guards, fighters, ambassadors, citizens – even your engineers and blacksmiths are designing their items to fail in combat or to inject poison into our fighters." Dan said.

"No…I would have picked up on this. Our banshees and ambassadors…this is impossible." The King said in disbelief.

"Unless a banshee enters a person's head and scans all of their thoughts, they can only read the thoughts generated at the time. There are millions of citizens, and only several dozen banshees – and even they need to rest. Many of your ambassadors do not know. This is the information I begged and pleaded for." Dan said and instantly a burst of power left his body. The King's powers were restored, but the King just looked at the ground in disbelief.

"I am defenseless now, and I do not know how long it's been. My lungs are burning and I will probably die soon. But in my death you will know what is happening and have a chance to save Tranquil." Dan said.

"Gather your armor and weapons." The King said and stood to his feet. He ripped open another portal and stepped through as Dan quickly put his armor back on.

"This is an old arena. Many battles were fought here, however not the kind where people paid to watch. Groups would gather and slaughter each other within these walls. Demonic controlled groups gathered to bolster their forces. The echoes of the past could still be heard once in awhile." The King said walking away.

"I have no interest in history. My King if I had not continued to experiment with my time stopping powers, the group would never have contacted me and given me this information. They gave me a set of rules to go by because their enemies were being attracted by what I was doing. I said I would follow the rules, but then they went on to explain the rest of this information to me. If we don't act soon, your city, your life – everything will be in jeopardy." Dan said.

The King let out a sigh and looked around. "For every sin there is a consequence – even if you ask for forgiveness. Perhaps I should pay for them. I will appoint another King to rule in my place, hopefully one better than myself."

"You made mistakes, I made mistakes, and everybody makes mistakes. Are you going to appoint another ruler, only to have him or her overthrown as well? My King, forgive me for saying this, but grow a pair of balls and quit wallowing in self-pity. You are a good King. We know what is happening now, and what will happen. Millions of people, and generations to come are counting on you. All that we fought for will be for nothing." Dan said ready to continue his speech.

"That's enough." The King said softly. "You do realize that I could kill you for everything you just said."

"Order me to kill myself." Dan said.

"It's not your time to die, is it?" The King asked turning around.

Dan shrugged.

"No, it isn't. I can tell by your loyalty and honor that you would kill yourself." The King said. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I'm mortal, just like everybody else. Sometimes I forget that. I'm no better than anybody else. Tranquil needs to be restored, and I need to do it – starting with myself. No more deals. No more bargains will be made for better powers. I did it out of fear."

"It's understandable. If we are fighting, another group and they are stronger than we are, and if we know of a way to even the odds then why not take it. But my King, give our people chances to experiment. Let them develop their own abilities. They share information with each other now, but it's mostly stories. Have faith in our people, and faith in their abilities." Dan said.

"Our?" The King said looking at him with a smile.

"Name one person in Tranquil I would not die for. I consider all of them family. If you wish I will use a different word." Dan said.

"No, 'our' is fine. That word just caught me off guard. It's not my city, it's our city. Moreover, our city needs to know what is happening. Do you think Mohania is busy tonight?" The King asked still smiling at him.

Herrior arrived back at the alliance fortress and as promised, the guards escorting them remained one hundred yards from the fortress as Herrior and the healers approached the fortress. It was quiet, and every defensive person was on the walls watching their every move.

"Good afternoon." Herrior smiled as he held out his hand and the healers behind him stopped. "Lovely weather we are having. I trust all is well?"

"Stand your ground tauren!" A commander yelled down from the walls. Immediately they heard voices begin to clash with each other from inside. Yelling and swearing at each other erupted. Herrior sat on the ground with his huge bags of supplies he brought as the healers behind him did the same.

"Let him in! My child is going to die, and so far you haven't brought us anything but fear!" A woman yelled. The crowds erupted again in anger and the bitterness between each other ran deeper.

Herrior took a handful of grass and sniffed it. It smelled like normal grass as he casually tossed it away. He then started looking around and pointing out different features in the woods to the healers. They struck up a mild conversation while the alliance continued to fight among themselves.

"We made a deal tauren! We greatly outnumber you and the people you brought. You come armed this time that was not part of the agreement!" The commander said.

"These forests are full of enemies, and if I am to fight side by side with you again against the naga, I would prefer not to get slashed across the chest again. If it intimidates you, I will leave my armor and weapons here as you lay down your arms as well." Herrior said.

"Not a chance!"

"Very well, we will leave then." Herrior said beginning to stand to his feet. The sounds of fighting suddenly broke out inside of the fortress. Some of them were begging him to come in; many of them insulted the people coxing him to come in. Many death threats were passed back and forth. Herrior turned his back and started walking away. He motioned for the healers to go in front of him and to hurry away. If a deal was to be settled on, it was going to be with Herrior. Also, if a battle was going to start – Herrior would be the first to engage them, giving the healers a chance to run away.

"We made a deal and now you walk away from us? Typical for your kind." The commander yelled out.

"So we are allowed in then?" Herrior asked turning around.

"Leave your armor and weapons, we keep ours and send your guards away." The commander yelled out.

"I wear nothing underneath my armor, nor do our healers. Shall we come in naked and expose ourselves to your people? I have followed our agreement and have come back, not in force, but as agreed upon." Herrior said.

"We never agreed to have you come back armed!"

"What do you purpose then? Do you wish for all of us to walk naked among you? I thought we had trust built up, not this constant bitterness still?" Herrior asked.

The commander let out a frustrated sigh.

"I will send the guards away, but there are only two of them, myself, and the healers. Do you really think we would attack you with just this small of a force? I have done exactly as I stated I would; now you would turn your backs on me and your people." Herrior said.

"I am protecting my people!" The commander screamed as the people started hurling insults at him again.

"Fine! Let them in! But I want every guard we have ready to strike them down when they attack us!" The commander yelled out to satisfy the people.

Herrior motioned for him and the healers to advance towards the doors. They walked in and dozens of people immediately swarmed around him, begging for his help.

"Get away from the flea ridden tauren! You will heal our royalty first, and then our fighters. All of the supplies you brought will be confiscated and you will then be sent away." The commander said approaching him with several of his guards in close formation.

Herrior casually looked around, not the least bit intimidated. "I count eight children and three elders that need immediate healing, would you have us turn our backs on them?"

"You will not say another word! I have suppressed the uprising and I will continue to do so. Those who choose not to fight with us are not our problem. If we run out of shields, we will use them to deflect arrows." The commander said in a sly voice. He turned to where Herrior was looking and screamed, "Get back to work or you will join them!" The commander yelled pointing to Kevin and his wife impaled on spikes on south side of the fortress. Herrior was having a very hard time controlling his anger.

"Now that we have an understanding, I will bring out our royalty and guards but we will choose which food you are to sample before we seize it from you. You have no doubt poisoned the food." The commander said and then summoned his King and advisors.

"The lying disease-filled tauren has returned with his healers and supplies." The commander said.

"We have had much trouble among our ranks because of you." The King said to him from a distance.

"Perhaps negotiations were a bad idea. We will fulfill our part of the bargain and then leave." Herrior said keeping calm.

"The naga attacks have stopped, and fishing has increased. The Ettiens and ogres have not ventured this way. The trolls and dwarfs of this area have been spotted moving locations within the woods. We have not seen any dragon activity. You wanted information and you have it, now heal us, leave your supplies, and be gone from our site." The King said.

"So be it." Herrior said letting down the bags of supplies and ordered the healers to line up and begin to heal their soldiers.

Afterwards Herrior and his healers left in silence as they met back up with the guards and began their journey back. Herrior quickly told everybody not to say a word until they got back.

Once inside of their fortress, the troll leader had ordered a solid wall be constructed. "This is for you Herrior."

Herrior let out a battle cry as he repeatedly began to slam his fists against it until his armor had cracked and his hands bleed. After he finished getting the anger out of his system, he fell to his knees.

"Any particular person we should save for you to slowly kill?" The troll asked.

Herrior looked up at her with fierce anger and frustration in his eyes.

"I will make a note of it. Somebody come heal him and repair his armor." The troll called out.

Back in Tranquil, nightfall came and just as Dan had said, the assassins ventured into the King's newly built fortress. It was deserted. The only voices that could be heard was the King and Queen talking in the distance. The three of them readied their weapons and quietly slipped through the chambers. Dozens of guards moved to block the entrance from their escape.

"Damn it, I am one sexy beast!" The King said looking over his body.

"Yes you are my King, but not as sexy as the undead. Also Kendall is prettier than I am…hmmff…" The Queen said. She them mumbled some quiet words and then said aloud, "You know I am tired and wish to sleep quickly."

"Yes, let us both fall asleep quickly." The King said as both of them crawled into bed and instantly began to snore.

The assassins waited until they were convinced that they were sound asleep, crept though the hallway, and opened the unlocked and slightly ajar door to their private chambers. The head assassin quickly gave the orders to spread out. One of them went over to the Queen and stood, one guarded the door, and the main one pulled out an enormous battle-axe over his head and brought it down on the King's throat. It instantly severed it and the head rolled to the ground.

"My Queen, it seems a bit drafty in here." The King's head said on the floor, his eyes still closed. The assassin immediately jumped back in surprise.

"It's probably because your head fell off again hun. Just put it back on and go back to sleep." The Queen said casually. The King's body casually walked out of bed, put his head back on, and laid back down as if nothing happened. The assassins looked at each other and jumped quickly on the bed, both slashing and hacking at the King and Queen. The illusions of the King and Queen faded and the assassins panicked. The door to the chamber slammed shut as the real King produced a brilliant light. It showed dozens of his guards, Dan, Mohania and several banshees in the room.

"You do know that you can talk to me whenever, but as a general rule – attempting to assassinate myself and my Queen isn't tolerated. Oh, and also all of Tranquil has been watching." The King said pointing to a portal on the sidewall. None of the would-be assassins noticed it. The three of them attempted to launch themselves at the King, but the King blasted them to oblivion before they could even leave the bed. A banshee quickly casted a spell that burned up the rest of the blood and pieces of flesh that still remained.

The King walked over to address the people of Tranquil. "I know what's been going on. Many things have been brought to my attention. I know about the rapes, murders, treason within our city. I have sinned as well and I am paying my atonement for it. If you wish to admit your crimes with me and discuss your punishment, I will judge fairly. If not, the same fate awaits you. This city is powerful because of all of us working together. I will show the rest of Tranquil what is happening. Sleep soundly everybody, new rules are being implemented, and our city will live up to its name once again. The rest of you, and you know who you are, but more importantly I know who you are, will be dealt with in the morning. All of our portals are closed until further notice, and our Chronomancers will not open them for anybody. Good night my friends." The King said and closed the portals.

"Was the beginning of that really necessary Mohania?" The King turned around and smiled at him.

"Yes…" Mohania said nodding with a smile.

"How does Herrior put up with you?" The King chuckled as he ordered everybody back to their posts.

The next morning the Queen casually walked up the house where the woman was baking bread with the fatal poison in it. The Queen knocked on the door and then opened it. "Hello? Is anybody home?"

The female tauren quickly turned around in surprise and quickly tried to hide what she was doing.

"Ah, I love what you did with the place. I see you have a floor, ceiling, walls…yes it looks nice. Oh may, heavens to bitsy what is that pleasant aroma filling the air?" The Queen asked.

"I was baking some bread for you. It's a new recipe…" The tauren said looking panicked.

"Ah, I am honored. Don't worry I'm sure it will taste great." The Queen said moving towards her and pushing her out of the way.

"Oh, juniper seeds. These are filled with enough toxins to kill a full grown dragon. I am flattered that you would make this just for me! However, I am not one to judge, let me see what it tastes like." The Queen said grabbing both loafs of bread and pushing them down her throat without chewing – immediately followed by a burst of fire, incinerating the bread.

Afterwards the Queen turned to the tauren and said, "Not bad, I mean aside from the fact that you tried to kill me. It probably could have been cooked a little longer."

The tauren stared at her in shock. The Queen turned into Mohania and he grabbed her and threw her outside. Just like the night before, the King and Queen looked down at her with dozens of guards, and Dan standing beside the King.

"Doing a little baking hun?" The Queen asked firmly.

"I…he's lying! The undead cannot be trusted!" The woman tauren said quickly. The Queen pointed up and it showed the image of exactly what happened. The tauren looked back at the Queen and she blasted her to pieces before the tauren could plead her case.

"This is fun…who are we going to kill next?" Mohania said with a grin.

The King looked into the portal that was being projected all of Tranquil. "We have a busy schedule today. Another attempted assassination has been dealt with. Nobody has come forward to admit what they did, or are doing is wrong. Unless they do so, we have many more people that we are going to visit." Then he closed the portal.

"If you tell them ahead of time, then the element of confusion and the smell of death won't come afterwards." Mohania said sounding upset.

"It may take several more deaths before people start admitting what they did." The King said.

"Then I can torture them?" Mohania said sounding more upbeat.

The King laughed and said they needed to go to the engineering section next.

Several goblins began to scramble back to their homes, leaving their experiments and jobs immediately after they saw what happened. They packed all of their items into several bags and all met up in one of their houses.

"Ok, let me get this thing fired up and we will be out of here. I'm not certain where this portal will take us, but anywhere but here is safer." A male goblin said frantically as he tried to power up his machine.

"Hurry up!" A female goblin said frantically. The machine began to make a humming sound. Seconds later, it roared to life as a portal opened and they all quickly ran through it. To their surprise, they ran into the King on the other side as the portal closed.

"Well, this was certainly…expected." The King said looking down at them. "Dan, I did say no portals didn't I?"

"Yes you did." Dan said back.

"Hmm…I wonder what the sudden urge is for these goblins to leave?" The King asked sarcastically.

Mohania casted a spell and encased all of them in a greenish circle and lifted them off from the ground. He turned them upside down and shook them vigorously. Several different types of their newly produced technology fell out as well as many precious gems.

"Can I eat them now?" Mohania asked.

"Hold on, perhaps there is a logical explanation for them suddenly leaving their stations, grabbing all of their possessions, our latest gizmos, and wanting to leave Tranquil as quick as they can." The King said awaiting an answer. Once again, the image of what was happening was broadcasted all over Tranquil.

"It was his idea!" The female goblin suddenly spoke up.

"Ah, and he forced you to come along and betray our city? That makes sense. So where are these items going?" The King asked.

"We were going to sell them, make a profit on the side, and return the money to Tranquil." A male goblin spoke up.

"Selling them to the alliance doesn't count. Our technology stays within our city. You may leave the city and offer goods in exchange for technology, but not the other way around. But – you don't sell them to our enemies…" The King said softly. The King then threw his hand forward and blasted all of the goblins into tiny little pieces.

"Rats…there's nothing left to eat." Mohania said. Once again, the King turned to the portal that was being shown all over Tranquil. "None of you have come forward yet. Treason and assassinations have been dealt with. However, the day is still young and, isn't it surprising that we know exactly who has been breaking our laws and anticipated their next move? Perhaps it's just coincidence? These crimes will stop today, and justice will be dealt with those who think they can get away with these crimes. Tranquil will once again be the city of peace and love and prosperity. Who knows, I could be knocking on your door next." The King said and closed the portal. Almost immediately, the ambassadors following him around had their hearthstones going off.

"Hmm…I wonder what all the commotion could be about." The King asked casually. The rest of the day was filled with stories of victims and people confessing to what they did. The ambassadors summoned all of them and the people spoke with the King one at a time. Mohania never got a chance to eat anybody that day. The punishments were much more lenient, but at the end of the day, the jails were filled and counseling the abused had begun. The next day multiple executions were planned, but not for everybody.

Herrior was speaking with the leaders in the fortress, unsure of their next move. It was obvious the alliance couldn't be trusted and the thoughts of slaughtering their leaders to free the people of their tyranny came up often. It was well into the night and most of their people in the fortress were sleeping. Just the guards rotating their shifts moved.

"I could take any four people in this fortress and over-throw their fortress!" A leader said.

"Given enough time, it'll fall by itself. So we have several options, but our main contacts currently have a stake shoved up their ass and are coughing out wood. It pisses me off, all they wanted was help! They wanted to live or die trying, and their own people turned on them. Use their young and old as shields? I swear I will rip that commander limb from limb. They have no respect for their people! Their King is a coward, and I will break every bone in that man's body!" Herrior said obviously upset.

"We've already agreed that the commander is yours, however the King is whoever gets to him first. So we have one more day to get more information before we slaughter them. None of us knows the powers of a necromancer and if they have banshees made, they have a force that is to be reckoned with. We can resist the control of them, but it takes time. By the time we have repelled their possessions, we'll probably have a sword in our belly. It could easily turn the tides against us. Their guards seem to be as efficient as ours are. Launching a full-scale attack from the north will be expected, unless we come from the oceans on the east and south side. The problem being the naga from the south, and the unknown variable of attacking from the west." The troll leader said.

"The west is the most logical. Smashing through a wooden gate is easier than smashing through stone. That side is the least protected, and they don't anticipate an attack from there. I never have seen any trolls, dwarfs, or dragons – but I do not believe Kevin lied to us. I can attempt further negotiations, but I doubt if it would do any good. Perhaps if we lead several of our parties in full battle gear would change their minds." Herrior said.

"It would cause a battle instantly. If your party was with you, and one of them heard the mocks and insults against you, the guards would begin dropping like flies. Same with my group and anybody else's group. You have the patience of a saint." A leader said.

"I have a broken gauntlet, a partially destroyed stone wall, and had to have extensive healing done to my hand. I wouldn't say that." Herrior said with a smile. "But I agree, if the King was here and an alliance spoke ill of him, we would all attack first and rip their tongue from their mouth – after we severe their head. Many of them within the walls hate their living conditions, however the rebellion was crushed. We could earn their trust easily, however they wouldn't be of any use to us. Also if they have created banshee's they would detect their intentions and kill them."

"If they had banshees, why aren't they using them?" The female troll asked. "You have one in your group and you would be able to identify one easier than the rest of us. I believe the fact that they don't have healers…why didn't they possess ours, slaughter you, or hold you hostage for more supplies? That puzzles me."

"Good luck taking me hostage…" Herrior said with a smirk. "But you bring up a valid point. Maybe it takes time to make one, and then harness control over it – I have no idea. Lindel hasn't spoken of how she was created or controlled. It was brutal on her, as I imagine it is for all banshees. However, they are able to turn invisible. I did not see any or sense anybody scanning my mind. They cannot read your mind unless they actually enter your body; they can only sense your thoughts and intentions – unless they are around you for a while, to be honest I'm not sure. Should we assume if they have raised banshees that they are our enemies as well?"

The leaders looked at Herrior and then looked away and sighed.

"We will attack anything that attacks us. That's always been the rule. We have killed our kind before – banshee or not. Our orders are to obtain information, kill everybody, recover the necromancers and that is what we should do." The troll said.

"Yes, that is our orders. Perhaps we don't have to carry it out in that order though. I suggest we kill their soldiers, interrogate their citizens about the area and the necromancers, and then kill them." Herrior said.

"Seems dishonorable."

Herrior nodded and said, "However we need information, and I don't anticipate their soldiers talking. Their royalty will be the first ones we drop as well as the commanders. I think that is the same attack strategy everybody is thinking. Unfortunately we all have spilled innocent blood on our hands before, this will be no different."

"My heart goes out to them; but orders are orders, whether they are slaughtering innocent children and their weakened and abused parents or not. Should we consult the King with this issue?"

"I thought of that as well, but hesitated to entertain that thought. He doesn't like us questioning his orders." Herrior replied back smiling.

"A group of humans approach from the south! Two hundred yards and closing. They don't appear armed, but it's hard to tell from this distance. I estimate seven of them!" A guard yelled out.

"Seems we have company coming. Shall we prepare an extra place for them at the dinner table?" The troll asked with a smile.

"I'll go meet them. Keep my seat warm for me." Herrior said getting up and leaving. Herrior put on his regular armor, equipped his shield and sword, and approached them.

"Stay right there." Herrior ordered as he sat beside an enormous tree. It provided some cover, but that wasn't his intention.

"We left, please take our children. We will go back and face the punishment but I cannot watch our children get slaughtered by a madman." A male voice yelled out.

"You have the wrong impression of us; we are here to kill all of you." Herrior said back.

"So kill us where we stand. I'd rather have us die by your hand than perish another minute in that camp."

"Were you followed?" Herrior asked quickly.

"No. Several more groups are going to attempt to leave at different times. We have no doubt some of us will be caught and killed on sight." The man said.

"Wait there for a moment." Herrior said as he heard something in the woods. Herrior senses turned toward the direction of the sound as his eyes and ears scanned back and forth. He sat motionless for several moments. He was certain he heard something, but his mind was playing tricks on him now. He had to fight off his thoughts and go with his instincts. He then did a quick three-sixty turn to take in his entire surroundings. He was too far the fortress to call for reinforcements, and to far from the ocean to use it as cover. He had his hearthstone, but he dared not use it. Even if there wasn't anything watching him, the alliance group could still be a trap.

Suddenly an arrow flew through the air and shattered against Herrior's breastplate. Herrior's first thought was, "Is that all you got?" as he dropped to the ground and rolled away behind a smaller tree.

"It's the trolls! Run!" The man yelled as an arrow flew into the side of his head.

"Idiot…" Herrior mumbled. Suddenly Herrior was faced with a choice, defend the alliance so he could kill them later, or let the trolls kill them as he ran away.

"Whatchu be doin' out pas' you bed time? You be givin' us a good sacrifice is what you be doin'!" A male troll said in laughter.

The alliance betrayers couldn't decide which way to run, most of them just laid down. Herrior closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration. "Can't get any information out of them if they are dead" Herrior thought and charged to intercept two male trolls that came out of the woods. They had skull necklaces, long unkempt hair, and bone piercings all over their body. Their bodies were covered with old voodoo symbols and had mere cloth covering their bodies. Herrior jumped into the air and landed between both of them, letting out a shockwave that knocked both of them down. Herrior immediately sliced one of them, and turned to slice the other one. With both of them incapacitated, he stood in a defensive formation with his shield in front of him and his sword to his side. The woods grew silent again, but Herrior doubted there was only two out there. Herrior occasionally kicked the trolls to have the pain spike up again, hoping to draw out more trolls.

"Please save us" a woman pleaded but was quickly silenced by Herrior. He continued to scan the woods but again saw nothing. He knew there were archers in the woods, but he couldn't see them. Herrior again reached down at the trolls cursing him and took another big slash at the other trolls leg. Still no reaction from the woods. Whoever was in the woods wasn't falling for the trap. Herrior plunged his sword into the almost bleed out troll, picked him and tossed him into the air. Herrior quickly spun around and slammed his shield into his body as it fell towards the ground. Enormous bone cracking sounds echoed through the night as the body flew against a tree and fell severely disfigured to the ground. He went back into his normal defensive position and began to scan the woods again.

"The alliance is scared of these trolls? Something isn't right." Herrior thought immediately. Then he thought of the man that the trolls were attacking and had an arrow fly into his skull. He slowly shook his head and realized that this probably wasn't the first time they were killed this way. He did a quick look around. The remaining alliance was on the ground. Some directly behind him, and others twenty yards either to the right or left of him. The children began to cry.

"Follow me quickly, or stay here and die." Herrior said in every direction. The alliance quickly ran behind him, but none of them were attacked as Herrior anticipated. He put his sword inside of his shield and picked up the other dying troll by the arm.

"Me arm mon! You be breaking it!" The troll yelled. Herrior put his arm on the ground, smashed it with his hoof, and then picked it back up as the trolled yelled in enormous pain. Still no reaction from the woods.

"They aren't as stupid as they appear." Herrior said and dragged the screaming troll the rest of the way back to their newly acquired fortress.

"Found this in the woods. I think its hurt." Herrior said and throw the troll twenty some feet in front of him. The troll howled in more pain as the leaders and some of the guards gathered around the troll.

"Not much left of him."

"I brought back what I could. His friend is in worse condition. I think I broke him in half. There are more in the woods, but they aren't stupid. These idiots behind me on the other hand are." Herrior said and turned around. "Piece of advice…when your enemy approaches and you have nothing to defend yourself – don't announce your presence…or you'll get a damn arrow in your head!"

"What type of weapons do they have?" The female troll asked.

"I got hit in the chest by some sort of arrow. It shattered against my armor, caused no pain at all. It has to be fairly strong though, because it killed one of their adult males. My guess is their weapons are fairly primitive. Also my guess is that our friends here are really stupid. However this makes it easier to interrogate them. I believe if we torture one of their children, any adult will tell us their life story." Herrior said.

"What? No…we trusted you…" A woman said.

"I made a pact with your King. Your King broke it. Your King represents your people and I represent my people. I fulfilled my end of the pact – I even went so far as to suggest to heal your sick and wounded, but your King wanted his army healed first – even though there was nothing wrong with them. The two people that befriended me were killed and put on display to any others who lead an uprising against your King. I was mocked, insulted, and lied to – and I'll be damned if I'm going to not take pity on you." Herrior said and walked away.

"Clever way to begin negotiations" the female troll whispered to herself.

"But…it was not us, we didn't do it. You heard them, they are forcing us to fight and we are going to be used as shields…and…" the same woman pleaded.

"And you have more on the way that will either be killed by us or by the trolls…blah blah blah…poor us… When you are done pissing and moaning I'll talk to you. For the time being I think you should be thanking us first of all for not out-right killing all of you and storming your fortress. Then you should be thanking me for saving your life right now, and then continuing thanking us for letting you live as long as you have. When the rest get here, if they aren't killed by the trolls – tie them all up and we'll drag their sorry asses back to the alliance fortress, the only thing you are good for is a bartering chip to get more information. But for now I have to go bathe. Apparently I have ticks in my fur and I'm disease ridden…" Herrior said walking out of ear shot and jumping into the water.

Herrior casually swam around for awhile as he heard the alliance prisoners spill their guts. They told the other leaders anything and everything. The smallest rumor to what they actually saw with their own eyes. This went on for hours as the next batch of alliance traitors were rounded up by the guards and put beside the others.

Herrior got out of the water and walked towards them. "My how the pigs have squealed. Is that thing still alive?" Herrior asked looking at the troll.

"He's performing some sort of old burial death rite, or placing a curse on us – either way his cries and wails of pain have been soothing." The female troll said. She then turned to Herrior and filled him in on the information that the alliance so graciously provided.

"Wait…hold on, remember I'm a tauren. Go slow and use small words." Herrior said.

"Basically these dumbasses told us everything. Half of them want to fight Deathwing, the other half is holding on to hope that the alliance will come to their rescue and want to hold on to their ways. Guess which half we have."

"The kind that betrays their King, and will say anything to save their ass?" Herrior asked.

"Yup. However, none of them know of any necromancers in their camp. No screams of banshees, no chanting or strange dancing and singing. I'm not sure what to make of that." The female troll said.

"Did you try splitting open one of their heads and reading their brains?" Herrior asked as he drew his sword and walked over to the closest alliance.

"That we haven't tried. But we did receive a communication from our King." Herrior immediately spun around and had a scared look on his face.

"Nothing bad. He wanted an update and I said your hearthstone was probably underwater and you couldn't hear it." The troll said. Herrior quickly checked his pocket and pulled it out. A portal immediately opened open and he saw the King.

"My King, I'm sorry." Herrior started to say quickly.

"Did you get all of the ticks off from you?" The King asked with a smile.

"I did not hear the summons, I apologize. Do you wish for me to update you?" Herrior asked quickly.

"No, I've already been briefed. You have a delicate situation on your hands don't you? The alliance betrayers have proven their usefulness in information, but have also proven to be useless in anything else. Can you go kill that troll, he's annoying me." The King said. One of the tauren leaders walked over and crushed his skull with his giant hoof.

"Thank you. He was trying to summon some sort of god they worship to avenge himself. If something does show up I expect that it will be dealt with. No then, back to the subject matter on hand. My orders were to kill the alliance." The King said.

"It will be done as once." Herrior said.

"Hold on just a second. Remember what Dan did to the time stopper? The same plan might be useful here as well. I was told that all attempts to negotiate with them failed. So we will need to take them by force. Leave the ones that don't fight, but bring me the King's head. Kill all that fight you. New weapons and armaments will be sent to you shortly as well as several engineers to help with the diversions. Bring all who wish to surrender back here to this fortress, but make it look like the alliance fortress is still being used. Rig the place to blow up after one day. It'll throw Deathwing's forces off-guard, and I would be willing to bet he still thinks the orcs inhabit this one. I then want a couple of different groups to start sweeping the woods, kill anything that moves aggressively towards you. Wait a second…Mohania said that includes butterflies as well. He said you would know what that means. Anyways…and he said you are an ass." The King said and started to laugh.

"Is everything alright my King?" Herrior asked.

"If you mean foiling two different assassination attempts on myself and the Queen, stopping the trade of our technology with the alliance from our citizens and bringing several other brutal crimes to light – then yes, all is alright." The King said.

"Who did…how did they slip by our defenses…why?" Herrior asked in a confused state.

"Can't say, but let's just say that I see Dan now as like a son to me. He is royalty as far as I am concerned." The King said.

"You found him?" Herrior asked.

"You do not need to know the details." The King said glaring at him.

"I'm sorry my King. I am thankful you and the Queen are unharmed and our city is safe." Herrior said.

"You have no idea how close we came…anyways, I will send your group to assist you. Mohania, I already called him an ass! I want the King's head delivered to me, I want his soldiers killed, and I want the ones that surrender brought back unharmed. Is that understood?" The King asked.

"I understand." Herrior said.

"Take care my friend." The King said and closed the portal.

"Is Mohania your undead warlock?" The female troll leader asked.

"Yes…" Herrior said frustrated as he put his hearthstone away.

"He sounds charming."

"Do you want him?" Herrior asked as they shared a laugh together.

A portal and Herrior's group came out and greeted him. Several other parties as well as townsfolk came as well.

"The King called you an ass!" Mohania said smiling.

"I'm sure that's going to be the highlight of your life. Lindel why are you here?" Herrior asked.

"The King ordered all of us to come." Lindel replied.

"It's good to see you again then." Herrior said and hugged her.

"So somebody got a promotion?" Herrior asked looking at Dan.

"I guess. It's nothing you wouldn't have done though. I'm just doing my job." Dan answered.

Herrior nodded and said, "Tomorrow we lay siege on the alliance fortress. Rest up and prepare for battle tomorrow."

"Can we start with them?" Mohania asked pointing to the dozens alliance that had arrived in their fortress.

"No, we are supposed to leave them unharmed. We need to gather up some food, shelter, and healing to these people." Herrior said as Icis and Skyka walked over to start healing them.

"Also, our King wants their King's head. The rest of his body he didn't say anything about. The necromancers are to be taken alive and tortured and interrogated…whichever comes first. The commander of their forces I get to kill. We also have a bet among us as to who gets to kill their King first. Without breaking formation during the initial attack, whoever kills him gets to present his head to our King first." Herrior said as the rest of the parties cheered.

"Do you want to lead this one?" The female troll asked.

"If nobody has any objections. I know the fortress better than anybody else does." Herrior stated. Nobody did.

"I'll come in from the north side as a distraction; everybody else will come out from the woods from the west. Other than that, standard fortress siege." Herrior said. The leaders nodded and returned to their parties to rest up for the night.

"We need to rest up as well. Is there anybody here not ready for battle?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, I'm ready for battle." Lindel said back smiling.

"I'm going to dig a hole and bury myself in dirt." Mohania said walking away.

"Herrior, what is a standard fortress siege?" Crystal asked.

Herrior bent down and drew a half circle. Then he drew a group of dots behind him in different sections. When he was done he looked up at her, and saw Dan, Crystal, Veliline, Icis and Julie all looking down at him.

"I've fought with you many times and forget you don't know. I apologize. The half circle in front is our tanks. Ranged pours their arrows and bullets right after we engage. They then break off and move back here to protect the rear as our melee fighters move up. Our healers and magic users alternate their positions back and forth within the group. If their low on magic, or are hurt, they move to the back and refreshed magic users come up. Same applies for melee or ranged attackers, if they are hurt they move towards the center – the same rotation. The job of the tanks is to fan out and create an impenetrable barrier for the groups. The heavy damage come from the front at first, and then is dispersed to meet the on slaughter of attackers. The tanks always call the attacks. This will be me, unless I tell somebody else to take command. Everybody will have their pets out. This siege I don't anticipate will take an entire day. There will be archers on top of the walls. Once they shoot its fair game for our ranged and magic users. I know they don't have any healers, and are going to fight with usual alliance tactics. Aim for the people that have fear in their eyes. Once several of them drop, their forces usually start to scatter. Stay within our circle and rotation, until the leader announces to break off and engage them. Except for your spells and commands to your pets, nobody says anything until we are told to break off, then everybody that has a battle cry fills the sky. Keep a straight face, look pissed off enough that it looks like you can killed everybody yourself. If somebody gets hurt of falls in combat, ignore them. That's the job of our healers. All of our people will constantly look for anything that will give us an advantage. Hunters will put freezing traps on stairs for example, or place dozens of snake traps next to the weapons depot. If anything looks explosive, shoot it. If there are soldiers pouring out of different doors, everybody will focus their attacks to do area of attacks where they are coming out. Any advantage we can get. Don't do your thing here Dan." Herrior ended. By the time Herrior was done talking the picture he drew in the sand was a completely obscured.

"Sounds like fun." Dan said looking up at him.

"Stay in the group, watch yourself, if you are hurt move back. If you are engaged in battle, others will come to help. It'll be easier once you see the formations move. If you are confused at first, the fighters next to you will help you. They will then whisper when you should move." Herrior said.

"Why stay quiet?" Crystal asked.

"It brings a degree of confusion. Their forces try to find our weak points and attack them which are our healers. Also if their commanders only here one or two voices, they can not anticipate what our next attack is going to be. Our tanks will be intimidating them and taunting them, that's their job. If an army comes running at you screaming and shouting, you know you have already won. Battles are won by strategy, order, and discipline. Numbers of fighters in an army mean nothing. The force of their magic means nothing. Every encounter we've ever had always reveals a weakness, every foe we've had has a weakness and we exploit it every chance we get." Herrior continued to explain.

"So how what does Trackolania do?" Dan asked.

"He's melee, he'll be attacking the same as the rest of the melee." Herrior answered.

"What do us bards do?" Strings asked knowing the question was going to come up next.

"You make yourself a human target." Herrior smiling back at him. "That's part of the confusion; they don't know what our powers are until we start using them. Strings will be slowing down the casting of their spells, or dominate soldier's minds, or do his area of affect attacks."

"All while being three sheets to the wind…" Strings said laughing.

"This will be good experience for everybody, now get some rest. I look forward to spilling some blood tomorrow." Herrior said. The five of them watched him walk away and sit next to a guard on top of their walls.

"The leader never sleeps the night before a battle. He relaxes his mind and body, but always tries to think of a new strategy and prays." Skyka said.

"He didn't do that when we were under the ground." Julie said back quickly.

"He was proving a point. He was building trust and teaching a lot of us lessons at the same time." Skyka replied.

It was silent for awhile when Dan broke the silence, "He really cares about us."

"Yes, but every leader does for their group. Let's get some sleep." Skyka said. They all left. The rest of the alliance were tended to and placed deep inside of their reclaimed fortress and made comfortable. The builders and engineers worked through the night fortifying their fortress.

The next day came and food was passed around. Herrior was talking to an ambassador in Tranquil. Mohania made his grand entrance by shooting one of his skeleton hands out of the dirt and slowly rising from the ground. This terrified many of the alliance as Skyka walked by and said, "Morning Hun, biscuits are over there."

"Can't let me have my moment can you?" Mohania asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Oh my how scary, an undead rising from the ground…" Skyka said and then took another bite as she walked outside of the fortress. She struck up a conversation with a tauren guard.

"Two more groups of alliance came in last night - Six in one, three in the last. They have probably figured out what is happening. Dozens of naga have come out of the sea way to the north of us. They seem to be collecting supplies and returning to the sea. None of them have even looked in this direction." The guard said.

"Wonder what they are up to?" Skyka asked as she finished her biscuit.

"Not sure, but we'll probably end up killing them eventually." The tauren replied with a smile.

"Probably" Skyka said with a smile and walked back inside.

An hour later they lined up for the assault. The guards and two parties were left in the fortress to protect it. The builders and engineers were working on some huge defensive mechanisms.

"There is some killing to do, and my blade is dry. Let's head out." Herrior said with a smile. Everybody let out a cheer as they headed out of the fortress.

Herrior took the lead as they walked in formation. Herrior walked towards the beach as everybody walked about thirty paced behind him about twenty feet in the woods. They could mask their sound from stepping on sticks and leafs, and be out of sight, but close enough to attack if needed.

Herrior walked to within one hundred yards of the fortress and was ordered to stop. He ignored the order as he counted the number of heads that were impaled last night.

"You will cease right now, or you die!" An alliance guard yelled out.

"Thirty four?" Herrior asked out loud.

The guard looked at him confused and called for his commander. The cocky alliance commander ran up the stairs and began to mock him.

"I have come to make a deal with you. Several of your pathetic people came crawling to us on their hands and knees in the middle of the night. They are still alive, but that depends on you." Herrior called out.

"You will return the betrayers or you will killed at this very moment!" The commander yelled out.

"No that's not the deal. I will return the betrayers in exchange for your King's head, the deaths of all of your fighters, and the surrender of your necromancers. Plus I will take my time gutting you." Herrior said.

All of the alliance began to laugh. Herrior walked around the fortress to the large wooden gate.

"If you are done amusing us, I will order your execution immediately. I do not have a tauren head on my wall yet. Yours is pretty ugly, but a trophy is a trophy." The commander said. Herrior then knocked on the door. This was followed by another burst of laughter.

"Let the large cow in. Prepare the chopping block. Put some hay at the end of it, when he bends over to eat it, chop his head off. Stupid taurens…" The commander said as the guards moved off from the walls and opened the enormous gates. The alliance guards were shocked to see hundreds of fighters behind Herrior. Herrior let out a smile and then ordered the charge.

The tanks rushed in and overwhelmed the front guards immediately. Before the alliance could form up, the ranged fighters in their group sent their arrows flying. The alliance started giving out orders and ran in different directions screaming. The formed their semi-circle as the all of the groups moved in unison and engaged any attackers that came near them. The tanks in the group began their taunting and mocking, followed by quick desperate lies of "Kill that naked alliance woman" and "Rain down arrows on those children". Many of the alliance fell for these lies and lowered their defenses as Herrior's group made short work of them and continued to move forward. The healers began tossing out heals, but it was after the confusion and the alliance weren't able to see who the healers were. Mohania lit people on fire, and then casted a fear spell, sending them running away. Strings started playing his dominating song and many alliance turned on their own. To add to the confusion the hunters threw their traps as Herrior said they would, as Crystal and Mohania summoned infernals from the sky and crashed into the ground. They rose up and began attacking the guards.

The alliance guards retreated back into the fortress as the tanks in Herrior's party advanced after them, slaughtering any that got in the way.

They turned several corridors until they came to a large room with the commander standing in front of his forces. They all had silver balls with a wick coming out of them.

"You attack us, we all die." The commander said.

"We don't want that, now do we?" Herrior asked with a smile. He ordered his troops slowly back out as he told Veliline to bring out the commander and for the rogues to advance.

"Bring me out?" The commander began to laugh when he was suddenly grabbed by a black beam of light and pulled towards Veliline. Herrior quickly disarmed him and punch him hard in the face.

"Put the commander back in the open area, each of you may break a single bone as he is moved back." Herrior said and threw his body backwards.

The rogues successfully carried out their plan. They launched a deadly attack against the remaining soldiers, ambushing them from behind and making short work of them.

"Go find the King, and remove his head from his neck!" Herrior ordered as everybody cheered and began to let out their battle cries as the entire fortress was rocked by their voices.

"Two powerful magic sources are coming from below us." Lindel said in Herrior's mind.

"Summon our group, we'll go investigate." Herrior said looking around and saw a series of stones that didn't match the rest. Herrior charged at it and smashed it with his shield. The hidden stone door shattered and the stones rolled down the stairs. Herrior ran down quickly to confront whatever was down there first.

"Welcome to our chambers." One of the necromancers said giving them a quick glance and then going back to reading his book. A little brown ball of smoke rolled up to Herrior and erupted, sending him flying backwards into the rest of his party.

"Unlike the feeble minded soldiers that you slaughtered, we had known you were coming and have many surprises for you." The other necromancer said walking out from behind another wall. Chains from the wall came to life and wrapped themselves around Herrior's group and pulled them towards the walls. Lindel passed through the chains easily as the others were working on it.

"Ah, a banshee. Glad to see you have returned. Unfortunately I wasn't the one to create you. You do realize you belong to the devil, don't you?" Lindel turned into her evil banshee form and shot forward a big burst of black sparkling light at the necromancer. He laughed and casually brushed it away.

"Next are you going to try to possess me? We create you and give you your powers. Countering your spells is mere child's play. Now then, shall I introduce you to somebody? He's full of anger and hatred. He was in love, about to be wed and then died. Sad story, but easier to bring him back and fuel his hatred. We have many others as well. So, have you ever fought your own king? Dozens of your own kind? Perhaps even somebody you loved?" The necromancer said as an image of Branzer walked from his body. Lindel gasped and took several steps back in shock.

"Oh my dear Lindel. Come with me and we were marry. You wanted kids? I am now a banshee. Come, make love to me and we will produce many banshees." Branzer said as his eyes glowed red walking towards her.

"Shit!" Herrior said quickly as he struggled harder to loosen himself from the chains. Trackolania, Spark, Mohania's imp, and Crystal's hellhound ran towards him. They all began to bite and attack him, but the attacks merely passed through him as Branzer laughed.

"These are mere pets. Do you know how to drain life?" Branzer said putting his hand on Spark and instantly killed him.

"Ah, the power of death. It's inside of every banshee. The more you kill the more power you get. You knew that, you have always known that. Come; kill this rogue sneaking up behind me. Absorb his life and feed your lust for power." Branzer said. Trackolania stood perfectly still, hoping he was bluffing. Branzer reached behind him, grabbed him by the arm and threw him towards Lindel. Lindel caught up and set him down on the ground.

"Your heart still yearns for me, and your body lusts for more power. This is the life of a banshee." Branzer said and put his hand on Crystal's hellhound, instantly killing it.

Lindel stood up and began energizing herself with power and launched a series of attacks at him.

"Good…feed me your power. You will grow exhausted, and eventually submit to me." Branzer said closing his eyes as the spells enveloped around Branzer causing him no pain at all.

Lindel stopped her attacks after seeing they weren't hurting him. Trackolania had again disappeared into the shadows.

Lindel changed back into her human form and smiled at him. "You have learned how to teach banshees new powers."

"Ah, this is just the tip of the iceberg. You can control one person at a time; I can control armies at a time." Branzer said as he changed into his human form.

"So much power. I do yearn for it, but I like my freedom. How about you leave your puny masters and we take this battle somewhere else?" Lindel asked.

"Sly one we have here." The necromancer said with a smile.

Branzer looked at her curiously as his eyes returned to normal and looked back at the necromancer controlling him. The necromancer held up his hand and made a fist as his eyes glowed red. Branzer turned back around. His eyes blazing red with a sinister smile on his face. He leaped forward and attempted to seize Lindel, but Lindel dodged every attack.

"I was like that once, controlled by a master. I also have free will, and I escaped. You claim to have all of this power; then simply catch me? Is that so hard?" Lindel said disappearing and reappearing in different places. Branzer roared in frustration as Lindel led him away from the necromancer.

Trackolania waiting for his moment and as soon as they turned the corner, the necromancers walked towards them. Trackolania slit both of their back right calf's and instantly dropped to the ground in shock. Branzer was released again and began to beg for her to kill him. The necromancer held his hand out quickly and regained control of him and ordered him to return to them.

"Get that stupid rogue and splatter his guts all over the room!" The necromancer said. Branzer quickly saw him and charged towards him. Trackolania held his dagger width wise up to Branzer's eyes. When Branzer was close enough to see himself, the necromancer lost control of him again. Branzer snapped his fingers and all of the chains holding everybody against the walls were retracted into the walls. Herrior immediately ran over to the first necromancer, grabbed him and threw him against the wall.

"Shut him up!" Herrior ordered, but was quickly knocked forward by an enormous explosion. Jacklyn though, had successfully ripped the man's tongue out of his mouth and put it in her pouch.

"I…can…not…" Branzer said struggling with an unseen force."

"You will or I will banish you!" The necromancer screamed at him. Branzer screamed as he failed to gain control over his mind. Lindel turned into millions of different particles and flew into Branzer mind. Branzer suddenly stopped screaming and merely stood there.

"Impossible!" The necromancer said in disbelief. He then started to chant another spell but was rudely interrupted by Herrior's fist punching him in the mouth.

Everybody watched as Branzer's body floated into the air and small white particles floated into his body.

"Restrain the necromancers. Collect their books, and get them out of here." Herrior said.

"My masters…" Branzer said with his eyes began to glow a faint red, and then suddenly he was thrown against the wall.

The necromancers were forcibly removable and beaten as Herrior's group moved them up the stairs and out with the rest of the party. A blood elf rogue held the King's head in his head and seemed pleased with himself.

"Free yourself or die." Lindel's voice said out of Branzer's mouth.

"My power…give me back my power…I'll die without it!" Branzer said back.

"Then you will die!" Lindel said and sent violent bolts of lightning throughout his body. Branzer howled in pain and dropped to the ground.

"You do feel pain…just like the rest of us, don't you?" Lindel said using Branzer's mouth.

"I will destroy you!" Branzer said trying to rise to his feet. Lindel sent another burst of lightning through his body and Branzer cried out in pain. This time is was much more intense as his face became burnt and pulled itself apart. Branzer looked down and saw that he was dripping blood.

"Stop…please Lindel…stop…" Branzer said. Lindel stopped for a couple of seconds wondering what his next move was going to be.

"I'm bleeding. I saw what I looked like. I'm…alive?" Branzer asked.

"Not for much longer, free yourself or I will melt you!" Lindel commanded him.

"How" Branzer asked back still staring at the ground in disbelief.

"Get out of him Lindel." Herrior ordered. Lindel flew out of his eyes and rematerialized next to Herrior.

"We're going to leave. If you can't figure out how to free yourself in the next couple of minutes, you'll die here with the rest of the alliance." Herrior said and walked away.

When Herrior and Lindel came back up everybody cheered.

"How many surrendered?" Herrior asked.

"Forty eight, two are fighters."

"Kill the fighters. Where's the commander?" Herrior asked. The two fighters were immediately killed by several gun blasts to the head. The troll leader walked up to him and said, "Found this, I think its hurt" and threw him at Herrior's feet.

The commander looked like he did in fact have every bone broken in his body. His face was badly disfigured and Herrior looked down at him and smiled.

"Mohania, do you have enough alliance to torture for awhile?" Herrior asked.

"No…" Mohania said with a sinister laugh.

"Don't call me an ass for the rest of your life and you can have him." Herrior said.

Mohania thought about it for awhile. A moment later Herrior said, "And no loopholes…"

"This isn't fair!" Mohania said smiling.

"Hmm…it's been awhile since I've tortured an alliance. I think maybe I should pull one piece of his hair out at a time." Herrior said as he started to pluck one of his hair one at a time.

"No, Herrior you don't know anything about torturing people! Let me teach you!"

"Nope, he was promised to me. Now let me see…I could make him eat hay, but not cooked hay, but regular hay." Herrior said.

"Damn it! You're just pissing me off now!" Mohania said frustrated. Skyka walked past him and gave Herrior some hay.

"You may want to wash it off first, we want to torture him, but not get him sick." Skyka said.

"I can make him screamed for decades, and you are going to give him hay to eat!" Mohania said. Everybody began to laugh now.

"Oh, Hun – how about taking him swimming, but only giving him a five second warning before you go underwater." Skyka said.

"I could watch the sharks eat him." Herrior replied back.

"He could join the rest of the people he impaled up on the fortress." The troll said.

"I don't know who you are, but I don't like you. Let me at least melt his flesh off, and listen to him scream as his body makes new skin…" Mohania pleaded.

"I could take out every body that is sticking out, wrap up the wound and force him to walk - watching him fall down and constantly hurt himself." Herrior said.

"That is absolutely…" Mohania paused for a second. "Does anybody have a writing instrument and parchment?"

"Kill…m…" The commander said in agony.

"Oh, you will die eventually. But first I'll let Mohania play with you first." Herrior said and tossed the commander's body towards Mohania. Mohania caught him and began to cackle menacingly.

"Mohania what do you tell Herrior?" Skyka asked.

"He's an ass?"

"Nooo…he gave something to you, what do you say back?" Skyka said with a smile.

Mohania looked at everybody staring at him. Mohania grunted and quickly said, "Thank you. There, now let's go back to Tranquil! Oh, the pain you are going to experience is going to be worse than I have every put anybody through! Hey, I thought he was dead?" Mohania asked as he saw Branzer walk slowly up the stairs and collapse on the ground.

"Take the necromancers and prisoners back. Let Mohania torture them as well. I'll deal with this." Herrior said walking towards Branzer. He then stopped turned around and said, "Let Mohania torture the necromancers, not the prisoners."

"I didn't hear you! Gather everybody up and let's do a group torture! Their screams will echo through our city!" Mohania said.

"You have three already. It might be four depending on what Branzer does. If the King approves of you torturing the alliance then you can. But if I remember right you might have said something to annoy him recently." Herrior said.

"I don't remember…" Mohania said looking to the sky and thinking.

"That's ok, I'll ask him." Skyka said pulling out her hearthstone.

"I'm going to take that thing away from you…" Mohania said sounding upset and began walking with everybody else.

When it was just Herrior and Branzer, Herrior picked him up and slammed him against the wall. He heard bones crack and recently closed wounds open back up as more blood spill out.

"You seem to be human, which means I can kill you." Herrior said pulling out his blade.

"Please do." Branzer said softly.

"Where are the rest of our dead?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know." Branzer said softly again.

"Well, all you are is another worth alliance that can't help me out." Herrior said and pulled his sword back to slice his head off.

"I don't know. All I remember is the orc war chief slaughtering me. I remember the pain, and then nothing. Then nightmares. Nightmares after nightmares, and then I remember vague images of what happened a little while ago. That's all. I attacked you, kill me." Branzer said completely oblivious to what Herrior was going to do.

"Are you a human or a banshee?" Herrior asked.

"Just kill me…" Branzer said looking up at Herrior's eyes and pleaded with him.

"No." Herrior said. He put his sword away and began carrying Branzer back to their fortress.

"Lindel" Herrior said in his mind.

"Yes." Lindel said back quickly.

"Go make sure there aren't any other banshees or anything else alive. Meet me back at the fortress afterwards." Herrior said in his mind.

"What is happening with Branzer?" Lindel asked.

"I'm not sure. I will let you know." Herrior said and asked her to break the mental link.

Moments later, Lindel reported that she didn't sense any more banshees or anybody alive. She even looked for the rest of their dead but couldn't find any trace of them. Herrior acknowledged and continued walking.

"Why are you prolonging it? I was your friend. I plead to you, kill me…" Branzer said suffering.

"No." Herrior said and then told him to shut up for the rest of the trip.

Everybody organized themselves in the fortress and began to celebrate. Herrior took Branzer off to the side and opened a portal to the King.

"How did everything go?" The King asked.

"We have the necromancers, the King's head, and the alliance that surrender – including Branzer." Herrior said.

"Yes, Mohania is back here and he seems very happy. We sound-proofed his area and the torturing has began. The reports told me that Branzer was dead." The King said.

"I'm not sure what to do with him. He was turned into a banshee controlled by the necromancers. Lindel eventually subdued him and was on the verge of killing him when I told her to stop. He bleeds and his bones break like the rest of us. He keeps pleading for me to kill him." Herrior said back.

"Interesting dilemma we have here." The King said.

"He remembers nothing, but is suffering greatly. His body is broken badly, but his mind is that of Branzer. I sense no hostility from him. During our battle with him, he stopped several times to fight the necromancers controlling him. His power was great during the battle. He had memories of us, which worries me." Herrior said.

"I'll relay the message to Mohania. I'm sure he can get that information out of them. I doubt they were able to relay the message back to the alliance though. I'm assuming he hasn't shown any powers or anything that our other banshees can do since the necromancers left?" The King asked.

"No my King, he just constantly pleads for me to kill him." Herrior said.

"I'm going to open a portal to our cells. We'll monitor him for a couple of days. Make sure the fortress is secured and then I am going to withdraw our parties." The King said and closed the portal. A Chronomancer began to open a portal in front of them. When it grew to its full size, several taurens came out and took him away.

Herrior walked back out to everybody else and told them they were going to be summoned back to Tranquil once we have secured this base.

"Secured? Watch this!" A goblin engineer said excitedly. He jumped up on a series of large metallic guns placed all around the fortress. He then fired as a small metallic object came out of the barrel, grew to a huge metallic disk, and slammed into the ground. It then exploded, sending hot molten pieces of armor in every direction. The goblin then pushed a button and all of the guns immediately began active and started sending out large metal blades in every directions, followed by huge explosions.

"And that's just the fun part! We have barrage rockets located every six feet, and an enormous cannon on the top of the fortress that fires a cannonball that expands to twice the size of this base and will leave an impact wherever it lands!" The excited goblin said running over to the device.

"Have you tested that yet?" Herrior asked.

"I'm about to!" The goblin said excitedly and an enormous blast of light and sound temporarily deafened and blinded everybody as the enormous black ball flew out of the cannon and into the air.

The air around it seemed to scream to get out of the way as the gigantic ball flew and landed on the alliance fortress followed by an enormous explosion and bounced into the ocean.

"Oops!" The goblin said taking off his eye and ear protection.

"Is oops a good thing or a bad thing?" Herrior asked.

"The alliance fortress is completely destroyed. I didn't anticipate the explosion so I'll have to look into that. Also I didn't take into consideration that everybody would need eye and ear protection. I'll get to work on that right away." The goblin said excitedly as he began to tinker with his enormous weapon.

"What is to become of us?" An older alliance male asked.

"Not entirely sure. We would like to get as much information about this land as you know, but you'll probably be put somewhere other than here, someplace where the alliance can't find you, and you'll live out your life." Herrior said trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"Torture I'm assuming?" He asked.

"We haven't been issued that command. Those taken were ordered to be tortured. You may join the rest of the alliance that surrendered. You'll be fed and provided shelter, and healed of any aliments you have. No restrictions have been placed on you. You are free to help, to do anything, or to even leave our fortress if you wish." Herrior said and began walking away.

"Is this a trick?" The man asked.

"If you attack us, we'll attack you - but that's all I know at this point. Teach our groups the lay of the land." Herrior replied. Herrior walked into one of the rebuilt homes and laid down and fell also instantly asleep.

"Have fun exploring around." Skyka said and began to talk to her group, "Everybody fought well today. I'll have Herrior give us all a refresher course, some to new of you, on our tactics for laying siege. This was one for a small fortress. Generally, we have a bigger party with larger fortresses. However, you all did well."

"It's a mix of dancing, brutality, and excessive swearing playing on their fears." Dan said with a smile.

Skyka smiled and kind of shrugged. "You saw how effective it was though. Not much can penetrate our front line, especially with a rain of ammunition in the beginning. Afterwards, any and all distractions we can use to our advantage we do. As you probably noticed, you found out the reason why we only have one names."

Dan nodded, "Yes, there was some confusion among their ranks. Apparently Herrior doesn't take to kindly to alliance insulting him" he ended with a smile.

"Apparently the alliance are pretty cocky as well. That seemed to be their downfall from the beginning." Crystal noted.

Skyka nodded, "That was probably his plan all along. Make a person over-confident, or groups of people then suddenly turn the tables on them and it instantly catches not only them but also everybody off guard. He's been doing this for awhile." Skyka said with a wink.

"So my lass, how are you holding up?" Strings asked Lindel.

"Fine. I brought some of my studies here, but would like to go back to Tranquil to conduct further tests." Lindel said.

"I'm eager to get back and continue my tests with some of our armor. I have a couple of pieces I'm playing with – it hasn't worked so far that I want it to, but probably by now we all have armor upgrades so they don't want me to play with the new armor until I have it all perfected." Dan said beginning to trail off into his thoughts.

"Your boring…there is people to be tortured – base is secure let's go." Mohania said motioning to Lindel.

"I'm sure they are probably scared by now…" Crystal said slightly annoyed.

"They were scared when they lost control of Branzer. I was seconds away from engulfing the room with fire... Besides, they need to have terror instilled in them from the beginning. Fear is boring – you need them to involuntarily piss, shit, and puke themselves for the first day, afterwards real terror sets in, and they fade in and out of consciousness. That is when they start talking and not even realize what they are saying." Mohania said.

"Is that what is happening to them?" An alliance woman said.

"Hopefully…probably just for the time being though they are sitting in a cold dark cell. I'm going to request that all of our cells be moved into our undead quarters. I can make anybody talk, but torture and terror is an art that cannot be taught – you need hundreds of years of practice." Mohania said.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know." The woman said looking scared.

"Doesn't bother me any, if I get the order to torture you I promise to do my best." Mohania said smiling.

"Stop scaring them, come on let's go see what we can help with." Skyka said shooing Mohania away.

"They are still enemies, once the order is lifted to hurt them – I will do just that." Mohania said.

"You do realize we took in a lot of alliance and displaced them in different areas. They could be the ones guarding this fortress for all we know." Skyka said.

"Friend or foe, King gives the word and the person dies. Dan does his little, 'look into the future' thing, and splat!" Mohania said energetically.

"I didn't look into the future…" Dan said.

"Doesn't matter, your still boring…" Mohania said and then began to explain what the King and he did.

Lindel stayed behind as she felt a chill blow over her body. She heightened her senses and began to scan around with her mind. She started walking the perimeter trying to figure out what just happened.

"Don't know much about a banshee…" The female leader said as she shocked Lindel.

"…but I know when somebody is acting strange and I've saved many lives based on other people's intuition."

"No, it's nothing." Lindel said quickly.

"Alright and where is this 'nothing' going to attack from?"

"I don't sense anything. I would be letting everybody know if I did. I just became chilled. Banshees don't get hot or cold…" Lindel said but was cut off again.

"Most of us don't, our armor absorbs most of it. Somebody going to betray us? A sense that a person or thing is coming to us? An unknown voice?" The troll continued to interrogate her.

"No…but I can start scanning for that." Lindel said quickly.

"So we're safe then? No need to increase our defenses?" She asked.

"If I sense something I will let you know first." Lindel said. The troll leader nodded and walked away. The same coldness shot through Lindel again as she wrapped her arms around herself.

The next day Mohania continued to explain in detail about what he was going to do to torture the alliance in the jails, while Herrior and Skyka stood together looking around.

"Except for the babbling one, how do you think the rest of our group is holding up?" Skyka asked.

"They seem normal – might be bored like us, but it gives them time to rest. Shall we go for a walk on the beach?" Herrior asked.

"Sure." Skyka said walking with Herrior out of the fortress as they both began to look around at the surroundings.

"How many different places do you think Deathwing has hit?" Herrior asked.

"Hard to say, there are probably places we don't know of that he has already hit. I hate alliance; I was really hoping we could work out a treatment with them." Skyka said with a slight sigh.

Herrior picked up a small rock and skipped it across the water as he said, "Yeah…"

"Think we are going to get any information out of the necromancers?" Skyka asked.

"Oh I'm sure they will talk, the question is what we are going to do with the information. It sounds like the process of making a banshee is almost satanic. If that's the case I don't want to know." Herrior said.

"Do you think they were telling the truth about the alliance abandoning them? That doesn't sound like them. I wonder what they are up to." Skyka said.

"Yeah, that has me worried as well. The people that know the truth are either impaled on a stick or slashed to pieces. Displacing all of the alliance has been bugging me as well as the rest of the humans. A couple dozen here and there is manageable, but we tossed hundreds around. The officers I'm sure by now have received word that Branzer died. I would rather have them in our group because they already know how to fight, but they aren't fighters. Most of their loyalties lie in their families and in each other. One of us should probably contact Bernett and find out how they are doing." Herrior said motioning to pull out his hearthstone.

"Are you going to contact Dan as well?" Skyka asked.

"I don't know what to do with him…" Herrior said in a sad tone shaking his head slightly back and forth.

"I'm not a leader, but I know your mind." Skyka said squeezing Herrior's hand. "We took him out of his world, put him in ours and it marveled his mind. Now he is marveling our minds. He trusted us; perhaps we should trust him in return."

"He still has much to learn, but I hesitate to say that because I don't know what he knows. His knowledge that he pulls out of his ass has proved to be more effective than our scouts and he is to be considered royalty now?" Herrior said with slight frustration in his voice.

"He sure knows how to climb the ranks in Tranquil doesn't he?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"I don't know if I want to have the responsibility of having him in our group." Herrior said.

"I know." Skyka replied.

"If I give an order, and then suddenly something comes flying out of his ass that annihilates all of our enemies in less than a second – what then? He'll then pull out his blade and kill himself for disobeying my order." Herrior said.

"I wouldn't doubt that." Skyka replied.

"So have him kill himself and then answer to the King about what happened, or just let everybody do what they want whenever they come up with an idea? Either way I don't like it." Herrior said.

"He hasn't disobeyed an order yet that you have given. He could have stopped time, gone into the fortress and single-handedly kill everybody without even getting a scratch on him and then start it back up again to have all of us watch all of the alliance fall to the ground dead. But you told him not to use his powers and he didn't. He fought beside the rest of us." Skyka said.

"There might come a time though…" Herrior said throwing another rock into the water.

"It hasn't yet, and if it does I think he will ask. Given the choice though, I think he would die following orders." Skyka said.

"I think thisss, isss yoursss." A female naga voice came up behind them holding a rock. Herrior immediately drew his weapons as Skyka changed into her shadowform.

"A little jumpy" The Naga asked holding the rock out to them. Herrior slowly reached forward and took the rock from her.

"It hit me when, I was sssurfaced, thought it was valuables to you." The naga said and began to slither away.

"You aren't going to attack us?" Herrior asked.

"How would that benefit usss?" She asked casually still slithering away.

"What are you doing here?" Herrior asked.

"I could asssk you the sssame thing. There are no blood elvesss or taurensss in thessse landsss." She said turning around.

"Did you attack the orcs that were here?" Herrior asked.

"No. My people did not make an agreement with them. They randomly killed usss for fun. You obviousssly aren't with them." The naga said.

"No, actually we killed all of them." Herrior said.

"Good riddensss to themsss. Ssshall we continue our talk without your weapons pointing at me?" She asked.

Herrior looked quickly around and saw nobody else around.

"I'msss the only onesss here. The rest are building and sleeping. I'm curiousss, if you are strong enough to kill the orcsss, why are you soooo jumpy around me'sss?" She asked.

"We've fought many of your kind. We usually don't have conversations such as this." Herrior said lowering his shield and sword.

"Good riddencesss to them. Many of our people fight – and not think. You live longer if you think." She said.

Herrior put his shield and sword behind him as Skyka turned back into her normal self. "Why did you fight the alliance?" Herrior asked.

"Who?" She asked.

"The humans at the south end of this land." Herrior answered.

"Oh, the traitorsss? Zea promised usss help in building our homesss, but killed our young and enslaved usss – forced usss to go into zea haunted woodsss so they could watch usss die." The woman said.

"My name is Herrior. Would you like to join us for some food?" Herrior asked.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because we seem to have a lot in common and I think we can help your people. The woods do not scare us, and we apparently have avenged your people. They betrayed us also, so we trampled them beneath our feet."

"Meridith isss my name. I must return to my people to asssk. Will you wait?" Meridith asked.

"Will you come back in force?" Herrior asked.

"Why would I? Do you plan on meeting me back with an army?" Meridith asked.

"No. So be it, we will wait here for your return." Herrior said. Meridith slithered back into the water and quickly swam away.

"Well that was something I have never seen before." Skyka said surprised.

"She isn't lying. I never anticipated those words to ever come from a naga. Well, let's make ourselves comfortable." Herrior said sitting down.

"Has the naga ever acted like this before?" Skyka asked trying to remember.

"Not that I'm aware of. What food did you bring?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing actually" Skyka said in ironic laughter.

"I have some dried meat, but I didn't bring anything either. I suppose we just wait." Herrior said.

Less than ten minutes later Meridith made true to her word and returned. She brought several different types of fish strung up with a thin rope with her.

"My people want to know what your intentionsss are. They wanted to essscort me back, but I sssaid no." Meridith said.

"You are safe. What have you brought?" Herrior asked.

"Thessse are the different typesss of fisssh in the watersss." Meridith said and started taking each one off from the rope and naming them. She pointed out which ones were safe to eat and which ones were not. She also talked about how to cook them to get the most flavors out of them.

"Interesting" Herrior said looking them over. "Can I take these back and share this information with the rest of my people?"

"That isss fine." Meridith said.

"All I have brought with me is some dried meat. I apologize; I was not expecting to be gone long from our fortress. As far as our intentions though, I believe we can barter with each other if you wish. We are true to our word and will not turn against you. However, because of what happened to your people in the past, I would understand your hesitation. Perhaps we can discuss that later. We are here to hunt a dragon." Herrior said.

"Which group?" Meridith asked.

"I…don't know. How many different groups are there here?" Herrior asked.

"The dragonsss to the north keep to themssselvesss. There are burssstsss in the land and magic poursss out along with enemiesss. The dragonsss in the middle of the landsss are wild. Dragon controllersss control the onesss to the far wesss. The onesss to the south seemsss to be guarding something, a cave of sssortsss." Meridith explained.

"I did not know that. We are terrorized by a large dragon called Deathwing." Herrior said.

"Which group is Deathwing in?" Meridith asked.

"I do not know that either." Herrior said.

"I would sssuggessst not killing any dragon you seesss, it might caussse your dessstructionsss." Meridith replied.

"Sound advice. So what can we do to repay you for the food and information?" Herrior asked.

"Not kill usss." Meridith said.

"We will only attack if we are attacked first. You don't seem to have any intentions of attacking us. I have to ask though, why did you return the rock?" Herrior asked.

"It's pyrite; metal solid enough to cut through mountainsss and able to withstand any forces from the ssseasss and landsss." Meridith explained.

"Oh. We have seen weapons made of this metal, but I didn't realize this was called pyrite." Herrior said looking over the rock.

"We come to the ssshore looking for the rock and to gather flowersss for eating. There are ssso many tremorsss in thisss land, the ground ssspitsss it up often." Meridith said.

"Interesting" Herrior said fumbling with the rock.

"Thatsss why I returned it." Meridith explained.

"What do you think is causing the tremors?" Herrior asked.

"The demon worshippersss. They have great powersss. If you ssstay in the land long enough, you will sssee them." Meridith answered.

"We'll start sending out our scouts to locate their bases. Once we have organized an attack strategy we'll destroy them as well." Herrior said.

"Their demonsss are ssstrong." Meridith warned.

"Haven't met one we haven't been able to kill yet. So what can we do for you in return? We have made breads, meats, and fruits in our fortress. Do you just wish to have your people visit us? We can offer you protection." Herrior said.

"We will obssserve for now. If I do not return sssoon, my people will come to find out why." Meridith said and started to leave.

"Thank you for the information and the fish. I look forward to our people meeting again." Herrior said. Meridith slithered to the water and swam quickly away.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say they are like any other people – I mean in the sense that they are cautious, willing to talk and help others out instead of just killing them." Skyka said.

"And they knew that we killed people of their race but it didn't seem to faze them." Herrior said.

"We kill our own race, but I agree normally that upsets a people and based on her reaction she didn't seem to care." Skyka said.

"This is interesting. I wonder where this is going to lead. As for now we had probably head back. I think it is safe to say that the naga are not going to attack us for now. We crushed the alliance and if we haven't seen or heard anything approaching our base it's probably safe to leave some guards and our people." Herrior said.

They both walked into the base and asked if anything had happened.

"Other than watching the two of you talk to the naga lady, no." The troll leader said.

"I don't think they are a threat. The alliance apparently betrayed them, which is why they led a series of attacks against them. I would say that our northern, southern, and eastern sides are secure. Any movement from the woods?" Herrior asked.

"The trigger happy goblin continues to insist that he saw something, but no our guards have not spotted anything. I would say that our west side is secure as well." She replied.

"Spread the word that the naga are not a threat. If they approach, welcome them and offer hospitality, but keep your blades close. I have no reason to think that they would attack us though. They taught us more about these lands than the alliance has. Apparently, there are different groups of dragons, and a group that can control dragons. Also there are apparently some demon worshippers that have powers over the earth. Anything could be popping out of the ground. The way she put it is the ground spits out rocks, some of which is this." Herrior said holding up the rock.

"Looks like gold." The troll took it and looked it over.

"It's denser than gold and heavier. They called it pyrite. The orc weapon stash that we seized has several weapons made out of this. I'll pass it on, but I would love to break it down and see what it is made out of. So what is the general overall feeling with everybody?" Herrior asked.

"The alliance are still positive that they are going to suffer a brutal and painful death – we have your warlock to thank for that. However, they have proven themselves knowledgeable to building, cooking, and scavenging. If the naga return, there might be some tension between the two groups. I wouldn't suggest leaving them here; the naga would be more useful than they are to us."

"I've been thinking about the humans. I'm going to make some contacts first, but I agree – keeping them here would not benefit us." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone to contact the King.

Herrior explained everything that happened and gave a suggestion. The King thought it was interesting as well, but told Herrior to go ahead and do it. Herrior closed the portal and reopened it as he saw Bernett's face.

"Wow, you've really let yourself go." Bernett said letting out a chuckle but relieved to see him.

"How has everybody been holding up?" Herrior asked.

"We've had several ambassadors and leaders come to help organize everybody. The Taunka have been quite helpful and have found jobs for everybody. However, you want to know how everybody is adjusting. Some have adjusted quickly, some will adapt, and others I am not sure. None of them has shown any sign of betrayal; however, I would not want them to fight beside me. I think they had the impression they would be taken some place magical where they would be safe and it would rain gold every day. Once they saw the war we are in, many of them immediately questioned their decision. Word got out that Branzer and others died. Everybody looked to him as their leader and with his death came a wave of fear. We tried to tell everybody once we got here we fight day and night – sometimes for entire weeks." Bernett said.

"He's not dead anymore, he is jailed in Tranquil." Herrior said.

Bernett paused for a couple of seconds and said the expected, "What?"

"Somehow he was brought back as a banshee – a powerful one that nearly killed all of us. Lindel was the one that almost killed him. I told her to stop minutes before his death. He is imprisoned now. We are interrogating him and the necromancers that controlled him. If he cannot regain control of himself, he will be killed. However, I have not heard from Tranquil. I was going to go speak with him after we leave here. The reason why I contacted you though is we have another group of alliance that escaped their fortress and ran to us for refugee. There are close to one hundred and they cannot stay here. Do you think they would do well with the other humans?"

Bernett hesitated, not at what was said about Branzer but by the question. He took a quick breath and looked around.

"I will take that as an answer. We will have to figure out what to do with these people. Thank you for the information." Herrior said.

"Herrior…can I talk to Branzer?" Bernett asked.

"Do you think it would help?" Herrior asked.

"I've known him for awhile. I don't know but I want to do whatever I can do to help." Bernett said.

"You are unhappy where you are, aren't you?" Herrior asked.

"I thought only Lindel could read minds." Bernett said back with a smile.

"Let me discuss some things. I have to find a place to displace nearly four hundred humans and some other problems to take care of. Mohania is nearly shitting himself in anticipation to begin torturing the people we took captive." Herrior said.

"Is he still calling everybody an ass?" Bernett asked with a hint of being homesickness in his voice.

"Let me get things straightened away, and I'll see what I can do about getting you back into my party." Herrior said.

"Is there going to be some sort of 'returning to the party' rite of passage that I'm going to have to do, like we did to Dan?" Bernett asked with a smile.

"Haven't thought of one yet. I'll talk with you soon." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior then had his hearthstone open another portal to the King and stated what was happening. The King acknowledged and ordered that all their primary and secondary parties return to Tranquil.

Lindel was the first one through the portal this time and still felt the same chill shoot through her body, but tried to make it not look obvious. Everybody else walked through as the portal closed behind everybody. The King then summoned all of the ambassadors on their hearthstones.

"We are facing several situations here. The first one is I have banished the Red Guard entirely and our cities shields. So many crimes have been happening and it has been a constant hassle reprogramming them. I am having a new shield built that will increase the cities powers and help move our city faster and keep it safer. I want Tranquil safe, that is first and foremost – even if it means my death, Tranquil comes first - always. I want everybody to understand that. Our city and people must survive. Second issue, I want all of my leaders and ambassadors loyal to me. If a citizen breaks a law, it will not be as severe as if it was one of my leaders and ambassadors. I have many of my personal ambassadors standing ready that I have talked with. Their orders are final, as if they were my own. Third issue is we have a lot of alliance that we need to displace. There are nearly two hundred that will need to go somewhere. The others seem to be helpful in some way where they are. I hate to give this order, but I do not want any race, human or not, coming into Tranquil that is not already allowed in. Our allies may come and go as they please. Anybody that wishes to come in must have a good enough reason to convince an ambassador to come in – then they have to convince me. Tranquil has always been a town of love and harmony. We have had no problems including the orcs, undead, but we did have to kill half of the Draenei. They were not the ones trying to assassinate others, or me but their customs involved them performing a variety of sexual activities punishable by death. After one example, it was either learn from it or die. Many of the ones not killed are now imprisoned. We may have to displace them as well. Any crime reported, or if you observe or sense a crime is happening, I want it investigated immediately. Even if you think I am committing a crime, speak to me about it. I will be questioned just like any other citizen and punished accordingly. Moving on, we have huge amounts of armor and new weapons made. They will be given to our primary groups first, and then passed on to our secondary groups. Recently we have obtained a lot of new plans and metal; the results have been very promising. Lastly, and this is very unusual, we seem to have befriended a group of naga. Only attack if you are attacked first, but arming yourself and anticipating your opponent's first attack is always necessary. Afterwards speak with the group, the more allies we have the more secure we are as a people. All information pertaining to time stopping goes to Dan. Any questions?" The King finished.

"Can we move our cells to the undead chambers?" Mohania asked.

"No. Nevertheless, make ready to torture numerous people down there. If judgment is passed, and a swift death is not satisfactory I want them to wish they had a swift death. Also…we are taking measures to create a sound barrier and only making one entrance and exit. You may do as you wish with them, but any information you collect from the prisoners I expect to have passed on to my ambassadors. Are you and your undead able to inflict horrible pain for weeks and weeks?" The King asked. Mohania eagerly shook his head up and down with a smile and said "Yes" excitedly.

"Good. Anybody that wants to learn your methods of torture, I expect you to teach them. Is that acceptable?" The King asked.

"Yes…" Mohania said sinisterly.

"Any other questions?" The King asked. Several other questions irrelevant to Herrior's group were asked and answered as the hours passed.

Nightfall came and the King dismissed everybody.

"Well that was a good session…hmm what to do…I know!" Mohania said excitedly as he summoned his flying carpet and flew away without another word said.

"Anybody want to take a guess?" Herrior asked watching him fly away. He turned to the rest of his group and said that he was going to request that Bernett rejoin their group but wanted to know if anybody had any reservations about it.

"Is he still a hunter?" Julie asked.

"I don't know. He might have changed. Why do you asked?" Herrior asked.

"I shouldn't have asked, but I'm still trying to find the right combination of melee, ranged, healers, and tanks for our group and other groups." Julie said.

"You'll make a good leader someday, but until then let me worry about that." Herrior said smiling at her. "Bernett asked if there was any special 'rite of passage' to come back in the group. There isn't of course, but all options are on the table." Herrior said looking away from her and at the rest of his group.

"I'm sure we can come up with something." Skyka said smirking at him.

"May I go now?" Lindel asked.

"No. I'm going to go visit Branzer in his cells. I'm going to have Bernett summoned here because he wanted to speak with him as well. Any of you that want to speak with him is welcome to as well. It will be our group that will decide his fate." Herrior said.

"Kill him." Lindel said quickly.

"It may lead to that but for the time being I want to hear more of what happened. Half of him is the same Branzer, but the other half is something worth studying." Herrior said.

"I'll go." Dan said.

"We'll go." Crystal said holding Dan's hand.

"I think we'll all go, except for Mohania who is probably having more fun than he has in awhile." Strings said looking up to where Mohania disappeared.

"I'll go work on my studies." Lindel said.

"After you bring Bernett here you can." Herrior said anticipating her to say that. Lindel began to channel a portal and Herrior immediately said, "No, not here. It might wake up our people. The King just was saying that the people of Tranquil are more important than he is. Let's get going." Lindel dissolved the portal and let out a small-dissatisfied grunt as she followed them.

Herrior's party walked into the jail and walked down the cells until they arrived to where Branzer was. The guard said he was still begging to be killed and has cried day and night. Herrior nodded and asked that they be alone.

"Branzer! It's Herrior, quit crying for a moment. After we leave you can continue feeling pity for yourself." Herrior said.

Branzer looked up and his body and face was distorted. He looked like the male version of Lindel's evil banshee form.

"It's not pity…Herrior look at me! Look at what I've become!" Branzer said yelling at him.

"It's pity and your pathetic. Weep like a child who lost their toy, see how much good that does you." Herrior said opening the cell and walking in to him.

"That was locked…how did you come in?" Branzer asked.

"It was never locked. You are so consumed by yourself you do not even know what is happening around you. Look up. Look around and tell me what you see." Herrior said.

Branzer did just that. He looked at each person in the eye, and then he made contact with Lindel. He felt like his heart just broke as Lindel started shedding tears.

"It appears that your heart still works…just in case you were wondering." Herrior said.

"Herrior…I died, and now I am this…" Branzer said.

"I died and I am now this, what is your point." Herrior said getting into his face. This confused Branzer.

"You've died before haven't you? A couple of times I think, and now you are 'this'. Your logic still works, your heart still works, and your still loyal to our city and me. You proved that when you walked up the stairs. You want to die; you could have killed yourself at anytime. Make a threat to the guard – hell push on the cell door and walk out. Walk up to the King and shoot him with a gun that would get you killed. But didn't…did you? Why?" Herrior said almost screaming in his face.

"Leave me alone!" Branzer yelled back.

"Answer the question!" Herrior answered.

"Why?" Branzer asked.

"Yes, that is the question – why?" Herrior said as they continued to yell at each other.

Branzer turned around and walked away in frustration. Herrior was moving towards him when he heard Bernett's voice.

"The left fielder's name?" Bernett said.

Branzer turned around and asked, "What?"

"What is on second." Bernett replied with a smile.

"Who is on second?" Branzer asked confused.

"No, who is on first." Bernett replied anticipating the question.

Branzer stood there in disbelief shaking his head. "I don't know is on third…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Herrior asked completely confused.

"No what is on second." Bernett said and both he and Branzer let out a chuckle.

"Wow, really? Either you two are both pathetic or you are older than what you told me." Crystal said.

"Who are they talking about?" Herrior asked.

"The first baseman" The three of them said all at the same time.

Herrior looked at all three of them trying to make sense of what they said. "What's a baseman?"

"What is the second baseman." Branzer said shaking his head.

"What?" Herrior asked.

"That's right." Bernett said.

"What's right?" Herrior asked.

"The second baseman." Bernett answered.

"Look, if you guys start yucking and trying to poke each other eye's out, I'm out of here." Crystal said enjoying herself.

"What's a second baseman?" Herrior asked.

"That's right." Branzer said holding back his laughter.

Herrior looked over at Skyka; she shrugged and said, "I don't know."

"Third base!" They all yelled at the same time and burst into laughter.

"Obviously I don't understand the joke. Branzer…I'm not really sure what to say now, but it's good to see you laugh." Herrior said.

"It's the first time I have ever laughed." Branzer said.

"No it isn't." Lindel said walking into the cell. "You are the same you, your memories are the same memories, and your thoughts are the same thoughts. I used to say my previous life and this life…but it's not like that. It wasn't our time to die. It wasn't Mohania's time to die, and it wasn't your time to die. You didn't cheat death, you aren't an abomination, you are the same you. What you did when you were being controlled you are not accountable for. What you are doing now you are accountable for. Why you are a banshee, nobody knows. The necromancers probably don't even know why. This isn't a second chance, this is still your life. This is the same you: your memories, your thoughts, your actions. Banshee's are just like anybody else. Remember how many times I have died? When I was brought back to life, it was always as a banshee. For some reason, it is my destiny, my life – to live as a banshee. When your time is up you will see the golden gates and no resurrection spell in our world will be powerful enough to bring you back. And now for some reason, not because of those assholes that Mohania has probably dissected and put back together now, you are here as a banshee."

"Technically you can't do that. You need the blood to continue to flow to the major organs or the body dies. If the body dies, it no longer wiggles and screams." Mohania said walking in from the shadows. "Sorry, I interrupted – go ahead."

"So the undead has a heart." Herrior said.

"Right now I don't, but the night is still young." Mohania said smiling. Branzer chuckled.

"The annoying woman is right though. When it's time for you to die, nothing can stop it. We've seen people die for no reason. The first Lieutenant for example. Then the banshee that Crystal brought into Tranquil. I've also seen alliance die when I rip off their heads…there's no logic to it, when you die is the time for you to die – and your time isn't up." Mohania said.

"I don't know whether to take you seriously or to laugh." Branzer said.

"Welcome back." Mohania said smiling.

"Are you going to make them suffer?" Branzer asked.

"Yes…but is it going to make a difference? Vengeance is never extinguished. Ask anybody here. Talk to the cow now, this is getting too sensitive for me." Mohania said. He left and asked the guards if he could devour some of the prisoners.

"What binds us?" Herrior asked.

"Love" Branzer answered.

"And does…" Herrior began to say.

"No, it's love. It's always been love, and it will always be love. I've seen you killed and brought back to life without vengeance against the person that killed you, but your heart instantly directs you to protect the ones you love. The others were brought back to life, only to put their life back on the line for each other regardless of dying again. I died, and now I need to learn to love again." Branzer said.

"No you don't." Herrior said smiling at him.

"Put me down you overgrown woman!" Mohania yelled. Jacklyn had grabbed Mohania and threw him into Branzer's cell. Jacklyn yelled out, "Group hug!" and every jumped in and hugged Branzer.

"Ugh…I knew this was coming. I couldn't get out fast enough…" Mohania said.

"It would have helped if you actually walked out…" Jacklyn said.

"You're an ass." Mohania replied.

"Mohania said that he loves you and is excited to have you back." Skyka said.

"No, I called Jacklyn an ass." Mohania said and everybody started laughing.

"Mohania also said that he loves group hugs and wants you back in our group." Skyka continued.

"What? Are you deaf? I called Jacklyn an ass, and now I am calling you an ass as well as everybody else – including anybody that is looking at me right now." Mohania said.

"Are you calling me an ass?" The King asked materializing outside of the cell.

"Yes…wait a minute are you more powerful than me and can kill me in a second?" Mohania asked.

"Yes." The King said with a smirk.

"Then no" Mohania said.

"Alright…alright…give me some air. I need to breath." Branzer said. Everybody got off from him and saw that he looked exactly how he did before.

"Branzer?" Lindel asked as if she saw a ghost.

"What?"

"Your…human…" Lindel said.

"You mean my human form?" Branzer asked.

Lindel walked up to him quickly, scratched her fingernail on his cheek, and made him bleed.

"Ouch!" Branzer said instinctively holding his hand up to his cheek and saw blood coming out from it. "In my human form I bleed?"

"No…you don't." Lindel said astonished.

"What a second…why am I not torturing anybody right now?" Mohania asked.

"What does this mean?" Branzer asked.

"I have no idea. I can read your thoughts as plain as day…I mean shoot, I'm sorry my King he is an ambassador and I'm not supposed to, but it's just…" Lindel said excitedly.

"That's fine Lindel. Branzer it appears that you are human…or you are putting up a really good front." The King said.

"I…don't know…" Branzer said as he started to feel his body. "How do I change back? I mean how do I switch back and forth?"

Lindel did instantly and said in a sinister voice, "It's a mere thought." Lindel then turned herself into millions of tiny stars and a voice in the middle of them said, "This is a mere thought as well. My King, may I enter his mind?"

"Go ahead."

Lindel flew into Branzer so quickly that it knocked him on the ground.

"What the hell?" Lindel's voice came out of Branzer's mouth. Lindel then levitated him in the air and pulled his arm behind him so far that it cracked and Branzer yelled out in pain. She quickly fixed it, and did a series of other painful tests.

"You have got to teach me to do that." Mohania said.

Lindel flew out of Branzer's eyes and materialized in front of the King. "I have no explanation. He's human. I…he's just like he was before…it's impossible. He was a banshee, you all saw him when we first came in. You all saw him when we fought him…he was a banshee. This…my King this is impossible!" Lindel said astounded.

"Hmm…Branzer are you a human or a banshee?" The King asked.

"Uh…I don't know…" Branzer answered completely confused.

"My King, a banshee cannot enter another banshee's mind. I did it in battle to sacrifice myself to destroy him. I…this doesn't make sense…you were a banshee!" Lindel said still astounded.

"Well, he's human now. Are you hungry?" The King asked.

"Actually, I could go for a two pound steak with mashed potatoes and pepper gravy." Branzer said.

"He's human. Well, good night everybody." The King said and walked away.

"My King!" Lindel said almost screaming at him.

The King slowly turned around and looked at her with his eyebrow raised.

"I…sorry…" Lindel said shaking her head to calm herself down.

"Lindel – in the past year I have seen and heard of things that nobody would believe. I saw things with my own eyes that I still cannot explain, this of course being one of them. If you are looking for answers from me, you are not going to get any. You have to look to a higher power for that. Good night Lindel." The King said and continued to walk away.

"Good night." Lindel said in an automatic reply.

"Well, being human again means we can get you drunk!" Strings said.

"Yeah, a two pound steak and an endless supply of booze. Good way of celebrating this event don't you think?" Bernett said smiling at him.

"Slightly ironic. Herrior?" Branzer asked.

"Don't look at me. Lindel is the expert and she is obviously confused. Next, I would turn to Dan for answers. He seems to pull them out of his ass frequently." Herrior said.

"Umm…" Dan said with everybody looking at him.

"Nicely done. That was a well thought out logical response." Crystal said nudging him.

"I don't know anything about this." Dan said.

"Let's light him on fire and see if his flesh burns like a human." Mohania said. Lindel immediately turned around and blasted Mohania with a powerful spell. It threw him against the side of the cell and immediately straight up to the ceiling. Then he slammed back down on the floor.

"Joking…haa haa funny…" Mohania said choking.

"Lindel don't do that again. Mohania watch what you say. Branzer do you want some time alone? I imagine you will still have to stay in the cell for a couple more days for continued observation." Herrior said.

"I think that's probably for the best. I would like to know what just happened, but I don't think I'm going to get an answer. Thanks everybody." Branzer said walking to the back of this cell. He sat down and let out a yawn.

"Take care my friend." Herrior said and left the cell.

"Herrior, can I stay and talk to Branzer?" Lindel asked. Her voice revealed her true intentions of wanting to talk with the one she loved, but she tried to hide it.

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your studies," Herrior said with a smile.

Lindel waited for everybody to leave. She walked outside the cell and shut the door. The door locked itself automatically.

"I thought Herrior said it wasn't locked." Branzer said.

"He says a variety of things to get information out of you that he wants. Part of being an ambassador, part being a leader, and part pain in the ass." Lindel said with a smile.

Lindel sat on the back wall for a while and just looked at him. She was relieved he was alive, felt guilty for trying to kill him, and still shocked at what just happened. The majority of her mind was trying to figure out how he turned back into a human.

"So…come here often?" Branzer asked breaking the silence.

"No" Lindel responded uninterested.

"Do you want to talk about something?" Branzer asked.

"No" Lindel said in the same tone.

"Well…do you mind if I talk?" Branzer asked.

"Yes. I'm trying to review the events of the last hour and find out what exactly happened to make you human again. You talking will interfere with my concentration." Lindel said.

"Ouch…I've been shot down before, but nobody has ever used that line on me." Branzer said as he had a brief moment of laughter.

Branzer waited a couple of moments to pass and then said, "Ok, I will review them in my head as well and see if I can remember what happened as well."

"You don't know your mind did not record any significant events to what happened. You are probably better off writing your name in the dirt. You have little experience being a banshee, except for a faint glimpse of the horrors that are involved in becoming one. You were enslaved for mere days, not years. You weren't tortured, you were punished, and you weren't forced to do awful things against your will." Lindel said unamused.

"I was forced to fight the ones I loved." Branzer said defensively.

"For a matter of minutes – not years. Now hush." Lindel said as she resumed her concentration, reviewing every detail of every second that happened.

Branzer knew she had him trumped. It was horrifying, he did do things against his will, and he was scared of what he had become. But Lindel was right, it was only for a short time. Arguing wouldn't get anywhere so Branzer decided to turn his attention elsewhere. He began conducting his own experiments, trying to turn invisible, stick his hands through the bars, into his stomach, turning into millions of different particles. The notion was entertaining, but every experiment failed. He then started telling his body to fly and began jumping up and down. That failed as well. He began to pace back and forth, trying to recall what exactly happened. He felt death in him – overwhelming him. The horror and the pain, but what exactly? Why was he crying so hard for so long – and why did Abbott and Costello snap him out of it? How long ago had he watched them? Years – decades, perhaps another life time ago? Why was Bernett here, he was assigned to be with the officers – was he part of the group again? Now that he wasn't a banshee and alive now, what would he do – watch more Abbot and Costello? He was an ambassador before and he died for his people, is he still an ambassador now? Why wasn't he taken to Heaven? Why was he asking so many questions he didn't know the answer to?

Branzer shook his head and looked around. He said to himself "Ok, don't talk. I don't want to upset Lindel. Why am I isolated from all of the other prisoners? There's a lot of pain and agony – was it always like this? It must be hard to be a guard down here. Well at least you know you won't die on the battlefield…but given the choice I'd rather die on the battlefield. How big are the prisons? These aren't really prisons though, these are medieval torture chambers compared to our prisons. The air is stale down here. Wait a minute I'm breathing? I don't remember breathing before, do banshees breath? I wonder what races breathe, and which don't. I know that Mohania doesn't…"

"Hush will you? I can't concentrate with your mind rambling on about pointless questions." Lindel said upset.

"Sorry." Branzer said lost in his thoughts. He lay down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. He took a deep sigh and began to pray. He prayed himself into an exhausted deep sleep. As he dreamed, Lindel continued to sit there watching him – asking herself the same questions he was asking to himself. The next morning Branzer woke up in his cell alone. He didn't figure Lindel would spend the night watching him. He forgot where he left off, but he continued to pray.

"My King, the necromancers are using pure devil worship. They broke after a couple of hours, but it is not something I care to listen too. They take several of their children, kill them, and then chant around the bodies in the language of the dead. They cut themselves and beg of the devil to bring them one of his demons to do their bidding. They have no real powers other than that." Mohania reported to the King. He was in his undead quarters talking to the King via his hearthstone.

"Disappointing. I was hoping we could get some more information from them. Do you believe there is any more knowledge we can acquire from them?" The King asked.

"I can always continue to torture them and see what comes out – but they have already called upon the devil himself to avenge them. Their books and papers that we took are of no use to us and I would suggest burning them. Their powers don't come from within or learned – it's purely from the devil himself. A priest could destroy their creatures with probably a mere prayer." Mohania said.

"Destroy them then. Kill the necromancers. I figured they were dabbling in this sort of magic, but not to this degree." The King said.

Mohania casted two soul fire spells as each of their bodies were destroyed. He then turned back to the King and said, "The commander has been useful on the other hand. Apparently, not all of the alliance that surrendered was trying to escape. Some that were seeking refuge with us were spies to gather weapons, supplies, and secrets. With their fortress destroyed and King's head among our collection, they are keeping quiet and playing along with the rest of the alliance. We might not have caught it because their thoughts and intentions were focused entirely on that after we squashed them."

"Makes you wonder who you can trust these days…" The King said sounding disappointed.

"I've got a list of names…some of them are repeats except for the last name – but most of them have a silly title in front of them. With their minds completely focused on their survival and playing along, it would be hard to interrogate and isolate the ones that were going to betray us. I'm sure we could probably pick out some here or there based on the names we call out." Mohania said.

"I'll send word to have them killed. I refuse to have spies among us and if this is what it takes to filter them out, then so be it. This is upsetting Mohania. Most of the people that came are probably normal people looking to have a normal life, but even until the bitter end, the alliance continues to betray their people. If word gets out of what has happened in the last couple of days then the alliance would continue to implement this strategy. Show compassion and this is what you get in the end. Anyways thank you Mohania. You may continue to play with the commander if you wish." The King said.

"My King…" Mohania said quickly while composing a thought. "We displaced several alliance before, to that church place where Samatha grew up at. This was the same situation. Under threat of death we warned them not to do or say anything…"

The King sighed and said, "Yes I remember giving that order. I will send several scouts right away to investigate. I need time to think now." The King said and closed the portal. He immediately gave the orders to his ambassadors and asked to speak with the Queen alone in their chambers.

"My Queen, am I fit to lead my people? I have been betrayed often; I feel taken advantage of. Being out in the open as we are has brought us closer with our people, and closer to our enemies. Those that seek help, also seek to betray us. My leaders that I trusted become enraged about some new threat and seek to prove themselves by running head-on into battle and being killed. Those who I haven't trusted before, saved our lives countless times now. Where is this leading us? What are we becoming?" The King asked.

"Confused apparently" the Queen answered with a smile. "My King, my husband, and loyal companion, you have shown great compassion. You are a great King and your love for your people is great. Even if we are killed, Tranquil would continue to exist and continue to grow in power. But you make mistakes just the same as anybody else. New threat arise, and old threats fall – the same as the sun rises and sets. Settle your heart my King. You are not accountable for the actions of your people. The laws are set, and punishment is carried through. New heroes rise, and trust companions betray us. This is not new, why does this trouble you now?"

"My heart is troubled by this. Is this the punishment I get for my mistakes? Should I impose tighter restrictions upon the people? What of the rest of the Draenei within our walls? Their traditions and customs are strictly forbidden in our laws, but is common practice for them. In order to make sure a woman is seeded with a child; multiple males have sex with one woman? One after another? This was never intended – one woman and one man, sealed in the bond of marriage. If they produce offspring it is out of love, not desperation to make sure the woman bears a child. It is written and preached during our services. They knew it; they knew the laws. Now finding many traitors among our people, our cells are filling up and the ones that deserve to be in Tranquil, the ones that have shown loyalty to us we do not allow into our city. The worgen woman, she still plagues my mind. She has done nothing but helped us the entire time she was here. Now she sits outside of our old walls, cleaning and rebuilding the wall. The officers that were taken, all of them begging to pledge their loyalty to us for a long time. Now that they are here, their unsatisfied and grow restless. Putting them back in their old lives is impossible. Their world is seeking us, and it isn't even the alliance behind it. Show a child a magic trick and they lust for the power to do the same. The ones that we have taken, including the night elves, are satisfied where they are. They continue to help Ysera and defend her dragonflights as if they were doing it their whole lives. The druids, the Taunka, the Tuskarr, the Ramkahen, and there are new groups forming and being found almost weekly…"

"My King, settle your thoughts. You lead the people of Tranquil – not everybody. The people that we trade with are our friends. If they choose to not trade with us, then that is up to them – but you rule Tranquil. The people that have come and gone from Tranquil to see its beauty and splendor have not betrayed us. The betrayal comes from within our walls and from our enemies of old. Those whose hearts have turned and lust for more, even if they have been loyal for hundreds of years, are the ones that have been the problem. It is the same for any of the groups that you mentioned. You do not need a tighter grip on the people; that is how kingdoms fall. People will continue to make mistakes and punishment will continue to be carried out, not necessarily executions every time, but imprisonments as we have been doing. The people know this. They know the laws and they are followed. For every one traitor within our walls that we find, tens of thousands more are willing to lay down their lives for their neighbor. Trust in your people and deal with them accordingly. You are a great King, come and sit with me." The Queen said in a calm voice. The King did and they embraced each other on the ground.

"Dan had the power to see into the future and saved our lives…" The King said.

"Dan is nothing more than another neighbor and a fighter within our walls. He had a vision or was visited by an angel to send a warning. It happens. Branzer was changed from a banshee to a human, more importantly though my husband has lost his confidence within himself. Let's walk among the people today. Remind ourselves of all of the reasons why Tranquil is what it is. The same child you referred to can be amazed by a trick and not lust for power, but become amazed by it – but more importantly, that child can look to his parents and to everybody around him and see the love that encompasses everybody. The engineers fail with their experiments daily, the leatherworkers destroy hundreds of hides a day, and cloth is always being ruined for some reason – but it is the love and the teaching that makes it worth it. It is the traditions of our people and our customs being passed down from generation to generation. Each person learns daily, either from the new designs being implemented, mistakes that happen, or from ideas that they get just merely walking the streets. Our people and armies flourish. Don't let your heart be troubled, you are a great King and let's go have the people prove it to you." The Queen said standing up and holding her hand out to him.

"The love of a woman" the King said taking her hand.

"No, the love of both of us is what binds us. When one is down, the other picks the other up. You have done the same for me, and I will continue to do the same for you." The Queen said smiling at him affectionately. The King and the Queen took the day to walk the streets of Tranquil. They also made a promise to themselves to do this at least once a week.

"Ok, I think I got this working." Dan said excitedly.

"You wouldn't believe how many times a day we here that…should we call down some banshees?" A goblin engineer asked.

"No, this doesn't blow up…at least it shouldn't." Dan said taking off his gauntlet and putting on the other he was working on.

"Again, you wouldn't believe how many times a day we here that too!" The goblin laughed.

"Ok, I'll fight with a single blade against a target dummy and see if it works. I don't need to go to the arena for that, do I?" Dan asked.

"Naw, but to be honest I don't think it'll work." The goblin replied.

"How many times has that been said?" Dan asked back.

"A day? Too many to count…" The goblin smiled. Dan walked over to the target dummy and started swinging at it. After twenty or so swings, the gauntlet glowed a bright yellow and casted a heal spell on him.

"Hmm…twenty. Not exactly the number I was looking for, but it has potential." Dan said taking off the gauntlet. He put on another one and began attacking the dummy again. This time the gauntlet glowed red and increased his attack speed almost exponentially faster for twenty seconds and then the glow faded.

"It has the desired effect, but will it continue to be random or is there a pattern to it?" Dan asked as he continued swing away at the dummy. Thirty swings later, the gauntlet glowed red and his attacks began landing so quickly it was hard for the senses to even acknowledge where it hit.

"Random. Rats…but still progress." Dan said setting down the blade and removing the gauntlet.

"The enchanters can just put one of their spells on it to permanently make it stronger; I don't see why you are doing this?" The goblin said, trying to hide his eagerness.

"True and it is still enchantable. The blacksmiths can also design it to enhance its effects, and the jewel crafters can strengthen it with their gems in it as well. However, the problem that we have is we are at a disadvantage. While our enemies can suck down potions to make themselves stronger, restore health and mana, it's just not practical to do it in the middle of battle. By building the gauntlet with the potion, letting it soak in the potion and absorbing its effects into the metal, it takes on that property. For how long and how often, I'm not sure. This is just the beginning, think of the implications it could have. Tanks healing themselves, casters with an endless supply of power, guns shooting faster, weapons swinging faster…it's random obviously but I'll see if I can't work on that." Dan said.

"It is exciting; however it takes a lot of potions to make one item produce the desired effect. The materials needed to produce a single potion are quite extensive. Several enchants can already produce the same effect, or a similar effect. I don't really see where you are going with this?" The goblin asked.

"Hmm…maybe it isn't worth it. Every piece of armor that we have can have an enchant on it, and the properties increased. We already have enchants that randomly kick in to enhance a spell or ability. However, there has to be some way or having a potion increase its longevity and kick in more often. I still like the notion of a tank randomly being healed by a potion, but it's random. He takes a hit and the potion kicks in healing for an insignificant amount – but on the flip side if he is about ready to die and it doesn't kick in, well it was all for nothing. I'm not ready to give up just yet. Our enemies have an advantage over us, but a disadvantage as well by quaffing the potion during battle. I'm going to go talk with a blacksmith and an alchemist. See if I can get some more ideas." Dan said determined he was going to figure something out.

"Good luck. Hi Crystal." The goblin said as Dan walked away. He was so in tuned with his thoughts he didn't hear him.

"Has he killed himself yet?" Crystal asked.

"No…but his ideas are something none of us have thought of before, and quite frankly don't even know where to start. He proved that his idea worked and it was actually awe-inspiring to watch. If he gets it perfected, a mere child could swing a weapon faster than a rogue could, and our tanks would be unstoppable – even without healers." The goblin said.

"Hmm…well sounds important." Crystal said with disappointment in her voice.

"If he gets it working it is." The goblin continued not taking notice.

"Hi Crystal" Jessica said walking up to her.

"Well hi there. Aren't you supposed to be coop'ed up in some secret lab studying how to turn the universe upside down?" Crystal asked.

"I cannot do the things that they do. I'm missing something, or I…don't know. I don't think I'm supposed to be a Chronomancer. I can't even produce the initial portal, let alone transfix the coordinates to even a few feet away. I've tried and tried, and all I succeed in doing is holding my hands out in the air. So I'm going to see if I can do something else. Any recommendations?" Jessica asked.

"No clue. We can take a walk though and see if anything sparks your interest." Crystal said with a smile.

"Apparently something has sparked your husband's interest…and it's not you huh?" Jessica said starting to walk.

"Yes…but it is his job. If I asked him to, he would stop everything he was doing and spend time with me – but what he is doing may give us an edge over fighting our enemies. It could save a lot of lives." Crystal said.

"Yeah, I noticed a lot of people being killed the town lately. Rules are kind of strict here huh?" Jessica replied.

"Naw, just don't do anything dumb. It is pretty straightforward, don't kill people, don't have sex with people, don't betray us – that sort of thing. Don't let it scare you; you have nothing to worry about." Crystal said smiling at her. The two of them walked together and talked throughout the day as they watched Lindel back to her normal self, playing and splashing with the children in the fountains and chasing them around town.

"It's been kinda hard for her huh?" Jessica asked.

"It has been for all of us. This isn't a job to be taken lightly. Word has it that the alliance that surrendered them to us was all executed. The officers that were taken from Earth and put with the Taunka, whoever they were, aren't working out so good and…well there's gossip this, and worries about that always going on in Tranquil. I think you were actually the last one let in before the King imposed the 'no more people in' rule. I don't know if you think that is an honor or not, but personally I would consider it is. Me though, I'd never go back. I'd die here, I'd die on the battlefield – well I have actually, but I would gladly do it again and again. I would never think twice about it." Crystal said.

"It means that much to you?" Jessica asked.

"Absolutely, beyond any doubt. Even if Dan died, I would still fight on – same group, same everything. I mean look around, we lack for nothing. We fight for a just cause, and it seems like my whole life has lead me up to this very point in my life. This…everything – is where I belong." Crystal said taking in the entire city as she looked around.

"I feel like I don't belong here. This is more than I could ever have imagined. I did nothing to deserve this, and now here I am. I figured I would never be good enough to get into Heaven so I didn't bother trying. If I didn't know anybody, I would say that this was Heaven – minus all of the strange creatures of course." Crystal said looking at a group of heavily armed taurens.

"I didn't deserve this, and I didn't deserve to go into Heaven either. I was in love with Dan, I thought that was the reason why I was brought here – but it wasn't. Something about me having a lot of spirit, I don't know. I thought having a lot of spirit is somebody that is happy and cheery all of the time, which I'm not. Being on the battlefield is anything but. Also I had the ability to withstand the conversation to become immune to time stopping." Crystal ended with a bitter tone.

"People here can stop time?" Jessica asked.

"Blew my mind at first, until I saw what Dan did when he was at the station. Now it blows everybody's minds what he continues to learn and show us. He said something about getting into trouble about playing around with it too much, not sure what he meant about that and he didn't go into detail. I think it's because of him that my powers are increasing. Come with me, I want you to meet somebody."

Jessica followed her and eventually they found Brenna. She was playing with a group of children along with many other people, including Lindel.

"Brenna, this is Jessica. We saved her life and helped turn it around. She wanted to become a Chronomancer, but it doesn't sound like it is working out." Crystal said.

Brenna ran up to her and hugged her. "It is so good to see you! I've heard stories about you and I'm glad you are safe. Want to join us?" Brenna asked but before Jessica could say no, Brenna tossed her in the fountain. Jessica let out a screech of surprise as she hit the water. She immediately swam back up and the children began to splash her. Jessica instantly took to splashing them back. All of them played for a while until some of the children had to go home.

"See, isn't that fun?" Brenna asked with a smile.

"It was, but you could have given me more of a warning…" Jessica said back. Lindel swooped down, grabbed Jessica, and took to the sky with her. Jessica screamed in shock again until Lindel said, "I'm going to take you flying…was that enough warning?"

"There wasn't any warning…my word…how big is this city?" Jessica said completely awestruck by the view.

"Big. Let's go swoop through some of the busier sections and see how far we can go without flying into somebody." Lindel said excitedly. Lindel dove down and picked up speed as she tightened her grip on Jessica. Lindel swiftly maneuvered through all of the people walking with supreme accuracy, Jessica on the other hand was screaming the whole time. She wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't stop looking. She anticipated running into somebody at any second, but after a minute Lindel flew back into the sky and both of them landed on a roof of a tall building.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Lindel asked with a grin on her face.

"Yeah…I think that is the best roller coaster I've ever been on…now to just calm my heart down so I don't have a heart attack…" Jessica said in-between breathes.

"That's no fun, let's go again!" Lindel said excitedly.

"Whoa…hold on. Give me a second to make the world stop spinning." Jessica said smiling as she sat down.

"So decided not to be a Chronomancer?" Lindel asked sitting down next to her.

"I don't have the power you have; I can't do anything anybody can do here." Jessica said.

"Sure you do. It takes a lot of time. Creating a portal pulls a lot of energy from you, and the calculations that you have to make are intensive, but you will do fine." Lindel said.

"There are people here looking like they just got back from a war, and some that look like they could split me in half without even trying. I can barely lift my back for school…oh…shoot, I'm going to get expelled from school!" Jessica said catching herself from swearing.

"Ha - good luck with them trying to find you! Plus it looks like you died in that little house. Have you been given a house yet?" Lindel asked.

"No, I've been just studying and sleeping on the floor. How much is a house, do I need to get a job or do I need to fight like everybody else?" Jessica asked trying to figure out her future.

"You can stay on top of this rooftop for the rest of your life if you want. If you want to fight, we can find some place for you to go, if you want to play in the fountains, or pick flowers, or pick your nose you can do that. If you want a house, or want to stay with somebody else – just ask. Let's stay at that house tonight." Lindel said and pointed to Brenna's house.

"You mean you can just stay anywhere you want?" Jessica asked.

"Yup" Lindel said excitedly, grabbed her, flew off the roof, and sped through the air. Jessica watched the house close in fast as she started to become scared. A foot from the door, Lindel landed and knocked on the door. She opened the door and said, "Hello?"

"What did you do to her Lindel? The poor girl looks like she is going to puke." Brenna said walking over to her and helping her to a chair.

"Nothing…just girl talk…what do you have cooking?" Lindel asked.

"Did the girl talk just about kill you?" Crystal asked smiling at her.

"Certainly wasn't prepared for it…compared to the toss in the pool, this was much more intense." Jessica said.

"Lindel wouldn't hurt you…at least on purpose." Crystal said grinning at her.

"Hey! I never hurt anybody accidently." Lindel said. She then thought about what she said and wondered if she said that right.

"Close enough, so is my hubby coming in for the night or are he, and Herrior and the engineers up there still working on some project?" Crystal asked.

"Don't know, I can go fly up and bug them though. Any special requests?" Lindel asked.

"Tell Dan I shaved my head; tell me what his reaction is." Crystal said. Lindel laughed and quickly flew outside of the house. Jessica tried to hold back a chuckle.

"It gets funnier the more you are around them." Julie said sticking her head over the top level.

"Depends on your sense of humor, but each member of our group has their own personality." Crystal said.

"It's good to see Lindel having fun again." Brenna said changing the subject as she brought over some thin biscuits.

"I thought the little bird things fed us…and other stuff." Jessica said.

"They do, but let me know what you think?" Brenna said. Jessica took one and bit down on it. The flavor exploded in her mouth and lightened up her face and all of her senses. She quickly devoured it and grabbed another one.

"Hmm…speechless... Well I will take that as a compliment then." Brenna said smiling and walking away.

"What is this?" Jessica said with her mouth full and crumbs spilling out.

"A little something I whipped up real quick. I'll have something better in the morning." Brenna said.

"Better than this?" Jessica asked surprised. She then realized she was being rude and put the half-eaten biscuit back on the tray and swallowed what she was chewing.

"So what did I do to deserve to be here?" Jessica asked.

"You didn't betray us, your heart knew what was right, and you knew you had to stop what your dad was doing for the safety of our party." Skyka's voice called out. It sounded like she was half-asleep.

"I had to; it wasn't really a decision so much as I knew I had to protect you guys. As much as you scared the shit out of me in our initial encounter, I knew you had to be safe." Jessica said.

"Strings, what did you do to scare the shit out of her?" Skyka asked.

"Ah, the lass is just exaggerating a little. We just merely did our job; made sure she was safe, didn't leave any trace that we were there and came back, end of story good night." Strings said.

"You made my boyfriend's friend force himself to burn his face off; my boyfriend melted into a pile of slime, and blew up the place!" Jessica said.

"You considered that your boyfriend?" Crystal asked.

Jessica sighed. She suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. "No…I…"

"It's ok. You don't have to answer that. I did some stupid stuff in my life too." Crystal replied.

"No you didn't, look at you. You have all of these fancy robes and powers that probably I could never understand. You deserve all of this, and I never did a good thing in my life." Jessica said starting to get upset.

"Have you ever slashed your principles car tires?" Crystal asked. Jessica looked at her unbelieving.

"Ever force your school to cancel for a week because you filled the main sewer drain pipe with concrete and brick? Get together with your friends and turn the gym teacher's car upside-down? I'm sure you snuck out late at night, but did you ever break into your school – steal all of the helium canisters and play strip poker sucking on helium all night? I have a history I'm not proud of, some other things I don't want to mention as well – but that is in the past. What matters now is the present and what you are going to do with yourself?" Crystal said.

Jessica wasn't sure if she believed her. "You plugged the main sewer drain?"

"The next day a dozen of us turned on all of the sinks and flushed as many toilets as we could. Took awhile, but just as expected everything backed up. Cost tens of thousands of dollars to figure out what happened…bunch of dumbasses never thought to look at the main drain. 'Hmm…let's see, if all of the drains in all of the school are not draining – maybe it is not a clog?' – they spent hours plunging before it dawned on them what was happening." Crystal said with a smile.

"You never said you did anything like that?" Julie asked.

"What did you do?" Crystal asked in return.

"Nothing, my life was boring actually until Tess entered my life. I never even cheated on a test." Julie said.

"Come on…you had to have done something bad…" Crystal said.

"Samatha tells me you had a fun experience with Branzer one night…" Skyka said.

"Say what?" Crystal asked instantly smiling.

"It was nothing! I just…helped – and it wasn't even that!" Julie said.

The room became silent as everybody stared at her. "A woman never kisses and tells…but for the record I didn't do anything!" They all gossiped for the rest of the night. An hour later Lindel returned and joined in.

The next morning Dan came into Brenna's house, climbed up the stairs and sat down next to Crystal.

"Long night?" Crystal asked with a smile.

"It's not working…" Dan said and laid his head down in her lap.

"Some top secret project you are working on?" Crystal asked gently stroking his hair.

"Stupid thing…" Dan murmured and began to sleep.

"It is working, just not up to his expectations." Herrior said walking up the stairs quietly. "He is not giving himself enough credit. I worked all night with him, forging new armor, and combining them with different ingredients and potions. The results shocked me, but apparently didn't do what he wanted them to do. Swords that hit twice with one swing, bursts of power for a short period of time, raising your ability to dodge incoming attacks with such efficiency – and many other things. It's all random though – and that's why he's so frustrated. Also there's no telling how long the item will retain its ability to do whatever he coated it with."

Dan had begun to snore. He was absolutely worn out, and it was evident that he had worked very hard last night.

"Well it looks like I'm stuck here for awhile. Did we have anything planned for today?" Crystal asked.

"I have a couple of meetings I need to go to. I would like somebody to check up on Branzer and see how he is doing, and somebody needs to have a talk with Icis." Herrior said sitting down beside her.

"What did I do?" Icis asked.

"Hun, were you aware that most of your race were killed lately in Tranquil?" Skyka asked.

Icis nodded.

"You can't do what they did. That's pretty much the extent of it." Skyka said.

"It is not time for me to mate. Our customs are different from yours indeed, however I will follow the laws of Tranquil – the city that took in my race and rescued us from death. To fight beside you is an honor, at first we would have been happy just to be away from the demons and to mine the ground for ore – but with all that your people have given us, it is not right to ask of us not to do something." Icis said.

"When will it be your time to mate?" Skyka asked curiously.

"I made the choice to not find a mate, therefore I will not mate." Icis answered.

"It's not against the law to not find a mate." Skyka smiled back.

"That is my choice though. I cannot bear offspring while fighting, and I do not wish to mate with an unpurified Draenei." Icis snapped back.

Skyka took note and switched the subject. "I will go check on Branzer. How about you get some rest before you need to go speak?" Skyka asked Herrior.

"I shall rest, but somebody will need to wake me if I am summoned." Herrior said as he pulled out his hearthstone.

"I'm babysitting one; I mine-as-well babysit two." Crystal said reaching her hand up for it. Herrior gave it to her and lay down beside her. Quietly he thanked her before dozing off.

"I can help if you want." Jessica piped up.

"I will be in the arena testing myself again, summon me if I am needed." Veliline said as she walked away.

"How are they coming with your runeforge?" Strings asked.

"It is impossible to make. I asked to have it torn down. My runes are depleted and my weapon has lost its power. I will find other ways of fighting." Veliline said looking up at Strings and then walked out of the house.

"Does anybody know what she is talking about?" Strings asked.

"No. Unfortunately, she has been out of her element for so long that the more she fights, the weaker she gets. She is trying different tactics for fighting, however mimicking our fighting style is not working for her. Her race is completely opposite from ours and the more she learns from us, the weaker her powers become." Jacklyn said.

"I'll petition the King to see if we can go back and get a runeforge and anything else she might need." Skyka said.

"It could change history." Jacklyn replied.

Skyka nodded. "It could. However, her heart is right and her intentions are true, and our code has always been to do whatever we can to help each other." Jacklyn nodded.

"Is my heart right?" Jessica asked.

"You're fine hun." Skyka said smiling at her. She then asked, "So what do you plan on doing today?"

"I want to become a fighter." Jessica said.

Skyka did not anticipate this answer. She raised her eyebrow with curiosity.

"I want to join your group, be a fighter, and fight alongside you." Jessica said.

Nobody knew what to say as they slowly looked at each other.

"I have been given a second chance and I want to do something with my life. I pissed it away before and Crystal convinced me yesterday that this is what I want to do."

"Whoa, all I said was how I felt." Crystal said defensively.

"And I want to feel that as well. My family is dead, sending me back to Earth I don't think is an option…" Jessica said but was cut off by Skyka saying that it was.

"I can't. I'll go back and complete schooling, get a job, a fancy house and a Honda Accord in my driveway? I don't want that. Live my life knowing that everybody here is risking their lives daily just so I can groom my yard and make sure my sprinklers come up to keep my grass nice and thick? You took the officers off from Earth and put them in battle." Jessica said.

"Actually we displaced them to a different world, and our reports are only about half of them are willing to fight. They aren't allowed in Tranquil, like you are. A lot of tighter restrictions have been put in place, especially with our spells, armor, and weapons." Skyka said.

"You are going to petition the King, how do I go about petitioning the King?" Jessica asked.

"That's not…" Skyka said and rubbed her eyes. She thought for a moment and then said, "If that is what you want, then I will speak on your behalf. The King will decide if you would make a good fighter and assign you accordingly as he sees fit."

"I want to be in your group." Jessica said.

"That's not my decision to make. Herrior has more weight on that subject than I do, but I'll be honest with you. Our group is already bigger than the average group. We do need more fighters in our secondary groups and we can always use more gatherers. So far having this many people in our group has caused problems." Skyka replied.

"I won't cause any problems and the bigger the group the more chance that you have at surviving…" Jessica said insisting. Skyka raised her hand to her in silence.

"Jessica, I will do as I said. However, you are acting like a child. I will report to you what is told to me, but if you want to be a fighter, you will accept any assignment given to you and fight beside anybody assigned to you. Our group has been broken up many times to do different assignments. If you want to visit with us while we are in Tranquil that is fine, anybody is welcome to. However, if you aren't willing to accept those terms than I will refrain from asking." Skyka said.

Jessica seemed upset and not sure what to say. Strings's hearthstone began to vibrate. He took it out and saw Ysera.

"I'll take this outside." Strings smiled as he walked outside.

"Take time to consider it Jessica. I will return to you later." Skyka said and left as everybody else walked out and went their separate ways.

"Jessica, can you come give me a hand?" Brenna asked as she continued to fry up a piece of meat on the stove.

Jessica walked down the stairs and stood beside her.

"This meat needs to be flipped every twenty seconds, here take the fork." Brenna said and handed it to her.

"Why does it need to be flipped?" Jessica asked. Brenna walked over and grabbed a chair. She brought it up to Jessica and sat down beside her.

"The meat needs a burst of heat on one side, too little and it'll be raw, too much and it will be burned. It needs to be cooked on an open pan to let the juices stay in. In a raw fire, the flavor drips down into the fire. Go ahead and flip it." Brenna said. Jessica fumbled with it, but eventually got it to flip over.

"See how the juices splashed off, and then receded back into the meat? The meat is dead, but the spirit of it lives on. It supplies nourishment to our bodies and it is trying to fulfill its role." Brenna said. She paused for a little and told her to go ahead and flip it again.

"So are you going to convince me to not become a fighter?" Jessica asked.

"Nope, you've got about another fifteen seconds." Brenna said.

"Why aren't you a fighter? Why isn't every else a fighter?" Jessica asked.

"It's not their job. Everybody has something they are good at." Brenna said as Jessica flipped the piece of meat. The juices again splashed out, and receded again back into the meat.

"What are you good at doing?" Jessica asked.

"Not much..." Brenna said bursting into laughter.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way." Jessica said.

"Jessica, what is your heart telling you to do right now?" Brenna asked.

"To fight, to defend this city, to be a part of their group; I owe them everything." Jessica said.

"And what is your head telling you?" Brenna asked.

"The same thing?" Jessica said looking at her confused. Brenna gently pointed to the meat as Jessica realized it had been longer than twenty seconds. She quickly flipped it and saw that the bottom had burned.

"Oh man…" Jessica said as she set it back down on the pan. She let out a sigh.

"No, you didn't ruin it. You need to listen to your heart and your head. Your heart overwhelmed your head and caused the meat to burn. My heart loves this city and I would gladly lay down my life for it as well. But my head is not that of a fighter. I have many jobs in Tranquil, but what I enjoy the most is growing flowers." Brenna ended as Jessica flipped the meat. She saw that the scorched meat had returned to its normal color and looked normal.

"How did it do that?" Jessica asked.

"There are many secrets in the food that we prepare. Plus many other wonderful secrets that each person possesses in Tranquil. Every person, no matter what age or what they do, is a valuable asset to Tranquil. Your heart is looking to fulfill its role in life, but your head is too quick to try to figure it out. You have hundreds of years to figure it out, and if you never do than you can cook with me. You can hear the meat and feel the rhythm now cant you?" Brenna asked.

"I can actually. It sizzles to a certain point and tells me when to flip it. What do you mean by hundreds of years? How long am I going to live?" Jessica asked.

"You mean to ask, how long is the average life span of a person in Tranquil? Around…seven hundred years or so…give or take a hundred. There is no rush. Walk the streets for the next couple of days. Speak to everybody, see what they do. If you go some place that you aren't supposed to be, a guard will let you know. You will not get in trouble for it. Me personally? I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be. I cook, grow flowers, and help as many people as I can during the day. I may become a fighter some day, and I may die tomorrow. Either way, my heart is at peace. Do I love Herrior's group more than I love another? Guilty as charged, but I would do anything for another group. I have been helping them out for nearly as long as they formed many years ago. Good flipping technique by the way." Brenna said.

"Thanks, just takes awhile to figure it out." Jessica said.

"Yes it does." Brenna said smiling at her. Jessica looked at her out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "So…when is this done?"

"When do you think it is done?" Brenna asked.

"I don't know, I've never cooked before, let alone meat that seems to cook itself." Jessica said. She flipped it again and saw dark lines forming in a "tic-tac-toe" formation.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Jessica asked.

"Well, how about we give it a taste and see?" Brenna asked.

"No, I mean if it isn't done yet…how do I know when it is done?" Jessica asked.

Brenna shrugged and walked away "You tell me."

"I…" Jessica said as she flipped it again. The meat immediately gave off a burst of scent that overwhelmed her senses and stopped her in midsentence.

"That smells magnificent!" Jessica said excitedly. "Both sides have the funky 'tic-tac-toe formation and the meat smells great, is it done?"

"You tell me." Brenna said again in the same dull tone. Jessica studied the meat as her mouth began to salivate. She motioned to flip it again but saw that the meat was losing its design. She immediately reached into a cupboard, pulled out a plate, put the meat on it, and turned off the stove.

"Well I'll be…how did you know where the plates where and how to turn off the stove?" Brenna asked smiling at her.

"Umm…" Jessica said trying to recall how she did know to do that. She then looked through the cupboards, and looked down at the first. It was completely exhausted no smoldering coals even.

"What the…" Jessica said trying to figure it out.

"Well bring it over and let's see how you did." Brenna said sitting at the table.

"How did I do that?" Jessica asked walking over to the table with the plate.

"You stopped listening to the confusion in your heart and mind and did it by instinct." Brenna said as she cut apiece off and held it up to her mouth. Jessica took a bite and instantly her taste buds jumped with excitement.

"That's great! And I don't even like steak!" Jessica said.

"Well I'm going to stay here and help Crystal out. How about you take that out and talk to our people. Calm your heart and your mind. Open your curiosity and see where it takes you." Brenna said.

"So…I can't fight in their group then?" Jessica asked.

"You definitely have the ambition to do it. But did you know that they all have other jobs while they are in Tranquil? Sometimes they work harder in the city then when they are on a mission." Brenna said.

"I didn't know that." Jessica said.

"Dan and Herrior for example spent all last night working non-stop on a project. Skyka and Lindel work in our tailoring shops. Mohania…tortures people to get information out of them. Strings likes to tell stories and entertain people. Our ambassadors work all day. Even the people that don't have jobs enjoy watching people do their jobs and often have ideas that nobody has ever thought of before. Just relax…go have some fun. I would suggest going to visit our chefs. You seem to have a knack for that." Brenna said.

"Where are they at?" Jessica asked taking another bite.

"Ah, that is where the fun is. Go explore, ask around. You love the city now, but the more you get to know everybody and the more time you spend with them, the more your love will grow." Brenna said smiling at her.

Jessica seemed hesitant still and Brenna finally said, "Ok, now off with you. I have some cleaning up to do. Take the steak with you and walk around eating it, but be sure to save some pieces for anybody who wants some." Brenna stood up and began to busy herself. Jessica stood up and walked out with the plate.

When Jessica left, Crystal's mind almost exploded with questions. "Brenna…you are more than just a cook and a gardener – aren't you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Brenna replied.

"That little pep talk, obviously she isn't going to be in our group and you knew that. You sent her off to find something else to do." Crystal said.

"I have no say in what she does or what she doesn't do. Same talk applies to you hun. She could be fighting by your side by the end of the day, or she could be pounding on metal like our blacksmiths do – I have no idea. Finding a hobby, besides babysitting your husband and your leader, is relaxing. Even with Dan as tired out as he is, if he didn't enjoy it he wouldn't be doing it. All of the experiments that he does, same thing applies. Nobody is forcing him to do anything. Tranquil is filled with thousands upon thousands of different things to do, besides worrying about Dan." Brenna said as she walked up the stairs. "Do you want me to watch these sleeping babies for you?"

Crystal smiled at her. "Are you usually this annoying?"

Brenna laughed and reached out for Herrior's hearthstone. Crystal gave it to her as she gently took Dan's head off from her lap.

"No, I'm not usually annoying and everybody needs to have a talk to once in awhile. But there is not one person in Tranquil that wouldn't do the same thing. I am not different from anybody else." Brenna said.

Crystal quietly walked down the stairs but before she left, Brenna suggested that she go to the arenas and she if she could learn how to summon her extra powers at will and use them whenever she wanted.

"What? Wait…" Crystal said.

"Have fun, and yes I'll take care of them. Here let me get the door for you." Brenna said with a grin, pushed Crystal out, and shut the door.

"Word spreads fast in Tranquil doesn't it?" Crystal yelled out. Brenna quickly opened the door, said, "Yes", and then closed it laughing.

"Hi Branzer" Skyka said walking over to his cell.

"Hello. How is everything going?" Branzer asked.

"Not much has changed, has anything changed with you?" Skyka asked.

"I grew an extra head." Branzer said smiling as he walked over to the door.

"No unusual thoughts, actions, missing periods of time, strange abilities?" Skyka asked.

"I found out that I have no abilities at all. What happened to my turtle?" Branzer asked.

"I'm assuming since you changed classes, the turtle is no longer summonable. No other hunter powers?"

"No, I don't have anything. I've been passing the time sitting on this side of the cell and throwing these rocks and trying to hit the circle on the stone wall on the other side. My highest record so far is sixteen out of thirty. Before I could hit a target with my back to it, standing on one hand with my eyes closed. What's happening with everybody else?" Branzer asked.

"I can't say anything about that." Skyka said with a smile.

"Ah – prisoner, gotcha. Well…nice weather we've been having…" Branzer said trying to think of something to say, and then suddenly he thought of something. "Why am I not being tortured like everybody else? I mean I hear screams about every six hours and agonizing pain for about an hour afterwards. I'm a prisoner why is that not happening to me?"

"There's no need. You are under observation, you are not being punished." Skyka replied.

"Well being observed is boring. Do you want to observe me throwing pebbles at the circle on the wall?" Branzer asked with a smile.

"No, so as far as you know everything is normal? Do you swear that you are human with no abnormal abilities and are not a threat to us?" Skyka asked in a serious tone.

"I'm not a threat to anybody!" Branzer said defensively. His face then changed realizing that only a couple of days ago he tried to kill all of them. "Eh…sorry about that. I was a threat to everybody and I understand why I am here. But I am not a threat to anybody and as far as I know I have no abnormal abilities. I tried to do all of the things Lindel does, and then as I just told you I tried to do my old hunter abilities…can't do either one. All I can do is sit here and throw pebbles at the wall, and I'm not very good at that."

"I will pass the word along. Do you need anything?" Skyka asked.

"Can I have something to do? Obviously, I can't have any cakes with chisels hidden in them. Something to pass the time though – maybe some paper and something to write with? I don't know what I'm allowed to have." Branzer said.

"I'll have a cake delivered to you, and writing down your thoughts is allowed. Branzer, I'm not sure how long you are going to be in here. The necromancers that made you into a banshee are dead. Either they found a different way of making banshees, or they didn't succeed in fully changing you…or you were a banshee and suddenly changed back into a human." Skyka said.

"I know. Everybody is wondering 'How did I suddenly change?' and 'Am I still controlled, will I turn and destroy everybody?' and other thoughts like that. But to be honest I am just a boring human who is just as clueless as everybody else. I know I would never hurt any of you on purpose. I know I'm completely bored out of my mind, and I'm still wondering the same things everybody else is wondering. Can I share something personal with you?" Branzer asked changing his tone.

Skyka nodded.

"I realized that when I was a banshee, I would have been able to mate with Lindel. It didn't dawn on me until I thought of that a couple of hours ago. But the agony and torment, and those words don't even describe it right, were intense. Love was the furthest thing from my mind, now it's what I cling to. Lindel's feelings for me are still the same, as mine are for her." Branzer stopped talking for a moment, let out a chuckle as he said, "Do they allow weddings with people in prison?"

"I never thought of that." Skyka stopped to think about something for a moment. "No, they don't allow weddings in prison. I need to go think about a subject, I'll talk to you later." Skyka said and hurried away.

Skyka quickly stepped out of the cells and ran a distance pulling out her hearthstone. She summoned one of the King's ambassadors.

"Branzer is showing no signs of any alterations. Something interesting happened when I was talking to him though. He accepted what he was, and looked to the positive side of things. He said he would have been able to mate with Lindel if he was still a banshee. He was speaking the truth the entire time. He didn't realize it, but nobody that we have ever imprisoned has ever focused on love - perhaps to hope, but not to love." Skyka said quickly.

"Interesting. He claims all of his powers are gone then?" The ambassador asked.

"Not only his former banshee powers, but his hunter abilities as well. He is the same as when we left him before. He would not hurt any of us. He asked if he could marry Lindel while being imprisoned." Skyka said.

The ambassador looked at Skyka curiously.

"That was the same reaction I had, but I left quickly so I didn't reveal my thoughts. I would suggest the option of having a banshee scan his brain and body. His masters are dead, and I am convinced he is not a threat." Skyka said.

"I'll review the idea. On to other matters, the woman naga has begun helping our people with minor things. She has asked about you and Herrior, but their intentions are noble. Ysera's dragonflights apparently have been battling for quite awhile. She anticipated it after the slaughter and regrowth. We got somebody's attention." The ambassador said with a smile.

"Good, can we go assist?" Skyka said with a smile.

"Only a couple of our secondary parties are going – mostly to aid in healing and to report back. Your bard is there as well helping with the healing. Herrior is still sleeping but the King would like him to go speak with the human officers. We will have to see what comes of it. Veliline seems upset, has she mentioned anything to you?" The ambassador asked.

"She left this morning to go to the arena. She is losing her power we all know that. Ultimately, it will be drained and she will still want to fight, but I do not want her in combat with us if her powers are gone. She said the runeforge that we attempted to make for her failed." Skyka said.

"We've anticipated that option and want to send you and your group back to her time to find out how to make one, and what powers she needs. It's nothing we can provide for her. The people reporting from the arena fighting against her say she has been losing every battle. Her heart is in the right place, and we will do whatever it takes for one of our own. We hesitate only because going back to her time, her master may regain control over her. We don't know enough about blasting Death Knights to make her immune to it. It would be nice for all of you to observe Death Knights fighting first hand to see them in action. Speak with Veliline, tell her what we want to do and when Herrior awakens tell him to assemble his party and speak with the humans first." The ambassador said and Skyka acknowledged as she put her hearthstone away.

She walked for a ways and then pulled her hearthstone back out and summoned Veliline. She arrived several minutes later on her bone gryphon.

"Veliline, we have a situation and I need your advice." Skyka said as they started walking to Brenna's house.

"Yes?" Veliline asked.

"We have been authorized to go back in time and to obtain any powers and runeforges you need to rebuild your powers. If we go back, will your presence be detected – and more importantly will your master regain control over you?" Skyka asked.

"He would. It would only be a matter of time…minutes perhaps. I would advise against it." Veliline is the same tone that she talks in.

"We are not going to stand by and watch your powers drop. You are one of us, you fight with us, and we love you. What want to help you, and this is the only way we can think of doing it." Skyka said.

"He may control you as well. The fighters on both sides of the war may not know if you are friend or foe. Stealing the materials needed may make you a foe to both sides." Veliline said.

"We have a banshee, we can sneak in, and we can fly in and out." Skyka said.

"They have all of that as well, as well as traps for such attacks." Veliline said.

"You know the grounds better than we do, we need a plan." Skyka said.

"I would not suggestion going back." Veliline said.

"That is not what I said. I said we need a plan. Start formulating one and within the day we will lead the assault. For the time being we need to go with Herrior to speak with the humans." Skyka said insisting.

"I will need some time alone." Veliline said.

"Very well" Skyka said as Veliline walked away.

Skyka walked in Brenna's house and saw her talking with several different blood elf women.

"He's still upstairs. Shall I wake him?" Brenna asked.

"We need to go. You wake him and I'll summon our group." Skyka said. Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and contacted everybody except for Veliline and Strings. They were on their way as Herrior and Dan woke up and started down the stairs.

"Lecture time eh?" Herrior asked.

"Unfortunately, next assignment is to go back in time and get the supplies Veliline needs to reenergize her powers." Skyka said.

"Sounds easy enough" Herrior said smiling.

"Veliline thinks that we will be attacked from everybody – and is afraid she will become repossessed again by her master. She said we might even become possessed as well." Skyka said.

"I hate being possessed. What's our plan for that?" Herrior asked.

"All we have to go on is her memory. She said she needed time alone. I told her to formulate a plan. I figured by the time we get back from our little 'pep' talk she will have something." Skyka said.

"Are we using our trinkets?" Dan asked.

"For what?" Herrior asked.

"We will all go disguised as Death Knights, the trinkets are powerful enough to stop us from detecting you, and it should be powerful enough for them to not detect us. It should work for Veliline as well." Dan explained.

"Good theory. Are you willing to stake your life on that?" Herrior asked.

"I've staked my life on less…" Dan said smiling.

Herrior grunted and turned to Skyka. She said, "Well it makes sense."

"Do you want to take a bet on when Dan kills himself or the rest of us?" Herrior asked.

"Nope" Skyka said smiling back.

"I'll take that bet…what are we betting on?" Mohania asked as he walked in Brenna's house with the rest of the group.

"When Dan is going to get us all killed." Herrior said.

"I'm not betting against that." Mohania said.

"Lindel, let's go speak with the humans." Herrior said. Lindel opened a portal and began channeling her power into it. When it was fully formed, they all walked through.


	21. Past is Past

Past is Past

"Attention everybody, I need to speak with all of you." Herrior said. The officers saw the portal open and began to gather around it as they turned their attention to Herrior.

"This is our life. This is how we live. I'm not entirely sure what all of you were expecting, but this is it. Many of you seem…for the lack of a better word…bored. Many wars were fought to get these lands freed; now everybody lives in peace. Wars are continuing to be fought. Some of you may have anticipated coming in and fighting beside us – we can displace many of you to our front lines and you can participate in our wars. Many of you have families, so they would have to go with you. Your training as officers will help, but you may not have the abilities to fight for days and days. Here you got an idea of one of the races that allied with us. They are armed and have defenses in place; however, they harvest, hunt, and fish – as well as many other jobs. So the problem that we have is many of you want to go back to your world. Many of you know the problems with this. We've displaced hundreds of you, and then suddenly putting you back – questions will be asked, and how will you answer them? If you were to be interrogated they would not get much information except that you saw several strange walking beasts that speak your language. What shall we do then? You pleaded with us to take you with us – and we refused several times. Finally, we accepted because your lives were in danger. What do you want us to do?" Herrior asked.

"Many of us will fight. I will fight." A middle-aged officer walked forward as he said that.

The Lieutenant walked forward and asked, "What do you want us to do?"

"The decision is yours. We will not put you into a battle that we do not think you are ready for. Many of you we can put in our farms or within our major cities and do an assortment of jobs. The decision has always been yours. How many of you want to go back to your world?" Herrior asked. Herrior quickly scanned the crowd and reading their responses on their faces.

Herrior nodded and held his hand up before several officers could speak. "I have been a leader and an ambassador for longer than probably all of you combined. Many of you have given me an answer. We will arrange to put you back in your world. It will have to be in a different place. Some of you can stay with other family members, others we can create cities within a day for you to live in. You will be subject to questions though. All of you will have to think of your own responses. Each of you will need to decide among your own families – not the devotion of your friends. I will give you a couple of hours while I speak with the Taunka."

Herrior walked over to their chief and embraced him. They shared several warm pleasantries and began to exchange stories. Herrior saw many of the officers follow him, but took no notice. They could change their minds as the hours passed.

"The scourge still visits these lands. Rise from the lands they do. Hunters still scourer these lands, killing anything with a hide. The alliance has not been seen in days." The chief said.

"We are puzzled with their activity as well. We annihilated many of their fortresses, killing all within the walls. They seem to have been abandoning some of their outposts to fend for their selves. Have you seen any dragons in this area?" Herrior asked.

"No, just the birds own the air. Should there be something for us to worry about?"

"No. We are hunting a powerful one. We've been destroying several of its roosting places and making it mad. If you see one, let us know. We found several areas where we think it frequents. We'll leave our calling card, point it in the right direction, and see what happens." Herrior said smiling.

"Do you require our fighters?" The chief asked.

"Not as of yet, but we will contact you if need be. How have these lands been treating you?" Herrior asked.

"Do you require our fighters? The Lieutenant asked.

"Come, sit with us. It is rude to talk to ones back." Herrior said. The Lieutenant walked over beside Herrior and sat down.

"How have our friends been treating you?" Herrior asked the chief.

"They have been a blessing. They share their wisdom with us, we share ours with them. They all have helped and are welcome to stay if they wish." The chief said.

"I will die by your side. Many of us will." The Lieutenant said to Herrior. Herrior looked at him and nodded.

"It is not a question of loyalty so much as a question of heart. Many of your people's hearts do not belong here. As of right now, I can hear many sorting themselves as to what they want to do. My party is sorting them out right now. We will open portals shortly and begin construction before the sun sets. These lands do not belong to your people, your home lands belong to them. Fighting for a land strange to them is hard, but fighting for a land they hold dear to their hearts gives them more reason to fight. Their bonds with family are also strong." Herrior said.

"Well…that's normal though. Many people love their families." The Lieutenant said in defense.

"As do ours, but if they turned or were captured we would kill them in an instant. Can you say the same about them?" Herrior said quickly. The Lieutenant was caught unprepared by this question. Herrior nodded.

"Their backs are strong as is their will to live." The chief said. Herrior nodded to him. The chief then turned his face to the Lieutenant and said, "Herrior does speak the truth though. We have lost many, some of which was our own people. Some parents had to kill their young. It is not something we do because we want to, it is something that we mourn about for years. But if we have to save our people, we do what we have to do. Many of our people still would kill us without thinking twice about it. They are few, but they become enraged and possessed with power and would kill all of us if given a chance."

"I have family. I don't think I could do that." The Lieutenant confessed.

"It is not something to take lightly." Herrior said.

"Have you ever done that?" The Lieutenant asked Herrior.

"I cannot have offspring, but those who I consider close friends, closer than family – yes I have killed them. I have helped others kill their young. It is not something we brag about and we do what we can to save their lives…but ultimately if it's a decision between killing one and saving hundreds – we have to kill that one. Just recently, I've given orders to kill hundreds; it burns my heart as it does with any leader. It comes with being a leader – or a chief." Herrior said motioning to the Taunka chief. He nodded sincerely.

"I have never had to make that decision. I'm not sure I could." The Lieutenant admitted.

"Nobody expects you to. If a leader orders you to kill somebody, you do it regardless. You follow orders, the leader takes the responsibility." Herrior said.

"I've seen you take responsibility." The Lieutenant said with a slight kindness in his voice.

"It's not easy. That is not the first time I have mourned for the losses I have given my party to do. When we fight, we do it quick and effectively. When we are given orders, we do them with every ounce of our strength. I feel better, every leader feels better, when the King orders us to kill people rather the giving the command ourselves, but we aren't leaders because we want the title, or have risen in ranks. There are many…tens of thousands of our fighters, probably more that would make great leaders but don't have the heart to do what we do." Herrior said.

"I've had to kill some people in my life. Taking a life is not easy." The Lieutenant said.

"I've killed hundreds in less than an hour and watched their offspring scream in terror as I decapitate their parents and splatter their blood. That is war. This is what we do. There is no reward for it; there is no prize at the end. There is only death and agony, from both sides – but our armies continue to fight despite the odds. One hundred to one – you kill as many as you can before you die…and if they capture you, you kill yourself. Your officers are not ready for that kind of experience. Guards perhaps; gatherers and skill trades I have no doubt. But you point to an officer willing to make that kind of commitment and I will begin their training. If you cannot then we will look into either displacing you back to your world, or to another place if you wish." Herrior said judging the Lieutenants reaction.

The Lieutenant let out a sigh. He felt like he was just slammed into a brick wall by the reality of what was really going on. He looked over at his officers and asked, "This is not a mind game is it?"

"Afraid not, this is what we do. So now you can see why we hesitated so much is taking you from your homes. There is now an army looking for you – and as far as they know, you are still dead. The army is not that of the alliance and not demonic. They seek our powers and lure us into traps. If you go back, or if any of your officers and their families go back to the same place they will be questioned and probably killed. We spared their lives for the moment, but their thoughts are about their families and their loved ones back in their world. Their choices are their own to make. It always has been." Herrior said.

The Lieutenant let out another sigh. He then recalled a memory. "You wanted me to go check on this friend of yours, concerning his security I believe? Could you put some of us there?"

"His name is Alan. He befriended me – not in the same manner you befriended me, but I trust him with my life as I do with you. He lives in a remote area with plenty of land around him. We can have houses constructed within a day to house all of your people. I would feel better with more protection around him. He is not a fighter, and I doubt could even wield a knife or a gun. But I would die for him." Herrior said.

"Wouldn't it be kind of strange…a bunch of houses springing up over night? That would probably draw attention wouldn't it?" The Lieutenant asked with a chuckle.

"We do it all of the time. We also destroy entire cities in mere hours. If anybody asks any questions we kill them. Anybody in our way we obliterate them. We can make it look like they have been there for years, and with some persuasion here and there, nobody would know any differently." Herrior said.

"And by 'persuasion' you mean killing people?" The Lieutenant asked with a grin.

"Death, the threat of death, or torture. Usually it doesn't have to go to those measures though. Is this something you would be interested in?" Herrior asked.

"I would. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, and if he is in need of protection than I can help with that. What about food? Jobs? Transportation?"

"Alan has billions of dollars stashed away. We can setup small, undetected portals to allow…err…food to come in. I hesitate in saying that because in our city food is delivered in an entirely different way. We can make some adjustments, but it is not a problem. I'm not sure how long you could live on billions of dollars; perhaps some of you can find jobs elsewhere doing something. The main objective though is to make sure your new city is safe and to make sure Alan is safe. He has done a lot for us." Herrior said.

"Billions? Should I ask how he obtained that much?" The Lieutenant asked thinking he was joking.

"During my stay with him, I found a rock from space. It was solid gold, weighing about three thousand pounds. I started breaking it down and found gems within it. Then when I was found by my group, we had our miners break it down and process it. He went to several different places and bargained with them. He did it silently and without suspicion. Anything else he needs, he simply asks for it and we supply it for him. He is a doctor of some sort, but not a doctor that applies bandages to our body. His life was already threatened by one of his patients. One of our groups arrived on scene and blew his body into thousands of tiny little pieces. We made it look like he killed himself – nobody asked any questions." Herrior said.

The Lieutenant listened with awe, not sure if he believed it – but knew he was telling the truth.

"Gold and precious gems mean nothing to us. If our allies need it to feed their young, we provide it for them. If our allies are threatened, we kill every member of that group threatening them. We do not leave our friends, and all of you are our friends – our allies. Chances are very good that we will need you someday. In my mind right now, I can think of a couple of different things we need if we displace you next to Alan's house – however it is something to be discussed at another time. Go talk among your people. They look to you for leadership. If they wish to stay here or go to another world than we will accommodate. If they wish to go back to their home world, we can put them back into their old homes – but I almost guarantee that their lives will be at risk. The choice has been, and always will be – their own." Herrior said.

The Lieutenant nodded at him as he got up and walked over to the rest of the officers and began to talk with them.

"I see you are still as wise as when I spoke with you before." The chief said.

"Wise? I don't know about that. I've made mistakes and had lapses in judgment. I've had doubts and hesitated about many things." Herrior admitted.

"It is the past you speak of such things. Listen to you now. Listen to your heart and hear its wisdom. You are still the same leader I have known and respect. I yearn for the day when we can stand side-by-side in battle again. It would be an honor." The chief said.

"As it would be with you again my friend. My heart does speak to me and I ignore it sometimes. Love has been interfering with my thoughts, and I need to set myself straight." Herrior said.

"Love…comes from the heart, not the mind. Let your thoughts go, and command from your heart. Do not bear the weight of the world on your mind, but fight from your heart. Love with your heart. Embrace others with your heart. You speak just fine, but you fight with yourself as if the responsibility of everything you know rests upon you. It does not." The chief said shaking his head.

Herrior nodded. "You are wise my friend. I will take your words and learn from them. It is an honor, as always, so speak with you again."

"The honor is mine. We have been honored with the humans you have given to us to watch over. My people owe you everything." The chief said.

"Just as many of your people died as ours did fighting the scourge. You are not in debt to us as we are to you. We are friends, and friends do not remember debts." Herrior said. The chief nodded and motioned for Herrior to look behind him.

"We all agree to your idea. How soon can we start building our homes?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Very well then, let me speak with Alan, survey the lands, get with our engineers and your homes will be ready before nightfall." Herrior said standing up.

"You are going to build all of our homes in one day?" The Lieutenant asked in disbelief still. Herrior nodded and then asked Lindel to open a portal.

"Anything you wish to have changed about your home, simply ask. Lieutenant you will have several ambassadors working with you for several days. Afterwards you will be left in charge. You will be given the power to contact us, the same that Alan has. I did a quick count and see that two hundred and thirty nine homes will need to be constructed. We will give them each some land to work on, and will grow some trees and plants to have it blend in with its surroundings. I must leave you now – we have another mission to go on. We will have things prepared, say your goodbyes and the ambassadors will come to you when the homes are done." Herrior said. He began walking towards the portal, but before he could walk through the Lieutenant quickly said his name.

"Thank you…for everything…it means a lot to us."

Herrior nodded and stepped through as the portal closed behind him.

"Will we have to kill them as well?" Mohania asked.

"I think they will be fine though. Skyka, summon one of the King's ambassadors and let them know what just happened. Dan, contact the engineers – Julie and Crystal you go with him and describe what the houses should look like. I will contact Alan. I'm hoping we can get all of this done. Our next mission has me a little nervous." Herrior said.

"Hi Herrior, I hope all is well?" Alan asked. His hearthstone began to vibrate as he and Sammy were watching TV and settling down for the night.

"Fine and all is well with you?" Herrior asked.

"Well nobody has exploded in our house lately, just relaxing in front of our new wide screen. Is this a social call, or do you need us to do something?" Alan asked.

"Little of both. We're going to bring you more security. The officers that have helped us out had their lives threatened so we had to displace them. We are going to put them in houses around yours. We have our engineers laying out the designs and construction some be completed within a couple of hours." Herrior said.

"The designs or construction? And why can I ask?" Alan asked.

"They are friends of ours. Their Lieutenant helped me out and we have become friends. We tried to put them with the Taunka, but they long for their people. They have not entered our city so they are not immune to demonic and alliance possessions like you two are. They know what they are up against though, and they will fight. We cannot put them back in their old homes, to many questions will come up. So we are putting them by you to increase your security." Herrior said.

"You cannot just drop several hundred people around me, start construction, get permits…do you even know what I would have to do? There are large pieces of land I'll have to buy, partition off…" Alan started rambling off several other things when Herrior stopped him.

"We've done it before, many times. If there are any problems we'll just erase people's thoughts and the people that raise commotion, they will wake up half the world away completely naked. I know you like your land so we will not drop houses close to you, but I know the lands around you and will be able to build the homes within an hour without suspicion. Now then, is there anything else you wish to discuss?" Herrior asked.

"I don't get much say in these matters do I?" Alan asked.

"You've been attacked before; the people who see you have demons frequent them. They are good people – if I didn't trust them I wouldn't have suggested this." Herrior said.

"Huh. Well ok. Are there any attacks that I should know about? Any alternate reason for doing this?" Alan asked.

"Not that I am aware of. There are several major battles going on, a couple of them we are going to join in on. Are you aware of anything unusual?" Herrior asked back.

"No, just kind of paranoid. Usually generals don't amass large armies in a single area without intent of going to war." Alan said.

Herrior smiled. "That is true; however planting down hundreds of people in homes to live their lives is different. If you don't want us to drop them around you, we can start scouting other areas."

"No that is fine. We do like our land around us and the remote area. Should we anticipate any explosions, bright lights, crop circles?" Alan asked with a smile.

"There haven't been too many explosions in the past when we did this. It will be done under the darkness of night and I have no idea what a crop circle is. Oh…" Herrior asked quickly as his tone changed, "Are there any of these satellite things above you taking pictures?"

"I have no idea. Is this a trick question?" Alan asked.

"No" Herrior said back in a serious tone, "Is there anything taking pictures in the skies?"

"I have no idea, Herrior that is stuff in outer space. We can see an occasional jet flying over, but they are miles above us and cannot see us. Why are you asking?" Alan asked with a smile still on his face.

"I'll send some banshees to make sure. I hate those things. They will destroy anything close to your house. Anyways contact me if you have any problems." Herrior said.

"Are you serious? What happened?" Alan asked.

"Long story, anyways I see Veliline coming back. I will contact you later." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"I have documents and maps of the fortress. I have where all of the defenses are and the numbers. The main fortress is here as indicated on the map, only one way in. Large ice glaciers and ridged mountains surround it. West of it here has several small fortresses well armed where people are taken to be transformed. North of it the entrance has hundreds upon hundreds of undead skeletons, constantly being reanimated. Death Knights roam around the armies. To the east is where our weapons are forged – many more Death Knights are there. Hundreds of Val'kyr and gargoyles frequent the land. Many of them blend in with the surroundings or are completely invisible. Death Knights as well fly the skies on their winged steeds such as mine. Scourge recruits and reanimated soldiers walk the land – millions of them. The lands behind the main fortress are thousands of reanimated soldiers and scourge." Veliline said pointing to all of the spots on the map.

"So what is your plan?" Herrior asked.

"We have to get inside the main fortress. Once inside there are hundreds of traps and guards as well as the Lich King's own creations. The bottom of the fortress is where the Death Knights train and gain their powers. We need to get there. In order to get the powers needed to train future Death Knights, I will need to absorb the powers of three of our trainers. We will also need a runeforge as well. I can only absorb power from a trainer for a short time before I am killed. There are three crystals stored in the same room. We will have to have each trainer virtually killed in order for me to absorb their powers and transfer them to each crystal. The crystals will then need to be put in Tranquil – the problem with that is stabilizing them so that they do not attract unnecessary attention. The runeforge is no problem, it simply reenergizes our weapons." Veliline said.

"Veliline wins for talking too much…" Mohania said.

"So we need to get inside the fortress, fight our way down to the basement, kill everybody there, let you do your thing, and then leave?" Herrior asked uncertain.

"It's impossible. I have given you all of the information I know. According to our ambassador rules, we cannot alter the past. The explosion destroyed everything; I checked when I was alone. We would have to get in, obtain the powers and get out moments before the explosion. When that happens we were on full alert and engaged in combat. Our defenses were on high alert." Veliline said.

"Doesn't sound like a plan to me." Herrior said.

"I was told to come up with a plan. This is what needs to be done. It is impossible, but it is the only way of getting what we need." Veliline said.

"Any other trainers?" Herrior asked.

"No."

"Any other place where we can get a runeforge?"

"No."

"I'm guessing they will know a portal forming and an attack coming – even if we showed up right in room that we need?" Herrior asked.

"Impossible. It is well fortified. Once we step through the trainers and remaining Death Knights will instantly attack us. They are much stronger than I am. They will instantly freeze us, launch army after army of ghouls upon us as well as gargoyles. They can detect anybody stealthed, morphed or invisible." Veliline said. She continued, "Even if we kill everything summoned, we still need to kill all three trainers – keep two of them busy while I channel the power out of one of them, and transfer the power to a crystal. The runeforges are very heavy. We always had to disassemble them and reassemble them in order to move them. Why they work there and not here – I don't know. Even if they are brought here, they still might not work." Veliline said.

"So this is coming from a Death Knight looking from the inside out. Luckily we are looking from the outside in. Veliline if we take out the trainers instantly and launch attacks to distract the remaining Death Knights in the room, could you get the crystals needed?" Herrior asked.

"It cannot be done." Veliline said.

"Good, that's the answer I wanted to hear. We are going to need two more banshees for this plan to work. Once the heavy attack happens at the gates, my guess is that the Lich King orders all of his fighters out – an "all or nothing" tactic. The trainers are too valuable to be put on the battlefield. The runeforges we'll suck them out – shouldn't be a problem." Herrior said.

"You can't. They will sense you; your mind will succumb to the voices, you will join their armies." Veliline said.

"Good." Herrior said smiling. "Lindel go round up two more banshees. Skyka we will need a dozen or more priests. This will be easier than I anticipated."

"Herrior, I do not want to go back. I would rather die. They will kill us or control our minds." Veliline said.

"You aren't. None of us will." Herrior said with a smile.

"I don't understand." Veliline said.

"Good." Herrior said and thanked her for the information.

"Herrior" Veliline said sternly but in the same tone.

"Veliline, we will be fine. But we have to attack this from a strategic point of view, and as a leader you are not entitled to know what we are going to do. In the event that you, or any of us, succumb to their powers we have will have several fail safe procedures in place. However, we won't. Lindel put us just outside the city, or wherever we were – only…make it exactly twenty yards above the ground." Herrior said with a grin. Lindel nodded and began to open a portal.

Inside of the Lich King's fortress, it was only minutes before the lands were destroyed. The trainers were in the bottom of the fortress in a heavily protected and secluded room when three portals began opening behind them.

"What is this?" A tall bluish/white ghost asked slowly turning around. At one time he might have looked human, but only a faint recognition of humanity could be recognized now. The portals fully opened and a sudden intense blast of air blew the blue ghost through the room and into a portal on the opposite side of the room. The other two trainers instantly began summoning armies, but were interrupted as more gusts of winds blew from each portal and into another. Once the trainers were gone, Skyka and the other priests ran through one of the portals and then all of them were closed. They had their trinkets immediately activated and they all looked like different types of Death Knights.

"It is in the next room. There is an immense power coming out of it" a goblin priest said.

"Trackolania, go secure the room, everybody else up against the wall. Tell me if you hear anybody sneeze close to us." Skyka said. Trackolania instantly disappeared as Skyka and the rest of the priests ran up next to the room.

Seconds later Trackolania reappeared next to Skyka and nodded.

"Good, let's go." Skyka said and ran into the room. In front of them was a large stone statue that had the face of a gargoyle. The mouth seemed to have a green fire burning from it.

"Does look heavy, open a portal. Trackolania go get the crystals and get out of here, everybody else levitate it." Skyka said with urgency in her voice. The male tauren Chronomancer began to open a portal above the runeforge as the priests levitation spells began.

"Why are you here? What are you doing?" A male Death Knight said in full armor attire as he burst into the room. Trackolania instantly knocked him unconscious as they all jumped on the runeforge and floated through the portal. Moments later the explosion enveloped everything.

The three Death Knight trainers were separated after being blown through the portals. They instantly began to fall and hit the ground hard. Herrior, Tess, and Gernack and their groups watched the trainers fall, hit the ground, and then began to beat them until they couldn't talk or move. Trackolania appeared out of a portal behind Herrior's group first and sprinted with speeds barely able to be seen and tossed one of the crystals to Veliline. She walked over to the first trainer that Herrior's group had beat first. The trainer looked at her in disbelief.

"Traitor…" he said and Veliline held the crystal out in front of her as an enormous blast of energy came out of Veliline's eyes and hit the trainer. The trainer let out a quick cry as a return blast of energy came back from him and energized the crystal.

"One down, two to go." Veliline said handing the crystal to Herrior.

"How dare you defy the master? He will hunt you down…he created you, and you turn on him?" The man asked on the verge of death.

"Veliline?" Herrior asked.

"In service of blood, his powers have been drained and he deserves death. Kill him." Veliline responded back. Herrior smashed his hoof on his face and smeared it into the dirt.

"Probably should eat this one." Mohania said cautious and ignited his body on fire.

Veliline walked over to the other trainer a distance away who watched what happened.

"You cannot steal the powers for your own. You cannot!" The ghostly man said. Tess kicked him in the side and told him to shut up. Veliline performed the same ritual and drained the trainer of his powers and put them into the second crystal. She gave it to Herrior and began to walk away when the trainer asked if she remembered killing her family.

"I do not remember anything." Veliline said stopping in her tracks.

"Yes you do. Remember Chloe, your child? In order for you to be given these powers you had to kill her. You then tortured your husband of twenty years and slaughtered hundreds…" The trainer shut up after Tess's hoof landed on his face and splattered it into mush on the ground.

Veliline kept walking to the next trainer. Both Tess's and Herrior's group were following her.

"Before I die, allow me to free myself of this tyranny. I do not wish to die a Death Knight." The trainer said. Veliline held up the crystal and drained his powers into it in the same fashion. Veliline handed the crystal over to Herrior. She then walked up to the man and brought her feet down on his stomach as hard as she could.

"We are not free! We cannot change!" Veliline said.

"Yes…you can…" the man said as he coughed up blood and died before her. She then pulled out her axe and chopped him in half. "No we cannot!" She said, but only her voice wasn't the same as it was before. This time it showed emotion. She brought her axe down again and again until only tiny pieces of him remained.

"The trainers are dead and the crystals have absorbed their powers. They will be able to reenergize my powers for the rest of my life. Let me go test the runeforge." Veliline said as she turned to Herrior. Herrior nodded and followed.

Skyka and the other priests crawled off from the runeforge awhile ago and watched the events unfold. They walked away from the runeforge as Veliline approached it. She put her sword into it, and the green fire instantly grew. Seconds later Veliline let out a loud scream in her Death Knight voice as she pulled her sword out and felt her weapon reenergized.

"It works." Veliline said turning around and putting her weapon away.

Herrior nodded. He pulled out his hearthstone and contacted one of the King's ambassadors about the success. Seconds later a portal began to open and several engineers and ambassadors came out to investigate it.

"Where do you want these items to be kept in Tranquil?" An ambassador asked Veliline.

"It matters not to me. Unfortunately, I will need to continue to reenergize myself in order to continue to battle." Veliline said.

"Perhaps not, our engineers like a good puzzle. They should be able to find out what energies are produced from this and integrate it into our cities energies. For now, can we keep these items in the undead quarters?" The ambassador said with confidence in her voice.

"Fine" Veliline replied. She then turned to Herrior and asked what her next assignment was.

"Our trainers are eager to learn your powers and to be shown how to use them. Teach them if you wish. Our inscriptions would also like to study them and see how they can enhance them. After that, I would like our group to form up – we have some things to talk about." Herrior said.

"Are you ok Veliline?" Skyka asked.

"No" Veliline replied back still looking at Herrior. A small tear formed in her eye and slowly ran down her emotionless face.

"Let's go for a walk. I have some things I want to show you." Herrior said and motioned her away from the group. Everybody else walked through the portals back into Tranquil.

"Did I have a child?" Veliline asked when they were alone.

"I cannot answer the question. We could go back further in time…" Herrior said but was cut off.

"No. The events the happened are done. It is in the past, and the past is past. I belong in that cave to suffer for things that I had done – but do not remember." Veliline said.

"I can take you back there if you wish, but all you will find is loneliness and unanswered questions." Herrior replied back.

"So be it. I would rather have unanswered questions than answers." Veliline replied.

"Very well, I will need your hearthstone back and I will have a Chronomancer send you back when you are ready." Herrior said.

"No" Veliline replied. She stopped and looked around. "Many battles were fought here."

"Yes there was, and many have died as well. Ever since the grounds have risen, the alliance has stopped their attacks." Herrior said looking over at the enormous volcano that rose up and continued to pour out lava.

"I will never have vengeance will I?" Veliline asked.

"No" Herrior replied taking a slow deep breath.

"Did I kill my family?" Veliline asked.

"Sometimes in battle, your enemy tricks you into thinking they have information you need so that you do not kill them." Herrior said.

"I did have a family." Veliline said ignoring Herrior.

"I do not know." Herrior replied.

"How am I able to free myself? I cannot, I did not have a family, I did not kill them, I did not…" Veliline said as she walked away. She fell to her knees. She waited for a moment and then stood back up. She turned around and looked at Herrior.

"I tripped over something" Veliline said.

Herrior nodded and said, "This flat and lifeless land does cause people to trip sometimes."

"Order me not to remember." Veliline said.

"I can order you to fight, but that is an order I cannot give." Herrior said.

"I felt the control…not in my mind, but by watching them. They are controlled; they do the bidding of their master. With their minds controlled by the voice, they did not…" Veliline said but turned her face away.

Herrior nodded and sat down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Veliline asked quickly.

"My legs grew tired, I am resting them." Herrior said back.

"I have been away from the control for so long, yet I still felt…empty. Now everything is coming back. Why now? I probably absorbed some of the memories of the trainers when I sucked out their powers." Veliline said trying to convince herself.

"Could have" Herrior said.

"You cannot suck out a memory that is impossible – why did you suggest that? You only drained their powers and energized the crystals." Veliline said.

"Sounds reasonable" Herrior said.

"Their powers are gone, mine are energized. I thirst of power." Veliline said and then suddenly stopped. She realized she said that was wrong. "I do not thirst for power, why do I not thirst for power? You give me new armor and weapons, that strengthens me but my powers do increase. Why am I not thirsting for power? I had everything…I had all of the power from our trainers; I could have killed all of you. Why did I not kill you?"

"I'm not sure" Herrior said.

"My thirst is gone. Why? What happened? I remember. Herrior order me not to remember!" Veliline said but it was that of an emotional woman, not that of a Death Knight.

"I cannot give you that order." Herrior said.

"No! I did…not! I…Herrior…" Veliline said as she burst into tears. She fell to the ground and wept bitterly.

Herrior watched her, but did not move. He knew she was recalling memories she did not want, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Curiosity also got the better of him as well. He wanted to see what was going to happen.

Minutes passed and Veliline's color in her face turned from a dull white to a pink like that of Crystal or Julie. Something had happened.

"Herrior…why?" Veliline asked in a soft gentle voice looking up at him.

"I cannot answer that either. I am sorry Veliline." Herrior said.

"I…did some horrible…horrible things…" Veliline said still extremely upset.

"Did you, or were you controlled?" Herrior asked.

"It doesn't matter." Veliline said shaking her head.

"Yes it does." Herrior replied.

"I…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" Veliline said looking at Herrior. Herrior knew she was telling herself sorry and not him.

"The past is past…a wise woman once told me." Herrior said.

Veliline nodded. She then sat across from Herrior and asked if her memories were real.

"Veliline, I have no idea. Those memories might have been planted in you, they might have been absorbed, you might have done those things controlled or you might have done them by free will." Herrior said.

"I keep thinking it wasn't me, it might not have been me. How long to memories last and why are they recalled now?" Veliline asked. Her Death Knight voice and look were completely gone. Her armor and appearance were still the same. Herrior continued to watch; both in agony watching one of his own members suffer, but also with curiosity as to what was happening. Herrior shook his head to answer her question.

"I'm free Herrior. My appearance looks different; I can see it in your eyes." Veliline said.

"You have changed." Herrior replied.

"Aren't you scared? I'm scared…I wasn't controlled before, but I was not free. My mind was my own, but not my own to use. That doesn't make sense. Why?" Veliline asked.

"I was not scared of you before, and I am not scared of you now. You are part of my group and I love you, even if you are not a Death Knight anymore." Herrior said. Veliline held her hand behind her and an instant circular burst of bubbling red and black fire erupted.

"I am still the same." Veliline said reemphasizing what she just demonstrated.

"That is still a neat spell. How long does it destroy things?" Herrior asked.

"You asked that question before, why again?" Veliline asked.

Herrior nodded with a smile. "You remembered that is all I wondered. How are you feeling?"

"Betrayed. Betrayed by myself, by my own mind. What are you going to do with me now?"

"The same as before. Your choice is, has been, and always will be your own." Herrior said.

"Are you going to have me locked up?" Veliline asked. Herrior immediately knew what she was talking about.

"Branzer tried to kill us, you did not. You may imprison yourself if you think you are a threat, but I do not believe you are." Herrior said.

"Branzer was controlled. He is not controlled now, why is he still imprisoned?" Veliline asked.

"That is part of what I wanted to talk with everybody about. Some of us have been possessed before, me for example I killed my wife but our new friends, the Draenei, helped bring her back to life. Branzer is different though; he was dead, brought back as a banshee and fought against us with the alliance. We need to know what the alliance found out about us, and what they are going to do with it." Herrior explained.

"The alliance said they were cut off from the rest of the alliance." Veliline said.

"I do not believe them. I believe Branzer is telling the truth when he says he is himself, and I believe he would die for us. None of us know the process or any residual effects that may linger; there is just a lot of 'unknowns'." Herrior explained.

"Are there are no 'unknowns' with me?" Veliline asked softly.

"You have been full of 'unknowns' from the beginning." Herrior said smiling at her and continued, "You want an answer though. It is my call because I am his leader. So as a parent tells their child, 'because I said so'."

Veliline let out a laugh and looked away.

"I love him too. I do not want him in a cell. I am very glad he is back with us." Herrior said being completely honest.

"Why did you turn the Lieutenant away?" Veliline asked suddenly changing the subject.

"Didn't anticipate that question, but I'll humor it. He helped me, I helped him. Would he be a good fighter? Yes, I think he would. In fact I anticipate him asking, as well as several other officers shortly as well. Will they want to be in my group, probably? Word has it Jessica wants to be in my group as well. I think she would be a good fighter as well. They have both proven themselves." Herrior said. Veliline quickly interrupted him.

"But your group is too big…isn't it?" Veliline asked.

"Actually there are no limitations any more. The only limitations are the ones I want on my group. We have changed our tactics and the King has given us more power over our groups. The problem is, the more people we have, the more problems that come up among us. You know what I am talking about." Herrior said.

"Yes. How is Lindel doing by the way? I have been so busy trying to prove myself that I can still fight that I have not taken interest in others in our group." Veliline said feeling ashamed.

"Lindel is back to normal, and everything else has been worked out. I must admit I am not one for handling relationships within my group very well…as you may have noticed. As long as they fight, do what I say, and die by my side I am fine with it. That did not sound very convincing did it?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Needs a little work." Veliline said smiling back. "Thank you Herrior. I love you as well, and I will try to love the others as well. I will not find a husband though; I will only fight by your side."

"You can do whatever you want. You are free now, go enjoy it – that is an order." Herrior said smiling at her.

"Am I still an ambassador?" Veliline asked.

"That has not changed." Herrior said.

"Can I…take a bath, change my armor, my hair…who gave me this haircut?" Veliline said laughing as she started unrolling the braids in her hair.

"That is an experience you probably don't want to remember. Let's get going." Herrior said joining her in the laughter.

They began to walk away when the Worgen female called out. She peaked around the enormous doors and looked at them.

"Hello." Herrior said back at her.

"Do you have a moment?" She asked running up to him.

"Yes I do." Herrior said walking towards her; Veliline following behind.

"How are you feeling these days? Are the Ramkahen and her child still living with you?" Herrior asked.

"No actually, they requested to leave and help farm your lands. It is only me now. Thanks for not leaving." She responded.

"Not a problem, what do you wish?" Herrior asked.

"Well, I want to be accepted among your people but that is not going to happen. I hesitate in asking to leave because of my race and your concerns about me. All of my needs are provided for, however I grow bored and wish to help. Is Dan well?" She asked.

"He is. Shall I send word that you want to speak with him? As for everything else that you say, we do hold prejudices; however we have overcome them in the past. Is that a formal request?" Herrior asked.

"No."

"Yes it is. I don't believe you ever said what you name was." Herrior said.

"I was never given one. We were humans, at one time. Now we travel in packs, and my pack is dead now. I yearn to be with people again. I do not know the process, but I believe it was a sort of curse to be used against you. Afterwards the curse spread, we mated, and began to want our own freedom. Many of us can take on a human form, for example" she said and transformed into a middle aged woman. She looked like a normal human with long red hair, medium height and didn't look any different from any other human. She then transformed back into her Worgen self. "Like all curses and forms of domination, some rebel while others embrace it. I…obviously rebelled..."

"So my group grows even more. I am going to have to discuss your request and it may not get approved, but I will see what I can do. However in the meantime we need to find a name for you." Herrior said.

"I…you would do that for me? I wanted to ask that, but I never…I mean I gave up all hope. Name…I wouldn't even know where to start." She replied excitedly.

"You and Dan seem to have some sort of connection. I don't understand it, or even half of the things he does, but I figured this was going to happen eventually. You somehow have obtained information that helped Tranquil – yet we were not able to figure out how. Also, while Dan was babbling, he somehow knew you were going to die and was willing to die to save your life. I'm not sure why, but I'm learning that I'm not always the one in charge. Another fault of mine…however I will go have our meeting…actually I will summon everybody out here. If you are to become part of our group I would like you to watch what happens and the events that unfold. If you do not become part of our group, it will at least get you involved and perhaps give you more options as to what you can and cannot do." Herrior said and pulled out his hearthstone and began summoning his party.

His party anticipated the summons and quickly appeared. They looked shocked, not only that Veliline had changed, but that the Worgen woman was with him as well.

"Hi guys, thanks for coming. Lots of questions huh? Well…we have a lot to talk about. First we'll start with the obvious…Skyka how did you become so beautiful?" Herrior asked.

"Comes natural" Skyka replied with a smile.

"Ok, well now that we have that question answered, let's talk about one subject at a time. Obviously Veliline has changed, I think she's upset because somebody gave her a silly haircut and she's embarrassed." Herrior said.

"It is not, I picked it out myself!" Lindel said with a smile. Lindel then paused for a moment and said, "You have thoughts in your head…I mean I can read your thoughts…not that…"

"Thanks Lindel for making yourself look like an ass again and entertaining us with your brilliant deduction. A simple 'you are human' would have been sufficient. Let's hurry this up; I have places where people need to be killed." Mohania said.

"Places to go, and people to see?" Crystal asked.

"No…usually wherever I go I kill people. I said that right the first time." Mohania said.

"Yes fine, ok let's take a vote. Bernett wants back in the group – all in favor say, 'Mohania is an ass'." Herrior said. Simultaneously everybody said, "Mohania is an ass".

"Real funny…" Mohania said.

"Next, I don't believe Branzer is a threat to us. I want everybody's honest opinion, is Mohania an ass?" Herrior asked. Everybody simultaneously said "Yes".

"That has nothing to do with Branzer…" Mohania said.

"Shall we bring him back into the group?" Herrior asked. Everybody again said "Yes". This time Mohania said "Yes" as well.

"Moving on, Veliline has changed. She still has her powers and I believe is stronger than she was before, are there any objections to keeping her in the group?" Herrior asked.

Everybody said no, and somebody called her an "ass".

"Next item of business is the Lieutenant will eventually ask to join our party. I approve of him, but do not wish any of the other officers to join. I will, however, recommend them to join other groups to the King. Any objections with that?" Herrior asked.

Everybody seemed to talk at once, but the general consensus was they anticipated him joining as well.

"Fine, and now the Worgen woman wants to join the group as well. Voting is now open." Herrior said.

"Wait a second…how big is our group going to be? Are we going to have enough tanks and healers? I mean we have to have a balance to have a functional group. Too much of one class will hinder another class." Julie said.

"Julie, how many times have I told you to let me worry about that and not you?" Herrior asked.

"Sorry." Julie said realizing that she had been scolded about this before.

Herrior smiled at her. "However she has a good point, and a legitimate concern. We can discuss that later. Getting back to the question though, how many of you are comfortable fighting beside a Worgen?"

"I have no problem with it." Dan said immediately.

"I think we all anticipated that reply from you. That is one of the reasons why I am entertaining the idea. Have there been any more dreams or weird happenings that you wish to share Dan?" Herrior asked.

"No, and I was out of line before. I apologize for that." Dan said.

"No need. But I would like to know everything ahead of time. Same applies to all of you. I am the leader, if something happens and it involves going into battle – let me know. Remember when Mohania found the undead captured? He let me know first and I made the call. I expect everybody to do the same, is that clear?" Herrior asked.

Everybody agreed. Herrior then continued his speech. "Also, and I am not singling anybody out here – this applies to everybody. Relationships are fine, but your loyalty and your powers belong to me in battle. If you ever have doubt, or if I sense you have doubt I will leave you in Tranquil in a heartbeat – no hesitations. If one of us is captured, you kill that person regardless. That is a rule, not optional. If your mate dies, you hold your position and continue fighting – also a rule and not optional. If you don't I will kill you myself. Understood?"

Everybody agreed again.

"Sorry to repeat myself, but I am going to run my group stricter in combat and pre-combat. Your time is your own afterwards, the rules still apply as you all know – but those rules are for me. I want to know where you are and what is going on unless you are married. If I have to summon all of you, I do not want to see something I do not want to see. We are fighters first and foremost. Repeating myself again…so have her fight beside us?" Herrior asked motioning to the woman.

"She'll need a name." Skyka said smiling at her.

"I'll think of one, unless you or anybody else has one?" The Worgen woman replied.

"She will need a class also." Julie said. Herrior glanced over at her. "I didn't say what, I'm just saying she will need something."

"Julie, I am going to leave that decision up to you. Take our entire group, figure out what is best, run the idea by me and then I will discuss it one on one with everybody." Herrior said smiling at her. Julie seemed excited.

"I am good at sneaking around, but we usually attack with our claws. If I were to pick a class, I would say a rogue?" The Worgen woman suggested. Herrior looked at Trackolania and he shrugged.

"Usually rogues are silent. I'm not sure how he is going to train you, or anything involved with that." Herrior said to her. He looked over at Trackolania and he shrugged again.

"Well…is that a yes or no?" Herrior asked.

"I'll drink to that!" Strings said.

"She's an ass." Mohania said.

"Good, another woman to talk with. We have too many males in our group anyways." Lindel said.

"Good…more mindless babbling…" Mohania said when he was suddenly knocked to the ground by a large bear.

"I say yes!" Quinely said jumping up and down on Mohania. The rest of them agreed.

"Very well, let's go back to Tranquil. You will have to stay here; I will contact you later with a decision." Herrior said looking at the Worgen. She looked ecstatic and about ready to jump out of her skin in excitement.

"Lindel open a portal. Somebody piece Mohania back together. I will need all of our ambassadors to go with me before the King to discuss this subjects." Herrior said.

"Piece Mohania back together…you're a funny tauren." Mohania said as Quinely got off from him.

"You love him…" Quinely said rubbing up against him.

"You're an ass." Mohania said back.

"Technically you were called an ass more than everybody else was…remember?" Quinely said laughing as she morphed back into her normal self.

"I've got to find a new word…" Mohania grunted as he passed through the portal and into Tranquil.

"That is a large request indeed." The King said to Herrior with Skyka, Mohania, Veliline, and Dan in the throne room. Herrior had waited until the King a free moment and then explained everything that his group and what he wanted to do.

"Yes it is. I have thought about everything and I believe it would be for the best. I would like your opinion though." Herrior said.

"In my opinion…that is a large request." The King said with a smile. He continued, "A short while ago your group had many problems with the size it was. You seemed relieved to have some members moved to other positions, and now you want them back and several more?"

Herrior nodded and said, "They all may not accept, and they may not all prove to be fighters, but I believe for reasons unknown to me that they are a key to our city and just as valuable as any other fighters."

"You do have a soft heart and you are a gentle and patient Tauren. I believe what you say as well. You have taught many over the years and helped leveled entire legions of our enemies. If you want the responsibility then you may have it. Jessica I believe is more interested in cooking now instead of fighting. She will have basic training of course; however, I doubt she will join you. She has made many friends and has become comfortable in Tranquil." The King said.

"I am glad that she has found a home among us." Herrior replied.

"As am I. Branzer has shown no evidence of being a threat. I cannot find any reason to continue holding him within our cells. As his leader you do take on the responsibility for his behavior just the same as any other member of your party, however you already know this. If he turns, have him killed." The King said.

"I will, just the same as any of my other members of my party." Herrior said.

The King looked at Veliline and said, "You are looking beautiful as always. How are you feeling?"

"Released…if that makes any sense." Veliline replied.

"It doesn't, but I am happy for you." The King said with a smile. "Your runeforge and crystals are in the undead quarters. We are continuing to examine them, but our engineers feel confident that the powers will be able to be integrated within Tranquil so you will not have the need to continuously have to recharge yourself. I noticed your weapon is glowing, may I ask why?"

"The runes have been replenished, and I reforged it." Veliline replied assuming that he knew what she was talking about.

"Well of course, how silly of me to ask." The King said with laughter and turned to Dan. He said, "You seem to have unlocked something interesting. Our people are able to duplicate what you were working on and seem to have improved on it. In addition to your experiments, many other experiments are being conducted as well and most have proven to be successful. They range from spells being cast instantly, bursts of healing, instant mana replenishment, and bursts of power for short periods of time as well as and several other neat effects. Only our primary groups are given these weapons though, I do not want these weapons being given to our enemies. It has been interesting to watch."

"It was just an idea. I'm glad it is working finally but…" Dan said when suddenly the word "Shaman" exploded in his head. Dan instantly stopped talking and cringed at the sound. He slowly looked back up and saw everybody looking at him wondering what just happened.

"Did somebody just say Shaman?" Dan asked but before anybody could reply, an invisible force grabbed Dan and pulled him out of the throne room and halfway across Tranquil in a mere second.

"Well that was rude. He is supposed to ask to leave." Mohania said as everybody stood there watching what just happened.

"Should I be concerned?" The King asked.

"I have no idea to be honest." Herrior said turning back to the King.

"Very well, tell him he had a good idea when you find him. Moving on, I will grant your request. As always, keep me up to date. The naga that befriended you has asked about you several times. After being told three times you were not in the fortress, we have received no other contact with them. I want you to go find her and see what it is that she wants. They are probably still hesitant about speaking to us. The Worgen woman will need to stay outside the city until I am convinced that she is not a threat. The man named Lieutenant I don't believe will join you either. He has been working with Alan and seems content where he is. Moving them back was a good idea. Icis I am slightly worried about only because the Draenei seem to be withdrawing themselves from the rest of us. How has she been acting?" The King asked.

"I questioned her. She said their mating rituals are different from ours, but she said she has no desire to mate and she also said it wasn't the right time for her either. We have ran into other Draenei such as herself, but she would have killed them if she was given the order. I do not question her loyalty." Herrior said.

The King nodded. "I will speak with the Worgen woman myself; she will then be blasted by the monks just like everybody else. Has she thought of what type of fighter she wants to be?"

"She said a rogue." Herrior replied.

"Wait, I'm sorry to interrupt – but shouldn't we be concerned about Dan? I mean something just sucked him out of this room in the blink of an eye…" Skyka said reminding everybody.

"He comes and he goes. This time he 'goes' that's all." The King said smiling at Skyka.

Skyka still looked concerned and confused. The King shook his head as he slowly blinked. "His loyalties are pure, but I do not think he will be among us much longer. I believe he will leave to go fight somewhere else against another advisory. I am just speculating that is, honestly I am just as confused as you are – but I've come to expect that with him now. There is no point is worrying another minute about when he leaves or is 'taken'. If he comes back to us, then he will continue to be loyal to us – if he is gone for a long period, then you are to fight without him. If he never comes back then he will be missed. I have no control over him anymore than he has control over whatever is happening to him."

Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and saw Dan. He quickly began to apologize for leaving, but was silenced by Herrior and asked what happened.

"I need to become a shaman…I have no idea why." Dan said quickly.

"Ok, I will see you after the monks have completed the blasting." Herrior said.

"That's it? No other questions?" Dan said hoping that he would ask more questions.

"No. Contact me when the monks are done." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"You see, he is fine." The King said with a smile. Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate again. Herrior sighed but the King said to go ahead and answer it. It was Gernack.

"Dan just flew into me and knocked me down. He asked if the monks knew how to change him into a shaman like some of the rest of us. I said yes, but most of us have changed to different classes." Gernack said waiting for an explanation.

"Ok, thanks for letting me know." Herrior said and closed the portal, again putting the hearthstone back into his pocket.

"So that's where he went. Anyways, you may have Branzer released. My guess is he will need to be blasted again to regain his powers. I've had several banshees scan his mind – they cannot find any trace of where the alliance may have gotten information about us. After your party has their powers back, you may go seek out the naga and speak with them again. I believe we have a battle that needs to be fought out there still. You are dismissed." The King said.

They all left and Skyka immediately asked what they were going to do about Dan.

"Nothing, everybody saw the King's reaction and heard the words that he spoke. We will watch him just the same as any other member of our group." Herrior said with uncertainty in his voice.

"That doesn't fill me with confidence…" Skyka said back.

"We have our orders. Let's go visit Branzer and have him released. He will need to be blasted as well. It doesn't sound like our group is going to change from what the King said." Herrior said as all of them continued walking the streets.

Herrior and his ambassadors arrived at the cells and walked over to his cell. Bernett was already there.

"Keeping him entertained?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Can't get rid of him" Branzer replied back with a smile.

"You are free to go." Herrior said unlocking the cell and opening it.

"How does that work? I mean there is no key, you just simply through the latch and walk out. Doesn't seem very safe." Bernett said.

"Any prisoner who leaves their cell is killed instantly. Any prisoner who is giving the guards trouble pays a trip to go see Mohania." Herrior said.

"Yes…" Mohania said in a sinister voice.

"A bit brutal don't you think?" Bernett asked.

"Saves on keeping keys and locks" Herrior said smiling at him. "If you want to speak with the King about changing it you can. He changes things and is open to different opinions."

"I'm good" Bernett replied with a smile.

Branzer walked out and asked what was going to happen now.

"We all took a vote and want you and Bernett back in our group – however the decision is yours. Branzer you will need to be blasted by the monks to regain your powers, but I believe Dan is in there now and probably some others are waiting as well." Herrior said.

"I just spoke with Dan. He said he was done and talking with Julie. He asked both of us what classes and specs we wanted because they were working on some project…I didn't understand it. I need to just sit down and memorize some of these ambassador things; I am way out of the loop." Branzer said.

"Dan…just went it." Skyka said not understanding what was going on. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Dan. He immediately answered.

"I thought you were going to change into a shaman?" Herrior asked.

"I did. The monks did their thing and seconds later they said I was done. I was confused but they said to try out the powers, and I have them. My old warrior powers are completely gone. Instead of swords I'm fighting with fist weapons. They are pretty neat. Anyways do you want to know what Julie and I are working on? We aren't done yet…but she has some very good ideas. Several leaders overheard us talking and stopped to listen. It's slowing down our planning because they keep asking questions, but so far we are making progress." Dan said excitedly.

"So…you are done?" Herrior asked confused.

"Not yet. Probably another couple of hours but we still have to do some testing." Dan replied.

"With the monks, you are done with them?" Herrior asked.

"Yes?" Dan questioned him back.

"Ok, well we will get things straightened out here and come to visit you." Herrior said and then closed the portal.

"Ever feel like life is just spiraling out of control?" Herrior asked looking at Skyka.

"Lately…that's been the norm. He has good intentions though and…"

"Yeah I know. I'm going to teach him how to fish…keep him out of trouble for awhile. Have him sit and relax – see how long that lasts before something picks him up and pulls him through the air again." Herrior said.

"Well…I'll go wait in line then. Get my brain rearranged along with every fiber in my being. It's been awhile since I've screamed in horror. Looking forward to doing that again…" Branzer said.

"A hunter again?" Herrior asked.

Branzer nodded and said, "It worked out pretty good for me the first time." He smiled and slapped Herrior gently on the shoulder. "I would like to see Lindel before I'm blasted; do you know where she is?"

"No, I can summon her though." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone. Lindel answered and she was flying over Tranquil somewhere. She was smiling and laughing.

"Lindel, Branzer would like to see you before the monks blast him. We are heading there now." Herrior said.

"Tell him good luck." Lindel said and looked at something else. She then changed her flying trajectory.

Herrior looked at her for awhile and then said he would. Herrior closed the portal and looked up at Branzer. He looked shocked and hurt.

"Not the answer I anticipated." Branzer said. He then added, "Well, no time like the present to get this done." He walked past them and towards the exit.

"Awkward…well I've got some torturing to do. Let me know when I'm needed again." Mohania said and walked away.

"Did Branzer talk about Lindel?" Herrior asked Bernett.

"Nonstop. Did something change that I don't know?" Bernett asked.

"If there is, I don't know about it. However it is a personal issue. Technically Branzer died, freeing Lindel from her obligation to him. We will see where this goes. In the meantime, let's go see what Dan and Julie are cooking up. I have no doubt that will probably create more personal issues within our group, not something I am looking forward to…" Herrior said with a sigh.

"What was your party like before all of us jumped on board?" Bernett asked with a smile.

"Boring" Skyka replied looking back at him with a wink.

"Boring was predictable." Herrior said.

"Boring was boring…this is more exciting. You have to admit that our group didn't see much action." Skyka said giving Herrior a good shove.

"We saw plenty of action. Everything was organized; the schedule was set in stone. We knew what battles were happening and where to direct our forces. Our scouts told us the how strong our enemies were, our assassins killed select members of their forces while we distracted the army." Herrior said.

"We killed people. You led the attack, remember?" Skyka asked as they continued walking.

"You lead an attack? What kind?" Bernett asked.

"It was against the alliance. They had a fortified city. We laid siege to it and killed everybody in it." Herrior said.

"It was actually quite fun." Veliline said smiling.

"You see, it's still fun! You're just a grumpy old tauren…" Skyka said tickling him. Herrior started laughing and pushed her away.

They walked outside of the cells and heard many of the fighters talking about different fighting tactics and strategies. Occasionally Dan, Julie, or Crystal's name came up in the conversations.

"Remember back in the day when we taught them things?" Herrior asked.

"Remember what Dan and Crystal taught us to do?" Skyka asked with a smirk.

"Please…" Veliline said and then paused for a second. "I've heard all of this before, but all of my emotions…everything was 'turned off', for lack of a better term."

"Well I'm glad you are turn on now." Herrior said. Bernett burst into laughter and then turned to cover his reaction.

"Sorry, yeah…so how's the weather?" Bernett asked still laughing.

"Humans…" Herrior said and walked away.

"Glad to hear you laugh again. You'll have to explain that to me later." Skyka said smiling to him.

"Samatha could explain it better, speaking of I haven't talked to her today." Bernett said pulling out his hearthstone as he walked with them.

The four of them followed the crowd and eventually found Dan and Crystal talking about something as Julie had several pieces of parchment in front of her. They looked like they were planning an attack, or mapping a new land.

Herrior walked up to them and said, "Quite a following you have."

"It's slowing our progress. We haven't really said anything to anybody – except for just talking out loud to ourselves. It seems to have made some people mad, and others excited while some just listened and are curious. It's like the old saying when you are at the zoo, 'who is really behind the bars?'"

"Do you even think about what you say before you say it?" Crystal asked smiling at him.

"Anyways, Julie's been doing most of the work – we're just giving our input. She actually has some pretty awesome ideas - I'm impressed!" Dan said.

"It's just a puzzle. You simply find the pieces and then put them together. But not only is there one puzzle, there are several puzzles with the same pieces that can be altered to form a different puzzle. It's like making a picture of a lighthouse and then taking the same pieces and making a picture of a sailboat." Julie said as she spoke quickly and seemed eager to get back to her work.

"Essentially it will give all of us more resistances to different magical powers, more armor, strengthen our entire group, regain mana quicker – and that's just the first couple of puzzles." Dan said eagerly.

"That's the base puzzle I made, it isn't done yet. I'm making a basic puzzle and then several different puzzles out of the base puzzle to alter it depending on the classes of people in a group, the amount of people and what talents each one has. It should save on all of our powers in case we are ambushed, save on mana when launching an assault…shoot I lost my train of thought." Julie said and her eyes froze on a piece of paper in front of her. "I had three warriors, a shaman, a priest…oh I remember." Julie continued to write down her thoughts.

"I've never been good at puzzles." Herrior said unamused.

"Give it a chance hun…it's keeping her out of trouble anyways." Skyka said smiling at him.

"She wouldn't be doing this if she didn't think it would help. Sort of like me with the 'crazy weapon and armor enhancement idea'." Dan said.

"Oh Dan, what do you think about this crazy idea?" Julie asked as she raised her middle finger at him.

"I'll pass for now." Dan said smiling at her and then turned back around to Herrior. "So…I'm guessing you are probably mad at me?"

"No" Herrior said.

"I would be. Is the King mad at me?" Dan asked.

"Nobody is mad at you hun, just relax." Skyka said smiling at him.

"We are curious is all," Herrior added.

"I am more than you are I assure you. What happened to you Veliline, or is that something I can't ask?" Dan asked.

"I was turned on." Veliline answered.

Crystal and Julie instantly burst into laughter thinking that she was joking.

"I don't understand what is so funny. My mind and body were essentially dead. I know what was happening, I was able to make my own decisions, but I felt no emotions – I felt dead, yet still alive. I freed myself from…myself…I don't know how to describe it so I described it as turning myself on." Veliline explained.

"Makes sense. So Branzer is being blasted right now I'm assuming?" Dan asked looking back at Herrior. Herrior nodded.

"Veliline, I need your help with this. Can you write down your spells and talents? I have some blanks here and I think you can help us. Also, Icis might want to go back to being discipline instead of holy." Julie blurted out.

"It's her decision." Herrior said in a serious tone.

"Yes, sorry I said that wrong." Julie replied quickly.

"What's wrong with holy healing?" Skyka asked.

"Nothing, it's exceptional actually. When a tank first engages a target, they can take a significant amount of damage absorbed by the shield – which actually scales with health after the tank is completely buffed – and gives the tank time to obtain aggro while the holy priest – or other types of healers, begins laying down the intense healing. Come to find out there are many different types of shields with different classes and the intensity depends on the…hold on a second." Julie said as she paused for a second. She set down her pencil and flipped to the very back of the stack of papers. She didn't find what she was looking for and Crystal handed her the paper she was looking for.

"Thanks, sorry got side tracked there." Julie said.

"No problem. I knew where you were." Crystal said and then both of them began talking back and forth.

Herrior and Skyka looked confused and eventually they turned to each other.

"Want to go fishing?" Herrior eventually asked.

"Sure, Dan do you want to come with us?" Skyka asked.

"Err…sure I guess. Do you guys need me still?" Dan asked.

"Well…no…err… shoot I lost my train of thought, do we have his paperwork?" Julie asked Crystal.

"Most of it, it's in the shaman pile next to the warlock pile on the far end." Crystal said pointing to it.

"It's not complete either. The defensive passive I believe is done, but the offensive healing I don't understand or how the attacks are going to scale with everything else. It might be too much of a mana drain, but it depends on the situation…" Julie said until Skyka interrupted her.

"Do his last, let's go catch some fish." Skyka said holding out her hand. Dan took it as three of them walked away. Herrior found a Chronomancer and asked him to send them back to their newly acquired fortress.

"Fishing is a skill. It takes time to learn, but the rewards are satisfying." Herrior said as the portal closed behind them. He pulled out his fishing pole and walked to one of the docks. "It's not so much how far your hook goes, but where it goes." Herrior said as he expertly casted his lure about twenty feet ahead of him.

"I've never been real good at fishing. My parents only took me a couple of times. All I caught was poison ivy." Dan said. He paused for a second and asked why he was here.

Herrior said down on the dock as he reeled in his lure with a large fish on it. He expertly took it off and released it back into the water. "To fish. No special reason."

"Why did you let it go?" Dan asked.

"It wasn't fully matured yet. Nature will provide food, but only if you respect it. The older fish, flowers, and animals can be used as food – while the younger can produce lots more offspring and more food for later on. Do you want to give it a try?" Herrior asked.

"I…don't want to break it. Can I use another method I learned?" Dan asked.

"Another way of fishing…without a fishing pole? Do you have a net of some sort? Stopping time and collecting the fish is not a sport." Herrior said smiling at Dan.

"Actually that is a good idea…but no." Dan said and walked to the end of the dock. He held his hand out and a giant water elemental rose from the water. It had a head and two massive arms. Dan asked it to give him some fish. The elemental instantly started sucking up water and pouring it out into the air above him, as if it was a giant waterfall. Second's later fish and many other aquatic animals fell on the dock before him. Dan waited until a significant pile was produced and then banished the elemental by snapping his fingers. The water elemental that splashed down into the water and created a big wave that radiated out from it. Dan started sorting through the fish, crabs, snails, and assortment of other water animals.

"How can you tell if they are old or not?" Dan asked as he began to toss away the ones that were obviously too young to eat.

Herrior and Skyka stood amazed at what just happened. Herrior's fishing pole was on the ground and his shield was in his right hand, sword in his left. Skyka was into her shadow form ready to attack. They both relaxed when Dan asked his question.

"I'm full of emotions right now, none of which pleases me." Herrior said putting his weapons away. Dan turned around and asked what was wrong. Herrior grunted and walked quickly away.

"How did you do that?" Skyka asked in awe.

"Shamans are able to create elements to fight beside them. I spoke with Gernack after my blasting but he said they were forbidden to use them. I can produce an earth elemental that taunts my enemies to attack it, a fire elemental that creates massive fire damage. The air and water I thought of on my own. You send your will and power into the creation into creating the earth and fire ones, so I did the same for the others. I'm still experimenting with it, but I'm pretty sure I can enhance their abilities. They do exactly as I say, and after a minute they disperse into their raw elements – it's sort of like the warlocks with their demons, or hunters with their pets…only more short term. Did I make Herrior mad?" Dan asked.

"I think so. Why did we not know about this?" Skyka asked.

"I…thought you did?" Dan said as if he was just scolded. "It's the same powers that the Orcs brought with them. I'm sorry…" Dan said. He walked away from the pile of aquatic creatures; as he did, he held up his hand and a large gust of wind blew them all back into the water.

"I'm…not fitting in anymore…am I?" Dan asked Skyka sincerely.

"Dan…you are fine. It's just everyday you surprise us with something new. Some days you surprise us several times in one day. Herrior honestly wanted to just fish with you, spend some time with you." Skyka sighed and looked back for her husband. He was nowhere to be seen. She turned back around and said, "You aren't going to be with us much longer…are you?"

Dan looked at her shocked. "I…what? Where am I going?"

"We all think you are going to leave us. Herrior just simply wanted to spend some time with you. He wanted you to relax, talk with you." Skyka said.

"Where am I going?" Dan repeated still wondering what Skyka was talking about.

"You are not destined to stay with us are you? You continue to be snagged from this world…to wherever you go… You come back with powers and insight that shocks all of us. We believe you are going to go somewhere…I don't know…on a higher level than us to fight…something more powerful than what we are facing." Skyka tried to explain.

"I don't understand…what do you mean? Part of that is true…but the rest I have no clue and I…where did all of that come from?" Dan asked completely confused.

Skyka motioned to say something, but Dan talked instead, "Skyka…I honestly have no idea where that idea, or where I go, or anything about what you just said. I was essentially pulled aside and told not to do some things, yes. By who, I have no idea. How, I have no clue. I'm going to fight other…enemies? What? I was given some insight concerning the King of Tranquil, but that could have been anybody. What was said and done was between him and I – nobody else, but where did everything else come from? I have ideas, that it. Some of them fail, some work. It's no different from the engineers in Tranquil…only with fewer explosions." Dan said and let out a chuckle and looked away. He continued, "Who do you think I am? Do you think I am some supreme being - some super hero from Krypton? I don't think that at all, in fact just the opposite. I'm trying to help, I'm praying for help, I'm constantly thinking of ways to help. Did you not see me when we laid siege to the fortress? I was tripping over my own feet, I didn't have the rotation down, and I darn near died…at least a dozen times. I would probably have been more useful as a shield for all the good I did. I'm not a warrior anymore, so what little experience I had is now completely gone and I have to learn all over again. Why am I a shaman? Hell I don't know…the sudden boom in my head didn't tell me. It was so damn loud I can't believe you guys didn't hear it reverberate out of my head. Then suddenly being pulled away at speeds I didn't think was possible? Scared shitless…I am scared shitless. It sounds like you know more about me than I do – has this ever happened before? Has anybody ever been 'pulled aside' to go fight…I don't know…to help Santa fight the Grince to save Christmas? I have no idea what to say, or what to do. What do I do?" Dan said in near desperation.

Skyka looked shocked at him. She didn't anticipate this. "Who's Santa?" she asked.

"Forget it…it's a fictional character back on my world. That's all…nothing more. I don't want you to get confused even more than what you already are. I'm just going to stop. I'm going to stop everything so people don't think my head is going to suddenly spin off my shoulders or something…and I'm joking about that. I can't even joke around with you guys, you study me so close that anything I say or do 'has to have some meaning or some purpose'. You know what, 'I like fish'. Analyze that, tell me what you think that means. It has to have some significant purpose. Go back to the King and tell him, 'Dan said he likes fish' – and spend the next week trying to figure that out meaning. In my world, wherever the hell that is to where we are now, I was shocked to suddenly see you guys appear and disappear – and now the roles are reversed. I don't know why, and it may never happen again." Dan said becoming more frustrated. He walked away folding his arms across his chest. He then walked back and said, "I have no idea what is going on. I still don't understand…practically anything about…any of this." Dan said waving his arms at the fortress and everything around him. "None of this is supposed to exist. The things I've seen and done is impossible, I just write it off as, 'I don't understand, but I accept it'. I don't know what is happening now, but I'm trying to accept it. I…this isn't getting anywhere. None of this matters does it, your minds are already made up? Fine…sure…I'm going to leave some day and go fight something or whatever you are telling yourselves. I'm going for a walk!" Dan ended. He turned around to walk but was so furious that he stumbled over his feet and landed in the water.

Skyka closed her eyes as she let out a smile.

"Fine…I'm going for a swim!" Dan yelled out as he swam away.

Skyka watched him swim away as Herrior walked up behind him. "Dan likes fish huh?"

"I guess. I let him talk, I deserved it…we deserved it. He is just as clueless and scared about what is happening to him as we are. Nevertheless, he is the same as he was before. We've had people have visions before – nobody from our group, but it has happened before. His brain constantly asks the question, 'Why?' and we do not have an answer this time. He is still asking the question. Why do Shaman's have power to control earth and fire elements and not water? Why does time stopping only happen for a certain amount of time? Why does it wear out? Why can't he start it back up? Why are things the way they are? He has the curiosity of a child, yet the heart of a fighter, and the mind of one of the smartest engineers we have." Skyka stopped and asked Herrior to hold her. Herrior walked up behind her and embraced her.

They watched him swim for quite a distance. He stopped and summoned his dragon. It appeared from the sky, grabbed him with its claws and both of them flew into the air.

"What are you thinking about?" Skyka asked.

"Pondering our next move - we'll let him cool off for awhile, but we had better try to find Meridith the Naga lady." Herrior said.

Both of them walked back to the spot where they ran into her before and began scanning the water. They wadded in, both looking out as far as they could into the sea but did not see anything.

"Think we scared them off?" Skyka asked.

"Ssscared who off" Meridith asked to the left of them. Herrior and Skyka jumped in surprise as they looked over and saw her.

"Ssstill jumpy?"

"Apparently, how did you get there?" Herrior asked.

"I'm a Naga…we are known for swimming fast. You move fast on land, we move fast in the water." Meridith said with a smile.

Herrior nodded and began walking towards the shore. Skyka and Meridith followed as Herrior mentioned that he received word that they were looking for him.

"Just curiousss is all. Your men seem…reluctant to accept us as you have." Meridith said.

"I apologize for that, I will go speak with them." Herrior said looking towards the base.

"And what of your alliance prisssoners…the traitorsss?" Meridith asked.

"We had to kill them. Some of them were spies; the problem that we had was sorting out the traitors with the non-traitors." Herrior said.

"So you killed all of them?" Meridith asked.

Herrior nodded.

"We would have killed all of them for less, however our princssiplesss are different. Did you find the dragon you were looking for?" Meridith asked.

"Not yet, that is why we are back. This sounds like the best lead so far, however it raises more concerns than it does answer questions though." Herrior said sitting down on the sand.

"Sssuch as the dragon grabbing the human from the watersss?" Meridith asked.

Herrior smiled and said "No, that one is one of ours. He is in my group in fact, just had to blow off some steam is all. I upset him…"

Skyka quickly cut him off, "I upset him. He seems to have a different future than we have and I was simply asking him questions about it. It turns out he knows nothing more about his future than we do. It was my fault."

"Once you find out how to look into the future…let me know…" Meridith said with a smile. "Ssshall I take my leave?"

"I would like to make you and your people more comfortable around our people; however that decision is up to you. I will go speak with them either way." Herrior promised.

Meridith nodded. "We will make efforts again to speak with them. Will you come visit our city?"

Herrior nodded and explained he had a warlock that could allow them to breath underwater. Meridith seemed satisfied and reentered the water. She swam out of sight in less than a second.

"She's fast." Skyka said.

Herrior nodded and replied, "We need to accept them; I see no reason why not to. What are your thoughts?"

"I do not sense any ill intentions from her. Perhaps we should go visit them, bring them a present." Skyka said. Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate and he pulled it out. Jacklyn's annoyed face looked back at them.

"We have a problem; you are needed back in Tranquil." Jacklyn said cutting right to the case.

"Should I take a guess as to which of our members got into trouble?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Julie this time" Jacklyn responded.

"I knew this was going to happen. I'll contact a Chronomancer right away." Herrior said just as a portal began to open next to him.

"I have one standing next to me." Jacklyn replied back and closed the portal.

Herrior put the hearthstone back into his pocket and let out a sigh.

"Well…let me know how it goes. I'll go speak with the people in our newly acquired fortress." Skyka said smiling and skipping away.

"It needs a name." Herrior said back annoyed as he walked through.

"She has stirred up a cave full of gnolls, not to mention she's annoyed me and other people in our party." Jacklyn said briefing him quickly as they walked to where she was. Looking at the crowd and the ruckus it was obvious that something was amiss.

"Listen everybody, Julie is in my party and I am accountable for her actions. Let me speak with her first and then I will address your issues." Herrior called out. He saw several leaders clearly upset, but commanding their groups to hold their tongue for the time being.

"Julie, I need to speak with you!" Herrior yelled out in a frustrated voice. Julie came out of a home that she had barricaded herself and Crystal in.

"Herrior, I didn't mean too…" Julie started.

"Silence! Explain to me quickly what all of this commotion is about so I can settle this dispute." Herrior commanded her.

"I was putting several different groups together by associating their passive and aggressive buffs that they have and sorted them out by their classes debuffs that they put on their enemies…" Julie quickly explained.

"No…skip to the end where these people are about ready to lynch you." Herrior said.

"Sorry, I put together several of these groups by races, classes and talents. That is when everybody got mad. I tried to explain my reasoning…" Julie said but was cut off again.

"That's enough" Herrior said and turned and walked forward to the groups. "Julie has a curious mind and was simply learning different ways of associating one person with another. What she did not take into consideration was she insulted many of you and your people that you have in your group. You are all strong fighters and for her to make such suggestions is unwarranted. Your choice of what you want to do has been, and always will be your own. Your leaders may ask some things out of you, yes – but the decision to do what you want to do is yours. But you need to let your leaders know what class you are and what talents you have, this has not changed. Now then, I will address your concerns, with Julie by my side to speak for herself, and apologize for the commotion she caused."

"Herrior, I have fought for hundreds of years before you were born. Our battle strategy has never faltered us, who is she to come forward and suggest such things?" An older tauren said.

"Your strategies have proven themselves time and time again – many of our strategies are the same, but may differ slightly from leader to leader. Continue these strategies, and may they always bring you back to us. Julie, why did you suggest different strategies to our leaders?" Herrior asked.

Julie clearly felt on the spot. Her anxiety levels peaked as tears started to slip down from her eyes. "I am sorry everybody, I did not mean for any of this…"

"Answer the question!" Herrior commanded her.

"I…the strategies that I purposed was simply placing people together with different abilities that would enhance each other's abilities." Julie said slowly. She then quickly blurted out that she only had some experience on the battlefield and that she is wrong to have suggested such a thing, but Herrior stopped her again.

"Julie has been curious about a lot of things. She has helped many of our members in my party with their class, talent trees, and pet talent trees. At first I saw many of you curious about what she was doing. Afterwards something seemed to have changed; she explained to me that she was solving a puzzle. Apparently she solved many of these 'puzzles' and did not take into consideration that many of fought and died as the class you are. I do not believe, nor do I think that any of you think she had any ill intentions." Herrior said and then looked around for the next question to come.

"She is purposing that many of us change, our leaders hear her words and purpose some of the changes. Many of us do not wish to change. It has caused a lot of dissention among us." A blood elf said.

Herrior nodded in agreement. "I will have her imprisoned for this. She is new to my party and may not understand all that we have been through."

"Why did Dan fly across Tranquil and knock me over? Why did he suddenly have an over-whelming desire to become a Shaman? Is that because of her words?" Gernack asked.

"Dan knocked you over before Julie was given permission to do what she did. The other two questions I have no answer to, nor does the King. We have had private conversations concerning him, but it does not involve any of this. It was I who gave Julie the permission to do this, and I will imprison myself as well. I apologize to all of you for this. None of you need to change and the cause for this dissention is my fault. Please accept our punishment as retribution for it, and I will be happy to discuss with anybody what happened and what I can do to resolve it."

"There is no need for punishment." The same older tauren said. "However when my party comes to me asking questions that I know not the answer to, and wonder where all of this came from it takes me by surprise. Julie has some good ideas; however we will not do them."

"That is fine…" Herrior said when he was quickly cut off by another leader.

"She be having some fine ideas mon…did you be hearing what she said? Our spells, armor, attacks be better with just some slight adjustments. I don't be seeing why it be so bad mon." A female troll said.

"I have not reviewed what she did or has said, but I wish to reemphasize that each fighter is not forced to change their class or talents." Herrior restated.

"Why is your banshee acting strange?" The female troll that fought beside them during the siege asked.

"I…don't know. What has Lindel been doing?" Herrior asked back completely confused.

"She has been lying. There is something wrong with her." She replied back.

"I will have her imprisoned and interrogated immediately." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"I don't believe she is a threat, but I know she isn't telling the truth."

"I will get to the bottom of it I assure you. As for Julie's research I will have it destroyed and…" Herrior said as he looked back at the papers. Several shouts of refusal immediately followed.

Herrior turned back around and asked what he could do to resolve the issue then.

"It is good information. She does have a good heart and has no ill intentions. I purpose that only the leaders of our group study the notes. From there we will decide whether we wish to discuss this with our parties or not." The tauren said.

"Is that ok with everybody else?" Herrior asked looking around. Many of the fighters did not agree with the proposal, but they had to follow the orders of their leaders. All of the leaders present ordered their fighters to leave them for several hours to discuss this issue and what was to become of it. Once all of them were all alone, many of the leaders again reemphasized that they did not wish to change their tactics and strategies. Julie was quick to defend herself again.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm sorry everybody." Julie said in-between tears.

"Settle your emotions Julie. I have several issues going on right now, but this is taking top precedence right now. Tell us briefly what you came up with." Herrior said.

Julie quickly gathered up her paperwork and began blurting out words faster than anybody could understand. Herrior let her talk for awhile to determine what her intentions were and what it was that she had actually came up with. Julie finished with an example of Herrior's party, both the passive and aggressive powers in fighting. Julie had settled down a little and had Herrior's complete attention. Julie stopped and let out a sigh as she put the parchment down on the table. Herrior walked over and picked it up. He studied it for awhile and seemed intrigued.

"Are you sure this will work?" Herrior asked.

"I'm positive of it. I am not implying our fighters should change, or the leaders should tell their fighters…" Julie began to say but was interrupted by Herrior.

"This is interesting. Has everybody else reviewed this information?" Herrior asked handing the paper around. The leaders took time to review the information on the paper. Many of them gave their opinions about what they were already doing, but by altering a couple of tactics it would in fact increase their powers in their party. They stated that their abilities to increase their powers before a battle always worked before, but during an ambush it was deadly for them.

"Getting an edge over our advisors would be welcome. Could you do a plan for my party?" The old tauren asked.

"I don't know…I mean this created a ruckus and I made a lot of people mad at me…" Julie said.

"Julie." Herrior said sternly.

"Yes I can." Julie said quickly.

"I think much of this information we can learn on our own. I purpose that we speak with the King about these new strategies and hold a meeting of our leaders. We can brief the leaders that are on missions when they return." The old tauren said.

"In the mean time mon, what should we do? If my fighters die because I don't know this information, it be on my head." A male troll said.

"Julie?" Herrior asked.

Julie hesitated for a second and then decided to give out some quick advice. "Your hunters can produce major resistances to nature spells. If you are attacked, they can quickly change to produce more damage. Some pets have natural abilities to detect invisible and stealth enemies; some enhance your stats and resistances to all magical sources. Many of your fighters have passive abilities. By simply changing some of their talents they can enhance their passive and aggressive abilities. If you are ambushed or are planning on attacking, you can save lots of mana, or power, by already having these abilities already. Many of the durations that you put on the group are limited and cost a lot of mana. The healers for instance put their buffs on the group, then heal the group, and then focus on who needs healing. The tanks quickly gain control of the mobs, regardless of what buffs they have. The DPS are instantly looking for which enemies the tanks have aggro, which ones they don't, and who to attack first. During all of this it causes confusion. Upon the initial attack, if your party already has many of these passive buffs, then you do not need to worry about any of this. Hunters should always have their tanking pets out, or pets that can absorb a lot of damage. Rogues and anybody else that can stealth should immediately become stealthed and find their prime targets – usually the healers or the person in charge. As far as the actual battle, there are so many debuffs that we can put on a mob. Warriors can knock down their armor, as well as rogues and druids. Warlocks can drop their resistance to magical attacks and improve the damage they do against the target. Many of our attacks can reduce the amount of healing the amount of healing they receive, giving us a significant advantage. Also if you combine one bleed affect with other bleed affects, it will give a significant advantage over our enemy, even if we die or are feared away. There are so many different combinations…I'm certain that my research will be able to kill our enemies quicker and keep us alive longer. I will bet my life on that. It will look like our powers have increased ten-fold, even if our weapons and spells are weaker. By one class working with another, they can complement each other's powers and by doing this it can amplify the damage they do." Julie said review her notes. She looked up and saw all of the leaders staring at her; listening intently. Julie apologized again.

Silence fell for awhile while Julie stood there almost shaking as she waited to be yelled at again.

"What about healing in our groups?" A female blood elf asked.

"There are many passive and aggressive abilities that will self heal our groups. For example a shadow priest does a lot of passive healing while attacking with their spells. Shamans I knew nothing about until Dan changed. Many of his abilities are very cheap to spend and increased resistances to spells, increases armor, passively heals everybody, and increases spell power. The priests can bless the ground and heals everybody within it. I was wrong previously about discipline priests until I started looking deeper into some of the priest abilities. Many of them perform self-healing, including their shields – of which I would highly recommend going into a huge battle or large enemy. It does cost a significant amount of mana, however after the shield drains they can start doing normal heals which enhances their normal healing. It helps with burst damage as the regular priests begin to get their healing sequences started." Julie stopped looking at her paper work and looked up. "I'm boring you…when should I go imprison myself?"

"You are not going to our cells. Your theories are intriguing, but your approach to giving out the information was a horrible. This type of information needs to be given to us first. We will then review the notes and discuss it with our groups. What about resurrections?" The old tauren asked.

"That has changed. According to Veliline and Mohania they can bring fighters back to life in battle. Druids can as well, however if they are tanking mobs it is not recommended. Shamans can as well. After the battle the normal people who can perform the spell can do so. As far as our tanks go, the problem with getting aggro and holding it can be solved by more aggressive attacks. Taunting everybody works, but altering their attacks slightly can produce a significant more aggressiveness towards the tanks. Many of our fighters can interrupt spells more often, depending on how they have their talents." Julie said starting to get excited. She then calmed herself and looked around again.

"I…will leave my notes for all of you to look at. I am very tired and I wish to lay down. Do you mind if I go you all for now?" Julie asked.

"You may sit, but this information is vital to us." Herrior said.

"Sitting is vital during negotiations. It produces a nonaggressive aura while conserving on energy. Also it calms the mind and body. If you have to tell a lie, your body is less likely to give it away." Another leader said as he sat down. Herrior turned to her and nodded. All of them talked for several more hours until the issue was resolved.

All of the leaders of their parties left as they went off to discuss Julie's findings with their parties. They all settled on an agreement; ultimately it was the same as it was before – it up to the fighter what they wanted to do. Herrior asked Julie and Crystal to stay behind as he summoned Lindel.

"Yes?" Lindel said as she flew into the house.

"Have a seat with us. Apparently we have some things we need to discuss." Herrior said glaring at her. Lindel quickly became serious as she walked over and sat with them.

"Why is it I have to have a leader of a different party come to me and state that you are lying and something is different about you?" Herrior asked.

Lindel looked shocked for a moment and then remembered the cold shivers that she had.

"I didn't think it was anything. I actually didn't have time to analyze what was happening because I was questioned so quickly." Lindel said.

"Something was wrong and you didn't tell me?" Herrior asked.

"It wasn't that something was wrong, it was just something – something was different." Lindel said.

"I'm not buying it. What happened?" Herrior demanded.

"I received a cold chill. I haven't felt that before. I began scanning as far as I could for something. It hit me several times, even when I came back to Tranquil. I still don't think it is anything to worry about." Lindel said.

"Did your scanning reveal anything?" Herrior asked.

"No, which is why I didn't think it was anything." Lindel answered.

"Nothing to do with Branzer, or our prisoners at the time? No sense of any powerful beings in the area?" Herrior asked.

"No, I was asked all of that before – except the Branzer part. In all honesty it just felt like a sudden cold breeze flowing through me. After being in Tranquil for awhile I haven't had it again. Fighting the Death Knights it wasn't there, and I haven't sensed anything since then. Do you want me to go back and see if the same thing happens?" Lindel asked.

"Possibly, have any other banshees had the same experience you had? I believe you, but what worries me is you still had the same chill happen when you came back to Tranquil. Did anything enter your mind, put thoughts in you, or follow you back?" Herrior asked.

"No – absolutely not, I would not have come back. It was just a chill…I know it sounds significant to everybody, but in my opinion it was nothing. I sensed nothing and I have tried to figure it out more than anybody else." Lindel said defending herself.

"Alright." Herrior said settling the matter. "Why did you not come to see Branzer before he went to get blasted?"

"I am not interested in Branzer anymore. He died releasing my obligation to him. I am not ready to marry, and I acted like a child before. I was taken in by my emotions and was not a good fighter. I do not wish to leave your group, and I am stronger than I was before." Lindel answered.

Herrior nodded and said, "Julie has a suggestion for you."

"If you can turn invisible and drain people's life and empower yourself, why are you staying back with our healers? My suggestion is you turn invisible, fly through our enemy's ranks, drain their power and let out quiet voices. You can read our minds, read their minds and manipulate it. If somebody is worried about their husband…or mate, alter your voice to make it sound like them. Whisper thoughts that they have among them – even mimic their leader's voice, give orders to do things that will kill them. Raise a skeleton only once every ten seconds randomly. If our party needs healing, you can move back to us almost instantly to heal us. If it is only one target, fly around their head if you cannot possess them. Confuse them, frustrate them, drain their power – if they detect you, disappear and then move to a different spot and continue to drain their power." Julie said.

"You sound like Mohania…" Crystal said letting out a sigh.

"No she doesn't. If you have the power to do this, I would like to see you use this in battle. You are not a healer, you are not a ranged or melee fighter – you are a banshee and I want to see what you can do in battle. Julie has made thousands of people mad at her today, probably hundreds of thousands by tomorrow – but her research will save countless numbers of our fighters. I will speak with the rest of the banshees that fight along with the leaders that are currently speaking to their banshees. You are on your own essentially during a battle. Do what you need to do. If we need healing, but you are in the middle of pissing off a boss, let our party members die. If you are attacking but not doing anything significant, heal our group." Herrior said looking at her in a serious tone. He then picked up a piece of paper and said, "According to Julie's research, our group's abilities will be able to recharge your powers as well as everybody else's. But if you are low on power, or whatever you call it, suck it out of our enemies and recharge yourself. Is that understood?"

Lindel nodded. "I've already decided that I have to do that. I will try my best in the future."

Herrior nodded and said, "Open a portal to where Skyka is; I want to address that issue now."

Herrior, Crystal, Lindel and Julie walked out of the portal and saw Skyka and their fighters Naga talking among themselves.

"All is well I hope?" Herrior said walking up to her with deep force in his voice.

"Everything is fine here, how about in elsewhere?" Skyka asked back with a smile.

"Things are better, where is Meridith?" Herrior asked looking around.

"It isss her time to sssleep." A male Naga said to him.

Herrior nodded and introduced his party to them. He then asked if they could be of assistance to them.

"Not…yet…We jussst wanted…to talk." The Naga said. He then bowed as he and his guards left.

"No problems here." Skyka said after they went back into the water and swam away. "The Naga said that the name of fortress used to be called the Dragonmaw, so perhaps we should leave it at that?" Suddenly Lindel let out a violent shiver as she quickly turned around to see what caused it.

Herrior immediately drew his weapons and ordered everybody to take up fighting positions. "I want everybody with eyes and a nose out here, search the lands. Anybody that can fly I want up in the air. Search the seas, listen to the ground – something is here and I want it found!"

All of the guards and inhabitants of the fortress immediately followed the orders.

"It happened when the Naga left. Are they searching our minds?" Herrior asked.

"No, I can read them easily. They have magical powers, but it's nothing like mine, or of any threat to us." Lindel replied.

"If anything moves or breathes, I want it shot on sight!" Herrior's voice boomed out as it echoed throughout the land. "My group come with me."

Dan ran out from a deep sleep and saw Herrior. He quickly reached for his leather gloves with spikes at the end and put them on his hands. Herrior saw him and nodded as he turned to leave.

"Keep tight. I want to know if something kills you." Herrior said. Julie summoned a giant stone spider instead of Spark and placed a nature enchant on them. The spider gave off an aura that instantly strengthened everybody. Herrior stopped and looked back at her.

"It's all passive. If we are attacked…"

"Fine, let's move." Herrior said turning back around. Crystal summoned her Hellhound as well, and they moved silently through the woods. Lindel felt the chill again and decided it was probably best if she disappeared. She still moved along side of them.

"We gonna eat you…we gonna eat all of you all up…" A troll voice came silently through the woods. Herrior quickly turned towards the direction of the voice and began to move faster.

They walked for fifteen minutes before coming to a clearing in the woods.

"Gonna eat you…all up…" The same voice said with laughter. Herrior quickly turned in the direction of where the voice was coming from, but realized it was exactly where they were before. He became frustrated and began to sprint back through the woods. He arrived back where he was and the troll laughter returned – exactly where they just were.

"You want to play games…I like games. I can do this all day, and when I find you I'll cut your tongue out and impale your head on a tree!" Herrior snarled. There was no reply back.

"Anybody sense anything?" Herrior quietly asked.

"Didn't see or sense anything." Lindel's voice quickly came from the right side of him.

"No demons on the radar." Crystal said.

"I don't smell anything either…" Herrior said looking around. "Dan when you went flying what did you see?"

"I flew around the ocean for awhile and came back. I saw the mountain ridge north of us, a river – that we followed and the woods, that's it." Dan replied back.

"Damn…Lindel is anybody fighting back at the fortress?" Herrior asked.

"No, everybody is paranoid though." Lindel's voice replied back from thin air.

"Good. Hopefully our trigger happy goblin is locked and loaded." Herrior said when suddenly an arrow flew out of the thick trees and hit his shield as his body instinctively raised it to stop the attack. Herrior lowered his shield and began sprinting towards where the arrow came from. Herrior was not quiet about it this time, he sprinted forward with as much speed as he could, knocking down trees and scaring away birds as he ran. His party behind him were pushing themselves as hard as they could to catch up.

Herrior saw something this time, a faint glimmer of a leg moving quickly behind a tree. He let out a fierce shout and turned his body to intercept what he saw. Less than ten seconds later he charged towards the female troll running away, knocking her down. Herrior than reached down with his shield hand, picked the troll up by the hair and put his sword to her throat. Seconds later his party caught up with him.

"Somebody start talking, or this woman is going to start dying!" Herrior shouted aggressively.

The troll woman started to talk in a form of demonic language, but Herrior interrupted her but slicing off a big chunk of flesh from the back end of her left leg. She screamed in pain and horror.

"Do not be killing me mon! You make the spirits mad at you if you do!" The woman screamed. Herrior casually threw the woman at a thick tree as several of her bones let out a loud crack and she let out even more screams.

"Come spirits! Your follower is near death! Come save her! Face me you cowards!" Herrior yelled. Nothing happened.

"Heal her." Herrior commanded. Skyka immediately began casting a spell and seconds later she was quickly healed. All of her bones were mended and the pain was instantly gone. Herrior walked up to the surprised troll, picked her up and said, "Do your little song and dance…show me these spirits. I mock them and they don't show their face, they are cowards! Call them to me so that I may slaughter them and crush them beneath my hoof!"

"De not be something to be messin wit. If you let me go, we be sacrificing you to please dem or dey will be killin you." The troll said.

"You're an idiot." Herrior said and threw her against another tree. Her legs hit first and her body went spinning in the air until she landed on the ground and began to tumble.

Herrior walked up to her again as she moaned in agony. "Not let me give you my proposal. We kill you, and we kill them – similar to your proposal but completely opposite. Now summon them!"

"I shot the arrow at you, not her you overgrown cow." A dwarf said behind Herrior.

Herrior immediately turned around and said, "I hate being called a cow…"

"You stay right there and not come towards me, and maybe my finger won't slip on this trigger." The dwarf said tapping the trigger finger on the crossbow he was holding, aimed directly at Herrior's head.

"I'll bet I can slice your head off before you have a chance to pull the trigger…" Herrior said grinning at him as he turned around with the troll woman still squirming in his hand.

"I call your bluff."

"On the count of three then…" Herrior said as he let out a big breath out of his nostrils. The dwarf let the arrow flew and it hit Herrior directly in his neck that was exposed. Herrior ignored it as he charged forward and slammed the female troll body at the dwarf. He felt the troll's spine break as she laid motionlessly on top of the dwarf. Herrior slowly reached up and pulled the arrow out of his neck and tossed it in front of the dwarf. Skyka began to cast a spell when Herrior held up his hand, signaling her to stop.

"There be poison on that arrow, enough to kill a whole heard of you taurens. If you want to live, you be letting me up and coming with me." The dwarf said. Herrior knelt down so that his face was in front of the dwarf's face. The dwarf saw the poison radiate through Herrior's face, as his veins turned green. Seconds later he saw that Herrior's face turned back to its normal color and his veins turned red, shrinking back to their normal size.

"What the hell? What are you?" The dwarf asked.

"Obviously you haven't fought my party." Herrior let out a loud snort. He sprang to his feet, grabbed the troll's body and flung it in the air. "Lit it up!" Herrior yelled as everybody in his party began casting their spells and shooting at it. The troll hit the ground seconds later, her skin completely burned off, and many of her bones were melting.

"Your turn" Herrior said walking towards him.

"Have mercy!" The dwarf pleaded. Herrior sliced through his crossbow, cutting it in two pieces on the ground and then went to land the final blow on the dwarf when his sword suddenly struck something in mid-air. A voice began to laugh next to him as a demon materialized in front of him.

"Good, now I can kill two of you. I still won't meet my quota for the day, but the sun hasn't set yet." Herrior said adjusting his position into a defensive stance.

"You will do no more killing today tauren. You will leave these woods and never come back." The demon said. Its body was made of fire with dark metal armor on his body. Its sword turned into flame as he began to take on a fighting stance as well.

"Is this the best that there is in these woods? Some pathetic demon with cowards serving it?" Herrior asked approaching it.

"You would do best to stand down tauren." The demon said. This time there was a slight hesitation in its voice towards the end. It was afraid.

Herrior slammed his shield down into the dwarf's stomach as it sprayed blood out as the dwarf's eyes opened wide in freight.

"Two dead cultists down, one demon to go." Herrior said smiling at it. The demon recoiled one of his hands and began to cast a spell when a sudden gust of wind silenced him. Herrior charged the demon and began to attack it. Dan ran up next to him and began to take swipes at him, Herrior wouldn't have noticed until he felt immense power surge through his veins. The spells, bullets from Julie and melee attacks quickly overwhelmed the demon as it screamed upon dying. The armor disintegrated and several glowing objects formed from them.

"What the hell was that?" Herrior asked looking at Dan.

"Julie's idea. Do you want the long drawn out version of what happened?" Dan replied.

"No. Good job Julie." Herrior said picking up the items. He tossed them to Skyka and she began to examine them.

"Old weaponry, no real use to us." Skyka said putting the items in one of her bags.

"Anybody else that wants to appear and attack us? Will it help if I only use my shield?" Herrior yelled out as he mocked the woods around him. Nothing but the wind rustling the leaves above him came back. Herrior put his sword and shield away behind him. "There I'm unarmed…come and fight me you cowards!" His voice echoed through the forest and no reply came back. Herrior spit on the ground in front of him and turned to walk away.

"I never sensed him until he materialized in front of you Herrior." Crystal said quickly.

"I sensed him also when he materialized in front of me." Herrior said smiling at her.

"You aren't mad at me?" Crystal asked.

"Not yet, did you do something wrong?" Herrior asked back.

"I…" Crystal said as she was caught off guard.

"If you would have sensed something you would have told me. Lindel you still with us?" Herrior asked.

Lindel materialized beside him and smiled.

"Any more cold chills?" Herrior asked.

"No unfortunately not. The two that we killed were idiots, I didn't get any information relevant from them…other than they were surprised we were so strong." Lindel said.

"Thanks for stopping his spell."

"I did that actually." Dan spoke up.

"Ok, Thanks Dan for stopping his spell. Anybody else I need to congratulate?" Herrior asked smiling over his shoulder at him.

"I was counting how much you got hit." Skyka said in a sarcastic voice.

"You can be replaced with a rock…" Herrior said back.

"Can a rock make you scream like I can?" Skyka asked.

"Let's head back." Herrior said casually. Herrior then yelled out, "We're heading back…so if you want to attack us you will have to do it now…" They all walked back without incident.

"Did anything move?" Herrior asked one of the guards on the walls.

"One rabbit and two birds, what about you?"

"The same" Herrior said smiling back.

"Was it the rabbit that was screaming for its life or the bird?" The guard asked smiling back.

"There is now one less female troll, dwarf male, and a demon." Herrior said walking into the fortress.

"That was an awful lot of noise for just that." The guard said.

"I couldn't draw out anybody else to attack us. There are more out there, just too scared to face us. I bet you could kill three of them with one shot." Herrior said.

"I'll let you know when I do." The guard said smiling back. Suddenly Lindel felt the cold chill again.

"Has this base been thoroughly searched? There is something in this base that should not be here. Start looking!" Herrior said as everybody separated to search the base.

Crystal summoned her Voidwalker and told it to go find any demon and engage it. The Voidwalker acknowledged and floated away from her. Crystal ran the other way when suddenly she felt her Voidwalker getting hit. Crystal quickly turned around and began channeling her health into it. "Herrior!" Crystal screamed out.

Herrior and several other fighters ran out of the houses and saw Crystal's Voidwalker attacking something. Herrior immediately pulled his weapons out and launched himself towards where the Voidwalker's attacks were coming from. A loud high cry came as a female banshee materialized and began to attack Herrior. Everybody instantly began attacking it. After a minute the banshee was weakened and asked where Branzer was.

"Small little dwarf? Shoots poisonous arrows? Out in the woods, he's in pieces though." Herrior said as he stopped attacking but looked at her ready to strike at any moment.

"He is a human and he is mine. Find him and return him or I will kill all of you!" The banshee said in a sinister voice. She was as tall as the fortress, and barely visible to the eye. A faint white outline was all that everybody saw.

"I've never seen a human." Herrior said still eager to strike at it.

"There are humans all around out." The banshee replied.

"First time I've seen them. Who is this human and why do you want him?" Herrior asked.

"You try my patience tauren!" The banshee wailed.

"And my sword tires of not hitting you…" Herrior said grinning at her.

"Branzer is mine. He was brought here and then he disappeared. Where is he?" The banshee asked.

"He wasn't brought here; he was in the alliance base south of us. We killed the people controlling him and then we took turns pissing down his throat. I still have no idea who you are talking about and I tire of listening to you." Herrior said.

"If I controlled you, I would make you suffer for a lifetime…" The banshee said leaning down and glaring at him. "However all of you are of no significance to me. I will look elsewhere for him." The banshee said and flew into the sky.

"It's ok Branzer, you can come out now." Herrior called out looking at an empty house.

"He is here then!" The banshee wailed and flew back down. She tried to possess Herrior; but as he fought off the possession everybody else finished killing her. She burned up in a ball of fire as the ashes were scattered in the wind.

"Pathetic." Herrior said watching the ashes dissolve. "Anybody else want Branzer? Anybody else want to shoot an arrow at me? Any ghosts want to come from the ground and attack me?" Herrior asked as he looked around.

"Crystal, your Voidwalker picking up anything else on his radar?" Herrior asked.

"I'll send him out right away." Crystal said and off the Voidwalker floated.

"Lindel, any more chills?" Herrior asked.

"No, but that was the presence I felt. Banshees cannot read other banshees minds. She probably attempted to read my mind but the same rules apply." Lindel said.

"I hate rules. Keep searching - I want to kill more things today." Herrior said as he turned around to continue his search. Suddenly his hearthstone began to vibrate along with all of the other leaders in the fortress. It was the King ordering an immediate recall of all parties back to Tranquil.

Herrior arrived back in Tranquil and met up with the rest of his party.

"What's going on?" Herrior asked.

"Apparently Branzer had a bug in him. The monks found it and destroyed it, but they think it is too late. The monks are positive an assault on Tranquil is imminent." Mohania said.

"Alright, everybody stick with me. We'll join the patrols. Anything that comes in will probably kill us, but let out a scream notifying everybody else where they are attacking from." Herrior said as he readied his weapons and immediately began walking.

Tranquil was vacant from its citizens and children. Everybody was secured in their homes. The vast majority of Tranquil's guards had been recalled from their positions and stationed in different places in Tranquil. The secondary parties were grouped up with several of their primary groups and everybody was on high alert as they looked for anything suspicious.

The town was silent. Every pet was summoned and on the prowl. Hours passed and Dan whispered if he could ask what was going on.

"What's going on is everybody is being quiet." Herrior answered. Dan took the hint. Herrior led his party up and down the streets, over ramps, and looking at every little detail in Tranquil.

Hours passed but the tension grew. "Sniffing anything out Lindel?" Herrior asked. Lindel shook her head.

The attack finally happened. Through one of the portals in Tranquil a massively armored paladin walked out and let off an enormous explosion. Swarms of alliance came running out. Tranquil's warriors began to engage them – until they were caught up guard.

Time stopped.

"Pathetic…" The paladin said and let out blasts of power all around him. Dozens of citizens were slaughtered instantly and houses erupted in flame. "Destroy everything; bring me the King's head. Their shields are stronger than we anticipated, however it's nothing I cannot hold off." The alliance soldiers immediately began to spread out when something happened that they didn't anticipate happened.

Time started.

Tranquil's fighters left their dead and wounded and began to engage the alliance. They caught many of them off guard, slaughtering many of them quickly.

"Start it back up again!" The paladin yelled.

Time stopped.

"What the hell happened? You said your device was tested and assured me it would work!" The paladin said walking over to a gnome engineer and lifting him up by his neck.

"It's impossible! We tested it over and over! Could be their shields…" The gnome said quickly.

Time started.

The Tranquil fighters launched another full on assault, having no fear of dying and catching the army off guard again.

"Start it back up!" The paladin yelled.

"It's out of power…it's not working!" The gnome said frantically trying to flick several switches. The paladin walked over and put his hand on it and poured his power into the box.

Time stopped.

"My power is draining! You have a lot to answer for when this assault is over with! Find out how to turn off these damn shields, get me some more power, and get this damn thing working again!" The paladin demanded.

"Didn't think this assault all the way through did you?" Dan asked smiling at him. He snapped his fingers.

Time started.

"How the hell?" The paladin looked at him in shock. Dan snapped his fingers again

Time stopped.

"Somehow you have made a little device to do what we can do with a mere snap of our fingers…you pathetic piece of shit. Your weakening aren't you?" Dan said.

Time started.

A whole arsenal attack of bullets and arrows flew at him as the paladin stared at him in awe. His power began to wane more as he used more power to reflect the attacks and dumping more power into the device. Dan held his hand out and a large wind elemental appeared in the middle of the alliance that sucked all of them up in a large tornado and blew them back through the portal. The other portals opened were then commanded to collapse in on the open portal. Immense amounts of power began to radiate from the open portal. The paladin stared at what was happening in disbelief as the portal suddenly collapsed in on itself, causing an enormous explosion on the opposite side of the portal. It destroyed millions of armed alliance and everything within hundreds of miles of the portal.

With the portal shut and the alliance army destroyed the paladin looked back at Dan, who was still smiling at him.

"I am going to make you suffer!" The paladin yelled as he charged at him. Dan readied himself, but the paladin dropped only inches from where he was standing. Every fighter in Tranquil tried to get their blades in him. The healers began to resurrect as many of their fighters and townsfolk that they could.

"Step away!" The King said as he walked towards the paladin. The King rolled him over and saw an emblem that made him smile. He reached down, tore off the paladin's head and held it in the air.

"This is their newly appointed King; death to the alliance!" Everybody cheered in delight.

"The lying bastards were slaughtered. They had a bug planted unknown in one of us. They wanted to kill all of us and destroy our city. Thanks to the Chronomancers imploding their portals, and Dan rounding them up – they will take decades to rebuild their armies! Death to the alliance!" The King yelled out again.

When the cheering settled down, and nearly all of the people that died had been resurrected, the King made another speech. "Somehow they have the ability to stop time that we are obviously not immune to. We will adjust our shields, we will adjust our abilities, we will learn from this and become more powerful…we will slaughter our enemies and leave nothing but their ashes in our path!" Cheering started up again.

After a minute the King motioned for everybody to calm down. "We need our city moved immediately; we need our portal abilities reconfigured with different codes. Take that device and I want it figured out immediately. Begin rebuilding our city – make it bigger and better than before. I want a ceremony tonight. I want music, food, drink and dancing! Come on everybody we have things we have to do. I want everything you can figure out about what this man knows, and cut him up into pieces…very tiny pieces! Has everybody been brought back to life?"

"They have my King." Skyka reported.

"Thank God." The King said in relief. "Party people, I want to hear dancing and singing tonight! Tomorrow we will resume our duties as normal." Cheering began again as the King started to walk away. The King smiled at everybody and walked up to Dan and whispered, "Come with me." Dan immediately followed him all the way back to the royal quarters. The King sat down in his throne and sighed with a big smile looking at Dan.

"Yes my King?" Dan asked.

"Thank you." The King said.

"I would do it again in a heartbeat even…"

"No…Dan, thank you. You have saved my life, the lives of Tranquil and our town again. Name something you desire." The King said.

"Nothing but to serve you and to defend the citizens of Tranquil." Dan said back quickly.

"No…Dan. What is something you desire? If you don't tell me, I will read your mind and figure out what it is." The King said jokingly.

"Can you read my mind?" Dan asked.

"No." The King said smiling back at him.

Dan paused for a moment to think about the question. "Can I answer that question later?"

The King nodded seeming pleased that he was considering this option.

"My King, may I ask you a question?" Dan asked.

"Certainly."

"There must be different levels to the ability of stopping time." Dan quickly corrected himself and shook his head, "I mean obviously there are, I stopped all of Tranquil for a very long time…a very uncomfortable long time I may add. What has me nervous though is they not only found a way into our city, but also found a way to stop those who were immune to it before. Also why didn't we evacuate Tranquil like we did before?"

The King smiled at him. "We didn't evacuate because there are now too many of us, and many of our safe areas have been overrun. I'm not sure how they found their way into our city, but I'm sure I will have those answers by the end of the day – also the same about their ability to stop time. I was hoping you could answer that question actually."

"I don't know…" Dan said the first answer that came to his mind. "We need to find a way of making everybody else immune to it besides myself. It was obviously the electrical box that did it and it was evident that it used a significant amount of power. It was also obvious that my ability to resume the time flow caught all of them unaware. It pissed him off and confused him at the same time. I enjoyed that." Dan ended with a satisfied smile. The King laughed.

"Do you know of any device that can stop time?" The King asked.

"No, I was going to go ask our engineers the same question – and I'm assuming that the answer will be similar to the one I give about my ability to stop time. I hope not though, if I can learn more about it and teach others that would benefit us greatly. Anyways what's to become of the alliance now?"

"Well we know what they have been planning for the past couple of months; I wish we could have known ahead of time. However, the outcome was the best I could have hoped for. It does worry me that we did not pick up the 'bug' or whatever the monks called it sooner. With it gone, our portal codes changed as well as our location; there is no possibility of that happening again." The King replied losing interest in the conversation.

Dan noticed it and thanked the King for an audience as he excused himself. He walked out to see everybody scurrying around Tranquil, dressing the town up for the party tonight. He wondered the streets looking around until he ran into Brenna.

"Oops, sorry I wasn't looking at where I was going." Dan said apologizing.

"And where were you going?" Brenna asked with a smile.

Dan smiled and said he didn't know.

"So what's it like to be the hero again of Tranquil?" Brenna asked beaming with pride.

Dan thought for a moment and then said, "Frustrating".

Brenna didn't expect that answer as Dan excused himself and continued his walk. Dan walked for a while and was shocked when he felt a rotten vegetable of some sort hit him in the back of the head. He turned to look back and saw Brenna looking at him. She then looked surprised and pointed at another citizen walking by.

"Food fight?" Dan asked walking back with a smile.

"If that is what it takes. Dan you are so wound up and up tight that it would probably take four taurens pulling your ass cheeks apart so you can take a shit." Brenna said. Dan looked at her surprised.

"Relax…we've had attacks like this before. Our city of Tranquil does not balance on your shoulders. You think that if you sneeze or scratch your nose, that Tranquil will fall and everybody will die. Am I close, or am I completely off base?" Brenna asked.

"No." Dan answered looking surprised.

"It's a good thing I learned what I did so I could defeat our attackers. It's a good thing I changed classes so I could do what I did. It's a good thing I've been experimenting and studying every waking moment of my existence so that I was able to do what I did. Am I close now?" Brenna asked.

Dan nodded but said that wasn't the case.

"Of course not…I'm probably way off base – drank too much ale and I'm just walking around in a drunken stupor." Brenna smiled and walked up to Dan and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Brenna asked as she cautiously looked around.

"What?" Dan asked.

"We've had attacks like this before. We've had people such as yourself successfully repel attacks in different ways. We've had many close calls in the past, but, as you can see, we are all still here. Afterwards do you know what happened to these special people?" Brenna whispered sounding paranoid.

"What?"

"They are living a normal life – many of them have offspring and smile more often. Things happen for a reason. If it were time for all of us to die, we wouldn't be talking right now. Relax…smile…go take that wife of yours and dance with her. The celebration tonight is going to be fantastic, and I expect to see you laughing and having a good time." Brenna said still whispering in a paranoid tone.

Dan smiled and looked away. Brenna quickly grabbed his arm and shushed him as she looked around some more.

"If you hear anybody saw the phrase, 'I will drink to that' – you need to throw back your mug and drink…" Brenna said making sure nobody was listening. Dan smiled again and motioned to say something. Brenna quickly silenced him again.

"Not just yet. Remember…there will be many people saying that. If you hear the phrase more than twenty times…that is your queue to stand up on a table and start dancing. Do you understand?" Brenna whispered quietly.

"Are you done?" Dan asked looking at her amused.

"No…" Brenna said and then shouted out, "This fighter reeks of rotten fruit, can somebody help me throw him into a fountain?" Dan jumped in shock and seconds later, he was picked up and suddenly airborne. He flew several yards away and made a clumsy splash into the water. He surfaced to hear several people laughing at him. He swam to the edge and pulled himself out of the water.

"I'm no longer frustrated; can I walk away now without having anything thrown, or getting thrown anywhere?" Dan asked the on looking crowd laughing.

"No" Herrior said as he suddenly appeared from behind him and pushed him back into the fountain. This fueled the laughter some more.

Dan once again swam to the surface as Herrior grabbed his arm and pulled him back out of the water.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there. So do you have a secret mission to go on tonight?" Herrior asked smiling at him.

"It sounds like I two options, have several taurens rip my ass open or drink a lot tonight." Dan said wiping the water away from his face.

"I heard the word ass…" Mohania said walking up with the rest of their party including Branzer.

"He has selective hearing…how are you doing my friend?" Herrior asked looking at Branzer.

"I feel like a traitor, in a lot of pain, and relieved at the same time…" was all Branzer could get out before Herrior interrupted him.

"You feel happy and ready to celebrate with us tonight…good to hear. I'm glad to have you back again. Even Mohania missed you." Herrior said.

"No I didn't." Mohania said back quickly. "Oh, but on a different note I have something for you Herrior." Mohania said pulling out a human heart. "The man I was torturing is sorry…from the bottom of his heart." Mohania said as he held up the bottom of the human heart and revealed the word "Sorry" written on it.

"Mohania, do you understand what a metaphor is?" Crystal asked walking past him.

"No." Mohania said with a sinister smile.

"There is no way we could have known. There is no way you could have known. What's done is done and has led to a mass slaughter of our enemies. So are almost done with the conversion process?" Herrior asked.

"The monks said I am, but I think I still have some areas on my body that hasn't been completely burnt to a crisp yet." Branzer said looking over his body in pain.

"I can help you out with that." Mohania said as he put his hands together and began to channel a spell. Crystal nudged him hard and asked him if he knew what sarcasm meant. Mohania smiled back and said "No".

"Well obviously somebody is in good spirits, have an early dinner did we?" Skyka asked Mohania. Mohania nodded.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to soak for awhile. Anybody care to join me?" Branzer asked as he eased himself into the fountain and felt a surge of healing splash over his body.

"I've got to join up with the other banshees; these banners aren't going to hang themselves." Lindel said as she grew her wings and flew away.

"I'll join you!" Quinely said excitedly as she jumped into the fountain and morphed into a dolphin after she hit the water and began swimming around.

"As entertaining as this is…I'm going to go see if there are any leftovers from the alliance King. No point is letting good alliance go to waste." Mohania said as he summoned his flying carpet and flew away.

Quinely flew out of the water and landed on her side as water splashed everybody standing around.

"I'm glad to see you are still chipper as ever…" Branzer said wiping the water off his face.

"Yup!" Quinely said excitedly.

"So is there anything I need to be brought up to speed on?" Branzer asked.

"We all almost died again…that's not really anything new though. The officers were put back on Earth…or our planet, whatever you guys call it. Haven't had a chance to speak with the Lieutenant yet, but I think it was for the best." Bernett said sitting next to him as the rest of the group went off to do their own thing.

"Watch me! I'm going to do three flips!" Quinely announced as she swam as fast as she could down to the bottom of the fountain. Both of them acknowledged, but neither one of them were looking.

"Can't blame them. They probably all had the same delusions of grandeur that we had; but it gave them jobs, got the price off their backs, and a fresh start. Speaking of, so what are the rules of dying and coming back to life? I haven't got to that section in the ambassador manual yet." Branzer asked as Quinely flew out of the water and successfully did two flips, but wasn't able to get the third. Both of them clapped for her.

"How big is this manual?" Bernett asked.

"Big…they need to make it into a documentary movie; it would be easier to learn." Branzer said.

"Did I do three?" Quinely asked excitedly as she surfaced. Both of them said "Yes" as she cheered for herself and swam back down to do it again.

"So are things over with me and Lindel?" Branzer asked.

"I…don't know. Herrior said with you dead, she was free to look for another – or her obligation to you was over…something like that. Guess the phrase 'the old ball and chain' really applies here." Bernett replied.

"Hmm…" Branzer answered.

"Sorry, probably not the best time to joke around. Samatha and Jeffery are doing well. Jeffery is taking classes on using his abilities. He's also learning a little bit of everything around here. Samatha is still the same." Bernett said smiling.

"That bad?" Branzer asked smiling back as they watched Quinely leap out of the water and this time successfully doing three flips before splashing back into the water.

"So, I guess I'm available now?" Branzer asked bluntly without emotion.

"Bachelor life again." Bernett replied.

"I don't want it." Branzer said quickly

"I wouldn't either. I would imagine you have more on your mind than Lindel though – with the whole dying and trying to kill us, imprisonment, and having your nuts burned off by the monks though. Plus I guess we have to get shit-faced tonight for not dying today - good enough reason for me." Bernett said.

Branzer didn't reply. Bernett nodded and said he would be around if he needed him.

"Wanna go get started early?" Branzer asked.

"We won't make it through the evening if we start now. Their weakest stuff has got to be 300 proof. I don't know if we should drink it or use it to sterilize our cuts. Heck, it probably does both at the same time." Bernett said ending with a laugh.

"Daddy!" Jeffery yelled running over to Bernett and giving him a hug. "What happened today? Everybody had to hide in houses and keep quiet."

"Some bad people came into our city and we had to get rid of them." Bernett explained.

"Did you make them go to our jail?" Jeffery asked.

"Mmm…no, we just made them leave our city. We ran the dirty rascals out of town is all. Where's your mom?" Bernett asked.

"Behind me laughing." Jeffery answered looking behind him.

"Hmm…that is your mom, now I just need to go find my wife." Bernett said standing up and walking over to her.

"Yeah keep dreaming, how are you doing Branzer?" Samatha asked.

"He is doing great! He's counting how many times I do flips!" Quinely said morphing back into herself and jumping out of the water.

"Daddy, mommy said you can do that. Can you turn into a horse and take me for a ride?" Jeffery asked.

"Your mom said I can turn into a horse?" Bernett asked.

"Like this." Quinely said and morphed into a large white stallion.

"Yeah, like that!" Jeffery said and asked if he could go for a ride.

"Jeffery I didn't say your father could turn into a horse, why did you say that?" Samatha asked.

"I heard you call daddy a stallion. I asked my friend's mom what a stallion was and she didn't know. So we kept asking around until Crystal said it was a horse and you ride on them. Can I ride the horse please?" Jeffery asked. Samatha's face instantly turned dark red as she smiled and looked away.

"Jeffery, how many people did you ask?" Bernett said as tried to keep a straight face with Branzer laughing behind him.

"Lots!" Jeffery said enthusiastically.

"Are you a druid now?" Quinely asked sidestepping to look at Bernett. Bernett kept his composure as his wife, and Branzer, burst into laughter. He put his son on Quinely's back and told him to hang on tight and to be careful.

"So…not much privacy in this town huh?" Samatha tried to say calmly, but bursted into laughter.

"Get out of here you two…I don't need to know this stuff. I'll meet up with you tonight." Branzer said shaking his head.

"Are you going to be ok?" Samatha asked.

"Once I get that conversation out of my head I will be…" Branzer said holding his hand up for them to not say any more, and Bernett and Samatha walked away laughing.

Branzer watched them go and then looked out across the fountain. He watched the kids in the shallow part through the fountains of water and the ripples in the water that it made. He let his mind wonder as he relaxed himself with a deep sigh.

"Is this seat taken?" Lindel asked behind him.

"Not at all." Branzer said quickly turning around and scooting away to make her a spot. Lindel smiled as she sat down and put her legs into the water. This time though, they didn't create any ripples and the water didn't move a bit.

"Neat trick." Branzer said looking up at her face. She was turned away at the moment. She turned back and said, "Oh, yeah – the whole banshee thing…sorry." Lindel materialized her legs and began moving her legs back and forth. "So how are you feeling?"

"Battered, bruised, torn, and broken…yet calm and relaxed. How about yourself?" Branzer asked.

Lindel sighed and said, "I feel like I have to apologize to you and I owe you an explanation."

"No you don't. I'm grateful for what you did and the time that we spent together." Branzer said.

"I was going to kill you." Lindel said reminding him.

"I deserved it."

"No…no you didn't deserve it. You were controlled; you fought with every ounce of your strength to free yourself. You did what you were taught and trained to do, and I did the same. That's battle for you though. We've had to kill our own in the past and will unfortunately have to do so in the future." Lindel explained.

"I know." Branzer replied back quickly looking away from her and back towards the children playing.

"I…had a talk with Skyka about you, and I'm not sure where you and I are right now – or even if we want to be…" Lindel said but got stuck.

"I want to be us again. Things have changed though?" Branzer asked.

"Sort of…I don't know. I just wanted to apologize; I'll leave you alone now." Lindel said quickly and then flew away. She was out of sight within seconds and Branzer felt more alone now than he had ever felt in his life. Branzer looked back at where the children were playing and smiled.

"I can't feel my face!" A goblin yelled running by.

"I can't feel my forehead…" another said spinning around in circles trying to see it.

"I can stand on my cup and drink at the same time!" followed by another goblin. An argument broke out after that sentence as Dan and Crystal made their way through the crowds later that night. The celebration was in full swing. There were people dancing, celebrating, rejoicing about the victory, and everybody exchanging hugs and kisses as if they were candy on Halloween night. The children had what looked to be remote control blimps, planes, cars, and an assortment of other vehicles that they raced back and forth. Every ten minutes or so, a menagerie of fireworks shot into the air and formed different pictures in the sky. Drinks of every sort were being offered, almost forced upon everybody that passed the brewer. Food was not in short supply either.

"They sure know how to throw a party." Crystal whispered to Dan.

"Is this what it would have been like if I graduated from the academy?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…you might sucker some guys into buying you a beer…maybe. I'm going to try each of everything – come on!" Crystal said pulled Dan eagerly towards the vendors offering food and beverages. Both of them got lost in the crowds for hours, talking about anything they wanted and celebrating. The night was still young, and it only grew older as the hours passed.

Dan finished drinking a mixture of what tasted like cranberry juice and mint, and after he looked up at the eagerly anticipating troll, he gave his approval. Dan turned around and took the scene in. The fairies were flying everywhere. Nobody paid any attention to them, but he figured with the amount of food and drink everybody was taking it, they were probably working overtime to relieve everybody.

He thanked the troll for the drink and left as another patron eagerly stepped forward, and he walked out to the middle of the streets. He saw hundreds, or was it thousands of people everywhere. And the numbers increasing or decreasing depending on what they were doing.

Suddenly he was nearly knocked over from something hitting him from behind.

"Oops, well hey there handsome – can I have a dance with you?" It was the same goblin lady that spoke with him earlier that asked if he was married.

"Not if you dance like that…" Dan said smiling back. The goblin gave him a playful glare and pulled him into one of the bars. She pulled him onto one of the tables and began moving her arms and feet so fast that Dan could hardly see what she was doing, let alone try to mimic her movements.

"I'm just warming up is all, what type of dance are you the best at?" She asked.

"A slow one. A lot slower than that." Dan said. He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders and began to gently lead her around on the table as everybody hooted and hollered.

"Not much of a fast one are ya?" She asked with a smile.

"No. So what is your name?" Dan asked.

"Mecali." She responded. "I do have a couple of moves that I could teach you that would impress your wife of yours."

"Not tonight. This is my first party in Tranquil." Dan admitted and thought, "First party every…"

"Get used to it Hun, celebrating is what we do best!" Mecali said excitedly.

"By the looks of this place, there are a lot of things everybody does best." Dan said looking around.

"I dare to ask, but have you been to all of Tranquil and seen everything it has to offer?" Mecali stopped and asked.

Dan shook his head and admitted that he hadn't.

She looked at him confused and asked if he was a fighter. Dan nodded and said, "When we come back from our missions, we usually head to the fountain, our home, or the trainers. Just recently I've seen the blacksmiths."

"You haven't seen nothing! It's like you are looking at a speck of dirt, while miles and miles of beautiful cities surround you. You've seen one fountain, you've seen one blacksmith, and you have seen where you rest. Do you really know where you live and the people that are here?" Mecali asked.

"I've been around to some different places…oh I've been to the gardens." Dan replied.

"Which ones? Have you heard some of the stories the people here have told? The reasons why the celebrations will continue for days? Don't you feel the relief and enjoyment in the air from our people? The entire town is celebrating, and you are only seeing a smell speck of it." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a box. She pressed a button and it instantly grew into a large red looking "Acme" rocket from a cartoon. The rocket began to pour out flames as Mecali grabbed the rope and reached back and firmly grasped Dan's hand. Seconds later Dan was screaming as the rocket shoot into the air, carrying its two passengers.

Seconds later Dan felt the enormous thrust from the rocket sputter out and a parachute eject from the top. Both of them floated down from way above Tranquil as Mecali was quick to point out many different areas of Tranquil. Dan kept up as much as he could, but he was amazed as to how big and complex the city actually was.

Slowly they settled down on top of a roof and Mecali excitedly said, "And that isn't in close to half of it. We're adding on constantly, building in all directions – up, down, diagonal, you name it! You could work on constructions and projects for hundreds of years – and when you are finished, just imagine how magnificent it would look. From there others would take over and continue the project while you go puddle jumping with the Murlocks, bomb pirates with packages of rats, or dig for buried treasure – the options are limitless. This is Tranquil…this is what it is like for its citizens! Not only is a safe refugee from their lands, but…it a work of art that changes in beauty virtually every day. Your…not listening to me are you?"

"Yes…sorry just over-whelmed…again." Dan said looking at everything in great detail. "I bet every person in here has their own story, every person has their own way to contribute…the history alone would probably be over-whelming…"

"You get the picture." Mecali said with a smile. "When you get a chance, step away from that group of yours and interact with the people. Their beauty, history, and lives are more interesting than the houses they live in and continue to build. You could spend thousands of years talking to different people and doing something different everyday and you wouldn't get bored. This…my friend…is Tranquil." Mecali ended in pride.

Dan nodded as he continued to look around.

"Well…you stand here and stare and I will pretend like we are talking…" Mecali said.

"I…" Dan said not wanting to carry on the conversation, but trying to think of something.

"It's fine. I will meet up with you later." Mecali said and ran off the roof and gently fell to the ground.

Dan summoned his dragon and it stood beside him on the roof.

"Did you know Tranquil was this big?" Dan asked.

"Yes. The world is much smaller when you view it from the air and not the ground." His dragon said turning to look at him.

"I imagine it would be. So this is what we are fighting for?" Dan asked.

"No. You are fighting for what you know is right in your heart, and you know what is wrong. This is the result of probably thousands of years of sacrifice, bloodshed, and filled with tears. Peace comes with a price. The Dragonflights have done the same. I am young, but I am only now hearing of the hundreds of battles that brought us to where we are now."

"So why aren't you enjoying the party?" Dan asked.

"It is your town and your people. The Dragonflights have been engaged in a fierce battle for quite some time."

"So why aren't you with them?" Dan asked.

"You summoned me so I am here." The dragon responded.

"Well, let's rally our forces and go help your people." Dan said eagerly.

His dragon smiled. "Our allies only ask for help when needed. If masses of our allies appear, it will upset our battle strategy and may even provoke us to attack you. If we are in need of our allies than Ysera will ask, as will any other of the leaders."

Dan nodded as his dragon continued to fly over Tranquil. He looked around and took in as much of the city as he could until the burning desire overwhelmed him and he said, "I had better get back to the party. Can you take me back?" he asked. His dragon nodded and quickly altered his course.

They landed and Dan's dragon flew away. He began looking around and saw the party had yet to calm down. People were still cheering, drinking, and dancing – the same as before. He decided that he would try to find the rest of his group and set off into the crowds.

After searching to no avail for nearly an hour, he observed that he didn't see any of the leaders of the parties. He asked a nearby young male troll if he had seem any; he responded that they all left at the same time to a nearby home and posted guards to make sure nobody disturbed them.

"Oh? Is that normal?" Dan asked.

"Not at all mon, de be looking serious about sometin. If I be you, I wouldn't be sneaking 'roung dere. You be looking like you not be partying real hard, you ok?" The troll asked.

"I'm fine, just new to everything still." Dan said with an unconvincing smile.

"You not be dat new mon…" The troll gave a playful glare back. Dan smiled and walked away.

Nearly six hours passed as Dan passed the time sipping water from his mug and overhearing the conversations. His hearthstone as well as many others began to vibrate. It was all of their leaders telling them to meet up at different locations. Herrior's party was told to go to the house that was built for them.

Slowly they all walked in and assembled at the top level of the building. Herrior walked up last, ensuring that all of his party entered before him. He closed the door behind him and assured that it was shut before he started walking up the stairs. It was obvious there was a lot on his mind.

"How goes the party?" Herrior asked with a smile looking at all of them.

"If you add all of us together…you still wont get anybody sober…wait a second Dan looks fine. Here I can fix that." Strings said pulling out a flask.

"Not now Strings. We've been given new orders, well…I've been given new orders. As I've said all along you can be whatever class, spec, or even none of those if you want. But upon reviewing new data and coming to a general consensus, we are going to have to make some changes. I, as well as some others, disagreed but were over-ruled. So…wait a minute where is our Worgen?" Herrior asked, and then rolled his eyes as he realized she was still outside the city walls and was not allowed in.

"I will talk with her later. Strings your main job is to talk among us in the area or time that we are in, learn the lore quickly, and make it appear that we blend in wherever we go. Also, go to the Bard trainer. They are going to teach you a whole slew of new songs, handpicked by us." Herrior said looking at him and then turned to look at Julie, Branzer and Bernett – the hunters.

"Julie you are to speak with our pet trainers and know what pet to bring out in what area we are in so as to not alarm anybody. Branzer you Bernett as well, but you need to change some of your talents. Dan, you need to launch a chain heal whenever you can healing everybody in our group, here is a list of totems you are to drop thirty seconds into battle – no sooner. If the battle requires you to raise one of your elementals, do it in discretion and as a distraction." Herrior said handing him a small piece of paper.

"Moving on, all healers are to use one spec only and never switch to another for dealing damage. Trackolania, as far as anybody knows I talked to you and you understood. That's all you need to know, oh and here is a list of poisons I want you and our Worgen to use together – also make sure she specc's in assassination. Here are papers for the rest of you to go see your trainers; I expect to not hear any bitching about it. That matter is closed, time for the next matter." Herrior said quickly throwing out the papers to everybody casually.

"We have three tanks and two healers. Quinely, I want you to spec entirely for tanking and off spec for healing and bring two different sets of armor. You are only going to dps on very rare occasions." Herrior said.

"Herrior?" Icis asked.

"Yes?" Herrior answered back sounding slightly annoyed.

"I want to go with the rest of Draenei to fight with Ysera in the Firelands." Icis said uncertain about herself.

"That's fine. Now we are down to one main healer and one backup healer. I guess Quinely you will be our second full time healer." Herrior said casually.

Icis looked around at everybody expecting a response, but nobody really knew what to say.

"It's fine Icis, you can go." Herrior said smiling at her.

"I will be a healer." Jessica's voice piped up from behind the group. Everybody turned to look at her shocked that she was in the room and nobody noticed.

"Fine, now we got a second healer. Go report to the monks at once and tell them to make you a priest. Next order of business is we need to establish second and third leaders within our group because of its size. I put my vote in for Jacklyn, if she accepts for being second in command. All in favor?" Herrior asked as the words rattled off his tongue so quickly nobody really had time to take them in, but everybody agreed.

"Third leader? Anybody willing to take on that responsibility?" Herrior asked.

"What do you mean by a third leader?" Dan asked.

"I die, Jacklyn dies, need another person in charge." Herrior said in the same slightly upset tone.

"I'll do it." Branzer said.

"All in favor?" Herrior asked and everybody agreed.

"That's done. Lindel your turn now. I want you to research several of our races that we know and wear exotic clothing to their appeal, without of course revealing anything that would be offensive to them. You are to stay invisible, stay silent, and continuously scan our surroundings. That applies to our warlocks and rogue, or anybody else that seems paranoid all of a sudden. This applies when we are patrolling, guarding, or attacking. You and Strings are on your own – you do your own thing. We need more healing, give it to us. We need distractions…you get the point. Julie you stay in nature stance…or whatever you call it and nobody else give off any buffs until battle. Any questions that you wish to ask that I cant answer?"

"Is this…" Julie started to say.

"No, and you will not ask that question." Herrior said abruptly.

"Why do I have a…" Bernett paused for a second and said, "…shadow priest? What is a shadow priest?"

"Oh, that was something else I was supposed to talk about. Have to get all of my bitching orders in place or I'll forget something…" Herrior said sarcastically taking away the paper.

"We have three hunters, who wants to not be a hunter and become a shadow priest?" Herrior said looking at the three.

"Well…" Bernett said.

"Fair enough, look it over and go report to the monks for a change in class." Herrior said handing him back the paper.

"I was actually going to ask why my wife isn't able to join us, and why Jessica can. My wife has been fighting in our secondary groups for awhile, and she is new." Bernett said.

"She cant." Herrior, Skyka, and Mohania all said at the same time. Herrior knew the reason why Skyka piped up, but he turned to look at Mohania.

"If you and her are in the same group and get killed together, it will hinder Jeffery's growth. Since I am his second father, there is a good chance I'll be dead alongside you two, therefore leaving only Kendall as a parent. Kendall is a great second mom, but having three of his parents die in a single group would not only upset him greatly, but would stir up vengeance in his heart. The last thing we want to do is piss off one of our time stoppers, let alone have three of his parents die. Probably the same reasons why these two assess haven't conceived a child." Mohania explained and then casually pointed to Dan and Crystal. Herrior nodded.

Bernett looked at him with curiosity. They had plans for Jeffery if he and Samatha were killed. They had him in their best interest, being as blunt as it was – it made sense. Bernett nodded and turned away.

"I'm supposed to wield one sword, not two?" Jacklyn asked clearly upset.

"Is that a question to me?" Herrior asked looking at her.

"No, I do not question my leader – it is merely a question my mind allowed my tongue to say." Jacklyn said.

"You had best keep your tongue and your mind entertained on other matters on hand. That goes for the rest of you as well. There is going to be some bickering among our fighters in the city, but there will be none from my group – is that understood?" Herrior asked. Everybody gave a slight nod.

"For what it's worth…we will be bending the rules slightly, but I want everybody to give it a shot at first. I want you to fight with your new abilities, spells, and weapons whatever is given to you. I'm sure there will be some adjustments made in the future." Herrior let out a sigh and said, "I do agree with a lot of it. I'm not keen about all of the ideas, but I do believe it will make us stronger as a whole. We seem to have some major advantages over how we were fighting before. All of our hunters, rogues, and pretty banshee's will be invisible as we patrol. Lindel will relay thoughts anybody has back and forth. Then upon battle, they will appear causing confusion; afterwards Strings and Lindel will do their dancing in battle. We have that advantage, plus I want replenishment always up on the casters – along with that and Dan's totem, you will be able to go much longer before needing a mana break, not including faster spells and increased damage. Warlock's will put their buffs on the tanks, increasing healing – if Julie's spider isn't out, Quinely do your bear paw buff before going into battle. Veliline, I want everybody diseased and spread it out as far as possible – you are also just tanking and will probably never dps as well. Getting extra heals from Veliline, Dan, Bernett, and occasionally Strings and Lindel if needed will be a big help on our main healers. Looking at some of the increased damage, bleed affects, increased spelled damage that all of us do to our target; I can foresee them falling faster. It's not a bad plan…I just don't like the idea of the lack of independence of my group and also telling my group how to spec, what class to be and how to fight." Herrior sighed and paused for a second. He looked up at his group and made it known through his face he was sorry to them for delivering this news.

"We'll do it." Bernett said back eagerly.

"You know we are always behind you; even if you told us to fight with just sticks and pebbles." Jacklyn said.

"Thanks." Herrior said with a smile. "I'm going to go speak with the Worgen, Trackolania you may want to accompany me. The rest of you have your papers. When you are done with them, dispose of them in a discreet and inappropriate fashion."

"Herrior…" Skyka said glaring at him with a smile.

"Lindel can you open a portal for us please?" Herrior said smiling. Lindel smiled back and started to channel her power into opening a portal.

"Greetings, I hope everything is well?" The Worgen woman asked.

"Some things have changed, and we are changing some of our fighters to different classes with different talents. Trackolania and I have come to speak with you about this. Do you still wish to fight beside us?" Herrior asked.

"Absolutely" She replied sounding completely sure of herself.

"Alright, I'm am going to have to setup up a time for the monks to blast you – afterwards Trackolania will take you to the rogue's quarters for your class." Herrior said. Trackolania instantly turned to Herrior and shook his head quickly.

"How is she supposed to learn how to be a rogue then?" Herrior asked sounding exhausted and not wanting to argue for the rest of the day. Trackolania made the motion that somebody would come out here to teach her.

Herrior let out an exhausted sigh and said "Fine…In the meantime if you are going to be part of my group, I want to relocate you somewhere safe…problem being that everybody hates you and wants to kill you." Suddenly Herrior had an idea and pulled out his hearthstone.

"Don't you people sleep?" Alan said pulling out the hearthstone and looking at the clock. He had only been asleep for two hours.

"Hi Herrior" Alan said with no enthusiasm in his voice.

"I am going to send…you still don't have a name do you?" Herrior said looking away from the portal and at the Worgen.

"Can it be Skyior?" She asked.

"I don't care. Let's call you that now to make things easier until I can get it verified in Tranquil. Alan, I need Skyior to stay with you. She needs to be in hiding and must be taken care of until the monks blast her and she is given her abilities, weapons, and armor." Herrior said.

"Can I say no?" Alan asked.

"Yes you are capable of saying the word, you just said it. But no you cannot decline this offer." Herrior said as Alan started to laugh.

"Anything special I need to know, or just be randomly surprised as usual?" Alan asked.

"Nobody is to know she is there. She will remain in hiding in your home until it is her time to be blasted. Not a word about her being there to anybody, applies to you as well Skyior." Herrior said turning to look at her.

"Should I be in my human form?" Skyior asked guessing that he was talking to humans.

"Yes, remain in human form." Herrior said.

"When can we expect her arrival…in human form?" Alan asked.

"Shortly…probably within the hour. I owe you a personal favor for this." Herrior said.

"Are we in any danger keeping her in our house?" Alan asked.

"Not anymore than usual." Herrior replied with a smile.

"I would enjoy all of us getting together soon. I would like to know what is happening." Alan asked curiously.

"Currently we are strengthen our fighters with different tactics, several major wars are happening right now with our allies, our town was almost destroyed – but we ended up killing millions of alliance, Icis left our group to go fight with the Dragonflights, we're still being assigned to your world – however there is a Naga group that seems to only want to speak with Skyka and I. I anticipate a major confrontation on the new lands that we seized from the Orcs, and I anticipate being bored on your world. We will establish a new stronghold on your world and setup our forces there to resume our search for time stoppers, demonic activity, and alliance. Several more details, but I need to catch my breath." Herrior said.

"So…you lost one of your members, and you are going to build a fortress here?" Alan asked.

"No, she reassigned herself. Building a fortress would raise questions…look you are tired and I've got things to do. Expect the Worgen to arrive shortly." Herrior said putting the hearthstone back in his pocket.

"Trackolania, is it safe to assume since she isn't part of your…group of rogues…or whatever you call it, it's safe to assume that she will be able to talk to us?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"You are going to have to trust her with your life…" Herrior said and Trackolania pointed at her and then him and nodded. He then pointed behind himself and shook his head.

"Very well" Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and summoning Lindel. She opened a portal and walked out. Herrior explained what needed to be done and then walked through the portal with Trackolania behind him. The portal closed and Lindel opened a new one.

"Their names are Alan and Sammy. They are both jumpy, try not to scare them." Lindel said smiling at her and then motioning her to the portal. Lindel closed the portal behind her and returned to Tranquil.

"Alan? Sammy" Skyior asks hesitantly when the portal closed behind her.

"I'm coming. My wife is sleeping; I'll meet you in the living room." Alan said making a ruckus that sounded like he was getting dressed quickly.

Skyior looked around and tried to decide what room with the living room. Her nose got the best of her as she wondered into the kitchen and started rummaging through the shelves.

"Hungry are we?" Alan said but suddenly jumped back when Skyior let out a vicious hiss at him. She quickly shook her head and apologized.

"Damn, I'm going to make a crappy rogue. Trackolania would have heard you coming and decapitated you before you could even have gotten a word out. I apologize, I haven't had food, or security in…awhile." Skyior said looking away from him.

"From my understanding Trackolania has been a rogue for a long time, and if you are just starting you are on the right track. Our house is your house. I'll give you a couple of suggestions as to what you might like to eat. From there, we have a 'sort-of' crawl space under the house. That might be the safest place for you to stay. Before then, would you mind if we talk for awhile?" Alan asked.

"I am not allowed to speak. Rogues don't speak; I need to learn that skill." Skyior said.

"It's a shame. Words can soothe the heart, and woo the mind."

"What is this?" Skyior pulled out a tray of meatloaf. Before Alan could answer, her mouth transformed into its Worgen mouth and engulfed half of the tray. She continued to chew it and spit out the what was left of the tray. Skyior finished it off, and left the tray torn and twisted with large bite marks in it lying on the floor.

"Well, it's obvious you aren't human." Alan said a little shaken.

"Do you want to see me in my true form?" Skyior asked glaring at him.

"No that's fine. Shall I show you to your room?" Alan asked. Skyior nodded and both of them walked down to a makeshift basement, only a couple feet off from bare dirt.

"This will be fine. I will dig a hole to further conceal myself until it is my time to be called up." Skyior turned to Alan and said, "Herrior said not to speak of me" as an apparent threat.

"I won't. Herrior trusts me, and you can as well." Alan said quickly but reassuring.

"Fine, leave me." Skyior said as she turned around and began to quickly moving dirt around." Alan watched for a couple of seconds and then left the room and made sure the door was shut tight.

"Late night snack?" The Lieutenant asked picking up the pieces of what was left of the pan.

"Do you believe in werewolves?" Alan asked.

"If you told me the house was alive and could walk away I'd believe it. Have a guest in the house do we?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Nope, and it doesn't go past us." Alan said.

"I'll dispose of this, and go get you another pan tonight. Our patrol was hungry and it was nice of you to offer the rest of…whatever was in this…to us." The Lieutenant said.

Alan nodded with a sigh.

"Anything else we didn't talk about tonight?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Sounds like several battles are going on, Herrior seemed upset, and they are going to establish a base camp here. He was not in a joking mood." Alan said.

The Lieutenant nodded at Alan as he continued to pick up the pieces and went out to his modified goblin hummer. It might have been obvious that everybody in the neighborhood had the same type and color hummer – but only clients drove down this road, his officers were secluded back in the woods. The Lieutenant reached forward with his finger and pressed it on the ignition pad. A female goblin voice came alive and asked if he wanted manual or automatic driving.

"Manual - need to find a replacement for this cooking pan." The Lieutenant said.

A small optical eye came down from the ceiling and quickly scanned the pan and recoiled back in mere seconds.

"Searching…found location approximately forty three miles south west. Initializing map for ground and air travel."

The Lieutenant reached for the gear selector again, realizing that it was not there. He then pushed on the gas, and the hummer launched forward hitting speeds upwards of two hundred miles per hour.

Seconds later, the Lieutenant slowed the hummer down and parked the hummer. He opened the door and jumped out. A bunch of adolescents watched him pull up and park.

"Sweet ride you have there. What's under the hood?" A man with a pink Mohawk asked.

"I'm not sure." The Lieutenant answered honestly. "I would suggest you move along though." The Lieutenant shut the door and walked away.

"The old folkie didn't lock his doors!" A girl said quietly but excitedly. The Lieutenant smiled as he counted the seconds in rhythm in his walk.

Suddenly a blast of lightning grabbed all of them, and threw all of them over ten feet away. Several tiny canisters went bouncing in their direction. The teenagers were not paying attention as the canisters exploded, spraying very sticky webs all over them. Once they were thoroughly stuck, the webs pulled them down to the ground, and quickly wrapped around their mouths.

The Lieutenant made his purchases and casually walked back to his hummer.

"Open back door." The Lieutenant said at the left rear side down flew open. He put his purchases in, and pulled out a sealed box. The Lieutenant walked away and the hummer quickly closed its door.

"Old folkie eh? Insults and not following instructions?" The Lieutenant opened the box and a five pound of foul smelling ball of crap landed on the ground. The teenagers quickly showed their disgust, but were even more surprised to see it separate and spread across all of their faces.

"Believe me…I'm letting you off easy…" The Lieutenant said chuckling and continued, "Oh, and when the cops come – tell them you tried to steal a vehicle, but was sprayed by spider webs and attacked by the "shit from the lagoon".

He ordered the hummer to open its door and return home on automatic mode. The hummer jumped up and spun around doing a one-eighty. It then took off at enormous speeds, quiet as a mouse and leaving no trace.

"Interrogation, collecting evidence, convincing the judge against a defense lawyer…all a thing of the past…" The Lieutenant said as he turned on the radio with a smile.

A week went by in Tranquil and Dan seemed more relaxed. Instead of trying to develop the latest weapon, or seeing how he can manipulate time – he spent time with Crystal walking the city. They found new subjects to talk about, never saying the same thing twice during the whole time. It felt good for both of them and it renewed their commitment to each other and to their town. They stayed with a new family every night and heard the tales of their lives.

After Jessica was doing being blasted, a nurse helped her from the monk's chambers and into the city.

"Good, she was the last one. I'll summon everybody and we'll establish our new outpost on Earth. Skyka can you summon some builders and engineers?" Herrior asked.

"I…don't think…I…can…even piss…right now…" Jessica said, as her body still twitched from the pain. Her eyes were bloodshot, and it looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

"Was she blasted to become immune to demonic and alliance possession?" Herrior asked the troll female nurse.

"Yes, the monks are trying to expedite their blasting so it isn't at hard on our bodies." She replied.

"Good. Jessica you are going to have to get yourself together. Get some food in your stomach if that will help. You may rest for a couple of minutes while I summon our party." Herrior said as Jessica dropped to the ground and began breathing hard. The nurse ran into a house and grabbed some water and bread.

"Excellent, you all rested and prepared for battle." Herrior said looking at his party. Every person had new armor, weapons, and an eagerness to begin their mission. "Trackolania, was Skyior able to get blasted as well?" Trackolania nodded. He pointed to his armor and daggers and nodded again.

"Very well. Jessica rise to your feet and heal yourself." Herrior commanded. She casted a quick spell and felt a surge of healing flow through her body. She stood up and casted another spell that completely healed her.

"Hearthstone and trinket?" Herrior asked.

"Already in her new armor as well as Skyior's armor. Her name was approved by the way." Skyka said walking over and helping her put it on.

"Good. Bernett you are backup healing if needed – otherwise you are pure shadow." Herrior said.

"Rumor has it that won't matter in the future." Bernett said.

"I've heard the same…we'll see. Ah, here come our excited goblins." Herrior said.

"Reporting for duty, we have a bet going to see who can make the biggest explosion!" A male goblin said sinisterly rubbing his hands.

"We're building things, not blowing stuff up." Herrior responded.

"Rats…but if the situation were to arise?"

"Then you can blow stuff up. Lindel if you would do the honors?" Herrior asked. Lindel smiled and began to channel her power into a portal. Once fully developed the party walked through it and quickly filled Alan's house.

"Hi…wow so many of you this time. Should I notify Alan?" Sammy asked.

"No, this matter does not concern him. Was Skyior talked about in anyway?" Herrior asked.

"Sky…you mean your wife? Nobody said anything about her." Sammy said sounding confused.

"Good. Lindel summon her up and let's get going." Herrior said. Seconds later a loud howl echoed throughout the house as Skyior burst through the floorboards in her Worgen form. She growled and snarled her teeth.

"What the hell?" Sammy screamed and ran behind the group.

"Feeling well, are we?" Herrior asked.

"A little antsy. Those monks of yours turn your body inside and out…ah my armor and weapons. I have my talents all set and ready for battle." Skyior said donning the armor and changing into her human form.

"We're not patrolling, but to keep low visibility I want you and Bernett in human form…Mohania just try your best." Herrior said turning to him and saw that he had activated his trinket. He looked like a middle-aged executive that was late for his meeting.

"Nice insult, but I would suggest everybody activating their trinkets while patrolling." Mohania said pointing to his dragon.

"Handy little things aren't they." Herrior said forgetting they had them and touching his. Everybody else activated theirs as well.

"Alright, we need an outpost within one hundred yards from here. Which direction did you build the human village?" Herrior asked.

"East."

"Put us south then. Make is self-sufficient, set up concealed defensive weapons, and give it the ability to turn invisible. Give it two doors on opposite sides and make it able to withstand Hell's fury itself." Herrior said.

"Please…leave the designing to us. You point, we plant. Give us a couple of hours." The goblin said sounding insulted as he lead his team away.

"Did I say something wrong?" Herrior said smiling.

"Most of the time, but it's like telling me how to ignite things on fire…" Mohania said.

"Sammy, has there been anybody around here that we need to be concerned about?" Herrior asked glaring at Mohania.

"You mean people you are going to kill?" Sammy asked. Most of the party began to laugh.

"Sammy, is there anybody that has been asking questions – getting a little to close? Moving in on our territory?" Skyka asked.

"More and more people have been moving closer. The suburbs are expanding and Alan has had several offers, very lucrative offers, to relocate or to have other businesses move in with him." Sammy said.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"She only knows what Alan has told her. There is a healer that she isn't telling Alan about…" Lindel began but was interrupted.

"It's a drug pharmaceutical company. Alan has turned down several awards and press conferences. Even a politician came to our house. He wanted to make an offer we couldn't refuse. We refused it." Sammy said.

"Find the location of this politician Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel dispersed into millions of tiny lights but Sammy pleaded for her not to go into her head.

"Herrior, Alan is fine. He is doing everything he is supposed to. We have nightly and daily patrols around the clock. Most of the officers have found jobs as a cover. We are doing everything we are supposed to." Sammy said.

"Why the hesitation to have your mind examined?" Herrior asked.

Sammy sighed and said, "Because you can believe me."

"I believe you and trust you. Lindel can notice things you may not have picked up on. Can she please?" Herrior asked. Sammy nodded and opened her eyes wide as Lindel flew into her eyes. Sammy felt her thoughts fly through her mind instantly. Several times Lindel stopped to examine a couple of thoughts, and then proceeded.

"Their anniversary is one week from now." Lindel's voice came out of Sammy's mouth.

"Congratulations." Branzer said with a smile.

Lindel flew out of Sammy's mind, reported two potential threats to Alan and Sammy, and explained the situation.

"Greg? No, he is just a realtor – and not a real good one at that. He just wanted to see if we wanted to partition off the land."

"You let him in and he evaluated you, the locks, and the items in your house in a couple of seconds. You thought it was flattery." Lindel said.

"Do you have the location of this man?" Herrior asked.

"He gave a false address…didn't he Sammy?" Lindel asked.

"The road on the business card is supposed to be a street, not a boulevard." Sammy said.

"What's our next target?"

"Alan has been having with one of his clients. Sammy is concerned, and has observed him come home with bruises on his body and limping. His name is Peter and is a homeless drug addict. She doesn't know where he lives. I can sense him though, about two hundred yards north of here." Lindel said.

"That can't be!" Sammy said in disbelief. "Alan said he has a job and gets a ride on the public transit here."

"It appears that Alan is keeping secrets as well. Lindel go scout for this Greg, the rest of us will go find this Peter. Sammy, from now on tell us if there is a problem – no matter how insignificant. It will keep all of us alive longer. Jacklyn and Strings stay here and have a chat with Alan when his work is done. Find out if there are any more 'problems' we need to address. Let's head out. Those that can stealth, turn invisible – whatever you call it do so; the others keep your trinkets active. Mohania bring out your imp, Julie bring out Spark, and Branzer your Eagle." Herrior said. When everybody had performed their actions, they stepped out.

Immediately the guards approached Herrior's group and questioned them.

"Good, he has better equipped guards: armor, poison, small blade and a gun." Herrior said.

"They are our friends – the 'guardian angels' is what you refer to them." Sammy said calling out of the doorway.

All of the guards looked at Herrior's group astonished. "Sorry sir won't happen again."

"I hope it does. Your job is to guard and question." Herrior said walking past them.

"Sir, several of us have fallen ill…" One of the guards spoke up quickly.

"Jessica go help them, Skyka go teach her what she should know. Quinely you and Bernett are healing." Herrior said and began his walking north with his party.

Lindel, invisible, flew through the air at tremendous speeds. She felt Greg's presence and quickly closed in on his house.

Inside of the one story house, Greg's thoughts were distorted with several different poisons he had injected into himself. He had an arsenal of weapons, very little food and by the sounds of it, three dogs in the back that were starving.

Lindel looked through several pieces of paper on the tables and saw that he was a realtor, he had several locations mapped out, but it didn't say what his intentions were.

Lindel continued to scan his mind and attempt to get any thoughts that may help her. The drugs were taking their full affect and he was losing consciousness.

Lindel changed her appearance into a younger version of himself and suddenly appeared in front of him and said, "Wake up you stupid bastard!"

"What the…" Greg jumped up and pissed himself when he saw a younger version of himself.

"Is this how you are going to knock off these houses? Drug yourself up and break in – your ass stumbling all over? Are you trying to get caught?" Lindel yelled at him.

"Who…are you…" Greg said trying to concentrate on focusing on the younger image of himself.

"You're a dumbshit…clean yourself up – there are some things we have to figure out. What is going to happen tonight?" Lindel asked.

Greg looked down and saw three needles in his arm, the veins pumping blood back into the syringes. He quickly pulled them out and reached for a towel to stop the bleeding. Lindel quickly vanished when he turned away. Greg quickly turned around and his hallucination was gone.

"That was some fucked up shit…I can't be doing that again." He quickly walked over to a phone and called a person named Tonya.

"I'm seeing shit…what did you put in these needles?" Greg asked.

"Same shit…you saying my stuff is bad? Fine, you want some more – price is doubled. Get a job you prick and pay off what you owe. Don't be coming by unless you have at least two K on you." Tonya said and then hung up.

"Fuck…" Greg said hanging up. He quickly became desperate as his hands started to shake and sweat poured out of his body. He started going through his notes and started numbering them. His attention then turned to a drug rehabilitation doctor running a clinic just outside of his house.

"Yeah…that bastard has got to have some money, probably some drugs too." Greg circled the page and loaded several of his guns. He ran outside, started up his car, and slammed on the accelerator.

"Drugs…" Lindel whispered in a very quiet female voice. Greg looked around quickly but couldn't see anything.

"Money…" Lindel whispered again.

"That's right…gonna get me some drugs and money. I've got me a little voice helping me.

"Kill him…" Lindel whispered.

"No! I am not going to kill anybody…I am going to kill him…I will take all he has and kill him…I can get more if I don't kill him…I will kill him and keep killing him until I get more drugs and money." Greg said as he roared the engine up to eighty-five miles an hour.

"Tonya…" Lindel whispered.

"Fuck Tonya!"

"You want to…"

Silence.

"Tonya…" Lindel whispered again.

"That bitch would never go for me. I'm a drunken washed up has-been." Greg said.

"Money…"

Silence again.

"Money! That's it! Shit, I'm so stupid! I rob this motherfucker of everything, steal all of his shit, sell it on e-bay – and wave the bills in her face. She'll follow the money!"

Silence filled the car again.

"What! Saying something! Tell me what to do!" Greg yelled at the invisible voice. Nothing but silence filled the car.

"I'm pumped up; drugs are getting out of my system…" Greg said to himself and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a small plastic bag with small black leaves in it. He quickly opened it, ate everything in it, and threw the bag out the window.

"Ok, I'm fucked up again…tell me what to do!" Greg said. His mind began to pulse harder and harder as the drugs entered his system.

"Well fuck you woman…I'm going to do this myself…" Greg said and put the shotgun outside of the window.

He started shooting off random blasts into the woods, getting himself psyched up.

He could see the house…not it was a mansion, and the clinic almost trumped it.

"Get off the drugs…" Lindel whispered.

"Fuck you!" Greg said as he drove his car towards the house.

"Got off the drugs…" Lindel repeatedly said, several times a second.

"Shut up!" Greg screamed. He lost control of the car and hit the ditch. The car shot up into the car as Lindel pulled him out. Greg watched in horror as his car flew through the air, crashed into the ground, and began to roll. He then saw a little green man run out, shoot something, and watch his car explode into tiny little pieces of metal.

"Top that explosion!" The green man said laughing and went back to what he was doing. He eventually turned invisible and Greg still hung in mid-air watching in awe.

"I died." Greg said slowly.

"No, but you are going to wish you were…" Lindel whispered and quickly disarmed him. The guns dropped to the ground and Lindel pulled Greg violently backwards to where the officer's community was.

Lindel slammed Greg into the ground as she heard several of his bones crack. He let out a loud scream and began to cry. Numerous officers ran to the scene with their guns drawn.

Lindel materialized and said, "He was going to kill Alan and Sammy. He diluted his mind with some type of drug. He might be worth saving…however I would like to hear him scream for a couple of days." Lindel then kicked Greg in the side of the stomach and he let out another loud cry of pain.

"He was talking to a lady called Tonya on the phone that he bought these drugs from. Make him talk…find out where she is and do the same." Lindel said.

"Get him to our prison." One of the officers said as several of the officers put their guns away and violently picked him up.

"You're going to hold him in a steel cell, locked away in a house? No…let me show you what is a better way of getting information out of him…" Lindel said walking up to the man, shoved her hand through his skin and wrapped it around his stomach, and squeezed it. The man instantly gasped as he looked down and then started having convulsions that led to him vomiting violently and relieving his bowels instantly, filling his pants.

Lindel slowly released it and pulled her hand back out of the man's chest.

"You smell like shit…" Lindel said in a soft voice. Lindel held out her hand and an invisible force grabbed his neck. Lindel spun around and Greg soared through the air. His body slammed hard into a tall thick tree. Lindel then held out her other hand, and a long spool of rope flew up towards him. It quickly wrapped around his chest.

"For the next three days, you will have only your own shit and piss to eat! Your mind will fill with blood and cause random convulsions and hallucinations. You'll puke until your stomach is empty, yet you still vomit! You will pray for death, but it won't come. After the three days, you will be given one chance…only one, to tell these officers everything they want to know. If they think you are lying, you will die a death a thousand times worse than this! If the officers believe you, you will be sent on your way!" Lindel yelled at him.

Lindel turned around calmly and said, "So how have things been?"

"Does this fall under torture and cruel and unusual punishment?" An officer asked.

"Not when somebody threatens us it doesn't…so how are Skyka and Jessica doing?" Lindel asked.

"Fine" the officer said nodding.

"Alright, well if they need any help tell them to contact us. I'm going to go to Alan's house." Lindel said and turn invisible. Suddenly Greg's body began to have strong convulsions with the whispers of the word, "stop" coming out of it. It continued for twenty seconds and then stopped. Greg opened his blood shot eyes and begged to be let down.

"No" one of the officers said putting his gun away and walked back to his house, as the rest of the officers did.

Meanwhile Herrior and the rest of the party came to an intersection in the road. Unsure where to go, he sent Quinely ahead to investigate.

Herrior's party advanced and spread out listening for a man's name of Peter. Quinely morphed into a crow and called out "Peter!" as she flew in-between houses. After several minutes, she got a response. Quinely flew up on top of the man's shed and watched work on a tractor; he paid no attention to who said his name.

"Peter?" Quinely asked again and the let out a long caw.

This caught Peter's attention. He wiggled out from underneath the tractor, and looked around.

"Who said my name?" Peter said looking around.

"Talking to your friend's again sweet heart?" A woman came out of the house and with a sarcastic tone.

"Did you call for me?" Peter asked back in a sarcastic tone.

"No" the woman said glaring at him.

Quinely sat on the roof for a while listening to the conversation. Several minutes past and she could see her party coming down the road. She had to make a decision, continue listening or to move on and find another Peter.

Quinely watch the woman walk into the garage. Quinely flew down behind a bush and asked, "Doctor helping?"

Peter quickly stopped screwing the oil filter back on. "You heard that didn't you?"

"Yeah I did." The woman replied. Quinely morphed into a butterfly and quickly flew away as the two came over to investigate the noise.

"So you didn't ask if the doctor is helping?" Peter asked.

"Not since you started beating me." The woman replied. A crow started cawing very loudly.

"Damn crow…haven't seen any of those in awhile. Go get my gun." Peter said.

"Your guns were taken away, along with your license, and your ability to go outside the house…" The woman said.

Peter started picking up rocks and throwing them at the crow to scare it away. "It wasn't my fault!" Quinely was hit several times but it didn't faze her at it. One of the rocks she picked up, flew over his head, and dropped it on him. She then flew back to her perch and started cawing some more.

"Well I'll be damned…I hit the crow several times and then it dropped a rock on me." Peter said in a shocked voice.

"Yeah it did. Anyways, I'm going to the store to buy me some food, and to feed your booze addiction. Did you want anything else?" The woman asked.

"I'm gonna kill that bird." Peter said walking into the garage for a ladder. The woman got in her car and drove away. Herrior waved at her as she back out of the driveway.

"Well salutations there good neighbor, have a bit of problem with your roof?" Strings asked.

"What? What do you guys want?" Peter asked.

"We are here to see if you are interested…" Strings was interrupted.

"I'm not, get off my property." Peter said glaring at them.

"I bid you ado then." Strings said as they turned to walk away.

"Crystal, Mohania, and Jacklyn – go take a look. Trackolania, go immobilized the car. We'll distract her for a couple of minutes. Jacklyn transform into what the wife looks like. Distract Peter and Crystal – you and Mohania get inside. Seduce him, make them fight, make him talk." Herrior said whispering to them. Herrior turned around and saw Quinely on the roof moving back and forth, waiting for a signal as to what to do. Herrior pointed to her and then the back of the house. He then pointed to Crystal. The crow nodded and instantly flew away.

"Stupid bird…" Peter said putting the ladder away.

"Forget to fuel up the car dumbass?" Jacklyn said. She activated her trinket and she looked just like her.

"What did you just call me?" Peter said.

"You deaf or just stupid? Do you need me to explain that cars need fuel, or what a dumbass is?" Peter looked at her in shock and in a solemn tone he said, "Get in the house."

Jacklyn complied and casually walked in the house. She sensed Peter charging at her and casually slipped out of the way.

"Can't even walk straight when you are sober…Peter who is that at the back door?" Jacklyn said walking over and opening the door.

"Hi, you must be Peter's wife…I can see why he doesn't want you…once your ass weighs over thirty pounds sex just isn't an option. Anyways, get out of the way I'm here to earn my five hundred deep." Crystal said walking beside Jacklyn. Mohania had put an illusion over himself, looking similar to Crystal, but slightly taller, stockier, different color hair and eyes. Quinely walked in and said, "Hi Peter! I'm new, but I hear you pay well…slightly awkward with your wife here though."

"What the hell is going on? Who are you tramps?" Peter said staggering to get up off the ground wiping the blood off from his lip.

"Normally I would be shocked and upset, I'm more relieved though. I can divorce your cheating ass and get half of everything now." Jacklyn said.

"You could get more than that…" Crystal said in a smartass tone.

"I have never seen these women before in my life, and if you all don't leave right now you are going to be sorry! I haven't touched any of these skanks, I haven't cheated on you, and you can't prove anything!" Peter said angrily.

"Are you going to tell the doctor this? Sleeping with these women…was there going to be some sort of break through with this?" Jacklyn asked and approached him in an aggressive position. Peter motioned to punch her but instantly stopped.

"Go ahead, give me a love tap." Jacklyn said letting a smile grow on her face.

Peter instantly felt fear shoot down his spine. His wife never stood up to him before, and now there are four witnesses.

"Wanna play rough? I like it rough. You can slap me and hit me all you want. You can tie me up and whip me…come on…let's do this…" Mohania said is his best impression of Crystal.

"No…you are setting me up. All of you get out of my house!" Peter yelled.

"I want them here." Jacklyn said.

"I want them to leave, it's my house!"

"Not unless you leave…" Jacklyn said with a slight grin reappearing on her face. Peter quickly grabbed a knife from the counter and held it between him and Jacklyn.

"Surprised you even know what that is. It's used for cooking…" Jacklyn said.

"Shut up bitch! This has gone too far! Get the fuck out of my house!" Peter yelled.

"Such words…there are women present." Jacklyn said. She grabbed Peter's hand and quickly squeezed it, breaking almost every bone in his hand. He let out a scream as the knife fell to the ground.

Jacklyn turned around saw Crystal motioning that his wife was coming. Jacklyn quickly ran over to the rest of them, whispered some quick words, and everybody but Quinely ran outside. Quinely morphed into a fly and flew behind Peter without him knowing.

"The tires…Peter are you ok?" The wife asked after hearing her husband's cries of pain. She quickly ran over to him and saw him holding his mutilated hand and a pool of blood on the ground.

"No! No…get away from me!" Peter said trying to back up.

"What the hell happened?" His wife ran towards him in a panicked state.

"Get away from me…don't hurt me…I swear I'll never hurt you again…" Peter mumbled in-between crying.

"Who did this to you?"

"You did!" Peter said.

"I was in the car…Peter who did this to you?" His wife insisted.

"You did it!" Peter insisted again.

His wife got up utterly confused. She started looking around the house and didn't find anybody else in the house. She ran outside and cried for help.

As soon as Peter's wife left, Quinely morphed into a giant bear. She reached down with her mouth and grabbed Peter's right arm and through him across the house. Peter screamed in shock.

"If you ever touch here, or hurt Alan again – you are going to beg for death!" Quinely said in a deep tone. Peter's face turned pure white and instantly began to perspire. Quinely raised her right paw and swatted Peter across the room. She quickly morphed into a fly and flew out the back door.

The group met up several houses away as the screaming could still be heard.

"Bring me anything to eat?" Mohania asked when Quinely flew up and morphed into her human self.

"Naw, just gave him a little love tap." Quinely said spirited, as if she was going to start skipping.

"I would have done things differently…" Mohania uttered.

"But this way, the man has a choice to change his life around…without losing any limbs or half of his blood – plus the house isn't on fire." Jacklyn said.

"Shoot that reminds me…Herrior I forgot to do something…" Mohania said starting to turn around.

"Come on…" Herrior said smiling.

They arrived back at Alan's house, then saw Alan with an ice pack on his right shoulder, and let out a slight moan when he greeted them with a smile.

"Who hurt you this time!" Herrior demanded moving very aggressively towards him.

"What?" Alan asked confused.

"Did we not get there in time! Was he there earlier? Did you not know the time when Peter was going to be there? Where are your guards at?" Herrior said clearly upset. His hands were itching to grab their weapons and his teeth were grinding.

"Wait…what? Who…what are you talking about?" Alan asked letting the ice pack fall and backing away utterly confused.

"I told them about Peter and Greg." Sammy said.

"Who?" Alan asked.

"Alan, you are to tell us if you are in danger! Greg was going to kill you today, and Peter is obviously causing you some sort of pain! This is not acceptable!" Herrior snarled at him.

"Ok, wait…let's just take a minute here. Obviously, something is going on and I do just not understand it. Let me put some of these pieces together. This Peter and Greg – are they patients of mine?" Alan asked.

"Yes, why are you keeping this information from me? You could have died!" Sammy replied.

"Wait…give me just a second before you lynch me. Greg…ok let's talk about him first. Greg…did I see a Greg this week." Alan began to think.

"The Greg south of here that's takes a drug to wreck his mind. He has guns, drugs, and a drug dealer named Tonya. He was only a hundred yards away until I neutralized the situation." Lindel said.

"Drug addict named Greg that lives south of here." Alan thought for a second. "I was told about a Craig…might have been Greg I don't remember, that said he needed drug rehabilitation. Is that the one?" Alan asked.

Lindel looked at him confused and said, "Yes it is."

"I do not make house calls. I was going to mail him one of our flyers to become a possible client. Why was he going to kill me?" Alan asked.

"You and your wife need to spend more time talking. She is obviously very concerned about you and draws conclusions from partial pieces of information that you give her. There is no threat, everybody relax." Herrior said.

"You said a Greg and a Peter were going to kill me?" Alan asked Sammy.

"You've come home several times and said, 'Peter really banged me up today'. You are limping, or you have bruises on your body. What am I supposed to think?" Sammy said clearly upset.

"Oh. Hun, Peter is an officer that needs counseling but cannot afford it. He insisted on paying me by doing some sort of service for me, so I asked him if he could teach me how to defend myself. It's some sort of karate…jujitsu something. Nobody is beating me up. I have many officers swarming my offices, and my panic button on my leg will get me five armed officers in my office within seconds. Greg I didn't know was going to kill me…sort of makes sense though if he is a hard-core drug addict. Our wealth and fame has drawn a lot of attention to us, despite our best efforts. He probably figured I could get him drugs and money by threat of violence."

"It was fun! I scared the shit out of him as a bear and threw him around!" Quinely piped up.

"The other is hanging upside down in a tree about a hundred yards up a tree. That should sober him up. By the time, we let him down; he will probably forget anything that has to do with you. Can we eat?" Lindel asked.

"You people have no idea how to torture a person…" Mohania said clearly upset.

"Wait…so you probably ruined two people's lives because you thought they were going to hurt me?" Alan asked.

"Yup. Just imagine what would happen if they did hurt you." Skyka said winking at him.

"You guys just can't do that…" Alan said.

"We can and we will. In the future, we will bring you their head, and the heads of all of their family members. We'll burn their house and salt the ground." Herrior said looking over at him letting out a smirk.

"The future? I do that for fun…" Mohania said.

"It is my party, and my call. Remember that Alan." Herrior said. "I will do whatever it takes to keep us alive, neutralize a situation, and to have fun. By the way, I like the changes you made to your home."

"Thanks…for the compliments…I guess is what you are trying to say…" Alan said.

Changing the subject, Herrior said, "I need to speak with the officer's. They need to know that their leader is not dead anymore. How soon can we have them assembled?"

Alan reached in his pocket for his phone and pressed two buttons. A couple of seconds later it flashed twice and let out a loud 'chirping' sound. "We can start heading out and by the time we get there, everybody should be there. A lot of the officer's have jobs elsewhere."

"That's fine; they can pass on the word. Let's go." Herrior said standing up to walk out the door. He pulled out his hearthstone and asked the engineers how their base was coming along. The engineers reported that it should be done in the next hour; then proceeded to ask if they could put on their additional contraptions for various purposes that might arise. Herrior said he didn't care and put the hearthstone away.

"Do you realize what you just said?" Skyka asked smiling.

"Giving our engineers full permission to go crazy with our base on this world? It should amuse us if nothing else…" Herrior said grunting with a smile.

All of the officers had gathered in the center of the town that had a fountain shaped like a goblin with enormous muscles. Herrior shook his head with a smile and then said, "Branzer is back to life. That's the first order of business. Second order of business is it looks like many of your homes are built and you are getting used to your old way of life. I hope that this better suits your needs. Most of you had a chance to meet our new healer Jessica. We do have a team of engineers building our outpost right now, so if any of you want any modifications to your home, now would be the time. Hmm…had less to talk about than I thought."

"How long is that man going to hang up in the tree?" A woman asked.

Herrior shrugged his shoulders and looked at Lindel. "I was going to keep him up there for three days."

"Sounds good to me." Herrior said.

"Anything we should be doing or looking for?" It was the voice of the Lieutenant walking up to Herrior.

"Signs of alliance or demons, other than that you are free to do whatever – even move elsewhere if you want." Herrior said.

"When can we join the fight?" The Lieutenant asked.

Herrior recognized the same intent in his voice. He figured this might come up.

"Alright, I will address that question. Humans generally aren't accepted in our groups unless an ambassador or leader recommends them. Right now, our city is on lockdown because the alliance penetrated our defenses and found a way to attack us very effectively. It would have killed all of us. Only certain races are let in and out – humans that haven't already been brought in are not allowed. Skyior for example is in our group and isn't allowed in." Herrior said pointing to her.

"She's not human?" The Lieutenant asked. Skyior morphed into her worgen form and snarled at him with her huge hungry fangs as her body grew its brown hair and her arms and legs became much bigger and muscular. Some of the officers gasped along with a few screams.

"That was a dumb question. It's obvious you are not going to give us your permission to fight alongside of your groups, and it sounds like there isn't anything we can do to prove ourselves. Can I ask why?" The Lieutenant asked unphased as Skyior morphed back into her human form.

Herrior sighed and looked to the skies pondering what to say. He waited a moment and said, "The sky is beautiful here." He looked back down at the Lieutenant and said, "Fine. My group is too big now to take any more on, and I am only going to recommend you for our secondary groups. From there you can choose your own path. We have many jobs in our city that need to be filled, and the need for many more fighters and guards. However, it comes with a price. Each of you will have to become immune to alliance and demon possession. If you decide to become a class, it is a very painful process. The other problem is you are going to be moving between worlds, many worlds. When you are on a mission, you might be gone from your family for a very long time. When you come back, what are you going to say to your friends and family here? You speak a word of where you were and I will decapitate you myself. You will have to lie. Many of the humans in our group have given up everything – and I do not want to ask that of any of you." Herrior said slowly, feeling remorse but not regret. Before he could talk though, the Lieutenant spoke up.

"I don't have family, these are my friends, and you are my leader. Tell me where to go and what I have to do." The Lieutenant said, followed by everybody else saying the same thing.

Herrior listened for a while to judge their actual ambitions. He held up his hands for silence and said, "You may never see me again. You may never see the person next to you again. If you are going to do this, do it for you. Do what you think is right. We will live in the same town, but it is a very large town with a great many things to do. In addition, I am not your leader. I hesitate because we displaced you before and it was not what you wanted. You may get an assignment and do the very thing you did not want to do. We have guarded other ambassadors, worked fields, slaughtered animals, and dug for water. For many days, a lot of us have simply stood in one spot monitoring for activity. Many of our assassins do this for weeks, months at a time. It's not continuous battle for guts and glory, but just the opposite. I was hoping personally we could setup a command post here, as we had before at the station before it was compromised, to do our spying; listening and looking for anything potential threat to our people and us. We have many of our groups on other worlds doing just the same – many of which haven't seen battle is hundreds of years. We look for that among other things." Herrior said.

"Like people who can stop time?" A man officer asked. Herrior's group immediately perked up and moved towards him, gently pushing the other officers out of the way.

The man nodded his head. "The department store I work at."

"Take us there." Herrior said losing interest in everything else and focusing only on this.

"He doesn't work until the morning shift." The officer replied.

"What department?" Dan asked.

"Electronics – mostly computers."

"What have you seen him do?" Dan asked.

"Things that don't make sense. We have three break rooms, two in the back of the store, one in front. I swear he moves between one and the other instantly. We had a meeting and had to answer a series of questions. One of those bullshit team building exercises, well it was supposed to be until this guy became frustrated and read off every answer off from the card letter for letter – exactly what our supervisor wrote for the answer. He said he had an emergency one time; he gathered up his things and ran out of the store. As soon as he was out, he disappeared. He has busted more shoplifters, and employees' stealing from the company in one week than the whole time the store has been open. However, there are constant shortages in cash in the cashier's drawers as well as guns and ammunition disappearing."

"Hmm…" Dan said aloud, making it evident that he was deeply pondering something.

"This is why I want you guys here! Through your station before, we had information like this coming in all of the time. We need to know if there are demons amassing, any sign of alliance actions, above all any time stoppers! I'm not so worried about people amassing weapons, or frying their brains on drugs – so long as it doesn't affect our duty. Our duty, let me remind all of you, is to be ever vigilant against the enemies of Tranquil. All of you are helpful to us because you have seen our enemies and you have seen our allies. I don't have any doubt that you would go into combat with us, but we need information. No leader has ever gone into battle not knowing as much as they can about their enemy. Even if they have to send a scout force ahead to purposely get their attention, it gives us a chance to see what we are up against while our enemies slaughter them. Alan is useful to us because for some reason he has found a way of healing our people that we are not familiar with." Herrior said in complete frustration. He was pacing back and forth looking for a way to vent his frustration and then asked, "Is there anything else we need to know about our enemy? Anybody seen anything else? Anybody like Skyior? Any demonic activity? Any alliance with red eyes, an aggressive attitude – anything out of the usual? We need eyes and ears here on this world, we do have our scouts that report to us – but the information that you get can help because you know this world's history." Herrior than let out a very loud frustrating grunt as he shook his head with his horns shaking back and forth.

"What's the name of the store, where's the location, and what time is he scheduled to start his shift?" Dan asked.

"Wal-Mart, in the plaza about 6 miles of here just beyond the overpass. First shift starts at 8am."

"Looks like I'm going to buy a computer tomorrow…" Dan said trailing off.

"What do I do?" The officer asked.

"Your job. If something goes wrong or you reveal your identity or mine, hundreds could die instantly." Dan said.

"We'll go scout it out tonight." Herrior said.

"Herrior, I'm in charge of time stopping issues." Dan reminded him. Expecting to be scolded from Herrior, Dan braced himself.

Herrior simply nodded and asked, "What do you suggest?"

"Business as usual. They have a new ability to stop time that you aren't immune too. They probably have other abilities as well, such as the ability to see stealth that we were unfortunately found out the hard way." Dan said.

Trackolania walked up and shook his head as he vanished and reappeared several feet in front of him. Trackolania again shook his head.

"So that isn't a problem anymore?" Dan asked. Trackolania shook his head again.

"Good, we have that figured out – just need to figure this out. This guy sounds like he has alliance written all over him. I'll try to befriend him, see where it takes me. I still have stronger time stopping abilities than the alliance has – which again we found out the hard way as well..." Dan said recalling the previous encounter

"I'd feel safer if we were there." Herrior said.

"Having his wife there would be a better cover story. Perhaps convince him to get together after work for some Mexican food." Crystal said.

"I agree." Herrior said quickly.

Dan nodded. He turned to the officer and worked out the details about.

Herrior suggested they return to Alan's house, when the Lieutenant asked if they could stay longer.

"Still persistent about fighting with us?" Herrior asked with a slight smile.

"Along with the majority of us, we've been discussing it among ourselves." Another officer piped up.

"You cannot fight against time stoppers. We thought we could, but apparently there are different levels to it. Our King announced that no other races or other people can enter our city until things calm down – that is how I interrupted it anyways. I am not one to upset the King, however we have been sent to watch over this world. The information he provided…" Herrior said nodding towards the officer that reported the time stopper and continued "Is more valuable than any of us. I sense all of you have formed a bond. Proof of this is when all of you wanted to leave your old homes and work the lands. Then all of you wanted to come back here. That is a weakness, and one that can lead to many deaths. That is a bad tactic the alliance posses, which we use against them. Each of you search your hearts tonight. If you are assigned to a group or an outpost, you are going to be there for a long while – possibly for the rest of your lives. We are not going to keep moving you back and forth." Herrior said seeming upset to repeat himself again.

"I suggest separating yourselves. You are all obviously loyal, but hiding in a small secluded area on this world. If we could move fifteen or more of you to various different locations on this world and give you a device, similar to our hearthstones, to report back to our command post being built that would help our job significantly. Just as now, your food and trade supplies will be provided and in exchange you could report information to us." Skyka suggested.

"Yes." Herrior said quickly without putting much thought into it. He considered the option some more and nodded as he said, "That would help significantly. Speak with your families; discuss your options of staying at this village, being assigned to one of our existing outposts, or dispersing groups to different locations on this world." Herrior turned to Skyka with a smile of relief. She blinked at him.

"Before you leave, can you let the man down so shuts up?" A woman asked.

"Not until his sentence is up, but see if you can't do something about that Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel quickly flew up to the man sobbing and moaning. She thrusted her hand into the man's throat; seconds later the man was instantly quiet but his face still revealed the pain and suffering he was enduring. Lindel pulled her hand out and held it inches above his chest as a very faint light blue lightning bolts shot from his body into her hand. The man violently wiggled back and forth, obviously in tremendous pain. After a couple of seconds of this, Lindel flew back and said he should be fine now.

"Should be fine eh? Is he going to survive the night?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"If he dies, then he wouldn't learn anything…" Lindel said with a devious smile and continued, "Besides, a little torture once in awhile feels good. It warms the spirit and is good for the soul."

Mohania made a sniffing sound and said, "My little girl is growing up. Soon she'll leave the nest and begin torturing people all on her own."

"Hardly…besides this is nothing compared to what you do." Lindel said gently pushing him aside as she walked by.

Mohania nodded and said, "That's true" with a big smile.

Herrior's group arrived back at Alan's house and saw that the repairs were made and the living room was cleared of furniture for them to gather at.

"Your engineering friends said they were bored and left." Alan said.

"They probably completed their task." Herrior said.

"If they aren't blowing up something, they are designing weapons to make something blow up." Skyka said casually walking over to a spot she had chosen and sat down.

Sammy brought out several different dishes of food that she had prepared as all of them sat and ate.

"So can I ask what is going on?" Alan asked with a smile on his face.

"Eating" Herrior said with his mouth full.

"The officers are going to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Dan and Crystal are going on a mission tomorrow, and the rest of us are not invited." Skyka said.

"It would be an honor to drink some of your finer ale's of this world. Might we go to town and acquire some?" Strings asked.

"My wife will have to take you…for some reason a man was committed to the hospital last night for several bruising, internal injuries and rambling about some bear entering his house and along with having two wives and several women in his house. I was paged out and ordered that he be sedated and I would go speak with him tomorrow." Alan said sarcastically.

"I did that!" Quinely said excitedly. "I'll come along and show him that I'm a calm bear as well."

"It would be hard to explain how a bear mysteriously showed up in a hospital – besides I am going to write it up as possible suicide from some sort of drug overdose." Alan said.

"That was our fault. Quinely how about you accompany Alan tomorrow and kill him. That will help Alan with his duties." Herrior said grabbing another big slice of turkey and shoving it in his mouth.

"Killing people isn't always the answer…" Alan said clearly sounding upset.

"He obviously was beating his wife. If not for our current plan, I would have sliced him up myself." Jacklyn said and then slow mumbled, "I had to restrain myself…I don't like doing that…"

"It's true…she's doesn't." Quinely said smirking at her. Alan sighed.

"We will leave you to your duties and not interfere with your work. I will assign different groups to perform various tasks tomorrow." Herrior said. He turned to Sammy and asked, "What are we eating?"

"Turkey, pork, venison, hamburger, chocolate anything I could find, and several vegetable trays…that Quinely seems to have almost finished off. I'll get some more." Sammy said with urgency in her voice.

"No, come sit with us. It has been awhile since we have all been together. You may all speak freely." Herrior said.

"I hate my build!" Jacklyn piped up immediately.

Herrior nodded and tried to hold back a smile.

"I should be wielding two of these!" Jacklyn said standing up and drawing her enormous her newly acquired sword that radiated immediately when Jacklyn put it in front of her. The power coming off from it gave Alan the impression that it could level his house with very little effort and he thought, "She is use to two of those?"

"Yes she is." Lindel answered back aloud.

"Yes I am! I alternate parrying with one while driving my other into my enemy – hoping to pierce their armor and draw blood. What do I do with one? Parry their attacks with one hand and then swing with the other? When I spin, I'm spinning with both weapons – double the damage, even if one misses the other usually doesn't. With this build I'm designed to draw blood and let my enemy take damage over time while hoping I don't die in the mean time? Since we have three tanks now, I'm no longer a backup tank but that is the only good thing I can think of with this build. If we lose all three tanks for some reason, I can grab your shield." Jacklyn said making it quite obvious that her frustration had been building up for quite awhile.

Herrior nodded and looked at her as if he expected more.

"I do as I command." Jacklyn said putting her blade behind her and slowly sitting back down.

"There are many of us like you Jacklyn in our city." Herrior began to say but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The Lieutenant and dozens of other officers walked in.

"I don't believe Sammy planned on feeding this many people." Herrior said smiling.

"I've anticipated this situation actually…give me twenty minutes." Sammy said jumping to her feet. The Lieutenant gently caught her and said they were not hungry. They were here to merely speak their peace.

"Lieutenant, are you carrying a weapon?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"Jessica stand up." Herrior said. Jessica did, and Herrior ordered the Lieutenant to shoot her. Jessica's face quickly became afraid, but she saw that the Lieutenant didn't draw his weapon.

"Seconds are passing." Herrior said casually as he took another bite. Nobody else in Herrior's group seemed bothered by this command. The Lieutenant drew his magnum and held it up to Jessica, but hesitated.

"Branzer" Herrior said. Branzer quickly pulled his gun out and fired a bullet at Jessica faster than anybody could see. Jessica screamed as she instinctively put up her magical shield. The shield completely absorbed the bullet, but left Jessica still terrified.

"Calm yourself Jessica. Fighting in my group I expect only a couple of things, absolute obedience to me, or whoever I assign as a leader. You are a healer; you are to heal the shit out of us, even at the expense of you taking damage. Your first priority is your assigned tank. If they are doing ok, then focus on your dps in your group. If you are taken prisoner, I will give the order to have you killed – likewise if one of us is taken prisoner you are to help kill that person. Skyka have you gone over healing rotations with her?" Herrior asked.

"I did. However it looks like we should work on that some more. We'll work on that first thing in the morning." Skyka looked at her in anger.

Jessica, still in shock, slowly sat back down and felt ashamed of herself. The terror had completely left and was replaced with disappointment.

"Also, Lieutenant you failed the test." Herrior said as he took another bite. The Lieutenant attempted to defend himself but Herrior held up his hand as he finished chewing and said, "Come back in the morning and we will teach you how to become a fighter. Now all of you depart from Alan's house." The officer's looked at each other astonished by the events that unfolded, but did as they were told.

"This is very good. How do you cook it so that all of the juice remains inside of the meat? Even the bone and marrow inside are delicious." Strings asked as if nothing of any interest had just happened.

"I…uh…cooked it in the oven…" Sammy stuttered.

"Fantastic." Strings said as he continued to let out loud crunching sounds with the rest of the party as they swallow the every part of the food that was given to them.

"Tomorrow Veliline and Jacklyn are to duel. Skyka, continue your teaching. I want her up to our standards by the end of the day. Veliline feel free to experiment with your abilities as with you Jacklyn. Nice reflexes by the way Branzer." Herrior said. Branzer nodded back as he finished off a sliced piece of ham.

Herrior turned to Skyior and asked, "How are you adjusting so far?"

"Feeling better now that I am not cooped up underneath this house. I need an open range to run wild and free. If I may ask, could I be allowed to run the fields and woods to the north of us?" Skyior replied.

"Fine by me, Trackolania do you want to stretch your legs as well and run with her?" Herrior asked looking at him. Trackolania stopped eating and quickly looked over at Dan and back at Herrior. Herrior shook his head. Trackolania then nodded and continued to eat.

"You aren't going to send anybody to watch over us?" Dan asked with a smile.

"It's your call, not mine. I think your plan will work. If you need our help we can be there in a matter of seconds." Herrior replied.

"I have something that has been bugging me." Branzer spoke up.

"Being dead, trying to kill us – twice I think it was, and then rejoining our group?" Herrior asked with a smile.

Branzer let out a chuckle and said, "Naw, I've gotten past that. I want to ask…"

"No!" Lindel replied immediately.

"He is an ambassador! You are not to read his mind!" Herrior voice bellowed out fiercely.

"Hun, we all knew what he was going to say." Skyka said gently putting her hand on his shoulder. Herrior settled back down and let out a grunt.

"Is this a good time to ask if I can kill somebody tomorrow for the fun of it?" Mohania asked with a smile.

Herrior put slouched as he put his hand over his eyes, as if the sun was beating down on him and rolled his finger to continue.

"Lindel, did I do something wrong?" Branzer asked quietly.

"No." Lindel answered quickly and then turned to Mohania and asked if he could help her torture the man in the tree. Mohania immediately agreed and stood up to leave.

"Sit." Herrior said knowing this conversation was inevitable and now was as good as time as ever to get it over with.

Lindel sighed and made eye contact with Branzer only for a brief moment and then looked back at the floor. "I failed my duties as a banshee and a fighter. I want to blame you for it, but it was me. It was my fault and many battles we nearly lost because my mind was not one hundred percent focused."

"It was my fault too…" Branzer started but was quickly silence by Lindel saying that it wasn't. Herrior agreed with Lindel.

"I was a child, doing childish things, and letting my mind wonder. I wasted my energies scanning everybody's minds for advice, and past memories – picturing me and you doing the same thing." Lindel looked back up at him and said, "I need to prove to myself that I am not a child. I need to prove myself that I am a fighter and capable of doing my duties. That is first and foremost. When…actually if…I am capable of love while upholding my duties than I will look for a mate. Until then, I am a fighter – and nothing else."

Branzer began to say something, but was interrupted by Julie. "Hold up just a second. This does not make any sense. Why would the Queen give the order that she did…you know…that one night?"

"Julie" Spark spoke up as if agreeing with Julie.

"For me to learn this lesson. Duty first, emotions second. If Herrior did something stupid and began taking excessive damage that he couldn't repel, Skyka would let him die and focus her healing on the other tanks. Sometimes it takes stupid mistakes in order to refocus your heart and mind. My heart was misaligned and there wasn't anything anybody could have said or done in order to tell me differently. It took …an emotional explosion essentially…in my heart to realize how blind…how ignorant…how poor my foresight was." Lindel looked over at Julie, but wanting to look at Branzer, but couldn't. "I still love him, but the same as I love the rest of you. Had there been a real threat with Jessica right now, each and every one of us would have jumped in front of that bullet for her.

Spark walked over to Lindel and began to lick her face. Lindel's tears began to disappear as she started to giggle and tell Spark to stop.

"Oh." Branzer said. He paused for a second and said, "Probably not the most intelligent thing to say, but I understand. Was I the same way?" Branzer asked.

"Not as bad. You did love her, but you followed commands to the letter and fought until death many times. You fighting the head elemental of the Nefersets proved that." Herrior said.

Branzer motioned to speak his thoughts of still being angry about having to fight it alone, but suddenly stopped.

"I had a hard enough time dancing with him – is that what everybody calls fighting one on one? Anyways as soon as I let my guard down, I got hit. I had to focus on dropping traps, scatter-shooting, healing Pokey, healing myself, and letting off a barrage of bullets during the few seconds I could. Had I been fighting with Lindel, my focus would have dropped I would have died or watched her die – which would have led to my death." Branzer said.

"It's ok to love. But all of you have seen firsthand what happens when you kill another's mate. Hell, that's what our job is as a tank." Herrior said with a smile. "Taunt our enemy, mock them, slander them, attack with our area of affect attacks and see who it pisses off the most. Then focus on killing that person. It enrages our enemy, focusing their hatred on us."

"So if Lindel and I were to fight together…" Branzer said.

"Oh, I would pick up on your love for each other immediately. I would attack both of you equally, see who gets pissed off first and kill the other person. Absolutely – wouldn't even give it a second thought. If I were to kill you, Lindel would let down her guard, lose her focus, or do something stupid. I would then take that chance to use it to mock her, spit on her dead husband. I would have her full attention – even if it rained arrows down on her, her entire focus would be on me." Herrior said.

"Brutal, but effective" Dan said.

Herrior and Lindel nodded at the same time.

"I got something I would like to say." Mohania said standing up. "I would like to take this time to thank all of you for being my friends and my family. You have given me so much and I don't show my appreciation for all that you have given to me." Mohania then sat back down anticipating the mocking to begin. Everybody looked up at him briefly and then went back to eating.

Herrior waited for a couple of seconds to pass and suddenly concentrated on Mohania's lifeless skull and saw that he was either serious, or he was waiting for somebody to say something so that he could call them an ass.

"You're welcome. It is an honor to have you with us." Herrior said as if he was casting out his line in an attempt to catch a fish.

"I've had more enjoyment and happiness with you and your group ever since I was turned into this. I was bitter, pure hatred and anger flowed through my body and it controlled me. I sensed something different in you so I fought with your group when we guarded the wall. Then I sensed something stronger in Dan - true sincerity. My warlocks and demons didn't die during the eruption of the wastelands, I killed them." Mohania said. This suddenly caught everybody's attention in mid-bite and stared at Mohania without anybody blinking.

"I controlled them. They could not go into Tranquil. They were mindless. I had let them do as they wanted several times – many of them died or fought each other. I realized that was not the life I wanted. I wanted to be with you. I killed all of them, and collapsed my tunnel as an end to my past life. Then I met Kendall. She forgave her captives, and she forgave herself for what happened to her…I never did. Alan helped me do that. I also forgave myself for killing my…previous family that I had created and controlled…" Mohania said in a quiet voice.

"Sounds slightly different from what you told us earlier, but I am glad you are telling us the truth." Herrior said.

"Apparently this caused him to lose his powers…not that I entirely understand how he, or any of you do what you do, but all of you have the same thoughts, rationality, emotions, values etcetera that the rest of us humans have." Alan began to explain. "He had an inner war with himself essentially – I am not going to go into detail about what we talked about because it is my job to keep what we talked about in secret, just the same with my other patients. But I am proud of you for saying that to your new family."

"Even if they are a bunch of ass's…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Mohania, you joke around a lot, but if you ever need to talk we are here for you - every single one of us. That is why we have times like this." Skyka said in a calm soothing voice. Mohania nodded.

Herrior was quiet during this time and studied Mohania intensely, every word and how he said them. He was sincere in what he said.

"Mohania, what do you want from us?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing" Mohania answered quickly. Herrior continued to stare at him intently. Mohania felt the weight of his eyes on him and sighed.

"I have what I want. I have more than I have ever wanted. The anger is gone – I can still burn down this house in mere seconds." Mohania said as he ignited his head on fire.

"I am honored. I never knew any of this, nor did I know you had any of these feelings." Herrior said. Mohania extinguished his fire and looked around at everybody.

"Yeah well, now ya know." Mohania mumble. Herrior nodded in acknowledgement.

"All of you have must have made many sacrifices in your lives to defend your city and in battle. We honor our armed forces by thanking them and with gifts – what you all have done and must have gone through I think is beyond words." Alan said sincerely.

"Eh – it pays the bills." Bernett said piping up. This produced some laughter with the humans.

"You do realize that we would kill you and Sammy if we suspect that you were working for our enemy." Herrior said reminding Alan.

Alan nodded and asked how long their races came about, what worlds they came from.

"Some things we need to keep private from you. But we were born and raised the same as any other race. Shall we call it a night everybody?" Herrior asked. Everybody responded in agreement and situated themselves for the night.


	22. Agitated, Not Stirred

Agitated, Not Stirred

"So you have the description, he works in the electronics department – I'll be over in the…" the officer nervously repeated on the drive to his work.

"Relax. We won't need you, and if you act strange it could blow our mission." Dan said as the car parked and they walked inside. A robbery was going on.

"You three, get in here now! I thought you had locked the doors! Hurry up and gather everything up! If any of you even twitch I will kill you just like these two…" The male robber said and shot another bullet in the air. Many people screamed.

Dan and Crystal did as they were told and saw two dead women on the ground. Both of them quickly surveyed the situation, but something quickly caught their attention.

"So which are better you dumb bastard!" Another robber yelled at a male several years younger than Dan.

"For what? I already answered your question, but you need to answer mine! Are you looking for processor power? Memory? You can't just say, 'Give me your best computers' without knowing what you want!" The employee yelled back. The robber began fLewstered and raised his gun to the man's head.

Time stopped.

Crystal quickly realized it, but before she could spring into action Dan shot his arm out and grabbed her. He shook his head at her, and she returned a confused look. Dan then motioned to have her look back. Crystal realized that he hadn't frozen time.

The employee casually emptied the bullets in the gun pointing at his head. He then walked around to the rest of the robbers and emptied their bullets. With his newly claimed treasure, he pulled out a device from his pocket. It produced a small portal and he threw the shells into the portal. Afterwards he pushed a button to close the portal and walked back to where he stood previously where he waited several more minutes.

Time resumed.

"One last time!" The robber said.

"Do your homework next time you stupid fuck. Figure out what you want and then rob a store." The employee said casually. This pissed off the robber and he began to pull the trigger on his gun several times.

"Firing blanks huh? That's good for the world, that way your family tree doesn't branch out." Dan held his breath and tried not to burst into laughter.

The robber looked down at his gun as the employee suddenly kicked him in the crotch. The robber instantly dropped to the ground. The employee rolled him over and smashed his nose several times by his size nine steel toe boots. The rest of the robbers turned their attention to the employee and tried to fire their guns as well, it produced the same result. All of them looked bewildered at each other as the sounds of multiple sirens could be heard in the distance.

"We have to get out of here!"

"Not without what we came for!"

"What good is it if we are in jail?"

The dispute lasted several more seconds before the decision was made for them. A bullhorn roared outside ordering them to come outside.

"Get some hostages!"

"You get some hostages, I'm outta here!" One of the robbers said and ran for the back door. Eventually the rest of the robbers, except for the one bleeding profusely on the floor, followed him.

"Exit is all the way back and then take a right. Oh, and the door is time-locked – but you'll figure that out eventually." The time stopper said with a chuckle at the end. He then stomped on the robber at his feet again and said, "Thanks a lot, now I'm going to have to stay after and help get things cleaned up."

"Fred, what are you doing?" One of the elder employees said. It seemed like he was the manager.

"Apparently more than what I'm getting paid for…" Fred said as he walked to the front door and waved in the cops; the cops outside instinctively aimed at him.

"They are in the storage room, hurry!" Fred said continuing to wave them in.

Several officers, all with assault rifles, ran into the store and quickly surveyed the scene. One of them leaned his head to his left shoulder and reported the entrance was clear and then reported they needed an ambulance.

"Back there! They are trying to make their escape out the back. The doors are locked though." Fred said. The main officer ignored him and ordered more officers into the building. They swept every isle, of course finding the one robber on the verge of death – his face badly disfigured. He was flipped over and handcuffed. Suddenly the back door burst open, and the robbers saw one of the officers quickly swing his assault rifle towards them. For some reason the robbers forgot their guns were empty, but it didn't matter. As soon as they raised their guns, the assault rifle began its job of flooding the air with shots and armor piercing bullets flying through the robber's bodies. Several screams filled the air as the rest of the officers ran to assist in the fire fight.

"Told you they were in the back…" Fred said under his breath as he continued to scrape his boot on the welcome mat in a futile attempt to get rid of the blood on it. Officers were moving into the store, maneuvering around the four of the on the ground.

"A little peroxide and a toothbrush should clear that right up." Crystal said getting up and brushing herself off. Both Dan and Crystal were in their full armor attire, but with their trinkets activated they looked like they were wearing jeans and Tommy Hilfiger dress shirts. Fred looked up at her with a questioning face.

"Works every time, I'll swear by it. If it doesn't I'll buy you a new pair of boots." Crystal said.

"Never heard of that. I always figured bleach was the only thing to remove blood, along with the color…" Fred said.

Crystal nodded as if from experience. "Hydrogen peroxide, and rinse with cold water. Should be good as new by tomorrow. Looks like it's time for you to get praised and bitched at in the same time…"

Fred gave a brief chuckle before his manager began to lay into him. Fred held his ground though and gave short but brief answers, the same with the police interview. Dan and Crystal merely stood a distance away and pretended to make small talk with the officer that drove them here, but keeping an ear turned to what he was saying.

"Are we done yet? Obviously you are about to burst at the seams, and you are looking at me like some sort of hero. The long and short of it is instead of becoming overcome with fear, I counted the number of robbers, guns, and amount of ammunition that they wildly shot into the air, and unfortunately into our employees. If you keep a level head and assess the situation as it is happening and constantly listen to the shots, tone of their voice, speed of how fast they are talking, and an assortment of other variables of which I could babble about but none of you are interested in that. So one of two things are going to happen here…" Fred said turning to his manager who was still obvious running on adrenaline and said, "You want to fire me, however this is going to turn into a media circus and I am able to give a better description of what happened, not to mention actually took down one of the robbers – versus the rest of you pissing yourselves on the floor. PLews word is going to go up the cooperate ladder and if you fire me for this instance, your ass will be gone as well. I have a flawless record – so good Lewck finding another excuse to let me go."

"Son…" The cop looked at him smiling and holding back laughter, "This is a serious crime that happened…"

"You mentioned that as well as many other people. If my calculations are correct, in about thirteen minutes this place is going to be crawling with the Press. I have nothing to say to them. I gave you my statement. The store is going to be shut down for the rest of the day; may I go home and get cleaned up?" Fred asked.

"You ever play poker?" The officer asked.

"Yes, but I get thrown out of games for counting cards." Fred replied.

"Somehow I knew the answer to that already. You've got some guts I'll tell you that. I'm done with him and I would suggest shutting down the store until our forensic teams get here." The officer said to the manager.

"Yes fine, leave." The manager said in a tone that obviously revealed he was pissed at Fred and would have killed him himself if he had the chance.

Dan, Crystal, and the officer that came with them walked out behind him. The officer was the first one to spark up the conversation.

"Have you ever considered becoming an officer?"

"And wrap myself up in bureaucratic tape? Arrest criminals that I witness first hand committing crimes only to have their defense lawyers get them off without even a slap on the wrist? No thanks. I hate being called a liar." Fred said.

Dan quickly motioned for the officer to leave; he did as he was told.

"Care to go out for breakfast?" Dan asked.

"It's been approximately one hour and forty three minutes since I had breakfast. I do not require food for another two hours and seven-teen minutes." Fred said looking at his watch. "It would be considered more of a brunch, but I don't have time. I have some equations and projects I am working on at home that I need to finish up."

"Our treat, any place, anything you want." Dan said hoping to convince him. Fred stopped walking and turned around.

"Are you trying to thank me for what I did?"

"No, either way we would have died or lived in there. Talk about your bad days for buying a new computer these days." Dan said with a chuckle looking back at the bustling store. "It will give you a distraction, help clear your mind."

Fred seemed to consider this option for awhile. "So it would be you and your…older sister?"

"Wife" Crystal answered back.

"My apologies, I made an incorrect assumption. I've already had my daily consumption of carbohydrates, and I stay away from anything considered 'fast food'. I also do not do deserts. Some place with a fruit bar sounds sufficient. Bob Evans is a couple of blocks from here, any objections to that?" Fred asked.

"Sounds good to me" Dan answered back. Fred started to lead the way as Dan and Crystal shared the same mental thought between each other followed by a smile. They would save their talks for later though.

"So what projects are you working on at home?" Dan asked.

"A series of quantum mechanics equations and experimentation involving disproving a bunch of lazy dumb-shits that said big words that nobody understood and was award huge amounts of money and was given noble prizes for." Fred said.

"Philosophical implications or applications such as free particle, step potential, rectangular potential barrier, particle in a box, finite potential well?" Crystal asked. Fred looked at her shocked. Dan did as well.

"I'm shocked; did you take physics in college?" Fred asked.

"Three years majored in it, and then I decided to get married. I don't regret it, but I still try to stay up on the latest theories, and which seem to be disproved as the seasons change…" Crystal said feeling proud of herself.

"Yeah no kidding…" Fred said changing his emotions from shocked to clearly upset. "Particle acceleration, behaviors of photons, electrons, atomic particles, wave lengths, neutrons, photons – whoopty shit. So you can put a burrito in a microwave, push the start button and a couple minutes later it is fully cooked – big deal. The theory of combining different particles to produce a desired effect, it bores me."

"To be honest I cheated on most of my tests…" Crystal said with a smile. This made Fred burst into laughter.

"Learn all of those theories, only to be disproved later on and names and dates of people who had an idea – only to, again, have it disproved later on…yeah I would cheat as well." Fred said trying to catch his breath.

"So what exactly are you working on?" Crystal asked smoothly, but wondered if it was too early in the conversation to ask the question.

"Particles stopping. I'm not talking about the theory of dropping the temperature dropping to negative two hundred and seventy three degrees Celsius, which has been disproved – probably something you were forced to memorize for your tests, but I'm talking about total and complete particle stoppage at a specific point in time for a desired length of time. Impossible right? How many inventors were told that only to prove later on that what was being taught to society to be to be disproved, rewrite the current textbooks and professors reeducate themselves. 'You can't fly…what do you think you are a bird?' – I hope the Wright brothers took that demonstration and shoved it in the unbelievers face's…" Fred said.

Dan's fear began to rise as he listened but kept his cool. Something was not right about this kid. Crystal probably sensed the same thing, but they wanted to know as much as they could. Fred continued on.

"Do you know how much money it takes to do that? Let's say I disprove that we breathe oxygen and actually breathe nitrogen. I prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt – but then the next decision is, 'Should we accept this into the scientific community and how much money would it take prove this theory, and like I said, rewrite the textbooks, reeducate everybody'…it would probably lead to riots in the street. Hell – look at how many people lead a protest when they disproved that PLewto was a planet. It's over 5.7 billion kilometers away from us; I mean is it really going to matter one way or the other? Just an example to prove my point though." Fred said. He then paused for a moment and apologized.

"I'm rambling too much, and I'm probably boring you. Here let me get the door for you." Fred said running ahead and holding the door open for them. They both thanked him and were seated at a table on the west side of the building, at least one table away from another group of people from either side of them, and the bench had to be tested first before Fred was satisfied.

"Sun rises in the east, I don't want the glare. Sitting at the bar stools is not ergonomically correct, besides people pass beside you and I don't want the occasional hair or flake of skin falling off into my food. I also want the noise level a certain point and want any distractions limited – I hope this is ok." Fred said.

"This is fine. My first time here, any recommendations on what to order?" Dan asked as he sat down and opened his menu.

"Right now don't order any eggs, the bacon is ok, the steak is always in small portions. The premade items you can never go wrong on. The morning cooks are not as good as the weekend afternoon cooks. I'd recommend the soup, French toast, and hash browns." Fred said.

"Hmm…cheddar broccoli, I haven't had that in years. That and an orange juice will do me." Dan said.

"Good choice." Fred said as if he was in charge. Crystal stated she would have the same. Immediately after Fred closed his menu and said, "What the hey, I'll go with that to – if that is all right?"

"Whatever you want" Dan said gathering up the menus. "So do you have any other activities that you do?"

"Hardly have time for it." Fred said running his hands through his hair and looking away. "I can't drop out of school or I will get kicked out of my home. I have to have steady employment for a year before I am allowed to be financed a car through my parents. I don't really have much of a social life. In fact, your wife – I forgot your name…"

"Crystal and this is Dan my husband." Crystal said outstretching her hand to shake his and Dan did shortly after.

"I apologize for that, but it's been so long since I've been able to talk to somebody intelligent without being mocked or bribed. Can I be honest with you guys?" Fred asked. Both Dan and Crystal nodded.

"I was scared shitless back there, but everything I said was true. Numbers and facts flow through me so fast and I run so many variables through my mind that some of the time I wish I could just shut it off. Death is welcoming sometimes…" Fred said.

"Feeling overwhelmed sometimes?" Dan asked. Fred nodded and looked away.

"How about we take the day and go have some fun?" Dan asked.

"Why?" Fred asked cautiously.

"Our original plans of buying a computer didn't work out, and I'm not looking forward to going ten miles per hour under the speed limit back home…" Jessica said shooting Dan a glare.

"Defensive driving – perhaps you've heard of that?" Dan smirked back.

"Gas pedal – heard of that?" Crystal snapped back.

Both of them made sarcastic comments back and forth, entertaining Fred and building his trust. Their food arrived as Fred carefully studied his juice and soup for a full minute before eating. Crystal and Dan noticed, but didn't say anything. Fred continued to talk about his life and how frustrated he was with several issues he was dealing with. He never asked about Dan or Crystal's lives, he just seemed happy to vent.

The waitress eventually came with the bill, and Dan motioned for her to stay as he dug out several hundred dollar pills, handed her one and said keep the change. She looked surprised and utterly speechless, but more importantly it caught Fred off guard – as he hoped it would. Crystal and Dan thanked her for the wonderful service and slowly made their way to the exit.

"Where...do you guys work?" Fred asked still astonished.

"I'm a system analyst for Microsoft. I have several other side jobs, both in and out of the work force." Dan said.

"I'm a security guard currently, but planning on going back to college – gonna take some night classes, online if at all possible." Crystal said without missing a beat.

Fred motioned to say something, but quickly looked paranoid as he began to look around. "That's interesting" he said with no interest in his voice.

As soon as they walked outside, Fred asked them if they wanted another side job.

"Doing what?" Dan asked casually as he looked up to check the weather.

"I'm working for a group calling themselves the 'Alliance' – or something like that. They suddenly became interested in me and my abil…" Fred quickly caught himself in mid-sentence and then said, "My abilities in my work with physics. Sorry lost my train of thought for a minute."

"Yeah right…" Dan thought to himself holding back a smile. He then said, "I don't know much in that department. My wife might be able to help more than I could. I could always hand you tools, and sweep the floors though." His expression turned to a mild laughter towards the end of his sentence.

"Oh, there are plenty of jobs to do. We can speak with one of their recruiters. The jobs start at twenty an hour – no benefits though. I just recently gave them one of my devices to continue my work after I proved to them it worked. I was promised five grand for it, but that was several days ago. Haven't heard from anybody actually…" Fred said.

"Because they are dead…" Dan said smirking in his mind again. Crystal seemed to sense the thought and wrapped her arm around his.

"Sounds appealing, however we are making more than that, and I'm afraid it would consume too much of our time. I wouldn't mind giving you a hand though with your current projects and theories you are working on." Crystal said, turned to Dan, and said, "That is, if you don't mind."

"That's fine. I'm parked back in the parking lot." Fred said.

"So is this a recruiter for the army? I didn't think they were into…" Dan asked slowly fully expecting Fred to cut him off. He did.

"No, he's actually a jerk. Constantly yelling at me, telling me he is going to not pay me or give me a chance to join up with their group. He gave me a cell phone and called me every hour – sometimes in the middle of the night. Like I said I haven't heard from him lately. It's been almost a week. He has my current experiment, but it would take an ungodly amount of power to run it. No compensation, no extra money…but at least the phone calls has stopped." Fred said.

"If he treats you like crap…why do you deal with him?" Dan asked.

"Fame, fortune and everything else he promised…eh it's probably best if don't meet him I guess. Given a choice I would probably not have worked with him." Fred asked.

"How did you guys meet? Through school?" Dan asked.

"No…" Fred said trailing his sentence off, obviously not wanting to tell how he knew.

"So your research, are you publishing it on the internet – getting ideas from other people?" Crystal asked.

"Are you kidding? So somebody else can download my schematics, patent the idea and cash in on them? Not a chance. Everything is locked in my safe. Even my parents don't know what I have written, constructed, or found out how to freeze time." Fred spurted out so quickly he instantly regretted it.

"Don't blame you; the internet isn't the safest place to be - so many critics, thefts, and people wanting to question you about everything." Dan said.

"Not only the internet, how many robberies in our neighborhood?" Crystal asked playing along.

"Three I think. It'll probably go unsolved. Unless they write a letter stating who they are and what they took it's nearly impossible to track them down. Even then they'll probably still get off with a slap on the wrist." Dan said as the two of them held a general conversation as they followed a very quiet Fred back to his car. During the walk the officer that brought them here made eye contact with them. He gave him a questioning shrug. Dan asked what year the Chevrolet Impala was that they just passed was. It made Fred and Crystal look as Dan look back at him and nodded. The officer casually got into his car and started it up.

"He's my banana. Wish it ran on banana's…" Fred said unlocking his driver side door.

"Did you have it painted?" Dan asked.

"Hardly, a cLewnker picked up along side of the road. I work for four weeks, and it takes one week of work to pay for gas." Fred said starting the engine. It cranked several times before it back fired, and then the engine sprang to life.

"Sounds like it's starving for air, when was its last tune-up?" Dan asked.

"I have no idea, and my parents won't pay for repairs." Fred said with a sound of depression and embarrassment mixed in his voice.

"If you don't mind, while you and Crystal work on your project – I could perform a quick tune-up on your car." Dan said.

"I wouldn't know the first thing to tell you about the engine."

"1990 Chevy Caprice Wagon probably a 4.3 L V6 engine. I'd suggest an oil change first, gas cleaner, new gas/air filter. I'd hold off on the wires and distributor cap until it runs awhile to let the engine get used to the new adjustments. My guess is if the engine has never had its pLewgs removed, they might have to bore them out of the block – that's not worth it. A heavy shot of carb cleaner wouldn't hurt though." Crystal said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Fred said honestly.

"Checking the air pressure would increase your mileage in your tires as well, also now you know how I felt when you two were talking about your physic stuff." Dan said smiling.

"That can wait." Fred said with a sudden shot of nervousness in his voice as he left the parking lot. The officer followed behind them.

They arrived at the house. It was a rundown single story that probably had never seen any improvements in its life. The officer passed the house and circled the neighborhood. Dan looked back and saw that he was talking on his cell phone. It looked like he was relaying the address of the house.

"Don't mind the mess, nothing in here will give you rabies or tetanus." Fred said and snorted a laugh. Dan and Crystal smiled, turned to each other and gave a slight roll of their eyes.

"Mom! Dad!" Fred called out. No reply back. Fred waited a couple of seconds and called out again after he began reading a note from his parents saying they would be coming home late after their anniversary dinner.

"Figures…the day I almost die, they go off and have dinner. Anyways my room, or as I like to call it my laboratory, is this way." Fred said tossing the note off to the side and began walking. Crystal read the note as she followed behind Dan. She thought it was odd that the timing between his second call out was at the same time he was reading the note. Either something was wrong, or Fred wasn't very observant.

"Twinkies are stashed to your left. Couch, TV, and games are ahead of you. My workbench is over here. Give me a moment I need to make a call." Fred said and walked to his workbench and took out the same device he used to create a portal and casually tossed it on the table. Crystal struck up a conversation with Dan, giving the deception that they were impressed with the room, but both of them on full alert. Both of them didn't fell like something was wrong, they knew something was wrong.

A crackling sound erupted quickly as Fred quickly made an adjustment. "Sorry about that, damn device never works right all of the time…"

"Is it a cell phone? Are we on speaker?" Crystal asked.

"Naw this transmits on a higher frequency than cell phones do. Reminds me of the Star Trek communicators, only shittier…" Fred said obviously frustrated.

Fred made a couple of adjustments; neither Dan nor Crystal could see what he was doing. Finally the static was completely gone and Fred started to ask if anybody was there. There was no reply. He kept talking into it until he became frustrated and began yelling into it, still no reply.

"Can you leave a message?" Dan asked jokingly.

"No" Fred said and shot him a look of anger. "Somebody always answers…" Fred turned back around and yelled into the device "If somebody does not answer I am going stop my research into your project! I have two people here interested in meeting a recruiter, and I have not seen a dime for my efforts yet! Answer me damn it!"

Several seconds of silence filled the air before Fred threw his hands up in the air and walked away.

"Toss me a couple of Twinkies could you?" Fred asked.

"Sure, let me fLewff your pillow and get your favorite blanky as well…" Crystal thought as she casually walked over to the box and grabbed three and casually threw them at him.

Dan decided this act had gone on long enough. Hours had gone by and so far they had accomplished nothing. He decided to move the conversation forward.

"So how long can you stop time for?"

"About two minutes, but it's not so much stopping it as altering the flow of the time stream." Fred said as if to brag as he shoved half of the Twinkie in his mouth. "Stopping time is impossible, but redirecting it is…however it takes more power then splitting several atoms. They took my prototype, and now I'm left here – all of my work gone."

Dan and Crystal's senses suddenly became heightened as if they were in combat. The hair on the back of their neck began to rise as they stepped apart from each other. Fred continued to complain when Dan interrupted him.

"Fred, you're playing the wrong side of the field. Who else is in this room with us?" Dan asked.

"What? Playing the wrong side…I'm not gay…" Fred replied back confused. He looked at Dan and Crystal. He saw their faces and became confused.

"What are you two doing?" Fred asked.

"Demon?" Dan asked.

"No, I can't sense it." Crystal responded.

"Something stealthed?" Dan asked. Before Crystal could reply she let out a loud shriek as an adult male materialized behind her and drive his daggers into her armor. Crystal's armor took the majority of the attack, but still crippled her badly as the poison started to flow through her veins.

Dan held his hand up and shot a ball of fire out of it. It hit the man and he looked confused. Dan then hit his trinket and pulled his fist weapons out of their holders and energized them. Fred screaming the whole time as he fell off the couch and hid.

Dan and the rogue began slashing away at each other, both landing hits and parrying the other's attacks. Crystal slowly summoned her voidwalker as she fell to the ground, losing her strength. The voidwalker flew over to the rogue and tormented him, tearing at his soul and twisting his mind until the attacks against Dan had stopped and the rogue began fighting him. Dan turned around and blasted Crystal with an instant healing spell. Crystal's strength returned to her as she rose to her feet and applied a magical shield around herself that slowly healed her. Crystal then began to cast instant spell after another as Dan began to attack furiously again.

The rogue, clearly frustrated, vanished – but reappeared a second later as Crystal's damage over time spells tormented his mind. Crystal quickly casted a spell that looked like a green flying skull as it hit the rogue. The rogue screamed and ran around in horror. All three of them continued the attacks as the rogue regained his senses. He was clearly injured badly and would die soon. The rogue attempted to vanish again, only this time it worked.

"Find him!" Crystal ordered her voidwalker. Her voidwalker began to pull in all of the shadows in around it, healing him, but also revealing the concealed rogue quickly slipping away. Dan held his hand out as a blast of frost shot out of his hand and hit the rogue. It instantly chilled him, slowing his escape. Crystal began to cast her spells again, and then energized herself. Her body radiating with tremendous power she raised her hand and a trail of green light hit the rogue, sucking out the rest of the life in the rogue as his body fell lifeless to the ground.

"Go search the house and engage anybody else you find!" Crystal yelled at the voidwalker as she began to channel dark magic around her, healing her wounds and restoring her power.

Dan ran back down stairs, grabbed Fred by the throat and threw him up against the wall.

"You set us up!" Dan yelled as tiny droplets of spit came out of his mouth.

"What the hell are you?" Fred asked.

"A time stopper. You stopped time, you gave the alliance the power to stop time, and you almost murdered millions of people! You have no idea what you have done! Where are you alliance friends? Bring them here!" Dan continued to yell at him as Fred began to struggle for air.

"I can't…I didn't…they will kill me!" Fred said in a panic. Dan's other fist flew forward, and the two spikes on the end of his fist weapon pierced the wall as the rest of his hand flew through it. He pulled it back and threw pieces of dust in Fred's face.

"Pick your death…" Dan said letting out a snarl in his voice.

"They gave me that communicator…it usually works. It should be working… I developed a technique of slowing…" Fred started to explain as Dan began to repeatedly slam Fred into the brick wall behind him.

"Are you a time stopper?" Dan screamed in his face.

"I…don't know what you mean…" Fred said with trickles of blood coming down the back of his head.

"Can you stop time by a mere thought?" Dan asked.

"No…it's impossible…you need the device I made, pLews huge amount of power…" Fred said.

"Are you pissing yourself?" Dan asked slightly annoyed.

"Yes…" Fred said completely scared with a hint of shame in his voice. Dan casually tossed him at the couch. Fred's body hit the back of it, tipping it over.

Dan had pulled out his hearthstone and Lindel was in the process of opening a portal. Herrior was the first to step through.

"He is responsible for the attack on our city. I think he is lying, but we need all of the contents in this room taken back and he needs to be interrogated." Dan said. Herrior nodded as Mohania walked through the portal behind him.

"You know what to do Mohania…" Herrior said as he stuck his head back through the portal and asked for more help. Crystal came back down with her voidwalker and announced that the rest of the house was clear.

"There's a dead human rogue upstairs…should be a good snack for you Mohania." Crystal said. Her wounds had completely healed now.

"Today is turning out better by the minute…" Mohania said sinisterly as his bony hand grabbed Fred's face and picked him up.

"Mohania, interrogate him – eat the other…not the other way around." Herrior said reminding him.

"Can I eat the other while I'm interrogating him? I'm working on my multitasking skills." Mohania said and let out a dark sinister laugh as Fred stared at him absoLewtely petrified.

"Herrior, this is the communication device I saw Fred use…" Dan said but was cut off by Herrior.

"Fred?" Herrior asked.

"The kid losing his bowels with his head inside Mohania's mouth…" Dan said.

Mohania quickly recoiled back. "What…do you have eye's in the back of your head?"

"He was able to make a portal with this and claims he can contact the alliance with it. He apparently hasn't been able to make contact yet. There is a recruiter in the area somewhere; we were going to…have a meeting with him…" Dan said with a hint of sarcasm at the end of the sentence.

Herrior nodded and watched at the rest of his party clear his work bench. Trackolania found a cast iron safe with a dial lock on it. He pulled his dagger out and tore off the lock faster than Dan could get a word out. Trackolania fLewng open the door and picked up the first thing on top of a stack of papers. He gave it an odd look and handed it to Dan.

"Playboy huh?" Dan asked. He opened the front page and began to shake it. Nothing fell out. He thought perhaps some documents were hiding inside. Dan then threw it behind him. Trackolania had gone through all of the papers and it didn't reveal anything interesting. He grabbed them anyways and ran back through the portal.

Several minutes had passed and the room had been cleared. Mohania had his dead rogue being carried by Dan and Crystal, and of course, Mohania's screaming "toy" still clenched in his skeleton hands.

"Burn down the house." Herrior ordered as he stepped through the portal.

Dan took the man from Crystal and pulled him through the portal as Crystal began igniting everything she saw around her. She walked to the middle of the room and held up her hands as waves of flame enveloped her body and spread out into the room, devouring everything in its path. Crystal then energized her body again and shot an enormous ball of fire straight up at the ceiling. It burst through the floor and erupted in an enormous explosion of flame.

Crystal walked back through the portal as Lindel closed it. She began to dust off ashes and pieces of wood off from her armor as she said, "Mohania – you cannot make him talk if he has a broken jaw…"

"I forgot…" Mohania said and cackled.

"Well at least my little friend is happy…" Crystal said and bent down and patted Mohania on the shoulder.

"What do you make of all of this Dan?" Herrior asked.

"Bull-shitted with the guy long enough, his ego is bigger than Mohania's. I saw him stop time. I knew it happened, and I had full control over it. I could have restarted it – I think he's lying. I also think he has a brain though. I am confident he was the cause for the time stopping ability attack that was done on our city. How they got into our city, I don't know. He seems confident though that his machine, contraption, whatever…could do the job with enough power. Power that could probably only be supplied by a King or a powerful fighter." Dan said ending his report.

Herrior nodded.

"Is it night time already? We spent the whole time listening to this prick brag about himself?" Dan asked as he ran over and kicked Fred in the stomach. Several ribs instantly broke as Fred's body recoiled and his face tried to scream.

"Hey…Herrior said for me to interrogate him! Go get your own prisoner to interrogate…" Mohania said.

"Sorry. Anyways I suspect the rogue was there the whole time. Either guarding him, or more likely going to dispose of Fred when the alliance was done with him." Dan said walking back over to Herrior.

"I doubt he was guarding him…" Herrior said with a smile. "Let's head inside where there is less muffled screaming. The officer that went with you contacted the Lieutenant, which in turn he contacted me. I told him to return back. Their hearts are in the right place, but I doubt they are ready."

"Are particular reason you are holding out?" Dan asked.

"Yes. Now then, go through some of these papers. Sort out what is relevant, and destroy what is not it. These papers are for your eyes only, everybody else inside. Strings sing us a tune." Herrior said motioning for everybody to go inside.

"Great…I can't even spell the word quantum physics, let alone know what he was talking about. Crystal is the one that seemed to know what he was talking about." Dan said. He raised a hand out and a several sticks sprouted out from the ground and the tips of them ignited to provide him lit as he began to go through the papers.

"Generally I don't lose interest in torturing people…but how did you do that?" Mohania asked dragging Fred over with his arm twisted completely around.

"If I tell you, are you going to teach me some spells that normal warlock's don't know?" Dan asked squinted trying to read the bad penmanship and scribbling on the papers.

"No" Mohania answered back.

"So if I say yes, are you going to not give me anything in return?" Dan asked.

"Yes…wait a second, stop avoiding the question." Mohania said as he casually tossed Fred's severely broken arm behind him.

"Each class has their own ability, each set of talents…" Dan started to say as he began to sort the papers.

"Blah blah blah…now how did you do that?" Mohania asked quickly.

"Shaman's can control elements, warlocks can control demons. You provide the group with your own special abilities, I do the same. The only difference is, both of us know and practice doing things that are not written in the books." Dan said turning to Mohania and smiling.

"I'm not breaking any rules." Mohania asked confused. He stepped back and put his bone foot on Fred's right leg and lit it on fire. The smell of burning flesh and jeans instantly filled the air.

"Nor am I" Dan said standing up and holding his right hand open in front of him. In a brief puff of smoke a living fire elemental sprung to life and began dancing around.

"Big deal…I can summon my imp and he can do the same thing…" Mohania said and began conjuring the spell. Dan vanished the elemental and put his hand over Mohania's mouth. Mohania stopped the spell.

"You do realize I don't have any lips right?" Mohania asked.

"Imps" Dan said.

Mohania shook his head and said, "No I said imp."

Dan shook his head again and said, "Summon more than one."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because…" Mohania said and then paused as he tilted his skull slightly towards him.

"You controlled dozens of demons, and mindless warlocks – yet you can only summon one imp?" Dan asked.

Mohania looked shocked as he made the realization. Dan reminded him that he was supposed to be torturing Fred.

"He's not going anywhere." Mohania said taking his foot off from Fred and extinguished his foot.

"Shaman's are supposed to only summon one elemental at a time, four totems at a time – that is what is being taught. Why? Keep asking yourself that question, that's how I have been able to increase my powers." Dan said.

"Then how can Crystal do what she can do?" Mohania asked.

"You know the answer to that. You thirst for power, yet blindly turn away to cast the same spells you always have. You are both warlocks, yet there are times when she has sudden bursts of power – I don't know the reason for it, but I do know that I've babbled long enough to convince herself that she can ask herself 'why?' as well." Dan ended.

"You do babble a lot. Less babble, more explaining of the power." Mohania said.

"I've got work to do; maybe later on we can have this discussion." Dan said turning back to his work.

"Yeah…well I'm busy too…" Mohania said. He turned around and kicked Fred in his side.

A short time later Dan became frustrated and said, "I don't understand any of this!"

"It's simple, you cut a hole in the stomach just below the ribs, singe the skin so that the blood coagulates, and then you can digest their guts in front of them." Mohania said as Dan casually looked over and saw Mohania eating some sort of intestine from Fred. Fred's expression looked beyond the fear of death and had lost all color in his face.

"He understands it. Mohania is he going to die soon?" Dan asked completely oblivious to Mohania's answer.

"No, we still got plenty of time. I don't have my usual tools that I work with…" Mohania said casually.

"Fred, if we keep you alive – will you explain all of this to me?" Dan asked. Fred's face instantly turned to Dan's face and quickly nodded as fast as he could.

"Herrior said to torture him and to eat the rogue." Mohania reminded him.

"I didn't forget. However without him, this information had mine-as-well been written in ancient Greece. I can't figure it out. Stopping time has nothing to do with this…particle, slowing, and algebra. I hated algebra in high school, I wish I could have seen her slowly tortured and digested…" Dan said.

"I'm listening…" Mohania said smiling.

"How much longer until he dies?" Dan asked.

"At the current rate, minus any further distractions, probably three days…" Mohania said looking him over.

"Let's go inside and talk with Herrior for a moment." Dan said thinking of a plan.

"But…he might run away. I'll burn his legs off…" Mohania said and began to cast a spell. Dan held out his hand as an earth elemental grew quickly out of the ground. It stood nearly twenty feet in the air, had enormous arms and chest, but seemed to float in the air.

"Make sure he doesn't go anywhere. Let's go Mohania." Dan said. The elemental slammed his hands down on Fred's arms, instantly snapping the bones and driving them down into the dirt.

"Sheesh, take it easy on the boy…" Mohania said chuckling, and then slowly followed by, "You are of course going to teach me how to do that right?"

Dan and Mohania walked in Alan's house and heard a cheery conversation going on. Strings was playing his pipes, filling the house with a soothing song.

"Ah, the rest of our party returns. Have anything to report?" Herrior asked.

"Mohania's insane." Dan said.

"Dan's an ass." Mohania replied back.

"Herrior, I am going to need Fred to translate those papers for me. I've sorted out the information I need, but I don't understand any of it." Dan said.

"Can we have Lindel enter his mind and just retrieve it?" Herrior asked.

"Then there will be two people that know the secrets that he knows. That complicates the risk we are taking. I'd rather learn what he knows personally without anybody else around. That way if somebody else is tortured they don't…" Dan began to explain as Jacklyn rose to her feet.

"Like hell anybody would capture me. Let those son-of-a bitches try…"

Herrior gently raised his hand towards her and she withdrew. "This is a time-stopping matter; it's in his hands not ours. What do you suggest?"

"Fred seems eager to help me translate his notes…thanks to Mohania…" Dan said motioning his head to Mohania.

Mohania opened his mouth and pulled out several feet of internal intestines and caught them in his hands.

"He's already spilled his guts…" Mohania said laughing, but was suddenly interrupted by Sammy letting out a horrifying scream. Instantly everybody rose to their feet with their weapons drawn as they saw that she was staring at intestines that had fell to the ground and was slowly oozing bodily floods on the floor. Alan turned her away and quickly moved her towards the bathroom where she vomited and cried.

"New rule…no more metaphors in Alan's house. Mohania clean that up, I'll go speak with Alan and take responsibility for this. Dan, do what you have to do in order to get the information you need." Herrior said sounding extremely disappointed and putting his sword and shield away.

Mohania said he was sorry as he ignited the intestines on fire, instantly burning them up.

"I'll come with you hun. But the looks of it, you'll probably need a healer." Skyka said as she grabbed Mohania's boney arm and dragged him outside.

Once outside Skyka turned Mohania around and stared at Mohania. She said in a stern low tone, "This is not our world. They are not used to what we do. I expect to not have anything done like that again."

Mohania nodded. Skyka looked over and saw the enormous earth elemental holding Fred to the ground.

"Damn…he's huge!" Skyka said completely surprised. Dan snapped his fingers and the elemental erupted into chunks of dirt that sunk to the ground. Fred tried to move frantically, but couldn't do much. Skyka walked up to him and began chanting a healing spell. A powerful blast of holy light slammed into his body, healing him completely. Fred looked down at his stomach and saw that it was back to the way it was. He moved his hands down to make sure, and realized that his arms weren't broken anymore.

"You agreed to help Dan. You fail to hold up your end of the bargain, well let's just say that what happened to you here is nothing compared to what he would do to you in his domain." Skyka said glaring at him.

"Who are you people?" Fred said frantically moving backwards and trying to get to his feet. Skyka reached out her hand and a yellow lightning bolt shot out and grabbed his chest. It then pulled him instantly back to Skyka.

"Do you understand?" Skyka asked making it known that she was annoyed with his answer.

"Yes ma'am…" Fred said nodding his head.

"If you ask any more questions, or give Dan a hard time…" Skyka said trailing off her sentence. Fred nodded again.

"Mohania, haven't you eaten the rogue yet?" Skyka asked still staring into Fred's eyes, looking as if she would kill him on the spot if she wanted to.

"I'll do that right now…" Mohania said walking over to the dead rogue.

"Keep it quiet, but emphasize to Fred here…what you are capable of doing…" Skyka said and tossed Fred at Dan's feet.

As Skyka walked back in the house Mohania asked if she seemed up to Dan with a smile.

Suddenly Dan's body began to shake as he floated into the air. His body quickly slid to the north, and in less than a second he was gone.

"I was kidding…sheesh, you didn't have to leave." Mohania said. He picked up Fred by the neck to go back inside.

"Dan left." Mohania said dragging Fred's squirming body behind him. Mohania looked up and saw Dan pushed violently up towards the ceiling and giving up a bright radiant soothing light.

"Oh I guess…" Mohania said but interrupted with Dan's voice booming the word "Silence" in the house. It wasn't his voice, it sounded as if a powerful entity had possessed him and was speaking through him.

"The Dragonmaw fortress and the surrounding around have been obliterated. The dragons to the north are launching a counter act which will lead to their demise. Do not return to those lands until those that are going to die are laid to rest. The Dragonflights are becoming overwhelmed. You must help them, or their fight will fail and the fireland armies will be unleashed throughout lands through the portals they are opening. You must close the portals! Kill the alliance time stopper, he must not be allowed to live. Complete these tasks and you will be rewarded." Dan concLewded as the aura around him dissipated and he fell flat on the floor and began to shake.

Crystal quickly ran to his side and held him as his body began to have seizures.

"Get some pillows, hold his arms and legs! We have to wait until the seizures are over." Branzer yelled as he quickly began looking around.

Herrior turned around as he pulled his sword out and drove it into Fred's stomach. Fred let out a frightening gasp, and then was silenced as Herrior ripped his side out with a flick of his sword. Mohania dropped him as Herrior finished the job by decapitating him.

"Can't you heal him?" Crystal asked in a stern voice at Skyka.

Skyka shook his head.

"Heal his ass…Lindel!" Crystal yelled and looked at her.

"They can't…" Dan said slowly, his body still shaking a little, but feeling better. He held up one finger indicating to give him a minute.

"Mohania, Lindel – take that piece of trash out of here and I never want to see it or the rogue again." Herrior said pointing to Fred's corpse on the ground.

Dan calmed down and started to pace his breathing. He eventually let out a sigh and asked, "Herrior?"

"Yes Dan, I am here." Herrior responded kneeling over Dan's head.

"I suck at finding time stoppers; I'm zero for two so far…" Dan said.

"Do you know what just happened?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…I remember everything…Crystal nobody is allowed in my head, it will kill them. Herrior I don't know if what I said you are going to give orders to do so…but I would recommend it." Dan said still panting for breathe.

"I'll contact the King immediately." Herrior said as he stood up and walked in the other room.

"Skyior?" Dan asked.

"Yes, I am here." The worgen responded.

"You belong here…with the humans." Dan said. Skyior nodded and said she will leave to go find the lieutenant at once.

"I pissed myself didn't I?" Dan asked feeling a hint of being ashamed, but more exhausted.

"It's nothing to worry about right now. How are you feeling?" Branzer asked.

"Eager to get into battle, at the same time eager to sleep for a week…" Dan said.

Herrior came back in the room as a portal opened above them forming a three foot diameter circle on the ceiling.

"It sounds like my favorite time stopper had quite the ordeal." The King said with a smile.

"My King…" Dan said exhausted and trying to roll over to see him.

"It's ok Dan, just lie there. I'm in the process of negotiations right know with the Dragonflight ambassadors. The situation is more urgent then what they knew. Sometimes…it's hard for groups to ask for others help. I'm sending twenty of our primary groups along with yours, and ten secondary groups. Herrior, is the land secured around you?" The King asked.

"It is my King. We have our outpost built, however I have not given instructions on how to use it…" Herrior said but the King shook his head.

"Let the Lieutenant figure it out. Lindel open a portal to the coordinates I am relaying to you. We have a battle to fight. I will also call upon some of our other allies to assist us. If this was serious enough to…have whatever happened to Dan happen…then I think we are going to need some help. Fight well my friends." The King said and the portal closed.

"Fair well my friends. Thank you for saving my life and giving me purpose. Lindel, I'm going to release your prisoner in a day and submit him for further interrogation." Skyior said with a grin.

"Wait!" Mohania said quickly. "I haven't taught you the ways of correctly torturing somebody…"

"I look forward to fighting beside you again my friend." Herrior said and embraced Skyior. Skyior then smiled at everybody, morphed into her worgen form, dropped to all fours and took off running.

"Lindel are you ready with the portal?" Herrior asked.

Lindel nodded and looked confused. "It's in Hyjal. Apparently the trap we laid got something's attention." Lindel created a portal and began to open it.

Everybody summoned their pets or demons that fought beside them, as some of the others increased everybody's fighting stats with more stamina, strength, intelligence, spirit, and agility. Trackolania quickly laced his daggers with poison, as Dan held up one of his fist weapons as it glowed with fire, the other with a brown light.

"Good Lewck." Alan said watching them as they touched their trinkets, dropping their disguises.

"Lewck can be either good or bad. Let's go spill some blood." Herrior said as they walked through the portal. When everybody was through the portal closed and Alan's house was again deserted with only him and Sammy, and the decapitated teenager in their kitchen. Alan let out a sigh and gave the Lieutenant a call on his cell phone.

"What the hell is going on?" Herrior demanded as he charged towards the battle scene. An enormous rock beast with bursting lava dripping down its joints was fighting a severely weakened army.

"We're cut off; we can't summon reinforcements – when we open a portal the beasts from the fire lands come out of them. We thought you were another group coming…" A blood elf hunter said as he continued to shoot while explaining.

"Who's in charge?" Herrior demanded.

"Tharrius was, then Yulo, next was Hoytl…to be sure we…"

"All of you listen to me!" Herrior's voice booming throughout the lands. "I assume control of this battle! Veliline, Quinely get down there and tank the beast! Keep taunting it until you have control of it and face it away from the group. Skyka, Jessica, and Lindel – keep them from dying. The rest of you drag away the injured or dead and get them out of the battlefield!"

Quinely morphed into a bear and with a loud roar, her and Veliline charged at the beast and telling the other tanks to leave. Quinely taunted the beast first and thrashed at it furiously, and approximately eight seconds later Veliline did the same until they had the beast's full attention. They Lewred him away from the injured as Skyka, Jessica, and Lindel maintained their health.

Working as quickly as possible, the warlocks, Dan, and other healers resurrected the dead and healed the others. Herrior instructed them to go rest for five minutes and then join in the fight. The fighters looked astonished at how precisely Herrior's group worked efficiently and, then almost as if they all had heard a single voice, they all charged forward and began unleashing their weapons on beast.

The warrior's let out their battle cries, as Herrior and Jacklyn charged towards the beast at tremendous speeds. Jacklyn, Dan, and Trackolania seemed to be having a contest to see who could swing the fastest – surprisingly Jacklyn was holding her own as she let out a grin.

"Redirect all of your attacks from Quinely; make the beast think it's coming from her! Veliline if she dies your next. No more taunting – make it bleed everybody!" Herrior shouted out as Trackolania and the hunters put a mark on Quinely and then continued to attack. The beast became furious with Quinely as she held her ground and continued striking at it as quickly, landing powerful blow after blow.

"Skyka, you are on healing assignments. You sing your hymn first, and then call it out. Branzer I don't see any traps landing on the beast! Jacklyn, you look like you are having too much fun!" Herrior said all while whacking away at the beast.

Bullets and traps littered air as they all hit their mark, all while commanding their pets to continue their attacks.

"Put your Dark Intent on Quinely, I'll put mine on Veliline. Let's bring in our Doom Guard's." Mohania said.

"I've got my curse of elements on him; do you have your curse of weakness on him?" Crystal asked.

"I do now." Mohania said as he reached his hand forward and a skull with green bones appeared above his head and fell into the beast's body.

"So with those curses on the beast, who are our Doom Guard's supposed to attack?" Crystal asked.

"Him…wait…damn it…nevermind. I'm going to nuke his ass." Mohania said launching his chaos bolt into the air; the green spinning oval leaving his hand and circles of power circling it.

Minutes into the battle, the group's moral was very high as their continued their attacks. They didn't hear the portals and the additional reinforcements coming from behind them. The mighty beast began to stagger as the air became filled with more traps, arrows, bullets and spells pounding it every second. The beast let out a low moan as it slowly crumbled and then fell to the ground, spraying hot rock and lava everywhere. Immediately Skyka began reciting her hymn of hope – healing everybody around them.

"Who's in charge?" Kon thundered out.

"I am." Herrior replied and ran back to the injured fighters and asked, "How do we help the others?"

"The portal on top of the hill" said one of the blood elves.

"Move it people!" Herrior yelled and began racing towards the portal.

"The fire land beasts will probably be guarding it." The same blood elf said rising to his feet and began to run.

"Kill anything that looks at us!" Herrior commanded.

The pounding of the mighty taurens and the rumble that the army made did draw out several red naga looking creatures came out. They had a fiery aura around them, but were quickly cut down by the explosions of firepower sailing towards them. After dozens of them dropped within seconds, the rest ran for the woods.

"Last group through, stay and guard the portal! Setup traps and secure the area." Herrior commanded as he raced through the portal.

Herrior stepped through and nearly stumbled over his own feet at what he saw; waves upon waves of fire beasts, the fire naga, flame-imbued druids, and phoenix looking birds and large spiders pouring in on the dwindling army. Ysera was holding her ground. All of her fighters were being pushed back. Herrior had seen how many losses she had endured. He quickly charged over to the oncoming army and leaped into the air. He slammed down on several beasts and let out a roar that sent the oncoming enemies fleeing in terror momentarily.

"Care to help the damsel in distress?" Ysera asked.

"We can discuss why you didn't call for reinforcements later on…" Herrior said glaring at her.

"The more portals we open the more power it gives them." Ysera said quickly back.

"Earth! Rise up and stop this assault!" Dan yelled. He had run in the middle of the onslaught with his arms raised. Rock elements rose from the earth, knocking back everything around them, and slamming the ground – stunning any in the way.

"Fire – heed my call! Rise from the lava you lie in and spew over our enemies!" Dan said next. The streams of lava immediately began to erupt and sprayed over the fire land creatures.

"Air and water…I call upon you to breathe the life into our fallen and cure them of their illnesses. Lend us your aid elements and fight by our side to ward off the evil ones!" Dan yelled as wind encircled him, and water sprayed the area. They lifted the fallen fighters, and brought them back to life. Dan dropped several totems and began to swing furiously at anything close to him.

"No way that dumbass is going to kill more than I am!" Mohania yelled out and ran to Dan's side and began to unleash his spells next to him.

"Attack!" Herrior ordered, sounding half astonished.

"Dragonflights, defensive positions and drive them back!" Ysera yelled out.

The fire land creatures quickly saw that the tables were turning against them, and began to retreat. Dan banished the earth elements that were not being used anymore and summoned ones that impeded their retreat.

"Portals are opening – destroy them!" Herrior yelled and began pointing them out. "Tanks push forward and protect the melee; melee, assault anything within range."

"You weaklings…fools…you do not belong in this realm. This is the realm of Ragnaros. Lieutenants, arise and counter this threat. Druids, attack them by air. I'll get the boy altering our elements…" A giant fire elemental hollered as he began to approach Dan. Herrior threw his magical sword through the air and instantly angered it, drawing its attention away from Dan.

Dan withdrew from the front line and dropped his four fighting totems on the ground and began his assault with the rest of the melee groups.

"Hey…" Mohania said stopping his attacking and looked at them.

"More power, faster casting and mana regeneration? Why don't you do something with it?" Dan asked carving up a large serpent and then shot a lightning bolt out of his hands and it spread through the ranks of the enemy.

"Dragonflights, take to the air! My ground warriors obey Herrior. First priority is to drop anything in the air!" Ysera said and transformed into her dragon form. She flapped hard as she took to the air and tore a flame-imbued druid in half with her mouth and then filled the air with fire. Dozens of other fallen Dragonflights that had been resurrected took to the air in their dragon form and began to do the same.

"You foolish mortals…" The giant elemental said as it began to crumble to the ground. "Only death awaits you…"

"You first, we'll die later!" Herrior yelled and slammed his shield across his face. The elemental recoiled from the blast as the spells and ammunition continued to pummel it. Seconds later the elemental fell to pieces, and birds were dropping from the sky.

"Who's next?" Herrior screamed. No reply came back. The rest of the elements, and fireland creatures halted their attacks. Herrior ran towards a group of spiders and let out an enormous scream. The spiders quivered and ran back into their cave. Herrior slammed the rock wall, and jumped back into his position and eyed the serpents. He let out a slow grin and began to move towards them. A flame-imbued druid, still in his bird form, fell from the ground and directly in Herrior's path. Herrior slammed his mighty hoof on his stomach and it made a sickening crunching and splattering sounds. He lifted his foot, picked up the body and decapitated the head.

"Come on, where's your spirit now?" Herrior yelled out. Herrior raised the severed head in the air and screamed, "Leave none alive!" Herrior then let out a battle cry that resonated throughout the fiery lands. The rest of the fighters under his command roared to life and they all charged forward, randomly slicing, shooting, and firing spells at anything that moved.

Herrior's army flanked the rest of the survivors, and nothing moved minutes later. Ysera and the rest of the dragons perched themselves on some protruding rocks, awaiting their next orders.

"Smell anything?" Herrior asked in a low tone to Ysera.

Ysera shook her enormous dragon head.

"Druids? Warlocks? Dan? Anybody hear or sense anything else?" Herrior asked.

"This is where Ragnaros's domain. He is here; I can fell the elements crying out for help. He has corrupted them, twisting them. They are begging to be released. Herrior this domain will collapse; he is draining too much power from it." Dan said.

"He's right. The creatures we fought got weaker the more of them we killed." Lindel said.

"I don't want to be here if they are correct." Ysera said looking at Herrior. Herrior nodded.

"How much time do we have?" Herrior asked. Dan started to shrug his shoulders when a voice called out among the fighters.

"We could implode this portal. It would save Hyjal from being attacked, and if everything is as unstable as they say it is, the domain would be destroyed in one fail swoop."

"How do you implode a portal?" Ysera asked.

"It's what saved our city, and killed millions of fully armored Alliance ready to lay siege and wipe us out. You have your secrets, we have ours." Herrior said letting out a brief smile.

"We have stolen and reproduced weapons and armor from these attackers – perhaps we can come to some sort of trade." Ysera asked.

"Perhaps, I don't have the authorization to conduct negotiations right now." Herrior said as the ground began to shake. "Open the portals and start the evacuation!"

The Chronomancers and the Dragonflights began to open the portals. Half of the fighters were out when a voice called out and said, "Leaving so soon?"

Herrior's party instantly recognized the voice, and Dan did what he thought was best.

Time stopped.

Dan channeled so much power into it, that he didn't know how long it was going to last. He drew his fist weapons and began to run towards the same man as he walked out of a fiery portal. All of the portals, movement – even the air this time stopped. Dan ran behind him and swung with his right hand as hard as he could, driving the two spikes protruding from his fist weapons into the back of the man's neck. As he hoped, he hadn't fully transformed yet as they sailed right through. He twisted his arm to the right and snapped his spine and with his left hand he swung it in a round-house fashion, fully decapitating his head. However as soon as head was severed, the air grew very heavy.

"Damn…" Dan muttered as he fell to the ground gasping. "Mohania help!" Mohania didn't move though. He was frozen in time with everybody else.

"Didn't anticipate dying like this…" Dan said as he fell flat to the ground gasping heavily.

Time resumed.

Ragnaros's body exploded upwards in a pillar of flame.

"Get out of here!" Dan yelled continuing to gasp for air.

"Move! Get through those portals!" Herrior screamed. He turned around and saw Dan's lifeless body. He looked back at the fighters fleeing for their lives. The ground began to dissolve beneath their feet. He looked up from his feet and saw that Dan's body had caught on fire and slipped down into oblivion. There was no choice.

"The priests that are already through, start pulling other people through. I want everybody out!" Herrior commanded. Herrior had to make a decision, be the last one out and possibly lose his life trying to get everybody else out, or fighting like everybody else to get out. He chose the latter.

"Get those portals bigger!" Herrior said as he put his weapons away and made a big push at the crowd. Dozens poured out through the portal almost instantly, sadly it wasn't enough though. His party had made through, as he began to fall beside several other fighters into oblivion. His last thought was, oddly enough, was if Jessica would be able to fulfill her role in the party.

Time passed in the real world for months. A second funeral for Herrior and the others was held. Jacklyn assumed control of the party and they began their training for their next missions. The Lieutenant and his officers were put aside as the notes from Fred were analyzed and studied. The King asked for voLewnteer time stoppers to try to enhance their power, but after two of them died a long and painful death, the project was stopped. The King ordered regular patrols of their outposts, and the reconstruction of older outposts were rebuilt. The time for mourning for Skyka and Crystal continued, but were lessened as the months passed. Jacklyn did what she could to bring laughter back to the group, but had to eventually give the order to forget about them. Their spirits were low, but they did their job.

"Where am I?" Herrior said aloud. He couldn't see, hear, touch anything in front of him, and there was no ground beneath him.

"Good, you've awoken." A very light female voice said. It was a voice he instantly thought was an angel.

"No, not an angel – how do you feel?" The voice said.

"You can read my mind…you know that I awoke…where am I?" Herrior asked. He tried to turn his body, but ended up spinning in circles. He stopped himself by a mere thought and then found ways of turning his body in several different directions just by mere thought.

"Amusing yourself?" The voice said.

"Am I dead? This isn't how I thought it would be." Herrior asked. The female voice merely chuckled and said, "No, you are in stasis until we have struck a deal with Dan. He is a tough negotiator, strong spirit, and powers that are rising exponentially. He has annoyed us slightly, but amusing at the same time."

"Where is he? I demand to see him! I refuse to be held hostage, and so help me I will kill every last one of you with my bare hands…" Herrior began to demand. Herrior's mouth slapped shut and his mind instantly soothed.

"Relax. Your secrets are safe. You are not being held hostage, your needs are being met – we are merely speaking with Dan. Rest now…we will speak later." The voice said as Herrior was put back to sleep.

It was morning in a land filled with large whale like creatures flying through the air. It was a world Crystal has never heard of, or even pronounce. The vegetation was enormous, the shortest bush being the height of the largest volcano on Earth. Crystal rolled over and gently shook Skyka, trying to wake her. Skyka eventually came to and looked up at her. Crystal smiled at her, and Skyka returned the smile. The both took a deep breath and Skyka held her hand up and rubbed Crystal's arm. Crystal smiled back.

"The air here is thick and very moist." Crystal said starting up the subject and changing what both of their thoughts were about.

"And filled with boredom…same thing everybody else is reporting. No Alliance attacks, pathetic attacks from the same ol', same ol'. Alright, so everybody wake up and let's go start our daily rounds." Jacklyn said and started nudging everybody awake.

"Should we liven things up and walk our assigned route backwards instead of doing the same thing we did for the last two weeks?" Branzer asked removing his helmet and rubbing his neck. Lindel walked over and put her hand on his neck and instantly took away the pain. They both exchanged a smile, but not one of emotion – it was the dull emotion sickness they were all still fighting off.

"No, I do not want to deviate from our assignment. Let's move out. Keep an eye out for the red berries as well. We'll need them to keep up our strength." Jacklyn said. She was still yielding her large two-handed sword, one of the last requests Herrior had given her. She came to enjoy it actually, the damage she could inflict was about the same but it was the memory of him that made her keep it.

"Any game small enough for us to cook up?" Branzer asked.

Jacklyn shook her head. "We are not supposed to touch the wildlife, just the bushes. The creatures that rule the air can be used as oil or an explosive ingredient. We're to monitor their activity as well as any Alliance or other disturbances. Veliline take the lead."

The began their walk in silence, listening only to the gentle cooing sounds from the enormous beasts flying overhead, and the brush being knocked out of the way as the group walked. There were no branches or roots on the ground, only a dark rich moist soil. No insects or other creatures. Once one of these whale-shaped beasts died, it fell to the ground and was slowly absorbed into the soil, renewing the strength of the vegetation they ate. It was a simple planet with a very simple ecosystem, but it seemed vital that they guard it and report back and information that may be of vaLewe.

"Anybody care to play twenty questions?" Julie asked. She had Spark banished the entire time, but could summon him at anytime; the same with the rest of the pets of the party. There was no point in feeding extra mouths when their food was sparse to begin with. Branzer asked for some time away to do some thinking after the death of their leader and Dan. He wasn't granted the time of leave, but instead the whole party went with him. He had tamed a bald eagle, and a grizzly bear. He was given the option of a whole range of animals, but he wanted two from his home world. The eagle was fast, and could disarm targets, where the bear could take large amounts of damage and let out a ferocious growl that seemed to intimidate its enemy.

"Is that the first question?" Mohania asked.

"A game of truth or dare perhaps?" Julie asked.

"I'll play us a tune, and relax us a bit. Take in your surroundings and clear your minds." Strings said as he began to play on his Lewte. Seconds later the tune penetrated their bodies and minds, bringing them peace. It was something he seemed to have to do several times a day in order to soothe his party.

Hours passed as they collected berries and searched over the same grounds as they did before. Nothing changed; even the trail that they made seemed to stay the same from the first time that they walked it. Each one of them was positive they could walk the trail blind-folded and be able to find their way back to base camp without any trouble. Occasionally to break the monotony, each one made contact with somebody on their hearthstone – except for Trackolania. They would then tell stories of what everybody else was doing, and only guess as to what their next assignment would be.

This lasted for another month until they were relieved of their duty, and ordered to go fishing with the Ramkahen people they befriended awhile ago. Skyka was an expert at fishing and took on the task of teaching all of them the skill. In as little as several days, they were all catching fish to fill their baskets. The locals served them the best foods that they could prepare, and the constant company of the lion shaped people helped ease the pain.

Herrior woke up again. He panicked at first, the same thing he felt before when he woke before. However he quickly realized where he was and panicking would not help.

"Hello?" Herrior asked.

"Yes Herrior, I can hear you." The light sweet voice came from the darkness.

"May I ask what is to become of me?" Herrior asked.

"No." The voice replied.

"May I ask what is to become of Dan?"

"No." The voice again replied.

"What can I ask?" Herrior asked.

The lady's voice was very calm and soothing when she said, "You may ask that which you are interested about. You may not get an answer, but you may inquire."

"How long do I have until I am killed?" Herrior asked.

"That is unknown. However, that which you ask is about whether we are going to kill you and we are not."

"How is Dan?" Herrior inquired.

"Dan is fine. Negotiations are over, and he wanted to hear you. You have become a father to him. His love for you is great." The female voice said.

"May I speak with him?"

"No."

"May I see him?"

"No."

"But he can hear me, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I wish to tell him that I love him as well. I am absoLewtely confused by what has happened, but my thoughts are still the same. If you have become altered, I will kill you – and given the chance I will kill myself. If you have any honor left as a fighter, you will do the same as well." Herrior said.

"Herrior, rest your mind. You are in stasis for your own safety. He is still the same Dan. He saved your life – twice. He saved the lives of your fellow fighters as well. They are all in stasis as yourself, but Dan insisted that you be allowed to awaken from time to time." The voice said.

"I do not trust you." Herrior said reaching for his sword. It was then he realized he was completely naked.

"Your armor and weapons is no match for our abilities, but they are safe and will be given back to you when the time is right. You trust us more than you trust yourself…you just haven't realized it yet." The voice said.

Herrior stood there thinking about what to say next and how to keep him from going back into his sLewmber.

"You are limited only by your actions. In our presence, we do not tolerate fighting or scheming of any kind. The more you rest and relax your mind, the easier it will be for you."

"What about my party?" Herrior asked quickly.

"They are fine."

"And everybody that died is alive again?" Herrior asked to double check.

"Yes."

"Why did Dan have to become a shaman?" Herrior asked trying to catch the lady off guard.

"You would not have survived the battle had he not become one. Why do you ask questions you know the answer to, and why do you still seem agitated?"

"Because I am held captive by my standards along with my fellow fighters. We are unable to move and who knows how long we have been here, or even where here is." Herrior said.

"Would it calm your mind to know where you are? What time it is? What your surroundings are? To have your sensory organs function? Or is it more relaxing floating in space, having your body's needs sustained and somebody to talk to?"

Herrior didn't like the questions, and least of all he knew the answers to the questions and he didn't like them either. He was a fighter, born and raised a fighter and dependant on his senses in order to keep him alive. Herrior finally decided to let it all go with a giant sigh. There was no point in fighting a target that didn't hurt him.

"How much time has passed?" Herrior asked.

"Time is not something we keep track of."

"Has Skyka found a new mate?" Herrior asked.

"No."

"Has anybody else in my party died? How are they doing?"

"Nobody has died, and they are fishing. Dan mentioned that he would learn how to fish from you with a fishing pole instead of using his magic." The voice said.

Herrior's defenses rose again. That was only something shared between him, Skyka and Dan. How did they know that?

"Herrior, relax." The voice this time was Dan.

"Dan?" Herrior asked.

"They are granting me time to speak with you. Everything that they said I have no reason to believe that they are lying about. You are not in danger, our party is not in danger, they have not taken any secrets from my mind that they shouldn't. I respect their questions, and they respect mine." Dan said calmly.

"Impossible. I saw you die with my own eyes!" Herrior said sounding accusatory.

"Shamans can resurrect themselves, similar to what Mohania does with his soulstone." Dan said.

"I don't believe you. You are dead, I am dead and so is everybody else! Death took all of us!" Herrior said clearly upset.

Herrior heard muffled sounds, faint echoes of people talking. After a minute Dan said, "Herrior, they are going to put you back in stasis now. Think about the first time we met; remember the time when you saved my life on my couch. Think about our wedding that we had and how beautiful our brides were. Think of how many times Mohania said the word 'ass' and how many times Spark licked Julie. Think of the music that Strings played and how it Lewred you back to our group. I…don't know…think of the times when Quinely played with the other animals. Think of how many wise-cracks Skyka made about you. Believe me when I say, please…believe me when I say you are in no danger what-so-ever. I'm acquiring new powers and armor for us. Lindel cannot access my mind and neither can they. But they are the ones that saved my life countless times…well maybe just a dozen, but they guided me, and right now we are guiding each other. I will talk to you later Herrior. I love you." Dan said and everything went silent. Herrior fell back to sleep, only this time his instincts shutdown, and his heart opened up. He dreamt of the things Dan had talked about. Finally, he relaxed and eventually he let out a smile.

Jacklyn's group had finished for the day, sorting out the fish again and all of them wondering what was worst, eating fish all day or berries. The monotony was always in the back of their thoughts; they had not fought for a long time. Suddenly a faded image of Herrior and Dan appeared in front of them. They looked to be discussing something intently and seemingly unaware of where they were.

"Dan!" Crystal yelled out and everybody, incLewding Herrior and Dan turned to them.

"Oops, wrong place." Dan said.

"Try it again." Herrior said and instantly both of them vanished.

The group halted for a second and everybody quickly pulled out their hearthstones and attempted to contact the King. Jacklyn caught them before they could and ordered them to put them away.

"My ambassador, we just saw Dan and Herrior appear out of nowhere. We couldn't understand what they were saying, but…"

"They are here right now, that is all. Tell no one else." The ambassador said and cut the connection. Jacklyn stood there staring at where the portal was in disbelief.

"I swear if Dan dies one more time, I am not going to his next funeral…" Mohania said.

"So…they are alive?" Crystal asked in near desperation.

"We can ponder many thoughts, but we need to set those aside until we have logical information. Let's carry out our orders until we know otherwise. As the ambassador said, do not speak of this to anybody else." Jacklyn said looking at her group. She looked them over to make sure they understood it and then began to carry her share of the catch into the town.

Once in the town they set about doing their normal chores, each one eyeing each other, but not wanting to break the order. The defenses and armies that the Ramkahen people established had looked like they were able to repel any attack. Jacklyn found the, now elected King of the Ramkahen people, replacing his fallen father on the throne, and reported on their mission for the day. They made small talk and eventually Jacklyn asked if they could not be disturbed for the rest of the night unless an emergency arises. The King chuckled and said he felt confident that they would be able to handle themselves. Jacklyn nodded and returned to her group.

"Let's go somewhere and talk privately among ourselves." Jacklyn said in a low voice. They left the city and headed north several miles. The gently blowing desolate sand surrounding them in every direction made it boring scenery, however quite isolated.

"Lindel? Mohania? Quinely?" Jacklyn asked.

"Nothing"

"Nadda"

"I want to bury myself…" Mohania said.

"Good, this stays between just us. I'm assuming nobody made any contacts, or spoke with anybody else?" Jacklyn asked. Everybody shook their head.

"Obviously the same questions are on everybody's mind. Let's form a circle and speak of these matters." Jacklyn said sitting down as everybody else did as well.

"So Dan isn't dead?" Crystal bLewrted out quickly.

"Crystal! He is either dead or he is alive. He is either the same, or he is imprisoned and being tortured. Perhaps we should separate you two, put you in different groups…" Jacklyn said scolding her.

"I was just wondering…I think we are just fine together!" Crystal snapped back.

"I don't believe so. Silence for a second…" Jacklyn said raising her finger in silence. "Do I need to remind you again that others were killed as well? Skyka's husband appeared before us as well – do you see her bLewrting out questions that have been fogging her mind and clouding her judgment?" Jacklyn said pointing at Skyka.

"Excuse me for seeing my husband die…twice now…" Crystal said, knowing that she shouldn't have.

"Go north half a mile. Stay there until you cool off and you get your mind back in order. You are a fighter, people die. Our citizens get slaughtered daily and do you mourn for them? No! It's always Dan, your husband. You insult them, and you insult our group and yourself. Tomorrow, I want you to scrub all of the trees around the city. Get all of the moss and bugs off from them. Is that clear?" Jacklyn said sternly. Crystal nodded as she stood up and walked off.

Once she was outside of listening distance, Jacklyn asked if there were any other questions.

"She is learning." Skyka said breaking the silence.

"Not fast enough…this is the second time we've had to restrain her or discipline her." Jacklyn said.

"It is hard to lose a loved one. I had a moment when I was out of place when we found Herrior." Skyka said.

"You were eager to kill him, like the rest of us. Many of you have not fought yourselves, doppelgangers that feed on your emotions, they make you drop your defenses and kill you. Especially you Jessica – you have very little battle experience. Skyka how goes her training?" Jacklyn asked.

"I'm ready. I still feel slightly awkward being here with everybody, I mean in this group." Jessica said.

"So were half of the people here. So you have practiced then? Are you prepared to let others die to save the lives of the ones that will help us survive a battle?" Jacklyn asked.

"If you mean concentrating on the tanks and occasionally tossing a renew spell, circle of healing, singing our hymn, circle of healing, all while sustaining the tanks…"

"Fine, if you are like Skyka you will be just fine." Jacklyn said.

"I'll toss out an occasional shield. I can do that while still doing damage. My shields are stronger than theirs are and heal for a percentage of the damage they sustain after the shield fades." Bernett said.

"Good but only if something seriously bad happens. Most of us can heal ourselves over time, but an occasional shield would help the healers." Jacklyn said.

"What's it like not carrying a gun anymore?" Branzer asked jokingly to Bernett.

"Firing a gun was fun, but this is about the same. I doubt my skills with my magnum would be worth anything anymore, however casting a couple of spells and watching them suffer and the surprise on their face when they are blasted by an invisible spell is fun." Bernett said.

"Go on…" Mohania said smiling and stopping briefly digging his hole to listen.

"Uh…that's it I guess." Bernett said.

"I can take it from here…" Mohania said.

"I think we got off topic here." Jacklyn said.

"But it's my favorite bed time story…" Mohania said still smiling.

"Tomorrow I say we get some sparring in. I think we are all needing to get rid of some built up frustrating and I want to watch each of you fight. Let's call it a night." Jacklyn said.

Everybody nodded and Mohania went back to digging himself a hole and asked to be buried – only his skeleton feet were sticking out.

"I'm going to take first watch." Jacklyn said pulling out her sword and began to survey the lands.

"Do you suspect an attack?" Branzer asked.

"No." Jacklyn said and walked away with the sword over her shoulder.

Hours passed and the stars did their slow dance across the sky. A faint glow of green was in the south coming from the air, the same that had been there ever since they had come to this land. Jacklyn counted her third falling star when she said, "Can't sleep either?"

"No – do you know something we don't?" Skyka asked.

"A lot of things" Jacklyn turned around with a smile as she continued, "Tonight though, we're going to have a visitor or should I say visitors."

"I have the same feeling. Why didn't you tell the rest of the group?" Skyka asked.

"They know…most of them anyways; the ones whose bonds with us are strong. The rest will learn." Jacklyn said putting her hands to her sides and letting out a sigh.

"How have I been?" Skyka asked.

"With what?"

"Well…with everything. Training Jessica, giving advice, being an ambassador…"

"How have you been doing without Herrior, seeing that he is alive, and wondering when he is going to show up tonight?" Jacklyn asked.

"Yeah…" Skyka asked let out a sigh looking off to the west.

"Losing a mate, twice now, has got to be hard. Getting your mate back, twice now, has got to be even harder. Are you mad or happy about it?" Jacklyn asked.

"You know…neither. I feel like I let myself down. We have been doing our duties, carrying out our missions, but I think a lot of it has to do with us not engaging in combat. We are a primary group and going this long…kind of makes the days longer…" Skyka said thinking slowly as she formed her words.

"Similar to that of our tailors and collectors?" Jacklyn asked with a smile. She let out a chuckle as she turned around and asked if she could picture her sewing. They both shared a laugh.

"Where do you think they are coming from?" Skyka asked.

"Somewhere in this area; they would not portal in without first checking to see if we are in battle, also they would not portal in the middle of our group. Close to town, I'm half expecting them to walk out anytime. Are you going to go run to embrace Herrior?" Jacklyn asked.

"Depends" Skyka replied and let silence fill the void for awhile.

"Odd answer, not what I was expecting. Has something changed?" Jacklyn asked.

Skyka shook her head and said, "No, nothing has changed. My feelings for him are still the same and I do not doubt his for me. I want to hear his words first. He and Dan might not be in our group anymore. Becoming over excited with emotions, and then to have them turn on me when they leave is not something I want to go through again." Skyka said.

Jacklyn nodded and said, "Truer words were never spoken. I am not sure how I would handle your situation."

"Why haven't you courted anybody…ever, may I ask? You get excited for other people's relationships, but you have yet to have one." Skyka asked.

"Personal preference. I am surrounded by the ones I love, that is all I need." Jacklyn said.

"When we get back to Tranquil, I'm going to make it a person vendetta of mine to find you somebody to court." Skyka said smiling and in a happy voice.

"Now I know why Mohania calls you annoying…" Jacklyn said, turning and smiling at her.

"Hey, he's just…"

"Silence. They are approaching." Jacklyn said quickly.

Skyka quickly looked at where Jacklyn was looking. She couldn't see anything.

"My race has better vision than yours. Their weapons and armor look better. They are not in disguise. They are casually walking this way." Jacklyn said.

"Yeah I see them now. Slow walking means bad news?" Skyka asked.

"Steady your emotions. It means nothing. Concentrate on the moment and scan the surrounding areas." Jacklyn said.

A very slow ten minutes passed until Herrior and Dan met up with them.

"What are you two doing up so late?" Herrior asked greeting them with a big smile.

"Had a feeling we were going to have guests. I wanted to welcome them on my feet, it is rude to awaken someone from their sLewmber to greet them." Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded and turned to Skyka. He held his arms apart and Skyka jumped into them and began kissing him passionately and telling him how much she loved him. Afterwards she began asking question after question. Herrior said he couldn't answer those right now.

"I'll answer everything in the morning. But first things first - is Mohania still an ass?" Dan asked.

"You two have become close haven't you? I hope it's for the better and not for the worst…" Jacklyn said with a chuckle.

"Crystal?" Dan asked.

"She's being disciplined. She's north of our camp and has chores she has to do tomorrow." Jacklyn said. Dan nodded in acknowledgement.

"What do you suggest is our best course of action then Jacklyn?" Herrior asked.

"I want everybody to get a good night's rest. Their minds and bodies are restless from the tedious work we've been doing, so we were going to do some sparring tomorrow. Are you going to relieve me of leadership, or is this just a short visit from you two?" Jacklyn asked.

"You're in charge. If you wish to hand over leadership to me that is fine – as for leaving, our intentions are to stay – unless Dan here decides to die and take us to some black void area again." Herrior said.

"Death isn't so bad; it's just the dying part that sucks…" Dan said and then laughed at what he said. "Learned a lot of new things though so it was worth it."

"Things such as?" Jacklyn asked.

"I was there, and I was kept in sLewmber nearly the whole time. Whatever he did it is what he was supposed to do." Herrior said.

Dan nodded and said, "So…let's get some sleep?"

"Dan, if there is some vital information that we need to know." Jacklyn said sternly to him.

"We'd all be in very deep shit if he said something. Jacklyn I may not be your leader but I highly advise you to let it go. I was there, mostly, but I was not given any information other than they could probably have ripped my body apart into millions of pieces by a mere thought." Herrior said.

Jacklyn stared at him for a while and said, "You are my leader and I will speak no more of this subject."

Dan walked up to her and gently hugged her. "I'm sorry, but I can't say. I love you and I missed you. I missed Skyka a little bit, but you mostly." Skyka gave Dan a gentle kick on his rear end and started to chuckle. Jacklyn smile at the situation and said she loved him back.

They walked back to their camp and everybody was snoring. The blowing sand going over their armor and the heat of the air again didn't seem to affect anybody. Mohania's skeleton feet were sticking out of the ground.

"How long has it been since somebody's pissed off Mohania?" Dan asked.

"It's been awhile since we've had much emotion in our party." Jacklyn responded.

"Mourning our deaths I assume?" Herrior asked upset.

"I think so. I tried to change their attitudes as much as I could. Our primary and secondary groups have been assigned to do menial tasks. Could be we just boredom, I was going to setup some sparring tomorrow." Jacklyn said and then quickly said, "Dan what are you doing?"

"Pissing on Mohania's feet. Why did you ask me something?" Dan asked chuckling.

"Well I can see that…" Jacklyn said as Herrior and Skyka couldn't control their laughter anymore. Jacklyn just sighed and lay down on the ground.

"Any particular reason?" Herrior asked as Dan put his leggings back on.

"Any particular reason why Mohania put everybody's nose is somebody else's ass when time stopped?" Dan asked back.

Herrior nodded and said, "You know, I do feel the urge as well."

"Sit back down you…I'm keeping you out of trouble tonight, and you are staying in my arms tonight. I'm glad to have you back." Skyka said pulling Herrior back down and wrapping his arm around her.

Several minutes passed and Jacklyn asked permission to ask a question.

"Of course" Herrior answered.

"When we die…do we go to where you guys went? Make some sort of pact with somebody…" Jacklyn asked but interrupted with Dan saying, "No no no no…Shaman's have the ability to bring themselves back to life. I did that will we were falling into oblivion and then did something that pissed off the, uh - people that scolded me before for doing stuff I wasn't supposed to be doing. They snagged me out of my fall and we talked for a bit. Mostly I talked this time. Hmm…just a second…" Dan said pondering his thoughts and trying to decide what exactly he wanted to say and then continued. "Deathwing is much stronger than we are, we wouldn't stand a chance against him. We've been given, well I've been given, new abilities and armor and weapon to defend ourselves against him. I'll need the monks to extract the information. Herrior will need to get some information extracted from his mind as well."

"I will?" Herrior asked.

"It's nothing bad. They are testing us with new abilities. You will like it, I like mine anyways. I can drop almost a dozen totems to enhance our abilities…" Dan said and smiled as he continued, "I'm actually looking forward to what I can do. But to answer your question, no it's still Heaven or Hell – not some purgatory where you need to wait for somebody to say two hundred hail Mary's or whatever to get into Heaven. Is that the answer you were looking for?"

"Yes" Jacklyn said. There was a long pause and just when it seemed like they had all fallen asleep, Jacklyn asked if anybody would have any objections to her pissing on Mohania as well.

The next morning as everybody woke up they realized Dan and Herrior were back and started asking questions, all of which both of them said they couldn't give many answers – the same answers that they said last night.

"Well Crystal will be ecstatic to see you again, I'll go get her." Lindel said realizing they weren't going to get many answers.

"Lindel no!" Dan said sharply. Lindel had dissolved her legs and turned into her ghost form that she uses to fly around. She halted and turned around.

"Jacklyn said she is being punished and needs to learn her lesson. Jacklyn gave the command, and I want her to fulfill it without any distractions." Dan said.

"I agree." Herrior said.

Lindel rematerialized her legs and walked back while saying, "Wow, I didn't anticipate that."

"When you love someone, you may have to watch them fall – and then struggle to get back on their feet. Yes I still love her, and miss her very much, but Jacklyn gave the order and we have to follow the honor code of the fighter." Dan said.

Herrior raised his eyebrow at Dan as Mohania started unburying himself from the sand. "Ugh, what smells like shit?" Mohania looked up and saw Dan and Herrior and said, "Oh gotcha, so are you here to sing a song and dance for us?"

"Good to see you too. Did you eat anybody you weren't supposed to?" Dan asked.

"Hey…there are piles of shit around here. What's going on?" Mohania asked as he completely unburied himself.

"Probably a bunch of camels came through the night." Dan said getting out his hearthstone.

"You're full of it…" Mohania said as Dan said, "Not anymore, hush I'm talking." A portal opened as one of the King's ambassadors responded.

"Good morning. Get enough rest?" The ambassador asked.

"No. Did the others make it back as well?" Dan asked.

The ambassador sighed and said they were returned alive, but died shortly afterwards. They did get a chance to say good-bye to their families.

"Damn…" Dan said, and then quickly said. "I don't think it was anything that happened to them, I just think it was their time."

"That is what they said. We've had a couple of other deaths as well in Tranquil – all natural causes."

"Has the King spoken with the monks yet?" Dan asked.

"He has, the monks are still translating the documents the human called Fred. They are pretty sure he can raise the level of defense that we have against time stopping. As far as your request though, I haven't heard anything. They don't like to be disturbed and only contact us…well you know how they are." The ambassador said. Dan nodded.

"Tell Jacklyn to send her party to your world to investigate what is happening with the officers. There seems to be some sort of disturbance."

"Herrior took lead back. He is motioning that he is not happy with disturbances. We'll leave at once." Dan said and then said his goodbyes as he closed the portal and put his hearthstone away.

"I do hate disturbances…I hope they didn't do anything stupid." Herrior said sounding annoyed. "Dan, go to your wife. Lindel open a portal and come with us. When you two are ready contact Lindel." Dan nodded and set off to the north as a portal opened and they started marching in one at a time.

Dan walked quite awhile north until he saw his wife. She didn't look like she slept good last night, which under normal circumstances he wouldn't blame her. She was scraping bugs, and gently pruning the trees growing along the aqueducts leading to the city, and then eventually out to sea. He made his way quietly and walked past her without her noticing him. She seemed to be singing a song under her breath. She was obviously upset, but at the same time she was trying to make her job enjoyable. Dan began doing the same job on the trees that she had already done, Crystal still completely oblivious to him.

Minutes of frustration past and finally she looked up in the sky and said, "What? What do I have to do?" It surprised Dan and he just stood looking at her, and slowly looked up.

"I'm supposed to let Dan go? Is that it? I marry him, love him, and watch him die? Is that what you have in store for me? Here have this love that soothes your soul, and then take it away from me for your enjoyment? Is this fun for you?" Crystal practically yelled in frustration at the sky. She then shook her head and proceeded to do her job. She finally felt a presence looking at her and turned to her left and screamed in shock as she jumped backwards. She then jumped back up on her feet and knocked Dan to the ground kissing him all over.

"Miss me?" Dan asked.

"Hush…sex first, take your armor off!" Crystal demanded as she quickly began to remove her robes.

"Hold on hun…" Dan said with a chuckle. "I think we need to talk first."

"We're talking, and we'll talk more later…" Crystal said, but suddenly Dan reached out and gently grabbed her arms with a firm grip.

Both of them looked into each other's eyes, until Crystal burst into tears. "Damn it Dan, what did I sign up for? This isn't what we talked about…we talked about…getting our own house…raising kids…what we want. Why can't we do that?" Crystal asked.

"Is that what you want?" Dan asked.

Crystal sighed, looked away and said "No, I'm a fighter and we need to kill people and go on boring missions that save the world. How do Herrior and Skyka do it? I've lost you twice now…how many more times am I going to lose you, how many more funerals do I have to go to, when is this going to end?"

Dan shrugged and said, "It can end right now."

Crystal looked excited and confused at the same time.

"We'll give up our armor and weapons; I'll find some minimum wage job and try to pay for my way through college. You will be able to walk into police station and get a job. We'll rent a house, have a dog, and have two snuggies wrapped around us in the evening watching the sun go down. This war has gone on before we were born, and it will continue to go on." Dan said.

Crystal wiped away a tear and looked away. "That's not what you want."

"That's not what you want either…is it?" Dan asked.

"Yes…and no. I mean our wedding…it was beautiful, and then we cut it short to go kill a demon. We gave up everything, and the biggest thing that we had – just the two of us was our wedding, and even that was taken away. What are we going to do? Where's everybody else, probably listening to me gripe…" Crystal asked looking around.

"It's just me. They went to investigate a disturbance with the officers on our planet." Dan said.

"Did Herrior survive?" Crystal asked.

Dan nodded, but explained that many others died – as well as several others in Tranquil. Crystal shook her head and said, "I thought we were oblivious to death, disease, I don't know…ouchies…" She said and began to laugh.

"You've died yourself. It's all a part of life." Dan said.

"I know I don't need to be reminded of the past. Dan for the past half year, or however long it was – I…felt a part of me missing." Crystal said.

Dan nodded.

"Well?" Crystal asked.

"I felt the same Crystal." Dan said calmly holding out his hands as she took hers. "I would rather have been in your arms…absoLewtely no doubt about that at all, but some things happened that seemed to all happen in such a way that it was impossible to think it wasn't planned. AbsoLewtely I missed you, but the things that transpired had to happen. I'm sorry."

Crystal sighed as she put her robes back on and nodded. "Ok, I need to pull my shit together. I'm sorry I got emotional. Let's go kill something."

Dan smiled at her as he rose to his feet with her. "Are you sure?"

"Yup, I'm fine. I may need some alone time later to speak to God, but I'm good. Let me summon my dog and get my armor on." Crystal said and began to chant a spell. Dan nodded as he drew his fist weapons and energized them. He then pulled out his hearthstone and told Lindel they were ready.

Dan and Crystal arrived in the middle of the town where the officer's were obviously upset and were voicing a lot of complaints. Herrior merely listened but seemed upset. More than half of them were claiming to have seen a werewolf stalking their homes, many complaining about the same thing – wanting to go into battle and fight. Others seemed to be complaining about lack of things to do. Many questions were being asked about not having addresses, could they go visit their family, could people come to see them and several other trivial things.

Dan wasn't sure how long they were voicing their opinions, but Herrior called for silence and turned to him and asked how he and Crystal were, also why had they come back so quickly.

"We're ready to handle the disturbance. Apparently this is it?" Dan asked. Crystal's felhound sighed as it laid itself on the ground. Crystal banished it and then rolled her eyes.

Herrior was hoping that there was going to be a battle as well, he also was hoping that Dan would say more to give himself a break from listening to everybody whine and complain.

"I pick who is ready to fight and who isn't ready. We provide you with housing, food, and protection. As for this werewolf, my guess is Skyior is probably prowling around somewhere and she is keeping her distance because many of you are scared of her. Second of all, any of you can go anywhere you want – and as of right now I feel like sending most of you back to working the fields." Herrior said.

"This country is based on democracy and the voice of the people. We all have casted our votes and we do not want this…Skyior as you call the werewolf around. We have all decided that we have decided to leave, we feel like we don't have any rights or privileges in these make-shift homes. This is not living, we are not doing our jobs and we want that back." The same male said with anger in his voice.

Herrior shrugged his shoulders quickly and said, "That's fine, any of you can leave. Take your democracy and go somewhere else." Herrior said frustrated as he turned around and started walking away.

"How are we supposed to build our lives back up again? You took us out of our homes. We disappeared and then suddenly reappeared – how are we supposed to explain that?" The man said again.

"You all came willingly; if you didn't come you would have died. Think of a couple of lies to rebuild your life, or take a vote on what you want to do next. Not all of your people are backing you – each of you is frustrated at a particular item, not necessarily everything that's been said tonight. If you expect me to sit down and listen to every little problem you have and try to resolve it – forget it. If you are smart enough to vote on what you don't like, you are smart enough to vote on what you do want and then do it – even if the majority doesn't want to." Herrior said turning around as he ended and then continued to walk away.

"So just like that! You expect us to keep all of your secrets, did you ever think about that?"

"Did you ever think about that there are werewolves in these woods and other creatures that would feast on you? I'm done talking." Herrior said and continued to walk away.

"Am I the ferocious werewolf?" Skyior said appeared next to Herrior with a smile.

"Yes, you are very scary…so you've been staying away from the humans I'm assuming?" Herrior asked.

"All they do is complain. I made my appearance a couple of times, mainly to tie up a couple of loose ends. I brought the human that was being tortured back to his home and then stalked him for a couple of days. He's too scared to even shit himself." Skyior said with a smile.

"That's a good werewolf…" Skyka said patting her on the shoulder.

"What should I do now?" Skyior said smiling and changing into her human form.

"I would like to have some guards stationed at our outpost to have our scouts get supplies. You can be in charge of that if you wish?" Herrior asked as they crossed the road.

"Will they accept me? I've been lonely a lot…again…" Skyior said in a depressed voice.

"They will, I promise." Herrior said giving her a reassuring hug. "But you accomplished your task."

"What task is that?" Skyior asked

"You filtered out the ones that are serious about fighting, and the ones that are a pain in the ass among the humans." Herrior replied

"How did I do that?" Skyior asked.

"The ones that are scared of a werewolf, or I'm sorry a Worgen, that is actually helping them is not somebody I want fighting beside me. So anyways, during your adventures did you do anything else that was fun?" Herrior asked.

"I ate with Alan and Sammy a lot. I did a lot of scouting of the lands. Found an occasional demon – nothing that I couldn't handle. Oh, and I've been getting rid of some of the clients that Alan had that were threatening him." Skyior said excitedly.

"Ah, now you talk about something interesting…so where are they buried I could go for a snack." Mohania said.

"I didn't kill them…" Skyior said be defensively.

"Boring…" Mohania said.

"I stealthed my way into several of their sessions where they sit and talk about the stupidest things, and the ones that get violent or threaten Alan, I sneak into their car. Then when they are driving away, I suddenly appear next to them in my Worgen form and start biting and chomping at them. It scares them pretty well, and we end up crashing into something. That part hurts a little, but then afterwards they run away and it's fun to chase them. I always know where they are, but listening to their heart pounding and then frantic breathing is always fun. I give them a sense of 'safety' and then when they are least expecting it, I ambush them – pushing them to the ground, rolling them over and putting my mouth over their face as if I'm going to tear off their face. I slowly recoil and say, 'If you ever threaten anybody again, or speak of this, I am going to kill you slowly and painfully. Run now little human. Run home so I can follow you and know where to strike you down at.' Then I run away behind a tree or something and stealth myself. It's fun!" Skyior explained.

"Slightly interesting…however not enough torture and maiming." Mohania said.

"Should I do that?" Skyior asked.

"Yes…" Mohania said with a smile.

"No." Herrior said back glancing at Mohania. "You are doing just fine. I trust the lives of Alan and Sammy in your hands. Would you be willing to take charge of the outpost here and be their personal guards?"

"I can do that." Skyior nodded.

"I will recommend that some additional guards to be sent. Farming would be noticeable and mining would as well so there isn't much we can gain by having this outpost here." Herrior said.

"We can have Alan cure people." Skyior said. Herrior nodded in agreement.

"Whoa…I do not have any healing powers or anything of that such…" Alan said quickly speaking up.

"Yes you do. Also you have a hearthstone, know relevant information about us, and could be a key asset in the coming future. Anyways I'm anticipating a knock on the door anytime soon…sort of surprised they haven't stormed the place with torches and threats…" Herrior said anticipating a knock on the door.

"So I'm going to be in charge of the guards that come?" Skyior asked.

"Yes, they will be under your command. If it's all the same, I would like you to go wherever Alan goes if he gets separated from Sammy. Assign a couple of guards to stay in the house with Sammy, and bring a scout with you on your travels in case you get into trouble the scout can signal for help." Herrior said. Skyior seemed happy about the assignment and asked if she could leave to investigate the hidden outpost. Herrior agreed.

"So I have a personal body guard now?" Alan asked.

"Yes." Herrior asked not paying much attention to the question. "We have solved many issues tonight, but I'm more interested in our group and what's been going on. I want each one of you to talk freely, come let us sit." Herrior's group sat in a circle.

"Trackolania anything new happening in your life?" Herrior asked.

He pulled out several pieces of paper, a handful of berries that they had a steady diet on and gave Herrior a disgusted look. He then pulled out a wooden stick that had his name written on it.

"Hmm…by the looks of it life has been pretty dull huh? Let's see what you have here…" Herrior said and started glancing through the papers. "Why the humans insist on writing everything down, I will never know…however it seems to be a list of people backing the loud mouth human, but more importantly it has a list of people that are labeled as 'traitors'. Our dear friend Lieutenant is listed as one of them, however I doubt he is one. Lindel where is he right now?" Herrior asked.

"Standing several feet outside the house, his thoughts are he does not want to betray his officers, but he knows he belongs with us. However he knows that you do not want him in the group. He also thinks I'm very attractive and I should probably put more clothes on." Lindel said as she smiled and spun around showing off her new apparel. It was light bLewe, barely covering her breasts and waist with very long white cloth covering the rest of her body with fringes coming off from her waist and arms. Little star like lights glimmered as the light caught them just right.

"Impressive, can you go bring him in?" Herrior asked. "How about the rest of you, what's been going on?"

"Not much to report, haven't been in Tranquil for awhile. Daily chit-chat with the other ambassadors and been bringing only assumptions as to what's been going on." Skyka said.

"Ysera has become more interested in me. We've been having daily talks. I'm beginning to have more emotions towards her." Strings announced. Herrior seemed apprehensive but nodded quickly.

"May I inquire what that was about?" Strings asked.

"Nothing I should have thought about. I apologize Strings. I am still unsure about this relationship. Strings, do you suspect anything ill intentions about this? Look at it from my point of view." Herrior said.

"Herrior…" Skyka said.

"Hush, Strings please." Herrior said.

"I do not sense any ill intentions. We do not discuss anything about our kingdoms, missions, or any plans. We talk about our past, our day – but of course leaving out any information that would reveal any political or strategical information. Herrior I honor our group and our city above all else, but you don't need me to tell you that. It's idle chit-chat, sometimes I sing her a couple of songs and she sends me gifts. Not gifts of much resale vaLewe, for example this bracelet is hers when she was a child. It contains no powers – I had it reviewed with our King…but to be honest Herrior, I have strong feelings for her and I believe she does with me. I do not sense any betrayal or any ill intentions." Strings said. During the conversation Strings showed him the bracelet. It was a small gold chain with a picture of a dragon on it with small emerald eyes. Also during this time the Lieutenant came in and Lindel whispered to him to sit next to Herrior.

Herrior nodded and said, "I'm sorry my friend. This is not my call then; you are wise and know the concerns I have. You may have time with her and I will not inquire about it any further."

"One of the Ramkahen seemed very interested in Jacklyn." Julie said with a smile.

"I would have broken his legs and decapitated the bastard if he would have touched me…" Jacklyn said.

"Not ready for dating yet?" Herrior asked chuckling.

"I will choose a mate when I am ready, not when some male turns their head twice at me and stumbles his words while speaking to me." Jacklyn said.

"Crystal?" Herrior asked.

She shook her head and said, "I'm not used to watching my husband dying…and then coming back to me. Jacklyn was right to give me my punishment."

"That needs to stop. You mind is betraying you. You need to learn focus. Dan is your husband, but he is a fighter above all else. He's already proved that he will sacrifice himself at any given time. Sacrifice of a friend's life for another is a gift above all else. Release your guilt and clear your mind of it." Herrior said.

She nodded and said, "Yes, I read some scripture about that. I need to do just that. It will take more time, but I am working on it. I need some time to spend praying about this, but it is a difficult lesson for me."

"Each lesson comes easy for some of us; hard for others. Jessica how goes your training?" Herrior asked.

"I've been working on that every day. Haven't used it in actual combat yet, but I'm still reviewing some of the work I've started with learning to become a Chronomancer. I figure in three hundred years of so I'll be able to learn how to one-eighth of what Lindel can do. Also, nobody has flirted with me, and I haven't flirted with anybody else." Jessica added. It made everybody chuckle.

"Fair enough, how fairs Samatha and Jeffery?" Herrior asked looking at Bernett.

"I talk to both of them every day. Jeffery always has stories of adventures that he's been on. Tranquil has given him more experiences and more joy than I ever imagined I ever could give him. Many times we all meet up and play games together, we make sure the area is secured first of course. Samatha has been on missions similar to ours, helping farmers, building structures, tending to animals and the majority of the time Jeffery is with her. He plays with the other kids and knows his boundaries. He still attends classes that teach him the history of Tranquil, how to use his abilities, and many of the same principles that Earth teaches him. Life is good." Bernett replied.

"Good, I am very glad to hear that. Families unite all of us. It takes a city to raise a child." Herrior said referring to an old saying.

"I still have feelings for Lindel." Branzer said not waiting to be called upon. Trackolania nodded and pointed to Julie as well. Herrior sighed, but let out a smile this time. Lindel didn't know what to say, however Julie was shocked. She thought that she lost all chances of liking Trackolania were gone.

"So be it. You all know my rules. Honor and duty come first. If there are any conflicts I will address it immediately – being a fighter is first and foremost. This is one of the problems of having such a large group…however on the other hand I have the honor of fighting with more of the people I love. Quinely think of a new name for Lieutenant." Herrior said.

"Hmm…let's see…how about Lew?" Quinely asked.

"Skyka check to see if that name is available." Herrior said as Skyka pulled out her hearthstone.

"Can we call me by my real name?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No, Quinely named you and has the privilege to rename you. Besides it's occurred to us that is a rank, not a name. We need a different name because I don't want you to think that you are ranked higher than somebody else." Herrior said.

"I respectfully disagree…"

"And I say otherwise." Herrior said smiling at him.

"Well…I…don't have a say in this do I?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Lew is fine, the name is not taken." Skyka said closing the portal.

"Alright Lew is fine. I'll go down to the secretary of state and get that changed." The humans started to laugh and Branzer said, "Yes, I don't have a home address that shows up in the continental United States, I have a bounty on my head by our government and I have no income. I see that going over well."

Lew hadn't thought of that aspect. "So how does this whole thing work then?"

"First step is you strip naked and I'll ignite you on fire and see how long it takes until you're on the verge of death." Mohania said smiling.

"Lewckily I'm in charge…first we need to get the rest of the officers settled down. What started this sudden uproar in the first place?" Herrior asked.

"Idiocracy basically. Give a child a piece of candy and tell them that they can have unlimited candy…but then braking the news to them that they have to do chores for it. They saw what all you could do and want to be able to do the same thing, you know become like superman and leap over tall buildings. But when they found out that they have to till the soil, plant seeds, and other chores they got upset. Now they believe they are confined to these free homes that were built for them and can't go outside their community, which is not the case of course. Apparently you guys don't work for money; we are used to doing that. Many of them have found jobs, but they crave the excitement you guys have and the powers that come with it." Lew said.

"Adventure, excitement a Jedi craves not these things. To become a Jedi takes the deepest commitment, the most serious mind, they are reckless." Dan said with a swift slap to the back of his head from Crystal. Julie burst into laughter.

"Hey…do you want to take this upstairs…in a bedroom?" Dan asked.

"Love to…" Crystal said grabbing his hand and both of them running up to Alan's bedroom.

"I'm not sure what just happened, however he made…somewhat of a valid point, they are reckless. Not everybody in Tranquil has the same…uh Jedi powers we have…is that what Dan meant?" Herrior asked.

Julie erupted into laughter and started shaking her head. "Not everybody in Tranquil are fighters, only a small percentage consisting of primary and secondary groups. Primary's attack first and secondary's attack smaller targets or defends our gatherers and harvesters. Lately our primary groups have not had much to attack and we've been gathering and surveying different lands, worlds – wherever we've been. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things." Julie repeated and began laughing again as she rattled off several other Star Wars quotes.

"It's hard to piece together what they say sometimes, but it's probably the same with us. But as you have heard, it's not 'fun'. We do attack, but we help and work just the same. We used to have very boring patrols guarding a wall against the alliance. Some of our scouts never see any excitement. They simply report what they see, but without them we would have had many more defeats and a lot more deaths from our fighters." Herrior said.

Lew nodded and asked if he should go speak with them. Herrior shook his head and said, "I am an ambassador, this is my job. However my guess is that the majority of this will blow over by tomorrow. Timing is everything – when in doubt, wait. Hate passes with time, clouds of confusion dissipate with knowledge and after they wear themselves out, our ambassadors will go over and discuss with them, one household at a time. Lindel you will collect the information so you will have to keep all of us linked.

"So when are we going to do this?" Lew asked.

"'We' does not include you, only the ambassadors among our group. You will spend the day with Jacklyn. Jacklyn explain to him his options…all of them." Herrior said looking at her. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.

The excitement upstairs became very loud and screams of pleasure followed by an occasional sound of something breaking could be heard. Lew, Alan, and Sammy looked embarrassed, but the group continued to talk as if nothing was happening.

"So our objective tomorrow is to find out individually what each and every family wants in seclusion? What can we offer them?" Branzer said.

"They cannot go into Tranquil. If they are happy, but have some concerns about trivial things, answer them the best that you can. They can go anywhere they want, do anything they want, and even return to their home town if they so desire. If they are not pleased, hear their concerns and then go over what I just told you. Something stirred them up, and I don't think it's just that one jackass. I would like to have at least fifty guards stationed at this outpost. Skyior will be in charge of this outpost, however if they are all intent on leaving…then let them. We can pull guards from elsewhere. Empathize that they need to be discrete, but can see members of their family and friends…but the last thing we need is to hang a flag above our outpost advertising our presence and have it attacked again."  
"Oh come on! You have got to be kidding me!" Crystal yelled aloud the same time that all of the ambassador's hearthstones began to vibrate. They all pulled them out and put their heads through the portal.

"Good to see many of you respond so quickly. We'll wait another minute to see if others join. Many of our scouts are reporting some activity that needs to be addressed immediately. I will need all of our leaders back in Tranquil tonight. The time has come to make preparations." The King said.

"My King, I must speak with the monks." Dan said quickly hoping not to interrupt him.

"I understand. You may conduct your work with them after this meeting." The King said. Dozens more ambassadors appeared and after a moment the King began his discussion.

"Our outpost that we overthrew was completely obliterated by Deathwing, as well as the surrounding lands. Miles and miles in every direction, nothing is alive. The earth spews out demonic energies, and his armies grow every second. Every person, ours, alliance, naga, and anybody living in the area are now being forced to labor in encampments. He is more powerful than anything we have ever faced before. I'm summoning forces from every ally we have – but if he can wipe out that much area that quickly, it won't matter. He is not an enemy to be underestimated. From head to tail, he is approximately three hundred yards long, has fire bursting from every seam of his body that isn't covered with a thick shell…that is all we got until the scout was killed. Our other scouts that were stealthed he passed over so he does have some limitations. The other scouts I imagine are trying to find a safe place to transmit. We are going to kill this - beast that is a direct order. I want his head severed and brought to me. I want ideas, I want him killed! All leaders report to me immediately. Herrior assign somebody from your group to go speak with the naga – they know more about him than we do. I want him killed is that understood!" The King yelled and then all of the transmissions ended.

"Damn…" was heard by Dan from upstairs.

"That about summons it up. Lindel open a portal to our destroyed Dragonmaw fortress, only forty feet behind it and underwater. Skyka I think you know already what you have to do." Herrior said turning to her. She nodded and said she would do her best.

Dan ran down as his armor flew onto his body by itself.

"Next get Dan to the monks. Afterwards get me to Tranquil." Herrior told Lindel as she was opening the first portal. Skyka stepped through and Lindel quickly shut it, and then slowly started to open another portal.

"I hope you know what you are doing." Herrior told Dan.

"Like-wise." Dan said back. The portal opened and Dan jumped through it and landed directly in the chambers of the monks. A brief conversation let everybody know that the monks were expecting him. Lindel then made another portal and sent Herrior on his way.

"Obviously I missed something…what's going on?" Lew asked.

"Nothing you need to know about right now. We have our orders and that is to secure the outpost and speak with the humans tomorrow." Branzer said without giving a second thought that he in fact was a human as well. "So that leaves us me, Mohania, and Veliline. Not as much as I wanted."

"Not as much as 'I' wanted…Herrior left, I am in charge!" Jacklyn said rising to her feet.

"I'm sorry, you are right." Branzer said realizing he overstepped his boundary.

"Herrior mentioned only the ambassadors. You three will go with Lindel tomorrow. I wanted that outpost heavily occupied by the rest of us. I want a perimeter setup of two people walking approximately one hundred yards around it, we will alternate duties. Now then, we can only assume battle is imminent, I for one welcome it. My blade is dull. I want at least one person awake tonight to monitor our hearthstones." Jacklyn said. Crystal came down half way through the conversation, but got heard most of it.

"I'll do it." Sammy said volunteering.

"Very well then, the responsibility lies with you then. Your husband needs to go to work tomorrow and everybody will be relaxed, but keep your blades close. Sammy if one hearthstone begins to vibrate, you scream and wake up all of us – even if you see it move even slightly, is that understood?" Jacklyn asked. Sammy nodded.

"Good, let's get some sleep – everybody put your hearthstones in the middle and let's all sleep in the middle of them.

"Samatha, are you sure?" Alan asked.

"Sammy!" Jacklyn snapped back.

"Alan, this is something I have to do. I'm not a fighter, I'm not an ambassador, and if those things start to vibrate and they are sleeping, I have a feeling that the fate of our world depends on it. Jacklyn is right, you have to work tomorrow. It's business as usual…" Sammy said back.

"Just…keep me up to date." Alan said.

"She might not be able to. Enough talk, this might be the last time we get some sleep for awhile." Jacklyn said closing her eyes. Alan and Sammy said their good nights and Alan retreated to their bedroom to retire for the night. Crystal let out a soft "Sorry…" as Alan passed her. Sammy brought the coffee pot into the living room and several books. She was ready for the night. She felt this night was the most important night of her life…it was as if this very night the fate of the world, or worlds depended on her. That feeling carried her through the night.

Skyka entered the water and immediately forgot to take a deep breath. She rolled her eyes and started swimming towards the surface. Suddenly a hand grabbed her leg and pulled her down. A naga blew a bubble at her and it floated over her face and allowed her to breathe.

"Good you came, where is your mate?" A male naga asked.

"He is making plans to assault Deathwing in our city. I must speak with you to get more information about what happened." Skyka said.

"Can we take you to our city? It's not safe here." The naga said and Skyka nodded. Another male naga swam over to the side of her. They wrapped their arms around hers and began to fly through the waters at incredible speeds. They effortlessly dodged rocks, weeds, fish, and even sharks. They came to a sudden drop off and Skyka couldn't see anything. The two naga and the other naga escorting them dived straight down and began swimming even faster.

Eventually a city with lights came into view, and within less than a minute they were at the entrance. It was heavily guarded, but they lowered their weapons and bowed as Skyka was escorted in.

"This is our city. We were hoping we could have you visit on less desperate terms. Meridith perished in the assault when your people abandoned the fortress, so we sent our guards to keep people out as a gesture of good faith." The naga said with regret in his voice.

"I am very sorry for your loss. We did not know this was going to happen. We had our orders to pull out from there. We should have told you." Skyka said.

"If you did, our entire city would have probably have met the same fate. However that was our Lady's command so we did as she instructed. Let us hurry, we haven't much time." The naga said and began swimming through the corridors until they came to the throne.

Their queen, Skyka assumed was the one sitting on the throne. She was twice as tall, and had dozens of snakes coming out from behind her head. She held a trident in her hand. She rose from her throne and Skyka bowed down in respect.

"That is not needed Skyka come towards me." She said.

Skyka rose up and began walking towards her.

"It's been a long time since we have spoken with a land dweller, far too long. Your friendship with Meridith proved that you can be trusted. I think we both have a common goal; however neither one of us I believe has the power to strike down the dragon. I suggest that we form a pact with each other in the interest of killing this beast that rules the air. It has corrupted our waters, and if not for our kingdom being so deep, we all would have perished. Do we have an agreement?" The Queen asked.

"Yes. My people and our allies are forming strategic plans for attacking it as we speak. Herrior, my mate, is with them right now. It has killed our people as well…many of them. How may I help you?" Skyka asked.

"These plans we will need to know in order to move our armies into place." The Queen said.

Skyka nodded to acknowledge her request but stated that information might not even be known to her until the time comes.

"Of course, your people probably do not trust us yet."

"That is not it – I give you my word on that. We have scouts right now in the battleground collecting information. We know which ones were killed, but we know many survived." Skyka said.

"How is this possible?" The Queen asked feeling irritated.

"Stealth my Queen. Our people can fade from view and sneak around without being seen or heard. Apparently Deathwing, is the dragon's name, cannot detect stealth. What we know so far is our people, the people living in the woods, and your people as well have become slaves. That is all we know as of now. We do not know the location, but I assure you that they are searching for them and how to get them out of there." Skyka said.

"Interesting. My guess is they are on the south side of the island. Yorknir – send a squad to go investigate the area, proceed with extreme caution. Skyka on the north side of the island there are legions of dragons, some domesticated some wild. You might be able to tame some of them to fight from the air. The longer our forces are outside of the water, the weaker they get. I propose an exchange. You teach us some of your fighting tactics in exchange for some of our armor and weapons. It would mutually benefit both of our people."

"I would need to examine some of your weapons and armor; also giving other races our abilities is something we don't often do. However, I do see the benefit. May I be shown them?" Skyka asked.

"Not until you show us what you can do. Surely you possess some sort of magical abilities." The Queen said without flitching. There was no negotiating out of this one.

"I am a priest, I heal the injured. If I may heal one of your guards I can show you. It will not hurt them." Skyka said.

"So be it." The Queen said and motioned one of her guards to step forward. Skyka casted a series of spells to improve her healing and increasing the guards stamina and then began to blasting him with heal after heal. The power radiated up to twenty yards away, filling the surrounding guards. Many of them that had scars or past injuries were quickly healed and each of them began to radiate with a faint yellow light coming out of them.

"My Queen, it is true! I am not only healed, but I feel stronger than ever." The guard said astonished.

"Let's capture her and make her heal our forces…" Another astonished guard said.

"Silence! She is our guest and I will not hear another word about such things! You anger me but I will not unleash my anger in front of her. Skyka you may stop." The Queen said. Skyka did as she was told.

"As an ambassador I can negotiate some terms and conditions – however our King makes the final judgment call. However I feel as though my demonstration has served its purpose?" Skyka asked.

"It has indeed. Do you have the power to bring back the ones that have perished? Do you have the power to cure poisons?" The Queen asked.

"Yes to the second question, sometimes to the first question. I do possess the power; however my resurrection spell does not always work." Skyka said.

"May I ask a personal favor? My daughter has fallen ill for many years. She struggles everyday to swim…I encourage her…but as a parent…" The Queen's voice went from negotiating to completely opening her heart and her eyes welling up.

"I will do what I can. Take me to her." Skyka said. The Queen left her throne and began to slither with Skyka to her personal chambers. Her guards followed behind her.

"Hi mom!" The child said enthusiastically. Her eyes lit up and a smile beamed across her face. She tried to move, but was unable to slither like the rest of the naga…but did a rolling motion over to her and hugged her feet.

"Hello my child. How are you today?" The Queen spoke softly.

"I hurt really badly, but I'm trying mama…I'm trying…" The child said smiling at her trying to cheer her up. The Queen looked over at Skyka. Skyka took the queue and walked over to the child and knelt down beside her.

"Hello, my name is Skyka. What is your name?"

"Princess Bella, emerald of the seas." She said proudly.

"Well I need to bow before you…" Skyka said bowing. She then looked up into her eyes and said, "You have beautiful eyes, no wonder you are the emerald of the seas. I think you are the emerald of the whole world. You look very pretty princess. Your mother has brought me here because I am a healer."

"You didn't bring yucky medicine did you?" The princess plugged her nose and backed away. Skyka chuckled and said, "I hate yucky medicine to. I didn't bring any, but I do have a story to tell you that might make you feel better." Skyka's eyes were locked on the child's eyes the entire time, but out of the sides of her eyes she was examining the child's condition and the surroundings.

"A story will make me feel better?" Bella asked.

"It's a story that your mom and I will tell. She will tell of some happy things she did in her child years, and I will tell of some of the happy things I did in my child years. Is that ok?" Skyka asked looking at her and then turned her gaze to her mom.

The Queen bent over and gently picked her up and started telling a story. Skyka motioned to put her in the bed. Both of them sat beside her and Skyka casted her renew spell on her to test her reaction first. A quick burst of healing filled her and started mending her body for the next twenty four seconds. Skyka watched her face turn quickly to her and Skyka told her to pay attention to her mom because it was her turn to tell the story.

Skyka watched the child's body began to realign itself. She casted another 'renew' spell and it filled her body with holy healing magic. The child again looked down at Skyka as she felt her body get stronger.

"Are you doing something to me?" Bella asked.

"Yes I am, but I need you to relax. It doesn't hurt, does it?" Skyka asked.

"No…it feels warm and tingly. It makes me want to smile." Bella responded.

"Is it working?" The Queen asked.

"I need to go slowly to anticipate anything that may go…not so right." Skyka said quickly rewording her sentence. "Do you want me to tell you a story Bella?"

"Sure."

"Ok, I need you to close your eyes and imagine the story for me so it seems more real. Can you do that?" Skyka asked.

"Yes, I can close my eyes." Bella responded. Skyka chuckled as Bella responded with a giggle. Skyka casted a quick spell and a lightwell appeared on the far side of the room. Skyka adjusted it with her mind to slowly administer healing dosages and then she began her story.

"The first time I ever went swimming was in a small lake. It was filled with small fish that were colored white and turtles that were green and white. Can you picture that in your head?" Skyka asked.

"Yes."

"I went underwater for the first time and could hear the sounds of the water. It was the sounds of echoes, the fish swimming, the turtles moving, other children swimming. It was an amazing sound. What are your favorite sounds underwater?" Skyka asked as she slowly increased the speed that the lightwell turned. Bella started talking and Skyka noticed that the lightwell wasn't casting any more stars of healing to her anymore. Skyka then slowly got up and casted her powerful dispel magic spell on her a couple of different times. The first time Skyka saw small dark particles come up from Bella's body, but after that nothing came up.

Skyka than interrupted her and asked her to roll over.

"Ok, I'm feeling much better!" Bella said enthusiastically. Instantly Skyka saw what was wrong. Her spine was twisted in several different directions.

"I'm glad you are feeling better. Can you lay still for a couple of minutes while I go get some more air in my bubble?" Skyka asked and looked serious at the Queen.

"Sure!"

Skyka left the room with the Queen behind her. The Queen shut the door and Skyka began to speak.

"There is a spy in your kingdom. I cured the magic hurting her, but her spine is badly misaligned. I cannot fix that, but I have a friend that can. She is on a mission right now, but she can be here before the day's end." Skyka said quickly.

The Queen looked angry at her and then in disbelief. She was telling the truth, she had no reason to lie.

"My Queen, I fixed all that I can – but I advise the child be put under close guard and have her not move. The pain is gone; the magic making her sick is gone. The lightwell will administer healing as soon as she is in pain again. I know that we just met each other, and you may not trust me…" Skyka said quickly.

"I believe you. Guards to me!" The Queen said. Dozens of them came to her aid, with their weapons drawn.

"Put your weapons down you idiots! She is saving my daughter's life and you threaten her?" The Queen said and raised her trident. The guards quickly backed away in fear.

"I want an investigation immediately. Who in our Kingdom knows magic? I want them brought here and interrogated! Now!" The Queen almost screamed as her guards quickly swam away.

"If you can save her life, you can have anything you want. The entire Kingdom, the legions of troops that I command, our entire…" The Queen started pleading with her.

"My Queen I apologize for interrupting, but this is my job. I am an ambassador and so happen to be a healer as well. I wish to build a friendship between our people. My friend is a banshee. She can enter her body, realign everything and she will be as fast of a swimmer as anybody else." Skyka said.

"Will it hurt her?"

"Normally yes, but Lindel, my friend, is able to turn off the pain sensors in her body and put her in a deep sleep. Your daughter will not know what happened. Lindel and I have cured many people for hundreds of years." Skyka said.

"Do you know who did this to her?" The Queen asked.

"It definitely was a magical spell, or my dispel magic would not have worked. Is her room secure?

"It is now." The Queen said and motioned several guards over to her and instructed that nobody enter and to thoroughly inspect her room every hour. She then turned back to Skyka and asked how long would it be.

"I do not know how much time has passed, but it should be soon. I will stay but it is very important that she does not move until I can get Lindel here. Is there a private place I may contact her?"

"In my chambers, follow me." The Queen said turning to leave. She then stopped and looked fiercely at the guards to make sure they understood her orders.

They entered the Queen's chamber and Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and contacted Jacklyn.

Sammy sprang to life as she saw one of the hearthstones vibrate. She stood up and shouted, "It's vibrating, it's vibrating!" Jacklyn instinctively drew her sword and looked around as the rest of her group did the same. Jacklyn saw no threat and was disoriented for a second until she realized that her hearthstone was vibrating. She picked it up a portal opened. It was Skyka asking if Lindel was available.

"Lindel is here, what is happening?" Jacklyn asked.

"I need her help as soon as she can get here. It's very important!" Skyka said. Jacklyn looked away from the portal and forcefully told Lindel to open a portal to where Skyka is.

"Need any more help?" Jacklyn asked.

"Not right now. I need her to cure the Naga Queen's daughter. I'll keep you updated." Skyka said closed her portal and watching a portal open up beside her as she put away her hearthstone. The Queen looked astonished.

"We have one sick princess, her spine is misaligned. She was poisoned by a magic spell. I dispelled that, and healed her as much as I can, but I need your help."

"Time is wasting…lead the way." Lindel said. The Queen began to cast an air bubble that flew through Lindel's head and popped against the wall.

"I don't breath…long story. Show me this child." Lindel said. The Queen quickly led them back to the room and screamed at the guards to get out of the way.

"Calm yourself my Queen; please…your child can feel your tension." Skyka said. The Queen glared quickly at her and rushed into the room. Bella had fallen asleep, but Skyka quickly pointed out the spine and Lindel nodded.

"Damn…this would be easier if she was awake. Can you levitate her and turn her over carefully?" Lindel asked. Skyka casted her levitate spell and turned her over, gently putting her back on the bed.

"Hold her eyes open for me." Lindel said as she dispersed into tens of thousands of tiny little particles. Skyka reached down and gently pried the child's eyes open and Lindel went inside. Bella began to flinch a little and then immediately calmed back down and smiled.

"Somebody called Touyonk…I might be pronouncing that wrong…did this to her, Tuyok maybe?" Lindel said using Bella's voice. The Queen gasped and backed up in disbelief.

"It's ok Lindel is using Bella's voice to talk. Lindel how bad is the damage?" Skyka asked.

"I've seen worse. Her pain receptors are turned off. I need one person to pull upwards on her arms, gently, and one person to pull down on her feet." Lindel said using Bella's voice. Skyka quickly looked over to the Queen and told her that she would get her feet. The Queen leaned her trident against the wall and gently pulled her loving child towards her.

"Good, this is relieving the pressure on her spine. Do this for the next minute or so." Bella said and Lindel began to go to work.

The Queen watched helplessly as she saw her body twitch and unnaturally move from one side to the other. The Queen looked up at Skyka several times, but Skyka gave her a reassuring smile.

"Ok the spine is realigned, and I began the refusing process. Skyka can you blast her with a healing spell." Bella said. Skyka gently set her feet down as she nodded at the Queen, and she let go of her child as well. Skyka then energized herself and prepared for a powerful healing spell. After a couple of seconds a big blast of healing light slammed into her body.

"What did you do?" The Queen asked hysterically.

"That did it. Open her eyes for me. I'm going to have her sleep for the next hour to let her body recover." Bella said as Skyka opened her eyes and Lindel flew out of eyes – rematerializing in front of them.

"Skyka can you levitate her again. I want to show the Queen what I did." Lindel said. Skyka did and gently rolled her over a couple of feet above her bed.

"The main problem was here." Lindel said pointing to what looked like the fifth vertebrae from the top of her head. "Something or somebody hit her hard. The disease that Skyka got rid of is what caused the rest to misalign. She would have been completely paralyzed within a year or so.

"Her back…her spine…it's completely straight…" The Queen said holding her hands on her daughter's back in shock. "Is she…I mean…will she…"

"She's completely fine now. Give her an hour or two to rest. She also had a small tumor in her stomach that I burned away. Did she complain about eating once in awhile?" Lindel asked. The Queen nodded in disbelief again.

"I bet she'll be swimming circles around you in a couple of hours. Now who is this Tyok…uh person. I didn't get a correct pronunciation of his name.

"Me…and the Queen is without her mighty trident. This is great…I can kill you and your daughter and I will rule…" The man said as he rambled on. Skyka released her shadow fiend and it began to devour on the man. It distracted his attention while Lindel floated over and put her evil banshee hand on his. Instantly he was overcome with fear. Lindel began sending shock after shock into his body until his body began shaking so violently it eventually exploded.

"Oops. Sorry about that." Lindel said as she started burning up the small pieces of naga flesh left.

"You saved my daughter's life. You saved my life and my daughters again; you avenged my daughter's assassin. I misjudged you…you may have anything you wish. Name it." The Queen said taking back her trident and bowing before them.

"No, please don't do that." Both Lindel and Skyka said in unison.

"I owe you…everything. Please I must repay you." The Queen said looking up at them.

"We need information about Deathwing, first and foremost. We have been commanded to kill him and bring his head to our King. You also mentioned earlier about armor and weapons, may we have a look?" Skyka asked.

"Certainly, come this way." The Queen said bursting through the door and began to swim away quickly. Lindel dematerialized herself and flew through the water and easily caught up with her. Skyka on the other hand lost them, however two guards grabbed her underneath her arms and quickly accelerated her through the water.

The Queen led them to a secured vault and opened it by pressing her hand against the lock. She then opened the door and led them in.

"Meridith said you were unfamiliar with pyrium. We have been making weapons out of that for years, not only that but some armor you may find useful." The Queen said showing them her collection. Skyka touched a robe and immediately felt the power flow through her veins and light her eyes.

"It is more powerful than what we have. May I respectfully request that we take one of each, possibly some plans on how you made these items, so we can engineer them for our fighters?" Skyka asked.

"These items are dear to us. I know you saved our lives, however we know little of each other." The Queen said sounding a little apprehensive.

"That is understandable. You need healers and we have the power to change your guards or even your citizens into healers. Are you open to negotiations?" Skyka asked.

"Of course, however I wish to keep some of the armor and weapons for our guards. As the guards proved their allegiance they are granted better armor and weapons. I would feel more comfortable if your workers came here and learned the skill as well as training our people how to heal." The Queen said.

"The first request is not a problem; the second is something I cannot do. We have powerful monks that need complete concentration and will not leave their chambers. That is their conditions, not mine." Skyka said.

The Queen saw the honesty in her face, she didn't exactly know what she was talking about, but knew she was telling the truth. The Queen sighed and said, "Why am I even negotiating…take what you want…"

"I respect the privacy and care for your kingdom. I assure you we are not a threat to you. We will take one of each item; the blue prints for the item and then return them. Lindel open a portal to Tranquil." Lindel started the process as Skyka continued, "My Queen, the process of becoming a priest, or any other class is a very painful journey for your guards. It will take three days per guard, if the monks have no other tasks to perform. Currently a member of our group is talking with them, I am unsure what about but it might take awhile. But I give you my word that we will see what we can do. Is that acceptable?"

"It is acceptable." The Queen said quickly, as she looked behind her at the door quickly and then back at them.

"I give you my word that we will only take 1 item and the blue print to make it. Go to your daughter. We will finish up and leave." Skyka said as Lindel had already gathered over a dozen unique items and the parchment it was inscribed on.

"Thank you…my gratitude and my hospitality towards new comers has been conflicting. I hope you do understand that I am in your debt for what you have done. Please excuse me I want to be with my daughter." The Queen said opening the door and then closed it behind her. Skyka hurried going through the armor and weapons and trying to match up the plans for each. Almost an hour passed before they were certain they had one of each and Lindel shut the portal to Tranquil. They quickly hugged before Lindel opened a portal back to Alan's house. Skyka walked back out to see that the Queen's daughter swimming around her. They grabbed each other's hands and spun around in circles, crying and laughing in joy. Skyka smiled at the sight and merely stood there to enjoy the moment. Eventually the Queen caught Skyka looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

"What do you call yourself again?" The Queen said embracing her child and slithering towards her.

"My name is Skyka, an ambassador of Tranquil and a holy priest. We have finished our business and I wanted to check up on her progress, but it seems as though my work here is done. Shall I leave this precious moment for you two to continue celebrating?"

"I want priests…whatever it takes, whatever the cost; I want the ability to heal. Our forces will survive much longer. Our battle is your battle now. Tell us when you want us to attack and we will be there." The Queen said.

"To become a priest, our monks essentially blast your body with powerful magic for about three days. It's very painful, but you will live through it. If that is what you want I can put in a request as we talked about." Skyka said.

"Whatever the cost…" The Queen said and grabbed her daughter against her chest and swam in circles.

"I will speak with my King as once. I am glad to have formed an alliance with you and your people today." Skyka said, but the Queen only heard bits and pieces of it as her child yelled in happiness and both of them shouted in joy.

"I must take my leave of absence now. I bid thee farewell." Skyka said and pulled out her hearthstone. The Queen and Bella looked at her with a big smile before Skyka disappeared into the portal and arrived back at Alan's house.

"How is she doing?" Lindel asked.

"Apparently woke up sooner than expected, I'm guessing her mother did that. However she is fully healed though. Makes you feel good inside doesn't it?" Skyka asked Lindel.

"Every single time. Makes me realize how much of an idiot I am sometimes. I curse myself for being a banshee, but the amount of good I've done has far out-weighed the bad. Easier to focus on the bad then good huh?" Lindel asked.

"Yeah" Skyka said and tossed her hearthstone in the middle of her sleeping party and laid down herself. Lindel did the same.

"Good night." Sammy said.

"This may not seem significant to you Sammy…but you may have turn the tides in our favor tonight. Thank you for staying awake tonight." Skyka said briefly opening her eyes and smiling at her. Sammy felt an overwhelming sense of pride and duty and smiled in return.

In Tranquil the leaders had convened with the King and spent hours going over battle strategies for defeating Deathwing. The scribes in the room wrote fast and drew diagrams about each battle plan – none of the ideas were dismissed. The Queen had settled into her chambers and fell asleep.

A little after two in the morning Dan and a monk entered the chambers. The King instantly saw them and hushed everybody in the room.

"I apologize for the intrusion my King." Dan said.

"If everybody were to apologize for intruding during this crucial time, we would be spending the next week doing nothing but apologizing. By the looks of it, something is important and needs my immediate attention." The King said and waved them in.

"My King, I have spoken with the monks a great deal and we have formulated a plan to increase the members of Tranquil's resistance to time stopping, and have found a significant advantage to our upcoming fight." Dan said. The King nodded and looked at the cloak covered monk and asked what the idea was.

"My King we have found a way to exit time. Dan tested it and it seems to work. What it does is instead of stopping time, it simply pulls the party out momentarily and then puts them back into battle, and exactly where they left off. The unfortunate part is we need to cast a spell that envelopes all of Tranquil. The pain will be intense, but brief. We cannot, and do not have the time to blast each individual fighter participating in this campaign." The monk said in a silent monotone voice.

"Do it. I'll recall all of our fighters into Tranquil at once. Kon go tell my ambassadors to get everybody back in here and then come back quickly." The King said.

"Yes my King." Kon said and raced out to tell the ambassadors.

"The reason for this, time shift, is what Dan is calling it is to recover mana and health for our fighters. We believe we can do it without drawing any attention to ourselves or to the people that periodically pull Dan from this plan of existence. Stopping time would be ill-advised because if Deathwing is as strong as the stories say he is he would slaughter all of the fighters not immune to it." The monk said.

"Also…as Herrior may have told you already…my powers as a shaman increased beyond that of any shaman. Herrior's has as well; I would advise that he tank Deathwing. I will take my leave of absence now my King; I do not wish to interrupt any further." Dan said.

"No, you stay. You may leave and begin the preparations to blast all of Tranquil, thank you for your participation again." The King said looking at the monk. The monk bowed his head and moved eerily out of the main hall. It looked like he didn't have any legs and just floated above the ground.

"The ambassadors are starting to withdraw all of our fighters into Tranquil. I estimate an hour and everybody will be in." Kon said running back into the presence of the King. The King nodded.

"Everybody stay silent, Dan…look over all of our plans and tell me what you think." The King said. Dan nodded and walked over to the scribes as they showed him document after document as to what was spoken of.

Silence fell over the room, nobody dared to moved or even breathe hard. One of the leaders sneezed and the King gave her a fierce look. The tense was indeed thick.

"He's made of rock and fire. He is a living elemental, obviously self-aware and not controlled. He is not a beast like that of a dragon. Huh…something just dawned on me." Dan said and paused for a moment. "Yeah that would probably kill him…the only problem being how many other little Deathwing's he has around the world, I'm sorry worlds. What of his followers? If we started slaying them would it attract him? I see no plan of drawing his attention. If we slaughter his followers and what he set into motion, he could probably care less and just simply start over on another world. That would not get us anywhere. How do we lure him to us?" Dan asked and turned around. Nobody thought of that idea surprisingly enough.

Dan started pacing back and forth for a minute and then asked if Ysera's dragons have been attacked yet.

The King pulled out his hearthstone and awoke Ysera and asked her.

"I hope not, why do you ask?" Ysera asked as she slowly woke herself up.

"May I?" Dan asked reaching forward for the hearthstone. The King nodded and gave him the hearthstone.

"Ysera, how many dragons do you command?" Dan asked.

"That is none of your business." Ysera said back sharply.

Dan shook his head and tried to think of another way to rephrase the question. "I'm sorry no I did not mean to ask it to judge the size of your army. We are thinking of ways to lure Deathwing to us. Have you seen him or any of the devastation in your area?"

"We have not seen him, where are you going with this?" Ysera asked still sounding upset.

"Here's a plan, that I haven't cleared with the King yet, but I wanted to ask for your support first. We bait him. We have our engineer's project images of fallen dragons and collect several evil artifacts, placing them in the middle to give off the aura that he seems to be attracted to. Once he takes notice, just like any other dragon or master looking to increase his arsenal, he will drop to the ground in an attempt to control the dragons, possibly look for another mate. At that time we'll need to bring in our air support and your dragons to disorient him, forcing him to the ground. Afterwards we'll engage him as well as our other allies that have pledged to fight beside us. The attacks will be a distraction as well…the main attack will be from the ground opening from beneath his feet, and an enormous land fall of rock slamming into him. Afterwards, he should have limited mobility. At that point I will unleash the elements upon him as our ground fighters reengage him. I must apologize for picking your land for the attack; however it is full of water, ice, and the perfect place for the ambush." Dan said and then took a deep breath.

Ysera just looked back at him and turned her head slightly giving him a confused look, as did all of the other leaders, including the King.

"Deathwing was never meant to live. His days are numbered, and that number is getting shorter as the days go on. We'll need to prep the land ahead of time though." Dan said.

"Give the hearthstone to your King." Ysera said. Dan complied and as soon as he handed it to him, the portal became scrambled as the King stuck his head through. They talked for only a couple of minutes. The King pulled his head back out and put his hearthstone away. He let out a sigh and said, "Let the preparations begin. Dan, if you do the main attacks on Deathwing, no tank in the world will keep his attention. You will be killed."

"Not the first time, probably won't be the last. However Deathwing won't have a clue as to what is happening. His focus will be on Herrior, not me." Dan said feeling confident.

"You're…holding out on something…" The King said.

"Yes my King. Ysera and her dragons will knock him to the ground, and as it says here…" Dan said pulling up a couple of charts, "There are electrified nets we can throw over him. The Kaluk's…I think is their name…can provide those. He will break through them, but not without getting pissed off – expending more energy as we continue to pummel him."

"And if he flies away?" The King asked.

"Oh, I have no plans of anybody being around when he is killed…merely to distract him, hurt him a little yes – but I need a ship capable of flying through space, and a very smart engineer. A little secret to ensure that when he does fly away a comet will smack him. As big and badass as he thinks he is, he is not invincible to the power of a million atomic bombs exploding and slamming him into the ground. That part I didn't want to tell Ysera is it might, well it probably will devastate her kingdom…" Dan said.

"I do not like that plan." The King said sounding frustrated.

"If you, Ysera, Cenarius and some other powerful leaders can shield her kingdom from the blast, I can delay the comet until he is over the fridge barren lands of Icecrown – where Herrior found Veliline. There are, from my understanding, enormous walls of stone and solid mountains." Dan paused for a second and said, "No…the comet will impale him and then splash into the ocean. No shields will be necessary." His voice sounded dark and sinister as it echoed throughout the room. The King looked at him in confusion.

"Do you think you will be able to generate enough power to shield her kingdom? The last thing I want is to piss her off…"

"Dan! What did you just say?" The King said rising up and walking towards him.

"I don't want to piss off Ysera and her kingdom?" Dan said nervously.

The King examined him closely. Dan asked what he was doing. The King then looked to both sides of him and everybody nodded at the question he put in their heads.

"Let's finish this. Dan, go find your engineer and get your rocket. Get a Chronomancer as foolish as you are to accompany you. Herrior you lead the attack. Choose your backup tanks and heal rotations. Afterwards I want our fortress avenged…kill anything that looks at you the wrong way." The King said walking back to his throne and sitting down. "In the morning after the monks have performed their ritual to our people, I want plans to begin at once. Do what Dan said, and what he doesn't remember saying. Report back as soon preparations are done. I'll contact Ysera and speak with her."

Dan looked at Herrior confused. Herrior put his hand on Dan's back and led him outside.

"Go perform your duties; I will see you for the celebration defeat." Herrior said and gently pushed him towards the direction of the engineering section of Tranquil.

"What did I say?" Dan asked. Herrior just shook his head at him and pulled out his hearthstone.

Sammy let out a scream again. This time it did scare her. It was several hours until day break and all of the hearthstones began vibrating violently.

"Wake up! Everybody wake up!" Sammy said quickly. Jacklyn was again the first one awake and her sword ready. She looked down and saw what Sammy saw.

"Shit…Let's go people. It's time to go play." Jacklyn said picking up her hearthstone. Herrior told her to bring everybody into Tranquil. They are beginning preparations for the attack against Deathwing.

"Sammy you are relieved of duty, thank you for your service. Lindel – portal us to Tranquil. Lew you, Alan, and Skyior stay here and write down the requests from the officers. We will attend to them later." Jacklyn said.

Once inside of Tranquil word quickly spread about the monks and the spell that they were going to cast over the city. Brenna said Dan was in the engineering section as Herrior caught up with his party.

"Going to battle, anybody wanna come?" Herrior asked with a smile. Everybody smiled and some cheered. He filled them in on the details.

"So Dan's going to sit this one out? Figures…" Mohania said grinning.

"After the monks blast the city, we're going to go to Ysera's kingdom and start preparing the land for battle. Many engineers are working intensely to get their contraptions done. Relax for the time being and make sure your armor and weapons are not damaged. I want full bellies, and soothed minds. I'm going to be main tanking. Veliline and Quinely you are going to be dps'ing. We're not going to kill Deathwing, just piss him off. In the words of the King, we need to find a Chronomancer as foolish as Dan is." Herrior said.

"I'm pretty foolish…I'll go meet up with Dan right now." Lindel said as she sprouted her wings and flew away.

"This is good news; she has finally come to terms with what we've known all along." Mohania said.

"Deathwing is composed of fire, so fire spells will probably not work on him. We need him weakened as much as we can, and heal the shit out of me. We have four other tanks lined up if I fall in combat. Do anything you can do to distract him, keep his attention. That's it for now, any questions?" Herrior asked. Mohania was about to speak when Herrior said, "Any questions relating to our mission?"

"Rats…" Mohania said.

"So we're not going to kill him?" Branzer asked.

"He is to powerful. If he does fall during our attacks than that would be great, but that is not the plan.

Suddenly the kingdom of Tranquil became pitch black and bolts of lightning shot out, hitting every person in Tranquil.

"This is normal…argh…a little warning next time!" Herrior said fell to the ground in pain. Screams of the citizens of Tranquil and cries could be heard. Twenty seconds later the darkness left and a burst of light nearly blinded everybody. It renewed everybody's strength and soothed all of the crying.

"So what's going on?" Mohania asked unaffected by what just happened.

"The monks put together a spell to enhance our abilities against time stopping. Also our fighters somehow will be able to shift out of time…that part I did not understand at all." Herrior said.

"Only with a strong enough power source. I'll be able to shift us a couple of times, but I'm going to have my hands full." Dan said landing next to them on his dragon with Lindel behind him with her arms around his stomach.

"I'm going to drop my totems at where I hope you guys are going to be fighting Deathwing. Then I need to go do my business." Dan said.

"Are we sticking to the plan?" Herrior asked.

"Definitely, but as for now I want to say my goodbyes. Don't any of you go dying on me now." Dan said and smiled at his party.

"Likewise…see you on the battlefield." Herrior said. Dan nodded. He turned his glance to Crystal and smile and mouthed the words, "I love you" to her. She said it back, but his dragon had taken flight back to the engineering section.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and asked for a Chronomancer to send them to the land of the Dragonflights. Half of the primary fighting groups in Tranquil left to do battle.

Ysera met up with them and instructed the groups the exact position where they started laying the bait and digging the trenches. Ysera's dragon kin and newly acquired night elves were already working; her dragons were nowhere to be seen. The Tranquil fighters immediately set off to help with the jobs.

Two days of working finished their work. The ambush was set. The engineers of Tranquil put their projectors in place and fresh meat enhanced with dragon pheromones was added. The fighters than sat under a series of rock cliffs, except for the ones that could stealth or turn invisible.

Almost half a day passed until they heard the deafening screech of Deathwing approaching. Nobody could see him yet, but all of them readied their weapons in anticipation.

Then as if a falling star was flying towards them, an enormous cloud of fire and smoke sailed through the air and landed in the pit with a thunderous crash. Deathwing was much bigger than they first anticipated, but Herrior held his position until the traps were released.

"What kind of trickery is this?" Deathwing's voice filled the air, and then the electrified nets were released. They flew through the air and grabbed a hold of anything part of Deathwing that they could and wrapped themselves around it, whether it was a feather, leg, or part of his rocked plated armor. Deathwing merely chuckled and said, "What is this?"

Ysera's dragon's then sailed through the air at enormous speeds, catching Deathwing off-guard. He was knocked to the ground. They then retreated as fast as they had come in. Herrior then let out his battle cry and engaged Deathwing.

"Annoying runts! The time for mortals is over!" Deathwing said as his beak came down at Herrior. Herrior's shield took the blunt of the force, but still badly injured him. The heals from the group started pouring in and Herrior and everybody began attacking fiercely. Deathwing began to erupt in anger, sending molten blasts of lava everywhere. He took a deep breath and fire erupted from his mouth. Everybody saw it coming and jumped out of the way. Herrior jumped back into the battle and threw his weapon at Deathwing and then slamming him hard with his shield.

Dan flew in on his dragon and dropped his totems, and then flew all the way around to the opposite side of Deathwing and the attacks. The totems energized everybody, making them stronger, cast and attack faster, improved their resistances to fire, and regenerated their mana and health quicker.

Dan jumped off his dragon and told him to get back several hundred yards, but be ready to pick him up. He then turned around and saw the battle unfold below him. He held his hands up into the sky and said, "I'm ready."

Dan then clenched his fists and quickly brought in huge rain clouds that pelted Deathwing, extinguishing parts of his body. Lightning then filled the air, pelting Deathwing repeated dozens of times. Deathwing let out a fierce cry of pain and fell to the ground. Then, as planned, Mohania ran ahead of Herrior and opened the ground underneath one of Deathwing's hands struggling to keep him up. Deathwing fell into the ground and Mohania slammed the ground shut.

"Haa haa…take that!" Mohania said. Deathwing screamed in rage, pulling his arm out of the ground and looking around to take in his surroundings.

"He did it…" Mohania said pointing to Herrior and running back into his spot. Herrior ran forward to reengage him. Deathwing took in a deep breath and was prepared to wipe out the entire party when this time it was different. He sucked in enormous chunks of rock. Deathwing began to gag on them.

"Target his throat!" Herrior commanded as he continued to have his body healed from the brutal attacks.

Deathwing finally spit the rocks out of his throat. He began to walk forward to trample them, but found that he could not penetrate their armor. The constant onslaught of spells and attacks was weakening him, and as predicted he spread his wings to take flight. Suddenly a large spiked rock fell from the sky and slammed into Deathwing. The blast knocked him to the ground, as well as everybody else attacking.

In the next couple of seconds, everybody struggled to get back on their feet as the healers worked quickly to heal everybody back up. Deathwing's body erupted with a thunderous blast of fire, melting the rock and screamed out, "Who did that? There are no giants of metal men on this world!"

"I did…come and get me…" Dan yelled out as he held his hand forward and an enormous wall of water poured over the walls and instantly created huge clouds of steam as it hit Deathwing. The water pushed Herrior and the rest of the fighters away.

Dan ran back and hoped on his dragon and commanded it to fly as fast as it could. Deathwing tried to take flight and made a clumsy snap at them as they flew over. Deathwing crawled up the canyon walls and tried to take flight. His power had diminished, but he eventually took to the air and began to follow Dan.

"Are we following them?" One of the tanks asked when suddenly an enormous meteor thundered through the air and landed dead square on Deathwing's back. The noise was tremendous, but loud cracking and screaming could be heard. All of them took cover under the shelter of the ledges to protect themselves from the fallen debris.

Dan's dragon flew as fast as he could upwards as the meteor crashed into Deathwing below them. The meteor carried Deathwing many miles away and eventually crash into a series of spiked rocks pointing at Deathwing. He was impaled many times, but the meteor continued to carry him through the rock wall and slammed into the ocean. The impact it produced was enormous. Dan watched the explosion at a height that so high that he was in danger of hypothermia and could barely breathe. Dan then flew away from the impact and down towards warmer air.

The waters were sucked down with Deathwing as the meteor hit the bottom of the ocean. The water was pushed away in all directions, filling Icecrown and causing enormous tidal waves to shoot out in every direction, then almost as quickly the water rushed back to fill in the hole. Dan estimated that the waters would take days to calm themselves, but either way there was no way he was going to land here.

"Lindel, can you confirm that he is dead?" Dan asked in his mind. A light breeze flew over Dan's head as it flew into the water, not making a splash. A long minute later Lindel reported back that Deathwing's body was shattered all over the bottom of the ocean. She also regretted to say that Deathwing's head was nowhere to be seen, but judging by the enormous crater it was probably obliterated.

"Rats…the King wanted that. Can you go get our engineer in space and tell him it is safe to land?" Dan asked.

"Sure will." Lindel said as she shot out of the water and disappeared into the skies in almost an instant. Dan reached down and patted his dragon and asked him how he was doing.

"Excited…and tired…" The dragon said back.

"Ok, let's head back." Dan said as they flew to Herrior. There were all awaiting the arrival and crowed around Dan.

"He's dead." Dan said calmly as the fighters erupted in cheer. Dan jumped off his dragon and patted it again and smiled at him. He then turned to Herrior and saw that he took a severe beating.

"Are you sure?" Herrior asked.

"Lindel reported that she couldn't find his head, but she did find tiny pieces of him all over the bottom of the ocean." Dan yelled so that Herrior could hear him over all of the cheering.

"Rats…the King wanted that…" Herrior said with a hint of frustration and looking off towards the explosion. Dan smiled and chuckled.

"Should we send dive teams to go check?" Herrior asked. Dan shook his head.

"The water out there is very unstable. Icecrown is nearly flooded right now. It will be prime beach front property within the next couple of days. Ysera and her dragons flew overhead to go investigate what happened. Hundreds of them flying in perfect formation, they nearly blotted out the sun.

"They are probably after the same prize we are after." Herrior said, paused for a second and then said, "…or want to make sure he is dead. Also you are about to get tackled…"

"Huh…hmmph…" Dan mumbled and fell to the ground as Crystal straddled him.

"We did it! We did it! He is dead!" Crystal said cheering.

"Yes…yes…he is dead…" Dan said smiling and holding in the pain as Crystal jumped up and down on his stomach. Herrior's group gathered together and started cheering. Strings started singing praises of the victory.

One of the leaders, presumably, had contacted the King. The King created a portal and stepped out of it. He smiled at the victory and at the pride his fighters had. He knew they had a lot of cleaning up to do, but with their advisory dead it would be much simpler. Eventually a hush fell over the crowd as the King began to speak.

"Well done. Well done indeed. Our opponent is dead and that is what we set out to accomplish. By the looks of our armor and weapons, we need to be working on getting improvements. I can tell by some of your shock faces that you were not able to decapitate Deathwing. That is alright my friends, I sense his death. Ysera is coming back and has confirmed the same. You may all return to Tranquil and begin preparations for the celebrations for the days to follow. I am well pleased with all of you, you have won a great victory and you deserve the honor that has befallen upon you. Take pride in what you have done, but do not boast one another. I will see you all soon my friends." The King said and the roar of cheering resumed even louder. The King smiled and started clapping for them.

Portals were made and everybody started to head back to Tranquil. Dan walked up to the King and asked if he had any questions. The King shook his head and told him to go celebrate, and to love that wife of his.

"He will…I will make sure of that!" Crystal said jumping on his back. The King laughed and watched everybody leave except for the leaders, as was tradition to stay behind during a battle to debrief the King.

"Did the plan go as Dan suggested?"

"No entirely. His 'time shift', whatever he called it never happened that I saw." One of the blood elf leaders said. The King nodded in agreement, but suspected that it did happen unknowingly to him.

"Ysera is returning with her dragons. Let's greet them." The King said walking forward.

Ysera's magnificence radiated as she landed in her dragon form, and then transformed into her human form.

"It's dead, your plan worked. I must say I was a bit apprehensive about fighting the beast in my kingdom…however several unexpected benefits arose from this. We now have a channel dug, and a deep crater filled with water for my dragons to drink from. Also…Icecrown has been nearly completely destroyed. The water is receding, but with water comes life and renewal. It can be used as a new hatchery for my dragons. I must admit though, your fighters fought bravely, and had Deathwing escaped, my dragons would have brought him back down to the ground. Neither of our factions suffered any losses – almost as if the elements themselves reached out to help us. May I make a guess as to who was responsible?" Ysera asked smiling.

The King shook his head and said, "I don't think so. Dan had a lot of help and very careful planning, not to mention all of the preparation that it took. All he did was fight, the same as any other fighter did. We discussed the plan and took every precaution. The earth does not like to be tortured though. If given the chance to fight back, it would have snapped Deathwing in two before we even knew he existed. Everything fights evil, whether or not it wins – it continues to fight. It was an honor to have our forces fight side-by-side once again. We are going to go attempt to restore balance on the lands that were devastated by Deathwing…also many of our people were taken prisoner and are still being beaten. Many things lie ahead of us. I have already sent a group of assassins to assist the scouts. On a side note, we have befriended a group of naga that are very intent on seeking revenge."

"Interesting. The naga have never come to our aid. I wonder what is to become of this. If it is alright with you, I would like several of my companions to accompany your fighters in Tranquil to join in the celebrations. We also have some armor and plans your builders might be interested in." Ysera said.

"It would be my honor." The King said and ripped a portal open and held out his arm to escort Ysera through. Ysera motioned to the King to wait a second and spoken to her dragons in their language. Many of them flew back to their palace, while several dozen transformed into their human form and followed Ysera and the King into Tranquil.


	23. Repairs and Rebuilding

Repairs and Rebuilding

Once inside of Tranquil, Ysera asked if she might leave the presence of his majesty and drink with the rest of his fighters. The King bowed and thanked her again for her help. She bowed to him and the King turned to walk towards his throne room.

"Take our weapons, armor and designs to their engineering department. Give it to somebody up there, or just leave it in a pile. I do not want any disturbances while we are here. I want both of you to seek out the King's ambassadors and speak with them. I want to build our friendship. The rest of you I want to take shifts reporting back to our palace. I want to know how the land is going to react to the death of Deathwing. Stay for an hour and then return. Report any disturbances to me immediately." Ysera whispered to her followers. They all acknowledged their duties, and a fake cough sounded behind her. Ysera smiled and turned around.

"Oh, sorry…I have a cold, or a rock stuck in my throat or something. I didn't mean to interrupt. I would be honored though if I may have this dance?" Strings asked. Ysera walked seductively up to Strings and wrapped her arms around his head and passionately kissed him. Everybody began to hoot and holler.

"It's alright everybody; I was trying to get the rock unstuck from his throat…" Ysera said and waved at the crowd. They erupted in laughter as Strings blushed. He hadn't expected Ysera to do that.

"But yes my love, I would love a dance. Have you ever danced with dragon royalty member before?" Ysera grinned and placed her body up against his putting one arm around his back and one holding his hand off to the side.

"No…I…am…" Strings said fumbling his words.

"Speechless?" Ysera asked backing away. "A bard is speechless? How can this be? Perhaps I shall dance with another bard that is better with the words that soothe my ears?"

"No my Queen, I am just shocked." Strings said with a smile.

"Ysera…call me Ysera…" Ysera said walking back up to Strings and resumed their dancing posture. She laid her head on Strings's chest and said, "Among all of this celebration, many things run through my mind. You are a good distraction for me. You entertain me, and make me feel warm and loved. Tell me a story."

"Yes Ysera. This story happened long ago about a bard that was completely shocked by the beauty of a Queen and her actions." Strings said with a smile.

"How does it end?" Ysera asked looking up into his eyes.

"Happily ever after…I pray that it does…" Strings said.

"Me too" Ysera said and leaned back up against Strings and quietly said, "Me too" again.

"Ah…young love. Aint it great!" Quinely said in a loving voice to her party around her.

"She's older than all of us Quinely." Herrior said, but Quinely saw some other druids and ran off to talk with them.

"Still easily distracted…" Skyka said hanging on to Herrior's arm.

"Did you guys see Icis? She was helping with the healing." Jacklyn stated.

"No I did not, I wish I knew that. I would have stopped to talk to her." Herrior said.

"I only saw her briefly when we were ducking for cover. She seemed to be doing ok." Jacklyn said as one of Ysera's dragonkin walked up to Jacklyn and asked for a dance. Jacklyn immediately said no.

"It seems we taught her well. If I may compliment Jessica as well; Skyka trained her well and she proved herself in combat. No." Jacklyn said as another tauren walked up to her.

Branzer raised his eyebrows and looked at Jacklyn.

"Yes?" Jacklyn asked.

"Nothing, just wondered if you could say that word…" Branzer said smiling at her.

"Funny…" Jacklyn smirked back. Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate.

"Hello?" Skyior asked unsure if it was working.

"Hi my favorite worgen, how are things going?"

"So far Alan, I and Sammy have all gone door to door speaking with the officers. We've talked to about half…I think, and none of them want to leave. It just seems like the jackass is causing the riot. I suspect something is up. Shall I hunt him down and shred him up?" Skyior asked.

Herrior smiled and calmly said "No that is not needed. Alan is not at his clinic?"

"No, he figured this was more important. Also Sammy seems very sleepy, but she is struggling to do her job. We have two guards that are currently stationed at our outpost. They are setting up some more defensive countermeasures, and began their patrol. Shall I continue to interview the people?" Skyior said seeming sort of scatter-brained.

"Go find this man and stealth your way for the rest of the day following him and collecting information. Pickpocket anything that may seem useful, and take notes of anything suspicious – however do not attack him." Herrior said.

"Sounds good to me," Skyior said with a grin.

"Thanks for the update. Have fun." Herrior said and put his hearthstone away.

"That is too bad that she cannot be here and see this." Bernett said holding Jeffery, who had grown a year older over the past couple of months. His intelligence seemed to rise exponentially as each day passed, and his ability to socialize was better than Bernett's was during his first couple of times in Tranquil.

"She is where she needs to be. She might someday be in Tranquil, or someday she might spend her days sewing and mending shirts…who knows..." Herrior said.

"Mohania and Kendall seem to be having fun, only this time they are dancing and not igniting people on fire…" Dan said pointing at them.

"It's good to see that." Herrior said with happiness in his tone. "I suspect…I might be wrong, but I think Kendall will eventually join our group in the future."

"What makes you think that?" Dan asked.

"My boy…you may hold secrets that you cannot share, but I've been alive a lot longer than you and have secrets of my own…" Herrior said smiling at Dan out of the corner of his eye.

"How large is our group going to be?" Julie asked.

"Julie." Spark added.

"Are you going to start planning our group and their roles and talents?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…no?" Julie responded with a giggle. She then added, "Sorry about being the only geek among you guys, but I get off on that stuff."

"There are better ways of getting off…" Crystal said, but Julie yelled back playfully, "Oh shut up, you know what I mean… Spark go get something entertaining and bring it back."

Spark barked at the command and started running away.

"So what's your excuse? Where is the man hanging on your arm?" Crystal asked turning her back to her and asking to borrow a bone from a lamb and turned to her and smiled.

"I swear I will kick your ass if you do what I think you are going to do with that." Julie said with a firm tone but snickering in her voice.

Spark arrived back with a tall black tauren with a gold ring through his nose; Spark playfully had him in his arm.

"Spark no! Bad Spark, I am so sorry." Julie said quickly pulling Spark away from the tauren.

"Spark…apparently had something important to show me. Is there something important for me to see?" The tauren asked.

"Hmm…tall dark and handsome - Julie was just going to do something with this bone." Crystal said quickly shoving it into her stomach.

"Thank you for the compliment. Julie, what are you going to do with this bone?" The tauren asked. Julie was laughing so hard though she couldn't talk. She waved her hand and threw the bone away. Spark ran off to fetch it.

"Julie wanted something somebody to dance with." Crystal said pushing her into the enormous tauren.

"It would be my honor; you are an exceedingly beautiful woman." The tauren said gently pulling Julie away from him and taking her arms. Julie was surprised at the answer and realized that she couldn't back away from this…also she would have to figure out a way of getting Crystal back.

"So tell me my new dance partner. If somebody played a joke on you and it annoyed you, what would you do to get them back?" Julie asked and then glared over her shoulder.

"I would be honest with them, tell them how I felt." The tauren said and then gently turned her head back around to look into his eyes. "Afterwards, I would forget about it and fall into the arms of a beautiful woman and dance with her all night."

Julie's mind again turned to the tauren and she turned red in embarrassment. Spark ran up with the bone and jumped on the tauren and said, "Julie".

"Of course, I would include her pet dog. He looks like a faithful companion, a true friend through thick and thin. I have many of course, as do many in Tranquil, but none with eyes that twinkle like yours do." The tauren said.

"Uh…" Julie replied looking back at the tauren completely forgetting about Crystal, until she yelled out, "Way to hit a homerun with that reply you Star Wars geek!" and burst into laughter.

Julie again her face turned red and looked off to the side. The tauren gently pulled her face back so he could look into her eyes. "Quite the friend you have there. You two must be in the same party. A lot of the people in parties become very close, which is same because there are so many more people in Tranquil. If you want I would like to introduce you to some of my closer friends, but right now I like this moment and I'm trying to memorize every inch of your face for my dreams tonight."

"Wow…he's a real smooth talker…" Crystal said and then smacked Dan over the head and said, "Why don't you say things like that to me?" Herrior and Skyka laughed. Lindel materialized in front of them with a big grin and asked if she perhaps missed anything significant happened.

Skyka sighed and shook her head as she said, "How much did you pay him?"

"Nothing…I mean, I have no idea what any of you are talking about. Oh look, Julie found a dancing partner. That's odd…" Lindel said sounding as innocent as she could.

Herrior this time shook his head and glanced away from Lindel. He saw something that caught his interest.

"Skyka, what do you make of that?" Herrior said leaning his head towards Trackolania looking confused at Julie, not noticing Herrior and Skyka looking at him. They saw him let out a sigh and then slowly turned around.

"Oopsie…" Lindel said quickly. She quickly flew above everybody and landed beside him and began to explain the situation to him.

"Do you think our group is too big, or do you think we just have too many troublemakers in our group?" Herrior asked.

"As long as they fight on the battlefield…everything else is just entertainment. Don't worry about it my love." Skyka said as she saw Lindel quickly explaining the situation to Trackolania. "Each one of our members have a gift…not that anybody else doesn't in Tranquil, but our leader with his tender heart has a habit of taking in those that are lost, confused, and have a good spirit. Our leader just needs to loosen up a little and let things develop. You know they have proven themselves in combat – let whatever else happens happen."

"This leader sounds very intelligent and brave with a deep sincerity for his party…" Herrior said smiling at her.

"All except for the intelligent part…" Skyka said and tickled his ribs. Afterwards they joined the party.

Ysera and her dragonkin only stayed for the rest of the night, and then they returned home. However the singing, dancing, and cheering went on for several days. The children of Tranquil didn't fully understand why everybody was so excited, but they enjoyed the commotion as they ran around with the other children and playing a variety of games, and the hunter's pets.

Herrior excused himself and wanted to check up on the naga and with Skyior. First he contacted Skyior and she told him that the man was in fact a traitor and being paid to gather information about their group. She also explained that several others were in on it as well.

"As I suspected, are they going after Sammy and Alan as well?" Herrior asked.

"Unfortunately yes, however Sammy and Alan are covering their tracks very well. I spoke with those two regularly and apparently they have been doing this for awhile. I trust them." Skyior said.

"As do I. What are the traitors planning on doing?" Herrior asked.

"They claim they go to work, but instead they go to building in a wide open field with several long brick-like walkways…only they are much wider and vehicles fly and land on them. They meet with several people wearing blue and black suits. I have names, but more importantly they are setting up a trap for you guys. Do you want me to kill them?" Skyior asked.

"Humans…no you will have a chance to kill them later. How are you doing on poisons for your blades?" Herrior asked.

"I only have a couple of vials left. I haven't fought anybody yet, and during my reconnaissance missions I didn't want to jeopardize my location by asking for more. I assure you, none of them are aware of me." Skyior said.

Herrior nodded and said to expect them soon. He told her that they didn't want to keep them waiting to attempt their trap on them. He also asked if they had finished talking to the rest of the officers.

"Yes, I have complete reports for that. Many of them wish to go to warmer climates, a couple of them want to 'go north' – and some of them want to go to different count-ree's, I think is how you pronounce it. But twenty two families wish to stay, but are worried about being found out." Skyior said.

"Assure them that they are safe. How is Lew doing?" Herrior asked.

"He's right beside me. He seems ok. We've been spending a lot of time in our hidden outpost and taking turns with our patrols and guarding Alan and Sammy's house." Skyior said.

"Good, tell him I said 'Hi' and we'll be there soon." Herrior said and closed his hearthstone. Herrior then thought of Lindel and told her to meet up with him. Several seconds passed and a whoosh of wind blew Herrior's fur backwards as Lindel materialized in front of him.

"Open a portal to the old Dragonmaw fortress and go investigate what is happening. Report back to me when you are done." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and began to open a portal. Herrior walked past her and scanned the people of Tranquil exhausted, many of which were sleeping on the streets.

"Excellent party don't you think?" Brenna asked walking up to Herrior.

"Not thinking about the party right now. We have trouble brewing and I need a way to terminate the threat without causing too much commotion. I also need to debate whether I should give out hearthstones to people I trust, but not entirely." Herrior said telling her what she was thinking.

"So you can keep in touch with them? Who don't you trust?" Brenna asked.

"Humans…" Herrior mumbled.

"Ah…" Brenna said. They stood there for a moment and a thought suddenly came to Brenna. "Did you say that they had another form of communication? Phones or something?"

Herrior's eyebrow rose at that thought. He had forgotten that the officers had used them quite a bit.

"Good idea. Disperse the trust officers, but have them stay in touch at least once every thirty days, unless something suspicious comes up. Sammy could coordinate that, or a trusted person that works for Alan. Problem one solved." Herrior said.

"How many more problems are there?" Brenna asked.

"The humans are laying a trap for us and could jeopardize our mission on that planet. Same as any other race, dangle a shiny thing in their face and they constantly try to reach for it…" Herrior said closing his eyes slightly.

"A bit rough of a statement there don't you think? Not all races are like that Herrior." Brenna said.

Herrior shook his head and apologized. "I just grow tired of knit-picking, and betrayal. Normally I would just slice his head off and call it good…but just like the other jackass that we trusted, we had to kill him and many others – putting the rest of the officer's lives at risk. It would be easier to just hand him over to Mohania to torture his ass…"

"Who and when can I start?" Mohania said perking up. Herrior didn't realize he was sleeping next to Kendall right by his side.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Herrior asked with a grin.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead…now then should I go prepare for the arrival of one person, or…persons?" Mohania asked.

"Mohania, you are dead…" Herrior said.

"Undead – there is a difference, now then…" Mohania said sounding eager.

"Calm yourself Mohania. You'll get your chance." Herrior said and then smiled and said, "If things go as I think they will you'll have several chances. Now go back to sleep."

"How can I now? I haven't tortured anybody in days. I've made new devices that need testing…I've got…oh I feel so gitty!" Mohania said jumping into the air and clicking his heels together.

"Settle down hun, you're going to wake your wife." Brenna said.

"Too late…" Kendall said letting out a sigh.

"Go be with your wife." Herrior said.

"But the torturing?" Mohania asked.

"Is that more important than me?" Kendall asked opening her left eye.

"No?" Mohania said sounding more like a question. Kendall, lying on her back with her arms covering her chest, had her left hand come down and pat the area beside her. Mohania looked quickly back at Herrior, who pushed him towards where Kendall was motioning Mohania.

"He's still got his charm…" Brenna said as both she and Herrior walked away. Kendall let out a quick snicker of laughter and then they fell asleep again.

"Would you mind if we have some tea and biscuits?" Herrior asked Brenna.

"Not at all; have some more stuff on your mind?" Brenna asked.

"Always…" Herrior said sounding exhausted. Brenna wrapped her arm around his and gave it a brief squeeze. Trackolania appeared in front of them and had a questioning look on his face and shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course you can come. Got something on your mind as well?" Brenna asked. Trackolania nodded and sighed.

"Is this about what Lindel did?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded in response.

"Did she apologize and make things right?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania held up one finger and nodded. He held up two fingers and shook his head.

"Gottcha." Herrior said.

"Problems with a woman eh?" Brenna asked with a smile. Normally anybody who didn't know Herrior's party that well wouldn't have known that, but Brenna was keeping close tabs on them.

"I've got something that'll perk you right up then!" Brenna said enthusiastically.

"Is it torturing somebody?" Mohania practically yelled, followed by many people "shushing" him.

Brenna led them to her house and both of them took a seat as Brenna began humming a favorite hymn to aloud.

"Well Trackolania, I've got a couple of decisions I have to make. Maybe you can help me out with them. As you know we have a group of assassins and scouts snooping around the old Dragonmaw lands. We also have naga who are probably eagerly awaiting our return to build their armies and seek revenge for Deathwing's destruction. Skyka says they want healers, but I'm not sure if our monks have ever blasted a naga before…and I'm not too keen on the idea of scraping off what's left of the naga and returning it to them – not real good blowing up your newly acquired friends… Skyior is reporting that several of the officers are betraying us and laying a trap. That I'm looking forward to." Herrior said. Trackolania smiled as he pulled his dagger out and twirled the deadly sharp blade on his finger.

"Oh that reminds me, Skyior is low on poisons for her weapons. Do you think you could get some extra to give to her?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded as he flicked his dagger into the air and fell into its leather sheath with such precision that he didn't even check to see if it landed correctly in the sheath on his belt.

"We have several new weapon and armor pieces being constructed…well after all of Tranquil is rested. One of the items is a double-bladed throwing knife for you." Herrior said and Trackolania quickly pulled out his crossbow and shook his head.

"That's fine. Nobody has to take any of them; you may want to at least have a look at them first though. Thanks Brenna." Herrior said as she set down two cups for him and Trackolania. Then she went back to begin baking her bread.

Trackolania took a sip and then pulled out a piece of thin parchment and motioned for something to write on. Herrior asked Brenna, and she came over with a well used feather and half a jar of ink.

"I take it you want to tell me something you don't want anybody else to see?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"I'll be upstairs. I've got some work to get done up there anyways, let me know when fifteen minutes are up and then I'll need one of you to take out the bread." Brenna said climbing up the stairs.

Trackolania wrote the name "Julie" with a question mark after it. Herrior nodded knowing fully what he meant.

"You've taken a liking to her huh? Then you saw her dancing with another tauren and he was wooing her with her words. I don't know what Lindel said, or why Spark brought back the tauren, but I know none of that was meant to hurt your feelings. What did Lindel say?" Herrior said and Trackolania responded with opening and closing his hand in a talking motion and rolled his eyes.

"Sounds normal…" Herrior said with a smile. "Have you talked to Julie?" Trackolania shook his hands causally as if saying "Would it really matter?"

"I disagree. She is the one that showed interest in you first. From what I saw you weren't for the idea in the first place…however hurts to have two people lose lack of interest in you huh? I think last night won't lead to anything though. She's a fighter in a primary group, and he is learning to become a farmer. Fighting beside somebody builds a stronger bond. I'd forget about it, and give her a gift this morning. Go to our treasury and find something nice for her." Herrior said.

Trackolania thought about it for a moment and then pretended to write something on the paper and shrugged his shoulders to Herrior.

"That would be fine. You do realize that being a rogue of your commitment, it is going to be hard to, uh, communicate with her?" Herrior asked. Trackolania sighed in agreement.

"Skyior's a rogue, what's the difference between you and her?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania held up his finger as if to explain the difference. He looked around the room and opened the open, drew his daggers faster than the blink of an eye and tossed the cooked bread in the middle of the table as he shut the oven door. He walked back over and sat down on the table. Trackolania cut off a small chuck of bread, almost the size of a crumb and passed it over to Herrior. Trackolania then pulled the rest of the loaf over and held it in his lap.

"I see…" Herrior said getting a glimpse into the life of a rogue as deeply committed as the rest of the rogue's were. "Skyior does know the basics though doesn't she?" Trackolania nodded, but he pulled out one of his blades as he set down his loaf. He tip-toed across the room and then pretended to slit somebody's throat. He then looked at Herrior and shook his head.

Herrior then had a scared look come over his face. "I sent her to spy on the humans and obtain their plans…is her life in danger?"

Trackolania put away his dagger and thought about it for awhile. He bit his lip slightly unsure about the answer.

"Shit…that's the last thing we need…" Herrior said jumping from the table and pulling out his hearthstone. He summoned Lindel and told her to come to them immediately. Seconds later Lindel arrived and saw Trackolania. She motioned to say something, but Herrior quickly spun her around to face him.

"Skyior's life might be in danger. Create a portal to Alan's house and let's go. The three of us can track her down. Also burn up that piece of parchment." Herrior said pointing to the table. Lindel held out her hand as it disappeared in a puff of smoke and she began channeling her power into creating a portal.

"Thanks for the tea and bread Brenna – also thanks for not listening to us." Herrior called out.

"No problem, any time." Brenna said back.

The three of them arrived in Alan's house. It was the middle of the night.

"Let's head out to the outpost, I don't want to wake up Alan and Sammy. Lindel go find Skyior quickly." Herrior whispered. Lindel turned invisible and flew out of the house. Herrior and Trackolania walked outside and entered the outpost. As they entered Lew became surprised and grabbed his gun.

"We have to get you something stronger than that. Where is Skyior?" Herrior asked casually pushing the gun away.

"She's on the mission you told her to go on. She wouldn't tell me." Lew said.

"This is not good…do you have the list of the humans that are going to betray us?" Herrior asked quickly.

"Yes, of course. Lew said putting his magnum in its holster and pulling out the list of documents they put together. He handed it to Herrior, "The bottom twenty highlighted in yellow, the bottom one in red is the one you want I believe."

"Good, is he in his house this night?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know…do you want me to go check?" Lew asked.

"Yes…" Herrior said sarcastically with obvious aggravation in his voice. Lew immediately ran out of the hidden outpost and sprinted off to the man's house with Herrior and Trackolania right behind him.

"The two story, third house on the left." Lew said pointing at the house after they entered the community and ran down several roads.

"Trackolania, go!" Herrior ordered as Trackolania faded from view. They saw the lock on the door briefly jiggle as the door opened and closed.

"What's going on?" Lew asked trying to catch his breath.

"Right now we are waiting. If anything comes out the front door other than Trackolania or me, shoot it." Herrior said as he ran behind the house to investigate any other exit from the house. Lew drew his magnum and positioned himself behind a bush as he flicked the safety off.

A minute later Trackolania reappeared out the front door. Lew lowered his gun and pointed to the back of the house. Trackolania sprinted to the back of the house with such speed that all he saw was a faint blur. Also he didn't make a sound when he moved.

"Damn…that boy is fast…" Lew said aloud. Seconds later they both came out from behind the house. Trackolania walked, but expected something to attack them at any moment. Herrior looked like he was talking to himself. They walked up to Lew as Herrior continued his conversation, apparently with nobody.

"Do what you can, make some distractions…make something blow up, I don't care. We'll be there as soon as we can. Lew do you still have your vehicle the goblins built for a couple of you?" Herrior asked looking at Lew.

"Of course, it's hidden right now. I have it parked behind Alan's house." Lew said.

"Great, let's go." Herrior said interrupting him and began running again.

Lew pumped his legs as hard as he could, making a mental note to start running more often. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We think Skyior's in trouble. She's stealthed and gathering intelligence for us, but Lindel believes they are on to her. I need you to take us to a place called Orion private airport." Herrior said.

"I don't know where that is…" Lew said trying to catch his breath.

"The vehicle will. I'm assuming you have driven it a couple of times so you will drive. Trackolania once we get there go find Skyior. I want you in the middle of the battle. I will enter the building demolishing anything in my way." Herrior said casually to Trackolania. He nodded back.

"What do I do?" Lew asked.

"Stay in the vehicle and stay low. I don't want anything or anybody to see you." Herrior said.

"Will I eventually go into battle with you someday?" Lew asked almost completely exhausted. Herrior picked him up with one arm around his stomach and increased his speed.

"Yes, but not tonight. I need you to follow orders. Our monks can transform you, but they are busy doing other things." Herrior said.

"Sorry about being out of shape…" Lew said.

"Once you are transformed your new armor will increases your stats exponentially more than what you have now. Now is not the time for apologizes though. Where is the vehicle?" Herrior said rounding the corner of the house.

"Unstealth, start." Lew said as the large hummer looking vehicle appeared and its engine roared to life. Lew ran over to the driver's seat and jumped in. He looked behind him and saw that Herrior and Trackolania were already in.

"Locate Orion private airport." Lew said.

"Located, coordinated inputted. Do you wish to drive manually?" The vehicle responded back.

"Yes." Lew said as he grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and moved onto the road and went blazing down the road.

On the way there, they passed a police car that instantly put his lights on and tried to catch up to him.

"Well that's annoying…he's going to wake people up at this time of the night." Herrior said casually looking behind them.

"Great…how am I supposed to talk my way out of this one?" Lew said.

"An enemy vehicle has been detected, engaging evasive maneuvers." The vehicle said. The vehicle went from one hundred miles an hour to three hundred and large amounts of black smoke bellowed from behind it. The police car saw the car vanish in the puff of smoke as he drove into it. The smoke filled his lungs and he began choking and gasping for air. He quickly turned his cruiser around and drove out of it. The officer pulled off the side of the road and saw the black cloud hover for several more seconds and then instantly vanish up into the atmosphere.

"What exactly just happened?" Lew asked.

"Manual driving is too erratic, switching to automatic driving." The vehicle said as it burst forward another hundred miles an hour, swerving in and out of other cars – even jumping over several over them.

"How long until we arrive?" Herrior asked.

"Approximately thirty six seconds." The vehicle said back in its female goblin voice.

"When we are ten seconds away, enter stealth mode and then release driving to Lew." Herrior said.

"Unauthorized command. All commands must come from my master." The vehicle said back.

"Do what he just said." Lew said.

"Acknowledged. Entering stealth mode in ten seconds." The vehicle said.

The vehicle slowed down to one fourth of its speed, as Lew grabbed the wheel again.

"Holy shit…this thing is fast!" Lew said astonished trying to take in what just happened in the last couple of minutes.

"Silence please. Talking is not advised in stealth mode." The vehicle said. Lew slowed the vehicle down as he gently shook his head at the thought of being disciplined by his own car.

The airport was silent as the invisible hummer drove up to a building with its lights on and twinkles of light coming down onto the roof. Lew parked the vehicle as Herrior and Trackolania jumped out, seeming to materialize out of nowhere. Trackolania quickly made himself disappear as he slipped into the hanger unnoticed. Lindel stopped producing the twinkles of light and instantly mind-linked everybody.

"Skyior, this is Herrior. Trackolania and Lindel are here. We need you to leave quickly!"

Skyior jumped at the sudden voice in her head and slammed her head up against a table she was hiding under. The contents of it came crashing down as Trackolania quickly grabbed her and raced for the door, but not before a barrage of gun fire erupted at the table.

"Hold your fire, what moved that table?" One of the men said as he walked forward to investigate it. Suddenly a very cold breeze came down on everybody in the hanger, chilling everybody to the bone. This bought time for Skyior and Trackolania time to escape unnoticed. The three of them raced for the vehicle and as soon as they were in, Lew slammed the transmission, or whatever it was, into reverse and quickly left the scene.

"I've got the chills. What's going on?" The same man said looking around. He kicked the table aside and found no evidence of anybody there.

"Ghosts probably…I've been watching this show…" Another man started to say.

"Shut up. Go search the perimeter. I'm going to get on the line and tell them we had an incident."

Lindel pulled herself back together and materialized above the building. She created a portal and entered the vehicle.

"What happened? Why was I pulled out?" Skyior asked.

"We think they have been tracking you." Herrior said.

"Impossible, I've been covering my tracks and being very careful." Skyior said almost insulted.

"I'm sure you were. What intelligence have you gathered?" Herrior asked switching subjects.

"There's a large group of alliance promising a large reward for our capture. They have bounty hunters looking specifically for our group…they called me a vicious talking wolf that devours children – can you believe that?" Skyior asked.

"Lovely. Where are the alliance at?" Herrior asked

"I could not get that information. None of them would say; they have been just talking into small black devices. I doubt they really know. But I do know that there is a nationwide search for you guys." Skyior said.

"You mean us." Lew added. Herrior nodded in acknowledgement. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted one of the engineers that helped construct the village for the officers.

"Does that town have stealth technology?" Herrior asked.

"Of course…like we would build something…"

"Can you blow it up?" Herrior asked cutting her off.

"Sure, I can go get the self-destruct…it's over on our shelf with all of the other self-destruct buttons. It will take me a minute to get there." The goblin engineer said and began running to the shelf.

"Not yet. I just need to know what our options are." Herrior said.

"But if you do want it blown up, can I be the one to do it?" The goblin engineer asked.

"Uh…sure. Ok thanks." Herrior said closing the portal the hearthstone made and putting it back in his pocket.

"Engineer's always that excited to blow up their contraptions?" Lew asked.

"I have no idea. Skyior what have you and Lew gathered? Where is this trap supposed to be?" Herrior asked.

"From what I've gathered they are going to take pictures and videos of our community, I stole all of those things and they are stashed in our outpost. They then changed their plan and then planned the uprising, trying to get more people on their side. Next they are going to kidnap several children and notify only the parents. If they take their own pictures and expose us then their children will not be killed." Skyior said.

"Kid-napping…bunch of back-stabbing bastards! Herrior, permission to turn this thing around and blow up the building!" Lew said angrily.

"Lew, if you are going to be part of our group you have to understand, very quickly, that I am the leader and I make the call…not you. I am in the process of gathering information and will make an informed decision later. A frontal assault can almost always be avoided. This is the only time I will tell you this…the next time you interrupt I will lock you in our cells in Tranquil. Now go on Skyior."

"Sorry" Lew said quietly.

"They are going to be holding them hostage at the same hanger; however that may have changed now." Skyior said.

"It may…I will have to meditate on all of this before I seek the King's console. Did they say which children they will be taking hostage?" Herrior asked calmly.

"No, I was hoping to get that information as well. Why was I pulled out so quickly?" Skyior asked again.

"You did your job. I need you to rest now. Even our scouts are pulled to rest and regenerate their strength. Also I was worried about you. You have the abilities of a rogue, but our scouts and assassins are better at that. I need you for combat more than reconnaissance. However if it is any consolation, you did a great job."

"We're going into battle?" Skyior asked enthusiastically.

"As soon as I develop a plan. I need you and Lew to show me everything. Then I will order our group to slowly warn each officer that is loyal and start evacuating them. Everything seems to be falling into place." Herrior said going into deep thought.

Lew flew past the same officer doing one hundred and fifty. The officer motioned to put his lights back on, but decided not to this time. Lew parked his vehicle as everybody exited and Herrior ordered Lindel and Trackolania to go back to Tranquil and get some rest. Herrior, Lew and Skyior walked into the outpost and walked down the stairs. Herrior told the guards to expect a possible attack.

"Good…give us some excitement…" A blood elf warrior said with a smile.

Lew and Skyior handed paper after paper to Herrior as he browsed through them. He also looked at the pictures and videos.

After several hours Herrior looked exhausted mentally but had all of the information he needed. "You two work very well together. I'm going into Alan's house and going to rest, I advise that you follow and let the guards do the attacking if something happens."

The three of them walked into the morning sunlight as all of them flinched and rubbed their eyes. They staggered into Alan's house and saw Sammy cooking breakfast.

"Hello? How long have you guys been here?" Sammy asked.

"Forever…do you have any coffee?" Lew asked with a smile. Sammy pointed to the coffee machine and Lew immediately began making himself a pot.

"I need time to meditate and develop a plan. We have been betrayed and I need a quiet place. Do you mind if I go sleep in the room you gave me before?" Herrior asked.

"Of course. Are we in danger?"

"You and Alan aren't, we are…it's nothing new though, we're always in danger of something threatening to kill us…" Herrior said at a failed attempt at making a joke with a smile on his face as he started up the stairs.

"May I sleep above ground?" Skyior asked.

"Absolutely, here let me show you where the couch is." Sammy said setting down her spatula and taking her into the living room. Skyior laid down on it and instantly went to sleep.

"What happened last night?" Sammy asked Lew.

"I got yelled at and I think I broke five or six different laws…I lost count. Other than that, I'm not sure what else I can tell you. Is there another couch?" Lew said holding his glass of coffee with a smile.

"No, usually Herrior's group sleeps on the floor. You can have our bed though; it's up the stairs, down the hall and to the right." Sammy said.

"Coffee and a warm bed…you have no idea how wonderful this is." Lew said and made his way to the staircase.

"Do you want me to bring you the rest of the coffee?" Sammy asked as he staggered up the stairs.

"Please. If I'm sleeping, just dump it down my throat." Lew said walking up the stairs.

A full day passed as Herrior's party found out where their missing members were and arrived behind the house. Sammy explained what happened, to the best of her knowledge. Jacklyn nodded and said to let them sleep but she had a feeling Herrior was awake. She requested permission to go to his room, something of which their group never did before but were trying to be more respectful of Alan and Sammy. She agreed and Jacklyn quietly made her way up there. Jacklyn was wrong; Herrior's snoring could be heard even with the door shut. She opened it slightly and saw that he was lying on his side and a big puddle of drool was collecting on his pillow. She shut the door and came back down.

"Your husband is in his best form as always." Jacklyn said smiling at Skyka.

"I can only imagine…" Skyka said smiling back. Skyka turned to Sammy and asked if they could do anything.

"I need to go shopping, especially if all of you are going to be hanging around for awhile…are you going to be around for awhile?" Sammy asked.

"I'm not sure what our next move is. Usually when Herrior senses trouble he leaps right on it, taking only those that are with him along. Was there a personal reason he came perhaps?" Skyka asked.

"I only know that they were very tired, came in looking like they had ran around all night and Lew mentioned that he broke several laws. Normally I would think he was kidding, but being with you guys he's probably right." Sammy said with a smile at the end.

"Your laws are annoying." Jacklyn said quickly. "Quinely go take to the air and see if you can overhear on anything interesting. Hunters go do the same. Lindel keep all of them in contact with each other to relay any important information. Don't forget to activate your trinkets…" Jacklyn ended looking at Mohania.

"What? I haven't done anything wrong in…actually I've been really good lately." Mohania said surprising himself.

"Sammy do you have cable out here?" Jessica asked.

Sammy nodded and said they could watch anything they wanted.

"Mohania, there's a couple of movies that I think might give you some additional ideas on torturing people." Jessica said looking over the remote and turning on the TV.

"I doubt it…" Mohania said but perking up his interest.

"It's not Star Wars, but I was thinking about the Saw movie series…excluding the first one of course, not the best. We'll start with the second one. It has to do with a group of people trapped in a room and they have to make it through this 'fun house' of sorts in order to save their lives. Slowly, one at a time each one is killed as the others watch. The panic escalates as more traps are released and some of them are watching others being slowly tortured. Oh – and there's individual traps that each person has to do and the other person's life hangs in the balance. If they fail, they watch their loved one slowly die." Jessica said.

"Interest perking a little, still it doesn't sound like anything I haven't done before." Mohania said walking over to the television.

"I can't stomach those kinds of movies, I'll be outside." Dan said.

"Yeah, you two have fun." Crystal said following Dan out.

"I coming as well, I don't do horror movies…I've seen enough of that in the past year. Oh and just a suggestion, show him the movie where the guy cuts off the top part of a man's skull, cuts off a piece of his brain, cooks it up and makes him eat it." Branzer said.

"That's impossible…" Mohania said quickly but then stopped to think about it and smiled.

"There was that one movie where everybody in the jail cells died and a man was forced to eat another dead man's leg in order to live…" Branzer said.

"Waste of good food…" Mohania said.

"Ah – here it is…I promise you'll like this." Jessica said eagerly.

Sammy walked out with the rest of them and asked if she could talk to them for a bit. Nobody seemed to have a problem with it and they walked to the empty barn in the back.

"What's going on in my barn?" Sammy asked.

"Our blacksmiths, engineers, leatherworkers, and tailors are back to work today dropping off new armor for us. We figured that was a safe place to put them." Jacklyn said.

Sammy shook her head to get that thought out of her head and asked the question that was bugging her, "Why does Herrior bring in somebody like Jessica when somebody like…Lew I guess you are calling him, has much more experience at fighting?"

"It's not the experience we care about, it's the heart. People who are full of pride and stubbornness about how great they are are usually the ones that rebel and not follow orders. Anybody can be taught to fight, it's the heart and the feelings the person has that we are interested in." Jacklyn said.

"We've already lost too many of our leaders and fighters that way…" Skyka said in a low tone.

"He chooses who he wants as well as other leaders. If he doesn't want somebody in our group or doesn't like how they are acting, he lets them know. If they don't change he has them removed from the party. The last thing we need is unnecessary deaths, especially having them go through the length of time needed to convert their body to become a fighter by the monks. Until recently the amount of time to convert was a minimum of three days, Dan of course being the exception. Hopefully they are finding…less painful ways of doing it." Jacklyn said.

"Also, he's not immune to time stopping. In order to become one of us and to fight in actual combat it is recommended that you are immune to alliance and demonic possessions, which both you and Alan went through, become a fighter, and become immune to time stopping. Recently Dan found out how to alter our bodies to become immune to the alliance versions of time stopping." Skyka said.

"Umm…I didn't really do much…I barely understood what that dumbass said, let alone his chicken-scratch intertwined with his porno-mags." Dan said.

"You probably had more understanding of what he was talking about than the rest of us." Skyka responded back. Dan shrugged and half nodded in response.

"So…when my husband and I were blasted, is that what I need to do to become…eh…like one of you?" Sammy asked.

"No, that only lasted a couple of minutes. The pain is the same intensity, only it lasts for three days." Jacklyn said and added, "And that's only if you are recommended by a leader, and if the monks think they can do it without blowing you to smithereens. It is a horrible, painful, and not an honorable death. Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity I guess, so anything else going on in my house or barn, or our office that I should know about?" Sammy said as she cleared her throat and started swinging her arms in an effort to release tension.

"Sammy…" Skyka said as she smiled and walked up to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry we are taking over your household. We can move if you desire. We are not trying to annoy you and I'm sorry this is hard for you. There is no threat to you or Alan and if there is we can protect you faster than anything else on this planet. The war is not here, and there doesn't need to be a war inside of you either." Skyka whispered into her ear.

"No, I'm fine." Sammy said backing away and holding back tears. "You know, save the universe and all...just happy to help."

"Do you want to go on a vacation of a life time?" Skyka asked.

"Who will take care of the house, all of the people that comes and goes in my house without me knowing…hell most of the time I don't know if I come around the corner if I should be surprised to see one of you…and if I do see one if you, you usually talk about battle and then you leave and hopefully the world continues to exist – and what if I never hear from you…what then? Is the world doomed to some gigantic demonic force that will mercilessly devour everything?" Sammy asked. It was obvious that staying up all night and the stress had been getting to her. Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and contacted an ambassador. She asked if she could speak with Brenna. The ambassador said he would send for her at once.

"Brenna is a dear friend of ours. Believe it or not, you and she are in the same position. You think the same thoughts, the same worries – but it is needless worries. I will send you to go spend some time with her. A visit in Tranquil would be good for you anyways. Take time to slumber if need be. Go pack some clothes if you wish, but anything you don't bring we can have made for you. I will tell Alan what is going on. Everything will be fine." Skyka said as she put Sammy's hand in-between hers.

Skyka's hearthstone began to vibrate and put her finger on the stone. The portal opened and Brenna's face shown through the portal.

"Yes my dear?" Brenna asked smiling.

"Brenna, I need a special favor. I have a dear friend named Sammy that needs some special attention that only you can help with." Skyka said.

"Oh, you mean Alan's wife?" Brenna asked.

"Yes, she needs to relax and she worries about the future and our party." Skyka said.

"I can certainly relate to that. Send her on over, we'll have some fun." Brenna said. Skyka looked up at Sammy and raised her eyebrows.

Sammy sighed and looked back at her house.

"It will still be there when you come back, I promise." Skyka said.

"Ok" Sammy said and turned back to Skyka.

"Lindel?" Skyka asked.

"Already opened. She'll be arriving inside of Brenna's house." Lindel said.

"Oops, should I go and greet her then?" Brenna asked in the portal. Skyka nodded and thanked her. Brenna said they owed her a lot more thanks, but it's a start as she winked at her and closed the portal.

Skyka took Sammy's hand and escorted her through the portal and stayed with her until Brenna came back to her house.

"Hello! Sorry, I'm out of breath. I need to move my house closer to the ambassadors of the King…I'm Brenna! I take care of them when they are here…but secretly I think they are all a pain in the ass. Have a seat and I'll make us some tea that will wake up your taste buds." Brenna said excitedly.

"She'll take good care of you Sammy. Let her know when you want to come back and she'll find a Chronomancer to send you back to your house." Skyka said walking back through the portal. Sammy looked around the house as the portal closed. Before she could form a thought though, Brenna asked her to come over and give her a hand.

"I had this simmering all day so it might be a bit strong, here use this spoon and see what you think." Brenna said diving a wooden spoon right into the kettle and holding it up to her mouth. Sammy smelled it and it instantly filled her body with wonderful senses. She sipped it and it lit up every taste bud she had and her body felt stronger than it ever did before.

"A little strong? I can make another batch…" Brenna said.

"No it's wonderful! What is it?" Sammy said in excitement.

Brenna looked in it in confusion. "You know…I'm not sure. Anyways, let's go sit and chit-chat." Brenna said with a big smile pouring two cups full and leading her over to the table.

Skyka came back and said Sammy was being taken care of.

"She's in good hands. Now where were we?" Skyka asked.

"I'm eager to get a hold of our new equipment, probably the same as the rest of us. One of us should probably go let Alan know what's going on – also I'm debating whether or not to wake Herrior. If something is going to happen he is the one that is going to lead us into battle." Jacklyn said.

"I'll go talk to Alan; you get the equipment and meet you in the house. We also need to make sure Mohania doesn't corrupt Jessica too much." Skyka said.

"Or vice versa, those movies were pretty gory." Crystal said smiling.

"How many of those did they make?" Dan asked as the conversation faded away. Skyka walked through the back door and heard Mohania laughing hysterically.

"Wait wait…do that thing again…pause it and rewind it!" Mohania said laughing hysterically. Jessica was laughing at Mohania and looked up at Skyka with an unsure look.

"It's supposed to be a horror movie, not a comedy…" Jessica said smiling.

"Hush…ok push play, I want to hear them screaming and whining right before the other person dies…" Mohania said staring intently at the screen.

"Herrior, Lew, and Skyior and sleeping through this?" Skyka asked.

"No, Skyior went upstairs to one of the rooms. I heard some walking around I think…" Jessica said before Mohania burst into laughter again and begged Jessica to do the same thing again.

"I'll go find out what's happening, then I'll need to go speak with Alan. I'm glad you and Mohania have found a…common interest…" Skyka said smiling at Mohania laughing so hard that if he had eyes he probably would have been crying. Skyka stepped over Mohania's body and walked up the stairs. She opened Alan's bedroom and found it empty. She opened the opposite door and found all three of them.

"We're plotting Mohania's death…come on in…" Herrior said as he rubbed his head between his horns.

Skyka smiled as she began to cast healing spells on all three of them.

"Sammy almost became hysterical so I sent her to Tranquil with Brenna. Give her a nice break from all of the commotion. I am going to go tell Alan. New armor is arriving for us in the barn. Do you have any plans for us?" Skyka asked. Another round of hard laughing came from Mohania stopped everybody from talking for awhile. After he settled back down Herrior said, "We're going to have to divide our group up. We have several tasks to accomplish today. Let's head out." Herrior said rising to his feet.

The walked down the stairs and Herrior said to stop it. Jessica shut off the television. Mohania tried to compose himself as best as he could.

"Let's head out." Herrior said as he walked by Mohania shaking his head.

They all went into the back barn and started replacing their armor and weapons.

"A sword that heals me?" Herrior asked looking it over.

"Only slightly. I would still suggest having a healer with you." One of the tauren blacksmiths said as she gathered up the old armor. "Your abilities should all be enhanced. You might want to test them out before you use them."

"We'll have the chance today." Herrior said branding his new armor; each piece increasing his health, armor, and stamina at least ten-fold. The rest of the party seemed to have the same reaction as well.

"Where did all of this come from?" Herrior asked.

"Some we designed, some came from the plans Skyka obtained, some from Ysera – and others we took the best ideas out of all of them and combined them. We're also using Dan's trick of mixing the metals with alchemy and producing better results than he was before…no offense." The tauren said quickly to Dan.

"None taken." Herrior responded as he finished by putting on his new helmet. He removed his old trinket and put it on his new chest piece. He pressed it and turned into a human that looked like a professional business man. "I like my other look…"

"Our scouts are reporting that this is more appropriate for this world. People will look to you with more respect, the same for the rest of you. Remember it only creates the illusion, the armor spikes sticking out can still impale an unsuspecting human." The tauren explained.

"Good…two blades." Jacklyn said raising them up into the air. Herrior looked at her and as they exchanged glances Herrior smiled.

"Don't get me wrong, Julie had a good idea…but…" Jacklyn said and then looked at her.

"It looks good Jacklyn. But I want to see you doing more damage with those in battle." Herrior said.

"That I can promise!" Jacklyn said smiling and tossing them behind her as they immediately attached themselves to her back chest plate.

"Word has it that all of your talent trees have become vastly more powerful and much simpler. You didn't hear that from me though…" The tauren said tossing the rest of the armor through the portal.

"Good. For the time being though let's go discuss our plan in the outpost. Skyka you will be going with Veliline but for now go speak with Alan. Lew I want you at the house. Skyior I want you to come with me." Herrior said beginning to walk out.

"What do you want me to do at the house?" Lew questioned.

"Make sure it doesn't move…" Herrior said sounding annoyed.

"Where's my armor and weapons…aren't I going with you?" Lew questioned again. Herrior charged at him knocking him to the ground. He picked him up and threw him the entire distance to the house. He landed and rolled several times before slamming into the house.

Herrior than jumped in the air and landed inches from Lew and picked him up and slammed him against the house. "I'm the leader! If I say watch the house, you watch the house! If I say you shoot somebody, you shoot somebody. If I say shove your hand up your ass and pull your guts out, you do that! You do not question an order! I have not decided to give you armor or weapons yet, when I was a young tauren I killed thirty wolves with a dagger and a wooden shield and I was just starting my training. Be resourceful, prove yourself, and follow my damn orders or you are going to end up somewhere very unpleasant!" Herrior screamed in his bloody and broken face. Herrior then threw him at Skyka's feet and told her to heal him. Skyka began to channel a powerful healing spell and seconds later an enormous blast of light slammed into his body, completely healing it.

"Now…get on your feet and watch the house!" Herrior said pointing at the house. Lew rose to his feet and walked into the house feeling the weight of every eye watching him.

As soon as the door was shut Herrior asked if he was too harsh with him. Mohania began explaining several different methods that he could have used, but Skyka smiled and said he was fine.

They all marched into the outpost and saw a male and female blood elf talking back and forth – obviously having some feelings for each other. They both saw Herrior and nodded at him as they explained they haven't seen any activity.

"Excellent. We won't bother you too long. Skyior, Trackolania, Lindel, Julie, Mohania and Jessica you will be coming with me. I want you three stealthed the whole time and hidden as much as you can. The rest of you I'm sending you to meet up with the naga to help free the slaves. They are newly formed allies so I want all of you to help them out as much as you can. Save some of the slaves and captors for Mohania to interrogate. Bernett you might have to help heal. Skyka do group healing…I don't want any of the naga to die. You are our main link to them right now so you will be in charge. Destroy every last living thing that attacks you. You know how I feel about slavery…" Herrior said giving her a stern look. She nodded.

"The rest of us are going to fall into a trap and see where it takes us. Lindel, send them on their way." Herrior said. Lindel stood from her kneeling position and formed a portal. She then began channeling her power into it as it began larger. Skyka's party left and Herrior told the rest of them to activate their trinkets.

"Crap…Alan. Damn I hate loose ends. Skyka was supposed to talk to him. Alright the rest of you disappear into the woods, forty feet in and forty feet away from the entrance and I will go speak with him." Herrior said as he got up to leave.

Mohania and Jessica were the only ones seen moving across the grass as Herrior rushed towards the clinic.

Herrior walked in and was immediately met with two security guards and a large rectangle shaped door he was asked to go through.

"I need to speak with Alan immediately. It is concerning his wife." Herrior said.

"Nobody gets in without being screen for weapons, now would through the metal detector.

Herrior looked at the door and eyed it up and down. He walked into it and his armor immediately set off a series of alarms. He continued to walk through it and the entire door got stuck on his armor and completely collapsed as he went through.

"There, now can I speak with Alan?" Herrior asked. Both guards had pulled out their guns and aimed them at Herrior as both of them were calling for backup.

"I'm not here to fight; I suggest you lower your weapons…" Herrior said firmly walking into the guns and leaning down in their faces.

"What's going on out there?" Alan's voice came booming from an intercom behind the desk.

"Alan its Herrior. I need to speak with you about your wife."

"Herrior? Is she ok?" Alan asked frantically.

"Sammy is fine. She is in our city for a day or two. Now tell your guards to lower their weapons before I rip their arms off." Herrior said.

There was a brief pause as Alan took in all of the information. Herrior and his party were the only ones to call his wife Sammy. Their city probably meant Tranquil.

"False alarm guys. Everything is fine. Do what Herrior says." Alan said quickly.

"Are you sure boss?" The guards said lowering their weapons.

"Yes…just a misunderstanding. Call off all of the alarms. Everything is fine, and if Herrior hasn't ripped off your arms yet put your weapons!" Alan said quickly.

Herrior let out a big smile at them as they holstered their weapons.

"Sorry sir, just a misunderstanding…" One of the guards said and called off the reinforcements. Herrior then left and ran towards the meeting spot in the woods.

"Little trouble?" Julie's voice said coming from in front of him, but still invisible.

"Apparently they don't like taurens…ok as far as anybody knows only three of us came in the woods. I doubt if anybody watched or tracked us. Trackolania unstealth yourself and activate your trinket, you to Julie." As they reappeared Herrior began explaining his plan.

"Mohania I need you to cast a spell on us. Make us look like children. Lindel, you and Skyior get as many children in their houses as fast as you can, go right now!" Herrior commanded. Mohania began to conjure up the spell and at the end of it Herrior, Trackolania, Julie, Mohania and Jessica turned into children.

"How long can you keep up these illusions?" Herrior asked.

"Much longer than before…if you want how many hours I don't know…probably ten times as long." Mohania said looking like a six year old boy.

"We won't need it that long. Ok, now let's run towards the man's house where he is going to kidnap us. If he takes other children, we'll free them when he isn't looking. When I point out the target, do childish things to piss him off. Let's go." Herrior said as the five illusions of children immerged from the woods and began running towards the man's house. Along the way they used their regular voices and told their parents that their children are in danger and need to stay in their house for the rest of the day. Herrior said that Skyior and Lindel had already done the majority of the town. Herrior guessed that Lindel was using her telepathic abilities to tell their parents.

"Here is the house. Ok let's play like children." Herrior said.

"Rodger that…" Mohania said igniting his bush on fire. Just as Herrior was about ready to tell him not to, a large stone crashed into the bay window. It didn't leave a mark, but it definitely left a resonating sound.

"I'll find another rock…" Julie said as Jessica winded up and threw the next one.

"What are you guys doing?" Herrior asked.

"Being children…what did you do as a child?" Jessica asked as the next stone made a "tink" sound as it bounced off the front door.

"I never threw rocks…" Herrior said.

"Oh! Does anybody have a paper bag? We'll fill it with crap and lit it on fire. Then we'll knock on the door and run away. That would be hilarious!" Julie said.

"I could just light his house on fire…that would be funnier!" Mohania said enthusiastically.

"No…you're missing the point…" Julie said. The front door burst open and the man began to curse at the kids and told them to get lost.

"Kiss my ass old man!" Herrior called out.

"Why you little runt…" The traitor pulled out his gun as several other men came out with guns as well.

"That smells like ass…have you been shoving it in and out of each other's assess?" Julie asked.

"Get inside! You are in so much trouble!" The man yelled. The kids marched quickly into the house and Herrior immediately ran over to the television and pushed it on the ground.

"Television is scary, I don't like it…" Herrior said imitating a child. The rest took the hint and scattered to start destroying things.

The other men eventually rounded up the children without harming them and tied them all together. They had to try several times because Herrior's armor kept cutting through the ropes.

"I can tie a better knot with my dick…I bet you have a dick and take turns pissing on each other." Herrior said as the man drew his hand back to smack him. Herrior looked at him with a big anticipating smile.

"Don't harm them! They are of no use to us hurt…yet. Thanks to these little brats we are ahead of schedule." The man said with a slight devious tone.

"My mom is on her schedule and she and her dad can't have sex. Are you on the same schedule? Are you dripping blood out of your vagina?" Julie said and all of the children began to laugh.

"I am going to take great pleasure in gutting you undisciplined brats!" The man said.

"And I'm going to piss on the floor." Herrior said as he began to wet himself.

"Pull the truck around. Pick up any other…pieces of filth along the way." The man said.

"You look old. Do your balls hit the floor when you shower? I bet you have leaky nipples too huh?" Jessica asked. Everybody began to laugh and some said "eww…"

"By the end of the day, I will video tape cutting each and every one of your tongues out…" The man said looking at them. The "children" continued to mock their captors.

Outside two of the men spotted two more children. They each split up to go get them as hostages. The man running towards the twelve year old girl on the right was suddenly tripped by something. He got back up and a blast of what he thought was dirt was thrown into his eyes. He couldn't see anything as he frantically tried to wipe away the compound. Moments later the girl had disappeared.

The man that tried to capture the eight year old boy had the same trouble. He heard his mother out frantically calling for him but the man was positive he would be able to retrieve him before she intervened. The man started to run when suddenly he felt his heart stop beating. He looked down at his chest in surprise as his body fell to the ground. The man's heart started beating frantically again to attempt to resupply blood back to his body. The man quickly assessed his situation and determined he was fine, but the last glimpse that he saw of the boy he swore he saw him flying around a house and out of sight. He shook it off as just a figment of his imagination and rose to his feet to report back.

By now Herrior's party had willingly, and excitedly ran into the back of the van. The rope securing them had frayed enough against their armor that it fell off again. Their captors didn't seem to care though; their cargo was safely secured in the back of the truck. The truck's engine revved up as another vehicle took the lead. Lindel grabbed Skyior and flew her to the top of the truck. Skyior pulled out her dagger and quickly made a circle big enough for her to fall through where she met up with the others.

"Well that was fun." Jessica said excitedly.

"Lindel, if they attempt to communicate with anybody I want you to listen in and report back." Herrior said.

"On it boss." Lindel said disappearing and flying through the front of the compartment.

"Everybody else look through these boxes and tell me what you find." Herrior said as he snapped several boards in half and began tearing apart the box next to him. In the time that it took everybody to open one, Skyior had over a dozen opened.

"Looks like some spy equipment, several faked newspapers, video equipment, and the rest are bombs and guns." Julie said looking them over pausing for just a second. "A couple of M-16's, Carbine's, two M-24's…somebody is going to be sniping, and the rest are just your run of the mill M-9's or standard issue civilian handguns. Should I disarm them?"

"Sniping…" Herrior said waiting for an explanation.

"There are two of our captors that are going to be watching us from a distance and be able to put a hole in our head from several hundred yards away easily; long distant accurate gun." Julie explained showing how the gun worked.

"You know, this is pretty low…capturing children and taking them hostage…" Herrior said still in disbelief.

"Shall I ignite them now?" Mohania asked sounding cheery.

"Normally I would assume alliance involvement, but they were too sloppy and under confident. Fear and uncertainty reek from their flesh. Killing them now is not an option; I want to see where we are going and who we are going to meet." Herrior said.

Lindel flew back into the cabin and materialized. "We're going to the same airport. From what I was able to gather, without actually entering their minds, they have no intention of letting us live. They will make their demands of exposing us, show proof that the creatures of supernatural abilities exist and once 'We' show up, they will threaten us with killing the children, exposing the officers and their families. They are going to strap explosives to us for assurance. Then negotiations for our powers will then begin. They will force us to display our powers and auction us off to the highest bidder. People from several different countries will be there to place their bid…sort of like we do when the very last fighter is left and all of us want to be the last one to kill him or her." Lindel explained.

Herrior nodded in acknowledgement and said "We're going to have to ride this one out. Mohania my guess is that your illusions will not work, and your stealth Skyior will be useless. Julie start moving all of the explosives to the front of the truck. Once we get there, I want you out first, stealthed and move out as fast as you can and get as far away as possible. Lindel how's your power levels?"

"Fine, I've been slowly absorbing from the humans to replenish myself." Lindel said.

"That'a girl!" Mohania said sound proudly.

"Mohania I will need you to create several different illusions besides ourselves. Are you still able to control a succubus?" Herrior asked.

"Please…" Mohania said sounding cocky and began to chant the spell needed to summon one. As the succubus appeared it let out a hiss and then vanished into the air.

"What the hell was that?" Jessica asked sounding very surprised.

"Never mind, once we get to the location, order her to take control of a human. Offer to sell us out for significantly less than what they are offering. That will create a distraction for us as Julie gets into position. Once we arrive, Lindel you will tell us when, Mohania I will need you to create your illusions again and we'll all run in different directions – being devious children again. When they try to round us up, Julie you will fire and blow up the explosives in the truck along with all of the equipment that they plan to us to blackmail us with. At that point all of us will run for cover in one of the buildings." Herrior said finishing up his plan.

Julie slightly raised her hand and coughed slightly.

"Yes?"

"Herrior they have sniping rifles. They are still in the box along with the ammunition. If I were them I would have them setup way before the arrival. These rifles are not used for small arms fire…" Julie said as Herrior interrupted her.

"I understand, give me a moment…" Herrior said deep in thought. He turned to Mohania and asked if the succubus could control the driver through the walls of the truck. Mohania shook his head and said it had to be line of sight. Herrior nodded.

"Lindel go search their minds and thoughts and find out who's in charge and report back to me." Herrior said. Lindel disappeared and quickly flew through the front of the truck.

Herrior sighed and said, "Well it sounded like a good plan anyways. Guess we'll have to improvise…any suggestions?"

Meanwhile Skyka's party had engaged in battle, and a bitter dispute was arising.

"Branzer, get your bear on the Ettin's coming from the right! Veliline and Quinely I don't want to see any more slip through our lines! Stop these bastards from interrupting my spells at all costs. Bernett – a little help healing would be appreciated!"

"It wouldn't be this way if you had given us the power of healing as you promised…" The naga commander said as he gave his own orders. Both groups had different strategies and techniques for fighting, which compromised each other's vulnerabilities.

"The monks are not ready yet, we have not turned down our promise. It is not as simple as waving a magic wand…if you want to keep your naga from dying order them to fall into formation with our group…" Skyka said and began channeling a hymn, blasting out healing to everybody within the area, including the naga. She saw over a dozen naga die, ones that she desperately tried to heal.

"Why don't you keep signing your little hymn…keep us all alive…" The naga said.

"I can't. I have the power to heal only if I have the mana to do so. When I run out, we're going to all drop like flies. Tell your ranged to get into formation and closer." Skyka said dropping a lightwell in the middle of Veliline and Quinely.

"Create another one and give it to us!"

"I can't! I cannot heal entire battalions on the battlefield! I'm focusing all of my efforts on our tanks for now and not making any headway. Concentrate your forces on a single target at a time and if they fall into formation with us they will be healed by the lightwell." Skyka said.

"And get pummeled by the enormous boulders they are throwing at us? No thanks…" The naga commander said.

"Dan is blasting as many of them as he can. Branzer freeze some of those, heal your dumbass bear! You will not let your tank die!" Skyka yelled at him.

"Pull your army back and fight them from the waters…they will be in our element and we'll have the advantage!" The commander yelled at Skyka.

"We're air-breathers. Our traps and area of attacks work differently underwater, it would not work to our advantage!" Skyka snapped back tossing off heal after heal. Crystal summoned another infernal that dropped from the sky, knocking many of the attacks to the ground. The infernal rose to its feet and began attack and burning everything around it. The infernal only last roughly twenty seconds until it was killed. Veliline summoned her army of ghouls and ordered them into the battle as often as she could as well. Neither the ogres nor ettins were affected by the onslaught. It was enough to buy time to help with the healing.

"Your magic falls you…" The commander said.

"Your warriors are dying. Let's set aside our differences and fight together." Skyka said calling out she needed to replenish her mana as Veliline and Quinely hardened themselves, repelling many of the attacks as she recited another hymn.

"Our warriors weaken the longer they are out of water. This attack is getting us nowhere, retreat to the water with us." The commander said ignoring Skyka.

"No, we drew the line in the ground and we're not budging from it. Strengthen your warriors and I'll meet you back here whether we succeeded or not." Skyka said. The commander gave the order as his troops withdrew.

"Damn it…" Skyka muttered under hear breath as the rest of the naga returned to the watery depths. "Spread out. Dan engage the enemy and help with the healing. Keep an eye open for the flying boulders. Bernett advance behind Veliline. Let out your fear spells as often as you can. Skyka's group immediately separated themselves from each other and let the boulders fall. Dan would hack away at his attackers, and every eighth time he struck his enemy, a lightning bolt shot out of his hand and healed Quinely, then bouncing to the next person in the party until it ran out of power. Having time to build up his energies, Dan released a fire elemental into the beasts. The fire elemental radiated fire out from all around it, and casted fireballs at the enemy. However it only last about thirty seconds until it to was destroyed.

"Come on Dan, is that all you can do? You summoned a damn rock from the outer-world to slam into Deathwing!" Skyka yelled.

"I only can do what I can. Do you want me to use my other ability?" Dan asked.

Skyka looked around quickly and didn't see anybody. She looked back and saw Quinely nearly dead and shouted "Yes!"

Time stopped.

Quinely dropped to the ground and maneuvered herself closer to the lightwell to get healed faster.

"How much time do we have?" Skyka asked.

"Twenty seconds. I am checking for anything sensing the presence of time being stopped. The last thing we need is something powerful enough to come down on us." Dan said looking around as the others continued their attacks.

Skyka grunted in frustration as she felt her mana regenerate. She knew he was right. "Crystal turn into that big demon thing…somebody do something!"

Time resumed.

Many of the ogres and ettins died suddenly. The ones around them looked confused dropping their guard and giving Skyka's party an advantage.

"My curse of doom isn't working…it's not even ticking damage so I stopped using that. My shadow bolts have become weaker. I cannot assume my demon form for longer than twelve seconds. By then I will have pulled aggro off from the mobs and onto me. I'm casting as fast as I can Skyka, I'm doing my best…shit!" Crystal yelled out as she narrowly missed getting hit by a boulder flying towards her. "My curses are working fine, and I can suck the life out of them and that's about it. I can go between Veliline and Quinely and let off my howls of terror – similar to what Bernett has been doing."

"Do it!" Skyka said and then quickly asked "Any other suggestions?"

"I'll redrop all of my totems…but they seem to be targeting those and once they are planted I can't move them…also I can't recast them for awhile." Dan said running back a couple of feet and dropped a dozen totems. He then ran back into combat, blasting his opponent with a quickly blast of fire.

"Jacklyn?" Skyka asked.

"I don't need any healing. I've been able to keep myself healed. As far as ideas, there is a leader…off in the distance. It's an ogre with four heads. If somebody could kill him it would demoralize them." Jacklyn said and then let off a battle cry, increasing her damage as her blades continued to grind up its targets.

"How far ahead is he?" Skyka asked desperately trying to keep Veliline and Quinely alive.

"About a thirty second run to him unhindered and another thirty back. Probably twenty seconds of slicing at him." Jacklyn said.

"Veliline run to your left, Quinely to your right – quickly!" Skyka screamed as she placed a shield on them.

"Dan do your thing!" Skyka ordered.

Time stopped.

"Jacklyn go!" Skyka said as she dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Jacklyn jumped throw the air and into the opening that was temporarily created. With her blades facing behind her, she moved as fast as she could towards the ogre leader while counting the seconds in her head. Moving closer to her target she tightened her grip on her enormous blades and saw exactly where to dive them in at. She enraged herself as she grew in height. She once again jumped in the air and she positioned her blades at the necks of the ogres heads. Unfortunately it didn't slice them completely off. She spun around quickly letting her blades fly through the air at speeds almost unseen by the eye. The first blade severed head the right heads, and the second blade severed the others. They flew inches off from the body as they froze in time with everything else. She grabbed both of them and began her sprint back.

Upon arrival she saw that Quinely had transferred a percentage of her power to Skyka, as the rest of them continued the assault.

"How much longer?" Jacklyn quickly asked looking at Dan.

"To be honest…ten seconds ago." Dan said looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Skyka quickly asked.

"I…must have set it longer…" Dan said looking even more worried.

Time resumed.

Dozens of ogres and ettins fell dead, once again the others taking a moment to wonder what just happened. The others saw Jacklyn holding the heads of their leader. She held them up and let out an enormous battle shout. It drove fear into their enemies as they looked back and saw their beheaded master.

"We run away?" An ogre asked.

"Me run too…" Another agreed.

"Stay and fight you cowards." One of the ettins said. He looked back and saw several others of his kind running away as well.

Skyka's party continued their attacks as they moved forward. With their guard down and uncertainty in the ranks, many of them died quickly. This furthered the panic among the ranks. Within minutes later, Skyka's party had reassembled. Quinely changed into her human form and assisted with the healing, as did Dan. Both of their mana pools were trivial compared to the priests.

"What happened Dan?" Skyka demanded.

"I don't know…I set it for one minute. I counted and I got to eighty seconds." Dan said.

"I got seventy-nine." Jacklyn said.

A loud booming roar came from over the mountain said. A large colossal creature that was covered in all brown fur faced them and roared in anger. It had one eye, three fingers in each hand and began to race towards them.

"Quinely engage him, Veliline off tank him. Everybody who can heal pour it on the tanks. Branzer call for backup before we all die!" Skyka screamed almost frantically.

Herrior's party arrived at the airport. Mohania had recasted his illusion spell. The men took the children and quickly escorted them into a building. Other men unloaded the truck and began to setup their equipment and guns. They all worked in almost perfect unison and within minutes two of the men took the sniping rifles and sprinted to a far away ditch to set them up.

"Now you little brats…you are going to learn some manners!" The man in charge said as he pressed record on the video camera. A control panel and a small transmitter confirmed that they were transmitting.

The man walked up to Jessica and slapped her hard across the face. Blood flew from her mouth. He then began to punch Mohania repeated in the head. He pulled out a gun and looked at the camera.

"Listen up you lousy pieces of shit…you abominations from Hell itself, you get your ass here and surrender yourselves of I will continued to beat the shit out of these kids. Any of you parents who have children missing are probably next to be killed. Go and do your little song and dance and call down our so called 'friends'. If they try anything stupid, there are going to be a lot of funerals to attend to tomorrow." The man said and with that he punched Mohania one more time. Mohania gave the illusion that blood was pouring from his nose. His undead skull was only slightly damaged, but he, as well as everybody else, was more worried about Jessica.

The man rose to his feet and said, "Well done men. Within the hour we'll control their army. Then we'll force them to demonstrate their powers to our 'associates' coming in from their countries. Power and wealth will be ours."

Suddenly the door flew open and Herrior jumped in. It shocked the men and they opened fire. Herrior's body flew up against the door and burned up in fire.

"You idiots! He was the leader!" The man said. He got on the radio and said they killed one already, be ready for any type of attack.

"Hey…this damn thing won't turn off…" The cameraman said pushing the off switch several more times. He looked at the transmitter and saw it to was still broadcasting. The transmitter was not responding to its off switch either.

"No matter. I hope all of you watching this saw what just happened. Their leader is dead, and the rest of them will be here shortly. If they don't unconditionally surrender, then your children will be dead. For the time being, let's wire them up with explosives." The man said and got out of the picture and signaled to have the broadcast shut off. The cameraman eventually took the battery out of both components and they both shut off.

"Faulty switch must have been, probably banged around a bit too much in the back."

"Who cares, get the damn explosives and wire this place up!" The leader shouted as he got back on his radio and gave out orders.

Herrior's party sat still and waited until everybody was gone as he said. "Don't heal yourself Jessica, try to endure the pain for now. Nicely done Lindel and Mohania. Julie nice job with disabling the on/off switch. Is it transmitting where it's supposed to?"

"I have no doubt they heard it and we're going to have visitors soon."

"Mohania…" Jessica said with tears in her eyes as she tried to and failed several times to sit back up until she final got up. "The bastard who hit me…can I torture his ass?"

"Hush." Herrior said quietly as he heard the men walk back in. Mohania nodded his head though.

"So the bastards burn up in flame when they are dead. That will be useful if I forget my lighter. Smoke one of their assess I'll be able to lit up." Another man said carrying a large crate.

"He died rather fast don't you think?" The other man asked.

"How many bullets did we put into him again? Forty? Fifty? I'm surprised we didn't chop him in half. Besides this will be over soon, hear the jet engines? Let's hurry up and finish this."

In the distance the sound of a luxury duel engine jet plane could be heard throttling down. Several minutes later the jet landed and taxied over to a safe distance. Several armed guards came running out as an Arabian man came walking down the stairs with dark sunglasses on. He was greeted by the man in charge. Soon several other luxury jets landed…eventually totaling a dozen all together. Each from a different country and each other looking distrusted towards one another.

"Gentlemen and ladies…" The man in charge said bowing his head.

"Cut the shit. Show us your 'army'…" One of the men said.

"Come this way…" The man said. During the time of the arrival of the planes, Mohania casted illusions of the party, which was hard for him to do. His power began to drain and without further assistance, all of his illusions would disappear within the hour. Lindel said she would come back as often as she could to recharge him as much as she could.

The illusion of Skyka walked out first. "Release the children." Mohania made her say imitating her voice perfectly, but her movement was somewhat choppy.

"Show our guests what you can do first. Bring out another." The man in charge said. Mohania walked out beside her. Everybody gasped as they saw a dead skeleton walking on its own.

"Fight each other. Show everybody what you can do…" Mohania let off a loud howl of terror which raised every gun that everybody had towards him. Skyka paced off and began to channel a spell. Mohania was blasted backwards by an unseen force. Mohania then rose up and held his hand out and a green screaming skull came out of it and flew into Skyka. Upon hitting Skyka she screamed an unearthly howl as she fell to the ground and burned up.

"No more. A million US dollars for the dead one." One of the men said.

"No my friend…a million isn't even close to a starting bid. There are sixteen of these creatures, and I can summon more. I control them right now…don't I my skeleton friend?" The man said walking over and patting him on the head and then punched him in the ribs. Mohania winched back in pain and became to speak something demonic.

"O…O…I wouldn't do that…remember what is at stake." The man said. Mohania silenced himself and turned his head to view everybody.

"What else can they do?" Another man said. The man extended his hand. Mohania said the words to summon a succubus. It appeared and astonished everybody again. She held her hand up and immediately took control of the mind of one of the men. He began to talk, "We are here not to bid – we are here to kill everybody and take it all for…" The man's voice was cut off by a .45 magnum bullet flying through his head.

"He's a liar!" The Frenchman declared quickly

"He was actually. You see, not only do they have control to possess our minds, but also the power to absorb bullets as if they were marshmallows being thrown at them. They have the power to open the ground beneath our feet and have the earth swallow us whole. These creatures you could drop in a country and by the end of the week they could single-handedly kill every single person there. All I ask for in return is a piece of the action…oh and of course never having to worry about money again…" The man said with a smile.

"Done." The Arabian man said walking forward with his hand extended.

"Not done! I'll double his offer. His country attacked you, he is a traitor!" A Mexican man said walking towards him.

"Gentlemen please…the highest bidder and the most to offer gets it – traitor or not…" The man said seeming pleased with himself.

"You're making a mistake…you side with those bastards and they will betray you!" Another leader said.

"Ten billion dollars and emperor of our country." A Chinese man said.

"Thirty billion."

"Thirty five."

The men started bartering as Mohania's body began to shake. His power was failing.

"Are they watching yet Julie?" Herrior asked.

"Probably from several different angles and recorded every word said." Julie replied back.

"Drop the illusions Mohania." Herrior said. The image of Mohania disappeared before the men bickering. The succubus disappeared as well and moved into attack position. Inside of the building Herrior grabbed all of the explosives, told Julie to trigger them as she had wired them up previously. Herrior through them towards the group of men as Lindel invisibly hovered above them, soaking up their life force as the explosives landed past the just before the men, causing an enormous explosion. Gun fire erupted. Skyior and Mohania's succubus quickly went work disarming the people as Lindel continued to drain their life, forcing them to the ground. Jessica and Julie walked out of the building. Jessica casted a shield on Julie as she pulled her gun from her him. She let two bullets fly through the air, successfully killing both snipers. She then put her gun away and casually walked up to the severally weakened men and women. Jessica walked up to the man who slapped her and lifted his face and said, "Remember me? Let me give you a hint…" Jessica slammed his head down on the pavement and walked backwards a ways. She then ran forward and kicked the man's head as hard as she could. Her boot completely tore off his ear as blood, skin, and pieces of bone went flying. She then came back and knelt down and said, "Oh…that's just the beginning…"

Julie had brought out some of the extra rope and began to tie pairs of people up by the neck. The knot was tight enough that if they moved, they couldn't breathe.

"Julie the jets…" Jessica said as she notices some of them were starting to spin up their engines. Julie held her hand out as her gun flew to her hand and loud blasts came from her gun. Each of the pilots that had started their jets was nothing more than pieces of flesh and blood now.

Minutes later, with everybody tied up, the men who originally kidnapped them suddenly began to hover and followed Jessica and Julie back into the building.

"I think I might have been seen. I can't disarm somebody while stealthed, but I tried as fast as I could." Skyior said almost out of breath.

"You did fine. Lindel – would you mind taking us to where Skyka is?" Herrior said.

"You do that, and I'll leave our calling card." Julie said walking out of the building shaking a can of spray paint.

She wrote the words, "Have fun with the terrorists, the rest are ours. Stop hunting us and we will help." She then looked straight up at the unmanned aircraft that she heard. She stared at it for awhile and then drew a big circle around what she wrote. Afterwards she threw the can in the air and blew it to pieces with her gun. The explosion of paint concealed her escape into the portal as Lindel closed it behind her.

"Who is in charge?" Herrior roared.

"I am, get up there and help absorb some of the damage from the tanks. The rest of you attack that thing. Melee attacks stand behind it." Skyka ordered as she pointed at the creature. She then left and started giving more command. Herrior estimated that there were more than two hundred fighters attacking this beast as him and the rest of his party raced into battle.

"I want to see people getting levitated when the beast throws them! Tanks keep alternating taunting him. Banshees, I want that thing blinded! All ranged, aim for one spot and focus your attacks there. I want constant replenishment up to feed our mana users. Hunters and anybody else, who has a melee pet get rid of it and do ranged attacks. Lower his resistances and armor, do anything you can to soften the blows he is doing to our tanks! Magic users; aim your attacks at his eye. I want this creature blinded. Keep your totems up and I do not want to see any area of affect attacks – do direct damage!" Skyka said screaming about the sounds of war.

The creature seemed hardly phased by the attacks, but the new orders began to make him frustrated. He stopped his attacks at the tanks to cover his eye. Spell after spell continuously slammed into it as the banshees flew in and out, draining power from the mighty beast's power and supplying it to the group. Tess yelled out to the ranged attackers to hit the spot she fired at. It was exactly where the beast's heart was behind his massive chest. Afterwards a barrage of arrows and bullets flew through the air, hitting their mark.

The creature screamed in frustration and flailing his arms around with his eye closed. He random started slamming his fists on the ground. The tanks easily moved out of the way, some of them taking collateral damage from the rocks – however it was just minor. The tanks continued to taunt the beast one after another. This confused the beast as he attempted to hit one, and then was suddenly turned around – trying to hit the other one. Herrior and several other warriors moved quickly in the way of the blow, intervening the blast as they were knocked aside.

The beast began to jump up and down, shaking the land and making everybody fall to their feet. The beast let out a might roar as it's body was engulfed in fire, it's mind suffering from multiple curses attacking it, and it's eye finally punctured. The beast reached down to hold his hand over where the ranged attacks were hitting and he felt then hard thumping of his heart against his hand. Shock over took the beast as it began to collapse.

"Get on your feet! Move your ass out of the way!" Skyka cried out desperately. She began to pull people away with her 'leap of faith' spell as well as many other priests did. The banshees swooped down and grabbed as many as they could before the creature collapsed. The rest of the fighters tried crawling out as fast as they could, but were crushed as the creature collapsed.

"Get them out…get them out from underneath him!" Skyka said in the same desperation. Their attempts were futile though. Their death toll was twelve fighters. The beast let out its final breath as the ranged attacks fired one last barrage of attacks at its heart and sending out small explosions of blood.

"Damn it!" Skyka yelled out loud in frustration.

"You did good hun…" Tess said walking up to her. Skyka ran her fingers through her hair in frustration and let out a muffled scream.

"All of the rogues made it out and we saved a large percentage of them. It could have been worse. You did fine." Tess said assuring her again. She paused for a moment and suggested cutting away at the beast to see if anybody survived. We need to recover the bodies though."

Skyka nodded as she turned away and began to cry.

"Get our fighters out from underneath the creature. Cut him up. Banshees, survey the land for any other creature that needs to be slaughtered." Tess shouted out the order.

Tess then turned to Skyka and whispered in a firm tone, "Stop your crying. The last thing your fighters need is to see their leader cry. Get a hold of yourself and go help." Skyka almost immediately nodded and wiped her cheeks. She saw many others grieving and digging frantically to get their loved ones out, others attempting to cut through its thick skin to get to them.

Hours passed, and they only salvaged four bodies. The beast was just too enormous to move. The banshees reported back that there were several cultists over the ledge forcing slaves to dig up rocks and split them apart. To the very North West there were a few families of wounded dragons nursing each other's wounds. Skyka quickly contacted Ysera and notified her. She also asked if they could lift this beast they just killed to get to their dead. Ysera nodded and seconds later Ysera ripped a hole open in the middle of the air and dozens of her dragons came flying out. It took eight dragons flapping as hard as they could, but they eventually lifted the creature and tossed it towards the ocean. Ysera landed and transformed into her human self.

"I am sorry for your losses. It looks like a great battle was fought here and they died with honor. Let me know of the funeral preparations and we will assist in any way that we can. Excuse me for now though." Ysera said. She began to walk away and transformed into her mighty dragon form and flew away with her dragons following her.

"Those of you, who have lost a member of your party take them and go back to Tranquil and carry out their last wishes. To the rest of the leaders, if you have other assignments feel free to leave. I'm dissolving command of this raid. Everybody turn to your leaders for commands from here on out." Skyka said giving her final order.

Herrior called for his party to assemble and surrounded Skyka as they embraced her.

"You did well hun. I would have done the same thing. I am proud of you." Herrior said. Skyka nodded and felt reassured.

"Herrior…humans are approaching behind us in ships, about three dozen of them." Quinely said.

"A group of us are going to head up the mountain and free the slaves. If they are alliance you may need a couple of groups to stay around." Tess said looking over at them.

"Lindel what do you sense?" Herrior asked.

"Too far away to tell, I'll be right back." Lindel said disappearing and leaving a breeze behind her as she flew towards them. Tess ordered her group to hold their attacks for now – the rest of the leaders did as well. They were down to six primary fighting groups; all of the others were attending to their dead.

Lindel made several passes around the ships listening to the voices in their head and what they were saying. She had obtained all the information that she needed and quickly flew back to Herrior.

"Their humans on a voyage to start a new life. Their intentions are true and no alliance or any other threats are among them. They have been watching us from a distance and are unsure if they should turn the boats around and leave or to speak with us. They are talking about creatures that they have not seen before and are worried about us." Lindel said.

"Branzer go say hi. Skyka, you and I had better go pay a visit to the Queen of the naga. Mohania we'll need you so we can breathe. Tess it might be easier for Branzer to speak with them if we weren't around to…scare them." Herrior said. Tess nodded and ordered her group up the mountain.

"Jacklyn take control of our party. Go see what kind of damage you can do." Herrior said Mohania and Skyka stepped through the portal. Jacklyn nodded in acknowledgement and began giving orders.

"My Queen…there are the traitors! They did not heal us and caused the deaths of many of our soldiers. They would not follow our orders. The threat probably still lingers above as these fools fled for their lives." The commander of the naga said pointing to the three of them. "One of them is already dead, yet he walks among us as a sign of their defeat…"

"My Queen of the naga, may I have a moment to speak on our behalf?" Skyka asked.

"Yes you may. Is what the commander of my league speaking the truth?" The Queen asked.

"We do not run from a fight. We fight until we kill or are killed. The skeleton walking next to us is granting us the power to breathe underwater. The threat above has been neutralized, their commander has assassinated by a member of my party and then an enormous looking hairy Cyclops attacked us. It killed several of us, but we neutralized that threat as well. Currently several parties are going in search of the prisoners that Deathwing took as captives. We do not anticipate any problems arising from our assaults on the slave masters. Any naga, as well as our people, will be returned promptly and without delay." Skyka spoke her words so fluently that it was obvious she was not lying, and the Queen sensed it.

"Leave me commander and pray I have pity on you later. Come closer my friends." The Queen said as the commander let out a slight hiss and swam away.

"I sense a plot to overthrow me from power, but first things first. What are the reports of transforming our naga into healers?" The Queen asked quietly.

"The monks need to experiment. They have never attempted to transform one of your kinds into a specific class. They want to know the pain thresh-hold that they are able to withstand, and from what I saw your kind can not stay out of water for long periods. Typically it takes three days for the conversion. During that time we can apply water to your naga in an attempt to help the body. My Queen…to be honest the first couple of tries will probably end in failure. I want to be completely honest about that." Skyka said.

The Queen sighed and looked away. "Probably none of your healers have a permanent ability to breathe underwater for days do they?"

"Our undead can stay underwater for significantly longer than we can, however similar to your naga, their powers diminish unless they are able to recharge them. It may seem odd to you, but they get their powers from burying themselves in the dirt." Skyka said.

The Queen nodded. She said she could relate to what she was saying, but much of this was new to her.

"As your race is to ours. Usually we do not find naga unless they are attacking us, much less standing this close and speaking with one considered a friend." Skyka said back with a smile.

"If I am killed during an overthrow, my child will be killed as well. My guards question my commands and if I were to start executing the ones plotting against me then the others will question my motives even more." The Queen said looking at them in near desperation.

"My Queen, my name is Herrior. I have Skyka's husband, an ambassador such as her, and leader of our party. We have ways of exposing the traitors and regaining control over your guards."

"I assumed you were Herrior, I could tell by the love in your eyes that you have for Skyka. What does your skeleton friend do?" The Queen asked.

"He is our master interrogator, warlock, and ambassador to the undead. I trust him with my life and anything you want to say in front of us can be said in front of him. May I purpose a plan?" Herrior asked. The Queen nodded as she heard Herrior's plan unfold. Several minutes later she thought about it and agreed. "I want to see and hear everything myself though.

"As you wish, Mohania go ahead." Herrior said. Mohania chanted a spell and transformed himself into an exact duplicate of the Queen. Herrior then pressed his trinket and turned into one of the naga guards. Skyka took off her trinket and handed it over to the Queen. She attached it to her silk-flowing robes and pressed it. Instantly she turned into a similar guard.

The four of them swam slowly to where the Queen said the commander usually resides. Mohania, disguised as the Queen, had his shield up giving off a green aura. He kicked in the door and ran in.

"My Queen?" The commander said instantly started as the guards around him rose to their height. They didn't have legs, so their standing position was three-fourths the way up on their snake body.

"Did I interrupt something? Perhaps some decision that I made? I believe the air dwellers over my own commander. I also hear that there is an assassination plot to claim my throne. I am without my trident…strike me down and take the throne. If not, bow before me." Mohania said in a voice that mimicked the Queen's voice perfectly.

"My Queen?" The commander said sounding shocked, but not shocked enough. He quickly bowed down as well as two others. The remaining guards simply stood there.

"Just as I thought…" The Queen said and approached them. The commander saw several other guards along with Skyka swim into the room.

"It ends now." Mohania said and asked for their weapons. Instead they all drew swords and charged at her. Mohania let off an instant scream as all three of them began attacking them. All of them died in terror.

Mohania turned around and said the Queen behind him. He asked "Any others we need to kill?"

"He was loyal to me…for decades. How could he, what did I do wrong?" The Queen said walking over to his twisted and mangled body.

"People change, no matter what race they are. Power and wealth change people. If I may be so bold to ask, where is your mate?" Herrior asked.

"Killed…in battle against the humans you called alliance." The Queen responded. Herrior hid his moment of guilt as the Queen dragged the bodies of the guards out of the house and screamed, "These guards were plotting my assassination! My own commander – betrayed me! Who among you are his followers and who among you are my followers? Speak your allegiance now!"

"Push your trinket my Queen. To them you are just a normal guard." Skyka whispered. The Queen looked down and pressed it as she regained her normal form. Mohania dropped his illusion.

"What have the outsiders done?" One of citizens asked.

"They healed my daughter, saved my life, and showed they are a valuable ally." The Queen said handing the trinket back to Skyka and continued, "They have show honor to me where as my own guards plotted to over throw our kingdom – quite possibly making all of you slaves. They are to be praised, not questioned." The Queen said looking around. Hundreds more naga arrived to see what the commotion was about. Whispers started passing from one naga to another.

"I ask you again. Where do your loyalty's lay – against me or for me?" The Queen roared at the crowd. Each head bowed down before her and numerous "for you my Queen" were said.

"A new age has befallen us then, the age of friendship between us and the air breathers. From here on, our new friends and our people will form bonds. We will strengthen each other and usher in a new period of peace and prosperity. I thank you my loyal subjects. Let us have a party tonight to celebrate this new occasion." The Queen said and turned to Skyka and asked if they would come. Skyka smiled and said it would be an honor.

Above land Branzer took his helmet off and held it under his arm as he walked towards one of the smaller ships that landed from the mighty ships behind them.

"Greetings" Branzer said.

"Salutations to you as well my friend. If you don't mind me asking, was a war just fought? And if so, are you here to take us as slaves?" An elder man with a plump stomach asked from the front of the boat.

Branzer shook his head. "You are as free as any other man, woman, and creature. I am just as curious about you as probably you are about us. I have come to give you a warm welcome though. A battle was fought, but we have overcome the beasts that tormented these lands. The lands you see were once full of life and prospered. With time and nurturing they will be once again."

"Do you own these lands?" The man asked. Branzer shook his head and said they were owned by nobody.

"When you speak of beasts, do you speak of the creatures fighting with you, the ones that slithered in the water, or of wildlife that is good to eat?" The man asked.

"The 'snake' like creatures is called naga. Many different creatures fight with us and will show no aggression towards you. Now then, may I offer my service to you and your fellow companions or shall I be on my way?" Branzer asked.

"We do have much to do. We have come here looking to raise our families, begin new lives and write our own laws." The man said.

"Very well, I will have somebody, or myself, check back within a week or so. Then from that point on I hope we can barter with each other, or offer our services to each other. We will not harvest any crops or animals until you have established a city. I bid thee farewell." Branzer said and bowed his head. He turned away and the man said, "I bid thee farewell as well, and thank you for the welcome."

A day passed and Herrior's party brought Sammy back from Tranquil, along with some more armor upgrades. Many of them were bragging about the craftsmanship and what their armor did during certain times during a fight. Sammy was rested and looked higher than life itself. Alan came home from the day and looked exhausted. He started rambling on about how security changed to accept any member of Herrior's party when Sammy charged at him, picked him up and twirled him around telling him how much she loved him and how much she appreciated him and listing every detail that meant so much to her that he did.

Alan, being first of all surprised that she became so strong, had his bad day at the office memories taken away in an instant at the sheer job that his wife was showing her. Alan perked up and smiled as Sammy took him in the living room and said to make love to her on the couch.

"With everybody here? Let's go upstairs and have some privacy." Alan said.

"Let's not…I want to show everybody how good of a lover you are and I want to ravage you. I feel like a teenager again and I will make you holler and scream!" Sammy said starting to undress her clothes and Alan's as quickly as she could.

"That's our queue to leave." Herrior said as he walked out the back kitchen door.

"What did you do to my wife?" Alan called out.

"You would be surprised what a few days away from your troubles and staying in Tranquil will do to you…" Skyka said winking at him with a smile.

Outside Lew caught up with them from the outpost as the two trolls walked with him.

"Herrior, I was out of line. I spoke with these trolls…"

"Guards…yes we be trolls mon, but we be having job titles. A troll be a race and dere be plenty of us being in Tranquil, but we be guards." One of the trolls said.

"Sorry, and I am ready to do as you ask." Lew said.

"Did you keep an eye on the house?" Herrior asked.

"I ordered bullet proof glass and had that installed. The alarm system that Alan had I tweaked it a little so that a signal is sent directly to the outpost here. We also are setting up gardens to produce food, and pens for animals. The engineers brought in some sort of remote- pneumatic -digger thing, and it is beginning to bring up fresh water. I walked the premise of the yard for several hours, did a couple of wide area sweeps, and replaced the doors with steel-reinforced doors with two thick deadbolts on the top and bottom. The guards and I also have been working on screening every patient, in secret of course that comes and goes into Alan's clinic. We have remote viewing of every angle of Alan's house with camouflaged artillery approximately fifty yards away from the house at every corner. Along with that we brought in and reinforced the main beams of the house with some sort of metal I cannot pronounce and have an active shield over the house that will prevent any direct attack, is invisible to outer space and air surveillance, as well as…uh, a box that will naturally repel people from coming to Alan's after hours. We have current plans of expanding this underground outpost and adding an additional one on the other side of Alan's house. We have also outfitted Alan with some mental examining, heart monitoring system that if his thoughts and heart begin to race, the guards will automatically move towards Alan and destroy anything that is causing the problem." Lew said in confidence.

"Sounds like a good start. Keep it up." Herrior said and walked away from him. Lew wanted more out of Herrior as he watched them walk into the barn. Lew turned around and went back into the outpost.

"Real confidence builder there Herrior…" Branzer said.

"He's not ready." Herrior said back calmly and sat on the ground.

"What else does he need to do?" Branzer asked.

"I don't know…" Herrior said with a sigh.

"Oh come on you big ol' softy…talk to us…" Skyka said tickling him. Herrior started to laugh and asked that they speak of other things first.

"Can I kill somebody?" Mohania asked.

"Haven't you been torturing the prisoners we took?" Herrior asked curiously.

"Yes…but Jessica says I've been doing it wrong. I place them in a dark room chained to the wall and say, 'I want to play a game' and then I pause and then say, 'You lose!' and kill them. You should see the surprised look on their faces!" Mohania said laughing.

"That's not what I taught him…" Jessica said glaring at Mohania.

"Some of the movies these humans have are open to interpretation…" Mohania said.

"The point is to give them a slim glimmer of hope, watch them suffer trial after trial, inflicting pain on themselves or their loved ones and in the end seeing that all that they worked for and suffered for was for nothing. Then once their hearts are broke…create illusions of their family and have them walk up to them and tell them how bad of a mother or father they were and let them beg for death. Psychological torture is just as painful as physical torture…only it lasts longer and give them no hope or reason for survival." Jessica said.

A moment of silence passed and then Mohania asked if she had something to write with.

"Oh my word…you two are awful!" Julie said trying to suppress a laughter and looking at them.

"Glad to see you two have found a way to occupy your time…Branzer what of the newcomers to the land?" Herrior asked.

"They seem innocent enough. Like I said I had Lindel check them out and I didn't sense any ill intention from them. I looked over everybody, and saw no signs of alliance – not to say that in the future the alliance won't find them…" Branzer said raising his eyebrows and looking away.

"From the reports of the battle to free the slaves our parties slaughtered any who opposed and freed several other dragons. Ysera took care of them and our harvesting groups have begun scrounging the areas for rock, food, flower, cloth, weapons or any other items that may prove to benefit us. Has Ysera said anything to you about what happened to the dragons?" Herrior asked as he looked towards Strings.

"We do not discuss such matters, I can venture a guess but you probably know more about that then I do." Strings said.

"Strings is not our point of contact with Ysera hun…" Skyka said reminding Herrior. He nodded and asked Dan and Crystal why their powers were not increasing and why the attack on Deathwing was so successful.

"I don't know." Crystal said.

"Thanks for the giving me so much to go on, I'll take it from here…" Dan said and gently patted Crystal's leg. "It's…" Dan said and then paused for a second to try to collect his thoughts. "It's like water. If there is an unbalance in a dishpan, the water will race to fill it in. If something falls in the water, the water rushes back to attempt to rebalance itself. Nature, or the forces that control good and evil, grants power to help eliminate the unbalance. Remember back on the day of our wedding when a pillar of fire appeared only to Crystal? There was a massive unbalance and the good, or the water, was attempting to race to fill in the evil with good. Does that make sense?"

"No, and you're an ass." Crystal said snapping back at Dan.

Herrior pondered that for a moment. "Not a good example, however I do see the point you are trying to make. I do believe things happen for a reason, however water tends to restore itself faster versus the damage Deathwing did to our homes and worlds. It still doesn't explain why the plan worked and why you and Crystal have sudden surges of power."

"I pray for them. Other than that I test, retest, try something different…most of which all fails. Something I could do yesterday I cannot do today. I have no reason for it. My powers for stopping time are still working fine. However that was the reason for the enormous beast locating us." Dan said and shook his head. "It's like Sir Isaac Newton's theories of laws of motion. For every action there is an equal and opposite action reaction. I stopped time twice, sparking the attention of the beast. The last time for a longer period. Herrior I swear I timed it perfectly but there was some sort of…spike for lack of a better term that funneled more power into my command that time. Because of that it must have triggered our location and brought out the beast…"

"Dan…Dan…take a breath…" Herrior said not understanding anything he was saying.

"Sounds like this Newton guy was an ass." Mohania said.

"Is there anybody that you don't think is an ass?" Jessica snapped back.

"Anybody that is stronger than me…excluding you for the time period because your ideas for torture entertain me…Dan used to until he started blowing hot air all over the place…" Mohania said.

"Got a new favorite friend eh?" Strings asked and chuckled.

Herrior smiled and turned back to Dan told him to relax. He turned to Crystal and told her to make sure Dan gets a good night's sleep tonight.

"Not a problem…go haul your ass in the house and bring out some food. Bring out each meal one at a time and hurry it up!" Crystal said shoving down forward. Everybody but Dan thought that was funny.

"But there are things that don't make sense…" Dan said.

"I gave up trying to figure things out a long time ago. If somebody tells me to jump over the moon, I don't ask if I'm able to or if I can breathe – I just do it." Branzer said letting out a chuckle putting his hands behind him and leaning back.

"Good example Branzer. Now I would go do as Crystal said and just relax." Herrior said. "Before you go though, heed this advice. Our King himself doesn't understand half of the things that happen, but he doesn't dwell on them. Sometimes things happen because they happen – that's all." Dan nodded and left the barn.

"Now then…we need to make this place cozier. I have a feeling we are intruding on Alan and Sammy's lives to much. Advice?" Herrior asked.

"We dig a twenty foot hole, and sit down in the cool of the ground, eating the worms and the maggots of the land." Mohania said.

"Well for starters we need to make this larger. It's got to have more windows, and I'm thinking some pink lace for curtains and some thin cut gems for the windows to add some color." Skyka said.

"We need at least twenty kegs of rum…I'll sleep next to them and make sure they don't go anywhere…" Strings said taking a swallow from his flask.

"And chains…we'll need chains and spikes. I will need to bring some extra…uh…tools from Tranquil, but I should be able to make this place work." Mohania said.

"We need room for our pets. Spark doesn't like it when I don't have him summoned. He wants to protect me." Julie said.

"Softer dirt to sleep on…but not sand, I've still got ass stuck in my ass from sleeping in the desert." Branzer said shifting uncomfortably.

"Targets. I want to practice fighting. I am a priest, but I'm supposed to be part of the spell casters and not a healer. I haven't had much practice casting my spells." Bernett said.

"You did fine healing." Skyka said smiling at him.

"Do we need more healers?" Herrior asked.

"Usually no, Jessica and I can handle a group our size just fine. But you had Jessica, Quinely had to tank and I needed Bernett to help heal. Even then I had a hard time keeping everybody up…to be honest I favored healing our group over the naga, but had they moved in closer our group heals would probably have saved their lives." Skyka said.

"That will change. We will have ambassadors frequent their race just like all of the others." Herrior said. "This being Alan and Sammy's barn, we should probably get their ideas before we start bringing in torture devices and having people letting out screams of death…"

"They'll agree to it." Mohania said smiling.

"I'm betting they won't…but I agree with Herrior. Being it is their property and all of our intrusions seem to have been taking their toll on them, we'll give them unlimited resources to expand this barn. It will keep Sammy busy, however that leaves Alan. When was the last time you spoke with him?" Skyka asked Herrior.

"When I told him his wife was in Tranquil." Herrior answered.

"How is he holding up? He went from a simple life to being guarded day and night with people randomly appearing and disappearing. If he is suffering like Sammy is, he is probably carrying a heavier burden. You may want to have a talk with him." Skyka said. Herrior nodded and said he would as Dan walked in with a frozen turkey and a pan of lasagna from the refrigerator.

"First trip…also it sounds like Alan and Sammy are done acting like bunnies so now might be a good time." Dan said.

"I thought they were mating, not acting like animals?" Herrior inquired.

"I can be a bunny!" Quinely said and morphed into a while hare and began bouncing around.

"Figure of speech…I'll be back." Dan said as he left.

"Bring back both of them and Lew, and then come sit with the rest of us." Herrior said.

"Is he going to be ok?" Crystal asked.

"He is experiencing the same thing I did as I lead our fighters into battle and watched the naga and our own fighters die. He's at war with himself. He will be fine though from what I have observed of him. Tomorrow morning he'll probably be manipulating time and the elements into something weird and he'll explain to us what he did with none of us having a clue what he's talking about." Skyka said.

"Can I cook the animal?" Mohania said eagerly looking at the turkey.

"I hope you don't mean me?" Quinely asked hoping up to him.

"No…of course I did…not…" Mohania said.

"Just make a basic fire. Frozen food…doesn't sound to appealing…" Herrior said as Mohania ignited the ground on fire in the middle of them as Herrior held the bird in the fire.

"You should try the fast food! That stuff will kill ya!" Bernett said jokingly.

Awhile passed as they all began to eat and eventually Dan came back with Lew, Sammy and Alan. Herrior asked them to please have a seat as everybody scooted backwards to let them in the circle.

"We're you two bunnies like I am!" Quinely said bouncing back and forth from Sammy to Alan. A quiet snicker rose up as the two of them blushed.

"Alan, how are you doing these days?" Herrior asked.

"Embarrassed at the moment…why do you ask?" Alan asked.

"Do you have anything you need to share with us, perhaps something's you want to talk about?" Herrior asked.

"Coming from anybody else I would say no, but I have to speak what's on my mind because some of you can read my mind while others can analyze what I say better than I can…" Alan said feeling like he was interrogated.

"No, not at all." Herrior said quickly interrupting him. "This is just a general question. We have some things to ask you, but we want to know how you are doing. How is your medical practice, also I apologize for the commotion I caused the other day."

"We do have to figure out a new way for you to communicate with me. Luckily we have an invention called a telephone. I'll get you one." Alan said smiling at him. "But, other than that it's the same ol' stuff. My job is to observe, allow others to open up while controlling their emotions and steering the conversation. I've hired enough staff now that any more all I do is just sit behind a desk. Unfortunately my name is becoming pretty popular. I say unfortunately because I now have a 'wait list' of patients that only want to see me and my doctors. I'm thinking about opening another building – not on my property though." Alan stopped to take a breath. It was obvious he wasn't happy about something. "Even several politicians came by asking for support in their campaigns. I've turned them down, sent money out to local churches for our business write offs. I'm balancing everybody's budget, patients; medication…the bigger my business grows the more work it becomes."

"What can we do to help?" Herrior asked.

"Besides the constant threat of something or somebody killing me, and feeling like my own life is out of control…not much." Alan said.

"It's hard to turn down…" Skyka started to say.

"It's like nobody in this world has any idea what direction they want to go in. I want to be a doctor, a police officer, a singer and once it doesn't work out and now I don't know what to do with my life. My word…I could simply take hundreds of our patients and just draw a line and have them walk on it they would be fine. It's obviously more complex than that…but I do review every file, every case. I do the same with my staff. I have group meetings, one-on-ones, and…I need extra help, but I don't want to bring in just anybody. It's hard enough explaining to the guards that a ten foot tauren disguised as a normal business man could snap their necks in a split second and I really don't give a shit if he destroys half of the building…" Alan went on.

"I am sorry about that." Herrior said again.

"I'm trying to not make the patients paranoid, I'm trying to calm them down…never mind you get the point. But I'm getting resume's left and right. People that are more qualified than what I have now I have to turn down because we don't have the resources and I want personal trust in my employees…just in case some 'other-worldly experience' happens. It's bad enough some of them have disabling anxiety, delusions, depression, etcetera…" Alan said and then caught himself. "I'm sorry I am repeating myself. On top of everything I am getting offers to come and speak at colleges, perform seminars, do personal house calls and I can't do any of that. I have to sit behind my desk and shuffle papers all day in this modern day world of computers – which was supposed to make life simpler. Other than that I'm doing fine. How is life with you?" Alan asked turning to Herrior.

"I'm still alive." Herrior said smiling. "Name what you need and we'll supply it."

"A dozen more of me…" Alan said. Mohania chanted a spell for a couple of seconds and suddenly everybody turned into an image of Alan. He was surprised, but laughed instead at the irony.

"Ok…all of me's…what should I do?" Alan asked all of the images of himself.

"Take a drink of this…it will help." Strings said tossing his flask to Alan.

"Yeah no kidding…" Alan said unscrewing the top and took a big gulp as he quickly spit it back out. "What proof is this?"

"Welcome to our world. We fight hard, drink hard, love hard, and sleep on hard ground." Bernett said almost bragging. Alan sniffed it and took a smaller sip. He swished it around and gently swallowed it. "It's great! I mean as long as you expect your throat to instantly catch fire. Can you drop all of the illusions of me?" Mohania dropped the illusions and everybody looked like their normal selves.

"What does this stuff do anyways?" Alan asked.

"It's our ale that we serve. Other than quenching our throat, it gives us a longer time to play our instruments and sing or tell stories. It comes in different flavors…but to me ale is ale. You can drink all you want without the ill effects that come with some of your ale's here. I must admit, some of your ale's taste like watered down dirt, ah – but to each their own eh? Cheers!" Strings said pulling out another flask and downing several gulps.

Alan listened to the story and then looked back down at it. He screwed the flask back on and passed it back down to him.

"So you need people you can trust. Are you having problems bringing in extra people to assist you based on the fact that you want to make sure you are in control?" Herrior asked.

"Let's face it Herrior…I'm balancing two different lives. My passion is helping people, always has been and unless something else comes up in the foreseeable future I'm going to have to get used to it. One of my lives I spend with my patients diagnosing, performing therapy, reading and writing on their charts…the other life is scared shitless of…well you guys." Alan said. "Ever since I met you, I have been noticing things that aren't there. Things I had seen before but didn't think twice about it…a sudden disappearance of a shadow, a slight drop in a person's tone, sudden unexplained movements – which can be medically explained but causing me to think twice about it. People say they are hearing and seeing things – besides you Quinely, but all again can be medically explained. It's all unraveling to me sometimes; especially after witnessing all of my twelve years of medical practice and study get flushed down the toilet after you fought off the demons affecting the people. Those were classic examples of predominant delusional of the persecutory type, and yet – boosh, all gone…bye bye…pass that flask back over here…" Alan said reaching for it.

"Alan, if you think you are seeing demons we can kill them. Is that what you want of us?" Herrior asked.

"Sure…why not. I'll serve some popcorn and sodas and then we can all watch these demons come flying out of the room." Alan said sounding even more drunk. Suddenly a thought hit him and he quickly stood up and said, "That's it. Herrior can we do that?"

"The demon part we can do, I'm not sure what popcorn and…"

"Never mind that…holy shit…I'm not using all of my resources. If you aren't busy fighting some malevolent force in this universe in the next day or so can I schedule some time for you guys to do…whatever it is that you do?" Alan asked quickly and suddenly very sober.

"I don't believe we have any missions planned for a couple of days from now. We have two different missions to follow up on tomorrow, and I wanted Branzer to check on the new human arrivals in the next week or so." Herrior said looking at Skyka to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"And then…we'll have them pick which family member to die – but only we won't kill them as the rest of them look at him in shame. We'll release all of them and have them attack the person…" Mohania said excitedly and burst into laughter.

"I wasn't talking to him that time…" Jessica said proclaiming her innocence quickly.

"If something does come up, I can schedule another primary group to come down and kill off some demons. Would that help you?" Herrior asked.

"It's brilliant. If we can cure…even one fourth of the people and put them on 'stand-by', we could accept more patients and not keep as many people waiting. People are suffering…not by him…" Alan said pointing at Mohania lying on the ground and laughing in near hysteria, "but we could treat more patients."

"Can I interject for a moment?" Lew asked slightly raising his hand. "Alan, you need to get some more doctors in there. Do you have an accountant working for you? That would solve half of the problems you just described and they don't have to know a darn thing…other than money coming in and going out. Setup some interviews, I will gladly sit in and review them. Next open another office. You are one man with what sounds like hundreds of patients…you are burning the candle at both ends. I'm surprised they haven't yanked you out of this world and put you in Tranquil for a couple of days – look at what happened to your wife when they did, I mean hell it probably added twenty years to her life. If business is good then expand. The more 'demons' or whatever we kill the better right? We might even get some good leads on where any remaining alliance might be hiding. I've interviewed a lot of applicants in my day, let me help – dare I even say let us help. Have Herrior or somebody else sit in on the interview process, I'm good a judging character, but they have been doing it for hundreds of years before I was even born."

"Lew has a point." Herrior said.

"You're calling him Lew now?" Alan asked.

"Yes"

Alan shook his head and smiled. "Is the other officer still called eye?"

"Names are unimportant right now. Lindel can filter their minds and intentions faster than I could. Within minutes of just casual conversation we'll know whether they can be trusted or not. Set that up, and start gathering together some of the people you think may have a demon inside of them. We'll lure them out and kill them." Herrior said.

"And just how are you going to do that? Talk to each one specifically? Have them cover their eyes and ears?" Alan asked.

"Lindel will sing to them. Enough discussion for now; get some rest and start the plan first thing tomorrow." Herrior said.

"Also we're going to make some changes to your barn…hope you don't mind?" Skyka asked reminding Herrior.

"Have at it. Just don't leave a big calling card…" Alan said as he and Sammy walked out.

"Another figure of speech?" Herrior asked.

"Basically what I think he means is let's not draw a lot of attention to the crafting of the barn, for example digging a deep hole in the ground and torturing people day and night…" Lew said.

"I vote we kick Lew out…he's talking crazy…" Mohania said.

"Is it ok to ignore him and continue talking?" Lew asked.

"Everybody else does…" Skyka said smiling.

"We'll make it a slow remodeling job…possibly even have some hired contractors come in and do it." Lew said.

"Hire humans to build a fortification for us?" Herrior asked.

"No hun that would not go over well. Our engineers would go berserk if they heard that." Skyka said to Lew.

"Ok, what do you want me to do?" Lew asked.

"You mean what do you need to do to gain my acceptance?" Herrior asked.

Lew lifted his eyebrow slightly as he realized that is what he meant. "Maybe I should sit out of the interviews and just let you do them." Lew said with a smile.

Herrior sighed and put his hand over his face. "The problem is not with you Lew and I apologize for losing my temper with you earlier. I was a little bit upset."

"If Herrior gets really upset, he sends the people to me…" Mohania said in his sinister voice.

"Sometimes…but that won't be the case with Lew. Your intentions are true, but I sense your heart isn't right…or maybe my heart is blocking you off because of our previous experiences lately with the humans of this planet betraying us." Herrior said and then looked up at Lew. "We have fifteen in our group and we've been having problems with that. One more and we could easily divide the group in half; have the recommended amount of tanks and healers for a mission without worrying about the backing up the group. I don't sense betrayal in your voice or actions – just eagerness. Fighting is what we do. Dying is an unfortunate side affect sometimes. I sense from reading your face right now that is not an issue, but if we go into battle with sixteen people and I need to call off several names to do certain things, than the more damage I take – the more healing I need, and so on."

"You shortened my name, could you shorten some of the others names?" Lew said and felt a slight tickle on the back of his neck. He reached back and cut himself on one of Trackolania's blades that was resting very close to his neck.

"No, Trackolania doesn't like that idea." Herrior said casually and motioned for Trackolania to move back into his place. Trackolania instantly disappeared and reappeared continuing to write his name in the dirt.

"I can call off in groups I suppose, but I'm just uncomfortable with the idea right now. If you want, and you are going to say no to this, is I can find a group for you with less people. But what troubles me is you are alive. In all aspects you should be a rotting corpse…but yet Lindel was able to bring you back to life and what she did was impossible unless you were meant to be here. Why you are here, I have no idea…just like I don't understand why Dan has his powers, why Strings can now wipe out entire flanks of armies with a mere song, and several other things. But I'm taking it on faith. I have meditated on the idea, I have wrestled with myself over the notion, and I have prayed about it. I don't have an answer. You are allowed in Tranquil, but will you survive the blasting to becoming a class. If so what class…Julie you know more of this than I do…what do we need?" Herrior asked in obvious frustration with himself.

"Depends on the situation. Fighting the giant that we did, any extra class would have helped. We don't have a mage in our party, which would definitely help." Julie said.

"Ok, he becomes a mage…or even just a guard with standard weapons – then what? We have a human ambassador already…"

"Herrior…relax. You are the leader and everybody knows that, but I suggest we ask the opinion of everybody else. Remember it is the love that binds us, and dissension that tears us." Skyka said rubbing his mighty hoof.

"Alright – thoughts?" Herrior asked.

"He's an ass…" Mohania said.

"Unless the talent system has changed for a mage, I would suggest he become arcane. He could not only boost everybody's mana, but increase the regeneration as well as increase their spell power." Julie said.

"Wouldn't my totems cancel out the affects?" Dan asked.

"Oh…yeah shoot, sorry didn't think that one through. Can't double buff, and since Crystal has her hellhound in battle that defeats that purpose…" Julie said.

"What purpose? What buff?" Herrior asked.

"Crystal's hellhound provides the same affects that I just described and can silence magic users along with purging magical affects." Julie said.

"I'd suggest another shaman – only have him be a healer. I would say another rogue, but there isn't much Trackolania can't do." Dan said. Trackolania let out a half smile as he erased his name in the dirt and began to rewrite it.

"Three healers?" Herrior asked.

"Shaman healers are different from priests. He can't become a druid healer because, from what I understand, you have to be born a druid." Dan said looking to Quinely as she nodded. "Since Quinely is tanking, her equipment is designed for such things – just as my equipment is designed for melee attacks. We can both heal, but it's pathetic compared to what a healer with the right gear could do." Dan said.

"I haven't had time to read much about shaman healers…" Julie said.

"It would add a benefit to our group. Because let's face it we have fifteen people and if Lew comes on board we'll have sixteen. Let Bernett start blasting people away – his passive ability automatically heals people anyways. Assign two primary tanks, let's say you and Veliline and if need be Quinely can tank along with the warlocks voidwalkers and the hunters pets – but you two can handle most things that come along. Quinely then can switch to DPS in between helping with healing if needed. I can DPS and if needed I can chain heal or blast a tank with one of my healing spells. However having let's say Skyka on you, and Jessica on Veliline – then we can assign Lew to group heal, not to mention adding some additional healing if needed but have him focus primarily on group healing. If specc'ed correctly, he can recharge everybody's mana every three minutes and take over healing if one of our healers dies or runs out of mana." Dan said.

Silence fell as Herrior thought over what Dan said. "Hmm…" He finally said. He turned to Skyior and asked if she wanted to be part of the group also.

"No, my place is here as Dan said. It just…feels right. I'll be Alan's personal body guard, help secure the outposts and run through the woods. It's where I belong." Skyior said.

Trackolania quickly looked up at her and walked over to her reaching in his pockets. He pulled out several dozen vials and handed them to her.

"Thanks, this should last me for awhile." Skyior said and Trackolania smiled at her then walked back in his spot.

"Should I ask what those are?" Lew asked.

"No – just pray you aren't victim to them someday. Well the logic of what you say Dan interreges me. Julie what is your opinion?" Herrior asked.

"He knows more about being a shaman than I know. There are no papers on them, unless they are some sort of secret documents I don't have access to. However I agree with him. I don't entirely understand the whole 'totem' thing. I'm assuming since you are melee you throw down melee totems, and logically it would be safe to assume that there are totems to promote healing?" Julie asked.

Dan nodded and continued, "He could always DPS if only one healer is needed. Just the same as any healer it wouldn't be as strong as a spec specifically designed to do one thing. For example Quinely can tank, but can also DPS pretty hard."

"That's right…I'm a ferocious lion!" Quinely said morphing into a lion and let out a mighty roar.

"But…hey if we have Lew's mana regeneration totem, spirit link, and mana well spring…" Dan said as Julie interrupted and said, "And Quinely's innervate along with the priests abilities to regenerate mana – timed perfectly of course which could be done through Lindel; we could have an endless supply of mana!" Julie said in excitement. "This is brilliant! I want to know all you know about shamans and their abilities!"

"Ok…that's all I know. Gernack would probably know more." Dan said excitedly right back as if mocking her. Julie rolled her eyes and said, "This is important…this is like discovering the fountain of youth and it was in your backyard the whole time!"

"We had a fountain once…its powers were corrupted and used to raise a powerful demon that slaughter nearly all of us blood elves." Skyka said breaking the mood in the air, she stood up and excused herself.

"Uh…I missed something. Herrior I'm sorry." Julie said.

Herrior shook his head and motioned for her to sit down. "You just brought back a bad memory, you are fine. Give her time. Blood elves hold tight onto their history and pass down their accounts of their lives and their memories from generation to generation so that the lives that were needlessly lost will be remembered. So Dan, Julie – do you think having Lew as a healing shaman would benefit us?"

"I think so." Dan said sounding confident.

"Yeah definitely." Julie replied back quickly.

"Lew?" Herrior asked looking at him.

"I'm game. When can I start?" Lew replied.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted one of the King's ambassadors. They spoke for awhile, catching up on events happening in Tranquil and on other worlds. Herrior then asked for two more hearthstones and asked if the monks were busy. The ambassador said they were in the middle of blasting a naga right now.

"I doubt if it will work. We told the monks to not complete the ritual if they think their body is not able to withstand the blasting." The ambassador said.

"Understandable - how long until I can get one of my people in to see the monks for a class transformation?" Herrior asked.

"Umm…might be a couple of days. I can check their schedule. A human I'm assuming?" The ambassador asked. Herrior nodded.

"Do you want immunization to time stopping as well?" The ambassador asked.

"No just immunity to possessions from alliance and demons as well as transformed into a shaman." Herrior said.

"Shaman's have become pretty popular since the fall of Deathwing. Controlling the elements, raining down rocks from the outer worlds…it's pretty impressive!" The ambassador said.

"Herrior may I?" Dan asked. Herrior nodded and walked over to the portal and saw the tauren ambassador he was talking to. "I was given additional powers to do what I did. The rock is what we call a comet. The engineer that I worked with did a whole slew of calculations, things that I wouldn't even know how to describe. She just told me where to move the comet and then began to push it, guiding it slightly until she said to stop. There was nothing impressive about it. He was a big dragon, and we needed a big rock to hit him. The engineer should get the credit for it…she could have done the whole thing without me. Before the battle I said a prayer and felt my powers increase. Since then my powers have not been that strong."

The ambassador listened intently and then nodded. "I need to speak with some other people then. I will contact you Herrior when the monks are ready for the blasting," and the ambassador closed the portal.

"Hopefully it wasn't Haley's comet…" Crystal said with a smile.

"Kind of takes all of the 'awe-inspiring-ness' out of it when you explain what and how it happened." Dan said feeling slightly awkward.

"I thought it was pretty." Skyka said walking back in with a smile. She wiggled her way back beside her husband as she sat down, grabbing a hold of his arm and leaning her head on it. Herrior kissed her on the head.

"It doesn't stop…even in Tranquil… Someone is shown power and wants it for themselves." Dan asked.

"Unfortunately it is everywhere. The ambassador probably has his hands full right now. Races that are balanced where all people are equal and a type of 'ruler' dissolves disputes that arise is the closest you are going to get to a place like that. Tranquil isn't perfect nor is its people. We strive to be, but not all of us feel we are equal or content is perhaps a better word. A relaxed mind and body, cleared of any thoughts is better to go into battle with than a warrior that is heavily armed. Now then, let's get some sleep shall we?" Herrior asked. Mohania dissolved his fire as collection of bones and aluminum foil was collected. A portal soon opened and two different hearthstones were delivered. Herrior gave them to Skyior and Lew. Lew asked how bad the pain was going to becoming a monk. Herrior said that there was no use worrying about it now.

The group talked among themselves in whispers as they settled down for the night. Branzer's eyes locked on to Lindel's eyes as he gave her a brief smile. She closed her eyes and smiled, then slowly looked back up at him.

"Can you hear me?" Branzer asked in his mind.

"Yes I can." Lindel said back in his mind.

"I still love you."

"We cannot be together." Lindel replied.

"You are human right now aren't you?" Branzer asked.

"Yes."

"I can smell, touch, taste your lips when I kissed you and feel the warmth of your body."

"I'm a banshee…"

"If I can do all of those things in your human form, and we showed love to each other in your human form – why could we not conceive a child in your human form?"

No answer.

"When you disperse your body or change forms, you are still you. A child is what you want, and a child is what I want to give you."

A slight sound uttered in Branzer's head, but nothing that made sense.

"I may not know everything about what was said tonight, or everybody's abilities – but I'm not dumb. I know you love me still, and I know you have been thinking about bearing a child. You're afraid though, but I'm afraid to let you go. Please don't let me go." Branzer said. Lindel got up and walked over to Branzer and lay down in front of him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she slowly let tears fall from her eyes.

"I love you…" Branzer whispered as he leaned over and whispered it in her ear. Lindel reached up and gripped his arm and squeezed it.

"I don't want to let go…" Lindel said back in Branzer's head.

"You don't have to." Branzer said back in his head.

"I want…to do it right this time…I do want a child but it scares me. I am a fighter above all else and Crystal was commanded not to fight when she was with child. I never want to be without our party. Would our child be a human or a banshee? Would we even be able to bear a child at all? I have wronged you, yet your heart still bleeds for me – why?" Lindel asked.

"Because you are the one." Branzer said replying back in his head.

"Can I still think some more?" Lindel asked.

"Absolutely, and thank you for the chance for letting me hold you again. Good night." Branzer said.

"Good night Branzer." Lindel said in his mind and broke the mental link.

Moments before Branzer fell into a deep sleep, Lindel gave him a good nudge with her elbow. Branzer became startled and quickly woke up. He looked around and saw no danger, but Lindel lying on her back smiling with her finger over her mouth. She then pointed to her head and then to his. Branzer nodded.

"Lay back down, you're going to wake everybody up." Lindel said in his mind.

"You mean like me? What's going on?" Branzer asked.

"Settle yourself, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to hear you some more, and I want to talk about stuff." Lindel said.

"What kind of stuff?" Branzer asked and lay down next to her and wrapped his arm around her again.

"We are struggling to form a relationship, but so are Trackolania and Julie. Strings is in love, but scared. Dan and Crystal are madly in love – just like Herrior and Skyka. Mohania and Kendall are so cute together. Bernett and Samatha is a beautiful couple. What do you think of Trackolania and Julie forming a relationship?" Lindel asked looking at the sleeping rogue.

"It's hard to form a relationship without talking." Branzer said.

"No you're wrong, love is more than words. Love is a passion – a deep rooted connection between two people that stretches from world to world and picks right up where they left off. Love knows no time; love has no form but controls our bodies and minds. If you were never able to hold me, smell me, taste me, or talk to me – would you still love me?" Lindel asked.

"Yes" Branzer replied immediately.

"Why?"

"Because there my heart longs for you. If I never see you again, then my heart will still be filled with the memories of you. Even a slight whisper in the night that sounds like your voice will make my heart skip a beat." Branzer said.

Lindel rolled over and illuminated her eyes so that they could see each other. "That was beautiful."

Branzer didn't know what to say back but just smiled. Lindel gently rose her hand up on Branzer's cheek and barely touched it as she felt the hair rise and fall when her hand passed over them.

"I tried to forget about you." Lindel said. Branzer tried to say something, but Lindel over powered his thoughts. "I tried and I failed. I tried over and over. I wept for you, even when you were alive. I wept more than I ever have before in my life. I am tired of crying, I want happiness in my life. I want you in my life. I lied to you, I fought you and nearly killed you, I betrayed myself and my feelings and I lost sight of what is important. A fighter faces his fear with courage, not with idle thoughts wondering through…her head. I am sorry…I wish I could start over."

"I don't. My memories, my feelings, and the very sight of you…even through all everything my heart still longed for you and I never want to forget any of it." Branzer said.

"Even the embarrassing bedroom incident?" Lindel asked looking away ashamed.

"Do you suppose the Queen ordered you to do that so that you will start thinking more about an intimate relationship for yourself instead of others?" Branzer asked.

"No, I still don't know why she ordered me to do that…" Lindel said not understanding what Branzer said. Branzer brought his hand up and began to stroke her hair and repeated what he just said.

"I…don't understand." Lindel said.

"How long have you been watching other people mate and having relationships. How many babies have you delivered and watched the joy on other people's faces, all while shielding the very thought you are still shielding? The thought being, 'I can never have what they have because of my past, because of who I am so I will just enjoy everybody else's happiness.'" Branzer said. Lindel thought about it for a moment and then shed a tear and nodded her head. Branzer pulled her close and kissed her forehead as he tightly hugged her.

"I think it's time for you to have that happiness." Branzer said back in his head as Lindel began to softly cry.

The next morning Herrior gave his party different assignments. Lew, Lindel, and Strings were to go help Alan with his clinic. Their jobs were to place orders for construction of a new facility about an hour drive north of their house…or a twenty second drive if Lew got to drive his vehicle. Another task as to help Alan sort through their patients that seemed to be struggling the most and invite them to begin an experiment. Herrior and the others, minus Branzer and Julie were going to meet up with the officers in their homes and speak with them. Branzer was off to offer his assistance to the newcomers on the land where their latest battle had been, the land of the Dragonmaw. Branzer was hoping that they would change that name…something more heart-warming like "America". His job was to also establish contact with the naga and introduce them to each other, also to see if their Queen needed any more assistance.

Julie's job was different. Her job was to walk into a trap and get caught. She had Spark out and both of them stealthed themselves as they walked out of the portal. They were back at the airport where the confrontation had taken place. Unnoticed, Julie had saw that they were still cleaning up the debris left, but the bodies were gone – along with any trace of a battle occurring. Julie and Spark moved slowly around each building as they took in the entire scene. She then saw a male camping about one hundred meters north of where she wrote the sign on the concrete. The note was promptly erased, but an array of sticks was lined up to form an arrow pointing at him. That was what she came for.

Both her and Spark moved slowly towards the man who seemed tired as he wrapped himself in a blanket. He was sitting on a camping chair with a pot of what smelled like coffee brewing over an open fire. Julie motioned for Spark to go to the port-a-potty as she moved into position. She pulled her gun out and poised herself a foot behind him.

Spark came out and began jumping and seemingly playing as if he was the happiest dog in the world.

The man jumped a little and then said, "My you are a big fellow. Now where did you come from?" Spark looked at the man and started panting and let out a low whimper.

"I don't have any supplies for a dog I'm afraid, and coffee will stunt your growth…and by the looks of it you never had coffee. So are you a friendly dog?" The man asked. Spark sat down and let out a friendly bark.

"Alright, how about you come over here and we can talk for awhile?" The man asked patting on his leg. Spark playfully bounced towards him, his enormous bottle rattling the ground.

"Whoa big fella…I don't know who your owner is, but they need to ease up on the steroids for you." The man said letting Spark sniff his open palmed hand before petting him on the head.

"That a'boy. I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't mind you sticking around for awhile, it's been pretty lonely out here. I'm supposed meet some people or creatures or whatever here. I'm here for the next month or until they show up. You probably wouldn't stay that long though would ya…" The man said petting Spark with both hands now.

During this time Julie had moved away from the man and began examining his equipment. He had a radio, portable television, a cell phone, a walky-talky, a tape recorder, video camera, and two different hand guns in his tent. She had to keep him away from these items if she was going to talk to him. She then formulated a plan.

Still stealthed, she walked up to the man and quickly put her hand around his neck and whispered. "Go into the bathroom, do not go in your tent, and do not put your hands up – act casual." The man's body became stiff as a board in fear as he felt a very big cylinder pressed up against the side of his head. He did as he was told without saying a word.

Once inside the port-a-potty, Julie shoved him on top of the toilet seat and shut the door behind her. Spark laid down in front of the door as if to keep watch.

Julie appeared and gave the man a good scare to see the gun pointing at him and the woman dressed in armor he had never seen before.

"What are you doing here?" Julie asked.

"I'm here to answer your message…I'm…uh…supposed to meet with somebody, uh probably you I'm guessing. I have orders to record our conversation…"

"That is why we are in here and not your tent. Listen, we are not out to hurt you or anybody in the good 'ol U.S. of A. Quite the opposite actually, but we keep being betrayed. We brought all of those terrorists here as a present – sorry we didn't gift wrap them, but figured their dead bodies sprawled out for you would be just as good." Julie said.

"Are you going to kill me?" The man asked.

"I would have by now, this is for my protection. If you want our help tell you superiors that sign your paychecks to leave us alone. Once we know that we are not going to keep being betrayed by the country we were born and raised in – then we will offer our help." Julie said and began to back away.

"You killed our soldiers and policemen."

"Your policemen are fine. They are living free productive lives, raising their children and playing backgammon with each other. Never learned the game myself but I hear it's challenging. If they return to their homes I have no doubt that their lives will end prematurely…compliments of your curiosity, or at least interrogated and watched for the rest of their lives. I assure you they are safer than anybody else in this world. We're currently discussing where they want to go in the world and we'll displace them there. Your soldiers on the other hand attacked us first; however the beginning of the story started with one of your very higher-ups seeing us, making promises and then betraying us. Betraying us leads to death not only to you but to your family as well. Do not attack us, do not betray us, and we will meet again - a week from now, New York, two in the afternoon on forty-second street. I would say come alone but I know you won't. We'll conduct further negotiations then." Julie said and lowered her weapon back in its holster. She held out her hand and a red disk shaped object appeared in her hand. She dropped it on the ground and instantly snakes burst out of it.

"You may leave when the snakes die, or they will kill you. I'd prefer that you waited." Julie said as she disappeared in front of his eyes. The door opened and closed as all of the poisonous snakes tried to climb up to the man to bite at him. None of the snakes paid any attention to the door opening and closing. They constantly hissed and tried to spit venom at him as he tried to avoid them in terror. Thirty seconds later they all died and their bodies dissolved into dust. The man rushed outside and saw his tent and everything inside of it was engulfed in flame. The woman and her dog were nowhere in sight. He had made contact, but his superiors would not be happy.

Branzer's job wasn't as exciting. He appeared a ways away as he walked towards the newly arrived humans with his eagle on his shoulder. He waved to them from afar as he approached. By now Tranquil's gatherers had probably stripped the land of any precious metals and definitely had got rid of the dead cultist's bodies. So even if they did go exploring they wouldn't notice anything suspicious. The elder that had spoken with them before came forward to greet him. The man bowed and Branzer bowed in return.

"It is a pleasure to see you again. How are things going?" Branzer asked.

"Slow, but as aspected – we have but just arrived. We met some of your naga friends. They seem to empathize the 's' sounds in their words, almost like a hiss. Are they snake men?" The elder asked.

"I would stick with calling them naga. Tell them you are friends of Herrior and Skyka. Do your people require anything right now?" Branzer asked.

The man let out a laugh and said, "What don't we need. The naga have brought us fish from the sea, and we have begun construction of houses. Currently we are suffering from disease and malnutrition. These lands we were hoping had more to offer."

Branzer began pulling biscuits and dried meat from his pouches and handing them over to the man. The man looked at him amazed.

Finally his arms began to over flow with food as it fell to the said. The man quickly dropped to the ground and tried to keep the food from getting dirty. Branzer bent down and handed him seven vials.

"These are healing vials. Distribute an equal amount to each person that is sick. It will help revitalize their bodies. Give them the food, dig your wells and build your buildings. May your people prosper." Branzer said and patted him on the shoulder. Branzer then rose to his feet and walked away as the man thanked him repeatedly. He pulled out his hearthstone and seconds later he walked through a portal and disappeared – his eagle flying behind him.

Herrior and the others had not only calmed the officers of their worries, but had their undying devotion. He spoke with them for an hour about what had happened and how they were manipulated. His voice was kind and gentle when he spoke and Strings played his lute which increased the soothing affects that they had on the crowds.

Eventually at the end of the speech, he gave them the same offer. "Now then, you may all do as you wish. Stay here, move back to where you were, go to another world, and go to different places in the world. I trust all of you, but I warn you not to betray us. If you have placed some thought as to where you want to go, let us know." Many of them expressed interest in seeing different parts of the world, but felt that they needed to stay close to each other.

Herrior nodded and said, "That is good to hear. You have formed bonds with each other, gaining each other's trust as the day's progress. All of you are stronger together as a whole than you are separately. However I must leave you as of now. I bid you all farewell. You have all made me proud." The crowd began to clap as Herrior started to walk away with the rest of his party. Herrior turned around and smiled at all of them and felt good about what he saw. He didn't sense any betrayal, and knew they would be a valuable in the future. Herrior waved back.

Everybody met back up at the newly renovated barn. The Tranquil engineers had the outside appearance look the same, but dug a hole beneath it to an enormous chamber filled with glowing orbs on the walls that illuminated three thousand square foot room. It was filled with drapery, and rugs. A place at the far end was constructed with practice targets for them to spar with. Mohania was inspecting the other corner that had at least fifty chains coming out of it.

"Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"It was their idea!" Mohania said quickly turning around and pointing at somebody that wasn't there. "Drat…I have to watch where I point…"

"Alan and Sammy do not want to hear any torturing of our enemies." Herrior said.

"Whoa…hold on. These are for…working out." Mohania said backing into the corner and grabbed a hold of the chains and pushed them forward and back.

"And just where do you plan on disposing of the bodies when they are killed?" Herrior asked.

"They built an incinerator over here…wait that was a trick question…" Mohania said turning around with a smile. "I'm just kidding…I'm going to eat them of course."

"Is this structure sound proof?" Herrior asked.

"Look, obviously Mohania isn't joking around about this torture thing – but how are we going to sleep with people screaming in pain and desperation?" Jessica asked sounding concerned, and slightly fearful.

"I'll sleep just fine. Remember the man who made you bleed? I've got special plans for him…" Mohania said rubbing his skeleton hands together.

"Jessica, you may sleep anywhere you want. However, Mohania has a valid point – this being one of the rare occasions – but anybody who attacks us suffers a brutal death." Herrior said.

"I have many valid points! Besides I don't plan on it being brutal…well not until next week maybe… If it helps I can rip his tongue out so nobody can hear his screams?" Mohania said looking around as if he was trying to compromise.

"I may want to skip this part…" Jessica said sounding like she was going to get sick. Skyka gently put a hand on her and moved her out into the barn and shut the door.

"Torture isn't for everybody, I don't enjoy it myself. I'd rather just kill them outright. We had a system in Tranquil for torturing people, but having Mohania joining our group and transitioning him and his race in Tranquil – we've been able to get answers from our enemies faster than ever before. Most of our guards…like the rest of us…didn't enjoy doing it. Mohania's kind of…different." Skyka said.

"Everybody plays a role huh…" Jessica said. "I'm just worried that because of the things I showed him, people are going to suffer because of me…"

"No no…hun, Mohania's been torturing people way before you were even conceived. I thought you and him enjoyed watching those movies?" Skyka asked.

"Yeah, but that's Hollywood…this is real life." Jessica said.

"They didn't torture these people in real life? It looks convincing enough." Skyka said and then shook her head.

"Maybe I can help him with it later…just not right now." Jessica said.

"You can do whatever you want. Do you want some time alone?" Skyka asked.

"Yeah…I think so." Jessica said levitating herself off the ground and flew out of the back of the barn. Skyka nodded as she opened the cellar doors and walked back down.

"Was it something Herrior said?" Mohania asked.

"She didn't think you would actually do those things..." Skyka said but her sentence was ended prematurely with Mohania bursting into laughter thinking it was a joke.

"I'm serious Mohania." Skyka said.

"Oh…" Mohania said trying to compose himself. "Still new to the group eh?"

"How bad does this get?" Lew asked.

"Wanna watch?" Mohania asked with a sinister ring in his voice as his skeleton mouth opened wide with a smile.

"Mohania…is this sound proof?" Herrior asked again.

"I don't know…I wasn't here when they build it. Sound doesn't travel very well underground and those are some heavy doors." Mohania said pulling out his hearthstone. He contacted one of the ambassadors for the engineering group and asked them the question. They reported it should silence the cries of any humans and said they had prisoners they were ready to bring in. Mohania nodded in excitement and closed the portal. He looked up at Herrior.

"We're all going to go up and listen. Make the first one scream…as loud as you can and we'll see if we can hear them." Herrior said.

"Can I make them all scream? It is louder in unison." Mohania said stating a fact.

"Sure…" Herrior said as he let the group back up the stairs.

Mohania waited until they all left and then rubbed his hearthstone and telling them that he was ready. A Chronomancer opened a portal and twelve came through with several guards.

"The King wants to watch, don't disappoint him." A tauren said as he pushed one of the men to the ground and then kicked him in the stomach.

"Gentle now…tell the King he will enjoy the show…" Mohania said in dark and sinister voice as his eyes burst into flame in the anticipation. The guards left and Mohania instantly ignited the ground him as he walked to them. His body erupted in flame and told them to chain themselves up to the wall or they would be burnt alive. Mohania gave two different demonstrations as the rest of the men quickly chained themselves up. Mohania howled in laughter. Mohania snapped his fingers and instantly everything went dark.

"I want to play a game…" Mohania said as his sinister voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"I want you to kiss my…" one of the men said and then erupted into the most terrifying scream he had ever made. He screamed, wiggled as much as he could, lost his bowels, and violently tore back and forth until his wrists were bleeding.

Several minutes passed and the man started to settle down as his heart nearly beat out of his chest. "Let me go…please…please…let me go…" The man begged mercilessly.

"Daddy?" The voice of his daughter came from a distance away.

"Terry? Terry is that you? What are you doing here?" The man said quickly.

"The bad man put me down here. Mommy is here too. The bad man said you have to kill one of the people next to you in the next minute or we will die." Mohania's voice called out as he created an illusion of a badly beaten looking child and mother. Mohania was standing above them with his hands on fire. The man looked at the closest man next to him and then quickly looked back.

"You've got ten minutes. Each minute I make your family scream in horrible pain. If they survive until you killed the man next to you then…whatever is left of you family is yours to have." Mohania said walking over and unshackling him from the wall. He held up a rusty dagger and said, "Remember…play by the rules. It would be a shame to have your family shit yourself again…" Mohania said and turned back around to retake his position.

"I…can't…" The man said looking at the chained man next to him.

"Fifty seconds…" Mohania said as he put his hand on his wife's head and a wave of flame quickly erupted from his hand and burned her entire body, but quickly went out.

"No…not me, please! I have family too! I can help you…please skeleton, I can help you out, please don't have him kill me!" The chained up man said in desperation.

"Your wife is looking pretty bad…I can smell her flesh boiling. Once your time is up I will feast on their bodies in front of you!" Mohania said yelling at him at the end. The man drove the dagger into the man. The man closed his eyes and anticipated pain, but the knife disappeared.

"How easily your fellow man turns against you. Think I would make it that easy for you?" Mohania said as he held his hand down on the young girl and every three seconds she screamed out in pain. "Forty seconds!" Mohania yelled out.

The man quickly turned around and punched the man in the throat. He repeatedly punched him in his throat over and over until his windpipe collapsed and his neck looked badly disfigured.

"There he is dead…give me my family!" The man said with blood coming off from his hands.

"Congratulations…you won another minute. I need information…tell me why you betrayed us…tell me everything…" Mohania said as his sinister voice echoed again through the chamber.

"You said…" The man said pointing his finger at Mohania and walking fiercely towards him as Mohania held up his hand and instantly the man screamed in fear and ran into the corner, cowering and screaming as loud as he could.

Twelve seconds passed and the man slowly spun around and saw Mohania's smile looking at him. "You're losing time…tell me what I want to know!"

"It was his plan!" The man pointed at their leader.

"Shut up!" The leader said as his body erupted in a brief period of fire.

"Information…now!" Mohania demanded as he made both illusions of his wife and child scream in horrible pain.

"He promised us power and money…please stop! Hurt me not them!" The man begged Mohania.

Mohania silenced his illusions and lowered his head expecting him to say more.

"He betrayed you…he figured the only way out of our predicament was to get you to obey him. He knew you were powerful and talked us into it. We were promised wealth beyond our wildest dreams…please let them go…" The man said explaining quickly.

"His name is Tom. He was working in our anti-terrorist group and knew who to call. Capturing the children would bring the town to their knees – and was supposed to bring you to your knees in sympathy. Please I beg of you, let his family go." Another prisoner said.

"Lies! That is complete bullshit!" Tom said fearing for his life.

"Ahh…the smell of burnt flesh, the pounding of your hearts, the sweat pouring from your pores…the smell of…pain!" Mohania said putting his hands back on the woman and child making them screaming again in pain. Seconds later he lifted his hands and said, "More information…now! Were you working for the alliance? Where were the demons?"

Everybody looked at him dumbfounded at quickly looked at each other not knowing what to say.

"I can increase the pain…" Mohania said and casted a howl of terror that making everybody in the chamber scream in horror.

"Forty seconds left until his family dies and I bring in the rest of yours…where is the alliance and the demons!" Mohania practically screamed at them.

"I don't know what you are talking about…I swear!" The father screamed as everybody else agreed.

"Humans… you greed and lust for power, yet so fragile and stupid! Did you not think there would be consequences for your actions? Have you forgot how many times we saved your lives…and then you turn on it – prey on innocent children, beat them, just for money? Just for power? Only now do you realize how stupid you were…at the very end…Which one of you was the one that struck Jessica?" Mohania practically screamed.

Everybody again looked at him confused.

"Idiots! That was us! We were the children! We could have killed all of you in a second – there was no way we were going to let you attack innocent children and beat them! Which one of you beat the young girl that is in our party named Jessica!" Mohania screamed as his voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"Me…I did it, I'm sorry." One of the men said.

"You have one chance of survival and you better think real quickly about the answer…what is the opposite of living?" Mohania asked as he blasted the man with an enormous fireball. Mohania kept casting fire spells at him until his flesh and muscle melted and nothing but a skeleton remained. The men were screaming, several of them vomiting. Mohania laughed the entire time. One final spell, a shadow bolt, exploded what was left of him all over the prisoners as Mohania walked up to the body and picked up a bone.

"Eat it!" Mohania said shoving it into another man's mouth. The man's eyes instantly grew wide in fear. Mohania turned the bone slightly and pounded on it hard. It pierced through his cheek and hit the back wall.

"You eat that and you can go free!" Mohania said picking up another bone and chewing it up. He then spit the splinters out at the man named Tom. He then retook his position and picked up the young girl. Mohania then made her talk.

"Bye bye daddy. It's time for me to die now. You ran out of time." Mohania picked her up as she leaned her neck over. Mohania's jaw grew very wide and was about to bite down when the man screamed that he would do anything.

Mohania tossed the girl aside and told him to rip off the Tom's scrotum. The man quickly did as Tom screamed in pain over and over as the dad pulled harder and harder to get it off. Finally muscle and tissue came with it and put it in front of him. Tom screamed in horror as he watched his crotch spew out blood and other fluids.

"Rip out his tongue now!" Mohania said. The man quickly shoved his hand into Tom's mouth and yanked real hard on his tongue. It took several hard yanks, but eventually it ripped off as he put it near the man's scrotum. Tom began to choke on the blood as he tried to scream.

"Can you feel it? Death is coming for you…it is whispering your name. The man has thirty seconds left until his family dies, but you have only a couple of seconds. Your lungs are filling with blood…and you are pissing blood my friend – not a good sign. I can heal you, stop death's approach. Nod yes, shake your head no. Did you contact any other of these terrorist?" Mohania asked. The man quickly shook his head. Mohania slammed his fist into the man's chest. His hand erupted in first and melted the skin and flesh. He grabbed a rib and quickly snapped it.

"The more you scream…the faster you die. Who else did you contact?" Mohania asked. The man constantly shook his head. Mohania reached into the man's chest and cut a little slit in the man's lungs as blood quickly spilled down Mohania's arm.

"Who…else…did…you…contact?" Mohania said licking his arm. The man mumbled some words as he felt a sudden rush of air blast into his lungs. He shook his head again.

"Do you swear on your life?" Mohania said getting right up into his face. "Do you swear on your life, your friends lives, your families, your partners. It would be a shame to deliver your severed head to your mom and dad in a box – and then force them to watch me devour it!" Mohania said screaming in his face. The man quickly reconsidered his answer and let out a small nod.

Mohania conjured a healthstone. He slammed it into the man and the bleeding instantly stopped.

"You are alive for now…give me names, locations, and descriptions." Mohania said.

"I'll tell you. If I give them to you, will you give me a quick death?" Another man said.

"You - maybe…your friends and family – I doubt it. You captured children, beat them, and wired them up with explosives! From where I come from…that's not being a good parent. Spill your guts or I will spill them like this!" Mohania said and shoved his hand into another man who let out a fierce gasp as Mohania grabbed his innards and pulled them out.

The man quickly named off five different men, where they lived, what organization they called themselves and descriptions of them.

Mohania unshackled the man, quickly dislocated his right arm and threw him through the illusions. Mohania's concentration on the illusions faded enough so that they didn't make contact with them.

"What the…" The father said pointing at what just happened. Mohania looked back and saw what happened. Mohania burst out laughing and said, "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!" as he reached down and ignited the father on fire.

After his body burned up, he asked who else was useful to him. Many of them started giving him more information than he needed.

"You aren't saying anything new…you are just babbling to keep yourself alive…" Mohania said and tilted his neck and bit down, taking an enormous chunk out of his neck. Blood squirted high in the air and with each passing second the blood squirted less and less.

"Who else is babbling?" Mohania asked as he began chewing up the bite and swallowing it.

The rest of the men were, but insisted it was new information. Mohania grabbed a hold of another's arm and instantly his hand caught fire and it spread up his arm. He screamed in horror as he watched it engulf his face, neck, and chest. Mohania then pulled the arm off and hit the next person over the head with it.

"He's useful to me…the rest of you will die a slow painful death." Mohania said pointing to the man behind him as he laid on the ground flailing his arms around trying to relocate them back into position.

Mohania summoned his imp and told him to burn them slowly until they die. He said to melt his eyes first, and then randomly hit them in different spots…but stop before they are on the brink of death. "I like my human's fresh…" Mohania said as the imp quickly agreed as he conjured his fireball. It flew through the air and it began to hit their eyes, melting them down their faces.

Mohania grabbed the man he threw by the wrist, sending jarring pain throughout his body. Mohania pulled out his hearthstone, but heard the voice of the King.

"I don't understand the point of the game…" The King said with a smile.

"I haven't worked out all of the rules yet." Mohania said smiling as he looked above him at the King.

"I'm opening a portal. A banshee will take it from here. Then I'm going to assign some of our primary groups to take out the targets. It was…a bit shorter than what I anticipated, however very effective. Congratulations Mohania, once again you have given us the information we needed." The King said.

"The pleasure was all mine." Mohania said with a big grin.

"I'm sure it was…do you want your undead family to come and feast with you?" The King asked.

"Yes." Mohania said sincerely.

"I'll arrange that right away. Thank you." The King said as he closed the portal. To the right of him a portal began to form and eventually opened all the way. A troll smiled at him as he had his sword drawn. Mohania handed over the prisoner and put the sword to his throat as he ordered him to walk through the portal.

Mohania walked up the stairs and opened the doors.

"Did you guys hear anything?" Mohania asked.

"Are you done already?" Skyka asked surprised.

Mohania began to cackle.

"Well we can hear screams now…but no we couldn't before." Herrior said.

"I spoke with the King. We are going to have assignments soon…well hopefully we will, it was me that got the information anyways. I would like the pleasure is killing some more."

"Mohania?" Kendall's voice could be heard calling him.

"Oops…wife calls. Don't wait up for me." Mohania said closing the doors.

"Sort of makes you wonder how he got the information…back in the day we used to do it the hard way by collecting evidence, building a case, presenting it to one of our attorneys…and ah hell, it was boring. This is much faster." Bernett said smiling.

"If we need information quickly, this is the best way of doing it. I'd hate to think that one of our fighters, or even several of them, die because we couldn't interrogate them fast enough." Herrior said.

Jessica floated back in into the barn and asked if it was over.

"Sort of, how are you doing?" Skyka asked.

"Not used to everything I guess. Is it quiet…uh, down there?" Jessica asked.

"We did not hear anything." Herrior said.

Jessica nodded and let her feet hit the ground.

"With the information that Mohania has obtained, our primary groups or assassins will be assigned to carry out some missions. Meantime we have some time to kill. You may all do as you wish." Herrior said as he stretched and flexed his arm and legs muscles. Trackolania immediately got up and walked out of the barn. He pulled out his new throwing blade and threw it towards the woods. The "S" shaped blade flew out of sight almost instantly, twirling as fast as it could. Julie came out to see what he was doing. Trackolania's eyes intently watching something in the far distance. Several seconds later they heard an enormous crash as a large oak tree fell to the ground. Trackolania took several steps forward as he reached his arm up and almost instantly the blade flew back into his hands. His fingers gently grasped it so that the blades or the spikes on it didn't injure him as he put it back in his pocket. He turned to Julie and let out a sigh.

"Not much to sigh about I don't think, I thought it looked rather impressive." Julie said. Trackolania shook his head and walked back into the barn. He pulled out his crossbow and gave it to Herrior. He then climbed up on the roof of the barn.

"He doesn't like to give up weapons." Herrior said putting the crossbow in one of his packs.

"Is there anything that he does like?" Julie asked.

Herrior thought about it for awhile, but eventually said "He likes jokes…but of course you have to tell him the whole thing."

"I want to head back to Tranquil, visit with some of the families that lost their fighters recently. I want to pay my respects and try to give them some comfort." Skyka said motioning for Lindel.

"Take your time. Just realize that you did everything right." Herrior said.

Skyka nodded but hadn't entirely come to agree with him on it, or come to grasp with it herself. She hated seeing people die – especially being a healer and in command. Lindel opened a portal and sent her back.

"Wait a second, I would like to go back and see my wife and kiddo…" Bernett said as if he was trying to flag down a taxi with his arm up. Lindel held the portal open as he went through. He asked if anybody else wanted to go through.

"Should I go find the monks and ask them to change me?" Lew asked. Herrior quickly felt uneasy about the question and asked him to stay. Lindel closed the portal and asked if she could go for a walk. Herrior nodded.

"Lew, in all honesty I have no idea why you are even alive. I think I've said that before, but I still don't know what to do with you. You have a commanding spirit and I suspect have been in charge for most of your life. Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Herrior asked.

"No disrespect, but are you sure you want me to do this?" Lew asked back.

"To question one's course of action is to judge a man before he commits an act of valor or treason. This man's intentions are true. To limit ones potential is the same as keeping a vase full of gold sealed with no intention of using it. Let it be." Dan said, but only his voice was deep and eerie sounding. Dan was meditating and lifting rocks off from the ground and bursting them into tiny pieces of dirt. The dirt this time instead of falling to the ground swirled around into the air and produced a brief image of a person. A second later the dirt fell to the ground as Dan lifted another rock and crushed that as if he was completely oblivious to what just happened.

"Herrior, I would go with what the dirt man just said." Strings said with a surprised look on his face.

"Granted, I'll speak with the monks immediately." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone. The monks said they were ready and Herrior stepped out to find Lindel and Branzer holding each other's hands and giggling.

"Lindel, I need another portal. Lew needs to get blasted." Herrior said. Lindel quickly let go and began to channel her power into creating a portal.

"Being blasted is just a figure of speech right?" Lew asked.

"What's the worst pain you've ever been in?" Branzer asked.

"I'm about to find out?" Lew answered back.

"Yup, they will notify us when they are done. You may need a day or two to recover, but being in Tranquil it may speed up the recovery. Good luck and concentrate on something you love. The first time you saw Tranquil, your first love, your greatest achievement – it will help with the pain." Herrior said.

Lew nodded as he walked through the portal and into the monk's chambers. They could hear the monks speaking with him about removing his clothing and anything else that might catch fire and to lie still on the flat stone slab in the middle of the room. Lindel shut the portal and looked up at Herrior.

"Let's just say a voice from beyond told me it was time to have him change." Herrior said and then turned to walk back in.

"Come and sit with me Herrior." Dan said with sixteen small rocks spinning slowly around his head. Herrior did as he was told. Dan opened his eyes and smiled at him. Dan removed his gauntlets and set them on the ground and then extended his hands. Curiously Herrior did the same and reached out to take hold of Dan's hands. He anticipated something, some sort of shock or whatever, but it was just Dan's small human hands.

"Can you ask everybody else to leave please?" Dan whispered.

Herrior looked up at everybody and nodded. They all left so it was just Herrior and Dan.

"Close your eyes and clear your mind – there is something the elements are telling me that you need to know." Dan said. Herrior took a deep breath and calmed himself.

Herrior sat with Dan for ten minutes with nothing happening, but on the eleventh minute a voice asked a question. It was a voice he had never heard of. It asked if he was to be trusted. Herrior said he was.

"Danger approaches…please help us…" The voice said. Herrior thought the sound might be from a small fairy, it was very quiet, very subtle and it sounded almost female.

"What can we do?" Dan asked.

"A great storm of fire is falling towards us. When this fire falls it will destroy us. It wants you. It does not know we know, but we know. It seeks revenge and will stop at nothing until it has it. You, Dan were speaking to us of how Mohania destroyed its world and severed its connection with this world. All of the world's speaks, the world's all know, but none of revealing its secrets. Many more of its worlds need to be destroyed. It is desperate. We are desperate. We are calling out to you for help. They will destroy that which was set into motion. If motion stops, we all stop." The voice altered between female and male voices – some talking in unison.

"We have great armies that have conquered countless foes." Herrior said softly.

"That is what Dan said. We will do what we can to delay the inevitable, but they must not destroy what was set into motion…" the voice said and then faded away.

Dan opened his eyes and squeezed Herrior's mighty tauren hands. He opened his eyes.

"We can trust each other, we can trust our fighters, and I feel we can trust the elements. I have been speaking with them. There is life all around us, we breathe in air and consume food which gives living creatures life – but life is everywhere. Right now if we were to contain a small amount of life and harness its powers through us, we could shatter worlds by the mere thought. These creatures, the aliens that we called them, believe they dominate the worlds and everything in them – killing for interest and without remorse. Mercilessly watching helpless young ones cry for pain as they study their reaction. There are also beasts…horrible beasts that they control. They have mechanical machines that walk – they kill and capture. These trees, grasses, animals – everything that surrounds us and works in harmony with each other – they care nothing about. For every tree we cut down, its roots and nuts fall to attempt to preserve itself. I believe that there are some forces we cannot trust. The people, beings or whatever they are, that had trapped you and I bartered with I believe are evil. They thirst for power the same as anybody else, the endless thirst that can never be satisfied. I believe we are going to have to battle them as well, but I believe I will have to do it alone." Dan said softly.

"No my brother, we will all stand with you." Herrior said back.

"Look at what they did to you Herrior. They toyed with you as if you were a child's toy. I have put myself in a deep meditation and prayed hard. They did not save me from the explosion, they are not helping us. I have fallen off the path of the straight and narrow. I began to rely on the powers that others had in order to destroy my enemies. That is not how battles are won. Battles are won by having a clear mind and a clear conscious. Both of which I did not have. Our own fighters feel the same, the stronger we are, the easier it will be to defend ourselves and that is a false belief. Look at Samson in the bible. He was stronger than any man – killed a thousand people with a jaw bone of a donkey. We all possess the same strengths and need only use them. This new armor and weapons do not give us the advantage, but give us over confidence, therefore giving us a disadvantage. Samson was seduced by Delilah to give over his secret how many times? You think he would have learned the first time. Being seduced over something is not what we need. Only in the end was Samson regranted his strength to destroy the temple. We have that strength, we just need to stop and listen to what we need to do." Dan stopped to catch a breath. Herrior slowly nodded acknowledging him.

"I inquire to myself about my powers and ask and pray 'What can I do to help? What is needed of me? May I be granted the power needed to do what I am called on to do?' Then I meditate, I get confused sometimes but eventually the clouds clear and I see what it is that I am needed to do. That's all there is to it. A quiet whisper, a silent split second decision has been spoken to me – now I know where it is coming from. It is an angel talking to me or even God himself, but I think it is an angel." Dan said with a sigh of reflection. He then looked over and saw the separate and write Herrior's name. "That I didn't do." Dan confessed immediately.

"I witnessed that as well. Your talk with me has opened my mind. I must meditate on all of this. Please tell the others to leave me alone for several hours." Herrior said sounding upset.

"I will my friend." Dan said putting his gauntlets back on and set his arm on his shoulder.

Dan walked out of the barn with everybody eagerly looking at him. "I said what needed to be said. Herrior wishes to be alone for the next several hours. I suggest we retire to Alan's house?" The rest of the party nodded.

The next couple of days passed and Alan had begun construction of two new facilities. He had also interviewed people from all parts of the world to take on new positions. Herrior's entire party had sat in on the interviews. Some were hired on the spot, others turned out to be alliance and were killed shortly afterward they got in their car and drove away, courtesy of Trackolania. Twelve new doctors were hired in as well as over a hundred new register nurses, receptionists, social workers and other staff to maintain the buildings. Once everything was put into place, Alan would be free to do as he wanted – begin practicing medicine again. His first practice would be what he called a "Free Floating" session. A term he merely made up, but invited fifty of his worse cases to take part in. It was a Saturday and the office was closed. The reception area was cleared out of all of the chairs, tables, toys for the children and mats were laid on the ground. All of the women in Herrior's party had altered themselves to look like specialized nurses and talked softly as they introduced themselves to the patients and brought them in. The members that had been in Herrior's party long enough had sensed the demons immediately tormenting them, but acted as if they weren't there. Once everybody was in and standing in front of a mat, Alan walked to the center of the room and began to talk.

"Welcome everybody and thank you for coming. Remember there is no charge and we will be handing out twenty dollar gas cards at the end of the session. During this session you will experience no pain at all. What we all hope to accomplish is a series of theories I have been developing on realigning the minds to a neutral state. What I want everybody to do now is to become very comfortable. Take your shoes and coats off and lie down on the mats. You have pillows and a blanket that you may use as well. I will talk to you and try to put you all in a deep meditated relaxed state and then I will have one of my nurses sing a soft soothing song for you. During this time I want all of you to listen to the music and the singing, picture yourself on a warm beach with the sun basking down on you and completely relax each of your muscles. We'll go over all of that in a second. So if we could go ahead and begin, go ahead and make yourselves comfortable on the ground." The patients did as they were told and Alan went through a series of gently yoga techniques with all of them lying on the floor involving squeezing every muscle that they had in their body for six seconds and then releasing it. Afterwards Alan set the tone by telling everybody to imagine that they are leaving their bodies and their worries behind and travelling to a nice ocean filled with white sand, the sun shining on their bodies and the waves calmly lapping up on the shore. As he talked Strings began to play a soft tune on his lute. Herrior's party saw the demons quickly become agitated as they tried to separate themselves from their host. Herrior gave the instruction not to attack, but to wait.

Alan saw some glimpses of what Herrior's party was looking at, but again thought it was just him seeing things. Alan then announced that Lindel was going to sing a couple of songs and that if some of them fell asleep that would be fine. He told everybody to become as relaxed as they could.

Lindel began talking softly as soon as Alan was done and said she would be singing as she walked around the room. This would increase the acoustics and engage different parts of their brain as she moved. She said she would try to sing over any snoring that might occur. This brought a relaxing laughter in the room. She then began to sing some gospel hymns very softly at first and then after a couple of minutes her voice was the same volume as regular talking. She moved around the room as she watched all of them. She didn't anticipate them to fall asleep and several of them opened their eyes when she walked by them and smiled at her. She shook her head and put her hand over her eyes to remind them to close their eyes.

Ten minutes into the session the patients were either sleeping, or so involved in their thoughts and the music that they forgot about their surroundings. Herrior then pointed to Mohania and Crystal as they summoned their voidwalkers. The two enormous ghosts floated through the room, taunting and attacking the demons that had been waiting to reenter their bodies. Strings and Lindel had increased their volume accordingly, and the voidwalkers brought the demons outside of the building where Herrior's party eagerly awaited them. The demons stood no chance and were quickly dispatched. Herrior then told Mohania and Crystal to stay close and if Mohania saw any other demons in the room to have their voidwalkers pull them out. Herrior then sent Jacklyn, Trackolania, Jessica and Branzer to walk the premise of the building. Lew was not with them yet. The blasting was successful; however the recovery took much longer than anticipated.

Within several minutes of the demons being destroyed, several of the people stood up in awe and looked around, then looked over their bodies as if they had taken on a new form. Lindel put her finger over her mouth and pointed at Alan who waved them over into another room as Lindel kept singing. Lindel's radiant voice still echoed through the room and Strings had observed that half of the people were sleeping. Strings was needing a break and Lindel looked to Skyka and shrugged. Skyka nodded.

"Ok everybody, the session is over. Those of you who want to stay can stay. Many of you are sleeping so please be respectful and don't disturb them." Lindel said quietly as she saw a couple of them sit right up.

"What happened? This room seems different." One man said looking perplexed.

"What happened to me…the voices are gone?" Another lady said holding out her hands and then putting them to her ears. She then put her hands back down and looked up at Lindel.

"What we did during this session is put you in a complete restful state. Many of you have never been in one before. You have been coming to the building for quite some time, but this time you came here expecting something to be different. It's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, but all we did was merely make you relax and listen to my singing and the music." Lindel explained.

"But no…I'm different…" The lady insisted as did several others.

"When was the last time you told yourself you are going to set aside some time to relax, and then did just that? Listen to soft music, get in touch with the real you, and just meditate. Look around you at the number of people still sleeping. Many of you are so caught up in the world and what's going on that we merely provided an environment for you to relax and meditate. Before I answer any more questions, let me ask you a question, and please keep your voices down. Let your minds relax, don't let them start questioning this or that – but just relax. When was the last time you did something for yourself? Today you did this and I am proud of all of you. Depending on our studies and success of this session we are going to probably schedule more. How many people here think this helped?" Lindel asked.

"Greatly!" The same lady said still in awe.

"Shh…please people are still sleeping. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but please be respectful of others. They may not have gotten a good nap like this in years. Those of you that are awake raise your hands if this benefited you in some way." Lindel said. Everybody's hand went up.

"Ok, how many of you would like to do another session like this?" Lindel asked. Same number of hands went up.

"How many of you will do the same thing at home? Set aside time to relax, turn on some soothing music, picture yourself some place safe, do the muscle techniques Alan told you to do and treat yourself to the pleasures of relaxation." Lindel said.

Hands went up again, but many of them hesitated. Lindel spoke right up, "We can have Alan follow up with all of you. But stretching, walking, mind relaxing, taking time to rest during the day – not necessarily sleep – but to rest your mind will help you with your day to day struggles. Now then, if you wish you can stay longer or if you want your cards are with…Alan I think, I can go find him…" Lindel said reading his mind and knowing it was a bad time to talk with him.

"Gas cards? Are you kidding? This has been the best session in therapy I've ever had…ever – and you want to pay us?" A man said. He turned to everybody and said, "If you need money for gas it's on me." Everybody turned it down but agreed with the man about the session.

"I'm glad it was such a success then. We put a lot of research and work into this session, and I'm glad you think it was a success." Lindel said with a smile.

"I'll cut you a check right now. How much did this cost you? Obviously this is overtime for all of you…" The man said taking out his check book.

"It was all volunteer work. Alan is not paying us anything." Lindel said.

The man looked shocked at him as Lindel pushed away the check book. "Some things in this world are worth more than checks and money. Today was a break-through, that's all. If you want to give money, find a local church and donate the money there." Lindel said with a smile as the man looked at her flabbergasted.

"Please everybody if you could keep down the noise that would be appreciated." Alan said walking out with several of his patients. "Please Mr. Brown put the checkbook away, this is not a paid session. Everybody if you want to talk normally please exit the building." Alan hesitated for a second as he looked back and saw Herrior nod. "But if you stay here, I want you to whisper. My nurses are going to stay and look after the sleeping people, but I'm going to go outside myself." With that, all of the patients that were awake put their shoes and coats on and followed him outside. Alan held the doors open for them as they clinched their eyes at the bright sun beaming down on them.

"Wow…it's like we're walking into a whole new world…" The same woman said amazed still.

"Alan, I have to compensate you for this. You have brought a whole new lease on life and I've witnessed firsthand how good of a doctor you are, and your staff is wonderful." Mr. Brown said.

"If you want to help Alan, help yourself. Do what Lindel told you to do. I would also suggest taking a day during the week and just resting, perhaps go to a church service, meet new people, sing some of the songs you heard today and find out their true meaning. I'm not a doctor though, that is just my suggestion." Herrior said. The faces of the patients turned from Herrior to Alan.

"As a doctor I can say that there are numerous case studies that proves what he just said is true. However I am not going to say go to a specific church because I don't endorse just one. Find one that you feel comfortable at, or talk with the pastor ahead of time and see what it's like. I know it has helped me and many of my patients, doing exactly what my friend just said." Alan said.

"You are building new offices aren't you?" Mr. Brown asked.

"Yes, two new ones. We have many doctors that we handpicked from, actually many different places of the world, and we are going to start practicing as soon as they are completed." Alan said.

"I own a construction company. Have your people work during the day; I'll have mine work at night – no cost to you. This is the least I can do." Mr. Brown pleaded.

"I can't…" Alan said smiling and shaking his head.

"It's a tax write off, but what happened in there…if all of your patients could do the same thing…" Mr. Brown said.

"It's not magic; it's simply putting yourself in a relaxful state. This is my job. Your job is to write checks, my job is to help those in need." Alan said with a chuckle.

"Sir, you are getting yourself worked up and undoing what you have just learned. You need to relax, go for a nice drive in the country. Stop for a donut in the city park. Feed the pigeons popcorn or watch the boats come float." Bernett said stepping forward. He was dressed as a doctor just like several of the other member's in his party. Their trinkets had really come in handy.

"Ok…ok…you win." The man said putting up his hands in surrender with a smile. "I'm not going to worry about it. I'll have my accountant contact your office next week and I'll have him figure something out. For now, I'm going to go feed the pigeons." Mr. Brown said and finally left. The rest of the patients left as well and Herrior's party waited for the sleeping patients to wake up. Many of them slept for hours, the longest one lasting eight. They were all talked to and all had the same pleasant experiences that the others described. After the last car left, the day was finally over.

"Go on home Alan, I need to speak with my party. Get some sleep, you look worn out. We'll get your office back in order." Herrior said.

"Is that an order?" Alan asked sounding exhausted.

"I can pick you up and throw you there." Herrior said back.

"Yeah yeah…fine fine…just don't break anything." Alan said and left.

"We have several adversaries looking to chop our heads off…" Herrior said as the rearranging of the furniture was placed back in its original place.

"Her singing wasn't that bad…" Mohania said grinning.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lindel said with a witty tone.

"Listen closely. I'm not sure how much time we have to prepare. Dan and I spoke with each other and I reflected for several hours on what he said. Apparently the world that Mohania destroyed pisses off those beings and now they are coming for us." Herrior said.

"You mean the world I completely on purpose blew up?" Mohania asked. Herrior nodded.

"That is one adversary. The next one Dan has to face himself – our tactics and the very fiber of our being would be torn apart. Dan – I'm ordering you not to fail." Herrior said looking at him.

"I will try to carry out that order." Dan said trying not to smile in the humor of the order.

"Next – we need to meet up with Jessica's contact. I would like all of us there, cloaked if at all possible or in disguise. I will escort her, the rest of you will scout out and disarm anybody looking at us, listening to us, smelling us, or even breathing our air…" Herrior said.

"…and breathing our air - got it." Mohania said pretending to write on his hand.

"Do not kill anybody or harm anybody. Strip them of any weapons or devices that could be used against us. If all goes well, we will have the advantage and they will kneel to our demands. As a gesture of goodwill, the men that confessed of these other terrorists…I think is what he called them?" Herrior asked looking at Mohania. Mohania shrugged in return but said he has their names and places, and also if needed he can go back down and ask them again.

"They're still alive?" Herrior asked.

"Sorta…" Mohania said grinning.

"Alright all we need right now are the names and locations, from there we can start negotiations. This should win us favor towards them." Herrior said.

"Wait…are we talking about our government? The FBI, CIA, anti-terror organizations, Homeland Defense – that sort of thing?" Branzer asked.

"I don't know…but I call it covering our tracks and possibly gaining allies. If these five men were plotting to attack us, and judging by Mohania's interrogation, planning on attacking your people – it will be an excellent bargaining chip. It'll be similar to shooting two simultaneous bullets at the same time at an enemy." Herrior said as Jacklyn let out a chuckle.

"This won't be the first time we have befriended a group that has killed our people, and I'm hoping we can do the same. Lindel you will have everybody linked up and will be in charge of that operation. Also I had a vision which I need more time to analyze. We were all fighting creatures unknown to us, might be what you were speaking of Dan, but were vastly outnumbered. We were doing our normal attack routines, but their numbers were overwhelming us…then something fell from the sky and the vision goes black. I know not what it means and I have consulted with the King concerning these things. We will meet any threat head on, and I expect all of you to hold your ground." Herrior said.

"Till death…" Branzer said walking forward and sticking out his hand.

"Absolutely till death…and beyond if possible..." Dan said walking forward and putting his hand on his. The rest of the humans did the same.

"What are you doing?" Herrior asked.

"This is how humans form a blood pact, a promise never to be broken." Jessica said.

"Fine then we shall do the same." Herrior said walking forward and putting his mighty hand above them. The rest of the group did the same.

"I want all of you to sleep alone. Pray and meditate. Clear your minds and if any insights or dreams awaken you or seem urgent, let me know. Tomorrow we will acquire scatter bombs and walking land mines from our engineers. Lindel you open a portal, Veliline you pull the person out, and I will charge in and start smashing the place up while a warlock, whichever one of you wants to, will come in and let out a howl of terror. We will then leave our presents and move on to the next. The following day we are going to forty-second street." Herrior said.

It only took a couple of minutes to put the reception area back to the way it was as Herrior spoke. Afterwards they all left the building, locked the door, and headed to their barn.

Monday came around and put a damper on their plans. While Herrior's party slept out in the fields away from each other, Alan opened his front door to dozens of members of the press taking pictures and bombarding him with questions. Alan flinched backwards at the surprise. He quickly shut the door and pulled out his hearthstone.

Herrior's party came around the house all dressed in camouflage army uniforms and began screaming out orders to the people and making threats to forcefully remove them from the property. The press held their ground for a couple of seconds until Herrior grabbed one of the video cameras and smashed it in his hands and screamed at all of them to leave. This struck fear in them, as they retreated to the safety of their vans and cars lined up on the streets. Herrior ordered to filter in the staff and patients and he would stick by Alan's side. He also quietly told them that Alan was in charge and don't do anything stupid.

"What the hell?" Alan said walking out with his two briefcases and several folders underneath his arm.

"You'll be safe. We can kill all of them in mere seconds if need be. I sense no aggressive behavior out of them though." Herrior whispered back.

"No…" Alan said shaking his head. "They are the press, what do those pieces of shit want? I've always hated the press."

"If you hate them then I hate them as well. Shall I dispatch of them?" Herrior asked.

"No…no…don't kill them. Let me handle this." Alan said handing over his briefcases to Herrior.

Alan and Herrior walked to the side of the road where people were being filtered out between the reporters, patients, and staff. The reporters quickly started crowding around him.

"Shut up!" Herrior screamed into the air. Silence fell immediately as his voice echoed throughout the land.

"Thank you. Let me speak and then I will ask all of you to leave and let me help my patients. After work I will hold a press conference to answer any of your questions. It will be over there, security will be tight and anybody interfering with my patients, staff or myself before or after our normal working hours will be removed, by force if need be. Now leave!" Alan said pointing to his well groomed section of the yard on the opposite side of his practice.

"Move along people. Soldiers, escort them to a vehicle and get them out of here!" Herrior commanded pointing at the cars. The press, fearing the command in Herrior's voice, did so without having any confrontation. As they left, Alan quickly told the secretaries to setup the office and asked the other doctors and nurses to comfort their current patients – many of which were greatly upset by the whole ordeal.

Once everybody was inside and they started taking patients in Alan turned to Herrior and sighed.

"I know…don't kill anybody…" Herrior said smiling at him.

"You said it…not me…" Alan let out a quick laugh as he ran his fingers through his hair and then took back his papers and went inside.

After the end of the day, Alan personally thanked as much of his staff as he could for the disturbance and told them if they were approached by the press to say "no comment" and refer them to him. His staff knew of the experimental session on Saturday and Alan said it was because of that. He said he would make it up to his staff for this extra work.

Alan closed the door as his last secretary left and collapsed against the doors, falling on his butt. He let out a deep sigh. He wasn't ready for this…he wasn't a politician, he was a doctor.

"It'll be alright Alan this is Lindel. We are here for you. I'm linked up with Herrior and Branzer as well. Any thoughts you have we can read. We have several diversions setup if needed." Lindel said in Alan's mind.

"No no no…don't blow anything up. Lindel tell everybody that unfortunately I have become famous over night and I have to give a speech now. Get rid of the paper pushing job and become a politician…" Alan said aloud. He stood up and took a deep breath and then opened the doors. He faked a smile and waved at the press. They came charging over to him, but Herrior's group easily held them at bay.

"People please…let's have some organization. I have no idea what this is about but first and foremost comes the safety and well-being of my patients. I have prepared several statements I will make first and then I will call on select few press members that have legitimate questions or concerns about whatever this who shenanigan is about. Now please, for your safety and to maintain order let's have everybody move over to this make-shift platform so I can speak." Alan said and waved everybody over to a series of small two by four boxes put together by Samatha and some help from Herrior's party. Alan stepped up on the platform and cleared his throat.

"No questions…let me speak first. It will probably answer all of your questions so I do not have to repeat myself. It's been a long day for me and my staff thanks to all of you and my patience is wearing thin." Alan quickly snapped at a female reporter attempting to say something quickly.

"Now then, as many of you know I am a physiatrist practicing psychiatric help, counseling, therapy and many other services. Until now, my staff and I have been receiving rewards based on most compliments, highest reviews from our patients and have won awards for multiple different achievements. My guess is that none of you are here for that, nor do you want an advertisement for my practice so I will cut right to the chase. Two days ago my staff and I volunteered our time and energy into setting up what we call a relaxful meditation session for some of our patients. We have recorded the results, analyzed the data and none of the information will be divulged to the public." Alan said.

"The public has a right to know!" A man shouted.

"The freedom of the press is in our United States Constitution and I respect that – however my patient doctor confidentiality overrides that and unless you have court ordered papers specifically stating the release of one patient's records than you are not going to have them. I also have the right to end this session and have you all arrested for harassment and trespassing – so if you want to play lawyer I suggest we do that in court, but for the time being just shut up and listen." Alan said clearly upset.

"Anyways…without releasing the success of any of the patients during our session, or any confidential information, I can say that our session was a complete success. What we did was performed several basic yoga relaxing techniques, did some relaxing techniques, and then asked everybody to imagine themselves on a desert island and utilizing all of their senses while on this 'imaginary beach' while we had soft music playing in the background. That's all…no magic wands were waved, no medication was handed out. From my studies nine out of ten Americans are pushed beyond their mental capacity for handling situations and often subconsciously have their 'fight or flight' mechanisms kicked in during the day. Add to caffeine, which further fuels the hyperarousal in their body, a poor diet, and lack of exercise and you start to physiologically began to break down. However the brain adapts and adjusts to the conditions just the same way your body would adapt to bench pressing one hundred pounds every day. The problem being is in this society of 'multi-tasking, lack of breaks, threats of job loss, etcetera' the mind never gets a chance to relax and rejuvenate itself. Bench pressing everyday would either make you stronger, or make your arms so weak you couldn't do it anymore – so you would find other ways of getting that bar of weights back up. That is the same explain I'm hoping all of you can relate to. Getting back on subject other problems can stem from chemical exposure, drug and alcohol dependence, traumatic events and the sorts. What I came up with was a case study, of which I plan on following up with several more case studies and eventually publishing my results in the hope of trying to help other doctors finding different ways of treating their patients. If the patients shared their results with some of you, which I'm assuming they did or you wouldn't have stormed my doorstep this morning, than that is their choice. Being a doctor and having sworn an oath I cannot comment on any patient's conditions. Now with having said that all of that, it should answered all of your questions – but you may ask one at a time and I will call on you individually."

"Did you give them any new drugs?"

"I already answered that question." Alan replied and pointed to somebody else.

"Did you perform any type of exorcism that banished any demons from their body?"

"Are you serious? Are there any more intelligent questions? I hope this isn't going to be long, but to answer your question…what I said in my speech is exactly what was done – no drugs were given, no magic wands, no tooth fairies, and Santa Clause did not visit." Alan said.

"Are you going to sponsor the Republican or Democratic Party?" Another reported asked.

"Where the hell did that come from and what does it have to do with my practice? I don't sponsor either one nor have I had time to follow the race. Next dumbass question?" Alan asked sarcastically.

"Would you consider what happened last Saturday a miracle as many of your patients are claiming?"

"I didn't see any miracles, nor did my staff report any miracles that happened. A miracle is defined as an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. By definition that would not describe what happened. If you are asking the question by fishing for an answers, which I gave in the first part of my speech, I will break it down scientifically. The first part was simple yoga techniques, very basic steps. For those of you who don't know what yoga is, let me define it for you. It is a form of exercise that uses slow movements and stretching. It is good for increasing flexibility and balance. It is also good for relieving stress and relaxing. Yoga has been used as a meditation technique for thousands of years. As you exercise, you meditate on what your body is feeling. As the mind turns its attention from itself to its body it brings a sense of temporary relief – similar to taking a good nap or a good night's sleep. The reason for doing it after hours was the relief of not having an actual session, it was explained that it would be a calm relaxful session at no cost and they would be compensated for their gas. This is a self-filling prophecy which worked as well. Now the reason for the music and singing; Music does many things for the human body including, masking unpleasant sounds and feelings, slowing down and equalizing brain waves, affecting respiration, affecting the heartbeat, pulse rate, and blood pressure, reducing muscle tension and improving body movement and coordination, affecting the body temperature, regulating stress-related hormones, boosting the immune function, changing our perception of space and time, strengthening our memory and learning, boosting productivity, enhancing romance and sexuality, stimulating digestion, fostering endurance, enhancing unconscious receptivity to symbolism, and generating a sense of safety and well-being." Alan said and then took a deep breath. He paused for a second and saw that he was boring his crowd and smiled.

"As you can see many techniques were used. After the session was over we anticipated many different responses and were prepared for them, ranging from boredom to feeling very over-whelmed. It worked differently for each person and to say that they are 'cured', or 'they experienced a miracle and became healed' is absolutely false. I have scheduled follow ups with all of my patients as well as the patients all of you disturbed this morning with your intrusion." Alan looked at them in disgust. "They were all advised to continue taking their medication and to continue practicing the art of taking time out of your day to relax, furthermore to take one day out of the week to set aside for relaxation. Thanks to all of you, they have probably back-tracked the progress they made by the intrusions to get the latest scoop to try to get a cover story for a poor attempt at self-filling your own destiny of trying to become richer by a mere fifty cents or more. This is why I stay out of politics and the press – because I want what is best for my patients, and neither one of those, in my opinion, has any beneficial value to improving my patients overall well being. Now that I have bored all of you, I am going to ask to have all of you leave and I am going to retire to my house." Alan said turning to walk away.

"Are you considering running for Governor?" A man called out. Alan shook his head in disgust and rubbed his head.

"Get out of here!" Herrior suddenly screamed out. It frightened many of them, causing some to drop their recording equipment.

"Move it people! Gather your stuff up and get out of here. Anything left or dropped will be smashed under my foot. And if any of you show up tomorrow, you will be forcefully removed from the property!" Jacklyn yelled out as her party began closing in on them. The rest of the party began yelling out a series of orders and mild threats until the last of the press left.

"I do not wish to be an ambassador to this group of people you call the 'press'". Herrior announced when they came back into the house.

"You and me both... What happens in Tranquil when something big happens and everybody wants to know what is going on?" Alan asked taking off his suit coat and tie.

"Unfortunately I wish I could say not that…but we have our similarities. We have many ambassadors in Tranquil that help resolve the situation, however if that doesn't help usually the King steps in. The threats of torture and being removed from Tranquil quickly subsides the anger. Julie and Crystal had a similar experience where I volunteered myself to be tortured and imprisoned to take the blame." Herrior said.

"What happened?" Alan asked curiously.

"Change. People are used to one thing for years and when a new idea surfaces with the threat of making people uncomfortable they don't take to kindly to it. That's all in the past though. Evening approaches. Julie what time was our appointment with our future betrayer?" Herrior asked.

"About…three hours ago." Julie said looking at the clock. She was a couple of minutes off, but it didn't matter.

"Lindel can you find us a 'settle' place to portal to? I'm sure they are still there. Trackolania, I want you to listen to Lindel once we arrive and take out any remote listening devices the man might be using. Lindel I want you to read his thoughts and transmit them to me and Julie as soon as you get them. Mohania I want you to come but I want you to take out any closer listening devices, quickly and quietly. Julie you are taking lead on this, I want you to use your best judgment. If you think we are being watched from the skies, take us indoors; if you think that there is a trap laid up for us indoors, take us to a remote place. Everybody understand?" Herrior asked. They all nodded.

"Skyka, you may want to check up on Lew and see how he is doing. I'm hoping he is going to be ok. Branzer, obtain some simple tools for setting up an establishment and take them to the humans that landed; shovels, axes, bows – no armor though, and just our grey armor – nothing with any enchantments on them." Herrior said. Branzer nodded and both he and Skyka left to go in separate rooms.

"Lindel when you are ready, let's go walk into another trap." Herrior said.

"Hold on!" Julie said cheerfully as she touched her trinket and changed illusions. The humans burst into laughter and Dan said, "Ok 'Miss Trinity' from the Matrix…"

"Hey – leather looks good on me. Besides I figured since we're going to go incognito, why not spruce up a little." Julie said grinning. She held her hand out quickly as her gun leaped from its holster and flew into her hand, unfolding and constructing itself into a fierce deadly weapon. She then holstered it as the comments continued.

"Let me know when you can dodge bullets, and then I'll be impressed…" Crystal said.

"I can dodge them; most tanks can to a certain degree but relying on other means to absorb the damage is more worthwhile. Constantly focusing on dodging incoming attacks means that the people behind you might get hit. It's not the best solution when fighting in a group." Herrior said.

"Yeah…well you can't argue with that. Lindel are you ready?" Julie asked.

"Peaking around still...have not found a definite place where we can go in and not draw attention to ourselves. What's all the laughing about?" Lindel's voice came from a tiny portal where she was presumed to be looking through. She had turned invisible so that nobody would see a head popping out of thin air.

"It's nothing important. Isn't there a back alley, or a condemned building…I don't know a bathroom not being used?" Julie asked.

"That wouldn't look suspicious. Both of you suddenly walking out of the men's or women's bathroom…" Crystal said.

"I see our guy. There are multiple voices in his head and I have no idea where to put us in order to make the voices stop. They are not that of a banshee, but from a hearing device." Lindel said still looking around.

"Figured they would be wired, any alliance or demons?" Julie asked.

"Haven't been looking too hard, but not that I can tell. I can put us in the back of a bakery. Nobody is back there and there is a door leading outside." Lindel said.

"Make it so." Julie said and then burst into laughter. "Star Trek for the win!"

"Star wha…for the…" Herrior asked slowly.

"Just…don't...let 'Miss Nerd' over there have her fun." Crystal said shaking her head.

Lindel channeled her power into the portal until it was full size. The five of them stepped through the portal and into the back of a well lit bakery, full of supplies and machines along with several fresh pasteries and donuts sitting on the rack. Herrior started for the door when Trackolania quickly intercepted him and shook his head. Trackolania pointed to a series of different spots on the door.

"Can you disarm them?" Herrior asked. Trackolania quickly looked all over the door very carefully and then made several cuts with his daggers really quick. Trackolania then turn invisible as he opened the door and walked out. Lindel did the same as Herrior and Julie walked out and into the back alley.

"Nobody say a word until I know where all of the other traps are set." Lindel said. Suddenly Lindel's hand want shoved up into the air by Trackolania and pointed at an apartment window about a block away. There were two men by the window chatting nonchalantly.

"Trackolania's found one of the traps. Should he take it out?" Lindel asked in all of their minds.

"Yup" Julie said and a quick puff of air was left as Trackolania raced off towards the window and began to climb the wall.

"There will probably be unmarked vehicles around and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a mobile swat team van as well. Those will need to be taken out. Jamming the door locks and slicing the tires would be more than sufficient for what we need." Julie said in her mind.

"Mohania, Lindel is going to put a faint glow above the vehicles that need to have their locks jammed and immobilized." Herrior whispered to him. Mohania nodded and walked forward quickly in his business suit attire and tried to blend in with the crowd.

"Julie take the lead." Herrior said and Julie quickened her pace as Lindel floated above them.

Herrior and Julie turned the corner and walked into the crowd, Julie of course sticking out like a sore thumb with her matrix costume.

"Lindel, the black van across the street – who's in there?" Julie asked in her mind.

A second passed and then Lindel said, "There are six armed men and women in the back of that van. I'll go light it up for Mohania. Trackolania how's your progress?" Lindel asked. She then felt Julie's hand felt a small squeeze indicating that he was with them.

"Quick little guy aren't you?" Julie said in her mind.

"Focus please." Herrior said in his mind.

"Mohania is working on the van right now. There is another remote place staring at us two blocks away. Trackolania can you take that out as well as two of the cars marked. Our guy is leaning up against the traffic light right ahead of us." Lindel said in their minds. Trackolania instantly took off again. His daggers sliced holes in all of the marked vehicles tires, and he made a quick stab into the door locks, jamming the tumblers. Afterwards he made his way to the other remote viewing place he needed to take out.

Meanwhile Mohania brushed by the back of the van letting his hand run across the bottom of the doors. His hand turned white hot and melted the door to its frame immediately. He then turned to walk around the truck when he made himself trip and fall on the ground. He reached out to brace his fall with his left hand as his right hand hit the truck tire and instantly melted it to the pavement. He then threw another fireball at the other rear end tire. It didn't burn, but did the same – melting the rubber to the ground. He did it so quickly and smoothly that nobody noticed anything as a man and a woman offered their assistance to help him up.

"Thank you. I have to watch my step." Mohania said with a smile. He then walked away from the scene and made his way to the next car. On his way he picked up a small pebble and held it in his fist. Next he found a small piece of chipped concrete and did the same. He walked up to the car with only one man in it absentmindedly bumped into a man and fell back onto the car. The business man looked at him in surprise as he realized he just knocked a man over. Mohania held the rock behind him and it fused itself into the door handle.

"I'm sorry, that was my fault." Mohania said hold up his hand and sounding sincere. He then turned around to the man in the car who looked at him sorry and apologized to him as well. Mohania continued with his apology, but both men turned away from him and continued what they were doing.

"Well…piss on ya then, I'm not sorry." Mohania whispered and realized he was running out of ideas to distract the men in the cars and immobilizing them. He was running out of time quickly – Herrior and Julie were almost at the lamp post.

"No doubt the little rogue has already done his job…that little dumbass…" Mohania whispered aloud smiling, and then was suddenly kicked in the shin bone by an unseen force.

"Fine…you're just an ass. We have two more cars to take out." Mohania said looking around quickly. One of the cars was parked five cars away, and the other was right next to where Herrior was walking at the moment. He felt Trackolania tug on his pants for the next order.

"Yeah yeah…screw it, you go take out the car next to Herrior and I'll blow this one up." Mohania said. Trackolania then pulled harder on his pants and felt a firm grip.

"I'm making this up as I go along. Watching the people here, a herd of Clefthoof's could stampede through here and nobody would care…wait a second…" Mohania said watching something unfold in front of him. He quickly ran out in the street and held his hand up and casted an instant fear spell at a woman driving erratically. The car immediately slammed into the target car, over corrected and then slammed into the other car as Herrior and Julie just passed it.

"What the hell was that?" Mohania said still looking at what he thought was a small red line that suddenly gave him the idea. Mohania felt Trackolania's invisible hand grab him and run to catch up with Herrior.

"Could we have been a little more subtle about that?" Mohania said in a firm tone looking back at him.

"I have no idea what came over me." Mohania said still wondering what he saw.

"We'll talk about this later…" Herrior said making a stern promise.

Mohania still flabbergasted, Julie walked up to the man talking on his cell phone and didn't take notice to Julie staring at him. Julie slapped the phone out of the man's hand and asked, "Wouldn't it be less suspicious if somebody was actually on the other end of the phone?"

The man started to protest when Trackolania make several slashes at the man's clothing, cutting all of the wires he was wearing. The man looked down in shock as it all happened in less than a second.

"Waiting for somebody in particular, or are you part robot? Let's go somewhere and talk." Julie said. The man looked slightly afraid and definitely off guard as Julie walked into a dinner directly behind her.

The man recomposed himself and ripped out the wire – no sense in hiding it anyways and tossed it in the garbage as he followed Herrior and Julie in. Mohania and Trackolania, who was still stealthed, walked in nonchalantly behind him.

"Table for three?" A woman asked.

"No, we're not staying here. This is obviously where robot man wanted to take us and I wanted to make a point." Julie said and turned around to face him.

"The woman behind me has been an FBI agent for thirteen years; six other agents are in here as well as two undercover policemen. All of them have forty-five magnums loaded with only six bullets along with two stun guns a piece and a can of pepper spray. You have a food allergy to nuts; you quit drinking seven years ago, but recently started back up. Your liver is entirely black and you write it off as an ulcer. Five years tops before you die. You are married, have a teenage daughter and a son living with his girlfriend's parents. That's the cover story, when in fact she is married to the guy and doesn't know how to tell you. There are only four customers in here that are completely oblivious to what is happening right now. Also…for some reason you have two condoms in your wallet, one with three pin holes in them. Care to explain that to everybody in here?" Julie said in a monotone serious voice.

The entire restaurant grew deathly quiet, the man completely blown away by what was just said. He took out his wallet and to his surprise he found two condoms in there. He held them up to the light and sure enough there were pin holes in one of them – three to be exact.

"Well I'm impressed." The man smiled as he put them back in his wallet. "Where are our missing officers? You killed them and their families I'm assuming?"

"On the contrary, if they stayed where they were they would have been killed. They are much safer than all of you are right now. None of them are being held against their will. They did a favor for us; we are doing them a favor in return. Some people think being alive is better than being dead in order to cover up bad orders." Julie said.

"Those were not our orders!" The man insisted.

"Not entirely true. You are thinking about the possible breach in your homeland security. You were given orders and you had to follow them, but we could not allow you to carry out your orders." Julie said back.

"You killed some of our soldiers."

"They attacked first. I respect them for following orders, but there comes a time when reason needs to interject with orders. We never surrender, and if you had taken one of us, none of you would be here right now…let's get down to business. Rumor has it you captured and killed a dozen terrorists or so? Congratulations…" Julie said with a hint of sarcasm.

"What do you want?"

"There are five more terrorists that we want to kill. We'll drop their bodies off at a specific location in exchange for the officers to lead normal lives without being stalked or having microphones shoved up their asses." Julie said bluntly.

"Terrorists against the United States?" The man asked.

"Yes, the same ones that you 'caught'." Julie said making quotes in the air. She continued, "These particular five we have orders to take out. We kill them, destroy their base, hand them over and everything goes back to normal."

"Young lady, I don't think you could do that…" The man said trying to call her bluff. Julie turned around and walked away and then called for Spark. An enormous dog appeared in front of the man, dark red with his teeth rotating around and growling at the guy. There were several screams as Herrior raced over and grabbed a man and said, "Shut up! Next person that makes a sound dies!" Silence again fell over the restaurant.

"Spark…this man insulted me." Julie said calmly. Spark's head shot forward and grabbed the man's neck. The man instantly panicked and started gasping for air. He reached for his gun, but found that his, as well as everybody else's had disappeared.

"Shooting him only makes him angrier. So do we have a deal?" Julie asked.

"Deal!" The man said quickly as Spark let go of the man's throat. Small trickles of blood started flowing down his neck. The man looked at Spark and quickly put his hand around his neck. Lindel floated down and healed his wounds. The man felt a series of twinges on his neck and saw that the blood was gone. He felt all over his neck and felt nothing.

"We've made deals before and they were broken – people got killed because of it. I hope you do not break this deal…" Julie said glaring at him as Spark disappeared.

"What the hell…who are you people?" The man said almost in hysteria.

"Believe it or not, we're all on the same side…most of you are just too stupid to realize that. We'll deliver the bodies; you forget the officers ever disappeared. You get the credit for it; we get revenge for what they did to us. We'll meet up with you later after our mission is accomplished." Julie said.

"Where did the dog go? Where are you going to meet up with us?" The man asked quickly. Spark gently pushed him off to the side as the door opened by itself, bounced off his body a couple of times and then shut.

"We know where you live, work, eat, play tennis, and what bars you go to. Keeping tabs on you is much easier than keeping tabs on us. Goodbye." Julie said walking towards the door. Herrior followed her out with Trackolania right behind.

"Are you going to eat that?" Mohania asked as he reached down and picked up a half slab of ribs. His mouth opened wide enough to devour the entire thing.

"Not bad…I prefer my meat raw though, still bloody and dangling from a live human screaming as I'm devouring their intestines in front of them. Have a nice day." Mohania said nodding at them and walking out.

The rest of the men felt a deep chill all of a sudden and were afraid to move. Then their energy seemed to get sucked out of them for about ten seconds. After that, all was normal in the diner. The officers ran out to try to find them but there was no trace of where they went.

"Somebody tell me they saw where they went! Did we get video or audio? Report to me what just happened!" The man yelled over the traffic commotion that was still going on.

"All of our unmarked cars were sabotaged, along with our remote audio and video. They knew…how the hell did they know?" Another man said on the cell phone.

"Impossible! Nobody knew about this mission! Nobody knew about them!" The man yelled as his other officers gathered around him and lead him into an alley to calm him down.


	24. Assassins

Assassins

The night was usually cool as Samatha and Bernett snuggled up with Jeffery in the barn – all of them happy being together. Herrior leaned up against the side of the barn with Skyka leaning against him. They were talking softly as the rest of their party slept.

"So do you really think she is pregnant again?" Skyka whispered.

"She is showing emotional wear, but her body doesn't exhibit any physical changes. Lindel briefly scanned her mind and said no. She'll do a full exam tomorrow. This is what happens when people aren't fully dedicated to becoming fighters. She can't go into battle wondering all of these thoughts. Crystal was in battle and practical giving birth at the same time, but I do not see the same drive in Samatha." Herrior answered back.

"Which is fine - Crystal is a primary, Samatha is a secondary. Samatha's leader will need to be informed of our findings tomorrow though. Lately our secondary fighters haven't done much but escort our harvesters and collectors around. If she needs to be taken out for awhile, then that is her choice." Skyka said.

Herrior nodded. "Ever wonder why Crystal isn't pregnant yet?"

"You and everybody else in Tranquil…they've obviously got the technique down…" Skyka said smirking.

"Kill…die…bubbles…" Mohania said softly in his sleep and began snoring again.

"He's cute in a…special way…" Skyka said.

"Kendall thinks so anyways. He sure keeps the spark alive in our group; so many different personalities. Do you think Kendall will request a transfer to our party?" Herrior asked.

"I personally don't think so. Mohania was quite vocal about Samatha not joining our group. I think he feels the same about Kendall. They both have a tender heart about the boy. Like Mohania said, having three of his parents killed in battle would be a bit traumatic for him to handle." Herrior said.

"Nobody is going to die as long as I'm around." Skyka said sounding proud.

"You do your best and that's all I can ask out of our party. Do you think Lew will ever come around?" Herrior asked as if sounding like he made a mistake.

"It was his choice, not an order. You tried to talk him out of it. He's receiving the best care he can get right now. It's up to him to pull through it now. Has there been any word on the naga getting blasted?" Herrior asked.

"No, I haven't heard anything." Skyka replied.

Herrior let out a loud grunt.

"Really? Care to elaborate?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"No" Herrior said quickly.

"Don't trust them?"

"It's not that. I just don't want the monks blowing them apart and scraping pieces of them off the walls and sending home the remains. Not exactly the best way to strengthen the bonds that we have made with their Queen." Herrior said. "How many naga have we slain? The numbers must be in the millions throughout history. We bolster the Queen's forces and then another group of naga attacks them and they see the new powers – they are going to go after them, capture them, torture them, and then we are going to get attacked."

"Would it be easier just to kill everybody?" Skyka said turning to smile at him.

"You sound like our undead friend…" Herrior said turning to her. Skyka gently started stroking his fur on the back of his neck.

"You haven't groomed in awhile."

"Or bathed…" Herrior said smiling at her.

"When was the last time you had a day where you could just relax?" Skyka asked.

"Tried the other day when we were fishing with Dan…" Herrior said recalling the events that took place that day.

"Don't be bitter. You know you are his father now right?" Skyka asked.

"I'm father, leader, and closest friend to a lot of people." Herrior said.

"No, you two have formed a bond. What is it that you and he shared together when you kicked all of us out of the barn?" Skyka asked.

"More danger, more upcoming battles, more allies – same old, same old…" Herrior said.

"Don't want to say huh?" Skyka said trying to probe deeper.

"No that was it. Dan has somehow in tuned himself into the elements and they are speaking to him. He has also done more meditation and praying than I have…which I need to be doing – especially since I'm the leader." Herrior said sounding slightly upset.

"No time like the present." Skyka said. Both of them hugged as they took turns praying and asking for wisdom and guidance. An hour later, they both became exhausted and fell asleep holding each other.

The next morning Sammy came out with several casserole dishes of food that the group tore into. Sammy updated them on the latest events with her and Alan. They said they were still getting calls from the Press asking for an exclusive – all of which they are turning down. She hesitated upon asking, but did so anyways, "So what are the plans for today?"

"We are going to go kill some bad guys. You know, the ones that kidnap people and hold them for ransom – all while trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Those kind of bad people." Julie said smiling.

"Ok, well I'm going to be busy in the house cooking up another feast to feed all of you. I would ask if there was anything I could do to help to be courteous, but I don't want to ask so be safe." Samatha said and said her good-byes.

"We should send her some food and somebody to help her around the house. Give her somebody to talk to during the day to try to stabilize her and her activities." Herrior said.

"Brenna seemed to take a liking to her, should we ask her?" Skyka asked.

"Yes go ahead. Lindel in the mean time do you have the coordinates for the first…uh…terrorist I guess is what you call him, the man who's head needs to be detached from his body is what I like to call it." Herrior said smiling.

"Target. Let's call them our targets." Branzer said pulling out his gun and polishing it.

"Yes I have the first one. It is in a cave, about one quarter of a mile in. Shall we begin?"

"Go ahead and start with the portal. Then flag the person we want. Veliline you job is to pull him out of the battle and back to us. Then decapitate him, and throw the rest of his body down the cellar for the dogs to eat." Herrior said.

"There are no dogs down there?" Mohania asked sounding confused.

"Might I suggest that we take him and possibly a couple others as well? Also any plans or identification would help as well." Branzer said putting his gun away.

"Very well. Mohania no spraying fire all over. Everybody find a target and neutralize it quickly. Single target attacks. Quinely and I will draw their attention. Do we have any explosives to leave behind?" Herrior asked.

"We can use explosives but not fire?" Mohania said sounding upset.

"There's a difference."

"Hardly…one makes a quick burst of fire will I torch everything and melt it until just ashes remain." Mohania said.

"Dan can you get some engineers to get us some explosives. Tell them we want something big enough to level everything within a one hundred yard radius and not leave a trace of residue behind." Herrior said ignoring Mohania. Dan nodded as he pulled out his hearthstone.

The portal opened and several gasping sounds came from the opposite side of the portal. Lindel went in first and quickly found the person they wanted. Veliline reached her hand out and pulled the man through the portal with her death grip. Herrior then burst out of the portal and slammed into the ground. He let out an enormous battle cry as the focus of the small army began to open fire on him. The rest of the party came through and tried to get at least one hit in before Jacklyn and Trackolania killed everybody.

"Illuminate the area Lindel." Herrior ordered. Lindel's body began to grow bright and then light spewed off into every direction.

"Find whatever it is you are looking for…well what do we have here…" Herrior originally said to Branzer and then saw three people tied to a chair that somehow survived the onslaught without a single wound. They were horrified though.

Herrior walked over to them and knelt down and in a gentle voice said, "Are you being held captive?" All of them nodded.

"If we release you, you will still be blind-folded, gagged, but we will un-tie you. It is best this way. But you are safe now. You're going home." Herrior said. Herrior picked up two of them under each arm and motioned for Jacklyn to get the other as they walked back through the portal.

"Lots of interesting paperwork…I bet a lot of people would want to get their hands on this…" Branzer said looking over several pieces of paper revealing intended strikes, hostages killed, and training camps. He gathered it all up and as soon as he walked through the portal, Lindel closed it behind him but not before Dan tossed a bomb threw. The bomb waited ten seconds and then began to burrow into the ground. Once it was sufficiently deep enough it began to let out energy pulses that loosened the ground around it and into the walls. The cave began to shake violently as it began to crumble and eventually everything caved in on itself, sending part of the mountain to cave in on itself, blasting out a big blast of dust and dirt from the entrances. The bomb then did a minor explosion so that it left no trace of itself.

"Didn't anticipate taking hostages, what is our body count?" Herrior asked.

"Twenty dead. May I suggest something Herrior?" Branzer asked. Herrior nodded.

"Usually we identify people easier with fingerprints and having the person…uh – intact. It might be worth more to us like that." Branzer said.

"No, I want their heads." Herrior instructed.

"Please I beg you, we are not…" One of the hostages said.

"Not you, the dead ones. I promised Mohania dinner and I intend to keep that promise." Herrior said quickly.

"Could we keep the hands? I'm not questioning your orders Herrior and I apologize for asking the question, but fingerprints are another key way of identifying the dead." Branzer said.

"You can't tell by looking at the head?" Herrior asked sounding slightly annoyed.

"You can…I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked." Branzer said quickly.

"Keep the head and the hands. Throw them in a bag. Mohania summon your undead if you would like. Lindel do you have the coordinates for the next mission?" Herrior asked.

"Ready when you are…" Lindel said eagerly rubbing her hands together.

"That's my girl. Same type of surroundings I'm assuming?" Herrior said.

"Smaller cave. This one needs seems to need some sort of constant treatment in order to remain…uh functional I guess. I don't anticipate him living much longer." Lindel said.

"Well let's speed up the process. Lindel when you get in search for hostages. If you find any send a blast message to all of us to not attack them. Branzer same thing, look for any of your parchments." Herrior said and nodded to Lindel to open the portal.

The mission went the same, quickly and effectively. There were no hostages, Veliline pulled the terrorist through the portal and they only had to kill two guards. Dan planted the bomb and the cave again collapsed in on itself.

"Next mission is slightly different. This one is in a house. It is one of grandeur. I'd suggest letting Trackolania search for valuables, Branzer look for documents and then let you take the orders from there.

"Leave none alive. Open the portal, Branzer and Trackolania you had better be fast and if we need you – you drop everything and join the fight." Herrior said.

Trackolania nodded as he twirled his daggers in his hands and Branzer nodded.

Lindel opened the palace and found their target having sex with one of his concubines. Herrior jumped through the portal, smashing the woman on the bed and at the same time driving his blade into the man's chest. He then withdrew it and threw him towards the portal where Veliline grabbed him in mid-air with her death grip, pulling him the rest of the way through the portal. Herrior then let out a battle cry and slammed his shield against door, sending splinters and pieces of wood flying outwards. Herrior sensed eyes peering at him to the right and quickly charged at them with near lightning speeds. He slammed his sword down on the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked them backwards and sending them frail bodies against the back of the wall. Herrior then walked up to them and finished the job. A rain of bullets began to rain against Herrior as he quickly turned his shield to reflect most of the damage. Jacklyn jumped in the middle of the group of humans assaulting him and spun around with her blades, effectively decapitating all of them. Their hands were still firing until it hit the ground.

"Incoming from outside!" Lindel quickly said in everybody's head.

"Quinely get your ass down here and help me tank. Up against the wall everybody. Hurry up Branzer and Trackolania!" Herrior said in his mind with urgency.

A dozen gunmen came running in and were meet by a wave of flame. Herrior and Quinely charged forward and took some wild swipes at the men. One of the men saw what happened and tried to flee as Herrior threw his weapon and nailing him in the spinal – paralyzing him.

"Julie get out there and finish off anything that moves. The rest of you get back in the house and kill anybody else." Herrior said as him and Quinely advanced forward to protect her. Julie's gun came alive as she began to shoot at several targets. She sent Spark out towards some of the gunmen that were on the ground. Spark became enraged, turning red and almost doubled in size as he tore through the humans as if they were a chew toy. Julie's multi-shot took down many of the gunman.

A full minute passed and Lindel said, "We're done."

"Retreat…everybody get back in the portal. Dan get your bomb ready." Herrior said in his head as they all raced back into the house. Up the stairs they flew and dove through the portal, and rolling to safety on the opposite side. Dan tossed his bomb in and Lindel closed the portal. The house was filling up with gunmen chasing them. All they saw was the bomb that hovered in the air. They all looked at it in wonder and then went crashing through the floor. It sailed through several floors and finally ignited, causing an earthquake. The structure of the house could not withstand the force of the bomb and fell in on itself – killing all inside.

"One hundred and twelve is my guess." Herrior said. "Dan how many do you suppose the bomb killed?"

"Whoever was left in the house; if the remaining gunmen came in the house then probably several dozen more? Might even be higher depending on who was around the house.

"Let's call it an even two hundred so far then. How are our 'presents'?" Herrior asked.

"Nice and juicy…" Mohania said putting the last head and hands in the bag. It was made of very thick leather so that the blood did not soak through.

The next two missions went successful and two more hostages were recovered. Trackolania had collected enough gold and jewels to buy a new empire and Branzer had enough documentation that would cause world war three to happen if fallen into the wrong hands. The last mission Strings got to play his tune to melt their enemies so that pleased him.

"Three hundred?" Herrior asked.

"I lost count; I don't think it was that many though." Dan said as if Herrior was talking to him.

"Two hundred and eighty three was my count." Lindel said.

"We'll go with that. Do you know where this officer, or whatever he calls himself, resides?" Herrior asked.

"Yup, shall we deliver the package?" Lindel asked getting ready to open the portal.

Herrior paused for a second and looked outside. Almost the entire day passed and nightfall was approaching. Herrior played through several different scenarios in his head and said, "No let's wait a couple of hours. Let darkness mask our negotiations."

"What is to become of us?" One of the hostages asked.

"You are safe, but like I told the other hostages we cannot allow you to see us. It is best if don't talk. You will all be home within the next day or sooner, you just have to trust us. Your captures are dead." Herrior said.

"Lindel scan their minds and find out what their stories are." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel nodded at him and slowly walked over to them.

Herrior then walked in the middle of everybody and got their attention and motioned for them to gather up the remains of the bodies, the bag of heads and hands and everything else they obtained and head down into their cellar.

Once the door was shut and secured Mohania made a fire in the middle of the room and everybody walked over and sat around it.

"Congratulations on the mission, not that it tested our skills a whole lot, but I have a sense that what we did will help this world. Trackolania, I'm assuming you were able to grab numerous objects that need to go to our treasure. Trackolania nodded with extreme satisfaction so Herrior asked Skyka to contact a Chronomancer.

"Does anybody have anything they want to share?" Herrior asked.

"These attacks were of a complete surprise. When we deliver them it may not be a surprise. I have no doubt that this guy…shit-bag was his name I think…is going to have surveillance so far up his ass that I doubt we could even get past it all." Jacklyn said.

"I agree. I'm hoping the surprise meeting, and cover of darkness will help. People used to having power get real paranoid when they realize a force is more powerful than them. We'll have our disguises on and we'll approach from afar so we have enough time to survey the land."

"Mind if I spark up a tune?" Strings asked.

"Not at all. Trackolania see if you can get some people to bring us some of our city's food. Samatha's food is good, but it lacks the proper nutrients to sustain us." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded as he walked through the portal and pointed at his open mouth, and then rubbed his stomach followed by pointing at the portal. Herrior's group heard somebody said they would send the fairies out at once along with some extra rations. Trackolania then continued to empty his pockets.

"What all did he steal?" Julie asked.

"Probably everything that wasn't nailed down…and even then he probably took those items as well." Dan said smiling at Trackolania handing over the items. Dan turned to Herrior and said, "What happens to some of the gold and gems that are not needed?"

"There is always a use for them. Gold can be forged into something else, and gems are always a good bargaining chip. Some of the gems can be enchanted to make one's armor or weapons stronger." Herrior said.

"May we eat as well?" One of the hostages said quickly.

"Herrior, there is no telling how long they have been tied up, beaten, harassed…and God only knows what else." Branzer said.

"I'm unfamiliar with your means of torture, but we cannot turn down a hungry soul." Herrior said agreeing with him. Herrior turned to Lindel and asked in his head, "Lindel what have you obtained so far?"

"A few of these people are from this area…country, whatever you call it. Some don't belong here. All of them were kidnapped for profit by means of blackmail. The female on the end doesn't have much life left in her. If we heal her, it would cause a lot of questions." Lindel said back in Herrior's head.

"Ok everybody, we are going to untie you with the promise that you keep your blindfolds on. We are going to ask you to not peak. You may eat and drink freely, I'll send for food at once – but let me emphasize that you are not to look at us. Is that understood? You are not to look around. We will tend to your wounds and keep you warm. We have doctors here as well. Do you understand the bargain?" Herrior asked. All of the hostages agreed.

"My wife is a doctor and she will tend to your wounds one at a time. We have some medication to relief some of your pain and to help you sleep if you wish. Tomorrow you will all be released to the ambassador of this country and then you may go back to your families."

"What country are we in?" One of them asked.

"The United States of America. We are an elite squad sent in to rescue you and to take out the bad guys. All of the missions were a complete success. Just relax, you're in good hands. You have my word on that." Branzer said adding to the explanation as he began to untie their bonds. Several minutes later the hostages did as they were told and were led to a semi-private room in the barn. Branzer again told them not to take off their blindfolds and gave them each some biscuits and dried meat. He said fresh water would be here shortly. He again reassured them that they were safe, but not to look around or ask much questions.

"Are you navy seals or marines?" One asked.

"Neither…and none of this happened. More will be explained to you tomorrow. Please just relax." Branzer said. Skyka, Lindel, and Jessica had started tending to their wounds but were instructed not to use magic telepathically. Samatha had come out with a box full of bandages, ice packs, several six packs of Gatorade, and pills for pain and to help them sleep. The hostages began to relax once they started to feel better, except for the woman on the verge of death. It tore at their hearts, but they tried to make her comfortable.

Afterwards Herrior motioned everybody to come outside.

"I doubt they will be much trouble. Samatha thank you for your help. Strings you might have to play a tune to keep them sleeping, I am unfamiliar with the medication on this world…" Herrior said.

"Two Tylenol PM and two Benadryl each – Herrior they will be sleeping for twelve hours straight easily. Probably when we are done talking, they will be sleeping like a baby." Samatha said smiling back.

"I will take your word for it. Branzer, you Skyka, and Strings stay in the barn with them. Stay in your disguise in case they betray us and look around. The rest of us will sleep in our outpost." Herrior said.

"Or our house…" Samatha said giving Herrior a funny look.

"Fair enough. How are you and Alan doing?" Herrior asked trying to assess if they were going to be a burden on them.

"Just fine…quit you're worrying. I'll order take out tonight." Samatha said.

"Sounds fine. Tomorrow night I think we will deliver the hostages and the severed heads and hands. This way we have time to bolster the hostage's confidence in us and to help tend to their needs. Many of them looked pretty bad and an extra day of rest with us tending to their needs will help the transition."

"Are we going to let the lady die?" Skyka asked.

"I don't know. Branzer what usually happens in a situation like this in your world?" Herrior asked.

"We usually try everything we can to save the person's life." Branzer said.

"That's the same procedure. Returning a live hostage would be better than a dead one. Lindel what are your thoughts on their minds?" Herrior asked.

"None of them expected to be alive. They haven't fully realized that they have been rescued yet; the reality of it hasn't set it. They aren't going to open their eyes or look around. In my opinion, while they are sleeping, let our fairies come in and enter their bodies. The lady's chances of survival would be much higher and she would have no memory of it. She has been beaten badly and from the way her heart is beating and lungs is letting out hissing sounds – without me going in and repairing the damage, she would have little chance of survival." Lindel said.

"I know what you are thinking Herrior and dropping a couple of healing spells on them even I would not recommend. But returning a live hostage versus a dead one would be a better bargaining chip." Skyka said.

"Lindel can you go in and repair the damage and get out? Set her heart to a regular beating pattern and heal her lungs. Many of you might be wondering why we are even having this conversation."

"Suddenly healing a dying woman that was on the other side of the world – held by her captives has not only been rescued but is suddenly fully healed. Their medicine…err this world's medicine…doesn't work that way. It would raise suspicion. I think we're all on board." Julie said.

"Oh…well then maybe all of you aren't wondering…" Herrior said.

"You give the orders, we obey them. I feel bad for all of them but orders are orders." Bernett said.

"Fair enough. Lindel give then all a quick inspection. Accelerate their healing but not anything that dramatic. Bring in the food from Tranquil. Tomorrow we're going to go pay this guy a visit in his home in the evening. In the mean time I want at least two people watching them. Keep them sedated, answer minimal questions. Strings, I want you and Lindel to take watch tomorrow during the day. Mohania you and Jessica watch them tonight. If their condition worsens then blast them with a healing spell, but just monitor their condition. Let's call it a night." Herrior said.

"Herrior do you mind if I go for a walk tonight? I've got some things I want to think about." Veliline asked.

"It's fine by me. You may all do as you wish." Herrior said. Everybody went their separate ways except for Veliline. She pushed her trinket, revealing her armor and walked back to the woods. Trackolania looked up at Herrior and he shook his head. Trackolania nodded and went into their outpost.

Veliline arrived at the thick woods after the long walk through the field. She used her hearthstone to have a target dummy summoned. After the female tauren smiled at her and left through the portal, Veliline let out a long trumpet sound through her mouth. It echoed through the land. She then summoned her ghoul and started attacking the target.

"Why did you take me?" Veliline began to scream over and over as her attacks accelerated. She launched disease after disease on the target and landed her large two-handed axe on it. Her blood worms spawned by themselves, attacking the target as well without her knowledge. She threw her hands up and encased herself in a shield of whirling bones circling her body, increasing her strength.

The target was designed to absorb all of the blows. It swayed a little when it was struck, but moved back to its normal spot. Veliline stopped attacking and held out her hand as she launched several death coils at the target. They looked similar to Mohania's death coils, only they did more direct damage and didn't drive fear into the target. Veliline went back to attacking the target. Her attacks getting stronger the more she attacked.

"Why me? Why did I do it?" Veliline's screams filled the night air. Slowly they made their way to a whisper back to the house.

"I did not kill them! I did not!" Veliline yelled at the target as she held her axe by her side. She still saw the diseases eating away at the target dummy, but unaffected it.

"You did kill them…" A voice said behind her. Veliline quickly turned around and throw her hand out grasping the being talking to her. To Veliline's surprise it was her, an exact replica down to the very last color of her hair. Veliline let her go and stumbled backwards. Her ghoul and bloodworms began to attack the other Veliline but they were dispatched of quickly.

"Who are you?" Veliline asked.

"You" The other said. She raised her axe and took and hefty swing at Veliline. She rolled out of the way and resummoned her ghoul. The doppelganger did the same.

"You killed them…all of them…" The doppelganger said.

"I did not!" Veliline said pointing at her with her axe. The doppelganger held her out and instantly infected Veliline with frost fever and plague strike. Veliline winched at the pain and jumped forward and landed and fierce a blow at the doppelganger. The doppelganger matched each attack Veliline made. Both of them suffering from the same diseases until their bodies fought them off.

"Sacrifice yourself for me!" Veliline said as her ghoul instantly died and healed Veliline.

"Good…you are learning. As you see your blood worms are worthless. We both destroy them with our attacks." The doppelganger said very calmly.

"How do you know my attacks?" Veliline asked putting her axe down.

"Because you will come to call me master after I slaughter your party. You will do as I say…" The doppelganger said.

"No…you will have to kill me first!" Veliline said reengaging back in combat. Veliline was able to create a shield around herself absorbing the majority of the damage, but the other Veliline was healing herself much faster. Veliline started to see the desperation of the situation. She began to summon her army of ghouls, but the doppelganger did the same. The ghouls simply fought each other until they killed each other off.

"You give?" The doppelganger said laughing in her voice.

"You are recharging yourself…how are you doing that?" Veliline asked.

"Simple…I'm a death knight…" The doppelganger said and began attacking her again.

A minute later Veliline's life was in jeopardy while the doppelganger barely broke a sweat and was smiling at her.

"Death…or the truth?" The doppelganger said.

"Death! Finish me!" Veliline screamed at her. The doppelganger shrugged and brought her axe up into the air and brought it down. Veliline parried the attack on the ground and then kicked the doppelganger's hand, disarming her for a quick second for Veliline to get back on her feet. She then felt an urge inside of her she never felt before. She embraced it and healed herself. She continued to do so until the urge disappeared and her blood runes were on cool down.

"You're not as stupid as I took you for…" The doppelganger said gripping her axe and began swinging away.

"Apparently I can heal myself as well. Are you here to teach me that?" Veliline asked.

"No, I'm here to make you beg for mercy and then take your place among the ranks of your party." The doppelganger said continuing the attacks.

"She's healing herself with each death strike attack she makes on me. It's killing me and healing her. Why am I not able to do that?" Veliline asked in her head.

"Because you're an idiot! You are a cowered! Your feelings of killing your family betray your thoughts and you are trying to deny what you are!" The doppelganger said. Veliline blasted her with a quick burst of frozen air, silencing her for a couple of seconds.

"I am not a cowered! I did not kill my family! I am a fighter!" Veliline said beginning to fight with a renewed spirit.

"Silence me all you want…you and I both know what you are. You are a betrayer, a cold-hearted killer, and enjoy every minute of it." The doppelganger said in her head without moving her mouth.

"So you are me." Veliline said trying to dodge and parry the attacks, but most of them landing hard on her armor.

"No! You are weak and puny! You suffer from a fragile mind that I can shatter simply by words." The doppelganger said.

"No…you are me…" Veliline said hold out her hand and grabbed a hold of the doppelganger by her throat and raising her in the air. The doppelganger struggled with the grip on her throat at first, then tried to cast her magic but it failed. Finally she began to swing frantically but could not reach Veliline. Veliline, with careful timing let go of her, instantly infected her with both of her diseases and launched strike after strike.

The doppelganger, taken by surprise, began to take more damage than it ever had before. It finally rolled away and onto its feet.

"That's impossible! You don't know what you just did!" The doppelganger said surprised.

"Tell me how to heal myself!" Veliline demanded.

"Tell your family sorry for striking them down and sending them straight to Hell!" The doppelganger said.

"I did not!" Veliline said racing forward and engaged in battle again. The doppelganger began to regain its health again until Veliline remembered a special attack. She swung and the healing instantly stopped.

"So…your mind does work…but the wall has not been breached with the knowledge you know is true. Look deep inside…deeper! Pull those memories up!" The doppelganger said screaming at her.

"No!" Veliline screamed back.

"Do it!" The doppelganger said.

Veliline's body began to emanate chilling winds around her as she stood with her axe in one hand and the other squeezing into a fist. The doppelganger looked desperate again as it began to take enormous amounts of frost damage and then freezing it to the ground.

"I…did…" Veliline said as the winds increased and the air grew even colder, hammering the doppelganger with large pellets of ice. The doppelganger tried frantically to heal itself or to move.

"Stop…I'll tell you what you want. You want to know how to heal yourself, I'll tell you!" The doppelganger said.

"Damn it, I'm sorry!" Veliline yelled into the air. Veliline's eyes grew dark red and quickly engaged the doppelganger, striking with more intensity than ever. Unbeknown to Veliline, her blood shield that absorbed damage began to heal her. Veliline's powers had become awakened now.

"Give me your life!" Veliline said in her old death knight voice as she held out her hand and drained the doppelganger's life from its body until it screamed and burst into fire.

"Why did I do that? Lord forgive me! I beg of you!" Veliline said falling to her feet and bursting into tears. She spent the rest of the night sobbing over her mistakes of the past. Her eyes turned back to normal as her tears were licking up by the ground.

Back at the barn Herrior and Skyka stood watching and listening. They heard her sobs from a distance.

"Doppelgangers are out tonight." Herrior said.

"Should we wake the others?" Skyka asked.

"It wouldn't matter. It would wake them if it wanted to fight." Herrior responded.

"She carried a heavy burden this whole time…we all have carried heavy burdens…" Skyka said wrapping her arms around Herrior. Herrior put his arm around her.

"We cannot escape the past; it will catch up with us eventually. The past paves the way for our future." Herrior said.

"Yeah…" Skyka said in a sad tone.

"Her battle is over for tonight. Let's leave her be. I'll take watch over our party for tonight for more doppelgangers and then tomorrow I will put Jacklyn in charge. Keep the group close and remind them if one engages them to stay back." Herrior said.

"This isn't the first time we've had to fight them." Skyka reminded him.

"Won't be the last either" Herrior said leaning over and kissing her on top of her head. "Go get some sleep with the others." Skyka looked up at him and kissed him before leaving. Herrior watched her leave and then looked back at where the sobbing had come from. It was quieter now.

"I'm sorry Veliline." Herrior said softly to himself.

The night passed without any incident and Herrior told Jacklyn of the events that took place. She nodded as Herrior retired inside the outpost to rest.

"So you weren't kidding around about the pictures on the wall that we took?" Dan asked after Herrior entered the concealed outpost and the door vanished behind him.

"They are very real, and very dangerous the same as any of our other foes. Attack each battle with all of your heart as if it was your last." Jacklyn said.

"Anyway to prevent them from happening, or coming?" Dan asked.

Jacklyn paused for a second because she almost said the answer. She just shook her head instead as she pulled out her hearthstone and ordered a portal open for the fairies to come out and nourish their bodies.

"I could have done that." Lindel said.

"Your job is to monitor everybody's thoughts. Did you heal the hostage's bodies last night?" Jacklyn asked. Lindel said she did.

"Good. First go in and get some sleep with Herrior, then I want you to begin monitoring those of us that you are allowed to." Jacklyn said.

"There is a way to stop the doppelgangers…but you aren't telling us." Dan said.

"Each person has their own battle to fight. Sometimes the battles become real, sometimes a demon is able to read enough of your thoughts to betray you. Sometimes you fight of the doppelgangers and sometimes you lose. Once you are lost, the only thing left is to bury you. That is all you need to know. I am going to go speak with the hostages – Jessica I want you to come with me. Everybody else stick close together and watch for anything suspicious to happen with any of us." Jacklyn said as a portal opened and dozens of fairies came out and scattered to each person's body.

Dan looked over at Skyka for more information as well as the rest of the humans.

"No, I'm not taking this one. I've fought off more than my fair share. You do what your leader tells you and you'll be better off. There are enemies you haven't even imagined that we have fought, even ones that materialize as ourselves or the ones we love and we had to kill them. Stick to the rules of being a fighter, don't let your emotions sway you from battle, and don't get caught off guard. That's all I'm saying, I'm not a leader and I don't want the responsibility." Skyka said quickly and uneasily. "Sorry" Dan said quickly. Skyka nodded at walked off.

Veliline came back from her long night and walked into the barn.

"I'm exhausted…" Veliline said setting down her weapon and leaning against the barn.

"I hear you had quite the battle." Jacklyn said.

"It was me…it was my own stupid fault…"

"No and you will not say that phrase again. Jessica stay here, Veliline and I need to have a private talk in the cellar." Jacklyn said as she stood up and walked over to the entrance.

"I thought you said we are safe? Was there more fighting going on?" One of the woman asked still blind folded.

"You are the safest you will ever be right now then you ever have been or ever will be in your entire life. It was a minor battle fought far away. You were all quite heavily guarded. No if you will excuse me…Veliline?" Jacklyn said holding open the cellar. Veliline picked up her weapon and put it behind her as her armor sucked it to her back.

Both of them walked down to the quiet and dark cellar, the smell of death lingered in the air.

"Veliline you have been at war with yourself ever since Herrior found you. It finally caught up with you last night. A doppelganger, or a demon, or even a projected image of yourself appeared through your mind and you fought off your inner demons that have been haunting you. I was just shortly briefed on the situation, but from what I understand you became a death knight and your first order was to kill your family. I know you; you would not harm your family willingly. Your heart is pure but your mind has been in flux. It drives your emotions in battle which is your weakness. In battle, drop the emotions, drop the flashbacks, and drop everything except for the battle. You will be taken advantage of if you don't, as you were last night. I am glad you survived the battle last night, but if you don't release yourself from your own bonds, you will be attacked again – and you may fall in battle because of it. So tell me from the beginning what you remember and I was ease your burden." Jacklyn said.

Veliline sighed and nodded. Jacklyn couldn't see, but she heard the low sigh. "I was taken in the night. A recruiter for the Lich King poured his will over mine. There were dozens of us. We were commanded to get more. I knew what I was doing, I remember it all. I killed my family because they resisted. I killed other families. My mind was not my own, I realize that know. Had I known I had the power to free myself…"

"You didn't know…nobody knew – even you didn't know until we killed one of your masters. That was not an option and was not your fault. None of this was your fault. What did your doppelganger say?" Jacklyn said.

"She taunted me…spoke to me all of my worst fears. She preyed upon all of my weaknesses. She could have killed me easily." Veliline said.

"Why didn't see?" Jacklyn asked.

"Because…she taught me how to become a better death knight…does that sound strange?" Veliline asked Jacklyn slowly.

"Not at all. If you had suppressed your memories of your family, probably the same thing happened with your powers. You probably knew you had them all along, but didn't know it. What did you learn?"

"I can heal myself in combat. I can shield and self-heal. I can inflict entire armies with diseases from bugs and watch them suffer – perhaps even killing many of them without even raising my new sword. I can control frost. I used it to pummel my twin so hard it froze her – and then I sucked the life out of her." Veliline paused as a word began to come out and then she hesitated but continued, "Jacklyn, my powers have increased almost ten-fold. I can destroy any foe that I encounter. I'm confident of it."

"I doubt that, but you said what I wanted to hear. You are learning more about who you are, your past, your present and where this is going to lead you into the future. Don't let the past continue to haunt you. Learn from what it taught you. I look forward to seeing your new abilities in action, but I want a clear mind out of you. Your will is your own. Today starts a new life for you. You have fought your demons from the past and won. Jessica fought her demons from her past and started a new life. I suspect Herrior knew this was going to happen with you. I suspect the doppelgangers are surrounding this area right now, looking for another person to prey on." Jacklyn said.

"Aren't we immune to alliance and demonic possession?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean they aren't trying. If they get a tad bit of information that they can use against you, they will. If they think they can benefit by altering your appearance and deceiving you they will. Lastly if they think you will turn and help them that is ultimately what they want – or they will kill you. My guess is you were talking aloud among the forest for awhile before one appeared?"

"Yes. What do I do if another appears?" Veliline asked.

"You fight it of course. A quick way to kill it though is to do what we call 'disbelieve it'. It is just a projected image of yourself. Given another faith and will, you can walk right up to it and squeeze the life right out of it without even having to lift your blade. You have a gift, the same gifts we all have for fighting. That is the reason for our honor code being as it is, 'Love always, fight till the death.' Your mind will always think of a way out. Even if you are pinned down, there are always ways to fight back. Do you need some more time alone, or do you wish to join the rest of our party?" Jacklyn said ending the conversation.

"I would rather be with our party…" Veliline said in a pleasant tone.

"Very well - tonight we are going on our mission, will you be able to fight with us?" Jacklyn asked.

"Absolutely" Veliline said without hesitation.

"Good to have you back Veliline." Jacklyn walked forward and hugged her.

"Thank you. If I have questions about this in the future?" Veliline asked.

"I am always here for you. Many of our experienced fighters have fought more than their fair share of them. They will share their experience if they choose to. Sometimes it's personal, that's why it is just you and I alone down here. But I am your sister; I would be honored to die by your side. I would give everything I have for you. So would anybody else. That is the love everybody has for each other in our party. Love conquers all." Jacklyn said and then squeezed her hand. Jacklyn then climbed back up the stairs and opened the heavy cellar door. She saw Veliline smiling at her and it warmed Jacklyn's heart. She smiled back and nodded for her to come up. Veliline did.

"Why did you have to leave? Where did you go? Is there a basement in this building?" One of the male hostages asked.

"I see we are feeling better. All of those questions I cannot answer. I am pleased that you are following our instructions as to keeping our identities safe by concealing your eyes still. Just relax today. I cannot let you leave this area, but if you need to go for a walk to empty your bowels we can have somebody escort you. Your privacy will be kept secret – nobody will look. When you are in a battle as long as we have been we couldn't give two shits about it, but you aren't fighters. The final arrangements I believe are done and tonight there is a good chance all of you will be home in the next couple of days. We will be turning you over to the United States government and then transitioned from there." Jacklyn said hoping she said the right terms correctly.

"So we are in the US?"

"Yes you are." Jessica said and motioned to Jacklyn to have her take over. "There's a lot of bullshit stuff that has to be done first, paper pushing that kind of crap. We were so successful in getting in and out that we weren't actually expected back until a week from now and that has things backed up a little. Our army is great – it's just the politicians that get in the way."

"How old are you?" One of the women asked.

"Old enough to be a fighter and trained to save your asses, that's all you need to know." Jessica said. Jacklyn nodded at her.

"Sorry…you just remind me of my daughter I have. I miss her so much. I've thought about her every day for the past year…or however long it's been. The US said they don't negotiate with terrorists and I've seen many killed because they wouldn't pay the ransom. They didn't even lead any assaults to try to rescue us. They pay corrupt government officials to have sex with their interns, and they putting social security into bankruptcy, but will they give into our ransoms? No – they would rather just have us killed. I don't know what happened that caused our rescue, and probably I will never know, but I want to thank you people for what you did for us." The woman said in-between sobbing.

"The government sucks I'm not going to argue with you about that, luckily though we're above the bureaucratic red tape. I apologize on my behalf for having to keep you here for longer than we have to, but we have to follow orders." Jessica said.

"That is enough talk for now. Just relax and let us know if you need anything to drink or eat, or if you are experiencing pain in anyway." Jacklyn said.

"Did you perform surgery on me last night?" The lady that was teetering on the line between life and death asked.

"Yes, but it was very minimally invasive. You should be fine now, but as she said you need to rest. All of you slept real well last night, giving us a chance to look over any physical wounds you might have had. We have specially trained doctors that did the work and there were only nurses in the room. It was only a quick physical examine, but I believe all of you should recover fully." Jessica said. Jacklyn looked at Jessica and smiled showing that she was impressed.

"Will we ever know your names or who we have to thank for risking their lives to save us?" The same lady asked.

"We were once called the 'guardian angels'. The name didn't stick because it's not what we wanted to be called. As far as our names, no you will not know them. I'm sure your government or leaders will come up with some story as to how you were rescued and how heroic their fighters were." Jacklyn said.

"Our government? Our leaders? You're not from the US are you?" A man said quickly catching what she said. Jacklyn cringed regretting what she said.

"Not all of us no. Talk time is over, lay down and get some sleep." Jessica said. Jacklyn looked thoroughly frustrated with herself and Jessica got up and walked over to the exit. Jacklyn followed.

"I hate lying…" Jacklyn muttered.

"Unfortunately I can do it better. Do you want to take a break and I'll stay with them?" Jessica asked.

"No, it's my shift and I need to stay at my post until relieved. I'll just keep my mouth shut."

Time passed to mid-day and the hostages had fallen back to sleep again, thanks to the help of Strings and his lute. Skyka was with him as well and they made idle chit-chat to pass the time.

Outside the barn everybody else was doing the same. The conversation was most about Mohania when suddenly Trackolania drew his dagger and drove it into something behind him. His movement was so fast it couldn't have been seen with the eye. The demon squealed and recoiled backwards in pain, but Trackolania was right on top of him slashing and tearing at him as fast as he could. Seconds later the demon burned up and Trackolania casually walked back to where he was sitting and sat back down as if nothing happened.

"I hate to see what he does to a door-to-door solicitor…" Bernett said astonished. Trackolania looked up at him and shrugged not knowing what he was talking about.

"Any idea why a doppelganger would go after you this time Trackolania?" Herrior asked.

"Julie" Spark barked. Julie shushed him and petted him on the head. Trackolania looked at her than at Herrior and nodded.

"Ok so that's the reason." Herrior said in satisfaction. "Does anybody else have anything hidden or that can be used against them?"

"Huh? Wait I didn't follow. What answer did Trackolania give? What did it have to do with Spark?" Julie asked.

"He likes the dog?" Branzer asked.

"Quiet from the peanut gallery please…Julie, Trackolania likes you and the doppelganger was going to use that against him. This obviously wasn't the first time Trackolania fought one of those things, either that or he sensed him coming from a mile away." Crystal said. Trackolania nodded.

"Wait…nodded about him liking me or from coming a mile away?" Julie asked quickly. Trackolania rolled his eyes and looked at Herrior. He then pointed behind him. Herrior nodded.

"Wait a second…what am I missing?" Julie asked.

"If you don't know, then you don't need to know – that is all. Does anybody else have anything that can be used against them? Search your minds, normally I do not question such things from our group but this may cost you your life. The doppelgangers are not something to mess around with." Herrior said.

"I constantly miss my wife and child, could that be used against me?" Bernett asked.

"Doubt it…anybody else?" Herrior asked.

"I devoured seven people…does that count?" Mohania asked smiling.

"No…Mohania you've never fought one before have you?" Herrior asked trying to recall if he had.

"No" Mohania answered and then he thought about something for a moment. "When I lost my powers and Alan gave them back to me I should have been attacked then – at my weakest. Perhaps those with deep secrets that are building inside of us Alan could fix those and provide us relief from the doppelgangers?"

"Do you think that would work?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know…it made sense at the time. I'm hungry." Mohania replied.

"I'll go check with Samatha. The rest of you stay here and watch out for each other. Don't think to hard about anything in the mean time." Herrior said and left for the house.

Herrior opened the door and found Samatha sitting at the table reading a book and drinking something.

"Having fun are we?" Samatha asked with a smile.

"We're in a bit of trouble and I believe we need to speak with Alan right away. It is an emergency." Herrior said in a firm voice.

"I'll call him right away." Samatha said setting her book down and grabbing the phone. They talked for awhile on his private line and then after she hung up she said he was coming immediately.

"Sooner would be better. Tell him to meet us out back." Herrior said turning to walk out the door. He thought about having her come out as well, but decided against it.

"Something else?" Samatha asked.

"No…you'll be safer in the house." Herrior said and closed the door behind him.

Minutes later Alan came running around the house and saw Branzer fighting an image of himself.

"What the hell?" Alan practically screamed as Herrior quickly silenced him.

"Branzer, it is not real. He knows you better than you know him. Only you can defeat him. Concentrate on the battle." Herrior said as Branzer was getting shot time after time.

Branzer summoned his bear and immediately it charged at his doppelganger. The doppelganger dropped to the ground momentarily; giving Branzer enough time to get back on his feet and began to fire his shots strategically. The doppelganger summoned his eagle and quickly flew at Branzer, snatching the gun from his hands.

"Expected that…" Branzer said as he ran towards the doppelganger and tackled him to the ground. He picked up a dirt clod and shoved it in his eye slots of his armor. Branzer then dropped a snake trap, immolation trap and a freezing trap below the blinded doppelganger. All of the traps burst open, preventing him from getting to his feet, burning him intensely and a dozen snakes were biting at him fiercely. Branzer then ripped the gun out of the doppelganger's hand and it instantly disappeared. That was the time when it finally clicked with Branzer.

"Stop attacking him." Branzer ordered his bear. His party watched in horror as his bear came back to his side. Herrior hushed them though.

"You are not real…" Branzer said looking down at him.

"The pain you feel is real…and I'm going for Lindel next. You know I can kill her…I'll kill her right before your eyes." His doppelganger said.

"Do it." Branzer said looking down at him.

"I'll gut her up real good…and then I'll gut you up. Your love for her makes you weak…join me and we will strength our powers." The doppelganger said. Branzer walked up to the doppelganger, took off his gauntlet and punched him in the face. His hand went right through the armor and through the head as well.

"You have no power over me…you have no control over me…you are pathetic – be gone from here!" Branzer commanded him. The doppelganger started desperately begging him, but seconds later it erupted in fire. Branzer put his gauntlet back on as his gun returned to his hand.

"Good bear." Branzer said patting it on the head. The bear let out a grunt. Branzer then dismissed his pet, banishing it until he needed to summon it again.

"Fast learner" Herrior said.

"First of all, Lindel is a banshee and cannot be gutted. Second of all she cannot be killed by him. Disbelieve it – it's all you have to do. I'm not sure why Trackolania choose to fight his." Branzer said.

"Yes you do." Herrior said smiling.

"He's fought them before hasn't he? Can't he disbelieve them like I did?" Branzer asked.

"You are thinking like a fighter. Step outside of that area for a moment and look at the entire situation…" Herrior said.

"It was his way of telling me that he liked me. There was no threat to him, but his actions speak louder than words. Does he love me?" Julie asked.

"We all love each other yes…but is there something more, I think so. That is between you and him though. You know the rules and my ear is always open if needed." Herrior said.

"Ok…can I jump in here for a second? What the hell just happened?" Alan asked.

"Doppelgangers. This is the third one to show up. I have a feeling there are more, but that will be handled by us. What we need you for is to help heal the minds of our party so that they cannot prey upon them and be summoned." Herrior said.

"Uh…what?" Alan said utterly confused.

"Same way you healed me…do the same thing to the people in our party if there is an issue." Mohania said.

"Whoa…this is way above my head…guys I understand zilch about whatever you call those things or…any of this stuff. How am I supposed to help?" Alan asked completely confused.

"Herrior, can I speak with Alan in private?" Mohania asked. Herrior nodded as Mohania walked towards the house with Alan completely confused and unsure what he was going to say.

Thirty minutes later Mohania and Alan came back out. "Alan can do what he did to me, which I would like to have had remained confidential about my family and the events of my life…but I am free of those bonds because of him. He understands now what needs to be done. He's offered to speak with each of us for thirty minutes or so depending on what is needed."

"The professors at my university would never have believed this in a million years…" Alan said still dumbfounded. "I mean I've had cases of split personalities, and waking up thinking that you are a different person…why is everybody staring at me?"

"There's a demon right behind you. We're watching to see what it is going to do." Herrior said casually.

"Uh…can you do something besides watching it?" Alan suddenly sounded desperate.

"No it left. Mohania and Dan go track it down and kill it. That's interesting though; the doppelgangers attack us but leave you alone. I wonder why that is?" Herrior said in deep thought.

"Aren't I supposed to be immune to possession…or whatever we got zapped for?" Alan asked.

"You are, but you paid it no attention. You seem to have no internal struggle feeding your emotions. You're thoughts were of helping us, which makes demons mad – also thinking about God. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. Disbelieving is associated with these things. It's not that your armor and weapons are stronger, it's your mind and faith that wins." Herrior said glancing over at his party.

"So…I'm ok to move then?" Alan asked.

"No sugar, you have to stand there for the rest of the day…" Skyka said smiling at him.

"Ok…well does anybody have the need or want to talk? I am still slightly afraid of the fact that all of you stood there and let it near me and just watched…" Alan said.

"We could have killed it in an instant. I was teaching my party exactly what I thought was going to happen. Are you sure you don't want to live in Tranquil? There are many others that could use your healing…you could help our fighters defeat their doppelgangers or any internal conflicts they may have that they have been unable to solve themselves. You're work would be helpful on an exponential level." Herrior said.

"My work is here, my house is here…surrounded by the most elite task force, previously unknown to man and my practice is booming. What would Samatha want? I mean I can't just up and leave. I can help on the weekends or schedule a day during the week to come and help, but I feel that my calling is here." Alan said.

Herrior nodded and said, "I can respect that. Would it be able if we were to send some people to you? Not intruding on your work of course and when you are properly rested."

"You just don't give up do you?" Alan asked with a smile.

"You are a resource of utmost value to us – I have you to thank personally. You have given me my powers to kill and devour humans once more." Mohania said walking back.

"Normally a sentence like that would get you institutionalized." Alan said smiling.

"Are there any humans to devour in there?" Mohania asked.

Alan shook his head and looked at Herrior. "I will help you out as much as I can, and I will help out my patients as much as I can. It might be helpful to get more than one doctor to help though; I mean what if something happens to me?"

"We've already considered that. Your house is locked down pretty tight but there always is that possibility. We would take what we have learned from you and expand on it, possibly seek out other doctors of the same medicine practice and learn from them." Herrior said.

"It would be quicker to hold down the doctors, have Lindel suck the information from them, and then dispose of the evidence…" Mohania sat patting his stomach.

"That's also another option." Herrior said.

"Ok…ok…but I don't want to be over-whelmed. I want time with my wife, I want time to relax, and time to fall asleep on the couch with my feet propped up on the coffee table and snooze watching football games. Can we agree on that?" Alan asked smiling.

"Whatever you want. You may find Tranquil more relaxing though. I've been to one of your football games – it was boring and filled with annoying people." Herrior said.

"And you got in trouble by the King!" Mohania said. Herrior glanced over at him and Mohania quickly said, "I meant…let's go get some people…for the King!"

"You guys are more of a handful than all of my patients and staff put together…" Alan said snickering. "So does anybody want to talk or should I go back to my office?" Nobody volunteered so Alan left.

"Any of you can also talk to any of us about anything, whether in private or in a group. In a group may get you more answers and will give you a sense of closeness. It looks like Julie and Trackolania are talking and will probably come to us later on. What's the status with you and Lindel?" Herrior turned to Branzer.

"Uh…"

"Excellent answer. She's watching the hostages right now – is the romance starting back up again?" Herrior asked.

"It might be, but it's a lot different…and a lot slower. She's different now, and I'm different." Branzer said.

"But you are still quick with your answers!" Bernett said laughing.

"You could be replaced with a rock…" Branzer said glancing quickly back at him.

"Either way, just wanted to ask. You may go about your business all of you, except for my wife. I think it is our turn to take watch in the outpost." Herrior said.

"I don't plan on watching out for anything…" Skyka snickered and grabbed Herrior's arm as they walked towards the entrance.

"A little more subtle perhaps?" Crystal yelled out. "Sheesh…a pair of rabbits those two are."

That evening they were all disguised as business men and women. Lindel opened a portal with Herrior and Veliline in front. The rest came through; each one of the hostages was escorted by the arm, still blind-folded, and began walking down the dark street.

"I'm going to do the talking. The rest of you are to look out for an attack. Keep our hostages safe." Herrior said.

They walked down several streets, drawing attention from some of the people on the streets, but they presented no real bother. Lindel reported no traps so far. Quinely kept them up-to-date on where all of the people were and if there was any sudden movement of a group of people coming towards them. Crystal checked in reporting that she didn't sense any demons in the area.

Nearly a mile later, Lindel flagged the alarm. "Herrior, there are thirty people awake and moving around in the building that we have to go into," Lindel said in his mind. Herrior nodded. He had anticipated this.

"Loose change perhaps?" A homeless man asked shaking a cup next to Herrior.

"Nothing on me is loose, but thanks." Herrior said and kept walking.

"Penny for your thoughts then?" The man persisted. Herrior stopped as the party stopped behind him. Something was particular in his voice. Herrior turned back around and sat down next to the guy.

"What is it you want?" Herrior asked.

"You're walking into a trap, of which you are probably already aware. You have two paths to choose, the one you are going on or another path with no traps." The man whispered back.

"Lead the way." Herrior said pretending to help the man to his feet.

"Thank you kind man. The night is crisp and I stay in a rundown shack, but you are welcome." The man said and started hobbling along to keep up his disguise. Herrior pretended to help him walk as they walked inside an abandoned house practically on the verge of falling down. The man stood up straight and motioned for all of them to quickly follow him. He began to run the length of the building, about a hundred yards to a cellar door – much like the one in Alan's barn.

"Quickly please…" The man said motioning everybody down the stairs. Once everybody was downstairs the man started taking off his rugged clothes and took off his shaggy hair and beard.

"Name is George McCarline. Had you gone in there you would have been betrayed and you would have ended up killing everybody in there. I must say this is an exciting moment for me. My colleagues among us are…"

"Safe I know. You I trust. Get to the point; what do you have to offer us?" Herrior asked.

"Right, we're a part of the government that doesn't exist. Scientists, generals, strategists, rocket scientists…you name it we have the best. We've been following what we think…has been your tracks on this planet. It is safe to assume that you are from another planet?" George asked.

"Finish your speech." Herrior said.

"Sorry…so many questions, all of which are irrelevant at this point. We'll take the hostages from here, stage an American rescue, take credit for the deaths of the terrorists that I'm assuming you have…parts of…in the bag. Your officer's may return to their house and station immediately, we have solved that problem. May I see?" George said motioning to the bag.

Herrior looked at Jacklyn and nodded towards her. Jacklyn threw the bag at the man and he caught it and then dropped it, realizing what he was touching. He opened the bag and smelled the decay of rotting human flesh and quickly sealed it back up. He dropped to his knees trying to hold his lunch in.

"That that for analysis…quickly!" George said wanting the bag to be gone immediately.

"You should be able to identify them by their heads and hands. Here's some documentation that one of my people retrieved." Herrior said holding his hand behind him. Branzer handed it to him; all sorted and highlighted several sections.

George started thumbing through it and looked shocked at the first couple of pages. He continued to read through it for a minute when Herrior cleared his throat.

"Sorry…yes of course. Take this as well." George said handing it to another colleague of his. "And these are the hostages you took I'm assuming?"

"No…when we attacked our targets, they were tied up. They posed no threat to us and since they were innocent we took them before we destroyed their bases. You may have them as well." Herrior said and stepped out of the way. "We kept them blind-folded per your request until we can get things in order. They have had their wounds treated, and have been well cared for."

George went along with the act. "I'm glad to hear it. You all will be returned after spending another night or two in a five star hotel along with an all expense paid five course buffets. You can come with us, watch your step now." George said reaching out and carefully leading them to another room. "I'll be right back, please don't go away." Herrior nodded.

"What's going on?" Branzer asked.

"Watch that tongue of your Branzer…it may show up missing someday…" Herrior said calmly. Everybody stood calmly waiting for George to come back. Eventually he did.

"Great you are all still here. This room that we are in is sonar, infrared, and completely safe. We've been following a couple of your calling cards here and there. The army has a price on your heads. That was lifted and wrote off as a conspiracy blamed on several generals. Believe me when I say you can walk the streets with no problems."

"I believe you. Why are we talking still?" Herrior asked.

"We would like to know more about you."

"Not going to happen." Herrior replied back quickly.

"Alright…can I ask you a couple of other questions?" George asked still eager.

"Last couple of humans that betrayed us have been killed along with their families…please…go on." Herrior said with a big smile.

"Don't like to be betrayed…I'll make a note of that. Are you the ones responsible for killing toppling several of the Al-Qaida regimes? Not just that…you had many of the potential enemy's of our country together and slaughtered them…and now this. I also would like to throw in that several years of undercover work was for nothing – you killed all of them and most of their followers along with documentation that any country would go to war over. We are in debt to you…I'm almost afraid to ask, but why?" George asked.

"We were bored…as we are now…what can you do to help us?" Herrior asked.

"Oh sorry, well we have several other strike points if you wish to take out for us…" George said and excited ran over and grabbed several documents and handed them to Herrior. Herrior handed them to Mohania who burned them up. George watched in amazement and frustration.

"That was incredible…but at the same time we spent years and lives retrieving that information. How much do you want to do work for us?" George.

"Bribery? You're tempting my patience…" Herrior said sounding annoyed.

"Ok…works for no money…what can I do to…"

"Nothing. I am the leader, they do what I say…and right now I say we are growing annoyed and bored. Do you want to help us with a mission?" Herrior asked.

"I…sure, not something I anticipated but I'm game. What is the target?" George said.

"You're planet is the target of an impending attack. We need a place to piss off the enemy and draw their attention towards us so we can kill them without anybody seeing it." Herrior said.

"Attack of who?" George asked.

"We…need…a…place…to do battle." Herrior said emphasizing each word.

"Yeah ok…umm…probably a desert or one of the poles. Does the climate matter?" George asked.

Herrior raised his eyebrow not understanding the question.

"Ok here look. This is a flat map of Earth…that is what we call it…"

"Shut up and get to the point!" Herrior said demanding.

"These locations here, here, and here are desolate." George said circle three different areas. One was the South Pole, another large desert in Africa, and one in the middle of the Indian ocean.

"There…what can we do to signal the aliens to attack us here?" Herrior said in his normal voice.

"Aliens? You mean the little green men in flying saucers?" George said. "Do you know why everybody is claiming that the abductions suddenly stopped and pieces of metal were falling out of their bodies?"

"I blow up their planet." Mohania said.

"You…blew up a planet?"

"We don't have time to go into detail. You must know something about them?" Herrior asked George.

"Plenty – we can set up several disturbances…as we like to call them…and have them land here. Are you sure you want to fight them?" George asked.

"Meet us here with these devices in one day. We'll have our engineers investigate them and enhance them. Remember human…we will not be betrayed again. We still have some loose ends to tie up. I grow sick of saving your assess and then having to kill you because you don't hold up your end of the bargain." Herrior turned to his party but looked at the ceiling and said, "Open the portal and let's get out of here, but the one that opens it don't leave yet. Go kill our betrayer and then meet up with us."

"Wait…I…can't get those devices to you here by tomorrow." George said.

"You lie." Herrior said turning around.

"No…the devices are huge. They are attracted to large amounts of electrical energies and microwave transmissions. These devices will not fit in this room."

"Bring the plan on how to build these devices. If you follow us through the portal you'll be killed on the spot. You take care of those hostages or we'll be mailing you and everybody else's heads to your family…or perhaps hand deliver them and then devour your family slowly and painfully. Do you understand?" Herrior asked.

George nodded but wanted to still ask many other questions.

"Open the portal." Herrior said walking forward and lifting George off the ground with one hand. "You are witnessing something nobody else has seen before, and if we are to work together we need to build your trust. Have those plans for us here by tomorrow or your fate will be the same as everybody else's in the house. I suggest as a reminder you leave this building and watch what happens." George nodded.

Herrior set him down hard and walked through the portal. As soon as he vanished the portal disappeared.

"Holy shit…holy shit…we made contact. Get on the damn phones and make good on our promises! I don't care if you have to kill people to get it done! Before that, come with me and watch. I want to see what they are capable of doing in person! I can't believe they came! Hurry!" George said and ran off with several more of his colleagues. They all ran through the broken down building and stood on the street. They waited for a couple of minutes when a deathly chilling screech came from the house. They all ducked and covered their ears and closed their eyes. Gun fire erupted, screams of pain and shouting of disorientation came from the house.

"Get down!" George yelled as they all lay on the ground and continued to watch.

"You bastard, you shot my friend!" A voice yelled out, which was shortly filled with him getting plastered with bullets. Parts of the house burst out, exposing what was happening. All of the doors and windows suddenly blew out of the house followed by more screaming. Three soldiers made it out only to have their bodies turn from their normal color to a dull blue as the life was sucked from them. Their bodies fell limp on the ground. The three bodies then started levitating in the air spinning in a circle. They were then pulled back in through the house, breaking through the siding and drywall. The sound of the bones cracking was sickening.

Silence fell on the house for awhile. George and his colleagues slowly got up completely in awe. Suddenly the man who was to betray them flew through the air and stopped inches from the from George's nose.

"Do not betray them…tell my family I love them and I am sorry…" The man then yelled as his skin melted off his body and then followed by his body exploding. George cringed away like the others but his curiosity was stronger than his fear. He looked around and saw no trace of blood. The house began to collapse and fell to the ground. It then glowed with an eerie purplish-blue color as it burned. It only took minutes until it was just ashes and then all was silent.

"Get those plans…" George said in shock. He turned around and said, "Get those damn plans now!"

"We weren't anticipating this…" A man said.

"We didn't know what to anticipate…but unless you want that to happen to us – let's make good on our promises!" George said.

Lindel came out of the portal in her evil banshee form and started laughing sinisterly.

"Spill it girl…what did you do to them?" Mohania asked eagerly.

"Let's just say I put on a little show…and they will chew off their own arms to get the plans for us tomorrow…" Lindel said laughing sinisterly again.

"Yes yes…fine fine…Did you turn them inside out? Did you make them rip off their own heads?" Mohania asked.

"She will fill you in on the details later. Lindel did you accomplish your mission?" Herrior asked.

"You know I did." Lindel said turning back into her human form.

"Good, now we wait." Herrior said and turned to Branzer and said, "Will you shut up next time! I did not offer any queues for anybody to say anything, I did not give any of our names or our abilities. They can remember my voice, but if they are half as smart as they think they are, they are probably running a voice analyzer on you right now. Our engineers use it all the time to decipher languages and who said what. There is a shot you blew our cover! Damn it…why can't you just shut up! I don't want to see you for the rest of the day until our mission tomorrow – go for a walk to the woods and stay there!"

Branzer was startled at first and then realized his mistake. He apologized and started to run towards the woods.

"Damn fool…" Herrior said. "Jacklyn stay here, hold down the fort. Skyka, Dan, and Crystal come with me" and started walking towards the human settlement.

Silence followed them while Herrior was still fuming when they arrived.

"Spread out and deliver the message. They can return to their old jobs, stay here, or do as they wish. They are no longer hunted. Many of them desire the same thing we do – freedom to do their jobs. Working at some of these merchant jobs they have taken on is not what they want. With the officers going back to the station, Lew might want to join them. I hope he recovers." Herrior said and then began walking door to door explaining what happened as the rest did the same.

It was well into the night when Herrior's group reconvened in the barn.

"Anything to report?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing, just idle chit-chat. Our outpost has reported nothing and our cellar is vacant." Jacklyn said.

"Good. The officers have been notified and as predicted want to go back. I don't blame them. I remember the good ol' days when all we did was defend a wall and make ambassador runs. Lindel open a portal to Tranquil, I want to go visit Lew. You all may do as you want." Herrior said. Lindel opened the portal and Herrior walked through even before it was fully opened. He summoned his dragon and was swept away.

"Volunteers to stay behind?" Jacklyn asked. Trackolania raised his hand. Julie said she would as well.

"Good, notify us if something happens. You all did well tonight." Jacklyn said and walked through the portal. She headed directly for the fountain and dove in. The others went about their business in Tranquil and Lindel closed the portal behind them.

"So…just you and me tonight huh? Do you want to…play a game or something?" Julie asked. Trackolania shrugged and walked away.

"Is it ok if we talk?" Julie asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"Ok…" Julie said with uncertainty. She started walking around and wanting to know what she was going to do to pass the night. She walked the perimeter and then walked back in the building.

"Is there something upsetting you?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded. He pointed to where Branzer went and threw his hands up in frustration with an angry face.

"Oh – gottcha. He shouldn't have said anything. Follow your leader to the gates of Hell and back. It was Herrior's mission and we were there just as an intimidation faction – or something, I'm not sure. I just do what I'm told." Julie said. Trackolania nodded.

"Do you mind if…we talk about something else?" Julie asked. Trackolania looked at her puzzled.

"About us?" Julie asked with as much fear in her voice as if she was asking if a man would dance with her at a bar. Trackolania nodded though and patted the dirt next to him. Julie walked over and sat down. Trackolania pulled out both of his daggers and gave her one. Trackolania then scribbled a question mark with arrows pointing at both of them.

"Umm…yeah this is going to be hard. I think you are cute and I would like to get to know you more, that was revealed months ago when we were in the ground…not exactly the way I wanted it to…but here we are. I'm unsure what it means by you handing me your dagger though, or what I'm supposed to do with it." Julie said. Trackolania smiled at her and erased in the dirt what he drew. He grasped her hand with the dagger and drew a smiling face in the dirt.

Julie laughed and said, "Ok, we communicate by writing stuff in the dirt. Alright so I'll play this game." Julie then wiped clear the smiley face and drew a heart, then a line to a question mark, then drew an arrow to Trackolania.

Trackolania bit his lower lip slightly and looked away.

"No that's ok. I just wanted to know. We'll just be friends." Julie said handing Trackolania's dagger back to him. Trackolania pushed it away and erased what Julie wrote. He wrote, "There are rules and secrets. If word gets out that I talked to you or anybody I cannot be trusted as a rogue." Trackolania then erased what he wrote as soon as he was finished.

"Oh. Are there exceptions?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded.

"I'm assuming you can talk to other rogues?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded.

"If somebody's life was in danger would you be able to talk then?" Julie asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"Bummer…but knowing you, you would probably intercept whatever attack was coming and kill whatever was threatening us." Julie said. Trackolania nodded with a smile. Julie smiled back at her.

Minutes passed with no other conversation attempts being made. Spark nudged Julie's hand up with his nose to pet him.

"You big push-over…" Julie said smiling at Spark and began petting him his head. Trackolania walked over and began to pet him as well. Spark wagged his tail at the attention.

"It's funny sometimes how you can love an animal so much. Some day he won't be with us anymore and I'll have to find a new dog. I've always had a dog growing up, not the toy kind either but big dogs." Julie said. Trackolania looked at her and pointed to Spark then himself and drew his dagger inches from his neck and shook his head.

"Spark won't die huh? Sort of like the rest of us…when our time comes for us to meet our maker there won't be much to stop that. But you Spark, you are going to stay by myself side and keep me safe aren't you…yes you will you big silly doggy…" Julie said putting her face in front of Spark as she petted underneath both of his hears. His rear right foot started stomping on the ground in pleasure. Trackolania stopped petting Spark and wrote something in the dirt. It read: "I'll keep you safe as well as best as I can."

"Aww…why thank you Trackolania. Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Julie asked. Trackolania shook his head.

"You've had women you have liked though. What do you look for in a girl?" Julie asked. Trackolania shrugged his shoulders.

"No…you must look for something. You had a thing for the other rogue, what attracted you to her?" Julie asked. This seemed to strike an emotion with Trackolania as he let out a long sad sigh. He stood up and began to walk away slowly.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you." Julie said getting up to her feet. Trackolania held up his hand and slowly shook his head. He walked out of the barn silently.

"Well…it seems I still have my touch with men…" Julie said. Spark barked her name in agreement. "Thanks a lot…" Julie said and lay on the ground. Spark lay on the ground next to her.

"Brenna…I'm losing my touch." Herrior said letting himself into her house and sitting down at the table and then let out a big sigh.

"Come on in…" Brenna said sarcastically with a big grin.

"Sixteen…including Lew – how has he been doing?" Herrior asked.

"I still go talk to him for several hours during the day. He's been making some noise. He didn't have much to live for, or maybe his body wasn't ready to be blasted…who knows." Brenna said.

"I'll go speak with him…" Herrior said.

"Not until you are doing sitting here and complaining…besides I have something good baking you are going to love." Brenna said. Herrior looked over at the cold stove and then back at her.

"I didn't mean right now…eventually I'll have something good. Tell me…what's going on in-between those two horns of yours?" Brenna said smiling and holding his hands as she sat down at the table with him.

"Is sixteen too much? What is the average size of our groups these days? Should I get rid of some? I've been getting angry to easily these days. I give an order and I expect it to be followed…even if I don't give one I don't expect one of my party members to do or say something stupid. Do I not have enough control over my party? You know me, I've always let them do whatever…I'm not a disciplinarian, I am a leader, I am an ambassador, I am a tauren, and I am a tank. I am in charge, I control the battles, I call the shots, and I settle arguments and disputes. The King hasn't called a meeting in awhile, I wonder what is happening – I should go check in with him, or at least one of his ambassadors." Herrior said quickly and uneasily.

"Sit tauren…down boy. Collect your thoughts and listen to your heart. What is causing all of this? Whenever I see you I see pure love and happiness for everything you see. Was there a battle that swayed your mind? Did something happen that was devastating?" Brenna asked.

"No." Herrior said looking down at her hands on his. He took off his gauntlets and grasped hers.

"Well something happened. This isn't the Herrior I know, he's somewhere else. This Herrior is full of worry and doubt. The other Herrior has love for everybody…including himself. This one is beating himself up. So now…what we need to do is go find this other Herrior." Brenna let go of Herrior's hands and getting her satchel from the hook on the wall.

"We don't need to; I just need time to meditate. We have many battles coming up – most of which I don't know when or how they are going to come. It could be this very night for all I know." Herrior said.

"Come now…pick up your metal gloves." Brenna said and pushed them towards him. She then moved behind him and gave weak attempts to lift him up. "Put on a little weight have you sugar?" Herrior put his gauntlets back on and rose from his chair. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going for a walk, and you are tagging along." Brenna said pulling him out of the door.

Once outside she led Herrior to the back of her house and revealed an enormous garden in full bloom. Each row of flowers was the same color, but each row changed color at the same time.

"That's beautiful…" Herrior said gazing upon it.

"Eh – it passes the time. Watch this…" Brenna said and walked up to one of the flowers and pulled it up by the roots. The rest of the row quickly changed colors, but eventually synchronized themselves again with the rest of the flowers in the rows. She handed the flower to Herrior. Herrior gently took it and sniffed it. It slowly changed its color and gave off a smell so enticing that Herrior lost himself in the beauty and wonder of it. Brenna let him be as she reached back down in the soil and did something in the dirt.

"Take a look Herrior." Brenna said. Herrior snapped out of his hypnotic state and saw another flower regrowing back in its place. Within minutes it was fully grown and changing color with the others.

"If you take one out, the others are shaken for a little while – but as you see they pull together and replenish themselves. Now let me see your flower." Brenna said holding out her hand. Herrior gently handed it to her and planted it next to the other one. The two flowers intertwined and doubled in size. Several flowers burst open, spreading a very sweet smell in the air and small red berries came from the plant. The rest of the flowers began to do the same thing. Brenna picked a red berry and gave it to Herrior. "Eat it" she said. Herrior did and as expected his taste buds exploded in pleasure. He felt his body and his mind relax and strength inside of him grow. Herrior looked down at his stomach.

"That's confidence. Believe me it isn't going to hurt you. Each plant gives off a different kind of berry, each one with a pleasant look, smell, and berry that lights up your taste buds. They all work together. When one plant isn't doing well, the others give it more nutrients to help it. It's like they all care about each other…work together…yet each one doesn't worry about the other. Aren't they beautiful?" Brenna asked.

"Is it a coincidence that there are rows of sixteen flowers?" Herrior asked smiling at her.

"Oh there are? Well that's odd…" Brenna said innocently looking back at her garden and pretended to count them.

"You have a way with flowers…and with soothing the soul." Herrior said.

"Flowers maybe…soul, I doubt it. Let's go for a walk." Brenna said putting her arm around his. They walked to the fountain and watched the hundreds of people playing in the water. Children running back and forth chasing animals that would devour them in the wild. In Tranquil though, the children jumped on, pulled their hair, and wrestled with the animals. The animals, ever so gently, played right back. The animals then ran straight into the fountain and the children followed screaming in glee. The water was much too deep for them, but that was no concern of theirs. All of them knew how to swim, and the animals gathered them up and led them over to the shallow end. The children then began to splash water on the beasts as they shook their bodies trying to get dry. Herrior let a tear drop from his right eye. Brenna pretended not to notice.

"Look in the skies." Brenna said looking up. Herrior did the same and saw dragons of every shape and size flying around. They were playing chase and other games. They offered rides to the people in Tranquil as they raced the banshees giving off sparkles behind them. The sparkles disappeared shortly afterwards but it was a beautiful sight. Herrior felt an energized geode float over to him and repair his armor as well as a fairy enter and exit his body. Herrior let out a long satisfied sigh with a smile.

"Well now…let's go find this other Herrior shall we?" Brenna asked.

"We don't have far to travel…he came to me." Herrior said.

"Imagine that…I now have two different jobs. I'm a farmer, and an investigator. I wonder what else I could find." Brenna said. Herrior turned to hug her, and she embraced him back.

"Now then, you should probably go speak with Lew. He was moved to our clinics somewhere off in this big city of ours. I'm not sure where it is…I keep getting lost here…" Brenna said grinning.

"I know of a good investigator that could help you if you ever get lost." Herrior smiled back and summoned his dragon. He mounted it and flew off straight to the clinics.

Upon finding out where they were keeping Lew, Herrior headed straight for him. His eyes were closed and his fists were clasped together.

"He's been like this ever since the blasting. He seems to be in a deep dream filled with fear." A female blood elf priest said.

"Have you tried…"

"Everything? Yes and then some. Had him revisit the monks, had the banshees do their things, and major dosages of healing both magic and elixirs…and dozens of other things. His body is fine, but I think his mind might be gone. Nobody has been able to get a thought out of him."

"Can I have some alone time with him? I'm his leader." Herrior asked.

"Of course" The priest said and everybody left the clinic for awhile.

"Lew – it's Herrior." Herrior said kneeling next to him and whispering in his ear. "It's done, it's all over. This is Herrior your leader. Your training is complete and you have sworn to fight beside us and now is the time. Now is the time to rise up and put on your armor and weapons. Rise up and fight beside us, be with us. Lew, this is Herrior. Do you remember Skyka, Jacklyn, Trackolania, Mohania and the rest of our party? We are all ready for you to come fight with us. We need you Lew and you need us." Herrior saw a slight movement in Lew's right eye.

"Remember me Lew? We used to call you Lieutenant…I liked the name, but Quinely wanted to change it. Mohania wanted to call you an ass…but he calls everybody that. Remember when you stood beside me as I sobbed in the field? You never left me and I appreciate that. You were there for me and I am here for you now. Lew this is Herrior talking. My temper got the best of me Lew and I lashed out at you, and I am sorry about that. I hope you forgive me. I love you Lew – me and the rest of our party love you. We need you to come back. We have missions to go on. You're body is fine, your time of healing is over. Your body and soul yearns to come with us, but your mind hasn't healed yet. We need you to heal that and get back with us." Herrior said continuing to whisper to him. Herrior kept talking to him about everything he had missed out on and Lew began to make more movements. He kept talking to him for the next several hours as the rest of Herrior's party found him and began talking to him as well; as time passed though the conversation turned to each other but still loud enough for Lew to hear.

"Strings and Dan took the next shift. What is the plan for reconvening with our friend 'George'?" Jacklyn asked.

"I've been debating that. My heart has shifted and it has turned away from trusting humans…present company excluded." Herrior said.

"That's ok, go on." Mohania said. Everybody looked at Mohania for a quick second as Herrior continued.

"I just hate betrayal. Branzer I apologize to you as well…my heart has turned hard." Herrior said.

"No Herrior, I broke orders and needed to be punished." Branzer said.

"It's not the same thing. We've got a plate full of shit that we need to address and one thing that I do not take to kindly to is betrayal…I said that already, but it just burns me that Jessica's father betrayed us and I ordered many innocent humans to be killed because of it." Herrior said.

"I would have killed the bastard myself." Jessica said. Skyka smirked and apologized. Jessica continued, "He deserved it – abandoned me, had several women, betrayed not only us but his own country and their army. He wanted the power all to himself and aligned himself with the wrong side."

"I had to kill my father. It wasn't because he betrayed us, but was turned into worgen. He beat my mother and forced her to betray me. She nearly died. I'd kill him again if I had the chance." Dan said.

"We've had people in the force like that. We not only have our own stories, but just Tess…she feels the same way. But there are some good people out there. Our job is to fight our enemies and gain new allies. I say let's give this guy a shot – forget the past and move on. Well not forget the past, but move on from it. We've already learned our lessons and I say we drop all assumptions about this man, or the group of men and women, and see what they have to offer. We scared them shitless, courtesy of Lindel…" Bernett said turning to Lindel.

"Thank you…thank you…" Lindel said and did a curtsey.

"Please…I could have done better…but it was decent." Mohania said adding his two cents.

"I see where you are going with this Bernett…also I think this is the longest I've ever heard you talk. It's good to hear your voice; you should use it more often." Herrior said.

"Samatha never gives me a chance to talk…" Bernett said smiling and then said, "She's standing right behind me isn't she?"

"Not yet…keep talking…" Skyka said fumbling out her hearthstone.

"I hate it when they do that…" Mohania said.

"But it's funny! Come on…live a little Mohania…" Skyka said.

"I'll try to 'live' as best as I can…also you may not see it but I'm rolling my eyes at you." Mohania said.

"Alright, so here are my thoughts for the next meeting. I'll go alone, that way it's less intimidating for them. I'll answer some of their questions and assume…err…I mean try to gain an ally with them. I need to do this." Herrior said. Trackolania tugged on his armor and pointed at himself.

"Nope, alone means by myself – not having half of my party stealthed and ready to strike." Herrior said as Trackolania snapped his fingers.

"What is our plan of attack for the flimsy green people when they come to attack?" Mohania asked.

"Negotiate with them." Herrior said.

"I probably shouldn't be there and all…you know…because I blew up their planet and probably killed billions of them…" Mohania said.

"Number gets bigger every time you tell the story…" Lindel said snickering.

"You get more annoying the more I listen to you…" Mohania said back.

"We'll see what they want, but we'll let them make the first attack. Normal attack patterns will be the same. I'll take the front, Veliline left and Quinely right. If there is only one or two attackers, then I will main tank, Veliline will off-tank, and Quinely you grab their attention if one of us falls – in the mean time though you can do your normal attacks. We'll have Skyka healing me, Jessica healing Veliline, and Lew healing Quinely. As I'm sure Skyka has told you already though, if your person isn't taking damage – your priority is group healing and helping to heal the main tank that has engaged the enemy. Melee attacks and ranged attackers know their role…kill something and use your abilities to control the crowd. By the way, has anybody upgraded their armor or visited their trainers lately?" Herrior asked.

"You know I always forget to do that…" Skyka said smiling. Trackolania shook his head back and forth and waved his hands back and forth.

"Is there something going on that we don't know about?" Herrior asked. Trackolania smiled and nodded and pointed to Julie.

"What…I don't know anything." Julie answered.

"We knew that…" Skyka said and then ran in front of Mohania and said, "Ha! I beat you to that insult! You couldn't get it out fast enough."

"I was going to call her an ass…now I'm going to call both of you an ass." Mohania said smiling.

Trackolania shook her head and then held his hands up and started mimicking them talking as Trackolania mouthed words. The two hands started fighting each other and then turned into fists and began hitting each other. Trackolania then pointed to Julie and made a cowering face. He then pointed to Herrior and motioned him to come towards him. Trackolania pointed to Herrior and then pointed to everybody else. He then turned to Herrior and put his finger over his mouth as if he wanted Herrior to be quiet.

"He'd make a great mime." Bernett said.

"If I understand this right, because of what Julie researched and uncovered it caused everybody to get mad at each other – which we know, but then the trainers then stopped giving out talents because they are working on something secretive?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded his head. He then looked around to make sure nobody was looking and suddenly made his entire party disappear. Seconds later they all reappeared.

"That's a neat trick!" Bernett said sounding amazed.

"I could kill and nobody would ever see it coming, or know what's happening…" Mohania said with a big grin on his face.

"We could move entire armies into position, or keep them in position – and then all strike with such precision, the battle would be over within seconds." Herrior said adding his comments.

"We could kill and never be seen." Dan continued. Trackolania shook his head. He drew out his dagger and stealthed himself. He walked up to Herrior and as soon as he tapped his dagger on his armor he reappeared.

"Oh…well we could still do my idea. That's incredible Trackolania!" Herrior said getting excited. Trackolania quickly put his finger over his mouth and looked sternly at him.

"Sorry. So I'm assuming the rest of us are going to get neat things as well?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded. He pulled out his dagger and ran over to the table to get a piece of parchment. He drew a tree on it with several branches on it. He then pointed to everybody. He then cut a small piece of paper at the bottom and drew seven lines on it. He then pointed to the large tree and then pointed to the small paper. Trackolania then quickly crumbled up both pieces of paper and threw them at Mohania, who instantly burned them up while they were in the air.

"Fascinating…when?" Herrior asked. Trackolania shrugged and again put a finger to his lips.

"None of you saw what just happened here. Erase it from your minds, Lew that includes you also." Herrior said looking over at him. His eyes were scanning back and forth and his eyelids were trying to open.

"That's more progress; I wouldn't call it much but still a good sign." Herrior said.

"Want me to go in and have a look around?" Lindel asked.

"They said some banshees have already tried. I'm not a healer and can't make that call. If his mind is trying to recover, having another voice in his mind might confuse it. That's just my guess though." Herrior said.

"Yeah…makes sense…" Lindel said but still wanting to do it.

"Kinda hard sitting by and watching one of our own suffer isn't it?" Herrior asked.

"Definitely…never gets easier..." Jacklyn said. She walked over to Lew and knelt down beside him and whispered something in Lew's ear. It wasn't just something though, it was a long something. Lew's eyes stopped moving and his hands unclenched as she talked to him. His body relaxed and Lew suddenly took in a deep breath of air. He slowly exhaled it, but his eyes never opened.

"We all love you Lew…please come back to us…" Jacklyn said in a kind and gentle voice. "We may seem all distant to you, but all of us are right here…follow our voices and come to us. The more you try to think, the more your brain will fight it and the quicker you can join us. Please join us Lew, we need you. You have a purpose in life, you are needed. Life is not over and you cannot wish it away…come back to us and fight by our side."

Suddenly Lindel perked up and flew through everybody to Lew's side. "Yes Lew I can read your thought. Yes we are all here. Give me another thought." Everybody kept silent for awhile. Moments passed and the anticipation grew.

"Lew…give me another thought. Let me know you are there hun. Anything." Lindel said. Moments passed again and nothing.

"Come on Lew, I know you can hear us…and I know I heard you. Concentrate on us. Concentrate on all of the love that surrounds you." Lindel said. Lindel paused for a quick second and then said, "Yes even Herrior."

"Lew I'm sorry I did what I did to you. I do love you, please come back to us. What I did was wrong and I need to be imprisoned for it. My heart has been imprisoned for it overtime, but if you want I will gladly suffer in our dungeons to have you come back." Herrior said. Lew had a tear form and fall down his right eye. Herrior reached down with his hand and wiped it clear. "I'm sorry Lew…I'm not perfect and I make mistakes just like anybody else. You can do whatever you want just as long as you pull through this. We'll get you a dragon to ride and you can take as much time to recover that you need."

"His brain activity is increasing. His thoughts are scrabbled but he is fighting it. It's rising…almost exponentially…parts of it I don't understand." Lindel said trying to read his mind as much as she could.

"Are you getting in touch with the elements: ground, air, water, fire, and earth? Can you hear them calling to you? Don't let them overwhelm you. You are a shaman now; you can listen to your surroundings. You have powers now that are more than you could have imagined before. Tell the elements to be silent and leave you alone for a time." Dan said. A couple of seconds later Lew's eyes flew open.

"What the hell…Herrior there is…something wrong…a battle is coming!" Lew flew up from lying down and grabbing Herrior is desperation.

"We know Lew…we know. Just relax. Dan shared that information with me. Just relax – we are preparing for the war." Herrior said gently grabbing him and laying him back down on the bed.

"Holy shit!" Lew said in surprise. He looked around and saw everybody around him. "Nobody else can hear that…those voices?"

"I can. I'll calm them for you. Lew you are a shaman now. You are more in touch with your surroundings and you are a fighter now – a healer actually so more parts of your brain and body will be able to do things you never imagined before. Just relax for now. You've been what we call a 'coma' on Earth." Dan said.

"Where are we now?" Lew asked.

"Tranquil." Dan replied.

"That explains the over-whelming euphoria that I am also experiencing. Herrior I'm not ready for battle yet. I need armor and weapons, and then I need practice." Lew said in desperation.

"Lew…relax or I will have Lindel relax you. Just rest and calm your mind. A fighter is calm in the midst of battle. All worries and stress must be gone and all concentration must be on the task at hand. Currently your battle is to calm your mind. We'll leave you alone to do that and get your armor and weapon around, but that is an order – meditate. When we come back if you are ready we will take you with us. If not you can spend more time in Tranquil healing up." Herrior said.

Lew nodded as he took a deep breath and lay back down on the bed. He put his hands over his stomach and concentrated on his breathing. Herrior motioned everybody to leave.

"Skyka?" Herrior said and pointed at a couple of other priests.

"On it." Skyka said walking over and telling them to leave Lew alone until they come back.

"Dan, go get him what he's going to need to be a healing shaman." Herrior said.

"I might need some extra help bringing all of it back…" Dan said checking his pockets.

"Crystal, go make sure he doesn't forget anything…" Herrior said smiling at him. Herrior turned to Lindel. "Stay with Lew and keep me updated. Rotate shifts with some other banshees and at least one person in our party. Dan has there been anything unusual to report lately?"

Dan shook his head and said "No".

"Good – listen up everybody if Dan starts screaming and starts doing something…probably getting sucked into a vortex of some kind – grab him, don't let go and scream for help. When it happens I want as many of us fighting with Dan as possible. I need not remind everybody what we saw happened with Trackolania a few minutes ago and what nobody saw. Go have fun." Herrior said smiling.

"Where are you going?" Branzer asked.

"I'm going to go wrestle with a bear." Herrior said. Quinely morphed into a bear and said, "Do you want to wrestle with me?"

"Quinely I was referring to the animals the children were playing with. Could you go help out that child over there, he looks lost." Herrior said.

"Huh? Where?" Quinely said turned around. Herrior slammed into Quinely hard and both of them went tumbling end over end. Quinely let out a brief scream out of surprise, and Herrior started laughing.

"Ok mister wise-tauren…" Quinely said and charged at Herrior, knocking him off his feet. The two of them began wrestling playfully for the next hour.

Time passed and nightfall came. Tranquil's lights dimmed down to make the city calm. Herrior's party, tired from a full day of playing and relaxing, spent the night in the clinic with Lew who was fast asleep.

"Think he will do well?" Dan asked.

"I think he'll try his best." Herrior said. "What do you have to teach him about being a shaman?"

"I'm not sure. I thought I was the only shaman that could speak with the elements. I spoke with the orcs and they said they never heard of such a thing. They are all still shamans by the way – it seems they haven't wanted to change. I was only in touch with them because I continue to meditate and test my abilities. Lew I have no clue how he was able to get the same information."

Herrior nodded.

"Herrior, can Trackolania and I start courting each other?" Julie asked. Trackolania didn't seem fazed by the question.

"I guess…that's up to both of you. It's fine by me." Herrior said. Trackolania kept drawing his name in the dirt without even a flitch during the entire conversation.

"Lindel and I would like to give it another try as well." Branzer said.

"Much slower this time, I still have much to learn. Being a Chronomancer and a fighter for all of these years has made me rusty and clumsy." Lindel said.

"No hesitations and wondering thoughts this time?" Herrior asked.

"Exactly" Lindel said.

"Alright. Well I'm going to go to this meeting with George; I'll be a little bit early and catch them off-guard. See if they are fulfilling their part of the bargain…I'm going into it with an open mind though, I'll give them a chance with no reservations." Herrior said.

"What do I do?" Lew asked.

"Go to the arenas with Jacklyn, and practice your healing. Skyka and Dan you accompany him and teach him everything he needs to know. Can you still hear the elements speaking to you Lew?" Herrior asked.

"I used to…now I can't hear anything." Lew responded.

"Dan?" Herrior asked.

"They are still giving me the same warnings." Dan said.

"Ok – keep me updated. Lindel if you would please?" Herrior said touching his trinket and turning into a business man.

Once through the portal, Herrior saw all eyes focused on him in awe. The portal closed and everybody started calling for George to come.

George ran into the room and looked as surprised as everybody else.

"Hello" Herrior said smiling.

"We aren't ready…we have most of the plans you wanted, but we still have time…" George said fumbling over his words.

"Come…sit with me…" Herrior said in a kind voice and then walked over to the corner of the room. George did as he was told and everybody else just watched. "All of you please."

"Usually when we talk we sit in a group so we can see everybody else and everybody has a chance to talk. This way it doesn't exclude anybody and everybody can contribute equally. Let me start – I'm not sensing any betrayal from any of you, and I sense the urgency in your actions and minds and I appreciate that. Let me ask first if the police station is back open and can the officers go back to their old jobs and homes?" Herrior asked.

"Yes that is taken care of. Asbestos was found in the station and it needed to be fumigated. In the meantime we had to isolate the officers to look for signs mesothelioma and other lung related issues. All is clear now and the final preparations are almost complete – meaning whenever you bring back the officers the station will be reopened." George said quickly.

"Calm yourself George. I didn't understand much of that but you speak with confidence and assurance. Thank you for doing this, I appreciate it. We will begin the displacement of personal as soon as this meeting is over. What was the initial cause of the sudden assault on the officers?" Herrior asked.

"It started off with an audit, and then followed by the chief of police getting harassed by his congressman. The final straw was one of the lieutenants that came in there asking for unlimited weapons." George said.

Herrior smiled and nodded as he said, "That one was an alliance member. We killed him along with the rest of the alliance that wiggled in. The alliance is a group of members bent on pure evil and power. They have been our enemies ever since we started keeping records and that has been practically since the beginning of time. Now as far as this audit and congressman, are these people we need to eliminate?"

"No, an audit is from the IRS. The congressman was 'caught' raping a young lady…and by being 'caught' I mean we framed him. We took care of both of those problems." George said much slower and more interested in Herrior's reply.

"So we don't need to do anything. I thank you on behalf of them. Now before we talk about whatever contraption you have for summoning the little green men, I will honor you with answering some of the questions you have." Herrior said.

"Where do you come from?" George said.

"Mulgore. Our major city is Thunder Bluff. It was founded a long time ago and has spread through the lands." Herrior said.

"Where is that at? Is it in a different solar system?" A man asked.

"Honestly I don't know what that is, but I'm reading into your question though and you want to know if we are from this planet – no we are not…well most of us aren't. We live in a major city that I cannot say to keep its secrets, but I do not know what solar system it is." Herrior said.

"How do you move from place to place?" Another man asked. George seemed angered by the question because he had more of his own.

"It's alright, I am here to answer questions and build our trust with each other. Like I said many humans have betrayed us and the majority of the alliance are made up of humans. But back to the question, we use portals created by our Chronomancers. I have no idea how they do it, but it takes a lot of power and studying to do what they do. Those secrets I cannot give out though. The majority of the time how we get from place to place is by walking. It steady's the body and calms the mind. It also prepares us for battle in case we are ambushed – increasing our chances of surviving it. Another method we move from place to place is by mounts such has Kodo's, wolves, warhorses, bears, mammoths and such. Until recently we acquired dragons which increases our speed substantially and allows for flight. In a remote location, not here, I can show you." Herrior ended.

"I…don't think we entirely understand what you are saying…" George said.

"Then we both have that in common. Our primary goal is to defend ourselves, protect others, and to create allies. It seems as though we have common goals and we can build from that. Instead of asking questions about each other, should we refocus our efforts to helping each other?" Herrior asked.

"What do you really look like? I mean you can't fight like that…" George said and then gasped along with everybody else as Herrior touched his trinket to reveal his armor. Many of them jumped back surprised.

"You asked. I didn't mean to frighten you." Herrior said as he touched his trinket again and immediately changed back into what he looked like before.

"Oh my god…I don't believe it…" A woman said in fear.

"Please don't say that. One of the rules that we follow is we don't take God's name in vain. We follow the biblical principles along with some more rules that we made." Herrior said.

"You know what the bible is?" Another asked.

"Of course, doesn't everybody? We try to observe the seventh day of the week for meditation and reflection as well as listening to sermons, praying, and singing. There is a commandment I've been struggling with personally is killing. I am a leader and an ambassador. I have the power to level cities, kill hundreds and – in one particular instance – destroy an entire planet. It's not something I take lightly and unfortunately in the past I've had to order innocent people to be killed – which stemmed from the betrayal of a person or a group. If we were to have our identities exposed, it would cause mass chaos in this and other worlds. Demons and alliance roam many planets, searching for those to prey upon. How does this…party I guess is what we call it, work?" Herrior asked.

"Work?" George asked.

"How are you fed, clothed, gain access to weapons…" Herrior began to name of items and George interrupted him and said, "Oh, we are part of the United States government defense agency that hasn't been corrupted in bureaucracy. In fact, we have similar goals such as you. We try to keep the world's leaders from blowing each other up, rescuing people that have been taken hostage, researching new vaccinations – keeping the world safe I guess. We have ties with many people in different countries and access to every part of our armed forces. We can't start battles, but we have a very strong pull in how they are started and when - most of the time they are mucked up politicians trying to prove who has the bigger pair of balls by throwing their weight around. The want people to think they are better than the next political party or person in the same political party sometimes and give orders to do idiotic things. You probably have the same problems."

"Not exactly… we are ruled by a King who gives the final say on things but most of the time though everybody wants the same thing – peace and harmony, a place where they can raise their young. As I said, I am an ambassador who sometimes speaks in place for the King to address issues that arise. The King also has a specific set of ambassadors that help with that duty as well. So moving on, what are your thoughts on summoning the onslaught of intruders to this icy region that you pointed out before?" Herrior asked trying to change the subject. He felt that he had talked enough about each other.

"We still have many questions though…" George said.

"As do I, but the best way that I found that people bond with each other is by working together. Once we counter this threat, perhaps we can do other things to bring our people together." Herrior said.

"Of course. The UFO's appear to be attracted to sudden bursts of radioactive explosions, strong radio signals, and microwave as well as electrical disturbances. We have two atomic bombs, slightly modified to not give off as much of a punch to be ignited in above our atmosphere. Then we would fire several tesla coils into the air along with beaming extreme amounts of heavy microwave emitters into the air. We have several of their ships, but only have been able to get some of them running, mostly on accident to be honest. They don't seem too interested in those. We still have many of them locked up for study, would you like to see them?" George asked.

"We've already seen enough of them. I've heard of your atomic bombs through a member in my party – they seem more detrimental to your planet than they actually serve their purpose for. Is there other means of gaining their attention?" Herrior asked.

"It'll be in outer space, not harming our planet." George said.

"What about this other bomb that you invented to use against interstellar battles, that is supposedly able to destroy other planets?" Herrior asked.

They all looked at each other hoping they knew what he was talking about. "There are several more powerful bombs we have produced, but all of them more toxic than the atomic bomb. We have shot those off to our moon and exploded them there or to passing comets…nothing is powerful enough to destroy an entire planet though. How did you destroy a planet?" George asked.

"Depends on who you ask…" Herrior said with a grin. "My guess is that it was a lucky shot that sparked a chain reaction, leading to several minor explosions that eventually caused an enormous one."

"I see…why type of bomb did you use?"

"It wasn't a bomb, it was a spell. The use of magical forces has really been the focus of our city and its people. So anyways do you think it will work?" Herrior asked.

"It has in the past…we can't guarantee it, but if you can bring down a couple of their ships to the ground, the rest should follow once we get their attention. How do you plan on commencing your attack and where should we have our soldiers stationed?" George asked.

"Your people can be controlled by them; they would be more of a hindrance then help. They have the ability to manipulate time, and we have the power to counter the effects. They have the power to toss us around like rag dolls, but I also believe we have the power now to counter those effects as well. We've fought many of them and found that they are very fragile and their ships are not immune to some of our spells. I have a couple of individuals in mind to bring with us. I would recommend not having any of your…sate-lights I think you call them near us. We prefer to fight in private." Herrior said.

"Satellites is how it is pronounced, and yes we'll have those safely far away. Is there a way to reason with them? I mean gaining them as an ally would be beneficial." George said almost quoting Herrior.

"Normally I would agree yes, but they reproduce…as far as we can tell…by need a host and combining parts of them with their own parts. They look for vulnerabilities in races and exploit them. They are bent on destroying worlds and they are heading here next." Herrior said.

"How do you know that?" A woman asked.

"Difficult to explain, meaning that I don't entirely understand it, but we have a person in our party that is able to communicate with the elements and with time stopping. I witnessed it firsthand their warnings and I have no reason to doubt it." Herrior responded.

"If they are a global threat to us, why can't the battle be on the moon or another useless planet like Mars?" George asked.

"We are only authorized to go to certain worlds, mainly due to their environments. Some are without air, water, and are toxic. So are we all setup to do this? Do I have your trust? Am I going to be betrayed by any of you?" Herrior asked.

"We are not setup yet…moving this kind of equipment is no easy task but we are working on that. You do have our trust, and we would be idiots to betray you." George said.

"Moving stuff is the easy part." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and opening a small portal.

"Skyka, we'll need you and several other priests to help levitate some things and Lindel if she is available." Herrior said. The humans looked on in awe.

"Will do…do you want us to come now?" Skyka asked in the portal. Herrior looked up at George. He was still staring in awe.

"George?" Herrior asked.

"Sorry, yes we have the rockets ready to blast off in approximately four hours. The Tesla coils and other heavy equipment are being loaded on a C-4 cargo plane, but we need to accommodate for weather conditions, setting it up, and testing it out." George said.

"We can move all of that stuff for you right now. If you, and any others, want to come I would like these pieces of equipment setup the sooner the better. My blade thirsts for blood." Herrior said ending with a snarl.

"Let us make some calls…can you give us about thirty minutes to clear the bases and to immediately stop all activity." George said and started waving at his people to get busy. They all immediately began their work.

"Skyka it might be awhile, but they are working on it. Can you gather up the people needed and we'll portal the equipment there?"

"Not a problem hun, do you want everybody else there as well?" Skyka replied.

"Yes, and bring all of the undead as well. Tell them I'm leading the assault, but let them, and Dan know, that if something starts going wrong to engage on their own. Is Lew ready?" Herrior asked.

"All set and ready to die in battle!" Lew said enthusiastically in the background.

"Good. Let's begin." Herrior said and closed the portal. He put his hearthstone away and watched the commotion for the next twenty minutes. He felt no need to judge them anymore. They all wanted the same thing. He didn't sense any betrayal from them which made him feel good.

Herrior overheard the conversations ordering some of the bases and planes carrying the equipment to either be evacuated temporarily or to maintain a "holding-pattern" – whatever that meant and to move all personal into the cockpit.

"We can get started." George said ending his call. Herrior rubbed his hearthstone and contacted Skyka. Seconds later a portal opened and several trolls, blood elves, and taurens came out.

"Ey mon, we be moving some stuff for ya?" One of the trolls said.

"We don't have time for introductions. George, these are blood elves, trolls, and you saw what I looked like. Lindel get the coordinates of the locations we need. George Lindel is going to enter your mind and search for the places that we need. Then she'll open a portal to the place. Don't be afraid, she does this all of the time." Herrior said.

"I am afraid…but this needs to get done." George said.

"It won't hurt hun. It'll feel good actually." Lindel said and then dispersed herself into millions of tiny little lights that slowly entered his eyes. George and everybody else watched amazed. George's body stood still for awhile and then said, "I got the information. According to his mind everything should be done. There shouldn't be anybody watching…but he doesn't know that for sure." Lindel said in George's voice. She then exited through George's eyes and rematerialized in front of him.

"Holy shit…I felt you inside of my brain! I feel…exhilarated! What did you do?" George said enthusiastically.

"Told you it wouldn't hurt sugar…" Lindel said and began to open a small portal and turned invisible. She peaked her head in and saw the object George showed her. Nobody was around it. She pulled her head back out, rematerialized and began to open the portal further.

"All clear. Object number one looks heavy…Skyka you might need three priests. It'll be a quick snatch and grab. I have the coordinates to where they need to go." Lindel said.

"George, pick a couple members of your group to go with them. Lindel share the rendezvous coordinates with the other Chronomancers and we'll meet you there."

"Hold on a second, Herrior if we are going to the South Pole – they are going to freeze. I mean look at them, they are in khakis and collar shirts. They won't last more than thirty minutes tops. Sorry about the interruption." Branzer said.

"No need to be sorry, I didn't anticipate that. Lindel go ahead and take them. I'll have robes brought from our city to them. They are only going to be there for a little while to setup and show us how to use the equipment." Herrior said.

"We aren't going to be there for the battle?" George asked.

"Too risky - I'll let you know when it is over." Herrior said.

"How will we know when you have defeated them?"

"When we return. We haven't lost a battle in awhile, shouldn't be a problem." Herrior said chuckling.

"Can we investigate the battlefield afterwards?" George asked.

"Does this one ever stop talking?" Mohania asked. "Look Mister Man with the yappity yap voice…you have never seen us in battle. We aren't taking prisoners this time around. You can scrape off whatever is left off from our armor…usually though that burns off. Let's get this done…I have a score to settle…"

"Score to settle? Never mind I won't ask, Lindel go ahead. Once your portal is closed I'll take the rest of our party to the ice lands." Herrior said and Lindel began to open the portal.

"Ok…you first, the rest of you follow." Skyka said grabbing George off guard and yanking him through the portal. He looked back in surprise. "Focus…where is this thing that we need?" The rest of the personal went through the portal along with the rest of the priests and Lindel rolled her eyes with a smile as she went into the portal and closed it.

"Who is our Chronomancer?" Herrior asked.

"Tyron…at your service." A male blood elf said and bowed.

"Thank you Tyron for answering our call. If you could go ahead and get us to our place, then you leave back for Tranquil." Herrior said.

"Very well." Tyron said and began to open a portal.

"This time no accidently blowing up the planet…" Kendall whispered to Mohania.

"This time…there are people to keep track of our body counts. I'm going to break my previous record when I beat you before." Mohania whispered back as they walked through the portal and into the frigid cold.

"Beat me? Are we going there again? If you would just admit to having been beat, this debate wouldn't be going on." Kendall said illuminating her body to increase her power with her fire shield and began to create mana gems in case she ran out of mana to cast her spells.

"Children…" Jacklyn said shaking her head.

"Good, you keep count…" Mohania said turning to look at Jacklyn and summoning his imp.

"I'll keep count of the ones that are introduced to my blades while you are trying to concentrate on the ones Kendall kills. I can easily double your numbers." Jacklyn said smiling pulling out her mighty swords and walking up to him.

"Is that so?" Mohania said with fire in his eyes.

"Highest number of dead gets to pick somebody from our party to do whatever they want them to do. Sound good?" Jacklyn asked with a smirk.

"Get ready to get embarrassed…" Mohania said laughing sinisterly.

"Quiet please." Dan said suddenly. Everything quickly went quiet as Dan bent down with his expose hand and pressed it against the ice. He sat until his hand turned blue. He put his hand back in his gauntlet and continued to concentrate.

"Herrior I doubt they are coming to this location. There elements have never seen such activity here. I've talked to them and they know what's going to happen. They will allow me to control them to help us with our fight. They are asking not to have their lands altered though. Mohania please don't use your spell where it opens the ground. This land has remained unaltered for many years." Dan said.

"You weren't going to use that spell, you have to use your warlock spells…" Kendall said swatting him.

"As far as you know I wasn't going to." Mohania said smiling. The winds calmed down and the clouds began to thicken up. They continued to do so until they looked quite sinister.

"Great…is dumbass going to kill all of them in one hit? That doesn't count it has to be actual spells or attacks." Mohania said.

"You made the agreement." Herrior said smiling.

"Damn…" Mohania said.

"Get your pets out everybody, but don't put the buffs on our group yet. I want everybody to start scanning and helping the humans putting things in place." Herrior said as the first portal opened.

A very large contraption floated out of the giant portal and looked to Herrior like a gigantic post with a round ball at the top. Several more followed as the humans instructed them as to where to place them. Lindel then closed the portal and opened another one quickly as half of the humans and the rest of the priests hurried into the portal and vanished.

"What the heck is that thing?" Herrior asked looking straight up to the top of it.

"Something to shove up Dan's ass…" Mohania said and burst into laughter.

"Apparently I'm the target now…" Dan said.

"Seems to change from battle to battle…I wouldn't worry about it hun." Skyka said smiling.

"We have these aligned…now we need them to charge up. It will take about thirty minutes each." One of the men said and then looked at the other two and nodded as they all hit a button at the same time.

Thirty seconds later Lindel's portal was much smaller and more contraptions came out as all of the humans began moving them to where they needed to go.

"Anybody got any idea what they are doing?" Herrior asked.

"No idea. Didn't know any of this stuff existed." Branzer said.

"Didn't know your species existed either – we all learned something new today." George said smiling at Herrior. Herrior nodded.

"Get the emitters pointed in the same direction. The rockets are in place, but won't be in orbit much longer. We only have about a ten minute window people!" George said almost in a near panic as everybody hurried attaching cables, and typing things onto computers.

"Ready here!" A man yelled out.

"Still charging…" a woman said nervously.

"Same here…" another man said.

"Are they charging all at the same rate?" George asked.

"I'm at twelve percent" a voice called out.

"Almost seventy…"

"Shit…we need those charged at the same time!"

"The batteries are pushing out as much power as they can…" the woman said looking over at the big black box sitting next to her.

"Needs more power huh? Let me take a crack at this…" Lindel said smiling and dispersed herself. She flew into the battery pack and a loud hum began to resonate as all of the coils were fully charged along with the batteries.

"Uh…all set here…"

"Same here!"

Lindel flew back out and materialized in front of Herrior and said: "Boys and their toys…" Herrior smiled as he ruffled her hair.

"Two minutes and the nukes will blow. Are you sure you can handle whatever comes out of the sky?" George asked turning to Herrior.

"No clue." Herrior said smiling.

"So we're doing all of this for nothing?"

"Calm yourself George. The first rule of being a fighter is to have a clear mind and to focus on the task on hand. Currently nobody is attacking us. If your plan works, we will be in battle – until then there is no need to let the anxiety build." Herrior said.

"You're right…just haven't done anything like this on such a global scale with so few people involved and…nobody is going to know about it." George said.

"We do things like this all of the time. Fighters don't long for fame or recognition…we do it because it needs to be done." Herrior said with a calm voice.

"I hope you aren't bluffing and you know what you are doing…" George said as a shiver ran up his spine.

"The weather is getting to your body, probably just the same as everybody else's. Do what you need to do and return to your base camp." Herrior said. George agreed.

"Light them up!" George yelled as he pulled out a remote control and pressed two buttons. Somewhere way above the South Pole was an enormous explosion as three bolts of electricity shot up into the sky. Herrior couldn't see what the other machines were doing but he looked impressed.

"These will continue until the batteries give out. It might be time for us to leave." George said. Herrior looked at Lindel and nodded. Lindel opened a portal and began to channel her powers into it. Once complete she waved her hand towards it. All of the engineers ran through the portal and Lindel collapsed the portal.

"Dan, I could use one of your healing and mana." Lindel said.

"I got it." Lew said dropping his totems. They grew from the ground and formed into tiny posts that emanated pulses of power. Lindel walked over to them and lay in the middle of them.

"Good deal; I can drop my normal totems. I can concentrate on chain lightnings and lightning bolts." Dan said.

"So aside from the pretty lights…when do we start killing things?" Mohania asked.

"Why don't you go fly up there and take a look. Bring down a couple of them to let them know we are here." Herrior said.

"Couple of them? Hee hee, I'll do more than that!" Mohania said summoning his magic carpet and flew straight up.

"Why Mohania?" Branzer asked.

"His body isn't affected by the cold the higher he goes, he doesn't breathe, and we know for sure his spells can drop their ships. Hopefully he doesn't steer himself into one of these beams…" Herrior said still observing the lightning bolts shooting straight up into the sky.

"It's Mohania we're talking about…there's a lot more 'hopefully he doesn't' things we have to worry about..." Kendall said smiling. Several chuckles came from the group.

Several minutes passed and nothing. Herrior began to ask around if anybody sensed anything, nobody did. Herrior said to start summoning their pets but not to apply their buffs to the group yet. He also told everybody to be quiet and to listen.

Nearly ten minutes passed when the tesla coils stopped emitting their lightning bolts.

"Yeah the microwave thingies stopped as well." Bernett said as he saw a red light on their panel indicating that it needed more power. "Sure hope they didn't fry our innards in the meantime."

"Should I recharge the batteries?" Lindel asked fully restored of her powers.

"No – the air has become thicker. The elements are growing tense. Something is happening." Dan said.

"Get ready for battle. Spread out and get into position." Herrior said calmly pulling out his sword and shield. The group applied their buffs to increase their powers. Herrior walked forward as Veliline walked to his left and Quinely to his right. She was in her bear form and Veliline had swirling bones spinning around her body.

They heard far away voices from Mohania…it sounded like he was laughing, but it was hard to tell. A minute later they could see shiny objects falling at high speeds towards the ground and landed with a mighty crash. The iceberg they were standing on withstood the first crashed ship. It was nearly two hundred yards west of them and Herrior had to make the decision to go towards it or hold their ground. The decision was made for him though when several enormous explosions rocked the area as flaming pieces of debris fell from the sky along with several more ships.

"Bastard is gonna kill them all…" Kendall said however about thirty seconds later many of the ships landed in front of them and began to unload creatures they had never seen before. They weren't the green little men, but they were much taller with long fingers and angry facial expressions. They came charging at Herrior's group.

"Leave none alive!" Herrior roared out as he let out a battle cry and charged forward into battle. The beast recoiled from the charge and the heavy shield slamming into his body. The creature turned back around and hissed at him, which was met by Herrior's blade. Herrior then ignored him and tried to get as many of the creatures attention as he could, the same Veliline and Quinely were doing. It was obvious the creatures were not used to fighting like this.

Mohania flew down above the battle and called down a rain of fire. The creatures cringed, and they saw that their numbers were dropping quickly.

Mohania began to laugh in his sinister voice when suddenly a huge ship flew down in front of him. Mohania began launching chaos bolts one after another. They sailed into the ship and he heard resonating explosions inside. The enormous ship gently landed on the ice and opened several of its doors.

"Now!" Dan yelled out. Suddenly ice pelts, lightning and heavy cold winds pummeled the intruders. The aliens were running towards the heavy ship, but none of them were making it there. The lightning struck repeatedly at the top of the oblong ship, making loud booms of thunder as it sent electricity through the ship, occasionally shorting out some of its circuits and blow off parts of it.

The visibility was so bad the group could barely see their weapons, however they continued to move forward.

Time stopped.

"Oh I don't think so…" Dan said.

Time started.

An enormous explosion occurred, but nobody could see it. A beam of energy came blazing down at Herrior. Herrior felt his life quickly escape from him as Skyka power on the healing. He redirected his shield and reflected the beam back at the ship, causing smaller explosions slowly as he moved his shield up to where he thought the beam of energy was coming from. A final explosion finally occurred which stopped the energy beam.

"Rip apart the ship! Those of you who can shot inside the ship do so, but do not enter it!" Herrior called out as he raced forward and slammed his shield against it. It made a loud "gong" sound, but didn't do any damage.

The ranged and spell casters shot their spells into the ship. The sounds of their bullets ricocheting and their spells exploding could be heard when they. Dan casted his shaman spells into the ship, but ran out of mana to cast his spells so he redirected the wind and ice into the ship. The thick clouds swirled above them continued to zap the additional flying saucers as they descended.

During the attack, Jacklyn's blades finally ripped a small hole in the haul of the ship. Large bars began to descend from the ship, and landing on the ground. They then pushed the ship up as it began to elevate into the air – standing on newly formed legs.

"Herrior…leave them alone. They just want to be friends. They just want to talk." Julie's voice said behind Herrior.

"Continue attacking! Focus your attacks on the front left leg!" Herrior commanded as he turned around and saw Julie staring at her oddly. Herrior put his sword behind him and pushed her to the ground with his shield.

"You love me…you won't hurt me. Stop attacking." Julie said and Herrior slapped her hard across the face. Julie's head recoiled hard as it hit the ground and slammed into the snow.

"You hurt me." Julie said in a normal voice as if nothing happened. Herrior slapped her again, but this time he was hurled violently into the air. Skyka attempted to snag him, but wasn't quick enough. Julie rose to her feet in an odd way.

"You are all going to give us your powers." Julie said.

"Kill her!" Jacklyn yelled. Quinely charged towards her and knocked her to the ground. The entire group redirected their attacks to Julie. Her body couldn't handle the damage and fell lifeless to the ground.

"Guard your minds…do not let them in!" Jacklyn ordered.

"It's too late for that." Another image of Julie floated down from the ship. "We are more powerful, and you will succumb to our will." Quinely again began to attack her as the rest of the group did. This time their attacks went right through her.

"We adapt. We change. You will be changed and fight for us." Julie said.

"I never liked how I looked…" Julie said walking in from behind them with Herrior. Julie raised her gun, aimed it at her image and pulled the trigger. Julie's doppelganger erupted in a ball of fire.

"I'm growing my hair out and getting a perm." Julie said lowering her gun.

"Herrior I have an idea…well not my idea…but everybody needs to run backwards really fast." Dan said in desperation.

"Let's go!" Herrior said and they all ran away from the device. They could feel the ice cracking under their feet.

"What's going on?" Herrior asked.

"The elements are attacking the infestation. We probably should be moving faster…" Dan said as more cracks in the ice start forming.

As the group was running away, the solid chunk of ice that they were fighting on began to shift and quickly break apart. The enormous ship began to walk towards them when it suddenly fell in two large holes in the ice. The ship immediately fell forward, causing more ice to break, but more importantly, knocking off the front legs and severely damaging the upper ship. The back legs had holes form underneath them as the ship plummeted down, breaking the glacier and falling into the ocean.

Veliline had cast her frost walk on everybody so that if any of them fell off the ice, they could still walk on the water.

"Is it over?" Herrior asked.

"No…we have to deal with that." Dan said pointing at robot standing thirty feet tall. It had arms and legs, with what looked like an endless supply of rocket pods and lasers.

"Let me handle this." Strings said running forward. Herrior ran with him.

Strings and the robot met and he began to play a tune. Before the robot was able to do anything it suddenly froze. Strings changed melodies and the robot began to stagger around until it fell to the ground. He then played his song that summoned a thick acid from the sky, landing on the robot and sending up hissing sounds. The robot struggled for a few seconds as the acid poured on it, but then laid still.

"As we all know…robots cannot think for themselves. Our enemies can hear us, so they can hear music. I disoriented them, and then drove them insane – probably killed most of them in there, and then the acid was an added touch." Strings said putting his lute again and bringing out his flask.

"Are they all dead?" Herrior asked.

"I don't sense any. The elements are ripping apart the uh…mother ship I guess you call it. It may be immune to the freezing cold, but it's not used to water and chunks of glaciers squeezing the ship into pieces. Whatever is left of the aliens inside will die." Dan said.

"I'll take to the skies and see if anything is left flying around." Mohania said summoning his magic carpet and flying off.

"Thanks for killing me guys." Julie said sarcastically.

"Anytime" Jacklyn said smiling at her, "It was sort of obvious it wasn't you…plus you've always been annoying."

"Thanks." Julie said glaring at her with a smile.

"Kendall, do any of you or your undead have carpets as well?" Herrior asked.

"No, we aren't threatening to eat our dragons…like dumbass up there…" Kendall said looking up.

"I hesitate in summoning our dragons. This is a harsh environment for them." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone and bringing up a portal. Mohania face appeared.

"I can't see anything up here! I'm going as high as I can, but its all snow and wind. Tell that dumbass to calm the weather down." Mohania said back. Herrior turned back to look at Dan.

"I have no more control over it. The elements are still agitated. They will do what they want to do. I would suggest having our fun-loving warlock not to go to high or they might attack him as well." Dan said.

"Dan said you're an ass." Herrior said into the portal.

"Figured. Ok, since weather boy can't do anything I'm coming back down." Mohania said and closed the portal.

"Lindel open up a portal back to the human compound. Jacklyn see if you can cut off a piece or two to take back with us." Herrior said. Jacklyn enraged herself and brought both of her blades down on the robot's arm. It just made a slight "dong" sound, which was discouraging. She continued to attack one spot over and over as Herrior stuck his head in the portal and explained to George that they were trying to bring back a souvenir for them.

"Can you bring the whole thing back?" George asked.

"It's covered in a thick acid slowly eating away at it. I wouldn't suggest touching it. Jacklyn's not making any headway with it. I'm pulling our group out." Herrior said and told waved them all towards him. Mohania was the last one in, still flying on his carpet.

"Usually we try to bring back a piece of our enemy. I regret that we could not do that." Herrior said and then explained the battle. The humans listened eagerly, soaking up all of the information.

"When the weather lets up, we need to recover those machines or destroy them. As far as anybody knows this never happened." George said.

"As far as all of you, none of us exist." Herrior said.

"Exactly, and thank you for doing this assignment. In the future if we need something done…uh…how do we contact you?" George asked.

"Get the police station up and running. Give them as much funding as they need. Put somebody in charge of the officers that has half a brain. We'll stay in touch with them. With the way you worded your sentence and by your hesitation in your voice it sounds like there are several more things that you want us to do. Also…it is probably safe to assume that this place will be torn down and moved. Running the kind of operations that you are doing, similar to ours, we need to stay in our protected area or keep moving. Lindel, take us back to our barn." Herrior said. Lindel began to open a portal when suddenly George said, "Please…wait…" Herrior turned to look at him.

"Please…I know you offering you a reward is an insult, but I beg of you…my wife is missing. I don't know if she is dead or alive. Can you help me?" George asked. Soon others were asking about other problems.

"Lindel close the portal." Herrior said and Lindel did so. Herrior continued, "We have built trust with each other, but we have our limitations as do you. We cannot magically make her appear. There are billions of people and this is a very large world. Give all of the information that you have and all of your requests on parchment and get it to the officer's. They will work on it and we will see what we can do. The more allies you gain the more power you have. You can trust the officers; they have been through a lot. You also have our trust and we always help those who help us. That is all I can say. Also if she is being held hostage, or gone by other means, having her suddenly show up would draw suspicion."

George slowly nodded. He turned around and gave an order to start send out a couple of submarines to search and destroy whatever was left over. He turned back and asked if the threat was over.

"The threat is never over, the battle always continues. One foe gets defeated, another takes its place. Assassination is effective…but only if it topples the army. Fighting entire armies and killing all of them will only prolong another battle – and then after that another battle will arise. Lindel open the portal." Herrior said.

George sighed and agreed. He extended his hand and said, "Thank you". Herrior shook his head and thanked him for their help. He then walked through the portal and disappeared. George then turned around and expressed the urgency of getting the police station up and running again.

"Back again? Would you like some cupcakes? They are chocolate." Sammy said as the portal closed and Herrior's group came walking in along with the additional undead that had grouped up with them.

"I'll eat all of them!" Lindel said excitedly.

"We'll have a brief talk if anybody needs it, then I am going to go speak with the officers. Lindel are we going to need more Chronomancers to move them?" Herrior asked getting a cupcake and tossing it into his mouth as they moved into the living room.

"Take the paper off first…the paper on the bottom of the bread…" Sammy said but was too late. All of the undead passed on the food offer as they followed him.

"It shouldn't. I'm assuming I'm going with you to the officers?" Lindel said smiling. Herrior didn't answer right away as he thought about the question.

"Well it's not like they don't know about your powers…I mean how did they get here in the first place? And where were they before?" Sammy asked.

"Good point. Lindel I want you to take a look around the base first. Make sure there are no people when we displace them. Go ahead and do that." Herrior said.

"So did you save the planet again?" Sammy asked trying to get in on the conversation.

"We defeated our foe for the day, another one may yet arise before the day is over. Tomorrow it may be an entirely new foe." Herrior said.

"Let me step in here if you don't mind. Herrior how did you know that wasn't me when you first attacked me?" Julie asked.

"I didn't, but you weren't following orders and Spark wasn't around. Something didn't seem right. We had two tanks to step in if something was to happen, but if you needed to be snapped out of some trance or killed – I would prefer to be the one to do it." Herrior said.

"Oh…" Julie said slowly expecting another answer.

"A fighter fights until the end…and beyond if possible. If you or anybody else doesn't follow orders, I would give you a small chance to get your shit together or you would be killed." Herrior said.

"I gave that order as soon as she threw you into the air." Jacklyn said casually reaching for another cupcake. "What did happen to you?"

"I was grabbed by something. I couldn't move and I felt something crawling into my head. I tried to fight it, and then I tried to put my gun to my head. It was in me too fast though. I felt my mind and body slipping away until I remembered what I was trained, think about the love in our party. All of your faces came in, but Trackolania's stayed the longest. My body slowly fought off whatever was attacking me, still don't know what it was, and as soon as I saw myself I knew it wasn't real. I knew it had to be killed. I felt empowered to kill it, and my bullet brought it down. Being controlled is not something I enjoy and I'll be damned if I'll let something do that to me again!" Julie said angrily.

"Very good." Herrior said nodding. "That is what it feels like. Your mind can repel most attacks, but this one must have been stronger…but it is love that brings you back. It is fear that feeds it…the fear grows to despair…despair to hopelessness…hopelessness to death or betrayal. I was attempting to beat your senses back into you, but after you attacked me back I figured you were too far gone. I would have giving the same order. Could I have another cupcake?"

"So…you and Trackolania huh?" Skyka asked. Julie looked at Skyka, then over to the small rogue carving his name on the floor. He didn't lift his head or even make any movement indicating an answer. Julie looked back at Skyka and shrugged.

"Lindel can you go ahead and scout ahead. Make sure you aren't seen." Herrior said. Lindel turned invisible and began to open a portal. It grew big enough for her slim body to fit through and then closed in on itself.

At that time, Strings's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and an image of Ysera formed in the portal.

"Been awhile stranger, are you busy?" Ysera asked.

"We're having a meeting right now." Strings replied back. Herrior shook his head at Strings. "What's going on?"

"Can we have lunch again some time?" Ysera asked.

"It would be my honor. Let me take care of my assignments first and then I will contact you back. Shall I bring anything?" Strings asked.

"Whatever you would like. I want to show you one of my favorite places. I will be expecting to hear from you soon." Ysera said smiling and then closing the portal.

"You can leave now if you want Strings. It doesn't sound like we have much else to talk about." Herrior said.

"I would like to stick with the group for awhile. I enjoy the 'after-battle bonding' we have. I'm guessing we'll send the undead back soon, transform ourselves into our human appearances, and toss the humans into the portal. The displacement process will probably take awhile and I would not want to leave my party if they are ambushed." Strings said.

"Excuses?" Skyka asked.

"No they are good reasons." Herrior replied back for Strings. "You may do as you wish my friend."

Skyka started to laugh and said, "Yeah…you call it what you want…"

"Anything else we need to discuss?" Herrior asked. Herrior looked around and it seemed like everybody was content. They talked among themselves until a portal opened and Lindel flew out and materializing herself.

"Exactly as George said; right down to the letter. There are even police officers there already guarding the station and letting in big trucks to let the construction continue. I examined all of their minds. I did not sense any betrayal or anything odd, nor did I sense any evil among the area." Lindel said.

"Let's round them up then. Go ahead and make a portal back to Tranquil. Kendal thank you and you're undead for our help. I planned on them stopping time more often or other unexpected surprises. This time, oddly enough, they came with brute force." Herrior said.

"What would have happened if the giant ship began to attack us?" Kendall asked.

"I would have punctured more holes into it." Jacklyn said.

"We would have split up and attacked it in groups. It only shot one beam of light at us and it was directed towards me." Herrior said as Skyka added, "Which made you take a hell of beaten by the way!"

"It was not enjoyable, thanks again my love." Herrior said.

"Yeah yeah…anyways go on." Skyka said.

"We would have dispersed into groups of three and attack it from a triangle position. Depending on the attacks it would have done, we probably would have kept moving in a circular position. Ultimately we would have dropped it, that I have no doubt." Herrior said.

"Damn thing was immune to my chaos bolts…worthless spell…" Mohania said clearly upset.

"Aww…did the poor wittle warlock not get a chance to use his favorite spell?" Crystal asked sarcastically.

"Yes. It worked on the round disk ships…also I'm detecting a hint of sarcasm." Mohania said.

"You fired up the inside of the ship pretty well, but of course not as good as my fire spells…" Kendall said.

"Would you mind going somewhere else so I can call you annoying?" Mohania asked.

"No." Kendall replied with a smile.

"I need to think about this for awhile. Nothing was immune to my chaos bolts, but everything burns…perhaps fire is stronger…" Mohania started contemplating to himself.

"I'll get the portal opened and we can leave Mohania to mutter to himself…" Lindel said opening the portal and then pouring her magic into it. All of the undead left as Kendall gave Mohania a kiss before leaving.

"Mohania, do you want to stay here and continue your thinking?" Herrior asked.

"Burn…everything burns…even water burns…but to harness the power to cast the chaos spells was easy. If they become immune to them, what else could be immune to them? Should I alter the spell or forget it entirely…" Mohania said continuing to talk to himself as he began to pace back and forth.

"I guess that's our answer. Strings you might want to give your sweetheart a call and both of you can watch over Mohania…make sure he doesn't explode or something…" Skyka said smiling.

"Explosions…that might be the key…the initial blast of fire might not be enough, but if it could be followed up by an explosion – or perhaps an explosion at the beginning, binding them for a short period so that I could get another spell off…" Mohania said.

"Sure love, I'll stay here…but no promises on him bursting into flames." Strings said and pulled out his hearthstone to contact Ysera.

"Come then, let's return our friends to their homes." Herrior said and tapping his dragon trinket, and instantly he turned into his human form. The rest did the same and began walking towards the officer's houses.

Herrior's party arrived to see most of them gathered at the entrance, as if waiting for them to arrive.

"Something that we should know about?" Herrior asked.

"It sounds like it's time for us to return home. What can we possibly do to thank you for saving our lives, giving all of us a second chance, saving the world from your last attack, and saving our children from being taken from us? You all have done so much for us, yet we have nothing to give. What can we do for you?" A lady said. She was holding her young boy with both of her arms on his shoulders. She then let go of him and then walked closer to Herrior.

"That is our job. You're job is to resume your lives. That is why we are here now. All of you will be taken back to the police station. From there you can go back to your homes and continue your lives. Completing our mission is enough satisfaction for us. We have other missions that we need to go on. If you want to be safe, carry a blade and a gun on you. We will frequent the police station often if we are needed. Tell the officers to wear armor at all times. Stay safe. Now if everybody has all of their things gathered up, we will displace you to your new station." Herrior said.

"Is it safe?" A man asked in the crowd.

"We scouted ahead to make sure. We had word of a man we completed a mission with, but we wanted to make sure. He was true to his word, and I have no reason to believe that there is any harm. I will send a group ahead of you to continue looking for threats. Why are none of you bringing any of your belongings?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing here is ours. It is all yours." The woman said. Herrior thought about that for a second and then nodded. He turned around and nodded at Lindel and she began to open a portal.

"Jacklyn, take Veliline and some others with you and go first. We'll follow up when everybody has come through. Lindel do you have enough power to keep the portal open?" Herrior asked.

"Don't worry about me, my powers have been increasing." Lindel said with a smile as the portal grew to its normal size. She then held out her hand to the portal as everybody saw the inside of their brand new police station. The room they were looking at was a full court gym with an Olympic swimming pool. Jacklyn, Veliline, Trackolania and Dan went through first as Jacklyn started giving orders to secure the area and to start looking for threats.

"Oh my…" The woman said and was the first to walk through. The others followed and after several minutes everybody was through. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned one of the ambassadors.

"These homes are no longer needed that our engineers constructed. Can we have them moved to the new colony of humans that Branzer has been communicating with?" Herrior asked.

"Dat not be no problem mon. Dem engineers be upset though when dey know dat dey can't be blowing it up." The male troll ambassador said.

"I'm sure there have been plenty of explosions in Tranquil…" Herrior said back with a smile. The troll laughed and said, "Dat be true mon, dey say it be on purpose – but we all be knowing 'da truth 'bout dat. I'll be sending out some right away." The ambassador said. They said their "Good-bye's" and closed the portal.

"Well we got that taken care of. We'll leave the outpost here for protection for Alan and Sammy. I think we'll be needed at the station for awhile. How are you holding up Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Just fine..." Lindel said occasionally funneling more power into the portal to keep it open.

"Good. Let's get them situated and then a return to Tranquil I think is in store for us." Herrior said. Herrior then thought of something and turned to Dan and asked "Nothing we have to worry about yet?"

"I haven't sensed anything pulling me or shoving me. Are we going to leave Strings and Mohania here?" Dan asked.

"Mohania will probably go into a meditative state. Something is churning in that skull of his. Strings will probably take Ysera in Sammy's house and have their conversation there." Herrior said walking into the portal and completing his sentence there. Herrior looked around briefly and asked if this was sufficient.

"Sufficient? This is better than the YMCA up town!" A man said grabbing a basketball and started to get some people together to play a game.

Herrior turned to Branzer and shrugged his shoulders.

"They like it a lot." Branzer replied.

"So…they are going to need a Lieutenant to run the department." Lew said disappointed.

"This one claims he is in charge." Jacklyn said carrying a large man in one hand and he was squirming trying to reach the ground.

"Who are you?" Herrior asked.

"I was told to tell you I was sent from George." The man said suspended in the air.

"I'll give you the same warning I gave the rest. You betray us or any of our friends; you will be chopped up and fed to the pigs. Nice to meet you." Herrior said.

"George said you would say something like that…can I be put down now?" The man said. Herrior nodded at Jacklyn. Jacklyn let go and he fell clumsily to the ground.

"Paul is the name. As promised from George I am to look the other way if something suspicious happens." Paul said.

"No – you write it down and set the information off to the side. We will return and investigate the files and evidence. If it's something that we need to take care of then it is none of your concern." Branzer said remembering old protocol.

Paul nodded and said, "I can do that also. I have a list of credentials if you wish to review them. I have served in the…"

"Not necessary. You seem able to carry out orders and gave your word not to betray us. Also you seem to care about your new station and officers. That is sufficient for me. Jacklyn what else is happening?" Herrior said turning to look at her.

"A lot of machinery outside and commotion; it looks like they are half-ass building some sort of building." Jacklyn said.

"We're adding more jail cells with state of the art equipment, thanks to a special grant from the government." Paul said.

"Translate that for me Branzer." Herrior said.

"More holding cells, probably video cameras monitoring the criminals. A grant is a large amount of money given, which I'm assuming it's safe to say it's from our old friend George to make improvements." Branzer said.

"No cameras in the cells!" Herrior said in an angry tone.

"But, regulations…"

"I'd do what he says." Jacklyn said as she wrapped her metallic fingers around his neck.

"The cameras don't have to work. It's hard to run electricity all over the station. Is it ok to have guards patrolling them?" Paul said quickly.

"No. If we sense something is wrong we'll take care of it. Make sure the officers and their families get all of the armor, and weapons – the best available on this world. They know what they need. Lindel our work here is done." Herrior said turning away from him. Suddenly a child ran up to Herrior and hugged his leg. Herrior looked down and smiled. The boy said "Thank you Mr. Big Man" and then ran off.

"Your welcome." Herrior said as they walked through the portal and arrived in Tranquil.

"Shit! Herrior!" Dan screamed as he felt his body being pulled away. Herrior charged at him but not soon enough. Dan was gone. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and tried to find him. He could locate him, but something unusual did show up. Herrior put away his hearthstone and began to assemble as many groups as he could.

"You used your time stopping powers and you said you were not going to! You lied to us." A voice said in a brilliant white light surrounding Dan.

"Well I apologize for saving our lives you filthy bastards! What was I supposed to do, let my party die?" Dan screamed aloud.

"You broke your promise. Your party is of no concern to us. Your powers will be stripped of you." A voice said. The room turned dark and red eyes appeared.

"You can have them after I kill as many of you as I can…" Dan said dropping his totems and summoning an earth element. He held out his hands as his fist weapons wrapped around his hands. Finally held his hand up as a blue lightning bolt struck Dan and energized his body.

"Amusing…but a pity really. You had potential. There will be others though." The voice said as the red eyes came closer.

"I call your bluff. You may have increased my powers, but my powers have exceeded yours. You don't want to kill me; you want to find out how I did what I did…" Dan said. There was no response. The red eyes ran towards him.

Time stopped

Time started

Then was an enormous explosion that emanated out from Dan and obliterated everything around him.

"New trick I learned. Let's see you do the same." Dan said walking forward. There was no response.

"Show yourselves you pieces of shit so I can run you through!" Dan said, but a gush of magical energy engulfed Dan. He drove his weapons into the bottom of it and suddenly fell into a different world.

"What the…" Dan asked looking around. It was Earth…only thousands of years ago when men went to war with swords, spears, and shields. That much was obvious as he saw the onslaught in front of him. Suddenly he felt a spear break as it smashed against his armor. Instinctively Dan turned around and ran his two protruding blades above his hand through the man's eyes. Dan dropped his totems again, increasing his power. Attacks were coming from every direction, but Dan's intuition had grown as he killed every attacker. Eventually he let off a chain lightning spell which jumped from one person to the next, killing twenty men at a time. The attackers stopped their attacks.

"What type of sorcery is this?" A man asked. Dan charged up a spell and shot a lightning bolt at the man. It struck him hard, catching some of his clothes and hair on fire as he died instantly.

"You want to fight? Fight me!" Dan yelled out. Everybody started moving away from him. "Cowards…all of you!" Dan then ran towards where the majority of the fighting was happening, making his totems disappear behind him. Along the way he tore into many men, leaving huge gashes in their bodies, and dismembering some of them. Dan then summoned a fire elemental in the middle of the battle. It instantly burned dozens of the men locked in the heat of battle. The elemental let out a wave of fire around him and then started shooting fireballs at anything it saw. Dan ran up beside him and yelled, "You want to see me fight! You want to judge how good I am? You may have different powers than I do, but ultimately you know I will be your demise! Show yourself you cowards!"

Both armies backed out of range of the enormous fire elemental and were bedazzled as to who this mysterious stranger was talking to.

"Who be ye, and who do you fight for?" A man called to him from behind him.

"Shut your mouth or I will shove this so far up your ass that you'll be able to taste my blades!" Dan said turning around holding up his fist weapon. The man backed up a little.

Dan looked up in the sky waiting for an answer still. "Do you want me to show off my powers here? Alter the time stream? Toy with me if you want, but I will use my powers and obliterate everybody standing before me!" Suddenly Dan was engulfed in the same magical energy and placed on a different world.

Taking little notice to the enormous dinosaurs around him and the huge vegetation around him, Dan again turned his anger towards the skies and began to curse.

"Silence yourself." A tiny voice inside of his head said. It was the same voice that helped him through tight situations. Dan instantly shut up and sat down on the ground. He took a deep breath and began to meditate.

He sensed several dinosaurs coming in to attack from behind him. He let them come, his weapons still on his hands. The six raptors jumped on him, but were instantly shocked and rolled away in surprise. The raptors then got to their feet and looked funny at him. Their stomachs said attack, but the pain coursing through their bodies told them not to.

"You are under attack, fight them!" A voice called out.

"No" Dan said.

A loud roar echoed through the land and vibrated every bone and muscle in his body. He knew what dinosaur this was as he felt it charging towards him. Dan repositioned himself as he calmly watched it salivate running towards him.

Dan slowly stood to his feet and put his weapons away.

"You fool! Kill your attacker, he will devour you whole!"

The Tyrannosaurs Rex attempted to slam his mouth down on Dan. Dan held his hand up and held the enormous mouth at bay. "No…bad dinosaur." The Tyrannosaurs Rex coiled back and tilted his head at him. Dan bent down and picked up a stick. He then waved it in the air and threw it away. The Tyrannosaurs Rex took off chasing after it as if he was a dog trying to play fetch.

"Impossible!"

"Send me to your next test. The more power you use, the less you will have…" Dan said casually watching the dinosaur sniffing around for the stick. Once again Dan was gulfed in a magical field and suddenly appeared over an ocean. Dan fell through the air and tucked in his hands and legs as he made a "cannonball" dive when he hit the water. He opened his eyes and saw dozens of sharks circling below him. They were enormous and Dan knew that they knew he was here.

Dan swam to the surface and said, "Oh my…sharks…I hope I don't accidently…" Dan said as he removed part of his gauntlet and cut himself. He put his arm in the water and waved it around. He then put his gauntlet back on, healing the wound almost instantly.

The sharks instantly caught the scent and began to bump their nose into Dan.

"Really…sharks? I made my situation ten times worse. Blood in the water makes sharks go into a frenzy and they can sense it from miles away. So while they bump their nose on me, I'll just float on the water until they either eat me or you get bored…whichever comes first." Dan stopped treading water and inflated his lungs as he began to float on his back.

"You know the sky is really peaceful. How about you at least make it rain? Bring in a thunderstorm and ten foot waves?" Dan said casually. He felt a couple of nibbles from the sharks below him, but paid little attention to him. Their teeth and mighty jaws could not penetrate his arm, and also each one got a zap when they touch Dan.

"You are toying with us…why let your hatred out during battle against your own man, but not against the beasts?" A voice asked.

"Don't you know? If you are powerful enough to move me from one place to another, why don't you get into my mind and find out why?" Dan asked.

"Allow us in." The voice said.

Dan burst into laughter and began to sink. He went back to treading water. "You want in…come on in. I'm not the one stopping you." He felt a presence come close to him and instantly burned into fire.

"Sorry, I was just screwing with you…ok this time for sure. Come on in." Dan said mocking them.

"Stop that!"  
"Make me…" Dan said.

Dan again was engulfed in the magical field and placed in a middle-aged dungeon. He heard screams of pain and crying. The cracks of whips could be heard. He looked around in a cell with all children.

"Gottcha. Can't make me grow angry by forcing me to fight so you are forcing me to watch the innocent and children suffer. A good tactic, but none of this is real." Dan said reaching his hand forward through the iron bars.

Silence fell throughout the dungeon as he heard murmurs of the voices he was talking to.

"Tell you what, I'll give you time to figure out what to do next. Give me a minute though." Dan said walking through the bars and up to the slave master and taking the whip from his hands and said, "God loves you. He sent his son to die on the cross…"

"Stop that!"

"He shed his blood for you and me. All of our sins have been cleansed because of what he did."

"Stop that! Shut up!"

"He did die that day…but he rose three days later as the Bible tells. He is coming again to judge the world. What will he say to you when you are standing before him on his throne?"

Dan was instantly engulfed in magic and moved back to the same place he started out. It was again all white.

"You have a weakness…interesting…so what means of torture are you going to use now? You can't send me to Hell, and if you kill me it will only make others more powerful." Dan said trying to provoke them.

"You have powers you are not supposed to have! Promise you will not use them and we will let you go free!" The voice said.

"No…show yourself you coward and I'll slice you down." Dan said in return.

"Promise not to use them!" The voice boomed in the room.

Dan gently folded his hands across his chest and smiled as he calmly said "No".

A huge blast of magic blasted towards him, but passed completely around him. Dan looked to both sides and saw every color he knew and more.

"I'm sorry…should I walk forward so that the spell is more effective? Maybe I'm out of range…" Dan said letting out a chuckle. The spell stopped as more murmuring could be heard.

"If we cannot kill you or make you fight for us, then we will kill the ones you love!"

"Sure that's fine. Go ahead and get inside my head and find out each one. I must warn you though, the worst torture you could do is tickle their feet with a feather until they die."

"Stop mocking us! We saved your life!"

"No…I don't think you did. I also don't think you gave me any additional powers. I think you took interest to me at first, but now you fear me." Dan suddenly sensed something in his head that made him grin really big and said, "But right at this moment it isn't me you should fear."

The attack begun. Herrior and the other leaders slaughtered dozens of the demons all at once as the barrage of attacks quickly mowed down the rest. All of them burned up in fire as the white light disappeared and Dan could see the battle happening.

"Hey! I want to kill one!" Dan yelled and began racing towards them.

The demons tried to cast their spells, but were quickly silenced and run through with a blade. Dan saw a demon about six foot tall turn to look at him. Dan smiled and wave at him.

"We could have ruled the universe…" The demon said. Dan threw his hands in front of him as a burst of fire engulfed him. Dan then casted another fire spell at him, one this one continued to burn him. The demon began to mumble something as Dan threw a gust of wind at him, disrupting his voice. The demon turned to run away, but was impaled by Herrior's sword.

"Nobody tortures Dan except us…" Herrior said and then pulled his sword upwards – splitting the demon in half as it burned up.

"Hi Herrior! Did I miss anything fun?" Dan asked.

"You left your hearthstone on. It took awhile to track you down…unfortunately this…fortress…is moving towards Tranquil and we have orders to destroy it and all within it." Herrior said.

"Don't let your anger consume you…not in this place. Please Herrior you need to tell everybody that. They feed on anger." Dan said quickly.

"Do as he says!" Herrior shouted behind him. Herrior then gave orders for all of the groups to spread out; each one had a Chronomancer with them.

"Care to join us, or are you just going to stand there?" Herrior asked turning back to Dan.

"Hmm…I'll join you." Dan said with a smile on his face.

Herrior and the rest of the party's destroyed anything and everything in each room they encountered. Jacklyn began to laugh hysterically as her swords drove into the walls, making enormous gouges in them. Everybody launched their attacks at any demons at first, and then destroyed the tables, and shot up the walls as the melee make swung at them as well.

Minutes later they arrived to what looked like a control room. Several demons looked at him surprised as bullets and blades passed through them.

"Ok…we need to hack the system to overload it." Dan said running over to a series of control panels. Jacklyn began to slice at everything that she could. The rest of the party began to attack the room as well.

"Not what I meant by hacking…but this is more fun." Dan said and drove his fist weapon into the control panel several times. It caught fire as the fortress began to shake violently and let out a series of explosions. Suddenly Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate.

"We just destroyed something that looked like it was powering the ship. Several of our members are hurt badly. I suggest we leave while we can."

"Do it!" Herrior said and looked up at Lindel. She quickly began to make a portal as Herrior rubbed his hearthstone and contacted the other leaders.

"Stay behind and make sure it explodes." Herrior ordered Lindel as he rushed by her.

"No problem." Lindel replied back as everybody made it through the portal. She closed it and turned invisible as she began to fly out of the glass window in front of her. She flew far enough away to see how big the fortress actually was. There were explosions coming out of the top of the flying fortress, but it didn't look like it was doing enough damage to completely destroy it. Lindel flew back towards the glass and passed her hand through it, opening it up to the emptiness of space. Everything inside instantly froze as big "whooshes" of air quickly escaped. She ran her flaming hand along the breach of the hall as she flew all the side of the ship. She caused several smaller explosions inside. Out of curiosity she flew inside and wanted to see what was going on. Many of the remaining demons were burning up once the frigid cold air blasted into the rooms. She seemed pleased with herself as she flew from room to room.

She flew into a room and stopped in shock. She wasn't completely familiar with weapons, but knew something wasn't right about what she was seeing. It was two large missiles, over two hundred yards long. She felt an enormous power radiating out of the front of them. There were dozens of demons quickly working to launch them. She flew down and summoned her armor of skeletons and changed completely into her evil banshee form. She floated above them and held her hand down and sucked the life out of them, as her skeleton army hacked and slashed at the defenseless ones.

"What now my mistress?" The skeletons all asked in unison after all of the demons had burned up.

"Defend me at all costs." Lindel said in her sinister voice. She flew down and started reading the controls. She pressed the "Fire" button and then quickly flew over to the second one and pressed the button as well. Several alarms started going off as the rockets began to ignite themselves. The arms holding the rockets began to move and lower bay doors had began to open.

"Keep those doors from opening!" Lindel commanded as she flew up and sent an enormous burst of energy into the servos controlling the arm. It shook violently and dropped to the ground. It landed on the ground and rolled until the external fin stopped it from moving.

"Perfect." Lindel thought as she flew up and did the same thing. The rockets were pointing towards at each other in diagonal positions though. She didn't know if the outer haul would be strong enough to trigger the power emanating from front of the missile.

"Move those missiles so they are pointing straight!" Lindel commanded as she raised some more skeletons to do the job. Lindel flew down and helped push the first one over. The fire behind it began to intensify.

"Do the other one quickly!" Lindel said as she flew over and pushed the other one.

"We have stopped the doors from opening by using the levers. Also the missiles are pointing in the right direction. What else would you have us do mistress?" The skeletons asked.

"Odd…they usually aren't this intelligent…" Lindel thought. She held her hand out and absorbed the life out of the skeletons and into her body. She felt her body energized with so much power that it was hard to contain all of it. She steadied her mind and flew through the top of the ceiling and as far away as she could.

The explosion was enormous. It obliterated the ship, sending shrapnel everywhere. The fire quickly burned itself out, but what were left were just fragments…and some purple glowing items that caught her eye. She flew over towards it and saw they were shards, similar to the ones their enemies drop in order to enchant Tranquil's fighters armor and weapons. She gathered up as many as she could before they floated off into space at high speeds. She then opened a portal for herself and arrived back in Tranquil.

"Took you long enough…" Mohania said.

"Here…take this and do something useful with them." Lindel said handing the purple glowing shards to him. She then turned to Herrior and said, "My skeletons talked to me…" with much concern.

"Is the ship destroyed?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, the explosion was impressive. They had full intention of blowing up Tranquil with very large bombs. They probably tracked Dan down by him using his time stopping ability, which led him here. But yes, I witnessed the explosion and I assure you there is nothing that could have survived that." Lindel said.

"Damn…it's my fault…" Dan said clearly upset.

"No it isn't and don't entertain such thoughts. Lindel, go give your report to the King at once." Herrior ordered her. Lindel nodded and sprouted her wings and took to the air.

In front of the King, Lindel recalled the events minute by minute as him and the Queen listened with keen interest. After a ten minute recall Lindel eventually said, "And then I came back here."

"Interesting…" The King said looking at her. "I'm going to have to meditate on these events and consult with my ambassadors. You may go in the undead quarters and summon your skeletons there. You are dismissed." Lindel bowed and left. Lindel flew back over to her group and snagged Mohania under his arms and flew off into the air.

"What a coincidence…I was just saying how much of an ass you are…" Mohania said.

"I need your help. Can we go to your undead area for awhile?" Lindel asked.

"Seeing how I can't fly and falling isn't on my list of things to do today…sure." Mohania said. Both of them flew through the city and eventually down the hole to where the undead resided. Lindel gently set Mohania down and told him the story of what happened.

"That is interesting…they never did that before?" Mohania asked dropping the sarcasm.

"No…here watch." Lindel said and held out her hand. Dozens of skeletons rose from the ground as armor, shields, and swords materialized on their bodies.

"That is new."

"Who is your mistress?" Lindel asked.

"You are." All of the skeletons said in unison.

"I have a problem. What is three hundred and sixty two multiplied by 51?" Lindel asked.

"18462" all of the skeletons said again in unison.

"Are you kidding?" Mohania asked chuckling.

"In battle, what are your primary objectives?"

"Protect the healers, attack our enemies, and give our lives for the mistress until reanimated." The skeletons all said in unison.

"Tell them to juggle…" Mohania said smiling.

"Does the mistress wish us to do so?" The skeletons asked.

"No. Tell me why you are stronger and smarter?" Lindel asked.

"Unknown. It was you who created us." The skeletons all said.

"Can't beat that logic. So what am I doing here?" Mohania asked.

"They are undead skeletons…don't you see the connection?" Lindel asked.

"No" Mohania said shaking his head. Lindel put her hand on her hip and looked at him in annoyance.

"Ok fine…let me see." Mohania said walking up them. He looked them over and walked up to one on the end. Mohania reached out and tried to take his head off, but it wouldn't budge. He then took his bony fingers and reached through their ribcage. He then moved his hand as far up as he could until he reached where the spine and skull came together.

"Am I hurting you?" Mohania asked.

"No." The skeleton said back.

"Do you see me as a threat?" Mohania asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"The mistress does not wish for us to attack you. If we did she would kill us instantly. Our deaths would be in vain. Our job is to protect the mistress." The skeletons all said in unison.

"Why are you all warriors? Why not archers or spell casters?" Mohania asked.

"The mistress does not wish to summon those." The skeletons all said in unison. Mohania turned to Lindel in confusion.

"I don't know…you're getting further with them than I am…keep going." Lindel said.

"Fine fine…can some of you put away your swords and shields and equip yourself with bows?" Mohania asked turning back around. The back two rows did just as they were told.

"Did you do that Lindel?" Mohania asked.

"I thought it…does that count?"

"Sure. Make them think about having flaming arrows." Mohania said. Instantly the ends of the arrows caught on fire. Mohania started to laugh.

"What?" Lindel said.

"Nothing…hold on a second." Mohania said holding his finger up to Lindel. "What spells do you know how to cast?"

"Electrical bolts and healing spells." The skeletons all said in unison.

"Sounds awfully familiar don't it Lindel? What else can you do?" Mohania asked.

"Unknown. Whatever commands the mistress tells us to do and gives us the power to do so we can do." The skeletons said.

"Lindel…you have got to teach me this spell!" Mohania said excitedly.

"I hardly ever used it…and before they weren't this…complex." Lindel said not knowing what to say.

"Have you ever tried summoning anything else?" Mohania asked.

"No. I only know how to do this from my teachings when I was imprisoned. Even then it wasn't this strong." Lindel said.

"How many can you summon?" Mohania asked. Lindel held out her hand skeletons began climbing out of the dirt by the dozens. Soon the numbers were well into over two hundred and filling up the undead chamber. Mohania burst into laughter watching it and eventually said to stop.

"What are all of your orders?" Mohania called out.

"Serve the mistress. In battle we protect the healers, attack our enemies, and give our lives for the mistress until reanimated." They all said in unison. Mohania began to laugh again.

"What is so funny?" Lindel finally asked.

"Lindel…your power is growing and you wanted me to tell you this when you knew it all along? You can summon legions of skeleton warriors to fight for you now. You couldn't figure this out for yourself?" Mohania asked.

"I'm understanding it now…" Lindel said.

Mohania looked at the army and asked, "The mistress does not require your assistance at this moment. What would you like to do now?"

"Become absorbed into our mistress so that she may have our power." All of the skeletons said.

Mohania looked at Lindel and motioned for her to do so. She held out her hand and a red arch blasted from each of the skeletons and filled Lindel with tremendous power.

"Holy shit Mohania…I can't contain all of this power…"

"Go outside quickly and disperse it throughout Tranquil!" Mohania said quickly. Lindel quickly grew her wings and flapped up through the tunnel and as high as she could. She then let out an enormous burst of power in the form of a healing spell. It spread throughout Tranquil and everybody stopped to see what was going on. It made Tranquil feel even more calm and relaxed. Lindel then stopped after channeling it for a couple of seconds and flew back down next to Mohania who was on his flying carpet.

"I liked the falling stars…nice touch!" Mohania said smiling.

"How am I going to explain this?" Lindel asked.

"That's easy…leave it to me." Mohania said and took off flying towards the last known location of where Herrior was. He wasn't there, but he was outside of Brenna's house looking at what just happened. Mohania raced over there and started tugging on his arm.

"Ooo…ooo…ooo…I have some news!" Mohania said excitedly.

"Yes?" Herrior asked still looking up in the sky.

"Lindel did that!"

"Lindel?" Herrior said turning to look at Lindel next to Mohania.

"Yup…oh what's that? I need to go somewhere besides here?" Mohania asked himself and turned to leave. Herrior grabbed his flying carpet and gave it a hard yank. Mohania went tumbling off from it and landed on the ground.

"Apparently it's not as important as being here right now." Mohania said holding up his hand with his finger sticking up in the air.

"What just happened?" The King came out and said in a demanding voice.

"My King, somehow I learned how to increase the power, thoughts, and abilities of my undead army that I can raise. I don't know how…but I can. Then when I pulled the power back from my army; my powers increased more than ten-fold. I had to get rid of all of the power so I casted a very powerful healing spell…that apparently went all over Tranquil. My King I apologize." Lindel said nearly in tears on her knees.

"Lindel relaxed. I just wanted to know what happened in my city. You aren't in trouble. So you learned how to increase your powers – that is wonderful news. It interrupted our meeting so I am slightly peeved about that, but we'll get back to that right now. Brenna do you have something to calm Lindel?" The King asked.

"Certainly my King." Brenna said and hurried back into her house and began to boil some water.

"Sounds similar to what I can do to my ghoul. I raise the mindless twerp to fight for me. Then when I'm low on health I absorb his health into my body. I can raise an army of ghouls, but only twelve. How many did you create?" Veliline asked.

"Over two hundred…and they don't die after a certain time anymore. They know how to tank, heal, use magic, and shot arrows." Lindel said quickly.

"Sounds like we can retire…" Bernett said smiling.

"Herrior, I have complete control over them. They even know how to fight in a group – protect the healers, assist the dps, heal, and tank…sorry I am repeating myself…" Lindel said still shaken.

"I got it." Brenna came out with a cup of tea. Lindel swallowed the entire thing. She then looked back up with a smile. Next she let out a small hiccup and then laid on the ground and fell asleep.

"I've still got it!" Brenna said excitedly.

"Tell her one of your stories did you?" Mohania said walking up and poking Lindel with his foot.

"Still annoying are you?" Brenna asked smiling at him.

"Yes" Mohania replied with a smile.

"What…no sarcastic remarks, to witty comments? That's not like you." Crystal said.

"She did me a favor and made the babbling woman shut up. Brenna do you have any more of that? I think Crystal could use some." Mohania asked.

"He's hopeless…" Crystal said shaking her head.

"Let's get her inside." Herrior said bending down and picking her up. Brenna opened her door and held it open from the inside as they all walked in and promptly climbed the stairs. Herrior laid her down on the ground and kissed her on the forehead. He then turned to Mohania and asked, "So her powers have increased?"

"It was entertaining actually…but yes they have. I haven't seen her army in combat yet so I don't know how strong they are, but it was neat to see." Mohania said.

"Interesting. Crystal have you or Dan or anybody else felt an increase in your powers?" Herrior asked.

"I found a way to make time explode. What to know how?" Dan asked.

"No, I saw you do it. Besides I wouldn't understand it. Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I am aware of." Crystal said.

"I've been working on burning things up…" Mohania said with a smile.

"I'm proud of you." Herrior said looking at Mohania.

A moment passed between them and Mohania finally said, "Shouldn't you say something like, 'Don't burn down any houses or ignite anything or anybody on fire.'?"

"Naw - have fun." Herrior said back.

"Well you're no fun…" Mohania said.

"Herrior, I had the voice in my head again. I thought it was the time-stopping people, but I think it's an angel or something talking to me." Dan said.

"Good – hopefully it's the same voices that I hear to direct our fighters." Herrior said.

"You hear it too?" Dan asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "Usually it's a quick second to make a split decision."

"So I'm not the only one." Dan said with a slight disappointment in his voice.

"On the contrary – you seem to have these voices more telling you what to do." Herrior said.

"But some of them were wrong. Like the previous demons…they were powerful Herrior. You saw firsthand what they could do." Dan said.

"But…" Herrior tried to say the same way Dan said it, "They are dead. We are constantly attacked by demons and alliance or gnolls and bandits. Plus animals that cannot be controlled, diseases, insects, internal dissension – it never stops, but we are all still here."

"So it never stops." Dan said.

"It will eventually, but the day and the time is unknown to us; the day of the rapture." Herrior said. Dan nodded.

Seconds passed and suddenly Brenna said, "Cakes are ready! I told you Herrior I had something good for you to eat, lightly seasoned with cinnamon."

"Brenna you are very near and dear to my heart." Herrior said taking a piece.

"And your stomach…" Brenna said with a joyous laughter.

Days passed as Herrior's party bonded more. They all enjoyed a long church service followed by communion. Several more days passed following that and Branzer was ordered to go investigate the new establishment. The rest of Herrior's party disguised themselves as humans and accompanied him. The newly established human encampment looked like it had thrived overnight compared to the make shift shacks they were living in before.

"Where is your leader, the old man I spoke with?" Branzer asked taking the lead with the rest of his party behind him.

"He passed away. We had a funeral for him. He was sick as well, but he wanted to make sure our young that were sick were healed. He gave of his own to ensure that our youth survived." A woman said started to tear up. Branzer walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"He was a good man. I am sorry to hear that and will mourn with you." Branzer said.

The lady shook her head and said, "Our days of mourning are over for him. He was a very good man, and so are you. You provided us with homes, food, medicine, and ways of improving our lives. We expected half of us to be dead, and now we have homes that are better than our thatched huts. We are thriving, but face a dilemma. We left our homes in the east to escape the tyranny of the King. The soldiers raped us whenever they wanted, took our young boys from us to train for battle, and beat us it slavery. We want to rescue more of them, but we fear if we go back that we may not return - or even worse, they will follow us here. I am not the one to be talking of such things though; you should speak with our elders."

"I've heard enough. How many forces are in this army?" Branzer asked.

"Hundreds of thousands; they ravage the lands, burn villages and kill all that oppose them. Anybody in the ranks who resist is put to the chopping block."

Branzer turned around and asked, "Herrior?"

Herrior shook his head. Branzer nodded and then looked at the ground. Many thoughts raced through his mind and he would need more time to meditate on this.

"How are you relations with the naga, the snake-like people?" Branzer asked

"They have been as gracious to us as you have. They bring us food and are building underwater defenses for any hostile ships. There have also been dragons that you spoke of. They bring us meat to eat. They do not come close to us though, we feared them at first but they don't appear to be the kinds that eat people." The lady said.

"My lady, what is your name?" Branzer asked.

"Elizabeth" she replied.

"Elizabeth go tell your people that we are pleased to help. Don't forget to tell the naga and dragons 'thank you' for their generosity. For the time being I would disassemble or sink your ships just in case they come looking for you and your people. We must leave now and meditate on this. Take care." Branzer said and walked back to his party.

"That has alliance written all over it…shouldn't we attack them?" Branzer asked.

"They would never have gotten away if it was alliance, especially the size of the group that I am looking at. There might be some recruiters there, but you have to understand that the human heart can turn dark with power and greed…with both of those comes the fear of losing both of them. I'll send word for one of our scouts to investigate, but for now let's go back to Alan's home. Lindel if you would please?"

"Lew – this is your car. It was built and engineered exclusively for you. What do you wish for it to do?" Herrior asked standing in front of the powerful enormous SUV. Alan and Sammy came out to listen.

"Alan – would you like a new car? It can level an entire forest and break the sound barrier, doesn't have airbags though." Lew asked.

"I can buy just about any vehicle I want on the planet, but I want to keep a low profile. A vehicle like this might be better served chasing down bad guys. Would the officers have use for it?" Alan replied.

"So you got more funding huh?" Lew asked.

"Unlimited. We were in no need now, and now I have to find a place to put all of the funds. Nothing ever hits the payroll though – no taxes and its delivered in brief cases once a week in unmarked police cars. Speaking of, I want to make an anonymous donation to a recent police station that I heard just got up and running." Alan said with a smile.

"There is no need for that; they are in the same situation." Lew said smiling.

"Are they all settled in then?" Alan asked.

"They seemed quite pleased with the new additions. Life should go back to normal soon for everybody. That's our next stop. Are you sure about the car?" Herrior asked.

"Build a whole fleet of them. Keep the roads and streets safer."

Herrior shook his head and said one on this world is more than enough. Herrior asked Lindel to open a portal and see if there was any place they could drive this through a portal without suspicion. Lindel turned invisible and began opening one portal after another looking for a place.

"So…is this good-bye?" Alan asked.

"No?" Herrior replied curiously.

"With the officers back on their job, my business booming and…hopefully…no more lingering threats in this area why would you come back?" Alan asked.

"Because you are my friend. Keep in mind that the invisible outpost to the right of your house is constantly stationed and if you ever need something you can contact them or use your hearthstone. But they have enough sensors and devices in place that you will never even know there was a threat. Also, Lindel seems to have formed an addiction to chocolate and Sammy cooks the best chocolate in all of the lands."

"That's true!" Lindel's voice came from thin air as she continued to open and close one portal after another.

"Find anything yet Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Lots of places…but nothing that would be completely inconspicuous. We could make a distraction perhaps…" Lindel said.

"No, keep looking. Even if we have to drive it in from a ways away then so be it." Herrior said.

"There's a tunnel big enough to bring it in. There are no people around, but I don't think vehicles are supposed to go there. There are so many people around. On a side note the people seem calm; they aren't worried like they were before when the police station shut down." Lindel said casually as she closed the portal and opened another.

"That would make sense. The people that were living there were under your fighters control and were quite afraid. Having the people that lives in a sense of safety and calmness will make the officer's jobs a lot easier." Herrior said.

"Ok…we can come in from what looks like an abandoned house. It's approximately…eh…twenty miles from the station due south." Lindel said but kept looking around.

"It's your call." Herrior said.

"Yeah and that has me worried…" Lindel said.

"We could have the officers pull their patrol cars out of the garages, shut the door, have the SUV appear, pull that out and park it in a parking lot, then put the squad cars back in. If I remember right there should still be several garages." Lew said.

Herrior listened to Lew and then looked at Branzer to confirm it. Herrior then shook his head and told Lindel to open portal to let Lew into their old room.

Lew walked through the portal and Lindel was behind him. She altered her appearance to look like an officer. They walked out of the room and caught several officers off guard.

"It's not the first time we did that…won't be the last time boys. Where's Paul?" Lindel asked.

"He's in your office, your old office…ma'am." One of the officers said looking at Lew and then correcting himself.

"Good, we know where that is. Excuse us." Lindel said passing by and barged into the office.

"Can I help you?" Paul asked slightly frustrated.

"I'm Lew – with Herrior's group, I'm sure you remember him. We need to have several of the police cars moved out of the garage as well as all members of the staff there." Lew said.

"They are getting our cars ready; equipping them with advanced computers and FLIR radar…we just can't do that." Paul said.

"We have a vehicle that will surpass the speeds and abilities of any of your vehicles here. We need a place to bring it in without anybody seeing it. The best option that we came up with is that."

"I have an empty pole barn I just had built. How big is this vehicle?" Paul asked.

"That will do just fine. Lindel do your thing." Lew said. Lindel dispersed into millions of tiny little particles and flew into Paul's mind.

"Do you have to do that every time?" Paul asked.

"It's easier. Ok I got the location." Lindel said as her arms stuck out of Paul's chest and began to open a portal. Paul jumped back and let out a scream.

"Screaming is not recommended – it attracts unnecessary attention." Lew said as he locked the door before the officer's on the outside tried to open it.

"I'm fine, just spilled my drink." Lindel make Paul say aloud.

"So you can make me talk to huh?" Paul said in his voice.

"Also fly." Lindel said lifting Paul's body off the ground as he started waving his arms and kicking his legs.

"Just hold still hun, you look kind of dumb doing that." Lindel said as both of them went through the portal and appeared in the shed.

Lindel pulled her arms back into his body and flew out of Paul's eyes.

"What exactly were you planning on storing in here?" Lew asked.

"Boat, jet ski, restore some old cars, some odds and ends. We haven't completely moved in yet. My wife by the way doesn't know that you guys can do…whatever it is that you call what you did." Paul said.

"Let's keep it that way. Lindel?" Lew asked.

"Already on it." Lindel said opening a giant portal.

"Thank you hun, you are beautiful. Stay here and keep the Lieutenant out of the way." Lew said walking through the portal. Paul saw the rest of Herrior's party looking at him as Lew got into something invisible. A couple of seconds later it materialized and revealed the mighty vehicle. It moved through the portal and into the barn. Lindel closed the portal when it came through.

"It's quiet…" Paul said in fascination. He looked at it in awe and approached the vehicle to look over it.

"Back away pup…" the female voice from the SUV said.

"Calm down…this is going to be your new driver. His name is Paul and you are going to help him catch bad guys." Lew said.

"Are you giving permission for Paul to drive me?" The SUV asked.

"Yes, Paul is going to be your driver and friend." Lew said.

"Are you kidding me?" Paul asked in disbelief.

"Come on up in the driver's seat and let's get you used to the vehicle." Lew said. Paul ran around and the door opened for him automatically.

The two of them had a lengthy conversation with the vehicle and what it could do while Lindel wondered around the property. She sensed a woman in the house and decided to avoid her. She walked the back perimeter of the pole barn looking at the flowers and the trees. She bent down and touch a tulip as she watched the pollen scatter into the wind. A smile rose from her mouth watching it. She considered picking it and giving it to Branzer but that thought was quickly interrupted by the thought, "Do I really want to start up our relationship again?"

"Hello!" It was a man in his younger years that had a keen interest in her. Lindel shut her eyes in disgust as she allowed her thoughts to wonder and not keeping a constant vigil. Lindel began reading the man's thoughts and she did not like how he was thinking about her. She slowly turned around and said "Hello" in a soft voice.

"Why…I don't believe I've seen you around here before. Where do you live?" The man asked as his eyes focused on her female features.

"Excuse me please, I wish to have alone time." Lindel said back in a kind voice.

"I apologize for interrupting but I'm just trying to be neighborly like. What is your name?" The man said.

"No you aren't. You like approximately fifty yards west from this establishment and you came over on a dare. Your name is Keith and you like to look up pornography on the internet. You've had two previous relationships that ended with you being abusive. I have no interest in you mentally undressing me anymore so please leave. You are not going to get my name, number, or where I live so you will owe your friends fifty dollars." Lindel said sternly. She then smiled and said, "You have cute eyes" as she reached up to touch his face.

Just as Lindel had planned the man became confused and inflamed. He reached up quickly to grab her hand, but as soon as his hand touched her arm – all of his strength passed through his body and into hers. He shook at first and then slowly fell to the ground, eventually ending up on his back.

"If you are going to talk to a lady, treat her like a lady. If you want to have a relationship with a lady, treat her like a lady." Lindel said and sent an arc through her arm and shocked his hand off from it. Lindel then put her hand on his stomach and made him lose his bowels and urinate on himself. He then started having convulsions violently and puked excessive all over his face first, then turned to the side and continued puking.

"Be nice…or I'll be back. Now I'm going to give you your body back. Go clean up yourself and your mind." Lindel said as she shot a charge of energy through his body. Keith's body shot backwards and immediately he jumped to his feet. Lindel's eyes turned a dark blue and said "If you speak of this…I will kill you…" in her dark sinister voice. Keith turned around and ran as fast as he could back to his house.

"Disgusting humans…" Lindel said as she burned off the vomit that had landed on her.

"Are you ok?" Lew asked coming around the corner. "I heard some commotion."

"Just teaching a boy a lesson he won't soon forget. Are you two done playing with your toy?" Lindel asked.

"Will he live?" Lew asked smiling.

"He'll wish he didn't…you're getting to know our group pretty well." Lindel said with laughter in voice.

"Yeah…I've had some quick hard lessons that I had to learn pretty fast…" Lew said rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you in pain?" Lindel asked.

"No…just reminiscing…" Lew said.

"Herrior is a great leader. He would give his life for you in a heartbeat. He loves you very much. He was under a lot of stress and hates being betrayed – I can't apologize for him but I know his heart, its big enough to fit all of Tranquil in." Lindel said walking up to him.

"Can I take this for a drive now?" Paul asked excitedly.

"I thought you had work you had to do in the office and you were busy?" Lew asked.

"Piss on that! I want to see what this baby can do!" Paul said it as if he was a young child that had just opened the best present in the world on Christmas morning.

"Have fun…" Lew said back. The SUV, as quiet as a mouse burst out of the pole barn, leaving an enormous dust cloud and hit the streets. They could hear his voice saying "Yee-ha!" faintly as it flew down the road.

"Kids…" Lew said shaking his head with a smile.

"Shall we go back now?" Lindel asked.

"I'm all set. Do we have to go back in the barn so you can make your portal?" Lew asked.

"I don't have to, but it would be for the best. After the incident with the poor man, I wouldn't want to draw any more attention." Lindel said. Lew smiled, stepped back and held his hand out as if to say, "after you". Lindel smiled back as they entered the portal and went back into Tranquil.

"You just missed them…they went…uh…wherever they go. My guess is the walking skeleton is in his section of the town eating somebody. The rest could be anybody's guess." Brenna said as Lindel and Lew came through the portal.

"Good, Brenna do you have a minute?" Lindel asked.

"Let me check my schedule…hmm…I'm free for the next fifty days and then I have something going on, but I might be able to reschedule it. Have a seat." Brenna said smiling and pulled out a chair for Lindel.

"Do you think I'll be able to uphold my duties as a banshee and a wife at the same time?" Lindel asked.

"Nothing like cutting right to the chase…unfortunately I have no answer for that. I don't know what your powers are, and until recently I don't think you knew either…" Brenna said with a grin. "But in my opinion…I think you and Branzer would have to accept each other the same way Herrior accepts Skyka, and right now I don't think you are to that point. It may not be in my realm of expertise because I might overstep my boundaries…but from one woman to another, love never dies. It may flicker once in awhile, but the candle never goes out. There may be times when the wick is exposed more and you both are feeling the fire between each other, and there might be times when the wick is small and you are overwhelmed with wax. During those times both of you have to work together to get that flame back alive again. You need the right proportion of wax and wick in order to burn consistently in order to produce the light you want." Brenna said.

They both looked at her taking in the analogy. Silence passed as the seconds did.

"It seems I may need to put it differently?" Brenna asked.

"No – I just need to go find my candle." Lindel said and excused herself.

As the door shut Lew looked back at Brenna and asked her if he could ask a question.

"You can, but I warn you – I can only give one good answer a day. Are you hungry?" Brenna asked.

"I could go for something, what do you have?" Lew asked.

"If I tell you what it is, than that wouldn't be any fun." Brenna said pulling what looked like a red turnip from the cupboard. She got a knife and sat back down.

"So…this is a vegetable, I forget the name of it but if I remember correctly it's good…or poisonous. The neat thing with this vegetable is that it comes off in layers. You slice off the top like this, and it sprouts out." Brenna said as the vegetable immediately began to fold itself back in sections. Brenna pulled a thin section out and took a bite.

"It's ok, but you have to know how to cook food in order to enjoy it. If you were to just bite into it, you wouldn't see the wonderful display you just saw. It takes time to learn these things, but after you have the knowledge it becomes second nature – even if you are old like me and can't remember the name of it." Brenna said as she chewed it up.

"Brenna, you look my age and just as beautiful as you ever did. May I?" Lew asked.

"Certainly…and flattery gets you anything you want…" Brenna said smiling.

"Will it make me feel closer to my party?" Lew asked.

"It's a complicated party right now and has put a lot of stress on Herrior. My advice is to remember this vegetable. Each person has their own story, their own history, their own flaws and strengths. Take time to take each piece and savor the flavor. Each one of them has their own story and would like to share it with you. Each person in Tranquil would give you anything you want, but Herrior's party would do a lot more. Herrior's heart has been softened again and I say go to him and ask him about himself. Then go down the line from there." Brenna said.

"It's got a bitter taste to it…" Lew said biting into a small piece. He chewed it for awhile and then it turned into a pleasing taste, leaving his mouth wanting more. "It changed…why did it do that?"

"It's all in the vegetable and how your body perceives it. You know the bitter side to the vegetable now, but after getting past that part your body knows that it is good to eat. The same with Herrior's party - don't let their rough exterior scare you, inside they are the most loving and caring people I'm thinking about right now." Brenna said with a smile.

"You're good with food and wisdom. Why is that?" Lew asked.

Brenna let out a laugh and said, "I'm flattered about the wisdom, but my main skills are being an herbalist and cooking. The rest just flows through my mouth. I don't worry about what I say, it just comes to me. Did I help you out any?" Brenna asked.

"I think you did. Do you mind if I take this with me?" Lew asked standing up.

"It's all yours, but I warn you the children do not like it." Brenna said with a smile.

Lew went outside looking at the red vegetable and bumped into Lindel.

"Oops, sorry about that." Lew said.

"It's ok hun, I was just thinking." Lindel said.

"Do you want to walk and think with me at the same time?" Lew asked.

"Sure." Lindel replied back.

"Brenna gave me this. It's bitter at first and then sweet after you chew it for awhile." Lew said warning her.

"A pumprice is what it is called. Brenna always has some of the weirdest food stored away." Lindel said taking a piece and eating it.

"She told me to get to know all of you better. How about I start with you? Feel like talking?" Lew asked.

Lindel sighed and didn't say anything.

"That doesn't give me much to go on." Lew said with a smile. Lindel leaned over and hugged him with one arm.

"I think I need to talk with Herrior…" Lindel said still holding him.

"About you and Branzer?" Lew asked.

"No, that is secondary. I want to know what my job is as a fighter. I also want to let him know I let down my guard to take in the pleasure of a flower and could have been killed." Lindel said upset.

"This being a fighter stuff is pretty serious stuff huh? Not much time for other things." Lew said.

"No we have plenty of time for other things…" Lindel let out a chuckle and said, "This is the busiest we've been in a long time, which is good because when we fight together we learn about each other and depend on each other more. But on the other hand it's bad whenever we have to send out our primary fighting because people usually end up dying, but since we're good at our jobs – it's usually our opponents. Remember when Herrior cried in the field and you kept constant vigilance on him? Killing is not fun…which is why I could never be a leader. It's much easier following orders then to give them." Lindel paused for a second and then said, "Sorta got off the subject there…" with a smile on her face.

"Not at all, I love listening to you. It's nice to know that my thoughts are shared. As an officer we're taught to only shoot our weapon in self-defense. Here we launch an arsenal of spells, bullets and sword-flinging moves at his command. It's good in a way because he takes any flak if we do something wrong…and personally in situations like we've encountered so far I wouldn't know what to do." Lew said.

"Sometimes I don't know what to do either…with a lot of things. Would you mind if I contacted Herrior?" Lindel asked.

"Not at all" Lew replied. Lindel pulled out her hearthstone and brought up a portal revealing Herrior's face. His armor was off and it looked like he was sleeping.

"Hi Herrior, were you sleeping?" Lindel asked.

"No, I'm awake. I was just thinking…with my eyes closed." Herrior said rubbing his eyes with a smile.

"He was snoring!" Skyka shouted out. Lindel and Lew let out a laugh.

"I was wondering if we could get our party together and talk?" Lindel asked.

"No problem. I'll send out messages to the rest of our group. Meet us in our home." Herrior said.

Ten minutes passed and Mohania was the last to show up. He ran up the stairs and apologized for being late.

"Hun you have a little something on your cheek…and all over you…" Skyka said pointing to her cheek. Mohania rubbed at it and said, "Oops" as he liked the blood off his finger and engulfed his body in fire, burning off the rest of the blood.

"Been busy have we?" Skyka asked.

"Been teaching mostly. Who is going to carry on my legacy when I pass on…again… Our guards and fighters need to know how to torture people to get information out." Mohania said.

"Anyways, so what's going on Lindel?" Herrior asked redirecting his attention to her.

"Herrior, I…let down my guard and was approached by a human who wanted to have sex with me. I was sniffing a flower and enjoying it and didn't even sense him coming. He could have killed me." Lindel said almost in tears. Herrior nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well…aren't you upset?" Lindel asked.

"You seem very upset about the issue. As far as my emotions towards the encounter I'm assuming you taught him a lesson and sent him on his way. Why is this troubling you so?" Herrior asked.

"I'm the only one that can read other people's minds, know other people's thoughts and I feel like I need to be constantly on guard – you know, checking for danger both in Tranquil and out in the battlefield." Lindel said.

"Sounds like you are bearing a lot of weight on your shoulders. Your thoughts and actions are your own. A lot of party's don't have a banshee and have to go on intuition. Trackolania's intuition is heightened more than the rest of ours. You can't sense demons like our warlocks can. When I ask if there are any threats in the area, that is the time for you to sense for any dangers. When I ask for you to link our minds I want you to do that. Other than that, you and Strings are free to battle however you want. What I'm sensing right now is Branzer has questions to ask." Herrior said smiling without looking at him.

"A man tried to have sex with you?" Branzer asked.

"A man 'wanted' to have sex with me…I drained his energy from his body, made him piss and shit himself. Afterwards I sent his body into convulsions, causing pain and vomiting. Afterwards I threw him backwards before we went running away crying." Lindel said.

"And then you should have contacted me and then I would have finished torturing him…ugh – ok people new rule. I am the master torturerer…and yes that is a word. If somebody needs to be torturerered, I'm the warlock to do it. That also is a word." Mohania piped up.

"He didn't need to be 'tortured' – which by the way is the correct way to use the word, I can take care of myself just fine." Lindel said.

"You're missing the point…I could have devoured him and everybody in a fifty yard radius." Mohania said.

"Ok so let me put this into prospective. Lindel you did fine. You're guard doesn't need to be up the whole time. The King ordered you to relax, and now I'm going to give you the order to relax. In the past your mind has become unfocused, causing you trouble. Remember in previous battles, we have been on the brink of death and it was nobody's fault. We cannot predict ambushes. The same goes for the rest of you. During our down time, your time is your own. Do as you wish. A rested body and mind brings peace. That'll help let go of your worries, and your doubts. This applies to you Dan as well. I don't mind you, or anybody else practicing your abilities and trying new things – that is how we learn, but take time to relax; oh – and Mohania quite trying to figure out ways of burning up entire worlds." Herrior said.

Mohania burst out in laughter for several seconds and said, "I was working on that actually…wait a minute who told you?"

"I want to get to know all of you better. Nothing to personal, but more about your likes and dislikes, your fighting styles, where you came from…stuff like that. I'm very new to all of this and would like to get to know everybody better." Lew said.

"Same here" Jessica said raising her hand as well. "I know my job, and probably Skyka needs to do some training with you as she did with me, not that I'm saying you are doing a bad job, but we all have a specific rotation and that changes depending on what attacks we have thrown at us and how much damage the group sustains versus how much damage our tanks are taking."

"I would love to learn more…as much as I can. I would like to spend time alone with all of you, or here in a group learning more about each of you." Lew said excitedly.

"I like fire." Mohania said.

"Excellent contribution Mohania - always well thought out sentences with deep meaning behind it." Skyka said.

"Fine…how about I like lighting things on fire…is that better?" Mohania asked.

The rest of the day they all spent talking in their house, teaching Jessica and Lew about themselves, except for Trackolania who didn't say anything as usual – but that was explained to them as well. Strings had ordered drinks be brought as they talked. The sense of "family" grew on their two new members and it seemed to put everybody more at ease. During this time as well, Skyka discussed healing assignments and they went over battle strategies as well. Some other things that were discussed were the time stopping abilities and the secrets from that. It was at time that Veliline piped up.

"Herrior I don't think I'm immune to it anymore, something changed when I…"

Time stopped.

Veliline froze along with everybody else. Mohania jumped up immediately and stuck her finger in her nose.

"Really Mohania…really?" Skyka asked.

"What?" Mohania asked smiling at her as he quickly ran back to his spot and sat down. Herrior just buried his head in his hand. He sighed as he shook his head.

Time resumed.

"…freed myself…what the hell?" Veliline asked pulling her finger out of her nose. Mohania burst into laughter.

"Mohania if you had the ability to stop time, you would never be bored again for the rest of your life…" Dan said fueling Mohania's laughter as he nodded.

"No Veliline, it doesn't seem that you are immune to it. I must apologize for our dumbass in our party…not real hard to guess who is to blame here…" Herrior said looking at Mohania.

"What?" Mohania said as other snickered as well.

"Well when I freed myself from the powers that controlled me, I felt many changes. Just recently when we had the whole city zapped to become more, adaptable I guess is what you call it, I felt the pain as others, but mine seemed worse – and I had residual pain and tingling in my limbs for the next day." Veliline said.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Herrior asked.

"I didn't know what to say. I don't know how it works in the first place and I didn't really understand what happened. After talking with a couple of people about it they said they didn't have the same symptoms. I thought it was just me, or just my class, or something else." Veliline said.

Herrior nodded and asked if she had taught everything she knew to a trainer. Veliline nodded but again piped up really quick and said, "Yes of course, but things are changing. Since fighting my doppelganger I saw her us different abilities than I had. Then I used abilities that I don't even know I could do and haven't been able to duplicate them. I still have my diseases that I can spread, and the rest of my normal strikes – but I'm changing. Like I told Jacklyn I felt raw power flow through my body and I told her that I could probably kill an entire army of alliance with infected insects. They would never know what hit them."

"Go on…" Mohania said listening closely.

"Go on what? That's it." Veliline said.

Herrior held up his hand and gave Veliline a soft friendly smile. "Veliline, you are part of our group and if your powers fade or grow stronger you will always have us. Your heart is strong and your mind is sharp. You fight well in combat and you will always have a place here. As far as your powers changing, explore it and embrace it. That is why we have the arenas setup and training dummies to attack. Many groups go there to keep their edge. But to calm your fears, let's say since you freed yourself and we killed your trainers you start to lose your powers. We would move you into our melee group because your strikes are hard and precise even without using your powers. When we brought in Dan and Crystal, they had no powers but they learned and are continuing to learn. We all are learning as we go. Those two for example have done things that we still have no explanation for, and I'm not talking about their intimacy time…" Skyka instantly burst out a quick burst of laughter and covered her mouth. She was clearly taken off-guard by the remark but others started to laugh and Skyka did as well.

"Wonderful…" Dan said as his blushed. Crystal looked at him as she blushed as well but started laughing as well.

"Yes yes…ha ha…everybody at one time has to be the butt of a joke, just so you two know." Dan said looking at Jessica and Lew.

"Haa haa…you're an ass…" Mohania said.

"That's also Mohania's favorite word…" Dan said.

Just then a soft knock came from the door downstairs.

"Come on in hun." Skyka yelled out. The door didn't open. Skyka got up and bounced down the stairs and opened the door. She instantly turned serious and called for Herrior. The rest of the group fell silent.

A monk had come out of his catacombs and was now in their house. His shriveled hands and cloaked body made the air fill with an eerie aura.

"I must ask a favor." The monk said.

"What is it? You have the disposal of my party at your services." Herrior said.

"I was hoping you would say that." The monk said slowly.


	25. Rescue

Rescue

"Come in please." Herrior said. The monk seemed to glide over the floor just enough so that they could shut the door. Skyka made a quick glimpse outside and saw a lot of people looking at them before shutting it.

"We've recently heard of a group of monks that are in danger. Your Chronomancers found a world filled with enormous and ravenous insects. Our monks are out of food and their defenses are falling. They crave our blood and powers. Their lives are in danger and your people are not doing anything to save them. I come to you for help." The monk said slowly in his eerie voice.

"Why wouldn't we want to help your people? Did they give you a reason?" Herrior asked pulling out his hearthstone. The monk shook his head as his hood moved back and forth.

Herrior rubbed his hearthstone and contacted one of the King's ambassadors.

"Herrior here. I have one of our monks with us right now and he is reporting that we found some more of his kind and we haven't sent our parties to help them. I'm willing to go help. Is there something I should know before we go?" Herrior asked.

"The King has not said to dispatch our groups to help." The tauren ambassador said.

Herrior looked at him in shock and continued, "I mean no disrespect to his decisions or the decisions you have made but I must disagree."

"It is too risky, even with our time stopping capabilities."

"I'm willing to take the risk and accept the responsibilities." Herrior said back.

"The infestation has spread from world to world, devouring everything in their paths. Anything that comes or goes from the world they pick up the scent and follow it." The ambassador said.

"We'll go to a dead world first, and then hop to their world. There has to be some way of saving their people. We have ships that can travel in space; we could use those to hop in and out of. We could drop multiple bombs to form a perimeter, and then bombard them with missiles from space. They have helped us so much throughout the history of Tranquil and I strongly oppose just letting their kind sit back and die." Herrior fired back.

The ambassador was stuck. She knew Herrior wasn't going to back down, nor would any of their primary groups from battle. She had her orders though. She leaned back and let out a sigh. She knew there would be conflict over this, however she did think of something.

"Come up with a plan; something to cover your tracks and ensure you leave no trace of your scent or anything. You'll need something rock solid and I will review it. If you are going to attempt something like this you better come up with something quick." The ambassador said.

"I'll contact you back in five minutes." Herrior said and closed the portal. He then turned to his party and said, "I need ideas."

"If they can track our portals, I can make several of them. We can bounce from space rock to space rock – problem being that most of our party needs to breathe and can't stand the coldness of space.

"When the King and I spoke privately we went to a very small world, probably only fifty feet wide and had very thin layer of air. If it supported my body it should support all of us long enough to close one portal and open another."

"Good, keep them coming other ideas – quickly!" Herrior said with urgency.

"Lindel and I don't give off a smell and I ignite myself on fire. All creatures that we have encountered are afraid of fire. Just she and I could go." Mohania said.

"I'm considering that option, other options…" Herrior said.

"If you want all of us to go, we can set up a series of timed explosions that we could have our engineers build for us – destroying any trace of where we were and also leaving an enormous crater for the bugs to fall into.

"I like the idea of setting up a trap. Dan get on your hearthstone and see what our engineers can dig up…quickly!" Herrior said. Dan pulled out his hearthstone and ran upstairs to talk without disturbing the rest of the group.

"I wouldn't suggest using our pets. I know Spark leaves his scent everywhere we go." Julie said.

Herrior nodded and said "We'll probably need every trap you guys can come up with. Lindel can you summon your army and have enough power to open multiple portals?"

"I doubt it…not with what we are talking about. Portal hopping takes a lot of power." Lindel replied.

"I can summon my ghouls, but I'm not sure how long they will survive. It takes about ten seconds of channeling." Veliline said.

"I don't plan on being there for that long. Jessica you can't open any portals can you?" Herrior asked.

"No, I can't even get one started. I have been continuing to study the arts…but no." Jessica said.

"I'll stay behind and fight off as many as I can to get you guys to safety." Jacklyn said. Several others piped up and said the same.

"No that is not an option I am willing to entertain right now. Trackolania, your dagger please." Herrior asked holding his hand up over his shoulder. Trackolania's dagger flew right into his hand as he clasped down on it. He knelt down to the ground and told Lindel to come over.

"Let's say this is your world here." Herrior said drawing a circle. He looked up at the monk and asked him what worlds around there are vacant.

"None" the monk responded.

"Damn… Lindel what known locations do we have…do you even know where the coordinates are?" Herrior asked. The monk held how his hand and a bolt of blue energy shot out of the monks hand and into Lindel's head.

"I do now. There are three known places we can hop to. I'll need Lew's or Mohania's power to bolster my own. I suggest we perform six hops. We'll go there first, bounce to the other two, and then travel back in time an hour snag as many monks as we can and then bounce in reverse along the same time line. Last bounce will be just outside of our former wall." Lindel said.

"I've got some engineers lined up with a series of huge explosives waiting. I figure we can plant those on the first hop and then set the timer on them." Dan said racing back down the stairs and putting away his hearthstone. He almost ran into the monk as he stopped inches from him. The monk was still blocking the door.

"Can I get out?" Dan asked. The monk slowly glided to the left as Dan raced out the door. He shouted for everybody to get back as he called for his faithful dragon and took to the air.

"It's settled then. Lindel, Lew, Mohania, and Dan will go. Lindel start storing up your power and I'll contact the ambassador again.

As soon as Herrior opened a portal to the ambassador, it was the King who answered and not the previous ambassador.

"You have a plan I'm assuming?" The King asked.

"Yes, do you want details?" Herrior asked back.

"It's your ass if something goes wrong." The King said and closed the portal.

"Do not let me down!" Herrior turned around and demanded of Lindel, Lew and Mohania.

"Thank you Herrior. I will wait in our catacombs for your arrival." The monk said as he turned around and left. His movements were so fluid like that it seemed very unnatural.

"Damn it!" Herrior said and threw his fist down at the ground. Trackolania's dagger flew out of his hand and Trackolania commanded it to return to his hand.

"Sorry about that…I need to control my temper. It feels like the weight of Tranquil is again lying on our shoulders. It also feels like we have a stern lecture if we fail coming…" Herrior said and let out a sigh. Herrior raised his finger and said "Lindel open a portal outside our wall." She opened the portal the same time Dan returned with the explosives. His bags and arms were overflowing.

"Make me proud." Herrior said and then nodded for them to leave.

"Ok here is our first and last bounce. Mohania I need you to start making hearthstones and slamming them into me as much as you can. Lew I'll need your totem and healing power to energize me. Dan you the same, but I realize your healing is not as good." Lindel said quickly. Mohania put his hands together as he compressed dark green magic into his hands. Seconds later he had one formed and put it in his pocket. At the same time Lew and Dan energized their shaman weapons with healing enchants and the engulfed their bodies with a dark blue splash of water that formed at their head and fell to the ground. Three blue circling orbs rotated around their bodies.

"All set?" Lindel asked. Everybody nodded as Dan handed over several odd looking square and triangle shaped objects to Mohania.

"Any particular button I shouldn't touch?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Making the first portal. This is going to go quick. I'll be the last one through, but I want everybody moving fast." Lindel said channeling her energy into opening the first portal. It opened and everybody ran through it as Lindel followed.

They appeared on a small floating rock in the depths of outer space. Lindel slammed the portal shut and quickly opened another. This one lead to the back side of a giant ball of ice that was swirling around in all different directions. The next one lead to stone sealed civilization. They were facing a large stone wall.

"Bombs…lay the bombs! I need to catch my breath." Lindel said visibly weakened. Lew put down his totem immediately as Lindel sat next to it.

"They have a ten minute timer!" Dan said frantically putting those about ten feet apart.

"We're supposed to evacuate an entire town in ten minutes?" Lew asked.

"We'll be going back in time. By the time we come back our scent will have spread over this world and the bugs will be coming. Also by then I'll have us in there." Lindel said pointing to a large stone building.

"Should we evacuate?" A monk asked coming out to see the commotion.

"My name is Dan. I am an ambassador from Tranquil. We made contact with your world and was sent to get all of you out of danger. One of your kind specifically came to our party and asked the request."

"I know nothing about this. Perhaps we should have a meeting of the council and discuss this." The monk said.

"Well that's odd…a desperate cry for help from the monks who apparently have no idea that a desperate cry was sent out. That is odd isn't it?" Mohania asked.

"Something isn't right…Lew can you take over and I'll go find out what's going on? Lindel have we arrived at the right time? Was there a problem with the portalling?" Dan asked.

"I know what I'm doing…" Lindel said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Ok – sorry. I'll be right back." Dan said and raced past the monk. He flung open the doors and saw thousands of monks – all on their knees and what looked like a green lightning bolt hitting a large metallic tower.

"Sorry to interrupt…but do you guys need evacuation? We were contacted and we are here…but…"

"Our plea for help has been received. How many of us can you take with you?" One of the monks asked as all of them stopped channeling their powers and turned to him.

"Uh…damn…to be honest we didn't anticipate this many. We only had planned to evacuate about thirty, maybe forty." Dan said trying to come up with another plan.

"It is decided then. Take our three women, all of our children and youngest males. The rest will stay and fight off the critities." A monk from the front said.

"Uh…damn again…we had anticipated blowing up this place and every place that we bounced to and from so as to leave no trace for these 'critities' to follow us…shit, ok let me go talk to the rest of my group."

"There is not time. Complete your mission." The monk said.

"What about the rest of you?" Dan asked.

"We will die…go!" The monk said pointing at Dan. Dan nodded and said that the ones that will be coming need to be rounded up quickly. Dan raced out of the building and heard Lindel's cries for him to hurry. Dan pumped his legs as hard as he could and yelled at them to finish the explosives and to come towards him.

"What's going on?" Lindel asked frantically.

"There are thousands of them in there!" Dan yelled back.

Lindel's face went pale almost instantly. "We can't move that many monks…" Dan caught up with them and asked if all of the weapons and detonators were setup and triggered. Mohania and Lew both acknowledged that they were. Some of them were already shooting off dozens of missiles over the wall.

"Where do we make the next leap?" Dan asked.

"We can't…they will die…" Lindel said.

"They are aware of that and I'm not happy about it either. You know when and where the next hop is going to be. Let's get our asses in there and save the ones that we can!" Dan yelled.

"Alright let's go." Lindel said as they raced back to the compound.

"This isn't the kind of battle triage we were taught…" Lew said.

"It's not taught in Tranquil either. We're getting the children, the woman, and some of the younger males. I told them we could take thirty…maybe forty." Dan said.

Lindel let out a moan in displeasure but still they ran towards the compounds. They could hear the rest of the traps starting to go off.

"I'll need about forty seconds to traverse time. I have to make sure it is correct or this whole mission, and our lives, will be in forfeit." Lindel said as they entered the compound. They say the monks and the three women standing behind the children…they assumed they were females anyways. There were no distinguishing features…just dark grey robes.

"Start it. Mohania we need to make some creative distractions. Lew you stay with Lindel and feed her power." Dan said quickly. There was a dull, sickening chewing sound in the distance and there was no doubt it was coming this way.

"One voidwalker coming up" Mohania said beginning to cast the spell. Dan held his hands out and created a giant earth elemental from the ground.

"Bad things are coming from that direction…go hold them off as long as you can." Dan shouted and pointed.

"Do what he said." Mohania said to his voidwalker. Both the elemental and voidwalker left to do their jobs.

"Good that will hold them for awhile." Dan said. An insect jumped over the tower and tore the elemental into pieces.

"Good call Dan…" Mohania said as he prepared himself for combat when it got closer. Dan dropped his fighting totems and put his weapons on his hands.

"Please move out of the way." The monks said moving single file out of the compound and into the war zone. The monks knew that Dan and Mohania didn't stand a chance and they both thought the same thought… "Sacrifice themselves in battle to save their loved ones…the same thing they would have done."

"Portal is ready!" Lindel yelled out.

"Get out of here." A monk said passing by him. Dan and Mohania both swore under their breath and moved back into the compound. They saw Lew motioning the monks to move quicker. Mohania pulled out his hearthstone and threw it at Lindel. It instantly energized her.

"Move quicker please…faster would be good…" Lew said waving his hand faster, half wanting to start pushing the monks through the portal. During this time Mohania created another hearthstone.

The sounds of the monks engaging the insects or "critities" as they called it filled the air.

"I hate standing here and listening to the sounds of battle and not being in it…" Mohania said obviously full of anxiety.

"No doubt…can you guys move any faster?" Dan asked.

"They are moving as fast as they can. Their bodies are not like ours." Lew said.

"Ten more…please hurry…" Lindel said. Just then the roof was ripped off as a giant insect looked down at them. It had dozens of eyes and long pinchers the shot down towards them. Dan and Mohania both hit it with fire. They continue their spells as the last ones got through. Dan summoned a huge gust of wind from inside and pushed the insect back out of the building. He then ran through the portal, and Lindel went through – slamming the portal shut.

"Nobody move…" Lew said as they were back on the racing comet.

"I'm working on it…" Lindel said opening another portal.

"Mohania, can you destroy this place after we leave?" Dan asked.

"Can't…remember we are now ten minutes behind the future us. I'd hate to kill us intentionally." Mohania said.

"Crap that's right." Dan said and then began looking around. He saw several other comets around him and debris falling off. He held his hands out and began to pull one towards them.

"Is that a good idea?" Mohania asked.

"It worked before." Dan said.

"And it won't hit us ten minutes from now?" Mohania asked.

"Shouldn't" Dan replied.

"Is this how you pulled that rock from space and had it hit Deathwing?" Mohania asked.

"I moved the rock…the rest was a bunch of calculations I had no idea what they meant. I just kept doing what she told me to do. Are you filled with confidence yet?" Dan asked and let go of the rock. It began to creep closer, but at a slow pace.

"Ok portal is open…let's go!" Lindel said.

"Ok let's do this faster. Is it ok for us to touch you?" Lew asked.

"Yes?" One of the monks said. She sounded female.

"Ok we are going to do a bucket brigade. Mohania and Dan go through the portal first. Lindel and I will pick them up and hand them to you." Lew said.

"What's a bucket…" Mohania started to ask.

"Nevermind…follow me." Dan said pulling on Mohania's robe and jumping through the portal.

"Ok, they are going to hand us monks, we'll put them here, then turn around and do the same." Dan said as he grabbed the first monk and placed…whatever gender it was…behind him.

"Gottcha." Mohania said and grabbed the next monk. This sped up the time by twice as much. The monks repositioned themselves on the small rock as they were pulled through.

A minute later they were done and Lindel closed the portal. "Opening the next one…" Lindel said sounding exhausted. Mohania gave her another hearthstone as Lew and Dan started to heal her. Lindel started to feel the power pour in her as she dumped more power into the portal.

"Why all of the different hops?" One of the child monks asked.

"Cover our trail." Dan said.

"Will the bugs follow us?" The same child asked.

"We're trying not to let them." Dan said.

"Almost there…" Lindel said as she dumped the last bunched of energy she had into the portal. Lindel fell to the ground and Lew dropped right down beside her and picked her up with one arm and ran through.

They were back on the outside of the old wall, but not in the same place. Lew had a bad feeling about it, but set her down as she dropped a healing and mana spring totem next to her. Lew then ran back and saw monks coming out.

"Bucket brigade again…" Lew shouted out.

"Only me and you Lew. How is Lindel doing?" Dan asked.

"She's been better. What's wrong with Mohania?" Lew asked sounding confused.

"There's nobody for Mohania to hand a monk to, that's why it's just me and you. Mohania is at the back checking for signs of the bugs." Dan said.

Lew felt dumb for asking but said, "Ok" anyways. Two rows of monks were coming out. The monks walking on the right side, and on the left side Lew grabbed the monks handed to him and turned around and placed them down quickly.

It took more time, but eventually everybody was through and Lindel rose to her feet and closed the portal.

"Ok…let's recap. We saved thirty two of them. We don't know where we are exactly, and are we sure that those explosives will do their jobs?" Lew asked with his hands on his knees breathing hard and looking at Dan and Mohania.

"We're two hundred yards west of where we left. We are back in the present time and we don't want us to see us leave." Lindel said.

"Makes sense" Lew said not understanding it.

"According to the engineers, those explosive devices will wipe out half of their planet…but there was also an argument that it will only blow up one forth of their planet…" Dan said.

"Do they ever agree on anything?" Lew asked. Dan shook his head with a smile and said, "Hardly ever…"

"Do any of you need healing?" Mohania asked after he created a new healthstone. All at the same time the monks said, "No".

"A little eerie, but that's good that none of you are hurt." Mohania said. "So what's the plan?"

"I need to recharge." Lindel said sitting down." Lew dropped a totem by place his hand out as it magically appeared to grow from the ground.

"Are we in a safe place?" Dan asked.

Lindel shook her head and said "No. The ground isn't stable, who knows what could come out of the fissures and volcanoes that have sprouted up from the ground. We need about twenty four hours to make sure those bugs didn't follow us. We need to setup a perimeter and formulate a plan…and I don't have any power right now."

"If we are taking precautions like that, we shouldn't make any transmissions to Tranquil either. I say we move everybody up against the corner of the rock wall. That way we only have three possible attacks against us rather than four."

"Makes sense. Lew can you carry Lindel and the rest of you can you move with us?" Mohania asked looking at the monks. They all slowly nodded in unison. Then all at the same time they turned around and began walking towards the wall. Mohania looked back at Lew and Dan for a second and then shrugged his shoulders. Lew and Dan looked back and gave a confused look back. Lew bent down and lifted Lindel off from the ground as they walked with them.

It took then nearly an hour to get to the stone wall. All of the monks lined up against the wall and sat down at the same time.

"Ok this is weird even for me. What's the deal with all of the synchronizing walking and talking?" Mohania asked.

"We are scared." The monk closest to him said.

"And when you are scared you all synchronize your minds to do the same thing?" Mohania asked.

"Yes. That way none of us do the wrong thing." The same monk said.

"The past events were probably very tragic for you as well. We are doing our best to help you guys…and gals." Lindel said. The monk nodded.

"Ok so let's let them do as they want." Lindel said to the rest of their party. "All of you can lie down; take a deep breath, whatever you want. We're going to start forming a perimeter and take turns keeping watch."

"You take the last watch, I'll take the first." Lew said gently setting Lindel down and summoning another totem for her.

"There are four of us, and my earth elemental was useless against them. If they do follow us what is our plan of attack?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…I guess that would be step two… I'm open to suggestions." Mohania said.

"I can portal us to another location real quick. I'll need time though."

"I can distract them with what's left of the elements in this dying world. Haven't found out yet if they are immune to time stopping. It they are we have a huge advantage." Dan said.

"And if they aren't we have a huge disadvantage. I can create an illusion of a rock wall around us so that we blend into the rock wall, worked for the dumbass ghouls." Mohania said.

"These are bugs though, if they have a sense of smell you can create all of the illusions you want." Dan said back.

"Yeah…I can't create the smell of ass." Mohania said. "We could have the three of us separate and try to lure them away as long as possible."

"Wouldn't we be stronger together?" Lew asked.

"Yes, but if we could get the bugs away from the monks and Lindel – she'll have a chance to evacuate them. We have to complete the mission at all costs." Mohania said.

"Agreed, but look at our group. We have two DPS, and two healers. I'll be able to withstand blows the best out of everybody. Mohania can tank with his voidwalker and I'll summon a rock elemental to help. When they die, then I'll do my best." Dan said.

"And when you die I will use your body as a shield." Mohania said smiling.

"Mine-as-well, I won't need it – unless I can bring myself back to life again. Shaman's seem to be able to do that, but I don't know how many times and at what cost." Dan said.

"I think you missed the joke…" Mohania said disappointed.

"Naw, I'm just used to you now. How are you feeling Lindel?" Dan asked.

"Recovering…slowly." She responded.

"Can we speed up your recovering by healing you?" Dan asked.

"I have learned to draw power from any source I can get, but you should conserve your mana."

"Why don't you do your 'summon an army trick' and then drain their power?" Mohania asked.

"Don't have the power to do that…" Lindel said with a half-hearted smile. Mohania began to produce a healthstone as Lindel started to say that wasn't necessary. At the same time Dan started healing her to the best of his ability. Between both of them they were able to get Lindel up and moving around again. They told Lew to save his power, but to keep refreshing his healing totem.

"So what did we decide on, slow death or fast death?" Lindel asked.

"Fast death for us…where would they be coming from Lindel?" Mohania asked.

"You know in all probability none of them can create a portal, let alone all of the portals we did, including the back-stepping in time and blowing up half…or one forth of their world…which ever. Dan probably destroyed the comet and the tiny rock that we were on they probably fell off from it. Hell I'm surprised we made it and none of us fell off from it and we all made it through the portal. I'm really disappointed at the number of monks we were able to rescue…" Lindel said. She obviously had more strength than before.

"What if we move positions? Is the wall still up that we used to defend? How about putting Lindel and the monks there? That way we only have to worry about the entrance and from above." Dan suggested.

"Sounds good to me…depending on how long it takes for our friends to move." Mohania said motioned his skeleton head towards the monks.

"Hmm…" Dan said aloud.

"It would give us a plan. Right now it doesn't sound like we have anything solid yet." Lew said.

"New boy has a point. Plus if they do have the ability to flap their arms and hop on one foot like babbling woman does, then we'll at least have more time to prepare for battle." Mohania said.

"New boy…babbling woman…what's my nickname?" Dan asked.

"Ass" Mohania replied.

"Haven't forgotten that word yet have you… Ok let's begin our short journey that is going to take a long time." Dan said.

"Our powers are fading – we will be unable to make the trip." One of the monks said.

"That is sort of 'need to know' information…" Mohania snapped back. Lindel walked up to one and held his hand.

"What kind of power do you need?" Lindel asked.

"This desolate place is draining our powers. We need life…this world is dead." The monk said.

"That's simple; we'll just move our location. The rolling hills of Eelek are abundant with trees and flowers. Is it sunlight that recharges you?" Lindel asked.

"There are many types of trees and flowers that instantly kill our kind, even the small amount of mold and pollen in the air. This is why there are so few of us." The monk said.

"Sheesh…picky aren't they…" Mohania said.

"We have to get them into Tranquil…" Lindel said letting go of his hand and turning around to look at the rest of her party. They all knew what they had to do and acknowledged that by nodding at each other.

"We'll move them, and the four of us will stay here." Lindel said.

"If they can portal jump, they'll jump right into Tranquil from this point." Dan said reminding them.

"Tranquil will give us more fighters if the buggies show up. Plus letting them die slowly I'm pretty sure would upset Herrior." Mohania said.

"What about getting some more explosives and leaving them here? We know those whatcha-ma-call-its worked against the bugs, and it looks like this planet is dead – like they said. We'll plant the devices and any that show up will be bug juice. Plus from what Lindel is saying the chances of them getting here are slim." Lew said.

"Boring boy has a point. We've already half-failed the mission, I don't want to completely fail it. Lindel can you open a portal just inside of their catacombs?" Mohania asked.

Lindel nodded and quickly formed a portal as she began to pour her powers into it. Once it was big enough for them to walk in, she motioned for the monks to start walking through and they did.

"Find Herrior and tell him we are remaining out here until we know there isn't a threat." Lindel told them as they walked through. Ten minutes later Lindel closed the portal.

"Well…did we doom us all or help their race survive?" Lindel asked.

"I love multiple choice questions." Mohania said smiling. He continued and said, "Shall we place bets as to when big hairy boy gives us a call to scold us?"

"I doubt he would question our judgment…" Dan said as their hearthstones began to all vibrate.

"Sorry dumbass…I'll get back to you on that one." Mohania said as he pulled out his hearthstone. It was Herrior.

"Were you successful?" Herrior asked quickly.

"We rescued thirty two of them…the rest of them perished. They were dying the longer they were staying out here. We went over several different scenarios and choose sending them to Tranquil would be the best option." Lindel said. They all saw Herrior nod. He then asked what their plan was.

"Actually…we don't know. We have several ideas, but don't have enough information to do something. I will take the blame for that." Dan said.

"No need in apologizing for not knowing what to do. What options do you have?" Herrior asked.

"Stay here and try to defend the bugs from getting into Tranquil…if they can make portals. We would lay down a lot of traps for the bugs…again if they can make portals." Dan said.

"Can they make portals?" Herrior asked.

"We don't know. We know the monks have the power, but they would fight until the very end like we would. Besides, I don't think they can speak bug. Also they have no idea where and what time we made the jumps. Even if they did we left traps for them and I highly doubt they would be able to follow the same path." Lindel said.

"I will take your word for it. Come back into Tranquil and let us all go speak with the King." Herrior said and closed the portals.

"So what's worse…talking to our leader about 'We sort of completed the mission' versus telling the King that?" Lew asked.

"Good question. I nominate dumbass to tell the King. The rest of us will wait outside. I'll collect your body parts and put them to good use." Mohania said.

"Quit scaring him…" Lindel said quickly eyeing Mohania as she made a portal for them.

They met up with Herrior inside of Tranquil and saw a warm inviting smile coming from him. "You made me proud. I look forward to hearing your tales of valor. I'll go with you to see the King. He wants to speak with all of you personally." Herrior and the rest of his party smiled at them as well as they all walked together towards the new palace being constructed – fortified with new defenses in place.

"My King, may I present to you the four members of my party that have rescued the monks." Herrior said and motioned for them to come forward. Lindel, Lew, Mohania, and Dan all walked forward and bowed slightly – Lew did last as he didn't know what to do.

"I was leery about this mission. I hold our monks in the deepest respect and are esteemed members of our city, but I did not know anything about the mission. Typically I turn down missions we don't know much about, this one in particular we knew nothing about except our Chronomancers picked up a distress call from a colony of monks that were in danger. That was all of the information they could give us. Word spreads quickly in Tranquil as many of you know and our monks found out. Not that it is a bad thing…most of the time…because I want our fighters and citizens informed as to what is going on in our city. The reaction the monks had was the same reaction Mohania had to the undead that he sensed and the selfless act of wanting to help at all costs. I don't know why the monk wanted your group specifically; my guess is because they wanted a time stopper…that is just my guess though. So tell me everything that happened." The King said and leaned forward in his chair.

The four of them took turns filling in their epic adventure and what they did. They expressed sorrow when they came to the part about only taking some of them and the decision they had to make to only take some of them and how the rest of the monks left to fight the beasts. The King stopped them right there and said in a sad voice, "I grieve their losses the same as you do. Unfortunately that is what had to be done. I will personally express my sadness with them and cry with them later. You may come if you wish. But if you had not done what you did it would have been a complete total loss. Also…I wasn't aware they could have children…or that they had females. That is very interesting. Proceed with the story please." Lindel continued to talk as Dan and Mohania filled in some of the details. Lew kept quiet most of the time.

As the story came to an end, The King asked Herrior why he chose those four members of his party to go.

"I have no problem putting my party in danger in order to fulfill a mission. I picked Dan for his ability to manipulate time if needed, Lindel of course as the Chronomancer, Mohania because his body can withstand environments that many of us cannot, and I choose Lew as a healer to help restore Lindel's power." Herrior said.

"I figured as much, I just wanted you to say that aloud. Lew you still new to Tranquil and our sense of honor as a fighter. You have proved yourself in this mission and the missions before. I looked forward to hearing more stories about you. Let me ask you a question Lew, why did you give up everything to join us? Why after the blasting did you still want to be a fighter? Why do you fight beside your party with nerves of steel and not flinch? What is your opinion of everything that has happened and is happening?" The King asked looking at Lew.

Lew took a deep swallow before he answered. "My King, my life before…well I didn't really have a life before this…not to mention I died and Lindel brought me back to life. I was asked the same question by Herrior, and then disciplined when I was out of order. It seemed hard, but it wasn't. I haven't felt the love within our group, or in this city, that I ever have experienced before. This is bigger than anything I have ever experienced before and I am honored to be a part of it." Lew said as the King waved his hand in silence.

"Lew…you stood by Herrior's side. You sent your men to guard Herrior day and night. You walked with him and talked with him as if you have loved each other for years. Why is that?" The King asked.

"I heard of his stories, well not so much his stories but all of their stories, when I took the job at the police station. I have been around officers that have cried and I have been around some that have tried to kill themselves because of what they saw. Because of the stories that I heard about them and what they have done for us on Earth and for our officers, the least I figured I could do was be with him. Many like to cry alone, but that is a myth. When he cried, he cried hard and for days. I saw the leadership in him, the kindness in him, and the…uh…human side of him. I'm sorry if that term offends you." Lew said quickly.

"It does not offend me at all, why would it?" The King asked.

"I don't see many humans in Tranquil and from my understanding you kind of want to keep it that way. I understand some of the reasons, but I used to the term to relate it as a compliment." Lew said quickly and his words were scattered.

The King smiled and said, "Calm yourself Lew. I am human as well as my Queen – it's just our bodies have been altered because of the length of time we have stayed in Tranquil. Our priest is human. Your members of your party have humans in it, and many of the humans on your world we trust…and many of them we don't trust. It's curious that two people raised in the same house would betray the other for profit or some sort of personal gain. Take the taurens for example. They all have been raised in their world and none of them exhibit the same the same traits. We're just cautious is all. Not with you though, you have proven yourself and will be treated as a fighter – just the same as the rest of our fighters. I would encourage you to practice your powers…not only for healing but for battle as well. There may be a time when you have to fight." The King said and then leaned back in his throne and asked with his hand stroking his new beard. "Tell me Lew…if you could have anything – anything or go anywhere at all, where would you go and what would you want?"

"I…have everything I want. I don't need anything. I would like to go check up on my officers…" Lew caught himself really quick and corrected himself, "I mean…Paul's officers now. But I have built a kinship with them, as if everything that we have done has been for them."

"You would feel the same for any race if given the same situation…would you not?" The King asked.

Lew thought about the question for awhile and slowly shook his head back and forth and said, "Yes I guess I would. My King may I ask a question…if I may?"

"Lew, it is fine. You may ask anything you want, or you may contact one of my ambassadors if you wish to ever speak with me personally. Go ahead with your question." The King said with a warming smile.

"Do all races, uh – trolls, taurens, and others, raise families similar to ours on Earth? Many of them just want to raise their young, do the best that they can for them, and then spend their years in the arms of the one they love?" Lew asked.

The King kept smiling and stroked his beard. "The answer of course is yes, but for many races they raise many young ones and have jobs to occupy their time. Are you interested in doing that?"

"No my King, it was just a question. I have many questions, but probably many of which will be answered in time." Lew answered quickly.

"Yes they will, but don't be afraid to ask – that is how you learn. Speaking of, Jessica how goes your studies as a Chronomancer?" The King asked catching everybody off guard.

"Slow my King. There is much I have to learn. I've got a copy of the first archive though." Jessica said pulling it out of one of her bags.

"Good to hear. Just don't make too many more copies of it. I wouldn't want that information to fall into the wrong hands. Are there any more questions?" The King asked. Nobody said anything so everybody bowed as they left the palace.

"You're still learning?" Lindel asked surprised.

"Well I'm reading yes…learning though…no." Jessica said. "But I'm going to try."

"Why didn't you tell me? I can help you out with that." Lindel said.

"It's sorta…boring. It takes a lot of reading in order for something to click in my head, and then after it does I have to go back and reread the same thing to fully understand what it said." Jessica said.

"Let me help, what part are you on?" Lindel said excitedly.

"Uh…the pages here with the circles, triangles, and other symbols that I have no idea what it means." Jessica said pulling the book out and opening it to where her bookmark was.

"Oh – that little squiggly heart symbol doesn't mean anything; I just put that there because it looks cute…" Lindel said giggling.

"You're pathetic." Mohania said shaking his head.

"What…in your teachings you don't take pride in your work and put a personal touch to it?" Lindel asked.

"I do, but it's not a 'squiggly heart symbol'…" Mohania said.

"Herrior, can we let them argue and go speak alone?" Dan asked. Herrior nodded and put his hand on Dan's back and led him away from the group.

"Did we do good?" Dan asked.

"You did good. But this is something that the rest of the group should hear. Is there something else?" Herrior asked.

"There wasn't a specific person you put in charge. We didn't have a problem accepting each other's suggestions, but we seemed…well…lost." Dan said.

"I'm not always going to be there to pass on leadership roles. From what I heard you did fine. Your doubts are the same as the rest of our party is experiencing and we should speak with them about it as well, unless there is another personal question?"

"I'm doubting my time stopping abilities. I thought I was being guided and taught to use my powers…until we found out it was a ship full of demons bent on destroying Tranquil. Now I feel like I'm on my own. I feel like there were rules…but now there are no rules. What I was teaching my students is wrong and now I have to tell them I was wrong. I know more about time stopping than the rest of the time stoppers, but at the same time I feel ignorant of the subject now." Dan said.

Herrior nodded and looked up in the sky. He saw the dragons, banshees, and fairies flying around as busy as ever. He waited for a moment and then said, "My wisdom fails me right now" with a smile. Herrior looked back down at Dan and said, "I don't know what the rules are, I have seen you do things that make no sense at all – to anybody. As a warrior I am taught my skills and my talents are enhanced. Occasionally I fumble across a new move or idea and discuss it with my fellow warriors. They then talk about it and try it out; from there we weigh the pros and cons of the idea…it usually ends up with us drinking ourselves silly – but that probably doesn't help you. If you get a new idea, try it out."

"It seems like it takes more power to stop time for bigger creatures than it does for smaller creatures…which doesn't make sense. The aliens only tried to stop time as a last resort and I immediately reversed it – causing an explosion…which doesn't make sense. Time is just the same as a table or a drop of water – it can be altered. Now only can I alter time, but now I can alter the elements…wait no that's not true. I can create creatures from the elements – but elements cannot be altered…" Dan said continuing to ramble on. Herrior started to laugh and that made Dan stop talking.

"Good to have you back again. Just don't let it overwhelm you…ok?" Herrior said patting him on the shoulder.

"Got carried away didn't I?" Dan asked smiling.

"Let us go speak with the monks. I am curious as to how they are doing." Herrior said giving him a slight nod. They met up with the other members of the party and began walking towards the catacombs.

Once they arrived they made their way down the dark and moist twisting tunnels until they came to the solid heavy wooden door. Herrior knocked on it and moment later it was opened.

"Herrior – it is a pleasure to see you. Please come in." A monk said. They all walked in and Crystal had a chill rush straight up her spine. The monks sensed it, and the same monk spoke up and said, "We are sorry that you are still uneasy around us Crystal."

"No it's fine, just a little chilly is all." Crystal said lying.

"We are grateful that you took on the mission and saved our fellow kinsmen." The monk said changing the subject and slowly turning to look at Herrior.

"The pleasure belongs to the four fighters of my group that accomplished this. Do you know if the bugs followed them through or if we should expect to be attacked?" Herrior asked.

"They can only follow a portal if it is open, the same as the rest of us. Once the portal is closed, they cannot follow." The monk said and suddenly a deep sickening fell over Lindel. She started shedding tears.

"Don't be sad, you rescued many of our kind and we are in your debt." The monk said walking over to Lindel.

"Herrior…I spent so much time…I wasted so much time planning the 'what-if's' and how to keep us safe that I nearly wiped out their entire population…" Lindel said in-between tears. The monk finally made his way over to her and wrapped his clothed robes around her. She cried…hard. Herrior let her. Nothing was said for ten minutes. Lindel finally shook her head and apologized as she tried to compose herself. The monk let go of her as she rubbed her eyes clear.

"You must not apologize. You must not grieve. We are thankful for you undertaking this enormous task, especially without the King's full blessing. We are thankful for you four for bringing us children and females. We are thankful for knowing that there are more like us out there. Lastly we are thankful that there are still fighters out there that are willing to risk their lives for us." The monk said.

"It was our honor. I am curious as to why you choose us?" Herrior asked. The monk pointed at Dan and said, "He had the power to increase the chances for success. He also is considered royalty and has more influence with the King. We needed help and quickly. We did not have time to debate it with your ambassadors when your Chronomancers heard their cries. We did not follow procedures and were, still are, afraid that we have angered the King."

"We have just come from speaking with the King. He seemed pleased with the mission. I sensed he was more curious with our party that I sent then with you not following procedures." Herrior said reassuring them.

"We will be able to produce offspring now, and pass on our knowledge to the younger generation. With the youth will come new ideas, new powers, and perhaps better means of blasting." The monk said. He then turned to Dan and said, "This has been proven through you. You are still young but possess the mind of child. Your curiosity strengthens you. Your questions lead to more questions…some leading to failed answers, and some leading to powers that none of us have ever imagined." The monk turned back to Herrior and said, "We will follow the laws of Tranquil. Before we reproduce with our women that were brought to us, we will marry them. Thank you again." The monk said and then turned away from Herrior.

"The pleasure was ours. I am glad to hear we completed our mission and brought happiness to your race." Herrior said and motioned for everybody to leave.

Once outside, Lindel began to cry again. Herrior looked at Branzer and motioned him to go to her. He led her aside and they sat on the ground and cried together.

"We didn't know. We could have saved more." Dan said.

"What you did was done perfectly and flawlessly. You had limited information and had Tranquil's safety in mind. You did everything you could do. As a fighter you always want to keep the city safe…always. Remember that above all else. Take this for example…" Herrior said and stopped a passing female troll. He told her about their recent mission very quickly and said Dan had doubts about it.

"You be not havin' doubts mon! You be a hero, you all be heros. We not be tanking all of you enough!" The troll ran over and picked up Dan and kissed him hard and gave him a big hug.

"It be because of you dat we be livin' today. You need to be pushing dem nasty doubts aside and be looking around mon. Everybody be lovin' everybody and dat because you be fighting every day. You be risking yo' lives every day so dat we be livin' free today. You ever be havin' does nasty doubts you come see me and I be planting another big ol' kiss on you…you be remember dat." The troll said with a laugh and walked away.

"That was your example?" Dan asked turning to Herrior. "I'm married to Crystal and she kissed me like that?"

"What? Sorry I wasn't paying attention…" Crystal said unphased. She was talking with Bernett about Paul the new Lieutenant.

"Everybody knows you are married. Crystal, a random troll just kissed Dan." Herrior said.

"Did you get some tongue action?" Crystal asked with a smile.

"Nobody would do anything to interfere with your marriage. The reason why you don't get more hugs and kisses is because you are lost in your own mind, contemplating whatever thoughts you have going on in your mind. There is a time to think, a time to relax, a time to fight, and a time to kill." Herrior said. He paused for awhile and said, "Remember, there is a time to relax."

"Yeah yeah…relax time. No there wasn't any tongue action…so have people been thanking you?" Dan asked Crystal. She nodded and said, "Usually I turn my head quick enough so they kiss me on the cheek."

"They thank me by tackling me!" Quinely said morphing into a bear. "Herrior can I go tackle some people?"

"Sure – go have fun." Herrior said and Quinely left quickly letting out loud non-threatening growls. Soon half dozen children ran into her and began to climb on her. She started laughing and playing with them.

"That woman laughs too much…" Mohania said.

"Do you want to watch another horror movie?" Jessica asked.

"Yes!" Mohania said quickly turning around with a big grin.

"And what do you do when you watch these movies?" Jessica asked.

"I laugh hard! Wait…this was a trick question…" Mohania said as everybody laughed.

A week passed giving Herrior's party a nice relaxful time. Many parties were sent on missions and had completed them successfully. Brenna hosted them in her house for two nights as she enjoyed watching them eat her delightful treats. Jessica spent two days studying her book with Branzer with his ambassador manuals. Herrior and Lindel weren't far in case they had a question. Julie and Trackolania spent more time walking the city streets and doing activities together. Dan and Crystal watched from a distance as they enjoyed their own alone time as well. Dan said that he wanted a couple of hours a day to study and teach his students every day. Crystal understood but went with him on his trips. The rest of the party spent time in the arenas, watching and trying new moves. When they weren't sparring they were at a tavern, telling tales of their battles, and listening to over-exaggerated tales from other groups.

One morning Herrior decided that it might be time to start working on an old promise. He told his group that he wanted to go to the station and first of all see how things are going, and secondly look for a lost wife. They all gathered together as Lindel opened a portal and out they walked into their room in the station. It still had a dirt floor, but had tinted windows and several skylights installed, tinted as well, to lighten up the room.

"Can anybody see in here?" Herrior asked curious about the new additions.

"No, it's like a one-way mirror. We can see out, nobody can see in. It also looks like they have added many other nice features as well." Branzer said looking out the window. The station had grown by leaps and bounds. Instead of three buildings with cells, there were now nine. They had state-of-the-art cruisers, all looking like they could hit two hundred miles an hour easily. There were new recruits outside training and several of them looked like regular civilians.

"Bring back any memories?" Bernett asked.

"Yeah…an old life I don't want to go back to. It looks like they have a citizen's training program of some kind, new cell blocks, and an assortment of other buildings. Doesn't even look like the same station." Branzer said and then turned around. He tapped his trinket and turned into officers like the rest of the group, again successfully hiding their armor and weapons.

"Shall we give the new Lieutenant a nice warm welcoming…the same that we did for all the rest?" Skyka asked.

"Give the man a break…you've already taken several years off from my life…" Lew said as he shot her a look.

"You have to admit…we had fun!" Skyka said and laughed.

"Come on…" Lew said opening the door and heading out of the room. The building still had the same layout, probably so they could find their way around. Lew turned at the Lieutenant's door and knocked. The sound of a ball bouncing off a wall could faintly be heard when the voice from inside said to come in.

Lew opened the door and Paul instantly snapped around from his daydreaming and stood at attention.

"At ease soldier, we have just come to see what has been happening." Lew said.

"Also we need to find the wife of a man called George McCarline. It would be easier with just one name…but different world, different rules." Herrior said.

"We have been investigating that, tried to follow several leads, questioned several people about the last known whereabouts, or any applications for passports under her name. We have extinguished every lead except a Native American ground that we have no jurisdiction over.

"She's there." Lindel said quickly. "I can sense her though Paul. She's been beaten, scared and has given up all hope. I can't locate a place to portal us there…I need something else to go on."

"What…how do you know that? You can't possibly…"

"How's the car running for you Paul? Having any problems with it?" Branzer spoke up quickly.

"I've…yeah it's been fun. Single-handedly stopped five high speed chases and had more arrests in that vehicle than all of our police cruisers combined. But that doesn't answer…"  
"Yes it does, do the math." Branzer said smiling and tapping his head with his pointer finger. "Bring up the location and we'll see what we can do."

"We have no jurisdiction there; it would cause an uproar of politics and lawyers chewing our asses out." Paul repeated.

Branzer tapped his trinket and turned into a Native American. Paul jumped back in surprise as Branzer said, "We have jurisdiction to go anywhere and do anything we want. Bring up the location." Branzer then tapped his trinket again turning back into an officer.

"Yes sir…" Paul said quickly sitting down in his chair and bringing up the file. Within seconds he brought up the file and a picture of her as well as a description.

"Lindel?" Branzer asked looking at her and motioning her over.

"That's the face I saw. She weighs less now…and I can feel more of her presence. Let me read this and try to get more." Lindel said pushing Paul out of the way.

"Hey…" Paul began to say but was interrupted with Herrior saying, "Shut up Paul or you'll be fed to our undead. Let Lindel do her job." Mohania began to chant a spell and Herrior turned around quickly and looked at him.

"Just practicing?" Mohania said smiling with a shrug.

"Naw…this is all crap, bunch of written crap about nothing…" Lindel said scrolling the pages down faster than Paul could see. She turned to her and said, "Where is this place at?"

"Utah – the northeastern part." Paul said.

"That doesn't help…Paul open your eyes." Lindel said and dispersed her body into millions of tiny lights that floated into Paul's eyes. Paul struggled at first, but within seconds Lindel had complete control over his body.

"This man is stealing money on the side to line his own pockets. I'd suggest handing him over to Mohania for a day or so…teach him a thing or two about honor." Paul said in his voice, but Lindel speaking for him.

"Herrior?" Mohania asked.

"I'll consider it." Herrior replied.

"Ok got the location. I don't know why these idiots have to have everything on computers and paper. It would be much easier with maps. Shall I inflict any damage on my way out?" Paul asked.

"No, we have more important matters at hand. Let's get going. Bring us as close to his wife's location as we can." Herrior said.

Lindel flew out of Paul's eyes, but as the last little bit came gave him a brief shock and sent him flailing backwards. She materialized and said, "Oops" with a smile.

"We'll deal with you later Paul…open a portal for us Lindel." Herrior said. Mohania touched trinket and revealed his true self. "Put a little meat on your bones…I'll enjoy devouring you."

"Mohania!" Herrior said.

Mohania touched his trinket and said, "Just giving him some advice…" with a smile.

"No advice until we get back. Everybody transform and let's retrieve our target and fulfill our promise." Herrior said as Lindel had the portal fully opened. They each touched their trinkets and changed into Americans with a strong Indian looks to them. As they passed through the portal they heard Paul in the background apologizing and promising to get this fixed right away.

On the other side of the portal they arrived in a dark misty basement. There were cobwebs hanging from everywhere, spiders seemed to rule this place.

"Quinely?" Herrior asked.

"I'm searching…there's a lot of commotion above us, hundreds of people and I'm trying to isolate them for a woman on this floor." Quinely said sounding irritated.

"Same here Herrior." Lindel said with her hand to her head trying to find her as well.

"Everybody spread out. Don't go farther than twenty kilometers from this spot. Hide yourselves if you can. If needed, you are authorized to kill." Herrior said.

Herrior's party spread out in all directions. Trackolania instantly stealthed himself and instantly ran off in a direction he thought it would be; the other hunters stealthed themselves as well as Lindel. Mohania and Crystal stuck together as they set off for the search. They were also the first ones to be spotted.

They opened a door and saw five men looking at them confused.

"Who are you?" Mohania asked.

"I was going to ask you the same question. You aren't authorized to be down here – get back up and work the casino!" A man replied.

"I've never worked a day in my life…tell me where the woman is and I'll promise to not spare your lives!" Mohania said. Crystal whispered something in Mohania's ear and he said, "Oh…I mean I will spare you life…I get those confused."

"Who are you to speak such things to me?" The same man stood up and pulled a gun from his belt. "I suggest you apologize and then leave – and then don't let me see your face again!"

"Manners…manners gentlemen…" Crystal said pushing past Mohania. She could feel the heat building inside of him. "A lady is present, let's show some respect. We're here for the woman you are holding hostage. You hand her over and we'll be on our way."

"We're not holding anybody hostage. Who are you guys?"

Mohania dropped his disguise and turned back into his undead self. He erupted in flame and let out a loud howl. The men in the room became instantly terrified and began stumbling over their chairs and table. Mohania began throwing fire around the room, igniting the wooden objects on fire. Both Crystal and Mohania gathered up each person as Mohania reached down and dislocated one knee on each man. Their cries of pain echoed through the room as they were dragged out and back to the party that had assembled.

"These guys might know something." Mohania said throwing one of them at Herrior's feet. Herrior picked him up by the neck and asked, "Where is she?"

"Who… Who are you guys?" Herrior crushed his neck and threw him aside.

"Maybe one of you knows where she is?" Herrior said tapping his trinket and exposing his true self.

"The cellar! Down the hall that way, there is a hatch." Herrior picked him up by the arm and said, "If you are wrong, your death won't be as quickly. Lindel get rid of the rest of the evidence. Catch up with us when you are done. Jacklyn give her a hand." Herrior began running down the hall and saw the cellar. Herrior threw the man at it and ordered him to open it.

"I don't have the key!" The man pleaded. Trackolania had unlocked the lock before he could finish the sentence and flung the door open. Inside were dozens of women of all ages. They all screamed when they saw Herrior.

"Shut the door." Herrior said and Trackolania did immediately.

"Why are you holding all of these women hostage?" Herrior asked the man.

"Sex trafficking…we'll shut it down immediately…" The man said. Herrior tossed him behind him and ordered him to be killed. Dan had the pleasure of taking the last breathe out of his body – impaled on his fist weapons stuck in his chest. He pushed him aside and wiped off his short blades.

"Branzer…is sex trafficking similar to prostitution?" Herrior asked.

"These ladies are forced to have sex…but receive no compensation for it." Branzer said.

"I've already been spotted, I can't be seen again. Branzer you are going to have to take it from here. All of you change into a disguise that Branzer sees fit for the situation. Trackolania after Branzer has them calmed down, I want them sleeping. Afterwards I'll meet you at the station. Lindel are the other men in a safe location?" Herrior asked.

"Until after our mission…unless the other undead get to them before Mohania does." Lindel said. Mohania nodding sinisterly until he realized what she said and said, "Wait…I want a piece of the torturing…"

"What's going on down there?" A voice yelled.

"Feeding the cattle…" Lindel said in a man voice similar to the one that Herrior crushed his neck.

"You need some help?"

"You want to touch our ticket to easy money? It's not my turn to hose them down…" Lindel said back.

"Alright, just keep it quiet." The man said and a heavy door just shut.

"You want I should kill him too?" Mohania asked grinning.

"I'll watch the door, you got your orders." Herrior said and ran off.

Branzer tapped his trinket and turned into a special operation officer for the armed forces. The rest of them did the same. Branzer ran over and knocked on the door.

"This is Officer Branzer with the United Stated special operations forces. Are you ok in there?"

"There is a beast outside!" Many of them screamed.

"It was a man dressed up as one. We have neutralized all threats and are prepared to rescue all of you. May I open the door? We haven't got much time." Branzer said. There was no response. Branzer opened the door and showed everybody his badge on his shirt along with his enormous handgun in his right hand.

"You are safe now, but we must hurry." Branzer said.

"You can't get us out of here. How did you get in here?" Another woman asked scared. Branzer looked over at Trackolania and nodded. He pulled two vials from his cloak and tossed them in the pit. Trackolania then slammed the door shut and quickly began pushing Branzer away. He took the hint and ordered everybody to run back. They went about ten feet and Trackolania stopped Branzer. Branzer looked down at him and he had his finger over his mouth motioning for him to be quiet. Trackolania then knelt to the floor and listened. Slowly he heard the last one drop to the ground and looked up at Branzer and nodded.

"Are we going to be affected by the poison as well?" Branzer nodded. Trackolania shook his head quickly and rolled his finger in a motion to hurry up.

"Lindel open a portal to the officer's station. Everybody grab as many as you can and toss them through." Branzer said.

"Hurry up guys…there are people coming this way…" Herrior said in a low deep tone.

Jacklyn ran forward and ripped open the door. It cracked up against the wall as she ran down as fast as she could. She threw two women over her shoulders and grabbed two more as she ran back up. Lindel had the portal open and Jacklyn ran through it. The rest of the group pulled out thirty women and everybody got out as Herrior barricaded the door.

"You coming Hun?" Lindel asked. Herrior drew his sword and slammed it into the ground. It smashed through the door and knocked back everybody within twenty feet from it. Herrior quickly ran back down the hall and jumped through the portal. Lindel went through it and closed the portal.

Herrior had done a flip and held his sword to his chest when he stopped his roll. He rose to his feet and put his sword behind him.

"Which one of these is George's wife?" Herrior asked.

"That one" Lindel said pointing at the woman wearing the scantily red dress.

"Skyka, do they require healing?" Herrior asked.

"They are not in danger of dying. I can heal their external wounds, but their mental wounds are going to stick." Skyka said beginning to apply her healing buffs to her body.

"Go ahead. Lindel open a portal to get us out of here. Branzer go tell the Lieutenant, or Paul, that these women freed themselves and their officers picked them up and brought them back." Herrior said.

"Go lie to him…got it." Branzer said and headed out.

"Only partial lies…still a lie none-the-less though. Trackolania how much longer are they going to be sleeping for?" Herrior asked. Trackolania held up all of his fingers.

"Long time eh? Skyka heal their wounds. Lindel what do you think of Paul?" Herrior asked.

"We scared him pretty good. I'd recommend keeping an eye on him for awhile. His loyalty is high, but lacks the finesse to be the leader of these officers. You may want to have a talk with him." Lindel said.

Just then Branzer and Paul came into the room with Paul's eyes wide in shock.

"How did you…did anybody see you…how am I going to explain this?" Paul asked.

"Did Branzer talk to you?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, they escaped and our officers picked them up. How am I going to do the paperwork on this? I don't even know where to start?" Paul said.

"Paul, I need you to listen to me carefully." Herrior said touching his trinket and revealing his massively armored tauren body. Paul stepped back a little as Herrior's face got into his.

"Paperwork does not concern me. Saving lives, keeping promises and following order concern me. We saved their lives, we kept a promise and my party follows my orders without question. Do I need to give you a lesson in following orders?" Herrior said firmly.

"No sir."

"Good. I expect the extra money coming in to be given to the officers and for their armor and weapons. You have been given gifts and I expect those gifts to be passed on to others. Is that understood?" Herrior said in the same tone.

"Yes sir."

"You have heard what we can do and now you have seen with your eyes what we can do. If you have a problem keeping your mouth shut, we can remove your tongue for you and strike fear into your heart that you have never known before. Now then, do we have an understanding?" Herrior said narrowing his eyes and letting out a grunt as a heavy blast of hot air came out of Herrior's nostrils and on his face.

"Yes sir."

"These people will wake up in ten hours. Load them up in your cruisers, cars, whatever and travel to where we just were. On the outside of the boarders of this sacred land, or whatever you call it, take your pictures, and call in reports, whatever you do. The previous lieutenants captured more evil in this land and prospered greatly. This can be repeated or we can go in the opposite direction. Do you want to go in the opposite direction?" Herrior asked.

"No sir."

"Let's start going in the right direction then. This will be a big rescue operation for you, and I expect George's wife to be promptly returned to him. Has George made any contact with you?"

"He told me to contact him as soon as I make any sort of contact with you."

"You are not to contact him as soon as you make any sort of contact with us. Is that understood? When we want to contact him we will let you know. If he has a problem with it we will take it up with him personally." Herrior said. He then stood straight up but kept his eyes focused deeply into his. "Do you have any questions?"

"No sir." Paul said back. He seemed more focused now and it was visible that his mind was churning several different ideas.

"Go and get your officers, load the women, and carry out the plan. If there is any backlash from their captors, we will deal with them. You are going to be famous and receive more funding. I expect that funding to be used to keep order in this area; if you give the money to other operations with similar causes that is fine as well. Lindel open the portal." Herrior said still staring at the lieutenant. The lieutenant looked away as he saw Lindel create the magical portal that they move about using.

"I've got work to do, may I leave?" The lieutenant asked.

"You have a lot of work to do. Remember we can read your thoughts and we are watching you. Now leave us." Herrior said pointing to the door. The lieutenant walked cautiously to the door as he opened it and left.

"How was that Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"He seemed to understand. I don't think he will do anything dumb if that is what you mean." Lindel replied.

"He'll be fine…just a slap on the wrist and a knock on the head will straighten him out. I think you did fine." Branzer said.

"Good – so you think he'll comply?" Herrior asked as they walked through the portal and into Tranquil.

"I think you scared him shitless." Lew said with a smile. "Is that the same reason why you did to me what you did, and to the previous lieutenant?"

"Yes." Herrior said.

"Makes sense – it breaks us out of the normal routine of work and drives the point into us that, for the better good, we should do what you say – no matter if we are in the party or not." Lew said.

"You understand well Lew. Panic, unfortunately, instills in a person their primal instincts and clears their mind of all other things. They listen carefully and most will be able to recite what I say word for word for years to come. Until I can call them 'friends', I don't trust them entirely." Herrior said looking at him with a smile.

"Do you mind if I leave and go have dinner?" Mohania asked excitedly.

"Sure" Herrior said. Mohania summoned his flying carpet and flew away.

"Are you still having trust issues Herrior?" Lew asked.

"I don't think so?" Herrior said questioning the question.

"I just want to make sure you are alright is all, didn't mean anything by it." Lew said.

"I appreciate it. How have you been doing?" Herrior said smiling at him.

"I'm doing ok. Just looking out for you is all." Lew said smiling back.

"Somebody needs to be looking out for the old cow…" Skyka said smiling at Herrior.

"I'm going to look around for a job in Tranquil, see what else I can do to help." Lew said.

"Herrior, I would really like to join the other banshees. We are having our gathering festival right now." Lindel said excitedly, but with hesitation at the same time.

"Sure. Let me know how it goes." Herrior said. Lindel grew her wings and soared into the sky. Eventually she dematerialized into a ghostly white ball and joined up with the other banshees.

"How long are their festivals?" Branzer asked.

"Weeks…sometimes months… They come when summoned but they celebrate their liberation with each other. I wonder if I made a right decision with her with her choice of clothing that she wears." Herrior said.

Before Branzer could get a word in Skyka piped in. "She's a banshee…she's the equivalent of a Succubus. Seduction and manipulation are her talents." Branzer became angered and said "That is not all she is!"

Everybody within earshot stopped to look at him.

"No, that is not all she is. She's a very kind and beautiful banshee with a whole slew of talents and gifts. I did not intent to make it sound like she was evil, but she is what she is." Skyka said.

"She…is full of love and compassion…" Branzer said still obviously holding in anger.

"She is a banshee that is in love with you and you with her. Branzer calm yourself, this is not you. She's been in her human form for awhile and during your talks in private. You still love the human side of her, but not her as a whole. Every banshee has a dark side to them, every banshee has the power to seduce and manipulate – also to retrieve valuable information, and for scouting. Lindel has additional powers she has been able to unlock, which might have to do with her being a Chronomancer as well…I don't know. But you have to accept all of her." Herrior said emphasizing the last sentence.

Branzer sighed and started flexing his hands back and forth. A long minute passed and Branzer apologized and asked if he could go for a walk. Herrior agreed and off he went.

Skyka sighed and said "Still the same problem, same problem…different time".

"Going to get rid of one?" Jacklyn asked.

"No…it would not help the situation. It would be the same if one of them was in a different party." Herrior said. Jacklyn nodded as she agreed.

"Can I go talk to him?" Bernett asked.

"When he is ready he will come to us. Why don't you go find your wife and I will check in with the King. The rest of you may do as you wish." Herrior said and left towards the palace.

Once Herrior arrived he saw that the amount of guards had doubled. He asked what the reason for it was and one of the guards said they had several ambassadors from different races that have raised concerns about the new monks that were rescued. Herrior asked if they were in session and the guard said they were. Herrior thanked him and walked away.

"Can't go in there when they are in session?" Dan asked.

"I can't…you probably could…" Herrior said partially frustrated. He pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Tess.

"So what's the latest word?" Herrior asked.

"Good to see you as well…how is Skyka? Good I'm assuming?" Tess said teasing him.

"How long have they been in session and how many different races and factions do we have in the palace?" Herrior asked.

"You're guesses are better than mine. It was your party that brought them back. It was a normal snatch and grab wasn't it?" Tess asked.

"A little more to it than just that – there were lots of monks and we could only save thirty two of them. No guesses as to what is happening?" Herrior asked.

"Probably wondering why we got them and nobody else has any, like I said you probably know more about it than I do." Tess said.

"I don't like this…thanks Tess." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior let out a sigh and looked at Dan.

"I'm at your disposal." Dan said.

"A lot of thoughts are going through my head right now…none of which are good. Want to go pay a visit to the monks?" Herrior asked.

"You cannot do that either." One of the tauren guards said.

"So it is a discussion about the monks." Herrior said.

"We've been told to not let anybody in the palace and to secure the monks from any danger or visitors right now." The tauren said back.

"Is Dan allowed in?" Herrior asked.

"He is, but once he is in – he is not allowed to come back out until discussions are over and is not allowed to talk to you about the decisions that are made until things are finalized." He said.

"I wasn't invited and I would be coming in halfway through the discussions. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that." Dan said.

"I won't ask you then. This annoys me. The Chronomancers made the connection, we were sent on the mission, we rescued them and now they are bargaining chips. They belong in Tranquil with the rest of the monks." Herrior said under breath.

"Don't the monks have any say in where they live?" Dan asked.

"Everybody has a say in where they live. If somebody else has a sweeter deal than what we can make, then they are gone." Herrior said.

"Who knows what is going on in there Herrior, they might be just discussing their powers or if they could get use of it. I think you are drawing conclusions too quickly. Give it time and let your mind calm itself. Trust the King, he has a lot of wisdom and he would not let any harm come to Tranquil or its citizens, which includes the monks." Dan said.

Herrior glanced over at Dan and thought, "That's the same thing I would say…" He smiled and looked away. "Wisdom is washing over you my friend, and I have received my tongue lashing – well deserved. I jumped to conclusions and shouldn't have. Well said. So what should I do now?"

"Go do something fun. Let the discussions proceed in the palace and not in your mind. Go do something nice for the bride of yours." Dan said with a smile. "As for me I'm going to go find mine and see if we can get into some trouble."

"Take care my friend." Herrior said as he walked off.

It wasn't long until Dan found Crystal bathing herself in the foundation. Dan sat on the side with his legs in the water. As she finished she noticed Dan staring at her.

"Lusting are we?" Crystal asked.

"Yes…yes I am." Dan said smiling. He helped Crystal out of the fountain and then clothed herself.

"So what are you thinking?" Crystal asked.

"Very dirty thoughts…but I wanted to get your advice on something."

"Sure Hun, what is it?" Crystal replied back.

"Herrior seems still uptight, Branzer still seems love struck with Lindel, Julie infatuation with Trackolania still tilts the scales and Veliline needs a man in the worst way." Dan said.

"Playing matchmaker are we?" Crystal asked.

"No – just having the urge to help out our group. Herrior and I just had a talk and I seemed to do pretty well with helping him. So do you want to help?" Dan asked.

"I suppose…however I disagree with Veliline. Just let her be. I kind of picture her being in the same situation as Jacklyn is."

"What situation is that?" Jacklyn asked behind them.

"You aren't looking for a man to marry right now." Crystal said turning to look at her.

"You are right with that. Eventually when I feel like it, I will take a husband but not right now." Jacklyn said. Strings saw them talking and casually walked up to them.

"Can I ask why?" Dan asked.

"Too much baggage…right now I need to concentrate on my skills and leadership role when Herrior isn't around. Besides I don't want some man kissing my ass and wooing me with flowers and chocolate. I want a man I can learn something from in battle and one that can best me constantly in the arena." Jacklyn said.

"Like Tess did?" Dan asked.

"Yes…like Tess did." Jacklyn replied.

"Ah, but the pleasantries of a song can melt the heart of any woman…" Strings said smiling.

"Most woman…not all. Now then, what are you two up to?" Jacklyn asked.

"We were going to go talk to Branzer and then Trackolania – try to make them feel better." Dan said.

"Count me out. I'm not one to help with relationships…or hinder them. I've learned to keep my mouth shut unless the moment comes up – not seeking out the moment." Jacklyn said and walked off.

"The gal does have some wisdom in her words that you might want to take to heart." Strings said.

"So finding Branzer and talking to him might not be the best idea?" Dan asked.

"Aye, what if he is lost in his thoughts and hasn't had time to refine them? If he has a problem he will come to us. However finding the answers to one's question can be best answered from the soul…and if the soul has questions…well he'll seek out ones he trust. Drink?" Strings said offering up his flask.

"I'll pass but thanks for the advice." Dan said. He turned to Crystal and asked what she wanted to do.

"Any time…now then I'm off to find some flowers and chocolate to woo Jacklyn…" Strings said laughing and walking off.

"We have a bunch of characters in our party don't we?" Dan asked.

"We sure do, but it never makes for a dull moment. Want to go to Earth and see what kind of trouble we can get into there?" Crystal asked.

"Do you miss our world?" Dan asked.

"Naw, we're there most of the time anyways. Just a thought…so what do you want to do?" Crystal asked.

"Well I should probably go continue my experiments or commune with the elements." Dan said disappointed that he couldn't help anybody.

"Yeah that's real exciting…" Crystal said and whistled. Her dragon flew to the ground and she jumped up grabbing the saddle and swinging her body up. "Come catch me!" Crystal yelled down as she took to the air. Dan smiled as he shook his head. He summoned his dragon and took to the air.

The two of them flew through the air for hours, their dragons playfully nipping at each other and rubbing their heads against each other. Eventually they landed in the garden, unknown to them; they were only feet from where Branzer was sleeping. Dan and Crystal jumped off their mounts and began to wrestle each other playfully on the ground – which led to Crystal pinning Dan and tickling him. Branzer woke up and walked over to them.

"Kids…" Branzer said putting his hands on his hips and shaking his hands. Crystal got off Dan and stood up. Dan, trying to compose himself from laughter stood up and said, "I let her beat me…" Crystal gave Dan a shove and he lost his balance, falling over into some flowers.

"Oh shoot…Dan get out of there!" Crystal said quickly trying to pick him up.

"You needn't worry; the flowers will not be harmed." A soft female tauren voice said coming over to show them. When Dan got off from them, the tauren bent over and propped the flowers back up. They quickly rerooted themselves and regrew the pedals that fell.

"Amazing…" Dan said watching them.

"This actually happens a lot. They would have regrown themselves even if I didn't prop them up. Besides it wasn't intentional. Now I am off to harvest, nice talking to you Dan." The tauren said and walked away.

"So…reach celebrity status did we? Or did you know her?" Crystal asked.

"I have no idea." Dan said confused.

"That's a normal look for you. So did you have a good nap Branzer?" Crystal asked.

"I didn't plan on napping to be honest. After storming off like a child, the soothing aura of Tranquil over took me and made me smile. Then I started to remember all of the good things I have and all of the good things around me. It's hard to stay mad in a place like this…it's also hard to storm off and at childish on an issue that I've been having for the past decade…" Branzer said sounding frustrated with himself.

"Year I think it's been." Crystal said.

"I think it's been longer than that now…we need to get a calendar." Dan said.

"However long it's been. So what do I do?" Branzer asked.

"Ha! Take that Jacklyn – I was right!" Dan said to himself giving himself a satisfactory grin.

"Alright grin boy take a hike, let me talk with Branzer." Crystal said and motioned over her shoulder.

"Why, I can give good relationship advice." Dan said.

"It is a woman problem…and the problem is men, with you here it just adds to the problem..." Crystal said snickering.

"How rude…" Dan said smiling and then walked off. He started talking to the female tauren about the flowers.

"He could have stayed." Branzer said.

"Look…you're going to have to get over yourself and I'm going to tell you how it is and how it is going to be. I figured you would want nobody else around when I tell you that you need to get your shit straight. Branzer…you're an idiot. You have the most beautiful woman in Tranquil and you are a scared little boy. I don't know where you are getting your ideas from but you need to get rid of them. I'm a warlock that apparently can change into a huge demon once in awhile…Dan is a shaman and none of us really knows what all he can do. Who cares? Dump your ideas of Lindel being a scary banshee and accept her for who she is – a beautiful young talented woman that would marry you in a second. So she can transform into a scary banshee…what woman can't? I don't know why but women don't have periods here…do you remember what it's like to put up with a woman having her period? Remember our conferences at the station we used to have with half a dozen having PMS? You were begging to be tortured by Mohania instead of listening to them, I know because I was one of them. All women transform…Lindel just does it more often. Accept her…all of her and get over yourself. Now do I need to slap the stupid out of you?" Crystal asked.

Branzer stood there amazed. Seconds passed and Crystal punched him in the stomach. It didn't cause any pain, but caught him off guard.

"I'm not a normal woman…I punch, I don't slap. Did it sink in yet?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah…are you ok? I'm wearing heavy armor and it might have hurt you." Branzer asked. Crystal held up her hand and showed him that it was fine. As Branzer was watching it she slapped him with it.

"Hey – I thought you were a normal woman." Branzer said.

"Focus Branzer…focus. Put everything out of your mind, put blinders on and focus here. Who do you love?"

"Lindel" Branzer answered.

"So what else matters? Nothing! Nothing else matters!" Crystal said yelling at him.

"Lower your voice…" Branzer said looking around as he saw people looking at him.

"No! Raise your voice…tell me who you love?" Crystal yelled back.

"Shh…"

"No! Tell me who you love?" Crystal yelled getting in his face.

"Lindel."

"Louder!"

"Lindel!" Branzer said louder.

"Scream it! Say it like you mean it! Who do you love and who do you want to marry?" Crystal yelled.

"I love Lindel and I want to marry her!" Branzer yelled out.

"Again!"

"I love her and I want to marry her!" Branzer said with a lot of enthusiasm. Everybody started cheering for him.

"Say it like you mean it! Scream it out loud!"

"Lindel I love you and I want to marry you!" Branzer's voice was as loud as he could get it and the cheering turned into a roar of cheering and clapping.

"Good…consider that a proposal." Crystal said pointing behind him. Branzer's stomach dropped as he turned around and saw Lindel. She looked both shocked and extremely happy.

"Do you mean it? Really really mean it?" Lindel asked.

"Yes." Branzer said walking up to her and lifting her into the air. He started twirling her around and began yelling the same thing over and over, "I love you and I want to marry you!"

Lindel sprouted her wings and grabbed him under his arms. They floated into the air and Lindel's wings covered their faces as they passionately kissed each other. The crowd let out several complaints about not seeing it, but cheered them on anyways.

Lindel eventually pulled her wings back and began flapping them with a big smile.

"Will you accept me in any form?" Lindel asked.

"Change your form…to anything…" Branzer said. Lindel changed to her evil banshee form and Branzer planted a hard long kiss on her cold dark lips. He could feel power draining from his body and Lindel pulled back really quickly in freight as she realized what she was doing.

"Take it…take as much as you want…" Branzer said kissing her again. She transformed her body into millions of tiny little particles that started swirling around him. It lifted him up off the ground and he became very excited.

"I don't know what part of you to kiss but I would if I could. I love you and I want to marry you! I want to marry you!" Branzer repeated at the top of his lungs. The particles formed back into Lindel and off they flew laughing together. Lindel's voice started to sing a song, but Dan and Crystal didn't understand it. Soon most of Tranquil was singing it.

"Latin?" Dan asked.

"Sounds Greek to me…" Crystal said smiling back.

"So you took Herrior's advice?" Dan asked.

"And what advice is that?" Crystal smirked back.

"Beat the shit out of the person until they realize who they are…" Dan said giggling. Crystal giggled back.

"Guess they are going to marry…if it's ok with Herrior and the King. That was a big obstacle before." Dan said.

"The bigger obstacle before was dumbass tripping over himself when he talked. I don't think Lindel was ready either." Crystal said.

"So what about Trackolania and Julie? Do you think they will ever hook up?" Dan asked.

"So tell me again why you are playing matchmaker?" Crystal asked.

"Me? You're the one that told me to leave while you did the matchmaking…" Dan said reminding her.

"I'm not the one eager to hook people up – that would be you." Crystal said poking her finger in Dan's chest.

"And you aren't curious in the slightest?" Dan asked taking Crystal's hand and overlapping his fingers around it.

"Yes…but it's none of our business." Crystal said looking casually away.

"Mmhmm…" Dan said.

"Fine…but we'll just look for them…casually. I'll beat you there!" Crystal said pushing Dan away. She summoned her dragon and flew off with Dan right behind her on his dragon.

Dan and Crystal flew side-by-side listening to the soothing music echoing through Tranquil – still not able to understand a word of it. They saw Branzer eventually brought down and let go near their house. Lindel kissed him and then flew away as she continued the song. Whatever it was the banshees were doing seemed pretty important. Once the banshees all caught up with each other again in the air the song quieted down as they all turned into millions of tiny particles and started twirling together in a beautiful visual display.

"Found Julie…eleven o'clock…" Crystal yelled out and ordered her dragon to dive towards her, Dan was right behind her. They both landed and jumped off their dragons and gave her a big hug. Spark wanted to hug too, so he stepped back a couple of feet and then jumped on them, knocking all three of them down to the ground.

"Julie." Spark said.

"What is with all of the singing and tackling?" Julie asked laughing and in-between getting licked by Spark.

"Branzer asked Lindel to marry him." Dan said.

"About time…douche bag is a good fighter but has no balls…" Julie said. This made Dan and Crystal laugh.

"So why the sudden tackling of me?" Julie asked.

"We were just wondering how you and Trackolania were doing?" Dan asked.

"I have no idea. He's all but blocked me out. I've tried talking to him, but making a conversation with a 'secret spy' rogue is like talking with a mime…only I could get emotions out of a mime. So I guess there isn't much between us. What were they singing, do you know?" Julie asked.

"No clue, but it had a happy and uplifting beat to it." Crystal said.

"We'll have to ask Lindel later after her banshee reunion." Julie said back. He then looked at Dan and Crystal and asked, "What about you two. Have you told any of your family on Earth about your marriage? Aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, friends?"

Dan felt awkward about the question. His best friend, Jeremy, he had not seen in years…what was he doing? Was he ok? That was his best man…the friend that had been with him for years – almost his whole life, and he had just – literally – falling off the side of the Earth. He heard Julie and Crystal talking and realized he had given up all of his old life, and that left a lump in his stomach. According to the fighter's code, fight till the end and love all of your friends – except for the ones that aren't like him. What was he doing? What about his other friends and the teachers he liked? Are they safe? Was he betraying them and forcing his mother to continue lying for him? Dan let out a sigh.

"So that's your answer?" Crystal asked raising her eyebrow.

"Oops, I wasn't paying attention. Crystal I'm sorry but I don't feel well right now. Do you mind if you guys talk and I take a walk?" Dan asked.

"I do mind…what's going on?" Crystal asked smiling.

"I just…have this lump in my stomach…just some things I just thought of that I need to think of some answers for…" Dan said taking off his chest plate and holding the lump in his stomach.

"Are you ok?" Crystal asked quickly.

"Yeah…yeah, just need to go lay down." Dan said removing his boots and weapons and putting them in his bags, the bags sucking them in and shrinking them so they fit comfortably in his bags. He pulled out a red silk shirt and pulled it over his chest and began dragging himself away to their house.

Once there he climbed the stairs and fell to the ground looking up at the ceiling. He let out a sigh as he looked at all of the pictures that he took of his new friends and his new life. He thought to himself, "I'm been down this road before. Being an ambassador I can go anywhere I want. Heck, being royalty or whatever I can go and do whatever I want. But my old life…or am I just over-thinking…I don't know…I feel like I've betrayed everybody I knew, went to school with by doing this job. Yet at the same time I've probably saved their lives and many more. Many of them are probably off doing their own thing, going to college and working.

Dan sat thinking and made a mental note in his mind that he wanted to see what everybody was with their normal lives as he drifted off to sleep. He was asleep for about thirty minutes when several taurens quickly barged into the room and secured the premise.

"Dan! You must wake up quickly!" One of the taurens said firmly and shaking his chest to abruptly wake him up.

"Wha?" Dan managed to say as he started gathering his senses.

"The King and Queen are in need of some relaxation and they handed down reign of Tranquil to the next in the line of royalty – which is you. Come with us, there is much to do." The tauren said.

"What? Am I dreaming or is this a joke?" Dan asked smiling.

"Your honor please! We need somebody on the throne! We have ambassadors with many questions and several races that are threatening war on us. We need you now!" The tauren said urgently. Dan tilted his head at him still unsure what to make of it.

"Forgive me…" The tauren said and reached down and grabbed his arm firmly, instantly shooting pain into his head. Dan instantly realized that he wasn't dreaming and that his armor was not on either.

"Ok…ok…let go." Dan said jumping up to his feet.

"I'll need my armor and weapons." Dan said beginning to walk down the stairs.

"They are right there your bag your majesty." Another male tauren said as he made it done.

"Oh" Dan said pulled them out and putting them on. "Let us leave at once, but first why all of the security?"

"Nobody knows the King and Queen are exhausted and had to take a break and the rest of Tranquil would be better off not knowing this. Please, we must hurry. The King said you would be arriving immediately for the meetings and we are wasting precious seconds." A female tauren said quickly and urgently.

Dan nodded and raced out the door and a group of heavily armed guards were met up by several other primary fighting groups that stood vigilant. They all looked casual, except their hands were posed inches from their weapons and ready to strike at a moment's notice. Dan quickly walked through the opening they had formed and escorted him closely until they reached the palace.

Once they arrived, Dan was immediately overwhelmed by the questions and the ambassadors with worried looks on their faces talking with people. They saw relief when they saw Dan, which made Dan even more nervous. "This is going to be exciting…don't screw it up…" He thought.

"Alright everybody, I want the highest priorities first…go!" Dan said standing in the middle of them. The palace suddenly became an uproar of questions which quickly overwhelmed him and everybody else in the room fought to get their question answered first by raising their voice.

"Silence!" Dan yelled. Without knowing it he ascended on the throne and said, "We'll start with you. I will not have chaos in this sacred palace! Let's go…"

"The Girglefin people want more pearls for their fish or they are threatening to attack our outposts."

"Tell them if they threaten us, then we will retaliate first of all. Secondly tell them that pearls are in short numbers right now and we will only buy what we can afford right now." Dan said.

"But your majesty, our people need the fish…"

"Are you questioning my orders? Tell them that we can get the fish elsewhere if needed, also that they need to reinforce their cave because the rocks are going to give way. Tell also that they have enough blubber from the whales to last and to not worry about the fish right now." Dan said and then told the ambassador to send out their gathers to the opposite side of their island to fish. There they would find more fish and in addition send a secondary group to watch over them.

"Why?" A voice in his head asked.

"Because in all of their jumping up and down, they are disturbing the natural balance of things and it is scaring off the fish. Balance needs to remain and their people need to concentrate on reinforcing their walls because if they don't they will die – and who in here is telepathic?" Dan said angrily standing up and looking at everybody. All of the ambassadors looked at each other in confusion and then the same ambassador said all of the banshees are at their meeting, nobody here can read your mind…not even the King. I will begin the preparations at once."

As that ambassador relayed the information Dan pointed at the ambassador farthest from him on his left and told him to speak.

"The Dragonflights are upset about not getting all of the armor, weapons and technology that we promised them…"

"What have we given them so far?" Dan asked cutting him off.

"We have given them what we were told to…"

"Not a vague answer, what have we given them?" Dan said repeating his question walking up to him. The ambassador began naming off the items as Dan looked through the portal and saw Ysera looking back. He smiled briefly at her and she smiled back.

"That sounds like the agreement that we had." Dan said interrupting the ambassador.

"It most certainly is not…" Ysera said quickly.

"Give them some of the experimental weapons that I was designing awhile ago. Offer some of our enchants to their weapons and if they are able to collect enough pyrum and elementium we'll fashion together some working pieces for their blacksmiths to examine." Dan said.

"Experimental weapons?" Ysera asked confused.

"Some of our weapons, when in combat, can heal the user, shoot out lightning, slow an attacker's movement, and even paralyze them. They are experimental though, but would that satisfy your request?" Dan asked looking at Ysera.

She stared at Dan for awhile and said "You're bluffing."

"Hardly. You are a close ally and a friend of mine. You know that I do things that sometimes don't make sense, but in the end it exhibits a power that nobody is aware of. We could comprise and give you some of those experimental weapons, or give you a key piece of knowledge about the danger that your nesting grounds are in – which would you prefer?" Dan asked.

"What of our nesting grounds human?" Ysera asked quickly and with much anger in her voice.

"I can feel the lands calling out to me. You have made two different water ways in the recently flooded lands that allow water in for your young to drink. This also let in creatures of the seas, we call them predators. Sharks, large fish, and large squid like creatures are there right now. I suggest you purge these beasts immediately, and then use the old iron to the far east of your lands from the iron dwarfs to make gates." Dan said quickly.

Ysera looked at him shocked. She then quickly turned around and said several words Dan didn't understand and many of her dragonkin that walked on foot transformed into dragons and flew away immediately.

"I will keep you updated…" Ysera said and closed the portal. The ambassador turned around and looked worried at Dan.

"Problem?" Dan asked.

"No your majesty, I was just worried that your bluff will be found out…"

"It wasn't a bluff. Before I continue give me a minute." Dan said and knelt down on one knee. He said a quick prayer and then rose up again. He ascended back on the throne with much more confidence and started pointing his fingers at people and telling them the answers to their problems before they were even able to explain the problem.

"Cut out the rations to our prisoners, but keep the fairies coming to empty their bowels. Stop the shooting and give them time to fast. Send down people with copies of the bible and preach to them for ten minutes three times a day." Dan said pointing at one ambassador.

Pointing at another ambassador he said, "We don't need the rocks right now. Tell them to stop farming it and let the gnolls have them. Retreat our people back and out of their territory." Then pointing at another he said, "Give them the ruby – it belongs to them." Yet pointing at another he said, "Tell their people not to explore to the east, it is full of alliance right now. Tell them to not hold any celebrations or light any torches at night. Send out three scouts and one of our assassins to survey their activities. Begin assigning our primary groups to begin an attack on the third day, but keep them on top of the mountain! Their signal to attack will be after the rains let up."

Dan pointed at ambassadors and shouted out answers like this for thirty minutes until all of the issues were resolved. The ambassadors still in shock, Dan asked to have their pastor summoned. Within minutes he came from an inner chamber of the palace.

"We need to have communion. Prepare it with grape juice, not wine. Open the invitation to all people, even the children. Make sure we have enough grape juice. You have any of our resources at your disposal to come up with this. It is to be held this Sunday." Dan said. He then stood up and looked at his ambassadors.

"The Dragonflights will be contacting us shortly and their point of view will be completely changed. Take no reward from them minus any of the sea creatures they don't need to provide to their young. I want our engineers to build a contraption…I need paper and a pencil to draw it." Dan said looking around. An ambassador quickly pulled out his quill and parchment and gave it to him. Dan drew a large "U" shaped metallic beam. He put down the dimensions of it and then gave further instructions on it.

"Give this to the chief engineer at once. This will be used in one of our attacks on the alliance. We will slaughter their fighters in one swift blow." Dan said handing the instructions over to the ambassador.

"Summon my wife and Herrior. In the mean time keep the questions coming." Dan said.

Herrior arrived first and was shocked to see Dan sitting on the King's throne.

"Come to me Herrior. Bring a chair and have him sit on my right side." Dan said when he saw him. Dan then continued giving out orders for the ambassadors. Everything that he said, the collapsing of the Girglefin's cave, the predators in the deep, the alliance…everything was being reported back as true and they gave their appreciation of their advice.

A chair was brought and Herrior did as he was ordered. Dan turned to Herrior and said, "I'm in charge…isn't that cool?"

"What is going on?" Herrior questioned.

"The King and Queen are exhausted and they require rest. I was deemed royalty by the King and thus I am running Tranquil. I wanted my best friend by my side…ah and my bride as well." Dan said rising from the throne when he saw a shocked Crystal come into the palace throne room.

"Come, sit…" Dan said motioning for Crystal to ascend to the Queen's throne. She looked around at everybody as she slowly made her way to the throne and gently sat down.

"Care to fill me in?" Crystal asked.

"I'm running Tranquil right now. I want my wife beside me and my dad beside me." Dan said.

"You're dad?" Crystal asked in shock. Dan motioned to correct her and then realized he did say that. He turned to Herrior and said, "Did I say dad? I meant best friend."

"You have taken me on as a father-figure, call me what you will your majesty." Herrior said smiling at him. Dan smiled.

"I thought you were taking a nap?" Crystal asked.

"So did I." Dan said back. He then stood up and began giving out orders again. He pulled out his own hearthstone as he starting taking questions of his own.

This lasted through the night as Herrior and Crystal were treated like royalty. They watched as Dan managed to settle hundreds of disputes.

Early morning came and Dan was still going strong. Herrior was still watching with pride and never spoke a word of advice – neither did Crystal, who fell asleep in the Queen's chair. During the night Dan ordered Tranquil to land on a vacant land. It was bitter cold and the sun rose for only three hours a day. The wind was gentle though, but the wildlife and plant life was scarce. He thought this would be a perfect place to recharge Tranquil's powers as a city and doubted any alliance or demons knew of this planet. With the additional powers that Tranquil's city gave off by not floating around in space, Dan distributed it to enhance the plant life in Tranquil, increasing its food production. Primary groups were sent out to setup a perimeter outside the city walls and put sensors in place.

The King and Queen rose from their deep slumber and sleepily walked out to the palace throne room. Dan immediately rose to his feet and took a knee before him.

"My King, I have tried my best to run Tranquil as best as I could. I prayed for wisdom and foresight and I believe that all of us working together have enhanced Tranquil's powers. I have settled the disputes that went on and…oh shoot…" Dan said looking up at Crystal sleeping with her head on her hand. Dan rose quickly to get her, but the King waved him away.

"Let her sleep. I see Herrior kept constant vigil over you during the night." The King said.

"My King, I merely sat here and watched. I did not say a word. Dan handled the situations better than I would have. Several of his decisions scared me…but the outcome was better than I would have anticipated. He exceeded all of my expectations as a…uh…temporary King, and solved many of the problems we have had with many of our ally races. Ysera is over-pleased with Dan's performance and doesn't want access to our weapons and armor plans, but not only that have provided us with food from them – enough to feed all of Tranquil for weeks." Herrior said. The King let out a big yawn as Herrior continued to explain. The King continued to listen as he held his hand out and lifted Dan up.

"Herrior says you did a good job. What do you think?" The King asked Dan.

"I don't think it was me. I prayed and then said the first things that came to me. I used my shaman abilities to sense the elements and what they were saying to me. My King…can I ask a couple of questions?" Dan asked.

"Only three…anymore after that and I get to lie about my answers." The King said smiling.

"Can you put words or thoughts in my head?" Dan asked.

"You know the answer to that, why do you keep asking?" The King replied.

"So you weren't the one last night helping me?"

"Dan…I was sleeping. I was exhausted. Nobody can penetrate your mind – not even me. I have no intentions of even trying because of our previous encounter. You handled things great! I think God was putting those voices in your head and helping you out, just as I thought he would. You did great…now then, I miss my comfortable chair and my wife is still sleeping." The King said smiling.

"Yes my King." Both Herrior and Dan said at the same time. They got up and walked out of the palace. They walked together in silence for awhile and Dan pulled on Herrior's arm. Herrior turned around and Dan embraced him. He hugged him as hard as he could and eventually started to cry. Herrior hugged him back and wept with him as well.

Minutes passed and Dan started to recompose himself. He pulled away from Herrior and looked up at his eyes. "How many people in Tranquil look up to you as a father-figure?" Dan asked in-between sobs.

"A lot of people. I love a lot of people as my sisters and brothers and love some so dearly I think of them as my own kin. You are one of them. You will forever be my friend – no matter how you think of me." Herrior said smiling down at him.

"Oops…a tender moment, I'll be back later." Mohania said turning around and leaving quickly.

"I think he looks as you as a father as well." Dan said.

"I think anybody can look at me however they want, but I will be a friend until the end – but a fighter above all else and to love others more than I love myself. I will treasure this moment and last night. Thank you for calling upon me to watch. It was an exciting moment for me. You had power to crush entire cities and to wipe out our enemies with a simple word, yet you showed compassion, negotiated, and came up with solutions that I would never have thought of. I had more pride and respect for you last night than I think I ever had. You did great." Herrior said starting to tear up.

"Do you think of Lindel as one of your children?" Dan asked.

"Yes…" Herrior said with a deep sigh.

"Aside from the rules, you have a hard time letting her go – don't you?" Dan asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "When we first had her join our party she was weak and needed comfort. It angered me when I was forced to mate with her…that is why it sickened me so much."

"I understand now. I sort of had the feeling that was it and understand why you reacted the way you did afterwards. Are you ready to let her go to marry Branzer?" Dan asked.

"I don't have a choice…" Herrior said shaking his big tauren head and looking down at his hoofs.

"You have the choice to let go. You have the choice to love her as a fighter and as a sister, but she is no longer a child. She has grown…it is time to let go." Dan said squeezing Herrior's arm.

"It's hard to love someone as a child and then to alter your love for them…but everything that has happened has lead to this. Its strange how when you look back at the events of your life and how they all fit together and realize that this is the moment when everything fights together to make you who you are and the decisions that has influenced your present decisions." Herrior said.

"Yeah…I get that feeling as well. Probably the same could be said for everybody else. Are you ready for life from this point on?" Dan asked.

"I am, and if I get out of line I'll blame Mohania." Herrior said.

"What did I do?" Mohania asked.

"I didn't think you could hear us?" Herrior asked back.

"I can't." Mohania said from a distance and walked away.

"So you're ok with Branzer and Lindel getting married then?" Dan asked.

"I will be." Herrior said.

"Will be eventually?" Dan asked.

"Yes, I will be ready when the time comes…" Herrior said with a sigh as his hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled out the stone and saw several monks with their dark hoods over their head.

"Herrior, we would like your permission to have us wed with the females that were recovered so that we can conceive more monks of a different genetic line. It will be a mutual benefit for us as well as Tranquil." The monk's voice sounded eerie.

"That was fast to fall in love with all of the female monks that came…maybe too fast?" Herrior asked.

"I do not believe we can feel the same emotion that you can exhibit. It's a logical choice though. Mating with our new females should enhance our powers and possibly increasing Tranquil's powers as well as our fighters." The monk said.

"I will ponder your request. What preparations would you require for your weddings?" Herrior asked.

"One wedding. We wish it to be discrete, perform the ceremony quickly and have only the minimum number of people there. Afterwards we will mate and then continue our experiments." The monk said.

"How…did you pick your mates? It doesn't sound like you fell in love with any of the female monks." Herrior asked.

"The youngest males in our group were matched up with the females." The monk said.

"Ok…let me get back with you." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Awkward…" Dan said with a smile.

"Yeah…it almost sounds like the prearranged marriages from your world many years ago. Some of them worked, some didn't. I don't feel comfortable making this proposal to the King without putting more thought into it." Herrior said putting his hearthstone away. This time Dan's hearthstone vibrated.

"Popular today…" Dan said pulling out his. It was the primary groups that he had ordered to launch an attack on an alliance town. Their leader told them that the giant "U" shaped object was ready along with the large balls of intertwined sticks and oil bombs inside. Dan replied, "Excellent. Let me come out there and help with the attack," he closed his hearthstone and then summoned a Chronomancer.

"Going alone are we?" Herrior asked.

"No, there will be other groups there…what did you think I was going to attack an entire alliance town by myself?" Dan asked giving him a goofy grin.

"I'm game…let's go kill some things." Mohania said walking up.

"So you are listening to us now?" Herrior asked.

"No. Ok where's the portal making people…let's get this show on the road?" Mohania asked.

"Is it ok if our group comes?" Herrior asked.

"Sure" Dan said as a Chronomancer appeared on a dragon, jumping off and landing next to Dan. It was a female troll.

"Where I be sending you dis time?" She asked.

"To the east side of the Ramkahen city where our other groups have formed." Dan said.

"Aye, I be knowing da place. I be opening one portal for you coming right up." She said.

"Can you wait a couple of minutes? Herrior wants to bring his party as well." Dan asked.

"Dat be no problem mon, you be killin' some of dem alliance for me. Give dem one big ass-whooping." The troll said.

"They will be getting more than that…" Dan said with a smile.

Minutes passed until Herrior's party was formed and Dan gave the troll the signal to open the portal. They all walked through and saw the other parties that had gathered.

"Welcome Dan. I'm honored to be fighting beside you." A young male tauren said walking up to Dan and patted him on the arm.

"If all goes well, there won't be any fighting – at least for them. I'm not here to take charge, just to oversee my contraption to ensure it will work. Where are the engineers that built it?" Dan asked.

"Over here! I have no idea what this is going to do, but it was fun to build! Large 'U' shaped iron bar wrapped up with miles of copper wire with several power packs." The engineer said.

"You made a magnet?" Branzer asked.

"A big magnet. This one is directional. So does everybody know the plan?" Dan asked.

"You think we would forget it?" The tauren asked sarcastically, with a big smile.

"Ok, we'll watch from the north and we will let you do your jobs." Dan said. He looked over at Herrior who nodded and gave the order for his group to quickly move north.

The battle began with thirty large balls rolled up the hill where the magnets were buried. Then the warriors rose to the top of the hill so they could be seen by the city. Minutes later they could hear the warnings in the city going off. The warriors let out their battle cries and then moved apart from each other. The leader watched as the alliance formed into groups and began to mock them. What he was satisfied that their fighting force was assembled and charging towards them, he gave the signal to push the balls over the hill. The mages lit them on fire as they picked up speed. Their tanks moved to intercept the charging balls of fire, but when they hit the tanks, the oil balls inside of the flaming balls exploded on impact, sending fire pouring down on all of their fighters. Screams of pain could be heard as the healers tried frantically to heal the wounded. Their fighters raced forward in rage, ready to shed blood for this cheap tactic.

The Tranquil warriors stood their ground as they saw them racing towards them, unorganized and trying to shake off the flames. The warriors, as planned, let out a ferocious laughter and casually walked back down the hill. Once they were out of sight they ran as fast as they could back to their groups, which was far away from where they were standing.

Minutes later the alliance fighters came on top of the hill and saw their opposing fighters staring at them. Their leaders hesitated for awhile before attempting to call off a retreat. Just as planned, the engineers engaged the magnets. Everybody holding or wearing any form of metal was instantly pulled to the ground. The people wearing leather or cloth were not affected, but their weapons were pulled down to the ground as well.

The same tauren that spoke with Dan gave the command to charge…and charge they did. They raced forward, stomping on the ones on the ground and going after their fighters that were not immobilized. There was a brief battle lasting about five minutes, but the alliance stood no chance. The Tranquil fighters fought with wooden weapons and armor and were completely unaffected by the magnet.

After the onslaught the Tranquil fighters came back and slowly killed each one of the alliance fighters while they struggled to move. After the gruesome scene was over, the engineers deactivated the magnet and started working on disassembling it and working with one of the parties to get it unburied and back to Tranquil before anybody saw. The rest of the fighters grabbed the alliance shields and weapons. Once they were armed, they stormed the town. Anybody who opposed them was killed. The guard tower's doors were smashed and the guards were quickly run through with their own blades, while a small group was sent to kill the mayor of the town. Several rogues stealthed themselves as two tanks, a druid in bear form and a tauren warrior, along with other warriors, hunters and one healer stormed the main fortress. The door was smashed in and was met with minimal resistance. They ran towards the mayor of the town who began to flee, but was suddenly stood dead still as if suddenly paralyzed. A rogue had driven his dagger deep into the mayor's neck. The rogue pulled it out and kicked him down.

"I want his head! Take all of the valuable in this building, and tell the others to form a perimeter. If anybody out there even looks like they are going to attack or are calling for help, I want their heads! Let's move people!" The tauren called out. The rogues quickly moved through the building and found the treasure room first. It had three solid heavy locks on it, which were quickly picked and flung out of the way. They opened the door to see three female trolls recoiling back in fear. The rogues looked shocked. One of the rogues motioned to go get the leader while the others secure the perimeter.

"Female trolls? Locked up in this town? Tyrin – go down there and start opening portals back to Tranquil. I want them locked up in our cells and interrogated. Then start moving all of the gold, gems, armor and weapons back to Tranquil." The tauren said and then spit to his left. "The stench of alliance sickens me; let's get out of here as soon as we can."

The attack went just as planned. Herrior's party moved towards to the remaining dead alliance on the hill.

"I feel something…I feel these emotions and they are over-whelming me…how should I describe it…" Mohania said.

"Victory and satisfaction of a battle well fought?" Herrior asked.

"Don't be silly…oh hunger! That's the emotion I'm feeling. Also, Dan, I would like to have killed some alliance next time…" Mohania said turning his lifeless skull head all the way around to look at Dan.

"This wasn't our battle, we were just spectators." Dan said smiling.

"Next time let's be spectators that participate. Herrior can we devour their bodies? I'll eat what nobody else wants." Mohania said eagerly turning to face Herrior. Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Don't you already have bodies to devour in your undead area?" Herrior asked.

"If I say yes or no or both, can we still take them?" Mohania said widening his smile.

Herrior sighed and said he didn't care. Mohania jumped up and did a heel-click as he happily ran off to collect the bodies.

"Kids…" Crystal said.

"Yeah…they group up so fast…only Mohania hasn't." Herrior said with a smile.

"He is regressing in age I think…" Crystal said smiling.

"You're an ass…you're an ass…" Mohania said cheerfully and singing it in a song.

"Anyways, good battle strategy. Will there be any more parties contacting you to watch their successes?" Herrior asked.

"Hopefully not…also hopefully we can get these bodies collected before that song gets stuck in my head…" Dan said mocking Mohania.

The engineers had dismantled the gigantic magnet and carried the last pieces through the portal to Tranquil. The Chronomancer than closed the portal and walked to meet up with Herrior's group.

"Just a guess, but by the over-whelming happiness of your undead – you might want a portal back to the undead chambers?"

"That would be appreciated yes, thank you." Skyka said smiling and trying to hold in the laughter at the display Mohania was doing. He was now spinning around in circles and doing cartwheels. He tried several back flips, but continued to fall flat on his stomach instead of his feet.

"Sure is a chipper fellow." The Chronomancer said.

"Yes…yes he is. I know what to give him for a present." Skyka said letting out small chuckles.

"Get ready for the high note…you are an ass!" Mohania said cheerfully letting out a high pitch voice at the end. Everybody started clapping when he was done.

"Thank you…thank you…I'd like to thank all of you for being an ass, without you this song would not be possible." Mohania said with a smile. "Now hurry up with the tossing of the bodies, they aren't going to eat themselves."

"Is he usually like this?" The Chronomancer asked.

"Unfortunately…sometimes it's funnier." Julie said smiling at him.

"Julie" Spark barked in agreement.

"Hey…less barking more throwing…" Mohania said.

"He grows on you after awhile…" Julie said in response.

"Yeah…like a Deer Tick…" Branzer said tossing one of the alliance bodies through the portal. This sparked some more laughter.

Meanwhile, the attack parties had emptied the coffers in the alliance town. The leader then came out and said, "I'm going to ask this once. Lie to me and I will kill you, answer me correctly and I will reward you. How did your city get these trolls?"

"They were collecting rocks north of our town, about five hundred yards. Our soldiers took them and held them hostage – demanding to know where your town is and your weaknesses. They didn't say anything. Please don't kill us." A middle aged man quickly spoke up.

"Thank you. Leave one hundred gold coins for the town. Let's get out of here." The tauren said and went back into the mayor's house. They shut what was left of the doors and proceeded to go into the empty treasure room and disappeared into Tranquil. The townsfolk waited for several minutes before they started talking to each other. Curiosity eventually got the best of them and they went to investigate. There was no trace of their attackers, and there was a pile of gold for them, one hundred coins to be exact.

Back in Tranquil cheers and songs of their victories echoed throughout the town. Herrior's group watched with smiles on their faces, except for Mohania – he was in his undead section of Tranquil. They probably wouldn't see any undead in the town for at least two or three days. Dan was making small talk with Crystal when suddenly he was pulled away lifted in the air as everybody cheered. Dan didn't know what to think at first, but then smiled and started to wave. He was then tossed in the air, and then caught by the same people. Eventually though, he was tossed to several different people cheering and then thrown somewhere else. He felt like a bag of microwave popcorn when the kernels first started popping as he bounced back and forth from person to person. Soon he lost sight of his party and was brought into the palace where the battle was explained to the ambassadors and the King and Queen. They seemed very satisfied as everybody stopped what they were doing, stood up and clapped for him. Dan, feeling very uncomfortable, just smiled not really knowing what else to do.

The King held up his hands for silence and Dan was set down on his feet.

"So…the royalty/time stopper/shaman has returned victorious. It seems that your plan was successful. Not only that but you returned three members of Tranquil back to our city. I heard the singing from the moment you arrived back in Tranquil. Their families will be very grateful, as am I. I would like to make you a prince; adopt you as a son and be next in line for the throne. You have more than proven yourself and I don't think anybody has any objections to it." The King said and the cheering returned; only this time it was almost an ear-splitting cheer. It seemed like the every voice in Tranquil echoed into the palace. Dan shut his eyes, but dared not cover his ears. The cheering continued for several minutes and then settled down.

"I…don't know what to say…" Dan said telling the truth.

"Your face gives away the answer though. You are a fighter and would rather be in the battles than fighting. I don't blame you. Will you take the throne if something were to happen to us?" The King asked.

"Uh…" was all Dan could say. He thought about it for awhile and then said, "If we don't find any other to take the throne, then yes I would. I am honored…and frankly overwhelmed. I'm speechless."

"Then let me speak for you…Dan is the next heir to the throne in Tranquil. May he be filled with wisdom and help lead us into a new era of freedom and peace. Bring out his throne!" The King said with much enthusiasm. Two female trolls brought out a golden colored chair covered with different gems and emeralds. The chair was radiating with power that seemed to be calling just to him. The room erupted into cheering again, but Dan's fascination with the chair drowned everything else out. It was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The two trolls smiled at him as they walked away. Dan walked up to it and placed his hand on it. Instantly a surge of power filled his body amplified his powers. He closed his eyes and let it soak into him with a big smile on his face. Seconds later he reopened his eyes and began to look over the chair. It had such intricate carvings and his name engraved over the chair. He sat down on it and the room erupted in roar. Even the King and Queen were clapping. Dan felt beside himself and wasn't sure what to do with all of the attention he was getting. He just simply smiled and looked at everybody.

Unknowing what to do, or what exactly was expected of him he whispered to the King if he could speak with him in private. The King nodded and said in a cheerful voice for everybody that they must speak in private and asked everybody to leave for a moment.

After everybody left Dan asked why all this was happening.

"It's tradition to celebrate the next in line to rule Tranquil." The King said with a cheerful smile.

"My King…" Dan said looking down at the nice throne he sat in and rubbed his hand on it. "I feel as though we have different ideas for ruling Tranquil. From what I have seen, and I may be wrong in saying this, but it seems like for the most part our strategy has been defensive. I scheduled many offensive battles along with many other critical changes during your absence that strengthened our friendship with our allies and seem to have bolstered our forces in strength and renewed ambition. Am I out of line by saying that I am more…umm…outgoing with my commands than you are?"

The King chuckled for awhile and the Queen excused herself as she laughed as well. She exited the palace and spoke with her people. "Dan, you are young and ambitious. Normally I would be worried about that, and I was for awhile, but your powers have not only grown exponentially, but you have unexplained knowledge that has made Tranquil's parties to succeed in leaps and bounds. We have weapons now that splash acid on our enemy unexpectedly, or stuns them, hinders their movement, or shoots a spell at them. You have taught our time stoppers how to strength their powers and increase their durations. Your powers as a shaman have exceeded anything we have ever documented in our records. You brought food to Tranquil and to our outposts while at the same time resolving numerous conflicts. Indeed you are more outgoing." The King then let out a sigh and said, "In the past recently I have been afraid, not fit for King. My duties were to uphold the strength of Tranquil and to maintain order. Until recently after I destroyed all of my defenses I've been hiding behind, I ever felt free. I am more in touch with our people; I know their problems and console them. Sure there have been assassination attempts – and there might be on you as well, but I am not worried about that and I will not live in fear. You don't know fear. You know how to fight, how to love, how to take advice, how to give orders, how to increase your powers without bickering with others - Tranquil looks up to you. When I gave the command to locate time stoppers, you specifically, it took years. Herrior's tender heart molded you and taught you. You have seen battle and never falter. You have died and not feared it. You give hope to not only those that fight in battle, but inspire the rest of Tranquil…even me. I cannot think of a better person to rule Tranquil. But your eyes tell a different story."

"You are good at reading people." Dan said.

"Give it a couple hundred years, you will be as well."

"I want to stay in combat. My powers are only increased because my mind makes split second decisions, or I get a quick burst of wisdom from my guardian angel or whoever is speaking to me. I look at my opponent, evaluate their moves, and then find ways of killing them – that's the same as any fighter. But my mind continues to stay in battle even afterwards, thinking of different scenarios and strategies. Herrior has attempted several times to relax me." Dan said and then let out a laugh as he continued, "He tried to take me fishing and I made him mad at me for creating a water elemental and having dozens of fish placed before me." This made the King laugh. Dan continued.

"You have brought in the undead and orcs into Tranquil. Both of which I never would have imagined in my life." The King said. Dan spoke up abruptly and said, "I was just following my heart. There may be more races that wish to fight beside us. I believe there are more humans that would bolster our forces even further. I know of some good men and women that would give their lives to fight with us. Lew gave his life…he is very strong willed. I'm not saying let's open the gates and have them take tours of Tranquil and hand out pamphlets, but let's be more open minded about it. The officers for example…"

"The officers were not willing to work." The King interrupted.

"They were not trained to work, they are trained to fight. I am trained to fight. If Brenna hired me as a gardener, I would probably screw everything up for the first couple of weeks and grow bored of it because that is not my calling. Their calling might be different. I understand that they need to learn to help our allies, but I say throw them into battle and see what happens. Herrior did that with Crystal and I – as well as the rest of the humans in our party. Herrior's confidence led us through battle after battle. Many of them it seemed like our odds were against us, but his leadership brought us through. We brought humans into our battles and they proved themselves several times." Dan said arguing back.

The King had placed his hand on his chin and finger on his lips tapping it, appearing to be in deep thought.

"The humans, as you were, are not used to our people being naked." The King said.

"I am comfortable with it now. I don't even give it a second thought. I don't even give it a second thought about taking off my armor and swimming naked, as does the rest of our group. Switching races here for a second, look at the goblins; they are now fighters and good at it. They had different jobs but all along wanted to be in battle, and several were in battle as reloaders or to release their engineering weapons. Upon given the chance to fight for Tranquil, I would dare say that their loyalties and happiness rose one hundred percent. They knew what they were up against, they have seen their kinsmen die beside them, and when given the chance to take up a shield and sword, or to equip a cloak and cast spells – they overwhelmed the monks with requests to go through the transformation. At least consider the notion of having more humans into Tranquil." Dan took a breath and composed himself before bringing up another subject.

"There is another matter that requires your attention. It seems that all of the monks suddenly fell in love with all of the females and want to marry. Obviously this seems a little odd, but their intentions are pure and want to follow our laws. I don't not know if they can feel emotions, but their explanations of wanting to reproduce to increase their powers did make sense." Dan said.

"It does sound odd. We know little about them, and to be honest I'm not that comfortable around them. I hate to see our people suffer so much pain and many of them dying because of the transformations that they do. There must be an easier way." The King said.

"And there might be an easier way. They are remorseful when one of our people dies; they are not killing them on purpose. Many times I've heard them deny the blasting because they believe it would kill the person. From what I saw, they would give their lives for their own, are very loyal to each other and have the best of intentions for Tranquil. I think they are sought out throughout the worlds because of their powers just the same as time stoppers are." Dan said.

The King tapped his finger a couple more times on his mouth and then nodded as he put his hand back down on the arm rest of his throne.

"Herrior and his party have been in charge of your world. If your party deems a human or humans worthy, then I will welcome them. As for the monks ask what kind of marriage they wish to have and we will perform the rituals. We'll usher in a new era of more powerful monks, more powerful time stoppers, more powerful fighters, and we will start launching more offense strikes to weaken our foes. So be it." The King said.

"As you wish my King. May I take my leave of absence and rejoin my group?" Dan asked and then quickly thought of another question, "How often do I need to be here?"

The King started to laugh and said, "As often as you wish. It is not a requirement, just merely a symbol to give the citizens of Tranquil something to look forward to – a new future if something was to happen to the Queen and I. Go – continue to let your powers grow. Be an ambassador of Tranquil and help lead us into this new era. Tell that wife of yours that we'll be watching her with ambition as well. After all, if you are a prince – that would make her a princess."

"Thank you my King. I will make you proud." Dan said and gave him a slow nod before standing up and leaving the royal chambers.

Dan left the palace and the cheers roared up again. Dan quickly held his hand up for silence. "I am the next in line to rule as your prince of Tranquil. Your safety, health and welfare are my first and foremost concern. I have matters I need to tend to though." Dan turned to the Queen and bowed as he said, "My Queen." The Queen bowed back. Dan then turned around and pulled out his hearthstone to contact Herrior.

"Herrior I'm overwhelmed, where can I go to get peace and quiet?" Dan whispered in the portal quickly. Herrior began to laugh.

"Try the undead area; you might want to hold your nose though…"

"I want to go back to the station." Dan said.

"Do you want our party to come?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…sure that's fine." Dan said with a pause. Dan then closed the portal and began asking around for a Chronomancer.

Dan arrived in their room in the station. It was quiet as ever. He walked over to the corner and sat down. He saw a portal open and one by one Dan saw everybody come out until the portal closed behind them. Lindel wasn't with them; she was still at the banshee celebration.

"So it's the Prince of Persia…hiding in the corner. What's going on hun?" Crystal asked.

"I have a favor to ask all of you. When I'm with you I don't want to be treated any different. I am a fighter, just as the same as the rest of you." Dan said.

"Is that an order?" Herrior asked solemnly.

"You give the orders and always will. If you ask for suggestions we'll suggest ideas. I don't want anything different." Dan said.

"I'll take that as an order then." Herrior said with a smile.

"I feel my powers amplified when I touched the throne. I don't know what I can do now, but I have more ideas. I had old ideas also that haunt me, mostly about my past. Has anybody's past ever haunted them? Old regrets, old friends, old matters unsettled?" Dan asked.

"Plenty! All of us do…many friends dead and gone, cities destroyed, entire populations of blood elves devastated. Clinging to false hope that we would be safe. Watching our people turned into scourge, zombies, addicts for mana. Those kinds of regrets?" Skyka said sounding offended. Skyka glared down at him. Dan nodded after a couple of seconds.

"Where is your town at? Let's go free your people." Dan said.

"It's overwhelmed, still plagued with death and blood elf addicts…thirsting for any source of power that they can get. It's too dangerous." Skyka said.

"Herrior?" Dan asked looking at him rising to his feet and equipping his fist weapons.

Herrior nodded at him and took out his sword and shield. The rest of the group equipped their weapons and summoned their pets.

"Will the addicts dry out eventually?" Dan asked. Skyka shook her head and said "No".

"Is there any hope that there are others still living?" Dan asked.

Skyka became flustered and said, "This is stupid…Herrior you can't be serious, I still have the same thirst for the power that we were corrupted with. He knows nothing about what happened!"

"Is the town still intact?" Dan asked.

"Who knows…half of it was destroyed, the other half had mothers and their children dragged out into the streets and devoured." Skyka said starting to tear up.

"Let's take the town back. What do you think Herrior?" Dan asked.

"The odds are against us. Shall I call for other groups to assist us?" Herrior asked.

"No." Dan said quickly. "I'm going. I'm going to avenge Skyka's kind and rescue any that have survived. I am going to retake the town, kill all that oppose me and retake the town. I have lost, but Skyka has lost more. All of you are willing to help others out in our party to avenge their deaths. That city was once ours, I want it back." Dan ended and pulled out his hearthstone and contacted a Chronomancer.

Once a portal began to open Dan turned to Skyka and said, "I will avenge your people. You don't need to come if you don't want to. But I will be a disease upon the town and kill all who oppose me. Then I will search out and rescue the orcs, give them a chance to free themselves – and then the undead. All who resist me, I will slay in my wake of destruction. I'm going to go through the portal now. If you want to follow you will be remembered as the party that has rescued those who could not rescue themselves. I will use all of my powers and unleash my wrath on them. I will meet those who want to pursue vengeance on the other end." Dan said. Trackolania ran past him and through the portal before Dan could. Dan smiled and stepped through.

Dan energized his weapons and summoned three elementals: earth, wind, and fire. They all assumed a somewhat human form and towered above him. Trackolania's daggers were dripping with poison beside him.

"Ready my friend?" Dan asked looking at Trackolania.

"We're ready." Skyka said. Dan looked back and saw everybody behind him. Dan nodded and said, "Herrior, we are going to need a leader in combat…feeling up to the task?"

"Try to stop me. Let's go." Herrior said with a smile. "Put your buffs on everybody, Veliline and Quinely, you are both attacking anything you see, but not tanking unless you see me having trouble. You are all free to engage. Let's go for a run…"

The group set off at a near full speed run. Many skeletons and zombies approached them, but were quickly disposed of by the party. Herrior and the other warriors let out mighty roars as they came up to the once marvelous city. The city on the left side was far past crumbling, but the right side seemed to have some repairs done to it.

"Zombies and addicts don't repair their cities." Dan said continuing to run.

"Our guardians are forming. They are mechanical beasts that can shock us. There are hundreds of them forming." Skyka said.

"I'll take them out… Go my pets, wreck havoc on the guardians!" Dan ordered. The air elemental flew into the sky, while the earth one crumbled into the ground and began to make the ground shake. The fire elemental raced forward clouding the mechanical beasts from the approaching fighters.

"If you want to kill something you had better run!" Dan looked back bursting with excitement.

"Move out of the way then…" Mohania said pushing Dan aside and beginning to run. Herrior raced in front of the group as they all poured in upon the guardians.

The air elemental had gathered clouds from the sky and began to clash lightning on the beasts, while the earth elemental shot rock spikes up from the ground. Mohania kept chanting, "Die die die…" The fire elemental continued to shroud their advancement until the party was upon them. Then the fire elemental stopped making the pillars of smoke and started throwing fireballs at one.

When the party arrived they only got a few attacks off before Dan's elementals had finished off the rest.

"Not fair! It takes me at least two seconds to cast a decent spell! I demand a rematch…" Mohania said.

"Trackolania the door has a lock on it." Dan said pointing to a heavy set of doors. Trackolania jumped towards with his dagger out, and as his feet hits the ground, lock in hand; he looked back with a smile.

"Open the doors!" Dan yelled out. Nothing happened.

"Rats…came all this way and they won't open the doors…" Dan said smiling as he looked at Herrior.

"Maybe Jacklyn and I should try knocking…" Herrior said smiling back. They both walked back a couple of steps and then charged at the door and slammed into it with all of their force. They felt several "thuds" as the people behind it fell down. Herrior and Jacklyn then proceeded to push the doors open slowly.

"Quinely, how many fighters are on the opposite side?" Herrior asked.

"Hundreds…" Quinely said.

"Better get in your bear form. Veliline you take my left side. Once the doors are opened, only attack the guards." Herrior said when suddenly Trackolania threw his weighted throwing star through the small entrance, splicing several arrows that were coming at them. Trackolania summoned back his weapon and Quinely, in her bear form, was in front of the door to take the incoming damage. Skyka had started healing Quinely, not knowing what to expect.

"Push!" Herrior yelled out. The rest of the group began putting their backs against the door as Strings began to play a tune.

Finally the doors flung open and all of the citizens looked at them mesmerized by the music.

"Hold your blades!" Herrior said with his hand held back at his group.

"They…are all blood elves…how…" Skyka said bewildered.

"Strings stop please." Herrior said and Strings stopped playing. The crowds of people shook off the hypnotic tune and looked at their attackers in awe.

"We are not here to fight you, but we will defend ourselves if we are attacked. What happened here?" Herrior's cried out.

The blood elves looked at each other not knowing what to say or do. Then suddenly everybody ran towards them, dropping their weapons and bows. They ran past them and continued to run as fast as they could.

"Still have that affect on people don't you Herrior." Mohania said.

"Skyka?" Herrior asked.

"I have no idea. Something isn't right though." Skyka said.

"Agreed, and we're going to have to find out what." Herrior said as a gun was shot and a bullet bounced off Herrior's helmet. Branzer's gun echoed back, exploding the man's head.

"Let's go." Herrior said reading his sword and shield.

Proceeding further into the city, several people tried to attack them, but found themselves quickly obliterated. Finally several guards came out with a dozen children in front of them.

"Drop your weapons or…" was all the guard could say before Branzer and Julie exploded their skulls into a mesh of blood and brain matter.

"Quickly young ones come to me." Skyka said waving her hand towards them. They were all crying in horror.

"Herrior I need a perimeter." Skyka said and Herrior's party formed a circle around them.

"Settle down…shhh…settle down, everything is ok. Tell me what is going on? What is happening?" Skyka said. Strings struck up a tune that began to soothe the children quickly and one of the older boys began to talk.

"The King…he is possessed by demons. He has ordered all of the blood elves to be rounded up and trained to fight. We need to get out of here…he is going to kill us all…" The boy's voice was trembling and obvious terrified.

"Veliline, take Strings, Branzer and Jessica with you and exit the city. Take the children with you and try to find where the other blood elves went. Keep them safe. If you have any problems you can't overcome, call us." Herrior said.

"Ok little ones, come with me. We're going to safety. Quickly now, we must hurry." Veliline said holding her hands out and motioning them to come.

"Go with her, she is a friend. She will keep you safe. I promise." Skyka said and pointed at Veliline. The kids nodded and followed them out of the city.

"Quinely take to the skies. Tell me where the palace is. There's a King that needs to be slaughtered." Herrior said. Quinely morphed into a bird and quickly flew up in the air.

"Northwest of this location. There are demons coming this way. About…thirty of them all armed with heavy armor." Quinely said.

"Let's not keep them waiting…" Herrior said letting out a smile. Quinely flew back down and morphed back into her bear form.

Herrior let out a thunderous roar and then yelled, "We are here to liberate you from this city! Today the King will fall and you will be freed, I give you my word! Join us or stay out of our way!" Herrior then began running forward as the rest of the group followed.

"Die mortals!" The demons said when they saw the party coming towards them and began running towards them.

Herrior let out a loud snort and charged ahead of the group. He then jumped into the front line of the demons and slammed his sword down on the ground, sending a shockwave forward and stunning the demons. He then began to swing his sword and slam his shield into as many as he could to focus their attention on him. Skyka lit him up with healing spells to keep his health up and the battle began.

Quinely took the left side of the demons and took huge swipes at the demons, getting their attention as Bernett began to heal him. Dan summoned his totems and summoned a fire and earth elemental to fight beside him as he began to carve up his enemies.

"Demons…dumb as a bug…" Mohania said running off to the left past Quinely and found the demon in charge. Mohania chanted a spell and quickly gained control over the demon general. The general then began to take huge swipes at his army. He picked up a demon and threw it off to the side.

As this was happening, Trackolania's daggers carved up one demon after another. The rest of the ranged attackers finished off the demons attacking Quinely and Herrior and the two of them proceeded to gather the attention of more demons.

The battle went on for fifteen minutes until confusion came upon the demons as their general finished slaughtering the rest of them. Dark purple circles enveloped around the general's head – showing that Mohania had control over him. He then turned to Mohania and said "My master is vulnerability is the switches on the sides of the wall. His armor in the back of his neck is the weakest."

"Herrior…I don't think we need this guy anymore…" Mohania said.

"Release him, I'll pick him up." Herrior said. At once Mohania pulled his hand back, severing the connection as Herrior slammed his shield into the demon general. The general looked around confused, and died in the same state as his body burned up in fire.

"Switches on the sides of the walls…Dan you figure that out when we get in there. Trackolania I think you know what you got to do." Herrior said. Trackolania smiled nodding excitedly.

"Let's do this!" Herrior said charging up the palace stairs. Several guards had to be killed along the way, but they made it in the single huge room in the palace.

"And just what do you think you are doing here?" The King asked tapping his fingers together. Trackolania had stealthed himself and began to move into position as Dan quickly started looking at the switches on the walls. They all had wire feed into a ball of dark light above the King.

"We're here to liberate this city from you. Your reign of terror is over." Herrior said approaching him.

"Reign of terror? You mean region of survival perhaps? I've saved these people, I have restored order, and I have kept threats outside of this city. Terror is such a harsh word." The King said.

"Ruling with an iron fist? Your subjects abandon your city as we speak. You have no control over these people and before the day is over, your head will be severed from your body. Stand and fight." Herrior said glaring at him.

"Oh…you mean like this?" The King said. He stood up and grew in size. He kept growing until he was as large as the room and suddenly turned into a black demon with nine snake like arms on each side and several dozen eyes coming out of them.

"A beholder…I figured you were some miserable demon…" Herrior said and with that threw his sword at the beast. The magical sword hit the giant eye as the beholder opened its giant mouth and moved to devour Herrior whole.

Time stopped.

"Switches…gotta flick all of the switches…" Dan said running around pushing all of them up. Trackolania was unsure where the neck of this beast was, but stayed deadly still and posed to attack. Herrior slowly moved out of the way.

Dan flicked the last switch and yelled out, "Ten seconds everybody!"

Ten seconds passed.

Time resumed.

The beholder slammed into the ground, injuring itself tremendously. Suddenly the dark light pulsed with power and grew brighter. The beholder quickly turned around and let out a screech as a blast of enormous white light exploded into the room and slammed into him. It blinded everybody in the room, but they heard the demon catch fire so they weren't afraid.

Moments passed and the light grew dimmer until it eventually faded.

"Dan doesn't get credit for that kill…" Mohania said. A man lay motionless on the floor where the beholder was. Trackolania moved in to sink his daggers into the man's neck when he let out a moan.

"Stop" Herrior said. Trackolania held his ground. Herrior couldn't see him, but he knew what his intentions were. Herrior bent down and picked up the man with one hand.

"Talk fast because these are going to be your last words…" Herrior said with his sword in his other hand.

"I'm…sorry. I betrayed…everybody…" was all the man could say before his body went limp forever.

As promised, Herrior sliced his head off and tossed the body aside.

"Desert!" Mohania yelled excitedly and ran to get it.

"Do you recognize this man?" Herrior asked turning to show Skyka the head. She was in tears.

"No…no I don't. How could he! How could he betray his own people?" Skyka's anger grew as she ran over to where Mohania had begun devouring the body. She pushed him aside and began repeatedly kicking it. She began to shout obscenities at it, cursing it for all of the years of torment.

This attracted a crowd outside. They came in and saw what had happened. They gasped in shock and disbelief.

"He's dead…you killed him…" a woman said. "But how? He was invincible."

"I've squished many Kings and so called 'gods' under my hoof. They all die the same. Your people are free now." Herrior said.

"We…can't be. There are still guards…demons under his control." The woman said.

"Then we will kill them. Skyka you continue kicking the dead body, everybody else let's search the city. I want this city liberated!" Herrior demanded as he took the severed head and walked through the crowd as they parted a center for him to walk down.

Herrior took a deep breath before he yelled as loud as he could, "Your King is dead! Your slavery is over and any who still have allegiance to will be met with the same fate! Citizens, take up arms and join our fight! Any demons we find left will be slaughtered mercilessly!"

Calmness came over the town before they erupted in cheer. Herrior could see dozens of demons taking flight and quickly flying away.

"If you come near this city again, I will personally kill each and every last one of you!" Herrior shouted at them. None of them turned back to look.

"The outsider tells lies! The King is too powerful to be killed!" A man spoke.

"Here's his head…see if it answers you!" Herrior said holding it in front of him. Herrior could still here Skyka cussing up a storm and stomping on the dead body. "Look upon this and see that you are free. Look at the demons that fled this town and know that you are free. You need not worry about a demon ruling over you. You are…free!" Herrior said and let his voice reign throughout the kingdom.

More and more people come out to see what happened, some even began to cheer.

"No…no – what now? You leave and the demons will come back. This city is filled with magic. It attracts demons. You have done nothing but anger them. They will come back." A man said and turned to almost panic, "They will come back and punish us! They will enslave all of us, bind our will to theirs."

"Let them come." Skyka said coming out. She grabbed the head from Herrior and threw it at him. "We possess more power than they do, but we cannot stay in this city for long. We have to evacuate this town and blow it up." Several gasps were bad as the crowds began to talk among themselves.

"Think about all that happened and all that was just said. Our mission was to free you from the demons and to free you from the addictions our people have come over. We came to put those out of misery that have completely lost their minds. We came to save, but we had to destroy in order to do that. Gather your belongings and put them in the city roads. I'll summon our people to help take you to safety and to bring your stuff with you. Once everybody and everything is safe, then we will take measures to ensure that when the demons return, they will be met with traps that will deter them from revisiting. But for now, everyone gather your belongings and meet us in the streets." Skyka said.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and had Quinely show up in the portal.

"A couple of demons came our way, but we handled them. We had an occasional crazed blood elf or undead/zombie creature come at us, but it's nothing we can't handle. The townsfolk are safe."

"Good, bring them back. We neutralized the threats of the town and are getting ready to portal them out of here." Herrior said and closed the portal. He then thought of a Chronomancer and then rubbed the hearthstone again. He gave lengthy instructions and then had her repeat the instructions back to him when he was done giving them to her.

"Good. You may begin when ready." Herrior said. He then closed the portal and thought of Tess and reopened another portal on his hearthstone.

"Herrior…so whatcha doing?" Tess asked with a smile.

"I need a couple of groups that are bored to come out and help us evacuate a town. I've got several Chronomancers coming and in case the demons come back I want to kill them before they touch the ground." Herrior said.

"Rats…that means I'll have to get my armor on; you're asking a lot out of me you know that." Tess said sarcastically.

"I'll make it up to you later." Herrior said smiling.

"Liar…we'll be right there. Not much is happening around Tranquil right now anyways." Tess said smiling as she closed the portal.

Within minutes portals were opening all over the city and Herrior dispersed his party to give instructions to send them to their old world's outer wall. He asked each of his party members to estimate a head count as well as signal any attack from the townsfolk. The evacuation proceeded smoothly and the townsfolk felt more at ease now that they saw other fighters among them and helping them. Any thoughts of them becoming enslaved or ruled by another tyrant had disappeared. The gracious and kindness of the Tranquil fighters was felt by everybody.

Daylight turned into dusk as the last of the townsfolk left into the portals. Several of the older townsfolk whispered that they wanted to stay behind and speak with their leaders. The Tranquil fighters agreed and passed the word along. Soon the groups began to return to Tranquil and the portals began to close up. Tess, Kon, and the rest of their parties brought the leaders before Herrior.

"What is it you wish to speak of in private?" Herrior asked.

"Our lightwell…long ago was the source of our powers. It was taken by the undead scourge and all that was good from it dried up – turning us into the powerless people that we are now. Like your blood elf said, our thirst for power still remains – even in her. But in time we will adapt, like she has. We have made several other devices which replenish our thirst; however I fear that if our town knew about them, there would be chaos among chaos…only to have more bloodshed from the demons and our kinsfolk alike."

"We don't want it. Describe what it looks to me and the location of these items and we will see to their destruction." Herrior said interrupting the old blood elf.

"No, there are other uses for it. It holds power…"

"Nothing that you bring with you from your old life and old ways of accumulating power interests us and if there is a chance that these items will cause dissention in the town we are taking you to, I will be held responsible – which in turn means I will slaughter all that were involved. Is that understood? Your addiction ends now. Describe these items to me." Herrior said in a more forceful voice.

The blood elf backed away and gave a slow nod. "They are lanterns. They emit a blue glow and are approximately one food tall by half a foot wide. They are gold. I will give you the locations of all of them on this map. When you destroy them, the demons will not return. There is no power left, and everybody has left…there is no reason left for them to come back."

"You aided the demons by giving them power from these lanterns?" Herrior asked.

The man nodded. "It was more of a bribe…for our lives and for…"

"Get him out of my sight. Skyka take him and their leader's severed head and go meet up with the rest of the refugees. I want the bodies drained for several days and their thoughts clear before I speak with the King about letting them into our town." Herrior said. Skyka nodded and grabbed the man by the arm and led him through the portal.

"Close the portal please." Herrior said in a quiet voice. The Chronomancer did just that.

"I do not want anybody here drawn to the power of these lanterns. I sent away Skyka of fear that her old addiction might overcome her. When you find these destroy them immediately. I don't care if it blows up and burns down half of the town." Herrior said and then started giving commands for the rest of the fighters to disperse into the cities. Once they got their orders, they summoned their dragons and took flight. They flew to their specified location and soon explosions began to fill the air. To the humans, it sounds like a giant firework that had extra sulfur in it, giving it the "arching" affect as the rest of the firework fell from the sky in a sparks.

During this time, several warnings of demons had been called out but as soon as the demons knew they were spotted, they flew away. Herrior summoned Mohania and Crystal with his hearthstone and told them to take flight and patrol the perimeter of the city; if they sensed any demons coming to yell it aloud and then engage them.

As dusk turned into night, the voices of the fighters could be heard yelling out that they couldn't find anymore and moved to help others in the area to locate the rest. The explosions of the firecracker sounding lanterns still echoed, but instead of a dozen an hour it was one every two hours.

Several more hours passed and the fighters were reporting that they couldn't find anymore. Mohania and Crystal sensed that all of the demons had fled. Herrior gave the final command for everybody to come back and to return to Tranquil. As they flew back, Herrior opened a portal on his hearthstone and brought up Skyka's face.

"How are you holding up?" Herrior asked.

"Tired…many of them are starting to suffer from the affects of withdraw. Some of them may turn before the suns rise. If that's the case we'll have to…do what we must." Skyka said remorsefully.

Herrior nodded and his heart went out to Skyka. He could see the pain in her face and in her words. This was her life from the past that she never wanted repeated, and it was happening all over again.

"Skyka listen to me. We have saved thousands of blood elves during our siege. Thousands of them hun, focus on that. Some may turn and if they do, we'll put them down quickly. But you have more of your people back. If it weren't for Dan, all of these people would still be enslaved and tormented. If it wasn't for you helping all of them right now, many more would turn. You are doing your best – as you always have. We'll be there to start separating them soon. You are my wife, an ambassador, a healer, and strong blood elf. Calm their worries. I will speak with you soon my love." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"How's she holding up?" Tess asked.

"Not good. I worry that this nightmare will overtake her…again. I need ideas." Herrior said.

"I can put all of them to sleep." Strings said quickly. Herrior nodded at the idea.

"You are going to need more than just your group to separate them and to control the commotion if some of them turn into zombies, were you planning on asking or just assuming that we would come?" Tess asked with a smile.

"I wouldn't want anybody else by my side…that is unless another group is available…" Herrior joked back which landed him a dirty look from Tess. "It would be appreciated, but I'm not ordering you to…"

"Blah blah blah…we're not going by any orders; we're going to take a walk outside of our old wall because tonight is a good night for a walk. Sound good everybody?" Tess asked looking behind her at her group. They all agreed.

"I too feel my party could stretch their legs for a bit. Given their numbers and ours, I would say put twenty of them to one of ours. If there is any indication of one of them turning, question them with basic questions. If they are able to answer them, have them lie down and rest. If they cannot, it may be best if we leave a portal open and escort or drag, them through it and slit their throats quietly and quickly. Any gun shots or screams will worry the rest of the blood elves even more. We have enough rogues between all of our groups to do it quickly and efficiently." Kon added. Herrior nodded and thanked both of them. They assembled their groups and left the deserted town.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Skyka said sounding relieved to see Herrior. She quickly ran up to him and embraced him as she whispered, "This is hard for me."

"I can see that. We have devised a plan to make things easier, but if you need to take a leave of absence than that's fine." Herrior said.

Skyka shook her head and said, "No. I am a fighter and I am here to help."

"Strings, you're up." Herrior said. Strings quickly raised his lute to his lips and began to play a hypnotic song that soothed their minds and calmed their bodies. The fighters began to round up the blood elves and moved them away from each other as planned. While this was going on, Herrior explained to Skyka what their plan was. She nodded and said she expected this to happen and appreciated that it would be quick and painless if one of them should turn.

"Quiet yourselves and get comfortable. You are going to sleep here tonight to make sure your addiction does not overcome you. Many of you will not be affected by this and I apologize for the inconvenience. We have fairies that will take care of the wastes that your body produces, but for the time being all I want you to have is bread and water. If everything goes well, this will only be one night, but it may go several more nights. I am not going to let you into our kingdom as long as I feel that there might be threats among us. Now then, just relax and go to sleep. The sooner you sleep, the sooner we will get things sorted out, and the sooner we can relocate you to your new homes." Herrior said. Many of the blood elves had questions, but Strings increased the volume and minutes later they were all soothed with the majority of them sleeping.

"Are you going to let Tranquil's bread and water into their bodies?" Tess asked concerned but in a low voice.

"Of course not, I'm going to call Alan and have him send us the bread and water from their world. It isn't pure, but it won't hurt them. Kon can you speak with the cooks and tell them to send fairies out just to remove their bodily wastes? I will contact the King and tell him of the events that has taken place." Herrior said.

"Do you want me to contact Alan while you do that?" Branzer asked. Herrior nodded to him as he rubbed his hearthstone. He got the King directly and began to explain from the beginning what had happened.

Back on Earth, Alan woke in almost a near panic as his hearthstone began to vibrate wildly. He grabbed it and instantly an image of Branzer appeared.

"Sorry to wake you up but we have a situation and we need your help." Branzer said.

"At one in the morning?" Alan said instinctively.

"Is that what time it is?" Branzer asked with a smile.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Time apparently doesn't matter to you guys…and taurens and whatever else. What do you need?" Alan said rubbing his eyes and forcing himself to wake up.

"Water and bread. Enough to feed one thousand people for one day, possibly two." Branzer said.

"Water and bread? What for?" Alan asked.

"To eat and drink. Alan this is important, can you and Sammy do this tonight?" Branzer asked.

"Yup…yeah I'm awake. Let me get dressed." Sammy said in a very tired voice.

"How soon do you need it by?" Alan asked.

"As soon as you can gather it. Once you have it contact me and I'll have a portal made for you to send it through. I appreciate it Alan and Sammy. Being an officer we hardly got time off and unfortunately you have been deputized a long time ago." Branzer said.

"Yeah we gathered that much. Alright give us a couple of hours." Alan said back almost awake now.

"Thank you guys. I am sorry about calling in the middle of the night." Branzer said.

"Happy to help…" Alan said with a fake smile.

"It's appreciated. Take care." Branzer said and closed the portal. He turned to Herrior and said, "They are on their way to collect the food and water."

"Good. The portals should be opening soon for the fairies. Let's start spreading each other out. Trackolania go round up the rest of the rogue's. You know what to do." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and assembled the rest of the rogues faster than Herrior could call out their names. They moved in almost unhuman speeds to the portal opening for them and they jumped through.

The first fifteen minutes seemed to be the longest. Herrior saw many of them start to shake and quiver despite Strings's music. He didn't like the order he had to give, but he gave it and he knew it was the best. He knew that the blood elves knew what was going on – a slaughter of innocent people recently freed from tyranny and magic addiction. The children would probably be safe, they weren't hold enough to be hooked on the addiction – he hoped. Herrior sat on the ground with his sword and shield close by. He didn't want to kill any more of them, but he wouldn't hesitate to do so if it meant saving the life of others.

An hour went by and they had their first victim. It was a middle-aged female. She had been shaking the whole time unable to fall asleep like most of the others. She stood up frantically and in a shaky voice she said, "I need mana…I need my fix!" One of Tess's party members went over to calm her down, but was pushed away as the woman began to change into a zombie. Her eyes lost their color, her fingers and toes began to grow and her body began to shift in weird ways.

"Take her." Skyka said. Tess's troll that was pushed down picked her up and threw her towards Kon. Kon caught her and threw her through the portal. A quick and gentle "snap" could be heard – they knew the rogue's had done their job. Skyka shivered. The fighters looked at each other with the same thought, "That is what we have to look for…and no hesitation…" as they nodded at each other. Strings had stopped playing his music and was quenching his thirst. He knew his job was done for the moment, but in an hour or so he would have to play again. He wanted to pace himself.

Another hour went by and most of the people were sound asleep. Some were still stirring. A portal opened and Alan came out. Herrior rose up and greeted him in a quiet voice.

"Do you have the bread and water I asked for?" Herrior whispered.

"You wouldn't believe the looks on the people's faces when we bought all of the loafs of bread and bottled water from several different stores…but yes I think we have enough. Why are we whispering?" Alan asked looking around.

"You probably don't want to know, and to the people that can still hear us it's probably best not to repeat what we have already told them. Let's set the food behind the wall and we'll distribute it in the morning. Tell your Chronomancer to close the portal and reopen it behind our wall. I'll summon some help for you. Thank you Alan." Herrior said.

Alan saw one of the blood elves begin to go through the changes. Herrior allowed Alan to stay and watch. One of the taurens picked up the male blood elf and through him to the next person until he was tossed through the portal – which was followed by a faint "crack" sound. Alan knew what just happened without even being told. He looked up at Herrior who was expecting a question. Instead he spoke.

"Some addictions over take your entire body and not just your mind. We've had several we had to put down so far. If they change, it cannot be reversed and they will stop at nothing to get their addiction filled – even if it meant killing everybody here. Their thirst for mana cannot be quenched. Sadly it is not entirely their fault…" Herrior whispered back and then motioned his head towards the portal. Alan nodded and went back through the portal as it collapsed in behind him. Herrior walked away as he rubbed his hearthstone and contacted a gathering group. He told them they would only be needed for about an hour to transport goods. As he walked back a female blood elf walked up to him.

"May I speak with you?" she asked.

"Of course" Herrior replied.

"If I change, will you promise to take care of my children?" she asked.

"Your children will be taken care of. Do you feel the change happening?" Herrior asked.

"No…I think it's just anxiety. I'm scared…we're all scared. Can't you stop this from happening?" She asked.

Herrior shook his head. "If you make it through tonight, then tomorrow should hold a brighter future for you. Some may still change tomorrow, but tonight will be the worst night. Go back and get some sleep." Herrior then looked at Strings and nodded. Strings stood back up and began to play his lute. The woman settled back down next to her children and fell right to sleep. Herrior let out a small grunt and looked away. "If I knew of a way from stopping this I would…but I'm not going to let any of you into Tranquil so long as I know you are not a threat." Herrior thought.

Strings played for another hour which put the blood elves into a deeper sleep. His music only targeted the ones he was concentrating on and not the fighters. The fighters were growing bored watching the blood elves sleep and had begun to pace back and forth. So far they only had to kill a dozen blood elves, but the night was not through yet. Every other hour he played his music to put the blood elves in a deeper sleep. Only a few more had to be killed before the light came.

The sunlights pierced the horizon and the shiny black, charred rocks reflected it into the sky. The morning brought relief as Herrior ordered the rogues back and to close the portal. He pulled them aside, including the exhausted Chronomancer and told them watch closely and if they had to dispatch some more of them to be ready.

Herrior then quickly moved in front of the waking blood elves that were now talking back and forth and said "Welcome to your first night of freedom. As promised our fairies have flushed out the waste in your bodies and we have bread and water inside our outer wall. Follow me and we will add some nourishment into your bodies, if you need more than I will order more to be brought out. I look upon you and see more inner peace among the majority of you. You know you are safe and being cared for, and I look upon others who woke up missing people. I apologize for what we had to do, but it had to be done. Trust me when I say it weighs heavy on my heart. Come now and let us eat." Herrior led the way through the old ramp and into the wall where the bread and water that Alan had brought was waiting. Herrior ordered the fighters to distribute the food and water as well as tell them the history of this land. They all seemed content, almost happy as the conversations flowed back and forth. Herrior made eye contact with Trackolania and then looked up the wall. Trackolania got the message and quickly scampered up the ramp and onto of the wall where he had a better view of everybody. He then signaled the other rogues to take up strategic positions within the crowd. Herrior observed this and was astounded to see that the rogues had communicated better with each other than Herrior did when they were in battle. They were a mystery…and maybe this mystery was best kept a secret. Herrior looked away to try to make it look like he wasn't paying attention. He was sure Trackolania saw him the entire time.

"So how many more of us are going to change?" A male blood elf asked.

"First night is the worst, probably not many now." Skyka said.

"So do you have magic users among you? Obviously you do because you had to have used some to bring down the King." The blood elf inquired.

"Nope, no magic users here. We kicked that habit for mana and began to rely on other means of healing and casting spells." Skyka tried to say casually but louder than normal. A lie, but a necessary lie to protect their parties – and more importantly to protect the blood elves. If they knew there were mana users here, they would attack and drain their powers from them – possibly even kill them.

"So the man playing the lute?"

"We're not sure where he gets his powers from. To be honest we don't think he has any, but is a highly gifted man who has practiced on his lute for years." Skyka said. A lie this time? Not an entire lie, just not the entire truth.

"And the people who open the portals?"

"Carefully tuned mental powers. They are a secret group that doesn't share their secrets much. I haven't a clue how they did what they do." Skyka said eagerly looking for a change of topic. She looked up and saw Trackolania. The man was asking another question but Skyka interrupted and said, "You see that rogue up there? He has no magical properties at all, but he could kill dozens of us before we even know what happened. We have perfected many different types of skills without dependency on mana." The man stopped talking and looked behind him at Trackolania up on the top of the wall. He then looked back and said; "We would see him…" the man froze as he felt two cold steel blades wrapped around the front of his neck.

"You would see him…coming? Is that what you were going to say? You turned your back on a rogue and almost insulted him. You only have a couple of seconds left to apologize." Skyka said taking another bit of bread.

"Sorry…please…I'm sorry…" The terrified man said as the blades left his neck. He turned around and saw Trackolania halfway back up the ramp and pointed one of his daggers right at him.

"Some questions are better off not asked…how's your neck?" Skyka asked and smiled at him.

The man was rubbing his neck and felt no puncture wounds or cuts. "I think I just got all of my questions answered…" and walked away.

Skyka turned to look at Trackolania and gave him a wink. Trackolania smiled and winked back.

It was almost midday and nobody else was showing change. Many had more questions but not about their fighters. Strings was the main attraction as he told stories of the past and previous battles they had fought, careful not to mention anything about magic. Herrior let the blood elves walk anywhere they wanted. Some complained about the food or water, which Herrior didn't blame them but felt his hearthstone begin to vibrate. He pulled it out and quickly walked off. It was a monk.

"We would like to request you and Dan's presence during our weddings as witnesses. We would like to proceed immediately if we could." The monk said.

"We are on a mission right now, can this wait?" Herrior asked.

"I must have been misinformed. I was told that you were watching over blood elves to see if their bodies become mutated and if they do to kill them. I apologize. I will reschedule the marriages for a later time." The monk said.

"Yes that is the mission we are on…hold on a second." Herrior looked behind him and saw Kon and Tess looking at him. Herrior then pointed at himself and then with threw his thumb behind him. Both of them nodded. He then mouthed the word "Dan" and both of them nodded again as they went off to search for him.

"It would be an honor. We will be there in a couple of minutes." Herrior said.

"The honor is ours. We look forward to having you here." Herrior smiled and then closed the portal. He turned around and saw Dan and a male troll walking together towards him. Herrior waited until they were close enough to hear him whisper.

"You and I are invited to a wedding as witnesses. What did Kon and Tess say?" Herrior asked Dan.

"To get your big fat ugly ass out of here…I'll let you guess which one said that." Dan said with a smile.

"Then let's do that." Herrior said smiling back. The troll made a portal and both of them walked through it.

They appeared right before the entrance to the monk's tunnel. The pastor of Tranquil was with them as well as the Queen. Both Herrior and Dan gave a slight bow towards her.

"Shall we begin?" The pastor asked.

"Is this…legal?" Dan asked.

"They have professed their love for each other…I don't know much about their race and I don't know enough to pass judgment, do you?" The pastor replied.

"No…no I guess I don't." Dan said feeling pinned down by the question.

The four of them walked down the chamber for quite a ways until they got to the thick heavy door. Herrior knocked on it and slowly the door opened inward. The monks looked the same. Long grey shriveled fingers and fully covered by a grey cape. The monks not getting married were up against the back of the wall, and the ones to be married were lined up for them to walk down. It was assumed that one side was female and the other side was male, nobody could tell the difference though. The children were off in the corner of the room. The big stone slab was in the middle of the room.

"Hello everybody. Thank you for inviting me to the ceremony, I am truly honored." The Queen said in a cheerful voice walking down the line and stopping at the end. Everybody else followed.

When all four of them were in place, the pastor asked if everybody was ready. The monks joined their arms together and moved side-by-side making a wide line in front of him.

"This is a joyful day. I have the honor and privilege of uniting all of you in holy matrimony. I wanted to thank you for this chance ahead of time. Now let us begin." The pastor said as he opened his bible. He began to recite the wedding rites as the monks stood perfectly still.

The wedding ceremony in Tranquil normally takes hours, but the pastor shortened it to half an hour. He felt like he was talking to an empty room with no emotion and knew nothing about the monks specifically, but did acknowledge their role in Tranquil and their roles obligated to each other as man and wife. He went into more detail, but finally got to the part where he asked if anybody had anything to say about the couples getting married. Normally an uproar of cheering and jokes were exchanged followed by a testimony of each person getting married and how much they loved their fellow. The four witnesses felt compelled to say something.

Herrior said, "I for one am very grateful that you have found one another and again am very grateful that all of you have chosen Tranquil to be your home town. I am honored to have been the one to give the order to rescue your children and females. I want to thank all of you for your contributions to our town and people. You have given us the powers to change into the fighters that we are and gave us the powers that we have."

"Those powers were with you all along, we just merely altered your body's physical and mental composition to enhance them." One of the monks said.

"But we all still love you all none-the-less. You are part of our family. You have enhanced the spirit of Tranquil, their fighters, and their citizens." The Queen said back. The monk didn't say anything.

"You have saved my life. I was lying in the hospital dead and one of you came and saved my life. I feel a link to all of you that is deep in me. It may seem silly, but I want to thank you for that." Dan said, and the same monk spoke up quickly.

"You are needed in keeping our people safe. There are great powers within you that still haven't been unleashed. You will wreck havoc on our foes. Single handed you can drop our enemies, cause confusion among their ranks and distort their vision that they are portraying to their people within their reign. That is your next mission and you know it." The monk said.

"I know it, but this is a celebratory time for you and your people, not one of future planning. Live life at the moment and not in the future. For right now I rejoice with you and your people on this momentous day. I don't know if you can feel love and happiness, but I feel that for you." Dan said.

An eerie silence filled the room with deep confusion. Herrior and the Queen looked very confused.

"You are right. Today we celebrate, however we celebrate in our own way. We are happy on this day, but we express our happiness differently. I appreciate your words. May we proceed with the ceremony?" The same monk asked.

"We may proceed." The pastor said and continued the ceremony. Fifteen minutes and the ceremony completed. The monks opted not to exchange vows or rings. The pastor closed his bible and the four of them left. The monks began to chant something as the four of them left. Herrior opened the heavy door and waited until everybody stepped through. Herrior then shut the door behind him.

"Mind filling us in on what the monks were talking about with you Dan?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, that was a bit surprising." The Queen added softly.

"My mind has been planning things...things that have to come to pass. You may have thought that our past two victories were glorious, but the next plan has yet to come. The monks and I have spoken a bit about it. I have also spent time conversing with some of our assassins and scouts. This plan that I am formulating would be a massive strike to the alliance and may even dismantle their organization. I am still working out the details so I am not ready to unveil it yet." Dan said in a serious tone.

"I shouldn't even be asking this...but is it a plan where it will put you in mortal danger?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior...have I ever done anything like that in the past?" Dan said looking at him smiling.

"I don't approve of this plan then." Herrior said.

"I haven't asked for your approval yet. There are still some, what I like to call 'fail-safes' that I need to figure out. Herrior for as many stories as I've heard and as many missions as I've been on, we've either defended ourselves, were mocked by, or had our hand forced to slay the alliance. This would put a stop to it...possibly for hundreds of years. We could gather more food, do more research, secure more outposts, expand Tranquil...the possibilities are endless and hard to ignore. It wouldn't involve any of our party or anybody else, just me." Dan said.

"You have always been ambitious my young prince. I look forward to hearing your plan over dinner. What day do you purpose to have this plan figured out?" The Queen asked.

"I need to do some more meditation and praying, but I believe the wind is blowing in my favor - and it would be an honor to have dinner with you and our King again. The food was absolutely superb." Dan said.

"Thank you, I had most of it prepared myself. It is a recipe I had handed down from our previous rulers. Perhaps I shall pass it on to you some day as well?" The Queen said flattered.

"It would be an honor." Dan said.

"It was an honor to partake in this ceremony. Thank you pastor for inviting me, and thank you to both of you for participating. Now I must take a leave of absence so that I can attend to other matters. Take care all of you." The Queen said and gently bowed. The three of them bowed back. The pastor then said his farewells and left both of them alone.

"So what all is going on inside that head of yours that I should know about? Any more surprises? Gonna take on all of the alliance single handed?" Herrior said in a cocky upset voice with a smile on his face.

"There is more to the art of war then on the battleground. The assassins answered many of my questions along with our scouts. They know how to penetrate our stealth capabilities, and obviously know the difference between a troll or a tauren versus a human. I plan on walking right into their fortress, sabotaging all of their equipment, destroying any blue prints, and killing whoever's ass is on the sitting on the throne - making it look like treason. I plan on toppling their regime. We had word before from our scouts that the alliance was in disarray. Fast forward to the future where they were not only able to break our portal codes, but develop a device for stopping time and were fully prepared to lead their entire army into our town. From my understanding, up until I ordered Tranquil to rest on this icy world, we kept changing our locations - keeping us safe. I say we stop running, stand our ground, and send in myself to raise havoc." Dan said.

"Sounds very simple...you tell your story as if it were a child's story." Herrior said mocking him.

"Sarcasm aside, what do I possess that you don't? I am a human and therefore will not be 'picked up on their radar' so to speak. I will go in without armor or weapons. I will take up a trade as an apprentice, as all young men my age do. From there I believe I will receive instructions as to what to do next. I'm not going to slaughter everybody, but to raise distrust and cause dissension among their ranks. I also hold the keys to time itself and now I have the abilities to commune with the elements around me. I'm going on faith, and I believe I will be lead on faith to do my duties as a fighter of Tranquil. I will bring a hearthstone, but disguise it inside another rock and bury it one mile to the west when the sun goes down. When I feel my job has been completed, I shall return." Dan said.

Herrior looked at him and wondered if he was either crazy or serious about doing this. "You could be killed."

"Herrior, you could be killed in battle tomorrow...or the next day. I do not fear death, nor do I believe that death will overcome me. We have...I should say had...hopefully not anymore, traitors within Tranquil's walls. How many traitors do we have within the alliance walls?" Dan asked.

"I've decided that you are crazy." Herrior said but continued to listen.

"None." Dan said answering the question. "So we killed some of their army, their King, took over a fortress...big deal. This operation will cripple them for many years to come. It will drive out the peasants to see refuge elsewhere. It will cause one guard to turn on another. One member of royalty will betray the other. I mean...what do we truly know about the alliance? Right here and now this very moment? Nothing. We find out where they are going to strike next, I take out their forces and save the lives of our people. I find out what new weapons they have, what allegiances they have formed and break them. Who else in Tranquil could do that? Nobody, and I am tired of sitting around waiting for them to attack, only to hear that we didn't arrive soon enough to save more lives. We have some blood elves out there that we saved and that is great, but what if we could save some humans - like the ones that escaped and Branzer has been helping? In exchange for food and supplies, they could give us information unknowingly. You dance with your words a bit, or have one of our banshee's in the room and all of their secrets are ours. We do not kill the innocent, but we can trick them - this I observed first hand. I will not have any innocent blood covering my hands, but I will slaughter the soldiers and who in Tranquil wouldn't want to see that? Herrior look around. These people are happy, but there is always that anxiety of 'not-knowing' when the next strike against us will be. That has got to change. These people have devoted their lives to Tranquil and its people, the least we could do is ensure it with a tale of such large proportion that even Strings would have to take days to tell it. But enough of this for now, my throat is parched." Dan said holding out his right hand. A young female blood elf walked by and handed him a mug of water at the same time as Dan took it still looking at Herrior. Dan drank the entire thing down and gave it back to her as she went on her way.

"Faith Herrior, take it all on faith. Give it all up and let faith guide you. That is what is happening to me." Dan said concluding his speech.

"I am beside myself with questions and concerns. Maybe I consider this idea of yours for awhile?" Herrior asked.

"Consider what you want, the Queen knows more then what I just told you and I'm sure the King does as well." Dan said.

"What of your trinket? We all could go in together and..." Herrior started.

"...and as soon as you change clothes you lose your disguise. No it is a mission for one, not for many." Dan finished.

"Let's discuss this at a later time with our party. For now let us rejoin them, we still have much work to do." Herrior said changing the subject.

"Yes we do, sorry I got carried away…I'll summon a Chronomancer." Dan said pulling out his hearthstone. Herrior nodded and eventually they were back with the group.

Skyka looked very upset. Herrior walked up to her and turned her to face away from the group.

"They are smart Herrior. The man asking me the questions, do you remember him? He turned, and he wounded several other blood elves before we could kill him. This is a hard assignment for me. They were enslaved, they struggled, and now they suffer against their own bodies." Skyka said as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Brenna is looking for you my love. Why don't you go to her and rest up a bit. I'll rotate our forces so we'll meet up with you later." Herrior said.

"Are you going to be ok?" Skyka asked him.

"Yes, we will be fine. Go ahead and go. We'll meet up with you in a little bit." Herrior said.

Skyka knew that all of this had taken a huge emotional toll on her and her thoughts were not that of a fighter's. Skyka nodded and summoned a Chronomancer. She left and as soon as the portal closed, Herrior turned around and was clearly upset.

"I do not want another one of you getting killed! You will fight the addiction, you will prevail, and you will enter our city under our protection! That is an order! You will have new lives – free of demonic rule, free of your addiction, free to do as you want, and you all will fight with every fiber in your being to fight this! I have fought many battles, many diseases, many poisons, many magic spells, and possessions and I stand before you victorious! You were once fighters of your own, normal citizens fighting for your families – well reach inside of you and pull out that fighter! If not for you, then fight the addiction for each other – pull on each other's strengths, raise each other up. Today you are free from the addition and you will live your own lives, raise your families, sow the ground with seeds, feed your livestock. Many of may choose to fight beside us in our conquest to free more people, save more lives and promote freedom throughout the many worlds. Fight with us! Fight for your freedom, the freedom of your kin, and the future freedom of those we will save! Fight people, fight!" Herrior said with his voice roaring as loud as he could. His voice reached into the soul of each blood elf and they felt the empowered. Tess and Kon's parties cheered and let out war cry's, which in turn empowered the blood elves even more. They began to cheer as well and their voices echoed throughout the land. Sheer happiness and joy filled the blood elves hearts and warmed their souls.

"Come and drink with us, break bread with us brothers and let it fill your bellies!" Herrior said and tossed out dozens of water bottles as many grabbed them and began to drink and be merry.

"Come and get them. Strings strike us up a tune. Today is your triumph. Today is your victory! Drink! Drink it all! Flush your bodies and make yourselves pure again!" Herrior said and moved out of the way. He opened a bottle himself and poured it down his throat. The water tasted better then Alan's water at his house, but it was nothing in comparison to Tranquil's water. After his bottle was empty he threw it in the air and it was blown apart with bullets. Herrior let out a loud thunderous cheer and the rest of the people cheered along with him.

Herrior watched the people and he felt pleased that he gave them all a boost of confidence. He wondered how long it would last, but the smile never faded from his face. He knew there would be others they would have to kill – he hoped not, but the reality was they weren't out of the battle yet. It was ok to have hope though. Hope pulled a lot of people through hard times. It kept many fighters alive as they were blasted by the monks, and it kept many people who had their bodies immune to time stopping alive to survive the ordeal. Hope is the only thing these people had and their levels of hope had risen tenfold. Perhaps when another one turns, they won't feel so bad when their fighters blow him or her apart. Herrior looked at Tess until she looked at him. She saw concern in his eyes and then Herrior looked for Kon as Herrior started walking towards Tess. Kon caught the queue and eventually joined up with them.

"How was my speech?" Herrior asked with his hands on their backs and walking them away.

"Could have used more of a feminine touch to it." Tess replied.

"How many more do you think will change?" Herrior asked.

"Honestly, I don't anticipate that many more – if any." Kon said.

"Give it another day or so?" Herrior asked. They all looked at each other and agreed. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and rubbed it as he thought of Alan. It took about a minute and Alan's face appeared in the portal.

"We'll need another day supply worth of bread and water." Herrior said.

Alan nodded and said, "We'll have to go to a different city so that we don't raise suspicion. I'll call Samatha…I mean Sammy, my wife, and get her started on it immediately. Can I ask what is going on?"

"We saved thousands of blood elves from their demon masters and are attempting to free them of their addiction still. Less of them are converting into zombies and we figure one more day should reveal the last ones and then we'll bring them into Tranquil. You are part of their recovery and have helped us saved their lives." Herrior said.

"And the ones that turn into zombies as you call it?" Alan asked.

"We kill them." Herrior replied quickly.

"Oh…"

"There's no returning back once you turn. Thanks again for your help." Herrior said.

"Herrior wait…" Alan said as he saw Herrior begin to turn his head away.

"Yes?"

"Our outpost has reported an increase in alliance activity in our area. They haven't told me anything else besides that, but was instructed that additional guards be placed in our house. What's going on?" Alan asked.

"I don't know…but unfortunately we have a plan. I cannot tell you what it is, but after our mission here, we'll come to your house and secure the area. We will visit our police station as well to see if there are any issues that need to be addressed. I'm still not happy with the Lieutenant in charge of the station…" Herrior said.

Alan looked at him confused and asked, "Unfortunately you have a plan? That doesn't sound like you. You like forward to battle…I mean that is your job and passion isn't it?"

"It's not my battle…I'll be sitting around with my thumb up my ass while our prince of Tranquil single-handedly takes out the alliance empire. I'm not happy about it, but orders are orders. I'll talk to you more about it later." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Sounds like a good bit of gossip…care to share?" Tess asked.

"Dan has an idea. I don't approve of it, but if he pulls it off the entire empire will fall and chaos will erupt in the regime. Their allies will turn on them, and their grip will loosen on their region of terror." Herrior said.

"And if he doesn't pull it off?" Kon asked.

"He dies."

"I told you he would end up getting himself killed…again." Mohania said walking up and overhearing the conversation.

"Is he serious?" Tess asked.

"Of course I am." Mohania said.

"Shut up Mohania! Yes unfortunately he is. Not only has he gained the approval of everybody that he needs, his plan is nearly complete. He is taking everything on faith that it will turn out ok." Herrior said.

"Then I wish him the best. Let me know when he decides to leave, I want my party to bid him farewell." Kon said.

"I don't think that is going to happen. I think it is going to be a secretive mission. Even I didn't know he was planning it until about an hour ago." Herrior said.

They all continued to discuss it as Dan over heard bits and pieces of the conversation while attending to his duties still. He knew his life was on the line, but everyday it was. He had a feeling he was going to pull it off though. He had one last thing he had to address though. He might as well attend to that business while doing this mission.

He walked up to Crystal, who was helping hand out bread, and kissed her on the cheek and then quietly whispered, "I need to talk to you about something very important."

Crystal nodded as she asked one of Kon's healers to take her place. They walked past Herrior, Kon and Tess as they walked through the old gate and out into the empty dried up world. Herrior made a quick glance at Trackolania who had been watching the whole thing. Herrior nodded at him and instantly Trackolania vanished.

"I've been having dreams…dreams about missions against the alliance. I'm going to go attack them, but secretively. I'm going to blend in with their people, take up residence, find a job and carry out a series of attacks against them. I don't know how long this mission will take, but it needs to be done." Dan explained.

Crystal looked surprised and asked, "Ok, so when are we going?"

Dan smiled and said, "No, not we, I."

"No, not I, we…I have powers to you know. I'm immune to time stopping, demonic and alliance possession…"

"But not against having your mind scanned. Lindel can read you like a book and if they have the same capabilities as we do, the mission will be for nothing and we'll be killed – also jeopardizing the safety of Tranquil. Nobody in Tranquil has access to my mind, making me the prime candidate for this mission." Dan said.

"Do you plan on raising any suspicions?" Crystal asked.

"Of course not."

"And neither do I. I have the ability to summon demons that can gather information for us completely undetected. When you stop time, you do not have the ability to overhear conversations, look at where their guards are positioned. I can distract them and take over their minds, forcing one to do my bidding. I can then quickly banish them as if nothing happened. Did you consider any of this in your plan?" Crystal asked.

She made some valid points and caught Dan off guard.

"We're both human and will blend in just fine. Anybody else we know they are constantly scanning for, even those that are stealthed. Going in as a married couple, we can claim that we are nomads – travelling from one place to another. Do you plan on just walking into the fortress that easily just by yourself? Wouldn't it look better if you were married and looking for work to help support your family?" Crystal asked.

Dan sighed and looked away.

"Well?"

"You are about five steps ahead of me. This could be a one way trip. I am going to wear normal clothes, no trinket, no weapons, and I'm going to bury my hearthstone a mile west of the fortress. This isn't going to be a walk in the park." Dan said.

"I don't use weapons. Besides, I'd rather run in the park. You do know the old saying, 'two heads are better than one' and so far it seems like I've come up with some clever ideas that you haven't thought about. Plus I have one advantage…I'm one hot piece of ass." Crystal said smiling.

"You have a point there…" Dan said smiling back.

"So…when are we leaving?" Crystal asked again.

"Herrior doesn't approve of the mission." Dan said.

"If I were him, I sure as hell wouldn't either. What does the King think about it?" Crystal asked.

"The Queen seemed intrigued and asked us to have dinner with them." Dan replied.

"When?"

"She didn't say. My guess is as soon as we are ready." Dan said.

"I'm ready…are you?" Crystal asked.

"I don't want to see you get hurt…or worse…" Dan said.

"Just the same as I didn't want to see you die or sacrifice yourself to save all of us? You mean that kind of hurt?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah…" Dan said and scratched the back of his neck.

"I'll be fine. I'll take up a trade skill within the kingdom and concentrate fully on that. My mind and my willpower will not falter. Nobody will suspect anything and I will be able to take care of myself. Besides, women are more apt to speak with another woman than you…no offense." Crystal said with a smile.

"The same with me and the men." Dan said.

"Not if I shake my ass in their direction…" Crystal said with a smile. Dan smiled back.

"So…is it dinner time?" Crystal asked.

"We have to finish this mission first." Dan said.

"We have three of our main groups babysitting blood elves who are sitting around doing nothing…it's a waste of resources and you know it." Crystal said.

"I think everybody knows it…" Dan said.

"Besides we are going to be rotating groups soon so we can have some rest. Sound like a plan then?" Crystal asked. Dan nodded.

"No, say yes and give me your word." Crystal said firmly.

"Yes you have my word. Just mind your thoughts and actions." Dan said.

"And if you leave without me I'll be roasting your testicles over an open fire." Crystal said.

"I'm not leaving without you, you have my word." Dan said letting out a laugh. "But I don't think anybody else should be involved in this mission."

"I agree with that. No point in getting more of us killed than we have to. Let's head back before they think we are plotting something and not doing something else like having sex." Crystal said smiling.

"Yeah…we wouldn't want them to think that…" Dan said rolling his eyes. Both of them got up and walked back to Herrior who was now alone and leaning up against the mighty doors that once held back the alliance.

"Hi Herrior…lovely day today." Dan said.

"Is there something we need to discuss?" Herrior asked.

"I'm going with him…also don't say no." Crystal said.

"No." Herrior said.

"Damn…that was the word you weren't supposed to say..." Crystal said letting out a half smile.

"Herrior can you listen for just one second." Dan said pleading.

Herrior shook his head, silencing both of them. "I want you two to come back. That is an order. I expect you two to hold up the beliefs of a Tranquil fighter. I also expect you to not come back as a spy for the alliance, because so help me I will run my blade through you so fast you won't have time to stop time."

"Have you ever wanted a chance to watch the alliance turn on each other…have them fight among themselves, and corrupt them? I plan on leveling as many towns and alliances they have. Their empire will fall – I promise." Dan said.

"Kill some for me." Herrior said with a smile.

"That's not the plan…the plan is to have them kill themselves…but if you insist I will kill one for you." Dan said.

"Mohania wants you to kill one thousand and bring back their remains…" Herrior said smiling.

"Completely intact, and no I can't hear you!" Mohania yelled out.

"I can't swear to that promise." Dan said quietly.

"What?" Mohania yelled out.

"He said you're an ass!" Crystal yelled out.

"I thought so!" Mohania yelled back.

"When are you leaving?" Herrior asked.

"I need to finish preparations with the King and Queen, and I want to speak with the monks before I…err…we go. I want to make sure we do screw this up from the beginning." Dan said.

"Why Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"She's my wife and threatened to roast my balls over a fire…" Dan said smiling.

"I still might…" Crystal added.

"She's immune to possessions, and her warlock powers, as well as being immune to time stopping, will prove to be useful. Also she's a human, our cover story checks out, and she thought of ideas I hadn't." Dan said.

"If you two produce offspring, you do realize it's going to have a combination of both of your powers. That alone would be worth fighting for." Herrior said.

"Fine…no sex…" Dan said smiling.

"What of your armor and weapons?" Herrior asked.

"They are staying here. We will go out with simple clothing and pose as travelers. I can perform many of my spells without my weapons, and Crystal never had any weapons." Dan said.

"Gonna keep track of how many alliance you kill?" Herrior asked.

"Can't…can't leave any trace of what we are doing." Dan replied.

"You've got some guts…keep them in you. One month?" Herrior asked.

Dan looked at Crystal for confirmation. "It's your plan, not mine…" she said.

Dan turned back to Herrior and nodded, "Agreed, one month. Now agree to me that nobody in our group can get married until we return. Also this mission is a secret."

"I don't even know what your mission is exactly, so that isn't a problem. I hope you know what you are doing." Herrior said.

"I do also." Dan said back.

"What do you need from me?" Herrior asked.

"A hug…" Dan said back holding out his arms. Herrior smiled and embraced him. Crystal embraced both of them and they stayed like that for nearly ten minutes.

"I love you Herrior. I will not stray from the path. You can trust me." Dan said with tears flowing.

"I trust you." Herrior said back. Herrior released him and then asked what else he needed to get started.

"I need a trip to Tranquil." Dan said. Herrior smiled and pulled out his hearthstone and a Chronomancer eventually opened one up as both of them disappeared.

"Trackolania?" Herrior asked aloud. Trackolania appeared in front of him.

"Did they say anything about betrayal?" Herrior asked and the rogue shook his head.

"Did they seem confident about what they are going to do?" and the rogue nodded his head.

"This is going to be a long month…thanks Trackolania." Herrior said.

Dan and Crystal made their way down to the monk's chambers and knocked on the door. A monk opened it and asked why Crystal was with him.

"She's going as well." Dan said.

"As you wish." The monk said.

"Is she ready? I mean is she immune to everything that she needs to be immune from?" Dan asked.

"Diseases and poisons – no, but her mind is ready. Should something try to overpower her mind, simply concentrate on your love for your mate." The monk said.

"Do we have a location of their main fortress?" Dan asked.

"No…their power is overwhelming. It is stronger than ours. We have a basic idea of where it is. You may have to travel many miles and gather supplies or horses along the way. But our current location is in a deep cave. There appears to be nothing living there and should make for a smooth entrance. One problem we have is you have no idea what types of food are good to eat, good for medicine, and which ones could kill you. We can put that information into you, but it will take about one hour of blasting." The monk said.

"Let's begin then." Dan said beginning to take off his armor.

"Wait Dan, you have a meeting with the King and Queen. After your meeting gather our clothes that we will need and knapsacks. I'll get blasted." Crystal said.

"No I don't think so." Dan said.

"Yes I think so. Where we are going, the women cook – not fight. If I have the knowledge that I am supposed to have, I will be able to better concentrate on that and blend in better. You are supposed to be the hunter and bring home the bacon every night." Crystal said.

"I can't believe I just heard that coming out of your mouth…" Dan said smiling.

"You know I'm right. Let's get this over with." Crystal said undressing. She looked at the monks and asked to have their armor saved for them. They said they would as she laid down on the table.

"You cannot be here when she is being blasted." One of the monks said turning to look at Dan.

"I love you Crystal." Dan said.

"I love you Dan. Now go get things ready." Crystal said and began to take heavy breaths. Dan nodded and left, making sure the heavy wooden doors were shut behind him. He ran away so that the screaming faded faster.

He kept running until he arrived at the palace. Many guards had assembled and parted ways allowing him to come through.

"Am I expected?" Dan asked.

"We have no answers to any of your questions. The King is expecting you." A tauren said. Dan nodded and ran into the palace and once in the throne room he saw many head leaders dressed in their finest attire – all of them focused entirely on him. Dan skidded to a stop and nearly tripped over himself. He composed himself as he smiled and said, "Hi…normally I walk better than that…"

"Dan, I have called upon all of our leaders and told them you are going to lead a strike force against the alliance. They have come to give you their blessing." The King said.

"I am honored." Dan said in shock, but what shocked him more was the stories each race or each ally came forward to him and told their story of how the alliance had taken their people, slaughtered them, or forced them into manual labor. Some were sold as slave laborers, or prostitutes. Many of them had their children stolen in the middle of the night, also had their food stores drained and left them to starve to death.

Dan continued to listen and nod at each story. After a small blue goblin-like female had stopped talking, he motioned to interrupt. "I'm not going to kill everybody I see. I have heard many of your stories and I empathize with you. I am going to get vengeance for all of you, but I also plan on leveling our playing field against them. Many will die I assure you, but I am going to go in with a focused mind on our mission. We are not going to slaughter the innocent – we are not like them. I appreciate telling me your stories and I am sorry for your losses. But this mission is secretive and I would appreciate the upmost discretion about this."

"Dan I would not have brought these leaders to you if I did not trust them with my life. I may not know all of the details of your specific mission you have in mind, but I trust you. I wanted to show you that not only are we proud of you for going on such a quest, but many others do as well. When do you expect to leave?" The King asked.

"Crystal is currently in capacitated right now, learning new techniques on how to cook and survival. I have come to get our supplies and then leave every trace of our Tranquil armor and weapons here. We'll each bring a couple of our backpacks and knapsacks and one hearthstone which we will bury about five miles east of the camp. But as soon as she is done I figure we would leave pending your permission to be excused from our current assignment." Dan said.

"You have our permission. Go and gather your supplies and you may leave whenever you are ready. When shall we expect your return?" The King asked.

"About one month, but I do not want anyone to know our specific arrival time, arrival position, or what time we are leaving." Dan said.

The King nodded. "This was also to prepare yourself for the worst that they have to give you. Don't let your hearts become corrupt by them. Guard your hearts and your minds from them."

"We will." Crystal said walking in. "Let's get this show on the road."

The King smiled at her and nodded. "You may leave." They both bowed before the King and walked out of the palace. Waiting for them was the clothes they would take and their packs that they needed filled with supplies. They quickly changed, picked up their bags and headed back to the monks chambers. Nobody knew what was going on and they wanted to be quick about leaving.

Upon entering the monks chambers, this time Herrior and his party was there, except for Lindel.

"We wanted to let you know we'll be waiting for you." Herrior said.

"I expect you to. I don't want to come back and see that our spots have been taken…" Dan said.

"You'll always have a place among us." Herrior said.

"Are you ready?" one of the monks asked.

"Yes, open the portal for us."

The monks all started to hum and lifted their hands. The Chronomancer began to open a portal off to the side of the room as blue electricity arched to it.

"It's so we aren't detected…" Crystal whispered to Dan. He nodded and walked through the portal to the other said with Crystal behind him. As soon as they were through the portal closed.

"We will need to perform that ritual again when they return. But for now I must ask you to leave. We have some preparations that need to be completed." Several monks said in an eerie voice. Herrior's party left and shut the enormous wooden door behind them.


	26. Assault

Assault

Dan and Crystal arrived in a dark and damp cave with the portal closing quickly behind them.

"So here we are…" Crystal said in an eerie voice.

"Yup," Dan said putting his hand on the ground. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a minute.

"I can pull some lava up to this spot and pull more rocks in to make this cave denser, just in case we need to seek refuge real fast." Dan said with his hand on the ground.

"Having a safe spot would be nice, but I'm not sure you would call this safe…" Crystal said as she let out a shiver. The ground began to quake and Crystal lost her footing.

"Sorry," Dan said as he rocks shot up from the ground. Stalactites and stalagmites quickly slammed into each other and grow thicker. The air became thicker and Crystal could feel the bottom of the ground begin to shake and shift.

"Dan?" Crystal asked in a worried voice.

"It's ok; the elements will not hurt us. They haven't ever had somebody communicate with them. Lava is going to come up on the sides to produce more interference. I'm also going to hide my hearthstone." Dan said pulling out his hearthstone and setting it out in front of him. The ground suddenly opened as it fell in the ground and closed back up. The ground continued to rumble as small amounts of lava began to spew up on opposite sides of the ground. The cave began very hot and then cooled off as a large gust of wind came in and cooled the lava.

Dan rose to his feet and said, "The elements have promised to look after the hearthstone. They have also agreed to not let anybody else in unless I'm here."

"Well don't die, I won't have a way to go back home." Crystal said.

"This could be a one way trip for both of us you know." Dan said looking at her.

"I've heard that before." Crystal said. She then thought of an idea and said, "Why don't you just have lava erupt and consume their entire fortress?"

"I thought of that, as well as earthquakes, lightning storms and many other fun things…but we need to turn them on each other. If we kill the King, another will ascend. If we wipe out their army, another will form. You saw what happened when we were invaded. Although a carefully planned lightning strike or two would be nice to see. Do you still have your powers?" Dan asked.

"A mere fraction without my robes," Crystal replied.

"Same here. We'll have to make do with what we have. Let's get going." Dan said.

Both of them walked through the cave and along the way Crystal collected some moss and put it in her backpack. Once they were out they saw their world, or something very similar to their world. There was only one sun, blue skies, white clouds, mountains in the distance, fresh air, and a variety of wild horses and sheep. As they looked around they saw a town in the far distance to the south. As they concentrated more on it, they could feel the evil resonate from the town.

"Guess we know which way to go." Dan said.

"This seemed like a good idea at the time. Let's get going." Crystal said.

"Remember the plan." Dan said.

"Yeah yeah…what the heck?" Crystal asked as they both ducked as a jet fighter flew over their heads letting out a loud sudden roar from its mighty engines.

Once it left they uncovered their ears and watched it leave. They both shared the same thought, "They have a lot of advanced technology here…" They reached for each other's hands to bolster their confidence as they started walking towards the town.

Along the way Dan's senses told him of different pieces of gold and gems buried in the dirt. This preoccupied their time digging up for it as black hawk helicopters flew over practicing maneuvers. The emissions from the powerful machines made them cough once in awhile.

Just before nightfall, they arrived in town. The streets were busy with activity and the food smelled just like that from their world. Everybody was human, and very rude.

"For the first night do you want to sleep outside of town?" Crystal asked.

"And miss out on the free WI-FI and cable TV?" Dan asked smiling as he pointed to a Motel 6.

"Not sure if they take our currency here." Crystal whispered close to his ear.

"Maybe there's a pawn shop here." Dan whispered back as they continued to walk through the town.

The town went on for miles with paved roads, sidewalks, and street lights – along with the normal car alarms going off occasionally, an occasional angry hollering, and dogs barking.

"Ah here we go, drive through beer and lotto, checks cashed and hopefully gold." Dan said pointing to a building in the far distance.

"Those places never made any sense to me…drive through party store. Their main sales are tobacco and alcohol. Can't tell you how many times we would patrol right around the corner of those places and bust people for drunk driving." Crystal said reminiscing.

They walked up to the drive through and asked if they could cash in gold for money.

"What do I look like…a pawn shop? Either buy something or get out of here." The store clerk said. Dan calmly pulled out the gold nugget and slowly spun it around for him.

"I'll give you a hundred for it." The clerk said.

"I was thinking about adding a couple of zeros to that number. You and I both know its worth more." Dan said. Crystal walked away in apparent disgust in the back alley.

"How about one hundred dollar and two zeros behind the decimal point – final offer." The clerk said in a cocky tone.

"How about two hundred?" Dan asked back.

"How about you scram and I don't call the alliance on you. You're wasting my time…" The clerk suddenly shook violently and his eyes looked very distant.

"Sorry to hear about your problems. Here let me give you all of my money…" the man said in a low tone. He opened the cash register and pulled out all of the bills above and below the money tray and handed it over to Dan.

"If you wait for a minute I will go into the safe and get you some more." The man said and moved awkwardly to the back room. Dan had an idea what happened and walked to the same spot that Crystal went to. He saw the door blown apart was still partially on fire. Dan walked up to it and stepped in where he saw Crystal taking the rest of the money from the man. The succubus then materialized and wiped her wipe around the man's neck. The snake-like end watched the man slowly suffocate as his throat was tightened up and crush his neck. A final bone crack and the man's body fell limp on the ground.

"You are better at negotiating than I am…" Dan said smiling.

"I got tired of the guy after listening to him for the first five seconds. I have a short attention span for idiots." Crystal said. "Let's lit this place up, and then stop time so we can flee the scene without being seen."

"What would I do without you?" Dan said as he summoned a small fire elemental. It spouted out fire balls and left a wake of fire in its path. At the same time Crystal launched her fire spells, instantly igniting them on fire.

"That should do it. Banish your little friend and let's split." Crystal said. Dan reached out and the element was sucked into his hand and disappeared.

Time stopped.

The roaring flame instantly stopped as both of them ran out of the building and continued to go several miles away.

"What did you set the timer for?" Crystal asked.

"An hour. Wasn't sure for how long." Dan said.

"We'll be nowhere near the scene, but we need a place to appear that no one will see us." Crystal said looking around.

"Have you been sensing any demons around?" Dan asked.

"No, have you been seeing any?" Crystal asked as both of them continued walking down the road looking for a safe heaven.

"No, just asking." Dan said.

"I have been sensing for them as well as taking in everything around me. Same as you with your elemental…stuff." Crystal said.

"How about over there?" Dan asked pointing to a spot in a back alley. There were several other homeless people in the area and probably wouldn't raise any suspicion.

"Sounds good to me" Crystal said and they began walking over to the alley. They sat behind a dumpster and got comfortable.

Time resumed.

They could hear small talk from the homeless people and some scuffling. Dan and Crystal embraced each other and prepared to sleep leaning up against each other.

"I love you." Dan whispered.

"I love you more." Crystal whispered back.

"Are you going to sleep ok?" Dan asked.

"Probably not, tomorrow we'll get that WI-FI you were talking about." Crystal said and let out a laugh.

"Good…been awhile since I've checked my email…" Dan said smiling back.

"Good night my love" Crystal said.

"Good night." Dan replied back.

The next morning came and a foul stench came filled the air. Dan smelled it first and identified it as a combination of burnt tobacco, body odor, spoiled food, and some other things he couldn't identify. He looked up and saw a man offering him a cup with a friendly smile on his face. That was the only thing on him that looked genuine. The rest of his clothing looked to be stitched together several times.

"Its coffee…as fresh as it gets around here. Name is Nick." Nick said. Dan returned the smile and took the cup. He always hated coffee, but this was a friendly gesture and they probably only got coffee once a week. He took a big sip and thanked him.

"Kicked out of your house? Not work hard enough? Demoted from being a soldier in the army?" Nick started to ask.

Dan shook his head and said "We think of ourselves as nomads, or wanderers. We live off the land, mostly keep to ourselves. We came to town to sell some gold and to buy some goods. We'll be moving on shortly. Thank you for the coffee. My name is Dan by the way."

Nick extended his hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, but I'm afraid you wondered into the wrong town. Not a lot of people make it out of this town. A couple miles over yonder a party store burned down. Rumor has it the building suddenly went up in flames – killed everybody in it. Best piece of advice that I can give is watch what you say. If you are looking to leave town, you best be doing it at night on a cloudy night. People and places have a tendency of dying once they defy the alliance."

"Thanks for the advice." Dan said finishing off the coffee and handing him back his cup.

"Do you have any infections?" Nick asked.

"No" Dan replied.

"Sorry have to ask. New people in the area we have to get to know them and, you know, make sure they are clean." Nick explained.

"No worries." Dan said and looked over at Crystal leaning up against him still.

"Wife?" Nick asked. Dan nodded.

"Lucky man. Another piece of advice is don't bring her around when the alliance are patrolling the streets. Sorry about the let down about this town son, but just telling you what you are in for."

"It's ok, I appreciate the advice." Dan said. Nick nodded and walked away.

"Is he gone yet?" Crystal whispered very quietly. Dan nodded and watched him walk away.

"I thought I was going to puke…we cannot stay on the streets again." Crystal whispered. Dan nodded again.

"The alliance are just as bad as we thought. Let's get to killing." Crystal said. Dan stood up and gently pulled Crystal to her feet. They slowly walked away, Crystal faking an injured limp on her left leg and not making eye contact with anybody and left.

About a mile away, Dan looked around and said they were clear. Crystal stood up straight and cracked her back. "Let's go find some soldiers," she said. Dan nodded and off towards the huge stone wall in the distance was their target.

"What's over there?" Crystal asked.

"Something caught my eye…" Dan said as he held his hand out. Unknown to Crystal a small cloud began to form above them and began collecting as much moisture as it could.

"Ok we're here…what is so interesting about this wall?" Crystal asked.

"It's not the wall that is so interesting…" Dan said turning around and pointing it at where they just were. Suddenly two large chucks of ice fell from the sky, impaling two humans that were sneaking behind them stealthed. Their deaths were swift and quick, and more importantly there would be no witnesses or method of death. Crystal jumped back in freight when she saw it.

"Watch what you say around here!" Dan said firmly but in a quiet voice looking at her.

"How did you know they were following us?" Crystal asked.

"The winds seemed to be not flowing around us correctly. They also whispered a couple of times." Dan said still looking at her clearly upset.

"Sorry." Crystal apologized. They both dragged the bodies back against the wall and took their gold and money from them. They quickly returned to the streets and heard some cheering in the distance, some half-hearted cheering to be exact.

"Maybe the alliance are making their rounds in the streets! Let's go see!" Dan said eagerly.

"That would be wonderful to see them!" Crystal said trying to get not vomit while saying that.

Both of them jogged down a couple of blocks and sure enough there was a parade. There was some sort of well dressed captain in the front with a whole slew of medals and sashes. He was riding a white horse with dozens of guards behind – all fully suited in armor and weapons. Behind them they dragged three undead skeletons that everybody was mocking and throwing things at. The captain was ranting on and on about their victories and how powerful their army was.

Time stopped.

"You kill the captain, I'll distract the soldiers. We've got to free those undead." Dan said and both of them quickly split up.

Crystal ran up to the horse and jumped up on the horse in front of the captain, straddling the horse backwards. She started patting down his armor and she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small dagger and pulled his armor aside and ran it as far into the captain's side as she could make it go. She then wiped her hands off on the captain's sashes and jumped off.

Dan in the meantime had the first row of soldiers falling forward on their swords. As soon as Dan let go of the swords, they froze in time and was perfectly lined up to impale the soldiers. The next row of soldiers he had grabbed a sword and sliced all of their throats. He then positioned one of the soldiers to make it look like he did it.

"What are you doing?" One of the undead asked.

"It may not seem like it, but we're on the same side and we're here to save your asses. Do not move from the position you are in right now. You will be free soon." Dan said.

Dan then ran back to them and blasted the locks off with a fierce fire blast. It freed the undead and Dan looked back up at them and repeated, "Do not move! If you do you will raise suspicion. We're going to get you out of here and to safety." Dan then turned around and removed all of the gauntlets from the soldiers in the back row. One hand he shoved in the pants in the soldier in front of him, the other hand he grabbed his crotch with. Crystal quickly helped and then, as if their minds were synchronized they ran back to the spot they were in. Dan held his hand low to the ground and the earth began to rumble. He waited a couple of seconds and then let their plan go into action.

Time resumed.

Dan commanded the earth below them to shake violently causing nearly everybody to fall over, including the ones that realized they were dying. The captain fell off his horse and with a crash, he died in surprise. Chaos emerged and people began to scream. The soldiers in the back were quickly surprised to find out that they had engaged in gay practices. They quickly pulled their swords and began to swing at each other. The crowds dispersed quickly. The undead simply stood there in awe. Dan ran out quickly and offered to help as Crystal began to launch her warlock curses on one of the soldiers that seemed to have gotten out of the mess. He let out a scream and yelled, "We're under attack!"

"By who? I'll take up a sword and fight beside you!" Dan yelled. Crystal ran over and offered her support as well.

"What direction did they attack from?" Crystal yelled. When she was inches from him, his mind was nearly destroyed and she put her hand on him, sucking the rest of the life out of his body. Crystal then cursed in anger and quickly ran from injured soldier to soldier, planted her warlock curses in them – all the while pleading for something that she could do.

"You bastards aren't going to get away! You are going back to the prisons! You are responsible for these deaths!" Dan said yelling at the undead. He blinked his eye several times at them. He grabbed their chains and ran into the closest building. The undead quickly followed, unsure what to do.

"What the hell is happening out there…hey they aren't allowed in here!" The man behind the counter said.

Time stopped.

Dan jumped over the counter and drove the sword down the man's neck. He then took the man's hands and put them on the sword. Dan then looked around and saw nobody else in the shop. It looked like some sort of general store.

Crystal closed the door behind her and locked it. She then drew the shades down so nobody could see in and said, "We're safe."

Time resumed.

The man made some gurgling sounds as he fell to the ground. Dan ignored it and said, "Do you trust us now?"

"Yes…who are you?" The same undead said.

"Friends…we need information. How many more undead are in there? Are there any taurens, blood elves, or orcs?" Dan asked quickly.

"There are more undead – about two dozen of us, not sure about the others, but I sometimes hear the sounds of ladies screaming. I don't what race they are." He said.

"Good…this will be a busy night. What's your name? Crystal paper and pencil please?" Dan asked. Crystal quickly started scrambling around for some and handed it to him.

"We weren't given names…we were brought to life from our former selves and refused to partake in their experiments so we were locked up."

"Fine – your name is number one, you are number two, and you are number three. I am friend number one, and this is friend number two." Dan said pointing at Crystal. She let out a quick "hi".

"Draw as much of the fortress as you can on these papers. Friend two, take two and three here and get as much information as you can from them. Let's make this quick, I want to be on the other side of the town by the time these idiot alliance figure out what happened and start investigating…" Instantly the undead knew they were among friends and their hopes soared. They all smiled at him.

"Good we bonded, but time is not a luxury we have." Dan said.

"I'll tell you all that I know." The undead named "one" said and began to draw maps and explained where the guards were stationed and they were held in the prison cells. He explained the rotations of the guards and when the King and his counsel appeared in the courtyards. He also explained that there was a religious leader who had as much control as the King did and he had his counsel as well.

Numbers "two and three" of the undead came over and started pointing out important points on the map and perfect assassination points.

"Hold it…we are not here to assassinate – poison and blame it on one of his counsel probably, but we're here to bring down the whole regime. Kings and princes can be replaced, but to build violent distrust among them so that they cannot trust anybody; break their allegiances that they have tied to them and perhaps have many of their towns explode…choking off their food and gold supplies. We're here to bring mayhem." Dan said.

"Can you rescue the others? I…have a wife that I haven't seen, but I've heard her screams." Number one said.

"We'll rescue as many as we can. Are you hungry?" Crystal said pulling out some cave moss, berries, and grasses that she collected. They quickly began to eat it and a small red glow came from their chest cavity.

"Look around this building for anything else to eat, but move quickly. We need to get out of here tonight and the sooner the better." Crystal said.

The undead split up and quickly started devouring anything that looked edible. Dan and Crystal met up by the window and saw the crowd that had gathered. None of them was willing to help, but so far no other guards had been called as far as they could tell. They kept watch out the window though.

It was an hour before everybody quickly fled the scene. Dan turned around to the undead and saw that their chest cavity's and eyes had grown in color and said, "We need to go…back door now!" Crystal grabbed several coats for the undead that hid most of their bodies and Dan left a fire elemental to burn down the house.

They left the building and nobody saw them.

"Let's go!" Dan whispered with urgency and they all raced out of town and towards the cave. Dan raised his hand in the air as a heavy mist came down to cover their tracks.

After their five miles of running, they arrived at the cave and Dan entered first. Crystal hurried the rest of them in and then followed them in. Dan held out his hand and a stream of lava burst up at the opening, concealing what was happening in the cave.

"Come, we should be safe in here. I set a lot of traps. Are there any prisoners that would betray us?" Dan asked walking down the cave. Dan expected a quick answer to the question, but nothing.

"Is that a yes?" Crystal asked.

"Many have betrayed each other just for a crumb of bread…it's how we live. It's unfortunate, but it's their way to keep us in line." Number one said.

"Have any of you betrayed us so far?" Dan quickly turned around and asked.

"No" they all said in unison quickly.

"We'll save as many as we can, but so help me if you or anybody else we rescue betrays us you will be killed, slowly and painfully – is that understood?" Dan asked. The three undead looked shocked but all nodded. Dan nodded back and put his hand on the ground. The earth started to separate and up came his hearthstone. He contacted Herrior.

"Done so soon?" Herrior asked.

"Hardly…I have three undead that we rescued and need safe haven. There are going to be more that we are going to rescue, but this is the first of many. We need a portal." Dan said quickly.

"I'll get right on it." Herrior said sensing Dan's urgency and closed the hearthstone portal. They waited around for five minutes before a portal began to appear and open before them.

"Before you go, ask for the one called Herrior and tell him that it was Mohania's idea to put the noses in everybody's butts when time stopped. That way they will know it is you and you are safe to bring in." Dan said.

"You have a weird way of communicating…" Number one said.

"We go way back…now quickly through the portal." Dan said. They all stepped through it into the barren waste land just outside their old wall. Herrior's party was there to meet them with a different Chronomancer. Their weapons were ready as Herrior walked up to them.

"The male…uh…young male…told me to tell Herrior that it was Mohania's idea to put the noses in everybody's butts when time stopped. He told me to tell you that." Number one said as the portal closed quickly behind him.

"Lies!" Mohania yelled out. The rest of the party chuckled.

"That is what he told me to say, I swear it."

"Calm down my friend…we are not going to hurt you. Tell me how our other two friends are doing?"

"They have powers that I cannot even describe. They kill quickly and move faster than our vision will allow us to see. They did things…things that I don't even know how to describe…" Number one said.

"How many alliance did they kill?" Mohania yelled out.

"Dozens…but my guess is more than that. We gave them information about the alliance fortress and they talked about betraying the alliance's friends and they seemed determined to do just that. I don't doubt that they can."

"I don't doubt it either. Open a portal to our cells." Herrior said turning to the tauren Chronomancer.

"Wait…he said we would be safe…what's going on?"

"You are safe…relax. No harm will come to you. It is standard procedure for us to bring in outsiders in our cells. There you will be questioned about everything. You will also be feed, given water, and clothed. Once we deem that you are not going to harm our citizens you may do as you wish. I will remain with you if you want." Herrior said in a soothing voice. He reached out his hand and walked towards them. The undead took it and Herrior said, "You are safe now. Come with me." Herrior turned to the rest of the party and said, "If Dan contacts any of you, notify me immediately. Same procedure as we did today for people that they rescue. Mohania come with us."

Back in the cave, Dan and Crystal sat alone making small talk and relaxing their muscles. If felt as if both of them could take a nap they were so drained.

"We need to pace ourselves." Dan said.

"I can make a portal here, and then create another to bring us back here immediately." Crystal said.

"How much power will that drain from you?" Dan asked.

"More than what I have right now. My body isn't producing it as quickly anymore." Crystal said.

"Mine isn't either. I'm relying on the elements to do my bidding. It's taking every bit out of me though." Dan said taking a deep breath. He then said I could make a rock elemental to guard this place, but it would take another day or so to regenerate my powers. I'm starving…could be part of the reason why I'm not regenerating as quickly."

"Me too, let's rest here and then go find some food. We have the battle plans and all that we need…it's just a matter of blending in and carrying them out." Crystal said.

"I'll see if I can get into their army and rise in ranks. The sword fighting I'm not worried about because I can slow time – but if it comes to ranged skills, I'm going to fall short in proving myself." Dan said closing his eyes.

"I don't think they care. Once you get in and start doing your thing, you'll rise in ranks due to manipulation, not skill. I'll see what I can do about getting the prisoners free." Crystal said.

"Sounds like a plan to me; good night my love." Dan said.

"Good night my strong fierce warrior…" Crystal said. Dan smiled and looked over at her. She smiled back.

Both of them woke close to midnight. Their bodies felt stronger, but their stomachs ached. They got up and stretched while synchronizing yawns. This made them laugh at each other.

"Food?" Dan asked.

"I have nothing left. Being in Tranquil I guess you take for granted never being hungry. We have cash now do you want to go get a proper night sleep in one of their hotels? I don't think hunting after hours is a great idea." Crystal said.

"Definitely, let's get going. Should I stop time so we can get there unseen?" Dan asked.

"Yeah I think so." Crystal said as they made their way to the cave entrance. The temperature had risen to the point where it was barely able to breathe. Dan knelt down and touched the ground and seconds later the lava cooled and retracted back into the ground. He then made a cool breeze come through the entrance to cool their bodies.

Time stopped.

"That's our queue. Let's get going." Dan said.

"Doesn't it seem like there should be a whistling sound or something when you do that? I mean when jets break the sound barrier there is a visual and audible affect. You stopping time is simply just…nothing." Crystal said as they began their walk.

"I don't make the rules…I just learn them. The worgens seem to come out to play at night." Dan said pointing to several of them in the distance.

"Shall we take advantage of this?" Crystal asked deviantly.

"I think we shall…" Dan said casually as they picked up their pace.

"We probably shouldn't frequent the cave that much anymore. Somebody is bound to pick up on the disturbances that have been happening." Dan mentioned as they closed in.

"Yeah I agree. Probably with the instability of the ground around the cave there are bound to be some scientists, whom I doubt they have but don't want to risk the chance, coming around to investigate." Crystal said.

Several minutes later and they were slightly rearranging the worgen to either land on each other, swipe their claws at the others throat, or undress men and women and position them in erotic positions. They both shared a mental laugh and they walked away.

"You know…Mohania was probably in Heaven when he saw the chance to do things like that. I can't really blame the poor warlock…it is pretty fun." Crystal said as they both let out a chuckle.

Suddenly a thought dawned on Dan. "Crystal! If the undead are immune to time stopping, and they are prisoners…don't you think that they will eventually tell one of the guards and betray us for a loath of bread?"

"Ah shit…let's hurry up then." Crystal said realizing the same conclusion Dan came to.

They began to run towards the town, pushing their energized bodies but having their stomachs still churning away on nothing. Once they arrived, they hid behind a large warehouse and Crystal nodded at Dan once they knew the coast was clear.

Time resumed.

The two of them casually walked around it and onto the streets of the town. Nobody should recognize them, because everybody who had seen them they killed. They walked to the nearest motel and walked inside.

"How much for a week rate?" Dan asked.

"Two hundred for a week, but between the hours of eleven and one we ask that we have access to the room to turn the sheets down." The lady clerk said.

Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out four fifty dollar bills and gave them to her.

"Any preference for a room?" she asked putting the money away and handing them a clipboard to fill out.

"Ground floor please" Dan replied.

Crystal hurried up and scribbled through all of the information needed on the form and gave it back to them.

"Do you have your driver's licenses on you?" The clerk asked.

"No, I never learned how to drive." Dan answered quickly.

"I do not either. I know how to drive, but I am in the process of having mine replaced. It was lost in a fire." Crystal answered back.

"I will need a deposit then, and you will not be able to order alcohol in your bedrooms. The deposit will be one hundred dollars." The clerk said cheerfully. Dan pulled out a hundred dollar bill and said, "No more questions, disturbances or forms?"

"Here are your keys, and you won't be disturbed; I'll see to it." The clerk said with a smile.

They took the keys and made their way to the room. Once opened they walked inside and playfully fought over who was going to take the first shower.

"Look – they even have toothbrushes…it's been years since I used one." Dan said.

"Haven't had the need to." Crystal said undressing and turning on the water. Once the right temperature she stepped in and Dan plopped himself up on the counter.

"Ahh…I almost forgot how good this feels. We're having one installed in our house back at home. You and your engineer friends figure it out somehow, but I want one." Crystal said.

"It'll be nice sleeping on a bed instead of the ground as well…I'll work on that as well." Dan said with a grin as the bathroom began to steam up.

"Don't think that will happen. But got a question for you, how many refugees do you think we'll be able to hide in here without people taking notice?" Crystal asked.

"Don't know…" Dan said hoping off the counter and moved out to explore the room. It looked like a luxury sweet almost. There were two Queen size beds, chairs, and a couch in a half-separated room. He went over and closed the curtains quickly and drew the shades. He then locked the front door and went back into the bathroom.

"I am pulling so much shit out of my hair…when we get done with this mission I am going to a salon and getting a full treatment done." Crystal complained.

"I figure about fifty – to answer your question. It might be squeezed a little, but until we either rescue the undead, or kill them, we are vulnerable." Dan said.

"I don't really want to kill any of them if we have a choice. Should we make that our first goal is to prance right on in the fortress and walk them out?" Crystal asked.

"I considered that, but it would raise too much suspicion. We need to start gaining their trust and becoming part of their army…at least to get us in the fortress." Dan said.

"I'm not real fond of the idea of becoming part of their army…" Crystal said with must distaste.

"We need to get close enough to get those undead out of there. I don't think they are going to let the general public in to view the prisoners. I'm done, are you coming in?" Crystal asked. Dan undressed and they switched spots in the shower.

"They always have towels that are too small…" Crystal said complaining.

"So what are our other options?" Dan asked feeling the hot water penetrate his muscles and felt them slowly relax.

"Bounty hunters?" Crystal asked.

"I get to be Boba Fett." Dan said smiling.

"It's better than joining up with their army. What if they send us on a mission and we have to kill our kind." Crystal said. She paused for a moment and realized what she just said. Her kind wasn't human. She smiled at the thought.

"I know what you mean, but if they do I have no doubts that we could kill everybody in the army before they have a chance to harm a hair on their heads…but you are right that is not our mission here. Our mission is to deceive and rescue now." Dan said.

"I'll take up a job cooking if you want to take up a job training to be a guard." Crystal said.

"Are we going to announce that we are married? Dumb question I suppose but we might be able to get more information and deceive more people that way." Dan said.

Crystal thought about it and then said, "It might be suspicious if they keep seeing the same two people meeting up after a day's work and walking out of their fortress together. If we do, we'd have to leave at different times. I might be less appealing to some of their soldiers if I spread the word that I am married. Remember the stories Lindel told us about unwed women? Well, for that matter I guess married women do the same thing, prostitute themselves – or are forced to. I see your point though. I think I would feel safer making it known that we are married. I say we enter tomorrow and see what happens. Probably their day starts at day break, and if we are going to have some 'honeymoon' time, you better hurry up." Crystal said seductively.

"Can't." Dan replied.

"Can too…" Crystal said opening the shower door exposing herself to him.

"Herrior asked us not to have sex while we are on this mission. If you become pregnant, and we fail our mission – they are going to have a very powerful child on their hands. I'm sorry I should have told you." Dan said.

"I hate orders…" Crystal said closing the shower door again and began to get dressed.

"Have you ever thought about why you haven't become pregnant yet?" Dan asked.

"I think it's something Lindel did inside of me when I was with Samatha's child. She rearranged things so much in my belly to make sure the child lived…" Crystal said. Dan turned off the water and got a towel from Crystal.

"Do you really think so? Do you think Lindel was ordered to block something inside of you from having a child?" Dan asked.

"Deep down…no I don't think so, but I've asked myself the same question. The King even asked me the same question." Crystal said.

"Everybody is scared of us producing some powerful child…your powers combined with mine or some crap like that. I think it's a bunch of hog wash myself. You know we have two different empires fighting each other – and a third the demons attacking everybody, probably as well as numerous other creatures or humanoids, but why these two empires? My biggest problem, and the biggest reason why I feel that this mission needs to be successful is to prove to everybody in Tranquil that the alliance are nothing special and they shouldn't be feared. I don't know why, but every fiber in my being is telling me to be here and to lead a series of assaults." Dan said realizing that he was repeating himself.

Crystal gave him a minute to dry off and get dressed before she said, "You're really passionate about this aren't you?"

"More than anything at this time…probably doesn't make sense but I feel I need to be here – right here and right now. I know…sounds crazy right?" Dan asked.

"Nope, let's get some sleep." Crystal said walking him out of the bathroom and they both climbed into bed.

It was silent between them for awhile before Crystal began to pray aloud. She prayed for forgiveness, and for insight. She prayed for safety and the knowledge to do what was going to be the right decision at the time. She then spoke of her concerns and worries. She continued for several minutes as Dan just laid next to her and listened.

When she finished she let out a quiet "Amen" and Dan repeated it. "It's all in his hands now. He will lead me, and I will follow. Let's do our jobs tomorrow." Crystal said. She looked over at Dan and said, "Thank you for letting me come." Dan smiled at her and let out a satisfied sigh. He was glad she was there as well.

The next morning came early with the alarm clock blaring a country radio station at six in the morning. Crystal reached over and smacked the snooze button. Dan sat up and said, "Nope, we have to get going."

"Five more minutes…" Crystal said pulling the blankets over her.

"What difference is that going to make?" Dan said with a smile.

"It will give me five more minutes of sleeping…" Crystal said not amused.

"Fine – I'm going to go get started." Dan said walking into the bathroom. He came out five minutes later and Crystal was waiting for her turn.

"Morning sunshine!" Dan said excitedly.

"I don't like you right now…" Crystal said as she walked by and closed the door.

"Love you too!" Dan said sarcastically. He walked over and opened the door. He glanced down the hallway both ways and saw tired couples emerging from their rooms as well. He sensed something wasn't right, but didn't think they were in danger. He told Crystal he was going to be in the lobby and Crystal gave him an unfriendly acknowledgement.

"Sleeping in Tranquil has its advantages. She must have slept badly." Dan thought as he strolled down the hallway. He found several people eating, all of them not talking or even making eye contact with each other. Even the children were all quiet. He walked outside and saw a light rain coming down. He reached out and touched it and felt a slight…what was it…a slight burning sensation. He walked out into it and looked up as the rain hit his face. He began to commune with the elements.

Several minutes went by and the clerk finally came out to ask Dan what he was doing.

"I forecast the weather. This looks like it won't last much longer. The water burns." Dan added at the end.

"I wouldn't stand in it for very long, who knows what chemicals are in there. Might I suggest you coming in and I will get a towel for you?" The clerk asked.

"Yes that would be nice. My wife and I have traveled for a distance and are seeking work, what might you recommend for us?" Dan asked. The clerk immediately shut the door and turned around to look at him.

"What are you joking?" She asked.

Dan said "no" and gave her a confused look.

"You are serious. All men who enter these towns become part of the army. The women are only recruited if they show promise." The clerk said quietly.

"How much does it pay?" Dan asked. The clerk quickly let out a burst of laughter and saw that Dan was serious again.

"It's the law. If you don't you die. Look – if you aren't from around here, I would say go back to wherever you came from as fast as you can." The clerk said sincerely and very quietly.

"I appreciate the advice. I look forward to being a soldier, settling down and having a family though." Dan said back playing the role.

"It's your life…" the woman said back opening the door for him. Dan nodded and walked through.

"Report for duty! It is seven AM and all of you are needed in the kingdom. Any stragglers will be killed." One of the men stood up and announced. Immediately every man got to their feet and walked towards the door.

"Report for what?" Crystal asked making her way into the lobby.

"Report for what! You foul wench, bow down before me before I slice your worthless head off!" The man said pulling out a blade. Crystal looked confused and knelt down on her knee. Dan ran to intercept.

"I said bow!"

"We're new to town and I am interested in joining your army. Spare her life and I will prove my worth to you." Dan said.

"What business is this of yours?" The man said.

"She is my wife." Dan replied.

"New in town huh? I ought to run you both through with my blade as traitors…" the man said. He went to swing at Dan but Dan slowed time down enough to easily dodge it and then resumed the normal speed of time. The man looked shocked at him.

"I can either be a friend or a foe. I have learned from the best and I can be of service to you and your army." Dan said.

"Hardly…you are as skinny as you are stupid."

"Well then, run me through with your blade and we'll see how stupid I am." Dan said assuming a karate position. It was rather awkward, but it fulfilled its purpose. The man laughed and said, "Are you challenging me to a duel?"

"You kill me, and you can have my wife. I defeat you, and you put in a good word for me. Deal?" Dan asked. People started clearing out of the lobby quickly.

"You…defeat me? Oh you have a deal. Keep in mind I have a blade and you are without any sort of weapons." The man said.

Dan became attuned with time itself and bent it to his will during the duel. The man started out with a fierce swipe at his throat. Dan slowed time, dodged out of the way of his blade, grabbed his hand and twisted it backwards. He then slammed his other hand into the man's exposed elbow – dislocating it. He then sped time back up.

"Ouch…" The man moaned in pain. He looked down at his loose arm and then looked back up at Dan shocked. He had assumed the same karate stance and was fiercely staring at him. The man looked back down at his dislocated elbow and dropped his sword. Crystal walked over and pinched real hard above his elbow and snapped it back into place. The man looked at it amazed as it worked normal again. Dan reached down and picked up the man's sword and handed it to him.

"Sir, I am not sure where you learned your training from, or where your wife learned her medicine from, but both of you need to report to the kingdom. I will put in a good word for you as promised." The man said getting his sword and putting it back in its sheath.

Dan nodded and both of them followed the man out. The people in the lobby suddenly became more afraid of Dan and Crystal then they were of the soldier. Dan sensed that and smiled in satisfaction.

"Where did you learn to fight?" The man asked.

"I've trained my whole life. I do better with fist weapons than I do with a blade, but I will fight unarmed if necessary. We came here looking for work. We have traveled a long ways and we are known as travelers…or what we have referred to ourselves as. Roaming from place to place, doing odd jobs, living off the land. Some people call us Nomads." Dan explained.

"Well you need not travel any further. If you fight as well as what I just saw, you'll rise in ranks in no time. Wealth is given of course, but you will experience many different benefits to being in the army. We are the largest and most powerful army in existence. The strongest there ever has been and ever will be. It's something to be very proud of. I will take you to my general; your wife may go attend to our wounded." The man said pointing to a building. "At dusk, if you are not needed, you may return to your hotel and rest for the night."

"I look forward to the experience already." Dan said as he turned around and gave Crystal a wink. Crystal smiled back as they went their separate ways.

Dan was brought before a man heavily decorated with ribbons and medals. Neither one of them were impressed with each other.

"This one shows potential. I want the reward for finding a good soldier." The man said to the heavily decorated man. Then to Dan's surprise, the heavily decorated man took a swing at Dan and Dan let him land the blow.

Dan felt his jaw dislocate as he was spun around and slammed hard on the ground. The soldiers around him began to laugh.

"You brought me a young child and demand a reward?"

"But…he moved with speed and finesse – he was able to disarm me in the hotel." The man said in surprise. The soldiers laughed at him.

"You are not allowed to eat today. Guards, pick up this piece of filth that was brought to me and jail him with the rest of the others." The well dressed man said.

"Let them," a voice in Dan's head said. Dan didn't need the voice to tell him to let them take him, but it was reassurance that he was on the right path. Two soldiers picked him up by the arms and dragged him away. Crystal had watched and said a silent prayer before entering the clinic to volunteer.

The dungeons were steel bars on all four sides, all of them heavily over-crowded. Dan was dragged and beaten as he was brought to his cell. One of the guards opened the cell and both of them through him in. He landed on six different people. The cells were very overcrowded and he doubted he would get a bite to eat. Dan quickly got off from them and moved over to a corner of the cell and began to survey the land.

"Name's Henry" a human male came over to Dan and extended his hand.

"I don't care, shut up." Dan said clearly upset. His stare couldn't have been distracted by a hurricane. He took in all that surrounded him. He was only able to see some parts of it, but he saw where the archers practiced, the soldiers sparred, some of the munitions and guns stored – and oddly out of place were several very tall missiles at the far end of the fortress.

"Doesn't make sense…they shoot their arrows and swing their swords, yet have machine guns and missiles. They have enough firepower here to overtake a small country." Dan thought. Another prisoner said something and Dan again said, "Shut up!"

"Listen man, we're not your enemies. You are new here is all and we keep each other calm by talk. You are new and the newest members are obliged to talk, bring news from the outside and such." A man said. Dan turned around and focused his eyes on him. He walked slowly up to the man and looked up into his eyes.

"Me? I'm just passing through…" Dan said without blinking. After a couple of seconds he turned back around and saw that it was feeding time.

"They are probably fed three meals a day and by the stench they are only released once in awhile for bathroom breaks. I will eat small and drink little; my body has been trained to do this. I will stay up the first night and watch them.

"Give the food to the new kid…" one of the prisoners said. Dan waved it away and kept taking in what was happening.

Suddenly his mind became very active. He sensed an opportunity coming but didn't know what it was. He tried to ignore all of the voices around him and focused on his long distance hearing. There were women talking…not just any women but fighters – night elves. He remembered back to the day that they had negotiations with the females; he realized he forgot their names, but he had no doubt that was what he heard.

The guard opened the door and Dan's first plan of action was put into place.

Time stopped.

Dan moved quickly and met up with Crystal who realized what happened.

"Aim the guard's arrows to fire at the night elves! I'll get the night elves ready!" Dan said quickly. Crystal nodded and they both shot off in different directions. Dan saw their leader in the front and was being escorted by several guards. He removed the guard's gauntlets and put them on the woman's buttocks and breasts. The night elves behind her looked ready for battle. Some of them he had never seen before; half female, half horse, walking trees, blue mists, different colored women – but no men.

"Focus Dan…this isn't an anatomy lesson here…" Dan said to himself. He raised several of their bows that were already strung and released the arrow at a guard. He released the arrow and it traveled a short distance before stopping.

"I have six of them focused on the leader!" Crystal yelled.

"No! Focus them on somebody else!" Dan yelled back.

"Well I didn't know!" Crystal yelled back and began to adjust them.

"No wait! Focus their arrows inches away from the leader. The betrayal starts now…" Dan yelled back.

"You got it! You ok?" Crystal yelled back quickly repositioning the frozen archers.

"Just peachy…" Dan yelled back.

Several minutes passed and Crystal yelled that she was ready. Dan said to quickly go back in her place. Dan did the same.

Time resumed.

"What the… Get your damn hands off me you filthy beast!" The woman yelled above the shots of the arrows flying all over the courtyard.

The King jumped backwards as he saw several arrows fly inches from him. He quickly looked up as shots rang out, killing the archers.

"What is the meaning of this? You request our presence and you have no control of your men and their filthy hands!" The night elf demanded.

"My sincerest apologizes daughter of Elune. Guards, have them executed immediately!" The King said. Shots rang out, and the guards, who had no idea how their hands got on her, dropped dead.

"And what of your people shooting ours? What is the meaning of that? Why is it when you come, my people fire these arrows in an assassination attempt?" The King yelled out. He wasn't apologetic this time when he saw his soldiers die to their arrows.

"My women will kill who the goddess tells them to kill and I stand by their actions!" The leader said storming up towards him. Both the King and she stood face to face in the middle of the court yard screaming at each other.

"And what of the cease fire of your guns? Shall I assume that you broke your word as well?" The night elf yelled getting in his face.

"We will use whatever weapon we deem necessary to carry out our missions. The guns were not used against you! Go back to your woods and bring us fifty pounds of gold and I will forgive this intrusion." The King said.

"How dare you! I will place a curse on you that Elune will unleash her wrath on you! You get on your knees and beg for forgiveness or you will regret it!" The night elf said.

Dan bent down on the ground and placed his hands on the ground.

"Beg? You ask me to beg…to you? I think you forget who you are speaking with! I'll be damned before I bow before you!" The King said with his entire army behind him. A sudden massive earthquake hit and knocked the King to the ground while the night elf stood firmly on the ground.

"That's more like it. Do not doubt the powers that we possess and the powers of Elune…" The night elf said.

The King looked around and saw that it had caused a lot of people to fall to the ground as well. "Leave me kingdom at once you wench and come back with one hundred pounds of gold or we will lay siege to you and your homelands!" The King said getting to his feet. They stared at each other for awhile and then they both turned and walked away.

Dan gave the earth another command…this one a little bit different.

As the King was walking back to this palace, one of the missiles in the distance fell over and exploded, sending shrapnel and fire everywhere. Dozens were killed immediately as sheer panic spread over the kingdom like a plague.

Everybody hit the ground and waited for the eruption to pass. It took several minutes before everybody rose to their feet and began to assess what just happened.

"Let that be two lessons to you…the goddess Elune is not to be trifled with and her people not threatened!" The night elf said her army left.

Dan rose to the ground and grabbed the bars. He quickly took in the situation, second by second, scanning everywhere to see what his next move would be. He needed to switch cells to get a better view of the whole ground, but these dumbasses had more than recognized him…they knew what he looked like.

The cell door still open the guard stood awestruck as to what just happened. Dan reached out, grabbed the food from him and shoved it into one of the men in the prison with him.

"Go to your general. Tell him I challenge him to a duel." Dan said standing in the open doorway.

"Yeah right…" The soldier said as he began to shut the door. Dan slowed time a little and moved quickly. He grabbed the keys from his belt and resumed time to its normal flow. He then slammed the door behind him. He tossed the keys in the middle of the cell.

"Got the balls to come in and get them?" Dan asked looking at him straight in the eyes with both of his hands on the bars. The soldier looked at him in surprise.

"Go tell your general that the prisoners took your cell keys and ask him for forgiveness, or go tell him I challenge him to a duel to the death for my freedom!" Dan said. The soldier drew his sword, but with fear in his eyes.

"I'll run you through…give me those damn keys…" The guard said nervously.

"Come get them…" Dan said giving him a big smile.

"Shut up! Stop playing games with me and give me those damn keys! I'll…I'll kill you." The soldier said. Dan just stood there smiling at him, his glare unwavering.

The soldier made up his mind. He drew his sword back and began to thrust it towards Dan.

Dan slowed down time again. Once the sword touched his stomach, he reached down and with his palms pulled the sword out of the man's hands. The then sped time back up. The soldier's momentum had him fall towards the cage, and Dan reached out and grabbed his disarmed hand. Before the soldier had time to realize what happened, his own sword was at his throat.

"I don't hesitate…" Dan said still smiling at him. Fear immediately over took the guard and he began pleading for this life. Dan reached behind him and with the sword fished the key ring around the blade and threw it past him.

"If you don't tell him, the next time you will be tasting cold steel." Dan said. He then pushed the guard away and threw the sword to the ground. Dan backed up and the rest of the prisoners moved away to give him room.

"I'll…I'll tell him at once…" The guard said quickly getting the keys and sword then ran off. Dan then went over to his corner and sat down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I…I don't know if you are stupid…or our redeemer…" a prisoner said.

"Christ is your redeemer, I am a fighter that does not like listening to people or that obey me." Dan said, and that was the last word that was spoken for the next several hours.

In the meantime Crystal had taken over control of the healing ward. After watching the pain the soldiers were in and how lack of care, proper hygiene, and pour use of their equipment – she asked who was in charge and nobody had replied. She said she was in charge then and demanded four large pots of water, and brought to the boiling point. Old catheters, needles, surgical tools and gloves were being reused without washing. All of the old used items were placed in the boiling water for approximately five minutes, and then placed on the counter, waiting for the next person. She setup a schedule of rotating the boiled water every hour and the past two pots of boiled water was used to fill the IV bags that had be tossed aside and looked like they hadn't been used in months (they too had been boiled before she used them). Then she had ordered another odd request, to dig a hole in the corner of the room – two feet wide by two feet deep. She then requested that a trench be dug away from the clinic and out of the fortress. This trench was filled with a black hose with holes in the bottom with rocks placed all over it, then finally had dirt placed over it. This was used to get rid of urine, blood, vomit and any other fluids that were hazardous. The water that was boiled every hour was dumped into the hole and washed everything away. "Modern day leech bed" – Crystal thought as she over saw the construction.

After the time stopping episode, Crystal continued her medical upgrades and many of the soldier's hopes had turned. Usually this was a place of death and they simply waited on the table to die. Crystal had pulled out bullets, dug out arrows, cut away infectious wounds and with the new IV's pumping in sterilized water – the average turnaround time for a soldier was mere hours. They weren't healed completely and weren't able to return to battle, but were bandaged up and left in high spirits.

One of the generals had taken notice, and so did many of the other people. The same guard that Dan had intimidated had run up to him and demanded his immediate attention. The general grabbed the guard and tossed him aside as he walked into the clinic.

"This seems to be the talk of the town today…to whom does the honor gets bestowed upon for helping my soldiers and strengthening the alliance?" The general asked looking around.

Crystal never thought that she was helping the alliance; she saw it as helping people. Alarms screamed in her head, but she silenced them and turned around and said, "I am the one, but my fear is what I heard about what happened outside of the clinic…what is to become of us?"

"You needn't worry about such things my fair lass. Our army shall never fall and it continues to grow…but now look at what you have done." The general said and pointed around the clinic as he continued, "You have eased the pain, given a place for our wounded to heal, and gained my attention. Tonight you shall have the pleasure of bunking with me tonight. I require your presence to be at my chambers at nine tonight sharp and I expect you to me washed up and comb through your hair."

"Yes sir, it will be my honor." Crystal said and then bit her cheek. He left and out of instinct Crystal walked to the door and had full intention of killing him when he overheard something.

"Yes sir, the skinny man has challenged you to a duel. I of course spat on him and sliced him up good, but he still insisted."

"Very well then, bring me my armor, sword and shield. I will dispatch of this boy and toss his remains to the undead and let them feast on his remains. Pity though, I wanted to have a visit to our concubines first…but then killing people has always brightened my spirits." The general said without a hint of worry in his voice.

"Shall we supply him with a weapon, or shall we make it look like he tried to escape and was killed…"

"No – give him…oh I don't know…some horseshoes; a simple man with a simple weapon. Not the good ones of course, but the ones that are broken. I would not want blood spilled on the good ones that will go on our horses." The general said.

"Oh this will be good…but I wanted to kill the bastard…" Crystal thought. Crystal then went back to the nurses, and the new ones that came in to help, and began to give orders. They weren't listening as they told Crystal how lucky she was to bed down with the general and how handsome he was.

Crystal looked at them dumbfounded and said, "I'm trying to contain the excitement myself, but in my leave of absence I need these pots constantly refreshed with hot water. I need the steam to collect in the room to help with the congestion and as a disinfectant…"

"Oh pish-posh…go groom yourself and buy some perfume." A heavy set nurse said and pushed Crystal towards the door. "You won't regret it, and should you bear a child from the general there is a chance for you to join royalty."

Before Crystal knew it, she was pushed outside and the general saw her out of the corner of his eyes as he put on his flashy armor. He turned to her and winked as he continued. She faked a smile as best as she could and made her way to a blacksmith.

"I need two weapons." Crystal said.

"All requests come from the general or of royalty and the last time I checked you were a dirty, filthy wench that reeks of death." The man at the counter said. Crystal pulled out a wad of fifty dollar bills and placed it on the counter. The man's eyes seemed to widen more than they ever had. He quickly grabbed the money and looked around and whispered, "What is it you seek?"

"Two fist weapons. Something you grasp in your hands with two long spikes coming out the end of it about a foot long." Crystal replied back. The man left stuffing the money into his pants. Minutes later he came back with something more than she could have imagined. It had two long spikes coming out of them, with a curved shield behind them that went up to the elbow. The grip inside of it was a soft rubber and easily gripped. The man saw Crystal nod at him and he quickly threw them in a bag and gave them to her.

"Now get! You were never here!" The man whispered back. Crystal did just that. She ran around to where the duel was to take place. She was there just in time to see Dan dragged by his feet to the dueling place. He was leaving a small trail of blood. They stopped and two rusty horseshoes were tossed on the ground beside him.

"Listen up all ye who hath ears to hear! This swine has challenged me in a duel! Watch now how prisoners are treated who disrespects the alliance! There are no challenges we cannot match, no foe we cannot kill, and no enemy that will succumb to our will!" the general said turning around getting all eyes to focus on him.

Dan rose to his feet and saw the horseshoes at his feet.

"Those are your weapons you swine…pick them up and defend yourself!" The general said and charged at him with his sword. Crystal waited for time to stop, but it never did. Dan ducked down and grabbed a fist full of dirt and threw it in his eyes. The general began to curse him as he tried to rub away the sand that got in his eye slits in his helm. Dan then grabbed a horseshoe and swung it as hard as he could in his mouth. It made direct contact with his teeth and instantly shattered several of them. The general started to flail his sword wildly as another enormous blow came at him. This time it was going on an upward strike as it hit his vulnerable nose and instantly smashed it. The cartilage formed a sharp spike that jabbed into his brain, causing instant death. Dan took off his helmet, grabbed his sword and chopped off his head.

"You call this a general? Look at me! All of you look at me! I have no armor and I have only used one broken horseshoe and killed him! Is this who you look up to? Is this the kind of person you want leading you into combat? He was fully armored, and I in my mere cloth – yet I killed him and claimed his head! Is this the best you have to offer? I come here as a nomad, as a wonderer – a scavenger who lived off the land and I was able to get the best of your general? Does this not make you wonder who is really making sure you are safe?" Dan yelled out. Several members of the royal counsel watched the whole ordeal. One of them, the one with dark red armor with dozens of medals on it started to clap and walked towards Dan.

"Nightfall is coming, please lower your voice. I wish to speak with you." The man said walking towards him.

"You wish to fight me also?" Dan asked dropping the sword and picking up the same horseshoe. The man smiled at him and shook his head.

"He was a thorn in my side and to see someone like you kill him was rather amusing. You shall assume his rank, armor, weapons, concubines, and wealth. Report to the palace first thing in the morning for your first assignment." The man said removing his gauntlet and extending his hand towards Dan. Dan shook it, but never let go of the horseshoe.

"May I make a request?" Dan asked.

"You may."

"I was to be fed to the undead…can I watch them devour him?" Dan asked.

"You need not ask me, that decision is up to you." The man in the red armor said putting his gauntlet back on and walked away. Dan glanced over at Crystal briefly before looking back over to the cells.

"Remove this man's armor and put it aside." Dan said to what were his soldiers now.

"You don't want to wear it?"

"Are you hard of hearing, or deaf and dumb? I gave an order!" Dan said walking away from them. "Take the horseshoes as well and repair them. Tomorrow we shall lead strikes against our foes. Tonight I am going to sleep with my wife." Dan tossed the horseshoes over his head and held out his arm for her. She took it and off they walked. Unknown to either of them, this meant that this woman was off limits to everybody in the kingdom.

"Th…" Crystal began to say.

"Shh…" Dan interrupted her quietly and held out two fingers to her stomach. Dan led her just out of the gates and quickly pulled her aside. He put a finger on his mouth and then pointed to his ear. Dan listened as hard as he could and held up one finger. Whatever Dan had planned it was going to happen soon.

Suddenly Dan heard the faint sound of bones cracking and crunching.

Time stopped.

"Let's go, quickly!" Dan said and took off running – Crystal right behind him with the bag of weapons.

The bone crunching continued until one of them realized what happened.

"It's happening again…what is going on?" A faint voice from an undead male could be heard.

"Who cares, let's eat!" A female replied.

Dan and Crystal sprinted around the corner and saw everybody froze except for the undead.

"Quickly let's go! All of you let's get going, now!" Dan said frantically running towards them. He grabbed several of them, pulling them out of the cage.

"What are you doing? What have we done to deserve execution?" An undead male asked.

"Nothing you idiots…we're here to rescue you! We've already rescued some of you, and we have come back for the rest. We're not alliance, we can take you to a safe place…now please hurry!" Dan said. The undead looked shocked at him and looked at each other.

"Come on!" Dan yelled again, and suddenly they all jumped up and ran out of the cage. There were thirty two of them all together.

"Crystal, take them back to the hotel. I need to make this look like it was sabotage. Listen up undead, we come from a place far from here where your kind is accepted and live freely – to do as you what when you want. But you need to listen to Crystal and do as she says. I know many of you are weak, but please muster up all of the strength you can. We will provide you with food later to build your strength. Please trust us and run with her…quickly now, go!" Dan said.

"We will follow you to the ends of the world…" an undead said back and all of them began running with Crystal. Dan then began to sabotage the area to make it look like several of his soldiers were in a fight and the undead escaped on their own.

Crystal had to carry three of the undead children, who weighed probably ten pounds at the most a piece. The rest of them had the strength to make it back to the hotel. They ran in the front door, past the front desk, and to their room. Crystal slide the key in and it quickly unlocked the door as she flung it open. The door handle froze in a downward position as she held the door open.

"Stay here and keep quiet. There are blankets, water, and we will get you some food in the next hour or so. I count thirty two of you. If even one of you are missing by the time we come back, we will kill the rest of you to find that one person. Do no leave this room, do not open the door, do not peek out the windows – does everybody understand?" Crystal asked with deep authority in her voice. They all nodded. Crystal grabbed the door handle and it quickly flung back to its natural state. She shut the door, and pulled on it to make sure it was locked. She then bolted back as fast as she could and met up with Dan.

"What's the plan?" Crystal asked.

"Pretend like you love me and kiss me…" Dan said in sweating profusely.

"Ok…I can do that…" Crystal said as she passionately kissed him.

Time resumed.

An enormous explosion rocked the kingdom. Crystal withdrew back.

"Good kiss?" Dan asked smiling.

"It made shook the world for me…" Crystal said with a smile. With the guards distracted, Dan and Crystal both ran off with smiles on their faces as they heard men and women screaming in pain. Explosion after explosion happened as fires erupted.

"What did you do?" Crystal asked in a jolly voice.

"Blew things up…accidently of course…" Dan said smiling at her.

They made it to the hotel, far away from the explosions and casually walked in. They passionately touched each other and kissed often.

"Welcome general." The male clerk said.

"I need food and keep it coming!" Dan said excitedly as he shoved his tongue down Crystal's throat.

"Yes sir, right away."

"Leave the food outside the door…I've got some business to attend to first." Dan said as they turned the corner. Crystal fumbled out the card and opened the door. Crystal then pulled out one of the fist weapons she acquired and slammed the door shut.

"I'm going to count now! If any of you are missing…" Crystal said.

"The children are using the bathroom, everybody else is here – I swear it." An undead male said. Crystal counted anyways and then counted the three children run past her and into their parents arms.

"Good. Ok calm down everybody, we are here to make good on our promise. Also this is yours. The other one is in the bag." Crystal said handing him the fist weapon.

"Thank you my love." Dan said happily and put them on. He then raised his arm towards the sky and was embraced with a blue twirling shield orb that circled his stomach. He threw his right hand to the right as it turned blue for a brief moment; he then did the same thing to his other.

"A magic user?"

"Yes, both of us are…" Dan then held his hand out and four of his totems surrounded him. He then began to cast a spell and fired it a chain heal spell at the undead. The spell hit the first undead, healing him and then bouncing on to the next one. Dan did this four times until he had drained his power.

"Give me a second and let me recharge. Feeling better now?" Dan asked.

"Yes…who are you?" Another undead woman asked.

"Good question. I can only tell you that we are friends and once we get you out of here, we will tell you everything. The three other undead we freed by killing their captors and sending them back to our home. They await your arrival. I want to get all of you healed up, fed, a good night's sleep before we go though. I know all of you went through a great ordeal – I have a close friend that is undead as well and his story of what he went through was horrifying; all of you probably have stories just the same." Dan stopped as he heard a knock on the door.

"I got it…" Crystal said running to the door. She opened it slowly and saw two huge double layered rolling trays full of food. She peeked her head out and saw two of the cooks hurrying away. She then propped the door wide open with her foot and pulled in the first food tray in and pushed it towards them, then she did the other and slammed the door shut.

"Feed your children and women first." Dan said and then began to charge up another healing spell and fired it into the crowd.

"You…really are here to help us…" A woman said in disbelief.

"Yes…we are. The other undead had the same reaction. Fill your bellies and let your stomachs turn red with energy and have your eyes glow blue." Crystal said.

"How did you know…I mean…"

"Like I said, we have a close undead friend…your kind is very familiar to us and has fought by our side for a long time." Dan said trying to cast another spell, but didn't have the power to do so. His one totem though had been pulsating with healing, slowly healing them.

The children began to devour the food, followed by the women. The men eagerly awaited their turn, but knew the rules that Dan said.

"Do you fight the alliance?" One of the males said walking over and sitting by him.

"Yes we do. I covered our tracks and made it look like several people did some clumsy things and it should have obliterated the rest of the prisoners." Dan said.

"But…you are a general?"

"Oh horseshit…I'd rather shit down their throats and piss in their drinking water." Dan said.

"I will fight by your side." The male undead said and rose to his feet and saluted him.

"Oh sit down…no saluting…sheesh; this is a no saluting zone…" Dan said.

"Shall I bow to show my allegiance?"

"No…no bowing either, I want to call all of you friends. You are not strong enough to fight with us. You will gather some strength here, but will fully regenerate your power in our kingdom. If you so desire, we can put you in positions to fight."

"Yes…I want to shit down their throats, sir!" The undead said.

"No sir either…friends, let's shake on it. We're both equal, one and the same." Dan said extending his hand. The undead grabbed Dan's hand and they shook.

"Oops…sorry, I should have taken off my weapons first." Dan said quickly checking to make sure he didn't hurt his arm.

"I am fine."

"Good, how is the food going?" Dan asked.

"We are rationing it, but I believe our children are full and we have begun to eat." A woman undead said. "Also, I will fight beside your side." This began everybody else pledging that they will fight beside them as well.

"Silence your voices…please. Nobody knows you are here and we need to keep it that way." Crystal said. "Your first task is to regain your strength because we have a long walk ahead of us, and the biggest problem is getting all of you out of here unnoticed, unless you want to do your thing Dan?"

"That thought had occurred to me, but the alliance can't be that stupid. They found a way to stop time themselves, well it was through the help of the idiot that we had to kill, but I would think that something is detecting it." Dan said and then turned to the undead and continued, "That is why we got you out first. Undead seem to be immune to time stopping for some reason."

"Did any of you say anything to the guards or other prisoners about what was happening?" Crystal asked.

"Yes, but none of them knew what we were talking about and blew us off. Nobody respects us." One of the undead said.

"That problem was taken care of. All of the prisoners and night watchmen should be dead or mortally wounded…but my guess is dead. I systematically set it up so that it had a domino effect. It will look like a complete accident, but unfortunately for us they will probably start taking the missiles out of the compound. But I agree with you though, we need to stop using it as much as possible until we – either you or I – can get inside and hear whether or not they have been monitoring it or are even aware of it." Dan was interrupted by another quick knock on the door. Dan banished his totems and walked to the door with his weapons in hand. He looked back and saw Crystal organizing the hiding of the undead. Once they were out of sight, Dan opened the door. There were two more trays of food. He stepped out and looked around and saw nobody. He opened the door wider and brought in the trays of food, and then made sure the door was shut tight and locked behind them.

"More food is here. Come and get it." Dan said. The rest of the undead that hadn't eaten quickly scrambled over and began devouring everything.

"We are going to need some coats, pants, and something to cover their faces. We should also go under the darkness of night." Crystal said maneuvering over the beds to get to Dan.

"How about you do that tomorrow? Here's the rest of the cash I have." Dan said handing over several wads of fifties and one hundred dollar bills. "Maybe something with a hood; the children can be wrapped up in blankets and carried to safety."

"If we can, we will start growing skin on our faces…"

"But not fast enough and you will still look undead. We have a lot of experience with this." Crystal said interrupting the undead that was talking. She turned to Dan and said, "We also can't get into the cave without you."

Dan nodded and said, "I cannot commune with the elements that far away. We may have to wait until it's raining one night and get them out that way. That would probably be the safest." Dan then let out a long yawn.

"Yeah it's about that time. Let's get some rest." Crystal said and then turned to the undead males still devouring the food. "I need people to stand guard, one at the window and one at the door. If anybody knocks on either way, wake us immediately. I would suggest working out a rotating shift so that many of you can have a good rest to regain your strength. Maybe do four hour rotations. We need our rest because I'm sure we are going to have a big day tomorrow…" Crystal ended not wanting to think about what she was going to have to clean up and help as far as the injured goes.

"We'll stand guard over you. Thank you for all you have done. You have given us something we haven't felt in a lot time…love."

"Of course we love you; we wouldn't be doing all of this for you if we didn't." Crystal said starting to get undressed for bed. All of the undead men turned around out of respect.

"Oh…sorry." Crystal said putting her clothes back on and climbed into bed with Dan.

Both of them fell asleep almost instantly as the undead setup guard schedules and rearranged the room so that they would be able to conceal themselves better should something happen. They were careful not to wake their rescuers.

The next morning came and the alarm clock went off. Crystal reached over and smacked the snooze button.

"Hit it again for me." Dan said.

"Ugh…" Crystal moaned back. Ten minutes went by and the alarm went off, but this time there was a desperate knocking on the door. Dan and Crystal flew out of bed – Crystal directing the undead to hide and Dan equipping his weapons.

Dan flung the door open to see several panicked men and women looking at him, all trying to say the same thing at the same time.

"Where?" Dan asked knowing that he wasn't going to get a complete sentence out of them. All of them pointed to the right. Dan stuck his head out and saw a demon. It had heavy armor on it, had legs and arms with a sword and shield. It also had a dark aura around it that seemed to pulse. Dan quickly shut the door behind him and ran towards the demon. Caught off guard, Dan's right fist weapon's spikes dove into its back. The demon quickly turned around and brought his sword down on Dan which he parried. Dan then backed away and took up a defensive position as he began to study his opponent.

"Why are you here?" Dan asked.

"To kill…" the demon said and lunged at him. Dan had to make a quick decision and raised both of his fist weapons to repel the sword, as the demon's shield made solid contact with Dan's chest. Dan fell down suddenly, but rolled away and got back on his feet.

"How many more are there?" Dan asked bringing his fist weapons together and making sparks as he pulled the blades apart on each other.

"Many…you will all die…" the demon said.

"Not today." Dan said walking towards him. Dan started swinging hard and fast at the demon, each attack landing on his shield as the demon began to laugh. However Dan did something the demon wasn't expecting, he brought his left hand behind the demons shield and his blades sliced into his hand. The demon had not expected this as Dan dropped to the ground and drove his right blades into the demon's right leg. He howled out in pain as Dan rolled away.

With Dan on his feet again he looked at the weakened demon and prepared for the next strike. The demon's eyes grew red and charged at Dan. Quickly side-stepping to the left, the demon's sword landed in the wall as Dan grabbed it's hand and sunk his blades into the demon's arm as many times as he could before he dropped the sword. The demon made a mistake and looked down at his sword on the ground. Dan pulled his arm around to his back and with his other hand he ripped off the demons armor on his arm. The demon howled in anger and slammed his shield into Dan's fist weapon that he was anticipating. A loud "clang" echoed through the lobby, but was followed by the demon screaming as Dan's left blades sunk into the exposed arm and went into his chest. The demon dropped to his knees holding his arm. Dan ripped off his helmet and sunk both of his weapons into the demons head – causing him to burn up.

Seconds cheering echoed through the lobby. Dan took this time to mumble a healing spell, healing his chest.

"You, gather up its armor and whatever is left and follow me!" Dan said pointing to a soldier.

"But sir…it's cursed – its demon armor…" the soldier replied.

"You believe in curses?" Dan asked walking towards him in frustration. Dan then walked over and gathered everything up himself.

"Let the curse of whoever or whatever this armor belongs to enter my body!" Dan screamed at it. The lobby fell quiet. Seconds passed as Dan looked around at everybody's astonished faces.

"Happy now?" Dan asked looking back at him. "Get your weapons…usually where there is one demon there are others. I haven't even had my morning coffee and already I have to prove to you that there is no such thing as the boogey man…" Dan said and marched out of the lobby.

Outside he saw many people looking in and were equally astonished to see that not only had Dan killed the demon, but was carrying its armor. "I saved the day…everybody cheer…" Dan said with sarcasm in his voice and headed off towards the kingdom. Much to Dan's surprise they did. They were cheering and clapping for him as they followed him through the entrance and into the middle of the devastated courtyard.

"I leave for one night…" Dan said in a frustrated voice as he forced himself not to smile as he looked around and saw dead bodies littered everywhere.

"You there, our new general – what is that you are holding?" A man from the stairs said to Dan.

Dan threw the armor on the ground. "A demon's armor – I thought that was bad enough I had to kill the thing this morning, but what happened here?"

"Those damn night elves did this, but more pressing issues are at hand. If you can slay one demon, you can slay others right?" The man said quickly.

"Depends on the money…" Dan said back anticipating what an alliance would say.

"Banish him and you will be well rewarded…follow me – quickly!" The man said and ran up the stairs. Dan sprinted off towards him. They ran through several different passages as the palace seemed to go on endlessly with every turn. Finally they arrived in a courtyard that had a black portal opened in the sky and a large voidwalker had emerged from it. It was sending out lightning bolts in random directions.

"Get everybody to safety!" Dan said and ran towards him.

"What about you?" the man asked.

"I'm going to kill this thing!" Dan yelled back and then repeated to get everyone to safety.

"So…a puny mortal comes to face me. You alone are going to defeat me?" The enormous voidwalker said.

"That is the plan. Why are you here?" Dan asked.

"Death…" the voidwalker said in a long eerie voice.

Dan energized his weapons and summoned a dark blue glowing orb that circled his body.

"A magic user…amusing…" the voidwalker said as Dan began to tear at him. The voidwalker felt the pain and moved away from the portal. The voidwalker held out his hand and a blue beam of light came out of it and into Dan's eyes. Exactly one second passed as the beam of light turned white and drew back to the voidwalker's hand. It caused an enormous explosion, ripping off its arm and half of its body. Dan then made quickly work of the rest of its body until it burned up, leaving only it's armor left. The portal quickly collapsed in on itself with a loud bang. Dan quickly turned off his enchants to his body and began to examine the demon's armor. He took the blade of his fist weapon and drew several engravings on it. He then collected the rest of it and casually walked back to the courtyard where an enormous crowd awaited him.

"This demon had the mark of a tree on it." Dan said holding up the demon's shoulder pieces of armor. He then gave them to somebody to the right of him.

"There is only one group of people that live in the trees. I need soldiers, who among you will volunteer to fight beside me?"

"All hail General Dan…killer of demons!" Somebody said and the crowd erupted in excitement. Dan then turned to his right and saw the same man dressed up in red armor that he saw yesterday and asked, "Are they this stupid? Demons haunt us, and your friends from yesterday have left their calling card, yet they cheer for me? I want payment for banishing these demons and I want better armor if I am to lead these buffoons into battle."

The man smiled at him and nodded as he said, "You got it. Have you no fear of anything?"

"I have fear of dying without honor. I have a fear of dying while my family hungers for food and their bellies dry up without water – both of which aren't cheap. Gold makes this world turn so let's cut to the chase. You obviously have a plan, and my guess is that it doesn't involve any of these cowards..." Dan said.

"Courage and observant…you may yet prove your worth. Come with me." The man said putting his hand on Dan's shoulder and leading him away.

"Where are we going?" Dan asked.

"You shall see…" the man asked. They walked for awhile and the man opened a door to a large room filled with the latest technology and a map on the table. Computers working in the background with radar units and other contraptions he couldn't identify.

"How would you like to be the one to give the order to launch our jets on the night elves?" The man asked.

"You mean killing them without raising a hand?" Dan asked. The man laughed. Dan turned his attention to the map of their targets. He placed his hand on it and felt a fountain of information pour into his head. He thanked God for the information.

"All you are going to do is piss them off and get your men killed. May I?" Dan asked looking up at the red armored man. He looked curiously at him and then extended his hand.

"What you have here is a map of their territory, that is pretty much obvious, but your targets were placed by complete morons…let me do some rearranging here." Dan said as many people began to protest but the man in the red armor held up his hand and they settled down.

Minutes passed and Dan mumbled several things to himself very fast as he placed markers on the paper. Having eventually finished he waved over the man.

"Have you ever heard the expression, 'if you kill them, then they won't learn anything'?" Dan asked.

"Yes" he replied.

"You strike here, here, here, and here – and then wait a day." Dan said pointing to several places on the map that seemed absolutely random to everybody else in the room.

"And the reasoning for that is?" The man asked curiously.

"Look at this ground, the ponds, stream, dead trees, dense forests…you aren't utilizing your surroundings. I've killed dozens of people who threatened my family by using my surroundings. Look up here. Here is a lake and then a small stream coming down from it. This is not a beaver damn, this was made. A single strike at the base and both corners will weaken the structure causing a flood. The amount of water in the lake will determine the amount of damage it will cause. While that is going on, strike here. You have this labeled as dense woods but with no significant point. Doesn't it seem odd that this area is marked as heavily wooded area, and nothing but rock around it? That is not natural, especially with no river going through it. According to your elevation markers, if you detonate a couple of carefully placed explosions around this small edge, it will create an avalanche – giving you two natural disasters that are probably more powerful than your weapons. Next…" Dan said but was interrupted.

"Is somebody writing this down? I don't want him to repeat himself! General Dan, how many attacks have you planned before?" The red armored man asked as several people ran around and began writing down the battle plan.

"To protect me and my family - probably fifty or so... You can fire one bullet and hope it kills one man – and then hope the other man doesn't shoot you first, or you can look at the whole picture and utilize your surroundings. May I continue or would you like more references?" Dan asked. The man held out his hand.

"Next look at this dead woods area. You had this targeted…why? According to your maps there is nothing there, and if you launch an attack there, you might kill a couple of people – but you would have to bring your forces all the way around this rocky ledge here towards the bottom and then up to attack. It's useless…" Dan said.

"General with all due respect, we have scouts in that area that have reported a significant amount of night elves in that area." An elder man said rudely butting in.

"Good…give them the dead woods area. In order to survive you need food and water. This area is a waste land…let them have their dead trees, and what this 'world tree'? You had most of your attacks focused on this. Will the world end if we destroy this tree? Tell me about it."

"I'll explain it to him, stand back Lieutenant Diggs. Dan, this world tree is what they hold most sacred to them. If we destroy it, it will bring them to their knees." The man in the red armor said.

"How much firepower will it take to bring down this tree?" Dan asked.

The man looked nervously at the other people in the room and nobody could give them an answer.

"Alright, something is special about this tree…and by the blank stares from everybody in the room I would have to say that you have launched several attacks against this thing and it didn't do any good, am I right in assuming that?" Dan asked.

"You are correct…" the man looked at him with a questioning face.

"It's simple logic. I'm constantly taking in all of my surroundings, not only on this map, but in this room. I prepare myself for the worst and live like nothing is going to happen. That way if somebody strikes me, I will know who they are and be able to deflect the attack. I didn't survive on my own for years by hiding in a cave and hoping no bandits attack us…" Dan said looking at him. The man raised his eyebrow seeming impressed even more.

"Don't attack the tree. What kind of items can your planes carry?" Dan asked.

"Depends on the plane, but up to twenty thousand pounds of ordinance if necessary, why?"

"Because…normal attacks don't hinder it, but what happens when a jouster has a bur under its saddle? The horse bucks and twinges, breaking the rider's concentration and making him vulnerable to incoming attacks. My suggestion is put a bur underneath it. Let's assume for a second that this is a living, breathing tree and they all bow down and worship it and in return it gives them power, or hope, or increases their fertility – whatever…the point is if it is alive, it is vulnerable to disease. I have seen tree worms that are nearly invincible to get rid of that will eat the trees alive. We gather them up, along with fire ants, scorpions, termites, bees, diseased trees, and as much honey as you can find and such things and dump it on the tree. Based on your blank stares your firepower can't penetrate it, but living organisms would probably pass right through its shield, or bark, or whatever is preventing your attacks from happening. My guess is that it will gently fall into the tree and began attacking it immediately. Has anybody thought of that idea?" Dan asked as he looked around the room. Every single person was staring at him in awe. He relished in the moment and then turned to the man in the red armor.

"So?" Dan asked.

"If any of you assholes don't have every word of what he said written down, your heads will be impaled before high noon!" He said looking at the men and women in the room. "Organize the attacks immediately and carry them out. Get our soldiers out and collect everything General Dan said – on the double! I want his plan carried out before the sun sets. Move it people, we have a battle to win here!" He then motioned Dan to follow him. They walked out of the room and took off his gauntlet and extended his hand.

"First commander of our battle platoon, blessed by his highest and the King himself, my name is Fred Yerd Austramis the third." Dan removed his fist weapon and shook his hand.

"I've always been called Dan. My father was killed and I don't know where my mother is. I found my wife and legally married her as payment for working a farmer's field. It was her choice though – we worked side-by-side in the fields and made love on the straw in the barn. From there we sought out on our own. Our homes that we built have always been ransacked, but I'll damned if they will take my wife. For example a man told my wife to sleep in his bed chambers so I killed him with half a horseshoe." Dan said. Fred couldn't help but laugh.

"It's my pleasure Fred." Dan said letting go of his hand and smiling at him.

"I need to have a private word with you. Follow me." Fred said and hurried quickly down the hall.

Eventually they came to a heavily armored door made out of metal that he didn't recognize. Fred put his eyes up to a scanner and seconds later the door opened. Dozens of concubines and servants greeted him as Fred waved them away. They proceeded through the assortment of people to several heavily armored guards and told them to step aside. Fred then scanned his eyes again and an inner chamber opened up. Fred quickly pulled Dan in as the doors slammed right behind him.

"Those shut fast." Fred said.

"Thanks."

"Our King has fallen ill and is losing strength as the days pass." Fred said quietly.

"How can I help?" Dan asked.

"That's the thing; I don't know…nobody knows. I want you to look at his condition and see if you know something we don't. Perhaps you could make an elixir or a potion of some sort…" Fred said.

"A what?" Dan asked.

"Nothing – please keep your voice down and follow me." Fred said and quickly walked to the far side of the room. Fred then motioned Dan to come to his side.

"My King, this is General Dan. He has given us a battle plan that will slaughter the night elves. I have seen him fight – he killed two demons and I bring him before you to see if he has any insight into your condition." Fred said. The King nodded and extended his hand. Dan reached out and took it. The doctors started to describe his condition when Dan yelled at them to be quiet.

"My King, look at me with your eyes. I am going to take off my weapons and put my hand on your chest. It is clean and free of any impurities. May I do that?" Dan asked.

The King tried to say something but couldn't so he nodded. Dan unbuttoned his shirt and put his hand on his chest. Right away he could tell his breathing was harsh and very weak. His heartbeat was very irregular. Dan looked at the King's eyes and saw one pupil larger than the other, and the whites of his eyes had veins of light green in them.

"Who poisoned you?" Dan asked quietly. Suddenly the room erupted in contest to what Dan said. The King's eyes and Dan's eyes never left each other though. The King raised his finger to his mouth and immediately the room fell silent.

The King shook his head in disagreement, but Dan nodded his head. The King looked at Dan and then took a sigh. He slowly turned to Fred and pointed at him, then pointed at Dan.

"Summon my wife. She is in the courtyard infirmary. Tell her we need a detox immediately along with pure water. Tell her to bring herbs needed for healing poisons and for bolstering strength." Dan said still looking at the King. He turned his gaze to Fred and said, "We are going to need several things…whatever she says we need, have them brought in here. His condition is not contagious, but I would advise clearing out these soothsayers, and practice voodoo…"

"I'll have you know…" Fred drew his sword and put it to the doctor's throat that began to speak. "Get out…now! All of you get out!" Fred said and followed them out. He then told several guards to go do as Dan instructed. Fred then rushed back to the King's side and asked, "Dan how do you know that?"

"His eyes are green. He has an infection and my wife has been telling me that most of the doctors here don't use sterile instruments to operate on. What is the King's first name?" Dan asked.

"We don't call him by his name…"

"Ulrich" the King said.

"Ok Ulrich, I need you to sit up in bed. I'm going to do a couple of things to you that you aren't going to like, but it will make you feel better." Dan said tossing his fist weapons off to the side. Dan hurried over to the other side of the bed and both him and Fred lifted him up by the arms and forced him to sit up. The King immediately started to cough and spat out blood.

"Good, now I need you to relax. Lean your head back and look up to the ceiling." Dan said. The King groaned.

"I know, I'm sorry but we are going to do a lot of things you don't like, but I promise it will make you feel better." Dan said.

Ulrich tilted his head back and Dan saw a lump moving in his throat. "Ulrich, open your mouth as wide as you can. I'm going to do a series of compressions on your stomach. Fred hold him, and be ready to catch…" Dan said.

"Catch what?"

Dan unbuttoned the King's shirt, moved his hands to just below his ribs and pushed as hard as he could in an upward position. A large bug flew out of his mouth along with vomit and blood as the King leaned forward. Dan quickly grabbed the bug and threw it on the ground and smashed it.

"Holy shit!" Fred practically screamed.

"Hush! Fred…I need you to be quiet…" Dan said quickly glaring at him. Fred, still in a panicked state, nodded and resumed his position.

"What the hell…was that…?" Ulrich asked slowly.

"We'll figure that out later. Right now I need you to close your mouth and try not to vomit again. Breathe through your nose. I'm going to monitor your breathing and if it gets real bad I'm going to have to cut a small hole in your neck." Dan said. Ulrich nodded.

"I will not let you put a blade to our King's neck!" Fred said as both Ulrich and Dan turned and slowly looked at him. He quickly apologized.

"Fred, tell the King some funny stories and make him laugh. I don't care if you have to make them up. Ulrich, I need to examine your entire body for the poison. My wife is going to do the same thing, but we mean you no disrespect – do you understand me?" Dan asked.

Ulrich nodded and Dan began to remove the sheets. They were full of feces, urine, vomit and what he thought was spit of some sort. He then removed Ulrich's clothes and quickly examined him. He found leeches on the bottom of his feet, gorging themselves on his blood.

"What the hell? Who put those on you?" Dan asked. Ulrich pointed towards the door. Dan glared up at Fred and then began to pull them off from his feet. They had drained so much blood that the opening was quite significant. Dan quickly got some bandages and tied them around the open wounds.

"I'll have them hung at once." Fred said.

"Fred, I need you here right now, we can seek vengeance later. I need you to check other parts of his body that may have lumps or other bugs on them." Dan said.

Fred started doing just that. His respect for Dan had risen exponentially. Right now if Dan told him to slit his own throat he would. They marked out several different spots that seemed abnormal and places with discoloration.

It was almost an hour later Crystal arrived and was carrying loads of items and escorted by guards carrying nothing. "Sorry about my punctuality…apparently the word got to me that I had to come to the King at once with all of my stuff for healing. Naturally I assumed I would have some help…jackasses…"

Fred shot right up and grabbed his sword. He ran to the guard he spoke with and ripped his helmet off and slammed the blunt end of the sword into his face.

"You idiot! Can't you follow simple instructions! You were supposed to bring all that she needed, not have her bring it! Put him in the dungeon! The rest of you get a list of what she tells you to get and get it here quicker next time or I will have your head!" Fred said.

"A man with manners…thanks." Crystal said walking the distance up to Dan and the King.

"So far the witch doctors of these lands put this bug down his throat, and leeches on the bottom of his feet…" Dan said showing her the bug.

"You're joking right? My word you have the technology to put machines in the air, yet you put bugs on a man to devour him slowly?" Crystal said as she began to setup her items. She then walked up to the King and said, "Look at my finger. I'm going to move it back and forth; I want you to follow it." The King was able to perform this activity.

"Good, now I'm going to put your hand on my arm and I want you to squeeze." Crystal said doing just that. The King was barely able to squeeze it.

"Good, ok now let me listen to your chest. I need absolute silence from everybody – and what are those assholes still doing in here?" Crystal asked.

"Leave us! Stay outside the door; if we need something we will tell you!" Fred said and immediately they did just that.

Crystal then put her ear to his chest. He then slowly took one of his hands and looked at his fingernails. She adjusted her position of her ear on his chest and listened again. Next she looked at his toenails.

"Ok, who poisoned you?" Crystal asked.

"My guess is one of their doctors…" Dan said with resentment in his voice.

"How did you know he is poisoned? Dan said the same thing." Fred asked.

"Shall we play twenty questions, or shall we heal him?" Crystal asked examining his hair. She slowly pulled out several clumps of hair with each handful.

"What the hell? Dan search underneath his bed!" Crystal said almost frantically. Dan looked underneath it and pulled out a dull silver bar.

"Get that thing as far out of here as possible!" Crystal commanded. Dan handed it to Fred and he opened the doors and gave the instructions to do as Crystal said.

"My King somebody is trying to kill you. I'm going to stabilize your body as best as I can, but I need you to smile for me. Think of the happiest time in your life and focus on that. Run those images in your head over and over. Don't laugh, just smile and focus on those thoughts.

Crystal ran over to the items that she brought and began to mush a plant in a bowl with a makeshift spoon. She then poured some water into it and stirred it up.

"Dan, get that stove going, we are going to need one pot full of boiling water and one of cooled boiled water. Fred we need fuel to get the stove going. I need as many blue berries as you can get. Also get an IV pouch, a catheter, a long rubber hose, a very small sharp knife, clean bandages and linens, and one of the blacksmiths pokers that they use to stoke the fire." Crystal said.

"Got it" Fred said and quickly opened the doors and gave the instructions to the guards and demanded it be brought back to them in the next ten minutes or they would all swing in the gallows tonight. Fred turned back around and raced back to the bed. Crystal took Fred's hand and looked straight in his eyes. "He is going to feel some pain; there is no getting around that. Do you understand?" Fred nodded. She turned to the King and he nodded.

"I have made a basic antibiotic but unless I get it right into your stomach, you will just vomit it back up. Its nasty stuff, but I need you to trust me. In the mean time I have a secret to tell you." Crystal said and leaned over to the King's ear and whispered something in his ear for about twenty seconds. The King started shaking hard as he tried to laugh with a big smile on his face.

"I need you to remember that and other funny stuff - that is vital to your healing, do you understand?" Crystal asked. Ulrich nodded with a big smile and tried to laugh some more.

"What did you tell him?" Dan asked as the water began to simmer.

"The size of your penis," Crystal said and the King tried to laugh some more.

"Nice…did you tell him about the time when you fell off from me during sex and landed in the chamber pot?" Dan asked. The King laughed harder.

"Yeah ok, Mister minute man…how's the water coming?" Crystal asked.

"Some bubbles, not a rolling boil yet." Dan answered.

"Luckily the iodine in this water will not be boiled away. My King I'm going to put an IV in your arm and I will put a catheter in your penis. The second one will be less comfortable, but we should be able to flush most of the poison from your body within a couple of hours. Next I have to cut away some of the dead skin and sterilize it. That will hurt, but tomorrow you will feel much better. Do you understand that?" Crystal explained. The King nodded.

Minutes later the door to the throne room burst open with the rest of the medical supplies and Fred instructed them to bring more wood and a second furnace – as big of one as they could find per Crystal's instructions. The water had come to a boil and Crystal started to sterilize her equipment. Then she told Dan to dump half of it in the other pot to let it cool.

"Ok, this is going to be the part where I have to put the medicine in your stomach through the tube. Open your mouth as wide as you can and keep swallowing. You're gagging reflex is going to kick in, but try as hard as you can to resist it and just keep swallowing." Crystal said as she started to put the tube down his throat. Surprisingly it went down pretty easy. Crystal took some of the cooled off water and stirred it in with her compound that she had premade and began to dump it down the small tube. Carefully and very slowly she tried to get as much into the tube as she could. The fluid hit the King's stomach and he lurched forward to vomit.

"No! Do not vomit! This needs to be in your stomach. Think of those happy thoughts and just relax as much as you can." Crystal said quickly and kept dumping it in. A minute later it was all in and Crystal got to mixing up another batch of something else while she gave instructions to Dan as to how to fill the IV.

"The water is still warm though." Dan said.

"I know it's perfect right now. Fill the bag all the way up." Crystal said. She handed a small bowl to Fred and told him to mash the berries up as much as he could.

"Ok Ulrich now we are going to do several things all at once. First of all we are going to rehydrate your body with clean water. I'm going to dump some water down this tube directly into your stomach. Then we are going to hook up an IV to your arm and pump in fluids that way as well. After that I'm going to have to put a catheter in your penis and shove it up to your bladder. I'm not going to lie to you, that's going to hurt – but I promise after it's in you will feel almost instant relief. What we are trying to do is get your body pumping fluids again to steady your heart rhythm and to let your body fight off the poison. Fred we need a chamber pot – get several of them." Crystal said reaching her hand out to take the bowl he was stirring up.

"Dan I need some warm water in this. Is there anything around here we can use as a funnel so I don't drip so much?" Crystal asked looking around. Ulrich raised his arm and pointed at a table in the corner of the room.

"Ok Ulrich, save your strength I'll go look for it." Crystal said.

"The IV bag is full, but the water is still warm." Dan said.

"Yes I know. His body needs to run a fever for awhile in order to fight off the infection faster, the warm water and the antioxidants surging into his body. Plus it'll give him a nice boost in strength. Ulrich there are nothing but papers here…some of them look important, do you want me to use these?" Crystal asked turning around. He nodded so Crystal grabbed several of them and rolled them up.

"Ok Ulrich I need you to relax. I'm going to stick you with this need in your forearm. You are going to feel a poke." Crystal said and squeezed his arm as hard as she could until his blood veins started to show. She then slide the needle into one of the bigger veins slowly and then asked Dan to give her to rope or string. Dan quickly ripped off a piece of cloth and gave it to her. She tied it around his arm to secure the IV and then they hung the IV bag above the bed.

Next Crystal took the paper made funnel and put it in the rubber tubing, and then she started to slowly pour in the mixture. Ulrich felt it hit his stomach and instantly felt relief. He let out a smile.

"Well that's a good sign. Still thinking of some funny things?" Crystal said continuing to pour in the mixture. Ulrich nodded slightly and kept the smile on his face.

After Crystal finished pouring in the mixture she said, "Ok – that's enough food for now. I'm going to pull the tube out. Hold your breath right now and try to relax." Crystal then quickly pulled the tube out with Ulrich almost vomiting again.

"Don't you be doing that to me or you are going to have the tube again. Look up at me Ulrich, tilt your head back and relax it up against the bed post." Crystal said helping him move his head.

Fred came back in the throne room with five chamber pots and asked what happened. Ulrich raised his hand and made a shooing motion at him.

"He's got some food in his belly, liquid in his system, and some medicine working in his system. Bring one of those over here," Crystal said motioning him over.

Fred hurried over as Crystal put the rubber tubing back in the boiling water.

"Fred I need you to get another stove going and boil as much water as you can. We need water vapor in his lungs to help him cough up the flem. Dry coughing will be much harder on him. Ok Ulrich, I'm not going to lie to you – this part is uncomfortable, but you have to trust me." Ulrich nodded as Fred started to get the other stove going. Crystal took the tubing out of the boiling water and gave it several shakes. She then inserted it into his penis and pushed as quickly as she could up to his bladder. It took about twenty seconds and Ulrich recoiled in pain, but eventually urine started to drip from it. Crystal moved the other end to an empty chamber pot.

"Ok it's over. I'm sorry to say but you aren't going to be able to have sex for the next day or so." Crystal said with a smile. The King nodded but still felt some uncomfort according to his face.

"Hold on a second, let me check some things." Crystal said. She looked at the urine coming out and it was dark yellow with small chunks of some substance in it. Each time they travelled through the tube and landed in the chamber pot it made a silent "ting" sound.

"You have kidney stones. They have moved to your bladder and your bladder is trying to excrete them. I understand your discomfort, but you need to push as hard as you can to get the stones out of you." Crystal said. The King nodded and concentrated as hard as he could and several more passed out. The King opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out but raspy sounds. A loud "ting" came out as it echoed in the chamber pot.

"What are you doing to him?" Fred asked quickly.

"The doctors before him starved him and dehydrated him – that and along with the poison in his body where shutting down his kidneys. The new water entering his body and the new 'exit' if you want to call it that I just put into him is helping to get rid of the stones and the urine that was poisoning him. He should feel a big relief in a couple of minutes, and then we will have a new exercise for you to do."

"Let's do it now." Ulrich said struggling to speak.

"My King! I have not heard you speak in years…" Fred said in shock. Ulrich gave him a dirty look and Fred backed off.

"I need a cup, a mug, or a glass…something clean, and some salt." Crystal said looking around the room. Fred immediately left and grabbed both items and brought them to Crystal.

"This water is going to be hot and very salty…I need you to gargle and swish it around in your mouth – do not swallow this, do you understand?" Crystal said mixing up the compound. Ulrich nodded. Crystal poured some of the mixture into his mouth and stopped when Ulrich flinched.

"Swish it around as long as you can. It's going to burn, but it will help you speak." Crystal said setting the glass off to the side and grabbing another chamber pot and holding it up to his throat. Ulrich swished it around in his mouth for about a minute. His cheeks and face turned red until he finally spit it out.

"That's great, you did well."

Ulrich took several deep breaths and said "My darling, if you save my life…" was all the King could said before his throat began to hurt.

"There are no 'ifs' in my profession. We still have some work to do. We are going to repeat this again at least two to three more times. Then I'm going to have you drink as much water as you can. Fred we are going to need more berries picked. Make sure they are clean. Next we are going to work on your lungs Ulrich." Crystal said. Ulrich let out another hard grunt as another stone passed through the tube and into the chamber pot.

"You got a lot of them in you huh? Push if you have to, but it will be easier once your kidneys have more water to work with. Dan, bring over a clean cloth and a boiling pot of water." Crystal said waving Dan over. Dan did just that as Fred had finished ordering the guards to go collect berries and bring them back. He came back just in time to tell Fred to put his gauntlets on and hold the boiling pot. Crystal then poured in all of the thyme, ginger, and broken up pine needles that she had brought. She put the blanket over his head and told Fred to hold it as close to his face as he could, but don't let the hot pot touch his skin. Fred acknowledged.

"Ulrich, take as many deep breaths as you can. This might induce coughing, but you have my promise that it will clear up your lungs by the end of the day. In the mean time I'm going to start taking a look at some of your other wounds. I'll tell you what I'm going to do before I do it.

"This smells sweet – almost like bread cooked in a pine tree." Ulrich said.

"That is a good way to describe it. There are so many things that the vapor is doing right now that I can't even name all of them – but the biggest ones is it will kill the bacterial infection in your lungs and open up your air sacs to increase the oxygen in your system. Seems like it's easier for you to talk now." Crystal said.

Ulrich took in a deep breath of the vapor and slow exhaled it. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Crystal. My assistant Dan is my husband. I guess he is a general now, I'm not sure how that works exactly – but we are just passing through. We want to head further south after our work here is done. I've always loved the smell of the ocean." Crystal said.

"Pick an island and it will be yours." The King said.

"We'll discuss that later. Should I call your Ulrich or King?" Crystal asked.

"At this point in time you can call me a patient or a commoner, I don't care. You have healed me more in this one day then the other doctors have in years." Ulrich said.

"We'll stick to a first name basis then. I'm sorry to say but your previous doctors are complete idiots. My husband and I came to take up jobs here. My husband was thrown into one of your cells, and one of your generals ordered me to go to his bed chambers." Crystal said.

"Fred – have the people responsible for doing this to them executed at once." Ulrich said and then let out a very hard cough.

"They are already dead. Dan single-handedly killed the general and took his role. Then Dan also killed two demons. Crystal is responsible for healing many of our soldiers and bringing in new inventions into the clinic." Fred said.

"Our healing rate has easily tripled. My King you need to have wells dug for water and stop getting your water from the rivers. That alone would cure half of your kingdom and make them stronger.

"The Light has brought you two here. This is no coincidence. Praise the Light." Ulrich said letting out another powerful cough.

"Dan also drew up new battle plans for attack the blasted night elves that keep sabotaging our base. They are ingenious my King." Fred said.

"I did not order an attack – under who's authority was this given?" Ulrich asked.

"Well…from the high priest. He has been giving orders while you were sick." Fred said.

"If I may butt in here really quick, Ulrich you are a great King – but so long as you were unable to fulfill your role as King, this high priest had complete control of your army. I might be out of line in saying this…but could it be possible that they kept you sick in order to keep you from your throne of power?" Crystal asked quietly.

The room fell silent for awhile. Ulrich even stopped coughing.

"Fred – how many of my troops are still loyal to me?" Ulrich said turning his covered head to look at him.

"Your legions are at your command." Fred replied.

"Spread the word that the King has been healed. Stop all invasion plans at once and bring all of my soldiers loyal to me, that you can trust. We need to have a talk with the high priest…" Ulrich said in a stern voice.

"At once!" Fred said and almost dropped the pot of boiling water.

"Careful now…" Crystal pulled the cloth back from his head and took the pot back and put it back on the stove to reheat it. Crystal turned around and saw the King had his color back in his face.

"That did wonders for you Ulrich. Now let's get some water in you." Crystal dumped the water in the cup in a chamber pot and scooped up some water and added a dash of salt.

"My Kingdom…" Ulrich said silently.

"Let's worry about your body first. We will fight beside you if you need to, but as of right now you are too weak to fight." Crystal said.

"How long have I been sick…how long has my empire been out of my grasp…how could I have been manipulated into this?" Ulrich said to himself. Crystal tried to soothe him, but suddenly Ulrich raised his head and said, "Peter! It was Peter the saint! Son of a bitch, I've been played like a fool! He claimed he had new holy water that would purify my body and nobody else drank in except for me. I drank it all, and they were all smiling at me afterwards. The next couple of days I remember nothing. This means war!"

"Alright we will go to war, but Ulrich we've only been purifying your body for a couple of hours. You are not in a position to lead a war for at least another couple of days and that is only if we keep treating you every couple of hours." Crystal said.

"Keep the treatments coming then…I have some unfinished business to attend to…" Ulrich said making fists and then slamming them on his bed. Crystal glanced back at Dan and winked at him. Dan gave a slight nod in a reply.

"Let's get some more water in your stomach." Crystal said easing the glass over to Ulrich's mouth.

"I'm too upset to drink anymore. My stomach churns with hatred." Ulrich said.

"Ulrich, remember what I said about thinking happy thoughts? Believe it or not but that will speed up the healing process. Put your mind at ease, please, and just relax. I'm happy to see that your spirit is back but you still have several wounds I need to dig out the infection and dead skin to let it heal properly. Ulrich…please?" Crystal said in a sweet and loving voice.

He sighed and leaned his head back and said "You are right of course. You have been right about everything so far."

"Sometimes you need an outside prospective on things in order to see what is out of order. Here take a drink…" Crystal said holding up the mug. Ulrich took it from her and downed all of it. "Good, we need to get more fluids in you. My suggestion is to cut out the ale all together. Your liver has no doubt suffered damage and we want it in good working order."

"I could go for a drink actually…" Ulrich said and then let out a chuckle.

Fred came back in the room with dozens of guards. Ulrich sat up further in his bed and glared at all of them.

"Look at me! Each one of you look at me! I am not yet fully healed, but thanks to these two, they have brought me back to the point to realize that my Kingdom…my empire that I built has been twisted into what it is now! All of you knew I was sick and followed orders blindly from the high priest but no more! I give the orders and you will follow them. Is that understood?" Ulrich asked.

"Sir, yes sir!" They all said in unison.

"Bring me some rogues…I plan on returning the favor for what they have done to me. In the meantime assemble my armies. Give them the best armor and swords that we have. We have some work to do. Tell no one! You are all dismissed!" Ulrich said in a stern voice. They all saluted him and walked out as Fred stayed behind.

"Crystal, you have the power to heal with medicines and herbs – you must know of some herbs that can kill as well." Ulrich said.

Crystal gave the best impression of a "surprised" look as she could. "My King…I am just going on knowledge that was passed down to me. I haven't even thought about such things."

"Think about it. My IV bag is almost empty." Ulrich said.

"I'll refill it." Dan said quickly jumping up and detaching it. He filled it with cooled off water that he had been rotating. The contaminated water and wastes were being filled in the chamber pots. Fred had given them to the guards outside to dispose of when they were full.

"More fluids…keep them coming!" Ulrich said. Crystal nodded and refilled the mug. The King downed the whole thing and asked for another.

"My King, if I may interject. Too many fluids this fast will wash away the medicine in your body. My I do my job?" Crystal asked politely.

"Of course…sorry I was out of line." Ulrich said.

"No, I apologize my King. Fred do you have the berries?"

"Five pounds of them" Fred said back and showing him the basket.

"Good, start getting those into the King's mouth. Next we'll need to get a hold of some oats. Some of these wounds are deep and the mucus pouring out of them is highly dangerous." Crystal said.

"Will you have to cut off my leg?" Ulrich asked.

"No?" Crystal replied sounded almost insulted. "They are simple wounds that have an infection in them. With proper treatment, the most you will see is a scar for the rest of your life – and if I do my job very well you won't even see that. But remember what I have been saying lean back, relax, and think happy thoughts. While you are fed the berries, we'll have the IV pump more water into your veins and I'll work on your festering wounds. You eyes by the way are no longer showing signs of the poison. Your breathing is more normal and eventually your heart rhythm will go back to normal, but with all due respect if you keep raising and lowering your blood pressure, your body won't know what it is supposed to do."

"You have a very nice way of telling me to shut up…" Ulrich said with a smile.

"I…didn't mean…"

"It's ok Crystal, do as you must. Talk me through what you are going to do. I found that very comforting before." Ulrich said.

"I will. We need to get some oats though. Fred can we dispatch some guards to collect at least ten pounds of it? It needs to be clean though." Crystal said.

"Absolutely" Fred said and opened the throne room door and dispatched two of the guards to go collect the oats.

"What are the oats for?" Fred asked.

"That is one of the few things that I can think of that are readily available that will soothe his stomach and I'm going to use it for a topical ointment. Dan are you still rotating the water? Fred let's start another breathing treatment." Crystal said getting the cloth and carefully placing it over the King's head. Fred picked up the pot of boiling hot water with the spices in it and held it just below the King's head. The King started taking deep breaths as Dan reported that he was still doing his job. Crystal took a surgical knife and stuck the blade in the rapidly boiling water and waited a minute before pulling it out.

"Ulrich, there are three different places I need to perform surgery on; one on your chest, hip and left leg. Your left leg is the worst so I am going to start there. Do we have something for him to bite down on?" Crystal asked looking around.

"Just do it. I've been stabbed before several times and I doubt it will hurt much worse than that." Ulrich said and took in a deep breath.

"Ok, I'm going to start." Crystal said and put the blade to the green covered scab that looked like fungus was growing out of. The hot blade touched it and instantly sizzled the skin. The King cringed and Crystal apologized, but the King said to hurry up. She made the first slice and green puss began to drain out. Crystal then began to cut around the infection, make small careful precise cuts. She then peeled off the rotten skin and tossed it in the chamber pot.

"Dan get another chamber pot, this one is almost full." Crystal said. While Dan was doing that, Crystal reheated the knife for a moment and then placed it on several pieces of the green infection that needed to be killed quickly. Another sizzling smell and burnt flesh came into the air as Crystal started to cut away the dead skin and muscle tissue.

"Argh…that hurts!" Ulrich said gritting his teeth.

"I'm sorry Ulrich; I'm going as fast as I can. Fred, stop the breathing treatments and let him lean back and relax." Crystal said.

"Will the breathing treatment help me recover faster?" Ulrich said between his teeth.

"Yes."

"Then leave it there."

"Take short quick breaths of air through your mouth and try to focus the pain into your hands by squeezing them into fists." Crystal said as she got back to work.

A minute passed and Crystal finally got all of the infection out. She then took some cool water and dumped some of it on the open wound. The King let out a soothing sound of relief.

"Yup, that one is done. I'm going to try to pull the muscle and skin together. This will take some time and what I really need is those oats…" Crystal said handing the scalpel to Dan as he dunked it in the hot water several times. Crystal took both hands and pushed the wound together. She sat there and held it as the oats were brought back. She told Dan to get them boiling.

"Do we have any bandages in the kingdom? That would help a lot." Crystal asked still holding the wound closed.

"Is there not any in the clinic?" Fred asked.

"There was hardly anything until I arrived…I didn't see any. Is there something else…glue or tape?" Crystal asked.

"We have super glue and duct tape."

"Bring me the glue! I have no idea what kind of tape comes from ducks, but it's probably not sanitary." Crystal said with a straight face. This made Ulrich and Fred laugh.

"It's a super strong tape that is made from cloth, wool and a sticky compound – no ducks are involved in the death of making the tape." Ulrich said.

"Whatever you think would be best to hold the wound together. I need to keep air outside as the muscles rebuild themselves and to prevent further infection." Crystal said.

"I'll get both." Fred said as he went to summon for the guards. This time when he opened the door, a man dressed up in all white with a large hat stood in front of him. He had a golden cross on his cone shaped hat and several other golden strings and symbols on his cloak.

"I demand to see the King." He said.

"He is being treated for his illnesses right now. One of you go get some super glue and duct tape." Fred said.

"Do not obey that order…I will be taking over treatment now."

"You shall not pass!" Fred said pulling out his sword. Dan put on his fist weapons and stood beside Fred.

"You dare threaten a man of the cloth? I will not forgive you of your sins and your soul will burn in hell! Let me pass!" The man said raising his voice.

"Do not let him in…remove him from my palace!" Ulrich said.

"You do not know what you are speaking of; they are torturing you for your final days on Earth. You deserve to be read the rights of passage into the Kingdom of Heaven and need to have confession." The clergy man said.

"Ulrich, give me the word and I will carve out this man's heart." Dan said quickly jabbing his two swords right below his chin. He slowly pushed the man's head upwards.

"I have no idea who or what you are interloper, but I can condemn your soul to Hell with a few simple words."

"I can cut out your tongue so you never say another simple word. You dance your dance and I will dance mine, and right now you are impeding the healing process of the King!" Dan said as his eyes narrowed in on his.

"Kill this man…" the clergy man said.

"Stand your ground!" Ulrich's voice echoed through the room. None of the guards moved.

"So the moment has come. Guards, your King lives and will ride into battle with you in a few days. The clerics have poisoned me to assume control of the kingdom. Show your alliance to me and kill the cleric!" Ulrich said. All of the guards drew their swords and drove them into the surprised cleric. His body fell to the ground and several items fell out of his robe.

"My King!" Fred said jumping back in surprise.

"Get back from it. Is that the man with the oats? Hurry your ass up!" Dan yelled down the hall at him. "Stay away from it and don't breathe the vapors."

"What is it Dan?" Crystal asked still holding the King's wound together.

"It's a type of acid. It was in a vial and it shattered when he hit the ground. It's attempting to eat through the stone on the floor. I've never seen anything so powerful… Spill the oats on it quickly!" Dan said. The man opened the bag and dumped most of them on it. The foaming instantly stopped and the foul smell instantly dissolved.

Dan walked back to Ulrich and said, "That would have killed you in a matter of minutes."

"If that didn't this poison tipped dagger would have." Fred said picking up the weapon from the handle as a red liquid slowly dripped down it.

"You have saved my life again…I say this again that I am grateful for you and the Light has truly shown itself. Take all of this evidence and present it to the people. Also bring more oats. Find out if he worked alone or if somebody else was involved. Drag this filthy traitor out of my sight. Thank you my guards for following my orders and thank you Dan for putting your life and soul on the line for me as well. Crystal, I am weak…" Ulrich said leaning back.

"Oats people, we need oats now! Fred do everything the King said, and also get all of the items the both of you spoke of. Dan get me some cool water." Crystal said desperately.

Everybody quickly jumped into action and as the cool water touched the King's tongue, his mouth instantly opened for some more. Dan slowly poured in the water as the King drank it. The King closed his mouth quickly and started his face started to turn red with pain.

"Where is the pain?" Crystal asked quickly. Suddenly two more stones came out of the catheter and made a "plop" sound as they hit the water. Then the King relaxed and asked for more water.

"There shouldn't be too many more my King. I hate to say this, but the more get out the better off you will be. Passing stones without what we are doing would cause twice as much pain.

"What have they done to me…?" The King asked.

"We can't reverse months of damage; I hesitate to say years of damage, all in one day." Crystal said.

"Yes you have…I owe you greatly." The King said taking slow deep breaths.

"Get the kingdom back in order and avenge yourself. Take care of your soldiers and provide a better clinic. From there we will see then, but for now just relax." Crystal said. Crystal slowly let go of her grip and saw that his tissue and skin had started to bind with each other. She then pushed them back together.

"How does it look?" Ulrich asked.

"Very well actually. Dan get the oatmeal and start spreading it over his feet and lower legs. Lay it on heavy. Also save some for him to eat." Crystal said.

"Two steps ahead of you. Open your mouth and I'll have you eat a couple of spoonfuls." Dan said standing by the King's head. He did just that and his fast recoiled in disgust.

"I know, but your stomach and intestines will love you for it. Swallow it quickly and then we can give you some more water." Crystal said.

"I had to eat oats when I was younger…I didn't enjoy it then either…" Ulrich said chuckling.

Kept eating it until the bowel was gone. Dan had another already cooking and brought it back over. "Crystal, we should get some robes for the King. I'm sure being naked for this long has probably made him uncomfortable."

"Do you know of a tailor?" Crystal asked.

"Of course, but I have been naked in front for so long I no longer care. You two are married and so far your lovely wife hasn't been shy about anything and has been saving my life. I do not care." Ulrich said letting out a yawn.

"Stay with us Ulrich. I still have two more wounds I need to get rid of. Don't be getting tired on us yet." Crystal said.

"Oatmeal makes me tired, and my belly is full. My wounds feel much better and I feel like I could sleep for weeks." Ulrich said.

"And so you shall. I need to get my rest as well. I have been without food or drink, and I did not sleep well last night. My body tires as well, but we need to get this done." Crystal said.

"I want to lay down…" Ulrich said.

"Not until we get the glue and your wound is healed. You will sleep on your back tonight. Tomorrow morning we will be here at day break first thing." Crystal said.

"You deserve a good rest as well. Dan, you have chosen a great wife." Ulrich said with muffled oatmeal in his mouth. The King then waved him away. Dan got the mug and gave him a drink of water.

"Ok that's enough." The King said.

"Alright I'm going to start applying the oatmeal on your body. Tomorrow we'll change your linens." Dan said.

"Also I'm going to leave the catheter in you for now, but I'm going to remove the IV and hide the wound. I don't want anybody to think we are hurting you…" Crystal said with a smile. Ulrich smiled and he slouched down in the bed and closed his eyes.

Fred came back in with all of the items that Crystal asked for and told them that the people are pissed off about what was done. He explained that the King's health has brought all of them renewed hope. Crystal explained what they had done and are currently doing and asked asked for robes with hoods if possible. Fred nodded and made the request to his guards. Crystal instantly recognized the glue and took one hand and ran a bead down the wound. She held it together for half a minute longer and then let go of it. The King was snoring.

"We all need rest for today, but I still have two more skin infections I want to address today. Fred and you prepare more oatmeal? Dan how are the King's feet looking?" Crystal asked in a tired voice.

"Much better. There are still tiny teeth marks, but the wounds have closed up nicely." Dan said.

"Let's finish this up and hope we don't wake up the King. Fred, who can we trust to watch over the King for tonight?"

"I have that already figured out. Believe me; he will be in good hands." Fred said seeming confident.

"Good, ok let's do the next infection." Crystal said walking over and taking the scalpel and dipping it in the hot water. She then make a quick incision in the green puss blob on his chest. It quickly popped and Crystal wiped away the puss. She quickly cut out the infected skin and poured cool water on it. She did the same for the infection on his hip.

Another hour passed and Crystal was very exhausted.

"Go home and get some sleep." Fred said to her.

"We haven't got the oatmeal…" Crystal said but started to yawn.

"You need your sleep. I can put the oatmeal on my King. The cloaks are here and I can cover him with it once I am done." Fred said insisting.

"Can we take the rest of the cloaks? I don't think revealing who saved the King's life needs to be known…I don't feel like having a spear through my stomach by some cleric." Crystal said.

"Of course – you name it and it is yours." Fred said.

"Are you sure you are going to be ok?" Crystal asked.

"You have my word. Should tell our nights men to watch for anything?" Fred asked.

"When one chamber pot gets full, put the tube in another. Keep the drafts of wind low if possible. He is breathing fine on his own and his heart is much stronger. The oatmeal will soothe his stomach. If he has a stool movement, keep it. I want to examine it in the morning. Keep the chamber pots as well." Crystal said pulling out the IV needle and putting it in the boiling water and continued, "Only keep one pot of water boiling and put in more pine needles in it. Put the stove close to the King so he can breathe in the vapors."

"Is that all?" Fred asked.

"For now…tomorrow shouldn't be as bad medically, but he's going to want to get up and move around. If the glue holds, it should be a problem. He'll need help walking until his muscles can regrow." Crystal said standing up and stretching her back.

"He's stubborn…he will want to address his people tomorrow standing on his own two feet." Fred said.

"Get him a cane or something to walk with then. His leg will give out on him." Crystal said putting a robe around her and Dan doing the same.

"Can he use a sword as a cane?" Fred asked smiling.

"I obviously don't have a say in it…let him do as he wants…" Crystal said smiling at Fred. "When he wakes up, feed him more oatmeal and boiled water. Leave the oatmeal mask on his body until we get back. The longer it's on, the more toxins it will draw out from his body and the more nourishment will go into him."

"Dan…Crystal…I have no words to express what you have done today." Fred said standing up and walking over to them.

"The King kept saying that the light was helping him, or shining on him. I have no idea what that is, but maybe there is some truth to it. Tell me about it tomorrow." Dan said.

"No problem." Fred said and laid his hands on both of them and smiled. He then pulled them in to him and gave them both a big hug. After a couple of seconds he said that there is a back entrance out of the palace and gave them instructions as to how to get there. He asked if they wanted an escort, but Crystal reminded him that they wanted to stay out of sight for tonight. Fred nodded and opened the door. Both of them left and hurried in the directions Fred told them. As promised they found the back entrance and quickly made their way around the huge stone wall and walked the long distance back to their hotel.

Dan slipped in the card key and walked in with Crystal right behind. They shut the door and locked it.

"Are you guys still here? It's Dan and Crystal." Dan asked.

"Yes…why were you gone for so long?" An undead said standing up.

"Tomorrow there is going to be a war…many will be killed and it will divide up the Kingdom. I'm not sure who will win and I don't care so long as they kill each other. What do you know about the clerics?" Dan asked.

"They inflict pain on us worse than any of the other prisoners. When do we go into battle tomorrow?"

"We are getting you to safety tonight, as in right now. Put these cloaks on."

"We are willing to lay down our lives for you…" Dan held up his hand and said, "Please…we had a long day of deceiving people and the battle tomorrow will take place with or without us. You are not safe here. We need to get you out of here right now. Please…put the cloaks on." Dan's voice sounded harsh from exhaustion as he sat down on the bed.

"We will do as you say." The undead man said and quickly started handing out the cloaks. After a couple of minutes they were ready.

"Crystal do you want to stay here and rest?" Dan asked.

"Yes, I will stay here and rest tonight – after we get this job done. Let's get going." Crystal said putting her cloak back up, concealing half of her face. Dan nodded and smiled.

"There's an exit down the hall and to the left." One of the undead females said.

"You left the room?"

"No, but when the food came I carefully watched several people go that way. We can avoid the lobby full of people."

"Smart woman" Dan said smiling at her. "Let's go."

Everybody, carefully as concealed as they could be, left the room and walked quickly down the hallway and turned left. Sure enough there was an exit. They used it and entered the streets and quickly began to run north. The weather began to sprinkle a little rain.

Nobody said anything as they ran two miles and came to the worgens that they had attacked. Dan was about ready to grab his fist weapons when he saw that they were dead. Dan pointed to the left and started to run. Everybody followed him and continued to run.

They got to the cave and Dan held out his hand. The entrance opened up and quickly motioned for everybody to go inside. Crystal made sure everybody was in and then Dan walked in behind her. He held out his hand and the boulder moved back into place.

"Everybody stay on the path." Dan said maneuvering through the crowd and took the lead. He escorted all of them to the end of the cave. He held his hand to the ground as it opened up and gave him his hearthstone.

"Who or what are you that you can command the elements?" One undead asked as they all watched in awe.

"Think that's impressive? You haven't seen anything yet…" Dan said with a smile. A portal of Mohania appeared.

"You're an ass." Mohania said.

"Good to see you to my friend. I need you, and as many other asses you want to bring with you, outside the wall to our meeting place. I also need a Chronomancer to open a portal, and could you please bring some bread and water for Crystal and me?"

"Only if you have completed your task. How many alliance have you killed?"

"Today…uh…probably one hundred – but tomorrow there is going to be a massive battle, and the day following that as well." Dan said.

"Promise?" Mohania asked with a big smile.

"Mohania…please?" Dan asked.

"Fine, I'll have babbling woman open the portal for you." Mohania said.

"Lindel is done with her celebration?" Dan asked.

"No…but there are many other women here that babble about worthless information…"

"Thanks Mohania, we'll wait for the portal." Dan said closing it.

"He hasn't lost his charm…" Crystal said smiling.

"Was…he undead? Like us?" The male undead said as he saw the whole conversation.

"Yes, but much more powerful. You want to fight with us – then learn from him." Dan said smiling.

"But not manners…please don't learn manners from Mohania…" Crystal said. Dan laughed.

Minutes later a portal opened and Crystal walked through first.

"You look awful." Mohania said.

"You're an ass…" Crystal said. Mohania smiled at her, but quickly turned his attention to all of the undead coming out of the portal. Mohania counted thirty two all together and then Dan came through and told the Chronomancer to close the portal.

"Holy shit…" Mohania said in a low voice.

"Yeah…happy birthday or whatever, and you're welcome." Crystal said sitting on the ground. Herrior came over with bread and water. Both Dan and Crystal devoured them and felt energy shoot through their muscles.

"Ahh…there is nothing like Tranquil food and water…" Dan said. Mohania had walked up to them and began talking gently to them. He seemed overwhelmed with joy.

"Well you made him happy. What do you have to report?" Herrior asked.

"There are two different powers in the alliance, the King and the clerics. We have convinced the King that the clerics have been trying to poison him and another tried to assassinate him while we were there. The King is pissed. Lines are going to be drawn in the sand and the only way to solve the problem will be by spilling blood. I also gave them battle plans to poison the night elves and cause major devastation to them. We haven't found any more taurens, orcs, or undead. This is all we could rescue before the mass chaos tomorrow." Dan explained.

"Are you sure this plan will work? Do they suspect anything?" Herrior asked in a concerned voice.

"They are as dumb as a box of rocks. If you put a pigeon on their heads they would bow their heads down to it." Dan said. Crystal tried to eat and laugh at the same time, but failed as she sprayed her bread on the ground in front of her.

"I'm sorry…that's funny because it's true…" Crystal said laughing.

"Herrior, I am still loyal to Tranquil and I will wreck havoc on the lands." Dan said.

"I never doubted that. We had a candlelit vigil for you two today. You two seem exhausted; do you want to rest her tonight?" Herrior asked.

Dan shook his head and said, "No we can't Herrior. I don't know how many more times I can open a portal and get away from the city without being noticed. This might be the last time we meet for awhile. Any number in particular you want when we still killing alliance?"

"I want you and Crystal back here alive." Herrior said.

"Ten thousand!" Mohania yelled out.

"I'm not sure…what do you think Crystal?" Dan asked.

"Hell…if our plan goes how we think it's going to go, it'll probably be more…" Crystal said.

"One hundred thousand!" Mohania yelled out.

"Will he ever be content?" Dan asked.

"I doubt it. Do you want food for your journey back?" Herrior asked.

"No…are you ready hun?" Dan asked.

"No…but let's get going." She turned to Bernett and said, "You aren't missing anything by sleeping on a tempurpedic mattress…I would rather sleep on hot coals in Tranquil then sleep with the stench of alliance around me."

"I'll get some hot coals ready." Bernett said back with a smile.

"Open up the portal." Herrior said.

"You still have an extra fishing pole?" Dan asked.

"Yes, do you require one?" Herrior asked.

"After we are done with our assault and back home safely…yes I want a fishing pole, but I'll need somebody to show me how to use it." Dan said smiling at him.

"I'll have one waiting for you." Herrior said smiling back.

Everybody wished them good luck as they walked back through the portal and into the cave. Dan put his hearthstone on the ground and placed his hand on the ground. It opened up and sucked the stone down in the ground. Both of them left the cave and jogged back to the hotel – this time with renewed energy from the food and water from Tranquil. They entered their room with their cloaks on, and the rest of the cloaks that they had gathered from the undead before they left. They threw them on the ground, fell into bed and went to sleep almost instantly.

The next morning there was a pounding on the door. Crystal reached over and hit the snooze. Seconds later the pounding came again. Crystal smacked the snooze several more times.

"There's no snooze for the door." Dan said getting out of bed.

"I'm going to make one…" Crystal said.

Dan opened the door and saw the King and Fred along with dozens of soldiers behind him. Fear enveloped Dan as he rubbed his eyes and said, "Hi".

"Today we strike and I want you to lead one of our platoons." The King said.

"Ulrich! What are you doing out of bed?" Crystal said rolling out of bed and staggering to come meet him.

"Long night last night?" Ulrich asked.

"Long day more like it, what are you doing?" Crystal asked back.

"A battle awaits that will divide our Kingdom and its people. I want our main healers to be by myself."

"Ulrich…my King…with all due respect, we healed you enough yesterday to the point where you could start talking…you are in no condition to go into battle…with all due respect." Crystal said making sure she said that again. The King began to laugh.

"A good night's sleep in oatmeal seemed to do the trick…" The King said winking at her.

"It's a step…your wounds are not healed, your heart probably still has an irregular heart rhythm, not to mention your…"

"I am fit to lead my army into battle…will you join us?" The King asked.

"We will join you. Let me get my weapons." Dan said.

"Well…do you want to come in for awhile?" Crystal asked.

"No, we will wait. What have you done with your room?" The King asked.

"These hotels lack proper accommodations. We made ourselves at home." Crystal said.

"Don't watch TV?" The King said looking at their table stand moved and virtually the whole room rearranged.

"Hardly…nothing is ever on and you lose brain cells from the piss-poor dramas and commercials. We're old fashion with a touch of a modern twist when it suits our needs." Crystal said.

"I'm ready." Dan said coming out with his fist weapons on. "Is there a sword for my wife to defend herself?"

"I…didn't anticipate her going into battle. My plan was to have her on the rear lines to tend to the fallen." The King said awkwardly.

"I need to be able to defend myself…even if it is with a pair of horse shoes." Crystal insisted.

"Are you a fighter and a healer?" The King asked.

"I am both and much more." Crystal said.

"She's a good lover also." Dan said.

"Yes…well then let's get going. Let me show you the plan we have." The King said waving them out and they all entered the lobby.

"We have three different plans of attack. The main chapel is here…stupid paper…" The King said fumbling with the attack plan and then unfolded. "As I was saying it is here. This is off limits; no blood is allowed to be shed in this building. The high bishop and I have a meeting in an hour here, approximately two hundred feet. We will setup negotiations and I fully expect them to fail. Once we do, we have archers on these buildings where the "X's" are. They will attempt to assassinate him before he has the power shield himself and his soldiers. Once that shield goes up, we will fight – but retreat back to this point here. He can only hold his shield for so long and this his holy paladins will attack first. They have been blessed by the power of their monks with holy power. They will need to be killed quickly. When the paladins have fallen then the rest of their soldiers will be equal to ours. This is an attack purely for revenge and to restore order in the kingdom. I want the high bishop killed and his archbishops. We'll have our shield men in the front with spears and will retreat back initially. Then we'll have our archer's rain arrows directly on the high bishop. Once the paladins come out with when our swordsmen will stand side by side to overwhelm the paladins. Frontal attacks are not effective so we'll need to attack them from the rear." The King explained and then rolled the map back up. "Dan I want you to fight beside me – you have earned the right." The King then turned the rest of his soldiers and said, "Today we will fight and the Light will bless us! Let's gather our forces and restore balance in our Kingdom and avenge your King!" Everybody in the lobby cheered. Dan and Crystal looked at each other and pretended to talk excitedly so nobody knew they were cheering with them. They then gave each other worried looks as everybody started walking out the lobby and horns began to play. This appeared to be some sort of tradition to rally the troops as fighting men came out of their homes and businesses in armor and swords. They seemed excited to see that their King was well again and leading a charge into battle.

Thousands of soldiers marched into the courtyard, where the high bishop was awaiting him with an army of his own. They held their ground just outside the enormous church.

The King walked forward with renewed spirit in full armor and raised his finger at the high bishop and yelled, "This man is a traitor! He has corrupted our kingdom, enslaved and imprisoned your kin, men and wives, and is accused of attempted assassination of your King! I have struggled to hang on to life until the Light stopped my pain and brought life back into me. You have betrayed everybody in my kingdom and stand accused, how do you plead?"

"You have been betrayed! This prisoner poured lies into your head and now you accuse me of treason? We have said prayers, burned incense, and prayed for your recovery!"

"One of your clerics came to poison me with acid and a poison tipped dagger that I showed everybody! As everybody as my witness, I stand before you, fully renewed and I seek vengeance and retribution for your attempt on my life and for wrongfully imprisoning my people!" The King yelled.

"I know not of that incident. I find it a poor attempt to blame a man of the cloth. What you speak of could easily have been staged to gain you support." The high bishop said.

"Lies! You know it is the truth I speak as well as the rest of the kingdom!" The King said.

"We feud here while our elite forces are out launching attacks on the night elves…we should all come together in prayer for them, and not make accusations against each other."

"You did what! I ordered no attacks to be carried out! Under whose authority was this authorized?" The King demanded walking up to the high bishop with his blade pulled out. The holy paladins began to draw their weapons.

"You dare draw your weapons on your own King! Where does your allegiance lie?" The King screamed at them. He walked back to his army and screamed out, "Where do all of your allegiances lie? I am your King and rightful owner to this kingdom! Stand with me and the Light will shine upon you!"

"Then the line has been drawn. People, do not listen to this brainwashed King! He has been ill for a long time and while we did everything we could to make him well again, he stands accusing me of killing him and not to defend our kingdom! I have ordered the strikes against our enemies who have sabotaged and killed our people, while he lay in his bed surrounded by his whores! Join us and we will put a new king on the throne while strengthening our kingdom! The King knows nothing of the Light! He intoxicated himself and put toxins in his body to full his own desires – he knows not what he speaks of! Stand with me!" The high bishop said.

"So be it…" The King said as he moved back behind the wall of soldiers with the shields. The clouds had thickened above them and it began to rain a little.

"Your blood will be lapped up by the dogs and all of you who stand with him! Pledge your allegiance to me and you will live." The arch bishop said. Surprisingly several dozen people left the King's army and went over to the arch bishop's side. The arch bishop began to laugh as he held his hands out and enveloped his army inside a yellowish magical shield. They began to walk forward towards the King's demoralized army.

Dan walked past the shield men and flicked off the high bishop. He laughed as he ordered him to be killed. Lightning immediately began striking very quickly with massive power. The shield repelled the lightning until the high bishop's power failed. He began to retreat behind his paladins as they came out to face Dan. Dan slowly retreated back as the shield men walked forward. Dan commanded more lightning to strike randomly among the arch bishop's army, killing dozens of them and causing many of them to flee.

"The Light is with us! Attack!" The King screamed raising his sword towards them. The shield men ran forward with their spears and shields. Dan watched as the paladins put on their own shields, repelling any attack and casting magical spells that burned their enemies. They also cast spells that immediately burned the skin off from their attackers, and swung with incredible accuracy. Also they started healing each other.

Crystal ran up to Dan and both of them ran off to the side.

"Should I?" Crystal asked?

"Hide yourself good…pretend to run away in horror or something…" Dan whispered back. Crystal ran into a building next to them and saw many people watching the battle.

"Is there an upstairs?" Crystal quickly asked. A man pointed behind him. Crystal raced across the room and up the stairs. He saw an archer taking aim at the King. "Not yet…" Crystal thought and charged herself up and let an enormous fireball flew through the room. It made contact with the man and he burst into flame. Crystal then ran up with her back to the window and looked outside. Concealing her hand as much as she could, she put her warlock shield on and began to cast her spells. Immediately the paladins began to suffer from the curse spells that tormented their mind. Slowly they began to dispel the magic, but suffered many deaths as a consequence.

Dan was in the front line again, driving his fist weapons into any paladin that was affected by the warlock curses. The paladins were looking around for the spell caster, but Dan distracted them by slashing and tearing at the paladins as quickly as he could. Once he had built up enough static charge, he would put his hand on a paladin's chest and quickly send an electrical charge into their body – immediately stopping their heart.

The thunder pounded around them as lightning randomly struck both sides of the armies now. Neither side was making much progress. The fighters, who were not loyal to either side, ran to see shelter in the buildings. Dan ran off to the side so he could get a better view of the weather. He saw a paladin charging at him, his weapon charged with an energy he hadn't seen before. He ducked out of the way of the swing, destroying a wooden post holding up the upper railing of the house. Debris fell down, partially obstructing the paladin's view. Then the paladin felt his body ignite in fire. The paladin began to cast a healing spell when Dan launched a quick burst of air to stop the spell and drove both of this fist weapons into his chest armor. The paladin was knocked back, but did no harm. Dan knelt down and as he put his hand on the ground. The earth began to shake violently, sending everybody staggering on their knees. Dan then jumped in the air and drove his two blades into the paladin's eye slots as he was caught off guard.

Dan then saw several of the high bishop's army run towards the guns. Dan yelled out, "They are heading towards the guns my King!"

"You betray the law of the land! Hand to hand combat only to resolve internal disputes! You touch those weapons and I will unleash my wrath upon you!" The King demanded. Despite his threats, they grabbed several machine guns and brought them to life. The King ran in front of the line of soldiers getting mowed down and grew to five times his normal size. The arch bishop did the same and came forward. Many soldiers left the battle to get their own guns, the ones that were still alive that was.

"You have brought this on yourself! You could have laid in your bed with your whores and let me run your kingdom boy! You are a disgrace to this kingdom!" The enormous high priest said as he landed a heavy blow on the King. The King recoiled back and smashed several buildings. His army, now armed with modern day weapons, began launching missiles and bullets fly at the enormous high bishop. He recoiled back in pain and saw some of the missiles out of the corner of his eye. He ran over to grab one as the King tackled him, slamming him into the palace. Crystal took this time to cast as many warlock curses on both of them that she could. She then ran back down the stairs, and met up with Dan. Dan took the paladin's hammer and gave it to Crystal.

"Let's go kill some people…" Dan said.

"I thought you were going to say something stupid like, 'it's hammer time'…" Crystal said.

"Actually…let's cut a hole through the army and get into the chapel." Dan said.

"Right behind you" Crystal said.

Dan led the way, slashing and swiping at anything close enough to them. Any person that turned to fight them, Crystal took a quick second to cast a fear spell on them.

They plowed their way through until they got to two heavily armed paladins guarding the entrance to the chapel.

"Quick – look out for the lightning!" Dan yelled looking up. Two bolts of lightning shot down and blew them to pieces. Dan smashed the lock and in they went as Crystal shut the door behind them. Inside of the chapel were dozens of people looking at them in shock.

"Demon time hun," Dan said. Dan held out his hand and an earth elemental crashed up through the flood and began wrecking havoc on the building. Dan energized his fist weapons and then heard a voice, "Who dares summon me?"

"Leave none alive." Crystal said pointing at them.

"As you wish" Dan heard the demon say. The demon stood tall like a man with a huge axe in one hand. It was heavily armored and charged forward at devastating speeds. It then began twirling around, slicing anybody up in its path.

"Mine is killing more than yours is…" Crystal said nudging him.

"Any other demons that you care to share that you can summon?" Dan asked.

"Let's get to work…shall we?" Crystal asked leading the way through the devastation the earth element and demon were creating. Crystal turned around and said, "When everybody is killed, follow us."

"As you wish," the demon said slice off some ladies head.

Dan and Crystal ran down the stairs and saw several golden relics, many of them glowing with power.

"Take them?" Crystal asked.

"We can't get out of here with them noticing. Destroy them." Dan said. The first relic Dan destroyed let out a burst of power that filled day with huge amounts of power. Crystal destroyed a second one and the same happened to her.

"Ok…maybe not a good idea. Throw them at the wall." Dan said. They threw them at the walls and they exploded with extreme power. The elemental and demon came down the stairs and Dan ordered them to guard the entrance. They followed the orders quickly and without hesitation.

One of the items Crystal threw at the wall was a golden small wicker lamp. It smashed against the wall and a blue demon came out of it.

"You have freed me from my bonds. You may ask one wish from me before I wreck havoc on my captures.

"Make me more powerful." Crystal said without hesitation. The blue demon held his hand out and a bolt of blue beam shot into Crystal's chest. It knocked her back a little. She regained her footing and then held out her hand and launched her own attack. She began to drain its life into her body. The demon tried to sever the connection, but found that he couldn't.

"Please…don't kill me…" The blue demon said as the rest of its life was sucked out of it and it burned up.

"Genie in a bottle?" Dan asked.

"Not anymore…I have his powers now. She held her hands out and white lightning had destroyed the rest of the relics on the table as they gave off a massive explosion.

"Nice…let's get out of here." Dan said. He dismissed his earth elemental and summoned a fire one. He told it to burn everything to the ground and then to dissolve. Crystal banished her demon and they ran out of the temple. He saw virtually everyone dead and the high bishop's power had diminished as the King had begun to throw him around and slamming his fist into his face repeatedly.

Jets had begun to circle overhead and launching their missiles and blazing their guns at both the King and the high bishop. Dan held his hand into the air and all of their engines lost power as a huge downward gust of wind struck the top of the jet. The pilots lost control and crashed into the ground.

"Let's make ourselves scarce…" Dan said.

"Shouldn't we help the King win the battle?" Crystal whispered back.

"This isn't our war anymore. Let's get in the palace and head out the back exit." Dan said grabbing her hand and running into the palace.

Dan and Crystal were running when suddenly Crystal had a thought and pulled Dan to and stop and said, "Do you thing hun!"

Time stopped.

"Should we take the King's head as proof of our accomplishments? Our King likes to have heads as trophies." Crystal said.

"Never thought of that…but the King is huge right now, how would we get him to shrink back down to his normal size so we can decapitate him?" Dan asked.

"Let the battle play out? He has to shrink back down sometime." Crystal said as her breathe slowed down.

"Who's to say that this whole palace doesn't get destroyed in the process though?" Dan asked. Suddenly a thought came to Dan's head as he remembered the war room.

"Got an idea?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah, let's go push some buttons…" Dan said.

Time resumed.

Dan grabbed Crystal's hand and turned down a corridor that looked familiar to him. They ran past several rooms and tried to open the door to the war room, but it was locked. Dan summoned an enormous earth elemental and it smashed the door it. It ran into the room and guns started blazing at it. Dan and Crystal were right behind it. Dan began casting his chain lightning spell, which was a bolt of lightning that bounced from person to person, and Crystal casted her seed of corruption. Shortly afterwards Dan began to heal his earth elemental as much as he could. Eventually Crystal's seed of corruption exploded the man it infected and spread to other people. Crystal then summoned an imp – but not just one imp, but dozens of imps filled the room. She commanded them to attack anything they saw. Soon fireballs were flying in the air, setting dozens of people on fire. Crystal then produced a grey aura around her body and ran out in front of the protection of the earth element.

"Crystal, no!" Dan yelled.

The bullets hit her as she lifted her hands at the men and women shooting at her, and instantly green beams of light shot out. It instantly crippled the people as their life was sucked away. Crystal did the same for the other side of the room. She had just killed several dozen people in a matter of seconds.

As Dan ran around to help her, he commanded his earth elemental to charge at their attackers, but not to destroy any equipment. Dan began charging up his chain lightning spell and shocking four to five people at the same time. Then he began casting healing spells to bring Crystal's health back up. The bullets fell out of her body and she regained her strength again. Dan planted his totems and the battle began to turn in their favor. Dan held his hand out as women was thrown backwards and caught on fire. She screamed in pain as the fire intensified. Dan then turned around and saw the imps had the rest of the room almost secured.

"Don't kill all of them!" Dan ordered.

"We only do as our mistress commands…" The imps all said at the same time.

"Don't kill all of them!" Crystal ordered them.

"We could launch all of their missions on other alliance bases." Dan said. Crystal nodded and began to summon a succubus.

"We would never do that, we would rather die! You are a traitor to the alliance!" A man said and put a gun to his head. Before he could pull the trigger, the man's eyes became mesmerized by the succubus. The succubus ordered the man to turn his gun on his fellow companions and kill them.

"Go protect the door, don't let anybody in!" Dan yelled at his earth elemental. It nodded and quickly ran to the door. Crystal commanded her imps to do the same.

Dan ran over to the computers and started looking over the control panels. Suddenly an enormous explosion of rock flew in the room.

"What are you doing?" The King asked. The man that the succubus controlled immediately pulled his gun out and unloaded round after round into the King's neck. The bullets found their target as the King gasped for air. Dan ran over and drove his two blades into the King's neck – finishing the job. Dan then grabbed the dead King's head and sliced it off. Dan came back in the room and summoned another earth elemental to guard the door.

"Warning…missile launch sequences has been initiated…" a female voice said voice over the speakers in the room.

"Where are they going?" Dan asked.

"There's another alliance base further south of here. Most of the missiles have the range to hit them. The others I just had him program to shoot straight up in the air and come back down on this base. We have a minute to go collect our other prize." Crystal said as she told the succubus she didn't need the man anymore. The succubus wrapped her whip around his neck and suffocated him until he fell dead on the floor.

"A minute isn't very long…we better hurry." Dan said.

"Dan…some of these missiles has atomic components in them…" Crystal said.

"That gives us even more of an incentive to hurry…" Dan looked at her worried. They both fled the room, Dan carrying the king's head in one hand, and raced back out of the palace. They saw the dead high priest on the opposite side of the kingdom. Dan summoned a fire and a wind elemental and told them to guard their paths as they ran towards the body that dozens of people were standing around. Along the way Dan and Crystal shot out their instant cast spells at anybody still standing around – Crystal's warlock spells were much more powerful than Dan's shaman spells were, but to the normal person they were both equally effective at killing them. Dan's elementals were doing a good job of finishing off anything in front of them, including the holy paladins that survived.

"Knock out two of them, kill the rest!" Dan commanded as he let out another burst of fire. The earth elemental ran forward as the paladins began to cast their spells at it. The air elemental shot a burst of strong air and dust into their lungs and the fire elemental lit them on fire.

Dan and Crystal ran into range and killed a dozen helpless paladins. The citizens began to run away as Crystal casted her warlock curses almost instantly on each person. Each one suffered as they cringed and fell to the ground. Dan ran up to the dead high priest and sliced his head off. He then noticed several of his necklaces and bracelets starting to glow. Dan grabbed those as well as they took off running out of the palace. The earth elemental carried two paladins under its arms as the elements ran behind Dan.

"I'm running out of power…" Crystal said as she casted several more curses on random people.

"Do we have time to take a break?" Dan asked.

"Hell no!" Crystal said staring at Dan with sheer panic. The ground started to rumble as several bunkers under the ground began to open up.

"I see your point…" Dan said as they began running again. Dan suddenly came up with an idea. Dan turned around and said "Carry us my wind elemental…make our retreat a swift and quick one!" The air elemental created a burst of wind underneath them as they were propelled into the air and flew forward at tremendous speeds. Dan sent a mental message to the fire elemental to ensure that nobody interferes with their escape and to set fire to anything it comes across. The earth elemental could not keep up with the speeds the air elemental so he threw them into the air. The winds picked up the unconscious paladins and threw their bodies to catch up with Dan and Crystal. The earth elemental dove into the ground and quickly maneuvered in the earth trying to catch up with them.

At the entrance Dan and Crystal could hear the mighty engines propel the rockets into the air. Dozens started shooting off, followed by dozens more.

"How many did you have the man program to fire off?" Dan asked.

"All of them." Crystal had her hands over her ears to help muffled the sound. Dan dismissed his elementals as he commanded the cave entrance to open. Dan and Crystal ran inside as Dan ordered the cave to be sealed up. The two of them, now dragging two paladins and two severed heads a piece, made their way to the end of the cave. Dan reached his hand down and up came his hearthstone.

"Herrior, we need to get out of here quickly!" Dan was pleading before the image of Herrior even appeared. Dan then repeated it more urgently.

"Are you under attack? Is there any threat that may come through the portal with you?" Herrior asked.

"No…no threat…but we're going to be reduced to mere atoms if you don't get us out of here quickly! Don't bring us into Tranquil; put us in the same meeting spot…please hurry!" Dan said frantically.

Herrior nodded and closed the hearthstone portal.

Minutes went by another nothing happened.

"How well protected are we in this cave?" Crystal asked.

"It'll keep out the aftermath I hope. We won't breathe the contaminated air, which we are running out of. A direct hit on it will kill us though." Dan said with uncertainty.

"You know what we forgot?" Crystal asked.

Dan's mind began to race and finally asked "what"?

"To return our room keys…" Crystal said with a smile.

"Here, take mine and go return it then…" Dan said handing his to Crystal.

"Where do you think we are right now anyways? I mean I have a feeling we are on Earth, but what part?" Crystal asked.

"Never thought about that…all I'm thinking about now is when is the portal going to open and will the paladins stay knocked out until we get them through." Dan said in almost a near panic.

"Yeah…I'm thinking about that also. We just need to stay calm though. Is there anything else we can do to secure our situation? Do you have any rope to tie up their hands and legs? Should we take off their armor?" Crystal asked.

"I don't think we have much air left…" Dan said kneeling down and extinguishing all lava and it instantly solidified. When he was done he said, "They would be less powerful with their armor on, but it could be booby-trapped. Are they even still alive?" Dan asked.

"One is snoring pretty loud, the other is breathing really shallow…he might not live."

Finally a portal formed and started to open. Once fully formed, Dan and Crystal tossed the severed heads through the portal and then each of them dragged the unconscious paladins through the portal.

"You brought souvenirs…" Mohania said smiling.

"Where the hell is everybody else?" Dan said in his near panic voice.

"Probably doing something worthless…they thought that you were bringing more undead back so that's why it's just me." Mohania said.

"For crying out loud!" Dan screamed.

"Easy Dan…let's finish the task at hand. Please close the portal quickly." Crystal said to the blood elf Chronomancer. He nodded and closed the portal.

"What do you know about paladins?" Crystal asked. Dan was still obviously upset.

"I hate them." Mohania replied back.

"We brought back two of them so we can interrogate them and gain knowledge of their powers, battle strategies, and any other relevant information they might have." Crystal said.

"You also brought back two severed heads. Is that all you have to report?" Mohania asked.

"We just blew up half of the world…the body count will probably be in the hundreds of thousands…easily. We killed the King and the high priest. We destroyed their fortress and another fortress that has no idea what's coming. Nothing will be left…even the plants will not survive. How is that for a report?" Dan asked sarcastically.

"Not bad…I'm proud of you. Do you want a hug?" Mohania asked.

"No…I do not want a hug…" Dan said back.

"Well let's get their armor off and put them in our cells. I think our engineers will want to take a look at it, and I know everybody wants a chance to beat the shit out of our guests. The King will probably give you some reward and we'll probably have some ceremony and there will be laughing and dancing and blah blah blah…" Mohania said.

"For once I agree with you…I don't want any of that, and I want to be one of the first ones to beat the shit out of these guys." Dan said starting to calm down. Mohania turned to the Chronomancer and nodded. He started to make a portal to the cells as the three of them began to remove the armor. Mohania started first as he violently pulled off their helmets and arm guards. He then looked up at Dan and Crystal with his cold dark eye slots.

"They aren't going to bite…" Mohania said.

"We were worried about their armor being booby-trapped." Dan said in a calm voice.

"Doesn't seem to be; I don't think the alliance would do something like that. They are usually more interested in numbers in their army instead of arming their army with traps. Besides, I'm already dead – can't hurt me much more." Mohania said getting back to stripping their armor as violently as he could. Dan and Crystal eventually joined him and eventually both unconscious paladins were completely naked. The three of them walked through the portal and placed them in a cell. Before leaving, Mohania slammed his fist as hard as he could into their faces. Instantly their noses cracked and blood squirted out. This forced them to wake up. Mohania grabbed them by the necks and pulled them together.

"I'm going to have lots of fun with you pretty boys…" Mohania said in his sinister voice and then laughed. This brought a chill down everybody's back as Mohania pushed them back on the ground and walked back through the portal. Once through the Chronomancer closed it.

"Better open one in front of the palace. I'll take ass number one and ass number two before the King." Mohania said.

"We had a hard time…can you call us by our names please?" Dan asked exhausted.

"Sure Dan. You look beautiful Crystal." Mohania said as the portal started to open.

"Well that's surprising and so…not you…" Crystal said smiling at him.

"I'll let you get rested up and then I'll get on your nerves…" Mohania said smiling back.

"That's more like it." Crystal said giving him a final smile.

The four of them walked through the portal and the citizens of Tranquil that saw them instantly stopped what they were doing and gasped. They then started talking among themselves and wanting to know what happened.

"We'll make an announcement. The mission was a complete success though." Dan said. The cheering instantly started, catching Dan off guard as he flinched.

"They scare me also…let's get going." Mohania said putting an arm around Dan and Crystal's shoulders and leading them in the palace. Dan and Crystal were carrying a severed head a piece.

Eventually they stood before the King, who was dining with another tauren fighter and his family.

"Pardon the intrusion my King, but Dan and Crystal have returned. They want to speak of their journeys and bring prizes for you." Mohania said softly.

"Crystal…I can't read your mind anymore." The King said casually wiping his mouth. He excused himself and held his hand out towards a private room where they could speak.

Once inside the King said, "Have you ever had roasted mutton with nutmeg seasoning? The first bite wakes up your taste buds, but it grows on you. Ah, I see you have some heads for me." The King reached out to Dan and took the first head. "Hmm…if I were to guess, I would say this is…some sort of royal member of the alliance?"

"He was their King, my King. We successfully betrayed him and turned him against his own people. Eventually there was a battle between the King himself and their high priest. We have also taken two paladins prisoner so that we can learn their secrets." Dan said.

"You mean torment them, Mohania can you see to that?" The King asked.

"It would be an honor…" Mohania said as his voice trailed off into a sinister voice with a big grin.

"Good, let me know what you find out. Try not to kill them, but make them powerless and fill them with fear. Then our banshees will figure out what secrets they hold. Crystal is that the high priests head?" The King said reaching out for it. Crystal acknowledged that it was and gave it to him.

"They both reek of alliance…but they are still alive. Mohania you will need to do the same with these." The King said.

"What?" Both Dan and Crystal said at the same time. The both looked at each other as Dan quickly looked back at the King and said, "My King…they are without a body. I severed their heads…they have no…I mean…what?"

"They are powerful and their magic still resides in them, keeping them alive. I sense fear in both of them, and the King is still in shock that he was killed by you." The King then gave the high priest head to Mohania and held up the King's head. "Yes…you were betrayed, how does it feel? Your people are all dead; you are dying slowly and in terror. We will get all of your secrets and launch attacks after attacks and kill the rest of your people, and then, if you are still alive to see your betray to your people, you will watch our undead devour their bodies and burn their houses. Sounds like a good time huh?" The King said in a cheery voice. He then turned the severed head around and it shocked Dan and Crystal as a look of utter terror was made on the King's face.

"Mohania if you would be so kind. I need to finish dinner. Thank you for your service Dan and Crystal. Later on tonight I will produce a portal for the people of Tranquil and you can tell of your stories and conquests." The King said excusing himself.

"Could we just sleep instead?" Dan asked. The King shook his head as he rejoined his dinner group.

"No sleep for the weary…" Dan said.

"Come…let's go have a rest while they feast." Mohania said as fairies came into Dan and Crystal's body, rejuvenating them. Mohania led through quickly through the crowds and into Brenna's home.

"We need to hide out for a bit." Mohania said.

"Really…and who did we accidently eat this time?" Brenna asked in a cheerful town. Mohania held up the severed heads and fear instantly overtook her as she jumped backwards.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. No I didn't eat these people…wish I did…actually I would have tortured them for years…but we need to get them in the cells. Dan and Crystal need to rest. I'll summon a Chronomancer and put these heads in a cell." Mohania said. Brenna looked at Dan and then Crystal.

"He's telling the truth. Don't let him scare you. He thrives on other people's fear to hide his own insecurities…" Crystal said.

"That's true actually…" Mohania said slouching his shoulders. He put the heads on the ground and pulled out his hearthstone. Crystal saw that Mohania was telling the truth and apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Mohania said as a Chronomancer appeared. He gave the female troll instructions and she said she would be there momentarily.

Crystal walked over to Mohania and embraced him. Mohania turned and hugged her back. Mohania began to cry and said he missed them. He also expressed that he was worried about them. He told them that there were plans in the works to have them killed if they turned to the alliance side. He said he didn't sleep the whole time they were gone. Mohania suddenly stopped talking when the Chronomancer entered Brenna's home.

"I need these heads locked up in our cells – opposite side of where the paladins are locked up." Mohania said to her and then looked at them on the ground. The Chronomancer jumped back in surprise when she saw them, but then regained her composure and began to cast the spell. Once the portal was open, Mohania threw the heads through them as hard as he could and enjoyed the sick "thud" sound as they hit the solid rock wall and then rolled backwards. Mohania watched with pleasure as they became covered in dirt and soot. Mohania then nodded at the Chronomancer as she shut the portal. Mohania thanked her for service and she left.

"Need another hug?" Mohania asked turning to Crystal. He said that she was holding Dan, so he pulled out a chair and asked if they wanted to talk.

"I don't think I like the part about our armies coming after us because they thought we were going to join the alliance…did they not trust us?" Dan asked.

"Our party trusted you completely if that makes you feel better…but you have to remember that there is always that temptation. During your experience there did you ever have any thoughts of joining them?" Mohania asked.

"Mohania…we talked with people to build their trust to accomplish our mission. Did we like what we did – not really...Mohania they thrive on money. We killed innocent people, stole their money; we tricked them and used Dan's powers to make it look like they were committing acts that got them killed. It wasn't anything like you did when Dan stopped time…" Crystal said.

"You mean what Dan did…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Yeah sure Mohania…but a group of night elves came and we set the scene where the alliance soldiers were inappropriately touching their leader as well as set up assassin attempts to bring up discord among them." Crystal said.

"Then afterwards I gave them battle plans that will devastate the night elves and could possibly eliminate their whole population in that area. Shortly afterwards I was shown the condition of the King. Instantly I knew what I had to do. Their civil structure is made up of two different powers, the clerics which include the priests, paladins, and people of their church. The other part is the army and the soldiers of the King. My plan was to heal their King and make it look like the priests were doing it. Come to find out I didn't have to do that…they were actually doing it." Dan said.

"That was the same thought I had when I saw the King…that's weird…" Crystal said.

"I don't believe in weird coincidences…" Mohania said.

"Yeah, I agree with you there. So we took out the poison that was preventing him from running their kingdom and another assassination attempt was made on the King's life right in front of us. That couldn't have worked out better…" Dan said looking at Crystal.

"Another one of those coincidences…anyways there eventually was a war between both factions and the King's army was getting slaughtered, so I hid in an upper room and began to blast my warlock curses on the paladins. With their minds being assaulted with my curses, they fell pretty fast. Nobody knew what happened." Crystal said.

"I was on the front lines with the King's army. I had a lot of confusion as to who I should attack…I wanted to take on both armies, but I attacked the paladins head on." Dan said.

"And you survived?" Mohania asked.

"They are nothing more than simple men and women that have been given magical abilities…I'm not sure how, probably with those relics that we found in the bottom of the chapel. Also, I killed two demons in there somewhere as well. They are deathly afraid of demons. I didn't use magic…other than to heal myself – well no that's a lie, towards the end when people were being slaughtered left and right, Crystal and I used our magic to get the heads so we could leave with our prizes. We also left them a surprise…which would have killed us if the portal took longer to open." Dan said.

"I apologize for that. I will have words with Herrior about that. What was the surprise you left for them?" Mohania asked.

"I summoned a succubus and took control of one of their, I don't know what you call them, missile engineers, and launched everything. Some of it went to another alliance camp, and the rest flew into the sky until it ran out of fuel, then fell back on the city. If there was anybody alive after the battle, the missiles would have finished them off. Mohania, it feels like we committed genocide single-handedly. I think Dan feels the same way, but this is nothing to be proud of. Like you said, 'kill one hundred thousand' but I think the numbers are going to be way higher than that." Crystal said.

"I do feel the same way. Did what we do was wrong?" Dan asked.

"No, you did your duty. You may want to fast and stay up through the night in prayer. If any one of those people knew who you were, they would have killed you on the spot. You rescued many of my people that were tortured and ridiculed for hundreds of years. They still can't believe that they are free. I have them in our undead area right now. When I think they are ready, I will have them walk the streets of Tranquil. You took up this mission voluntarily if you remember – in fact you insisted on it. You had been formulating plans about it even before any of us knew about it. There was a reason for it and you did what you thought was best. I believe what you did was for the best. Consider a scenario for a second…let's say they were the ones that had access to Tranquil. If that was true they could have opened portals and poured missile after missile into Tranquil. We don't fight with that kind of technology because it's unpredictable and doesn't always work; take our engineers for example – how many times have they blown themselves up? They have devices for repelling those kinds of attacks, and if that doesn't work, we'll just have Herrior run into them." Mohania said with a grin.

"Yeah…why didn't he get blown up by those rocket launchers?" Dan asked.

"Because the alliance are stupid. Herrior has repelled so many different types of attacks and absorbed so much damage in his life that he probably should have died hundreds of years ago. But watching the missiles deflecting off his shield brought fear into the alliance. One single person from our army could defeat their strongest weapon. Then the scared look on their faces when you stopped time and Herrior flipped the missile around was priceless. Those little land mine things that let out explosions and then disappear that your engineers fashioned up are still working. The alliance still can't figure out what is going on. They thrive on power and stupidity. Most of the time if you give them enough time, they'll kill each other over a piece of gold..." Mohania said.

"I believe that. We didn't have proper ID to present to the hotel, but a couple hundred extra dollars let us in. Dan didn't have any fist weapons, but a couple hundred dollars changed that." Crystal said. Dan pulled out his fist weapons and put them on the table.

Mohania picked it up and began to examine it. "If you look right here, there is metal fatigue already. The blades are already dull from the attacks, and by the looks of it, you deflected a lot of attacks. These probably only would have held up maybe another week or so. Our armor does break down after awhile, but it takes much longer. The last thing you want is to be on the front lines and have your shield break…" Mohania said with a smile and set the weapon back down. Brenna brought over tea for all of them and continued to sit in silence listening to them.

"What you did was right. You two did well. I'm proud of both of you and you should not feel bad about what you did. Do you feel bad about betraying your own race?" Mohania asked. Dan and Crystal didn't answer right away and then slowly looked at each other.

"I had to kill several of my kind as well. I lived in the cave for what I thought was going to be the rest of my life. I eventually gave up all of that to be with you. If I didn't kill them, they would have followed me and attacked you as well as everybody else in Tranquil. They were my family. Similar to when you had to kill your dad. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it's either kill or be killed. As much as it may seem, I do not randomly kill people for the pleasure of it. I kill to stay alive. I kill because I am ordered to. I may scare people, sorry Brenna, but that's something I'm working on. Guess how I felt when I first came into Tranquil…talk about a sore thumb sticking out in this kingdom…" Mohania said with sighing and looked away. Crystal put her hand on Mohania's skeleton hand he gripped hers.

"You two hold more power than anybody else in this kingdom. Do I desire more power? Absolutely but not at the cost of freighting our allies. Most of our allies don't accept me as an ambassador yet, however when they need help I'm right there willing to give my life for them…" Mohania shook his head and said, "Sorry…getting off track…."

"No you aren't. You needed to say that and I'm glad you shared that with us. I do feel better after talking to you. You are a great ambassador and I love you very much." Crystal said and then she got up and holding his hand, she walked behind Mohania and gave him a hug.

"I love you as well Mohania. I do feel better – just needed to talk about it I guess. I feel deep down we accomplished our mission; just have problems with the aftermath. For example when we storm a city or a fortress, we leave the civilians alone and just attack the fighters. This time we killed everybody. To me it seems like innocent people died…but like you said maybe it was meant to be. Our thoughts seemed to synchronize and we worked as one attacking and betraying our enemy. I hate betraying anybody…even if it is our enemy." Dan said. Crystal nodded behind Mohania and released him as she went back to her chair.

"Our tanks do it. That is how they taunt our enemies…unless they are mechanical or demons…or some other foe that is easily deceived. They are good at it and I am thankful for it because they keep us alive while we roast our enemies. It's part of battle. We use every tactic in the book…and then rewrite the book almost every day. Having person 'a', go up and attack person 'b' would be more civil – but would probably end up killing half of our party. You wouldn't meet together in a battle field and then have a mediator yell, 'Go!' and then have everybody attack…it doesn't work that way. We see an advantage and we use it. You two were the advantage this time. You severely crippled the alliance, you may have killed a lot but probably saved five or more people for every one that you killed…the number is probably higher than that though. Every person has free will, and they chose where they want to live, work, eat, breathe and raise their families. You escaped from their fortress and their reach three different times – any one of them could have done that the same as you did." Mohania said.

"They seemed scared to live there, and they seemed scared to bring attention to themselves." Dan said.

"And they probably seemed scared to leave. Do you think that the alliance numbers their people and keeps track of everyone of them? Obviously not because the both of you left almost every night. They had the same options you did. They knew bad things were happening and didn't do anything about it." Mohania said. He then leaned on the table and got closer to them and said, "You did good, and now you need to believe it." Dan and Crystal both nodded. Dan leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. He said, "You're right…I'm an ambassador and I should know these things…"

"Naw give it time. Everybody learns a lesson differently. Do you want to get some sleep now?" Mohania asked.

"I'm ready for bed. My mind is more at ease. Thanks Mohania." Dan said.

"Don't mention it…I mean it – don't tell anybody else in our party…" Mohania said.

"Don't change Mohania – you're a good guy." Crystal said. She leaned over and kissed him on where his forehead would be. She then climbed the stairs with Dan.

"More tea?" Brenna asked.

"Sure…make it a double." Mohania said. Something caught Mohania's attention outside. It seemed like he heard everybody laughing at the same time. Mohania had a bad feeling about it and walked outside. Everybody in Tranquil stopped watching the portal above them and turned to look at him. They had big smiles on their faces and several of them said, "aww…that was beautiful" and other comments such as that. Mohania quickly shut the door and looked at Brenna.

"What?" Brenna asked coming over with more tea. It was obvious she didn't know what just happened. He looked up at the ceiling and saw the portal. Mohania sighed and asked if Brenna had anything to poison him.

"Why?" Brenna asked laughing. Mohania pointed up at the ceiling.

"Oh…hi!" Brenna said waving at everybody. Everybody said "hi" and waved back.

"I'm going to go stick my head in one of our fountains and drown myself." Mohania said.

"You tried doing that before…" Brenna said chuckling.

"Maybe this time it will work…no – you know what, I'm going to go lay down myself. If I cover my eye sockets than I don't have to look at them, and if I can't see them, then they can't see me." Mohania said.

"Makes sense to me." Brenna said chuckling some more. Mohania walked up the stairs and laid down beside Dan – who was fast asleep. The portal closed as Brenna quietly sat there and finished off everybody's tea.

Several hours later Dan and Crystal woke up to the sweet smell of Brenna's cooking.

"Brenna?" Dan asked with his eyes still closed.

"Yes dear?"

"Am I dead?" Dan asked with a grin on his face.

"Not that I'm aware of…how did you sleep?" Brenna asked.

"Better than I have in awhile. It seems like an enormous weight has been lifted off from me." Dan said.

"Mohania was sleeping on you for awhile when I checked up on you – that could have been it." Brenna said smiling.

"I miss my snooze button…make one of your engineering buddies build an alarm clock so I can smash it." Crystal said smiling.

"Will do…how about we let sleeping beauty sleep, and we'll go devour everything Brenna has in her house?" Crystal asked.

"All the sleeping in the world isn't going to help him…" Dan said. Mohania just softly snored.

"He must be tired…he would have had a comeback with that one." Dan said.

"He's sarcastic about everything…except for last night…wait Brenna did we sleep through the night?" Crystal asked.

"Only a couple of hours, but you slept hard though. Between all three of you snoring I couldn't get any work done." Brenna said.

Dan and Crystal had made their way to the staircase and saw her table filled with different types of food. It looked like she started working on it the moment they fell asleep.

"Couldn't get any work done huh?" Crystal asked.

"Oh this little feast? Why this is nothing, I had dozens of other things I was going to do today…" Brenna said smiling and winking at her.

"It's good to be home." Crystal said.

"You can say that again. Still though…with all of the devastation that happened, and if we were on Earth, it should be hitting the news. We should contact Alan and see if it's in the news. It makes me wonder where we were." Dan said.

"You wonder too much…I'm wondering what each one of these items tastes like…" Crystal said gently getting what looked like a cinnamon stick and biting into it.

"No…no…Crystal that is for decoration, sorry I should have told you." Brenna said as she turned around quickly. Crystal spit it out away from the table and said, "It didn't taste that bad."

"That was my fault, just tried to spruce up the place a little. Here, try this instead." Brenna said handing her a piece of square meat folded up in a large green leaf.

"Do I eat the leaf?" Crystal asked.

"I am…this thing is drippy…" Dan said letting out a laugh devouring half of it. The juices ran down his torn up clothes as Dan tried as hard as he could to catch the juices.

"Yes you can eat the leaf. I wouldn't give you anything that would hurt you. I would rather you eat the food then the decorations though." Brenna said still trying to contain the laughter.

"Yeah yeah…haa haa… So is there a big celebration planned for us? Some parade or some gut wrenching drink we have to drink to appease the masses?" Crystal said giving her a playful glare.

"Nothing is planned that I know of. All I heard was there was a line of people wanting their chance kick your paladins in their private parts…also something about smashing their heads in. Both of them, as well as the severed heads, have been moved to the undead area and kept under strict guard. I figured Mohania would be excited about that. You can tell him if you want to. It should be Lindel's last day of her banshee ceremony, or it might be tomorrow depending on how much fun they are having." Brenna said.

"You say that with such a straight face…once we step outside we'll probably be swept away in the crowds huh?" Dan asked.

"I'm not lying…open the door and announce your presence." Brenna said pointing at the front door.

"No, I'll take your word for it." Dan said looking back away from the door. He looked over at Brenna and asked why there wasn't.

"You already told all of Tranquil what you did and your wishes to just rest. As primary fighters coming back from an intense battle, you have more than earned your right to rest." Brenna said.

"We told all of Tranquil?" Dan asked.

"Yes, apparently the King produced a portal above our heads that was broadcasted all over Tranquil. I didn't know about it until Mohania found out. He didn't seem too pleased. He's not one for public speaking – he is more of a private one on one ambassador, unless of course he is speaking with his own kind." Brenna said.

"What's happened to them?" Dan asked.

"Nobody knows really. They are in the undead area doing undead things I guess. They are all welcome in my house if they want…I'll have to move some stuff around though. My guess is Mohania was probably talking with them until he got pulled away to bring you two back. They could be just shy…I don't know." Brenna said sitting down with a warm cup of tea.

"Suppose we should get with Herrior and see what our group is up to?" Dan asked.

"Do you have another mission planned?" Brenna asked.

"No…it's just he's our leader and he should probably know we are here if he needs us." Dan said.

"They know you are here. If he needs you then he will summon you. You still seem tense; your mission is over…isn't it?" Brenna asked.

"Our mission is, but we should check with Alan as well…" Dan said.

"Relax…" Brenna said putting her hand over his as she interrupted her. "That was the whole point in sleeping is so that you could relax. We still need to teach you that. Herrior was talking about taking you to a stagnant dead lake and set you there until you catch something."

"That sounds boring." Dan said.

"Bingo!" Brenna said gently pushing on Dan's nose.

"There are some things that I need to get done. Contacting Alan is one of them, and then I need to speak with the monks and then continue teaching my time stopping classes." Dan said.

"The boy isn't a fast learner…" Crystal said handing him another leaf to eat.

"It'll take time." Brenna said. Crystal pulled out her hearthstone and attempted to contact Alan. A couple of seconds later a small portal appeared with Alan's face on it.

"Hi Alan, anything interesting happening?" Crystal asked.

"Well if you call China launching nukes interesting…then yes. What's going on?" Alan asked.

Crystal looked away from Alan and looked at Dan. They both said, "We were in China…" and started to laugh. Then something dawned on Dan…he didn't know how to speak Chinese.

"That can't be right. I took Spanish in high school, but that's the only foreign language I know." Dan stated.

Crystal looked at him dumbfounded. "Maybe when we were zapped by the monks they put the language in us…I don't know."

"Guys…what is happening?" Alan asked with a lot of concern in his voice.

"We killed some bad guys. Anything else happening in the news?" Crystal asked.

"A local cat was rescued from a tree by the fire department…guys – the entire world is on edge right now! What happened?" Alan asked again.

"We launched an attack on the alliance…we killed about ten thousand of them or so." Crystal said.

"Three hundred and seventy four thousand have been pronounced dead and all of the attention has brought attention to China's stock pile of nuclear warheads has got everybody up in arms. Nato is up in arms as well as the USA, Japan, Russia, and may other major super powers in the world. You guys might have made a mistake…" Alan said.

"Not possible…we don't make mistakes." Crystal said smiling. "Alan, we assaulted an alliance base, freed dozens of undead and killed many other people. Wow…Three hundred and seventy four thousand…that was just alliance that we killed. This will be interesting to see what their next move will be."

"My guess is either hide, or if they are loyal they will head back to help rebuild their empire. If we do that, then we can catch them." Dan said.

Alan heard him and said, "That place is swarming with officers from every nation, plus reporters, not to mention the radiation cleanup crews…it's impossible to do such a thing. China is labeling it as sabotage by a group of insurgents, and they are cooperating fully with the investigation. Why did you have to kill so many people?" Alan asked.

"The alliance has killed tenfold more than that in the last year alone." Herrior said behind Crystal. "They were not innocent people that were slaughtered. Alan, are you safe right now?"

"Yeah we are safe. My number of patients has just about tripled because of this incident…but I'm just as worried as they are. Nukes are not something to take lightly." Alan said.

"Neither are the alliance something to take lightly. How are the guards in the outpost?" Herrior asked.

"Still there as far as I know. We've only seen them twice when they came to our backdoor and asked for something. Sometimes we hear them laughing. What should I tell my patients?" Alan asked.

"Tell them to put their minds at ease. A disaster happened and many people will face their mortality and realize that they will die someday. This is a perfect time to tell them about Jesus." Herrior said.

"I have been. I have three outstanding lawsuits about having my doctors using religion as a tool in healing them." Alan said back.

"Give me their names." Herrior said.

"Let me guess…you are going to politely ask them to drop their lawsuits against me?" Alan asked.

"If you want to believe that," Herrior said with a smile.

"I have their names and house addresses…I set them aside because I figured you would eventually ask for it. Also, a patient of ours coughed twice in our waiting room – I have his name and address as well." Alan said.

"Good, we'll take care of that as well. We have some other business to attend to on your world as well. Where's Mohania?" Herrior said.

Crystal pointed to the upper loft. Herrior walked towards it and said, "We were given permission to kill the paladins…we'll just dispatch of them and bury their corpses in the ground." Herrior waited for an answer…or at least a reaction but nothing happened. Herrior ran up the stairs and saw Mohania deep in a dream."

"Well well…a sleeping Mohania, who has played tricks on everybody and it completely vulnerable, can't pass up this chance. Brenna do you have any of that paste you females put on your faces?" Herrior asked.

"Make up…sheesh, he can lead an army into battle and can't remember the words 'make up'…" Skyka said shaking her head and smiling at Brenna.

"Just for the record, this wasn't my idea and I am not going to participate…but it's in the far drawer to the left." Brenna said holding up her hands with a smile.

"Oh I'm going to participate, here Dan you talk to Alan…" Crystal said handing him her hearthstone as she raced to try to be the first one to search through the drawer.

"Hi Alan…how's the weather?" Dan asked.

"Fine, how are things in Tranquil?" Alan asked back with a smile.

"Currently fine…probably in a couple of hours when Mohania wakes up…it won't be fine. Do you want to come watch?" Dan asked.

"No…I'm not particularly fond of making you guys mad or being in the way when you guys are mad, I would much rather prefer to be far away from the scene of the crime when he realizes what happened." Alan said laughing.

"Alan, we are going to make a stop at the officer's station and see if we can get some more information on what is happening. Then we will stop by to visit. If you have any patients that you want us to investigate, as well as our other business that we have to attend to do there, bring them in and we will see if a demon is harassing them or if they are possessed by one. Talk to you then." Herrior said taking the stone from Dan and then rubbing it once to make the portal disappear. Herrior looked up at all of the women occasionally giggling and said, "Don't make him too mad; we'll leave when he is done sleeping."

"I'm going to make myself scarce before he wakes up…I had nothing to do with this…" Brenna said holding her hands up and walking out the back door.

"Smart woman" Dan said.

"Yeah, we could use more of those in our group…" Herrior said smiling.

"Heard that!" Skyka yelled out.

"Let's go for a walk…I want to see how far away we can be and still hear Mohania scream." Herrior said. The men in his party and Jacklyn walked with him.

"There's something we didn't tell anybody that I need to tell you." Dan said.

"I'm listening." Herrior said.

"In the church, Crystal summoned a new demon…something I hadn't seen before, but boy was it effective at killing people quickly. That's not what I'm worried about though. We made our way into the cellar and found objects that contained powers. We started to destroy them, but it caused us pain and a spike in our powers at the same time. We then decided to start throwing them against the wall. One of them seemed to have a genie in it, or a demon – I'm not sure which. I've only heard of things like that in fairytales." Dan said.

"It was a demon. It grants you a wish that backfires all of the time. Promises filled with betrayal." Herrior said.

"That's what I was afraid of. The demon pleaded with Crystal to not kill him for a wish. She wished for more power. A blue beam of light hit her as she felt more powerful – but, she drained the life from the demon while it was in its weakened state and killed it. From that point on she's been able to summon half a dozen imps and her spells seem stronger. What do you make of that situation?" Dan asked.

"I think it is good of you to tell me." Herrior said.

"And the first thing the King said to her was he could not read her mind anymore…if that means anything." Dan said.

"Interesting; I'm surprised the King paid little attention to that detail." Herrior said.

"Look, she's my wife and all but I know what's at stake here. Her attitude didn't change; I didn't notice any changes at all – except her power increased." Dan said.

"The demon probably didn't have the chance to hex her. Probably also didn't have the chance to make his demands. It was a one-sided deal, which the demons usually make with you for whatever you desire but they usually come with a hex so that they will come back and pledge their allegiance to the demon to remove it. Stories have been told of people wanting wealth, and getting it, but then being mortally wounded several days later and sold themselves to the demon – which enslaved them. What would a demon know about warlock powers though…that has me puzzled? Only a warlock can teach other warlock powers, with some exceptions here and there, but the power to harness a dozen imps at her command? I am interested in learning more. I observed her for the duration she was here and noticed nothing significant about her changes you speak of. I cannot read minds, but I sensed no demonic activity from her or any changes in her voice. There is nothing that would lead me to believe that the demon has any influence over her. Mohania will crave her new powers, as will the warlock trainers – however if she cannot teach them the abilities then it is a null topic. Everybody watch her for the next week. Check for changes in the pitch of her voice, color in her eyes, mood and behavior, as well as anything else that may seem abnormal and report it to me when you have a chance. That of course applies to you Dan." Herrior said.

"I know my place Herrior, if I didn't I would not have told you." Dan said. Herrior nodded.

"Have you experienced any changes during your mission?" Herrior asked.

"I've become more in tune with the elements. Some of them offer me secrets, such as if the air is blowing around and hits an obstacle that we cannot see, it is something either invisible that has mass, or something stealthed. I doubt it would work on demons or banshees as the wind would blow right through them. They most tell me stories and I can bend them to do my will, on a small scale of course. I was able to summon a fire, earth, and air elemental all at the same time, but it took all of my concentration to keep them formed and to do my bidding. Given the choice, they would rather not fight at all. I'm assuming this is probably the case for the demons the warlocks summon. It doesn't appear to be the case for hunters and their pets though. Oh – also her drain life spell is different. It sucks health from every enemy around her instead of just one now. Just remembered that one, I was in battle so I didn't observe everything she was able to do." Dan said.

"How long can you have one of your elementals summoned in battle?" Herrior asked.

"As long as I want, so long as I only have one – anymore than that and it takes more concentration to control them. The earth element can take massive damage, the wind elemental slows casting, the fire does the most damage and the water seems more passive – it's probably for healing. I will pass on the information of what I have learned to my trainer." Dan said.

Herrior nodded and said, "I would appreciate you in doing so. Veliline right now is with the monks trying to figure out why she isn't immune to time stopping anymore. They are running several tests with one of our time stoppers present. I haven't heard of the results yet. I fear she is losing her powers."

"Or gaining…remember she is still new to this world and to Tranquil. Actually she's also new to herself being freed from control of the Lich King's power. Give it time and let's see what happens. I'll talk with her when we have a moment." Dan said.

"I'm still not fond of her summoning her ghoulish army…or even one of them." Herrior said.

"That might be a part of her and it may always be a part of her, unless she changes to be another class." Dan said.

"I doubt she will want to change." Herrior said.

"So do I, my guess is that she wants to improve on her powers and is testing her limits with her body. She may have lost some of her powers as she spent time away from her land, and from freeing her mind – but I would guess that she is looking to improve or find new alternate powers to becoming a better fighter." Dan said. Herrior nodded and asked Dan to speak with her. Then he told everybody to go gather up their new armor and weapons that awaited them and to stock up on rations. They had an aftermath to deal with.


	27. Aftermath

Aftermath

Mohania woke up in Brenna's house a day later as his eyes began to glow blue. He sat up and looked around.  
"Brenna?" Mohania asked.  
"Yes my dear?" Brenna replied.  
"How long was I sleeping?" He asked.  
"Long enough for your friends to play a practical joke on you; I would suggest washing your face and head before you leave." Brenna said.  
Mohania's made his head engulf in fire. He smelt something burning on it and began to wipe his hands on his head. Different types of liquid were seeping down on his cloak.  
"What is this?" Mohania said igniting his hands on fire to burn it off and intensifying the heat on his skull to burn off the rest.  
"Make-up products; just for the record I had nothing to do with it." Brenna said smiling.  
Mohania sat up and began walking down the stairs. The blaze on his skull disappeared and Mohania asked if all of it was gone. Brenna said it was.  
"So what did I do to deserve that?" Mohania asked.  
"I think they were just playing with you hun." Brenna said comforting.  
"Should I get them back?" Mohania asked with a smile.  
"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told them, I'm not getting involved…" Brenna said holding up her hands innocently.  
"Thanks for letting me sleep. How are Dan and Crystal doing?" Mohania asked changing the subject.  
"They seemed to be doing fine. Crystal ran off with the women and Dan and Herrior went off talking." Brenna said.  
"Any word on Veliline?" he asked.  
"I haven't heard anything." Brenna said reaching back for her cup of tea.  
"I'll check up on her." Mohania said and walked out of Brenna's house.  
He made his way to the monk's catacombs and walked down the downward spiraling corridor. He didn't see flashes of light or screams so he figured he would knock. One of the monks opened the door.  
"Is Veliline here?" Mohania asked.  
"Yes, she is meditating on some choices. You may speak with her if you wish." The monk said pointing to her on the opposite side of the room. Mohania thanked him and walked up to her.  
"We're you one of the ones that decided to color my skull with makeup?" Mohania asked.  
Veliline looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She slowly shook her head.  
"Well you should have. They did a good job. Mind if I sit?" Mohania asked sitting down next to her.  
"I would normally ask what is wrong and lend a sympathetic ear…but I don't have any ears. Are you trying to decide whether you want to get blasted with the possibility of getting yourself killed?" Mohania asked. Veliline nodded.  
"Is it because of the time stopping issue?" Mohania asked. Veliline nodded again.  
"Your body was once immune to it and I have never heard of the process being reversed. Dan would be the expert on that subject though, but I doubt that is what happened. Was there a spell you used to cast to become immune to it? Some sort of ability maybe?" Mohania asked.  
"There was…but my powers are draining…" Veliline said.  
"How do you know that?" Mohania asked.  
"I can feel them leaving my body…all of my talents. I have been commanded to share all of my abilities with my trainer and I don't even remember them – let alone being about to show how they enhance my abilities. I still know how to fight, but with not as much power. When I was fighting my doppelganger, or whatever you call it, it could have killed me. Its powers were so much stronger than mine…" Veliline said.  
"That's what they want you to think. Don't let that get to you, or other roaming doppelgangers will seek you out. So you don't know what your talents are anymore – that doesn't make you any less of a fighter." Mohania said looking at her fumbling with her fingers wrapped around her legs that were pulled up to her chest.  
"It does make me less of a fighter…there are over 50 different things that strengthened my powers that aren't there anymore…" Veliline said having her tears under control.  
"How many are there now?" Mohania asked.  
"A dozen, maybe more…I learned more from fighting myself than I did now. It's like I lost all of my old ways and learned new things. I've talked to the monks. I want them to find out what went wrong." Veliline said.  
"Maybe nothing went wrong. I overheard you say you could summon insects that carried diseases, and freeze all of your enemies around you. What's wrong with that?" Mohania asked.  
"It's not me…it's not what I was trained to do. Everything changed Mohania." Veliline took a deep breath and said, "Everything…has changed. I don't feed on my old masters powers…I am not controlled by him…I get attacked by myself and kill her using powers that I don't know I had. Everything is different and I don't even know what moves to use in battle."  
"That's been happening to a lot of us. Dan has obtained new powers and continues to show off what he can do. I'm testing out new powers and learning from them. Strings has learned new songs that nobody still knows how they work. There are just things that you have to accept. People change, our powers change, our armor changes, and lately our weapons and armor have been giving us an extra boost of power – thanks again to Dan. Trackolania can do a whole list of things but doesn't tell anybody. Accepting what you are, accepting what you can do and acknowledging your limits is what every person must do. You know more about yourself than the monks do. If you go through a blasting you may end up getting yourself killed for nothing. I would suggest embracing your powers and see what they can do. Let's go to the arenas and setup several target dummies and see what your new powers can do. We'll bring a time stopper and eventually you can try to embrace the same power you have inside of you to snap you out of it." Mohania said.  
"You think…I'm still a fighter?" Veliline asked.  
"You'll always be a fighter. I've seen you in combat; you have the heart and the mind for it. I think you might be going through a change…let's go see what that change is." Mohania said standing up and reaching out his boney fingers to her. She grabbed them and pulled herself up.  
"You are wise Mohania. If she is going through a change, we wish to know." A monk said.  
"You'll find out more as we find out." Mohania said not giving any promise.  
They walked out of the monk chambers and went to the arenas. They picked one that wasn't used and brought out a dozen targets. Dan also showed up when Mohania summoned him during their walk. Mohania instructed him to just stand back and watch.  
"Ok, now show me what you got." Mohania said. Veliline pulled out her double sided axe and began whacking away at a target. After a couple of seconds her blood worms spawned and began attacking the target as well. She held out her hand and a blast of ice appeared atop of the target and hit the target. Veliline continued to attack it as a shield enveloped her, she didn't notice it thought.  
"We've all seen this before. We're not here to practice…show me what you got." Mohania said.  
"This is all I can do…" Veliline said continuing to strike at the target.  
"I call bullshit. Show me more!" Mohania demanded. Veliline slammed her weapon on the ground and it emitted a blast of yellowish red light around her. Every target received the damage, but to Mohania's surprise the rest of the targets began to take damage every three seconds. He raised his pointer finger to Dan to not say anything.  
"You have two different diseases, unleash both of them." Mohania said.  
Veliline finished a swipe with her axe and then held her hand up and another icy blast came down from right above the target. Her axe then turned a dark glow and then she struck the target.  
"Excellent, now do the yellowish blast thing." Mohania said. Veliline again slammed her weapon on the ground and all of the targets were blasted with the diseases and the initial blast from her weapon strike on the ground.  
"What's that supposed to prove?" Veliline asked.  
"Keep attacking." Mohania said. Veliline kept swinging away and without Veliline seeing Mohania he pointed at Dan.

Time stopped.

Veliline stopped for a second but then continued swinging as if nothing had happened.  
"Good…" Mohania said quietly. He then motioned for Dan to do his thing.

Time resumed.

"I stopped for a second…I could feel it. Something empowered me and now I can heal myself." Veliline said as she swung and dark glows of green light seemed to explode from within her.  
"Keep going…" Mohania said.  
Veliline summoned her ghoul and he started fighting beside her. Veliline then reached her hand towards the ghoul and a quick transfer of power was sent from the ghoul and into Veliline's body. The ghoul let out a scream of pain, but continued to attack its target.  
"I can drain more life from my minion…" Veliline said.  
"Keep attacking it. It's going to cast a spell at you, what are you going to do?" Mohania asked. Instantly Veliline enveloped herself in a yellowish magical shell used for absorbing magic.  
"That spell isn't powerful enough…do more!" Mohania said. Veliline reached out with her hand and a quick blast of cold air blasted the target.  
"You silenced one spell, but your target is cursing you, pissing you off, and calling you a murderous abomination! You want to shut him up for good. Stop him before he gets the next spell off!" Mohania demanded. Veliline held out her hand and a dark purple lightning bolt slammed into the target and Veliline lifted it off the ground. Dan and Mohania were both impressed, but Veliline began to scream at it.  
"I am not a murderous abomination! I am not a tool of destruction. I am a fighter!" Veliline yelled and let go of the target. It fell unharmed to the ground and Veliline continued to strike at it. Suddenly her strikes began to land faster. "Attack me will you…I will show you…I feel my power flowing quickly through me and I will crush your bones!"  
"Learn to harness your powers Veliline. Remember you are only attacking a target dummy." Mohania said.  
Veliline lowered her weapon and looked at it dumbfounded. She then nodded and continued to swing at it.  
"There are enemies coming at you from all angles…what are you going to do?" Mohania asked. She held her hand up and her Death and Decay spell was activated. It caused the ground to erupt, damaging everything in its path. She then slammed her weapon on the ground again and it shot out the blast of yellowish light.  
"There is some getting away. They are going towards the healers…what are you going to do?" Mohania asked.  
Veliline turned away to the farthest target and tried her death grip but it didn't work. Veliline cursed and ran back to attack the target behind her.  
"Hold the line! Tanks always hold the line!" Mohania quickly yelled at her.  
Veliline screamed in frustration and held her hand up on the sky. Beams of dark purple lightning shot out and hit everything in its path and quickly sucked it in towards her, including Dan and Mohania.  
Veliline, still mad, continued to strike away at the first target. Her ghoul eventually lost its power and fell to pieces on the ground.  
"Ok, that's enough for now." Mohania whispered to her. Veliline was surprised at how close his voice was to her and quickly stopped attacking. She turned around and saw that everything in the arena had been pulled in to her.  
"How did I do that?" Veliline asked.  
"I have no clue…but I need personal space." Mohania said walking away from her. He continued, "You still have powers – more than enough to match the best of them on the battlefield. I don't know if you realized it but Dan did stop time. Something pulled you out of it, and then afterwards you claimed to be able to heal yourself. Remember what you did. Remember everything that happened just now and meditate on it. Learn what you did and how you channeled your power and drew up the powers you needed to do it. Also…when you did your blast on the ground…it spread your diseases automatically to all of your surrounding targets. You may have lost some powers, but you gained some impressive ones. I'll leave you alone now." Mohania said and motioned for Dan to come with him. Veliline went back to attacking the target with more confidence now.  
"How did you know she could do that?" Dan asked.  
"I had no idea…I was just trying to gain her confidence back." Mohania said.  
"Why was she not immune to time stopping that one time…and she is now?" Dan asked.  
"You can't reverse the ability to become 'un-immune' to time stopping. Something pulled her out of it…I think it's something she did and just didn't realize it. Or her body changed and adapted." Mohania said.  
"Rise up my ghouls! Slaughter my enemies!" Veliline yelled. Dan and Mohania stopped and turned around to look. It was a spell they knew she could cast before, but this time, the ghouls she raised from the ground, raised other smaller ghouls.  
"Uh…fifty?" Dan asked.  
"I'm not done counting…and I don't think they are done rising up." Mohania said with a pause trying to count. The hoards of ghouls scattered about on the arena, each surrounding their target and attacking it. Thirty seconds later they all fell to pieces.  
"Through death…you shall serve me!" Veliline yelled out as all of the corpses exploded – sending pieces of body parts flying in every which way. Both of them ducked as pieces went flying over their heads. They turned around and saw the body parts land past them and then burned up. They turned around and saw Veliline looking around at what she did. She saw their surprised faces and smiled at them with a wave. They waved back.  
"I think we need to have a party meeting." Mohania said.  
"I think you are right." Dan said back as Mohania pulled out his hearthstone. He summoned everybody and told them to meet him by the arena. He added that it was very important.  
"Are you going to facilitate this meeting?" Dan asked.  
"I'll see where it goes…but I don't think Herrior will mind." Mohania said in a solemn voice.  
Ten minutes later and everybody had assembled. Lindel had begun snickering and Mohania told her to be quiet. Mohania escorted everybody inside a home that nobody was home at, so they left the door open. That was tradition so that the family living there wasn't surprised to come home to find people in their house.  
"So…did you call the meeting about a certain surprise when you woke up?" Lindel said with a goofy smile on her face.  
Mohania ignored her and started his speech. "I called everybody here because our powers are changing and it seems to affect one of us at a time. Veliline showed me and Dan her new powers. They waned at first and then showed us some 'unusual' moves that she learned. This all started with her doppelganger. As we all know, short stuff in the corner with his daggers is constantly learning new things." Trackolania smiled at him and nodded. "Continuing on, I believe our leader should be aware of these things. He can better coordinate our attacks if he knows what we can do. Normal shamans cannot commune with the elements nor do what Dan did during their assault. Nobody ever knows what Dan will do next…but the point being we should all talk. Lindel for instance showed me that she can summon stronger undead that not only can cast spells, they can tank and shot arrows as well. Between her and Veliline, from what Dan and I just saw her do, they could probably summon up an army in the hundreds by a mere thought. Also…for some reason nobody can read her mind. This is something else we need to be concerned about. Lindel, our main focal point for coordinating attacks, can no longer read her mind, my mind, Dan's mind I'm still assuming, and probably Veliline's mind - if you could try please?" Mohania asked. Lindel nodded and was quickly blown backwards and cried in pain. Lindel got up and walked back and said, "Dan and Crystal's minds are booby trapped…didn't realize they would zap me like that. Veliline please don't do that." Lindel said absorbing the power around her to heal her. Lindel tried but quickly shook her head.  
"I got a quick thought, not even enough to take a guess. Then her mind went blank, kind of like when Mohania…"  
"That's what I thought." Mohania said interrupting her and deciding not to hear the insult. "Something pulled her out when time was stopped and I'm guessing it's the same thing that is protecting her thoughts from you. I think it is also safe to assume that you cannot enter her mind as well. Has anybody else experienced any changes?"  
"I have, but I was hesitant in telling you Mohania." Crystal said.  
"Don't tell me – tell Herrior, he is your leader. Jacklyn is your second in command; she will need to know also." Mohania said.  
"Dan briefed me a little. Apparently you can summon different demons to do you bidding and you can summon half dozen imps?" Herrior asked. Crystal nodded.  
"I also have learned several more spells, I haven't told anybody though…mostly because I know you were power hungry." Crystal said looking at Mohania.  
"I like knowing that I have to power to assist the party. I would like to know new spells so that I can be of better use in battle to increase our survival chances. My attitude outside of battle is not of any concern." Mohania snapped back.  
"Let's all relax for a moment." Herrior said quietly. He seemed to be in deep thought. He didn't say anything for a couple of minutes.  
"We all have been through a lot and we haven't had a meeting like this in awhile. I want to thank Mohania for doing this; I think it was well over due. I want to express my appreciation personally to him. I am also glad that Dan and Crystal are back from their attack, you were both missed. We were all debriefed on the situation so we need not talk about that. Our next course of action is to go to the police station. You humans are more familiar with the whereabouts of this 'China' place and that is going to be our target. Branzer, I am putting you in charging of recruiting some additional forces to help us. Lindel, I want you to track down this place so we can sneak into it. I also want you to go in and learn their language and the way they use it. I want you to leave as soon as possible to complete this mission after you take us to the station. Mohania and Crystal, I want both of you to talk with each other and try to explain the differences you have in your warlock powers. Mohania is correct – I need to know what my party can and cannot do, and I need to know this information first. Veliline, I want you to go over the spells in your head while we are away and see if you can enhance them. Dan I need to know what all you can do and if you learn anything about any of our classes, I want to know the information. You have somehow learned how to control the elements to assume human form to assist in fighting; have you spoken with the shaman trainers about this ability?" Herrior asked.  
"No I have not." Dan said knowing full well that he should have.  
"This was known to you for awhile and you have been in Tranquil long enough to teach the trainers, this disappoints me greatly - same with you Crystal. Go do that first and return to me when you are done. Veliline just learned her new abilities but has not fully tested them. I want her to go speak with the trainers about what you have exhibited in the arena and explain everything to them. People, this is important stuff – this could limit the amount of fighters that we have die with these new powers! There are too many deaths within our city walls as it is, and I am damn tired of hearing about them. Any little edge that we can get – we are going to take it! If I hear that you are with-holding information about your abilities, I will have you punished. If you experience something different like a spell or an attack does something else once, but cannot duplicate the affect and aren't sure how you did it, remember this information and bring this knowledge back to our trainers. Their jobs are to take the information that you give them and test it. They are much better at duplicating your ideas and enhancing them then you are - that is their jobs. Veliline, as far as I understand, the monks have been working with your death knight trainers and are going to attempt to infuse a fighter with your powers…however this process needs to be halted at once because your powers have changed. Do you, or you Crystal, know about all of the powers you have access to?" Herrior said in a clearly upset tone.  
"I know some…" Crystal admitted.  
"I know what I just learned in the arena. Other than that I don't have a clue, I'm sorry." Veliline said.  
"There is no reason for you to apologize, Veliline. Skyka go collect some rations, and the rest of you go see if there are any armor or weapon upgrades for your class. I want to be out of Tranquil within the hour. You are all dismissed." Herrior said. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Everybody immediately left to go do what they were told. Herrior sat for a couple of minutes longer and eventually let out a long sigh. He opened his eyes and rose to his feet. He made his way outside and summoned his dragon.  
"Hello my friend." Herrior said stroking the feathers on top of the might beasts head.  
"Hello. Do you want to go for a ride?" The dragon asked.  
"No, I'm afraid where we are going we cannot take you with us. Can you stay in Tranquil or return to Ysera?" Herrior asked.  
"I am soul bound to you. I would not fulfill my role as part of the dragon flights if I did not do my duty." His dragon said. Herrior smiled and nodded at him and replied, "Faithful until the end. I want to thank you for helping me find Veliline. I don't think I told you that. We are going to go to Earth and I need all of you and the other dragon's soul bound to us to stay out of sight."  
"We will stay out of sight unless we are summoned – those are Ysera's instructions." His dragon said.  
"Ok then, I will not ask you to go against Ysera instructions. I need to go speak with our King and tell him about our mission. You may leave now, but I look forward to seeing you again." Herrior said taking his hand off the top of the dragon's head.  
"As you wish" the dragon said and flew off and vanishing into the air.  
Herrior made his way to the palace with many things on his mind. He asked the outside guards if there was a meeting going on and they responded that the King was not busy at the moment and was expecting him. Herrior figured as much as he thanked them and walked into the palace.  
"Herrior…good to see you!" The King said enthusiastically walking up to him and hugging him.  
"Good to see you also," Herrior said in surprise.  
"Come…have a seat with us." The King said walking away and waving him towards the throne. The King sat on his throne with his Queen next to him. Herrior sat cross-legged on the ground before them.  
"So you are going to go to Earth then?" The King asked knowing the answer already.  
"Yes my King that is the plan. Shall I not go?" Herrior asked.  
"No no…your mission couldn't have come at a better time. I have dispatched scouts already to the affected area, but they haven't had any success infiltrating the surrounding areas. There is a dark evil there Herrior. The alliance main base is not on Earth and we both know that. They want control of every world and their grasp reaches far…probably farther than we know. I don't feel comfortable dispatching other groups to the affected area – I think your plan is the best and I have no doubt you'll be able to infiltrate the area. I want their knowledge, I want their plans, and I want more heads for my collection. You are going to have to life your prejudice against all of the humans though in order to accomplish this task. Is that understood?" The King asked.  
"Yes my King, I will do that."  
"If I could foresee the future, I would say that with this much devastation to the alliance that Dan and Crystal did, alliance will be flocking to the area to repair the damage…which may in turn cause more demons to frolic in the fields. The alliance has no love with them and keeps them in check the same as we do. Pull Skyior from guarding Alan and bring her back for further training and equipment upgrades. We'll give her a couple of nights here in Tranquil and then dispatch her to back to her post. Post a guard there until Skyior comes back. Let me know when you have any information or if we need to lead an assault. Don't underestimate their power…" The King said.  
"I will keep you informed my King. I currently fear that I underestimate the power of my party. Their powers have become stronger, but they seem to have kept them in check so far." Herrior said.  
"I do not want any dissention…we have too much to worry about right now. Your mission takes precedence, and if anybody gets out of line I want them imprisoned – is that understood?" The King said eying Herrior.  
"As always my King" Herrior said.  
"Good. I look forward to your report. Don't bite off more than you can chew…I don't want you to choke." The King said.  
"I understand."  
"Very well, you are dismissed." The King said. Herrior stood up and bowed towards the King and left.  
Once outside Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned all of his party.  
"Everybody has twenty minutes to meet me at the human's house. I do not want anybody late!" Herrior almost screamed into the portals and then closed them all as he put his hearthstone away.  
Herrior arrived and saw Trackolania there. He opened the door for him and Herrior smiled at him. Herrior walked up the stairs and sat down and began to meditate. Eventually as time passed he began to hear each of his party members run up the stairs and sit down beside him. He eventually counted the last one as the door was slammed shut. Herrior didn't know who was last and didn't care. He opened his eyes and looked around.  
"I've been given permission to jail any other of you that jeopardizes this mission. If I don't jail you, then I will suffer the consequence which is much harsher. I want no fooling around, I want no name calling, I want nobody playing jokes on anybody, and I want nobody to even say anything sarcastic. The rest of the mission I will give instructions as I see fit. We will see demons, speak with alliance and possibly bargain with them. We will speak with humans and I want your honest opinions upfront with no screwing around. This mission is of the utmost importance, is that understood?" Herrior said looking at everybody. Everybody nodded and several "yes's" came from the party.  
"I need a volunteer to replace Skyior temporarily for a couple of days and Bernett I want you to do it. The rest of you will come with me to the station. Lindel, open a portal for Bernett." Herrior said. Lindel stood up and began to channel the portal. Once it was fully formed, Bernett walked through it. Herrior told her to keep it open until they get word back from Bernett.  
Everybody sat in silence when Bernett poked his head back out and said "She just finished killing a serpent demon in their backyard. She's racing here now."  
"Bernett, you are to let no harm come to Alan or Sammy – is that understood?" Herrior leaned forward and glared into Bernett's eyes.  
"I understand. I will meet death before I let harm come to them." Bernett said. At that time Skyior ran through the portal and didn't stop fast enough to prevent crashing into Jacklyn. They tumbled backwards as Skyior quickly apologized.  
"Skyior, I am going to give you some instructions and I want you to follow them to the letter, do you understand?" Herrior said in a loud voice. It scared her at first and instinctively turned around to face him and said, "Yes of course."  
"You are being relieved of your position temporarily to rest up here in Tranquil. In a couple of days located a Chronomancer to take you back. Bernett – you are to stay there with Skyior until our mission has completed. Do not…make any attempt…to contact us using your hearthstone. Is that understood?" Herrior asked. They both acknowledged.  
"If you need help, contact one of the King's ambassadors. Now go you two." Herrior said. Bernett nodded and went back through the portal. Skyior walked down the stairs and out the door as Lindel was closing the portal.  
"Do we all have an understanding as to the importance of this mission? Follow my command to the letter?" Herrior asked.  
"I'll follow you to death and…"  
"Yes or no" Herrior said.  
Everybody said yes, except for Trackolania who nodded.  
"Good. We'll be taking with us several humans…possibly even hundreds of them to help us infiltrate the remaining alliance. They probably have a new King, a new high priest, and a new ass wiper already. All attempts that our scouts have made to gain information have failed. We will not fail. If we have to go by boat, or one of their flying machines, I do not want to hear any grief from anybody. I will make it known to the humans that we do not screw around and my speech to them will be much harsher. I love all of you, and there will be time for play later. The time for battle and the time to prove that you are a fighter for Tranquil is now, is that understood?" Herrior asked. The same answers came back.  
"Good, Lindel open the portal to our room in the station. We have some work we have to do." Herrior said.  
Once they arrive in their room they quickly activated their trinkets to make them look like police officers. Herrior quickly opened the door and walked out. His intentions were to go straight out to the shooting range but paused when something caught his attention. There was a meeting going on he stopped and everybody else halted in their tracks. He heard Paul the Lieutenant's voice and George's voice. They seemed to be in a heated discussion, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Herrior grabbed the door knob and ripped it off as he slammed the door open. Dozens of policemen and women rose to their feet with their weapons drawn.  
"Good reflexes…we're going to need that. What are you two discussing?" Herrior said as he walked in and to the front of the room completely unphased by the guns aimed at him.  
"I thought you said you couldn't summon them?" George asked looking at Paul.  
"He can't…I don't trust him enough yet. What's the situation?" Herrior said.  
"Lower your guns everybody, this man brought me back my wife and is not a threat." George said walking over to Herrior and extending his hand. Herrior shook it and then snorted at him.  
"We are going to need some humans. There is an event happening in a town called 'China' that we have been unable to infiltrate and we need your help getting there." Herrior said.  
"It's a country, not a town." Paul said.  
"I don't care if it's a bug's home… Which one of you should I talk to about acquiring passage to this country?" Herrior asked.  
"You can't get in there right now. China has Nato and every other country so far up its ass right now none of their citizens will be able to shit for months. Something apparently went wrong and they went to war with themselves…killed nearly four hundred thousand people. The important part is that it looks like they have more nuclear weapons than what they claimed. The place is swarming with peace keepers, inspectors of every country, cleanup crews and media." George said.  
"Number gets bigger every time we hear it huh…" Herrior said with a smile.  
"Do you know anything about this?" George asked picking up on the queues.  
"There are sixteen members in my party. Two of them infiltrated our enemy camp and created the devastation. Currently there are fifteen of us and we are here to stop a mass exodus." Herrior said.  
"People are going to be fleeing the country?" George asked.  
"Just the opposite, our enemies will be flocking to the country to rebuild their forces. I need Lindel to get there before the rest of us. How can we make that possible?" Herrior asked pointing at her.  
"It's currently a no fly zone…nobody is allowed in or out. The boarders are heavily armed and they are searching their own people's homes for clues as to what happened. Which brings up an interesting question…what happened?" George asked.  
"Our enemy, the alliance, had a fortress built up with enormous amounts of weapons. Our two members of our party went in, got one side of their army to betray the other, and then things blew up. I'm told that it was mostly alliance that was killed; if there was anybody innocent killed I apologize on our behalf." Herrior said.  
"That's the thing, they are claiming it was insurgents and now China is claiming that the weapons are not there's and they had nothing to do with it." George said.  
"They didn't." Herrior said.  
"I'm going to have a hard time telling the world that…but why China?" George asked.  
"My party members did not know where they were. For all they knew they were on a different planet carrying out their attacks. Back to business – I need Lindel in there as soon as you can, preferable undetected. That's the first thing. The second thing is we are going in to clean things up." Herrior said.  
"You plan on solving this world wide problem that everybody is so focused on right now?" George asked with a smile.  
"I have no intention of solving it; I have intentions of carrying out my mission. May I use your chalk board?" Herrior asked.  
"Sure, be my guest." George said backing away and starting to erase it.  
"That won't be necessary. Strings secure the door that accidently fell down. George stand away from the chalk board. Mohania clear off the dust." Herrior said. Mohania held his hand out and a powerful blast of fire flew from his hand and blasted the chalk board and the chalk dust disappeared. Strings picked the door back up. Herrior walked up to it and grabbed a piece of chalk.  
"Is this what you use to write on it?" Herrior asked everybody in the room. Everybody had dove for cover and slowly rose back up. One of the officers said "Yes".  
"Good. This is a circle. This is probably where the majority of the commotion is at. We need Lindel right here. The first base that was destroyed was actually here. There was another base destroyed here as well." Herrior said drawing circles and then putting "X's" through the ones that were destroyed. He continued, "That leaves the west and south flank for people to come in at. The base to the west here is going to be pissed and if they spot us, they will launch and full assault on us. As much as I would love to go to battle with them, that is not what we are here for and staying out of their way is part of our mission. So the east side is completely off limits. I want to come at it from the west."  
"The only country west of it is either Tajikistan or Pakistan." George said.  
"Names I don't know of or care to know. We'll do Tajikistan. Now then, I need men." Herrior said.  
"Whoa…wait a minute. You aren't in charge here. You can't just knock down the door, draw up a battle plan, ask for men and go on a mission…that's completely against protocol. I need to clear it with…lots of people, this is going to take weeks of planning, we have no awacs or drones in the area…we don't even have any bases in Tajikistan." George said.  
"Pull your gun out and shoot me in the head." Herrior said tossing the chalk aside and walking up to him.  
"What?" George said.  
"All of you pull out your gun and shoot me in the head! Do it now! Shoot me!" Herrior's voice boomed through the conference room. Everybody looked at each other not knowing what to do.  
"That's what I thought. All of the people here are spineless, dirt-scrubbing, no good, life-sucking leeches that have nothing better to do than go home and suck on their…" Herrior's voice was interrupted by a single shot. It deflected off from Herrior's helmet causing him no pain at all.  
"Well we have one winner." Herrior said.  
"I hate scrubbing dirt." The man said still pointing the gun at him.  
"I need men like him that will piss when I tell them to piss, shoot when I tell them to shoot, stop breathing when I order them to, and to stay hidden in one place for days at a time. I don't have time to hand pick people. I need others like him." Herrior said pointing at George.  
"I…yeah I have access to people like that. Do you prefer marines, the air force…?"  
"All foreign words to me…all of which I don't care to learn." Herrior turned to the man who had holstered his gun. "You seem to have more guts than the rest of these men and women – help George and Paul enlists some people. I need them quickly. We will leave in the next day. As of now we need Lindel in the China place. How soon can we make that happen?" Herrior asked.  
"I flew here, but we'll need possible a stealth helicopter or disguises of some sort to get her in." George said.  
"Stealth what? Herrior, just get me over the spot…" Lindel said as Herrior held up his hand.  
"Going in by ground will be sacrificing some of your men…I don't want that. Let's drop her by air." Herrior said.  
"It's a no fly zone; we can't fly in that area." George repeated.  
"That doesn't concern me. Hmm…let me reword this, how high up does this fly zone go?" Herrior asked.  
"Several miles up in the sky" George said.  
"Can we go a mile higher than this no fly zone and then drop her off?" Herrior asked.  
"Well…yeah, but she'll be shot at on the way down." George said.  
"Bullets do not concern me George…can we get her over the spot and push her out of your aircraft?" Herrior asked.  
"Safely? No…"  
"Safety doesn't concern me either. Why do you people always worry about dying…its annoying! Fly her over this 'no fly zone' as high and as fast and you can and then she'll leave when your party member tells her to go." Herrior said.  
"I have no idea what you have planned, but if its speed and height that you want, we can squeeze her in an X-43 and she'll be hitting speeds upwards of Mach 10." George said.  
"Translate that for me." Herrior said looking at Branzer. Branzer eyed Herrior and then looked back at George. George explained, "It's supposed to be an unmanned aircraft capable of hitting speeds ten times the speed of sound…it's also supposed to not deliver any ordinance or spy equipment…" with a smile.  
"Fine, you arrange for transportation of her on this X aircraft and she'll drop in the middle of enemy lines. From there we can begin our assault. We'll need several dozen of your best men and women, starting with the man that shot me in the head. We'll need arrangements to get there as fast as possible, but we won't be able to drop from the air like Lindel can. I wish to leave this very night." Herrior said.  
"Herrior…I…can't just start a war. There are protocols and what about the repercussions of this?" George said.  
"I hate the word no and I hate big words as well. Let's go – we'll convince anybody along the way, that part I'm not worried about. You get on that phone of yours and start making arrangements. Paul, I need some officers that aren't afraid of death itself. George if you have anybody in mind as well they are welcome to come. We're going to go out and start asking for volunteers." Herrior said and motioned for his party to leave.  
"Herrior wait…I want to come. I can get us in farther than you can. I owe you one." George said.  
"I'm in." Paul said quickly along with several other officers.  
"Well now…the mood of this meeting has taken a turn now hasn't it. We will not kill anybody that is innocent, but we need to stop what is happening for the sake of your world." Herrior said.  
"Wait…what?" George asked.  
"You think we are here just to throw our weight around and piss you off? That we would do for fun and Mohania would be in charge. Branzer, go round up some more officers." Herrior said.  
"Give me thirty minutes to make some calls and I can have a small army enroute with the rest of us to Tajikistan. The spy plane will have to meet up with us on the aircraft carrier. From there, we'll have to have a fueled up B-52 loaded…" George started in but Herrior said, "Fine, sounds like you have things under control. We'll be outside."  
Outside of the meeting room the line of people to volunteer was overwhelming. They began to step aside to allow Herrior to exit.  
"Door broke…bugs were eating it…" Herrior said.  
"They are pretty big this time of the year…" said the officer with the toothpick in his mouth.  
"Aren't there other things you are supposed to be doing right now?" Herrior asked with a smile.  
"Yes…and our secretaries are calling in help from other departments to cover our shifts." The same man said.  
"Get your guns, armor, knives and anything else you think will help in combat. Let's get out of here." Herrior said putting his arm on his shoulder as the officers started to cheer.  
"I'm gonna need me some more tooth picks…" the man said with a big smile.  
Herrior and his party stepped outside and the sun was beaming down brightly on them. Herrior took a second to look at it and then moved on.  
"Word has it you are looking for some people." Several officers said outside the station.  
"Word spreads fast…spread it faster…" Herrior said looking at them and then looking away.  
"You got it." One of them said and left.

Herrior turned to his party and suggested they go over to the side so they could talk. They walked without a word to a spot on the pavement with no vehicles around it and they sat down on it.

"Permission to speak about my gut feeling that we are going to be flying on some metal contraption that our engineers probably wouldn't even consider safe…?" Jacklyn asked.

"I need you to hold it together Jacklyn. Lindel you probably already know what you job is." Herrior said.

"I'm going to fly very high and very fast and then fall very far and very fast." Lindel said in a cheerful tone smiling.

"You got it my dear. I need you to scan the minds of the officers and their other fighters. I don't want anybody with any doubt coming." Herrior said.

"Herrior – they have been waiting for this. You don't need a mind reader to tell you that…" Lindel said smiling at him. Herrior nodded.

"Bernett would have loved this mission." Branzer said.

"He is happy anywhere he goes. I don't plan on killing to many people, only the ones that we have to. Nobody is to summon any of their dragons, or your carpet Mohania. Keep in disguise unless something goes wrong. I need everybody to have a smooth tongue. Strings I'm going to need you to lead the mice out of town. Mohania and Crystal, I'm going to need your succubus's to do some mental persuasion. The rest of us will muscle our way in. This is only supposed to be a trip to gain information, but if we have a chance to strike take it! Any questions?" Herrior asked.

Mohania raised his hand.

"Anybody have any questions relevant to our mission?" Herrior asked.

"Damn it…" Mohania said lowering his hand. This made the party chuckle.

"I'm curious, probably the same as the rest of you, what exactly Dan and Crystal did." Herrior said.

"We left our calling card." Dan said with a smile.

"Did you do it with fire?" Mohania asked.

"We blew up several bases…doesn't that count?"

"Did you piss on their bodies, burn your name into the ground and destroy everything within a ten mile radius?" Mohania asked.

"The last one…yes," Dan said.

"It's a start. So how long until we get to rip out people's hearts and feed it to them?" Mohania asked.

"Probably a week worth of travel time…longer than that on foot I imagine." Herrior said.

"I'll have you there in sixteen hours. I hope none of you have weak stomachs." George said putting his phone away walking up to them.

"We have one in our party that does, how bad will it be?" Herrior asked. George started to laugh until one of Jacklyn's large blades was at his throat in under a second.

"I…will tell them to make it as smooth of a ride as I can…" George said. Jacklyn quickly flicked her blade behind her as it disappeared in her disguise.

"I've got my personal helicopter that will take us to a couple of Chinooks. From there we have a private jet that we are going to 'borrow' to take us to the Naval Air Warfare Center in Florida. From there we will pick up some additional men and women and some artillery that might surprise even you, and we'll then be flown to the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier. Lindel will then be flown by either a raptor or an eagle…depending on which isn't in use to the designated secret rendezvous site where our 'X' plan is being delivered right now by a B-52. We'll get her in, and then fly the rest of us in by C-130 Hercules the rest of the way. How's that for getting our ducks in a row!" George said excitedly.

"Somebody wake up Mohania…" Herrior said as Crystal nudged him.

"You sound confident so we will put our trust in you. I don't understand half of what you just said…but the artillery that you mentioned, we plan on going on foot. No tanks or trucks – also any large guns will be a waste of time." Herrior said.

"Don't worry about our army…they have been trained and are itching to go. I told them you are a high ranking General leading a secret reconnaissance mission." George said.

"Before we divide up to attack, I'll tell them my real name and our real mission. When do we leave?" Herrior asked.

"Jet is getting fueled up right now." George said pointing at a helicopter in the distance.

"What are those things on top of the machine?" Jacklyn asked.

"Those are the propellers. That is what gives the helicopter lift and able to take flight. This is small compared to what we are going to be going on." George said with pride. Jacklyn let out a loud dissatisfied moan, which was ignored as Herrior motioned for all of the officers to come over. They had been waiting in the distance to give them their space. There were thirty all together that came.

"You going to be alright hun?" Herrior asked Jacklyn.

"Those small blades are supposed to lift that thing in the air? I feel sick…" Jacklyn said. Her face had gone white. Herrior put one of her arms over his. Branzer quickly ran over and grabbed the other one.

"They do have barf bags on the copter." George said.

"When this is over…can I kill him?" Jacklyn asked. Mohania volunteered but Herrior shook his head to both requests.

The copter started its engine and the blades had begun to whirl above them. Jacklyn gripped Herrior's hand extremely hard.  
"So how does this thing work?" Strings asked. Trackolania was on the floor etching his name in the floor with one of his daggers.  
"The engines have to get to a certain RPM. Then the pilot will engage the propellers and lift us up in the air. It's quite difficult actually and takes years of training." George said.  
"Herrior…" Jacklyn said even more nervously.  
"I don't want you to suffer…do you want to sleep the entire way?" Herrior asked.  
"Yes please!" Jacklyn pleaded quickly. Herrior held out his other hand and Trackolania through a vial to him. Jacklyn took it and quickly downed the contents. Seconds later she fell to the ground in a deep slumber."  
"Wow…so how does that work?" George asked.  
"You're better off not knowing…" Skyka yelled above the sound of the blades whirling above them.  
"That sounds neat; I want to take a look!" Lindel said excited as she floated up through the ceiling. It shocked George and all of the other humans that volunteered to come along.  
"Whee!" Lindel yelled out as emergency procedures were quickly put into place to shut the blades off.  
"What the hell is going on? How did she get her head up there?" The pilot yelled back.  
"Lindel – stop scaring them…" Herrior said.  
"Ma'am are you ok?" The pilot yelled back in desperation ripping off his helmet.  
"Yeah why?" Lindel asked looking at him curiously.  
"Tell your pilot to continue…Lindel sit back down. My party, don't do or say anything until we arrive at our destination. George we need to get there quickly, please move things along and Trackolania don't carve a new hole in the vehicle." Herrior said.  
"I would like to point out that I am being good." Mohania said.  
"That I know of..." Herrior replied back. Mohania let out a sinister laugh that scared some more of the humans in the helicopter.  
"Who are you guys?" George asked. Herrior smiled and put his pointer finger to his mouth.  
They flight was uneventful as they boarded airship after airship. Finally they landed in Florida where one hundred men and women were armed to the teeth with weapons Herrior didn't recognize. George stepped off the jet and everybody saluted him.  
"This is your army. They have been briefed about their assignment." George said turning to Herrior.  
"And what exactly did you tell them about their mission?" Herrior asked.  
"To do what you say and don't ask questions." George said smiling at him.  
"Perfect. When is the next trip in a plane?" Herrior asked.  
"That right there. This is the B-52. Our X-43 rocket is ready for Lindel. We are having an Awac in the area now. They will tell Lindel when to jump out of the rocket, not entirely sure how she is going to make it down safely..." George said.  
"I'm not worried about that...you worry about your people and your technology and I'll do the same for mine." Herrior said walking down with George through the army that was given to him.  
"Can I ask what your plan is going to be? Not as far as killing your enemy, but as far as stability for our country and our public relations to the rest of the world?" George asked.  
"You mean what can I do to make you look good?" Herrior asked bluntly.  
"If you want to put it that way..."  
"I hear there are insurgents attacking your China place. We'll round them up and the ones we don't kill we'll leave in the hands of your army. They then can turn them over to either your China place or your country. Doesn't matter to me, but if our enemies come up, they are going to die." Herrior said.  
"What about the nuclear crisis over there?" George asked.  
"Your weapons have no concern for us. What would you have us do with them?" Herrior asked.  
"Probably...not much you can do. Can you make it look like the insurgents did it? It will go further to put the world back at ease." George said.  
"Deal. I'll take the dead bodies and strategically put them in places where your men can come in and pump some bullets in them so that it will look like your party will kill them at the last second. Do your men know how to disable them?" Herrior said.  
"Yes sir! Sargent Corporal Jeff Farthen of the eighty-third marines division. Our men can disable nukes and make them so harmless that a child could play with them." A soldier said stepping forward and standing at attention.  
"I do not want kids playing with weapons. Even where I come from they don't." Herrior said to him.  
"Figure of speech sir. Sorry sir." Jeff said.  
"I'll take it from here George. If these are going to be my troops I want to speak with them." Herrior said.  
"I'm not sure if you know..." George stopped as he felt a cool blade placed at his throat.  
"I am in charge. I do care who you are or what you are. Our skills are all different as are our appearances and backgrounds. There are fifteen of us that will stick out from you. We will be your guide through this. We are going to go in undercover; none of you will be wearing what you are wearing now. We we get there we will gather some clothing and a layout of the land. None of you will fire a bullet unless I say. None of you will talk unless I say. None of you will fart unless I say. There are one hundred of you, and there are thirty officers that will be coming with us. I will be coming back with the same number - that is an order. None of you will die. Is that understood?" Herrior asked. Everybody replied "Yes sir!"  
"Good. Now...you will be seeing things...hearing things that are not of this world. The officers are already accustomed to this...none of you are. This is your first and only warning...do not shriek, do not scream, do not ask questions. Is that understood?" Herrior asked. The same response was given back.  
"Herrior...may I?" George asked. Herrior stepped back.  
"This...man is your leader. This mission never happened. All of you were never here. This is beyond top secret. Is that understood?" George asked. The same response from all of the soldiers came.  
"We all know the world right now could go up with a in a mushroom cloud. Our job is to stop that. The best army in the world is going to see to that, with some extra help. I trust this man with my life. I actually trusted him with my wife. I made a request to him to find her and bring her back to me and he did. They were in and out with her with no trail left behind. Their techniques are better than I have ever seen. I've got the flights all lined up. You ship out immediately. Grab your gear and board the plane. The fate of the free world is in your hands." George said. The troops immediately grabbed their bags and equipment and began to board the large plane.  
"How was my speech?" George asked.  
"Thought mine was better..." Herrior said smiling at him.  
"Don't let this world go up in flame." George said.  
"This isn't the first major battle we've fought on this on this world. This won't be our last either. I will send back every last one of your fighters." Herrior said.  
"Keep in touch." George said and nodded at him.  
The entire party took a series of jets and helicopters for many hours before landing on an aircraft carrier. It was speeding towards their destination, the waves were light and the wind was hardly blowing. Herrior's party seemed astonished as to what they were seeing. Several men ran over and motioned them over to them. Strings, still carrying the near comatose Jacklyn, ran with the rest of the group into an oval shaped door. Once everybody was in the men took off their earphones and said, "Welcome to the USS Harry S. Truman gentlemen. I've been told all of you are going on a special mission and to treat you like royalty. Must be something big and 'hush hush' – I know everything that happens on this ship and I don't have a clue why you are here. Would you mind filling me it?"

"We cannot. When will we arrive in Takistan?" Herrior asked.

"You'll be spending about two days on this rowboat, we will have operation 'Lindel drop-off' commence in the next couple of hours. A special fighter jet will take her to one of our bases in Iraq. Then we will strap her into a specially designed rocket which will be guided over the no-flight zone and then turn back. We wouldn't want to waste one of our fastest jets getting shot down or crashing unexpectedly. I need more details on operation "Lindel drop-off", are we dropping listening devices, cameras, leaflets?" The admiral said.

"You don't need to know." Herrior said solemnly.

"That's the same thing I was told…I hollered until I was blue in the face over the wire. I hate not knowing what's going on in my carrier. I could order you to tell me." The Admiral said.

"I don't follow your orders." Herrior said eyeing him up and down.

"I don't like your attitude…"

"You have your orders, we have ours. Where should we wait until your rowboat will be ready to put us in position?" Herrior asked.

"We've arranged some special accommodations for you below deck. Let me show you" The admiral said and motioned them to follow him.

They walked for a ways in the massive aircraft carrier's bottom deck descending down several sets of staircases until they came to a big room filled with numerous computers, a light-up table in the middle as well as several maps. There were a dozen people in the room.

"This is where our strategic attacks and defensive measures are planned out. We are currently right here. We will rondevu with some other members of our fleet here. It will take about two days at flank speed. From here you will be flown to several smaller ships which will take you to Ireland, one of our friendly countries. From there you will take a red-eye flight to Kabol in Afghanistan, where you will be driven to the boarder of Takistan. From there you and your men are on your own. It'll be about a two hundred mile hike to reach China's border due east, it might be faster if you hitch-hike." The admiral said and then turned to look at Herrior. He straightened his uniform and looked at his army.

"Judging are we?" Herrior asked.

"You're only my responsibility on my carrier…I think it's frankly a suicide mission and all you are going to do is make things worse. Walk with me." The admiral said moving his way through the crowd as he exited the room and took a right.

"Food is served at eight am, noon, and five pm in the mess hall. Your accommodations are at the far end. I would suggest relaxing for the trip and stay in your area so my men can conduct their work. The work on a carrier is awfully demanding and I don't want any accidents. Now if you will excuse me I need to get to the bridge. I will send some petty officer's to make sure your needs are being met." The admiral said and then walked through the crowd and disappeared.

"I don't think he likes us…can I go bug him?" Mohania asked with a big smile.

"Maybe later – he isn't our target. Let's go see our accommodations." Herrior said turning back around and walked to their rooms.

Herrior walked in first and suddenly felt very claustrophobic. He hid it for awhile until all of his men and women entered the room. He asked to have the door shut.

"Trackolania…wake up Jacklyn. She can't stay in hibernation for the next couple of days. She'll need to move around so that her muscles don't cramp up." Herrior said as Trackolania administered the antidote. Jacklyn instantly started gagging on it as her throat expressed its distaste for it. Jacklyn recognized the taste as her brain started functioning again and drank the rest of it.

"Tell me we are there…" Jacklyn said.

"We have two days journey on this vessel, or carrier is what the admiral referred to it." Herrior said.

"Good…wake me up in two days…" Jacklyn said and started to climb into one of the bunks. It instantly ripped and caused her to crash to the ground. Jacklyn mighty blades carved a huge tear on the bottom of the ships haul as the sound echoed throughout the chambers.

"This is just great…I'm on a floating vessel that can't withhold our armor and weapons. So let me guess, we have to sleep on the metal floor with all of the rivets in it?" Jacklyn asked as she started to get up and ripped another large bed compartment completely apart. Jacklyn roared in anger as she reached for her blades.

"Jacklyn!" Herrior said sharply. Jacklyn immediately stopped and let her rage subside. The men and women were astonished to see that Jacklyn's size had increased and her muscles had almost doubled.

"Steady yourself…I don't want to be on this anymore than you do. But we don't have a lock on our location so we have to endure these conditions until then. Once we get Lindel in position she'll shorten our trip, but that is going to take awhile." Herrior said and then turned to Lindel, "I have no idea what they plan on doing to do, but you'll probably have to assume your banshee form or float down invisibly."

"I sort of thought I would have to do that. Once this "X aircraft" or whatever it is does its circle turn, I'll float through it and fall towards the ground. I'm also anticipating I will be attacked. Banshee's floating through the air usually alerts the alliance…" Lindel said smiling at him.

"Don't die…that's an order." Herrior said.

"I'll be invisible and feed when necessary." Lindel said smiling.

"Sir – permission to speak freely?" one of the soldiers asked.

"I can only answer some questions. I will give all of you more information than the others, for example the captain of this vessel." Herrior said.

"So…either you and the misses have either been on steroids birth, or you're not from around here…" the man asked.

"Is the door shut? Trackolania make sure this room is secure." Herrior said. One of the soldiers turned around and gave the wheel to the room a half turn. Trackolania bounced off several beds – cutting the speakers and dismantling any means of communication to the room. Trackolania then looked at Herrior and nodded.

"Everybody please come here and sit down. I have a tale to tell. I generally sit with my party so that everybody is equal, however for this mission our party is so large that I want everybody to hear me and get a chance to ask questions. I also want to see all of your faces to see if I am being understood or if you are scared." Herrior said. He walked backwards and let everybody set down their weapons and gear as they all sat before him.

"Good. To answer your question, I have no idea what steroids are. I have no idea what sort of metal floating island this is or why it is so big and loud. This Takistan place that we are going to I have never heard of before. I didn't even know what pizza was until about a year ago. As your leader I have to confess certain secrets to you in order for you to obey me to the point of death. It looks like many of you are seasoned fighters and I am glad for that, but I've had a distaste for humans for the longest time until I was taken into one of your homes by a married couple. Generally we have fought humans for hundreds of years, a specific type of humans to be exact – none of which any of you have. I have nothing but pride to lead you into battle. I have led parties into battle to numerous to count and yet I stand. My party has never failed to follow an order and yet they stand. As long as you follow my orders, all of you will return as heroes of this world and we will return to ours. So to answer your question, half of my party consists of humans we recently took on, the rest of us are not from your world. We are not to be feared though. A recent attack that was organized by members of our party caused many of our enemies to die in one swift blow. It has devastated our enemy's ranks and we feel that our enemy is going to come to the area of the site of destruction to help rebuild it. Our job is to gather information, mostly their current numbers, where they are coming from, and judge how powerful they are now. The problem that we have is we cannot get any of our scouts in the area because of the number of humans in the area, asking questions and whatnot. Several of your engineers, pilots, and your annoying 'press' I think is what you call it, are swarming the area. I'm side-tracking from your question though. Some of us are from different races from different worlds. For example I am a tauren raised in Bloodhoof village. Do not be shocked, but I am going to touch my trinket to reveal my normal self." Herrior said looking at his audience. He had their undivided attention and a slight worry on their faces. Herrior touched his dragon trinket and instantly changed back into his normal self and several gasps and shocks of surprisement came from his army.

"I tried to explain as much as I could to keep the shock to a minimal. I will maintain a human form to ease your nerves and not draw suspicion to me and my party." Herrior said and touched his trinket again. This time his disguise was that of the rest of the soldiers.

"You do not need to know where we came from, but I needed to show you who will be leading you into battle. The rest of my party will do their jobs to save your lives and fulfill their mission as well. The reason why we are bringing you is to disarm their weapons and to strategically put some of your bullets into your enemies. We will handle our enemies, they are not as easily defeated with your weapons. Your insurgents that are battling the city called China will be killed by your weapons. You will look like you have saved the world and take full credit for it. I have a feeling that these 'insurgents' and our enemies, the alliance, are directly related. This is a good working relationship that we have with these common goals. I'm looking at your faces and some of you seem worried. Let me assure you we are not interested in your technology, the atom weapons, or anything of the sorts. We are not hired to take on this mission; your money here is worthless to us. After our mission has been completed, I will give an invitation for all of you to join us in our battles – but I warn you now that we hardly sleep, rarely eat, and fight until death." Herrior ended.

"Sir, with all due respect, that is what we are trained to do." A soldier immediately replied.

"I'm glad to hear it, but I anticipate bringing all of you home alive and in better shape than how you are now – but, I can only do that if you follow my orders. Does anybody have a problem following my orders as of right now?" Herrior asked.

"No sir!" was everybody's reply.

"Good. My party will sleep on the ground while the rest of you may sleep in these makeshift beds. It appears that our armor and weapons are too heavy for them." Herrior said.

"Just…what are your weapons?" a soldier asked.

"Good question. Our party is divided up into four different categories: Tanks, Melee, healers and Ranged. Tanks will always put themselves in arms way to defend those behind the line. They consist of taunting our enemies and mitigating damage. The melee groups are the ones that fight with swords, daggers, and other hand weapons. Our ranged consisted of those that have guns, bows, and spells – and lastly our healers are just that. They heal our wounded and bring back to life those that have died on the battlefield. I imagine your battle tactics are slightly different than ours so I will explain that as well. I want everybody's full cooperation in this assault." Herrior said and began to explain their tactics for several hours.

Five o'clock came as Herrior saw an officer look at his watch. He then turned his glance away and asked if anybody wanted to go eat. Silence fell over the crowd as they looked at each other. They all felt empowered with the secrets of the universe. No one wanted to be the first to say they wanted to leave. They wanted to stay and hear more stories.

"I for one am hungry…" Lindel said. She held her hands up and within a second change into a sexy outfit. It consisted of a small two piece bathing suit with silk coming down from her waist to her feet. Also two pieces of silk came from her top and affixed themselves to two golden bracelets around her wrist. She walked over and bent down at one of the surprised soldiers and said, "You body deceives you. You have to eat to sustain your body, yet you are mesmerized by what your eyes see and your ears hear. You can't always rely on those two senses." Lindel said running her hand through a man's hair. She turned around and instantly turned into the same exact looking soldier that she touched. Everybody looked astonished.

"I can even duplicate your voice." Lindel said in his voice. Everybody was again clearly impressed.

"Thanks for that example Lindel. Show us where to eat and we will follow." Herrior said.

"That's nothing! I can ignite my body on fire and start an inferno!" Mohania said.

"But are you as sexy as me?" Lindel asked bumping him with her hip.

"I'm not as annoying as you…" Mohania said.

"We'll have to take a vote on that!" Crystal yelled out.

"Let's go children…" Skyka said glaring behind her with a smile.

They entered the mess hall as everybody stopped talking and stared at them for a quick second with a harsh glare. Then they went back to eating.

"Strings" Herrior whispered.

Strings walked forward and said, "Greetings and salutations everyone. We are honored to eat among you. It smells delightful and I can only imagine the taste of it. I bet it is wondrous and perhaps we can share stories over some ale afterwards?"

"Ale? Who is this guy?" A soldier said as the room began to laugh.

"Ah my good fellow, ale consists of alcohol and a variety of different berries, grains or other sweeteners. Does this vessel not carry such a drink?" Strings asked walking up to the soldier.

The soldier stared up at him and then said, "I've just lost my appetite" as he picked up his tray and left.

"Perhaps you cannot hold your ale? I'll challenge you to keep up with me in drinking." Strings said putting his leg up where the soldier was.

"We…are not allowed to drink on duty."

"When are you off duty?" Strings replied back quickly.

"Forget it." The soldier said and walked away.

"You win and I and my party will have to wash your clothes for the duration of our stay. You win and we will be treated the same as the rest of you." Strings said standing tall and pulling down his shirt to straighten it.

"All of you…on laundry duty?" The soldier asked.

"Clothes so clean they will squeak when you put them on. Also if we lose we will all take turns cleaning the bottoms of your leaders shoes with our tongues." Strings said.

"He accepts." A familiar voice said to the right of Strings. It was the admiral. He stood up and said, "Chef, bring out the liquor…the strongest you have…" with a smile.

"There we go, how about that. Son, you have to follow your leaders. Let us have some fun!" Strings said kindly smiling at him.

"Sure…alright… make room under the table as I drink him under it." The soldier said as the rest of the soldiers began to laugh.

Herrior's party was initiated into the room more easily now. Many of them went up to the serving area to get their food. Mohania noticed something and asked if that was mustard that they were eating.

"No it's hot sauce. Wouldn't want you to catch fire…" A soldier joked to his surrounding soldiers.

"It won't be the first time I ignited myself on fire…let me see that thing." Mohania said grabbed the large bottle. He spun off the lid and tossed it aside as he held the opening to his lips and took large gulps of it. The soldiers looked at him amazed, but to Mohania it was just another type of food that burned up inside of him. He had no sense of taste.

He finished the jug and pushed it in the soldier's chest and said, "You call that hot? I'd have to drink at least ten of those in order to feel a slight tingle…wuss." Mohania said.

"Chef – bring out our lava sauce!" The admiral said with a smile on his face.

"Make it a double!" Mohania yelled over his shoulder. He turned back to the admiral and asked, "Wanna see who can down theirs the fastest?"

"I don't make bets with my soldiers, but if someone were to volunteer they would sleep in my bunk for a week." The admiral said. Several soldiers quickly volunteered.

"Lava huh…this should be fun." Mohania said grasping his hands and stretching his arms in front of him.

A large man walked up to him and looked down at him with a grin.

"You remember this moment…you looking up at me and questioning whether or not you should have taken this bet." The soldier said.

Mohania began to laugh, part of it turning into his sinister dark and evil laugh. The man backed up from him in shock as Mohania stopped laughing and looked at him.

"I'll remember this moment…and the moment when you are on the ground whimpering and begging to be thrown overboard so you can drink up the seas to extinguish the flames inside of you…and even then you will beg the creatures of the seas to devour you whole because the pain is to much." Mohania said with an eerie tone.

"Mohania…" Herrior said.

"I'm trying to be good!" Mohania said in a chipper voice turning around to face Herrior.

"Try a little harder…" Herrior said filling his tray with food he didn't recognize.

"Here we go ladies and gents! Gather around and witness the drinking contest. Everclear – a whopping one hundred and ninety proof. No flavors, no gagging, no vomiting, and you have to down the entire glass." One of the chefs said carrying out the keg. The soldier looked afraid as Strings started to chuckle.

Herrior ordered his party to eat as the rest of the soldiers in the room gathered around to cheer them on.

"Ladies first…" Strings said bowing to the soldier. This angered the soldier and said to pour him a glass. The chef filled it half full and the soldier immediately downed it. His face puckered up bad as his taste buds flared up. He swallowed it and took a deep breath.

Strings started to laugh and said, "My dear fellow…this contest will be over before it even starts."

"Pour his cocky-ass a drink!" The soldier demanded.

"In a glass or a cup as you did? I think not." Strings said pulling towards him a near empty pickle jar. He reached into it and pulled out the last three pickles and ate them. He then drank the rest of the pickle juice to everybody's amazement and finally said, "Fill it up" as he slammed the jar down on the table looking at the soldier. Everybody looked at him in amazement. The chef did as he was told and nearly emptied half of the keg into the pickle juice jar.

"You've got to be shitting me…" the soldier said.

"Oh…my apologies, could you fill up his tiny glass also?" Strings asked as his party began to snicker. Strings grabbed the pickle jar with both hands and took huge gulps. Within a minute it was empty.

"Not bad…not very tasteful…but not bad... So what's the count? How many glasses has he drunk so far? I wasn't paying attention." Strings said in a completely sober voice.

"How the hell did you do that?" The soldier asked in protest.

"First I asked for a drink. Then I put both hands on the jar and put it to my lips…" Strings began to explain before he was interrupted by Dan, "That's what he did to your sister last night!" Everybody exploded in laughter. The soldier walked away.

"Is the game over?" Strings asked aloud.

"Hot stuff…coming through!" another chef said as he walked over to Mohania and the large man. "Hottest stuff we have…it can melt right through your intestines, and just so everybody knows I am not cleaning up any puke!" Laughter started up again.

Mohania grabbed the first bottle, ripped off the top with his teeth and poured the entire contents in his mouth. He began to make gargling noises and swooshed it back and forth in his mouth. He then swallowed it and said, "Is this supposed to be hot? Keep the bottles coming…"

Mohania drank seven bottles straight and tossed them aside when he was done. He then stopped and apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm drinking all of the bottles - here you can have this one. I'm on bottle number seven."

"What the hell?" The man looked at him still in shock.

"That's what I was saying…it's not hot at all. Give me a couple more…maybe if I drink three or four of them at the same time." Mohania said gathering up two in each hand. He bit the lids off from each one and down all four of them as if it was just water.

"That's eleven…what number are you on?" Mohania asked him. He drank half a bottle and had started gagging on it. "Well that's half of one so you are off to a good start." The man then fell to the floor and vomited up his food and groaned in agony.

"Is he going to finish that?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Who…or what…are you?" The soldier asked in just enough time before he vomited again.

"I was born and raised in a volcano…" Mohania said with a bigger smile on his face. "So anybody else want to challenge us, or have we earned the respect to sit with the rest of you without prejudice?"

"Come over here and sit with me. Apparently my men and I owe you an apology." The admiral said. Herrior's party looked up at him and he motioned them over to him. The rest of the soldiers and officers felt proud of their group and felt victorious now instead of shame.

"Can I get another keg to go?" Strings asked.

"No…we only save that for special occasions. Seal it back up and store it away." The admiral said. Herrior walked over with his tray of food and sat down next to him.

"Excellent demonstration I must say. You've earned my respect and my fleet's respect. They will be talking about this for days."

"And to think it only took making two of your party members sick to earn your respect. From now on don't judge a book by its cover. Our mission will not interfere with your mission and we will leave as soon as we can." Herrior said.

"I can always order the captain to do a couple of circles before we get there. How about I take you on a tour of my carrier?" The admiral asked with sincerity.

"I appreciate the offer, but the faster we get to our destination and complete our mission, the safer your world will be." Herrior said.

"Our world?" the admiral asked. Herrior slipped up and said the wrong word.

"Yup…our world" Herrior replied.

"So what…are you from Mars or something?" The admiral asked.

"Never heard of it. We're an elite squadron that is only dispatched once in a while to avert global catastrophe. My party has more experience in such matters, as well as several other talents as you have seen. We're just simply here to do our job, same as the rest of you. The rest of the soldiers with us I either hand-picked or a dear friend of mine did." Herrior said chewing with his mouth opening and pointing to everybody else with his fork.

"Name probably starts with the letter "G" huh?" the admiral asked. Herrior nodded as he looked down at his food.

"Our armies have fought against global catastrophes as well. Take for example world war one and two, the Cuban missile crisis, the Gulf war, and several other missions that are classified." The admiral said in response to Herrior's statement.

Herrior nodded and said "There have been many wars fought on this world – that I am not arguing, nor am I judging your party with ours. Your vessel for example has probably seen many battles and your fighters seem very seasoned. I believe we have different tactics though, neither of which are better than the others."

"So what are you…really?" The admiral asked.

"A tauren" Herrior replied.

"A mythological beast, half man and half cow?" The admiral replied with a smile. Herrior stopped chewing and looked over at him. The eye contact lasted about ten seconds before the admiral asked if he liked his dinner.

"It's ok." Herrior replied.

"Your little one doesn't appear very hungry…also he is carving something in the table." The admiral said.

"Trackolania don't." Herrior said. Trackolania sighed and put his dagger away. Herrior continued, "We all have a rough history in our lives and have different ways of coping with our losses and wins. Just because we win a battle doesn't always mean victory for us."

Suddenly loud alarms started going off and red lights started flashing.

"Incoming torpedo, starboard side! Approximately six thousands yards and closing in!" a voice said over the intercom.

"Shit!" The admiral said quickly jumping out of his chair.

"What is starboard side?" Herrior asked.

"That way!" the admiral yelled and quickly ran up the stairs.

"Lindel!" Herrior yelled. Lindel quickly got up and flew across the room and passed through several walls until she was out in the ocean. She then linked her mind with Herrior's and said, "What am I looking for?"

"Something coming at the ship…I have no clue…" Herrior said desperately in his mind. Then as if Branzer was reading their conversation said, "It's a missile in the water. It's about ten meters long by about two or three meters wide. It's self-propelled and carries a highly explosive payload. We need to stop that from hitting the carrier along with destroying whatever vessel shot it at us!

"Got that?" Herrior asked aloud.

"Already looking for it…" Lindel said back in her mind and broke the link.

The aircraft carrier made a hard turn to the right and started shooting out their countermeasures. This caused the mess hall to have everything in the room slam up against the opposite wall and echo with the sounds of the countermeasures being shot out.

"Quinely – go fish!" Herrior said steadying himself and everybody else. Quinely morphed into a fly and quickly flew up to the upper deck where all of the action was taking place. She then morphed into a raven and flew quickly to where Lindel was gliding through the water.

"Link me up Lindel." Quinely said in her mind. Lindel created a mental link and both of them started scanning for the torpedo.

In no time at all, Quinely spotted something making its own waves heading towards the ship.

"Lindel do you see that?" Quinely asked.

"I do now. I'll go get it, you go find out where it came from." Lindel said altering her course and accelerating her speed. Within seconds Lindel had caught up to it and created a mental link with Branzer and showed him what she was seeing. Branzer acknowledged that was it and Lindel broke the mental link. Lindel then grabbed a hold of the torpedo and flew out of the water with it. The back end of the torpedo's turbine still spinning as fast as it could as Lindel landed backwards as the torpedo took off in the opposite direction.

"I've got a lock on where the torpedo came from. I can sense the anticipation from a machine underwater. I'm going to need to suck the power from this device and I'll meet you at the ship." Lindel said in Quinely mind. She acknowledged and flew faster towards the location where Lindel had specified in her head.

"Sir…the torpedo has stopped…and turned completely around…" one of the crew told the admiral.

"What? It can't do that! Double check your equipment!" The admiral yelled.

"I did sir…it simply stopped going in our direction and reversed its course."

"I sent two of my party members to go intercept it. Word has it they found a vehicle underwater that shot the torpedo. They are going to go destroy it now." Herrior said calmly walking up the stairs.

"What?" The admiral asked in confusion.

"Our long range hard pings have picked up a disturbance but it's too far away to decipher what it is." Another crew member said. The admiral looked at him and then back at Herrior.

"I don't know what a ping is." Herrior said shrugging.

"Get some sonobuoys in the water! Find out where that damn sub is! Turn us in direction of…that bird, and keep the same speed. Get ready to drop more countermeasures once you detect another coming." The admiral commanded.

"The battle will be over in the next five minutes or less. Wanna take a bet on that?" Herrior asked with a smile. He folded his arms and leaned up against the wall with a big smile on his face. The admiral saw the confidence in his face and it gave him an eerie feeling. He turned back around and said, "Get those copters in the air!"

"This torpedo's energy has been drained. I'm moving more towards the vessel. Where are you at Quinely?" Lindel asked. The torpedo, fully depleted of its explosives a fuel, fell harmlessly to the bottom of the ocean.

"Right above you; how much farther should I go?" Quinely asked.

"I'm sensing people about one hundred yards ahead, but I can't see anything." Lindel said.

"Ok…belly flop time!" Quinely said in her mind. She morphed from a bird into an enormous shark and fell into the water.

"Admiral! I…just saw the bird turn into a big shark suddenly and fall into the water. Biggest damn shark I've ever seen…" the crewman said with binoculars to his eyes. He lowered them and turned to face the admiral feeling silly for what he just said.

"Was it jaws?" Branzer came up into the upper deck chewing on a carrot. "Want one Herrior? I hear they are good for vision."

"Sure" Herrior said taking one from him and popping it into his mouth.

"What's going on here?" The admiral yelled and stormed over towards Herrior.

"We're not from your world…you didn't believe me did you…" Herrior said in a quiet voice. "Do you want the people on the underwater boat dead or alive?"

"There is a huge as shark going after them…there is not going to be anything left of the crew!"

"They are waiting on my orders. One of my party members defused the first torpedo and it's falling harmlessly to the bottom of the ocean. She said they fired another one, but she quickly sucked the power out of that one. Now back to my question…do you want their crew dead or alive?" Herrior asked and held his hand out to Branzer for another carrot.

"Alive." The admiral said.

"I'll let them know." Herrior said.

Lindel and Quinely both acknowledged the message and went to their duties.

"I'll destroy the fins in the back and the spinny thing. You go inside and scare them up real good." Quinely said.

"Sounds good" Lindel said.

Quinely grow even larger and slammed into the front of the submarine as hard as she could. The sound it made echoed for miles around as the sub was thrown backwards. Quinely then slowly swam over to a porthole and looked inside and saw some terrified men looking at her. She quickly turned around and bite at the porthole. Afterwards she swam to the back of the sub and violently began to tear and rip at the fins.

"Hello gentlemen" Lindel said in a sexy voice appearing in the front of the ship. Everybody looked at her in shock. She then held out her hands and began summoning her undead army.

"Take them alive!" Lindel commanded at the several dozen skeletons began to attack them.

"Blow the emergency tanks!" The voice was in a different language, but Lindel translated it as such. She rose into the air and flew to one of the crew men and sunk her teeth into his shoulder. The man tried to reach for his gun when she let out a high pitch howl that was so loud it deafened everybody. Her undead army made non-lethal attacks and slammed their shields against them, successfully breaking their bones; at the same time the submarine shook violently from Quinely.

"I'm going to bring them up…how's it going in the vessel?" Quinely asked in her mind spitting out chunks of metal.

"I have them shitting themselves…" Lindel replied in her mind.

Quinely enlarged herself even more and sunk her enormous teeth into the ship and swam as hard as she could towards the surface. Everybody in the boot, including Lindel's undead army fell towards the front of the ship. Lindel made herself invisible and everybody passed through her.

Quinely flew out of the water with the submarine in her mouth. She had time to flap her tail back and forth a couple of times before crashing back down into the water.

"Holy shit…sir!" said one of the several crewmen was watching with binoculars as was the admiral. The witnessed what Quinely did and were shocked.

"Move the ship up to the damaged submarine. Get our rescue crews on stand-by…also make sure everybody out there is armed; man our .50 calibers just in case." The admiral said.

The aircraft carried was quickly approaching the submarine at the same time everybody in the submarine was trying to get out of the hatch. Then they saw the enormous shark in the water slowly swimming back and forth. By now Quinely had brought in several more sharks as they circled the badly damaged submarine. The crew was carefully to get out of the submarine and stand on its outer haul. They started yelled for help, were waving their shirts and shooting off flares.

"Looks like they are having a party…" Herrior said with a big smile.

"Ooo…I like parties!" Mohania said walking up to Branzer.

"No you don't…you are just here so you can ask if you can eat them." Branzer said.

"Who…me? You must have mistaken me with…somebody else…who would do that…" Mohania asked with a big smile.

"You need to work on lying better." Branzer said laughing.

As soon as the aircraft carrier pulled up beside it, it shut off its nuclear reactors and dropped its enormous anchors. Quinely and the other sharks quickly disappeared as Lindel sucked away the power of her undead army and flew back into the aircraft carrier. Quinely morphed into a raven and circled high above the scene for awhile before flying down and into the command center with Herrior. She morphed back into herself as everybody watched.

"Did I do well?" Quinely asked excitedly.

"About average…" Mohania said unenthusiastically.

"Holy shit…I mean…holy shit! Did you…I mean…were you…" a crewman began to sputter.

"Admiral…" Herrior said in a solemn voice.

"No she did not. She is a guest on this shit. We destroy that sub that fired on us. We did not see a giant shark, and we avoided both torpedoes. Spread the word! If I hear a different story I will have you court-marshaled and lock you up so quickly you won't know what happened! Is that understood!" The admiral screamed. The bridge went quiet as everybody stared at him. "Now I suggest you start running some diagnostics on your equipment because obviously something is wrong with it. This was a simple practice drill and you interrupted my dinner!" and with that admiral stormed over to the intercom.

"Bring in the men and women from their wrecked submarine and put them in the brig. I want them questioned. I want the sub in toe and I want those anchors back up and back on course quickly!"

The admiral then turned to Herrior and asked if they could go speak in his private room. Herrior nodded. "You might want to help clean up the mess hall; I hear it is a little messy down there.

"The last thing I need is to start a war between us and whoever those people are. If this was a proper assault on us, they would not have launched that torpedo from that far away. From the projected course of the torpedo it would have barely missed us and I feel confident that our countermeasures would have destroyed it. They took a one in a million shot. Also a rogue submarine would never launch an attack on an aircraft carrier that could hunt it down and sink it in a matter of minutes…to me it sounds like a suicide mission. What are your thoughts?" The admiral blurted quickly.

"Sounds like our enemy the alliance. If that is the case, the people they are bringing aboard right now will overpower your men. They are stupid, but they are strong and heavily armed. I am not sure how they would have known we were on this vessel of yours unless there is a leak. I doubt that though, my party senses betrayal and I would have been notified of it immediately. Is there a prize of some sort if they were to destroy your vessel?" Herrior asked.

"Damn right there would be! The last thing we need is a rogue sub capturing one of our strongest aircraft carriers. My ass would be on the chopping block back at Washington! We have to view this as a terrorist attack then. So if you think your enemies the 'alliance' was behind this attack, we can interrogate them and find out. To be quite honest I don't feel like having terrorists on my ship…"

"Would you have any objection to having members of my party interrogate them?" Herrior asked.

"Since you are not from the United States and are not under the Geneva Convention, the rules of interrogation do not apply to you…" The admiral leaned back in his chair and said, "We seem to have found a target for my men to shoot at, an old abandoned submarine. We could practice firing at it until there is nothing left. All of this assuming of course you do not want anything on the submarine…I see it as nothing more than a clay pigeon waiting to be shot at." The admiral finished with a big smile.

"I don't remember picking up any survivors off from a submarine…is there a sound proof room in your ship?" Herrior smiled back.

"Plenty of them…" the admiral said reaching out his hand. Herrior shook it.

"It's a pleasure to have you aboard. You are just the kind of people that needs to go on your special mission." The admiral remarked.

"The pleasure is ours; this is a fine ship and a remarkable crew. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go speak with my party…in a sound proof room…" Herrior said standing up.

"Of course, and I need to be on the bridge. It seems that some of our equipment has malfunctioned. Both of them left and went in separate directions. Herrior waved his party over towards him as they went below deck. They walked into the mess hall…which was now really a "mess" hall. Skyka looked up and said, "The steak is great…I have no idea what the seasoning is, but I am going to get the recipe."

"Good to hear that. We need to form our party and go talk." Herrior said.

"Ok," Skyka said wiping her mouth and getting up from the table.

Herrior's entire party came together as he asked to have the door shut tight. One of the soldiers turned the wheel as hard as he could to show that it was shut.

"We are going to have a learning experience. As many of you saw, members of our party are able to do things that a normal human cannot do. Brace yourself for more things such as this. Secondly – we are being given the opportunity to get the information out of the hostages the admiral's men are currently rescuing. Is there anybody that would like to volunteer for this?" Herrior asked.

"Really? I mean…really? Do you really have to ask that question?" Mohania asked with a big smile.

"Somebody else might want a turn." Herrior suggested.

"No they don't…" Mohania said still smiling shaking his head.

"Several of us have been trained for interrogation techniques; we can fulfill this order if you wish." A soldier behind Mohania said. Mohania turned his head completely around and said, "Are you able to rip out a man's heart, take a bite out of it, and put it back? No? Well then I think I have more experience in this." The soldiers looked shocked as Mohania finished turning his head all the way around. Herrior put his hand over his head and shook it slowly.

"What? Ok fine…I won't do that. Can I take my head off, ignite it in fire and place it on their chest as I laugh while melting their skin?" Mohania asked.

"Ok let's not discuss our methods of torture; we are trying to not scare our party while they are still learning us and our ways. Moving on – Lindel what information have you gathered?" Herrior asked.

"They don't speak common. They are scared of the undead and sharks…other than that I was focusing my mind on attacks and not on reading their minds. I'll have to go in their minds and learn their language, and then I'll spread my knowledge to everybody else." Lindel said.

"Pain is a universal language…I could be of more benefit then the talkative woman." Mohania said.

"You'll get your chance Mohania, just settle down for now." Herrior said glancing over at him. Looking back at Lindel he continued, "I want you to do that"; then he looked over at Dan and Crystal and said, "If at all possible can you lower you mental defenses so that the language can be given to you?"

"I have no idea how it even got there…" Dan said.

"I'll give it a shot" replied Crystal.

"Now I want to address the rest of my party. The admiral and I agreed that this event never happened. He will sink the ship and we will dispose of the humans once we get as much information out of them that we can. Then we can resume our course and get back on our mission." Herrior said.

"The sooner the better…" Jacklyn added.

"We'll portal back as soon as we get to the location – you only have to endure it for a little longer." Herrior said trying to comfort her.

"I've got a question…many actually…but what do you mean by 'disposing of the humans'?" one of the officers asked.

"Once we get all of the information that we need, we will treat them as hostile attackers with the sole intent on killing us – which is exactly what they were trying to accomplish. We leave no survivors and we'll dump their worthless carcasses in one of our worlds for the animals and birds to feed off from." Herrior said.

"That's…against our training, I mean the first part – the last part was never part of our training. There are laws against that." The same soldier said.

"Are there also laws against our eager friend there from being able to spin his head all the way around?" Dan piped up. "We play for keeps. If somebody attacks us, we kill them. If we are in the middle of battle and innocent people are fleeing or staying away from the battle we leave them alone. We try not to shed innocent blood. In this case…they are all guilty."

"Dan speaks the truth. I am the law now. If I tell you to kill somebody, you do it – or you will answer to me…and usually you end up in several pieces. I refuse to lead a party into battle without my party following my every order. If I tell you to move out of the way…even if you have a good shot with your guns that you brought, you had better get your ass out of the way. If I fall in combat, Jacklyn is your second in command overall. Your main tanks are myself, Quinely, and Veliline. They will tell you to do certain things, when to fire, when to move positions, and may even give specific orders to some of you. I expect all of you to follow them." Herrior heard a knock on the outer door. "It sounds like our enemies are being brought to us. Anybody who doesn't want to witness the interrogation may leave. I will not judge you for it. Open the door for them."

The same soldier turned the hatch that unlocked the latches and swung the door open.

"They are a feisty bunch. We had to put some down…wasn't easy. Several of us unloaded several clips into them before they stopped moving." One of the soldiers said and violently threw the first one in the room. He crashed down on the floor and quickly turned around and hissed at him. The soldiers raised their guns at him.

"Hold it! I didn't give the command! The situation is well under control. I understand that many of you have had your world turned upside down and things that didn't seem real before and probably things you haven't imagined before have come true, but I am your leader – you will follow my orders!" Herrior said with deep authority. "Meet…our enemy…" Herrior walked over and stepped on the man's hand. The man howled in pain and looked up at Herrior. Instantly the man knew something was wrong. Herrior's trinket was still on, but this human was abnormally strong.

"Bring the rest in." Herrior said picking up the alliance man and throwing him hard across the room. His body slammed into the wall as several of his bones let out a sickening crunch. "Julie, Branzer…make sure they don't go anywhere." Herrior said. They both pulled out their guns as they sprung to life and aimed at the man on the floor.

"Their guns…they move... What is this Star Trek or something?" One of the admiral's soldiers asked.

"Bring the rest in…I do not want any more questions. Now do you understand that order or do I need to rip your ear off and scream it into it?" Herrior asked walking up to him and picking up the man with one hand. He then slammed him into the ceiling and then threw him back into the crowd.

"Heal him…Mohania, our first guest isn't talking yet." Herrior said.

"On it" Mohania and Skyka said at the same time as they went in different directions. Skyka began to cast a spell and then held her hands up into the air as a blast of yellowish white light slammed into the man Herrior threw and instantly healed his body. Everybody, including those soldiers and officers with Herrior stared in amazement.

"Close your mouths guys, you are going to have a bug fly in your mouth. If you want some advice…you might want to do what Herrior said…and quickly…" Skyka whispered at the end. The soldiers immediately got back to get the rest as the rest of Herrior's party came inside the room.

One by one, they were escorted in by three or even four soldiers into the room until they had sixty five in there. The soldiers then informed Herrior that they would be practicing some drills on an abandoned submarine before heading back on course.

"Make sure they rip it a new one for me." Herrior said back.

"I'll rely that to the admiral." The soldier said with a smile and left the room making sure to seal the door behind him.

"Now we are going to have a training exercise. You heard what the other members of the admiral's party said; they had to put several of their bullets into one of these fighters in order to kill them. The alliance are stronger, faster, and more aggressive than the rest of you are. Some of you know this already so consider this a refresher course. Julie – summon Spark and kill one of them." Herrior said. Julie whistled and a huge dog appeared next to her. She petted it for a second and then pointed at one of the alliance. The alliance man suddenly looked afraid and tried to run away, but Spark ran towards him almost faster than the eye could see. The mighty dog sunk its rows of teeth into the man's leg and threw him around. Julie and Spark then enraged themselves as Spark tore at the man ferociously and Julie let out shot after shot. The alliance man's body could not endure the attacks and fell dead on the ground within seconds. It then burned up into ashes and disappeared. The soldiers looked at it in awe.

"That is our enemy. They are not of our world and are bent on destroying it while we are bent on saving it. This is what we are going to encounter. Crystal…would you do the next honors for us please?" Herrior asked.

Crystal stepped out in front of the crowd and began to cast a spell. It hit its target as she held her hand up launching several other instant cast spells at it. She then raised her other hand and a green beam of light swirled from the man. It went from his body and into hers. The man screamed in agony as he held his head. Eventually the man's body exploded and her initial spell jumped to the ones around him, infecting their minds with deadly shadow energy. They started to groan in agony as well. Their eyes turned red as they looked at her.

"Finish them…" Herrior said. Crystal's hand lit up as each instant cast spell penetrated the man's mind and caused more agony for them. She then stood in the middle of them and held her hands up. Several beams of green light protruded from her body and connected with her attackers. It sucked the life out of them as they fell to the ground and burned in fire. Crystal then sucker punched one of the alliance men that was looking down on the ground. The man, caught unaware, stumbled backwards as Crystal walked slowly away with a big smile on her face.

"Not sure what that was about…but it wasn't out of line. Now you, with your gun, take it and aim it at the alliance that is coming after Crystal and kill him." Herrior said pointing to one of the soldiers. The soldier raised his gun, quickly threw the safety off and raised it to his shoulder as the bullets flew out of it. Pieces of flesh flew off from the man as the bullets hit him. Crystal then moved off to the side and the man landed several bullets into the man's head. One of his eyes exploded as the others sunk into his head. Finally after fifty rounds the man dropped to his knees.

"Show them no mercy…they wouldn't for you." Herrior said. The soldier took the butt end of the gun and slammed it against his target's face. The man violently shook as another blow came from the butt end of the gun. He lay unconscious but did not burn up.

"What am I doing wrong?" The soldier asked.

"I'm glad you asked that. You first shot to avoid Crystal, I do appreciate you not hitting her, but you need to move. Aim at the head, throat if possible. You need to sever the connection between the body and the head. Take your gun and slam it repeated on the man's throat until he dies." Herrior said. The man did as he was told and after three strikes the man burned up.

"It is not the gun that kills a person, but the skill of the shooter. Branzer show us please." Herrior said. Branzer held his hand out and his gun instantly flew from its holster and into his hand, changing shape as he did. His eyes turned into a grey hawk as a red target was placed the next man's forehead. Several seconds later a powerful explosion came from Branzer's gun and the man's head exploded as if it was a watermelon dropped on the ground.

"One shot…one kill…" Branzer said putting his gun back in its holster. "There are different ways of shooting – spraying bullets at a target isn't necessary unless you want to distract multiple targets to focus on you. Julie and I are both known as 'Hunters'. She specializes in animal training and I specialize in marksmanship. Neither is better than the other. The advantage that we have is our armor and weapons are not forged of this world and have magical properties about them that few understand…me being one of them. But I have learned to take orders; I have learned to rely on my party – to pull on their strengths and to help their weaknesses. One of my main roles as a hunter specifically is to tank a group of mobs and to aid the healers if anybody breaks through the line. My other roles include laying traps, confusing opponents and to lay down a barrage of bullets at anything attacking our tanks to ease their pain." Branzer finished explaining and then turned to Herrior and said, "Why isn't the alliance attacking us?"

"Their leader is dead and they are confused…also Mohania has them encased in a magical prison." Herrior said.

"I'm not made of magic…it would be nice to see more splats then confinement…" Mohania said.

"Lindel…could you please present a hand to hand combat demonstration with one of the alliance?" Herrior asked.

"You did get my message right?" Lindel asked aloud.

"Of course I did. We'll take care of them later, now if you would please?" Herrior asked with a smile. Lindel gave her shoulders a slight shrug and pulled one of the alliance men towards her.

"If you find that you are unarmed, there are a few things you want to make sure you do." Lindel said. The alliance man shook his head and glared fiercely at Lindel as he started to move towards her.

"Hold on a second…" Lindel said reaching out with her banshee hand and grabbing the man's arm. A dark aura and a sudden cold filled the room, stunning the man. "I hate being interrupted. Anyways, one thing you do not want to do is look into their eyes. That is the first and foremost important thing to remember. Their eyes will drive fear into you and some may take possession of your body. Find a weapon of some sorts, or use your gun, to dislodge them as fast as possible. If you'll notice with this alliance, he has regained control over his mind and desires to kill me. When you meet an alliance the best way to distinguish one from a normal human or humanoid is their eyes. He is currently looking at the ceiling, but everybody take a quick second to look at them. Notice how dark red they are and how they seem to give off an evil aura. An alliance person will also be very aggressive in everything that they do. If they have a brain in them, they will try to deceive you and turn you into one of them. Do not let this happen or you will become one of our enemies, and we show no mercy. Now then, for the demonstration…" Lindel said letting go of the man. She dispersed her body into millions of tiny little dots of light and entered the man's eyes. The man struggled for several seconds and then was violently thrown up at the ceiling. The human army watched in wonder.

"This alliance knows nothing. His mind has been completely wiped and he is only being fed information to attack all that oppose him. Unfortunately he is of no use to us. This is how we interrogate people…sometimes…there are other methods that Mohania uses which is a big more sloppy…" Lindel said using her voice and making the man's mouth move when she spoke.

"Excuse me? Sloppy? My torture techniques have been perfected over the course of hundreds of years, Miss floppy mouth…" Mohania said.

"And Mohania is annoying. Anyways, if we find a person of interest that we think is of value to us, we will interrogate them. According to Branzer, your methods of interrogation are governered by your laws. You are under Herrior's laws…which means any method of interrogation goes. For example you can inflict fear and pain…" Lindel said and then the man's body flew hard to the ground, then back up at the ceiling, then back down at the ground.

"You call that inflicting fear and pain?" Mohania asked and rolled his human eyes.

"Being a banshee I know have complete control over this human and can access all memories he has ever thought off. I can bring up the very fear that he fears the most…also I have many other abilities that are better than Mohania's abilities and also he's a poo poo head." Lindel said.

"You got me on that one…" Mohania held his hand over his eyes and shook his head.

"Anyways, let's proceed. Everybody cover your faces for me please." Lindel said. The party did as she said and the man she had possessed exploded into millions of tiny pieces of flesh, blood, and bone. Lindel rematerialized into her body and said that they could look now.

"Many of my other attacks I cannot do because there is a possibility I could kill all of you…sorry about that." Lindel said and turned around to look at Herrior. Herrior nodded. Lindel then turned back to the party and said, "There are four normal humans among the alliance that we need to interrogate and are hoping to blend in with everybody else so they won't get noticed. They are also hoping that we will kill them before we can get their secrets. It is your job to find them. I will distract the alliance while the rest of you decide which ones we need to interrogate." Lindel ended and then held her hands out as she raised several skeletons from the metal floor. Once they pulled themselves out, they grabbed their swords and shields. The alliance personal instantly looked at them and let out a deep growl.

"My undead army, I want you to show me your strength and fighting techniques as I will heal you from above. Kill the alliance that attacks you." Lindel said floating into the air and commanding her army.

"For the mistress!" The undead army yelled and ran into battle. Lindel flew above the battle and began sucking the life out of the alliance but her evil banshee hands.

"Hey! You have an order!" Branzer yelled at the rest of the party as they quickly began to run forward. They would grab an alliance person and check their very quickly before spinning them back around.

"Look for the ones that are afraid! Look for the ones that are cowering in their skin! Get all four of them and bring them to me! We will show them the try meaning of torture! They will be skinned alive and their flesh will burn!" Herrior yelled out. Two of the alliance quickly held their hands up. The party grabbed them and quickly threw them to the ground. Several gun barrels were pointed at their heads, while the others secured them.

"Two more…find them! Do whatever you must, but I want them found!" Herrior ordered.

The army started slamming their butts of their guns against the alliance army fighting Lindel's undead army. None of them seemed affected, when all of a sudden one ran behind the battle and towards the door.

"Get him!" One of the men said and gunfire erupted in the air. The man's upper and lower legs were riddled with bullets as his body shook and then fell to the ground.

"I wanted him alive…" Herrior said clearly upset.

"Medic! Seal the wounds…but don't administer any morphine" a man said. Several men quickly ran over to the dying and quickly put two tourniquets were quickly put around his legs and pulled very tight. Then they got busy wrapping his wounds up in duct tape to stop the bleeding. Several of the men apologized to Herrior and he nodded. The rest of the men continued to hit and occasionally shoot a bullet into an alliance attacker when one of the party members noticed one squirming back and forth unlike the others.

"There he is! Get him!" A soldier yelled and ran into the middle of the battle with others behind him. They dragged him out kicking and screaming and then put him over with the other two that had been secured to the ground.

"Excellent! Keep them secured and everybody move out of the way of the battle field…quickly!" Herrior said. The soldiers and policemen did just that.

"My party…leave none alive…" Herrior said pulling out his shield and sword from behind him. Chaos erupted as spells, bullets, bursts of fire and blades flew through the air. The alliance quickly dropped and erupted in flame one after another. A minute later there was nothing but fire burning up the remains of the alliance that was scattered throughout the room.

"Good work everybody. Skyka go heal him." Herrior said pointing to the main screaming in pain that had tried to run towards the door. Herrior continued, "Now you know how we fight, you know what to look for, you know your enemies strong points and weaknesses. Now you need to know how to extract information from your enemy." Herrior said and pointed at the three and said, "Use any means necessary but I want them alive." Immediately the soldiers and policemen started screaming at the three men. They picked up one of them and started beating him. They were all asking what they knew in some sort of fashion.

"They are in not enough pain! Make them suffer or their next attack on this ship could kill all of us! Injure them…make them bleed!" Mohania yelled in his sinister voice that sounded like a delightful cheer.

"Stop…please! I'll tell you everything!" the men started to say.

"He's lying…" Herrior said and a soldier punched him hard in the stomach. The man fell to the floor as another man's butt of his gun slammed down on his back. He fell to the ground and was rolled over on his back.

"Start talking!" the soldiers yelled at him.

"There are other submarines…and ships…they are coming…they cannot be stopped…there's no stopping us…" the man pleaded.

"Shut up you fool!" the other alliance man said when suddenly a bullet blew off half of his hand. He screamed in pain.

"Where are they?" a soldier screamed in his face.

"I…don't know…" the man said and a bullet shattered the man's hand.

"Where are they?" another soldier yelled above the man's screams.

"Five thousand yards south, the other another five thousand yards after that!" the man cried out in pain.

"You idiot!" the other alliance man said when another bullet hit the other man's hand and exploded it into several different pieces of flesh. He howled out again and began to chant something.

"Kill him!" Herrior yelled out quickly. Several guns lit up as the body was pummeled with bullet after bullet.

"Save the one that talked. One of you go tell your admiral right away the information that we got. Continue interrogating the other two. I need to know how big their army is and what they plan on doing! Use any means necessary!" Herrior said and gazed into the terrified alliance men's eyes. Several of the soldiers ran over to the door and unlocked it, stepping on the man that Skyka had healed and quickly ran up to the upper deck. Herrior ran over to the man they stepped on, picked him up and threw him at Mohania.

"Is this mine? A present for me?" Mohania said with an eerie grin.

"Have at him. Let's have a contest…see who can get the most information out of them first…" Herrior said.

"I like games…" Mohania said. He touched his trinket and revealed his true self. The man instantly lost color in his face as his terrified face looked at him. Mohania held him with one hand and casted a fear spell in him. The man lost all remaining color in his face and started screaming in terror. The man lost all strength and fell to the ground. His screams echoed through the room as Mohania picked him up and threw him at the wall. The man hit it and began running around the room. Mohania recasted the same spell and the fear overwhelmed him as Mohania kept chasing him around the room. Eventually Mohania caught up with him and put his hand to his chest. His shirt instantly caught fire and his flesh had begun to melt. The screams of pain and anguish continued as the man witnessed what was happening to him and the evil grin looking at him. Mohania then ignited himself on fire and casted another fear spell on him as he tossed him across the room. Mohania let the spell wear off and slowly approached him letting his body burn out. Mohania reached out his hand and said, "Tell me everything…"

"All of the alliance is forming up in Gander…it's a town just south of where our alliance towns were destroyed. They are going to launch the nuclear weapons at you…and everywhere else. That will summon you and when you arrive they will pummel you with the megaton bombs… There are alliance coming from the west…I swear! If they are coming from any other direction I don't know about it." The man said quickly in fear and crying.

"When!" Mohania yelled at him.

"A week from now…maybe less, I don't know what day it is…we were told to capture as much weapons and forces as we can muster…we would be rewarded with it…please…that is all I know…" the man said trembling. Mohania put his skeleton foot on his chest and pressed down hard on the burned flesh. The man howled in pain. Mohania grabbed one of his arms and pulled on it as hard as he could. Instantly he pulled his arm out of its socket and slowly ripped the flesh so that he had successfully ripped off his arm.

"Let me give you a 'hand' in remembering more…I want names!" Mohania said slamming the severed arm into the man's head.

"Kill me…please…" the man pleaded.

"Sir…you are far from death and you have yet to feel pain! Names!" Mohania yelled as he heard some people vomiting in the background.

"Wun Su Chin! He sent out the orders! Please I beg of you…kill me!"

"More names…more names…more names…" Mohania excitedly said jumping up and down slamming the blood soaked severed arm against the man's face.

"That's all I know…that's all I know…" the man kept repeated. Mohania reached down with one hand and grabbed the man's neck and pulled him up to his feet then lifted him in the air.

"You know more…I will disgust your arm first, and then the rest of you…" Mohania said and shoved the severed man's hand in his mouth and crunched down on it. The man looked at it in shock and a new wave of horror came across his face.

"I…I…I…I…" the man kept repeating over and over until Mohania devoured the whole arm.

"Your next arm I will digest slowly…it will hurt – a lot…" Mohania said with a smile.

"I was only a gunman. Tom…Tom knows more!" The man said and looked at one of the other alliance men.

"You're worthless to me…" Mohania said and threw him in a corner. Mohania chanted a spell and ignited him on fire. Mohania then casted fire spell after fire spell until nothing but charred remains were left. Mohania turned to the other two alliance, ignoring the vomit and blood on the floor and the soldiers and policemen that were almost as terrified as the alliance was.

"I'm looking for a man named…Tom, and I'm only going to ask once." Mohania said. One of the men raised his hand.

"Good…that means I don't need you…unless you know of something he doesn't?" Mohania said igniting his hands on fire. The soldiers restraining him quickly stepped away.

"No…I know things…I swear…I can tell you whatever!" The other man said.

"Tell me if this hurts…" Mohania said and quickly energized himself and sent an enormous fireball at him, blowing him into pieces of flesh. Seconds later Mohania said, "He didn't say anything…perhaps I was too eager. I feel very eager right now Tom. Tell me Tom…how do you want to die? We can throw you overboard and let the creatures of the water devour you, you can slowly burn to death, or we can let you go. There is always that choice…the last one to tell of our power and our intent. You can go and run as fast as you can…go tell your leaders about us and the wrath that they will face. That would be to our advantage and perhaps change their minds about slaughtering innocents. We don't want innocents killed now do we Tom?" Mohania asked.

"No sir…" Tom said quickly.

"So are you going to cooperate?" Mohania asked.

"Yes sir."

"Great. So far we know of two different ships underwater that are coming…what else is going on Tom?" Mohania asked in a gentle voice.

"A lot of them are coming by commercial air." Tom said.

"Oh Tom…I never heard of that…so that means I'll have to hurt you now." Mohania said in a sympathetic voice.

"It's an airplane…a big one…they fly all of the time over the ocean. They are going to land and journey on foot or by jeep to Gander. There are different rendezvous points, but they are scattered. We are supposed to signal them by a flare at dusk, we fire one in the air and keep walking. If we are picked up then we will be given weapons and a ride back." Tom explained quickly.

"Lindel…I don't think we have to put you in some 'X' rocket flying thingy…what do you think?" Mohania asked.

"I think you are right hun…I think we have all of the information we need…he just doesn't know it yet. Such a handsome person…too bad you sided with the enemy." Lindel said running her hands over Mohania's skull. She then dispersed into millions of tiny lights and pushed herself into Tom's eyes as hard as she could. It lifted him up and pressed him up against the back wall.

"I'm going to die…aren't I?" Tom asked. Lindel then spoke using her voice, but his mouth.

"Not yet…so far you are being a good little boy…" Lindel said. Tom's skull then started bulging in different spots. He raised his hands to his head as his eyes went back in their sockets. Tom's body then exploded and Lindel materialized where his body was.

"Interesting…Herrior I got the coordinates and we can leave immediately. He knows where he is going to land – alliance controlled of course, but we can setup one of our engineer's roaming landmine things there…"

"Or we can put a party there and kill the alliance as they come in – less messy…speaking off…" Herrior said pointing around Lindel.

"Oops…" Lindel said and snapped her fingers. All of the blood, skin, bone, and any other human debris left in the room was ignited and disappeared into the air.

"Not very lady like to have me not clean up after myself…" Lindel said with an innocent grin.

"Bah…now what am I supposed to eat…" Mohania said as he reactivated his trinket and walked away. He walked up to Skyka and asked for human flesh.

"Hun…I don't have any, but we are playing guessing games. Do you want to join us?" Skyka asked. Jessica patted on the ground next to her like nothing had even happened.

"Lindel – portal above the spot and fly around – find a spot for all of us to come in undetected. From there we will find flares…" Herrior said with a grin.

"Will do hun" Lindel said and walked up to Branzer as they kissed passionately.

"Get a room!" Crystal yelled smiling.

"Yeah…do that somewhere else…" Skyka said looking at them with a smile.

"See everybody later." Lindel said with a smile and held her hands out as she produced a portal. She then channeled her powers into it as it grew large enough for her to go through. She turned invisible and shortly after the portal closed.

"Somebody's got a girlfriend…" Skyka said nagging Branzer.

"Now's not the time…" Herrior said.

"When is it?" Skyka said interrupting him.

"Give me ten minutes or so and then you can nag him…" Herrior said looking over at her.

"Ok…" Skyka said happily and turned back around.

"Anyways, what you have seen here tonight is what we do. I see some of you were not able to endure the interrogation and that's fine. Only some people can. I didn't call Mohania off because I wanted to see who could. There's no shame in that you couldn't. I do want to say that I am proud of you for following orders, asking questions, working together and eventually going beyond what you were comfortable with as far as interrogation. I noticed some of your looks as bewilderment when some of you shot and smashed your guns into the men. Not everybody is fine with interrogation…however if it means saving the lives of the innocent or saving the lives of our party – you will interrogate and get that information by any means. That is an order. We are a party, we work as one, we fight as one, and we will succeed as one. Many of you know by now that you can no longer lead a normal life knowing that there is a constant battle like this happening. Not only are the alliance out to kill you, but we haven't ran into any demons yet. Many battles are fought daily and you have only seen a small fraction of the powers that we have or the powers that our enemies have. You may go back to your regular job, that was not meant to be a threat, but you will know the difference between the good and the evil that roams this world and there will always be that voice in the back of your head saying that if you don't do something about the evil, it will spread and consume innocent people. You may all talk among yourselves or to us about anything, but I warn you about talking to others about the alliance or demonic activity – because if word spreads that you know something, they will come after you and your family members. Do you…"

"Sir…all three submarines have been destroyed…sir!" The door swung open and all three of the men said looking at Herrior saluting him.

"Ugh…I'm never going to finish my speech." Herrior said.

"You're boring anyways…just tell them if they want to kick ass to come with us, if not don't come with us." Mohania said.

"I'm with you." One of the soldiers said immediately stepping forward. This was followed by everybody else in the room, even the ones that had just arrived.

"Good. Now just do what I say and all of you will be heroes. I don't particularly care for the title, but if that is what you want to be called then so be it. You may all do as you wish until we get word from Lindel. Once we hear from her, we will let the rest of you know. Guard what you have learned today. Also, you don't have to wave your hand at me…I am equal to you, I am one of you. I am your leader and an ambassador, but I don't want any such gestures to be made to me, alright?" Herrior asked. This seemed to put everybody at ease and it empowered all of them. Questions started coming from the left and right but Herrior said that he needed to rest as well as everybody else. "Quiet your minds and settle your nerves. Once you have done that, help each other get more guns and bullets for each other. Teach each other what you know. Also get armor – that's very important. But as of now, let us rest."

"Herrior?" Crystal asked.

"Yes Crystal."

"I haven't had a chance to interrupt you…" she said with a smile.

"Yes, I love you too." Herrior smiled and then sat down with everybody else.

Several hours had passed as the soldiers equipped the policemen with new weapons and armor. They packed up several items for survival as well as a large hunting knife. They exchanged stories back and forth as the policemen told of other things that Herrior and his party had done. They all seemed eager to start on the journey. Herrior's party stocked up on food and water as Herrior was in the command center with the admiral. They were exchanging information that was coming in from Lindel and from a spy satellite that they finally had positioned in the correct spot in outer space. Herrior was almost to the point where he could triangulate where Lindel was from the information she was telling him. The conversation continued.

"Lindel is reporting that this Gander place is swarming with alliance. According to your photos the 'popparotz' or as Alan calls it the 'reporters'…" Herrior said.

"Same thing" the admiral said.

"Ok so they are located all over the wrong area. They are due north of where we destroyed the towns. If they are the alliance are trailing in from the oceans then this is entirely too wide of an area for us to cover. So according to your photos there is a steady supply of alliance coming in from the west. If we were to intercept this, the alliance would be aware of our presence. So our initial plan is burned…but how about coming in from the south here." Herrior said pointing at another country.

"Pakistan…we're not exactly on friendly terms with them." The admiral stated.

"Neither are we then, however we don't want any more collateral damage. Hold on a second." Herrior said as an incoming message came from Lindel. The admiral watched as Herrior and Lindel talked for about ten minutes with Herrior's eyes closed.

"Ok Lindel is moving. She hasn't been spotted yet and I told her to keep it that way. She is moving here. What can you tell me about this area?" Herrior asked pointing at a deep rocky ravine running right up to Gander. He ran his finger from the beginning of the ravine and all the way up to the town.

"We'll start getting some snapshots right away. What should we do about the rest of the alliance coming into the harbor?" The admiral asked.

"What are your rules about being attacked first?" Herrior asked.

"We kick ass is what we do…" the admiral said looking up at him with a smile. "Will this be the end of the alliance…uh…here?" the admiral asked and circled the entire map. Herrior knew what he meant.

"Hardly, there are probably millions more. Our goal for this mission is not to rid…this area…" Herrior said circling everything the admiral did. He continued, "We are here to stop the alliance from regaining their bases here. Also what has me worried is the threats of the alliances plans that we got from interrogating our captors."

"They broke pretty easily eh?" the admiral asked with a smile.

"I'm not certain of your meaning…their bodies were not in armor so we were able to kill them pretty quickly." Herrior said.

"No…never mind…Are your soldiers ready?" The admiral asked.

"My initial party is - our new members are not." Herrior said looking out as a jet lifted off from the deck. "Amazing technology you have."

"Thank you…took many years of engineering to perfect it. Our carriers are our pride of our fleet and the men and women that run them. Our navy is the biggest in the world." The admiral said. Herrior nodded at the pride in his voice.

"I should probably meet up with my party and see how they are doing." Herrior said.

"What happened to the people that we captured?" The admiral asked.

Herrior turned around and smiled at him and said, "What people?"

"Our technologies might be different, but our thoughts are the same. Can we give you a 'sending off' party?"

Herrior shook his head and said, "You may watch but nobody else can."

"Watch who go where again?" the admiral asked with a smile. Herrior nodded at him and left the command center. He walked down the stairs and pasted several other soldiers who stopped and saluted him and also got out of his way. Herrior nodded at each one of them. Finally making it to their room, Herrior saw that his party was bored, but the soldiers and policemen were all dressed in the same uniforms with the same armor and assault rifles.

"Do you have knives or swords as well?" Herrior asked.

"Sir, yes sir!" Everybody said.

"Please don't do that. My name is Herrior…call me by the name my mother and father gave me. Honor them by using my name. Do any of you have any sort of communication device that can be used to talk with this ship or with George?" Herrior asked.

One of the soldiers stepped forward and said, "Herrior, we have five radio-men that are able to communicate with anybody across the globe. We will only report what you want us to report though."

"I am going to need you to report a lot. Do you know of the man named George?" Herrior asked.

"Yes Herrior I do, shall I contact him?"

"Tell him we will be launching an assault within the next couple of hours. Also report that we will be entering a town called Pakistan and heading north – do not tell him the location. Tell him we will keep in touch." Herrior said.

"The communications will be encrypted and we will be able to talk with him directly in the Pentagon. Pakistan is a country, but I will relay the information." The man turned around and pointed at one of the men with a large black box on his back with a wire wrapping around it.

"Countries…towns…states…ranks…last names…what happened to the world of simplicity?" Herrior asked.

"We live there and I miss it." Skyka said.

"I bet it misses us as well. Has there been any communication with them?" Herrior asked walking over to his party.

"Just the normal rumors and gossip…haven't heard of any of our parties being dispatched. A lot of people are asking us how our mission is going. So far I've told them that we've been bored but we have killed a lot of alliance so far." Skyka said.

"Aren't you always bored?" Herrior asked.

"Only when we make love," Skyka said. The room erupted with laughter. Herrior closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Glad to see you still have you sense of humor…" Herrior said picking her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Glad to see you haven't changed my love." Herrior said spinning her around the room. The eventually embraced each other in a passionate kiss and then Herrior set her down.

"We are going to battle within the next hour or so. The admiral wants to see us off. I don't blame him; I would like to see more of his fleet and air ships up closer. We both have technology and secrets that we would like to share, but he would not understand ours as we would not understand his, the same with the Draenei and their ship. Skyka, Lew, and Jessica, I would like you two to go to their clinics and see what you can do. Once you return we will leave. Go ahead and go." Herrior said.

The three of them left to go find directions to the clinics. They soon found out that it was called an "infirmary" but the name mattered little as they were quickly escorted through the maze of stairs and passageways on the enormous ship. They opened the doors and were asked to clean their hands and wear masks to as to not further contaminate the room.

"It won't fit over our armor." Lew said.

"My hands are clean." Skyka said confused looking at hers. They saw the soldier that led them there washing his hands in a sink.

"If we do that it will get our armor wet – we'll have to skip that step." Skyka said.

"It's mandatory…ma'am." The soldier said.

"Not for us it isn't." Lew said.

"My name is Skyka…why do they keep calling us different names?" Skyka asked.

"It's my cultures way of showing respect." Lew said opening the door and leading the rest of the women in.

"You are not allowed in her…" a women nurse ran up to them. Lew pushed her aside.

"You want to take the right side and I'll take the left? Jessica do you want to take the middle and keep the nuisances we encounter to a minimum?" Lew asked. Both of them agreed and set off.

"Wow…shot three times, kidney failure and…I can't pronounce what else you have. Close your eyes for a second soldier." Lew said. The soldier did as Lew started to chant a healing spell. It made his body turn a leaf colored green as tiny little magical leaves fell from his body and disappeared when they hit the ground. The soldier opened his eyes and instantly felt healed. He felt his chest for the bullet wounds but they were gone. He sat up in bed and started looking over his body and couldn't find a thing wrong with him.

"Skyka…healing them one at a time I don't think is going to be very efficient. They seem too surprised when they get healed and I think Herrior is antsy to get going. Should we do our aoe healing spells?" Lew asked.

"I already started doing that." Skyka said.

"Oh." Lew replied back and both he and Jessica started casting spells that healed a lot of people at once, but not fully healing them as Lew did the first time. However another couple of blasts and then they moved down another twenty yards and did the same thing. After ten minutes they had healed everybody in this infirmary. Lew turned to the soldier that followed them down here and asked, "Are there any more infirmaries on this aircraft carrier?"

"Wha…how…they…" the soldier said in shock. Everybody else in the room was in shock as well.

Lew walked up to him and grabbed him by the neck. "I asked a question soldier, I want an answer!"

"Lower and upper decks," the soldier said regaining his composure.

"Thanks." Lew said throwing him backwards. Lew then turned to Skyka and Jessica and asked who wanted to go where.

"I'll do the lower and Jessica can do the upper. Lew you can head back and report to Herrior that our mission should be complete within the next twenty minutes or so. You seem to be able to communicate with their race better than we can." Skyka said winking at Lew.

Lew let out a chuckle and turned to the soldier. "Show Skyka the upper, and then show Jessica the lower infirmaries. Can you do that soldier?"

"Yes sir!" The soldier said and quickly led them away. Lew walked back into the infirmary as everybody stared at him in awe and then started to thank him.

"Shut it everybody! We were never here, this never happened, and if you speak of it we'll throw you overboard – is that understood?" Lew said in a commanding voice. Everybody looked at him in shock and then looked at each other. Lew slammed his foot on the ground and the floor started too vibrated and shook violently as Lew screamed, "Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The soldiers said jumping out of bed and saluting him.

"I am going to report to the admiral that many of you are unable to keep a secret. What are the charges for telling military secrets?" Lew asked. Many of them looked nervous; some looking at each other.

"That's what I thought. Congratulations on getting well. Spread the word to the other infirmaries…let's not be telling secrets. I'm going straight to the admiral and if he hears any rumors being spread, your brig might become more populated – and I hear court marshals are not any fun these days. I'm heading straight to the admiral to report that there might be possible leaks from his troops on this floor." Lew said and started walking.

"Sir?" A man said reaching out to him. Lew stopped and walked to him.

"I have a son and daughter at home. They now have a father…" the man began to weep.

"They have a great father." Lew said putting his hand on his shoulder. "Let them know you are well and that their prayers have been answered. Now it is time to kick some ass isn't it soldier?" The soldier nodded, holding back the tears.

"We are here as a favor. Do us a favor and never speak of this…spread the word to the other infirmaries. I'm sure my other two female friends are going to have the same speech. But I warn you and everybody else – do not betray us. If we get word of it, you will not be so fortunate to be thrown in the brig. Take care everybody." Lew said and took his arm off from the weeping soldier's shoulder and left. Lew made his way up to the command center and asked for the admiral. A soldier quickly led him into his private quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come in" the admiral said and Lew walked in. The admiral quickly stood up from doing his paper work and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing, everybody in the infirmary should healed shortly. We will be leaving sooner than expected." Lew said.

"That was sooner than expected – what happened?" The admiral asked.

"Your wounded were not as badly hurt as we expected. We have two other healers working in the other infirmaries. Your soldiers have been warned to not speak of what we just did." Lew said.

"Shut the door please." The admiral said motioning the other soldier away. He made sure he shut the door hard behind him.

"What just happened?" The admiral asked.

"We just healed everybody that could be healed in your infirmaries. We gave them a warning not to say anything. They seemed grateful, but we did it as a favor." Lew said.

"That's amazing…they are all healed?" The admiral asked.

"The middle deck they are. I imagine the top and bottom ones are as well. I have seen some that we cannot heal with our powers. You asked to be with us when we depart, that time is coming upon us." Lew said talking more like Herrior.

"I thought I had a couple of hours? Ok…well let's get going. A favor huh? How do I repay this favor?" Lew asked.

"We did a favor for many people in this world. Some betrayed us and we killed them and their families. The ones that didn't betray us prospered." Lew said with the admiral holding the door.

"I'll remember that." The admiral said as he saw that Lew was serious. "Are there any more favors I can do for you or your party?"

"Not that I know of; we should get going soon. I'll be in our room; you are welcome to join us for the leave." Lew said.

"The room that has all communications disabled in it?" The admiral asked with a smile.

"That wasn't my idea, but we like our secrecy." Lew smiled and followed him out.

Lew and the admiral met up with Jessica and Skyka and the rest of the party in the room. "Are we all set?" Lew asked.

"I healed everybody on my floor. Some wanted to give me money or their dog tags…I don't want any of that stuff – it's personal to them." Jessica said.

"Good, we don't need anything that is personal to them – especially for following orders. Your learning hun. How did you do Lew?" Skyka asked.

"One told me that he had children back at home and now he had a chance to lead a normal life with them. Then I told them that we performed a favor and to return the favor none of them should speak of these events. I may have put in some more warnings than that as well." Lew said.

"Good, you are learning quickly. If you heal somebody and they bow down to you, kick them in the face. If you heal somebody and they continuously thank you – say that you are welcome but must be going and leave quickly before they start getting loud. If need be – silence them." Skyka asked.

"Let's get going. Lindel if you would please?" Herrior asked. Lindel walked to an open part of the room and formed her portal. She funneled her powers in it as it enlarged about six feet tall and six feet wide. "Our door awaits us."

"Amazing…how far can you travel with that?" The admiral asked.

"It takes us to anywhere I have the location of in my head." Lindel said.

"Across the universe?" he asked again.

"And beyond that" Lindel said smiling.

"That's enough. Admiral you have a ship to run and my party needs to get underway. My blade thirsts for blood." Herrior said. Lindel walked through it first and then Jacklyn. The police officers started walking through it first and then the soldiers. Once the party was through Herrior nodded at the admiral and then walked into the portal.

Lindel closed the portal behind her as the stared at the beginning of the chasm.

"I'll take the lead. Quinely you take the middle and Veliline you take the rear. We'll have two groups of you soldiers. The ones between me and Quinely are group one, the second is group two. If I turn around and hold up one finger and point in the direction or to get down…you do it without asking questions. This chasm will provide good coverage for our advance. The rest of my party stagger yourselves among the groups. Tanks – your main job is to keep everybody alive. Put yourselves in the line of fire. Healers – keep a low profile, but keep everybody alive. I expect to see everybody at their best. If anybody senses anything tell me at once! Hunters get your pets out; Branzer put your eagle above us and scan for anything moving. Julie – Spark is to be used as a secondary tank. Warlocks get out your succubus or imp…anything that can turn invisible. I do not want anybody stealthed or turned invisible, or whatever you do. My party – I expect more out of you than I normally do. Group one and group two, do not use your weapons unless I say so. I can see many of you affected by the heat already. The shade in the chasm will help. If any of you feel sick or weak, let me know immediately – that is an order. You may talk among yourselves, but do it quietly. I do not want any outbursts of laughter and I do not want any swearing. Everybody understand?" Herrior asked looking over his entire group. He led more than this into battle before, but none of them were familiar with Tranquil's fighters and their experience. He felt comfortable with the fighters he was leading into battle, but no confident.

Herrior saw that everybody was ready and began to step down the ramp into the chasm. They marched two miles to the bottom, taking the easiest routes possible. The shade from the deep rocks hit his party and they felt instant refreshment. Herrior noticed that they were going through their water pretty quick. They would have to stop along the way to get some more. Herrior became lost in his thoughts as he constantly scanned the sides of the valley and above them. He told himself he wouldn't pull out his sword and shield until he had to. He could absorb a lot of punishment before he needed those.

They walked for several more miles when Branzer said, "Herrior!" quietly but sharply. Herrior quickly armed himself and took up a defensive stance along with the rest of the tanks. Quinely in the middle morphed into a bear and looked around expecting an attack at any moment. Veliline pulled out her double edged axe and looked around as well.

Branzer ran to the Herrior and reported that his eagle, high up in the clouds, had spotted movement on both sides of the ledge.

"Unfriendly's with guns setting up position approximately fifty yards ahead of us. We're easy targets down here." Branzer said motioning with his eyes but not pointing at them.

"How many?" Herrior asked.

"My pet is bad at counting, but knows that the sizes of their guns are big. It also wants to gouge their eyes out. I suspect that there are four of them." Branzer said.

"Four attackers for the size of a group that we have…doesn't make any sense. Fall back in formation." Herrior said. Herrior turned around and pointed at group one and pointed to the right, they immediately ran into position. Herrior then pointed at group two and pointed to the left. Herrior looked at Trackolania and waved him towards him. He drew his daggers and ran up to him.

"Take one of their guns, go up the cliff and kill them. We think there are four of them. Use the gun…make it look like our party shot them if possible. I want their bodies dropped into the chasm as soon as you are done." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and put his daggers away. He ran over to a soldier and pointed at his gun and motioned to quickly give it to him. The soldier did as Trackolania wanted him to and threw the strap over his neck so that it dangled on his back. Herrior then pulled his daggers back out and disappeared.

Herrior watched tiny stones fall from the large pieces of rock as Trackolania made his way up. Herrior pointed to his party and waved them forward as he began to walk.

A shot rang out and Herrior's party pulled out their weapons. Three more shots rang out and four men fell down the chasm with a sickening thud as their bodies hit the ground.

Suddenly, out of a dark cave on both sides of the chasm, started coming bandits with machine guns.

"Quinely!" Herrior said and pointed to the right and Herrior began deflecting bullets and charged at his opposition. Herrior slammed his sword down on the ground and the bandits bodies flew up against wall. His sword and shield moved with exact precision, slicing and deflecting attack after attack until Branzer got a clear shot. He shot a spray of ammo that hit fifty of the men, both wounded on the ground and currently attacking him and killed them instantly.

Quinely charged in and began growling, swiping her mighty claws everywhere. Jacklyn joined up with her and began slicing off limbs and other body parts.

"Ugh…somebody move I haven't killed anybody yet!" Mohania said as he and the other party member tried to get into position. Lew, Veliline, Crystal and Strings hung back. Trackolania leaped down from the top of the canyon and quickly threw the gun towards the soldier he borrowed it from. It flew through the air and landed right as his feet. The surprised soldier quickly took it up and crouched down with his gun cocked and ready to fire. None of the soldiers let off a shot though.

"Quinely! Get your ass in the cave!" Herrior yelled out as both him and Quinely charged forward, spraying the bandits out of their path. The rest of the party charged in and made short work out of the rest of the bandits that were in the wake of the charge. The dimly lit cave made for mass confusion of the bandits along with who they were fighting. This made it easier for Herrior's party to dispatch of their attackers. Finally Herrior got to the end of a cave and held his ground. There were six bandits holding women and children hostage.

"Branzer." Herrior said solemnly.

"I'll handle this negotiation." Branzer said. He walked past Herrior and held his hands up with a smile.

"What language do you speak?" Branzer asked looking at all of them. They motioned to put his gun down in some gibberish language.

"Gun down huh…ok, I'm putting my gun down. See gun going down…" Branzer said slowly. The bandits were watching him carefully when suddenly Branzer summoned his bear in front of him. It let out a loud roar and everybody jumped backwards. Branzer pulled his gun up and shot out a spray of bullets, hitting every single one of the bandits – exploding their heads into dozens of pieces. Branzer then made his bear disappear, but held his gun up and walked towards them. The women and children being held hostage quickly turned around and started hugging and screaming over their captures.

"It was a trap. A last ditch desperate measure to save their lives…pathetic…" Herrior said and spit on them. "Head back out."

Herrior came out and saw the same massacre that they had produced. Quinely was purring happily as she was chewing on one of the captures.

"Dan…Lindel…Branzer and anybody else that can sense people, sense if anybody else is around." Herrior said. Dan bent down to his hands and knees to the ground. Lindel turned invisible and flew up into the sky as Branzer ordered his eagle to circle around several times. The soldiers, still in the same position, took out their binoculars and began looking around as well.

"A large deposit of titanium under the ground, but the earth tells me that there are no disturbances…either that or nothing are moving." Dan said.

"I'm not hearing any voices, but the thick walls are making it difficult to tell me for sure." Lindel said rematerializing on the ground.

"My eagle hasn't spotted any movement up top."

"No demons to report." Crystal said.

Herrior nodded and looked over at the soldiers behind them. "Lindel open a portal back to our room on the admiral's ship." Herrior walked over to them and said, "Party one, go into the cave that I was in pull out the dead and alive. If you feel threatened, let loose some bullets. I want their bodies pulled out and put into the portal. Party two – do the same with Quinely's cave. Pull their bodies…"

"Grenade!" one of soldiers yelled and pointing at it bouncing out of the cave. Herrior immediately jumped on it with his shield in front of him and forced it into the ground. When it exploded, Herrior's shield and the earth absorbed the blast. Herrior stood up unphased.

"Herrior that was my fault, I was pulling out a piece of corpse when my body brushed up against the wall." A soldier quickly admitted. He had an extremely worried look on his face.

"Not a problem. Good eye with the explosive device. Let's continue our work." Herrior said.

"Are…are you ok?" The soldier asked looking him over.

"I am quite fine I assure you. One of our healers put a protective shield around me that absorbed the majority of the blast.

"What? Sorry I wasn't paying attention…did something happen?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"Thank you my love." Herrior said.

"Somebody has to save that ugly butt of yours." Skyka said.

Inside the enormous aircraft carrier, the room that Herrior declared was his was filling up with corpses and pieces of bodies. One of the soldiers had requested for the admiral. He arrived about five minutes later and was shocked.

"What happened?" The admiral said in shock as he saw the sliced up bodies, badly mutilated corpses, and severed appendages coming out of the portal.

"Apparently we underestimated Herrior and the ability of his party to fight. We never fired a shot sir, his party torn them apart. We have no causalities and no wounded. We estimated that we were ambushed by about two hundred of them." The soldier reported.

"My word…are they ok?" The admiral asked.

"Herrior threw himself on a live grenade and after it exploded he got up and walked away as if it was nothing. He was shot, I'm guessing, over one hundred times. The other "tank" that they call it, was a lady that turned into a bear. She massacred everything she saw, and anything else moving was finished off by the rest of his party." The soldier said. The admiral had to take a second to take all of this in as more bodies were pulled through the portal.

"Well…what are we supposed to do with all of this?" The admiral asked.

"Herrior said he wanted to give you a body count."

"Alright…" the admiral said scratching his head. He yelled out for some medics. They soon arrived and were overwhelmed by the sight.

"Try to match up…well no…take their finger prints and pictures of what's left of their faces. Throw the rest overboard. Run their finger prints and pictures in our terrorist known database. Then…get somebody to hose this place off… Soldier – how many more bodies should we expect to receive?" The admiral said unsure of himself.

"At the rate we are going…you will have to probably dedicate a dozen people or so to help with the clean up…probably more." The soldier answered.

"I need to go make some contacts. Tell Herrior I would like to be kept informed and to try to leave some people alive in the country…" The admiral said and when the soldier acknowledged the order he promptly left to go contact George at the Pentagon.

"Is that the rest of the bodies?" Herrior asked as he saw only pieces of humans coming out of the cave.

"Only small pieces left." Another soldier reported.

"Not worth our time. Throw what you have through the portal and let's proceed to our target. Where is the soldier that went through the portal?"

"Here sir…err…Herrior I mean. I notified the admiral and they are going to run their faces and fingerprints in our database of known terrorists, and then throw the bodies overboard. He also said to leave some people alive in the country if at all possible." Mohania let out a sinister laugh and said, "…if at all possible – that's funny!"

The soldier continued, "He is also going to contact George with your success so far in the Pentagon."

"Not sure what he is doing with a child's play block, but it is good that he knows. Lindel shut the portal and let's move out." Herrior said and waved everybody to get back into formation.

They began to walk with Branzer's eagle above them high in the sky. They walked for several more hours until it got dark. Herrior was listening to the soldiers talk and many of them seemed honored to be on this mission. Their confidence was much higher than what it was before. Herrior felt better about leading everybody into battle.

The moon had reached its full height and Herrior heard several yawns from the soldiers. He decided that their journey might go slower due to the human's inability to stay awake for days at a time. He then recalled the human's in his party and how long it took them to transition. Herrior turned around and said, "We'll make up camp here for the night. I want group one against the right wall, and group two against the left wall. Fill your bellies with some food and water before lying down for the night.

"Herrior – permission to speak freely?" A soldier said walking up to him.

"You don't need permission; you may speak whatever is on your mind." Herrior said.

"Our troops are getting exhausted traveling this much during the day without breaks. The heat is intense and our stomachs are in pain. We haven't even stopped for bathroom breaks." The soldier said.

"Thank you for letting me know, now go get lay down with the others." Herrior said. Herrior walked by him and began to walk among them.

"My fellow party members…I apologize for moving your bodies so much during the day. This is my fault as a leader. Make yourselves as comfortable as possible and I will post nightly shifts – myself being first. I need all of you at your best, so if some of you are feeling ill or need a break let me know. We got held up with the battle. I am thinking that we will be able to make up the time if we lay low during the day and move next night. The cover of the night will be best for when we strike their forces in Gander. Lindel how long until we escape this chasm?" Herrior asked.

"At this rate about three days," Lindel answered.

"Then let's do that. Everybody rest up. We'll travel slower during the day and travel mostly at night. Good night everyone," Herrior said.

"Who do you want to take the second shift?" a soldier asked.

"One of my other party members will take it. Go rest your body." Herrior said placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him. The soldier nodded and gathered up with the rest of his group.

"Permission to dig a hole" Mohania asked.

"Do whatever…" Herrior said as he pulled out his shield and sword.

"I'm going to dig a hole!" Mohania declared extremely happy and walked ahead of the group and starting digging.

Herrior sat down on the ground and watched him. He still didn't understand the undead and their fascination about burying themselves.

"Boy sure likes dirt…" Skyka said walking over to Herrior and sitting down next to him.

"I was just thinking about that." Herrior said as they interlocked arms and leaned against each other.

"Ouch…this isn't dirt, this is metal…" Mohania said. Suddenly a quick "whoosh" of air passed by Herrior's head and into the metal contraption. Trackolania then quickly ran up to it and quickly did something quick to the device and then threw away from everybody.

"I was going to use that for a hat…" Mohania said. Then an explosion came from it as it thundered across the chasm.

"Well there goes my perfectly good hat…" Mohania said.

Trackolania raced back to Herrior and drew the number "thirty four" and then pointed in front of them.

"Can you disarm the rest of them?" Herrior asked. Trackolania looked back at Mohania who was pointing to the top of his head and then shrugged his shoulders. Trackolania looked back and shook his head.

"Land mines are hard to disarm. We'll lose a lot of time walking back and going around." A soldier said.

"Let me talk to the earth…see if I can do something…" Dan said walking ahead of them and standing next to Mohania.

"I want one of them for a hat, ok?" Mohania asked.

"Can you be quiet for a second?" Dan asked.

Mohania waited a second and then said, "Can I talk now?"

"Go be annoying somewhere else for awhile." Dan said digging his hands into the dirt. Mohania walked back to Herrior and said, "Dan's an ass."

Dan felt the differences in the ground and the elements did not want them in there. Dan asked the ground to open up and to release the devices. Dan channeled his power into the ground and the earth started to open up. Each land mine popped up from the ground and settled back on it. Dan continued to commune with the ground as it told its tale of war over the years. Dan said they were visitors to the land and asked if he could be of any help. It simply said, "Stop the bloodshed" and then fell silent to Dan. Dan tried to communicate it awhile longer but gave up. He stood up and held his hands into the air. Gusts of wind started to blow down from the cliffs and then a powerful gust lifted up all of the mines and blew them as far as the winds wanted to take them. Dan then fell down as his power dwindled from him.

"I don't understand half of the shit you do…but I'll follow you to the ends of the earth Herrior." The soldier said watching what just unfolded. The rest of the army was just as astounded.

"At ease men and women…you are supposed to be sleeping." Herrior said looking over his shoulder.

"I'll go get dumbass and drag his lazy ass back here…" Mohania said walking up to Dan.

Mohania walked up to Dan and picked him up under the arms and legs. He carried him back and set him before Herrior.

"I feel tired…" Dan said looking up at Herrior with a smile.

"What did the elements have to say?" Herrior asked.

"They are tired of the bloodshed. I think we pissed them off today, but they knew the metallic devices in the ground were meant to draw more blood and agreed to help get rid of them. I honestly have no idea where the winds are blowing them to. The elements stopped talking to me." Dan said.

"Gander I hope…" Herrior said with a smirk.

"If I were to guess, probably back to the people that laid them in the ground." Dan said.

"The elements know that information?" Herrior asked.

"They know…they have been here longer than we have." Dan said smiling and looking at the skies.

"You did well – go get some sleep." Herrior said.

"Ok." Dan said and closed his eyes.

"He didn't give me a hat…" Mohania said and turned back around and started to dig a hole again.

Skyka sighed and leaned back into Herrior's arms.

"Yeah…but you wouldn't want them any differently…" Herrior said smiling.

"Stop reading my mind…" Skyka said smiling.

"Go get some sleep my love." Herrior said.

"Don't stay up all night." Skyka said.

Six hours passed and Herrior continued to pace back and forth looking for anything that might strike them. He then walked up to Mohania's hole and asked if he could take the last shift.

"Can I do it down here?" Mohania asked.

"Kinda defeats the purpose if you can't see any incoming threats wouldn't it?" Herrior asked.

"I can guess… I guess nobody is coming…" Mohania said.

"How about guessing with at least your head up out of the dirt?" Herrior asked. Mohania's skeleton head popped up with a big smile and said, "Ok, I'll do that."

Herrior nodded and went over to Skyka. He lay beside her as he and wrapped his arm around her.

"I am a skeleton…my head comes out of the ground and scans the ground for enemies…fear my spinning skeleton head…" Mohania said letting out a cackle.

The sun pierced through darkness and Mohania spun his head around and said, "He…boss man…light breaks beyond yonder horizon…"

Herrior woke up and saw that Mohania was right. He looked back at Mohania and said, "Aren't we poetic this morning?"

"Do you think I'll scare anybody emerging from the ground in my regular self?" Mohania said smiling.

"You might…" Herrior said walking away to wake up everybody in his party.

"Rise up and take arms everybody, we march in ten minutes." Herrior said in a commanding voice. Herrior saw many of the soldiers exhausted still, he figured he pushed them to hard yesterday. "We will march for several hours until the sun begins to punish us with its heat and then we will break for the day. Then at dusk we will rise up and march on again until the moon peaks."

"Oww…" one of the women moaned gripping her stomach. Herrior turned around and looked at her.

"Lindel!" Herrior called out. Lindel came running and sat down beside her. She quickly began to read her thoughts and looked her over really quick.

"You're baby is probably fine sweetie. Do you want me to go in and have a look?" Lindel asked.

"Will it hurt?" The women asked.

"Nope, not one bit. Keep your eyes open for me until I'm inside ok." Lindel said and then burst into millions of tiny little stars and slowly entered her eyes.

"Ok I'm inside. What is your name?" Lindel asked in her mind.

"Olivia." She said aloud.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want, you just have to talk in your mind and I'll hear you. I'm going to begin a full exam and let you know what I find. Give me just a second." Lindel said in her mind and then began to spread herself throughout her body. Lindel immediately noticed that she was dehydrated and had an irregular heartbeat. She then went into her womb and noticed the fluid levels for the baby were low as well. She checked her kidneys and noticed that they were discolored. Lindel quickly fixed those and attributed to lack of water and dehydration. Lindel then made her way back to Olivia's head.

"Your body is telling me you are very thirsty. Why haven't you been drinking?" Lindel asked in her head.

"I need to ration my supplies for the mission." Olivia said back.

"Not anymore you don't. You will drink ten to twelve glasses of water a day. If you don't I will tell Herrior and he will order you to do that. It's for your own good." Lindel said as she slowly moved out of Olivia's eyes and rematerialized in front of her.

"How do you do that?" Olivia asked.

"Practice…are you going to do what I said?" Lindel asked with a smile.

"Yes I will. I will be ok." Olivia said pulling out her water bladder.

"Take care of yourself. You're fighting with the best party I've ever been in. You aren't here to impress anybody, ok?" Lindel stated looking at her with a warm smile. Olivia nodded.

"Everything ok?" Herrior asked.

"It will be. She may need an hour to recover before her body is up to walking." Lindel said.

"Jessica!" Herrior shouted out. Jessica whipped her head around and looked at Herrior and quickly ran over.

"Levitate this woman as we march. Everybody else let's get going." Herrior said. Jessica held out her hand and lifted the woman off the ground. The woman felt no discomfort, but floated through the air with a surprised look on her face…as well as everybody else around her.

They began their march as Mohania began to giggle and said "Look at me and cower! I am a skeleton rising up from the ground. Look at me in terror…hey that hurt!" Mohania said as Crystal said stepping on his head and walking over him.

"Fear me…look at my skeleton head moving around in every direction…" Mohania said letting out sinister cackles.

"Keep it down hun; you're going to wake the undead." Skyka said walking past him.

"I never thought about that…wait I am the only undead here! Herrior I demand that she be reprimanded for making fun of me." Mohania said pushing himself out of the dirt.

"I'll give her a good spanking later on…you can watch." Herrior said smiling as he ran to catch up with the front of the line.

"I'm looking forward to that!" Skyka called out seductively.

"That's not what I meant!" Mohania yelled out. He then elbowed the soldier next to him and said, "Women right?"

"I am a woman." She announced.

"You were terrified of me weren't you?" Mohania said smiling.

"Not really…but I can humor you and say I was." Herrior's party burst into laughter.

"Hardly funny…who put those words in her mouth? I suspect it was somebody in my party that peaks into everybody's heads…" Mohania said.

"Actually I didn't, I was thinking about flying in a meadow." Lindel said.

"Fine…but I'm still blaming you." Mohania said.

Everybody marched for the next four hours with no disturbances. Herrior then saw some small carved out shallow caves and ordered the different groups to take shelter in them. He asked Branzer to send his eagle forward to see if it could find anything. Herrior then turned to Lindel and then looked back at Jessica still levitating Olivia and then back at her.

"She'll be fine. The heat is getting to her and she is rationing her water like the rest of the soldiers. She's also pregnant so her body is demanding more liquids." Lindel said in Herrior's mind. Herrior nodded and looked away.

"There you go ma'am. Thank you for riding first class. Please keep your tray tables up, and make sure your seatbelt is securely fashioned for the landing." Jessica said gently lowering her underneath the stone cover.

"Thank you." Olivia said looking up at her.

"No problem." Jessica said smiling at her and then went to meet up with the rest of Herrior's party to get their next orders.

"They have tents that will protect them from the sun. They can erect those to provide some more relief. Usually they have support vehicles to provide supplies so that could be why they are rationing their food." Branzer had been explaining when Jessica came up.

"If I may, I was part of several missions and there was generally more support than there were fighters on the field. There are also hummers that quickly transported people back and forth. Coming in from this far away is a good vantage point for us, but weakens our forces. Generally we used to walk more than ten miles in full gear and a seventy pound pack, but it wasn't under these conditions." Julie said.

"Julie" Spark barked in agreement.

"Spark makes an interesting point…" Herrior smiled bending over to pet him on the head. Spark started moving his head around enjoying the attention.

"There's an army about a mile outside of the chasm…or what's left of one. Dan I found where your landmines went. Sheesh…the carnage…" Branzer said closing his eyes and concentrating.

"Go on…" Mohania said with a smile.

"It looks like they all landed and set off several ammunition depos. I figure their artillery is down by thirty percent. They have tanks and helicopters – probably about one thousand strong." Branzer said and then opened his eyes. "They aren't friendly's."

"Go on…" Mohania said again.

"They would have much needed supplies for our party."

"What's a helicopter?" Strings asked.

"That aircraft that flew straight up and down and it felt like we were being thrown all over the place while riding on it." Julie said.

"Ah yes…my ass still has the bruises…" Strings said.

"It's nothing we can't handle. I would suggest leaving them behind as we dispatch of them." Branzer said.

"No…they are part of our party. We all go. Have they made any advances towards us?" Herrior asked.

"They don't know we are here. I figure if we move quickly we can get there by nightfall." Branzer said.

"Not possible. They don't have our training or armor. We will move when the sun lowers. We'll strike them in the dawn." Herrior said looking off in the distance. He then turned around and told Branzer to keep his eagle high and undetected and then to let him know if they advance. Herrior turned around and walked back to the rest of their party.

"We found our first target. They have tanks, helicopters, and probably several other war contraptions – minor inconveniences. I will take several of my fighters and distract them while the rest of you come up the middle and kill them. Veliline and Quinely will be your tanks…do not stand out in the open and keep your heads down. They can get shot repeatedly – you can't. We will rest here during the heat of the day and then move out this evening. We're going to march all night and then strike them when dawn breaks. We've also found out that the landmines landed in the area and caused devastation among their ranks and probably confusion. Rest up everybody." Herrior said and left. They started setting up small tents and tarps to block the sun and Herrior was happy to see that they were able to start cooking some food and made sure everybody had enough.

"Branzer didn't explain all of the carnage…we need more details." Mohania said.

"Probably people got dismembered and had shrapnel flung at them." Skyka said.

"Go on…" Mohania said smiling.

"Put your disguise back on. If we are being watched, I don't want them to see a walking skeleton." Herrior said. Mohania touched his trinket and instantly changed into his army uniform.

"Gather up everybody," Herrior said waving his party over. Trackolania had written his name in several different spots but quickly bounced over to where Herrior was.

"Me, Skyka, Dan and probably Mohania are going to be the distraction for when we attack. Veliline you and Quinely are going to go straight up the middle. Lindel you fly overhead and see what kind of commotion you can do. The rest of you try to absorb as many bullets from the attackers that you can…but without dying. Lew, Strings, and Jessica – your job is to keep everybody alive. Summon all of your companions, animals, demons, whatever…get our party close in. By then my group should have bought you enough time to get close enough for them to engage with their weapons. I don't want any deaths…there is a lot of pressure on you healers. Once you reach the perimeter, your first job is to secure a safe haven for the rest of our party. Then unleash everything you have on them. I'm not sure how good of a shot they are, so there might be some friendly fire." Herrior said. Everybody acknowledged and started exchanging ideas. They eventually sat in a circle and started going over several different scenarios.

The day grew hotter, but the soldiers seemed to be tolerating the heat better. Herrior started to refer to them as "soldiers" versus the difference between the policemen and the fighters that George gave them, but he wanted to make it known that they are all one party. George had called and asked for an update. The soldier reported their intentions and what they have accomplished so far. They began exchanging stories for awhile about what happened and George had reported back what the admiral of the aircraft carrier had done. Come to find out they had taken out twelve of the top one hundred most wanted Taliban operatives. George congratulated them and said they had already begun planning their return celebration. He wanted to call the operation "Thunder Strike", and claimed that China, Great Brittan, Canada, and several other countries were in on the operation. He said that they will steer way clear of their location, but he asked that once they recover the nuclear warheads that Herrior and his group to make themselves scarce. The soldier acknowledged and they ended the transmission. He then adjusted his equipment to switch change the encryption keys used to transmit. Afterwards he set his radio equipment down and jogged over to Herrior and told him what George said. Herrior listened and then nodded at the end.

"Everything in this world needs names…" Herrior said with a disappointing sigh. He then crossed his arms across his chest and said, "I do not like those orders. We are not here to recover weapons for George or China or Great Brittan, or any of the other people you listed. We are here to conduct our mission which is going to intercept the alliance from rendezvousing with their leader, then take out their leader if we have a chance – slim as it may be – and then report back our findings." Herrior let out a sigh and removed his helmet. The trinket instantly compensated so it didn't look like Herrior had changed at all, but the rest of the soldiers had their first chance to see the enormous helmet Herrior was carrying around. He ran his hand through his hair and then looked up at the sun.

"We will comply with the request, but if we are attacked I am not going to differentiate between the good and the evil. Our mission will succeed at all costs." Herrior said and put hit helmet back on turning around to the soldiers. "These weapons that bring destruction as Branzer has described it is not something I would like to see become active, nor would I want to see them fired off. This annoys me to know that our enemies have these weapons; we have never resorted to measures like this before in the past. We also fought with honor on the battlefield…not blown up entire cities and towns, slaying the innocent and making the earth unusable for decades to come. My guess is that they are only located on this world. This world for some reason likes to create more powerful weapons capable of not only killing their enemies, but ultimately wiping out themselves as well. This is ignorance. They are fools is what they are! Have they no outlook on the future? Have they no love for their children's futures? Who among you knows of these other people that we have to distinguish between our enemy and our friend?" Herrior asked.

Hesitant to answer, the same soldier said "They have different uniforms and speak English. They will not shoot at us; we have fought with many of them over the years."

"So be it. When our battle is over we will let you speak with these people. I do not want any involvement with them. I have no favors with them, nor have they done anything to earn my trust." Herrior said ending the conversation.

The party finished their talk and Herrior's group took their turns checking up on the soldiers. High noon came, and they were in better spirits. Herrior told them to sleep and eat up.

Several hours later Trackolania heard a vehicle in the distance. He immediately told Herrior who told him to go investigate. Trackolania stealthed himself and climbed up the steep wall.

"Still amazing to see that, even for the second time..." a soldier said.

"Keep quiet" Herrior said as he motioned everybody to stay up against the walls.

Trackolania saw a lone jeep heading towards them. It was only kicking up one dust storm so that reassured him that only one vehicle was coming. Trackolania began running towards the jeep.

Twenty minutes passed before Trackolania pulled out his double bladed throwing star and threw it. Several seconds later both front tires of the jeep suddenly blew out and the front axle sunk into the ground - throwing its riders forward, causing one of them to suffer a concussion. Trackolania held his hand out and quickly caught it and put it back in his belt. Trackolania then drew his blades and closed in on him.

The men weren't anticipating an attack and figured they hit a stick or something. The man with the radio tried to use it, but was quickly knocked unconscious by Trackolania as his other blade sliced the radio in half. Trackolania, now exposed to the soldiers, dropped a smoke bomb and jumped backwards putting himself back in stealth. The soldiers drew weapons exactly like the other men they fought and they started looking frantically for their target. Trackolania kept moving around the jeep in just the opposite position they were flailing their guns. One of the men picked up what was left of the radio and tried desperately to get it to work again. The other man began to strap on explosive devices as he kept mumbling something about a ghost. Trackolania had to make his move or the supplies on the jeep were going to be blown to smithereens. He disappeared from in front of the jeep and reappeared behind the man putting on the explosive devices. His dagger dug deep into his spine, making death instant. The other man turned around, but only quick enough to see his stomach and arms getting carved up. A final swipe to his throat and he was falling out of the jeep to his death. Trackolania then looked around the jeep and gathered up as many things as he could. He sliced the back tires and punctured the jeep's fuel tank. Trackolania was satisfied that the vehicle was throughly disabled before taking his prizes he collected from the jeep. Trackolania decapitated the four men and tossed their heads in one of his pouches. The enormous jugs of water on the jeep he was going to have to haul back completely vulnerable.

On the way back, Trackolania looked at the terrain and noticed nothing living...nothing moving. The ground was cracked and cried out for water and the sun continued to beat down on the ground. He had time to wonder if it was always like this, or if a lush desert once thrived here.

Trackolania arrived back at the deep chasm and let out a whistle. Herrior looked up and saw him. Trackolania couldn't hear what he was saying, but he saw Skyka come out. Trackolania held up his prizes and stepped over the edge. He began to accelerate downward before Skyka casted her levitate spell on him, slowing his descent and slowly lowering him to the ground.

Trackolania set down the jugs of water and pulled out the four decapitated heads.

"Finally...somebody around here is worth their weight. I will devour them immediately." Mohania said.

"This isn't a search and destroy and devour mission." Herrior said picking up one of the heads. He tossed it over to one of the soldiers and asked, "One of ours or one of our enemies?"

"Looks like a terrorist...hard to tell without the rest of him..." the soldier said looking him over. "Should we send it back to the admiral and let them run his face through the computer?"

"Not yet, Trackolania what else did you get?" Herrior asked and turned back around to him. Trackolania pushed the two large containers of water. He then pulled out several pieces of papers, a pair of binoculars, a medical kit, several magazines full of bullets, and the explosive jacket the man was trying to put on.

"A jacket made of explosive devices?" Herrior said picking it up and looking it over.

"Terrorist alright. Their mission is to kill all who oppose them. This is the suit of a suicide bomber. They put it around their body, go into a public place and blow themselves up." The soldier explained.

"There are probably more effective ways of killing people..." Mohania said.

"They believe if they die a martyr death, they will have seventy two virgins that await for them in the next life." The soldier further explained.

Herrior looked at him surprised and thought he was joking. The soldier looked at him solemnly and nodded. "Wow..." Herrior said in disbelief. He continued, "Can you dismantle this and use the explosives against them?"

"So you would have to teach seventy two new women how to have sex? Then put up with their nagging and having to work seventy two times as hard to support them. That is their reward they are looking forward to by blowing themselves up? Did I miss something here?" Strings asked having a good laugh.

"That's what they believe." The soldier said and tossed the decapitated head into the portal Lindel had opened.

"How would you like to have seventy two of me at the same time?" Skyka asked squeezing Herrior's arm.

"I would love you all the more, but all of them combined makes my life complete as one of you." Herrior replied.

"Oh give me a break…" Mohania said.

"Herrior, I'm looking over some of this paperwork and it looks like blue prints for a portal." Branzer said and then looked up at him as he continued, "Remember the one beneath the earth that they tried to construct?" Branzer asked holding up one of the sheets of paper.

Herrior quickly walked over to him and looked it over. He then looked up and asked, "Can anybody read this? Does anybody know what this says?"

Several of the soldiers stepped forward with linguistics experience and started reading it over. Many of them shook their heads, but two female soldiers began to translate it together.

"Here…take all of these papers and translate it for us. Branzer once they have it figured out notify me at once. This changes everything if they are able to open a portal with those weapons…" Herrior said worried.

"You mean…portals like she can do?" A soldier asked.

"Exactly! They could open one up and drop it into your bathroom and your ass would be sky-high before you even know what happened. That is not all that I am afraid of though…" Herrior said thinking of Tranquil. Herrior's party all knew what Herrior was thinking and it gave them an eerie chill down their spine. "I'll notify the King."

Herrior walked a distance away and pulled out his hearthstone. He contacted one of the King's ambassadors.

"Our mission here has become more dangerous. We are about ready to infiltrate one of their bases within the next day. I bear bad news though. Notify the King that the weapons Branzer were describing do exist on this world, are in the hands of our enemies, and they are working on a portal." Herrior said.

"This is not good news…" the old male tauren said with a sound of worry in his voice.

"I am confident that we carry out our mission, but it has turned more urgent. We have encountered some of their forces already; it's not what I would call a threat – just a mere nuisance. Our human forces aiding us are slowing our traveling speed, but have proven themselves capable of following orders and pushing their bodies to the extreme." Herrior added.

"Shall we send aid for them? Our food and water will enhance their abilities and speed up your mission." The ambassador asked.

"I never pondered that thought." Herrior said and looked back at the troops.

"I would recommend it. Herrior – if they get a portal working and you aren't there in time…" the ambassador said.

"I'll notify our cooks at once, anything happening in Tranquil that I should be aware of?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing of the urgency of your mission" the tauren said.

"Thanks for letting me know." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Listen up everybody…mission has changed again. Gather around." Herrior said turning around and walking up to the soldiers. His party came over as well.

"Just got new orders from the boss… we're moving in immediately, taking no survivors and destroying that portal as soon as we can. I know most of you are feeling the effects of the heat of this land, but that is going to change. I am going to order our fairies to nourish your bodies and give you powers you never thought you would be capable of. You'll be able to run faster, shoot more accurate, and possibly withstand getting hit by a bullet or two. This is extremely secretive and quite frankly I didn't want to give out this power, actually avoiding it, to you but I need you to swear on your grave that you will not tell anybody of what is about to happen to you. Swear it as a fighter before your leader!" Herrior shouted. Everybody shouted, "I swear it!"

"The effects will wear off after a day, but when they do we will give you more of our food. There are no side effects except for secrecy, and I swear to all of you on this very day as a fighter that if any of you speak of this I will hand you over to him!" Herrior said pointing to Mohania.

Mohania smiled as he touched his trinket, revealing his skeleton body and ignited his body on fire. His eyes burst forth with blue flame and said, "The demonstration that all of you saw of the capabilities of me inflicting pain on you is nothing compared to what I will do to you if Herrior hands one of you over to me…" and then ended with a sinister laugh.

"Is that understood?" Herrior asked. The soldiers acknowledged. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and brought up an image of Tranquil's cook.

"I need stamina food, the best you got for about one hundred. Deliver them on fairies to cleanse their bodies as well." Herrior said.

"Dat be no problem mon…I be hearing you be savin' our lives again…" the troll cook said.

"That seems to be my mission." Herrior said and then closed the portal on his hearthstone. He turned to Lindel and nodded at her.

"Will this hurt?" a soldier asked.

"A fairy is going to enter your body, flush out all of the contaminants in your body and fill you with a special kind of magical water and food. It is very pleasurable, not painful in the least." Skyka explained.

"I thought fairies didn't exist," the soldier said. Herrior touched his trinket and said, "Are you the same one that thought taurens didn't exist? What about the undead, or the ability to levitate people, or absorb damage like we can? Let's just say that some of your tales passed down from your forefathers are not completely just tales told in story books." Herrior said and reactivated his trinket. He looked over at Mohania and nodded at him. Mohania didn't want to, but touched his trinket again as his body began to smoke.

The portal opened and dozens of fairies flew out and into the soldier's bodies. The fairies then entered Herrior's party's bodies. The fairies flew back and dozens more flew out flying in and out of the soldier's bodies.

"Oh…my…word…" one soldier's response was. He held out his hand and noticed that his vision had improved ten-fold, his body was energized and the heat was of no matter to him. He picked up his rifle, along with the rest of his things quickly and began to form into their groups.

Lindel closed the portal after all of the fairies left and newly super-charged soldiers quickly gathered their items and fell into formation as well.

"Some of you might have some of your permanent ailments fixed. I noticed many of you removing some items from your face and other body parts. Make up some story besides what just happened. Let's move out." Herrior said and began to jog. Quinely took up her position in the middle of the group and Veliline took up the rear. They all jogged for the rest of the day.

Six hours had passed and they rose out of the chasm. Herrior was the first to see their enemy. A six foot concrete wall was built up with cannons and sniper holes sticking out of it.

"Sir…Herrior, sorry, I am a trained sniper and I can drop them like flies." A soldier came up with a long rifle he was pulling off his shoulder.

"Any other snipers we have among us?" Herrior asked.

"Yes" a couple of other said and Herrior pointed to the ground where they should setup.

"Trackolania, cover our approach. I'll go straight in, Quinely you take left, and Veliline you go right. Everybody else…keep us alive." Herrior said to his party. Herrior then looked at the rest of the soldiers and said, "Do not let anybody step within one hundred yards of this area without unleashing your weapons on them. This is our ground, that is going to be our base, and in less than an hour from now we will be in constant battle. Stay close and remember – one shot, one kill." Herrior said. He looked at everybody and they understood.

"Quinely…I want you to stay in back after we destroy the base. Lew – you keep her alive. Veliline and Lindel, you may summon your armies, but not when we go through the streets. Lindel I want you invisible and above us. I want your mind linked up with everybody and calling out shots. No demons, but I want all of your pets out. I've seen you summon more than one animal at a time and I want you to do the same thing."

"I only have Spark." Julie said.

"Pick up some more along the way if you can. Everybody understand their orders?" Herrior asked. Everybody acknowledged and seemed eager to start.

"Let's move out…" Herrior said and Trackolania quickly threw his cape over his party, concealing them. Herrior and his party ran as fast as they could while stealthed under the cover of Trackolania's new hidden ability.

"Lindel, give the snipers permission to start shooting. Then link all of our minds together. Buff us up everybody." Herrior said.

Lindel gave the command and cracks of gunfire started echoing through the air. Five men died before they signaled that they were being attacked. Herrior let out a loud war cry as he jumped over the wall and slammed down with a thunderous shock. He pulled out his sword and shield as everybody stood at him in awe. He let out another war cry and several people went running in fear. Herrior began launching assault after assault, getting their attention as the rest of Herrior's party came over the wall, launching attack after attack. Lindel summoned her undead army as Veliline summoned her ghoul army. Julie and Branzer ended up back to back, turning as they fired lethal round after round. Julie sent her dog out in a blinding rage and he snapped people in half with its enormous jaws. The echoes of people screaming could be heard as Mohania lit them on fire, at the same time Crystal casted her agony and corruption spells on the people.

"They are retreating in the jeeps!" Branzer said letting out an enormous explosion from his gun that obliterated one of them trying to leave. Herrior picked up one of the armed men and threw him in the direction of a jeep.

"Let none survive!" Herrior ordered as he ran towards the jeep. Several machine guns began to unless on Herrior which slowed his travel. Mohania held up his hand and summoned an inferno from the sky, slamming into one of the jeeps. It grew into a humanoid form and began to attack the next jeep coming at it.

Crystal in the meantime had sneaked around the commotion and saw the snipers picking off several of the drivers. It was too fast for Crystal to cast a spell, but her eyes turned red as she held her hands into the sky. It instantly darkened and fireballs began to fall all around them. It scorched the lands around them, destroying all of the fleeting jeeps and setting fire to everything that she saw as a target within a four hundred yard range.

"I've got to ask her how she does that…" Mohania said.

"Crystal, let's go!" Herrior yelled at her as Crystal stopped channeling the spell and ran to get back into formation. Herrior ran up on top of the wall and yelled, "It's clear! Move your asses!" His voice echoed throughout the land as he saw the soldiers get to their feet and start running towards them.

"How are we doing on mana healers?" Herrior asked.

"Recharging…about half right now," Skyka said.

"I'm at about three-fourths…" Jessica responded.

"I'm out..." Lew said.

"Damn…Trackolania, Julie and Branzer setup a perimeter in front of us. Lindel get in the skies." Herrior said.

"There's a lot of commotion, many bad guys coming our way with guns." Lindel said linking up their minds. She then illuminated the targets and the three of them made quick work of them. They held their positions until the rest of the soldiers came up.

"Lindel – where is our target?" Herrior asked as he deflected bullets with his shield.

"We have to get through this city. There is a massive build up of soldiers in front of some bunkers. I believe that we have to hit that point first." Lindel yelled as her invisible voice came from above him.

"Let's move people!" Herrior yelled out and began pushing his way through the city, letting out loud battle cries that terrified both citizen and terrorist alike. The streets began to scatter with people as the insurgents tried to get at least one shot off before they were killed. Veliline in the back ran backwards almost the whole time keeping an eye on anything that followed them or looked like a target. During the whole time though, nobody shot from behind.

With bullets ringing through the air Herrior's mighty hooves thundered down on the ground as he and Quinely slashed their way through the crowd. Several carts with produce, meats, and other products were unfortunately destroyed. Suddenly a man ran around the corner with a smile as he held a trigger in his hand. Herrior slashed off the man's arm and through him into the air and yelled, "Branzer!" Branzer followed the body up and at its peak Branzer let a blast go that exploded the man into hundreds of tiny pieces. Branzer then lowered his weapon and let out a blast that shot six bullets in front of him, exploding would be enemies with rifles they were trying to get loaded. Julie's dog and bear took the lead and while Julie's dog was far more effective at the bear was equally terrifying.

They reached the middle of the town and were quickly surrounded with dozens of armed guards. Quinely let out a fierce growl as Branzer and Julie shot multiple bullets out of their guns, dropping them instantly. Additional gunfire came from behind them erupted as the soldiers moved into position. Herrior charged forward, knocking several of the men down and slamming his shield into another one. Suddenly a rocket launcher fired up and sent a missile flying towards Herrior. Dan saw it and slowed down time to half of its normal speed. Herrior waited until the missile got to him and then redirected it towards the oncoming soldiers. Dan let time run again at the same speed as the rocket had suddenly changed direction and flew into the soldiers – killing and maiming several dozen of them. The soldiers ran around the corner and mowed down the remaining fighters with incredible accuracy.

Silence came upon the city for several seconds as Herrior's rage burned inside of him. Suddenly a man on top of a roof screamed a horrifying deathly scream. He backed up and fell backwards off the building. His body, turning into stone on the way down, shattered his lower half when it hit the ground.

"Let's move people!" Herrior yelled out and Lindel quickly turned back invisible and led the way. The rest of his party and the soldiers obeyed without question. They were running on pure adrenaline and their bodies felt like they could fight on forever.

A set of pick-up trucks and jeeps equipped with fifty caliber machine guns rolled into the street. Herrior sped forward and jumped on one of the truck's hood, smashing it completely and slashing off the gun. Quinely was close behind as bullets from their army flew past them, taking out the gunners. Both Quinely and Herrior charged with enormous force against the vehicles, over-turning some of them or smashing them beyond repair. Out of nowhere a tank fired a cannon ball. It slammed into the back of Herrior and sent him flailing. Badly hurt, Skyka was attempting to heal him as fast as she could while Quinely raced forward to the tank to intercept the next blast. Suddenly several shots came from the snipers among the soldiers and flew inside the eye holes of the tank. It made the tank suddenly move uncontrollably to the right, slamming into a building.

"One in a million shot." Branzer said aloud.

"Bet I could do it again…" the one soldier said with a satisfied grin.

"I think I was the one that hit him…" another soldier said joshing him.

Herrior slammed his shield on the ground and got back up. He ran to catch up with Quinely – his party in close pursuit.

Herrior and Quinely made it to the end of the city and saw the scene unfold before them. The portal was activated; however the pathway was not opened. A railway was built and was slowly moving the missiles towards the portal.

"Careful Herrior…you might be able to recover from a cannon blast, but those are packing more of a punch to them," a soldier said.

"Kill the workers." Herrior said pointing to the far side of the operation. The soldiers ran past him and began firing as they ran. Their bullets met their targets as the people began dropping quickly.

"Lindel – Can you overload the portal?" Herrior asked looking up.

"Sure can't. That has more power than I do." Lindel said back.

"Mohania, can you bury it?" Herrior asked.

"I can bury anything…get me close enough." Mohania said crackling his knuckles.

"Lindel – fly overhead quickly and find out who is behind this operation and find out where their leader is." Herrior ordered. Lindel quickly turned invisible and flew as fast as she could.

"Branzer, Quinely, Lew and Crystal – go help the soldiers, the rest of you are coming with me." Herrior said and began running to the portal.

Herrior let out a battle cry as his hooves pounded on the ground. Jacklyn's battle cry came shortly afterwards. Herrior leaped off from the cliff, sailed across the air and slammed his shield into the portal. It hit so hard that the entire area made a resonating metallic sound. This revealed the leader immediately and he ordered his troops to guard the portal. The rest of Herrior's party jumped down and began casting or attacking.

"One portal…going down…" Mohania said and held his hands out as he began to summon all of his powers into his hands. The ground began to shake as Mohania's eyes grew a crimson red. Finally he pulled his hands apart and the earth opened up beneath the portal. The portal instantly started shooting off sparks and began to collapse in on itself.

"Not big enough…come on!" Mohania cried out as he funneled the rest of his power into opening the ground. It opened several more meters and made the portal drop several feet. Mohania began to cry out as the last bits of power escaped him. Finally Mohania fell to the ground exhausted and the earth slammed back in on itself. The portal set off let of several small explosions and the circle metal circle still remained intact. Mohania picked up a rock and threw it at it and yelled, "Stupid thing!"

"You're up Jacklyn!" Herrior said bouncing in front of all of the bullets. Jacklyn decapitated her attackers head just after he shot her twice. Jacklyn took the head and tossed it over to Mohania as Jacklyn enraged herself. Her blades quickly made short work of control panel. With it torn to shreds, she concentrated on the circle. She swung her blades behind her and brought them down with as much power as she could muster. A loud "Twang…" sound resonated but didn't even scratch it.

"Immune to my blades!" Jacklyn yelled back.

"Stop them! Get them away from the portal!" A man yelled. Lindel flew down and forced herself into the man's eyes. Quickly accessing the man's mind she found the self-destruct codes. She linked up her mind with Jacklyn and said, "Type in 4,8,3,6,2 into the keypad."

"I destroyed it." Jacklyn said back.

"Tell Herrior to aim for the dead center. There is a fragile crystal up there and if destroyed will separate the two arms securing it together." Lindel said back in Jacklyn's mind. Lindel then broke the connection and held out her hands. She shot out dark lightning bolts, draining the life out of ten of the men in front of her and eventually killing them. She picked up their weapons and with guns in both hands she flew into the air and rained down bullets on the enemies that had barricaded themselves behind make-shift bunkers.

The assault on Herrior's group stopped as Jacklyn had finished telling Herrior what needed to be done. Herrior turned around and threw his sword dead-center into the crystal. It immediately shattered causing and enormous explosion. As Lindel said, the circle's "arms" fell to the side and the portal fell to the ground. Herrior held out his hand as his sword returned to him.

"They are surrendering." Branzer said as he let out three more shots.

"I don't know what that means…" Herrior said as Branzer let out an explosive shot that burst through a building and hitting the gas depot – sending off an enormous explosion and people running out of it on fire.

"I never learned that word either…" Branzer said as he ran forward with the rest of the group. He ordered his bear and eagle to race ahead and waited for the next target.

Both of Herrior's groups converged and saw that his soldiers had take prisoners. Herrior ordered them to be killed, and seconds later they had bullet holes in their head.

"How are you doing Lindel?" Herrior asked turning around. The man that she possessed floated down beside him.

"I have a 'Wun Su Chin' that is trying desperately to free himself from my grasp." Lindel said as she sent several more electrical charges through his body – causing him tremendous pain.

"You – the one with the communication device on your back, call up the admiral and ask him what he wants with all of these missiles." Herrior said pointing at the same communication officer. He nodded and immediately unstrapped his pack and began to make the call. He filled in the admiral for several minutes as the healers tended to the wounded. Strings stopped playing a song that made their attacks more powerful and started playing a song that produced a healing affect on everybody that could hear it.

"Yes sir…we have infiltrated the base and have secured the atomic missiles. Herrior wants to know what we want done with them." The soldier then repeated, "Yes sir, we have them in possession right now."

"Did he think we would fail our mission?" Herrior asked walking up to him.

The soldier looked down at his radio for several seconds and then looked back up at Herrior and said, "The admiral apologized. He said he would like them delivered on his carrier. He asked if we have the man in charge of this operation still alive."

"For the time being…" Lindel said still possessing him.

"He would like to have him delivered as well. The admiral asked how many warheads there are." Trackolania quickly drew the number one hundred and seventy two in the dirt next to him. The soldier reported the information and the sentence, "You've got to be shitting me!" came loud and clear through the radio. The soldier pulled the phone away from his ear instinctively.

"Yes sir that is what I am being told" the soldier said.

"Put them in our unused salvage compartments…put them 'carefully' in our salvage compartments…" the admiral said emphasizing the word carefully. He then continued, "I would like the leader alive."

"Hand him over Lindel and began opening portals to get these missiles out of here." Herrior turned around and asked "Do we have any dead?"

"Nope…some injured but the majority of them are all healed up." Crystal yelled down.

"I'll go help." Dan said. He took his fist weapons and pushed them in front of him as a light blue globe started dancing around the weapon. Dan then changed the dark blue global surrounding him to a light blue one.

Herrior picked up the leader and pulled him up to his fist with one hand. "So you are Wun? Didn't anticipate an attack did you? Where are the rest of the alliance?" Herrior asked slamming his head into his helmet. The man started talking in a different language.

"Forgot how to speak normal huh? Mohania…refresh his memory!" Herrior said throwing him at Mohania's feet. Mohania slammed his foot into the man's stomach, grabbed his hand as it flew upwards and bit off three fingers. He slowly crunched them and then belched a fireball in his face. This seemed to refresh the man's memory.

"You killed us…all of us…this is revenge you filthy piece of shit!" Wun said and spat at Mohania. Mohania spat the chewed up fingers at Wun's face. They slowly crawled in his mouth as Mohania restrained his other arm. Wun was scared beyond anything he could ever had imagined. They crawled into his mouth and Mohania began to heat up his hands and Wun finally cried, "Gander! They are in Gander!"

"Where…is…Gander?" Mohania said in a dark sinister voice and moved his head forward in a very unnatural way.

"Further north of here. Once they hear of this, they will use the other portal to escape. My death will not stop our revenge!" Wun screamed in pain and panic.

"I think he's telling the truth. Gander is another two to three day journey from here." Lindel said as she had successfully shipped off the first three railroad cars of missiles.

"Leave him. Branzer if he moves…" Herrior said. Branzer held out his gun and let out three large explosions from his gun around his head. Wun tried covering his head and when he looked up he saw the barrel of Branzer's gun with a bullet inside that was turning red and white.

"Sorry Herrior…wanted to get the point across…" Branzer said.

"Please…don't kill me…I told you all that I know…" Wun said and Branzer produced another explosion that landed inches from his right ear. Branzer was pretty sure it burst his eardrum.

"Gonna apologize for that one as well?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"This torture thing isn't too bad…" Branzer said aiming his gun dead-center of Wun's forehead with a big smile on his face.

"You have much to learn…my classes start early morning and go until early morning the next day." Mohania said eagerly.

"How are we doing Lindel?" Herrior asked aloud.

"Two more batches of missiles. The rest of the soldiers are all healed up. They are setting up explosives in the surrounding area so that this operation could never start again." Lindel reported back closing a portal. Strings had stopped playing his tune after the troops had become healed.

"What's the possibility of us launching an attack on Gander?" Herrior asked Lindel.

"Very low, if they have a working portal they probably know by now that we are on to them. They could be anywhere in the worlds by now. If I were to abandon my army, I would be leaving behind booby-traps. I think our mission is over Herrior." Lindel said and then flew over to one of the last train cars stacked up with missiles.

"I had the same thought…" Herrior said letting out a snort of dissatisfaction. Herrior turned to the radio communication officer and walked up to him.

"Our job here is done. Get a hold of George and let him know we are coming back. We'll drop off Wen with the admiral. The question I have for you, or anybody else, is can you launch a strike with missiles not as powerful as these, but enough to destroy Gander?" Herrior asked.

"Yes sir…Herrior. Sorry, still trying to break the habit. We've got plenty of jets with pilots that have trigger happy fingers. We can have them fly in and bomb it to smithereens and nobody will ever know what happened." The communication officer said.

"Call up the admiral; I want to speak with him." Herrior said smiling at the reply. The officer quickly pulled off his pack and entered the encryption code to bring the device to life. He then dialed a series of numbers. The machine waited for a couple of seconds before the light by the number turned from red to green.

"Go ahead, it's encrypted now." The soldier said. Herrior held up the phone similar to how the officer did it and heard several rings before the admiral picked it up.

"This is Herrior. Our mission has been completed. We have the leader shitting himself and begging for death, interrogating him should be simple for you. The missiles have all been delivered to your carrier. We will send this 'Wun Su Chin' to you and then we will go meet up with George." Herrior said.

"Don't you guys use another form of communication?" the admiral asked.

"This seemed better for the moment." Herrior replied.

"I've been in constant contact with George and relaying your progress. George wants all of the soldiers involved to be delivered to the Pentagon for debriefing and an award ceremony…it's a political game now and will boost our countries moral. It will also help ease the pressure on China. We've been in constant contact with them as well and they are compensating us for our help." The admiral said.

"I have no need for a debriefing or an award ceremony – our battle still lives on, even if these soldiers are done. Put a feather in your hat or pat yourself on the back – I could care less…but what I need out of you is to launch an attack on Gander. Can you wipe it off the face of this world?" Herrior asked.

"Consider it done. Nobody will know what happened. Herrior, how many losses did we suffer?" The admiral asked.

"None, I don't lead soldiers into combat for them to die. I would say we killed over three hundred of our enemy's party altogether, possibly more. Several annoying tanks and outposts got in our way, but they have been all flushed out. Not even the rats survived. I do not believe we killed any civilians so they should be fine to resume their lives without the tyranny." Herrior said.

"That's amazing…Herrior may I request that you come to our carrier so that we can have a celebration victory for you? I insist." The admiral asked.

Herrior let off a sigh and hesitated. He looked at the soldiers that fought with them and looked like they were ready for another battle. "Maybe they deserve a celebration…" Herrior thought.

"We will meet you in our room in the next twenty minutes. Goodbye admiral." Herrior said and handed the receiver back over to the soldier. The soldier talked to him for awhile, mostly about changing encryption codes again should the situation arise to contact them again.

"The admiral of the carrier wants to hold a victory celebration for us. He was amazed at what we accomplished. He is speaking with George in the odd-shaped building you have. There is some other celebration that you have to attend as well. Personally a cool drink and a nap would suffice for me, but many of you have earned this so my party will attend the one on the carrier. As for meeting up with George, we will not attend that one with you. We will go back to the station and then another location on this world to get one of our members of our party back." Herrior said.

"When is the next time we will fight alongside you?" A soldier quickly asked followed up with several other people agreeing to the question and asking the same one.

"Finish your business here first – your job is not complete yet. Once you finish your job I will speak with my King and ambassadors about letting you join up with us on a permanent basis if you wish. The police station is one of the main places where we visit often…check in with them on a regular basis. Lindel open a portal." Herrior said. Lindel started to open a portal and when it was fully opened one of the soldiers said, "Herrior – permission to speak for everybody here…screw the celebrations, what's our next mission?" The rest of the soldiers began to cheer. Herrior let out a hidden smile as he was about ready to go through the portal. He turned back around to address the soldiers.

"It would seem like a mystery if I took all of you with us to our world. Many of you have lives here. I did anticipate this however. All of you have proved your worth in combat. You would not be taken on in our primary parties though; secondary maybe, but you would probably be assigned guard duty on different worlds. This world you know the best so many of you would be assigned guard duty on this world. We try not to bring people on immediately and put them in a setting that is completely unknown to them. It is evident that many of you do not want to be farmers or do similar tasks for our city. Our city is ruled by a King, and his ambassadors – I am one of them. The food and water that you were given that boosted your strength is the same food that we need for our city to consume. Our city is also very different from anything any of you have ever seen. You will be bewildered by it; however it's not for everybody. You will not be able to move back and forth from it whenever you want. This is a personal decision that many of you will have to make. If you want to fight with us then you will have to leave a lot of things behind and take on a lot of responsibility. The humans that are in my party gave up everything in this world to fight beside me. I cannot take on any more people in my party; you would be assigned to fight under another leader. However…" Herrior said and paused letting out a smile, "My party has been assigned to this world and we could always use more scouts and having more people on hand that are loyal to me would be helpful." This seemed to please everybody as Herrior continued, "The station that we enter and exit this world frequently is where I would need you. I don't want to track down each and every one of you for battle. You would have to move there and obtain jobs there."

"Where is there?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Detroit, Michigan. However the station has nearly unlimited funding so taking all of you on as officers would not be a problem. We'll have to speak with George about it, but I doubt there will be a problem. Many of our battles have been around that area. There are a lot of hardcore criminals there…and sometimes we have problems with our surveillance cameras not always 'catching' everything on video…some criminals have been beaten to within inches of their lives…some just end up dying for some mysterious reason…" Branzer said with a devious smile on his face.

"Ooo…I know why they die!" Mohania said raising his hand eagerly to answer the question.

"We do a lot of interrogation there as well, sort of like how we did here." Branzer said and then ran over and kicked Wun in the side. The pain instantly gripped his body and many of his wounds had opened back up again.

"Was that necessary Branzer?" Herrior asked.

"No it wasn't." Branzer replied back with a smile. Herrior smiled back at him.

"This isn't necessary either!" Mohania said running over to Wun. Herrior held up his hand out and stopped Mohania before he could do anything to him.

"So there you have it. Think it over and speak with your families and kin before you make a decision. But for now let's not keep the admiral waiting." Herrior said. Wun suddenly cried out in pain. Herrior turned around quickly and saw Mohania's hand grabbing a hold of Wun's foot and igniting it on fire.

"Mohania…put yourself back together and let's go." Herrior said.

"It was an accident?" Mohania said reaching down and reattaching his hand. He picked up Wun by the leg and dragged him through the portal.

Mohania saw the admiral and tossed Wun over at him. "Here is their leader. He's already been softened up a little…" Mohania said with a smile on his face.

"I don't think there is much left of him…" the admiral said smiling as the rest of Herrior's party filled the room.

"Herrior – Gander is currently being pummeled with bombs. The attack should be over soon and there won't be a trace left of it when we are done. There are reports of a lot of secondary explosions." The admiral said straightening up when he saw Herrior.

"Good. There were traps then. I'm glad you were able to finish the job for us." Herrior said.

"George is very excited about the mission and wants to congratulate all of you in person…but not before our party. China has extended their thanks to us for find the terror cells responsible for the atomic blasts, infiltrating their bases, recovering their leader, and for 'destroying their weapons'." The admiral putting his fingers in quotes and then continued, "Apparently what happened was a group of terrorists got a hold of some nuclear missiles and were hiding in the remote areas of China. They detonated some of them accidently destroying themselves and we rounded up the rest of them." The admiral told the story just how George wanted him to tell him.

"And people will believe that?" Herrior asked.

"You'd be surprised how easily we can manipulate the press…" the admiral said with a big smile. "Oh – our President is of course taking credit for the mission and will probably use it to try to get reelected."

"First I heard of him." Herrior said.

"He was the person that we manipulated through the televisions and made them blow themselves up…remember the human who betrayed us and killed Lew?" Lindel asked.

"Sounds like an ass." Mohania said. Everybody started to laugh.

"Well I can't comment on that, but feel free to grab some food and some wine. We do have a celebration after all planned for you." The admiral said.

Everybody left the room as Herrior pulled the admiral aside. Jacklyn stayed behind as well, but she laid down on the ground closed her eyes.

"What are you going to do with the missiles?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know. I know we have to deliver them back to Florida as quickly as we can. We have enough explosives on board to blow up the moon and to be honest I am not comfortable with that." The admiral said.

"Are they going to be used for further destruction?" Herrior asked.

"More than likely no. First of all their guidance systems are ancient compared to our technology. Secondly our stockpile is more than adequate. I am having their fuel drained but the atomic payload cannot be drained. They will probably be used to fuel nuclear power plants. That's my guess anyways, but it is what we did in the past with nuclear missiles we confiscated." The admiral ended.

"Doesn't make me feel safer…" Jacklyn said with her eyes closed.

"There are a lot of precautions that we take with them. We do have missiles stronger than the atomic bomb…"

"Yes we've heard…but can you lead an army with only guns into battle, destroy several enemy bases and attack a city with hostiles filled with destructive vehicles and not lose a single soldier?" Herrior asked.

The admiral knew what Herrior was trying to say. "No we can't. Unfortunately our people possess different technologies. We cannot do what you did."

"Sorry…I didn't mean to snap like that. We're just use to different fighting techniques is all." Herrior said.

"Let me know if you ever need anything bombed…" the admiral said smiling. He then looked over at Jacklyn and asked if she was coming.

"No" Jacklyn quickly said.

"She doesn't like parties…or boats…" Herrior said.

Herrior and the admiral walked into the mess hall and suddenly everybody stood up and started clapping and cheering, including his party.

"Woohoo – take it off!" Skyka yelled out as it was followed by some laughter.

"What kind of party is this? Where's the food and the ale?" Herrior said enthusiastically.

"They have something called champagne, here have a glass." Skyka said handing her husband a tall skinny glass. Herrior downed it in one gulp.

"No hun…you are supposed to sip it slowly and savor the taste." Skyka said and demonstrated.

"I'll have another then!" Herrior proclaimed with a smile.

"I purpose a toast!" A soldier said standing on top of a chair and raising his glass as Skyka poured him another glassful. "To the best leader and commander we have ever served under!" Everybody cheered as they raised their glass and took a drink.

"To the best mission ever! To our comrades and to our newly found friends! May they ever watch over us and save our asses!" Another soldier declared and raised his glass. Many people said, "Here here!" and others agreed with them as they all raised their glasses and then took another drink.

"I got one! To death, misery and torture of our enemies! May they die a horrible death!" Mohania yelled out. Everybody kind of looked at each other when Herrior said, "Here here! May the wind always be at our backs and may our friendships abound and our enemies fear us!"

"I like mine better…" Mohania said.

"I'll raise my glass to both." The admiral said raising his glass and everybody else did and well in agreement as they finished off their glasses of champagne.

"I've had three pigs roasted and flown in…" The master chef said rolling a massive pig out that was skewered through the middle with hot juices flowing down from it.

"Ugh…pig…do you have any vegetables?" Quinely asked quickly.

"We sure do." The chef said and yelled back to make a vegetarian dish as two more chefs's followed him out with two more pigs.

"Ah…the feast has arrived. Let the festivities begin." Strings said pulling out his lute and began to play a song. It was an upbeat cheerful song and Herrior's party began to push aside tables and chairs as they started to dance with one another. Lindel spun around - changing into a long strapless white ball gown as she produced small orbs of light and gently tossed them into the air. They floated around giving off a gentle haze and slowly alternating lights and other soldiers joined the dancing as the chef started carving into the first pig. Mohania decided to be creative as well and conjured up a three piece tuxedo for himself. He pulled his vest together and buttoned it and gently pulled it down.

"Well now…we have a distinguished gentleman in our presence, what are you scheming?" Skyka asked running her fingers under his chin.

"Wun is still here and he's about ready to die - I am going to dance on him." Mohania said smiling.

"Oh shit…" Skyka said and quickly pushed him out of the way. She chanted a healing spell and it healed many of his wounds.

"Admiral – we should probably have this piece of filth taken to your clinic…he seems badly hurt." Skyka said quickly getting his attention.

"Would you two please escort him to our infirmary? Please…make sure he's not too comfortable… Give orders to our soldiers to guard him day and night. Also…handcuff him to the bed." The admiral said.

"Yes sir," two soldiers said and then ran over to Skyka and put both of his arms around their shoulders as they lifted him up. They began to walk past the admiral when the he motioned for them to stop. The admiral leaned back and punched Wun as hard as he could in left cheek as his body was violently twisted. Everybody cheered as the admiral said to carry on shaking his hand.

"Was that really necessary?" Herrior asked smiling.

"Yes - damn that hurt…" the admiral said holding his hand. Lindel walked over to him and placed his hand between hers. A faint yellow glow came out and seconds later Lindel blew him and kiss and went back to dancing. The admiral looked at his hand in shock and said, "You have some very talented people in your party…"

"So do you. It doesn't take numbers to win a war, it takes talented people." Herrior said.

"What's going to happen to the rest of the alliance in this world?" The admiral asked.

"I'm hoping they will lay low for awhile and give us a break. They will find another base and rebuild though – probably are this very moment." Herrior said.

"You know…" the admiral said and paused for awhile before he continued, "I think I've been at sea long enough. It's been awhile since I've seen soldiers this happy after a victory. I wish I was there fighting alongside you as well."

"A lot of people wish the same thing, even my people. This mission was probably more vital to my people than it was yours, and now both of our people are safer because of it." Herrior said.

"Ok that's enough boring talk…come on…" Skyka said pulling Herrior towards the makeshift dance area.

"Duty calls." Herrior said looking back at the admiral. He nodded and smiled back.

"So…what were you two talking about?" Skyka asked pulling him close to her.

"I think he wants to fight with his soldiers. Can't blame him, I'd rather be in the front of the battle than sitting on the side and watching." Herrior said and then picked her up and spun her around.

"Well your job is to be in the front silly…" Skyka said laughing and throwing her hair behind her.

"I think his days of driving this boat are almost over. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the station." Herrior said.

"I think you are right. So what are we going to do about the two love birds over there?" Skyka asked looking at Lindel and Branzer dancing together.

"Wait I guess. Neither one of them has spoken with me yet." Herrior said.

"And those two?" Skyka asked nodding over towards Trackolania and Julie dancing together.

"Same…" Herrior said.

"And us?" Skyka asked.

"I was thinking that maybe we could sneak away for awhile…" Herrior said quietly looking into her eyes. Skyka smiled back and said, "I could go for that…but the pig is calling to me first."

"Same here…let's go eat." Herrior said walking over with her. Mohania was there already asking for all of the bones and cartilage. The chefs were carving it as fast as they could as the soldiers filled their plates and ate standing up while others were joining Herrior's party in dancing.

They ate, danced, and sang for several hours before Herrior announced that they should be leaving. Lindel snapped her fingers and dissolved the floating orbs, but remained in her gown. Strings quit playing and Herrior's party gathered around him. The soldiers that fought with Herrior stopped what they were doing and walked over to Herrior as well.

"I appreciate the party, but we need to return. Let's head out." Herrior said as they moved into their room with Jacklyn.

"Are we leaving yet?" She asked. Herrior nodded and Lindel started to open a portal.

"It was a pleasure having you aboard." The admiral said from the door.

"I'll be seeing you around." Herrior said.

"Yes you probably will." The admiral said smiling.

The portal was fully opened and Herrior ordered the soldiers to go through it.

"You aren't coming?" One of them asked.

"We have to go get one of our party members. For those of you, who want to continue the fight, meet us at the station. Think it over first and your ties to this world because this isn't something to take lightly. George is on the other side of this portal. Go receive your honors and praises to bolster the moral of your people. I'm sure George can make accommodations for you to get back to the station if you so desire. Go on now." Herrior said motioning them through the portal. They did as they were ordered and either saluted Herrior or shook his hand as they left.

When they were all through, Herrior told Lindel to go open a portal to Bernett's position. Lindel nodded and began to create the portal.

"This is one of those once in a life time scenarios that probably nobody else has ever experienced. I appreciate you including me." The admiral said.

"You might be surprised how often we come around and help to bring about peace as well as assassinate our enemies. Just keep your eyes open." Herrior said. Once the portal was open, Jacklyn was the first one through.

"Give her my apologizes for the accommodations." The admiral said with a smile.

"Will do. Thanks for the ride on your boat." Herrior said.

"Thanks for saving our lives." The admiral replied back. Herrior nodded as he stepped through the portal and Lindel closed it.

"I am just going to stand here on this grass for awhile. It doesn't move it doesn't rock back and forth; it doesn't go up and down. This is the what God meant for us to be on – not some vehicle that bounces up and down while flying…I mean really, fly in a straight position – how hard is that? Our dragons do it, are they so much more advanced than their flying death traps? And the middle of the seas…it would have been impossible to swim back to land…impossible! That was a big boat I admit, but anything that can be built, can be destroyed and I don't feel like swimming that far. No…I'm going to just sit here in the grass and enjoy this. There is no rocking back and forth motion, it does not make me sick and it is stable." Jacklyn blurted out when the portal closed. Herrior nodded half expecting a speech like this. He anticipated more, but she seemed content just to sit down and put her hands at her sides in the grass. He knew this was a rough mission for her.

Herrior walked into Alan's house and saw Sammy in the kitchen sipping some tea.

"I really need to teach you guys how to knock first before entering…" she said.

"How's Bernett?" Herrior asked.

"He's sleeping on the couch. Between him and your outpost there sure has been a lot of activity going on." Sammy said setting down her cup.

"What's been happening?" Herrior asked quickly.

"Mindless zombies moving up and down our road. We had several of your other groups come and fight them off as well. Nobody got hurt." Sammy said pulling out a forty five caliber from her ankle and setting it on the table.

"Been learning how to fight?" Herrior asked with a smile as he pulled out his hearthstone.

"Been trying to - basically point and shoot. Alan and I defended our house while your outpost and other parties took out the majority of them." Sammy said as Herrior nodded and opened up a portal with his hearthstone. One of the King's ambassadors answered.

"We have just returned from our mission and Sammy is reporting that there was an attack on their house." Herrior said sounding concerned.

"You did something during your mission. The alliance has gone nuts. It's almost like there was a link between all of them and now that you broke the link somehow, they are out of control. We've dispatched over fifty of our groups to their world to address the issue. What happened during your mission Herrior?" A male blood elf asked.

"We killed hundreds of alliance, destroyed several of their outposts and destroyed a portal that was working, but had no destination active. They had loaded highly violate explosives on carts and it looked like they were going to put them through the portal. We captured their leader and thoroughly interrogated him. He knew nothing that we didn't already know. The admiral of the boat we were on then launched a strike with bombs on the town of Gander. He reported that there were secondary explosions. There was a secondary portal there that they were escaping through and we would not have been able to make it there on foot quickly enough to intercept them. I'm assuming he carried out the mission, but I have no confirmation other than his word and I do not believe that he was lying." Herrior said.

"Interesting…something must have severed a link between all of them during your actions. Those alliance that have not been wrecking havoc on the people of the world have either gone insane, are held up in prisons of the world or have been killing themselves. The worgen do not seem to have been affected by this. They have made themselves scarce in the wilds and are virtually untrackable. This does not affect the main allegiances of the alliance, only the loosely controlled humans." The ambassador said.

"Is there any way to save them?" Herrior asked. The ambassador shook his head and said, "We have tried. We even detained hundreds of them in our prisons and tried to help them, but to no avail. They all perished."

"Some sort of mental self-destruct sequence do you think was engaged when we launched our attack?" Herrior asked.

"We're still trying to figure it out; in the meantime though we are setting up several temporary outposts on the world to address the issue. The station you portal to is having a lot of problems along with their town as well. Their cells are overrun, and innocent people are being attacked. We have several secondary groups there surrounding the area trying to contain the threat." The ambassador reported.

"What are our orders?" Herrior asked.

"Relieve them of their duties and get things in that area back under control." The ambassador said.

"We'll leave immediately." Herrior said and closed the portal and shouted, "Bernett!" while putting his hearthstone away. Bernett instantly woke up in shock and fell off the couch. He jumped to his feet and turned into his shadow form ready for an attack.

"It's just me. Let's get going, we have an assignment to do." Herrior said.

"Sorry…just haven't been sleeping much…" Bernett said returning back to his normal form.

"Sammy, get more guns and aim for the head. If need be abandon your home and head for the outpost." Herrior said looking at her.

"They dug an underground chamber from our house to the outpost and fortified it with a type of rock that I've never seen before." Sammy said.

"Good. How is Alan?" Herrior asked.

"He increased the number of body guards he has and is packing more heat than I am, but he's a professional and needs to look the part." Sammy said.

"Look out for each other. My guess is that this will only last a short while. Be on your guard. Lindel open a portal." Herrior said turning around to Lindel. She nodded and went outside.

"So how did the mission go?" Bernett asked trying to get caught up.

"We carried it out successfully, but apparently we aren't done yet. How did your mission go?" Herrior asked.

"Killed two roaming demons and joined up with the outpost. Alan brings in some real whack-jobs around here." Bernett said.

"Whack-jobs?" Herrior asked.

"That is the official diagnoses that he used, people that aren't in their right mind. Don't know how many alliance we killed. Skyior should be coming back soon I would think. She said she wanted to be initiated into the guild of the rogues. If she goes through the same classes that Trackolania went through, it'll probably be the last word we hear from here." Bernett said. Trackolania shook his head in disagreement.

"No huh? Well I don't know how this secretive stuff works..." Bernett admitted walking through the portal and into the station. They had walked into a screaming station with people yelling and screaming at each other.

Herrior turned to them and motioned for the hunters and Trackolania to stealth themselves with their pets. He touched his trinket and turned into an officer along with the rest of his party.

"There are officers here that are not ours. We need to bring the prisoners away and execute them from the rest of the officers. Spread out and help out." Herrior said.

Herrior opened the door and instantly the intensity of the chaos erupted even louder. Herrior moved his way to Paul the Lieutenant's office and barged in. Paul saw him and quickly waved him it. Herrior shut the door behind him.

"Who is he? He has no right to be here! This is a private meeting! I insist that he leaves at once!" A man said half looking at Herrior.

"He is my right-hand man." Paul said.

"This is an outrage! My people will continue to loot and kill unless we reach an agreement! I will not stand for that!" The man said and tried to leave. Herrior stopped him and several of his men that were with him pulled out pistols.

"What is happening here?" Herrior asked.

"What is happening is you are in my way and if you don't move you will die you stupid idiot!" The man said and tried to walk around Herrior again. Herrior grabbed him and threw him on his other guards. He then pulled out his sword and drove it into the men piled up on the floor. The men were definitely tougher than the average human and Herrior started throwing his sword down even more to ensure that they were dead. Eventually all of them burned up, leaving only their weapons behind.

"I am not pleased to hear you bargaining with the enemy." Herrior said.

"We need your help…please I'm sorry…we are overwhelmed." Paul said.

"I will not accept your apology. You do not barter with our enemy! I will deal with you later." Herrior said putting his sword behind him and leaving the office.

"What happened to our boss? Where is our boss?" Several men ran up to him insisting to know.

"This…" Herrior said as he snapped his fingers at Trackolania. Trackolania destroyed the first two immediately as Herrior and he worked together killing the other two. Their bodies fell to the ground and burned up. The rest of the department looked in awe at what just happened.

"Light them up" Herrior said as Branzer and Julie's guns filled the air and the melee attackers ran forward. Veliline made her way to the exit and pushed everybody backwards. Every alliance person that touched her she spread her diseases on them. Veliline slammed her axe on the floor and spread the diseases to all of the alliance. They turned their focus on her and Veliline began to take up a defensive stance and the more she attacked, the more damage she could absorb and her self-healing maintained her health.

Screams filled the air as Herrior began taunting some of the attackers off from her. The battle was fierce. Herrior instructed to do single targeting only and no fire spells. Shadow spells were launched time after time again – hitting their target and dropping them to the ground. Skyka and the other healers were focused on the tanks during the battle and keeping them alive that they didn't have time to pay much attention to anybody else. Trackolania's blades were hitting multiple targets at the same time and striking them in deadly spots. Lindel took on the job of draining the power from the alliance and channeling her power to healing.

The intense, close encounter battle lasted for several minutes before the alliance numbers dropped to a manageable number. Herrior's party focused their attacks one at a time as Lindel marked them, and the alliance died much more effectively – hitting the ground and burning up.

Veliline had managed to stand her ground but not without taking damage. Skyka healed her wounds as Herrior's voice blared out, "Who let them in? We leave for a couple of days and you let the enemy back in here! What is going on?"

"Who…are you?" An officer said coming out from his hiding place.

"They brought in additional officers…these aren't ours…" Branzer reminded Herrior.

"Lindel – do your thing… Veliline seal the exit." Herrior said. Lindel floated into the center of the room as everybody watched her. She then let out a white burst of light as she dispersed her body into all of the officers she didn't recognize.

"That will take her time…my guess is that is why Paul was so eager to see me."

"Herrior…" Lew said and fell to the ground. His body was badly ripped apart by his attackers.

"Oh shit!" Skyka said in desperation and casted a quick healing spell on him and then began to chant healing spell after healing spell. The other healers did the same. Lew's body healed, but he rolled over and said, "It's been an honor…my time…is up though…" Lew struggled to say and then fell lifeless on the floor.

"Oh no you don't!" Skyka said and began channeling her resurrection spell along with the rest of the healers. Lew was blasted time after time as the spells slammed into his body, but nothing happened.

"No…no…no…" Skyka said reciting a hymn to recharge her mana as Jessica, Quinely, and Dan continued to cast their resurrection spells.

"That's enough." Herrior said.

"No…we haven't…Herrior…" Skyka said. Herrior shook his head.

"The healing should have brought renewed life into him. The resurrection spells should have brought him back to life. All of you have done what you could." Herrior said solemnly.

"Lindel brought him back to life before…" Skyka said in desperation.

"His time hadn't come yet. Look at him; he's an empty shell now. None of us saw it coming and unfortunately we don't know the day or the time death comes, but it has come for him this time." Herrior said. Lindel pulled her particles back together and rematerialized. She quickly flew over to him and Herrior said, "You have your orders!" Lindel flew backwards in shock. She quickly dispersed again and went back to erasing the police officers minds of the battle.

"Jacklyn, take him in our room. We will hold a funeral for him. He knew death was overtaking him…that's why he said what he did. Sometimes we know when death is coming…sometimes it comes in the night…sometimes it comes as a surprise. He fought well; he deserves a fighter's burial. Bernett, stay and guard the body –. I need to go speak with Paul and contact Tranquil about our loss. The rest of you scatter yourselves among the grounds but do not leave the station grounds. Find out what happened and if you get a chance – kill any alliance you see. Be discreet about it." Herrior said walking by everybody and into Paul's office.

"You have a lot to answer for. I just lost one of my best men in that battle! I just lead some of your officers and other soldiers into battle and not one of them died. What is going on?" Herrior said in a fierce voice and walking up to Paul.

"It's the law Herrior…we have to follow the law. Yes, it sucks…yes you aren't used to following our laws, I understand that. But with the loss of our soldiers to go fight in your battle we had to bring in other officers to cover. They don't know about demons or alliance…our streets have been overrun and I have lost ten officers this week alone!" Paul said standing up from his chair and walking around the desk to Herrior.

"They are alliance! They will overpower your men and kill them – you knew that!" Herrior yelled back.

"I didn't know they were that strong! Do you think I meant for my men to get killed in the line of duty? Do you think I am not sad because of your loss? They are overrunning the streets…whatever you did has caused them to go nuts! B and E's have rose by two hundred percent, murders and rapes by one hundred and fifty percent and weapon stores are the prime target. My officers will unload an entire clip into them and they don't even blink! What am I supposed to do? We don't have swords…we don't have your powers, what could I have done differently? I ordered every officer to carry around shotguns instead of side arms, but they are organized. They will sacrifice one of themselves, while the others over power our officers to get their weapons. It's a bloodbath out there! You walked in during the middle of the negotiations…if I let all of their alliance friends in our jail go, they would leave our city. I am tired of the bloodshed so I was going to do it. What would you have done? What could I have done differently?" Paul questioned back.

Herrior meditated on his words. He then nodded and apologized. "Lew was part of this station. How would he want his funeral to be? I ask only because I believe he would want to be buried with the rest of his officers. I've sent my party around your station to dispatch the rest of the alliance around here. We will then attract them and then kill the rest that are in the city. I am sorry for your losses."

"You can't kill the rest of them in the city…there are hundreds of them…" Paul said.

"There always has been…" Herrior said turning to look at him before he left. He walked back to their room as he shut the door behind him. Jacklyn had taken off his armor and several healers from Tranquil were dressing him for burial. Jacklyn and Herrior made eye contact for a brief second before Jacklyn went back to giving them instructions.

"Preserve the body and make the make his records tell of the heroics that he did. I believe we will have the burial here on his planet. Finish cleansing the body." Jacklyn finished saying and then turned to Herrior. Herrior nodded at her.

"We're short one in our party now Herrior." Jacklyn said. It seemed obvious enough, but Jacklyn had to hear those words. Herrior did also. They embraced each other and cried.

After a short moment Jacklyn said she was ready to join the rest of the party. Herrior nodded and asked to have a moment alone with Lew. Jacklyn nodded and walked out.

Herrior leaned down next to his face and touched his trinket. "I will not talk to you as a human." Herrior then looked up at the healers as if asking them to leave for a moment. They caught on and left through the open portal to Tranquil. A small crowd had gathered on the other side and word had begun to spread about the death.

"Lew…you were a good fighter. I am honored to have fought beside you. I enjoyed our talks, I held you in higher standard than the current Lieutenant. You stood by my side when I cried…you walked with me while I pondered…you fought to keep the peace and your presence helped soothe our party. May you rest in peace my friend. I pray your soul is at rest in Heaven and you are looking down at us from above. I don't believe we have had that discussion and it is my fault I fear. Your body cannot be brought back now – how it was before was a miracle, but not to be repeated again my friend. We all loved you Lew, God bless you." Herrior finished and then wrapped up the rest of his head. He looked through the portal to tell the healers to come, but the first eyes he saw were Brenna's. She had been crying hard, but suddenly stopped when Herrior saw her. She tried to smile as she wiped away the tears. Herrior nodded at her and then looked up at the healers. They came back through the portal and levitated him back through it. Herrior watched as the portal closed in front of him as he pulled out his hearthstone to make the official report to the King's ambassadors about the death.

Outside Jacklyn saw her party at work. They were fast and discreet. They lured the alliance behind a building or a large truck or van where an ambush was waiting for them. Jacklyn wanted more than anything to pull her blades out and just scream in rage, but she figured everybody else in her party wanted to do the same thing as well. There was a time to fight…and a time to die. This was the time to fight. She walked up to Branzer and Mohania and asked them to follow her. She went directly to the muli-layered modern day prison. It had tripled in size and was still being worked on.

Jacklyn walked in and said, "I hear you have a disturbance. Herrior sent us here to calm things down. I hear you are having problems with intermittent power problems that causes failure for the lights and your camera equipment."

"We've been working on that for weeks ma'am. The contractors just haven't been able to locate the problem. Come with me." The officer said. He knew who Jacklyn was even before she mentioned "Herrior" but was playing along. They passed through several security check points and then told the secretary the phrase, "Code blue". She nodded and reached underneath the desk and pressed a button. The power instantly cut out and the emergency power slowly turned the room red. A recorded voice came over the intercom stating that a power failure had occurred and that the officers should report to their designated outposts. The message continued to repeat itself.

"Give us five minutes…" the officer whispered quietly to them. He then straightened his shirt and said, "You may proceed. The power grid is on the opposite end of the cell blocks. There are three different floors, two upstairs and a basement. Some prisoners might not have returned to their cells. The cell blocks automatically go into lockdown."

"We'll take it from here officer. I hear there might be some trouble in the parking lot than you and your officers could assist with." Jacklyn said.

"Yes ma'am…we'll handle it." The officer said and then left with the rest of the officers. They shut and locked the door behind them.

Branzer, Mohania and Jacklyn looked out and saw many red eyes looking back at them. She pulled out her blades and said, "I want them all dead…and I'm not an officer!" Jacklyn said slamming her fist into her dragon trinket. "I am a fighter of Tranquil and I will kill all of you!" Jacklyn yelled and then let out a loud thundering battle cry as she jumped into the mob and started swinging away.

Branzer summoned his bear and commanded him to tank as many alliance as he could. "I am a fighter of Tranquil as well and I will drop all of you where you stand!" Branzer yelled and then his gun lit up the room letting out explosive shot after explosive shot.

"I just like killing people!" Mohania yelled and engulfed his body in fire. He summoned his voidwalker to pull some of the alliance off from Jacklyn and let out fire spell after spell.

Herrior walked out of the police station and saw the commotion. His party was doing exactly what he wanted them to do. He turned and walked around the building and eventually towards the gate.

"Everything ok sir?" the guard asked.

"It will be in about ten minutes. This city will be safe once more." Herrior said.

"Anything I need to be aware of?" the guard asked.

"Anything? No…nothing is going on right now, why do you ask?" Herrior asked with a half smile on his face. The other guard came out and demanded to know what was going on. Herrior recognized the tone of voice and in one swift movement he spun around, disarming the guard of his weapon and slicing off his head with his sword. The stunned guard's head fell to the ground and bounced several times before it stopped. The body burned up and only the gun remained.

Herrior put his sword back and picked up the gun. He handed it to the guard and said, "You dropped your gun."

"I will be more careful next time sir." The guard replied back in shock at how fast everything happened.

"You do that soldier. I'm going to go for a walk. If anybody asks where I went, tell them I went right and the others should go left." Herrior said.

"Yes sir." The policeman responded knowing exactly who Herrior was talking about.

Herrior nodded and set off on his walk – to the right. He put his sword back behind him as it disappeared into his disguise.

"A hot muggy night…not a good one to clear the mind…" Herrior thought on the beginning of his trek.

"Hey! Hey you! You got any money?" Several men ran out of an abandoned building and began to follow him.

"I am rich beyond your wildest dreams…but what I have, you will never…ever…be able to get. You are not who I seek this night, leave now." Herrior said.

"Ya whatever pops…hand over your wallet!" A man said pulling out a gun. Herrior heard the trigger cock and spun around grabbing the man's hand with the gun and squeezing it hard. The man yelled in pain as the other two thugs backed away quickly. The man dropped the gun. Herrior picked it up, held it to his head and emptied the chamber directly into his temple. Herrior's helmet deflected every bullet until only clicking sounds were being made. The terrified men gazed at him in fear and started to run, but Herrior charged at the man with the crushed hand and knocked him to the ground. He picked him up by the other hand straight up into the air and quickly squeezed his fist, snapping dozens of bones inside of his hand. The man yelled and begged for mercy.

"Where are your friends now? Are they running to the police station to turn me in?" Herrior asked him. Herrior grabbed him by the side and said, "Go tell them you tried to kill me…see how much pity they give you…" and with that Herrior ran forward a little bit before launching the man forward with tremendous speed. The man flailed in the air and landed hard against one of the other men.

"Pathetic…" Herrior said and spit on the ground towards them. He then turned around and continued his walk.

"I've got lots of money…walking all by myself…lots of money…all alone…" Herrior kept repeating over and over. He felt eyes watching him but he didn't entice anybody to attack him. He heard a scream off in the distance but didn't lift his head to look. He kept it down and watched the pavement move past his feet. He had covered about a mile and saw a group of adolescents hanging out on the street to the left of him. He turned and walked up to them.

"I have lots of money on me…if you can knock me out you can have it." Herrior told them.

"No thanks…" one of them said and they walked away. They weren't alliance; Herrior hadn't seen any yet. He knew they were here, but for some reason they wouldn't reveal themselves to him. He quickly looked behind him and caught a shadow quickly moving behind a building.

"Looking for something?" Herrior asked aloud and started heading back.

"I've got what you are looking for. I'm all alone, nobody will know what happened…come out and face me you coward!" Herrior said angrily and started picking up his pace. He quickly heard several sets of foot prints running away from him.

"I can out run you…that I guarantee!" Herrior said and slammed his mighty hoofs on the ground as he raced towards the noise. He turned the corner and saw three alliance staring at him.

"Good…I was wondering if you lousy pieces of filth were ever going to show yourselves. Call out your other friends…bring them all at me. Fire the first shot! Come on!" Herrior yelled at them. All of the alliance turned around and ran.

"Gonna lead me into a trap? Is that your game? I like traps…" Herrior said with a smile and quickened his pace. One of them looked behind him and the look of fear was on his face. Herrior quickly gained on them and leaped into the air. He came crashing down on the middle one, and the other two stumbled and fell on the ground. Herrior pulled out his sword and drove it into the middle one's skull. He quickly burned up as the other two tried to quickly scramble to their feet. Herrior charged the left one and slammed him into a wall. Herrior spun around and through the man at the other one, knocking him back on the ground.

"Leave us alone!" One of them ordered.

"Not until every last one of you are dead…" Herrior said closing the distance between them.

"We did nothing to you!"

"You harassed the people of this town. You took advantage of the innocent and shed innocent blood! Where is your leader?" Herrior said putting his sword away and picking up both of them.

"Eleven thirty five Elm Street. Linda is her name. Spare our lives and we will take you to her." One of the alliance men said.

"How about I kill you and find her myself?" Herrior asked.

"Please no…"

Herrior looked at his friend and snapped his arm bone that he was holding. He let out a loud howl of pain and said, "Feels so good…hurting you. Maybe I should just take you in one of these houses and snap every bone in your body. Is your companion telling the truth?" Herrior asked.

"He is! He is! You are hurting me…please stop!" The man yelled.

"Well now…I think we have a destination to go to now don't we?" Are you going to run away again? My sword is still dripping with your other companion's blood and its quench never ends." Herrior said and shoved them in front of him.

"We won't run away." One of them said.

"Am I walking into a trap?" Herrior asked.

"No sir."

"Are you aware that all of your buddies in the police station have all died?" Herrior asked. The both looked at each other, forgetting about the pain and had a look of almost terror.

"They are. The police have retaken their command center, all of your kind among their territory is all dead and the hunt is on for your kind. You look as though your plan has failed. Bring out the other alliance so we can all have tea with your 'Linda' leader." Herrior said.

"They are scattered through the city…"

"Are there any recruiters?" Herrior asked interrupting him.

"They lost their powers…all of us have lost most of our powers."

"While your powers wane, mine grow. My vengeance has no end." Herrior said grinding his teeth.

"You will kill us…won't you?" One of them asked.

"So far you are cooperating and have either lied to me, which will result in a painful death, or I will set you free if your information is correct." Herrior said.

"Only to kill us later?" The other asked still grimacing in pain and holding his arm.

"If you flee the town and spread the word that your kind is being hunted down…I will not kill you. You are of no use to me if you can't speak. Merely killing you leaves only ashes…I want my wrath to be known to all of you." Herrior said.

"Is that a promise?"

"You are as stupid as you are ugly. I said I wouldn't kill you if you gave me the correct information and do what I said!" Herrior's voice thundered at them and echoed throughout the streets.

The three of them walked several blocks when Lindel's voice entered Herrior's mind.

"Killed several hundred alliance. We're starting to fan out and search for more. Half of the prisoners Jacklyn, Branzer and Mohania killed. The mind's of the officer's has been wiped and are safely asleep. What are your orders?"

"I'm heading to the alliance head quarters now. I plan on doing some destruction. Tell the party that if they want a piece of the action they had better get here quickly." Herrior said back in his mind to Lindel.

"When do you estimate your arrival?" Lindel asked.

"Where is the house?" Herrior said shoving one of the alliance men hard.

"There" one of them said and pointed into the far distance.

"The large white house with the chain fence around it with the two men standing guard at the door?" Herrior asked.

"Of course…who else guards their home with armed guards…" the other man said. Herrior pulled out his sword and stabbed him in the stomach. "Only need one of you to carry the message…you aren't the one…" The man looked down at the blade in his side and then looked back up at Herrior as he twisted his blade and pulled it back out. His lifeless body fell to the ground and burned up.

"You got something else to say?" Herrior said glaring at the other alliance with a snarl on his lips.

"I…showed you the house…"

"Get out of here. Head north and spread the word that your kind is our prime target. If you aren't out of my view in the next minute – you will not have a chance to use that tongue of yours." Herrior said. The man quickly ran away.

"Vigilante?" Lindel asked in Herrior's mind.

"Yes." Herrior said and began running towards the house.

"Are you sure you don't want backup?" Lindel asked.

"You aren't here yet, are you?" Herrior asked back in his head.

The guards at the house were wearing body armor, and saw Herrior racing towards them. They pulled out their hand guns but held them to their side.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"Death…and I'm coming for you…" Herrior said and then pulled out his shield and sword. The terrified guards held their guns up to him and yelled at him to stop. Neither one of them got a shot off before Herrior charged at them and dispatched both of them. Their bodies burned up as Herrior gently knocked on the door with a smile. He heard steps coming towards the door and then slammed his shield into the door – sending the door and the person flying backwards.

"I'm here…I'm your enemy; shoot me." Herrior said assuming a defensive stance.

"Don't attack him. They have a code. They will not hurt you if you don't strike first." A female voice said at the top of the stairs. Herrior jumped up in the air and slammed his body on the floor, sending floor boards cracking and splitting. The resonation from the blow knocked everybody back within ten yards from him. He then looked around at the destruction and then back up at her.

"I never heard of that code…your base is ready to collapse in on itself and your fighters are wounded. The ones that brought me here are dead, and your guards never got a chance to get a shot off. So if there was a code, I just broke it several times. Now you will answer my questions or all of you will die by my blade!" Herrior's voice commanded with his blade pointing to her.

"You are not one of them…are you? If you were you would have followed your code of honor and try to save my life…talk me out of killing you and lead me to the dark side. But the dark side is not where the power is…you will never know the power of the Light." Linda said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Herrior said and then launched a magical image of his sword just below where she was standing. The floor gave out as she fell screaming to the ground. She held out her hand and encased herself in a magical force field. Herrior readjusted his stance and held his sword behind him. He concentrated on her for several seconds and then launched his sword forward. It dissolved the force field and the tip of the blade hit her in the forehead, but deflected off – knocking her to the ground. Herrior held his hand out and his sword returned to his hand.

"Impossible!" She said quickly scooting backwards.

"You think we don't know about your paladin powers? You think you know us and what codes we live by? You think you can outwit me with a silver tongue?" Herrior asked walking towards her.

"You can't be one of them…you are human…" Linda said in a near panic. She began to chant a spell to heal her body, but Herrior's fist slamming into her mouth interrupted it.

"You chose your side…I chose mine." Herrior said.

"That's far enough." A man behind Herrior said. He felt a light touch of something against the back of his helmet. Herrior let out a battle cry, spun around and slammed his sword into the floor boards. It knocked everybody down and decimated the rest of the floor as they all fell into the dirt below. Herrior jumped out of it and slammed his shield hard into the first attacker. Linda's guards began to open fire as Herrior began to dodge the attacks with unhuman speed. Linda was hit several times when she started yelled at them to stop firing.

Herrior's sword sunk through one of the gunmen and he pulled it back out quickly. He jumped over him and with some quick sword play and shield slams, killed the rest of his attackers. Herrior picked up the last dead body and threw it at Linda. It burned up before it reached her. She covered her face as the ashes flew around her. She had fully healed herself and was ready to negotiate.

"What do you want?" Linda said.

"Your head…detached from your body…" Herrior said jumping out of the crawl space and landing with an enormous slam right in front of her.

"You kill me and you will get nothing."

"I killed them and got satisfaction…I was told you were the leader so killing you will bring me even more satisfaction…" Herrior said. Linda quickly held out her hand and incapacitated Herrior.

"Apparently you don't know everything about paladins. I may not have any weapons, but I am still able to kill you." Linda said with a smile and began to chant a spell. A burst of yellowish light came out of Linda's hands and burned Herrior's body. Unable to move, Herrior took several more blasts before he quickly repositioned his shield, reflecting the spell back at her. She cried out in pain, but was quickly silenced as Herrior's sword found its mark – in Linda's throat. She made a gurgling sound and then burned up after a couple of seconds.

"Anybody else in here? I have come to kill who I wanted and do not wish to kill anymore. Speak up now or I will consider you hostile!" Herrior's voice echoed throughout the house. Nothing but silence came back as he started rummaging through the house.

"You could have waited a minute or two." Lindel and Quinely said flying into the house. Lindel materialized and Quinely morphed back into a human.

"Look around for something we can use." Herrior said.

"Like the troll in the basement and the human woman and child upstairs?" Lindel asked.

Herrior grew angry and let out a loud roar…shaking the very walls of the house. "I asked if anybody else was here! Apparently there are three of you left in this house! Come and show yourselves or my blade will find you!"

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…please I have a baby! Please don't kill us…please…" The woman said from upstairs.

"And the troll in the basement? What have you to say?" Herrior screamed out again.

"Shit…she's going to kill herself…" Lindel said.

"Go!" Herrior commanded as Lindel flew through the floor boards, and into a dark cellar. Lindel grabbed the dagger at the troll's throat and instantly drained all of the power from it. The dagger fell to the ground and Lindel dispersed herself and flew into the troll's eyes.

"I'm coming down…I'm not armed…I'm not one of them…please don't hurt us…" The woman upstairs said.

"Shut up and get down here. You attack us, and we will kill you. Your words are not that of fighter so you have nothing to worry about. Quinely can you heal me? Lindel, what is going on?" Herrior said all in the same breath.

"There's some sort of underground cellar with different foods in jars. Apparently it's called a cellar. This troll betrayed us. She left our city, came here and offered to sell our secrets for powers of her own." Lindel's voice echoed throughout the house. "I need to take her up the stairs and bring her around the front."

"Traitor…not something I want to deal with right now…" Herrior said.

"Found some weapons and some papers of the city's police station. Apparently this was a planned attack." Quinely said in another room.

"The troll knew they were defenseless with us gone, slipped through a portal and tried to give the alliance an upper hand. Death awaits her." Herrior said.

Trackolania came sprinting into the house and Herrior pointed in the direction where Quinely was and he pulled out his daggers and stealthed towards it.

"Everybody's dead Trackolania. We're here to collect information." Herrior said. Trackolania let out a deep sigh as he returned back from stealth. He casually put his daggers away and started loading up his pockets with papers. Once done with that room, they went to the other rooms and couldn't find anything. The woman with the baby stood on a section of the front part of the living room that wasn't destroyed holding her baby. Nobody paid any attention to her.

A minute later the female troll came walking in the front door and glided over the holes in the ground and landed in front of Herrior.

"I don't recognize her." Herrior said.

"Tanga. She worked in the tailor making bags." Lindel said using her mouth to speak.

Herrior felt Trackolania tugging on Herrior's armor. He looked down and Trackolania pointed to her and pulled out one of his daggers and held it an inch from his throat and pulled it across.

"Not right now. Believe me…I want to do the same thing…" Herrior said and put his hand on Trackolania's shoulder. "How are we doing collecting evidence?"

"Doesn't look like they have anything else here Herrior, they have guns but no other significant weapons." Quinely said.

"How did the assault on the station go?" Herrior asked.

"Our group had fun…" Quinely said smiling. Herrior nodded. He then turned his attention to the woman in the corner and walked towards her.

"Where are you from?" Herrior asked in a calm voice.

"I…don't have a home. I was their cook and maid. I know nothing I swear…I won't tell anybody what I saw here…" the woman quickly said.

"Calm yourself…" Herrior said in a calm voice and slowly held his hands up. "None of us will hurt you. But we need you to leave this house and to take care of your child. Do you have any family you can live with? A husband perhaps?"

"He left me. My folks are in Kansas. I can't afford a trip there…I have nowhere to go and I have no money." The lady said crying.

Herrior reached in his bag and the woman covered her baby and looked away. He pulled out a bag of gold and jingled it in front of her.

"It's solid gold…worth probably hundreds of thousands on this world. Pack up your clothes and your child's belongings and take this money to go to Kansas. Start your life over out there." Herrior said. The woman opened one eye and saw the bag that Herrior was shaking.

"Are you serious?" The woman asked.

"We'll stand guard until you can gather your things. The gold is yours. You are safe – go on and get your stuff." Herrior said still in a calm and soothing voice. The woman slowly reached out for the bag and Herrior opened it and angled the back towards her to show her the gold. She then looked back up at Herrior. Herrior tied the back shut and put it in her arm. He then motioned his head towards the stairs. The woman took the bag and went up the stairs.

"I wonder if one of the officers will drive her there." Lindel asked using the troll's mouth to speak.

"Good possibility. It would be safer for her. Let's deliver our prisoner." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone. He contacted an ambassador and explained what had just occurred. The male troll sighed and looked away as he said, "I knew her mon…me family had dinner wit her several times. She made no mention of dis, nor would we have suspected her of being doing such a thing. Stupid woman… I be having a portal opening now. We'll be handling it from here mon." Just as the ambassador said a portal began to open. Lindel flew out of Tanga's eyes as Herrior shoved her hard through the opening. Several guards grabbed her and dragged her begging for her life away as the portal closed.

Herrior continued talking with the ambassador and explained the evidence they found and the purging of the station as well as their main leader. He said he would pass the information along to the King and looked forward to having them back in Tranquil soon. Herrior couldn't agree more as he closed the portal and put his hearthstone away.

"Let's head back to the station. Who else is on their way here?" Herrior asked.

"Just us…everybody else went left." Lindel said smiling at him.

"They probably won't find anything. I went by myself and only found three. The rest are in hiding. Let's get back to the station once the woman is ready."

"I'm coming…sorry about the wait…just need to grab my bathroom accessories…" the lady said running across the hall.

"Take your time hun. Be careful with your baby." Lindel said.

"How are her vitals?" Herrior asked quietly.

"Her heart is pumping hard and her head hurts, but the rest of her is fine. She's very emotional right now – mostly concerned about her child." Lindel whispered back.

"Heal her head when she comes down and calm her down. A banshee's touch is better at soothing then a tauren's touch." Herrior said.

"I will." Lindel said.

As expected the woman came running down the stairs almost a minute later with various items wrapped up in a sheet in one hand and her child in the other. She ran into Lindel as Lindel put her hands on the woman's shoulders. The woman face went from scared and being in pain to an almost euphoric state. She set the sheet gently down and took her baby in both of her arms. She looked at him and he was smiling back at her with a big grin and flapping his arms and legs wildly. She started laughing back at him and all worries of the world vanished away. Lindel continued to modify their brains for a couple of minutes and then gently brought them back out of it.

"That was amazing!" The woman looked at her with a big smile and continued, "I have never felt that happy or experience such pleasure in my life. Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Lindel, and it was your mind that did it. You have that happiness and pleasure inside of you, but apparently it has been awhile since you have experienced it. Life has many wonderful treasures and magnificent things to see and experience. We'll carry your things for you, let's get going." Lindel said removing her hands from her shoulders and walking away with a hand extended. She took it and asked what type of power she used to do that.

"The same you have. I just have a gift for bringing it out in people. True happiness lies within you; when the anxiety, fear, depression leaves – nothing is left to fill the void but happiness. It's a long walk, are you up to it?" Lindel asked.

"Yes…yes I can walk for miles! I feel like I could walk all the way to Kansas!" The woman said.

"Save your excitement…you have the rest of your life to feel that way…" Lindel said winking at her as they started down the road.

They met up with the rest of Herrior's party halfway to the station.

"Is she a friend or food?" Mohania asked pointing at her.

"Foe…it's supposed to be 'friend or foe'…" Crystal said correcting him.

"No I said it right…" Mohania said smiling at her.

"We need to get her out to the town of Kansas. One of the officers I believe would be able to arrange something. She has money and her items needed to go." Herrior said ignoring both of them. "Did you run into any trouble?"

"We dispatched several dozen alliance…little buggers are in hiding. The station has been purged of them. Paul is in the process of sending away the rest of the officers that were brought in to help control the situation. Personally I think they failed their mission and need to be thrown into a dark cell…" Jacklyn said.

"I agree…I have several cells still free back in our town. I could do a number of things to them…" Mohania said and started naming off different means of torture.

"I killed their leader. She was a strong paladin – stunned me for nearly a minute before I was able to kill her. The rest of the guards died…they won't find any evidence of their deaths, I killed everybody…expect for two, her and a troll named Tanga from our town." Herrior said and let out a snarl when he said her name.

"A traitor?" Jacklyn asked in shock.

"They had maps of the station and had over-whelmed them in numbers. Paul made a pact with them to stop terrorizing the city in exchange for their lives. Lew was a better lieutenant…this dirt bag I wouldn't shit on out of respect for my shit… Lew gave his life fighting…twice." Herrior said.

"Should we have him assassinated?" Jacklyn suggested. Trackolania quickly pulled out his daggers and moved quickly in front of Herrior with a smile.

"Out of the way short-stack…he needs to die a long painful death…" Mohania said pushing Trackolania aside.

"He did no wrong in the eyes of this world and does not deserve death. He just has no backbone and no fight inside of him. He fights with words and negotiations cowering in the safety of the station. We'll leave him alone…but he is nothing to our group. Do not obey any orders from him. Tanga on the other hand will meet a traitor's death. It pisses me off so much! I'm surprised I didn't rip her limbs off myself… She knew we were stationed on this world, she knew we were leaving and this town was used by us a lot. She told the alliance everything in exchange for the promise of power. She'll get power…used against her!" Herrior said as his voice became more vicious until he let out a loud roar in frustration.

"That is why you are our leader. You followed our rules and did what you needed to do. You did right." Jacklyn said. She knew she would have shredded her herself if she was in his situation.

"Still pisses me off…" Herrior said as they continued to walk.

The streets were deathly silent. No televisions were loud and no cars were honking their horns. Traffic seemed to detour around them as they walked. The woman and child with them didn't make a sound. She was still in her euphoric state and didn't pay attention to anything the group was talking about. An hour passed as they slowly made their way back to the station. The guard Herrior killed had been replaced, an officer he recognized. Both of them immediately left to open the barricades and said, "Welcome back sir." Herrior acknowledged them back and continued on their way.

"The other officers will not be reporting back tomorrow!" one of the guards yelled out. Herrior turned his face to him and nodded. That was one of the better pieces of news he had heard today.

They walked to the back of the station and Herrior grabbed hold of the doorknob. Herrior's other hand clenched into a fist.

"Herrior…" Skyka said in a caring but sincere tone. Herrior took a deep breath and opened the door. They walked in to see everybody surrounded around a large television.

"Hey!" Herrior shouted and many of the officers jumped around in fear. "This woman needs to get to Kansas, how can we get her there?"

"Tell Dorothy to click her shoes together…Sheesh, you are going to wake the dead…" It was an officer he didn't recognize. Many of the officers looked at him terrified at what he just said and who he just said it too. They didn't see Herrior pull out his sword and shield and making his way to him as one of the regular officers gave him a hard roundhouse punch, instantly breaking his nose.

"You filthy piece of shit! You apologize for what you just said!" The officer said yelling at him and pointing to where he thought Herrior was.

"What the hell? What was that for?" The surprised officer said on the ground. The stations original officers pushed the other officers out of the way as the same officer who punched him slammed his foot down on his chest. He reached down and grabbed him by the collar bone and shook his head violently.

"Apologize…now!" The officer yelled in his face.

"Fine…I'm sorry. You are going to get kicked off the squad…"

"I will break every damn bone in your body and I could give two shits about if I get fired. That man made a request and you spat in his face! He saved our lives many times! You are not from these parts, but what you did was inexcusable! I want you out of here and never to come back!" Herrior had put his weapons away, but was still on edge to jump in – actually the rest of Herrior's party was hoping he would. Trackolania had bounced from cubicle to cubicle and peered over the scene from above them.

"Ok…ok…" the officer said on the ground looking around at the situation. He knew it could get much worse very quickly…and the peering eyes and thin smile coming from Trackolania sent shivers down his spine. The officer got off from him and said he needed to go for a walk to cool off. The insulting officer walked up to Herrior and apologized to him. Herrior nodded at him as he passed by and left the building.

"Branzer…" Herrior said and then paused. Branzer instantly looked at him with his hand still on the butt end of his gun. "Go make sure he leaves the station…"

"You got it boss." Branzer said and hurried to the door.

"Boss?" one of the officers asked sounding confused.

"You deaf?" another one of the original officers asked walking up to him.

"Enough!" Herrior said firmly. "There seems to be a lot of officers not doing anything, what is the reason?"

"They are waiting out their shift to end. Our original night shift comes in soon. They could be dismissed early though." The same officer said.

"Fine…you are all dismissed early…" Herrior said.

"Under whose authority?"

"Under the authority of your lieutenant…" Herrior said looking at him turning his head slightly. Lindel instantly disappeared and flew past them and possessed Paul. Paul flung the door open and came out clearly upset.

"What are you poor excuses for security mall police are you doing here still? Get out…all of you!" Paul yelled and pointed at the door.

The officers that weren't of the station knew something wasn't quite right. The timing of what just happened was just too much of a coincidence…however they had to do what they were told. They packed up their stuff and left. After the last one left Lindel came out of Paul's eyes and rematerialized.

"What just happened? Why did I order the officers to leave? We're going to be short handed now."

"Paul…shut up and go back in your office!" Herrior said grinding his teeth and pointed behind him. Paul did as he was told.

The back door opened up and Branzer came in with the officer that had punched the one that insulted the lady. Branzer said, "I think he broke his finger…it was one hell of a punch though…" and smiled at everybody. The officer was holding his finger in pain. Jessica began to chant a spell and held out her hand as his finger instantly knit itself back together.

"There…good as new." Jessica said with a cheery smile.

"Better than before…had some arthritis building up in it…" the officer said flexing his fingers back and forth.

"Welcome back. It seems that your mission was a complete success and is gaining world-wide attention. None of you are mentioned though, just the name "Operation Thunder Strike" and of course our President is taking all the credit for it…never liked that bastard in office." One of the officers said.

"I wish I could have taken all of you. Your officers that came with us weathered the elements and fought bravely in combat. You should be proud of them. As for me…I'm proud of all of you. They will be returning to the station within the next day or so and until then we will help with your duties. I have a feeling your station's number of officers will double in the next week or so. There were soldiers of your army that fought with us as well…some of them were very good with their gun. They shot our enemies at well over two hundred yards…that is a feat that not even we could do." Herrior said.

"Snipers eh? We'll have to put in a request for a dozen or so sniper rifles. Did you leave anybody alive?" An officer asked.

"What do you think?" Herrior asked with a grin.

"Good…lousy terrorists, the only good one is a dead one. What about our lieutenant?" The same officer asked.

"You don't want my opinion…" Herrior said refraining from answering the question.

"Yeah…we feel the same… So this young lady needs to get to Kansas eh? I can fly her there. If we leave tonight we can get there in the next six hours or so. From there I will pay for a cab to take her to her destination. I'll need to clear it with my boss though." The man said turning his attention from her to Herrior. Herrior smiled and nodded.

"Come with me ma'am. I'll carry your items." The officer said taking the make-shift blanket backpack from her and leading her out of the station.

"Will he need any backup?" Herrior asked.

"Naw he is a seasoned pilot. I'll call ahead and get him special clearance to Kansas City International Airport. From there the 'call-a-cab' are a dime a dozen. We'll get it taken care of." An officer said and went back to his desk and began do some work."

"Thank you. I didn't want to give her any gold…unfortunately it's a good way to build up a person's security and gives them hope." Herrior said.

"Money is nice…but receiving a 'good job' from your boss is more rewarding for us…" another officer said.

"Everybody did a good job. We are going to leave for the night, but we will be back tomorrow. We have burials we need to plan for." Herrior said.

Suddenly everybody looked solemn and gave a slight nod. It was a somber moment that they all shared together for awhile and then Herrior repeated, "You all did very well" and then walked to their room. He opened the door and let everybody in. Lindel opened a portal and they all returned to Tranquil.


	28. Calling the Flock

Calling the Flock

Herrior's group was met in Tranquil by Brenna. She was dressed in black and had her hair pulled back and tied in a ponytail. She was holding one of her flowers from her personal garden. Herrior walked up to her and embraced her. They both cried together as the rest of Herrior's group gathered around, including Mohania, and had a huge group hug.

"I'm so sorry Herrior…" Brenna said quietly between sobs.

"He was a good man. He died in battle and among his friends. It was his time. It doesn't make it any easier though." Herrior said back.

"I have his flower…can you bury him with it?" Brenna asked.

"Certainly" Herrior replied.

"News has spread through Tranquil. Herrior – I worked with Tanga several times…I…I can't believe what she did. I was questioned the same as the rest of the workers of the royal gardens. None of the plants were poisoned, but several people knew about it…Herrior nobody said anything." Brenna said still stunned.

"I was stunned by it as well. Are they imprisoned?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…some of them my good friends…" Brenna said with a tear falling and shaking off a quiver.

"I'm sorry Brenna." Herrior said.

"I am…but I'm not. Herrior…they were setting up a trap to kill you and many others…and for what – false promises of power, to join up with the enemy? Herrior, we have everything anybody could ever want in Tranquil…why? I keep asking myself that…why…" Brenna said.

"Brenna that is enough beating yourself up, you are not responsible nor is it for you to question. People have betrayed us before, and people will continue to betray us. This act, along with the death of a member of our party just compounds the emotions. What happened has happened." Herrior said.

"Yes of course." Brenna said letting go of Herrior and drying her tears. "Ugh…I feel stupid for saying what I just did. Other members of our primary groups die and I don't get this upset. People have betrayed us before…like you said. I'm sorry…thank you everybody for this." Brenna said regaining her composure and backing away from everybody as everybody let go of each other and moved apart.

"You are loved among us Brenna…" Herrior said lifting Brenna's chin. "You also spoil us…what do you say we go to your house for some tea?"

Brenna handed the flower to Herrior. Herrior opened one of his pouches and stuck the flower in. "Yes…hot tea does sound good right now. Looks like your floating crystals like you." Brenna said pointing to the energized geodes surrounding the party and beginning to repair their armor and weapons.

"It's been awhile since we've had them repaired." Herrior said as they walked with Brenna to her house. They all left their armor and weapons outside as the floating energized geodes repaired them.

"Ugh…look at this place, I haven't kept up with it…everything is a mess…" Brenna said starting to quickly organize things.

"I know where things go!" Jessica said enthusiastically and started to help. Skyka and Lindel gave her a hand as well. Fairies came into the house and entered into Herrior's party's bodies.

"Come upstairs when you are done." Herrior said as he climbed up the staircase. The rest of the group followed. Lindel held her hands up in the air and all of the items in Brenna's house flew into the air as the cupboards opened up and the items flew into their place. A teapot flew out of a cupboard, over to the sink as the water turned on. The stove then ignited itself as the full teapot flew over to the stove and came to rest on it.

"I have to invite you over more often…" Brenna said watching in wonder.

"I do catering and parties as well." Lindel said cheerfully lifting Brenna off from the ground and levitating her up to the stairs to where the rest of Herrior's party was.

"I want everybody's thoughts. What are on your minds?" Herrior asked when everybody was around.

"Thoughts about what?" Skyka asked.

"Our fighting tactics, mistakes any of us made, any improvements, concerns, questions…things like that." Herrior said.

"I don't think we did anything wrong, what do you mean my love?" Skyka asked.

"Julie – you know more about classes and talent trees than anybody else. Right now we have two main healers and three tanks – does that make sense? We have two hunters, a bard, banshee, rogue, warrior, shadow priest, and two warlocks. Does that make sense to you? How can we pack more power into our group? Should we have more healers, more hunters, more rogues?" Herrior asked as his voice increased in speed towards the end. Julie felt on the spot and looked at everybody.

"I think we are just fine…I'm not sure what you mean…" Julie said hesitating.

"Two healers…three tanks…two melees and the rest are ranged…come on, there has to be something wrong. What is wrong?" Herrior asked.

"I think I hear the tea kettle whistling…" Brenna said and hurried downstairs.

"Herrior…" Skyka said sternly looking at him. Herrior put his hands in his hair and fell backwards in frustration.

"I'd be willing to change." Bernett said. "Do we need another hunter? I would mind going back to shooting."

"No…we already have two hunters…what are we missing?" Herrior said lying down on the ground with his hands over his eyes.

"Ok well let's take a look. Let's do a little role playing. Quinely, you and Veliline are tanks so you do the majority of the fighting. In the desert attack the three tanks worked out nicely. In a frontal attack we can have you three in front, Jacklyn on one side and Trackolania on the other. The hunters would take up the rear healers in the middle and spell casters in front of them. The hunter's pets would take the sides and we would all move around depending on the battle. The hunters would move to get clear shots and the spell casters would knock down the enemies you are tanking." Julie said.

"Blah blah blah…it's what we already do. Give me something new."

"Should I suggest a new approach and new classes?" Julie asked.

"Just talk…" Herrior said.

"Ok…well I noticed that we all are powerful but it depends on the time and speed of the attacks and spells. Take our two warlocks for example, Crystal deals a lot of damage over time of about twenty seconds or more where-as Mohania ignites his victims on fire instantly and has more area of effect spells, not that Crystal's seed of corruption is bad. If we could get both of them to cast large spells at an enemy at the same time – or cast area of effect spells at the same time. The area of effect spells, from my understanding, are easily out maneuvered though and cost a lot of mana to recast." Julie said as Herrior asked, "What's your point?"

"I…don't really have one. I'm just brainstorming ideas…" Julie said.

"My powers have increased. My damage over time spells can be accelerated and my curse spells can save a tank from taking more damage than they have to." Crystal said.

"Yes, that reminds me we need to talk." Mohania said.

"Later…I kind of see what you are thinking though Julie. If it's just me and another attacker I think I would kill them quicker than I would just nuking the guy, however we are a group and launching faster attacks might be better…however again you need to factor in the casting time versus my instant cast spells, minus the haste affects that our armor gives us. It was good when Dan and I attacked the city. My spells left no trail and nobody knew where the damage was coming from. My role in the group is to burn down and cripple one attacker at a time. With my new powers, it will drain their life faster and will require more healing from their healers. The bad thing with Mohania is that his spells are sloppy. Every attack that he has causes a trail that can be traced back to the caster. I can take more damage than he can because I can regenerate my health quicker with my spells." Crystal said.

"Are you done babbling?" Mohania asked.

"Ok, I am not familiar with your new powers. You probably are stronger than Mohania now, especially if your damage over time spells causes more damage faster. You do have valid points. What we need are fighters that can single target and multi-target; single targets to knock down their tanks faster…or even using your fear spells to break the line. We would need multiple targeting spells for mostly driving fear into the masses. We could target their healers by our area of effect spells and everybody else, but that, like I said before, is easily avoided. Our goal is to bust through their front lines…the same goal that our tanks have. We could have both you and Mohania launch fear spells to disrupt their defenses when their powers are waning, or if our tanks need a moment heal up. As far as healing goes, I think Skyka and Jessica are doing great. The only thing I would suggest that I haven't seen so far, which is not good if we are moving a lot with our enemy, but having both of them cast a lightwell by themselves would automatically heal people as they their targets. The only unfortunate thing, as Herrior stated, is we only have two healers – but they are good. I would suggest having Quinely and Dan carry an extra set of healing gear so in a tough situation we could have four healers rotating on the tanks. If we are fighting a single target such as a strong demon we could have all three of the tanks stand in front of, left and right of the demon while the melee attack from behind and have the tanks repeatedly take turns taunting the demon. That way the damage is evenly distributed between all three tanks instead of just having one attack them. This would give our healers to heal up the wounded tanks and buy some time for each of them to use their strong defensive abilities to recharge." Julie said.

"I agree…we need to make use out of the lightwells more often. They are in the clinics, but I've never seen them on the battlefield. They seem to have a fairly good range. If I may add something, Bernett offered to change his class. What do you think about having him become a mage like Mohania's wife Kendall? His damage over time spells isn't nearly as strong as mine and he cannot control enemies as good as I can. Mage's have the ability to silence, polymorph enemies, which can be burned off with my imp and felhound, but if our enemy does not have that ability, we just blew through their front line with one simple spell. Plus not only do they have good direct damage; they would complement our existing spells. If they do not seem to be taking damage from a shadow spell, or a fire spell – he could switch to an arcane or frost spell." Crystal said.

"Yes…but you don't know the power of a mage. They can cast mirror images of themselves; freeze people in place, slow down advancing armies…even stop them for a short time. They are able to turn invisible like Lindel does and then attack from an unknown position to our enemy. They are much better than you give them credit. Not only do they have some powerful direct damage spells, but most of them have splash damage. Instead of calling down fire from the skies, they ignite the ground our enemies stand on. Between both of those spells, it would greatly disrupt our enemies positions – not to mention that they can shield themselves and absorb a lot of damage for a cloth wearer. They can absorb more damage than our healers and warlocks. I would suggest having Bernett change to a mage. His class right now is more geared towards yours, only he is weaker than you. The only disadvantage is losing another potential healer – however he was just a spell caster before." Julie said back.

"I can do that." Bernett said, but his voice fell on death ears.

"I don't like the idea of losing another healer, but you are right. The best offense is a better offense and if we start out nuking the crap out of a single target that Lindel marks, it would give us a greater advantage in combat. Perhaps instead of having Lindel attack freely, have her hang back with the healers. She could absorb their life or power, whichever, and heal with it. Then in the heat of combat, if one of their tanks is virtually indestructible, we can have her place a small target on a less tank. She can read their minds and would know which ones would be the weakest without giving away the fact that she's a banshee, which is highly sought after." Crystal said back.

"Perfect! That only leaves Strings. He could heal as well if needed, but I believe having him nuke a target with his fireball song would be more of a blow to their line. His songs have mostly an area of effect on people, either good or bad, and I think if he saves those songs for an oncoming army instead of just playing random tunes than it would be more effective at killing our enemy. Your warlock pets could stand in between the tanks or your imp could stand from a distance and attack while our pets could stop any enemies from overwhelming us. Between my dog and Branzer's bear, it is like having an extra two fighters on the ground with us. Personally I think they should be dropping freezing traps by the healers more often in case of an assassination attempt, and launch their immolation traps at the same target they are attacking. That way we again have direct damage from the bullet, arcane damage from some of their shots, and fire damage at the same time. They can also be used to slow down an army with their explosive and freezing traps. I think we have just about all of the scenarios played out." Julie said.

"Ok…so I need to go become a mage?" Bernett asked.

"Uh…if you want to…" Julie said.

"It sounds like I do, so I'll be back in a couple of days." Bernett said getting up and heading out of Brenna's home.

"So…Quinely and I should go get a healing set of armor?" Dan asked.

"I'm not saying that you should." Julie said.

"It sounds like we do…let's go Quinely." Dan said repeating Bernett's tone. Both of them walked out of Brenna's house as Dan summoned his dragon and Quinely morphed into a bird and flew off.

"I need to go get some more dogs. I can control up to five animals at the same time. I have a heart for dogs…what can I say…" Julie said and then added, "Branzer – you have your eagle and bear; you might want to get three more pets."

"What animals do you suggestion?" Branzer asked.

"Uh…I'm not sure…" Julie said.

"I'll get three more eagles…they are an endangered species you know…" Branzer winked at her as he got up to leave.

"No wait…maybe get your turtle back or a couple more bears. Your eagle does great, but we might need some more melee attackers." Julie said.

"Are you sure?" Branzer asked turning around and smiling.

"Yes…" Julie said with hesitation in her voice.

"Ok…turtle and bears it is…oh my…" Branzer said amusing himself as he left.

Silence then came over Brenna's house. Mohania interrupted it by letting out a loud snoring sound. His head was tilted all the way backwards.

"I think we're done." Julie said.

"Thank you Julie and Crystal for that long conversation. It sounded good to me – in fact it was something that I needed to hear. I learn more from you two about the latest abilities than I do studying up on the newest news from our trainers. Julie go ahead and go get your dogs. Crystal what sorts of new powers have you acquired?" Herrior asked sitting up.

"My area of effect spells has increased by tenfold. My damage over time spells will quickly kill anything within ten seconds if I continue to pummel them with my shadow magic, but as Julie said it takes a couple of seconds to get all of my damage over times spells on them. I have a whole new set of demons I can summon, all of which are at least twenty percent stronger than the previous ones. My armor excels Mohania's and an attacker would be very hard pressed to kill me. I have a new fear spells and the ability to reenergize my life through my spells while they destroy my target. Their pain fuels my energies." Crystal said.

Mohania quickly woke up and raised his hand and said, "Order her to teach me her knowledge…uh – please."

"Crystal, can you teach your new abilities to Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"The powers I can give you will make you more powerful. You mock your chaos bolts, but they will be your most powerful spell. You will be able to cast spells that will target one person, but will do collateral damage to all of the foes around it. You will be able to cast your rain of fire without channeling it and your demons will be stronger as well. Do you still want it?" Crystal asked smiling at him.

"Give me…give me…give me…" Mohania said excitedly.

"Actually I'm not sure how. I'll have to go speak with the monks. Maybe they can learn what I learned and then teach it to you. I obtained my new powers from the genie/demon that I killed." Crystal said.

"Times a wasting…" Mohania said leaping from the floor. He picked up Crystal and ran out the house and to the monk's chambers. They passed Bernett on the way as Mohania let out sinister cackles.

"Do you think Mohania wants the new powers?" Skyka asked with a smile.

"Difficult to tell…" Herrior said smiling. Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. Herrior pulled it out and saw Bernett.

"Mohania's cackling more than normal and practically dragging Crystal to the monk's chambers. Should I be worried?"

"We're not sure…Crystal offered to share her powers with him and he took off out of here just as if he was caught on fire." Herrior said to him smiling.

"So…is she going to be ok?" Bernett asked.

"Yeah I wouldn't worry about it…but you might have to wait in line to change classes." Herrior said and then closed the portal. He turned to the rest of the group still with him and asked what he thought of Julie and Crystal's thoughts.

"I learned…that they like to talk. I knew Crystal could go on and on, but wow – get her with Julie and it's a nonstop whirlwind." Dan said smiling.

"I like what they said about the lightwell idea. I never thought about that. We have them constantly healing in the clinics, but not on the battlefields…can't believe I never thought about that." Skyka said.

"If you drop one, I'll heal the off tank to the left and help heal Herrior." Jessica said.

"Sounds good to me" Skyka said smiling back.

"Do we really want Quinely and Dan to carry around an extra set of healing gear?" Jacklyn asked.

"I'm up in the air about that. Should they go off on a solo mission, they would be hard pressed to collect items in their packs. It would only take up one of their five packs…however our gatherers in Tranquil fill all of their packs and carry items in their hands and anywhere else back. But if we don't have it and we are in a situation we would need it, and then we would be screwed. Yeah go ahead – go get your healing gear." Herrior said. Dan and Quinely got up to go to the armorsmiths.

Herrior sighed and said, "I used to know all of that stuff…Julie would make a great ambassador, she seems really knowledgeable."

"That's just her thing though. For some reason she likes to give suggestions, which either confuses people or gets her in trouble. I think she was pretty excited about this though, she got a chance to share some of her ideas. I've got a question for you…what are we going to do about Paul?" Skyka asked.

Herrior let out a snort and shook his head as he said, "He's worthless to us…can't have things that are worthless hanging around. Those officers would all leave their posts and follow us into combat leaving him at his office. He needs to be replaced." Trackolania smiled as he pulled out a dagger and began spinning it on his finger. Herrior shook his head, "No, not kill him. Just make him leave." Trackolania shrugged as he flipped his dagger into the air and landed in its sheath.

"I could go suggest that he leaves. I am pretty persuasive." Jacklyn said smiling.

"We'll have to think of something. Perhaps if the admiral comes back with the soldiers we can have him run the station. I trust him, but in the meantime though we have a funeral to arrange. I'd rather fight a thousand battles than bury one of my own party members…" Herrior said.

"We all would." Jacklyn said agreeing with him.

"Hey, what about Icis?" Dan asked.

"What about her?" Herrior asked.

"Well…do you think she would heal for us if we asked?" Dan asked.

"Anybody would heal for us or fight with us if we asked. A chance to fight with the prince of Tranquil and the strongest time stopper we have – not to mention the new powers you and Crystal have…actually for that matter if we offered we would have everybody come out and watch us." Skyka said.

"Skyka is right. If she asks I don't know what I would do, I think I would decline it though. Our party is big enough as it is already. However she wasn't interested in dating anybody and did a great job healing." Herrior thought. He shook his head and said, "No point in pondering a decision that does not need pondering. Everything seems to work out in the end. I do miss her though."

"Big softy here has a soft spot for everybody he has ever fought with…" Skyka said rubbing Herrior's naked back.

"One of my faults" Herrior replied back with a smile. "Anyways enough sitting around. We are in Tranquil. Let's visit our trainers and see there are any better weapons or armor that we could get."

The group began to walk outside and Strings noticed that his chainmail armor's waist pocket was vibrating. He picked up his hearthstone and saw Ysera.

"Hello there my handsome bard…did I catch you at a bad time?" Ysera asked.

"No? Oh – right…let me get dressed." Strings said handing the hearthstone to Dan.

"Hi Dan." Ysera said.

"Hi, apparently everybody in your kingdom wears clothes eh?" Dan asked with a smile.

"We do not have a magical city with defenses such as yours; we decided to stick with our fortress over the years – which do not allow us to drop our defenses. It is one of the downfalls; however I cannot raise my dragonkin in a city such as yours. How has your dragon been doing?" Ysera asked.

Dan quickly summoned him and he landed next to Dan.

"Hi Ysera!" the dragon said excitedly

"Hello my kin. How have you been?" Ysera asked.

"Great! We have been playing games in the skies as Herrior's party fights below us. I'm not as fast as the others, but I can dive pretty fast." Dan's dragon said excitedly.

"That sounds like fun. How's Dan been treating you?" Ysera asked.

"He hasn't summoned me lately, but I still hold him in high regards." The dragon said.

"So do I. Is Strings decent yet?" Ysera asked.

"Well…I'm not sure about decent…" Skyka smirked.

"Give me that…" Strings said shooting Skyka a smile. "So my love, what is going on?"

"I would like to meet with you to discuss our adventures. I would like to show you our dragon roosts that we made." Ysera said.

"That sounds nice, but I have to pass. One of our party members fell in combat and we are preparing to attend his funeral." Strings said.

Ysera looked shocked for a second and then said, "I am sorry for your loss, I did not know. I will leave you to mourn your loss."

"Would you like to attend the funeral? You would have to be in your human form the entire time though." Strings asked.

"I would be honored, if it is ok with Herrior?" Ysera asked. Herrior nodded.

"It is alright. Will your kingdom be safe without you for awhile?" Strings asked.

"They will survive… Currently we are not fighting any battles and my absence for a day or so will not hinder our activities. I would be honored to attend." Ysera said.

"It will be good to see you again. I will contact you before it starts." Strings said and closed the portal.

"Were you blushing talking to Ysera without your armor on?" Skyka asked smiling deviously at him.

"I was…not, I just needed to…I was caught off guard…oh look at the time." Strings said in a hurried tone. Skyka started to laugh.

"I'm off to run my errands in Tranquil, I advise the rest of you do the same. We'll meet back in a couple of days for the funeral." Herrior said and summoned his dragon. He mounted it and flew off.

Herrior kept a low profile for the next couple of days. He spent a lot of time in thought. He wished Lew was still alive so he could turn to him for advice. He was a great listener, not that the rest of his party wasn't good at listening, but he felt more at ease talking to me – similar to him talking to Alan about issues. Sometimes advice from the outside helped. He attended the executions of the troll and several others as a reminder of the secrets Tranquil possess and how important it was to keep it that way. He visited the cells and spoke with some of the prisoners. He also went to the arenas and spent most of the day watching different fighters practicing their skills. He liked the alone time, but knew the day had come to bury his friend. Herrior took out the flower that Brenna gave him and looked at it. He let out a sigh and put it back in his bags. He then summoned his dragon and flew to Brenna's house.

Once Herrior arrived he gently knocked on the door and Brenna yelled out, "Just a moment!" Herrior waited until Brenna opened the door. Both of them made eye contact as a tear dropped from Herrior's right eye. Brenna started tearing up almost immediately and wrapped her arms around him and he hugged her back. They embraced for several minutes and then Brenna asked if he wanted to come in.

"No…we need to go to the burial. I don't know why this is so hard for me? I've buried members of my party before…" Herrior said.

"It's been awhile though…in fact it's been a very long time. You two shared a special bond as you do with the rest of them. You knew this day was coming, he had already died once. His time here on these worlds is done, and he has gone to a better place." Brenna said.

"Has he?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know…he was a good man and he heard the message. I believe he probably made a decision about his life after death. Our priest has wonderful messages, and you are a good leader. You need to not worry about that though, you need to worry about keeping your composure and giving the speech. Can you do that Herrior?" Brenna asked.

Herrior nodded as he pulled out his hearthstone. Brenna put a hand on the hearthstone to get his attention. "You are a great leader – never forget that." She said.

Herrior nodded again as Brenna pulled her hand away. Herrior summoned several portals to all of his party members and told them to meet him at their house. He told Skyka to bring the body of Lew. They all acknowledged as he closed the portal.

"Thanks Brenna." Herrior said looking at their house.

"Anytime…you know that." Brenna said smiling at him.

Herrior turned to her and smiled and then walked away. Herrior saw Ysera first. She was dressed in all black, had her hair pulled down around her ears and a hat to cover any indication that she was a dragon.

"Hello Herrior. I wish this was a better situation. Thank you for letting me come." Ysera said. Herrior nodded as the rest of his party flew in and dismounted their dragons. Skyka carried the wrapped up body of Lew. Herrior looked at it and then at her. Skyka knew he was looking for comfort, but all she could do was give him a half smile.

"Already, we all know why we are here. Lindel open a portal to the station." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and produced a portal and then started pouring her powers into it. Once fully formed, they all walked through it and arrived in their room. Lindel had informed the officers of the burial ahead of time and they promised that they would be there.

Herrior slowly turned the handle and exited the room. He turned to walk down the hall with everybody else following him. The officers saw him and slowly they all stood up and grabbed their coats. They waited until all of Herrior's group passed and then followed them out.

Once outside the officers started making phone calls to the other officers so that everybody that wanted to attend could. Herrior walked to the south where he cried and Lew had stayed with him the entire time.

As they approached the chain link, electrified, razor wire fence he pulled out his sword.

"Herrior wait" one of the officers said and ran over to a gate and quickly fumbled through a set of keys. He unlocked an enormous lock and pulled the chain off from it, and then swung the gates open. Herrior put his sword back and walked through the gate.

"Mohania, could you open a hole in the ground?" Herrior asked. Mohania stepped away from them and held his hands out as a small part of ground slowly separated. Herrior walked over to Skyka and took Lew's body. He placed it in the ground and then put Brenna's flower on the body.

"Gather around everybody." Herrior said solemnly. The officers did as well as his party. Other officers were running towards them, not wanting to miss the burial.

"Lew was a good fighter, I was proud to fight beside him, call him my friend, and have him in my party. This weighs heavy on my heart to be here today and to give this eulogy. He was part of our family…part of all of our families. He was the best Lieutenant that served among you, and fought to the death…twice. That is a fighter's dream to die honorably in combat and he will be remembered as an honorable fighter and Lieutenant. However there comes a time in everybody's life where death takes us. We all know this, but do we all know what happens to life after death? There is a choice that you have to make in this life, to become saved by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins or choose not to and spend eternity in Hell. I do not know where Lew is right now and that weighs on my heart. Search yourselves and ask you if your heart and soul are right. This is not a time to preach though; this is a time to bury our friend. You may ask us about it afterwards, or a local church about that subject. For now, it is time to say goodbye to our friend. If anybody has anything to say, you may speak up now." Herrior said.

"I tried Lew. I blamed myself for awhile, maybe I could have done this or done that differently to help you in battle…but ultimately my spells were not able to bring you back this time. You were a great man Lew; your memories will continue to live on through us." Skyka said.

"I pulled you together once Lew…but I could not do it again. I blame myself as well, but we all play a role in life. You fulfilled your role and brought strength and happiness to us. Thank you for all that you have done." Lindel said.

Slowly one by one the rest of the party said something, except for Trackolania who just looked down at him, bent down on the ground and tossed a handful of dirt on his body. Then the officers came up and either saluted him or said their goodbyes to him.

"What is going on here? Who said all of you could leave? We have a police department to run and you are officers if you remember? There are cases to solve! There are…" Paul started ranting and raving as he screamed at the officers. He walked towards them fiercely and it was apparent that he wasn't done yelling at them. Herrior decided that he was done yelling at him and interrupted him with a loud, thunderous battle cry.

Paul's voice was drowned out by Herrior but he still came storming up to them. "Get back to work! All of you go!"

"We are having a funeral service and then your officers will return to their posts. We gave you advance notice." Herrior said.

"And I gave a direct order for nobody to attend! You can't bury a body here! Get him out of there!" Paul said and then was suddenly knocked unconscious by Trackolania.

"Thanks Trackolania. Paul is going to have to be replaced. I have somebody in mind that is a good leader and I anticipate his arrival soon." Herrior said.

"The admiral that commanded the aircraft carrier you were on? He's in the process of doing the paperwork right now. The other soldiers and officers send their condolences and have said they are in the process of moving here. It should be another week until they arrive." An officer said.

"Good, thank you for that report. I was hoping he would follow us. He is a good leader and I have no doubt that he will be a good replacement for Paul. Any word from George?" Herrior asked.

"He says our country owes you one. He also said on a personal note that he owes you one."

"I'm not so much interested in your country as I am about personal favors." Herrior said.

"What about Paul? Should I make another hole?" Mohania asked. Herrior knew what he meant.

"No, Lindel if you could address some of our 'loose ends' I will close up the ceremony." Herrior said. Lindel floated over the hole and burst into tiny little particles and flew into Paul's body.

"Back to the business at hand," Herrior said bending over the grave. He tossed in a handful of dirt and said, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You were brought into this world and served your purpose. Now it is time for you to sleep. Goodbye my friend." Herrior said. Herrior looked up at Mohania and nodded. Mohania held out his hands and slowly closed the grave. Once fully closed, Herrior put his hand on it one last time and then stood up and said, "I hear that some of you have last members of your party as well. What are their arrangements for their funeral?"

"They have already been buried. We had an officer's ceremony for them and grieved with their family." The same officer said.

"I'm sorry my party and I missed it. Rest assured we are saddened by their passing and our hearts are burdened by your losses. Is there any expenses or other things that are needed to help with their families?" Herrior asked.

"We already took up a collection for them, unknown to Paul of course, and they did have life insurance." Another officer said. Herrior lifted his eyebrow not understanding him.

"Sorry, life insurance is paid by companies just in case there is a death in the family. They give money to the family to help them out." Herrior listened and then nodded.

"So what are our orders?" The same officer asked.

"Go back to your normal jobs. Do the same things that you normally do. How are the holding cells?" Herrior asked.

"Prisoners have reported hearing screams, bullet shots, and are stricken with fear. We have no idea what happened and because of the power outage we didn't catch anything on tape. Our current capacity is about eighty percent full right now. Money continues to pour in to build more jails and improve upon our existing ones. That's the official report, what you want to hear though is all of the alliance has been killed and we are sending out patrols with the sole intent of hunting down the rest of them. We have several locations for you and your party to 'visit', they are in our office. We haven't had any reports of demon activity. We are building a separate building for '911' operators so we can respond to calls quicker. Also as part of our police training, we are learning how to fight with different weapons – not like yours, but with swords and other weapons."

"I still don't want you to engage any of them unless you have to." Herrior said.

The officer nodded and said, "Yes, that is our rule."

"Good. I am proud of all of you. Spread the word to the officers that weren't able to attend as well. I am pleased with what I have been told. Now if you will go back to your business, we will have a discussion with Paul here. Thank you for attending the burial."

"It was our honor," an officer said as well as several other ones. They all saluted the ground and then went back to their jobs. A couple of officers came up to Herrior.

"Sir, can we still bring some of our sick back to the station as we did before?"

"My name is Herrior – not sir, but yes you may." Herrior said.

"Sorry Herrior, may we go get our loved ones now and bring them here?"

"Do not tell them why they are coming. Jessica, I want you to address their illnesses as they drive into the station. I want it done behind the scenes, do not make your presence known. The rest of you, this never happened…" Herrior said but was interrupted.

"They are going on a tour of our station, we know the drill." One of them said as they all smiled with gratitude. Herrior nodded at them and they left.

"You're heart as changed Herrior." Ysera said.

"Some of them are ok. Some of them are a nuisance…speaking of, how is it going Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I'm planting several messages in his brain. It would have been easier if Trackolania hadn't knocked him out…somebody glare at him for me." Lindel's voice came out of Paul's mouth.

Trackolania smiled and shrugged as Herrior smiled at him.

"I have him convinced that he doesn't want to be Lieutenant anymore and I'm going to decrease his energy levels. I think it's something that their world's medicine can fix, but it will keep him out of our hair. Also he apologized for interrupting our ceremony…had to blast his body several times, but eventually he came around. When is his replacement going to be here?" Lindel asked.

"About seven days." Herrior said.

"I'll implant messages in his brain to start clearing out his items. He is also going to get things together to give the next leader of the officers." Lindel said and then Paul's body shook violently as if he was being electrocuted. Seconds later Lindel said, "Paul agrees. His job is going to be a janitor. He is going to clean the floors and scrub toilets. He has a family to support, but not in the position that he is in now. I didn't want his family to suffer for him being an ass. I'm also erasing all memories that he has of the vehicle we gave him. Apparently he's been bragging about it to his friends and strangers. I know the codes to unlock it so we'll give it to the next leader. He's more compliant now." Lindel finished and Paul's body shook violently again from another blast of energy. Lindel then flew out of Paul's eyes and materialized as Paul fell instantly into a deep sleep.

"Herrior, I said he could be a janitor and still keep his job because I needed him awake to hear the information. I do not trust him. My personal opinion would be to let Mohania dig another hole and let's toss him in it." Lindel said in a very serious tone to Herrior.

"I will not let anybody who isn't worth be buried next to Lew. Now then, what are your thoughts on it?" Herrior asked.

"Indirectly I think he had a hand in luring in the alliance. I believe there are more on the way. I accessed as much of his memory as I could and that is the feeling I got. It's not fact, just my opinion. I have no solid basis to back it up…" Lindel said.

"Good enough for me. We can look forward to future attacks…I eagerly await them." Herrior said with a smile. "Branzer – do you think you could lead the humans in their duties in the station?" Herrior asked turning to him.

"I believe I could yes, what are we going to do with him?" Branzer asked.

"I should run him through right now." Herrior said. Jacklyn and Trackolania both pulled out their weapons and Herrior waved them away.

"Lindel, does he suspect that you know your opinions?" Herrior asked.

"No, absolutely not. He has no mental defenses. It is true that he made treaties with our enemy, and I do believe we are going to have future attacks as you said. However you disrupted their home base of operations so I'm not sure what will happen." Lindel said.

"Good. Branzer stay here and let us know when our friends arrive. Keep a close eye on Paul. Make sure their prisoners have an uncomfortable stay. If there are any problems contact us. For now, go with Lindel and deactivate the codes on our engineer's vehicle and turn total control over to you. Also look for anything suspicious he might have done to the station and its officers." Herrior said.

"What do we do with our little friend until then?" Branzer said nodding in agreement.

"Let him play out his life and see what unfolds from it. Let him scrub the toilets and the floors. If you have to put him down let us know. For now the rest of us are going to return to Tranquil and speak with our trainers. Dan I want you to speak with our shaman trainers. Crystal and Mohania I want both of you to work together with the other warlocks. Veliline – have you been able to teach others your abilities?" Herrior asked.

Veliline shook her head and said, "Not yet. The monks still want to study me. I'm still a mystery to them." Herrior nodded and told Lindel to open a portal. Everybody left with Branzer and Lindel watching them leave. Branzer sighed as he watched the portal close. He bent down and patted on the ground where Lew was buried and said, "Rest in peace buddy." He then got up and went through the fence, locking it up behind him.

"First things first eh? We need to get the Lieutenants vehicle to recognize us. Next we will have to clean up the mess Paul left. I'll need your help with that." Branzer said.

"Are we just going to leave Paul out there?" Lindel asked.

"Sure…his new job starts tomorrow. Let his worthless ass sleep there." Branzer said. "I'll have to speak with the police chief – I'm not quite sure how that is going to work out. It'll be hard to explain why he dropped in rank so quickly and why I'm in charge now."

"I'll help him understand." Lindel said cheerfully.

"I'll definitely need your help." Branzer said and made their way to the big black SUV looking vehicle.

Once they arrived, Lindel used Paul's voice to deactivate its defenses. Lindel then motioned for Branzer to talk.

"My name is Branzer and I am your new owner for now. Do you understand?" Branzer asked.

"Yes. I am awaiting your command." The vehicle said back.

"Open the doors and let me and Lindel in." Branzer said and immediately all of the doors flung open.

"Vehicle, I want to know all of the communications that occurred while Paul was your master." Branzer said. The vehicle started going through all of its records and played them back with Paul's voice. Lindel and Branzer sat and listened. Hours went by before they heard something that sparked their interest. It was Paul's voice talking with something that sounded demonic and it was not happy.

"Vehicle, is that a demon speaking?" Branzer asked.

"Yes, Paul spoke to three different demons and fifteen different alliance…none of while were killed. Would you like me to take you there now?" The vehicle responded eager to go into combat.

"Play the three demon conversations and translate them for us." Branzer said. The vehicle did as it was told.

"Where are you?" The demon asked.

"What can you do for me?" Paul's voice said.

"Anything"

"I need to become powerful enough to destroy my enemies." Paul said.

"Where are you?" The demon asked again. And then the conversation ended.

"How many demons did you detect around here?" Branzer asked.

"None." The vehicle responded.

"Where did the conversation take place?" Branzer asked.

"South of here, about three thousand miles."

"Do you know where any more alliance bases are?" Branzer asked.

"Three" the vehicle said and named them off.

"We destroyed the first location already." Branzer said and then asked, "Are there any communications indicating the alliance are going to attack this location?"

"No…only conversations with them. He did give them locations of several officers' homes locations though." The vehicle said.

Branzer and Lindel both became scared as Branzer said, "Can you contact them?"

The vehicle hummed for a second and then the sounds of a phone ringing could be heard. The first officer picked up and Branzer explained the situation as he said him and his family might be in grave danger. The officer became afraid and said he would bring his family to the station right away.

"The other two officers are not home, they are here at the station." The vehicle said.

"Are their families in the house?"

"Yes."

"Shit…" Branzer said.

"You stay here; I'll go take a look." Lindel said.

"Why do I have to stay?" Branzer asked.

"You already have one panicked family coming in, plus it sounded like Herrior wanted you to run the station. I'll go check out all three homes." Lindel said.

"Are you sure?" Branzer asked.

"Stop worrying about me and go. Besides I've always wanted to drive one of these things…" Lindel said pushing him out of the front seat as the driver's side door opened.

"Let me know how it goes." Branzer said with a worried look on his face.

"I've been fighting alliance before you were even alive…I'll be fine." Lindel said winking at him. She shut the door as the engine roared to life. The vehicle immediately jumped over two rows of cars, hit the main road out of the parking lot and accelerated as fast as it could. It came up to the fence and jumped over it. It immediately took a right and was gone within seconds – all while making hardly any noise.

"Damn…" Branzer thought wanting to do the same. He walked back into the building and asked if he had anything he had to do.

"We've been handling so far. The Lieutenant's secretary has been working her tail off doing his job. You might want to check with her." An officer said. Branzer nodded and walked up to her desk. It had papers everywhere and her voicemail was blinking. She had left for the day, but left notes about what should be done if certain people call. Branzer collected all of the notes, wrote his own note that said, "Thank you for all that you do. Your boss has been replaced. I'm going to take your paperwork and start on it. – Branzer" and set it down on her chair. Branzer went into the Lieutenant's office and started making phone calls.

He worked through the night as officers came into his office and said their condolences. Branzer thanked them. He had set up dozens of court orders, and finished off warrants to have people brought in. He also issued orders to bring people in to be questioned. The rest of the time was spent filing paper work. Lindel came back after a couple of hours and reported that the other two alliance outposts had mysteriously burned to the ground. She said she had killed at least a dozen of them, but they would never be found.

The night shift left and the morning shift came in, along with Paul. He was pissing vinegar at the officers so Branzer and Lindel went out of the office and saw him. Paul saw them and cowered back like dog that had just peed on the carpet.

"What do you think you are doing? These aren't your officers! You will not tell them to do another thing! Everybody – disregard what he said to you. I've got a special job for you…" Branzer said grabbing underneath his right shoulder and easily lifted him off from the ground. He walked outside with Lindel behind him, both of them with their police uniforms on.

Branzer carried him all the way to the prison area as the doors were opened for him.

"We have an empty cell waiting for him," a guard said.

"No…I need a bucket of bleach and a toothbrush…" Branzer said glaring at Paul.

"Right away Branzer" The officer said and picked up the phone. Five minutes later the items were acquired.

"Your job is to clean every toilet in here using only these items! I want them clean enough to so that our prisoners can bathe out of them." Branzer said and before Paul could let out his protest, Lindel touched him and immediately his body began to shake violently. Branzer then threw him into the cell area as he landed hard on the concrete floor.

"You won't get away with this!" Paul said.

"Your friends going to come and help you? Just an FYI…they all disappeared last night. It was because of you their officers were killed. Officer, are we experiencing a power outage to this building again?" Branzer asked aloud.

"I believe we are Branzer" said the officer as he walked over to push a button.

Paul quickly scrambled to his feet and grabbed the toothbrush and moved the bucket over to the first cell.

"Make sure he gets them spotless…" Branzer said turning to the officer with a smile.

"With pleasure…" the officer said and then called over several other officers to assist him.

"Oh…and the pact's you made with the enemy and the demons? They have been killed. Your little vehicle will kill you if you get close to it. It would be a shame if the prisoners beat the shit out of you." Branzer said right before they left.

"You seem pleased with yourself." Lindel said smiling up at him.

"I sense the officers are pleased with me, that makes it worth it." Branzer said.

"They are. They plan on giving him a hard time." Lindel said in a cheerful voice.

"Do they plan on killing him?" Branzer asked.

"They wished they could…I sense that the officers in the building we just came from are excited that you got rid of him and plan on cheering for you when you come back. Act surprised." Lindel said.

"I love having you around my love." Branzer said looking at her with a smile. Lindel felt a warmth feeling run through her as she blushed.

Branzer opened the door and sure enough everybody started cheering for him. Branzer gave them all a single wave as he walked by his secretary who turned to him and smiled.

"I got all of your work done last night. Write down anything that needs to be addressed and then take an hour lunch, stay out longer if you want." Branzer said.

"There is an admiral…" she began to say.

"On the phone?" Branzer asked interrupting him. She nodded and said he would hold until you returned.

"Good. Thank you." Branzer said smiling at her. "Lindel stay with her and help her out with her work load. Then I will need you in the interrogating room." Branzer said and then went into his office and picked up the phone.

"This is Branzer."

"This is admiral…"

"Hi admiral…remember we go by first names only, one of the rules of our group. Branzer is actually my last name. Anyways when is your ETA?" Branzer said.

"Good to hear from you again. The soldiers and police officers are declining interviews and any awards or going on any talk shows. They are as eager to report to duty as I am. Anything in particular I should bring?" The admiral asked.

"Just yourself. We've got a vehicle ready for you that will blow your mind." Branzer said.

"Better than my aircraft carrier?" The admiral asked.

"Smaller, but has just as many bells and whistles. How's George doing?" Branzer asked.

"Doing politics…pushing papers. He's just as eager to get to your station as I am. Did you catch the news? Apparently we aren't getting any credit for the attack…it was all the President's idea…" The admiral said.

"I didn't vote for the guy…" Branzer said chuckling. "That's fine by me though…when stuff gets worse let him take the heat for it."

"You know that won't happen, he'll end up blaming somebody else for it…anyways good ol' George gave us clearance to build a military base next to your station. My guess is if you guys need extra help, you won't have far to go for it. All of the officers will get clearance of course."

"Great…more construction projects. So where's the money for this coming from?" Branzer asked.

"Tooth fairy is what I was told. Anyways I should be arriving there tonight, you can debrief me then." The admiral said. Branzer acknowledged and they hung up. Branzer then walked out of the office as the secretary handed him several more papers.

"Oh how I don't miss these days…" Branzer said.

"This has been fun! Leann and I have been convincing people to turn themselves in and the people she's been having problems with suddenly started having seizures…afterwards they apologized to her and promised not to call again." Lindel said excitedly.

"Those are your reports you did last night. Just need your signature and we can bring in some more bad guys. Can I watch while she interrogates them?" Leann asked.

"I don't think anybody should watch…" Branzer said writing his name on the papers. "I'll take these to dispatch and have them assigned to some officers."

"Ok…we're going to go get pedicures and manicures for our lunch break. Leann says they are fun." Lindel said.

"Just don't alter your form." Branzer said looking up at Lindel.

"Please…you worry too much. Then we are going for chocolate cake afterwards…probably won't be back until late." Lindel said.

"I'll need you back here to conduct some of the interrogations." Branzer reminded her.

"Ok…maybe just cake then." Lindel said making a sad face and batting her eyelashes.

"You can do your girly activities after work…" Branzer said shaking his head and left them.

Branzer walked into one of the new additions to the room and saw dozens of people with headsets on, some of them talking and others playing solitaire or other games to keep them occupied. He walked up to one of them and asked where the central dispatch was. The guy immediately minimized his game and looked worried.

"I don't care if you play a game, settle down." Branzer said.

"You're…one of them…aren't you?" The dispatcher asked.

"Men? Yes I am. Can you point me in the right direction?" Branzer asked.

"I'll take care of those for you." The man said nearly shaking extending his hands and getting the papers. He turned his headset back on and immediately started pounding away buttons on his phone.

"Can somebody help him with the work load I just gave him? I need this done within the hour." Branzer called out. A few people turned to look at him, some nearly falling out of their chairs. Branzer looked at his arms to make sure his disguise was still on. Soon the man's desk was swarmed and the papers were handed out.

"Thanks" Branzer said and walked back. He entered back into the previous room and saw several officers had left, probably do gather more evidence or to question people. He turned to head back to his office to find Lindel and Leann laughing at something.

"Are we keeping busy?" Branzer asked.

"Nooo…" Lindel said smirking at him.

"Well at least you are honest. Anything unusual to report? Any word from our party?" Branzer asked with a smile.

"Nope, when is the admiral coming?" Lindel asked.

"I didn't say anything about…" Branzer said and then tilted his head slightly at her.

"I overheard the conversation; I didn't read your mind." Lindel said.

"Alright…he said probably today sometime. The rest of the soldiers and officers are coming in today as well. They will probably be here first." Branzer said and then paused as he said, "So is there any more police work for me?"

"Nothing we weren't able to handle." Leann said as Lindel looked at her and they started to laugh.

"I'm probably better off not knowing…I'm going the local pet shelter to find three more pets and then send them away for training." Branzer said.

Branzer spent half the day picking out a Black Widow spider, a scorpion and an abandoned black lab that had a bad limp to it. He took his newly acquired pets and several pizzas back to the station. He began to feel sleep setting in as his black SUV drove up to the guard station. The guards saw him and opened the fence. The vehicle drove him up to the door as he got out with his pizzas and new pets. The SUV then took off and parked itself. He opened the door and suddenly the words, "Atten hut!"

Branzer saw the soldiers that fought with him and the other policemen as well. "Good to see you guys and gals again. At ease, there is no need to do that. Has the admiral arrived yet?" Branzer said and then yawned.

"Not yet sir. He is currently inbound with an ETA of two hours." One of the soldiers said.

"Branzer…not sir. You are all at ease; I need to go catch some 'zzz's'. I've got to get some sleep. Lindel how are things holding up?" Branzer asked walking past Leann.

"She's sleeping…can't hold her chocolate apparently…" Leann said with a laugh.

"Give these soldiers something to do. I need to make a call and then sleep." Branzer said.

"Eww…what's with the animals?" Leann asked.

"They are going to be my pets." Branzer said and smiled back at her. Branzer entered the room and saw Lindel sleeping in the corner. He set down all of his items and pulled out his hearthstone. An ambassador answered and Branzer explained the situation. The ambassador had a Chronomancer open a portal and another hunter took the animals into Tranquil to get them trained. The hunter also said that Julie has four other dogs currently being trained as well. Branzer nodded and thanked him. He then curled up next to Lindel and fell asleep.

They both slept well through day and into the evening a portal opened. Herrior's party came out and saw both of them sleeping.

"Lindel…time for you to go teach your banshees what you learned." Herrior whispered.

Lindel slowly sat up and yawned. She looked at him and smiled half awake. She looked down at Branzer and smiled as he snored away.

"Been busy?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…worked through the night – hey wait a minute I never got my chocolate cake." Lindel said suddenly realizing it and sounding disappointed.

"Brenna has the recipe. What do you have to report?" Herrior asked.

"You have to ask Branzer about most of it – my assignment was to help out his secretary, Leann. I made her job a lot easier. Oh – I also killed about a dozen alliance and destroyed two of their bases. You have to take the engineer's vehicle for a drive…that thing is so much fun!" Lindel said standing up and stretching.

"Go teach the banshees what you know and then report back here." Herrior repeated himself and then asked if the admiral had arrived. Lindel thought for a second and then said, "Yes, he is in Paul's old room. The other officers and soldiers have arrived also. Oh – and we are making Paul scrub all of the prisoners toilets with a small brush…the officers and prisoners thought it was funny also. See everybody later." Lindel said and stepped through the portal.

The portal closed and Herrior asked if they should wake up Branzer.

"Naw let the poor boy sleep. Lindel probably wore him out." Skyka said.

"Fine, everybody change into the soldier's uniforms." Herrior said. They all thought about what they looked like and touched their trinkets – instantly transforming their armor into soldier clothing. Herrior opened the door and saw most of the soldiers and officers had returned. He knocked on the Lieutenant's door and heard the admiral say, "Come in". Herrior and his party walked in the room.

"Good to see you again Herrior. Don't have my 'land legs' yet, but I am adjusting." The admiral said walking over and shaking Herrior's hand.

"Good to see you again my friend. How are things?" Herrior asked.

"Well for starters I'm working on my putting game. I can't believe how bad I've gotten." The admiral said raising his putter to show Herrior.

"Weapon?"

"Recreation…you try to put the ball in the hole. I need to get a bigger office…" The admiral said as he looked down and saw that Trackolania was standing over top of the plastic golf hole and dropped the ball it.

"That boy has got some speed…but technically you are supposed to use a putter, not your hands." The admiral said. Trackolania tilted his head not understanding what he said.

"Never mind, so what do we do first?" The admiral asked walking back around the desk and putting his putter away.

"Branzer is sleeping so I don't have all of the information on what has happened. Apparently Paul is cleaning toilets with a small brush and several alliance outposts have been destroyed?" Herrior asked. The admiral started laughing and said, "Yes, a toothbrush is what we call it. He got tired so apparently they threw him in a cell and notified his wife that he would be working late. Apparently this isn't the first time that he has claimed to work 'late' and his wife started going off on one of our officers. At first I thought he might have been with another woman, but not it makes me wonder what his agenda really was."

"Yes…it makes me wonder as well. Bring his wife up and explain to her why he lost his rank and how he has to clean all of the toilets with a toothbrush. Let her hear with her own ears how he betrayed his officers and got them killed. While she sees what has happened, offer to play some recreation with them. Keep butting in and piss them off. Have you addressed your party yet?" Herrior asked.

"The sport is called golf…but I'll do my best to piss them off. Yes I have spoken with them. Their families are in the process of moving up here and we are bringing in some heavy machinery to build an army base next to your station. This will benefit both of us – should you need backup we'll be there within seconds and vica-versa. My wife is currently picking out houses in the area. My question is when is the next move going to be?" The admiral asked.

"Move? I don't understand." Herrior asked.

"Once this area is secured from our enemies, where will your next base be? Where are you going to start appearing and disappearing from?" The admiral asked.

"This is our station. We have different outposts and scouts that we travel to and from but this has always been the place that we travel to from our world." Herrior said.

"How many outposts do you have on this world?" The admiral asked.

"Hundreds, why do you ask?" Herrior asked seeming slightly concerned.

"Just wondering…trying to learn more about you and your organization is all, didn't mean anything by it." The admiral said.

Herrior sensed it was just that and said, "We have made several other friends in this world and made them immune to alliance and demon possession. The more friends we have that we can trust, the stronger our presence is on this world. Sadly, some of them have passed on and are no longer with us. I wish to call you our friend and trust you."

"Of course, what do I need to do?" The admiral asked quickly.

"Get blasted by our monks and endure tremendous pain for about ten minutes or so." Skyka said.

"No special handshake or secret code number instead?" The admiral asked with a smile. Herrior shook his head.

"Well I suppose if that is what I have to do then so be it. When can we start?" The admiral asked.

"Our monks are busy right now and will probably need a break for a day or two. We don't want to put much demand on them because they have given us so much and we do very little for them." Herrior said.

"Monks, as in the Hindu monks that dedicate their lives to prayer and isolation?" The admiral asked.

Herrior didn't know what he was talking about. He turned to his group for an explanation.

"No…not those monks. These monks possess extreme power and can imbue your body and mind with abilities you could only imagine…and they are kinda weird looking." Crystal said.

"Are there other monks on this world Crystal?" Herrior asked.

"No Herrior, it's the same word but completely different people." Crystal said explaining it to him. Herrior nodded.

"I would want my men to be immune to these possessions as well." The admiral said.

"Admiral…do you trust each and every one of them to carry this secret? Should the word get out, the alliance and demons would overwhelm us. This is something that not to be taken lightly. Their minds will be altered to fight off the possessions automatically and will be able to sense these threats better than the average person." Herrior said.

"I have kept more secrets in my life than you probably have…" The admiral said.

"How long have you been alive for?" Herrior asked back with a smile.

"Ok…well I have a long history of knowing top secret information and keeping it private. And to answer your question, yes I do trust the men as I believe you do as well." The admiral said.

"Yes I do, but I wanted to make it clear the importance of this. I have a feeling that I can trust you so I am going to give you a gift after your blasting. You'll be able to use it to contact us. This is only to be used in an emergency. In the case that myself and my party are in battle it will contact another primary fighting group. Quickly identify yourself or you will be killed…don't forget that. Tell them you are Herrior's friend and you are in need of help immediately. Make sure you are in a private room with nobody else around. If you summon one of our primary groups in a crowd, they will kill everybody they see to ensure their identity remains concealed. Do you understand?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, what is it?" The admiral asked.

"It's called a hearthstone. I will give it to you after the blasting. I have given it to humans before that I have called a friend and it saved their lives. If you die, the stone will just become another stone and nobody will be able to activate it. Let me show you how it works." Herrior said and pulled his out. "You think of me in your mind and rub it." Herrior activated his hearthstone and an ambassador suddenly appeared in a portal before the admiral facing Herrior. It was a male troll with large tusks.

"Hi mon, how be tings be going wit you?" The ambassador asked.

"I'm showing a human I trust how to use a hearthstone. How is Lindel doing?" Herrior asked. The admiral looked at it amazed, the same reaction that Alan and Sammy did. He started walking around the portal and tried touching it.

"He be a curious one aint he? Lindel be doing fine mon. She flew up wit da rest of dem banshees and they be doing whatever it is dat day do up dere." The ambassador said. The admiral stopped trying to touch the portal and just watched.

"Can you send word to the monks that we have humans that need to become immune to alliance and demonic possession? There are about…one hundred of them, maybe more." Herrior said.

"Aye, dat be no easy task for dem. Dey have been refusing to be talking to us da past two days. Don't know what be going on wit them. Nobody be screaming down der, and don't be thinking dat nobody else be down der, but I be giving dem da message." The ambassador said.

"Thank you." Herrior said and closed the portal with his hand pushing the portal shut.

"Well…I bet the range on that is out of this universe…" The admiral said.

"Probably several actually…" Dan said smiling.

"I will give you one once you are blasted, but for now you have some work you probably have to do." Herrior said.

"I do need to address the soldiers, and according to the lady doing all of my work, we have interrogations…right now actually. Do you want to come?" The admiral asked.

"Sounds like fun. Can I go play with the humans Herrior? Please?" Mohania said with a big smile.

"We just need information out of them…not any of their body parts." The admiral said.

"Admiral's a fast learner." Skyka said looking towards Herrior.

"So is that my name…Admiral?"

"Get used to it Admiral – the first name they hear or assign to you is stuck with you for life." Bernett said smiling.

"I've been told as such…let's go." Admiral said as he walked out of the room. His soldiers saluted him and he waved it away.

"My name is Admiral. All of you are to address me as such. No more saluting, or anything else – we are all the same here despite our rank. All of the soldiers that came here will become officers and help them with their duties. We are all one here. Next item is something that I don't understand entirely, but will increase our abilities to help defeat our enemies. It consists of ten minutes of intense pain. I signed up for it and I believe the rest of you should as well." Admiral said.

"Hold on…this is voluntarily. The process is very intensive, but it will make you immune to alliance and demon possession. I'm not sure when our…uh…doctors will be able to do this, but again it is strictly voluntarily." Herrior said stopping Admiral from talking.

"We'll do it. What else do we need to do?" A soldier asked immediately. The rest of the soldiers and officers nodded.

"Good…that's what I like to hear. Are the interrogations all setup?" Admiral asked.

"Ready and waiting Admiral." An officer said.

"Mohania" Herrior said.

"Lead the way…I have new found powers that need to be unleashed…" Mohania said and then let out a dark sinister laugh. Everybody looked at him with a worried look as several officers led him away.

"What did you teach him?" Herrior whispered to Crystal.

"Several new fear spells…plus his uncanny touch with prisoners. I don't think he'll permanently hurt anybody…psychologically though…who knows." Crystal whispered back.

"I want to watch" Herrior said and followed them out. The rest of the party followed him.

"We have several different rooms setup with recording devices, mandatory by law, by the prison cells. We did this intentionally for this reason. The more fear that we can drive in the prisoners, the better they behave." One of the officers was explaining to Mohania.

"Can I get a little 'warm-up' with the victim first before you turn on your recording devices?" Mohania asked.

"That can be arranged." The officer said.

"Suspect Mohania…not victim!" Bernett yelled out.

"Pretend like you didn't hear that and walk faster…" Mohania said smiling and increasing his pace.

"We heard that!" Skyka yelled out with a smile.

"Blasted women hear everything…" Mohania said. The officers laughed and let the rest of Herrior's party catch up; Admiral was with them along with several other curious officers.

They entered into a building next to the prison cells and the officers led him to the first door. Mohania prevented them from opening it and asked what the other doors were for.

"Other interrogations" they said.

"Are they soundproof?" Mohania asked.

"Not if they are opened a crack…"

"Herrior?" Mohania asked looking at him with a big grin.

"Yes…yes…I know what you are asking. Those of you with weak stomachs may want to leave now." Herrior said. Nobody left. Herrior walked over to the switches on the wall and turned all of the lights off in the building. Mohania changed back to his normal undead self and his eyes burned with fire which exposed a big smile on his face. He opened the first door and saw a panicked looking man looking back at him. Instantly Mohania casted a fear spell on him. Instantly the man's eyes grew large and he started to scream. Mohania grabbed him and walked across the hall to the other door way and through him in with the other person to be questioned. He ignited his body and casted another fear spell on the other man – sending both horrified men running past him and out of the room. Herrior blocked the exit so they ran into different rooms trying to get away from Mohania. Mohania casted a spell and grew into his demon form.

"Get out her you little runts!" Mohania said in a dark sinister voice. Mohania opened one of the doors and the terrified people saw his dark body with wings behind him and long sharp fingers. "I found you…" Mohania said with a smile and then shouted; "Now I'm going to kill you!"

The other people from the other interrogation rooms had stuck their head out to see what was going on. Mohania spun around and leaped into the air and slammed down in the middle of the room. He leaned back really quick as he folded his wings around his body and when he pulled them back, dozens of little green insects came flying out from his body. He then let out a howl of terror that sent everybody into a panic.

"You are here to be interrogated and I am here to devour you whole! If any of you speaks a lie I will feast on your bones!" Mohania said and started banging on the doors that had been slammed shut. Screams came from inside the room when Mohania suddenly pointed at Herrior and he turned the lights back on. Mohania returned to his normal undead form and then touched his trinket – turning him into a soldier.

Silence fell throughout the whole building for about a minute until Herrior opened the door and started to casually talk. The rest of them started talking as well as the outside door was shut again. Several people ran out of the interrogation rooms and pleaded for safety on their knees and quickly admitting to whatever crime they did.

"What are you talking about? Some sort of demon creature was in here? Let's get some drug tests for some of these people and contact medical." The admiral ordered. He looked down and saw one of the men grabbing his leg and pissing himself in fear.

"Get off me man! I just had these pants pressed! Oh for the love of…somebody take this man into a room and find out what his problem is. I want order restored! Get these people on video and get the information out of them that we need before we have any more accidents. For crying out loud it's only a police station…not some graveyard with 'Casper' the ghost floating around." The admiral said in disgust walking out of the station. Each officer knew what to do and asked one of the soldiers to follow them in the interrogation room. Two other officers went in the recording room along with another soldier. Once everybody was in the right place, Herrior's group left with Admiral.

"Stupid man pissed on me, I can't believe that!" Admiral said.

"So how did I do? I didn't hurt anybody…was I scary? Did I scare you guys?" Mohania asked excitedly.

"Yes hun, we were all scared..." Skyka said just to please him.

"Haa haa, I knew it! There is a new warlock in town ladies and gentlemen and his name is Mohania!" Mohania yelled.

"Nothing like giving away your class and name…" Herrior said glaring over at him.

"Sorry…I was in the moment…" Mohania said smiling.

"Are you out of the moment now?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…no?" Mohania asked still smiling.

"I can get some sort disease from this…the foul smelling little punk…" Admiral was still ranting on. Lindel snapped her fingers and all of the urine burned up from his shoes, socks, and lower pants. Admiral looked down at it in surprise. He then looked over at her and said, "You're handy to have around."

"You're just saying that because I'm sexy…" Lindel said and rubbed her finger under his chin.

"So Admiral, what do you think of our interrogation methods? I should really call that interrogation…what Mohania does is ten times worse." Herrior said.

"Only ten times worse? Ha! I would say at least…" Mohania began to say.

"I think he understands what I'm asking." Herrior said.

"It definitely breaks every rule in the book and every law ever written." Admiral said.

"Luckily I don't read books!" Mohania said still excited.

"It's true…he doesn't." Crystal said.

"So what now? Obviously the suspects are going to be very excited about what just happened. How do we cover that up?" Admiral asked.

"Want to go see? I have faith in our officers and soldiers. Lindel and Mohania come with us, the rest of you go see if the rest of the officers needs any help." Herrior said as he turned and walked back in.

They walked into the first observation room and the officers and soldiers were laughing. They immediately stopped when Herrior walked in and they said, "Sir."

"Herrior…not sir…what's going on?" Herrior asked.

"He is telling us everything he did wrong since he was in junior high, every Playboy he looked at, every piece of candy he stole, and every time he was a bully at school. As a bonus, he is telling us where every drug house is, how he was involved in some mild vandalism, who all was involved, what was used…I'm glad I'm on this side of the wall – I wouldn't be able to write down all of the stuff he is saying fast enough." One of the officers was saying.

"Where are the alliance at?" One of the soldiers in the interrogation room asked.

"What alliance…I mean…who…uh…" the man said.

"Lindel" Herrior said. Lindel disappeared as she floated through the wall. She made her face slowly appear underneath the camera in the room so she wouldn't be seen.

"What the hell is that? It's a floating head! They are coming back for me…you've got to help me!" The man instantly said pleading for his life. Lindel's head slowly turned dark and sinister as all of the soldiers casually looked over, saw what he was pointing at and casually looked back.

"That's a video camera…it records what you are saying. What drugs are in your system right now sir?" An officer asked.

"Don't you see it? It's right there! It's going to get me! You've got to do something!" The man yelled hysterically. Lindel quickly disappeared again and rematerialized beside Herrior.

"Did you have fun?" Herrior asked.

"That man is going to be scared for life." Admiral said.

"You do the crime; you pay the time…aint that right?" One of the officers asked.

"Spending time in a cell with food every day, company to talk to, no torture, an exercise room, places to bathe…I hardly call that 'paying the time'." Herrior said.

"Mental note…never do anything wrong…" the same officer said.

"Don't betray us or kill any one of us and you'll be fine. See now, he's telling us the location of every alliance house there is. Sometimes people just need a little persuasion."

"Hey I did most of the persuasion!" Mohania said opening the door.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere right now Mohania?" Herrior asked without turning to look at him.

"I got…lost?" Mohania replied with a smile.

"Could somebody show him where he is supposed to go and then tell Skyka that he needs to pick up every stone in the station's area?" Herrior said.

"Right this way Mohania." One of the officers said as he led Mohania out of the room.

"Sorry, was just excited." Mohania said leaving.

"Every stone in our courtyard? That will take a long time to do that." Admiral said.

"It'll keep him busy for a couple of days. If I need him I'll summon him. I think our work here is done. Have your officers review the information and we will start launching assaults with some of your men and women to take down the remaining alliance. I'm sure the other people we have being interrogated have similar places to tell us. Plus your world likes to do paperwork…this will lead to more arrests and keep your officers busy. Set up a rotational schedule for them, do not wear them out. They need time with their families and time to adjust to their new living environment. See to it that they get plenty of nourishment for their bodies and hire a priest full time. Have him ready to counsel your officers and the prisoners. The ones that are truly sorry for what they have done and have proven to not be a threat and you are convinced have changed their ways, they can be released. Any violence in the holding cells and you might have to experience a power outage…do you know what I mean by that?" Herrior asked. They had left the building and were walking back to the main station.

"Yes I believe I do. Anything else?" Admiral asked.

"Bring your sick and wounded here…not your voodoo hospitals with their needles and knives. We've saved more of the officers lives coming to us first and their families than those hospitals ever could. You don't cut somebody open to make them better…I can't believe your doctors that you have on this world." Herrior said and then added, "Keep everything quiet. We will try to keep a healer in the station all of the time. The healer will only heal the person if their lives are hanging in the balance. If they are stable, they will receive gradual healing while they are here and nobody will know what happened. All diseases, magical ailments, and wounds can be healed, but only to those that we trust. Should our secret get out, the punishment will be high." Herrior ended.

"I understand the importance of the need for secrecy. By a priest, do you mean a healer or a clergyman or as some call it a pastor?"

"I understand your confusion; I may have said the wrong name. A pastor is fine to speak from the Bible. A priest is what we call to heal people…sometimes kill them depending on the situation." Herrior said.

"I will carry out all of those orders, anything else?" Admiral asked.

"Before we had a drink called fruit punch readily available for all of the officers. I've acquired a taste for it." Herrior said with a smile.

"That is easily taken care of." Admiral said writing all of this down.

"Have your men work on being snipers – long range shooting. That's something we don't have. We're only accurate to about forty yards. I was really impressed with your sniper's abilities to take down our enemies from such a long distance." Herrior said.

"Fruit punch and sniper training…got it." Admiral said. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Help out of course." Herrior said smiling at him.

The day went on and they had a lot of paperwork piling up. Officers were sent out to round up dozens of suspects along with finding several more alliance personal. The officers treated them like any other person and calmly arrested them and brought them back. The officers used a different code, "Code fifteen" when they had secured an alliance personal in their car. Admiral began getting used to his newly acquired vehicle and everything that it could do. Everything was going relatively smoothly, except for the people they brought in pleading with the officers and swearing that they were innocent, when Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. Herrior hurried into their room and shut the door as he pulled it out.

"Herrior, we seem to have a problem with the Ramkahen people that you liberated." A female tauren said.

"What is the problem?" Herrior asked.

"They are no longer trading with our people, shut off all contact, and appear to have built an enormous idol in the middle of their town. We need you to find out what is happening and report back to us. We are thinking that they will communicate with you."

"They built an idol? I'll go contact them…" Herrior said with a snarl in his voice.

"That is what our scouts have reported; I hate to jump to conclusions without hearing it first hand from them." The female tauren said.

"I'll hear it firsthand. I'll let you know what happens." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior then thought of everybody in his party and rubbed his hearthstone. Slowly portals started opening with Dan being the last.

"Report to our room immediately – we have a problem." Herrior told them and then put the stone back in his pocket. He walked outside their room and down the hall to the open area where the officers and soldiers were mingling.

"I need some fighters…who wants to join us?" Herrior asked. Almost instantly everybody said they would but needed weapons to prepare.

"You need weapons on you at all times. Those of you who can acquire some weapons before my party gets here can come." Herrior said walking away disappointed with them.

Five minutes later Herrior's party had gathered as well as a dozen men, some saying that others are coming.

"Lindel – open a portal to Uldum. The Ramkahen people have some explaining to do." Herrior said touching his trinket and returning to his tauren self. He pulled out his sword and shield and was ready for battle.

Mohania enveloped his body with a greenish shield and said, "I like making people explain stuff…" with a smile as he and everybody else dropped their disguises and readied their weapons.

Once the portal was open Herrior walked through it first along with his party and twenty officers before the portal closed. They were now in an oasis with the large crocodiles and wasps that lined the waters.

"Quinely take to the air and report back what you see in their base." Herrior said as he motioned everybody to sit low to the ground. Quinely morphed into a bird and quickly flew up into the sky. She flew as high as she could and still see inside the base. She saw a large build up of alliance, a large golden statue, and Prince Nadun's severed head on a stick. She had enough to finish her report and flew away from the town and back towards the group.

"What did you see?" Herrior asked as Quinely morphed back into a human.

"Nothing you are going to like…" Quinely said.

"That's what I thought. We're splitting up into two groups, Jacklyn and Quinely pick some people and attack from the right, whoever is left I'll attack from the left." Herrior said as Jacklyn started naming off people in his party and took ten of the officers with him. Herrior told the soldiers to stay in the back and protect the healers, and that the hunters are to stand side-by-side with the ranged. Jacklyn and her party quickly moved into the water and swam across the river, while Herrior took his group and moved into position where they were still hidden by city guards. Herrior evaluated the situation and figured diplomacy was out of the question, however surrender of their soldiers would be. Herrior shook his head and told Lindel to tell Jacklyn to hurry up and get into their position – and to take no prisoners for the first couple of minutes.

"Let's go." Herrior said and let out a ferocious battle cry the same time Jacklyn did as they both charged to the doors to the city. The guards of the city saw them coming and started raining arrows down at the group as Herrior taunted the guards, and bullets and spells from behind him were bringing them down. Herrior charged at the door with his shield in front of him and it let out a loud "crack". Same thing happened to Quinely when she charged the gates in bear form. The gates were sealed tight. They might eventually break them down, but Herrior started scaling the wall as more guards took the place of the fallen guards.

Quinely morphed into her cat form and bounced up on top of the quickly and returned to her bear form. She started swiping hard at the guards, catching them off guard, and charging through several more of them. She was taking a lot of damage, and the healers wouldn't be able to keep up her health while they were climbing. Quinely then morphed into a leopard and ran around the wall, distracting the forces from Herrior's party climbing in.

Herrior jumped off the wall and landed on two alliance guards as he took up a defensive position. His sword and shield began their dance, deflecting attacks and quickly counter-attacking them. He let out a thunderous roar as group of fighters that surrounded him fled temporarily in terror. This bought Herrior enough time to get some more of his fighters over the wall. Lindel was in the process of floating all of the officers behind the enormous statue and told them to stay here, but fire when they got a clear shot. Lindel then started summoning her undead. Veliline landed and began summoning her army of ghouls. They both commanded them to engage the army as the rest of Herrior's group and the remaining officers climbed over the wall.

Once Strings was over, he landed on the ground and began to play a very loud and fast paced melody. Within seconds, acid began to pour from the skies and on their army. This disoriented them, giving Herrior's party an advantage. Quinely came back towards Veliline and morphed into her bear form. Together, both of them and Herrior caught the attention of all of the fighters as Branzer and Julie summoned all of their newly acquired pets and told them to attack. Then both of them unleashed a barrage of bullets that sailed past Herrior and their allies and into their desired targets.

The officers behind the statue fired their magnums at several soldiers shooting down at their tanks in their group. Their bullets didn't seem to affect them as much as Branzer and Julie's guns.

"Stop firing…stop firing…" One of the officers said. Once they stopped, he said, "Aim at the one closest to Herrior, the top sniper and we will concentrate all of our attacks at the same time. Ready?"

The officers all took aim and twenty bullets repeatedly blasted the sniper in the window until his armor and body couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground.

"Bottom left now!" The same officer said and once again they all coordinated their firing at him. He eventually fell to his death as they started naming off their targets and reloading.

"You killed Nadun! You defiled these lands with the stench of the alliance! You have built an idol with the gold we gave you! I sentence all of you to death! Burn it down! Burn it all down!" Herrior yelled out as loud as he could and then let out another loud battle cry.

Lindel continued to summon more undead archers as their arrows continuously rained down on their foes. In about a minute, she had over two hundred archers. She then left to help with healing. Skyka had dropped a lightwell which was healing everybody around it, but was mostly concentrated on Herrior and keeping him alive.

Trackolania didn't have any time or space to do any backstabbing, so he swung his daggers low, but were still deadly. He was getting upset because he wasn't killing as many people as he wanted. Jacklyn on the other hand had flailed around with precession, finding their target nearly every time. The officers had run out of ammunition and many of them had run out to grab their weapons, but held their position behind their statue.

The party continued their assault. The hunters began launching their fire and snake traps behind the front lines. The warlocks had summoned a dozen imps all together and commanded them to attack. Soon fire balls lit up the air as every second they fired another one. Mohania was laughing the entire time and launching his fear spells into the line, trying to disrupt it and casting his new chaos bolts which sailed through several alliance and finally exploding beyond them. He then casted several fire spells follows by his chaos bolt – if he wasn't in battle, you would have thought that he was being tickled by the amount laughter he was producing.

Strings had changed tunes several times, but finally played one that accelerated his party's attack speed. Their healing suffered, but the attacks being thrown at them were brutal. Skyka and Jessica, on separate sides of the offensive, were just about out of mana.

"Do you surrender?" Herrior's voice boomed out.

"Never to you!" An alliance man said as Branzer and Julie both aimed their guns at him and blew his head off.

"Why are you attacking us?" A Neferset asked.

Herrior's rage built as he continued to slam his shield and sword into the fighters around him, slamming down on the ground and knocking everybody down, and sending out shockwave's with his sword.

"Because you betrayed us!" Herrior's voice stormed out.

"We surrender…and we did not betray you…" The same Neferset said.

"Mohania! Do you think they betrayed us?" Herrior asked as loud as he could. The Neferset was blasted with a fireball, and then followed by one of his deadly chaos bolts. It killed him immediately and caught his house on fire.

"I didn't hear you…what did you ask?" Mohania asked laughing even more.

Eventually both parties met each other at the back of the town and began finishing off the rest of the enemy. A series of attacks later and everybody fighting was dead. The alliance burned up, and the Nefersets lay on the ground either dead, or mortally wounded. Dan casted his fire elemental on top of the houses. As it landed, the wood around it immediately started burning.

"Leave nothing standing…" Dan commanded it. The warlocks summoned their infernals from the sky as they crashed down on the houses and they gave them the same order.

"Herrior…you might want to leave. I'm going to unleash a firestorm on the houses." Mohania said.

"Looks like Crystal beat you to it." Herrior said pointing to Crystal with her hands raised. She was channeling fireballs from the sky and they engulfed everything they touched.

"Show off…" Mohania said as he held out his hands and started launching fire spell after spell. Dan stood off to the side of him and channeled more power into his fire elemental. It grew in strength and burned everything nearly everything.

"That's enough everybody, head to the officers!" Herrior said. Everybody stopped channeling their powers and went to them. The heat was so intense that many of them were on their knees.

"Lindel get them in the water outside the walls!" Herrior called out. Lindel ran over, and floated above them and pulled the twenty soldiers over the wall and dropped them in the water. This instantly cooled them off and rejuvenated them. Lindel attacked any animal that came close to them and summoned some warrior undead minions to stand guard.

"Drop that thing! Smash it to pieces!" Herrior yelled out as he charged into the golden statue with his shield in front of him. It recoiled backwards as Quinely charged at it from the side. It toppled down on its side as the rest of the party began melting it down and chopping it up. After ten minutes, it was just a pile of rubble. Herrior turned around and saw the town entirely engulfed in flame. Herrior bent down and picked up a piece of gold and threw it at the fire.

"You did this to us! You dare take the gold we gave you and make an idol out of it! You dare side with the alliance! Many of you deserve a slow and painful death! Those of you who are still alive…have fun burning alive…" Herrior said and spit in their direction. He then walked over to the gate putting his shield and sword behind him and lifting the heavy iron beams holding the gates shut and tossing them aside. He opened the gates and his party walked down to find the officers in the water.

"Ok a portal Lindel…we are done here." Herrior said closing in on them. Quinely held out her hand and commanded all of the beasts to run away as Lindel began to open a portal.

They arrived back several hours later as Herrior's party touched their trinkets, disguising themselves again.

"Go relax…you fought well. I heard the leadership and all of you working together and that makes me proud." Herrior said to the officers who were exhausted. The left the room as Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the same ambassador.

"The area has been neutralized. It was exactly how you described it was. The town will burn down to nothing. Nobody will be left alive. They betrayed us." Herrior said.

"It saddens my heart to hear that. It is never easy to deal with people who betray us. You did well Herrior, I will pass on the report to the King. He will be pleased." Herrior said his good-byes and put the hearthstone away. He then let out a loud ferocious battle cry that lasted for several minutes. Afterwards he slammed his fist on the concrete, smashing through it instantly.

"We give them everything…they lacked for nothing…they were protected under our protection…why do people betray us?" Herrior screamed and slammed his fist repeatedly on the concrete, busting up several large pieces.

Finally tiring himself out he stood up and apologized.

"We stand behind you, you know that. We all felt the same." Skyka said reaching out and healing Herrior's hand.

Herrior nodded and after the healing he opened the door and saw nearly every officer staring at him.

"A race betrayed us…we extinguished them, every last one of them. We burned their cities to the ground and smashed their idol. Others have betrayed us and face the same penalty. All of you know secrets and I expect those secrets to stay within you. We took twenty of you today and they fought well. I want all of you armed and ready for battle…get more weapons. We could get called into battle at anytime." Herrior said.

All of the officers nodded. Admiral was next to him in his office. He said, "I've got some weapons in mind. I'll start bringing in some more firepower. I would ask if we could get some of your technology but I don't think you would allow it." Herrior shook his head. "I'll go make some calls then." Admiral said and then left to go to his office.

"We'll better prepared for next time." One of officers said. Herrior nodded and turned to go back to their room.

Once inside Herrior motioned for everybody to sit down in a circle. Mohania did his usual lighting a fire in the middle.

"I lost my temper back there…I want to apologize to everyone. I seem to be doing that lately. Maybe I need to take a journey to find myself, to cleanse my soul." Herrior said.

"We all felt that way – it's never fun when we are betrayed. I know I had anger just as much as you did. We freed them from one tyranny, only to fall victim to another." Skyka said.

"Herrior, if I may. We won their hearts over only to have it won over by another. We have no control over their hearts the same as none of us have control over our hearts. The secret to life is to guard your heart. When a heart is left open, many flies can swarm around it, but if a heart is guarded against the attacking flies – it can ward them off. The heart is tender to some and hardened to others, sometimes God hardens it, sometimes they themselves harden it. However if the heart is deceitful, if a fly lays its eggs in the heart they will feast upon it. The heart can harden to protect itself into a false sense of security. Everybody's heart is open to each other, but when the flies come – some can choose to harden their hearts to fight off the evil that approaches, but others choose to open their hearts to let the flies in. Once one person has become infected by the evil flies, it can spread. Others can choose to help the infected one, ignore them, or embrace them. It all depends on their hearts though…it all depends on the one person infected and the others around them. They all made their choice, they had their hearts infected." Strings said. Herrior nodded. Strings continued,

"Your heart troubles you because of your leadership role with them. We all fought to free them, and a great battle it was. You have to remember the good or your heart will be infected by the flies. We killed demons…we killed the emperor controlling them…and we had a fierce battle with a dragon and many humans and alliance. The lands will heal themselves and the animals will flourish again – so with the future inhabitants of the land. We have purged the evil from the lands and good will rise up again from it, just as it has for many years. Many cities have been purged to let the grounds and hearts of the land heal. Many more will be purged I imagine. Evil from within the walls of our beautiful city even rises and needs to be purged so that the good can come from it. After a volcano or rupture in the ground spews out its lava…does it not later on grow back? The trees that are snapped during a powerful storm, do they not give off seeds and roots to grow more trees? From destruction always comes life. When Mohania destroyed the alien world, did not the humans of this world rejoice in an unknown victory?" Strings asked.

"That's right I did…it was all me…I knew exactly what I was doing…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Let the lands speak to you, let your people speak to you, and let your heart remind you of the fighter that you are. You fight for good, not to spread evil. You fight to free the captured. You fight to loosen the grips the evils of this world and many others hold. When the fight is over and you are standing over your fallen enemies, you do not view it as a massacre; you view it as a victory for good. Lose yourself in your victories – all of you close your eyes and listen to your hearts and judge whether or not they have been infected by the flies." Strings took a second to see that everybody did and he closed his as well.

"Now look deep into yourself…find your inner self and speak to it. Ask yourself where your heart is. You are all fighters…not only for the city of Tranquil and you not only fight for the survival for each other, but you fight to keep your heart pure. Your blades and spells are launched from the heart. You kill not with eagerness and with evil desire…you kill out of love for future generations and to stabilize the good and evil wars that are being fought. By purging a city, many cities might come from it. They will not be dominated by evils, but that of people with open hearts and we will welcome them. We do not kill to bloody our armor…we kill with our hearts and what follows the heart is the mind. Do we not leave many alive that are not a threat to us? Do we not take in our enemies whose hearts have turned? Do we not nurture them and encourage them to continue on their journey in life? Our enemies hearts are filled with hatred, vile, deceit…they have let their hearts become infected with the flies eggs. Very few of them choose to change it, but they always have the will to. There is always a choice to change. Look inside your heart and see whose face comes to you first. Is it not of someone you love? You fight to keep them free. Our armorsmiths and weaponsmiths…do they not build new weapons and armor to help the ones they love? The engineers, the tailors, the gardeners…all the same. Love is what binds us, what keeps our hearts clean, and what we pull our power from – it's what gives us the powers to fend off possessions. Love. Just ponder that word for a moment and what it means to you." Strings ended and started to play a soft soothing song on his lute. Instantly tranquility filled the air and soothed every muscle and nerve in everybody's body. Skyka got up and walked to Herrior and sat between his legs as he wrapped his arms around her. Lindel did the same as Branzer as well as Trackolania with Julie and Dan with Crystal. Quinely morphed into a cat and started purring very loudly. Bernett's thoughts turned to that of his child and wife. His worries about them left and his face lit up with a smile. Even Mohania let out a smile as he thought about Kendall. Every worry that they had, every anxiety thought was lifted from their minds and vanished into the air.

Strings continued playing for the next thirty minutes as everybody laid on the ground and gently dozed off. Strings smiled on the inside as his music continued. He continued playing with one hand as he pulled out his hearthstone and brought up an image of Ysera. Strings motioned his head for her to come out and she nodded. Strings then thought of Kendall and did the same with her. Kendall didn't understand at first until Strings showed her Mohania quietly sleeping on the ground. She then stopped talking and nodded at Strings.

Ysera ripped open a portal and then sat next to Strings with her arms wrapped around him. Minutes later a portal opened and Kendall came with Samatha and Jeffery. Samatha had explained to Jeffery ahead of time that this was going to be nap time with daddy, so both of them went over to Bernett. Jeffery laid down in from of his dad and Samatha laid behind him with her arm around his chest.

Ysera humming along with the tune after she learned it and closed her eyes with a big smile. She had previous mates, but none of them were as unique as a bard, or had the charming tongue like Strings. She looked over at him and smiled. Strings raised his eyebrows twice at her when their eyes met. Strings then lowered the volume to almost a whisper but continued to play.

Ysera brought back thousands of years of memories, the times she was with Cenarius, the times she was with Aurastrasza, Cielstrasza, Krasus, Korialstrasz, all of which were bent on unification of the Dragonflights and not as interested in her. Cenarius was just a dream though, he was the defender of the druids and his rejection to her advances had built up hatred in her for him. But over the years, as hate always seems to do, it faded and they had an ambassador relationship now. Strings was not an ambassador though, he wasn't even a dragonkin. She had vast armies of dragonkin, night elves now, and dragons to protect and would falling in love with a bard. Would they take kindly to a bard as their King?  
Ysera shook her head quickly to get the thought out of her head. Strings looked at her funny and Ysera smiled back.

"Where did that thought come from? Or was that the thought I had all along? Did I really feel this way about him? I felt the same for others but with disappoint not far behind. He was a human…of some kind anyways, and she was a dragon Queen. Them forming a union would not bode well with her army and she would not be able to conceive with him. Oh what am I thinking…am I just enticed by his music? What draws me to him? What am I even thinking?" Ysera ran these questions over in her head but eventually they faded as her mind once again absorbed the music and slowed her thinking. Her worries and doubts faded away and all that was left was just happiness. Her lips smiled before she realized she was doing it and put her head back on Strings's shoulder.

Strings played even softer so he could hear everybody's breathing. It was slow and steady. He had accomplished his task. A lot had happened over the past couple of days and putting his party to sleep and a tale to tell would go a long ways to easing their minds. He eventually stopped playing and put his lute down as he opened his wineskin and took a long drink. He then gave it to Ysera who also took a long drink. She put the lid back on and motioned for them to go sit with their backs against the wall. Strings complied as he put his wineskin back in his pouch.

"That was beautiful." Ysera said grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. She leaned against Strings as he leaned back.

"What were you thinking about?" Strings whispered.

"Old memories I'd rather soon forget. So what's the special occasion?" Ysera whispered back.

"I wanted to be with you here. My party recently had to purge a city that betrayed us and I felt I had to do my duty to tell them a tale and soothe their minds. It seemed to work…I have a talent for putting people to sleep…" Strings said and chuckled quietly.

"You have many more talents than that…" Ysera said squeezing his hand.

"I have the power to soothe, to destroy, to confuse and to kill. I even have the power to have my enemies turn on one another…and those are just the ones that don't conjure up spells. You know what I find delightful about being a bard?" Strings asked.

"What is that?"

"The power to soothe and to heal. I love entertaining, playing the occasional joke on a person and to tell stories of old battles. But what I really love is this. Look at everybody, their minds completely soothed, their muscles loose and their emotions of that of love and harmony. Look at Herrior and Skyka. I have seen them together ever since I joined up with them. When two people love each other as much as they do, not even death and break their binds together. Herrior, a fierce warrior on the battlefield, sleeping as soft as a newborn child with not a care in the world. Skyka, the healer. She is similar to Herrior but only aggressively heals instead of fighting. Those two have their minds synchronized because of their love. They know when one needs help…both on and off the battlefield. They lift each other up when the other is down. They are the prime example of what love truly is. I think all of us look for that in our lifetimes, and always wait for it. Truth be told though, it takes a lot of work off from the battlefield to keep their love going. For a relationship to grow, both need to work the soil, water it, and tend to the weeds that grow only to prevent the flower from fully blooming to its greatest potential. I have spoken with them many times over the years and found that the weeds in their lives grow less and less as they tend to their 'relationship' garden. I think inside each person yearns for that…even our quiet little rogue who I thought would never take a liking to women. Notice on the floor in front of him? He was writing his name as he always does and halfway through my talk he wrote a "Ju" on the ground. The lady that has fallen asleep holding him, her name is Julie. We have many in our party that has found love, and many that yearn for it. Jessica had her life turned upside down, boyfriend and that family killed, her biological family killed – all to ensure that we were safe. She will love again, but only this time it will be a love that she has never known. She's been abused her whole life and I'm willing to bet that a man will come along and sweep her off her feet and treat her like a lady is supposed to be treated." Strings said. He took a moment to put his other hand on their hands and looked over at her. "I'm talking to much aren't I?"

"Not at all, go on." Ysera said getting lost in his eyes for a moment and then smiling at him. Strings turned his head away and didn't see Ysera close in on his face. Ysera then bit the side of her cheek and thought, "What am I doing?" as the questions started coming to her mind again. She let out a gentle sigh and rubbed her head on his shoulder as he continued.

"Veliline I'm afraid won't find love again. Her first love was Herrior. He was the one that found her, freed her of her domination, and ran a risky operation to enhance her powers. I'd bet that whenever she fights in combat, he is the one that she thinks of. She killed her family Ysera. She killed her kids and husband and I don't think she will ever forgive herself of that, even though it wasn't her fault. The reign of the Lich King must have been horrible." Strings said.

"It was." Ysera added recalling several deadly battles.

Strings nodded his head slightly and waited a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"Jacklyn loves everybody. I don't see her settling down anybody though. She was taken into the group about the same time I was…give or take a couple of years. She attends parties, and dances sometimes, but she enjoys being alone or in the arena. Watching Dan over the years has been interesting. We all knew he was a time stopper when he turned about eight years old. That's when our scouts spotted him. We thought about taking him then, but the more we watched him, the more curious we become of him. His mind formed a tumor over part of his brain, which partially blocked off alliance and demons. Watching him and Crystal has been fascinating, even more so after their missions that they carried out and their newfound abilities that they seem to get out of nowhere. They are perfect for each other though; Dan is one with his abilities and knows no limits, whereas Crystal does the planning. I wish I was there to watch Dan and Crystal launch their attacks and treason within the alliance kingdom." Strings ended.

"You sent them off by themselves into an alliance kingdom – alone?" Ysera asked questioning the actions.

"They killed everybody within, broke up an alliance with them and the night elves, and even slaughtered alliance in another kingdom. We don't have any minute-by-minute details, but I would love to hear them given a chance. Then Dan became prince of Tranquil. Nobody is quite sure what happened, except that Dan went in the palace and about twenty minutes later the King made the announcement. I would love to hear that story as well. I guess I'm just a collector of stories. I would love to hear some of your stories sometime." Strings said turning to her.

Ysera let out a sigh. She would love to tell him stories but it might change her thinking of her. But to hide things from the one you love…

"That's ok Ysera, you don't have to." Strings felt the grip tighten when he asked the question.

"You have a kind heart and soul. Your words flow out of you so easily that I fear of fumbling mine. Your past is not filled with heartbreaks or diplomacy. For years I was angry, out of control, and so I slumbered in a dream for many years. I forsake my people while your armies defended our base. Coming out of the dream I was refreshed, but quickly my heart turned dark again. My history is not something I like to bring up. I have tried to choose suitors for myself, but found many of them only doing so to gain power and prestige. Many rejected me and even my kind. I fought, both with myself and on the battlefields, laying waste to those that betrayed us. My next challenge was to unite all of the Dragonflights under my command – not an easy task. I've had my authority challenged…to numerous to count. Even to this day I have to settle disputes in a duel to the death. I envy your King sometimes…nobody challenges him." Ysera said.

"I may be stepping outside of my duty to my King, but you are wrong in assuming that. Many attempts on his life have been foiled. We continue to find traitors within our city that look to deceive us and to destroy us." Strings said.

"I would never do that, I give you my word." Ysera quickly said.

Strings nodded and then looked at her deeply with a calming smile. Ysera calmed down with a sigh and looked away.

"You fight for your kingdom, I fight for mine…we both have that in common. I accept your history and everything that it entails. I trust you and I want us to spend more time together, that is why I called for you. If you have to leave I will understand." Strings said. Ysera thought of what she was doing and considered the option. Strings read her face.

"Go ahead and know that my heart goes with you. I look forward to our next meeting." Strings said slowly rising to his feet. Ysera hesitated and then stood up with him.

"I do have duties to attend to." Ysera admitted.

"Tell them I said hi." Strings said and then hugged her. She embraced him back as a slow tear formed in her left eye. Ysera turned away from him and ripped open another portal and disappeared. Strings let out a sigh as the portal closed behind her and laid down on the floor with the rest of his party. He had a smile on his face and let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

Several hours later Jessica woke up and sensed that some people needed healing. She opened the door and saw three officers to her right that had been shot. She immediately ran over and began to cast her most powerful healing spell on all three of them. One by one, their bodies instantly recovered as they stood up to thank her.

"Why didn't anybody knock on our door?" Jessica asked.

"We did…we even tried pounding on it and breaking it down." An officer said.

"Why didn't we answer?" Jessica asked aloud to herself. "Are there any others wounded?"

"Several, we have them in our medic room." The same officer said and quickly motioned for her to follow.

They ran outside and an officer was coughing hard. Jessica held out her hand as a tiny star circled the man's body and disappeared above his head. The man was instantly cured.

"It's over here. None of your doctors have come to help. Some of the wounds are minor, but this building is strictly off-limits without a higher ranking officer escorting them. You guys are the exception though obviously." The building was brand new and right next to their main station. They ran inside and the interior was not even finished.

"We have them on cots and have tried to make them comfortable." The officer said. Jessica quickly summoned a lightwell in the middle of the room and then began to channel the spell "prayer of healing". Several seconds later the room lit up as the healing affects were absorbed into everybody's bodies. She then went from person to person casting her dispel magic and cure disease – which were now one spell. A couple of them, she caster her "renew" spell on, and it gave them a quick burst of healing followed by a smaller healing bursts every three seconds for twelve seconds. The lightwell poured out its healing magic and in no time the entire room of people was pain and disease free. Jessica held out her hand to dissolve the lightwell and then asked if everybody was ok.

"I'm fine now, what is your name?" A young officer asked.

"She was never here and you weren't either. Get back to your duties." The officer said that led her in.

"Admiral?" Jessica asked aloud as she started walking over to him. He sat up in his cot and smiled at her.

"Some kind of flu bug going around…err was going around anyways. I feel better than I have in a long time though. My joints don't hurt and are loose again. And…" Admiral stopped for a moment and popped out his contacts. He looked around in amazement and said, "Apparently my vision has been fixed as well. I've never been able to see this well before. Seems I owe you a favor."

"Many of your officers said that they tried to contact us in our room and couldn't, why was that?" Jessica asked.

"I think I'm supposed to ask that question to you." Admiral said with a smile.

"We were sleeping, but surely one of us must have heard something. We better go check on them." Jessica said.

"Think something might be wrong?" Admiral asked reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small transmitter.

"Might be…what is that?" Jessica asked.

"You have your defenses…we have ours. This is a transmitter that I have on all of my officers to grab their guns and get ready for combat." Admiral said pushing it and putting it back in his pocket. He then picked up two large hand guns and tossed one to the officer that came with her. "Let's go."

The three of them, along with the rest of the officers in the room, except for the ones with their families there, grabbed guns that seemed to appear out of nowhere; some from hidden places in the walls, under beds, inside their uniforms and weapons lockers. Jessica ran outside with everybody else and dozens of officers holding guns that looked like they could destroy a school bus.

"We don't know where the target is men, but something is not right!" Admiral shouted as he held his mammoth gun and escorted Jessica back to the station. They walked in and saw every officer had grabbed several guns and attached it to their body and were holding a large assault rifle at their desk.

"Secure the perimeter of this building. Nothing goes in or out." Admiral said as he walked by them. Several "Yes sir's." were said as they filed out.

Jessica entered their room and saw everybody sleeping still. "Herrior!" she practically screamed out. Herrior instinctively jumped to his feet with his sword and shield drawn along with the rest of the group.

"Herrior…something is wrong. We were all sleeping in here, while the officers outside were badly injured and dying. They tried to pounding on the door and breaking it down but they couldn't. The station is on high alert right now. What happened?" Jessica asked with Admiral and several other officers guarding her still.

"What? I didn't hear anything. Did anybody hear anything?" Herrior asked quickly looking at everybody.

"I woke up on my own and casually walked out – that is how I found out." Jessica said.

"Strings! How powerful of a spell did you put over us?" Herrior's voice roared at him.

"It was a relaxing spell, not a sleeping spell. I was sleeping as well Herrior and I am not affected by my music. I would have heard something." Strings said quickly.

"Lindel link our minds, everybody get out and start searching. Quinely I want you and Lindel to sense for anybody thinking or doing something bad. Mohania and Crystal – search for demons. The rest of you go find something." Herrior said pointing his sword to the door. Quickly everybody rushed out. Herrior stopped Strings before he could leave.

"Why are Bernett's family and Kendall here?" Herrior asked.

"I summoned them to relax with everybody else. I also summoned Ysera so we could talk. Herrior I only slept for a little while, her and I were talking for quite awhile and heard nothing." Strings said.

"Did she do anything to us before she left?" Herrior asked.

"No, I swear I don't know what is happening." Strings said. Herrior nodded at him and sent him away.

Herrior was now in the room alone with several different thoughts running through his head. He pulled out his hearthstone and contact Ysera first. Her story was the same that Strings told and he had no reason not to believe her. He thanked her and closed the portal. Next he contacted Tranquil and reported what had happened.

"None of our scouts have detected anything. They usually do the moment something happens, but I can contact all of them if you think it's worth the risk of exposing them?" An ambassador said. Herrior said no and thanked the ambassador as he put his hearthstone away. He then walked up to the steel door and started examining it. It looked strong enough to absorb most sounds. He took his sword out and sliced at the hinges, knocking the door free. He took it outside and threw it. The door sailed through the air as Mohania ignited it on fire. It easily cleared the courtyard and landed in a dirt field several hundred yards away.

"Report!" Herrior yelled out. Many officers said the words, "Clear" and "Nothing". Herrior asked Lindel and Crystal what they detected and they said nothing as well. Herrior let out a quiet sigh and then yelled out for everybody to stand down as Herrior put his weapons behind him.

"What's going on Herrior?" Admiral asked putting the strap of his assault rifle over his shoulder.

"False alarm. My party slept through the warning. That has never happened before. I've questioned them and they are telling the truth when they say they don't know what happened. Has me a little worried though. There are scouts right now looking for danger in this area right now, they haven't reported anything either. Our door has been removed…we'll need a new one. Make it like the others, made of hollow wood – but out of respect for us I ask that either you or one of the officers you trust knock on it before rushing in. Make this door capable of being broken into unlike the other. Only put a simple locking mechanism on it." Herrior paused and put his hands on his hips as he shook his head. He continued, "This has me worried Admiral…this has never happened to us before. I think what happened is I've been over working my party without enough down time. Strings told a story and then played a song and I fell into a deep sleep, I can only assume everybody else did as well. Usually if an alliance shits two miles away we are all over them almost instantly. I take blame for this failure."

"Test. This was a test Herrior and everything worked out great. The results from this test will be analyzed and we will learn from it. My soldiers…err…police officers look like they were prepared and I am going to reward them for this practice drill. Herrior to tell you the truth, we had similar 'tests' on my aircraft carrier and ended up shooting down a flock of geese or an airplane that never responded to our calls. I'm proud of your party, Jessica healed everybody that needed to be healed and your people moved at record speeds to survey the lands. Excellent test Herrior." Admiral said.

Herrior smiled and asked, "You shot down birds?"

"The bastards looked at me funny. You'd be surprised how quickly anti-aircraft shells bring them down…" Admiral said trying to hold in laughter.

"Excellent job with your officers with this test, pass on my regards to them." Herrior said and then turned around to go back into the station. Herrior's party all grouped up and ran passed Admiral as they reentered the building. Admiral then reported excellent results with this test to the rest of his officers.

"I believe what happened is our souls and hearts needed mending after the previous battle. We constantly are on edge and dealing with the death of one of our own may have taken its toll on us. Everybody is ordered to take some time to relax, go and do as you please…no Mohania that doesn't mean to eat anybody you want." Herrior said before he had a chance to say anything. Kendall then slapped Mohania on the back of his skull.

"What? I didn't do or say anything." Mohania said.

"But you would have…" Kendall said.

"I refrain from answering that question and would like to redirect the conversation back to Herrior." Mohania said.

"Lindel, open a portal to Tranquil. Those of you who would like to come or stay is fine with me. Take a couple of days to relax." Herrior said. Once the portal was open, everybody but Jessica went to Tranquil. She wanted to stay and help heal those in need.

Herrior immediately went to the King's palace and asked to speak with the King. He was told that he was talking with a couple of families and asked about the urgency of the issue.

"It's not worth interrupting him, but can you let him know that I would like to speak with him?" Herrior replied back. The guards said they would and Herrior left. He walked over to Brenna's house and found her gardening.

"How many flowers are you going to grow?" Herrior asked and it made Brenna jump in freight.

"Sorry, didn't hear you sneaking up on me. It's actually a special type of turnip that I've been ordered to grow. I'm going to expand my garden around my house and several other people have offered for me to garden behind their houses as well. Our cooks have come up with some new recipes that enhance our fighter's abilities even more. I could use a hand, I'm afraid I'll be here for awhile." Brenna said wiping her forehead with her wrist. Her hands were caked with dirt.

"Certainly" Herrior said and took off his gauntlets.

"So what brings you to my part of town?" Brenna asked.

"I'm waiting to speak with the King." Herrior replied.

"Ah – important stuff that you can't talk to me about. Ok what you need to do is grab one bulb at a time and dig down approximately half a finger deep and then move the dirt back gently and place the bulb down, root end first and then cover it up. I'm going to get them all planted first and then I'll have the fairies come around and water them tonight when the light goes done tonight. Our main gardens are all being harvested and are in the process of being replanted with new vegetables. It's a tedious process, but it needs to be done. Once I'm done here I will head out there and give them a hand." Brenna said as she had demonstrated the process to Herrior several times. Herrior tried once, but Brenna said to make the hole a little deeper, but after a couple of times Herrior had the process down. Both of them took the bulbs and worked for hours planting them until dusk came over the city.

"We have to put the rest in water, gather up the ones you have left and bring them inside." Brenna declared.

"I can stay up through the night and finish planting them." Herrior said.

"It doesn't work that way. The bulbs need to have the light hit with our powerful light and then put in the moist dirt. If they don't get that, then it doesn't produce a high quality plant." Brenna said. Herrior nodded and gathered up his bulbs and followed her inside. She placed them in a small bowl full of water and told Herrior to put them in as well. She then placed a wet cloth over them.

"There, now they think they are in hibernation again until the light rises again for the day tomorrow. I'm going to sit for a moment before heading out to the gardens." Brenna said and sat softly in her chair and let out a satisfied sigh.

"You can harvest at night?" Herrior asked remember that his gauntlets were outside so he went out to get them and came back.

"Yup" Brenna said and then paused for a moment before continuing, "Crops can be harvested at night, just not planted at night. Many of our outposts are growing crops to meet the demands, to tell you the truth I wouldn't mind having a taste of our hard work. It's nice to know that what you have planted has blossomed to its fullest potential, someday maybe."

"I wonder if Alan's outpost is growing crops, I wonder if Sammy would enjoy doing that. At the station we can have crops planted as well, but the grounds there are very unstable right now due to the constant construction." Herrior said casually.

Brenna shook her head and said, "The grounds need to have peace in order to grow. I'm not sure what is happening with Sammy and Alan's outpost. So now that we have a moment, what seems to be troubling you?"

"What makes you think I am troubled?" Herrior said smiling.

"Because I know you…so spill it." Brenna said smiling back.

"Something happened on the human's world that troubled me. They brought in their wounded and tried to get our attention, but could not wake us. I have no explanation for it." Herrior said.

"You were tired." Brenna said shrugging her shoulders.

"We're fighters…"

"You're mortal." Brenna said interrupting him, and then spelled it out for him, "M-O-R-T-A-L". She then continued before he could say anything else, "So you slept in when the humans needed healing…I say good for you. I would suggest sleeping more often; it would do you some good. You may have enough armor to absorb attacks from all sides, and a shield to deflect every sword swung at you – but you have to realize that even you and your party has its limitations. You aren't invincible…you have nothing to prove to anybody. You push your party harder and actively look for trouble…that's Dan's job." Brenna said looking at him and laughing. Herrior smiled. Brenna continued, "Jessica is still young…let her grow up – and in retrospect you have the youngest fighters in your party as compared to all of the other parties in Tranquil. I'm not saying they are bad, I'm just saying they are young…let them go play and have fun. You have your little stone thingy…you can contact them if there is a problem. In the meantime…go to the King and have him tell you the same thing I just told you." Brenna said and motioned towards the door as a guard stood in the doorway waiting for Brenna to stop talking.

"The King has a moment to speak with you now." The guard said.

"I just said that…" Brenna said and winked at him. Herrior got up and walked with the guard to the palace, but not before thanking Brenna for the talk. Brenna walked out with him and headed towards the gardens.

"My King, I think I might have resolved my issues with Brenna." Herrior said in an apologetic voice.

"She's a wise woman…a bit of a gossip, but she enjoys your party. I have given some thought as to what may have happened and believe it is nothing to worry about." The King said.

"I lost my temper when we fought the Ramkahen…it pissed me off so much of their betrayal!" Herrior said with rage building up inside of him again.

"Calm yourself Herrior. You took the people under your wing; you guided them to victory and helped them. You formed a bond with their people…you have to be careful about this in the future. Dan and Crystal formed a bond with several alliance knowing full well they were going to betray them. They saved their King's life…did they tell you that? They kept constant vigil on him almost day and night and nursed him back to health – the same King that slaughtered our people. They befriended many alliance, healed their wounds, and started to guide them into a new era of enrichment and power…that is until their plan took place and they ended up fighting each other. Remember back when we were at near battle with the Dragonflights? Now they are one of our closest friends. Will that stay that way? I doubt it. I'm sure something will come up and we will butt heads again. There are many other races that we haven't visited that are probably pissed off at us for not visiting them. We pay them a wage, they give us supplies. Our ambassadors are working to maintain relationships with as many races as possible. Relations broke down with the half-lion; half-human creatures and many of them shot at our gatherers and threatened their lives. It wasn't anything we did. Our gatherers came right to our ambassadors and reported what happened, many of them terrified and with wounds on them. We dispatched our scouts and confirmed the stories. Did you speak with them before you engaged them in combat?" The King asked.

"Their guards firing at me ended negotiations pretty quick…" Herrior said.

"You did what you had to do then. How did the humans do?" The King asked.

"They learned. At first they were clumsy but organized themselves eventually and I kept them hidden behind the idol that was erected. None of them were shot at that I know of. They have increased their firepower since that battle and more officers are ready to attack at a moment's notice." Herrior said.

"That is not your concern Herrior. Your party comes first…I trust your party with our Kingdom – I do not trust them with our Kingdom. Bringing them along is optional, but is not your concern while in battle. I have a feeling you want some of them immune to possession, that I have no problem with as long as it is their decision – but learn from the past Herrior. How many times has that station been attacked by demons and alliance? You don't owe them anything. The previous leader of that station negotiated with alliance and knew of alliance locations in the area that led to several deaths of their humans; this puzzles me as to why you left him alive? Once you make a deal with the devil – it's hard to stop making deals with him. Do you think he is not scheming at this very moment to get back at you and the other officers? I predict that he will escape, get reinforcements and sway the officers at the station and we'll have another purge that we have to do…only now they have increased firepower as you put it." The King said glaring at Herrior.

Herrior looked bewildered. He hadn't thought of that. He hadn't thought out that scenario at all and it was probably happening right this moment – and Jessica was still with them.

"Shit…I have some matters I need to attend to." Herrior said quickly.

"I believe you do, you are dismissed." The King said as Herrior turned around and pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Lindel quickly.

"Lindel, how fast can you get to where I am?" Herrior said in desperation.

"I'm flying right now…give me a couple of seconds." Lindel said back growing her wings and instantly flew into the air. She sensed something was very wrong and flew as fast as she could. She landed next to Herrior ten seconds later.

"Open a portal to the station…quickly!" Herrior said. Lindel did as she was told and as soon as the portal fully opened Herrior jumped through it and saw what he had feared. Lindel came in behind him and instantly disappeared.

"I tried to kill you sooner…but you just won't die, will you? I've already executed four of your precious officers and an army is on its way. Now put your hands up or I will execute your precious officer…but not before I kill these women." Paul said and held the barrel up against a terrified woman's skull.

"Alright Paul, you have the upper hand. What do you want? I can get anything you want." Herrior said as Lindel got into position.

"I want you dead and I want my position back!" Paul shouted at him.

"So shoot me then. She didn't do anything to you; it's me that you want." Herrior said.

"And if I kill you it will bring armies from your world into ours for vengeance…I don't think so." Paul said and pulled the trigger back. The lady was crying now and begging for her life.

Lindel had maneuvered into position and very slowly dispersed herself and slowly began moving into Paul's eyes. Paul didn't notice, but Lindel needed more time to defuse Paul…and unfortunately they needed him alive.

"You are going to need armor. The reason why you can't kill me is because of my armor. Look at me; I am a tauren in full battlements. I will give them to you in exchange for their lives. I will then be vulnerable to your bullets. My armor and weapons will give you a significant advantage when you bring your army in." Herrior said gently lifting his helmet off his head. Paul dropped his gun slightly for a moment and stared at Herrior.

"You would give me your armor? Your armor from a different world? I would be able to destroy any fighters that were summoned. You would do this in exchange for their lives?" Paul asked. Lindel needed a couple more seconds.

Herrior dropped his helmet on the ground and it made a thunderous crash. He then took off his gauntlets dropped them to the floor as well. He held up his hands motioned to take off his chest plate when he said, "Do we have a deal?"

"Let me give you a gesture of good faith first. You have your back turned to several officers who are trying to get a clear shot of you." Herrior said.

"You put a bullet in me and my explosives will detonate!" Paul yelled out loud. The officers looked at Herrior and he shook his head.

"That's right Herrior…call off your minions, your pathetic pieces of shit officers. You have a deal…give me your armor." Paul said motioning him to hand them over. Herrior took off his chest piece and his shield and sword instantly fell to the ground letting out a resonating "dong" and Herrior tossed his chest piece before the hostages.

"All too easy…what the…" Paul said and instantly his hands flew up to his head. Herrior jumped forward and tackled Paul to the ground. He disarmed his gun and held him down.

"Evacuate the base! Get out of here…everybody!" Herrior yelled as he pulled out his hearthstone. Nobody argued with him as they obeyed his orders. Herrior made contact with his group and told them to get their asses here quickly.

"Access where the explosives are Lindel" Herrior said.

"He has some strapped to his chest. You need to get off from him so I can disarm them." Lindel said using Paul's mouth to talk. Herrior instantly leaped off and quickly put his armor back on. Lindel quickly through open Paul's coat and entered the disarm codes. She then ripped off the explosives and pulled out a phone and dialed the last number.

"They know about our attack, they have tens of thousands of people waiting for us. Call off the attack!" Lindel said using Paul's voice.

"Too late rodent…you will parish with the rest of them." A voice said and then the phone went dead.

"There are three hundred coming from the west. ETA is forty minutes. They plan on freeing the prisoners and arming them. Paul worked out a deal with them while he was scrubbing their toilets and promised them freedom and revenge. Herrior I need to go attend to the ones he executed…" Lindel said in near desperation.

"Paralyze him and get out of there." Herrior said as a portal opened behind him.

"Feel like doing some killing?" Herrior said to his party pulling out his sword and shield. The rest of the party armed themselves and began summoning their pets.

"Lindel – where is Jessica?"

"She is being held hostage by the prisoners. She was lured in there as a trap." Lindel said and then she said, "Dan, Skyka and Quinely I need you immediately!" Lindel said and then flew away. The three of them ran after her out of the building and into the parking lot. Lindel then quickly located the dead officers and assigned each one to go resurrect them.

"The rest of you follow me!" Herrior commanded as he ran out. The officers followed him out as well.

"What's going on Herrior?" Jacklyn asked.

"I'm an idiot is what…" Herrior said angrily. Herrior's hooves pounded hard on the concrete as he sped past his party, and his party sped past the officers.

Herrior made it to the prison main door and charged into it with his shield. The door flew inside and Herrior quickly made his way to the prison area. Most of the prisoners were loose.

"Jessica?" Herrior yelled out.

"Second floor…I'm sorry Herrior…" was all she could say before he heard her get hit in the stomach.

"Get him!" A prisoner said. Herrior paid no attention to him and looked around for the fastest way to get up. The only way was the stairs on the other side.

Shots rang out as bullets flew past Herrior's face, meeting their targets and exploding the prisoner's heads. Herrior jumped over the majority of them and then charged his way through the rest. He had to kill a couple to make it to the stairs. His shield in front of him, he pushed everybody out of his way going up the stairs. Screams and chaos erupted as Herrior's party unleashed their attacks. After taking down half of the prisoners in ten seconds, the rest fell to the ground with their hands held out in surrender.

"What are they doing?" Jacklyn asked.

"They are surrendering." Branzer said with his army of pets in front of him and his gun eager to roar to life again.

"Trackolania – go help Herrior!" Jacklyn yelled at him. Trackolania nodded and looked up. He pulled out his daggers and jumped up and caught one of the handrails with his daggers. He quickly pulled himself up and flung himself over the rail. Herrior was still a distance away and the prisoners holding Jessica captive were growing desperate. Trackolania stealthed himself and quickly positioned himself behind the captors and jumped up, landing a deadly blow in their neck. The prisoners instantly fell dead and Jessica thanked him as both of them ran out. They saw prisoners running towards them and Trackolania jumped forward working his magic with his daggers. Jessica casted several holy spells at them, igniting them in a pillar of white fire or explosions depending on the spell. The prisoners fell quickly and the rest made the decision to turn around and met Herrior. Herrior let out a battle roar that quickly terrified them as they all trembled to the ground. Herrior made contact with Trackolania's eyes and nodded. Trackolania vanished and instantly reappeared behind each person, landing a deadly blow and then doing the same with the other. The rest of them were dead in less than ten seconds.

"A little quicker next time?" Herrior said with a grin. Trackolania smiled sarcastic at him as he twirled his blades back into their sheaths.

"Are we taking prisoners Herrior?" Jacklyn asked.

"Not that I'm aware of." Herrior said leaping off the second floor and landing on two prisoners chests, instantly crushing them. The attacks from Herrior's group lit up the area as the rest of the prisoners perished.

"Does anybody see anymore?" Herrior asked. Everybody took a second to make sure everybody was dead and looked around. Branzer asked about the ones in the cells. Herrior said to leave them. Herrior walked up to one of them and said, "I'm going to ask you one question, answer correctly and you will live. Where are the officers that guard this prison?"

"Locked in the observation room" The prisoner said pointing in the direction. Herrior saw the thick glass and the officers behind it. Herrior ran towards them and then lunged towards the glass, smashing through it and almost sailing through the back room as well. Herrior pulled himself out.

"Arm yourselves…an army is coming." Herrior said and then slammed his shield against the door, sending it flying outwards. Herrior walked back into the prison area and screamed, "If any of you move, so help me I will rip you limb from limb!" His voice echoed through the building and after a couple of seconds he seemed satisfied with the response. He then told his party to follow him out.

Skyka, Quinely, Dan, and Lindel caught up with them with the officers that were killed.

"Good…I hate it when good people die. Where's Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"He went home for the night." One of the dead officers said.

"Good, you just volunteered to organize the rest of the officers. Have them form a perimeter along this wall. Hide until I tell you to attack, do you understand?" Herrior asked him quickly.

"Yes" the man said and the officers who heard Herrior talk instantly did as he said.

Herrior led his party on the outside of the perimeter by Skyka, Lindel, and Jessica levitating them over.

"How far out are they Quinely?" Herrior asked and motioned everybody close.

"They'll be able to see us in about a minute." Quinely said.

"Stealth us Trackolania" Herrior said and Trackolania grabbed his cloak and darkness fell over them, vanishing them from sight.

"Recall your pets and keep quiet." Herrior said.

"There are three demons coming." Mohania whispered. Herrior nodded. Herrior listened to the amount of soldiers equipping their guns and keeping out of sight. He estimated there were over two hundred.

Herrior saw a dark form and red eyes looking at them. Herrior turned around and quietly said, "Now!" The first couple of shots rang out and soon a barrage of bullets filled the air. The new weapons impressed Herrior as he saw the demon burn up. The alliance were able to repel some of the bullets, but not all of them. The officers yelled out to coordinate their attacks and even the alliance tanks were unable to repel the firepower the officers were hitting them with. Their tanks fell and then their healers fell quickly. The rest of the alliance were mowed down quickly. Herrior told his party to advance to go after the retreating demons, but several loud shots rang out, as they burned up when the enormous ammunition exploded upon hitting their target. Herrior stopped bewildered and then moved backwards.

"Good shooting guys and gals! Keep an eye out for anymore! Sweep the area with your night vision scopes and binoculars. Call out a target before shooting." The same officer Herrior put in charge said.

"Get us back over the fence." Herrior said and the three of them started levitating everybody back over.

"Quinely, Mohania – anything?" Herrior asked.

"Nobody else coming from there. I sense a lot of pride in the officer's…probably Lindel does as well, but no I think the threat has been neutralized."

"They are proud of themselves." Lindel agreed.

"No demons." Mohania said.

"Hunters, summon your pets and have them circle the outer encampment. Warlocks get out your succubus's and do the same. Separate them and tell them not to engage, but to report back if they are attacked. The rest of you…we were drugged by Paul. I have no idea how, perhaps by a mist in the air. That is when Paul set his plans into motion. Mohania…I want him to suffer." Herrior said.

"Will do" Mohania said smiling.

"Don't kill him right away…long term suffering!" Herrior reemphasized.

"I was planning on it." Mohania replied back.

"Lindel – go help Mohania send him back." Herrior said. He then turned around and yelled up at the officer he put in charge, "Call your officers back, we will patrol the grounds for tonight but we do not sense anybody else coming."

"Fall back everybody, weapons on safety. Get back in the station and reload." The man said. He was obviously a soldier turned officer.

He jumped off the roof with his massive gun and Skyka casted a levitate spell on him before he landed.

"Herrior – it is a pleasure serving under you again. I apologize for letting my guard down. He killed me when I wasn't looking." The soldier began.

"That's a leap of faith that you took there…jumping off the building like that." Herrior said.

"Herrior, with all due respect, I knew I would have floated down by one of your people. I have full confidence in you as I hope you do in us. As far as the prison…what's the story with that?" The officer asked.

Herrior smiled at him and put his hand on his shoulder. "You are a good soldier and a good officer. There was a jail break. The prisoners overpowered several of your officers and by the time reinforcements came in, you had to put down most of the prisoners. Your recording area, or whatever you call it, was destroyed so there was no record of it. The prisoners that remained are not trust worthy and seemed drugged up almost."

"Yes sir! Herrior…sorry... What's going to happen to Paul? I'd love to put a bullet in his head…"

"We have a plan for him. He is going to suffer in agony and pain for years. Believe me when I say that he will be begging for death before the night is over. We need to know how he poisoned us and kept us sleeping. Good work again officer. You had better gather up the bodies and get them buried." Herrior said.

"I will do that, but I have a better idea. Do you trust me?" The officer asked.

"Yes I do." Herrior said smiling.

"Then let me handle the rest…people in this town will be afraid of jay-walking or littering by the time we're done with them." The officer said with a smile.

"Give me a report when you are done. We are going to go rest up. Tell the other officers I am impressed with everybody." Herrior said.

"Will do Herrior, thank you again for bringing me back to life." Herrior nodded at him as Herrior's party walked away.

"So that's what happened, we were poisoned. Trackolania I want you to investigate how the toxin got into our room. I want to apologize to everybody, especially to you Strings…" Herrior said.

"And apologize to yourself…" Strings said interrupting him.

"And yes to myself. Looks like Admiral arrived." Herrior said as his SUV jumped over the gate and a whole slew of guns and flew out from the SUV from different every inch of the vehicles body. Admiral jumped out and said in an excited voice, "What's going on? I heard gun fire!"

"The cover story is there was a prison riot and your men contained it, but had to kill some of the prisoners." Herrior said.

"Some?" Mohania said chuckling.

"Ok…now what really happened?" Admiral asked.

"Your base was under attack. Paul got a hold of some alliance and demons. They were going to free the prisoners, arm them, and kill everybody here. Four of your officers were killed but we brought them back to life. He had explosives rigged around his waist and was going to execute four more officers before Lindel and I intercepted him. He is currently paralyzed in the station. He betrayed you and your entire army." Herrior said.

"That lousy piece of shit!" Admiral said and pulled out an enormous pistol.

"Admiral…please, we have better plans for him than giving him a clean death." Herrior said grabbing his hand with the pistol and stopping him in his tracks.

"What the hell kind of handgun is that?" Branzer asked.

"500 S&W Magnum…it'll blow his body apart in three shots…" Admiral replied back.

"Admiral please…we specialize in torture. We need information out of him and he'll be tortured for the next couple of months, begging for death every moment." Herrior said.

"Since when do 'we' specialize in torture… 'I' specialize in torture…" Mohania said correcting him.

"Does that gun shoot fifty caliber rounds?" Branzer asked.

"Seventy five caliber, armor-piercing, with an explosive charge inside to shatter the steel into fragments after it makes contact with its target." Admiral said.

"Seventy…what? Do those actually exist?" Branzer asked.

"Do walking skeletons actually exist?" Admiral asked back.

"No." Mohania said and then looked at his arms and legs and then said, "Oh right…I guess they do."

"We'll handle Paul; you have to trust me on this. You might want to disarm your vehicle before it gets trigger happy." Herrior said.

"Alright Herrior" Admiral said putting his gun back in its holster. The Admiral walked back to his SUV and spoke a command to it and all of the guns and other weaponry retracted back into the body of the vehicle – making it look like a normal SUV. He then walked back up to Herrior, as Herrior expected, and said "Can I get a couple of punches in before you take him?"

"I need his mind functional to gain information from him…his chest I don't need." Lindel said cheerfully.

Herrior rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Hey…I want in on this!" Branzer said.

"No." Herrior said quickly.

"Usually Mohania says that…" Crystal said and rolled her eyes over to Mohania.

"I can wait…" Mohania said letting out an evil smile.

"Let Admiral vent his frustrated, I'll monitor him. The rest of you find out how the poison got in our room." Herrior said and they went back in the station.

The cheering started when they saw Herrior, but Herrior asked them keep it down. "You don't need to do this every time we have a battle."

"…and this is for getting my men killed!" Admiral said and slammed his fist into Paul's stomach. "…and this is for getting me out of bed!" and Admiral punched him again. He went on for several minutes until Admiral grew winded and sat beside him. Paul's face showed a lot of pain and tears came down his cheeks. Herrior walked up to him and bent over.

"Crying already? It's just begun…you'll be begging for your life within the hour, and your plan to bring in your army to kill us? They are all dead…your prisoners you befriended are dead, your family is going to die and your offspring will all be killed to extinguish your seed off from this world." Herrior reached down and patted his cheek. Paul looked horrified.

"Found it!" Julie yelled out and then was poked in the side by Trackolania. She started laughing and said, "Trackolania found it…I never said I found it." Julie said turning around and tickling Trackolania. He smiled as they tried to tickle each other.

"It seems we found out how you were able to poison us. But you have no idea who we are…and what we are capable of. Do you hear this laughter? Do you hear the sounds of happiness?" Herrior asked and picked up Paul by the neck and slammed him into the ceiling and said, "You're never going to hear those sounds again. Mohania…I don't want to see this piece of filth anymore…" Herrior said and tossed him at Mohania. Mohania reached down with his hand and ignited his head on fire. His hair instantly burned and his skin began to melt. Paul was trying desperately to scream.

"You will be surprised how much pain you can endure before your body gives out…" Mohania said and let out a sinister laugh. "Lindel if you would?"

"Let me do my thing first…Sheesh, send him off without getting the information we need." Lindel said and then dispersed her body and flew into Paul's eyes. She unparalyzed his body and he instantly cringed and screamed in pain.

"No…please! Not them…" Paul said in-between the screams.

"I'm…sorry…please…no…" Paul said. Suddenly his body flew across the room and slammed into Herrior's fist.

"You still got good reflexes." Lindel said using Paul's voice.

"Are you done with him?" Herrior asked.

"I suppose…" Lindel said and then flew out of Paul's eyes as Paul fell to the floor. Lindel opened a portal to the cells in the warlock's domain in Tranquil.

"I'll be back in just a second…" Mohania said grabbing the man's arm and pulling him through the portal. The man let out deathly screams…screams that any human should never hear or make. Mohania talked to some of his undead friends and then walked back through the portal.

"You may close the portal madam." Mohania said giving her a slight bow.

"Very good sir, I shall do as such." Lindel said and the portal closed.

"Were…were you kidding about what he is going to…happen to him?" Admiral asked.

"Where we come from, the Geneva Convention is unknown to them." Branzer said.

"It is none of your worry now. Let's go see what Julie and Trackolania are doing." Herrior said and walked into Admiral's room. They were still chasing each other around when Trackolania saw him and stopped. Julie ran into Trackolania and they both tumbled on the ground.

"Glad to see you are having fun. What do you have to report?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Sorry, yeah take a look at this." Julie said getting up and showing him a small hole behind a bookshelf.

"The hole was so small that none of us detected it. It's exactly behind where our door is…err…was. The gas being pumped in was freon, the old kind – not the new stuff that is better for the environment. I'm not sure why we didn't die to be honest…but we have Jessica to thank for opening the door and venting the gas. The tank is back here behind the plant. I turned it off, but according to the valve it can put out up to three hundred PSI. It would have caused us to be dizzy, light-headed, and it does give off a slight odor, but while we were asleep it just would have made us sleep longer…and then death as it displaced the oxygen. We wouldn't have known what happened; it would have killed us in our sleep." Julie said.

"Can you disarm it?" Herrior asked.

"Disarm? Oh, no I shut the valve off and removed the tube. I'd recommend filling in the hole though." Julie said peering into the hole.

"So it is safe now?" Herrior asked still not understanding all that Julie said.

"Yes, we're fine now. I'd recommend donating the canister to a local college or something. I don't think it's empty." Julie said shaking the canister and listening to a liquid swishing back and forth inside.

"You want to give a deadly trap to a college?" Herrior asked.

"I'll dispose of it. Herrior it is no longer a trap, it is completely safe now." Admiral said and taking the canister. He maneuvered around Herrior's group and asked one of his officers to properly dispose of this and he needed some caulk.

"Is caulk like chalk?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior, I think this is out of our league…that's probably enough questions for now hun…" Skyka said patting him on the chest.

"Officers are pretty shaken up…can't say I blame them." Admiral said.

"You can choose to help or not to help, that is fine. They are not obligated whatsoever to help us or even to be here. The reason for Paul's sentence was he purposely tried to kill us, killed four of your men, was going to kill four more and had plans of killing everybody in this station. That is betrayal. If we are shot or hit accidently it is not a problem. If you plan on killing us and attempt to carry out your plan to do so or sabotage your weapons, cruisers, or other events in the attempt to kill other people and us – then we have a problem with you. Just relax and do your jobs, you are doing fine." Herrior said facing the officers.

This seemed to bring some reassurance to the officers and eventually grew into confidence that Herrior and his party, who were not in disguise, was on their side and would give their lives for each and every one of them. Herrior nodded at them as he saw their faces change and motioned for his party to head to their room. Admiral followed them in.

"I wanted my party in here, is there something you wanted Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"I wanted to thank all of you and ask what else all of us can do for you. Once again many of us will go home to our families tonight because of all of you." Admiral said.

"Admiral…if you knew how many times we saved this world from destruction and wars we fought to help free the world of its many foes, you would have to thank us starting now and ending about ten years later. This is our job. Our city is in need of more food at the moment. If you want to help, we need people to grow different types of vegetables – but only here at the station, not at their homes." Herrior said.

"You want us to grow gardens?" Admiral asked in confusion.

"Only if you want to, if not that is fine – but for the moment I wish to speak with my party." Herrior said.

"Admiral…there is a lot of paperwork that you were called in to do. I would advise getting to it. The press might be here tomorrow and you will need to work on your cover story. The riot in the prison that happened today will need to be fully documented." Branzer said and then nodded his head towards the exit.

"There is a lot of paperwork I have to do, but for what it's worth…thanks again." Admiral said and left the room.

"I would shut the door, but it seemed to have broken…anyways Jessica I wanted to ask you if you noticed the trap that was happening and why you woke up before the rest of us?" Herrior asked.

"I just woke up. I saw everybody else sleeping so I left to go find some food. That's it." Jessica said.

Herrior nodded and said, "Very well. This has been another time that we have evaded death. I feel that we don't have to worry about Admiral or the other officers in this station. We do need to carry out our promises though. Mohania, as you know, you need to see Paul's family so you can do your torture. I need volunteers to go…and I choose Bernett, Jessica and Jacklyn."

"Do you know what volunteering means?" Skyka asked shooting him a sarcastic grin.

"It means I am volunteering you. Bernett you need to work on your new class. I've never had a mage in our group before and I want you at your best when we battle. Jessica, I want you to go because you are still young and have not gone on an assignment to slay the innocent and I need you to build up your resistance to the sympathy of the people. Fight for love, and follow my orders. Jacklyn you are going to oversee the operation and to make sure Mohania doesn't get carried away." Herrior said.

"Babysitting again huh? Very well…" Jacklyn said smiling at Mohania.

"I promise I'll be bad…good…I meant good!" Mohania said smiling back.

"Do you think I'm not reaching my full potential Herrior?" Jessica asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "No, I believe you are a great healer but I want to see how you are on a mission like this. I trust you with my life – but everybody has been on a mission like this before, except for you – that is the reason."

"You are doing fine. Herrior wants to see how you'll react to killing Paul's family. They are not alliance nor are they expecting to harm us. Let's get going." Lindel said and began to open the first portal.

"Killing is just the same. I killed the prisoners attacking me." Jessica said.

"These will be afraid of you and probably children." Herrior said. Jessica realized the difference but she nodded and said "I'll do as you command." They all stepped through the portal and disappeared.

"How do you think she'll do?" Skyka asked.

"We'll see." Herrior said. He then turned his attention to Julie and Trackolania, still poking each other and asked, "Is there something you two wish to contribute to the conversation?" in a joking voice.

"He started it…" Julie said as Trackolania rolled his eyes.

"So…are we growing fond of each other? Hmm?" Skyka asked.

Trackolania nodded, but Julie said, "Whatever…that's a woman's secret, and women don't kiss and tell."

"So you two kissed?" Skyka asked. Trackolania looked confused and shook his head.

"Can't we have any secrets in the group?" Julie asked.

"Not that we can eventually guess or figure out on our own…" Skyka said with a big goofy smile. It made Julie laugh. "Fine…fine…you can have your secrets, but just know that lying in the shadows is somebody always watching you two – spying on you, knowing your every move – and will eventually tell everybody in Tranquil."

Trackolania smacked his head and he looked down and shook his head.

"She's kidding Julie." Herrior said.

Several hours passed of idle chit-chat when a portal opened and Jacklyn came through first followed by everybody else.

"Mission accomplished." Jacklyn said getting right to the point.

"How's everything here? Great? Sounds wonderful and other stuff…would you look at the time; I think we should probably head to Tranquil." Mohania said looking at his boney wrist and talked quickly.

"Would that make our cute little undead warlock happy?" Skyka said in a cute voice.

"I'll ignore the sarcasm and would like to participate in the small talk; things look like they are going well with everyone. That's great…good to hear…sounds like everyone is doing well and that is swell to hear, now that everybody is all talked out I suggest I, or we, or whatever head back to Tranquil." Mohania said quickly.

"Lindel would you please make Mohania disappear…" Herrior said smiling at him. Mohania started clapping and bouncing up and down in anticipation as Lindel opened the portal. As soon as it was fully opened Mohania said, "Well it's been nice talking to everybody and whatever…I'll just be on my way now" as he ran through the portal, summoned his flying carpet and flew off.

"Glad to see his art of conversation isn't lost." Herrior said with a smile. "Let's head back home everyone." Everybody started walking through as Herrior put an arm on Jessica. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Have any plans?" Herrior asked as Lindel closed the portal after everybody came through.

"Usually I head to my trainer and armorsmiths when I'm here, but if you want me to do something else I can." Jessica asked.

"I was going to go help in the gardens. Brenna was saying that we have some new food items that they are trying to grow. Do you want to come help me for awhile?" Herrior asked.

"Sure I guess I can go do my other stuff later. What are they planting?" Jessica asked.

"Brenna was planting turnips in her gardens. I'm sure there are some other plants that they are planting." Herrior said walking away with Jessica. Skyka knew he wanted alone time with her so she let them go and went off to the tailors with Lindel. Trackolania left to go to the rogue's guild as usual, so Julie went with the women. Everybody else just stood around and talked for awhile before leaving to do their own thing.

"Well this doesn't look too hard." Jessica said as she watched several other people plant the seeds in a certain way.

"I tried a couple of times with Brenna…my fingers are too fat and I could never get the hole deep enough. Maybe you could teach me a thing or two about it?" Herrior asked taking off his gauntlets and putting them in his pouches.

They walked up to a husband and wife who introduced themselves as Herrior and Jessica asked if they could help. They struck up a mild conversation between the four of them for about twenty minutes until Jessica turned to Herrior and asked, "Is there some particular reason you are spending time with me and not your wife?"

"I want to get to know you better. I just realized that in all of the commotion over the past couple of weeks we haven't had much time to talk. I wanted to thank you also for saving our lives." Herrior said.

"Also you would like to know how I did on our previous mission?" Jessica asked.

"I was curious, but figured you did fine." Herrior said.

"I killed who I was instructed to kill. I must admit it isn't a mission I would like to go on every day, but I did what I was told to do." Jessica said. Herrior nodded and analyzed how her words flowed from her mouth and her body language. It reflected exactly what she said. Herrior figured he would change the subject.

"Do you miss your old life?" Herrior asked.

"I try not to…not much to brag about…" Jessica said planting the vegetables as if she had been doing it her whole life. Herrior was still struggling to get his right. Jessica stopped once in awhile to help him out.

"I just can't seem to do this as good as you can." Herrior said.

"It's easy." Jessica said plotting down several more to Herrior's another attempt.

"You seem to be good at farming and cooking. You seem to have many hidden talents emerging; I'm pleased to see that." Herrior said.

"Thanks." Jessica said concentrating on her task on hand. Herrior saw her losing her interest in talking with him and started talking with the other couple which was now several yards ahead of him. Herrior smiled and brushed his hands together to get the dirt off and stood up. He put his gauntlets back on and walked away. Jessica didn't notice.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Skyka.

"Yes my love?" Skyka said as the portal opened.

"I wasn't able to speak much with Jessica. Have you heard how well she is doing?" Herrior asked.

"Jacklyn said she did fine. She showed no remorse and did as she was told. Is there something in particular you are worried about?" Skyka asked.

"I guess not. Just wanted to make sure she was ok. We tried doing an activity together, planting some new vegetable in the ground, but she learned how to do the task and was much better at it than I was. She made friends with another couple planting and I just let them be." Herrior said.

"Aww…you were the same way with Lindel. Making sure the young ones in our party is taken care of?" Skyka asked.

"Lindel has proven that she can take care of herself. Dan I was worried about for awhile, and then since his power surpasses the King's I don't worry about him anymore. Anyways what are you doing?" Herrior asked.

"Making a new outfit. Lindel, Julie and I were going to go dancing on Earth." Skyka said smiling.

"Are you going to invited Jessica as well?" Herrior asked.

"Of course, we are going to invite everybody – I doubt Mohania will come. Should one of us check up on him?" Skyka asked.

"I'm sure he's having the time of his life…" Herrior said smiling.

Mohania was in fact having fun. He had Paul hanging upside down – tied to the ceiling. He found amusement so far in spinning Paul around in circles and seeing how many times he could punch him in the face before he stopped spinning. His highest score so far was seven. The rest of the undead took turns swiping at him and making him bleed – but nothing that would kill him. Paul had vomited so much that he had nothing else to throw up.

After Mohania grew bored of that he quickly stopped Paul from spinning and said, "What was that? You have Paul's family here? Well let's bring them in and have Paul watch them die!"

"No…please…I beg of you…" Paul said in between dry-heaving and spitting out blood.

Mohania began to cast a spell and several children appeared. Mohania then motioned for everybody to stand back and dim the lights.

"My uncle Paul…I was brought here and now I have to suffer and die because of you! I could have grown up to be somebody special…I could have done something with my life! But no…you had to screw it up for me!" An elder teenage man said walking up to Paul and punched him in the face. "Because of you I am sentenced to die! I hate you Paul! I hated you my whole life! You are nothing but a spineless piece of shit that only looks out for yourself. I had nothing to do with you…nothing! So now I have to die because you did something stupid…thanks a lot…" The man said and then punched Paul in the stomach as hard as Mohania's conjured image strength he could muster up. Paul felt the blow and instantly recoiled in towards his stomach. Paul kept apologizing but it did no good. A blast of fire came from the dark and ignited the conjured image on fire as Mohania made him scream in pain as his skin melted off and nothing but a pile of bones was eventually left. Paul cried very hard and spat out more blood. Mohania was watching his vitals closely…he didn't want his prisoner to die on the first day. He came out of the dark and grabbed his arm. Mohania then reached up and burned the rope holding him up and the rest of his body fell to the ground. Mohania dragged him over to the pile of conjured bones and shoved his face in it.

"Drink from your seed! Chew the marrow off from his bones! This is the only food you are going to eat. Cannibalize your own seed to regain your strength. You should be used to this…you sold out your family at the station and were willing to watch them die and the demons and alliance would have devoured you the same way." Mohania grabbed a piece of meat as Paul cringed and tried to vomit some more and shoved it in Paul's mouth. Mohania then held his mouth closed so that he couldn't spit it out.

"Taste good does it? Savor the taste of it…what does it feel like to eat your own legacy that you were going to leave on your world?" Mohania said. Paul cringed and began shaking violently until he vomited the fluids out of his nose.

"You disgust me…" Mohania said and threw him in an iron cage. Paul began to spit out everything that was in his mouth and began to struggle for air.

"This is just the beginning Paul…you didn't know who you were screwing with until it was to late – and now you will pay the price. How does the price taste so far Paul? Does it taste like beef? Chicken perhaps?" Mohania said picking up some of the bones and tossing it in the cage with him.

"Stop…please!" Paul begged.

"That is the same thing the officers said when you killed them and when you held the others hostage…wasn't it Paul? Weren't they begging for their lives and you felt like you were in complete control? Felt good didn't it? Well it's not going to stop Paul…it's never going to stop. Your body is weakened and you have lost a lot of blood. Let me cauterize those wounds for you." Mohania said and shot a quick ball of fire at Paul as it engulfed his body. Paul felt instant pain throughout his body and let out a fierce scream of pain. The fire only lasted a couple of seconds as it burned out.

"There…now you will make it through the night…that is if you don't go mad in the jail cell…and I'm going to try my damndest to try…" Mohania said leaning over and whispering it to him. Mohania then turned around and began laughing in a dark sinister voice. The gate swung shut and locked itself.

Mohania's hearthstone began to vibrate. He held his hand up and all of the torches in the chamber relit themselves as he pulled it out.

"Ah, the mighty tauren warrior…how may I help you?" Mohania asked to Herrior.

"Having fun?" Herrior asked.

"Am I ever! Want to come down and watch?" Mohania said with a huge smile.

"Make him suffer…" Herrior said smiling deviantly at him.

Mohania began laughing in his sinister voice and said, "Oh he is…he is…"

"Good, so how do you feel about going to Earth and going dancing?" Herrior asked.

Mohania paused for a couple of seconds and answered, "Are you serious?"

"Thought I would at least ask…" Herrior said with a smile.

"Give everybody my regards and tell them some lame ass excuse like…I don't want to." Mohania said.

"Will do. Make me proud." Herrior said.

"I'm not sure I'm making you proud…it might turn your face green if you saw what I've done to Paul so far though." Mohania said smiling.

"Keep up the good work." Herrior said smiling and closed the portal.

Mohania put his hearthstone back in his pocket and said, "That was my boss…he said I'm not doing enough to torture you…but I'm at a dilemma, I want you to live as long as I can – yet inflict the most possible amount of pain on you at the same time. Your body is obviously very weak right now…but I think your mind is still not quite weak enough." Mohania reopened the cage and picked up some of the bones.

"Do you mind if I have dinner with you?" Mohania asked. He took one of the bones and chopped on it hard as Paul's face turned even whiter and grew deathly afraid.

"It's not bad…human flesh and bone is an acquired taste." Mohania said purposely spitting out several chunks on Paul's face. He wiped them off quickly and then covered his eyes. Mohania repositioned himself right above Paul's exposed ear and took a long hard crunch.

"Stop it…please!" Paul screamed in tears.

"So tell me…who am I eating right now? I would like to know his name. It adds a certain…how do you say…ambience to the meal. Was he a good man? Did he have a bright future? Did he have a lady friend? Maybe we should track her down as well and I can compare which one tastes better." Mohania said and then spat out all of the chewed bone into Paul's face again. Paul started crying and couldn't talk anymore.

"You know we can track her down…ruin her future as well. Does that sound like a plan Paul? Maybe I can put her on her knees and a gun to her head…and then we can play a guessing game. If you can pick the correct number that I am thinking of between one and one billion…I will let her go, but I am entitled to change my number randomly. How does that sound Paul? Does that bring back any recent memories Paul?" Mohania said and struck him over the head with the rest of the uneaten bone. Paul recoiled but couldn't say anything.

"That a boy Paul…I think your mind is broken right now. We'll give you an hour of sleep before the torture starts up again. I'm going to make a game up Paul. If you win the game your wife will live…if you don't save her in time you get to watch her die slowly. How does that sound Paul? Do you like games Paul? I like games. Get some sleep and we'll see how well you do." Mohania said standing up and kicking dirt into Paul's face.

Herrior and Skyka had met up with Strings and Ysera in her Kingdom and were catching up on each other's activities. Dan and Crystal had come along as well, but they were on their dragons playing with the other dragons.

"They seemed destined to be with each other. Tell me…what was their secret to knowing they were meant for each other?" Ysera asked interrupting Herrior while he was speaking of their recent battles.

"Oh…it just kind of happened. There was no real secret to it…" Herrior said caught unaware of the question.

Ysera turned back to Herrior and asked, "How did you know Skyka was right for you?"

"I told him…he has trouble figuring out what armor to wear in the morning when he wakes up…" Skyka said.

"I believe I was the one that started courting you…" Herrior said jokingly back.

"She asked how I knew I was right for you…and that was me. If I didn't make the move you would still be stumbling over your big ol' hooves whenever you saw me…" Skyka said.

"It was called training to become a fighter…" Herrior replied back.

"No it was called, 'I would flash my eyes at you and you would get hit in the heat or trip over your own sword'. Don't believe him Ysera…being the woman you have to keep your man in line." Skyka said.

Ysera smiled at the lover's quarrel. Strings then asked, "Why do you ask Ysera?"

"Because of you. I have feelings for you that are stronger than I have from any previous attempt at a relationship. Some have courted me only for the power or for the presence of a male figurehead for the Dragonflights. Most of them weren't worth the trouble of frustration…but you are different. You don't want anything and you are proceeding with caution and time with the development for our relationship to bloom." Ysera said.

Strings wasn't thinking about that at all, it caught him off guard. "Ysera to be honest I never thought of any of that, I just thought about you. I don't even know what all is involved if we did marry. You have mighty beasts and legions of dragons at your command, not to mention turn into a fierce dragon. I play a lute..."

"This is an interesting conversation." Skyka said staring at them intently. Herrior gave Skyka a polite shove and motioned for them to leave. Skyka sighed and followed.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up." Ysera said quickly.

"I'm glad you did Ysera." Strings said walking closer to her. Their eyes locked on each other and both of them held their breath to see what was going to happen next.

"Do you think I'm up to the job?" Strings asked.

"If I didn't think you were, I would never have brought it up. Are we going to kiss?" Ysera asked.

"This is a lot for me Ysera. I wouldn't even know how to start, or even what to say…" Strings said closing in on Ysera's face.

"It will come with time." Ysera whispered.

"I'm one of Herrior's fighters. He is my leader." Strings said.

"I know…you are very loyal to him that is what I admire about you. That is one of the qualities I find so attractive about you." Ysera said closing in for a kiss.

Strings backed away and said, "How would this work then?" Ysera sighed and backed away.

"I don't know…maybe it's just a dream of mine…" Ysera said.

"It's a good dream, but I am a fighter of Tranquil and you are a dragon queen of the Dragonflights. I've been in Herrior's group for decades." Strings said and then paused, "Would it work with us in different worlds fighting different battles?"

"Love knows no bounds." Skyka said.

"Hush…we're not supposed to be listening…" Herrior whispered aloud. Both Ysera and Strings laughed.

"I thought you two left." Ysera said.

"We're on top of a temple that's about twenty feet by twenty feet…we don't have far we can go. Besides…you two almost kissed! I blame Strings for blowing the chance…Herrior remind me to smack him upside the head later." Skyka said smiling.

"I'll make a note of it." Herrior said.

"You two could go play with Dan and Crystal…" Ysera said putting a hand on her hip and looking at them with a smile.

"I totally beat you!" Dan yelled as he came flying through the air and slammed into the ground and doing several summersaults. Crystal was close behind as she did the same thing. Crystal did more summersaults and accidently bumped into Dan. He lost his balance and fell over the edge. He only fell a couple of feet before his dragon swooped down and caught him.

"That's what you get for cheating!" Crystal said in a cocky voice. Dan's dragon flew up and gently set him down next to Crystal.

"Cheating nothing…you have to take risks if you want to win." Dan said.

"And fall off the edge?" Crystal replied back.

"There are hundreds of dragons around here, besides Skyka would have come down and got me." Dan said.

"Say what now?" Skyka asked as if she was oblivious to what just happened.

"Besides…you just can't handle the tight turns and flying upside down, it's all in the wrists." Dan said.

"Yeah…and your wrists have had a lot of strengthening over the years haven't they?" Crystal asked.

"Jealous…plain and simple. Second place isn't bad though…oh wait it is if there are only two people racing!" Dan said and started to laugh.

"I've got better things to do, why don't you go over in the corner and strengthen your wrists…" Crystal said and then turned around and said, "So did we miss anything?"

"You missed a lot! Ysera and Strings have been talking about their relation while Herrior and I have been in the corner 'not listening'. It was going good until the big cow said something." Skyka said.

"No…I believe you were the first to talk." Herrior recalled.

"Details…anyways I think you guys are making this harder than what it really is. Ysera, you long for someone to be with but you also have the responsibility of the Dragonflights, and Strings has always needed a woman to keep him in line." Skyka said.

"I beg to differ" Strings said.

"No differing allowed…" Skyka said as Ysera let out a smile but tried to conceal it. She continued, "Herrior and I have talked about this and have come to the conclusion that something like this would happen eventually…we just weren't sure if Strings would be able to take a hint or not."

"Can I differ now?" Strings asked.

"No. Normally a King and Queen do reign in the same Kingdom – not always though, if you recall the Kalu'ak and the Naaru had rulers in different parts of that world. The Naaru had A'dal in their main fortress, but had their King rule in their world. The Kalu'ak's King, or ruler in their case, was their main hunter. He would be gone for weeks at a time to lead the hunt…" Skyka said but was interrupted by Dan.

"Hush!" Dan said and quickly turned to the north east. He walked over to the edge and stared at it for awhile. He held his hand up and felt air rushing through it. "Something is wrong. Herrior…something is really wrong!"

Herrior quickly pulled out his hearthstone and summoned his party. Ysera looked odd at their reactions and then became anxious.

"What's going?" Ysera asked.

"Something is disrupting time and the elements are screaming at me. I'm feeling the disturbance in time right now as well. It's nothing like I've felt before. Herrior – we don't have much time." Dan said.

"You can't sense the elements or time…what is he talking about?" Ysera asked.

Herrior closed the hearthstone portal and said, "You would be surprised how powerful he became. Dan, what are we up against?"

"A mass of energy circling around a central being, the elements are not telling me what. It's trying to disrupt time but hasn't been able to yet. Herrior we don't have much time." Dan said repeating himself.

"We're here." Lindel said flying out of the portal.

"Somebody is going to die for interrupting my session of slowly killing something." Mohania said.

"Herrior we have to go." Dan said and summoned his dragon. He jumped on it and flew with everybody else following him, including Ysera in her dragon form as she let out a loud battle cry – summoning her dragon fighters. Soon the skies darkened out the sun by the amount of dragons.

Dan landed and stopped the time ripple.

"Who did that?" A mighty dragon voice roared.

"I did!" Herrior roared dismounting his dragon and running towards the enormous dragon.

"I am Murozond – the keeper of the end times. The time for this world has come. There is no resistance that can stop it." Murozond said and began to channel his power again to but saw the vast armies of dragon's flying towards him. Murozond let out a loud yelled followed by blasts of ice. The dragon's iced up and fell to the ground, including Ysera. Herrior and his party stood behind the rocks as the shards of ice flew around them. Dan knelt to the ground and as he touched the ground, a huge spike flew up from the ground right underneath Murozond – disrupting his spell.

"Who did that? You miserable pests are delaying the inevitable. The time for this world has come to an end as it has for many worlds. Accept your fate!" Murozond said getting back up on his four legs. The Dragonflights were unsure what to do as their ground forces moved in. Herrior motioned them off to the side and they obeyed. Herrior then waved off the other Dragonflights but they wanted revenge for the first couple of waves of dragons he brought down, including Ysera. Murozond took in a deep breath to finish of the rest of the dragons when suddenly a giant rock flew in his mouth. Caught off guard, Herrior's party charged in. He launched his magical sword at the sword, drawing its attention to him.

"An insignificant tauren dares to oppose me? What is this…humans and night elves fight beside you?" Murozond asked while he was being attacked. Murozond swatted Herrior away as Herrior's body flew through the air and tumbled several feet away. Herrior let out a cry of rage and ran back at him.

"Insanity tauren…the definition of doing something over and over and expecting to get different results." Murozond said and flipped him away again with one of his claws. The healers were struggling with the damage Murozond was putting out.

"As amusing as this is…I have a job to do." Murozond said and circles of white light began to appear on the ground. After a couple of seconds they emitted an intense amount of damage as the people inside of them quickly jumped out of them.

All the while Quinely and Veliline took turns taunting Murozond and leading him away from Herrior who was mortally wounded. The healers concentrated on the two main tanks left as Lindel hovered right behind them, giving them healing as well.

Murozond began to alter time again and Dan stopped him again.

"Ugh…who is doing that?" Murozond screamed out. "It can't be the tauren…who among you has the power to alter time?"

"I do." Everybody said all at the same time. Murozond started to laugh. He summoned a globe that fell from the sky and slammed into the ground – knocking back everybody. The globe was surrounded by powerful metal bars that looked like they were holding the orb from flying into the air. The globe itself emanated immense power.

"Puny creatures." Murozond said as he walked up to Quinely and stopped on her with one of his mighty claws. Murozond then turned to Veliline as she quickly jumped to her feet and engaged him.

"This orb will maintain my power as I complete the final sequence for destroying this world." Murozond said as Veliline was now receiving all of the healing. Everybody had tried to fear the dragon, distract the dragon and even lay traps for it. It looked like he had not received any damage. Veliline summoned her ghoul and quickly sucked life out of it to keep herself alive.

"A Death Knight? Impossible…your race was eradicated as we watched from afar. Perhaps I'll take you as an old relic for my trophy collection. Strings let out a high-pitch squeal on his lute causing the dragon to immediately stop his attack and recoil back in pain as he covered his ears. Strings played the note as long as he could, but eventually had to stop for a breath.

"A bard as well? Somebody here has the ability to time travel as well. I have not heard that type of annoying music in ages. I will take you as well." Murozond said and began walking to Strings. Veliline began taunting Murozond, but he ignored her. Strings started playing another tune that launched an enormous fireball at Murozond. Murozond merely shrugged it off and picked up Strings. Strings once again played the high pitch tune and Murozond immediately dropped him and recoiled back in pain. Skyka was quick to levitate him back to the ground.

"Guess I'm tanking?" Strings asked Skyka.

Murozond let out a roar that shook everything around him and knocked everything to the ground. The ranged attackers redirected their attacks to the globe, but just the same as the dragon, their shots merely flew off from it.

Murozond began to laugh again and began to summon the power he needed to destroy the world. Dan once again stopped his ability to manipulate time. This time the orb shot out a ray and engulfed Dan.

"A human? A child at that? Who gave you the powers that you have?" Murozond asked walking towards him as his party continued their attacks. Veliline and Skyka tried to rip Dan out of the force field he was being held in, but nothing could penetrate it.

"Your mom did…right before I gutted her, took her eggs, and left her to rot!" Dan said. He then quickly held out his hand and a boulder flew from the mountain and smashed into the globe where the beam was coming from. The plan worked as he fell from the skies and Skyka levitated him down.

"I got this…" Dan said and ran away from the group. Murozond turned to follow him.

"Yes…I sense great power in you. I sense…argh!" Murozond instantly screamed and dropped to the ground in immense pain. Dan ran up and tried to drive his fist weapons in the dragon's scales, but still could not penetrate his thick scale. Dan summoned an earth elemental as it began to taunt Murozond and smash it with its fists.

Murozond laid in a daze for awhile until he shook his head and opened his eyes and looked at Dan.

"It is time for this world to end human…and you are prolonging it…" Murozond said.

"I say it isn't time for the world to end…and you are pissing me off!" Dan yelled back.

"Puny human" Murozond said and raised his claw to stomp down on Dan.

Time stopped.

Everything froze around Dan, even his party. Dan knew he had to crank up his power a lot in order to stop the attack. But to Dan's surprise Murozond said, "No…you cannot do that!"

Dan moved out from underneath the claw and then put his hand on the ground. There was an enormous rumble as the ground beneath Murozond crumbled.

"So a fall little one…if you remember I am a dragon, I can fly out." Murozond said.

Time resumed.

Murozond did fall into the deep chasm.

"Mohania!" Dan turned around and yelled. Mohania ran up and held up his hands as the land immediately slammed into the dragon, over and over. Murozond let out screams of pain as he tried to free himself. Dan ran over to the globe and put his hand on it. Suddenly his mind was filled with knowledge and his body radiated with power. He began to absorb it at an exponential rate.

"No human! You do not know what you are doing!" Murozond said crawling back out of the hole. Murozond leaped towards him, but Mohania slammed the ground shut, catching his tail in it, preventing him from moving.

Dan held out his hand as a powerful blast of white light came from it.

"No!" Murozond yelled out.

Time stopped.

This time Herrior's group was able to move, at least the ones that were immune to it. Herrior and Quinely's lifeless bodies were filled with life once again and the Dragonflights that had fallen had their lives returned to them as well as they broke free of their icy prism.

Time resumed.

The power that Dan had channeled to bring everybody back to life had strengthened his party with powers they had never possessed before. Herrior charged into Murozond with his shield in front of him and knocked over the enormous dragon. The ranged and melee held nothing back as they launch their spells and projectiles at him. Murozond cried in pain. Murozond slowly rose to his feet and tried to make his way to the globe.

"Don't let him reach it!" Dan yelled out as he held out his hand and an enormous blast of energy blasted Murozond in the face and he recoiled back in pain.

"Do not drain its power! You do not know what you are doing!" Murozond yelled.

"Dan what are you doing?" Herrior asked as he slammed his sword and shield into the mighty dragon over and over again.

"This is an ancient relic used to manipulate time. It causes a sink hole, pulling everything into it like a black hole. The relic is almost drained Murozond. You have failed." Dan said pulling his hand away and slamming his fist into the globe. It instantly smashed it with thousands of pieces falling to the ground.

"No…no…no!" Murozond said. He tried to channel power to stop time, but Dan instantly stopped him.

Murozond took to the air and flew just out of range of Herrior's ranged fighters. "A dark cloud is coming over your world. If it is not destroyed, it will grow in strength and devour more worlds. I came to stop it. So if you want the knowledge of destroying hundreds more worlds at the expense of your own…so be it!"

Ysera let out a fierce roar as she took to the air. Her talons grabbed Murozond's head, gouging out its eyes and doing a mid-air flip, slamming Murozond down on the ground.

"Feast my army! Let nothing go to waste!" Ysera screamed out. Ysera flew down and grabbed Murozond's neck. She quickly jerked it back and forth until it broke free. She flew back over to Herrior's party and dropped the head. She morphed back into her human form.

"Deathwing…will kill you…" Murozond said.

"We killed him already, and we will kill anything else that tries to devour our world." Herrior said.

"Im…possible…" Murozond said dying with a shocked look on its face. Herrior kicked the severed head with one of his mighty hooves. The head spun several times before coming to a rest.

"Care to explain why we are so strong right now Dan?" Herrior asked.

"The power will fade. I should have exposed myself sooner. The dumb bastard tried to read my mind." Dan slammed his fist into the ground, sending a large rumbling of rocks towards the head and suddenly a huge rock spike ran through its head. "Let that be a lesson to you Murozond! Don't mess with us!" Dan yelled.

"Remind me never to try to read Dan's mind." Ysera held her hand up and whispered to Lindel. Lindel nodded back.

"He was right though. Ysera there is a mindless void coming to your world. It will devour everything in its path. There is a force driving it though…but none of you will believe me…" Dan said looking at everybody.


	29. The Void

The Void

"Is this going to be a guessing game?" Mohania asked.

"It's me." Dan said. Everybody gave him an odd look.

"Can't be you…you are right here." Mohania said.

"It's me from the future…or the past, I'm not sure. But I heard my voice and felt my presence while channeling the power from the orb. Its several weeks away, but it is heading towards this world. The dragon was right and had good intentions, too bad he is dead now. I could have got more information from him." Dan said.

"Lindel" Herrior said. Lindel dispersed herself into millions of tiny particles.

"Lindel no! You will be killed!" Dan quickly said. The particles stopped before entering. Dan turned to Herrior and said, "Herrior it will kill her. His mind is powerful."

"You aren't telling us the whole truth." Herrior said and stared at Dan. Dan nodded and said, "I don't know the whole truth, but I do know that it will kill her."

"Lindel don't" Herrior said unflinching from Dan. Lindel rematerialized and wondered what to do.

"So if you are going to kill all of us, should we kill you now?" Herrior asked.

"I can't see in the future…I don't know. Herrior you know that I would kill myself if this would prevent it, but it won't." Dan said.

"Are you sure it's you?" Herrior asked.

"It sounded like me and it felt like me…I didn't get a chance to see myself though." Dan said.

"So you aren't sure. It could be a trick, a doppelganger, a mirror image, or a power that we do not know about yet that makes you think it's you." Herrior said.

"If we start the evacuations now, we can be safely away from this world in about a week." Ysera stated but wanted more information.

"It will find other worlds. Do what you think is best for your dragons, but it will find you…it will find us. We need to stop it Herrior." Dan said. Herrior nodded and put away his weapons. Everybody else did the same.

"So let's talk about a plan here. What are our options?" Herrior asked.

"I know where it is, I know how to get there, but Lindel would have to get in my mind to get the…coordinates or whatever she needs." Dan said.

"That will kill me." Lindel said.

"Dan, can you drop your defenses?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior, I don't even know how to raise my defenses." Dan said.

"What if we put you in a deep sleep?" Herrior asked.

"I doubt it. If you are willing to sacrifice a banshees life to try it than I am." Dan said and then turned to Lindel. Lindel held her hands up and shook her head as she said, "I don't stand a chance. I can't even get what he is dreaming about or even guess…unless he has an erection." This made Crystal laugh, but only briefly as Herrior shot her a look.

"I can merge my power with Lindel's and possibly open a gateway that way." Dan suggested.

"I don't like that idea…" Lindel said quickly.

"How would this work?" Herrior asked.

"Lindel forms a portal and then I channel my power into her to create a portal. It will bypass the void and get us in front of it to confront this other version of me. But my powers are fading which the rest of you can probably feel as well." Dan said.

"Do it" Herrior said quickly.

Lindel stood up and she and Dan walked a short distance away. Lindel produced a portal and then held out her hand. Dan took it and immediately Lindel started to scream. She changed into her evil banshee form and her howls could be heard from afar. She raised her hand and channeled a huge beam of energy into it. The portal burned with blue fire as sparks of electrical energy flew out from it. The portal was blurry and they couldn't see anything through it. Suddenly everybody was sucked into the portal and slammed into a wall on the other side as the portal was disrupted and exploded behind them.

"Red alert! Security to the bridge!" Herrior heard as he moved to get off from everybody. He slowly helped everybody to their feet before they started looking around and was suddenly awestruck by what they saw.

"Who are you people? What are you doing on my ship?" A bald headed man said rising from what looked like a commanders chair.

"My name is Herrior, an ambassador of Tranquil and leader of a primary party of Tranquil. This is my party…and Ysera apparently."

"Holy shit…where the hell are we?" Dan asked looking around in sheer fascination.

"What are your intentions?" The man asked.

"We mean you no harm. Currently we are just as confused as to how we got here as you are." Herrior said.

"He speaks the truth." A woman said next to the man talking. Suddenly doors opened up everywhere and guards with armor and some sort of hand held device was pointing at them. The man held his hand up as Herrior pulled out his shield and moved in front of his party.

"Put your weapons down." The man said.

"Put your weapons down" Herrior said to the rest of his party, but he still held his shield in front of him.

"Captain, may I?" The woman said. The man nodded and she got out of her chair and walked towards them.

"Can you hear me?" The woman's voice said in Herrior's head.

"Yes. What happened?" Herrior asked back in his head.

"We were hoping you could tell us. You don't seem alarmed that I am in your head." The woman said.

"Not at all…we have people that can do that. We defeated a foe of ours and wanted to destroy whatever it is that is heading towards our world. Its sole intention is to feed on worlds and move on. Our friend, Ysera's world is next on the list. We mean you no harm; please call off your attackers." Herrior said back in his mind.

"You have older weaponry…what planet are you from?" The woman asked back in his mind.

"I cannot tell you where Tranquil is as I am an ambassador and will do everything I can to protect it. I can tell you that we came from an area called Dragonblight. May I ask you a question?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Yes, what is it?"

"What day and year is this?" Herrior asked aloud.

"The year three thousand twenty four. It is a Wednesday. What time are you from?" The woman asked back.

"About a thousand years ago…but this is impossible – we cannot travel into the future!" Lindel immediately spoke up.

"I am telling you the truth; I have no reason to lie." The woman said in a calm voice.

"No…it's impossible to travel in the future. That means our worlds have already been destroyed. Shit – Herrior we failed!" Dan said sounding scared.

"My dragons!" Ysera screamed and then started to cry hard as she fell to the ground.

"We cannot fail…we have never failed before and I will not admit defeat! None of us will! Lindel make a portal back to our world." Herrior said. The captain sat down as the woman that was talking to Herrior walked back to her chair. They were all staring intently.

Lindel was in her human form and when she got up, they saw Mohania. Everybody gasped as they saw him.

"What? Never see an undead before?" Mohania asked.

"Herrior…I have no coordinates to send us to. Dan is right; every place that I know of that I could send us is gone." Lindel said with her eyes closed still concentrating.

"What manner of creatures are you?" The man said in the middle chair.

"I am a tauren. My wife is a blood elf. I'm sure you recognize the humans, the undead is the one with no skin on him." Herrior said and then started looking around. As he turned around he saw an enormous screen filled with black space and distant white stars. He jumped back and fell to the ground in surprise. "What the hell is that?" Herrior asked.

"Space…obviously you have some catching up to do. Stand down red alert."

"There are no walls…how are you doing that? Why aren't we being sucked in? How are we able to breathe?" Herrior asked all in about a second.

"I am Jean-Luc Picard, you have met Deanna Troi, and my second in command is Will Riker." The man said.

"No…" Dan said and backing up. "No…I don't think so, you are a show on television…this isn't real…this isn't happening. Herrior this isn't real…"

"My friend says you are not real." Herrior said.

"Your friend also appears very frightened as we were when we first saw you. I assure you we are quite real." Jean-Luc said.

"Dan? Your response?" Herrior looked back and saw that he was in shock.

"I…I…I…" was all Dan could say.

"I can calm him down." Deanna said and Herrior immediately said, "No! You cannot access his mind like you can mine. It will kill you. Access mine instead and know that I am telling the truth."

"I know you are telling the truth, I don't need Deanna to tell me that. Well…it appears as though we have guests on our ship. Deanna can you take them to our guest quarters?" Jean-Luc asked.

"I would love to, follow me please." Deanna said. Herrior looked back at his party for their opinion. Dan still looked absolutely confused and was not accepting the reality he was in. Ysera was still mourning as Strings helped her up to her feet. Herrior saw Mohania shrug his shoulders…that was the same thing Herrior was thinking. Herrior turned around and saw Deanna smiling at him and holding out her hand. Herrior took off his left gauntlet and put it away as he took her hand.

They walked through several different corridors with Deanna talking with Herrior. Suddenly Lindel said, "There are five thousand three hundred and fifty two voices I hear. There are some animals, none of which are edible – somehow can sense my presence."

Deanna stopped and looked at her and said, "That is amazing. Your powers exceed my own. That number is correct though, many people work to help keep the ship working and have different jobs." Lindel held up her hand to silence her. "There is nothing outside this ship…absolutely nothing. You travel in a vessel with no means of escape? Yet the vessel does not move as if it were on waves or in the air."

"That is correct also. You seem very aware of your surroundings." Deanna said in a slightly worried tone as she continued walking. She explained the ships ability to manage everybody's needs and the integrity of it.

Several minutes later they arrived at a room which had two guards stationed there.

Deanna said, "These are your quarters. Don't think of them so much as guards Herrior as they are here to help you. I would ask that you do not travel around the ship with your weapons on as it might scare the crew."

"They are still guards. I could snap them in half in less than a second. Also I ask that you do not read my thoughts out of respect of my position in our party and being an ambassador." Herrior said.

"I apologize; let me show you around inside." Deanna said and walked forward through the door that opened by itself. The rest of the party followed her in and the door closed behind Dan, who was the last one in.

"This is our replicator. It can supply you with food and drink. You simply say…" Deanna started but was interrupted by Dan.

"Computer, water, cold" Dan said and a cup materialized with water. Dan took it and splashed the water on his face. He shook his head and looked around. He was still in the same place with the same people looking at him. "This does not make any sense people! They are fictional people, this is a fictional ship and we are in a fictional setting! Have none of you watched Star Trek the Next Generation? Does any of this seem oddly familiar?" Dan asked.

"Never seen it" Branzer said.

"Can you give us some alone time please?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly, if you need anything feel free to contact me." Deanna said and left the room.

"Julie – you are a Sci-fi nut…surely you have heard of this?" Dan asked.

"Yes Dan, I agree with you fully. I could probably name off more of the crew than you could, but flipping out is not going to help. We are obviously here and it is obviously real. I am just as shocked as you are. In order for someone to duplicate all of this they would have to scan our brains to reenact everything down to the very last detail. Your mind is impenetrable, but mine isn't. It is immune to both alliance and demon so it would have to have been another force. When you created the portal, where exactly were you planning on putting us?" Julie asked.

"Behind the void. I was hoping to be on the ship that is creating the void that is coming to our world. Herrior, everything went right. I felt Lindel's pain, and I apologize for that, but it should have put us behind the void. We should be attacking the people or things that are creating the void, not put in some sort of prison with guards that can help us around an imaginary ship."

"You are convinced of this aren't you?" Herrior asked.

"Yes." Both Julie and Dan said. Herrior nodded. He looked towards Lindel and asked, "What happened with the portal?"

"I merely created it. Dan overwhelmed me with powers I have never felt before. I funneled it quickly into the portal. Dan put in the coordinates and I merely was just the funnel for his power. Herrior, I have no idea if all of this is real or not…but like I said I can sense other people on this ship. I can read their thoughts and possess them if I wanted to." Lindel said.

"Alright this is enough. Everybody clear your thoughts. Now you know how I felt when I my identity was stripped from me. I was put in the place with Alan for a reason and later on we became good friends and they have helped us out a lot. I don't care if these people have similar names to what you recall Dan, I need your head clear – that is an order. Lindel are there any threats aboard this ship? Quinely and Mohania, I want you both to look for demons and any people that may come close to us. Ysera you are part of our group for some reason. All of this is happening for a reason – go with the flow. Lindel – do not concentrate on what happened with the portal and do not concentrate on getting us home. I want everybody's minds clear and focused. For some reason we are here and I do not believe we will be here forever. Concentrate on what is on hand." Herrior said.

"Herrior…there is somebody on board…several layers below us and south of us…err…behind us that does have ill intentions." Lindel said.

"Transmit that information to Deanna immediately and then open her mind to see it." Herrior said immediately.

On the bridge Deanna felt Lindel's presence overwhelm her. Everybody noticed, but she said she was ok. A couple of seconds later her eyes lit up and said, "Captain – somebody is planting a bomb in cargo bay sixteen!"

"Open the door and depressurize the cargo bay, now!" Jean-Luc yelled. Several buttons were pressed and everything in the cargo bay flew out. A minute went by and an enormous explosion occurred. It rocked the ship a little, but caused no damage.

"Explain." Jean-Luc said to Deanna.

"One of our visitors, Lindel is her name, detected the saboteur and showed me in my mind what was going on. Captain, she saved hundreds of lives. She's still in my mind and I thanked her." Deanna said.

"Can she read your mind?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Yes, but she said she has no intentions of learning anything about us and are solely intent on getting back home." Deanna paused for a second and then said, "She swears on her life and the life of her party that they will not interfere with us unless something threatens us." Deanna said. She then asked Lindel to leave her mind and Deanna felt her presence leave. "She is gone now Captain. Her powers far exceed mine and they don't belong here, I don't mean on this ship, but in this time period. They are confused, but they are pulling themselves together and are ready to battle – not with us, but with the enemy they came here to fight."

"Interesting…was there any time space anomalies when they arrived?" Jean-Luc asked.

"No sir. Everything was and still is normal. Long range sensors indicate no such anomalies in our area. There is a small craft in heading towards section eighteen. In front of it is a type of plasma wave. We've been watching it for awhile and believe it is pushing it somehow." A robotic android named Data said.

"How far away?" Captain asked.

"We can intercept them at maximum warp in sixteen hours." Data said.

"Our friends may be telling the truth, but might have just over-shot their target. Any readings on the portal they came in and out of?" The Captain asked.

"No sir…it's as if nothing ever happened." Another officer said still examining it with several different instruments.

"I believe we owe them a thank you. Deanna, Will, Worf – you are with me." The Captain said and left the bridge.

The arrived at their quarters and the guards stepped aside. The Captain motioned to walk forward but stopped. He knocked on the wall and Herrior yelled out, "Come in."

"I pardon the intrusion, but I would like to thank Lindel for looking out for the safety of the ship. How can I repay you? Dinner and dancing perhaps?" Jean-Luc asked with a smile.

Herrior rose from the circle they had formed. They moved all of the furniture out of the way. "You are welcome, but that is only a fraction of the powers we possess. Your face has more to tell though."

"Yes well…perhaps we all should talk. May we?" Jean-Luc asked and Herrior nodded. The party widened the circle and the four of them sat among them.

"We form a circle so that everybody can see everybody. Everybody is included this way." Herrior said.

"What is the little one doing?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Trackolania don't…this isn't our territory." Herrior said. Trackolania was carving his name in the floor. He quickly twirled his dagger into its sheath and nodded.

"It's one of his habits, I apologize." Herrior said and shot a quick dissatisfied glare at Trackolania.

"We can get it fixed. Herrior we believe we have found what you are looking for. We found a ship on our long range sensors that is pushing a wave of pure plasma in front of it. We estimate we can be there in twelve days. You may very well have overshot your intended destination." Jean-Luc said.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I'm scanning but I don't sense anything. Quinely?" Lindel asked.

"Me neither." Quinely said.

"How far away is this ship?" Herrior asked.

"It's measured in light years. We would have to travel at ten times the speed of light in order to get there in twelve days." Jean-Luc said.

"What does that mean?" Herrior asked.

"It's the speed light travels. Basically it's faster than anything we have ever gone before." Dan said. Herrior tilted his head slightly still not understanding.

"Are the other ships coming in going to escort us there?" Lindel asked.

"What other ships?" Jean-Luc asked quickly. Lindel stood up and pointed her finger out the window. She then shot a burst of energy from her finger as it quickly flew through the window, traveled at high speeds for several seconds and then crashed into a ship – exposing a ship that was stealthed for a brief second as the burst of energy spread around the ship.

"Red alert! Ships up Will!" Jean-Luc said after tapping a trinket on his chest. The four of them ran out of the room and back to the bridge.

The ship began to shoot energy bursts at their ship.

"Bastards…Lindel open a portal!" Herrior said drawing his weapons. Lindel opened a portal and Herrior jumped through it and looked at shocked aliens he had never seen before.

"I was on that ship…you shot first endangering me and my party! Now you will die!" Herrior said and let out a battle cry. Herrior's party made quick work of the crew and then started tearing the bridge apart. Herrior ordered the captain to be kept alive.

"Mohania…Branzer, go kill anything you see through those doors!" Herrior commanded.

"You'll never open our blast doors!" The alien captain said. Mohania launched a chaos bolt and it exploded the door into tiny bits.

"Anything else you dare me not to do?" Mohania asked with a grin and then ran off. Screams of people dying and fear engulfed the ship as the captain stood motionless with one of Jacklyn's enormous blades around his throat and mid section.

Several minutes later huge explosions rocked the ship and Branzer could be heard yelling, "Mohania!" and Mohania yelled back, "Accident?"

"Lindel open the portal. Skyka and Jessica get ready to yank them out of there." Herrior said. Lindel began to channel a portal as the ship rocked back and forth violently. As soon as Jessica and Skyka saw Branzer and Mohania, they reached out with one hand and as a bolt of yellow electrical energy snagged both of them, pulling them instantly to their current location. Everybody ran through the portal and back in the room with the captain.

The ship they were on slowly started falling downwards and split into several pieces. There was another ship that appeared from the other side of the starship they were on. It watched what happened and suddenly tried to turn around and leave but couldn't move. Several beams of energy came out of their starship and caused their engines to explode, crippling their ship. Deanna sent a message to Lindel and asked what happened to the other bird of prey.

"You mean the ship? We destroyed it and have the captain with us. Do you want us to destroy the other?"

"You destroyed the ship?" Deanna said again in Lindel's head.

"We didn't even break a sweat. Do you want him or should we torture him?" Lindel asked back in her mind.

"No…please, bring him to the bridge." Deanna said.

"The humans want us to bring the prisoner to their bridge." Lindel said.

"Did they say alive or dead?" Mohania asked as his eyes began to glow with fire.

"They said not to torture him." Lindel said.

"No probably…I'll splatter his guts all over…"

"Mohania!" Herrior yelled

"Nowhere…I'll splatter nothing over anywhere…" Mohania said ending his spell.

"Put your weapons away. Jacklyn make sure you don't hurt him to bad on the way to their bridge." Herrior said putting his shield and sword behind him.

"You wouldn't dare hurt me…you swine!" The alien said. Jacklyn pushed him against the wall, but her weapons away and then grabbed his neck and slammed him hard against the wall. Green blood oozed from several different spots.

"Got anything else to say?" Jacklyn asked. The alien shook his head no.

Once they arrived on the bridge Jacklyn threw the alien before the Captain's feet. "I think he might be hurt…" she said sarcastically.

"Why did you attack us?" The Captain asked him standing up.

"Do your worst Captain Picard…you will not get anything from me." The alien said. Jacklyn flew through the air with her swords out and landed with one knee on the alien's chest and both swords barely touching the alien's neck. Small trickles of blood came from them as the alien tried to catch his breath.

"He asked a question…you will answer it or you will know pain beyond what your imagination can comprehend!" Jacklyn yelled in his face.

"Herrior." Jean-Luc said.

"Jacklyn you made your point." Herrior said.

"Can I go next?" Mohania asked.

"Who…are…they?" The alien asked.

"Who are who? As far as I remember we transported you off from your ship just before it blew up. Our guards brought you here so that you can negotiate a terms of surrender with the other ship we have our tractor beam on." Jean-Luc said.

"Surrender?" The alien said in disgust and then heard Jacklyn slicing her swords together.

"Alright, open a channel." The alien said.

The screen changed to the other ship's command center as they saw their captain and crew look at them in shock.

"Greetings…your cloaking doesn't work on us anymore. Thought you would do a sneak attack? Come up on our rear and target our engines? Well how I see things is one of your ships has fallen to pieces and we have yours captured right now. A starship from the federation would bring a fine price now wouldn't it? So let's discuss your terms for surrender." Jean-Luc said.

"Never! I will overload the engines and destroy us both!"

Lindel opened a portal and looked up at Herrior. Herrior nodded back. Lindel dispersed into her particles and flew through the portal, closing it quickly behind her.

Both captains exchanged words back and forth for a minute before the other ship's crew began screaming in horror. Both captains were shocked and eventually an army of undead soldiers smashed down the door to the bridge. They ran forward with bodies of the other aliens in front of them, using them as shields. The ranged and spell casters erupted fire in their bridge and the power on the other ship immediately cut off. It took awhile for backup power to come back on as Jean-Luc's crew notified him of several explosions from the other ship. He looked over at Herrior and he shrugged as he said, "Who are who?"

Jean-Luc looked back with a smile as the terrified captain begged for his life.

"What's that…you seem to be breaking up? The reception is bad…maybe we should talk later." Jean-Luc said as his crew took the hint and starting creating static on the screen.

"Please I beg of you…save me!" The alien captain said and then suddenly everything went dark. A moment passed and suddenly the lights came back on with no signs of the undead army, but the instruments, and control panels were in ruins, and the rest of his crew was dead. Lindel stepped back threw the portal she created and wiped her mouth clean.

"Get a little on ya hunny?" Branzer asked.

"I was a little sloppy…" Lindel said sarcastically.

"Seems as though you had a problem over on your ship, do you need assistance?" Jean-Luc asked with a smile.

"We were attacked…you attacked us!"

"Data was there any transporter activity in the past day?" Jean-Luc asked.

"No sir, there has not been any transporter activity for the past forty three days, five hours, three minutes and thirty-two seconds." Data said.

"If you check your instruments you will probably detect the same thing. Well if you don't need any help I will transport your comrade here over on his ship and be on our way." Jean-Luc touched his trinket and said, "Transporter room, one to beam over to the ship that is in pieces on our right."

"Where at sir? The ship is in twenty different pieces." A voice came back.

"The biggest part left, energize on my command." The Captain said.

"No…no…alright, what do you want?" The alien captain of the ship still intact said.

"For starters an apology, you disrupted a meeting we were having. Second of all, call off any other ships that want to sabotage us."

"There are no others…"

"A lie?" Jean-Luc asked.

"No."

"Very well, Data set in a course for that we were talking about before. Get us there as fast as you can. Send a subspace distract signal for these ships, and beam this piece of filth off from my ship."

"You can't just leave us here!" as the captain begged while he was beamed from one ship to the other.

"Oh but we can. The Federation will send ships and our council will hear your pleas. Also one more thing…I don't think there are any more ghosts on your ship – but I could be wrong…" Jean-Luc said and then motioned to cut the connection.

"Are we really going to leave them there sir?" asked Will.

"You bet we are. Do you think they would have left any of us alive? Good shot with the phasers in disabling their engines. When the coordinates are set in, send out a deep space distress call for them and then get us out of here – maximum warp." Jean-Luc said and then turned to Herrior and gave him a slight bow. Herrior and his party bowed back.

"I have no idea what you did, but you saved our lives – twice now. We are in your debt. What can we do for you?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Take us to that ship that you spotted on your long range…something." Herrior said.

"On course and heading there right now, in the meantime shall we go to ten-forward and have some drinks?" Jean-Luc asked.

Herrior turned to Dan for a translation. Dan said, "It's where everybody goes to socialize and have drinks…"

"We can't do that here?" Herrior asked back.

"Just go with it Herrior…" Dan said clearly still upset.

Herrior and his party followed them to ten-forward and as soon as the doors were opened, Guinan's head quickly turned to them and she looked almost terrified. She immediately walked up to Jean-Luc and said, "They are not supposed to be here!" in a quiet voice.

"They just saved our lives twice…they are entitled to be here."

"No…you don't understand, they are not supposed to be here…on this ship…in this time!" Guinan said more insistent.

Jean-Luc looked at her and saw that she was clearing in distress and would not budge on this issue. He nodded and they walked out of ten-forward and into a nearby meeting room.

"How the hell did you get here? What happened?" Guinan asked.

"We were fighting Murozond, he summoned a globe, and I had to absorb its power to defeat him. Then we got word that our world was going to be destroyed and created a portal with immense power and we ended up on this ship. I kept telling everybody that this isn't right, and nobody believed me. This world, this everything doesn't exist!" Dan said.

"You are exactly right. You are in the wrong time and dimension and you reek of it. The longer you stay here, the longer you are playing with powers you don't understand. Captain you have got to get them back to their time period or the world that we know of will collapse." Guinan said.

"Guinan…how many time travelers…have you met in your life?" Jean-Luc asked.

"This is not open for debate Picard. That is also a question I cannot answer, and you know that I tell you everything. We go way back Picard…trust me on this, they need to go back!" Guinan said with even more urgency in her voice.

"I am our parties Chronomancer. I open the portals to and from places and I cannot locate the place where we came from. I cannot return us back; I have no point of reference." Lindel said

"What's your name?"

"Lindel"

"Lindel you have got to find a reference point and create your worm-hole-tunnel-portal, whatever!" Guinan said flustered.

"Guinan, may I remind you that they saved our lives twice in the same hour and now we are to just get rid of them? There is a ship that they want to get to, but it will take twelve days to get there – even at maximum warp."

"Our whole plane of existence will collapse in on itself way before then!" Guinan said.

"I told everybody that we are not allowed to travel into the future! The reason why the Chronomancers are not taught that is because of this! Traveling in the past disrupts the time line to the present…but if you disrupt the future, the past – or our present, needs to alter in order to catch up with the timeline, our present right now. If the two do not align, it fills in the holes. For all we know, this ship was supposed to be destroyed. Every moment we stay here is another moment that will alter our past…our present…not this present right now, but our present. I put too much damn power into the damn portal!" Dan said and slammed his fist on the table.

"You did what you thought was right. Now you know what you have to do to set this right." Guinan said.

"We cannot create another portal back, we tried. I cannot harness that much power again, and our mission is to stop this idiot from destroying us." Dan said.

"The first two are correct, the last one you know the answer to." Guinan said.

"I don't know…" Dan said and then it hit him. He scooted back in his chair in shock and Guinan nodded at him.

"I have to die." Dan said looking up at her.

"Bingo…" Guinan said.

"That's not an option." Herrior and Picard said at the same time.

"Lindel, locate me in this universe." Dan said.

"Ok…done." Lindel said looking around the room and then looked at him.

"Locate the other me…" Dan said impatiently. Lindel sighed and closed her eyes. She cleared her thoughts and began to search.

"Picture the ship we are chasing…picture it in the far distance…far far away in front of us. Look for Dan's image, his thoughts and his feelings. Picture him flying the ship." Guinan said.

"I'm searching…" Lindel said still concentrating. Several minutes later she located him.

"I found him…but it's not him. I mean it is…but something is different." Lindel said.

"Good…now investigate the area around him." Guinan said.

"He is alone…nobody else is around. I found a spot to bring the party in, but it's a small ship.

"Then I have to go." Dan said.

"Is he more powerful than Dan?" Herrior asked.

"It doesn't matter…I have to do this. If he stops time or uses his powers that I possess than they don't stand a chance."

"I could go." Mohania offered.

"No…let me kill myself." Dan said.

"Kill yourself, get the power and return. You stop the destruction of your worlds; you return our world to normal." Guinan said.

"Let me ask you a question…how do I know about all of you and why are you on TV?" Dan asked.

"There have been several time travelers in our time and beyond. We send them back to where they came from with the promise not to tell anybody. Apparently they broke their promises. Now you have to leave." Guinan said.

"Lindel can you open a portal?" Dan asked. Lindel moved back and formed a portal. She then started to pour her energy into it as it expanded. Dan gripped his fist weapons in anticipation.

"Good luck." Herrior said.

"I don't believe in luck." Dan said and then jumped through the portal. The portal collapsed behind him and Lindel asked if he got through.

"He did." Herrior said.

"There is some sort of disturbance…we need to get closer or I won't be able to bring him back."

Picard tapped his trinket and said, "Geordi – how much more power can you give the engines?"

"Not without endangering the warp core." Geordi replied back.

"Get Data and formulate an idea. Anticipate any planets that we might be able to slingshot around to pick up some extra speed. The fate of our world and many others lies in your hands Geordi." Picard said and tapped his trinket again.

"Lindel go get some rest. When do you anticipate that you will be able to open another portal?"

"Drain my energy…do what you have to do to get another portal open." Mohania said.

"Drain mine as well." Branzer said.

"You won't be able to recover as fast as I can. Captain and everybody else here, this might scare you so you might want to leave." Mohania said.

"It would be best." Herrior said. The Captain and everybody else acknowledged the request and left. Lindel instantly laid down and assumed her evil banshee form. "Crystal summon one of your guardians." Mohania said and he summoned his imp.

"Drain my life." Mohania said. Lindel put her hand on Mohania and felt her power increase. "Not so much!" Mohania cried out.

Dan arrived on the ship and instantly alarms started going off. He energized his weapons and called down a blue glowing orb to encircle him. He summoned his totems increasing his strength and speed. Next he slammed his spikes into the speaker, putting a silence to it.

"So…I…have finally arrived…again." Dan instantly recognized the voice…it was him.

"You have come to kill me, destroy the void I have created and to save the world. We fight, one of us dies, the other will fulfill the mission and then one of us will be transported back at the ship's starting location, steal the ship, make a pact with the rift to destroy the world…and so on and so forth." The other Dan said.

"Why am I doing this?" Dan asked with his fist weapons ready.

"Why am I doing this…where did I get the ship from…what were my intentions for doing this…what about Herrior and Tranquil…I keep promising to get a recorder so all I have to do is press the button to answer all of these questions. This time I am not going to answer them and just kill you." The other Dan said.

Dan felt the air move slightly next to him and dropped to the ground as hundreds of bullets flew at him.

"Well that takes care of that. I wonder if that will end the cycle or if another one of me will show up?" The other Dan said.

Dan lay on the ground motionless and unhurt; his totems still giving off their power. Dan summoned the elements around him and asked for advice. They told him the same story the other Dan said. He was telling the truth. He then asked them to obey him and they said they would. Dan asked the air to be pulled away from the other Dan and surround only him. The air acknowledged and showed Dan where it comes out the vents at. Water was being stored within the ship and it asked how it could help. Dan asked if it could come to where he was and it said it couldn't. Dan told it to stand by then. There was no earth or fire, but Dan sensed another force…something that called itself plasma. It offered its help as well. Dan asked what it could do and it said it was being forced to power this vessel.

"I'm not hearing another Dan yet. Hello?" The other Dan asked aloud. Dan then became afraid and wondered if another was going to come. He had to put in his plan soon.

Dan held his hand out and immediately all of the air was sucked out of the vessel and surrounded Dan. The other Dan instantly felt his lungs burn as they struggled to gasp for air. Dan bent into a crouching position as he saw his other self struggling for air. He unstrapped himself for the chair and floated over to an emergency mask. Dan quickly fired a small ball of fire at it, making it useless. The other Dan looked at the mask in shock and then looked back at the Dan that had arrived. The other Dan's lungs were burning up as he tried desperately to swim towards him. Finally he pushed himself off from the wall, but Dan launched a shock spell at him, propelling him backwards. Dan then began to cast a spell and soon a bolt of lightning shot out from his hands and into the other Dan. His body cringed from the pain, forcing his lungs to suck in more air but unable to. Seconds later he died and upon his death his body vanished.

Dan released the air around him back into the ship and began to look around. There were notes, photographs, charts, and lines drawn on the walls. He figured he would look at that later and jumped in the cockpit seat. He looked over the controls and immediately pressed the one that was marked, "Reduce void". He then looked out the glass window and saw a large wave rippling in space. It was enormous and beautiful. It flashed millions of different colors and was very soothing to look at. It filled him with not fear, but with joy. He smiled at it and began to become hypnotized by it when suddenly his chair broke and he fell backwards. Dan looked up and saw another copy of himself as the other Dan slammed his fist weapon down at his throat.

Time stopped.

Time started

Dan rolled out of the way quick enough though to avoid the deadly blow.

"So I am you…a time stopper like the rest. You have to die so that my people can live!" The other Dan said as he started taking swings at Dan.

"I already killed myself…the cycle has stopped! The void is shrinking – the worlds will be saved!" Dan yelled at the other Dan as they exchanged blows.

"You idiot! The void needs to grow and consume!" The other Dan yelled at him.

"Why? So it can devour more worlds?" Dan asked parrying an attack and landing a blow on the other Dan's armor.

"Yes! Everybody is safe, and if that doesn't consume the worlds, the new ones won't exist!" The other Dan said.

Dan jumped back and put his fists down and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Ysera? Herrior? Tranquil? Any of this ringing a bell? They all have been safely moved and if this void rift doesn't consume the worlds than an evil even greater then Deathwing will arise. Worlds rise and fall…just like empires. Fire destroys only to have the grounds regrow their seeds…remember any of this?" The other Dan asked.

"I don't believe you." Dan said. He quickly turned around and punched the engines. The ship leaped forward and was closing in on the void.

"What are you doing?" The other Dan yelled at him from the back of the ship.

"Ending this cycle!" Dan yelled back. The other Dan then saw another Dan appeared and they began to fight.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Both alternate Dan's began asking questions as they exchanged blows. Dan at the controls saw that this was getting out of hand. He positioned the ship to go towards the void ripple that was closing in on them quickly and made sure the engines were at full throttle. Then without looking he held out his hand and sucked all of the air from the ship again around himself. He looked back and saw both of them grabbing their throats and looking around in desperation. They both fell to the ground and began trying to suck in air as hard as they could, just as another Dan appeared.

"Crash immanent! Warning!" The ship began to sound. The other Dan seemed unaffected by the lack of air this time and reached out with his hand as a lightning bolt grabbed Dan's throat and pulled him over to him. Dan looked at him, and he had dark red metallic eyes. Two snake-like wires came out of the back of the other Dan and began to chop in the air. Dan summoned the water to burst through the ship and hit the other Dan. The water did just that, which had fecal matter and other fluids in it as well. The other robotic Dan's grip on Dan let go as he began to shake and smoke. Dan began to cast another spell and a lightning bolt shot out of Dan's hand and into the robot. It exploded just as another Dan materialized next to it.

"How many of me are there?" Dan asked aloud.

"You have got to stop the void! It will destroy everything!" The other one said.

"That's the plan." Dan said getting up and walking backwards facing the other Dan.

Only several meters away now, Dan's started filling up the ship – each one shouting their warnings of either "You have to stop it!" or "You have to let it destroy everything!" Dozens and dozens were appearing, stacking up on one another now as they all entered the rift together. The rift quickly wrapped itself around the ship and shrunk down into nothingness. Everything was completely gone now.

"He did it…Dan was successful in stopping the void." Lindel said and closed the portal she was using to watch. Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she raised her hand from Mohania, cutting off the power drain. Mohania, for once in his life, felt Lindel's presence in his mind. Lindel looked over at him and said, "He's dead." Mohania nodded and said, "I know." They embraced each other and cried. Guinan got up from her chair and went over to open the door as the Captain, and the others came in. Herrior looked over at them and let out a long sigh. He then turned to his wife and hugged her.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The Captain said. With everybody mourning though, they thought it was best to leave them alone.

"If they succeeded…why are they still here?" Picard asked Guinan.

"Because their world still exists. Dan succeeded in destroying the rift that would have torn apart their world as well as many others. They have no way of going back home though I'm afraid. The power that brought them here doesn't exist in this timeline. You can tell Geordi and Data to not burn out our engines. We have no place to go to." Guinan replied.

"Captain" a voice sounded through his trinket on his shirt. Picard touched it and said "Go ahead."

"The ship and rift are no longer on long range sensors. They just…vanished."

"Thank you Wesley. Maintain course, but bring us down to warp eight. Tell Data to return to the bridge and to make funeral arrangements. Picard out." Picard said and touched his trinket.

"I'm sorry Jean-Luc…but he did what needed to be done. He saved more lives than we could ever count and probably owe him our life as well." Guinan said.

"We do…twice him and his group saved us." Picard said.

Guinan shook her head. "You probably wouldn't have been born without his sacrifice that he made today. You and billions of other people and creatures that we will probably never even see in our lifetime – or their lifetime were given a chance to live."

The Captain took a moment to take it all in. He then nodded and asked if she would keep an eye on them, she told her if they needed anything to let him know immediately. Picard then called his senior staff to their meeting room.

A half an hour later everybody arrived, Worf was the last one in and apologized for him being late.

Picard stood up and straightened his coat. "We are all alive today, and billions of other people are alive today because a boy, about Wesley's age, made the ultimate sacrifice. Now we have an obligation and I want ideas. These…people that came on our ship have no way of getting back home. What are the current theories on time travel? I want to return to their time, it's the least that we could do."

"Several theories do exist and have been unsuccessful in the past. Several hundred years ago an Enterprise did make a successful trip back in time to retrieve a humpback whale and travelled back again to save Earth in sector one. Attempts to replicate the same maneuvers that they did have all failed." Data said.

"I will have a talk with Starfleet command about what has happened and see if I can get any more information pertaining to the success of their mission. We owe them at least suggestions or even an attempt to get them home. I want every engineer on board working on this. Data you are to work on this in engineering. I want ideas that could in theory work. In the meantime give them each their personal quarters and make them as comfortable as possible." Picard said.

"Captain if I may. They want to stay together; by separating them it will only create more anxiety for them. They need to grieve together and I have a feeling they have all been together for a very long time." Deanna said.

"So be it. Knock out some walls if you have to…do whatever needs to be done for our guests. Number one, you are in charge of that. Ask them what preparations they want for a funeral…" Picard said and paced back and forth. Then he said, "Fate has been…interesting the past couple of days. Let's show them a new fate and new hope. Dismissed." Everybody stood up and left to go do their jobs.

Herrior's party settled into their new quarters, after having all of the furniture removed. They had activated their trinkets to look like the rest of the people on the starship. The death of two members in Herrior's party had him upset but he was coming to grips with it. Dan brought himself back from death before, but he might not be able to this time…but there was that hope, and Herrior hung onto that hope. He ordered Lindel to patrol through the ship in her invisible form and assist anybody that might need help. He sent Skyka and Jessica to what they called, "Sick bay" to assist the doctors there. They blasted the patients with healing spells and five minutes later everybody was healed. The rest of the time they made idle chit-chat with the other doctors and nurses. Mohania was sent to interrogate the prisoners, but after the first one died from terror, he was sent to do another task. Mohania was upset because he didn't even mean to kill him. He concluded that his spells react differently to different species and passed the information along with the rest of his party through Lindel. Something had happened where Lindel and Mohania were able to communicate telepathically now, they had a lengthy discussion about it, but came to the conclusion that neither one of them knew for sure what happened. Herrior spent a lot of time looking out the window of their room and praying. He fasted for a week and lost himself in the stars and planets flying by. Some of the others spent time in what was called a "holodeck", fighting computer projected monsters. Worf joined them whenever he could. Trackolania dispatched the monsters faster than the computer could keep up with. Jacklyn and Worf had some sparring that they did. Worf was impressed with her finesse and power as they battled for hours every day. Trackolania sparred with him, but was quickly defeated several times in a row; the rogue was just too fast for him.

Julie and Crystal spent a lot of time together walking the halls of the ship. Crystal insisting that there was still hope for Dan. Julie didn't know what to say so she said, "There is always hope" whenever the topic was brought up. She had Spark summoned and he led the way when they walked.

Strings and Ysera spent a lot of time in "Ten Forward" sipping different drinks and talking with Guinan. Today was as Ysera asked, "Why him? Why are we still here and it isn't disrupting the time flow? We cannot go back and nothing in the future has changed."

"All I know is that Dan did something to alter your past, your present and now your future. All of you would have disappeared immediately if he hadn't done what he did. What he did he do, I don't know. All I know is that all of you are here and are sipping drinks. You know I know this great program on the holodeck that has dancing and partying, you two would love it." Guinan said.

"No" they both said at the same time.

"Well if you change your mind." Guinan winked at Strings and walked away.

"Not one drop of ale on this boat. My powers will weaken over time." Strings said.

"Ale gives you your powers?" Ysera asked.

"A part of it and only a certain kind of ale. My powers are generated through my emotion, concentration, the quickness that I play my instrument, and who I'm thinking about at the moment. I can hum a tune and still get the desired affect I want, but my lute has magical properties in it that enhances my abilities to play." Strings explained.

"Have you shared this with anybody before?" Ysera asked.

"Nobody was really curious about it. A bard is naturally born with the talents of music, it's not something that can be taught or that monks can blast somebody to have." Strings said.

"So it takes two bards mating to produce another bard?" Ysera asked. Strings nodded and said, "Probably just the same as it takes two dragons to produce offspring."

"I'm not interested in having my own offspring – I have…had…too many to watch over. They were all my children. I wonder what they are all doing now. My first in command has probably taken over and I trust her with the Dragonflights." Ysera said stirring her drink.

"Our King has probably pronounced all of us dead by now as well. Always wondered what my funeral would be like. I would want to be surrounded by bards all playing as I get buried. I suppose to that Admiral has given up on us as well. I don't think we ever gave him a hearthstone. He's a smart man and a born leader though. The former Lieutenant is probably dead by now. Mohania's probably upset about that – he wanted to be the one to kill him." Strings said. The two continued to talk and made it a daily event for them to come together and talk.

Weeks later Data and Geordi came to Picard with several different options of time travel, none of which included bringing the ship back or the possibility of it being destroyed in the process.

Picard sighed and said, "Should we take them back to Earth or the nearest star base?"

"Captain, with all due respect they are not causing any commotion on the ship and have asked nothing from us. They have healed everybody that walks into Sick Bay and Beverly Crusher has been bored lately." Deanna said.

"What do I do with them then? I agree they are not a nuisance, but they do not belong here. Starfleet command wants them brought before the counsel and they want a thorough explanation from them and they want to know all of their secrets. I've given them space and haven't asked them any questions. I don't want them to go through the interrogation. I told them we would be there after we complete our reconnaissance mission." Picard said. Data turned around and said, "But sir, we aren't on a reconnaissance mission."

"We have been searching for any more cloaked warbirds in federation space." Picard said.

"I was not aware of that…" Data said reviewing his past orders.

"You are now!" Picard said sternly at him. Data turned back around and began scanning.

"Captain…I'm picking up an anomaly approximately fifty thousand yards ahead. I would advise slowly down." Wesley said.

"Bring us to impulse speed; I want to know what it is." Picard said.

"Captain…this is the same place where Dan disappeared at." Worf said.

"Full sensor sweep, send out a class one probe. I want every piece of information you can get on this anomaly. Does it show any sign of danger to the ship?" Picard asked.

"No sir, there is no gravitational pull and it isn't emitting any type of radiation." Wesley said.

"I want a full briefing in one hour. Will, Deanna you are with me." Picard said and walked away from the bridge.

The three of them made their way to Herrior's quarters and eventually thirty minutes later they arrived. Picard signaled to be let in.

"Come" Herrior said still staring out the window.

"Herrior, we have two problems that came up that we need to address with you." Picard said.

"Is one of them named Mohania?" Herrior asked.

"No, Herrior Starfleet command has ordered us to bring all of you in before the counsel to explain to them what happened and how you came on this ship. Also they want to know what happened to the void, how you are able to heal people within seconds and they are also concerned that Lindel can read people's minds so easily." Picard said.

Herrior turned around slowly and said, "I ordered her not to search your minds or any of your officer's minds. I believe she has followed my orders and have no reason that she wouldn't. Couldn't the same be said for the lady in your group?" Herrior asked.

"I…cannot pass through walls and go from one side of the ship to the other within seconds. That can be viewed as a security threat." Deanna said.

"I'll order her not to then. She did not mean any harm, and I will take the blame for it. It was my order that I gave her to help people throughout your ship. How do you wish to punish me?" Herrior asked.

"There will be no punishment Herrior, please hear me out. We have arrived at the place where Dan and the void disappeared. We are picking up a strange anomaly that we are performing a full investigation on right now. As far as the counsel I can buy you several weeks, and more should our engines all of a sudden break down." Picard said.

"What's an anomaly?" Herrior asked.

"It's a term that we use in space when something on our sensors picks up if there are any fluctuations in our path. Normally it is a gravitational, magnetic, or some other thing that isn't quite right that we come across in space. We aren't sure what it is exactly, but we are going to monitor and search every inch of it." Picard said.

"For traces of Dan?" Herrior asked.

"For anything we can find. We will let you know anything we discover." Picard said.

"Captain…may I be with you as you review the results?" Herrior asked.

Picard sighed and then said "Normally only high officers are allowed on the bridge. However you seem to have the credentials. I can't have your whole party on the bridge with us."

"I understand. I will send a signal to them." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"What is that?" Will asked quickly.

"A hearthstone; we use it to communicate with our people. It is not a threat." Herrior said. He rubbed it and several green portals came up…including a blank one. Herrior stared at it and tilted his head slightly.

"Something wrong?" Will asked.

"I'm on their bridge, come and meet me here." Herrior said and then closed all of the other portals exact for the black one. Herrior concentrated on Dan and rubbed the stone. It vibrated and nearly shook out of his hands, but after its dance all it showed was a dark portal. Herrior closed the portal.

"His hearthstone wouldn't be active if he was still alive." Herrior said.

"So Dan is not dead?" Picard asked.

"Don't know. We were trapped by this before. I will ask my group about this and get their opinion." Herrior said.

"Captain, we are receiving a message from a Ferengi warship coming in." Wesley said.

"On screen"

"Captain Picard…what do you have there?" The Ferengi captain asked.

"You are in Federation space without clearance. You are intruding on a science experiment that we are conducting. I would advise you turn your ship around and leave." Jean-Luc said.

"We have permission…tell us what you are doing…" The Ferengi captain said.

"Under whose authorization?" Jean-Luc asked.

The Ferengi motion to cut the connection and the Ferengi ship moved closer in on them.

"Shields up, yellow alert" Jean-Luc said.

"Sir, they are powering up their disruptors." Wesley said pushing several buttons on his panel.

Just then Lindel flew to the bridge with a smile. Herrior turned to her and said, "Go make them wish they never were here!" Lindel nodded and disappeared as she flew through the screen and out of the ship. She turned into her evil banshee form, granting her more power.

The Ferengi ship fired at the Enterprise but the power from the blasts heading towards the Enterprise were absorbed by Lindel – increasing her power.

"What did she do?" Will asked.

"Absorbed the power; keep watching this should be amusing." Herrior said as the rest of his party came to the bridge.

"Oh great…she's going to kill more people than I am…" Mohania said.

The Ferengi ship fired again, but this time the blasts were absorbed almost instantly. The Ferengi ship suddenly shook violently and the lights flickered.

"Sir, we are being hailed again." Wesley said watching the screen.

"Wait just a moment…Worf jam their communications." Jean-Luc said smiling.

"Yes sir." Worf said.

"You have amazing people in your party Herrior. I have a lot of respect for you and your party, have I told you that? Have you tried the ty-fondu? It is excellent and I insist on having dinner with you and my senior staff." Jean-Luc said as if carrying on a calm conversation and smiling at Herrior.

"It would be our pleasure." Herrior said.

"Sir, they are repeatedly hailing us and trying to send out distress signals." Wesley said.

"On screen then…wouldn't want to ignore somebody that just tried to fire on us…" Jean-Luc said.

"Help us! You must help us! There are ghosts on the ship, we have lost power, and people are instantly dying and turning to stone." The Ferengi said in desperation.

"Let me remind you that you are in Federation space, and let me also remind you that we told you to leave…oh and what happened next…do you remember Worf?" Jean-Luc said.

"They fired on us repeatedly and we made no aggressive move first!" Worf said in disgust.

"Fine…we're sorry. You must help us!" The Ferengi said in even more desperation.

Herrior told Lindel to leave the ship and give them power back in their ship. He looked at the Captain and nodded.

"You have set us back several days in our investigation with our science experiment. I would advise you turning around and leaving as fast as you can." Jean-Luc said pausing for a moment and then saying, "And for the record, we don't believe in ghosts. You must have entered a thermal radiation plasma induced anomaly after we specifically told you to leave." Jean-Luc turned around and motioned to cut the signal.

"Did what I just say make sense?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Sounded good to me" Deanna said back with a smile. "They are deathly afraid right now."

"I did that!" Lindel said materializing in front of them. "I didn't plan on killing any of them though…that was an accident…" Lindel said glaring at Mohania.

"Accident's happen." Mohania said smiling and shrugging his shoulders.

"The ship has left at warp eight. We can no longer jam their communications." Worf said.

"Nobody will believe them anyways…how is our investigation on the anomaly?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Still the same. Just…black space. It's like a big chunk of space is just…missing." Wesley said.

"Continue to monitor it for anything, us any means necessary. I want to know any little detail or thing it does. If it sneezes, I want to know. Drop the shields and cancel yellow-alert. Herrior would you like to speak to your party?" Jean-Luc said.

"Thank you Captain." Herrior turned to his party and said, "Perhaps I should show you." Herrior pulled out his hearthstone. "I'm thinking about Dan right now" and rubbed the hearthstone. It vibrated and produced a black portal. Most of the party gasped as the others quickly asked what it meant.

"One of two things…either he can't respond to the hearthstone for some reason, or it's a trap. I want everybody's emotions clear on this. They are doing the best that they can to investigate what is happening. There is nothing else we can do but wait." Herrior said.

"So…there is hope?" Crystal asked.

"There is always hope…even if he is dead, there is hope for another to rise up." Herrior said.

"He seems to be able to pull himself out of death several different times before. It wouldn't surprise me if he just showed up one day out of the blue." Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded but said, "That might happen…but we don't know. However I did not want to keep this information from you."

Suddenly a flash of light appeared and Q appeared dressed in the same clothes that Picard was wearing. "What information? I like secrets."

"Q, this is none of your business!" Picard said reaction violently. Herrior walked down pulling out his sword and shield. The rest of his party spread out and pulled out their weapons.

"Whoa…where did you get these medieval renaissance people come from Picard? They come at me with swords and guns? Oh this is very entertaining…" Q said.

"They do not want you here; therefore we do not want you here. Also I want an apology for the insult and I believe you are wearing a uniform that you have no earned." Herrior said closing the distance.

Q started to laugh and held up his hands, "They never want me here…and no I will not apologize. You'll be begging on your hands and knees before me…whatever you are."

"Q stop!" Picard shouted. Q ignored him and snapped his fingers. Herrior felt a slight presence try to enter his mind however his mind fought it off. Q stumbled backwards from the psychic blast.

"What the…how did you do that?" Q asked standing back up to him.

"Should I view what you just did as a first attack on me…or shall we settle this in war?" Herrior asked. Q snapped his fingers, but Herrior quickly turned around and slammed the flat side of his sword behind him. Q reappeared on the floor and stunned. Herrior flipped him over with his hoof.

"Your sorcery acts do not scare me. I've fought more wars then you have. In the few seconds that I analyzed your strategy, I know for a fact that we can kill you…even if you disappear again." Herrior said.

Q snapped his fingers and turned into serpent with four arms on each side of his body.

"I will not be threatened!" Q said growing in size. Herrior let out a battle cry and took up a defensive stance. The serpent shot its long arms out to wrap around Herrior, but not before Herrior's sword cut them off, deflect the other arms and plunge his sword into the serpent's stomach. The serpent cried in pain.

"Shall I twist my sword? Make you feel more pain?" Herrior asked. The serpent disappeared and Herrior said to open fire. Mohania was the first one to get a spell off and a burst of fire erupted in the middle of the room, followed by other spells and bullets. Q materialized and said, "I yield."

"Stop" Herrior said and walked up to him.

"Captain…do you want his head as a trophy?" Herrior asked. Q looked badly burned and had huge whole blown open in his body.

"Q…this time it seems the tables have turned. Instead of us playing your little games…you are begging for your life. This certainly is entertaining…using your words. As you can see I made some friends. State your purpose for being here or leave." Picard said.

"What is that thing you are floating around?" Q asked.

"That's confidential information." Picard said.

"What did you do to those big eared people?" Q asked gasping for breath. Herrior's sword was moving up and down on Q's neck.

"That's confidential information as well." Picard said. He then paused for a moment and said, "Do you think we do not have secrets that we keep from you? Do you think that weapons are all created the same? We have a new Federation rising and it's stronger than ever. Make me a promise that you will leave and never come back."

"I can't make that promise…Picard you have to understand." Q said begging.

"Worf, would you like the pleasure of beheading him?" Picard asked.

"With pleasure sir" Worf said walking over to Q while pulling a ridged dagger out of his belt.

"You wouldn't dare…" Q said.

"I could give you a gruesome death…" Mohania said moving through the crowd and moved his skull within inches of Q's. He burst his head into flames as his eyes glowed dark blue. "I will devour every inch of your body while you watch! They are proposing a quick death for you…I specialize in long and painful deaths." Mohania and then laughed in his sinister voice.

"What the hell are you? You…have no skin…no mind…" Q said in freight.

"I'll have your skin if my leader tells me to. You'd be surprised how long a human can live without their skin."

"Captain…I surrender." Q said suddenly. Worf was on his knees with the dagger held in both hands right above Q's head.

"Surrender…I forgot what that means. Must mean I'm getting old…remind me again Worf what Surrender means?" Captain said in a cocky voice.

"It means he is a coward and a worm that would do or say anything to save his own skin. He has no honor. Shall I kill him?" Worf said.

"Let him go. Q – leave here and do not ever come back!" Jean-Luc said.

"Just so you know, the Borg are coming…don't expect me to help you out. You are drawing an awful lot of attention here." Herrior backed off with his sword and Mohania stood up.

"Change your mind now? Tell me where they came from, what that is, and what you did to that ship and I will help you destroy the Borg ship." Q said.

"Get out of here!" Picard yelled at him. Q raised his hand and disappeared.

"Long range sensors are picking up the signature of a Borg vessel coming. ETA is three hours." Data said.

"How well do you fight against cyborgs?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Haven't met a foe that hasn't fallen at our feet. These…Borg…cyborgs…whatever are a threat to you?" Herrior asked.

"We have had many battles with them; we have fled many battles and have not successfully destroyed one of their cubes. They have killed many of my people." Picard said.

"Then many of them shall be killed by my people. Lindel as soon as you get a lock on a portal, open one." Herrior said.

"I will need to see them." Lindel said happily prancing over to where Data was and wrapping her arms around his head. "Can't read your mind can I hun? Show me on your little flashy panel thing where it is."

"I am an android; I do not have a mind." Data said but complied with her request. He went through several different maps and read outs on his screen.

"Do it faster…show me everything you know about these Borg people." Lindel said. Data looked back and nodded. Data's fingers flew across the console of buttons that he was on and words and pictures flew faster than anybody could see, but Lindel was taking in all of the information.

"Make it faster" Lindel said. Data complied with the request and the information flew on the screen at speeds that Data was having trouble keeping up with. Several minutes later the screen went blank.

"Huh…I've read books more entertaining. Herrior, they are a race of robots that take humanoids and turn them into robotic people. They have heavy defenses against their weapons, but in hand-to-hand combat they are almost defenseless. The Captain and his crew have tried to beam over…make a portal and move people, but only without a portal…but they can't bypass their shields. Also their ship's weapons are only good for a short time. I have a lock on a place where we can portal in at. Shall we leave?" Lindel asked and then kissed Data on the top of his head and thanked him.

"Captain, do you take prisoners? Shall we make threats and withdraw information from them?" Herrior asked looking up at Jean-Luc.

"Kill them all." Jean-Luc said bitterly.

"Open the portal." Herrior said arming himself. Lindel created a portal and then channeled her power into it as it grew. Everybody could see the inside of the Borg ship.

"Sir…may I go with them?" Worf asked quickly.

"You don't know how we attack and may slow us down." Herrior said walking towards the portal.

"I will not get in your way! I can hold my own!" Worf said fiercely.

"True words of a warrior, it's your call Captain." Herrior said turning to smile at him.

"I would appreciate it if you brought back my chief security officer; I would like to keep him around for awhile longer." Picard said.

"Thank you Captain." Worf said and grabbed his Bat'leth as he rushed over to Herrior.

"Your job is to not let Skyka or Jessica get hit. Is that understood?" Herrior asked as he pointed out them.

"Yes sir."

"Then let's go fight." Herrior said with a smile. Worf moved back into position and let out a smile.

"Hey sexy…what are you doing after this battle?" Skyka asked.

"Skyka…" Herrior said hiding a smile.

They entered the ship and everybody readied their weapons.

"They do not see us as a threat, so they will not attack us." Worf said.

"Strings" Herrior said. Strings began to play a song and soon a giant fireball formed above his head and sailed down the corridor, igniting everything it touched on fire. Strings then let out a very loud high pitch note that caused all of the Borg to stop what they were doing. It shattered anything with glass, and broke several pipes.

"Veliline, you take up the rear. Quinely take the middle and taunt anything that our melee and ranged might aggro. I got the front." Herrior said and let out a loud battle shout. Jacklyn let out another as well as the rest of the group put their buffs on and Trackolania laced his daggers with a powerful instant poison.

Herrior then ran forward and jumped into a group of Borg's walking towards him. He landed on two of them and the shockwave from the land caused the rest of the Borg to fall to the ground. Herrior then charged forward through several of them – knocking them out of the way and finally hitting one and knocking him to the ground. Herrior slammed his sword on the ground and let out a shockwave that stunned the rest of the Borg in front of him as he spun around and started slicing at the rest of them.

Bullets and spells lit up the air around them. Jacklyn's blades tore through anything in her path: the cyborgs, hoses and instrument panels on the walls, and even parts of the ship itself. Trackolania bounced his way up to Herrior and finished off any Borg still alive. His blades met the fleshy tissue of the remains of the humans and the poison quickly coursed through their veins.

"Apparently they don't like to be set on fire…" Mohania said with his imp beside him. A whirlwind of fire surrounded him as he launched fire spell after spell. His imp was firing a ball of fire every second at anything it saw. Mohania then quickly ducked as he saw an enormous ball of fire fly over this head and explode, igniting everything within twenty meters of it on fire.

"Bah…show off…" Mohania said to Bernett.

Quinely had moved to a corridor just off to the right of them that was going in the same direction. Skyka stayed with Herrior, but Jessica went with Quinely. Worf didn't know who to go to so he decided to go with the enormous bear and the younger woman. Bernett went with them as well as Jacklyn however she stayed at their rear though. Mohania and Bernett were in a competition to see who could burn the most things in their path.

Herrior suddenly got blasted by a beam of energy as he deflected it with his shield. "They have weapons!" He yelled as he threw his weapon and splitting the Borg's head in two. Herrior's sword came back to him quickly as he charged again, knocking down several more of them.

"Herrior, there is a growing mass of energy in the middle of the ship." Lindel said as she was busy drawing power from the ship.

"Take us there." Herrior said picking up a dead Borg and throwing him at the other approaching Borg and retreating back. The others gathered around as well as Lindel opened a portal. Once open, Herrior was the first one through and saw an enormous cyborg. The rest of them followed through and saw it. The cyborg looked down at them with a giant red eye. Herrior charged forward and slammed his shield into it and launched attack after attack.

"Take the sides, Trackolania scramble up there and see what kind of damage you can do. Healers spread yourselves out…" Herrior's command was cut short as the cyborg slammed its fist down on the ground. Herrior took advantage of this and sliced off several wires and hoses connecting to it. It raised its fist back up with sparks and air escaping from it.

"Go for the easy targets melee…ranged blind it." Herrior said and then leaped behind him as the cyborg tried to slam his foot down on him.

Trackolania had scurried up the back of the cyborg and analyzed several potential targets but waited to start putting his daggers to work. The ranged was doing an excellent job of moving around, shooting at its eyes and spells hitting it as well. Trackolania continued to climb up the back and got to the neck. He saw a door like entrance. He drew his dagger and quickly had it unlocked. The top half of a human quickly spun around. She was suspended on dozens of hoses and wires. Trackolania disappeared as she screamed at him, and then her voice went silent as Trackolania reappeared behind her with both daggers sunk into her neck. The giant cyborg stopped in mid attack. Trackolania cut all of the hoses, grabbed the half of a human and ran outside as he threw it in the air. Mohania ignited it on fire as it fell through the air. It landed with a disgusting splat.

"Sir – the Borg ship has stopped. It appears to be…tumbling. Explosions are occurring on different levels." Data said trying to get a better reading on it.

"They don't mess around do they…?" Will said with a smile.

"Let's just keep them on our side, Wesley how is our black spot doing?" Picard asked.

"Still the same sir nothing has changed." Wesley replied back.

"Keep us updated." Picard said.

"Get out of the way!" Herrior yelled at his group as the giant cyborg began to fall forward. Everybody complied and got behind Herrior. The cyborg hit and caused several floors to collapse before giving off massive explosions. Bernett and Mohania began to cast their fire spells in the burning fire, still competitive with each other.

"Is that really necessary children?" Crystal asked.

"Yes…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Lindel – portal us to another part of the ship, quickly!" Herrior said as Lindel quickly flew over to him and opened a portal as fast as she could. Everybody went through it as the cyborg came to a rest, crushing an enormous section of the ship.

The portal led them to what looked like a similar bridge to that of Jean-Luc's bridge. The Borg, all at their posts, turned to look at them. Herrior let out a battle cry and jumped in the middle of the room, sending out shockwave's and slamming the ground with his massive hooves.

"Worf…would you do the honors?" Jacklyn asked and motioned him to go.

"It would be my honor!" Worf said and started spinning his half moon shaped bladed weapon with finesse, slicing at the backs of the Borg that were trying to attack Herrior. Jacklyn held her hand up and let him have his fun.

"Try not to damage the control panels…" Lindel said floating up to watch the battle.

After a couple of seconds it was obvious Worf had training in fighting. Jessica put a magical shield around him as Skyka healed Herrior occasionally. Worf took several large swings, disemboweling the first two quickly. Herrior had their attention and let out a loud battle cry which made the Borg stop attacking him for a moment. Herrior glared at them as it seemed like they were considering their options. Worf didn't give them any options though as he continued to slice through two more of them.

There were only two standing that weren't torn to pieces on the ground. Worf grabbed his Bat'leth with both hands and let out a war cry as he jumped in the air and slammed it down on one of the cyborgs. It sunk halfway through its heard as sparks and ooze flowed from it. Worf kicked the body down and slowly approached the last one. The last remaining Borg watched what happened and he seemed to snap out of their normal trance and looked at him with fear. Worf showed no mercy as he sliced him up like the others.

Worf looked over his kills and let out a roar of victory. Afterwards he asked if he could have a moment to plant a command into their collective conscious minds. Herrior nodded as Worf quickly went to work. He looked over at Lindel and shrugged his shoulders.

"The Borg work as a collective unit. He is going to plant a single command into one of them that will synchronize with all of the other Borg. My guess is he is going to tell them all to shut down permanently." Lindel said.

"Yes and then I'm going to have the computer overload the engines and blow this ship up." Worf said.

"Might be a good time to open the portal Lindel" Herrior said. Lindel nodded and opened one up. Lindel saw the entire bridge officers look through the portal once it was opened so Lindel smiled and waved at them.

The ship shook violently all of a sudden and let off several huge explosions. "Are you done?" Herrior quickly asked.

"Yes…we should leave." Worf said grabbing his weapon as they all ran through the portal.

"Sir…long range sensors have detected an enormous explosion coming from the Borg ship." Data said.

"It was an honor fighting with you!" Worf said enthusiastically looking at Herrior. "We must celebrate this victory! Captain I felt so alive again…" Worf said turning to look at Deanna, Picard and Will all looking at him smiling. "Sorry sir."

"A celebration I believe is in order. I want to hear all about your battle…but first, Worf, you are dripping blood all over my bridge." Picard said looking down at puddle of blood accumulating below his blade.

"Sorry sir." Worf said picking his Bat'leth back up in both hands. He started looking around for something to clean it up.

"Go in my ready room and get cleaned up." Picard said.

"Thank you sir" Worf said and quickly left.

"Any word from the black hole space?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing I'm afraid. With your permission we were going to start broadcasting messages to it in all known languages. If we don't get a response we were going to start hitting it with shorts burst of light in all of the spectrums. Data is coming up with a plan to fire small bursts of harmless radiation into it to try to get a reaction as well." Picard said.

"It will not hurt any humanoids in there. I will broadcast in both the ionizing radiation and non-ionizing electromagnetic range on specific levels so as to not harm any humans in there. It will only be for a short burst, but our probe should be able to receive the information and tell us the readings. I expect the test to be ready in a couple of minutes." Data said.

"Sounds like a plan." Herrior said as he turned to Branzer.

"Don't look at me…I have no idea what they are going to do."

"It is harmless sir, but so far we have had no progress with a full sensor sweep. The next logical step is to proceed to attempt to communicate to it or anything within it." Data said.

"Sir, we have a subspace message coming in from Starfleet." Wesley said.

"Damn…Herrior can you move your group off screen?" Picard asked. Herrior's party complied.

"Wesley…every three seconds, very non-discreetly, raise our shields in front of our reflector dish and if you have to, fire a burst of gamma radiation to intercept the signal." Picard said.

"Jam the signal sir?" Wesley asked.

"No…we wouldn't want to do that, make it every two seconds." Picard said and motioned for him to put the message on screen.

"This is Admiral…Captain Picard we…what is happening…" A higher ranking officer said to Picard as he stood to his feet and looked confused. He looked down at Data and Wesley playing his role in his plan.

"Admiral we are experiencing some communication difficulty. We will run some diagnostics and get back with you." Picard said. His message was barely received by the Admiral and then the message was cut off.

"Admiral is here also? I thought he was at the station?" Herrior asked.

"Different names hun…its humans remember?" Skyka said grabbing his hand.

Picard tapped his trinket and said, "Geordi I need a favor. We just had a communications problem with Starfleet. I need you to run a level three diagnostics test on…anything you want, and take your time."

"Sir?" Geordi asked back.

"We need to buy some time Geordi, break something and take a long time to fix it." Picard said as Will looked away with a smile.

"Right away sir, I think we are having trouble with our warp core – might be a possible radiation leak. It might take awhile to get this mess cleaned up." Geordi said.

"Thank you Geordi." Picard said and touched his trinket.

"Sir a radiation leak in engineering could be disastrous, we should…"

"Shut up Data." Picard said jokingly with a smile. The bridge muffled their laughter as the Captain told him to begin his tests.

Herrior and his party went back to their quarters and sat down while the tests were being run.

"Everybody sit in our circle and hold hands." Herrior said. They arranged themselves quickly on the floor and did what Herrior asked.

"Everybody clear your minds…empty every thought…" Herrior said calmly and gave them a moment to do so. "Now open your minds and concentrate on Dan. Concentrate on his face, the sound of his voice. Concentrate on what he looks like, how he fights in battle. Concentrate all of your emotions and thoughts on him. Fill your minds with all of this. Feel the calmness of his presence surround you, fill you, and overflow into the room. Pretend Dan is with us right now and send out thoughts and images to him right now. Tell him in your mind to wake up and to be alert. Feel those thoughts overwhelm you. I will continue to talk as Strings will play a soft melody to help you concentrate and Lindel and Ysera I want you to increase everybody's power. Continue thinking about Dan and telling him to wake up. Feel his presence with you, overwhelm you, and absorb every thought." Herrior continued to put his party into a trance as Strings played softly as Ysera and Lindel channeled their power into the group. Skyka put a lightwell in the middle of the circle as it slowly spun around shooting out tiny stars into the party.

"Sir there is an enormous power surge coming from within the ship, in Herrior's quarters." Data said urgently.

"Is it dangerous?" Picard asked.

"No sir, but it has increased our ship's sensor efficiency by one hundred percent and is still climbing." Data said. Immediately afterwards Geordi's voice came on over the intercom system and said, "Sir, our engines efficiency just increased by three hundred percent and it still climbing. Our Dilithium crystals have started growing and our matter-antimatter chambers have produced enough deuterium gas for us to exceed warp fifteen."

"What's the danger? Picard asked.

"None…Captain we could journey the next thousand years on just what we have now. The computer is compensating quite well…sir is the ship glowing?" Geordi asked as he looked down at a monitor.

"On screen" Picard said. Suddenly the picture of the black void had turned to the enterprise giving off a purplish glow to it. The red and blue colors of the engine grew exponentially brighter.

"Sir, my positronic network has increased efficiency as well." Data said.

"Herrior's party is giving off some sort of power. There is nothing dangerous about it Captain they are searching for their friend. I have feelings of love and warmth coming from them – it is extraordinary." Deanna said.

"Continue the scan, keep me updated." Picard said.

"Now, awaken!" A voice blasted from above him and echoed through several chambers. Dan jumped to his feet and looked around. He looked around and saw a huge chamber with several dead blood elves…some might have been night elves he wasn't sure. He looked behind him and saw that he was surrounded by three walls pulsating a purple and red light.

He immediately armed himself and summoned his earth elemental. Both of them entered a large chamber with three tunnels. The tunnel in front of him leads to a frozen dragon. He saw blue dragonkin walking around as if patrolling the area. He felt as if time had stopped in his mind. He tried to start it, but with no luck. He energized his weapons and summoned the blue orb that circled his body to help with attacks.

He began to tip-toe around the dead bodies; he estimated that there were over a hundred easily. He walked through the middle corridor up to the frozen dragon and before he could touch it was blast by a ball of fire. The earth elemental quickly engaged the blue dragonkin in battle as Dan steadied himself and ran into combat.

"You must not awaken Keristrasza!" The dragonkin said.

"Why? Where am I?" Dan asked.

"Some call it the nexus…some call it the void…many have called it their final journey. We are the ones that preserve and destroy life. Our nexus has lost significant power and awakening Keristrasza will only anger her." The dragonkin said. The earth elemental had stopped his attacks when they started talking.

"It is not for you to decide to destroy life." Dan shot back.

"It is not for you to tell us how to do our jobs or to judge us! Without us, life would not exist – you would not exist!" The dragonkin replied back in hatred.

"You lie. You do not hold the keys to life and death – only God has the power for that." Dan said.

"There is no God, there is only power…absolute supreme power that creates worlds and destroys them!" The dragonkin shouted back.

"Power? What do you know about power? I am the one that stalled your operation, I am the reason you are stuck now and I will destroy you!" Dan shouted.

"How do you know…?" The dragonkin looked at him surprised as Dan sent a telepathic message to his earth elemental to attack it. Dan also summoned a fire elemental that instantly let out a blast of fire, engulfing the dragonkin. Dan began to fight side-by-side them as he summoned his totems to give him additional power.

"No…you mustn't…" The dragonkin said feeling his life begin to leave him as Dan's fist weapons began slicing through its stomach. The dragonkin lay lifeless on the ground as Dan ordered his two elementals to go attack the frozen dragon.

After ten minutes of attacking, Dan ordered them back. They hadn't even made a chip in the ice. He looked around the room and saw three orbs glowing blue and letting off tiny particles of white light. He walked up to one and put his hand on it. Immediately he had an image of an enormous tree-like creature looking back at him. He did the same for the other orb and saw a large white ghost facing away from him and summoning smaller copies of itself. It seemed to be harnessing power from around it. It looked like it was trying to reenergize the ship or whatever it was that they were in. The last orb showed several frozen night elves on an ice bridge and in the distance saw a blood elf that was arguing with herself. She had obviously gone insane. He knew that he had to kill the guardians of the orbs in order to unthaw Keristrasza from her prison tomb. This whole place seemed to be focus on this dragon frozen in an ice prison.

Dan set off in a sprint down the first corridor, his fire and earth elemental in front of him. Another blue dragonkin blocked their way. It began to cast a spell as Dan launched a blast of air into its mouth, interrupting the spell. The elements began to attack as Dan let his spikes fly into the air and quickly dispatched the guardian.

The building he was in became to glow a faint red and suddenly Dan heard the footsteps of a dozens of creatures running towards him. Dan resummoned his totems and knelt to the ground. He tried to tell the walls and floors around him to bend to his will, but they wouldn't move. "I'm not on ground…" Dan said nervously. He weighed his options quickly, but knew that retreating wasn't an option…since there was nowhere to retreat to.

There were small walking trees, blood elves, night elves, humans, and white ghosts that emanated with great power. Dan steeled his nerves and choose to meet them head on.

"Sir…there is an enormous power surge coming from the void." Data said.

"Explain" Picard said.

"There is an anomaly from inside. A tiny pure white glow that is producing energy that is nearly off our sensors. There seems to be…almost humanoid creatures moving around. I'm magnifying the image, but there is a lot of interference." Data said.

"Should we tell Herrior?" Will asked.

Picard weighed his options before speaking. "If they are channeling the power that is increasing our ship's power, the chances are they already know. Who knows what would happen if we disturbed them. Data I want a lock on the first known humanoid you find and beam him directly to the bridge." Picard said and then touched his trinket, "Security report to the bridge."

"I've isolated thirty four humanoid creatures…they appear to be in combat. I'm increasing the efficiency of our sensors. Sir they are in a solid containment building built from an unknown metal. Beaming the human to the ship may disrupt the transport." Data said.

"Can our phasers penetrate it?" Will asked.

"Yes I believe so sir, but if it is self-contained, it will kill everything in there. I do have a working theory though that we can use our reflector dish to deflect the energy field surrounding us and channeling power into it. It should pass harmlessly through any humans in there and kill anything non-humanoid." Data said.

"Make it so." Picard said.

Dan was in the heat of battle, taking damage from all sides. His elementals could not keep up as Dan started weighing his options. His mana for healing was running low. Suddenly a blast of a white light came through the building and instantly burned everything alive around it – also destroying his elementals. The light hit Dan and felt his power increase exponentially. Dan let out a mighty roar that shook the building and ran forward with his new found strength.

"It worked sir. Our ship's power has returned within normal operating protocols. The power was completed drained from our ship and is still pouring into the building. I have located a single human. He seemed to have doubled in size and his power he is giving off is off our sensor grid. He appears to be moving…very quickly." Data said.

"Sir, permission to beam down and help him." Worf asked.

"You would not survive the transport; also the energy we are deflecting would kill you." Data said turning around to look at him.

"Sir, they saved our lives countless times. I fought beside them as one warrior to another. I am willing to take the risk." Worf said between his teeth.

"Steady yourself Worf. Data find a way of getting us in there and getting him out safely." Picard said.

Data started pressing several buttons and said, "Captain our deflector dish has frozen on the fixed position – it is not responding to my commands."

"We're messing with powers we don't understand…Deanna what do you make of this situation?" Picard asked.

"Only what Data is telling me. I cannot sense anything. I know that Herrior's party's room is completely blocking my thoughts. I sense no danger though. People are reporting that their room is pulsating different colors. There is no danger though as well." Deanna said.

"Keep scanning, I want constant updates." Picard said.

Dan's arms were engulfed in fire and electrical bolts frequently discharged from his body. He ran through the corridor destroying anything that opposed him. He came to a circular room he remembered with the crazed blood elf in it.

"I am Grand Magus Telestra…you are not one of my delegations I command, who are you?"

"The end-bringer" Dan said as he charged up a lightning bolt and released it into the air letting out an ear-splitting crack as it hit its target. The woman didn't have a chance to scream as she was instantly vaporized. Dan walked forward and summoned his earth and fire elementals next to him. They also radiated with power. Dan reached down and touched several purple glowing objects. The power from the gems and orbs filled Dan's body, increasing his body even more.

"Go…kill everything you see…" Dan said as an influx in his body suddenly occurred. The power pouring into his body was repelled back by the power he just absorbed.

"Incoming attack…" Data said suddenly maneuvering the ship out of the way as an enormous beam of energy soared inches away from the ships deflector dish. The sudden movement threw everybody to the ground before the ships stabilizers had a chance to return gravity to its normal levels.

"What the hell was that?" Picard said angrily getting up off the ground.

"An enormous blast filled with positive neutrons…I apologize sir but it would have cut through our ship." Data said.

"Where is it now?" Picard asked.

"It's turning around and coming back." Data said.

"Evasive maneuvers! Shields up!" Picard shouted. The blast past by them again within meters before dispersing into tiny little particles and eventually disappearing.

"It is gone sir." Data said.

"Move us away from the anomaly. Keep the shields up and regain control of our deflector dish. If another surge comes move us the hell out of the way again." Picard said.

Moments later Herrior and his party knocked on the door to the bridge and then it opened. Herrior watched it go up and was still amazed by it.

"May we talk?" Herrior asked.

"Please…" Picard said.

"We have located Dan. Lindel has a lock on his location and we are going to open a portal to his location. We feel he has enough power to send us back to our time. He tried to return the power back to us, but we were unable to retrieve it." Herrior said.

"That blast would have torn our ship apart!" Jean-Luc said in a clearly upset tone.

"We would have absorbed it. We would not let anything happen to our new friends. Lindel go ahead and open the portal. This is where we say farewell." Herrior said as Lindel formed a portal and began to pour her powers into it.

"What will happen to you?" Picard asked.

"We will destroy whatever is bent on destroying our world and other worlds. Then we will leave. It may cause an explosion after we destroy it. You may want to move your ship out of the way." Herrior guessed shrugging his shoulders. He turned to party and looked them over. They had their companions summoned and weapons ready. Herrior nodded at them, and then turned to nod at the Captain. He nodded back and Herrior's party passed through the portal and disappeared.

"Herrior?" Dan asked.

"Yes, it is I." Herrior said as Dan saw him come through first with the rest of his party come out through the portal.

"I'm in the process of destroying the three conduits that hold the frozen dragon together…wanna watch?" Dan asked.

"We are here to help." Herrior said.

"Help?" Dan asked and began to laugh. He slammed his hands together and as he brought them apart, arcs of lightning lit up the area. "I received the power you sent to me…now I am feeding off from the power of this place. This is the void…the end all of be all. I don't need your help." Dan said and threw a lightning bolt at Herrior. He raised his shield to absorb it, but it stopped a foot from them and produced a wall of constant lightning shooting back and forth.

"I'll be back when I am done…" Dan said and ran off. Moments later Herrior's party heard cries and loud crashes of thunder fill the air.

"What have we done?" Ysera asked.

"Did he turn on us?" Skyka asked.

"Herrior?" Crystal asked almost in tears. Herrior shook his head as the electrical shield enveloped them, preventing them from leaving.

Dan continued his assault on the base. He arrived at the hall full of frozen humans and night elves. Dan smiled as he summoned a cloud of air and flew through the air. Dan slammed the ice with his spikes and instantly all of the people encased in ice began freed.

"I have freed you…only to kill all of you…enjoy your last moments alive…" Dan said solemnly. Dan's eyes then turned a dark blue and lightning started shooting out of them. He opened his mouth and yelled, "Die!" as he moved his hands quickly at each person – obliterating them instantly with an enormous bolt of lightning. Each person he killed made him more powerful. He saw one of the humans drop a brown book. He reached down and put it in one of his pouches.

"Leave that!" A voice thundered through the halls.

"Make me…" Dan replied back. A beam of light hit Dan and caused slight pain for a moment but then he started to absorb the energy.

"Your anger fuels me…hit me some more!" Dan yelled out.

"You mustn't disrupt our operations!" The voice blared. The beam of light dimmed down, but Dan held his hand out and increased the strength of the beam.

"Stop that!" The same voice thundered out.

"Make me…" Dan replied back with a smile as lightning constantly shot out of his body.

"I'll kill your friends." The voice said.

"Do it – your idle threats do not faze me." Dan replied back. Nothing was said afterwards.

"That's what I thought. I've killed many…you are just one more of my conquests, a mere bump in the road." Dan said.

"I'll destroy the building, killing all of you." The voice angrily said back.

"I call your bluff; you will die also along with the rest of your guardians you have put in place! Do it! Do it you lousy piece of shit! Destroy this building or I will!" Dan yelled and with no response back Dan spit on the wall and proceeded to fly forwards on the wind he summoned under his feet.

"So…is he on our side?" Jacklyn asked after they listened to the conversation. Herrior shrugged.

"More dragonkin…ready for the killing…" Dan said flying up a ramp and instantly destroying two of them with a bolt of lightning. The last one started to run away as he casted a fire spell on him. He cried in pain as he slowly burned alive. He fell to his feet rolled in agony and slowly died. Dan then floated over to a floating white ghost. It started attacking him, but Dan merely observed it. Tiny little sparks came off from its body and started to attack Dan as well.

"You are made of pure energy." Dan held out his hand and absorbed the ghost as well as the sparks. "You put things in my way that only increase my power?" Dan yelled out.

"You must not interfere with the rift!" The voice echoed throughout the room.

Dan paid little attention as he looked around and saw these ghosts floating all over this gigantic room with the walls still flashing red and purple. Huge beams of energy floated through the room and led to a single target at the end of the room.

"Peak-a-boo…I'm gonna kill you!" Dan said with a smile. Dan dissipated the cloud of air under his feet and ran towards it; lightning bolts shooting all over the place at anything within reach. Dragonkin, ghosts, tiny sparks…all instantly vaporized increasing Dan's power.

"You must not interfere with the rift!" The voice said. He stood before an enormous ghost looking creature made of pure white, having a face with no features and two arms and hand. It had no legs and hovered in the air.

"Kill it…set us free…kill it…" Tiny voices said all around him.

"How many have you killed? I should rephrase the question though shouldn't I? You don't kill…you consume and keep the stronger ones alive to suffer so that you can build power." Dan said walking up to him.

"I am Anomalus. I devour those that resist." The ghost said in an otherly world voice. It was high pitch at first and then echoed down to a deep resonating bass sound. It held its hand forward and fired a blast of something powerful at Dan. This time it hit him hard, sending him tumbling backwards. Dan rose to his feet and summoned his fire and earth elemental to go attack it. Anomalus was quickly distracted by the earth elemental as Dan charged forward and summoned his totems. Dan then launched attack after attack when suddenly Anomalus dissolved into an invincible orb that shot out smaller orbs which turned into smaller versions of Anomalus.

"You must not destroy the void!" They all said in unison. Dan channeled his power into a powerful chain lightning spell. It bounced from one Anomalus to another, destroying them. The enormous Anomalus grew back as his earth elemental quickly caught his attention and the fire elemental blasted it repeatedly with fireballs. Dan quickly slashed at it as fast as he could, discharging electrical blast after blast with each blow.

Anomalus destroy Dan's earth elemental, but it had drained most of his power. It turned to look at Dan grinning at it. "Do you yield? I'll spare your life for the secrets of this place."

"Kill it…destroy it…" the soft voices said in unison. There must have been thousands of them.

"You…lie…" Anomalus said. Dan anticipated this and released an enormous blast of electrical energy into Anomalus. It groaned in agony and quickly turned around. It wanted to go somewhere in a hurry. Dan shot a quick frost shock spell at it, slowly it down and running up to it and jumping in the air as he dug his fist weapons down on its back. The fire elemental caught up with them and finally ignited Anomalus on fire. Anomalus cried in pain as it tried to still move forward, but was unable to with Dan's fist weapons dug deep into it. Anomalus reached back and backhanded Dan hard, sending him flying. Anomalus then floated forward as he reached a series of pipes. He broke one and began to grow stronger exponentially as pure energy flowed into him.

"Nobody…back hands me…" Dan said getting up and leaping forward. Anomalus shot a bolt of energy at Dan who ripped it apart with his fist weapons. Dan then performed two moves very quickly, with his right hand he shoved it up at Anomalus, causing him pain and with the other sliced the rest of the pipes. Anomalus didn't notice as Dan jumped into the pipes and the pure energy filled him. Anomalus felt a drain in his power and looked down at Dan. Dan smiled and waved at him as the entire room went dark.

"NOOooo…" Anomalus said feeling his power draining from him. Spirits from all over the room flew through Anomalus, each other draining his power.

"I'll let those who you tormented take care of you…" Dan said getting out of the pipes.

"Noo…" Anomalus said emotionless still as the spirits continued flying through it until it slowly faded from existence.

"How can we repay you?" The quiet spirits all asked at once.

"Help me destroy this place so it can never hurt another world again." Dan said as he summoned a burst of air to pick him up off the ground.

"We will repay our debt and then leave…" The spirits said and quickly flew out of every crack, crevice, and tunnel in sight. Dan instructed his fire elemental to lit the way as they proceeded through the rest of the void.

"What the hell?" Herrior asked as he and the rest of his party jumped back in fear. Spirits were trying to attack them, but could not penetrate electrical force field.

"Are those real?" Jessica practically screamed.

"Yes…and they are hell-bent on killing us." Lindel said. He held her hand out and felt their anger and pain. "Dan released them…they have been tormented for…tens of thousands of years. They are out for revenge. They are attacking anything they see. I also feel the voice Dan was talking to silenced forever. If I were to wager a bet, Dan encased us in here to keep us safe."

"Is he still alive?" Herrior asked.

"Can't tell…all I can feel is the spirits. Anything beyond them is pure darkness." Lindel said.

"Plants? Really? You have walking plants and trees…and giant trees guarding the last guardian? At least try to make this hard for me…" Dan said as he began to fly through the corridors, blasting anything the spirits didn't kill.

Within minutes he saw an enormous rock-like man staring at him.

"There you are…you could have saved me the trouble and came to me instead of cowering in your hole." Dan said flying towards him. The rock man had grey feet; the rest of him was white. Vines shot out of the walls, floors and ceiling. It didn't slow Dan any as the electrical sparks fried all of them. The rock man then lifted his foot and slammed it down. Dan looked down and saw dozens of ice formations quickly form. They then shot up from the ground, narrowly missing Dan in flight.

"I can do that also." Dan said commanding the window to set him on the ground. This was dirt alright. Dan slammed his fist in the ground and a straight line rumbled towards the rock man and finally a large spike came out of the ground, sliced through the rock man's groin area and shoved him up through the ceiling. Dan then held his hand up and commanded the ceiling to produce spikes and slammed back down on it. Dan then took his hand and shook it away as the earth elements stopped attacking the rock man. Dan walked up to it and looked down at the badly beaten elemental.

"Not much of a guardian…maybe next time." Dan said and shoved his left spikes into the rock man's eyes. Tremendous power poured out of the elemental as it shook violently. Dan drained its energy into his body until it simply fell apart. Dan then took the blue and purple orbs that fell from its body and sucked the power out of those items as well.

"You fool!" A dragon's voice echoed through the halls. "You do not know what you have done! I was imprisoned and now I am free…I will thank you by giving you a quick death!"

"That's Keristrasza! She is dead though…how…Herrior what the hell is going on?" Ysera quickly asked. Herrior only shook his head. The ghosts stopped attacking the force field and flew towards Keristrasza.

"Keristrasza was in charge before my time…she was killed in combat though – or so the stories were told. Keristrasza! What are you doing?" Ysera screamed out.

"A Dragonflight? In my chambers? I am more interested in this then I am the one who freed me." Keristrasza blew out an enormous breathe of fire that filled all of the corridors as she looked around. She saw Ysera and a big smile came over Keristrasza's face as her eyes light up red and puffs of fire came out of her mouth.

"Did we finally destroy the pathetic Dragonflights? You were brought to me as a prize perhaps? Not only am I free now, but I can start a new region of Dragonflights." Keristrasza said walking towards her in the imprisoned electrical field.

"Maybe you should have kept quiet…" Mohania said quietly.

"I am Ysera…leader of the Dragonflights! You have no powers over me and none of my kind will bow to you!" Ysera screamed at her. Keristrasza let out a big blast of fire that began to melt the surrounding walls. The electrical force field was holding, but the structures around it weren't. Ysera knew she didn't have this kind of power.

Keristrasza began to laugh. "You don't have this kind of power…do you Ysera. You even said so yourself…just now. Oh, and yes, I can read your mind. I can read all of your minds…except for the skeleton. What is your name skeleton?"

"Uh…Herrior?" Mohania said.

"Thanks buddy…" Herrior said patting Mohania on the shoulder.

"Anytime!" Mohania said smiling at Herrior.

Keristrasza let out another breathe of fire, this time it was more intense. The electrical field still held, but the walls and ceiling began to drip molten liquid. Suddenly Dan flew around the corner and slammed into Keristrasza's head, driving his spikes on his fist weapons deep into the dragon's cheek. Keristrasza, caught completely unaware, stumbled sideways and nearly fell down.

"They are not to be killed!" Dan yelled at Keristrasza.

Keristrasza regained her balance and looked at Dan floating in the air with huge gusts of wind pushing him up off from the ground.

"Are you the one that freed me from my prison?" Keristrasza asked.

"No, it was your mother – right after I got done donkey-punching her." Dan said.

"Are you calling my mother a donkey?" Keristrasza asked turning around and began to suck in air. Dan instantly dropped as a large gust of air filled Keristrasza's lungs, gagging her. Dan floated back up and flew into the large dragon's mouth and down its throat. Dan threw his arms out in the dragon's neck stopping his fall and summoned his fire elemental. It instantly engulfed the dragon's throat on fire, causing it to scream in pain. Dan then summoned all of the energy he could muster as Keristrasza thrashed around. Once satisfied with his power, Dan pushed tremendous amounts of air down its stomach and flew back out, with his fist weapons tearing the entire way. Once free of the dragon's mouth, Dan twirled in the air and landed in a crouching position – then summoning his totems.

"Killing you will fulfill my destiny. You may be able to breathe intense fire, and are heavily armored, but there are vulnerabilities with everything…even you Keristrasza." Dan said.

Keristrasza turned towards him and swung wildly as her stomach was still filling with air. Dan ordered his fire elemental down its throat and landed in its stomach. He then ordered it to incinerate it. Keristrasza howled in pain immediately and fell to the ground.

Dan walked up to Keristrasza and pulled one of her eyelids open and said, "Just so you know…the name is Dan…remember it" and then slammed his right spikes into her eye. Keristrasza tried to let out a scream, but in her desperation to suck in air, it further fueled the fire inside of her.

"Life-binder…heal me! I beg of you!" Keristrasza said. A beam of light came out of the sky and slammed into Keristrasza. Dan quickly summoned a quick burst of air and intercepted the beam. Dan held his hands out as the green beam of light tried to diminish but Dan pulled on it, making the beam even bigger. He sucked all of the power out of it before he heard a loud roar followed by a loud "thud". Dan then turned to look at Keristrasza. She blinked at him twice before death over took her. The fire elemental burned its way through the dragon and returned to its master's side. Dan absorbed the elementals power and then turned to Herrior's party.

"Remember me? I always liked you. Those times that I called you an ass? I was just kidding…you know that." Mohania said smiling.

"Has he still been a pain in the ass Herrior?" Dan asked.

"Nothing's changed…" Herrior said smiling at Dan. Dan reached out his hand and absorbed the shield.

"Now you have a decision. I imprisoned you, my friends, my family, and my wife. I will willingly die now because of it." Dan said removing his helmet and taking off his fist weapons.

"I think you are going to need those if you are going to keep fighting with us…I wasn't quick to jump to conclusions, but I know your loyalty wouldn't falter. Do you have enough power to get us back home?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior…I have enough power to destroy anything…" Dan said smiling.

"Of which you are going to teach me afterwards right? I mean when you are ready that is…perhaps just a small sample right now would give me something to look forward to." Mohania said.

"Should we leave him here?" Dan asked picking his helmet back up.

"Hmm…" Herrior said raising his hand in a bad attempt to make it look like he was thinking.

"Oh please…you need me. I am master of the warlocks and the undead…besides I haven't finished torturing Paul yet. You should never let an artist leave his work unfinished." Mohania said smiling.

"Come here Lindel." Dan said putting his fist weapons back on. She skipped forward and kissed Dan on the cheek. "Glad to have you back hun."

"I'm glad to be back." Dan said smiling at her. Lindel turned into her undead banshee form and readied herself. Dan gripped her hand and then closed his eyes. He envisioned the exact time and place that they left and then flooded Lindel with power. Lindel let out a scream as her arm shot out and produced a dark green glowing portal. Lindel screamed in pain until the portal was fully formed and then sucked everybody into it. Afterwards the void collapsed in on itself and let out an enormous explosion.

"Sir, the void has just exploded. A shockwave approaching estimated time to hit…two minutes." Data said.

"Get us out of here…maximum warp." Picard said.

"They made it back ok." Deanna said.

"Good…it was an honor." Picard said and then tapped his trinket, "Geordi, we seem to have a corruption in our computer logs of every experience we had of them…can you see to it?"

"Will do Captain."

"Yay – we are back home!" Lindel said and picked up Dan as she twirled him in the air.

"Ah…let me go…I'm going to throw up." Dan said starting to turn green. Lindel set him down and began tumbling with him on the ground.

"When you are doing abusing my husband, would you mind if I talk with him?" Crystal asked.

"Not done yet!" Lindel said as they began to tumble out of control.

"I'm sorry I hurt you Lindel…" Dan said as his voice echoed away.

"Is your party normally like this?" Ysera asked Herrior.

"Worse…" Herrior said smiling back at her.

"Well I think I've had enough encounters with death for awhile. I'm going to return to my roost and take a nap." Ysera said as she walked up to Strings as they embraced and kissed passionately. Skyka and Crystal started to cheer as Branzer yelled out, "Get a room!"

Ysera stopped and said, "I thought life here was intense…I never knew what it was like to fight beside all of you. I don't think I'm up for it yet…but I wouldn't mind some private time with Strings. Herrior, may I start courting him?"

"Fine by me, although I think you may have been courting for awhile now…" Herrior said winking at her. Ysera smiled and gave Strings one last kiss before running away. She morphed into her dragon form and took to the skies.

"Somebody's got a girlfriend…" Skyka said as she started poking him.

"Herrior, can you order her to stop?" Strings said blushing.

"Yeah…good luck with that one buddy. Herrior found great pleasure in letting Kendall walk all over me and make me say things deep and meaningful."

"Mohania?" Kendall yelled. Mohania spun around quickly and saw that Herrior had opened a portal behind Mohania's back with his hearthstone with Kendall's face in it.

"I was talking about another undead…Herrior you are an ass…" Mohania said. Everybody laughed, but were glad to be home.


	30. Time Off

Time Off

After Lindel got done tackling Dan, actually Dan escaped and ran back to Crystal. Lindel floated towards them, but Crystal said "No" and then kissed Dan.

"Are you done dying on me now?" Crystal asked.

"It's not on purpose…" Dan said defending himself.

"Yeah yeah…save it for the jury…" Crystal said and gave him a big hug.

"Lindel, open a portal for Tranquil. The King is going to need to be debriefed." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and produced the portal.

They all arrived in Tranquil to find nothing new. Nobody knew about their battles or their victories.

"I'll go report to the King, the rest of you are free to do as you wish for the next day or so. Then we need to head back to Earth." Herrior said. The rest of them acknowledged and spread themselves throughout the city.

"I have to report to the King about my battles" Herrior stated to one of the ambassadors. The female tauren nodded and went to check on the King's schedule. She came back and said "The King wants me to hear of your battles and then I will relay the information to him. He is quite busy at the moment." Herrior nodded and spent the next two hours explaining what had previously happened. The female tauren, completely awestruck, stopped Herrior a couple of times so she could write everything down.

"Incredible…and you are just now coming back?" She asked. Herrior nodded.

"This is…incredible…" she said again in shock and said she would let the King know. Herrior thanked her and left the palace. He looked around in wonder at first as to how everybody could be carrying on their business and not know what just happened. The word "humble" came to his head and nodded as he walked to the fountains. He took off his armor and weapons and jumped in. The water instantly soothed his body and worn body. He took several deep gulps and then surfaced. He felt his hair slide down his body as his fur clumped up and dripped. He looked at the children and the citizens of Tranquil playing and this brought a smile to his face.

"Humble indeed." Herrior said and began to swim the entire length of the huge fountain in the deep area.

During this time, there was a slight tug-a-war over Dan. Dan wanted to distribute his power into Tranquil's existing power through the monks, and at the same time Crystal wanted to spend time with him.

"Is it too much to ask for some time together? I mean you, again, or so we thought, died and it turned out you weren't." Crystal said.

"I do want to spend some time with you…I want to spend a lot of time with you, but I don't know how much longer this power will last. If it fades in the next hour or so, then I cannot give it to Tranquil." Dan said.

"You saved our lives and everybody we know…again, but I want time together, just me and you." Crystal said.

"I understand. We spent time together racing on our dragons that was fun wasn't it?" Dan asked.

"Yes…but that was before the battle. For awhile we thought you betrayed us and we all felt hurt…I was hurt the most. To see you like that, to hear your words…" Crystal said.

"Something was monitoring my moves and attacks. I did that to save your lives!" Dan said in frustration. He continued, "It was a setup, I had to. Do you really think I would have betrayed you or anybody else? I haven't betrayed anybody and I've had many chances to, least of all you. I would never betray my wife, and I would never betray my party or my city. You of all people should know that." Dan said and then walked away. He let out a sigh and turned around to see Crystal looking down. He walked back up to her and embraced her hard.

"I love you. The more our love increases, the stronger we become – more than anybody else. I have only come this far because of you, and you know you have powers stronger than anybody else's power. Even after you gave Mohania a slight increase in his power, you know yours is still stronger. I would give it all up to be normal and go back to Earth. There we might be able to produce offspring and raise a normal family." Dan said and paused for a moment and Crystal shook her head as Dan anticipated.

"We're different…I need you, and you need to be in the heat of battle. You are like Mohania or Herrior or Jacklyn – you thirst for the battle to use your powers." Crystal said.

"I need you too. I fight with my heart. When I do fight I admit that I fight with all of my heart and mind, but you need to do that also. We will have time for each other, but we both know we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. How about this…we compromise… you let me distribute my powers and then we can go to Earth and have a good time. You know I need to do this hun." Dan said.

"Go to Disney World?" Crystal asked with a smile pulling away from him.

"I don't do roller coasters…" Dan said.

"You can fly on dragons, but you are afraid of roller coasters…seriously?" Crystal asked.

"Dragons are different; I know which way they are going to go. They shift their weight around so making hair-pin turns easy. There is no flimsy cart that shakes and creaks as it moves wildly and unpredictable down a track that God only knows how old it is or when the last time maintenance was done on it. Too many unknown elements for me thank you very much…" Dan said with a smile.

"Go do your thing…then we do roller coasters…" Crystal said and kissed Dan.

"I'll do my thing and watch…" Crystal kissed him before he could finish his sentence.

"Ok…I'll do my thing and maybe…" Crystal kissed him again and said, "No…"

"Do you want to watch me vomit in public? Is that what you want?" Dan asked.

"Yes…just as long as it's not on me…" Crystal said smiling.

"No I don't think so…you want me to go so bad, you can clean up my puke…" Dan said.

"If you start feeling sick you can sit down and rest for awhile. We'll eat cotton candy and elephant ears."

"How about Cedar Point? If we take the party down to Disney Land…and you know they will want to come along…they will without a doubt end up fighting with some of the characters. I'll have nightmares if Mickey Mouse gets decapitated or Goofy goes up in flames." Dan said.

"You always have to win…don't you?" Crystal asked with a sarcastic smile.

"I'm serious…you know the party…" Dan said smiling back.

"Ok…no people walking around in costumes, except for us." Crystal said as she stepped back and touched her trinket. Her armor instantly changed from her robes to a small two piece light blue swim suit.

"I likey… What about this?" Dan asked and touched his trinket. His armor transformed into the same outfit Crystal was wearing. Crystal burst into laughter as Dan started shaking his crotch towards her. She waved him away and finally pushed him away.

"I'm sexy…you love me…you want me…" Dan said still shaking his body towards her.

"Fine…go…I can't believe you just did that!" Crystal practically screamed and turned her head around. Dan touched his trinket and his regular armor returned.

"I love you Crystal." Dan said walking towards her. Crystal, still looking away said, "I love you too…now go away…"

Dan kissed her on the back of her head and left. As Dan started down the monk's tunnel he heard Crystal yell, "My husband the freak!" Dan smiled as he closed his distance to the monk's sold wooden doors.

He knocked on them and a large "clank" sound came as the right door opened. A monk slowly revealed himself and looked at him.

"You are different." The monk said.

"I have gained enormous powers and wish to distribute them into Tranquil." Dan said.

"We cannot. Your mind has become too powerful even for us. The blasting would kill us." The monk said.

"So what do I do?" Dan asked.

"Keep up the good fight." The monk said and then closed the door followed by another large "clank" sound.

"Ok…" Dan said not knowing what to do know. He turned back around and walked back up the winding tunnel and into the streets of Tranquil. He saw a large group of women gathered around Crystal laughing. Dan smiled and then began to weigh his options. He walked over to the wall and put his hand on it. It instantly reacted with Tranquil's shield. He ordered his mind to feed it some power and the shield instantly started to thin out. He pulled his hand back and the shield recovered itself. He looked down at his hand and saw tiny particles dancing on it before disappearing.

"I need advice…" Dan said quietly to himself. Dan summoned a gust of wind below him and launched himself into the air. He flew over to the engineering section and landed with a huge gust of wind propelling him down gently.

"What are you doing? These machines are very delicate! They could blow up at any moment!" One engineer said.

"Your machines usually do!" Another voice yelled back.

"Hush you…I have a better track record than you do!" The engineer yelled back as the conversation proceeded. Dan smiled as he looked around for the goblin female that had asked him if he was married. After fifteen minutes he finally found her frustrated with a contraption.

"Can I give you a hand?" Dan asked. She jumped backwards in surprise and her contraption went flying. Dan quickly threw his hand out and formed a puff of air to catch it. He directed it back to her work bench and gently set it down.

"Oh my…may I ask how you did that?" She asked.

"I need some advice actually. I have acquired a lot of power and I have no idea what to do with it." Dan said.

"Looks like you found out what to do with it to me." Female goblin said with a smile. "As far as extracting power from one-self, we never thought of something like that. Why would you want to drain your powers?"

"To help others" Dan replied.

"And so you did. What else can I help you with?" She asked.

"I…don't know." Dan replied back.

"If it is answers you seek, you should probably meditate and clear your mind or those creepy doppelgangers will find you." She said waving her tool at him. He was unsure what it was…some sort of robotic wrench-looking thing.

"Can they penetrate Tranquil's shields?" Dan asked.

"Not a chance…we made several upgrades to Tranquil's shields. I'd stake my life that nothing can get through it." She seemed confident.

"Except for me…" Dan thought. "You're right. Thanks for the talk." Dan said.

"Thanks for scaring me hun…" she said and winked at him.

Dan ran out and summoned a huge gust of air that threw him into the air and then carried him away. He mentally summoned his dragon as it flew beside him.

"Become a banshee?" His dragon asked.

"I'm not sure what I've become. Care to have a race?" Dan asked with a smile.

"Sure!" His dragon said enthusiastically. Dan summoned more of his power and flew far ahead of his dragon as his dragon flapped harder to catch up. Dan made a hard left turn, blowing a huge gust of air behind him. His dragon was caught in the backwash and had to steady his wings to fly above it. Catching the wind again under his wings he flapped hard to catch back up with Dan. Together they soared way above Tranquil. Dan flew high enough to see all of the other dragons and their special roosting places. Dan turned around and dove straight down. His dragon did the same thing, following his every move. Seconds later he turned to the right and a huge gust of air fell beneath him as his dragon made the same move. Dan looked back and saw his dragon smiling at him. Dan smiled back and decided to see what he could do. He stopped having the air push him and rather commanded the air to push out from him. He fell for a couple of seconds before he was back at his normal height. Dan then funneled more power into the air moving around him and picked up incredible speed. Dan looked behind him and saw his dragon fade away. He began funneling more and more power into it when suddenly a loud "Boom" erupted and Dan lost his concentration. Dan saw the ground coming up at him quickly and concentrated hard to regain control of the air. He flew back up and did a loop in the air and then floated there for a second. Several banshees finally caught up with him and looked at him with worry.

"Are you ok?" One of the males said.

"You were going faster than any of us could get to you…you could have died." Another banshee said.

"But I've never felt more alive!" Dan said with an excited smile and then took off in the opposite direction, pouring more and more power into the air coming out of him when suddenly another loud "Boom" happened. He began to accelerate even faster and no longer felt the air pushing on his face. He looked behind him and saw a mist trail behind him. He accelerated even faster and then did a quick turn up as the mist and wind flew past him. Dan felt his hearthstone vibrating so he pulled it out and Herrior appeared.

"Having fun?" Herrior asked.

"Mohania made me do it…" Dan said with a smile.

"He lies…" Mohania said in the distance.

"We've been trying to contact you, the King wants to speak with us and that means you. So if you have a time to stop creating such s ruckus up there, could you come down and meet up with us?"

"Oh crap…sorry I'll be right there." Dan said and put his hearthstone away. Dan then floated over to where the palace was and then did a freefall until he was only a couple of feet from the ground when a huge burst of air stopped his decent. Dan had his hands and legs spread apart.

"Mission impossible?" Crystal asked.

"Shh…they have sound sensors. I mustn't let a drop of sweat drop…" Dan said smiling. Crystal grabbed him and pulled him away as the gust of air flew up into the sky and dissipated.

"Well well…I hear somebody caused a ruckus in my Kingdom." The King said.

"My King I can explain…I didn't think Paul could scream that loud. One of our undead left the doors open…" Mohania said as the King raised his hand to silence him.

"Oh…it's not me…hee hee, you're in trouble…" Mohania whispered to Dan.

"Hi" Dan said with a smile.

"Well hello back to you. You seem to be in good spirits. Could you explain to me where there were loud explosions in the air above? Usually those only come from the engineering department, but they don't shake the buildings like yours did." The King said.

"I broke the sound barrier my King." Dan said.

"Twice? Can you fix it?" The King asked.

"No, my King it is the passage from subsonic to supersonic speeds accompanied by some unusual phenomena which lie in the realm of "nonlinear" mechanical events. Many feared it in my world, but now embrace it as a natural phenomenon that occurs when a plane passes the speed at which sound travels. I found a way around all of the drag though; by moving the air in front of me around me I can decrease drag entirely and possibly break the highest mach speeds recorded." Dan said excitedly.

"I understood about five words of that, Dan can you not break sound in Tranquil?" The King asked.

"Or break wind…" Crystal whispered.

"Yes…don't break our wind either." The King said.

Dan tried not to smile but said, "Yes my King, sorry."

"Dan…has your power increased?" The King asked.

"Yes my King, so much so that even I don't know what I'm capable of yet. It's my shaman powers over the elements though; it's not my time stopping powers this time. But I will research what I am capable of doing and relay the information back to you." Dan said excitedly.

"Dan…do not bring attention to yourself, and do not get caught. Do you understand?" The King asked with a stern face.

Dan quickly became serious and said, "Yes my King."

"Herrior had quite the story about your adventures. I wanted to congratulate everybody on their victories and allowing our worlds to continue to exist. You have made all of us proud. Take some time off. Also…Crystal said that you have a new armor set that you wanted to show me?" The King asked. Dan closed his eyes and slowly smiled. He touched his trinket and instantly transformed into a two-piece blue woman's swimsuit. Laughter instantly erupted as Dan let his face turn dark red.

"Dan…that doesn't look like real good armor; it hardly covers anything…" The King said with a smile.

"Crystal…" Dan said under his breath.

"Yes my love?" Crystal asked aloud.

"My King…may I change back now?" Dan asked.

The Queen was laughing hysterically along with everybody else as the King nodded. Dan touched his trinket and his armor instantly returned.

"Go have fun…get Crystal back for this prank." The King said with a smile.

"You look real good in blue Dan." Branzer said slapping him on his back.

"I'm never…ever…going to live this one down…" Dan said slowly shaking his head.

"Nope…and I'm going to make sure of that!" Crystal said poking him in the arm. "You embarrass me, and I return the favor."

"The King said I can get you back for this prank, plus Mohania needs to get back at Lindel as well. We'll figure something out…" Dan said.

"That's right I do." Mohania said and then whispered to Dan, "For what?"

"For when you were talking to everybody in Tranquil and they pulled your pants down…" Dan whispered back.

"That's right…I remember that now. I say you do your little time stoppy thing and we'll have some fun." Mohania said with a grin.

"Hey, Dan you promised not to do anything to me if you stopped time." Crystal piped up as they exited the palace and began walking down the streets.

"Luckily I'm not Dan…" Mohania said rubbing his hands together with a big smile on his face.

"That applies to you to Mohania…" Crystal said.

"Nope – that was an agreement between you two…I was never there and I never agreed to it." Mohania said.

"It'll come when you are least expecting it and most susceptible to the maximum about of humiliation. So Mohania…how is Paul doing?" Dan asked changing the subject quickly.

"Which part of him?" Mohania replied and let out a laugh. Crystal tried to say something but Mohania's voice over-powered his.

"We keep slowly ripping off pieces of him and then hooking them back up to other places. We're taking our time though; he went insane and lost it for awhile…laughing hysterically for awhile and running into the bars and walls. Scared the other prisoners pretty good, but we're waiting for him to regain his sanity before we inflict more pain on him. Right now his arms are where his legs were, and his legs are where his arms were. He pisses and shits out of his ass and then we make him lick it up. He's missing over half of his skin. He is at the point where all we have to do is just run our fingers over his nerves and it will send him screaming in pain. I figure he's got another week or so…" Mohania said seeming pleased with himself.

"I thought you were going to play some games with him?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…I need to work on that. I'm not real good at suspense…I'd rather just jump to the end where he screams in pain, losses all hope and I can smell his flesh burning. Something about burning flesh puts me in the mood…you know what I mean…" Mohania said nudging Dan.

"I have no idea…but it probably isn't sex…" Dan said.

"What? No…it puts me in the mood to devour him…sheesh – you are just as disgusting as the rest of the party." Mohania said.

"Are we done now?" Herrior asked seeming to be amused with the conversation.

"He started it." Mohania said quickly.

"You aren't in trouble Mohania." Herrior said.

"Good, that means you don't know what I've done…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Lindel can you open a portal to the station for us? Everybody activate your trinkets." Herrior said.

Herrior walked through the portal first and Lindel last as she closed the portal behind them. They were this time dressed in partial blue and grey uniforms, and solid blue hats with black sunglasses. Skyka said this would be more appropriate and so Herrior shrugged and went with it. Herrior stepped out of the room with the new door on it, taking a quick second to notice that the hole in the wall was indeed plugged; he proceeded out though and saw business as usual. Herrior knocked on Admiral's door and he heard him say "Come in". Herrior opened the door and casually walked in taking off his sunglasses and putting them in his shoulder pocket.

"New uniforms?" Admiral asked.

"Wife's idea…anything interesting happen while we were gone?" Herrior asked.

"Couple of reports of werewolves lurking around suburb areas…" Admiral said opening a drawer and pulling out a couple of files. He looked up and saw Lindel looking down at the drawer. It scared him at first.

"That is where the previous Lieutenants kept their chocolate." Lindel said smiling.

"You like chocolate?" Admiral asked surprised. Lindel nodded and Admiral said, "Well, I will see what I can do about that. Here are your files." Herrior took them and handed them out to Jacklyn, Skyka, Bernett, Branzer, and Crystal.

"Why did you give the files to them?" Admiral asked.

"Jacklyn is second in charge, my wife would never sleep with me again if I didn't show her, and the rest are officers from this station."

"No kidding…where did the rest of you come from?" Admiral asked.

"I came from a stork that arrived at my parents doorstep wrapped in a blanket and a bow." Dan said with a smile.

"I came from a 5th of whiskey and a snowstorm." Crystal said with a smile.

"This case has a male and a female werewolf. Says they ate some sheep, destroyed a fence, and scared the farmers…" Branzer said looking at some pictures and read the interesting parts of the report.

"This one says that UFO's are bringing the werewolves and this family has started building a bomb shelter. Probably are teaching their kids to hide underneath desks and for show and tell they probably have pictures of bigfoot…Admiral has any officer's followed up with some of these claims? Interviewed each individual separately, and did any follow up?" Bernett asked closing the file back up.

"I'm not sure…never been in charge of a police station. Our secretary is the one that sorts out the reports and told me to give them to you when you come back. So any information I should now? Are UFO's real? Bigfoot and werewolves and things that go bump in the night? Is this what you guys do?" Admiral asked.

"Yes" Herrior answered reading his report.

"Yes to what?"

"All of it. This one is interesting, Lindel do you know if there are any banshees in the area?" Herrior asked.

"I'm not sensing any, and my conversations with the rest of the banshees haven't said anything about coming to this world." Lindel said.

"Admiral…is there anything that we should know about this new outpost you are building next to the station?" Herrior asked slowly closing his report.

"I…have all the details on it. You can review all of the construction plans as well as oversee the construction. You can interrogate any contractor you want – why what's the matter?" Admiral asked.

"These lights that are seen off in the woods and above the station – are your soldiers accountable for these?" Herrior asked.

"Can I see the report?" Admiral asked reaching forward and getting the report. He looked through it and let out an "hmm…" while reading it. "No there shouldn't be any military activity in this sector yet. We plan on having missile silos, which is top secret, and several landing strips. We were mostly planning on having this be a training facility with black ops as well as sniper training per your request. Nothing should be producing these kinds of lights in the sky…we don't have any spotlights or anti-aircraft weapons at this location. It should be nothing but commercial and recreational planes in the sky." Admiral said but kept reading the report. He got towards the end and said, "…seen by two different families who claim a secret military compound is experimenting with secret jets. Herrior we've spawned many stories about stories like this to keep the public away from us. If these families want to sit around with tinfoil around their heads and record everything they see in the night sky then more power to them. To my knowledge and my experience, this is garbage." Admiral said closing the file. Herrior watched him and his body motions. He was telling the truth.

"Do you have George's number?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…he gave me secure phones for all of us; he doubted you guys would take them though. Why? Are there little green men that are going to invade us?" Admiral asked.

"Shouldn't be…I killed them all." Mohania said sounding insulted.

"Wasn't Kendall there as well?" Skyka asked.

"Are you holding a hearthstone with her listening to me?" Mohania asked looking around.

"Not this time…" Skyka said with a smile.

"Then yeah, I mean she did some killing but she would have been lost without me and my leadership and powers that I wield." Mohania said.

"Maybe…I should be calling him then…" Admiral said pulling out his phone and pressing the "secure line" button. It blinked for awhile and then said, "Secured line has been established" so Admiral pushed the speed dial for him. Almost a minute went by until George answered it.

"George, this is Admiral…well the name Herrior gave me…anyways they are wondering if there are any UFO's over our area right now?" Admiral asked. George said something and then Admiral pulled the phone down and said, "He needs to go to a private room to talk." Herrior nodded.

George said something and then Admiral pushed a button and placed it on his desk and said, "Ok you are on speaker phone."

"Herrior, is the room secured?" George asked.

"I suppose…do you want us to shut the door?" Herrior asked.

"Yes please." George said. Julie walked back Trackolania carving his name in the floor and fluffed his hair as she shut the door and locked it. "Door's shut!" She yelled out.

"Herrior, are familiar with the aliens that have been abducting humans?" George asked.

"Yes we are. We thought we destroyed them though, are there more?" Herrior asked.

"We are going to have your military compound scan for and track any activity that might be related to UFOs. You will have access to several military satellites and tracking radars." George said.

"We do not chase lights in the sky, George." Branzer said.

"We have several Awaks in the sky doing that. We were hoping that you could tell whether or not some of these reports are real and which ones is just hype from drugged up hippies." George said.

"That is not our job, George" Herrior said.

"Isn't your job to protect the humans on this planet?" George asked.

"No…in fact we've killed a lot of them so far. We should be locked up in your prisons, but I doubt they would hold us." Herrior said with a smile.

"Then what is your mission?" George asked sounding confused.

"To serve our King, protect our friends, defend Tranquil, and look for time stoppers." Herrior said.

"Time stoppers? You mean like in the kids movie where all time stops except for people that wear special watches?" George asked.

Herrior looked confused and looked back at Dan. Dan seemed insulted and annoyed. Herrior turned back around and said, "George we may have come to a standstill with our friendship. We take our job seriously. Currently we have a couple of werewolves or worgens that we are going to investigate. But right now you have insulted one of my own and I am displeased about that."

"Sorry Herrior didn't mean any disrespect. I was just caught off guard and said something stupid. Can we have a meeting? You name the time and place." George said quickly. Herrior let out a snarl and looked back at his group. Some nodded, some shook their head and Mohania motioned to have him decapitated.

"Meet us here tomorrow at noon. We may discuss matters then." Herrior said.

"Can I bring some of my personal? They have top secret clearance, and some of them know about you already…the ones that were in the hidden in the underground building." George said.

"Who all knows about us?" Herrior asked.

"Just me and probably a dozen scientists, engineers, and high clearance officers, all of whom I trust with my life." George said.

"Good…because you life is depending on their secrecy." Herrior said and then motioned to Admiral to cut the conversation.

"Uh…Herrior says have a nice trip and see you here tomorrow…goodbye." Admiral said and ending the phone call. "So what do I say if he calls back?" Admiral asked right away.

"Have him leave a message. Are you going to be here tomorrow for the meeting?" Branzer asked.

"Should I be?"

"Yes…you should be." Herrior said.

"Tomorrow at noon it is, I will bring the donuts and coffee. So the topic of conversation is aliens, werewolves, and things that go bump in the night?" Admiral asked seriously this time.

"Yes and more things. Admiral – do you trust George?" Herrior asked.

"Yes I do. I have no reason not to…I must admit that I just got a sudden education in things that I thought never existed." Admiral said.

Herrior tapped his trinket and asked, "Did you think I never existed?" revealing his tauren self in full plate armor.

"Yes…yes you are one of the things I never knew existed ever before…also…" Admiral said as Herrior tapped his trinket again, instantly transforming into his disguise.

"Pick out ten of your officers that you trust with your life and bring them to the meeting also." Herrior said serious in a serious tone as the Admiral nodded in acknowledgement. Herrior then clapped his hands together, scaring the Admiral, and said, "Well we are here to rest and take some time off. Admiral send some officers out, heavily armed, to investigate these reports. Have them call in if they detect anything abnormal or have an uneasy feeling. The rest of us are going to go have a good time!" Herrior said in a cheery voice.

"Can I go to the prisons and eat people?" Mohania asked.

"Not that much fun…but I like where you are going with this!" Herrior said as he opened the door and walked out.

"Can we go to the prisons and watch me eat people?" Mohania asked rephrasing his question.

"We need an activity that involves all of us. What do you guys want to do for fun?" Herrior asked walking through the police station.

"Eat people?" Mohania asked.

"No…no eating people" Herrior said and then turned to some of the officers that caught their interest. "Do you guys have some ideas as to what we can do for fun?"

"We have a recreation area within the prison area. Sometimes we go out there and play some ball" an officer said.

"Sounds like a plan. Anybody who wants to play ball follow us." Herrior said.

"Wait wait…whoever isn't busy can come play with us. Herrior they do have jobs they have to do." Skyka said.

"Work is boring…I wanna go play…" Herrior said with a smile and a slight whine to it.

"Oh fine…let's go play." Skyka said. Herrior cheered and ran out the door.

"Kids…what can you do… If you guys and gals have some spare time we'd love to play some games with you." Skyka said at the officers.

"Let's see…work or play…" one of the female officers said as she contemplated it for a moment. Seconds later most of the officers were making their way out of the office and into the courtyard where Herrior had rounded up several officers already.

"We're going to play basketball!" Herrior said eagerly pointing over to the courtyards.

"Run children run…go have fun. Us ladies will cheer you on from the sidelines." Skyka said as Jacklyn walked up beside her. "Not going to play I'm assuming?"

"I'll watch. My 'play' is on the battlefield." Jacklyn said.

"Mohania…the courts are that way…" Skyka yelled out.

"But the lunch buffet is this way! Can't play on an empty stomach…" Mohania said running towards the jail with a smile. Skyka smiled back and pointed at Herrior. Mohania sighed and joined up with the rest of them.

Inside of the chain linked fence was several basketball courts. One of the previous soldiers took off his shirt and grabbed a ball.

"Alright ladies…first one to one hundred wins. We'll play shirts and skins…women of course have to be skins…" The man said and got several groans out of the bad joke.

"Full court rules, call your fouls – teams of 5 per side, and try to rotate everybody in…let's have some fun!"

"I don't understand any of that…" Herrior said.

"Big guy is on my team." The man said to Herrior.

"I'll be the leader for the other team, I'll take the hot looking lady, the other hot looking one, and lastly the one that floats in the air." The man said pointing to Julie, Crystal and Lindel.

"Fine, I'll take the old officers, Branzer, Bernett, Dan and Jessica."

"Pick Trackolania…if he gets bored something might break…" Lindel whispered to her captain of the team.

"Ok, the small guy – uh – Trackolania…is he from Transylvania?" The captain asked.

"We were there once…there wasn't much there when we left." Mohania said smiling.

Trackolania was excited as he pulled his daggers out and ran over to Julie.

"Uh – can you tell your little friend no weapons? This is friendly competition here…" The other captain said. Trackolania sighed and put his daggers away.

"Ok rules are simple," the captain said and started bouncing the ball. "This is dribbling; you have to dribble the move in order to move. You pass it to an open player or they pass it to you and you have to make it in the basket like this…" he said as he dribbled up to the basket and dunked the ball backwards. Several hoots and hollers came. He then continued, "Or you can shoot the ball, and I mean with your hands, not with your guns or by shooting fire at it or anything else – you have to use your hands."

"Yeah yeah…let's get this on." Dan said holding his hands out for the ball. The captain threw it to him and he took a practice shot, missing horribly. "That's what you don't want to do…just showing everybody. You want to try to put the ball in the hoop."

"Wonderful demonstration love…" Crystal said rolling her eyes as the ball bounced off the chain link fence and back to them.

"Alright, somebody throw the ball up to get us going." Herrior's captain said.

"Yeah ok, I got 50 big ones on Herrior's side" one of the officers said coming up to throw the ball in the air."

"Ok Herrior, when he throws the ball jump up and toss it back to me." Herrior's captain said. Herrior nodded.

"Lindel – stop Herrior from getting the ball and throw it back to me." Lindel's captain said. She nodded. The both looked at each other with a playful smile. The man threw the ball in the air and Herrior leaped in the air for it. Lindel didn't move as she telepathically took the ball and pulled it out of Herrior's reach. Herrior landed and Lindel bounced the ball off from his head several times before tossing it back to her captain.

"Hey…that's cheating!" Herrior's captain said running towards the other captain.

"You picked first…" the other captain said as he tried to out maneuver the other captain.

"Come on guys…play some 'D'."

"Go steal the ball Trackolania." Julie whispered. Trackolania nodded and then disappeared. A second later the captain dribbling the ball was in shock when the ball didn't come back up to his hand. He looked around as he saw Julie holding the ball.

"Wahoo, I got the ball!" Julie said excitedly. She threw the ball straight up as high as she could and then said, "Lindel – put the ball in the hoop!" Lindel quickly gained control over the ball and sent it flying to the other side of the court and straight through the hoop, however instead of falling to the ground, Lindel made it fall through and go back up through the hoop a dozen times before letting it fall to the ground. Julie ran up and gave Lindel a double high five and said, "Lindel we're up by twelve!"

"No, you have to take the ball out of bounds after a basket is made…with your hands…and then throw it back in." The other captain said.

The game carried on with a series of move both captains agreed were against the rules. Trackolania moved from the ground to on top of the rim in a split second – knocking the ball away, Herrior let out a thunderous battle cry which never failed to have the person drop the ball, Lindel's controlled the ball with her mind, and Dan blasted the basketball with a frozen shock spell, turning it to ice and plummeting it to the ground. After ten minutes of trying to straighten them out, the captains of both teams eventually gave up and smiled at each other as they agreed to call it. The rest of the officers were laughing and having a great time as the rest of Herrior's party went on the court. Mohania removed his head and used it as a ball, but soon it got lost in all of the commotion.

A loud horn went off as the huge cell doors to the inside of the jail were opened. Guards came out first as they escorted the first group of prisoners out into the giant courtyard. Herrior's group stopped playing and watched them as they glared at each other.

"Let me at them…I'll gnaw off their ankles…" Mohania's skull said as he tried to bounce towards them. Lindel quickly moved Mohania's skull out of sight as his body bent over and put it back on without anybody noticing.

"Let's move on." Herrior said calmly. Herrior and his party slowly left with the rest of the officers. Several insults were shouted at them as they left. Herrior kept walking as the last officer out locked up the gate. Herrior sent a message to Lindel in his head to stay back and listen out of sight. Lindel turned around and quickly ran up against the building. She started reaching out with her mind and scanned their minds. Most of it wasn't worth listening to, several plots were in people's minds to kill each other and the guards, some miscellaneous thoughts, but finally came across a woman who was worried about her kids. Lindel focused her mind on her for several minutes. The woman thought about her kids and the school they went to. She worried about their environment they were growing up in and their dad. Lindel wanted to know more information about her. Lindel sent a message back to Herrior that she might have found something interesting and asked permission to investigate. Herrior said it was alright. Lindel then walked around the corner and asked a guard to let her in. The guard complied and then Lindel walked over to the woman.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lindel asked.

"Why?" The woman said back harshly.

"I am just curious about some things, how are your children?" Lindel asked.

"What about them? They are out there; I am in here – end of discussion!" The woman said and stormed off.

"They are hurting…" Lindel said calmly. The woman spun around and said, "What?"

"We both know it. How can I help?" Lindel asked.

"Get me out of here." The woman snapped back sharply.

"Do you deserve to be in here?" Lindel asked.

"I'm here aren't I? So what do you know about my kids?"

"They deserve a better school. Their dad is probably just as worried about them as you are. They are your children…what can I do to help?" Lindel asked.

"Get me out of here…get me back to my children is what you can do!"

"You committed a crime, I cannot just let you walk out of here but what I can do is ensure that your children are safe and have a good education at a school that they can learn at." Lindel said.

"Just how are you…wait a second, how did you know I was thinking that?" The woman asked with fear in her voice.

"Lucky guess…plus I read your profile. Even though you are in here, it doesn't mean that you can't help them out there. Give me some examples of what we can do to help." Lindel said with a smile.

The woman hesitated at first and then looked around. She then leaned forward and asked Lindel if she was one of the witches that haunts this place.

Lindel laughed and said "I've been called many things, but not that. Does your husband need money?" Lindel was hoping she didn't catch her lie.

"Of course…who doesn't…?"

"Tell me about your kids." Lindel said adjusting herself to get comfortable.

"They are falling behind in school, mostly because their mom is in jail. Their dad is working full time and has a nanny that watches the kids, but there is nobody there to help them with their homework. I don't know if they are even eating three square meals from all of the food groups. I sit in here because I did something to try to get ahead. It was stupid, and all it did was get me further behind. I screwed up my life and I have nothing left. By the time I get out of here, my kids will be fully grown and have kids of their own. Then they can say, 'Here's the mother we never had because she was in jail.' And it's the truth. There's not a damn thing I can do and sitting here talking to you is a waste of time!" The woman said getting up and storming off. Suddenly she felt overwhelming happiness flood her mind and a sense of reassurance. She dwelt in the moment and then turned around. Lindel was looking to the side acting as if she was completely oblivious to what she was experiencing. The lady looked at her funny and slowly walked back.

"Who are you?" The lady asked.

"Lindel, what is your name?" Lindel answered.

"Margaret."

"Nice to meet you Margaret; so shall we start over?" Lindel asked with a straight face.

Margaret looked both scared and curious...but felt hope, something she hadn't felt in awhile. Lindel patted the concrete slab next to her and said, "It's not comfortable, but it's probably better than sitting on the ground."

Margaret sat down and looked both ways to make sure nobody was looking at them.

"Are you planning on stabbing me?" Lindel asked with a smile.

"No!" Margaret said quickly.

"So?" Lindel asked.

"What do you get out of this?" Margaret asked.

"Part of the job. Look at you…do you really think you belong here? We need somebody to overhear some conversations, and you need somebody to setup a trust fund through a fundraiser. To answer your question, your husband is still loyal to you." Lindel said casually looking at her nails.

"Fine I'm in…what do you need?" Margaret whispered.

"A manicure first of all. Look at these things – playing a little basketball and it's just like having somebody stomp on them. Waste of a good thirty dollars. Feel like going for a walk?" Lindel asked still examining both of her nails.

"Sure?" Margaret answered back.

"Guard, let us out." Lindel said.

"Yes ma'am." The officer guarding the door said and quickly opened it. Lindel got up and started to walk out. She was on the outside when she turned around and saw Margaret still sitting there in awe.

"Going for a walk entails you moving your legs – which usually is followed by your torso…and the rest you can probably figure out." Lindel said smiling at her.

"So I can just walk out of her?" Margaret asked.

"We are going for a walk, you will be going back. Nothing will happen to you as long as you stay with me." Lindel said. Margaret hesitated and then quickly got up and caught up with her. The officer closed the gate and relocked it.

"If they find out I said…"

"Hush…just walk with me." Lindel said quickly. Lindel looked up at the sun and asked, "Beautiful out here isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess it is. Where are we going?" Margaret said.

"To get a drink, I'm thirsty." Lindel said.

They walked to the main headquarters as Lindel opened the door and let Margaret in first. Herrior's party was in their room having a discussion. Lindel figured she would get caught up on it later. Lindel led her over to a water cooler filled with fruit punch and took two cups and filled them up. She handed one to Margaret and then walked into the cafeteria area.

"Can I get you something to eat?" Lindel asked.

"I'm fine, thanks." Margaret said and took a drink. She looked shocked when she realized what she was drinking. "Fruit punch? I thought all of you drank water or coffee?"

"Fruit punch is better for the body. I can't stand the taste of the water here and coffee smells horrible." Lindel said smiling and taking a sip as they sat down.

"So a fundraiser, what did you have in mind?" Lindel asked.

"It was your idea…I don't know." Margaret said.

"Just give me some ideas. What would you do if you had to raise several million dollars?" Lindel asked.

"This is entrapment!" Margaret said quickly.

"That was a question…calm down. You are not being accused of anything, nor will you. We're in the cafeteria, not the interrogation rooms – none of this is being recorded. Do you want to brainstorm some ideas or do you want to go back to your cell?" Lindel asked taking another sip.

"None of this will be used against me?" Margaret asked.

"That's right."

"Win it big at a casino." Margaret said.

Lindel was stuck on this one. She didn't know what a casino was and she didn't want to do any more probing in her mind then she had to. She was already very jittery.

"Win millions of dollars in one night?" Lindel decided to ask.

"Yeah sure…or win the lottery…" Margaret said.

"Sounds like a win-win situation. Which one do you think has better odds of winning?" Lindel asked.

"Casino by far…so long as you don't blow your winnings on drinks and the slot machines..." Margaret said.

"I'll arrange for a fundraiser then. We'll pay off your family's debts, get your children a personal teacher at home, put some money into the schools so it's a safer environment and then for your parole hearing we'll offer to put up bond for your release." Lindel said.

"Yeah right…jokes over huh? Time for me to laugh? Let me guess, you want me to rat out everybody in the prison, which will end up getting me killed…great joke." Margaret said in a cocky tone.

"I'm not laughing. If you hear anything suspicious, remember who said it and when. Every day there are visitation rights. You'll report to an officer in secret over the secured phone what you heard. We'll take it from there. Offer stands for the next ten seconds…" Lindel said emotionless and finished off her drink as she clapped Margaret on the shoulder and went back for a refill.

"I'll do it…" Margaret said quickly. She knew she wouldn't get caught – it almost sounded too good to be true, but no way in hell was she going to turn down an opportunity like this.

Lindel came back with a full cup and said, "Good to hear. Report as much or as little as you can. If you don't hear anything, tell the officer you don't want to talk to anybody that day. Simple enough?"

"What am I listening for mostly?"

"Terrorist activity. We have full control of the gangs in this area. They can't shit without us shoving their face in it and swatting them with a newspaper." Lindel said with a smile. Margaret let out a short burst of laughter and then covered her mouth.

"Feels good doesn't it? Laughter I mean. You will probably be under house arrest, have a parole officer, and like I said have to put up a hefty bail – which will miraculously show up, but you will be with your family and husband within the next couple of months."

"That's impossible…"

"There are your normal parole hearings and then there are special parole hearings made by us. If you meet all of the qualifications, you will be out of here. We'll take care of the paperwork if you maintain your part of the bargain." Lindel said as she walked back over to her and sat down.

"Terrorist activity…what do you mean by that?" Margaret asked changing her tone.

"We suspect some people on the inside and some new arrivals are scheming to obtain large amounts of explosives and guns. Focus in on those conversations; also we believe the name of the organization is calling themselves the 'alliance'. That's it." Lindel said.

"And your boss…your Chief of Police or whatever will go along with this?" Margaret asked.

"Already approved of" Admiral said standing in the corner and eating a tuna sandwich.

"Holy shit!" Margaret said jumping in surprise.

"There are no secrets in here, but there are in there – you get us those secrets, and we get your ass out of here." Admiral said taking another bite. "Could even clean up a few of those naughty things you did in the past and get you to do community service at the school where your children go to – mentoring them. The fate of the free world lies in your hands."

"You're joking right?" Margaret asked.

"About the last part yeah…who knows when the world is going to end, but I'm not going to have any terrorist activity in my state…it would look bad on my record if they carried it out. On the other hand if we were to expose them it would look good on my record. Damn good sandwich." Admiral said chewing on the sandwich.

"Yeah ok…sounds too good to be true…but I'll go with it. I don't want anybody blowing anything up either so we have a common goal there. When do I start?" Margaret asked.

"I can escort you back to your cell right now." Lindel said finishing off her second cup.

"You say anything about this assignment and our deal is off." Admiral said in a stern voice.

"Figured that much…" Margaret said. She began to walk and then stopped and asked, "Why me?"

"You fit the profile, you have family on the outside, you suffer from depression, and you don't have many friends and single yourself out as much as possible. Nobody would suspect you." Lindel said.

"Do you watch all of your prisoners this closely?" Margaret asked.

"You would be surprised." Admiral answered.

"Alright" Margaret said and that was the end of that conversation. Lindel and her made idle chit-chat on the way back to the cell blocks. Lindel opened the door and told an officer that immediately recognized her to have Margaret taken back to her cell. He said he would do so at once.

"What's a casino?" Herrior asked when Lindel and Admiral told Herrior about the idea.

"People go there to play a series of card games, slot machines, or other 'against the odds' games in hopes of winning lots of money." Branzer said.

"You know the one where the sex trafficking was taking place in the underground basement? That was a casino…only we would be on the floor playing and not killing people." Lindel said.

"No killing people? I'm not good at that game…" Mohania said with a sigh.

"You are good at illusions though. Between myself, Mohania, Dan and Trackolania we should be able to manipulate every game so that we win every time." Lindel said.

"Yeah…and the rest of us will just mingle, see that they are winning and make bets in their favor. We could wipe that place clean in a matter of hours." Branzer said.

"Sounds like fun. I've always wanted to learn how to play craps." Admiral said.

"You won't have to…" Branzer said smiling at Admiral.

"Well someday I will want too…let's stack the deck a bit more in our favor. I'll contact the National Indian Gaming Commissioner and invite him with us to the fundraiser. We'll be in full uniform also. I'll get started on this if there is nothing else?" Admiral stood to leave. Suddenly a small pebble flew into his hands. It had a weird green symbol and was illuminating itself briefly before it turned back to a normal stone.

"Give us a call if you need anything." Herrior said smiling at him.

"Will this protect me from alliance and demons?" Admiral asked.

"No…our monks seem busy right now. They know about our request though. You'll get blasted soon enough. Now go make arrangements." Dan said. Admiral nodded and then left.

"Herrior I've been keeping something from you…well not so much keeping it from you as I haven't had a chance to tell you yet." Dan said turning to Herrior.

"You have a chance now." Herrior said smiling.

"I can take down Tranquil's shield." Dan said. Suddenly the room became deathly quiet everybody even stopped breathing.

"Yeah I figured that would be the reaction…Herrior I found out accidently. I tried to tell the monks to take away some of my power to put into Tranquil but they said my mind was to powerful for them. I walked outside and saw the outer wall with the illuminated shield. I wanted to channel my powers into the shield to increase its power…but the complete opposite happened. I put my hand on the wall and the shield drained into my body so I pulled my hand away quickly and saw an opening. The shield eventually fixed itself – I made sure of that. Then I went to our engineers and asked if there was a way of draining my powers into Tranquil. They said that their shield around Tranquil was impenetrable…and they seemed confident about it. I didn't want to tell them it wasn't so I wanted to tell you." Dan said.

"Great…so not only do you have the power to stop time in the known universe, but now your power exceeds Tranquil's. This is an interesting story…Herrior; can we club him to death now?" Mohania asked.

"Dan…are you sure?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior do you think I'm joking? Watch this." Dan said and held out his right hand. It vibrated a little and suddenly all of the air was sucked outside and they all began to float in the air, except for Lindel.

"Fascinating! Can you stop now?" Strings asked unsure what emotion to feel.

"This is what we call zero gravity. Air pressure constantly pushes down on us, keep us on the ground. Displace the air and you have what is called a 'vacuum'. I left oxygen in the room so we don't die, but now we have the ability to float." Dan said with his hand still out.

"I still vote for clubbing him to death." Mohania said as he started turning upside-down in slow circles. Dan then slowly let the air back in as everybody slowly landed in the ground.

"That's just a fraction of what I can do now. I think I absorbed too much power." Dan said.

"Now he's just talking nonsense…you can never have too much power…" Mohania said.

"We don't need the choir singing for a solo performance…" Crystal said glaring at Mohania.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Mohania said with a smile.

"I have a request…don't do that again…" Jacklyn said with a green face and holding her stomach.

"I have to agree with Jacklyn on that Dan." Herrior said.

"Ok I won't. Herrior, should I leave Tranquil?" Dan asked.

"You aren't a threat to us or Tranquil. Where would you go?" Herrior asked.

"Get a job flipping burgers…I don't know. I didn't think that part through. I just thought I would get kicked out of Tranquil with what I have learned." Dan said.

"Kid's got a lot of uncertainty." Jacklyn said.

"Doesn't learn from the past either…" Strings added.

"Dan, you stopped time for all of Tranquil…you even stopped the King and Queen but all you did was wait it out until it was over…also you were the one that shoved everybody's noses in each other's ass's." Mohania said.

"He is learning he is still young" Herrior said.

"Uncertainty leads to hesitation…hesitation leads to death in battle." Jacklyn said.

"It could bloom into curiosity which it has in the past." Skyka said.

"The past does foretell the future." Herrior added.

"If he gets caught, we're all dead." Jacklyn said.

"His mind cannot be controlled by another." Lindel said.

"But he is still young as Herrior said. Getting confused, manipulated, or made to surrender would lead to devastation." Jacklyn said.

"If it appears that we are giving him orders, he would follow them without question. If there is a succubus that could implant Lindel's voice in Dan's head, which he has allowed Lindel to continue to do so, it could also lead to devastation." Strings said.

"He lets me in because he loves me. A succubus would have to be really strong, but I think his defenses are stronger against demonic attacks now. It would be the same voice, but not the love he feels for me." Lindel said.

"Have you fully tested your powers?" Herrior asked.

"Our King said not to draw attention to myself." Dan reminded him. He felt like he was being judged.

"But I need to know what you can do in combat. Can you find out without getting caught?" Herrior asked.

"I could never get caught. I can stop time and get out of any predicament." Dan said.

"I don't like that answer." Herrior said before anybody else had a chance to say anything.

"He is reckless, yet loyal. I fear he may go off into combat and get himself killed like others have in the past." Jacklyn said.

Herrior nodded and said, "That is a concern. Dan leave us for tonight as we speak. Go test out your powers and report back in the morning." Dan nodded and left.

Dan walked slowly out of the station. He felt miserable, but at least the weight was off from his chest. He knew he was young, but he thought he had proved himself…many times. Why was this time different? He felt alone…for the first time in his life he felt absolutely alone. His mother was still here, why the thought of her came into his mind he didn't know, probably a reminder that he wasn't alone after all.

"Why the low face?" A female officer asked.

"My fate is being decided." Dan said not looking up.

"Oh, that would give me a low face too. You're with Herrior's group aren't you?" The female asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Dan said looking up at her with a grin. She was considerably older and gave him a smile back.

"You guys stick out like sore thumbs…even when you wear the same outfits. Don't know why…but we all know when you are here. Something about the vibes you guys give off or something. Makes all of us feel safe. Anyways…chin up." She said moving his face up towards the sky with her hand under his chin. "The sky is still there, it's a bright shiny day – why don't we go get some lunch?"

"Up…sky…go…" Dan said looking at the sky. "That's not a bad idea. Thanks for the talk." Dan said and ran to the back of the station past the prisoners. He let out a blast of air under his feet and floated over the fence and landed on his feet ever so delicately.

"Time for blast off." Dan said. Dan touched his trinket and turned into an all black garment. He then let out an enormous burst of air that shot him up into the air with him screaming for joy and horror at the same time. He then got himself together and then forced air to become propelled out from his feet. He was thrown forward at speeds he had never gone before. He put his arms to his side and his helmet deflected the incoming air.

The sonic boom hit as he saw a puff of white smoke expand out from behind him for a brief second. He accelerated faster, telling the air to move out of the way as he flew. As predicted this eliminated all drag and sent him forward at speeds he was ready for and began tumbling out of control. He commanded the air to catch him, and it did. It held him stationary in the air. Just then a jet fighter of some kind caught his eye in the distance. Without hesitating he propelled himself up to altitude and pushed himself hard, creating another sonic boom. Within less than a minute he was underneath it. He had never been this close to a jet before and was looking it over. He then thought of the nicest way of saying "Hi". He let go of the bottom of the jet and flew off to the left side and up towards the cockpit. There were two pilots. He was watching them for awhile and it looked like one was teaching the other how to fly. Dan flew over and knocked on the glass. They both looked over and the plane instantly dropped several hundred feet and veered off to the right.

"Oops." Dan said and flew down to match their altitude. They had stabilized the plane and both of them were pointing at him frantically. Dan waved at them and smiled. The pilot in the front ripped off his helmet and stared at him in awe. The pilot in the back tried to do the same, but the front pilot reached back and stopped him from doing so. The pilot in the front pulled his intercom and began saying something. Dan could only imagine the conversation. Dan then did several rolls as he went over the jet and over to the other side. Both pilots watched him, still in awe. Dan looked forward and saw that the ground was coming up. He looked at the jet and pointed down. The pilot in front looked out his window and saw what he was pointing at and pulled back on the stick, sending the jet screaming back towards the heavens. Dan followed them, matching their speed and altitude.

Once the jet had leveled back out, Dan fly in front of them and waved them forward. The pilot put his helmet back on, reconnecting all of the straps and accelerated the jet towards him. Dan then flipped over and put his hands behind him like he was doing this without effort. He let out a pretend yawn and accelerated even farther ahead. The jet caught back up. Dan smiled and motioned for them to follow him. Dan stopped the air from hitting the front of him and rocketed forward and tremendous speeds. Dan heard the roar of the engines jump to life as it struggled to keep up with Dan. He looked back and saw it slowing getting out of sight. Dan let himself laugh as he slowed himself down to let the jet catch up. Dan pointed to their engines and shrugged his shoulders and then sped back up. He figured the pilot had the afterburners on and pushing the engines as hard as they could go. Suddenly the jet slowed down and made a hard left turn, returning back where they came from.

"Out of gas eh?" Dan asked and then looked below him. It was nothing but water. "Oh." Dan said aloud. He flew down and skimmed inches above the water, creating a huge wake behind him. He held his hands out and huge columns of water rose up in the form of a huge wave. Dan turned directions, sending a huge wave in his wake. He then stopped and held his hands out as the waters began to turn violently. The waves grew up around him and turned violently fast around him. He flew up as the twirling waves grew in intensity and strength. He then flew above the column of water and commanded it to catch up. Dan did a belly flop on it and landed on the huge column of water. He then commanded the water to move backwards. Dan pretended he was swimming on top of the water and enjoying himself. He then snapped his fingers and the waters dropped back down to the ocean, creating an enormous splash. Dan then flew back the way he came, pushing himself harder and harder to go as fast as he could.

He eventually decided to stop as he saw a forest fire engulfing running rampant. Dan flew down as he landed on the ground. He slammed his fist in the dirt and the fires quickly extinguished. The miles and miles of fire line quickly went out; not even an ember remained. Dan then took back to the air and flew at cloud level and headed in what he thought was north. He landed several minutes later in a heavily dense forest. He felt more alive than he had ever been before. His power levels were still the same, he hadn't felt them diminish at all. He decided he would make camp here for tonight. He brushed aside some pine needles under a thick pine tree and laid down on his back. He said a quick prayer and then cleared his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

The moon had peaked in the sky and was beginning its race for the horizon when Dan was suddenly woke up by the pine tree violently shaking. Instinctively Dan's hands flew into their fist weapons as his senses sprung to life. The tree stopped shaking when Dan saw a giant brown hairy beast with red eyes looking down at him. The two stared at each other, wondering what the other was going to do. The beast then ran back several feet and picked up a rock.

"Whoa buddy…I'm not going to hurt you. What are you?" Dan asked beginning to crawl off to the side and out from underneath the pine tree. Dan didn't get a reply. It stood about eight foot tall, looked humanoid, was completely covered with brown hair and was capable of holding a rock. The beast then threw the rock off to the side. Dan analyzed him, or her, trying to figure out what the beast wanted. As soon as Dan rose to his feet, the beast let out a small grunt and began to sprint through the forest. Dan ran after him, keeping his weapons in front of him to make a path. The beast moved fast through the woods and barely made a sound, whereas Dan was snapping branches and having leaves crunch under him with every step.

After about a hundred yards the beast stopped and stared at something in the distance. Dan caught up and saw a rundown log cabin.

"What's in there?" Dan asked. The beast didn't say anything. Both of them waited for awhile and then a woman inside started screaming for her life. The beast let out a high-pitch wail in response. Dan reached out his hand and the cabin exploded from the inside out. He had commanded all the air inside to push outwards with gale force winds. The roof was still sailing upwards when Dan saw what had just happened. There was a male with a knife that had just stabbed another woman in the leg. Without hesitating Dan leaped forward and summoned an air elemental. It grabbed several nearby two-by-fours and sent them flying towards the man with the knife. The man was still in shock as the boards impaled him and sent him flying towards the woods. The beast, unwavered by what had happened, took off running towards the man. Dan commanded his air elemental to stop for a moment and to wait. The beast ran up to him, picked up the nearly dead man's head and lifted him several feet into the air. Then, without breaking a sweat or even flexing a muscle, the beast slammed the man's head several times into a tree until the sound of his skull cracking could be heard. The beast then turned to face Dan and let out a long high-pitched yell. Afterwards he turned and ran into the forest.

There were five hysterical women, half clothed with stab wounds that shouted in pain, fear, relief, but generally were obscenities.

"Relax." Dan said in a deep tone. He realized he was still in his armor, face covered and a long black cloak around him. Dan then dropped his totems and summoned a light blue orb to encircle his body. Dan began to cast the first healing spell as it slammed into the lady with the knife sticking out of her leg. Her wounded were completely healed as she looked astonished at herself. She pulled out the knife and felt the wound heal itself back up almost instantly. The other women looked amazed as Dan blasted the next one with a heal spell. He did this for all of them and then said, "Wait." He walked around the house and saw several others that had died. Dan began to cast his resurrection spell and ten seconds later the woman that laid dead was living once more. She took in a deep gasp of air and then screamed when she saw Dan. Dan had enough time to channel another powerful healing spell before the woman was caught by the air elemental and brought back. The woman continued to scream and Dan said, "Relax!" again.

Dan was able to bring two other women back to life, but not the other six. Dan had ordered the air elemental to create a vortex to keep all of the women contained. Dan found several different pieces of clothing and bedding to cover the nearly naked women. Dan then walked through the vortex of violent wind, unharmed, and grabbed the remains of the man. He then returned and pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Lindel.

"I need a portal…middle of the parking lot" was all Dan said.

"Who…who are you?" One of the women asked.

"Some call me a guardian angel. Others call me, 'Holy shit, what is that!'." Dan said remember what the jet fighters said. Dan put the hearthstone away as a portal appeared and began to open.

"Through this portal you will find police officers that will reunite you will your family and bring this man to justice. Remember, this is a favor. Pay the favor forward…promise it!" Dan said. All of the women nodded.

Dan pointed to the portal and said, "Walk through it, it will not hurt you." They did as he was told and arrived in a police station parking lot. There were several officers waiting for them, and took each one of them into the station to debrief them.

Dan watched the last one go through and made eye contact with Lindel.

"Are you coming too?" Lindel asked in his mind.

"Not yet." Dan replied. He turned his head upward as the air elemental surrounded Dan's body and threw him far up into the air. Lindel closed the portal.

"Everything happens for a reason." Dan said to himself as he redirected his body and broke the sound barrier again.

He flew through the night until the sun peaked up. He sat on a cloud and watched its brilliant radiance flood over the lands as they illuminated the world. Dan sat thinking about what he would do as huge currents of air blew upwards, keeping him in the air. The cloud would swirl around and tiny moisture droplets sometimes sprayed him in the face. He stayed like that for about an hour until he recalled a cartoon that he used to watch. It was an old Donald Duck episode…or at least he thought it was where a primitive duck with a large club somehow gained control of an empire of people and when asked what to do with the items stole by the bad guy, he would slam his club on the ground and say, "Give back!" Each time he was asked what to do the Neanderthal duck would slam his club on the ground and say the same thing. Dan smiled at the cartoon as he floated in paradise in the clouds recalling the cartoon.

He let the cartoon finally escape his mind and return to the cabinets in his mind labeled "Old worthless information" he said "Give back…more like give." Dan pulled out his hearthstone and summoned a Chronomancer from Tranquil and asked her to create a portal for him to go to Tranquil. Soon a portal opened and Dan casually stepped through it, each step creating an enormous gust of wind that made him walk as if he was walking on the ground.

He stepped through the portal and an enormous gust of wind blasted through the portal, knocking the female troll to her feet.

Dan quickly walked over to her and asked if she was ok.

"Ya be fine…what be da' be blast of de winds?" She asked.

"I was walking on air. If you are ok, I need to go speak with the monks." Dan said urgently.

She reached up her hand and destroyed the portal. She smiled up at him and jumped up to her feet. Dan smiled at her and nodded as Dan raced towards the monks chambers.

Several people said "Hi" to Dan as he returned them with casual "Hi's" but maintained his speed towards the monk's chambers.

Finally arrived, Dan start pounding on the monk's big wooden doors. Slowly the door opened and one of the creepy hooded monks instantly said, "We cannot fulfill your wishes."

"Yes you can – and don't be so negative, smile once in awhile." Dan said.

"What is it your plan?" The monk asked in the same creepy voice.

Back at the station Herrior's party was still sleeping as a portal opened up as Dan and a monk came through.

"Sleeping on the job…" Dan said loudly with his hands on his hips and shaking his head. He had returned back to his officer's outfit.

Mohania slowly mumbled "You're an ass…" as Herrior woke up and asked what he was doing here.

"I have an idea…but it's going to involve all of us getting blasted by the monk. It will strengthen your powers ten-fold. Once you have mastered them, then you can teach your trainers the information you have learned." Dan said excitedly.

"I'm not particularly fond of the idea of being blasted this early in the morning. Do you know if it'll work?" Herrior asked as the rest of the party began to wake up.

"Not a clue, it's never been done before…so wanna try?" Dan asked excitedly.

"I'm not sharing the same enthusiasm you are…however your past ideas seem to have worked. Everybody wake up." Herrior said turning to the rest of his party.

"It's it too early in the morning to be screaming in pain?" Skyka yawning.

"Lindel and Strings, this doesn't apply to you. If you two could please step outside and tell people not to come in." Dan said.

"What exactly is the payoff with this again?" Mohania asked.

"You'll have to trust me." Dan said smiling at him.

"Seriously though…what's the point of this?" Mohania asked again.

"How do you want us Dan?" Herrior asked as Strings and Lindel shut the door behind them.

"Lay down on the ground, but don't touch each other. I'll empower the monk and he'll send a tremendous amount of power into your body. Then from there you can test your abilities. It should enhance all of your abilities significantly." Dan said.

"Crystal, you go first." Herrior said. Crystal nodded as she moved to the middle of the room and laid down. Dan positioned himself behind the monk as the monk raised his hands into the air. The monk began to blast Crystal with normal beams of green bolts of lightning until she was hovering in the air. The pain was bad, but nothing to unbearable.

"Is it over yet?" Crystal yelled out.

"I love you hun, it'll be fine." Dan said as he grabbed a hold of the monk's head. Red lightning bolts shot out in every direction as Herrior's group ducked instinctively. Crystal let out a short scream and then her eyes opened curiously as she stared at the ceiling. The red lightning ran up and down her body for about a minute and then stopped as the monk's green lightning bolts slowly lowered her to the ground.

Everybody looked at her curiously as she slowly sat up. She started feeling her hair and asked, "How bad is it?"

"You look great Crystal, how do you feel?" Dan asked.

"I need a test subject…" Crystal said in a far away voice.

"I'm on it…I've got several in our cells…" Mohania said quickly pulling out his hearthstone.

"No, use me." Herrior said.

Crystal turned to him as if to ask if he was sure. Herrior nodded. Skyka put a protective shield around him. Crystal began to conjure a spell and a summoned a demon nobody had ever seen before. It had tentacles coming down from it, a dozen eyes and armor skin on its top and back. It looked around curiously at everybody and said, "Whom shall I devour?"

"You will do as I command…" Crystal said and engulfed herself in a quick burst of a spell. She then point at Herrior and casted two of her damage of time spells instantly, then quickly casted another one which appeared to do excruciating pain followed by her holding her hand out and causing Herrior to drop to his feet as the pain intensified exponentially. The demon, or beholder, quickly banished the shield around Herrior and silence anybody that tried to cast a heal spell on him.

"Enough!" Herrior shouted. Crystal withdrew her hand but the residual affects still lingered. She told Skyka to go ahead and heal him. She quickly healed his torn body over a couple of seconds.

"What…did you do to her?" Herrior asked frustrated by the amount of damage she had done to him so quickly.

Crystal has dark energies resonating from her as she held up a finger and had a dark orb circle around it. "I don't know…but I like it" Crystal said with a smile watching the orb circle her finger.

"It occurred to me when I was watching the sun rise this morning on top of a cloud. The monks cannot contain my powers or pass them along, but I can. What I needed was a monk to channel the powers. I would like to thank everybody that made this possible…the monk for being my channeler, Crystal for being my lovely assistant, and myself. Thank you everybody…I'll be here all week!" Dan said.

"Do me next." Herrior said rising up to his feet and regaining his strength.

"I can do all of you at the same time if you desire." The monk said.

"Do it." Herrior said and nodded to the rest of his party. Crystal moved out of the way as everybody lined up on the floor. The monk raised his hands and lightning bolts shot out in every direction. Dan touched him and his powers were instantly amplified. It drained all of the light from the room and converted it into energy. Random blasts of lightning slammed into the walls, creating holes and tiny fires. Everybody in the room rose up off from the ground and the blasted started. Everybody let out cringes of pain, including Dan as he felt his powers drain. The pain only lasted for a minute until the blasting was over. The different colored lightning that filled the room began to lessen until it faded out. The monk and Dan both collapsed on the ground exhausted.

"Dan?" Crystal said going to his side.

"Yeah I'm here…my power has faded…I'm weak…I need to sleep…" Dan said quietly – almost on the verge of death.

Herrior stood up and grabbed his shield and sword. Immense power flowed through his body. "The raw power flowing through my body…it's incredible!"

Mohania began to ignite his body on fire and a vortex of fire began to surround him. "I agree…" he said in his sinister voice. "My chaos bolt could level an entire town…my fire spells have increased ten-fold. Let's go fight something!"

"Can we go to the arenas?" Jacklyn said as she began to twirl her huge weapons with finesse. She twirled the blades around the same as Trackolania did back in the day.

Strings knocked on the door before he opened it. "There are some people here with George that wants to speak with us." Strings said in his officer uniform.

"Tell Lindel to come back in. She needs to open a portal for the monk and Dan to go back to Tranquil for them to rest. We'll test out our new powers later. Everybody else changed into your officer uniforms." Herrior said touching his dragon trinket. Herrior's party left as Lindel went back in and shut the door.

"Good to see you again Herrior." George said. He began the introductions to the men and women that he had brought. Herrior nodded at each person, but didn't care about their names or titles. Admiral came out of the conference room and said, "We should be all set. First time I ever setup a conference room, but we should have plenty of breakfast foods and of course your drink of choice – fruit punch."

"Let us begin. Admiral I need an officer to stand at our door. We have somebody that is running late, but she'll be along soon. I need her escorted in." Herrior said.

"I'll do it sir." An officer said immediately as he walked over to their room and stood on the outside.

"She is coming from there?" one of George's people asked.

"Let's begin shall we?" Herrior said in a firm tone.

Everybody entered the conference room and seated themselves, Herrior's party sitting next to each other and two officers guarding the door from the outside.

"I'd like to thank everybody for coming. This is exciting for me. Is the laptop hooked up to the projector?" George asked.

"I couldn't figure that out, so I have the white board and some markers on it." Admiral said slightly embarrassed.

"You command an aircraft carrier and you can't figure out how to hook up a simple projector?" A man asked with glasses and a receding hairline. Herrior slammed his fist on the table and stood up fiercely as his chair slammed back into the wall and broke several pieces of drywall. The rest of Herrior's party were on their feet as well, their weapons still hidden, but were begging to be summoned.

"It's a joke…let's have a good laugh everybody and calm down. Isaac simply made a joke and didn't mean anything by it. From now on Isaac won't make any more jokes." George said quickly. Herrior turned to look at George. "Simple joke…he won't do it again…" George said. Herrior turned his head to his party and nodded as they all took a seat.

"Ok now we have the ground rules set for the meeting. There are many questions that everybody has and I believe we can mutually benefit each other. Herrior as I introduced before, some of these people are high ranking individuals with top secret clearance. We all are friends here and let's see if we can get this meeting underway." George said.

"My first question is how have you been George? You are looking stress and tired." Herrior asked.

"I am." George replied back with a smile. He had dark lines under his eyes and his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

"Do you wish for us to meet some other time so that you may rest?" Herrior asked.

"No, there is no need for that. I am excited to have this meeting. Let's begin shall we?" George asked with an obvious nervousness and hope that everything would go smooth.

"Well then, everybody here is curious as to where you came from and what you are doing on our world? Shall we start there?" George asked.

"Our world changed, I cannot reveal the location we are at now because only our Chronomancers know that. We are currently in a meeting at the station, pass the donuts please." Herrior said.

"Go with the jelly filled round ones, those are the best. Everybody else goes with the other plain ones when there is nothing left." Julie said passing them over.

"Julie. Julie…Julie…Julie…aren't you awol right now? I have your entire file here. It seems as though you face several court marshals as of the moment. Perhaps you can tell us what we need to know in exchange for the information we need?" One of the commanding officers said with dozens of folders in his hands.

Julie summoned Spark and he jumped up on the table and let out a loud bark. The rotating teeth inside of the dog and the acid like drool were less than inch away from the terrified man. He backed up only a little and tried not to show his fear. Julie laughed and said, "Sir, mister big man in charge…you can leave two different ways out of here – either in the form of shit through my dog, or by not making any more pathetic threats to me. You silly old man…"

"I will not be threatened!" The man said standing up to the enormous dog. The dog let out a deep growl as it increased in size and then pounced on him – throwing him back against the wall. Spark picked him up by the shoulder and started shaking him like a ragdoll.

"This is amusing I must say…I call dibs on any parts that fall off." Mohania said.

"Herrior please, this is getting us nowhere." George said.

"Indeed it is though. This is teaching him and everybody else to respect us for what we are. If it takes the death of this man, then so be it. I will not have my party threatened." Herrior said casually followed by an "oops" as he spilled jelly on the table.

"You do have to be careful with those, sorry forgot to warn you." Julie said with a smile.

Spark let go of the man who threatened Julie and growled over him as his mangled right side of his body lay limp.

"Herrior…can we have some order?" George asked.

"We do not handle threats. I'm half surprised Julie ordered him to stop. I assumed the man would be coming out the rear end of Spark." Herrior said calmly and took another bite of his donut.

"I…need a shot of morphine!" The man yelled. His army training instincts kicked in. Herrior looked over at Skyka and motioned to him. Skyka went over and blasted him with a healing spell. The man looked amazed as he looked at his mangled arm. Spark backed up and began to lick Skyka.

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good doggie? Oh yes you are…you are a good doggy…" Skyka said in a childish voice petting him on top of the head. Spark began rubbing against him.

"Now than…Mr. Sergeant Attitude…how about you hand over those files on me and everybody else you have?" Julie asked reaching her arm across the table.

"Who are you people?" The man asked frantically rising from the table.

"This meeting is going nowhere…can we go? Mohania has some people he needs to eat." Crystal said.

"She's right." Mohania said pointing to her and nodding.

"Let's give it a couple more minutes. George did go through all the trouble of bringing all of these professional nerds and Sergeant Slaughters with him…there's got to be some good to come from this." Branzer said.

"I don't know who you people are, but obviously I am at a disadvantage and should not have said what I said about Julie. However though, this gives me some idea of what powers you have…even if it meant ripping off my right arm…" The man said. He slid the stack of personal files over to Julie, who in turn slide them to Mohania and told him to burn them – who in turn ignited half of the table on fire in a burst of fire.

"Accident…" Mohania said with a smile. He paused for a moment and then said, "I'm looking forward to having several more!" So now half of Herrior's party was no longer sitting at a table, and the other side of the table the legs looked crippled on the floor. Nobody in Herrior's party flinched. Everybody else jumped back in shock.

"So…to continue…I'll start us off. We have some top secret information about the whereabouts of some of these aliens you killed at the South Pole. We think they are able to assume control of our minds and use us to do their will. Why were you not affected by this when you fought them?" George asked.

"Herrior let me get this…" Branzer said putting his hand on his head and rubbing his temples. "Look, if this is going to be a 'Q&A', you are wasting our time…and the more time you waste of ours, the more accidents happen…and none of us want any more accidents."

"I do!" Mohania said interrupting.

"I was waiting for that. Let's just say…the tooth fairy gave us special fillings in our teeth that prevent them from taking over our minds…next question."

"Are you aliens yourselves?" Another man asked.

"No – we are as normal as the rest of you are. Next question." Branzer said quickly.

"What are you here for? What is your mission?" Another man asked.

"Now we are getting somewhere. Our enemies are on this world. We hunt them down and kill them, and they do the same to us." Branzer said. Herrior started in on his second donut.

"Who are your enemies?" The same man asked.

"They call themselves the 'alliance'. They are bent on destroying your world and stealing candy from babies. There are also demons that roam this world – we attack them also. They are both a bunch of bad people, beings, whatever – and we also attack anybody that threatens us…but well…that was already demonstrated. Good questions though, but I don't think you need to know any more information. How about we skip the next couple of questions and get right to the end, 'How can you get us to fight for you?' – And the answer to that is simple, you can't. We are not here to free America and fight the axis of evil, or whatever you are calling it now. Yes we killed some terrorists but they got in our way. So let's move on to exchanging information. Obviously there are aliens and they are attacking humans, not only in America but also in other countries. They pissed us off, so we are setting out to annihilate their race, credit of course goes all to Mohania who single-handedly destroyed one of their planets…Mohania would you like to chime in?" Branzer asked catching a breath.

"No you have the story correct…go on." Mohania said with a smile.

"So if you know where they are, we would be interested in paying them a visit. Do you know where any are?" Branzer asked. The room fell quiet for several seconds as George's men and women started looking at each other.

"Well now…if that isn't a direct answer I don't know what is. Where are they at?" Branzer demanded.

"We have several locked up. We are attempting to study them…"

"Blah blah blah…where is their bases? Where are they living?" Branzer asked.

"We don't know. We receive some faint signals and are closer to detecting when they 'bend space' to arrive here and send up our high altitude fighters to intercept them. Regular missiles don't damage them like they should. It merely vibrates their ship and they lose altitude a couple of thousand feet. Heat-seekers are worthless, but special equipped bunker busters equipped with self-propelled and in flight camera brings them down. For some reason the enormous explosion after explosion interrupts their means of ignition. The world is seventy percent ocean, so most of them fall harmlessly into the ocean. We're making huge strides in our radar and detection systems, but they move so fast that it's darn near impossible to catch up with them."

"Ok enough tech talk…so you brought down a couple and are slowly torturing some of them…we're doing way more than you are and on such a huge scale that even I don't understand it. Let's just say if we were having a contest, we would be the hare and you would be the tortoise. We'll continue doing what we can, and you come up with your excuses of 'swamp gas reflecting off from Mars and high-altitude weather balloons', next question." Branzer said.

"Ooo…I like a man who takes charge…" Lindel said in a seductive voice with a big grin and smile at him.

"We have to move them along because we are on a time restraint…Trackolania only has so much wood to carve his name in, and who knows when Mohania is going to suddenly explode on us." Branzer said. Herrior's party burst into laughter.

Dan walked in the door rubbing his eyes as he saw the mess unfold before him and only smiled as he quietly shut the door behind him.

"Oh, look who showed up to the party. How are you feeling?" Crystal asked.

"Better…let me guess Mohania got mad?" Dan asked looking at the table.

"It was an accident…have a seat Dan." Herrior said getting up and offering his chair to him. Dan took it and looked in the donut box. "Oh man…no cream filled ones left…"

"Told you everybody liked those." Crystal said.

"Are you guys aware of these aliens flying on their own?" One of the scientists said and handed a folder to Herrior. Herrior looked at it and rolled his eyes.

"Dan…by any chance do these pictures look familiar to you?" Herrior asked with a sense of knowing the answer.

Dan started shaking his head, "They never get my good side…" as he took a regular glazed donut and bite into it.

"Excuse me son? Did I hear you right? This is you in this picture?" The man asked surprised.

"Uh huh, why?" Dan asked curiously.

"Dan…you weren't supposed to draw attention to yourself." Herrior reminded him.

"Oh – and Mohania doesn't? In my defense…it was fun." Dan said looking up at Herrior peering over him with a smile.

"You mean to tell me you mastered flight without wings?" The man said laughing.

"Who are these jokers?" Dan asked.

"I already had Spark practically devour one of them to convince them of who we are and not to threaten us." Julie said.

"You look good today Julie, did you do something new with your hair?" Dan asked.

"No, but thanks though." Julie said back with a smile.

Dan stood up and said, "Gentlemen…I give you…Ironman." Dan touched his trinket and turned into the exact picture of him on the paper. All of the men and women gasped.

"Ironman? Really? Skyka what's the policy for kicking our husband's ass for doing something stupid?" Crystal asked with her hand over her hand and shaking her head.

"I don't think we have one…feel free at any time." Skyka said giggling back.

"Behold my awesome power that I behold…damn messed that up…just a second…" Dan said and an enormous gust of wind blew down from his feet and propelled him to the ceiling. Then a giant gust of air pushed down out of his chest, arms and legs as he floated around on the ceiling. He casually took another bite of his donut and then said, spitting donut crumbs everybody, "Bast in my powers and behold my awesomeness!" Dan said.

"Dan…get down here so I can kick your ass…" Crystal said. Dan floated over to her. He lowered himself and kissed her on the cheek and said, "Love you hun."

"Love you too…just stop making an ass out of yourself." Crystal said glaring at him. Dan immediately stopped channeling the wind and fell to the ground.

"What? I thought ironman was good." Dan said.

"Chew with your lips closed sweety…" Crystal said patting him on the cheek.

"Well I guess that answers that question." Herrior said and took the folder back from Dan and tossed it to the man.

"He was going mach six!"

"And winning! I had to slow down for you guys to catch up. What you need to learn is the wind is pushing down on you and pushing at you at the same time. Simply tell it not to…and…wait for it…the sky is the limit!" Dan said enthusiastically.

"I'm gonna kick his ass…I swear I'm going to." Crystal said turning red.

"Was he causing trouble?" Herrior asked.

"Causing trouble? He was…breaking almost every rule we have about aviation…what he did was impossible!"

"How do the alien spaceships fly?" Branzer asked quickly. The man turned from his shocked face to that of a more serious one. He withdrew and looked down.

"That's what I thought. You've had those flying saucers for how long and you still can't figure the things out? So Dan did drag races with your aircraft and won…he should have raced for pink slips. What's next?" Branzer asked.

"Last night several women who were on the missing cases list…some for almost a year…showed up last night mysteriously at your station, let me guess – none of you know anything about that?" The man who got mangled by Spark asked.

"Oh – I know that one! Also for future reference, bigfoot does exist." Dan ended. Everybody stared at him waiting for more.

"What? What can I say, our officers in our station are the best in the country and they will be known as such." Dan said.

"Move on…" Branzer said.

"Your friend George here tells me you work on the honor system…or the 'buddy-buddy' system…you scratch my back I'll scratch yours kind of thing. We need you to scratch our backs, what can we offer you in exchange?" The Sergeant asked…or so the name stuck with him anyways.

"We desire nothing you have. Your technology is worthless, and your metal is to flimsy. No amount of gold you have would come close to what we have and precious gems are used for children's toys…" Herrior said.

"How can we get a hold of you if we are in need of your help?" The Sergeant asked.

"The bat signal…" Dan thought but knew better not to say it.

"You don't. We watched cities rise and fall, empires rise and fall – your country is no different. Bottom line, you want us to solve your problems and we won't." Herrior said.

"We can have people go undercover and look for these 'alliance' people…" George said.

"George, you aren't like them – please don't act like them." Herrior said. He paused briefly before continuing, "Besides, should you find one and they knew you were speaking with us right now, they would kill you on the spot…or worse."

"What about demonic activity?" The Sergeant asked.

"Do you have a demon detector?" Branzer asked. The answer came back with silence.

"George, I think this meeting is over. Build this base up and train your armies here. Keep our secrets – or we'll kill you." Herrior said.

"We have spies…"

"So do we…and they are better than yours." Herrior said.

"Are they as spread out all over the world as yours are? Do they talk the foreign tongue and know their cultures? Would they know if something was out of the normal if something were to happen?" The Sergeant asked quickly and with force behind his voice.

Herrior paused for a minute at the question. He wasn't looking at him to analyze his body language…might this be a futile attempt to gain their trust?

"He speaks the truth Herrior. We have special ops all over the world, not to mention our spy gear and satellites. If somebody were to sneeze, we could count how much snot they expel from their nose…" George said.

George wasn't lying. Herrior knew that immediately. This peaked his interest.

"We'll have two different reporting stations…one that goes to Admiral here at the station, and one at the fortress you are building next to it. You give us information that might appeal to us, and we will scratch your back." Herrior said.

"What are we looking for?" A woman finally spoke up.

"Small or large groups of people who isolate themselves, and seemingly have the ability to control other humans to follow their will. These people will arm themselves with huge amounts of weaponry and attempt to get it off from this world. Also…people who have a legitimate claim to seeing demons, ghosts, spirits…whatever you call it – we are interested in. Whatever you do, do not jeopardize your people. If they get caught they are dead. They had better be damn good at what they do!" Herrior said.

"The best. So we have a deal?" The Sergeant asked extending his hand.

"We have a tentative agreement based on our friend's judgment." Herrior said and shook his hand.

"Good doing business with you. Just a guess, but you are all in disguise aren't you?" The Sergeant asked with a smile. Herrior tapped his trinket and revealed his true self. He then let out a thunderous roar, knocking everybody out of their seats in terror.

"Dan!" Herrior said quickly.

Time stopped.

"Walk out our party members that are not immune to time stopping. Let's go back to Tranquil." Herrior said. Everybody did as they were told and once they were in their room Lindel opened a portal.

Time resumed.

Everybody casually walked through and disappeared from the station.

Back in the conference room the Sergeant immediately shouted, "Where the hell did they go? What happened?"

"No offense…but I wouldn't ask to much more about that. They are serious about killing us if we betray them…and we would never see it coming." George ended.

In Tranquil Herrior asked how Dan was feeling and inquired about his powers.

"They are drained – not all of them, but at least I can feel them recharging now. I took a quick nap and wanted to rejoin your group. I am not able to drain Tranquil's shield anymore. How are you feeling?" Dan asked the question with a smile.

"Like I could take on the world. I think all of us are going to hit the arenas and see what exactly we can do. Why did you decide to share your powers?" Herrior asked.

Dan thought about it for a second to make sure he worded his sentence correctly. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I didn't want that. I want love and I want to strengthen Tranquil and its fighters. I didn't want to be something to be feared, I want to be part of the group. I absorbed more power in the rift than I should have. It reminded me of Lindel when she turns into her evil banshee form and started thriving off from the fallen. It scared her at first, but now it seems like…*yawn*…it scared you. I'd rather give up being a fighter and still have your trust in me…then to sleep…I mean…you know what I mean. Something told me I needed to be at that meeting though." Dan said ending with another yawn.

"Why don't you go get caught up on your sleep? To be honest we weren't quite sure what was going to happen, but once again you have proved yourself. Welcome back." Herrior said feeling as though Dan felt apart from the group and it was justified to say that to make him feel part of the group again. Dan smiled at him and nodded. Crystal wrapped her arm around him and walked him back to their house.

"Not going with them?" Dan asked.

"I already know what I can do. Besides I still need to kick your ass…" Crystal said with a smile. She then added, "I'd rather be by your side."

At the arena Herrior was absorbing blow after blow, even the ones that struck behind him; Jacklyn's cries of excitement as she plowed through attacker after attacker and Mohania filled the area with a cyclone of fire as he powered out devastating fire spell after spell and launching his mighty chaos bolt. The party was thoroughly enjoying themselves as the onlookers stared with amazement and wonder. The hunters fired deadly blow after blow, almost as fast as a machine gun and dropping their targets almost instantly. Even all of the party's pets and summoned demons had new abilities and were stronger. Word spread quickly and the King's curiosity got the better of him. So he left the palace and summoned a dragon to observe first hand. What he saw astounded him. He flew from arena to arena watching Herrior's group attack either a target dummy, or an actual combatant that wanted to experience the attacks first hand. The healers were working full time at the arenas, healing the wounded and shields were placed on the ones that were badly wounded to prevent them from dying. The goblins continued to monitor the arenas closely, but were unsure how to call some of the battles because Herrior's party annihilated any competitor that came. They were quick though to stop the battle if it got out of hand.

After several hours of Herrior's group defeating opponent after opponent without breaking a sweat, all of the fighters filled the streets and began to ask what happened. The King wanted to hear this so he flew down and landed off to the side with his dragon, dismounted and walked up to listen. Herrior told of the missions that they were on and how Dan was able to drain powers from his foes and then eventually used a monk to enhance their powers. He also explained that they were much simpler to use and each explained some of their new abilities that they got – expect for Trackolania…he didn't say anything. The other fighters desperately wanted to learn the new abilities and Herrior said that they would go to their trainers and teach them their new abilities and talents. Eventually the King walked up behind Herrior as he was still explaining and many of the fighters stopped listening and turned to look at him. Herrior noticed and turned around to see the King looking at him with a big smile on his face.

"I didn't mean to interrupt…go on." The King said.

"My King, you startled me." Herrior said gently bowing down before him.

"No need…I've been watching you and your party for the past couple of hours and listening to your stories. I believe your doubts about Dan were unwarranted." The King said.

"Yes my King, I was wrong. His power was beyond anything we have ever seen. He is still young and learning, but he has proven his loyalty once again." Herrior said.

"I made him prince of Tranquil for a reason." The King reminded him.

"Yes my King." Herrior said acknowledging it.

"I am glad to see that we appear to have the upper hand against the alliance. Herrior take your party and teach our trainers your new abilities. We will start researching them and see if we can enhance them further. I dare not say my thoughts aloud, but I now look forward to the day we meet our enemies on the battlefield. Let Tranquil forever stand!" The King shouted and everybody else cheered in an uproar.


	31. Time Stoppers Unleashed

Take a Gamble

Weeks passed in Tranquil as the training continued for all of the fighters. Herrior's party stayed in Tranquil to help the fighters with their new abilities. Admiral has visits from several ambassadors so that information could be conveyed back and forth as to what was happening on Earth. Herrior even asked about Alan and how he was doing. The outpost was still manned and operational; the guards said they had nothing to report.

As the time went by Herrior made sure to hold meetings with his own party and to keep their "egos" in check. Many of the fighters took to their new attacks quickly, while others didn't and it required patience. All of the fighters in Tranquil now were equal and there were no longer a secondary and primary group of fighters. This was decided by the King to get rid of the thinking's between a higher group and a lower group. Many complaints had come from this. Also since the new abilities were equal to that of the primary fighters, the King wanted all of his fighters ready and able to fight in a battle, should one arise. The jobs of the secondary groups were vanquished and were distributed evenly among all of the parties of Tranquil. Now no one was looked down upon as a weaker fighter – everybody was equal. This helped promote more soothing environment for everybody and encouraged everybody to work together. The armor smiths, including Herrior, as well as tailors, leather workers, and weapon smiths were working around the clock to help make sure that everybody had equal weapons.

Skyka finally got her design of having a wand stitched into her inner sleeve to work. She was now able to cast a healing spell, raise her hand at an enemy and get a shot off from where her cloak drooped down, and let off another healing spell. This helped a great deal because wands held magical properties, similar to that of the rest of the weapons and armor. Skyka called her invention the "inner sleeve" and she praised herself for it as did many other magical users that wore cloth.

The time had come for Herrior's party to go back to their world and watch for alliance and demons – as did many other party's on different worlds they were assigned to. They arrived in their room that Lindel had opened and no sooner had they arrived than Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate.

"The people that call themselves the Earthen Ring, the people that you freed and helped fight their enemies have taken in alliance and are murdering orcs!" Kon said urgently.

"Have you engaged them in battle yet?" Herrior asked back quickly.

"No…we aren't sure which ones to fight." Kon said sounding confused.

"I'll be right there." Herrior said putting his hearthstone away and Lindel was already in the process of opening a portal. Herrior charged through it with his sword and shield in hand and leaped into the air – slamming down in front of the confrontation.

"This ends now! Either by the death of all of you, or by diplomacy!" Herrior screamed as loud as he could, ending the battle temporarily. Herrior's party had their pets and weapons active as well as Kon's party were fully ready to engage.

"Herrior – the alliance wants the orcs back and…" one of the Earthen Ring leaders began to say before Herrior delivered a quick stab in his mouth. The leader looked astonished as his tongue came out on the tip of Herrior's blade.

"Next one that lies to me losses more than this! What is going on here?" Herrior screamed again. The rogues and hunters disappeared from sight and began maneuvering into fighting positions.

"These orcs are ours! You took them from us, and the Earthen Ring and all of its people belong to us by rights of our sovereign King!" One paladin screamed out. "We are taking them and anybody that resists us!"

"Kill them…leave any that surrender…" Herrior said and then let out a battle cry as he charged into battle. The rest of his party and Kon's party eagerly charged forward behind him.

"A massacre wasn't the right name for it", Dan thought as their melee group tore through their armor and either cut off limbs, or disemboweled them. The healers were in the back as always firing out healing spells when they realized they weren't needed.

"Piss on this…I'm going to attack!" Skyka declared and ran up behind the melee group, her wand firing the entire time.

Less than a minute later, the alliance laid deathly quiet on the ground. Herrior walked up to their leader and let out a battle cry before slamming his sword through his skull.

"I have not seen such…finance. You would be a valuable asset to our group." An old tauren said as his eyes met Herrior's and began to mesmerize him. Seconds later a dagger came out of from the opposite side of the tauren's neck. Trackolania pulled hard to the right and spun around with his opposite dagger decapitating him.

"The Earthen Ring are no long our allies! Their attack on me, and their unwilling to assist us in combat proves it. Kill them." Herrior ordered. Shots rang out almost immediately as the melee groups ran in to try to at least get a piece of the action before they were all killed.

"These orcs do not belong here. Lindel, open a portal to our prisons so that they can be interrogated." Herrior said.

"We would rather die than be imprisoned again!" A young feisty orc said. Herrior motioned over at him with his eyes and then looked back, "Once we have the knowledge we need from them, give them the standard choices. Kon I believe you had better find out where the rest of the alliance is. Do you need assistance?" Herrior asked.

"Assistance? Do you see my bow? I didn't get a shot off! Assistance my ass…let's move out!" Kon said with a smile and ran off the sandy enclave and dove into the water.

"You'll have to kill me! Run me through with your blade! I will not go in there!" The same orc said. Herrior walked over, picked him up with one hand and threw him through the portal. The rest went willingly and afterwards Lindel shut the portal.

"Can we stay and eat?" Mohania asked.

"He had some spite in him…I doubt he will become a fighter for Tranquil." Jacklyn said.

"We'll relocate him to somewhere else. It would be nice to have some more orc's in Tranquil though. We mustn't lose hope." Herrior said.

"Think Kon was upset?" Skyka asked smiling.

"Next time I'll let him lead the charge…maybe. Lindel if you would please take us back." Herrior said returning the smile.

They arrived, once again back to the station and Herrior immediately left to go see Admiral. Herrior flung open the door and scared him in his chair. He was on the phone with somebody. Immediately Admiral put his hand over the phone and asked what was going on.

"We just got out of battle and we slaughtered many!" Herrior announced and his party cheered. Admiral tried to quiet them down but to no avail. Lindel sensed that something important was going on so she floated through everybody and told them in their minds to be quiet. Lindel yanked the phone away and said, "I said I want you here tomorrow! There is an investigation underway and if we don't time everything right, it will fall through…mmmmm…ah….ooo…" the last couple of noises were unclear as to the actual sound Lindel was making, but it got the point across. She pushed the "speakerphone" button and hung up.

"Sorry sir, I had no idea the importance of this operation. I'll keep it discreet and leave immediately! I apologize again…have a good day" and then the phone clicked to a dial tone.

Admiral looked at the phone astonished. He then looked up at Lindel who was now sitting seductively on the desk with her legs crossed and her hands on her knees. She was flashing her eyelids at him with a smile.

"Can I call my boss and have you ask him to give me a raise?" Admiral asked.

"Dial him up." Lindel said and then tapping right above the drawer where the chocolate was kept.

"Oh yes…here are several different kinds. I didn't know what you liked." Admiral said quickly opening the door and grabbing a handful of candy bars and giving them to her.

Lindel took them and jumped off the desk seemingly proud of what she did.

"Admiral, do we have any reports we need to investigate?" Herrior asked ignoring Lindel.

"Several. I had a separate cabinet brought in and categorized some of these. We had either one of the police officers or one of the soldiers, dressed as police officers, investigate every case and make sure it was worth our time. You'll find them in alphabetical order." Admiral said maneuvering around his desk and opening the cabinet. He pulled out a stack of folders with files and photographs in them.

"Uh yeah…our job isn't to look at all of those…is it?" Jessica asked.

"No that is something else I had done. Oddly enough each drawer that we put a case file in corresponds within a localized area. We have sent undercover officers to scout out the area and we have several voice recordings that have been translated into documents if you want to read through them." Admiral gave the documents to Herrior and casually scratched his head as he said, "I really wasn't sure what you wanted done I have to admit. In my personal opinion I would have sent troops into these areas and dealt with the situation as needed, however I wanted your permission to do so, and since we aren't immune to the possession that we need to be by your monks…" Admiral was cut off.

"You did fine." Herrior said walking over to some of the reports and thumbing through them.

"Is it just this world that you get so much activity on? Is that why a special task force was sent here?" Admiral asked.

"No, we have tens of thousands of groups now – even stronger than before on many different worlds. We only have one group, or party as we like to put it, on this world. It's always been us. Admiral this is way too much information. I trust your intuition now, if you think there is enough evidence for us to warrant an investigation then we will go; before it was a couple of cases that had unconfirmed information in it." Herrior said handing off the first file to Jacklyn.

"I must admit something…I didn't think I would be pushing papers until later on in my career. This is a definite change for me." Admiral said.

"Would you rather be back on your boat?" Herrior asked.

"I'd rather own a boat. I still haven't acquired my 'land-legs' yet. Our army base is coming along nicely. I implemented a new work program for the prisoners…if they help with the work they get longer outdoor time and special desserts before lights out. Also a lady prisoner by the name of Margaret has been relaying information to us, most of it trivial, but she said at night she swears she sees a faint red glow from one of the prisoner's eyes."

"Branzer, Lindel…" Herrior said and pointed out the door. Both of them left immediately. After they left Herrior asked what kind of boat Admiral wanted.

"Something big, a luxury yacht or something…probably not on my paychecks huh?" Admiral asked with a smile.

"Bernett, look into getting him what he wants. Admiral when is this attack on the casino going to commence?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior, it's gambling. We go to the casino and gamble with money for a chance to win more money." Dan said.

"Attacking it would be easier…I'm not a big fan of gambling…" Herrior said with a bitter tone.

"You're going to get me a yacht? Just like that?" Admiral asked.

"Is Bernett not working on it?" Herrior asked turning around. He didn't see him and Skyka said he was on one of the officer's computers. Herrior turned back around and looked at Admiral with a slight confused look and asked, "You did ask for a boat didn't you?"

"Yes…but I mean they are millions of dollars." Admiral started to laugh and said, "We'd have to win the jackpot at the casino to get that kind of money."

"We don't plan on losing." Dan said with a smile.

"Casino's have enough money stored within their vaults so that even if everybody wins it big, they would still have enough money to pay out everybody. They probably have several billion in cash." Julie added.

"Several billion is what we are going to get then – when are we going?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…this weekend... You don't expect us to rob the place do you?" Admiral asked.

"Let's just say we have some very talented people in our party…and you'd be a fool to bet against or play against them." Dan said.

"How many officers do we have coming?" Herrior asked.

"Almost two hundred…should I spread the word to stick close and bet the house on every bet that your party makes?" Admiral asked. Herrior looked confused.

"Tell them to bet several houses on our bets…" Dan said smiling.

"We of course have the confiscated money that we planned on bringing, but I was leery about that. If we didn't get it back…well it would be a lot of paperwork to cover those tracks…" Admiral said.

"Admiral, hire in somebody to help alleviate your work load, or even better, promote people from within and hire people to take their place. You shouldn't be doing paperwork or dealing with pricks on the phone…you are a fighter, not a secretary. You're job is to help us, filter some of these files that come in like you did, and sail on your new boat." Julie said.

"Julie is right. You are a fighter and your job is to help us. Don't worry yourself with these trivial pieces of parchment floating around and that worthless telephone. Arm yourself, keep the prisoners in line, draw us maps on where our targets are, and get more weapons for your officers in here. Keep your officers in good shape and their moral high. Your job is to lead and you cannot do that from this position in this room. You need to be in charge of everything at all times. Should your officers come under attack, contact us and we will eliminate the threat. However from what I have seen of your officers they should be ok." Herrior said.

"Work more on hand-to-hand combat with knives or other hand weapons. Get some karate teachers in here or whatever and get your men trained on how to kill somebody with a knife, staff, and sword, whatever… When your officers die – it will be on your conscious and that is something you will have to live with." Dan said. Herrior nodded.

"And bring in some pets. Get some guard dogs, or assign each officer a dog. Once they learn who their master is, bring in a trainer to train the dogs to attack." Julie said. Herrior nodded again.

"So no more of this paper-pushing crap?" Admiral asked with a smile.

"Unless you want to?" Herrior asked.

"Hell no…let's get an army built!" Admiral said with enthusiasm. Just then what sounded like a loud cannon went off.

"Well took care of that problem. Margaret is our woman on the inside. She has done wrong, but wants badly to come out. We made an agreement with her and by the sounds of it she has been upholding her end of the bargain. After our assault…or gambling…on the casino, I want her set free with a job." Herrior said.

"If you can get me a yacht with a simple phone call, I'm sure we can get her released with a couple of phone calls…" Admiral said with a smile.

"That is what I want to hear. Go boost the morale of your officers, get the construction done, and promote people to take care of your business, and help out anybody that need help. If somebody is ill, send them to the best witch-doctors you have until we can get here. If they are on the verge of death, contact us immediately. Do whatever you have to do to have your officers follow you to Hell and back without question. They would do that for us because we earned their respect. Now you need to earn that respect." Herrior said.

Admiral nodded and said, "I will do that immediately" and left.

Herrior stood there for a moment and watch Admiral run outside putting on his jacket. "Wonder what he is doing?" He asked. Suddenly a loud explosion came from outside as the hummer's engine revved up and peeled out of the stations parking lot faster than a stock car could.

"Sounds like he's going for a drive" Dan said with a smile.

"Let's get everybody organized here…" Herrior mumbled and made his way to the officers in their cubicles. Similar to that of an early movie, three officers popped their heads up and one at a time named off jobs that they were going to undertake and distribute through the organization. They even had a rubber stamp with the Admiral's signature on it. Herrior examined it and was about to correct them that they spell his name wrong, but then remembered that this world goes by long names. They then explained in further detail how the workloads were going to be distributed and Herrior lost interest after a couple of minutes, but tried to humor them.

Thirty minutes later their prepared speech was done and Herrior smiled at them and gave them a nod. "If you need help let me know. You're doing a good job." Herrior said as he then changed the subject, "Is everything lined up for the att…err…going to this casino place of gamble?"

"All set for this weekend. Its official label is a charity fundraiser for the Detroit commonwealth hosted by the…"

"Ok…ok…I'd prefer to call it an attack on a place of debotury filled with blood sucking devils that prey on the weak." Herrior said.

The officer's looked confused and one asked, "Should we change the name?"

"No. Is that Indian regulations commoner coming? I forgot his lengthy name, nor do I really care to remember it." Herrior asked.

"Yes, he thinks we are raising for the…community…just thought community would be easier for you." One of the officers said.

"City is shorter."

"City is good."

"How are the officers doing?" Herrior asked.

"Frustrated…yet satisfied." One officer said.

"How so?"

"We are the highest paid officers with the best gear and we have weapons now, courtesy of Admiral, that could destroy an entire regime of tanks…army tanks I mean. We have little to complain about the job, but the home life is what is getting to us." The same officer said.

"Bring them to work." Herrior said.

"Well…and I don't want to break orders…but there are a lot of secrets here that they probably shouldn't know. Uh…you guys for example. The next example being what's being built next door; everybody knows it's an army base – but it's going to be more than that isn't it? We have our speculation…we figure it's some sort of intelligence base where your kind is going to be studied and other top secret projects."

"I will not allow our secrets to be given to anybody." Herrior said sternly.

"So is it an intelligence base? They are advertising it as a recruitment camp." The officer said.

"I don't know." Herrior replied truthfully. He thought of a reply, "What they know over there isn't one tenth of what you guys have seen or know already. If you have any problems with them questioning you…you come to me – spread the word. None of my fighters on this world will be harassed or intimidated like they tried to do with Julie. If they try, they will have me to deal with…and I don't leave many pieces behind."

"I had Spark nearly rip off the arm and top torso of the douche bag that tried to blackmail me! It was fun to watch." Julie piped up.

Herrior nodded at them to confirm it. "Make a list, but keep it secret. Cut back your hours at work and rotate in some of the soldiers to do your jobs."

"How many hours should we cut back and will it affect our pay?" Another officer asked from behind them.

"Twenty hours a week – full pay, plus free healthcare, food, and fruit punch!" Branzer said raising his voice up. The officers stood up and started clapping for him.

"You always clap at the wrong time…" Herrior mumbled to himself and rolled his eyes.

"One less alliance to worry about! Congratulations to everybody involved in apprehending him!" Branzer yelled out again with his hands up as he rotated around.

"Took you long enough…" Herrior said.

"We took the detour on the way back…" Lindel said blushing.

"You don't have permission to do that yet." Herrior said in a clearly upset voice.

"We didn't do anything like that…I wanted to see where Admiral went in such a hurry." Lindel said.

"He tore out of here like a bat out of hell…where was he going?" Branzer asked.

"I don't know…he seemed happy though." Herrior said shaking his head as he walked away from the officers and walked up to Branzer.

"Did it look like an accident?" Herrior whispered.

"He tried to escape, he was armed and I had to shoot him. Open and closed case." Branzer said.

"You didn't kill him while in prison with him begging for his life?" Mohania asked.

"No…I'm not you, 'I' follow the rules…" Branzer said pointing to himself.

"There's rules?" Mohania asked scratching his head as Branzer walked by.

"Everybody ready for big winnings this weekend? Simple rule…don't bet or do anything unless we do it. Take out a loan, remortgage your house…bring cash and you won't be sorry folks! We are going to win and we are going to win big time!" Branzer said again feeding the crowd as more cheers came.

"Alright…settle down people. Branzer speaks the truth, but could have done it a bit…less enthusiastically. We're heading off to three different locations to do some investigations. Secure the station and distribute the workloads evenly." Herrior said and led his party outside.

Herrior divided up the party with three tanks in each party and assigned Dan as a healer in Jacklyn's group. They all left on foot, except for Quinely who morphed into a bird and flew overhead and Lindel who did the same.

Hours later Veliline's group made it to their location. She gave the order for everybody to ready themselves as she walked up to the door. She knocked hard on it…it was loud enough to wake up people a block away.

"Open this door or I'll break it down!" Veliline shouted. Julie ordered Spark to run around the house and cut the power as she shot out the telephone line.

"Come in…and you'll get a face full of lead!" The voice said not intimidated in the least by the sudden power failure. Veliline held her hand on the door and a combination of ice and a dark purple hue spread throughout the door. Within seconds it dissolved the door and Veliline saw her attacker mesmerized by what she had done. She quickly reached her hand out and a purple lightning bolt grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up into the air, dropping his gun.

"Secure the house." Veliline said as she felt the life being sucked out of him. She let him go seconds later as he crashed to the ground, only to be lifted up again and pulled right in front of Veliline's axe.

"Let's go inside for a chat…shall we?" Veliline asked pressing the axe into his forehead, making him move backwards.

Several gurgling human sounds and shots rang out as the rest of her party came back and said that the house was secured.

"Good…" Veliline said and then shoved her hand hard into the man's chest and casting an ice spell that slammed hard into the man's head, disorienting him but not hurting him.

"Where is the alliance?" Veliline asked. The man just mumbled as he tried to pull himself together. Veliline ran up and kicked the man in the stomach. Suddenly she was shot by an invisible ball of fire to her right. It fazed her only slightly as her double handed axe came twirling around and met its target. Her hit created a temporary shield around her and healed her of the damage she took. She then commanded her undead ghoul to rise from the ground and began battling the fire mage.

The mage encased himself in an icy shield and froze all of the ground around her, immobilizing her. The mage then began to chant a powerful fire spell as Veliline went into a deep meditation. Carefully timed, she encased herself in another protective shield that lessened the damage from the spell by three forths and then shot the spell right back at him. The mage, completely unaware of this was blasted backwards and caught on fire. Veliline broke free of the ice surrounding her legs and ordered her ghoul to attack. Veliline held her hand out and instantly infected the mage with frost fever, followed by a mighty blow from her axe – infecting him with another disease…this one much more vial.

"You will suffer and die before me!" Veliline said looking down at him. Within less than a blink of an eye, the mage disappeared and reappeared behind Veliline and blasted her with another fire spell.

"Should we engage or just keep watching?" Julie asked casually.

Veliline snapped her fingers and everything under the mage instantly began to rot and decay. This slowed the mage's movements as well. Veliline walked up to him and began whacking away at him until he had no more shields left and decapitated him. Her death and decay spell that she had cast was eating through the floor, so Veliline waited and at the last second froze the ground underneath her, slowing her decent to the ground.

"Prisoners…should have figured… I thought I told you guys to secure the house!" Veliline yelled up.

"We'll be right down." Dan yelled as him, Strings, and Julie descended.

Strings played a quick melody and the basement light up. He saw several men looking at them in awe and now blinded by the light. Strings struck up another tune and a cloud formed above them that rained down a strong acid. They were killed in a matter of seconds.

"Which one of you are cowering alliance?" Veliline said as she began to pace back and forth. "Come on…speak up. Which of you still fight for your King that is currently stuck on a stick in our city? We take turns pissing on him…he is still alive you know. Full of magic to sustain himself so he can taste the bitterness of our urine touching his tongue and burning his eyes. We have killed only a couple here of your so called worthless, 'alliance'. We know of several other locations and we are going to kill everybody there as well unless somebody starts talking. Dan, pick a person to die first." Veliline said. Dan grabbed a young boy and ripped him away from his mother.

"No…please! Those two are alliance!" The mother pointed at the other two behind her. They changed into worgens and leaped at the woman. Julie shot a tranquilizing bullet that instantly put one of them to sleep as Veliline pulled the other one away from the woman with her bolt of purple lightning. She screamed as Veliline chopped him up quickly and efficiently.

"Any others? Dan looks to be losing his grip on the boy…" Veliline said as the boy's head slid closer to Dan's spikes coming out of his fist weapon and towards his neck.

"That's all I know…I swear! Please!" The woman cried.

"Let him go." Veliline said. The woman quickly grabbed her son and embraced him.

"I apologize for that ma'am…but we had to filter out who was evil among you. You have to fear the alliance no longer." Dan said.

"There are more of them! I can show you where they are." A man said in the back. Dan and Julie both launched a series of attacks on the sleeping worgen, killing him before he woke up. Veliline told the man the locations of where their other party was and to the man's shock he nodded and said that was the locations.

"A bunch of murderous, traitorous fouls…I'll kill every last one of them." Veliline said running her finger up the side of her axe and flung off the blood.

"You were going to do the same to us…" The man said.

"No we weren't. We couldn't see your eyes and wanted to flush out the alliance quickly. Are all of you able to walk? We'll take you back to a place where you can have a hot meal, medical attention, and most importantly safety." Veliline said putting her huge axe behind her.

"Do you…promise?" The man asked.

"You have my word under a couple of circumstances. First one…we were never here. Second one…you did not see what happened here. Third one…you are free now – make the most of your lives, you deserve it to have better lives than living in this prison. There is a police station a couple of miles from here…you will be safe there. Follow me." Veliline said and walked up the stairs on the far corner of the room.

Admiral was out cruising the streets in his enormous SUV. He had a grape slushie in one hand and eating out a bag of pork reins with the other hand. The vehicle was matching the speeds of the other vehicles and successfully maneuvering around obstacles in the street and stopping at red lights – just as Admiral told it to do.

"Detected a vehicle a mile ahead of us in the opposite lane carrying twenty pounds of marijuana in its trunk. Shall I pursue it?" The female goblin voice said.

"Yeah sure…turn the lights and siren on. Run it off the road if it tries to escape." Admiral said casually taking a sip out of his slushie. The vehicle's headlights, rear lights, began to flash as the car manufactured the sound of a police car as it went from thirty five to ninety in about a second.

"Yeehaw!" Admiral screamed most of his slushie went flying behind him. The SUV veered in and out of traffic at break-neck speeds with extreme precision. In no time it found its target. The SUV swerved in front of it and the suspect's car and the car in front of it with such accuracy that the suspect's car slammed into the SUV. The hood wrinkled up and the air bags were deployed in the suspect's car. The SUV didn't even get a scratch. Admiral casually walked out with his bag of pork reins and his massive hand gun strapped to his hip. He walked up to the driver's side door and knocked on the window.

The stunned driver opened the door and got out in a haze, unsure exactly what had just happened.

"So…got any drugs in the trunk?" Admiral asked casually.

"What? You just hit me and you think I'm carrying drugs? What crack are you smoking?" The suspect said.

"So you won't mind if I take a look then?" Admiral asked walking to the trunk.

"Hell no, you can't look!" Admiral ignored him and pulled out his enormous gun and smashed the truck's lock, instantly breaking it free and exposing the bags of drugs.

"What the hell…you can't do that!" The suspect yelled at him and decided to try to make a run for it. The SUV slammed into the suspect, lassoed a rope around him and pulled him into the front bumper.

Admiral casually walked up to him with a big grin he leaned over and said, "Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law…" He then stood up and told the SUV to call for backup. He paused for a moment and then told it to drag the crashed car out of the road so that it wouldn't take up room.

"This job has its perks…" Admiral said with a satisfied smiled and threw another pork rein in his mouth.

Jacklyn's group came up to their target. It was a cemetery about half a mile long.

"I sense demons…many of them…" Mohania said in satisfaction.

"Get your blue guy out and expose them." Jacklyn said.

"I can fry them up with my imp just as easily…but as you ask." Mohania said and began chanting the spell. The modified voidwalker appeared and had pieces of armor around its body.

"New and improved…go my prisoner…find the demons and engage them…" Mohania said with a sinister laugh.

"You can talk normally." Crystal said.

"You could not talk." Mohania said back. The demons began to roar and reveal their ugly heads, trying to kill the voidwalker, as Mohania lit up the skies with huge falling balls of fire around it. Mohania then started to chuckle as he heated himself up and ran forward as he shot a fireball at one of them. Mohania chanted several more spells and burned up several abominations of the world and then began to cackle as he engulfed himself in a whirlwind of fire and began to cast his new chaos bolts. They flew through several demons, destroying them and landing in the ground causing an enormous explosion as green bolts exploded from the ground and flew up to twenty yard around it. Mohania laughed even harder as he launched his rain of fire spell over and over again, burning up the grass and the flowers on the graves.

"You all shall be consumed in flame!" Mohania said as he heard a slight cough behind him. Mohania turned around and saw Jacklyn looking at him.

"Are they all dead?" Jacklyn asked.

"Uh…umm…there might be more?" Mohania asked looking around frantically.

"Let's go Mohania, you had your fun." Jacklyn said.

"Rats…can we come back and play later?" Mohania asked.

"You have to learn to take turns on the rides Mohania." Crystal said.

"Was there a master summoner?" Jacklyn asked.

"I…uhh…didn't have time to ask…but my powers…"

"Destroyed half of the cemetery. The flowers and some of the memorials that were planted there had meaning for the people that had lost loved ones. They are now burned up." Crystal said. Mohania let his power drain and banished his voidwalker. He looked at her, then looked back at what he did and then looked down and sighed.

"Jacklyn I got carried away, I'm sorry. If somebody were to do what I just did to my undead that was buried I would be upset. What is my punishment?" Mohania asked.

"Don't talk the whole way back unless you sense a demon. We attack as a whole, not as one! You got carried away and your lust for power has gotten out of control. I'm this close to having Lindel send you back to Tranquil!" Jacklyn yelled at him. Lindel materialized next to Jacklyn to make a portal if she commanded. Mohania looked scolded and nodded.

"Let's go." Jacklyn said and turned around. Not another word was said all the way back to the station.

An hour passed and Admiral was back on the road again, this time on the expressway. His vehicle continued to scan for vehicles with weapons or drugs. Nothing was coming up when the dispatched came over the radio that there was a high speed chase twenty miles to the right of him.

"Go get that vehicle!" Admiral said enthusiastically. His SUV did a complete ninety degree turn and drove through a fence, a field, up a steep grass ramp and flew over the oncoming traffic and landed in his lane. During the entire time, Admiral did not even feel a bounce in the car from all of the terrain and the landing. It turned its lights on and began to pick up speed as the vehicles pulled over.

"Ugh stupid cars…move out of the way…" Admiral said bouncing up and down in his chair. He looked like an excited child on a rollercoaster for the first time.

Five minutes later he caught up with the car in the rear. He got on the radio and ordered the officers to back off pursuit and to let him get in front of the car. There were other police stations in the pursuit but did as they said. The SUV flew by the cruisers and caught up the vehicle they were pursuing. He pulled up to the right side of the vehicle and rolled down his window.

"Is that as fast as you can go? Come on…push that vehicle faster!" Admiral egged him on. The passenger told the driver to punch it as he drew his gun and shot at the Admiral.

"Crap!" Admiral said frantically as his window began to roll up. The bullets flew into the empty space, but a shield materialized and dissolved the bullets until Admiral got the window rolled up.

"Remind me to give you a full service car wash later…" Admiral said with his adrenaline pumping.

"I'll make a note of that. The vehicle next to us is only running at sixty-seven percent efficiency. I suspect they can only do about ten more miles an hour faster." The SUV said back.

"Pull around in front of it and come to a sudden stop." Admiral commanded it. The enormous SUV did exactly that and as soon as it came to a sudden halt, the speeding car slammed hard into the back of it compacting the car like an accordion. Pieces flew all over as the air bags inflated and the other cruisers came flying up behind the accident and had to lock up their brakes to stop in time.

Admiral casually walked out with his massive gun in his hand and pointed it at the driver. The driver didn't move and had blood coming from his head.

"What the hell? Are you ok sir?" The officers said pulling out their guns and pointing them at the suspects as well.

"Yeah I'm fine. I think I killed the son of a bitch though. What was he running from?"

"He robbed a bank. His passenger shot at you didn't he?" Another officer said. They saw the other passenger slowly open the crunched door and the officers quickly arrested him.

"Yeah, he was the bastard that shot at me. Charge him for attempted murder as well. Make sure he comes to my station…I want to have some words with him." Admiral said.

"Sir…your car?"

"What, is it scratched?" Admiral asked turning around.

"No…there isn't even a fender broke, or even a chip of paint off from it."

"Whew…son you had me worried there. I promised to get it a carwash. I see some of my officers are here so they will help with the paperwork. I need to get going and stop more bad guys. I'm two for two tonight." Admiral said smiling as he put away his gun and walked back into his SUV and took off at speeds that any car shouldn't be able to move at, and was out of sight within seconds.

"Is he your Chief?" One officer asked another.

"No, he is a cocky son of a bitch…we call him Admiral. Let's get this mess cleaned up." One of the station officers said and started to help out.

Herrior's group came upon their house and they heard people inside chanting some demonic words. Herrior drew his weapons and his party knew this was going to be a battle. Herrior charged threw the door and busted it wide open. Herrior then let out a loud roar, disrupting the ritual. Branzer, Skyka, and Quinely (who was in cat form) emerged in the house and quickly threw the people to the ground. Branzer summoned his bear and told it to go find somebody and drag him back.

"What are you idiots doing? You have no idea what you are messing with! This will stop immediately!" Herrior's voice boomed throughout the house.

"Help…" A female voice yelled in a far room and Branzer's enormous bear bashed down the door and charged in, with Branzer right behind him.

"I'll kill her." A man said holding a young woman in front of her with a knife.

"I don't doubt it." Branzer said as his eyes turned into a dark grey eagle for a brief second.

"Back off…tell your people to get out of here! Drop your weapon! I'll kill her!" The man said sinking his knife deeper into her neck. The terrified woman was shaking but her eyes met Branzer's eyes. A small communication happened between them in a split second when suddenly she moved her head to her left as far as she could and an enormous blast splattered the man's head into thousands of pieces. The woman screamed as blood and guts sprayed all over.

"Sorry about that ma'am. The blood should wash out if you pretreat it with Windex." Branzer said and then left with his bear to let the woman collect her thoughts and emotions.

"Turns out she was going to be a human sacrifice." Herrior said.

"I don't like human sacrifices…" Branzer said in a serious tone.

Herrior took three of the people he was holding at bay and looked at them. He finally drew his sword and stabbed the man in the middle with it. The terrified man and woman next to him screamed and backed away.

"Oh…don't go too far, this man didn't tell me what I wanted to know." Herrior said pulling his sword back out and slamming his shield into him.

"You didn't ask him a question!" The woman yelled almost hysterically.

"That part comes first? Branzer did the man you killed ask any questions?" Herrior said with his blade at the woman's throat.

"If he did, I didn't hear any…but I am getting old and hard of hearing, you know from killing first and listening to the screams of my victims until they die…and then remembering to ask questions." Branzer said.

"You are messing with forces that you have no idea how strong they are and are bent on human destruction! So…forgive me if I don't get my point across right away… What have you been doing? And that was a question…" Herrior said.

"We were trying to summon Baluris. He came to us one night through that…" The woman said quickly and pointed at a small box on the floor. It looked like an old Pandora box, but this was a puzzle box.

"Did any of you idiots try to figure out the puzzle?" Herrior turned back quickly to the woman.

"We…all did. Then one of us cut ourselves and the box began to move on itself when the blood hit it. It wanted more blood – pure blood is what it said." The woman said.

Herrior started shaking his head and said, "The stupidity of your race baffles me. Just when I think you have raised the bar as far as it can go – you raise it higher. Branzer destroy that thing." A loud bang rang out as the box successfully moved out of the way of the bullet. Branzer looked at it weird and fired four more shots at it – each time the box moving just enough to dodge the bullet.

"Son of a…hold still you piece of shit…" Branzer said and took careful aim, but suddenly he was hit hard by something huge and invisible. Branzer went flying backwards and smashed the kitchen table and chairs. Herrior instinctively swung his sword around to the spot where Branzer was hit. His sword flew through the air and hit nothing.

"You didn't actually finish the summoning did you?" Herrior asked.

"No…we needed the blood of a pure virgin…" The woman said.

"I pass shit through my bowels that are smarter than you…it needed blood you idiot – just blood that was the key to opening the puzzle!" Herrior said but was no longer aware of the humans in the house. Quinely morphed into her bear form and both she and Herrior, along with Branzer's bear began taunting it.

"You dare mock me?" A reverberating voice finally said. Branzer was lifted off the ground and thrown at Herrior. Herrior raised his shield and Branzer's body slammed into it and fell hard to the ground.

"Thanks for breaking my fall…" Branzer said on the ground. Skyka quickly healed him, and then the demon grabbed Skyka and flung her across the room. This bought Branzer time to come up with a quick plan. He launched an eye-blinding flare into the air and then threw a freezing trap, immolation trap, and snake trap around the room.

Suddenly the door seemingly repaired itself and items started flying off the shelves and across the room. The humans already there began to scream and cower in fear.

"Simple parlor tricks for a simple worthless demon…" Herrior said provoking it.

"I'll kill everybody in this room!" It replied back. Herrior's party was still trying to locate it.

"Not before I could!" Herrior replied back. Suddenly Skyka was raised in the air and her body went stiff. Seconds later the demon screamed in pain and Skyka's body fell to the ground. Branzer took several wild shots in the air where he thought the pain was coming from. Every one of them missed.

"What manner of powers do you possess that I cannot acquire!" The demon screamed at them in frustration.

"You're not the first demon we killed and won't be the last one…" Herrior said unscathed. The box rose from the ground and began turning on its own. Herrior caught this out of the corner of his eye and then looked at Branzer who was already taking aim. Herrior slowly blinked at Branzer and the shot rang out. This time it made contact, knocking it out of its levitating state and against the wall. Branzer's bullets found its target three more times before the box broke.

"No…no…no! You do not know what you have done! I will destroy you!" The voice said. This time Branzer knew it was coming for him and jumped backwards and shot a spray of webbing out from his gun. It encased the demon, brought him to the floor – where he triggered the freezing trap and fell to the ground. The assault was in full force now – even Skyka got in several spells before the demon burned up.

Herrior walked over to the remains of the box and smashed it with his giant hoof. A short quick scream came from it as it was turned into rubble.

"Everybody but the lady hiding in the room with her capture dies." Herrior said giving the order. Herrior let out a battle cry and joined in the fight as the human summoners were brutally killed. Afterwards Herrior told Skyka to take the young woman outside as he gave the command to tear down the house. The woman and Skyka watched as walls gave way, parts of the roof collapsed and a fire began to grow. Eventually the entire house caved in and it was nothing but a pile of wood, drywall, and shingles. The fire was growing.

Skyka held the frightened woman in her arms as they watched the three fighters emerge from the house.

"How many others were killed?" Herrior asked the woman.

"At least two…I don't know their names…please I'm really scared." The woman pleaded. Skyka held her tighter.

"You couldn't be safer in this world than you are right now, do not be afraid child." Herrior said. He then sighed as he put his weapons away. "Didn't get here soon enough…the idiot humans killed two innocent people. It makes me wonder why you were so special that they tried to get it right on the third try. Pandora's Box is not a toy, but a puzzle into the demon worlds. It should have had enough blood to activate. Branzer how's the fire coming?" Herrior thought to himself and then shouted at Branzer.

"Give me another minute…I found the gas line." Branzer replied back.

"Let's head back. Child, you may come with us or go home to your parents. My advice would be to come with us in case any residual demons are still around, but it is your choice." Herrior said.

"You didn't kill all of them?" She asked worried.

"The main one we did and that usually sends the others scrambling for their lives. We do not have the personal here to detect any demons. If you are able to walk, I would highly advise you come with us. There is a police station where you can report all of this information to. There are some good people there, you can trust them." Herrior said. Suddenly what looked like a flame thrower shot out twenty feet and instantly caught everything in its path on fire.

"Let's go." Herrior said and put his hand gently on the woman's shoulder as they walked down the street.

Everybody got back to the station at different times, but was careful to lead the people that they had rescued only so far. Once the station was in sight, they ordered the people to run towards the guards standing watch and tell them what happened – but most importantly to not look back. Nobody did, and Herrior's party's were well hidden if they did. Once the people were safely inside the station the guard would let out a whistle, indicating that the people could not see or hear them.

"How did your mission's go?" Herrior asked as his party all gathered around him. Trackolania instantly vanished and appeared before him. He let out a deep sigh.

"Didn't kill anybody huh?" Herrior asked with a smile. Trackolania nodded and pointed to Mohania.

"Was somebody bad?" Herrior asked.

"We have graveyards in this world and they are filled with flowers and other items to remember our loved ones. Mohania got carried away and burned most of it in his blind fury of power." Crystal said.

"I am sorry for what I have done." Mohania said quietly.

"Is there a way we can restore what Mohania did?" Herrior asked. Crystal shook her head and said, "Each grave symbolized a separate person that died and each one was different and unique. We would have to know what there was before in order to replace it…and unless you can make the surrounding grass grow over night." Mohania let out a sigh and looked away.

"I'm setting this issue aside for now. Lindel open a portal to Tranquil; we need some sleep before our assault on the casino." Herrior said clearly upset. Lindel opened the portal and they all vanished into the night. They all rearranged themselves at their house and began drifting off to sleep, except for Mohania. He wondered off in search of himself.

The next morning came quick as Herrior woke up his party. With only half the night slept their bodies ached and yearned for rest. However their bellies were full and their minds were sharp. They found Mohania sitting outside the house alone by himself.

"Get much sleep?" Herrior asked.

"The undead don't require sleep." Mohania replied back.

"We need you for today, are you up to the task?" Herrior asked but was more of a statement.

"Yes I am ready. Let's go do our mission." Mohania said getting up.

"Didn't beat yourself up too much last night did you?" Herrior asked with a calmer tone.

"I did. I let my powers get the best of me. Herrior I leveled acres of land in my enraged state to fulfill my desire for more power. How does Dan do it? He harvested powers beyond what we could even imagine, increased ours, but yet he doesn't abuse them." Mohania said. Herrior shut the door behind him indicating to the rest of the party that he needed a moment alone with Mohania. Herrior sat opposite side from him and held out his hands. Mohania's skeleton hands took them.

"Dan did break a rule. I told him not to cause a scene. Somehow he has harnessed the raw elements themselves and bends them to his will, and takes flight with them. Dan knows three things though and I want you to work on these, repeat them after me: Calm, Control, Confidence." Herrior said and Mohania repeated them.

"You have acquired new powers and wanted to see what they could do. That's always been you. Your thirst for knowledge and different ways of killing is what makes you driven to be the best warlock. But you must learn those three things, to remain calm, to exercise control, and to be confident about your knowledge and powers you possess. I half think the party you went with was upset that they didn't get to attack any demons, just a thought I had last night. From Jacklyn's report your new spells were incredible, and all of us were or are still anxious to use them. It's like a child on the week before Christmas. If the lad knows what he is getting and is anxious about it, he is going to begin thinking about it constantly and what he'll be about to do with it – how fun it is going to be to play with. Then comes Christmas and the lad receives the toy. He is super excited and losses the three 'C's'. The consequences might be the toy gets broken, or he boasts about the toy to others, or he refrains from playing with everybody so that he can keep the toy to himself and nobody else can see it or play with him. We will see what we can do about getting the cemetery restored, but do you understand what I am trying to say?" Herrior asked softly.

Mohania nodded and said, "The last thing you need is a trigger happy warlock not following orders or lusting after his own self and what he has gained – through no help of his own."

"Basically; you and Crystal are great warlocks, I view you both as equal in the spell casting category. I view Bernett the same. We are only good if we work together, share together, mourn together, laugh together, and be as one. When Branzer and I were fighting a poltergeist demon from a Pandora box, Branzer was getting pissed because all of his shots were missing. However in mid-battle him and I synchronized our intentions without saying a word and defeated it. You're strong, I have no doubt about that at all, but against hundreds of enemies you are weak. Your fight against yourself, your conscious has made you weak. I don't want you to dwell on this matter any longer. I'll let the Admiral know what happened and I'll take the responsibility for it – that's what leaders do. Do you want to know something that is bothering me?" Herrior asked changing the subject.

"Nothing…nothing bothers you. You are immune to being bothered…believe me I tested you…" Mohania said looking up at him and grinning.

"You don't bother me Mohania. No what bothers me is we are going to first of all go gambling. That is directly against the rules. Secondly we are going to cheat…which is also against the rules. I am taking my party and exposing them to these elements and I pray it does not corrupt their minds. What I am even more fearful is the officers or soldiers…whatever they are. I fear it will corrupt their minds as well. Gambling, lying and cheating to win are all direct violations of the laws which is written. I feel like I am taking everybody to a brothel and telling them to go have fun. I again have to assume responsibility for this as I am the leader. I believe the greater good will come from this, and that our past enemies will be severely hindered, but it is still breaking the laws." Herrior said in a heavy tone.

"We all know that. The money gained from this assault will finance the Admiral and his army…or should I say your army, and benefit the cities around him. Those in power cannot quench their thirst for more power…like me." Mohania said.

"Not like you. Do you lust after women? Gold? Buildings, fame, fortune, slaves? Your intentions are pure – I believe that with all of my heart Mohania, and I know you know in your heart that you believe it as well. Calm, confidence, and control – got it?" Herrior asked smiling at him.

Mohania nodded. He let out a sigh and said, "Well – let's go rally the troops shall we?"

"Sounds like a plan." Herrior said getting up to his feet but before he could reach out to open the door, Mohania grabbed his hand. He looked at Herrior deeply and said, "Thank you".

"We all learn. You have my forgiveness, but we must pay retribution after the meeting." Herrior said. Mohania let go of his hand and nodded. He reached back and opened the door and Skyka and Crystal came tumbling out.

"You guys are a bunch of idiots…" Dan said stepping over them.

"Open the portal for us Lindel." Herrior said with a smile folding his arms across his chest.

"It was her fault." Skyka said pointing to Crystal.

"As if! You said you couldn't hear well enough so you asked me to…"

"Enough out of you two…" Herrior said picking them up by the backs of their robes and tossing them through the portal.

"Women…" Herrior said looking at Mohania.

"Yeah…" Dan and Mohania said.

Herrior and his party arrived in the station with their trinkets activated. They were in full blue police uniforms with dark sunglasses and a police hat on. They walked out of their room and were instantly met with cheer.

"Do we have to do this every time?" Herrior asked rather loudly.

"I had a hand in arresting two dozen people last night alone…then I slept for a couple hours and play on drinking energy drinks all day." Admiral said sounding like he was running on adrenaline already. Herrior patted him on the shoulder and then calmly but loudly said, "Everybody that is going let's head outside so that I can speak with all of you first.

Outside there were several huge buses that had a long grey dog on them with the words "Greyhound" on them. Jacklyn let out a dissatisfied grunt. The grunt was translated as, "I do not want to sit in that thing, but I will if I have to."

"Everybody shut up and gather around!" Herrior shouted. Over three hundred officers and soldiers in full uniform quickly went quiet and formed a half-circle around his party.

"Listen up! This is a mission and will be conducted as such! We have rescued several women from being sex slaves at these facilities. This is not a place to be excited about. We are going in with the enemy. I suspect many alliance will be there, but we are not there to kill them, cause a scene, or draw any unnecessary attention. Doing so will cause you to spend a night in one of our cells…and believe me within the first five minutes you will be beginning to die! We are not going in to have fun. We are going in to gamble, cheat, and steal – and all of this weighs very heavy on my conscious. All of these are sins and we are willing going to perform them with me leading you. I am not happy with this situation. I suspect they have countermeasures for what we are going to do. My party will handle it – do not bring any weapons with you! I expect all of you to blend in, but to remain vigilant. Do not wonder away from the group, do not look into anybody's eyes, and follow our lead. Keep this in mind!" Herrior said shouting at the men and women standing before him. They hadn't realized this mission would be taken this seriously. Herrior saw it in their faces and said, "Is this understood?"

Many said, "Yes Herrior!" or "Yes sir!" This created confusion among them and Herrior sighed as he gave the order to prepare to leave.

"We have to ride in this metal piece of shit?" Jacklyn asked. Herrior nodded and said, "Do you want me to sit next to you?"

"Will it be similar to the flying machines or the stupid boats?" Jacklyn asked.

Herrior shrugged and said, "I really don't know. I assume it's similar to a large car. Let's go, I'll talk to you the whole way there."

"Can we portal back?" Jacklyn asked.

"You might actually enjoy it." Herrior said with a smile.

"Confined space in a vehicle going faster than I can run – doubt it…" Jacklyn said turning herself sideways to get up on the stairs of the bus. Herrior had to do the same. Jacklyn's nervousness was clearly evident to the bus driver.

"Don't worry ma'am, we will have a safe ride there and back." He said.

"You better or so help me I will…"

"Jacklyn!" Herrior said quickly.

Jacklyn let out a low growl looking at him and moved to a seat.

"She's new to a bus. Give us a smooth ride will ya?" Herrior said smiling and patting on his shoulder.

Herrior sat next to her and said "See – this isn't so bad?" with a smile.

"There are bathrooms in the back, and I do have some motion sickness stickers if the misses would like?" The driver asked.

"Just drive the bus…" Jacklyn said back. Herrior reached out and grabbed her hand. They both squeezed hard and it brought her some relief.

"Any chance Trackolania can knock me out?" Jacklyn asked.

"How long of it trip will it be?" Herrior asked.

"From here…about three hours or so." The driver replied.

Jacklyn let out a low growl knowing the answer. Soon the buses rolled out and they were on their way. It wasn't as bad as Jacklyn thought it would be…and Trackolania got scolded several times by Julie for trying to carve his name in the seat.

"Lindel – link up our minds." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel worked on it for several seconds and then said, "Ok go ahead."

"I want everybody to know that I am pleased with everybody's attitude towards this mission. Trackolania, I want you, Mohania, and Lindel to manipulate the odds in our favor. Lindel, once we arrive I want you to disappear and keep your mind linked up with us as you turn the odds in our favor. Anybody else can play their silly games, only if you have Lindel's attention – except for Trackolania and Mohania. Branzer or anybody else, give us a description of what we are up against." Herrior said in his mind.

"Remember when I tried to teach you two how to play poker? And somehow Trackolania came up with the highest combination of cards…even when it was statistically impossible? That is one of the games that are going to be there. I figure he can wipe out the poker tables pretty quick. Another game is Blackjack. The dealer gives you two cards, one faced down and one faced up. You need to get a combination of twenty one without going over. Ace's can be either one or eleven. What you need to do is beat the dealer, and to guarantee a victory every time you need to get a ten, jack, queen, king and an ace. There are more rules to it than that, but that's all I know. There's a roulette table there where I believe we can wipe them clean almost instantly. We'll need Lindel to take control of a little ball. It's a large wheel that spins around and people bet on what number or color it will land on…or something like that. The odds of it landing exactly on the one number that you picked is nearly impossible, so Lindel just make the ball bounce around a couple of times and then put the ball in the numbered slot that everybody bet on. There are going to be rows and rows of slot machines. Basically you put your money in, pull the lever, and how it lands on the jackpot. Odds of that happening are slim to none. Craps…I have no idea how to play. Anybody else?" Bernett asked in his mind.

"We can learn as we go. This mind link stuff is neat…so can everybody here me?" Mohania asked.

"Yes we can hear you, and you can hear us. When was this possible?" Skyka asked.

"When my powers increased, but by the sounds of what everybody else is thinking I'd rather not participate…you people think about the dumbest things." Mohania said.

"I'm thinking about taking Dan into the bathrooms and having my way with him…" Crystal said and tickled Dan. Dan laughed and blushed.

"Get back on subject people. Anybody else have anything to contribute?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Bernett seems to be the specialist in this category. The only gamble I take is waking up in the morning…" Branzer said with a slight grin on his face.

"What are their security systems like?" Herrior asked.

"Tighter than a woman's vagina with a fifty year old chastity belt on …" Bernett said. The party erupted into laughter as Herrior slowly shook his head trying to hide his smile. This drew attention to Herrior's party on the bus from the other officers and they asked what was so funny, but were blown off by Herrior's party. Lindel's mind link broke as she lost her concentration from laughing. Lindel let herself laugh for awhile before reestablishing the link.

"Bernett…" Herrior said once the link was reestablished.

"Yes Herrior…" Bernett said still laughing in his head.

"Good description…however – shut up…" Herrior said jokingly in his head.

"Sorry about that Herrior…but in all seriousness, it's tight!" Bernett said as several more snickers came from that.

"Explain their security…Bernett." Herrior said sounding slightly annoyed.

"They have cameras all over the place with people monitoring them the entire time. They have managers and workers on the floor making sure there aren't any disturbances or cheating. The dealers themselves are trained to look for cheaters and if the dealers keep losing money, they are swapped out with other dealers. The decks of cards will be marked bad and sold as a collectible memorabilia. They constantly swap decks if there are too many winners. If a table wins too much they can shut it down for the day or for a couple of hours. They will serve drinks and offer food to the people that win a lot. Don't take it, we are here to win money and we need everybody with a straight mind. People tend to gamble more and are more confident when they are drunk. There is security personal all over the place, both in uniform and in casual clothing. I figure we'll need different people in our group to bet on the numbers at the different roulette tables. For example if Skyka picks twelve, we'll all place our bets on twelve – then we'll have Lindel put the ball in the twelve slot and we'll win thirty five times what we bet. For example if we bet one dollar, we'll get thirty five back." Bernett said in his mind.

"We can count Bernett…" Jacklyn snapped back sharply in her mind.

"Sorry, bad habit of over explaining things. We'll just have to play things by ear other than that."

"Lindel – how are you going to be on power?" Herrior asked.

"I'll draw from some of the other players or guards. With your permission I would like to take some time to explore the building. If there are other people being held captive, should we conduct a rescue mission?" Lindel asked in her mind.

"Yes – but not while we are betting, unless Trackolania and Mohania are betting." Herrior said.

"I can stop time and make the dealers lose." Dan suggested.

"I wouldn't recommend it. If they notice that even one person has moved or even sneezed wrong, they will investigate it. Unless you know the exact same position you were in, I would not recommend it." Bernett said back in his mind.

"Dan don't do that, unless for some reason I give you the signal. Other than that, no time-stopping, no flying or anything else you can do." Herrior said.

"Ok." Dan replied back.

"Anybody else have any questions?" Herrior asked.

"If the building were to catch on fire…" Mohania began to say.

"No fire Mohania. Your job is to be an illusionist…that is if you still remember how…" Herrior said in a cocky voice.

Mohania let out a sinister laugh on the bus which brought shivers down several people's spines. "If I know how indeed…you underestimate my powers."

"Could you laugh quieted so you don't scare everybody on the bus?" Herrior asked.

"I was laughing in my head – does that count? Anyways…yes, my powers will bring in more money than anybody else. Some idiot is tapping me on the shoulder…" Mohania said in his mind.

"Sir…is everything ok?" Mohania didn't recognize the woman, but she was in full police uniform.

"Why yes…everything is just peachy – why do you ask?" Mohania asked back.

"You just sounded…"

"I had surgery…took several bullets to my throat." Mohania said. "Sometimes when I laugh it sounds bad."

"Really? You're going with that bluff?" Skyka asked in her mind.

"Oh my…I'm sorry to hear that. I just wanted to make sure you were ok." The woman said and then went to sit down.

"It worked didn't it?" Mohania said back. Skyka let out a sigh in her mind.

"Enjoy the rest of the trip. Lindel save your power for now, break the link." Herrior said as Lindel left everybody's minds.

They arrived at the casino four hours later, and Jacklyn's face was deathly pale. Herrior made sure she was the first one off from the bus and laid her down in the grass. The rest of the party was awestruck at the size and complexity of the buildings. Lindel had vanished inside one of the bathrooms before they arrived as Herrior did a head count, purposely skipping a number in his mind and acknowledged everybody was here. The officers gathered around Herrior's bus group as they got off from the busses. Many of them concerned about Jacklyn.

"You're going to have to get up Jacklyn; you are drawing a crowd…" Herrior bent down and whispered in her ear.

"The world is spinning…" Jacklyn replied. Herrior put an arm under Jacklyn's back and picked her up with her arm around Herrior's neck.

"Concentrate on one object. Your senses will come back. Take a drink of your water skin." Herrior whispered.

"Strings – why don't you play us a song?" Herrior asked quickly. Strings quickly pulled out his lute and quickly played a song that made everybody look up as Jacklyn took a long swig from her water skin. She instantly felt her body recover as she quickly put it back away.

"Ok let's go." Jacklyn said.

"Slowly…let's go. Ok Strings." Herrior said. Strings stopped playing and everybody came out of their trance.

Several connoisseurs saw the officers arrive and came out to greet them.

"Welcome to the Soaring Eagle Casino! It pleases us that you want to hold your fundraiser here. All of the winnings of today will be donated to your station and the needs of your town. Come let us not waste any more daylight." One of them said. Herrior wanted to put his fist through his head. Something was wrong here and this man knew it. He simply smiled and made small talk with them.

They entered the enormous complex. It was several stories high and seemed to have a complex of mazes through the people along with the elevators in the middle and aquariums.

"Herrior…" Jacklyn said clearly afraid.

"Go guard the buses. We'll stay in touch." Herrior said. Jacklyn couldn't get out of the building fast enough.

"Is she ok?" One of the connoisseurs asked.

"She has the flu and needed some air." Branzer spoke up quickly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So who will be giving the speech?" The connoisseur asked.

Herrior's mind froze. He hadn't anticipated this.

"That would be me. Everybody calls me Admiral, it's a nickname. It is my pleasure to give a speech about the finest police force in America. Our police officers will of course be available for any questions that any sponsors wish to ask." Admiral spoke up quickly.

"Excellent come this way if you would please. We would like to make a toast, have you give your speech and then let the fun begin." The connoisseur said and walked him away.

Herrior turned to Branzer and asked what was going on.

"Admiral is going to give a speech I guess. It would have been nice for him to have given us some notice. Ah a glass of champagne, thank you." Branzer said as a hostess came by and give one to everybody. Trackolania took a glass and sniffed it. He quickly ran over to Herrior and pulled on his armor. Herrior looked down as Trackolania dumped it on the ground.

"Poisoned?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded. Herrior spun around and said, "Nobody drink this!" His party and the officers did exactly as he said as one of the connoisseurs quickly asked what the problem was.

"Drink this…" Herrior said walking up to him with a stern look on his face.

"I'm working I'm not allowed to drink…" he quickly replied.

"Aren't you going to have a taste of your own poison? I'm curious as to what it does. Get over here!" Herrior said with a fierce demand at the end. Herrior grabbed the man before he could get away and poured the drink down his throat. The man started gagging on it and trying desperately to spit out as much as he could. The man suddenly became very intoxicated and began talking in gibberish. The other connoisseurs tried to looked on in shock and apologized repeated for what happened.

"We are officers of the law and it appears as though you just tried to poison us. Care to explain?" Herrior said suddenly turning to the next connoisseur next to him. He appeared shock and quickly ordered that all of the drinks on the floor be dumped and a complete inspection to be done.

"I am the National Indian Gaming Commissioner…what is the problem?" The man said that the Admiral brought specifically for this event.

"They were attempting to turn us into him. I want somebody in handcuffs in the next two minutes!" One of the officers said pointing at the heavily intoxicated man who was now urinating in a potted plant.

"I'll go get our manager immediately." One of the connoisseurs said and left quickly. The other connoisseur looked at him in desperation and then turned to the officers and smiled quickly.

"Attention everybody…may I have your attention please for a second?" On the stage was the well dressed man with Admiral. He paused for a second and then said, "It is very important that right now everybody put their drinks down. I have been informed that they have not been mixed well in our kitchens. Our ushers will be along to collect them. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but everybody that ordered drinks will have their money refunded or exchanged for another drink. Now then let's kick off this fundraiser in style. We have several performers that are going to play but first I'm honored to bring you a man many of you refer to as 'Admiral' who is currently serving in the Navy, and running a police station. Please put your hands together for Admiral!" The man said and gave the microphone to Admiral. Herrior and the members of his party who didn't understand, simply put their hands together, and then realized everybody else was clapping so they did as well.

"Greetings everybody, my name known to everybody is Admiral. I have served twenty years on as admiral of an aircraft carrier, whose name I cannot say or I would have to kill all of you…" Herrior and his party began to reach for their weapons.

"I'm kidding…seriously folks we have many new exciting projects that I am proud to be part of in the world's greatest army on this world and on other planets as well…like Mars." Admiral said and everybody began to laugh as they cheered.

"As you know, this fundraiser is to support your local police force. Many have fallen in the line of duty and we want to help out these families as well as our local schools, local salvation army, and to help educate that crime doesn't pay. I want to thank all of you for coming to this extraordinary casino and may 'lady luck' be with all of you." Admiral said and did a slight wave as he exited the stage.

He walked behind the stage and then walked up to Herrior and whispered, "Something doesn't seem right here."

"You're just now picking up on that…" Herrior whispered back.

"Let the games begin! Our fundraiser counter will tally up the wins here on this digital screen. To show our appreciation we are going to begin by raising the number to one million dollars!" The host said and this was followed by clapping and cheering.

"Where to?" Admiral asked.

"Lindel says Trackolania, and Mohania are going to go start cleaning house. Crystal said she is going to summon her succubus and do some winning on her own. Bernett suggested the roulette wheels first." Herrior said.

Admiral acknowledged and turned around as he said "Let's start out on the roulette wheels first!" loud enough for all of the officers to hear.

They began to talk among themselves as they spread out to look more casual. Dozens of roulette wheels were here, but Lindel signaled to Herrior the one that she was hovering over in his mind. Herrior casually walked over there and pretended to smile as he watched everybody cheer and call out numbers, colors and they put their chips in various different spots.

"No more bids." The man running the table said and spun the wheel. Lindel made the ball jump around and land in a slot so that nobody won. The Croupier announced that there were no winners as he collected the chips and many disappointed people left. Herrior, along with three hundred officers gathered around the table.

"Look at this crowd, I better get those parking tickets paid…" The Croupier announced jokingly.

"Betting ten thousand on number sixteen" Herrior said and placed the money on the table. Everybody else announced the same number. The Croupier looked at them surprised, but accepted all of the bids. The total amount he had collected he estimated at well over several million dollars.

"Feeling lucky today huh? No more bids." The Croupier announced with a grin and then spun the wheel. The ball bounced several times but quickly stopped at sixteen. The Croupier looked astonished but knew that the ball would still bounce because the wheel was still spinning.

"It looks promising so far everybody, your luck may just pay off." The Croupier said with one hand, and the other hand he pushed a button that was supposed to make the ball jump. It didn't. The wheel came to a halt after several panicked attempts to quickly slam on the button. The astonished Croupier stared at the ball.

"So did we win?" Herrior asked.

"We have the luckiest bunch of officers in the state ladies and gentlemen! This wheel has been depleted, but don't let that discourage you – we have many other wheels and the night is still young." The Croupier said.

"Where's our money?" Herrior asked.

"I don't have enough in my drawer, but my manager is coming over right now…" the Croupier said nervously.

"That is an amazing stroke of luck and what a way to begin the night!" The manager said.

"Where's our money?" Herrior asked again.

"The numbers are being tallied up right now. The digital board says you have just increased your winnings to three million. Let me get some chips for everybody if you would just follow me." The manager said. Then, as if carefully planned, an announcement came over the speakers that was playing music and said that only a minimum of fifty people were allowed to bet at a time per table. Herrior turned his head slightly to the officers and let out a smile as they returned it. They all knew what Herrior was thinking and they felt a sense of pride.

The manager took them to the cashiers and told them to give each officer ten thousand dollars worth of chips. The manager then said if there was anything else he could do for them to just let him know.

"Well played…divided up the chips equally among us. Now to see if the officers are willing to follow my lead." Herrior said. Herrior took his chips and walked back in line to show the officers that he was holding them tight to his chest.

"If we lose money, will it be subtracted from the board?" A female officer asked.

"That is my guess. He didn't seem too pleased when we all seemed to win all at the same time." Herrior said with a smile. Several of the officers heard the low talking and laughed.

"Keep your cool…we are on a mission." Herrior said and then turned to Crystal who walked up to him.

"You only made three million so far? Please…give me some chips…" Crystal said reaching out and getting Herrior's.

"Have a friend looking over your shoulder do you?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…she's a little bit taller…" Crystal said giving Herrior a wink and then left.

Trackolania got his chips and walked over to Herrior and motioned that he was going to the poker tables.

"I've got to watch this…" Herrior said and many other officers said the same thing as they eagerly got their chips and followed.

Trackolania bounced up on an open seat and set his rack of chips on the table. A new game was starting.

"Welcome newcomer. The game is standard five card stud, nothing is wild. You are playing against anybody who decides to come and go. Are you familiar with the game?" The female dealer asked. Trackolania shook his hand back and forth indicating that he knew a little. The dealer dealt out five cards to twelve people who eagerly swept up their cards. Trackolania moved his hand over the cards, but never lifted them. Everybody began placing their bets and when it came to Trackolania's turn, he pushed all of his chips in. This shocked everybody, some folded, but others thought he was full of crap: "An amateur" they thought. They were allowed to exchange two cards which many did. Trackolania just sat in his chair and found out it swiveled all the way around. Trackolania refused to exchange any of his cards and amused himself with spinning himself around in a circle.

"Ok show your cards." The dealer said. Trackolania enthusiastically flipped his cards to show that he had a royal flush.

"Holy shit!" The dealer exclaimed as she saw his hand. The other players looked awestruck. Trackolania continued to spin around in his stool.

"Ok everybody throw your cards in, we're going to use a new deck." The surprised dealer said as she moved all of the winnings over to Trackolania.

Herrior tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards the table. Trackolania pulled all the chips towards him and quickly tossed his cards at her. They carefully stacked on each other and formed a small house of cards. The dealer again looked at it in shock, as did the other players. Many of them left the table grumbling and swearing. She took the cards and rubber banded them and discarded them. She pulled out a plastic wrapped brand new pack and tried talking to him the entire time. Trackolania seemed more than happy just to sit and spin around in a circle.

"He's mute. He tries to find the simple things in life." Herrior said putting his hand on top of Trackolania's head, stopping him from spinning. Herrior spun him around and faced the dealer. Trackolania let out a big smile.

"We'll you're a cute one, and a damn lucky one that's for sure. You are going to put me out of a job if you keep that up." She said winking at him. "So who's up for some poker? We have a lot of open spots." She announced. None of the officers dared to play against him. Herrior whispered, "Be good" in Trackolania's ear before he left. Trackolania turned around and crossed his fingers with a smile.

Herrior wandered the casino and told the officers to not follow him. He wanted to do some investigating. He moved up and down the levels looking at the people. He felt pity for them. Many of them seemed desperate…almost in despair. They would win a couple of times, but then lose their money again. They went through more "high's and low's" then Herrior could count. Herrior shook his head in disgust. He felt evil all around him, but it seemed to part ways as he walked.

"Sir, can I offer you a drink?" A fancy dressed waitress came up to Herrior and asked.

"No, I'm on duty." Herrior replied.

"If you are on duty, then that means you can't gamble either…here, this one is on the house." She said and handed it to him. She meant well, but there was no telling what was in the drink. He casually set it on an empty table and walked away. Herrior saw Quinely staring with her nose almost pressed against the glass of a huge aquarium and all of the fish were staring back at her. Herrior sighed and walked over to her.

"Quinely…you are drawing attention to yourself." Herrior said nudging her in a whisper.

"You wouldn't believe what some of these fish have to say. They come from many different parts of this world, lands that they describe as…"

"That's enough Quinely…no more making up stories about the fish." Herrior said as he saw people looking at them funny. Quinely was about to say something when he turned her to see the people looking at them.

"Hi! I know a lot about fish." Quinely said.

"Remember the rules Quinely…" Herrior said out of the corner of his mouth.

Quinely nodded and asked "Is there a place to feed the fish?"

"I'm not sure…why don't you go find out…" Herrior said.

"Ok!" Quinely said and ran off to find somebody that would let her feed the fish. All of the fish in the fish tank quickly swam in her direction and continued to stare at her.

Herrior sighed and quickly walked away. "Lindel are you busy?" he asked in his head.

"Right now I am. Let me finish up this game first, unless you need me right away." Lindel replied.

"No go ahead. Let me know when you are done." Herrior said back in his mind. Herrior counted the seconds and suddenly there was a lot of cheering and screaming in delight. He got to twelve.

"Ok sorry about that, what's going on?" Lindel said in his mind.

"How is Jacklyn doing outside?" Herrior asked sitting at a table all by himself.

"She is…she's really upset about something. Let me link her up with you and find out what's going on." Lindel said back in his mind. A couple of seconds passed and then Lindel linked up her mind with Herrior's again.

"What's going on Jacklyn?" Herrior asked.

"I am experiencing a lot of anxiety. I should be in there helping out my party; instead I'm out here breathing in smoke and on the verge of vomiting." Jacklyn said back quickly.

"You are doing the best that you can. Will they let you back on the bus? Maybe you can lay down for a bit." Herrior suggested.

"There is evil protruding out of every inch of this building Herrior." Jacklyn said.

"I know…everybody knows it. But it is not our mission to attack it. Our mission is to legally drain its funds and then free any captives there might be in this place. Go see if you can get on one of the buses and meditate." Herrior said again.

"Alright" Jacklyn said. Shortly afterwards Lindel broke the mental link with her but kept it established with Herrior.

"Is she going to be ok?" Lindel asked.

"She would prefer to level this building. She's been in battles with more people in it then this building has. She just has a problem with large groups of people." Herrior said back in his mind.

"And anything that moves." Lindel said back.

"Yes, well we all have our weaknesses. How are you holding up?" Herrior asked.

"I've had to drain power from several people so far. Mohania has people astonished at the card tables and nobody will play with Trackolania anymore…poor guy. Crystal is placing private bets at tables with people and manipulating them to giving her all of their chips. Quinely seems excited about feeding the fish in a glass wall full of fish. Everybody else seems to be enjoying themselves, but want so badly to kill something." Lindel said in Herrior's mind.

"Link up with the rest of the party that you have been helping and tell them you are going to take a break in a couple of minutes. Then I want you to begin your scan of this place." Herrior said.

"Will do" Lindel said and broke the link. Herrior looked over and was shocked to see Admiral and several other officers sitting next to him and others pulling up chairs.

"You looked busy." Admiral said.

"I was. How are things going?" Herrior asked.

"The officer's are doing exactly as you told them. We are up to forty five million dollars." Admiral said with a big grin.

"Good to hear, no more talk about that. Tell the officers to stop gambling and enjoy the scenery, that is what I told my party to do." Herrior said.

"Enjoy the scenery...read ya loud and clear boss." Admiral said and began issuing commands with his fingers. Herrior stopped him and said, "No...relax. Wonder around and see the sights, preoccupy yourself...sit at a table a relax."

"Ok...we will sit here and relax. Let's casually talk about things." Herrior said.

Lindel was floating through the casino and searching everybody's thoughts. She floated through several people through different buildings. She found the security room and saw dozens of people reviewing a lot of the footage from today. Lindel flew inside the computers and drew the power from all of the computers and then sent out a huge power spike. All of the monitors instant exploded and sparks of electricity shot out in every different direction. The hard drives were all fried instantly. The security personal all panicked and quickly tried to bring things back online when Lindel glided over and sucked the power out of all of them so that they were brought down to the floor. Lindel then quickly found the person in charged and possessed him. She quickly accessed his mind and found out the information she was looking for it. He walked over to the master switch and turned off all of the computers.

"Surge protector failed...must have got a huge spike of electricity. Recover what you can and do your standard monitoring." The man said.

"Standard monitoring? Sir we just lost fifty million dollars and the numbers are rising because of these pigs! They are cheating somehow!" Another security officer said.

"Shut up you piece of shit...what are you going to do - go tell them to stop winning?" Lindel's possessed man said and switched the power back on. "Replace these monitors and make the necessary repairs. I'll be in my office." The rest of the security personal looked astonished at him because previously he was desperately trying to find out how they were losing all of the money.

Lindel walked the man down several hallways and into a door. During this time Lindel began erasing parts of his mind containing the information about the drastic search he implemented and reprogrammed his memory to tell his security personal to go home for the day. Lindel sat the man in the chair down and temporarily put him to sleep as Lindel left his mind undetected.

Lindel didn't find any activity about keeping people as slaves or any other crimes that the man knew of. Lindel made a quick get away as she flew through the floor and down several levels until she reached dirt. She then came back up and started flying from room to room but couldn't find anything that had to do with sex trading or anybody being held captive. Nobody's minds were thinking of anything along those lines even - just usual day to day information. Frustrated - Lindel maneuvered through the many floors and scanned as wide as she could. Thirty minutes later she flew back into the casino and sat in a chair next to Herrior, still invisible.

"Anything?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Nothing...I checked everywhere Herrior. They were conducting an intensive review of our winnings - I put an end to that. What are we at now?"

"Sixty four million and they are not letting Trackolania to any tables anymore. You should go check on Jacklyn and make sure she is ok." Herrior said back in his mind.

"Will do." Lindel said and left. Admiral felt a chill as she left.

"One of ours?" Admiral asked.

"Yup, apparently this place is clean. It wasn't awhile ago..." Herrior said.

"So we're just here to gamble huh?" Admiral asked. Herrior nodded.

Lindel flew outside and into the bus. Jacklyn materialized in front of her and immediately started funneling power into her body.

"I hate this mission..." Jacklyn said starting to get color back into her face.

"I think everybody else does as well. I just disabled the security, Trackolania isn't allowed at any tables anymore and we're only at sixty four million. I checked for anymore people in the slave trade and couldn't find any targets. I told Herrior the place was clean." Lindel said.

"That's unfortunate. How's everybody else doing?" Jacklyn asked sitting back up.

"Better than you are hun. Do you want to try to come back in?" Lindel asked.

"I'm useless to the group here. They might as well have me go back to Tranquil..." Jacklyn said and slammed her fist in the seat in front of her. A loud "snap" sound came as they both looked at it.

"Have you walked the perimeter? Maybe your instincts could pick up on something that I didn't. I only checked the outside of the building." Lindel suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Jacklyn said feeling fully recharged now as Lindel stopped pumping energy into her body.

"Want me to go with you?" Lindel asked.

"Sure I suppose. It is a nice day outside and I wouldn't mind the company. Jacklyn jumped up and headed to the front of the bus. Jacklyn fiddled with the door opener but couldn't figure it out so she grabbed the metal rod and pulled hard on it. The doors flung open and both of them exited the bus. They started to walk together.

"Any particular thing you want to talk about?" Lindel asked.

"I hate buses and casinos. What are you sensing?" Jackyln asked changing the subject.

"Mixed emotions. A lot of people utterly disappointed or happy. Nobody content...a lot of people completely unhappy...wondering hopelessly in this world...using money as their god. It's hard to filter out some of the rift-raft from what we actually need. The couple behind us for instance come here every month...their total losses exceeds what they actually make, but the thought of hitting it big and winning lots of money brings them back. I get thoughts of people playing the lottery - spending hundreds, some thousands of dollars in hopes of making money. In the end - they all lose." Lindel said. Jacklyn nodded.

"The couple in front of us just lost their house and they have a baby on the way. The man still has a job to go back to, but they are not speaking to each other because of the decisions that they made today. Mohania mourns of the powers that he released in the graveyard, but his guilt is nothing bearing down on these people." Lindel said.

"You would think that they would learn. I'm sensing evil the closer we get to the structure." Jacklyn said.

"Not all see it as that. What you are sensing is utter despair, cheating, the loss of hope and the thoughts of happiness and joy being turned into just the opposite. Like I said it's hard for me to separate some of these thoughts. However if there were to be a threat I would sense it." Lindel said assuring her.

"I don't envy you. I have enough of my own thoughts to deal with - let alone hearing others. How do you do it?" Jacklyn asked taking in her surroundings.

"I filter as much as I can. I should probably get back inside. Are you strong enough to take up a perimeter alone?" Lindel asked.

"I'll be fine. Tell Herrior I refuse to travel back by bus. These metal death contraptions are just waiting to explode and I do not want to be pulling metal shards out of my body. I'll walk the perimeter several times and then let me know what my next orders are." Jacklyn said.

"Will do. Let's turn the corner and then I will disappear." Lindel said.

As they turned the corner of the huge building though, they saw four alliance sitting at a table smoking. Both of them raged in anger as they continued their walk.

"Hey sugar...you look lost. Bunch of officers in there, but maybe I could help you out...got a hotel room though...wanna head up there with me? I'll show you how to take a gamble you wont forget." One of the men said. He took one final puff on his cigarette and then flicked it away as the other men laughed. "Maybe you can bring your amazon woman as well, let her watch. Teach her a couple of things..."

Lindel smiled and flicked her hair as she said, "You cut right to the point here don't you now. I'm just southern girl straight out of college and I think I have a couple of things I could teach you. Where are you from sugar?"

"Where am I from?" The man laughed and then looked behind him. "Well now...I'm from the land of milk and honey...where beer flows from the tap and money grows on trees. Isn't that right boys?" The rest of the men alliance agreed.

"Sounds like you are full of crap...I hope that's not all you are - you got a job around here? I'm not a cheap date if you know what I mean." Lindel said unbuttoning her two top buttons and walking seductively up to him.

"'course I got some money. How much you be wanting for a date?" The man asked.

Lindel smiled and said "For you - first time is free, and depending on how well you are...maybe free for a long time..." Lindel said rubbing her hands up and down his chest. Jacklyn moved off to the side and in position.

"I might even..." Lindel said and started twirling her finger around his heart "take your heart..." Lindel's hand suddenly turned dark and reached through the man's body and grabbed the man's heart. She instantly squeezed it, instantly bursting the muscle and putting the man in shock as he slowly looked down at the hand reaching into his chest. Lindel sucked out the rest of his energy and pushed him over to his friends as a distraction. Jacklyn then charged forwards and took a large swing from the first man's groan up to his neck. She then spun the man around as the other two men shot guns at them. Lindel disappeared and reappeared behind the men, grabbing them by the neck. Jacklyn's blades plummeted into their stomachs as she twisted them when they were all the way through.

"It was stupid of you guys to come unarmored. Even with your fortified skin and your skills with weaponry, you sit here completely unaware that your mortal enemy seduced you." Jacklyn said to them. She then pulled her blades out and spun around as her blades severed the men's heads and all of them burst into fire. Jacklyn quickly put her dripping blades away behind her and looked around for people that might have seen the battle. Nobody had and Lindel extended her senses to confirm this.

"Any cameras looking at us?" Jacklyn asked looking up at the building.

"Hard to tell...the ones inside the casino are disguised really well, however I don't see any." Lindel said looking quickly. Suddenly a voice came from a device on the ground.

"Tom, what's your twenty?" Said the cell phone on the ground. Lindel quickly picked it up and mimicked what she thought was Tom's voice, "Just sitting here smoking...nothing much happening." Lindel said.

"Nice Peter...since when did Tom let you play with his phone?"

"I stoled it from him...you know how many numbers of babes he's got in here?" Lindel said back in a worried tone.

"That prick holding out on us?" He said jokingly. "Anyways we're heading in to start making sure the dumbass officers don't walk out with a dime. Hopefully we can convince some of them to stay here with us." The voice on the phone said. Both Jacklyn and Lindel knew what they meant. Jacklyn sprinted away as Lindel said, "Yeah, dumb bastards wont know what hit them." She then sucked the power out of the phone and ran to catch up with Jacklyn.

Jacklyn entered the casino and quickly surveyed the area. Fear or no fear...she wasn't about to let her party or the officers get ambushed by the alliance. She spotted Mohania on the far side of the casino but didn't see anybody else. She moved as quickly as she could over to him.

"Play time is over...the famous magician's acts are done." Jacklyn said clearing around the crowd that had gathered around him.

"Party pooper." Mohania said. Jacklyn rushed up and whispered what just happened to her and Lindel and the impending alliance attack.

"Oh...sorry...party starter." Mohania said with a smile.

"We can't fight in her, the officers have no weapons and no defenses against them. This place has cameras all over the place - where is the rest of the party and the officers?" Jacklyn whispered urgently.

"Up a couple of floors. We better get a move on." Mohania said walking as quickly as he could with Jacklyn towards the escalators.

"What were you doing anyways?" Jacklyn asked.

"Stealing money from those dumbass people. Apparently they are quite fond of magic shows and some offered for me to saw people in half for money. How screwed up is that?" Mohania asked.

"For you...not very. I am assuming you didn't do it right?" Jacklyn asked.

"Didn't have a saw...I'll remember one for the next time though." Mohania said.

They stepped on the escalators as Jacklyn grew very nervous. Mohania picked up on it quickly and said, "Just look up. Focus on one point and keep looking up. Remain very still."

"It's weird you being nice." Jacklyn said taking a deep swallow.

"Don't get used to it." Mohania said smiling.

"You are one of the nicest war...gentlemen I know." Jacklyn said.

"Nice save...just focus on the task at hand." Mohania said.

The arrived on the second floor as Mohania helped Jacklyn off from the escalator and moved her quickly away from the sides. They saw Herrior, most of the party and officers sitting around a table chatting. Jacklyn made an extremely loud coughing sound and caught Herrior's attention. He looked over at her, smiled and waved. Jacklyn looked sternly at him and drew her right thumb across her throat. Herrior quickly jumped up and ran over to meet her.

"We killed four alliance outside. More are coming in to come after us and the officers. We are not safe here." Jacklyn said quickly.

"Oh shit...where's Lindel?" Herrior asked quickly.

Jacklyn looked behind her thinking that she was right behind her. "She was right behind me...damn woman - I'll go find her."

"No, stick together. Do they have weapons and armor?" Herrior asked.

"Not the ones we killed, but we can't put on a display with thousands of people watching..." Jacklyn said. Herrior looked around and only saw a couple of dozen and none of them were paying attention to them. Jacklyn was obviously not thinking right.

"The officers are not immune to possession. We have to get them out of here." Jacklyn said.

Herrior nodded and moved quickly over to Admiral. He whispered some words in her ear and he suddenly turned pale. He turned to the officers around them and quietly said, "Get everybody on the bus...quickly and quietly!" The officers did as they were told and Jacklyn followed them down. Without even thinking Herrior knew that Jacklyn was now in charge of the officers and their retreat. It was Herrior's job to collect his party, the money, avoid the alliance and make it out without causing a scene. He looked at Mohania and told him to go find the rest of the party and to meet him on the first floor immediately. Mohania nodded and both of them took off in opposite directions.

Herrior started calling Lindel's name over and over in his mind, but with no response. He looked down and saw Admiral stating that a call had come up and they had to leave immediately to the person that told him to give a speech. He chuckled at first until Admiral moved in closer to him and seemed to say a couple of things that the man took as a threat. The man then nodded and went around him to go to the payout offices.

Herrior thought, "Good, that's taken care of" and pulled out his hearthstone. He had to risk this. He moved over to a corner where nobody could see him and thought of everybody in his group and rubbed the stone. The portals began to form, but then he quickly put the hearthstone away in his pocket. His party would know that something was up.

"I need to maintain a presence in the open, but away from everybody for when they call in." Herrior thought looking around for an area. He had two options, either stay here and wait, or go looking for them." He choose the last one.

Several seconds later his hearthstone began to vibrate. He looked around for a place to conceal himself and the only thing he could find were tables with clothes hanging off from them. He dove under one and let the hearthstone open the portals. Skyka, Strings, Crystal, Trackolania, and Julie answered.

"Were you trying to summon us?" Skyka asked.

"We're in deep shit. Gather up our group and guard the officers...discreetly!" Herrior said and then closed the portals.

"Sir...is everything ok?" A voice called from above him. Herrior backed out from beneath the table and said, "Lost my lucky rock."

"That is not like any rock I've ever seen." The man said as Herrior quickly put it away.

"That's what makes it so special, excuse me please." Herrior said as he looked around for other members of his party. He double checked the floor and then ran over to the escalators that took him up to the third floor. He found Quinely over by some fish almost immediately reaching in her pouch for her hearthstone. Herrior rushed over to her and said, "Don't pull that out. Quinely...I need you to follow instructions carefully. Alliance are planning on attacking us and we need to get the officers out of here. Where are the other members of our group?"

Quinely turned around quickly and wanted to ask questions, but the desperation on Herrior's face made her think differently. She said she knew where the others where, and would go get them. Herrior went with her. They found Dan with Branzer and Bernett who were waiting for Trackolania's payout on the slot machine that he kept hitting the jackpot on.

"Time to go boys." Quinely said.

"Pay attention to your hearthstones better!" Herrior said scolding them. They all looked in their pockets at the same time and hadn't realized it went off.

"Here's your full payment in the form of a cashier's check from us. We are going to take this machine in the back; it is due for its regular maintenance." A woman said with two guys and a furniture truck to haul it back. Herrior quickly snagged it and said, "Thanks, but we need to get going."

"There's no need to rush off…" was all the lady could say before Herrior and the rest of his party were making haste towards the doors. Down the escalators they went without making a sound to each other. They saw Jacklyn at the doors with the end in sight of all of the officers. Still no word from Lindel. Time was against them. Herrior heard several yells in the distance from the alliance. Their battle cry could always be ingrained in his mind.

"Herrior?" Dan asked.

"No." Herrior said quickly and continued their way towards the doors. Herrior eyed Jacklyn and pointed to the buses. Jacklyn yelled out the order, "Move!" The officers went from a nice orderly fashion, to a quick run. They loaded up bus after bus.

"I'm staying back…secure those humans." Herrior said and jumped off the escalator. The rest did as they were told. The alliance captain looked at Herrior and was surprised to see him slam into the floor right in front of him. Herrior slowly rose up and looked at him.

"Get out of my way you klutz…" The man said and tried to push him, but Herrior pushed back, knocking him to the ground. This one had armor unlike the ones Jacklyn and Lindel fought. He merely got up and brushed off the dirt as his eyes turned a dark red.

"I don't forgive easily…hold him, we'll deal with him later. The rest of you get those officers off from the bus!" The captain said. Herrior instantly slammed his fist into one of the alliance soldiers and resisted as much as he could. Without drawing his weapons or using his abilities, he could only deal so much damage.

Suddenly all of the slot machines hit the jackpot all at the same time…even the ones that nobody were at. Coins started shooting out everywhere. The gamblers inside of the casino shouted in excitement and ran to collect the shooting money. Mass chaos erupted as Herrior broke free. The alliance didn't want to reveal themselves either. They tried to organize order along with the personal that worked at the casino. Herrior took advantage of the situation and knelt down, grabbed two handfuls of coins and threw them in the air. People swarmed around him trying to get to the money. Herrior let out punch after punch of his captors, and finally freed himself. He took a huge leap over everybody and landed with an enormous crash in the floor. This raised a flag instantly for the captain. "Them…get them!" He yelled.

Herrior followed Jacklyn out of the doors. "Branzer shoot out the cameras!" Branzer's eyes looked up and saw three of them. As he raised his hand his gun flew from its holster and let out several blasts.

"Dan!" Herrior yelled out.

Time stopped.

Branzer, in his still frozen position, looked like he was duck hunting with a pistol powerful enough to take down aircraft.

"Everybody stop…don't move. Look at where you are and remember it…remember it precisely! Mohania go melt the doors together." Herrior said frozen in his position. Mohania engulfed himself in flame as he approached the doors. With both hands, he poured out hot liquid looking magma, instantly making the doors mold together. It took him a couple of minutes and then said he was done.

"Get back in your spot." Herrior said quickly but calmly. Mohania did just that.

"Dan – can you put out the fires and solidify the metal?" Herrior asked. Dan rose up his hands as his hands turned blue. From the clouds above and huge gust of wind slammed into the doors, instantly letting out and huge cloud of steam and putting out the grass fires.

"That's enough Dan!" Herrior yelled out above the sounds of the wind. Dan lowered his hands to their previous position and held perfectly still – just like everybody else.

"That will buy us some time. Lindel – where the hell are you?" Herrior yelled aloud.

"Buying us more time…but I stopped as soon as you told me to. They have mind readers in there. I was watching over you, but I couldn't risk being found out." Lindel said quickly.

"Are you still invisible?" Herrior asked.

"Yes"

"Trackolania, you and Lindel stay back. Disable their vehicles so they can't chase us. Do not engage them unless you are found out and my next order is do not let them find you! Is that clear?" Herrior said.

"Yes" Lindel said. Trackolania shook his head.

"Ok Dan turn time back on." Herrior said.

Time resumed.

The chaos erupted as the officers and Herrior's party flooded the buses. Herrior told his driver to make the bus go as fast as it can and to relay the information.

"I can only go the speed limit…"

"I can snap your neck with two fingers!" Herrior replied back. The bus driver better understood this information as he slammed the transmission in drive and floored it.

Trackolania had slipped into the shadows while attempting to get on a bus in the middle of Dan and Crystal. He did a backwards flip and landed outside and quickly sprinted into the parking lot with his daggers drawn. He was putting a deadly poison on them just in case he had to engage in combat.

The alliance captain finally forced his way it to the exits of the casino. He tried to open them, but they did not budge. He slammed at it as hard as he could, and the doors were as solid as concrete. Finally in frustration he kicked out the window and the security alarms began to go off, causing panic to everybody inside of the casino. The captain didn't care though, the buses were slipping away. He used his armor covered hands to clear out the rest of the glass and pushed his way through.

"Stop those busses!" He ordered when suddenly a large hit came from behind him and he fell to the ground stunned. Trackolania snuck back into his original position. Eventually the buses were finally pulling out of the large casino and squealing their tires on the dry pavement as their engines pushed as hard as they could.

Several more alliance came to the captain's air as Lindel pushed one of them very hard as he fell onto the captain, reviving him.

The captain, thinking this is what happened the whole time, threw the man off from him and ordered everybody to their cars. Trackolania and Lindel withdrew their positions. Unable to see each other, they were unable to coordinate their attacks. The captain ran over to his Porsche as the tires were quickly sliced in the back. Lindel closed in, but saw the tires flapping and eventually went flying behind the car. The expensive car was now riding on its custom rims.

"Ok if Trackolania as this side, I'll follow the alliance in this direction." Lindel said feet above the vehicle as the captain got out and swore heavily as he kicked the vehicle.

The captain went up to a woman alliance trying to unlock her SUV. The woman finally got it open when the captain grabbed her and threw her behind her. He jumped in the SUV and slammed the transmission in reverse with his foot on the accelerator when he heard a loud "Bang" and the SUV's transmission erupted and caught on fire.

"Son of a bitch!" The captain yelled kicking the woman in the face.

"Don't you people have any vehicles that work?"

"The batteries are dead in these – for some reason the lights were on…" one of the alliance members said.

"You idiot! There is a warning buzzer to tell you that you left them on!" The captain yelled at him.

"I turned them off!" He shouted back. In the distance they could hear police car sirens.

"Quickly you idiots get in a vehicle and meet us back at our head quarters!" The alliance captain yelled. In frustrating he kicked the same woman in the face, puncturing her right eye and breaking her skull in several pieces.

"I've got this bus running!" One of the alliance shouted.

"Everybody get on it!" The captain said grabbing the nearly dead woman's arm and dragging her towards the bus.

"What happened to her?" The same alliance said sitting in the driver's seat.

"She fell…once everybody is on get this thing moving!" The captain yelled at him and then dragged her in the back and threw her in a seat.

"I can see the police lights…sir if we don't leave now…" The driver yelled out as most of the alliance were aboard.

"Go then! What are you waiting for, a sword shoved through your back?" The captain yelled. The driver put the bus in gear and floored it. In the process, he ran over two alliance personal as they went tumbling end over end. One of them burned up. The captain looked back and said, "Idiots…" as his way of paying his respect to his fallen.

Trackolania and Lindel were securely snugged underneath the bus as it hit the highway. This was an opportunity they could not miss. This bus was going back to the alliance headquarters. This was a chance to launch an attack and kill hundreds of them – possibly even find out how they are entering different worlds, kill recruiters, and put an end to whatever plans they have whatever they might be.

Lindel looked at Trackolania and smiled as he smiled back. This mission over rid any orders from Herrior, but they both didn't want to make him mad. Neither one of them dared to make a sound or transmit any type of information for fear that they might be found out. Trackolania pointed to himself and pointed up towards the front of the bus. Lindel nodded as she floated through several different hot pipes and pieces of machinery until she was able to hear a couple of words. Mostly it sounded like emotions…people yelling at each other. She heard the captain's voice, or so he was given the name anyways. Only once in awhile she heard clear words, people's names and weapons she didn't recognize. She didn't dare to get any closer so she just tucked herself in and decided to disguise herself as best as she could so as to not draw any attention to her.

Trackolania made it to the engine block. He tapped on it with his finger and felt its heat and vibrations radiate off from it. He moved back with such precision that it seemed like he had done this a hundred times before. The ground below him…only a matter of inches…was sailing by at speeds of seventy miles per hour. Occasionally they would hit a bump and he would have to tighten his grip and pieces of dirt and gravel came up to hit him as well. He wasn't a banshee like Lindel…he had to endure the pain for the rest of the journey. They had to keep their distance though if one was caught, the other would have a chance to escape.

Hours passed as both of them held their positions as the bus came to a halt. Neither one of them moved but knew this would be the time to check under the bus. Trackolania was battered and bruised badly, but stealthed himself as he pulled up against the bus frame as close as he could. He heard some people talking and then the sounds of a gate opening. The bus then proceeded inside of the enormous compound. It travelled for awhile and then parked at the very end of the compound where he heard, "Pull the engine and melt it down for scrap." Trackolania knew he was going to have to make his move soon. He felt the people get off from the bus. He counted each one and heard them walk away. He knew more than that was on the bus. He waited as the minutes passed. Finally thirty minutes passed and he lowered his head. He looked around and a chill ran down his spine. There were men in army uniforms just like the ones that had joined up with Admiral's group. He carefully let himself down on the ground. He flipped himself over on his hands and feet as he moved up against the front left tire. He was unable to maintain his stealth as long as his wounds were dripping. Trackolania remembered when he sliced open what the captain said was the "transmission" and the deep color red that it left. Slicing a small hole in it and letting it drip would cover his tracks. It looked like the same color as blood. Trackolania moved quickly looking for the correct tank to puncture. He examined the entire undercarriage quickly and deduced that it was the one on the left side of him. Trackolania's dagger flew into his hand as he stabbed a small hole in it. Black thick liquid began to drip from it. Trackolania shook his head knowing he stabbed the wrong tank. He quickly moved up and away from the crude oil and stabbed another tank as he went to escape from under the bus. This one dripped red oil. He put his daggers away and pushed himself out in front of the bus. He looked up and saw the sun with bloodshot eyes filled with dirt. His vision was hindered worse than he thought it was. He looked at his disguise, still intact and looking unhindered by the journey. Trackolania slapped his trinket and revealed that his armor had taken a beaten. Most of it was unusable. The leather vest was riddled with holes and scratches along with burn marks and black soot everywhere. His pants were almost as bad. He made the decision to ditch his armor as soon as he got the chance. He pulled himself to his knees and saw many cars crushed…nearly fifty of them. He vanished from his spot and reappeared inside one of the better looking cars. He took off his leather garments and quickly cut the car seat apart to make himself new clothing. There was no sound of Lindel and this worried him as he pulled the makeshift poncho over his head. He looked down at it and moved his arms. It made a tiny scratching sound and knew it wouldn't work. Any armor that made a noise was useless while being stealthed. He quickly ripped it off and wrote a message in it in very small writing. He then pulled out his hearthstone and activated it. Herrior's face appeared. Trackolania held his finger over his mouth as Herrior nodded. He turned the portal around so Herrior could read what he had written:

"Inside alliance base. Lindel? Army persons here – be careful of betrayal."

Trackolania then turned the portal back to see Herrior's face. He nodded and closed the portal. Trackolania then vanished and reappeared behind the car. He peered out behind the vehicle and made sure nobody was looking. He shredded the note and then buried it. He needed to recuperate and quickly or he was good as dead…and he refused to die naked. Suddenly healing surged through his body and his vision was restored as well as his senses were heightened.

"Hey hun…" Lindel whispered behind him still invisible. Trackolania instantly faded into the shadows this time and stayed that way. They both moved as far backwards as they could until their backs were against the back of the solid concrete wall.

"Did you contact Herrior?" Lindel asked. Trackolania squeezed her arm twice. This meant yes. Trackolania dug a quick hole and activated his hearthstone, dropping it in and then covering it up.

"That will only buy us about three hours before they find it." Trackolania reached down and grabbed Lindel's hand. He made her open up two fingers and then felt Trackolania's blade suddenly in her hand. Lindel nodded. Trackolania was going to destroy it in two hours.

Trackolania took his dagger back and put it in his sheath on his belt. His belt rubbed hard on his hips, but he didn't care right now. He moved over to the first building and saw it empty. He disappeared and reappeared inside of the building and quickly moved throughout the building looking for traps. It was vacant for now, but he saw recent signs of activity. Lindel floated through the building and saw the same things he saw. It reeked of alliance – but of different races…and the one that scared them the most was that of orcs. Trackolania moved back through the building and back out the exit. Why they put an exit in the back of the building he pondered for a second and then moved on. Lindel was right behind him.

Suddenly he heard voices above him and froze against the back of the wall.

"My turn to stir up the prisoners tonight."

"Gonna use protection?"

"Those bitches will be crying for protection when I'm done with them…" The man said and spit off the wall. Trackolania dodged it before it hit the ground.

"You might catch something you know."

"Yeah…nobody has yet. Just another fuck is all it is. I think I'll break in some of the new ones tonight."

"You know what the Lieutenant said…"

"Fuck the Lieutenant; I'm not scared of that bastard. Soon he'll be replaced by somebody else with new rules…you know the turnover rate here."

"Just be careful is all I'm saying."

"Yeah yeah…" The conversation ended with the vulgar man walking away from the man. Trackolania and Lindel followed him up against the wall. Trackolania grabbed his hearthstone back up and quickly shut it off as he dropped it in his pouch. Using only his ears he concentrated on the man's footsteps and memorized them quickly. They walked the entire perimeter of the army base as they came to the other side. There were concrete stairs leading down as Trackolania and Mohania stood up against the back of the staircase and listened to him walk down. He stopped at a door protruding out of the ground with a solid concrete door. He entered a pass code and immediately the door flung open. The soldier took a second to adjust his uniform as Trackolania vanished door the stairs and were at the bottom even before he took his first step down.

They looked around and saw hundreds of cages…and no guards. There were humans, dwarfs, one tauren, orcs, and some from the earthen alliance. Apparently they hadn't killed all of them. Both of them weren't able to take a quick inventory of the prisoners as the guard walked down with a happy smile on his face and an even happier expression in his pants.

"So…whose turn is it?"

"Take me…please…" a woman pleaded.

"Woman…you are a loose and dirty as some of the whores we have. I'm looking for somebody young and…enthusiastic." The mother's quickly hide their daughters behind them.

"I offer myself willingly…please leave the children alone." An orc woman said. The man raised his gun and fired a bullet into her skull. She dropped dead with a shocked look on her face.

"What are you doing clothed? Everybody is supposed to be naked! Follow the rules!" The man said and started clanging the butt of his rifle on the bars. Everybody quickly stripped off what little garments they had. Lindel flew over to the dead orc and quickly pulled the bullet out of her skull…but her spirit had left. Trackolania took up position behind the guard.

"That's better! Now then…what piece of meat do I want tonight?" The guard said. Something bounced in front of him as he quickly pulled his gun down and aimed at it. Trackolania pulled the clip from the gun and pick pocketed everything in the man's pockets.

"Who threw that?" The man yelled. He rushed over to where he thought a rock was, but saw nothing.

"Your end draws neigh…" Lindel said disguised as the dead orc. The man swung around and his face turned white. He raised his gun and heard only clicks come from it. He reached back for more ammo but found nothing. Frantically he reached for his knife in his boot.

"I killed you once bitch…I'll do it again…" the man said obviously frightened.

"You've killed too many so far…vengeance of my ancestors have set my spirit loose to seek revenge." Lindel said in her sinister voice.

"Bullshit!" The man said and tried to walk forward, but he found that the back of his ankles were sliced and down he went. Lindel moved in quickly and possessed the man as he looked up at her. The possession was even scarier than watching one of their children get raped. All of the prisoners screamed in fear as the body rose up in the air and shook violently. Soon it landed on the ground and Lindel finally gained control over the man's mind. She quickly accessed the prisoners and what they were imprisoned for. Lindel made the man sigh as she realized that she was surrounded by traitors and people that came here willingly to sign up for the army – only to be beaten senseless, possessed, or imprisoned.

Trackolania sat, poised for attack, but when he heard Lindel's sigh he knew there would be no bloodshed tonight. Trackolania then raced towards the exit and took up a position there.

"Rape after rape…random beatings and killings, that's what happens here. Stupid ghost is no match for the alliance. Killing one of you tonight is enough satisfaction for me tonight. I'm on shift for the next week. I'm going to kill two of you tomorrow, three of you the next day and so on. We need to make room for the new arrivals." Lindel made the man say. She accessed the man's mind to find out. Next she put the man's mind in a near catatonic state so that he was oblivious to what was going on. She pulled out the man's phone and flipped it open.

"There are land mines, long range weapons, motion sensors, and infrared cameras outside the compound. In here would be a good arrival point for a strike. However if we can find out other information it would prove invaluable." Lindel whispered as quietly as she could. Trackolania squeezed her leg twice.

"There is a communication post on the north side of the base. That information would prove to be invaluable to us. They do not check for spies in the camp, so we don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm going to go to one of the watch towers and communicate with Herrior." Lindel said and then slammed the phone shut. She then marched up the stairs with Trackolania right behind her as she opened the door and then slammed it shut behind her. Trackolania was cleared of it and carefully made her way to the communication outpost. Lindel walked the man back up the stone stairs and walked up to the same man he talked to before.

"That was quick." The man said.

"One got to rowdy, the orc woman; had to put her down. When's the next shipment of rodents coming in?" Lindel asked.

"Tomorrow sometime" the man replied.

"What the heck is that?" Lindel asked turning to the right as if she spotted something. Lindel moved closer to the edge of the wall and moved quickly into the small enclosure. The man readied his army rifle and followed the man Lindel was controlling.

"Deer probably…" the man said.

"Walking on two legs? Don't think so – look its right over there!" Lindel moved next to him and pointed off into the distance.

Seconds passed and he said, "It's a tree."

"Might be…go check it out!" Lindel said in her banshee voice as a ghostly arm shot out of the man she possessed and slammed into the man's side. She drained his energy quickly, which put him even more in shock. Lindel then threw the man over the wall. He screamed all the way down. He landed on several landmines as they instantly exploded – sending parts of him scattering around the grounds. Seconds later his body burned up in flame.

"What the hell was that?" A man cried out as several soldiers came running out of the buildings with guns and searchlights instantly turned on.

"Dumbass fell over the edge…anybody got a pack of smokes?" Lindel asked casually. All of the spotlights were on her as she pulled out her package of cigarettes and showed that it was empty.

"He just fell over the edge?" The man shouted.

"He was looking at something in the woods, hell if I know what it was, and went to put his hands down on the wall. He misjudged it and I tried to catch him, but was too late. Do I have to get his watch tomorrow or is somebody else going to take it up?" Lindel called down in the man's voice.

"Silence the alarms." The man said. Lindel tried to access the man's mind for his name but couldn't come up with the information. The man went on, "This isn't the first time one of you assholes killed yourself. Get back to business." The man ordered and with that everything was quiet again.

"What about my smokes?" Lindel called down. She glanced up to see Trackolania get inside the building undetected. Lindel let out a smile inside and watched everybody disappear back into the buildings. She took a casual stroll to the left and right, looking for anybody watching. Once satisfied, she put the man in a deep sleep and then flew out of him. She pulled out her hearthstone and summoned Herrior.

"Staying warm I hope?" Herrior asked.

"They have orcs here. I had to let one die – there wasn't anything I could do about it. There are other prisoners here as well, but Herrior I don't trust them. They would sell their kids for freedom. The base is completely surrounded by explosives and huge guns. There's no way you are going to attack this base from any angle. I can get us in where the slaves are being held, but there are hundreds of alliance. Trackolania went to go get more information in the communication building. He doesn't have any armor and was pretty banged up when we got here. He still has his weapons though." Lindel said quickly all in one breathe.

"Somebody would have to kill him twice in order to get those daggers from him…are you two safe?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior – we're surrounded by alliance…"

"No – for the moment, can we talk?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, that's why I contacted you. I found a suitable host and already killed one alliance…but this place is isolated and has every advantage going for it. Were the soldiers with you traitors?" Lindel asked recalled Trackolania's message.

"I have no reason to believe so. I'm having a full sweep done anyways. Given the order, they would all storm the place right now…but I have a feeling that isn't an option…" Herrior said.

Lindel shook her head. "We would suffer heavy losses. Unfortunately…" Lindel said with a sigh. Herrior nodded – he understood the risks. They would have to do an aerial assault with some coming up from the prisons. Herrior didn't like those odds.

"Look for anybody worth saving. Test out their loyalty. If any of them hesitate, then tell them to flee the base and don't look back. We will develop a plan on our end." Herrior said getting ready to close the portal.

"Herrior wait…they have fresh recruits coming in…" Lindel said quickly and with fear in her voice. This made Herrior pause for a moment. He sighed and looked to his right.

"There are recruiters then. If we level the base, some are still going to get away. They will only reform somewhere else and then rebuild. Contact me every night at this time with updated information. If you can't – don't take a gamble with your life." Herrior said.

"Herrior?" Lindel asked with a pause.

"Yes?"

"What were our total earnings?" Lindel asked with a smile on her face.

"Close to half a million dollars…before taxes; Admiral is handling that. I have no idea how they tax people here. We're bringing in several of our engineers with those floating rock things. We're building a network of tunnels to and from the new army base. Under the ground, our engineers are rapidly construction a huge dome. Only the people we trust will be allowed in and we will have alliance and demon scanners in place soon. Branzer says he loves you." Herrior said without skipping a beat. Branzer perked up in the background and asked who he was talking to. This made Lindel smile.

"Tell him I love him too, but duty first." Lindel said.

"Good luck. I look forward to hearing from you." Herrior said.

"I look forward to being with all of you again…" Lindel said with a sigh and closed the portal. She put it in her pocket and repossessed the man's body. Lindel spent the rest of the night searching through his mind for more information.

Trackolania though was getting more information than he could remember. He had secured himself in the top corner of the doorway and heightened all of his senses. Everything was coming at him so fast and so quickly…this was only a small base and they were speaking with many other bases on this world and elsewhere.

After an hour of trying to memorize everything and who said it he shook his head and went into spy mode. He started looking for maps, instruments, anything tangible that he could steal. He identified several targets he thought was in charge, but by the way they were bickering, he couldn't decide which to assassinate. They were in full armor and weapons, but were passive. Trackolania could easily catch two or three off guard and kill them…but then he would have given away his position and they would know that an assassin was among them. No…he would just be a spy.

Several more hours passed and everybody decided that ten pm was time to quit. Trackolania repositioned himself more away towards the wall and was ready to do a series of quick movements. The last couple of men was taking their time leaving and was talking about prostitutes they had when Trackolania finally decided to make his move. He jumped off the floor, landed on the ground jumped up to his left, landed on top of a computer monitor, and then jumped again landing on the other side of the room. None of the men had noticed and he hadn't set off any alarms. Carefully he moved around the room looking at various computers, papers, screens, and an assortment of different weapons and tools lying around. He didn't touch anything as he made his first round. Two of the alliance men finally left as the third said he had to get something. Trackolania was getting frustrated and moved away from the man as he went to get his gun and a package. He then hurried to catch up with the rest of them and locked the door with double locks on the way out. Trackolania smiled at this. He stepped out of the shadows and pulled out his hearthstone. He contacted Herrior and motioned him to come to him. Herrior nodded and closed the portal. Trackolania then moved himself in front of the door with his daggers drawn. If somebody was going to come back in, they were going to die a quick death.

A minute later a portal appeared in front of Trackolania and Herrior's party, excluding Lindel, as well as several other rogues and a Chronomancer came out. They were battle ready. Trackolania put his daggers away and shook his hands as he waved to have them put their weapons away. He then put a finger over his mouth and pointed at everybody. Trackolania then pointed to Herrior, disappeared, and then reappeared on a table in the middle of the room and pointed down at it.

Herrior quickly put his weapons away and whispered, "Cameras…I want everything here documented – keep that portal open and nobody says a word!" as he walked over to where Trackolania was.

Herrior's heart beat an extra beat when he saw what Trackolania was pointing at. It was the bases that the alliance had all over the world. Herrior reached down to touch it, but Trackolania quickly stopped him. Herrior knew better, but to hold the maps…the key to ridding this world of alliance…he wanted so badly just to be the one to hold these. But if they were moved…if anything was out of position just a hair they might get suspicious and give word to abandon their positions. Herrior snapped his fingers and pointed at what Trackolania was standing over. Trackolania did a back flip off from the table and landed on the floor without making a sound. A fellow rogue came over and gave him a new set of leather armor and offered to restock his poisons.

Cameras were flashing all over the place. They had names, locations, routes, list of orders – even the food that they were eating. Herrior had a hard time containing himself, as did the rest of his party – but they maintained a level head throughout everything.

Ten minutes had passed and Herrior gave the signal for everybody to leave. Trackolania and the other rogues held their position. Herrior looked Trackolania in the eyes and slowly raised his eyebrow and then motioned at the other two rogues. Trackolania nodded in response. Herrior nodded back and then disappeared through the portal. Trackolania now had two other rogues by his side…this would even things out a bit for them. Trackolania was quick to motion that he was in charge and quickly ran to the door and disappeared into the shadows. He moved from inside the building to the outside along with the other stealthed rogues as they looked around. Lots of people were still awake and moving around the camp. Trackolania took the lead as he ran to the side of the building and then bounced his way up to the roof. The other two mimicked his movements. Lindel looked over from on top of the wall and felt their presence. She let out a smile and then did what this man would normal do…he would take him to bed.

"Last one to come in has to make the beds in the morning…" one male alliance said pointing at her and everybody laughed. Lindel slowly gave him the finger and moved to the man's bed. Having read all of the man's history after becoming an alliance, she knew what to expect next and how the man would have reacted.

"What…the pussy all tired out already?" The same man asked.

"No…but the one I had today was…" Lindel said back. The room erupted in laughter. Lindel crossed the man's legs and put his hands behind his head looking satisfied.

"Say…why don't you really tell us what happened to the man that fell off the wall today?" Another said pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Why don't you mind your own damn business. Loose lips sink ships – leaving the assholes who asked about it covered in their own shit." Lindel said without skipping a beat.

"You'll watch your mouth there son, I have rank over you!" The man said.

Lindel put the man's feet over the side of the bed and his hands up on the rails. She made the man smile and said, "You are really going to pull rank over me? How about you sit your pansy ass down and we arm wrestle over rank?" The man looked curiously at him. Lindel had nothing to lose and the man stood a chance at losing his rank, but he did initiate it and the boys were around. So he started rolling his arms and said, "Sure sweet cheeks…but if you lose, you are on latrine duty for a month. You wanna risk that?"

"Threats…mean nothing to me." Lindel said making the man stand up. The room became rowdy and the men became excited. Lindel stared at the man with a small smile and never blinked.

"Bring that table around here…and if anybody bets against me, I'll make them wear a dress around camp for the next week and make them be everybody's bitch." The man said confidently.

Both Lindel and the man got down on their knees and put their elbows on the small table. The man viciously grabbed Lindel's hand and tried to squeeze it, but her host's hands did not fault. Lindel squeezed back with the same smile and still not blinking her eyes.

"Go!" A man shouted and the man in charge put everything he had into moving Lindel's host's hand. It never budged. Lindel squeezed the man's fingers harder to the point where he started saying, "Hold on…hold on…" and then Lindel did a quick hard squeeze, snapped two bones in his fingers and then throwing the man on the floor. Lindel quickly stood up and put her host's foot on his neck.

"What's a matter…can dish it out but can't take it?" Lindel said in the man's voice and then laughed as she pushed off from the man's throat. The injured man looked at her astonished as he lay on the floor holding his wounded hand.

"Who's next? Anybody?" Lindel asked looking around. All of the men looked astonished.

"If I hear any shit talking about me, you'll end up worse than him! Get your sorry ass off the floor and stop babying yourself." Lindel said reaching down and pulling him to his feet. She took the man's fingers and quickly realigned the bones in them. This caused him to shout in pain and shoot his arm back. He looked down at it and felt the pain subside, but was able to move them again.

"By all rules of the alliance, I proclaim myself a higher rank than him. Now then…go get me some dinner runt – and it better be warm!" Lindel said yelling in the man's face and pointing at the door behind her. The man quickly got off the ground and left the building. Lindel watched him go. She slowly turned her host's body back around and said, "What?" The rest of the alliance quickly went about their business and didn't say anything. She crawled back into the man's bunk with a big smile. "This just might work out in my favor…" Lindel thought. The man came in fifteen minutes later with a container full assorted meats and vegetables.

Lindel opened it and then closed it – setting it aside. She stood up to him and said, "I smell your stench in there…did you spit in my food?"

"No sir." The man replied and while he was saying that Lindel shot her host's arm up and grabbed his throat. Almost instantly the man's face turned purple.

"Did you spit in my food!" Lindel shouted. The man quickly shook his head back and forth unable to breathe or speak. Lindel tossed him aside and said, "Good, now as far as the rest of you pricks…don't you have something you need to be doing besides staring?" Lindel was playing the role well and enjoying it.

Back at the station Herrior and his party came out of the portal and flew out of the room. Herrior pounded on Admiral's door as he walked by and then walked into the officer's large room.

"I need a favor!" Herrior announced loudly. Many of the officers not doing anything quickly rose to their feet. Admiral came out of his office and offered to help.

"Inside of these cameras are pictures that are invaluable to us. We need these on paper quickly – if not faster!" Herrior said motioning to his party. They left and started dividing up the cameras.

"The pictures that we took and the things that we saw is the key to winning the total and complete annihilation of the alliance and their influence over this world! Without them here, there will be less war, less death, less diseases, better leaders, less famine, and less disasters. If it wasn't for us, they would have taken over this world thousands of years ago. We now have the strength to defeat them, and in these devices hold a potential plans for an attack that would devastate them! This something to take very serious people – I want this information extract from these…camera things, on paper as soon as possible. After that we will start coordinating attacks and your world – our ongoing battle – will be significantly easier." Herrior said in a strong leader voice that echoed throughout the building.

"Do we have enough toner?"

"Each person gets one camera."

"Give me that one."

The sentences and excitement filled the air as the officers quickly assigned each other what they were going to do.

"Do you want me to call George?" Admiral asked Herrior.

"We don't have a plan of attack yet, but you may inform him of what I just told everybody." Herrior said turning to look at Admiral. He nodded and left.

Suddenly several red lights began flashing in the building. The officers stopped what they were doing and quickly grabbed their guns.

"Hold it! What is going on?" Herrior asked demanding at first and then calmly at the end.

"An alliance personal has just entered our gates." Several officers tried to say at the same time. Herrior let out a smile in pleasure at the eagerness of the officers to fight.

"Stand down…you have your orders. Your current assignments are more important. We'll go have a talk with him. Mohania – lead us out." Herrior said.

Mohania raised his arms into the air and a whirlwind of fire enveloped his body. He let out a sinister laugh as he felt his powers increasing. Jacklyn looked concerned at Herrior, but Herrior ignored it as he hit his trinket to disguise himself.

"I shall give him a welcome nobody will forget…" Mohania laughed in a very sinister tone. Mohania started walked to the door and as soon as his hand extinguished as soon as it touched the doorknob, he didn't want to damage anything he didn't want to. He opened it up and waiting behind the building for the rest of the party to come out. Herrior hadn't drawn his weapons yet so nobody else did either.

"Who's in charge here? I put in my application two weeks ago and keep getting blown off!" A voice said.

"Blown off?" Mohania asked aloud. "That is unacceptable…"

"You are telling me! Where do I…oh shit!" The alliance male said as Mohania came around the building. Mohania extended his flaming hand and engulfed him in his green shield. He picked him up off from the ground. Mohania then summoned more flame and as it grew, Herrior's party had to step back from the heat. Once ready, Mohania began to cast a spell and several seconds later a huge green diamond-shaped spell went flying out of his arms with several smaller green diamond-shapes orbiting around the bigger one. The alliance screamed as he saw the enormous spell fly at him and then obliterated him into hundreds of tiny pieces.

"No! I'm not done yet! Are there any others?" Mohania said mad, yet in a satisfied tone.

"Just the one" The front guard yelled out. "I wasn't sure if I could kill him myself."

"I wasn't sure that my chaos bolt would have shattered his worthless body so quickly…" Mohania said and began to extinguish the fires engulfing him. "Set the alarm off again if you see anybody else."

"Any other alliance is what Mohania meant to say." Herrior said finishing his sentence.

"Fine…can I go play with the prisoners?" Mohania asked changing the subject but obviously very happy.

"Not right now. We have to go plan our attacks. Do you want to come with us to go attack the alliance?" Herrior asked in tone as if he was talking to a child.

"Smartass…" Mohania said extinguishing the last bit of flame.

"How many times can you do that?" Herrior asked.

"Once…I need to build up power to do that again. The more fire spells I cast, the more power I absorb, the more power I absorb the more chaos bolts I can unleash." Mohania said explaining. He paused for a minute and said, "I like fire."

"Good boy. Let's get inside." Herrior said patting him on the shoulder and walked away.

"I get the next alliance that steps foot in the base!" Mohania called out.

"You just had a turn…" Dan said.

"Yes, but I was also the first one to call it." Mohania said smiling.

"A bit childish?" Crystal asked.

"Yes…but I called it first." Mohania said repeating himself.

Morning came at the alliance camp and Lindel got up to go have breakfast. Nobody in her sleeping quarters said a word. Lindel dragged her feet getting there and surveyed the camp again. She didn't want to outstretch her mind to see where the three rogues were, but she had a hunch they weren't too far away.

Lindel walked her host body into the mess hall and looked over everybody carefully. Apparently word had spread that she rose in rank and everybody took their turn looking at her. She grabbed a tray and told the chef and the workers behind the tray to fill up several plates with food. She then turned and listened to what everybody was saying and thinking. She found a man who apparently was friends with the man she disgraced last night and was planning on revenge. She smiled and moved over to him, standing behind him.

"Move!" Lindel demanded.

The man casually finished chewing his food and wiped his mouth as he stood up – towering over him. Lindel extended her mind to read his.

"I was here first…I suggest you apologize and move on." The tall man said.

"I suggest you kiss my ass – I told you to move." Lindel said back. Sensing the man's thoughts, Lindel grabbed her fork and shoved it into the man's fist coming at her head. She easily dodged it as the metal fork broke his middle finger's bone and tore at the rest of the flesh.

The man recoiled back in shock as Lindel gracefully balanced her tray in one hand and in the other hand took her knife and grazed the man's neck, letting out a thin of blood – nothing fatal, but again putting the man in shock as raised his other hand to put it on his neck and then look at the blood on his hand.

"That could have just as easily punctured your throat and you would be drowning in your own blood right now. Are we done playing now, or do you want to go another round?" Lindel asked smiling at him. The man looked back in shock as Lindel made a half-ass attempt to shove the knife back at his throat. The man recoiled back in fear as she said, "That's what I thought…grab your shit and get out of my spot!" The man did just that.

Lindel felt the eyes of everybody in the mess hall looking at her as the man walked over to a different table and sat down. She was sitting with her enemy's enemy now. She started to eat casually as she heard a man get up and move up behind her.

"What's your name soldier?" The man asked with authority in his voice.

"Jeremy." Lindel said casually back.

"I'd like to speak with you after your meal Jeremy. Meet me in the operations center." The man said and then walked away.

Lindel looked to her left and said, "Are you looking at me?" The man quickly looked down at his food and pretended like he wasn't.

"Give me your donut!" Lindel said holding out her host's hand. The man quickly did as he was told and Lindel bit into it, chewed it up, and then spat the crumbs out at him.

"Any of you other assholes looking at me?" Lindel asked looking around. Nobody was – in fact they were looking in the opposite direction. Lindel had driven fear into them…and she loved every minute of it. She finished eating her breakfast and tossed her tray and contents to the man that gave her the donut and said, "Take care of this for me" and walked away.

Outside she was met up by the man who talked to him.

"Jeremy…I've noticed that you have become more aggressive towards your soldiers and have shown dominance over them. I am pleased with you and think we can assign you to better jobs. Come with me." The man said.

"Being stuck among these rodents makes me feel claustrophobic…am I being reassigned? I would like to go somewhere where I could shed some blood instead of just having pissing contests with these buffoons." Lindel said. The man laughed.

"These buffoons are being conditioned, such as yourself. For some reason you have excelled above them and don't deserve to be in the…pissing contest anymore. I need you to lead an assault team. Show your allegiance to the alliance and you will grow faster and more power will be bestowed upon you…powers you have probably never dreamed of." The man said with a smile.

"Gladly." Lindel said confidently. There was no way she was going to kill any of her people or innocent people. She may have gotten over her head on this one.

"After you," the man said and opened the door to the building Trackolania was in last night. She had not known that Herrior and the rest of the party were there the night before. She walked in and heard all of the commotion happening and was overwhelmed by it – just as Herrior was last night.

"There's more to this war than just guarding this recruiting station. There is an area north of us where most of our personal are coming from. We need you to speed up the process of "thinning out" who can be a member of the alliance and who is just signing up for the money. Over here is where I want you to be stationed with a Duke and his army. You are going to take the soldiers that are ready from this station and run over this city called Grayland. There's an army base in there, I want all of the men transformed by the recruiters we are sending with you and their weapons. It'll be a simple take over. Any questions?" The man asked.

"Will it get me out of this filth hole and how much does it pay?" Lindel asked hoping it was the right response.

"Five thousand, and if you are able to take over the army base you may establish your own base there. You will leave first thing tomorrow. Your troops will be assembled and you'll have about three thousand soldiers are your disposal. This camp will be moved there after you have accomplished your mission. I look forward to your success." The man said and smiled at him with a hint of red in his eyes. Lindel smiled back and thanked him for the mission. She left and shut the door behind him. Lindel took in a large breath of air and put her hands on her hips in satisfaction. With a beaming smile across her face she was absolutely terrified within. She hoped she could keep up the act long enough to get all of the alliance killed. A thought then occurred to her. She turned around and reopened the door.

"Yes?" The same man asked.

"Would you like to be there when I overtake the base? Why let me bask in all of the glory when the victory should be one for the alliance?" Lindel hoped she worded that right.

The man looked at her for several long seconds, or so it seemed to Lindel. He then turned around and looked at several different papers and told one of the women at the computer to bring up something. He studied it for awhile and then said "Yeah it shouldn't interfere with operations here, and I don't see why not. I'll arrive thirty minutes after your initial attack at high noon. Set your forces up and take charge of the recruiters and the remaining alliance there already. I will call ahead to make the necessary arrangements."

"It would be my honor." Lindel said and then shut the door. She started going over and over in her mind, playing out dozens of different scenarios in her mind. This would have to be the best acting she has ever done, she would have to revive her host to rejuvenate his body while maintaining control over him, and give the illusion that she was going to launch an attack. And what if innocents were killed? She was working for the alliance and will have caused innocents to succumb to their death or become possessed because of her. This was tearing her apart. She suddenly saw a light flash in her left corner of her vision. She looked towards it and didn't see anything. She then felt Trackolania's presence for a short time in her mind. He was smiling and very calm. She let out a smile and remembered that she wasn't alone.

"Lord help me not to screw this up…" Lindel mumbled quietly to herself walking away from the building and towards the junk pile. All of the alliance soldiers left her alone, but some were still planning on her demise. Lindel thought, "That's fine…I'll end up killing my host anyways…along with all of you." She continued walking out of sight until she was able to be alone. She started rummaging through some of the metal and made it look as though she wanted to reinforce the bus with extra armor plating. She laid out several pieces that would go where the passengers would go. She then found several pieces to go under the bus. She felt a soft hand touch her on the top of her hair.

"Hello my friend. I'm in quite the predicament. I need to contact Herrior immediately." Lindel said quietly. Two soft pats on her head came and suddenly she felt Trackolania's presence gone and heard the side of the bus door open.

"For crying out loud…why didn't I think of that?" Lindel said grinding her teeth in stress. "Makes more sense than contacting Herrior under the bus…come on Lindel you have to hold it together!"

She crawled out from under the bus and put several more pieces of metal next to the sides of it before entering the bus. She fell to the ground and starting moving forwards and into the bottom of a seat. She let her mind outstretch and felt nobody's presence around her. She heard commotion, but it was at the front of the base – directly opposite of where she was. "Good ol' rogues" she thought. She pulled out her hearthstone and thought about something and then put it back. She put her hands out and formed a small portal.

Herrior saw a portal opening right in front of his face. It was a small one, but a human hand came out of it and touched Herrior's face. Instantly his party jumped into action but Herrior quickly held his hand up and motioned them to stop.

"Herrior, this is Lindel…I'm in deep shit. Listen closely…I've earned the respect of the generals or whatever the shit they call them. I'm to lead an army of three thousand on an assault of an army base in some town called grey land…or gray land…or something like that. Herrior you have to help me! What do I do?" Lindel's mind was channeled through the human hand and into Herrior's head.

"Calm down is what you are going to do. When?" Herrior asked in his mind using a very soothing voice.

"Tomorrow at high noon. There are going to be recruiters, well equipped soldiers, and the head generals are going to be arrived thirty minutes afterwards to watch our progress." Lindel said quickly again.

"Good. We'll launch three different offensives then. I'll dispatch party's to guard the base, to destroy this base you are in now and a huge offensive to kill the large group coming. I'll need to start notifying some people. Lindel you need to hold it together. I'll tell you the same thing I told Mohania…be calm, be in control, be confident. Meditate on those things. I will handle the rest. Now get rid of this portal before somebody finds out." Herrior said in his mind. The human hand quickly vanished into the portal as it was slammed shut.

"Admiral…it's time to call George." Herrior said. "I am going to contact our town and get a significant amount of forces but there is going to be a battle. It's what your people have wanted and now is their chance. My party come with me, Admiral – get whoever is battle ready and equip them with some guns. We may even need some aerial attacks as well."

"I'm ready…" Admiral said with a smile. He had been waiting for this as well.

Lindel got back up and looked all around on the bus and saw nobody looking at her. The rogues kept their attention in the front. Lindel had better tell them to stop.

She got off the bus and yelled out, "Where are our welders at?" The people stopped looking around and several men and women came over to where she was. Lindel gave them instructions as to how she wanted the bus reinforced with the metal. The welders understood what she wanted and got to work on it.

"The rest of you jerking your wanker…get your guns together and ammunition. Tomorrow we are going for a little ride." Lindel said. She headed towards the weapons bunker as well. She looked inside and was filled with fear. Their weapons were enormous, some glowing, and some continuously dripping with some sort of fluid. There were enough guns here to give each person at least a dozen, and that's what they took.

Lindel pulled herself together and stepped aside as she scanned her host's mind for his weapons. She then gathered up several semi-automatic machine guns and gave them a twirl before strapping them on. She then picked up several grenades and extra clips.

Lindel helped others get their armor on and moved several handheld cannons she recognized from their encounter with the alliance before. This brought back more memories… "I wonder if these weapons are the same weapons that killed our citizens…"

"Hey douche! You mind getting outta the way?" A man said shoving her aside. Several people holding a huge pipe walked by her.

"Watch what you say!" Lindel yelled back.

"Please?" The man said sarcastically.

Lindel had enough. She took her weaponry and walked outside as she remembered what Herrior said, "calm, control, confidence". If she blew this she would be killed…or worse.

"What are we doing with our prisoners?" A man yelled out.

"What prisoners…" Lindel said back over her shoulder. She just ordered their death sentence, and ever so casually without even a hint of emotion in her voice. Their deaths would be on her head.

"Cool it Lindel…the alliance would have killed them anyways – keep it together." Lindel told herself. This was easier when they weren't human…this was easier when Mohania did the killing…hell this was easier in her banshee form – but they weren't here and if she assumed her banshee formed, she would be gunned down. She was losing her concentration and her host's mind started to get at her.

"You know what I know…but I know what you know…" the male voice said. Lindel jumped in shock as she turned around. She looked around saw nobody around her.

"That's right you piece of shit banshee…you feast off from my body, but my body is rejecting your presence – and I will have so much fun killing you and your pathetic army!" Lindel shot a bolt of lightning through the man's body, putting him in intense pain and screaming in his mind. Lindel put the man's mind back to sleep.

"You ok sir?" A woman said in a comforting voice. She bent down and looked at her with a red tint in her eyes.

"Yeah…just fine. How's things coming along?" Lindel asked readjusting herself.

"We'll be ready to roll out on time. Before battle jitters?" She questioned her.

"Hell no…sooner we get the base and establish another foothold in this god-forsaken land the better." Lindel said and then apologized in her mind.

"Just want to make sure our leader is up to the task. I have no intentions of dying tomorrow." She said in a cocky voice and walked away.

"Bitch…" Lindel said in her mind as she watched her walk away.

Later that day, military transports and humvees began to roll in. Lindel had regained her confidence and knew that she had to make it just through one more night. Soon tanks and armored vehicles came in with grenade launchers and fifty caliber machine guns on the tops of them. Lindel surveyed the vehicles and motioned them as to where to go. She had been playing out her little charade perfectly – so long as she kept her host's mind in check and kept the people around her in check also. A couple more times he her host's mind gave off a word or two before she fried him with another jolt of electricity. She needed him now…there was no turning back. There was no negotiating with him. If she took on another host now and killed this one, it would give her away for sure. No, there was no turning back.

Nightfall came and Lindel was emptying her bowels in the latrine when the voice came out again.

"You're going to die tonight!" it said.

Lindel pulled out her gun and pulled up the man's balls and started to pull the trigger with the barrel pushing against them. The voice stopped immediately.

"They aren't mine, and quite frankly they are getting in the way. You'll feel the pain and when I do die, you are going to be without your favorite weapon…do you want to play this game?" Lindel asked him in his mind. The presence pulled away without a word. Lindel let out a satisfied grin of victory as she pulled up her pants and fixed her uniform.

She walked out of the building with a smile of a victory, but knew his body was rejecting her. Fear, doubt, unresolved issues, insecurities were creeping up on her. These things left you vulnerable to possessions. She of all people knew that. She took a stand in her host's body and looked around. She made him close his eyes, look towards the skies and let out a smile. She cleared her mind and imagined herself back in Tranquil and her energies started to come back. She thought of Trackolania and Julie – the silent but deadly duo, it was the nickname she gave them. She thought of Branzer. He was a changed man now, more in charge, more aggressive, more of a fighter – a better fighter and a better ambassador. But has he changed too much? Why hasn't he asked for her hand in courtship? She did it the first time and screwed that up horribly…

As she was recalling the memory, unknown to her, her foot wrote the word "kill me" in the dirt.

Moments later a soldier came up and said, "Kill you huh"? He pulled out his gun and put it to her chest and fired. Lindel shrieked and jumped backwards landing on the ground.

The soldier looked at her funny, this time he switched his gun from stun to kill.

"Unless you got a sex change, I could have sworn you just screamed like a little girl…" The man said closing in on her.

Lindel caught completely unaware turned aggressive and jumped up to her feet. She grabbed the man's hand with the gun and put it to her head.

"Fire…I dare you…" Lindel said. Lindel reached out her mind to him and knew he didn't have it in him. Lindel then made her eyes a deep dark blue as the man looked at her in a hypnotic state. She started channeling his energy from his body and into hers.

Slowly the man moved gun from Lindel's host's head away and towards his. She channeled a huge burst of energy from his hand as she gave him the order to pull the trigger.

"Bang!"

The gun lit up the night and the man landed backwards. Lindel's eyes returned to their normal state, with a slight red tint to them and looked around.

"Kill me? What the hell?" Lindel said quietly. She quickly ran over to it and shuffled out the letters. Lindel then bent down over the man with his gun. A crowd was beginning to form.

"Latrine duty! What part of that didn't you understand?" Lindel said and pistol-whipped the dead man's head.

"Was that really necessary?" A man came up to her and asked.

"Sir, I want soldiers that will follow my orders tomorrow. I want that base, and I want more power!" Lindel said just like a normal alliance. She continued, "I order you to get up off from the ground and go scrub the shit I left in your bed!" Lindel waited a second and then said, "Do it or I swear to you I'll plug another one in you!"

"Hol…" the man was interrupted with another "Bang!" from the gun as another bullet sailed through the dead man's head.

"I think he's dead…" the man in charge said. Lindel turned around as he burned up in ashes and disappeared.

"I get his weapons." Lindel said looking at him, and then sized him up and down. The man in authority smiled as Lindel started pocketing his valuables.

"Is this your attack strategy for tomorrow?" the man asked.

"This is my attack strategy for tonight, sir. When I say shoot, I don't want some of these lonely pieces of shit hesitating and I don't want them wasting ammo…but most importantly I want them to get a bullet off first before a bullet enters them first! What good is this attack if all of these dumb-fucks get killed when the bullets start flying." Lindel ended sounding more energized. She mentally kicked herself for letting the doubt about Branzer come in her mind. If she makes it out of this situation, she is going to punch him for being a man.

The man let out a short chuckle and started clapping. "Very good…very good indeed. Everybody look around! Learn from this example and from this man! I was going to give a speech before we go into battle tomorrow, but I think this is sufficient. Do you plan on killing any more of your troops tonight?"

"I don't plan on it…" Lindel smiled.

"I'll see you in the morning…general." The man said and walked away.

"Example is over…I don't want to see your ugly faces until morning!" Lindel yelled out. The alliance knew if they assassinated her now, it would be their ass. Lindel learned that generals are a much higher level than they were. Lindel walked over to the generals courts and opened the door.

"Congratulations on the promotion." The same woman that talked to her said earlier.

"Shove it…where's my bunk?" Lindel asked. The woman smiled and nodded her head next to her.

Lindel plopped down on the bunk with an "Oh shit…" going through her mind. She quickly drained her host's body of energy, and putting him into a mild sleep.

"So…do you want to shove it?" The woman whispered in his ear putting her hand on his chest and moving it slowly down to his crotch.

"You are distracting me from sleeping…" Lindel said with no enthusiasm.

"I could say the same about you…so how does one 'rise up' to general so quickly?" She said starting to undo his pants.

"I don't fuck around…" Lindel said turning the man's head quickly to her.

"Well I do…" She replied back. Lindel finally gave in and leaned over to kiss her. Instantly her tongue when in her host's mouth. Lindel began pulling energy out of her in large dosages. Minutes passed until she finally leaned over and vomited on the ground.

"Holy shit…talk about a head rush!" The woman said gasping for air.

"Usually vomiting doesn't turn me on." Lindel said.

"Shit…screw that I'm done. I feel so weak…promise me after our victory tomorrow you'll screw my brains out…" She said gasping for breath.

"Depending on how good you are, I may even do more…" Lindel said in a very seductive male voice.

"Whatever…good night." Lindel laid watching her victim fall into a deep sleep. Her powers were increased now. She laid awake for the next five hours concentrating on Tranquil and the victories they were going to have.

Five in the morning came and she heard snoring all around her. She outstretched her mind and felt all of them in deep sleep.

"Good…Trackolania are you still with me?" Lindel asked in her mind. Trackolania's face entered her mind and nodded up and down with a big smile. He and his two rogues were in the woods.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Lindel asked smiling at him. Trackolania held up a finger and then shook his hands. He held up his hands and pretended to fire one of their machine guns. He then stopped with a weird look and scratched his head with one finger and pointed the gun at his face as if wondering why it wasn't working.

"Did you do some sabotaging?" Lindel asked. An overwhelming sense of relief came to her just seeing Trackolania again and then knowing that not only was he safe, but he was still with him, watching over him, and helping with the battle tomorrow.

Trackolania shook his head up and down a lot and then put his hands over his mouth and pretended to laugh. This almost made Lindel laugh aloud. "Did you do this with all of their guns?"

Trackolania shook his head and held up nine fingers, then closed his fists, and reopened all of his fingers.

"Nine out of every ten guns?" Lindel asked. She missed his games of charades. Trackolania nodded again with his big smile.

"Does Herrior know?" Lindel asked. Trackolania nodded again.

"Contact Branzer and tell him if he ever sticks his tongue down my throat I will castrate his balls! Also punch him in the face for me…thoughts of him distracted me and it almost got me killed." Lindel said. Trackolania nodded through everything until the very end. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"He wasn't here…I was thinking of him and why he hasn't asked me to marry his sorry ass yet." Lindel explained. Trackolania continued to give her a confused look but shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow my little rogue?" Lindel asked.

Trackolania made a circle with his hands and pointed to all around the base. Lindel guessed "landmines" and Trackolania nodded. He then held up a piece of string looked at it and then looked back at her with a devious smile.

"You have been busy…is there going to be anything left of this place?" Lindel asked.

Trackolania considered the question for awhile. He put his hand on his chin and pretended like he was thinking. He then looked at her with a big grin.

"I love you Trackolania." Lindel said with a big grin. Trackolania pointed to himself, pointed to his heart and then pointed to her. Lindel cut the connection.

Trackolania gave instructions to the other rogues to stay put as he sprinted off into the woods – not making a sound. He snuck up on a family of deer sleeping and jumped over them. He continued running and found a huge fallen tree. He pulled out his hearthstone and got a Chronomancer from Tranquil. He had her create a portal and he stepped through, and then created another portal to where Herrior was. Unbeknown to Trackolania, Herrior was already at the army base. Trackolania stepped outside the portal and looked around. He recognized everybody from Tranquil and some of the soldiers with huge weapons in position. Trackolania gave an impressed looked and then focused on Herrior.

"Leader never sleeps before a battle…how's my favorite rogue?" Herrior asked. Trackolania pulled out a dagger and wrote in the dirt: "Lindel says to punch Branzer for not proposing to Lindel sooner because it almost got her killed. Lindel also said she is going to cut off his balls if he ever sticks his tongue in her mouth." Trackolania quickly wrote in the dirt. Herrior burst into laughter. Herrior's party recognized the sound of their leader and quickly woke up. They came over and read what Trackolania wrote.

"I almost got Lindel killed…oof!" Branzer said as Skyka punched him in the stomach.

"Just following orders…also if you can't read – it's spelled out for you! Ask her to marry you, you twit!"

"Do we all get to punch Branzer?" Trackolania wrote in the dirt and then looked up at Herrior unsure about the message. Herrior shook his head and said, "No…I think he got the point." Herrior shuffled away the message as Trackolania helped.

Trackolania then began to write words in the dirt again once they were done, "We have sabotaged their weapons and their base will blow up – leaving next to nothing behind. Lindel is struggling badly, I thought I was going to have to kill her a couple of times. She pulled through though. She misses everybody and that is her weakness. The man she possessed has more control over her than she knows and is getting stronger by the minute. She needs to focus." Trackolania finished writing in about thirty seconds.

"I agree. I will have a talk with her. Do you think she'll be able to pull off the mission?" Herrior asked. Trackolania wrote a big question mark in the dirt. "Damn…" Herrior replied.

"What's that woman's problem? She needs to grow a backbone!" Jacklyn said clearly upset as she joined in everybody scuffing out the message in the dirt.

"I want everything clear right now…if I give the order to put her down – I expect everybody…" Herrior paused and walked over to Branzer and poked him in his chest as he continued, "everybody – to shoot."

"I'm clear with my orders Herrior. I am a fighter and defender of Tranquil above all else. I will kill her out of love." Branzer said.

"Good. Anything else Trackolania?" Herrior said peering into his eyes and then spun around.

"Don't let the skeleton kill more than me." Trackolania wrote.

"Fat chance of that happening short man…" Mohania said laughing. Trackolania looked at him and laughed.

"Are you guys ready?" Trackolania wrote.

"It'll be a massacre Trackolania…don't worry about us. The locations that you uncovered for us are all going to be bombed by George's army and then we have two parties going in and finishing off anything else that moves all around this world. In one fail swift – we will have struck an enormous blow to the alliance." Herrior said confidently.

Trackolania wrote, "Are you sure?"

"Yes Trackolania…I am sure. Tomorrow night we will be drinking each other under the table in Tranquil." Herrior said putting a hand on him and knelt down before him, "A long awaited will be banished from this planet. With their forces down, we will strike at their outposts. Once they are demolished, we will strike at their fortresses…well what's left of them thanks to Dan and Crystal. Set your worries aside." Herrior said comforting him.

"I'm not worried." Trackolania quickly wrote in the dirt.

"Good…now head back and carry out your mission." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and motioned to the Chronomancer. She opened a portal and put him back at the log that he came from. He got back into position, jumping again over the sleeping family of deer without disturbing them. He looked at the other rogue's and gave them a "thumbs up". They nodded and relaxed up against the back of some trees as they blended into the shadows.

Morning came and Lindel was the first awake. She only slept about two hours, but her body was full of energy. The woman's face looked sunken in and she was still in a deep sleep. "Good" she thought. She was careful to walk around the woman's vomit from last night and loaded up her guns as she made her way out into the daylight. She saw that nobody was awake, and the ones that were awake were sleepy.

Lindel raised her gun in the air and fired off three rounds and then yelled, "Wake up you lazy sons of bitches – we're going to war!" Lindel then started hooting and hollering. The entire camp immediately began to join in.

"Save your bullets dumbass's and get loaded up! Let's do this!" Lindel said with a renewed enthusiasm. Her power levels had risen dramatically and the man's mind inside of her was dormant.

"Come on! Get loaded up – I do my killing before breakfast! I want some bloodshed today!" Lindel yelled still riling up the alliance.

"Up early are we?" The man said that promoted her to general.

"Hell yeah – let's do this!" Lindel said overly excited. She hoped she wasn't over selling it.

"Load 'em up!" The man yelled waving his hand at the soldiers behind him.

The attack went underway. The tanks and military vehicles went first down the dirt road followed by the military passenger vehicles and finally the armor rigged bus. Lindel felt excitement surge through her body as she concentrated on her party. She had been given a walkie-talkie and was receiving commands – then issued them to her platoons that she had been given command over. Her job was to be the first group in after the cannons and heavy artillery destroys the communications tower and creating havoc, disrupting anybody from using their cell phones.

Time passed slowly, but eventually they were one hundred yards from their destination. The convoy stopped as they said their scouts were going to be deployed to survey the base. According to the alliance intelligence, the base was nearly deserted at this time.

"Scouts? Like rogues?" Lindel asked herself in her mind. She felt the doubt creep up on her, but she slammed the door on it. She wasn't going to let this get to her while they were moments before the battle.

Ten minutes passed and the voice over the walkie-talkie said, "There's nobody in the base. We're still going to take out the communications tower. Secure the weapons and then we will bring in the new recruits and take over this base – seize it for the alliance!" This brought a lot of cheering from the alliance.

The tanks and heavy artillery vehicles moved up and into position with the infantry divisions following up right behind them. Lindel wasn't sure what to expect as she stayed low in her seat but kept her smile of anticipation on.

"Unload our soldiers and barricade up the rear vehicles to stop any retreat from the enemy." The walkie-talkie said.

"You heard the annoying voice – let's move people!" Lindel said and was the first one off from the vehicle. She looked around and saw the other personal jumping into the woods so she did the same. Her platoons did the same. She moved them into position through the woods and knelt down.

"Fire!" A voice yelled out and what followed is when the real chaos erupted. The projectile in the cannon and the machine guns instantly blew up – sending hot metal shrapnel and explosions all over. Seconds after the initial explosion, rockets flew into the air from the base in an erratic fashion – thousands of them, nearly enough to blind out the skies. They found a target and landed, letting out an enormous explosion. Hundreds of alliance died as their vehicles became nothing but chunks of metal in the road.

Herrior then appeared out of nowhere in front of the base and said, "Welcome! Slight flaw with your plan…you're too stupid to realize we are vastly more powerful than you are! Leave none alive!" Herrior's army ran out from underneath the cloaking mechanics the rogues could do. The gates opened up and soldiers followed up the rear along with snipers from on top of the walls. All hell broke loose, and the alliance was caught with their pants down.

"Pull in formation…generals get your armies together!" A voice called out…seconds later his head exploded.

Lindel's platoons and the others began to run backwards but met another entire legion of fighters that mowed them down quickly. Lindel ran off into the woods and took cover. She wanted to fight…but she had a score to settle with her host.

"You want a fight…I'll give you a fight…" Lindel said coming out of her host's eyes. She materialized in front of the man as he rose to his feet. Battle cries and the sounds of bullets and blades were heard in the distance.

"You think you are going to kill me? I have reinforcements that are coming and they know about you!" The man yelled at her and pushed his walkie-talkie button. Immediately they heard, "Fall back! Get behind the vehicles! How were we ambushed? Call for backup! What do you mean our base isn't responding?" and the sounds of people dying all over came from the walkie-talkie. Lindel started to laugh and began to float up into the air. She disappeared as the man pulled out his guns and started shooting anything he saw. Lindel started cackling in her evil banshee voice and it sent chills up the man's spine.

"Fear me do you?" Lindel asked. The man turned towards the direction of the voice and let several shots fly. He had an automatic hand-held machine gun in one hand and a magnum in his other hand. Lindel laughed behind him and he turned around and let the bullets fly again.

"Feel big with that gun?" Lindel asked in a very sinister voice. She materialized behind him and grabbed his hands, immobilizing him. She forced his hands to point the guns to his crotch. The man resisted as much as he could, but could not overpower Lindel. He screamed as the bullets went flying.

The guns emptied and he looked down and saw that all of the bullets missed him. He let out sigh of relief. He looked up and saw an officer coming at him with an eagle flying above his head.

"Corrupt my future wife will you…" Branzer said. He let out an enormous blast to the trees around him as they exploded and fell down. The man tried to run, but Lindel held him still. Branzer ordered the eagle to rip off the man's pants. It flew ahead of them and thrashed at them. Branzer ran up to him and grabbed his balls and penis. He grabbed down on them hard and then punched him in the stomach hard as he ripped his crotch free from this body. The man let out loud screams, loud enough to drown out the dying battle in the background.

Branzer took the remains of the man's crotch and shoved it in his mouth and forced his mouth shut. The man shook violently trying to spit them out. His nose started spewing out drops of blood as his eyes bulged out. Less than a minute later he died…gagging on his own testicles.

Branzer watched his body burn up as he held out his hand. Lindel's deathly fingers grabbed them as they emerged from the woods.

"You two done playing in the woods?" Skyka asked winking at them.

Before they could get a word in, Herrior called off the other parties and ordered everybody to go back to Tranquil. Herrior then turned to Admiral and George and said, "That was fun…how are our other targets?"

"Being destroyed at this very moment, our daisy cutters should do the job nicely. Your teams, or parties sorry, should be able to commence their attack within the hour. So is this it then?" George asked.

"This is a victory on this world…one worth a great victory; however I would like to know for sure that our targets have been obliterated. I would hate to report false information to our King." Herrior said. George pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. He waited for it to get a secure channel and then asked the admiral in charge of his previous aircraft carrier how the mission was going. George then pushed the speakerphone button.

"Five bases have been obliterated sir. They must have been packing some powerful weapons because our munitions we dropped caused a shit-ton of secondary explosions…one almost took down our F-15 escort. She was able to make it back ok though. The other targets are reporting in with complete success as we speak. Operation 'Alliance strike' is going perfectly. Our other carriers are reporting successful missions as we speak, I can hear them over our conversation. Want me to give you a complete report? You will have to wait for all of our fighters and bombers to return successfully thought." George looked up at Herrior. He smiled and shook his head.

"Gather all of the war information on our targets and let me know tomorrow. Good work admiral!" Admiral said and flipped his phone shut.

"You of course won't want the credit for this, and we have already prepared a statement from NATO forces and our President to talk about the success of the operations of striking targets of terrorism…we of course had to call it something different…" George said. Herrior smiled and put his mighty tauren hand on George. Herrior then let out a victory shout and picked up George and threw him in the air. Tranquil's forces let out a cry of celebration as George went screaming above the tree line. Lindel flew up and grabbed him. They flew around for awhile and then returned to Herrior.

The careful planning, strong will and persistence of Tranquil's fighters had paid off. The rest of the alliance not killed during the assault were hunted down and killed on sight by the forces of Tranquil after the bombs were dropped on the fortresses. It didn't ensure peace, but it was a huge step in the right direction.


	32. The Return

The Return

Once everybody was gone, Dan summoned the winds to propel him into the air. He flew over the city that they held. The city looked like a disaster. Baskets of food were spilled, animals were loose, and doors were left open. There was an assortment of weapons, most dull and broken lying about the ground. He found a child's stuff doll of what looked like one of the fierce large brown animal-human like people that fought with them. He picked it up and took back to the skies.

Dan accelerated through the air and after several minutes found the refugees had made it to the fortress and its guards were standing ready at the wall. Dan hovered outside of arrow ranged and slowly descended to the ground.

"Who are you that flies through the air? Identify yourself!" One of the guards yelled out.

"My name is Dan the ambassador. We fought off the monstrosities of this land and destroyed the demon that held its grip on you. I came from the village and found a child's toy; I will lay it on the ground and be on my way." Dan yelled out. He then looked at the archers and set the doll on the ground and took several steps back.

"Stolan! There is a man who flew here riding the winds and offers a doll to a child. He claims he destroyed the monstrosities of the land. His name is Dan." One of the men yelled down to him.

"Lower your weapons! Immediately! Open the gates!" Dan could her Stolan's voice yelling at them.

"How do we know he isn't one of them?" A guard asked.

"He speaks you idiot! Have you ever heard one of the monstrosities talk? He led the defense to save these people and have done as he says. I will personally vouch for him! Open the damn gates!" Stolan said yelling at them again. Dan sat on the ground and folded his legs. He sat still and waited for them to come to him.

The gates finally opened and Stolan came running at him along with many of the refugees. They surrounded him and began to cheer.

"Please be at rest people…I am here merely as a messenger before I leave. Your land is your own again. Stolan your enemies lay dead among the wastelands, you may do as you wish with them. We have fulfilled our obligation as promised. I bring the child's toy as a testament to how we treat our young. They needn't live in fear anymore; a child's mind should be more worried about dying…they should live out their youth in happiness and play with each other. I shall take my leave now and an ambassador will be sent to your world to further establish relations with your people if you wish." Dan said.

"You are an ambassador, why don't you stay? You can keep the evil from us and help us to rebuild our lands. Please…you must speak to our Queen. The people of these lands need to be united…" Stolan said desperately.

"It would benefit everybody if all of you would work together to help each other, but I am not an ambassador of this world. Send my regards to your Queen, tell her that her fighters fought bravely in combat and thank her for trusting us." Dan said and turned around to walk away.

"Wait! Please…" Stolan rushed to Dan's side. Slightly frustrated Dan turned around and turned around. Stolan frantically took off a necklace and put it in Dan's hand. "Please give this to Lindel. She has won my heart and my mind thinks constantly about her. I long to see her again, when will that be? The necklace holds no magical powers – it's been in my family for generations. It is made of ghost iron and spirits of harmony found in our land prior to the devastation. Tell her that I want her to hold it close to her and that my heart yearns to be near her again."

"Stolan…" Dan said looking at the necklace. It indeed was made of a metal he had never seen before and the crystal in the middle was a continuous swirling mist. "It is beautiful, but someone else has their interest in her."

"Then I shall challenge him in combat for her hand." Stolan said.

"That is not how you win a woman in our lands. I will give this to her and tell her what you said." Dan said.

"Thank you Dan the ambassador, from my heart I thank you." Stolan said. Dan nodded at him and pulled out his hearthstone and thought of Lindel. Something much different happened this time though. Dan was instantly pulled out of existence and reappeared standing right next to Lindel who cried out in shock as she fell backwards in surprise.

"How did you do that?" Lindel asked.

Dan looked around bewildered. He was in Tranquil and no longer on Elona. He looked at his hearthstone and it hadn't opened a portal yet. He then looked at the necklace and thought for a minute.

"Dan?" Lindel asked.

"This is apparently for you. Stolan said it has no magical properties, but apparently it might. I'm going to have it examined." Dan said.

"Let me see it." Skyka said holding out her hand. Dan gave it to her and she felt no magic coming out of it. She clasped it between her hands as dark purple magic began to flow into it. Skyka opened her hands and saw that it hadn't changed.

"It has no magical properties to it. I cannot disenchant it. The metal I don't recognize and the swirling mist is pretty – but it possesses no threat. The shields within Tranquil would have destroyed it well before I had the chance to destroy it. Is this for our help with their people?" Skyka asked.

"Actually it sounds like Stolan is deeply in love with Lindel…so much so that he is willing to challenge Branzer in combat for her hand. Before I left he told me all of this, so apparently you made a big impression on him." Dan said.

"Oh…that definitely wasn't my intentions." Lindel said feeling awkward.

"Lindel…you stole the poor man's heart…you still have it in you…" Skyka said smiling at her and tossing her the necklace.

Lindel took the necklace and wasn't sure what to do with it. "What about Branzer?" She asked.

"Has he asked to start courting you?" Skyka asked.

"Well…no…" Lindel said.

"Well?" Skyka asked with anticipation building up inside of her.

"I don't know…I know nothing of Stolan. Branzer doesn't seem interested to ask, and I fumble my first attempt. But my heart belongs to Branzer. I cannot wear this necklace." Lindel said holding it away from her.

"I'll take it to have it…" Dan said.

"You'll do no such thing." Skyka said reaching out and slapping Dan's hand. Dan recoiled back in surprise. Skyka smiled at him and then turned to Lindel and said, "Lindel – this Stolan man is throwing himself at you while Branzer is off drinking with the rest of the buffoons. I'll take this for now and let your mind simmer on these events."

"Skyka I'm not sure that is a good idea." Lindel said.

"Exactly why I am taking it. You have doubts about Branzer and if he will ever ask for your hand, while another begs for your heart. Go to Branzer and speak with him. See what he is like now after all of this time and how he feels about you." Skyka said.

"I…" Lindel took a deep breath and turned away. "I can't."

"Meditate on it Lindel." Skyka said.

"I can talk to Branzer." Dan said as he thought about Branzer. Suddenly Branzer appeared in front of Dan holding a mug. His eyes opened up as he looked shocked – almost as shocked as everybody else. Branzer spit out his drink and began gagging on what was stuck in his throat, eventually throwing it up and gagging for air.

"How the hell did I get here?" Branzer asked on his knees.

"Dan…don't think about anybody else…" Skyka said slowly.

"Duly noted." Dan said in surprise.

"What's going on? What just happened? Lindel did you do something?" Branzer asked turning around. Lindel held out her hand and burned up everything Branzer manager to gag up.

"No I, did you not just hear what Skyka said? Dan somehow did it." Lindel said upset.

"What are you upset for? We won a victory – let's celebrate!" Branzer was clearly intoxicated as he walked towards Lindel.

"Leave me alone…" Lindel said and sprouted her wings and flew into the skies.

"What's got her feathers ruffled?" Branzer asked.

"Sober yourself up and ask her yourself later." Skyka said. Skyka then walked over to Dan and gave him a big hug and whispered, "Take me to Herrior."

Instantly they appeared in the palace where Herrior was speaking to the King. Everybody looked shocked as Skyka let go of Dan and said, "My King, I am sorry for the intrusion, but I believe Dan has acquired a new power that you should be aware of."

"I'm aware of it now…" The King said in shock. "Explain how you do that."

"My King, I do not know. I have only done it a couple of times. I was on Elona speaking with Stolan when I pulled out my hearthstone to return home. I thought of Lindel and instantly I was…for lack of a better word…teleported instantly in front of her. I then thought of Branzer and going to speak with him and he instantly appeared in front of me. Skyka then held me close and told me to take her to Herrior…and that is the extent of my knowledge of this new ability." Dan said sounding confused.

"Do me a favor? Don't suddenly appear in front of me or in my throne room again." The King ordered. Dan nodded, apologized and left. Skyka followed him.

Once outside Skyka asked, "I didn't know Herrior was speaking with the King. I'll take the blame for that later. So we seem to have quite the predicament on our hands. Your powers have increased again, are you doing this on purpose?"

"I absorbed the power from the crystal in order to defeat the demon plaguing their land. I didn't know it would do this. I'll have to test this out further, but it does explain how Ben is able to move from place to place. I believe their people possess power to move about from world to world. I don't believe they have the power to read minds though, none of them seemed weakened when I was around. They do have the power to follow paths that was used to portal from one place to another. This interests me and I wish to study up on this." Dan said.

"You aren't a Chronomancer do you think you'll be able to understand it?" Skyka asked as they walked through the streets.

"I doubt it, but I can at least look for clues. I'll speak with Lindel about it later. We'll run some tests and see if there is a pattern between creating portals and any type of residual effects that there might be afterwards." Dan said.

Several guards ran up to Skyka. "Skyka, we have an issue that needs to be addressed. Herrior is with the King and…well…I think this is something you should handle."

"Alright" Skyka said confused and quickly ran with the guards through the streets as Dan followed.

They arrived at the entrance to Tranquil and saw Stolan…suffering from the bitter cold and barely able to move.

"Stolan you idiot…open the gates and lower the shields." Skyka said. The guards did as Dan and Skyka ran out and got Stolan. Dan took off his cape and wrapped it around Stolan, instantly providing heat.

"Adjust the shields to let him in." Skyka said.

"We don't have the power to do that Skyka; he will need to be taken to the cells." The guards said.

"Leave us – go back inside and reactivate the shields." Skyka said. The guards nodded and Skyka pulled Stolan close to her body along with Dan.

Instantly they were teleported into the cells in the undead quarters. Mohania was in the middle of torturing somebody when he was suddenly shocked as well as all of the other guards and undead.

"What are you doing Stolan? You could have gotten killed!" Skyka said letting go of him and Dan. Skyka grabbed Dan's cloak and pushed him down. She then walked out of the cell with Dan and Skyka slammed the door shut. "What is this all about? Didn't Dan say that an ambassador would come to your world? Did you not report what happened to your queen?"

"I did…I…am…suffering…" Stolan said nearly weeping.

"Hardly…I'll show you suffering!" Mohania said walking over. Skyka pushed him away.

"Please…I must see her. Just a glimpse…I will gladly suffer for a dozen rotations of the moon just to see her again." Stolan pleaded.

"She needs time to think and you need to not be here! We have not authorized any of your people, including you, to come into our city. This could be an act of treason." Skyka said.

"Please…I mean you and your city no harm." Stolan said.

"I'm going to order you back to your home world. Dan gave the message to Lindel and the necklace. She was surprised by it, but somebody else is in her life right now – now is not the time to pursue this! She will make up her mind on her own accord. Now return to your world." Skyka said.

Stolan sighed and tried to create a portal but it didn't work. He held out both hands and tried to form a portal but it wouldn't work.

"Skyka, the cells drain everybody of their powers. We don't want people attacking us from the inside." Mohania said. Dan snapped his fingers and Stolan instantly disappeared. Mohania looked surprised and asked if he could teach him that for some annoying people in his life.

"What are we going to do about him?" Dan asked ignoring Mohania.

"I'm going to get a hold of an ambassador and tell them the urgency of this matter." Skyka said pulling out her hearthstone.

"Are we going to tell Lindel?" Dan asked.

Skyka sighed. "A party does not keep secrets from each other. This is what Herrior feared with having a group as large as ours. After I get an ambassador on their world, I'll call a meeting. This issue needs to be out in the open. Herrior needs to know."

"What's going on?" Mohania asked.

"Dumbass there…" Skyka said pointing to where Stolan was "is in love with Lindel. Problem is Branzer…taking his sweet time with Lindel…"

"Whoa…hold on. When I asked what was going on, I didn't mean I actually cared. I just wanted to know if I could torture him…" Mohania said backing up and waving his hands.

"I think he is torturing himself enough…" Skyka said and then opened a portal to an ambassador. Afterwards she asked Dan to use his hearthstone to summon everybody in the party. Dan acknowledged and everybody said they were on their way.

"Can we do it in the dungeons? That way when you start talking about emotions and what-not I can stab somebody with a fork?" Mohania asked. Skyka thought about the question for a moment. Mohania smiled and tapped his fingers together.

"Dan, where did you tell everybody to meet?" Skyka asked with a sigh knowing that she didn't tell him where.

"Umm…here…" Dan replied.

"Well I guess we are going to have the meeting here. Mohania no torturing people while we are having our meeting." Skyka said.

"I can respect that…" Mohania said with a serious tone. He then looked behind her and yelled out, "I want to hear lots of screaming in the next twenty minutes."

"Really?" Skyka asked looking at Mohania. Mohania smiled and shrugged.

Twenty minutes passed and everybody came together in the undead quarters. Herrior was the last one to come. He apologized for being late, but wanted to brief the ambassador on what to expect going to their world.

Branzer moved over to sit next to Lindel and Lindel held up her hand and said "No". Branzer, shocked, moved away and sat next to Jacklyn.

"Nobody else speak for the moment. I am following the rules of a party and because I want everybody to know about what has been happening and what just took place, I want silence from everybody. Herrior, you need to know what is happening." Skyka said. She then proceeded to explain everything that happened down to the very last detail. Skyka held up the necklace as she explained about that and the most recent encounter with Stolan. Herrior listened eagerly and took in every word.

Several minutes later Skyka ended with, "and that is when Mohania ordered his undead to make the prisoners scream in agony."

Branzer looked astonished and looked at Lindel. Lindel looked down at the floor with her hands cover her face. Herrior caught onto this when it happened during the speech. He also noticed Trackolania and Julie each writing their names in the dirt with Trackolania's daggers.

"Let's all take a moment and relax. Mohania summon us a fire so that we may be warmed by it." Herrior said. Mohania did as he was told.

"The fire burns within all of us. Sometimes the fire gets stoked with air and logs…sometimes it is merely burning embers smoldering. When the fire gets unleashed in one's self, they are usually in combat…and right now our party is facing a combat. When one of us bleeds, we all bleed. When one of us suffers, we all suffer. We are all one. We have some among us that are suffering from the fire burning inside of them. We need to work together to help each other. Let us take a moment to take several deep breaths from the smoke and let it clear our minds." Herrior said gently. He was the first to take a big breathe, hold it, and then slowly release it. Everybody else followed.

Minutes passed and it relaxed everybody, except for Branzer who finally said, "I don't understand this!"

"Silence! We are meditating…I have heard what Skyka has had, I know what your heart holds and I know what Lindel's heart holds – but during meditating we are to be silent and searching our hearts." Herrior said without opening his eyes. Branzer let out a sigh and then closed his eyes again.

An hour passed as the fire continued to crackle. The screams of torture filled their ears and smoke filled their lungs. Finally Herrior said, "Awaken everybody, I would like to propose a solution."

Herrior waited for everybody to wake themselves back up. Branzer's tension was finally released as he seemed calm. "Branzer, you were courting Lindel at one time until you died. Then you assumed your feelings for each other were still the same. Lindel has moved on and I have not seen any activity from you that would lead me to believe you are still in love with Lindel. Your heart is troubled and you seek to have what you had before, but it is not the same." Herrior said looking at Branzer. Herrior then turned to look at Lindel. "Lindel, your will is your own and your heart is troubled. This brings me sadness as well as the rest of the party. Your thoughts are your own, but right now you don't trust them so I will speak for them. Lindel, you want a banshee to mate with. Stolan described himself as a Mesmer, which I believe is along the banshee line. You would stand a better chance bearing children with him than with Branzer. However something you need to consider is Stolan is desperate right now and is caught in the middle of lust and appreciation and I do not believe he is truly in love with you. It may sprout one day to become love – however what you have with Branzer is history. History with an individual is more important than lust and appreciation. History presents the keys to the future. You have loved Branzer before and you still love him. However you desire offspring. Mohania has acquired offspring even being unable to mate. Adopting a child in Tranquil as your own is just the same as raising one. Bernett and Samatha have done this with Mohania and Kendall and it has worked out well. I suggest setting aside your feelings for Stolan and wait on him. Lust usually fades with time, and appreciation will be stronger felt towards the ambassador that we send to them. I don't anticipate that relationship lasting if you choose to pursue it. As far as Branzer, he needs to not assume the feelings are the same and chase after you if he so desires. You desire affection and attention; Branzer so far has not exhibited those desires towards you. Looking long term into the situation I can see it working out with him, but he needs to share with you more, desire you constantly and chase after you – while remaining at a distance so that you can do your job. You can lure any male into following you into deceiving them and killing them, this is something that Branzer is going to have to get used to and he has not yet come to terms with that yet. However in his defense, the world he comes from – this is not normal. You need to accept this yourself. You are two different people with two different mindsets on this situation. Branzer is strong, proud and human. You are desirable by any race, your mind is not ready for a union and want acceptance…and you are a banshee. Being a banshee, especially in your case, you have been looking to gain acceptance ever since you were freed. You gained acceptance with our party and thought you were ready for the next step – committing yourself to one man. Now you are afraid of what might happen, but you needn't fear because you know he is harmless – clueless at times, but would love you with every fiber of his being. In this case though, you would show him more love than he could return to you because of your history, the time you have observed others in love, and the thrills you have when you see others in love. In this case, I believe Branzer will have to adapt to your way of love – which is true love. To love someone the way Branzer could love someone, and the way Lindel could love somebody I believe would be different. Look at Mohania and Kendall, their union was of true love. They were led to each other through fate and fate sealed them together. Julie and Trackolania's love came over time, but it sparked more from Julie's curiosity with him. Over time their love grew and is still blossoming. However you Branzer have some work ahead of you if you want your love to work, and Lindel you have some work ahead of you also. I would normally send you on separate quests to find yourself, but Lindel your place is among the clouds in Tranquil – so Branzer I am sending you to Ysera's land to find yourself. Search yourself and find out who you really are and why you are the way you are. Come back to me in one week. Lindel, I want you to spend time among your own and time with the children in Tranquil – go back to your basics and find yourself. Come back to me in a week as well. As for the rest of you, we are heading back to the station on Earth. Skyka, leave the necklace with our engineers – give them something to place with and see if they can duplicate the metal and other materials that it is composed of. This meeting is adjourned." Herrior said and then stood up. Everybody stood up and went their separate ways, either to gather supplies, check in with their trainers, or things such as this. Herrior asked Dan to stay behind.

"I'll be just over here…" Mohania said walking over and began writing something in a book. Both Dan and Herrior thought this was odd, but didn't say anything.

"Show me how this new ability of yours works. Take me to our house." Herrior said. Dan walked over and hugged Herrior, then instantly they disappeared and reappeared in their house. Herrior looked around amazed. "Do it again" Herrior said excitedly. Dan hugged Herrior again and instantly they were outside of Tranquil.

"Does your power wane when you do this?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I can tell. This world is void of life. Something has me worried Herrior…the people of Elona know how to get to our world. They come from that direction." Dan said pointing due east.

"That is a concern however it hasn't proved to a significant problem yet…more of a minor annoyance." Herrior said.

"It will be a major annoyance if we have them use this route frequently and demons start following them." Dan said. Herrior hadn't thought about that. He let out a low moan and nodded.

"Take us back inside…take us to Skyka." Herrior said. Dan grabbed a hold of Skyka and instantly they appeared in front of her, but started to fall. Skyka was on her dragon flying. Dan quickly blasted the air beneath them with air and stopped their descent quickly. Skyka had flown back around quickly to see if they were ok. Both of them were hovering in the air, Herrior a little unsure about himself.

"Hold still, the air will sustain you." Dan said.

"What are you doing to my husband?" Skyka asked flying right up beside him.

"Scaring him apparently…" Dan said.

"I fear nothing…I just get uncomfortable sometimes…" Herrior said finally holding still and not flailing his arms.

"Why don't you take him for a flight?" Skyka asked.

"No…no I do not think that is a good idea…" Herrior said. Herrior summoned his dragon. He jumped on it and both him and Skyka flew off to the engineering area.

"Hey sweetie, look at me!" Dan recognized the female goblin voice and looked over. The same goblin that asked if he was married hovered over to him with a jetpack looking item. "I'm hovering just like you. It sucks in air, compresses it and shoots it out beneath me. I got the idea when I saw you flying around." Suddenly one of her engines gave out and a big plume of smoke exploded out of it. Dan flew over to her and grabbed her. He then flew back over to the engineering platform and set her down.

"Dang…stupid thing must have overheated…I'll keep working on it. Thanks for the save!" She said and ran off taking off the jetpack.

Eventually everybody got back together again with supplies. Lindel sent Branzer off to Ysera's lands to help hunt for food. Lindel then created a portal for Herrior's party and they went through. Lindel then let out a sigh. She looked up and saw dozens of children playing and splashing each other. She let out a half smile, sprouted her wings and flew over to play with them.

"You're short a couple aren't you?" Admiral asked.

"They are on different assignments. Did you tell your men that they did well in the battle?" Herrior asked.

"They have been having meetings about it. They wish to discuss tactics with you – especially since some of their shrapnel came back and hit you guys, some of them are afraid of your response." Admiral said.

"I told them to stop…I thought that was the end of that. A couple pieces of hot metal are not nearly enough to bug me. I will speak with them though. Julie how about you take Spark and go help train the dogs. The rest of you are free to do as you wish." Herrior said.

"I wish to listen to your tactics and contribute." Jacklyn said.

"I figured you would…anybody else is welcome." Herrior said.

Julie summoned Spark and he quickly licked Julie with his enormous tongue. "Good to see you to my friend." Julie said hugging Spark. Both of them and Trackolania walked to the dog training area.

"Go in there and show the dogs what to do Spark." Julie said. There was a huge wooden fenced in area where dogs were trained to help sniff out drugs, explosives, and to take down bad guys. Other dogs were there to help the wounded, comfort them, and stay with them until help comes. Spark took off running and jumped over the twelve foot fence and landed in the training area with the other trainers as all of the other dogs came over and began to lick him.

"Dogs are something else…at least Spark is anyways…" Julie whispered to Trackolania. He nodded.

"All of you not allowed on the base, form a line right here facing the base!" A male voice caught their attention and both of them walked over to see what was going on.

"I'm not interested in resumes, I'm not interested in how much experience you have, and I'm not interested if you can drive a car or shoot a gun. What I'm interested in is what I see from you right now, and right now I'm not seeing a straight line – come on people!" The man yelled again with his automatic rifle strapped over his bullet proof vest. He was in full armor appeal and had multiple weapons strapped to him. Several other officers were there as well at the gate. Julie walked up to one and whispered, "What's going on?"

"Hiring new recruits…we need more people and it will help the economy around here. Gives people a more friendly appearance rather than just razor and electrified fences everywhere." The woman whispered back.

"Why not just put up some pretty bows and lights?" Julie asked.

"Not sure if the Admiral would like that." She said turning to look at her. Suddenly she recognized her and said, "Sorry sir, didn't know it was you."

"Settle down, this should be fun to watch." Julie said.

"It is…Rob has a good time thinning out the recruits. We've taken bets…I think only three of them will make it in."

"Finally a line! You can follow instructions! I'm so impressed I could shit myself! I am so damn impressed I should give each of you a gold star! Now before we start the group interview I want you all to know a couple of things…you are going to puke. You are going to run until you puke, you are going to do pushups until you puke, you are going to eat until you puke, and you are going to practice shooting until you puke. This isn't a free ride to a paycheck. Your life is on the line every day, and most of you puke face maggots aren't going to make it through the first week without puking. Have any of you beat a man or woman with your bare heads so hard that their skull cracked open and you could see their brain? Speak up!" Rob said. Nobody replied.

"Good, everybody now has an understand of what you are going to be facing and what you might have to do. Eleven people tried to escape and we had to put them down. Riots are started and we put them down quickly – by any means necessary, this isn't a playground and it isn't a rodeo. When you leave your home you come here to protect and serve the public. If any of you have a problem fighting, shooting, or don't have balls of steel – leave now!" Rob yelled. Nobody moved.

"I count twenty of you here…I expect none of you to make it in. Now that I have given you a chance to leave, I expect everything I say to be followed out exactly – do you understand that?" Rob asked. Everybody answered, "Yes sir!"

"Rob! My name is Rob…remember that! Nobody on this base is called 'sir'. We all go by first names. Now who here can shoot this magnum one hundred yards at a dime size target?" Rob asked pulling out his handgun and extending it to anybody that would take it. "A hundred yards is child's play maggots! You, take this gun and shoot that target on the jail cell. It's hanging down from the roof."

The man looked down at the gun and took it. He then walked forward and stuck the gun through the fence and took aim. The gun wavered a little and touched the electrified fence and thousands of volts sent him flying backwards. Rob was furious. He walked over and picked up the gun and said, "You moron! What part of electrified fence didn't you understand? Are you a slow learner? Do you need to learn by example? Consider this a good lesson!" Rob yelled in his face as the man continued to shake on the ground.

"Rob…I think he's hurt…" another man said.

"Holy shit…we have ourselves here a regular medic! Are you a trained doctor? Do you have a master's degree in how food turns to shit and flies out of your ass? Should I call you 'Dr. Common Sense'? Of course he is hurt you worthless maggot – like I said none of you will probably make it in. If he doesn't get back on his feet in the next minute I'm going to have his worthless bag of skin dragged away. Here doctor…take this gun, you're next!" Rob said shoving the gun at him.

"Rob…I cannot hit that target that far away…" The man said honestly.

"Wow, we have ourselves a man that is not only a doctor but can predict the future! If you think you can't hit it, then you won't be able to hit it…does anybody else have a shred of confidence to try? Do any of you even know how to shoot a gun? The barrel goes that way…man this pisses me off, you maggots show up at my door step and expect to hand me a piece of paper, expect me to run a background check, and pull out my rubber stamp and say, 'hired'? That is not how things run around here…take this gun and shoot that damn target!" Rob said.

The man he called "Doctor" walked forward with the gun and took aim. Rob continued to yell at him until the gun released its bullet.

"Well I'll be…he fired the gun…did he hit the target?" Rob asked.

"He nicked the bottom right corner of it. He didn't take into consideration the wind and the rotation of the world." Julie said looking at it.

"Julie…I didn't know you were here." Rob said quickly shaping up.

"No, continue – I find this entertaining. I'll call Spark over and have him help sniff out some of the bad ones." Julie said.

"Well it seems the doctor either got lucky or he is good at shooting a magnum. And look, electrified man is back on his feet…all is well with the world huh? Next…here take this gun." The man said shoving it into a man that looked like he was in his mid-twenties. "Take this gun and fire it in my chest!"

The man looked at him confused. "Boy…are you deaf or just plain stupid? What part of take the gun and shoot it in my chest don't you understand?" Rob yelled at him. The man lifted the gun, looked away and fired a shot. Rob was astounded that he actually did. He picked up the expended bullet off from the ground and held it up to his face. The man eventually turned around and looked at it and was greatly surprised.

"You did something right! Can you guess what that was? You fired the damn gun! Can you believe that? When you pull the trigger of a gun it fires…can you imagine that? Give me that damn thing…" Rob said pulling the gun out of his shaking hands. "Here, you can have this as a reminder that you shot a man for the first time…looks like you are about ready to faint there son! You see this bullet! It hit me in the chest! You fired a gun and it hit me! Can you believe that? Because of you I could have been killed…that would have been on your conscious for the rest of your life – you would have killed a police officer, could you bear to live with that? I have a wife and kids at home…would you attend my funeral and know that you were the one that put me in the grave…made my wife a widow and had my kids grow up without a dad? Could you have that on your conscious as they lower my body into the grave? Huh? Could you boy?" Rob said and pushed him. He landed on the ground and began shaking and crying.

"Either grow up or leave! You will be shooting people, you will be killing people, and if you don't do your job and others get killed because you hesitated and looked away and shot your gun and missed…you know how much deep shit you would be in boy? You would be wiping your ass with your broken teeth for the rest of your life! You have ten seconds to either stand up and man up or leave!" Rob yelled at him and pointed at their cars. The man got up and ran to his car.

"One down…nineteen left of you to go! Ah here we go, the main event…this is a dog. He's killed more people than probably all of you combined." Rob walked over to Spark and said, "Hi Spark…how are you doing? Do you want to play? Do you want to play Spark?" Rob said excitedly. Spark let out several barks that were loud and the sound seemed to penetrate their very body. Everybody looked surprised as to how big the dog was.

"Ok…everybody in the dog pen. We work with dogs here, and if you can get along with Spark, then you can get along with the rest of the dogs. Piss him off, and you'll be going home in a box, touch the electrified fence and you'll turn out to be just like this guy here." Rob said holding his station door open. All of the recruits looked at each other.

"I'm not standing here holding the door for a bunch of ladies…man up and get in there with the dog!" Rob yelled. Several of them quickly stepped forward and walked through the station headquarters and passed through to the other side. Rob then opened up the steel door to Spark's cage and said, "Jump on in!"

"This is suicide!" A man yelled and backed up. Rob grabbed a woman off guard and threw her in and slammed the door shut.

"This time it's not suicide – I threw her in! If she dies it will be my fault! Alright, show us what you can do to make Spark your friend." Rob said.

Spark looked at her and let out a deep growl as he slowly paced back and forth.

"Spark…I want to be an officer here and I need your help. Can you help me?" The woman asked. Spark stopped pacing and positioned himself in a lunge position.

"Spark…no I am a friend. I will not hurt you." The woman said nervously.

"He smells fear…hell I can smell it way out here. Are you going to piss yourself in there?" Rob yelled out. Rob looked over and saw three more recruits had run away. He chuckled to himself and looked over as Spark leaped forward and crashed his head into the steel door, knocking it completely off from its hinges. The woman screamed and jumped out of the way. Everybody was fine, but scared to death.

"Well…somebody calm him down. He's pissed off!" Rob yelled out.

"You're crazy!" Another man said and tried to run for the stations door. Spark got in the way and let out a deep growl.

"The rest of you are going to have to learn how to shoot a minimum of one hundred yards, learn to deal with large animals, and learn to survive! We don't take pussy's into our station! Now somebody get that dog under control!" Rob yelled out.

"Spark…Spark come back in here." The woman said. Spark heard his name and turned around. Spark walked back into his cage and walked over to the woman.

"Spark, you are a giant beast – but I think you have a heart of gold. I think you have a rough outside, but have a big heart inside of me." The woman said holding out her hand. Spark walked over and sniffed it. He then started licking it. She stood up.

"Spark…I am not here to hurt you. Do you have any toys to play with?" The woman asked. Spark let out a loud bark and pranced back into a shed and came out with a rear axle off from a car. He set it down before her and panted in anticipation. She looked shocked. She bent over and picked up one end, but couldn't pick up the other side. Spark grabbed a hold of it and gave a small tug. The woman smiled back and tugged back. Spark then pulled harder and the axle slipped out of the woman's hands. Spark then began to prance around like he had just won the Olympics and eventually put the axle back down at her feet. The two of them played "tug-a-war" for five minutes before Julie told Spark that was enough.

"Well I'll be…you have more balls then all of the other men here! What's your name?" Rob asked.

"Elizabeth."

"Take this gun and shoot that target." Rob said. Elizabeth lined up her sights as best as she could and shot. The bullet went way off target.

"Sorry…" Elizabeth said.

"Don't be…you passed. The rest of you get on the other side of the fence. Start doing pushups until you grow some balls!" Rob yelled at everybody else.

"Somebody take Elizabeth here and take her to our cooperate office for an official interview. Tell them she was the first one to pass." Rob said. Another officer, completely oblivious to what was happening and had seen this done a many times before walked up to her and extended her elbow. She took it and they walked away.

"The rest of you miserable worthless pieces of shit are starting to stink! I think my shit smells better than the rest of you! Why are you still here? Get up a leave!" Rob said yelling at the rest of the recruits doing pushups. They had figured out now that this was a psychological test. None of them were in any danger, nor were any of them ever in any danger…except for the dumbass that touched the fence with the gun. He was still there though, doing pushups.

"Keep pushing on the concrete! I want holes in there! I want you to move the Earth away from the sun, I'm getting hot and it's your fault!" Rob yelled at them. Rob went in and grabbed a forty pound sandbag and dropped it on the first recruits back when he was down on the ground and ready to push himself back up. The man yelled in pain, but was more startled.

"It's only forty pounds boy! Push it up!" The man successfully started doing pushups again, but was shaking. Rob put another bag on and kept yelling at the man to push. Eventually he had four bags on his back.

"I…can't do it…" The man said in pain.

"You haven't even tried! Push! Get your lazy ass off the ground! You think a regular pushup is easy…do it with four sandbags on you!" Rob yelled at him. The man pushed as hard as he could. He pushed so hard he let out a fart as Rob continued to yell at him. There was no way the man could do it, but he was giving it all he could. He got his head up, but could not get is abdomen off from the ground.

"Push! Women push harder than that when they give birth! You think this is hard, try pushing a ten pound kid out a hole the size of ten centimeters! Push!" Rob yelled. The man ended up giving up and fell to the ground in exhaustion. Rob pulled out his knife and threw it next to the man's face next to him.

"Without removing the sandbags, and without touching him – make him do another pushup!" Rob said. The man pulled the knife out of the concrete and looked at him. The exhausted man looked over at him with uncertainty. The man then cut the sides of the sandbags and let out the sand. When they were empty, the man whispered to do another pushup. The man did.

"Well I'll be…you figured it out. Nobody is left behind! If somebody is hurting, you do everything you can to help them out and get them to safety. You two get in there, I can't stand looking at either of you anymore." Rob said. Both of them walked through the station and were escorted into the station.

Rob walked up to the last remaining two people left, a man and a woman. He looked them up and down and said, "I don't want you…either of you – get in your car and leave." Rob said and walked away.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" The man commanded. Rob stopped and turned back around and said, "Excuse me? You have something to say?" and started walking up towards him.

"I can shoot straighter than any of those…"

"And you are a coward…you failed all of the tests; there is no consolation prize. You lost – get out of my face!" Rob yelled getting up into the man's face.

"I may be a coward, but I bet I could rip off your balls before you get your gun…" The woman turned and glared at him.

"Is that a matter a fact?" Rob asked moving over to her. "I've got my gun right here…" the woman knocked it up, punched him in the stomach and then grabbed Rob's crotch and dug her nails in.

"It is a fact…now you have two options let me in or you will never be able to use this weapon again." The woman said tightening her grip. The guys behind her were chuckling.

"Fine…let go please…" Rob said in a higher pitch voice. The woman let go and Rob quickly reached for his crotch as the woman disarmed his assault rifle from him, pointed it at the target and let off a single shot. It hit the target and then she started to disassemble the gun and dropped it on Rob.

"I look forward to working with you…" The woman said as he pushed Rob down to the ground. The other man knelt down beside Rob and said, "If that is what I have to do to get in…I'll do it" and raised his fist up right above his injured crotch.

"Get me some morphine…" Rob said obviously in a lot of pain. The man ripped open his pouch on his right leg. He took out the needle, broke the seal and stuck Rob with it as he injected the morphine that quickly spread through his body.

"Are you a medic?" Rob asked trying to gain his breath.

"Ten years battlefield experience and five years in a hospital" The man said.

"Get in there…" Rob said pointing over his shoulder.

Julie walked by the man that was just accepted and bent down looking at Rob. "Never underestimate the wrath of a woman that desires something. Here…drink this." Julie said taking a small vial from her pouch and poured it down the man's throat. Instantly he felt relief and sighed. Julie patted him on the shoulder and said, "Good job filtering out the riff raft. What positions are they applying for?"

"Guards and canine duty." Rob said getting to his feet.

"All that to just guard the base and feet some dogs?" Julie asked with a smile.

"Do you want me to let in just your average Joe off from the street?" Rob asked back with a smile.

"Good point. Keep it up. Watch that manhood of yours next time…" Julie said.

"Will do" Rob said.

"Welcome Branzer, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Ysera asked.

"Female problems…I'm supposed to come out here and think." Branzer said.

"I'm a female…do you have a problem with me?" Ysera asked with a smile.

"No Ysera, not with you. I'm afraid I'm in competition for Lindel. I always thought that we had something special. I didn't think that I would have life come between us…" Branzer said.

"You mean since your death you thought everything was back to normal and Lindel thought differently. Then when another caught the attention of Lindel's eye, you got jealous?" Ysera asked.

Branzer let out a shrug and looked away. "That's what I thought…listen Herrior sent you here to examine your life. You swept her off her feet once before, you will need to do it again – but be less of a pig this time…" Ysera said with laughter in her voice.

"I've never been good with women." Branzer said.

"You're amusing me…listen – the Rivendale to the east have been launching attacks at my kin. Why don't you infiltrate them and…persuade them not to." Ysera said.

"Where are they?" Branzer asked.

"Southeast…in that heavily fortified fortress… toodaloo." Ysera said as a dragon grabbed him and flew off in the direction.

"I guess I don't have a choice in this…" Branzer said sighing as the dragons talons squeezed down on his armor. They flew over mountains and snowy wastelands until the dragon flew down and let go of him as he tumbled through the snow and came to a stop against a tree.

"Ouch…" Branzer said sarcastically at the dragon that laughed as it flew away. Branzer summoned his bear and faded from view. Both of them approached the castle and saw large catapults setup to shoot at the enormous dragons. It didn't look like any of them were accurate enough to hit one, but all the same he had a mission to do.

Branzer summoned his bear companion and faded from view. He proceeded to walk to the encampment. It was heavily armed – guards in the dozens outside, a huge gate and guards on the walls with bows. There was no way Branzer was going to make a frontal assault, he was going to have to get in and sabotage the castle.

Him and his bear moved slowly through the forest, away from any guards and slowly made their way up to the stone wall. Branzer then moved silently next to the front gate, the flow of traffic going in and out was almost like rush hour in New York City. He was going to have to wait. The conversations he listened to fascinated him though. He heard of different classes of fighters and different spells. He also heard the word "Chronomancer" mentioned several times which fascinated him even more. If he could get Lindel some more spells she might love him more. Branzer shook off that thought and knew she didn't desire power, she desired love…but handing over a powerful Chronomancer wouldn't hurt.

Hours passed and he finally found a chance to move in. He and his bear moved behind a large cart and moved slowly behind it. It was carrying a group of fresh soldiers it looked like. Once they were inside, Branzer and his bear quickly moved to the right and hide behind what sounded like a blacksmith. They pushed themselves in the far corner of the wall and Branzer ordered his bear to stay. He then moved cautiously around the building to investigate it. It indeed was a blacksmith and three people were in it, with two of them guarding the entrance and the exit. Branzer backed off and braced himself up against the wall again. The guards were all wearing the same apparel, which he would be able to pull off with no problem with his trinket. He heard some commotion beyond the blacksmith building and moved into a position that he was able to see. There was a well used gallow used for hanging and a line of people waiting in line for their turn. Branzer pulled out his gun and began making his way through the crowds quickly. Some of the condemned were undead and orc, the others were human – but all were being accused of being a witch and practicing witchcraft. Branzer took aim at the man in the hooded mask…and then slowly lowered his gun. If he was caught, he would be up there with the rest of them. He quickly looked around for a distraction of some sort. He saw several haystacks next to a horse stall. He summoned an explosive trap and threw it towards the hay. The invisible trap hit it and exploded in a fume of smoke and fire. This startled the horses as they began running around trying to escape the quick inferno the threatened them. Branzer quickly moved out of the way and flung a snake trap into the blacksmith building. He then ran up against the wall and towards the stables. He then held out his hand and quickly instilled deathly fear into the horses. They started moving frantically, kicking and bucking anybody that came close to them. Branzer kept moving down the row casting his "scare beast" spell on the massive horses. Finally they broke free of their stables and several soldiers were crushed to death trying to calm them down. The horses scattered throughout the castle grounds, running down and trampling anything in their way.

During the commotion, the snakes had successfully poisoned the blacksmiths and panic came from them as well. Branzer looked around to make sure nobody would see his next plan. He ran behind one of the royal buildings and with a single shot, knocked down the wooden poles holding up the catapults. He then turned around and let out another shot – doing the same with another catapult. He then disappeared from sight again. The catapults fell backwards and as soon as they landed, they launched their deadly arsenal of poison bolts into the crowd. Branzer came out from behind the building and saw the destruction these massive machines caused. Branzer smiled and quickly fled the scene, commanding his bear to follow him. His bear, still stealthed, ran through the havoc and stood by his master's side.

Branzer then ran out from behind the enormous building, jumped over a rock wall and into the building – his bear close behind. He quickly moved out of the way as the soldiers started to run out to help. He heard the deep old voice of a man giving orders.

"That's my target…" Branzer thought and quickly moved after the barracks emptied of the soldiers. He ran from one hallway to another and up several flights of stairs, and then through several more hallways to what looked like a throne room. He didn't wear a crown but had three guards in the room with him. Branzer told his bear to position himself in front of him and took careful aim at the guard at the far wall. Seconds later he pulled the trigger and the guard instantly died. He then turned around and dropped a freezing trap, trapping the guard behind him. At the same time his bear charged forward and began mauling at both the guard and the duke. Branzer's gun turned and his bullets found their target as the third guard died.

"An outlander will not get the best of me!" The older man yelled and he charged at Branzer. The bear continued to attack him, and tripped him up. Branzer rolled the man over with his foot, got a good look at the man and then tapped his trinket. Branzer turned into an exact duplicate of the man. The man's face looked astonished, before it exploded. Branzer then turned around and charged up his gun and took aim at the frozen guard. He let the charge go, killing the guard instantly. Branzer dismissed his bear and summoned his eagle. He quickly commanded it to leave and survey the lands.

Branzer and his newly acquired stature, walked boldly down the stairs with the room on fire and the man's sword in his hand; his gun successfully hidden beneath his disguise. He walked out of the barracks and commotion was still going on.

"Burn them…burn the witches!" The crowds were chanting.

"Silence!" Branzer yelled out. "This is the work of sloppy craftsmanship, insolent guards and the belief that these pathetic people who are sentenced to die have some sort of part in this destruction.

A guard ran up to him and said, "But sir, they summoned fire and snakes…" Branzer backhanded him hard, pretty sure he killed him, and said "Who are we, a bunch of cowards to believe that their so called 'magical powers' did all of this? I say horseshit…bring one of the condemned to me!" Branzer yelled. Several priests and bishops quickly contested the idea but Branzer told them to shut up.

"Even though you think brawn is the only way to fight, there are witches that plague this land and must be dealt with!" One of the bishops said.

"Bring me one of them…we'll see who is a witch or not!" Branzer yelled in the bishop's face.

"Careful or the High Abbott will strip you of your title! You test the church's powers!" The bishop said.

"I test neither the church nor the High Abbott…I am looking to take these children who are cowering in fear and turn them back into soldiers." Branzer said back as an undead female was brought to him.

"I spit in your face you dog…kill me and be done with it!" She yelled at him and tried to spit at him.

Branzer took her by the chin and lifted her up and said, "Tell me…where are your friends?"

"You killed them all!" She yelled back.

"If we killed all of them, how come you still live? Where are your friends I ask one more time?" Branzer asked tightening his grip on her undead jaw.

"Never…there are no more!" She stuttered at first and then quickly finished her sentence. Branzer tossed her to the ground and said, "See your lordship, they can be reasoned with. Send a party out to find the rest of her rattail gang and bring them to me!" Branzer said turning his face to a group of soldiers who quickly saluted and left.

"As for you…how can you look at yourself in the shallows of the water – look at you, an abomination of the church and of man. If you are a witch, turn me into a frog…" Branzer said walking up to her and kneeling down beside her.

"Go to Hell!" She yelled.

"She has no powers…" Branzer said picking her up by her boney arm and pulled her up on the ground. "If she betrayed her friends, perhaps she will tell us more – wouldn't you agree bishop?"

"They need to be hanged and quickly!" The steaming mad bishop blared in Branzer's face.

"And then what…to have them come back as this? We know that they can turn themselves into this…snapping this one's neck would only cause her to turn it back around. Burning this one would only burn her clothes. And why a quick death? Let me torture them…get out of these infidels what they know." Branzer said.

"And bring what famine or disease upon us? I'll never approve of it!"

"What's the difference between torture to the death or a quick death? Torture I can get more information out of them, perhaps even disprove they are witches and turn them into slaves." Branzer said.

"Slavery is prohibited, you of all people should know that…" the bishop questioned him.

"So is sloppy construction and the deaths of dozens of our soldiers! Chained up and given the right motivation - they will work…and their cries will be heard at night – taunting those of her kind to lay siege to our castle, and let them come! I'll crush them where they stand!" Branzer said.

"I do not approve…" The bishop said with some reluctance.

"Have our enemies come to us rather than sending out parties, only to have them use up rations and bring back possible disease and death with them? I'll take my chances in the walls." Branzer said and ordered all of them to be released and brought before him. "There is no spook or ghost that I am afraid of. I'll get out of them the information that we need, use them for our work, and then dispose of them. If you wish, give them a blessing and dose them with holy water…bring the rest with me – into the torture chambers with them!" Branzer said.

"I will speak with the High Abbott at once! You do not know what you are doing by bringing them in our holy city!"

"They are already in our holy city…that was your command…" Branzer said looking back over his shoulder. Branzer guessed correctly on that one.

"The rest of you…I want this place settled down within the hour! Reinforce the rest of those catapults! Everybody – get your head out of your ass and fix something!" Branzer yelled and escorted the dozen condemned into the barracks.

"Your deeds are written down and you will burn for this!" The undead yelled.

"Soothe your tongue…" Branzer said in a quiet settle tone right in her ear. The undead went to recoil back with more insults, but something didn't seem right. She for once didn't foresee death in her future.

"Torture instead of instant death? The High Abbott doesn't have your head on a spike yet?" A single man said in a room full of torture devices and cages. "Afraid you'll be next?"

"Don't clean up much down here…do you?" Branzer asked and then ordered the prisoners into the cages.

"So which one first…and by which method?" The torturer asked.

"Shut up…go up and help clean up." Branzer said and quickly motioned him up the stairs.

"Say what?" The torturer said walking towards him with a rod that was red hot at the end.

"I said get your ass up there and help rebuild our kingdom? What are you a worthless piece shit that only tortures people? I see two hands and two legs…go use them!" Branzer said. The torturer threw the iron rod into the furnace and angrily walked by him. He climbed the stairs and then slammed the door.

Branzer quickly pulled out his gun and shot out a flare. It illuminated the room, trying to expose anybody stealthed or hidden in the dark. It was just him. Branzer then put away his gun and took over the mind of his eagle. The man that left was pissed and went straight for the chapel, but was refused entrance because of his line of work. He became belligerent with the clerics and had to be restrained by several guards.

Branzer then opened his eyes and looked at the prisoners.

"You aren't one of them…are you?" A female orc asked.

"I don't trust any of you so listen up. I can leave you here to rot or I can kill you right now…"

"No you won't…you will save us." The female orc's voice came into Branzer's head. Branzer instantly replied back in his head and said, "Play along".

"So I want the truth…which ones of you are from the alliance?" Branzer asked. A small star appeared on three male humans and Branzer instantly pulled his gun out and blasted their heads into tiny pieces. Branzer then pulled out his hearthstone and quickly summoned a Chronomancer.

"So you trust us?" The orc asked.

"More than I do those three or them up there. If you deserve a death it shouldn't be like this." Branzer said and finally got a portal with a Chronomancer and asked for a portal to be opened into their dungeons and quickly. Branzer closed the portal his hearthstone produced and put his mind back into his eagle. There was an assembly of guards that were being summoned to come after him.

Branzer opened his eyes and said, "We have to hurry…anytime now…"

"Where are we going?" The undead woman asked.

"You are going to get a fair trial. I caused all of the distractions to save your lives. I don't believe you are guilty of anything other than being of a different race. Where you are going, there are others like you." Branzer said.

"I don't trust you." The undead woman said.

"I don't blame you." Branzer said taking up a position at the bottom of the stairs with his pistol pulled.

A portal finally opened as Branzer could hear the steps of people coming quickly.

"Get in there…hurry!" Branzer yelled at them. Branzer had conveniently had forgot to lock the cage. Several of them rushed to get in while the undead and the orc stood beside him.

"If you are going to die, we will die with you." The orc said.

"This isn't open for debate…get in the portal!" Branzer said frantically.

"You are going to die for us…" The orc said.

"I'm dying for a woman I love…you guys are just a bonus, now get in the damn portal!" Branzer said yelling at them. Both of them agreed and went in the portal as it disappeared. Branzer quickly stealthed himself and ran and hid.

Soldiers and the torturer, along with the bishop opened the door and down the stairs they ran. They found the three men with the mutilated heads and no sign of Branzer. They looked around as the torture swore profusely and then told them all to leave after their inspection was done.

"Find him! Find the bastard!" The torturer said, "What a waste…the dumb bastard was probably burned to death, killed the three men and now our prisoners are free! Where's the High Abbott?"

"He will be informed of this I assure you!" The bishop said as he took the soldiers and left.

Branzer hid in the corner and listened to them leave. Branzer then shot a tranquilizing shot into the torturer and he instantly fell to the ground and started to snore. Branzer took the man and put him in the cell, and this time made sure to lock it. He took the keys and through them in the hot furnace. He then stealthed himself again and slowly left the barracks.

"There is an evil among us…I can smell it." The High Abbott was in full church robes and had a huge white hat with dozens of gold necklaces, rings, and bracelets on him. After hearing what the High Abbott said Branzer turned to his arm pits and smelled them. He did stink. He then walked a distance away but still able to see what was going on, but out of everybody's way.

"Find it…I want the people involved in this. You should have addressed me sooner bishop!" The High Abbott yelled at him and then walked away back to his monastery. Before going in, he slowly turned around and looked directly at Branzer. Fear instantly enveloped Branzer as he wondered if he had remembered to stealth himself. The High Abbott then slowly turned back around and shut the door behind him.

Branzer quickly moved positions. He ran to the south side of the castle with his eagle still soaring above him.

"I've been spotted…he knows I'm here…shit I'm screwed!" Branzer yelled at himself.

"I have an extra bed in my house…follow me." A woman whispered behind him. Branzer pulled out his gun and pointed it to her head. The human woman didn't react at all. Branzer then looked around to see who she was talking to. Branzer didn't see anybody as the woman finished her shoveling of fresh compost and then put her shovel in her wheelbarrow and walked away. Branzer, dumbfounded, decided to follow her. He ordered his eagle to alert him of any guards that move towards him and then stay on the house until he left.

The woman casually put the wheelbarrow off to the side of her house. She then cleaned off her hands in a barrel of water and washed her face. She then opened the door and waited.

"It's a trick…this is an illusion…" Branzer said holding his position. The woman looked away still holding the door open. Seconds turned to a minute until Branzer finally decided to run into the house, pull his gun out and crouch down on one knee and pointed it at her. She picked up her dress and gracefully entered her home and shut the door.

"I can sense a presence here and I know you are a powerful one. I cannot see or hear you, but I know you are near. I will keep my distance and I mean you no harm." The woman said taking off her work clothes and dressing into more casual clothes. Branzer moved out of the way as she moved over to the embers in the fireplace. She stoked the fire and added wood to get it going again.

"Since you have not harmed me yet, you must be a good spirit – or a curious one perhaps. I am going to make dinner if you wish to join me." The woman said. Branzer was beside himself as to what to do.

"I am glad you have come to visit. I will shut my drapes so nobody will see you. I mean you no harm; I hope you believe me when I say that. Where you the one that caused all of the destruction in the town?" The woman asked as she closed her drapes and began lighting candles.

"I feel like I am talking to myself…a foolish woman with a foolish spirit in her house." She sighed and said, "So be it…or perhaps you cannot talk?"

"I can speak just fine." Branzer said instantly appearing before her with the barrel of his gun pointing directly at her head. She went to let out a scream but quickly covered her mouth as she jumped back. She quickly composed herself and said, "Please…I mean you no harm…"

Branzer put his gun away as she watched it vanish from sight.

"You are not the Duke…he does not carry a gun, especially one of that size. Who are you?" The woman asked.

"A spirit, who are you?" Branzer asked back.

"Othella. Do you eat spirit?" Othella asked.

"How did you know I was here?" Branzer asked back.

"I was born with a touch that nobody else can sense. I can reach out and touch the spirits as they pass by me. Are you alive or are you dead spirit?" Othella asked.

"I'm not a spirit and I am quite alive." Branzer said and touched his trinket revealing his armor and true self.

"Oh my…" Othella said surprised.

"Yeah I get that a lot. So do I still have safe refugee here or should I depart from here?" Branzer asked.

"You are safe as I promised, but I am curious…can you remove your helmet?" Othella asked. Branzer removed it and exposed his head and face to her.

"Just as I thought, you carry a burden with you…a heavy one. You have lost someone…" Othella said and then paused, "No you haven't…not yet. You have love in your eyes, but carry a burden heavier than a thousand anvils."

"What are you some sort of soothsayer? A witch perhaps? A banshee to read my thoughts and feelings?" Branzer asked.

"A woman…talking to a hardheaded stubborn man…perhaps even a fool?" Othella asked back with a smile.

"You know nothing of my burden and I hardly think another woman could fix my problems. I wish Bernett was here…" Branzer said.

"Your companion? The one perhaps that fills you with doubt?" Othella asked.

"He…does not fill me with doubt!" Branzer said back quickly.

Othella sat down at her table and extended her hand for him to take the other chair.

"The woman you think of…you have doubts. You need to face these doubts and defeat them. But where did these doubts come from? From where did they emerge?" Othella asked.

"From me." Branzer said and was getting upset. He then stopped and paused for a second. Something in his mind brought back several conversations between him and Bernett. His thoughts then circled around what he thought when he spoke. He was joking around with him, but a part of him thought he was serious and the doubts sunk in. He had doubts about Lindel and they manifested from the conversations he had from his insecurities and Bernett had further defeated him by telling him about how powerful she was.

"Maybe some from my companion…" Branzer said and sighed as he looked away.

"It sounds like you are at war with yourself. I don't believe your companion led you astray, maybe just some bad advice. Are you willing to go into your mind to confront your fears and doubts?" Othella asked.

"Go into my mind? And just how am I going to do that?" Branzer said sarcastically.

"Do you not believe there is a war within you? You are fueling the battle, and you can end the battle – but you have to choose to do so. Let me get some incense and you can go into a deep meditation to confront yourself." Othella said.

"And hand me over to the guards?" Branzer asked.

"I have no intention of getting caught with you in my house…let your guard down; it's been up for so long that you don't know what to do if you let it down." Othella said and grabbed two incense sticks. She brought them back to the table and stuck them in two different tiny holes in the table where they slide down and stopped at the same height.

"Done this before have you?" Branzer asked.

"Many of your kind have come to me as I believe you were sent to me." Othella said.

"And what happens to you after I have confronted myself? We return favors for favors, what is it you want? Freedom from this wretched place?" Branzer asked.

"My life is here. I was born and raised here. I will eventually find a mate and bare children who may have the same touch that I have. You have intentions of slaughtering everybody here though…" Othella said.

"That thought had crossed my mind…what of the High Abbott?" Branzer asked.

"He rules as a tyrant. His desires are not that of mine. I worship God…and I do not bow down to him or kiss his hands nor do I bring him tithes out of my income. I am considered an outcast."

"I can take you away from here…" Branzer said and Othella shook her head. "As I said many have come before you and many will continue to come. I will help those that I can, but enough of that – the time to help you has come." Othella lit the incense and instantly the smell of orchards and honey filled the air.

"Sit back and relax. Concentrate on darkness and confront those that you have created in your mind. Fight them until you see yourself, there you will find what you are looking for." Othella said.

Branzer let out a deep breath that was more of a sigh but he leaned back and closed his eyes. The smoke filled his nostrils and stimulated his brain. Soon the sounds of the world disappeared as he drifted off into a deep sleep. He saw himself back at the station, but only it wasn't reality. Everything seemed like props in a movie. He saw a demon approach him crawling on the ground. It was black with a white outline, a large mouth and had strong front legs. It closely resembled a wounded dog. Branzer pulled out his gun and dropped it with a single blast. The demon burned up and a voice said, "Let yourself go…" Branzer looked around and couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. He started to run to the west, not knowing why. He saw another demon and dropped it with two shots.

"He doesn't want me…I forced myself on him…" the voices said as the demons burned. It was the voice of Lindel.

"I didn't know what to do!" Branzer yelled out.

"But you did know…" A voice sounding just like Branzer came from behind him. Branzer's gun flung around and let off three shots. The image of Branzer had the bullets fly right through him as he laughed and floated into the air and disappeared.

"Get back here and fight!" Branzer yelled out. The ground began to rumble and a huge demon grew out of the concrete – tossing aside the cars as if they were toys. The demon grew so huge that he could hardly see the top of him.

"You want a fight…let's fight!" The demon yelled out and one of its dozen tentacles reached out and grabbed Branzer. Branzer brought his gun to life as the tentacle dissolve and another grew in its place.

"Yes…that's it little one. Look at me and tremble! Shooting me makes no difference…take your best shot." The demon said, so Branzer did. He rapidly fired bullet after bullet from his gun. The demon merely laughed in his futile attempts. Several tentacles burst through the ground and grabbed his arms and legs, relieving him of his gun.

"Your anger fuels me…summon your gun to you…make it continue to shoot at me…" The demon said and then laughed. The tentacles started pulling in opposite directions as Branzer's body felt the sudden burst of pain. "I thought this was a dream…I can't get hurt in a dream" he thought.

"This is not a dream little one…this is you condemning yourself to death. You pain fuels me…" The demon said.

Branzer reached his hand out for his gun, but watched it turn into a black snake and slithered away. The demon began to laugh. Branzer struggled as hard as he could, but the tension was nearly ripping his legs and arms out of their joints. The pain was unbearable.

"Why are you doing this?" Branzer yelled at him.

"Why…because you want me to, you enjoy it, you find pleasure in this. Your cries are merely laughter." The demon said as Branzer began to laugh as the tentacles dislocated his right arm. He burst into laughter as he looked over at it suddenly go limp.

"Do it again…please…" Branzer said in between laughing hysterically. His left arm was violently snapped out of its socket and went limp.

Branzer laughed so hard that he imagined himself rolling over and over on the ground. In fact he was - he was rolling down a green hill full of grass. He came to a stop at the bottom and saw the giant demon in the distance attacking a town. Branzer pushed himself up off the ground and suddenly realized that his arms were fine. He reached down for his gun and it was in his holster.

"What kind of nightmare is this?" Branzer said running towards the demon. He heard the cries of his party, each of them getting hurt badly and crying out for help. He heard the pleas of the healers not to die on them. Branzer held his gun up and began to fire. Huge bullets that were followed by a fiery red trail blazed through the air. He kept running, as fast as he could.

"Run run as fast as you can…you'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." The demon yelled at Branzer and then turned its head and breathed fire at the party as their cries of death echoed in his head.

"No!" Branzer yelled out and the demon laughed and quickly ran away. Branzer fell to the ground and grieved. Tears started pouring out of his eyes uncontrollably. He knew it wasn't real but the feelings were. He threw his gun away and dropped his elbows into the grass and wept hard.

"You laugh at your own pain, yet grieve for your friends." Branzer's voice said above him. Branzer rolled over and looked up to see the same image of himself.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Branzer asked still crying like a baby.

"What am I doing this to me you mean?" The image of Branzer asked and then disappeared.

Suddenly he was transported to a very hot dry desert. The sun was beating down on him and he felt completely exhausted.

"So soon to die? Killing your friends was fun…destroying your body was fun, and now you are just going to roll over and die? Come…attack me!" The demon said.

Branzer pushed himself up off from the ground, but his body was extremely weak. He staggered a couple of feet and then fell back down. The demon laughed.

"You're lack of strength empowers me…watching you fuels me. But Lazarus, just one drop of water to cool my tongue…please I beg of you…" The demon said and laughed. Branzer recalled the story from the Bible and picked up a bunch of sand and threw it at the demon.

"Ooo…that hurt! Here…let me return the favor!" The demon said in hysterical laughter and a huge column of sand fell on Branzer, instantly burying him and pushing down on his body. He could still hear the demon laugh.

"Does it hurt yet? Got sand in your ass crack yet? It's going to take a dozen showers to get rid of all of it!" The demon yelled and continued its laughter. The sand had gotten into Branzer's nostrils and he felt his lungs filling full of sand. He felt his energy leave his body and any hope of living, when suddenly he heard his own voice again.

"Giving up that quickly? What has weakened us? What has been drained from us so quickly that we would give up this easy?" Branzer turned around and saw himself falling from the air. He saw the same image of himself falling with him. Branzer looked around at the air rushing by him and was instantly scared and started flapping his arms and kicking his legs.

"What happened to us…look at us – if anybody saw you trying to swim like a fish in the air they would laugh at us." Then the image of Branzer left as Branzer saw the ground coming up on him really fast. He put his hands down to help stop the impact, but he hit hard. He felt nearly every bone in his body break. He couldn't move any part of him except for his neck. He looked up and saw his party and everybody he knew in Tranquil laughing and mocking him.

"Help…me…" Branzer said in a weak voice but to no avail. His party then went up to him and started kicking him, pulling his hair and spitting on him.

"No…no…no!" Branzer yelled out with a renewed strength. He stood up and looked at his party. They looked at him with a straight emotionless face. "You do not do this do one of your own! I am one of your own! I am a fighter!" The images of everybody quickly disappeared as he felt a tentacle wrap around his legs and pull him back down to the ground.

"Then fight! Grab up your gun, grab some more sand, get two pieces of wood and form a cross…get over here and fight me!" The demon yelled at him as the tentacle pulled him hard across the ground.

"Is that what you want?" Branzer yelled out.

"It's what you want…come and fight me!" The demon called out.

"No! Let's play chess!" Branzer yelled out. Suddenly both he and the demon were locked in a game of chess. The demons tentacles' touching all of his chess pieces, but it was Branzer's turn.

"Knight…slays all…" Branzer said and took his chess piece and knocked down the rest of the demons chess pieces.

"I had you in checkmate too! How did you think of that move? I never lose!" The demon yelled at him. The demon's one red eye looked deep into Branzer's eyes as it started to grow again.

"Sit down and shut up!" Branzer yelled at it unafraid. The demon blinked its eye and sat back down returning back to its normal size.

"What is it you want?" Branzer said leaning over the table.

"What is it you want?" The demon asked and then dissolved into black goo and slithered away.

"I want you to come back here!" Branzer yelled at it as they ran out of the house and into the Land of Oz.

"Follow the yellow brick road…" dozens of munchkins said dancing in a circle.

"No…" Branzer said running up to one of them and kicking him. The munchkin went sailing into the sky and out of sight.

"You want me…you come to me! I'm not following this damn brick road!" Branzer yelled out.

"But that's not how the story goes…" A younger image of Branzer appeared before him with big sad eyes.

"Who are you?" Branzer asked.

"Who are you?" The boy replied back. Suddenly they were in a classroom that Branzer remembered all too well, it was his old math room in school. He hated it.

"Two plus two is five…three plus three is five…four plus four is five…" the teacher started to say as she slapped the board with her long wooden dowel.

"Like hell it is! You sabotaged my life! You are the reason I didn't learn anything! You held me back on purpose and your pathetic husband failed me in biology because you hated me! I should kill you where you stand!" Branzer yelled out.

"You should raise your hand before you speak young man." His teacher said. Branzer walked up to her and punched her hard in the face. The woman recoiled back in fear and pain.

"That is for making me sit there and listen to you screw up every lesson you ever taught me!"

"So it's a fight you want huh?" The teacher asked as she turned into the black demon and shot out its tentacles grabbing Branzer.

"Will you get out of my life?" Branzer yelled at it.

"Not as long as you want me in your life." The demon said and then suddenly caught itself. Branzer realized this was true before the demon finished its sentence.

"I'm done fighting with you." Branzer said and stopped resisting.

"I'll…I'll make you fight!" The demon said decreasing in size. Branzer walked up to it and slammed his foot on it. It turned into its black goo and disappeared underneath the wall.

"Why are you running from me? Only to test me again? Get back here and talk to me!" Branzer yelled aloud.

"Why do you want the demon to come back?" The image of Branzer appeared behind him.

"The demon haunts me…I want to destroy it!" Branzer said angrily. Suddenly the wall burst outward, sending bricks flying towards him – inflicting terrible pain and throwing him to the ground.

"That's right! I haunt you…come…pick up your gun and destroy me!" The demon said. It was significantly larger and had dozens of guns in its tentacles. "We'll have a shoot out…just like in the wild west!"

Suddenly it was him and the demon in a ghost town out in the desert. Branzer was hunched over and ready to pull out his gun with eagerness. He then stopped, took off his gun belt and let it drop to the ground.

"Why do I want you to come back?" Branzer asked.

"Pick up your weapon and shoot me down with it. Once you have done that, then you can take your place at my side and we will rule the galaxy together as father and son!" The demon said.

"I never liked that movie…I command you to put your weapons down!" Branzer yelled with deep authority in his voice. The demon didn't expect this and dropped all of its guns and held its tentacles up.

"I give up sheriff…lock me up and throw away the key…" the demon said.

"Not this time." Branzer said walking towards him.

"Are you going to fight me? I'll fight you!" The demon said and shot its tentacles forward at him. They passed right through Branzer.

"Enough is enough. I don't want you to come back. I want you gone…forever!" Branzer said.

"You can't live without me…you need me and you know it!" The demon said desperately and trying to move backwards but couldn't budge.

"You are what are holding me back…" Branzer said.

"No! You are what it is that is holding you back!" The demon yelled back.

"How so?" Branzer asked.

"You'll have to beat the information out of me…" The demon opened up a big smile.

Branzer touched the demon with the top of his hand and the demon's head sizzled with intense heat and yelled frantically for it to stop.

"How am I holding myself back?" Branzer asked.

"Because you aren't good enough for Lindel! Because you aren't good enough to be in Herrior's party! Because you doubt your own existence! Because you can't fulfill the role of an ambassador! Because you are worthless!" The demon yelled out.

Branzer stood back and looked at the helpless demon. He thought for a minute and said, "So…you are all of my doubts, all of my worries. You assume the appearance of a demon in my mind."

"I am a demon, and I am real and I am in your head." The demon said enthusiastically.

"A lie. The only thing in my head is myself! No more changing scenery, no more weapons…no more tricks. I am in charge of myself – not you!" Branzer yelled out.

"She's stronger than you are…she could kill you accidently…" an image of Bernett appeared to his right and spoke.

"She would never kill me! I will do just fine on my own!" Branzer yelled at him and the image disappeared.

"A Chronomancer and an ambassador is not a good combination…" Herrior appeared to his left and spoke.

"Yeah it is a good combination. Its two hearts coming together in love! And who are you to tell me it is not a good combination! You might be my leader, but you do not tell me who to love and who not to!" Branzer said. Herrior dissolved into sand. Branzer looked forward at the demon and asked, "Do you have any others you want to summon to try to gain control over my emotions?"

"Maybe…" the demon said scared. Branzer reached down and grabbed the demon. The demon's skin instantly caught fire where his hands touched him as Branzer ripped him apart with his bare hands.

The demon screamed in pain and the bottom half of him burned up instantly and the top part of him lay on the ground and said, "Until next time…"

"There will not be a next time!" Branzer said walking over and stomping the demon into the dirt until it burned up.

Branzer woke up with a sudden gasp. He put his hands on the table in front of him as Othella stared back at him a little afraid.

"There will not be a next time…the time is now…" Branzer said frantically.

"Usually that is the solution to people's problems…" Othella said but couldn't finish her sentence. Branzer stood up, hit his trinket, kissed her on the head and ran from the building. His eagle flew down to his side and glided next to him. Branzer pulled out his gun and started blasting guards in the face as he ran into the monastery. Groups of soldiers blocked his entrance as he tossed an explosion trap at their feet as they were engulfed in flame. Branzer shot dead every one of them and jumped over the dying as he ran into the main hallway.

"Stop him!" The High Abbott said. Branzer let his gun do its job as bullets flew simultaneously out of his gun and into the dozens of guards coming at him. He summoned his bear and it knocked down the majority of them.

"Should have killed me when you had the chance!" Branzer yelled as he took careful aim and sent a powerful shot into the High Abbott's head.

"Nooo!" Many of the soldiers cried. The High Abbott began to laugh as his voice turned demonic. Branzer ordered his bear to go attack him as the High Abbott turned into a blue demon with wings and giant hoofs. The people watched in horror.

Branzer's gun went to work, letting out powerful shot after shot. The demon had not expected such power to come from one fighter. The demon fought with the bear, but Branzer's bear should no means of letting him go. The demon took one more look up at Branzer as an enormous bullet came flying at him and flew right in between his eyes. The demon recoiled back and fell his high seat where he burned up.

"Don't be led astray by demons you idiots! Think for yourselves!" Branzer yelled at them. Everybody was in shock. Branzer pulled out his hearthstone and thought of Herrior as he rubbed it.

"Done with your task already?" Herrior asked.

"I need to talk to you…immediately!" Branzer said with a fierce tone in his voice. Herrior nodded and closed the portal. Seconds later a portal opened. Branzer and his eagle and bear walked through it as Lindel closed it behind him.

"I have just one thing to say…love is above all else! I love her and I have conquered all of my doubts! I know…beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had – and destroyed, that she is meant for me, and nobody can stop her love between us, not you, not my title, not Tranquil, and not the laws! She and I are meant to be together and nobody is going to stand in my way!" Branzer yelled at Herrior.

"Who's standing in your way?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"The person that was…is gone and will never return." Branzer said and then looked at Lindel who looked at him in surprise. "And if that person comes back I will crush him again." Branzer then stepped quickly forward and picked up Lindel and wrapped his arms around her as he passionately kissed her. She hesitated at first, but then felt the warm of his breath and his lips and let it go.

"So about the prisoners that you sent to me…should I kill them?" Mohania asked. The rest of Herrior's party slowly turned and glared at Mohania. "Bad time to ask that question? I can never time these things right…"

Lindel sprouted her wings and took Branzer up into the air with him, kissing as they went.

"Are they allowed to have private time?" Skyka asked smiling.

"I think we have a wedding we need to plan for…" Herrior said grabbing Skyka's hand and kissing it.

"So where did all of that come from?" Skyka asked.

"It's been several days…I assume he finally found himself." Herrior replied.

"About the prisoners…" Mohania asked again.

"I'll come take a look." Herrior said summoning his dragon. He felt a gentle tug on his cape as he looked down as saw Trackolania looking up at him. He then pointed at Julie and himself and pretended to put on a ring.

"Not too much of a shock there…if it's ok with her, she looks more surprised than I do." Herrior said as he lifted off with several other party members behind him.

Trackolania walked up to Julie and got down on one knee and looked up at her eyes and mouthed the words, "Please".

Julie was taken up in the moment and said, "I'm not sure what to say…do you really feel this way about me?" Trackolania nodded.

"I…am not sure, but I'm not saying no. I've just never had somebody I loved before – let alone wanted to take my hand in marriage. I wasn't really the prettiest one growing up and I don't really think I am now. Are you sure?" Julie asked with a smile breaking on her face. Trackolania nodded again.

"Once we are married…can you talk to me?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded and then scribbled some words in the ground, "Marrying a rogue is different from regular marriage – the rogue's guild needs to approve of me being able to speak with you."

"Oh…is there anything else I need to know?" Julie asked. Trackolania nodded and pulled out a small black beat-up book and handed it to her.

"Rogue's come with an instruction manual huh?" Julie asked. Trackolania smiled and shrugged.

"Ok…let me read this and then we can talk?" Julie asked with a smile. He nodded and Julie walked over and kissed him on the head. She summoned her dragon and flew off to meet up with the others.

"Greetings – my name is Herrior, ambassador to Tranquil and leader of my party. You have already met Branzer who brought you here and my guess is you have already met Mohania." Herrior said.

"Hey – I didn't touch them." Mohania said.

"He is an undead…like the others. What is to become of us?" The female undead asked.

"Well that is what we are here to talk about. Do you wish to return to your lands?" Herrior asked.

"Are we allowed to?" She asked.

"By all means; Branzer reports that he has killed the duke and High Abbott so the attacks may stop against your people." Herrior said.

"And what of the others? The blue women and the human soldiers north of Rivendale? They slaughter our kind because they accuse us of witchcraft. What are your views on witchcraft?" The undead asked.

Mohania ignited himself on fire and summoned a floating demon eye with tentacles falling down from it as it hovered in the air called an "Observer". "This is sorcery and magic! Witchcraft is entirely differently…although some of it might look like the same…it's different."

"Excellent explanation as always Mohania…" Herrior said patting him on the shoulders as he walked by and unlocked the cage. "We don't steal children in the middle of the night, we don't sacrifice animals or people, and we don't terrorize people or ride on brooms. Some of us can cast spells considered to be witchcraft to some; however we mean nobody any harm. Come…walk with me."

"You mean we are free?" The undead woman asked.

"We hold people only long enough to figure out what their intentions are. We have banshees that read their minds to see if they are spies – all of you have checked out fine. Mohania…put yourself out." Herrior said.

"Fine…" Mohania said and instantly the fire disappeared.

"I'd like to introduce you to our town and speak with you first if I may – perhaps our people could mutually benefit each other?" Herrior asked.

"Our people are under attack, I would like to get back to the fight to keep my kind alive." The undead woman said.

"Very well…let me summon a Chronomancer and they will make a portal for you." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"You have Chronomancers?" The orc woman asked.

"Yes" Herrior replied nodding. He opened a portal and spoke with a male tauren who said he would be there in a moment. Herrior thanked him and closed the portal.

"He will be here shortly. Tell me, why are your people under attack?" Herrior asked.

"Because we are feared. We can cast magic different from them and we look different from them. We move from one place to another, yet they still find us and slaughter us, torture our children, and burn our homes." The undead woman said.

"And you have done nothing to them?" Herrior asked.

"We haven't surrendered and let them study us…probe us for secrets that we possess." The undead woman said.

"Do you swear you have done nothing to provoke their attacks?" Herrior asked.

"I swear we have done nothing! I cannot speak for the generations of our people that have been slaughtered before me. We fight back when we are attacked, but we don't provoke them. We fight until the very end…well some of us do anyways, it's hard to keep up the fight when we starve, can't settle down and raise families, and are hunted day and night." The undead woman said.

Herrior nodded and said, "That is no way to live. If I led my party to save your people, would they be frightened of us? Would they stand with us?"

"Herrior…we have sticks, rocks and dirt that we fight with. We are afraid to cast spells for fear of the trials of being a witch." The undead woman replied.

"I remember the old trials of their world…" Herrior said pointing at Dan. "If someone was condemned of a witch, they would have their pockets filled with rocks and thrown into a river. If they drowned they weren't a witch. If they floated they were burned at the stake. Many fear what they don't understand." The Chronomancer's portal opened and the male tauren came through it.

"One time offer. Stand with us and we will crush your enemies. You may live in our city or we can relocate you to another place where you are safe." Herrior said pulling out his mace and shield.

"You and these people against a legion of soldiers?" She asked.

"Seems unfair for them, but I don't mind it." Mohania said with an evil grin.

"Open the portal to their people. Let's remind their people what it is like to take a stand." Herrior said as he walked through the portal. The rest of Herrior's party followed through and the prisoners walked through as well.

"Alliance…oh this will be fun! Leave none alive!" Herrior cried out and let out a battle cry as he threw his magical weapon at one of them and charged into another, knocking him to the ground.

Mohania and Bernett decided to team up and see how many people they could catch on fire. Mohania of course gave himself a ten point head start from the previous battle…but Bernett was casting as fast as he could, giving Mohania a run for his money. Trackolania was in renewed spirits as he made quick work of any alliance he came across, slicing them in key points in their armor, letting his poison sink in before moving on. Jacklyn and Dan were taking turns killing the ones that Quinely and Herrior had aggro on.

In no time the alliance had sounded a retreat, but Herrior gave the command to follow them, killing any that they got close to. Mohania increased his running speed tremendously at the expense of hurting himself, but he got close enough to cast his "Earth Maw" spell…opening up the ground, sending dozens of soldiers into the ground and then slamming the ground shut.

"The witches have brought reinforcements! To arms!" An alliance soldier shouted as Veliline reached out with her force grip and lifted him in the air. Mohania casted a fire spell at him as he burned to death in the air.

"To arms! Lower the gate! To the walls!" A guard yelled behind the gates.

"Let the elements mask our approach and bring down their walls…" Dan called out running behind Herrior who had his shield up deflecting the arrows.

Within twenty yards of the sealed doors Dan held his hands up as columns of clouds flew down from the skies and floated around the archers on the walls. They were completely blinded and couldn't see who to shoot.

"Let the grounds tremble and quake…" Dan said and slammed his fist weapons into the ground. A powerful ripple from the ground flew underneath Herrior, pushing him up momentarily and then sending up a powerful spike of solid rock fly out of the ground, obliterating their front gate. The ground then let out an enormous earthquake, sending many archers falling off from their walls. The grounds trembled before them as parts of the stone wall gave way.

"Attack! Don't let Dan have all of the fun!" Herrior yelled out and ran forward. He had penetrated the front gates and leaped in the middle of the courtyard where he began to launch a series of attacks to gain everybody's attention. Julie came in shooting at the cannoneers lining up to take a shot at them. She told Spark to go guard Herrior and off he went enraging himself.

"Trackolania – those cannons would help a lot!" Julie yelled out. Trackolania disappeared and reappeared as a set of daggers went through one of the men's back. He then moved quickly from one person to another, slicing off limp and leaving deep gashes in them. Dan ran over and summoned an earth elemental and told him to start throwing the cannonballs at the main tower. The elemental quickly did as he was told as he motioned for Trackolania to finish his work and rejoin the party.

Veliline summoned her ghouls and they in turn summoned their minions. "Attack my pets! Feast on their flesh!" Veliline said as she started tanking the left side of the fortress. She launched her death and decay spell, destroying homes and shops. People were fleeing in desperation but she would not let one of them leave.

Quinely saw the middle fortress begin to close. "Herrior – they are digging their selves in!" Dan shouted out to his earth elemental to start targeting the door, but the metal bars were of no use.

"The elementals are not stronger than an enraged warrior…" Herrior said running over to grab a cannon. He enraged himself and picked up the enormous cannon and threw it at door. It landed with an enormous explosion of metal on metal. Sparks flew as the iron door gave partially away. The heat it produced started a fire on the wooden door inside of it as Herrior went to grab another one. Jacklyn grabbed it before he could. She enraged herself and pulled out all of the stops as she hurled the cannon at the iron door. It sailed right through it as if it was parchment.

"I helped…" Herrior said to Jacklyn.

"You keep telling yourself that…" Jacklyn smiled at him and pulled out her blades and went to rush the inner fortress.

"Veliline – take Bernett and Dan down to the dungeons and release the prisoners. Julie and Mohania provide cover and keep killing from the inner gates…everybody else had better get their ass's behind me!" Herrior yelled out.

Herrior charged through the gates and saw dozens dead by the cannon Jacklyn had thrown. Herrior slammed his mighty hoofs on them as he ran up the stairs. He saw several men, women and children cowering in the corner. Herrior ordered his party to only attack the ones that attack him. Suddenly a well dressed priest came out of a door and started reciting something in a language he didn't understand with a cross out in front of him. Herrior tilted his head as he walked towards him. When he was close enough he quickly bent over and slammed his right horn into the preacher, impaling him and throwing him in the air.

"We are not witches! We have come to avenge those that have fallen by your blades! Come forth and face us those that defy you!" Herrior called out.

"Welcome guests…come on in." A man calmly called out from behind a door.

"I'm going to chop him up into pieces slowly…" Jacklyn said.

Down in the dungeons Veliline, Bernett and Dan made quick work of the dungeon masters.

"Kill the alliance prisoners." Veliline ordered as she started slamming her huge double bladed axe into the cells.

"I'm not alliance…" A man said backing up with dark red glowing eyes. Veliline blasted him with both of her death knight diseases and left him. The man screamed in pain as they devoured him over time.

"Taurens?" Dan said slamming his fist weapon into a lock. He saw a frightened male hovering over her wife who was in labor.

"I need to watch over these two…they might need healing – assess the rest without me!" Dan yelled out.

"You are not going to kill us?" The male tauren asked.

"We're here to free you…quickly make your wife comfortable, I sense desperation in her. Ma'am, we are here to help you, I need you to calm down." Dan said quickly. Cries of death echoed through the halls as Veliline and Bernett killed several more alliance.

"Ignore them…I'm going to cleanse your body." Dan said and held his hand up. A quick start floated up from her, cleansing her body of any diseases she might have had. The male reached down and felt her fever had lifted.

"You healed her?" He said in surprise turning around looking at him.

"Hey…you are the one catching, I'm going to heal. You do your thing and I'll do mine." Dan said moving to her head and dropped a healing totem.

"Are…you a…argh!" The woman yelled as a huge contraction hit.

"Settle down and push. That's all you have to focus on is pushing." Dan said.

"My wife has breached…I need to help." The man said gently as he maneuvered into place and helped pulled the child from his wife. The woman screamed as loud as she could as the baby left and another contraction hit hard. Dan casted a healing spell to heal her wounds.

"You have just given birth to your child…what is wrong?" Dan asked.

"I'm…not done!" The woman yelled as another contraction hit. Both Dan and the male tauren looked at each other in shock.

"Veliline!" Dan called out turning away from her. He then turned back around and casted another healing spell on her. This soothed her from the pain temporarily as she pushed as hard as she could.

Veliline came running around the corner and saw that one tauren was born. Dan quickly said, "Take this one, cut the cord and wrap it up in your cape. We could use Skyka or Jessica if they aren't too busy…"

"Bernett, try to contact Jessica or Skyka!" Veliline called out. Bernett had just finished melting off the last lock and kicked open the gate and then pulled out his hearthstone. A human male and female quickly said, "We are doctors, can we help?"

Bernett quickly stood back and held his hand out. Both of them came running over to the female tauren.

"She needs healing…" the woman said. Dan nodded and began to cast healing spell one after another until he was out of mana. The woman calmed down a lot, but her fever had come back. The woman knelt down at the tauren's head and put her hand on her head. Instantly her hand glowed white and the female tauren felt suddenly better. She had the power once again to push through several more contractions until the second baby came out. Dan gave her another healing spell once his mana had come back up. The male tauren caught the baby that practically slide out of her wife and the child looked around in wonder. The father let out tears of joy and asked if that was all.

"I sure as hell hope so…" his wife said. She turned to her saviors and said, "I would have died without you."

"We can't let that happen. Your children are now alive and well." The woman said reaching down and grabbing her hand. They met with smiles and then the woman turned to Dan and quickly said, "We aren't alliance, we aren't going to…"

"Ease your mind…we know. You are part of us…you are all part of us. Those of you who cannot fight stay back and protect these taurens. The rest of you grab whatever armor and weapons you can salvage, the war isn't over with yet.

"Damn door is magically sealed…" Herrior said exhausted from bashing on it. Trackolania bounced up and jammed his dagger in the keyhole and quickly opened it.

"Yeah…I forgot you could do that…" Herrior said feeling like an ass.

"What the…how did you?" The king said rising from his chair.

"Kill them!" Herrior said and charged in with a new found strength. The King's guards quickly drew their swords as the King rose and casted a spell on his remaining soldiers.

Herrior charged towards them and began attacking, but none of his attacks were getting through. The king's forces started to surround him as Herrior tried his shockwave attack, thunderclap attack – even his howl of terror spell. The guards were not taking any damage, but Herrior was.

Skyka and Jessica tried to get off healing spells, but they were quickly silenced. Trackolania stealthed himself and tried to make it over to the king before he was caught, but before he could launch an attack, a magical shield burned him and threw him backwards.

Lindel linked her mind up with Dan and told him that he needed to tell his elemental to target them in the fortress and throw cannon balls as hard as he could. Dan acknowledged and within seconds it began to rain cannonballs through the wall, hitting a guard, and slamming them up against the wall. Herrior took the chance to charge over to him and slam his sword into his chest finishing him off. Herrior then tossed the cannonball back to Jacklyn who caught it, spun around and released it as hard as she could. It sailed with tremendous speeds as it penetrated the shield and hit the king square in the head. The shield fell and Herrior's party began their normal attacks. It was less than a minute before the king's army fell and Herrior approached the king.

"Looks like you aren't going to be killing any more witches…" as Herrior's blade chopped off the king's head. Herrior took the head and held it up as everybody roared and cheered. Herrior took the king's body and dragged it over to the window.

"Mohania…catch!" Herrior yelled and threw the body out the window. Mohania energized himself and let out an enormous chaos bolt. It hit the body and it exploded into hundreds of different pieces.

"I got it…I got it…" Mohania said running around trying to catch the tiny pieces of the body falling from the sky.

"This victory is for all of the ones that unnecessarily died! May all of the spirits rest in ease now, for the slayer has been slayed! Victory awaits the people who have been on the run from this evil man and his tyranny over this land! Take anything you want, it is yours! Victory is ours!" Herrior finished his speech yelled out the window as his voice could be heard throughout the lands. Herrior looked down and saw his party and many others joining in the celebration. Herrior smiled in pride and pulled his head out of the window and motioned for his party to leave.

They all met up in the courtyard and Herrior was astonished to see a male and female tauren with two newborns.

"Who are you?" Herrior asked.

"Vomgnar and Takona, but we have yet to name our offspring. We would like to name them after those that freed us." Vomgnar the male tauren said.

"Many have fought to free you, not a single one. Pick a name of your choosing." Herrior said.

"You have fulfilled your promise and have done as you said we are in debt to you." The female undead said.

"You are in debt to no one. You are free to do as you wish. Your people may take refuge in this fortress, but I fear the alliance may come back to check up on it eventually – I would advise taking enough to support yourselves and wiping the dirt off your feet when you leave this place." Herrior said.

"I wish to fight with you." The female orc said. Many others agreed, all of the prisoners agreed as well.

"I am an ambassador to Tranquil, the city that I fight for. You are free to come and live within our city walls if you wish. You will have to spend time in our cells at first – however it is just a precautionary for the people of our town, but afterwards you are free to do as you wish. Lindel would you open a portal for us please?" Herrior asked.

"Wait…there are others…" the undead woman said.

"Then go to them. We wait here to guard the castle." Herrior said. The undead woman turned around and started running away.

"How many more are there?" Herrior asked.

"Probably none. She has been our leader trying to rescue as many as she could. She bears a heavy weight and carries with her a heavy burden as well. Many of us have died. What do you know of the dragons over in the vast regions to the west of us? Anything?" Vomgnar asked.

"Those are Ysera's dragons. Why do you ask?" Herrior asked.

"They won't cross the mountain region. Late at night we would hide from them as well. Will they eat us?" Vomgnar asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "No – we are on good terms with her kingdom. They shouldn't cause you any problems; if you wish I can contact her and speak with her?" Vomgnar shook his head and said, "These lands won't support us anymore. My wife and newborns wish to come with you to your kingdom. Will my newborns have safe haven as well?"

Herrior nodded with a smile and said, "They would be a welcome addition. We have many of our citizens that love children and take care of them even if they are not theirs."

"What is this of Chronomancers that you speak of? How did your people learn their spells?" The female orc asked.

"Most of our knowledge was stolen from our enemies. I learned my abilities through study and self-exploration." Lindel said.

"Do you know all of the spells of a Chronomancer besides just creating portals?" The orc asked.

"I know of banshee spells, but not that of a Chronomancer. Are you a Chronomancer as well?" Lindel asked.

"I am. The arts have been passed down from generations before me. I think I have much I could contribute to your knowledge."

"What is your name? Mine is Lindel…recently engaged." Lindel asked looking over at Branzer.

"Grirena, nice to meet you and congratulations." Grirena said.

"My wife and I wish to marry. We had children while not married, but it was not planned. I treat her like my wife but I want it to be official." Vomgnar said.

"That can be arranged." Herrior said and suddenly his hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and an image of the Admiral appeared. He looked worried.

"Herrior…there are people here to take our dogs away from us." Admiral said.

"Then kill them." Herrior said back casually.

"These people we can't just casually kill. Apparently Spark scared the piss out of some of the new recruits and went to report them to the animal activistists, the humane society, and another police station." Admiral said quickly. Julie smiled big and tried not to laugh.

"We'll be right there." Herrior said and shut the portal.

"Julie you are with me. Lindel open a portal for us. The rest of you hold your ground here until the undead woman comes back. Then I will meet up with you in Tranquil. Bring the king's head as a trophy for our King." Herrior said.

Lindel began to open a portal as Vomgnar said, "I look forward to seeing you again."

"As do I" Herrior said and left.

Herrior and Julie arrived in their room as Julie summoned Spark. He was happy to see Julie again and started licking her.

"Hey hey…save it, we have bad people at the station." Julie said. Spark then let out a deep growl.

Both of them left the room and quickly met up with the Admiral who frantically said, "They have a warrant to seize the dog. Our officers have not let them on the base and are denying them access to the premises…I made up some excuse about secret activity being conducted, but they are calling a judge and the mayor…I'm trained for war Herrior…not this diplomatic bullshit."

"Ease your mind Admiral, we will address the issue." Herrior said as he started walking for the door.

"We're all behind you Herrior…we'll defend this station with our lives if we have too to keep Spark here." An officer stood up and said.

"That will not be necessary, but thank you for the offer." Herrior said activating his trinket. Julie did the same.

Herrior and Julie left the station with Spark behind Julie, still letting out a deep growl. His shoulders were as high as Julie's and nearly four times as thick. Spark had grown since she first got him.

"There he is! That this is a monster and nearly killed us! I demand that you open the gates and let us take him." A man yelled pointing at Julie. Several of the officers of the station clicked off their safety and stepped aggressively towards the man.

"He is not safe! You can't stop us from taking him! We have a court order and the governor's approval!" The man yelled.

"Stop this! Stand down and safety those weapons!" Herrior yelled out. The soldiers did just that, but had their fingers on the switch just in case he decided to change his mind. They backed up as well.

"Open the gates and let them in." Herrior said. The soldiers looked at him in to question him, but knew better. Within seconds afterwards the gates started to open.

"Come and get him…" Herrior said in a deep tone picking up his pace walking towards the man and Julie did the same with Spark close behind.

"Look…I don't know what football team linebacker you played for, but if you hurt me I will sue your pants off!" The same man said.

"I never liked wearing pants. If you wish to test my patience, we can go into our sparring room and settle our personal matters." Herrior said with an angry grin and slammed his fist into his hand. The man backed up a little as Herrior continued to approach him.

"Bet he shits himself…" An officer whispered.

"Bet he gets the shit beat out of him…" Another officer whispered.

"Enough of this! I will not be treated like this! Give us the dog!" The man demanded.

"Julie…see if Spark wants to go with this man…" Herrior said.

"Bet it takes him two bites to eat him…" An officer whispered in the background.

Spark moved out from behind Julie and let out a loud ferocious growl as he started to move in and studied his prey. The man looked behind him and saw that the dog control holding their pole restraints looked at him like he was nuts.

"Well don't just stand there…get the dog!" The man yelled.

"Yeah…I don't get paid enough to get mauled, you go first." The one dog catcher said.

"Fuck that…I'm out of here!" The other said.

"Hey – don't piss yourself on our grounds!" An officer yelled out in amusement.

"Stop that truck!" Julie ordered. Spark then turned his attention to the truck and sprinted quickly up to it and casually ripped off the back right tire. An instant "hiss" came followed by the screeching of metal on the pavement. Spark then ran up to the front tire and ripped that one free of the rim as well. The van was creating enormous sparks trying to get away from the dog as Spark moved in front of the van and took a huge bite out of the front bumper and tossed it aside. Spark then jumped on the hood and smashed in the entire windshield with a single paw. Both men quickly got out of the vehicle and ran away. Spark then walked behind the vehicle and casually bit off the padlock as the doors opened. He saw four men inside looking terrified at him. Spark let out a loud bark as they all scattered from the truck and ran in opposite directions.

Spark came back with one of the restraining poles and dropped it at the man's feet.

"Well? Are you going to restrain him?" Herrior asked. The man's confidence level had dropped significantly and he began to reek of fear. He began to fumble in his inner jacket pocket when everybody raised their guns at him and the sounds of dozens of clicks as the safety's were turned off could be heard as the man realized he was about ready to be pumped full of lead.

"I…am getting the papers to serve you…" the man said hesitating.

"You seem…uneasy." Herrior said with a smile. The man ignored him and pulled out the documents. Spark quickly snatched them out of his hands and promptly ate them.

"Your papers will be reviewed and will be processed…in about eight hours or so…" Julie said snickering.

"You have done your business here and obviously you are not going to take the dog. This is a highly restricted compound you are on and you are no longer welcome. Can somebody forcibly remove him?" Herrior asked and turned around and walked away. Several officers quickly closed in on him and suggested that he leave at gun point. The man was escorted out and was mocked by the officers as he left.

"Business here is done…let's get out of here Julie." Herrior said smile at her as she walked beside him.

"Spark is disappointed that he didn't get to eat him." Julie said as Spark started to whimper.

"Spark did get to eat the man's vehicle." Herrior answered back as he opened the door for Julie. Spark seemed happy by that answer and began to prance around in glee.

"What's the situation?" Admiral asked.

"Spark will be staying here…on a side note there's a vehicle ripped to shreds and there men left quickly shitting themselves…" Julie said petting Spark.

"I'll have the vehicle removed." Admiral said with a smile.

"I doubt you'll have any more trouble with him. We need to head back." Herrior said and made his way to their room.

"Thanks Herrior." Admiral said.

Herrior nodded at him and closed the door behind him. He pulled out his hearthstone and had Lindel open a portal.

Herrior appeared before the presence of the King and saw the rest of his party as well as the people they had rescued.

"My King" Herrior said and bowed slightly.

"Herrior it seems you have been busy. I appreciate the gift you have brought to me. It is always nice to see the head of a former alliance king. You have also brought refugees into Tranquil as well, as well as two adorable baby tauren. My wife is completely infatuated by them." The King said.

"It was my honor my King. Has there been any word from the undead woman?" Herrior asked.

"She was killed Herrior. Our scouts found her body torn to pieces by some alliance soldiers returning from some sort of deployment mission. I assigned a party to go avenge her death and give her a proper burial in her land." The King said sounding disappointed.

"I am saddened by this news." Herrior said in a low tone.

"Her will was her own and her heart was in the right place, but she was not a fighter nor did she possess any type of weaponry to defend herself." The King said with regret and paused for a moment. He then said, "The rest of the refuges that you brought back have intrigued me though. The orc female, who only refers to herself as the 'overseer' has been quite the conversationalist. She speaks of different magical abilities she can teach our Chronomancers and has referred to monks, not ours but a different type of monk that can teach our fighters how to hit harder with more precision. I want you to take her to the arena and see what she has to teach us. The others will have accommodations prepared for them in Tranquil and they are free to do as they wish." The King paused for a moment as if lost in thought and then asked, "Was there a disturbance on the human's world?"

"Yes my King. Julie and I went there to investigate. Apparently one of the people tried to get a job within the station and was angry when rejected. He then contacted some people that have high authority in their world and approached the station. Admiral didn't know what to do so we had Spark make the decision. As Julie put it, 'we took his papers and are processing them' as Spark ate them. He also destroyed their vehicle and struck fear into his fighters and they fled. I believe the incident is over with and will no longer be a problem." Herrior said.

The King nodded and dismissed everybody. Herrior took the female orc to the arena as instructed and gave the rules of the arena.

"Those rules are for those who hide behind armor and weapons – rid yourself of these and I will show you how to fight" said the overseer.

"We take you and your people in and then you spit vinegar in my eyes? We wear armor and yield weapons to better our chances of battle!" Herrior said angrily at her.

"I have no armor or weapons…come…strike me down." Overseer said.

"There is no death in our arenas, it is strictly forbidden." Herrior said pulling out his shield and sword.

"There will be no deaths today, just lessons learned. Now attack me." Overseer said.

Herrior let out a battle cry and charged at her, knocking her to the ground. Herrior's next move was to give her a gentle bump with his shield, but he was surprised to find himself on the ground with her knee on his throat.

"You fight with too much confidence…rid yourself of your armor and weapons and let's try it again." Overseer said and jumped off from him, doing three back flips in the air and delicately landing on her toes.

"Very well…" Herrior said annoyed. He tossed his shield and newly acquired sword off to the side and took off his armor. He stood naked in front of her and assumed a defensive position. Overseer approached him as Herrior punched at her face. She quickly deflected the attack, put a leg behind Herrior and pushed him down.

"A simple punch makes you vulnerable – you are letting down the rest of your guard down with the rest of your body." Overseer said.

"You are making me angry woman…" Herrior said and jumped back to his legs.

"You are not angry with me, but with yourself. Attack me again." Overseer said. Herrior did and each of his punches was easily deflected. He struck out at her harder aiming for her face, but each punch was easily deflected. Suddenly she grabbed one of his fists and pulled him forward as she moved off to the side. Herrior fell on the dirt in a daze. He quickly got back up on his feet and looked at her.

"I am fighting without armor, why are you fighting with magic?" Herrior asked.

"I am not using magic; I am using your body against you. The harder you punched the more weight you put behind it - I just merely redirected your weight." Overseer said.

"If you are so good at fighting, why did you get caught?" Herrior asked getting back up on his feet.

"When faced with multiple swords at your throat, you don't really have much room to maneuver. This time instead of just flailing your fists at me, focus your attacks and keep your weight distributed equally. Keep your legs together and your knees bent. I'm going to start attacking you now." Overseer said. The female orc casually walked up to him struck him hard in the chest with the palm of her fist. Herrior wasn't quick enough to deflect the attack and staggered backwards to catch his breath.

"In battle you have to remember your vitals. Keep your eyes open, ears alert, hands moving and feet swift." Overseer said walking up to him. She went to land another blow, but Herrior caught her hand with his. Herrior motioned to punch her with his other hand, but she had jumped up into the air, did a flip and landed backwards on him with her legs crossed around his throat. Herrior again started to gasp for air. Growing tired of this, Herrior reached up and threw her off. She hit the ground, did several rolls and got back up on her feet. She then ran towards him and leaped in the air. Herrior moved forward to catch her when suddenly she turned her body around and landed a powerful round-house kick on the side of Herrior's head. Herrior fell to the ground and grew even angrier. He slammed his fist on the ground and enraged himself. He charged at her, stunning her for a second as he grabbed her arm and went to throw her against the side of the arena when suddenly she came to and grabbed his arm and used the momentum and landed a kick on Herrior's back.

The two fought like this for a length of time, Herrior ending up on his face several times a minute. Herrior's party watched in astonishment as the female orc danced around the arena and performed several simple moves to put Herrior on the ground.

"Enough…I yield…" Herrior said finally as he gasped for breath. He was tired of being thrown down and his body bleed from several different spots where as Overseer wasn't hurt at all.

"Would you yield to your enemies?" Overseer asked.

"You are not my enemy…you are my teacher, and my first lesson is over." Herrior said getting up off from the ground. "What am I doing wrong?" He asked in defeat.

"You are not concentrating. Let me show you." Overseer said coming towards him. "If you swing at me like this, your weight has shifted to put more power into your punch – but as you have seen I simply deflect it to the side. You have yet to launch more than one attack at me at the same time. Time your moves and expect one or two of them to fail and always plan one more ahead. You rely on one of your attacks to always hit and when it doesn't, it catches you off guard. When you are off guard you are vulnerable. Let me show you something." Overseer said and backed up. "I'll do this slowly, and you attack me slowly." Herrior nodded and took a slow punch towards her.

"I see the attack coming so I have a couple of options. I can deflect it, pull you towards me, or dislocate your arm." Overseer said and this time slowly deflected the punch in the opposite direction but held onto his fist as her other fist came up and started to push on his elbow. Instant pain shot up Herrior's arm as he backed off. She stopped immediately and let go of him.

"That time I had three plans in my head. The more plans you have, the quicker you analyze your opponent, the quicker you can end the battle. Your knees and elbows are deadly targets. If you dislocate a man's arm or kneecap then, they go into shock from the pain and then you land a deadly blow." Overseer said.

Herrior nodded and told her to continue. They sparred well into the night and until early morning until Overseer said she was too tired to continue.

"Would you volunteer to have our monks take your fighting techniques from you and disperse them into our fighters?" Herrior asked nearly exhausted.

"I assume your monks are different from the ones that trained me?" Overseer asked. Herrior nodded.

"Is it also safe to assume that it will hurt?" Overseer asked. Herrior looked at her slightly confused and asked "How did you know that?"

"I have spent decades perfecting my attacks and you speak as if you could have that information passed on quickly. I look at your city and see many fighters so it's probably safe to assume that these monks of yours could not possibly teach each of your fighters all that I know. You are going to extract the information from my mind aren't you and then distribute it that way?" Overseer asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "It is painful, I won't lie to you…but it would benefit our fighters greatly."

She nodded and said, "You saved my life and the life of some of my people – I owe this to you."

"You do not owe us anything. Do this on your own free will." Herrior said.

"I will do this for my people and for those that have fallen in combat." Overseer said as she smiled and nodded. Herrior smiled back and began to put his armor back on.

"Do your people really stay up all night?" Overseer asked.

"Sometimes several nights in a row," Herrior said reaching out to his shield and sword as they flew into his hands.

"It seems I have some things to learn as well…" Overseer said impressed.

"It would be an honor to fight beside you someday." Herrior said.

"Maybe…" Overseer said with a half smile.

Herrior's party had stayed up through the night watching the fight and learning from it. They rose from the ground and went with both of them out of the arena.

"I like the party where she threw you on the ground…repeatedly." Mohania said with a big smile. Herrior rolled his eyes as they went to the monk's chambers.

Herrior led his party down the corridor as he knocked on the heavy door. It opened quicker than usual as the hooded figures quickly grabbed the female orc and pulled her in.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Herrior asked.

"Her time is short…we must extract the information from her quickly." All of the monks said in the same monotone voice. This sent chills up Herrior's party.

"Thank you for freeing my people…take care of the baby taurens." Overseer said.

"But wait…" Herrior said frantically.

"There is no time; we must conduct the ceremony immediately." All of the monks said at the same time as one of them shut the door.

"Well that was rude…" Mohania said.

"Are…they going to kill her?" Crystal was the first to ask.

Herrior let out a deep breath with a sigh in it. Suddenly the screaming started and nobody wanted to stick around to hear what was happening…especially Crystal.

"Let's go." Herrior said. Each one looked at the heavy wooden doors one last time before they left.

They walked in silence to their home as Herrior opened the door for them and said "Try to get some sleep. We'll probably have to be up in a couple of hours." Nobody said anything but they did go into the house and laid down.


	33. Take a Gamble

Take a Gamble

Weeks passed in Tranquil as the training continued for all of the fighters. Herrior's party stayed in Tranquil to help the fighters with their new abilities. Admiral has visits from several ambassadors so that information could be conveyed back and forth as to what was happening on Earth. Herrior even asked about Alan and how he was doing. The outpost was still manned and operational; the guards said they had nothing to report.

As the time went by Herrior made sure to hold meetings with his own party and to keep their "egos" in check. Many of the fighters took to their new attacks quickly, while others didn't and it required patience. All of the fighters in Tranquil now were equal and there were no longer a secondary and primary group of fighters. This was decided by the King to get rid of the thinking's between a higher group and a lower group. Many complaints had come from this. Also since the new abilities were equal to that of the primary fighters, the King wanted all of his fighters ready and able to fight in a battle, should one arise. The jobs of the secondary groups were vanquished and were distributed evenly among all of the parties of Tranquil. Now no one was looked down upon as a weaker fighter – everybody was equal. This helped promote more soothing environment for everybody and encouraged everybody to work together. The armor smiths, including Herrior, as well as tailors, leather workers, and weapon smiths were working around the clock to help make sure that everybody had equal weapons.

Skyka finally got her design of having a wand stitched into her inner sleeve to work. She was now able to cast a healing spell, raise her hand at an enemy and get a shot off from where her cloak drooped down, and let off another healing spell. This helped a great deal because wands held magical properties, similar to that of the rest of the weapons and armor. Skyka called her invention the "inner sleeve" and she praised herself for it as did many other magical users that wore cloth.

The time had come for Herrior's party to go back to their world and watch for alliance and demons – as did many other party's on different worlds they were assigned to. They arrived in their room that Lindel had opened and no sooner had they arrived than Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate.

"The people that call themselves the Earthen Ring, the people that you freed and helped fight their enemies have taken in alliance and are murdering orcs!" Kon said urgently.

"Have you engaged them in battle yet?" Herrior asked back quickly.

"No…we aren't sure which ones to fight." Kon said sounding confused.

"I'll be right there." Herrior said putting his hearthstone away and Lindel was already in the process of opening a portal. Herrior charged through it with his sword and shield in hand and leaped into the air – slamming down in front of the confrontation.

"This ends now! Either by the death of all of you, or by diplomacy!" Herrior screamed as loud as he could, ending the battle temporarily. Herrior's party had their pets and weapons active as well as Kon's party were fully ready to engage.

"Herrior – the alliance wants the orcs back and…" one of the Earthen Ring leaders began to say before Herrior delivered a quick stab in his mouth. The leader looked astonished as his tongue came out on the tip of Herrior's blade.

"Next one that lies to me losses more than this! What is going on here?" Herrior screamed again. The rogues and hunters disappeared from sight and began maneuvering into fighting positions.

"These orcs are ours! You took them from us, and the Earthen Ring and all of its people belong to us by rights of our sovereign King!" One paladin screamed out. "We are taking them and anybody that resists us!"

"Kill them…leave any that surrender…" Herrior said and then let out a battle cry as he charged into battle. The rest of his party and Kon's party eagerly charged forward behind him.

"A massacre wasn't the right name for it", Dan thought as their melee group tore through their armor and either cut off limbs, or disemboweled them. The healers were in the back as always firing out healing spells when they realized they weren't needed.

"Piss on this…I'm going to attack!" Skyka declared and ran up behind the melee group, her wand firing the entire time.

Less than a minute later, the alliance laid deathly quiet on the ground. Herrior walked up to their leader and let out a battle cry before slamming his sword through his skull.

"I have not seen such…finance. You would be a valuable asset to our group." An old tauren said as his eyes met Herrior's and began to mesmerize him. Seconds later a dagger came out of from the opposite side of the tauren's neck. Trackolania pulled hard to the right and spun around with his opposite dagger decapitating him.

"The Earthen Ring are no long our allies! Their attack on me, and their unwilling to assist us in combat proves it. Kill them." Herrior ordered. Shots rang out almost immediately as the melee groups ran in to try to at least get a piece of the action before they were all killed.

"These orcs do not belong here. Lindel, open a portal to our prisons so that they can be interrogated." Herrior said.

"We would rather die than be imprisoned again!" A young feisty orc said. Herrior motioned over at him with his eyes and then looked back, "Once we have the knowledge we need from them, give them the standard choices. Kon I believe you had better find out where the rest of the alliance is. Do you need assistance?" Herrior asked.

"Assistance? Do you see my bow? I didn't get a shot off! Assistance my ass…let's move out!" Kon said with a smile and ran off the sandy enclave and dove into the water.

"You'll have to kill me! Run me through with your blade! I will not go in there!" The same orc said. Herrior walked over, picked him up with one hand and threw him through the portal. The rest went willingly and afterwards Lindel shut the portal.

"Can we stay and eat?" Mohania asked.

"He had some spite in him…I doubt he will become a fighter for Tranquil." Jacklyn said.

"We'll relocate him to somewhere else. It would be nice to have some more orc's in Tranquil though. We mustn't lose hope." Herrior said.

"Think Kon was upset?" Skyka asked smiling.

"Next time I'll let him lead the charge…maybe. Lindel if you would please take us back." Herrior said returning the smile.

They arrived, once again back to the station and Herrior immediately left to go see Admiral. Herrior flung open the door and scared him in his chair. He was on the phone with somebody. Immediately Admiral put his hand over the phone and asked what was going on.

"We just got out of battle and we slaughtered many!" Herrior announced and his party cheered. Admiral tried to quiet them down but to no avail. Lindel sensed that something important was going on so she floated through everybody and told them in their minds to be quiet. Lindel yanked the phone away and said, "I said I want you here tomorrow! There is an investigation underway and if we don't time everything right, it will fall through…mmmmm…ah….ooo…" the last couple of noises were unclear as to the actual sound Lindel was making, but it got the point across. She pushed the "speakerphone" button and hung up.

"Sorry sir, I had no idea the importance of this operation. I'll keep it discreet and leave immediately! I apologize again…have a good day" and then the phone clicked to a dial tone.

Admiral looked at the phone astonished. He then looked up at Lindel who was now sitting seductively on the desk with her legs crossed and her hands on her knees. She was flashing her eyelids at him with a smile.

"Can I call my boss and have you ask him to give me a raise?" Admiral asked.

"Dial him up." Lindel said and then tapping right above the drawer where the chocolate was kept.

"Oh yes…here are several different kinds. I didn't know what you liked." Admiral said quickly opening the door and grabbing a handful of candy bars and giving them to her.

Lindel took them and jumped off the desk seemingly proud of what she did.

"Admiral, do we have any reports we need to investigate?" Herrior asked ignoring Lindel.

"Several. I had a separate cabinet brought in and categorized some of these. We had either one of the police officers or one of the soldiers, dressed as police officers, investigate every case and make sure it was worth our time. You'll find them in alphabetical order." Admiral said maneuvering around his desk and opening the cabinet. He pulled out a stack of folders with files and photographs in them.

"Uh yeah…our job isn't to look at all of those…is it?" Jessica asked.

"No that is something else I had done. Oddly enough each drawer that we put a case file in corresponds within a localized area. We have sent undercover officers to scout out the area and we have several voice recordings that have been translated into documents if you want to read through them." Admiral gave the documents to Herrior and casually scratched his head as he said, "I really wasn't sure what you wanted done I have to admit. In my personal opinion I would have sent troops into these areas and dealt with the situation as needed, however I wanted your permission to do so, and since we aren't immune to the possession that we need to be by your monks…" Admiral was cut off.

"You did fine." Herrior said walking over to some of the reports and thumbing through them.

"Is it just this world that you get so much activity on? Is that why a special task force was sent here?" Admiral asked.

"No, we have tens of thousands of groups now – even stronger than before on many different worlds. We only have one group, or party as we like to put it, on this world. It's always been us. Admiral this is way too much information. I trust your intuition now, if you think there is enough evidence for us to warrant an investigation then we will go; before it was a couple of cases that had unconfirmed information in it." Herrior said handing off the first file to Jacklyn.

"I must admit something…I didn't think I would be pushing papers until later on in my career. This is a definite change for me." Admiral said.

"Would you rather be back on your boat?" Herrior asked.

"I'd rather own a boat. I still haven't acquired my 'land-legs' yet. Our army base is coming along nicely. I implemented a new work program for the prisoners…if they help with the work they get longer outdoor time and special desserts before lights out. Also a lady prisoner by the name of Margaret has been relaying information to us, most of it trivial, but she said at night she swears she sees a faint red glow from one of the prisoner's eyes."

"Branzer, Lindel…" Herrior said and pointed out the door. Both of them left immediately. After they left Herrior asked what kind of boat Admiral wanted.

"Something big, a luxury yacht or something…probably not on my paychecks huh?" Admiral asked with a smile.

"Bernett, look into getting him what he wants. Admiral when is this attack on the casino going to commence?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior, it's gambling. We go to the casino and gamble with money for a chance to win more money." Dan said.

"Attacking it would be easier…I'm not a big fan of gambling…" Herrior said with a bitter tone.

"You're going to get me a yacht? Just like that?" Admiral asked.

"Is Bernett not working on it?" Herrior asked turning around. He didn't see him and Skyka said he was on one of the officer's computers. Herrior turned back around and looked at Admiral with a slight confused look and asked, "You did ask for a boat didn't you?"

"Yes…but I mean they are millions of dollars." Admiral started to laugh and said, "We'd have to win the jackpot at the casino to get that kind of money."

"We don't plan on losing." Dan said with a smile.

"Casino's have enough money stored within their vaults so that even if everybody wins it big, they would still have enough money to pay out everybody. They probably have several billion in cash." Julie added.

"Several billion is what we are going to get then – when are we going?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…this weekend... You don't expect us to rob the place do you?" Admiral asked.

"Let's just say we have some very talented people in our party…and you'd be a fool to bet against or play against them." Dan said.

"How many officers do we have coming?" Herrior asked.

"Almost two hundred…should I spread the word to stick close and bet the house on every bet that your party makes?" Admiral asked. Herrior looked confused.

"Tell them to bet several houses on our bets…" Dan said smiling.

"We of course have the confiscated money that we planned on bringing, but I was leery about that. If we didn't get it back…well it would be a lot of paperwork to cover those tracks…" Admiral said.

"Admiral, hire in somebody to help alleviate your work load, or even better, promote people from within and hire people to take their place. You shouldn't be doing paperwork or dealing with pricks on the phone…you are a fighter, not a secretary. You're job is to help us, filter some of these files that come in like you did, and sail on your new boat." Julie said.

"Julie is right. You are a fighter and your job is to help us. Don't worry yourself with these trivial pieces of parchment floating around and that worthless telephone. Arm yourself, keep the prisoners in line, draw us maps on where our targets are, and get more weapons for your officers in here. Keep your officers in good shape and their moral high. Your job is to lead and you cannot do that from this position in this room. You need to be in charge of everything at all times. Should your officers come under attack, contact us and we will eliminate the threat. However from what I have seen of your officers they should be ok." Herrior said.

"Work more on hand-to-hand combat with knives or other hand weapons. Get some karate teachers in here or whatever and get your men trained on how to kill somebody with a knife, staff, and sword, whatever… When your officers die – it will be on your conscious and that is something you will have to live with." Dan said. Herrior nodded.

"And bring in some pets. Get some guard dogs, or assign each officer a dog. Once they learn who their master is, bring in a trainer to train the dogs to attack." Julie said. Herrior nodded again.

"So no more of this paper-pushing crap?" Admiral asked with a smile.

"Unless you want to?" Herrior asked.

"Hell no…let's get an army built!" Admiral said with enthusiasm. Just then what sounded like a loud cannon went off.

"Well took care of that problem. Margaret is our woman on the inside. She has done wrong, but wants badly to come out. We made an agreement with her and by the sounds of it she has been upholding her end of the bargain. After our assault…or gambling…on the casino, I want her set free with a job." Herrior said.

"If you can get me a yacht with a simple phone call, I'm sure we can get her released with a couple of phone calls…" Admiral said with a smile.

"That is what I want to hear. Go boost the morale of your officers, get the construction done, and promote people to take care of your business, and help out anybody that need help. If somebody is ill, send them to the best witch-doctors you have until we can get here. If they are on the verge of death, contact us immediately. Do whatever you have to do to have your officers follow you to Hell and back without question. They would do that for us because we earned their respect. Now you need to earn that respect." Herrior said.

Admiral nodded and said, "I will do that immediately" and left.

Herrior stood there for a moment and watch Admiral run outside putting on his jacket. "Wonder what he is doing?" He asked. Suddenly a loud explosion came from outside as the hummer's engine revved up and peeled out of the stations parking lot faster than a stock car could.

"Sounds like he's going for a drive" Dan said with a smile.

"Let's get everybody organized here…" Herrior mumbled and made his way to the officers in their cubicles. Similar to that of an early movie, three officers popped their heads up and one at a time named off jobs that they were going to undertake and distribute through the organization. They even had a rubber stamp with the Admiral's signature on it. Herrior examined it and was about to correct them that they spell his name wrong, but then remembered that this world goes by long names. They then explained in further detail how the workloads were going to be distributed and Herrior lost interest after a couple of minutes, but tried to humor them.

Thirty minutes later their prepared speech was done and Herrior smiled at them and gave them a nod. "If you need help let me know. You're doing a good job." Herrior said as he then changed the subject, "Is everything lined up for the att…err…going to this casino place of gamble?"

"All set for this weekend. Its official label is a charity fundraiser for the Detroit commonwealth hosted by the…"

"Ok…ok…I'd prefer to call it an attack on a place of debotury filled with blood sucking devils that prey on the weak." Herrior said.

The officer's looked confused and one asked, "Should we change the name?"

"No. Is that Indian regulations commoner coming? I forgot his lengthy name, nor do I really care to remember it." Herrior asked.

"Yes, he thinks we are raising for the…community…just thought community would be easier for you." One of the officers said.

"City is shorter."

"City is good."

"How are the officers doing?" Herrior asked.

"Frustrated…yet satisfied." One officer said.

"How so?"

"We are the highest paid officers with the best gear and we have weapons now, courtesy of Admiral, that could destroy an entire regime of tanks…army tanks I mean. We have little to complain about the job, but the home life is what is getting to us." The same officer said.

"Bring them to work." Herrior said.

"Well…and I don't want to break orders…but there are a lot of secrets here that they probably shouldn't know. Uh…you guys for example. The next example being what's being built next door; everybody knows it's an army base – but it's going to be more than that isn't it? We have our speculation…we figure it's some sort of intelligence base where your kind is going to be studied and other top secret projects."

"I will not allow our secrets to be given to anybody." Herrior said sternly.

"So is it an intelligence base? They are advertising it as a recruitment camp." The officer said.

"I don't know." Herrior replied truthfully. He thought of a reply, "What they know over there isn't one tenth of what you guys have seen or know already. If you have any problems with them questioning you…you come to me – spread the word. None of my fighters on this world will be harassed or intimidated like they tried to do with Julie. If they try, they will have me to deal with…and I don't leave many pieces behind."

"I had Spark nearly rip off the arm and top torso of the douche bag that tried to blackmail me! It was fun to watch." Julie piped up.

Herrior nodded at them to confirm it. "Make a list, but keep it secret. Cut back your hours at work and rotate in some of the soldiers to do your jobs."

"How many hours should we cut back and will it affect our pay?" Another officer asked from behind them.

"Twenty hours a week – full pay, plus free healthcare, food, and fruit punch!" Branzer said raising his voice up. The officers stood up and started clapping for him.

"You always clap at the wrong time…" Herrior mumbled to himself and rolled his eyes.

"One less alliance to worry about! Congratulations to everybody involved in apprehending him!" Branzer yelled out again with his hands up as he rotated around.

"Took you long enough…" Herrior said.

"We took the detour on the way back…" Lindel said blushing.

"You don't have permission to do that yet." Herrior said in a clearly upset voice.

"We didn't do anything like that…I wanted to see where Admiral went in such a hurry." Lindel said.

"He tore out of here like a bat out of hell…where was he going?" Branzer asked.

"I don't know…he seemed happy though." Herrior said shaking his head as he walked away from the officers and walked up to Branzer.

"Did it look like an accident?" Herrior whispered.

"He tried to escape, he was armed and I had to shoot him. Open and closed case." Branzer said.

"You didn't kill him while in prison with him begging for his life?" Mohania asked.

"No…I'm not you, 'I' follow the rules…" Branzer said pointing to himself.

"There's rules?" Mohania asked scratching his head as Branzer walked by.

"Everybody ready for big winnings this weekend? Simple rule…don't bet or do anything unless we do it. Take out a loan, remortgage your house…bring cash and you won't be sorry folks! We are going to win and we are going to win big time!" Branzer said again feeding the crowd as more cheers came.

"Alright…settle down people. Branzer speaks the truth, but could have done it a bit…less enthusiastically. We're heading off to three different locations to do some investigations. Secure the station and distribute the workloads evenly." Herrior said and led his party outside.

Herrior divided up the party with three tanks in each party and assigned Dan as a healer in Jacklyn's group. They all left on foot, except for Quinely who morphed into a bird and flew overhead and Lindel who did the same.

Hours later Veliline's group made it to their location. She gave the order for everybody to ready themselves as she walked up to the door. She knocked hard on it…it was loud enough to wake up people a block away.

"Open this door or I'll break it down!" Veliline shouted. Julie ordered Spark to run around the house and cut the power as she shot out the telephone line.

"Come in…and you'll get a face full of lead!" The voice said not intimidated in the least by the sudden power failure. Veliline held her hand on the door and a combination of ice and a dark purple hue spread throughout the door. Within seconds it dissolved the door and Veliline saw her attacker mesmerized by what she had done. She quickly reached her hand out and a purple lightning bolt grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up into the air, dropping his gun.

"Secure the house." Veliline said as she felt the life being sucked out of him. She let him go seconds later as he crashed to the ground, only to be lifted up again and pulled right in front of Veliline's axe.

"Let's go inside for a chat…shall we?" Veliline asked pressing the axe into his forehead, making him move backwards.

Several gurgling human sounds and shots rang out as the rest of her party came back and said that the house was secured.

"Good…" Veliline said and then shoved her hand hard into the man's chest and casting an ice spell that slammed hard into the man's head, disorienting him but not hurting him.

"Where is the alliance?" Veliline asked. The man just mumbled as he tried to pull himself together. Veliline ran up and kicked the man in the stomach. Suddenly she was shot by an invisible ball of fire to her right. It fazed her only slightly as her double handed axe came twirling around and met its target. Her hit created a temporary shield around her and healed her of the damage she took. She then commanded her undead ghoul to rise from the ground and began battling the fire mage.

The mage encased himself in an icy shield and froze all of the ground around her, immobilizing her. The mage then began to chant a powerful fire spell as Veliline went into a deep meditation. Carefully timed, she encased herself in another protective shield that lessened the damage from the spell by three forths and then shot the spell right back at him. The mage, completely unaware of this was blasted backwards and caught on fire. Veliline broke free of the ice surrounding her legs and ordered her ghoul to attack. Veliline held her hand out and instantly infected the mage with frost fever, followed by a mighty blow from her axe – infecting him with another disease…this one much more vial.

"You will suffer and die before me!" Veliline said looking down at him. Within less than a blink of an eye, the mage disappeared and reappeared behind Veliline and blasted her with another fire spell.

"Should we engage or just keep watching?" Julie asked casually.

Veliline snapped her fingers and everything under the mage instantly began to rot and decay. This slowed the mage's movements as well. Veliline walked up to him and began whacking away at him until he had no more shields left and decapitated him. Her death and decay spell that she had cast was eating through the floor, so Veliline waited and at the last second froze the ground underneath her, slowing her decent to the ground.

"Prisoners…should have figured… I thought I told you guys to secure the house!" Veliline yelled up.

"We'll be right down." Dan yelled as him, Strings, and Julie descended.

Strings played a quick melody and the basement light up. He saw several men looking at them in awe and now blinded by the light. Strings struck up another tune and a cloud formed above them that rained down a strong acid. They were killed in a matter of seconds.

"Which one of you are cowering alliance?" Veliline said as she began to pace back and forth. "Come on…speak up. Which of you still fight for your King that is currently stuck on a stick in our city? We take turns pissing on him…he is still alive you know. Full of magic to sustain himself so he can taste the bitterness of our urine touching his tongue and burning his eyes. We have killed only a couple here of your so called worthless, 'alliance'. We know of several other locations and we are going to kill everybody there as well unless somebody starts talking. Dan, pick a person to die first." Veliline said. Dan grabbed a young boy and ripped him away from his mother.

"No…please! Those two are alliance!" The mother pointed at the other two behind her. They changed into worgens and leaped at the woman. Julie shot a tranquilizing bullet that instantly put one of them to sleep as Veliline pulled the other one away from the woman with her bolt of purple lightning. She screamed as Veliline chopped him up quickly and efficiently.

"Any others? Dan looks to be losing his grip on the boy…" Veliline said as the boy's head slid closer to Dan's spikes coming out of his fist weapon and towards his neck.

"That's all I know…I swear! Please!" The woman cried.

"Let him go." Veliline said. The woman quickly grabbed her son and embraced him.

"I apologize for that ma'am…but we had to filter out who was evil among you. You have to fear the alliance no longer." Dan said.

"There are more of them! I can show you where they are." A man said in the back. Dan and Julie both launched a series of attacks on the sleeping worgen, killing him before he woke up. Veliline told the man the locations of where their other party was and to the man's shock he nodded and said that was the locations.

"A bunch of murderous, traitorous fouls…I'll kill every last one of them." Veliline said running her finger up the side of her axe and flung off the blood.

"You were going to do the same to us…" The man said.

"No we weren't. We couldn't see your eyes and wanted to flush out the alliance quickly. Are all of you able to walk? We'll take you back to a place where you can have a hot meal, medical attention, and most importantly safety." Veliline said putting her huge axe behind her.

"Do you…promise?" The man asked.

"You have my word under a couple of circumstances. First one…we were never here. Second one…you did not see what happened here. Third one…you are free now – make the most of your lives, you deserve it to have better lives than living in this prison. There is a police station a couple of miles from here…you will be safe there. Follow me." Veliline said and walked up the stairs on the far corner of the room.

Admiral was out cruising the streets in his enormous SUV. He had a grape slushie in one hand and eating out a bag of pork reins with the other hand. The vehicle was matching the speeds of the other vehicles and successfully maneuvering around obstacles in the street and stopping at red lights – just as Admiral told it to do.

"Detected a vehicle a mile ahead of us in the opposite lane carrying twenty pounds of marijuana in its trunk. Shall I pursue it?" The female goblin voice said.

"Yeah sure…turn the lights and siren on. Run it off the road if it tries to escape." Admiral said casually taking a sip out of his slushie. The vehicle's headlights, rear lights, began to flash as the car manufactured the sound of a police car as it went from thirty five to ninety in about a second.

"Yeehaw!" Admiral screamed most of his slushie went flying behind him. The SUV veered in and out of traffic at break-neck speeds with extreme precision. In no time it found its target. The SUV swerved in front of it and the suspect's car and the car in front of it with such accuracy that the suspect's car slammed into the SUV. The hood wrinkled up and the air bags were deployed in the suspect's car. The SUV didn't even get a scratch. Admiral casually walked out with his bag of pork reins and his massive hand gun strapped to his hip. He walked up to the driver's side door and knocked on the window.

The stunned driver opened the door and got out in a haze, unsure exactly what had just happened.

"So…got any drugs in the trunk?" Admiral asked casually.

"What? You just hit me and you think I'm carrying drugs? What crack are you smoking?" The suspect said.

"So you won't mind if I take a look then?" Admiral asked walking to the trunk.

"Hell no, you can't look!" Admiral ignored him and pulled out his enormous gun and smashed the truck's lock, instantly breaking it free and exposing the bags of drugs.

"What the hell…you can't do that!" The suspect yelled at him and decided to try to make a run for it. The SUV slammed into the suspect, lassoed a rope around him and pulled him into the front bumper.

Admiral casually walked up to him with a big grin he leaned over and said, "Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law…" He then stood up and told the SUV to call for backup. He paused for a moment and then told it to drag the crashed car out of the road so that it wouldn't take up room.

"This job has its perks…" Admiral said with a satisfied smiled and threw another pork rein in his mouth.

Jacklyn's group came up to their target. It was a cemetery about half a mile long.

"I sense demons…many of them…" Mohania said in satisfaction.

"Get your blue guy out and expose them." Jacklyn said.

"I can fry them up with my imp just as easily…but as you ask." Mohania said and began chanting the spell. The modified voidwalker appeared and had pieces of armor around its body.

"New and improved…go my prisoner…find the demons and engage them…" Mohania said with a sinister laugh.

"You can talk normally." Crystal said.

"You could not talk." Mohania said back. The demons began to roar and reveal their ugly heads, trying to kill the voidwalker, as Mohania lit up the skies with huge falling balls of fire around it. Mohania then started to chuckle as he heated himself up and ran forward as he shot a fireball at one of them. Mohania chanted several more spells and burned up several abominations of the world and then began to cackle as he engulfed himself in a whirlwind of fire and began to cast his new chaos bolts. They flew through several demons, destroying them and landing in the ground causing an enormous explosion as green bolts exploded from the ground and flew up to twenty yard around it. Mohania laughed even harder as he launched his rain of fire spell over and over again, burning up the grass and the flowers on the graves.

"You all shall be consumed in flame!" Mohania said as he heard a slight cough behind him. Mohania turned around and saw Jacklyn looking at him.

"Are they all dead?" Jacklyn asked.

"Uh…umm…there might be more?" Mohania asked looking around frantically.

"Let's go Mohania, you had your fun." Jacklyn said.

"Rats…can we come back and play later?" Mohania asked.

"You have to learn to take turns on the rides Mohania." Crystal said.

"Was there a master summoner?" Jacklyn asked.

"I…uhh…didn't have time to ask…but my powers…"

"Destroyed half of the cemetery. The flowers and some of the memorials that were planted there had meaning for the people that had lost loved ones. They are now burned up." Crystal said. Mohania let his power drain and banished his voidwalker. He looked at her, then looked back at what he did and then looked down and sighed.

"Jacklyn I got carried away, I'm sorry. If somebody were to do what I just did to my undead that was buried I would be upset. What is my punishment?" Mohania asked.

"Don't talk the whole way back unless you sense a demon. We attack as a whole, not as one! You got carried away and your lust for power has gotten out of control. I'm this close to having Lindel send you back to Tranquil!" Jacklyn yelled at him. Lindel materialized next to Jacklyn to make a portal if she commanded. Mohania looked scolded and nodded.

"Let's go." Jacklyn said and turned around. Not another word was said all the way back to the station.

An hour passed and Admiral was back on the road again, this time on the expressway. His vehicle continued to scan for vehicles with weapons or drugs. Nothing was coming up when the dispatched came over the radio that there was a high speed chase twenty miles to the right of him.

"Go get that vehicle!" Admiral said enthusiastically. His SUV did a complete ninety degree turn and drove through a fence, a field, up a steep grass ramp and flew over the oncoming traffic and landed in his lane. During the entire time, Admiral did not even feel a bounce in the car from all of the terrain and the landing. It turned its lights on and began to pick up speed as the vehicles pulled over.

"Ugh stupid cars…move out of the way…" Admiral said bouncing up and down in his chair. He looked like an excited child on a rollercoaster for the first time.

Five minutes later he caught up with the car in the rear. He got on the radio and ordered the officers to back off pursuit and to let him get in front of the car. There were other police stations in the pursuit but did as they said. The SUV flew by the cruisers and caught up the vehicle they were pursuing. He pulled up to the right side of the vehicle and rolled down his window.

"Is that as fast as you can go? Come on…push that vehicle faster!" Admiral egged him on. The passenger told the driver to punch it as he drew his gun and shot at the Admiral.

"Crap!" Admiral said frantically as his window began to roll up. The bullets flew into the empty space, but a shield materialized and dissolved the bullets until Admiral got the window rolled up.

"Remind me to give you a full service car wash later…" Admiral said with his adrenaline pumping.

"I'll make a note of that. The vehicle next to us is only running at sixty-seven percent efficiency. I suspect they can only do about ten more miles an hour faster." The SUV said back.

"Pull around in front of it and come to a sudden stop." Admiral commanded it. The enormous SUV did exactly that and as soon as it came to a sudden halt, the speeding car slammed hard into the back of it compacting the car like an accordion. Pieces flew all over as the air bags inflated and the other cruisers came flying up behind the accident and had to lock up their brakes to stop in time.

Admiral casually walked out with his massive gun in his hand and pointed it at the driver. The driver didn't move and had blood coming from his head.

"What the hell? Are you ok sir?" The officers said pulling out their guns and pointing them at the suspects as well.

"Yeah I'm fine. I think I killed the son of a bitch though. What was he running from?"

"He robbed a bank. His passenger shot at you didn't he?" Another officer said. They saw the other passenger slowly open the crunched door and the officers quickly arrested him.

"Yeah, he was the bastard that shot at me. Charge him for attempted murder as well. Make sure he comes to my station…I want to have some words with him." Admiral said.

"Sir…your car?"

"What, is it scratched?" Admiral asked turning around.

"No…there isn't even a fender broke, or even a chip of paint off from it."

"Whew…son you had me worried there. I promised to get it a carwash. I see some of my officers are here so they will help with the paperwork. I need to get going and stop more bad guys. I'm two for two tonight." Admiral said smiling as he put away his gun and walked back into his SUV and took off at speeds that any car shouldn't be able to move at, and was out of sight within seconds.

"Is he your Chief?" One officer asked another.

"No, he is a cocky son of a bitch…we call him Admiral. Let's get this mess cleaned up." One of the station officers said and started to help out.

Herrior's group came upon their house and they heard people inside chanting some demonic words. Herrior drew his weapons and his party knew this was going to be a battle. Herrior charged threw the door and busted it wide open. Herrior then let out a loud roar, disrupting the ritual. Branzer, Skyka, and Quinely (who was in cat form) emerged in the house and quickly threw the people to the ground. Branzer summoned his bear and told it to go find somebody and drag him back.

"What are you idiots doing? You have no idea what you are messing with! This will stop immediately!" Herrior's voice boomed throughout the house.

"Help…" A female voice yelled in a far room and Branzer's enormous bear bashed down the door and charged in, with Branzer right behind him.

"I'll kill her." A man said holding a young woman in front of her with a knife.

"I don't doubt it." Branzer said as his eyes turned into a dark grey eagle for a brief second.

"Back off…tell your people to get out of here! Drop your weapon! I'll kill her!" The man said sinking his knife deeper into her neck. The terrified woman was shaking but her eyes met Branzer's eyes. A small communication happened between them in a split second when suddenly she moved her head to her left as far as she could and an enormous blast splattered the man's head into thousands of pieces. The woman screamed as blood and guts sprayed all over.

"Sorry about that ma'am. The blood should wash out if you pretreat it with Windex." Branzer said and then left with his bear to let the woman collect her thoughts and emotions.

"Turns out she was going to be a human sacrifice." Herrior said.

"I don't like human sacrifices…" Branzer said in a serious tone.

Herrior took three of the people he was holding at bay and looked at them. He finally drew his sword and stabbed the man in the middle with it. The terrified man and woman next to him screamed and backed away.

"Oh…don't go too far, this man didn't tell me what I wanted to know." Herrior said pulling his sword back out and slamming his shield into him.

"You didn't ask him a question!" The woman yelled almost hysterically.

"That part comes first? Branzer did the man you killed ask any questions?" Herrior said with his blade at the woman's throat.

"If he did, I didn't hear any…but I am getting old and hard of hearing, you know from killing first and listening to the screams of my victims until they die…and then remembering to ask questions." Branzer said.

"You are messing with forces that you have no idea how strong they are and are bent on human destruction! So…forgive me if I don't get my point across right away… What have you been doing? And that was a question…" Herrior said.

"We were trying to summon Baluris. He came to us one night through that…" The woman said quickly and pointed at a small box on the floor. It looked like an old Pandora box, but this was a puzzle box.

"Did any of you idiots try to figure out the puzzle?" Herrior turned back quickly to the woman.

"We…all did. Then one of us cut ourselves and the box began to move on itself when the blood hit it. It wanted more blood – pure blood is what it said." The woman said.

Herrior started shaking his head and said, "The stupidity of your race baffles me. Just when I think you have raised the bar as far as it can go – you raise it higher. Branzer destroy that thing." A loud bang rang out as the box successfully moved out of the way of the bullet. Branzer looked at it weird and fired four more shots at it – each time the box moving just enough to dodge the bullet.

"Son of a…hold still you piece of shit…" Branzer said and took careful aim, but suddenly he was hit hard by something huge and invisible. Branzer went flying backwards and smashed the kitchen table and chairs. Herrior instinctively swung his sword around to the spot where Branzer was hit. His sword flew through the air and hit nothing.

"You didn't actually finish the summoning did you?" Herrior asked.

"No…we needed the blood of a pure virgin…" The woman said.

"I pass shit through my bowels that are smarter than you…it needed blood you idiot – just blood that was the key to opening the puzzle!" Herrior said but was no longer aware of the humans in the house. Quinely morphed into her bear form and both she and Herrior, along with Branzer's bear began taunting it.

"You dare mock me?" A reverberating voice finally said. Branzer was lifted off the ground and thrown at Herrior. Herrior raised his shield and Branzer's body slammed into it and fell hard to the ground.

"Thanks for breaking my fall…" Branzer said on the ground. Skyka quickly healed him, and then the demon grabbed Skyka and flung her across the room. This bought Branzer time to come up with a quick plan. He launched an eye-blinding flare into the air and then threw a freezing trap, immolation trap, and snake trap around the room.

Suddenly the door seemingly repaired itself and items started flying off the shelves and across the room. The humans already there began to scream and cower in fear.

"Simple parlor tricks for a simple worthless demon…" Herrior said provoking it.

"I'll kill everybody in this room!" It replied back. Herrior's party was still trying to locate it.

"Not before I could!" Herrior replied back. Suddenly Skyka was raised in the air and her body went stiff. Seconds later the demon screamed in pain and Skyka's body fell to the ground. Branzer took several wild shots in the air where he thought the pain was coming from. Every one of them missed.

"What manner of powers do you possess that I cannot acquire!" The demon screamed at them in frustration.

"You're not the first demon we killed and won't be the last one…" Herrior said unscathed. The box rose from the ground and began turning on its own. Herrior caught this out of the corner of his eye and then looked at Branzer who was already taking aim. Herrior slowly blinked at Branzer and the shot rang out. This time it made contact, knocking it out of its levitating state and against the wall. Branzer's bullets found its target three more times before the box broke.

"No…no…no! You do not know what you have done! I will destroy you!" The voice said. This time Branzer knew it was coming for him and jumped backwards and shot a spray of webbing out from his gun. It encased the demon, brought him to the floor – where he triggered the freezing trap and fell to the ground. The assault was in full force now – even Skyka got in several spells before the demon burned up.

Herrior walked over to the remains of the box and smashed it with his giant hoof. A short quick scream came from it as it was turned into rubble.

"Everybody but the lady hiding in the room with her capture dies." Herrior said giving the order. Herrior let out a battle cry and joined in the fight as the human summoners were brutally killed. Afterwards Herrior told Skyka to take the young woman outside as he gave the command to tear down the house. The woman and Skyka watched as walls gave way, parts of the roof collapsed and a fire began to grow. Eventually the entire house caved in and it was nothing but a pile of wood, drywall, and shingles. The fire was growing.

Skyka held the frightened woman in her arms as they watched the three fighters emerge from the house.

"How many others were killed?" Herrior asked the woman.

"At least two…I don't know their names…please I'm really scared." The woman pleaded. Skyka held her tighter.

"You couldn't be safer in this world than you are right now, do not be afraid child." Herrior said. He then sighed as he put his weapons away. "Didn't get here soon enough…the idiot humans killed two innocent people. It makes me wonder why you were so special that they tried to get it right on the third try. Pandora's Box is not a toy, but a puzzle into the demon worlds. It should have had enough blood to activate. Branzer how's the fire coming?" Herrior thought to himself and then shouted at Branzer.

"Give me another minute…I found the gas line." Branzer replied back.

"Let's head back. Child, you may come with us or go home to your parents. My advice would be to come with us in case any residual demons are still around, but it is your choice." Herrior said.

"You didn't kill all of them?" She asked worried.

"The main one we did and that usually sends the others scrambling for their lives. We do not have the personal here to detect any demons. If you are able to walk, I would highly advise you come with us. There is a police station where you can report all of this information to. There are some good people there, you can trust them." Herrior said. Suddenly what looked like a flame thrower shot out twenty feet and instantly caught everything in its path on fire.

"Let's go." Herrior said and put his hand gently on the woman's shoulder as they walked down the street.

Everybody got back to the station at different times, but was careful to lead the people that they had rescued only so far. Once the station was in sight, they ordered the people to run towards the guards standing watch and tell them what happened – but most importantly to not look back. Nobody did, and Herrior's party's were well hidden if they did. Once the people were safely inside the station the guard would let out a whistle, indicating that the people could not see or hear them.

"How did your mission's go?" Herrior asked as his party all gathered around him. Trackolania instantly vanished and appeared before him. He let out a deep sigh.

"Didn't kill anybody huh?" Herrior asked with a smile. Trackolania nodded and pointed to Mohania.

"Was somebody bad?" Herrior asked.

"We have graveyards in this world and they are filled with flowers and other items to remember our loved ones. Mohania got carried away and burned most of it in his blind fury of power." Crystal said.

"I am sorry for what I have done." Mohania said quietly.

"Is there a way we can restore what Mohania did?" Herrior asked. Crystal shook her head and said, "Each grave symbolized a separate person that died and each one was different and unique. We would have to know what there was before in order to replace it…and unless you can make the surrounding grass grow over night." Mohania let out a sigh and looked away.

"I'm setting this issue aside for now. Lindel open a portal to Tranquil; we need some sleep before our assault on the casino." Herrior said clearly upset. Lindel opened the portal and they all vanished into the night. They all rearranged themselves at their house and began drifting off to sleep, except for Mohania. He wondered off in search of himself.

The next morning came quick as Herrior woke up his party. With only half the night slept their bodies ached and yearned for rest. However their bellies were full and their minds were sharp. They found Mohania sitting outside the house alone by himself.

"Get much sleep?" Herrior asked.

"The undead don't require sleep." Mohania replied back.

"We need you for today, are you up to the task?" Herrior asked but was more of a statement.

"Yes I am ready. Let's go do our mission." Mohania said getting up.

"Didn't beat yourself up too much last night did you?" Herrior asked with a calmer tone.

"I did. I let my powers get the best of me. Herrior I leveled acres of land in my enraged state to fulfill my desire for more power. How does Dan do it? He harvested powers beyond what we could even imagine, increased ours, but yet he doesn't abuse them." Mohania said. Herrior shut the door behind him indicating to the rest of the party that he needed a moment alone with Mohania. Herrior sat opposite side from him and held out his hands. Mohania's skeleton hands took them.

"Dan did break a rule. I told him not to cause a scene. Somehow he has harnessed the raw elements themselves and bends them to his will, and takes flight with them. Dan knows three things though and I want you to work on these, repeat them after me: Calm, Control, Confidence." Herrior said and Mohania repeated them.

"You have acquired new powers and wanted to see what they could do. That's always been you. Your thirst for knowledge and different ways of killing is what makes you driven to be the best warlock. But you must learn those three things, to remain calm, to exercise control, and to be confident about your knowledge and powers you possess. I half think the party you went with was upset that they didn't get to attack any demons, just a thought I had last night. From Jacklyn's report your new spells were incredible, and all of us were or are still anxious to use them. It's like a child on the week before Christmas. If the lad knows what he is getting and is anxious about it, he is going to begin thinking about it constantly and what he'll be about to do with it – how fun it is going to be to play with. Then comes Christmas and the lad receives the toy. He is super excited and losses the three 'C's'. The consequences might be the toy gets broken, or he boasts about the toy to others, or he refrains from playing with everybody so that he can keep the toy to himself and nobody else can see it or play with him. We will see what we can do about getting the cemetery restored, but do you understand what I am trying to say?" Herrior asked softly.

Mohania nodded and said, "The last thing you need is a trigger happy warlock not following orders or lusting after his own self and what he has gained – through no help of his own."

"Basically; you and Crystal are great warlocks, I view you both as equal in the spell casting category. I view Bernett the same. We are only good if we work together, share together, mourn together, laugh together, and be as one. When Branzer and I were fighting a poltergeist demon from a Pandora box, Branzer was getting pissed because all of his shots were missing. However in mid-battle him and I synchronized our intentions without saying a word and defeated it. You're strong, I have no doubt about that at all, but against hundreds of enemies you are weak. Your fight against yourself, your conscious has made you weak. I don't want you to dwell on this matter any longer. I'll let the Admiral know what happened and I'll take the responsibility for it – that's what leaders do. Do you want to know something that is bothering me?" Herrior asked changing the subject.

"Nothing…nothing bothers you. You are immune to being bothered…believe me I tested you…" Mohania said looking up at him and grinning.

"You don't bother me Mohania. No what bothers me is we are going to first of all go gambling. That is directly against the rules. Secondly we are going to cheat…which is also against the rules. I am taking my party and exposing them to these elements and I pray it does not corrupt their minds. What I am even more fearful is the officers or soldiers…whatever they are. I fear it will corrupt their minds as well. Gambling, lying and cheating to win are all direct violations of the laws which is written. I feel like I am taking everybody to a brothel and telling them to go have fun. I again have to assume responsibility for this as I am the leader. I believe the greater good will come from this, and that our past enemies will be severely hindered, but it is still breaking the laws." Herrior said in a heavy tone.

"We all know that. The money gained from this assault will finance the Admiral and his army…or should I say your army, and benefit the cities around him. Those in power cannot quench their thirst for more power…like me." Mohania said.

"Not like you. Do you lust after women? Gold? Buildings, fame, fortune, slaves? Your intentions are pure – I believe that with all of my heart Mohania, and I know you know in your heart that you believe it as well. Calm, confidence, and control – got it?" Herrior asked smiling at him.

Mohania nodded. He let out a sigh and said, "Well – let's go rally the troops shall we?"

"Sounds like a plan." Herrior said getting up to his feet but before he could reach out to open the door, Mohania grabbed his hand. He looked at Herrior deeply and said, "Thank you".

"We all learn. You have my forgiveness, but we must pay retribution after the meeting." Herrior said. Mohania let go of his hand and nodded. He reached back and opened the door and Skyka and Crystal came tumbling out.

"You guys are a bunch of idiots…" Dan said stepping over them.

"Open the portal for us Lindel." Herrior said with a smile folding his arms across his chest.

"It was her fault." Skyka said pointing to Crystal.

"As if! You said you couldn't hear well enough so you asked me to…"

"Enough out of you two…" Herrior said picking them up by the backs of their robes and tossing them through the portal.

"Women…" Herrior said looking at Mohania.

"Yeah…" Dan and Mohania said.

Herrior and his party arrived in the station with their trinkets activated. They were in full blue police uniforms with dark sunglasses and a police hat on. They walked out of their room and were instantly met with cheer.

"Do we have to do this every time?" Herrior asked rather loudly.

"I had a hand in arresting two dozen people last night alone…then I slept for a couple hours and play on drinking energy drinks all day." Admiral said sounding like he was running on adrenaline already. Herrior patted him on the shoulder and then calmly but loudly said, "Everybody that is going let's head outside so that I can speak with all of you first.

Outside there were several huge buses that had a long grey dog on them with the words "Greyhound" on them. Jacklyn let out a dissatisfied grunt. The grunt was translated as, "I do not want to sit in that thing, but I will if I have to."

"Everybody shut up and gather around!" Herrior shouted. Over three hundred officers and soldiers in full uniform quickly went quiet and formed a half-circle around his party.

"Listen up! This is a mission and will be conducted as such! We have rescued several women from being sex slaves at these facilities. This is not a place to be excited about. We are going in with the enemy. I suspect many alliance will be there, but we are not there to kill them, cause a scene, or draw any unnecessary attention. Doing so will cause you to spend a night in one of our cells…and believe me within the first five minutes you will be beginning to die! We are not going in to have fun. We are going in to gamble, cheat, and steal – and all of this weighs very heavy on my conscious. All of these are sins and we are willing going to perform them with me leading you. I am not happy with this situation. I suspect they have countermeasures for what we are going to do. My party will handle it – do not bring any weapons with you! I expect all of you to blend in, but to remain vigilant. Do not wonder away from the group, do not look into anybody's eyes, and follow our lead. Keep this in mind!" Herrior said shouting at the men and women standing before him. They hadn't realized this mission would be taken this seriously. Herrior saw it in their faces and said, "Is this understood?"

Many said, "Yes Herrior!" or "Yes sir!" This created confusion among them and Herrior sighed as he gave the order to prepare to leave.

"We have to ride in this metal piece of shit?" Jacklyn asked. Herrior nodded and said, "Do you want me to sit next to you?"

"Will it be similar to the flying machines or the stupid boats?" Jacklyn asked.

Herrior shrugged and said, "I really don't know. I assume it's similar to a large car. Let's go, I'll talk to you the whole way there."

"Can we portal back?" Jacklyn asked.

"You might actually enjoy it." Herrior said with a smile.

"Confined space in a vehicle going faster than I can run – doubt it…" Jacklyn said turning herself sideways to get up on the stairs of the bus. Herrior had to do the same. Jacklyn's nervousness was clearly evident to the bus driver.

"Don't worry ma'am, we will have a safe ride there and back." He said.

"You better or so help me I will…"

"Jacklyn!" Herrior said quickly.

Jacklyn let out a low growl looking at him and moved to a seat.

"She's new to a bus. Give us a smooth ride will ya?" Herrior said smiling and patting on his shoulder.

Herrior sat next to her and said "See – this isn't so bad?" with a smile.

"There are bathrooms in the back, and I do have some motion sickness stickers if the misses would like?" The driver asked.

"Just drive the bus…" Jacklyn said back. Herrior reached out and grabbed her hand. They both squeezed hard and it brought her some relief.

"Any chance Trackolania can knock me out?" Jacklyn asked.

"How long of it trip will it be?" Herrior asked.

"From here…about three hours or so." The driver replied.

Jacklyn let out a low growl knowing the answer. Soon the buses rolled out and they were on their way. It wasn't as bad as Jacklyn thought it would be…and Trackolania got scolded several times by Julie for trying to carve his name in the seat.

"Lindel – link up our minds." Herrior said in his mind. Lindel worked on it for several seconds and then said, "Ok go ahead."

"I want everybody to know that I am pleased with everybody's attitude towards this mission. Trackolania, I want you, Mohania, and Lindel to manipulate the odds in our favor. Lindel, once we arrive I want you to disappear and keep your mind linked up with us as you turn the odds in our favor. Anybody else can play their silly games, only if you have Lindel's attention – except for Trackolania and Mohania. Branzer or anybody else, give us a description of what we are up against." Herrior said in his mind.

"Remember when I tried to teach you two how to play poker? And somehow Trackolania came up with the highest combination of cards…even when it was statistically impossible? That is one of the games that are going to be there. I figure he can wipe out the poker tables pretty quick. Another game is Blackjack. The dealer gives you two cards, one faced down and one faced up. You need to get a combination of twenty one without going over. Ace's can be either one or eleven. What you need to do is beat the dealer, and to guarantee a victory every time you need to get a ten, jack, queen, king and an ace. There are more rules to it than that, but that's all I know. There's a roulette table there where I believe we can wipe them clean almost instantly. We'll need Lindel to take control of a little ball. It's a large wheel that spins around and people bet on what number or color it will land on…or something like that. The odds of it landing exactly on the one number that you picked is nearly impossible, so Lindel just make the ball bounce around a couple of times and then put the ball in the numbered slot that everybody bet on. There are going to be rows and rows of slot machines. Basically you put your money in, pull the lever, and how it lands on the jackpot. Odds of that happening are slim to none. Craps…I have no idea how to play. Anybody else?" Bernett asked in his mind.

"We can learn as we go. This mind link stuff is neat…so can everybody here me?" Mohania asked.

"Yes we can hear you, and you can hear us. When was this possible?" Skyka asked.

"When my powers increased, but by the sounds of what everybody else is thinking I'd rather not participate…you people think about the dumbest things." Mohania said.

"I'm thinking about taking Dan into the bathrooms and having my way with him…" Crystal said and tickled Dan. Dan laughed and blushed.

"Get back on subject people. Anybody else have anything to contribute?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Bernett seems to be the specialist in this category. The only gamble I take is waking up in the morning…" Branzer said with a slight grin on his face.

"What are their security systems like?" Herrior asked.

"Tighter than a woman's vagina with a fifty year old chastity belt on …" Bernett said. The party erupted into laughter as Herrior slowly shook his head trying to hide his smile. This drew attention to Herrior's party on the bus from the other officers and they asked what was so funny, but were blown off by Herrior's party. Lindel's mind link broke as she lost her concentration from laughing. Lindel let herself laugh for awhile before reestablishing the link.

"Bernett…" Herrior said once the link was reestablished.

"Yes Herrior…" Bernett said still laughing in his head.

"Good description…however – shut up…" Herrior said jokingly in his head.

"Sorry about that Herrior…but in all seriousness, it's tight!" Bernett said as several more snickers came from that.

"Explain their security…Bernett." Herrior said sounding slightly annoyed.

"They have cameras all over the place with people monitoring them the entire time. They have managers and workers on the floor making sure there aren't any disturbances or cheating. The dealers themselves are trained to look for cheaters and if the dealers keep losing money, they are swapped out with other dealers. The decks of cards will be marked bad and sold as a collectible memorabilia. They constantly swap decks if there are too many winners. If a table wins too much they can shut it down for the day or for a couple of hours. They will serve drinks and offer food to the people that win a lot. Don't take it, we are here to win money and we need everybody with a straight mind. People tend to gamble more and are more confident when they are drunk. There is security personal all over the place, both in uniform and in casual clothing. I figure we'll need different people in our group to bet on the numbers at the different roulette tables. For example if Skyka picks twelve, we'll all place our bets on twelve – then we'll have Lindel put the ball in the twelve slot and we'll win thirty five times what we bet. For example if we bet one dollar, we'll get thirty five back." Bernett said in his mind.

"We can count Bernett…" Jacklyn snapped back sharply in her mind.

"Sorry, bad habit of over explaining things. We'll just have to play things by ear other than that."

"Lindel – how are you going to be on power?" Herrior asked.

"I'll draw from some of the other players or guards. With your permission I would like to take some time to explore the building. If there are other people being held captive, should we conduct a rescue mission?" Lindel asked in her mind.

"Yes – but not while we are betting, unless Trackolania and Mohania are betting." Herrior said.

"I can stop time and make the dealers lose." Dan suggested.

"I wouldn't recommend it. If they notice that even one person has moved or even sneezed wrong, they will investigate it. Unless you know the exact same position you were in, I would not recommend it." Bernett said back in his mind.

"Dan don't do that, unless for some reason I give you the signal. Other than that, no time-stopping, no flying or anything else you can do." Herrior said.

"Ok." Dan replied back.

"Anybody else have any questions?" Herrior asked.

"If the building were to catch on fire…" Mohania began to say.

"No fire Mohania. Your job is to be an illusionist…that is if you still remember how…" Herrior said in a cocky voice.

Mohania let out a sinister laugh on the bus which brought shivers down several people's spines. "If I know how indeed…you underestimate my powers."

"Could you laugh quieted so you don't scare everybody on the bus?" Herrior asked.

"I was laughing in my head – does that count? Anyways…yes, my powers will bring in more money than anybody else. Some idiot is tapping me on the shoulder…" Mohania said in his mind.

"Sir…is everything ok?" Mohania didn't recognize the woman, but she was in full police uniform.

"Why yes…everything is just peachy – why do you ask?" Mohania asked back.

"You just sounded…"

"I had surgery…took several bullets to my throat." Mohania said. "Sometimes when I laugh it sounds bad."

"Really? You're going with that bluff?" Skyka asked in her mind.

"Oh my…I'm sorry to hear that. I just wanted to make sure you were ok." The woman said and then went to sit down.

"It worked didn't it?" Mohania said back. Skyka let out a sigh in her mind.

"Enjoy the rest of the trip. Lindel save your power for now, break the link." Herrior said as Lindel left everybody's minds.

They arrived at the casino four hours later, and Jacklyn's face was deathly pale. Herrior made sure she was the first one off from the bus and laid her down in the grass. The rest of the party was awestruck at the size and complexity of the buildings. Lindel had vanished inside one of the bathrooms before they arrived as Herrior did a head count, purposely skipping a number in his mind and acknowledged everybody was here. The officers gathered around Herrior's bus group as they got off from the busses. Many of them concerned about Jacklyn.

"You're going to have to get up Jacklyn; you are drawing a crowd…" Herrior bent down and whispered in her ear.

"The world is spinning…" Jacklyn replied. Herrior put an arm under Jacklyn's back and picked her up with her arm around Herrior's neck.

"Concentrate on one object. Your senses will come back. Take a drink of your water skin." Herrior whispered.

"Strings – why don't you play us a song?" Herrior asked quickly. Strings quickly pulled out his lute and quickly played a song that made everybody look up as Jacklyn took a long swig from her water skin. She instantly felt her body recover as she quickly put it back away.

"Ok let's go." Jacklyn said.

"Slowly…let's go. Ok Strings." Herrior said. Strings stopped playing and everybody came out of their trance.

Several connoisseurs saw the officers arrive and came out to greet them.

"Welcome to the Soaring Eagle Casino! It pleases us that you want to hold your fundraiser here. All of the winnings of today will be donated to your station and the needs of your town. Come let us not waste any more daylight." One of them said. Herrior wanted to put his fist through his head. Something was wrong here and this man knew it. He simply smiled and made small talk with them.

They entered the enormous complex. It was several stories high and seemed to have a complex of mazes through the people along with the elevators in the middle and aquariums.

"Herrior…" Jacklyn said clearly afraid.

"Go guard the buses. We'll stay in touch." Herrior said. Jacklyn couldn't get out of the building fast enough.

"Is she ok?" One of the connoisseurs asked.

"She has the flu and needed some air." Branzer spoke up quickly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So who will be giving the speech?" The connoisseur asked.

Herrior's mind froze. He hadn't anticipated this.

"That would be me. Everybody calls me Admiral, it's a nickname. It is my pleasure to give a speech about the finest police force in America. Our police officers will of course be available for any questions that any sponsors wish to ask." Admiral spoke up quickly.

"Excellent come this way if you would please. We would like to make a toast, have you give your speech and then let the fun begin." The connoisseur said and walked him away.

Herrior turned to Branzer and asked what was going on.

"Admiral is going to give a speech I guess. It would have been nice for him to have given us some notice. Ah a glass of champagne, thank you." Branzer said as a hostess came by and give one to everybody. Trackolania took a glass and sniffed it. He quickly ran over to Herrior and pulled on his armor. Herrior looked down as Trackolania dumped it on the ground.

"Poisoned?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded. Herrior spun around and said, "Nobody drink this!" His party and the officers did exactly as he said as one of the connoisseurs quickly asked what the problem was.

"Drink this…" Herrior said walking up to him with a stern look on his face.

"I'm working I'm not allowed to drink…" he quickly replied.

"Aren't you going to have a taste of your own poison? I'm curious as to what it does. Get over here!" Herrior said with a fierce demand at the end. Herrior grabbed the man before he could get away and poured the drink down his throat. The man started gagging on it and trying desperately to spit out as much as he could. The man suddenly became very intoxicated and began talking in gibberish. The other connoisseurs tried to looked on in shock and apologized repeated for what happened.

"We are officers of the law and it appears as though you just tried to poison us. Care to explain?" Herrior said suddenly turning to the next connoisseur next to him. He appeared shock and quickly ordered that all of the drinks on the floor be dumped and a complete inspection to be done.

"I am the National Indian Gaming Commissioner…what is the problem?" The man said that the Admiral brought specifically for this event.

"They were attempting to turn us into him. I want somebody in handcuffs in the next two minutes!" One of the officers said pointing at the heavily intoxicated man who was now urinating in a potted plant.

"I'll go get our manager immediately." One of the connoisseurs said and left quickly. The other connoisseur looked at him in desperation and then turned to the officers and smiled quickly.

"Attention everybody…may I have your attention please for a second?" On the stage was the well dressed man with Admiral. He paused for a second and then said, "It is very important that right now everybody put their drinks down. I have been informed that they have not been mixed well in our kitchens. Our ushers will be along to collect them. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but everybody that ordered drinks will have their money refunded or exchanged for another drink. Now then let's kick off this fundraiser in style. We have several performers that are going to play but first I'm honored to bring you a man many of you refer to as 'Admiral' who is currently serving in the Navy, and running a police station. Please put your hands together for Admiral!" The man said and gave the microphone to Admiral. Herrior and the members of his party who didn't understand, simply put their hands together, and then realized everybody else was clapping so they did as well.

"Greetings everybody, my name known to everybody is Admiral. I have served twenty years on as admiral of an aircraft carrier, whose name I cannot say or I would have to kill all of you…" Herrior and his party began to reach for their weapons.

"I'm kidding…seriously folks we have many new exciting projects that I am proud to be part of in the world's greatest army on this world and on other planets as well…like Mars." Admiral said and everybody began to laugh as they cheered.

"As you know, this fundraiser is to support your local police force. Many have fallen in the line of duty and we want to help out these families as well as our local schools, local salvation army, and to help educate that crime doesn't pay. I want to thank all of you for coming to this extraordinary casino and may 'lady luck' be with all of you." Admiral said and did a slight wave as he exited the stage.

He walked behind the stage and then walked up to Herrior and whispered, "Something doesn't seem right here."

"You're just now picking up on that…" Herrior whispered back.

"Let the games begin! Our fundraiser counter will tally up the wins here on this digital screen. To show our appreciation we are going to begin by raising the number to one million dollars!" The host said and this was followed by clapping and cheering.

"Where to?" Admiral asked.

"Lindel says Trackolania, and Mohania are going to go start cleaning house. Crystal said she is going to summon her succubus and do some winning on her own. Bernett suggested the roulette wheels first." Herrior said.

Admiral acknowledged and turned around as he said "Let's start out on the roulette wheels first!" loud enough for all of the officers to hear.

They began to talk among themselves as they spread out to look more casual. Dozens of roulette wheels were here, but Lindel signaled to Herrior the one that she was hovering over in his mind. Herrior casually walked over there and pretended to smile as he watched everybody cheer and call out numbers, colors and they put their chips in various different spots.

"No more bids." The man running the table said and spun the wheel. Lindel made the ball jump around and land in a slot so that nobody won. The Croupier announced that there were no winners as he collected the chips and many disappointed people left. Herrior, along with three hundred officers gathered around the table.

"Look at this crowd, I better get those parking tickets paid…" The Croupier announced jokingly.

"Betting ten thousand on number sixteen" Herrior said and placed the money on the table. Everybody else announced the same number. The Croupier looked at them surprised, but accepted all of the bids. The total amount he had collected he estimated at well over several million dollars.

"Feeling lucky today huh? No more bids." The Croupier announced with a grin and then spun the wheel. The ball bounced several times but quickly stopped at sixteen. The Croupier looked astonished but knew that the ball would still bounce because the wheel was still spinning.

"It looks promising so far everybody, your luck may just pay off." The Croupier said with one hand, and the other hand he pushed a button that was supposed to make the ball jump. It didn't. The wheel came to a halt after several panicked attempts to quickly slam on the button. The astonished Croupier stared at the ball.

"So did we win?" Herrior asked.

"We have the luckiest bunch of officers in the state ladies and gentlemen! This wheel has been depleted, but don't let that discourage you – we have many other wheels and the night is still young." The Croupier said.

"Where's our money?" Herrior asked.

"I don't have enough in my drawer, but my manager is coming over right now…" the Croupier said nervously.

"That is an amazing stroke of luck and what a way to begin the night!" The manager said.

"Where's our money?" Herrior asked again.

"The numbers are being tallied up right now. The digital board says you have just increased your winnings to three million. Let me get some chips for everybody if you would just follow me." The manager said. Then, as if carefully planned, an announcement came over the speakers that was playing music and said that only a minimum of fifty people were allowed to bet at a time per table. Herrior turned his head slightly to the officers and let out a smile as they returned it. They all knew what Herrior was thinking and they felt a sense of pride.

The manager took them to the cashiers and told them to give each officer ten thousand dollars worth of chips. The manager then said if there was anything else he could do for them to just let him know.

"Well played…divided up the chips equally among us. Now to see if the officers are willing to follow my lead." Herrior said. Herrior took his chips and walked back in line to show the officers that he was holding them tight to his chest.

"If we lose money, will it be subtracted from the board?" A female officer asked.

"That is my guess. He didn't seem too pleased when we all seemed to win all at the same time." Herrior said with a smile. Several of the officers heard the low talking and laughed.

"Keep your cool…we are on a mission." Herrior said and then turned to Crystal who walked up to him.

"You only made three million so far? Please…give me some chips…" Crystal said reaching out and getting Herrior's.

"Have a friend looking over your shoulder do you?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…she's a little bit taller…" Crystal said giving Herrior a wink and then left.

Trackolania got his chips and walked over to Herrior and motioned that he was going to the poker tables.

"I've got to watch this…" Herrior said and many other officers said the same thing as they eagerly got their chips and followed.

Trackolania bounced up on an open seat and set his rack of chips on the table. A new game was starting.

"Welcome newcomer. The game is standard five card stud, nothing is wild. You are playing against anybody who decides to come and go. Are you familiar with the game?" The female dealer asked. Trackolania shook his hand back and forth indicating that he knew a little. The dealer dealt out five cards to twelve people who eagerly swept up their cards. Trackolania moved his hand over the cards, but never lifted them. Everybody began placing their bets and when it came to Trackolania's turn, he pushed all of his chips in. This shocked everybody, some folded, but others thought he was full of crap: "An amateur" they thought. They were allowed to exchange two cards which many did. Trackolania just sat in his chair and found out it swiveled all the way around. Trackolania refused to exchange any of his cards and amused himself with spinning himself around in a circle.

"Ok show your cards." The dealer said. Trackolania enthusiastically flipped his cards to show that he had a royal flush.

"Holy shit!" The dealer exclaimed as she saw his hand. The other players looked awestruck. Trackolania continued to spin around in his stool.

"Ok everybody throw your cards in, we're going to use a new deck." The surprised dealer said as she moved all of the winnings over to Trackolania.

Herrior tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards the table. Trackolania pulled all the chips towards him and quickly tossed his cards at her. They carefully stacked on each other and formed a small house of cards. The dealer again looked at it in shock, as did the other players. Many of them left the table grumbling and swearing. She took the cards and rubber banded them and discarded them. She pulled out a plastic wrapped brand new pack and tried talking to him the entire time. Trackolania seemed more than happy just to sit and spin around in a circle.

"He's mute. He tries to find the simple things in life." Herrior said putting his hand on top of Trackolania's head, stopping him from spinning. Herrior spun him around and faced the dealer. Trackolania let out a big smile.

"We'll you're a cute one, and a damn lucky one that's for sure. You are going to put me out of a job if you keep that up." She said winking at him. "So who's up for some poker? We have a lot of open spots." She announced. None of the officers dared to play against him. Herrior whispered, "Be good" in Trackolania's ear before he left. Trackolania turned around and crossed his fingers with a smile.

Herrior wandered the casino and told the officers to not follow him. He wanted to do some investigating. He moved up and down the levels looking at the people. He felt pity for them. Many of them seemed desperate…almost in despair. They would win a couple of times, but then lose their money again. They went through more "high's and low's" then Herrior could count. Herrior shook his head in disgust. He felt evil all around him, but it seemed to part ways as he walked.

"Sir, can I offer you a drink?" A fancy dressed waitress came up to Herrior and asked.

"No, I'm on duty." Herrior replied.

"If you are on duty, then that means you can't gamble either…here, this one is on the house." She said and handed it to him. She meant well, but there was no telling what was in the drink. He casually set it on an empty table and walked away. Herrior saw Quinely staring with her nose almost pressed against the glass of a huge aquarium and all of the fish were staring back at her. Herrior sighed and walked over to her.

"Quinely…you are drawing attention to yourself." Herrior said nudging her in a whisper.

"You wouldn't believe what some of these fish have to say. They come from many different parts of this world, lands that they describe as…"

"That's enough Quinely…no more making up stories about the fish." Herrior said as he saw people looking at them funny. Quinely was about to say something when he turned her to see the people looking at them.

"Hi! I know a lot about fish." Quinely said.

"Remember the rules Quinely…" Herrior said out of the corner of his mouth.

Quinely nodded and asked "Is there a place to feed the fish?"

"I'm not sure…why don't you go find out…" Herrior said.

"Ok!" Quinely said and ran off to find somebody that would let her feed the fish. All of the fish in the fish tank quickly swam in her direction and continued to stare at her.

Herrior sighed and quickly walked away. "Lindel are you busy?" he asked in his head.

"Right now I am. Let me finish up this game first, unless you need me right away." Lindel replied.

"No go ahead. Let me know when you are done." Herrior said back in his mind. Herrior counted the seconds and suddenly there was a lot of cheering and screaming in delight. He got to twelve.

"Ok sorry about that, what's going on?" Lindel said in his mind.

"How is Jacklyn doing outside?" Herrior asked sitting at a table all by himself.

"She is…she's really upset about something. Let me link her up with you and find out what's going on." Lindel said back in his mind. A couple of seconds passed and then Lindel linked up her mind with Herrior's again.

"What's going on Jacklyn?" Herrior asked.

"I am experiencing a lot of anxiety. I should be in there helping out my party; instead I'm out here breathing in smoke and on the verge of vomiting." Jacklyn said back quickly.

"You are doing the best that you can. Will they let you back on the bus? Maybe you can lay down for a bit." Herrior suggested.

"There is evil protruding out of every inch of this building Herrior." Jacklyn said.

"I know…everybody knows it. But it is not our mission to attack it. Our mission is to legally drain its funds and then free any captives there might be in this place. Go see if you can get on one of the buses and meditate." Herrior said again.

"Alright" Jacklyn said. Shortly afterwards Lindel broke the mental link with her but kept it established with Herrior.

"Is she going to be ok?" Lindel asked.

"She would prefer to level this building. She's been in battles with more people in it then this building has. She just has a problem with large groups of people." Herrior said back in his mind.

"And anything that moves." Lindel said back.

"Yes, well we all have our weaknesses. How are you holding up?" Herrior asked.

"I've had to drain power from several people so far. Mohania has people astonished at the card tables and nobody will play with Trackolania anymore…poor guy. Crystal is placing private bets at tables with people and manipulating them to giving her all of their chips. Quinely seems excited about feeding the fish in a glass wall full of fish. Everybody else seems to be enjoying themselves, but want so badly to kill something." Lindel said in Herrior's mind.

"Link up with the rest of the party that you have been helping and tell them you are going to take a break in a couple of minutes. Then I want you to begin your scan of this place." Herrior said.

"Will do" Lindel said and broke the link. Herrior looked over and was shocked to see Admiral and several other officers sitting next to him and others pulling up chairs.

"You looked busy." Admiral said.

"I was. How are things going?" Herrior asked.

"The officer's are doing exactly as you told them. We are up to forty five million dollars." Admiral said with a big grin.

"Good to hear, no more talk about that. Tell the officers to stop gambling and enjoy the scenery, that is what I told my party to do." Herrior said.

"Enjoy the scenery...read ya loud and clear boss." Admiral said and began issuing commands with his fingers. Herrior stopped him and said, "No...relax. Wonder around and see the sights, preoccupy yourself...sit at a table a relax."

"Ok...we will sit here and relax. Let's casually talk about things." Herrior said.

Lindel was floating through the casino and searching everybody's thoughts. She floated through several people through different buildings. She found the security room and saw dozens of people reviewing a lot of the footage from today. Lindel flew inside the computers and drew the power from all of the computers and then sent out a huge power spike. All of the monitors instant exploded and sparks of electricity shot out in every different direction. The hard drives were all fried instantly. The security personal all panicked and quickly tried to bring things back online when Lindel glided over and sucked the power out of all of them so that they were brought down to the floor. Lindel then quickly found the person in charged and possessed him. She quickly accessed his mind and found out the information she was looking for it. He walked over to the master switch and turned off all of the computers.

"Surge protector failed...must have got a huge spike of electricity. Recover what you can and do your standard monitoring." The man said.

"Standard monitoring? Sir we just lost fifty million dollars and the numbers are rising because of these pigs! They are cheating somehow!" Another security officer said.

"Shut up you piece of shit...what are you going to do - go tell them to stop winning?" Lindel's possessed man said and switched the power back on. "Replace these monitors and make the necessary repairs. I'll be in my office." The rest of the security personal looked astonished at him because previously he was desperately trying to find out how they were losing all of the money.

Lindel walked the man down several hallways and into a door. During this time Lindel began erasing parts of his mind containing the information about the drastic search he implemented and reprogrammed his memory to tell his security personal to go home for the day. Lindel sat the man in the chair down and temporarily put him to sleep as Lindel left his mind undetected.

Lindel didn't find any activity about keeping people as slaves or any other crimes that the man knew of. Lindel made a quick get away as she flew through the floor and down several levels until she reached dirt. She then came back up and started flying from room to room but couldn't find anything that had to do with sex trading or anybody being held captive. Nobody's minds were thinking of anything along those lines even - just usual day to day information. Frustrated - Lindel maneuvered through the many floors and scanned as wide as she could. Thirty minutes later she flew back into the casino and sat in a chair next to Herrior, still invisible.

"Anything?" Herrior asked in his mind.

"Nothing...I checked everywhere Herrior. They were conducting an intensive review of our winnings - I put an end to that. What are we at now?"

"Sixty four million and they are not letting Trackolania to any tables anymore. You should go check on Jacklyn and make sure she is ok." Herrior said back in his mind.

"Will do." Lindel said and left. Admiral felt a chill as she left.

"One of ours?" Admiral asked.

"Yup, apparently this place is clean. It wasn't awhile ago..." Herrior said.

"So we're just here to gamble huh?" Admiral asked. Herrior nodded.

Lindel flew outside and into the bus. Jacklyn materialized in front of her and immediately started funneling power into her body.

"I hate this mission..." Jacklyn said starting to get color back into her face.

"I think everybody else does as well. I just disabled the security, Trackolania isn't allowed at any tables anymore and we're only at sixty four million. I checked for anymore people in the slave trade and couldn't find any targets. I told Herrior the place was clean." Lindel said.

"That's unfortunate. How's everybody else doing?" Jacklyn asked sitting back up.

"Better than you are hun. Do you want to try to come back in?" Lindel asked.

"I'm useless to the group here. They might as well have me go back to Tranquil..." Jacklyn said and slammed her fist in the seat in front of her. A loud "snap" sound came as they both looked at it.

"Have you walked the perimeter? Maybe your instincts could pick up on something that I didn't. I only checked the outside of the building." Lindel suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Jacklyn said feeling fully recharged now as Lindel stopped pumping energy into her body.

"Want me to go with you?" Lindel asked.

"Sure I suppose. It is a nice day outside and I wouldn't mind the company. Jacklyn jumped up and headed to the front of the bus. Jacklyn fiddled with the door opener but couldn't figure it out so she grabbed the metal rod and pulled hard on it. The doors flung open and both of them exited the bus. They started to walk together.

"Any particular thing you want to talk about?" Lindel asked.

"I hate buses and casinos. What are you sensing?" Jackyln asked changing the subject.

"Mixed emotions. A lot of people utterly disappointed or happy. Nobody content...a lot of people completely unhappy...wondering hopelessly in this world...using money as their god. It's hard to filter out some of the rift-raft from what we actually need. The couple behind us for instance come here every month...their total losses exceeds what they actually make, but the thought of hitting it big and winning lots of money brings them back. I get thoughts of people playing the lottery - spending hundreds, some thousands of dollars in hopes of making money. In the end - they all lose." Lindel said. Jacklyn nodded.

"The couple in front of us just lost their house and they have a baby on the way. The man still has a job to go back to, but they are not speaking to each other because of the decisions that they made today. Mohania mourns of the powers that he released in the graveyard, but his guilt is nothing bearing down on these people." Lindel said.

"You would think that they would learn. I'm sensing evil the closer we get to the structure." Jacklyn said.

"Not all see it as that. What you are sensing is utter despair, cheating, the loss of hope and the thoughts of happiness and joy being turned into just the opposite. Like I said it's hard for me to separate some of these thoughts. However if there were to be a threat I would sense it." Lindel said assuring her.

"I don't envy you. I have enough of my own thoughts to deal with - let alone hearing others. How do you do it?" Jacklyn asked taking in her surroundings.

"I filter as much as I can. I should probably get back inside. Are you strong enough to take up a perimeter alone?" Lindel asked.

"I'll be fine. Tell Herrior I refuse to travel back by bus. These metal death contraptions are just waiting to explode and I do not want to be pulling metal shards out of my body. I'll walk the perimeter several times and then let me know what my next orders are." Jacklyn said.

"Will do. Let's turn the corner and then I will disappear." Lindel said.

As they turned the corner of the huge building though, they saw four alliance sitting at a table smoking. Both of them raged in anger as they continued their walk.

"Hey sugar...you look lost. Bunch of officers in there, but maybe I could help you out...got a hotel room though...wanna head up there with me? I'll show you how to take a gamble you wont forget." One of the men said. He took one final puff on his cigarette and then flicked it away as the other men laughed. "Maybe you can bring your amazon woman as well, let her watch. Teach her a couple of things..."

Lindel smiled and flicked her hair as she said, "You cut right to the point here don't you now. I'm just southern girl straight out of college and I think I have a couple of things I could teach you. Where are you from sugar?"

"Where am I from?" The man laughed and then looked behind him. "Well now...I'm from the land of milk and honey...where beer flows from the tap and money grows on trees. Isn't that right boys?" The rest of the men alliance agreed.

"Sounds like you are full of crap...I hope that's not all you are - you got a job around here? I'm not a cheap date if you know what I mean." Lindel said unbuttoning her two top buttons and walking seductively up to him.

"'course I got some money. How much you be wanting for a date?" The man asked.

Lindel smiled and said "For you - first time is free, and depending on how well you are...maybe free for a long time..." Lindel said rubbing her hands up and down his chest. Jacklyn moved off to the side and in position.

"I might even..." Lindel said and started twirling her finger around his heart "take your heart..." Lindel's hand suddenly turned dark and reached through the man's body and grabbed the man's heart. She instantly squeezed it, instantly bursting the muscle and putting the man in shock as he slowly looked down at the hand reaching into his chest. Lindel sucked out the rest of his energy and pushed him over to his friends as a distraction. Jacklyn then charged forwards and took a large swing from the first man's groan up to his neck. She then spun the man around as the other two men shot guns at them. Lindel disappeared and reappeared behind the men, grabbing them by the neck. Jacklyn's blades plummeted into their stomachs as she twisted them when they were all the way through.

"It was stupid of you guys to come unarmored. Even with your fortified skin and your skills with weaponry, you sit here completely unaware that your mortal enemy seduced you." Jacklyn said to them. She then pulled her blades out and spun around as her blades severed the men's heads and all of them burst into fire. Jacklyn quickly put her dripping blades away behind her and looked around for people that might have seen the battle. Nobody had and Lindel extended her senses to confirm this.

"Any cameras looking at us?" Jacklyn asked looking up at the building.

"Hard to tell...the ones inside the casino are disguised really well, however I don't see any." Lindel said looking quickly. Suddenly a voice came from a device on the ground.

"Tom, what's your twenty?" Said the cell phone on the ground. Lindel quickly picked it up and mimicked what she thought was Tom's voice, "Just sitting here smoking...nothing much happening." Lindel said.

"Nice Peter...since when did Tom let you play with his phone?"

"I stoled it from him...you know how many numbers of babes he's got in here?" Lindel said back in a worried tone.

"That prick holding out on us?" He said jokingly. "Anyways we're heading in to start making sure the dumbass officers don't walk out with a dime. Hopefully we can convince some of them to stay here with us." The voice on the phone said. Both Jacklyn and Lindel knew what they meant. Jacklyn sprinted away as Lindel said, "Yeah, dumb bastards wont know what hit them." She then sucked the power out of the phone and ran to catch up with Jacklyn.

Jacklyn entered the casino and quickly surveyed the area. Fear or no fear...she wasn't about to let her party or the officers get ambushed by the alliance. She spotted Mohania on the far side of the casino but didn't see anybody else. She moved as quickly as she could over to him.

"Play time is over...the famous magician's acts are done." Jacklyn said clearing around the crowd that had gathered around him.

"Party pooper." Mohania said. Jacklyn rushed up and whispered what just happened to her and Lindel and the impending alliance attack.

"Oh...sorry...party starter." Mohania said with a smile.

"We can't fight in her, the officers have no weapons and no defenses against them. This place has cameras all over the place - where is the rest of the party and the officers?" Jacklyn whispered urgently.

"Up a couple of floors. We better get a move on." Mohania said walking as quickly as he could with Jacklyn towards the escalators.

"What were you doing anyways?" Jacklyn asked.

"Stealing money from those dumbass people. Apparently they are quite fond of magic shows and some offered for me to saw people in half for money. How screwed up is that?" Mohania asked.

"For you...not very. I am assuming you didn't do it right?" Jacklyn asked.

"Didn't have a saw...I'll remember one for the next time though." Mohania said.

They stepped on the escalators as Jacklyn grew very nervous. Mohania picked up on it quickly and said, "Just look up. Focus on one point and keep looking up. Remain very still."

"It's weird you being nice." Jacklyn said taking a deep swallow.

"Don't get used to it." Mohania said smiling.

"You are one of the nicest war...gentlemen I know." Jacklyn said.

"Nice save...just focus on the task at hand." Mohania said.

The arrived on the second floor as Mohania helped Jacklyn off from the escalator and moved her quickly away from the sides. They saw Herrior, most of the party and officers sitting around a table chatting. Jacklyn made an extremely loud coughing sound and caught Herrior's attention. He looked over at her, smiled and waved. Jacklyn looked sternly at him and drew her right thumb across her throat. Herrior quickly jumped up and ran over to meet her.

"We killed four alliance outside. More are coming in to come after us and the officers. We are not safe here." Jacklyn said quickly.

"Oh shit...where's Lindel?" Herrior asked quickly.

Jacklyn looked behind her thinking that she was right behind her. "She was right behind me...damn woman - I'll go find her."

"No, stick together. Do they have weapons and armor?" Herrior asked.

"Not the ones we killed, but we can't put on a display with thousands of people watching..." Jacklyn said. Herrior looked around and only saw a couple of dozen and none of them were paying attention to them. Jacklyn was obviously not thinking right.

"The officers are not immune to possession. We have to get them out of here." Jacklyn said.

Herrior nodded and moved quickly over to Admiral. He whispered some words in her ear and he suddenly turned pale. He turned to the officers around them and quietly said, "Get everybody on the bus...quickly and quietly!" The officers did as they were told and Jacklyn followed them down. Without even thinking Herrior knew that Jacklyn was now in charge of the officers and their retreat. It was Herrior's job to collect his party, the money, avoid the alliance and make it out without causing a scene. He looked at Mohania and told him to go find the rest of the party and to meet him on the first floor immediately. Mohania nodded and both of them took off in opposite directions.

Herrior started calling Lindel's name over and over in his mind, but with no response. He looked down and saw Admiral stating that a call had come up and they had to leave immediately to the person that told him to give a speech. He chuckled at first until Admiral moved in closer to him and seemed to say a couple of things that the man took as a threat. The man then nodded and went around him to go to the payout offices.

Herrior thought, "Good, that's taken care of" and pulled out his hearthstone. He had to risk this. He moved over to a corner where nobody could see him and thought of everybody in his group and rubbed the stone. The portals began to form, but then he quickly put the hearthstone away in his pocket. His party would know that something was up.

"I need to maintain a presence in the open, but away from everybody for when they call in." Herrior thought looking around for an area. He had two options, either stay here and wait, or go looking for them." He choose the last one.

Several seconds later his hearthstone began to vibrate. He looked around for a place to conceal himself and the only thing he could find were tables with clothes hanging off from them. He dove under one and let the hearthstone open the portals. Skyka, Strings, Crystal, Trackolania, and Julie answered.

"Were you trying to summon us?" Skyka asked.

"We're in deep shit. Gather up our group and guard the officers...discreetly!" Herrior said and then closed the portals.

"Sir...is everything ok?" A voice called from above him. Herrior backed out from beneath the table and said, "Lost my lucky rock."

"That is not like any rock I've ever seen." The man said as Herrior quickly put it away.

"That's what makes it so special, excuse me please." Herrior said as he looked around for other members of his party. He double checked the floor and then ran over to the escalators that took him up to the third floor. He found Quinely over by some fish almost immediately reaching in her pouch for her hearthstone. Herrior rushed over to her and said, "Don't pull that out. Quinely...I need you to follow instructions carefully. Alliance are planning on attacking us and we need to get the officers out of here. Where are the other members of our group?"

Quinely turned around quickly and wanted to ask questions, but the desperation on Herrior's face made her think differently. She said she knew where the others where, and would go get them. Herrior went with her. They found Dan with Branzer and Bernett who were waiting for Trackolania's payout on the slot machine that he kept hitting the jackpot on.

"Time to go boys." Quinely said.

"Pay attention to your hearthstones better!" Herrior said scolding them. They all looked in their pockets at the same time and hadn't realized it went off.

"Here's your full payment in the form of a cashier's check from us. We are going to take this machine in the back; it is due for its regular maintenance." A woman said with two guys and a furniture truck to haul it back. Herrior quickly snagged it and said, "Thanks, but we need to get going."

"There's no need to rush off…" was all the lady could say before Herrior and the rest of his party were making haste towards the doors. Down the escalators they went without making a sound to each other. They saw Jacklyn at the doors with the end in sight of all of the officers. Still no word from Lindel. Time was against them. Herrior heard several yells in the distance from the alliance. Their battle cry could always be ingrained in his mind.

"Herrior?" Dan asked.

"No." Herrior said quickly and continued their way towards the doors. Herrior eyed Jacklyn and pointed to the buses. Jacklyn yelled out the order, "Move!" The officers went from a nice orderly fashion, to a quick run. They loaded up bus after bus.

"I'm staying back…secure those humans." Herrior said and jumped off the escalator. The rest did as they were told. The alliance captain looked at Herrior and was surprised to see him slam into the floor right in front of him. Herrior slowly rose up and looked at him.

"Get out of my way you klutz…" The man said and tried to push him, but Herrior pushed back, knocking him to the ground. This one had armor unlike the ones Jacklyn and Lindel fought. He merely got up and brushed off the dirt as his eyes turned a dark red.

"I don't forgive easily…hold him, we'll deal with him later. The rest of you get those officers off from the bus!" The captain said. Herrior instantly slammed his fist into one of the alliance soldiers and resisted as much as he could. Without drawing his weapons or using his abilities, he could only deal so much damage.

Suddenly all of the slot machines hit the jackpot all at the same time…even the ones that nobody were at. Coins started shooting out everywhere. The gamblers inside of the casino shouted in excitement and ran to collect the shooting money. Mass chaos erupted as Herrior broke free. The alliance didn't want to reveal themselves either. They tried to organize order along with the personal that worked at the casino. Herrior took advantage of the situation and knelt down, grabbed two handfuls of coins and threw them in the air. People swarmed around him trying to get to the money. Herrior let out punch after punch of his captors, and finally freed himself. He took a huge leap over everybody and landed with an enormous crash in the floor. This raised a flag instantly for the captain. "Them…get them!" He yelled.

Herrior followed Jacklyn out of the doors. "Branzer shoot out the cameras!" Branzer's eyes looked up and saw three of them. As he raised his hand his gun flew from its holster and let out several blasts.

"Dan!" Herrior yelled out.

Time stopped.

Branzer, in his still frozen position, looked like he was duck hunting with a pistol powerful enough to take down aircraft.

"Everybody stop…don't move. Look at where you are and remember it…remember it precisely! Mohania go melt the doors together." Herrior said frozen in his position. Mohania engulfed himself in flame as he approached the doors. With both hands, he poured out hot liquid looking magma, instantly making the doors mold together. It took him a couple of minutes and then said he was done.

"Get back in your spot." Herrior said quickly but calmly. Mohania did just that.

"Dan – can you put out the fires and solidify the metal?" Herrior asked. Dan rose up his hands as his hands turned blue. From the clouds above and huge gust of wind slammed into the doors, instantly letting out and huge cloud of steam and putting out the grass fires.

"That's enough Dan!" Herrior yelled out above the sounds of the wind. Dan lowered his hands to their previous position and held perfectly still – just like everybody else.

"That will buy us some time. Lindel – where the hell are you?" Herrior yelled aloud.

"Buying us more time…but I stopped as soon as you told me to. They have mind readers in there. I was watching over you, but I couldn't risk being found out." Lindel said quickly.

"Are you still invisible?" Herrior asked.

"Yes"

"Trackolania, you and Lindel stay back. Disable their vehicles so they can't chase us. Do not engage them unless you are found out and my next order is do not let them find you! Is that clear?" Herrior said.

"Yes" Lindel said. Trackolania shook his head.

"Ok Dan turn time back on." Herrior said.

Time resumed.

The chaos erupted as the officers and Herrior's party flooded the buses. Herrior told his driver to make the bus go as fast as it can and to relay the information.

"I can only go the speed limit…"

"I can snap your neck with two fingers!" Herrior replied back. The bus driver better understood this information as he slammed the transmission in drive and floored it.

Trackolania had slipped into the shadows while attempting to get on a bus in the middle of Dan and Crystal. He did a backwards flip and landed outside and quickly sprinted into the parking lot with his daggers drawn. He was putting a deadly poison on them just in case he had to engage in combat.

The alliance captain finally forced his way it to the exits of the casino. He tried to open them, but they did not budge. He slammed at it as hard as he could, and the doors were as solid as concrete. Finally in frustration he kicked out the window and the security alarms began to go off, causing panic to everybody inside of the casino. The captain didn't care though, the buses were slipping away. He used his armor covered hands to clear out the rest of the glass and pushed his way through.

"Stop those busses!" He ordered when suddenly a large hit came from behind him and he fell to the ground stunned. Trackolania snuck back into his original position. Eventually the buses were finally pulling out of the large casino and squealing their tires on the dry pavement as their engines pushed as hard as they could.

Several more alliance came to the captain's air as Lindel pushed one of them very hard as he fell onto the captain, reviving him.

The captain, thinking this is what happened the whole time, threw the man off from him and ordered everybody to their cars. Trackolania and Lindel withdrew their positions. Unable to see each other, they were unable to coordinate their attacks. The captain ran over to his Porsche as the tires were quickly sliced in the back. Lindel closed in, but saw the tires flapping and eventually went flying behind the car. The expensive car was now riding on its custom rims.

"Ok if Trackolania as this side, I'll follow the alliance in this direction." Lindel said feet above the vehicle as the captain got out and swore heavily as he kicked the vehicle.

The captain went up to a woman alliance trying to unlock her SUV. The woman finally got it open when the captain grabbed her and threw her behind her. He jumped in the SUV and slammed the transmission in reverse with his foot on the accelerator when he heard a loud "Bang" and the SUV's transmission erupted and caught on fire.

"Son of a bitch!" The captain yelled kicking the woman in the face.

"Don't you people have any vehicles that work?"

"The batteries are dead in these – for some reason the lights were on…" one of the alliance members said.

"You idiot! There is a warning buzzer to tell you that you left them on!" The captain yelled at him.

"I turned them off!" He shouted back. In the distance they could hear police car sirens.

"Quickly you idiots get in a vehicle and meet us back at our head quarters!" The alliance captain yelled. In frustrating he kicked the same woman in the face, puncturing her right eye and breaking her skull in several pieces.

"I've got this bus running!" One of the alliance shouted.

"Everybody get on it!" The captain said grabbing the nearly dead woman's arm and dragging her towards the bus.

"What happened to her?" The same alliance said sitting in the driver's seat.

"She fell…once everybody is on get this thing moving!" The captain yelled at him and then dragged her in the back and threw her in a seat.

"I can see the police lights…sir if we don't leave now…" The driver yelled out as most of the alliance were aboard.

"Go then! What are you waiting for, a sword shoved through your back?" The captain yelled. The driver put the bus in gear and floored it. In the process, he ran over two alliance personal as they went tumbling end over end. One of them burned up. The captain looked back and said, "Idiots…" as his way of paying his respect to his fallen.

Trackolania and Lindel were securely snugged underneath the bus as it hit the highway. This was an opportunity they could not miss. This bus was going back to the alliance headquarters. This was a chance to launch an attack and kill hundreds of them – possibly even find out how they are entering different worlds, kill recruiters, and put an end to whatever plans they have whatever they might be.

Lindel looked at Trackolania and smiled as he smiled back. This mission over rid any orders from Herrior, but they both didn't want to make him mad. Neither one of them dared to make a sound or transmit any type of information for fear that they might be found out. Trackolania pointed to himself and pointed up towards the front of the bus. Lindel nodded as she floated through several different hot pipes and pieces of machinery until she was able to hear a couple of words. Mostly it sounded like emotions…people yelling at each other. She heard the captain's voice, or so he was given the name anyways. Only once in awhile she heard clear words, people's names and weapons she didn't recognize. She didn't dare to get any closer so she just tucked herself in and decided to disguise herself as best as she could so as to not draw any attention to her.

Trackolania made it to the engine block. He tapped on it with his finger and felt its heat and vibrations radiate off from it. He moved back with such precision that it seemed like he had done this a hundred times before. The ground below him…only a matter of inches…was sailing by at speeds of seventy miles per hour. Occasionally they would hit a bump and he would have to tighten his grip and pieces of dirt and gravel came up to hit him as well. He wasn't a banshee like Lindel…he had to endure the pain for the rest of the journey. They had to keep their distance though if one was caught, the other would have a chance to escape.

Hours passed as both of them held their positions as the bus came to a halt. Neither one of them moved but knew this would be the time to check under the bus. Trackolania was battered and bruised badly, but stealthed himself as he pulled up against the bus frame as close as he could. He heard some people talking and then the sounds of a gate opening. The bus then proceeded inside of the enormous compound. It travelled for awhile and then parked at the very end of the compound where he heard, "Pull the engine and melt it down for scrap." Trackolania knew he was going to have to make his move soon. He felt the people get off from the bus. He counted each one and heard them walk away. He knew more than that was on the bus. He waited as the minutes passed. Finally thirty minutes passed and he lowered his head. He looked around and a chill ran down his spine. There were men in army uniforms just like the ones that had joined up with Admiral's group. He carefully let himself down on the ground. He flipped himself over on his hands and feet as he moved up against the front left tire. He was unable to maintain his stealth as long as his wounds were dripping. Trackolania remembered when he sliced open what the captain said was the "transmission" and the deep color red that it left. Slicing a small hole in it and letting it drip would cover his tracks. It looked like the same color as blood. Trackolania moved quickly looking for the correct tank to puncture. He examined the entire undercarriage quickly and deduced that it was the one on the left side of him. Trackolania's dagger flew into his hand as he stabbed a small hole in it. Black thick liquid began to drip from it. Trackolania shook his head knowing he stabbed the wrong tank. He quickly moved up and away from the crude oil and stabbed another tank as he went to escape from under the bus. This one dripped red oil. He put his daggers away and pushed himself out in front of the bus. He looked up and saw the sun with bloodshot eyes filled with dirt. His vision was hindered worse than he thought it was. He looked at his disguise, still intact and looking unhindered by the journey. Trackolania slapped his trinket and revealed that his armor had taken a beaten. Most of it was unusable. The leather vest was riddled with holes and scratches along with burn marks and black soot everywhere. His pants were almost as bad. He made the decision to ditch his armor as soon as he got the chance. He pulled himself to his knees and saw many cars crushed…nearly fifty of them. He vanished from his spot and reappeared inside one of the better looking cars. He took off his leather garments and quickly cut the car seat apart to make himself new clothing. There was no sound of Lindel and this worried him as he pulled the makeshift poncho over his head. He looked down at it and moved his arms. It made a tiny scratching sound and knew it wouldn't work. Any armor that made a noise was useless while being stealthed. He quickly ripped it off and wrote a message in it in very small writing. He then pulled out his hearthstone and activated it. Herrior's face appeared. Trackolania held his finger over his mouth as Herrior nodded. He turned the portal around so Herrior could read what he had written:

"Inside alliance base. Lindel? Army persons here – be careful of betrayal."

Trackolania then turned the portal back to see Herrior's face. He nodded and closed the portal. Trackolania then vanished and reappeared behind the car. He peered out behind the vehicle and made sure nobody was looking. He shredded the note and then buried it. He needed to recuperate and quickly or he was good as dead…and he refused to die naked. Suddenly healing surged through his body and his vision was restored as well as his senses were heightened.

"Hey hun…" Lindel whispered behind him still invisible. Trackolania instantly faded into the shadows this time and stayed that way. They both moved as far backwards as they could until their backs were against the back of the solid concrete wall.

"Did you contact Herrior?" Lindel asked. Trackolania squeezed her arm twice. This meant yes. Trackolania dug a quick hole and activated his hearthstone, dropping it in and then covering it up.

"That will only buy us about three hours before they find it." Trackolania reached down and grabbed Lindel's hand. He made her open up two fingers and then felt Trackolania's blade suddenly in her hand. Lindel nodded. Trackolania was going to destroy it in two hours.

Trackolania took his dagger back and put it in his sheath on his belt. His belt rubbed hard on his hips, but he didn't care right now. He moved over to the first building and saw it empty. He disappeared and reappeared inside of the building and quickly moved throughout the building looking for traps. It was vacant for now, but he saw recent signs of activity. Lindel floated through the building and saw the same things he saw. It reeked of alliance – but of different races…and the one that scared them the most was that of orcs. Trackolania moved back through the building and back out the exit. Why they put an exit in the back of the building he pondered for a second and then moved on. Lindel was right behind him.

Suddenly he heard voices above him and froze against the back of the wall.

"My turn to stir up the prisoners tonight."

"Gonna use protection?"

"Those bitches will be crying for protection when I'm done with them…" The man said and spit off the wall. Trackolania dodged it before it hit the ground.

"You might catch something you know."

"Yeah…nobody has yet. Just another fuck is all it is. I think I'll break in some of the new ones tonight."

"You know what the Lieutenant said…"

"Fuck the Lieutenant; I'm not scared of that bastard. Soon he'll be replaced by somebody else with new rules…you know the turnover rate here."

"Just be careful is all I'm saying."

"Yeah yeah…" The conversation ended with the vulgar man walking away from the man. Trackolania and Lindel followed him up against the wall. Trackolania grabbed his hearthstone back up and quickly shut it off as he dropped it in his pouch. Using only his ears he concentrated on the man's footsteps and memorized them quickly. They walked the entire perimeter of the army base as they came to the other side. There were concrete stairs leading down as Trackolania and Mohania stood up against the back of the staircase and listened to him walk down. He stopped at a door protruding out of the ground with a solid concrete door. He entered a pass code and immediately the door flung open. The soldier took a second to adjust his uniform as Trackolania vanished door the stairs and were at the bottom even before he took his first step down.

They looked around and saw hundreds of cages…and no guards. There were humans, dwarfs, one tauren, orcs, and some from the earthen alliance. Apparently they hadn't killed all of them. Both of them weren't able to take a quick inventory of the prisoners as the guard walked down with a happy smile on his face and an even happier expression in his pants.

"So…whose turn is it?"

"Take me…please…" a woman pleaded.

"Woman…you are a loose and dirty as some of the whores we have. I'm looking for somebody young and…enthusiastic." The mother's quickly hide their daughters behind them.

"I offer myself willingly…please leave the children alone." An orc woman said. The man raised his gun and fired a bullet into her skull. She dropped dead with a shocked look on her face.

"What are you doing clothed? Everybody is supposed to be naked! Follow the rules!" The man said and started clanging the butt of his rifle on the bars. Everybody quickly stripped off what little garments they had. Lindel flew over to the dead orc and quickly pulled the bullet out of her skull…but her spirit had left. Trackolania took up position behind the guard.

"That's better! Now then…what piece of meat do I want tonight?" The guard said. Something bounced in front of him as he quickly pulled his gun down and aimed at it. Trackolania pulled the clip from the gun and pick pocketed everything in the man's pockets.

"Who threw that?" The man yelled. He rushed over to where he thought a rock was, but saw nothing.

"Your end draws neigh…" Lindel said disguised as the dead orc. The man swung around and his face turned white. He raised his gun and heard only clicks come from it. He reached back for more ammo but found nothing. Frantically he reached for his knife in his boot.

"I killed you once bitch…I'll do it again…" the man said obviously frightened.

"You've killed too many so far…vengeance of my ancestors have set my spirit loose to seek revenge." Lindel said in her sinister voice.

"Bullshit!" The man said and tried to walk forward, but he found that the back of his ankles were sliced and down he went. Lindel moved in quickly and possessed the man as he looked up at her. The possession was even scarier than watching one of their children get raped. All of the prisoners screamed in fear as the body rose up in the air and shook violently. Soon it landed on the ground and Lindel finally gained control over the man's mind. She quickly accessed the prisoners and what they were imprisoned for. Lindel made the man sigh as she realized that she was surrounded by traitors and people that came here willingly to sign up for the army – only to be beaten senseless, possessed, or imprisoned.

Trackolania sat, poised for attack, but when he heard Lindel's sigh he knew there would be no bloodshed tonight. Trackolania then raced towards the exit and took up a position there.

"Rape after rape…random beatings and killings, that's what happens here. Stupid ghost is no match for the alliance. Killing one of you tonight is enough satisfaction for me tonight. I'm on shift for the next week. I'm going to kill two of you tomorrow, three of you the next day and so on. We need to make room for the new arrivals." Lindel made the man say. She accessed the man's mind to find out. Next she put the man's mind in a near catatonic state so that he was oblivious to what was going on. She pulled out the man's phone and flipped it open.

"There are land mines, long range weapons, motion sensors, and infrared cameras outside the compound. In here would be a good arrival point for a strike. However if we can find out other information it would prove invaluable." Lindel whispered as quietly as she could. Trackolania squeezed her leg twice.

"There is a communication post on the north side of the base. That information would prove to be invaluable to us. They do not check for spies in the camp, so we don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm going to go to one of the watch towers and communicate with Herrior." Lindel said and then slammed the phone shut. She then marched up the stairs with Trackolania right behind her as she opened the door and then slammed it shut behind her. Trackolania was cleared of it and carefully made her way to the communication outpost. Lindel walked the man back up the stone stairs and walked up to the same man he talked to before.

"That was quick." The man said.

"One got to rowdy, the orc woman; had to put her down. When's the next shipment of rodents coming in?" Lindel asked.

"Tomorrow sometime" the man replied.

"What the heck is that?" Lindel asked turning to the right as if she spotted something. Lindel moved closer to the edge of the wall and moved quickly into the small enclosure. The man readied his army rifle and followed the man Lindel was controlling.

"Deer probably…" the man said.

"Walking on two legs? Don't think so – look its right over there!" Lindel moved next to him and pointed off into the distance.

Seconds passed and he said, "It's a tree."

"Might be…go check it out!" Lindel said in her banshee voice as a ghostly arm shot out of the man she possessed and slammed into the man's side. She drained his energy quickly, which put him even more in shock. Lindel then threw the man over the wall. He screamed all the way down. He landed on several landmines as they instantly exploded – sending parts of him scattering around the grounds. Seconds later his body burned up in flame.

"What the hell was that?" A man cried out as several soldiers came running out of the buildings with guns and searchlights instantly turned on.

"Dumbass fell over the edge…anybody got a pack of smokes?" Lindel asked casually. All of the spotlights were on her as she pulled out her package of cigarettes and showed that it was empty.

"He just fell over the edge?" The man shouted.

"He was looking at something in the woods, hell if I know what it was, and went to put his hands down on the wall. He misjudged it and I tried to catch him, but was too late. Do I have to get his watch tomorrow or is somebody else going to take it up?" Lindel called down in the man's voice.

"Silence the alarms." The man said. Lindel tried to access the man's mind for his name but couldn't come up with the information. The man went on, "This isn't the first time one of you assholes killed yourself. Get back to business." The man ordered and with that everything was quiet again.

"What about my smokes?" Lindel called down. She glanced up to see Trackolania get inside the building undetected. Lindel let out a smile inside and watched everybody disappear back into the buildings. She took a casual stroll to the left and right, looking for anybody watching. Once satisfied, she put the man in a deep sleep and then flew out of him. She pulled out her hearthstone and summoned Herrior.

"Staying warm I hope?" Herrior asked.

"They have orcs here. I had to let one die – there wasn't anything I could do about it. There are other prisoners here as well, but Herrior I don't trust them. They would sell their kids for freedom. The base is completely surrounded by explosives and huge guns. There's no way you are going to attack this base from any angle. I can get us in where the slaves are being held, but there are hundreds of alliance. Trackolania went to go get more information in the communication building. He doesn't have any armor and was pretty banged up when we got here. He still has his weapons though." Lindel said quickly all in one breathe.

"Somebody would have to kill him twice in order to get those daggers from him…are you two safe?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior – we're surrounded by alliance…"

"No – for the moment, can we talk?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, that's why I contacted you. I found a suitable host and already killed one alliance…but this place is isolated and has every advantage going for it. Were the soldiers with you traitors?" Lindel asked recalled Trackolania's message.

"I have no reason to believe so. I'm having a full sweep done anyways. Given the order, they would all storm the place right now…but I have a feeling that isn't an option…" Herrior said.

Lindel shook her head. "We would suffer heavy losses. Unfortunately…" Lindel said with a sigh. Herrior nodded – he understood the risks. They would have to do an aerial assault with some coming up from the prisons. Herrior didn't like those odds.

"Look for anybody worth saving. Test out their loyalty. If any of them hesitate, then tell them to flee the base and don't look back. We will develop a plan on our end." Herrior said getting ready to close the portal.

"Herrior wait…they have fresh recruits coming in…" Lindel said quickly and with fear in her voice. This made Herrior pause for a moment. He sighed and looked to his right.

"There are recruiters then. If we level the base, some are still going to get away. They will only reform somewhere else and then rebuild. Contact me every night at this time with updated information. If you can't – don't take a gamble with your life." Herrior said.

"Herrior?" Lindel asked with a pause.

"Yes?"

"What were our total earnings?" Lindel asked with a smile on her face.

"Close to half a million dollars…before taxes; Admiral is handling that. I have no idea how they tax people here. We're bringing in several of our engineers with those floating rock things. We're building a network of tunnels to and from the new army base. Under the ground, our engineers are rapidly construction a huge dome. Only the people we trust will be allowed in and we will have alliance and demon scanners in place soon. Branzer says he loves you." Herrior said without skipping a beat. Branzer perked up in the background and asked who he was talking to. This made Lindel smile.

"Tell him I love him too, but duty first." Lindel said.

"Good luck. I look forward to hearing from you." Herrior said.

"I look forward to being with all of you again…" Lindel said with a sigh and closed the portal. She put it in her pocket and repossessed the man's body. Lindel spent the rest of the night searching through his mind for more information.

Trackolania though was getting more information than he could remember. He had secured himself in the top corner of the doorway and heightened all of his senses. Everything was coming at him so fast and so quickly…this was only a small base and they were speaking with many other bases on this world and elsewhere.

After an hour of trying to memorize everything and who said it he shook his head and went into spy mode. He started looking for maps, instruments, anything tangible that he could steal. He identified several targets he thought was in charge, but by the way they were bickering, he couldn't decide which to assassinate. They were in full armor and weapons, but were passive. Trackolania could easily catch two or three off guard and kill them…but then he would have given away his position and they would know that an assassin was among them. No…he would just be a spy.

Several more hours passed and everybody decided that ten pm was time to quit. Trackolania repositioned himself more away towards the wall and was ready to do a series of quick movements. The last couple of men was taking their time leaving and was talking about prostitutes they had when Trackolania finally decided to make his move. He jumped off the floor, landed on the ground jumped up to his left, landed on top of a computer monitor, and then jumped again landing on the other side of the room. None of the men had noticed and he hadn't set off any alarms. Carefully he moved around the room looking at various computers, papers, screens, and an assortment of different weapons and tools lying around. He didn't touch anything as he made his first round. Two of the alliance men finally left as the third said he had to get something. Trackolania was getting frustrated and moved away from the man as he went to get his gun and a package. He then hurried to catch up with the rest of them and locked the door with double locks on the way out. Trackolania smiled at this. He stepped out of the shadows and pulled out his hearthstone. He contacted Herrior and motioned him to come to him. Herrior nodded and closed the portal. Trackolania then moved himself in front of the door with his daggers drawn. If somebody was going to come back in, they were going to die a quick death.

A minute later a portal appeared in front of Trackolania and Herrior's party, excluding Lindel, as well as several other rogues and a Chronomancer came out. They were battle ready. Trackolania put his daggers away and shook his hands as he waved to have them put their weapons away. He then put a finger over his mouth and pointed at everybody. Trackolania then pointed to Herrior, disappeared, and then reappeared on a table in the middle of the room and pointed down at it.

Herrior quickly put his weapons away and whispered, "Cameras…I want everything here documented – keep that portal open and nobody says a word!" as he walked over to where Trackolania was.

Herrior's heart beat an extra beat when he saw what Trackolania was pointing at. It was the bases that the alliance had all over the world. Herrior reached down to touch it, but Trackolania quickly stopped him. Herrior knew better, but to hold the maps…the key to ridding this world of alliance…he wanted so badly just to be the one to hold these. But if they were moved…if anything was out of position just a hair they might get suspicious and give word to abandon their positions. Herrior snapped his fingers and pointed at what Trackolania was standing over. Trackolania did a back flip off from the table and landed on the floor without making a sound. A fellow rogue came over and gave him a new set of leather armor and offered to restock his poisons.

Cameras were flashing all over the place. They had names, locations, routes, list of orders – even the food that they were eating. Herrior had a hard time containing himself, as did the rest of his party – but they maintained a level head throughout everything.

Ten minutes had passed and Herrior gave the signal for everybody to leave. Trackolania and the other rogues held their position. Herrior looked Trackolania in the eyes and slowly raised his eyebrow and then motioned at the other two rogues. Trackolania nodded in response. Herrior nodded back and then disappeared through the portal. Trackolania now had two other rogues by his side…this would even things out a bit for them. Trackolania was quick to motion that he was in charge and quickly ran to the door and disappeared into the shadows. He moved from inside the building to the outside along with the other stealthed rogues as they looked around. Lots of people were still awake and moving around the camp. Trackolania took the lead as he ran to the side of the building and then bounced his way up to the roof. The other two mimicked his movements. Lindel looked over from on top of the wall and felt their presence. She let out a smile and then did what this man would normal do…he would take him to bed.

"Last one to come in has to make the beds in the morning…" one male alliance said pointing at her and everybody laughed. Lindel slowly gave him the finger and moved to the man's bed. Having read all of the man's history after becoming an alliance, she knew what to expect next and how the man would have reacted.

"What…the pussy all tired out already?" The same man asked.

"No…but the one I had today was…" Lindel said back. The room erupted in laughter. Lindel crossed the man's legs and put his hands behind his head looking satisfied.

"Say…why don't you really tell us what happened to the man that fell off the wall today?" Another said pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Why don't you mind your own damn business. Loose lips sink ships – leaving the assholes who asked about it covered in their own shit." Lindel said without skipping a beat.

"You'll watch your mouth there son, I have rank over you!" The man said.

Lindel put the man's feet over the side of the bed and his hands up on the rails. She made the man smile and said, "You are really going to pull rank over me? How about you sit your pansy ass down and we arm wrestle over rank?" The man looked curiously at him. Lindel had nothing to lose and the man stood a chance at losing his rank, but he did initiate it and the boys were around. So he started rolling his arms and said, "Sure sweet cheeks…but if you lose, you are on latrine duty for a month. You wanna risk that?"

"Threats…mean nothing to me." Lindel said making the man stand up. The room became rowdy and the men became excited. Lindel stared at the man with a small smile and never blinked.

"Bring that table around here…and if anybody bets against me, I'll make them wear a dress around camp for the next week and make them be everybody's bitch." The man said confidently.

Both Lindel and the man got down on their knees and put their elbows on the small table. The man viciously grabbed Lindel's hand and tried to squeeze it, but her host's hands did not fault. Lindel squeezed back with the same smile and still not blinking her eyes.

"Go!" A man shouted and the man in charge put everything he had into moving Lindel's host's hand. It never budged. Lindel squeezed the man's fingers harder to the point where he started saying, "Hold on…hold on…" and then Lindel did a quick hard squeeze, snapped two bones in his fingers and then throwing the man on the floor. Lindel quickly stood up and put her host's foot on his neck.

"What's a matter…can dish it out but can't take it?" Lindel said in the man's voice and then laughed as she pushed off from the man's throat. The injured man looked at her astonished as he lay on the floor holding his wounded hand.

"Who's next? Anybody?" Lindel asked looking around. All of the men looked astonished.

"If I hear any shit talking about me, you'll end up worse than him! Get your sorry ass off the floor and stop babying yourself." Lindel said reaching down and pulling him to his feet. She took the man's fingers and quickly realigned the bones in them. This caused him to shout in pain and shoot his arm back. He looked down at it and felt the pain subside, but was able to move them again.

"By all rules of the alliance, I proclaim myself a higher rank than him. Now then…go get me some dinner runt – and it better be warm!" Lindel said yelling in the man's face and pointing at the door behind her. The man quickly got off the ground and left the building. Lindel watched him go. She slowly turned her host's body back around and said, "What?" The rest of the alliance quickly went about their business and didn't say anything. She crawled back into the man's bunk with a big smile. "This just might work out in my favor…" Lindel thought. The man came in fifteen minutes later with a container full assorted meats and vegetables.

Lindel opened it and then closed it – setting it aside. She stood up to him and said, "I smell your stench in there…did you spit in my food?"

"No sir." The man replied and while he was saying that Lindel shot her host's arm up and grabbed his throat. Almost instantly the man's face turned purple.

"Did you spit in my food!" Lindel shouted. The man quickly shook his head back and forth unable to breathe or speak. Lindel tossed him aside and said, "Good, now as far as the rest of you pricks…don't you have something you need to be doing besides staring?" Lindel was playing the role well and enjoying it.

Back at the station Herrior and his party came out of the portal and flew out of the room. Herrior pounded on Admiral's door as he walked by and then walked into the officer's large room.

"I need a favor!" Herrior announced loudly. Many of the officers not doing anything quickly rose to their feet. Admiral came out of his office and offered to help.

"Inside of these cameras are pictures that are invaluable to us. We need these on paper quickly – if not faster!" Herrior said motioning to his party. They left and started dividing up the cameras.

"The pictures that we took and the things that we saw is the key to winning the total and complete annihilation of the alliance and their influence over this world! Without them here, there will be less war, less death, less diseases, better leaders, less famine, and less disasters. If it wasn't for us, they would have taken over this world thousands of years ago. We now have the strength to defeat them, and in these devices hold a potential plans for an attack that would devastate them! This something to take very serious people – I want this information extract from these…camera things, on paper as soon as possible. After that we will start coordinating attacks and your world – our ongoing battle – will be significantly easier." Herrior said in a strong leader voice that echoed throughout the building.

"Do we have enough toner?"

"Each person gets one camera."

"Give me that one."

The sentences and excitement filled the air as the officers quickly assigned each other what they were going to do.

"Do you want me to call George?" Admiral asked Herrior.

"We don't have a plan of attack yet, but you may inform him of what I just told everybody." Herrior said turning to look at Admiral. He nodded and left.

Suddenly several red lights began flashing in the building. The officers stopped what they were doing and quickly grabbed their guns.

"Hold it! What is going on?" Herrior asked demanding at first and then calmly at the end.

"An alliance personal has just entered our gates." Several officers tried to say at the same time. Herrior let out a smile in pleasure at the eagerness of the officers to fight.

"Stand down…you have your orders. Your current assignments are more important. We'll go have a talk with him. Mohania – lead us out." Herrior said.

Mohania raised his arms into the air and a whirlwind of fire enveloped his body. He let out a sinister laugh as he felt his powers increasing. Jacklyn looked concerned at Herrior, but Herrior ignored it as he hit his trinket to disguise himself.

"I shall give him a welcome nobody will forget…" Mohania laughed in a very sinister tone. Mohania started walked to the door and as soon as his hand extinguished as soon as it touched the doorknob, he didn't want to damage anything he didn't want to. He opened it up and waiting behind the building for the rest of the party to come out. Herrior hadn't drawn his weapons yet so nobody else did either.

"Who's in charge here? I put in my application two weeks ago and keep getting blown off!" A voice said.

"Blown off?" Mohania asked aloud. "That is unacceptable…"

"You are telling me! Where do I…oh shit!" The alliance male said as Mohania came around the building. Mohania extended his flaming hand and engulfed him in his green shield. He picked him up off from the ground. Mohania then summoned more flame and as it grew, Herrior's party had to step back from the heat. Once ready, Mohania began to cast a spell and several seconds later a huge green diamond-shaped spell went flying out of his arms with several smaller green diamond-shapes orbiting around the bigger one. The alliance screamed as he saw the enormous spell fly at him and then obliterated him into hundreds of tiny pieces.

"No! I'm not done yet! Are there any others?" Mohania said mad, yet in a satisfied tone.

"Just the one" The front guard yelled out. "I wasn't sure if I could kill him myself."

"I wasn't sure that my chaos bolt would have shattered his worthless body so quickly…" Mohania said and began to extinguish the fires engulfing him. "Set the alarm off again if you see anybody else."

"Any other alliance is what Mohania meant to say." Herrior said finishing his sentence.

"Fine…can I go play with the prisoners?" Mohania asked changing the subject but obviously very happy.

"Not right now. We have to go plan our attacks. Do you want to come with us to go attack the alliance?" Herrior asked in tone as if he was talking to a child.

"Smartass…" Mohania said extinguishing the last bit of flame.

"How many times can you do that?" Herrior asked.

"Once…I need to build up power to do that again. The more fire spells I cast, the more power I absorb, the more power I absorb the more chaos bolts I can unleash." Mohania said explaining. He paused for a minute and said, "I like fire."

"Good boy. Let's get inside." Herrior said patting him on the shoulder and walked away.

"I get the next alliance that steps foot in the base!" Mohania called out.

"You just had a turn…" Dan said.

"Yes, but I was also the first one to call it." Mohania said smiling.

"A bit childish?" Crystal asked.

"Yes…but I called it first." Mohania said repeating himself.

Morning came at the alliance camp and Lindel got up to go have breakfast. Nobody in her sleeping quarters said a word. Lindel dragged her feet getting there and surveyed the camp again. She didn't want to outstretch her mind to see where the three rogues were, but she had a hunch they weren't too far away.

Lindel walked her host body into the mess hall and looked over everybody carefully. Apparently word had spread that she rose in rank and everybody took their turn looking at her. She grabbed a tray and told the chef and the workers behind the tray to fill up several plates with food. She then turned and listened to what everybody was saying and thinking. She found a man who apparently was friends with the man she disgraced last night and was planning on revenge. She smiled and moved over to him, standing behind him.

"Move!" Lindel demanded.

The man casually finished chewing his food and wiped his mouth as he stood up – towering over him. Lindel extended her mind to read his.

"I was here first…I suggest you apologize and move on." The tall man said.

"I suggest you kiss my ass – I told you to move." Lindel said back. Sensing the man's thoughts, Lindel grabbed her fork and shoved it into the man's fist coming at her head. She easily dodged it as the metal fork broke his middle finger's bone and tore at the rest of the flesh.

The man recoiled back in shock as Lindel gracefully balanced her tray in one hand and in the other hand took her knife and grazed the man's neck, letting out a thin of blood – nothing fatal, but again putting the man in shock as raised his other hand to put it on his neck and then look at the blood on his hand.

"That could have just as easily punctured your throat and you would be drowning in your own blood right now. Are we done playing now, or do you want to go another round?" Lindel asked smiling at him. The man looked back in shock as Lindel made a half-ass attempt to shove the knife back at his throat. The man recoiled back in fear as she said, "That's what I thought…grab your shit and get out of my spot!" The man did just that.

Lindel felt the eyes of everybody in the mess hall looking at her as the man walked over to a different table and sat down. She was sitting with her enemy's enemy now. She started to eat casually as she heard a man get up and move up behind her.

"What's your name soldier?" The man asked with authority in his voice.

"Jeremy." Lindel said casually back.

"I'd like to speak with you after your meal Jeremy. Meet me in the operations center." The man said and then walked away.

Lindel looked to her left and said, "Are you looking at me?" The man quickly looked down at his food and pretended like he wasn't.

"Give me your donut!" Lindel said holding out her host's hand. The man quickly did as he was told and Lindel bit into it, chewed it up, and then spat the crumbs out at him.

"Any of you other assholes looking at me?" Lindel asked looking around. Nobody was – in fact they were looking in the opposite direction. Lindel had driven fear into them…and she loved every minute of it. She finished eating her breakfast and tossed her tray and contents to the man that gave her the donut and said, "Take care of this for me" and walked away.

Outside she was met up by the man who talked to him.

"Jeremy…I've noticed that you have become more aggressive towards your soldiers and have shown dominance over them. I am pleased with you and think we can assign you to better jobs. Come with me." The man said.

"Being stuck among these rodents makes me feel claustrophobic…am I being reassigned? I would like to go somewhere where I could shed some blood instead of just having pissing contests with these buffoons." Lindel said. The man laughed.

"These buffoons are being conditioned, such as yourself. For some reason you have excelled above them and don't deserve to be in the…pissing contest anymore. I need you to lead an assault team. Show your allegiance to the alliance and you will grow faster and more power will be bestowed upon you…powers you have probably never dreamed of." The man said with a smile.

"Gladly." Lindel said confidently. There was no way she was going to kill any of her people or innocent people. She may have gotten over her head on this one.

"After you," the man said and opened the door to the building Trackolania was in last night. She had not known that Herrior and the rest of the party were there the night before. She walked in and heard all of the commotion happening and was overwhelmed by it – just as Herrior was last night.

"There's more to this war than just guarding this recruiting station. There is an area north of us where most of our personal are coming from. We need you to speed up the process of "thinning out" who can be a member of the alliance and who is just signing up for the money. Over here is where I want you to be stationed with a Duke and his army. You are going to take the soldiers that are ready from this station and run over this city called Grayland. There's an army base in there, I want all of the men transformed by the recruiters we are sending with you and their weapons. It'll be a simple take over. Any questions?" The man asked.

"Will it get me out of this filth hole and how much does it pay?" Lindel asked hoping it was the right response.

"Five thousand, and if you are able to take over the army base you may establish your own base there. You will leave first thing tomorrow. Your troops will be assembled and you'll have about three thousand soldiers are your disposal. This camp will be moved there after you have accomplished your mission. I look forward to your success." The man said and smiled at him with a hint of red in his eyes. Lindel smiled back and thanked him for the mission. She left and shut the door behind him. Lindel took in a large breath of air and put her hands on her hips in satisfaction. With a beaming smile across her face she was absolutely terrified within. She hoped she could keep up the act long enough to get all of the alliance killed. A thought then occurred to her. She turned around and reopened the door.

"Yes?" The same man asked.

"Would you like to be there when I overtake the base? Why let me bask in all of the glory when the victory should be one for the alliance?" Lindel hoped she worded that right.

The man looked at her for several long seconds, or so it seemed to Lindel. He then turned around and looked at several different papers and told one of the women at the computer to bring up something. He studied it for awhile and then said "Yeah it shouldn't interfere with operations here, and I don't see why not. I'll arrive thirty minutes after your initial attack at high noon. Set your forces up and take charge of the recruiters and the remaining alliance there already. I will call ahead to make the necessary arrangements."

"It would be my honor." Lindel said and then shut the door. She started going over and over in her mind, playing out dozens of different scenarios in her mind. This would have to be the best acting she has ever done, she would have to revive her host to rejuvenate his body while maintaining control over him, and give the illusion that she was going to launch an attack. And what if innocents were killed? She was working for the alliance and will have caused innocents to succumb to their death or become possessed because of her. This was tearing her apart. She suddenly saw a light flash in her left corner of her vision. She looked towards it and didn't see anything. She then felt Trackolania's presence for a short time in her mind. He was smiling and very calm. She let out a smile and remembered that she wasn't alone.

"Lord help me not to screw this up…" Lindel mumbled quietly to herself walking away from the building and towards the junk pile. All of the alliance soldiers left her alone, but some were still planning on her demise. Lindel thought, "That's fine…I'll end up killing my host anyways…along with all of you." She continued walking out of sight until she was able to be alone. She started rummaging through some of the metal and made it look as though she wanted to reinforce the bus with extra armor plating. She laid out several pieces that would go where the passengers would go. She then found several pieces to go under the bus. She felt a soft hand touch her on the top of her hair.

"Hello my friend. I'm in quite the predicament. I need to contact Herrior immediately." Lindel said quietly. Two soft pats on her head came and suddenly she felt Trackolania's presence gone and heard the side of the bus door open.

"For crying out loud…why didn't I think of that?" Lindel said grinding her teeth in stress. "Makes more sense than contacting Herrior under the bus…come on Lindel you have to hold it together!"

She crawled out from under the bus and put several more pieces of metal next to the sides of it before entering the bus. She fell to the ground and starting moving forwards and into the bottom of a seat. She let her mind outstretch and felt nobody's presence around her. She heard commotion, but it was at the front of the base – directly opposite of where she was. "Good ol' rogues" she thought. She pulled out her hearthstone and thought about something and then put it back. She put her hands out and formed a small portal.

Herrior saw a portal opening right in front of his face. It was a small one, but a human hand came out of it and touched Herrior's face. Instantly his party jumped into action but Herrior quickly held his hand up and motioned them to stop.

"Herrior, this is Lindel…I'm in deep shit. Listen closely…I've earned the respect of the generals or whatever the shit they call them. I'm to lead an army of three thousand on an assault of an army base in some town called grey land…or gray land…or something like that. Herrior you have to help me! What do I do?" Lindel's mind was channeled through the human hand and into Herrior's head.

"Calm down is what you are going to do. When?" Herrior asked in his mind using a very soothing voice.

"Tomorrow at high noon. There are going to be recruiters, well equipped soldiers, and the head generals are going to be arrived thirty minutes afterwards to watch our progress." Lindel said quickly again.

"Good. We'll launch three different offensives then. I'll dispatch party's to guard the base, to destroy this base you are in now and a huge offensive to kill the large group coming. I'll need to start notifying some people. Lindel you need to hold it together. I'll tell you the same thing I told Mohania…be calm, be in control, be confident. Meditate on those things. I will handle the rest. Now get rid of this portal before somebody finds out." Herrior said in his mind. The human hand quickly vanished into the portal as it was slammed shut.

"Admiral…it's time to call George." Herrior said. "I am going to contact our town and get a significant amount of forces but there is going to be a battle. It's what your people have wanted and now is their chance. My party come with me, Admiral – get whoever is battle ready and equip them with some guns. We may even need some aerial attacks as well."

"I'm ready…" Admiral said with a smile. He had been waiting for this as well.

Lindel got back up and looked all around on the bus and saw nobody looking at her. The rogues kept their attention in the front. Lindel had better tell them to stop.

She got off the bus and yelled out, "Where are our welders at?" The people stopped looking around and several men and women came over to where she was. Lindel gave them instructions as to how she wanted the bus reinforced with the metal. The welders understood what she wanted and got to work on it.

"The rest of you jerking your wanker…get your guns together and ammunition. Tomorrow we are going for a little ride." Lindel said. She headed towards the weapons bunker as well. She looked inside and was filled with fear. Their weapons were enormous, some glowing, and some continuously dripping with some sort of fluid. There were enough guns here to give each person at least a dozen, and that's what they took.

Lindel pulled herself together and stepped aside as she scanned her host's mind for his weapons. She then gathered up several semi-automatic machine guns and gave them a twirl before strapping them on. She then picked up several grenades and extra clips.

Lindel helped others get their armor on and moved several handheld cannons she recognized from their encounter with the alliance before. This brought back more memories… "I wonder if these weapons are the same weapons that killed our citizens…"

"Hey douche! You mind getting outta the way?" A man said shoving her aside. Several people holding a huge pipe walked by her.

"Watch what you say!" Lindel yelled back.

"Please?" The man said sarcastically.

Lindel had enough. She took her weaponry and walked outside as she remembered what Herrior said, "calm, control, confidence". If she blew this she would be killed…or worse.

"What are we doing with our prisoners?" A man yelled out.

"What prisoners…" Lindel said back over her shoulder. She just ordered their death sentence, and ever so casually without even a hint of emotion in her voice. Their deaths would be on her head.

"Cool it Lindel…the alliance would have killed them anyways – keep it together." Lindel told herself. This was easier when they weren't human…this was easier when Mohania did the killing…hell this was easier in her banshee form – but they weren't here and if she assumed her banshee formed, she would be gunned down. She was losing her concentration and her host's mind started to get at her.

"You know what I know…but I know what you know…" the male voice said. Lindel jumped in shock as she turned around. She looked around saw nobody around her.

"That's right you piece of shit banshee…you feast off from my body, but my body is rejecting your presence – and I will have so much fun killing you and your pathetic army!" Lindel shot a bolt of lightning through the man's body, putting him in intense pain and screaming in his mind. Lindel put the man's mind back to sleep.

"You ok sir?" A woman said in a comforting voice. She bent down and looked at her with a red tint in her eyes.

"Yeah…just fine. How's things coming along?" Lindel asked readjusting herself.

"We'll be ready to roll out on time. Before battle jitters?" She questioned her.

"Hell no…sooner we get the base and establish another foothold in this god-forsaken land the better." Lindel said and then apologized in her mind.

"Just want to make sure our leader is up to the task. I have no intentions of dying tomorrow." She said in a cocky voice and walked away.

"Bitch…" Lindel said in her mind as she watched her walk away.

Later that day, military transports and humvees began to roll in. Lindel had regained her confidence and knew that she had to make it just through one more night. Soon tanks and armored vehicles came in with grenade launchers and fifty caliber machine guns on the tops of them. Lindel surveyed the vehicles and motioned them as to where to go. She had been playing out her little charade perfectly – so long as she kept her host's mind in check and kept the people around her in check also. A couple more times he her host's mind gave off a word or two before she fried him with another jolt of electricity. She needed him now…there was no turning back. There was no negotiating with him. If she took on another host now and killed this one, it would give her away for sure. No, there was no turning back.

Nightfall came and Lindel was emptying her bowels in the latrine when the voice came out again.

"You're going to die tonight!" it said.

Lindel pulled out her gun and pulled up the man's balls and started to pull the trigger with the barrel pushing against them. The voice stopped immediately.

"They aren't mine, and quite frankly they are getting in the way. You'll feel the pain and when I do die, you are going to be without your favorite weapon…do you want to play this game?" Lindel asked him in his mind. The presence pulled away without a word. Lindel let out a satisfied grin of victory as she pulled up her pants and fixed her uniform.

She walked out of the building with a smile of a victory, but knew his body was rejecting her. Fear, doubt, unresolved issues, insecurities were creeping up on her. These things left you vulnerable to possessions. She of all people knew that. She took a stand in her host's body and looked around. She made him close his eyes, look towards the skies and let out a smile. She cleared her mind and imagined herself back in Tranquil and her energies started to come back. She thought of Trackolania and Julie – the silent but deadly duo, it was the nickname she gave them. She thought of Branzer. He was a changed man now, more in charge, more aggressive, more of a fighter – a better fighter and a better ambassador. But has he changed too much? Why hasn't he asked for her hand in courtship? She did it the first time and screwed that up horribly…

As she was recalling the memory, unknown to her, her foot wrote the word "kill me" in the dirt.

Moments later a soldier came up and said, "Kill you huh"? He pulled out his gun and put it to her chest and fired. Lindel shrieked and jumped backwards landing on the ground.

The soldier looked at her funny, this time he switched his gun from stun to kill.

"Unless you got a sex change, I could have sworn you just screamed like a little girl…" The man said closing in on her.

Lindel caught completely unaware turned aggressive and jumped up to her feet. She grabbed the man's hand with the gun and put it to her head.

"Fire…I dare you…" Lindel said. Lindel reached out her mind to him and knew he didn't have it in him. Lindel then made her eyes a deep dark blue as the man looked at her in a hypnotic state. She started channeling his energy from his body and into hers.

Slowly the man moved gun from Lindel's host's head away and towards his. She channeled a huge burst of energy from his hand as she gave him the order to pull the trigger.

"Bang!"

The gun lit up the night and the man landed backwards. Lindel's eyes returned to their normal state, with a slight red tint to them and looked around.

"Kill me? What the hell?" Lindel said quietly. She quickly ran over to it and shuffled out the letters. Lindel then bent down over the man with his gun. A crowd was beginning to form.

"Latrine duty! What part of that didn't you understand?" Lindel said and pistol-whipped the dead man's head.

"Was that really necessary?" A man came up to her and asked.

"Sir, I want soldiers that will follow my orders tomorrow. I want that base, and I want more power!" Lindel said just like a normal alliance. She continued, "I order you to get up off from the ground and go scrub the shit I left in your bed!" Lindel waited a second and then said, "Do it or I swear to you I'll plug another one in you!"

"Hol…" the man was interrupted with another "Bang!" from the gun as another bullet sailed through the dead man's head.

"I think he's dead…" the man in charge said. Lindel turned around as he burned up in ashes and disappeared.

"I get his weapons." Lindel said looking at him, and then sized him up and down. The man in authority smiled as Lindel started pocketing his valuables.

"Is this your attack strategy for tomorrow?" the man asked.

"This is my attack strategy for tonight, sir. When I say shoot, I don't want some of these lonely pieces of shit hesitating and I don't want them wasting ammo…but most importantly I want them to get a bullet off first before a bullet enters them first! What good is this attack if all of these dumb-fucks get killed when the bullets start flying." Lindel ended sounding more energized. She mentally kicked herself for letting the doubt about Branzer come in her mind. If she makes it out of this situation, she is going to punch him for being a man.

The man let out a short chuckle and started clapping. "Very good…very good indeed. Everybody look around! Learn from this example and from this man! I was going to give a speech before we go into battle tomorrow, but I think this is sufficient. Do you plan on killing any more of your troops tonight?"

"I don't plan on it…" Lindel smiled.

"I'll see you in the morning…general." The man said and walked away.

"Example is over…I don't want to see your ugly faces until morning!" Lindel yelled out. The alliance knew if they assassinated her now, it would be their ass. Lindel learned that generals are a much higher level than they were. Lindel walked over to the generals courts and opened the door.

"Congratulations on the promotion." The same woman that talked to her said earlier.

"Shove it…where's my bunk?" Lindel asked. The woman smiled and nodded her head next to her.

Lindel plopped down on the bunk with an "Oh shit…" going through her mind. She quickly drained her host's body of energy, and putting him into a mild sleep.

"So…do you want to shove it?" The woman whispered in his ear putting her hand on his chest and moving it slowly down to his crotch.

"You are distracting me from sleeping…" Lindel said with no enthusiasm.

"I could say the same about you…so how does one 'rise up' to general so quickly?" She said starting to undo his pants.

"I don't fuck around…" Lindel said turning the man's head quickly to her.

"Well I do…" She replied back. Lindel finally gave in and leaned over to kiss her. Instantly her tongue when in her host's mouth. Lindel began pulling energy out of her in large dosages. Minutes passed until she finally leaned over and vomited on the ground.

"Holy shit…talk about a head rush!" The woman said gasping for air.

"Usually vomiting doesn't turn me on." Lindel said.

"Shit…screw that I'm done. I feel so weak…promise me after our victory tomorrow you'll screw my brains out…" She said gasping for breath.

"Depending on how good you are, I may even do more…" Lindel said in a very seductive male voice.

"Whatever…good night." Lindel laid watching her victim fall into a deep sleep. Her powers were increased now. She laid awake for the next five hours concentrating on Tranquil and the victories they were going to have.

Five in the morning came and she heard snoring all around her. She outstretched her mind and felt all of them in deep sleep.

"Good…Trackolania are you still with me?" Lindel asked in her mind. Trackolania's face entered her mind and nodded up and down with a big smile. He and his two rogues were in the woods.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Lindel asked smiling at him. Trackolania held up a finger and then shook his hands. He held up his hands and pretended to fire one of their machine guns. He then stopped with a weird look and scratched his head with one finger and pointed the gun at his face as if wondering why it wasn't working.

"Did you do some sabotaging?" Lindel asked. An overwhelming sense of relief came to her just seeing Trackolania again and then knowing that not only was he safe, but he was still with him, watching over him, and helping with the battle tomorrow.

Trackolania shook his head up and down a lot and then put his hands over his mouth and pretended to laugh. This almost made Lindel laugh aloud. "Did you do this with all of their guns?"

Trackolania shook his head and held up nine fingers, then closed his fists, and reopened all of his fingers.

"Nine out of every ten guns?" Lindel asked. She missed his games of charades. Trackolania nodded again with his big smile.

"Does Herrior know?" Lindel asked. Trackolania nodded again.

"Contact Branzer and tell him if he ever sticks his tongue down my throat I will castrate his balls! Also punch him in the face for me…thoughts of him distracted me and it almost got me killed." Lindel said. Trackolania nodded through everything until the very end. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"He wasn't here…I was thinking of him and why he hasn't asked me to marry his sorry ass yet." Lindel explained. Trackolania continued to give her a confused look but shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow my little rogue?" Lindel asked.

Trackolania made a circle with his hands and pointed to all around the base. Lindel guessed "landmines" and Trackolania nodded. He then held up a piece of string looked at it and then looked back at her with a devious smile.

"You have been busy…is there going to be anything left of this place?" Lindel asked.

Trackolania considered the question for awhile. He put his hand on his chin and pretended like he was thinking. He then looked at her with a big grin.

"I love you Trackolania." Lindel said with a big grin. Trackolania pointed to himself, pointed to his heart and then pointed to her. Lindel cut the connection.

Trackolania gave instructions to the other rogues to stay put as he sprinted off into the woods – not making a sound. He snuck up on a family of deer sleeping and jumped over them. He continued running and found a huge fallen tree. He pulled out his hearthstone and got a Chronomancer from Tranquil. He had her create a portal and he stepped through, and then created another portal to where Herrior was. Unbeknown to Trackolania, Herrior was already at the army base. Trackolania stepped outside the portal and looked around. He recognized everybody from Tranquil and some of the soldiers with huge weapons in position. Trackolania gave an impressed looked and then focused on Herrior.

"Leader never sleeps before a battle…how's my favorite rogue?" Herrior asked. Trackolania pulled out a dagger and wrote in the dirt: "Lindel says to punch Branzer for not proposing to Lindel sooner because it almost got her killed. Lindel also said she is going to cut off his balls if he ever sticks his tongue in her mouth." Trackolania quickly wrote in the dirt. Herrior burst into laughter. Herrior's party recognized the sound of their leader and quickly woke up. They came over and read what Trackolania wrote.

"I almost got Lindel killed…oof!" Branzer said as Skyka punched him in the stomach.

"Just following orders…also if you can't read – it's spelled out for you! Ask her to marry you, you twit!"

"Do we all get to punch Branzer?" Trackolania wrote in the dirt and then looked up at Herrior unsure about the message. Herrior shook his head and said, "No…I think he got the point." Herrior shuffled away the message as Trackolania helped.

Trackolania then began to write words in the dirt again once they were done, "We have sabotaged their weapons and their base will blow up – leaving next to nothing behind. Lindel is struggling badly, I thought I was going to have to kill her a couple of times. She pulled through though. She misses everybody and that is her weakness. The man she possessed has more control over her than she knows and is getting stronger by the minute. She needs to focus." Trackolania finished writing in about thirty seconds.

"I agree. I will have a talk with her. Do you think she'll be able to pull off the mission?" Herrior asked. Trackolania wrote a big question mark in the dirt. "Damn…" Herrior replied.

"What's that woman's problem? She needs to grow a backbone!" Jacklyn said clearly upset as she joined in everybody scuffing out the message in the dirt.

"I want everything clear right now…if I give the order to put her down – I expect everybody…" Herrior paused and walked over to Branzer and poked him in his chest as he continued, "everybody – to shoot."

"I'm clear with my orders Herrior. I am a fighter and defender of Tranquil above all else. I will kill her out of love." Branzer said.

"Good. Anything else Trackolania?" Herrior said peering into his eyes and then spun around.

"Don't let the skeleton kill more than me." Trackolania wrote.

"Fat chance of that happening short man…" Mohania said laughing. Trackolania looked at him and laughed.

"Are you guys ready?" Trackolania wrote.

"It'll be a massacre Trackolania…don't worry about us. The locations that you uncovered for us are all going to be bombed by George's army and then we have two parties going in and finishing off anything else that moves all around this world. In one fail swift – we will have struck an enormous blow to the alliance." Herrior said confidently.

Trackolania wrote, "Are you sure?"

"Yes Trackolania…I am sure. Tomorrow night we will be drinking each other under the table in Tranquil." Herrior said putting a hand on him and knelt down before him, "A long awaited will be banished from this planet. With their forces down, we will strike at their outposts. Once they are demolished, we will strike at their fortresses…well what's left of them thanks to Dan and Crystal. Set your worries aside." Herrior said comforting him.

"I'm not worried." Trackolania quickly wrote in the dirt.

"Good…now head back and carry out your mission." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and motioned to the Chronomancer. She opened a portal and put him back at the log that he came from. He got back into position, jumping again over the sleeping family of deer without disturbing them. He looked at the other rogue's and gave them a "thumbs up". They nodded and relaxed up against the back of some trees as they blended into the shadows.

Morning came and Lindel was the first awake. She only slept about two hours, but her body was full of energy. The woman's face looked sunken in and she was still in a deep sleep. "Good" she thought. She was careful to walk around the woman's vomit from last night and loaded up her guns as she made her way out into the daylight. She saw that nobody was awake, and the ones that were awake were sleepy.

Lindel raised her gun in the air and fired off three rounds and then yelled, "Wake up you lazy sons of bitches – we're going to war!" Lindel then started hooting and hollering. The entire camp immediately began to join in.

"Save your bullets dumbass's and get loaded up! Let's do this!" Lindel said with a renewed enthusiasm. Her power levels had risen dramatically and the man's mind inside of her was dormant.

"Come on! Get loaded up – I do my killing before breakfast! I want some bloodshed today!" Lindel yelled still riling up the alliance.

"Up early are we?" The man said that promoted her to general.

"Hell yeah – let's do this!" Lindel said overly excited. She hoped she wasn't over selling it.

"Load 'em up!" The man yelled waving his hand at the soldiers behind him.

The attack went underway. The tanks and military vehicles went first down the dirt road followed by the military passenger vehicles and finally the armor rigged bus. Lindel felt excitement surge through her body as she concentrated on her party. She had been given a walkie-talkie and was receiving commands – then issued them to her platoons that she had been given command over. Her job was to be the first group in after the cannons and heavy artillery destroys the communications tower and creating havoc, disrupting anybody from using their cell phones.

Time passed slowly, but eventually they were one hundred yards from their destination. The convoy stopped as they said their scouts were going to be deployed to survey the base. According to the alliance intelligence, the base was nearly deserted at this time.

"Scouts? Like rogues?" Lindel asked herself in her mind. She felt the doubt creep up on her, but she slammed the door on it. She wasn't going to let this get to her while they were moments before the battle.

Ten minutes passed and the voice over the walkie-talkie said, "There's nobody in the base. We're still going to take out the communications tower. Secure the weapons and then we will bring in the new recruits and take over this base – seize it for the alliance!" This brought a lot of cheering from the alliance.

The tanks and heavy artillery vehicles moved up and into position with the infantry divisions following up right behind them. Lindel wasn't sure what to expect as she stayed low in her seat but kept her smile of anticipation on.

"Unload our soldiers and barricade up the rear vehicles to stop any retreat from the enemy." The walkie-talkie said.

"You heard the annoying voice – let's move people!" Lindel said and was the first one off from the vehicle. She looked around and saw the other personal jumping into the woods so she did the same. Her platoons did the same. She moved them into position through the woods and knelt down.

"Fire!" A voice yelled out and what followed is when the real chaos erupted. The projectile in the cannon and the machine guns instantly blew up – sending hot metal shrapnel and explosions all over. Seconds after the initial explosion, rockets flew into the air from the base in an erratic fashion – thousands of them, nearly enough to blind out the skies. They found a target and landed, letting out an enormous explosion. Hundreds of alliance died as their vehicles became nothing but chunks of metal in the road.

Herrior then appeared out of nowhere in front of the base and said, "Welcome! Slight flaw with your plan…you're too stupid to realize we are vastly more powerful than you are! Leave none alive!" Herrior's army ran out from underneath the cloaking mechanics the rogues could do. The gates opened up and soldiers followed up the rear along with snipers from on top of the walls. All hell broke loose, and the alliance was caught with their pants down.

"Pull in formation…generals get your armies together!" A voice called out…seconds later his head exploded.

Lindel's platoons and the others began to run backwards but met another entire legion of fighters that mowed them down quickly. Lindel ran off into the woods and took cover. She wanted to fight…but she had a score to settle with her host.

"You want a fight…I'll give you a fight…" Lindel said coming out of her host's eyes. She materialized in front of the man as he rose to his feet. Battle cries and the sounds of bullets and blades were heard in the distance.

"You think you are going to kill me? I have reinforcements that are coming and they know about you!" The man yelled at her and pushed his walkie-talkie button. Immediately they heard, "Fall back! Get behind the vehicles! How were we ambushed? Call for backup! What do you mean our base isn't responding?" and the sounds of people dying all over came from the walkie-talkie. Lindel started to laugh and began to float up into the air. She disappeared as the man pulled out his guns and started shooting anything he saw. Lindel started cackling in her evil banshee voice and it sent chills up the man's spine.

"Fear me do you?" Lindel asked. The man turned towards the direction of the voice and let several shots fly. He had an automatic hand-held machine gun in one hand and a magnum in his other hand. Lindel laughed behind him and he turned around and let the bullets fly again.

"Feel big with that gun?" Lindel asked in a very sinister voice. She materialized behind him and grabbed his hands, immobilizing him. She forced his hands to point the guns to his crotch. The man resisted as much as he could, but could not overpower Lindel. He screamed as the bullets went flying.

The guns emptied and he looked down and saw that all of the bullets missed him. He let out sigh of relief. He looked up and saw an officer coming at him with an eagle flying above his head.

"Corrupt my future wife will you…" Branzer said. He let out an enormous blast to the trees around him as they exploded and fell down. The man tried to run, but Lindel held him still. Branzer ordered the eagle to rip off the man's pants. It flew ahead of them and thrashed at them. Branzer ran up to him and grabbed his balls and penis. He grabbed down on them hard and then punched him in the stomach hard as he ripped his crotch free from this body. The man let out loud screams, loud enough to drown out the dying battle in the background.

Branzer took the remains of the man's crotch and shoved it in his mouth and forced his mouth shut. The man shook violently trying to spit them out. His nose started spewing out drops of blood as his eyes bulged out. Less than a minute later he died…gagging on his own testicles.

Branzer watched his body burn up as he held out his hand. Lindel's deathly fingers grabbed them as they emerged from the woods.

"You two done playing in the woods?" Skyka asked winking at them.

Before they could get a word in, Herrior called off the other parties and ordered everybody to go back to Tranquil. Herrior then turned to Admiral and George and said, "That was fun…how are our other targets?"

"Being destroyed at this very moment, our daisy cutters should do the job nicely. Your teams, or parties sorry, should be able to commence their attack within the hour. So is this it then?" George asked.

"This is a victory on this world…one worth a great victory; however I would like to know for sure that our targets have been obliterated. I would hate to report false information to our King." Herrior said. George pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. He waited for it to get a secure channel and then asked the admiral in charge of his previous aircraft carrier how the mission was going. George then pushed the speakerphone button.

"Five bases have been obliterated sir. They must have been packing some powerful weapons because our munitions we dropped caused a shit-ton of secondary explosions…one almost took down our F-15 escort. She was able to make it back ok though. The other targets are reporting in with complete success as we speak. Operation 'Alliance strike' is going perfectly. Our other carriers are reporting successful missions as we speak, I can hear them over our conversation. Want me to give you a complete report? You will have to wait for all of our fighters and bombers to return successfully thought." George looked up at Herrior. He smiled and shook his head.

"Gather all of the war information on our targets and let me know tomorrow. Good work admiral!" Admiral said and flipped his phone shut.

"You of course won't want the credit for this, and we have already prepared a statement from NATO forces and our President to talk about the success of the operations of striking targets of terrorism…we of course had to call it something different…" George said. Herrior smiled and put his mighty tauren hand on George. Herrior then let out a victory shout and picked up George and threw him in the air. Tranquil's forces let out a cry of celebration as George went screaming above the tree line. Lindel flew up and grabbed him. They flew around for awhile and then returned to Herrior.

The careful planning, strong will and persistence of Tranquil's fighters had paid off. The rest of the alliance not killed during the assault were hunted down and killed on sight by the forces of Tranquil after the bombs were dropped on the fortresses. It didn't ensure peace, but it was a huge step in the right direction.


	34. Growing Up

Growing Up

The transfer of information was complete. The same monk that came to visit Herrior before came again to the same house. Herrior anticipated this and said he would answer the door.

"It was successful. We have sent orbs of the information to the trainers of Tranquil. Our fighters will be stronger now. Her body expired halfway through the blasting, we had to take measures to ensure we got every last bit of information out of her." The monk said in its eerie voice.

"I'm saddened by the news of her passing. It seems she knew it was coming though. Thank you for telling me." Herrior said.

"That is not why I came. The information that we extracted from her revealed that she was actually a spy – working for the alliance. She had turned somehow back on her own, but her loyalties still lied with the alliance. Did she reveal any information to you concerning this?" The monk asked.

Herrior was shocked. "If she was alliance, why did our shields not obliterate her?"

"She had turned back to an orc on her own…we don't know how she was able to do that, perhaps some through some powerful emotional or meditation. We also extracted from her new spells for our Chronomancers, but there are no trainers for the Chronomancers. We are not sure what to do." The monk said.

"I'm not sure either…I thought you had to train to become a Chronomancer – the same class that makes the portals right?" Herrior asked.

"Yes."

"Ok…give me some time to speak with the ambassadors and we will find a trainer. What of these other monks that she spoke of?" Herrior asked.

"Imprisoned by the alliance on land called The Mists. It seems as though they are flourishing on the world and have enslaved some people who call themselves Pandaria. They are the monks that they speak of. The world is fueled by hatred and fear…our fighters would not stand a chance without better gear. We sent what little information we know about the coordinates of this new world to our Chronomancers and they are scanning all of the known universes for it. I don't believe we will find it. I must leave now." The monk said and glided away. Herrior watched him leave and then shut the door as he came back into the house, his party looking at him with anticipation.

"Good morning." Herrior said with a smile.

"You never know what the next day might bring huh?" Branzer asked.

"Being normal is boring…unpredictability is fun." Mohania said as he pulled Branzer's arm that he was supporting himself on and fell to the ground. "You see…that was fun!"

"Grow up children…what's our first move Herrior?" Skyka asked.

"I need to speak with our ambassadors, the rest of you need to go visit your trainers." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

That day consisted of word spreading fast through Tranquil about the new fighting techniques that kept the class trainers very busy. A male Chronomancer offered to be the first trainer for the Chronomancers in Tranquil. He was given the magical powers to be a trainer and the monks transferred their knowledge that they obtained from the female orc to him. He was quickly overwhelmed by the many Chronomancers wanting the new founded powers, but he wanted a chance first to test them out. It was a variation of increasing the party's chance to hit and take damage to casting spells of ice and fire as well as some healing spells.

The day lasted well into the night and went on for several more days until all of the fighters had learned everything that was offered. At the end of the third day everybody was exhausted but all of the fighters knew the new fighting tactics. Dan had learned that the necklace that Stolan made for could not be reverse engineered, but they saw great potential in the metal. It cracked the finest crafted sword that they made and absorbed a great deal of abuse and still retained its form. Herrior received orders to go negotiate with the queen of Elona for rights to mine for this ore. His party left at once for their island.

"Lindel…you have returned to me!" Stolan said upon immediately seeing Lindel come out of the portal and closing it behind her.

"I have not returned for you Stolan, I am engaged to be wed." Lindel said back in a stern voice.

"Then I shall compete with him for your heart. Who is my challenger?" Stolan asked.

"I am." Lindel quickly said before anybody else could say anything. "I am not a prize to be won, and I am insulted that you say such things! My mind and heart is not some trophy to be placed on your mantle, now take us to your queen."

"I did not mean to insult you…" Stolan said less aggressively.

"Well you did and I do not think very highly of you. This might be how you acquire woman on this world, but you know not of our world. Queen! Now Stolan!" Lindel said pointing to the castle.

"All business with our queen can be discussed through me; she is busy at the moment…" Stolan snapped back.

"We have come to barter to get more of this 'ghost iron' and the "Spirit of Harmony" that comes from your homeland." Herrior said interrupting the dispute.

"So is everybody else! Apparently we are in debt to the people of Jahai for taking in our people during the siege. Battle rages over the lands over the hidden treasures the great demon left. You have led us from one battle to another!" Stolan said pointing at Herrior.

Herrior, in a very calm composure, said "Stolan…you're people were dying from the demon and the droughts. You came to this island to escape…now that your long enemy has been killed you war among yourselves over childish things. You should be celebrating in unification of your people, not some squabble. If you will not let us negotiate, then we will leave." Herrior said.

"Put down those that war against us and leave Lindel here, never to return again and then you may mine for ore." Stolan said.

"Lindel…open the portal. These people have nothing we want. We will mark your world in civil unrest and will leave you to slaughter each other. Perhaps in a couple hundred years we will come back." Herrior said and turned away from Stolan. Lindel started to open the portal when Stolan began to cast a spell. Herrior turned around and slammed his fist in Stolan's mouth, silencing the spell. "You better think twice about attacking us…" Herrior warned him.

Herrior's group portalled back to Tranquil and Herrior reported to one of the King's ambassadors what happened. Soon afterwards the guards reported a group of people advancing towards the kingdom's walls.

"Our friends are back…stupid bastard can't take no for an answer…" Herrior said pulling out his shield and sword and advanced towards the gates along with dozens of other fighters.

"I wish to speak with the one called Dan…please." It was the queen and she was dressed in a huge fur coat.

"Never heard of him…if you have come to war just say the word. My axe thirsts for blood." One of the guards said as they moved into formation.

"Stop! I will speak with her…" Dan said and flew above the fighters and landed before her.

"We have much to speak of; may I come inside where it is warmer?" The queen asked.

"You would be instantly killed…call off your guards and I will call off mine." Dan said.

The queen nodded, turned around and ordered them to leave. Dan walked out into the snow chilled land and held up his hand as the high winds and snow was redirected around them.

"Are you the shaman that killed the demon?" The queen asked.

"I am one of the fighters that worked together with others from both of our worlds to vanquish your demon, yes. What is it that you want?" Dan asked.

"Stolan reported to me what happened and I imprisoned him. His fate is in your hands. I apologize for his actions and words. What would have me do to him?" The queen asked.

"He is not the reason why you came, let's discuss that." Dan said.

The queen sighed and said, "Very well. We have seen your fighters in battle. They would best of our soldiers. I have come to negotiate for your help. What Stolan said is true, when the demon was destroyed and all of the abominations were vanquished our people went to war with what remained. This is unfortunate and I want this to end."

"So recall your fighters." Dan said quickly.

"Let me finish please. My people have been in hiding for as long as I have ruled the throne and the queen before me, and the queen before her. We saw a chance to return to our homeland and gather resources…but so has every other outpost in Elona. You seek the same raw materials that we do, but unfortunately you would not be able to mine the ore without being attacked. I want the fighting to stop and a new rule to come to Elona. I want order restored." The queen said.

"Order…under who?" Dan asked.

"I am the rightful queen to Elona." The queen said.

"We are not interested in helping you slaughter your own people for you to rule over." Dan said.

"Not the way I wanted it to come across…perhaps you could work out a treaty with the other outposts? Settle this matter civilly?" The queen asked.

"What of the ambassador we sent to Elona?" Dan asked.

"We sent him away – he was not harmed I assure you, but he did not have the best interests of Elona in mind." The queen said.

"So what you want us to do is come in vast numbers and settle the disputes civilly without any bloodshed of course, but forcing them to bend their knee to you? That we will not do. We will speak with both sides and seek a truce between your people spread over the land, but you will have to agree to it." Dan asked.

"What is your price for doing it my way? A thousand bars of ghost iron? Ten thousand perhaps?" The queen asked.

"I have given you the only option that we will do. Both sides need to negotiate to end this fighting – we do not accept bribes or threats." Dan said. The queen sighed and looked away.

"The offer stands – return to us if you will reconsider your options for ending this peacefully." Dan said and snapped his fingers. Instantly the cold bitter air engulfed them as Dan turned around and went back to Tranquil.

"I want it to end peacefully!" The queen's voice yelled over the frigid cold wind.

"That is not how we work. You write up a proposition that you think the outsiders will agree to and we will mediate it. Good bye." Dan yelled back and walked inside Tranquil.

"Are we going to fight?" A guard asked eagerly.

"Afraid not – the queen wants to rule everybody on their world and they want to use us as muscle for each outpost to surrender peacefully. In exchange she offered ten thousand bars of ghost iron." Dan said loud enough for everybody to hear.

"That is not our fight…alright everybody back to their posts…" Herrior said.

"They apparently told our ambassador to leave, Stolan's life is in our hands and their lands lay in civil unrest. Are we just going to leave them alone?" Dan asked.

"That's exactly what we are going to do. We don't negotiate with dictators. Did she say anything else?" Herrior said.

"I told her if she wrote up a proposition for joining all of their people together, we would look at it and go from there." Dan said. Herrior's hearthstone started to vibrate. He pulled it out and saw Admiral.

"Sorry Herrior, we seem to have another problem." Admiral said.

"It is no trouble at all, that is why we gave you a hearthstone. What is going on?" Herrior asked.

"Apparently the same guy that we scared away has filed several lawsuits against our station. It seems he has his hands in some rich people's pockets and has won them over. We have been doing everything on the up and up. They can't find a thing wrong with our operations and the government, meaning George, has been fighting back…but this has become a real pain in the neck for us." Admiral said.

"We'll be right there." Herrior said. Lindel started opening a portal the same time Herrior put his hearthstone away and his party was there in almost immediately. He walked out of their arrival room and tapped on Admiral's door. Surprised by how quickly they arrived, he jumped out of his chair and ran over to open it. Herrior's party filed into the room and shut the door.

"I need a name and location of this man." Herrior said.

"I have that in a file right here." Admiral said picking up the top file and handing it to Herrior. "Are you going to kill him?"

"He'll wish that we did…Lindel…Mohania…go have some fun." Herrior said taking the file and giving it to Lindel.

"Now by 'fun' you mean…" Mohania said grinning.

"Go have fun Mohania..." Herrior said with a smile.

"I will carry out this mission to the fullest capacity of my strength!" Mohania said sinisterly and began to laugh.

"Go make me proud." Herrior said.

"Ok annoying woman…open the portal and let's go…" Mohania said quickly.

"I'm trying to get a location…these addresses and street names do nothing for me…" Lindel said.

"I can have a driver drop you off." Admiral said.

"Driver…ho!" Mohania said excitedly and rushed to go outside but Herrior grabbed his cloak and restrained him as he kept trying to run.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Herrior asked.

"I have full permission to make this man go insane…check. I have annoying woman with me…check. No I think I'm good." Mohania said spinning his head around. Herrior pointed to his trinket. Mohania let out a sigh as he activated it. Herrior let go of him as Mohania grabbed Lindel and pulled her through their party and left in a hurry.

"What are they going to do to him?" Admiral asked.

"Honestly…you probably don't want to know…" Herrior said letting out a smile. Herrior then changed the subject and asked how George was doing.

"He calls every day and bitches about the same bureaucratic bullshit he has to put up with and tells me how lucky I am that I have the position I'm in. I told him we can make another office for him. He generally laughs and says 'don't tempt me'." Admiral said.

"Is there somebody harassing him as well?" Herrior asked.

"Always…but it mostly has to do with our country and I have the feeling you aren't here to solve our country's or the world's problems." Admiral said.

Herrior shook his head but asked if there was somebody specifically that needed to be "adjusted".

"You mean threatened and beat mercilessly?" Admiral asked. Herrior smiled and shrugged.

"No, that's why he makes the big bucks and has the power that he has. That was the thing that I hated about my job before…we could only fire upon vessels if they fired at us first. Raiding vessels and reports of ships in the open ocean being ransacked by self-proclaimed pirates, throwing the entire crew overboard and destroying the boat afterwards – but no, we could not intervene…only if they shot at us first." Admiral said with much regret. "Do you know how many reports I got of hundreds of people dying on the high seas just because they couldn't defend themselves?"

"I would have intervened against those orders." Herrior said.

"Believe me I wanted to…but orders are orders." Admiral said.

"I don't like your government…" Herrior said.

"Join the club."

A policeman drove Mohania and Lindel for about an hour until he pointed at the house where he lived.

"Fenced in property, perfectly manicured lawn, with probably maids to wipe his ass and butlers to chew his food for him…" the officer said.

"Keep driving; let us off about a hundred yards up." Lindel said.

The officer did as he was told and asked how long he should stick around.

"You don't want to be anywhere near this area when we do our work. Go ahead and head back after you drop us off. Unleashing havoc on him is not something I want you to watch." Mohania said eagerly.

"Should we not respond to any 911 calls to this house?" The officer asked.

"What is a 911 call?" Lindel asked.

"Emergency life and death call from a citizen."

"You mean from a phone?" Lindel asked for clarification.

"Yes ma'am…Lindel, sorry."

"Mohania, we need to destroy all of the phones and then seal all of the exits." Lindel said.

"You're dampening my style…but fine…" Mohania said.

The cruiser stopped and the officer opened the door for them and said, "Have fun."

"We will…" Mohania said glancing at him with fire in his eyes. The officer had chills run down his spine when he saw him. Both of them ran off behind a house and vanished in thin air.

"Glad I'm on their side…" the officer said and got back in his cruiser and squealed his tires as he accelerated away.

Mohania had turned himself invisible as did Lindel as they quickly moved through the assortment of yards, jumping over fences and moving as quickly as they could back to the house. Ten minutes later they were on the compounds outside fence. It was iron and had fancy spikes at the top. Mohania held out his arms as Lindel picked him up and flew him over the fence.

"Let me go in first…you get ready to disable the electricity running into the water." Lindel said. Mohania nodded and they split off into different directions.

"No! I want that station shut down! I will not be disgraced like that! Major that station and its operation is a menace and I want it shut down!" The man yelled in the phone. He paused for a second and said, "I don't care if they have a flawless record…need I remind you who was the major contributor to your campaign – and reelection is only a matter of weeks away." Another pause in the conversation and then the man frantically yelled, "Let the damn prisoners go free for all I care! I want that place shut down!" and then slammed down the phone on its receiver. Frustrated the man stormed off into his exercise room. Lindel swooped in and burned the wire connecting it to the phone. She then flew from room to room, looking for phones and disabling them – including melting any cellular phones she found. Once convinced that he couldn't call for help, she flew through the rooms and stuck her head out and told Mohania to cut the power. Mohania acknowledged and instantly let out a blast of fire that melted the meter reader and all wires to it. The power went out for a second and then a generator behind the house turned on as the lights came back on. Mohania, pissed off, shot one of his chaos bolts at it – sending the machine into tiny little pieces of molten metal flying away. Mohania paused for a second to make sure there wasn't any other device to give power to the house. Mohania heard the man inside yelling and cursing the power, so Mohania was convinced that he did his job. He summoned his imp and quickly went inside the backdoor and slammed it shut as hard as he could. He heated up the locks and melted them, making it impossible to leave.

"Who's there?" The man yelled out. Mohania quickly ran through the house, still invisible and melted the front door and the side doors.

"Who the hell is in my house?" The man yelled out and Mohania let out a loud sinister laugh lasting five seconds and then relocated himself to a different room.

The man pulled out a gun and found a flashlight. "You'll be sorry you came in here you miserable piece of shit! I'll pump you full of lead – you have no idea who you are messing with!" Suddenly the man's flashlight went dead and a cold hand grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger. The man jumped away from it as the gun floated in the air and fired its bullets at the man. They all missed him as he sat against the wall with his arms covering his face. He looked up and saw the gun twirling in the air by itself. It then caught on fire and melted on the floor in a pile of hot metal.

"What the hell?" The man asked. Suddenly a hand grabbed the man's arm and threw him across the room. The man landed on an expensive glass table and cried out in pain. He quickly got up on his feet and looked around. The tiny shards of glass had begun to dance around on the floor as he watched them terrified.

"Stop that!" he yelled at them. The glass danced to the right and then floated up into the air. He saw a picture vibrate on the wall, and then it rose into the air and flew inches from his face. The man screamed and covered his eyes. He waited for a second and then looked back to see the picture still in front of him. Then the words "Power Corrupts" was written in fire on the picture and it burned in front of him until he ran away from it.

"Power…power…power…corrupts…" Mohania said in a very slow eerie sinister voice.

"Who is that? Who said that?" The man said in a panic. He heard some words in a language he never heard of before and suddenly the room was filled with images of poor people.

"Feed me…clothe me…stop taking from me…you are stealing my life…I died because of you…" Lindel said changing her tone to match each person that Mohania made talk.

"I…you aren't real! This isn't happening! I did nothing to any of you!" Said the crazed man and ran out of the room.

"We've come to feed on you!" Mohania yelled out in a sinister voice and made them all get up and fly towards him. The man ran through his house and kept looking back to see the illusions running at him. He yelled, "Stop it! Stop it…Stop it!" The man made a quick turn into his library and slammed the door shut. He then quickly ran over and started throwing books on the floor until he found the one he wanted. He opened it and pulled out a small revolver. Suddenly a hard "bang" was heard on the door.

"Go away…I'm warning you!" said the quivering man. He let out a shot at the door. Silence came for a moment as he hid behind his favorite reading chair. Slowly he stood up and held the gun in front of him, still quivering. Suddenly the door caught fire and quickly burned up. Accidently he let out another shot as he screamed and quickly began to run backwards and found the back wall. Mohania conjured up a ghostly image of the man and made him walk into the doorway. The man raised his gun and shot off every round as the bullets went right through him.

"Can't kill yourself…can you?" The illusion said and began to walk towards him. The man dropped the gun and quickly ran to the other side of the room. The illusion stopped walking, disappeared and reappeared in the same spot but looking directly at him. This horrified the man as he let out a scream. The illusion smiled and spun his head completely around and then flew into the air.

"Sucks when your conscious comes alive!" Said the illusion and then held out his hands and floated towards the man. The terrified man sat down and covered his faced with his arms and looked away. Suddenly he felt cold dark hands reach into his body and grab his ribcage. The hands started pulling on them and he screamed in pain as the illusion pulled on them laughing. The man opened his eyes and saw tiny particles coming out of the illusions mouth and into his eyes. He tried to shut his eyes, but couldn't.

The illusion quickly stopped laughing and said, "You'd be surprised what you can live through…" and then disappeared.

The man rose up the wall as his head slammed against the ceiling. Screaming the entire time he was then turned and thrown up against the ceiling and ran across the entire length of the room screaming until his head slammed hard into the opposite side of the wall. He then fell hard into the floor.

Lindel began accessing his mind and Mohania dropped his illusion as he walked up to the man, picked him up by the arm and pulled him close to his face and said, "You are going to die tonight!" Mohania laughed as his head burst into first and the man screamed and scrambled to get away from him. Mohania pulled him out of the room and threw him into the kitchen. The man landed and Mohania instantly disappeared, but the man looked up and saw his collection of sharp knives hovering right above his body.

"One blade for every person you tormented…" Lindel made the man say. The man looked down at his mouth and realized something else made him say that. A knife flew directly into the man's genitals. He howled out in pain as the tears instantly formed. He tried to move his body but found that he was unable to.

"No more whores now…" Lindel made the man said.

"No…stop please…I beg of you!" The man yelled. Mohania reappeared in front of the man's feet and pulled out the knife. The man yelled in horror and in pain as he saw him.

Mohania pointed the knife at him and yelled, "You will never screw anybody over again when we are done with you! Never again!" Mohania bent over and slashed off his shirt and then carved a "C" shape in his chest. Mohania bent over and pulled up some of his intestines.

Screaming hysterically now, the man pleaded for his life. Mohania merely tossed his intestines up and down in his hand. "How about we see what you ate tonight?" The man couldn't stand what he was watching anymore and fainted.

Mohania threw his intestine on his chest and said, "Really? Come on Lindel…wake him back up."

"Just a second…this man is plotting an attack on Admiral to execute him." Lindel said using the man's lips to talk.

"More play time?" Mohania asked excitedly.

"Contact Herrior and tell him to go to Admiral's house. It's supposed to be carried out in about an hour." Lindel said.

"On it," Mohania said pulling out his hearthstone. Herrior's image popped up and he looked surprised to see Mohania.

"Yeah yeah I know…something came up. The man fainted, or Lindel put him to sleep…either way Admiral's life is in jeopardy. Lindel said this man ordered an attack on his house tonight." Mohania said. Herrior quickly turned around and looked at the astonished Admiral. "Herrior…my family!"

"Nothing is going to happen to them or you…" Herrior said and then looked back at Mohania and said, "Did you get anything else out of him?" Mohania pulled up the man's intestines and showed Herrior.

"Seriously Mohania…" Herrior said annoyed.

"Lindel – anything else in the man's head?" Mohania asked.

"The mayor is scared of him…a lot of people are scared of this man. Herrior we need a public execution for this man! That is the only way of alleviating the fears of everybody that knows him." Lindel said.

"Herrior turned to Admiral and asked where a good place to execute this man would be.

"Herrior! The mayor's chambers that he works at…I believe that would be the perfect spot." Lindel yelled out.

"Do it. I'll send a vehicle to come get you." Herrior said.

"No! Go help Admiral's family! I know where to take him!" Lindel yelled out.

"Will do." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Can we have some more fun with him?" Mohania asked.

"Yes…but we'll need to keep him alive – for the time being…" Lindel said. The man's body jolted as if it was being electrocuted and was suddenly awakened. He looked up at Mohania and all of the floating knives fell to the ground harmlessly.

"Boss lady says you have to stay alive…" Mohania said tossing his intestines back at him. The man looked terrified at it. Quickly it was pulled back into his body and Lindel healed the cut. Lindel then made the man float up into the air and turn forward so that he could stand on his feet. He was face to face with Mohania.

"Get some paper…we have some writing to do…" Lindel made the man say. Mohania then punched him hard in the stomach and said, "Hurry up!"

Admiral was near hysteria and Herrior told Skyka, Branzer, and Dan to come with them as they ran out of the station and into Admiral's SUV.

"Are these intruders in the vehicle?" The SUV asked.

"No – get me home quickly!" Admiral yelled at it. The SUV backed out of the parking spot and sprouted engines out of the back bumper and flew over the fence. Everybody was thrown back into their chairs as the vehicle accelerated beyond anything they had ever felt before in a vehicle.

The SUV finally touched down just enough to make a quick turn, throwing everybody hard against the side of the SUV and then quickly accelerated to speeds that were beyond dangerous.

"I…would like to survive the trip…" Dan said as his voice was muffled by the constant swerving and G-forces exerted on them.

"Faster!" Admiral yelled at the SUV and instantly they left the ground and the rockets pushed them forward hard enough to nearly make everybody pass out.

Seconds later the SUV landed hard and skidded doing a half-circle and stopping in front of his house.

"Holy shit! Talk about beating rush hour traffic…" Branzer said.

"Admiral, tell your SUV to stop any bullets from going inside your house and return fire. Branzer, you and Dan take the rear of the house, Skyka and I will take the front."

"What do I do?" Admiral asked.

"Go inside your house and get your family to a safe room." Herrior said.

"Ok…wait what?"

"Go, and before you leave tell the turn over control of your vehicle to me!" Herrior said pointing at the house.

"Vehicle do what he said." Admiral said and ran in the house.

"Control has been transferred. What is my mission?" The SUV asked.

"Scan for incoming traffic on the ground and in the air. An attack is coming and we need to stop it." Herrior told it.

"Scanning has begun. There is a vehicle in the air heading towards us; it will arrive in twenty minutes. Shall I shoot it down?" The SUV asked.

"No, what else are are you picking up?" Herrior asked.

"Normal traffic patterns, there doesn't seem to be any more abnormal activity." The SUV said.

"I'll check back every ten minutes." Herrior said and slammed the door shut. "Branzer – incoming vehicle in the skies!"

"On it!" Branzer said and summoned his eagle. It instantly took flight and soared into the sky. At a thousand feet or so it started to look around.

"There's a helicopter inbound. It's an army attack copter – a Black Hawk I believe." Branzer yelled out after the eagle relayed the information to him.

"Take it down!" Herrior ordered. His eagle let out a loud screech and flew towards it at speeds unmatched to that of any other flying bird.

"Target is coming up, get ready to for exit." The pilot said.

"Remember people…get in, complete our mission, and get out! A simple snatch and grab, I don't want any screw ups." The commander said as he finished suiting up.

"Sir! Sir…something is coming at us…" the pilot said as the pilot was squinting his eyes to see it. Suddenly the front window was completely smashed in and Branzer's eagle's fierce claws and beak had ripped off the man's helmet and pecked out the man's eyes in all of the commotion. The man screamed and starting flailing his arms for his life to get the bird off from him. The helicopter suddenly went out of control as the co-pilot tried to compensate. The eagle then left its prey and flew over to the co-pilot and sunk its talons deep into the man's arm. The man grimaced in pain, but kept his right arm on the controls. The eagle then quickly outside the helicopter as it began to move erratically. The eagle then moved down to the landing step and flew as hard as it could in an attempt to flip the helicopter over. It successfully moved it ninety degrees laterally, sending it veering way off course before the pilot compensated.

"Abort the mission! Get us out of here!" A voice yelled out. The eagle studied the flying machine and then flew to the back of it where the rotator tail blade was spinning. The eagle began ripping and tearing at the metal until it got to several hoses and wires. It bit threw them, sending wires ripping apart and a black fluid spraying out of it. The eagle backed away and then looked at the rest of the vehicle. It suddenly started shaking and spinning. The eagle heard the fear of the soldiers in the helicopter as it began to descend into the street. It crashed and sent debris flying all over the place. The eagle hovered over it and watched the metal contraption burst into millions of pieces. It waited to make sure it wasn't going to get back up and eventually saw men crawl out of the wreckage. It let out a loud squeal in satisfaction and quickly flew away.

"Helicopter is down Herrior." Branzer reported.

Herrior nodded at him and then saw the SUV do a one eighty and drive off at incredible speeds. Seconds later an enormous crash sound was heard and the sudden cry of humans came for a split second before it was drowned out by the sound of metal tearing and glass shattering. The SUV then returned back to the house, undamaged.

Herrior ran out to it and flung open the door and asked what happened.

"I detected a vehicle coming with an arsenal of weapons. It was driving quickly in this direction so I intercepted it." The SUV reported back.

"Good work, any other vehicles coming?" Herrior asked.

"None that seem aggressive, there are humans coming out to investigate what happened. I've intercepted several transmissions indicating the air vehicle has been destroyed and calls for help are going out, as well as the vehicle I just stopped. Do you want me to jam the transmissions?" The SUV asked.

"No…the fight is over for tonight. I want to remain your master but give authority for your former master to control you as well." Herrior said.

"Very well" the SUV responded and Herrior shut the door. He then walked up to Admiral's door and gently knocked on it, then quickly activated his trinket. Admiral opened the door with his enormous barrel sticking right in Herrior's face. He quickly withdrew it and apologized.

"The threats have been neutralized. Calls are being sent to your station for help." Herrior said.

"You mean 'our' station…" Admiral said with the sound of relief in his voice and a smile.

Herrior smiled and said, "It is yours Admiral. Your family is safe tonight. I am leaving the vehicle. The person that coordinated these attacks has been suffering greatly at the expense of my party. They said they have a plan and it will come to light tomorrow." Herrior noticed a woman hugging her children looking at him. "You have my word that no harm will come to you and your family." Herrior then turned back to Admiral and said, "We are going to return to the station and get some rest…you should as well, tomorrow is going to be a big day for your station."

"You're going to walk back? Do you want me to drive you?" Admiral quickly asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "The night air is crisp and the moon is full – it will do us some good to get a nice walk in." Herrior paused for a second as he heard sirens in the distance. "Your forces sound like they will be here shortly. It would be a shame if all of your attackers died because they did not receive proper medical treatment…have a good night." Herrior said with a smile and nodded at him as he left.

"Hun…who was that?" Admiral's wife asked.

"Ever heard of guardian angels? We have a dozen and a half looking after us…" Admiral said as he shut the door.

Screams came out of several men and women as they saw what happened. The man who organized the attacks and threatened the station was hung by the neck on their town hall, his intestines and bodily fluids falling out of his body and dripping on the cement. His body was badly burned and had dozens of lacerations all over his body.

"Somebody get him down!" An officer from the station said. Another officer pulled out his magnum, took aim, and fired. The bullet ripped through the noose as the body fell with a huge bone crushing "splat" noise on the concrete. The officer that gave the order looked over at the other one and glared at him.

"One in a million shot, sir…" he smiled back.

"A little more tactfully next time perhaps?" He responded back and then ordered everybody to move away from the body. They setup barricades and brought in their mobile crime lab to look over the body. One of the investigators found several hand-written notes in a plastic bag.

"Officer! You might be interested in reading this…" The investigator said as he read through only half of the first page. The officer walked over and began to read it. He pulled up his walkie-talkie and said, "Admiral come in."

"Admiral here."

"Sir, we found an apparent suicide note. A man hung himself on the flag pole at town hall and it has names, dates, addresses, and events of things he did and things he knew about of corruption within several judges, mayors, a separate militia he funded…sir you have to take a look at this." The officer reported.

"Conduct business as usual…I had a feeling something was going to…happen today. Admiral out." Admiral let go of his walkie-talkie and reattached it to his hip and let out a big smile looking at the entrance to the station's compound. He looked to the heavens and said aloud, "Thank you".

"Herrior I must abject! I could have done so much more to him! Annoying woman would not bring him back from his fainting spell!" Mohania said.

"I did bring him back…we tortured him enough…"

"No such thing…" Mohania butted in.

"But my way exposed everything that he did. If I do recall you laughed your ass off when you watched him when he couldn't keep his balance anymore and fell off the pole…his guts and blood spilling all over everything." Lindel said.

"I did like that part…" Mohania said with a smile, "but we could have done so much more…"

"Settle down you two…I'm trying to eat without having my stomach churn with disgust." Herrior said. His party met at Brenna's house and sat on the second floor eating a new type of soup. It was filled with turnips, rice, milk, and soy sauce. As disgusting as it sounded, nothing but compliments came from the group.

After awhile of conversation Strings's hearthstone began to vibrate. Strings pulled it out and an image of Ysera appeared.

"Good morning my love, how fairs thee this morning?" Strings asked.

"And good morning to you as well my love, I am well thank you for asking. It seems as though our kingdoms have run a similar problem – unknowing to you, which is why I must speak with your group." Ysera said. Strings set the hearthstone on the ground and it projected the image on the ceiling.

"I always wondered how to do that." Dan said.

"It seems as though there are some Chronomancers that can traverse time and space like we can. A woman with some fighters entered my kingdom and was quickly subdued. The woman claimed to be some queen of a place called Elona. Sound familiar?" Ysera asked. Herrior let out a groan and covered his face shaking it back and forth.

"I'll take that as a yes. Well apparently they are going from world to world seeking help in ending some rebellion that is of no concern to mine. I let them go, but stripped them of their weapons and armor." Ysera said.

"I wish we never laid foot on their land… Ysera we need to hold a meeting about this. We might have to strike at her forces and assassinate her in order to end her meddling. Ysera she is looking for any help…even those of our enemies she would take in." Herrior said.

"It's been awhile since our dragons have drawn blood…I do not fear her." Ysera said casually.

"She is a nuisance…nothing more than an insect, but if she gathers enough forces she might be capable of taking down some of your Dragonflights or even altering them to do her will." Herrior said.

Ysera considered it for a moment and then said, "Agreed, speak with your King and I will wait for the meeting" and then she closed the portal. Strings picked up his hearthstone and put it back in his pocket.

"Branzer, contact Admiral – I want him here for this meeting. Skyka contact the rest of our allies and I will go speak with the King. We will hold the meeting in Ysera's kingdom…and Dan…" Herrior said hesitating.

"Yeah yeah I know…I'll go make contact with her. I'll send the invite but I'm not going to make any promises." Dan said.

"Offer her some chocolate!" Lindel said enthusiastically.

"Offer here some severed heads!" Mohania said mocking Lindel's enthusiasm. She spit her tongue out at him.

"They are all yours Herrior…I'm out of here." Dan said smiling at him and instantly vanishing.

Dan arrived in the hallway right before the throne room. The guards jumped in surprise and then pointed their weapons at him.

"Kill your queen's prize carrying a valuable message? Your heads would be on spikes before the days over…summon her for me." Dan said calmly.

Stolan casually walked out of the throne room and saw Dan. Instant fear swept over him as he fumbled backwards as if trying to hide himself.

"How's the torture Stolan? Looks like it has been taking its toll on you…" Dan said crossing his arms.

"Dan! What a surprise! I did not expect you…uh…the queen is out right now…" Stolan said nervously.

"Shut up Stolan…it seems that there has been a lot of activity coming out of your people and it's pissing off a lot of kingdoms. I've come here to on behalf of the kingdoms you have pleaded your case with and officially invite you to a meeting with everybody. Tell your queen and we will discuss the issues on hand." Dan said.

"And…where are we going to meet?" Stolan asked.

"In the land of the dragons. We'll meet you there within the hour. If she isn't there to speak for her people, then we will make a decision without her." Dan said.

"Is that a threat?" Stolan asked.

"Are you being tortured right now?" Dan asked with a smile and then instantly disappeared. Stolan cursed and slammed the door behind him as he discussed the issues with the queen.

The meeting was to take place where the queen of Elona originally came from. With them was Admiral, Herrior's party, Cenarius, the King of Tranquil, Ysera with her guards, Headmaster of the Kalu'ak people, and an eagerly waiting Lindel who was ready to rip off Stolan's head.

"Thank you everybody for coming together. We might have a new friend or enemy. As all of you may know our recent encounter with the people of Elona has altered all of our lives. This was not our intentions and I stand here before all of you, just as annoyed as probably some of you are with her – but I want to hear her story. Perhaps diplomacy will work in our favor, but we all know if she is visiting us, she might possibly be visiting our enemies as well." The King said.

"I say we kill her and tear the ground out from beneath them!" Cenarius's voice thundered. "Nobody enters my kingdom uninvited let alone asking for help with false promises! I will crush the very life out of her!" The mighty Cenarius held his hand up and gripped it hard.

"Please Cenarius…we all feel the same, but let's give her a chance." The King said calmly.

"I'm voting for him…" Mohania whispered to Dan and pointed to Cenarius.

A portal slowly began to form and when it fully formed the queen of Elona came out with hundreds of her soldiers behind her. Once she was out, she gave the order to attack.

"Not quite yet…" The King of Tranquil said holding up his hand and crushing the portal behind her. The queen looked behind her shocked and then turned back around worried.

"We have gathered for a meeting in hopes of discussing some events that have happened. Please have a seat with us." The King said.

"I will not sit with my enemies! If you kill me, my soldiers will lay siege to all of your lands!" The queen said.

"A pathetic gesture of violence…have you ever fought an entire legion of dragons?" Ysera asked leaning back on her elbows with a smile on her face.

"My Chronomancers will reopen my portal and my armies will pour out at any moment!" The queen said.

"Not hardly…listen we are not here to make threats – we are here to discuss a mutual compromise between our people so that we can all benefit from this meeting. There is no need to make any more threats – we are not here to fight." The King said and then gestured for her to sit down again. This time she sat down with a big huff, as if she was a spoiled brat that just got scolded.

"Now then, let us begin. You want a unified balance with your people and you have been seeking the power to obtain it forcefully, now I just wanted to say…"

"We have obtained the forces we need!" The queen interrupted.

"Please don't interrupt me, it is considered rude. Now then you say that you have forces, but at what cost is it going to be to obtain your goals? Those were your people before; you may very well have brother fighting against brother, and sister fighting against sister. You lay siege to those outposts and fortresses and your forces may very well turn on each other with mass casualties. Have you drawn up any plans for a 'non-confrontational' means of working with the others to work together?" The King asked.

"You mock me and if it weren't for this dry dust in my mouth I would spit on you!" The queen said.

"That might not be the best decision in your current situation…now getting back on topic we are willing to work with your people and the people of the lands to establish a working relationship, but I assure you my patience and the patience of those representing their kingdoms among us grows thin." The King said. The King felt attempted try after try to establish a portal, but he continued to dissolve them. The queen didn't say anything so he let the portal establish.

"I will see all of you dead before my armies!" The queen said as she dove inside the portal – slamming shut behind her.

"Waste of my time! My druids will ravish their bodies! Is this meeting adjourned?" Cenarius asked frustrated.

"Then it is settled…we have a new foe and they know where our kingdoms reside at."

"I will not stand for that!" Ysera said sitting up and wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Nor will I. Cenarius, Ysera – we fought beside them in battle. Their tactics are similar to ours." The King said.

"It is settled then! Ysera I will meet you back here within an hour with an army big enough to trample every living being in their army! If you wish to be part of the battle, I suggest you summon your dragons." Cenarius said as he ripped open a portal and left to his world.

"I can snap my fingers and have my entire legion ready. I will await your arrival." Ysera said and then grew into her enormous dragon form and let out a loud war cry. The skies went dark as the dragons flew to her. Her night elves and dragonkin began to run to her as well, hundreds of them.

"The Kalu'ak's will fight beside you as well." The Headmaster said.

"That will not be necessary Headmaster, this battle will be swift and over within seconds…" The King said.

"We have long been faithful to all of you, we only trade with you – we wish to do more. Our fighters are seasoned and are ready to fight." The Headmaster said.

"I'm sure they are well prepared and would do well in combat, but even my people are staying out of this battle. On a different topic, the Rivendale people might be more open to accepting your people now and may grant you fishing rights in their ports. We launched an attack that destroyed two of their leaders and decimated their anarchy. We can send an ambassador from our kingdom for your people if you wish?" The King asked.

The Headmaster shook his head and said, "No no, you have done so much for us already. That is good information to know though. I will discuss it with our high council and vote on it."

"Very well. Ysera can you let us know how the battle went?" The King asked. Ysera's massive dragon head looked over at the King and nodded.

"Then we all should depart. Thank you all for the meeting." The King said and ripped open a portal back to Tranquil. "Lindel can you send Admiral back to his world? It was a pleasure having you among us, I have heard many wonderful things about you and I look forward to hearing many more." The King said looking at Admiral and then walked through the portal.

The Admiral was beside himself. He looked as if he was just awarded the Medal of Honor from the President, but only from somebody much more powerful than him.

"Your portal is waiting hun…" Lindel said. Admiral shook his head and got his wits together. "That's common for anybody. Not many people from your world get a chance to see our King, let alone get a compliment from him. You should feel proud. Keep up the good work." Lindel said.

"Yes ma'am." Admiral said feeling insignificant all of a sudden. "I mean Lindel…sorry." Lindel kissed him on the cheek and told him to take care of his soldiers. She then closed the portal and opened a new one to Tranquil.

"It is going to be a massacre my King." Herrior said.

"It would be if we went as well…" the King said confused.

"Yes of course…sorry my King I did not mean that…" Herrior said quickly.

"Ease your mind Herrior. She brought the battle to us, we negotiated – it failed and now war is the only option.

"My King reports from the guards of a battalion of soldiers approaching our front gates!" An ambassador blurted out.

The King sighed and said, "Herrior."

"Yes my King?"

"Let it be a massacre." The King said.

"It will be my King." Herrior said as he quickly left along with his party and pulled out his hearthstone. He contacted every available party in Tranquil and told them to assemble at the front gates.

"How many are there?" Herrior asked at the front gate.

"A mere one hundred or so…" a tauren guard said.

"One hundred and five, they are leaving their portal open." Lindel said.

"Banshess…" the guard replied sounding annoyed.

"Engineers – I want you to create a distraction here. Dan you slow their advancement, all of the guards hold the line here in front of them. I want every other group the runs out to go right and then left, and move as fast as you can around them. The King wants every one of them dead so we are going to flank them hard from both sides. Lindel, I think there might be a certain individual you might want to talk to on the battlefield?" Herrior instructed drawing a map on the dirt real quickly.

"Yeah he's here…I'll take care of him." Lindel said bitterly.

"Open the gates! Leave none alive!" Herrior's voice thundered throughout Tranquil as the rest of the fighters cheered.

Tranquil's fighters moved out onto the battlefield as if they had the ability to read each other's minds and had done this hundreds of times. Dan took to the air and flew high into the heavens. He then funneled down a huge gust of wind, ice and snow on their attackers. They had to stop their movement because it was so cold and in the white out conditions made it impossible to see anything. They tried to yell out for each other, but the wailing of the winds prevented that also. The engineers deployed their devices and their weapons. Dozens of contraptions came to life and started firing anything from pieces of string to enormous rockets. Several contraptions sent out lasers and other types of intensely heated beams of light in their direction. Others shot out landmines that upon landing on the ground moved towards their enemies and exploded.

They took the bait. The enemy started moving towards the distractions as some of them began to die from the contraptions. Suddenly the fighter's of Tranquil surrounded them and in one coordinated swoop, killed half of them in mere seconds. The other half had time to see their friends die before they too joined them in the afterlife.

"Stop the wind! Secure the portal! Leave Stolan alive!" Herrior shouted out commands while everybody was taking turns making sure that their enemies were dead. Dan instantly stopped channeling the wind and ice and created a bubble around them that exposed the gruesome scene that had taken place. Stolan was in the middle of the carnage and Lindel flew straight towards him.

"Lindel…Lindel, I still love you!" Stolan pleaded. She turned into her evil banshee form as she shot out bolts of blue lightning at him.

"Still love me now?" Lindel said in her evil banshee voice as she let out a bone-chilling cackle. Stolan fell to the ground in pain as his body began to turn to stone.

"You…you aren't Lindel…" Stolan said.

Lindel changed back and said, "Oh but sugar…I am. I really am Lindel…and now you are really going to die a horrible death. You don't mess with a banshee!" Lindel yelled turned back into her evil banshee form and his body continued to solidify until he was pure rock. Lindel then energized her fist and slammed it into the rock – breaking it into dozens of pieces.

"I need three groups to come with me! I need another Chronomancer to go to the Ka Kalu'ak and make sure they are safe. The rest of you report back to the King and secure Tranquil for further orders!" Herrior yelled out.

Herrior and the three closest groups ran towards the portal that was being powered by a Chronomancer already there. They ran through the portal and saw several dozen soldiers staring at them in disbelief. Herrior's sword became energized with magical power as he motioned to throw it forward. It hit one of their Chronomancers, exploding him into hundreds of pieces. The rest were quickly killed.

"Herrior…here is a book of all of the places they have been. They have been keeping charts." Lindel said drawn to a book in the corner of the room.

"Take it! Destroy everything…" Herrior started to say and then the room was hit by something hard and shook violently.

"It's Cenarius!" Lindel yelled.

"Back through the portal…now!" Herrior yelled as everybody ran through it and Lindel shut it behind them.

"Herrior, they are leveling everything on that island. They seem to be in competition with each other. Their queen is dead…ripped to shreds, Ysera beat Cenarius to it." Lindel said as they arrived back outside.

"What's in the book?" Herrior asked nodding in acknowledgement.

"I'll have to study it, but just thumbing through it, it tells about them starting to enslave people to build them weapons and forcing slaves to fight for them. There are different star charts in here to worlds I've never heard of before. So far I don't see anything that tells of any battle plans." Lindel said thumbing through it some more.

"Let's head back to Tranquil then. Destroy the pile of disease ridden corpses as we go by them…" Herrior said in disgust.

"I'll do that." Veliline said. She ran forward and her hand glowed red for a quick second before all of the corpses exploded into tiny pieces of flesh that littered the ground or blew away in the wind.

"…perfectly edible corpses…" Mohania grumbled.

"It seems you still have a couple of surprises left." Herrior said with a smile.

"Corpse explosion…thought everybody knew that?" Veliline asked with a cocky smile.

"You're the new annoying woman…" Mohania said passing by her.

"Did I just rise in rank?" Veliline asked with a bigger smile. Herrior's party laughed.

Herrior checked in with the other ambassadors about the progress of the fighting. So far it was a slaughter on their newly found enemy. No reported casualties on their allies either. Herrior thanked him for the report and offered his assistance if needed. At the moment it wasn't so he told his party to not wonder off to far in case they had to go back into battle.

Dan turned to his wife and took her hands and said, "I love you" with a smile.

Crystal smiled and said, "I love you too, where did this come from?"

"I haven't been saying it enough. I just wanted you to know that. I sometimes forget to do that. Will you come with me to the church? I have some things I want to pray about." Dan asked.

"I'd be glad to." Crystal said feeling warm inside. The other members of the party thought this was a bit out of character, and decided to follow along.

There was the normal commotion in Tranquil as Dan and Crystal walked hand in hand down the streets towards the enormous church. They walked inside and saw hundreds of people praying.

"Something going on that I'm not aware of?" Crystal asked.

"I have no idea…" Dan said back.

"If you listen to their prayers, they are praying for the battles going on and for the safe return of our fighters. A lot of people don't have jobs in Tranquil so they pray…we call them 'Prayer Warriors'." Herrior whispered.

"Oh" Dan said having his question answered. "Well I need to be one of them right now." He started forward down the hallway with Crystal following him. They moved into an aisle with some space and sat down. Dan began to pray aloud.

"Dead God…it's been awhile since I've talked to you. I'm not sure what to say exactly…it is because I haven't made time. I have time now though. I want to thank you for keeping me alive and my wife and party alive as well as we fight in combat. I wanted to admit that I have killed not with my heart but with my rage. I have gone astray in my faith and as a fighter. I kill to prove my abilities and for revenge and that is not how I want my mind to be. Please come back into my life, clear my mind of all negative thoughts and emotions and fill me with your grace. Please give me the wisdom that I need to know when to fight and when to steady my blades. Please forgive me of the ones that have died at my hand or of my actions. I do not wish to have any innocent blood spilled and I wish to help more if possible. Thank you for letting your Son die on the cross for my sins. If I had a son, I don't think I could have the strength and will power to just stand aside and let it happen. But you did it to give us a chance to enter the pearly gates of Heaven. Please help me to remember to clear my mind and to say a prayer before every battle I go into. I do not wish to slay those that have not accepted your free gift of salvation yet, but in battle I have no choice. Please let your word be spread among everyone that they may receive this gift and find peace in their hearts. Please be with the ones that are fighting now. Guide their blades and bring them home safely. Please forgive me of the sins that I have committed and help me to grow spiritually so that I can help speak to others about the free gift that you have given to all people. I pray in your word…Amen."

"Amen." The rest of Herrior's party - except for Mohania whose body would not withstand the holy grounds in the church, and Trackolania of course, all said.

Dan looked up and saw the pastor in the pew in front of him looking back smile at him. "Amen indeed. It has been awhile since I have seen you in service, I've been wondering how the prince of Tranquil has been doing."

"My power grows, but I don't feel as though it is my own or I earned it. I feel like I have stolen something, something that is not mine and it constantly fuels a fire, a desire if you will, inside of me. Nobody else can do what I can do, and I would gladly give it up if I knew how…but the monks beneath Tranquil will not touch my mind." Dan said.

"Have you ever considered that the powers you possess were a gift? The King and Queen have powers even beyond what you are capable of. Many others have different gifts and powers that you don't have. You seem to think that perhaps you got them by accident?" The pastor asked.

"Not by accident…everything that I've done so far, risked my life for, I've been…rewarded for…" Dan said as his thoughts got side-tracked.

"Within these walls are bits and pieces of knowledge no one person could ever fully understand, but were you risking your life or were you being led to do something that you felt was right and just at the time?" Pastor asked.

"It's a split second decision Pastor…I have no time to debate the ethics of it or the consequences." Dan replied.

"Ah, but you do. You have a choice…there are always choices, you just simply choose not to accept the other choices and go do what you think is best." The Pastor said.

"But my powers I have stolen from demons…Crystal as well…" Dan said looking quickly at Crystal.

"And who gave those powers to the demons? When you kill the demons, they cease to exist – except for the armor, weaponry, or whatever was left over. God is in full control of everything, you are not breaking any rules. You are within the walls of Tranquil, you stand on holy ground and you openly confess what you have done and ask for forgiveness…no demon inside of you would stand a chance against any of those. You can only be filled by one spirit at a time Dan, either the Holy Spirit, or a struggle for your soul…sometimes people can be filled with a demon or many demons, Mary Magdalene for example was filled with seven. Jesus ordered them to leave and she was then a devoted follower to him. You fight one demon at a time, but can you imagine being filled with seven demons tormenting your soul?" The Pastor asked.

Dan paused for a moment to take it all in. "So I don't have any demons tormenting me?"

"You may have demons whispering in your ear, telling you to do things that are not of our Lord, but only the Lord knows that. Temptation is all around us; just look at the new humans that are brought here to Tranquil…you yourself was one of them at one time. Did you have any thoughts of lust then? I imagine it is well gone by now, but other temptations you are probably still susceptible to and will be for the rest of your life. If you excel at warding off one temptation, the devil will find where you are weak and tempt you there. Are there any areas where you need help in?" The Pastor asked.

"Not lust for the flesh, but lust for power. There always seems to be that little voice in the back of my head that says I can do better, I can move faster, I can hit harder, I can manipulate time and bend it to my will…but it all has to stay in check though. That I struggle with…actually I struggle with the question, 'Why?' – 'Why me and not Crystal to have these powers…why can I commune with the elements and not other shaman? Why did I obtain the powers to move instantly from one place to another and not others?'"

"Silence my child…your mind is at war with itself and it need not be. The answer is simple – because God allowed it. Will you always have these powers? Who knows, tomorrow you may not, for nobody can tell what tomorrow may bring. Let me tell you a verse that you should memorize: 'Matthew 6:25-34 - "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

A crowd had begun gathering and heard the Pastor speak to Dan. Dan nodded and felt ashamed. He nodded his head and said, "I'm sorry…" quietly.

"You have a good heart. Don't worry about tomorrow or the next day. Don't worry about the past…you cannot grow or add an hour to your life by worrying."

Dan nodded and then said, "What should I think about then?"

"Let me quote some more scripture for you. This is in Philippians chapter 4:

8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

19. And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." The Pastor said and then looked at Dan and asked, "He is supplying your needs…don't worry about anything…do what is right before God…and think about the things that he commands us to think about in verse eight." Pastor patted him on his folded hands in front of him and said, "You are doing fine young man. I will see you think Sunday perhaps?"

"Lord willing." Dan said back with a smile. The Pastor smiled back and walked over to another couple and began to counsel them.

"How long have you been thinking about all of this?" Crystal asked.

"Quite some time now. Branzer's speech to Lindel sort of lit a spark in me and made me want to come here and pray about it. Luckily I got a chance to speak with the Pastor about it." Dan said.

"This is no such thing as luck." Herrior said quietly behind him.

Dan turned around and looked at Herrior and said, "I've been training time stoppers the ability to extend the time stopped and to use it more often…I could be training would-be assassins or thieves that could simply walk into a bank, steal all of the money, and walk out and nobody would be of the wiser. I ask myself 'Is this really what I need to be doing?'"

"It all starts here…" Herrior said pulling up a bible and pointing to it. "If you give a man a sword, he can use it to get meat for his family, he can use it against his family, and he can use it to slay the innocents – but if he is taught right and if he has a good upbringing then you needn't worry about it. If you suspect you have a student that needs additional teaching, go to him or her in private and speak with them, just as the Pastor just spoke with you. Almost all in Tranquil have heard the Words of the Bible…if not they have heard others speak of it. If you feel the time isn't right, pray for them – they might just come to you at the right time to speak to you of it, and you might just be there at the exact moment they need to talk – just as it has happened now. I must confess that I let worry get to me as well. I have all of you to worry about because I am your leader, but it is times like this that makes it all worthwhile. I try not to let the worry overcome me, but I am only a tauren…just like you are only a human." Herrior ended with a smile.

"Guess I still have a lot to learn…" Dan said looking down.

"We all do Dan…and we all need reminders once in awhile as well as to what we have learned but forgot in the past." Jacklyn quickly said.

"Well I just now learned a great deal" said a familiar male tauren voice. They all turned around and saw Vomgnar and Grirena. Grirena was nursing her twins.

"Are all taurens born with horns?" Dan asked noticing the tiny babies wrapped up tightly with a white sheet.

"Yes they are. They seem like they have nursed on me for eighteen hours a day…" Grirena said sounding tired.

"Aren't the fairies coming into their body?" Herrior asked sounding concerned.

"They are the same as us. That was explained to us almost immediately when we came in by our neighbors. They have helped nonstop. This is a wonderful city you have here." Grirena said.

"If they are getting the nutrients from the fairies and from you…maybe they aren't getting enough from the fairies?" Herrior asked.

"It was explained to me that since they were born outside of Tranquil and I was malnourished for so long, that the fairies are only putting in enough to support their bodies every couple of hours. They wanted the newborns to have the bonding experience with me and I agreed to it. I have finally been able to have a full belly, not run constantly being pregnant and worrying about having one die on me. I have found peace…and now I have found inner peace because of you." Grirena said looking at Dan. "I know now that you fight for the just and with honor. I know our minds are alike and seek peace. I have yet to find the peace, but my husband just did. Constantly shifting and readjusting my twins has become very distracting for me to get even a single thought it."

"Can I hold one?" Dan asked.

"Sure – if he starts getting fussy then I will take him back." Grirena said pulling one of the newborns away from her nipple and handing it to Vomgnar. He then took his child in both hands and gently placed it in Dan's arms. Dan's heart melted when he held him as the baby tauren was trying to go to sleep and still drink at the same time. He felt the tiny hands and feet inside the blanket trying to move. He then tilted him upward a little and looked at him. His face was black and white with tiny hair on it. He had small horns just peaking outside of his head. He opened his eyes for a quick second as he looked around. Dan smiled down at him and then the baby let out a "coo'ing" sound. The baby started to cry a little and Grirena asked for him back. Dan gently handed the baby tauren back to her as she reattached the baby to her nipple and began feeding again.

Dan was taken in by all of the emotion as tiny tears flowed from his eyes.

"It's about defending Tranquil and the protection of its citizens is why we fight – to ensure the next generation will survive." Herrior said sensing Dan's emotions. Crystal took Dan's hands into hers as they looked at each other and smiled.

"I'm next to hold one!" Lindel said excitedly.

"No I'm next…but you can after me." Vomgnar said with a smile.

"I can live with that." Lindel said smiling at him.

"They are very cute…you two made a great pair of taurens. I must depart now; I have things to attend to." Herrior said quickly as he felt his hearthstone vibrate. He stood up and quickly walked down the aisle as he pulled it out. It was Ysera.

"Problem solved. It was good to get out and stretch the old wings again. Let your King know that there are no survivors and that we torn apart every house and structure there was. I then went the outpost that I believe they were waging war against and introduced myself. Seems as though they have never seen a Dragon change into a human before…it was quite awe-inspiring for them…" Ysera said bragging.

"And?" Herrior asked.

"Yes fine…and they said they are willing to speak with one of your ambassadors. So you can send one out and make friends with them. Apparently the queen abandoned half of her people, probably more, to save her ass as well as some of her best soldiers and royal staff. She was not well liked. Was there any incidents while the battled raged?" Ysera asked.

"Tranquil was attacked as well as several allies. I'm not sure what the queen was up to thinking that she could send small armies to distract us while she continued to look for new worlds to look for slaves." Herrior said.

"I'm assuming that your kingdom and allies are safe then?" Ysera asked.

"It was a slaughter…it was over within minutes – if that." Herrior said.

"I am interested in these other worlds that they have visited…" Ysera asked knowing she wasn't allowed that information.

"So are we. Our Chronomancers are decoding the information right now and trying to locate them, but as we both know we have procedures to follow…" Herrior said back with a smile.

"Yes fine, I know…" Ysera said sounding slightly annoyed.

"I'll keep you informed. Congratulations on your victory." Herrior said.

"As with you as well" Ysera said and closed the portal.

The Sunday coming up for church services Herrior invited Admiral, George, as well as Alan and Sammy. Herrior made everybody at ease by talking about the highlights of each of their lives. He then had a small tray of food for each of them with assorted breads, meats and cheeses. Everybody sat together as the Pastor spoke for several hours about the three thousand promises that God had made in the Bible.

Afterwards Herrior took all of them to meet Brenna at her home.

"This is Brenna…she takes care of us when we are here. She is a close friend and makes wondrous foods." Herrior said.

"Pleased to meet all of you, and Herrior is right I do…come have a sit. I only have four chairs, but Herrior and his party can stand." Brenna said pulling out the table and chairs for the four humans.

"So how have you been Brenna?" Sammy asked.

"Busy…but that's better than not staying busy I suppose. We are harvesting crops nearly as fast as we are growing them. I grow my own in my garden, but I also work with Tranquil's gardens and your gardens as well – how are they doing?" Brenna asked back.

"Doing beautifully. I have never seen vegetables grow as fast as they have. I'm still learning exactly the right technique, but I could never hope to be as good as you. You certainly have a green thumb." Sammy said. Brenna smiled and then looked down at her fingers.

"Figure of speech." Dan said with a smile.

"This city, kingdom as you call it is magnificent! I could never have imagined that you were protecting something so beautiful, where people never fight and crimes are not committed." George said.

"Hardly…we all have free will just like anybody else. We may have different crimes than you have, but they are still here." Herrior said.

"The technology that this place possesses is…frankly unimaginable. Why have you chosen to stick with swords and shields though when your weaponry could be capable of so much more?" George asked.

"For killing demons, it is more efficient to slice them up then to fill them with bullets, at least the bullets from our world." Alan said remembering the lesson Herrior taught him.

"We do have missiles and bombs of the sorts as well, but it is more carefully tuned to a specific type of enemy. Mana bombs drain magic users, smoke bombs confuse and gag our opponents, and we don't have any nuclear missiles because we prefer a fair combat without damaging the grounds and surrounding lands – we just want to neutralize the enemy." Dan said. Herrior let out a slight cough and Dan said, "We also have many other things that I probably shouldn't say – but let's just say we are good at what we do."

"You are really concerned about the environment when you battle aren't you?" George asked.

"It sustains us. It is hope to all of the lovable furry creatures…they aren't part of the battle, why should they get hurt during our attacks?" Quinely asked.

"Eh…don't have an answer for you there. I'll work on some of our arsenal so it doesn't affect the environment as much." George said trying to save himself.

"It would be a lost cause…your world is made up of many different armies and you would have to convince all of them to do the same based on one person's recommendation. Let the idea go from your mind." Herrior said.

George slowly nodded and started going over scenarios where he could give speeches about creating bombs that wouldn't hurt the trees or wildlife. He didn't see anybody responding well to that.

"Chen…" a whisper came into Dan's ear as he quickly spun around to look in the direction of where it came from.

"What's wrong?" Herrior asked.

"Nobody else heard the name Chen?" Dan asked. Everybody looked at each other and said "No".

"I need to go find out where that voice came from…" Dan said running out of the door, and summoning an enormous gust of wind to propel him into the air.

"Nobody else heard that…why did he leave?" George asked.

"He has had visions and voices that have saved our kingdom before. I'll let him investigate and then follow up with him in thirty minutes or so." Herrior said. He then said it was probably time to get everybody back to their homes. Lindel created one portal at a time and sent them on their way.

Dan landed next to the Chronomancer circle of portals and quickly asked which one of them said "Chen". Nobody reported that they had.

"What worlds were you just investigating?"

"Several…why?" A female blood elf Chronomancer asked.

"Go back a couple and let me listen." Dan ordered. The Chronomancers did as they were told as several inhabitable worlds flew by in the portals that they had created.

"There! That one! What is that?" Dan asked.

"That one we know nothing about. It is full of clouds, both on the ground and above. It's habitable and it was one of the coordinates that we found on the maps and charts that we acquired from the battle on Elona." She said.

"Take me there." Dan ordered pulling out his fist weapons and energizing them. The Chronomancer opened the portal wide enough for Dan to go through and vanished into the mists.

"Who's Chen?" Dan asked aloud. Silence came back.

"Somebody here is called Chen…where is he?" Dan asked again in the mists. Suddenly a spear came flying out of the mists and hit Dan's armor. It deflected harmlessly away causing no damage. Dan held his hands out and separated the mists to see a large army of what was left of the queen of Elona.

"Where's Chen?" Dan asked again.

"Kill him…" The commander said casually. Dan slammed his fist in the ground and created a rupture line through the dirt. The line extended into their ranks and shot up, killing many of them and striking fear into the rest. Dan then summoned his fire and earth elemental to go attack as Dan followed them into battle.

The front line warriors weren't able to regroup quick enough to hold the line and were eventually each one fell. Every ten seconds or so, Dan had built up enough power to fully heal himself as his fists went flying – stabbing and swiping at everything in his path.

"Stand your ground men! He is but a boy!" The commander said. The fire elemental had laid down a path of fire as it shot fireballs and fire attacks in its way. It got to the commander and grabbed him. His hand began to catch on fire as the elemental pulled him towards itself, fully engulfing him in flame. The earth elemental was taunting the fighters off from the fire elemental and smashing them with its enormous fists. Dan in the mean time was surrounded by dozens of soldiers. He didn't know this world or what existed on it, but he had to take a risk.

Time stopped.

All of his attacks stopped immediately in their tracks as he quickly struck at all of them in vital areas. This took up several minutes, but he heard no demons coming towards him. He had been reluctant to use his powers before for fear of the demons finding him. This time however he heard none.

Once convinced that the army would all fall before him dead, he released time back to normal.

Time resumed.

His attackers instantly all fell to the ground as his elementals began fighting again. Dan rushed over and drove his spikes on his fists deep into one of the attacker's back. He grimaced in pain and quickly spun around with his sword in his hand. Dan deflected the attack, swept his foot in front of the man and pushed him forward. The man landed and saw all of the ones that Dan had just killed. The man's last words were, "Run!" before Dan ended his life.

Confused, the soldiers stopped attacking and saw almost their entire army bleeding on the ground. The soldiers panicked and fled. Dan began to cast a spell and a lightning bolt shot out of his hands, striking one opponent and skipping to four others. Moments later he heard the cries of the men as wild beasts attacked them.

The battle being over, Dan resumed his look for Chen. "Chen…my name is Dan. The army that came to your world has been slaughtered. I have come to rescue you, I mean you no harm. Are you hurt?"

No answer.

Dan started clearing away the mist as he walked, his two elements following him and recovering their health. He saw a child he had never seen before in the distance. She looked like a small teddy-bear.

"Hi…my name is Dan. Are you hurt?" Dan asked.

"Stay away! You are part of the bad men!" She yelled at him and then ran up a set of stairs and disappeared into the mists as Dan heard a door slam.

"I mean nobody any harm. The armies that have invaded your land are dead. I have come to help. You need not fear me." Dan said loudly.

"Over here stranger…" a male voice said. It sounded like he was in terrible pain. Dan quickly followed the sound of the voice and found a larger male version of a teddy-bear. He was badly hurt and bleeding profusely. Dan dropped a healing totem and then began casting healing spell after spell until he was exhausted of his mana and could do no more.

"That is all I have…I need to recharge my mana, but I will defend you with my life." Dan said and then ordered his two elementals to stand guard.

"My body…it is not broken anymore. I can feel the breath of life returning into my body. What is your name stranger?" The man asked.

"Dan. I am an ambassador of Tranquil. I mean you no harm."

"My name is Chen…Chen Stormstout. I also mean you no harm. Where did you come from? Where did the others come from? We did nothing to provoke the attack…" Chen said.

"We were attacked by the same group, so were many others. I heard your name whispered in the wind so I came to your world. How is your body?" Dan asked.

"Much better. This…stick you put in the ground is healing me nicely. I fought off as many as I could." Chen said in disappointment.

"You fought well my friend. Are there any others being attacked?" Dan asked.

"Not that I know of…if you don't mind me asking…what are you?" Chen asked.

"A human I think is what you mean. I come from a planet called Earth. I am a fighter for Tranquil and an ambassador as well. I am a friend, if you are willing to be a friend also?" Dan asked.

"You saved my life and my niece. I fear the others are dead though…" Chen said.

"Not if I can still save them they aren't. Are you well enough to walk?" Dan asked with determination.

"Yes…surprisingly I feel almost no pain now." Chen said standing up. "I am a Pandarian. Our lands are called the Mists of Pandaria. Come…if we are to heal the rest of my family we must hurry." Chen said and began running off. Dan followed in pursuit. Chen looked like a human panda bear and wore simple clothes. He carried no weapons with him and Dan wondered how he managed to stay alive. Dan then probably wondered how Chen thought he was able to fight all of them off. Dan then thought he was probably putting too much thought into things for now.

They ran around a bamboo stick house and Dan saw a massacre. Immediately Dan started to cast his resurrection spell several times and bring back to life only his mother and cousin.

"I'm sorry Chen…the rest are gone…" Dan said sounding disappointed.

"Chen…who is this stranger with this type of power?" His mother asked looking down at herself and trying to recall what happened exactly.

"He is a friend; he saved my life and brought back you my cousin Yoon from death. He also saved Lulu. I think she is hiding inside of our farmhouse."

"My name is Dan. Your attackers were the same ones that attacked our city and many others of our allies. I have come to help…I mean you no harm." Dan said.

"What are those…things behind you?" Chen's mother asked.

"What?" Dan said turning around and saw his earth and fire elementals staring at him awaiting a command. Dan snapped his fingers and they disappeared.

"They are my elementals that fight for me. I am a shaman. Are there others like you that need help?" Dan asked.

"We are always in need of help, but I think the danger has passed for now. Let us lay to rest the ones that helped to fight off the attackers…my family." Chen said with a sad heart.

"Do you wish to do this alone? I am not one of your kind and I am unfamiliar with your rituals for death." Dan asked.

"I consider you a brother, Dan. Will you help us make graves for us?" Chen asked. Dan nodded.

The digging and burial ceremony went on for hours. Chen and the rest of his family, including the child named Lulu attended. Chen said a eulogy for them after they were buried and crosses were planted for them. Dan stood in silence and felt the pain of the family's loss.

Afterwards Chen noticed something that frightened him. "Mother is the mist lifting?" They all looked around and saw the air become less dense as the fog in fact was leaving them. It opened up the world to Dan and he beheld it in wonder.

"I have never seen such a world. What do you call it?" Dan asked.

"This is the Jade Forest. We are on the northern edge of the continent. There is much to this world, but our race treats everything with respect. You mentioned that you are a fighter – a shaman that controls the elements, I am a monk – trained in the ways of fighting with our hands and inner chi. Sometimes we use staffs to combat with as well…but that is not important right now. The mists rising that protect this world can only mean one thing…danger. Come, let us get inside our house and observe the world." Chen said as he quickly picked up Lulu and ran for the stairs. His mother and cousin Yoon followed with Dan behind them. They secured the door, shut the windows, and ran for the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Did you bring others with you Dan?" Chen asked.

"No. How I travel to and from worlds cannot be traced. If there is an enemy out there, I will fight beside you." Dan said.

Suddenly large warships flew over their house with the sign of the alliance on them. There were four huge ships as Chen and his family gazed in wonder.

"That is an enemy of mine." Dan whispered. The warships propellers whipped the mists around violently. That was what was causing the mists to disappear. The warships eventually flew out of sight as they headed south.

"Incredible…" Chen said.

"No…no that is not the word I would use to describe it. If the alliance are here, then nobody on your world is safe. They enslave people, steal all they have, kill any who they cannot turn and take all resources from the lands. Anything you hold sacred will be taken away from you. I cannot take on a force that large…their powers are comparable to mine. They have been our mortal enemy for as long as I have heard stories about them." Dan said.

"Then what do we do?" Chen asked.

"I must contact Tranquil and bring in reinforcements." Dan said.

"Dan…these lands…they are sacred to us. Generations of my family and other families have lived here in peace. We train in the arts of fighting but if what you say is true, then all of us are already dead." Chen said.

"I'm not dead yet…and I don't die easily." Dan said confidently pulling out his hearthstone. He rubbed it and brought up an image of Herrior. "Herrior…I know where the alliance is...and they outnumber our fighters."

Dan and Herrior spoke at length about the situation and what happened. Herrior seemed very concerned and said he would speak with the King's ambassadors at once. Dan closed the portal.

"What is that?" Chen asked.

"We call it a hearthstone. It is used to communicate with our people and our allies. It cannot be tracked by the alliance." Dan said putting it away. He then wondered if it could be tracked by the alliance…

"This Herrior you spoke to…is he your friend?" Chen asked.

"He is my leader. We have parties that we form. Our party has fifteen members in it. We are going to do what we can to drive out the alliance as we have done in other worlds. He is speaking with our King right now about the situation. We do not wish to harm one blade of grass in your Jade Forest that you live in."

"Fifteen people against all of those enormous sky ships? I fear we might have to rally more forces than that. I do not wish for our house to be destroyed. I will scout ahead to survey the damage done and to make my people ready for the incoming battle. Dan, you stay here and guard my family. I can make my way through these lands faster than you could." Chen said and then launched himself out the window and ran through the woods.

Dan and Chen's last remaining family watched patiently as they quickly saw Chen appear on a cliff in the distance and lit a brazier. Once fully lit, the brazier burned with an eerie red glow to it as Chen started to fan it with big leaves sending up smoke signals. In the far distance they could see another eerie red fire give off light, then another, and finally one left.

"That is not good." Chen's mother said. "There should be dozens of braziers that burn. What has happened to our people?" Moments later a fight could be heard and it was Chen's voice.

"Chen is in trouble…" Dan said grabbing his fist weapons.

"Easy stranger, Chen is more powerful than you might think. Listen to the battle cries…it is not that of Chen getting hurt." Chen's mother said. She was right. Chen's opponents could be heard getting slammed into trees and Chen's voice could be heard taunting them.

"He told me to stay here and guard you…" Dan said hesitating.

"He was wise to tell you that. You cannot be in two places at once." Chen's mother replied.

Time stopped.

"Wanna bet?" Dan asked as the world stopped. He ran down the stairs and towards Chen's attackers. They were monkey creatures he was attacking. Chen was frozen in mid-air doing a spinning kick. Dan quickly went to work dispatching of the monkey creatures and then went back to his place by Chen's mother.

Time resumed.

"Chen will be able to handle them. The Hozen have been more of a nuisance than anything." Chen's mother continued oblivious to what happened.

"What happened?" Chen asked aloud as he saw all of the Hozen slaughtered. He didn't stay to investigate though as he ran back to the house.

"All of the Hozen that were attacking me were suddenly killed…" Chen said perplexed running up the stairs.

"That happens sometimes…enemies suddenly die around me… What is a Hozen?" Dan asked.

"They are a group of apes that harass us. I didn't mean to kill them, just to scare them away." Chen said still awestruck by what happened.

"Look! They are approaching!" Chen's mother said pointing out the window. Afterwards she quickly shut it and secured it.

"I will speak with them, keep the house secure." Chen said as Dan followed.

"ooo-ah ah…you killed our men…" one of the Hozen said.

"You attacked me first, but I did not wish to kill your men. You have been a pain in our side for awhile, but you only wish to feed your families and I can respect that." Chen said on the bamboo front porch.

"I killed your men, not Chen. I possess a great power that none of you can understand." Dan said stepping forward.

"Who is the outsider? Does he wish to accept the challenge?" Another Hozen asked.

"He is a friend, and we will not accept your challenge." Chen said annoyed and waving his hands back and forth.

"What is your challenge?" Dan asked.

"Defeat our King. Kill him and we Hozen will help you." said yet another Hozen.

"Bring him to me. If I must kill one in order to save many so be it." Dan said and then held out his hands as he energized them with different powers. He then called down a bolt of lightning that produced the swirling blue orbs that orbited his stomach.

"Bring the King!" The Hozens yelled.

"You do not know what you are getting yourself into stranger…" Chen whispered to them.

"We need allies. If killing their King will earn the respect of these monkey-men, then that is what I need to do. We will need every advantage we can get against the alliance." Dan said.

"I believe I can kill their King, but he does not fight a fair fight…the Hozen will all join in and attack you." Chen said back.

"I will only attack their King. The Hozen I will not harm." Dan promised.

Moments later an enormous Hozen came thundering up to them. "Somebody ask for a challenge? Me crush them!"

"You will crush nobody this day. I will kill you and earn the respect of your people, but I do not wish to do that. A greater enemy has emerged from these woods and we need your help in defeating them." Dan said.

"Hozen no care about your enemies! Hozen only care about Hozen! Hozen attack!" The King said. Chen assumed a fighting position.

Time stopped.

Dan ran forward and maneuvered his way through the monkeys and straight for the King. He sunk his fist weapons into his stomach and slashed hard at his face.

Time resumed.

"Ye-oow!" The King yelled and recoiled back. All of the Hozen stopped and looked at the King.

"How he do that?" "He move fast…" "He hurt the King" All of the Hozen were astonished and looked at Dan.

"Your King has suffered some wounds and I have engaged him in combat. Withdraw from the house and attack me!" Dan yelled. Dan heard the King run up to him. He quickly turned around, grabbed his arm that the King was swinging at him and deflected it away while stabbing at his elbow with his spikes. The King let out a howl of pain as Dan moved his right foot behind him and pushed him down.

"Do you yield?" Dan cried out.

"The King does not yield! Hozen…attack him!" The King yelled out. All Hozen rushed to the King's defense.

Time stopped.

Dan slashed at the King's neck hard several times until he snapped his spine and ripped off his head. He picked it up and held it above him in the air.

Time resumed.

"Stop!" Dan yelled out. The Hozen did as they looked at their beheaded King.

"I did not want it to come to this, but your King is dead now. I hold his head above me as proof! If this is the only way to get you to stop attacking the Pandarians and to rally all of you together to help drive out the evil of this land, then so be it!" Dan yelled out.

"He killed the King…he new King now…" "We do what he says…"

"No! All of you are free to do as you want!" Dan said tossing the King's head away. "I am not your King – I want you to help us, not become our slaves. Go and tend to your families, bury your dead, and celebrate that you are free today. There is nobody to command you anymore…do as you wish!" Dan yelled out.

"Hozen…are free?" One of them asked.

"Yes…all of the Hozen are free. I will not rule over you…but there is an evil that has come to your lands…"

"The Sha?" A Hozen asked.

"Yes…the Sha and the alliance. They will attack you and slaughter your families. We can only survive by teaming up together. Did you see the giant airships fly over you in the skies?" Dan asked and pointed up. The Hozen nodded. "They will slaughter all of you mercilessly and without honor! They will kill your young, burn your houses, destroy the forests and take all of you as slaves or kill you! Listen to me! I did not kill your King to rule over you, but to fight this new evil with you. Go and speak amongst yourselves and decide your fate." Dan said and then walked through the monkey-like men back to Chen.

"Well spoken stranger…tell me, are you a ghost?" Chen asked.

"No I am no ghost, friend. I have powers that are stronger than that of any normal fighter." Dan said.

"And you have rallied the Hozen into helping us. Are you one of the ancients I've heard stories about that has risen to fight the evil?" Chen asked.

"Nope…just a human shaman hoping to do some good." Dan said.

"And good he has done." Herrior's voice said from behind Chen. Chen jumped back in fear and assumed a fighting position.

"I am not here to fight you either. I am Herrior, Dan's leader. We did not want to interrupt your discussions." Herrior said stepping towards Chen with a smile.

"What sort of sorcery is this? You suddenly appear out of nowhere?" Chen asked.

"We use portals to travel from one world to another. It seems that destiny has brought us together. I am a tauren." Herrior said.

"I recognize you from your image that Dan made with his stone. Who are these people, the alliance, that come in airships? Are they as Dan has said? Here to enslave and kill our people?" Chen asked.

Herrior nodded with a sigh, "Unfortunately yes. We have been fighting them since as long as our records indicate. We must move quickly to assess the damage that has already been done. Trackolania, and Branzer – get going. I want a report back in twenty minutes. Mark what cities have already been overrun. Signal us if the armies are small enough for us to retake their village." Both of them nodded and faded from sight.

"Did they use portals as well? How is it I do not see them anymore?" Chen asked.

"They have stealthed themselves, concealing themselves from sight. They are our scouts." Herrior explained.

"Hozen fight…Hozen fight!" One of the ape men jumped up and down.

"Go assemble your weapons and people. You will all get a chance to fight." Herrior said.

"Hozen's get weapons…Hozen's get more Hozens!" The ape man said and quickly ran away.

"Never met a person like that. Are they good on the battlefield?" Herrior asked.

"They are well trained, but they cower and tend to flee from battles. A simple display of power will startle them. We usually use our spinning air kicks to deter them from fighting us." Chen said.

"I'll make a note of that. Veliline – you are in charge of this house. This is our base camp for now. Nothing gets in that isn't one of us or those Hozen. Jacklyn I want you to stay here as well. Scout around the area and see if there is anything we can use for defenses. We will send back any refugees here. Chen, how many of your kind are on this island?" Herrior asked.

"Thousands…but only three braziers lit up. Do you think the others are dead?" Chen asked worried.

"I don't think so. As long as they do what the Alliance wants them to do they will stay alive for now. Quinely – take to the sky and give me an aerial view. The rest of us let's go see what the Hozen have for weapons." Herrior said as Quinely morphed into a bird and flew into the air.

"I'm coming too – those are my people." Chen said.

"I didn't think otherwise…" Herrior said smiling at him.

"Before we get started, may I ask a question?" Chen asked.

"You may ask as we walk." Herrior said.

"How did you find us? The human named Dan also exhibited some powers I have never seen before…in less than a second all of my enemies instantly died. He healed my wounds without even knowing who I was and was able to resurrect some of my family. How did all of that happen?" Chen asked.

"We all possess secret gifts inside each of us. Dan apparently used his to defeat your foes…" Herrior said turning his glance to Dan.

"I didn't hear any voices when I used my secret gift. There doesn't seem to be any…uh…side affects to using it here." Dan said.

"You speak as if I am not here. I wish to know." Chen insisted.

"In time, we have just met and we have much to learn from each other first." Herrior said.

"To know someone is to fight with them…I look forward to learning from you." Chen said.

Quinely saw an airstrip close by. She then opened her mind to Lindel and relayed the information.

"To the left is an alliance airstrip…about one hundred meters away." Lindel said.

"How does she know that? I know these lands…" Chen said.

"We will answer your questions later, for right now we go into battle. Lindel – go take out the planes in the air and we will get the ground grew." Herrior said pulling out his shield and sword. The rest of the party pulled out their weapons and summoned their pets as they quickly moved through the dense forest.

"Oh my…this is no good. This is where the sacred ground was." Chen said looking down at it from a hilltop. "How can they level a forest and build so quickly?"

"Daisy cutters…look at the burnt marks on the sides of the air strip. Herrior they are packing some powerful explosives." Julie said. Lindel successfully brought down two airplanes that crashed on the landing strip.

"We must stop them Herrior." Chen said.

"Hold your positions…let Lindel finish her job." Herrior said with a steady voice. Several drones were all brought down at the same time as Lindel sucked the power out of them. A helicopter about ready to take off suddenly started spinning out of control and crashed into a building.

"Anything else in the air?" Herrior asked Lindel in his mind. He got silence in his mind for a couple of seconds as Lindel checked with Quinely. Finally he got the "all clear" from the air. Herrior told Quinely and Lindel to come back into formation.

"Keep together…watch your shots and spells, single target only." Herrior said in a low tone. Herrior then leaped off from the hill and landed hard on the dirt runway. Herrior then let out a battle cry as he charged into battle. The rest of his party in close pursuit, Herrior smashed down the first building's door and quickly energized his weapon as he launched the magical weapon towards his first victim. He then charged at the second one, knocking him to the ground.

"Children? What are you doing here?" Chen asked nervously.

"Stay focused!" Herrior ordered as he slammed his shield very hard into another alliance. The rest of Herrior's party killed the alliance holding the children hostage.

"Chen, you and Quinely stay here. Keep them in here until we have killed everything." Herrior said. He then ran out of the building and hit hard by a bullet. It twisted his body around as he rolled away. Lindel immediately flew towards where the bullet was shot as Skyka put a shield on herself and ran out to heal Herrior. Veliline stood in the path and began to summon her army of undead zombies.

"Go find the humans and feast on them!" Veliline commanded them.

Herrior was back on his feet after several major heals and screaming could be heard in the tower that loomed above them. Herrior looked up just in time to see two men jump out of the windows and plummet to their death.

"Are you ok?" Skyka asked.

"I am for now. Let's go." Herrior said picking up his shield and sword.

The next building Herrior told Jessica and Dan to take. Dan sliced off the doorknob and kicked in the door. They heard the sounds of fighting outside as Dan and Jessica stared at what they saw. Dan held out his hand and produced a tiny ball of flame.

"Eggs?" Jessica asked.

"I…guess. There is no alliance in here so we should probably leave." Dan said.

"Wait…look" Jessica said pointing to some of the eggs starting to hatch. Jessica then looked around and saw there was no windows and then saw that the eggs closest to Dan's fireball he held in his hand were moving excitedly.

"Dan…they are being kept in hibernation. There are no windows and the heat and light given off by your hand is what is awakening them." Screams continued outside as both of them investigated. Slowly, one egg cracked and a small head popped out. It looked at Dan and then quickly started to bite away at the rest of its shell to get out. Once free it flew up into the air and quickly wrapped itself around Dan's arm.

"A flying snake?" Jessica asked. The flying serpent had no hands or legs, but a long tail-like body that seemed to give it the ability to slither through the air. It found a comfortable place wrapped around Dan's arm and closed its eyes with small sigh. Soon others began to hatch as well and Dan let them come to him. He held up his other hand and produced another fireball to keep the hatchlings warm.

"Aww…you're a daddy." Jessica said admiring the flying serpents.

"I'm a daddy of what though…these could be vicious beasts with a mother out there somewhere." Dan said. One of them let out a slight grunting sound that sounded like a quick elephant baby. Dan and Jessica heard some yelling outside.

"Is everything all clear?" Herrior yelled out.

"Clear up here! My undead are currently ripping the place to shreds. How are you?" Lindel yelled back.

"Fine as ever, what about the other alliance – all dead?" Herrior called out.

"Everybody in this building is on fire…I suspect they will be dead within the next couple of seconds. You should see this…their flesh is melting and they are trying to catch it." Mohania said excitedly.

"Any other reports not as morbid?" Herrior asked aloud.

Jessica came out of the building and said, "Dan is a new daddy. I think we may need Chen to explain what these…uh…flying snakes are that are wrapping around Dan's body."

"Ah…the sky serpents, I have not seen any in years and wondered what happened to them." Chen said walking out with the children behind them. "They will not harm him, but have bonded with him as their parent. Have any of these children's parents been found?"

"We have not found any more Pandarian, just alliance. But they won't be using this base anymore. Come, let's get out of here and get these children to safety." Herrior said.

"They sky serpents must not be moved. They are too weak to fly long distances. They are so small…Herrior they will die if we move them far." Chen said.

"Jacklyn, take Skyka, Lindel and Bernett with you and escort these children back to safety. Summon the humans to secure the outpost. Feed them and look after them…bring food from Tranquil if necessary. Chen what do we need to do to take care of these sky serpents?"

"We need a place for them to rest, heat, food, and one that will love them." Chen said.

"What do they eat?" Herrior asked as Jacklyn gathered up the children and left with her group.

"Fish and meat, mostly turtle meat" Chen replied.

"Veliline and Quinely…you are on food duty. Jessica they saw you first as well – you and Dan are ordered to stay in the building with the sky serpents. Mohania they need a fire to stay warm…a small fire just so we are clear…" Herrior said.

Mohania stopped watching the alliance burned to death and said, "Small fire, I'm on it" as he moved over to the building and saw the tiny serpents swarming all over Dan.

"You look horrible…" Mohania said.

"Thanks…fire please?" Dan asked.

"No I meant even if you take away the little snake things you still look horrible…man this building is packed with eggs. We need to take out some of the hatched eggs to make room." Mohania said.

"The egg shells are no longer of use, they can be removed." Chen said.

"Are there any plants around that would provide a bed for them to lie on?" Dan asked.

"There should be some fallen petals from our orchards to the south, if they are still there." Chen said.

"I'm running out of people here…Crystal take Chen with you and collect as many petals as you can. I will hold my position here. Mohania and Jessica start moving out some of the hatched eggs into the open. Chen where are their mothers and fathers?" Herrior asked.

"Dead. They would fight until death to protect their young. They would not give them up with a fierce battle. The airships and the guns that I have seen would surely cut them down quickly. These are probably here to be sold…or eaten. Sky serpents cannot be tamed, their will is their own. They can think like you and I, but talk in their own language that none have understood in all of my generations. These might be the last of their kind." Chen said.

Herrior nodded and said, "I thought that was the case…" and pulled out his hearthstone. An image of Tess showed up.

"Well now…find a battle you can't possibly win without my help?" Tess asked.

"I need some babysitters…you were the first person I could think of." Herrior said back.

"Do you have enough people in your party to handle a few children?" Tess asked smirking again.

"We found a new world. Their armies are small in number and we just retook an alliance base…which I'm sure they will come back to investigate sooner or later." Herrior said.

"A chance to kill some alliance? We'll be right there." Tess said closing the portal.

Herrior stood waiting for several minutes by himself as Mohania and Jessica found them wrapped up in sky serpents as they moved out the hatched egg shells.

"They are nibbling on me. Herrior they are hungry." Dan said.

"I have food coming for them shortly. Tess and her group should be showing up…any time now…" Herrior said. Herrior saw a portal start to faze into existence, but could not keep its power and disappeared. Several more attempts were made and finally Herrior's hearthstone vibrated.

"Herrior – what is going on? We can't get to you?" Tess suddenly sounded concerned.

"In a land called the Jade Forest…I'm not sure what world it is on. It was referred to me as the land of the mists. Can you not make it here?" Herrior asked.

"Something is overpowering our Chronomancer, she can't establish a portal. Until that interference is dealt with…I'm afraid you are on your own." Tess said quickly.

"Tell the King what has happened then. We have found an enormous amount of alliance amassing here; we have destroyed one of their camps and have sent spies to infiltrate their bases. We have also met two new races, the Hozen – a monkey like people and the Pandarians, a sort of large white and black bear looking people. Tell him we will kill as many alliance as possible and are true to Tranquil." Herrior said.

"I will tell him. Good luck." Tess said as Herrior closed the portal and put his hearthstone away.

"Look what we found" Crystal said holding a male alliance human by the neck and pushing him along.

"You found food for the sky serpents…" Herrior said drawing his sword.

"They do not eat people…only creatures from the sea and some meat from the forest." Chen reminded Herrior.

"I surrendered willingly. Please…hear me out. I am unarmed and this lady has already threatened my life many times and has demonstrated her power." The alliance man said.

"I bet she did…come to me that we may speak." Herrior said with a smile.

"That's the last of the hatched eggs." Mohania said carrying a handful and dumping them in the pile. "Oh…you brought me dinner" Mohania said and began to charge up a spell.

"Mohania no, let him speak. Come to me, tell me what is happening." Herrior told the human.

"Let me know if you think he is lying…I have hundreds of ways of making him talk." Mohania said with a grin.

"You probably have more than that…" Crystal said glancing at Mohania and brought the alliance man before Herrior.

"Actually…well let me count…" Mohania said in deep thought as he went back in the building.

"Do you have any devices on you that are tracking where you are or what we talk about?" Herrior asked.

"No, I am a deserter. The alliance is destroying this land and its inhabitants. They have awakened…something, I don't know what it is, but it is turning all of the alliance into…something. I fled. They have unleashed something that is more powerful than us…than you." The human said.

"No…this cannot be. Herrior what he speaks of is the Sha, an ancient evil that thrives on anger, hatred, fear, doubt. It fuels it – making it stronger. The evil spreads quickly, affecting all living things around it. It assumes different forms, sometimes even completely engulfing the person. Herrior…the end draws near for our world. Once awakened it will spread to anywhere it wants. Tell me stranger…what did it look like? How did it act?" Chen asked quickly.

"It is completely black with a grayish white outline. It looks like a blob at first and then, as you said, takes on different forms." The alliance traitor said.

"Two thousand! No that can't be right…I must be missing some…" Mohania yelled out.

"Two thousand what?" Chen asked.

"In time you will learn to ignore him. Chen how do we defeat this Sha?" Herrior asked.

"It is attackable just like any other living creature. There is not ritual to stop it. My people are trained to attack it…that is if they are still alive." Chen said.

"Our commander has taken many of your kind to their prisons. I could not stop them." The alliance traitor said.

"Nor can anybody else! Feel my now power tauren and prepare to be ripped to shreds!" The commander appeared on top of the hill. He had a dark aura glowing around him.

"He has been affected by the Sha. Do not let these emotions overwhelm you!" Chen warned Herrior as he drew his shield and sword.

"I don't know how you pathetic Tranquil fighters got here…you always show up at the wrong place at the wrong time. But I will kill all of you!" The commander said drawing a large blade. He ran towards him with a dark shadow behind his figure dissipating inches behind him as he ran.

The commander's first blow was not well timed. Herrior deflected it and lunged hard at the commander in the stomach. An eerie voice shrilled as it felt the pain. The commander then backed up and began to grow larger. Herrior energized his weapon and shot it forward, stunning him. Herrior then let out a series of deadly blows, one after another until the commander came to.

"You will not defeat me! I will kill you…all of you! I will kill all of you!" The command repeated as his powerful blade landing hard on Herrior's shield several times. Herrior felt another life force feeding it power.

Chen ran up to the commander and twirled several times in the air with his legs – hitting him in the head hard each time. Chen then dropped to the ground and shot a yellow orb at the commander which caused him to feel immense pain. Herrior charged in for the kill with the Sha inside of him picked the commander up to his feet. Herrior kept his attention while Chen landed several hard blows to the commander – making him unable to attack after several attacks. Herrior then landed a final blow to his neck, dislodging his head from his shoulders. The commander died peacefully, but the Sha let out a screech as it floated into the air and eventually burned up.

"Is it dead?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…this one is." Chen said.

"You know how to fight." Herrior said turning to look at him.

"If Dan had not come when he did, I would have been killed with the rest of my family. I fought off dozens single-handedly. We monks do not fight unless we have to." Chen replied.

"I look forward to knowing more about you." Herrior said as the alliance caught fire and burned up. Chen looked surprised at this.

"You aren't dealing with a regular foe…this is the alliance that we battle. When they die, their bodies catch fire and are burnt to ash." Herrior looked over and saw several things that the commander was carrying. "What are these items?"

"This is spirit dust…he had quite a bit of it. This is windwool cloth; we use it to make items with. These are ghost iron bars, and he has an assortment of berries and melons with him. They are good for eating, it gives you strength." Chen explained.

"You will be very handy as our guide Chen. I am honored to fight beside you." Herrior said as Chen collected the items.

"The honor is mine. You fight with honor and with strategy. You are willing to take in one of your own enemies and provide for them…" Chen said. Herrior looked over and saw Mohania about ready to bit his arm off. Herrior shooed him away.

"You have earned the respect of the Hozen and showed great passion for your people. I am honored to be among you." Chen said.

"Come my new friend, let us collect our bounty and go back to the sky serpents.

In time all of Herrior's party reported back, except for the ones ordered to stay at the house. They reported no disturbances though, but Lindel was able to bring in one hundred soldiers from Earth to help in their attack. Herrior questioned Lindel about it and asked her to make a portal to Tranquil, but after several failed attempts she said she couldn't. Herrior's conclusion was whatever this Sha was, was probably affecting the portals.

The newly born sky serpents were devouring all of the fish, turtles, and tiger meat that they saw. Even though others brought it, each sky serpent would first pick up the piece of food, and offer it to Dan. Dan would small and stroke each of their heads and gently push them away. The sky serpents indeed were smart and obviously loyal. He noticed several smaller sky serpents that could not fly and others trying to nudge them into the air. Dan casted a healing spell on them, instantly healing their ailments and all of them immediately flew over to Dan to rub on his helmet.

"What a disgusting show of emotion…" Mohania said. Dan took off his helmet and they started playing in his hair and gently tugging on it.

"Why aren't they playing with you, you have a fire built for them?" Dan asked.

"Probably because I don't give off body heat, I have no skin and no hair. They probably don't even know I am here – not like their surrogate mother as well…" Mohania said looking at Jessica. She took off her hood and let the sky serpents fly around in her hair as well.

Outside Herrior was listening to the reports of Trackolania and Branzer. The island was nearly overwhelmed, and some fish-looking people had teamed up with the alliance. They also reported that there was much dissention between their ranks and the fighting among themselves was intense, fighters striking each other down while their backs were turned and vulnerable. Branzer and Trackolania were able to rescue dozens of Pandarian people and sent them back to Chen's house. Trackolania used sign language to tell them that he had a hard time telling them that it was safe…Trackolania became flustered and even motioned that he drew a map for them.

"Being a rogue is hard sometimes huh?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"Thanks for what you have done. You have saved many people and strengthened our power against the alliance."

"The alliance is going to kill themselves and everything here Herrior…should we just wait and let things run its course or are we going to battle them?" Branzer asked.

"Both…but for now I want to save as many lives as we can. Go back to the house and prepare our party and the human party for combat. We have to kill this 'Sha' thing if we are ever going to get back home. I am going to stay here with Chen, Jessica and Dan. If we have trouble you'll hear my battle cry. Keep one guard on duty during the night. The rest of them…tell them that our mission is to be able to open our portals again so we can go back home. Apologize to those that are stranded here with us." Herrior said.

"I will tell them your words Herrior, but if any soldier didn't want to come and fight they wouldn't be here right now. I don't think an apology is needed. When are we going to meet up again?" Branzer asked; Trackolania looking back and forth eagerly between both of them.

"We will see what tomorrow brings. Dan found what is called a sky serpent…dozens of them actually and we cannot leave this spot until they are able to fly on their own." Herrior said.

"Does that mean I am relieved of duty?" Mohania asked.

"Yes, go back with the others. Get them ready for combat. Build defenses and weapons. I don't know how long we are going to be here, but we will return as soon as we can." Herrior said.

Branzer nodded and the three of them left. Chen was fascinated with all of them and Chen began to ask several questions. Herrior was silent as he watched his party leave him. He then turned to Chen and said, "We will have time for questions later. Do the sky serpents have enough food for tonight?"

"Why…they would eat all night if they had enough food." Chen said.

"I'm going to go through the alliance buildings and look for food. Then I am going to head to the oceans and gather food for them. Do they fight in battle?" Herrior asked quickly.

Chen shook his head and waved his hands, "No no…they do not fight. They are peaceful creatures."

"Ok then. Give this to Dan to help wrap up the sky serpents to keep them warm. I will gather more foliage and fish for them." Herrior said taking off his cloak and handing it to Chen. Chen instantly felt a great power surge through him as he held the cloak.

"We have similar cloaks like this that hold powers such as yours…some more powerful." Chen said.

"Would you like to come along?" Herrior asked walking away.

"Yes of course. I admire the fact that you want the sky serpents to be comfortable." Chen said.

"It is a part of your culture, the alliance wanted them so it is best that we have them, and they may help us out in the future. You never know when a friend may appear. I apologize for interrupting you. Let me explain where my race comes from." Herrior said as they walked away.

Jessica took the cloak from Chen and placed it on the ground. The sky serpents watched her intently and then flew over to it and started to sniff it. They then settled down on it and seemed happier.

"Never pictured myself having dozens of flying snakes for children when I grew up…" Jessica said.

"I know the feeling. Close the door to keep it warmer in here for them." Dan asked of Jessica as he took off his cloak and placed it on the ground. Instantly all of the sky serpents flocked to it and laid on top of each other, trying to get on every inch of the cloak.

"They sure have taken a liking to you…" Jessica said with a smile. Almost as if sensing what Jessica said, several of them flew up to Jessica and rubbed up against her face.

"Looks like they have a liking to you as well. I guess we are their mother and father. I wonder what happened to their real parents." Dan asked aloud and then thought of what Chen said. He then continued, "Probably better off not knowing I guess. Do you think they know?"

"I think the only thing that they know of is they saw us first when they hatched and assumed we were their parents. Other than that, they probably don't know much else. So I guess we are going to have some alone time…can I ask you some questions?" Jessica asked.

Dan laid down on the ground, taking off his chest, shoulder, arms, and hand armor and set them aside. Many of them flocked to his bare skin and quickly laid on him.

"Sure…it's probably going to be a long night with all of them crawling around me. I don't see us getting much sleep tonight." Dan said as more flew over to his chest and laid down.

"What's it like…being able to stop time?" Jessica asked lying down as well.

"Eh…I don't know. Just the same as any other ability that we possess I suppose. I'm going to summon a small fire elemental to provide more heat for them." Dan said and held out his hand. It glowed red for a quick second as a fire elemental grew from the ground to about one foot tall. It then hovered over in between them and sat. The sky serpents weren't afraid of it, but seemed to turn their bellies towards it to absorb the heat.

"Have you ever done anything you regretted with the ability?" Jessica asked.

"Yup" Dan answered right away. "I was younger…less mature. I had the power to see my female classmates naked. Sorta burns an image into your head…not something I would care to repeat. I also cheated on tests, made any enemies of mine suddenly fall on the ground or slam into a wall. I was lucky though. I was like a child in a candy store with unlimited money. Sure it sounds like fun, but if you eat too much candy you'll get sick. I was playing with fire and never got burned…but knowing now what I knew then…I never would have used my abilities for that."

"That's what I would have done…minus the female classmates that is…" Jessica smiled and looked at Dan.

"Not something I'm proud of." Dan said with a smile looking at the ceiling.

"I would have used it to get out of the miserable life I was in. But had I known now what I had known then, I would have left those miserable excuses for 'friends'…and I use that term loosely…that I had. I've never had real friends until you guys came along. I was a high school dropout, hooked on drugs, would've been prostitute probably and did everything wrong that felt good. It all changed. Every last moment of my past life is behind me, and I never looked back. I never had a purpose in my life, just looking for the next high…whether it be sex, drugs or alcohol. I keep thinking, 'Of all of the people like me…why me? I had no special talent, I never set foot in a church, and there was no chance of me even pondering the idea of going into the army.' You of course I can see the reason…but why me?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know. I don't know the reason why any of us were picked, or moved on, or died." Dan said and then paused for a moment. "I don't have any answers for you. I'm glad you are with us though."

"I know we are all supposed to love each other…but I haven't heard those words. Do you mean it?" Jessica asked.

"I do. Everybody is glad you are with us. I have heard nothing but good things about you when you aren't around. They appreciate what you do and have far surpassed what anybody was thinking of you. I know we are all supposed to love each other as well, but I can't help but feel more love for Crystal." Dan said.

"Is Crystal's last name really 'Candy'?" Jessica looked back over with a snort.

"Yes? Why is that funny?" Dan asked smiling back at her.

"That is what crack is called, crystal candy." Jessica said laughing at her own joke.

"Oh…I never knew that. Kind of ironic that she used to be a policeman then…" Dan said turning to look up smiling.

"So…you never tried any drugs?" Jessica asked.

"Never…actually never had the chance to. Definitely wouldn't now. A shaman with time stopping abilities is probably not a good person to get high." Dan said still smiling.

"Good point." Jessica said turning to look back at the dark ceiling. There was a moment when they stopped talking and heard tiny of little breathes coming in and out of the sky serpents.

"I think they are sleeping." Dan whispered.

"We should probably as well. I'll spread my cloak out so that they can lay on it if they want. When will your fire elemental disappear?" Jessica asked.

"It'll stay until I banish it. I ordered it not to attack and to just simply stand in one place." Dan said.

Several more moments went by and Jessica asked, "How old were you when you had sex for the first time?"

"Shortly after I married Crystal" Dan answered.

"I was nine. My father molested me. He felt bad about it for the first couple of times…then it was routine for him. My mother knew but was so strung up on heroin that she didn't care." Jessica said.

"I'm sorry." Dan said.

"I wish I could go back in time and cut off his penis so he could never do it again. I cried myself to sleep Dan…almost every night. Once he stopped, the first boy that said he loved me – I gave it up to him almost immediately. I wanted to feel love…but it wasn't love, just sex. I was the school whore. I'm sure that is what they would have written on my yearbook. I hate it now…hate the thought of ever having sex again. I never knew what love was…real love…until I encountered Lindel. Bernett and Strings were there…Strings killed my lover and his friends – I actually am glad. But I looked into Lindel's eyes and saw love. I have never seen love for me as a person before. Nothing I did to deserve it…just pure love and admiration. I've done a lot of crying about my past. I'm over it now…but I was an idiot." Jessica said.

Dan cut her off and said, "Was…you aren't anymore. You are a brilliant woman with powers unknown to your average human. Your future is being shaped for you and you are being molded by our creator every second of our lives."

"You know I didn't even know God existed? Completely clueless. But when I stop and think about it it's like…how could I have not known?" Jessica asked.

"Lots of people don't take that minute to stop and think about it. Where do we come from…where are we going…what is the meaning of life…those kinds of questions are trivial to some people. Don't beat up on yourself anymore, you heard what Herrior said about the Sha. Just acknowledge it as part of your past and move on. Your are living in the here and now, not the then and there." Dan said.

Jessica nodded and said, "You're right, seems like everybody has good advice to give except for me."

"There will come a time I have no doubt. Right now you are taking care of dozens of little ones and providing them love, food, and heat. I think this is a perfect opportunity for you. All of these sky serpents love you…just because you are you. They love you unconditionally, and so does everybody in Tranquil…including our party." Dan said.

"I was a mom once…" Jessica said smiling as a tear ran down her face. Several sky serpents flew over and lapped it up quickly. "I had an abortion." Jessica said with her voice trembling. "I don't think I told anybody but Lindel. It should have woke me up…I should have realized what I had…"

"Jessica that is enough – we all have pasts that we want to forget. Look at Lindel…Look at Mohania, they have been forever transformed by the alliance. We all have failed ourselves…but we have all been given new opportunities. Look at the present right now, not the past. Your life has changed so much, you have come so far and you have so much more to contribute to your life. Your child is in Heaven and if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior then you will see your child again in the future. Look towards the future and place out goals for your life. Work on them in the present to make yourself better. What can you do right now to help yourself?" Dan asked.

"Forgive myself…" Jessica said still crying a little.

"Good place to start. Then from there what are you going to do?" Dan asked.

"I want to become a Chronomancer. I want to heal and be able to open portals. I want to learn the new powers available to a Chronomancer." Jessica said wiping her eyes. The sky serpents flying out of the way as she moved and then laid back down on her moist face.

"Those are good goals. I want to learn more about being a time stopper and a shaman. So far I have surpassed but categories but I am always yearning to learn more." Dan said.

"Everybody knows that…that's how you became the prince of Tranquil…" Jessica said.

"No it isn't…" Dan said quickly back.

"What? I thought the most powerful were set to rule the kingdom?" Jessica asked looking over at him. The sky serpents fluttering quickly so that they wouldn't get squashed under Jessica's head.

"No…not in the least. If I were to venture a guess, Mohania would probably be the next to take the throne." Dan said slowly.

"You're kidding right?" Jessica asked.

Dan turned his head slowly as the little snake-like sky serpents felt his head move and adjusted their position on his face. "Jessica, it has to do with trust. I…had revealed to the King several things he was doing wrong…pissed him off of course…but that is when the King apologized to everybody in Tranquil and set out to cleanse Tranquil of its traitors. I don't think I told anybody that story. The time I stopped time for the entire universe and all of the people inside of Tranquil for days instilled great fear into the King and Queen. Mohania had his fun with the citizens, but if you asked him to give you his right arm he would. He made no motion at all of killing the King and taking over Tranquil – neither did I. He may have a rough exterior, but his heart is as soft as a comfy feather pillow. He is a very good man."

Jessica stopped and thought about it for a moment and then let out a sigh.

"Sorry I've been talking too much." Dan said.

"No it's good I needed this. It seems I have my own growing up to do…starting with our new family that we hatched. I wonder how Crystal is going to feel about us being the parents?" Jessica asked.

"She probably won't care. There are obligations that each of us has to perform…for some reason we have dozens and dozens of these little obligations." Dan said.

"How many do you think there are?" Jessica asked.

"Hundred maybe? What do you think?" Dan asked back.

"Probably…might be more. So do we have to give them all names?" Jessica asked.

"You can if you want. I'm going to pass on that. They seem really intelligent and would probably respond to a name…but this is my first raising a sky serpent, let alone a hundred of them. What about the eggs on the other side of the building that haven't hatched?" Dan asked. This took Jessica by surprise as she sat right up, sending dozens of sky serpents falling to the ground or trying to fly away.

"Oops…sorry." Jessica said holding out her hands as they all flew back up into them. She then looked down and saw many more eggs that didn't hatch. "Do you think they aren't ready yet?"

Dan ordered his fire elemental to move down towards the other eggs. The sleeping sky serpents felt the heat leave and woke up to see what was going on.

"I'm going to drop a lightwell." Jessica said casting a quick spell and a lightwell appeared. It started to slowly turn, sending out small star-like objects in all directions. The fire elemental sat in the middle of the eggs as Dan had ordered him to and slowly the rest of the eggs began to hatch. The hundreds of sky serpents suddenly became excited and flew over to help nibble open the eggs to help their brothers and sisters out.

Around fifty more hatched, leaving only nine eggs left that hadn't moved. Dan and Crystal carefully picked them up and moved them closer to the fire elemental and the lightwell. The sky serpents were taking turns gently moving the egg ever so slightly – eager for it to open. After many failed attempts by the sky serpents, they all turned to look at Dan and Jessica. Dan and Jessica turned to each other with saddened faces.

"There still is the rest of the night…" Jessica said "Maybe they just aren't ready yet."

"Maybe" Dan said hopeful. Suddenly there was a gentle knock on the door as all of the sky serpents flew quickly behind Dan and Jessica.

"Room service?" Dan asked smiling.

"Can I come in?" Herrior asked. He sounded as if he was carrying something big.

"Sure." Jessica said standing up and walking over to the door. She opened it and Herrior held an enormous piece of whale blubber. He had it in both arms and carried it in. The sky serpents sniffed with anticipation, but would not go near it.

Herrior, Chen, and Jessica moved the enormous piece of whale blubber into the room and wrapped it around the wall.

"Thanks for dinner…" Dan said.

"This is only a part of it. I've got the rest cooking for us to eat. Chen said the sky serpents would eat this raw." Herrior said.

"But they seem scared of us. The sky serpents have really bonded with you two. I am very impressed." Chen said.

"There are nine eggs left that haven't hatched yet." Jessica said sounding worried.

"They may not be ready yet. It is rare that a sky serpent does not hatch from its egg." Chen said.

"What will become of them?" Jessica asked.

"You are their mother…they will do as you do. There are many predators that would love to feast on them…but with this much food…well…you will be surprised in the morning." Chen said laughing.

"Chen and I had a lengthy discussion. I am going to have an escort come and take Chen to his family and his kin. I will stay the night and keep vigilance from out here. It is clear that…your babies…do not like us." Herrior said trying to peak around at them and all of the sky serpents trying to move away so Herrior couldn't see them.

"You don't have to do that…" Jessica said turning around and holding out her arms. The sky serpents flew all over her in anticipation.

"Yes I do. I will check on you during the night. Are either of you hungry?" Herrior asked.

"I am." Dan said. Jessica nodded still facing the other direction.

"I'll have some whale steaks ready for us in a moment. You might have to…take a bite of the whale blubber and eat it yourselves to show them what to do with it." Herrior said.

"Yummy…" Jessica said sarcastically.

"If they eat all of it, I will bring in the rest." Herrior said and smiled at them as he closed the door. Once Herrior left, all of the sky serpents flew over to the whale blubber and eagerly sniffed it and couldn't decide if it was for them or what to do with it.

"Do you want the pleasure of taking the first bite?" Dan asked.

"Not really…but if I must. How about we both eat a piece at the same time?" Jessica asked smiling.

"Don't gag it up no matter what…" Dan said putting his fist weapon on and walking over to it. He carefully cut off two slices as all of the sky serpents watched in eager anticipation. Dan then stopped and ripped off a tiny chunk and gave it to one of the blue sky serpents flying the closest to it. He pushed it close to his mouth and it backed away for a moment. Dan then tried again and moved it towards him. This time the sky serpent grabbed it and tore off a slice and devoured it happily. Dan threw Jessica her piece and Dan bit off a chunk of his. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted…it was still warm with blood in it and tasted like it was all fat. Dan decided to just swallow it and forget about chewing it.

"Just swallow it…" Dan said quickly.

"I did…nasty!" Jessica replied in disgust. Dan then walked over to the whale blubber and gently moved his hand – pushing the sky serpents closer to the food. The blue sky serpent that had the first bite quickly flew over and tore off another piece. Others started and within seconds it was a feeding frenzy. Dan and Jessica stepped back to watch.

"Hungry little critters…" Jessica said in what sounded like almost admiration.

"Yeah…they will be feasting on that all night. I'm going to get some sleep next to the eggs." Dan replied.

"I'm going to stay up awhile and watch them." Jessica said as she walked over to some of them and stroked their back. Many of the sky serpents stopped eating and wanted attention from Jessica as she tried to pet each other before they went back to eating.

The next day came and both Dan and Jessica were snoring soundly in the morning as the sun broke the horizon. Herrior had delivered three more pieces of whale blubber and the sky serpents were cautious around him, but as soon as he left – they devoured it. The remaining nine eggs had hatched as the other sky serpents introduced the newborns to their mother and father and then showed them where the food was. Something had happened though that they had not expected. The tiny sky serpents weren't tiny anymore. Each one devoured more than its weight in food, pooped in the back of the building and grew to more than a foot long.

Dan finally woke up to several sky serpents staring down at him. Dan let out a scream as they quickly flew away. He looked around and remembered where he was. Jessica was awakened by the scream as she instinctively put a shield around herself and then looked at Dan. Her sight quickly turned to the sky serpents and the size that they were now.

"Holy crap!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Well they can't stay in this building anymore…" Dan said as he walked over to the door. He opened it and walked out.

"Morning" Herrior said.

"You were up the whole night weren't you?" Dan asked.

"Your little ones were quite hungry…also they stink horribly in that building." Herrior said. Dan didn't notice until he turned back and caught a whiff of it. He nearly gagged and quickly turned back around.

"Yeah…didn't notice that. Jessica you might want to come out!" Dan yelled out. Jessica did as her eyes adjusted to the bright light.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked.

"It stinks in there…we need to get our babies out in the sunlight." Dan said. Both of them turned around and saw dozens of heads poking out of the doorway and looking at Herrior inquisitively.

"Sure are shy little fellows aren't you? Come on…" Dan said and waved at them. Slowly they came out and looked around. All of this was new to them and curiosity was getting the best of them. They flew in all different directions, making circles in the air and dancing on the breeze.

"They are grown up enough to go back to our base. Let's go." Herrior said sounding tired.

Herrior, Dan and Jessica started walking together and the whole swarm of sky serpents flew towards them, flying in between the trees and snatching bugs out of the air.

"Ook…flying snakes!" One of the Hozen yelled out. The sky serpents became afraid and quickly flew behind Dan and Jessica.

"Easy Hozen's…they are our friends. This is what we told you about." Herrior said.

"Oh yeah…Hozen's remember now. Flying serpents are friends. Can we pet them?"

"They are pretty scared of people right now…give it some time first ok?" Dan asked.

Crystal saw Dan and smiled at him with a twinkle in his eye. She walked up to him and kissed him. The sky serpents quickly flew up to Dan and gently bit him to pull him back.

"What's going on?" Dan asked walking backwards as the sky serpents dragged him over to Jessica and then flew around them.

"Cock blocked by a flying snake…that's a new one for me." Dan said.

"Dan…" Crystal said sounding concerned.

"Apparently they have a sense of family…and they perceive Jessica and I as their parents. I'll solve this." Dan said. He walked forward, but Chen walked up beside him and held his hands out. He did a series of gestures to the sky serpents as they all watched him and then pointed to all of the Pandaria at the house, the Hozen's, the humans, and the rest of Herrior's party. Chen then looked back at the sky serpents as they looked around curiously.

"Nod your heads Dan and Jessica." Chen said without moving his mouth much. They saw Dan and Jessica nodding their heads and the sky serpents separated to go explore, sniff, and lick the new people.

"Don't move…don't raise your weapons. They are getting your scent and examining you." Chen said.

"Do these outsiders not know about sky serpents?" A Pandaria woman asked.

"There is much we do not know, but we wish to learn. I had a long talk with Chen about your history and lore, today though we are going to lead a series of attacks against the alliance and the Jinyu that are helping them." Herrior said with a long yawn.

"Do you want me to take over? We fashioned mats upstairs to sleep on." Jacklyn asked.

"I would love you forever if you would…" Herrior said walking past her.

"Dan – Jessica, did you sleep last night?" Jacklyn asked. They both nodded.

"Can you tell your sky serpents to stay here while we go attack?" Jacklyn asked. This idea never occurred to them. They both looked at each other with blank stares.

"They will stay with their parents and will become anxious if one leaves and the other stays." Chen said.

"Great…there goes a healer and our time stopper. Ok – go take care of your sky serpents, but keep a low profile. Everybody else gather around." Jacklyn said as Dan and Jessica walked over with the some of the male and female Pandarian that were not fighters. They said they would teach them what they knew about the sky serpents.

"Hozens…I need you to follow my orders, is that understood?" Jacklyn said in a commanding voice.

"Hozens follow your orders. What Hozens do?" Several of them asked.

"Hozens need to stay with him." Jacklyn said pointing at Branzer.

"Ook…Hozens stay with funny human man."

"You are all equipped with guns or spears. The man's name is Branzer – he is your leader. You do as he says. You do not charge forward into battle, you do not fight unless he says it is ok. Do you understand?" Jacklyn asked.

"Yes…Hozens understand. We follow Branzer." Jacklyn gave a nervous look to Branzer who read the message loud and clear. He nodded back.

"My party will be in front. I want the humans in the middle, and Branzer you take up the rear. Humans or soldiers, what weaponry have you brought? We made a promise not to damage the forest…so if you have explosives leave them here or find another use for them. Conserve your ammunition because your weapons are limited, unlike ours. As many of you know this maybe a one way trip for awhile. I don't know when we will be able to go back. This 'Sha' energy/enemy whatever it is is interfering with our Chronomancers abilities to portal. We want to be able to return you as much as you want to be returned. If you can do hand-to-hand combat that would be better, attack only those that our tanks have aggro on…that is the ones that they are fighting. Do not engage an enemy unless they engage you first. Only use your guns if you absolutely have to – to save a life. Quinely I want you tanking on the right, Veliline you are on the left. Branzer I want you tanking anything that sneaks up behind us. Julie, I want your dog grabbing anything that our tanks lose aggro of, other than that I don't want your dog fighting. Everybody else – single target them down. Melee stack with me. Lindel you are going to be healing, no summoning zombies or skeletons unless we have no choice. I don't want anybody in our party running away because of them. Next rule applies to everybody so listen up! Do not let the following emotions enter your mind: anger, hatred, fear, doubt! If you do, you will succumb to the 'Sha'. Concentrate on the task at hand. We will overtake them, but we will do it together – in unity and in love. Does anybody not understand?" Jacklyn yelled out.

Everybody looked solemnly at her and nodded.

"Where do you want us Pandaria to fight?" Chen asked walking up with several dozen behind him.

"I am unfamiliar with your fighting techniques. We have tanks; they engage the enemies and hold them. We have melee and ranged fighters that fight the ones that are fighting the tanks. Lastly we have healers. Chen you know your people and their fighting techniques better than I do. We can use more healers, but if you wish to melee or range combat that is fine." Jacklyn said.

"We will do our best." Chen said. He turned around and a staff was flying through the air and Chen caught it in one hand, then turning around quickly to face her.

"Good…let's head out. My blades are dry and they thirst for blood." Jacklyn said pulling out her gigantic swords. "According to our reconnaissance there is an alliance base roughly one hundred yards up towards our left. They have the high ground, so we'll be battling as we go up. Summon your pets…my throat is getting parched." Jacklyn said and gave the signal to move out.

Veliline and Quinely, who was in her bear form, went first with the rest of the group ten yards back. They moved silently through the woods and looked around for any type of attack from any direction. They listened to the wildlife and the insects – even the tiniest disturbance in the winds. Nothing so far. They finally came up to a dirt path that led up to the alliance base. Quinely was closest to it. She looked back at Jacklyn and she nodded. Quinely then let out a loud roar and her and Veliline charged up the mountain. The two guards standing watch signaled an attack. Veliline reached out with her hand as a dark bolt grabbed one of the guards and she tossed him aside down the hill. Quinely charged the other one and knocked him to the ground. Guards started to surround them and both of them started doing attacks to get their attention. Quinely thrashed around with her enormous claws, slicing into anything that was in range. Veliline casted her death and decay spell in the middle of the camp. The guards became furious by the attacks and focus their attacks solely on those two; they did not see the rest of the army running up the hill and launching spells and attacks as quick as they could. Skyka kept Veliline and Quinely topped off on their health, but to her surprise they weren't taking that much damage. Trackolania and Jacklyn's blades went flying and quickly downed each target as they moved from alliance member to member.

The alliance, still attacking the two main tanks who did a great job of keeping their attention, were having their forces dropping dead quickly. Suddenly several demon-looking beings appeared…or what the Pandaria called the 'Sha'. Quinely quickly charged forward and thrashed at them to get their attention. Veliline was spreading her diseases through her victims and then slammed her two-handed axe on the ground, spreading the diseases to all of the alliance and demons among them.

"Don't you see what you are doing here? You are corrupting this island! You are bringing out these demons and are feasting among them! Stop what you are doing to these people! They have done nothing to you!" Jacklyn cried out. The alliance didn't care, but it rallied the Pandarian and they launched a full out assault.

Jacklyn stopped attacking on the front line and withdrew to watch. All of the Pandarian people ran forward and engaged their attackers. They all leaped into the air and started performing a spinning kick that hit all of their opponents within ten yards. Afterwards they all blasted the alliance with some sort of sphere of energy they created with their hands and their enemies fell one at a time. Several more "Sha" appeared as they died, but they were smaller. Veliline and Quinely quickly got their attention, but were destroyed. The Pandarian continued to attack quick and fast, killing their enemies as quickly as Jacklyn's party.

"Do any of you surrender?" Jacklyn called out. There was no response, and Jacklyn gave the order to kill all that remained.

"Mommy!" a cry from a child came from a make-shift wooden cage. The children quickly ran over to the cage and began beating on the doors.

"Hold the line! Quinely and the Pandarian move over to protect the children. Julie get Spark up here and help tank!" Jacklyn called out. Spark instantly enraged himself, growing in size and power as he raced forward and bit down hard into one of the alliance soldiers. It cut deep through his armor as the man scream in pain. Julie then tossed out several traps as snakes and fire exploded from them and a rain of bullets came down hard on several alliance soldiers.

Moments later they had broken their enemy's ranks and they began to flee. "After them! Leave none alive! Branzer – you and the Hozen are commanded to kill all of them. Send up a flare if you get overwhelmed." Jacklyn commanded.

"Hozen attack now?"

"The alliance are escaping in the woods. You know the woods better than I do. Help me bring them down." Branzer said lining up a shot and letting a devastating shot explode an alliance fighter.

"Hozen attack!" One of the Hozens said and they quickly climbed the trees and flung themselves from branch to branch. They rained down bullets at the escaping alliance while others jumped down on them and beat them to death. Branzer and his bear were doing their best to keep up, but the Hozen moved with such efficiency and agility that he couldn't tell where they were attacking or which way to turn.

Moments later the trees went silent. Branzer, with his enormous gun in hand took careful aim and listened for anything that moved.

"Hozen victory!" One of them shouted and they all shook the trees and made ape-like sounds.

"Return to the group, the battle isn't over yet!" Branzer yelled out.

"More fighting…Hozens do more fighting!" Several of them said as they moved quickly through the trees, once again giving Branzer a hard time catching back up with them. The animals of the forest moved aside as Branzer and his bear ran by them. They seemed to know something was wrong. It seemed the whole forest was on their side.

Branzer and the Hozens returned to the alliance base camp where the Pandarians were rejoining with the children that were locked away. Dozens of their kind were chained up and beaten, but the Pandarians held the chains tight as another did a karate chop right through the chains, releasing them. Then they all casted healing spells and the tortured were was again able to walk.

"There are more camps like this…I can hear our brethren die as they are being beaten. The Sha is thriving on this. We must stop them!" One of the released Pandarian said. They all looked to Jacklyn with an unending resolve – as if to say, "We're going to fight with or without you." Jacklyn nodded in acknowledgement and asked if they could have a moment of their time.

"Death is upon us and you ask for precious minutes that could be used to save our kind?" One woman Pandarian called out. The others turned to her and calmed her down.

"Will you be able to attack, sustain damage and heal yourselves on your own?" Jacklyn asked. It was a question that had to be asked. The two races were still new to each other and Jacklyn wanted to know if they would be alright to fight alone.

"Let me speak with Jacklyn alone. Hold your thoughts for now." Chen said to his fellow kin and then turned to Jacklyn, "If I may ask that our children who cannot fight these battles to be returned with an escort back to the safety of our camp?" Chen asked.

"Branzer, you and the Hozens ensure the safety of these children. Take them back to camp and guard them. Hozens do you understand?" Jacklyn asked.

"Hozens understand. Take back little children to house…make sure children are safe." One Hozen said and the others agreed.

"Go then." Jacklyn said giving the order. Branzer quickly made his way up to the children and some of their parents and promised their safety. The parents bowed to Branzer and quickly told their children and the rest of the children to follow Branzer – to run as fast as they can back and do exactly what Branzer said.

"Jacklyn please let us talk. The rest of you meditate and calm yourselves." Chen said.

Jacklyn looked back at her party and nodded. She then looked at the human army and nodded at them. "Setup a perimeter – get your guns ready, we will return shortly." Jacklyn was then led away with Chen. They walked quite a distance away and came to a waterfall to had created a large lake. Enormous fish and other sea bearing animals were in it. Chen sat down and positioned himself in a meditative state as he urged Jacklyn to sit in front of him. She put her weapons away and sat down.

"A great turmoil has befallen my people. They do not speak with their hearts, but by instinct. Our people are dying…may already be dead. Our people have seen with their own eyes the torture that your enemies have done on our lands. They have heard of the stories that I have told them. You fight with passion in your attacks…all of your people are well seasoned fighters. I have seen your people get hurt and continue to fight. I have seen your people absorb many attacks and unleash spells and use weapons that we are not familiar with. You have won the hearts of my people…what they ask of you now to is continue the fight. That is why I have brought you here. A people fighting for their land are a powerful force, a people fighting for the families and loved one is greater still. We have the abilities to absorb damage, heal ourselves, and inflict harm on our enemies. We need not be under your wing any longer; we have rescued enough of our people to start regaining our lands back…but…that are the thoughts of my people. I do not fully agree with them. The Sha that has awakened is a powerful source of evil that my people have only heard stories about. We have killed them in combat, however the evil is amassing. I can feel it in the air. We need your help. I must settle the minds of my people the Pandaren. I am hoping that the meditation with help soothe their minds and hearts. Could we coordinate a series of attacks together with your fighters and ours? I feel that this is the best way to conquer our foes…but we must not awaken the Sha anymore then we have to. Villages already taken by the Sha can only be assumed that all of the residents there in have fallen into a fate worse than death. The Sha is not something to be messed with. Do you understand what I am saying?" Chen asked.

"Yes I do. What do you purpose?" Jacklyn asked.

Chen looked nervous and said, "I am just a monk, not a leader of my people."

"Leaders are not born, they are created." Jacklyn said looking into his eyes.

"I…" Chen started to say but couldn't find the words.

"You are their leader now Chen. They will look to you for guidance. You speak to me with ease and with a vast knowledge. Fighting is no different. You brought me here to explain several things and I have learned from it. Now you need to learn to rise up and become the Pandaria…or Pandaren – which would you like to be called?" Jacklyn asked.

"I have never been asked that question. Our people as a whole are called Pandaria, but our people call themselves Pandarens." Chen said.

"Pandarens it is. Give me a minute." Jacklyn said and scooted back. She drew a big square in the dirt and then started making marks. Chen watched with a keen interest.

"We have destroyed an alliance camp here and here. Our scouts report several small encampments here, here, and here. In the direction that the alliance airships were moving and at the rate of their speed, I can only assume that they are here. That leaves us this entire space right here in the middle. I suggest I take my party and raid the camps here and here while you take your party and raid the camp here. Surprise attacks, distractions…anything you can do to disorient them before you attack I suggest you take it. The human army trusts us with their lives and we will take them. The Hozens know your people better so I suggest you take them." Jacklyn said.

"The Hozen's are not reliable like a seasoned fighter. If they see a couple of them die, they will run." Chen said.

"Then we will leave them at camp. Do you think you have enough fighters to overtake a base?" Jacklyn asked getting right to the point.

"I believe so."

"No – not with that confidence level you don't. You either lead your people with full intentions of taking over the encampment or you don't fight at all. You go back to your people and tell them that complete strangers to your lands will continue to fight for your people's freedom and then tell them you were too unsure about leading your people into battle." Jacklyn said in a violent tone.

Chen picked up a piece of grass and stuck it in his mouth. He munched on it for awhile and then smiled. "You are a natural born leader. I can see why Herrior picked you to lead. I will lead my people and we will fight for the freedom of my people…and we will be successful."

Jacklyn picked up a similar piece of grass and bit off a piece. "Leaders are not born…" Jacklyn said and spit the piece of grass out into the water. The fish quickly swam up to investigate it.

"If we are done talking – your people are ready to rise up and to fight for their freedom, and my swords are starting to have the blood stain on them." Jacklyn said and stood up.

"I am ready. We will attack this outpost and kill all that have imprisoned my people." Chen said narrowing his eyes and broadened his smile.

"That's what I want to see. Let's go." Jacklyn said with a smile.

They walked back to the newly acquired camp and saw that the Pandaren, the humans and her party were all talking. Nearly everybody had hand weapons of some sort now. This seemed to be a weapon outpost. Jacklyn let out a half smile.

"When do we move out Jacklyn?" One of the officers said.

"As soon as you get off your lazy ass." Jacklyn said walking by her and taking out her swords.

"Yes ma'am!" He said excitedly standing up.

Jacklyn climbed up on a rock so everybody could see her. She then spoke to everybody.

"We all have a common trait among us…we are all fighters. We are all united; we are all brethren and sisters. This land has been overrun by a bunch of assholes that don't belong here. Our job is to kill them. Any questions?" Jacklyn said with a smile appearing on her face. Many of them cheered and clapped at the short speech.

"Chen – you are the newly appointed leader for your race. You know their tactics the best. I am the leader of my party and of the humans because they know what will happen if they screw up." Jacklyn said with a bigger smile glaring at them. They all smiled back.

"Chen and his army will attack an encampment to the west. Our job is to take the east. I don't want any deaths! If you die, then somebody else didn't do their job – or you did something stupid, and I do not have any stupid fighters that I am leading – is that understood?" Jacklyn called out sternly.

"Yes!" Everybody called back.

"Then let's quit wasting time talking and go spill some blood. I want us to be quiet going in…complete silence. We'll leave as soon as Branzer arrives back. Quinely go check up on him and tell him to stop picking at his ass and get back here." Jacklyn said and jumped off the rock.

Everybody checked and readied their weapons. Quinely came back with Branzer and Dan. Jacklyn gave him an odd look. "Aren't you supposed to be with the sky serpents?"

"I told them that I need to go fight for their land. Jessica is teaching them how to fly and the Pandaria people are having a fun time with them. Darn things are pretty smart – they seem to know something is wrong and want it fixed." Dan said.

"They aren't going to come looking for their 'daddy' are they?" Jacklyn asked.

"No I don't believe so or I wouldn't have come. What's the plan?" Dan asked.

"Let's move out…" Jacklyn said looking at everybody, "Veliline and Quinely you have the front. Branzer and Julie you got the middle. Get your pets out and let's go kill some alliance!"

After their pets were summoned Quinely took the lead. They walked into the dense woods. A loud stream masked their sound as they made their approach. Suddenly a whisk of evil quickly swept over them and disappeared in less than a second. Everybody had ducked down and Jacklyn was the first to rise up with her blades and looked over her party and the humans. Nobody seemed to be affected by it. She looked at Quinely and pointed forward. They all kept walking.

About a mile of walking lead them to the first army base. Lindel's voice suddenly came into Jacklyn's head, "There are soldiers in the ranks that call themselves snipers. They said that if they could get on top of the mountains undetected, they could kill everybody in the camp."

Jacklyn ordered a halt and motioned for everybody to hug the ground. "Lindel – link me up with Dan and the snipers." A couple of seconds later the voices of several men and women sounding confused appeared in Jacklyn's head.

"Shut up! This is Jacklyn your leader, and I order you to shut the hell up! All of you snipers we are going to put on top of that hill to the right of us. Dan – you are in charge of them. Get their ass up there and cover us as we go in. I do not want any of our fighters shot in the back! Cut the link." Jacklyn said in her head and Lindel broke the mental link. Dan looked back and saw several men and women rise up a little. Dan moved back to them and waved them towards him. He had twenty all together as he motioned all of them to crawl over the soldiers and motioned them to hug him. The soldiers did as they were ordered and when the last one grabbed a hold – Dan instantly teleported them on top of the tall grassy hill overlooking the base. Several of the soldiers looked around in shock until Dan punched one in the stomach. He stared at him and pointed at his eyes and then pointed at his. The snipers quickly regained their senses as Dan motioned for everybody to spread out and to stay down. The snipers, having training in this field, did so quite effectively. Once in position, Dan said in his head, "We are ready up here." Lindel communicated the information to Jacklyn and she gave the instructions to move forward.

They were now within eye distance from them, peering at them through the weeds. They didn't have any armored vehicles, but they did see numerous Pandaren being used as slaves. They were strip mining the ground for some sort of material. There were also several Sha among them. These creatures still looked the same, black bodies – void of any features, and crawled on the ground with hands and short feet. They simply patrolled back and forth. Jacklyn found the target she wanted.

"Lindel, link me up with Dan and the snipers." Jacklyn said in her mind. A few seconds later their minds were all linked up.

"The dumbass on the white horse needs to die. Target him first, target the Sha next, and then pick your shots carefully. Look for any aerial support that may be called in as well – take them down. Count to ten and then take your shots. Lindel break the link." Jacklyn said and tightened her grip on her swords. Jacklyn looked back at the soldiers pointed to all of them and then pointed to a cluster of trees next to the river. She then looked back as all of them nodded.

Suddenly the air lit up with the thunderous sounds of fifty calibers going off and the man on the horse falling to his death. Jacklyn then jumped up from the ground and jumped into the middle of the camp and let out a thunderous roar. Quinely charged forward from her position and quickly caught many of the alliance off guard as the ranged and spell casters gave them an untimely death. Veliline ran forward and blasted one alliance with both of her diseases. The man fell to his knees suffering greatly. She ran up to him held out her hand as the diseases spread all around her, catching the attention of the remaining alliance. She casted her death and decay spell on an alliance outpost with several electronics. The spell quickly dissolved everything it touched and slowed down the approach of the soldiers.

Another waved of sniper fire filled the air, killing the Sha demons and many other alliance. They quickly reloaded and took careful aim before letting loose another barrage of heavy artillery.

Jacklyn's party was all entirely on the battlefield now, except for Dan. He summoned an earth elemental and had it move behind them. He made it grow larger than normal and tried to get the attention of any potential targets to hit him and not the snipers. The humans ran over to the designated spot Jacklyn said and let their bullets fly.

The alliance, no longer controlled by the Sha, looked confused which made it even easier to bring them down. Mohania and his imp were casting spells as fast as they could, as was Julie and Branzer. Their guns unloaded bullets that knocked alliance backwards several feet before landing on their death.

The alliance was not prepared for this. They had been controlled by the Sha and were more interested in looking for artifacts then to be on their guard. Many of them took off running and Jacklyn gave the command, "Leave none alive!" The machine guns and sniper rifles lit up and mowed down all of them running for their lives.

The battle was over…or so Jacklyn thought. She walked in the middle of the camp with her blades drawn. Suddenly a large Sha demon grew out of the ground, grabbed her leg and tossed her aside. Both tanks ran to gain control over the beast and the machine guns lit up the air again. The creature merely laughed as the bullets passed through him.

"Stop firing! Stop firing!" Jacklyn yelled over the sound of the bullets. Jacklyn's party had engaged the Sha demon and was attacking it as they had attacked large demons in the past.

The sound of the guns went silent as the soldiers sat helpless watching the demon take huge strikes and swipes at Jacklyn's party. Any strike that would have killed a normal human was quickly healed by Skyka and Lindel as they ran to get back into the battle.

"Your fear fuels me!" The Sha said laughing. He then summoned several smaller Sha demons that were quickly picked up by Quinely. The DPS redirected their attacks at them as they were taken down one at a time.

"Soldiers! Get the prisoners free and get them away from the battle!" Jacklyn yelled at looking at where the soldiers were positioned. She then turned to the Sha and yelled, "You do not belong here! You feed off from our emotions, but none of us are scared of you! Your prisoners will be set free and you will fall! You will fall and I will sprinkle the ground with salt!"

The Sha laughed but was quickly silenced by Branzer's shot. "Watch the ground! There are red circles forming and I'm pretty sure they are spells from the Sha!"

The Sha felt a deep pain and cried out in pain as it felt like it was paralyzed. Trackolania appeared behind it, studied its opponent and let out a series of devastating critical strikes to it. The poison infected the Sha as it regained control of itself and looked around at all of the incoming attacks. It knew its strength was weakening.

"Suck chaos bolts you blob of goo!" Mohania yelled and unleashed three different ones. It drained Mohania's power, but each other struck hard as Jacklyn jumped into the attack and let out a scream that caused it enormous pain. The Sha, frustrated, knew it needed to get away. It started to sink into the ground. Mohania ran up and held his hands up and threw them to the side as the ground opened up. The Sha, completely startled by this, fell into the deep hole with Jacklyn's group following after it, continuing to launch attack after attack.

"Impossible…imposs…ible…" The Sha said and burned up in a blast of fire.

Dan watched the battle from on top of the hill. "Don't move!" he said and suddenly disappeared. He reappeared in the deep hole as he ran around and grabbed everybody. Once everybody was touching him, Dan instantly teleported them out of the hole and beside Mohania who slammed the ground shut.

"Who…are you people?" The Pandarian asked confused. They then looked around and seemed to be completely unaware of where they were.

"Get them out of here; take them back to the base camp!" Jacklyn yelled at the soldiers. They sped up their efforts. Dan disappeared and seconds later reappeared with all of the snipers.

"You are staying with us." Jacklyn said to them. "One camp has been destroyed, another waits. Trackolania – lead the way." Jacklyn said. Trackolania nodded and bounced past everybody and quickly entered the woods.

They eventually found a stone path that led up to an enormous town. They could hear the sounds of battle. It was the sounds of alliance battling the Pandaria people.

"Stealth us Trackolania" Jacklyn said. Trackolania quickly turned around with his cape and everybody in the group disappeared from sight.

"What the hell?" One of the snipers said looking around.

"Shut…up!" Jacklyn yelled back at him in a quiet but fierce voice. Nobody else dared to say a word.

"No tanks this time. Dismiss your demons, keep your pets. Keep close everybody. We are going to move up that ramp to the far left and then appear right in the middle of the battle. Do not injure the Pandarians. Let's go." Jacklyn said and they quickly moved. Up the bridge they moved and walked across several paths and walk ways to get to the main battle.

"Uncloak us Trackolania." Jacklyn whispered.

The Alliance and the Pandaria all stared at the new people that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Leave this place Alliance scum! The Pandaria people do not deserve to be tortured, attacked and enslaved by you! You only get one warning!" Jacklyn yelled out. The alliance backed off not knowing what to do.

Jacklyn ran to the front lines and yelled, "That's right…go crying back to your kin and suck on each other's tits! You dare attack a race that is peaceful! You bring in your war machines with the intention of over taking this island? Over my dead body! Snipers…give them three seconds!" Jacklyn's voice thundered through the lands and echoed off from several distant mountains.

The snipers ran forward, took aim, and began unleashing their enormous bullets at the alliance.

"No way they are getting more kills than I am!" Mohania yelled out as the rest of the party ran and jumped in front of the Pandarian's front line and began attacking them. Skyka dropped a lightwell that healed the wounded Pandarians and then squeezed her way past them to join the rest of her party.

Mohania held his hands up and summoned fire from the sky. Strings summoned acid to fall from the sky as well as the tanks in the group ran forward and knocked them down.

The stunned alliance was not ready for this and began to retreat.

"Everybody in my party…follow them!" Jacklyn commanded. The snipers picked up their heavy weapons and began reloading them as they ran past the stunned Pandarian, many of them excusing themselves.

They chased the large army for miles, dropping any stragglers that couldn't keep up. Eventually they came to an enormous air strip and docks being built. Jacklyn ordered Trackolania to disguise them as they got off the path and moved all as one unit into the woods.

"Dan…we may need you here…" Jacklyn whispered to him. Dan slammed his fist weapons into the ground and said, "The elements of this land…I am a shaman and I feel the pain that has caused you, but all of that has changed now. Take my powers…take vengeance on these that brought suffering to you."

The land immediately started to quake and the winds poured down on the enemies with the force of a tornado. It struck down every airship and tossed it aside. The grounds had summoned enormous rock elementals to rise out of the ground and held out their hands as rocks and dirt flew out. The seas recessed back into the ocean quickly, leaving all of their docks and ships down on dry land. It then came back with a wave at least one hundred feet tall and traveled at least one hundred miles per hour, annihilating anything in its way. It immediately stopped in front of Dan and his army, and then pulled everybody back into the ocean.

"Sha…you are not welcome in these lands…be gone!" A voice echoed from the waters. Several Sha popped up from the ground where the waters had destroyed everything and the rock elementals quickly attacked them. The Sha feed off from the emotions of people, but with everything dead, the Sha were weakened and quickly defeated.

"Shaman…come to me!" A voice called out from the waters.

"I'll be back I guess…" Dan said pulling his fist weapons out of the ground and walked out from the invisibility of Trackolania's cloak. The winds had calmed, the rock elements had crumbled to the ground and the oceans calmed down. Dan summoned a gust of wind and holding his hands up, he flew into the air.

"What now?" A sniper asked Jacklyn.

"I don't know…I haven't read the end of the book, I don't know how this is going to end." Jacklyn said back.

"Ah…the elements have found peace and wish to thank your shaman. I wish to thank you as well." A fat male Pandarian said behind him.

"Uncloak us Trackolania." Jacklyn said. Suddenly Jacklyn's army appeared and Jacklyn saw the man's shock.

"We mean you no harm." Jacklyn said.

"If you did, you would not have saved our lives. Chen has spoken highly of you, but he has not told us of the powers all of you have. I must say that I am impressed and your timing is impeccable. I am leader of the Pandaria within these woods. The Sha still live among us, but they are scared of us now. Other lands of Pandaria still have the Sha haunting them. Who are these you war against?" The leader asked.

"They are our enemies, the alliance. Chen called for help and we heard them in a distant world. We search the worlds looking to free those that the alliance enslave. Once our work here is done, we will leave. We have freed many of your people and are in Chen's house." Jacklyn said.

"So I have been told. You have also rallied the Hozen to aid us instead of annoy us, you have many thanks from my people."

"What is happening to Dan right now?" Jacklyn asked.

"He is going to speak with Shen-Zin Su. We have not heard him speak in generations. I eagerly wait to hear what he tells your shaman." The Pandaria leader said.

Dan eventually felt a gust of hot air blow on him and then a huge green sky serpent flew beneath him and carefully flew upward until Dan was riding it.

"Hello young one. I am Yu'lon a sky serpent – similar to the ones that you are raising; only I am very old. I have watched over these lands for a long time. I have not felt such great evil suddenly appear on our world. You have a kindness about you. You look to calm the evil that has awakened and to restore balance. But I am saddened to tell you that neither of these things is possible. The ancients that guarded this land have abandoned us. The mists have risen and the Sha rises. This world is doomed…my heart weighs heavy by saying that. As we speak right now there are critters destroying crops, the Mantrids are destroying the lands, the Mogul have risen up and are amassing in numbers, the Jinyu have become corrupted, the Slitherscales are feasting on the rest of the sky serpents and the people you have fought are amassing in different parts of this once magnificent world. I seek your assistance little one. I am going to bring you to Shen-Zin Su and we shall discuss the matter. The people of this world are going to face complete annihilation if something isn't done. You have the power to command the elements and have proven to have a kind heart. But commanding the elements is not always the best plan of attack. You have destroyed our shores on the south side of the Jade Forest. It was probably inevitable that it would have happened anyways, but having the ability to transform the land has deep consequences – especially here. Hold on young shaman…I will now move us swiftly towards the oceans." Yu'lon said and immediately increased her speed tenfold and began skimming the water, leaving wakes in the water as she flew.

"Is this the shaman?" Shen-Zin Su asked. Dan saw an enormous turtle. The word "enormous" didn't quite do it justice though…it was a floating island as big as his country with a large head. Yu'lon circled around its head and came to rest right in front of him.

"This is the shaman responsible for the elemental damage and for disturbing you." Yu'lon said.

"I am sorry for disturbing you; I did not know you were here." Dan said.

"Never wondering what the consequences are for your actions. So you have control over the elements and you used them to banish your enemy – however I nearly flipped over. The inhabitants living on me grew scared. I commanded the waters to leave and spoke with my people. I told them I would bring the one responsible for creating this panic before me." Shen-Zin Su said.

"I am sorry for what I have done. I shall not call upon the elementals to assist in our battles anymore." Dan said.

"Sorry does not fix the damage. But…it does show that you are one of the ones that can be trusted. Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you here?" Shen-Zin Su asked.

"My name is Dan. I am a shaman and an ambassador of Tranquil – the kingdom that I cannot tell where it is, nor could I because I do not know. It is I that brought my people here. I heard the voice of Chen echo in the air. We have people that have the magic to move from worlds to different worlds…as they were trying to locate new islands, I heard Chen cry out for help. I quickly came to his rescue. I healed his wounds and brought back to life some members of his family. From there…" Dan said but was interrupted.

"From there we observed the rest. We know what happens in Pandaria. The Pandaren people are a peaceful race that are rich in history, have valuable items, built great temples, and have brought peace and order to their families to many generations. You look similar to the group of people that captured, tortured, and murdered the Pandaren – are you one of them?" Shen-Zin Su asked.

"No – not at all, I am a human that is my race. Unfortunately our enemies that we pursue throughout the worlds look to enslave different races to bolster their forces against their will. We are one of the many groups of races that have fought against them for many generations. We were not the cause of their arrival." Dan said quickly at the end.

"No you are not. They arrived many months ago. Many have died at their hands. They upset the balance of the world and have awoken the Sha. The Sha is a creature of immense evil, thriving on evil acts and are bent on complete and utter destruction of this world. The Sha were here first on this world. Then the ancients fought them. Years of attacks went on until they realized they could not be killed, so they drove them into the grounds. The ancients, known only to us by the written books they kept, are now long gone – and I fear that we are as well, it is only a matter of time. But upon your arrival you have shown that there is some good in the many worlds that exist. You have given us renewed strength and vigor. Go to the Valley of the Four Winds. Read the books, learn from the ancients. Yu'lon and I cannot participate in the battle. The battle is for the young, not for the old and listening to the sounds of death approaching them. Learn from the ancients, craft their weapons, and learn their spells. They had accumulated vast knowledge and the Pandaren people do not live by their wisdom. Plant crops and regrow the trees, for this world was one at peace and we would like to see it at peace again. Take what you have learned and use it, but please do not disturb the waters again. My inhabitants do not wish to be frightened again. Do not disturb the winds; the sky serpents cannot withstand such tremendous forces. Find a way to make peace and drive the Sha back once more. We will watch from a great distance. Be gone with you now." Shen-Zin Su said. Yu'lon turned completely around and flew into the air with Dan still holding on.

"Shen-Zin Su is upset. He finds confidence in your people though. Please make the lands inhabitable again. Soon he will float into land and turn to stone. I will soon die myself. I have lived a long life and I grow tired. Other sky serpents will rise up to take my place. I will take you back to your people, and then I will return to the skies" were the last words Yu'lon spoke as she flew Dan back to the shores. Once they arrived, Dan jumped down and turned around to watch Yu'lon fly up high into the skies.

Dan pulled out his hearthstone and summoned all of his party and relayed the information of what just happened.

"We have to tell the people of Pandaria, they have a right to know. Nobody summon your dragons here, we're not sure how the people or the sky serpents will react…that is if they even came with us. I will meet all of you at the great all. Bring the humans as well. Lindel, do we have the capability of making portals yet?" Herrior asked.

"Give me a second." Lindel said setting down her hearthstone. She created a portal, but as soon as she started channeling power into it, dozens of tiny Sha rose out of the ground. Lindel instantly turned into her evil banshee form and held her hands to her side as she flew off the ground and sucked the life out of the creatures. She then returned back to her normal self and picked the hearthstone back up.

"I saw what happened. Ok we are going to be here for awhile. Dan – don't use the air or water to attack anymore, I don't want to piss off any more people then we have to. I'm going to have Jessica assign some babysitters for your sky serpents. We all need to speak with the people of Pandaria. I will arrival as soon as I can." Herrior said and closed his portal. Several sky serpents were looking over Herrior's head at all of the images and he turned around to look at them. They backed up a little in the air and then looked at Jessica.

"Can all of you stay here for awhile? I will be back when I can." Jessica said. The sky serpents looked at her and then saw her motion as she pointed at them and then pointed at the ground. All of the sky serpents flew down to the ground. Jessica smiled and left, but the sky serpents flew back up into the air and followed her. All of the other sky serpents that were playing different games saw her and immediately flew over to greet her.

"I need to go that way…" Jessica said and pointed. "Can all of you stay here?" Jessica said and then pointed at the rest of the Pandaren. The sky serpents looked at all of the directions Jessica pointed at and then looked back at her eagerly.

"Stay." Jessica said hold up her hands and motioning them to not move. Many of the sky serpents looked confused as they tilted their heads. Jessica started walking forward and they followed. She turned around and said, "No! You stay here. I will be back." Jessica said sternly. Jessica then pointed at the Pandarens and said, "Go play with them." The sky serpents seemed to understand this and all of them flew over to the Pandarens and began to play games with them again. Herrior and Jessica then made a break for it into the woods – hoping they wouldn't follow.


	35. Abandoned

Abandoned

Herrior and Jessica met up with the rest of their party in a town called Dawn's Blossom. The human soldiers looked eager to get back into combat, or just anxious about their situation – it was hard to tell.

"Welcome back again! Please have some brew. We have the best brew masters ever!" The elder Pandaren said. The other Pandarens began to pass out wooden cups to everybody. The soldiers looked at it and then looked at Herrior. Herrior nodded and took a small sip and then said, "We have matters we need to discuss."

"By diggity this is some good ale! Who made this, and how much more do you have?" Strings blurted out.

"Ah, we are well pleased by his response. We have perfected it over the ages. Come into our house and we shall speak. Chen requested that he be here to speak as well." The elder said.

"That is fine." Herrior said following the elder in. The interior of the house was made of red cloth walls and drapery hanging from the ceiling. There were numerous pillows spread around, but not enough for everybody to sit on. Herrior told the ambassadors to not sit on the pillows and sit in front of the elder and his advisors. The rest of the humans sat off towards the walls and took the time to reload their weapons and divide among them the remaining ammunition.

"My name is Master Windfur. Many things have taken place in the past couple of months…many Pandaren have fallen, and then you came and drove them away. How may we reward you?" Windfur asked cheerfully.

"It's not that simple…" Herrior said and explained everything Dan told him. The elders listen intently, holding onto every single word.

After fifteen minutes, Master Windfur and his advisors looked more worried than when their town was under attack. "Well…you have come and driven back those that attacked us, can you not do the same to the Sha as well?"

Herrior felt anger rise in his blood but calmly said, "We are stranded here. We have to make it to the Valley of the Four Winds and try to figure out a way of restoring balance so that we may go to our home."

Master Windfur shook his head and said, "We have not heard from anybody outside of our forests. It is too dangerous."

"Danger or not – that is where we are going. I would advise you to notify your people of the events that have taken place and form an army to defend yourselves. Who is your commander or leader?" Herrior asked.

Master Windfur looked at all of his elders with a confused look. Herrior interrupted, "Your people are monks are they not? They know how to fight, somebody must have trained them."

"Yes, we have many trainers…"

"Good – they will be your leaders. Start forming groups and gathering your entire race into this town and fortify it. Set up traps and strengthen your houses. I am going to the Valley of the Four Winds with or without your help. My own people need me as much as your people need you. These humans that line your walls come from a different world that needs them also. We are not here permanently. The Sha will attack again, and the alliance will probably attack again. You face many enemies…" Herrior said but was cut off.

"That our people need not worry about…"

"…until they are at your front steps slaughtering your people again. We are giving you a fair warning about what might happen. I would suggest taking my advice. You heard what Dan said about your two watchers. Your world has changed, and my party is not strong enough to fight them all, nor is it even our responsibility. I am in charge of my party, not this world. We move out for the Valley of the Four Winds in fifteen minutes." Herrior said standing up. The rest of his party and the soldiers stood to their feet as well.

"Wait…we can pay you…"

"We do not accept bribery. You tell your people what is happening or watch them suffer before your feet. They are willing to die for their lands…maybe it's about time you do the same. Move out people." Herrior said turning around and walking out. The rest of the party's followed him out. The Pandarens eagerly waited below to hear what Herrior was going to say.

"Your elders have something to tell you. I'm going to need a couple of Pandarens to escort us to the Valley of the Four Winds." Herrior said.

"I know where it is. I will lead you there." Chen said behind Herrior.

"That's one…" Herrior said.

"My pa lives there…I know how to get there!" A female child blurted out. An adult female quickly knelt down and put her hand over her mouth.

"Let the child speak! It is people like her that will bring victory over your foes. It is the will of the child, if she wishes to help us on our journey then so be it." Herrior said.

"But…she is just a child…she might be killed." The woman said.

"Die now, or die later. That child has no fear and is willing to meet death head on. Let's move out." Herrior said and walked down the stairs as the rest of his party followed him.

"Hi…my name is Lulu! Are we really going to fight bad guys?" The child asked slipping through the crowd and running up to Herrior.

"Hi Lulu, my name is Herrior. We are going to do more than fight bad guys…we are going to restore your lands without fear in our hearts." Herrior said glaring back at the rest of the Pandaren.

"I'm going! If this is what it takes to restore our land then all of us should go!" A male Pandaren said.

"Your elders need to speak with you first. There is much work to be done, but it will only work if all of you work together." Herrior said stopping his walk and pointing at Master Windfur.

"The fighter speaks the truth. We need every able monk that can fight to report to our trainers. The rest of you start gathering stone and wood." Master Windfur said looking from Herrior to his people.

"Are we in danger?" One of them asked as the rest of them started asking questions among themselves.

"We have lived in peace and harmony for many generations. Now war has come to our lands and these few people, from an entirely different world, will stand against it – then all of us should stand against it as well. Start mining and gathering herbs…we will need to make weapons and armor." Master Windfur said. The crowds started to talk and fear started moving over the crowds of Pandaren.

"Listen to me!" Herrior screamed out. "United – you can stand against any enemy! Working together you can conquer any foe that comes at you. If you let fear, anger, or doubt fill your minds, it will only fuel the Sha – your enemy! If the alliance comes and they see a people filled with fear instead of confidence, then the war is already lost. Look among you…each of you knows how to fight. Each of you knows how to craft something to help. Each of you is part of something bigger than you are! Do not quarrel among yourselves, unite yourselves towards a common goal – and that is to preserve your way of life, to preserve your ancestors, to preserve your towns that you made and the offspring that you have produced. Fight with honor and with a common, united goal!"

This speech silenced the crowd. They all looked at him as inspiration filled them. Seconds afterwards they started talking about getting to the trainers, making weapons and different ways of fortifying their town.

"If we return, we will return with the knowledge to defeat the Sha! If we don't return, then you will know that the 'outsiders' gave their lives to protect a race that they did not even know until just a couple of days ago. If we are willing to do that, then you should be able to work together to protect your own race. I look forward to returning and seeing fighters and a better fortified city." Herrior said. He then turned around and marched away.

"Well said." Skyka said.

"Was it? I thought I went a little overboard…" Herrior said smiling at her.

"Are we really going to die?" Lulu asked excitedly.

"I doubt it. How about you walk with me and tell me the fastest way to get there?" Herrior asked smiling down at her.

"What can I do to help?" Chen asked.

"Help Lulu remember the fastest way there. How was your assault on your alliance base?" Herrior asked.

"We left none alive. They have never fought monks before!" Chen said proudly.

"Good…your confidence is rising." Herrior said.

"Herrior! A Pandaren is approaching from behind us!" A male soldier yelled out. Herrior pulled out his sword and shield and readied himself. The rest of the small army did the same.

"Please don't hurt me…I want to fight by your side." A female Pandaren said.

"Why?" Herrior asked.

"Because I'm braver than most of my people and I know how to fight. If complete strangers are setting off on a journey to save my people, the most I can do is come along as well. I have knowledge of plants that are good for eating, animals and fish as well. I also know what ore we are going to need and what plants can be used for potions." The female said.

"What is your name?" Herrior asked.

"Lhi" She responded.

"Welcome Lhi. Jacklyn speak with her and find out what she knows about fighting. Let's pick up the pace people!" Herrior said putting his weapons away as Lulu pointed off to the west and they began to jog in the direction.

"There is a bridge up here…but they say it is haunted. Nobody ever crosses…" Lulu said pointing to a wide wooden bridge in the distance.

"Lulu, I need you to go back into the humans ok? We are going to go talk to the ghosts that haunt the bridge." Herrior said smiling and pointing to the soldiers. The soldiers separated and made a path for her.

"Are you going to go beat up the bad ghosts?" Lulu asked excitedly.

"Yes we are, but I want you to be safe." Herrior said smiling at her. He then looked up at the soldiers who nodded.

"I'll go first. Quinely you take to the air, and Veliline you go underneath it. If there is something causing problems on this bridge I want it killed. Everybody else cover us." Herrior said to his party. Spark let out a snarl as he started sniffing the air. Herrior pulled out his sword and shield and proceeded to walk on the bridge.

"Who dares cross my bridge?" A voice called out followed by sounds of screaming terror as Veliline began assaulting something underneath the bridge. The party ran down to see. Veliline had suspended a troll in mid air and was slowly chocking the air out of his lungs.

Herrior jumped over the rail as Quinely flew down and morphed into her cat form.

"Stop…please…" the troll pleaded as his face turned a dark blue.

"Release him." Herrior said. Veliline let go of her force grip on his throat and as soon as the dark purple lightning vanished the troll fell into the water with a big splash. Branzer walked up to him and pulled out his gun. He let out two enormous blasts on both sides of the troll. The troll screamed and ran away.

"I can drop him…" Branzer said peering down the sights with both hands on his gun.

"No…please don't!" The troll screamed.

"Bring him back…" Herrior said. Veliline shot her hand out and another purple lightning bolt snagged his body and brought him back almost instantly.

"I can still drop him…" Branzer said with his enormous barrel nearly down the troll's mouth.

"What are you doing here? And talk fast…I haven't the time for games and my hunter here is having trouble with his twitching finger…" Herrior said.

"I am not allowed to let people pass on this bridge…I am only doing what I am told! If I don't do as the black demons say they will kill me." The troll said.

"Kill him." Herrior said. Branzer's gun went off and it sounded like a cannon as the trolls body exploded into tiny pieces.

"Anybody else going to prevent us from crossing this bridge? Any Sha preventing our route that wishes to stick their heads up?" Herrior yelled looking in both directions. He heard the distant echo of his voice. Nothing but silence returned.

"Move back and let's cross this bridge." Herrior said. Herrior's party moved back into position and Herrior walked into the middle of the bridge and taunted the Sha again, "We're coming for you! I will annihilate every single one of you Sha! Any alliance will die before my sword as well! If you are an enemy – come forward so you too can meet your maker!"

"Herrior is loud…" Lulu whispered covering her ears. The surrounding humans smiled but dared not laugh.

Herrior moved to the other side of the bridge and saw rolling plains with wild yaks, eagles flying overhead, huge beasts that looked like Clefthoofs from Nagrand, but only smaller with more horns, a yellowish color and a tail.

"Looks like a dinosaur…just smaller." Branzer said. Herrior nodded and proceeded down the trail.

They saw several abandoned homes; some looked like they left in a hurry…or died in a hurry. Herrior didn't like what he saw and asked Chen which direction.

"Follow the path. If memory serves me right it should slowly move in that direction to an established village." Chen said, and that was the direction that they went. Lulu was asking questions and telling stories the entire time. Herrior allowed it because there didn't appear to be any threat.

"There…but…something is wrong. They are all…sad. What has happened to our people?" Chen asked. His vision must have been better than that of Herrior's. He saw Pandaren, but not the facial expressions.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"Overwhelming doubt and fear…it's like they have no hope and don't care about anything. There are babies and children crying and the parents don't care. There is something evil in that town…I can sense it but don't know where it is coming from." Lindel said.

"Evil huh…let's go bring it out. Move it people!" Herrior said pulling out his sword and shield as they began to run forward.

"I'm good at running; I practice all of the time!" Lulu said excitedly.

"Is there anything that kid doesn't like…?" Mohania mumbled.

"Hey – be good, she's just happy. She's one of the few that aren't scared to face their enemies." Crystal said.

"Bunch of pansies…" Mohania mumbled.

"What's a pansy?" Lulu asked excitedly.

"It's a flower that can be red, purple or yellow and they smell very nice." One of the woman soldiers explained. Crystal reached over and smacked Mohania.

"Fine…I'll be good…" Mohania said.

They arrived in the village and Herrior's voice boomed again, Lulu covered her ears.

"What is wrong with you people? Snap out of it!" Herrior said smacking one with his hand. The Pandaren fell to the ground and it seemed to work. He looked around surprised and moved backwards quickly at the strangers.

"Calm down my fellow Pandaren…what is your name?" Chen asked.

"No…no you can't be here! It will return…it is here…it will come back…it is there…" The Pandaren said completely confused.

"Lindel?" Herrior asked annoyed.

"His mind is obviously scrambled…but the images he is producing right now in his head is of Sha warriors that cast spells on people's minds – essentially making them emotionless. The sudden rush of emotions rushing back into his mind is confusing him." Lindel said.

"There are Sha warriors here? Show yourselves you idiotic pieces of worthless flesh! I will show you and your army what a real army is! We are not afraid of you and we will reclaim this village as our own unless you come out to fight us!" Herrior's voice boomed. Suddenly little Sha creatures, less than a foot tall, ran out of the bodies of the Pandaren and all moved quickly away from the group. Herrior quickly moved forward and started stopping on them as they died and dissolved into a white trail of smoke. The rest of his party began doing the same thing. Herrior ran towards where the tiny Sha were running to, killing as many as he could in his wake. He turned a corner and saw three horses that were black with white outlines. Their riders were the same. Herrior smiled as he pulled out his sword and shield.

"You dare not attack…" one of the Sha soldiers said as Herrior charged at them and then slammed his sword on the ground creating a shockwave that stunned all of the Sha warriors. Herrior then jumped up in the ground and slammed on the ground causing more injury to the warriors as his group came around and began unloading their arsenals. The Sha warriors were quickly killed and the tiny Sha demons didn't know what to do now. The humans started to spread out and stomped on as many as they could.

"What is happening? What is going on? Who are you people?" Several of the townsfolk started to ask.

"Chen if you would please…" Herrior said and then told his party to search every house and form a one hundred foot perimeter to search for any remaining Sha and were told that if they encountered any more warriors to signal for help.

Chen started to speak and one of the soldiers yelled out, "We got a big one over here!" Quinely morphed into a bird and flew over to the spot as the giant Sha creature began to grow out of the ground. It grabbed the woman and said, "Drop your weapons or I will kill her!"

"She's not with us…go ahead and kill her and then we will kill you!" Quinely yelled out as she landed in bear form and took a huge swipe at the Sha demon. It let out a scream of pain and said, "I will squeeze the life out of her…I will imprison all of you! Fear me!"

"Fear this." The woman said grabbing her automatic rifle and unloading it into the Sha's head. The Sha dropped her and instantly recoiled back in pain. It turned around and started to run away.

"Permission to engage!" A male soldier asked.

"No…sit there with your thumb up your ass…" Mohania yelled at him as he ran by and lined up to cast a chaos bolt at him. The sounds the automatic rifles lit up the air as the Sha was overwhelmed with the attack. It eventually turned, stumbled and burned up in a white puff of smoke.

"If one of us is being attacked – attack back!" Mohania yelled at the man and then walked away.

"Why did she say that one of our soldiers weren't with us?" Another soldier asked.

"Reverse psychology. If it thinks it has an advantage over us it will take it. If it was going to kill her it would have. It wanted to instill fear in us and in her." Herrior said walking over to the woman. He placed his arm gently on her back and asked, "Are you ok?"

"Fine…just annoyed. Why did it choose me?" She asked.

"I have no idea. Maybe next time it will choose Mohania." Herrior said with a smile. He then turned around and said, "One demon and three Sha fighters dead…there are probably more out there – I want them dead people!"

"I don't sense the evil anymore Herrior...just a bunch of confused people." Lindel said.

"Where did the evil go?" Herrior quickly asked.

"It felt like it was going in the direction we were heading." Lindel said uncertain.

"Form up people! There are things to kill and we aren't killing them!" Herrior screamed out. Herrior then turned to Chen and told him to stay here with the people and explain to them what is happening. Herrior then looked back and was impressed to see both parties ready to move out. He smiled and nodded at them and then took off running.

"Yay…more adventure!" Lulu said excitedly. Herrior forgot about Lulu…

"Lulu go back with Lindel and tell her which direction we need to go." Herrior said.

"Ok I will." Lulu waited until Lindel ran up to her. Lindel smiled at her as she extended her hand and picked up Lulu and let her fly in the air for awhile as she screamed excitedly.

"Come and face us you worthless Sha!" Herrior yelled out as he ran faster. The determination in his face was unrelenting. His hooves pounded hard on the ground as he accelerated past the group.

"You cowards! You are weak and I will crush you…all of you! You prey on the weak and devour the poor and when you are opposed you run away? You are filth! You dastardly wretch…come out and face us!" Herrior continued to mock the Sha, or Alliance or anything that dared step in his path.

Finally coming up to another town he saw it controlled by Alliance. He recognized their armor, insignias, and tabards anywhere.

"Release those people or I will severe all of your heads!" Herrior commanded pulling out his sword and shield.

"What is a tauren doing here?" The Alliance commander asked. He then signaled his troops to go get him.

"Good! I was hoping I would run get to shed some Alliance blood! Bring it on!" Herrior yelled and then let out a thunderous shout and assumed a defensive position. He paused on top of the hill he was on though to let his party's catch up.

The Alliance soldiers started mocking him as they drew their swords and charged at him. Herrior smiled as he held his position. Suddenly, as Jacklyn had instructed, everybody ran over the top of the mountain at the same time and began firing their weapons and spells. The Alliance dropped quickly and several of the snipers slid to the ground, aimed, and fired their enormous guns, blowing off the commanders head.

"Cover us…" Jacklyn ordered and several other shots went off as Herrior's party and some of the human soldiers ran into the town.

"I order you to stop! This is an Alliance town and if you declare war on us…" a male soldier yelled at Herrior approaching him until Branzer's bullets dropped his lifeless body to the ground. The Alliance didn't know what to do, some of them chose to stay and fight while others ran away. Herrior leaped into the air and crashed down in the middle of some of the Alliance. His attacks commenced, deflecting many attacks and absorbing damage as several spells hit them hard, bringing them to their knees. Jacklyn leaped into the air and crashed down hard next to Herrior and let out a shockwave with her swords and they slammed the ground, knocking all of them down as Trackolania suddenly appeared and moved swiftly slitting their throats with their armor exposed.

"I proclaim this town to be a free town! Free of Alliance and free of tyranny! For any that oppose…step forward!" Herrior yelled. The control that the Alliance had over the Pandaren people slowly lifted as they regained their senses. Suddenly they became angry and started pursuing the people that had enslaved their minds.

"Ranged – follow them! Melee hold your ground here!" Herrior commanded holding his sword in their direction.

"This is exciting Lindel! We are defeating the bad guys!" Lulu said enthusiastically.

"Go stay with these humans right here." Lindel said walking her quickly over to four humans and said "Protect her" as she turned and then ran up to Herrior.

The ranged fighters followed them as Branzer's bear and Spark tripped up as many people as they could. Trackolania sped ahead and prepared a string trap. The ones not being pummeled with spells and bullets were quickly tripped up in Trackolania's trap. The string brought them to the ground as Trackolania quickly tied it together and then took out several poison vials, popped the cork on them and splashed the alliance on their faces with it. Instantly screams came as their flesh sizzled and they dropped their weapons to try desperately to get their helmets off.

Trackolania waited with his daggers as the frantic Alliance soldiers finally got them off. His daggers then went to work, moving faster than the eyes could see. His daggers dove into each of their throats and moved on to the next throat and in less than a second, they were all breathing in their own blood. Trackolania wiped his daggers off in the ground and then stood back up and watched their eyes of horror look at him and then go lifeless.

"Couldn't you have waited a couple of seconds? I mean…" Mohania said and casted several immolate fire spells on the Alliance as the rest of them caught up.

"Why look…they are all on fire… That must mean I killed all of them…reasonable deduction and no reasons to question otherwise…" Mohania said as their bodies completely burned up, leaving only their armor and weapons behind.

"For some reason I don't believe that…" Crystal said as Trackolania smacked himself on the head.

"Gather up their armor and weapons. We need to equip the Pandaren and the soldiers in hand-to-hand combat if it comes up." Branzer said. The party did and returned to Herrior.

"Spoils from our victory…" Branzer said and tossed the equipment on the ground. "I figured the people of Pandaria can use them."

"We cannot use these…they are too small for us. These are swords…we don't know how to use these weapons." One of the Pandaren said.

"We melt them down and turn them into armor we can use." Chen said walking up behind Herrior. Herrior turned around and gave Chen a small smile and a nod. Chen bowed to him.

"We do not wear metal for armor, we wear the skins of the animals – like the little one you have in your group." Chen said pointing to Trackolania. Trackolania smiled and waved.

"We do not use swords, we use staves. I already have the other town constructing anvils and forges. This town is called Halfhill, it is rumored to have the best farmers and produce." Chen said.

"Yes we do. We pride ourselves on the finest crops and our produce." A Pandaren came up with blue overalls.

"We pride ourselves on our brew, perhaps we can offer trade?" Chen asked.

"We heard the screams and cries of help from the Jade Forest…that is a banned area for us. The Sha will devour it."

"Herrior and his people have driven them out, just like they have driven them out of this area. You must set up defenses though, and you must start practicing the arts of being a monk. You must not let despair and hopelessness overcome you again. All of you need to strengthen your minds and sharpen your wits. Our world is under attack and in order to preserve our way of life we must fight!" Chen said with determination in his voice.

"Yeah…we beat up a lot of bad guys!" Lulu said excitedly.

"What do we do about the entrance and exit to the Jade Forest? It is haunted."

"The 'haunted' has had its body blown into hundreds of different pieces. It will not bother you." Branzer said with a smile.

"I would suggest assigning a couple of elders to come with us to Dawn's Blossom where our elders will consult with you. As you have seen, our old ways of life are of the past. We need to work together to preserve what we have." Chen said.

Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. He looked curiously at his group and they looked just as confused. He pulled out his hearthstone and an image of one of Tranquil's ambassadors appeared. All of the Pandaren looked at it in awe as the portal showed a picture of another tauren.

"Herrior – thank goodness, we have been trying to contact you. What's been going on?" The male tauren asked in relief.

"We have been fighting, what is happening?" Herrior asked.

"Elona is requesting Dan's presence. They want the person that saved their world and killed the Queen and her army." The tauren said.

"That wasn't Dan." Herrior said.

"All of us know that…but they are saying that their lands are rising up against them – elementals are forming and attacking their fortified walls." The ambassador said.

"We cannot leave this land, we have tried several times. We are trying to get the humans back to their world, and we are trying to get back to ours. There is a force called the Sha that is blocking our portals." Herrior said.

The tauren ambassador looked worried and asked, "What do we do then? We need you back here and we cannot have the prince of Tranquil stranded on an island. The King will not be pleased."

"We are fighting the Sha as much as we can. Hold on a second…" Herrior said and turned to Lindel. She knew what he wanted and held her hands out and produced a portal. She started to channel her powers into it, only this time no Sha demons appeared.

"Go!" Herrior turned around and yelled at Dan. Dan ran and jumped through the portal and Lindel collapsed it as soon as he was through.

"There, Dan should be in Tranquil with you." Herrior said.

"I sent him to Elona." Lindel said. Herrior let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry I thought that is what you wanted."

"It is my fault, I should have said something. Ok so Dan is there now, but we need to establish a foothold on these grounds. We are in the middle of joining these people and have killed many alliance. We also need to get the humans back to their world as well, but I do not feel sa…we need to discuss this at a later time…" Herrior said practically biting his tongue. He didn't feel safe opening more portals here because it seems to draw the Sha to their location. The ambassador understood what Herrior was saying and told him to contact them again when possible.

"Herrior…you are our leader. If we have to fight with swords instead of weapons then so be it." A soldier said with his rifle strapped behind him and picked up a sword.

"You may have to, but these weapons are for the Pandaren. Do you have swords or knives that you brought with you?" Herrior asked. The soldier pulled out a two foot knife, blade on one side and serrated edges on the other side.

"Good, when you run out of ammunition or when you think you can kill an enemy with your knives do so. I promise to get all of you home as soon as we can." Herrior said.

In the meantime Chen had spoken with his people and selected several elders to represent the town. He also gave them instructions to start planting food and harvesting right away. When Herrior was done talking Chen walked up to him with the elders following him and said they were ready to go.

"Let's head back then." Herrior said and they started their long walk back.

Dan appeared on the ruined island that the queen ruled. He looked around at the devastation and it took his breath away. He then heard a rumbling in the ground and quickly slammed his fist weapons in the ground and the ground instantly stopped.

"I am the shaman that helped to rid the land of the evil ones. I hear reports that you are at unrest. I am ready to listen." Dan said.

"Shaman…we did not want any more bloodshed. What happened? We demand an explanation." The grounds said.

"The queen on this island wanted to forcibly take over the other inhabitants of the land beyond the seas. The queen was visiting several of our worlds and trying to recruit our people. She sent people to attack our people in our homelands. I did not want any more bloodshed than you want. Our people needed to attack back though. This is but one world among many worlds and those worlds were in jeopardy of their elements being disrupted and destroyed in battle. I will apologize that there was more bloodshed on your grounds, I know you did not want this – but much more was at stake. Her lust for power brought it on her and her people." Dan said.

The grounds grew quiet. The winds died down and the oceans barely had any motion to them at all. Minutes went by before Dan got an answer.

"Help us shaman. We are very upset and have unresolved anger. We do not mean to harm anybody. We did not know that other world's bloodshed had taken place as well. We want to find peace. How do we do that?" The grounds said.

Dan was at a loss for words. "Give me a minute; I will get somebody that can help." Dan then pulled his blades out of the ground and instantly disappeared.

Alan was in his office when suddenly Dan appeared. "Alan!"

Alan screamed and fell sideways out of his chair. His pen went flying and papers were scattered in the air.

"Alan I need your help, the fate of a world depends on it."

"Holy shit Dan…I…damn my heart is going to beat out of my chest. Put a damn bell around your neck or something!" Alan said at Dan.

"I need your help Alan, this is an emergency." Dan said quickly and urgently.

"Alright…alright, let me make a call." Alan said crawling back up on his knees and picked up the phone and dialed *11. He waited several seconds and Sammy picked up.

"Sammy I need to go save a world. I need to leave immediately, you know what to do." Alan said. Alan then waited for a second and then said, "I love you too" and hung up the phone.

"Ok let's go." Alan said. Dan walked over and pulled Alan up to his feet and gave him a big huge. Instantly they vanished from his office and back on the island of the dead queen. Dan took off one of his fist weapons and told him to quickly put it on. Dan then knelt down and slammed his fist in the ground and told Alan to do the same.

"Who is this that you have brought?" The grounds spoke.

"Holy shit…what the hell is that?" Alan asked still almost hysterical.

"Alan…look at me." Dan said. Alan stopped looking around and concentrated on Dan's eyes. "Alan…I need you to concentrate. These lands are upset and we need to talk to them to calm them down. I need you to talk to the lands just like they were one of your patients and calm them down. This is very important." Dan said and empathized the word "very".

"Ok…hello…uh…ground. My name is Doctor Alan Prossin. I specialize in speaking with people to help them with emotional and psychological problems. Tell me what is troubling you."

"Who is this man? He is not a shaman. He cannot heal our wounds." The grounds said.

"I am a friend of Dan and his leader Herrior. They trust me with their lives and I trust them with my life. What shall I call you?" Alan asked.

"The elements."

"Ok elements describe to me why you are upset. Tell me everything you are feeling and any thoughts you are having right now." Alan said settling down.

"We have much unresolved anger from many years of bloodshed, demons and abominations harvested from our ground. We love the people that live on our lands, but they are stripping us of all of our resources, causing foul smells in the air and blood to soak into the dirt. We want it to end. We want peace." The elements said.

"That is a good goal. Now let's talk about making steps to get to that goal." Alan said.

"We want it now." The elements said.

"How long has it been that you have been angered for?" Alan asked.

"Centuries. This is not how we want to be." The elements responded.

"Ok you have felt anger for hundreds of years…it cannot be resolved in just a matter of minutes. I want to help you, but we need to talk. There is no magic button to resolve these issues. Do you understand that I want to help you? Do you understand that we will resolve some issues quickly and some that may take more time to resolve? But we are here to help. What are your thoughts on that?" Alan asked.

The elements were quiet for awhile. Alan began to look around and realized that he was in fact talking to the planet. He was awestruck by this.

"We agree. What must we do first?" The elements asked.

"First of all let's work on some relaxing techniques. We will get to your issues, but first I want you to clear your mind first. Envision the plants and wildlife on this world. Envision the wildlife eating the grass growing out of you. Envision a gentle dew in the morning as the sun comes up and slowly wakes up the plants and animals. Continue this envision and tell me about it." Alan said.

"We can envision it, the fish swimming in our waters, the birds flying in the sky, the earthbound animals helping the forests. The seasons are now changing and the first snow comes, blanketing the ground. Eventually the seas turn to ice and the trees lose their leaves. It is beautiful…" the elements said.

"It sure is beautiful. I am imagining it along with you. It must be nice to watch all of this happen. It would fill me with warmth and calmness knowing that everything is working nicely together. Can you feel the warmth inside of you when you picture all of this?" Alan asked.

The clouds parted and two beams of light hit Alan and Dan, warming them up.

"That is a nice feeling. It is ok to have nice feelings. Thank yourself for having these nice feelings and know that they are there. Remember this feeling…the feeling of peacefulness and tranquility. These are good feelings and they make you feel good. The sun's rays that you have allowed for us to feel are making us feel good. We appreciate what you are doing and want to thank you for it." Alan said. The clouds began to dissipate some more and looked less threatening.

"Now I want you to hold onto these feelings and picture yourself on a path. This is a path with several stops in it. These stops are nice and make you feel warm. They make you feel comfortable and at peace. Remember that this is a path that we have to walk together on and I and Dan are walking with you. Also remember that we can make several stops along side of the road that are going to make us feel comfortable and at peace with ourselves. If it is hard to feel these feelings that you are experiencing now, picture the fish swimming happily in the waters – the birds flying in the air, and the animals below the ground. Now I am going to ask you a question. This will be our first step down the path. Are you ready for the first step?" Alan asked.

The elements were quiet for awhile again. Ten minutes passed until they spoke again. "We are not sure if we are ready for the first step – what is it?"

"The first step is to congratulate yourself. You have performed a great and wonderful task. That is the first step. Thank yourself for taking the first step because the first step is always the hardest. The rest of the steps are easy because once you start walking the steps come easier and easier, it is always hardest to take the first step." Alan said.

"I congratulate myself." The elements quickly responded.

"Next I want you to think of the sun. The sun is warm and feels so good. The sun provides heat and light – the elements for life. Turn your attention towards the sun and feel its radiance gleaming against you. Doesn't it feel good? Bask in the sun and let it warm you as well. Accept the sun and thank yourself again for feeling good about the sun." Alan said.

The clouds immediately scattered and the sun exposed itself as the elements said, "I accept the sun and I am thankful that it feels so good."

"Good. Now I am going to tell you a story and I want you to listen to the story. It is a story about a nut from a tree. One of your trees has soaked in the sunlight and water from the ground and the nutrients that you provide and has produced a single nut. That nut then falls from the tree and lands in the ground. That little nut stays in the ground and eventually sprouts another tree. That tree grows up and produces another nut and so on. This continues for many years and it eventually produces a forest. But it all starts with that one little nut. That is the next step. Are there plants, flowers, and trees that have nuts?" Alan asked.

"All of them do." The elements responded.

"And when those nuts fall, they are either eaten by the forest creatures for food or grow new plants. What we need to do is produce a nut inside of you. We need to nurture that nut and let it grow. It is going to need the right temperature – that warm feeling that you have experienced though the sun, and it is going to need water, and time. But you know that. Nuts take awhile to grow. But that nut inside of you has already begun to grow. That nut is growing because you care for it deeply and want the very best for the nut and…"

"The nut symbolizes us?" The elements interrupted.

"The nut does symbolize you, but for a moment just wait and watch it. That little nut is eager to sprout into the most beautiful, magnificent tree you have ever grown. But sometimes nuts get lonely so let's add some other nuts to it. You now have four nuts all together. They are growing inside of you and giving you peace and is very soothing for you. The original nut now has friends and they are going to be the best of friends. They are going to grow into magnificent trees and sparkle in the woods. They are going to be the tallest – most splendid trees you have ever seen. When you look down the path you see these trees fully grown and sprouting hundreds of more nuts. Then those nuts fall to the ground and grow even more magnificent trees. Each generation of trees more remarkable than before. Now picture yourself just as magnificent as these trees, because that is what you will become." Alan said.

"How?" The elements asked.

"Right now you are merely holding the seeds inside of you. It reminds me of a song called, "Every storm cloud runs out of rain". Storms come and storms go, but deep inside of you are these precious, precious nuts and that is what you are. You are very precious and take a moment to thank yourself for feeling precious." Alan said.

"Thank you." The elements said.

"Now that the storms have passed and you know that you can feel good about yourself and you can thank yourself for feeling good, what happens next is the nuts from your trees fall to the ground and grow in the rich soil with plenty of water to help them. And the storms have passed, but you know deep inside of you there is always that calmness – there is always that warm peacefulness that is yours and nobody can take that away from you." Alan said and started to say something else but was interrupted with the elements asking him to wait. Alan said ok and a huge wind blasted down on the forest and spread out in all directions. Then some nice clouds moved in and began to rain ever so gently.

"There are lots of nuts and seeds on the ground. We can feel them…they are on the ground. The seas will bring water into the clouds and gently pour it on the lands and it will wash away the bad and replace it with good. The good is always better than the bad. There will be storm clouds, but the storm clouds will pass. This storm cloud within us has passed and a new cycle has started. Return to us when our trees have grown so you can see how well we have done." The elements said.

"You will outlive me I'm afraid, but you sound confident. Let that warmness fill you, let the storm clouds come and go, and always remember that there will always be the seeds within you and you will always be able to choose to nurture them. Don't forget to acknowledge it and thank yourself for what you have done." Alan said.

"You are a mortal man?" The elements asked.

"Yes, I am a mortal man." Alan replied.

"You have the wisdom to calm us. We have been made at the mortal men for many years and now two mortal men have soothed us and have given us hope. Thank you. I will let the other people in this land flourish once more. I am sorry that the storm clouds of this world have spilled over into other worlds, we did not know that." The elements said.

"Take time right now to thank yourself for acknowledging the storm clouds. You are not responsible for the mortal men of this world. You are responsible for letting those nuts inside of you grow and flourish, and you will do a wonderful job of doing it. Remember that the path might take awhile, but you have already taken several steps right now. Allow you to feel good and feel the warmth of the sun, the gentle dew on the grass, the animals feeding off from the grass, and the plants growing. I don't know how long the path is, and there is no rush to get to the end of the path – that's the fun part about it, along the way you might find other things that you find make you happy. And you know that if the storm clouds come back that they will eventually rain themselves out and pass. Keep focusing on growing those seeds inside of you." Alan said.

"You mean work together?" The elements asked.

"Yes that is one meaning for it. All of you are special and you all need each other, just like a nut needs water, and soil. When it sprouts it will need sunlight. This is your world, let it flourish." Alan said.

"We will. We will make the best forest possible. Thank you…Alan. Thank you…Dan." The elements said and then went quiet. Dan pulled his blades out of the ground and Alan did the same. They looked around and saw grass had started to grow on the entire island that was once a desolate wasteland.

"Look" Dan said pointing at the oceans. The levels rose up several feet and pulled down some of the war-torn dirt and left crab-like looking creatures and turtles. They climbed onto the new sand and began to dig holes. Overhead the birds began to chirp as they flew overhead.

"They will all do well together." Alan said.

"I agree our work here is done." Dan said walking up to Alan and hugging him. They instantly disappeared and reappeared in his office where Sammy was.

"Hi Sammy!" Dan said with a smile as she screamed and fell out of Alan's chair.

"Hun I'm sorry…I'm going to put cow bells on them. He did the same thing to me." Alan said running around the desk to pick up his wife.

"Don't…do that! You just took about ten years off from my life!" Sammy said looking at Dan. Dan apologized.

"How is everything?" Sammy asked.

"I think I just saved a world from destroying its inhabitants and helped it find its inner peace. That's a new one for me." Alan said.

"All the people on the world?" Sammy asked.

"No – the world itself. The ground, the air, the water…the elements as they called themselves. I coached the elements into finding peace and a new purpose for living…unfortunately though that's something I can't put on my resume." Alan said jokingly.

"I…don't understand." Sammy said.

"My weapon please?" Dan asked.

"Oh yes…sorry." Alan said taking off his fist weapon and giving it to Dan. He then turned to Sammy and said, "I don't understand it either to be honest…I'm going to have to take notes and put down on paper what just happened and study it in case I am called to do it again."

"Keep those notes private!" Dan said quickly.

"Yes of course…under lock and key." Alan said.

Dan nodded and said, "Ok I need to get back. There is a mess going on in a different world."

"Do you guys ever take breaks?" Alan asked.

"Maybe in my next life..." Dan said smiling and then instantly disappeared.

Dan reappeared next to Herrior.

"Hello stranger." Herrior said.

"What the…I thought we couldn't…I mean…uh…so how are things?" Dan asked ending in laughter.

"Your portals are working again." One of the elders said.

"Your sky serpents having been crying nonstop – please go to them and soothe them." Another elder asked. Dan looked at Herrior and he nodded. Dan walked over to Crystal and kissed her. He then walked over to Jessica who embraced him and both of them instantly disappeared.

They reappeared in front of Chen's house.

"Where's my babies?" Jessica asked loudly. Several happy chirps and sounds came from the sky serpents as they all flew from every direction and kissed and slurped Dan and Jessica. They had grown larger since they last seen them.

"How have you been? Oh my babies are getting so big…look at all of you! You are all so good and have been so well behaved! I am so proud of all of you!" Jessica said excitedly trying to pet every one of them. The sky serpents were trying to lift Dan into the air.

"You want to fly huh?" Dan asked. The sky serpents excitedly let go and started doing loops in the air. Jessica walked over and grabbed a hold of Dan and said, "Take us away!" Dan produced a violent burst of air as it propelled them into the air. The excited sky serpents followed them into the air. Jessica started to squeal in excitement as Dan started moving around in circles, making dips and elevating very quickly. All of the sky serpents were very excited and wanted to fly more. Dan then flew upwards several thousand feet, leveled out and then flew south. He kept his speed slow enough so that the sky serpents could keep up.

They flew around for several hours until Jessica mentioned that they looked like they were getting tired, so Dan flew them back to Chen's house and landed. Jessica let go of Dan and both of them walked up to the tired sky serpents and excitedly hugged them and talked to them. Each sky serpent had to make sure they got petted and showed got to show affection to them.

"They have been missing their parents. They are still babies and need to show their affection." Lhi said.

"I can see that, but we are going to have to go on different missions and they need to stay here." Dan said. The sky serpents began to whimper.

"Come on – let's go build them their own resting places. Each sky serpent needs its own place to sleep." Lhi said. Dan looked back at Herrior and again he nodded.

"Aww…my babies need their own spot to sleep huh?" Jessica asked hugging as many as she could at one time.

They started down a hill and saw the entire area litter with poop.

"Potty training time" Dan said.

"Did all of you make a 'no-no' on the ground? Yes you did…you made a lot of 'no-no's' on the ground. You need to go over there and do your 'no-no's'." Jessica said pointing over to a place where the Pandaren people were helping to build a compost pile. The sky serpents looked excitedly at her not having a clue what she was talking about.

"Lead by example" Dan said with a smile.

"I'm not going to poop over there, that's disgusting…" Jessica said. Dan picked up several piles of poop and took the poop over to the compost pile and placed it in there. The sky serpents watched with utter confusion as Dan explained to them the whole time where the poop goes. Jessica then levitated herself as she grabbed a handful and glided smoothly on the air over to the compost and dumped off the poop and did as Dan did as far as explaining where the poop goes. The two of them spent the rest of the day moving piles of poop back and forth until one of the sky serpents thought he caught on. It flew over to where Dan was gathering up poop, landed right in front of him and dropped a fresh load. Dan quickly flicked it on the nose and said, "No!" sharply. The sky serpent jumped back in shock and confusing. "This is what they wanted wasn't it?" The sky serpents watched. Dan gently took the sky serpent and its fresh pile of poop and flew over to the compost and dumped the load in and then held the sky serpent over the pile. The rest of the sky serpents watched in fascination. Dan held the sky serpent there until it finally finished pooping in the pile. Dan then happily screamed and rewarded it by giving it a hug and petting its head. The rest of the sky serpents wanted affection to, but Dan said no and pointed to the pile. One of the sky serpents caught on as it flew over and pooped in the compost pile. Dan then happily screamed in excitement and gave it a big hug and petted it also. This seemed to sink in as the rest of the sky serpents moved over to poop in the pile.

"They are smart." Jessica said.

"And we stink to high-heaven…" Dan said.

"This will be great fertilizer for our crops. It is amazing what you outlanders have done." A Pandaren said.

"We're just doing our job. We are going to need to build some places for each of them to rest." Dan said.

"We have been working on that. Come over here and take a look." The female Pandaren said and smiled at them.

They walked past the newly tilled soiled and some houses being built. Then they came to a place where they had made several little boxes filled with different foliage that had fallen from the ground. Each sky serpent raced over to its place and laid down in it.

"They like their boxes. They each want one and they remember which one is theirs. This is where they go when you are away." The Pandaren said.

"Aww…did my little babies get sad when mama was gone? Did you get sad and came here? I love all of you so very much you know that don't you? Yes I do?" Jessica said affectionately as they again swarmed around her. When she was completely covered they moved over to Dan and he began to pet them as well.

"We're still building more boxes for them. We have several dozen more to go, should be done before nightfall." One of the soldiers said.

"I thought all of you would have gone home to your world?" Dan asked.

"There's work to be done here. Listening to Herrior and the elders talk it sounds like there are a lot more missions we are going to go on. We may have to go back and get some more ammunition though." The male soldier said.

"Don't you have families that you need to get back to?" Jessica asked.

"Some of us yes, but we're with one of our families right now and they need our help." The soldier said back just as soon as Jessica got done talking.

"So we're part of your family?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…you helped us out more than we can repay and now you need our help. That's what families do is help each other, and love unconditionally. That's the motto isn't it?" The soldier responded.

"It is. Show me how to make them – I'll give you a hand." Dan said smiling at him.

"No offense…but there is a river just beyond here…" the soldier said pointing behind him.

"Right" Dan said looking at his poop covered hands, arms and chest. Jessica and Dan began to walk over to the river as the sky serpents followed them.

"You ok Crystal?" Lindel asked.

"Yeah…just wish I was Jessica." Crystal said knowing she knew her thoughts.

"I know. They don't have feelings for each other; they are just their adopted parents." Lindel assured them.

"I know. I think Dan would make a great parent. Can you check again to make sure I can have kids?" Crystal asked.

"Nothing is wrong with your body. I cannot produce life – that's not my job." Lindel said gliding over in front of Crystal and giving her a hug. "It might have to do with Dan's new powers…that's my best guess. Believe me I would like a child as well…sometimes it's not in the cards though."

Herrior was talking in his portal that his hearthstone created. Skyka was talking with Chen and several of the soldiers getting to know them better. Mohania said he was bored and wanted to go wonder off.

"Don't get in to much trouble" Skyka said.

"Ok I'll just get in a little trouble." Mohania said back. He walked away from the group and towards the piles of poop that still littered ground. He looked around to make sure nobody was looking and then started shooting balls of fire out of his hands burning them up.

"I refuse to carry the waste of other beasts…" Mohania whispered.

Mohania was almost finished when several Pandaren came up with make-shift shovels and were going to finish the job.

"Nothing! I wasn't doing anything! Certainly not helping getting rid of the disgusting creatures poop…that's just absurd. What are you accusing me of?" Mohania said quickly as several piles of smoldering poop continued to burn.

"It was certainly nice of you to do nothing…" one of the female Pandaren said winking and smiling at him. She handed him a shovel and a bag. Mohania sighed and began helping.

Herrior finally closed his hearthstone and looked around for his group. He looked at the sun in the sky and saw that it had moved quite a bit and sighed. He sighed and then thought of his party and rubbed his hearthstone. One by one small portals appeared with his party's faces in them.

"Does time move faster in this world?" Herrior asked.

"Just the same as any other world" Dan replied back.

"You were having quite the conversation…going to debrief us?" Skyka asked.

"Yes…please assemble as soon as you can. Bring the humans as well." Herrior said and put his hearthstone in his pocket making all of the portals vanish.

"Your people have some interesting lucky-dos." Several Pandaren were watching him as one of the females said.

"What's a lucky-do?" Herrior asked.

"A term the Grummle's use, items that are useful is what it means." She replied.

"What's a Grummle?" Herrior asked.

"A small group of travelers. The frequent different areas offering us items they find calling them 'lucky-dos'. They are harmless." She explained.

"I look forward to meeting them." Herrior said with a forced smile. He then sat down in exhaustion and let out a long breath as he looked to the sky.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes please. My party's might want something to eat also." Herrior said.

Ten minutes later or so everybody had assembled and the kind Pandaren were serving each of them food.

Herrior waited until everybody settled and then spoke "I spoke at length about our situation. I want the humans to go back home, but not until after our meeting. Currently our present situation on this world is stable. Several scouts have been dispatched to this area and are going to map out this world. It will probably take several days. The King said to bring back Lhi, if she wishes, so he can meet her. That option is entirely up to you." Herrior said turning to look at her.

"I will do as you say." Lhi said.

"No, your will is your own. Do as you will. If you do not wish to then that's fine." Herrior said.

"Then on my own will I will come visit your King." Lhi responded. Herrior nodded and continued "The King is arranging safe passage for Lhi and the humans that have helped us into Tranquil. Lhi will be escorted by us as we leave the humans with the monks."

"You have monks as well?" A Pandaren asked.

"Please don't interrupt me." Herrior said looking over at the Pandaren in a solemn tone. He then looked back at his party and said, "Our monks are going to give you a gift…it's going to be the worst imaginable pain you have ever felt in your life but it will only last a couple of minutes. Not the kind of gift I want to give you after everything you have done to help us, but in the end you will thank me. They are going to make you immune to Alliance and demon possession. All of you have seen and experienced too much. We can't have it jeopardized by either of our enemies getting wind of our past days activities. I assure you though that you will not die though. My best advice is think of something you love and concentrate on that as best as you can during the blasting. I apologize for having to have this done to you because of the pain you will endure, but like I said…it has to be done." Herrior said trailing off.

"What are they going to do?" One of the soldiers asked.

"They strengthen your mind so that any possession from the Alliance or Demon will be instantly stopped. It's something everybody has to go through…we can't have either one of them knowing what you know. Your memories, thoughts, emotions will all remain the same – they do not alter those. But in order to do that you have to go through what we call a 'blasting' from the monks. Hurts like Hell I'm not going to lie to you…but if you are going to be carrying around our secrets I want them secured in your head. You would be best not telling your families or friends what has happened here in the past couple of days. Nobody will understand and it will only make more questions which will lead to more inquiries which could be devastating to not only your world, but our Kingdom, and the land of Pandaria as well. Unfortunately I have to give this order…usually I ask if you will…" Herrior said but was interrupted.

"I'll do it!" One soldier said followed by the others. Herrior breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled and said, "Thank you, I do not usually give that order – but it is a direct order from the King. I also want you to know that the world of Elona has settled down nicely. The people are not afraid of us anymore and are beginning their lives over again. They wish to help us and have large quantities of ghost iron they wish to give us. This will be good for our Kingdom."

"Ghost iron? Herrior we have that here…sorry about interrupting." Lhi said quickly. Herrior looked at her and raised his eyebrow.

"It is true our ground produces ghost iron, Trillium and Kypratie that can be transformed into living steel. That last two are in areas that are lost to us." Chen said.

"Those areas are no longer going to be lost to you…" Herrior said with determination and continued, "Anything else that your people can give us to help would be appreciated as well, but do not feel indebted to us. We will pay for your services."

Chen started to laugh and said, "We will not exchange coin with you…we will exchange beer instead. You bring us some of your finest beer and we will give you some of ours."

"Strings?" Herrior asked looking at him.

"Aye…these are my kind of people. Ale for beer, I will oversee it personally. In fact I will sample it to make sure it is our finest ale." Strings said with a smile. Herrior nodded and then continued, "Do not summon any of our dragons yet. Obviously there are flying creatures on this world and Ysera would not be pleased if our dragons die. Dan, Jessica – you are in charge of making sure they meet and…play nicely together. I am going to go back to the station and speak with Admiral about the situation. Skyka – you take the humans to the monks and monitor their progress, keep them in the monk's chambers and when they are done summon a Chronomancer to send them back to their world. Make sure they have fully recovered first…if…there is problems summon healers to the monk's chambers, do not take them to the clinics unless there is a big problem. Jacklyn and the rest of you take Lhi to meet the King. Then you are to report to your trainers, see if there are any new weapons, same thing you are always supposed to be doing in Tranquil…then get some rest. As far as you soldiers – I am very proud of all of you. Thank you for coming with us and volunteering to fight beside us. I grow fonder of all of you as the days go by. After the blasting go home to your families, get some rest and take as much time off as you need." Herrior said. He then saw a soldier raise her arm, "Yes?"

"How much time do you and your party take off? Because to speak for everybody here, there are things to be done and it sure beats guard duty." Many of the soldiers agreed with here but Herrior shook his head.

"No…go home to your families. Remember what it is you are fighting for. Make love to your husbands or wives, play with your little ones and let the love inside of you grow. The stronger your love is the stronger you will be, and I cannot think of a better way of strengthening your love then having you take some time off and visit with your families. If you do not have a family, go with another soldier here that has one. Take each other in and love them as if they were your brother or sister. Feed them and clothe them, if you are in need of coin – I will let the Admiral know. I want all of you to bring more ammunition as well as hand-to-hand weapons, I don't care what it is, but just something to help you fight…I wonder if the monks can blast that into you as well…" Herrior said as his voice trailed off. He turned to Skyka and said, "See if they can have that blasted into them as well. So now…does anybody have any questions?"

The soldiers looked anxious, worried, and some not wanting to go home. But the command was given and they had to follow it.

"It will only be for a couple of minutes…think of someone you love – even if it is one of us and concentrate on that. Lindel open the portal to the monk's chambers. You will be fine." Herrior said assuring them with a smile. Lindel stood up and opened a portal. As she channeled her power into it, the humans got their first glimpse of the monk's and their catacombs.

"Is this for real?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Come on now…step lightly now." Skyka said with a smile and waved them through. Once they were through Lindel closed the portal and opened a new one to Tranquil. The rest of Herrior's party went through and then opened a portal for Herrior.

Herrior arrived in their room and touched his hearthstone. He instantly transformed into a soldier's outfit, only it was all black. Herrior pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on as he walked out.

"You have a lot that you are accountable for! This audit will not go away until I see every single thing categorized down to the very last shoelace!" A man with a brown suit and a brown suit case said yelling at the Admiral.

"Is there a problem?" Herrior said walking up to him, pushing Admiral aside and grabbing the man's arm and squeezing hard.

"Ouch…ouch…ouch!" The man cried as he fell to the ground.

"I'm tired of seeing people threaten the Admiral!" Herrior said and pushed the man on his back and then slammed his fist through the concrete on the ground next to his head, sending shards into his ear.

"Oh I'm sorry…you must have fallen down, here let me pick you up!" Herrior said grabbing him by his right side and slamming him at the ceiling.

"I'm…I'm…just the auditor…please don't kill me!" The man said shaken up.

"You would not believe how many people I kill and then drink their blood, killing you would be simply be amusing for me. Maybe I will string your body up in the desert and let the scorpions and birds pick at your flesh!" Herrior said raising his voice and slamming him hard into the ceiling again.

"Although this is fun to watch, Herrior he is just doing his job. Our base is being audited to know where all of the money is going so that our army can provide additional monies if necessary." Admiral said smiling.

"Oh" Herrior said letting go of him as his body fell to the ground and he let out a loud scream of pain. "My apologizes then…perhaps I will just bury you in the ground and let the scorpions and ants devour your eyes, get in your ears, and trickle down your throat until you die…would that be more fitting?" The sounds of the officers muffled laughing in the background could be heard.

"Listen up you little piece of twisted human flesh! We put our lives on the line everyday so that pieces of shit like you can wave around little papers and wear ugly clothing. You will treat Admiral with more respect in the future and you better come on a day when I'm not here! Now pick your worthless self up and get out of here or I will throw you out!" Herrior yelled at him. The man picked up his papers and briefcase quickly and began to run for the door. Herrior started to run after him.

"Not fast enough…if I catch you I'm going to pull your arms off!" Herrior yelled out.

"No…please…help!" The man yelled running to his car and quickly firing it up as he squealed out of the parking lot and was met by half a dozen men pointing automatic weapons at him as he approached the fence. One of them approached him and said, "What's the rush? You charge at our gate and we take it as a threat!"

"I'm going to shove my fist up your ass and pull out your intestines!" Herrior yelled running towards him.

"Please…he's going to kill me…I have to get out of here!" The man yelled hysterically.

"Sir we have a job to do. Did you sign the disclaimer form? We need to see this form before you can leave. Did you take any pictures or documents from our station? All of this information needs to be reviewed before you can leave…"

"He's going to kill me! Open the damn gate!"

"Sir this will go easier if you just calm down. What's in your briefcase? What are those papers?" The guard said speaking slowly. Herrior had caught up with him and ripped off his back bumper. The man panicked and motioned to slam on the accelerator as the guard shoved his gun into his cheek.

"Sir he is going to kill me!" The man said.

"Just settle down sir…" the guard said smiling at him. Herrior took the bumper and slammed it down on his trunk, snapping the bumper in half.

"Seems as though you are having some car problems…maybe we should take a look into it." The guard said.

"Get him out of here." Herrior yelled out. The guards quickly pressed the buttons as the fence opened.

"You forgot this!" Herrior called out holding up both halves of his bumper as he accelerated out onto the street and left.

"You know…I think he is speeding, probably reckless driving as well. Should I send some people after him Herrior?" The guard asked putting his rifle strap over his shoulder and smiling at him.

"Not unless you want to smell the piss of a man not worth the skin that holds him together. Good job soldier." Herrior said smiling at him and tossed the pieces of the bumper to the side.

"Pleasure was mine Herrior." The guard said smiling back.

Herrior went back into the station and was quickly asked if the auditor shit himself.

"Not that I smelled." Herrior said and several people sounded upset but were joking with each other and started exchanging money.

"Placing bets on me?" Herrior asked.

"I placed a bet that you were going to rip him to shreds…" one officer said.

"I placed a bet that he is going to be pissing blood for the next week…" another said.

"He might be pissing blood…not sure for the next week. What's been going on?" Herrior asked smiling.

"The official merge of our compound and the NSA intelligence headquarters will be completed…as soon as he's done pissing blood. George is moving up here and will be in charge of it. Apparently we seem to have a reputation of finding terrorists better than Homeland Security has been. Crime is at an all time low in the area and it will create more jobs in this area. Ever think about running for President?" Admiral asked smiling as he took a sip of his coffee.

"What's a President?" Herrior asked.

"Somebody that talks a lot and doesn't do much!" An officer said quickly in a friendly tone.

"I'll pass. Your soldiers are getting…debriefed…I guess is how you put it and they will return shortly. They will require time with their families, just a couple of days or so until they are rested up. It is good to hear that George is going to be closer. Are there still going to be soldiers available if needed?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, in fact we have a three part rotation down – morning, afternoon, night."

"We need to get more hand-to-hand weapons…swords, staves – something. Some of our encounters were worthless with your bullets. Also the soldiers are going to come back knowing how to fight with their hands – they will need to teach everybody else how to fight." Herrior said.

"I'll make that a top priority. I'll need to get you and the rest of your party clearance into the NSA building. Apparently you made quite the impression at our last meeting and they left seeing just how good of a job we are doing. Also…might have had something to do with Julie's dog Spark slamming the dipshit into the wall several times…stuff like that leaves a lasting impression of people you know…" Admiral said laughing.

"I bet the dipshit that just left with have a long lasting impression…" one of the officers said and everybody burst into laughter.

Herrior smiled at everybody and then looked back at Admiral.

"I'm going to need to get pictures of all of your party and put them on a magnetic badge. We'll keep them in your room of course and keep it locked and guarded…I don't really see your kind as the kind that likes to wear badges…" Admiral said.

"Some of us don't even like to wear anything…but they can still drop an army single-handedly." Herrior said.

Admiral nodded and said, "I figured as much. It's just something we have to do though. So what do you mean by 'debriefing' our soldiers and officers?"

"Uh…they are going through intense pain right now to protect them from what they have seen and to make them stronger…that's basically all I can say without saying anymore." Herrior said stumbling over his words.

"Gottcha…I don't understand and probably never will." Admiral said taking another sip.

"Actually I would like you and George to do the same thing. On a side note…are we going to have to let Spark rip anybody apart to get their respect of this new Nnn…sa building?" Herrior asked.

"Just the letters N.S.A. – it's not a word, and I don't think so. George is hand picking people that aren't complete idiots and know how to keep secrets. I trust his judgment." Admiral said.

"So do I. Very well then I will wait until your people arrive back. It shouldn't be long now." Herrior said.

"Alright and I will start having the badges made up." Admiral said.

"What about this…audit thing?" Herrior asked.

"I'm hiring people to do it. I wish sometimes I could just kick the living crap out of people like you do and then leave this world without a trace…" Admiral said.

"Is somebody else bothering you?" Herrior asked firmly.

"No – but you will be the first to know." Admiral said. Suddenly they both turned as they started to hear crying coming out of Herrior's party's room. They both motioned to go, but Herrior said, "Get some cold water and some food – everybody get some blankets, cold water and some food!"

Herrior rushed into the room and immediately told everybody it was over, that they were fine and back on Earth. Skyka was there helping the soldiers through the portal and having them go lay down on the ground and Herrior immediately started to help.

"How did it go?" Herrior asked.

"No causalities. The blasting was a success and they are really disoriented right now. The pain levels were not something they were used to."

"We did it Herrior…we did it for you…" one soldier said.

"No my fellow brother – you did it for you. I gave you the order but you are the ones that carried out the order and I am proud of all of you. Skyka do we need a lightwell?" Herrior asked looking up at her.

"They aren't physically hurt. I did a couple of healing spells when we were done, but the problem was is they were scared going into it and didn't concentrate heavily enough on something they loved. They just need time." Skyka said helping two more through the portal.

Admiral and the other officers came in with blankets, water, and a variety of different foods. They looked at the soldiers that were just blasted and they looked pale white and their eyes were recessed back into their heads. They looked like they had the worst nightmare of their lives.

"Are they ok?" Admiral asked quickly.

"They are a little dazed right now, but in less than an hour they should be fine. I anticipate some of them coming out of their state that they are in right now pretty soon." Herrior said.

"What exactly happened to them…and what the hell is that?" One of the officers said.

"They were blasted by our monks, and that is a portal from our world to yours – that is how we move from place to place. Get in here and talk to them, comfort them, get them anything they need." Herrior said and went back through the portal and carried out three more soldiers and gently set them down.

"What do you mean 'blasted'?" Admiral asked.

"It was a direct order from our King. They are now more powerful than the rest of you and I trust them more than the rest of you. When it comes your time for this to happen I will explain more, but for now please do as I ask." Herrior said.

"Do you need help carrying people through the portal?" An officer asked.

Herrior immediately stopped and held up his hand. "We've adjusted our shields for them…anybody else that steps in this portal will be instantly vaporized. Do not even think about coming close to the portal."

"Holy shit that was intense!" One of the soldiers said coming to.

"I tried to warn you it was going to be the worst pain you ever felt. How do you feel?" Herrior asked.

"No different…are you sure it worked because I sure as hell don't want to do that again!" The soldier replied.

"The monks said it was a successful blast. Stand on your feet soldier." Herrior said as he pulled out his sword and shield and tossed them aside. The soldier stood up slowly and staggered to his feet. Herrior then threw a punch at the soldier whose body instinctively kicked in and deflected the attack. The soldier looked amazed at what he just did. Herrior then jumped towards him and the soldier grabbed Herrior's arm and with the other hand propelled him into the wall, leaving a big hole in the drywall. Everybody looked shocked…including the soldier.

"Herrior I'm sorry…"

"Don't be…now show me what you really have." Herrior said getting to his feet. Herrior started punching at him as he deflected every blow and tried to return several blows to Herrior who also deflected them.

"Come on – do it faster!" Herrior yelled and move forward to push him. The soldier quickly stepped to the side and went to slam Herrior to the ground when Herrior turned around and grabbed his hand and ended up reversing the moving, throwing him to the ground. He immediately got back up and started launching kick after kick at Herrior. Herrior deflected them, each one getting stronger. Herrior tried several times to catch his leg but was unable to. Herrior then stepped back with a smile and held his hands up. The soldier stopped the attacks.

"Have you ever learned any of those fighting moves before in your life? Have you ever had any formal training that would have led you to spar with me ending in a tie?" Herrior asked.

"Just the normal police training…but nothing like this…is this from the blasting?" The soldier asked.

"It is everything I told you it would be. I promised you the results from it and you made it obvious to everybody that it was a complete success. You will be more finely tuned to the enemy…eventually being able to hear their breathing and heartbeat. Each attack not carefully trained will come at you when somebody is holding their breath because they are taking a gamble as to whether or not it is going to hit you. Turn around, close your eyes and deflect my attacks without turning around." Herrior said. The soldier did and the first punch landed squarely in the soldiers back knocking him forward.

"Come on…deflect it, again!" Herrior said. The soldier backed up to Herrior and let out a deep breath as Herrior started punching one hand after another. This time the soldier reached back and deflected each other to the side. He sensed Herrior lunging at him, ducked down and tripped Herrior up – causing him to fall to the ground. Herrior started to laugh.

"Can we all do that?" Another soldier asked watching the whole thing and forgetting about the pain.

"All of you can do that. You are trained in hand-to-hand combat courtesy of an orc that recently gave her life so that all of our fighters could have this ability. Train with the others and remember what I told you before the blasting." Herrior said getting up to his feet.

"This is like…the matrix shit…" one of them said. Herrior looked at Skyka and she shrugged.

"Keep it simple guys and gals remember they aren't from our world." Admiral said.

"This does not include weapon training. I do not have the authorization to give you the powers we have. Practice with a sword, practice sparring, and continue to practice your shooting. Remember to aim for the vitals, shoot for any opening in their armor. Come on everybody wake up now!" Herrior said and let out a battle cry. Everybody jumped to their feet and reached for their weapons.

"That's more like it. Now go take some time off. Admiral these soldiers need some time off and then they need to train your people." Herrior said. He reached out his hands and his shield and sword came flying back into his hands. Herrior put them behind him and said, "remember – I can still take you so don't get cocky…" and smiled.

"Yes Herrior!" They all said.

"Admiral – you may have your soldiers back now. Skyka my love – I believe Tranquil awaits us, unless you have other problems here Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"No…I'll let you know when George arrives." Admiral said still confused.

"Until then…" Herrior said with a smile. Both of them walked through the portal and then the portal vanished.

"I don't know about you guys, but my energy levels are peaked right now…I feel like I could take on all of Detroit!" One of them said.

"I know how you feel!" Another agreed.

"Herrior said vacation…now go." Admiral said stepping aside.

"Right we are supposed to do the love thing now…"

"You dumbass look at some of us! If we had followed Herrior's orders to the letter we would be in this shitty state of shape. My word we came stumbling out of here like zombies and scared half of our force. I'm guessing half of us didn't remember what he told us to do when the pain started. We need rest…anybody who isn't married or is living alone can come to my house." One of the soldiers said. Many of them started offering their homes as well, just as Herrior told them to and agreed that they didn't all concentrate on what Herrior had told them to concentrate on during the blasting. They all made arrangements and started exchanging hugs. They felt a new love and appreciation for each other. They all nodded at Admiral as they filed out.

"Can you guys tell me what happened?" Admiral asked.

"And face Herrior…I don't think so." One said and they all quickly agreed.

Once they had all left, the remaining officers and Admiral looked bewildered at each other. "I don't know what just happened…but I think they out rank us right now." Admiral said.

"I'm not picking a fight with them…" an officer remarked.

"Let's go start setting up a sparring area." Admiral said as they all left the room.

Herrior rejoined his party in Tranquil, Strings had several kegs being carried by other taurens as well as two himself. He told them to set them down and he would need more.

"Making return preparations already?" Herrior asked.

"No, this is just for this afternoon – are we supposed to go back soon?" Strings said as serious as he could trying to withhold a smile.

"What about Lhi?" Herrior asked.

"I'm right here. Your King is busy and asked me to wait." Lhi said and then started rattling off dozens of questions about Tranquil.

"Settle down Lhi…there is no guarantee that you are going to stay or even remember what you see here." Herrior said.

"What do you mean?" Lhi asked confused.

"Hun just relax, ok? We are going to wait outside of the palace for our turn and then do what the King orders us to do." Lindel said reassuringly.

"I want to stay here…look at this place – it's beautiful!" Lhi said in amazement. Herrior nodded at Lindel. She embraced her and put her hand over her eyes, instantly blinding her and then moved her hands to Lhi's ears and stopped her hearing. Lindel then grabbed Lhi's hand and softly stroked it.

"That's a neat trick – can you show me how to do that?" Mohania asked.

"Only if you carefully lead them through Tranquil and give them assurance that they will be…"

"Never mind too much talking…let's go." Mohania said interrupting Lindel.

They made their way to the palace as many of Tranquil's citizens stopped to stare in curiosity as this new race that was being escorted through their streets. Herrior assured everybody she was not going to harm them. They finally arrived at the palace gates and Herrior saw several orcs guarding the entrance.

"Did we find more orcs to join our ranks?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"We were set free by one of your party's raids on a camp. We are honored to serve as guards in Tranquil and to be free of our enslavement." One of the male orcs said.

"It is a pleasure to have you among us. Were there any other camps that you know of that contained more orcs?" Herrior asked.

"No…the rest perished. Only the strong survived." The male orc said.

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear of that. Did we avenge your people?" Herrior asked.

The male orc nodded and said, "Your party slaughtered our captives…not even enough scraps left for the dogs or birds to feast on."

"It doesn't help with the pain though does it?" Herrior asked. The orc shook his head and said, "No".

"I am glad you are among us. Your race is welcome among us." Herrior said. The male orc smiled but it brought him little comfort.

They chatted for awhile until one of the ambassadors came out and told Herrior the King wanted to see them now. Herrior said his good-byes and they entered the palace.

"Everybody but Herrior's party leave us." The King ordered and quickly everybody left the throne room.

"Herrior if any type of aggressive act is made on her behalf – I expect you to put her down." The King said. Herrior nodded as he pulled out his shield and sword. "Lindel if you would please?" The King then said.

Lindel floated up to Lhi and put her hands over her ears and then her eyes. Lhi stared in awe at the King and Queen before her.

"Welcome Lhi to Tranquil. I am the King and this is my wife, you will refer to her as the Queen. I have heard all of the stories about what happened on your world but I wanted to see you in person. It was curiosity more than anything. Tell me, what do you think of Herrior's party so far?" The King asked.

"They freed us and helped to free our people without any type of barter. I have never heard of such a thing. How did you know that our people were going to be attacked…if I may ask such a thing?" Lhi asked shyly.

The King smiled and simply said, "We didn't know."

"Young one, our people fight against many enemies. It was Dan who heard Chen's cry for help as our Chronomancers were looking for different worlds. If it were not for him, your race would be lost. You have him to thank more than anybody. We have come to rely on his intuition and trust his judgment. We know about your race now and wish to help, but unfortunately we are going to have to assign different ambassadors to your world – there can only be a certain number of ambassadors per world, quite frankly because we don't want to put more of them in danger than we have to. Herrior is the ambassador of a world different from yours, but I assure you that our other ambassadors are just as capable as Herrior is." The Queen said seeing the anticipation rise up in Lhi's face.

"Why can't Herrior come back to our world? They have brought a lot of our people together, they have tamed the Hozen…the sky serpents need Dan and Jessica their parents! Also I wish to fight alongside of Herrior and his party. I have seen how they fight and I want to be part of it." Lhi said quickly.

"Lhi, Herrior's party is full – however I do not wish to make waves between our beginning relationships. I hear that you are a fighter as well…a monk. Perhaps you could teach our people your ways and in exchange you can follow Herrior along in his travels?" The King asked.

"I feel I have no power to bargain…I will do as you say King of Tranquil. I do not know your ways and your fighters have such finesse and passion in their fighting that I merely wanted to help them in return for freeing my people." Lhi said.

"There is no debt to be repaid. This is what we do. People of all races…even the animals should be able to do as they please, not be tortured and enslaved. I felt our people look at you with curiosity as you approached the palace – they are not used to your kind. In time they would come to accept you as one of our own, but Lhi – we cannot take in every new race we encounter and help." The King said and then quickly paused sensing Lhi was going to interrupt him.

"But what of the sky serpents?" Lhi asked quickly.

"They are from your world. They seem to be remarkable beasts that I would not mind seeing one day, but your people know more about them then we do." The King said.

"Those are their parents…they will die if they do not have their comfort of their parents." Lhi pleaded with the King.

The King stopped to ponder this. He raised his hand to his chin and started tapping on it with his finger. He waited a minute as if trying to decide what to say. "Dan, Jessica and Crystal will frequent the sky serpents then. Lhi I need you to help rebuild your world. There is much to be done. We have scouts in the area already looking for signs of more alliance; if your area is attacked then they will summon our fighters. We have many irons in the fire right now and now that your world is stabilized I need Herrior and his party to rest their bodies for their next mission. If…you want to prove yourself loyal to Herrior and myself, you will do as I ask. Then we may debate you joining Herrior's party. He has had ample chance to take in more but has refused though. We try not to make our attack party's too big for reasons of dissention among the ranks. Herrior and his party have already had their fair share of this over the years and I do not wish there to be more. I will open a portal to your world and my scouts will watch you. Do your part and I will keep my promise to your offer of joining Herrior's party." The King said standing up and ripping a portal open in the middle of the air.

"It was nice meeting you Lhi. Dan, Jessica, Crystal – go make sure their sky serpents don't die. Try to wean them off from you and onto the other Pandaren of the land." The King said.

"They have made their mark on them…they are going to be their mother and father for life." Lhi said.

"They are fighters and cannot perform this task. I understand your ways are different from ours, but there are others who need our help as well – just as your world needed our help. Herrior's party is now weakened because I am sending three of his fighters away for your sky serpents and I do not feel comfortable doing that. Now the four of you, please go – this matter is done being debated." The King said and pointed to the portal. Lhi obviously appeared frustrated, but Dan and Crystal picked her up and carried her through the portal with Jessica right behind. The King snapped his fingers when they were through and the portal disappeared.

"Quite stubborn aren't they?" The King asked.

"In their ways my King, but isn't there a bit of stubbornness in all of us? Lhi only wants what is best for her people. I know nothing about these sky serpents, except that Mohania likes to clean up their poop." Herrior said with a grin.

"I was practicing lighting things on fire…it had nothing whatsoever to do with cleaning up their poop…I was not helping in anyway." Mohania assured them.

"Aww…aren't you just a big softy…" Lindel said hugging him. Mohania let out an "ugh" sound.

"What is your impression of Lhi?" The King asked smiling.

"She seems enthusiastic. She did help us in battle and she does know her people better than we do. She didn't seem to take to seeing Tranquil all that well though, which to be honest surprised me. There are no races here that would hurt her, but she seemed timid. She is definitely more comfortable with her people, but she would make a good fighter." Herrior said.

"And what of the human fighters, how are they doing after their blasting?" The King asked.

"They were shocked at first, but there doesn't seem to be any long lasting effects. They seemed to take the knowledge they were given about fighting and was able to use it. I tested one of them and he seemed look surprised by his new abilities in hand-to-hand combat. George is moving closer to the station, they have finished some sort of N.S.A. building and he will be in charge of that. May I request that they get blasted as well and that George get his own hearthstone?" Herrior asked.

"That is fine. How did they fair in combat?" The King asked.

"Good. They are following orders and I did not have to discipline any of them. Their limitations are their weapons though; they are not like ours and eventually run out of ammunition. It is good for a sudden burst of a distraction though." Herrior said.

"Do you feel comfortable bringing them into Tranquil?" The King asked.

"No there are too many of them and it is hard to judge each of their reactions. I think they are fine where they are now. I do want to get George and Admiral in to see the monks soon though." Herrior replied.

"Agreed schedule an appointment with them and have them go through the blasting. In the meantime go enjoy some time off." The King said. Herrior bowed and then walked out with his party.

"I'm going to go sleep as long as possible…" Herrior said.

"I'm going to go check up on Paul…" Mohania said smiling.

"Is he still alive?" Herrior asked.

"He thinks he isn't…" Mohania said with a smile.

"I have to remember not to ask things like that…goodnight everybody." Herrior said and walked towards their house but before he could reach it his hearthstone began to vibrate. Herrior let out a gentle sigh as he pulled it out. It was Admiral.

"Herrior, I just wanted to let you know that the people that returned are all fine and have returned to their families. George is in flight right now with his family and his belongings and should arrive here within the next two hours. Can we get him one of these little stone things as well?" Admiral asked.

"Admiral…I am going to go to sleep. I will send somebody to address these issues, my body needs some rest." Herrior said sounding upset.

"Sorry I didn't mean to catch you at a bad time." Admiral said quickly.

"No that's fine. I want you and George to go through the same blasting your officers went through sometime today. I will have another hearthstone delivered to you to give to George as well. Thank you for the update." Herrior said and rubbed the stone as the portal disappeared.

"Have issues that need to be addressed?" Jacklyn asked.

"Yes…and they involve me sleeping and the rest of you relaxing. I'll contact another ambassador to take care of it." Herrior said turning around to see most of his party following him. He then pulled his hearthstone back out and rubbed it. A small portal of Tess showed up.

"You look horrible…" Tess said.

"Thanks Tess…can you do some things for me?" Herrior asked.

"Oh sure…but you will owe me…" Tess said jokingly. Herrior then briefly explained what needed to be done and then started to doze off. Jacklyn took the hearthstone and thanked Tess as she nodded and said they would get right on it. Jacklyn then took her leader and helped him inside, put his hearthstone in his pocket and laid him down on the floor mat. He instantly started to snore.

"I'm going upstairs…wake me up if there is a problem." Jacklyn said to everybody else as she climbed the stairs and went to sleep.

Tess went through a portal established in the station designated as Herrior's room. Once everybody was through they touched their trinkets and all of them turned into officers. Tess opened the door and walked out. She stood in the hallway looking at everybody and yelled out, "Where's Admiral?"

"I'm Admiral…who are you?" Admiral asked coming around a desk from an officer he was speaking with.

"A friend of Herrior's. Has George arrived here yet?" Tess asked.

"I believe him and his family just touched down at the airport, is there a problem?" Admiral asked.

"You and George need to go visit our monks for your blasting and George needs a hearthstone. We need to do this immediately." Tess said.

"That is something I'm certainly not looking forward to…"

"Suck it up you pussy…take us to George." Tess said sounding annoyed.

"Let me give him a call." Admiral said pulling out his cell phone. He pushed the encrypted button and it took a second to establish an untraceable, scrambled message and then blinked green. He then pushed two buttons on his phone and held it up to his ear as he moved closer to Tess and opened a conference room then extended his arm. Tess looked inside and all around and then looked back at him. Her party didn't move.

"You can wait inside if you want." Admiral said.

"We don't want…where's George?" Tess asked.

"George, hey how are you doing? This is Admiral. Where are you at right now?" George asked. Tess turned around to her banshee and nodded her head. The banshee then moved forward and yanked the phone out of Admiral's hand.

"Tell me every word you can think of." The banshee said.

"Who is this? Where is Admiral? What is going on?" The banshee then tossed the phone to Admiral and said, "I got his location."

"Come with us." Tess said and turned around to move back into their room.

"But…I've got stuff I have to do…" Admiral said looking down at the phone and pushing the "end call" button.

"Not anymore you don't. Walk on your on willpower or I will have my fighters drag you." Tess said opening the door they came through and disappeared inside the room. Admiral figured it was probably best that he walk using his own legs.

Tess ordered the Admiral to be placed in the corner and then shut the door.

"I'm not your enemy, what's going on?" Admiral asked.

"I don't know you and I am not taking any chances until I know my party is safe. Go get George." Tess said. The banshee opened a portal and flew through it with the portal closing behind her.

"Well that was odd…I hope Admiral is ok. Well let's gather up our belongings and get going." George said happily to his family closing his cell phone. A female officer suddenly appeared around a corner and walked up to George. "Come with me…tell your family to wait for you here."

"Why?" George asked and started thinking about reaching for his gun.

"You touch that thing and I will rip your heart out of your body in front of your body! Come with me…now!" The officer said.

George grew really nervous and said, "Ok…just calm down…wait a second I recognize your voice…"

"You should, I just spoke to you on that little device you just put in your pocket. Come with me quickly and leave your family here." The banshee said sounding more urgent.

"Hun, is there something wrong?" George's wife came up, but George quickly waved her back.

"Not at all…I have a meeting I need to go to. It will only take about ten minutes or so. I will be right back." George said turning around and smiling at his family.

"What is this about?" George's wife asked.

"That is none of…" The banshee said as her head moved quicker than the eye could see and glared at her.

"It's nothing…that's all it is. I'll be back, just wait here." George said and asked where he should go."

"Come with me." The banshee said and took George by the arm and walked him around the corner. His wife hesitated but eventually curiosity got the better of her as she ran around the corner and saw no trace of the woman or her husband. She was extremely nervous, but she knew her kids would be as well. She also knew George was into some heavy secrets that she suspected was bigger than anything in this world. She turned around and smiled at her children and said, "Well, while dad is gone do you want to get something to eat? I bet when we are done eating he will be back."

"Hi George."

"Hi Admiral." Both of them expressed pleasantries as the banshee pulled George through the portal.

"Open their eyes and examine them! Relieve yourself of any weapons, items you don't want destroyed and accessories and leave them here." Tess ordered.

"Herrior seemed to have better bed-side manners…" George said in slight frustration as he did what he was told. Tess's tanks examined their eyes and reported that they were fine.

"I have people I trust…Herrior has people he trusts. I am doing my job. Now then I think Admiral is familiar with the process so I will explain it to George. Get ready to open the portal to the monk's chambers. George, you are about to feel the worst pain you have ever experienced in your life. Do not concentrate on the pain concentrate on somebody you love – your wife I'm assuming is the woman you were with?"

"Yes and my family." George said.

"Concentrate on them as hard as you can for as long as you can. Admiral I'm assuming you have somebody to concentrate on as well?" Tess asked.

"Actually I'm single…Navy life didn't really give me…"

"I don't care…concentrate on Herrior then. Herrior has told me that he has done great things for you – concentrate on his face and the love you have for him. He loves you and admires you a lot, especially to have taken you into Tranquil. Do you have everything off from you?" Tess asked watching them drop their guns, phones, wallets, rings, a necklace and both of them even removed their shoes. Tess raised her eyebrow and asked why they did that.

"Don't want to my new shoes. Besides we have to take them off in airport security anyways." George said. Tess shrugged and told her banshee to open the portal.

"George - I will give you your hearthstone when you come back. It is only good to contact Herrior or one of us once a day – don't waste it. Herrior's party is exhausted right now, they have been fighting nonstop for almost several weeks now and generally the leader doesn't sleep before a battle. I would advise not to contact Herrior for the next two days. Good luck gentlemen and remember what I told you, it will help a lot." Tess said.

"Thanks." George said and then wondered if he really was thankful as they stepped through the portal. The banshee and two healers come with them but quickly left through the heavy wooden doors.

"Lay down on the table please." George and Admiral quickly looked around and George held in a scream.

"Who the hell are you people?" George blurted out.

"Lay down on the table please." The head monk repeated.

"Come on George…we both know we have to do this." Admiral said grabbing his hand and hopped on the stone slab. Admiral tugged on George and he eventually followed up.

"Close your eyes and remember what you were told before you came here." The monk said as the room went completely dark. George squeezed Admiral's hand tighter.

"Concentrate on your family George!" Admiral yelled out. Blue lightning bolts started enveloping the room as the monks held out their grey sickly looking hands and the screaming started.

Five minutes later a monk opened the heavy wooden door and said, "The blasting was successful. You may remove them." Tess's healers quickly came in and began to cast their healing spells on them, but their bodies were not damaged in anyway. They were actually sitting up – still holding each other's hands.

"Open the portal." The healer said and the banshee immediately did. Once it was fully opened they took each man under the arm, separating their hands, and walked them through the portal – the banshee closed it behind them.

"Are you alright?" Tess asked with a completely different voice. It was kind and tender.

"That…is something…I never want to do again…did I shit myself?" George asked.

"No you are fine. I trust you now. Return George to his family. The side effects seem to be wearing off quickly – you must have followed my advice. In the next fifteen minutes you will be completely fine. We will secure the base until you are fit to return to duty." Tess said turning to Admiral.

"I'm fine…just a little shaken up. I've got people I trust to run things. I can put the station on lockdown if need be." Admiral said.

"It was good meeting both of you. Herrior spoke very highly of both of you. It was a pleasure." Tess said with a smile. She then turned to her banshee and nodded.

George walked through the portal and it suddenly disappeared when he got through it. His head was still ringing from the screaming as he slipped his wedding ring back on. He walked around the corner and his boy saw him first and said, "Dad you're back!"

"Hunny, what happened?" His wife asked bursting from the table and hugged him.

"Just a little meeting is all."

"George…you are shaking and sweating." His wife said nervously.

"It was a hard meeting. Believe it or not you helped me out a great deal. Remind me to thank you appropriately later." George said and kissed his wife.

"Is everything ok? And don't give me this bullshit answer of everything is fine – tell me!" His wife said quietly enough so their children didn't hear but very sternly. George pulled out a rock and showed his wife. He flipped it over a couple of times and then looked back at her and said, "Hun – things couldn't be better."

"What is that?"

"My lucky rock." George said quietly and looked deep into his wife's eyes deeply. She saw this look before and knew everything was ok.

"So what's everybody eating? OOoo…pizza, my favorite! I hope you saved some for me."

"So what do you think Herrior and the rest of them are doing right now?" Dan asked Crystal.

Crystal yawned and said, "Probably sleeping. Are we going to sleep out here with your kids or in the house?" Crystal asked.

"We are going to have to start weaning them eventually, let's go sleep inside." Dan said.

"Have you guys ever felt like this is the reason why you were put on Earth? This feels like the reason why I am here. I am surrounded by hundreds of pets that adore me…this is the greatest feeling ever!" Jessica said excited.

"Jessica, I don't think that our King is going to let them in Tranquil. Come and let's get some sleep, you are keeping them awake." Crystal said. Jessica sighed and realized that they were indeed tired. She hugged several of them and then pointed to their box beds. She then caught up with Dan and Crystal who walked inside the house. It was crowded and Dan had second thoughts about possibly sleeping outside.

"We prepared three mats upstairs for you. Here are some wafers to eat before you go to bed. Tomorrow we will have to go hunting for more food for the sky serpents. They need milk and the only place we can find that is back in the Valley of the Four Winds. There are no yaks in the forest and milk is really what they need. The meat is good for them, but they are still young." Chen said.

"Do you have any barrels to transport them in?" Dan asked.

Chen shook his head and said, "Not as much as they need. To be honest I'm not sure we have that many yaks that can produce enough milk. They really need their real mothers to provide them with the milk that they need, but they have imprinted on you and if they start feeding straight off from a yak's utter then they might get imprinted on them that the goats are for feeding them and might start killing them."

"What do you suggest?" Dan asked with a yawn.

"Let me travel to the Dawn's Blossom. They have some milk there and then we will make trips to the Valley to collect more milk. You three get some rest. We will not offer the milk to them until you are awake. We will need more fish as well. We need to teach them to start catching their own food as well. I heard you talking about wanting them to be more dependent on their selves, but it is going to take some time. Our people will fish all night and gather milk. You get some sleep and in the morning you can feed them then." Chen said.

"You are going to do all of this for us Chen?" Jessica said with strong emotions.

"Yes…we have much at stake here. Once they are grown up they will be used for riding the winds with. This will help our people, and yours as well, move throughout the world in search of more supplies and more of our people." Chen said.

"You are going to use them to carry you into the air?" Jessica asked in a sleepy tone.

"They belong here Jessica. We can only be their parents for a little while, and then they will need to leave their nest in search of mates and to explore the lands." Dan said.

"I'm not ready for them to leave yet. Can they defend themselves?" Jessica asked.

"They can blow very hot air and bite at their predators. They know how to survive on their own." Chen assured her and then he said "good night" to them.

They waited until Chen left and Jessica started to cry.

"Hun, it'll be ok…you might be just tired and overwhelmed with emotions." Crystal said getting up and walking over to her and hugging her on the ground.

"They are my babies…" She muttered in between sobs.

"They will always be your babies, but you have to think of what is best for them. We can't stay on this world forever – unless you want to stay here and leave Herrior's group?" Crystal asked. Jessica quickly shook her head and said, "No".

"The best thing we can do for them is teach them how to be good hunters and how to fly very fast. Are you associating taking care of the sky serpents with the child you lost?" Dan asked concerned. Jessica waited a minute and then nodded as she closed her eyes with tears spilling out.

"Oh hun I am so sorry." Crystal said gripping her tighter. Dan moved over behind Crystal and hugged Jessica as well.

"I'll be ok…I'm just tired…" Jessica said.

"I love them also Jessica. They are great. We saw them born, fed them, and they showed us unending affection and that is worth more gold than all that Tranquil has. I have a feeling we are going to have a lot more time with them. At the rate they are growing, they probably won't be able to feed themselves or want to leave the nest for at least another month…maybe longer." Dan said.

"I know…" Jessica said wiping away the tears. "Let's just get some sleep."

"Ok, but if you need us in the middle of the night we'll be right here." Crystal said closing her eyes.

"I know you will. You changed my life around and I feel like this is my chance to really help out in return." Jessica said.

"You have helped more people and animals in your life of battles than just sky serpents. You life has affected many people. It can't be measured in numbers because you don't know the full extent of how far your good works have done. Many people look up to you…don't think you aren't making a difference because you are." Dan said. He awaited a response but all he got back was a low silent breathing. Dan then laid down and took in a deep breath and fell asleep.

After sleeping for twelve hours Jessica was the first to wake up. She looked outside and saw dozens of sky serpents look in at her.

"Hello little ones…do you want to come in?" Jessica asked with a smile. The sky serpents started to get excited and waved them in. They poured into the house, quickly filling it up. They had grown in size again – about another foot.

"Hey…your little ones are here, go feed them." Crystal said nudging Dan away as the sky serpents swarmed all over Dan and were excited to see him just as much as they were excited to see Jessica.

"Ok ok…" Dan said getting up and let out a long yawn. He then looked at the sky serpents as they tried to mimic him. Dan chuckled and walked downstairs and outside.

"Get enough sleep?" Chen asked.

"Nope…I feel like I could sleep for several more days. Were you able to get some milk?" Dan asked with Jessica behind him.

"Yes…the sky serpents are very hungry, you should feed them now." Chen said looking tired.

"We will…I think it is time for you to get some sleep now." Dan said smiling at him. The sky serpents smiled at Chen as well mimicking Dan's facial expressions and Chen laughed.

"I suppose I will. More milk is on the way…we have enough coming now to feed them until they are able to get the nutrients that they need. They are in the barrels over there." Chen pointed.

"Thank you for your help Chen." Dan said.

"It was not only me that helped…little Lulu helped as well as others as well." Chen said ruffling the young Pandaren's hair.

"Hey…stop it…" She said playfully. "I mostly rode on the carts and told them where to go."

"Would you like to help us feed them?" Dan asked with a smile.

"I would like to, but I am tired as well. I would like to play with them later though!" Lulu said.

"Ok you go get some sleep and we will play with them when you wake up. How does that sound?" Dan asked squatting down to her height.

"That would be great!" Lulu said excitedly and hugged Dan before she bounced into the house.

"Alright…feeding time!" Jessica said walking over to the barrels of milk still sealed. The sky serpents followed her but didn't know what she was doing. She had removed one of their lids and a putrid smell came out that made her back off quickly.

"Has the milk spoiled?" Jessica asked.

"No no…it is from the yaks. It is fresh I assure you. Do you drink milk from a different animal?" One of the Pandaren farmers asked.

"Yes from cows." Jessica said.

"Jessica…this is a different world. They drink milk from yaks. If the sky serpents don't see you drinking it then they won't and they need it." Dan said as he slammed a burst of air underneath him – lifting him up into the air. Dan then moved over to the barrel in the air and started lapping it up with his tongue. The sky serpents watched with renewed interest and moved in to do the same thing. Once they started drinking, Dan grabbed the edge of the barrel and slowly moved himself back down to the ground and walked away. This gave more room for the sky serpents to get a drink. Crystal was already opening another barrel as more sky serpents moved in to get a drink. Jessica still watched in disgust as dozens of sky serpents around here were confused and unsure what to do.

"Oh fine…" Jessica said and casted a levitate spell on herself. She floated over to a barrel and started lapping it up like Dan did. It didn't taste that bad, it was tasted like very rich-fatty warm cow's milk. Jessica stopped drinking and then moved away like Dan did. Crystal had opened another barrel during this time and more sky serpents began drinking the rich-fatty warm milk. Many of them made a game out of it and moved from barrel to barrel drinking from them as if sampling each one to make sure they all tasted the same.

"Do you think three barrels will work for now?" Crystal asked looking at the fourth barrel. She then looked back and saw the shock faces on Dan and Jessica. She followed their line of vision and saw the sky serpents grow before their eyes. They were filling their stomachs to its maximum capacity and their tails grew longer slowly.

"Holy cow…" Jessica said in amazement.

"The Pandaren's know best Jessica. We are strangers in a strange land with strange beasts." Dan reminded her.

"Your babies are growing up…right in front of us, looks like they still don't know where to poop at though." Crystal said pointing to several dozen of them pooping around the barrels.

Dan let out a loud whistle – the same whistle that you would make for calling a dog. Immediately all of the sky serpents stopped drinking and looked at him. Dan walked over to a pile of poop and said sternly, "No!" This scared all of the sky serpents as Dan funneled air underneath him and flew over to the compost and put the poop there.

"Here! Poop goes here!" Dan said sternly again. The sky serpents immediately remembered and flew over to the pile and began to relieve themselves in the spot. Dan took back to the air and flew back over to the milk barrels.

"Do you want a rolled up newspaper?" Crystal asked with a smile.

"They seem to be smart…just forgot I guess." Dan said. The sky serpents quickly returned back to the milk and engorged themselves some more when they were done.

"I'll clean up the mess. You go ahead and get yourself cleaned up." An older Pandaren woman said with a kind face. Dan thanked her and walked down to the river and washed off the feces. By the time he came back he saw a steady line of sky serpents moving from the milk barrels and to the compost pile. They were still growing in size.

"About three foot now?" Dan asked.

"I was thinking about fourish." Crystal said.

"Yeah…" Jessica said trying to produce a smile.

"How big are they supposed to get?" Dan asked one of the Pandaren farmers.

"Legends say as long as thirty feet and as heavy as five houses. This is just hearsay though; by the looks of it they are going to be much bigger. You have done well with them." A male Pandaren said. Dan nodded and walked over to Jessica and put an arm around her and hugged her and said, "Did you hear that? We are doing well with them."

"We are aren't we?" Jessica asked back with a smile.

"Yes we are. This is part of helping a pet grow up. Next, when they are done gorging themselves on the milk, we need to teach them how to fish. Are you up for diving into the water and snagging fish by your mouth?" Dan asked with a smile.

"Eww…" Jessica quickly said.

"Eww just like the milk idea? They will need to learn how to fish and get food on their own." Dan said.

Jessica still looked disgusted but then nodded. "Not sure how good I'm going to be at that…"

"Yeah I'm pretty sure I suck at it too…but maybe their instincts will kick in and they will teach themselves." Dan said.

The three of them watched for several hours until the eight to nine foot creatures drank every last drop of milk. They flew over to their sleeping boxes, which were significantly smaller than they remembered, but settled down none-the-less and quietly went to sleep. Their tails overlapped each other and their faces touched each others.

"Looks like we will have to make bigger boxes for them" Jessica said.

"Perhaps…or perhaps they will find other places to sleep." Dan said.

"While they sleep how about we scout the area, find a bigger river maybe." Crystal said.

"The best fishing is in the deep oceans several miles that way, but the lands are controlled by the Slitherscales…lizard like beasts that eat and attack anything – sometimes even each other. It would be nice to go down to the oceans and catch some real fish." A Pandaren said.

"Then that is where we shall go…gather around me and I will get us there." Dan said waving over Jessica and Crystal.

"Before you go fighting them, these might help." The voice of an exhausted female behind the house said. The three of them walked behind the house and saw new robes and new fist weapons. The robes were black sown together with green stitches and had several different gems in them.

"Thanks but I think our robes are better for fighting with…" Crystal said. Jessica felt differently as she stripped herself and quickly put on the new pants and robes. She slipped on new gloves and the cloth boots and felt her powers increase.

"Yeah…definite improvement!" Jessica said beaming with new power.

"I thought you might like it." One of the tailors said as Jessica began picking up her own clothes and put them in her pouches.

"Your fist weapons were created with tiger fur and have three spikes on them – made from ghost iron. We were unsure how to make you new armor so we spent a lot of time on these for you." Another tailor said walking over and held the new fist weapons for Dan to put his hands in.

"Thank you." Dan said as he slipped his hands in. They quickly shrunk to fit his arms and felt an increase in his power as well. Crystal eventually did the same with her new clothes.

"We will go attack the Slitherscales and give you access to the ocean." Dan said. Both Crystal and Jessica came over to Dan and hugged him as he produced an enormous blast of air beneath all of their feet that propelled them quickly into the air. Jessica let out a scream as she flew upwards.

Dan then flew them down to the tree line and slowed their acceleration and told both of them to scan for anything that might harm the Pandaren. All they saw was wildlife, foliage and trees. Eventually they flew over a cliff and saw a large sandy beach. It was filled with large lizard looking people. They had no weapons, but they looked ferocious.

"There's our targets…are you gals ready?" Dan asked hovering above them.

"Let's do this!" Crystal said eagerly. Dan flew them down and as soon as Dan landed he summoned an earth elemental to protect them as Crystal and Jessica got ready to do battle. Crystal summoned a voidlord as Jessica filled them with more stamina and then took on shadow form. The battle commenced almost immediately as the lizard-looking people ran towards them and the earth elemental slammed its fists into the ground. It drew the attention of the dozens of Slitherscales as Dan held out his hand and summoned a fire elemental and fire erupted from it. Dan then started striking at them with his new fist weapons. He felt his long spikes hit their skin, but not penetrate it. Several more swipes and he finally got one to bleed. He summoned a searing fire totem as it started shooting at the target he was attacking. The searing fire totem Slitherscales did not like that at all as Dan blasted it with a quick blast of fire from his hands, burning his target over time.

Crystal commanded her voidlord to defend them and then summoned an inferno to fall from the skies. It crashed into the ground, scaring away many of the attacking Slitherscales. It rose up from its crater and began to attack. Crystal then started single targeting the same Slitherscale that Dan was attacking. It did not like its mind being attacked and caused it to turn and run.

"Their skin is thick. I'll keep my elementals up as you two finish them off." Dan said. Another Slitherscale raised his hands to his head as Jessica blasted it with mind spikes of her shadow energy. As a Slitherscale started to run away Jessica ran towards them and let out a circular expanding burst of energy that healed her party and did extensive damage to the Slitherscales. The Slitherscales recoiled back in shock as tentacles from the ground sprouted and grabbed their legs, immobilizing them.

"Single target them now." Jessica said. Dan charged up a lightning spell and shocked the Slitherscale just as Crystal's and Jessica's spells hit him. The Slitherscale screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The inferno and the fire elemental both charged at him, setting fire to anything around them – including the Slitherscales. Dan energized his weapons and ran forward and he slammed his spikes into his head. Pieces of flesh came off, but it was not what Dan wanted. The Slitherscale rose to his feet and began to run away. The rest of the Slitherscales watched the others in pain as the spells began pounding each one of them and eventually thought best to retreat.

"They will be back…we need more than us to defeat them." Dan said walking back to Crystal as he held up his hand behind him and the elements dissipated.

"Yeah…all we did was scare them off. The three of us probably is not the right combination to lead an attack on them." Crystal said agreeing.

"Let's head back" Dan said waving at Jessica and Crystal. They held on to him and a blast of air propelled them into the air. They went back to their temporary home and reported what they had done.

"Perhaps a mace might work better…" one of the craftsmen said pondering the idea.

"These seem to work, I just need…"

"Here, drink this!" A woman said walking up within inches of Dan and held a cup up to his mouth. He turned around in shock and drank it. It had a hint of mint to it, but mostly it was too hot to tell what flavor it had.

"Too hot…what is it…what the?" Dan said. He suddenly felt more power flow through his body then he ever did before. "What is that?"

"Enhances your body with strength, what do you think?" The female Pandaren asked eagerly.

"It's good." Dan said still trying to breath in cool air to cool off his tongue.

"You do not like it?" She asked.

"I do not like it shoved in my face." Dan said frankly with a smile.

"Ah…but if you have time to observe it and to smell it – it takes away the taste of food. Your mouth tells more of the story then your other senses do." She said and scurried away.

"Ok nobody else shove anything in my face…" Dan said setting out the rule. Crystal walked up behind him and pulled him around and kissed him hard in the face. The Pandaren's laughed and Crystal eventually did as well.

"Let's go find somebody else to pick on…" Dan said smiling at her. The rest of the day passed as the sky serpents woke only to fly over to the compost pile, poop, and then fly back to their bed. The Pandaren told the three of them that if the rest of the milk isn't drank in the next day it would spoil. It was good advice, but the three of them wondered how big they would get after the growth-stimulated milk.

Back on Earth George had time to settle his family in a home already purchased and paid for courtesy of the government and went to the station to investigate what he was really getting into. The guards were not told of George's arrival and his identification with the NSA wasn't recognized by the guards. So George said to call Admiral (making sure not to say the word "the") and ask for authorization, and if he wasn't available he could summon Herrior to grant authorization for him. The guards quickly looked at each other and waved off the other guards pointing their automatic weapons at him and opened the gate. George pulled his twenty twelve blue Impala into a parking space and as he got out he saw Admiral.

"What…the minivan was taken? Is that really what you drive?" Admiral asked with a big smile on his face.

"What's wrong with my car?" George asked with a smile.

"For starters…it's not designed to withstand a fifty caliber bullet. See my black SUV over there…" Admiral said and pointed. George followed his finger and nodded. Admiral then pulled out his walkie-talkie and said, "Fire!" A loud crack sound echoed through the air as the massive gun unleashed its bullet and flew straight into the SUV. The armor on it simply disintegrated the shell and didn't even leave a mark.

"Holy shit!" George yelled from a crouching position covering his head.

"You can't see the action from down there…" Admiral said with a chuckle.

"What kind of firepower are you packing here at your 'police station'?" George said making exclamation points with his fingers rising back up.

"Apparently not enough…Herrior wants more for our soldiers. Also to keep things simple let's just call everybody soldiers…that way we don't have to differentiate between the two, one implies a lower rank and I want everybody to be equal." Admiral said.

"Damn…did that bullet really hit your SUV? Oh yeah sure that's fine…" George said looking at the SUV in amazement.

"You haven't seen anything yet…" Admiral said with a smile.

"How many snipers do you have on the roof tops…or is that classified?" George asked.

"Nothing is classified to you; you will have full access to everything I know of. To answer your question we have about thirty men on the different roofs scouting in different directions…not all of them are armed, but can order an attack in an instant if need be. Let's go to my office, I have your badges in there." Admiral said leading the way.

"That wasn't a blank shell right?" George asked still amazed.

"Oh no…nobody is firing blanks around here, at least with their guns that is…if they are firing blanks then only their wives know and I don't want to know…" Admiral said laughing.

Admiral opened the door and everything was dark. He reached over to the side and flicked a light switch and everybody yelled "Surprise!" and started cheering and clapping for George.

"What is this all about?" George asked with a smile.

"We are all a close-knit family here. I told them you were coming and your rank was just as high as mine. If they mess up you can fire them…" Admiral said with a smile.

"Fire us my ass…here have some pizza." A male soldier said opening a box of pizza with only three slices left. "We didn't have time to bake you a cake."

"Thanks…so does everybody know…" George said hesitating.

"Not real good at keeping secrets are ya boss?" The soldier asked taking a piece for himself and said, "We know more than you do, and we knew longer than you knew. You're the new guy in town obviously. Basically you let us do our jobs and we'll get along fine."

George snickered and said, "Ok…"

"It's true…they are good at what they do. You can ask them to do things for you though if they aren't busy…cocky sons of a gun…" Admiral said smiling at him.

"What? You show me another station with our how many busts we made, arrests we made, and criminals shitting themselves when we look at them and I will give you the last piece of pizza." The soldier said smiling back.

"With help…" Admiral reminded him.

"Yes with help…criminals seem to just 'fall out of the sky' and admit to everything that they did…it's the darndest thing. We catch more criminals and terrorists just by walking out in the parking lot then probably your whole department does in raids." The soldier said eating the last piece.

"They just 'fall out of the sky' huh? I assuming that is your help?" George asked.

"Our help…they are here to help all of us." Admiral reminded the soldier and everybody else. "Anyways the show is over, back to work people…" Admiral said clapping his hands together. Several moans came from the soldiers as they went back to their desks.

"What is this…kool-aid in the water cooler?" George asked walking by it.

"Fruit punch…Herrior's idea. They don't like the water here for some reason. They don't like coffee either so don't offer that. Here are my three soldiers that do my job," Admiral said and motioned to three people with headphones talking to people. They all stopped for a brief moment and nodded at George. George smiled at them and then they continued to walk.

"This is my office…generally Herrior doesn't like knocking on doors and just walks right in. They tend to show up wherever they want, so don't be surprised." Admiral said walking into his office.

"So if those three officers…I mean soldiers do your job, then what do you do?" George asked.

"I ask myself the same question every day. Mostly I make phone calls to different pawn shops and army surplus stores to look for deals on equipment. Right now I'm supposed to be taking inventory of everything we have…but the little rat that chewed me out…courtesy of one of your people probably…got his ass kicked by Herrior. I don't anticipate him stepping foot in our town again. We get the normal supplies issued to us, and with your government 'hush hush' building I'm sure we'll be issued some more, but Herrior wants us to be able to defend ourselves. You may have noticed several weapon lockers and storage bins as you walked in? They are packed full of munitions and guns. We plan on getting some more and putting them in their room, as they like to call it – basically it's the room they use the portal thing to arrive in our station at. Here let me show you." Admiral said and led him outside. He walked down the hallway and opened the door.

"Dirt floor?" George asked.

"That's what they wanted. No windows, solid walls, only one exit. They somehow illuminate the room when they come in I guess…I don't know. They probably piss bioluminescent pee or something…I don't know, but this is where they come from." Admiral said. George chuckled as they left the room.

"Let me get you your badge here and I'm assuming I'll have full access to your 'hush hush' building as well?" Admiral asked.

"Do we have to call it that?" George asked with a smile taking his badge.

"Have to keep the names small remember. So how about the 'quiet building' or the 'napping center'?" Admiral asked.

"How about the 'NSA intelligence headquarters for the development of technology and information surveillance'?" George asked.

"Naw…I like the 'hush-hush' building better. I haven't been in there yet, let's go take a look around." Admiral said.

"Do you have clearance?" George asked quickly.

"This badge says I do." Admiral said with a smile. George thought about something for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders.

"So what Einstein's have you hand-picked to work with you?" Admiral asked. This made George laugh.

"I have picked out people that have the highest level of clearance and know how to keep their mouths shut. Let's go to the building and I will tell you more." George said.

"Fair enough" Admiral said following him. They left the building and walked through the parking lot, George still interested in how Admiral's SUV took a direct fifty caliber and it didn't even chip the paint. Admiral observed him looking at it so he called out, "Come here SUV!" Immediately the SUV fired up its engine, backed up and accelerated at them at high speeds, stopping mere inches from them. George jumped backwards as Admiral casually walked around to the driver's seat door and opened it.

"You've got to be shitting me…the thing drives on its own?" George asked.

"Activate all weapons." Admiral said and immediately the SUV produced cannons, and barrels out of almost every inch of its body frame. George stood amazed and actually felt his bowels move.

"Shall I fire?" The SUV asked.

"No, I am just showing off what you can do. Retract your weapons." Admiral said.

"Ok…now I do have to take a shit – did you just have a conversation with it?" George asked.

Admiral leaned on the door and said, "George…have you seen Herrior's party in battle? You have seen their kingdom and the powers they possess, and something like this makes you wonder if it's real? This vehicle saved my family's life and I want you to have control over it as well. If stuff around here starts going to hell in a hand basket, you are going to need this thing. Come over here." George did.

"SUV, this is George. I want him to have access to you as well. He is a close friend and I trust him with my life." Admiral said.

"Hi George. Shall I give authorization to George and yourself as well?" The SUV asked.

"Yes please" Admiral said.

"Done, will there be anything else?" The SUV asked.

"Not right now. Go ahead and go back in your parking spot." Admiral said and closed the door.

"George sure is a hunk…is he married?" The SUV asked.

"He is married yes." Admiral said closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Alright, I will resume monitoring for disturbances…" The SUV said in a sad tone and drove off.

"That's a first." George said.

"Talking to a SUV?" Admiral asked.

"No…getting hit on by one…"

"Yeah…I guess a female goblin was the programmer and instilled part of her personality in it or some shit like that…I don't know. It likes the name SUV so call it that. It doesn't have a speedometer on it, but it went from here to my house, about a forty-five minute drive in just a couple of minutes. Make sure you give it straight commands and don't joke around with it. We don't need it nuking the nearby houses…" Admiral said and then motioned for the security fence.

"No nuking…got it." George said as they walked together.

They arrived at a heavily armored gate with a twelve foot tall and four foot thick wall guarded by men on the wall and four guards at the gate.

"Admiral" Admiral said showing his id badge. "This is George". George held up his id badge as well. Both guards examined it and welcomed them. The guards said the other men and women have already arrived and are setting up their offices. The guards opened the solid steel door and in they went. The building was only one story tall and was made of a blackish metal roof. George explained that it absorbs radar and is invisible to cameras and telescopes in outer space.

"Nice…didn't know they made such a thing." Admiral said.

"This is a 'hush hush' building remember?" George smiled as he put his eyes up to the eye scanner. It recognized George and let him in and George said he needed to have an eye scan as well. After they were in George asked where the nearest bathroom was. The secretary pointed behind her and George quickly made his way down the hall.

"Nice to meet you, I'm called Admiral – I am in charge of the police station." Admiral said.

"You also flunked first grade and had to retake it, you have a slight allergy to peanuts in large dosages, and your sugar levels are slightly higher than the standard amount. Admiral, I know everything about you." The female secretary said.

"Did you know that I can jump a foot and a half in the air?" Admiral asked.

"Used to be able to…you have been averaging a foot and a quarter lately…" she responded pulling out his enormous chart.

"Wow…well so much for pleasantries. What is your name?" Admiral asked.

"In here I am called Secretary, nice to meet you." She said standing up and outstretching her hand. Admiral shook it and smiled as he said, "One word names huh?"

"We all have them here…I'm told that it is standard protocol." Secretary said sitting back down.

"So what is your job…besides knowing everything about everybody that walks in the building?" Admiral asked.

"Occasionally I look up porn on the computer…" she said and caught Admiral off guard as he laughed. They continued talking for awhile until George reappeared.

"Sorry about that…I think I just lost five pounds. No more surprises ok?" George asked with a smile.

"No more surprises from me…but apparently you have some surprises; Secretary here tells me that my vertical jump has been getting smaller.

"That's what happens when your waist line gets bigger…" George said and asked how they accessed the main room.

"Down the hall is the elevator. There is another eye and thumb scanner. I will be ordering dinner soon, any requests?" Secretary asked.

"Something plain…maybe just a light sandwich or something for me…" George said.

"I'll take a black angus steak cooked medium and an assortment of vegetables slathered with butter." Admiral said jokingly. Secretary wrote down the order and then picked up the phone. Admiral's smile disappeared when she actually ordered what he said.

"Really?" Admiral asked pointing at her and looking at George.

"You told me not to joke around with SUV so now it's my turn to tell you not to joke around within these walls. Let's go." George said.

"Where are they going to get a black angus steak?" Admiral asked.

"Probably have it flown in…same procedure here, have it scan your eyes and your thumb." George said as he did it. He then motioned for him to do it.

"Authorization granted. Elevator is coming." An automated voice said followed by a "Ding" sound.

"Elevator?" Admiral asked.

"Of course…dirt is the best way to block transmissions and the best way to intercept incoming transmission with an assortment of dishes planted throughout the city – all remotely operated from here. We even have three satellites and an awak designated just for us. You want to know what your neighbors are watching on TV or how long they make love…we can get that information for you in a matter of minutes." George said.

"Ding" the elevator made a noise as it opened its doors.

"Interesting…not that I want to know that information…" Admiral said walking into the elevator with George.

"Really…because Secretary knows that information." Admiral said pushing the "down" button and the elevator dinged as it closed its doors and started to go down.

"They like to watch AMC and Sex in the City…" George said with a smile.

"I don't want to know…" Admiral said smiling as George started to chuckle.

The elevator continued for another couple of seconds and then made its friendly "Ding" sound and the doors opened. George walked in to the open room as Admiral stood awestruck. There were televisions and computers everywhere. He walked into the room and started to take it all in.

"Twelve mainframes, thirty-two servers and one hundred and fifty consoles. The computing power in this room is nothing you could ever imagine. Every month they bring in the 'latest…bigger and better' equipment for us. This is Computer man…he is in charge of that." George said. Computer man stopped for a moment and shook Admiral's hand and then quickly walked off to do something with several other people following him.

"Wow…not really sure what else to say. So what is the main purpose of this building?" Admiral asked.

"The main purpose of this building is for all of these people to do what I say. Right now they are devising a way to track disturbances in time. Another project is intercepting alien transmissions and decoding them. We are also learning how microwaves heat up food." George said.

"I thought Herrior killed all of the aliens?" Admiral asked.

"Far from it…they outnumber us one million to one. Some of them don't give a shit about us…some of them are curious…and some of them are hostile. Those are the ones we want. The abductions have started up again and we are tracking them. We try to get the entire abduction on video and record radiation, microwaves, ultraviolet rays, sound waves, and many other fascinating things…such as the small ripple that comes out of the house when we lose track of them." George said.

"If you know they are happening, why don't you do something about it?" Admiral asked.

"We have a huge country…we have attempted to intercept them several times – which usually just leads to the death of our people. They always return them so we figure its best to track them and record the date and times. Once we have a pattern developed and start sensing when they are coming in, yes we launch an attack. Another side project that our wonderful government wants us to do is watch Iran. Pitiful country and quite boring project…but it's what they want us to do. We have thousands of hidden cameras and bugs planted all over their palace. They can't sneeze without us knowing. We have the authorization in this command center to launch missiles and command warships and places…similar to the aircraft carrier you used to be on. Right now your aircraft carrier is acting as a distraction for Iran to watch. It is way out of their missile range, but they are watching it. Russia, China, Japan and the other superpowers do not have the technology we have…if they do they are acting ignorant about it. We can drop transmitters the size of a fly from ten thousand feet above on a passenger plane, without anybody knowing, and have it glide precisely to where we want it. It will pick up sounds and transmit them for two years before self-destructing." George said bragging.

"If you have all of this fancy gizmos and electronics…why was it so hard to find Osama Bin Laden?" Admiral asked.

"We knew where he was for years…but unfortunately the President commands the troops…we don't. We are purely self-defense…not offensive. That is where I'm hoping where our friends could help us out." George said.

"Whoa…George they just don't go killing people unless they want to." Admiral said feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. He continued, "Their battles are not our battles. They do favors…and right now we owe them."

"Oh…well that changes things…" George said disappointed.

"Yeah…I've been told stories about what they have done; Herrior doesn't command his party to go kill people just for the fun of it." Admiral said.

"I kill people for fun." Mohania said. Admiral and George quickly turned around and saw most of Herrior's ground staring at them, but more importantly Herrior glaring at George with his arms crossing his chest.

"Told you they can appear out of nowhere." Admiral said.

"George…just who do you think we are?" Herrior asked moving towards him pushing Admiral out of the way.

"I obviously made a mistake. Can I explain…please?" George asked.

"I'm waiting…" Herrior said.

"Follow me please…" George said quickly as he ran over to a console and typed in his username and password. It then brought up a map of the United States and started putting red dots all over the screen.

"I'm still waiting…" Herrior said growing more annoyed.

"What you are seeing here is where the aliens have been abducting people. Those little green men with their spaceships and contraptions? Anyways every time the make an abduction they leave this…watch." George said and typed in several commands. The picture changed and then showed several different wave lines on the screen.

"This is the alien's heartbeat and this is the abductees heart beat. You will notice that the alien is much slower…but watch." George said and then typed in several command. Suddenly a picture appeared showing the alien touch the human and then suddenly vanishes from the screen. Several lines stopped moving but one of the lines let out an enormous spike.

"That is when time stopped and our live feeds show them disappearing in real time." George said turning around and showing Herrior the information.

"I don't understand." Herrior said more interested.

"There is a huge power surge…it is unknown what it is, but we have the ability to track these spikes. You are looking for people that can stop time…well we have the ability to track them." George said and then typed several buttons and brought back up the map of the United States as several red dots started to appear.

Herrior's mood suddenly changed as he watched the red dots appear and disappear. He moved closer to the screen and watched it intently.

"Do I have your interest?" George asked with a smile.

"There are…hundreds of red dots. Does that mean these are all time stoppers?" Herrior asked.

"Time stoppers?" George asked unsure about the question.

"Alien abductions I think he means." Admiral said.

"Shut up Admiral…are all of these red dots indicating a stop in time?" Herrior asked. Admiral backed off as Herrior looked at George.

"Yes, they are indicating a small disturbance in the fabric of time…what are time stoppers?" George asked.

"This is incredible…I have underestimated your people. Who else knows about this?" Herrior asked standing back up and getting into George's face.

"Just the people in this building. We secretly researched and developed the technology for tracking it – our government doesn't even know what a time stopper is…which is why I am confused by your question. Are there people out there able to stop time?" George asked.

"Are the people in this building trustworthy?" Herrior asked backing off.

"I handpicked them myself. I trust them." George said. Herrior then turned back around and looked at the screen and said, "This is incredible…are you positive these are stops in time? Can you confirm it visually?" Herrior asked.

"Well…they are there for one second and then gone the next on live video feeds, that's proof enough for me." George said.

"Not good enough. I want the most active sites immediately!" Herrior said.

"They change…there's no particular one spot…" George said.

"Alice Acres, southern part of Texas - population of five hundred and eleven. We have had seven blimps there just today" one of the personal said turning around looking at them.

"Take us there." Herrior said demanding.

"It would take us a day or so to coordinate transportation…" George said looking perplexed.

"You have no idea the importance of us getting there! Give the coordinates to Lindel on this little map thing so she can take us there!" Herrior said demanding.

"Does anybody have a phone number of the place? Any phone numbers in Alice Acres?" Admiral piped up.

"Searching…" one of the computer operators said. "Got one here that is closest to the events taking place."

"Dial it up…Lindel talk to them and get the coordinates, you can create a portal to the place once you talk to the person." Admiral said.

"I've never done that before." Lindel said.

"Tess's banshee could do it – I saw her do it before." Admiral said and picked up one of the cord phones. "Give me the number." Admiral said and dialed the number and handed the phone to Lindel.

After two rings a male voice came on the line, "Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Tyke. My name is Sheila Homestead I am with your local GE power company. We have detected a faulty transformer on your road. Have you been experiencing any spikes in your power?" Lindel asked altering her voice and quickly reading the man's mind.

"Yes…" the man said quickly and then paused afterwards. Lindel waited him to continue his sentence but decided to pipe up.

"This is more likely the problem. We have contacted several of your neighbors and they have been reporting the same problem. It's hard tracking down the exact place where the power is being disrupted at so we are making phone calls to local residents to help us pin-point the problem. We are going to send workers to repair or possibly even replace the transformer. I do apologize for the inconvenience that it has caused you this far. We are going to get this problem solved for you as quick as we can. We may have to shut down the power temporarily any time from two to five tonight depending on how bad the problem is. Again I want to thank you for your patience with us and value you as a customer. We will be out to make the repairs shortly." Lindel said.

"Thank you." The man said quietly and then hung up. Lindel handed the phone back to Admiral as he hung it up.

"Tess's banshee could do it…" Lindel said mocking Admiral.

"Do you have the coordinates?" Herrior asked

"To his house yes, we have to look like construction workers…something like this." Lindel said holding up her hands and pulling them down as her white provocative dress turned into a grey uniform with her name on the front and the name of their logo on the back.

"Everybody look like that…I'm going to contact Dan and get him here." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

Dan answered and started to explain his situation when Herrior almost immediately interrupted him and said, "We need you here now!" In less than a second Dan suddenly appeared before Herrior still holding his hearthstone.

"We found several time stoppers or one that has multiple powers…or some sort of alien invasion. Change your appearance to look like them." Herrior said pointing at the rest of the party. Dan put his hearthstone away and tapped his trinket.

"Lindel open a portal." Herrior said.

Herrior's party arrived in the town and immediately Dan said, "There are time ripples all over this place…what is going on…" he said as his voice trailed off.

"You tell us. Those of you not immune to time stopping - break something electrical and pretend to fix it. Mohania and Dan I need you to lead us." Herrior said.

"We'll start with this house, it is the most recent." Dan said hurrying up to a house that still had a time ripple floating up into the air. Dan knocked on the door and immediately he heard things breaking, a forced attempt to get the door and then the sound of an elder person falling down on the ground.

Dan kicked open the door and raced through the hallway and found elder man trying to break control of an alien. Dan raised his hand and blasted the green thin man with wife. The alien stopped all activities and struggled backwards. Dan's spikes from his fist weapon soon sailed through the alien's skull, letting out black ooze.

"Clean it up Mohania…" Dan said pulling his hand back as the body instantly was engulfed in flames.

"Sir…is there any others?" Dan went back to check on the man.

"Upstairs…and all over this town, they are holding us hostage…they are taking us every night. Nobody believed us." The man said.

"Herrior go clean the attic…sir we are going to end this now. Come out in the streets where it is safe." Dan said.

"Who are you people?" He asked.

"Us? Why…we were never here." Dan said with a big smile.

"So this is some sort of government cover up then?" The man asked getting to his feet.

"The government is trying to assist but does not have the technology we possess. Please sir go out into your yard." Dan said. The sound of a loud "Clang" sound came from upstairs along with some spraying of fluid.

"I'll get it…the sounds of battle await me…" Mohania said.

"Daddy…the bad men are gone! I'm scared!" A child cried out.

"Go to your child but take him out of the room." Dan said waving him in the direction. The man immediately did as he was told.

Dan walked out and saw all of the time ripples had stopped but all of the little green aliens were looking at him. Dan held out his fist weapons as he energized them with power and called down a bolt of lightning, energizing his body.

"Who are you?" A child asked walking through the aliens and looking at Dan.

"I am the bringer of death. You have tortured these people for too long. I will kill each and every one of you!" Dan yelled pointing at them.

Time stopped.

"Like that is going to stop me!" Dan yelled out and started summoning the power of the skies. It grew darker and lightning bolts simultaneously crashed down on each alien, disintegrating them.

Time resumed.

The little girl fell to the ground as Dan and the healers ran to her. Dan got to her first and casted a healing spell on her. She came to quickly as Dan said, "This is a nurse, she will look after you." Dan said sensing another disturbance.

Time stopped.

"We're not going to play this game of hide and seek!" Dan yelled out. Dan forced time to resume.

Time resumed.

Several explosions occurred and a time ripple emanated in the distance. "Our target is over there!" Dan yelled out and began to pump his legs as hard as he could with his party right behind him.

Several aliens came out of the homes and tried to access Dan's head – their heads exploded immediately.

"Come on…at least give me a chance to kill you!" Dan yelled out at them.

Another explosion came as a flying saucer took flight and hovered. Dan immediately took to the air and flew as fast as he could towards it with his hands in front of him. He burst through one set of windows and through one of the interior doors. Dan then summoned his earth elemental and fire elemental and told them to kill anything that looked green. Dan then chased down several aliens, slicing them up as he ran by them. Something happened and caused the ship to tilt suddenly and started to vibrate. This didn't deter Dan from killing as many he could. Another explosion hit the spaceship, only this time it lost its propulsion system and started to fall to the ground. Dan summoned all of the air that he could around him as the UFO crashed hard into the ground. The air cushion kept him safe as the UFO broke into two pieces.

"Got it!" Mohania's voice yelled out.

Dan flew outside and said, "You did know I was in here right?"

"You were? My bad…" Mohania said with a grin and then continued to run towards the fallen UFO. The aliens that did survive were badly injured.

"Lindel – any human survivors in here?" Dan yelled.

"I don't sense any."

"Mohania let's bury this thing!" Dan yelled as a burst of wing propelled him quickly over to Mohania and crashing hard into his body as they tumbled in the road.

"Nice landing…ass." Mohania said.

"Oh you were right there…my bad." Dan said with a smile and picked himself up as Mohania was getting up as well. Dan quickly ran over to Mohania and put his hands over his illusion ears and pressed them up against his skull. Suddenly Mohania felt enormous power flow through him.

"Open the ground and sink that thing!" Dan yelled.

"I can hear you…you are right behind me…" Mohania whispered back. Mohania held his hands out as they began to glow a dark blue. He then ripped the ground open as the UFO fell deep into the ground. Mohania then violently clapped his hands together and a large explosion came with the sound of crunching metal, just briefly though until the ground had sealed itself.

"How deep did they go?" Dan asked pulling his hands away.

"Couple of miles…they aren't coming back." Mohania said with a smile. Dan then quickly turned around and said, "Quinely take to the skies and make sure nobody is trying to escape." Quinely morphed into a bird and quickly took to the skies.

"Three to the right, one to the left and about a dozen in front of us." Quinely yelled down.

"Herrior – right, Veliline left. Quinely take the ones in front of!" Dan yelled out as he felt the full intensity of his adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"What about the rest of us?" Mohania asked.

"Stand there until you look pretty…" Dan said yelling over his shoulder as he ran in the direction Quinely was flying.

"Stand here and look pretty, how is that going to help…wait a second, you're an ass!" Mohania yelled out as he began to run after him. Mohania's body caught fire and soon paced Dan.

"Later sucker…" Mohania said laughing. Dan then summoned a burst of air and propelled him into the air and flew ahead of him.

"Cheater!" Mohania yelled out.

Quinely was the first to engage them. She flew down and slammed into the ground in her bear form. It knocked down all of the aliens as Quinely started thrashing around her as fast as she could. The alien's bodies were bleeding profusely as she continued her attacks. Dan then landed hard with his fist weapons aiming dead center on one of their large heads. The head exploded as Dan rose up to look around for more. Mohania quickly ran into him and knocked him over.

"Oops…sorry" Mohania said smiling and began to channel fire from the sky to burn up the corpses.

"Ouch…" Dan said lying face down on the floor. He picked himself up and helped burning up the bodies. Once they were done, Dan pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Veliline and Herrior.

"Targets destroyed?" Dan asked.

"Mine apparently had a low tolerance to ice…it's in dozens of shattered little pieces." Veliline said adjusting her hair.

"Mine are dead. They are still visible though, I don't have the power to destroy their bodies." Herrior said.

"I'm on it." Strings said overhearing the conversation from a ways back and quickly altered his direction.

"Not if I get there first!" Mohania said eagerly. Dan reached up and grabbed his invisible cloak.

"I'll make it there before him…they are all going to burn! Wait a second something is wrong…" Mohania said looking down at the ground.

"Give Strings a chance to destroy their bodies…you have already done enough." Dan said.

"But…but…it's not fair!" Mohania said pouting like a child. Quinely burst into laughter as she morphed back into a human.

The streets had begun to slowly fill with people. They looked at the people in utility working outfits and stared at them in awe.

"Uh…nothing to see here…just some swamp gas reflecting off from Mars and…uh…solar flares…help me out here Mohania." Dan said bumping Mohania with his elbow.

"He's an ass." Mohania said aloud pointing at Dan.

"Remind me not to speak at my funeral…" Dan said.

"Are they…gone?" One man asked with a loaded shotgun in his hands.

"We destroyed their ship and believe we have killed all of them yes. We are going to take another sweep of the city to make sure it is clean." Dan explained.

"Who are you people?"

"Who cares – they killed those damn aliens! They can be hardened criminals for all I care! I'm going to shake the hand of these men and woman that killed them…" the man yelled at his neighbor and sat down the shotgun. He walked into the streets as Dan quickly took off his fist weapon and put it in his pouch.

"Son…you have no idea what we – all of this, this entire town has been through. I wish I could have seen everything…no I wish I could have put two slugs in their damn heads! I have no idea who you are and you probably aren't going to tell me…but you have my eternal thanks. What happened to their ship?" The man asked shaking Dan's hand.

"It went boom!" Mohania said smiling.

"We destroyed it and then buried it deep in the earth. There are no survivors. According to our intelligence it was only in this town. Let me ask you a question…no I will wait until everybody is around." Dan said.

"The lad wants to talk to all of us!" The man said and waved the people out from their houses. The people being tortured all of this time complied and began gathering around Dan and his party. Veliline, Herrior and Strings stayed back and listened.

"I'm going to asked all of you a question, it may seem silly but I want an honest answer. Are any of you here able to stop time?" Dan asked.

"I am." A boy immediately said stepping forward. He was only about six years old.

"Show me." Dan said.

Time stopped.

Dan smiled at the lad and then snapped his fingers.

Time resumed.

"My son is just joking; he can't stop time…what kind of question is that?" His mother asked walking up to him and putting her hands around his chest.

Dan then looked around and asked the same question. Nobody else said anything. They knew Dan was serious about the question.

"Ma'am, I need to speak to your child. Can we go to your home?" Dan asked.

"Why, what is wrong with my son?" The mother asked looking around at everybody staring at her.

"Nothing…absolutely nothing. Please, everybody return to your homes now." Dan said.

"Is that boy the reason why the aliens came?" A voice piped up.

"No – not at all, the aliens target homes, towns, and people at random. Go on and go home, everything is fine now." Dan said.

"We want answers! We were tortured by those beings for years and suddenly you want us to forget about it?" Another voice said.

"Absolutely not!" Dan yelled out raising his voice above everybody else's. "I want you to remember what is most important in your life, your new lives, your family, your children, your schools, your libraries. Do not forget this day…mark this day down on your calendars and make it the town's day of Independence Day. The day that the aliens who controlled and harassed you were killed! Celebrate this day with your neighbors, open your homes to each other and get to know each other because all of you have something in common now. Others may not believe you, but you will all know the day that the aliens were defeated. Bring out some meat and fire up the barbeques and make some cakes…feed and bond with each other. Draw closer as a community."

Silence came over the crowd. "This is definitely different from the Men in Black movie…no neuralizer to erase our memories?" A teenage asked.

Dan laughed and said, "No…no neuralizer. Remember what happened today – nobody may believe you, and it may cause you to be mocked – but you will know the truth of what happened today. I'm serious…this is a time for a celebration! Start preparing dishes and have a town picnic. Bring out some music and have dancing."

"You heard the lad…I've got some venison, probably enough to feed all of you! Let's celebrate!" The man that shook Dan's hand said. They all started talking and decided to do just that.

"Ma'am, can I please talk to you and your son in private?" Dan asked quietly. The mom, nearly in tears nodded.

"Lindel – link all of our minds up." Dan said in his head following the lady. Several seconds later Lindel's voice came back and said, "Ok".

"I'm going to speak with this child, he is a time stopper. He is probably the reason the aliens came down here. We need some scouts in this area and to watch this boy." Dan said in his mind.

"Didn't you just say…?"

"I lied. Why else would the aliens attack a small town like this? There is nothing here for them except for the source of his power. Unless any of you can think of another reason…" Dan said quickly back in his mind.

"What do you want us to do?" Herrior's voice came in Dan's head.

"The battle is over. I am going to speak with him and then we need to get out of here." Dan said.

"Everybody come to where I am, Dan we will meet you back at the station." Herrior said.

"Alright" Dan replied and Lindel severed the mental link.

Dan entered the house taking off his other fist weapon and sticking it in his belt, completely unseen by anybody. The mom was still nervous and didn't know what to say.

"My name is Dan. Can we go somewhere so we can sit down and talk?" Dan asked.

"Yes, I am Linda – listen I am a single mother trying to raise my child the best that I can and for some reason I feel like he's done something wrong…" Linda said.

"He has done nothing wrong. He is a great boy. Let's go sit down and talk about some things." Dan said.

"Is he in trouble?" Linda asked.

"No. He is not in trouble, you are not in trouble – nobody is in trouble, everything is fine." Dan said in a low calm voice.

"Did I make the aliens come?" The boy asked.

"In a certain way, yes – I am not going to lie to you. You know what you did though?" Dan asked.

"I stopped time?" The boy asked.

"Yes, you stopped time." Dan said.

"Is that bad?" The boy asked.

"No it isn't. It is a power that some people have. I have the same power and in a world far away from this one, we have time stoppers just like you – of all ages though. When you stop time though it gives off sort of a flag, sometimes other people can see this flag and bad people come to try to find you." Dan said.

"Just…what are you talking about? I told you before my son cannot stop time!" Linda said.

"Momma…yes I can" said the boy.

Time stopped.

"Let's walk over on the couch" the boy suggested.

"Alright, do you feel tired when you stop time?" Dan asked.

"Yes…it's like running for a very long time." The boy said walking over and sitting down on the couch.

"How long can you stop time for?" Dan asked.

"About ten seconds I think." The boy said.

Time resumed.

The frustrated mom let out a scream and covered her mouth. "What…how…what just happened?"

"I stopped time and then we moved over to the couch. Come sit with us mommy." The boy said.

"I don't believe it…I…is my boy ok? Am I ok? What is wrong with my son?" Linda asked quickly.

"Nothing, nothing at all. He is special and for some reason has the same abilities that I have. Everything is ok ma'am, I will explain as much as I can – please." Dan said waving his hand over to her child.

Linda cautiously walked over and then sat down next to her son. She looked completely confused. "It's ok mommy. I don't do it to hurt people, but it makes me tired."

"Just what is going on?" Linda said quickly and frantically.

"Some things you are going to have to accept on faith. My name is Dan and I am a time stopper as well. I teach people like your son how to control their abilities…"

"Are you one of them? An alien?" Linda asked quickly.

"No…no not at all. I was born and raised by my mother and father. My father died so it is only my mother – but my friends are my family. My friends you might have seen during the battle. They found me and had a talk with me just the same as I found him and I'm having a talk with him. There is nothing wrong; he is a perfectly fine normal little boy. I am just as human as you are. People are born with the talent for stopping time and we don't know why, but every time they use their talent it can sometimes attract bad guys – in this case the aliens." Dan said.

"I won't ever do it again, I promise." The boy said.

"No no…I don't want you to think that. It is a great defense mechanism in case you are in danger. I have used it to save many people from getting hurt. But I want you to remember that there are bad people in this world that look for people with your talent. We chase after the bad guys to protect people like you." Dan said.

"So this is for real…you aren't just making this up to give us more trouble?" Linda asked.

"I can demonstrate for you his ability again if you want?" Dan asked.

"No…please don't. My heart is still pounding from watching him suddenly leave my side and then appear on the couch. So what do we do?" Linda asked.

"I am a teacher and the most powerful time stopper where I come from…"

"And just where is that?" Linda asked.

"It's a kingdom called Tranquil, but before I lose you though in some make-believe story I want you to see this." Dan said and pulled out his fist weapon from his side and set it on the table. The illusion from his disguise eventually showed the weapon as it sat dormant on the table.

"Oh…my…Lord…" Linda said looking at it.

"You can pick it up and look at it. Try it on; it may help you understand more about where I come from instead of my just telling a story." Dan said.

Linda reached out and touched it. Then she rubbed her hand on the fur and said, "I've never seen this before…what is it?"

"It's a fist weapon…kind of a vague term I suppose, but it gives me the strength I need to fight our enemies. Got ahead and put it on." Dan said. Linda picked it up and slid her hand in. Instantly the fist weapon shrunk to fit her hand and she felt a burst of power rush through her body. She shrieked at first and then looked at it in awe.

"Many of my friends fight with weapons that give them powers like it just gave you. It is not made of this world…in fact Tranquil doesn't even know I have it yet to be honest. I was summoned by my leader to investigate your little town once we got word of all of the commotion that was happening. We have fought these aliens, demons, other humans, and different races to keep people safe – especially people like your son. Can I have it back now please?" Dan asked holding out his hand.

"Does it just slide off…oops…" Linda said she first tried to push it off and then it went flying off her hand and back onto the table.

"It's ok, it won't break." Dan said with a smile picking it up and putting it back at his side. Linda watched as it disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Linda asked.

"I am wearing a trinket that disguises me in different forms. If you wish I will show you what I look like, but right now I am wearing my armor and the trinket is designed to hide my armor and weapons to not frighten people and other races away." Dan said.

"Is it that dragon pin?" Linda asked.

"It is. It was given to us by a Queen in a different world for a reward in helping us defeat one of her enemies." Dan said. He held his hands to his head and lifted off an imaginary object before it looked like a helmet and he set it beside him on the couch. Dan then touched the trinket and revealed his armor.

"Cool!" The boy said. His mother blinked in amazement but wasn't scared anymore.

"I want you to know that I am telling you the truth. What is your name son?" Dan asked.

"Brad…can I take you to school for show and tell?" Brad asked.

Dan smiled and said, "No you can't. Linda should I change back into my other disguise, would that be easier for you?"

"No…this is all so…overwhelming. So what does my son need to do?" Linda asked.

"We are in the process right now of sending out our scouts to this area to make sure he is ok. That is all we are doing right now. They will watch over him and you to make sure you are safe. If you want, I can take him to my Kingdom and have him meet other people with special talents just like he has. I can teach him how to use them without getting as tired and without giving off a 'time ripple' is what we call it. That is entirely up to you though. I need to leave in a couple of minutes so my time here is short. There are other people I need to help out – just like the people I helped in your town." Dan said.

"Wait…so how many other people are there that can stop time?" Linda asked.

"Twenty that we know of…twenty one including your son." Dan said.

"So…I mean…I don't even know what to think right now…" Linda said.

"It is a little overwhelming…trust me I know. I went through the same thing when people found out that I could stop time. My advice is for you to think about it and what is best for your family. Brad – I don't want you to stop time unless it is an emergency, ok? I don't want you to do anything bad when you stop time, is that understood? No sneaking out of the house, no hiding the food you don't want to eat, no sneaking candy…only stop time in an actual emergency. Do you understand?" Dan said looking very serious at Brad.

"Yes I understand…" Brad said looking guilty all of a sudden and looking at his feet.

"Can you promise me that? From now on you won't do anything bad when you stop time?" Dan asked.

"I promise I won't do anything bad." Brad said.

"Ok and I want you to keep that promise and not keep any secrets from your mother. She loves you very much and is very worried about you." Dan said.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you mom." Brad said looking up as his mother. His mother smiled and embraced him.

"So that's it. If you want I can teach him how to control his powers better where I come from, or you can simply just live out your life knowing this secret. I am going to give you some time to think about it. If you decide to, I can take Brad once a week or so, when he is not in school, and teach him how to use his powers properly and for good. Leave a note on top of your mailbox with the word 'Yes' if you do. Our scouts will see it and send me the message." Dan said.

"What are these 'scouts' of yours…are they like guards? Can we see them? Are they in our house right now?" Linda asked.

"No not at all. They are hidden from sight, they will not come in your house unless there is a threat, and you will not even know that they are there. All they will simply do is monitor for other bad people and aliens. If they detect something, they will call one of our party's, might not be mine, to come attack the bad guys. They are very well trained and I would not be leaving if I didn't think they couldn't handle the job." Dan said.

"Do I…I don't know…feed them?" Linda asked.

"No they bring their own food and the scouts rotate, just like here on Earth there is a first, second and third shift. There is nothing you need to do. Time is escaping from me though and I really must be leaving." Dan said and suddenly there was a knock on the door. Dan quickly put his helmet back on and tapped his trinket. Linda was again surprised when Dan transformed back into what he looked like before as he got up and went to answer the door.

"Lad…we have all talked it over. Nobody is going to say what happened today. It is the least we can do for you. We have a general consensus that you and the others are from…not around here…and we don't want to cause you any trouble. Can I ask that you come back if they come back though?" The same man with the shotgun said that shook Dan's hand.

"We already have taken measures to do just that. If it helps you out any…we've kill thousands of them already. We have yet to see them strike twice in the same spot, but I do appreciate you not saying anything." Dan said. The man outstretched his hand and Dan shook it again.

"Thank you again." The man said.

"Can you do me a favor and watch over Linda and Brad? She is a single mother and is having a hard time…" Dan said but was interrupted by the man.

"Enough said she will be taken care of. She does have a special little boy." The man said.

"Every child is special. I have to go use the restroom right now if you would excuse me. Linda, Brad…take care." Dan said and walked up the stairs and his footsteps could be heard walking towards the bathroom and then suddenly they stopped.

"Think he lost his way?" The man asked.

"No…I think he went home." Linda said.

Dan reappeared next to Herrior who was visibly upset. Dan decided just to sit back and listen.

"Those people were in mortal danger! Those people could have died! Those people were after one time stopper and if they could have found him it could have devastating consequences for everybody in this world, and other worlds! I am so pissed off right now I could just punch something!" Herrior screamed. Mohania picked up Dan and put him in front of himself.

"Sorry, we didn't know…" George said.

"You have this technology…you have all of these gizmos behind me…you have all of this fancy stuff that I don't have a clue how it works and you just sit by and watch people suffer and get tortured and you don't do anything about it? How would you like it if we never came back to this world and just watched from a distance as you and your loved ones suffered? How is that any different from what you are doing now? We could pull all of our scouts and parties's out of this world and leave you to your own demise! I can't believe this!" Herrior said getting angrier. George knew enough to stay quiet.

"My love…if they sent in their soldiers, they would have fallen victim to the stopping of time as well. They would have been ineffective." Skyka said.

Herrior paced back and forth angrily and letting out heavy snorts of air. "How long have you known? How long have you watched them suffer? What kind of information did you gather while watching this? How can you go home at night knowing that people are suffering, you know full well about it, and then simply make love to your wife, kiss your kids and fall asleep – have you no conscious?"

Strings started to play a song on his lute. Within seconds Herrior started to calm down. He finally let out a sigh and said, "Just…let us know if anybody else is being attacked, ok? Is that too much to ask? We have located one time stopper out of the mission and killed many aliens so I feel satisfied about that…but…how long? I looked in their eyes…I felt their emotions…they were suffering and didn't know what to do. Do you know what that is like? To constantly suffer for no reason? To have your friends and family in danger and not have the ability to do anything about it? That's what these people were feeling. We freed them today so it is a good day for us, and hopefully you learned a lesson." Herrior said.

"I have…I am sorry Herrior." George said.

"For some reason sorry isn't making me feel better…what else are you hiding inside of this little screen that we need to know about?" Herrior asked pointing to the monitor. George ran over and typed in several commands. The map of the United States popped up and he started replaying some screens.

"There are faint signals, but it looks like most of the activity has dwindled down." George said.

"They are cowards! They fight without honor! They enslave people for their amusement and torture them for no reason!" Herrior started to get angry again. Skyka moved over and held Herrior's hands and said, "Relax…take a deep breath…the battle is over. Dan is back, let's talk to him."

Herrior didn't even realize it. He looked over and saw Dan being restrained by Mohania as Dan let out a smile and a small wave.

"What of the time stopper?" Herrior asked.

"I had a talk with him and his mother. We need to send scouts in that area to watch over him. He promised not to use his powers again unless it was an emergency. I extended the offer to take him to Tranquil so I could train him. His mother was very distraught. So I told them to leave a message if she is willing to let him go." Dan said.

"Mohania let Dan go." Herrior said.

"I was just finding a target for you to hit." Mohania said in a cheery tone as he released him.

"I will do just that. Are you confident in what you told them?" Herrior asked.

"Yes Herrior, they understood everything." Dan said. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and opened a portal to an ambassador and ordered a scout to their previous location and explained everything. He shut the portal and put the hearthstone back in his pocket.

"Lindel get us out of here…I need to be somewhere else right now." Herrior said. Lindel created a portal and started funneling power into it. Herrior saw that it was to Pandaria and shrugged as he stepped through with the rest of them behind him. The portal closed leaving George and Admiral, as well as everybody else in the room looking as if they didn't know what to do next.

"Rule number one…don't piss off Herrior. Rule number two…refer to rule number one." Admiral said.

"You know he's right…we sit back and monitor and retrieve information but we don't do anything about it. New orders people, I want continuous monitoring and I want to be notified of anything unusual. Drop bugs all over our land if you have to…I don't want a repeat of what happened today…now if you'll excuse me I need to go use the restroom again." George said running down a hallway.

"You should probably get that checked out by a doctor…" Admiral said calling after him.

"Herrior – it is great to see you." Chen said. Jessica let out a whistle as all of the sky serpents all woke up and flew over to her.

"Wow…what kind of food are you feeding them?" Herrior asked.

"They are still growing…aren't you my babies? You are all going to grow up to be big and strong huh?" Jessica asked playfully tickling them as they all fought for attention from her and Dan.

"We tried to feed them milk and fish, but they would not eat for us." Chen said.

"Jessica – they need to be able to eat on their own without you here." Herrior said firmly.

Jessica sighed and said, "I know…"

"The best way to do that is only visit occasionally, this land is not ours and these sky serpents are not ours. They belong to the people of Pandaria. They will need them to transport their people from place to place." Herrior said again firmly.

Jessica sighed again.

"Come on…let's go teach them to fish." Dan said grabbing Jessica and a large blast of air propelled them high into the air. All of the sky serpents followed. They flew over to the river and Dan lowered them down. The sky serpents watched intently.

"Cast your levitate spell and wait here." Dan said. As soon as Jessica did, Dan flew forward in the river and splashed down in it. The river was overflowing with fish so he grabbed one and put it in his mouth and flew back out of the river. The sky serpents saw Dan with the fish and eagerly flew over to get it from him. Dan took the fish out of his mouth and said, "No!" in a firm tone. The sky serpents stopped and flew back. Dan dropped the fish back in the river and then dove back down under the water and grabbed another fish and quickly put it in his mouth and flew up. The sky serpents flew over to him and watched him with the fish flapping in his mouth. Dan then took a bite out of it and tossed it back in the water. He chewed up the chunk of fish, nearly gagging himself and swallowed it. Once again Dan flew back into the water and grabbed another fish and came back out. One of the sky serpents seemed to catch on as it hovered above the water and then quickly put its head under the water and grabbed a fish. It then lifted its head up and chewed it up before swallowing it. Dan spat out the fish and said, "Good job!" enthusiastically and flew over and hugged it. The sky serpent was excited about the attention and tried to do it again. The other sky serpents learned by example and dove into the water to bring something up. An assortment of leaves, branches, turtles, and rocks were brought up and each of them tasted it before spitting out the foliage. Some of the leaves though the sky serpents ate.

After an hour of practicing diving for fish, Dan flew up in the air and whistled. All of the sky serpents looked at Dan as he flew away. The sky serpents swooshed their tail hard to catch up. Dan led them over to the oceans, far away from the beach where the Slitherscales were and then dove down in the water there; the rest of the sky serpents dove down after him with most of them coming back up with a sea creature of some sort.

"Good job! That is great!" Dan said enthusiastically and clapped with a big smile. The sky serpents seemed pleased and dove in and out of the water catching an assortment of different fish, one of them bringing up an eel looking creature that it bit in half. The other sky serpents swooped down to grab the rest of the eel and ate it.

Dan then flew up high again and whistled once more. The sky serpents flew up to him. Dan choose a yellow sky serpent closest to him and flew over to it. He stroke his hair and slowly put his leg over it. The sky serpent looked confused and then Dan grabbed the back of its hair and pointed down. The sky serpent flew down as the others followed. Dan then pulled back and the sky serpent flew up, with the others following. He then turned to the left and made a big circle and then flew back to the house with Dan riding one. The sky serpent seemed to instinctively know the commands without Dan teaching him as Dan guided him down next to Herrior. Dan jumped off and motioned for Chen to come over. Dan held the sky serpent's face and looked right at him and said, "You are going to carry Chen now." Dan then looked at Chen and waved him over right next to him.

"This is such an honor…I have only heard about sky serpents carrying Pandarens before in books." Chen said.

Dan ignored Chen and turned the sky serpent's face to Chen and said "This is Chen, he is a friend. I want you to take him for a ride." The sky serpent looked back at Dan and licked his face.

"No, I want you to take Chen for a ride." Dan said putting his hand gently on top of the sky serpent's head and lowering it down.

"Easy boy…I'm right here. Go ahead Chen and get on." Dan said. Chen moved into position and jumped eagerly on. This startled the sky serpent and Dan quickly said, "No!" still looking at it. The sky serpent looked behind him to see Chen on his back. It then looked in front of Dan wondering what to do. Dan then walked over to another sky serpent and lowered its head. Dan walked over to it and hopped on. Dan then grabbed its fur and pulled back on it as the sky serpents flew into the sky.

"Whoa!" Chen screamed as he held on tight. Dan then leaned forward and pushed its fur straight and the sky serpent picked up speed with Chen right behind him.

"Turn right…pull right on its fur!" Dan yelled out. Dan did and instantly the sky serpent made a right turn. Chen did the same and the sky serpent playfully turned right.

"Amazing! This is absolutely amazing!" Chen screamed in delight. They did a couple of circles and then landed back in the same spot. The sky serpents that Dan and Chen were riding on lowered themselves to the ground so they could get off. Dan and Jessica then ran up to the sky serpents and hugged them and congratulated them. The other sky serpents wanted the same attention to and started nudging other people to get on their backs.

"I don't fly…" Jacklyn said firmly at one sky serpent, but it kept nudging her.

"Just a short trip Jacklyn…" Dan said with a smile, "We need to teach them to carry the Pandaren people."

"So have the Pandaren people ride them." Jacklyn said pointing in their direction. She then retracted her arm as she saw each Pandaren get on a sky serpent and take to the air. The sky serpent was still nudging her.

"Fine…" Jacklyn said and lowered its head gently. The sky serpent flew low to the ground as Jacklyn got on. It then raced skyward to join up with the rest of the sky serpents as they frolicked and played.

"I don't like this…" Jacklyn said holding tightly and staring at the ground. Jacklyn pushed down on her sky serpent and it flew down low enough for Jacklyn to jump off. The sky serpent looked at her funny not knowing what to do.

"Go fish…" Jacklyn said pointing at the river. The sky serpent looked and then flew away to dive for fish.

"We must fly to the Dawn's Blossom and tell them of this! This will change everything!" Chen said excitedly.

"Lead the way!" Dan yelled back cheerfully. Chen's sky serpent sped off and Dan followed. The rest of the Pandaren and Herrior's party, along with the rest of the sky serpents that didn't have riders followed.

It was only a minute or so until they flew over the monastery and landed.

"Well I'll be…the sky serpents ride once again…" an elder said walking out in amazement.

Dan jumped off from his and gently took it by its fur and led it over to the elder. "They are yours; we just merely helped them to learn. They know how to find food and how to fly with a rider on. I think this will help your people a lot."

"It will indeed…it will indeed. This is amazing." The elder said still amazed.

"Do you want to try?" Dan asked.

"Oh no…I am much too old, I couldn't." The elder said. Dan then brought the sky serpent closer to him as it started to lick him and kiss him.

"Alright…maybe one flight…" the elder said with a smile. The sky serpent almost knew what it had to do this time and lowered itself to the ground. Dan helped the elder onto the sky serpent and told him to hang onto his fur tightly. He did and then Dan told him to pull back on the sky serpent. The elder did and the sky serpent flew straight up into the air. The elder screamed in delight as everybody came out of their houses to behold the sight. The rest of the sky serpents flew over to a Pandaren and nudged them and then lowered their bodies to the ground. They got on and did what the elder did. Soon the whole town was cheering and they were thrilled to have the sky serpents back in their lives.

The elder landed his sky serpent and gently got off the magnificent creature.

"They still have milk to drink back at the home and they will probably go back there to poop and to sleep." Jessica said sadly.

"They are in good hands young fighter. We will take good care of them." Another elder said taking her hands into his. "You have been a great mother to them and have raised them properly. You and your friends are always welcome back here and you will always be their mother."

Jessica smiled and looked up.

"Don't let grief overtake you. You are not abandoning them, you are setting them free. Call them to you." The elder said. Jessica whistled and all of the sky serpents stopped what they were doing and looked down at her. They then flew down to her and started licking her and kissing her. Jessica started to laugh as tears came down her eyes.

"I have to go now…but I will be back, I promise. You take good care of the Pandaren people ok?" Jessica said looking at them and petting them.

"They have permanently imprinted you as their mother…they will always do as you say." The elder said.

"Come on Jessica, let's go home." Herrior said.

"Ok, go have fun my little babies…go fly in the sky." Jessica said and held her hands up. They all flew away and started doing circles.

"Let's go in a building so they don't see us disappear. Chen, here is a hearthstone. If you need us just think about us and rub it. It will only work once a day. We will be back to help return these lands to your people, we will not abandon new friends – but we have to go back to our world." Herrior said.

"Take these with you." An elder said and motioned for them to follow. The elder pulled back a curtain and showed many bars of ghost iron and other metals they haven't seen before. "You're people will benefit from these, it is the least we can do."

"I thank you for the gifts." Herrior said smiling and bowing to him as he bowed back. "Lindel open a portal and Jessica and Skyka start levitating them through."

As they did the elder spoke softly to Herrior, "Our battle is not over yet – I do hope you come back to help our people."

"You have my word on it, but for now grow food for your people and take care of them. Prepare weapons for combat and leather for your monks. We will be back to fight beside you, I promise. Give us a couple of days – but I promise you that we will not abandon your people." Herrior said. The elder nodded and said, "I will hold you to that promise."

"I do not break promises." Herrior said with a smile. He walked into the portal last and the portal vanished.


	36. Juggling Life

Juggling Life

Several days passed and Alan contacted Herrior one Saturday morning.

"Herrior – what do we do with Ben? It's been awhile and we've been starting to grown an attachment to him." Alan said.

Herrior forgot about him and his eyes gave it away. He realized this and said, "Sorry – had a lot of things going on. He is not of age to make the decision on his own. We should go to Elona and speak with the people there. Do you and Sammy want to come along?"

"Is there going to be fighting?" Alan asked.

"There's always that possibility. Our ambassadors and scouts are there and we haven't heard of any though. Let me gather my party and we'll be to your house in a couple of minutes." Herrior said.

"Can you please knock on the door and not suddenly appear next to us?" Alan asked.

"Who did that?" Herrior replied.

"Dan…it was an emergency but I swear my heart stopped beating for a good ten seconds…" Alan said still upset about it.

"I will speak with him concerning that…" Herrior said.

"Herrior, I helped him save a world from destroying everybody on that world. It was an emergency and there was no time...it's just something we're not used to yet, my wife and I." Alan said.

Herrior nodded and said his goodbyes. He then summoned his party on his hearthstone to meet him at the large fountain at the front gates. One by one they arrived with new armor and improved weapons. Dan no longer had his fist weapons; he had small maces for each hand instead. Herrior lifted his eyebrow at this but decided not to ask.

"Paul finally died. His will to live finally left…he left the world screaming in pain though." Mohania said breaking the silence.

"Fantastic – I had oatmeal for breakfast." Crystal said back sarcastically.

"Who cares…?" Mohania asked.

"Exactly!" Crystal said back.

"Lindel can you open a portal to Alan's house? We need to figure out what we are going to do with Ben. Dan you will be judging him from a time stopper point of view, Lindel I want you to monitor his thoughts and the rest of you look bored so you can come along if you want." Herrior said.

"Eh – got nothing better to do…besides maybe we can make some new friends in Elona." Skyka said flaunting her new robe at Herrior who wasn't paying attention.

"Also if at all possible in the future, and Lindel this applies to you as well, Dan – don't scare Alan or Sammy if you can help it. I know it would make me nervous if you suddenly appeared in front of me and said, 'I need you for an important mission'." Herrior said.

"I did apologize to him." Dan said in his defense.

"But you do see his point." Herrior said. Dan nodded. He wasn't going to argue with Herrior.

As Lindel was opening the portal, Skyka gave up on trying impressing Herrior and asked, "So what happens if the boy wants to stay with Sammy and Alan but the people of Elona want him back?"

"His parents are dead so we will have to find the next of kin for the boy. We usually don't deal with custody of little ones." Herrior said walking through the portal.

"We might have to in this case." Skyka said walking through the portal behind him.

"Hi guys!" Ben said greeting everybody with a smile as everybody else walked through the portal as he closed it.

"Hi Ben, we've come to talk to you actually – how are you?" Dan asked taking the lead.

"Great! Sammy and Alan are great parents! They gave me a lot of toys, my own room, are making sure nothing bad happens to me. I love it here! Do you want to see my room?" Ben asked unfazed by the portal of the different armor.

"Sure, what did you get?" Dan said excitedly. Ben took Dan's hand and hurried him to the house.

"He's not going to want to leave this world…" Skyka said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I got that impression as well. Let's see how things unfold." Herrior said walking up to Alan's house.

Ben flung open the door and said, "Hi mom! I'm going to show Dan my room!"

"Wipe your feet – I don't want dirt in the house…" Sammy said sounding like a typical mom. Ben ran back and took off his shoes and said Dan had to do the same. Dan smiled as he took off his armor boots and set them next to his. Then the two of them ran upstairs. Herrior arrived shortly afterwards.

"Do we have to take off our boots also?" Herrior looked down at Dan's boots reflecting the light and causing a faint glow around them.

Sammy laughed and said, "No…just as long as you don't track in dirt. Come on in, Alan is on the phone in the living room. Child services caught wind that we got a young boy living with us, but Alan was able to sort out most of it."

"Do you love him?" Herrior asked.

"Of course I do, he's my husband? What kind of silly question is that?" Sammy asked looking quickly at Herrior and then disappeared into the living room.

"If that wasn't obvious…they love the boy." Skyka said. Herrior nodded.

"My company has arrived; I will have to settle this issue with you at a later time. I will contact you tomorrow, goodbye." Alan said and hung up the phone. He then hugged his wife and looked at the group. The smiled back and then studied the home. It went from nice, extravagant things, to things a house full of toys for a ten year old boy. Herrior let a sigh as he smiled.

"He's been a joy in our life. While Alan is away, and I'm not called to do emergencies, Ben and I play games together. I never knew what having a child was like – and he is special. His mind is full of wonder and curiosity. I've been trying to teach him some things that a school would teach him on the internet and he doesn't always catch on, but he does try his hardest. He has been a real blessing in our lives." Sammy said. She then paused for a moment, and hugging Alan she said, "He's not…staying is he?"

Herrior let out a sigh and said, "We know his parents are dead. His home world is Elona, not Earth. There might be kin that would want to take care of the boy. Usually we don't encounter a problem like this…"

"I don't want to lose him." Sammy said desperately looking away. She was close to tears but wouldn't let them come.

"You are Alan are our friends. Friends give their lives for each other. We must speak with the boy in private, which I believe Dan is doing right now." Herrior said.

"They are. Ben doesn't want to go back." Lindel piped right up.

"If we do bring him back, what's to stop him from coming right back here?" Skyka asked.

"Skyka's right, if he has the power to portal himself and to stop time – he could leave Elona at any time, even under restraint, and come back here. Their poor excuse for a queen had the power to trace portals…they might come looking for him." Lindel said.

"The boy is not theirs and is not from this world. The boy contains powers stronger than that of anybody on the world of Elona. They might wage war over him." Jacklyn said putting in her opinion.

"I want answers, not opinions. I know all of this and so do the rest of you. This isn't any easier for me than it is for Sammy and Alan to stand here and listen to all of this." Herrior said sounding frustrated. Shortly afterwards Ben came running down the stairs and hugged Alan and Sammy. Both of them bent over and gave him a big hug back. Dan slowly walked down the stairs. He looked at Ben and then looked at Herrior and sighed. Herrior knew what he was thinking and then said, "Ben I need to talk to you. Come over to the floor with me. Can everybody else leave and give us a moment to talk?"

"I don't want to go mommy!" Ben said nearly in tears.

"I know hunny…I know. Herrior is going to talk to you know ok? He is a good friend and is just going to talk to you. Alan and I are going to be outside working on the barn. We'll be right back. You stay here and talk to Herrior ok?" Sammy said letting go of him and standing up.

"Ok" Ben said and then moved over to where Herrior was sitting. Skyka motioned everybody to move out the backdoor quickly.

"So what are we going to talk about?" Ben asked.

"We have to make a decision. You do understand Alan and Sammy are not your parent's right?" Herrior asked figuring this was a good way to start out.

"I know…but I've never had parents like them before. My mother and father that died never understood me like Alan and Sammy…nobody does really; I have what Alan calls asperger's syndrome. I don't know what it means, but they do and they understand what I need. I am different from the other kids, even the kids I grew up with. I wasn't liked, I was picked on and made fun of. The kids here don't do that, and the adults don't either. I don't want to go back to Elona I want to stay here with Alan and Sammy." Ben said.

"It sounds like you have said these words before." Herrior said with a smile. Ben shuffled a little and tried to talk about another subject but Herrior said, "No, we are going to talk about this right now. You do understand you are special right? Dan has spoken to you about stopping time and creating portals?"

"Yes…he said not to." Ben said.

"If we take you to Elona, would you stay there or would you come back here?" Herrior asked.

Ben wiggled some more and looked distant, obviously thinking about something else.

"Ben – would you do what I asked?" Herrior asked.

"I want to stay here." Ben said back. Herrior knew this was the end of the conversation. Herrior then talked to him about other things that he was comfortable with and liked to do. Whatever this "syndrome" disease was could be affecting his mind or it could be he is still young.

As Herrior sat and listened to Ben it become obvious that there was no way he was going to return to his homeland. He pondered whether or not this was going to be a problem. He couldn't exactly tell his people how powerful he was and then tell them they couldn't have him, but perhaps they already knew…perhaps they knew and didn't care.

"Ok Ben I am going to go outside now with the rest of my party. I would like you and Sammy and Alan to stay in the outpost for awhile – until we get back." Herrior said.

"Are there going to be bad people coming?" Ben asked.

"There might be. We are going to go talk to your people and see what they are going to say." Herrior said.

"I don't want to go back I want to stay with Sammy and Alan." Ben said repeating himself.

"I know Ben; I understand your situation and your wishes. Are there any relatives in your home world that might be looking for you though? Any brothers or sisters, uncles, cousins?" Herrior asked. Ben shrugged and looked back down.

"Here is the situation Ben, you have the power to do whatever you want and we understand that. My party and I are going to head back to your world and ask around. If they want you back, and you don't go, there might be a war fought because of that. But we don't want a war and we are going to do what we can to prevent that. So I want you and Sammy and Alan to hide in our outpost until we come back." Herrior said.

"A war?" Ben asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "That's what we want to prevent. I wanted to talk to you first though and find out what you wanted. If this is what you want, what you really really want, then we will see what we can do." Ben nodded but Herrior knew he didn't understand what he was saying. "Alright then, let's go outside."

"Here's Alan and Sammy, just like I said." Herrior said as Ben ran over to them.

"Oops, I forgot to put on my shoes. Dan did you put on your boots?" Ben asked.

"Yes I did." Dan said with a smile. While Ben went back to get his shoes Herrior ordered the workers from Tranquil to be evacuated from working the ground. Lindel opened a portal and they hurried into the portal.

Ben came out and saw what was going on and asked "Where are they going?"

"They are going back to their home for a couple of days to be sure that they are going to be safe." Herrior said.

"Are we going to be safe?" Ben asked.

"Remember what I told you? You and Sammy and Alan are going to stay in the outpost. Go ahead and go there now." Herrior said.

"Go ahead and take him dear, I'll be right there." Alan said.

"Ok Ben, are you ready to go play in the bunker?" Sammy asked.

"Sure! Maybe we can try some of their new toys!" Ben said and went running to the hidden outpost.

"Are we going to have to give him up?" Alan came straight out and asked.

"I don't think so. To be honest I'm not sure what to do at this point. His extended family probably assumes that he is dead and he doesn't seem to care too much about them. In his opinion they are dead to him. We are going to portal jump to a couple of different places and then go visit Elona so they have no way of tracing the portal back to your house." Herrior said.

"Is that the reason for the evacuation?" Alan asked quickly.

"I want to take every precaution I can. You are safe in the outpost; it's secure from being detected. I am going to take my party to Elona and walk among their people for awhile. We will do what we can to have the child stay here with you, but you have to remember he is not from this world." Herrior said.

"Well…neither are you." Alan said and then feeling stupid for what he just said.

Herrior smiled and said, "You don't love us like a child. Lindel make a portal outside of Tranquil in the frozen wastelands. Then take us to Elona." Herrior walked away from Alan as Lindel started to create a portal and once it was full they made their first hop to Tranquil. After the portal closed Lindel opened another one and they went to the land of Elona.

"Welcome strangers…" A female tauren ambassador said greeting Herrior and his party. She was helping till some dirt as others seeded the ground followed by others watering them.

"Hello." Herrior said with a smile.

"What brings you to this world? I didn't hear anything from the King." She asked.

"A child named Ben. He is originally from this world and has found another family he wishes to be with. I've come to find anybody that might be related to the child." Herrior said.

"That child isn't capable of writing his name on paper – let alone possess the ability to live on his own, tell his new family they can keep the child – he is of no use to us!" A man instantly piped up.

"Amun watch your tongue, we have guests and we don't need you starting another fight." The ambassador said quickly. Amun grunted and walked away.

"I bet he would survive a month of constant torture…" Mohania whispered as others reached for their weapons.

"No" Herrior said glancing back over his shoulder at his party. They relaxed themselves as Herrior was approached by another.

"I know of the boy. His parents are dead correct?" The small woman asked. She was only three foot tall.

"Yes, what do you know of him?" Herrior asked.

"His father stole a powerful artifact from one of our temples of the Ritualists. He was passed down the sentence of death, but before it could be carried out the abominations of this world came forth. Before we could get to him his house, along with many others, were annihilated. We thought all of them were killed. The sentence is passed down to his child now for his father's crimes." The woman said.

"You seek vengeance for his offspring because of something his father did?" Herrior asked.

"And your races do not?" The woman asked back.

"There are times that we do, yes – however I have spoken with the boy personally and know of his thoughts. He is kind and full of life. Would you still snuff that out in spite of how he is now?" Herrior asked.

"The law is the law." The woman said.

"What is the price for the boy's freedom?" Herrior asked.

"The return of the artifact unharmed. Our secrets of this world cannot be known to other worlds."

"Have you looked for the artifact?" Herrior asked.

The small woman shook her head and said, "That is not our responsibility. Their family needs to return the artifact."

"Might we search for the artifact?"

"No, you are not their family." The woman said.

"You confuse me. If this artifact is something worth a death sentence to a family's life, why do you go look for it yourselves? Is it not possible that the artifact is in someone else's hands if you have not looked for it?" Herrior asked.

"You do not understand our laws as we do not understand yours." The woman replied.

"We shall go look for this artifact ourselves then. When we find it, we shall keep it for ourselves then." Herrior said.

"I would advise against that."

"Why?"

"Because those grounds are still in the quake of the devastation, the grasses and the animals have not even gone in those areas. Some say the ghosts still dwell there." The woman said.

"Ghosts do not frighten me. Seeking and recovering this artifact in exchange for the child's life is something we would be willing to do." Herrior said.

"His death is still to be carried out…even if you recover the artifact."

"And what of this world? Have you not noticed that the clouds have parted, the grounds no longer tremble, and the foliage of this land seems to be in abundant? Our shaman has stopped the elements from waging war against your people. Should that death sentence still be carried out? Because he is right here and he can commune with your elements and convince them to change their minds." Herrior said.

"We do not take kindly to threats…" The little woman said as she summoned a large metallic faceless robot looking man. Others started coming to her side.

"It is not a threat, it is the law. The elements had anger and were willing to destroy all of your inhabitants when our shaman came and spoke with them. We are not here to start a war; we are here to bargain for the child's life. We have killed your queen that sought to enslave you, we have killed the demon and the abominations it created, we protected your people with our lives and we have quieted the elements. Your people are free now. You are free to sow seeds in the ground. They are free to eat of the animals in the forest and seeds from the ground and fruit from the trees. What would the dead queen have done to you if she succeeded in overtaking your land? What would your sentence be?" Herrior asked.

"Death for certain" The woman said vanishing her robot and waved the others away.

"I respect your secrets that your people keep and have no intentions of knowing any of them. If we guard you against these ghosts, would your people be willing to retrieve this artifact?" Herrior asked.

"No…leave our world and never come back and we will consider the debts paid." The woman said.

"As you wish" Herrior said and looked over at Lindel. She created a portal and when it was fully formed they could see the frozen wastelands.

"Do you have room for another?" The tauren ambassador asked.

"Yes of course." Herrior said smiling at her. Herrior then turned to the small woman and said, "Our debts have been paid…I wish for peace and prosperity for your people." Herrior then turned around and walked into the portal. Lindel closed the portal as all of them stood around in the frozen wastelands.

"Lindel, open a portal for the ambassador to get back into Tranquil." Herrior said.

"Well…time to find something else to do I suppose." The female tauren said with a smile.

"Sorry for this, I did not know it would come to this." Herrior said.

"Such is life. They seemed to be a nice people, but I can use my services elsewhere. Thank you for the portal." The ambassador said stepping through the portal as it vanished behind her.

"Talk about getting spit in your face!" Jessica said angrily looking at Herrior.

"Actually I thought it went rather well. Ben now has a secured a life – free from a law that would have killed him…" Herrior stopped talking as Lindel's voice blasted in his head, "There's a hidden assassin that came through the portal with us!"

Herrior stopped to acknowledge this and then said, "Well let's head into Tranquil and make plans to strengthen our kingdom. Elona's elements will tire of their people in a matter of years and will they will suffer droughts, blistering winds, famine and diseases killed by the foliage will run rampage throughout their cities. Come now…let's all swiftly run back to Tranquil in quiet reflection." When Herrior finished talking he started to run back. Lindel quickly ran to catch up with Herrior as the rest of the party ran to catch up with them. The seasoned fighters knew something was wrong, Trackolania even stealthed himself.

They continued to run in silence until they saw Tranquil's magical shield beaming through the snow. The guards inside saw them coming and knew something was up…Tranquil's party's just don't run up to Tranquil to use the front door. They held up their binoculars and adjusted them to penetrate the snow. They saw Herrior's face, which was staring at them anticipating that they would be looking at him.

"Help" Herrior mouthed the world slowly but clearly.

"We need guards and party's to the front gates!" One of the guards said turning around and screaming it as loud as he could. Within second's dozens of fighters started amassing at the gates. By the time Herrior and his party was less than twenty yards away, they had accumulated thousands of fighters at the front gate.

"Well there is Tranquil. I sure wish we had the ability to go right into Tranquil without walking through all of this snow…maybe someday. I can't wait to feast on an adult goat with the rest of the sluggards in the town. Later I plan on drinking myself to sleep and wake up with a blissful headache…" Herrior said. The same thought came across everybody's minds, "Something is wrong…" – even the new people in the party. This was all completely out of character and Herrior was speaking without emotion.

"I cannot wait to see what mission we have next…what world we are going to invade next? Elona we know is ripe for the taking…perhaps when their people are enslaved they will reveal other worlds to us that we don't know of." Jacklyn replied back.

"Something is definitely wrong…" everybody was now convinced. This was completely opposite of what they do. The mention of the world Elona and their running to Tranquil…something wasn't adding up.

"Hail fighters of Tranquil! Come in and warm your souls – we have many barrels of ale for you!" One of the guards yelled out opening one of the gates as another guard opened the other. The thousands…now almost numbering in the ten thousands…were stealthed by the rogues with their weapons drawn, just waiting for the signal.

"Hail guard of Tranquil! Thank you for letting us into Tranquil. I assume the ale is fresh and hasn't been drunk by any people from the lower city?" Herrior asked.

The guard shook his head and hands, which were itching to get on his double-bladed axe and sink it into whatever was following Herrior. He was first and he was going to get a kill. He hid his anticipation though and kept his cool, "The lower city scum? Hardly…come right in."

Herrior stopped running and walked slowly through the shield – nothing happened. The rest of his party started walking through and still nothing happened.

"Leave the doors open – get some fresh air in this city…come my friend, let us drink!" Herrior said putting an arm around the tauren and leading him further into Tranquil.

Suddenly the shield lit up with enormous power and a cry of pain came out as the assassin was suddenly revealed. The assassin only felt pain for a split second before spells, arrows, bullets and weapons were flung at him. The shield sucked the life out of him as his body was torn to shreds.

"Bastard followed us…there might be others." Herrior yelled out pointing his sword toward the ground.

"What happened?" The guard immediately asked.

"We got thrown out of Elona basically. They said we could keep the child from Elona, but told us never to return again." Herrior explained. He then turned around and said, "All hunters get out there and start shooting off flares! Any engineers capable of finding stealthed fighters get out there! We need some groups to stay in here and guard Tranquil…but Heaven help anybody else that followed us back here! Attack!" Herrior yelled out. The cheering began as battle shouts were heard throughout Tranquil as the party's went outside the gates and started to coordinate their attacks.

"All time stoppers remain inside. Healers stick by your tanks, and tanks watch out for your healers! Light this runway up!" Herrior yelled picking up his sword and pointing it towards the path they ran from.

"Can we go…please…please…I'll be good, I promise!" Mohania pleaded with a big smile.

"Be good for how long?" Herrior asked eyeing him.

"A couple of seconds…"

"Go be bad…" Herrior said. Mohania ignited his body on fire and ran out with the rest of the party's. Herrior then turned to his party who was staring at him. "What are you waiting for…an invitation?" Herrior then drew his shield and ran out. The rest of his party ran out with him with smiles on their faces and weapons in their hands.

Dan ran out and instantly took to the skies. He flew up and commanded the snow to fall heavy on the path they just came from. It instantly formed a couple of images in the snow – which were promptly killed. Dan then flew ahead making the targets with huge piles of snow and ice pelting them. Dan eventually got to the place where they normal portal in from and saw an open portal. Dan then flew up to disguise his approach in the clouds and landed about thirty yards behind the portal. He then placed his hands on the ground and commanded the ground to open up into a deep chasm. Dozens of fighters fell out of the portal and plummeted several hundred feet down into the new hole in the ground to their death. The rest of the army that was to besiege them looked out and saw what was happening and didn't know what to do. Dan saw this and forced a huge blast of air underneath him as he flew around – taking back to the skies. He flew around the portal and started to produce a huge side-ways tornado the started sucking people out of the portal and into the chasm. Many of them were sprayed with bullets and magic spells, which were unnecessary because the fall killed them.

"Close the portal!" Many screamed as they tried to find something to hang onto. The force of the tornado penetrated through the portal and began to sucked everything around it through the portal. Dozens more were sucked through – falling to their death.

Eventually the strength of the tornado was starting to affect their fighters so Dan quickly dissolved it.

"For the record…that was my idea." Mohania said.

"I got an idea!" Dan said turning around, grabbing Mohania and then flying through the portal. Once through, Dan took to the skies carrying Mohania.

"I don't like this idea!" Mohania yelled.

"Shut up and start burning up the fighters!" Dan yelled back. Mohania's arms shot forward as one fire spell after another hit the fighters, catching them on fire.

"I like this idea!" Mohania yelled.

"Open the grounds…swallow them whole!" Dan yelled back. Mohania let out a smile as he reached out one hand commanding the ground to suddenly open up and then slam shut. He let out a giggle and then started doing this as fast as he could. Hundreds were slaughtered within seconds and the numbers continued to rise as Mohania's sinister laughter echoed throughout the land.

Dan flew him on top of a mountain and tossed him off to the side. He then commanded the winds to carry his voice.

"Ouch…" Mohania said sarcastically.

"You will never approach Tranquil again! You were never mention the word Tranquil! You will never again make a portal to Tranquil! Thousands of your people have died within seconds! If you want your people to survive you will heed my warning! Elements…they have broken your trust and my trust…wreck havoc on them!" Dan yelled out. He quickly ran over and picked up Mohania and flew back into the air as quick as he could. The grounds rumbled and then split open. Lava come shooting into the air and harsh winds slammed down on the people.

Dan struggled hard, forcing the wind in front of him to move around him and push him forward. The strength of the elements was definitely upset with the people. Slowly they made it to the portal and once through they immediately let out a sonic boom as they launched themselves into the snowy world and rose up high into the skies.

"Close the portal!" Herrior ordered. Several Chronomancers held their hand up towards the portal and commanded it to slam shut.

"Back to Tranquil! Send out scouts around Tranquil and if there are any lingering fighters, have them alert us immediately!" Herrior commanded as the Chronomancers all made portals back to Tranquil.

Once everybody was back inside Herrior saw Dan and Mohania comparing kills…Mohania of course insisting that he had killed more.

"Good job out there." Herrior said smiling at them.

"Yeah I know. Fly-boy here didn't do much; once again I killed more people than him and probably everybody else…I hate to brag about it, but I am." Mohania said full of himself.

"Don't you have somebody you need to torture?" Herrior asked.

"No…did we take any prisoners?" Mohania asked excitedly.

"Did you?" Herrior asked back.

"With my powers? Please…they'll be lucky to find their bodies thousands of years from now…" Mohania said.

"How about you go look up the word, 'humble'?" Herrior said.

"What does that word mean?" Mohania asked with a smile.

"Yeah…good job Dan." Herrior said smiling at Dan and pulling out his hearthstone. He contacted Lindel and asked her to join up with them. She was lost in the crowd of fighters that were going back to their business. Many shouts of joy and battle cries came from the fighters as they celebrated their victory. Lindel grew her wings and fly into the magical filled skies and did several twirls as she approached them.

"We need to go speak with Alan. Can you open a portal for us?" Herrior asked. Lindel nodded with a smile as he contacted the King to report what happened.

Herrior, Dan, Mohania, and Lindel went through the portal with Herrior still talking to one of the King's ambassadors. Inside the outpost the guards spotted the Tranquil fighters and disarmed their weapons. Alan and Sammy told Ben to stay in the outpost as they quickly opened the door, exposing the outpost and ran towards them.

"I would say Ben's new parents are excited…I think they would be willing to continue to take on the child as their own. If something happens other than what we have spoken of, I will contact you back. Thanks." Herrior said and closed the portal as Alan and Sammy arrived before Herrior and wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.

"Your barn project is looking good…how long until it is done?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"What happened?" Sammy quickly blurted out. Herrior turned to her with a smile and nodded.

"Does that mean…we can keep him?" Sammy asked.

"Indeed" Herrior said. Sammy hugged all of them excitedly and thanked them over and over. Alan took a deep breath to relieve his anxiety and looked down at the ground. He eventually looked up, teary eyed and a trembling smile.

"Let's go for a walk Alan and Sammy, the rest of you go play with Ben." Herrior said.

"Something is wrong isn't there?" Sammy asked quickly.

"Nothing is wrong, but you are entitled to hear what happened. Come." Herrior said walking to the barn. The three of them entered the barn and Herrior had them sit in a circle. Herrior explained about Ben's parents, the price of death on his head, the betrayal from his people, the fight and their world turning on them. Herrior explained slowly with as much detail as he could. When he finished he asked them if they had any questions.

"That's…a lot that you have done for us…Herrior." Alan said still choked up.

"I did nothing, we simply did what we thought was right. Every family is entitled to their own. Now Ben is part of your family and you have to do what is right by him." Herrior said.

"We don't have to worry about those people from Elona coming after us do we?" Alan quickly asked.

"No, they can trace portals – which is why we left Tranquil to go to their world. They have no idea where you are…and overhearing what Dan and Mohania did, I think their civilization is going to crumble. I must say that your efforts to suppress the elements were for nothing, they have risen up against the people and I don't believe they will have mercy on them. Many years from now we will revisit that world and see the destruction and how the world is doing." Herrior said.

"No…no they weren't for nothing. It bought time. This way we know we have Ben free and clear, so to speak. I understand why you did what you did. I have many troubled parents and kids that I speak to and their hearts are always set on their mother or father – no matter how bad the circumstances were. I wasn't looking at it from a psychiatrist point of view; I was looking at it from a father point of view. It makes sense. Ben will want to know all of this." Alan said.

"Indeed" Herrior agreed.

"Are you going to tell him?" Alan asked.

"No…no I believe his parents should, when the time is right that is. What items in this world do we have to do to make him your parents?" Herrior asked.

Alan and Sammy paused for a moment to look at each other and then Alan said, "Most of it we already did. The story we had was he came to our house one day and said his parents were dead. Child custody services were involved and said that they would search for the boy's parents and other relatives, but if none were found we would be able to keep him. They interviewed both of us to see if we would be good parents and we had to submit financial information…but the short story of it is, if his parents or family isn't found in the next month – we can legally adopt him. In the meantime our caseworker said he could stay with us."

Herrior nodded. He took a moment to try to understand as much of what he just said. He then said, "Will there be any problems with this 'caseworker'?"

"No…we are handling her just fine. We don't need you guys to scare the crap out of her…sorry that just sort of came out." Alan said still remembering what Dan did to him.

Herrior smiled and apologized again for the instance he was thinking of. Herrior rose to his feet and said, "Before you go to your child, remember his powers. I would suggest setting aside some time during your week to come to Tranquil and let our time stoppers and Chronomancers teach him to control his abilities. We freed another time stopper from an attack from the people Dan calls 'aliens' and we have a scout looking after him. Dan spoke with him about his abilities and spoke with his mother as well. He was too young though to understand what he was doing."

"You found another time stopper and his was being attacked by aliens? Sounds like a movie on the Syfy channel." Alan said breaking a smile as they walked out of the barn.

"Actually it caused the entire town to be tormented…and apparently George knew about it this whole time. I don't think the aliens knew what force they were after, but they will never know now." Herrior said with a hint of anger still in his voice. Alan picked up on it quickly.

"What could they have done about it? Our government denies their existence, and if they have the power to stop time and attack an entire town undetected, nobody would be able to do anything about it. It would be similar to having a hostage speak for their captors from a long range gun point. The entire town was hostages – had one said something then they would have been tormented some more." Alan said.

Herrior hadn't considered that. The aliens were toying with them and had crippled the town. Even if George ordered soldiers into the region they wouldn't get a straight answer from them, nor would they find anything. Herrior sighed out of regret. He had let his emotions get the best of him.

"I have an apology I have to deliver…and you have a child to be with." Herrior said.

"You made the best decision that you could have at that time with the information that you had. Don't be hard on yourself." Alan said.

"I made a mistake…making mistakes can cost lives and friendships." Herrior said and then yelled out, "We're leaving."

Mohania had created several illusions and Ben was practicing his "Pokemon" skills on them. Mohania banished the illusions immediately when he heard Herrior and the three of them walked to Herrior.

"Aww…can he come back and play later?" Ben asked his parents.

"Yes, but they have a job they have to do right now and we need to go have Thanksgiving dinner." Sammy said running and picking him up in the sky and spinning him around, making Ben laugh.

"Summon the rest of our party – we need to go to the station, I have an apology I need to deliver." Herrior said.

At the station, Admiral had just walked into the command central for the jail cells. He was given a signal that Herrior had just arrived and he told to have them brought here.

"Fellow prisoners…isn't this great? Thanksgiving is here and we are having a great feast for our fellow officers. Some of you had your families bring you food, but it didn't pass through security so we had to dispose of it…but it's the thought that counts isn't it? I'd saw about ninety percent of you are serving several life time sentences…so many Thanksgivings…so many holidays…wasted. It's a shame really…that we don't have the death penalty…yet. We're pushing real hard to get that passed in this state. But that is not why I am addressing you today…you can all rot in your cells for all I care about you. No the reason why I am addressing all of you is to bring you up to speed on what is going on. It is my unfortunate pleasure to tell you that many jails are over packed with the scum of the earth people like you and we are ordered to go through your profiles and release some of you to a less secure facility – oh but that isn't going to happen, we are going to free up some cells and take more in. There are only two ways out of here, death and by favors. Some of you have been working with the dogs and helping with our gardens. You help us, we help you. For example we have one prisoner that has been working sixteen hours a day – every day since we started the program. He was able to go home to his house for a weekend, with an ankle bracelet, but he made love to his wife, spent the holiday with his children and watched the Lions lose in overtime. He earned our respect, so we returned a favor to him. If he keeps up working like he has been, he will be able to visit his family twice a month on the weekend and he is going to get a good review on his parole hearing. That's just one example though…many of your have been not so good and didn't want to help. That's fine…sit in your cells and stare at the concrete. That is what the judge ordered you to do so just sit there and play circle-jerk with your cellmate. The more people that participate in our 'Favor Program' will have more favors returned to them." Admiral stopped to look over as he saw Herrior and his party, dressed as officers in black uniforms come in.

"Is something going on?" Admiral asked.

"No, you may continue." Herrior said as they all walked in.

"Back to business though…freeing up some cells…did you know that we are harboring twelve terrorists in our prison? It's true – we keep them in cell blocks AF13-AF25. Many of you I know personally love our country and even voted in our past election. Many of you have even fought in previous battles to defend our country. They have been charged of terrorism and either helped kill Americans or was the ones to actually plant the explosives. The guards will now vacate the premises." Admiral said as the guards turned to look at the bullet proof one-way window and then jogged to the nearest exit.

"We have a planned schedule power outage…doing something with the power or something…but some cellblocks may open. These electronic gizmo things I don't completely understand. Also let me read off a list of pedophiles in our jails…actually that's going to take up to much time – I'll just illuminate their cells. As the leader of this jail cell I have to say the following phrase, 'During the power outage, all of you are expected to remain in your cells and wait until the power outage is complete' and then I'm supposed to say something like I care about your well-being and have guards posted…blah blah blah…anyways the cameras are going to be affected by this as well. We won't have a clue what is going to happen…kinda exciting isn't it? Of course though the people that have been doing favors for us will be well protected inside of their secure cells, no harm will come to them. You only have ten minutes…and then you had better be in your cell or you will be shot." Admiral said clicking off the intercom and nodded at the two soldiers manning the controls.

"No Mohania…don't even ask…" Herrior said with a smile.

"Can I make a suggestion then?" Mohania asked excitedly jumping up and down.

"What are you doing Admiral?" Herrior asked ignoring him.

"We need to thin out our prisoner population. We're getting more in and many of these people are going to walk. I'm giving them a chance so some of them will never walk again." Admiral said looking back at him with a smile and said "Kill the lights".

Nothing happened for the first couple of minutes as the cellblocks of nearly half of the prisoner population opened up. Then the first scream came…followed by several others. There were tiny led lights that lit up the cell block letter and number and the ones that were still lit up were the ones that were targeted.

Suddenly the sounds of a riot erupted and many people were being beaten to death – begging for mercy.

"Mercy? Is that the same thing your victims asked for when you killed them? How does it feel to be on the other side of the coin? Seven minutes left." Admiral's voice echoed through the black cells.

"I'm impressed…and somewhat perplexed as well. Where did this idea come from?" Herrior asked.

"I've been to a world where those that are found guilty are punished…not given four meals a day, given medical treatment, given entertainment time, and time to do recreational activities. The guilty should not treated better than some Americans that don't have a home, that don't have food or can't afford medical treatment." Admiral said. Herrior smiled and nodded.

More cries for help came from the prison area as the sounds of fights were escalating.

"What if you can't get them back in their cells?" Herrior asked.

"We have one hundred pounds of teargas armed and ready to be shot into the area." Admiral said confidently. He then reached forward and said, "Five minutes left…we apologize for the inconvenience …your call will be answered in the order in which it was taken – please enjoy this flute solo in the meantime." Admiral said and pressed a button as the speakers began to play the sounds of somebody playing a flute.

"Is Mohania still in the room?" Herrior asked.

"He said he had to go to the bathroom…" Dan said sarcastically.

"I'm still here…" Mohania said giving Dan an evil look. Dan smiled at him.

"This is pretty exciting I have to admit…it is similar to what your world had before – only they called it 'Gladiators'. They would have specially trained warriors combat with death-sentenced prisoners fight for their lives." Herrior said.

"The Romans?" Admiral asked.

"Might have been…but it happened on many parts of this world." Herrior said.

"One minute left and everybody had better get back into their cells. We have one hundred pounds of teargas that will be shot into the cells if order is not restored." Admiral announced on the intercom. The terrified screams turned into cries of agony as the prisoners scrambled to get back into their cells. Admiral was looking at his watch. He then picked up the intercom and said, "Ten seconds until the teargas is released." Admiral waited five more seconds and then started to count down. At the end the lights came back on and the cellblocks were slammed shut. There was at least thirty dead that they could see immediately. Blood was everywhere.

"Herrior…your party might be able to handle the clean up better than our people could." Admiral said.

"I'm free! I'm free!" Mohania yelled as he burst out of the door and told the guards to hurry up and open the cellblocks in eager anticipation.

"Should the rest of us go?" Skyka asked shaking her head as she watched Mohania run into the prison area and took an enormous bite out of a dead man's arm.

"Somebody should probably keep a leash on him…" Crystal said.

"Admiral, is there a private room where we can take the dead for our undead to feast on?" Herrior asked.

"Sure – any exit is fine. You might want to politely ask him from refraining from eating the prisoners…that is something that we humans typically don't do." Admiral said.

Herrior picked up the intercom and pushed the button like the Admiral did and said, "Would you please refrain from eating the prisoners until after we can get them secured?"

Mohania looked up with flesh and blood hanging down from his mouth towards the window and smiled.

"What Kendall sees in him…I haven't a clue…" Crystal said.

"Let's go." Herrior said setting down the intercom as all of them walked to the prison area.

"Lindel – open that door over there would you please?" Herrior said pointing to an exit to the east. She happily skipped over and pushed the door open as she saw some officers with automatic weapons looking at her. She kindly asked them to hold the door open for her as she created a portal to the undead area in Tranquil.

Herrior had grabbed five dead prisoners by the wrists and walked them out and then tossing them through the portal. Immediately the sounds of eating and bone crunching could be heard. Several of the officer's faces went pale and Herrior told them to go report to the main building. Jacklyn walked up with six more, badly disfigured, and tossed them through. "Weak stomach eh?"

"Don't want them to get sick in front of the prisoners." Herrior said back to her as they walked back through the door.

"This one is still alive." Jessica observed. Herrior stomped his boot on his face, crushing it like a melon as he said, "Are you sure?"

"Nope…guess I was wrong." Jessica said. Herrior grabbed the prisoners wrist as one of the prisoners started to scream, "This is unconstitutional! You can't treat us like this!"

"Mohania…go shut him up – and shut up anybody else that says anything. Lindel please be a dear and clean up the blood." Herrior said.

"Why does she get called a dear and not me?" Mohania asked.

"Because I'm a lady…someday you'll learn how to treat one like they are how supposed to be treated." Lindel said snapping her fingers and instantly all of the blood burned up.

"Doubt it…" Mohania said walking up to the prisoner.

"You can't do this! We have rights!" Mohania's eyes turned crimson red and suddenly the prisoner wet himself as his face went as white as paper. The man tried to turn around to flee, but stumbled over himself and knocked himself out as his head landed hard against the metal bed.

Mohania's eyes turned back to normal and asked the other prisoner if he had a problem. The prisoner quickly said "No" and looked away from Mohania. Mohania turned around and yelled, "Does anybody else have a problem?" No reply.

"Come on…first person that says that they do wins a free trip to 'Sleeptown'…population one. First person that coughs or sneezes I'll be over to your cell faster than you can try and hide." Mohania said not knowing what to say at the end of the sentence. However he got his point across.

Herrior's party continued to clear out the dead…one hundred in all. Of those, only five weren't supposed to be killed. All of the terrorists and pedophiles were killed. Once completed and all of the blood was cleaned up, Herrior's group left the cellblock area and returned to the observation room with Admiral.

"I must say Admiral; I didn't think you would do something like this. I am impressed." Herrior said.

"Probably didn't follow protocols on this one…but we have video and have written testimonies from our good prisoners that will say this never happened. Now we have more room for the scum of the earth to come in. Beats setting them free and soon rumors will spread among the prisoners about what happens here to the new people. In a twisted sort of way, I feel the world has just become a little safer." Admiral said with a smile.

"I'm sick and twisted…" Mohania said smiling.

"I hope I never become like him." Admiral said with a smile.

"Not a chance…come we must talk, actually I need to speak with you and George." Herrior said.

"Something wrong?" Admiral asked.

"Yes I lost my temper and I must apologize for it." Herrior said.

"Happens to the best of us, don't worry about it." Admiral said.

"No – it is something I must do." Herrior said.

"Ok" Admiral said following him and his party out of the room.

"Gain us access into the building, the rest of my party will remain here until I come back." Herrior said walking to the secured building. Herrior and Admiral walked up to the building and immediately the guards stood down and saluted them. Herrior smiled at them as the gates were opened.

Eventually Admiral got them inside, down the elevator, and into the secure room. George saw Herrior and quickly asked for the reports. Several people ran over with folders and handed them to him.

"Settle down George…I owe you and your workers an apology. I am sorry I lost my temper with you and in front of those that respect you. You are a great man and have provided a great service to both your country and to your world. In exchange I will give you a favor, name something that you want." Herrior said.

"Uh…" George said not expecting this.

"I will give you some time to think about it. I have disgraced you in front of your party and I owe all of you a favor. There was nothing that you humans could have done to counter an attack and do the amount of damage we did with no civilian causalities. We destroyed their ship and killed every last one of what your world calls 'aliens'. We are immune to a lot of their attacks…this time we took them by surprise and hit them hard. That town is safe and will no longer be troubled by them again." Herrior said.

"What happened to their ship?" George asked.

"Buried…you'd never be able to find it, and if you did it is crushed into millions of pieces. We don't leave anybody alive when we do battle with them." Herrior said.

"So I've been told. Well we have several anomalies that you might be interested in taking a look at." George said handing him the folders.

"Those can wait…the favor first." Herrior said.

"A white sandy beach with Margaritas!" One worker said excitedly.

"Hey – this is serious!" George snapped back.

"We can accommodate this if you want." Herrior said.

"It's five o'clock somewhere…" another said.

"What?" Herrior asked.

"Pour me something tall and strong…" the first worker said and then others started singing, "Make it a hurricane, before I go insane. It's only half past twelve. But I don't care, its five o'clock somewhere."

George smiled and shook his head and said "Don't quit your day jobs…"

"What are they singing?" Herrior asked.

"A song…silly country song – never was a big fan." George said. He then turned to everybody and said, "How about Hawaii? Would that make all of you shut up?"

"Hawaii sounds great…but do you honestly think that would shut us up?" The leader of the song said followed by everybody else laughing and then singing the song.

"Lanikai Beach, Oahu in Hawaii, best beach in the world. Everybody get out of here and buy some beers, steaks, swimsuits, and scuba gear and somebody bring a Grillmaster. Charge it to your cards, I'll take care of the bill later…" George said smiling. His workers weren't sure what to do at first.

"I'm slowly changing my mind…" George said and pointed at the door. Everybody cheered and quickly secured their workstations, then made their way to the elevator.

"I appreciate this Herrior." George said.

"I owe you…let's go." Herrior said.

"Admiral is still here…he would like to go…" Admiral said smiling.

"You aren't going to get there just standing around…" Herrior said looking at him over his shoulder. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Skyka.

"Tell the party we are going to go to a beach called Hawaii." Herrior said.

"It's actually a state…" Admiral said correcting him.

"Hush Admiral…let him call it whatever he wants…free vacation!" George yelled.

"Should I tell the officers?" Admiral asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "This does not involve them. This only involves George's party." Admiral felt bad for a moment for his soldiers and then realized that Herrior didn't have to apologize to the soldiers – he humiliated George in front of his workers, or party as Herrior put it. Admiral ran forward and stopped the elevator doors from shutting and said, "Keep this under wraps. This is only for you guys. Go get your swim shorts and whatever and meet up in Herrior's room in the station…no wait that would make it obvious…"

"Meet us in the abandoned warehouse on the right – about two hundred yards up." Herrior said. Everybody understood that this was special just for them and acknowledged it.

Hours passed as Herrior and his party waited at the warehouse – a portal open so that Skyka and Lindel could get new swimming attire, also so Strings could carry out two kegs of their finest ale.

"So what is the point of this?" Mohania asked.

"It's a vacation…you go and relax, eat, drink, swim and have fun." Skyka said smiling at him.

"Same question, but to somebody else." Mohania said.

"Do you want to wait in Tranquil for us?" Herrior asked.

"Naw I'm here…you are stuck with me, besides you might need somebody to make a fire." Mohania said unenthusiastic.

"There aren't going to be any boats are there?" Jacklyn asked.

"I don't know all I know is that there is sand and water. There probably will be boats I suppose. I'm guessing no boats for you huh?" Herrior asked.

"No unless Trackolania has any sleeping potions…" Jacklyn said. Trackolania quickly held up two.

"So…how do I look?" Lindel asked. She had a tight white cloth coming down from her neck, crossing over her breasts, and forming a small bikini bottom that covered her vagina and a small slit came up her butt.

"Where's the rest of it?" Branzer asked.

"This is it…what am I missing?" Lindel asked looking over herself.

"Nevermind…" Branzer said with a smile "Just be ready to get some looks from people."

"I am quite beautiful I know…" Lindel said flailing her hair back.

"Mine isn't as revealing because I have a husband and he doesn't want looks from everybody thinking the wrong thing about me." Crystal said holding up her one piece.

"I'm a banshee…it is my job to stand out." Lindel said spinning around.

"Branzer might not like it though…you know…with all of the other men tripping over their jaws as they stare at you." Crystal said.

Lindel hadn't thought about that. She turned to Branzer and asked, "Should I go change?"

"I want you to be happy, if this makes you happy then so be it." Branzer said with smile.

Lindel looked at him for a second and considered something, and then she said "I'll be right back" and went back through the portal.

"Did I handle that ok?" Branzer asked.

"With a little help from the audience – I think you did fine, however you are going to have to tell her if you are uncomfortable with something, I'm not always going to be around to drop settle hints." Crystal said.

"I don't know what the problem is…we should be in our armor just in case we are attacked. I'm simply going to use my trinket and have my armor take on the form of a casual swimming." Jacklyn said.

"It's vacation Jacklyn…" Crystal said.

"Our enemies don't take vacations…" Jacklyn said back "We might meet some enemies where we are going."

"Not to break up this argument, but I'm doing the same thing Jacklyn is doing. Don't neglect your armor and weapons – keep them close, but you may dress as you want." Herrior said.

"We should survey the island we are going to, make sure there is no alliance prowling around. We can send Mohania out to look for demons as well." Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded and told Mohania, Quinely and Lindel to survey the lands.

"Working on vacation?" George asked overhearing the conversation. He was carrying a bag of charcoal over his shoulder, a duffle bag full of clothes and assorted items and a briefcase.

"Do you plan on working with your little briefcase there?" Crystal asked.

"It's full of hundred dollar bills. Not sure what we are going to need, but cash goes a long way." George said setting down the items. "Told the wife I had to go away for a couple of days…because I wasn't sure how long we would be gone for."

"Probably just a day or so" Herrior said. "Where is the rest of your party?"

"I'm sure they are coming…I'd give it another hour or so. I know they wouldn't miss this opportunity. Looks like some heavy kegs there, what's in them?" George asked looking over at Strings.

"Some of the finest ale in all of the worlds" Strings said proudly.

"Do you think that will be enough?" George asked jokingly. Strings looked at it and said, "Probably not…but we can always get some more."

"Ok…well what's the plan?" George asked.

"We're going to send some scouts around the area and look for our enemies. How much information have you been collecting from this Hawaii place?" Herrior asked.

"Not much to be honest…it's pretty far out of our eyes. We have several army bases there, but it's mostly for a memorial of World War two, and for refueling and supplies. Hawaii is pretty much a tourist trap." George said.

"Why would you lead us into a trap?" Herrior asked quickly.

"No no…not a trap…bad use of words. Tourism is their main industry and people from all over come to visit them. It's safe to visit…there are no traps." George said quickly correcting himself.

"Different world, different terms Herrior" Branzer said. Herrior nodded.

They waited another two hours until everybody was accounted for. Lindel then opened a portal and they ended up in a dense forest. Once everybody was out, Herrior ordered his four scouts to go survey the land. Herrior touched his trinket and transformed his armor into white khaki pants, a button down Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat. Everybody else touched their trinkets and transformed their armor into various different outfits. Then they marched out of the thick woods and onto the sand. The view was breathtaking, the white sand, crystal clear water and not a person in sight.

"This looks like a good spot. George setup camp down by the water, Veliline take Jessica and Jacklyn with you and go a mile east; I will take Skyka, Branzer and Julie with me to the west. The rest of you stay here and guard the camp." Herrior said.

"There is nobody here! We're in Hawaii surrounded by sand, surf, and beer!" George said excitedly.

"Go have your fun; we'll meet up later on." Herrior said and started to walk away.

"Never takes a vacation does he?" George asked.

"His vacation is in Tranquil where it is safe; he is responsible for our safety and his party. Did you even bring a gun with you?" Admiral asked back.

George hadn't thought about that. He looked back and saw his employees weren't armed either…nor did they have the experience to shoot a gun. He then looked back at Admiral and said, "Oops."

"Me neither. He's been protecting us even before we were sucking on our mom's tit. Let him do his job…and let's have some food ready for him when he gets back.

Quinely flew around the island and reported back to Lindel where all of the people were. The warlocks hadn't detected any demons on the island yet. Herrior stopped to strike up with some locals as they prepared their fishing boats. They hadn't heard of any disturbances. Herrior continued west and eventually saw a town, with something quickly striking Herrior's eye. A shine from a red eye as it glanced at them.

Herrior turned to them and asked, "Did you see that?"

"Yup – are we going to take him out in front of everybody?" Skyka asked.

"Take who out? What's going on?" Julie asked.

"Get your pets out, we spotted an alliance human." Herrior said and picked up the pace. Julie summoned Spark and Branzer decided to summon his eagle as they hurried along.

Something seemed to startle the man when we saw four of them running towards him. He quickly went into a shack and started to look for his weapons.

"He spotted us…move towards the woods and get your weapons out." Herrior said quickly shifting his direction and once concealed in the woods he pulled out his sword and shield as both hunters pulled out their enormous pistols.

Their jog turned into a fast sprint as they approached the house. Once they came up to the back of the house, Herrior had a bad feeling about something. He didn't hear anything in the house but he smelled a faint smell of something burning.

"Move!" Herrior yelled as he quickly turned around and practically picked up all three of them and ran away as fast as he could. It was only a matter of seconds before the house exploded, sending wooden shrapnel everywhere. Skyka quickly produced a shield around herself, absorbing the attack, but Branzer and Julie were badly hurt as they were blown up against a tree. Herrior suddenly started getting shot in the back. Herrior dropped Skyka and put his shield in front of him, deflecting most of the attacks. He enraged himself as he ran towards the shooter. The shooter realized his attacks were not going to stop them and started moving backwards when Branzer's eagle swooped down and grabbed his gun while Spark ran at the man, grabbed his leg and threw him into a tree. The tree cracked under the impact, but it didn't appear that it hurt the man much. The pets started their attacks – distracting him until was close enough to charge at him, knocking him to the ground.

"You can't kill me!" The man yelled engulfing himself inside a shield. He stood up and healed himself. Herrior took careful aim at the man and launched his mace at him. His shield was disrupted and before the man could realize what happened, his face met up with Herrior's shield. The man stumbled backwards as the pets continued to bite at him. Suddenly a barrage of bullets flew by Herrior and striking the man – just as if a powerful machine gun was hitting him. Herrior started swinging at him and eventually the man let out a scream before burning up.

"Didn't think we were going to miss out on the action did you?" Branzer asked.

"Stay close…there's bound to be more. He was a powerful alliance – there's bound to be a base here somewhere. Skyka - link up with Lindel and tell the party what just happened. Let's check out the remains of the house." Herrior said putting his sword and shield away. He walked in the building and looked around, but unfortunately the blast had destroyed most of the evidence. He kicked several things aside but didn't find anything. A crowd had begun to gather and people asked what happened.

"Propane accident…nearly killed us. Do you know who lived here?" Branzer asked sounding convincing.

"Yeah…well no we didn't know his name, he mostly kept to himself. He had a friend that he talked to at the bar once in awhile." A woman said who looked like a waitress.

"We're going to have to talk to him. We're from the National Security Agency and suspect that a terrorist might be hiding out here." Branzer said flashing his badge. They all got badges, but most of Herrior's party didn't know what to do with them. Branzer, Bernett, Crystal, Dan, and Julie were honored to carry them around with them.

"Holy shit…are we in trouble? What's going to happen?" The woman said looking scared.

"Nobody is in trouble, we are following up on a lead – unfortunately it looks like our lead blew himself up. Take us to the man if you would ma'am." Branzer said.

"Yes of course…follow me." She said and started to run down the streets. The crowd followed her and was telling stories of the man and how they "all of a sudden" had a hunch that he was a terrorist, mostly useless information.

"He lives there!" The waitress said pointing to a house in the distance surrounded by a cement wall and barbed wire fence.

"Thanks ma'am we'll take it from here. I would advise all of you to go in your houses while we confront this individual. You would be safer." Branzer said.

"What about you?"

"We get shot at all of the time…comes with the job." Branzer looked at her and smiled. The woman smiled back a worried smile, but everybody did as they said.

"A fortified home…in the middle of an island…in the middle of the ocean, smells suspicious to me Herrior." Branzer said.

Herrior nodded and said, "Let's go." They walked up to the front gate and Herrior motioned to get his shield out, but Branzer said to let him try first. Branzer walked up to a button on the gate and pressed it.

"Who's there?" An elder man screamed out.

"Kerby sales, you'll be sucked into our products and blown away by our outstanding prices." Branzer said and Julie let out a snicker.

"Go away!" The man yelled back out.

Herrior pointed at a camera above them as Branzer raised his hand, his gun flying to into his hand and blowing apart the camera. Branzer than commanded his eagle to fly forward to scout out the camp. Herrior pulled out his shield and smashed the wooden door open as they proceeded in. The man came out on his front porch with a shotgun and said, "I said go away!" Branzer's eagle swooped down and snatched away the shotgun.

"Hey…give that back you dang bird!" While distracted by this, Herrior rushed forward as fast as he could until he was close enough to charge at the man, knocking him back into his house. The man reached for something, but was bashed into the ground by Herrior's mace – the man looked up in fear as Herrior's mace rested on the man's chest, slowly pushing harder and harder on it.

"I don't know anything!" The man said still spitting vinegar.

"Generally that means you know something, search the house. I'll make this one talk…" Herrior said putting away his weapons. Skyka, Branzer and Julie quickly split up in the house as Herrior grabbed the man and walked him over to a window. Herrior pulled down a curtain and quickly made a bandage to tie around his arm. After he stopped the bleeding, he grabbed the man's head and spun it around and shoved it into the window.

"You see that house that is still smoldering? A man inside of there…a man you talk to frequently…tried to kill us, now I'm going to ask you once before I mess you up even more. Where is the rest of the alliance?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know…" crash! Herrior slammed the man's face through the window. Herrior then spun him around and grabbed one of his bottom ribs. He began to pull on it as the man yelled in pain and before he could say "Stop!" the rib snapped and he cried out in pain.

"One down…you have plenty more ribs left…" Herrior said moving his hand up and grabbing the next one.

"There's a portal…downstairs…with some panda people, hell if I know what they are, but they talk." The man yelled gasping for breath.

"And?" Herrior asked as he began to squeeze the next rib and pulling on it.

"Stop! Stop…please!" The man cried in sheer terror.

"Herrior come here!" Skyka yelled out. Herrior picked up the man by the neck and dragged him along as he quickly ran over to her.

"Branzer and Julie found a huge weapon stash in the back rooms…this appears to be a cellar and I hear screams down there! It's locked…where's Trackolania?" Skyka asked. Herrior picked up the man and snorted loud in his face.

"The key…is in…the kitchen…last cupboard…"

"Too late!" Herrior yelled and threw the old man's body on the cellar door, breaking it wide open. In the process it also snapped the man's spine, killing him. Herrior tossed him behind him casually as Skyka rushed down the stairs.

"Stop! Stop right there or I will kill her!" An alliance man said holding a gun to a naked Pandaren.

"What the…why is everybody naked? What have you been doing to them?" Skyka yelled at him, at the same time encasing herself in her shield.

"You will shut your mouth and stand aside. The portal behind you is where I'm going and I will kill her and as many as I can if you decide to attack me! Now just play it easy and move over to that side of the wall…" The man said holding the naked Pandaren woman around the neck with a gun to her head. Herrior and Skyka felt a gentle push pass by them, followed by another one.

"Ok…ok…you win. Look, we don't want anybody killed. We're moving over by the wall…" Herrior said holding up his hands and moving backwards. Herrior made contact with Lindel.

The man started to laugh and said, "You are more cowardly than the stories told! I'm going to take all of these prisoners and all you are going to do is just watch." The man said with a laugh and kept striding to his right. Suddenly he was frozen in a solid block of ice with Branzer and Julie suddenly appearing with their guns pointed right at his head – their pets also appeared and were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"It was my trap that got him." Julie said.

"Hardly…he triggered mine first." Branzer said smiling at her.

"What's going on?" Lindel said suddenly appearing in the room.

"Find out where that portal leads." Herrior said quickly. Lindel looked over and quickly disappeared as they felt a wisp of wind gently move the air. Seconds later Lindel reappeared and said, "It's in Pandaria. The alliance are holding more Pandaren captive and forcing them to dig for something."

"How many alliance?" Herrior asked.

"Fifty…maybe more, I didn't stay for a long time." Lindel said.

"We can't take that many without causalities. Close the portal." Herrior said.

Lindel looked at the portal and knew that their chance to rescue them was going to leave when she closed the portal. She looked back at Herrior who nodded as if reading her mind. Lindel turned around and held her arms out. The energies used to keep the portal stable dissipated and the portal collapsed…possibly sealing the fate of the Pandaren that were taken prisoner.

"How did they find that world first? When will this stop?" Herrior screamed in frustration. "Open a portal to Chen's house…let's go tell them what happened." Lindel did as she was told.

"Everybody…my name is Herrior, ambassador of Tranquil and a friend of your people. This portal will take you to your people. Come with me…I will show you." Herrior said in a calm voice.

"What do we do about the hostage taker?" Branzer asked with his gun still positioned up against his head.

"I never want to see him again. Wait until everybody gets through first. Chen! Chen are you around?" Herrior said walking through the portal.

"Yes Herrior? It is good to see you." Chen said bowing to him.

"Chen, your people have been held hostage by the alliance on an island that we located. They are all scared right now…can you come and talk to them?" Herrior asked. Chen looked behind him and saw the unclothed men, women, and children come running through the portal and embraced the other Pandaren. They quickly covered them with extra clothing and blankets.

"Nevermind…what happened to the sky serpents?" Herrior asked.

"They grew their arms and legs. Our people have finally been able to feed and nurture them. They do miss their parents though. At night they will all fly to their sleeping area and cry." Chen said.

"Do you think we should have Jessica and Dan come back?" Herrior asked.

"They are always more than welcome, but for the sky serpents – they do need their parents. They stopped carrying us into the air." Chen said.

"Are they still in their infancy?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…they may be almost fully grown, but once they have bonded – they have bonded for life." Chen said. Loud shots of gunfire came out from the portal followed by the sound of the alliance man burning up. Chen ducked down to the ground.

"We can't keep Jessica and Dan here forever. How soon until they grow out of their infancy?" Herrior asked.

"We don't know…legions say it might take many years, but even those legions we are finding out aren't true. They no longer want the fatty milk and are chewing on leaves…we don't know why." Chen said.

"Sometime tonight I will return to you with my party. We are going to go search for other survivors and alliance on this island." Herrior said.

"I thought you killed all of the alliance?" Chen asked.

Herrior sighed and then said, "We found other camps on your world with alliance using your people as slaves. We are forming plans to free them as we speak."

"What? Where?" Chen asked quickly.

"There are too many of them. If we attacked now, they would kill a lot of your people." Herrior said.

"Our people are ready to fight!" Chen said with determination in his voice.

"Good…we'll need them. Tell them to ready themselves. Have there been any attacks on you?" Herrior asked.

"No…the Hozen are prepared to stand with us as well." Chen said.

"I will see you later tonight then." Herrior said.

"Wait…do you have provisions?" Chen asked. Herrior wondered what he meant by that. Chen saw Herrior's reaction and gave him a dish with twin fish baked. Herrior reached forward and took a bite and instantly felt more stamina flow through his body and felt hardier then he ever had before.

"What is this?" Herrior asked.

"A welcome back present. We have many recipes that I think will be to your liking. My people will wait for you tonight." Chen said. Herrior nodded and walked back through the portal. Once Lindel was through she closed the portal.

"What do we do with the dead body upstairs?" Branzer asked.

"It got burned up in the fire…" Herrior said walking up the stairs. Branzer and Julie took the hint and tossed their explosive traps in opposite directions. They walked outside at the same time their traps went off, letting out a huge burst of fire which quickly spread engulfing the house. Herrior pointed off to the side and everybody ran away hoping that nobody saw them exit. Some people did see them though, but lost where they went after entering the woods – only to seemingly disappear when they got into the thick of it.

Herrior's party gathered up and reported in. No other trouble was found on the island. George's party was well underway with laughing, eating, drinking, dancing, and swimming. They had a bonfire roaring and somebody had brought a battery powered radio as well. The night was theirs and they were living it up.

Herrior told everybody to sit down and started to talk. "Jessica and Dan – I need you to go tend to the sky serpents. We are going to have to move from this world to that world. There is not going to be much rest for us in the upcoming weeks, but the sky serpents are still in their infancy and their newly acquired parents they still long for. I think this world is stable enough to explore Pandaria more however what troubles me is what we faced tonight. There are still more alliance in Pandaria with still no clue as to how they got there or how long they have been there. Chen and his people are eager to fight as well as the Hozen – a people fighting for their land, their survival and to free their people gives us a huge advantage. Dan and Jessica, we might be fighting without you. Your job is to make the sky serpents dependable on themselves and to help the Pandaren people. No more coddling them. I have seen what the alliance has done to these people again tonight and it sickens my stomach. I seek vengeance, but we will need additional forces. I trust the Pandaren people, but I trust our party's more. I don't want to see any more Pandaren killed or raped or beaten. I will contact Kon and Tess's party's to accompany us. Dan and Jessica I want you to leave tonight, Lindel go ahead and open a portal for them. We will meet up with you in a couple of days when their celebration is over. I am ruining their festivities as it is now and I want to make good on my promise. Any questions?"

"Herrior, the sky serpents need access to the ocean to learn to catch their own food. The Slitherscales are there and they are strong. Melee attacks do minimal damage, but spell damage seems to scare them. We need them wiped out in order for the Pandaren people to gain access to the oceans as well as they sky serpents." Jessica said.

Herrior thought about this for a moment. "Veliline and Bernett go with them and kill them all. Bring the monks with you as well. Veliline you lead the attacks and Bernett light them up."

"I have yet to find a foe resistant to my diseases…" Veliline chimed in.

"That is why I choose you. You are a tank but you do so with different types of magic and spells like your death and decay. Creep back into the woods behind us and take them there Lindel. The rest of us will join George in the celebrations and then meet up with you. If you become overwhelmed for any reason contact us immediately. I will contact Tranquil and start sending more scouts into the area…the only problem with that is we are not sure if there are any traps – for friend or foe and the Pandaren people might not recognize the person if they are caught. Take care my friends." Herrior said and stood up.

"Is everything ok?" George asked walking up to them.

"This meeting did not involve you." Herrior immediately snapped back turning around to see him. George held up his hands and backed away.

"I'm sorry…ours ways are not your ways and your ways are not ours. I've just dispatched part of my group to go tend to some issues we are having and we just killed two alliance and one old man. They were holding our new friends the Pandaren race hostage without any clothing, even on the children. Strings…" Herrior said holding out his hand.

"Aye…I got just what you need." Strings took off his water skin and gave it to Herrior. He unscrewed the cap and drained about half of it.

"Better?" Strings asked with a smile.

"Aye…trade you drinks George." Herrior said as Lindel walked away with Veliline, Bernett, Jessica, and Dan.

"Admiral was right…you guys never take breaks do you? It must get to you after awhile. I have a strawberry Daiquiri – it's not real strong, but you might like it." George said exchanging drinks with Herrior. Herrior opened his mouth and swallowed the entire drink whole. His eyes lit up when he tasted the amazing fruit and the sugar in there. Not wanting to look bad, George did the same thing – but as soon as the strong ale hit his taste buds, his mouth instantly rejected it. He dropped to the ground and started coughing and gagging.

"Whoops…let's not be spilling good ale…" Strings said quickly picking up the water skin. Strings than patted him on the back and said, "If that doesn't grow hair on your chest nothing will…huh? Am I right?"

"Holy…shit…what proof is that?" George asked slowly sitting back up.

"Proof? Well its proof enough to drop you to your knees…is that proof enough?" Strings asked back with a smile helping him up. "And I have two more kegs of that – let's drink and be merry! I don't know many of the songs you are playing but if you give me a chance I'll show you what real music is."

"I am gonna go catch a shark." Mohania said with a grin.

"Not going to bury yourself?" Crystal asked with a smile.

"Nope…gonna catch a shark!" Mohania said determined and ran towards the water.

"That boy aint right…" Crystal said.

"Whoever said he was? Quinely do you want to go play in the water to hun?" Skyka asked.

"Yup! I'm going to be a shark and make Mohania mad. I'm going to swim around him and bump him all over the place." Quinely said.

"He might accidently cast a spell on you…how about you be a dolphin instead?" Skyka asked.

"Ok!" Quinely said excitedly and morphed into her cat form and ran down the beach after him. George's party watched in surprise as suddenly a might tiger ran past them and into the ocean, then morphed into a dolphin and swam away.

"Quite the night tonight hey people? All of this fresh air, good food, good beer – makes you see some weird stuff huh?" Strings asked taking a sip of his ale.

"So…everybody else saw that too huh?" A woman asked.

"Nope…nobody saw anything. So what are we talking about?" Strings asked.

"Black angus steaks…straight from the cow – here have a piece." A man said with an apron on that said, "Kiss the cook". Strings took the plate, kissed the man and then had a piece. Everybody laughed.

"This is great…is there something I am missing?" Strings asked looking around cheerfully. The man took off the apron and tossed it aside.

"To splatter and grease!" The cook said raising his Corona. "Here here!" Everybody yelled and took a drink.

"To family, friends, and hopes and dreams!" Another said as they toasted to that.

"To coming into work tomorrow with a hangover!" Another said as laughter burst out and the party got underway again.

Veliline, Bernett, Jessica, and Dan appeared in front of Chen and were greeted by his people. Several of them come out and hugged them to show their appreciation for their rescue. The sky serpents heard a familiar voice that roused them from their sleep. Jessica then whistled and the tangled mess of sky serpents excitedly took to the air and flew over to Dan and Jessica, kissing them, licking them, and rubbing up against them. The four of them and the Pandaren people took turns petting them and comforting them. The sky serpents nudged each other out of the way to get petted by their parents that it started to get out of control. Jessica casted levitate on herself and floated up into the sky and then let out a sharp whistle followed by a deep commanding voice saying, "Stop it!" The sky serpents looked scolded and started to whimper.

"I know you can understand some of what I am saying and I am very upset to hear that you have been misbehaving. You have been bad sky serpents! You have to let the Pandaren people ride on top of you and you have to finish your milk!" Jessica said pointing over at the barrels of open milk. Several sky serpents flew over sniffed it, and quickly flew away.

"No! You need to drink the milk to get the fat out of it! Now go back and drink it!" Jessica yelled again.

"Jessica, that milk is spoiled. It might make them sick." Chen said.

"Oh, ok then all of my babies come here! Come here!" Jessica yelled out and motioned all of them to fly up to her. "What has been going on? Why have you been misbehaving?"

"If the milk is spoiled, why don't you get rid of it?" Dan whispered to Chen.

"We did with one and all they did was sit around it and cry." Chen whispered back.

"They have it bad…" Dan said and then raised his voice. "Jessica – how about a night flight?"

"That would be fun!" Jessica said back with a smile. A burst of wind propelled Dan into the air as he grabbed Jessica and flew towards the sky. The excited sky serpents eagerly followed them and for the next several of hours they played "chase" in the air.

In the meantime Veliline wanted to know more about the Slitherscales…more importantly their weaknesses.

"We dare not fight them. They swarm in great numbers and are very thick skinned." Chen said.

"All the more reason to fight them…how strong is your army?" Veliline asked.

"We have three hundred well-prepared monks and two hundred Hozen…but the Hozen will not fight the Slitherscales. We've done good to have them guard our bases." Chen said.

"Good…keep them here with your non-fighters. Gather up your monks that want to fight tonight and let's go do us some killing." Veliline said.

"Tonight?" Chen asked.

"We're going to go defend your homeland and expand your territories tonight…what is wrong with tonight?" Veliline asked.

"We are not prepared…many of us have taken to the floors to sleep already." Chen said.

"I'm guessing so have the Slitherscales. We have the advantage, I will tank them and Bernett will burn them. It will cause confusion and send them running around. If you will not defend your homeland then we will." Veliline said pulling out her battleaxe.

"We have a better one for you…come with me." Chen said. They walked behind the hut to a vast array of weapons that they had been crafting. Veliline through hers away and picked up what looked to be the heaviest one. The power soared through her veins as her eyes lit up in blue with a smile on her face.

"And for the man we have new robes for you to wear." Chen said coming over and pulling off Bernett's robe. This one was dark blue but, as with Veliline's weapon, it seemed to increase his powers tenfold.

Veliline twirled around her weapon as if it was a toy and said, "Gather all of those that will stand with us. We fight tonight. We will meet you on the edge – and then are to follow my orders!" She ended firmly so that Chen understood who was in control.

"I understand…I will awake our fighters." Chen said and quickly ran to wake them up. Veliline and Bernett walked away in the direction of the ocean.

"Think we are outnumbered?" Bernett asked.

"In a minute we won't be…" Veliline said pulling out her hearthstone and contacting Tess.

"You aren't my alarm clock…" Tess said looking tired but smiling at Veliline.

"We're going into battle with no chance of survival and the odds are stacked against us…wanna come?" Veliline asked with a smile.

"You've been hanging around Herrior to long…you need to get away from him and do some girl stuff with us…but yeah we'll be there. How many partys do you think we'll need?" Tess asked smirking.

"Anybody that feels like spilling some blood…" Veliline responded.

"Now you've been hanging around Mohania to long…girl you have got to get out more. Also you will have every party in Tranquil coming. How many are we attacking?" Tess asked.

"No idea…couple hundred possibly? They seem to be immune to most physical attacks but…"  
"Oh horseshit…nobody is immune to anything. I'll wake up sleeping beauty next to me and we'll be right there." Tess said and then smacked Kon in the face. Veliline heard an "Ouch! What did you do that for?" from a startled male tauren.

"I felt like it…come on we are going to go kill stuff." Tess said.

"In the morning…I was having this great dream about me and this other woman. This other woman didn't disturb me while I was sleeping…" Kon said.

"Good thing I woke you up to reality then…gather your party." Tess said and then looked back through the portal at Veliline smiling chuckling.

"There you go, you broke a smile. Just remember to keep your men in line and you'll do fine. Be there in a couple of minutes." Tess said winking at her and then closing the portal.

Veliline closed the portal and saw Chen had overheard her conversation. He had Lhi beside her with her staff ready for battle and several dozen other Pandaren monks as well.

"I will fight for my land – to free my people! I will gladly give my life today and any day from here on out to your people for what you have done for us. I wish to join your party and take up arms with you." Lhi said walking forward to Veliline with determination.

"Herrior makes those kinds of decisions. I am here to lead this assault, not to say who becomes a member of our party or not." Veliline responded.

"We sit by waiting for an assault on our towns that we have rebuilt and Herrior delivers more of our people who have been abused and enslaved against our will – and all we simply do is sit and wait…well I am not going to sit and wait for your party to continue to serve our people. I pledge my life to you and will gladly die for you." Lhi said. Her determination in her voice had only increased.

"This matter is for another time. I am going to lead this assault and I want you to do exactly what I say. I need to know if you can follow orders, if not there is no place for you in this battle or among our ranks." Veliline said getting upset.

"I will do as you say." Lhi said quickly.

"We're having two more party's from Tranquil coming. I want to meet up with them further in the forest. If this is all that you are going to have fight with you, then let's head out." Veliline said and started moving towards the ocean.

Veliline and Bernett took the lead and jogged to the distance for them to get to the edge of the forest and to look down the cliff at the Slitherscales sleeping randomly on the sand.

Veliline and Bernett moved back once they saw what they needed as Bernett bumped into Kon.

"Nice running into you." Kon said.

"Shh!" Veliline quickly said. Tess reached over and smacked Kon and then shook her head with a smile at Veliline.

"There are lizard-like people down on the beach that needs to be killed. I'm leading this assault. So far we know that melee attacks don't do much to their heavy thick scales, so I am going to use my attacks to draw their attention on me. Have your tanks taunt them off me if I get overwhelmed. I want only the Slitherscales killed – the lizard people. I have a feeling they are up to no good and fully expect them to retreat. I have no reason to believe that they are working with the alliance…however it wouldn't surprise me so stay sharp. Any questions?" Veliline whispered.

"Are the pandas coming with us?" Kon asked.

"Pandaren and yes they are. I don't want any of them killed. The Pandaren will fight alongside of your melee fighters so keep them safe." Veliline said.

"We can cast spells as well." Lhi said offering some advice.

"Stay with Kon and Tess's melee fighters. I don't know much about your fighting techniques and I don't need you to draw attention to yourselves. Now I don't have any healers, so I will need some healing." Veliline said. Kon and Tess quickly assigned one of their healers to stay on Veliline.

"We're going to ride the cliff down and ambush them. Are we ready?" Veliline asked.

"I need to take a shit before we go." Kon said with a straight face.

"Can I leave him here on this world with you? Please?" Tess asked.

Veliline shook her head and lunged forward as she created her shield of twirling bones around her body. She slide down the cliff and immediately slammed her new axe down on one of the Slitherscales's necks. It only woke him up as he quickly yelled something and the rest of the Slitherscales woke up.

"Come and get me you filthy animals!" Veliline said taunting them. She then reached forward and instantly a huge circle of magical energy slammed on the ground, slowing the approach and severely hurting any of them within it. Veliline then held up her hand and swarming insects quickly appeared and spread out, biting anybody she commanded and inflicting them with her diseases. Then she held her hands up as a blast of red energy in the form of a red circle quickly expanded around her, infecting the rest of the Slitherscales with her diseases and causing them injury as well. She felt a shield surround her as the rest of her fighters joined the combat and engaged the Slitherscales. They found out quickly that melee attacks were ineffective, but, as Bernett had shown by example, magical spells were very effective. He had already killed a dozen of them by burning them to death as he unleashed his flame strikes on the vicious animals and spreading his fire by his inferno blasts.

The Slitherscales had seen that they were outnumbered and started to retreat. Veliline charged forward with them, swiping at any that got in her way. The magic users brought down several of them more of them as they ran into a cave, with Veliline right behind them. It was dark inside and when suddenly she heard the sound of what sounded like hundreds of hissing snakes. She set down her death and decay spell in front of her and then was ambushed by dozens of Slitherscales. The melee attacks leaped forward and started to attack them – desperate to free Veliline. Suddenly blasts of cold air surrounded them and started to intensify. The Slitherscales did not like the cold at all. Veliline pushed herself up out of the ambush and casted her "Outbreak" spell on one of them, infecting them with both of her diseases and then spread it among every Slitherscale using her "Pestilence" spell. The creatures, suffering from the diseases and the intensifying cold began to scatter, but could hardly move. Six seconds later they all froze and that is when everybody let loose everything they had, slaughtering the all that they could see.

"In the cave! Kon you and your party make sure nobody else comes in." Veliline yelled and ran in. She summoned her undead ghoul as it slowly rose from the ground and ran to catch up with her.

"We need some lit Bernett." Veliline said. Bernett began to cast a spell and soon a huge column of fire lit up the cave. Several Slitherscales could be heard running away, but this didn't bother them as much as what they were looking at. Inside the cave were sky serpents, baby ones in cages and smashed eggs. The Slitherscales were using them as food.

"Tess – gather up the sky serpents, heal them up and carry them back to Kon. I need a healer, Bernett and I are going to go finish off the last of them." Veliline said. Suddenly a flare shot out in front of them, illuminating the area.

"Might be a little safer than calling down pillars of flame – mind if I come along?" Tess asked.

"Yes – but these little ones need to get to safety. Find any eggs that haven't been eaten yet and get these little ones to safety." Veliline said.

"Come on people – move!" Tess yelled at her party. Tess then turned back around and followed Veliline and Bernett deeper into the cave. Tess's party quickly gathered up the cages the sky serpents were being held in and moved them out to Kon's party.

Veliline was casting her frost fever disease on any remaining Slitherscale she could find, followed by several blasts of fire from Bernett and poison arrows from Tess's bow. This deterred any Slitherscale from attacking them as they tried to slowly run away. They passed several cages were it looked like they were having fights with the sky serpents and different assorted rocks were placed on the ground. Tess fired off another flare.

"Barbaric…" Veliline said with anger in her voice.

They advanced further into the cave, following the retreating Slitherscales until they started to hear a loud "hissing" sound. Tess fired off another flare to reveal a large Slitherscale, at least twice the size of the normal Slitherscales, looking at them with a spear. It peered at them from on top of a ramp and quickly ran down it to meet them in battle. This gave time for Veliline to cast her spell to raise an army of ghouls to fight by her side. Tess put a misdirection spell to Veliline and took careful aim as Bernett produced a magical rune of power below him. Tess's tiger stealthed itself to get in the back of it to help produce the greatest impact – hopefully to catch it off guard and grab its neck.

The enormous beast came running up to Veliline and Tess's shot rang out, hitting the oversized Slitherscale hard. At the same time Veliline commanded her ghouls to attack and casted her "outbreak" spell on the Slitherscale and then began taking big swipes at the ferocious beast. The beast was significantly stronger and dealt more damage than the other Slitherscales, so it was safe to assume that this was their leader. However it didn't like the barrage of arrows and fire spells being cast at it. The ghoul army was biting and clawing at anything they could get their hands on. Tess's cat had jumped out of nowhere and with its huge claws it tried to pierce the armor of the giant Slitherscale. They only made scratches though and Veliline's attacks were merely to hold the creature's attention.

Bernett casted as fast as he could, casting one fire spell after another. It consistently felt the pain of each fire spell and felt the power of his "pyroblast" spell every couple of seconds. Its scales were starting to melt, lowering its defenses. Tess recognized this opportunity and lined up for another shot. With careful aim she sent a powerful arrow into the creatures arm, followed up with another poison shot and arrows that caused arcane damage. The creature let out a roar of pain and tried to run passed them. Veliline quickly turned around and held out her hand. A dark lightning bolt hit the Slitherscale and suspended him in the air while his hands flailed at the invisible force choking it. Its scales were now dripping down off from its body as Bernett and Tess continued their nonstop assault on it. Eventually it escaped from Veliline's hold and tried again to run away as its feet his the floor Tess tossed an ice trap underneath it that erupted, causing the whole area to turn to ice. The frantic and completely desperate Slitherscale tried to get to its feet but was no use, the ghouls and Tess's tiger kept pulling it down as Veliline went in to strike it with a fierce blow. The scales completely gone now, it started to bleed as Veliline swings took big chunks of flesh out of it. It was Tess's last arrow that finished it off though, a quick shot to both eyes and the creature dropped to the ground unable to even take its last breath.

Veliline held up her hand as all of her animated ghouls lost their lives and fell to the ground, turning to dust. "Let's gather up the rest of the sky serpents that are still alive and take them out."

Tess pulled out her hearthstone and tried to contact Kon but it would not produce a portal. This meant he was in battle. Tess relayed the information to Bernett and Veliline as they all raced back to help.

When they came to the cave entrance they saw dozens of dead Slitherscales at the line the tanks made, with only a few remaining left. Tess instantly stopped, held up her bow, and pulled back the string to let dozens of arrows fly past their party and into the Slitherscales. She then tossed out her explosive and snake traps and started poisoning as many Slitherscales as she could with her serpent sting shot.

"Use magic on them!" Tess shouted. Bernett produced a circle of flame with his flamestrike spell, melting many of the scales on the smaller Slitherscales. The approaching Slitherscales were starting to die even before they got a chance to reach the front line the tanks had established. Their tactics of a forward charge headlong into battle was for nothing though; they just continued to die one after another.

"You would think they would learn…" Kon's voice boomed over the sounds of the war.

"How many more are approaching?" Tess asked turning to one of her druids.

"Less than one hundred; something seems to be calling them here. Did you do something in the cave to attract them?"

"We killed their leader." Tess said letting off several more shots with her bow.

"That might be what is drawing them here. We have the Pandaren people taking the eggs, the baby sky serpents, and the injured ones off from the battle field and back to their village." Kon said.

"There are more in the cave. All melee fighters go in the cave and gather the rest and place them behind us. Tanks hold your positions and healers let your mana recharge. Ranged – take a shot when they are within your sights." Veliline said. Tess looked over at her a quickly smiled. She was about to order a similar command, but this was Veliline's battle and they were just here to assist her.

In no time the melee fighters had brought out dozens more sky serpents, some with real bad battle scars and handed them over to the Pandaren people.

"Tess, can you spare some healers for the sky serpents?" Veliline asked quickly as she saw them.

"Heal them up!" Veliline said and instantly heals were made that quickly sealed their wounds, giving them the ability to fly again.

Ten minutes passed and the melee fighters reported that there weren't any more sky serpents left. The last of the Slitherscales had been killed and the druids reported that they couldn't detect anymore.

"Thanks for your help." Veliline said turning to Tess and Kon.

"It was our pleasure – so where is that big ox you call a leader anyways?" Tess asked.

"Getting drunk on a beach…" Veliline said and then let out a laugh with a big smile.

"Yeah figures…well you did great in combat Veliline. I have to admit I was about ready to start giving orders but you did well. Do you want us to escort you back?" Tess asked with a big smile.

"Naw I think we can take it from here. You can if you want to though." Veliline said.

"I need to get my hubby to sleep. If he doesn't get all of his necessary rest, then he is grumpy in the morning." Tess said. Kon didn't look amused which made Tess smile even bigger.

"Open a portal back to Tranquil." Tess said. Kon and Tess's party left as Veliline and Bernett started the travel back.

"Good fighting back there. I think we saved a great many of them." Veliline told Bernett.

"Thanks, you did pretty well yourself. How do you think they will react when they meet the other sky serpents?" Bernett asked.

"Only one way to tell…" Veliline said and pulled out her hearthstone after they had climbed the sand wall up to the forest.

"Dan, we have secured some more sky serpents that are very young. Can you meet us back at Chen's village? We want to introduce them to their own kind." Veliline said.

"On our way" Dan said and closed the portal.

Everybody met up at the village at about the same time and as Dan and Jessica landed the older sky serpents looked perplexed at the smaller sky serpents. Then slowly they started moving over to them and started to lick them. This was followed by them rubbing their scent glands on each other and afterwards the bigger sky serpents making some noises nobody understand, moved away from everybody as the smaller ones followed. One of the sky serpents used its mouth to take off a barrel of milk and drank out of it slowly, and then suddenly all of the smaller ones ran over and started to drink out of it. They continued to rub against each other, as if telling each other that it would be ok.

An hour passed as everybody watched the older sky serpents begin to teach the young ones where to poop, how to catch fish, and how to fly high in the sky. The first day of freedom for the young sky serpents was an exhausting one and the older ones could tell. They flew over to their normal sleeping spots, but by their selves had enlarged it. The older female sky serpents laid down and wrapped its tail up to its head and held as many as they could of the younger ones. The younger ones moved from female to female trying to find a place to cuddle up in. Once all of them were set, the males flew out and started to gather twigs and leaves to cover them. They all watched in awe as the whole process unfolded.

"I think our babies have grown up." Dan said quietly to Jessica.

"I've never seen this before…this is amazing…" Chen said.

"It's all very exciting…and happening so fast…" Jessica said.

"Their instincts are taking over. They need to be with their kind. I dare say that tomorrow they will have doubled in size. We started their lives and now begins the cycle of the next generation. I must admit it didn't take very long. Apparently the better they are taken care of, the faster they grow. We took great care of them and they grew fast. We taught them how to carry passengers, how to get food, and how to live among the Pandaren people again – and now our teachings will carry over unto the next generation…so to speak. It might be a safe bet that there are still others around this area that need to be found. It would be hard to look for them at night though, do you want to spend the night and we will head out on our dragons first thing in the morning to look for more?" Dan asked.

"Maybe not with our dragons, but yeah I do think there are probably others as well. Let's get some sleep. Chen, can you wake us at daybreak so we can begin the search first thing in the morning?" Jessica asked.

Chen nodded and said, "It will be my honor. May we accompany you?"

"That is fine. Chen, can we get some of the plans that you used to make the new equipment – the armor and weapons? I wish to pass that information on to our profession trainers in Tranquil." Dan asked.

Chen smiled and bow. He left quickly to go get his tailors, leatherworkers, and blacksmiths. He told them to write down all of the recipes that they knew so they could pass on the information to their new friends.

Dan overheard this information and pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Herrior. He filled him in on all that happened. Several minutes passed before Dan finished and Herrior nodded and said, "I will meet with you tomorrow morning. I do not want you to fight again without us…it upsets Mohania." Herrior said with a smile, but his tone indicated that he wanted to be in the battle and didn't like where he was now. Herrior then explained some of the festivities that took place; Mohania did catch a shark but couldn't hold onto it because Quinely kept bumping into him, causing him to lose his hold on the shark. Strings was out drinking everybody and playing his favorite tunes. He also reported that no other disturbances were found on the island and to tell Tess that he wasn't a big ox. Dan smiled and said, "See you in the morning" and closed the portal.

The next morning, much to everybody's surprise, the small sky serpents had grown several feet longer and filled out. The sky serpents took right to helping them out, nudging them to do what they needed to do, they broke up fights over food and several of them were being taught different styles of flying.

"Neat!" Jessica said. The bigger sky serpents instantly turned around when they heard her voice and flew over to nudge against her and Dan. The smaller ones came over and did the same thing. After nearly twenty minutes of having snot and drool pressed against them, they then returned to their activities.

"They still know who their parents are…" Herrior said walking up to them. The both turned around surprised to hear his voice. Herrior continued, "But now they are passing on what you taught them to the smaller ones. "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand. You involved them in everything and now they are involving the smaller ones in their activities. Interesting. Well now that you are awake let's ride them into the sky."

Jessica let out a whistle and pointed to the ground. Several sky serpents flew over and laid down on the ground. Jessica jumped on top of one and took to the skies. The others thought this was going to be a game and chase and went to chase after her when Dan let out a loud whistle to get their attention. They all froze and looked down at Dan as he said "No!" and pointed back down on the ground. They flew back down and pointed to his party. Each sky serpent moved over beside each one and laid down on the ground. The others he shooed away and then said "Go!" in a firm voice. The sky serpents looked offended and gave a sad look. Dan looked away, climbed on his sky serpent and took to the air with the rest of them.

"What about us?" Chen asked standing next to Lhi. Just then two sky serpents moved over quickly and nudged them. They jumped on and took to the skies as well.

"Interesting indeed" Herrior said holding on.

"Push forward, pull left and right, pull back and down – you'll get the hang of it. Let's go see if there are anymore on this island…Mohania don't bite at it…" Dan said and pushed forward as his sky serpent flew forward into the air.

"You think he knows me or something…" Mohania said.

"I think we all knew you were thinking that…" Jessica said back. Mohania's sky serpent let out a bellow and wanted to go fly. "Fine…go fly thing." Mohania said and it accelerated forward.

"Look at these islands! They are filled with animals and more eggs!" Jessica said excitedly.

"But why haven't they hatched?" Skyka asked circling around to make a landing. She jumped off her sky serpent and picked up an egg. She held it up to her sky serpent and immediately it turned away from it.

"I don't think these are sky serpent's eggs." Skyka said.

"No they look just like them. I wonder why they aren't hatching?" Jessica asked. She jumped off her sky serpent and picked up an egg and the yolk inside was rotten and fell out of the egg and onto the ground. Jessica dropped it in surprise and said, "They are all dead!"

"I think the sky serpent knew that when I first showed it the egg I picked up." Skyka said. Skyka turned around and saw that her sky serpent slowly crept away towards a turtle.

"Hey…watch this…" Skyka said as her sky serpent kept moving until it lunged forward and grabbed the turtle with its sharp teeth. It quickly stood up on its tail and used its arms to snap open the shell so that it could devour the turtle inside.

"They seem to like sea creatures." Skyka said walking over and petting its tail. The sky serpent finished chewing and swallowed its meal as it turned around and laid back down for Skyka to get back on it. "Tried to be sneaky huh?" Skyka said with a smile on her face. The sky serpent shook its head and licked its lips.

"So is mine a male or a female?" Skyka asked taking off back into the skies.

"I'm not looking…" Dan said smiling.

"If they lift their leg and pee on a tree, they are a boy." Branzer said chuckling.

"Let's fly them around these islands and show them their hunting grounds." Herrior said pulling back on his sky serpent and then pushed forward to accelerate it. They spent several hours flying around huge columns of dirt that seemed to have risen out of the water and nearly touched the skies. Each person took turns finding a shadowy image in the water and pushing their sky serpent towards the water to dive and catch its prey. After eating their fair share though, they started keeping the live fish in their hind feet and motioned that they wanted to go back.

"Let's land on the beach and let them go…see what happens." Herrior said and dove towards a sandy beach. Herrior then pointed in the direction where their nest was and said, "Go!" the sky serpent then fly away without hesitation, its feet full of food.

"They want to feed their young. It will take time, but the Pandaren people will see to them, now for them to get used to our dragons." Herrior said and summoned his. It flew down from the skies and landed beside him.

"How are you doing my friend?" Herrior asked.

"Good…I thought I was getting replaced, I'm glad I'm not." Herrior's dragon said.

"Nothing will ever replace a good friend." Herrior said patting on its head. "Dan – it's time we venture out and seek out things that trouble this land. Chen and Lhi, would you lead the way?"

"It is magnificent…a talking dragon!" Chen said still on his sky serpent; Lhi was as well.

"I am aren't I?" Herrior's dragon said.

"And not very humble either…come let us take to the skies." Herrior said mounting his dragon and flying off.

The party's dragons were much faster and more agile than the sky serpents were. They had to wait up several times for the exhausted two sky serpents to catch up.

"Give them a break, Jessica and Skyka pull Chen and Lhi onto your dragons and tell your sky serpents to go back." Herrior finally said. Jessica and Skyka flew back and reached out with their hand and a magical forced grabbed Chen and Lhi, pulling them towards Skyka and Jessica.

"Go home and rest!" Jessica yelled pointing in the direction of the camp. The sky serpents slowly wiggled through the air back to camp.

"We've been having trouble with sprites in the area taking our food. My people have been practicing their fighting techniques on them." Chen said to Skyka who seemed uneasy about where to put his hands. Skyka reached back and grabbed them and put them around her waist. "Do you want us to go deal with these sprites?" Skyka then asked.

"No, I do not want to trouble you anymore." Chen said nervously. Skyka looked ahead and smiled.

"Let's go see if the alliance has landed on the south side of this piece of land again." Herrior said and then launched his dragon ahead at full speed, with the others in close pursuit. Chen and Lhi screamed in excitement as they accelerated to speeds they haven't experienced before in the air. Unlike the sky serpents who constantly moved to stay up in the air, these dragons had wings and produced enormous power with them. Chen was looking all around at the dragons, trying to understand them.

Soon Herrior stopped in midair and looked down. The alliance were indeed rebuilding with the help of these fish-like looking men.

"More Jinyu…helping the alliance no doubt. All I see are peons and workers though…where are the guards?" Herrior asked looking around. Herrior pulled out his mace and swooped down at what looked like the peon in charge. The peon looked up just in time for Herrior's mace to make solid contact with his face. The peon flew several yards backwards and lay dead. Herrior then jumped off his dragon and yelled, "Get off this land! You are not welcome here!" Then he let out a battle cry as all of the workers went scrambling for shelter. Herrior got back on his dragon and Mohania flew his carpet over several dwellings and rained down fire on them.

"Tell your leaders to leave this land! This is your last warning! If they have the courage to stand against us, tell them to meet us here and we will face off!" Herrior then pulled up on his dragon and flew away as the rest of Herrior's party followed.

They flew off into the Valley of the Four Winds. Chen looked down and felt something was wrong. "Look! Those Springtails are attacking! They are making off with our yeast, hops, and vegetables and wrecking our crops! Herrior we have to kill them!"

"Kill them we shall…" Herrior said and flew down towards the ground and jumped off his dragon.

"There are hundreds of them…" Branzer said starting to shoot as many as he could. They looked like vicious rabbit-looking vermin.

"Where did they come from Chen?" Herrior asked slamming his mace into several of them.

"The hills, to the north; they are destroying everything!" Chen said pulling out his staff and starting to attack as many as he could.

"Lindel – go back and get an army of humans and bring them back here. Strings see what you can do about luring them out into the open." Herrior said.

As Lindel created a portal, Strings struck up a tune that instantly caught the attention of all of the Springtails in audible range. They stopped what they were doing and looking at it in a hypnotized state.

"Don't destroy any of the crops! No 'aoe' attacks, single targeting only." Herrior called out.

Lindel went through her portal and quickly flung open the door in their arrival room and yelled out, "We need help – quickly!" A silent alarm was pressed and soldiers started filling in the station, grabbing weapons and suiting themselves up.

"Go through the portal in our room…quickly!" Lindel said in a hurried tone. Once fully equipped, nearly one hundred soldiers ran through the portal as Lindel followed behind them and closed the portal.

"Soldiers of Earth – do you see these Springtail rodents? Kill them all!" Herrior yelled out and then proceeded to swing at as many as he could. Shots filled the air immediately as the rodents were knocked backwards by the bullets, killing them instantly.

Minutes went by and all of the rodents he went to kill were instantly shot by the humans. Herrior looked back with pride. He then yelled out, "You know your targets now – split up into groups and kill as many as you can!" The soldiers immediately split themselves up into five groups and went off into a star formation.

"Who is killing my kin?" A large Springtail came hopping around a bin.

"I am! I am going to kill every last one of them, skin them, and feast on them tonight!" Herrior said making the large Springtail angry. Herrior charged at it as it motioned to come towards him. Herrior took several different swipes at the large creature and at the same time trying to deflect its attacks. Suddenly it became engulfed in fire. It screamed in pain, but continued to scratch wildly at Herrior. Several more spells and huge blasts brought the beast down.

"These things are everywhere!" A man shouted as he and his party of soldiers did their "one shot/one kill" technique.

"Control yourself! Everybody stop shooting!" Herrior quickly spun around and said noticing the high anger in his voice.

"We have to kill these things!" The men yelled and began to turn grey. All of the soldiers stopped firing and looked at him.

"You must stop him…quickly! The Sha has entered his body and is taking over his emotions!" Chen said urgently.

"Dispel him if you can Skyka." Herrior said quickly. Skyka shot her hand out and instantly the angry Sha came out of his body and fell to the ground. They began to slither a little before being dispatched by the soldiers.

"What…what happened?" The human soldier asked dropping his gun and looking at his hands.

"You let your anger get the best of you. Lindel – get them out of here…we don't need any more of you succumbing to your anger." Herrior said.

Lindel quickly opened a portal and the soldiers ran through.

Meanwhile Herrior noticed that the Springtail's were retreating at the sight of their dead leader. Herrior let out a ferocious battle shout and made the rest flee…for the time being.

"We'll have to come back later Chen, but I believe we have the majority of them killed. We'll come back later and kill the rest of them. Can you conduct your business without us?" Herrior asked.

"We will be fine. Killing the rest of these critters will enhance our skills. We will see you again soon." Chen said.

"Lindel make us a portal to Tranquil." Herrior said and minutes later they were back in Tranquil.

Almost as soon as they arrived an ambassador ran up to Dan and said that his mother requested to celebrate a "thanks of the giving" with him.

Dan smiled and said, "I'll go change into my regular clothes. May I take a leave of absence for awhile?"

"I do not see any problems with that. We are going to head back to Hawaii and spend some more time with George and his party." Herrior said.

"I am coming as well with you, right?" Crystal asked.

"The message was for Dan to come alone – we found it on her front door." The ambassador chimed in.

"That's odd…hopefully nothing is wrong." Crystal asked.

"Having her son home for a holiday – naw, what could go wrong? I'll be back soon." Dan said and kissed Crystal. He then went straight to the tailor and got his blue jeans and white tee-shirt, removed all of his armor and placed his hearthstone in his pocket. He walked back to say goodbye, but Herrior's party was already gone. He summoned another Chronomancer to portal him to his mother's house. Soon he was several streets away as the portal quickly closed. He looked around the neighborhood and sensed something was wrong. Everybody was looking out their windows and the streets were quiet. Suddenly something stuck him in the back. It was a needle shot from an air gun. The poison creeped into his body and he blacked out before he could acknowledge that he was under attack. A group of men dressed in all black with black ski masks quickly swooped in, placed a napkin over his mouth which was drenched in ether. Dan was out cold. A van pulled up, they jumped in and then sped off. His mother never knew what happened.


	37. Taken

Taken_6

Dan woke up enough to realize that he had been sleeping. His head was also hurting so he went to cast a quick healing spell but noticed that his hands were strapped down. His head, chest, and ankles were also strapped down to a bed. Dan heard some mumbling in a language he didn't recognize, and then his mind started processing the words. His sudden fear of being caught left when he realized he suddenly knew how to speak Russian.

"Ah…he is awake. Feeling well I am assuming?" A man walked over dressed in white.

"No…my head hurts, what is going on?" Dan asked.

"We will get you something for the pain…do you know what you name is?" The doctor asked with several government officials walking around him.

"Toucan Sam…look if we are going to do a circle jerk, I'm going to need a partner because I can't reach my penis." Dan said. The doctor laughed as he turned around and grabbed a syringe off from the table. He inserted it into a vial and started to pull back on the syringe when suddenly it exploded. The doctor jumped backwards in surprise as did the army personal as well.

"Now that's some funny shit…what do you say you unrestrain me and you and I can go a few rounds?" Dan asked with a smile. An army man reached down and slapped Dan's face.

"What is your name?" The man asked angrily.

"Pillsbury Dow Boy…if you touch my stomach I'll giggle…" Dan said turning his face back to the man.

"Get another vial! I want answers! You will make this boy talk or I will have you imprisoned!" The army man yelled at the doctor. He quickly ran over and got another vial.

"If he gets imprisoned – can we be cellmates?" Dan asked. Everybody slowly looked over at Dan.

"You speak Russian?" The man asked.

"You speak English? How about Japanese?" Dan asked with a smile.

"I will not stand here and be insulted…I want answers!" The man screamed at the doctor.

"Fine fine…yes, your wife told me your dick was too small – I promised to keep it a secret…" Dan said and was punched hard in his stomach. Dan winched in pain and then casted a healing spell on himself, healing himself completely. Then he casted a quick spell that immediately took away the affects of his medication he was doped up on.

"What were those words you just muttered?" The army man asked quickly.

"It had to do with your wife…and fisting her ass…" Dan said smiling back at him. The soldier went to punch him again but this time Dan was ready for it and casted his "Shamanistic Rage" – reducing the damage from his blow to his stomach. The man's hand hit what felt to him was solid rock as his middle knuckle cracked. He looked strangely at Dan as he pulled back his hand.

"Do it again!" Dan said excitedly with a big smile.

"Inject him with the serum!" The man ordered wrapping up his hand. The doctor stabbed the needle into his arm and injected the fluid. Dan let the fluid enter his body and then purged the poison from his system, transforming it into harmless water that dissolved slowly into his bloodstream.

"The affects should be immediate…" the doctor said cautiously as he backed away. Dan started to moan and pretend that he was feeling tired, but never completely closed his eyes.

"Good…now…what is your name?"

"Ashton Kutcher…and you've just been punk'd!" Dan said opening his eyes wide and struggled hard to move every part of him.

"Give him another dosage!" The man yelled.

"It…could be lethal…" the doctor replied.

"Naw I can handle it…in fact screw the needle part and just pour it down my throat." Dan said. The man looked like if he could have killed Dan just by looking at him he would have, he then screamed, "Double the dosage!"

"Triple it! Heck…make it a homerun!" Dan yelled back. The doctor walked back over and injected Dan again and Dan just rolled his eyes. Dan again quickly detoxed using his shaman magic. Everybody stared at him as Dan looked back and forth. "I love what you did with the place…I was expecting more of a torture chamber though…you know…medieval stuff." Dan then gasped really hard and tightened all of his muscles at the same time and grunted hard. This time the army man smiled at him and said, "Now…you will talk."

"Actually I have been talking…are you going to inject me with some more stuff?" Dan said letting out a sigh with a smile again. The man swore in Russian and ordered a drug that he had never heard of. The doctor quickly used the same syringe and filled it completely full.

"You know this is getting old…" Dan said and instantly everything in the room that had any water content in it instantly exploded. Everybody ducked as glass shards filled the air as deadly shrapnel.

When everything calmed down, everybody in the room slowly stood back up and looked at Dan.

"You do know I'm going to kill every single one of you…you do realize that don't you?" Dan asked with a straight face.

"How did you fly? What made you go so fast?" The army man stood up and slammed his fists down on his bed.

"Air" Dan replied.

"Isolation room! He will talk when he gets hungry!" The man yelled.

"I'm hungry right now…and I am talking, but if you are looking for answers you will never get them. I have people looking for me right now, and when they find me they will rip your heart out and make you eat it before you die!" Dan said threatening them.

"Nobody is coming! Nobody knows you are gone! You will talk! You will be begging me to talk!"

"Oh people know I'm gone…I assure you of that, and when you lay down with your wife tonight…make sure the windows are closed and the doors are locked." Dan said with a smile as his bed was wheeled out of the room and into a hallway by some guards. More guards met up with him and he figured there were six total.

"Can we go to the pool?" Dan asked keeping up his spirits. Suddenly he had an idea. He closed his eyes and commanded the air around him to carry the sounds of everybody talking into his ears. He kept them closed until they went down three flights of stairs, down several corridors and then into a jail cell. The jail was slammed shut behind him and two guards stood guard.

"Newcomer huh?" It was a female voice.

"Hush…I can hear the whispers in the wind…" Dan said.

"Probably the drugs…my name is Katelyn, why are you…"

"Shut…up…" Dan said empathizing his words.

The room fell silent. He could hear several elements talking to him, enough to tell him more about his surroundings than he could see. Dan then heard the sounds of the guards breathing…the air going in and out of their lungs. Dan started to concentrate and suddenly all of the air rushed out of their lungs. They quickly dropped their weapons put their hands around their necks. More and more air was being pulled from their throats as they tried desperately to breathe in air.

"What the hell?" Katelyn asked looking over at the commotion. "Somebody help!" she screamed.

When help did arrive, they found the two guards dead – their heads completely blue and parts of their esophagus and throat pulled out of their mouths.

"So who's next on guard duty? Huh? Who's it going to be?" Dan asked excitedly.

"Did you do this?" A guard asked. He had the voice of authority.

"Yes…I escaped from being tied down in this bed…killed them…and then tied myself back down really quick." Dan said.

"Get them out of here!" The man yelled. "It will be awhile until you get any piss breaks my friend…" and they all marched away.

"What…the hell…just happened?" Katelyn asked absolutely terrified.

"Got me…I was just lying here staring at the ceiling. So how's life? Here to interrogate me?" Dan asked.

"No? What do you mean how is life? I'm fucking trapped in a prison and I'm going to die here!"

"Cool…we got that in common – you see we are bonding already. But I don't like the foul language…how about you use the words 'happy bunny at the zoo' instead? Also…you are lying." Dan said.

"Yeah…I want to be here…I want to be trapped in a cell with a person that can kill people by simply thinking about it…that makes me feel real safe!" Katelyn yelled at him.

"That would make me feel uncomfortable as well…so tell me about your childhood." Dan said.

She paused for a second and then screamed for help. She started banging her fists on the bars and screamed for her life. No help came. After ten exhausting minutes of it, she quickly moved back over to the far end of the cell and sat down, just staring at Dan.

"Did anybody come? You're going to have to be my eyes because I can't see." Dan said.

"Who are you? You are going to kill me…just like you killed them…aren't you?" Katelyn asked.

"Whoa hunny slow down…we just met – no need to jump to conclusions. How about a game of twenty questions? I'll go first…you are lying to me, why?" Dan asked.

"About what? Being stuck here? I've been here for eight damn months! Eight months!"

"Liar…" Dan said interrupting her.

"I am not! How do you even know?"

"The air that comes out of your throat changes when you lie. The more you talk, the more I get to know – or we could go a different direction, the more you breathe…the less air you take in." Dan said and smiled. Katelyn shut right up.

Hours passed and Dan actually started to doze off when Katelyn said "Who are you?"

Dan let out a yawn and said, "Obviously I'm not going to tell you, and you are obviously not going to tell me your real name. First chance I get, I'm going to kill everybody in here" and suddenly a hush whoosh of wind flew through the hallway and slammed hard into the opposite door.

"Tad breezy in here…you'd think that they would keep a window shut." Dan said.

"Did you do that?" Katelyn asked.

"I did fart…sorry I hope it doesn't linger." Dan answered. He started slamming his right hand hard back and forth and up down. She let out a shriek, but Dan ignored her. Dan finally got his hand in the right position and grabbed the rope restraining him and ignited it on fire. Dan lifted up his right hand into the hand and Katelyn let out a very loud scream.

"Will you shut up?" Dan asked as he removed the head restraint and looked down at her. She looked like she had been kept in here for eight months actually. She looked up at him terrified, this was genuine. Dan then said, "Shut your eyes and turn around."

"Are you going to kill me?" Katelyn asked.

"I will if you don't!" Dan said shooting his head as far forward as he could. She shrieked and turned around. Dan burned through the rest of the ropes and freed himself. Dan then slammed the bed against the wall beside her and she screamed again. Quickly Dan looked around and saw two cameras. He held up both hands, and they burst into flame. Then more looking around he saw that there were other cellmates in here with him. They didn't say anything though.

"So much for isolation…" Dan said aloud. He turned around and saw Katelyn crying in the corner. "Oh, sorry about that – I almost hit you with the bed. Here let me help you up." Dan reached down and touched her and she shrieked, scaring Dan.

"Sheesh…calm down woman. I'll go back on the bed if it'll make you feel better." Dan said pulling the bed away from the wall. He jumped up on it and sat cross-legged waiting for somebody to come to fix the cameras. He felt his senses overwhelming his elemental forces feeding him information so he slowly closed his eyes and began to listen to the air. The room he was in wasn't air tight and the air carried information to his ears. He smiled as he listened in.

"The boy won't talk…Rebecca is scared shitless in there – we have to pull her out! He's already killed two soldiers and we lost all communication with what's happening."

"Patience…she is the best we have. She will befriend him and we will get what we want."

"And if we don't are we going to leave her in there when we pump gas in the room?"

"We are not going to lose one of our best Nazi negotiators…besides the gas doesn't have any long term affects. He'll break way before then."

"Are we going to send in more soldiers?"

"And have their lungs sucked out of their stomachs like the others? Word is spreading about this operation and that needs to stop – I have already made preparations to have this completed. Give it time…you will be back with your wife in no time…"

Dan moved his eyes over to the right of him and made his smile bigger. He continued to listen for more words the air blew in, but didn't hear anything relevant.

Dan then opened his eyes and looked up. He saw a sprinkler system. He stood up on his bed and touched the pipe running into his cell. He felt the water in the pipe and asked for its help.

"What are you doing?" Katelyn asked.

"Shut up…Rebecca!" Dan snapped at her.

"My name is Katelyn." Rebecca said.

"Your husband is worried about your well-being. You are the best Nazi interrogator they have. You aren't lying about some things…you are scared of me – and so you should be. They are not going to send in any more soldiers and they are debating whether or not to leave you in here when they gas this place." Dan said.

Rebecca knew her cover was blown. She was now more truly terrified then before, and her face showed it. Dan simply smiled at her and then closed his eyes and concentrated.

The next hour he held the pipe gathering information. He then sat back down and said, "I know now how to get out of this place, kill all of you, and expose to the world who you really are. The longer I am kept here…the more powerful I become. Enough bullshit…where is my stone?"

"What stone?" Rebecca asked.

"I was captured with a stone in my pocket…where is my stone?" Dan asked again jumping off from bed.

"I don't know anything about a stone…" Rebecca said quickly.

"Fine…then give me another stone." Dan said.

"Why?" Rebecca asked curiously and then realized that her cover had been blown and her own survival was more important now. She looked around the room and couldn't find any.

"I like stones. That was my favorite skipping stone…bastard Nazi's… So anyways why are you a Nazi? I thought all of you scum-sucking bastards were jailed or killed when Adolf killed himself?" Rebecca started to say something but Dan interrupted her, "You know it's funny…the dumb bastard was on the verge of taking over the world and he sent out expeditions to find, quote 'mythical artifacts' for his, quote, 'mythical army'…he was looking in all of the wrong places. Males with blonde hair and blue eyes doesn't make you stronger…it makes you a, quote 'look-alike'…that way you can tell how many of your soldiers you have…you just look for the hair and the eyes. He had it all wrong you know…" Dan said getting interrupted.

"We know, and he did find several artifacts – but our scientists couldn't figure out how to turn them on. We intercepted an American transmission about a flying man racing a jet and winning…you were going what…seven times the sound barrier?" Rebecca asked.

"You see…we are bonding now, and I think it was only mach 6.2…I forget. You want me to activate the objects don't you?" Dan asked.

Rebecca paused for a second unsure what to say, so she said the first thing that came out of her mouth "Yes".

"Fine I'll activate them, but why all of the supposed torture, drugs, kidnapping…you aren't going to figure me out and have no machine capable of even reading any type of response out of my brain." Dan said.

"You've broken all of our electronics so far, besides without your cooperation we couldn't influence Russia to accept our regime again." Rebecca said.

"Let's say you take over the world…like those have in the past have done and tried, then what? Peace, love and harmony? We both know that isn't true. If you do succeed, how long until your society breaks down – even if you enforce your laws with an iron fist? Look at history, big armies fell apart from within; huge fortified castles and cities fell from within…are you looking for revenge?" Dan asked.

"You wouldn't understand, can I ask you a question and get a truthful answer?" Rebecca asked.

"Shoot"

"How do you know Russian?"

"I don't…at least I didn't think I did, I never took a class on foreign language that I've ever completed without cheating. The answer to your question though is…we could be talking in Russian right now and I wouldn't even know it." Dan said. Rebecca saw that he was serious.

"Are you a type of God?" Rebecca asked.

"Type? As far as I know there is only one and his 'type' rules from Heaven…he probably doesn't like to be classified as a 'type' either…so take me to these artifacts and I'll show you how to work them and all will be right with the world." Dan said.

"You aren't going to activate them…are you?" Rebecca asked.

"I will if I can…but since I'm going to kill all of you it won't matter." Dan said shrugging his shoulders and hopping down off the bed.

"What are you?" Rebecca asked.

"Who am I…what am I…where am I…when am I…dang I forgot the last one – or why am I…are those the questions you are supposed to get out of me?" Dan asked.

Rebecca hesitated and was unsure what to say next.

"Ok…so I'll take that as a yes. Those are the questions most reporters ask…then they ask dumbass questions looking for juicy gossip – oh interesting fact, did you know that eighty percent of quotes are quoted wrong or taken out of context?" Dan asked.

"Really?" Rebecca asked.

"No I have no idea…I just pulled that number out of the air…but I do know most of them only report what they want or think is interesting. So…what do you have to report so far? Let me guess, 'This man is the next Houdini, has Vulcan hearing, and you suspect that he isn't going to cooperate and is planning on killing all of us.' – Something like that? Well one of two things is going to happen…I'm either going to die in here, and good luck with that…or I am going to kill all of you, which I already have set my plan into motion.

"How are you going to kill us?" Rebecca asked.

"It'll be different for each person, some will die slowly and painfully, some will drown, some will suffocate, some will kill each other, and some will just suddenly die with large objects suddenly shoved in their chest – why do you ask?" Dan asked smiling.

"I don't want to die." Rebecca said softly.

"Aww…sweet child, I know…but you will – you will die with the rest of them and your entire regime will fall. I'm assuming it's safe to assume you heard my conversation when they tried to drug me. I do have people coming for me that will level this entire area faster than a nuclear blast and I will be swept away with wings…all I have to do is give the signal, but so far this entertains me and the more information I get out of you and those whose voices carry on the winds of the air, the more I will learn about you, yours spies, your outposts – so I will be able to kill every last one of you. Do you need a hug?" Dan asked holding out his hands.

Rebecca paused in shock. She didn't know what to think now. She knew she was in way over her head and probably nobody else would believe her. She would be labeled a traitor if she said what Dan just said. Rebecca looked at the video recorders and saw that they were burned and pieces of hot plastic were still dripping. She looked back at Dan, his head tilted slightly as if sincere about a hug. She looked at where the guards were killed and saw the blood marks and remembered their gasps for air. Dan wasn't the prisoner in here…she was – and she was sentenced for death. Rebecca's face turned white as she swallowed hard.

"Come on…what's a hug going to hurt? I mean it's not like I'm going to squeeze the life out of somebody who was put in here to gain my trust to betray me." Dan said still holding out his hands and smiled a friendly smile at her.

Rebecca raced to the cells and began yelling, "He knows! He knows everything! Let me out! For God's sake let me out! He's going to kill me! Let me out!"

"Don't take God's name in vain…" Dan said quietly as Rebecca kept yelling. This time though several guards did open the door and came rushing in. Dan let his hands down and folded them in his lap. The guards raised their guns at Dan's head as the guards quickly opened the door and pulled Rebecca out quickly and slammed the door behind her.

"Have you ever gone to the zoo and wondered if the animals knew that they were on the wrong side of the cages?" Dan asked looking at Rebecca. He then tilted his head slightly and said, "Are you on the wrong side of the cage? Do you really feel safer out there? Two died and I didn't even look at them…you have your guns pointing at me as if I were a caged animal ready to pounce. If I wanted you to stay here, you wouldn't be where you are right now. Take my last piece of advice – run. Run far and fast away from this place, but…in the end…will that really help?" Dan asked.

"Shoot him." An army officer said.

Time stopped.

Dan casually got off the bed, pulled one of the guns away from the guard and pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger. A bullet came out, but froze in time as soon as it left. He did this with the rest of the officers except for Rebecca. He then took the soldiers hands and put the gun back in them as if nothing happened. He hopped back on the bed and cleared his throat.

Time resumed.

Loud shots rang out as all of the soldiers fell dead before Rebecca. Rebecca ran backwards and tripped over herself terrified. She looked up at Dan who smiled and gave her a friendly wave. She then looked back down at the dead soldiers, got up on her feet and did the smartest thing she had ever done…she ran as fast as she could.

Dan reached down and pulled the dead soldier forward with the keys and quickly unlocked himself. He pushed the cell door open and gathered up all of the guns and ammunition. He had to find his hearthstone…and what about these other artifacts? Dan raised one of his seven automatic rifles and fired it towards Rebecca. The bullet whizzed by her and flew through the door in front of her. She screamed and dropped to the ground. Dan then ran up behind her and said, "Fast as fast can be…I still need thee…"

"Let me go…please…" Rebecca pleaded.

"Mmm…no, get up on your feet. Take me to these artifacts." Dan said.

"I don't have clearance…" Rebecca said putting her hands up.

"Then I don't need you anymore…" Dan said and he pointed the cold steel barrel into the back of her head.

"I…can get clearance – but they are under heavily guarded. You'll never get to them." Rebecca said.

"You let me worry about that. You worry about getting me there. Get up and let's get going." Dan said pulling away the gun. He sensed a change in the air and instinctively stopped time.

Time stopped.

Dan turned around and saw the opposite side of the cell room had been opened. Dan made the long run down the hallway to the dozens of fresh guards coming in. He grabbed the first guard's gun and put it to their heads and pulled the trigger as the bullet flew out and stopped in midair. He then crawled between them and saw dozens more behind them. Knowing that there were going to be several waves, he had to put one of his plans into action. He held up the rifle, aimed it at all of the soldiers and pulled the trigger once. The gun ran out of bullets so he tossed it aside and pulled out another one of his rifles and finished firing the bullets. Once done he started looking for explosive devices, but he couldn't find any grenades or sticks of dynamite. They weren't even carrying any hand to hand weapons.

Dan looked around the room and found a chair. He dragged it over to one of the water sprinklers. He put hand around it and felt the super heated piped and ordered the magma to erupt in this room. Quickly he jumped off the chair as the pipe began to melt and then froze in time. Dan crawled back through the maze of people that were soon to meet their death, and caught back up to Rebecca.

Time resumed.

Explosions occurred and all of the Nazi's were instantly killed, at the same time magma began to poor into the room. Rebecca let out a scream again, but Dan pulled her to her feet and ran through the room in front of them. Several guards looked at them confused as Dan sprayed them with bullets. Dan threw Rebecca forward and said, "Take me to the artifacts!"

"They are in the core, follow the blue lines." Rebecca said pointing to the blue lines on the wall and broken lines on the floor.

"Let's go then."

"I don't want to die!" Rebecca said in near terror.

"Get me these artifacts and I won't kill you." Dan promised.

"I don't believe you!" Rebecca replied.

"I could have killed you at any time…still can, but I haven't. I'll give you a running chance to get out of here before it erupts." Dan said.

"No – take me with you." Rebecca said knowing that she didn't stand a chance in running out of here.

"You have a deal – I will do the best that I can to keep you alive, but only if you take me there…now!" Dan yelled. Rebecca knelt down as Dan's rifle followed her. She ripped off several ID badges and then ran in the direction of the blue lines, Dan followed behind her. He knew he had scared her bad enough now to trust her.

They turned a corridor and saw two soldiers standing at attention with their rifles. Dan slowed time way down, pulled out his rifle, took aim and fired. Dan then resumed time at its normal flow as the guards dropped dead in front of them, Rebecca letting out another shriek.

"Let's go…" Dan said. Rebecca composed herself quickly and ran up to the elevator.

"This will take us to the bottom floor…"

"Which has enormous tanks of water, both of sewage and clean water, water that is also used to generate your nuclear reactor…what you don't know is lava in the ground is rushing up and has already penetrated your building. If we are going to survive, I suggest you push your little buttons!" Dan finished her sentence and the pointed behind him. Rebecca looked and saw molten lava slowly move forward, burning everything in its path. "Oh my…" Dan quickly put his hand over Rebecca's mouth, "Don't finish that sentence! Move!" Rebecca quickly turned around and swiped the badge, gaining access to the elevator and pushing the down button. The elevator opened right away and they rushed in. Rebecca pushed the "Reactor Room" button and the doors quickly closed. The elevator wasted no time as it went down. Dan started humming along to the elevator music and keeping time with it tapping his foot.

"You're profile said you only knew English…yet you speak with a perfect accent – how?" Rebecca asked.

"Best I can figure is I was given the gift of hearing it in my own voice. I'm part of a group of people called the 'Guardian Angels'. You wouldn't believe half of the stuff that suddenly comes into my head to ensure I get out of certain situations…you wouldn't believe it because I don't understand it myself. My guess is when I am done with this mission, I'll have lost the ability, and not recognize a word of it. Let me ask you a question now. This is Russia, where are all of the bears riding on unicycles?" Dan asked.

Rebecca tried to understand all that he said and only came up with "What?" Their floor "dinged" and the elevators opened. Dan motioned for her to go first. They stepped out into a large open room that Dan had anticipated. Huge water containers were in the middle of the room spinning water around. He also recognized several other places the water had told him about, including high pressure super-heated pipes.

"Down there…in that room." Rebecca said.

"Ok. Well now you have two choices, run and hope you make it out of here ok and hope that you can jump over molten rock – or come with me and hold me to my promise." Dan said.

"I'm free?" Rebecca asked and then suddenly shook her head, "Let's go. There are minimal guards down here, so there is no need to go killing everybody you see." Rebecca said walking by her and to a flight of stairs.

"No…I have a friend that will do that for me…" Dan said following Rebecca. She turned around expecting somebody to be beside him but didn't see anybody.

"Go" Dan said running up behind her.

"Hey! Hey – you can't be down here!" A scientist in a white coat said and then saw the barrel of the automatic rifle pointing at him. He quickly put his hands up.

"I have a special guest pass." Dan said. He then pointed his gun up into the air and let off a shot, and several people screamed to turn around to see what happened.

"Listen up pieces of shit…this elemental is going to guard all of you." Dan said and then reached out his hand as a fire elemental rose from the floor and sprouted hands – standing over twelve feet tall. Several more screams of terror and people dropping things could be heard.

"I see what he sees. If any of you try to be a hero he'll do this…" Dan said as the elemental held up his hand and a fireball flew from it, engulfing the scientist who was talking to him. The scientist only had a couple of seconds to scream until his body burned up, falling to the ground.

"Learn by example…if any of you do anything stupid – you'll die a slower death!" Dan screamed out above everybody else. Dan reached over and grabbed Rebecca's arm and pulled her up off her feet.

"What the hell are you?" Rebecca said with huge questioning eyes.

"And they sent you to get into my head…let's go!" Dan yelled at her.

Rebecca ran forward with Dan right behind her and pointed to several air tight rooms. She tried several keys but they wouldn't let her in. Dan summoned an earth elemental and pulled Rebecca aside as the massive elemental slammed his fist into the door, sending it flying inside. Dan ran in and looked at a green glowing orb.

"What is this?" Dan asked.

"What is that?" Rebecca asked looking at the earth elemental. It turned around and slammed his fist into his hand.

"I asked first, and he's pissed off." Dan said looking it over.

"It's an orb of some kind. It gives off tremendous amounts of electricity, but overloads anything it touches after ten minutes." Rebecca said. Dan realized he didn't have his armor and therefore didn't have his pockets that held enormous amounts of things by shrinking them…or whatever they do. He also realized he was almost butt-ass naked.

"Here…" Rebecca said tossing him a bag. Dan quickly picked it up and dropped it in the bag.

"The next one is a dagger that kills anybody it touches." Rebecca said as she heard the shriek of another person engulfed in fire and burning to death.

"Don't do anything and it won't kill you!" Dan yelled out again. He turned around and said, "Idiots…open this for me." The earth elemental slammed open the door and suddenly the cackle of a demon could be heard. The earth elemental quickly engaged it as Dan rushed in and dropped a fire totem that launched fireballs at it. Dan quickly began to cast a spell and held out his hand as a lightning bolt shot out of it and hit the demon.

After a short battle the demon burned up and Dan grabbed the dagger. He felt the power surge through his body. "Holy shit…where did you find this?"

"I don't know…I don't go on the expeditions, do you want the next couple of one's or what?" Rebecca said.

"Pushy…" Dan said smiling. Dan gripped the dagger as his earth elemental slammed another door open. This time it was a necklace. The next was a solid black rock, and lastly was a ring. Dan put the necklace and ring on, and put the rock in his bag.

"Is that it?" Dan asked.

"As far as I know…I swear!" Rebecca said.

"There's more here…I can feel the power. Hold on for just a minute." Dan said and crossed his legs sitting on the floor. He slowly began to hover into the air with air pushing down from him. A minute later he found three more items.

"Got it…let's go." Dan said unfolding his legs and placing them back on the ground again.

"Should I even ask how you were able to levitate off from the ground?" Rebecca asked running alongside of him.

"You can, but you wouldn't understand. Wait right here." Dan said pulling her to a stop. The earth elemental waited as well, as if guarding her. Dan ran up to a wall and knelt down at its side. He placed a hand on the ground and closed his eyes. The ground suddenly began to shake hard and rock columns rose from the ground, destroying the wall. It exposed a whole other huge room. Dan called back the rock columns and said, "Let's go".

"What the…I was never told about this I swear…" Rebecca looked around in awe.

"What are you doing here?" Several guards screamed out.

Time stopped.

"I don't have time for this…elementals come to me! Earth – grab a rock and shatter that inner glass tube in the middle of the room. Fire take the guards on the right…burn them all up!" Dan commanded. The fire elemental turned into a fireball and flew towards him at enormous speeds and then grew its legs and arms getting to work. Dan knelt down and pointed the rifle at the guards and started letting off bullet after bullet until the gun was empty. He tossed it aside and pulled out another. It only had five bullets in it; after he used it up he tossed that one away as well. With only two automatic rifles left he decided to save them and ordered his fire elemental to kill the rest.

Meanwhile the earth elemental finally managed to shatter the glass. It returned to Dan waiting for its next order. Dan ran up and grabbed an umbrella, a spear, and an ancient gown in perfect condition. Dan then tried to pick up Rebecca and remembered he wasn't wearing his armor. There was no way he was lifting her, and there was still no sign of his hearthstone. "Herrior would be mad if I lost my hearthstone." The earth elemental held open his hand and exposed the hearthstone in his hand.

"And just when were you going to tell me you had it?" Dan asked. It just shrugged its shoulders and smiled.

"Where was it?" Dan asked and the earth elemental pointed in on the ground next to the shattered glass. Dan quickly rubbed it and a portal of Herrior appeared.

"Hi Dan…how is your vacation?" Herrior asked casually.

"I've been taken prisoner; I need a portal out of here quickly!" Dan said near desperation.

"What?" Herrior asked suddenly concerned. He turned to Lindel and said, "Open a portal to Dan, quickly!" A portal instantly formed and began to grow.

"Herrior, I just need Lindel right now. I am going to lay waste to this land and kill everybody within it…oh just a second." Dan said.

Time resumed.

"What the hell?" Rebecca screamed and jumped in surprise as everybody died.

"I made a promise…" Dan said.

"Let me guess…it's the woman that just screamed…" Herrior said.

"People are screaming and dying…and I'm sitting here not causing it?" Mohania asked clearly upset. Herrior turned around and waved him away.

"What's your plan?" Herrior asked.

"Take these for me…Skyka will probably know what they are. The dagger was guarded by a demon." Dan said and tossed everything through the portal.

"Ok we got them. Trackolania grabbed the dagger before Skyka could get to it." Herrior said looking away.

"Send Lindel through, we need to finish this. I will speak to you later." Dan said closing the portal and motioned to put his hearthstone away but only touched his naked side.

"Why don't you give your prisoners clothes?" Dan yelled at Rebecca.

"Who's your friend?" Lindel asked closing the portal behind her.

"Rebecca…she lied to me a lot, but I promised I wouldn't kill her." Dan explained quickly.

"I will then…" Lindel said walking up to her.

"Later…let's get out of here." Dan said waving Lindel over to him. Lindel flicked her hair at her and walked over to Dan and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Here's the deal…you either come over and hang on to me or die here." Dan said. Rebecca quickly ran over and grabbed a hold of Dan the same way Lindel did.

"Going up?" Lindel asked. Dan closed his eyes and began to concentrate. The room suddenly exploded with magma. Dan lifted them into the air and as the ceiling began to give way, they flew up. Lindel produced a shield over the three of them as they flew through crumbling floor after floor. Lava erupted below them and began following them upwards, filling all of the floors quickly. Rebecca tried to scream but found that she couldn't.

The three of them shot out of the underground complex as lava erupted up from it.

"Come on…give me more than that!" Dan yelled out. Suddenly an enormous earthquake shook everybody on the ground violently and a huge gusher of lava flew out of it.

"That's better…" Dan said moving them out of the way. The three of them watched until the entire complex sunk into the ground with lava constantly spewing out. Dan turned them parallel with the ground and shot forward as fast as he could.

"When we are over the ocean, open a portal and get us out of here." Dan said in his mind.

"Will do hun" Lindel responded back. Dan pushed harder and harder, moving the air out in front of them and pushing tremendous amount of wind behind them. They flew through towns, farms, wooded areas in the blink of an eye. The ocean was coming up and Lindel held out her hand. She prepared a portal that was moving with them and then started funneling her power into it. Once over the ocean they flew through it and came out over Hawaii, the portal instantly closing behind them and letting out a deafening "Bang". George's party all ducked and looked up in the sky as Dan flew over to the sand and landed.

"Is this the prisoner?" Mohania asked walking up and pointing to Lindel.

"You're an idiot…" Lindel said walking up to him and kissed him on the cheek and said, "But I love you anyways."

"There was a setup, is my mother alright?" Dan asked quickly.

"I'll check…what do we do with her?" Herrior asked rubbing his hearthstone.

"I said I wouldn't kill her." Dan said.

"I hear you loud and clear…" Mohania said engulfing himself in fire and walking over to her.

"никакая остановка пожалуйста" Rebecca said holding out her hands and backing away. She pointed at Dan and said, "Я помог Дэну, пожалуйста не убивайте меня!"

Mohania stopped and looked at Dan and said, "huh?"

"I don't understand her anymore either." Dan said and turned to Herrior. "Herrior, I understand Russian…I understood it clear as day, now I don't know a word she is saying."

"She is begging for her life." One of George's people came up to Dan and Herrior.

"Interesting…" Herrior said smiling and then went back to his conversation with the ambassador trying to get information on Dan's mother.

"Английский язык?" Rebecca asked.

"Он не понимает Вас больше." The lady that came up to Dan and Herrior said back to her. Rebecca looked terrified now more than ever. All hope was taken away from her. She fell to her knees and started to cry.

"What did you tell her?" Dan asked.

"You don't understand her anymore. All hope of her living is gone and she is scared. What should I tell her?" The lady translator asked.

"Tell her to live out her days on this island and do not ever leave it. If she even goes out on a boat, she will be eaten by the fish in the sea." Dan said. The lady translator thought for a second, processing all of the information and then said, "Вы собираетесь переживать остальную часть ваших дней на этом острове. Если Вы будете пробовать убежать, даже лодкой, то Вы будете убиты."

Rebecca nodded slowly and looked up at Dan. Dan didn't return any signs of sympathy and turned away from her. "Party is about over isn't it Herrior?" Dan asked.

"It is…your mother is fine. We had a scout confirm it. What about the people that planned this kidnapping?" Herrior asked.

"Burned in lava, let's get things back to normal. Lindel if you would please?" Dan asked. Lindel smiled as she opened a portal and said, "Last call for home…everybody through."

Everybody gathered up their belongings and arrived back at the warehouse that they first came from.

"Take care of your stuff and then get back here, quickly! I want to know how the Russians were able to kidnap Dan and we didn't know anything about it. Party is over folks, I want some answers!" George said.

"We need to relocate your mother…and you need your armor and weapons. Lindel take us to Tranquil." Herrior said. Once in Tranquil Dan quickly put his armor back on and felt his power return to him. Dan said he was ready after he twirled his maces and put them at his side. Skyka had given the artifacts Dan had found to a guard to deliver to the engineers to have them looked at.

"Open a portal inside of his mother's house. Trackolania, stealth us so we don't frighten her. Somebody knows about her and I want to know who." Herrior said touching his trinket and turning into his "Black Ops" outfit, as the others did the same. Lindel created a small portal and saw her in the living room. She pulled her head back out and shook her head.

"Try the backyard." Dan said. Lindel dissolved the portal and opened a small one in the backyard. She didn't sense anybody so she enlarged the portal and everybody went through.

Dan walked up to the backdoor and knocked.

"There are three people in the house." Lindel said quickly before Quinely could.

"Fall back Dan." Herrior said as he disappeared from sight in Trackolania's blanket of stealth that he made.

A man with a pistol answered the door. Veliline reached out her hand and yanked him out of the doorway and stood in front of her for a second before her axe dispatched of him. Herrior then looked at him and touched his trinket taking on his look. He picked up his gun and raced back into the house. Herrior turned around and signaled for the rest to follow.

"Who was it?" Another man asked.

"Some kid…" Herrior said back casually walking through the house with his gun.

"Selling boy scout cookies or something?" One of the men said with a smile. Herrior nodded as the other man walked into the room. He was an alliance.

"So how much longer until we hear from the Russians?" Herrior asked.

"Patience…you don't know what we are dealing with." The alliance man snapped back.

"Patience…something I have just run out of." Herrior said throwing the gun aside and pulled out his weapons and charged the alliance, knocking him down. The gun fire erupted quickly dispatching of him as Dan charged at the other man and casted a frost shock spell on him. It chilled him to the bone, making it very difficult to run away. Dan then casually hit him hard over the back of the head with his hand. The man fell to the ground as Dan's boot met his ribs very hard. Dan then put his maces away and flipped the man over and held his hand to his chest, restraining him from moving.

"Lindel if you would my dear? Also…make it hurt…" Dan said bitterly. Lindel dematerialized into her body into tiny little stars and pushed herself hard inside of his body. The man screamed in pain and tried to desperately to move.

"Mohania…there is a corpse in the backyard that doesn't need to be there. Trackolania search this house for traps. Quinely are there anybody else in the area that needs to be dealt with?" Herrior asked calling out orders.

"Who are these men?" Dan's mom asked scared.

"We were hoping you could tell us that. What happened?" Herrior asked.

"These men came into my house and held me hostage ever since. They set a trap for my children – I was so afraid." Dan's mom said. Dan shot a quick glance at his mother in shock.

"When are my sisters and brothers coming in for the holidays?" Dan asked fearing the worst but not showing emotion in his voice.

His mom looked shocked by the question and started fumbling her words. "Your sisters are at their Grandma's, and your brothers are with their dad."

Dan's shoulders dropped in severe sadness. "Herrior…that is not my mother." He said.

Herrior drew his weapons and shoved her hard against the wall. Herrior put his shield in front of him and charged his body into the woman, smashing her hard against the wall.

"Who are you?" Herrior demanded. The woman's body began to have convulsions as a demon came out which quickly turned to fire as it left. The woman then fell unconscious on the ground.

"Skyka?" Herrior asked backing away. Skyka ran up and began to heal her body, but before she could get a spell off, the woman's body dissolved into its skin, exposing only dry dusty bones.

"I have no idea how that happened." Skyka said bewildered. Just then an alien body fell down from the top floor, its head severed from its body. Trackolania sudden reappeared in front of Herrior and dropped several dozen mechanical devices. Herrior lifted his hoof about ready to smash them when Branzer yelled out, "Wait! Don't!" Herrior looked over at Branzer with his hoof still in the air.

"We can trace them back to who made them – should be a simple task for George's people.

Herrior then hopped around on his one foot and over to the alien head and smashed it instead. "No use in letting a good smashing go to waste…"

"What happened to my mother?" Dan asked in sadness looking at the man that Lindel was in.

"He doesn't know Dan, he's a paid mercenary." Lindel said using her voice making the man's lips move.

"No…he must know…where is my mother?" Dan said getting angry. Branzer gathered up the electronic bugs and put them in his bags before anything happened to him. Lindel flew out of the man's body as Dan drew one of his maces and smashed his skull open like an over-ripened watermelon. Dan then picked up the body and threw it against Herrior. Herrior raised his shield as it bounced off.

"Oops…shit! Herrior I didn't mean…"

"It's ok. Branzer what is the range on those little devices?" Herrior said lowering his shield.

"Who knows…Herrior if its alien technology it could span the universe." Branzer said.

"Lindel? Is that…is that my mother?" Dan asked pointing to the dried up skeleton on the floor. Lindel walked over and gently touched it. She couldn't get a reading either way.

"I don't know Dan." Lindel said.

Dan let off a scream in anger that filled the house.

"A black van just sped off!" Quinely said in her bird form sitting on top of the house to Lindel.

"Herrior – Lindel just reported a black van suddenly pulling away at top speed." Lindel reported.

"Tell Quinely to go get it!" Herrior ordered back. A loud high pitched scream came from Quinely's beak as she flew hard and fast after the van.

"Lindel – you and Mohania say here and clean up this mess…" Herrior said trying to figure out how to open the door with the locks on it. Dan ran up to it and smashed it with his mace and took off running. Herrior rushed to catch up with him.

Quinely caught up with the van and morphed into her bear form, slamming down hard on the van's ceiling. Quinely then tore it open with her large claws. The van swerved back and forth trying to shake the large bear that appeared out of nowhere. It was no use though, Quinely got in the van and started thrashing around, giving everybody deep lacerations and spilling their guts out of them. She then lunged for the driver and sunk her teeth into his neck and the back of the chair. The driver slammed on the brake and tried desperately to get the teeth off from his neck. The passenger jumped out of the truck and Quinely let go as she morphed into her cat form and chased after him, pinning him to the ground.

"Don't kill him!" Dan yelled out.

Quinely stood over him with her claws dug into his arms and her teeth snapping at his face. Dan finally caught up to the man and grabbed him by his throat and said, "Where is my mother?"

"The woman disappeared…we were sent to investigate what was happening in that house…" The man said.

"Oops." Quinely said morphing back into a human. She quickly ran into the van and started healing all of the people that she could. Her mana ran out, but it stabilized everybody.

Herrior caught up and said, "You have some speed on you Dan…" with a smile.

"The man claims to have been investigating my house. They have information on where she is. Quinely is inside the van healing everybody right now." Dan said.

Herrior walked over and slammed his fists into the side door and ripped it completely off the van, then tossed it away. "If you want to live…you will start talking…" Herrior said.

"Who…what are you people?" A man asked.

"You'll be the first to die!" Herrior said pulling out his mace and slamming it on the ground between his feet, ripping apart the metal as if it was paper.

"She left…they took her." Another man said.

"Who?" Herrior screamed at him.

"The aliens…I know you probably don't believe me…" the man said.

"Shut up! Where is the ship now?" Herrior demanded to know.

"We don't know. We were told to bug the house and send in our best men."

"Your best men were keeping an alien alive in that house! Your best men killed the other two! What exactly categorizes one of your men to be the best?" Herrior screamed at them. They all looked dumbfounded.

"Idiots! All of you! Don't move!" Herrior yelled at them.

Herrior got out of the van and established contact with Admiral on his hearthstone. He was driving at the time and decided to pull over.

"Dan's mother was taken by these aliens…we have a group of men and women claiming that they were monitoring the house. I want them detained and interrogated!" Herrior said.

"No problem. We're not setup for torture, but let me make some calls. I will meet you at the station." Admiral said as Herrior closed the portal.

"Shit!" Admiral said slamming his fists on the steering wheel. He got out his encrypted cell phone and waited for it to do its thing. He then spoke with his soldiers that were doing his job for him.

"You want what? That isn't legal…sir."

"Half of the shit we do isn't legal…do it!" Admiral said slamming the "end call" button. He then turned on his flashers and siren in his SUV and accelerated quickly back to the station.

"Are we under attack Admiral?" The SUV asked.

"No…at least I don't think so. Dan's mother has been taken. Hey…can you scan all know frequencies and channels for any activity that might pertain to her kidnapping?" The SUV raised up a tiny dish and several small antennas and replied, "Beginning the scan now. What range should I be concentrating my search on?"

"One hundred miles within this area and anything miles above us for now" Admiral said.

"There is a cloaked ship in orbit above us in space." The SUV quickly responded back.

"What? Where? How?" Admiral asked.

"I cannot answer the 'what' question, I am picking up high levels of radiation and my radar is unable to penetrate a mass the size of three of these cities that we live in. It is approximately one hundred miles above us, and I am not sure if you would understand the 'how' question?" The goblin voice answered back.

"Take control of the steering and get us back to the station." Admiral said as he pulled his hearthstone back out and brought up an image of Herrior.

"There is a cloaked spaceship above us right now in outer space. My SUV told me…don't tell me how it knows, it began to explain it but…oh hell I have no idea how it knows, but she said it's huge." Admiral said quickly.

"This is not good news…" Herrior said as Admiral saw him looking up at the skies. He looked back into the portal and said, "I'm going to send some people up to investigate. I want these men crying for mercy within the hour. I'll contact you again in an hour to see if your SUV has picked up any new information." Admiral then contacted George and started cussing at the phone as it waited for an encrypted signal.

"George…where are you at right now?" Admiral said in near panic.

"At home…putting away stuff, but by the sounds of it I need to be somewhere else – what's going on?" George asked.

"There's a huge ass cloaked ship above us right now and from what I understand has started taking people." Admiral said.

"What? Oh shit…shit shit shit shit…" George said throwing stuff in the garage. He got in his car and turned on the siren and his red light and floored it out of his driveway and dropped it in drive as he burned off pieces of his tire speeding off into the direction of the station.

"When was it first discovered?" George asked.

"About a minute ago. Herrior is going to send up some people to go talk to it." Admiral said.

"Shit…damn it! We have protocols for this, and where were we? Eating steak on a beach doing the limbo! Herrior is going to be pissed…" George said.

"He's not upset, he sounded scared more than anything." Admiral said.

"Good…so he does share other human emotions. If they land or make contact with anybody else we are screwed! How far up are they?" George asked.

"My SUV said one hundred miles and its orbit is sync with us…or whatever the correct term for this is. George…we don't have the kind of firepower to take down a ship like that." Admiral said.

"Yes we do…but if we drop the ship, it's going to kill millions and it'll be the worst cover up since Area 51. Shit…we really dropped the ball on this one!" George said racing through traffic.

"Don't get in an accident on the way to the station. I've got to make some other calls. Apparently a group of spies of some sort staked out Dan's mother's home. They want me to torture the shit out of them to get answers." Admiral said.

"Isn't that illegal?" George asked.

"Who's laws are we going by here…Herrior told me to do something, would you tell him no?" Admiral asked.

"No" George replied quickly.

"Exactly what I was thinking, see you at the station." Admiral hung up with him and typed in the number for the front desk and ordered a fleet of cars to go picked up the people Herrior was holding hostage and put them all in one isolation cell.

Meantime, Lindel flew Mohania up into the air using her powers to make them invisible as well. They only got to cloud level when her power faded. Mohania summoned his flying carpet and they soared in the sky straight up as he poured power into Lindel. He also created two healthstones for each of them, not knowing what exactly they were going to face.

Once they reached the upper atmosphere both of them looked up and saw a huge black emptiness where the stars were supposed to be.

"Suicide mission…" Lindel said.

"Not anything different than we have done before…just like old times." Mohania said smiling as they continued towards the ship. Minutes passed as Mohania commanded his magic carpet to fly as fast as it could.

"So…when's the wedding?" Mohania asked still looking up.

"You want to talk about that now?" Lindel asked.

"Not really, but I'm bored and we have some time to kill." Mohania said.

"Well…it's going to be in Tranquil in the church…"

"Come on…do something new. Have it in Pandaria and have the sky serpents drop petals from the sky as you walk down the aisle." Mohania said.

Lindel turned to look at Mohania and said, "Did you just think of that?"

"I've been thinking about a lot lately…mostly how to kill these things, but what do you think?" Mohania asked.

"Not a bad idea…I'll have to think about it." Lindel said.

Suddenly they stopped as a ray of yellow light came from the ship and locked onto the carpet. "Move you stupid carpet!" Mohania said stomping on it. The beam started to pull them towards them.

"Two can play this game…" Lindel said holding out her hands and draining the power into her body. The beam flickered and let the carpet go as Mohania steered it away. The beam then reattached itself back on the carpet as Lindel sucked in more power. The beam again started to fluctuate and eventually Lindel had enough power to feed it back towards the device and it exploded.

"Fine…you get the first hit, but I'm going to kill more than you…" Mohania said breaking loose. Suddenly though they were surrounded by thousands of tiny star-like looking objects and disappeared, only to reappear inside the space ship. Mohania's body engulfed in fire as he summoned his Shivarra and Lindel turned into her evil banshee form.

"Stop…please! We don't bring you aboard to attack you!" A human said terrified and quickly looked away.

"Then put us back and get your ship out of here!" Mohania said walking forward.

"I can't…I have orders, please just wait for our captain. I mean you no harm." The man said still looking away.

"He's telling the truth…" Lindel said in her evil banshee voice.

"How did you find us?" The man asked.

"Kinda hard to miss a gigantic ship in the sky…dumbass…" Mohania said.

"You could see us? How? We are cloaked." The man asked curiously.

"This bores me…and my demon's four swords are wanting to slice through some people!" Mohania said impatiently.

"Stop…please!" Captain Picard came through the door.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Mohania said extinguishing himself and Lindel turned around to turn back into her human self, and then turned to face him.

"We mean you no harm. You remember us don't you?" Captain Picard asked.

"Of course…what did you do to Dan's mother?" Mohania asked walking up to him.

"Dan's mother? Who is Dan?" Picard asked.

"Strike one captain…what do you want?" Mohania asked obviously upset.

"We need your help. The Borg have come at us and a battle has broken out. We travelled back in time to what we guessed was the correct year your group was in." Picard explained.

"We don't do favors without something in return." Mohania asked.

"Name it" Picard asked desperately.

Mohania took a second and saw that he was serious. He turned around and looked at Lindel. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Dan's mother was taken. You help us find her; we will fight your battle with you." Mohania said turning back around.

"Done – what is her full name? I'm sure we have records of her in our computer." Picard asked.

"Another question…who are these green alien guys we keep killing?" Mohania asked.

"An ancient race that was annihilated over a thousand years ago."

"Well…they are pissing us off…give me a minute." Mohania said turning around and pulling out his hearthstone.

"Herrior…our old friend 'pick-a-nose' is back…"

"Picard" Lindel said shoving Mohania.

"Whatever…anyways they say they will help us find Dan's mother if we help them fight a battle with those robot-human things. He seems desperate and claims to have travelled back in time to find us…and some other useless things. So what do you think?" Mohania asked.

"How are we going to get on the ship?" Herrior asked.

"We can beam them up. I have a lock on them." The man cowering behind the instrument panel said.

"Tell them to wait so we can leave without any people seeing. Give us about five minutes I need to inform Admiral and George not to open fire." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Fire at us? Are we still cloaked?" Picard asked.

"Yes sir" Commander Riker said.

"How do they know we are here then?" Picard asked.

"We know what happens to the world we are defending. Did you think you could just fly around their planet and not get picked up by us?" Mohania asked.

"They are preparing at this very moment to fire upon you. Herrior is going to convince them not to…but just to be safe you might want to move out of range of their missiles." Lindel said.

"Make it so." Picard and nodded at Riker and he touched his intercom and said to take the ship out of orbit.

"And…watch out for those satellite things in the sky…" Lindel said feeling tough. Riker laughed and relayed that command as well.

"Just so I have this straight…you come from the future where your technology is far superior to those little ants on the world, for our help? What exactly did you do to piss of these 'Boards'?" Mohania asked.

"Apparently after you left the one ship completely inoperable, they severed contact with the ship and reestablished it with subspace communications that were encrypted followed by bursts of static. Nobody caught onto it, and so far they have assimilated several planets so far. They grow stronger as we speak. They have also found different ways of adapting to our phasers and photon-torpedoes. The only attack that we have…is well…to find different ways to fire our weapons and sneak in landing crews – none of which have been successful." Picard explained.

"Nobody fights with spells or hand-to-hand weapons in the future? Where is that brown fellow with the wrinkles in his face? He seemed to fight pretty well." Mohania said.

"My name is Lieutenant Worf." Worf said seeming to be insulted.

"One cannot kill a fleet of ships; Worf that was a compliment." Picard said turning to him.

"Look…we are in the middle of several different wars right now, so I mean hell why not…let's join another one while our friends die. When do we shove off?" Mohania asked.

"Who are you at war with right now?" Picard asked.

"I can't tell their names or their world…besides I wouldn't know how to get there anyways, look all this is doing is just pissing me off. Let's wait until mister 'horns' gets here." Mohania said.

Several minutes passed without anybody saying anything until Herrior contacted Mohania.

"We're ready. We are going to bring the body of what we think might be Dan's mother with us." Herrior said.

"Fine…I'll pass along the message." Mohania said and looked up at Picard. Picard pushed his trinket and called for personal from sickbay to come to transporter room five. He then looked at the officer behind the controls and said, "Energize".

Herrior and the rest of his party materialized on the ship along with the skeleton. Diana let out a scream as she saw the dry dusty skeleton.

"Let me fill you in real quick…they have a war they cannot win so they want our help, in exchange they will help us locate Dan's mother. So let's put our lives on hold and get whisked away to fight a battle that isn't ours. Also I pissed off three of them so far…new record." Mohania said smiling.

"Get this ship away from their world at once!" Herrior's voice stormed out as he pointed his finger at Picard. Picard touched his trinket and gave the order to leave.

"Second of all, your battle is not ours. You have disturbed many on their world below and caused quite a mess! There are easier ways of contacting us without having my people up in arms about having your ship float around above them. We just got done with an assault and a rescue mission and now we have a manhunt for Dan's mother, not to mention we ran into two of our enemies in his previous household. I believe there are many more on their world and our friends are in danger. Finding you was a mistake – it was an accident that our Chronomancer made."

"Do you believe in destiny?" Picard asked, "'If we would see the color of our future, we must look for it in our present; if we would gaze on the star of our destiny, we must look for it in our hearts.' by Canon Farrar - or how about 'There is a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.' by the famous William Shakespeare?"

"I never liked him…give us a moment." Herrior said and turned around to his group and huddled together.

"I say we burn them all alive." Mohania said.

"Dan, what are your thoughts on this? You seemed really distraught about this situation before."

"Our future may lie in the hands of their future. I'm not looking forward to the Borg obtaining the ability to time travel…if these guys can and they are getting slaughtered, it's just a matter of time." Dan said.

"So should we join their cause?" Herrior asked.

"Difficult to see…always in motion is the future…" Julie said giggling.

"If we go, we go for full victory – I don't want them knocking on our door again…I just got that Julie." Dan said smiling and looking over at her.

"Took you long enough" Julie said still giggling.

"What about Pandaria?" Herrior asked.

"This sort of just fell into our laps. They will be fine, it is our soldiers that I'm more worried about – one of them was already overcome by the Sha." Jacklyn said. Herrior nodded.

"I can always return us back to this spot, the problem is putting us into the future – it was luck that they made it here and they know it. They sacrificed their lives for their own kind to come here and they aren't even sure they can make it back. To die for one's friend is to make the ultimate sacrifice." Lindel said.

"Can you take us back to their time?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah I read their minds anticipating the question. I'll have to make a portal big enough to get this ship through in one piece…also I did sort of blow up their little yellow beam shooter thingy." Lindel said.

"They attacked you?" Herrior asked.

"No, they were attempted to bring us in to one of their cargo bays because they have never seen two people riding a flying carpet before." Lindel said.

"I was going to burn them up…" Mohania said.

"What about your mother?" Herrior asked Dan.

"There is nothing I can do about that situation right now. Either that skeleton is her, or she is being held hostage somewhere else. For all I know, I could have killed her when I destroyed the complex I was being held in. She's a known target apparently…which makes it dangerous because her mind isn't immune to possessions. She could very well not even be on Earth…the little green men could even have her. Tell Admiral to start questioning people, but I have a feeling she is lost and could jeopardize our party – possibly even Tranquil. We may have to kill her if we find her." Dan said. Herrior nodded. It was a tough decision for Dan to say that, but Herrior knew this already.

"Are we going to do this then?" Herrior asked.

"We don't have a choice the way I see it." Dan piped up quickly.

"Everybody else?" Herrior asked.

"I'm not leaving your side." Skyka said and others agreed as well.

Herrior turned around as they broke the huddle and said, "We will fight your war for you."

"I was dearly hoping you would say that. Now we can begin the calculations to return back to our time…" Picard said.

"No you don't. I'll open a portal and we'll just fly through it." Lindel said.

"That is impossible." Riker said.

"So is a walking skeleton…do we need to really go through all of this again?" Lindel asked.

"Who are you calling a walking skeleton?" Dan asked being Mohania to it.

"I think she was referring to me…" Mohania said with a smirk.

"Alright then, begin making preparations for an attack." Picard said fixing his uniform.

"No…you will only be killed. Your weapons are useless and you don't have any armor. You put your lives on the line to make it here, you will just let us attack – none of your personal is trained in attacking as good as my party is." Herrior said.

"We aren't just going to set aside and let them fight our battle!" Worf said angrily.

"Pull out your weapon and shoot me with it." Herrior said. Worf looked confused and then looked at Picard.

"Pull out your weapon…and shoot me…" Herrior said. Picard nodded at Worf so he quickly pulled out his phaser and shot at Herrior. At near lightning speed, Herrior pulled out his shield and reflected the blast back at the phaser, destroying it. Worf jumped back in surprise.

"Once again…your men are trained to fight with weapons that do not harm your enemies. If you want to join us in battle, bring to us your fighters that are trained in hand-to-hand combat with weapons such as ours. Lindel…go prepare the portal. Picard if you would show us to our room please?" Herrior asked putting away his shield.

"It would be my pleasure. Riker, assemble our security and give them hand to hand weapons. Our fate is in your hands Herrior." Picard said and walked out of the doorway and held out his hand. Herrior's party left as a medical team came in to examine the skeleton corpse.

"I do not feel comfortable with your security people coming with us. They might serve better on your ship in case you are boarded." Herrior said.

"You are not going to fight a battle alone…"

"We aren't. You are going to take us there and then you will defend yourselves while we attack their ships and personal. Are they from a planet? If so, that is where we need to go. I want to kill them at their source…assassinate their leader and watch the rest tremble in fear." Herrior said interrupting Picard.

"How do you purpose taking us back to our time?" Data asked.

"A simple spell…it's hard to believe that you are from the future and know so little…" Mohania said.

"I'll go do my simple spell…Herrior are we ready?" Lindel said sarcastically at Mohania.

"Go ahead" Herrior said.

"Is it a wormhole you are opening?" Data asked.

"No…worms make holes in the ground, ugh – let's just get to the battle!" Mohania said upset.

"Mohania relax…different worlds, and in this case different times." Herrior said as Lindel turned invisible and flew through the ship and to the front of it. Still full of power from destroying the ships tractor beam, she created a portal and poured her power into it – expanding the whole as the starship continued to fly through space.

A slight whistle came as a voice said, "Captain, there is an anomaly appearing in front of our ship!"

"Leave it alone Wesley, don't record any of this in the ship's logs. We're already in enough hot water for leaving the battle zone." Picard said.

"We need to meditate before we go into battle." Herrior said. Picard nodded and pressed a button on a door. Picard put his hard in front of him and motioned them in. Herrior walked in first and then sat down on the floor followed by the rest of his party. They all sat in a circle as Mohania started a fire in the middle of the room. An alarm went off immediately and Picard told the computer to cancel the alarm.

"Come in with us." Herrior said in a calm and relaxed tone.

"Alright" Picard said as he and several others started to walk in.

"Just Picard, the rest of you wait outside." Herrior said. Picard looked at them and nodded.

"Make room for him in our circle, for we are all brothers now on the field of battle." Herrior said. Branzer and Bernett scooted back and let him sit down.

"Everybody take a deep breath and let the smoke fill your lungs and clear your minds…" Herrior said softly. He waited for a moment and then continued, "Father in Heaven, we come to you before battle where it might be the last time all of us will be sitting together. Help us to guide our minds and hearts and to kill with love. Let us not drop our guard as our weapons and spells attack our foes. Give Lindel the power she needs to portal us to the right place and be a shield for us as we go into battle. The abominations that we face are not part of your plan for human life – please help us to free them from their torment, if there is any part of them left. As we split apart help us to remember the love that we have for each other and if necessary give us to love to kill one another should they face capture with no way out. Keep our secrets safe and hidden so that our world would be free of these Borg that may one day find us as well. Please slow our enemies so that their strikes can be avoided and may you land our blows as deadly attacks against them. Help us to save Picard's people in this position that I believe you have put us in for a reason. May the lives of the few save the lives of many." Herrior stopped as he felt the portal began to encase the ship. He then opened his eyes and said, "Fight with honor, fight with love, and fight until the end. If Lord be willing, I will see all of you here once more. Ready your weapons and summon your pets. Picard – how badly are we outnumbered?" Herrior asked.

"At least ten to one." Picard answered.

"Lindel will drop each of you off on a Borg ship, I want you to raise Hell and contact Lindel to be portaled back out. We will not be fighting as one party today we will be fighting as one. Lindel will maintain power in this space ship, and protect it while she opens the portals. Mohania…douse the fire." Herrior said standing up and pulling out his shield and mace.

"Don't leave their ship until you know it is completely out of commission. Let's go." Herrior said. Herrior walked up to the door and as it opened he saw dozens of guards holding an assortment of different weapons.

"Good…you will need those if they board this ship. Picard, spread your forces out among your ship. If any get in, we will try to pull some of our fighters back to help. Fight to the death everybody." Herrior said as the ship started taking hits from enemy fire.

"Are you ready?" Lindel asked in an invisible voice.

"Yes, I will go first." Herrior said. Several tiny stars materialized in front of Herrior as a portal opened. Once fully formed, Herrior stepped through and the portal vanished.

"Just a second…" Lindel's voice of desperation echoed through the hallways as several more hits to the ship rocked it.

Picard tapped his trinket and said, "Report!"

Wesley's voice came over the speakers and said, "Shields are holding, there is something redirecting the energy blasts coming at us. The Borg's attacks are being redirected to other Borg's ships and causing immense damage, Captain I have no idea what is going on."

"Move us into the middle of the battle, make sure our shields have enough power and fire everything we have." Picard said and then tapped his trinket again and said, "Geordi report!"

"Something is sucking out our power…and I could have sworn something was just in my head. Warp drive engines are offline and rerouting power to our shields. Whatever it is that is draining our power is doing it so it doesn't permanently hinder our ship." Geordi said.

"Keep feeding it power, I don't care if you have to start shutting off lights and lift support in areas of the ship." Picard then touched a couple of buttons on the walls and said, "This is your Captain speaking. I need everybody to move to the inside of the ship. I want everybody evacuated from the outer walls of the Enterprise. Report to security immediately if you see any intruders." Picard then ended the transmission and saw only a couple of Herrior's party left.

"Godspeed to all of you" Picard said.

"Just don't leave without us…" Dan said jumping into his portal.

Dan arrived on his ship and quickly summoned his two elementals, Earth and Fire. He energized his maces and commanded his earth element to take the lead and his fire to stay behind. Dan start swinging at anything that seemed like it was a control of some kind, or a hanging wire. Eventually this got the cyborg's attention and the earth elemental began slamming its mighty fists into them. The cyborg's armor stood little chance at the massive blows as Dan ran up beside it and started taking several swings himself – building up charges of electricity with each hit and then discharge a lightning bolt that jumped from one Borg to the other.

"Don't like chain lightning eh?" Dan asked with a smile and told his elementals to advance and to demolish anything in its way. Dan looked behind him to see a wall of fire. The fire elemental was melting and setting fire to everything. Dan nodded in satisfaction as he felt the ship get hit hard by something three different times. An alarm went off as the Borg's attention went from the intruders to something different. They started moving away in a different direction.

"Yeah I don't think so." Dan said and shot his frost shock spell at one of them, immobilizing it as the earth elemental smashed through it. Dan ran after the Borg, taking them down one at a time until the last one was dead. He saw several more Borg in their stations "wake up" for a stasis sleep and attempt to fight, but Dan's maces made quick work of them – smashing in their heads or knocking off limbs. He casted his fire spell as quickly as he could on as many that moved. They may have metal components, but their human counterpart holding them together was still vulnerable to fire.

A huge explosion came from behind Dan that lifted him off his feet and propelled him forward until the earth elemental caught him. "Something big just hit us" – Dan thought, but saw that his fire elemental had started an inferno that was spreading quickly. Dan was set down on his feet and began running down the hallway as fast as he could with his elementals following him, the fire still spreading behind them. The lights on the ship began to flicker and control modules on the walls began sparking. Dan pulled out his hearthstone.

"Lindel get me out of here." Dan said. Soon a portal opened and Dan jumped through it. He landed in another Borg ship and saw Jessica. She was surrounded by Borg and couldn't get her spells off quick enough by the looks of it. Dan and his elementals charged forward when suddenly dark purple tentacles reached out and grabbed the Borg surrounding her. She then dove between them to her left side and started letting her strong shadow magic spells demolish the Borg in front of her. Dan arrived as he finished off the last two.

"What are you doing here?" Jessica asked.

"Killing stuff, my ship was going to blow up so I left. Lindel put me here probably because she thought you needed help." Dan replied back.

Jessica turned around and fired a beam of shadow magic at an incoming Borg, slowly destroying it and slowing its movement towards her.

"This is sort of like shooting ducks in a barrel…so one ship down already huh?" Jessica said and then murmured several more spells, destroying the Borg coming at it. Dan commanded his fire elemental to begin its infernal on the opposite side of the hallway that they were in.

"Sure would be nice to have one of those…" Jessica said. Quickly the fire intensified and both of them had to start moving away from it. This time an enormous explosion occurred sending both of them tumbling down the hallway. Jessica quickly put a shield on herself and then Dan. They both healed their selves and then Dan pulled out his hearthstone and asked for a portal.

"Can't right now…I'll send a message to Picard…" Lindel said in obvious exhaustion from doing something. They could hear another explosion beneath them as their feet started to vibrate heavily. Suddenly their bodies dissolved into white particles and rematerialized back on the Enterprise.

"Get us on the next ship!" Dan said quickly.

"Herrior said to start pulling your party out. The Borg has entered the Enterprise and is holding hostages, something they have never done before." Picard said.

"Take us to them then!" Dan said quickly again.

"We can't jeopardize the lives of my crew; we are negotiating with them right now."

"Picard…look at me." Dan said. Picard was already looking at him.

Time stopped.

Dan ran around and got Picard in a choke hold with his mace directly in front of his face.

Time resumed.

Picard let out a scream and waved his hands backwards, nearly falling down if it wasn't for Dan helping him to catch his balance.

"We don't negotiate…take me to them!" Dan said.

"How the hell did you do that?" Picard asked turning around quickly and looking shocked.

"Do you want a long explanation or do you want your crew members alive? Take me to them!" Dan yelled.

"Data go…" Picard said catching his breath.

"Yes Captain…follow me please." Data said. Both of them went into a turbo-lift and left the bridge.

"Are you hurt?" Jessica asked.

"What just happened?" Picard demanded to know.

"Dan can stop time. His plan is to stop time, kill the Borg, free your people, and then hopefully get back into battle like I am hoping to do." Jessica explained.

At the same time Data was asking Dan a series of questions as well about "Quantum-physics" and "creating subspace loops" – but Dan stopped him when he finally said, "Data…I merely think it and it happens. There is no device, no power source, no flip-flopping do-hickey thing. The world that I protect has many time stoppers, in fact the ones that have the power I find and teach them how to use their abilities. Where I come from, the Kingdom has people immune to it – however the world I come from does not."

"Fascinating, would you mind if I run a series of tests on your brain waves to determine what happens when you stop time?" Data asked.

"We've tried that before…I either end up blowing up the machine, killing some people inadvertently, or you don't get a reading at all. How long until we get there?" Dan asked trying to change the subject. The door then opened and two Borg turned to face them. Dan blasted one with a blast of fire and swatted away a punch and then shoved his mace into the Borg's stomach and then thrusted one mace upwards, knocking the Borg backwards. Dan then dropped a fire totem as it shot fire at the Borg Data was fighting. Dan charged up a lightning bolt spell and unleashed it, overriding the Borg's circuits and catching part of him on fire.

"Fascinating" Data said in his same monotone voice.

"Let's go." Dan said and both of them ran down the corridor. They got to the room guarded by two more Borg as Dan unleashed his maces on them. He took on both of them with a totem on the ground shielding him from attacks as his maces flew from one Borg to the other. Soon both were out of commission and Dan then walked in front of the door anticipating it to open.

"Allow me." Data said walking up to the doors and pried them open.

"We said no more intrusions! We will kill this child now, and one every minute until you leave." One of the Borg said holding a child.

Time stopped.

Dan rushed forward, jumping around each hostage to the other side of the room. He then carefully took the child away and began beating the shit out of both Borg. Their faces were beyond recognition, and then he moved to the other Borg and unleashed his elements in his maces on them, increasing his attack speed and bathing them in fire. There were two more Borg and he jumped across the room across towards them and had a plan.

Time resumed.

All of the Borg Dan had attacked; fell to the ground beaten severely. He then grabbed one of the Borg and spun him around and began yelling in his face, "You do not take prisoners! You do not take children as prisoners! You are cowards! You fight with no honor! You will die with no honor! You and your people will fall and your entire race will be wiped out from the face of all of the worlds!" The Borg showed emotion – fear.

"That's right…transmit that fear! I just killed four of you without even an eye seeing me! We have destroyed your ships! We are going to hunt you down…every single one of you and kill every last one of you! Transmit that!" Dan yelled at him and shoved him off to the side. The Borg tried to stabilize itself, but fell flat on its side. It moved its arms up and down trying to get up.

Dan watched the other Borg watch his comrade fall. He then looked back up at Dan as he walked to him with his maces. The Borg backed up.

"Yes…this is fear! You are feeling fear, and desperation…and you will die a slow, painful death. You will now tell me where your home world is! You will tell me where you were taken, changed, and turned into this sick abomination of metal and flesh in front of me." Dan said still walking towards him as the Borg walked back. The Borg then reached behind him and pulled a hose.

Time stopped.

Dan pulled down the Borg's arm and quickly shoved the hose back into his head. He then held the Borg's arm and slammed his mace into it, knocking off tons of different metal pieces, flesh, blood, and fluid. It all stopped inches after it left the Borg's hand – frozen in time with everything else. Dan then did the same thing with the other hand and the other Borg's hands as well.

Time resumed.

Everybody gasped to see Dan in a different spot…seemingly to move faster than the blink of an eye.

"Your self-destructs are fully intact…and you are still transmitting this information." Dan said as the Borg standing up looked down at its mutilated hands.

"Yeah…I did that. Does it hurt? Do you feel any pain? Those hands that were yours are beyond repair…you are never going to have those again! All of the Borg that died today you are never going to see again…all of your ships that have been destroyed are going…and we have all the information we need to launch a full out assault on your home world! Nobody will ever be assimilated again…the resistance won – you failed your mission, you failed your collective, and you failed – and now…you will die." Dan said slamming his left mace into the Borg's side, ripping off more flesh and metal. The Borg looked down at the injury and looked back at Dan.

"Come on – fight me fool! You aren't programmed to surrender! You aren't programmed to be scared either…yet you are! You stand before me quivering and if you weren't being controlled right now you would be fighting me…but there is an error in your programming isn't there? You are confused…you have never fought an enemy like this before. As your new leader I order you to do the only thing your logic tells you to do…lay down and die!" Dan yelled getting up in his face. To Dan's surprise, the Borg's electronics shut down and its human eye rolled back in its head and fell to the ground. Dan looked over at the other Borg and it lay motionless as well.

Seconds passed and then Dan smashed the head of the Borg with his boot. There was a whistle sound and Picard's voice asked for Data to report.

"Dan seems to have given them a command to…essentially lay down and die and that is what just happened. He also moved faster than any human I have ever seen. It was…fascinating." Data said.

"The Borg ships have lost control and have completely powered down. It seems we have won this war. Would you extend my pleasantries to Dan for what he did and cordially invite him back to the Bridge?" Picard asking with happiness in his voice.

"Yes sir" Data said and touched his trinket. "The Captain would like for me to extend his pleasantries to you and ask that I bring you back to the Bridge."

"I heard" Dan said, "But first – is there anybody here that is hurt?" Dan asked looking around. Many of them had cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Dan then held up his hands and white looking rain drops rained down on the people, healing their wounds quickly. After ten seconds he stopped channeling his "healing rain" spell and said, "Ok now we can go."

"May I inquire as to how you did that?" Data asked.

"No" Dan said smiling at him.

They arrived on the bridge along with Herrior and the rest of the party, with Lindel lying on the ground looking exhausted. Picard rose from his seat and started clapping his hands and soon everybody else rose up and clapped as well.

"It was a team effort, the real thanks goes to Lindel." Dan said.

"I drained as much energy as I could…I'm going to sleep for the next ten days…you are the one that did something to make all of their ships power down. Picard's fleets of ships are annihilating the rest of the Borg with no resistance. What did you do down there?" Lindel asked.

"I told a Borg that he was being bad, bent him over my knee and spanked him." Dan said walking over and sitting by Lindel.

"That is incorrect, Captain Dan…"

"That's enough Data. Whatever you did crippled the Borg and what is left of their ships is being destroyed. We are even receiving subspace communications inquiring as to what happened and none of us know…do we?" Picard asked looking around.

"Don't have a clue…" Riker said immediately with a smile.

"Oh I know…I saw it all, personally I had money on the Borg." Q said.

"Q was this some sort of sick joke of yours? Does the continuum know you are here? Did you bring the Borg here?" Picard immediately began very upset.

"Whoa…don't look at me. I'm just an observer."

"You're lying through your teeth…" Herrior said equipping his shield and mace.

"Easy oversized cow…I'm not here to fight you, I'm only here for one of you – him." Q said point at Dan.

"Over my dead body…" everybody seemed to say at the same time as they equipped their weapons.

"Jumpy, jumpy…don't worry I've learned a few things from our last encounter. You…boy…you are missing your mother aren't you? Do you want her back?" Q asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Dan said.

"Oh but you do…what is the skeleton on sickbay? Is it your mother or somebody else?" Q asked.

"Must be somebody else…she's my mother" Dan said pointing at Deanna Troi.

Q laughed and said, "Simpleton…but enough of this foolish talking. You have a gift and I want it."

Dan put away his maces, crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Well…all you had to do was ask, come and get it."

"With all of your little minions waving their barbaric weaponry around that for some reason, still unknown to me, hurts me severely – I don't think so. I purpose a swap, access to your mind for the release of your mother." Q said.

"She's sitting right there…I don't see you holding her hostage…" Dan said and then looked at Herrior and motioned to put his weapons away.

"I think you forget that I witnessed everything that happened here, and you are starting to annoy me boy – do we have a deal or not?" Q asked.

"Fine…come into my mind and get whatever information you want. Just don't bring up my memories of the porn I downloaded on my High School's computers…that was rather embarrassing when I got caught." Dan said.

"Dan!" Herrior said seeming very concerned.

"Naw its fine, he'll get what's coming for him. So how should we do this? Do you want me to lie down on a couch and you can wave a golden watch in front of my eyes?" Dan asked.

Q reconsidered his options for a moment as Dan started walking over to him. Dan took off his helmet and gave it to Deanna as he stood right beside him.

"You have some trick up your sleeve don't you?" Q asked.

"You tell me…you have been here the whole time." Dan said sarcastically.

"You'll forgive me if this hurts…" Q said and placed his hand on Dan's head. Within less than a second later his hand caught fire and an invisible force violently shook him as he screamed in pain.

"This is fun to watch…I wonder how much your hand is going to burn until you die? Bets anybody?" Dan asked.

"I'll place a wager on that!" Riker yelled out.

"Hey…if anybody is going to set somebody on fire it's going to be me…move aside runt…" Mohania said walking over, but before Mohania could get to him Q suddenly flew backwards and crashed hard into the wall.

"Mental note people…my mind is protected – nobody…not every a cocky son of a bitch can get in it." Dan said turning around.

"Please…I know what you are thinking…" Crystal said.

"What?" Dan asked.

"Sex."

Dan blushed and turned back around as laughter filled the bridge. Q stopped shaking, but most of his arm had burned off. Dan knelt down on the ground and whispered, "Did you get what you wanted? Huh? Did you…boy? Grow up a little bit and then maybe you can learn to not wet yourself like a baby…"

Time stopped.

"Nobody insults me!" Q said and staggered to his legs. "It's just you and me boy…nobody else to help you out now! I'll get that information even if I have to pick your brain apart!"

"I wouldn't do that." Mohania said.

"What the…so the talking skeleton is immune to time stopping." Q said.

"So are the rest of us." Herrior said pulling his shield and mace back out.

Time resumed.

"How did you do that?" Q asked.

Time stopped.

"Enough of this!" Dan yelled and held his hands out.

Time resumed.

An enormous blast of power resonated from Dan's hands and flowed through Q's body, as if the very fabric of time and space were used as a weapon against him. Q's body stood still for a second, and then melted to the ground. Mohania then held out his hand and burned up the remains.

"Good job Mohania…you got him…" Herrior said putting away his weapons.

"And that is how everybody is going to remember it." Mohania said with a smile.

"Is he dead?" Picard asked.

"He certainly isn't moving anymore." Herrior said. Suddenly a voice filled the Bridge.

"We are the Continuum. You have killed one of our own. You will account for this action."

"I am Dan…I killed him. He assaulted me first and I fought back in self-defense. Any one of you wants to assault me first as well?" Dan asked walking forward. There was silence for awhile.

"Speechless? Q always had something to say, yet you are standing here on my Bridge before me with all of your infinite power and you have nothing to say?" Picard asked with a smile.

"We wish to make a truce. We will not meddle in your affairs anymore if you do not attack us." The voice said.

"As part of the truce you will leave my people and Picard's people alone forever." Herrior said.

"Agreed" and then the voice went silent and to everybody it felt like a hundreds of people suddenly left.

Dan turned around for his helmet and saw Mohania shitting on the burning pile of what was left of Q. "Mohania! Really?"

"Just sending my regards for him to his next life…also…that voice scared the shit out of me…" Mohania said with a smile.

"Once again I must apologize for my warlock…" Herrior said as the crew tried to hide their laughter. Herrior walked over to Picard and gave him a hearthstone. "This time if you need us, use this – don't endanger your people anymore to come find us and raise a ruckus on Earth looking for us. Keep this stone with you at all times. If you need me, think of me and rub the stone. It will only work for you. If you wish to pass it on, you will need to contact me – it will not work for anybody else." Herrior handed it to Picard and its symbol glowed a dark green when it touched his hand.

"Don't lose it or he'll kick your ass…" Branzer said with a smile.

"I will keep it on me at all times, but I feel as though I need to be the one giving you a gift." Picard said.

"Let us go back and fight our own battles now. Lindel…open a portal." Herrior said taking Picard's hand and shaking it.

"Sir we're being hailed by the Admiral of Starfleet." Wesley said.

"We're experiencing some sort of malfunction right now Wesley…try to get a message to her telling her we will contact her soon." Picard said.

"Malfunction commencing right now sir…" Wesley said with a smile.

"Good luck to all of you." Herrior said.

"There is no such thing as luck." Picard said. "A wise man once told me that."

"A wise man can only be wise knowing that he doesn't know everything. Take care my friends." Herrior said and entered the portal as it closed behind him.

"Wesley…" Picard started to say.

"Sir we're experiencing some sort of computer glitch…it seems to have corrupted all information in the previous couple of hours – I'm sorry sir, it's unrecoverable." Wesley said typing away as fast as he could.

"Good boy Wesley." Picard said sitting back down in his chair.

Herrior arrived back in the station and told Lindel to sit and get some sleep. She was out within seconds and snoring soundly.

Herrior tapped his trinket and turned into his black ops uniform. The rest did the same.

"How did you fight the Borg Strings?" Dan asked.

"There are certain musical notes that pierce the ear drums of humans…turns out it works for half-humans as well. Also a little acid and fire here and there was fun as well. Never underestimate the power of a bard with an instrument." Strings said.

Admiral heard them walking down the hallway and asked quickly what was going on.

"Nothing…and that's the story we are sticking to it." Herrior said.

"Did you go on that ship?" Admiral asked. Herrior stopped walking and turned around and smiled as he asked, "What ship?"

"Well…any word on Dan's mother?" Admiral asked. In all of the commotion they never got the test results. Herrior looked at Dan as he said, "I will see her again someday."

"So…" Admiral started to ask when Herrior's face turned around looking angry.

"So – umm…how about some fruit punch? You looked parched." Admiral said running over to the cooler and started to fill plastic cups.

"I could definitely use something to drink!" Strings said walking up and downing the cup quickly and handing it to him as he filled it again.

"The men that we rounded up are claiming to news reporters following up on a story…but all of their stories don't match up." One of the soldiers said.

"Are they locked up right now?" Herrior asked.

"Yes Herrior…we can only hold them for forty-eight hours though."

"Mohania – go give Lindel enough power to…talk to these reporters. Wipe their memory, strip them naked, and have Lindel put them where we put the Russian spy. Tell Lindel she can drain their energy to recharge hers, but not to kill them." Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. "I swear if this is another battle…"

"Herrior…this is Chen. A group of Hozen has taken Lulu. They are faster than us and we were unable to catch up with them. We are planning an assault right now, but we are going into unfamiliar territory." Chen said.

"We'll be there within the hour." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"I grow tired of people being taken…Admiral round up your people…" Herrior said with a sigh.


	38. Expanding Boundaries

Expanding Boundaries

The station's silent alarm went off and within minutes the building was packed full of more soldiers than Herrior could count and even more were waiting outside.

"Meet us outside; the soldiers in here have some work to do. We need to let one of our people rest." Herrior said. Mohania and Branzer stepped out of the room helping Lindel walk.

"Move out people – let's go!" One soldier said and started waving people out. Mohania and Branzer helped Lindel hobble out into the room as everybody stepped aside to make room for them.

"Take me to the isolation cells…I need to feed…" Lindel said in a soft voice.

"This way ma'am." One of the soldiers piped up immediately and pulled out his keys.

"She is combining two tasks into one…she needs food and needs to…" Branzer started to say.

"It's none of our business sir." The soldier said. Another piped up and said, "I didn't even hear the last part."

"What is our mission Herrior?" Another soldier turned to ask.

"A little girl was taken from her home. Naturally I blame our enemies, but we need to find out where she went and bring her back alive. We also need to rid the Valley of the Four Winds of the vermin that plaques it. I need you and your soldiers to keep your calm. Do not let your emotions overwhelm you." Herrior said.

"We had a meeting about that, whatever it is that took control of one of our soldiers filled him with pure hatred. We all thought of happy things to think about and will joke around as we do our jobs." The soldier responded.

"Good to hear. I'm looking for fighters that I can count on and not worry about in combat. How are the soldiers doing that went through the blasting process?" Herrior asked.

"Kicking our ass's, in hand to hand combat that is, they also have been able to disarm people and subdue suspects without having to use tasers or mace. Many of us are looking forward to obtaining the same strength they have." The soldier said.

"It's not strength that they have been given, it was knowledge. It's not something to consider lightly. I'm sure the soldiers told you about the pain you would have to suffer through." Herrior said.

"We had a bank robbery with four armed suspects with automatic rifles. One of our soldiers that had the training went in and killed all four of them without ever firing a round from his pistol. All of the hostages were unharmed. The press had a field day with that, but none of us commented. The hostages were shaken of course, but all they said was he had the ability to predict their next move and successfully carried out his military training. It gave us a big boost of confidence with our soldiers with the public; of course in the public we call ourselves police officers. They have tried to teach us some of their training, but they move to quickly and knock the shit out of us…excuse my language." The soldier explained.

Herrior smiled and said, "Good – you are proving to the world that order can be kept without having to force your people into fear of you. What of the surrounding people around the base, what are the thoughts of those people?" Herrior asked walking outside. They paused for a moment to hear blood curdling screams that were quickly muffled.

"For the most part, they are oblivious to what is happening here. We are still taking in canines and growing vegetables. We caught some prisoners trying to grow marijuana but quickly put an end to that." The soldier explained. The admiral finally caught up with his bullet proof vest and a large arsenal of weapons.

"Sorry, took me awhile to get ready." He said.

"It is alright. I am speaking with this soldier right now. What is marijuana?" Herrior asked.

"It's a controlled substance used by humans to alter their emotions into a false sense of feeling good and relaxed. It does have its benefits in the practice of medicine, but is not allowed within our compound unless we seize it – then it is cataloged, processed and presented as evidence. Afterwards it is burned in our incinerator." The soldier said pointing to a large brick building with a chimney that rose high into the air.

"I believe I know what you mean. Our blood elves had a thirst for magic…once it was broken and taken away from them they then fought over the last remnants of it...only they were so drawn to the addictive properties their bodies actually mutated and many wars were fought over it…many were killed or had to be killed. It was a dark day for the blood elves in their history. Do any of your men have any addictions they need to be freed of?" Herrior asked.

"Not that I know of Herrior. I do know that we go to a couple of bars after work, but we don't drink much and we certainly don't talk about work. One drunkard had to be physically removed when he started touching a waitress inappropriately. One of our trained men went over and asked him nicely once. The drunkard shoved his finger at our soldier…and…well let's just say he hasn't seen that finger since that day. I believe he is still in the hospital. None of us know what happened…that we can recall…" The soldier said looking over at Herrior with a smile.

"Memory is a tricky thing…sometimes it is hard to recall certain events in our past…" Herrior said smiling back.

"So far the crime rate has been consistently dropping. We have been buying up abandoned houses and offering cash payouts for people in our area so we have a better view of incoming vehicles. We also have very sophisticated radar detection equipment, nothing that match's Admiral's SUV, but we are able to detect any missile launch in the lower forty-eight and have our own air traffic control used for monitoring. The…power outage…that we experience in our prison cells last time resulted in no investigations about the deaths of the inmates and has struck fear into the vast majority of the inmates. We like to keep them on their toes. Fear is a fun hobby…not that we are doing it too often, only when you tell us to." The soldier said.

"That is fine. In my world they would all be killed."

The soldier nodded and wondered when the death penalty would come to Michigan. He then pushed the thought away and said, "Our sniper training is now mandatory for every soldier on the grounds. We debated on several different weapons we have available through the courtesy of our United States army, and have decided against any incendiary or fragment bombs. Even with your…abilities, you still don't harm any of the animals, trees or wildlife and we thought we should take on the same approach. We have equipped all of our new shipment of assault rifles with laser sights and with armor piercing rounds that is supposed to be able to puncture through a modern tank…I have my doubts about that, but they do pack a punch. On our handheld guns, we also have laser scopes and have the largest clips that we can find for them. Unfortunately we have had to sick track onto the black market to get some of our equipment – the good part is we have followed the sellers and performed several busts." He ended with pride.

"You sound like you have been busy." Herrior said sensing his pride.

"It's the least we can do; it's not every day you get to work beside people of your caliber. We enjoy it though, I haven't heard of any complaints among the soldiers. Some of their families have common illnesses and we have some problems with extracting information from suspects. We are pushing the limits of the law as to what tactics we can use – but we are not above the law." The soldier said.

"Nobody is." Herrior said.

"You guys are…you could go level a city and have no consequences or even have any questions asked about your mission." The soldier said.

"No…we have laws just the same as yours, just different worlds have different laws and we try to respect yours as much as we can. Killing innocents is strictly prohibited and can only be done by my order – then I have to answer for it. I've got my ass chewed out several times for orders I've made, some in error. We are no different." Herrior said.

"Rumor has it that a nuclear explosion occurred over in the south-western part of Russia – which I guess triggered a massive sink hole – which again triggered lava to flow out of the ground. No radiation leaked, but everybody in the facility that 'supposedly the Russia's knew nothing about' was killed. Know anything about that?" The soldier asked.

"You have good ears…" Herrior said trying not to smile to big. "Those were not innocents though – they captured Dan and we believe were working with your aliens to abduct Dan's mother."

"And the space ship?" The soldier asked.

"Was never supposed to be here…and will hopefully never return. We friended some people on this spaceship and we did some favors for each other. I suspect you will never see that particular spaceship again. Any word on anybody stopping time or more alien attacks?" Herrior asked.

"That information is not available to us." The soldier said.

"Only George's people know?" Herrior asked.

The soldier nodded and said, "We were better off not knowing. We can't go chasing every after time/space anomaly, all we do is go out and interview the people or dispatch other officers in the air to investigate and interview any eyewitnesses. Most of them sound like people that want attention or are doped up on something to be honest."

"Odd that George would without information from you. Is that normal on this world?" Herrior asked.

"It's very common on this world…I mean Earth, anyways we're sort of considered the 'grunts' and they are considered the 'brains', everybody needs a job though – some of those guys I don't even think could pick up one of our assault rifles let alone fire one accurately, and to be honest I don't have a clue what they do in their bunker – I even have trouble figuring out my home computer and they have more computer processing power down there than probably the White House does. Basically they tell us where to go and are the eyes in the air for us. It's always good to know somebody is looking over you." The soldier said.

"I know the feeling. By the sounds of the muffled terrified screams it sounds like your isolation cells are just around the corner…you should probably look into making them more soundproof." Herrior said.

"I'll make a note of it." The soldier said. Everybody watched Lindel march out of the room, completely different than how she was before. She looked like she was radiating with power. She opened a portal as Branzer and Mohania dragged the terrified and pale looking prisoners out of the cell and tossed them through the portal.

"Is she a vampire?" The soldier asked.

"She doesn't like to be called that, call her a banshee." Herrior said.

"I'll make a note of that also." The soldier said and continued to watch. Once everybody was through, Lindel closed the portal and the three of them walked up to Herrior. Herrior motioned to Lindel that she had a little something on her cheek. She reached up and saw it was blood. She immediately burned it up and then made an "I'm innocent and could never do anything wrong" face while batting her eyes.

"Have some fun did we?" Herrior asked.

"No! All I did was hold them down…didn't even cast one spell! Miss 'I have to do all of the interrogation because I can fly in their heads' did everything. I'm going to go dig a hole…" Mohania said walking away.

"We leave in about two minutes…" Herrior turned around and said.

"It'll be a small hole."

"They didn't know anything. They were told to monitor for incoming traffic and pretend they were construction workers and that there was an accident then ask for people to leave the tiny strip of road alone. They didn't know what was going on in the house." Lindel said.

"Well that's disappointing." Herrior said.

"They'll have fun with the Russian lady in Hawaii…also I scrambled most of their memories…it will take years for them to straighten everything out." Lindel said.

"See – isn't that more effective than your interrogation techniques?" Herrior asked looking over at the soldier he was talking to.

"It sure is…" the soldier said and turned to Lindel and said, "Good work ma'am."

"Yeah…you aren't so bad yourself… Anyways shall we go look for Lulu?" Lindel asked.

"Is your power restored?" Herrior asked knowing the answer with a smile.

"Yup!" Lindel said cheerfully.

"Open up a portal then. We'll need you to scan the memories of the Pandaren, see if anybody knows anything. I am willing to bet it was somebody from the inside." Herrior said.

"Quick to judge are we?" Lindel asked forming the portal.

"We're all thinking that…" Herrior said and then turned around and saw his party and hundreds of men fully armed and equipped to go into battle. "Impressive" Herrior said.

"Word is getting out of some of the battles that some of us have been on and the rest of us want to see these new people and learn their ways, see the new world and to follow our leader into battle." The soldier said.

"We're ready to fight beside you Herrior." Admiral said.

"So it seems you are, let's go." Herrior said.

They arrived in Pandaria and Chen immediately ran up to Herrior in desperation. "We have to find her; it's not like her to run off by herself. We've taken the sky serpents and looked for her from above – we have no idea where she went. We have to find her…please!"

"That is why we are here Chen, calm yourself – remember the Sha are still in these lands and we don't need everybody panicking over this, it will only make the situation worse…" Herrior then paused for a minute as something caught his attention. Herrior then looked over his shoulder to his right and pointed and then did the same for the left. Herrior's party fanned out taking up flanking positions. The soldiers didn't know what was going on, but the sounds of clicking could be heard as they turned off their safetys and flipped on their laser sights.

"What is going on?" Chen asked.

"Chen – has anybody passed this way in the last couple of days?" Herrior asked putting an arm around Chen's shoulder and leading him towards the middle of the houses.

"Several people, but we assumed that they were from your world. They offered to trade goods with us, why?"

"Because some of them are still here…" Herrior said. Dead silence filled the air as Chen wondered what he meant. Suddenly a twig snapped as Herrior leaped in the air, pulling out his weapon and shield and slamming down on the ground. The rogue was knocked backwards as he engaged Herrior. Herrior was hit several times with his poison tipped daggers, but was quickly brought down by the rest of Herrior's party.

"Form a circle, get your ass's together and look for anything unusual!" Herrior yelled at the soldiers.

Lindel disappeared from sight and started searching everybody's minds as quick as she could. Two had succumbed to the alliance. Lindel put a marker above their heads as Skyka began to chant her powerful dispel spell, freeing their minds from the mild alliance corruption. Herrior rushed up to them and grabbed both of them and lifted them up off the ground and yelled, "Where is she?"

"What…what happened…" one said.

"Where is the girl?" Herrior's voice was so loud it echoed across the land.

"They took her…through the Valley of the Four winds and then north. They have teamed up with the Mogu. The Mogu could not have survived though…they were killed off many years ago."

Herrior dropped them and looked at the rest of the Pandaren and said, "No other person is allowed in this camp unless it is us, because this happens! There might be other corrupted Pandarens in your lands as well by the alliance – they are a force to be reckoned with. Keep ever vigilant people or this will happen again! Move out!" Herrior yelled and started to run south along the trail.

"Hozens come too?" A Hozen asked.

"These people need to be protected…Hozens need to stay here." Herrior said.

"Hozens protect people!"

They ran for several miles until they saw signs of a struggle. Several animals were dead and animals were tied up in trees by the throat until it looked like they died a slow death.

"What kind of madness is this?" Chen asked.

"A calling card from the alliance, they want us to follow them. We are walking into a trap people. Veliline take the middle and Quinely take up the rear – the rest of my party spread yourselves out, what are you doing here Lhi?" Herrior asked.

"I'm going to join the fight! I have been studying the ways of the monk with Chen. I will not let you down!" Lhi said with determination.

"We'll see – let's move!" Herrior said and began the run again.

Soon they came to the bridge that crossed over into the Valley of the Four Winds and Suddenly Trackolania ran in front of Herrior and stopped him – Herrior nearly fell over him. Trackolania put a finger to his mouth and pointed underneath the bridge. Herrior turned around and put his finger over his mouth and motioned for everybody to get down. Trackolania then stealthed himself as he moved down under the bridge. He saw enough explosives to blow a crater as big as a city, along with several pieces of metal and other shrapnel. The trap was pressure sensored. He looked it over really quick and then cut thirty wires all in less than a second. He then heard a clicking sound begin. He quickly turned around and jammed his dagger in a time-bomb that had been activated. Trackolania quickly got to work disarming it, removing the clock mechanism and tossed it to the side. Trackolania then took all of the explosives and put them in his pockets. He came back up from under the bridge and unstealthed himself and gave a "thumbs up".

"Would it have killed us?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"Do you have the explosives? Herrior asked again and Trackolania nodded again.

"Do you sense anymore traps?" Herrior asked. Trackolania took a minute and surveyed the land. He then turned around and shook his head.

"Doesn't say much does he?" Admiral asked quietly.

"Rogues don't…but he just saved all of our lives, so say what you want about him." Herrior said standing up.

"I didn't mean anything bad by it…" Admiral quickly said.

"Hug the mountains people. There is probably going to be an ambush…don't shoot me…" Herrior said telling them sternly. Herrior then quickly crossed the bridge and ran north to the mountains with everybody right behind him. With their backs to the mountains they walked sideways looking for any signs of the alliance.

They walked until they came to several dead bodies and a set of stairs.

"These are Grummles. They are peaceful creatures and carry no weapons unless it is something for trade. They move from one place to another, never settling down in one place." Chen said.

"Nomads" Branzer said.

"What would they have done to deserve a death like this?" Herrior asked.

"I have never heard of a Grummle attacking anybody. They tend to stick to their own kind – there is no reason for this slaughter. Look, their packs haven't been scavenged. Whoever killed them did so for pleasure." Chen said.

"That has alliance written all over it…" Skyka piped up.

"Can you bring them back to life?" Herrior asked.

"I can try…" Skyka said without much hope.

"Jessica come up here and try to bring these Grummles back to life." Herrior said. Jessica ran up and both her and Skyka tried to cast their resurrect spell – but to no avail. After a couple of minutes Herrior told the soldiers to carry them. "They deserve a proper burial among their people." The soldiers quickly ran forward and picked them up. They only stood about four foot tall, but they were heavy. Their skin was green in color and their body's were mostly covered with thick fur coats and clothing, but their facial features were the same as any other person. Their packs they carried were very heavy; it had to be given to another soldier to carry.

"The trail leads up hill. I will go first, stay behind me about ten feet in case there are any other traps. Trackolania come up here beside me." Herrior said as he pulled out his shield and mace.

The two of them started up the stairs as Trackolania walked with his knees bent and his daggers in his hands. He was poised to strike at anything that came near him. They cautiously moved up every stone stair, nobody made a noise as they walked. Herrior made a mental link with Lindel and Quinely. Nobody was sensing anything around them. Herrior made a turn in the path and saw a dead female Pandaren whose hand was propped up – pointing up the stairs.

"Damn it…" Herrior muttered as he ran up to the woman and quickly looked up the stairs. He gently picked her up and laid her on the ground as Skyka came running and began to cast her resurrection spell. This time it worked. Skyka started casting healing spell after spell until she was fully healed.

"They killed me…" she said quietly.

"You are ok now hun – tell us what happened." Skyka said kneeling down beside her.

"Humans…just like them…" the Pandaren woman said pointing at the soldiers, "They came through here with a little Pandaren girl, she was full of spite and kicked and screamed as much as she could. I was cut down…I couldn't do anything…they were to powerful…" she said in-between sobs."

"Hush…it's ok…we are friends and we have come to rescue the girl. Do you remember anything they said or any type of weapons or armor they had? Tell me what you remember." Skyka said hugging her.

"They had dark souls" she said.

"They had dark swords?" Skyka asked. The Pandaren woman shook her head and said, "Their souls were dark – it is as if they weren't acting on their own will, but had given over their bodies and minds to a dark enemy."

"The Sha" Chen said. The woman nodded.

"Go back with our humans, they will protect you. We cannot take you back now." Herrior said.

"Is Halfhill safe?" Chen asked. The woman nodded and said, "Yes, they don't want our crops – they are drawn to the dark energies up in Kun-Lai Summit. I'm afraid Binan Village might be under attack…my family is there…" she said.

"Admiral – protect her, let's get going people!" Herrior said turning to run up the stairs.

They continued to climb up the stairs and the sounds of battle could be heard and the death screams were echoing through the stairway. Herrior picked up the paced as everybody started to summon their pets and demons. All of them started to apply their buffs to the group as they climbed the stairs.

The group saw Herrior peak over the top stair and then dash off into battle. The rest of them ran to catch up. A loud "thud" could be heard as Herrior's shield hit something hard.

"Move it people! Protect the dead bodies – form a defensive position and provide cover fire for Herrior and his party!" Admiral commanded as he flicked off the safety on his assault rifle and moved as fast as he could up the rest of the stairs. The soldiers ran up the stairs and quickly found their targets and let their guns come alive. It wasn't the alliance they were fighting; it was huge hairy beast creatures covered with grey fur. They had horns, bigger then Herrior's. They had some armor, but what really caught their eyes were their huge swords that they fought with. Later on they would find out that the creatures names were Batarri.

"Put the dead at the base of the stairs and form a perimeter around them. Ma'am could you stay within the perimeter as well?" Admiral asked the female Pandaren.

"My kind are dying at you want me to stand back and watch? I don't think so!" The woman said and charged into battle.

"Snipers – take up positions and have two guards stand by you. The rest of you follow her. I need a team to stay back and guard these bodies." Admiral said.

"Having fun Admiral?" A soldier asked racing forward with him.

"Forgot how much fun this was! Driving a boat is ok, but this far surpasses it!" Admiral said and let loose a spray of bullets at a Batarri coming towards him. It didn't kill him until Admiral raised his gun and shot several bullets into its face. The Batarri dropped almost immediately.

"Aim for their heads!" Admiral called out. His party stood next to the Pandaren woman who had engaged a Batarri that Veliline had attacking her. Admiral's party didn't want to risk shooting Herrior's group so they split up for a clean shot. Lhi's attacks were nothing short of extraordinary as Admiral saw her move at lightning speeds and shoot things out of her hands that looked like some Mortal Kombat moves. Several soldiers took up positions to the side of them, and shot out their eyes. The Batarris dropped in pain as dozens of them were taken down quickly.

"More coming from the rear – in the cave behind us!" A soldier yelled out. Veliline heard it and before she could take up a position, the soldiers had slaughtered dozens of them. Veliline held still as the bullets continued to fire, until the attack stopped.

The snipers had dropped several dozen from on the other side of the village. This confused the Batarri – some loud force was killing them, but nobody was attacking them. They looked at their dead leader and wondered what they should do, in the meantime six more dropped dead to the ground. The others started to run away, but three more were shot in the ankles, immobilizing them.

"We've got wounded on the ground!" Admiral yelled back. Three medics stopped shooting and ran towards the Admiral. Two of the soldiers were hurt badly. The Batarri charged at them like a bull and slammed them into the ground. The Batarri were picked up by Quinely and forced them to attack her. The medics quickly pulled out a syringe of morphine and quickly injected it into the downed soldiers. The pain instantly went away and the medics all decided quickly to get them out of the battlefield. They waved over some more soldiers. Six in total put their gun straps over their shoulders and as gently as possible picked them up and brought them over to the dead Grummles. The medics then began to treat them. It was apparent right away that they had broken ribs and there was no way to operate on them right now. They took off their armor and cut off their uniforms and then wrapped them up in a heavy bandage to stop the bleeding and to prevent further movement of their ribs. The soldiers lay in a half drugged phase telling them that they were sorry. The medics pulled out an IV drip bag and began to set it up when the Admiral called out, "There are dozens of them coming from that island over there across that bridge. We need to blow the bridge, snipers…" Admiral was interrupted by one of Trackolania's bags thrown at him. It caught him off guard as he turned around to see what it was. Admiral picked it up and put his hand in it and felt what seemed to be to him as hundreds of explosives. He pulled his hand out in astonishment and then looked underneath the bag.

"Blow the damn bridge and stop looking at the bag!" Herrior yelled. His party was taking tremendous damage, but was holding their ground.

"I need demo people!" Admiral yelled back.

"Coming" said several of them.

"Take this bag, only take out the explosives and go plant them under the bridge. I want the explosive far enough away from the village to not damage it, but to make one hell of a bang!" Admiral said and shoving the pack at one of them.

"On it sir – everyone in the water!" The soldier yelled as he strapped his gun over his shoulder and dove into the river. Ten soldiers immediately jumped in – more were eager to jump in but decided that there was probably enough.

They swam underwater in the clear waters, holding their breath the entire swim. Once at the bridge they slowly came up for air underneath it. The sounds of war filled their ears once again and they started to use hand signals, knowing that if they were heard their mission would be in jeopardy – and they would probably end up getting killed. Slowly they swam to the middle of the bridge. The soldier holding the bag reached into it and grabbed four sticks of dynamite. He then distributed them among the soldiers as they duct taped them to the bamboo legs holding it up. They moved back and forth, slow as to not create too much of a wake with their bodies. One of the soldiers pulled out some wire and some caps for the dynamite. They wired up enough dynamite to create a small crater. The soldiers then looked at each other and started giving a "thumbs up" acknowledging that they were ready. One of the soldiers shook his head and pointed at the closest part of the bridge at the far end. They certainly had enough dynamite left over so the soldier carrying the bag pulled out four more sticks and was given some wire. Before she left, the soldier with the bag looked her right in the face and put a finger over his mouth. She nodded and took a deep breath as she slowly submerged herself and pulled on the bamboo holding up the bridge to quickly make it to the far side of the bridge. She surfaced quietly and began the rigorous job of attaching them. With the caps on and wired up she looked back with a thumbs up.

"Who dares approach these lands? These are our lands! I will destroy all of you!" A fierce loud voice bellowed out. It sounded very powerful. All of the demo team quickly submerged themselves and swam as quickly as they could away from the bridge.

"My legion…pull back as I rain fire upon our foes!" The powerful leader of the Batarri commanded. He pulled out a bow and pulled it back and dozens of magical flaming arrows appeared. He released it and it looked like a wall of fire coming down on them.

"Fall back!" Herrior ordered as he raised his shield. The arrows came down and instantly burst into fire. Dan, who was wounded in combat along with the rest of his party, ordered the wind to come down to extinguish the fires it started. The majority of the party was suffering badly because of the fire. The healers desperately tried to keep up their health.

"You puny worms! I will have all of your skulls as trophies and wear them around my neck!" The Batarri leader said as he led his battle yak onto the bridge and prepared to shoot another wave of arrows.

The demolition team surfaced and saw what was happening. The man with the detonator quickly armed it and pressed the button. The explosion was magnificent. The leader's body separated into hundreds of pieces and the bridge shattered into millions of pieces. The shockwave of the blast launched water up high into the air. Dan then reached his hand out and pulled the water towards them, extinguishing the fires. The army of Batarri on the other side of the bridge was blown backwards, many of them killed instantly or suffering mortal wounds.

"Yes!" The soldier said in excitement that held Trackolania's bags.

"Finish off the remaining enemies…give Herrior's group some cover fire!" Admiral yelled out. Shots filled the silence awe from the explosion as the remaining Batarri were dropped in the village. The soldiers then took up positions on the edge of the bank and fired a bullet-storm at the remaining Batarri. The snipers quickly repositioned themselves and laid back on the ground, then let off one fifty caliber bullet after another – successfully exploding each Batarri head they hit.

The Batarri were all but dead, the last remaining ones dropped everything and ran away.

The townspeople started to celebrate as the healers quickly recharged their mana and tended to the wounded.

"Admiral – I want your sniper on the roofs – kill anything that looks hostile for as far as they can see!" Herrior yelled out and pointed to the roofs.

"On it" One sniper replied quickly and picked up his gear. He began reloading his huge rifle one bullet at a time. They all got to the building Herrior was pointing at and threw their guns up top as a human ladder was formed to get the snipers on top of the thatched roofs. Once up on the roofs they took up different positions and did a quick sweep through their scopes. Several shots rang out at first and then it went silent. The snipers took this time to reload their rifles while looking on the horizon for any incoming hostiles.

"We have two wounded back with the dead Grummles." Admiral said to Herrior.

"I'm on it." Mohania said running towards them. The soldiers let him in as he conjured up a healthstone and then placed it on top of one of the soldiers. The healthstone slowly made a green hole on the wounded man's chest as it sunk into his body. There was no pain, but he looked terrified.

"Just relax…give it a couple of seconds and you'll be good as new. If it helps…don't look at it." Mohania said and then conjured up another healthstone and did the same to the other soldier. As soon as the healthstone was fully dissolved into the man's chest, his wounds were fully healed. He reached down and touched his bandages and felt no pain. He didn't know if it was still the effects of the morphine, but he felt his ribs actually move back into position. He started hitting his chest and felt no pain. Giving in to curiosity he stood up and jumped up and down. He ripped off the bandages and put his armor back on.

"See? Would a walking skeleton steer you wrong?" Mohania asked.

"Thank you, I thought I was going to die." The soldier said. The other soldier felt the healing affects as well and said, "Yeah thanks…what was that?"

"Healthstones…I also have soulstones to bring you back to life, but you weren't that far gone. We have injured townsfolk now. Keep your guard up, but they need our help as well and our healers are nearly exhausted." Mohania said and quickly ran away.

All of the soldiers moved among the towns people, helping them out as much as they could, wrapping up their wounds, placing balm on their fire burns and calming them down by talking to them. The soldiers worked with Herrior's group in rounding up loved ones of families as Skyka, Jessica, Dan, and the monks went to work raising the ones that fell in combat. They were able to bring back everybody back to life as Dan dropped a healing totem and then channeled his healing rain spell as it began to heal everybody around him.

"That was a battle I care to not repeat…" Herrior said walking up to Admiral with his hands wide open and hugged him. He then let go of him and said, "You and your soldiers have done well, I am proud of all of them."

"No sign of the alliance though, what do we make of this victory?" Admiral asked.

"These townsfolk can get back to their normal lives without being slaves or tortured by the Batarri anymore. Quinely and Lindel – take to the skies and see if you can see where Lulu might be.

The mayor of the town came up to Herrior when he was done talking and said, "We are in debt to you and your fighters…we haven't much food left, but what we have is yours. Take as you wish for you have freed us from the terrible Batarri."

"This is our job Pandaren. My name is Herrior and these are my fighters. We have come to free your people from the evil ones that rule over this land. Have you seen a group of humans pass by here with a little girl?" Herrior asked.

"They did, but did not say a word. They travelled north. It's been years since we've seen others in our town so we tried to express a welcome attitude towards them, but they merely pushed us out of their way and left." The mayor said.

"Hold on for a second." Herrior said and made a mental link with Lindel who told her to link up with Quinely. "Go north, that is where the alliance went." Herrior told them and then broke the link.

"Snipers, focus on the north! If you see something breathing or a wake of dead animals I want to know about it!" Herrior yelled up. The snipers quickly repositioned themselves as one yelled down, "Herrior there are more Batarri to the west of us with some more Pandaren and what looks like yaks…I could be wrong though, the animals on this world look different.

"Admiral stay here and do not let anything hostile in this village. Give the Pandarens your rations and lend them some aid. We have some unfinished business." Herrior said. He then turned around and said, "My party we are leaving in ten seconds…I want you on my ass before we go!" Herrior's party quickly formed with Chen and Lhi in line.

"You are not part of my party." Herrior told them.

"We will fight any foe that comes at you, you have seen us in combat – our skills have dramatically improved." Chen said.

"Yes they have, but you are not part of my party. I want you to stay here and help out your kinsfolk. They would feel better with other Pandaren with them besides just humans." Herrior said.

Chen bowed and left, but Lhi was stubborn and stayed. Herrior walked up towards her and pointed at Chen and said, "If you seek death through battle you will find it someday – as for my party we do not seek it. As your leader I will not ask you again!"

"Herrior, we found some humans guarding a cave a couple of miles out. We're lined up to take a shot, but that is probably where they took Lulu." One of the snipers yelled down.

"Monitor their activity and if a lot of them starts coming out of the cave signal us by firing three shots in the air. Trackolania go investigate and see if you can find her. Veliline – pass on the information of what was just said to Lindel. Let's move out." Herrior said and started a quick jog towards the farms.

"We need better equipment…" Herrior said under his breath. "Don't attack the yaks! I expect this battle to be short." Herrior said louder. They continued to run until Herrior threw a magical projection of his weapon at one of them. This stunned them as the rest of the Batarri saw the attack and started running at them in an unorganized fashion. Herrior saw in the distance that there were more Pandaren held hostage and thought "When will this end…or is this just the beginning?"

Herrior charged at one of them and did his thunderclap and shockwave abilities. This drew nearly all of their attention and the hunters let their bullets fly – a solid three seconds of hitting every single one of them nearly as fast as an assault rifle, but doing little damage. The spell casters focused their spells on one of them and took it down quite quickly. Their pets were launched into battle and Branzer marked which one to shot at with his "hunter's mark" – a signal placed above the Batarri's head similar to how Lindel did. This seemed more effective way of attacking. Slowly one by one, they dropped dead to the ground.

Once the battle was over Herrior let out a loud snort of frustration and shook his head. "We are not ready for battles like this. We need better armor and weapons. Drag the dead out of the garden area and I will see to the prisoners." Herrior said not facing the group and then walked away.

"Loot everything they have and take anything valuable." Skyka said as she levitated a body out of the garden.

"We're doing the best that we can…" Dan said.

"Our opponents are as well; let's see if we can get an advantage over them." Skyka said watching Herrior walk up to the Pandaren imprisoned in their homes. She could hear him talking to them. They seemed happy to be saved and several of them gave him hugs. They started gathering food, which Skyka assumed was to go for the village.

In the meantime Trackolania had sprinted undetected up to the cave and passed right through the guards. Lindel had given an indication that she felt Lulu's presence in there. She had linked up her mind with the snipers and told them to be on their toes, but only fire when she gave the command. Quinely perched herself on top of some rocks over head and began summoning other birds to her. If the snipers missed their target, she would cause a wave of confusion for Trackolania to escape.

Inside Trackolania moved with a swiftness only a rogue could accomplish. He moved quickly through the alliance army that had taken refuge inside of the cave. Most of them were gambling, smoking or drinking. Trackolania stole some of their better looking weapons as they quickly disappeared from plain sight and into his bags. He continued to maneuver his way through the deep caverns until he heard a young girl crying. That was Lulu without question. He changed directions and had to leap through several groups of alliance, bouncing off the walls and anything he could land on. Several of the jumps were dangerously close, but Trackolania paid no attention and continued to proceed forward. He made several twists and turns before coming to a dark and damp place in the caves. He spotted Lulu on the ground with her knees against her head and her arms wrapped around them. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Trackolania unstealthed himself and gently poked Lulu. She looked up and quickly recognized Trackolania. Trackolania put a finger up to his mouth and then to hers, she was very excited to see him, but Trackolania wanted to make sure she didn't say a word. She nodded and Trackolania turned around and motioned for her to jump on his back. She did and quickly both of them faded from sight. Trackolania felt for one of his bags and realized he had given it to one of the soldiers, but had still kept twenty sticks of dynamite in another bag. He was going to bring down this cave, escape silently with Lulu on his back and kill everybody in her. Trackolania paused for a minute and thought about his plan…this would be a big undertaking, but he would have to give it his best shot. He jumped forward on all fours and began doing the daring leaps back and forth through the alliance. He found several mountain stalactites that had formed together with the floor making a column and placed a stick there. He found several others and wired them up quickly. The more time he spent doing this, the more likely he would be found.

He proceeded in doing this tactic until he came to the entrance where he placed the rest of the dynamite. He gave himself a ten second timer and relayed the information to Quinely and Lindel through a mental link – both of whom started to leave quickly. Trackolania then lit the fuse and through down a smoke bomb, confusing the two guards out front. The then took all of his acid cloud vials and threw them in the cave and then sprinted as fast as he could away from the scene.

As planned, ten seconds later the cave entrance exploded, sending rocks flying out in every direction – instantly killing the two cards that couldn't see anything and could hardly breathe. Trackolania never looked back and pushed himself as fast as he could. He pulled Lulu out from behind him and carried her in his arms – that way if any rocks hit him, it would hopefully not hurt her.

Seconds passed as the vials shattered, sending poisonous vapor into the air and causing the alliance's skin, lungs and eyes to start to burn. The next wave of explosions erupted, sending off another wave of rocks and debris inside of the buried cave. This continued for several more explosions until all of the dynamite had exploded. The plan worked perfectly, except Trackolania took a pounding from flying rocks. Taking several hard hits, his stealth had been broken and Lindel flew down to grab him and they took to the skies. Lindel pushed herself hard and flew clear of the explosions. They landed in the village and Lindel was completely exhausted. Mohania quickly made a hearthstone and gave it to her, restoring some of her power.

"Good work Trackolania." Herrior said. Trackolania rolled over and Lulu jumped up in excitement, unfortunately she jumped on top of the wounded Trackolania and he cringed hard. Skyka quickly walked over to Trackolania and healed his body.

"Listen up Pandaren! Your foes have been slaughtered today and those taken from you have been returned. Chen and Lhi know the arts of being a monk – a fighting class used to defend yourselves. Learn from their teachings and their ways. Don't let your enemies take your loved ones again. Reinforce your city and rebuild for this is a day to be remembered! You are free once more and all of this land belongs to you. Farm it, produce food for yourselves, and grow together." Herrior then put his hands together and said, "Together you are strong…together through your new teachings you can defeat any foe in this land…together you can accomplish much. Build weapons for yourselves and spar with each other, not to see who is better, but to improve your skills and to lift up one another. A few can accomplish little, but many can accomplish a lot. Keep ever vigilant and love one another. In our Bible it tells of a verse that I think helps here, 'Nehemiah 4:14 Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, yours daughters, your wives, and your homes.' I will leave my copy here with you; it is the biggest step that you can take in your life. I advise you to study it, take in every word of it and you will have more in your arsenal then just your staves that you carry. Study it, practice it, and memorize it. Our time here draws near for we are needed at our homes. Our brethren, sons, daughters, and wives need us. Do not let the evil consume you and watch your emotions in this land. Do not dwell on hatred or fear for this will bring the Sha to you and destroy you. Keep in good spirits and say a prayer before every night. Here…" Herrior said rummaging through his bags and pulled out his very used bible. He pulled out any information that related to Tranquil and handed it to the mayor. "Take this and take turns reading it to each other and the demons will flee from you. Draw upon one another's strength when one has fallen, not in death but in life. There are going to be more of our kind exploring the area and gathering materials to strengthen our weapons and armor. We will teach you what we learn from these new materials we are not entirely familiar with, but the grounds and plants usually supply the world with their needs." Herrior said and gave an exhausted sigh.

"Wait a moment…" the mayor said and ran into one of the smaller houses. He came running back with several scrolls tied together. "These are plans to build better weapons and armor. I am not sure they will be able to be read, but if they are any help to you, you are more than welcome to take them. They are stolen plans from the Mogu who once ruled this land. We have no craftsmen to build these…" the mayor said suddenly feeling like if they had built these weapons, this would never have happened.

"We will pass on the knowledge that we learn from them to you." Herrior said smiling at him. He then turned to Lindel and said, "Deliver these home at once, and then come back for us." Lindel at once made a portal and went through it.

"Is this the last time we will meet then?" The mayor asked.

Herrior shook his head and said "No…there is still much work to be done here. We will be back with better weapons." Herrior then pointed at the dead Grummles and said, "Their lives were cut short. We were too late to bring them back to life. Can you see to it that they get a proper burial?"

"The Grummles will want to bury their own. They have a ceremony that they do with incense and a dance that they do. They will also want their packs and any lucky-dos they might have been carrying." The mayor said looking at them. "We will send out scouts to locate them. They might be surprised if you were to show up, strangers in their land, and present to them the death of their kin. May I ask before you leave, what areas of this land are safe?"

"The Jade Forest is safe, and Halfhill and the areas to the east of Halfhill are safe. They could use some help in Halfhill though, them rodents are carrying away all of their fresh vegetables." Chen said.

"Are they still having the problem with the rodents?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, and now they have attracted wolves and hawks."

"Quinely, fly ahead and see if you can control them and report back." Herrior said as Quinely morphed into her bird form and quickly flew away.

"Take me with you! I don't want those big nasty's taking me away again…they were not very nice people!" Lulu said. Herrior smiled at her and knelt down.

"Lulu, you are needed here. You have so much adventure inside of you. I need you to help your people and the sky serpents. The creatures are going to have to learn how to fly to different points in this world. How are the sky serpents doing?" Herrior asked smiling.

"Great! The babies are growing up quickly but more of the yak's milk is needed. Where are we going to find more yaks?" Lulu asked.

"We have many wild yaks in our lands. We can bring the ones that survived the assault and tame them. If it is yaks milk that you need, we will get it for you. I'm not sure how my people would fair against the rodent problem though…" The mayor said.

"Herrior if I may, our forces are ready to break down any barriers. We should be able to flush out all of the rodents." Admiral said.

"Your pride swells among your forces – that is dangerous. You have succeeded in one battle, but you still need to maintain control of your emotions. The demons of this land are numerous and the weapons you carry are dangerous. I need your minds rested and prepared to fight the evil with your whole body – not just the weapons you carry. Your numbers near the thousands and our healers cannot heal and dispel the demons that continue to bombard you." Herrior said.

"What about the ones of us who had the blasting done by the monks?" A soldier piped up.

Herrior let out an "Hmm…" sound as he saw their eagerness.

"When can the rest of us get blasted by the monks? Herrior, we will do whatever it takes." Another soldier asked.

"This fight is not yours, this world is not yours, these people are not yours – do you have an eagerness to kill? To end the life of an animal or person so quickly?" Herrior asked.

"No…this fight is ours; if we weren't here these people would not be safe. We took an oath to serve our country – now we are taking an oath to serve those that cannot defend themselves. We don't carve notches in our guns for the number of lives we take; we kill because we have to. We will follow orders to the death." The same soldier said standing up.

"This world and other worlds may not be our own, but we have sworn to uphold justice and laws. The laws might be different, but when we carry the dead of races that we have not even known, we develop a close heart to them. They might be alien to us, but they weren't supposed to die this way – cut down by the alliance. Many of these Pandaren are looking at us for the first time and us them – but when we exchange smiles, talk with them and share food with them, all barriers between us have been broken down. These are kind folks that need our help…besides I still have a dozen loaded clips left that are just itching for a target." A woman soldier said and at the end held up several loaded clips of ammunition. Others started agreeing with her and showing Herrior how much ammunition they had left. Herrior held up his hand for silence.

"Are you minds conditioned though? Can you survive your own emotions as you become overwhelmed by these pests? Many might over take you and you may have to resort to ripping them off from your bodies, tearing at your flesh and causing deep lacerations. This will spring up emotions of anger and frustration. You all have fought a great battle, but as your leader I do not want to take the chance of losing a single one of you. My fear is something that none of you may know. If the deeps dive to deep into your bodies and cannot be dispelled, I will be the first one to kill you. I cannot have the Sha overtake any of us. I am your leader, but you are all not used to our fighting tactics – especially as I look upon your faces now and you realize that I may give the order to kill one among you to save the rest. I am overwhelmed by your words and eagerness, but I ask again – are your minds conditioned and are your emotions able to withstand what I may ask of you? To kill your own? The secrets that my party holds are deep and if any one of us gets captured with no way of getting them back, I will give the order to have them killed. I dearly love each and every one of my party members – but we must not have our secrets revealed to our enemies. All of you have seen and heard things that no other human could even have imagined, and all of you have the potential to be in the same situation even on your home world. But here if you are taken prisoner, you will know the locations and outposts of many of our people. That is why I am not putting any of you on the front lines. I deeply care about all of you, but I have an obligation to my people and to the people of this world to keep their secrets safe. The thrill of battle can be an enormous rush of emotions – most of which are good and have laid dormant with many of you…perhaps for many generations, but there are some times when a leader has to say no. I am explaining my answer in detail so that the Pandarens can hear this wisdom I speak also. I want to go into battle fully equipped with every advantage I can exploit against our enemies. For now, Halfhill is fighting on their own. I have sent a scout ahead already to assess the situation and have sent a messenger to our world to study the plans in detail so that they can be returned. Our party is not prepared for the upcoming battles and a good leader who loves all of the people that he commands would not send them into battle unequipped. Have faith in me and what I say because I have lead many people into battle and have fought under the leadership of many battles. For now, I want all of the humans to go back for now and rest their bodies and minds. I will setup a time for others to get blasted by the monks so that we are better equipped to take on what lies ahead of us." Herrior said and nodded to Lindel to open a portal. Lindel heard the majority of what Herrior said as she returned from Tranquil and then opened another portal to the station. The human soldiers did as they were told and left through the portal. Herrior then motioned to Lindel to close the portal. She did as she was told and then asked, "Why aren't we going back?"

"We are going to our world, open a portal." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and did as she was told.

"When can we expect you back?" The mayor asked.

"Our people are going to start looking for resources on this world in the known safe areas probably within the hour. The creatures we have fought so far are stronger than us. We will regroup and come back. Chen, Lhi – can you watch over these people and ensure the sky serpents are raised properly?" Herrior asked.

"It will be our honor." Chen said bowing.

"I want to come with you." Lhi insisted again.

"You have enough work to do here. We will return again I assure you." Herrior said smiling at her and bowed to her, she returned the bow.

Back in Tranquil, Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and relayed all of the information to one of the King's ambassadors within the palace. He was told that new equipment was already underway and should be ready within a day, and also a group of gatherers would be sent to the Jade Forest under protection of a party. Herrior thanked the ambassador and then wanted to address this party.

"Let's go discuss some issues within our home." Herrior said and everybody followed him into the home and saw a family with children playing in there.

"Sorry, we did not mean to intrude, we will go somewhere else." Herrior said.

"No no…don't be silly. Our kids wanted to see where Herrior's party's house was, so we came to explore. Come on let's go kids." A female tauren said.

"Yay…it's Herrior and Dan!" The two girls and one body said running up to hug them. They hugged them back and then followed their mother out.

"Sorry about the interruption." The mother said.

"No need to be, have a blessed day." Herrior said.

"You as well" She replied.

Herrior's party then went to the top of the stairs and sat in a circle, Mohania lit a fire in the middle of them.

"First issue I have is we were dependant on the humans to save us. I do not have nearly as much confidence in them as I do with those sitting among me right now. What went wrong?" Herrior asked.

"I know I was swapped with healing. Jessica, Strings, and Lindel were all healing – and I think Dan got in a couple of his chain heals as well. They were striking hard Herrior." Skyka said piping up real quick.

"We were fighting and the Pandaren were not…they could have taken up a weapon and helped…" Jacklyn said with frustration in her voice.

"I could not fear anybody because I didn't know if it would affect the Pandaren or not. All area of effect spells were out of the question…their leader did a good enough job raining down fire." Mohania said.

"I could have slowed or stopped time, but that would only have helped me or those immune to time stopping – and I felt it giving away that secret and what we are capable of is something they don't need to know about."

"My throat hurts…" Strings said whispering.

"He was altering songs and played the whole time." Skyka said.

Trackolania held up his daggers and made a motion that he was stabbing the air and then shook his head.

"I know Julie and I were hindering their approach with our traps, and we had all of our pets out to impede them overwhelming us – we were doing as much as we could." Branzer said.

"I'm going to switch my spec to arcane. Fire does to much collateral damage like Mohania was saying. I could switch to frost…but I'm favoring arcane right now for my mage talents." Bernett said.

"The human attacks were nearly useless…they shot out their eyes…eventually, but their bullets were not piercing their armor. They brag about their guns and ammunition, but it is nothing compared to our weaponry." Jacklyn said continuing the conversation. Herrior's head turned to each person that talked and took in what they said.

"What could we have done differently? My gun was going off as fast as I could charge it up. Spark did his best, he to slowed down our attackers. Being a beast master, my deadliest attacks are with Spark – but I had to alternate between targeting the beasts attacking our tanks and slowing the approach of more enemies. We were just out numbered."

Trackolania quickly stood up and started feeling around for his missing bag. He then realized he never got it back from the human and looked at Herrior. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Admiral.

"Admiral, Trackolania gave one of his bags to a soldier that had the explosive devices in it. We need that protected and kept in a safe place until we return." Herrior said quickly and with urgency in his voice.

"I will have it secured and post guards around it." Admiral said.

"Thank you" Herrior said and then closed the portal quickly. Trackolania let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders at Herrior.

"It happens, don't worry about it." Herrior said as Trackolania sat back down. Julie reached over and gave him a hug with one arm. Strings took a long drink from his wineskin.

"I want all of you to know that I am proud of all of you. Each of you fought bravely in the face of danger without giving away any secrets. I sense no ill intentions from the Pandaren people, or from the humans. I do agree that the Pandaren people need to learn how to defend themselves. They stand a fighting chance now of getting their lives back in order. They have been freed from being captive and we struck another major blow to the alliance. I wanted to get us out of the battlefield though to tell you all of this without the humans or Pandaren hearing it…we almost didn't walk away from that battle, but I believe the humans will train harder and a spark will be lit under the Pandaren's ass's to get their defenses and training as a monk together. I believe they have the ability to repel enemies, I wasn't able to observe Chen or Lhi fighting – did anybody else?" Herrior asked.

"We were too busy trying to stay alive…" Skyka said quickly. Herrior looked around the room and they all agreed with Skyka.

"I would like to see Lhi fight. She is more than eager to fight beside us and she has made that more than evident on several occasions. She has already spoken with our King and I believe he would like to hear more stories about her in combat." Herrior said.

"Are you considering her joining our party?" Jacklyn spoke up quickly.

"I have considered it, but have not come to a conclusion yet. But for the time being, go to your trainers and help out wherever you can with our crafters. I am also considering having the humans use some of our weapons, but have not come to a conclusion on that yet either. Not the weapons used for a specialized, but grey item items and some of your engineering ideas that you have helped make Dan. This would make them a stronger asset in battle. It might also save our asses someday. Go now and ponder these ideas. Help where it is needed and return to me after one day and give me your thoughts. Sleep if you need to sleep, talk about matters on your minds if needed, and spend time with the ones you love. In two days time we will head back – hopefully with better gear. I am going to meditate for an hour or so and pray for guidance – then I am going to get a new Bible. Afterwards you will find me among the blacksmiths. You are all dismissed." Herrior said. Herrior's party stood up and walked out of the house and went their different ways. Dan and Crystal were walking away when Crystal started to laugh and wrapped her arm around Dan's. Mohania quickly walked up to them.

"Can I talk to Dan?" Mohania asked quickly.

"Sure" Crystal said.

"Uh…alone please." Mohania said.

"Alone? In Tranquil?" Crystal asked smiling. Mohania looked around him in urgency and saw a place behind a house where he could talk in private.

"What's going on Mohania?" Crystal asked.

"I want to talk to Dan." Mohania repeated.

"Whatever Dan does he tells me, so how about we just cut out the middle man?" Crystal asked trying to pry it out of him.

"I said please once…" Mohania said after a brief moment.

"Ok…ok…but I want him back; we have some unfinished business to do…" Crystal said.

"Yeah yeah…ok come quick." Mohania said grabbing Dan by the other arm with his boney fingers. Crystal let Dan go as he was quickly escorted away.

"What's going Mohania?" Dan asked curiously.

"Look, I'll cut right to the point…I want to go back to Pandarian. I know Herrior said to rest, but I'll rest when I am dead – there are things to do there." Mohania said.

"You are dead…" Dan said smiling.

"Yes…you are a quick one, now can you take me and Kendall and the rest of the undead back to Tranquil? There are people that need our help. The undead can eat anything pretty much and we don't require sleep. If Halfhill is under attack then we need to be there. I've got this overwhelming feeling that I need to be there and help with the attacks." Mohania said in almost desperation.

"Ok…why are you coming to me? You are an ambassador; just ask a Chronomancer to portal you there." Dan inquired.

"That's where you come in. You get us in and can get us out without a trace." Mohania said.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to be breaking a rule here…" Dan said.

"We will rest in Halfhill like Herrior said…but there are powers there that are stronger than the Pandaren people can face. They are a recovering people that need help." Mohania said urgently.

"And if you die? Have you forgotten that battle we just fought?" Dan asked.

"Not at all…all the more reason to go back. We have tanks, healers, and we'll all have our voidwalkers out. Consider this for a moment; Halfhill seems to be a focal point for the Pandaren as far as food. If that town falls, then their food supply falls. We have the plans for new equipment, but we might be able to get plans for better food. This could have a huge substantial boost for Tranquil and its fighters. Instead of a ten percent increase to a fighter's skills, it could give us a fifteen – or even twenty. That could mean the difference between life and death for our fighters of Tranquil." Mohania said quickly.

"I did sample some of their food…it was nothing like we have the fairies deliver to us. I must admit that the…whatever was shoved in my mouth did enhance my powers substantially." Dan said.

"And all we have are pieces of metal and the remnants of the weapons that the barbarians were using. We need cloth for our robes. We will search for those. The rodents we kill we can take to the sky serpents and feed them, and with each rodent we kill – that is one less to attack the village and its food stores and plants." Mohania said.

"So you want me to lie about your whereabouts then?" Dan asked.

"No…this is my idea, the undead possess powers that others don't and we are eager to come to their aid." Mohania said.

"And if you get caught?" Dan asked.

"It's a bunch of stinkin' rodents…what are they going to do, carry us off? Some of them were big I admit, but there is not enough skin on all of the undead to eat…let alone meat. We are perfect for the job. So enough talking…will you take us there or not?" Mohania said very quickly.

Dan sighed as he looked away and thought about it.

"Just say yes…what all is going on in that head of yours?" Mohania asked quickly again.

"Considering the consequences…" Dan said.

"I will take the responsibility…look all we are going to miss here is Lindel planning her wedding and spreading jolly and glee all over – telling every single person in Tranquil and focusing on that. We're also going to miss watching you people sleep while we sit here and watch you until you wake up. How about you come and get us exactly one day from now, would that make you feel better?" Mohania asked.

Dan was still unsure. Mohania was right with everything he said. He let out a sigh and finally nodded.

"Good…stay here" Mohania said pulling out his hearthstone. Kendall quickly appeared in a portal and said he needed all of the undead to come to his location. Kendall acknowledged and he closed the portal.

Within ten minutes Kendall and the rest of the undead came. Mohania explained the situation and the undead immediately agreed to it.

"Ok then…do your thing." Mohania said.

"Don't be…yourself…" Dan said with a smile.

"I will be a nice and distinguished gentleman…now hurry up you mindless twerp." Mohania said. Dan smiled and waved everybody over to hug him. Once Dan saw everybody was touching him, he immediately disappeared from Tranquil and arrived in the middle of Halfhill. Lindel overheard the conversation and had a tear drop from her eye as he grew her wings and flew away.

The residents of Halfhill were spooked when Dan and the undead suddenly appeared. "Please don't be alarmed, we are here to fight off your rodent problem. I apologize for appearing right in front of you, but we mean you no harm. These people with me are called the undead. They are going to start attacking your rodent problem for the next twenty four hours." The undead fanned out and started applying their buffs for battle and summoning their demons.

"We will take the left side and fight out fifty yards and then go right – eventually making a perimeter." Mohania said.

"Or you could kill their leader…" One of the Pandaren said pointing to a large rodent. It stood about ten feet tall and had dozens of smaller rodents around it.

"Take it!" Mohania yelled out as him and the undead ran forward towards the leader. Dan couldn't resist this fight. He summoned his two elementals and joined them.

They engaged the large rodent as their undead tank started to take hits from all around him. He let out a ferocious scream as the smaller rodents ran in fear. Shortly afterwards fire erupted from the ground and fell from the sky. The leader of the rodents started to suffer greatly and began to run away, until Mohania started to coordinate each undead's ability to fear it.

Dan stopped attacking and saw that Mohania had the situation under control. He was right; his undead were the right job for this. He looked down as his fire elemental burned off the rodents that were trying to claw into his skin. The elemental eventually fried all of them as Dan looked up and saw none of the rodents attacking the undead…it was as if they weren't even there.

Dan banished his elementals as he walked back to the people of Halfhill and said, "You are in good hands. They will fight for the next twenty four hours and then I will return to get them."

"They are fighting off the marmots…for us? Why?" A well dressed Pandaren asked.

"We want your city to be safe." Dan said and looked around. There were small markets that were ravaged and cooking pots dumped, the place looked like it was worked over pretty bad.

"How long would it take to get your markets back up and running?" Dan asked the Pandaren woman.

"Why – what would be the point? Only to feed those marmots again? We grow our food indoors where it is safe and only have enough to sustain our village."

"The other Pandaren speak highly of your town, they are going to come here for food. We are slowly helping you to retake your world back again. We have freed many Pandaren and fought many battles with people, and we plan on continuing to do so." Dan said. The echo of Mohania's voice could be heard in the distance, "Burn you creatures…burn in fire and be cleansed by flame!" Dan and the other Pandaren listened and watched the trail of dead rodents that was left in their wake. Other rodents popped up from the ground, saw their dead and either fled or ran back down in their holes.

"I'm taking up arms!" A male Pandaren said grabbing a wooden rake and walked up to where some of the rodents were running away and started beating them. Others grabbed various garden tools as well and joined the battle.

"Their King has been killed, they are fleeing. Their Queen is located up in the hills. They oversee the stealing and destruction of our food." The Pandaren woman said.

"Point me in the right direction." Dan said.

"Up in the hills in that direction, it's in the mountains but there is a small valley where they burrow. I imagine many of our vegetables are there. There could be many valleys by now…we really don't know how many there are now." The woman said.

"And the birds flying overhead, do they attack your crops as well?" Dan asked.

"Everything attacks our crops…even the Hozens in the west." The woman replied.

"We befriended some Hozens…they wouldn't steal any crops. They are in the Jade Forest." Dan said defending them.

"These are not ordinary Hozens…ookers they are…bunch of ookers!" A Hozen jumped up next to Dan and said. "They steal food from Chee Chee and his friends…they worship a stone god and give food to him, but he doesn't eat it because he is stone!" Chee Chee finished angrily.

"Worshipping false idols is something we take seriously. I will make it a prime target for our fighters. I'm going to go target their Queen and bring her corpse back to you, I also need to catch up with Mohania and tell him about these Hozen. Can you hold the perimeter until I come back?" Dan asked.

Suddenly dozens of flying black disks came flying quickly from the north and stopped just above the houses as several heavily armed Pandaren all did barrel rolls off from their flying disks and landed on the ground. They looked like very well seasoned fighters.

"So…you are one of the new-comers to our world? We finally meet. Are you here to enslave our people like the others? Or are you the group that fights beside our people?"

"The Golden Lotus…but there is only stories of your kind. Why do you show up now when we needed you years ago?" The Pandaren woman asked.

"We are still gathering our forces…we can only spare a couple of us to investigate this sudden appearance of these outsiders. The Mogu have risen up again and we are doing our best to hold them at bay, but back to these strangers…what are your intentions?" One Golden Lotus fighters said.

"I was going to go up and kill the vermin's Queen and bring her body back and impale it for all of the rodents to see as a warning to not attack Halfhill. We already have a group killing the rodents as we speak – to the west. They have already killed the King." Dan said pointing to the battle in the distance.

The head Golden Lotus fighter looked as he analyzed the battlefield. "Hmm…no Pandaren have been slain…only hundreds of rodents. Very well then, we will fight beside you. The best way to get to know somebody is by fighting by their side in battle." He said and all of the Golden Lotus fighters did a series of jumps until they reached their flying disks. Dan summoned his dragon and they took flight.

"I don't want you by the battle…I'm going to jump off and use the winds to slow my decent. After I jump off, I want you to fly to safety." Dan whispered to his dragon. The dragon looked back and nodded. Dan then steered the dragon towards the mountains and picked up speed. The Golden Lotus fighters could not keep up.

"Ok…I'm going to jump, go to where it is safe my friend." Dan said patting his dragon.

"Be safe my friend." His dragon said and tilted as Dan stood up, grabbed his maces and jumped off. He let himself accelerate for several seconds before a gush of wind slowly his descent and he landed in the middle of several large marmots.

"Food has fallen from the skies…"

"We should eat him and use his bones for necklaces…"

"Better idea…how about I kill all of you." Dan said as he energized his weapons and summoned his elementals. Dan then slowed down time as he moved from one marmot to another landing one deadly blow after another. Blood and flesh from the marmots went flying slowly into the air as his the mace seemed to reach out and grab pieces of flesh and rip it off. Soon he had built up enough power to shoot out a bolt of lightning that blew one of the marmots into pieces.

Dan brought time back up to its normal speed as he continued his attacks, his elementals had drawn the attention of both the Golden Lotus fighters and the marmots, which were getting burned and slammed into the ground.

"You fight with speeds and spells we have never seen before." The male Golden Lotus fighter said.

"You haven't seen anything yet…" Dan said as he shot out a frost spell, slowing one of the escaping marmots. Several crossbows were launched and the marmot was dropped dead.

"Elementals…go into the cave and lead the way." Dan commanded them. Both the fire and earth elementals entered the cave and immediately began to attack the large rodents. Dan ran in after them as the Golden Lotus fighters watched in awe, but followed him in. Dan set fire to as many as he could as the rodents went running to the middle of what looked like an intersection of several different passages. Dan dropped a fire totem that shot fire at anything that passed in front of it.

"Face me you cowards! Your days of terrorizing the people of this part of the world will come to an end now! Come out and face me or I will bury you alive in these caves!" Dan said. He knelt down and put his hand on the ground and instantly it started to shake. Several screams and cries of shock came from the rodents, and one from the female Golden Lotus fighters. Dan picked his mace back up.

"Fine then…die like cowards!" Dan's voice echoed through the hallways. He turned to his elementals and said, "Fire – go that way, earth take that one, I'll take the middle." Dan said pointing to right side of the cave. He then looked back and saw the eyes of the male Golden Lotus. He bowed slightly and said, "Leave none alive." All of his forces shot forward, spinning through the air like a screw and then did several barrel rolls into the chambers. Dan then ran into the middle one.

He killed several smaller marmots quickly as he rushed forward.

"Is somebody there?" A female voice came out – it sounded like a female Pandaren.

"My name is Dan – where are you?" Dan called out.

"Imprisoned by these rodents! They carried me off and I have been forced to work for them."

"You no take food lady!" A large rodent said as Dan's mace met his long nose quickly and hard. It let out a screech as Dan dropped another fire totem. It illuminated the air and started firing immediately. He was surrounded by these overgrown marmots…in the back he saw the Queen standing next to the Pandaren woman.

"You harm here and I will make your death extra slow!" Dan said pointing at the Queen.

"You are in no position to make threats…"

Time stopped.

Dan spent the next couple of minutes bashing the marmots around him as his fire totem continued to fire. He took enough time to make sure they were all going to die before he moved on to the next one. His elementals had finished killing their targets and moved down Dan's tunnel and began helping with the slaughter. Dan let his elementals take over as he charged forward and slammed both of his maces down hard on the Queen's head, ripping and tearing off pieces of flesh. His hands then quickly moved landing deadly blow after blow. Once convinced that the Queen wouldn't be able to survive the blows, he released his grasp on time.

Time resumed.

At the same time all of the marmots screamed in agony as they fell to the ground in death. The last look the Queen saw was a shocked look of pain as Dan stared at her as she silently fell to the ground in death. Dan then slammed his boot on top of her head – she was already dead, but it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. Maybe he was hanging around Herrior to much, but this was no time to consider this now. He looked up at the frantic Pandaren woman and said, "What is your name?"

"Tina…Tina Mudclaw. How did you…" Tina started to ask when the Golden Lotus warriors came running in.

"We heard the cries of death." The male said.

"And you are surrounded by it. This is Tina – she needs to be returned to Halfhill. The Queen lay dead before you along with her guards."

"No…not yet. I spent years in here and there is enough produce in here to feed everybody in the land. The miserable marmots used the food as toys as they threw them back and forth like a ball, while my people are starving. We must return the food to them. Tina said starting to gather up various vegetables. Dan took off one of his bags and tossed it to her and said, "It looks small, but it can hold a lot." He then turned to the Golden Lotus fighters and said, "Thank you for your assistance. I will ensure that Tina makes it safely back to her town along with the vegetables."

"Do you swear to protect the people of Pandaria? Do you swear to give your life and fight alongside your new allies when facing certain death? Do you swear to protect the innocent and avenge those that have fallen?" The male asked.

"Those are the same codes of honor we fight by…yes I do." Dan said.

"I believe we have made a new ally today." The Pandaren said with a smile.

"Not everybody who comes to Pandaria comes to enslave the people. We fight our mortal enemy the alliance." Dan said.

"We fight our mortal enemy the Sha. It has been summoning Mogu back from the dead…it needs to be stopped, but it has intertwined itself in the very fabric of the elements. We will take our leave now and put in a good word for you. You are a fighter that we have not seen before…you fight with the same passion that we fight with, yet you seem to control the very elementals that surround us and…dare I say control the very time that surrounds us. You move faster than the eye can see…but for now let us depart ways. I look forward to our next battle together. I will put in a good word for you." The man said and turned around as his party quickly exited the cave and flew off.

"Who was that?" Tina asked.

"They call themselves the 'Golden Lotus', other than that I don't know much about them but they seem to fight with passion and vigor." Dan said and then gave a subliminal message to his earth elemental to go search the other tunnels for any leftover rodents that might still be alive. He then commanded his fire elemental to break up into smaller elementals and fan out to light up the area.

Dan's hearthstone began to vibrate. He dreaded this more than the battle itself. He pulled it out and saw Crystal.

"You're late." Crystal said looking upset.

"I got drawn into the battle. I think I met some new allies, I also believe we have the marmot problem solved for Halfhill and have rescued a Pandaren. We need help collecting left over vegetables for the starving people in Halfhill." Dan said for his defense.

"And the Pandaren people could not accomplish this task?" It was Herrior's voice.

"The vermin were hiding in the hills, high above the village. I had to summon my dragon to get here. I will return if you wish." Dan said feeling like he was in trouble.

"And what of Mohania?" Herrior asked walking into view of the portal.

"He's on his own with the undead. They killed the King of the marmots and have killed hundreds of the creatures. He brought his undead because they do not need sleep and he pleaded with me to come here, so I brought them here." Dan said.

"How many vegetables are there in the cave you are in?" Herrior asked.

"How does this thing work?" Tina walked over and tapped on the stone and said, "Hello?"

"Hello" Herrior said with a smile.

"Oh…ok, well this young man saved my life. If we can get these vegetables back to my town and if his…uh…undead I think you call it…anyways have killed the surrounding rodents, we will be able to grow produce the size of houses in a single night. We can also grow plants that dig into the ground for minerals, and plants that catch wildlife for meat and skins as well as many other magical plants. Can he still hear me or have I talked to long?" Tina asked looking at Dan.

"I can hear you just fine. Lindel open a portal to Dan. I will speak with both of you in just a minute." Herrior said and closed the portal. Dan put the stone back in his pocket.

"Strange creature…a friend of yours?" Tina asked.

"Yes, he is my leader…and I am not supposed to be here right now. We had better start gathering up the vegetables. Do I look strange to you as well?" Dan asked.

"No…" Tina said stuttering and then looked away. Dan smile and said, "Its ok, friends come in any shape and size."

Several minutes passed until a portal opened and Herrior's party came out.

"What is our assignment?" Herrior asked Dan.

"There's an assortment of carrots, turnips, these things…"

"Scallions" the Pandaren woman said.

"Cabbage and basically anything that looked edible needs to be gathered up. My elementals tell me that everything around us is dead. Mohania wants to gather up the dead marmots and feed them to the sky serpents…but…"

"Skyka you and Bernett gather up the dead and put them your dragons to fly to the sky serpents. The rest of you gather up food until your packs and arms are full, and then take them to Halfhill." Herrior then turned his attention to Dan and said, "I didn't know you idea of 'resting' was fighting?"

"No…this is not my idea of resting, however Mohania felt compelled to come here with all of his heart so I took him here. Then when I got here I saw the starving Pandaren and the passion Mohania and his undead were fighting with…and kind of got sucked into it." Dan said.

"We take breaks so our minds and bodies can get the necessary rest – even a prince needs their rest…" Herrior said smiling at him. That was the end of the conversation and Dan was thankful. Lindel illuminated the caverns better than Dan's fire elementals could and they all got busy filling their bags with food. Once a person's bag was full, they flew down to Halfhill and dumped their bags on the ground, making an enormous pile and then flying back.

At sunset they had the last loads packed up and Tina gently got onto Dan's dragon with Dan right behind her as they flew off. Tina screamed in delight as they took to the air. They flew in the cool air as the dragon tried to make it as smooth of a ride as he could.

Slowly they flew down to the enormous pile of vegetables. Many of the Pandaren saw Tina and started to cry in delight. The dragon landed and squatted as low as he could as Dan helped her off the dragon, only to be hugged by dozens of Pandaren.

"I see you are making new friends." Chen said leaning against a wall with a stalk of hay sticking out of his teeth and a straw hat half covering his face.

"The people of Halfhill will be able to be free of the rodents that plagued them." Herrior said as he still heard the excited battle cries of Mohania and the undead in the distance.

"Not them…" Chen said.

"The Golden Lotus?" Dan asked.

"What is that?" Herrior asked.

"Hope." Chen said and spat out his piece of straw. He raised his hat and walked over with his hardened piece of bamboo. "Hope for our people – that there are still elite Pandarens fighting for our freedom. We thought they were all killed. The bad news is that if they are still alive…so are our mortal enemies, the Mogu that once ruled here…and worst of all the Sha." Chen said and held up his hand. A sky serpent flew down from the sky and landed on the ground as it slowly moved up to Chen as Chen started to scratch its head.

"You have tamed them I see." Herrior said.

"This world was once ours…it will be again. We will be using every asset possible to help us. Some of the sky serpents have been trained to fight, others are caring for the young and others are pregnant. The sky serpents will rule the skies again. We have sent out our people to look for other sky serpents and are building a proper roosting platform for them and a nursery for the young ones. Our enemies…the alliance…have built outposts in the Krasarang wilds. They are to the south along the beaches; they have not been affected by the Sha though. We have sent word to our people there to start abandoning their homes. The Grummles have mourned over their loss, and want to meet you; seems as though you have become very popular among in Pandaria." Chen said.

"Does this upset you Chen?" Herrior asked.

"Just makes me curious. You are really doing all of this for nothing?" Chen asked seeming much wiser and less curious now.

"We would like to barter with your people for food as well as your crafting materials. We have done this with many worlds." Herrior said.

Chen thought about what he said for awhile and then smiled and said, "Let us have a beer together my friend. Friends do not barter. Open the barrels and let the beer flow tonight! We have much to celebrate!" The Pandaren's cheered.

Herrior's party celebrated with the Pandarens until late in the night. Mohania and his undead eventually ran out of things to kill – either that or all of the marmots went into hiding or were sleeping for the night. They went to Halfhill and were confused. When Mohania wasn't looking Chen slammed a mug of beer into his chest and said, "Drink up my friend!"

"It will have no affect on our bodies. Where is Dan?" Mohania asked gently pushing away Chen's arm.

"He is dancing with his wife the last time I saw him…right over there with the rest of your party." Chen said.

"Great…so much for rest…" Mohania muttered and walked over to them.

"We are ready to go now." Mohania said inches from Dan.

"Come on…dance with us!" Dan said excited.

"No" Mohania said back.

"Yes!" Kendall said yanking Mohania back and wrapped an arm around his back and grabbed his other hand and held it in the air. Mohania's grumpiness eventually faded until he started to enjoy himself in the arms of his wife. The party lasted well into the night.

The next morning Herrior's party woke up in the upstairs of the inn. The Pandaren heard them starting to talk so they brought up the banquet that they had prepared for them. The enormous amounts of food overwhelmed Herrior's party as they watched in silence as the Pandaren cooks placed it in front of them.

"This is way too much for us to eat…your people need this food." Herrior said.

"We have more crops that we know what to do with now. Eat up now…" One of the women said eagerly. Herrior, not wanting to argue it further, picked up a plate of food and took a bite of a meat. It had a gamey taste to it, some spices, and was cooked with a mixture of different vegetables. Suddenly his body had grown hardier and he felt his skin thicken. He felt like he could take a thousand hits in combat and not feel a single wound. He devoured the rest of it and nodded to the rest of his party. They ate for nearly an hour…indulging in the best tasting food they have ever had. The Pandaren cooks kept coming up with more when Herrior said he couldn't eat another bite.

"A full belly is a sign of a good cook…yes?" A Pandaren asked.

"That was the best food I have ever eaten in my entire life. Did you stay up all night harvesting and cooking?" Herrior asked.

The woman shook her head and said, "No…the soil has had the nutrients return to it. It is filled with magic; it makes our crops grow in a matter of hours. We also have plants catching leather, meat, ore, cloth and motes for crafting. The recipes that were given to you require these materials so you will be able to get them from us here at Halfhill."

"And what of in exchange for these items?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing…" and elder said climbing the stairs, "Bear with me a moment, my body is not what it used to be." He got to the top and slowly sat down took a deep breath and then continued, "There is much to be done still. We are growing food and delivering them to many camps that we know are safe. The ones that are not safe we are sending scouts to examine the camps to see if we need to fight to free our people. You have lit the spark for my people, now we all of us are training to fight just as you have to free us. Chen is our teacher – he is wise in the ways of the monk. He will guide our fighters and then they will enter a Zen meditation to know where to go. Many wish already to go fight with the Golden Lotus to the north of us, but that is not their destiny. They have closed the mighty gates hundreds of years ago when all was thought to be lost. The gates remain shut to this day; I fear they might be too heavy to open in this current day. There are still many enemies that await us, and I believe await you as well. I believe our meeting was no accident, I believe our destinies have intertwined to become one. I do not know the future, but I foresee my people and your people in many battles together – fighting side by side. We know now who our enemies are, and who we can trust. Let us all join together and become one. Close your eyes and meditate with me." The elder ended and closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then let it out. Herrior's party did the same.

Ten minutes passed of quiet reflection before Lindel spoke up, "I want to get married in Pandaria". This broke the meditation as everybody opened their eyes and looked at her.

"Why here? Why don't you want to get married in Tranquil?" Branzer asked. Herrior turned sharply to Branzer and yelled "Branzer!"

"I assure you, I do not know where your world is or how to get there. Your secret is safe." The elder said.

"I'm sorry it slipped…but Lindel our home is there, all of the people we love is there." Branzer said.

"I don't have a home; I do have a place where I have people I love yes…but out of all of the worlds we've been to, the times we've been, and the places we've been to…I just want to have a small wedding with my party – possibly underneath the orchard trees in the Jade Forest." Lindel said in a low tone.

"What brings up this subject?" Herrior asked.

"I've been thinking about marriage and the true meaning behind it. It's not about the decorations, the amount of people there – it's about the unity of man and woman. I have watched many marry and imagine my marriage to be more spectacular and full of grandeur…the problem is…that isn't what marriage is about. I would rather just have a small wedding and be in my regular form, not this form that I take on to please others around me. I want to wear white for what it symbolizes, but I want to take on my regular form…the form that I was made into. Mohania said something that made me angry…" Lindel said and everybody around Mohania smacked him and comments like, "Good job…" and "Moron…"

"No it's not Mohania's fault…it is my own. Mohania and Kendall got married in their original form and live in their original form. They cannot produce offspring and neither will I. I am a banshee – that is what I am. If I become pregnant I won't be able to disperse my body, and I don't think my original banshee form is capable of carrying a child. For these reasons I do not want to mate, but I want to be married. I think our Queen knew this and gave me the order that she did to do to Branzer way back in the day." Lindel said.

"I will carry your child for you." Crystal said quickly.

"That was a one in a million chance before Crystal…I'm honestly surprised it worked with Bernett's child. No…but thank you." Lindel said.

"I don't understand why didn't you talk to me about this?" Branzer asked.

"I am now. I wasn't convinced until now. You accept me wholly now, so you must accept the fact that I will be barren as well." Lindel said.

"Lindel…hun…I don't think you thought all of this through. Enter Branzer's body and turn off his 'swimmers'. That way you can mate without worrying about having a child." Skyka said in a comforting tone.

"Yeah – we have that procedure back on…my world. It's an in and out surgery, no big deal." Branzer said.

"Mohania – do you and Kendall mate?" Lindel asked him.

"Uh…" Mohania said looking around, "No we don't actually because all attempts to do so failed and it wasn't who we are. We were created in a similar way that you were…this is who we are and we both accept it. Lindel, obviously you overheard me talking and I did not mean what I said…"

"I know you didn't…and no that isn't the reason. We would make several attempts as well and would fail just as you said…"

"Lindel I hate to be the one to point out the obvious…but you have the right parts for mating." Mohania said interrupting her. Lindel dispersed herself into thousands of tiny little lights.

"I feel more comfortable in this form…but I feel the most comfortable in my evil banshee form. I would kill him if we mated, he's a human – just because I take on a human form does not mean I have the same desires and needs as a human, you of everybody here knows that better than anybody else Mohania." Lindel said and reassembled her body as the tiny lights came back together forming her human form.

Mohania let out a sigh and looked down. "She's right. If I married a human I would be in the same predicament, sorry Branzer."

"I will accept any conditions that there are." Branzer said.

"Do you mean that? Any and all conditions?" Lindel asked.

"I do." Branzer said and then turned to the elder Pandaren and asked, "May we marry in your lands?"

"It would be our honor, I must warn you though – many will want to come." The elder said with a smile.

"That would not be safe. Please I ask for their safety that your people not attend." Lindel said.

"That is not our custom…but we will respect your choice." The elder said.

"It is not our custom either elder, but it is not out of disrespect. Our people are different from yours and it may harm them if they were to attend." Herrior added.

"May we prepare a celebration and many banquets after the ceremony?" The elder asked.

Herrior looked at Lindel, she nodded. Herrior said, "Yes that would be very much appreciated. I thank you for your generosity and understanding in this situation."

"I will spread the word for the area to be vacated…when is this to take place?" The elder asked.

"Today?" Lindel asked looking at Branzer. He looked suddenly uncomfortable and said, "That doesn't give us much time to plan…"

"What is there to plan? You come in your armor; I will get my dress and veil. I cannot wear a ring because when I change it will simply fall off. I ask that you wear a ring though." Lindel said.

"Yes of course." Branzer said seeming to be very nervous. He didn't even know who his best man and groomsmen would be.

"Then let it be. Lindel you go to Tranquil and work on your dress. Branzer you go to the orchards and eliminate anything that would be of a nuisance to the wedding. Everybody else may do as you wish. You are all dismissed." Herrior said.

"I think all of the men should go with Branzer and the rest of us should help Lindel with her dress – we can at least keep that tradition." Skyka said.

"That would be fine." Lindel said. She walked up to Branzer and hugged him. He put his chin on top of her head at first, and then he moved down and kissed the top of her head. "I love you" he said.

She looked back up with a smile and said, "I love you too."

"Yes yes…this is all nice and sweet and sickening…now off you go…shoo shoo…" Mohania said.

"Aww…you are so sweet Mohania…" Lindel said hugging him.

"Yes fine…now we need to go kill some things…you go powder your nose or whatever you females do. I'll bring some dead corpses for us to eat." Mohania said.

"You really know how to treat a lady don't you?" Lindel asked looking at him with a smile.

"I'll keep them fresh." Mohania said smiling sinisterly. Lindel turned around and created a portal. She poured her power into it until it was fully formed and all of the females left.

"Such powers…the places you must have gone…I can only imagine." The elder said.

"We have our secrets…but we must keep them for the safety of our allies. There are many worlds we have traversed, each uniquely different and equally as beautiful as your world. But for now we must take a leave of absence to prepare for a wedding. I must admit this morning I woke up not knowing that this was going to happen." Herrior said.

"That makes two of us…" Branzer said.

"So how does it feel to finally get married?" Herrior asked with a smile. Mohania started sneaking away.

"Nervous…sudden urgency of getting this over with…fear…anxiety…" Branzer said.

"That's my boy!" Bernett came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder. "Now we should at least get you cleaned up so you look and smell half way decent. Come on, let's go."

"Mind your feelings…we don't want the Sha of this world to overtake you, Mohania where are you going?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…somewhere?" Mohania responded back.

"Am I better off not asking…?" Herrior said.

"We would all be better off with you not asking questions…" Mohania's skull turned with a smile looking at Herrior.

"Just don't…never mind you aren't going to listen anyways…" Herrior said.

"The tauren can learn! I'll meet up with you in a little while…" Mohania then started to giggle as he ran out of the house, summoned his flying carpet and soared into the sky.

"Well as for the rest of us…we have work to do. We have to evacuate the area, probably all docile animals as well." Herrior said and motioned to help the elder Pandaren to his feet. He graciously accepted as Herrior pulled him up.

"The words of the people say that your people need food…when can we start distributing it to them?" The elder asked.

"You would do that for my people?" Herrior asked.

"Least we can do…however most of the vegetables are bigger than we can lift and grow extremely quickly. We are sending out our best farmers to plant a wide variety of plants and trees. We will take what we need to feed our people, but what is left over should be more than enough to feed several thousand at least." The elder said.

"May we have your recipes written down as well so that our cooks can learn from them as well?" Herrior asked.

"Passing on traditions from our people to yours would be an honor. Our ways and customs will be preserved and that is what we hope for. I will speak with our master chefs at once." The elder said and started walking down the stairs. Herrior walked behind and motioned to quickly catch him if he were to fall.

"I may be old stranger, but I can still get around…" The elder said once he got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Of course you can, my apologizes." Herrior said.

"You would give your life for us…wouldn't you?" The elder asked.

"We almost did in a battle north from here. The Batarri were overwhelming us. Our friends from a different world turned the tides of battle in our favor though." Herrior said.

"Oh my…" the elder said almost feeling ashamed of what he said.

"That is our job, to protect the innocents. We are in need of better gear though. Our trade skill people are working with diagrams and blue prints that your people have provided for us. It will come in time, and we will arm your people as well – however we do not know how to train your people in the way of fighting. Your monks fight differently from us." Herrior said.

"Take Lhi with you. She wants to fight beside you and has proved to me that she is ready for battle." The elder said.

"Our party is already big enough, but I appreciate your offer." Herrior said.

"Many hands make quick work my friend." The elder said.

"Indeed, but also too many cooks spoil the broth." Herrior replied back.

"She is skilled and has expressed much interest in fighting beside you." replied the elder.

"So do hundreds of others." Herrior said. "To end this conversation I will pray about it and see what my heart says. I have taken others under my wing with less experience, but we have rules I must follow. It has been good meditating with you, but now we must take our leave and prepare the orchard. Promise me you will send word to not have your people come – it is not safe." Herrior ended with sincerity.

"I will spread the word."

"I want to go! I want to see you beat up the bad guys! You guys are awesome!" Lulu piped up.

Herrior bent down and looked at her with a straight face and said, "There are going to be people like me coming into this village. I need somebody I can trust to tell my people what food they can get and where the vermin still are so they can kill them. Don't travel far from the fighters, but can I trust you to do this?"

"Heck ya I can! I can kill the marmots! You can't do it with your hands though; you have to stomp on them." Lulu explained.

"That is good advice; I will send word to my people about that. You know more about these marmots than my people do – can you lead the attack on these critters if they come around?" Herrior asked.

Lulu's eyes got really big and said, "I can do that! Any marmots come close here and they will get a good stomping!"

"Good, now I am trusting you to do this. We will be back probably tomorrow. It is a lot to ask of you, but you can handle it. Here take this," Herrior said and pulled out a small silver necklace that had no magical powers at all. He had taken it from one of the dead Batarri. He dangled it in front of her as she stared at it in awe. He handed it to her as she quickly put it around her neck.

"I will tell my people to look for the one with the silver necklace and follow her orders. They will be here within the next ten minutes…are you ready?" Herrior asked with a serious face.

"Wow…yes! I will tell them what food to get and what marmots to stomp on…is this mine to keep?" Lulu asked all in one short breath.

"It is yours. I will be back tomorrow to check up on your progress. If you do a good job, I will have another souvenir for you." Herrior said.

"Really? I will do my best!" Lulu said excitedly and started jumping up and down.

"I know you will…make me proud ok?" Herrior asked with a smile on his face.

"I will!" Lulu said and immediately ran off to show off her new necklace.

"You are good with the youth." The elder said who had observed the whole thing.

"I give it two hours and she will be napping…take care my friend." Herrior said smiling at him and then summoned his dragon. The mighty beasts flew down from the skies as Herrior's party mounted them and quickly took to the skies.

On the way to the Jade Forest, Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and told the ambassador all that happened. The ambassador seemed shocked and said they would send a gathering party immediately. He also asked why Lindel wanted a quiet wedding. Herrior explained it to him that it was her wishes, but they would need the pastor. The ambassador acknowledged the request and would summon him at once. Herrior said his good-byes and continued the flight.

They crossed over into the Jade Forest and saw several sky serpents looking at their dragons curiously. "Hold up a second…" Herrior called out as the dragons flapped hard to stop their acceleration and started to hover. The sky serpents slithered in the air closer and closer…as if daring each one to get closer.

"They will not harm you." Dan called out. The sky serpents immediately recognized Dan's voice and flew over to him without fear of the dragons. They started licking him and rubbing on him.

"Settle down now…listen to me ok?" Dan asked looking at the sky serpents. The sky serpents obeyed and all of them looked at him.

"See the orchard over there?" Dan asked pointing over yonder. The sky serpents looked over and then back at him. Dan shook his head and said, "Do not go there…ok? Do not go there." The sky serpents tilted their heads in curiosity. Dan then pointed towards the orchards and said, "No!" sternly. The sky serpents understood that and backed away.

"Herrior go ahead, I'm going to go check up on the sky serpents." Dan said.

"Meet you there then." Herrior said.

Dan turned to the sky serpents and motioned his dragon to fly north. Dan said in a cheery voice, "Come on…Come here! Follow me!" and waved his hands. The eager sky serpents immediately turned to follow him.

They flew a long time until Dan saw the number of sky serpents had quadrupled, and some were pregnant. Others had grown long teeth and claws and had armor on their arms and head. Dan flew down and landed at the village and said, "I see our little ones have grown up…"

"We've been working with them day and night." One of the female Pandaren said. Many of them heard Dan's voice and immediately flew over to lick him and rub their scents on him.

"What are they doing?" Dan's dragon asked. This spooked the sky serpents as they backed away.

"I helped raised many of them and they have declared me their father – Jessica is their mother. I believe this is their way of showing affection. Many I see are ready to lay more eggs." Dan said looking at some of the females with bulging midsections.

"They are animals…they still have the instincts of animals…" The Pandaren woman said smiling and shrugging.

"How are the babies?" Dan asked.

"Many of them are not growing, we aren't entirely sure why. They feed the same as the others, but just not as much. They don't seem sick; they are very playful and like to sleep with us at night. Here, I will show you." The Pandaren woman said waving Dan over. Both of them walked over to a penned in area where all of the young sky serpents were busy either chasing their tail, eating leaves above them, or playfully biting at one another.

"Obviously the pens don't hold them in…but they seemed to want to be in a box, makes them feel safe I guess." The Pandaren woman said.

"Hi little ones, why aren't you growing?" Dan asked walking up to them. Upon hearing his voice they all turned to look at him and flew out of their cage and smothered him with kisses and more rubbing.

"I don't know you…why are they doing this?" Dan asked.

"I have no idea. Maybe the paternal instincts were carried down?" She responded.

Dan held out his hands and started to pet them. "Why aren't you growing up? Don't you want to fly up in the sky? Do you want to fly with the others?" Dan asked and pointed up at the sky serpents flying overhead. They looked scared and backed away.

Dan created a burst of wind beneath him that propelled him into the sky. He was only about ten feet off from the ground when he stabilized himself. The baby sky serpents hesitated and then flew up to him. Dan rewarded them by petting all of them and then he flew above the trees. The sky serpents followed him and waited for their reward as Dan petted all of them again. Dan then hovered over to a tree and grabbed off several leaves and held them out. The baby sky serpents flew up to him and sniffed the leaves and quickly lost interest in it. Dan then held up a leaf and put it in his mouth and pretended to chew. He then held one out to a sky serpent directly in front of his mouth and he ate it. He chewed it for awhile and then moved over to get another leaf. The other sky serpents flew over and started to eat them. Dan then flew backwards and the sky serpents followed. The adult sky serpents flew over and nudged them to fly higher in the sky. The smaller ones resisted at first, but eventually gave in and flew higher and higher in the sky. A dark red sky serpent flew over with a large fish in his mouth and hovered in the middle of them. The struggling babies moved in to take a bite. Many of them started to eat the fish but some of them were falling to the ground. The adult sky serpents nudged them with their noses upwards towards the fish and the babies again started to slither through the air as hard as they could and eventually got a bite.

Dan watched all of this unfold before him and he could hardly believe what he was watching. Dan slowly let the blast of air holding him in the air let up as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Well that's a neat trick…" The Pandaren woman said in surprise.

"I didn't expect that to happen…" Dan admitted as they watched them. Some of the weaker sky serpents couldn't fly anymore and began to fall, but the adult sky serpents grabbed them in their mouth gently and flew them back in their pen. Eventually all of the baby sky serpents grew tired and were flown back to their pen. The red sky serpent flew over and dropped the remains of the fish in the pen. The exhausted sky serpents slithered on the ground over to it and began to eat it. The adult sky serpents that participated flew down to Dan and started to lick him in gratitude. Dan reached up and petted each one of them.

"Amazing creatures…" Dan said in awe with a smile.

"And we have you to thank for them. We are starting to move heavy supplies with some of the stronger ones to different villages to give them supplies." The Pandaren woman said.

"Good to hear. Put my little ones to work. I need to ask a favor though; can you keep the sky serpents and everybody else away from the orchards for the next hour or so?" Dan asked.

"Sure…buy why?"

"My party is going to perform a ceremony and we want solitude from all creatures and people." Dan said giving an adequate explanation but without giving away what was going to happen. It seemed to satisfy her curiosity as Dan mounted back on his dragon and gave the command "Stay!" to all of the sky serpents as Dan flew off into the sky. Some of the sky serpents motioned to follow, but the Pandaren whistled them back and started to pet them.

Dan arrived at the orchards just as Herrior was sending away a group of Pandarens.

"How did it go with the sky serpents?" Herrior asked.

"Their intelligence and compassion for looking out for each other is amazing, but they will stay put. How about the ones you sent away?" Dan asked.

"They are going to respect our wishes." Herrior said.

"How's the groom?" Dan asked looking at Branzer.

"I'm feeling rushed…but ready." Branzer said nervously.

"Fresh meat has arrived!" Mohania yelled flying in fast on his magic carpet. He stopped inches from several thick trees as several members of the alliance flew off and slammed into the ground or the trees. One dwarf, two gnomes, and one blood elf in all. They were all mortally wounded and some were even unconscious.

"Is that all?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"For the appetizer…I'll go get some more!" Mohania said eagerly.

"That's probably enough Mohania…how about you go get washed up." Herrior said.

"What? Why?" Mohania asked looking down at his blood stained robe.

"Because you look like you just got done killing several alliance…" Herrior said.

"I was!" Mohania said excitedly.

"Got bathe yourself and get back here." Herrior said nodding his head in the direction of the ocean. Mohania insisted that the alliance not get away while he was gone, but eventually he left.

"Just like a dog with his favorite chew toy…" Bernett said.

"So do you have a speech prepared for me?" Branzer asked.

"Naw…I'll just wing it." Bernett said smiling at him.

"Thanks for being here everybody; this does mean a lot to me." Branzer said.

Just then a portal began to open. Branzer swallowed hard as it fully formed. The pastor of the church came out with his arms across his chest holding a bible. Branzer breathed a sigh of relief.

"I never could get the hang of these…so kind of nervous are you?" The pastor asked Branzer.

"Not nervous…anxious, and I need to control my emotions on this world." Branzer said.

"And how is that working so far?" The pastor asked.

"I'm…hanging in there…" Branzer said.

"Where is your focus right now?" The pastor asked.

"On the wedding?" Branzer asked confused.

The pastor shook his head and asked, "Right now what is your mind thinking of?"

"Lindel, what is she going to look like. How I'm going to be during the service? Hoping nothing interrupts it…" Branzer said and started to name off different things before the pastor stopped him.

"Branzer…I have prayed for this day along with many others in Tranquil. Lindel has wanted this since the first day she put her eyes on you. Since the years that have passed, both of you have matured and the love between you has grown…even in battle and the events that unfolded during your encounters. Put everything in the past and think about your wife. I have seen her and she is beautiful – I don't want to give anymore away, but you two are perfect for each other and I am blessed to perform this ritual. Put your faith in God and feel his comforting hand guide you. Do you want to say a prayer before we get started?" The pastor asked in a very calm and relaxing tone.

"I've got the blood washed off from me, I also found a shark – oh…hi pastor." Mohania said as he flew down from his magic carpet and landed. The carpet dissolved into the air and Mohania tossed the shark aside as it continued to flop around.

"How is my favorite warlock that I'm currently in company with?" The pastor asked.

"Being good as always" Mohania said with a smile.

"And the alliance behind us?" The pastor asked.

"What? Oh those…how did they get there? I should go put those back where I found them…" Mohania said sounding innocent.

"Branzer…do you understand what it life is going to be like marrying a banshee?" The pastor asked him.

"She'll need to eat…but I am prepared to fulfill every need that she has." Branzer said.

"Great – we have time…there are plenty more south of here, let's go!" Mohania said eagerly.

"Mohania…why don't you go find a rock." Herrior said with a smile.

"Fine…I can take a hint…but there is some just wondering around…it wouldn't take that long to get more…" Mohania said.

"Rock…go…" Herrior said. Mohania left to go find a rock.

"Is the rock for hitting him over the head when he doesn't take a hint the first time?" Branzer asked. Everybody laughed at that.

Minutes passed slowly as they made small talk and comforted Branzer. Eventually a portal opened behind them and Branzer felt better about this one. Skyka came out and said, "Hey – no peaking! Turn around Branzer, the rest of you line up next to him. Pastor you are in the front…come on people this is a wedding let's do this right."

"Forget to put your pants on this morning Herrior? Seems as though Skyka is wearing them…" Bernett said smiling as they started lining up.

"She's in charge of this; I'm just here for morale support – and to catch Branzer when he faints." Herrior said joking back.

"Not helping…" Branzer turned to his right slightly and whispered.

"Ok enough whispering, let's take our place ladies." Skyka said as she walked forward and all of the women came out of the portal and eventually disappeared. There was a bit of commotion as the woman moved into position. Then they started walking towards the pastor in single file, Lindel was last. Strings started playing the wedding music on his lute. Each woman walked up the imaginary isle and stood on the opposite side of the men. Lindel was last. She was dressed in the gown she had made for this occasion. It was pure white and radiated a white light around it. There were beads across her chest and stomach, ruffles at the bottom and a train that stretch about ten feet long. She had a veil covering her face. She started to walk and Strings changed his tune. Somehow his lute produced a symphony of different instruments and the music blared throughout the land. Slowly, Lindel took her first step. The pastor looked at her and smiled with a slight nod. She then took her bouquet of flowers from Skyka, who gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "You're doing great!" Lindel turned to her and smiled and added a bounce in her step as she moved up the line of people.

She made it up to Branzer and Branzer could feel the coldness emanating from her body. Lindel turned Jacklyn and handed her the bouquet and she slowly turned to face Branzer.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of this man and this woman in holy matrimony." The pastor started. Lindel slowly lifted her cold blue banshee hands and Branzer quickly grabbed them and took them. He gave them a gentle squeeze and Lindel gently squeezed back. This gave them both reassurances. Lindel's face was still covered with the veil as the ceremony continued.

There ceremony continued with Strings adjusting his music to soft tender songs so it didn't overpower the pastor's voice. The moment finally came for them to kiss. Lindel's hands started to shake, but Branzer squeezed them firmly and lifted them up to move her veil up. Her evil banshee face was exposed, but all Branzer saw was Lindel. He smiled at her as she produced a weak smile. Branzer let go of Lindel's hands and moved in to give Lindel a kiss. He felt his body quickly lose some energy, but Lindel quickly poured it back into his body. Branzer didn't take too much of a notice as he wrapped his arms around Lindel and began kissing her passionately. Everybody cheered as Mohania and Dan started to cast spells to shake the ground to make the leaves from the trees fall.

Branzer pulled back and looked at her with passion. Tears started coming down from Lindel's eyes. Branzer gently lifted his finger and wiped them away.

"How do I look?" Lindel asked trembling.

"Like my wife…" Branzer said gently with a smile. She pulled out a ring from her pocket and placed it on Branzer's left hand. It had interwoven strands of pure golden with thick diamonds in it and a huge diamond in the middle.

"It's enchanted. Whenever you are lonely, just rub the diamond and your mind will be filled with my love. This way when we are apart, you can always feel my love." Lindel said. Branzer was deeply touched and started to cry on his own. He looked down at the immaculate ring and rubbed it and sure enough his mind was filled with thoughts of Lindel and the love she felt for him. It made him feel warm and calmed his mind.

"It's…amazing…I don't know what to say." Branzer managed to stay and looked up at Lindel's eyes. She started to tear up again. "I didn't get you anything…I didn't know…"

Herrior began to cough hard and motioned for Mohania to come up. Mohania pulled out the rock he found and gave it to Branzer.

"I guess I got you a rock…" Branzer said looking down at it feeling kind of insignificant compared to her gift. Lindel took the rock and placed her hands above and below it. The rock turned a bright red as she heated it for a moment. She then pulled off her top hand and there was writing in the rock.

"Branzer loves Lindel, forever and ever." Branzer read it.

"It's beautiful, I will always treasure it." Lindel said and then put it in a pocket in her dress. "But what I will treasure most is the time we have spent together, our ups and our downs…every time I look at you, every time I think of you is a moment frozen in time – never to be undone by even the greatest powers in all of the worlds. I am now forever yours. I am your wife."

"And I am your husband. I am not gifted with words as you are, but I feel the same. Mohania brought you a feast of alliance to feed on. I am not going to say that I understand why you need to do it, but I will do my best to fulfill all of your needs. I want to know everything about you and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you." Branzer said.

"That was beautiful…thank you. That means the world to me." Lindel said. They stared at each other in pure love as the minutes passed.

"If that is all, I would to introduce to you the newly married couple – Branzer and Lindel. United as one body and what God has brought together, let no man take apart. Congratulations to both of you." The pastor said. He hugged both of them together and then pulled out his hearthstone to have a portal opened to go back to Tranquil.

"I am weak…I didn't know how you would react to my evil banshee form. I was really nervous." Lindel said as she nearly dropped with exhaustion. Branzer quickly reached out and grabbed her under her arms and pulled her back up. Jacklyn was down on the ground ready to pick her up also, but Branzer got to her first.

"I was nervous as well…but it was a good kind of nervous." Branzer picked up Lindel in his arms and walked her over to the dying night elf. He set her down beside her and pulled her head away, exposing her neck. Lindel immediately bit in as the night elf's body suddenly came to life and shook violently. Lindel sucked the life out of her and then pushed her off to the side. The dwarf saw what happened and rose to his feet to begin to run away. Branzer held out his hand as his pistol flew to his hand, changing in form as it did and Branzer let off a shot, knocking him to the ground. It didn't kill him, just knocked him unconscious. Lindel then walked over to the two gnomes and placed her hands on their necks and a dark glow entered their body, sucking away the rest of their energy until their hearts stopped. She then floated over to the dwarf, knelt down beside him and slammed her hand into his chest. The dwarf's body shook violently as it started to burn as she pulled out his heart. She opened her mouth and devoured it in one bite.

"Are you ok?" Lindel asked looking up at Branzer.

"I am fine, how are you feeling?" Branzer asked with more concern. Lindel transformed into her human form and said, "I feel great! You didn't squirm or hesitate."

"I told you he wouldn't!" Skyka yelled out.

"I knew I wouldn't the moment I saw you. There is something inside of me that knows you are you – no matter what form you take on." Branzer said.

"And I will always love you, and I am going to do whatever I have to do to satisfy all of your needs." Lindel said smiling at him.

Skyka started to cheer and screamed, "Satisfy all of his needs!" Lindel blushed and turned around and to face Skyka and flicked her off.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Skyka yelled back and Lindel started to laugh.

"Another marriage in my party…I'm getting to old for this…" Herrior said. He turned around and said, "Are we going to have to go through this with anybody else?" Trackolania slowly raised his hand.

"Give it time…but you may start courting each other." Herrior said.

"Wait…what?" Julie asked and suddenly Lindel's bouquet smacked her in the face. She held out her hands catching it. She looked up at Jacklyn.

"Hey…don't look at me; I'm not the next one to get married." Jacklyn said. Julie looked over at Trackolania and looked at her curiously and shrugged his shoulders.

"Trackolania wants to start courting you, if that is ok with you Julie." Herrior said speaking for Trackolania.

"Yeah…ok…sure that's fine." Julie said unsure at first but then ended with a smile. Trackolania smiled back. "But you have to put up with Spark and he can be a pain in the butt…and you have to like Sci-fi movies and TV shows."

Trackolania thought about it for a second as Skyka rolled her eyes and said, "Men are morons…yes he will do all of that. Come on Strings, strike up a cord and let's dance!"


	39. Politics

Politics

After the wedding, Herrior's party went back to Halfhill and helped move some of the vegetables back into Tranquil while Branzer and Lindel spent some alone time with each other in the orchard. Herrior's hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and saw Admiral.

"I have to give a speech to the press, I was wondering if you could take a look at it first?" Admiral asked.

"Don't you hate the press?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…but unfortunately we can't kill all of them." Admiral said.

"I'll take that bet!" Mohania said.

"You'll go take that load of cabbage…" Herrior said and waved him away.

"Things are stable here for the moment; I can come out and have a look. It will take about ten minutes to get a Chronomancer."

"Could you stand with me while I give the speech as well?" Admiral asked quickly.

"Why? Is there a threat to your safety?"

"No, not that I know of anyways…well besides every prisoner we have…and some countries, but I just feel more comfortable with you there. This is a pretty big ordeal for me." Admiral said.

Herrior nodded and said he would be there in a couple of minutes. Herrior passed through the open portal and into Tranquil. He then yelled out that he needed a Chronomancer. A female troll came running over and said, "Where ya be needing to go?"

"The station on Earth – are you familiar with the destination?" Herrior asked. He hadn't seen her before.

"Of course I do! Ok now let me see if I can do tis right…" she said as she took an aggressive stance and then threw out her hands. A portal formed so Herrior touched his trinket – transforming him into his dark suit attire.

"Ok…let's be seeing if tis is going to be working mon." The Chronomancer said and held out her hands and started to pour her power into the portal as it started to expand. Herrior looked through the portal and it was in the right spot. The portal took almost a full minute to allow passage through it.

"Ha! I did it!" The female troll said enthusiastically.

"Good job. Can you close it after I go through?" Herrior said smiling at her.

"Sure thing!" She said seemingly proud of herself. Herrior stepped through the portal and walked out a couple of steps and looked back.

"You be ok?" The troll asked.

"Yes, you did fine." Herrior said smiling back.

"Great – I be closing da portal now den." She said. Herrior watched the portal flicker a couple of times and then suddenly slammed shut. The noise it produced was deafening as Herrior was thrown backwards against the opposite side of the room. Several well armed soldiers ran into the room with their guns drawn. They saw Herrior collecting his thoughts as he started to stand up.

"What happened Herrior?" One soldier asked.

"One of our Chronomancers didn't shut the portal correctly…" Herrior said removing an imaginary helmet as it materialized when he held it against his side. He put his hand over his ear and checked to see if it was bleeding.

"Are you ok?" Another soldier asked.

"Yeah…just need the ringing in my head to stop. Where's Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"In his office, are there others coming?"

"No, he just requested me. He has prepared a speech that he wants me to read over." Herrior replied.

"It would be easier just to shoot all of the press…" A soldier said putting the safety back on his beefed up assault rifle and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Yeah…I've heard that before. Unfortunately they are innocents and we can't touch them." Herrior said taking his helmet and slipping it back over his head as it disappeared into his disguise.

"Right this way Herrior." One soldier said and backed out of the way and held out his hand for him.

"Thank you" Herrior replied. He walked to Admiral's office and saw that all of the soldiers were armed. One of the soldiers said "All is clear" and everybody put away their weapons. Then the soldier knocked on the door and said, "Herrior is here."

"Come on in then." Admiral said. Herrior opened the door and saw four soldiers standing at attention with Admiral behind his desk.

"Sorry about the loud noise…inexperienced Chronomancer closed the portal wrong." Herrior said.

"Not to worry…a little scare once in awhile keeps us on our toes. How are the Pandaren?" Admiral asked.

"Doing well, Mohania took his undead and killed the large rodents that plagued their village. We continue to build a bond with them and I am pleased with it. How are things on your world?" Herrior asked.

"I had to call for a press conference…apparently I have some politically incorrect ideas on how to change my prison. I'm battling the mayor of Detroit, who is as corrupt as it comes…anyways we have a plan to become a self-sufficient prison system and do some major cutbacks. The mayor doesn't want it because then he will lose funding that the government gives to jails to keep the prisoners." Admiral said and pulled out a file with some paperwork in it.

"Should we assassinate this 'mayor'?" Herrior asked.

"Don't tempt me…there's actually a pool going around that he will end up decapitated in the next week… 'Mysteriously' …and I will hear about it later on from you. But no, this is a game. My announcement today will stop the mayor's plans and corruption…at least with our jail. Here is the speech, can you take a look? I've already had people look it over…but I want your opinion." Admiral said.

"Nobody will be killed without my permission." Herrior said picking up the report. He read through it quickly and flipped through the pages. Minutes later he set it back down and said, "I really don't understand a lot of it…but I am glad with some of the changes you are doing to your prison. I will stand beside you and if I sense any assassination attempt, I will take the bullet for you."

"Any of us would." A soldier said.

"But you would not survive it, I'm used to being shot at – it's my job to take the hits. Will you be wearing any armor?" Herrior asked turning to look at Admiral.

"No, I will be wearing my military uniform and I will have several soldiers with me as well. George is monitoring activity in the area and will let me know if anything suspicious is being transmitted. He has a hidden EMP bomb just in case things get bad." Admiral said.

"I'm unfamiliar with that." Herrior said.

"It disrupts electrical activity…basically a distraction to save our asses just in case something goes wrong we can get away." Admiral said.

"I do not run from a battle." Herrior said.

"What if you are outnumbered?" Admiral asked.

"I do a strategic retreat…" Herrior said with a smile. Admiral chuckled and then asked if he would accompany him in the SUV. Herrior agreed as the soldiers followed them out and into their police issued cars. They drove for about an hour until they arrived in their location. Traffic was backed up from several accidents that his soldiers were handling.

"Do people frequently crash their vehicles in this world?" Herrior asked.

"No…just the dumbass ones. Can I ask what you did to make the UFO leave?" Admiral asked.

"They are friends of ours – they needed our help in a battle. They traveled back in time to get us." Herrior said.

"Should we be prepared for something like that to happen again?" Admiral asked.

"No…I gave the captain a hearthstone. Is this our destination? I don't like this…" Herrior said.

"Yup – I'll be standing up on that platform and be filmed in high quality HD and transmitted to all that will listen. I'm sure this will make national news." Admiral said and told the SUV to park itself. Herrior stepped out first and reporters came running up to him and a quick, "Back off!" came from Herrior's voice. It was deep and very intimidating. Herrior pushed aside the dazed reporters and walked over to Admiral's side. He opened the door and let Admiral out with his papers in his hands. The reporters immediately swarmed around him as Herrior let out a thunderous, "Get out of my way!" command that caused many to step back and trip over themselves. The soldiers with assault rifles quickly came up behind Admiral as Herrior directed them with his fingers. Herrior then moved forward as people quickly moved out of the way of the very large and intimidating bodyguard.

One determined reporter stood in the way and asked, "Who are you? Are you working for the Admiral as he calls himself?" Herrior reached out with one arm and picked him up three feet off the ground and gently set him aside and continued his approach to the stand. People started to whisper, "Who is that guy?" and "Where did he come from?"

Herrior made it to the stand and then signaled for Admiral to go first and he would follow behind. Admiral did and Herrior was literally inches away from him as they moved onto the platform. Herrior then stood arm-to-arm with Admiral as he pulled out his speech and tapped it on the podium. Herrior pointed at the soldiers each individually and then pointed to different spots that they should stand.

"Well…this is quite the turn out. Let me get the introductions out of the way first. I work for the NSA and run a tight jail system as well. I am referred to as 'Admiral' and I would appreciate it if you referred to me as such. I will give you all a minute to setup your equipment."

"Who is that with you?" One reporter asked.

"A bodyguard with a short temper" Admiral said smiling at the reporter. That seemed to be the correct answer because nobody else asked about Herrior.

Admiral's press manager came up to him and said, "We go live in thirty seconds. Stand tall and glance back and forth at the cameras. I still think we should have put up an American flag in the background. Anyways you look fabulous, you are going to knock them dead – good luck!" The man said and gave him a "thumbs up" and then backed up and squatted down. Herrior let out a growl.

Suddenly red lights turned on and Admiral smiled and started.

"First of all I would like to thank all of you for coming. This is a great opportunity to explain, in person, our plans for our jail and the exciting changes to come. Security is always a concern with the public as far as having a jail in their neighborhood and some may have some anxiety to changes jail systems and their responsibilities changing. I assure you though, all of the changes will benefit not only the inmates, but our local officers, and our community – as well as returning some money back to the tax payers. Let me explain some of the changes." Admiral said in a serious tone. Herrior ignored most of what Admiral was saying and surveyed the press all staring at Admiral.

Admiral started his speech: "For those not familiar with Joe Arpio, he is the County Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. He is a model for modern day prisons that I believe would work great for our jails. These are some of the reasons why:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the "tent city jail" to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex. Inmates sleep in tents!

He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but "G" movies. He says: "They're in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave."

He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel, he replied: "So these morons will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs."

He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd 2009), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On the Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees."This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace," said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. "Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves."

The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: "It's between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents there too, and they have to walk all day in that sun, wearing full battle gear and getting shot at, and they have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!" Admiral said with patriotism in his voice. He then paused to take a drink of water and then continued,

"The projected estimated cost in savings is in the millions. Prisoners in a jail have rights and we are not impeding on any of them, but they should not be better off than the homeless on the street that has nothing. We have soldiers fighting for our freedom who are getting shot at everyday, not knowing if they will see their families from day to day - while some jails have recliners, serve beers in air conditioning with wide screen televisions…and guess who pays for that? I am taking a stand, I am going to follow Joe Arpaio's example. Effective immediately I am taking this stand and I suggest other prisons to follow the same example. Prisoners need to be punished for the crimes against humanity…not to lounge in front of porn movies and contribute nothing back to society for their crimes. Not only will our jail system be saving a significant amount of money, but we are also growing crops, raising dogs, expanding our library, and teaching classes on subjects that they can use in the real world. Our officers are trained to handle these 'chain-gangs' and will have one officer per six inmates. Pot holes will be filled, graffiti will be removed, garbage will be collected by hand, abandoned houses will be torn down and the wood will be reused to help those with low income to help with their homes. Also the prisoners will be, per request, be cleaning out gutters, mowing lawns by hand, and doing paint jobs for free for the public. The dog adoption will be run just like any humane society only we will not put down any dog. Anybody who wants to adopt a dog will have to pass through the security check points, but will only have to pay for the services for the dogs. Bibles will be distributed to every prisoner courtesy of the Gideons. The food collected from the gardens will be distributed to the local food banks for free meals for the homeless. We will also be starting a 'Prisoner adoption' plan. This will give the opportunity for prisoners to speak with others on the outside that want to send cards and care baskets, all items sent will be searched through and inspected before given to the prisoner. We are beginning a recycling program as well and hope to be entirely greenhouse friendly within the next year. Every item that comes into the jail will be recycled or be reused. As many of you know, we have started a 'favors' program with the inmates. If they work for us in the garden, mopping floors, cleaning windows, working with the dogs or anything above and beyond what they have to regularly do then we will reward them by giving them extra time in the yard, or with the dogs…some of the best ones will be rewarded to go see their families on the weekends, under close supervision and depending on the crime they committed of course as well as many other rewards. Now then…I will take some questions." Admiral said and took another drink of water.

Everybody jumped up and tried to speak at once. Herrior glared at them as Admiral held up his hand for silence and then pointed to a young blonde woman.

"Thank you, my name is Cynthia with Channel six news. What are the mayor's reactions to what you are doing?"

"We are not breaking any laws; we are returning money to tax payers, and performing work to rebuild the neighborhood for free. I don't think he would have a problem with that." Admiral said.

"There are rumors that some of your prisoners have been killed, would you care to comment on that?" A male reporter blurted out.

"Running a prison is not like running a daycare. These are seasoned criminals, most of which have life sentences and are not looking forward to living in a confined cell. Some have tried to escape and we had to put down several of them. It is the unfortunate reality of prisons. We have many protocols in place to make an escape impossible, but some may try. Others have been killed in gang-related fights. Some of these people become overwhelmed with the reality that they are being punished for a crime and seek revenge against anybody who looks at them wrong." Admiral answered.

"What of the hauntings that are rumored to be coming from the prisoners?" Another reporter asked.

"Being confined in a cell day after day, doing the same routine day after day is hard on a person. I for one do not believe in spooks or the Boogeyman. But the unconscious mind sometimes portrays an alternate person – a 'second prisoner' for them and this haunts them. There is not physical manifestation, except for their own minds playing tricks on them. Try looking yourself in your bathroom for a week and see what happens to you. Your mind will wonder and tend to think that you are not alone. People are meant to be with other people – you see many examples of this when a husband or wife dies, the other one dies shortly afterwards. We do have counselors, but they can only help so much. Sometimes the physiological and emotional pain of what they did overwhelms them and they feel deep remorse. We have had some people die by means of suicide because of this, and it is a sad issue but they are in imprison because they committed a crime against humanity and need to be punished. This reverts back to my early speech where we are going to take away many privileges of the inmates. I want everybody to know that this is a prison, not the Hilton – there is no room service, people cry themselves to sleep nightly with nothing but bars and cement blocks to listen to their cries. We have people committing crimes just to get the free health insurance, a roof over their heads, and food in their bellies and I am not going to stand for that. You come to my prison you are going to work, you are going to be exhausted, you are going to eat dull and tasteless food, and you are going to be treated like a criminal." Admiral said.

"What about the terrorists that were all killed in your jail?" Another reporter asked.

"I feel as though I have already answered that question. Jail is not a place you want to be, and if you committed acts to intentionally harm or kill people of this great country then you are a prime target – even for prisoners. I don't condone the killings, nor are people brought here to be killed. They have the same rights as the other prisoners and are treated the same. Now then, let me conclude by saying that these practices will be put into place immediately and my lawyers and accountants that work for me will make sure that your tax money is returned to you. I also give you my word that I and my men will make sure that this town is safe. A new Admiral is in town and I play hardball. If you break the law, you will regret it – we don't give slaps on the wrist. That is all for now, and God bless." Admiral said and backed up from the podium. Many other reporters started blurting out questions and Herrior walked up to the podium, ripped it out of the stand, lifted it above his head and smashed it in half over his head. Everybody looked at him in shock. Herrior took the two pieces of the podium and threw them behind him with cords being pulled out of their sockets and pulling some of the speakers with them.

"He said he is done! He didn't say blurt out more questions! Shut up!" Herrior's voice blared across the crowd. Silence fell over the crowd.

Admiral wasn't fazed by this as he started to walk down the podium and out from. Herrior jumped hard and landed in front of him, shaking the ground when he landed. Herrior then signaled to the other soldiers to move out. Herrior then turned around and saw people standing in his way. He put his fist in his hand and began rubbing them together with a big grin. The people quickly moved out of the way. Herrior escorted Admiral to his SUV and insured that he got in the vehicle safely. He then walked back around as the passenger side door popped open and Herrior climbed in. They drove off in silence, but Admiral had a grin on his face.

They arrived back at the station and the guards opened the gates and lowered the tire puncture spikes in the pavement.

"So…how do you think it went?" Admiral asked after telling the SUV to go park in its usual spot.

"I think I would have preferred Mohania's advice for once…kill all of them…" Herrior said with sincerity in his voice and then looked over at Admiral and grinned. "You gave a good speech. I think you are taking many steps in the right direction."

"Don't know if you heard this or not…a school shooting accorded in another state. A kid killed his parents, went to his mother's kindergarten class and shot all of the kids there before taking his own life. Is there any way of preventing these kinds of tragedies from happening?" Admiral asked.

"Did you know the kid?" Herrior asked.

"No…just what I heard over the news. A lot of schools have been on lock down because of people making threats to shot up our schools or plant bombs. They are all hoaxes, but we have to treat them as real."

"Find the people making the threats and hang them up on a spike in front of the schools with a sign telling of what he did. That will put a stop to it." Herrior said.

"This is the twenty first century; we can't just impale the kids. No we need other ideas." Admiral said debating the idea somewhat.

"Do you have any of the kids that have performed these crimes?" Herrior asked.

"They are in a different jail system then ours, it's a juvenile crime and they can't be treated as adults." Admiral said.

"If they are old enough to make threats and to carry out acts that could put people's lives in danger or have killed people, their punishment should be the same." Herrior said.

"I agree, but again we don't have jurisdiction over them – just the hardened criminals."

"Bring your prisoners to the schools and have them talk about what life is like in your prison." Herrior said.

"Do you think that would be safe?" Admiral asked.

"I'll have my hand around the prisoner's neck the whole time…"

"And then what? If the prisoner gets out of line you would snap it? No that wouldn't work. We don't need kids witnessing a killing in front of them. Any other ideas?" Admiral asked.

"Ask for volunteers from your prisoners. The ones that have been giving you favors offer them another opportunity to earn a favor by going to these schools and giving a talk. Your men should bring their guns and keep him restrained. Call for these 'press' to be there at the school. Give the kids a chance to see and hear from a prisoner what it is like to be locked up for the rest of their lives. Is this against your laws? Normally we would have the person tortured for days on end as their family watches and then we would kill their family." Herrior said still sitting in the SUV.

"A bit harsh don't you think?" Admiral asked.

"Our crime rate is very low…" Herrior said turning to look at Admiral with a grin.

"Yeah I can imagine. Not a bad idea that you gave me though. I will look into doing that. George said he wanted to repay you for your kindness that you gave to him and his men working for him. You should go to him, I need to head inside and listen to the backlash I'm sure I'm going to get for making that speech. I'm sure the mayor is on hold right now…" Admiral said dreading it.

"I can summon a banshee to take care of the issue." Herrior said.

"As much as I wouldn't mind seeing him put six foot under…" Admiral laughed as he got out and shut the door.

Herrior got out and walked over to Admiral and said, "No, the banshee can mess with his mind. You can get anything you want from this mayor; there is no reason why you need to have a verbal war with somebody when we can summon one of our banshees to take care of this problem. You have other things to worry about."

"Will this cost me a favor if I agree?" Admiral asked.

"I'm sure we will need your forces again in the future, but as of now you are considered a good friend and I stop counting with good friends." Herrior said.

"I'll buy you lunch…" Admiral said agreeing to it. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted an ambassador of Tranquil and asked for a banshee to come to the station and ask for Admiral and to follow his instructions. The ambassador said he would summon one immediately. Herrior closed the portal and put his hearthstone back in his pocket and walked towards the heavily armed outpost that George was in.

"Hi Herrior, I will open the door at once." One of the soldiers said immediately when Herrior was within audible range. The other guard drew his rifle and positioned himself for any type of attack. Herrior walked through the gate thanking him and entered the building.

"There's the party animal…" Secretary said with a smile.

"It was a favor." Herrior said reminding her.

"I will bring up the elevator for you so you don't have to wait. George wants to speak with you." Secretary said as she typed in several commands on her computer.

Herrior walked down the hallway as the elevator "dinged" and opened its doors. Some people walked out as Herrior smiled at them and walked into the elevator. The doors closed and he felt the elevator going down. Soon the elevator stopped and the doors opened and Herrior walked out.

"George, we have company!" One of the people at the computers yelled out. George and several other people were huddled around a computer watching something on the screen.

"Herrior – good to see you!" George said and clapped his hands together as he jumped up several stairs and walked quickly over to see him.

"We have a problem. As you know our mission is to collect sensitive information and try to predict what other countries are going to do. The problem we ran into though is we have reason to believe that several of our undercover agents are being held hostage. Let me show you the information we have so far." George said and quickly waved for him to follow.

"They aren't very good spies if they got caught…" Herrior said casually.

"I'm sure they didn't intend to get caught…but we have reason to believe that they are still alive. Here are their ransom videos that they broadcasted." George said and typed several commands on a console and the videos popped up on the big screen. Herrior watched them one at a time as they showed the prisoners faces baddy beaten, a daily paper and a hand written paper explaining their demands. Herrior noticed that they were underground and hardly any light was being shown. There were five captives in all.

"We have one week to release some of their prisoners or they will be executed." George said.

"How much longer do we have?" Herrior asked.

"Uh…seven days?" George said confused and then realized quickly said, "Oh, we got these videos over the course of a couple of days, but it wasn't until the last day did they make their demands. Usually it takes time for us to verify that they are our people. We traced their IP address to a small underground compound…which by the way wasn't easy – whoever setup their internet is good at it, but did it in a hurry. The President is planning to prepare a speech to Pakistan, but if we can get the prisoners back before he has to lift a finger it would be best." George wasn't looking but Herrior had summoned a Chronomancer who had located the place where they were being held and Herrior went through a portal to get them.

Five minutes passed and George was still explaining the protocols for retrieving prisoners and how their country does not negotiate with terrorists.

"Sir!" One of the operators said pointed behind George interrupting him. George turned around and saw all of the prisoners lying on the ground. Herrior was quietly explaining to them that a special party went it and killed all of their hostages and you don't remember anything.

George stood up in awe and said, "Wha…holy shit…how?"

Herrior told the Chronomancer to go back to "home" and she nodded and created a portal and left.

"They don't appear to have any serious injuries. They are going to require some rest though…and I didn't negotiate with their hostages…" Herrior said.

George yelled out to get some ambulances phoned and told others to grab the medical kits. George then pulled out his encrypted cell phone and contacted Admiral and told them to expect some ambulances to arrive.

"Your people take too long to plan attacks. Is there anything else you need with these fancy computers and projecting images on screens?" Herrior asked.

"No" George said still in surprise. He then took a breath in and then said, "How are we going to explain this…"

"Ask your computers, I'm going to go some food." Herrior said and then walked over to the elevator and pressed the "up" button. As Herrior waited for the elevator the rescued spies turned around and one at a time thanked him. Herrior nodded at them. He then paused for a second as the elevator doors opened and said, "You are welcome, but for what? Those videos were obviously fakes; you can't be in two different places at the same time. I think somebody is playing with your minds. Don't you think George?" Herrior asked looking over at him.

"Obviously fakes" George said with a smile feeling a sigh of relief. "Get the White House on the phone…" Herrior heard as he entered the elevator and let the doors close behind him.

Herrior told Secretary that there were some people that needed a large meal. She nodded and said the ambulances are on their way. She was on the phone but pulled it away to talk to Herrior. Herrior nodded at her and she put the phone back to her ear and started talking again. Herrior left the building and dozens of soldiers were standing around anxious to know what was going on.

"Some of your spies were caught…they are now in the lower floor of George's building. They require food and medical treatment." Herrior said.

"What happened to their captors?" One soldier asked.

"Which part of them? Their bodies were frail and their weapons were insignificant. Cowards die a coward's death. Let this be a warning to the rest of you; don't be a coward…spread the word." Herrior said and walked away.

Herrior walked into the station and everybody stared at him. "My belly hungers" Herrior said.

"Here's my subway sandwich…not sure if you like meatballs but you are welcome to it." A soldier said quickly unwrapping it and handing it to him. Several others offered their lunches as well. Word had spread quickly as to what Herrior had done and all of the soldiers knew they owed Herrior a favor for saving the captors. The commotion among the soldiers began to increase when Herrior calmly said, "Be silent everyone. George was looking at some fake TV projections on his computer…everybody is looking at me eager to correct me, I don't know the right terminology for this computer stuff, but that is going to be the cover story. All of them were rescued and the people holding them hostage are dead. I need to sit and meditate now – I may leave to go back home." Herrior said and walked down the hallway, gathering the assortment of food that was handed to him and opened the door to their room. He sat in the middle of the floor and began to eat.

Somewhere in a forest at its darkest no animals or insects could be heard, not even the rushing water of the stream. The forest had been forbidden to make noise during this meeting. Two people dressed in dark clothes approached each other cautiously.

"What do you want?" One asked.

"You know what I want…how much is it going to cost me?"

"Not interested in gold…we want access to your city."

"Not going to happen. Will this even work? Last time it didn't work in my favor."

"It'll work, what you choose to do afterwards is up to you. I want your King's head on a stake."

"Can't do that."

"Boo who, your ethics suddenly kicking in now? If they were, you wouldn't be standing here right now. Give us access to Tranquil!"

Silence fell in the forest for awhile. A distance frog croaked.

"That's the deal…take it or leave it. I need to leave."

"I can lure the prince of Tranquil in your army."

"And how would that benefit us?"

"He can be used to negotiate with…"

"What do you think we are doing right now?" The dark voice nearly screamed.

"You're people are ruthless…wouldn't that be a nice prize for your King?"

"Say what you want about us, your people started the century's old war! Prince's come and go…your King will deny it and we'll just kill another one of your useless people."

"The King and Queen never leave their palace."

"You won't get what you want then, this meeting is over." One of the strangers said and stood staring at the other covered stranger. The other sighed and waited a moment to say, "If I get you into you will just be killed like your previous assault. If I get you the prince – he can deactivate the defenses Tranquil has."

"And he would do this willingly?"

"No…he would need to be forced to do it, or tricked."

The other stranger paused for a second to consider this. He then said "Bring the prince here; we will setup a trap for him. When we have him secured – you will get what you want."

"And there won't be any side effects…"

"We will do the same ceremony we did for the others! Now leave here before I change my mind!" Both strangers parted ways and walked in opposite directions. The forest remained silent until both had left. Scared to make a sound, even the crickets didn't even chirp for the rest of the night.

Dan suddenly woke up out of a dead sleep and inhaled deeply as if he was unable to breath for the past minute. His naked body was drenched in sweat. Crystal quickly woke up and said, "What is wrong?"

Dan's mind was racing. He put his hands to his head to try to stop them as his pulse raced.

"Sweetie what's going?" Crystal asked.

"I…something…" Dan rambled and then held out his hands as his armor flew from the corner wall and covered him. His maces flew into his hands and he quickly put them behind his back as they clung to his armor.

"I need to go…don't follow me, and please don't speak of this!" Dan said quickly and urgently. He then raced down Brenna's stairs and sprinted towards the palace. The streets were practically empty except for the night shift guards. Dan's heart was practically beating out of his chest as his legs carried him through the roads and eventually made a sudden turn inside the palace.

"Who goes there?" A guard asked with several others getting up.

"I am the prince of Tranquil – step aside!" Dan yelled at them.

"Sorry Dan"

"Clear out the palace, I need to speak with the King in private." Dan said in a hurried voice.

"The King is sleeping…"

"You think? Really? Don't you think if this wasn't vitally important I wouldn't be here shaking and sweating demanding to speak with the King in private? Clear out the palace!" Dan said and pushed him to the side as Dan walked by. The guard looked frustrated but did what he was told.

Dan quickly ran to the King's quarters and flung open the door. He saw the King on the side of the bed with his hands covering his ears. He looked up at Dan and put his finger over his mouth and used his head to motion over to his wife. Dan nodded. The King got up and put on his robe and quietly walked outside, shutting the door behind them.

"My King I apologize for coming in the middle of the night, but something terrible is going to happen to Tranquil! I don't know what…but I would stake my life on this hunch." Dan blurted out.

"Did you clear out the palace?" The King asked.

"Yes my King." Dan said urgently.

"The guards will think something is up…I will need to speak to them…" The King said quietly.

"My King…your life and our city are in danger!" Dan said again urgently.

"Your senses have become attuned to the city, I am pleased to see this. What do you remember of your dream?" The King asked.

"Evil…pure evil, it overwhelmed me and I couldn't move or fight. I was like this for awhile and then a weight was suddenly lifted off from my chest. What is it my King?" Dan asked.

"I had the same dream. Do you remember any faces? Any words, emotions, feelings?" The King asked.

"No…just pure evil overwhelming Tranquil. We have to rally our parties and go on high alert!" Dan said still nearly frantic.

The King shook his head and said, "Just the opposite my prince. These people live in happiness and safety. Our shield is still holding and none of our guards and ambassadors has reported anything suspicious. To rally our party's without cause would be to send paranoia among our citizens. Calm yourself Dan, this isn't the first time I have had dreams like this. It usually comes before a big war. Who else knows about this?"

"I was lying with my wife, but all she knows is that I left in a hurry. The guards that I ran passed I'm sure wonder why I was in a hurry and the tauren guard I demanded to leave the palace I'm sure I upset. That is all, my King." Dan said.

"Good. I will speak with my guards and tell them not to speak of this event. Go to your wife and tell her the same. Stay quiet and listen; follow your instincts and keep your senses tuned. Keep your mind free from these emotions you are feeling now and open it to your surroundings. If you sense something happening, you have full command of our party's in Tranquil, but do not do anything in haste. I sense an evil moon rising. I will order our Chronomancers to move our city off from this world. That is the only precaution we are taking now. If you learn of something, you are to report to me directly – not Herrior, if it is betrayal it could be anybody." The King said as Dan settled down.

"Herrior would never do anything…" Dan insisted.

"Maybe not intentional no, but we have had leaders go bad in the past – go now and wash the sweat from your body, walk the streets if you need to if you need to clear your mind. Then go back and lay with your wife. Scramble all messages with your hearthstone and speak with me only in isolation and I will do the same with you. Together we will face this foe or foes, but I will not have paranoia spread throughout my Kingdom." The King said and then walked Dan outside of the palace.

"Something wrong my King?" One of the guards asked.

"Bad dream, besides that it is none of your business. Everybody return to your duties. I will go lay with my Queen for a couple more hours before I begin to conduct my business." The King said.

"Yes my King" everybody including Dan said as they went their separate ways. The King walked back into his quarters and took off his robe with a sigh.

"I am surprised that Dan sensed something was wrong…" the Queen said softly.

"I didn't want to wake you…" the King said apologizing.

"I wake up whenever you are in distress. Should we begin evacuations?" The Queen asked.

"No…no not yet…" The King said and crawled back into bed.

Herrior awoke in the station, surprised that he was there. He stood up, stretched, and then summoned Lindel to open a portal for him to go back to Tranquil. Herrior saw that Lindel was back in Tranquil and she was glowing more than ever. Herrior was pleased to see that. He entered Tranquil and felt a cold chill flow through him as he looked around to see where it was coming from. It only happened for a second though until Lindel was able to get the portal shut and jumped up on Herrior – hugging his neck.

"Happy are we?" Herrior asked hugging her back.

"I couldn't be happier. This is everything I've ever wanted. I have everything I could ever hope for. Never in a thousand years did I think this day would come. I'm married Herrior!" Lindel screamed the last sentence.

"Yes…and the rest of us are deaf…where have you been?" Mohania asked looking Herrior.

"Killing people" Herrior said knowing that it would annoy Mohania. It did.

"Why is it people are always killing people and it's not me killing them?" Mohania asked throwing up his hands and walked away.

"So how was the honeymoon?" Herrior asked.

"A girl never kisses and tells…" Lindel said letting go of him as her body began to glow brighter.

"Oh I see…" Herrior said with a smile. "Were the doors opened recently in Tranquil? I felt a cool breeze…" Herrior stopped talking when he saw Dan's face suddenly turn to him, turn completely serious and mouthed the word "No!" to him.

"The King ordered Tranquil to move. Not entirely sure where yet, but I'm sure I'll get the scoop on it eventually. I have a way of finding things out…" Lindel said excitedly.

"You do have a talent for that. So how has everything been without me?" Herrior asked.

"I forgot you were even gone…been checking out some other taurens…" Skyka said slipping her arms around Herrior's waist.

"You lie…you were thinking about me the whole time…" Herrior said smiling.

"Yeah I know…so who did you kill or did you say that just to make Mohania mad?" Skyka asked smiling and walked around to face him.

"George had some of his spies caught. He was doing something with his computers, probably Dan would understand, but I summoned a Chronomancer and I had them rescued before George stopped talking. He isn't real observant." Herrior said.

"Yeah Dan is like that. I have a hard time keeping his attention." Crystal said.

"No I meant George." Herrior said.

"I pay attention…" Dan said to Crystal and started to tickle her.

"As much as any other man does to their woman and their settle hints…" Crystal said giggling trying to get Dan to stop.

"We have a new arsenal of weapons and armor, Skyka says we also have different enchants for the armor as well. Our stock pile of ghost iron, food, and enchanting supplies has increased tenfold. You have an axe waiting for you, it is rather impressive. It looks like the constellations in the sky. Our cooks and alchemists are still in the experimenting stage of cooking the new recipes with our elixirs. I'm sure they will get it figured out soon. Word has it they are going to increase all of our armor and mastery of our abilities, but that is subject to change." Jacklyn said.

"Good to hear, all of us could use more of both of those." Herrior said.

"I've obtained two enormous axes…call me old fashion, but I like to have what my leader has. That could change of course if they come out with a stronger weapon." Jacklyn said ending with a smile.

"I assume they are some oversized weapons that cut through several trees with one swing?" Herrior asked snickering back.

"I haven't tested them out yet on trees, but they seem to be working well in my favor in the arenas. The instant bursts from the elemental enchants are nice as well." Jacklyn remarked.

"So how are my hunters?" Herrior asked after he nodded at Jacklyn.

"Our weapons have been upgraded from normal looking police issued magnums. The engineers said the gun would have to expand or build itself or whatever too long in order to get a shot off. So now we have these." Branzer said pulling out his gun. It was black and had a long cylinder barrel with two golden dagger looking objects protruding out from under the barrel. The scope on it twitched eagerly, presumably looking for a target. The entire length of the gun was almost three foot in length. Branzer started showing it off and twirling it and said, "Yeah it's a piece of work…but I can get used to it."

"I see…you have finally broken yourselves free of your pistols." Herrior said as Julie pulled out the same gun briefly to show him. To her it was just another gun; she didn't have as much pride in it as Branzer did.

"Good…has our trainers learned anything new I need to be aware of?" Herrior asked.

"No…how about you go show them a thing or two." Skyka said gently pushing him.

"How about you come sample some ale with me? The Pandarens are great at brewing, however if you drink too much you become intoxicated. Our people are trying to resolve that problem," Strings said and began to chuckle "The last thing we need are drunk bards on the battlefield."

"I might sample some in a bit, Dan can you speak with me about our King in private?" Herrior asked wanting to ask the question the whole time.

"Sure…not much new though." Dan said casually and followed Herrior into Brenna's house.

"Ah – guests!" She said excitedly.

"Brenna can you leave for awhile?" Herrior asked.

"Consider me gone…but if you need me just whistle." Brenna said with a smile. Herrior and Dan stared at her with a straight face. "Ok, well the gardens do need to be checked on. I will return at nightfall."

They watched her leave and shut the door behind her. Herrior then walked to the middle of the room and leaned up against the cold stove and folded his arms.

"I have orders straight from the King himself to not talk about anything." Dan said walking over and pulling a chair up in front of Herrior.

"Why did you silence me about the cool breeze? That generally means something is wrong." Herrior said.

"Herrior…I cannot say anything…" Dan said looking up at him.

"Are we in danger?" Herrior asked.

Dan sighed and looked away. He rubbed his eyes and said, "You are my leader and on the one hand I should tell you everything, but something happened and I went directly to the King himself and he said not to speak of this. I cannot break his command."

"Damn…" Herrior swore silently. He sighed and moved his hand over his mouth and went into deep thought.

Several minutes passed as Herrior paced back and forth in deep thought. Dan finally got sick of it and said, "There is nothing we can do about it, wearing out Brenna's floor isn't going to help."

"I'm considering our recent allies, possible scenarios with the humans, what Lindel said about moving Tranquil…Elona could be mounting an attack against us…" Herrior said listing off several different things.

"Herrior…please!" Dan said stopping him.

"I'm the leader and an ambassador to Tranquil, you have a promise to keep and I have been out of the loop. I need more information!" Herrior snapped back.

"I have said too much already!" Dan said frustrated. Dan sighed and said, "The only thing that I think I can tell you is clear your mind and listen…and pay attention to your surroundings. That's what I have been doing. I haven't picked up on any clues yet, but whatever I find out I cannot say and have to scramble my message and report to the King immediately."

"That can only mean betrayal…" Herrior said.

"For all I know it could be you! The King even said that! He said that leaders have sometimes lost it before and went berserk or something. I can't imagine it…I look up to you like a father…but nobody is above suspicion." Dan said mad and then on the verge of tears at the end.

"You are right…I am in the wrong. I…we should not be having this discussion. I am sorry. I will not ask any further questions about it. Come…let me get you a drink." Herrior said as they snuck out the back and jogged away from their group.

In the meantime Skyka was probing into Julie and Trackolania's newly found fondness for each other. Trackolania wasn't saying anything…

"So…have you two kissed yet?" Skyka asked bluntly.

"No…" Julie said rolling her eyes, "We just talk…we are not like Lindel and Branzer. We are keeping things simple…also it's none of your business."

"Little prying ears and curiosity need to mind their own business." Mohania said walking back.

"Julie" Spark said agreeing with Mohania.

"Not prying…just asking…" Skyka said twirling her hair with a smile.

"Look…even Julie's mutt agrees with me, let them be. Rogue's need their privacy and Julie has never been one for getting into other's business." Mohania said.

"Well…I see they have a babysitter, so I guess my work here is done." Skyka said smiling and then summoned her dragon and flew off.

"Since she was so rudely told to leave, we will do the same. Come Branzer, let's fly." Lindel said. Branzer put his gun away and held out his arms as Lindel grew her wings and grabbed him as they flew away.

"Thanks Mohania" Julie said.

"Heck if that is all it took to make them shut up and leave I would have done that a long time ago, anyways off to torture somebody." Mohania said and summoned his magical carpet and flew away. Bernett said he was going to go find his son and wife. Veliline looked around and felt like a third-wheel.

"Well I'll go as well, give you two some alone time." Veliline eventually said but Julie stopped her and said, "It's not a big deal. How about us three go to Earth and have some fun?" Julie looked at Trackolania and he nodded.

"If you are sure…" Veliline said.

"Too late to turn back…I've already got my hearthstone out…" Julie said spirited as she summoned a Chronomancer. Several minutes later the three of them touched their trinkets and went to their room in the police station.

Julie opened the door as two soldiers quickly turned to them expecting orders.

"Julie" Spark barked.

"That's a neat trick." One of the soldiers said with a smile.

"We're just here to have some fun, nothing going on. Is there a car we can borrow?" Julie asked. The same soldier reached into pocket and pulled out a key ring with one key on it.

"There's an orange Hummer out in the parking lot with camouflage on it, I use it for hunting. If you aren't back in time I will catch a ride home with somebody else."

"Seriously? Just like that?" Julie asked.

"It's only got about half a tank of gas right now." The other soldier pulled out a fifty and handed it to her, "Call if you need more" he said.

"Wow, thanks…" Julie said surprised.

"There are some files stacking up that Herrior hasn't looked at yet. Some of them look like things we can't handle."

"Oh…Veliline do you mind if we go look at them?" Julie asked.

"Well…Trackolania isn't putting poison on his new daggers for nothing I suppose…" Veliline said looking down at him. Trackolania looked up innocently as he was carefully applying a vial with thick fluid on it to his dagger. He put a cork in the vial and put it away with a smile.

"Ok we'll take a look." Julie said shaking her head with a smile and thanked them again. The three of them walked up and took the stack of files as Julie handed them out. Admiral came out of his office and was about to say something when he saw the three of them. He stopped in mid-thought and said, "What is going on?"

"Getting caught up on some work…some of these are several states away and we don't have Lindel with us. Filter those out until another time." Julie said putting her file down and picking up another. Trackolania did the same. Spark picked up a folder carefully but all of the papers fell out of it. He tried his best to put it back together.

"Looks like most of these are demonic activity." Veliline said.

"Yes that is what we thought." Admiral said bending over and giving Spark a hand gathering up the papers. "The one you have right now seems to be a 'roaming demon', for lack of a better term, but it seems to be isolated in a trailer park about half an hour west of here. The crime rate seems to be sporadic between the different houses. If you take my SUV you can be there in about ten minutes."

"The soldier guarding our door gave us to keys to his Hummer. We'll take that. From what I hear your SUV could blow up the entire trailer park and I would probably say the wrong thing accidently and end up having it decimate everybody there." Julie said and then read the additional notes in the file.

"I worry about that myself actually…well contact us if you need backup. I have the mayor breathing down my back, as I figured as much, but I hired a team of attorneys and accountants to combat him." Admiral said. Trackolania took out his daggers and motioned a stabbing motion.

"Herrior already asked if I wanted him killed…but things like this are going to come up, and making a political stand and getting things straightened out properly is the correct way of doing things." Admiral said smirking at first.

Trackolania looked away for a second and then held up two fingers and then made a stabbing motion again.

"If your plan doesn't work, Trackolania would like to know if he could kill him." Julie said smiling.

"It will work." Admiral said smiling and then asked, "He doesn't talk?"

"Rogues don't talk, or make a sound when they walk. They have more secrets than all of us combined and are deadly." Julie said. Trackolania put away his dagger and smiled innocently.

"I will take your word for it." Admiral said looking at him. He smiled and then looked back up at Julie and said, "Should we expect more 'arrivals'?"

"Not that I'm aware of. We'll go investigate these cases and be back." Julie said.

"Here, add this one as well – it has the same road name." Veliline said.

"No, that one is in a different state." Julie said glancing at it.

"I'll have somebody start sorting those out by location." Admiral said taking the files and took them over to an officer and asked him to do the job.

"Ok…road trip!" Julie said cheerfully.

"Julie" Spark barked.

"Ma'am, may we come along to help?" The soldiers behind them came up and asked.

"If you want, do you want to drive?" Julie asked handing the keys back to the owner.

"No that is fine." The soldier said refusing the keys.

"Alright, the more the merrier" Julie said smiling.

The five of them left the station with Julie driving. She scanned the radio stations for a rock station and finally found one. It was playing "Diamonds" by Rihanna. She cranked up the bass and started dancing behind the wheel. "Come on Veliline – dance with me girl!"

"This doesn't look safe…" Veliline said.

"It's not…oh you know what this road trip needs? Snacks!" Julie saw a Marathon station and turned hard on the wheel to make the turn. Everybody held on tight as the vehicle squealed its tires and maneuvered into a parking space.

"Do you know how to drive?" Veliline asked a little scared.

"Well duh…but rules don't apply on road trips. Let's go get some junk food, everybody out!" Julie turned down the radio before she gleefully bounced out of the car. She put her sunglasses on as Spark jumped out from the back hatch and ran up to her. He whimpered a little and batted at Julie's sunglasses.

"Sorry Spark, dogs don't wear sunglasses." Julie said and walked up to the entrance with everybody else.

"Hey…hey you can't bring in your dog…" the attendant said hesitating.

"Tell him that…" Julie said and Spark looked at the attendant and let out a deep growl.

"It's the law. I'll call the police." The attendant said.

"We're NSA…the police aren't going to do anything." One of the soldiers said pulling out his badge and showing it to him. The attendant let out a dumb sounding "uh…" not knowing what to do.

"Be a good little boy and do your job son." The soldier said putting his badge away.

"Do you have any dog food that doesn't have meat fillers in it?" Julie asked aloud looking at the dog food.

Spark smelled something and quickly turned around and snarled at a man approaching. He let out a loud bark that was almost deafening. Everybody not used to the deep resonating bark that Spark could produce ducked and some ran away. The man's intentions were to drag Spark out, but changed as he ran backwards into the door, fumbled as he tried to open it and then ran to his car.

"Naw…I don't think Spark would like any of the dry food, the main ingredients are cornmeal. He needs meat. Veliline take all of the dog food here, I'll go grab us some chips and some jerky. One of you guys grab us some pop, but none of those energy drinks." Julie said.

"What should I do?" The other soldier asked.

"Keep Spark from eating people…" Julie said grinning at him. The man looked at Spark and said, "I'm not sure I can do that."

"Can you at least tell the little one to stop playing with the slushy machine?" The attendant asked. Trackolania was unfazed by everything and found a machine where if you push a lever, different kinds of drinks came out. He took turns putting his mouth under them and pressing the levers.

"No" the soldier said back.

Frustrated the attendant said, "You guys can't just come in here and act like you own the place…"

"Little mouthy aren't you? Spark hold him." The soldier said unslinging his assault rifle. Spark's two front paws slammed on the counter and his teeth grabbed the man's head. The soldier went around and padded him down and sure enough he found what he suspected.

"Two bags of crack and a handgun…" the soldier said and inspected the chamber – there was one bullet in there. "With a bullet in the chamber…I think we found us a drug dealer, maybe you should call the cops and turn yourself in. Hey – that's tampering with evidence!" The soldier said placing the items away from him and drawing his assault rifle on him. The man's bladder released due to fear of Spark's many rows of teeth moving on his skull. They were scratching him but not drawing blood.

"Call this in! Your going down to jail young man, you have drug possession, attempting to tamper with evidence, harassing an officer, and possessing a fire arm – illegally I'm sure it's safe to assume. Everybody clear out of the store, it is closed until further notice!" The soldier said as all of the astonished people stared at the enormous dog with its huge mouth wrapped around the man's head. The other soldier had pulled out his cell phone and contacted the station and said they needed a cruiser out her immediately.

"Down boy" Julie said casually as she placed her items on the counter. Spark released the man's head – also the soldier put away his assault rifle just in case she was talking to him.

"We'll take all of these and the pop also put us down for two cups from the slushy machine. She handed the man the fifty dollar bill and smiled at the man's frozen white face. Julie reached up to him and snapped her fingers in front of his face and he snapped out of it and said, "Just take the stuff! Holy shit, what the hell kind of dog is that?"

"Ring up the items! Scan the merchandise and total up the price…and then…try to follow me on this one…the cash register will tell you how much the total is. You then take the money and tell the cash register how much I gave you; it will then tell you how much in change we should get back." Julie said explaining to the man how to do his job. He looked stunned at her when suddenly the soldier next to the man screamed, "Ring up the purchases!" in his ear. Sirens could be heard in the background.

"It comes to twenty six dollars and fifty five cents out of fifty; your change is twenty three dollars and forty five cents." The man said quickly putting the fifty under the tray and counted out the change.

"No bag?" Julie asked.

"Of course…" the man said trembling and quickly bagged up the items.

A squad car pulled up to the entrance and slammed on his brakes and flew out of his car slamming the door behind him. He pulled out his magnum and rushed through the door. "What's going on in here?" It was an officer from their station.

"This man has drugs, a loaded handgun, and attempted to tamper with evidence by pissing himself. I have a feeling he is dealing drugs out of this station." The soldier said.

"Get down on the ground! Now!" The officer said rushing around to the attendant pulling out his handcuffs.

"Be careful of the urine…" the soldier said moving out of the way.

"Get your hands on your head! I want your face on the concrete!" The officer said as he slammed his knee down on the man's back. The man let out a loud shriek of pain and then the officer rubbed his face in his own urine. Afterwards he cuffed him and told him his rights.

"You're going to have fun in our holding cells…it may take forty eight to sixty four hours to process you at our station." The soldier said.

"I can't stay overnight in your station…I'll get killed!" The terrified man said. More cruisers began to pull up to the station.

"You do the crime, you pay the time. Have fun!" Julie said taking the bags and heard the man begging not to go to the station. Her party left the station and explained to the officers what was going on and they said they would take it from here. One of them said that George told them to plant a bug on top of the store so that their satellites can monitor the store for activity.

"How are you going to do that?" Julie asked. The officer looked up and threw the tiny black ball into the sky. When it started to fall to the ground it bounced several times on the roof. When it came to a stop they heard a flicking sound and then a low whine as some metallic sound was being produced and then went silent after a couple of seconds.

"Did it work?" Julie asked.

"I have no idea…I swear the man has more gadgets than James Bond does. If it doesn't work I'm sure he will let us know.

"Make sure all of the soldiers use latex gloves, the man pissed himself…might have been something to do with Spark nearly devouring him." Julie said.

"Yes ma'am." The officer said pulling out his gloves and gave the order for everybody else to put theirs on as well.

Julie's party got back into their Hummer and squealed out of the parking lot and took off in the direction of trailer park.

"How did you know that man had drugs on him?" Julie asked trying to open a bag of chips and steering with her knee.

"Intuition; the man's eyes were bloodshot, he had a shake about him and his right eye was twitching. It was a JDLR…just doesn't look right. Did you get any piss on you?" The soldier asked the other.

"No…thankfully. I'm surprised Spark didn't rip his head off." The soldier said.

"Julie" Spark barked.

"He sure does like his master. Does he know any other words?" The soldier asked smiling as he grabbed a bag of beef jerky.

"Nope, that's all he says. Just my name, barks, and growls." Julie said driving with one hand and the other hand shoveling chips into her mouth. "Toss a can of dog food at Spark would ya?"

"We didn't get a can opener." One of the soldiers said as Spark began to whimper. The soldier held up a can and Spark instantly lunged at it and ripped the can in half. He chewed it up and spit out the mangled top half of the can. "Well I guess I am wrong, we did bring a can opener" the soldier said dumping the other half into Spark's awaiting mouth.

"So what's the plan?" The other soldier asked.

"I have a feeling our target will find us. The question is how are we going to kill the beast while keeping it discreet. I'm not going to have a healer so I'm hoping the beast is not going to do too much damage. I'll be able to mitigate a lot of it, but if I get low on health I will need Spark to take over tanking as I heal up dps'ing. We don't have a warlock with us so it will be hard to detect where the demon actually is. Have you both been blasted by the monks to prevent getting possessed by one?" Veliline asked.

"I haven't…heard it hurts like a bitch though." One of the soldiers said speaking up.

"That gives us a significant disadvantage…if it possesses you we have no way of bringing it out besides taunting it, and it will have access to your weapon." Veliline went on. Trackolania raised his hand to volunteer to take away the soldiers weapon.

"Trackolania can stun him without hurting him." Julie said without looking at Trackolania. He nodded.

"That would work as well." Veliline said.

"What is going to be our jobs?" One soldier asked.

"Keep low key, don't say anything and crowd control. I'm not sure if your bullets will work against the beast." Veliline said.

"We all are equipped with serrated long knives as well as flash bombs, grenades, tasers as well as our assault rifles." The soldier replied.

"Probably your knives would be best. Use your best judgment during the battle." Veliline said trying to open up a package of beef jerky.

"Oh you will love that…it tastes like meat flavored gum." Julie said.

"What does?" A soldier asked with a smile.

"Beef jerky…I mean does it not? You chew on it for awhile just like gum and it tastes like meat." Julie said still shoveling in her chips.

"Whatever you say boss…" the soldier said with a smile.

They arrived at the trailer park and felt a dark aura as they pulled into it. The security guard stopped them and asked for identification. The soldier sitting behind Julie showed him his NSA badge and the guard didn't ask any more questions. He went back and opened the gate and let them in.

"I'm going to do a drive around once so we can see where our prime target might be, Trackolania do you want to get out and scout the area?" Julie asked.

Trackolania nodded as he drew his daggers and stealthed himself. He opened the left door, bounced over the soldier he was sitting in the middle of and flew out of the Hummer. The soldier shut the door behind him and asked "How do we keep track of him?"

"He keeps track of us better than we do of him. If there is a problem he will come and get us. I would get out and stealth as well, but I'm not as agile as a rogue is. Besides I think two women and two men approaching the situation is better and Trackolania does look rather young to be an NSA soldier." Julie said while driving slow and scanning every person and house. Veliline was doing the same.

"What are we looking for?" Both soldiers almost asked together.

"Something abnormal, a glimpse of something that catches your eye that wasn't there before, something pouring out pure hatred." Veliline said.

"Not a very friendly neighborhood by the looks of it had to distinguish what is normal and what is evil here." The soldier on the right said.

"Over there, look." Veliline said pointing in front of her.

"I see it. I'll pull up next to it." Julie said. The trailer that they were looking at was white, but a "dirty" looking white, as if covered with soot. There were unusual waves of heat like vapors coming out of the chimney.

"Holy shit I see it! That is messed up!" The soldier said leaning over Veliline's shoulder.

"Settle your mind, we are going into battle." Veliline said.

The Hummer pulled up in front of the house and almost immediately a black woman came out of the house screaming and cussing at them. This didn't faze them as they approached the woman. Spark looked over at the garbage and smelled something funny.

"Ma'am we are with the NSA, we are here to help you – please do not use that language with us." A soldier said showing his badge.

"I don't care if you are the President…" and started using God's name in vain with every other word.

"Ma'am we have received several complaints about this home and we are here to search it. Please cooperate with us." A soldier said. Suddenly the woman's body went limp as she slouched over while still standing up.

"Found Trackolania…" a soldier said smiling.

"You are going to have to teach me that trick with my wife…" another soldier joked.

Spark let out a loud "Ruff" and started to whimper by a garbage bag along side of the road.

"What is it boy?" Julie asked.

"Secure this area; I'm going to approach the house." Veliline said as the soldiers spread out and she approached the house.

"What the…there's a dog in here!" Julie almost screamed as she ripped open the bag. The battered and bleeding pit bull looked up at her but couldn't move. Julie immediately picked it up and pulled it out of the trash bag. The dog whimpered the whole time and tried to let out yelps in pain, but was too weak. People started to gather and one or two of them yelled to leave the dog alone. Julie ignored them and put her hand on the dogs head and almost instantly the dog's strength returned and its scars and wounds were healed. The people yelling at her stopped yelling and stared in amazement. Julie casted another healing spell on the dog and it instantly jumped up and shook its new fur that was growing right before their eyes. Julie then stood up and pulled her gun out and shot a bullet into the air. The sound echoed throughout the trailer park.

"Who did this? Are you running a dog fighting ring? Who here knows information about this? Are there other dogs like this?" Julie yelled out. Nobody said anything and started backing off.

"I didn't say walk away…I asked who did this?" Julie yelled and leveled out her gun at their height as they all raised their hands. A shot rang out and a bullet hit Julie on the right side of her head. Her armor absorbed the majority of the damage, leaving her with only a ringing in her ear. The soldiers, hearing the shot, quickly swung their assault rifles around at the target. Julie turned her gun and pulled the trigger. The shooter's body was riddled with bullets, Julie estimated over fifty shots before he fell to the ground.

"Anybody else want to play?" Julie yelled. She jumped on the hood of the car and then the roof. "I can play this game all day long! I healed a dog that was going to die and pumped that body so full of lead we can use him for a pencil. Come on…somebody else take a shot!" Julie screamed holding her butt of her rifle against her hip. Everybody left quickly and didn't want to take a chance.

"You ok Julie?" A soldier asked.

"Yeah…should have not let my guard down. That was my fault." Julie said and jumped backwards off the roof of the Hummer doing a back flip and landing flawlessly on the ground.

"You took a bullet to the head…" he said stating the obvious.

"Not the first time. Tend to the dog and keep this area secured. Where's Veliline?" Julie asked.

"Her and Spark went inside." He answered back.

"That's where I'm going then…nobody comes within twenty yards of this house and lives." Julie said

"Rodger that." The soldier said as Julie ran into the house.

Inside the house Veliline had engaged the demon already. Julie held out her hand as Spark grew and started biting harder and faster. He then instantly disappeared and reappeared behind the demon next to Trackolania and landed a hard blow. Julie then leveled out her gun and engaged the demon as well.

The unconscious woman that Trackolania stunned had come to and started taking God's name in vain again. The soldiers swung their guns around and faced her.

"Are you going to take your toy guns and shove them up your ass to get your jollies off your sons of bitches?" The lady yelled and the pit bull let out a ferocious growl at the woman.

"You stupid ass dog don't know how to die do you?" The woman said and started walking to the dog.

"Stop right there! Don't move!" The soldiers yelled at her.

"Or what? You going to pull out your pencil dicks and wave them at me?" The woman asked as she held out her hands to them.

"Put your hands down!" One of the soldiers yelled but it was too late. Dark bolts of lightning shot out of her hands and hit both of them, knocking them backwards and on to the ground. Their bodies began to shake violently.

"I'll take care of you two later…and you mutt are going to be sacrificed, but for now my master calls." The woman said and awkwardly turned around as if her body had no joints in it. Suddenly a shot rang out, blowing the ladies left knee into pieces. The lady looked down at it in surprise, more about why her leg wouldn't work rather than the pain she was supposed to feel.

"Some stupid ass son-of-bitch shot my knee…I'll get you later…my master calls for me." The lady said and started limping towards the door. The soldiers flipped their assault rifles to fully automatic took aim and squeezed the trigger. The woman's body shook violently as the bullets passed through her. After twenty seconds of continuous fire, the soldiers quickly pulled out their empty clips and reloaded. The lady surprisingly was still on her feet and trying to make it to the house.

"Switch to your knives. I'm going for the neck." The soldier on the left said as he put his rifle over his shoulder and drew his army knife. The other soldier did the same. The soldier on the left jumped up off the ground and charged at the woman and lunged at her, the knife sinking through her neck – just missing her spine. The woman spun around with enormous strength and knocked the soldier back.

"You puny mortal are messing with powers you don't understand…leave me alone so I can assist my master!" The woman said spinning her head around backwards. The other soldier, who had been blasted by the monks ran up to the woman and sliced the woman all the way across her back. The woman again spun around, but the officer dodged it and the knife found its way into her throat and severed her brain stem. The demon could not believe what just happened as its host fell limp onto the ground. The woman began to have convulsions as the demon started to leave its host. The soldier's hand went to work slicing it up and mortally wounding it.

"I must…get to…my master…" the wounded demon said when suddenly two shots rang out, exploding the demon's eyes and making it burn up. The word "No!" echoed from inside with an eerie sound and that demon burned up as well. Veliline ran out, her bone shield still swirling around her with her massive axe held in both of her hands.

"We killed it." The soldier said.

"They must have been bonded somehow. We were doing enormous amounts of damage to it, but it never died…until this one died." Veliline said. Seconds later several cries of pain echoed out in the trailer park at the same time. Veliline, Trackolania and Julie ran out of the house and readied themselves. The soldiers put away their knives and pulled out their assault rifles. Spark dug his enormous claws into the ground and the hair on his back raised as he snarled – ready to attack. But nothing came.

Minutes later the darkness lifted from the grounds and the sunlight seemed to grow brighter.

"The threat is over; quick put your weapons away!" Veliline said urgently as Veliline tossed hers behind her back and it sucked into her back, disappearing in her disguise.

"What happened? What's going on? Why is the sun so bright? The gloom is gone." People started to say coming out of their houses.

"Let's get out of here." Veliline said and began walking over to the passenger side vehicle and opened the door. Julie ran around to the other side as the two soldiers, Spark, and Trackolania bounced in the back. Julie spun the Hummer around and left.

"Ugh…my shoulder is hurting. Damn demon blasted us with something. Feels like it's on fire." The soldier said.

Trackolania pulled out his dagger and quickly sliced off his armor and shirt. There was a black spider looking thing on his arm and Trackolania quickly stabbed it. It let out a piercing yell as it burned up. Trackolania then turned to the other officer.

"I feel fine." He said.

"Strip – now!" Veliline said. She had turned around and saw everything that had happened. The officer did as he was told and a large lump was in his shoulder. The soldier looked down at it moving under his skin and yelled, "Holy shit!" as Trackolania's daggers went to work. He sliced an opening in his skin, pulled the demon out, and then slammed both of his daggers together as the spider-looking demon burned up.

"What the hell was that?" The soldier asked in a scared tone.

"A demon trying to control you; you obviously weren't one of the ones that were blasted by the monks. Take all of your clothes off – hurry!" Veliline said urgently. The soldier did as he was told and more spider looking creatures were found crawling under his skin. Trackolania quickly went to work stabbing the spiders and pulling them out of his body. The other soldier quickly did the same, but no spiders showed up under his skin. After a minute of getting quick and precise stabs from Trackolania's daggers all of the spiders were gone.

"Am I safe now?" The soldier asked with blood coming out of the cuts.

"No…I'm contacting Mohania. Julie look for a place for us to leave without making a scene." Veliline said pulling out her hearthstone. Julie floored the accelerator to get out of town quickly.

"Mohania – we have a problem. One of our soldiers has demons crawling in him." Veliline said.

"How did that happen?" Mohania asked quickly.

"He was blasted by a demon…he isn't immune to them." Veliline said urgently.

"I need to see him…quickly! Find a place for me to come into the world and I'll find a Chronomancer." Mohania said.

"Where's Lindel?" Veliline asked in curiosity.

"Nobody knows…woman just up and left to do something…hurry before the demons take over his body." Mohania said in the portal.

"What? Lindel is always nearby…"

"Find a damn place to get me in that world!" Mohania yelled urgently and then closed the portal.

"We're too far away from the station…" Julie said.

"There's a small forest there." Veliline said pointing past a corner field. Julie found the entrance and turned hard on the grassy entrance and then pushed the Hummer as fast as it could as they traveled through the frozen soybean field.

Trackolania reached forward and grabbed Veliline's arm. She looked back and the soldier looked to be succumbing to the demon's will. She unbuckled her seat belt and jumped on top of the soldier and slapped her hard across the face.

The soldier's face snapped out of its trance as he looked at her and said, "Ouch!"

"Are you married?" Veliline asked.

"I have a girlfriend…what are you doing?" He asked.

"Saving your life; think of this woman and how much you love her. Picture her in your mind and tell me about her." Veliline said straddling the man.

"I know she wouldn't like this…"

"Shut up and picture the woman in your mind you idiot! Talk out loud about her. What is her name? What does she look like?" Veliline yelled at him.

"Cassandra, she's part Latino. She has dark long flowing hair…" the soldier said as his voice started to go back into the trance. Veliline slapped him hard again.

"What are you doing?" The soldier demanded.

"Saving your life! Concentrate on Cassandra's face and the love you have for her. Describe your feelings for her." Veliline said.

"I would rather just relax and close my eyes." The soldier said feeling a blanket of exhaustion sweep over his face. Veliline again slapped the man's face.

"C'mon – concentrate on her, stay awake!" The other soldier yelled at him.

In the meantime Julie was talking to Mohania and he found a Chronomancer to take him to the woods. Julie saw him and pushed the Hummer even harder. As Veliline and the other soldier kept the soldier falling victim to the demon's grasp, the vehicle came to a screeching halt. Mohania had his Voidlord out as Veliline ripped open the door and threw the soldier towards Mohania. Immediately the Voidlord walked over and held out its hand as it taunted the demon attacking the soldier. The soldier's body twitched hard. The Voidlord taunted it again as part of it began to come out of his body. That was enough for Mohania to blast it with a fire spell. The demon screamed in pain and burned up.

The soldier regained control over his body and mind as he shook his head and sat up. He looked up and saw the Voidlord floating above him and screamed as he reached for his rifle.

"Settle down you moron…it saved your life!" Mohania said clearly upset by the soldier's reaction. Mohania banished it and asked, "What did you do to get infected in the first place?"

"A demon blasted us…with something…" the soldier said still in shock.

"My body repelled it and Trackolania merely killed it with his dagger. With him, it got underneath his skin and started to get into his mind." The other soldier said.

"Humans…" Mohania said shaking his head at him.

Veliline and Julie got out as Veliline walked over and pulled the soldier to his feet with one hand and said, "You are lucky! Next time do what I say! Concentrate on the one you love – that was a small weak demon and you were succumbing to its power. You are going to be fighting bigger and stronger ones in the future. You are lucky your partner had the blasting done and was able defeat the demon outside the home. You have to be strong, quick, and keep your defenses up when you are in battle! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I need the blasting…" the soldier said quickly.

"Damn right you do!" Veliline then gently tossed him backwards on the ground. She turned around to Mohania and asked, "Why is it so easy for demons to take control of humans?"

"It's not – very hard in fact. They have to be invited in, the demons promise powers, make them feel good and attempt to confuse the host as it works to possess their mind. He had a weak mind. The other soldier should have felt dealt with the demon on his shoulder by the looks of it sooner." Mohania said and summoned a soulwell. He pulled out a hearthstone and set it on his shoulder as it instantly healed his wound. Mohania took another hearthstone and placed it on the other soldier's chest and it slowly sunk into his body. The cuts that Trackolania made instantly healed and renewed the man's strength.

"That's amazing…"

"And that is why you are an idiot." Mohania said interrupting him. "Our powers and the power in your mind are much greater than the dark forces we fight. Except the fact that there is evil out there that will do anything to destroy you and the loved ones around you. Also except the fact that you can fight these forces fear and tremble at those who resist in God's name. Here…" Mohania said and pulled out a bible and tossed it to the man who caught it. "Start in the book of John. Read this everyday and your mind will become stronger, this goes for you as well." Mohania said looking at the other soldier.

"I will. When can I get blasted?" The soldier asked.

"I will speak to the monks on your behalf." Mohania said.

"Usually Herrior does that." Julie said.

"If you can find the guy then you can ask him. He hasn't been answering his hearthstone along with half of our party. I don't have a clue what's going on. Being an ambassador you would think I would need to know what's going on…" Mohania said.

"What's going on Mohania?" Veliline asked.

"I don't know…Jacklyn of course is in the arena but she doesn't know where anybody else is. Dan is in the palace with Herrior, Lindel and Branzer aren't responding to their hearthstones either and Strings is with Ysera. Bernett is with Sammy and Jeffery and you three are causing a ruckus here…" Mohania said.

"We're not creating a ruckus…" Julie said.

"I don't see any dead bodies for me to eat…hence…ruckus." Mohania said.

"Oh shoot! What are we going to do with the person I killed? I forgot all about that!" Julie said. Mohania slapped his head and sighed.

"I'll call it in." The soldier stood naked above the other soldier. He reached for his headset and realized he didn't have it, and then realized he was naked. He quickly jumped in the Hummer where he was immediately licked by the rescued pit bull. He patted the dog and grabbed his headset and called in the dead body. He received reports back that it was already called in and officers were on the scene. They labeled it as a shooting between the owner of the house and a neighbor over some drug deal that went wrong. The soldier seemed content with the cover-up story and proceeded to get dressed as he tossed the other soldier his clothes.

"So what now?" Julie asked.

"I don't know…wait and see what happens I guess – I could be just jumping to conclusions, but it seems like boss-man should be in better touch with his party. Do you guys want to come back to Tranquil with me?" Mohania asked.

"I want to go back with the pit bull. I want to make sure it's going to be ok." Julie spoke up.

"I will go back with you. I think we have done all of the reports that Admiral wants us to do today." Veliline said.

"I want to travel further into the woods though before we leave. I was hoping that the place you wanted me to portal to was more concealed." Mohania said.

"I did the best I could." Julie said.

"Don't sweat it…let's go Veliline." Mohania said as they walked to the small forest. Mohania pulled out his hearthstone and tried to contact everybody again…only the same people replied.

The hooded figures saw each other from a glance. They began to approach each other again.

"Are you alone?" The one called out from the woods.

"Yes…are you?" The other called out from the rocky base of a giant cliff.

"No…what do you want?"

"To negotiate and to finalize our plans" The completely hooded figure said from the cliff.

"What is there to negotiate? You bring the prince here…we take him, unless you don't understand that the deal is off and we will kill you right now."

"The prince possesses a lot of power."

"Have him come without his armor and weapons."

"His power would still overtake you."

"What do you propose?"

"Taking his wife as well, his love for her will bring both of them down."

"I'm not interested in taking hostages…I'm interested in getting your King's head on a pole!"

"The King would see the prince fall before he set foot in the battlefield."

"So you are of no use to us – the deal is off then."

"No! I want what I came for initially! What do I have to do?" The voice asked desperately.

The other hooded figure in the woods told him to wait for a moment. The figure left his position and went back into the woods. Suddenly he was swarmed by dozens of alliance, one of them looking like royalty. The other hooded figure stood nervously for the ten minutes until the alliance disappeared back into their positions in the forest and the hooded figure came back.

"Bring us the prince – without his armor and weakened. We will tranquilize him and then you will go back to your pathetic kingdom and tell them our terms are half of your city's treasury. Bring the wife first…we will alter her mind to lure him in. The death of both of them will strike a blow to your city…and then you will open a portal to your kingdom afterwards. Those are the conditions - not negotiable. Next time I see you it better be with the woman or both of them, now get out of here!" The hooded figure said and then left back into the woods.

The other hooded figure nodded and then disappeared back into the portal into the cliff. When the commotion was over and both sides disappeared a Pandaren overheard the conversation…her name was Lhi.


	40. If You Love Something

If You Love Something

"It happened again." Dan said to the King.

"Are you sure? I didn't feel it this time." The King replied.

"It's a different overwhelming feeling this time, not fear of Tranquil but fear in general." Dan said as if waking from a dream.

"You must be letting your mind get the best of you. Go to our taverns and get a drink." The King said.

"Yes my King." Dan said and left with Herrior. As soon as they were clear of the palace, Herrior turned Dan to face him and Dan knew what the question was, Herrior never asked it, but Dan knew.

"Just feelings Herrior…" Dan said shaking his head.

"Anything else? Are you sure?" Herrior asked sounding almost desperate.

"Just a feeling…"

"I'm going to summon everybody…tell me if you have any feelings with any of them." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone. This time Herrior was able to contact everybody. He told them that they had an assignment and needed to assemble at the tavern closest to the palace.

"What's our assignment?" Dan asked.

"We are going to Pandaria. You didn't start having these visions until we made contact with them. There are bound to be some clues there." Herrior said.

"I can't tell them about…"

"You aren't going to say anything!" Herrior said turning around quickly. Dan nodded and the continued to the tavern.

When they arrived the rest of the party was there. "We are going to go Pandaria and help collect supplies for Tranquil. I don't anticipate any trouble. I do want to bring them some of our ale though. We'll be searching for flowers, nodes to mine, and helping to harvest crops. Strings if you could get some of our finest ales I would appreciate it." Herrior said.

"On it, Bernett can you give me a hand?" Strings asked. Bernett agreed and both of them left to ask the bartender for some barrels. They came back and Lindel had a portal opened with an eager Chen on the other side. They went into Pandaria as the Pandarens cheered at them.

"Welcome back my friends, and you brought beer!" Chen said excitedly.

"Some of our finest ales that we make, I hope you like them." Strings said dropping a keg in front of him.

"I have yet to find a beer I haven't liked." Chen said with a smile.

"You haven't been to our world then…" Branzer said with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"I have to agree with you on that one Branzer…" Strings said "It doesn't pack enough punch and is quite bitter.

They started exchanging stories when a flash of light caught Dan's eye. He looked over and saw Lhi reflecting the sunlight off from a knife into his eye. She put a finger up to her mouth and waved him over.

"Where are you going Dan?" Herrior asked.

"I'm going to go check out the rodents in this area over here for a second. I'm also going to see how the Pandaren people are doing in their homes over here. I suggest we split up – it would be more efficient to complete our tasks." Dan replied.

"I'll go with Dan then." Branzer piped up and jogged over to him.

"Well…I'll go with Lindel then…" Crystal said upset. She looked over at her and she shrugged not knowing what that was all about.

"Sounds like a plan…Chen where do you need help at?" Herrior asked Chen.

"Help? Why you have rallied our people and have brought new hope and meaning to them. The Golden Lotus is fighting for us, the Jade Forest is thriving once more and the sky serpents are gaining in numbers. We have yet to go into the Krasarang wilds though; I fear some of our people might be down there, but the Mogu are there…we cannot fight them without help." Chen said.

"I thought the Mogu were only a myth?" Herrior asked.

"As did we, however if the Golden Lotus are still around and we thought they weren't then there must still be Mogu around as well." Chen deduced.

"Where was the Golden Lotus when your towns were attacked?" Herrior asked.

"I do not know…" Chen said shaking his head in almost disgrace.

Herrior nodded and decided to change the subject. It was apparent that the Golden Lotus had their own objectives and it did not involve them. He would find out the reason later.

"Split up and help out with the chores. Meet back here in four hours." Herrior said.

Branzer, Dan and Lhi were out in the east and found a group of Grummles who tried to sell them some of their "Lucky-do's", but they said no and continued on their way.

"Dan what is your Kingdom like?" Lhi asked.

"Well…it has a King and his Queen – you've met them before. They have a magnificent palace, and a beautiful church. Our people have work that they do to help each other out, for example we have people just like yours that grow plants for eating." Dan explained.

"Do the King and Queen have a son?" Lhi asked.

"No, I don't think so. I never asked really, they have their hands full now as it is – why do you ask?" Dan asked.

"So there are no princes or princesses?" Lhi asked sounding relieved.

"Why do you ask?" Branzer butted in. Lhi seemed surprised, but before she could say anything Dan said, "She's just curious. I am the prince – but not by birth-right, I earned the privilege after an encounter that we had. I guess the right befalls on somebody the King deems worthy, however the title can also be stripped – like that of our leaders and ambassadors. Will I someday rule over our Kingdom? I'm not sure…the King and Queen have far outlived me and I like to take risks and be in the battlefield, versus sitting around making decisions and telling people what to do." Dan was talking but Lhi stopped listening after she heard that he was the prince.

"Does the world you come from have a prince as well?" Lhi asked.

"No…our world that we come from is much bigger. We elect a President and then we have a Congress that is also elected and a judicial system that oversees our laws of the land." Dan said.

"Is that for your whole world?" Lhi asked.

"No not at all, there are many different countries that have different systems to govern their people. Who governs your people? Is that why you are asking?" Dan asked.

"No." Lhi said quickly.

"How are your people governed then?" Dan asked.

Lhi didn't want to talk about it since they hadn't really established a ruler, so she gave the "The mayor in Jade Forest in suppose. Can you summon your dragon? I would like a ride on it."

Dan smiled and let out a whistle. Bursting through the clouds, Dan's dragon dove straight at them and then just before crashing into the ground it let out a mighty flap and rested on the ground peacefully.

"Hello" the dragon said.

"Lhi would like to ride on you, would that be ok?" Dan asked his dragon.

"That would be fine." The dragon said back and lowered its body.

"I…could you go with me? You know the dragon better than I." Lhi said sounding almost desperate.

"You aren't going to let her ride your dragon!" Branzer said in a demanding voice.

"Why not? They let us ride their sky serpents." Dan said back in a calm tone.

"Our dragons are different! I forbid you to let her ride your dragon!" Branzer said firmly.

"What flew up your ass Branzer? As your prince I order you to return to Herrior!" Dan said back. "Come Lhi, you are welcome to ride my dragon" Dan said taking her hand and helping her up on its neck and then slide backwards to just above its wings. Dan then jumped on and slid back as well. Dan then pulled the dragon's fur back and into the air they soared. Lhi screamed in delight and grabbed firmly on Dan's waist. Branzer summoned his dragon and soared after them. Lhi looked behind her and saw this and became scared.

"Dan I need to tell you something in private and that man is still following us…" Lhi said.

"What?" Dan said sounding frustrated and turned around to look. Branzer leveled off with them.

"She should not be on our dragons! As an ambassador I order you to bring her back down and she be held accountable for riding our dragons!" Branzer demanded.

Suddenly the word "Run!" blared in Dan's head as he saw Branzer reach for his gun. Dan grabbed the dragon and Lhi firmly and instantly disappeared. They appeared in Ysera's kingdom. Ysera was in flight and sensed her young one suddenly appear. She flew over and said, "My young one…what is wrong?"

"Amazing…you are beautiful…" Lhi said in awe.

"I think we have a traitor in our group Ysera. Can we go some place secure to discuss this matter?" Dan asked.

"Of course…let's leave immediately!" Ysera said and dove towards her palace. Dan steered her dragon towards her.

"Crystal – your husband kidnapped Lhi. I tried to stop them, but Dan took her on his dragon, she was kicking and screaming but then suddenly disappeared. Can you try to talk to him into releasing her?" Branzer asked quickly and desperately.

"What? Dan wouldn't hurt a fly…what are you talking about?" Crystal asked back, Lindel was overhearing the conversation.

"He grabbed her and flew away. I tried to pursue them but they vanished. I can't contact them or he isn't answering his hearthstone – do you know where he might have gone?" Branzer asked.

"Dan would not kidnap anybody…this isn't funny Branzer." Crystal said clearly upset.

"Hasn't he been acting strange lately? He's planning something Crystal, I know you would stand by him no matter what, but for right now we have to face the truth that Dan took Lhi against her will. I fear if Herrior finds out, your husband will be put on trial and killed. Hopefully we can get this resolved before that happens." Branzer said.

"That's bullshit Branzer!" Crystal yelled at him.

"Bullshit or not – I saw what happened. I saw a river to the south that runs off from a cliff. Meet me under the waterfall and I'll help you." Branzer said.

Crystal slammed the portal shut and put her hearthstone away.

"What is going on Lindel?" Crystal asked getting into her face.

"I have no idea…" Lindel said shocked and scared.

"What is going on with your husband to make accusations against my husband like that? There is something going on and I want to know what!" Crystal yelled at her.

Lindel started to shake and said, "Crystal…I have no idea what is going on. I will go get Herrior."

"And have my husband be put on trial for something we both know he didn't do! I'm going to go have a chat with your husband…" Crystal said and summoned her dragon.

"I'm coming too…" Lindel said and grabbed a hold of the dragon's foot before it took flight.

They flew over the cliff and meet up with Branzer under the water fall.

"Good…I'm glad you came, Lindel what are you doing here?" Branzer asked.

"Same reason why I'm here…now what kind of shit are you trying to pull here Branzer?" Crystal demanded. Suddenly a blast of electrical energy surrounded Lindel – trapping her inside of an energy field of some sort. Crystal looked back and saw Branzer's gun pointing at Crystal's head.

"Now be a good little girl and take off your clothes." Branzer said as alliance soldiers began to appear and surround them.

"A traitor dies a traitor's death…" Crystal said and disrobed herself and stripped completely naked.

"Branzer what are you doing?" Lindel shouted out.

"The only thing I can do to be with you…I hand over Dan and his wife and the alliance will make me a banshee, and then we can live together forever. We can have children then Lindel!" Branzer said whose voice was starting to turn dark and sinister.

"Those are false promises Branzer! It is not possible!" Lindel pleaded with him.

"They did it before, they can do it again. I have the situation under control and we can be together forever!" Branzer said as a black liquid swirled around his eyes.

"Branzer! You aren't thinking straight…listen to me…Branzer, you are being controlled." Lindel said pleading with him.

"Nobody can control me…I can feel my power swelling up inside of me…this is what is meant for us Lindel." Branzer said.

"I'm a prisoner to nobody…shoot me." Crystal said grabbing the gun and pulling it towards her head.

"Well…if you insist…" and Branzer pulled the trigger. Lindel let out a scream, but was quickly muffled by the force field.

Branzer took Crystal and Lindel to the woods and said, "Here's his wife. The banshee is my wife. I want her to love me so we can be together forever and have children."

"The other woman?" A gnome asked.

"Dead…just like the Prince is going to be. Now the trap is baited – what do I get in return?" Branzer demanded.

"You idiot, we need her alive!" A dwarf said and motioned over a female human healer. She brought Crystal back to life and was quickly chained up and muffled.

"String her up over the tree and you are to stay with her! When the he comes lure him to you and have him take off his clothes as well – he has some magical items that gives him the powers that he has. I want them! Now…attract him to this spot." The dwarf said. Branzer pulled out his hearthstone but it turned to dust when he tried to use it. Branzer swore and threw it aside.

"You! Summon Dan!" Branzer demanded to Lindel. His voice had fully changed now.

"Never…Branzer you are not yourself, what has become of you?" Lindel asked.

"Pull out your damn stone and summon him or you will suffer the same fate as her!" Branzer yelled at Lindel. Lindel scrambled backwards at her changed husband.

"What have you done? I will never summon Dan…I will gladly accept the same fate next to the woman I love then to be your wife for one more second!" Lindel said ripping off her ring. She held it up before him and it quickly caught fire and melted through her fingers.

"You stupid woman! You do not know what you are doing! I want her mind reprogrammed to love me!" Branzer demanded.

"She still loves you…time heals all wounds, and if not we have ways. Now get her to summon the prince!" The dwarf demanded back.

Branzer turned his gun on his wife and fired. Lindel fazed out of existence to have it avoid her, but the next two shots hit her. "Summon him you dumb bitch!" Branzer screamed at her and continued to swear at her.

"Never! Kill me!" Lindel shouted back healing her wounds. She grabbed her hearthstone and created a small portal and threw the hearthstone through it.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Branzer said walking over and punched Lindel as hard as he could in her face. Lindel recoiled back and hit the ground hard.

"You are running out of options here…traitor…" the dwarf said casually.

"Shut up!" Branzer yelled back and walked over to Crystal and punched her hard in the face. Her nose instantly burst into a pool of blood that dripped down from the tree. "You are his wife…bring him here!"

"I am naked swinging in a tree with my hands bound…just how am I supposed to do that?" Crystal asked and then spat blood in his face.

"Make a mental link with him…like you do with the rest of us." Branzer said as his body began to grow black and grow in size.

"He's forgetting things…the alliance are just as much afraid of him as we are…" Lindel said in Crystal's mind.

"I can do that, but I need my hearthstone. It is back with my clothes under the waterfall." Crystal said.

"I'm tired of stories of rocks…bring him to me now!" The entity taking over Branzer's body had almost complete control. The ground beneath him began to bubble that were black but had a white tint to them. The dwarf signaled his alliance to fall back. Small demons began to come out of the ground. They looked just like shadowfiends the priests cast to restore their mana. They crawled on the ground with large front legs and short back legs. They were all black and besides an enormous mouth they were void of any other features.

"Branzer – you need to stop this!" Lindel yelled out. Nothing but cynical laughter came from him as he began to grow in size.

"Stop this." Dan said walking up to the figure of Branzer that was as tall as the trees now and dark black.

"The transformation is nearly complete! The Sha of Anger rises again!" Branzer said cackling.

"Branzer you are still in there…you can fight this!" Dan yelled out.

The cackling came even harder now. "You come alone, to barter for your wife and this banshee. You are a fool! My host summoned me, drew me up from the ground and now I have completely consumed him! Behold my power!" The Sha of Anger said rising up from the ground. It had four tentacles that came out of the ground and pushed him even higher into the sky. Its arms grew out and into hands that only had two large claws on it. Its face glowed with green aura as it laughed. It had horns coming out of its head and when they reached their full length they turned green. It reached out its hands and empowered its minions.

"Unfinished business first…" The Sha of Anger said turning and held out a hand as bolts of black electrical pulses hit every alliance person in the woods surrounding him. They let out a quick scream and then bowed before him all saying, "Your will is my command."

"Of course it is…now then little one…what the…" The Sha of Anger said turning around as Herrior charged into it and slammed his shield into him. The rest of Herrior's party along with several other party's came charging in.

"Unleash hell!" Admiral screamed and the soldiers opened fire.

The Sha of Anger yelled out "Does this make you angry?" and cackled as it began to command its newly formed army to attack. It held out his hands and sprayed a mist of black and white bubble.

"Spread out!" Herrior yelled as the party took enormous amounts of damage. They all quickly moved out of the way of the fire as Herrior and the other tanks drew his attention to them.

"I'll take him, Quinely go pick up the adds on the left, Veliline get the adds on the right." Herrior yelled out.

"Come on healers…pick them up!" Skyka yelled out as she released an enormous healing spell that spread out in a circle around her for up to fifty meters.

"I'll get Herrior." A troll priest said casting a shield around him and a renew spell around him as she ran off to the side. The rest of the healers started calling out their targets for healing.

"Aim for his head only, watch the friendly fire. Where's our mortars at?" Admiral screamed out.

"We'll be ready in the next couple of seconds…" a soldier said as they all aimed them towards his head and then launched them into the sky. The Sha of Anger had twenty mortars explode in his face, blinding him as he picked up his claws to protect his eyes.

"Target his feet DPS!" Herrior yelled out and moved out of the way. Jacklyn landed at the exact moment that he moved and drove both of her weapons into a claw. Jacklyn then moved aside to let others in to engage the claws.

"Restore me my minions…" The Sha of Anger said holding out his hands and pulling up the strength of his minions to heal himself. It then held out his hand and quickly possessed three people DPS'ing and they turned on their own.

"Dispel them!" Skyka yelled as her hand shot out, freeing the mind of one enslaved by the Sha.

"Burn down the adds! They are healing him! Send word to Admiral and our long ranger attackers to keep up the attacks!" Herrior yelled out and got slammed hard by the Sha of Anger. He tumbled backwards, but gathered his feet under him and charged back into him.

Several hunters in the back yelled up on top of the cliff and said, "We need more from you!" and other encouraging words to Admiral.

"Come on people…bring the heat!" Admiral yelled behind him and waved forward the rockets.

"Pulling out all of the stops boss?" A soldier asked.

"No stops until that thing falls! Fire everything we got and go back and get more if we need to. Tell the Chronomancer we need more soldiers…we need the fifty calibers!" Admiral yelled.

"What about your SUV Admiral?" A soldier asked. Admiral stood dumbfounded at the question. Of all the times to use that thing, now is the time.

"Keep firing…I'll be back!" Admiral said.

"Open the portal back to Earth…it will need to be big enough to get a large vehicle through it." Admiral said. The Chronomancer did as he was told and opened the portal.

Admiral came running out and saw that he was in the parking lot. He yelled out "SUV – come to me!" The SUV instantly cranked on its engine and sped over to Admiral, stopping only mere inches from him. The door flung open by itself as Admiral jumped in. Admiral then quickly phoned one of his soldiers that was helping him with his job. "We need more soldiers and tell them to bring the biggest guns that they have!"

"Yes sir!" The soldier said as Admiral hung up and drove through the portal, closing behind him. Another portal was opened shortly after in the usual room that Herrior comes and goes in. The soldier in the meantime pushed the "red button" as it signaled for all of the soldiers to come running. It sent off pagers buzzing and red lights inside and outside the complex to turn on and a silver plate spun around in front of the bulb – thus making it seem like it was flashing.

The soldier then ran to a room that wasn't opened often and unlocked it with his keys.

"The big guns sir?" Another soldier asked.

"That is what I was told. Stay behind for a couple of minutes and direct everybody to take as much as they can carry and then to get their ass through the portal!" The soldier said grabbing a huge gauntlet gun and a green container of ammunition.

"What are we facing sir?"

"We'll find out together when we get there…" he answered and ran towards the portal.

Back at the battle, Admiral drove his SUV off the cliff. As it plummeted towards the ground, wings sprouted and it glided down.

"Objective Admiral?" The SUV said.

"See the top of that thing's head? Fire everything you have at it!" Admiral said. Suddenly Admiral's SUV transformed into a vehicle with a weapon sticking out of it and covered every inch of it.

"I would advise leaving the vehicle Admiral." The SUV said.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Admiral said leaping from his chair and out the open door. The SUV then became super-heated and launched dozens of missiles, bullets and lasers at it.

"What the hell is that?" Herrior asked as he felt the Sha of Anger falling backwards from the enormous blasts.

"Admiral is back…and apparently brought a few toys of his own…" Jacklyn said looking back for a second.

"He's going to spray again…everybody spread out!" Herrior said. The blast went forward, striking only Herrior. Herrior laid down and rolled underneath the beast and out on the other side. Herrior taunted the Sha of Anger and it spun around.

"Kill those adds!" Herrior yelled out, "All DPS and ranged drop the adds, keep up the dispelling – let Admiral do whatever he is going to do to the beast. Stop him from healing himself!"

Veliline held up her hand as swirling clouds of icy cold weather hit all of the mobs around her, slowing their movement. After five seconds they all froze in place. The melee and ranged brought them down quickly.

Quinely ran around swiping at everything that moved getting their attention on her as the DPS behind her dropped them one at a time.

From on top of the hill, the normal "rata-tat-tat" of the gun fire changed. It changed to several "swoosh" sounds and seconds later enormous explosions hit the Sha of Anger, tearing off pieces of its horns. The Sha of Anger reached down to heal itself, but didn't see any minions to draw strength from. It reached his hand out and took control of several people fighting it, but the healers quickly dispelled his control of them. The Sha of Anger screamed in frustration as it began to summon more minions. In the process of doing this it's body was pummeled with hundreds of bullets a second - bullets that penetrated its body and nearly went all the way through. More missiles were launched at it, blowing off more pieces of its body.

"The Sha will live! Even though I may fall, I will rise again!" The Sha of Anger said bitterly.

"All DPS on the beast!" Herrior ordered. The Sha of Anger, now only a fraction of its former self, slowly died and fell to the ground towards Herrior, who moved out of the way, and dissolved back into the ground. Silence fell upon the battlefield for awhile until Herrior got on his feet.

"Split up! One party go that way, the other party go the other way. We have alliance we need to go after. Cut down Crystal and get her healed up along with Lindel."

"What about the traitor?" Jacklyn said with her massive axe at his throat.

"He's still alive?" Herrior asked.

"Not anymore…" Jacklyn said raising her axe.

"What…what happened?" Branzer asked as Jacklyn's axe came down hard and smashed his head into mush.

Lindel walked up to Branzer's mutilated body, took his wedding ring, squeezed it in her hand as it caught fire and then she poured it on his body.

"Lindel…were you?" Herrior asked looking at her.

"No…I had no idea. We made love…several times. He left several times, he said it was 'ambassador stuff', but apparently it wasn't. Crystal I am so sorry…Herrior I was helpless and I saw her shot by my husband. Manipulated, tricked and killed. He turned on me Herrior. I think he thought it was out of love…but had I known what he was thinking I would have immediately reported it. I would have killed him…was wishing I had the chance…" Lindel said and began to tear up. She looked up at Herrior and said, "No Herrior, I did not know he had plans to do this, nor would I have gone along with them. But my sentence is execution anyways and I accept it." Lindel dropped to the ground on held her neck out. Jacklyn walked up to her and raised her axe and looked at Herrior.

"She is innocent. Herrior spare her life. We had an altercation when Branzer first deceived us and Lindel was shocked…she wasn't faking it either. I got in her face and threatened her life. She speaks the truth when she says she didn't know. When we went underneath the waterfall, I was stripped of my clothing and she was held against her will in some sort of force field. She did not go to him, but questioned everything he did. As the only witness to what happened, I beg for you to spare her life." Crystal said. Skyka had put a silk robe around her naked body as she spoke.

"I should have known…" Lindel said still crying.

"You followed orders Lindel. A banshee cannot enter an ambassador's mind without his permission. You have been found without fault. Rise up and join our ranks once again Lindel." Herrior said. Lindel hesitated, but stood up. Jacklyn had lowered her axe and was smiling at her. She looked over at Herrior who smiled and nodded at her.

"What do you need right now Lindel? Revenge? Time for weeping?" Herrior asked.

"Neither…I look down at him and see nothing, I feel nothing. I feel…normal. I had urges and satisfied them. I…learned all that I wanted to know about making love. I know firsthand now what it feels like and have a new respect for it. These are the memories I will take away. He willingly and knowingly did this." Lindel said.

"He would have killed both of you. We have Lhi to thank for this. She overheard their conversation. He was making an agreement the alliance. He then threatened to kill Lhi and Dan and would have if it wasn't for Dan disappearing instantly. He was the prime target…it was never you two, you were just the bait. Strip this traitor of his armor and burn his body. Veliline take the party and head out and eliminate or find out any alliance bases that might be here, Mohania and I will catch up with you when we are done here." Herrior said. Veliline took the lead and they walked off.

"This time there is no way you are coming back to life…" Herrior said ripping off his armor and putting them in his bags. Lastly he took his gun and trinket from his naked body.

"Burn him Mohania." Herrior said. Mohania took a second to cast a spell and then his body was engulfed in flame.

"More…" Herrior said. Mohania then started casting fire spells after spells until his body was nothing more than ash. The surrounding vegetation had caught on fire so Herrior walked over and snuffed it out.

"Now commit his body in the ground…I do not want to see him again, dead or alive." Herrior said. Mohania held out his hands as the dirt opened up and the ashes fell into the ground. Herrior spat into the hole and then nodded at Mohania. Mohania put his hands together as the ground came back together.

"Traitor dies a traitor's death…" Herrior said.

"His desires overtook him. Those that lack for nothing still have the need to have more." Mohania said.

"The King told me when he first died that he wasn't the best choice for being the human's ambassador. He might be in Heaven right now, but he is not among us anymore. I must admit I feel bitter right now, but these lands are not the place to harbor such emotions. We need to find another ambassador for the human world. I wanted to speak with you in private about this because if I were to mention this to our party everybody would volunteer that is from that world. I don't want volunteers, I want a good one." Herrior said.

"You do have a lot of ambassadors our party…plus the prince of Tranquil, who in my opinion should not be fighting because of incidents like this. I was pleased to see that Dan was completely focused on fighting and didn't run to his naked and beaten wife dangling from a tree. I do not want him to be the ambassador to the humans as well; his load is heavy enough as it is already. I'm still waiting for Crystal to pop out a kid…you would think that would be self-explanatory with everything that they have done…" Mohania said. Admiral started to approach both of them and Herrior held out his hand for him to stop.

"They do not create life – God does. If He doesn't want it to happen it won't. How much do you trust Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"He has given me no reason not to trust him. He has been in battles with us and has not fled, he is doing at his stuff at the station, I don't know what it is but it seems to keep him busy. Are you thinking about him?" Mohania asked.

"I am. I will have to meditate on it later. Currently we are the only party that really interacts with that world…and we have taken on another world, this is not how it is done. I did not want the added responsibility, but look at how the Pandaren look at us. They completely trust us like the humans do."

"It must be my good looks…" Mohania said interrupting. Herrior smiled and allowed himself to laugh a little.

"The problem with large party's is just that…they are hard to manage. We owe Lhi the lives of Crystal, Dan, and Lindel – what do you suppose she wants in return…" Herrior said with a sigh.

"Yeah…" Mohania said with a sigh and looked in the direction where Veliline took them. "We both know the answer to that question, and it is hard to say no."

"Yeah…" Herrior said and sighed also.

"Looks like Admiral is about ready to piss himself, you better go talk to him." Mohania said.

"Come along" Herrior told Mohania and he followed him to meet up with Admiral.

"Herrior, I think my SUV is going to blow up." Admiral said pointing at it nervously. It had melted into a pile of molten steel.

"Obviously a design flaw…I will have our engineers pick it up. Admiral I need to speak with you and your soldiers." Herrior said.

"How am I going to get to the top of the cliff?" Admiral asked. Mohania summoned his magic carpet, pulled Admiral up on it and flew up. That answered his question. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted the lead engineer.

"Admiral's SUV that you made for him seems to have turned into molten metal. I need somebody to come and get it and replace it with one that is safer." Herrior said.

"Admiral…Admiral…" the goblin said quickly flipping through some papers. He finally found the piece he was looking for and said, "Ah ha! Whoa…it lasted that long?"

"That does not reassure me…" Herrior said.

"No I'm sorry we have vastly improved on the model. I'm surprised he hasn't asked for any upgrades. He was in charge of it…wasn't he?" The goblin asked.

"Of course"

"Well why didn't he come to Tranquil to get the upgrades? I don't have the time or resources to go to every device we've ever dispatched into the battlefield, the same applies for your weapons and armor – you come to Tranquil to get better ones. It's much simpler that way." The engineer said.

"I will make a note of it. In the meantime can you come pick this old one up? It is located east of Halfhill in Pandaria. It looks like it might explode." Herrior said.

"It probably will…" the goblin said and turned away from Herrior and yelled, "Send a demo team to Pandaria. Go to Halfhill and then go east. The vehicle we made for Admiral is on meltdown."

"How much time until it explodes?" Another goblin yelled back.

"Herrior would like it not to explode."

"We better hurry then!" The goblin said with urgency.

The master goblin turned back to Herrior and said, "We will take care of it. I would like Admiral come to our engineering quarters and this time review what he wants."

"I understand. Expect us shortly." Herrior acknowledged as he closed the portal and summoned his dragon. He flew up the cliff and landed as his dragon flew off.

"Herrior, I do not know what happened to my SUV, I told it to…" Admiral started to explain but Herrior nodded his head and said "No – you do not need to apologize. Everybody gather around." Herrior said and motioned his hands together.

"This was not a victory…the monster merely left its host and I have no doubt will resurface somewhere else. We killed the host though…Branzer betrayed us, killed one of our own, turned his back on his wife and attempted to kill two others. We killed him after the demon left his body, and then we burned him to ashes and buried him. He will receive no grave marker nor will there be any mourning for him. Let the name of Branzer be a name of the past but let his actions be remembered. Any one of you can be my good friend…even a member of my party – but if you betray any of us your fate will be the same. That is what just happened down there as many of you may have witnessed. I wanted to explain this to all of you because you have a right to know. You fight with us you have the satisfaction of going home and lying down to sleep knowing that what you did today has saved hundreds of lives – possibly even saved an entire world. I want all of you to know that I am grateful for what you have done today, and so are the rest of the fighters of Tranquil that you fought with. I still want all of you to maintain you distance from the battlefield though…even our party members that wear cloth can withstand more damage than your bodies can. The last thing I want is to have one of your deaths to weight on my conscious. Your weapons are impressive…they seemed to do more damage; I would ask that you bring these weapons with you more. For now take this knowledge with you and go back to your duties, I wish to speak with Admiral alone. Mohania call up a Chronomancer." Herrior said as he walked up to Admiral, put a hand on his back and started to lead him away.

"Herrior!" A soldier yelled out. Herrior stopped and turned around.

"The pleasure was ours; we will fight beside you any day, any time." The soldier said and then saluted him. The rest of the soldiers saluted him also. Herrior smiled and nodded at them and then continued to walk away.

"Mohania, when can the rest of us get blasted by the monks?" The same soldier said turning to look at him.

"I…will contact them first. If they are not busy then we can do that right now. Who all needs to be blasted here?" Mohania asked. This was a perfect place to do it. Nobody in Tranquil or on their world would hear their screams. Mohania counted about one hundred and then nodded and said, "The ones that don't I want you to return to do your duties. Give me a moment." Mohania summoned up a portal with his hearthstone and contacted a monk. He explained the situation and the monks agreed. He then closed the portal and contacted a Chronomancer to open the portals. Ten minutes later the soldiers that had been blasted left and the ones left were in the presence of the mysterious monks.

"Put your weapons away and disarm yourself completely – throw your weapons over there. Remember to think of something that you love and concentrate on that. Keep your mind focused on that and the pain will be lessened. I will stay with you through this process." Mohania said. He waited until all of the soldiers had completely disarmed themselves and then laid down in rows.

"Remember…think of the ones you love – keep that image and those feelings in your head." Mohania said and then looked up at the monks and nodded.

A ways away Herrior and Admiral heard the cries of the soldiers. They looked back and saw the monks blasting their bodies with intense magical energies. They shook, and cried for it to stop. They sat there and watched for the five minutes that it took. The exhausted soldiers lay on the ground trying to gasp for breath. Mohania and the Chronomancer came to their cries and did the best to soothe them, but first the Chronomancer made a portal to get the monks back into Tranquil safely.

"Isn't there another way?" Admiral asked.

"If there is, we haven't found it yet. It used to take hours. Crystal went through the blasting for seven days to become immune to time stopping. Many people don't survive after two to three days of it. It takes longer to become a fighter class. They alter much more of your body and mind. Admiral I know we have sat in quiet, but I have been thinking about a decision and I wanted to ask you in private about it. If you decline I will not think any less of you." Herrior said.

"Do you want me to be a part of your party?" Admiral asked.

"No…we just lost our ambassador from Tranquil to your planet, and we need another one." Herrior said to which Admiral eagerly said, "I'll do it."

"Let me explain things first. You'll have equal power over our fighters and leaders. You will have to go over some ambassador information pertaining to Tranquil and you have to swear on your life that you will do everything in your power and in your new power to defend Tranquil, its people, and those that you order into battle. You will be able to summon party's similar to mine and have them carry out orders for you. Any death under your command you will be personally responsible for and have to answer to our King and their family." Herrior said with Admiral speaking up again saying, "I have had to give those orders before on my ship."

"You will need to work on your listening skills…" Herrior said with a pause looking at him. Admiral took the hint. "You will be faced with problems and situations from not only your world, but with others in Tranquil as well. You may well be called upon to settle disputes, give praise to who deserves it, and you will have to be in Tranquil more. Your family cannot follow you when you go. You seem to be in the office a lot and I do not know how long a normal human works, but you might be called upon to drop everything and come to Tranquil – doesn't happen much…but it does happen. I would like you to attend our church on Sundays; it will help with your training as an ambassador. Do you think you could carry out those responsibilities?" Herrior asked.

"I'm working nearly twelve hours now…how much more time would I have to put in?" Admiral asked.

"On Earth that would be half a day, would it not?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, and I come in on the weekends as well." Admiral replied.

"And what of your family?" Herrior asked.

"They…understand."

"No they don't. Cut back the numbers of hours you are working don't go into work on Friday or Saturday for your family and take the Sabbath off for a day of rest and worship." Herrior said.

"What about the station? What about your party?" Admiral asked.

"Will it float away if you are not there?" Herrior asked smiling and looking at him. Admiral felt dumb by the question, but Herrior wouldn't let him respond.

"Cut back everybody's hours. This battle was brief…sometimes they last for days. My party is out there right now along with the other party's from Tranquil probably locked in battle with the alliance, do you see me worried about them? You and your people are not used to our hours. First question…will you accept?" Herrior asked.

"I would be honored. Will I fight with the other party's?" Admiral asked.

"No. As an ambassador you will merely direct the attacks and gather as much information as you can about a situation and then pass on that information to a leader. I know we have fallen behind on your reports that you have gathered for us, this way if we are not available, you can pass on the information to another leader and send them out to investigate. Right now we have two worlds to look after and it is simply too much for one party to do alone. Soon the people of Pandaria will grow to trust others like us and get to know our people better. Then that will free my party up for anything else that might come along…lately it's been nonstop it seems like…the places we have been…the many battles we have fought, and yet we are still young. Sometimes I fear the new ones in my party have seen too much death, I worry about that. That is something else I worry about your people. What we fought today was scary; some of my party might even have nightmares tonight in their sleep. I keep your people away so they do not get harmed and they don't feel the pain of the attacks. My words grow long, what are your words?" Herrior asked.

"I…don't know what to say." Admiral said trying to take it all in.

"Then speak from your heart." Herrior said.

"My heart feels your burden and wants to help, but an ambassador to Earth and to Tranquil…that sounds like a lot."

"It is…but after awhile the burden grows lighter as you learn more." Herrior responded.

"And do you think I am ready for this? A whole fleet of people of your kind that would fight if I told them too?" Admiral asked.

"Yes" Herrior said nodding and looking out to Mohania. Everybody had been evacuated back to Earth and Mohania started digging a hole.

"Why does he do that?" Admiral asked.

"I don't know…truth is I don't know much about the undead. However it is harmless and most of the undead like to be underground and in dark places, I also do not know the reason for this. Maybe it helps regenerate their bodies or blocks out the sounds from around him, but I can only speculate." Herrior responded smiling.

"I accept." Admiral said immediately after.

"Very well…go to the station and start assigning your work to others. Remember they are your fighters now…if you drain them of their vitality doing work, then they might not be ready for battle when it comes up. Afterwards go home to your wife and children. Spend time with them. Families and the helpless are why we fight, so that others do not have to. We bring peace to chaos in the worlds. Tell your wife only about your hearthstone and how you can never leave it or be without it for any reason. Eventually your wife will ask questions, do not lie to her. Tell her you took on a new position that will give you more time at home but may have to leave at any moment. Never activate or respond to your hearthstone where others can see it, but respond to it as quick as you can – lives may depend on it. When you are done speaking with your family, come back to the station and contact me. I will go to Tranquil and speak with the King on your behalf and get your ambassador papers you will need to learn. I also need to speak with the King about Branzer's traitorous actions and the battle that we fought. He will not be pleased…" Herrior said with a sigh.

"You couldn't have known…"

"He was in my party – I was responsible for his actions and should have known. I will ask for forgiveness and accept my punishment." Herrior said and rose to his feet. He pulled out his hearthstone and brought up a portal of Skyka.

"Hi! We found some lingering alliance, but they surrendered. We weren't quite sure what to do with them. Also the Jinyu are asking for access to Halfhill. Many of them look starved and beaten." Skyka said almost cheerfully.

"Feed and clothe them. Bring them to Halfhill and dismiss the other party's if they wish to leave. Listen to the alliance and Jinyu speak to the Pandaren people and intervene if need be. Keep me informed." Herrior said.

"Where are you going?" Skyka asked.

"I have a new ambassador to introduce to our King and I need to be held accountable for Branzer." Herrior said.

"Do you want me to be there with you?" Skyka asked sounding concerned.

"No, I will do this on my own. Carry out your mission, it is more important. Only take the trails back that you walked on, keep on the straight and narrow path. We do not know what all are in those woods." Herrior said giving strict instructions.

"Ok we will. I will see you soon my love." Skyka said and blew him a kiss before she closed the portal.

"Don't you need an ambassador there for these Jinyu…and isn't the alliance our enemies?" Admiral asked.

"We have rescued many alliance. We do not fight unless we have to. Skyka, my wife, is an ambassador and will perform her duties. Come…let us leave this place." Herrior said and stood up.

"Remarkable…" a Pandaren voice said behind Herrior. Instinctively he pulled out his axe and shield.

"Sharp reflexes as well. Do you remember us?" The Pandaren asked.

"You are part of the Golden Lotus I presume?" Herrior asked putting his weapons away.

"You presume correctly. I am impressed by your words and by the actions you have taken today. You have killed a full Sha. Other fragments still linger I am certain. You may prove yourselves yet. We will be watching." The Pandaren said and did a back flip onto his floating disk joining up with the other Pandaren floating in the air and flew away.

"Golden Lotus?" Admiral asked.

"Second time I have seen them. Apparently the Pandaren think highly of them. Anyways, let's get this underway." Herrior said and summoned a Chronomancer. Admiral went to his station and Herrior went to Tranquil.

Skyka came up with the rest of her party and met up with Chen.

"Visitors…or enemies?" Chen asked.

"Both I suppose. They require food and clothing; I will tend to their wounds." Skyka said.

"The Jinyu have returned have they…you have fought against us and slaughtered many Pandaren people. You will answer for your crimes." Chen said walking up to him.

"Set aside your differences for now!" Skyka said sharply. "If you do not wish to feed and clothe your enemy, we will take them elsewhere."

"Why do you side with them?" Chen demanded.

"We are not siding with either. I am an ambassador following my command and our protocols. Look at this Jinyu here…" Skyka said walking up to one of the human-looking men with fish heads. They had scales all over their body and working gills along with fins on their head also. She took her hand and gently propped up his face.

"Look into his eyes Chen. Look at his body. Look at the torment he has faced, do you believe he is your enemy? These alliance over here are our enemy, but they are no threat to us. Now if one were to pull out a dagger and suddenly approach us, they would be killed. Chen look among these people, they were prisoners – they were tormented, beaten, starved, and probably had their friends and family slain in front of them. They did not fight in the war against us, they are innocent despite both of our reservations we have against them. But none of them carry any weapons on them. The alliance do not have the redness in their eyes, and the Jinyu look frightened. In times of war, we fight – but this is not war this is a rescue of a people from a different race in need of help. Did we not come to your aid? We knew nothing of your people except that you have been fought against unfairly." Skyka stopped as she let one of the Jinyu drop to his knees and then fall on his face before them in exhaustion.

"Bring food and drink!" Chen said turning around and yelling out. Skyka began to cast a spell that healed the majority of their wounds. Skyka then looked at Jacklyn and nodded.

"Rest all of you. Sit on the ground and be at ease." Jacklyn said walking up to them and helped some to the ground, while others were pulled down hard on the ground.

"There is still some anger within some of you…so you will make the decision right here and now, will you become accepted into the townsfolk here or will you make your last stand here?" Skyka asked. One of the dwarfs's said, "Give me a mug of ale so I can spit it in your face!" Jacklyn's axe cut him in nearly two halves.

"One dead…who else wants to join him?" Skyka asked.

"Why…do you want…to save us?" One of the Jinyu asked.

"Two part answer. 'Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.' – Romans 12:20. By feeding them and offering a drink and healing we are able to sort out who still has a fire burning that needs to be fed by coals, hence the dead dwarf. Those that have no quarrel with us will partake in the meal and speak with us. You, what is your name?" Skyka asked.

"Jogu…Jogu the drunk, nice to meet you." The Jinyu replied.

"Jogu…how does one go about coming up with a title of 'the drunk' and still survive the alliance?" Skyka asked. Chen came over with bread and water for the survivors.

"The waters speak to me. I foretold of their defeat…they didn't much like it. The Jinyu that spoke to the rivers and foretold false prophecy were rewarded. I'm not much of a liar…just a drunk." Jogu said taking some of the fresh bread and eating it.

"Did the waters tell you of this meeting?" Skyka asked.

"No…just that a great evil had fallen upon the lands. Looking into your eyes and listening to your words I do not believe you are that evil. I believe the evil still has yet to come. The waters grow corrupted now with the Sha's powers. The rivers and pools have grown quiet, if you are curious – the witchberries will sprout forth from the ground tomorrow…more than you will have baskets to collect." Jogu said.

"You cannot foretell the future! This is trickery!" Chen declared.

"Why would you tell us that information Jogu?" Skyka asked.

"I do not claim to be able to foretell the future…only the crops. Looking among your crops that you are harvesting, the soil and moisture levels in the ground are ripe for witchberries to grow. After harvesting, pull the plants and plow them under the soil – this will enrich the soil for pink turnips the next day. You are planting snakeroot seeds too close to the houses…spread them apart and let their roots pull up the minerals…but do as you wish, what do I know I am just a prisoner – delivered from one prison to another…" Jogu said taking a long drink of water.

"Interesting. Are all of the Jinyu able to speak with the waters?" Skyka asked.

"Yes…just not as drunken as Jogu. We thrived with the Hozen at one time. Then the airships came. The air people dropped bombs on our lands and killed many of our people, while the faster Hozen moved through the forests in retreat faster then we could get to our rivers. The people came down to our lands and killed the children first. They then said we had two choices…death or to fight alongside of them. We were promised riches and weapons. Many of us turned vicious – almost bloodthirsty and became extremely violent. Those deemed 'worth of keeping' was imprisoned while our own people slaughtered the rest. We are not your enemies…they made us turn into fighters." Another Jinyu explained.

"That was my suspicion." Skyka said.

"Traitor! He speaks in lies! When the alliance hears of this, you will be tortured and cry for death to come!" A male human said. Skyka looked up at Jacklyn and nodded. Jacklyn's mighty axe ended the human's life.

"Chen…what do you make of all of this?" Skyka asked turning to look at him. He had a look of curiosity on his face.

"You were not part of the attackers that fought our people?" Chen asked.

"My people were…as for us? No we were not." The Jinyu said.

"What about the humans?" Chen asked in an unsure tone.

"Chen, have you been training your people how to fight?" Skyka asked.

"Of course! Why do you ask?" Chen asked surprised.

"These humans are in your hands. Should they rise up against you, could you kill them?" Skyka asked.

"Easily…but why take the chance?" Chen asked.

"Because they were prisoners, just like the Jinyu. Some of them still had residual hostile emotions, but you can sense that some of them are frightened. These two Jinyu at least I sense no hostile actions in their minds. Would you be willing to kill a frightened woman such as her?" Skyka said pointing to a small female gnome shaking in fear. "Would that be the honorable thing to do? Slaughter a woman who is close to pissing herself in fear and has almost withered away to nothing? Is that really your enemy? She isn't ours."

Chen thought about Skyka's words for awhile and said, "You speak with wisdom and have opened my eyes. I have to forgive myself of my failure to defend my people…those thoughts would only attract the Sha. These people are not our enemies. My reservations that I made against your people were wrong. May our people live together in harmony?"

"I'll be a friend to whoever fills my glass…" Jogu said. Strings poured some of his ale from his wineskin into his glass. Jogu looked at it trying to figure out what it was, but gave up thinking about it as he downed it. He got the ale down and then coughed really hard.

"My friend…what can I do to get some more of that?" Jogu asked Strings.

"This one is harmless…" Strings said pouring him some more.

"If the alliance finds us…we will be killed along with the Pandaren we are with. We were part of them, but broke our bonds with them when we saw the slaughter. If you are to take us in, put us to work in caves or under trees so that we are not spotted." The female gnome said. Skyka watched her talk and then turned to Chen for his answer.

"Taking them in is a risk…" Chen said.

"Being here is a risk…when is the next time the Sha will rise from a betrayer? When is the next time the alliance will return? The enemy found you and if it wasn't for Dan – your entire population would have been obliterated. Trusting us was a risk, trusting the humans that fought beside us was a risk…Chen nothing is safe, not even in our world. But where do you draw the line? Live a life in paranoia, or live a life of forgiveness and being able to open your hearts to others?" Skyka asked making her point.

"We will stand beside you in battle." A male gnome said.

Chen turned around and said, "Bring a feast for our new friends. This is a day of celebration! A Sha was killed and we made new friends today!"

"Feast? Ah…fresh corpses…" Mohania said flying in.

"Mohania…not in front of the people, and where have you been you are all dirty." Skyka said talking as if she was her mother.

"I dug a hole and buried myself." Mohania said as his magical carpet vanished from beneath his feet.

"Is that why you have such a filthy mind?" Crystal asked.

"No…wait…just a sec…" Mohania said taking off his head and turned it sideways and shook it until dirt started coming out of his open ear hole. He then put his skull back on and said, "I guess I was sort of filthy…"

"There really is no hope for you…" Crystal said smiling and shaking her head.

"So I see two dead…who else is on the menu?" Mohania asked.

"They are our friends now Mohania…we don't eat friends…do we?" Skyka asked him.

Mohania looked around at everybody and then back at her and said, "This is a trick question isn't it?"

Skyka sighed and asked, "Is Herrior back?"

"No…he left to give his report to our King. Probably trying to contact him in the next couple of hours would be a bad idea…losing one of our own, and him being an ambassador is not going to go over well with the King. I would ask Crystal how she is feeling, but it seems as though she is as annoying as ever, how are you Lindel?" Mohania asked. Lindel just shrugged her shoulders.

"Come with me, let's go for a walk." Mohania said. Skyka wanted to be there for Lindel, to be the shoulder for her to cry on – but Mohania had beaten her to it. Lindel stood up and wrapped her arms around Mohania's bony arm as he led her away.

"Why is she so sad?" Chen asked.

"It was her husband that betrayed all of us." Skyka said. Chen didn't know what to say as he watched them walk away. Lindel's body began to shake a little from her crying.

"I don't know what to say…" Chen said.

"It is better to not say anything Chen. The traitor is dead and that is all that counts. Her time for mourning is now. Mohania will take care of her. Ah the feast comes, shall we dine with our new friends?" Skyka asked as she heard footsteps coming to her right and turned to look.

"I will not dine with my enemies!" Another female human said. She stood up and walked away.

"I'll get her." Jacklyn said.

"No Jacklyn, have a seat and eat with us. The wildlife in this area needs to eat as well." Quinely said looking up at her with a smile. A loud howl suddenly came from a close distance as a pack of wolves started to surround her. She began to run for her life, but the wolves were much faster.

"Jacklyn can you take these two to Tranquil's undead section and drop them off?" Skyka asked. Jacklyn nodded and summoned a Chronomancer. Jacklyn dragged off the dead corpses and tossed them through the portal.

"To the rest of you, you either die a traitor's death or you unite with the Pandaren and help them with their tasks. If you break bread with us then you promise to help them and Chen if you break bread with them, then you promise to help them and teach them." Skyka said handing Chen a piece of bread. "You are slaves no more – any of you that can hear my voice, all of you are free. You may help with the farms and then venture out into this land to make your own village."

The female gnome that was shaking quickly grabbed some food and devoured as much as she could. All of the Jinyu began to eat as well as the rest of the alliance captives. Chen seemed pleased and ate his bread.

"Chen…sorry I'm hungry…but if you…just a second." The female gnome said quickly chewing her food and then swallowed hard. "If you take some of the mud and mixed it with rock you can create a paste that will strengthen your outer walls. It would repel attacks shot from a gun. You can then setup some traps by…" the female gnome took another big bite and explained several other ideas that came to her head. Chen sat and listened eagerly. Skyka sat back in satisfaction as she dined with everybody as they began to get to know each other.

"Why? Why Mohania? Why did that bastard do that?" Lindel cried out in near screams as the tears flowed.

"Sit with me." Mohania said as he helped her to the ground and then snapped his fingers as a small fire began to burn in front of them. Mohania put an arm around her and she cried hard into his cloak.

"No words can be said to ease your pain. I need to tell you something though…" Mohania said and sighed and spoke with a slow tongue, "If you love somebody…you might have to let them go. You know our promises our fighters have taken, even if your significant other is taken you are ordered to kill them. We did our job. You did your job."

"I was in shock…I was angry at Crystal…I was captured in a trap while I saw my husband blow a hole in Crystal's head. Mohania – I couldn't do anything!" Lindel's voice was quiet at first and then grew louder. Mohania took his other hand and ran it through her hair and began to rock her gently back and forth. She turned into her evil banshee form and her wailing echoed throughout the lands.

"I will let you cry for a little while longer Lindel, but you are a fighter. You did nothing wrong and you helped to slay the beast he conjured up in these lands. I do not want that beast to be attracted back again." Mohania said.

"I'm sorry…" Lindel said, "I am so…so…so sorry…"

"Shh…you woke up a couple of sky serpents…" Mohania said taking his out from rubbing her hair and extended it forward. They floated up and down in the skies looking down at them. The closest sky serpent licked his finger and then tried to nudge in-between them.

"Well sure if you want to just butt in…" Mohania said smiling.

"You beautiful creature" Lindel said petting one and it started licking her tears. She turned back into her human form but the sky serpents didn't care. After a long licking and rubbing session, they started to wrap their bodies around both of them. Mohania quickly put out the fire as each of them tried to get the closest and then laid down.

"Looks like we are spending the night here tonight…and I had a hole dug and everything…" Mohania said and then smiled as he turned to her.

"I was talking to you." Lindel said.

"About what?" Mohania asked.

"You are a beautiful creature." Lindel said.

"That's just the emotions talking…try to get some sleep." Mohania said.

"I…never gave you the respect or took you as serious as I did with everybody else. I think I even insulted you a couple of times. You are a great man…Kendall is lucky. You put up a good front, but deep inside you have a beautiful heart." Lindel said.

"Rats…I let my defenses down and you barge right through my front line…" Mohania said jokingly.

"You know what I mean. You are a good ambassador, a good friend, and the world's most powerful warlock." Lindel said turning on her side to look at him.

"Crystal is more powerful than I am. I know different spells then her, but she's the strongest warlock…has something to do with Dan I'm sure." Mohania said.

"You are humble…is this a new Mohania?" Lindel asked.

"No…the same. You are just looking past the rough exterior. I try to make our party laugh and enjoy themselves…seems to work with Crystal anyways. I need to work on some new material with the others they are getting immune to what I say. I spent way too much of my life as an undead bitter and spiteful. A smile can erase decades of sadness. By morning the events of this day will be in the past, forgive yourself and try to move on." Mohania said. Lindel leaned up to Mohania and kissed him on his cheek and then snuggled up against him. The sky serpents were awakened and had to adjust themselves accordingly.

"Good night Mohania." Lindel said.

"Good night Lindel. I hope you have dreams of dancing in a field of different colored flowers with insects jumping all around you in delight." Mohania said.

Lindel laughed a little and said, "I hope you have the same dreams as well…"

"I will just lie here awake and stare at the stars until you wake up. If you wake up and need me I'll know faster than anybody else could in our group." Mohania said.

"Is that why you wanted to talk to me and not let anybody else ask to talk to me first?" Lindel asked.

"No…I saw you were having trouble so I spoke up. You are part of our party, we all rely on each other and we all love each other." Mohania said.

"Tell me about the field…the different flowers and trees until I go to sleep." Lindel said closing her eyes. Mohania talked for about twenty minutes before she was snoring softly.

Herrior had explained everything to the King and was ready for his punishment. The King merely sat with his fist on his chin and his pointer finger bouncing back and forth on his lips. He eventually smiled and said, "Do you really think I'm going to punish you for something you didn't know about? Dan and I knew something was going to happen long before this event happened. He didn't tell you anything did he?"

"No…he wouldn't even let me guess. I was experiencing anxiety because I wanted to know. Tranquil is my home and I will give my life gladly for it." Herrior said.

"You have…several times if I remember correctly." The King said.

"A couple of dozen, maybe more – but my King…"

"Herrior…shut up for a moment." The King said and Herrior instantly went tight-lipped.

"You are fine. You did everything correctly. You are ordered to lift the burden you are carrying upon your shoulders and let it go. Now then…tell me about Admiral."

"I wish for him to be an ambassador for the human's world. My party is strained from moving from world to world. The Pandaren people don't know our people that well and are more receptive to us." Herrior said.

"No." The King said immediately.

Herrior became nervous but before he could say something the King continued, "Herrior – do you know how many worlds we know about right now that are habitable and full of life? Do you know how many party's we have spread out right now? Your reasoning could be the same for the humans you have befriended. Would another party feel comfortable fighting with the very same humans that have killed our people? Herrior…your decision to make Admiral an ambassador is a good one, but the more people we rally to our cause the stronger we become. Those humans have the utmost respect for you…if you asked them to; they would put their guns in their mouths and pull the trigger. To simply pull your party out and replace them with another would be detrimental to our relationship with them. Do you recall Alan's response when he cried for help and another party showed up? Both party's were confused. They know now…but chances of Kon's group going back are very slim in the off chance he needs us. Are matters clear on this issue?"

"Yes my King."

"Now…what to do about Lhi…hmm…" the King said smiling and looked over at his wife and saw her smiling as well.

"She is an eager one…we have been watching her closely…she is a good fighter. Having her in a party would be a huge asset to our Kingdom. The question is…Herrior – do you love her? Would you die for her? Will you take her under your wing and teach her?" The King asked.

"I will do as you command." Herrior answered.

"You did not answer my question…if you love something, you should nurture it. So far your party has encountered more action then dozens of our other partys all put together. Do you love her? Does your party love her?" The King asked.

"Sorry my King. Yes my King I do. We have murmured about her before joining, but just words. Shall I go tonight and bring her into the party?" Herrior asked.

"It's too late Herrior…" the King said smiling shaking his head.

"My King?" Herrior asked.

"She is already part of you and part of your party. I just wanted to have you hear your own words. Give her this trinket, hearthstone, and some of our best armor. Report back to me in a week or two about her progress. Oh and Herrior…follow your instincts. I do not want to hear reports of one of my leaders or ambassadors having anxiety over an issue. The next time we meet, I want to see Herrior – not this person that is standing before me right now. Now go to Brenna's house. Icis is waiting for you there. You are a leader Herrior…prove it to me. You are dismissed." The King said.

"Thank you my King." Herrior said taking the items from the King and then left.

"Icis has returned?" Herrior asked himself walking the streets to Brenna's house. Apparently word had spread quickly about Branzer's death because the people of Tranquil expressed their condolences to him as he walked by. Herrior thanked them while making his way to Brenna's house.

After a long walk to Brenna's house of making small chat with the citizens of Tranquil, he finally opened the door and both Brenna and Icis froze in the middle of their conversation and stared at him. Then they both jumped from their chairs and ran over to hug him.

"He was a traitor." Herrior said.

"You loved him though." Brenna said and tried to pull him in her house so she could shut the door.

"I heard the news while I was in Tranquil, I am so sorry Herrior." Icis said.

"It is good to see you again Icis. What brings you back to Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior…your friend died. Branzer's been with you for a long time. He meant a lot to you." Brenna said.

"And now he's dead. I am not going to morn over a traitor that killed Crystal, betrayed his wife, tried to kill Lhi and Dan and then let his anger consume him to the point where it summoned a powerful Sha that tried to consume all living things. I'm supposed to morn over that?" Herrior snapped back.

"Is Crystal dead?" Brenna asked in shock.

"No…we brought her back to life. She was stripped naked, beaten and hung upside-down from a tree. Branzer set a trap for Dan – the prince of Tranquil. He's dead to me and the rest of Tranquil; I don't see why everybody has the need to speak of this! Just let the man's ashes dissolve into the soil and be done with it." Herrior said starting to show the sign of getting upset.

"Ok…if that is what you want." Brenna said.

"It is." Herrior said immediately. He then turned to Icis and asked, "The King told me I would see you here, what is going on?"

"I…just wanted to see you and to see everybody else. How is everybody?" Icis said unsure of what to say.

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?" Herrior wanted to know.

"I have been trying to speak with the people of my world, the ones that have turned to the alliance. We journeyed all over several different worlds on the expedition, but all we were met with was resistance." Icis said.

"Why weren't you able to bring any back?" Herrior demanded.

"We tried our hardest Herrior…believe me I wanted them back just as much…" Icis tried to say more.

"Well maybe you didn't try hard enough!" Herrior remarked.

"Herrior, please have a seat…" Brenna said getting up and gave him her chair. Herrior sat in it and the tears fell as he sat down. Herrior shook his head and said, "Why were the Draenei blind to what the alliance did? How could they not see it?" Herrior demanded to know.

"Herrior…you aren't talking about the Draenei anymore…" Brenna said.

"Of course I am! How many Draenei have we lost to the alliance? How many betrayed your people? How many succumbed to traps by the alliance?" Herrior asked and ripped off his gauntlets and squeezed his hands together hard.

"Let it go Herrior…" Brenna said softly. Herrior let out a roar of pain and frustration as he slammed his fists on his legs and began to cry. Brenna walked up beside him and put her arm around him as he hide his head in shame between his fists and bent over to his knees.

"Oh God hear my cries! I lost one of my own!" Herrior yelled and then cried hard. Icis repositioned herself so that she was sitting in front of him and took his head into her chest and wrapped her arms around his head. Herrior cried hard for the next ten minutes before calming back down again. Brenna brought several towels over to dry his face and patted them on his face.

"Why? What did he lack in his life? Why cut a deal with the devil himself? Why turn his back on the ones he loved?" Herrior cried aloud.

"We don't know." Brenna said softy.

"He just got married…it made Lindel so happy…why now? What could have turned him?" Herrior asked.

"We may never know." Brenna said again softly.

"I have never had a member betray me before. He showed no signs of it. I have mourned over the loss of members of my party before – but why this? I am crying over the loss of a traitor!" Herrior said.

"You are crying over the loss of a loved one." Brenna said.

"I shouldn't love him…he would have killed all of us if he had the chance!" Herrior said in anger.

"You are crying over the fond memories of him. You did love him and that love last through death – no matter how death comes." Brenna said.

"It is ok to cry…I cried a lot when a lot of our forces were killed or captured in the attempt to speak with the Draenei that were taken. If you love something…it is hard to let it go." Icis said.

"How many Draenei are left Icis?" Herrior asked.

"A little more than a dozen. Our attempts were futile." Icis said.

Herrior let out a long deep sigh. Slowly he said, "I am sorry Icis."

"It was at least worth the attempt…our losses were heavy, but it's hard to let go. We gave up Herrior. Our people have been lost to demonic and alliance corruption. Similar to Branzer, he had a great life here but it just wasn't enough. Our mission was a complete and utter failure. We would have been better off not trying to rescue our people…" Icis said.

"It is never a loss when your heart is in the right place. We don't know how people are going to react in certain circumstances. You can have the strongest armor and shield, but a twinkle in the eye of a lovely woman or a child could be just enough to even sunder your armor." Brenna said.

"This I know…" Herrior said calmly composing himself. He took in a look breathe of air and then let it out slowly. "I needn't be like this. I have lost loved ones before…"

"And this is what you have done before…" Brenna reminded him. "This is why you have loved ones to get you through this mess. It will pass Hun, but your party needs you."

Herrior nodded and asked, "Icis do you want to join my party again?"

"Yes!" Icis said excitedly. "I was going to ask that, but figured this wasn't the time."

"Are you still a priest? A healer?" Herrior asked.

"I'm still the same class and spec and I'm ready to leave when you tell me to." Icis said enthusiastically.

"Let's get going then. We have to bring Lhi into the party as well." Herrior said.

"Another mouth to feed? Bring her by I want to meet her." Brenna said smiling at him.

"She's a Pandaren monk. She saved a lot of lives with her actions." Herrior said.

"Bring her by sometime – I'll make a huge meal for all of you guys…now you had better get going, you have stuff to do." Brenna said walking to the door and opening it.

"Thanks Brenna" Herrior said walking by and giving her a kiss on top of her head.

"Yeah yeah…now get outta here, I've got to get some sleep before making the banquet – and don't be late!" Brenna said waving her finger at her.

"What time should we be back?" Herrior asked.

"Eh – whenever…" Brenna said smiling and walking to her staircase.

"Let's go Icis; we need to get you a dragon." Herrior said. He pulled out his hearthstone and summoned a Chronomancer. He sent them to Ysera's Kingdom as Ysera sat on her throne tapping her fingers, welcoming them with the phrase "Took you long enough…traitor must be dead, his dragon flew back to me."

"He is dead Ysera. Thank you for your help. What did Dan and Lhi tell you?" Herrior asked.

"Eh, I'm not one for spreading rumors…let's just say you owe me one. How did the trap work out?" Ysera asked smiling still tapping her nails on her chair.

"The Sha was confused, the trap we sprung worked fine. The Sha overtook the traitor's body completely and was very powerful. Our party's fought it and the humans used their weapons on top of the cliff as well." Herrior said.

"Ah yes…your pets that shoot their guns from afar – completely safe from danger. Herrior, I have younglings that can fight better than them." Ysera said.

"They lack armor; most of them are now immune to alliance and demonic possession. They have weapons from their world…"

"Earth yes…the planet we did a worldwide systematic annihilation of the alliance outposts. Isn't that where most of the alliance comes from?" Ysera asked.

"Well…"

"And isn't that the planet where the traitor came from?" Ysera asked not giving Herrior a chance to answer.

"I cannot answer these questions; each person has their own choice to make. I am an ambassador of the planet and have been making progress with its people. Don't some of your younglings also have the choice to do what they wish?" Herrior asked.

"They do…" Ysera said looking down at her finger twirling around in a circle on the arm post. "So I see Icis is with you again, are you here to request a dragon for her?"

"I am here to request two dragons; the Pandaren Lhi that you met will be joining our party as well." Herrior said.

"I've met her – she will be a good fighter. There seems to be some ice giants in our land that are causing a nuisance with my dragons. They resist our ice spells, and fire does not melt them. I want them killed. You do this for me and I will give you two more dragons." Ysera said.

"Where are they located?"

"Dun Niffelem"

"The Sons of Hodir? We made a treaty with them, why are they attacking your dragons?" Herrior asked confused.

"Why don't you go ask them? The treaty apparently is null and void now. I want the King's head." Ysera said.

"How did this dispute come about?" Herrior asked.

"Ah…Herrior the ambassador, always looking to solve the problems between people – well our dragons was making their rounds and one of them had a spear thrown through her wing. The other dragons grabbed her and flew her to safety. We sent our ambassadors, with guards, to inquiry about the attack. They were attacked as well but flew away without harm. Kill them, bring me the head of their King, and you shall have your dragons. They aren't the same Herrior, not like how they used to be. Perhaps their minds have finally completely froze…who knows, but I will not let my dragons be attacked without retribution." Ysera said.

"I will speak with them first. If they attack us we will annihilate them." Herrior said.

"Attack first – speak later…" Ysera said waving her hand casually at them to leave.

"Thank you Ysera." Herrior said and bowed. Icis and the Chronomancer did the same and left to go back to Tranquil.

"Something isn't right…I must speak with our King, take Icis to Pandaria and have her meet up with the rest of my party, probably asleep by now, I will be there shortly." Herrior told the Chronomancer and then left for the palace.

He entered the palace and said, "What word is there on the Sons of Hodir? They attacked Ysera's dragons." The ambassadors that weren't busy turned around and started to discuss the situation. Nobody had heard anything about it, but the decision to send some spies to the area tonight would be a good idea. They said they would relay any information they get to Herrior directly. Herrior seemed satisfied and left to join up with the rest of his party. They were all sleeping peacefully back in Pandaria at Halfhill. Herrior found his wife and curled up next to her. Instinctively Skyka took his arm and wrapped it around her.

The next day after breakfast Herrior took his party away from the crowd and ordered them to sit in a circle, Mohania made a fire in the center.

"We have some new orders. The Sons of Hodir are attacking Ysera's dragons for some reason. We have sent some spies to see what exactly is going on. If it comes down to it, does anybody have any reservations against killing them?" Herrior asked and slowly looked around.

"Can we eat them?" Mohania asked.

"Any other questions?"

"Sons of Hodir…Herrior we have a great reputation with them. They honored you with many gifts, why would they turn?" Skyka asked.

"No idea, but my agreement with Ysera is to bring back their king's head in order to get two more dragons from our new members." Herrior said.

"New members?" Julie inquired.

"Icis and Lhi, oh by the way here are your hearthstones and trinkets. Lhi you use a hearthstone to communicate with us or with Tranquil. If you are going to be a member of our party – your home is going to be in Tranquil now, if you are not comfortable with that…"

"I am. When can I start?" Lhi asked grabbing the items and putting them in her pocket.

"Hold on…hold on…everybody is getting their questions answered except for me." Mohania said.

"Can we eat them is not a legitament question…" Crystal said rolling her eyes.

"Do we eat those that we kill?" Lhi asked.

"Yes" Mohania said in a sinister tone and a big smile.

"Lhi – for the most part just ignore him…no we don't eat what we kill." Crystal said.

"You killed a tiger and ate that…ha!" Mohania said pointing at her.

"Humanoids…we don't eat humanoids…moving on. Herrior we need to get Lhi some bags like ours. We also need to get her some gear and weapons." Jacklyn said ending the bickering.

"I fight with my hands, only in rare cases will I use a stave to build up chi." Lhi said.

"Do you normally tank, dps, or heal?" Jacklyn asked.

"I…fight, what do you mean?" Lhi asked. Herrior explained the different roles in their party and Lhi piped up and said, "Oh, I usually fight on the front lines so I guess I would be classified as a tank.

"Ok, this is how we are going to fight. Skyka will heal me, Jessica you will heal Veliline, and Icis you are on Quinely. Lhi I want you to protect our healers, this will free up our dps to move around more. Do you have any long distance attacks Lhi?" Herrior asked.

Lhi nodded and stood up. She pointed at a wolf in the distance and everybody focused their attention. Lhi immediately summoned a small keg in her hand and hurled it at the tiger. The wolf wasn't injured by the keg hitting it, but it turned and started to come at her – but only about half as fast. Lhi then held out her hand as green lightning shot out from it, striking the beast. The beast started to sustain damage as Lhi continued to channel her spell. When the wolf was close enough to jump at her, it was immediately pushed away as Lhi continued to channel her spell. When she ended the wolf jumped at her as she produced another small keg and smashed it on the wolf's head. She then breathed out fire, igniting the wolf's entire body on fire. It then started walking around in a confused state.

"It is not our way to fight with weapons, but our hands strike fast and hard." Lhi said as she walked up to the wolf and with lightning speed she took a jab at the wolf and it instantly died.

"OOooo…I have a new friend! An attack that can instantly kill an opponent…yes that would be helpful…" Mohania said scheming. He then stood up and walked over and said, "I don't think we have been properly introduced. I am the strongest warlock that has ever lived and we have much to teach each other."

"Save your pillow talk for Kendall…come back and sit with us Lhi." Skyka said as everybody chuckled.

"Quite impressive" Herrior said.

"You can summon kegs by mere thought? I am impressed as well." Strings said taking a drink from his wineskin.

"It is not the kind for drinking. They are toxic and cause significant damage to the enemy when used at close range. While they are drenched with the strong ale, I breathe fire on them, igniting them on fire and then launch a series of different attacks. I also have the ability to heal myself and others, stagger damage and absorb damage as well increase my chances of parrying by twenty percent. I can also do many other attacks as well." Lhi said.

"Don't forget the single touch of death…I must learn that…" Mohania said.

"I can also paralyze my enemy and exploit their weaknesses in their armor so my attacks will by-pass some of their armor causing more damage to my target." Lhi said.

"And Chen taught you all of this?" Herrior asked. Lhi nodded.

"Do all of the other monks know how to fight?" Herrior asked.

"Not all, no. I will need to meditate during the day or night to soothe my mind and reflect on the events during the day. I will also need to return to Chen periodically for additional training." Lhi said.

"I see no problem with that. Now you need to understand some things, I am your leader. If I tell you to get in the line of a sword, do it; if I tell you to kill one of your own or one of our party members you are to do it without hesitation. I also need you to get to know everybody and love everybody as the same as you love yourself. You will need to be blasted by the monks to become immune to demonic and alliance possession. It's very painful, but it is an order. I will not have someone in my party that does not have those powers. Come back and sit with us now. Skyka can you put the trinket on her?" Herrior asked. Skyka got up and started to reach in her pocket as Lhi quickly grabbed her hand.

"Lhi!" Herrior's voice was loud and firm. "I gave Skyka an order and you will not resist the order!"

Lhi quickly let go as Skyka pulled out the trinket and pinned it on her left side of her leather vest. "Whenever you change armor, be sure to take this and your hearthstone with you. Ok watch me." Skyka stood back and tapped her trinket. Suddenly she appeared changed into the black ops soldier uniform. Lhi was frightened at first and jumped back.

"Now think of the same uniform and tap your trinket." Skyka said. Lhi looked her over and then tapped hers. Instantly her appearance matched that of Skyka's. Lhi looked down at it and began examining it. It was completely real and it left Lhi bewildered.

"When you want to change back, just simple clear your mind and tap your trinket again." Skyka said as she demonstrated. Lhi did the same and her old armor that she had on before came back.

"It is what we use so that we do not scare certain races. Many races would be alarmed and might fight you, just because you look different than them." Skyka said.

"I am honored to have received such a gift." Lhi said still amazed. She thought of Chen's outfit and tapped her trinket and instantly she turned into his clothing.

"I think you have the hang of it now." Skyka said smiling at her. She walked over and embraced her and said, "Thank you for being with us. We have a lot of fun together."

"Alright come back and join the circle. Icis you may notice that Branzer is not with us anymore. He betrayed us and we killed him. Trackolania come over here." Herrior said. Icis looked shocked as Trackolania jumped up and walked over.

"Clear out some dirt, I want to show everybody what our attack stances are going to be." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and quickly shuffling dirt aside. Herrior then started pointing to different spots and named off names. Trackolania quickly wrote in the names and drew stick figured people in the dirt. The three tanks were in front, the healers were about ten yards behind. The melee attacks were next to the tanks, but slightly back. The ranged and spell casters were farther behind and Lhi was behind the healers.

"Why am I in the back?" Lhi asked.

"Because before we had to take some of our dps and guard our healers, now that we have you, you can through your kegs and shoot your lightning from a far. Our main blood in our party is our healers and rogues and attacks are generally aimed at them first. You are to put yourself in the line of fire and if they get sabotaged, it is your job to save the healers. There have been many times we have been flanked on all sides and never had a tank in the back and our healers were quickly dropped. If they get hurt – you will answer to me, do you understand?" Herrior asked in a serious tone.

"I understand." Lhi replied.

"It is not because I doubt your skills and it is not because I think our tanks are stronger, I need you to build your love for every member of our party and our attack patterns can change in an instant – and either Jessica or Skyka will tell you what to do. Never leave our attack circle to attack an enemy mocking you. Together we are strong, separate we fall. Now let's everybody line up in our attack formations to make sure everybody knows where to be." Herrior said. Herrior spent the morning practicing their formations, practicing different drills for dodging massive attacks and different scenarios that they have been in before.

Lunch time came and Herrior seemed satisfied with his party and said to go get some food. Before he could say anything else his hearthstone started to vibrate. He pulled it out. It was the ambassadors that he spoke with…apparently the spies were reporting the same information that Ysera was. There was only one way to end this.


	41. Lhi

Lhi

"Gather up everybody! We're going to war!" Herrior declared. Everybody turned around and quickly ran back.

"Lindel open up a portal to Dun Niffelem in the cave where the wolves frequent. I want the tanks to go through first and then everybody else – Lindel you will be last. Buff up everybody." Herrior said as everybody casted their spells to increase their powers. Lhi applied a buff that increased everybody's strength, agility, and intelligence.

"Ah…my new friend has more neat abilities…" Mohania said. Lindel moved in front of everybody and began to open a portal.

Herrior stepped through the portal first and saw rotting corpses of wolves everywhere. With his weapons drawn he moved forward and started looking around.

"Something is wrong…" Herrior said to himself as his party all came through the portal and Lindel shut it. She then disappeared from sight along with Trackolania and Julie. They advanced through the cave to its entrance where Herrior saw firsthand the storm giants were on a rampage. They were killing any living thing that they saw, smashing the frozen ground beneath them and slamming their mighty fists into the frozen walls that surrounded them. Littered everywhere were bodies of the blue woman that lived peacefully in their village to the west.

"Trackolania – stealth us" Herrior turned around and said. Instantly all of them disappeared as they moved forward.

"How is this…?" Lhi started to say but Skyka quickly covered her mouth with her hand and then took her hand as they moved forward. Veliline activated her bone shield and Quinely morphed into her bear form. Julie summoned Spark and Mohania summoned his imp. Herrior had held everybody up to shoot a glare back at Lhi. Then he proceeded forward into the battlefield.

The giants were shouting in anger and the sounds filled Herrior's party's ears with a near deafening blast. Once in position in the middle of the battlefield, Herrior let out a battle cry that gained the attention of all of the giants. Trackolania released his stealth ability from the entire party as the storm giants stood in awe.

"Herrior! You have returned to die!" One of the storm giants roared. Herrior charged forward and slammed his shield into one of them, causing his victim to cry out in pain. The rest of Herrior's party moved forward and began to engage the giants. The five giants that came at them were quickly killed. Two came running up from the rear as Lhi picked them up. The dps moved back to engage them while Veliline, Herrior, and Quinely held their ground. Lhi's ability to maintain the attention of her enemies while they were attacked by the dps in the group was proven at this moment. One of the giants actually went to slam his fist down on her, but was so covered in the ale that he couldn't see straight and hit his foot instead. Mohania let out a cackle.

"Why do you fight us? Why do you kill the wildlife? What happened?" Herrior's voice echoed throughout the ice lands.

"More intruders…" the giants all said together from a distance and the ground started to vibrate from their enormous bodies running towards them.

"Skyka, try dispelling one of them" Herrior said as he jogged forward to meet their enemy.

"Kill them all! Stomp them into the ground!" All of the storm giants said at the same time.

"They are being controlled somehow…" Herrior said and then let out a battle cry as he charged into battle. Herrior ran and then leaped high into the air and came crashing down in the middle of the giants. Skyka ran up and began to cast a powerful dispel spell but it did nothing to the giants. She then quickly began casting her healing spells to get Herrior's health back up as the rest of the group ran to engage the giants.

"You giants were never anything! You had everything you wanted and now you are going to all die this very day!" Herrior yelled.

"It is not our will but the will of our master…" a giant said before Trackolania's daggers brought the giant down to his death.

"Master? Who do you serve?" Herrior asked while still maintaining aggro of the giants he was fighting.

"Algalon" The name sent a shiver down Herrior's back. He was part of the assault on Ulduar hundreds of years ago. Algalon was defeated in a great battle, but was spared claiming to be an "observer" and meant them no harm. He eventually disappeared to what he called a different plane of existence, apparently to only return now.

Ten minutes of intense fighting lead to the death of the entire storm giants that had charged towards them. Herrior then looked at their ice fortress. It looked like the storm giants had destroyed everything from the inside out. He entered the fortress and saw only a couple of storm giants. They were running around hitting themselves and screaming aloud.

"What is going on here? I demand answers!" Herrior's voice echoed throughout the different levels of the huge icy fortress.

"Outsiders! They must be killed!" The giants all said and forward, not paying attention to where they were going and fell from several hundred feet up in the air to their deaths.

"King Jokkum – where are you? What is going on?" Herrior called out but there was no answer.

"Algalon! Show yourself!" Herrior called out.

"This world was supposed to be destroyed…" a voice echoed throughout the castle.

"It wasn't though…was it? Is that why you have returned? To finish off the job?" Herrior asked.

"The madness will spread; this world needs to be purged." The voice echoed out.

"Start with us first…show yourself!" Herrior yelled. Suddenly the King came flying in on a blue drake with a large spear in his hand.

"What have you done…my people? They all died at your hands Herrior! Our truce in broken!" The King's voice erupted with anger as he lunched the enormous spear at Herrior.

"Dan!" Herrior called out.

Time stopped.

"Move everybody out of the way of the spear. There – over there, put everybody over there in the corner." Herrior quickly said and pointed at a far corner. The party members immune to time-stopping quickly picked up the other party members and moved them over as quickly as they could.

Once they were secured Herrior looked at Dan and nodded.

Time resumed.

The spear continued to sail through the air as it hit the ground with such force it cracked the ice floor. Herrior ran out from the protection of the corner and yelled, "Your forces attacked us first! We came to investigate what was happening, and your people attacked us!"

"Lies!" The King said from the safety of his drake high up in the sky. Trackolania ran out and threw his double-edged knife at the drake.

"I do not lie – look at me! Have I ever lied to you?" Herrior asked. Trackolania's knife pierced the drake's eyes as it violently shook and then plummeted down to the ground. It landed hard, killing the drake and slamming the King into the ground.

"Jacklyn if you would be so kind as to separate his head from his shoulders." Herrior said.

"Killing him will end your lives!" the voice said.

"Killing him will end his life and then we are coming for you!" Herrior declared. Herrior tore off the King's helmet as Jacklyn's mighty axe came down and decapitated him. Suddenly a bolt of energy shot out from the middle of the air and encased Herrior. Lindel quickly flew over and intercepted the beam and freed Herrior. Lindel absorbed the energy increasing her strength exponentially as the beam flickered and slowly disappeared.

"You have become strong…stronger than I could ever have imagined. Maybe there is a chance…" the voice said. Algalon slowly appeared as Herrior hurled a magical image of his axe at him. It struck Algalon hard as Lindel turned into her evil banshee form and blasted Algalon with the powers that she had absorbed. Algalon fell to the ground in agony.

"Not much fun when you are on the opposite side of the attack huh?" Lindel's voice was dark and sinister. The rest of Herrior's party had engaged Algalon and he had trouble getting to his feet. The celestial looking human was completely transparent with a blue hue to him. His body was connected by star-looking objects with lines running through them.

"You stupid banshee…I will not die to your kind!" Algalon said as Herrior taunted him, taking his attention off from Lindel.

Algalon began to cast a spell and suddenly the entire party lost the majority of their health. The healers frantically healed up the tanks, even Dan and Lhi were healing.

"You all will be struck down!" Algalon said furiously as he rose up.

"Get your interrupts ready!" Herrior yelled out as everybody began to engage him again. Algalon began to cast another spell when Herrior pummeled his face, stopping the spell. Dan summoned his elements to engage him as well.

"I can kill him!" Lhi shouted out.

"Shield her!" Herrior yelled. Icis put a protective shield around her as jumped forward and rolled right up next to him. She slammed him with one of her kegs, struck him once with her weapon and then quickly shot her hand forward. Algalon turned black instantly and fell to his death. Lhi then put her hands together and bowed to her opponent. The body laid on the ground motionless as Herrior went up to examine it. He grabbed his head and decapitated him after several swings. An enormous amount of power exploded from the body, enveloping Herrior's party. The yellow light that had enveloped them brought a soothing sensation to them.

"You have freed me…how can I thank you?" It was a young girl's voice.

"Who are you?" Herrior asked.

"I am a banshee, similar to her. My time is short so I will give the rest of my powers to you. May you keep the world safe for the rest of time…" the voice said and suddenly the yellow light entered all of their bodies, increasing their powers ten-fold. The power did not stay though; it merely just flowed from their bodies and into the ground.

"What was that?" Skyka asked.

"I don't know…I felt a burst of power and then it was gone. Little girl? Are you still here?" Herrior asked. No reply back. Herrior waited for another couple of seconds and asked again.

"Guys?" Herrior asked.

"I don't sense any presence here." Lindel said.

"No animals" said Quinely.

"Demons are a no go." Mohania said.

"Spread out. Summon your dragons and search the area. If you find something don't engage until all of us are there. I will stay here with Lhi and Lindel." Herrior said. Herrior's party summoned their dragons but before Trackolania could take flight Herrior asked him to come over to him.

"Steal anything of value, destroy the rest." Herrior said. Trackolania nodded and kicked his legs together as his dragon took flight.

"Come with me outside." Herrior told Lhi and Lindel. Herrior first collected the King's head and Algalon's head and put them in his bags. Herrior then met up with the two ladies outside.

"I want to talk to both of you. You both did a good job, but I want to know where you stand right now. Lhi you finally got to see us in battle, are you ready to see some more?" Herrior asked.

"I am looking forward to it." Lhi said eagerly.

"Which is why I wanted to talk to you, fighting is our last resort – we do not take killing others as a sport. We do it with love in our hearts and fire in our spirits. We heal each other with love and watch each other attack with love and passion towards each other. Those whose emotions control them can hinder our assault. We fight as one, sleep as one, breathe as one and live as one. I tried diplomacy first before we began our assault. I still tried it to the very end. Ysera was correct though, something had turned them. Algalon somehow was corrupted and choose to fight us. It will not be often that I will give you the command to instantly kill somebody. There have been many fights where we stopped attacking to employ diplomacy. We are fighters of Tranquil. The more allies we have fighting with us – the fewer enemies we have fighting against us. I want you to control your eagerness to kill." Herrior started.

"But my people…"

"I will not be interrupted again by you, is that understood!" Herrior's voice bellowed out and echoed throughout the icy walls. Lhi looked shocked and then on the verge of tears when she nodded.

"You will listen to me and my every word. If you don't like that – leave! Is that understood?" Herrior asked still angered. Lhi nodded.

"Your race has been at war for a long time, I do understand this. Tranquil has been at constant war with many races on many different worlds with many different factions of people. Fighters are made and fighters die, that's the hard truth to being a fighter. You choose this path and I expect you to be a fighter and to follow the chain of command. I am putting the lives of my party and our Kingdom in your hands. Your job is going to be exactly what it was today – guard our rear. If it wasn't for you, we would have had to lose one of our tanks in the front to pick up the rear." Herrior said and then cleared his voice. He took off his gauntlet and gently touched her chin and lifted it up. "Lhi – I love you like a father, I would gladly give my life for you and anybody else in this party and I expect you to do the same. Do you understand?" Herrior asked in a softer voice.

"To be honest…not entirely Herrior; I have never loved anybody before." Lhi said.

"Do you have family?" Herrior asked.

Lhi shook her head and said, "Only the few that are left from the great war."

"And do they love you?"

"Yes."

"That is how we love you. It is not romantic love, it is a deep friendship love. I want you to look at my face right now." Herrior said. Lhi wiped her eyes and looked at Herrior as he removed his helmet.

"I want you to look at my face and remember it. I want you to see your fallen in my face, the ones that you loved. Because in a little while you will need to be blasted by our monks and I want you to concentrate on my face and look at me the way you loved the ones that were lost in your family. That is the best way of getting you through the blasting. You are young and have much to learn, but each lesson will come as you fight with us and get to know us in our down time. I do not expect you to love everybody the same right now, but I do expect it to happen in the next couple of weeks. Love is what binds us and makes us strong Lhi. I want you to meditate on what I have said and get to know each member of our party with a strong love as if they were your family. Now go back inside with the others." Herrior said putting his gauntlet back on. Lhi nodded and left.

When she was out of range Lindel spoke first, "So you want to know how I am doing?"

"It appears as though you are doing fine, do you need to talk?" Herrior asked.

"I don't need to. Mohania took me aside and spoke with me through the night. Did you know that he can be the most understanding and caring person when he wants to be?" Lindel asked.

"He is an ambassador that is his job." Herrior said.

"Yes, but he puts on a tough appearance – but he's a really nice guy. I misjudged him. I see what Kendall sees in him now. I have learned a lot lately." Lindel said.

Herrior nodded as he put his helmet back on. "Anything you wish to share, or are you ok?"

"You would think that me losing my husband to betrayal would sadden me…I did cry, but I wiped my tears and dusted off my boots. The lessons I have learned will stay with me forever…it will be hard to love again, but I am joining Veliline and Jacklyn's 'Not interested in men' club. I can concentrate more on my studies and develop my skills more as a banshee. I have been 'loose minded' in the past, but not anymore. You will notice a change in me Herrior, I will be a better fighter." Lindel said.

Herrior nodded and said, "I am glad to hear that, but if you still need time alone we all will understand."

"No…I think I need time around everybody actually, to trust and to love again the ones that have always stood by me." Lindel said.

"We will continue to stand by you Lindel, and I will always be here for you." Herrior said smiling. Lindel wrapped her arms around him and they embraced for awhile before Lindel finally let go and said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me learn on my own. You knew he was a traitor didn't you?" Lindel asked.

"I didn't know anything, Dan and the King knew something but they wouldn't tell me. I suspect that they didn't know who it was or they would have jailed the person. Now then, get in there and do your job." Herrior said pulling her gently towards the ruined base and smacked her on the butt. Lindel let out a friendly yelp as she turned back with a grin on her face.

Herrior shared his dragon with Lhi and Icis was on Skyka's dragon as they flew over to Dragonblight, Ysera's home base. They spoke with Ysera's guards on the ground first to ask permission to fly up to her throne room. The large dragonkin looked at each other and the one on the left said, "She has been expecting you, go on up." Herrior's party then took flight and flew around the massive circular fortress with dragons coming and going all around them. Eventually they made it to the throne room and Ysera looked very happy this time.

"Herrior! You have come back – oh I am so glad to see you!" Ysera said with her arms held out. Herrior didn't expect this but said, "It is good to see you too Ysera." Ysera walked by him and hugged Strings. "Don't tell me this big tauren is still telling my favorite bard what to do…" Ysera said turning around and winking at Herrior.

"He is my leader." Strings said.

"We have the King's head and Algalon's head."

"What?" Ysera's attention was quickly turned to Herrior. "I thought he was supposed to be an observer or something…"

"He almost killed us. He was the one controlling the storm giants. We had to kill all of them. The King himself didn't seem to be controlled though, so it is still a mystery to me. Either way though…" Herrior said pulling out the severed heads and tossed them on the ground.

"Hmm…interesting, I will have my dragons investigate it – however it is probably safe to assume you have scouts there already." Ysera said.

"Yes we do Ysera. We are just as eager to know what happened as you are." Herrior said.

"I assume we will be able to exchange information after our scouts have reported back then?" Ysera asked.

"I don't see why not." Herrior replied.

"Good…now then I see Icis is back with you now, I have heard word that you are one of the last free Draenei – I am sorry to hear that. The false promises of our enemies entice a lot of people to them, and then they are forced to fight for them, or became their slaves." Ysera said.

"Thank you Ysera. I have lost a great number of friends and family to our enemies." Icis said.

Ysera nodded and then walked over to Lhi. "So the monk is part of Herrior's party now is she? This is interesting. If somebody came to me and said one of my own was a traitor by a race that I did not know that well, I would probably have that person executed. However – how this played out seemed almost predestined. If it weren't for you, Herrior's party might not be standing here before me right now. Herrior is lucky to have you."

"May we have the dragons now as promised?" Herrior asked.

"Certainly – truth is they were actually following their future masters from above. I knew you wouldn't fail me." Ysera said. She then raised her left hand as a green and purple dragon flew in and landed next to Ysera. "You will be soulbound to Lhi, and you will be soulbound to Icis. Now go to your new masters." Ysera said. The green one walked over to Lhi and said, "Hi".

"Hello…I've never talked to a dragon before." Lhi admitted.

"I am just the same as any other person. I have heard much about you and I am honored to fly with you in Herrior's party. Would you like to go for a ride?" The dragon asked.

"Not right now…" Lhi said hesitating.

"Not much for new experiences eh?" Ysera asked with a smile.

"Well if you need me, just think of me in your mind and I will fly down from the skies – I just ask that you do not take me into battle with you." Lhi's dragon said and then vanished.

"Icis I'm assuming you remember how to use your dragon?" Herrior asked looking over to her. She was feeding it some of her supplies. Icis looked over and winked at him.

"Lindel take us to Tranquil. We need to get Lhi blasted by the monks." Herrior said.

"Good luck with it dear, I hear it is rough." Ysera said as Lindel opened the portal.

"Stay alert Ysera, something wants to take over this world. Let us know if anything else happens." Herrior said. Ysera smiled and nodded as Herrior and his party walked through the portal.

"Lhi – these are our monks. The blasting process will only take about five minutes. Remember what I told you, we all love you – concentrate on us or concentrate on Chen if you want." Herrior said.

"They look creepy." Lhi said.

"We hide our bodies and faces. The people of Tranquil fear us. We do not want what we do to the people of Tranquil to remember our faces because of the pain that we inflict on them when we want to increase their resistances or powers." One monk said.

"Sounds creepy also…" Lhi said.

"Leave us Herrior – she will come to you when we are done." Another monk said. Herrior nodded and looked at Lhi who looked perfectly calm.

"I'll be fine." Lhi said with a smile. Herrior left and motioned his party to follow him.

"Take off your clothes and set them aside." One of the monks said. She complied and asked for a moment as she sat on the stone table. She fell into a deep meditation and her mind left her body.

"I am ready" Lhi's voice said in a far off voice. The monks raised their hands and the blasting began. Lhi's body lay motionless as the lightning bolts zapped it and static charges engulfed the room.

"She has removed her spirit from her body." One monk said.

"It matters not. The body is what we need to alter." Another monk said.

"Shall we make her immune to time stopping as well?" asked a monk.

"Her will and body can withstand it. There is no resistance from this woman."

"Should we fail though, Herrior would be displeased. It may start a war."

"Her mind and body can withstand it. Let us begin." The monks took different turns talking.

"Send out one of your younglings and inform Herrior."

"Go out and inform Herrior" a monk said to a child monk. She had never been out of the monk's caverns before and did not want to go, but she followed orders. She opened the heavy door and shut it behind her. She started her walk through the corridors until she got to the bright lights of Tranquil.

"I am looking for Herrior." The small monk kept saying to everybody. Nobody knew what to say. After some time a guard came up to her and she asked him the same thing.

"Is there something wrong young monk?" The tauren asked.

"I must speak with Herrior." She said again. The guard figured he wasn't going to get any information out of her so he pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Herrior. Herrior quickly came running out of the human's house and stopped before her. He knelt down on one knee and said, "I am Herrior". The rest of Herrior's party was behind him.

"Her spirit has been separated from her body." The young monk said.

"Lhi died?" Herrior asked surprised and anxious.

"No, her spirit has been separated from her body." The monk said again. Herrior looked confused at her.

"So Lhi is alive?" Herrior asked.

"Yes."

"Is she still going through the blasting?" Herrior quickly asked.

"Yes."

"So what do you mean her spirit left her body?" Herrior asked.

"Not left, still in the same room." The young girl said in the same monotone voice.

"I'm not following; explain to me what is going on." Herrior said.

"She is being blasted." Herrior's patience was wearing thin so he took a deep relaxing breath and knew the monks had sent her out here for a reason.

"Is she becoming immune to alliance and demonic possession. Her body is not resisting. The monks decided to make her immune to time stopping as well." She said.

"Will her body withstand the blasting?" Herrior asked surprised.

"Every monk believes so. They sent me to tell you." The child monk said.

"So what do you mean by her spirit is separated from her body?" Herrior asked.

"She meditated and she left her body behind as her spirit floats above. She feels no pain and is absorbing the changes with no resistance." She said.

"How?" Herrior asked.

"I do not know. Do you know?" She asked. Herrior became upset at the question. Had he known he wouldn't have asked…but Herrior was speaking with a child of a race that nobody really understood.

"No I am not aware of the ability that you are describing to me. Did she do anything special before the blasting?" Herrior asked.

"She took off her clothes, sat on the table and asked if they could wait for a minute. We watched her body go limp on the table as her spirit floated above her body. Then the blasting started." She said.

"Interesting…once the blasting is complete summon for me immediately." Herrior said.

"As you wish" the monk said and glided back to the corridor leading down to the monk's chambers.

"That was almost as frustrating as talking to me…" Mohania said.

"What in the worlds is she talking about? Anybody have any ideas?" Herrior asked. Nobody knew what to say. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Chen. The small portal formed and he could hear Chen talking as he tried to figure out where he kept it. After struggling with it for awhile he pulled it out and saw Herrior.

"Hello Herrior" Chen said with a smile.

"Hi Chen, I have some questions for you – do you have a moment?" Herrior asked.

"I was busy brewing some beer, but I can hold off the process for a couple of minutes. What is the question?" Chen said reaching over and adjusting some things.

"As you know Lhi became part of our party and we are preparing her to become immune to alliance and demonic possession – however during the process an unusual experience happened. Chen, it was described to me as her spirit leaving her body. Generally when a spirit leaves the body it means that they are dead. What is going on?" Herrior asked.

Chen started to laugh as he belly jiggled. "She put herself in a deep meditative state. Her body regenerates faster while she is incapacitated. All monks can do this."

"So she is safe then?" Herrior asked.

"She is safe but I must ask - why are you putting her through such torture?" Chen asked.

Herrior shook his head and said "No, we would never put her through torture. We love her the same as we love each other. Each person needs to be immune to possession though. It is strengthening her mind and body against the alliance and demons. The only way we know how to do this is by our monks, and the process normally done hurts a lot."

"Oh, I was not aware of this…" Chen said with a hint of being upset in his voice.

"It is for the best, where we go everything wants to attack you, possess you, or trick you into doing something you don't want to do. I assure you that she is in great care." Herrior said.

"Alright then, when should we expect to see you again?" Chen asked changing the subject.

"It will be soon I imagine you never know when fate will bring us together. If you need me summon me on your hearthstone. Take care Chen." Herrior said.

Chen nodded as Herrior watched him put the hearthstone back in his pocket.

"Making friends and influencing people?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…perhaps I should get to know more about Lhi before I make another call to him." Herrior said and closed the portal.

"Jacklyn do you feel like going to the arena to duel with me?" Herrior asked.

"Always up for a challenge" Jacklyn replied with a smile. They walked to the arena and drew their weapons.

"Something's changed about me; I want to see what it is." Herrior said.

"I am eager to see what flows through my body was well." Jacklyn remarked. They both let out their battle cries and Jacklyn began swinging her heavy axes at Herrior. Herrior raised his shield to deflect the attacks when suddenly his body was engulfed in a shield. Only Herrior noticed as they fought. Herrior had to build up enough rage during the fight to activate his shield spell, which he called a "shield barrier" and after five minutes of fighting – Jacklyn was badly wounded and Herrior didn't have a scratch on him. Herrior called the battle and helped Jacklyn up.

"Explain to me…what just happened…" Jacklyn said out of breathe.

"I'm a walking tank." Herrior said seeming pleased with himself.

"I crushed your armor, my blows were penetrating through it and yet you do not bleed." Jacklyn said after Skyka healed her.

"The powers that we absorbed enhanced our abilities. Stand before me and give me all you got." Herrior said walking back and taking up a defensive position.

"I did…" Jacklyn said muttering to herself. She gripped her axes and charged to Herrior's position. Jacklyn landed a couple of hits before her attacks were useless again.

Herrior threw down a banner and proclaimed "Let all who attack this banner grow in fear!" Jacklyn hesitated and was promptly smashed to the ground with Herrior's shield.

"Heal her Skyka" Herrior said. Skyka entered the arena and began healing. Herrior let out a demoralizing shout, further reducing Jacklyn's attack power, followed by a thunderclap reducing it again, then Herrior took a quick swing and disarmed Jacklyn's main weapon. Jacklyn stood her ground and tried to land blow after blow against Herrior as she moved backwards to grab her other axe. Once she got it, she felt the same energies that Herrior had and threw down her own banner. This improved her critical strike ability as she enraged herself, granting an even higher possible chance of landing a critical strike. Herrior's shield barrier held, but occasionally the absorption affect wore off until he had built up enough rage to summon it again.

"Good…now throw down your damage reduction banner." Herrior said. Jacklyn didn't know she had one until Herrior mentioned it. Jacklyn summoned a banner out of thin air and dropped it on the ground. The damage Jacklyn was receiving from Herrior decreased as she did an ability called "Die by the Sword" which parried every attack and reduced damage she took by an additional twenty percent. Herrior's attacks were only dealing half damage now as he let out a grin in satisfaction. Herrior then performed another move that caused her to take bleed more than she was before. Herrior's attacks for the next twelve seconds caused Jacklyn's body to lose more blood with every swipe. Skyka kept Jacklyn healed as the two continued to duel – teaching each other what new abilities they had, including Herrior's new ability to self-heal himself a great deal every minute. Jacklyn's impending strike and bloodthirst strikes helped to heal herself as well.

Hours passed as the entire party was now in the arena squaring off with each other. It drew a huge crowd including several ambassadors, and the King himself. Herrior's party was too busy sparring to notice though. Each of them was trying out their new moves and new abilities that they never had before. Strings stood aside and let them fight, but occasionally struck up a tune that forced everybody to start dancing, or stop whatever they were doing and look up at the sky with their mouths open. It brought laughter to the crowds and that seemed to satisfy Strings.

The King finally called a halt to the arena battles. "As always you continue to impress me with your battle abilities. Go to your trainers all of you and get some rest." The people complained for a bit, but settled down as they all dispersed to go their separate ways.

Lhi's blasted ended after a day. Lhi's spirit saw that they were done and she reunited with her body. She sat up and asked if she was done.

"Yes. You are now immune to everything we have to offer. We did not go into your mind to pull out any information. We know nothing of your class or how to give somebody your abilities. Your secrets are safe." One of the monks said.

"I have nothing to hide." Lhi said responding in defense.

"Not saying you do…just saying we did not go into your mind to pull out any secrets. Do you feel any pain?" Another monk said.

"No." Lhi said looking her body over. "May I get dressed now?"

"Yes, you must leave now." Another monk said.

"We need to recharge our powers." Yet another monk said.

"What do I do now?" Lhi asked putting her clothes back on.

"Go seek the leatherworkers in Tranquil. Always return to get better gear from time to time. We will probably not see you again in the future. I hope that we have helped – goodbye." A female monk said this time. Lhi asked a couple more questions, but the monks didn't answer them. She opened the door and left. She looked around and took in all of the sights to behold. She realized how beautiful everything was and awestruck. An elder tauren walked up to her.

"First time in Tranquil?" The tauren asked.

"No…I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare. Yes I have been here…but not here…I'm sorry I'm just taken away by everything. Is this place Tranquil?" Lhi asked sounding nervous.

"Yes my young one. Are you a Pandaren?" The tauren asked.

"Yes I am, my name is Lhi, and I am with Herrior's group." Lhi said quickly.

"No need to be nervous young one. Herrior's party is sleeping and probably won't awake until another day or so. Did you just come from the monk's chambers?"

"Yes, they told me to go see the leatherworkers but I don't know where that is." Lhi said.

"Do you have a dragon? It is the fastest way to get there. If you don't I can summon one for you." The tauren said.

"No I have one." Lhi said.

"I take you there?" The tauren asked summoning his dragon. Lhi summoned hers and agreed. Both of them flew through the city. Lhi would look around and her dragon would sway in the direction she was looking. She had to correct herself several times, but eventually they made it to their destination.

"Ah the Pandaren…Lhi it is a pleasure to see you. I have some armor I believe you will find satisfactory." The armor smith said excitedly. He went into a large room that smelled like ash and sulfur. Lhi jumped off her dragon and patted it before it disappeared. Lhi followed him in.

The armor smith walked through several people drying and tanning hides before coming to an outfit lying on a table with a parchment labeled "Lhi".

"Ah here we go. We tried to tailor the design to what the other Pandarens are wearing." He said as he removed the parchment. He took the hat and the armor piece and held it up to his chest. Lhi was impressed. It didn't even resemble leather it was dark yellow in color with several gems embroidered in it. Also it had dangling ropes on it that were simply tied with a knot at the end and were frayed at the end. Lhi took it and was excited to try it on. She took off her previous armor and quickly put on the new armor. She felt her powers increase ten-fold with each piece she put on. "What is going on?" She asked.

"The armor strengthens your abilities. Herrior said you were a tank, so we gave your armor a lot of stamina and mitigation abilities. Your strikes should be faster and deadlier now as well. How does it fit?" The armor smith asked.

"Perfectly, how did you know what size to make it?" Lhi asked slipping on her boots.

"The armor adjusts to your body. Does it meet your approval?" The armor smith asked eagerly.

"Yes…I can feel the power flowing through my body. What do I owe you in return?" Lhi asked.

"Keep Tranquil safe – that is all we ask." The armor smith said with a smile.

"I will. What should I do now?" Lhi said then was unsure what to do next.

"I would consult with your leader about that. If he is busy then go to the palace and ask them." Lhi thanked them again and then left. She summoned her dragon again and flew to the palace. Before she entered she tried to get Herrior on his hearthstone. It took awhile but Herrior finally answered it.

"Just a second…I am still sleepy…" Herrior said trying to adjust his eyes to see who was looking at him in the portal. He rubbed his eyes with the other hands and concentrated on the portal. "Oh…Lhi? Are you done being blasted already?"

"Yes, and I just got my armor. I was told to contact you for my assignment in protecting Tranquil. What should I do?" Lhi asked.

"Aren't you tired? We are all in our house sleeping if you want to join us." Herrior said.

"The night air fills my lungs with anticipation. I am eager to start a mission." Lhi said.

"Hold on…you were just blasted by the monks and you aren't wounded?" Herrior asked waking up a little more.

"Yes"

Herrior waited a minute to ponder that answer. Then he thought about how she was able to leave her body behind for them to blast…but he was too tired to put much more thought into it. "Let me contact Admiral. There are dozens of assignments you can do there. Don't forget to activate your trinket so that you look like the humans. Keep it pinned to your chest piece. Find a Chronomancer to open a portal to the station. I will meet up with you after our slumber." Herrior said and closed the portal.

Lhi's portal disappeared as she stood in the streets wondering how she was going to contact a Chronomancer. Luckily several guards overheard it as Lhi looked around trying to figure out what to do.

"Do you need some help?" One of them asked. It startled Lhi and she instinctively took on a fighting stance.

"Whoa…we are on the same side young lady." The blood elf said with a smile putting his hands up.

"Sorry, this is just all new to me. I'm not completely comfortable in Tranquil yet. Herrior said I should find a Chronomancer to go to the station." Lhi said.

"You have met one. My name is Bailas. Is it safe to assume you are Lhi the Pandaren that joined Herrior's party?" Bailas asked.

"Yes can you take me to the station?" Lhi asked.

"It would be my honor." Bailas said bowing before her smiling. He then held up his hands and created a portal. Once a small one was formed, his hands lit up with power as it was funneled into the portal as it grew in size.

"There is your portal. It will close once you go through it." Bailas said.

"How do I get back?" Lhi asked.

"Use your hearthstone to contact Herrior or I and I will bring you back." Bailas said.

"Oh…thank you." Lhi said still watching the portal in front of her glow and stared at the magic she didn't understand. She worked up the courage and stepped through it and instantly she was in a room with a dirt floor and solid rock walls surrounding her. She surveyed the area and found the door. The handle was different from the regular doors she was used to, but eventually she was able to open it.

On the other side of the door were two guards who stood at attention.

"Who are you?" One of the guards asked quickly.

"Lhi, is this the station?" Lhi asked.

"Depends, who sent you?" The same guard asked as the other signaled for backup by pressing a hidden button on his hip.

"Bailas made a portal and took me here. Herrior told me to come to the station. Is this the correct place?" Lhi asked.

"Haven't heard of him, why don't you just go back into the room and we will have a talk." The guard said clicking off the safety of his assault rifle.

"This must be the wrong place then…" Lhi said nervously backing up.

"She's cleared! Admiral just called and said to expect somebody called…Lee I think is what he said." A soldier yelled out.

"It's Lhi." Lhi said correcting him.

"Sorry" the soldier yelled back out apologetically.

"You look different from the rest of Herrior's party, why haven't you transformed into looking like one of us?" The soldier said switching his safety back on the rifle and putting it down at his side.

"I am a Pandaren from Pandaria. I was told to come here to get some assignments." Lhi said.

"You can't go out looking like that. Did Herrior tell you to change your appearance to look like us?" asked the soldier.

"Yes…I just wasn't sure what you looked like." Lhi said and then studied the man's clothing and then activated her trinket. Instantly her clothing changed to match the man's clothing.

"Yup, you are one of Herrior's alright. Let me take you on a tour of our station since you are new. Then I will assign a soldier to take you out to investigate some of Herrior's case files." The soldier said. He started to walk away and Lhi wasn't sure what to do. He walked back and held out his hand and said, "Please follow me." Lhi took his hand and they walked through the station. She was quickly introduced to several soldiers and she learned that they introduced themselves by shaking hands. The soldier than took her outside in the dark starry night and showed her all of the buildings. She seemed fascinated with the dogs that they had rescued and many of them came up to sniff her.

"We don't have these on our world. What are they called?" Lhi asked.

"Most of them are mutts…but they are called dogs." The soldier said in a more relaxed tone. "We take them in to be sold later on. It was Herrior's idea actually. Julie is able to talk with them. That one over there that is sleeping and twitched in its sleep Julie recently brought to us. It was near death and she rescued it, healed it, trained it, and has been a great dog ever since. We like to think that they are our 'first alert' if there is any commotion going on. A dog's hearing and sense of danger is better than ours, could be the reason why they are here. George isn't here right now, but right behind us is his building. It is used for gathering intelligence for us. I'd bet they knew you were here before you even came through the portal." The soldier cleared his throat and then said, "We heard what happened to Branzer…it's a shame that happened."

"I did not know the man that well. Herrior had a discussion with us about it and then laid the subject to rest. He said a traitor dies a traitor's death. His wife Lindel seems to be ok with what happened." Lhi said kneeling down to have the dogs stick their tongues out of the chain link fence and tried to lick her. "They aren't poisonous are they?

"No, they are showing their affection. Would you like to go on an assignment now?" The soldier asked.

"Of course" Lhi said quickly standing up.

"Let me find an officer." The soldier said as he reached down on his waist and pressed a button. "One of Herrior's party members is here and needs a ride to investigate some of the files that we have for them. Is there an officer on duty that can take her out?" Several people responded back and after a couple of minutes, a lady officer named Tina agreed to take her out. She was in the cellblocks right now but would be out in a couple of minutes. The soldier confirmed that and let the button go. "Tina will take you out on to investigate some of the 'interesting' cases that we have. I will go grab a couple of files and be right back if you want to stay with the dogs." The soldier said. Lhi agreed.

After a minute Tina came up and introduced herself to Lhi. "Having a good night so far?" She asked.

"I am unfamiliar with a lot of things in this world. I am having doubts about my abilities to help. There is so much I don't know." Lhi said.

"That will make things equal then, I know nothing about you. Come with me and I will take us to a patrol car. So tell me about yourself." Tina said in a caring voice. They began talking back and forth as Tina led them to a cruiser. The soldier jogged out with a couple of files and suggested taking her to a couple of different places. Tina agreed and took the files and got in the car. Lhi tried to get in the same side when Tina stopped her, "No your seat is over there, here let me show you." Tina walked her around the cruiser and showed her how to open the door from the outside and inside and explained how the seatbelt worked. Soon they were on their way.

"Are you hungry? We can stop for something to eat." Tina said as they got underway.

"I didn't bring any food, what would you recommend?" Lhi asked.

"Normally I would take you to a steak and shrimp dinner, but we'll have to get something along the way. What do you prefer chicken, tacos, hamburgers…uh Chinese perhaps?" Tina asked.

"I will have whatever you have. Where are we going?"

"It says here we should head downtown. There's been some gang related activity that has been spotted. Some vandalism, robberies, and starting to harass some people have been reported. Are you familiar with fighting?" Tina asked.

"I've had to fight in order to survive on my world. We are all trained monks that are able to bring harmony and balance to our world. Right now I fear that our world is doomed to fail. I hope we can at least get most of our people out of the world before the Sha take it over." Lhi said.

"The Sha?" Tina asked taking a turn and then driving up to a McDonalds.

"The Sha is a demonic power that haunts our lands. Herrior and some other parties were able to subdue one of them, but only that – subdued. It will find another victim and rise up again. The alliance has also attacked our land as well…between both of them we are only holding a small piece of our world in peace. How long we are going to hold it…who knows…"

"I'll take a number fourteen with a Coke and…actually make that a double." Tina said to the loud speaker. She then came back in the car and said, "I heard of the battle that you had. Was that against the Sha? We brought out some heavy firepower for that and from what I heard it only put a dent in it. We're trying to get some heavier duty guns and trying to acquire some missiles and rocket launchers."

"That will be fifteen dollars, please pull around." A voice came back.

"Fifteen dollars? I only want two number fourteens…they are about five dollars apiece! What are you trying to pull here?" Tina yelled back.

"Please pull forward." The intercom said again.

"Something isn't right Tina. I am sensing a trap." Lhi said quietly. Tina unstrapped her gun as she pulled up to the drive through window.

"Oh it's an officer, sorry ma'am. We thought you were somebody else. The meal is on us." The drive through window lady said.

"Just what is going on here? First you want to overcharge me and now that you know I'm an officer of the law, my meal is free? Where's your manager?" Tina asked.

"He isn't here right now, please pull forward." The lady said and shut the window.

"I'm getting out. I don't know your currency or food of this land, but I don't want to be in this cruiser when we are attacked." Lhi said and jumped out of the car. Tina pulled the cruiser up to a parking lot and pulled her gun out. A shot was fired and Tina let out a scream and ducked down to the ground. The next sound was the sound of a human gargling his own blood followed by the shattering of glass. Tina looked up to see that the drive-through window was smashed and the sounds of a struggle inside.

Tina moved in with her gun drawn and flung the door. She started to yell "Get your hands up" when she looked around and saw that everybody was standing up with their hands up.

"Lhi! Lhi are you ok?" Tina yelled out.

"Is she ok? She just killed three people and was shot four times. She's standing over there…" a scared employee said pointing over with her hands up.

"Lhi?"

"It's ok Tina, it was a setup. These people were apparently being held hostage. I only one I killed was the one that shot me. I paralyzed this one, and the other is suffering from two broken legs and arms." Lhi explained. She seemed very calm.

"Are you ok? Do you want me to call an ambulance?" Tina said putting away her gun and getting out her handcuffs.

"What's an ambulance?" Lhi asked.

"Are you hurt?" Tina asked pushing the crying man down on the ground and pulled his arms back to handcuff him.

"No, not at all – Tina I did break a couple of things in here though. They were overcharging you to get your attention. The dead one was the one holding them hostage. What are you doing?" Lhi asked.

"How many bullets did you take?" Tina asked, moving over to the paralyzed man.

"Five I think. I had my guard up after enough chi, I had to stagger some of the damage, but I summoned some healing spheres to take care of the lost health. How many bullets did you take?" Lhi asked.

"What did you do to this man?" Tina asked looking at the petrified man.

"He is paralyzed right now…it will wear off in about twenty more seconds, you may want to restrain him before then." Lhi said walking over to help.

"And the other man? The shooter?"

"After building up enough chi I did a Touch of Death – instantly killing him. Nobody else looked hurt so I just waited for you." Lhi said helping Tina to move the paralyzed man on the ground so Tina could handcuff him.

With everybody handcuffed Lhi picked up the dead man and the paralyzed one as Tina moved the other one outside. Lhi tossed the dead man aside as she opened the back door and threw the other man in, slamming his head against the opposite door. She then picked up the dead man and threw him in just as hard.

"I'm not getting in there with the dead man!" The man said starting to struggle. Lhi grabbed him and tossed him in the back and slammed the door shut.

"So do we get our food now or later?" Lhi asked.

"Now…we have to call in the crime lab and have them clean up the mess, take some photos and ask questions. How in the world did you fit through that little window?" Tina asked.

"Chi Torpedo" Lhi said.

"Something I don't understand…just…something I don't understand, that's just what I need to tell myself with you guys around. Let me call base and get some guys up here. I'm going to go in and secure the scene, get the owner of the store up here and calm down some of the customers…ah hell what am I saying I have to come up with some sort of cover story. I've never done this before…" Tina said trying to collect her thoughts. She then waved her hand at the back of her cruiser and said, "Those guys are probably going to be petrified for the rest of their lives, there is probably no way that they can stand trial…their lawyers are going to get them off on an insane plea…"

"I can kill them now if that will help?" Lhi suggested. Tina ran her hand through her long blonde hair and then laughed. "I was told you guys say things like that…I'm sorry, you did one hell of a job in there. Probably saved a lot of lives in there including mine, and you stopped a hostage situation. Personally – thank you, but I am going to have to get us out of here."

"You're welcome." Lhi said but looked concerned.

Tina leaned over and radioed in the problem. She got a response back saying that they would come by to "clean up" and to hold tight until they show up. Tina responded with a "10-4" and saw she now had a crowd.

"Is everything ok?" One of the employees asked.

"Yes it is. I need you to contact the owner of the store and get him or her down here. I am going to need the customers to go ahead and finish up their food in their car. I need the employees to hang tight for awhile. The suspects are secured and I have backup coming." Tina said.

"Who is she?" The same employee asked pointing to Lhi.

"I am part of a secret task force within the NSA. I have been trained to fight with my hands and my body." Lhi said convincingly.

"Are you a black belt or something?"

"No, her training is not the kind that the public can get. I have backup coming so if I could have you guys help out I would appreciate it." Tina said.

"You can say that again! She moved faster than I could see with my eyes. I was no longer scared of those guys, but I was about ready to shit myself after I saw her move!" A young male employee said.

"If we could start at the beginning I would appreciate it, but go ahead and close the store down and send everybody on their way. Turn off all of your outside lights and then come out here, don't touch anything that is broken or anything that was touched during the fight. Again I need the owner called to come down here, so you go ahead and do that now." Tina said. Surprisingly when she got everybody doing stuff, the "clean up" police came. Several soldiers blocked off the entrance and started moving people out the exit. They went right to work taking down names and photographing the scene. Tina recognized that this was all for show for the employees though as a soldier walked over to her.

"How many did she kill?" He asked.

"Just the one…the other two are pitching a fit about being in the back seat with a dead man." Tina said motioning over her shoulder.

"Was there any blood spilled?"

"No…what kind of question is that?" Tina asked.

"A relevant one. Did you do this or did Lhi?" The soldier asked.

"Lhi killed him, flew through that tiny window and paralyzed one of them and apparently at the same time broke the others arms and legs." Tina said.

The soldier looked over at the severely injured man and saw him on the floor in agony. "Is he going to live?"

"He is far from death I assure you, however as I suggested before I can kill both of them now and from now on if it is easier." Lhi said. The soldier smiled at her and didn't want to say what he wanted to. Instead he said, "Good work, we'll take it from here. Why did you stop here anyways?"

"Get some food…we were hungry." Tina said.

"Odd…" The soldier said.

"People get hungry…what's odd about that?" Tina asked getting flustered.

"No, not that Herrior said things happen for a reason…no such thing as 'accidents'. Take Lhi and continue your patrol." The soldier pushed a button on his belt and said, "Got three that need to be taken care of in Tina's patrol car. Need them out of there asap." The soldier released the button followed by a "rodger that". A Van pulled around and backed up to the back seat of the patrol car. The back doors opened up and three soldiers jumped out and quickly pulled the suspects out of the cruiser and threw them in the back. They shut the doors and then quickly drove away.

"Meet you up back at the station ma'am." The soldier said nodding at Tina and then nodding at Lhi. Lhi nodded back.

Tina and Lhi got back into the cruiser and were motioned to go on their way. Once Tina's cruiser was out, a patrol car was pulled into the exit to prevent anybody else from leaving.

"Ok…what exactly is going on? None of that was procedure…who the heck are you…really?" Tina asked taking her eyes off the road and looked right at Lhi.

"My name is Lhi, I am a Pandaren from Pandaria and I am a monk. I don't really know what else to say." Lhi said.

"So you are a monk…like the Dalai Lama? You spent a lot of your time meditating on the peak of a mountain trying to find the meaning of life and learned how to snatch a pebble from somebody's hand? Am I close?" Tina asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Why would I want to snatch a pebble from somebody's hand? What is the Dalai Lama? I have no idea what the meaning of life is, and the only mountains I've been on are the ones that I have ridden my dragon and our sky serpents over. I am holding nothing back from you. My people are all monks. Herrior calls me a 'tank' and my job is to defend the rear of the party, with a special task to look over our healers. Herrior doesn't know all of my abilities yet either. I figured we'll probably have to have a couple of battles to show him all of my abilities. This armor that I got from Tranquil has greatly increased my powers. I have also been blasted by their monks, a different type of monk that has made me immune to time-stopping, demon possession, and alliance possession. I do meditate and when I do I am able to leave my body behind. The monks in Tranquil said that was the reason why they were able to alter my mind and body so easily." Lhi explained. There was silence in the cruiser for awhile when finally Lhi said, "I don't understand much either."

"Well that makes two of us." Tina said seeming bewildered. Not knowing what to say or even how to respond to what she just said Tina decided to say, "Our destination is just up here on the right. If you cover my back I will cover yours."

"Are you able to stagger damage as well?" Lhi asked.

"No…so what do you suggest?" Tina asked.

"Let me go first. I can absorb damage from you if start getting hurt." Lhi said.

Tina pulled over the car and got her flashlight out. She left the car running and locked the doors as they both exited the cruiser. There were some teenagers dressed in gang colors and Tina motioned that they go investigate.

"Good evening gentlemen, what is going on tonight?" Tina asked.

"Just out having some fun is all." One of them said.

"Any of you have any drugs or weapons on you?" Tina asked shining the light at everybody's faces. They all started lifting their shirts and emptying out their pockets while denying that any of them had anything.

"So all of you are just out here this late at night to have some fun? What kind of fun are you having?" Tina asked after looking.

"Just hanging out…talking…nothing much." Another said.

"Kind of late to be hanging around isn't it? Don't you have school in the morning?" Tina asked.

"School sucks man…our teachers don't give a shit about us." An elder teenager said.

"I think they do. I think a lot of people care about you. Where are your parents tonight? Do they know you are out here late?" Tina asked. All of them gave some excuse about their parents not liking them or wanting them. It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before. She decided to change the subject.

"Have any of you heard of any gang-related activity going on around here? Are some of those clothes gang related?" Tina asked. Once again everybody denied it.

"Ok, well I suggest that you all head home. There's been some gang activity going on around here and we want to make sure you guys stay safe alright?" Tina asked. They all agreed and jumped up off from the concrete bridge rail they were sitting on and started to walk away.

"Why don't we attack them?" Lhi asked.

"They didn't do anything wrong."

"They were lying."

"Yeah I know but you can't arrest somebody for lying. Let's get going and make some more rounds." Tina said. Both of them climbed back into the cruiser and took off.

"Why do people lie on this world?" Lhi asked breaking the silence.

"To benefit themselves…to hide things…to make themselves feel better, any variety of reasons." Tina said.

"Doesn't seem like a good way to live; seems like it would damage the soul after time." Lhi said.

"It does…some people lie so much that they don't even know what the truth is." Tina said. She was concentrating on the surrounding area.

"Have you ever lied?" Lhi asked.

"Yeah I suppose I did my fair share of lying growing up." Tina said.

"Are we doubling back to check on them?" Lhi asked.

"Yes, I just want to see if they are heading home." Tina said.

"Do you trust me?" Lhi asked.

"I have a lot of questions about you, but everybody else seems to check out about you guys…and by that nobody really knows anything much about you guys. I haven't been blasted by the monks yet and so far I have no reason not to trust you, but I have seen what you can do and I think you would give your life to save me or anyone of us." Tina said. She then turned on her spotlight and shown it on the adolescents walking away.

"If I do something really quick, would it scare you?" Lhi asked quickly. Not giving Tina a chance to respond, Lhi pulled Tina down really hard as bullets riddled spraying at the car. Tina started to scream as Lhi launched a rope out from her hand and quickly snatched the gun away. Lhi then threw the door open and then barrel rolled quickly to the adolescents. She quickly fell to the ground and did a leg sweep – knocking all of them to the ground. Lhi stood above them poised to strike and asked, "Which one of you wants to die first?" They motioned to get up and Lhi threw a small keg at one of them, dousing everybody in the strong ale.

"You are all soaked with a highly volatile liquid…make a move and I will ignite all of you on fire!" Lhi said. Tina's door opened slowly as she was holding her side. She had been hit at least twice.

"He did it…I had nothing to do with this…" a teenager said scared. Lhi then jumped in the air and started to do quick cyclone kicks as she moved through the air. She hit every single person before she landed. With her opponents on the ground she summoned three healing spheres in front of Tina. "Walk through them!" Lhi yelled. A bullet came up and hit Lhi as she immediately activated her "guard" ability to soak up the damage as she summoned a powerful keg and slammed it at the shooters face. The shooter dropped his gun and screamed in pain.

During this time Tina walked through the healing spheres as the bullets in her body burned up and her wounds healed. She had her gun drawn and was having a hard time focusing. Tina saw Lhi's hands and legs moving quickly to subdue the gang members. She eventually lowered her gun and watched in awe. Lhi picked out one of the gang members and grabbed his throat as she thrusted him in the air.

"Where is your gang?" Lhi asked in a stern voice.

"I can't say…they will kill me…" Lhi threw him up in the air and breathed fire at him, instantly igniting his body on fire.

"The rest of you move and your flesh will burn off your bones!" Lhi yelled at them. The gang member eventually fell back down to the ground as Lhi caught him.

"Last chance until your burn to death!" Lhi screamed in his face.

"3405 fifth avenue…the tall white house!" The boy screamed. Lhi threw him to the ground and dosed him with a keg that put out the fire. "If anybody moves I will kill you – do you understand?" Everybody held their hands up on the ground in terror. "Not one word…"

Tina was on her radio calling it in and the "clean up" crew would be by shortly.

Lhi looked everybody over and looked at a frightened girl and picked her up and said, "Take me to this white house…"

"They will kill me!" She said nervously.

"I was having the same thoughts right now actually…" Lhi said.

"Put her down…she's my sister…" a man said on the ground.

"All the more reason to take me to this house…if you cooperate I will ensure your survival. If you don't, I will inflict pain on you so great you will beg for death!" Lhi said in a commanding voice.

"It's right there…that house just another block up there…" The man said.

"Take me to it." Lhi set the girl down and pointed in the direction. They all got up, still soaked from the ale and began walking.

"Tina take up the rear, turn the lights off in your cruiser and lock it." Lhi said.

"We're going in alone?" Tina asked.

"No…by the sounds of the traffic your fellow soldiers should be here soon enough. If anybody does anything stupid, shoot them." Lhi said. Lhi turned to the rest of the gang members and said, "March!"

All of them quickly jogged to the house. Lhi then instructed Tina to wait out of sight while she goes in.

"No – we are in this together. I trust you, you can trust me." Tina said. Lhi nodded with a smile as she walked up the stairs and slammed the door handles inside of the house with her fists. She then did several barrel rolls into the house and was met by confused people.

"What are you doing here?" One of them asked.

"I heard a rumor that a gang was in this building. I'm here to put an end to it." Lhi said. She here several mechanical devices she hadn't heard before and figured it was their weapons. Lhi threw kegs all over the place and then quickly rolled out of the way of the gun fire as she ran into several men. She fast strikes took down one as she put up her "guard", absorbing the gun fire. She turned to the other man and struck him precisely in the throat – killing him instantly. She then took the two men and threw them at where the bullets were coming from. Lhi did several flips and quickly got up the stairs. She slammed a hard keg at them, knocking all of them to the ground. Quickly she breathed fire on all of them. While they burned and screamed in agony, Tina went outside to direct in the soldiers that had arrived. Lhi heard one of them ask if anybody was still alive.

Lhi stood perfectly still for a second as she sensed a motioned from behind her. She quickly fell to the ground and did several leg sweeps, knocking her attacker to the ground. She then jumped on him and slammed her fist into his throat – crushing it.

"There are some coming out of the back doors…quickly surround the house!" Lhi heard a soldier say. Lhi ran through the hallway and jumped through the window doing her tornado spin. She smashed the window open and hit the ground with a roll and then took off running after the ones that were escaping. The soldiers fired off flash bombs and long distance stun guns. This disoriented the escaping gang members as Lhi did several barrel rolls towards them. Once she caught up her fists went to work, striking hard and precisely at her victims. Each of them quickly fell to the ground. In less than a minute the situation was under control.

Lhi went running back out and asked if anybody was injured to the soldiers.

"Was about ready to ask you the same thing Lhi" one of the soldiers asked.

"Nothing I can't stagger off…how's Tina?" Lhi asked.

"She's a little shaken up."

"Is she new to all of this?" Lhi asked.

"No…just not a lot of…this kind of experience; we can take it from here if you want to take off." The soldier said putting the strap of his rifle over his shoulder.

"I'm going to go check on her." Lhi said.

"She's just around there; we'll have this cleaned up shortly." The soldier said and then pressed a button on his belt and started giving orders. Lhi rushed around to the front of the building, which was quickly being taped off and bodies were being taken out and into a van. Lhi found Tina and ran over to her.

"Are you ok Tina? Are you hurt?" Lhi asked.

"I'm fine…this will definitely be a night to remember." Tina said.

"It's best to know what happened, but not to spread it to others outside of the station." Lhi said.

"Standard protocol…Tina you are ordered to go back to the station right now to get debriefed." A soldier said in passing. Tina nodded.

"I'll go with you." Lhi said.

"I would feel safer…thank you." Tina said sounding exhausted. They walked in silence back to their cruiser and by the time they took off, the "clean up" crew had gathered up all of the evidence and people – both dead and alive and they all drove back to the station.

"So…I was trained as an officer of the law, to uphold justice and peace. What am I now?" Tina asked.

"You still seem to be the same woman, slightly more bewildered I must admit though. Have you ever been in combat before Tina?" Lhi asked.

"Actual combat…no, I have been on the force for a long time and only heard rumors of how you fight. Are you above the law?" Tina asked.

"No one is above the laws…but the laws of battle are the same. I have much to learn from Herrior, but I know how to fight." Lhi said.

"So…is there a law system where you come from?" Tina asked.

"We have no need; our race is striving to survive as it is now. When your people are going through systematic annihilation, you tend to set your differences aside and work together. It appears that the soldiers helping us out are under the same set of laws of battle that we are." Lhi said.

Tina thought about this for a moment from Lhi's point of view. She nodded as she said, "I guess we come from different worlds, but you do have a good point. My parents were lawyers and I have sat through several hundred trials. I've always been one for doing things by the books. Times have changed though huh…this station runs things differently. It would never hold up in the regular court of law. I was sort of a 'lawyer's child' growing up I guess and tend to overdo my paperwork to ensure that I have all of my ducks in a row…it's a saying we have. Working here I knew some things were different, but I didn't know to what extreme. Do you know how much paperwork and phone calls it would have took to do what we just did? And by the time we got everything done, the gang would have been long gone. Tonight has really opened my eyes; it could be why they paired me up with you." Tina chuckled a little bit and then continued, "Like the soldier said, everything happens for a reason. I don't think I would be able to do what we did tonight without you." Tina paused for a moment and said, "I don't think we are supposed to do what we do without you guys. Where's the rest of your party anyways? Sorry I probably just talked your ear off…"

"No you are fine. This is the first time I have been on another world. You have different ways of doing things. Your ways are not wrong. The rest of my party is resting, which is what I should be doing. I need to meditate on the events of tonight also. I need to go back to the station and rest in the room Herrior designated as ours, the room that we travel to and from this world in. Can we do that?" Lhi ask sounding exhausted.

"Absolutely" Tina said and got on her radio. She reported that she was coming back and they would need to have food ready for their "guardian angel", the staying still stuck. The report came back stating that food would be ready.

Getting back to the station the guards protecting the gate cleared her to come in and welcomed her back. Tina walked Lhi back in the station and when they came in the soldiers had several different courses of fast food ready for Lhi.

"Give her everything…she saved my life twice tonight. She's exhausted and so am I." Tina said taking off her hat and grabbing a taco herself.

"Take the rest of the night off…go get some sleep and spend some time with your family." One of Admiral's people in charge said.

"Sir…I still have the rest of my shift, I need the money." Tina said.

"You'll get the same amount of money; it won't cut into your paycheck. We are all part of a family and you need some help. Getting almost killed twice in one night can take a toll on a person. Go get some sleep. Word of what happened tonight does not leave the station, is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Tina said. She wouldn't have a clue how to explain this night anyways. "I just need to finish up my reports."

"Good job with your reports Tina! I haven't seen a better set of reports in all of the reports that we do here!" A soldier said holding up a folder and started flipping through the papers.

"Those aren't mine…" Tina said.

"It's got your name on it, lots of pictures a typed up report and a full details of everybody you interviewed their names and location." The soldier said showing her from a distance.

"Good enough for me…go get some sleep." Her boss said turning to her smiling.

Tina hesitated when Lhi spoke up, "Tina…you have been through a lot tonight. Do you want to accompany me in our room to rest?"

"Not a bad idea, Lhi might need somebody to talk to and having a guard in there with her would be a good idea." Her boss said. Lhi had devoured her third taco and started on a serving of onion rings.

"Are you going to be alright Lhi?" Tina asked.

"This is the greasiest food I have ever eaten…it's going to hinder my reflexes…" Lhi said smiling.

"She'll be fine…go home to your children. That's an order." Her boss said smiling and motioned her to leave with his head.

"Take care of her…if she needs something take it out of my paycheck." Tina said putting her hat back on and smiling. Lhi put down her food and walked over and hugged her.

"I'll see you soon." Lhi said.

"Don't eat too much of that junk food…it'll all go to your hips…" Tina said back with a smile. They stopped hugging and smiled at each other and then Tina turned to leave.

"Any word from Herrior?" Lhi asked continuing to eat.

"Nothing yet, any word on how your other worlds are doing?" The Admiral's assistant said.

"We haven't had any other battles that I know of. What is going to happen to the people that you have secured today?" Lhi asked.

"They are squealing like new born pigs…ratting out everybody they know. We will be picking them up shortly when the warrants come through. They are also claiming that some 'super ninja' that was able to through kegs of some sort attacked them and it was a good thing that we showed up when we did. We are testing them for drugs; so far they are all coming back positive."

"Drugs?" Lhi asked.

"People on this world take mind altering drugs that cause hallucinations. They do it for fun, but it is illegal. They will be processed and put in the slammer for holding. Slammer is a word for jail." He said trying to simplify things.

Lhi nodded, not understanding everything but trying to follow what he was saying, she asked if she could take the food and go into their room.

"Absolutely…we have pillows and blankets in there as well. Herrior wanted a dirt floor, but you are welcome to whatever you want – just ask."

"Thanks" Lhi said taking as much food as she could and walked to their door. A soldier opened it for her and she devoured her food, than laid down. She would meet up with Herrior and her party in the next day and do some more exploring of Pandaria.


	42. Bouncing

Bouncing

Herrior's party all united at the station and exchanged stories. The soldiers knew they were there from all of the talking and laughing, but they didn't disturb them.

"So let me get this straight…new pain in the ass girl can light people on fire and I can't? That is not fair…" Mohania said.

"I'm not a pain in the ass!" Lhi said in protest.

"You'll learn to ignore Mohania over time." Icis said with a little attitude.

"And my girl is back!" Herrior erupted and everybody laughed.

"Haa haa…funny – so back to my question that I didn't get a response to…" Mohania said.

"Mohania…you must search your inner self, only through meditation and training will you know when the right time comes to set someone ablaze." Lhi said in a calm tone.

Mohania looked at her, then everybody else, then her and said, "Done…can I set somebody on fire now?"

"Your journey is not complete yet…"

"Hush!" Lindel said quickly interrupting Lhi. The room fell quiet as Lindel listened. Nobody said anything as Lindel concentrated on something.

"Admiral is in distress." Lindel said and then ran through the wall and disappeared. Herrior and his party got up and ran out of the room and to Admiral's room to find Lindel waiting quietly on the phone. Lindel held up her finger for silence.

"This is Barack Obama who am I speaking with please?" Lindel said in a deep man's voice. Admiral as well as everybody else who knew who the President was looked shocked.

"All I wanted was your name Dave now listen carefully because I don't have time for this shit. I have some of my best soldiers down there in your little town and I do not want them harassed! Their jail system is taking care of some of our worst offenders in this country and Admiral has taken the initiative to cut costs and what have you done? I have to make some cuts in house and I have people bitching that are in my party – not to mention the other parties. You will leave Admiral alone! He is part of something much bigger than your city that you are putting into bankruptcy. Leave my army base alone, leave my soldiers alone, and leave my operations alone! So help me if you interfere with them, I will launch Operation Shove it up your Ass! You don't like the jail now…just wait until you have my soldiers following your every move and if you so much as sneeze I will have locked up so fast your head will spin! Do you understand?" Lindel said. She paused for a couple of seconds and then mimicked the President's voice again, "Listen…shut up, I don't have time for this – Admiral are you on the phone still?" Lindel motioned Admiral not to move. Lindel then mimicked Admiral's voice and said, "Yes mister President I am." Lindel then switched her voice to the President and continued talking, "Admiral thank you for what you have done for our country. Your plan to decrease the cost of your jail system is something I want to put into practice and encourage others to do so. Keep up the good work. I will speak with you later, good-by gentlemen." Lindel said and then set the receiver down on the base.

"So…how did I do?" Lindel asked with a smile.

"You didn't ignite anybody on fire…" Mohania mumbled as everybody else clapped.

"Wow…uh…I don't know what to say…" Admiral said completely beside himself.

"Outstanding performance my dear…once again you have left the audience speechless…" Strings said clapping and walking up to her. Lindel hopped up on the desk and crossed her legs over in a sexy style as she said, "Yes…but this time they are speechless because of my performance and not because I killed them…" Lindel held out her right hand and said, "Chocolate please…"

Admiral, besides himself, quickly reached into the candy bar drawer and grabbed one for her.

"So…what juicy gossip where you guys talking about while I was gone?" Lindel asked jumping down and unwrapped the Nestle Crunch and biting into it.

"How did you do that? You sounded like me…better than…me." Admiral said.

"One of my many talents…" Lindel said casually, she then added, "By the way Admiral, you have to urinate."

"What…oh right – wait how did you know?" Admiral asked as he moved through the room and out to the bathroom.

"Reading people's minds are we?" Herrior asked. Lindel smiled and shrugged as she took another bite.

"What number am I thinking of?" A soldier said challenging her.

"You aren't thinking of a number, you are looking at my breasts and wondering what it would feel like to touch them…" Lindel said.

"Hey!" Herrior said and turned to him.

"Just kidding…that was funny! No seriously it was seven." Lindel said.

"You're right…" the soldier said amazed.

"About which part?" Herrior said angrily.

"The number…the number…I'm going to go…uh…go now…" the soldier said and ran away.

"Herrior…you scared off the pretty little man…" Lindel said with amusement.

"Back in the swing of things are we?" Herrior asked glaring over at her.

"When you fall off the horse…" Lindel said and took another bite.

"Yeah, well let's not horse around…woot play on words!" Julie said excitedly.

"Kids…" Skyka said shaking her head with a smile.

"Yeah…so anyways what is the mission Admiral? Oh wait that's right…he's not here…Lindel…" Herrior said.

"What? The man had to piss…" Lindel said finishing her candy bar and burned up the wrapper.

"Let's go check our case files…" Herrior said shaking his head. Herrior walked out and started thumbing through a couple. "What is Las Vegas?" Herrior asked noticing that a dozen files were located there.

"Sin city…what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas don't you know." One of Admiral's helpers said.

"Sounds like a good place to avoid…" Herrior said looking at some of the reports.

"People flock there from all over the world trying to win it big and to meet people for casual sex and drugs run rampant down there."

"Aren't there any soldiers there?" Herrior asked looking up.

"Oh there are, some crooked, some straight – but with almost six hundred thousand people in the town it's impossible to keep up with all of the crime, plus that's in the same area as the drug and human trafficking from Mexico. Oh I wanted to fill you in on some of our dogs training; we are going to start using them for sniffing out drugs and explosives. There are about one dog for every five officers now, which makes sniffing out drugs and explosives a lot easier for pulling over people. We are going to have one of the largest K-9 units in the country, and to think that most of those dogs would have been euthanized." The same man said.

"Euthanized?" Herrior asked.

"Killed because nobody wants them" he replied.

"What? Wait…you kill animals because people don't want them? That is the most barbaric thing I've ever heard? Who is doing this? I will go put a stop to this!" Quinely said getting very upset.

"All of the ones that have been scheduled to be 'put down' we have saved. Some of them are so old and sick that they cannot help themselves without help. Sadly though, we haven't been able to catch all of them. For example the one Julie rescued, the dog would have died if she didn't find it. Now it is fully healed and one of the friendliest dogs that we have. However we are making every effort to save the ones that we can save." The Admiral's assistant said.

"They are doing everything that they can Quinely." Dan said in a soft voice gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What about the others? I can infiltrate their compound and tear everybody to shreds…"

"Quinely…" Herrior looked at her and slowly shook his head. He turned back to the man and asked if George had any orders for them.

"He's been tucked inside his little building…haven't seen or heard from him. Got a theory him and his people are plotting to take over the world…" he said laughing.

"Did Admiral get his new SUV?" Herrior asked.

"Yes he did. Apparently this one is twice as good as the last one, and flirts even more with him." Herrior heard this and closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll call our engineers…"

"Admiral doesn't seem to mind, just have to keep it separate from him and his wife…" the Admiral's assistant said jokingly. "Anyways do you want me to give a call to George and see what is going on down in his hole? We ran a separate land-line to his building so we don't need secure phones anymore."

"If you would please, also I would like to finish up our case files here first if you could arrange some transportation for us. Have you been having any problems on the station?" Herrior asked.

"A couple of prisoners have been causing us problems…"

"Mohania go take care of it." Herrior said cutting him off.

"I will devour them whole!" Mohania said excitedly running off.

"No devouring the prisoners!" Herrior yelled back as Mohania ran out of the station.

"I made a list…" the soldier said holding up a piece of paper. He looked around and then eventually crumpled it up and tossed it away.

"I thought I was never going to stop…how much does the human bladder hold?" Admiral asked coming out fixing his uniform.

"Umm…TMI?" Crystal asked.

"Sorry…Thanks for taking care of my problem. I don't think the mayor is going to be calling anymore." Admiral then turned to his helpers and said, "I wish I had recorded that conversation…our good Mayor had a conversation with our President, or so he thought – ripped him a new asshole."

"Good! Maybe his lackies will quit bugging us now as well. No idea what the man is thinking…probably thinks he runs this town or something…" The Admiral and the rest of his helpers had a good laugh.

"If he was giving you that much trouble we could kill him." Herrior said.

"No…a good ass-chewing I think is worse. It will free up our resources – although I still want to keep our personal lawyer and accountant that has been working out very well in our favor." Admiral said.

"Do you have a pastor as well?" Herrior asked.

"I...we did for awhile…" Admiral said and then turned to his assistant and said, "Make that a top priority." Admiral turned around and said, "For the inmates or for us? We have some that come in once in awhile to give a sermon."

"Get a full time one for both you and them. Keep them separate. Schedule regular church sessions, aside from the monk blasting that is one of the best things you can do for your soldiers. How many more soldiers do we need to get blasted?" Herrior asked.

Admiral turned back to his assistant who was thumbing through some paperwork. His assistant to his right grabbed several sheets stapled together with several names highlighted with a number on each page. He quickly counted them up and said, "Including George's team…seventy four."

"Get that done. How are you doing on weapons and armor? I have been getting some flak about having your men so far away from the battle, however until they can prove to me that they can fight and defend themselves I would like to keep them at a safe distance. That worries me also because if you are ambushed and you aren't ready for it – it will be more deaths under my leadership and I don't want that." Herrior said.

"It would also be hard to explain to their families that they died on another planet…obviously we would have to come up with a story, but I hate doing that…giving the general 'died honorably in the line of service' garbage story – I've already written too many of those letters." Admiral said. "Truth is some of them die from friendly or dumbass mistakes. Herrior I've got so many soldiers that would put a gun to a prisoners head and blow their brains out if you even if you looked at the prisoner funny…they are willing and over eager to fight, but I don't want them to die. They are doing their normal drills everyday and we are putting most of all of our cruisers on the road with an officer and a soldier just to occupy their time. I've got a list as long as me of soldiers wanting to transfer in because this place feels like 'home' if you will. Everybody is equal; they look out for each other, and are the highest damn paid soldiers probably on the planet. I'm having a hard enough time finding stuff to keep our current platoon occupied."

"Shouldn't every army do the same as we are doing? Treat everybody equally? They all fight together; do they not love each other as their own?" Herrior asked.

Admiral shook his head quickly and looked away as he said, "Unfortunately no…it's more of a dog eat dog world."

"Now you have dogs eating other dogs? What are you doing?" Quinely said getting upset again.

"Figure of speech…the dogs doesn't actually eat each other." Dan said quickly.

"That's a shame that there is competition within the armies of the United States, but it's there. Usually women are treated worse than men are." Julie said speaking up. This caught Trackolania's attention as he pulled out his daggers and started scrapping them back and forth.

"No you aren't going to kill them…" Julie said. Trackolania put his daggers away and smiled as he held his finger and thumb together closely.

"No you aren't going to almost kill them either…it's just how it is, and then when you move to a different state or group you have gain respect with everybody all over again." Julie explained.

"Technically Trackolania could poison them and they wouldn't die until a couple of days later." Strings said. Trackolania immediately pulled out a vial and swirled it around with a smile. Just then Mohania came back in the building laughing his sinister laugh.

"Did you eat anybody?" Herrior asked in a firm tone.

"No…there was nobody there called 'anybody' – so technically no…" Mohania said with a big smile.

"What happened?" Herrior asked unimpressed.

"It's funny how many times they ran from wall to wall in sheer terror. They knew that the wall was still there…yet they kept running into it…and yes everybody is alive, but a couple of them won't be having dinner tonight or probably sleep well for the next couple of weeks…" Mohania said smiling with a sense of pride.

"Did you kill anybody?" Herrior asked.

"Intentionally?" Mohania asked back.

"Are you always going to answer a question with a question?" Herrior asked.

"Alright you two…Admiral what do we have to do?" Skyka said putting her hands in both of their faces.

"A UFO sighting, unconfirmed and George didn't pick up any on his computers. Hasn't come back but a small crowd of people are swearing that we are under attack by aliens. Even a local pastor preached about it and a town hall meeting was called. We need to send somebody to convince hundreds of people that aliens aren't coming down to attack." Admiral said handing Herrior a huge file with papers in it.

"I've never been good at lying…"

"You did pretty good last night lying on your back! Can I get an Amen?" Skyka yelled out interrupting Herrior. Herrior sighed as several people snickered.

"We'll take care of it, don't sweat that one." Admiral said and turned to one of his assistances and said, "Send out several officers and have them do over-night surveillance. Setup some cameras, listen to some stories – and let the hubbub blow over."

"What else do we have?" Herrior asked.

"Hmm…some of these probably were tossed in accidently…" Admiral said looking through some of the files. "Let me check with George on these and see if we can verify some of these. George has tracked several different time anomalies, but they happen so quick that we don't have time to track them down. We're taking over a couple of satellites that aren't being used for anything, we're going to try to track down these anomalies in real time and track them better. So far the town that you saved from the aliens hasn't said anything. We sent down a special crew undercover and everybody denies anything happened. Seems like most of them would rather forget it ever happened. Go head out to Vegas and take care of your business there." Admiral said.

"I've got some contacts for you…go to the World Famous Pawn Stars store." A soldier spoke up.

"Good show…but why?" Admiral asked turning around.

"Look at the reports, I'd bet his left arm that there are some alliance coming and going through there." The soldier said pointing at Mohania. Mohania removed his arm and it instantly turned back into its skeleton arm. "Put it back on Mohania…" Herrior said.

"We need firepower and armor, as well as additional vehicles with some upgrades. Bullet proof glass, Kevlar doors and rework our engines to give them some additional pep to them. They have connections to get those things." The same soldier said.

"Why don't we just use a different television show like Top Gear? They would be able to get our cruisers in better shape. Oh and what about that show that makes guns…what is that called…"

"No…we do not want to draw attention to ourselves and the last thing Herrior wants is to be anywhere near a person with a video camera." Admiral said.

"Press?" Herrior asked.

"Yes" Admiral answered.

"No…no press, what is this 'pawn shop' you are talking about?" Herrior asked.

"They negotiate items for money. They have dozens of contacts and I've seen them with automatic rifles…even though they don't sell them, they have to have a place to get them. Go in as you are now, gain their trust, get some alliance out of hiding, and get some customs parts for our cruisers." The soldier said.

"Enough discussion…give Lindel the coordinates." Herrior said.

"Got them already…sorry I've been reading their minds…also your anniversary is today; don't forget some red tulips…" Lindel said.

"Wha…oh shit…" The soldier said quickly and picked up the phone.

"Admiral we might need your SUV and a cruiser to give them an idea of what we want." Dan said.

"I'll go release the voice lock on it and tell it to focus on Herrior's voice." Admiral said.

"Thank you, don't forget your badges everybody." Herrior said.

Herrior's party arrived in an abandoned bus, the SUV and cruiser would wait until later. They walked out and surveyed the area.

"Where are we at Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"About a block away, this is the only place I could find to get us in here quietly. This place is busier than I thought it would be…there is so much perversion here." Lindel said scanning the minds of the people a distance from her.

"Before we get going, I need permission to access Dan's mind." Lindel said.

"That didn't work out so well before, are you sure you want to try again?" Dan asked.

"What do you need Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I may need him to stop time for me. I have a plan for gaining their loyalty to us, but it will take some precise timing. Let me explain it…"

Lindel walked into the pawn shop and was greeted by the security guard. She asked where the rings were sold at and the security guard pointed her to a glass cabinet. She walked over and casually started to look at the small diamonds and the assortment of other gems on the rings. In the process she began to scan everybody's mind in the building. She found an alliance among them. He was behind the counter attempting to sell somebody a bracelet. This was going to present a bigger challenge. Her mind started to wonder off as to how one of them was able to manage to escape their massive assault. She shook away the thoughts as she had located one of the people in charge and wondered over to him.

"Excuse me sir, what is your name?" Lindel asked.

"Chumlee" he said with a big smile.

"Chumlee, I have some items I would like to sell to you. When do you move everybody out of the pawn shop so that you can film them?" Lindel asked flirtatiously.

"Umm, well we can't do that right now but I can help you out." Chumlee replied with a big smile.

"I've got something in my shirt that I think you want…" Lindel said smiling and winking at him. She reached into her and fumbled around for awhile to make sure she had Chumlee's full attention. Eventually she pulled out one of her bags of gold. She held the bag a couple of inches above the glass cabinet and then dropped it. The sound of the coins hitting each other and the glass cabinet filled the entire shop and caught everybody's attention. Lindel was surprised the glass cabinet didn't break. Chumlee reached for it out of curiosity. Lindel quickly slapped his hand and said, "It's a two drink minimum to look at my goods…" Chumlee pulled his hand back and blushed. Lindel picked the bag back up and pulled out a single gold coin. It was the biggest gold coin Chumlee had ever seen. He had temporarily lost interest in the beautiful woman in front of him as he stared at the coin.

"This type of gold is the purest gold in all of history. If you can guess where it came from, I will let you keep this one." Lindel said as she handed over the coin. Chumlee took the coin and looked at it in complete fascination.

"This thing has to weigh at least three pounds…how many do you have there?" Chumlee asked.

"Plenty…do I have your attention yet?" Lindel asked.

"Well…yeah, but I have no clue where it came from. What are these symbols on it, I've never seen them before?"

"From a galaxy far far away…" Lindel said probing Chumlee's mind. He smiled and looked back up at her.

"I've got something else to show you, let me see my coin back." Lindel said handing out her hand. Chumlee looked up from the coin and saw Lindel was holding her NSA badge. Chumlee quickly gave Lindel back her coin as his eyes widened slightly with fear.

"NSA, counter-terrorism and intelligence division; we have fifteen agents outside right now surrounding this building preventing people from coming in. I need you to pretend we are going to do a video shoot and start moving people out of here. Go and get your boss and do it quietly." Lindel said in a quiet firm voice. Chumlee's face started to go white as he listened to what Lindel said. Chumlee then did as he was told.

"Everybody we are going to do a video so we need everybody to wrap up their purchases and start heading out of the building temporarily." Chumlee said aloud and started to move people out.

A man came around the corner and asked, "Chumlee what are you doing?" in a confused tone. Chumlee whispered something to the man and pointed at Lindel. Lindel flashed her badge quickly and then smiled.

"Ok…go in the back and get the video crew and bring them out here, and bring my dad out here." The man said and then started giving orders to his security and workers to start encouraging people to leave. Lindel put her bag of gold away and leaned on the counter slowly tapping her fingers as she put a sense of urgency in the customer's minds to leave. Within a minute the store was nearly vacant.

"What's going on here?" A tall bald man said coming around the corner. Lindel pulled out her bag of gold and approached the man.

"What's the problem?" He demanded.

"We will get to that in a moment. Take this coin and look at it and lean towards me so you can hear me whisper." Lindel said quietly pulling out another coin and handing it to him as she leaned over the counter.

"What the hell is this…" the man said aloud.

"Shh…lean towards me and keep looking at the coin." Lindel said. The man complied.

"My name is Agent Lindel with the NSA. You have an employee stealing from your store and funding terrorists to build several dirty bombs to detonate around Las Vegas. Keep looking at the coin and ask me questions about the coin." Lindel said.

"Are you serious? All of my employees passed background…"

"The coin…what do you think it is worth?" Lindel said matching the man's voice and then slowly motioned putting her finger to her mouth to remind him to stay quiet.

"Who?" The man asked.

"Steven, right behind us. First of all I need to build your trust because we are going to need your help later on. Steven has five thousand dollars in cash that is your money in his front right pocket and five thousand dollars in both of his back pockets. In his front left pocket are three diamonds and two blue sapphires that he pulled off from the rings in the case twenty feet to the right of him. Don't look at him!" Lindel said quietly but quickly.

"Where did you get this coin from?" The man asked as his anger grew.

"We lead a diving expedition off the coast of England and found several of these." Lindel said back in the same volume. She then lowered her voice and said, "If I am wrong about Steven, I will give you five of these. If I am right, you get to save your money and I keep the coins. Do we have an agreement?" Lindel asked pulling out four more coins and set them on the glass counter.

The man nodded and said, "My name is Rick, it is nice to meet you." Rick extended his hand and Lindel shook it.

"What's going on out here? Where's all of our customers?" An elder gentlemen said. Rick turned around and mouthed the word "No…go…" as Rick pointed to the back.

"Why, what's going on?" He asked. Frustrated Rick set down the coin and walked up to the old man and quietly whispered something to him. Lindel knew what he was saying but her attention was on Steven and her group outside. So far everything was going as planned.

The older gentleman walked up to Lindel and extended his hand and said, "Welcome young lady, it looks like you have some pretty coins here. Biggest damn gold coin I've ever seen…is it real?"

"Look for yourself." Lindel said moving the five coins closer to the elder gentleman.

"Steven may I have a word with you?" Rick asked waving him over.

"Why, I'm not an expert?" Steven asked.

"Just come here." Rick said.

"He's starting to get worried…if Rick doesn't hurry he is going to make a break for it…" Lindel whispered to the elder gentleman.

"Come over here for a second Steven." The elder man said.

"Look man, my shift is almost over and I'm just going to end my day early alright?" Steven pronounced and moved quickly to the door. Rick intercepted him and shoved him away from the door. Steven's eyes turned red and threw Rick to the ground and Steven then made a break for it. He flung open the doors and ran into Herrior. Herrior picked him up with one hand as Dan and Mohania held the doors open and threw him over Rick and then went crashing into the floor.

"Stop him!" Rick yelled out. Steven pushed the large guard out of the way as he ran for the other exit where he was met by Jacklyn. She walked into the store holding him by the neck. Everybody looked surprised at Jacklyn's strength.

"She works out…" Lindel said casually. Jacklyn then threw him hard at the ground, breaking several of his bones. He screamed in pain as he slowly started backing himself up on the floor away from Jacklyn.

He made it to Lindel and quickly used his good leg to push him up from the ground and grabbed Lindel's throat with his good arm.

"I'll kill her! I will!" Steven said frantically. Everybody in the pawn shop backed away as the elder gentleman said, "Now just calm down son…" at the same time Lindel reached behind her and touched Steven. Almost instantly he dropped her and then fell motionless to the ground.

"You would be surprised how many times I was held hostage…" Lindel said fixing her uniform.

"Did you kill him?" Rick asked walking quickly over.

"We have orders to take him in alive. We can't afford to kill another terrorist without interrogation first." Lindel said.

"Did you paralyze him?" Herrior asked.

"For the moment until the blood clot I made breaks and blood rushes to his head." Lindel said.

"Who the hell are you people?" Rick asked.

"NSA…technically we don't exist, we only go by codenames and have training to save the world against scum like him. Lindel, did you make the bet with the gentleman?" Herrior asked.

"Ah the bet…Rick would you care to search him for your items?" Lindel asked.

"How the hell do you know he has the items on him…I mean this is illegal isn't it?" Rick asked.

"There are people above the law, are the law, and are below the law…we don't fit into any of those categories. Our job is to know everything and get shit like this off the street before they can do any damage. You agreed to our bet, go ahead and search him." Lindel said stepping in front of the man and bending down above his head. "If he wakes, I'll paralyze him again – you are in no harm."

"This is some weird ass shit…is this how you guys normally operate?" Another man said.

"No Cory, we don't normally operate like this." Lindel said.

"Who told you my name?" Cory asked.

"Why…you're famous aren't you?" Lindel asked as if she was a fan.

"I'm searching him…" Rick finally said and reached in his pockets. One at a time he pulled out exactly everything Lindel said, right down to the last dollar and diamond – just as she described.

"Ok there is no way you could have known this amount, just who the hell are you people?" Rick asked.

"The same people that know that your dad has a stomach ulcer and a liver that is only half functional…" Skyka said walking in eating an apple. "Rick…you are on a 'need to know' basis, and right now you don't need. Are you willing to work with us? It will benefit both of us and you will make a profit in the meantime…" Skyka paused for a moment and took another small bite and finished her sentence with, "are you interested?"

"Cory and Chum manage the store, let some people back in and pretend like this never happened." Rick stood up with his money and precious gems and said, "Did everybody hear that? If you steal from me you will end up like him! None of this happened, now get back to work." All of his workers quickly got to work doing something and taking their eyes off from the scene.

"There is a warehouse in the back where we can talk. Give the lady back her gold dad." Rick said.

"But I haven't made an offer…" he said.

"Dad!" Rick said sternly. Lindel reached over and grabbed her coins and put them back in her bag.

"Lindel, Skyka, and Dan come with me. The rest of you…take out the garbage…" Herrior said.

"He'll be taken care of boss…" Mohania said. Herrior wasn't looking but felt Mohania's smile looking at him. Herrior paused for a moment and then continued.

The six of them walked quietly and quickly to the warehouse. On the way Rick stuck his head in a door and said, "Erase all of the data that was recorded for the past hour and shut off surveillance in the warehouse until I tell you to turn it back on again." His worker looked at him funny until Rick threw the door open and the man said, "On it Rick." Rick then slammed the door shut and continued walking towards the warehouse.

He opened the door and said, "Everybody out! Everybody including my staff out!" The staff looked at him with the same funny look but saw that Rick's face meant business so they all left. Rick told his dad to lock the door behind them as Rick ran over to the other door everybody was exiting through and locked the door. He looked up at the cameras and saw that the red light was out.

"We can talk now…I would like some answers." Rick said.

"We can't tell you everything, but I will tell you that we are here to help. This has nothing to do with you or your store, except for the one worker. Steven we have been watching for awhile and are confident we can intercept the rest of the terrorists using him as bait. We work with your government to take out scum like him. We answer directly to the President and his task force, however that information is to stay in this room. We have what we call 'partys' all over the country to collect information to save lives. What we need is to get what we call 'toys' to carry out our operations. We needed to perform this little 'show and dance' to prove to you that we are the real deal. I am the leader of my party, I over see our operations, get our orders from a person we shall call 'Admiral' and carry out missions. Here, take a look at these:" Herrior said and pulled out several folders and handed half of them to Rick and the other half to his dad. Herrior gave them a couple of moments to look through the folders.

"Rick, this is classified information – we should not be looking at this information." Rick's dad said and quickly closed the folders and gave them back. Rick did the same.

"Ok it checks out, how can we help you?" Rick asked.

"Some of the people that we work with know your show and you are pretty famous from what we hear. We also know that you have contacts and we are interested in contacts. From the shows that we have seen you have access to weapons that are not of historical value. Some of our personal may need some weapons. We need people to make some modifications to vehicles down here. We also need discretion. However we believe in trading one favor for another favor – we will not ask for something without something in return. You are obviously interested in gold, but you are interested in more than that. We do not deal in money. I look around here and see different vehicles, some of which I am not familiar with. If these items interest you, we can acquire them for you." Herrior said looking at the vehicles and motioning towards them.

"Ok…what do you want?" Rick asked again, this time with more of a business voice.

"We need a person in your town to observe and report unusual things…things such as what these folders contained. We need a vehicle that is bullet and bomb proof. We need people to brainstorm ideas for us in our missions to help keep us alive. I've been shot several dozen times…and I would like to cut that number down to zero times. Rick, your influence over people is what we are looking for. Your interest in the gold coins is of little value compared to what we can get for you – if you can help us. For your attention so far…" Herrior said and took out two gold coins and gave one to Rick and one to his dad.

"So you need a vehicle that is bullet proof with some additional tweaks…that is easy enough. Our guns that we use for the show we purchase, legally, from a store up town." Rick made sure to make Herrior know that everything was legal.

"Legal matters don't matter to me, what is legal on one side of this world is different on the other side. So do we have a deal?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah I think we can help you out. I have a friend of mine that builds and repairs anything with an engine, I'll make sure you get a discounted price. As far as firepower, I know of a couple of places with fully automatic weapons. None of the cars here would benefit you any, I think you are looking more towards an army humvee. Let me make some calls and see what I can do. Do you have some time to stick around?" Rick asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "No…we have one terrorist right now and we need to find out where his terror cell is and take it down. The sooner the better, there more time we waste, the more of an opportunity the terrorists have of collecting funds and rallying people to their cause."

"He's right Rick, let's get the ball rolling on this. This isn't about money at the moment as it is saving lives." The elder gentleman said.

"I will get right on it." Rick said to Herrior, and then turning to his father said "Can you go make sure none of this was recorded and everything is running smoothly out there?"

"You mean make sure those two idiots didn't do anything stupid?" He replied.

"Yeah dad, go make sure the shop didn't burn down." Rick said sarcastically back.

"I appreciate the urgency and sensitive nature of this Rick." Herrior said.

"I appreciate you helping me keep thirty thousand dollars of my money in the shop and for the gold. Usually when police come in, it's because one of my employees screwed up and bought something illegal. So far though, I've made more money off from you than my store will probably gross today."

"About those phone calls hun…" Skyka said.

"Sorry, let's go to my office." Rick said and led them to his personal office. He made several phone calls, got upset at one person, haggled the price on several others and the rest of the calls went smoothly. After his last call he hung up and said, "The best I can do for you is a customer that wants thirty grand for his humvee. For that price you could buy a brand new blazer…but the decision is up to you."

"What about any four door blazers?" Dan asked.

"How…can I ask how old you are?" Rick asked cautiously.

"Old enough to have killed hundreds of bad guys…let's just say I have the 'right stuff'." Dan replied with a smile.

"That's enough of this subject!" Herrior demanded, his voice echoed through the small office.

"I didn't mean to upset you, that was none of my business to ask. What kind of blazer?" Rick said quickly.

"2013 Chevy Trailblazer 4 door 4x4, I want a lift kit on it, no engine, no transmission, no exhaust system. I want the axles hooked up properly, I want it to be bullet and bomb proof with tinted windows and the room inside roomy enough to fit a person like him." Dan said pointing to Herrior.

"You want a Trailblazer…without the stuff to make it go?" Rick asked double checking what he wanted.

"Can you fulfill the request?" Herrior asked.

"Does it have to be a 2013?" Rick asked looking back at Dan.

"No, any year you think might be the strongest." Dan said.

"That can be done, hold on a second." Rick said and began to dial a number on his phone.

"We need to setup an outpost out here. Rick where is the closest building, preferably underground where we can setup an outpost to conduct our activities. Is there an abandoned building in this area that we can seize?" Herrior asked.

"Buy…that we can buy…" Dan corrected him quickly.

"Let me put you guys up in a hotel on me for tonight while I get some things sorted out." Rick said. He pulled out a key ring and tossed them on the table. "Hilton suites…my treat, just don't run up a big tab, room 432."

"Thanks Rick – let's go." Lindel said grabbing the keys and motioning everybody that they should leave.

"Let's head out." Herrior said opening the door.

"We will get you the baseball card you wanted as well, what was his name… Honus Wagner? We'll get him to sign it as well." Lindel said as Dan grabbed the keys and walked out.

"Wait…what? Hold on…" Rick said as his heart jumped up into his throat.

Lindel spun around to stop him and said, "You give us what we want…we'll get you what you want…deal?" Lindel asked shooting out her right hand. Rick stopped in his tracks and looked back in shock. He looked down and shook her hand.

"We scratch our back, we will scratch yours." Lindel said.

"That would be worth millions…" Rick said.

"Yeah…we know…don't you have some calls to make?" Lindel asked.

"I will get you your vehicle by tomorrow!" Rick called back. Lindel turned back and put a finger over her mouth as Herrior's party left. Several minutes passed and Rick's dad came up to Rick in his office who was on hold and asked, "What's going on son?"

"We're going to be rich dad, I don't know how much I am supposed to say, but if this deal goes through we will be able to buy a small island." Rick said.

"Screw that – I want a big island…"

"Nothing is ever good enough for you huh dad?" Rick said smiling.

"Hilton suite my ass…where is the dirt? Where's this man at that said if we needed something just to ask?" Mohania asked.

"So what's the rush Lindel?" Herrior asked.

"I've got the information needed to go back into time. It's only a small window, but I know exactly what Rick wants." Lindel said.

"Open a portal…be…very…discreet!" Herrior said slowly and clearly.

"I'll start scanning for an opening, am I going alone?" Lindel asked.

"Take Dan with you, if something goes wrong – stop time and get back here." Herrior said after considering the options.

"I don't anticipate any trouble." Dan said as Lindel was still in her trance.

"Yes…I would like room service please?" Mohania asked.

"No! No…no…no…" Crystal said running over and grabbing the phone away from Mohania.

"This is room service, did you want something?" The voice on the other end said.

"Yes…uh, fourteen chicken dinners – all the side dishes that go with it please, thanks." Crystal said hanging up the phone.

"I wanted the steak…chicken gets stuck in my teeth…" Mohania said.

"Listen…you don't leave my sight, you have to be good here…no eating people." Crystal said.

"Children…over here please…" Skyka said.

"What information did you get from the alliance man?" Herrior asked.

"He claims he was working alone, like they all do. I didn't get all of the information I wanted before we had to kill him. What I did get is they are smuggling in a group of people called 'Mexicans' and making them fighters for the alliance. I don't know how or where though…he didn't want to cooperate." Skyka said debriefing Herrior.

"He burned up rather well though." Mohania said with a smile.

"We need more information. Nobody saw him die or heard him. We need more scouts…we need to spread out and gather more information." Skyka said.

"Got the location, but it's a small window…" Lindel said and started a portal.

"I'll give Admiral a call and see if we can get some contacts." Herrior said.

"Portal is opening let's go!" Lindel said quickly as she grabbed Dan and they went through the portal as it closed quickly behind them.

"Why does she have so little time?" Jessica asked.

"I have no idea…making a portal and moving like we do from world to world I don't understand either, but I trust her. Before we would just open a portal and went back in the past. She might know something I don't. Let me contact Admiral and see what we can do in the meantime." Herrior said as he pulled out his hearthstone.

The year is 1909 as Dan and Lindel quickly came out of the portal. Lindel quickly shut it as a group of people came around the corner.

"Keep out of sight and change your appearance to look like them!" Lindel said quickly putting a hand on Dan and pushing him back. The crowd came hustling to get to the stands. Dan and Lindel quickly altered their appearance, hoping nobody noticed. Then both of them cheered and entered in the middle of the crowd and started shouting some of the same things the crowd was shouting.

"Go Pittsburgh Pirates'!" Lindel yelled and let out several hollers. Lindel grabbed Dan's hand and cheerfully lifted their hands in the air. They ran up to the bars right next to the dugout as Lindel yelled, "Honus! Honus, can I have a card of you? It's for my sick brother it would mean the world to him."

The people in the dugout looked strange at her as Dan's strength suddenly went from him and his face as boils came on instantly. Nobody saw it, but Dan. He hadn't ever felt this sick before in his life. His struggle to heal himself he had to suppress down deep inside of him and let him feel the pain hurt him.

"Honus just started playing…why do you want his card?" A ball player asked. Lindel turned to him and looked in his eyes. She started her hypnotizing immediately as she said, "He has been a fan for a long time, it would mean the world to him…he hasn't long to live." This was enough time to send her message that she wanted. She broke the eye connection and looked down at the other players.

"Honus…yo Honus…come make this young lady happy." The man said looking down at him. They young man stood up and walked down to her.

"Ho…n…us, Hon…us Wa…g…er…" Dan struggled to get out. He wasn't acting this time; whatever Lindel gave him was awful. Honus saw this and said, "How long does he have?"

Lindel quickly shook her head a little indicating that he didn't have long. She looked deep into Honus's eyes and started her hypnotizing.

"Please sir, can we have a card? Our pa smokes and we hate it, probably the reason we don't have it in our pa's cigarette packs." Lindel said still sending her subliminal messages to him.

"Don't you ever start smoking yourselves ya hear?" Honus said. The message was planted in his brain.

"Oh no sir…you have our word!" Lindel said with a perfect slang now.

"I have one in the back, let me go run back and get it for ya." Honus said and ran into back into the lockers. He quickly grabbed a fresh card of himself, signed it, and then ran back. The coach was yelling at him, but Lindel had him under her control. He reached up and gave her the card.

"Thank you Honus, it means the world to him." Lindel said getting the card and looking it over to see if it was what Rick wanted…it was, and in perfect condition.

Lindel took Dan and walked him back into where they came from as Dan moaned in pain.

"Let's get you in the bathroom hun…ma'am, is there anybody in that bathroom? I need to help my brother but I do not want to barge in and scare some women in there." Lindel asked a middle aged woman.

"Sure, let me check for you." The woman said and went into the bathroom. Around ten seconds later she came out and said it was safe to go in.

"Thank you ma'am" Lindel said and helped Dan into the bathroom.

"Sorry about that Dan, it was the first thing I could think of…" Lindel said very concerned. Lindel healed his body as Dan did the same thing.

"Ok let's open a portal and get out of here." Dan said.

"We have one more stop…" Lindel said and formed a portal and channeled her power into it as they stepped through it and into another era in American history.

The year this time was 1957 and they were at a raceway. The same procedure took place when they saw the local clothing and touched their trinkets to change their appearance. They walked out of a darkened area and walked up the concrete ramp to the raceway. The announcer was announcing some of the drivers and their cars.

"Same plan?" Dan asked. Lindel's eyes were closed and quickly shook her head. Dan looked around to take in the scene and to try to come up with his own plan, but knew Lindel was collecting ten times more information than he was.

Minutes passed as Lindel continued to keep her eyes closed. Dan let out a sigh not knowing what to do, but he stood patiently.

Nearly an hour passed when Lindel finally opened her eyes and said quietly, "There are alliance here. The only plan I can come up with is killing two crewmen, that's what they call the people that work on the cars, and take on their image and then drain all of the power from the car. The owner will be pissed at the car, probably kick it several times and then we will offer to tune it up for them. We get in it and simply drive away, I will make a portal and we will simply vanish."

"Killing people in a different time period is risky…" Dan said.

"Yes…but I don't know what else to do." Lindel said looking for advice.

"We lure them, we being you, away from the pit and then you drain their energy – fast and quickly. We'll then drag them over to somewhere private and then alter our appearances to look like them. The rest of the plan sounds good. Where are the alliance?" Dan asked.

"Driving against our car…a bet has been made and they are going to win a lot of money, but there isn't much we can do about that." Lindel said.

"We could convince them to drop the bet…" Dan said.

"Hardly…ever try to reason with an alliance before?" Lindel asked.

"New plan, you go invisible and drain as much power as you can. I'll stop time and knock one out and hide him. Then I'll disguise as the one I took out, take his place and you drain power from the alliance car. I'll then take the car, you meet up with me and we'll disappear into the night. No killing, history isn't altered and we get our car. Sound good?" Dan asked.

"Do it." Lindel said.

Time stopped.

Lindel vanished as Dan ran forward and propelled himself high up into the air. He flew over to the race car, picked out the main technician that was in charge. He looked over at the driver of the car and had another idea.

"Lindel can you hear me?" Dan called out.

"Yes?" Lindel's voice called out.

"I'm going to take the driver and propel him backwards and start a fire. I'm going to then drive the car out of the north entrance. Can you go open the gate for me and then flash a light to tell me when you are ready?" Dan yelled out.

"I'm right here…you don't need to yell…" Lindel's voice said behind him. Dan spun around and saw nothing.

"I'm way ahead of you now…" Lindel's voice called out. Lindel accepted the plan and was moving into position. Dan ran over to the driver's side of the car. He identified it as some sort of Ferrari, but either way he knew he was going to have to time this perfectly. He opened the door and pulled the driver out and then summoned a fire elemental.

"What is my command?" It asked.

"Go over to those tanks and blow them up when I tell you to." Dan said as he crawled into the driver seat. Dan looked over the controls really quick and looked forward to see that the gates were opened. He stuck his head out the window and yelled, "Are you ready?"

"I'll mask your escape!" Lindel's voice called back.

Time resumed.

Dan stuck out his hand and the fire elemental instantly exploded the highly volatile fuel. Everybody quickly took cover at the explosion. Dan then created a whirlwind was the wind took the fire and spread it all over. Lindel was under the other cars lined up and instantly drained all of the driver's energy into her body. Dan floored the Ferrari as the engine sprung to life and the car jumped forward and accelerated so fast that it pressed Dan back into the seat. The gate came up quickly but he saw that it wasn't designed for speeds of one hundred miles per hour. Dan started to take his foot off the accelerator until Lindel materialized in the passenger side seat.

"Keep it going, I will levitate the car – we'll get over the bump and I will set us down gently." Lindel said quickly. Dan floored the Ferrari again as Lindel created a white bubble over the car. The car hit the bump and gently floated back down to the ground. The car hit the streets and accelerated again.

"Portal?" Dan asked.

"Not a chance right now. Let's focus on getting out of here." Lindel said.

"Fence up ahead…" Dan said as he held his hand out the window and instantly froze the fence. The fence went instantly brittle as the car smashed through it. Dan hit the brakes and turned hard onto the road. Dan's fire elemental went out as Dan drove out of range and the inferno almost instantly died out.

"Where's my car? Who took my car?" The driver stood up irate.

"It drove off – went out the front gate!" One of the alliance yelled.

"Do just sit there – go after him!" The driver screamed at him.

"If I get the car it's mine…" the alliance said back.

"Screw you! Somebody get me a car!" The driver yelled. Everybody looked around not wondering what to do.

"Call security! Call the police! Get me a damn car!" The driver yelled.

"Hand the pink slip over and I will go after them…" the same cocky alliance said.

"Shove it asshole!"

"Car is mine if I get it before you…" the alliance yelled as he held out his middle finger as he tried to start his engine. Not a peep came from the engine though. The alliance driver tried again but his car wouldn't even acknowledge him. The other drivers tried their cars and even their CB's but nothing worked. Even everybody's watches had stopped. Nobody was going anywhere. All the cussing in the world wasn't getting anybody anywhere.

"We need to find a place to get out of here Lindel." Dan said urgently. He slowed his speed down to the speed limit for the road and was driving casually.

"I'm scanning…I don't know this area and I'm trying to avoid having the alliance know that I'm scanning. There are too many people around; can you find a place without people?" Lindel asked.

"Ok just calm your mind for now, let me take a look here." Dan said scanning the road. They had just strolled up on a town and it was bustling. "Take a look at everybody for now and change your appearance." Dan said as he touched his trinket and his outfit instantly changed to grey jeans, a white button up shirt, grey suspenders and a black hat. Lindel changed into a red dress that came down to her knees. The dress had white small spots all over it. Her hair was pulled back and a head band pulling her hair back. Dan saw a group of men with slick backed all smoking cigarettes.

"Well lookie what we have here boys…some out of towners, say who's the hot dame?" The man said smiling and reached back and gently hit one of his friends as they all started laughing.

"Is that how you treat a lady?" Lindel asked batting her eyes and leaned over to make eye contact with the man. The man looked back at Lindel with a cocky grin. That grin quickly got wiped off his when Lindel's eyes met his.

"You are sorry aren't you?" Lindel asked.

"I am sorry." The man said in a monotone voice.

"Ask your friends to leave." Lindel said.

"Get on out of here boys." The man said back in the same voice and waved them away.

"What's wrong with you man?"

"I said leave!" The man said pointing away from him and turned around looking them square in the face.

"Whatever man…just chill out…come on boys, let's leave this scene and go find some other chicks." The man's friend said as they left.

"Look deep into my eyes…" Lindel told the man. He did what he was told and Lindel began absorbing information slowly from the man.

After a moment she released the man, but not before planting a subliminal message to go home and to go directly to bed because this was just a dream.

"Take this road left and head out three miles there is a desert with nobody around. There is a police station on the right about half a mile up, so take it easy. If we get pulled over I'll be able to get us out of it, but this is a stolen car." Lindel said.

"I'll create a diversion…" Dan said and opened his door. He put his hand on the ground and instantly an earthquake started. People started to scream, glass windows broke and people pulled over their cars. He shut the door and started the turn left. He quickly sped through town and then gunned the accelerator as they left town.

"Another mile or so…but I'm sensing something wrong, can you get off this road?" Lindel asked worried.

"Mmm…let me see…" Dan said looking around. He saw a farm house and slammed on the breaks as he turned on the dirt driveway.

"Is anybody home?" Dan asked.

"Three people, they don't know we are here though – what is your plan?" Lindel asked.

"The barn" Dan said with a smile. He slowed the car and drove up to the barn.

"Monitor for activity in the house." Dan said as he got out of the car. He went up to the barn door and found it locked. He pulled out one of his maces and slammed it into the lock, instantly breaking it and several boards on it as well. Next he swung the doors open to reveal a pleasant surprise. The barn was abandoned and was nearly cleaned out of everything. Lindel flashed the car's lights at Dan as he turned around and nodded. Lindel was in the driver's seat as she gently pulled the car into the barn and when there was enough room Dan closed the doors back up. The damaged doors weren't able to close entirely, but it gave them enough room to hide.

"Anybody coming at us?" Dan asked.

"Nope – I'll start looking for a place to take this back to our time period." Lindel said and closed her eyes.

"And I'll be on lookout." Dan said peeking out of the barn doors and keeping watch.

An hour passed and Lindel was still concentrating and Dan was getting anxious. He had watched several people come and go from the house including the newspaper delivery boy. He wondered how far he had to ride his bike in order to get here, but then watched him slowly ride his bike away. Earlier he put his hand on the ground and had tried to sense vibrations in the ground to detect people coming, but there were too many vibrations from other things to tell. The anxiety was building inside of him as he tried to contain himself from telling Lindel to hurry. He looked around the barn and saw something that might buy them some time. It was a worn out blue tarp hanging from the wall. He quickly ran over to it and unhooked it and put it over the car. Afterwards he looked at Lindel and her face was turning pale, she was losing power.

"Lindel that's enough for now" Dan said.

"We have to get back." Lindel said with determination.

"You are losing power and if we have to fight you are not going to be as effective." Dan said.

Lindel stopped concentrating as she walked over to the side of the barn and sat down. She felt her head start to spin as she put her head between her knees.

"We'll get back, don't worry about it. Just relax for now, when nightfall comes I will see what kinds of food I can steal to get your energy back up." Dan said. Once he was put the finishing touches on the tarp, which didn't hide the car at all but it did cover it up, he pulled out his hearthstone and opened a portal to Herrior.

"Dan, what is taking so long?" Herrior asked.

"Lindel can't make a portal back. I don't know how much time has passed, but I figure about an hour she's been trying. She's exhausted right now and is resting." Dan said.

"What's the problem? What's going on?" Herrior asked with a lot of concern in his voice.

"Some kind of interference…I can't even lock on to Tranquil…could be anything, I don't know Herrior…" Lindel said clearly exhausted.

"We'll try to get you from Tranquil…"

"Herrior…if I can't get to Tranquil, Tranquil can't get us." Lindel said clearly upset.

"I'm going to try anyways, we can't just leave you two there! Are you safe?" Herrior's tone quickly changed.

"For the time being we are. We are in a barn and out of sight. We did run into some alliance earlier but they didn't recognize us and we didn't confront them. I did stop time so that may have caused some unwanted attention, I'm just guessing though Herrior…we are several miles from where we stole the car. I will get Lindel rested up and then tomorrow we will travel further from the site…or we maybe need to go back, Herrior I don't know anything about this interference or where it's coming from…" Dan said almost desperate towards the end.

"Alright, I want a report every five to six hours. In the meantime I will see what we can do in Tranquil." Herrior said.

"I will do my best." Dan said nodding at him.

"Figure out what's going on…don't take any unnecessary chances." Herrior said.

"Yes dad...we will figure out what is going on and get back as soon as we can." Dan said. Herrior didn't seem amused.

"Take care of each other and get back her so I can kick your ass…" Herrior said.

"That is the plan. I will let you know more when we know more. Take care." Dan said and closed the portal. Dan felt the ground shake slightly.

"Somebody is coming…" Dan said quickly putting away his hearthstone and ran over to the door.

"Nobody is coming." Lindel snapped back. Dan put his hands on the ground and felt the rhythm of two feet coming towards them. "I beg to differ…" Dan whispered. He looked back and saw Lindel lying on her side.

"Who's in there?" A man yelled at the barn.

"My sister and I, she is sick and we have no place to go. I am sorry about your barn, I will fix it." Dan called out.

"Why don't you two come on out of there…nice and slowly…" the man said.

"Ok we will, I have to carry my sister." Dan said back.

"You got any guns?"

"No sir." Dan called back as he went over to Lindel and picked her up in his arms. He touched his trinket to change his appearance into the same clothing, but only very dirty and ragged.

"Nice and slow now…" the man said as Dan staggered out of the barn pretending he had a limp.

"What's wrong with you?" The man said with a shotgun pointing at them.

"Don't know…can't afford a doctor. Please sir we just want to rest. Let us rest up and then we will move on." Dan said pleading his case. The man raised his shotgun to the air and sighed as he told them to go inside his house.

"Storms a coming and this leaky old barn won't protect you…she looks paler than a blizzard, when was the last time you two ate something?" The man asked.

"Been awhile sir, but we aren't looking for handouts sir." Dan said.

"This is my land and I am responsible for who is on my land, now hand her over and I will feed you and give you rest. You don't plan on grabbing my gun from me do you?" The man asked.

"No sir." Dan said moving towards him.

"Good, 'cause it aint loaded. Name is James McDouglas." James said taking Lindel from Dan. "She is very malnourished, what's her name?"

"Lindel, my name is Dan."

"Well Dan and Lindel next time knock on the door instead of breaking into an old barn, is this how you have been living?" James asked.

"Our parents died…" Lindel whispered.

"We do odd jobs here and there." Dan said.

"Got anything else in the barn?" James asked.

"Just a tarp we were going to wrap up in. The tarp belongs to you; we weren't going to steal it." Lindel said and then let out a weak cough.

"You two aren't the stealing types." A sudden burst of lightning lit flashed across the sky followed by an enormous crash.

"Come on now, you take my rifle and I will get your sister in the house." James said handing Dan the shotgun. James then started to run for the house as Dan started to hobble faster.

"Come on son, we need to nail down the shutters!" James yelled out. The wind started to pick up and then the hail came.

They made it up to the porch as two teenage women were out hammering up planks of wood.

"I'll help." Dan said.

"You will not…get in here and help me with your sister. You are in no shape to weather out this storm. Gals – I want you in as soon as you are done." The man said.

"Come with me lad, this storm is like no other – we are getting down in the cellar." James said walking to the back of the house. They turned a corner and said, "Pull up that rug there is a rope to pull up the floor." Dan hobbled over and did as the man instructed. It revealed a staircase down to a dark damp cellar. James went first still carrying Lindel. Dan followed him down as he heard the women slamming the door shut and then started boarding up the front door.

"How bad is this storm supposed to be?" Dan asked.

"It just blew up…saw it coming about an hour ago. There's bound to be a tornado sprouting up from this one. Glad I got you two while I did." James said.

"Thanks for taking us in." Dan said as James laid Lindel down on the floor.

"We're not out of the woods just yet you stay here with your sister." James said and ran back up the stairs to help out his girls. Dan waited until he was gone and quickly put his hand on the ground. He began to commune with the elements.

"What's going on?" Lindel quickly but quietly asked.

"This isn't a natural storm, there elements are telling me that a great evil is coming. I can protect this house, but the elements won't tell me what is causing it. Are you ok?" Dan asked.

"I'm doing better; I don't want to attempt a portal with them around. What's the plan?" Lindel asked.

"Assume this storm is going causing interfere and ride out the storm." Dan said.

"Let me do a scan real quick." Lindel said as she cleared her mind and began to meditate. She quickly picked up on what the elements were telling Dan and said, "I can sense something…it's not evil…there's a lot of power…I can't detect what's above the storm, it is as if the storm is hiding something."

"I'll protect the house, you get recharged." Dan said.

"Those two women are his daughters. Their mother was killed in a farming accident. She was sixteen when she gave birth to the first one, seventeen to the second." Lindel said quickly.

"Conserve your energy…" Dan said looking straight at her.

"Gather some food together and get the lanterns the candles and some blankets!" They could hear the father say.

"Is the car going to be safe?" Lindel asked.

"Yes, I created a shelter around that as well. We will be safe. Do you have the baseball card?" Dan asked. Lindel nodded as she looked up the stairs. That was Dan's queue to stop the talking.

"That's the damndest thing…" James said. He looked down the stairs at Dan and Lindel looking up at him. "The wind, rain and hail are no longer hitting our house."

"We said a prayer." Lindel said back.

"Keep the prayers coming then, Patricia, Mary come on down." James said waving them over. Both women came running down with their hands holding big baskets full of goodies.

"Ok here is some bread with some strawberry jam. Patricia has some blankets for you, lay down both of you. We have enough supplies to last several days." Mary said.

"Thank you…all of you…" Lindel said quietly. Both Dan and Lindel laid down as the women gave them pillows and blankets. Mary started making food for both of their guests. They all ate sandwiches and discussed the storm and storms in the past.

An hour later the storm still unleashed its rage across the land, but not a single drop of rain hit the house. Something unusual happened though; there was some pounding on the front door.

"What is that?" Mary asked.

"That wasn't the storm…that is a person dad." Patricia said.

"Our house is secured, they can't get in." James said. Suddenly they heard a board snap in two as the pounding continued.

"I'm going to go take a look all of you stay down here and be quiet." James said.

"Dad, we can shoot!" Mary protested.

"You stay here!" James snapped back and didn't like Mary's comment.

"Just relax" Dan said calmly as he put his hand down on the ground and tried to determine what was outside. He felt several foot prints outside, but it was hard to determine how many. He turned to Lindel and said, "Possibly several dozen".

"I don't think there is any." Lindel said back.

"What are you talking about?" Mary quickly asked.

"Counting the thunder" Dan lied quickly.

"Bullshit you are!" Mary said scared.

"Your dad told you to stay here, I'm going to go upstairs and see what is going on." Dan said rushing up the stairs. Suddenly a gun shot went off, seconds later another one went off.

"What the hell are these things?" James asked.

"Ghouls, that gun may or may not kill them. Go downstairs, I've fought these before." Dan said.

"What are you going…what the…" James stared in awe as Dan pulled out his maces and quickly energized them and his body as he ran towards the door.

"When I get out, barricade this door! Do not let me back in until I say 'guardian angels', got it?" Dan asked.

"Who…what are you?" James asked.

"A fighter, do what I say and you will stay alive. I'm going to draw them away from the house. Only shoot if they breach the house. Stay away from the windows and keep track of everybody in the basement." Dan said. He then turned around and ripped off the boards from the door and instantly the ghouls started coming in. Dan's maces went to work and killed the ghouls quickly. He then shot forward a lightning bolt that jumped from ghoul to ghoul – killing each of them.

"Shut the door behind me and barricade it!" Dan yelled back and then turned and ran out into the field of ghouls. James, still awestruck about what he saw, did as Dan told him to do but curiosity got the best of him. After barricading the door, he looked out the window and saw Dan and a man like creature made of dirt and fire. The dirt man looked back and saw James looking at him. James reflexes instantly pulled him back from the window and reloaded his shotgun.

"Get away from the windows." Lindel said sternly. James turned around and pointed the gun at Lindel. He instantly pulled his shotgun up and away from Lindel.

"You aren't who you say you are!" James said pointing at Lindel.

"This isn't a normal storm. We are fighters of the threats of this world. Which way did Dan go?" Lindel asked.

"Front door – he said not to let him in unless he said the phrase 'guardian angels'." James said quickly. Lindel let out a quick smile.

"Stay away from the windows and doors…go down in your cellar quickly before they see you." Lindel then said urgently.

"This is my farm; I will stay and fight for my land!" James insisted.

"I understand, but what you are about to see and hear may kill you. We lied to you before, but I am not now. It is hard to start a friendship based on a lie so let me quickly start over. I was weakened, essentially sick – so that part is true. But now you need to get down and I need to join Dan in the fight. This is our fight, not yours. Please James - go down in the cellar with your girls." Lindel pleaded her case.

James adjusted his grip on the shotgun and looked around. He took in all of the sights and sounds that he had never heard of before. He knew something wasn't normal, but he had planted roots at his parents' home and he would not give up without a fight.

"Now is not the time to fight…James if you fight you will get killed and your daughters will probably get killed as well…please just do this." Lindel said more urgently.

"Fine! But I want the truth after all of this is over!" James said.

"Truth is…we're not sure what we are up against, but I need to get out there and I need you and your daughters to be safe." Lindel said.

"Fine…alright…" James said and ran past Lindel and down into the cellar with much hesitation. Lindel turned invisible and flew out the front door and saw Dan getting overwhelmed by ghouls. She took flight and flew through all of the ghouls that had him pinned to the ground and instantly drew their power into her body. She appeared in her evil banshee form and began to summon her undead army.

"I had things under control…" Dan said resummoning his elementals.

"Ok Mohania…" Lindel said in a sinister voice, "Cover me while I assemble my army." Dan held his mace to the sky and attracted a lightning bolt. It stuck his mace and shot out in every direction, killing dozens of ghouls around him. He then flew into the air and began summoning lightning bolts from the sky to strike at the ghouls. The lightning strikes came one after another, instantly exploding each one.

During this time Lindel had summoned several dozen undead fighters. "Go defend that house and the barn and I will summon more when I have more power."

"Yes my mistress" all of her warriors said at the same time as they moved in formation, attacking everything that got in their way.

"You ok down here? I'm going topside to take a look." Dan said.

"Yesss…" Lindel said as she sent out bolts of blue lightning absorbing the ghoul's power, reenergizing her. Dan then commanded his elementals to defend Lindel and then flew up towards the storm. Ice and rain pelted his helmet as he increased his speed. He flew into the enormous thunderhead and he didn't see anything unusual, so he propelled himself further upward. Eventually he burst through the top of the thunderhead clouds and saw clear skies. "This looks like an ordinary storm, but what is bringing in the ghouls?" Dan thought. He flew higher and saw that the clouds were coming from a factory. "What in the world?" Dan thought and then pushed himself as fast as he could propel himself through the air with his maces in front of him. The immense pressure from the air that he was pushing out from him disrupted the storm slightly as the clouds parted out of the way for Dan to accelerate faster.

About a minute later he crashed through the chimneys that were belching out the enormous storm. The bricks and mortar crashed in on itself as Dan instantly stopped in mid-air and then flew back down on top on the roof. He put his hand on the building and slowly the ground beneath it started to shake. As the seconds passed the earthquake intensified and screams came from the building as the windows broke and sounds of things breaking inside were heard. Something suddenly exploded, producing an enormous explosion where the chimney stacks were – sending Dan flying backwards and tumbling on the roof. His armor absorbed the majority of the damage, but a quick healing spell and he was good to go.

The building was now on fire, but the fire was normal. It burned with an eerie dark green and blue color. He suddenly heard several loud screams that weren't normal coming from inside the building and alarms started going off as the sprinkler systems kicked on.

"No! Not the water – shut it off!" A voice yelled from inside. That was Dan's target and he thought it was time to make an appearance. He flew up to about ten feet and then dove straight down with his maces in front of him as he burst through the ceiling. The buildings structure was badly shaken by the blast as Dan landed and instantly ignited the man on fire. He screamed in agony as he decided that sprinkler systems were suddenly a good idea. He ran under it, trying to stop his skin from melting off from his body.

"Kill me…hurry!" A banshee voice yelled out in desperation. Dan didn't have time to decide whether or not it was a good or bad idea. He ran over and smashed his face with one of his maces and instantly the fire went out and the storm's power turned into just a gentle rain.

"No…no – kill him!" The man said. Dan instantly turned to him and held out his mace as the man's body ignited on fire again. He then slammed his mace on the ground and the entire building shook violently as it crumbled all around them, leaving nobody alive – except for Dan.

As the dust started to settle, he started looking around for alliance, which he suspected was behind this. A simple building falling on them would not stop them, but nobody moved. The onlookers stared in awe at Dan when he decided it would be best to leave the scene and quickly. He put his maces away and propelled himself quickly into the sky. People stared in awe as he flew instantly into the air and disappeared.

Dan flew back to the house and landed quickly to see Lindel's undead army killing the last bunch of ghouls.

"Is the family safe?" Dan asked.

"I think so…I couldn't detect them before though when they were coming to the barn." Lindel said changing back to her human form.

"Don't know why…can you detect them now?" Dan asked. Lindel reached out her mind and quickly felt their presence. "Yeah they are still in the cellar. James has both women with guns, but they don't have intentions of leaving the cellar until we get back. What changed? What did you do?"

"Killed a banshee; they were torturing it somehow and it was producing this storm, I think that is what messed up your senses. Ever hear of something like that?" Dan asked.

"Yeah…unfortunately…" Lindel said raising her hand and sucked the energy out of her undead.

"You need to alter your appearance Lindel." Dan said looking over her and then his.

"They know something is up Dan, the question now is what are we going to do about it?" Lindel asked.

"Should we just leave? Have them forget that we were ever here? The ghouls are burning up and your undead army is banished. Memories will fade and it is only their word that we were here." Dan suggested.

"I…my heart goes out to them though…" Lindel said looking towards the house. "I think you are right though, we want to change history as little as possible while we are here. James did see a ghoul though and what about the people that saw you?"

"They will have seen something, but they all knew what they were doing was wrong and I only killed the one man, I think, that was behind the operation. A lot of people evacuated the building before I smashed it. Let's leave them alone and just get out of here." Dan said.

"I can sense an opening; it's an abandoned parking lot that is not being monitored." Lindel said.

"Let's go." Dan said pulling out his hearthstone and telling Herrior what happened.

Halfway through the conversation Lindel stopped Dan and said, "They are watching us…"

"I need to go…" Dan said to Herrior.

"I heard, brainwash them if you need to Lindel." Herrior said and then the portal disappeared and Dan put his hearthstone away.

"We're here to help – I'm not letting this farm get ripped apart! My girls can shoot, where are they at?" James asked coming out with his shotgun and Mary and Patricia had revolvers in each hand. They started looking around and saw the dead ghouls had burned up, leaving only pieces of their rotten flesh behind. Lindel reached out with her hand and snapped her fingers as the rest of the flesh burned up.

"They are all dead. The storm was strengthened by a banshee's power that Dan killed. We aren't even supposed to be here, we were stuck in this time and I didn't have the ability to take us home. Now that the forces that kept us here are gone we are going to leave." Lindel said.

"I don't understand any of that, just what is going on here?" James said leveling the shotgun towards them.

"Actually…she is telling the truth, and we do need to leave now. Shooting us won't do any good. Believe what you want to, but we have to go." Dan said.

"So I'm supposed to believe that ghouls…"

"That you saw with your own eyes…" Dan reminded him.

"Yes…that I saw with my own eyes…but banshees, and where exactly do you have to go?" James asked. Lindel then levitated off from the ground with her hands out. She then spun around as she slowly disappeared. Suddenly all their guns were ripped from their hands and thrown to Dan's feet. The three of them looked shocked. Dan then picked up a pistol, held it to his chest and fired off several rounds. James looked astonished as Dan bent over and picked up the spent rounds from the ground.

"I…I don't believe it…" James said looking at him.

"Your bullets would not have done any good. Ghouls need to be struck down with a weapon. Bullets only cause a small hole and piss them off. They won't come back." Dan said as Lindel rematerialized next to Dan.

"And what if they do?" James asked.

"Get some swords and learn to fight with them. Strike at anything coming at you first, it will probably be a hand or an arm. Then quickly strike at their face; but you do not have to worry about that. Take your guns and go back to your home. Its best if you just forget what happened today. Some rumors are going to come up, I'm sure people will talk – they always do, but all of this will pass. It's best to just let things run their course." Dan said.

"You have seen things not of this world that are not meant to be seen. I can erase the things from your mind if you would like." Lindel said.

"You are not touching our minds!" James said defensively.

"Ok…let's just everybody settle down here. We came here to retrieve an artifact and we got it. For some reason we were stuck here to take care of this problem. We have no idea when or where a fight like this is going to break out. We saved many lives today including yours. You will not see us again and we will be on our way. I am sorry if we caused any confusion in your lives. We are going to turn around and enter your barn and disappear now. You can come after us with your guns, but as you saw it wouldn't do any good. You take care of your two girls now…" Dan ended and turned to walk away.

"What about us?" James asked.

"You've survived many storms before, you will be fine." Lindel said back.

Both of them entered the barn and Lindel prepared a portal. Dan thought it best to leave the tarp over as he got into the driver's seat. Lindel flew into the air as the portal opened beneath the car. When it was big enough, the car simply fell through the portal and Lindel followed behind it. James and his daughters saw the glow coming out from the barn and then quickly fade. They went in to investigate and found nothing.

"Who do you think they were dad?" Patricia asked.

"Best we forget this ever happened I reckon…" James said with his shotgun over his shoulder. "Let's close up the barn."

Dan and Lindel landed in exactly the location Lindel wanted. Dan started to remove the tarp as he said, "Let's drive this do the hotel that we are staying, we had better get some decent gasoline in this engine as well. Is it almost morning?"

"We have about an hour, what's gasoline?" Lindel asked.

"It's what makes the car go. Probably an oil change wouldn't hurt either but I'll leave that up to the dealer to decide." Dan said.

"You just want to drive the car…" Lindel said looking over at him smiling.

"Yeah…yeah I kind of do, but in my defense gasoline from the fifty's usually heavily contaminated. I'll need you to access the credit card reader so that we can buy gas. I don't have a credit card." Dan said.

"So you mean we are going to steal gasoline?" Lindel asked.

"I'll make a note to have Rick pay them back." Dan said and started up the engine. He kept it in park and floored it a couple of times just to hear the horses underneath the hood. The Ferrari roared with anticipation as Dan dropped it in gear and backed up. He then went to a Citgo gas station and showed Lindel what needed to be done. Lindel then dematerialized her hand and put it in the credit card slot. Seconds later the pump acknowledged the credit card information that Lindel gave it and Dan pressed the ninety-three octane and proceeded to fill it up. It only took seven gallons which seemed strange to him, but then he thought it was probably filled with racing fuel. He put the handle back and saw the price of sixty three dollars and seventy two cents. He figured he would round it up to sixty four dollars as he got back in the car and started it up. He revived the engine a little until the fresh high octane fuel got into the carburetor and then the engine really came to life. Dan felt the carburetor adjust to the higher octane fuel as the RPM's went back down and they took off back to the hotel.

"Give Mohania a call; tell him we need somebody to stand guard to watch the car." Dan said. Dan then pressed his trinket as a pair of black sunglasses appeared on his face with a big grin.

"Really like this car don't you?" Lindel asked.

"Anything that vibrates like this on my crotch I like…" Dan said with a big goofy grin.

They made it back to the hotel with Mohania standing in the parking lot. Dan found a parking spot and Mohania walked over to it.

"You went back in time for this piece of crap?" Mohania asked.

"It's a classic!" Dan said in protest.

"Dan likes it vibrating his testicles…" Lindel said smiling.

"Woman has a big mouth…" Dan said.

"You are just now coming to that conclusion? This Rick guy is apparently anxious to see what we have, you sure you want to get some sleep? The rest of the party is just sitting up there talking. We leave in a couple of hours." Mohania said.

"We had a battle, we should get some rest." Dan said.

"Did you bring me back any human flesh?" Mohania quickly asked.

Dan ignored the question and told him briefly what it was about.

"That certainly would have prevented you from coming back. I'll watch over this piece of crap – go get some sleep." Mohania said. Dan thanked him as Lindel tried to pay him with a kiss but Mohania wasn't having anything to do with that. They walked back into the hotel, took the elevator up to the fourth floor and found their room number.

"Made it back did ya?" Herrior asked with a smile.

"Yeah…we got a warm welcome from Mohania…" Dan said.

"I bet…what did you do with the humans?" Herrior asked.

"Explained to them the best that we could, they probably believed some of it…maybe not I don't know, but we left them. Probably confused the shit out of them, but time has a way of forgetting things and healing wounds." Dan said. Crystal then mouthed the words, "Dan!" to him as he realized what he said.

"It's ok, I do need more time but I am doing fine. Mohania helped me a lot." Lindel said.

"You two rest. We won't leave until you are fully recovered. Here's some bread and vegetables from Tranquil – they might help you recover faster." Herrior said pulling some food out of his bags.

"Remind me to tell Rick that we owe Citgo sixty four dollars." Dan said as he began eating his part.

"Alright I will remember that." Herrior said. Dan walked over to Crystal and laid down between her legs.

"Comfortable?" She asked.

"I am now…" Dan said looking up at her with a smile. He finished his food and instantly felt strength return in his body, however when he closed his eyes for a moment he started to snore almost instantly.

Four hours passed before Crystal started gently poking at her husband. Dan woke up slowly and let out a big stretch.

"We told Rick what he have for him and I heard his heart stop beating for a couple of seconds…wakey wakey sleepy head before he has a heart attack." Lindel said.

"Bah…tell him five more minutes…" Dan said and rolled over on Crystal's crotch.

"Your pillow is leaving and you are coming with it hun." Crystal said pushing him up to a sitting position.

"Julie said she wants to drive the car there." Herrior said with a grin.

"What? No way!" Dan said nearly leaping to his feet.

"You just have to know what to say…" Herrior said laughing.

"Is the car safe, is Mohania still down there, am I still going to drive it there?" Dan asked.

"Sheesh…wish you would get that happy with me sometimes…" Crystal said getting up and rubbing the circulation back into her legs.

"Sorry…but the car's ok right?" Dan asked. Crystal reach over and gently punched Dan on the arm.

"Let's go" Herrior said.

Everybody made their way to the pawn shop, either by the car – which Skyka, Lindel, Jessica, and Crystal all decided to go in very scantily bathing suits with Dan driving in his black soldier outfit. The rest took a van courtesy of Rick that had sent it over to pick them up. Dan pulled up to the gate and honked the horn. To Dan's surprise the gate almost instantly opened up. Dan pulled the Ferrari in as everybody's eyes just about dropped out of their heads.

"Hi boys…" Lindel said standing up and putting her boobs on the windshield.

"Oh my…"

"Don't say that!" Lindel stopped them immediately. "There are lady's present."

"Brother…is this what I think it is? There is no way…brother there is no way…this is the…I mean the most expensive car on the market." A tall person dressed in a black vest with a bandana said looking at the car.

"So far I have sixty four dollars into it." Dan said getting out of the car.

"I'll pay you sixty five dollars…" Rick's dad said. Rick and the other man burst into laughter.

"What, I'm trying to make a deal here."

"Dad – this isn't the car you pay sixty five dollars for." Rick said.

"This is the Count. He is here to take a look at the car." Rick said point over to the man with the bandana in his hair. Dan walked up to him and introduced himself as he stuck out his hand. Count took it and then hugged him and said, "Brother what you have here is something…this is something that every collector has ever dreamed of. How did you get it?"

"We won it; raced for pink slips." Lindel said leaning her sexy body over the hood and putting her elbows on the hood with her hands supporting her head.

"Lindel…real it in a little bit, they are here to buy the car, not you." Dan said.

"What kind of car did you have to race against?" Count asked.

"A faster one…" Dan said tossing him the keys. "Do you want to take it for a spin and then we can talk about money?"

"Are you serious? Rick would have to sell his shop to buy this from you…do you know what you have here?"

"1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, brand new condition, low miles – worth about eight mill…any dents or scratches you make to it will be coming out of your pocket." Dan said.

"Yeah…that's the one; I'd have to sell my shop to fix any dents that I would make. It looks like you have some grill damage here, but that can be fixed. What did you hit?" Count asked.

"A couple of things, damage isn't too bad is it?" Dan asked.

"It's going to need some work but it's nothing my shop can't handle. Brother I don't know why you don't want to show this thing off on the cameras…"

"No cameras, no press! I thought I made that clear to Rick." Herrior said in a deep tone staring at Rick.

"No press, no cameras just as promised." Rick said.

"The exterior cameras here" Bernett asked.

"Turned off."

"Oh…I have something for us to barter on as well." Lindel said and reached into her string bikini behind her and pulled out the baseball card. "Interested in this?"

Rick took off his sunglasses and walked up to Lindel. "Cy Young baseball card, nearly mint condition with his signature…how the hell did you get this?"

"Rick!" His dad said.

"Sorry, how did you get this?" Rick asked.

"It was given to a sick kid. From there it was lost until we were able to find it again." Lindel said.

"Sounds unlikely…" Rick said examining the card closer.

"If you don't believe me I can take the card back…" Lindel said gently moving her hand towards the card.

"Did you obtain this illegally?" Rick asked flat out.

"No" Lindel replied.

"Sixty five dollars for the card" Rick's dad said.

"Count, what do you think of the car?" Herrior asked diverting the attention to Count as he opened the hood and was shaking his head with a big grin on his face.

"I got by the Count, you can call me Danny. Where did you find these people?" Danny asked Rick.

"I can't say." Rick said.

"You guys are more than welcome to come by my shop anytime with anything you find…I can fix and custom build anything with wheels and an engine, here let me give you a business card."

"Danny, these are my customers…" Rick said with a smile.

"I know…I know…just had to properly introduce myself. Rick I value this thing at probably…seventy five million as is." Danny said.

"And with the baseball card in the glove compartment, what would you value it at then?" Dan asked.

"I don't do baseball brother, but from Rick's face I'd add on another couple of million." Danny said.

"I suck at poker…" Rick said laughing.

"Do you want to take it around the block a couple of times?" Dan asked.

"Man…would I ever! I want to take this thing on the raceway!" Danny said.

"You don't ever buy a ride before test driving it don't you Rick?" Lindel asked.

"I…we are talking about a lot of money here guys…" Rick said running some numbers in his head.

"It's not insured right now." Dan said.

"Then I definitely don't want to test drive it…" Rick said and started laughing.

"That camera just moved…" Jacklyn said catching it out of the corner of her eye. Just then Chumlee came out of the door with a big grin on his face. Lindel gave him a flirty wave.

"Get back in there! Who is in the camera room? This meeting is not for you to come to!" Rick yelled at him and pushed him back in the door.

Rick's dad sighed and said, "You'll have to excuse some of the incompetence that we have here, so let's talk numbers here."

"You found the card and for some reason want to make a charity tax donation to our police station in Detroit." Bernett said speaking up.

"How big of a tax donation are we talking here?"

"Three million"

"No" the old man replied quickly.

"How many mint condition Cy Young baseball cards do you have signed by the player himself?" Bernett asked taking over the negotiations.

"None."

"Do you want to call in an expert to verify the signature and the card?" Bernett asked.

"No…I have no reason to doubt it. The highest one ever sold was 2.8 million…"

"Was it signed in mint condition?" Bernett asked.

"I'll do one million."

"I'll take the card and leave."

"What are you thinking son?" The old man asked.

"Call in your experts and let's get their opinion…right now you called in an expert for the car and he's drooling over it." Bernett said.

"This thing is a treasure…if I had to pick the Holy Grail or this Ferrari – to me it would be a no brainer." Danny said.

"Three million for the card and we will lower the price for the Ferrari." Bernett said. In the background they could hear Rick's voice chewing somebody out.

"What kind of price are we looking at for the Ferrari?" Rick's dad asked.

"Danny?" Bernett asked looking over at him.

"The way it sits…right now…about eighty five million retail all day long." Danny replied.

"What's three million compared to eighty five million?" Bernett asked.

"I don't pay retail. I buy low and sell high, that is how a pawn shop works." replied the old man.

"I understand…so let's talk about what Rick has for us? Maybe we can do a trade?" Bernett asked.

"What is Rick working on?"

"We need some modifications done to our cars and we heard Danny is the best." Bernett said.

"Brother I am the best, that Trailblazer that you wanted? All set and ready to roll."

"We need our police cruisers modified as well. We need to have the ability to open the passenger side door, have a foot extension come out and have some hydraulics hold the door open so we can get an assault rifle pointing at the car in pursuit. Can you do that?" Dan asked.

"I'm not asking why, but yes I can. Give me some detailed plans and I am your man."

Rick came back out the door looking angry and said, "I apologize for that. I am assured that none of the business that we conducted here was recorded. So let's talk prices."

"We have been Rick; you have been missing out again." Rick's dad said.

"We are looking for a small taxable donation to be sent to our police station and then some money to go to Danny here to fix up our cruisers with some custom modifications. The men and women that protect your world depend on this transaction." Herrior said.

"Alright fair enough, what do you want for everything?" Rick asked.

"Your brother over there said 8.2 million for the car; Bernett said three million for the card. How about sixty million for both? I want five million of that to go to the police station, one million to pay both all three of you to stay quiet about this, and the rest to go for modifications. Other than that – you can split the money however you deem necessary." Herrior said.

"Sixty million…well I've never been offered one third of a million dollars to be quiet about a transaction before…" Rick said and smiled.

"Consider it a gesture of goodwill, a start of a friendship." Herrior said.

"Hell, I'll be friends with you for that much – I will even buy you dinner and a couple of rounds." said the old man.

"We also need an old building to purchase on the outer edge of this city for us to conduct our operations - something with no windows, four walls, and a roof. Something bigger than your store, we also want a dirt floor." Herrior said.

"You're talking about an old barn or something?" Rick asked.

"That would be sufficient." Bernett said.

"I can arrange that easily enough." Rick said.

"Remember we already gave you two gold coins, and saved you about thirty thousand from walking out the door…" Lindel said with one hand on her hip.

"You did do that, it's just sixty million is pretty steep. Could you do forty?" Rick asked.

"You want to make forty million off from selling the car and the baseball card? Do I understand that right?" Bernett asked.

"It's just a lot of money…"

"But you have it…not in the store but in your bank – First National bank of Las Vegas. Your pin number is 6594 for your debt card." Lindel said looking into Rick's shocked eyes.

"Whoa…wait a second…" Rick said looking scared.

"Rick we aren't dumb. Our job is to gather information such as the folders that we showed you and to stop terrorist attacks against your country. We probably know more about you than you know about you." Herrior said.

"Fifty…I'll go fifty million." Rick said.

"You know I know of a late night talk show host named Jay Leno that collects cars…I wonder what he would pay for this." Dan said.

"He's a funny man…let's give him a call." Bernett said.

"Fine…" Rick said taking a deep breath and looking at his dad for help. "Son they probably know what size underwear we wear…I wouldn't screw around with them. I don't like the price either, and it is a big gamble."

"Sixty million and the card is free. Distribute the money how we requested and we will be on our way." Herrior said.

"I…"

"He needs to make a profit Herrior. He really doesn't want to go to sixty million and his pulse has quickened twenty five percent. He is also perspiring really bad right now. He isn't comfortable with the gamble and would really like to go fifty." Lindel said. Rick looked at her amazed.

"Fifty…you would make thirty million on the car and three million on the card, minus the distribution costs between you three, the five million dollar donation and the modification to the cruisers. How much would it be to modify twenty cruisers?" Herrior asked looking at Danny.

"Without seeing any actual plans or running numbers in my head I would estimate…probably three to four thousand a piece. The Trailblazer is at forty thousand right now." Danny replied.

"Everybody is making a profit here. Rick I will come down a little, but I want some more of this money to go to Danny to fix up the cruisers and the Trailblazer, also the cost of the barn and the room last night - fifty five million." Herrior said.

Rick ran his hands through his bald head and let out a sigh. "Lindel was right" he thought "I am sweating really badly."

"Fifty two?" Rick asked.

"We're not going to dance around on the price. You have a business to run, we have a country to protect, and Danny needs to get to work on our cruisers." Bernett said.

"Fifty two is fine; I grow tired of this dance. Now do we have an understanding of how the money is to be distributed?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…so we have a deal at fifty two?" Rick asked stretching out his hand. Bernett walked up to it and shook it.

"Holy shit Rick…you own the fastest classic car ever!" Danny said about ready to jump out of his pants.

"Yeah…so how do you want to write this up?" Rick asked.

"We don't want the money, you follow our instructions per our request and you can keep whatever money is left over – however if I could make a suggestion, give some of the money to Danny – maybe a million or two. Can I trust you to handle the transactions without us?" Herrior asked.

"You want me to pay him? You don't want the money?" Rick asked.

"We have no need for money, this is a friendly transaction between friends Rick and friends trust each other." Herrior said focusing intently on Rick.

"I trust them." Rick's dad said.

"I will start the paperwork right away, Danny do you want to load this on a flatbed and drive it to your shop?" Rick asked.

"Hell no brother…I'm going to drive this kitten." Danny said twirling the keys in his finger.

"It's not insured, load it on a flatbed." Rick said again.

"I will get a chance to drive this beast though right?" Danny asked.

"We will all get a chance to drive it."

"I'm going first." Rick's dad said.

Suddenly Herrior's hearthstone started going off. The three of them looked at him funny. Herrior grinned innocently at them as he turned around when it suddenly stopped flashing and vibrating. Herrior thought maybe it was just Admiral or Alan that had accidently activated their hearthstones, when suddenly all of the ambassador's hearthstones in the group started to go off.

"Up against the wall, all of you – now!" Jacklyn yelled pressing her trinket and revealing her armor and her huge axes flying into her hands.

"Ok…ok…just be cool…" Danny said moving quickly over to the other two and turned around with their hands up against the wall.

"Tranquil has been hit…massive damage…casualties are vast…if you get this transmission keep the prince safe! Do not return to Tranquil!" The tauren ambassador said before the transmission was cut off.

"Oh shit! Lindel open a portal to Tranquil!" Herrior yelled out putting his hearthstone back in his pocket.

"You heard the transmission…" Lindel said.

"And you heard what I just commanded you to do!" Herrior yelled.

"Herrior we can't – their orders supersede yours." Jacklyn said walking over to engage Herrior if needed. Herrior realized this, and then realized his axe was in his hand. He put it back and said, "See if you can lock on to it, but don't open a portal."

Lindel closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and slowly shook her head.

"Get a lock on them! Where are they at?" Herrior demanded.

"I don't know…" Lindel said with tears starting to form.

"What do you mean you don't know? You are a Chronomancer; you always know where Tranquil is!"

"Herrior, I don't know! It's like our city just disappeared…" Lindel said opening her eyes and pleading with him. Herrior let out a battle cry and slammed his fist in the pavement making an enormous crack.

"Calm yourself!" Jacklyn said putting her axes away and pulling him up by his shoulder armor. "We don't know anything right now and attracting more attention to us right now is not the solution. Let's rondevu with our soldiers at the station and figure this out, but your battle cry silenced a lot of people and our identities are in danger right now."

"Get us to the station." Herrior said looking at Lindel. Herrior then looking over at the three of them staring at him in awe, "Something broke your floor…I expect our deal and our friendship between us to stay the same."

"Yeah…nothing's changed." Rick said.

Lindel had a portal opened and they all walked through it and back into the station. The soldiers came running to them.

"Lindel work on that portal, Skyka try to raise anybody in Tranquil, Lhi, see if you can speak to Chen still, the rest of you try to contact anybody that you know that has a hearthstone. I'm going to go check with Admiral and George to see what they know." Herrior said and left the room.

"Herrior" both guards said as he saw the soldiers arming themselves and grabbing additional gear.

"Where's Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"Here, what's going on?" Admiral said from his office. He was putting on his flak jacket.

"You tell me! We just got a major distress signal from Tranquil, what has been happening?" Herrior asked.

"We haven't heard anything…what's wrong?" Admiral asked. He stared at Herrior who stared back at him. "I'll get George on the speaker." Admiral punched several buttons on his phone and George quickly picked it up.

"Has anything weird – slash – bad happened in the last hour?" Admiral asked putting the phone on speaker.

"A comet is passing by Jupiter and we're expecting it to get sucked into the planet. No long term abnormalities on our world. We have a new satellite we are launching tomorrow that we are preparing for…"

"George! This is Herrior; we lost contact with Tranquil minutes ago. What happened to Tranquil?" Herrior demanded.

"Lost contact? Herrior we don't know where your city is let alone having the capabilities of monitoring it. We barely know about the outer ends of our universe." George said.

"George…if you know something, Herrior is very eager to know about it…" Admiral said.

"I'm not holding anything back, what's going on?" George asked.

"Go over everything that happened in the last hour with a fine tooth comb George." Admiral said.

"Already got some people on it, should we try our hearthstones?" George asked.

"Go ahead" Herrior said and waited. George tried and said, "I'm not getting anything…"

"Do all that you can to find something..." Herrior said sounding upset. He then left the room clearly upset and stressed out. He went back to their room.

"I talked to Chen and he said everything is ok out there." Lhi said.

"We haven't been able to reach anybody else Herrior." Skyka said.

"What happened to our city?" Herrior asked clearly upset and confused.


	43. The fall of Tranquil

The fall of Tranquil

"What are your orders?" Admiral asked.

Herrior's thoughts were distant and with his friends and family in Tranquil. Where were they? Who died? Who did this? Why? Why did this happen?

"Orders…sir?" Admiral asked.

Herrior shook his head and said, "Keep your soldiers vigilant. Keep them close. Keep business as usual. Rick has a Trailblazer we need brought here. He has promised to upgrade some of your cruisers. Get in touch with them and identify yourself and mention you are under the command of Herrior. He has a check coming to your station for five million dollars…"

"Screw the money and cruisers Herrior, Tranquil could be destroyed!" Admiral said angrily.

"I know that. We need to send them our prayers and wait. We hold something key to Tranquil's survival and we need to keep it quiet, it might be the only chance we have of rebuilding another Tranquil. We need to look and listen. I need to get back to my group." Herrior said admitting defeat in his voice. He walked into the doorway and looked at him in near desperation.

"Strings, I ask that you do not contact Ysera – Quinely the same for Cenarius. I made a mistake by having Lhi contact Chen and the Pandaren, we don't know who did this…and we need to assume that anybody might be behind this." Herrior said.

"Herrior my people would never do this!" Lhi insisted.

"I am not saying they would, but you are with my party now. Lindel any luck?" Herrior asked.

"Nothing…I can't sense anything. The place where Tranquil was…it's not there now. I have some guesses, but nothing…"

"What are your guesses?" Herrior asked interrupting her.

"Tranquil is in the future. Our timeline is clean, they aren't in the past – I don't know why I know that, but I know. If Tranquil was in the past our present would alter. That's my guess…it's just a guess Herrior."

"It's a good guess, keep following up on your intuition." Herrior said letting out a sigh and leaned on his arm against the wall.

"What are our orders?" Dan asked.

"Keep you alive." Herrior said.

"Why me?"

"You are the prince and next heir to the throne of Tranquil." Herrior said in a low tone.

"What if there isn't a Tranquil anymore?" Dan asked.

"We will rebuild." Herrior said. He let out a sigh and turned to everybody and said, "When I was stranded here in this world I was still loyal to Tranquil and kept up the fight. We will stay on this world and strike down our enemies in this world. I did it to keep the memories of Tranquil and its fighters. My vow…our vow as fighters stays the same, nothing changes."

Herrior ended his speech and looked at his fighters. Some emotional, some scared, some worried, and Jacklyn with her straight face. After a moment Herrior asked, "Agreed?", "Agreed" everybody said all at the same time.

Hours passed with small talk between with the party when Herrior's hearthstone vibrated. He jumped to his feet and pulled it out.

"Hello? Am I using this right? Herrior?" The face and voice was a pleasant surprise.

"Picard! Yes this is Herrior, what is going on?" Herrior asked urgently.

"Starfleet command has received multiple distress signals from a Klingon starship. The Klingon's are denying it, but the people spoke similar to the way you speak."

"Where? Take us there now!" Herrior said urgently.

"The planet is inhabited by very large Dissostiera carolina or what we call on Earth 'Locusts'. There is no suitable place to build a habitat and the chance for survival is slim." Picard said.

"Lindel get a fix on their ship." Herrior said as he swung around and looked at her. Lindel nodded and started a portal.

"Herrior, there is a problem. We cannot enter their space without authorization." Picard said.

"We will handle that. Lindel how is that portal?" Herrior asked and turned around as he saw most of the group had already gone through the portal. He looked back through and saw Lindel waving at him. Herrior quickly put his hearthstone away and went through the portal as Lindel closed it up.

"Bring up these Klingon's on your little screen wall thing, Lindel get ready to do your thing." Herrior said.

"We aren't close enough for contact." Picard said.

"Well get closer – those are my people!" Herrior demanded as he turned around angrily. Picard held his hands up to his chest and slowly stood up. "Herrior…like it or not we are doing what we can right now to get there. I have over two thousand people on this ship I need to think of and I have protocols I need to follow. Your people seem to be ok because they are communicating with the Klingons right now. Starfleet needs to work out an agreement with them and things like this take time."

"If those were your people, if those people fought beside you for thousands of years and families that fought for our freedom – would you stand by and speak of agreements?" Herrior asked

"Herrior…" Skyka said softly. Herrior slapped his trinket and revealed his armor. His gauntlets were flexing as his hands opened and shut in anxiety.

"We are as close as we can get without causing any trouble. Herrior what is going on?" Picard asked.

"We got a message that Tranquil, our city, was being attacked and was given instructions to not come after them." Herrior said.

"Is that why you are here?" Picard asked with a smile.

"Yes"

"You obey orders about as well as we do." Riker said smiling.

"We aren't going to stand aside and not do anything. My family could be dying down there…" Herrior said getting furious again.

"Stand down Herrior." Jacklyn said walking up to him. They stood face to face as they stared at each other in the eye. "You are letting your emotions get in the way of our orders. Getting upset is not the sign of a leader. Until you can calm yourself, I will take charge of the party." Jacklyn then pointed at Picard and said, "They are doing everything they can do, without them we wouldn't even know where or what time Tranquil was in. Now I order you to stand down and go calm yourself down!"

Herrior took a step back and nodded. "Picard I appreciate the information you have given to us and I apologize for my behavior. I need to rest and meditate." Herrior then turned to the party and said, "Until I am able to perform my duties, Jacklyn is the leader. If you would please excuse me now."

"Worf can you take Herrior to their room that we made for them so he can meditate." Picard asked.

"Yes captain" Worf said and Herrior followed him. Jacklyn waited until he left and then turned to Picard and said, "All that he said is true, however his emotions got the best of him. We will leave you to your diplomacy and we will leave your bridge. I apologize for making a scene."

"Are you second in command?" Picard asked.

"You could say that, unless Herrior specifies otherwise for missions. We will maintain a low profile and do not want to be a nuisance while we are here. We would appreciate any information that you may hear about the situation." Jacklyn said.

"Of course and you are all free to move about the ship however you please. I know this may not help any…but I have lost people before because of Starfleet not making the decision quick enough. We are doing all that we can right now." Picard said.

"Thank you" Jacklyn said and turned to the party and nodded towards the door.

"Captain could I go with them?" Deanna asked.

"Certainly" Picard answered.

Jacklyn's party moved through the huge starship until they arrived at their previous quarters. Worf and some security personal were standing outside the door. Jacklyn laughed.

"Do you really think if Herrior wanted out that you be able to stop him?" Worf sighed and looked away.

"Let me talk to them Worf." Deanna said.

"I wish to accompany you as well." Worf said.

"Herrior is not a threat, if necessary we can subdue him but I assure you he is not going to do anything." Jacklyn said.

"I wish to help, not to hold him as a prisoner. I anticipated the rest of his 'party' to come." Worf said.

"The more the merrier." Skyka said with a smile.

"Computer – unlock the door." Worf said and shortly afterwards the door opened by itself and everybody walked in. Just as Jacklyn had stated, Herrior had laid down his shield and axe and sat in front of the window staring out into the space.

"Beating yourself up?" Jacklyn asked.

"That obvious?" Herrior asked.

"Who's winning?" Skyka asked.

"Not me…"

"Herrior, as you know I am the ship's counselor and I think I can be able to help with this situation." Deanna said approaching him.

"Time is passing and my people are dying while we are sitting here doing nothing – make that sound better." Herrior said.

"I can't…but I can tell you that we are trying everything we can to get there. We are on the border of the neutral zone. If we were to go racing in, it could kill a lot more people than just your people. Your orders were to protect Dan. You are all safe here. You are a fighter, but you are also a diplomat – you know what is at stake." Deanna said in a calm voice.

"Ambassador is our term, but you are right." Herrior said and turned around. "Lindel have you picked up anything yet?"

"No but I have an idea. Deanna which way is the ship pointing right now?" Lindel asked. Deanna didn't know the answer and looked to Worf.

"We are stationary at this moment, but every ten minutes we move starboard at impulse speed for a different set time and then turn around and come back again. We are trying to enhance our long range sensors but…we aren't really sure what we are looking for." Worf said.

"Sounds boring…" Mohania said.

"No there is a point, which way is the ship facing right now? The front of the ship?" Lindel asked.

Worf looked confused and pointed on a diagonal position towards the door. Lindel then brought her hands together and pulled apart a magical map as wide as she could. Then she went back and pulled it apart from top to bottom. The map was two dimensional. Instantly several different planets showed up as well as different metallic shapes that resembled space ships.

"I need more power, and nobody can tell anybody what I am doing right now, but I can attempt to find them using my Chronomancer map abilities." Lindel said sounding drained already.

"I will start summoning healthstones and you can drain my power." Mohania said.

"You can drain my health." Herrior said standing up.

"Hold on…" Worf said. He touched his trinket on his shirt and said, "Geordi, can you reroute some of the engines power to…Herrior's party room?"

"Yeah, let me come up with some conduits. How much power do they need?" Geordi asked. Worf turned to Lindel and said, "as much as we can get right now. How soon until they get here?"

"I'm on my way right now." Geordi said and then Worf thanked him.

"I've got three healthstones right now. Go ahead and start – everybody else gather in a circle and she can drain a little from all of us so that none of us lose the ability to…live." Mohania said.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Deanna immediately said. But against her advice Herrior's group all gathered around Lindel and sat close together then interlinked their arms and grasping their hands.

"I want to be part of this." Worf said.

"Worf no" Deanna said.

"I am a fighter – like them. I have fought beside them and they are like my brethren forged in battle. I am obligated to help." Worf said. Dan and Crystal wiggled backwards to let him in. Worf sat down and interlocked arms with Dan and Crystal.

"I will use up Mohania's stones first and then drain from him. He is used to the drain, and then I will begin draining from all of you. I'm not going to lie to you…your energy loss will make you tired and some of your motor functions will shut off." Lindel said.

"Enough with the introduction – find our people!" Herrior said sharply. Lindel nodded and took Mohania's hearthstone regenerating her health. Lindel closed her mind and extended her mind outwards into space. The map cleared and reformed. Lindel scanned more star ships and planets looking for a certain item. Everybody watched how quickly the planets and moons lit up and then the map cleared and it started over again. Each map came up quicker and filled up faster. Lindel went through both hearthstones in less than a minute as she continued to extend her mind out. The next minute Lindel tapped into the group's energy and the effects weren't that bad at first. The maps were clearing themselves and filling faster than the eye could see.

After several minutes people started to grimace in pain; Deanna felt their pain and started to worry. She tapped her trinket and asked "Geordi where are you?" in a panicked voice.

"I'm enroute, what's wrong?" Geordi's voice came back.

"You had better hurry up…I don't know what is going on exactly but they are killing themselves!" Deanna replied back.

"I'll hurry up then, Geordi out." he replied and sounding like he started running.

"Don't move the damn ship!" Lindel yelled out in a sharp sinister voice.

"Deanna to Picard" Deanna said touching her trinket again.

"Picard here"

"They are requesting not to move the ship; can we keep it stationary until they are done?" Deanna asked.

"All stop!" Picard yelled out and the ship quickly came to a halt. "Deanna what is going on?"

"Captain…I have no idea. Lindel is charting out star maps by the looks of it, identifying ships, planets, moons and every little detail in mere seconds. You might want to send Data down here to analyze what is going on." Deanna said.

"What are they doing?" Picard asked.

"Trying to find home. Geordi is enroute to supply additional power to their… séance…" Deanna said.

"Elaborate" Picard asked.

"Lindel is…Picard I have no idea what they are doing but everybody's energy is leaving their bodies to supply the scan. The pain is intensifying…" Deanna said expressing pain in her voice.

"Data, number one – go investigate. Deanna I am sending help. Keep me informed." Picard said.

Precious minutes passed as some of them began to squirm a lot and grit their teeth in pain. Geordi finally arrived and saw what was going on. He saw with his visor all of the energy flowing from the people into Lindel and the massive power Lindel was using to power her maps.

"What in the world?" Geordi asked.

"Geordi – hurry please! Some of them are going to pass out!" Deanna said urgently.

"Setup the conduits on the sides and behind Lindel and power them up. I will reroute the ships engines to supply them with as much power as they need." Geordi said to the other engineers that were with him. Geordi quickly went over to a wall and ripped open a panel and began quickly making the adjustments. The other engineers turned on the conduits and set them to maximum power. Lindel sensed the power increase and let go her grasp on the group. Instantly everybody took a deep breath in and fell backwards, gasping for breath."

"Computer this is Chief Engineer Geordi Laforge, begin rerouting power to the three conduits in this room." Geordi said.

"The required circuitry to perform this function is not possible." The computer responded.

"I know…work with me here!" Geordi yelled back at the computer and then quickly gave instructions to the other engineers.

During this time Deanna tending to the wounded people and brought them food. Data came in and took in the scene. "Amazing!" was all he said as he stopped in the doorway and studied the maps Lindel was bringing up and then erasing and starting over.

"You can see what she is doing?" Riker asked.

"Yes. I am beginning recording of these systems, they are unknown and uncharted to our computer. If I might suggest something, you would be better off searching not so far out and…more to your right." Data said. Lindel stopped for a second as she concentrated on something.

"Amazing…you are accessing my neural pathways. May I ask how you are doing that?" Data asked.

"There are Star Fleet secrets in Data's brain; I demand that you stop this!" Riker said.

"She is not accessing those; I'm sharing my information that I know about where we think their city is. She is being very polite and wishes to tell you that she is sorry but this is the only way of her finding the information quicker." Data said turning to look at Riker. A second later Data said "Ok she has left my head…fascinating…how did you do that?" Data ended wanting to know.

"She's a pain in the ass…but she does not break rules though – your secrets are safe." Mohania assured them.

Lindel ignored them and quickly redrew the map. The first one took a couple of seconds, and then they started moving faster than the human eye could see. Data started taking in the information as quickly as she went through the maps. Ten seconds and a thousand maps later she screamed in delight and then said, "I found them!"

"Where are they?" Herrior asked sitting up in pain.

"Herrior you are too weak to move." Deanna said moving over and helping him sit up.

"There are two ships above them in the world." Lindel said enlarging the map and high-lighting the ships.

"Birds of Prey…but what are they doing?" Worf asked sitting up.

"Worf, take it easy!" Deanna said running over to him.

"Leave me alone! I do not require assistance!" Worf said angrily.

"Can you tell if they have been teleporting people onto their ships?" Riker asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm going to zoom in on the rest of our city." Lindel said. She waved the map away and brought up a map of Tranquil. The sight caused all of Herrior's party to gasp.

"It's split in two!" Herrior yelled.

"Zoom in further" Jacklyn said. Lindel did and it showed that the engineering section of the city was obliterated. The palace, gardens, majority of the homes and was intact. The shield was completely down and they could see dead bodies littered among the ruined city.

"The King and Queen?" Herrior asked.

"I'll look." Lindel said and zoomed in on the palace. The map penetrated through the ceiling and brought up the entire layout of the palace. It was completely empty.

"That's not necessarily bad news; they could be commanding the guards and party's. Zoom out and show where our people are." Herrior said. Lindel acknowledged the request. What they saw scared them even more. Tens of thousands of people, guards, parties and normal citizens were all fighting against some bugs. The bugs had four legs, two claw arms and long beaks…and there were hundreds of thousands of them. They were buying time…but there was no way they could hold out. Everybody in the room saw the scene and everybody felt the same emotion.

"Open a portal to the front lines." Herrior said.

"Herrior – we can barely sit up! You expect us to battle?" Jacklyn asked.

"I will die in combat with my people instead of sitting here watching them get slaughtered. Skyka summon a lightwell." Herrior said. Skyka did and it started shooting stars to everybody in the room.

"A lightwell will not recover our strength Herrior…" Jacklyn said.

"Those are our people!" Herrior said.

"Our orders are to stay here!" Jacklyn said back in the same tone.

"Our city! Our people! Our whole way of life! Dan stop time, Lindel open a portal!" Herrior demanded looking at the battle unfolding in front of him. He looked at his party and sighed. He looked away and out the window. He quietly sighed again.

"Data put together a subspace message saying that we want to help with this conflict and insist that we be allowed to go into their space because they are our people, if they wish to help tell them to start firing at the creatures attacking them. Send them photos from your memory with it so they cannot deny what is happening. Geordi get back to engineering and as soon as we get the 'go' I want our engines pushing this ship faster than it ever has before. Deanna and I will feed them to help them recover their strength. Herrior we cannot evacuate that many people with our teleporters, but our phasers and photo-torpedoes will get those damn bugs a second thought about attacking your people. Worf – once we arrive I want a full security team beamed down with Herrior's party." Riker said.

"Your people do not have armor…" Herrior said trying to stand.

"And you don't have the strength to stand! This is my ship and I order you to lay down and regain your strength before you fall down." Riker insisted and then tapped his trinket and said, "Sickbay to our 'guests' quarters". All of the starships personal left to go do their duties.

"I can go there and rip the planet apart; set up a perimeter with the earth and rain lightning down on them." Dan said staring at the ceiling.

"You aren't going anywhere." Riker and Herrior said at the same time. They stopped for a second and exchanged looks at each other. "I am not going to be responsible for losing a prince to a society that saved our asses."

"And you have strict orders not leave this vessel!" Herrior said.

"Mohania has taught me a lot over the years…most importantly how to bend the rules…" Dan said with a smile.

"Hey…whoa…let's not get the warlock in trouble here." Mohania said defending himself.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Herrior said.

A half an hour passed and Herrior's party had fully recovered. A message came back from the Klingon counsel telling them to come get their people, but they would not fire on an innocent race; however they would practice several war "games" above the planet. Data relayed the information to Riker. He smiled and let out a quick laugh. He then contacted Geordi and told him to "punch it". The Enterprise sped up to warp 9.3. Lindel felt the power radiating out of the engines and said, "It is going to take us nearly a day to get there. I can create a portal and get us there instantly."

"Do it." Herrior said beating Riker to the punch. Lindel dispersed her body and flew through the walls and outside of the ship. Riker relayed the information to Picard and then to Geordi to be ready to do an emergency stop once they go through the portal. From the bridge they all watched the portal appear in front of them and then quickly expand outwards. When it was big enough for the enterprise to go through, Lindel released the portal as the star ship flew through it.

"All stop!" Riker yelled out. There were two Klingon birds of prey and a passenger ship. The Enterprise hailed them and to their surprise they saw that another star ship was next to them.

"How did you get here so fast?" Both ship commanders asked in surprise.

"We have a couple of tricks up our sleeves, what is the situation down there?" Picard asked standing up.

"We have started to engage the insects but we have been careful to not harm your people. They do not look like any kind of people that we have seen before. They fight with primitive weapons but have powers we have never seen before. Who are they?" One commander said.

"A new group of people that have sought refugee with our Federation, they have saved many of our lives and we would like to return the favor." Picard said.

"Your people are fighting for their lives. We have only observed them for the last six hours. We assume they have been here longer…"

"Time is of the essence for them, may we work together in saving my people?" Picard asked interrupting him. He nodded and the video communication was cut.

"Take us into the atmosphere. Worf, Riker assemble a crew to take down shield conduits. I want a perimeter formed around the remaining people fighting. Data I want you to take the ship and set it a thousand meters above the remaining parts of their city and extend our shields around it. Herrior I need you to contact your people and tell them not to fire on us. Data, once the shields have been established, tune them to repel the insects and then fire at anything that doesn't have two legs. Also find a frequency that the insects don't like and then amply the sound as loud as you can. In the meantime Wesley I want you to fire everything we have to buy them time. Make sure our attacks do not come close to their people. You are in charge of causing distractions for those insects and killing as many as you can." Picard quickly tapped his trinket and said, "Sickbay prepare an away team to handle mass casualties."

"How many are we talking?" A female voice said.

"Possibly thousands…get your team together and get to the closest transporter. Ok everybody it's time to return the favor…let's do this!" Picard said standing up and looked Herrior in the face and said, "Godspeed to you and your people".

"Thank you Picard. We will return this favor." Herrior said.

"This is us returning the favor we owe you." Picard said smiling at Herrior. "Worf do you still know hand-to-hand combat?"

"Yes sir!"

"Take Herrior and his party and kill something for me." Picard said still looking at Herrior.

"Buff up everybody!" Herrior commanded and instantly they started summoning animals, demons, and enhancing their abilities.

"Let's do this!" Dan yelled energizing his weapons. At the same time Picard and Herrior turned to Dan and said "No!" They turned to each other in surprise and then Herrior said, "If the King finds out we put you in harm's way, he will have all of us killed. You stay on this ship and let us fight."

"I always put myself in harm's way…" Dan argued.

"Not this time! Do you understand?" Herrior asked in a very authoritative voice. Dan's shoulders dropped. He put his maces behind him and nodded.

"Are you ready?" Herrior asked Picard.

"Let's go people!" Picard yelled out and made a single clap with his hands.

"Herrior, follow us please." Riker said.

The plan unfolded flawlessly. The away team was beamed down and Herrior bellowed out that he had reinforcements and to start falling back into the city. The other leaders sounded the retreat for the non-fighters to fall back. Riker's away team spread out into a semi-circle and deployed the conduits. They activated them and told the surrounding fighters to guard it until they were all activated. The fighters complied and put their tanks around them. The Enterprise's phasers lit up the sky as they decimated anything they touched and the photon torpedoes fired off in the distance and violently shook the ground – creating huge craters and sending dirt and insect parts flying into the sky.

Riker tapped his trinket and asked "What's taking so long on the conduits?" Riker's away team were firing off their phasers and helping to burn off pieces of the vicious attacking insects. A moment later the shield was brought online as all of the conduits formed a blue bubble in a semi circle in front of them and over top of them. All of the insects that were in the way of the shield were instantly cut in half.

"Fall back! Everybody fall back!" Herrior yelled out. All of Tranquil's forces did as Herrior commanded and hundreds of bugs instantly fried as the rest of them learned not to go near the other dead bugs. Suddenly a burst of sound emanated from the Enterprise and sent all of the bugs running.

"Can we fire through this shield?" A leader asked.

"No! Nobody should be touching them." Riker said.

The leader nodded and repeated what Herrior yelled as everybody quickly moved back into the broken city.

"Where are the King and Queen?" Herrior asked.

"Here! I thought I said to stay away…" the King said walking up to Herrior with a big grin on his face. He embraced Herrior hard as Herrior hugged him back, but he felt something different about the King.

"Are you ok my King?" Herrior whispered.

"Do not ask the question again." The King whispered back. They let go of everybody and the King looked up at the enormous ship protecting them and then back at Herrior as he said, "Friends of yours?"

"Friends of all of us, you didn't exactly make it easy to find you." Herrior said.

"That was the goal. Some space rock flew right through Tranquil – splitting the town in half. Our Chronomancers sent us in the future and found this planet…we did not know at the time that we would face such savage foes. Is Dan safe at least?" The King asked.

"He is safe. What is the total death count?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior! Herrior! Oh my…is it true?" Brenna asked running up to him and they embraced each other. "I was worried sick! I literally got sick! How is your party? Is everybody with you?"

"Brenna I can't talk about this right now, but I am so glad to see you again. Are you ok?" Herrior asked.

"I suffered several broken bones when we crashed here and my house is ruined, but…everybody else…" Brenna said as her face turned pale.

"We lost half." The King said and then pointed in a direction for Herrior to look. Bernett reunited with his wife and son. They cried and hugged each other.

"We can rebuild. Let's get this city back together." Herrior said looking around.

"Herrior…" the King said sadly.

"Riker!" Herrior yelled out.

"Here!"

"Our Chronomancer's powers are drained, they need power." Herrior said.

"Gather them all up in one area, I'll notify the Enterprise and we will start funneling power down." Riker said.

"All Chronomancers report to the gardens! Everybody pass the word along – all Chronomancers report to the gardens!" Herrior yelled out. It took time but eventually over two hundred Chronomancers were gathered, along with all of the monks. Herrior realized something and it made him sick in his stomach. If Tranquil crash landed, the undead section would have been the first to get destroyed.

"My King what of the undead?" Herrior asked in his mind looking at the King. There was no response.

"My King, our monks are safe but what of our undead?" Herrior asked again in his mind. Still no response, not even so much as a turn of his head. Had Herrior said something to offend him? Herrior walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around curiously.

"My King what of our undead?" Herrior asked aloud this time.

The King sighed and said, "They all perished. Our monks sensed the danger and immediately fled their quarters, but the undead were the first to get hit. Everything and everybody perished including our prisoners."

Herrior was shocked, not at knowing this information but it was as if this was the first time the King heard this question from Herrior. Herrior came to the realization that all of the King's powers were gone. How was that possible? Did he give every last little bit of his powers holding together Tranquil? And what of the Queen? Did she lose her powers as well? The Chronomancers still had their powers. Hopefully Herrior was the only one to know this information. Herrior then realized that the King would have heard all of his thoughts and would have said something to him. He gave up all of his powers to save Tranquil. The people of Tranquil would eventually find out…unless they already knew.

Herrior shook his head and banished the thought from his head. "What's done is done" he finally concluded and went back to be with his party. Riker gave the order from his trinket on his shirt to start the power transfer. A green beam of light came down from the ship and hit the Chronomancers. It was almost like moths to a flame as they sucked up the power. After a minute the monks and the Chronomancers all turned with their backs to each other as they began to quickly reassemble Tranquil. The city first began to shake and then rose up from the ground at the same time the west side of Tranquil was pulled back into place and buildings began rebuilding themselves. The remaining engineers had a renewed sense of hope and quickly summoned their energized geodes and doing their fair share of rebuilding. The flying, pulsating purple and blue rocks rebuilt the houses faster than the Chronomancers could. This brought hope to the citizens of Tranquil as all of them started to help rebuild in any way that they could.

"Magnificent! How are your people doing that?" Riker watched in awe as entire buildings began to reconstruct themselves.

"Magic" Herrior said smiling. He then turned to Riker and said, "Our shields are working again and our people are safe. We will return to our time shortly. What do your people want in return for your help?"

"We don't ask for things in return, just glad we can help." Riker said.

"That's not how we do things, let our engineers look over your weapon and propulsion systems and see if they can improve it." Herrior said.

"There are secrets that you have, and there are secrets that we have. I don't think we can do that." Riker said.

"I understand that, but should you reconsider let us know. Now if we could have a moment to get our town rebuilt." Herrior said. Riker nodded and called his away team gathered and they all left the city.

"Herrior – you have saved Tranquil." The King said.

"Our fighters saved Tranquil every day, our people fight for you and the city in every battle they go into." Herrior reminded him.

"We would have fallen eventually if it weren't for you. I am going to step down as King and make…"

"No you will not. You will go assume your throne along with the Queen and meditate on the events over the past couple of days. You are not in your right mind my King…with all due respect. Take leave from here and let us finish rebuilding." Herrior said. The King nodded and took his leave.

Herrior sighed as he shook his head turning around. Several of Herrior's party heard the conversation and knew not to talk of what they heard. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and told Dan to meet up with them in Tranquil.

Hours passed and the Enterprise was still channeling power into the city. It was now completely rebuilt and floating up again. Herrior contacted Picard and thanked him for his help and offered the same reward for their help. Picard however said when their city was safe; he would like to speak with them about it. Herrior said he looked forward to it. Herrior put his hearthstone away and ordered the Chronomancers to send the Enterprise back to where it was and then to return Tranquil to where it was in their correct timeline. Controlled chaos immersed within Tranquil as everybody went to work, collecting their dead, fixing the gardens, cooking up food and hundreds of other tasks.

"We are ready to send Tranquil back Herrior." Lindel's voice said as she swirled around him in a blanket of twinkling stars.

"Get us out of here." Herrior said.

Back in their present time, Herrior contacted Chen and said they were in need of food. He didn't say what happened, but offered their services in exchange for it. Chen refused and said he would get right on it. Herrior then declared that the prince of Tranquil would take over repairs and questions. Herrior's strength was still not back and needed to rest. Dan nodded and propelled himself into the air and started circling all over Tranquil giving instructions.

Mohania walked up to Herrior and asked, "Have you seen my wife? A lot were killed and I haven't seen Kendall." His voice was tender and sincerely worried.

Herrior let out a sigh and said "The King told me the undead quarters and everybody in it was destroyed when the town crashed on the planet." Herrior paused for a moment and said, "I haven't seen her personally…I'm sorry."

Mohania's face turned sad and if he had eyes he would probably be tearing up right now.

"Have you tried her hearthstone?" Herrior suggested.

"Yeah…it doesn't bring up anything…" Mohania said.

"I will help you look for her." Herrior said. Herrior summoned his dragon and Mohania summoned his magic carpet. They set off in the direction where the priests and other healers where they were resurrecting as many people as they could. Together they flew over everybody looking at the badly mutilated bodies and not many were recoverable. It was hard to tell the dead from the undead. They only identified two undead bodies so far for sure.

"What if she is dead Herrior?" Mohania asked.

"We all have lost loved ones Mohania…the pain is always the same, it is even worse when we don't know. I will help you look my friend." Herrior said.

Both of them landed and dismissed their flying mounts as they walked among the wounded and dead. The healers were working quickly but Herrior guessed it would take days to sort everything out. They had to conserve their powers to only resurrecting and leave the wounded to the citizens and their selves for now. Mohania began to ask people if they had seen her. He began to frantically go from person to person – all of them saying the same thing Herrior said. Herrior glimpsed up to see the monks helping out as well, but they all stayed together. Herrior looked back and saw Mohania still asking. Herrior moved quickly to him to calm him down.

"Where is she at?" Mohania asked frantically.

"Mohania that's enough" Herrior said.

"Down there, by your party member Quinely." A wounded orc said. Mohania quickly stepped around everybody to catch a quick glimpse if at all possible. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and contacted Quinely and told her the situation.

"Yeah she is here; she's been making bandages out of anything she can find. We are both exhausted and waiting for our powers to regenerate." Quinely said.

"Where is her hearthstone?" Herrior asked.

"No idea…probably out of all of the commotion she lost it or it got destroyed. They are strong, but they aren't built to withstand catastrophic damage." Quinely said.

"Tell her to look for Mohania…he is very worried about her." Herrior said and closed the portal. Herrior looked up to see Mohania still frantically moving to find her. Herrior summoned his dragon and flew over to Mohania.

"Mohania she is alive, come with me." Herrior said and then spun his dragon in a barrel as he grabbed Mohania's outstretched hand. Herrior pulled him up and his dragon flew up into the air.

"Where is she at?" Mohania asked quickly.

"She is safe, she is alive and she is with Quinely right now helping the wounded. I will take you to her." Herrior said throwing Mohania behind him on his dragon.

Herrior flew until he spotted Kendall looking up and around for them. Herrior veered right and landed. Mohania jumped off and ran to her as they embraced and repeatedly told each other how much they were worried about each other and how much they loved each other. Herrior let his dragon go as he stood and watched. Just then it started to rain inside of Tranquil. The water touched the people and they could feel the healing that it brought. It eased their wounds and brought power back to the healers. They looked up and saw Dan in the skies summoning clouds inside of Tranquil. The water was pure, just like the same water that was in Tranquil's fountains that had completely drained during the crash. Everybody looked up and cheered. Dan's powers felt unlimited and he summoned air elements combined with his healing rain spell to distribute them throughout Tranquil.

Days passed as Dan continued to funnel his powers into the soothing rains. Chen brought hundreds of banquets into Tranquil and the Pandaren people came to help with the healing and to mourn with the families and party's that lost loved ones. Chen and Herrior were having long conversations about his people and how thankful they were for their help. Herrior in turned said how thankful he was for his people's help. Chen said that the Golden Lotus hadn't made anymore appearances. Herrior was then presented with the chance to ask more questions about them.

"If I may ask a question about the Golden Lotus…who are they and why didn't the alliance attack them?" Herrior asked.

"I don't know…" Chen sighed and continued "Have you ever clung onto a hope thinking that somebody is overseeing you and protecting you – only to come to find out they stood back and watched your people get slaughtered and did nothing?"

"People being the Golden Lotus…" Herrior said nodding.

"Yes." Chen paused as he came to the realization. "Why let us die? Why let the alliance kill our people? Why let the alliance capture the sky serpents? They did nothing to help fight the Sha demon that formed. Nothing!" Chen said frustrated and shook his head back and forth and doing the same with his hands. "Afterwards they come to congratulate us and then leave? They are not what the legends talk about."

"Chen if I may intervene, sometimes legends turn into exaggerations passed down from generations to generations. This might be the case in this situation. You have to remember though that help did come and it was freely given. These are the unbreakable bonds that our people have formed. We have formed allegiances with many others as well, not in the same way but sometimes friendships take time to form. They may or may not be the people you think they are. Have you taken any of your sky serpents over the mountain ridges to see what exactly they are doing?" Herrior asked.

"Unfortunately…we haven't seen everything of course but from what we saw all they did was just sit around and drink beer. They are not fighters; they are engaged in forms of debauchery. Remember Lulu? She has killed more rodents, fending off more hawks and wolves and kept watch at night. So they have flying black discs and put on a good show…so what! That doesn't make you a fighter. I would take a dozen Lulus than any member of the Golden Lotus!" Chen said angrily.

"Maybe the alliance did get to them…maybe they don't the extent of the danger you were in…Chen I do not know. That reminded me though I need to get Lulu a present that I promised her." Herrior said taking a moment to think of something.

"Give her a staff, but make it her size. She has a lot of peep inside of her; she will make a great fighter someday." Chen said with a smile. Herrior nodded smiling and pulled out his hearthstone and made the request to the first available weapon smith.

"You will make her very happy." Chen said.

"She deserves it. How are your people on armor and weapons?" Herrior asked.

Chen shook his head and said, "You are in no position to ask such a question. Your city was virtually in ruins and many people have died in your city. Tend to their needs first. Our people are doing fine. We have begun sending out scout parties into the Krasarang Wilds to explore. They are reporting that the presence of the Sha is still lingering and has captured many animals that they had to kill. There is no alliance presence that we have found yet. They are taking many precautions to ensure that they aren't noticed. So far we have found more Slitherscale lizard creatures in the area and some excellent fishing grounds. The Wilds are not as they were before though, they have become corrupted. The power of the Sha is unrelenting. They are only making maps and points of interest that should be investigated more, also where the fishing grounds are and where the Slitherscales have made encampments. Herrior they ate like a group of Pandarens – however they ruthlessly kill any animal just to prove that they are better than the other and then burn the remains. I fear we might have to wipe them out to repopulate the region with animals."

"So be it. I will take my party and personally see to it. The land of Pandaria belongs to your people and if we have to kill them and confront the Golden Lotus about their actions then so be it." Herrior said.

"I fear the actions of the Golden Lotus…"

"You fear the legends, you heard reports of what they are doing and you saw firsthand how willing they are to participate in battle. I would not live in fear of what they would do rather I would make all of your people aware of the reports. Keeping secrets among your people is not something you want to be found out doing." Herrior said.

"Are you keeping secrets from your people?" Chen asked. Herrior motioned to respond and then thought of the King.

"I do have a secret that I am keeping, but I cannot solve it. But let me do what I can right now to help solve the problem." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

Dan was still flying around when his hearthstone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and showed Herrior.

"Go speak with the King." Herrior said.

"About what?" Dan asked.

"See how he is doing after this catastrophe, you are the prince and he may need your guidance. You have done all of the healing that you can and our fountains are full." Herrior said.

"Ok" Dan said and put his hearthstone away. Herrior put his hearthstone back in his pocket.

"Is there something wrong?" Chen asked.

"There might be but I am the wrong person to do deal with the matter." Herrior said.

"Can I be of assistance?" Chen asked.

"Not this time. Come with me I want you to meet some of the other leaders we are friends with." Herrior said.

Dan arrived at the palace and requested to speak with the King. An ambassador escorted him back to the King's quarters and knocked on the door. The ambassador then left Dan alone. He waited for the King to answer for several minutes when he heard the Queen's voice finally perk up and said she would answer the door. Dan then adjusted his armor to look presentable and stood tall as the Queen opened the door.

"Dan…thank goodness you are here, come in…come in…" the Queen said and pulled him in.

"What is wrong my Queen?" Dan asked.

"Do not call her that Dan…come to the side of my bed…" the King said in deep depression.

"My King, what is troubling you?" Dan asked.

"I am not your King anymore…I am not fit to hold that title of Tranquil. Nobody was monitoring space debris…a fluke…a one in a trillion fluke that a meteor would crash through Tranquil and it happened. My powers are gone; I am not fit to rule Tranquil anymore. I funneled all of it to hold together Tranquil and save as many lives as I could. It punctured a hole in time and moved us out of any more potential meteors. I took charge where as the Chronomancers should have done it. I…I choked, I became afraid and now I lost everything I have. Even our monks could have made a better decision than I could have…"

"My King that is enough! You made a judgment call in a split second and now because of it some are dead – but death is a part of life! When the time calls to make a decision the leader makes the best decision that they can, and that is what you did. Tranquil could have been destroyed leaving only our parties that were out of Tranquil to survive on their own. Everything that the citizens here built, lived, and stood for could have been obliterated had you not made a quick decision. Your mind is clouded with doubt my King. Bernett's mind was clouded and he turned into a Sha demon. Your powers are still within you my King – they never leave you…ever! They only amplify with time. I know of a person that can get your powers back." Dan said.

"The monks cannot blast me Dan…my time ruling over Tranquil is over…" the King said and turned away.

Dan ran over to him, grabbed his face and turned it to him. The King's face looked surprised. "Your time of ruling is not over! You say that again and I will punch you in the face! Here you are sulking in your bed while others mourn their losses, oh boohoo! You are alive! You wife is alive! And if you don't get your shit together we are going to jeopardize what everybody else is out there trying to rebuild and get their shit together! Everybody is helping – my King there are child three and younger rebuilding and helping while you lay here in bed and do the 'oh poor baby routine'." Dan then let go of the King's face and he sat up in bed looking mad at him. Dan then reached out and slapped the King hard across the face. The King recoiled back and created an invisible force that blasted Dan across the room. Dan quickly healed himself and stood up as the King stood to his feet.

"Looks like you still have some fight left in you…my King. If pissing you off is what will bring you back around at the cost of my life then so be it…" Dan said walking forward as he took off his gauntlets and reached up to back hand him, but the King raised his hand and lowered Dan's hand.

"You test my limits my prince." The King said.

"Seems like your limits needs to be stretched…so will you meet with my person to help you?" Dan asked lowering his hand.

"Is he good?" The King asked.

"He calmed a planet from killing all of its inhabitants." Dan said.

"Wow…what happened?"

"I came back later and told the planet to kill all of its inhabitants…but it is regrowing. Sometimes you need to purge the evil to get the good back. When you have many of little doubts attacking you, it robs you of your life. Tranquil needs its King back and I know just the right person to help." Dan put his gauntlets back on and said, "My Queen, if I may have your husband for awhile."

"As Queen of Tranquil I order for you to take my husband and to make him better." The Queen said.

"Then I have no choice, the prince and Queen has ruled over me…" the King said with a sigh.

"No – the prince and Queen want the best for you, there is a difference. Now if we may take a leave of absence from the city we can start immediately." Dan said. The King nodded and asked where they were going.

"Alan's house," Dan said and walked up to the King and hugged him and then instantly vanished. This startled the Queen for a second until she remembered Dan had the ability to do this. The Queen then recomposed herself and flung open the doors to their bedroom with a determined face to help Tranquil and its citizens.

Dan and the King suddenly appeared in the newly renovated barn. Dan rolled his eyes as he looked at all the firepower that had amassed on the walls. Dan pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Skyior. She suddenly appeared behind them and yelled, "Surprise!" Dan and the King jumped as they quickly spun around. Skyior suddenly realized it was the King she surprised, her face turned ghostly white as she dropped to her knees and said, "My King I am sorry…I thought you were Herrior."

"Skyior what's going on around here? Did Alan suddenly get an interest in making his own army? This stuff is dangerous!" Dan said quickly.

"He was teaching me how to use a lot of this stuff. We have been visited by several demons that we have been trying to kill. I haven't been able to do it on my own and they won't get close enough to our outpost to get a clear shot." Skyior explained.

"You do realize that the demons can use these items as well, right?" Dan asked.

Skyior stared at him with a blank face as she said, "Uh…no, they can?"

"They can take on any form and possess anybody that can pick up one of these and blow up Alan and Sammy's house with a single shot, and you have people coming in with demons already attacking their souls. If they get wind of what you have amassed here, everything and everybody within miles will be killed." Dan said clearly upset.

Skyior realized that she had messed up and thought for a minute on how to fix the problem. Dan pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Admiral. He quickly responded.

"Admiral we have a barn full of some pretty intense firepower that needs to be confiscated. Contact Herrior and tell him to have a portal opened to the station and take everything that is could be useful to your soldiers." Dan said.

"What kind of firepower are you talking about?" Admiral asked.

"Well…I'm pretty sure this is a bomb, it has tailfins and a red tag in it – oh and over here is a portable Gatling gun. It's enough to lay siege to a small town. Leave a couple of things for Alan to defend himself, but don't speak with him about it – I will do that." Dan said.

"And Herrior knows where this 'Alan' is?" Admiral asked.

"No but the Chronomancer will, but get this stuff out of here before something goes off." Dan said.

"I will assemble a team right away." Admiral said. Dan thanked him and closed the portal.

"Sorry" Skyior said.

"Have you been to Tranquil lately to upgrade your armor, weapons and skills?" Dan asked.

"Not lately…" Skyior admitted.

"You fight demons with these…" Dan said pulling out his maces, "and with this!" Dan said pointing to his head. He put his maces away and said, "All these bullets are going to do is just put holes in the demon as it laughs. It might kill it…maybe…but your daggers are much more effective than all of this firepower! I have Admiral coming to get this stuff…I want you to help, but activate your trinket – nobody has seen a Worgen before, I don't want anybody to get trigger happy especially with all of this stuff in here. Who else knows Alan has all of this firepower here?"

"His guards" Skyior said.

"Wonderful…and where has he been getting this stuff?" Dan asked.

"A place called 'internet'. I don't understand it, he goes in his bedroom and about five days later it shows up at his house." Skyior explained.

"I'm going to beat that man senseless…" Dan said placing his hand over his face and let out a sigh. Just then a portal opened and Lindel's face could be seen on the other side. She was at the station. They all waited until the portal fully formed and then Lindel jumped out and said, "Hi!" excitedly.

"Skyior help them move this stuff out of here and then tell Herrior everything you just told me." Dan said shaking his head and looking away.

"I'm in trouble aren't I?" Skyior asked.

"You were trying to help, but you have been drawing attention to Alan and you have been probably funding terrorists and the alliance. Lindel go with Skyior after the soldiers have removed everything they…oh hi Admiral" Dan stopped in midsentence and saw him come through with several heavily armed soldiers.

"What the hell?" Admiral asked looking around.

"Yeah…I just about shit myself as well. Look…this never happened, you were never here and neither was any of this stuff. I will help you gain access to the house, leave enough weapons for self-defense, but anything that goes 'boom' get rid of – understand?" Dan asked.

"Got it – start moving some of this stuff out of here and into our bunkers." Admiral said.

"You've got bunkers now?" Dan asked.

"Anything that goes 'boom' goes in the bunkers…" Admiral said smiling back.

"You're the expert. Anyways let me go talk with Sammy, and this is Skyior – put her to work and then Lindel take her to Tranquil to explain to Herrior what she has been doing here. Let's go my King." Dan said.

"King?" Admiral asked.

"Yes, he is the King of Tranquil…if you think we pack some firepower with our abilities, you would be wise and not even think about what he can do." Dan replied. The King looked at Admiral and smiled. Admiral bowed a little and said, "My King" and the other soldiers did as well.

"Give us ten minutes or so and then slowly approach the house, let's not scare anybody or cause a scene…there are a lot of people here that don't need to know that we are here." Dan said. Admiral nodded and then spun around as he twirled his finger at his soldiers.

Dan and the King approached the back door as Dan knocked on it.

"Who's there?" Sammy yelled out.

"Dan and the King of Tranquil" Dan yelled back. There was a brief pause the Sammy ran over to the door and quickly undid the locks and swung up the door. She saw the King and did a half curtsy/half bow when she saw him.

"Can we come in? We apparently have much to discuss…" Dan said clearly disappointed.

"Yes…please…I didn't know…I would have tidied up a little…I must look like a mess…" Sammy said trying to clean things up and then started wiping her face in a mirror.

"Sammy…first things first…just what do you and Alan think you are doing in that barn?" Dan asked walking into the house with a firm tone.

"Wha…oh that, yeah we have a couple of demons haunting us…"

"So explain the missiles and explosive devices!" Dan said slamming his fists on the table. Sammy jumped. "Did you forget how your hearthstone works? You have one of our outposts on your property and Skyior to oversee your safety – now you have her thinking that her skills and weapons are irrelevant to defeating demons, this is not how we operate! This is not how you kill demons! You can get killed fighting with those things! Also not to mention that you are going to be drawing attention to yourselves from your own guards and whoever you are buying this hardware from…what were you thinking?" Dan was clearly upset. Sammy started the waterworks.

"Sammy…" Dan said turning away from her "what are you doing and I want a straight answer."

"There has been a lot of strange things happening…the skies turn red, the ground shakes, things fly off the shelves, we get bit and scratched in the middle of the night and day. We don't know what's out there, but…we are scared." Sammy said crying and terrified.

The King put a hand on Dan's shoulder as an indicator to stop talking. Dan turned to him and saw him put his hand into the air. He then closed his eyes as he focused his powers into a brilliant white light that began to build from his fist and then burst out in all directions. From outside the house the light radiated for several hundred yards, destroying all demons in the area. They all made a deadly quick cry as they burned up. Back in the house the King lowered his hand and looked at Sammy with a reassuring smile.

"My child, demons get their strength from your fear…don't feed them and don't succumb to their lies. You are more in danger of yourself then you are of them. You have been blasted by the monks and they cannot take control of your bodies. Skyior will be disciplined and then she will return stronger than before. She will sleep in your room for seven days and then she will resume her guard duties. Summon your husband for us and set your fears aside." The King said.

"Your powers continue to grow my King." Dan said.

"My instincts are coming back is all…" replied the King.

"Alan! Alan…the King of Tranquil is here!" Sammy had called Alan on his private cell phone and she was nearly screaming in the phone.

"Sammy!" The King's voice demanded her attention. She slowly turned around.

"Steady yourself! If your husband is busy than we shall wait for him. Calm yourself though." The King ordered.

"I'm on my way" they heard Alan's voice through the receiver and then a click as he hung up. Sammy turned off the phone and gently set it on the table.

"I would like some tea." The King said with a gentle voice and a smile.

"Right! Ok…let's see…alright I will get that started…" Sammy said.

"Slowly…" the King repeated himself.

"Yes…sorry…" Sammy said and took her first sigh of relief. She collected her thoughts and began to boil some water. The King and Dan sat at the table and made small talk as they waited.

Alan came in to the house shortly after they started their tea and started apologizing for being late.

"Alan this is the King of Tranquil – he needs your assistance, however first things first – you are ordered to never order any more guns, grenades, tanks, or aircraft off from the internet. You are to take your computer and smash it then get a new one. Also drop your internet service provider and get a new one is that clear?" Dan asked glaring at him.

"Yes but we have good reasons…"

"Reasons that do not justify what we found in the barn! Admiral and his soldiers are going to come in and search this house for any more firepower. Did you forget your enemy? Demons do not do bullets; they do hand to hand weapons. Humans do bullets and hand to hand combat. What are your reasons for packing that kind of heat?" Dan asked. Admiral and his soldiers walked in the back door with their modified assault rifles and their laser scopes on.

"Who are they?" Alan asked.

"Good people…people we trust and have proved themselves in combat. They are here to lighten the load of firepower in your barn house and your property. You are not to engage demons without backup – that is why you have a hearthstone! Enough of this talk though, you are to speak with our King about some things in his life, Admiral you have your orders." Dan said.

"Yes sir" Admiral said and motioned his soldiers to begin searching the house.

"Ok…well where should we do this?" Alan said a little afraid.

"I would suggest the outpost – the guards and I will secure the area." Dan suggested.

"I would feel safer in the outpost however I sense no danger in the area. Head back to Tranquil and see to its safety – take it somewhere safe. I do not want it floating around in space anymore." The King said.

"I know just the place…Elona. I will go speak with the planet first." Dan said as bowed slightly to the King and then disappeared.

Dan reappeared on the planet of Elona on the island where the Queen's stronghold was. Dan looked around and saw the planet had settled itself. Several unknown birds were flying in the sky and the sounds of wildlife could be heard in the distance. Dan lowered himself and put his hands on ground to commune with the elements.

"I have returned…can you hear me?" Dan asked aloud.

"The shaman has returned…the shaman is here…how should we greet the shaman…what does the shaman want…" voices could be heard all around Dan.

"I have come to seek out the elements of this world and see if I may help." Dan said.

"The purge was complete, however abominations have replaced them. These abominations are not alive and have no thought – just to walk the land and prey on the animals of the world."

"Yes…we cannot purge the abominations…"

"We thought you were never to return…you seek something from us…what is it that you want?"

Dan waited for the elements to quiet down before he talked. "I want to bring balance to your world by bringing my people here. Our city was attacked and we seek refugee – in exchange we will hunt down these abominations, seed your soil, mend your forests, and provide you with protection. First let me ask you, how many people visit your world?"

"He wants to know who visits here…nobody visits here…nobody knows we are here…our inhabitants have turned on us…he offers refuge…we have nothing to lose…his people helped to rid us of the unwanted ones…they killed the other abominations there is no reason to think that he is lying…do we want their kind here…the world has fallen silent…would they communicate with us…" the elements in different voices said to each other. The voices then stopped for awhile as if discussing the topic privately. Dan sat patiently on the ground crossing his legs and smiling as he looking around at the scenery. It really was beautiful here. This would be perfect, the alliance doesn't know about this place, nobody comes here and the resources are plentiful. Dan looked around him and pictured Tranquil sitting on this island in ocean. He would have to level out some of the dirt and demolish the fortress and cities that the Queen had made.

"We agree…we feel it could be a mutual benefit for both of us…your people are welcome on this world…do whatever you need to do to make it suitable for your people…"

"I shall begin at once, you have my thanks." Dan said. The elements did not respond so Dan turned around and launched himself into the air. He hovered over the huge island and started commanding the earth to break down all of the stone walls and to destroy any structure standing. Next Dan commanded the island to fill itself in so that there was a nice level platform for the city to sit on. Dan estimated that the island would be able to not only hold Tranquil, but be used for expansion in the future if they wanted.

After hours of work, Dan pulled out hearthstone and summoned the Queen.

"Yes Dan?" The Queen asked.

"Tell the Chronomancers to move Tranquil to where I am right now. We will be safe on this world. I have made an island to put Tranquil that is surrounded by the oceans - Set Tranquil down right below me." Dan said.

"At once my prince" the Queen said and closed the window. Dan flew up a little higher and to his surprise Tranquil suddenly appeared below him. The Chronomancers slowly positioned the newly restored town carefully to the right and left to make sure it was exactly in the middle of the island and then very slowly dropped the town down on the island. Dan was impressed with how sensitive they were with the precious town. Dan flew to the front gates and casually landed as the guards lowered the shields and opened the front gates. Dan walked in and the brilliance and magical properties of Tranquil were back. He had to cover his eyes at first to let them adjust but eventually he looked around and saw enormous crops towering over buildings, he saw every single building had been rebuilt, but more importantly he saw the smiles on the people's faces. He glanced around and saw a large crowd started forming around him. People were landing from their dragons, coming out of their houses, or were shouting for other people to join them. They wanted to hear something encouraging from Dan. He took a deep breath as he pushed an enormous amount of underneath him and propelled himself just high enough so that everybody could see him.

"Amazing!" Dan shouted with a huge smile, "all of you, down to the young ones…all of you are simply amazing! Look around…everybody look at what all of you have accomplished! It's brilliant! I am proud of every single one of you…all of you, no matter what role you have played in the rebuild…you look to me for a speech, but words elude me. This is us! This is Tranquil! We were beat up, but we fought back and we will never fall!" Dan shouted and everybody cheered. "Long live the King and Queen! Long live Tranquil! Long live each and every one of you! For Tranquil! For its people!" Dan yelled and the people cheered even more. Dan flew down and embraced Crystal and flew back into the air as they embraced each other and kissed. Afterwards Dan said, "This calls for a celebration! We are entering into a new era into the history of Tranquil! Tonight we shall set aside all of our work and sing songs, play with our children, feast on our victory and drink until we are cannot stand up anymore! We shall give thanks to God and then give thanks to everybody for what they have done. All of you deserve it…give thanks to everybody! Thank you everybody for what you have done, I am proud of all of you! For Tranquil!" Dan yelled as everybody cheered and shouted in delight. Dan and Crystal kissed each other again hard as they floated back down to the ground and then were swarmed by everybody in one big hug.

Tranquil was safe, the King was regaining his powers and in good hands, Admiral and his soldiers received a lot more firepower, and his wife wanted passion – but that would have to wait…everybody wanted to speak with the prince of Tranquil and personally hug him. This brought satisfaction to the people for the work that they had done, for the loved ones that they lost, and for the reassurance that Tranquil would return to its former glory. In the back of Dan's mind was the abominations…what were they exactly, and did Admiral ever receive his new vehicles and money. Either way those were questions for the future and not for now…now was a time for celebration.


	44. Zombie Apocalypse

Zombie Apocalypse

A couple of days had passed and the King returned to Tranquil. With him came a renewed desire for life and passion for his people. He addressed his people via an enormous portal above Tranquil and told all of them how much he loved all of them. His speech went on for about an hour and then he took to the streets and hugged as many people and spoke with them for as long as they wanted to talk.

Herrior returned with Chen to Tranquil and they were both amazed by the brilliance and power the city was giving off. Word spread that he had returned and Dan went to go see him.

"What have I come back to?" Herrior asked with a big smile on his face.

"Tranquil and its people…nothing more, nothing less..." Dan said smiling.

"How is the King?" Herrior asked quietly.

"You just missed his speech; he is walking the streets now talking to talk with everybody. He is going to be fine, as are the rest of us. How did your meetings go?" Dan asked.

Herrior nodded and said, "We are going to be fine…" with the sound of relief in his voice as he looked around. He heard Dan's question but wanted to take in the brilliance of the town first. Chen was doing the same thing.

"She's beautiful aint she?" Dan asked.

"Did we use some of our treasure on the tips of our buildings?" Herrior asked admiring the diamonds and crystals that glittered under the brilliant radiance of Tranquil's sun.

"It looks like it." Dan said looking at the same things Herrior was looking at.

"Looks good" Herrior said and then told Dan how the introductions went. Everybody was receptive to having another ally fighting with them. Ysera was a lot more open and receptive this time. Herrior was telling how she openly embraced both of them with a hug and served them at her table for a quick lunch. Cenarius seemed interested in the new race and then spoke of a group of gnomes that had developed a weapon to catch trees on fire and cause them to burn almost instantly. Herrior had offered help, but the mighty Cenarius refused it – he was not one to accept help and only once in awhile did Cenarius accept help from others to assist him and his druids. The Kalu'ak offered a bounty of fish and seal meat to Chen, which he still had. The Kalu'aks pretty much accepted anybody that was introduced to them by an ambassador of Tranquil. They were very easy going and a laid back race.

After finishing their discussion Herrior asked what happen with the King. Dan looked at him quickly and shook his head a little. Herrior took the hint and asked what Dan had been up to.

"We chewed out Alan and Sammy…they had stock piled enough weapons and explosives to blow up a half a mile of land. They were being attacked by demons." Dan said.

"Why didn't they contact us?" Herrior said with anger boiling up in his voice.

Dan nodded and said, "Everything you could have said and more I told them. We took all of their items and we took some precautions to cover their tracks. I only scorned Skyior a little…she's still in Tranquil I believe."

"I'll be back…tell everybody not to disturb me for awhile." Herrior said summoning his dragon and flew off to find her.

"He seemed upset." Chen said.

"One of our fighters forgot her training…it could have cost many lives. There is more to it than that, but it would be like fighting the Sha with weapons the Sha were immune to. On the world that she was sent to she was fighting with their weapons and not ours." Dan said.

"The Sha is not a foe to be taken lightly." Chen said.

"No enemy is to be taken lightly…we go into battle fully expecting the unexpected to happen." Dan said. Chen nodded.

"I know Herrior didn't take you to see Admiral and his soldiers, would you want to go see them?" Dan asked.

"They are the ones that helped defeat the Sha?" Chen asked.

"Yes – they are working on better armor and weapons and have gone on many missions with us."

"That would be an honor; afterwards I would like to get back to my people. It has been awhile since I have been with them." Chen said.

"Of course, I can take you there now if you wish?" Dan asked.

"No I wish to be with them but I want to speak with the humans that helped us." Chen said. Dan nodded and pulled out his hearthstone and informed Admiral of their arrival soon and said that a Pandaren would be coming as well and to keep the audience limited to avoid any surprises. Admiral acknowledged and said they would be ready for their arrival.

"The way I move people is by an instant teleport, but I need to hug the person to travel with me." Dan said. Chen smiled and nodded. Dan embraced him and instantly vanished.

They appeared in their room in the station and Dan let go of him. Dan then walked up to the door and knocked on it. The soldiers opened the door and let them in. Admiral met them and said, "Welcome to our station, are you Chen?"

"Yes I am."

"It is an honor to meet you; we have heard many stories about you. I am honored to meet you in person." Admiral said extending his hand. Chen looked down at it and wasn't sure what to do.

"Sorry, it's a tradition on our world. How is Pandaria doing?" Admiral asked putting his hand back down.

"I have been away for awhile, I miss my people but I have made many friends in my travels." Chen said.

"I can take you back right now if you wish?" Dan asked.

"Before you go, may I speak with you about a couple of things?" Admiral asked.

"It is ok we can wait, perhaps I should wait in the room that we came from – not many people have seen my race." Chen said looking at some of the soldiers that were looking at him with curiosity.

Admiral spun around and said, "There is work to be done! We have an honored guest among us and he is to be treated as such!" Everybody's head went down and made it look like they were doing something. Admiral turned back around and apologized for his soldiers.

"Dan our base received a rather substantial amount of money a short while ago…"

"Five million dollars?" Dan asked interrupting him.

"Yes…how did you know?" Admiral asked.

"Good…take that money and do whatever you think is best with that money. We are trying to establish an outpost in California, do you know of anybody that would be willing to help oversee the construction out there? It's not much – probably a rundown barn in a deserted field, but that is exactly what we are looking for. We have established a friendship with some people out there that can further bolster your forces and can exchange our currency for yours." Dan said and then stopped for a minute. His face looked funny as he realized something, "Well exchange Tranquil's currency for cash…sorry I said that wrong."

"I knew what you meant. I will speak with George about setting up an outpost out there, he has some sensors or antennas or something I'm sure he will want to put up and monitor for anomalies." Admiral said.

"Hmm…I wonder if he could sense the presence of alliance – perhaps they give off a signal or a different smell or something. We ran into one down there that was stealing from a pawn shop to fund their operation. He died before we had time to thoroughly interrogate him." Dan said in deep thought.

"I thought they were all killed?"

"Good thought but there are still a lot of stragglers that are left. As predicted the demons have increased and that is something we are worried about. A good friend of ours, Alan the person that you confiscated all of the firepower, had several demons tormenting him. Our King cleansed them and we had a good talking with him."

"Is he a threat? Do you want to have a seat? I don't mean to make you stand the whole time. Are you hungry?" Admiral asked.

"Alan is not a threat – he saved Herrior's life and has conducted several acts of service for us that has proved to be invaluable. We shouldn't stay Chen wants to get back to his people. I will let you know ahead of time though that we have some special custom police cruisers and another SUV coming. The only exception is do not open the hood to show off the engine. They will come without an engine – our engineers will put in something. But I want you to put the cars through the ringers…shoot at them, beat them – do anything you think you need to do to them to make them safe for the officers and soldiers. The vehicles are already paid for, we just have to make sure they are what we want – I was told that we would not be disappointed. The second SUV is going to be equipped with some Tranquil technology, but not as much as your SUV. Having two would make me feel better and some bullet and explosive proof cruisers that can come close to the sound barrier as well as being able to shoot from the vehicle without any danger of putting your soldiers at risk. That should put an end to car chases quicker." Dan said.

Admiral nodded and said, "I look forward to see what they have in store for us. These vehicles…will they be coming from Rick as well? The one that graciously sent us the check?"

"Yes, begin making preparations to move these vehicles, once you are satisfied with them, take them to the abandoned barn and we will put the finishing touches on them. For now though we should take our leave, unless there are some pressing matters that needs to be discussed?" Dan asked.

"Nothing that we can't handle" Admiral said with a smile.

"Let us know if something comes up…take care." Dan said smiling back.

"Chen it is a pleasure to meet you – I look forward to working with your people some more in the future." Admiral said to Chen and smiled.

"There is much I don't understand on this world…" Chen said sounding completely confused.

"We like to make things more difficult than they are supposed to be." Admiral said with a bigger smile. Dan had to smile at that one as he took Chen and went back to their room. After the door shut they disappeared as Admiral started giving orders to seek out this abandoned barn and secure it.

"Ah the land of Pandaria…there is nothing quite like it…" Chen said taking in a deep breath before his people at Halfhill started to bombard him with questions. Chen smiled as he squatted down to hug all of the children that ran up to him. Dan stepped back to let him have his moment with them. He pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Crystal.

"Hello the love of my life, how are things going?" Dan asked.

"Good…so what have you done wrong this time?" Crystal smirked back.

"Nothing yet…I'm in Pandaria and just brought Chen back. How has the group been doing?" Dan asked smiling.

"Mohania and Kendall have been in mourning as well as many others in Tranquil…I'm sure Herrior would say something about change and dealing with loss, but the promise of rebuilding is an inspiration. Rumor has it you know where we are…but the prince's mouth is clasped shut – just like the monks and the Chronomancers…but I know how to make your mouth open." Crystal said.

"You're terrible…and yes I know where we are. So do you have plans for tonight?" Dan asked.

"Well I was going to get my nails done and I need to wash my hair…"

"Dan – some of our people have gone missing! They went exploring in the Krasarang wilds, they haven't reported back. We sent another team to go find them and they haven't returned either!" Chen said.

"I will call in our group and we will go take a look." Dan said looking over at him.

"I will go to our meeting place…see you in a little bit." Crystal said and closed the portal.

"Get your fighters together" Dan said pointing at him.

"Of course" Chen said.

"I'm coming!" Lulu said enthusiastically. Dan didn't hear what happened after Lulu said as he pulled out his hearthstone and summoned his party.

"Meet us at the house – let's go people!" Herrior said as he closed his portal on his hearthstone and immediately summoned his dragon.

Herrior arrived to see most of his party had arrived. Jacklyn was the last one to come in and jumped off her dragon and tossed Herrior a sword. It was black and had a golden glow to it, but the most distinguishing feature was the moving black dragon head above the blade as it looked around with its golden eyes. Herrior gripped it and looked it over. He then took his axe and gave it to a guard to go give to the blacksmiths.

"Where did you get this?" Herrior asked.

"First of its kind – they want to know how it works for you." Jacklyn said.

"Where are your axes?" Herrior asked.

"They gave me two small swords – they have more power but I am still awaiting my big weapons." Jacklyn said showing her blades.

"Lindel – do your thing." Herrior said trying to hide his smile.

They arrived at Halfhill with several dozen monks in armor led by Chen. Herrior nodded at him.

"We are ready" Chen said.

"Lhi take the lead, Chen you and your fighters follow and we will be right behind you." Herrior said. Lhi seemed excited about the opportunity and she quickly ran to the front and led them out.

As they ran out they saw the old silk fields, and signs of a battle.

"Herrior?" Lhi asked looking at the abandoned houses.

"You are in the lead Lhi, if you want my suggestion I say we investigate." Herrior replied back.

"To the silken fields!" Lhi yelled and started running towards it.

As they closed in they saw a pack of wolves and enormous butterfly looking creatures that had the darkened color – they had been affected by the Sha, and they were devouring dead Pandarens. The Pandarens became angered and screamed as they ran faster towards the animals.

"Stop!" Herrior's voice boomed out and echoed throughout the lands. It caught everybody of guard and their anger levels dropped.

"Come back here…circle around…" Herrior said and waved his hands for everybody to come in. The irritated Pandaren monks did as they were told.

"Look at yourselves…you are starting to turn grey with anger – do you want the Sha to overtake you like it did with one of our own? Calm yourselves…or we will be fighting you as well as avenging your people." Herrior said in a stern voice.

"Meditate – everybody…silence your minds…ease your bodies…" Chen said to his fighters. They did as he said. Chen sat down and crossed his legs and put his hands on his knees and closed his eyes and the rest of the Pandaren did the same.

"Herrior…could you handle this situation…with respect to our people?" Chen asked.

"We will take care of the situation, Quinely lead us out." Herrior said. Quinely morphed into a bear and moved forward. The rest of the group moved with her.

"Watch out for the dead – use ranged attacks and corral the animals off to the right." Herrior said. The ranged and magical fighters began launching attacks from a distance and when they were close enough the tanks began picking them up. Immediately when the tanks had aggro the melee quickly ended their lives.

The fight only lasted a couple of minutes with Jacklyn slicing off a wolf's head.

"You seem pretty good with the smaller blades." Herrior said.

"Not my cup of tea…" Jacklyn said wiping off the blood on her blade.

"Gather up their dead and line them up away from the worm things. Try to make them look presentable. Anything that looks hostile – don't hesitate to call out and engage. Remember to watch your emotions people…keep your minds clear, Strings strike us up a happy tune." Herrior said.

Mohania walked up to one of them and was about to say something cocky when he saw one Pandaren's arm twitch. "Do the dead usually move?" he asked. Suddenly the Pandaren's eyes flung open and looked around.

"Lindel…are they alive?" Mohania asked and started gently kicking at the one.

"I'm not sensing anything…what's going on?" Lindel asked. The Pandaren staggered to its feet and reached out for Mohania. Mohania instinctively grabbed his arm, spun him around and struck at the outside of his elbow – hoping to dislodge the arm. The arm broke off, tearing off the tendons and coagulated blood slopped out. The Pandaren turned back around to Mohania who looked at the Pandaren confused. The Pandaren slowly lunged at him as Julie blasted apart the Pandaren's head with her gun. The body then fell lifeless onto the ground.

"Would somebody mind explaining to me what just happened?" Mohania asked holding the severed arm.

"They are all rising up – strike at their heads. Magic users stay back." Dan said.

"Are we fighting zombies?" Crystal asked.

"You tell me…" Dan said hitting one hard in the head, catching it on fire with his fire imbued weapon.

"They have no conscious thought…Herrior I can't sense anything! I can't even absorb their power - it's as if they aren't even there!" Lindel said as the dead Pandaren finished rising up and the party killed them.

"What are zombies Dan?" Herrior asked.

"A fictional character in movies…the person is killed and for…whatever reason…they come back from the dead with the sole purpose of biting others to turn them into zombies. It's really hard to tell what is real anymore though." Dan said.

"Capture one alive if possible – I want them studied." Herrior said looking over them in curiosity. "Clear out the huts – I want nothing dead or alive moving. Leave these bugs alone – they seem harmless. I'm going to go back and speak with Chen and his fighters." Herrior put his sword and shield behind him and began to walk back.

Herrior arrived and began to explain what happened. None of them seemed surprised.

"The Sha has taken over their bodies. Herrior I must ask something of you…we cannot contain ourselves if we must kill our brethren…" Chen said.

"I understand. Take your fighters and go back to Halfhill. I will bring back the ones that have not been consumed by the Sha." Herrior said.

"That would be a great place to grow silk. The silkworms are already thriving and the silk that they make would make some great clothing for us." Chen said and then ordered his fighters to leave.

"We will be careful, and we will do our best to save and preserve as much of your land and people as we can." Herrior told him. Chen thanked him and ran to catch up with his fighters. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned Admiral.

"Herrior, it is a nice surprise…"

"We need soldiers with guns that are fully armored…only guns – and lots of them." Herrior said.

Herrior watched as Admiral leaned down and pressed a button underneath his desk. He then asked "What is our target?"

"Zombies" Herrior said.

Admiral looked at Herrior funny to see if he was kidding. Herrior's face was straight and solemn.

"Zombies?" Admiral asked.

"The dead rise up and have assault my party. We need people to watch after us. Our magic users don't work and only a blast to their head kills them. How soon can you have your soldiers assembled?" Herrior explained.

"Umm…give me five minutes, I should have several dozen soldiers ready. I will brief them…"

"No! Just get them here! This is a sensitive problem that needs to be addressed. Somehow the Sha has taken over the dead Pandaren bodies and brings them back to life. Chen and his people are mourning over their losses and is hard for them to deal with their dead attacking them." Herrior said.

"We'll be awaiting a portal in your room." Admiral said knowing now that Herrior was in fact serious and that he probably pissed him off.

"Reporting for duty – what are our targets Admiral?" Several soldiers came running in.

"Apparently…zombies" Admiral said coming to the realization. He waited for some kind of remarks from his soldiers but didn't get any.

"Get all of the body armor that you can – go for headshots, let's get going." Admiral said. The soldiers assembled their armor and as much ammunition as they could cram in their pockets and pouches then ran into the portal.

"Good, now I am just going to say this once – control your emotions!" Herrior said after the soldiers came through and Lindel closed the portal. Herrior continued his speech.

"That's rule number one. Rule number two is if you forget rule number one and your emotions start getting out of control I will kill you myself. Is that understood?" Herrior asked. The fifty-six soldiers all nodded.

"Second rule…don't die – let's move out." Herrior said.

"How many second rules are you going to have?" Skyka smirked at him.

"Couple…has any more bodies risen up?" Herrior asked.

"No…we smashed the rest of the heads and Mohania has started to burn the bodies. Oddly enough, the heads won't burn. It's not normal Herrior." Skyka said.

"Nothing about this world is normal…I don't like walking on grounds that can summon demons by mere thought." Herrior said walking up to the smoldering fire.

"It's all I got Herrior…stupid heads won't burn, it's like the brain is pure water or something and extinguishes the fire on the head." Mohania said.

"Our spells working on them?" Herrior asked.

"Arcane, fire, frost, holy…even Trackolania's poisons are ineffective. Blunt weapons aren't that effective and you have to slice them at the base of the head – even decapitated their bodies still move until their brains are smashed. Why the humans?" Jacklyn asked.

"Julie's gun has been the only thing to effectively take them down, now we have soldiers to do that." Herrior said. "Mohania – the Pandaren people don't want to see this mess, bury it." Mohania put his hands together as he focused his power. Mohania then pulled his hands apart as the ground opened up and the bodies fell into the chasm. After all of the bodies were in the chasm, Mohania closed his hands as the chasm closed with it. Mohania finished and said, "They won't be coming back now."

"Positive about that?" Herrior asked.

"They shouldn't be coming back now…" Mohania corrected himself with a smile.

"There's a cliff up ahead, there's no way we can get all of the soldiers down." Lindel materializing next to Herrior. Trackolania also appeared and tugged on Herrior's leg and pointed to the left.

"A way down?" Herrior asked. Trackolania nodded.

"Quinely take to the skies and look for more predators, are there anymore wolves or eagles threatening this area?" Herrior asked her.

"I can't sense them if they have succumbed to the Sha." Quinely said.

Herrior spun around and asked "Admiral – how far can your men see things?"

"Several miles in every direction" Admiral replied.

"Pick one that has that ability and go meet up with Icis – tell us what you see." Herrior said and turned to Veliline "Veliline take a group and secure this area – don't go further than fifty yards out."

"I can do it sir…who is Icis?" A soldier asked running up.

"The Draenei…the blue girl with a tail…" Herrior pointed to her. Icis smiled and waved.

"Yes sir." The soldier said and ran to her.

"Herrior! Call me Herrior!" Herrior said telling the soldier running away from him. He called back "Sorry Herrior" as he got to Icis. Icis levitated him up into the air and on top of the highest building. The soldier then pulled out a pair of futuristic binoculars and started to survey the area. Immediately he started reporting back information, nothing that really pertained to them until he said he spotted a large wolf and a pack of wolves coming towards them.

"What color are they?" Herrior called up to him.

"Grey in color…all of them are grey Herrior." The soldier called down.

"Quinely?" Herrior called up in the sky. She flew down in her bird form and morphed into her human form and slowly shook her head.

"Can you shoot then?" Herrior called back up.

"Easily…" the soldier said pulling out his assault rifle. He lined up and began firing off rounds one at a time.

After ten shots he pulled his binoculars back up and smiled as he said "Clear! I don't see anything else."

"Alright hop off the building and get back into formation." Herrior said. The soldier gathered up his things and literally jumped off the building as instructed. Icis casted her levitate spell as soon as his feet left the building and slowly lowered him back down.

"I'm going to contact Chen and tell him this area is secure. He said they need this land to make items for clothes. Quinely take our party and move ahead. If you see more Pandaren hold up until I can get there, if anything else hostile attacks – kill it." Herrior said. Quinely nodded and morphed into her bear form and led the way. Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and created a portal until Chen appeared in it.

"Chen, we have secured the area around the silken fields. We were not able to save any of the Pandaren people so we buried them in the ground. The caterpillars are safe though – the threat of them being eaten is gone and they are starting to come out of hiding. We are going to continue our journey into the wilds and I will let you know what we find out." Herrior said.

"Thank you Herrior – your efforts are greatly appreciated. We will begin attending to the caterpillars at once." Chen said. Herrior then said he needed to go catch up with his party and they said their "goodbyes". Herrior put his hearthstone away, pulled how his sword and shield and began running to catch up with the party.

After walking away Herrior saw a small town full of Pandaren. He gave the signal for everybody to stop. The soldiers crouched down and pointed their weapons at the ground, but were ready to turn on a dime and fire if needed. Herrior walked up to his group and asked what they thought.

"Despair…complete and utter despair. I can sense that they are all alive and can read their thoughts, but I believe the Sha is close." Lindel said quickly.

"I sense some huge birds to the left of the town, but I can control them – the Sha doesn't have control over them." Quinely said.

"Julie I want you to investigate to the left, Trackolania take the right, Lindel go invisible and follow me. Everybody else hang back but be ready if we get into trouble." Herrior said putting his shield and sword behind him. Julie and Trackolania stealthed their selves and did as Herrior said as Herrior and Lindel moved into the town.

"Hello!" Herrior said with a jolly voice.

"Oh great…another visitor…come to probably rescue us huh? Well we don't want to be rescued…just leave us alone to die…" a Pandaren man said.

"More people coming? Dookin' you had better leave unless you want to end up like these Pandaren!" A Hozen swung down from the trees and landed in front of Herrior with a spear in his hands.

"What has happened to the people?" Herrior asked.

"They are sad…nothing we can do makes them happy…its ookin frustrating!" The Hozen said jumping up and down.

"And your people are not affected by the Sha?" Herrior asked.

"Don't know what Sha is…is that the sadness?"

"I think so yes. Tell me what you have tried so far." Herrior said.

"We aren't sad…Pandarens have been coming here and getting sad. There are some ghosts that move back and forth from the Pandarens. They are coming from that direction" the Hozen said and pointed to the right. Herrior looked around and saw several small Sha demons had formed and killed everything in a lake bed.

"Do you think they are bringing the sadness?" Herrior asked.

"Me not know…but they are scary looking…never seen them before…us Hozen stay away from them."

"We will attack them, keep trying to make the people happy." Herrior said and moved back to his party. Julie and Trackolania saw him moving back after talking to the Hozen so they moved back as well.

"There is a group of Sha over there and they are moving in and out of the Pandaren village. The Hozen don't seem affected by the Sha's powers. Admiral they are demons so I want you to watch our backs but don't engage. Control all of your emotions everybody…let's go." Herrior said pulling out his shield and sword. Herrior moved his party up against the sloping cliff and moved into position for a frontal assault.

"Ambush!" Strings yelled as dozens of Slitherscales charged at them from a hidden cave behind them. Quinely quickly morphed into her bear form as all of the tanks gained aggro from the human-lizards. Admiral and his soldiers took up positions and quickly filled the beasts full of lead. They stopped firing if they didn't have a clear shot. Dan, Jacklyn, and Trackolania tried to maneuver out of the way, but not at the expense of getting hit.

The thick scaled creatures were able to take a lot of damage before dying, but eventually the ambush was put down. The healers finished healing the wounded as Herrior said, "I want that cave cleared out. Lhi, Strings and Jessica – take Admiral and his soldiers in and clear it out. Strings I want you to mess with them so that they can get clear shots…and don't shoot Lhi." Herrior said changing his gaze to the humans. They all nodded as some of them reloaded their assault rifles.

"The rest of us will take out the miniature Sha's. I want everybody to rondevu back at the small encampment. Control your thoughts, aim true, watch each other's backs and kill with love. Take care." Herrior said and motioned his group to move out.

Herrior's group went toward the Sha demons and they all applied their buffs to their group. Mohania's imp and Julie's dog were summoned as they charged forward.

"Single target those down, Quinely take the right." Herrior said and let a thunderous battle roar and charged into combat. The Sha quickly overwhelmed him but Jacklyn's blades soared through one of them followed by huge arcane blasts from Bernett. The Sha demon was quickly killed and the others took one down at a time. As they fell, their essence burned up and left nothing behind. The grounds started to return to their normal color and water started to ooze up from the ground. Each Sha that was destroyed returned part of the forest back to normal.

Meanwhile in the cave Lhi tossed kegs all over the place and then did several spin kicks in the air to get their attention. Strings mesmerized them and the soldiers pumped round after round into the slithery beasts. The soldiers were shooting at near point blank range and the shrapnel from the bullets tore through their skin. When the front soldiers ran out of bullets they quickly ran back and out of the way as the next wave of soldiers ran forward. This cycle continued until the Slitherscales started to retreat. Lhi started to run after them but Strings played a quick tune that caused all of them to instantly scream in pain and cover their ears. Strings continued the song and backed off to the corner. Lhi saw what Strings was doing and did the same. Lhi then looked at the soldiers and nodded. The soldiers ran up and unloaded everything they had into the Slitherscales. The bullets penetrated them, causing intense pain and eventually killing all of them.

Strings stopped the tune and took some deep breaths. Several soldiers came up and congratulated him and thanked him. Strings nodded as he took a swig of his ale.

"I hear more in the distance; prepare yourselves before we go forward. We have orders to clear out this cave." Lhi said.

"It's too dark to see, turn on your laser scopes and flashlights." A soldier said switching his on. The rest of the soldiers did the same and the cave became illuminated.

"Their scales are thick…hard to get some bullets into them…" another soldier whispered as they walked through the cave.

"Does anybody have any armor piercing rounds?" Admiral asked. Several soldiers said they did.

"Start switching them out, the rest of you cover them." Admiral said and the soldiers quickly formed a circle around the soldiers switching out their ammunition.

"How many do we have watching our rear? I don't want these lizards creeping up behind us." Admiral whispered.

"We've got our eyes on it…" a couple of soldiers said in the back. Suddenly Lhi let out a green bolt of lightning that she channeled at a Slitherscale that she saw. The creature became frightened and started to run off.

"Let it go…we'll catch up with it soon enough." Lhi said.

"Probably him and his friends no doubt" Jessica said.

"We'll be ready for anything that comes at us. Keep the chatter low. Admiral if something starts going bad, get you and your men out of here." Strings said.

"Good…because the men are a bunch of pansies anyways…us women will stay and fight." A woman soldier said smiling.

"We're fighters Strings…we are not going to abandon our fellow fighters. Would you abandon us?" Admiral asked.

Strings let out a smile and then nodded at him. "I'll bring up some light for us, but I'll be vulnerable for awhile."

"We have your back" a soldier said. Strings started to play a tune on his instrument and seconds later the entire cave was illuminated.

"Remind me to take lessons from you when we get home…" Admiral said.

"Cave splits in different directions…let's go right first." Lhi said and started a lit jog. She went around several turns and finally ran into an open area. There stood an enormous Slitherscale peering at them with dozens of other Slitherscales surrounding it.

"This is their last stand. Admiral assign some soldiers to make sure nothing creeps up behind us. Let me get aggro first and then open fire. I'm going to lead them from left to right so it should give all of you a clear shot. Jessica…don't let me die." Lhi said. Jessica placed a shield around her as she started running forward and throwing barrels at all of them. All of the attention was on her now and the soldiers opened fire. The armor piercing rounds did their job and passed right through their bodies. Strings saw this and took one hand off from his pipes and tugged on a soldier. The soldier stopped firing and looked at him. Strings stood on his tip-toes and held his hand up high and then pointed at the enormous Slitherscale.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" The soldier yelled out. When the sounds of gunfire stopped echoing off the walls they looked at the soldier.

"Spread out and focus fire on the big one! Strings orders." He said.

"Spread out people – get a clear shot, no explosives!" Admiral said.

The soldier did as they were told and lined up against the back wall. Then fifty six laser-guided red light scopes were pointing at the giant one. It got his attention, but only for a short time when Admiral yelled "Fire!" Its head exploded in a marvelous fashion that spread blood and guts all over the place.

"Focus fire on one at a time…Lhi is taking a beating!" Admiral said and ran forward shooting. The rest did the same and quickly their numbers dropped.

Lhi was staggering as much damage as she could and ignited as many as she could on fire, temporarily disorienting them. She was able to kill one instantly but had to save her chi to build up again to maintain aggro of the beasts. The heals were coming quickly and a light well was place behind her just in case she needed extra healing.

Suddenly a problem came up, the Slitherscales wanted to flee and they were looking for a way out. During their failed attempts to get around them, the soldiers ended up get swiped at and some even took some bullets. Jessica fired off a beam of healing energy that bounced from person to person, splitting into two every time it touched somebody. Lhi spun around and summoned a black statue of a bull. The soldiers that had taken damage suddenly felt the pain lessen as the healing eventually came to them.

"Watch the friendly fire!" Admiral yelled out.

When the very last Slitherscale was brutally killed and enough bullets were put into it to ensure its death, the quickly went to their wounded. Jessica casted several Prayer of Healing spells and all of the wounds were quickly healed. Strings was still playing his tune as Lhi said, "Gather up all of the weapons and valuables that they might have."

"I'm…alive – I know I took three bullets…" a male soldier said.

"My job is to not let anybody die…your job is to kill our enemies. You keep doing your job and I will keep doing mine." Jessica said smiling at the soldier.

"Yes ma'am!" The soldier said with a big smile.

The party took all of the armor, weapons, and several pilfered bags of gold, gems, and even their clothing. Once Lhi's, Jessica's, and Strings's bags were full of the items, Lhi took the lead and they jogged back out to the fork in the road. When they arrived Lhi heard some shuffling and quickly jumped towards it and did a fast summersault as she moved quickly to the sound.

"Don't kill me…please…" was all the soldiers heard as they moved quickly to catch up with her. They heard a quick "snap" and then a "thud". The soldiers arrived to see Lhi standing above a human.

"Alliance?" Jessica asked.

"A pathetic one…but yes, I only paralyzed him. The end of the cave dead-ends so we should head back to the town. I'll carry our prize with us. I'm sure Mohania would love to interrogate him." Lhi said lifting him up with one hand and throwing his limp body over her shoulder.

They exited the cave and saw all of the Sha demons were gone and the forest was much brighter now.

"Good…so we know how to deal with the Sha, kill the bastards and their hold on the forest is released." Jessica said.

Strings stopped playing and said, "There are sounds of fighting in the direction of the town."

"Strings can you hold this for me?" Lhi asked and tossed the alliance human at him. Strings caught him and carried him under his shoulder. Lhi took off in a sprint and moved with the swiftness of a rogue.

"Let's move ladies!" Admiral yelled out.

They arrived at the town to see an enormous Sha, not as big as the one that was summoned from Branzer was, but big enough to put up a good fight.

Lhi had stayed back to relay orders to her party when the caught up.

"Admiral – it is shooting off shadow spells and your men can easily get killed by it. Take the town's people with the Hozen up there and guard them. Jessica they want you to heal, get your ass in there. Strings, you and I are to help get the townspeople away and out of danger." Lhi said.

Admiral nodded and looked back at his fighters and pointed with two fingers away from the battle and towards the Pandaren that were at a safe distance. They saw a monkey-like creature standing in front of them holding a spear. They soldiers nodded and moved quickly and quietly towards the monkey.

"Ook ook…stop right there." The Hozen said.

"Lhi sent us here to help you, what can we do?" Admiral asked.

"Help? Umm...not sure…" the Hozen said scratching his head and looking around.

"Can we move the Pandarens back to a safer distance and then we can take some shots at the Sha? The rest of our soldiers can form a perimeter around the people to keep them safe." Admiral said.

"Ook…ook…sounds like good idea, me help! Hey all of you Pandarens…move back…back further…get away from the hurts! These creatures are helping…they are good…good like Herrior." The Hozen said.

"Snipers and the soldiers with armor piercing rounds…how many bullets can you pump into that demon?" Admiral asked.

"Enough to make it shit itself…sir" one soldier said and flicked his safety off.

"The rest of you form a perimeter – I don't want anybody dying on my watch! If anything moves in the forest, fill it full of lead!" Admiral yelled out.

"And I'll poke it with my spear!" The Hozen yelled out also. It was a funny moment, but nobody had the time to laugh now, they had an assignment to do. The snipers and heavy weapons soldiers stood in front of the retreating Pandarens and began unloading as many rounds as they could. The Sha screamed in pain as the bullets met their mark.

"Feed me your pain! Feed me your anger!" The Sha yelled but sounding weaker.

"Stop attacking!" Herrior yelled out. His group stopped and Herrior allowed the Sha to reach down and grab him.

"I will destroy you!" The Sha said and started to laugh sinisterly. The soldiers continued to fire their bullets and several of them hit Herrior.

"Stop you idiots!" Lhi yelled at them. The soldiers immediately put their weapons on safety.

"I will devour you…and you will become one of us!" The Sha said deviously.

"No…you won't. You will hold me and take me in as family. You didn't have a true family, but now you have one…a true family, one where everybody loves you." Herrior said. Silence fell across the forest. The Sha was confused and wasn't sure what to say.

"Devour me and make me your host, but if we join as one you will be joining me with the rest of my friends that love me. You will be loved, cherished and taken care of. You will be fed, clothed, and watched over as you sleep." Herrior said. The Sha instantly lost its power and burned up, dropping Herrior to the ground.

Herrior rose up and said, "Don't leave! We have a place for you in our hearts! There doesn't have to be anger, there is no hatred…just compassion for each other and it can be yours!" After Herrior's speech the forest was quickly returned back to normal. All of the beasts and plant life turned back to their normal color.

"Quinely take to the skies – survey the lands. Everybody else concentrate on the love we have for each other." Herrior said. Quinely morphed into a bird and quickly flew above the tree tops. She was able to witness the last little bit of Sha controlled land disappear in the distance. She did several circles to look for remnants and then flew back down and morphed back into her human form.

"All gone…as far as I could see the Sha is gone…how did you know that would work?" Quinely asked.

"Not all wars are won with weapons. If you remember our previous Sha encounters it constantly wanted anger, suffering and pain – so I gave it just the opposite." Herrior said.

"Pretty gutsy move there…" Mohania said.

"Not at all…if it didn't work I knew you had a couple of chaos bolts ready." Herrior said smiling at him.

"I could have taken him myself actually…mere simple demon is all it was…" Mohania said and started bragging.

"You had to get him started…" Skyka said embracing her husband.

"Let's return these people to their homes." Herrior said.

"Ook ook! We won! I told the Pandaren and these funny looking people to back up. They made loud noises with their weapons but we killed it! The Pandaren will not be sad anymore! You were nearly devoured but the Sha had you and you didn't back down…you will be king of the Hozens! I must tell the rest of the Hozen!"

"No…come here" Herrior said and knelt down on his knee. "This was a victory for all of us, you did more than I did…you worked harder than we did here, and you saved all of these people's lives." Herrior said and extended his hand. The Hozen looked back and Herrior motioned for them to thank him so they did.

"You are a brave Hozen, but the fight is not over yet. There are still many things that threaten these lands…I need a group of people to continue to help the Pandaren. I and my party won't be here forever, if only there was some group that knew these forests very well and could fight with the Pandaren." Herrior said putting his hand to his chin and pretended to think.

"Ooo Ooo…Hozen do it! Hozen good fighters and we know the forest very well! Please pick Hozens!" The monkey-looking man said.

"You would do that? You would be a tremendous help…but I need you to do something first. Can you make another spear?" Herrior asked. The Hozen looked at him funny and scratched the top of his head. Herrior pointed to the weapon in his hand.

"Oh – poker stick! Yes…Hozens are great at making poker sticks!"

"I need you to make one and give it to a little girl in Halfhill named Lulu, but it can't be just a normal poker stick…this one has to be strong and sharp – can you do that?" Herrior asked.

"Making poker stick is easy! I will make one and give it to Lulu…give it to her I will! I will do it right now!" The Hozen said and ran off excitedly.

"I bet he tastes like a hairy human…" Mohania said.

"Really? Really… Mohania has the thought of 'not saying what you are thinking' ever occur to you?" Crystal asked.

"No? That's a silly thought." Mohania said.

"How are your soldiers Admiral?" Herrior asked.

"Ready for round two!" Admiral said pulling up his assault rifle and placing it on his hip.

"Herrior, I shot you…please forgive me" one soldier quickly admitted.

"You didn't do it out of anger so it doesn't bother me…but for future reference, I don't like getting shot by my own people. I would suggest more training with your weapon." Herrior said.

"I believe I shot you as well Herrior…" another admitted.

"That's fine, but the same applies to everybody here…don't shoot each other, it's a waste of ammunition…" Herrior said with laughter in his voice. "So what do you think of the Hozen? I believe it is the first time you met one."

"Herrior…no offense but we just got done killing giant serpent-men and something called the Sha that looked like pure evil, seeing a monkey talk is not a big deal. Actually I don't think I could be surprised by much anymore." Admiral said. Suddenly Mohania's skull went flying through the air and hit Admiral in the chest. He simply looked at it as it fell to the ground.

"Nice catch butter fingers!" Mohania's skull rolled over and told him.

"As I said…not much we haven't already seen. Let's get going and leave him here." Admiral said smiling.

"What? Get back here…I'll gnaw your feet off…" Mohania said trying to roll towards him. Crystal picked up Mohania's head and said, "Herrior killed the Sha with kindness…ever kill somebody like that before?" Mohania motioned to say something but then kept quiet. Crystal walked back over and handed Mohania's body his head.

"Hmm…for once you have silenced Mohania" Skyka said. Skyka then turned around and yelled "For once the all powerful warlock has been silenced and is unable to speak! How can this be? What has happened? The planets will fall upon us and the stars will burn up the Heavens!"

"You are all hilarious…I'm still thinking of a comeback, unlike you I am planning our next move." Mohania said. Mohania then ran up to Herrior and asked what the next move was.

"Make fun of you" Herrior whispered.

"Got it…" Mohania said nodding seriously.

"Lindel make a portal, the humans need to head back." Herrior said.

"We will work on our marksmanship Herrior." Admiral said. Herrior nodded as they all walked through the portal.

"You are free to return to your homes – the scouts that were sent here send word back to Halfhill and report our progress, your people should be safe for now." Herrior said.

"We owe you a great deal, the Sha is everywhere and we lost hope. Now that the Sha has left our land, we are going to strengthen ourselves and not let the Sha overwhelm us again." An elder Pandaren said.

"I look forward to seeing the rebuild of your city and the strengthen of your race. We must depart ourselves for now. We have to do the same with our city." Herrior said as they said their farewells. Herrior gave Lindel the order to open a portal and they could see Tranquil on the other side – as magnificent as ever. Herrior's party all walked towards the portal when suddenly an invisible hand extended forward, surrounded the party and pulled them into the portal. It happened so quickly that it pulled everybody off guard.

They arrived in a place that was pure white in every direction the eye could see. They couldn't see what they were standing on and above them just white.

A red-cloaked figure suddenly appeared in front of them, and the ones that weren't facing him were forcefully turned to look at him. Herrior motioned to pull out his weapons when the figure said "You do not need weapons here, I am a messenger."

"A messenger from whom?" Herrior asked.

"From God" the figure said and walked towards them. Suddenly their minds went quiet and a warm sensation filled all of them.

"What is it that you want?" Herrior asked in a softer tone.

"The world you call Elona, where your city resides, is not safe. Dan spoke of the elements describing abominations walking the lands. These creatures need to be destroyed, they are not allowed to be alive or exist. You shall wipe out every one of these. Your weapons will not work against them. They are unclean and anybody who gets touched by them needs to be slain. Take the soldiers and shoot them in the head. Do not use any type of magic when they are close to you. Kill them and let the lands devour their bodies. Do not touch the dead ones for they are unclean as well. The abominations are similar to what you fought in the silken fields, you called them zombies. See to it that every last one of them is killed." The messenger said.

"Can we use guns?" Herrior asked.

"Always full of questions…looking for alternatives to an order…I do not appreciate this. Kill them with a gun and shoot them in the head to kill them. See to it that you carry out these orders!" The messenger disappeared and instantly they were back in Tranquil.

"Herrior…in the future…don't ask dumbass questions…" Mohania said.

"Duly noted…I will contact Admiral – the rest of you go get some guns." Herrior said. Herrior's party summoned their flying mounts and fly off to the armory.

"Herrior! Good to see you again, what a mission huh? I forgot what it was like to fight on the ground rather than just ordering a missile to be fired…it is such an adrenaline rush!" Admiral said excitedly.

"We aren't done yet Admiral. I have another mission, one greater than any mission that you have ever been on before I assure you. I need some fresh soldiers with guns and lots of ammunition." Herrior said in a deep serious tone.

"Has the Sha returned?" Admiral asked.

"No…no this is something much different…much deadlier. Admiral I want you to sit out on this mission. We will be coming to the station shortly." Herrior said and closed the hearthstone portal.

Admiral looked confused but knew something bad had happened. He pressed the red button underneath the desk that summoned soldiers. He then called George and asked for his advice. George listed to what Admiral explained to him and said, "Bring some drones with you – they will give you a live feed of what sort of enemy you are up against. I don't know why…but bring some electrical razor wire with you…don't ask why but I think you will need it. I will send some men up to get you the gear that you need. They are trained in drone and rover combat – just please bring my toys back to me in one piece." George said.

"I'm hoping our soldiers come back in one piece…" Admiral said.

"I've been doing some work and got us clearance to build a landing strip and several hangers. I'm hoping I can talk to the engineers in Tranquil to build us some bunkers as well. Can you suggest that to Herrior if you get a chance?" George asked.

"Why are we building an airport?" Admiral asked.

"Why…for our personal helicopters, jets, and Awacs – apparently the powers that be thought it would be a good idea to follow my recommendations for the development of them." George said with a satisfied tone in his voice.

"You haven't been telling them anything…" Admiral started to say.

"Relax…I like my head attached to my neck, of course not. However we have been able to intercept dozens of terrorist's transmissions and have taken down several terror cells. We are packing a lot of hardware with some very good men and women. Did you know that the average terrorist has less than a one hundred I.Q.? They talk on regular cell phones and we screen millions of calls scanning for certain tones and words. We are doing the same for emails but are scanning tens of millions of emails using the same technique. Fascinating the conversations some people have…Admiral we could retire on blackmail alone and buy China…which by the way are sending a lot of bogus emails to a dummy server in Maine. We think something is up but haven't done anything about it yet. Also did you know we now have full control over every satellite in space? Things are getting exciting here!" George said as his excitement increased towards the end of the conversation.

"Just watch your back…let's not be starting World War three here…" Admiral said.

"Nonsense…we're completely invisible. We're using people's home computers in all fifty states to retrieve our information…and even computers in other countries that they don't know about…" George said. Admiral stopped him because George sounded like he was going to go on more about all of his computer gibberish. He said he would wait for the robots outside the station.

Admiral went outside his office and was met by Herrior. All of them had rifles he had never seen before. Herrior could see the curiosity in his face.

"Don't get used to it…I hate these things." He said.

"What exactly is the mission?" Admiral asked.

"Can't say…I didn't even tell the King all of the details" Herrior said as they walked side-by-side down the hallway.

"And I'm not allowed to go?" Admiral asked.

"No, I anticipate some losses on this mission and you have been doing a good job of running this place. Losing you would unravel everything we have worked so hard to establish on this world." Herrior replied.

"And losing you wouldn't have consequences? Not to mention you have the prince with…"

"Silence! No more talking…" Herrior said.

"See what I said about asking too many questions?" Mohania asked aloud.

Once outside Herrior looked over the soldiers he was going to take into battle. He saw others coming in to the crowd as well as some objects he had never seen before.

"If you went on the previous mission, you are not allowed to come on this one. Those of you who just returned go ahead and leave and tend to other duties." Herrior said. Nearly half of them left in obedience. Herrior counted forty soldiers left and three more men with hardly any weapons, but carrying huge bags of items.

"We can only use guns on this mission." Herrior said.

"These are items to help us survey the land and get a better look at what we are shooting and for building a defensive perimeter, and rations. There are no explosives in here." One of George's men said.

"Get these men some extra guns!" Herrior called out. The soldiers that left quickly turned over their weapons to the three of them who had difficultly carrying everything.

"Rules are simple – shoot every abomination in the head. Get touched and we will kill you. That's it…let's go." Herrior said and turned back around and walked back into the station.

Lindel opened a portal and everybody arrived on the seashore of Elona. Off in the distance they could see Tranquil in its magnificence across the ocean. Then they turned around and saw where the lands had risen up and destroyed everything; forests off to their right, tall jagged rocks to their left.

"Julie you are in charge of this operation, remember people – no magic!" Herrior said turning to his party.

Julie pointed behind her and said "That is Tranquil" then she pointed to where they stood and said "This is where we will setup a defensive perimeter. Nothing is to get by this spot. We may send out scout teams to find out the abominations headquarters. Start setting up a perimeter."

"Julie – may I suggest something?" One of George's men asked.

"Go ahead."

"We have the equipment to lay down electrified razor wire. We have nearly one hundred yards of it, but we will need posts to set it up properly. Also we have some drones that we can send in the air to scout ahead for us. They are not human and don't give off a heat signature and are virtually silent. I can also equip them with guns and missiles as well if needed."

Julie shook her head and said, "It has to be one shot – one kill. Herrior – assemble a team and scale those cliffs to cut down some trees for posts. Start setting up your equipment, I do feel better sending a drone to look around then Quinely. If these are the same abominations we fought before, they are going to look like and act like zombies…just like Night of the Living Dead. It sounds like some weird shit I know…but hang around us long enough and you'll see some weirder shit. As Herrior said, do not let them touch you and aim for their head. Soldier – how are we on ammunition?" Julie asked turning to the closest soldier to her and Herrior took Jacklyn and Strings with him to go collect wood.

"We have enough to kill everybody in a small country." He said with a smile.

"Do we have enough to kill everybody on a small planet?" Julie asked reminding him that they were on another world. The soldier looked away and started to calculate how much ammunition they had.

"Our guns do not need to be reloaded so we will be firing nonstop, unfortunately most of us cannot shoot as well as you. Once the enemy is in range and you are certain you have a kill shot – take it, until then leave the safety's on and everybody help setup the perimeter. Bernett, Lindel and Quinely – I want you to go ahead of us and look for anything that wants to eat your brains. Do not engage. I want to know what direction they are coming from. Most zombie movies I've seen, they do not like water but just in case – Mohania I want you to cover our backside. Before we begin – does anybody sense anything or see anything unusual?" Julie asked in a commanding voice. Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked around.

"No demons" Mohania said.

"No animals on land…there are some fish in the water. Nothing is flying." Quinely said.

"Nothing on the horizon" one of the soldiers with binoculars said out of the several that were looking.

"Let's get to it people!" Julie said and everybody sprang into action.

Minutes passed and a loud "crack" sound echoed as an enormous tree was cut down and tumbled down the cliff. Strings dropped several large sticks down as well and the words "I hate these little swords!" came from Jacklyn. Skyka smiled and then went back to her task of helping to spread out the wire. George's men had setup several solar panels and connected them to series batteries. Some lights were setup and tested to see if they would work, they didn't know how long this mission was going to take and they wanted to take everything that they thought they needed. Also a series of small black boxes were setup to the battery panel. These black boxes were used to charge up the batteries used for the laser scopes.

An hour passed and the perimeter was nearly complete. Herrior, Jacklyn, and Strings had returned with more than enough wood for the posts, so they started making spears out of them.

Suddenly a tentacle slithered out of the water and began to flap around.

"Uh…something ugly just came out of the water…" Mohania said walking over to it. He picked it up and the tentacle quickly slithered away from him and towards one of the soldiers.

"Watch out!" Mohania yelled and tried to push the soldier out of the way before the tentacle could get him. The soldier's body was pulled down quickly and Mohania went flying over him and tumbled in the ground. The soldier let out a scream of surprise as he was pulled towards the ocean. Suddenly Trackolania's dagger, Herrior's sword and Julie's gun all hit the tentacle at the same time. The soldier was released when the tentacle was severed.

"Back away from the ocean! Hug the front of the perimeter!" Herrior commanded.

"I got this…" Mohania said as he started launching his fire spells at other tentacles coming out of the ocean. Whatever creature it was, did not like getting burned at all and quickly retreated. Mohania reached out and grabbed a tentacle as it wiggled hard to get away from him.

"It wants flesh and blood…I'm the only one that can kill it…" Mohania said.

"Do you think you can kill it?" Herrior asked.

"I've fought bigger…" Mohania said turning his head around to Herrior with a smile. Mohania summoned his imp and dove into the water.

"I thought the angel said no magic." Skyka said.

"That thing is a creature…I cannot control it, but I can sense it now because of the pain Mohania is giving to it. It is huge…Herrior it's bigger than our city. Its tentacles search the lands for food and pull it in the ocean to feast on. If anybody were to step outside of Tranquil it could possibly pull them into it. It needs to be killed Herrior." Quinely said.

"Can you tell who is winning?" Herrior asked softly.

"The creature is flailing around frantically trying to find its predator…it has no idea Mohania and his imp are there. It must not be able to see. I think Mohania stands a good chance of killing it." Quinely said.

"Abominations! They saw us and are coming towards us!" Bernett yelled out as they ran back. All of the soldiers got into position and turned their laser scopes on and sited in as they scanned their targets.

"Easy people…we have friendly's coming at us." A soldier said scanning the horizon with his binoculars.

"Mohania is on his own, is the perimeter setup and running?" Julie asked.

"It will fry anything it touches…be careful people, this isn't your usual farm style electric fence. Permission to start sending drones up." One of George's men asked.

"Do it! Scan everywhere you can. I want to know which direction they are coming from, how many there are and what, if anything, is creating them. Do not fire until our party is secured around the fence. After that its weapons free everybody." Julie said and got her gun ready.

"I hate these things…" Herrior mumbled trying to find a good way to put his gun against his arm and look down the scope.

"Would it be easier if you just throw the gun at them?" Skyka asked with a smile as she peered down her barrel.

"Yes…as a matter a fact it would be…" Herrior said back sarcastically.

Bernett and his party came back and the soldiers started to open fire. The zombies dropped surprisingly quickly. One after another they fell to the ground and turned to dust.

"I can barely see them, and you guys are picking them off as if they were ten meters away…" Herrior said still frustrated.

"It's what we are trained for Herrior." A soldier said with a smile.

"I can't even get a shot in Herrior." Julie said shaking her head slightly. "Our weapons are not designed for these kinds of distances. Herrior take our party and divide them up and keep our sides from getting ambushed."

"There is nothing coming from either direction. I'm counting at least two thousand strong heading our way from that direction. The fastest I've seen one more is two miles per hour…they are slow and dumb, not a threat to us in our current situation." One of George's men said watching a monitor as his drone flew above them.

"Well…this is boring…" Herrior said in an upset tone as the crack of the rifles went off and from a far distance away everybody could see several of them dropping when they came into view.

"This is our mission sweetie we are here for a reason." Skyka reminded him.

"I'm sure Mohania is having more fun than this…" Herrior said casually back.

"He could have fun throwing rocks at a tree." Quinely said.

"Yeehaa, rid' em big squid thingy!" Mohania yelled out. He held tightly to one of the injured tentacles that was being retracted very quickly back to its mouth. Mohania's imp would cast a fireball at it every couple of seconds to speed it along.

Once in sight Mohania got a first look at the creature. It was enormous and encompassed the entire seafloor. It shocked him at first and then said calmly, "I've fought bigger…" as the tentacle raced towards its mouth.

The tentacle stopped just short of the huge creature's mouth as Mohania saw one giant eye on staring at it. Mohania smiled and waved at it as the creature suddenly leaped forward and swallowed him.

"Excellent! Now let's see if this baby cooks!" Mohania said igniting his body on fire and began casting chaos bolts in every direction. Mohania had lost control of his imp and it vanished.

The creature shook violently as the powerful spell tore enormous chunks out from within itself.

"Don't like that? Having a little heartburn?" Mohania said and began to cast hellfire, surrounding everything around him within twenty yards with fire. The beast screamed and panicked. The tongue of the beast was completely engulfed as it tried to spit Mohania out.

"Heartburn! I made a funny and nobody was here to hear it! I'm going to tell everybody first chance I get." Mohania said. He then continued casting his fire spells in every direction as the helpless creature wiggled and squirmed.

Back at the battlefield, the soldiers were having contests to see who can drop the most zombies with one bullet. Suddenly a small ship came rushing down towards them with a man wearing a dark cloak. He jumped off and sent a force wave to the left side of the camp that threw everybody up against the side of the mountain. The then did the same with the right side of the camp. Herrior and his party were caught off guard but the healers instincts kicked in. The man in the black robe then held up his hand and the side of the mountain began to collapse down onto the party below it.

Time stopped.

"Regroup! Get the people out of the way of the destruction! I'm taking this guy out, but first heal everybody up and get everybody to safety!" Herrior's voice boomed out. Herrior's party moved everybody that wasn't immune to time stopping out of the way of the falling rocks. During this time everybody thanked Dan for being quick with stopping time. It seems as though their foe was not immune to time stopping.

"Alright everybody – I want no causalities! Let's do this!" Herrior yelled.

Time resumed.

Mohania was at the bottom of the ocean and felt everything stop and knew that something bad was going on. He burned a hole through the beast and began the long swim upwards. Suddenly something underneath him pushed on him and accelerated his movement to the top of the ocean. He looked down and saw the enormous defeated beast was floating to the top.

"Nobody is going to believe this!"

Herrior let out a battle cry and the black hooded figure held out a weapon that produced a red beam of light that extended about three foot out from the silver alien-looking handle he was holding.

"You have much to apologize for!" Herrior's voice bellowed out pointing his sword at him. Herrior's party was now assembled in their fighting positions and Icis had put a shield around Herrior as the rest applied their buffs to their party.

"Me? You have killed my creations! I was going to use them to infect dozens of planets and turn its inhabitants into my servants! I don't know who you are…but I will destroy every last one of you – that is a promise!" The man's voice was dark and sinister. His eyes peered at Herrior and he saw that they were dark red. He knew that this was no ordinary alliance he was going to fight. He assumed a defensive stance and waited for him to engage him, this proved to be a wrong move as the black cloaked man quickly shot out his hand and an invisible force knocked all of them backwards. Herrior regained his footing first and charged at the man, stunning him and then slamming his shield into him. The two engaged in combat, the dark man's red sword hitting fast and hard as Herrior absorbed the blows and struck back but not nearly as quickly.

Veliline moved up to Herrior's left while summoning a ghoul. She ran forward and held out her hand and inflected frost fever and blood plague at the same time. The man's body didn't seem affected by the diseases but was shocked when Herrior quickly disarmed him. The man reached over with his hand to call his weapon to him, but his concentration was broke when Quinely slammed into him hard and then with a brutal strike she stunned him. They had five seconds to apply as much damage to the man as they could and Trackolania's daggers sunk into the back of the man's neck, inserting his deadly poisons into him. Dan dropped a fire totem and shot a bolt of lightning at the man as Jacklyn's swords moved with precision, striking hard at the man.

"Something is wrong…Herrior something is wrong – get out of there! Disengage!" Lindel screamed at nearly the top of her lungs. Herrior's party quickly fell back as the man recovered and summoned his weapon to him. He leaped into the air and fell to the ground with his red sword pointed towards the ground. It slammed hard, creating a fierce earthquake and an unseen force blasted all of them backwards. The three healers released their magical bouncing beams of light and it healed everybody up as they bounced from one person to another. Icis produced a shield around all of them, reducing the amount of damage that they took as Jessica summoned a lightwell and Lhi summoned a black bull that place a protective shield on everybody that allowed them to stagger damage the same way the monks could.

Herrior jumped back up and launched a magical sword at the man, stunning him again for three seconds and then leaped in the air and landed hard next to the man, knocking him backwards. Herrior produced a banner and throw it in the ground, increasing everybody's damage and then Herrior let out another battle cry. This filled the man with fear as he put his weapon in front of him and started parrying the attacks. Lhi tumbled forward and shot out a rope that wrapped around his red weapon and pulled it away from him.

During the battle instead of fighting Lindel felt the immense hatred in their enemy, but fortunate for him he didn't feel her probing. This was no ordinary man and this was not an alliance. She felt an enormous presence emerge from the ocean behind him and saw a beast as large as the ocean itself with Mohania standing on top of it.

"Moby Dick doesn't have nothing on me!" Mohania said proudly. Lindel quickly took flight during the battle and landed next to Mohania. She whispered to him all of the information that she had obtained from the man they were fighting. Mohania nodded and Lindel disappeared.

"Stop…this…battle!" Mohania yelled out in another man's voice unknown to Herrior's party. His voice penetrated through the man they were fighting and struck him with deep fear. He scrambled backwards quickly unbelieving what he was seeing and heard.

"No…it's not possible…" the man said terrified and trembling.

Mohania flew off from the dead oceanic creature and flew past the soldiers and eventually passed Herrior and right at the man's feet.

"Good to see you again…my apprentice…" Mohania said.

"No…it can't be…"

"Let me jog your memory…does this look more like you remember me?" Mohania said removing his head with his right hand.

"My master…please I beg for forgiveness…"

Mohania put his head back on and let out a brief chuckle. "Forgiveness? You ask for forgiveness for beheading me? Well hell…why not, you always were the weak one…I should have killed you when I had the chance…glad I didn't though. No…actually it is you I should be thanking. Because of your betrayal I was able to draw upon more power than your mere mortal mind could comprehend. So tell me…my stupid apprentice…does my form strike fear into you?"

The man rose up, Lhi still holding his weapon, and shook as he stood to his knees.

"Do you feel more comfortable with me looking like this?" Mohania asked and chanted a couple of words and instantly transformed into his old master. The apprentice's face looked shocked and tried to backup but stumbled over his feet.

"You needn't fear death…it is an enemy like any other. Once you embrace your fears you can overcome them. Anger does not give a Sith his powers…nor does an army of infected zombies…you could have become so much more." Mohania said holding up his hand and a sudden burst of a green light tore into the man's chest and sucked out enough power to give him barely enough power to breath. The apprentice looked slowly up at him and held up his hand and said, "Please…master…"

Mohania dropped his disguise and casted another spell that encased him in his green shield. Mohania lifted him up into the air as the apprentice tried to make words of pleading for his life.

"His light saber please…" Mohania said reaching a hand behind him. The weapon Lhi was holding quickly flew from her hands and into Mohania's. He looked it over briefly and said, "This looks familiar…in fact – my name is still engraved on here. You took my life, my powers, my weapons and armor and rose to power…and now look at you, a pathetic piece of shit groveling for his life. Mohania put the weapon in his mouth and with several sharp quick bursts of explosions and metal grinding on each other he chewed it up. He then spit out the remains and pulled a dark red crystal from it.

"The power crystal I had to slay a thousand Jedi to form from their essences. This isn't yours." Mohania said casually and held up his hand and slammed the man hard on the ground.

"Destroy his ship! Destroy his abominations! I want him stripped naked and whipped! I want all of the things that you worked so hard on to watch fade away in the blink of an eye!" Mohania's voice grew sinister as the man cried in pain. Mohania walked up to the man and kicked him hard on the side of his head. He then stepped on his hand and increased pressure until the man was screaming at the top of his lungs as he felt each bone break under Mohania's foot.

Julie drew her gun to the sky and let loose at the small ship. The soldiers joined in, and it quickly let off a series of explosions and fell to the ground. "Let's go people! Destroy the abominations!" Julie let out a war cry and Spark howled next to her. The soldiers quickly reloaded their guns and ran to catch up with Julie.

Herrior walked back and told one of George's men to deactivate the electrical power in the fence. The closest man nodded and ran over and quickly pushed a button and said "done". Herrior then cut the wire into a ten foot string of razor sharp steel. He started cutting off the razors as he walked back up to Mohania. His clothing and items were stripped from him. Jacklyn and Dan held the naked man's back to him and before Herrior could land the first strike a voice came from above them.

"Stop…please." It was a gentle female's voice.

Herrior stopped and turned around. There were three of them, a woman in the front, a man to her right and a fierce looking robot of some kind to her left.

"Who are you people?" She asked.

"Fighters of Tranquil, I am Herrior – ambassador and leader of my party. Who are you?" Herrior asked lowering his whip.

"My name is Kira Carsen, this is Torian Cadera, and with us is one of our best assault droids, Yuun. Are you with the Republic or with the Imperial Fleet?" Kira asked.

Herrior looked confused and turned to Mohania. Lindel materialized in front of him and said, "Got me on that one, I couldn't get any information about him about that."

"Are you bounty hunters? Spies?" Kira asked.

"No, we are fighters of Tranquil. Tranquil is a city that we live in. A messenger sent us here to stop those abominations." Herrior turned and pointed in Julie's position. Her and the soldiers were slaughtering them by the hundreds and cheering.

"What sort of messenger?" Kira asked.

"Why do I feel like I am being interrogated?" Herrior asked.

"I'm still not sure if you are with us or against us…" Kira said.

"Likewise…do you know this man?" Herrior asked.

"Xython…leader of the Sith. We were sent here to investigate a lead that he might be on this world. He is wanted for hundreds of crimes against the Republic. It seems as though you aren't a fan of him either…" Kira said.

"He attacked us first. Our messenger was an angel and told us to come here to stop the abominations. He came out of nowhere riding that thing." Herrior said pointing to the wrecked flying machine.

"Go check for a tracking beacon." Kira said to Torian. He nodded and quickly ran over to it.

"I've never seen any of your kind before…besides the humans, who are you people?" Kira asked again.

"I'm a tauren, Lhi is a monk, Lindel is a banshee, Mohania is undead, and we aren't sure what Trackolania is…" Herrior smiled looking at him. He was writing his name in the sand. He looked up at him and smiled.

"Well…tauren…it is nice to meet you." Kira said.

"Please…call me Herrior. Since this was your enemy initially, we will turn him over to you. I assume he will get the justice he deserves?" Herrior asked.

"He's killed millions…how do you punish somebody for that?" Kira asked letting down her guard finally.

"I can think of several ways just off the top of my head…let's see first I can…" Mohania said but was interrupted by Herrior's sharp glare. Herrior turned back around and said, "Then he is yours, let your people decide his fate. His weapon, Mohania called it a light saver, had a red crystal in it."

"Light saber boss…don't you listen to me when I'm making threatening gestures to people?" Mohania asked tossing the crystal over to Kira.

"Mohania…you do it all of the time, I tend to tune you out." Herrior said. Mohania started laughing sinisterly.

"So you seriously never heard of us or anything that I spoke of?" Kira asked.

"Honestly…we just moved in, still kinda new to the neighborhood." Skyka said smiling.

"This crystal holds the cries of millions of lives. I can hear them." Kira said sadly.

"I am sorry for your losses. I know it probably doesn't mean much, but my heart does go out to your people. Jacklyn hand over our prisoner…be careful not to break all of this bones in his body when you do." Herrior said. Jacklyn smiled as she slammed her fist into his side hard. The man let out a weak cry of pain as several of his ribs broke. She then twisted his arm around and then slammed her elbow down on his arm, dislocating his arm and sending parts of bone out of the bottom of his elbow. Afterwards she grabbed his badly mutilated arm and kicked his feet out from under him as she dragged him over to them.

"I was as 'careful' as I could be…" Jacklyn said with a smile.

"Thank you…I will see to it that he is brought to justice. This will be a huge demoralizing blow to the Sith and the Empire." Kira said.

"Are you going to bring him to Yoda?" Dan asked with a smirk.

Kira looked confused. Dan asked if they had ever seen the movie "Star Wars". Kira looked confused again and said, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"First Star Trek…then Star Wars…what's next – Deep Space Nine?" Dan asked throwing his hands up and turning around.

"What is he talking about?" Kira asked Herrior.

"I don't know. My guess is somebody from his world was or is able to travel to different planets similar to us. Either that or the person is some sort of visionary – able to see things that no normal person can see." Herrior said.

"No tracking beacon…whatever the Sith was doing he didn't want anybody to know about." Torian said running back. "The speeder is badly damaged, but I was able to salvage some memory records. After analyzing them it seems as though he was planning on unleashing his abominations on the inhabitants of this world…but something happened – this part I don't understand, he describes it as the world unleashing its own havoc on the people of this world. This went on for almost three days until everybody was dead. He then put this disease on the dead and was able to reanimate them to life as mindless disease filled…abominations as they put it. One of these abominations can wipe out an entire world…no doubt he was going to drop a couple of them on our republic planets. These people not only killed the single most powerful Sith in the known universes, but has stopped a powerful plague."

"And a big sea creature! I did that single handedly…I will sign autographs but no photos please…" Mohania said pointing to the ocean. Everybody stopped for a moment and looked at the enormous dead squid and then looked back at him.

"If you ignore him…he'll go away, now then what do you need my people to do? Is there a location where we need to investigate?" Herrior asked resuming the conversation. Just then the cries of Julie came out "Run! Run faster – get the lead out…it's going to blow!"

"Dan!" Herrior said quickly. Dan produced an enormous gust of wind as he flew off from the ground and headed to their direction. When he got there he saw a silver compound with a single opening that Julie and the soldiers were running away from. Dan quickly shot his hand out and a huge wall of dirt filled the entrance. Then he started to channel his power and the ground beneath the complex opened up and fell into a deep hole that was quickly filled in over top of it. A muffled explosion came and gently shook the ground a little. Dan then swooped down and created a cushion of air that propelled Julie and all of the soldiers into the air. Several "Wow's and whoa's" came out as Dan ordered the winds to carry them back to Herrior. Upon arrival Dan brought the soldiers down gently.

"Report" Herrior said.

"We made it go boom!" Julie said ecstatically.

Herrior smiled but waited for a longer explanation.

"We noticed that shooting some canisters created some explosions. It was an accidental ricochet was how we noticed it. I quickly ran over to the canisters and told everybody to stand back. I took some fire damage, but my armor protected me. I might be infected, but I doubt its anything that our armor can't absorb. Anyways after the explosion settled down, we continued fighting the zombies and eventually we found where the 'lab' was. After killing the rest of these senseless idiots, we started to move as many canisters to what looked like some sort of fuel drum. Then I told everybody to run out as I released an immolation trap. We ran out of there as the trap slowly burned through all of the canisters and eventually went boom!" Julie said still excited.

"Bah…whatever – I killed a giant sea monster; that takes some balls!" Mohania said pointing over to the ocean.

"Why do some people say grow some balls? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough grow a vagina, those things can take a pounding!" Julie said and then burst into laughter. Herrior slowly closed his eyes and put his hand over them shaking his head as everybody else started laughing.

"So…you are the new annoying one…" Mohania said laughing. He tilted his head back in laughter and eventually it fell off and rolled around on the ground still laughing.

"You'll have to excuse my party…they can be a little…I have no words…" Herrior said opening his eyes and saw that their new friends were laughing – except for the robot. Herrior let loose as well then and started to laugh a little as well. They started exchanging jokes and for an hour they laughed and joked around with each other. Kira eventually said they had to return to their starship with Xython. She then asked how they can pay them for their services and started pulling out some weird kind paper. Herrior shook his head and pushed it away as he said, "We cannot accept payment for our mission. We are fighters – this is our job. We fight and we fight well. Our love for each other in our party is payment enough. Keep your currency; I'm sure you can find better uses for it."

Kira looked surprised and said, "Spoken like a true Jedi. May I introduce you to our counsel in the future?"

"Jedi? Really? Was that thing a light saber? Oh this is awesome! I wanna meet Luke Skywalker…is he around? Did you know R2-D2 is the most vulgar robot in that movie? They had to bleep out every single word he said!" Julie said excitedly.

"Julie…now is not the time – go speak with Dan." Herrior said looking at her visibly upset by what she said. Julie's smile quickly disappeared and moved quickly over to Dan.

"My apologizes again for my party!" Herrior said aloud facing Julie and then turned back around to Kira, "Leave a message for me at this spot on a board telling me when to meet you here again, for now we have to take our leave back to our city. Lindel open a portal." Herrior said. Herrior gently bowed to Kira and she bowed back.

"Herrior…can you keep a secret?" Kira asked.

"Yes? What is it Kira?" Herrior asked. Kira turned around and punched Xython as hard as she could in his other side until she was exhausted. She took a deep breath and turned back around and said, "That never happened."

"I have no idea what you are talking about…take care my friends." Herrior said with a big smile.

"His life essence is nearly gone…if you want him to survive the flight I would suggest some healing." Lindel said.

"Duly noted…it's a shame that we are out of medi-packs..." Kira said as they left for their ship.

Back at the station Herrior ordered all of the soldiers to not speak of their encounter. They all acknowledged and left to return to their posts. Herrior then ordered a portal to Tranquil to be opened. Arriving back in Tranquil, Herrior turned to his party and told all of them to go in their house – he had to speak with them privately.

Herrior opened the door as they all walked in then Herrior slammed the door behind him.

"I'm tired of this shit!" Herrior screamed catching everybody off guard. "When we meet a new race or a new group of people – even if it was in a damn movie or whatever – I am the ambassador! I am the leader! I've earned the trust of many races and people over with diplomacy – not by cracking jokes about them! That shit stops now! Those people were real and if we offended them, we could have another enemy of Tranquil and that is the last thing I want and the person that offended them will be hung in the gallows that day – is that understood? Look at me…all of you! This is not all fun and games! Once we get to know the people and have broken bread with them, then you may share a laugh with them. Dan, Julie – I want you to report to the blacksmiths and polish every single one of their tools until it is spotless! If you say or do anything like that again in the future your punishment will be much more severe – I promise you that! Dan – you are an ambassador and prince to Tranquil, you should have known better! If I report what you did with your title, the King would not be as lenient as I am with you! I will leave this out of my report – this time! This applies to the rest of you humans! I took you into my party! I am very flexible with the rules, but not when it comes to the safety of Tranquil! Tranquil first – always!" Herrior stopped to take several heavy breaths. "I need to meditate before I give my report, get out of here – all of you…and those blacksmith tools had better sparkle!"

Skyka opened the door and everybody left. Skyka quietly shut the door, leaving Herrior in the house.

"I'm so sorry Skyka…" Julie said in tears and trembling.

"You had better go do what Herrior said." Skyka said and then walked away. Dan summoned his dragon and flew off, and Julie followed.


	45. To the Republic for which it Stands

To the Republic for which it Stands

Several days had passed since the war and Dan and Julie were still polishing tools. Herrior had met with the King and spoke of the events that had taken place. The King asked Herrior to investigate further into this "Republic" and to see if they could be an ally. Herrior then had a robe tailor made to look similar to what Kira's looked like, white with light brown borders and rope. He went out every day to check for a sign that Kira wanted to visit with him again, but there was nothing. Herrior had other matters to tend to as well, a new shipment of specially modified police cruisers had arrived at the station and Herrior gave the authorization to do everything that they could to try to destroy them to see if Rick had upheld his part of the bargain. They had reported that the vehicles were virtually indestructible, and that the heavy-armored SUV had arrived but did not have an engine. Herrior said that they would install an engine from Tranquil to move the six-ton vehicle as fast as Admiral's SUV. Herrior told them that the engineers would arrive shortly and to setup a temporary shelter to disguise the engineers and their work. The soldiers went to work erecting a circus size tent beyond their borders.

George had reported that the airfield would be completed within one week and that he ordered a helipad as well. Their massive hanger was coming together nicely and underground storage tanks for fuel had been dug and they were just awaiting the crew to come in and drop the tanks. George also said that they would put up a fake aircraft control tower and tint the windows so nobody could see it, but it gave him an excuse to put some more of his "spy toys" in it.

Herrior asked Admiral about the condition of his soldiers. He reported no aliments and they were ready for the next mission whenever you give the command. Admiral reported that their dog adoption had saved hundreds of dog's lives and almost one hundred arrests had been made because of them. He said it has really strengthened the moral of the soldiers and has been bringing in a good profit for them as well. Herrior said he was pleased with the results and would relay the information to Julie.

Several more days had passed and Skyka decided to make a robe similar to Herrior's as well. She told him that it was a new fashion trend and that it would catch on eventually. Herrior doubted it.

Mohania had asked Herrior for permission in getting rid of the enormous sea monster surrounding Tranquil. Herrior gave it to him and he quickly assembled a team of explosive experts. Herrior didn't know what the plan was until an earth-shattered explosion occurred sending blood, flesh and guts all over the shield of Tranquil and throughout the blast radius. Herrior then met with Mohania to discuss why this had happened.

"It was too big to move, we couldn't fit it in a portal and we couldn't bury it." Mohania responded.

"So blowing it up was your final solution?" Herrior asked.

"Actually it was our first solution…after considering the mess it left we thought of different solutions, but the problem has been taken care of. Tranquil's shields will burn off everything that is on it and the rest will renew the soil and give food for the wildlife." Mohania said.

"Will there be a smell?" Herrior asked.

Mohania shook his head and his hands while saying, "No worse than an unbathed Tauren after a month…oh sorry I forgot you were a Tauren, no offense" and then smiled at him.

"Contact the engineers…see if there is a way to spray off some of the remains back into the ocean. It's safe to assume that there are more of these in the oceans, see if there is a way to track them or setup perimeters to monitor for anything that large coming within one hundred miles of our island." Herrior said ignoring Mohania's remarks.

"Herrior I had a thought…it's obvious that people know we are here and that is something we originally wanted to avoid, but since there seems to be a war going on and seeing how we killed one of the baddies main enemy's – would should probably implement something in our shields to disguise our city to the outsiders. Something that can not only not be seen by a person, but also have it protect against that radar thing George was talking about. According to him, his base of operations is that way." Mohania commented.

This was a clever idea and it caught Herrior off guard. "Go to our ambassadors and deliver your idea immediately, if needed bring George in to oversee the process."

"Do I get a gold star?" Mohania asked.

"How about a 'good idea Mohania' instead?" Herrior asked.

"What about corpses?"

"Go…" Herrior said realizing that this conversation could go on forever. Mohania scurried off as Skyka slowly approached him.

"So…the dumbass had a good idea?" Skyka asked smiling.

"First time for everything…I'm going to go look again for a sign, do you want to come with me?" Herrior asked.

"Ooo – me too!" Lindel said materializing beside them. She was wearing a similar robe to Herrior and Skyka's, only hers had golden lace running the length of the robe.

"Is there any chance of you not doing that in the future?" Herrior asked smiling.

"Nope! When do we leave?" Lindel asked smiling back.

The three of them left the entrance of Tranquil and summoned their dragons. They flew several hundred feet in the air and saw the remains of the sea beast. The explosion had propelled parts of it several miles away.

"What happened?" Lindel asked.

"You didn't overhear that conversation?" Herrior yelled back. Lindel shook her head.

"Mohania and some explosive engineers blew up the sea beast that Mohania had killed." Herrior said.

"Wow…" Lindel said in amazement looking at the mess it left.

"Herrior there is a ship with some people looking at us." Skyka had turned her dragon and looked at their meeting spot. They were staring up in amazement at them.

"Let's not keep them waiting." Herrior said and flew down to the ground with Lindel and Skyka following.

"Herrior – it is nice to see you again!" Kira yelled out. Herrior dismounted and landed on the ground hard and then said, "The pleasure is mine. These are our dragons; would you like to ride one?"

"Yes but another time. The counsel and high chancellor would like to speak with you. I have been ordered to deliver the message personally and arrange for any accommodations you may need. The story of what you have done for our people has spread quickly and they want to speak with you as soon as possible." Kira said.

"Then let us not waste another moment. Lead the way." Herrior said as the three of them let their dragons fly away.

"Absolutely magnificent…" Kira said watching them fly away, and then walked with them over to a space ship.

"It's not much to look at, but it will do the job. If word spreads that you are aboard a vessel the Empire will be all over it in seconds, but a beat up trade vessel they wouldn't think twice about. It has been reinforced with additional armor, but only has two blasters…which I am hoping we won't have to use – but its engine has been specially tuned to make the run to the Republic Federation in a little more than one day at light speed. If need be the thrusters have also been adjusted so that we are highly maneuverable. So forgive the broke down look and the rusted peeling paint but this is the best way we could think of to smuggle you past the Empire." Kira said. Suddenly there was the sound of the sudden release of air as the entrance to the ship slowly lowered to the ground.

"I saw that you were coming and took the liberty of opening the entrance before you could arrive. Our guests seem well, is there anything I can do for you?" A red robot said. It only had to breast plates covering its chest, and the rest looking similar to Mohania – stripped down to just the bare essentials, but it had hands, fingers, legs but no toes. The three of them looked at him curiously.

"Step lively now, we must make the jump to light speed within the hour. We have picked up a convey of ships one thousand parsecs away. We will need to recalculate the path to avoid them." The robot said again as Herrior, Skyka, and Lindel all walked up the ramp behind Kira.

"Go to our sensors and start scanning for more ships and I want those calculations within the next ten minutes!" Kira said to the robot.

"Yes master" the robot replied back and quickly scuffled away. The ramp closed behind Lindel and the ship suddenly became pressurized.

"This is going to get ugly if they spot us." Kira said running forward to the front of the ship and quickly seat belting herself in. She pressed numerous buttons at the same time and then pulled back on a lever as the ship ascended into the air. It raised its landing pods and flew out of the atmosphere. Herrior, Skyka, and Lindel weren't sure what to do so they slowly followed Kira to the front.

"Herrior you can sit in the co-pilot seat, your two women can sit behind us." Kira said looking frustrated and flicking several switches. Herrior was going to introduce them, but figured now was not the time.

"The cargo ships have halted master, if they have long range scanners they will have detected us." The robot said.

"Don't tell me what I already know!" Kira said and leaned over Herrior's lap and flicked three switches. It activated some type of language none of them had heard of as it filled the ship.

"Put your headsets on…they are voice activated and will turn on when you want to talk." Kira said whispering and putting her headset on really quick. Herrior looked down at his and hoped this would adjust to his head and his horns because there was no way this would fit. He took off his helmet and set it between his legs and attempted to put on the headset. Skyka and Lindel put theirs on with no problem, but there was no way it was going to fit on his head. Kira noticed him struggling with it and quickly reached over and pulled off the headset and put it on his ear and put the microphone to his mouth.

"You pretend like you have never seen one of these." Kira said into the microphone.

"I haven't…" Herrior replied.

"C2-N2 start transmitting the noise chatter." Kira said.

"I will do so master" said the robot.

Kira then diverted her course and pushed the engines hard enough to push them all back into their seats.

"I apologize for this…this is not the proper way of bringing a hero to our Republic fleet." Kira said and then punched several buttons as an illuminated blue map appeared in front of Kira. She took her hands off from the controls and started moving things on the map.

"You have got to be kidding me…where did all of these assholes come from?" Kira asked as she pushed a button in mid air that suddenly turned several dots red. "This would be a lot easier if you were on a planet that wasn't controlled by the Empire…" The tension in Kira's voice was rising as she made several adjustments. Herrior, Skyka and Lindel linked up their minds.

"She is stressing out bad…her levels of frustration are high but something is keeping them from reaching her head…I don't know how to describe it exactly." Lindel said first.

"Lindel if things go bad how fast can you make a portal and get us out of this death trap?" Herrior asked in his head.

"I would need…probably ten seconds, no promises though. I will put us in Tranquil, all four of us…not the robot though. Herrior that thing acts like a sentient being, but there is no soul in it. I have never seen such a machine, what do you make of it?" Lindel asked.

"I'm more worried about our lives at this point…there is no way Jacklyn would get on one of these moving death traps, and I started having second thoughts myself as soon as I set foot on it." Herrior said.

"Kira is trying to talk to you" Skyka said quickly.

"What was that? I'm sorry." Herrior said aloud.

"First time in a space ship?" Kira asked again.

"I cannot answer that question" Herrior said back.

"Well just for the record, you own me two new arm rests when we get there…" Kira said looking over at Herrior smiling. Herrior looked down and saw that he had torn off the arm rests inadvertently.

"Sorry…I will pay you for the damages." Herrior said setting them on the floor.

"Don't worry about it, but if you could not touch any of the buttons or rest your arms on any levers I would appreciate it." Kira said. Herrior put his arms together and folded his hands and then placed them in between his legs.

"So what's our situation?" Herrior asked.

"Screwed as always…" Kira said firmly as she brought the image of the map back up and quickly cycled through several different maps and talked to her robot about being able to make a hole through the ships without leaving an ion trail. The ship altered its course several times as Kira and her robot made suggestions and slight path alterations over the next ten minutes.

"Why is it so damn busy?" Kira finally asked in frustration. She had maneuvered the ship through several other ships as casual as she could when suddenly a massive black ship appeared in the window in front of them. Kira's face turned white with fear – it didn't take Lindel telling Skyka and Herrior that they were in trouble.

"We're in trouble…" Kira said and quickly altered their course – and simultaneously confirming what they already knew.

A red light began to blink and then a voice came over the speakers, "Identify yourself!"

Kira flicked a switch and said, "Merchant ship bound for the Gamma sector carrying a load of bacterial strains for research." Kira was bad at lying.

The intercom went silent for awhile and Kira knew they were being scanned. She also knew that the other ships were meeting up to rondevu with the star destroyer, everything made sense now.

"Stand-by for a complete scan, hold your position for now." The voice came back and said.

"Affirmative" Kira said and flicked the switch off. She let out a sigh of frustration.

"Can we do something to help?" Herrior asked.

"Not unless you can get that star destroyer out of our way…" Kira said and rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"Is that the enemy?" Herrior asked.

"Yes…and I should have known better, they will interrogate us because we are not part of the ships they were expecting. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Kira said.

"Will they attack us?" Herrior asked.

"They will not destroy our ship…they will give us some love pats with their TIE fighters as we are brought into tractor-beam range and then pulled aboard their ship. From there they will interrogate your three and kill me instantly once they recognize who I am." Kira said.

"That does not sound like a good plan…Lindel go see if you can persuade them to leave us alone." Herrior said into the microphone.

"Who is Lindel and what is she going to…" Kira said as millions of tiny white lights shot out from behind her and through the glass in front of her. "What is that?" Kira asked surprised.

"We may not know much about your foe or space ships…but we are not without our own surprises. What would happen if that, star destroyer as you call it, was to explode?" Herrior asked.

"What? Are you serious?" Kira asked in a cocky voice and turned to look at Herrior awaiting an answer. "Obviously you have never fought against the Empire…that ship can destroy us in one blast!"

"What would happen if it were to explode?" Herrior calmly repeated the question.

"It would be one less star destroyer that the Empire has to attack us with…why?" Kira asked.

"Do you swear to me…on your life and as a fighter that the only way out of this situation is to get rid of that star destroyer?" Herrior asked.

The red light on the control panel flicked on and said, "We are not sensing any foreign matter on your ship. You are to make a course to our docking bays and prepare for inspection." Kira waved her hand at the red light.

"Go along with it." Herrior said.

"No!" Kira said in surprise.

"Kira, trust me. Move the ship as slow as you can towards them, but comply with them. Give Lindel time to destroy that ship." Herrior said.

"Those bright white lights was…" Kira turned around and only saw Skyka. She smiled and waved. "Where's the other woman?" Suddenly an explosion came from in front of them and their ship was rocked by the shock wave. Kira turned around and saw ships exploding in front of them for no reason. "What the hell is going on?"

"Trust me Kira" Herrior said.

"You got my attention, altering course to comply with their request." Kira said and practically shut down the engines so that their ship was almost crawling towards them.

Lindel made it on the ship and quickly floated through the ship, listening to the voices. They were trying to figure out why the ships were exploding. She sensed several people in the ship with strong magical powers in them. She flew up towards them and figured out that eventually she was on the main deck of the star destroyer. She quickly surveyed the people and found out who the captain was and came up with a plan.

The captain of the ship was giving off several commands when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a twinkling light and he stopped for a minute to go over to investigate it. The captain bent down as Lindel forced herself into his eyes and quickly took over his brain.

"The report on that ship – what do we have on it so far?" Lindel made the captain say.

"Looks like a merchant ship sir…still no word on why the other ships exploded.

"Start transmitting this information back to our fleet. Raise our shields…whatever it is, I don't want anything touching the black beauty." Lindel said finding out that the captain called the ship by that name.

"Transmitting data now sir." A man said. Lindel walked up to a dark sinister man who had the magical powers that she felt when they were fighting the Sith on their world. She pulled out the captain's gun and fired it several times to his head as he fell helplessly to the ground.

"Stupid Sith…" Lindel said and then turned around to a camera, only it didn't look like a camera and said, "Let it be known that all of the Sith's are currently being hunted down and will be slaughtered like pigs that they are. There is dissention among the ranks and hundreds of ships, including this one, will destroy every last one of them."

The rest of the crew stopped what they were doing and looked in fear at him. Lindel then walked over to a control panel that an officer was at and shot him in the head. His lifeless body went limp and Lindel quickly began typing in several things on the instrument panels. Officers behind her came up to restrain her but her mind took a hold of the gun as it flew in the air behind her and started blasting away. She had killed four more officers before a loud warning sound began to start blaring with a dark red light.

"Self-destruct in ten seconds." The ship announced. Lindel started firing the blaster wildly in every direction so that nobody could do anything.

"Self-destruct is now encoded and requires the captain's authorization to deactivate. Restarting countdown, ten seconds until self-destruct." The ship said.

Lindel made the captain turn around and walked back in front of the camera and flicked it off and then suddenly made the captain's body explode into hundreds of tiny pieces as she quickly flew out of the ship.

"Get back! Fly our ship backwards!" Herrior yelled. Kira hesitated at first but then slammed the engines in reverse and then cranked the engines up. She swung the ship around and then gunned the engines forward.

"Further…go further!" Herrior said quickly. Kira flicked a switch and the after burners kicked in and they were pressed hard into their seats as they flew away as fast as they could.

"C2-N2 – calculate light speed!" Kira said.

"Where to master?"

"Somewhere besides here!"

Lindel suddenly materialized in her seat and put her seatbelt back on. She casually said, "We should be far enough away now, swing the ship around so we can watch…"

Suddenly an enormous explosion occurred from behind them. It vibrated the ship as Kira quickly put the shields on. She did as Lindel told her to do and the only words that she could say were, "you have got to be shitting me…"

The star destroyer exploded into a magnificent fireball, destroying all of the surrounding ships in the area. Pieces of metal fragments occasionally hit the ship as Kira watched astonished.

"Kira I have established the coordinates to the Republic fleet. I must say it was much simpler without the Empire ships. Shall we jump to light speed?" C2-N2 asked over the speakers.

"Sure…" Kira said in a low soft voice. The ship turned around and the engines roared to life as the stars went from stationary points in the background to lines passing by the window – which eventually turned into large cloud-like images passing through the front window.

Kira slowly took off her helmet and set it aside. She unbuckled herself and slowly turned to Herrior and asked "Who are you…really?"

"I have already told you, I am an ambassador of Tranquil and leader of my party. I am a fighter and my role is to tank the enemies. My race is the taurens." Herrior said calmly.

Kira studied him for a moment and then eventually said something he didn't expect, "I cannot sense anything from you – your mind is blocked off to me. I know you are there because I can see and touch you, but why is your mind repelling my attempts to read your thoughts?"

"Why are you trying to read my mind?" Herrior asked defensively.

Kira shook her head and said, "I apologize I shouldn't be attempting that…the Jedi have the ability to read thoughts and I was just trying to make sure I wasn't losing my mind."

"Let me see your eyes." Herrior said. He extended his hand and gently took Kira's chin and lifted it up.

"What are you doing?" Kira asked.

"Our enemies have red eyes…I'm just making sure you aren't one of them." Herrior said.

"I'm not your enemy." Kira said calmly and allowed Herrior to examine her eyes. Satisfied that she wasn't, Herrior let go of her chin and then took off his headset.

"I need a drink and it looks like I owe the rest of you one as well…come with me." Kira said setting aside her curiosities for the moment. Kira got up and walked a small distance to a small makeshift kitchen/living quarters. The ship was small and it looked like they packed as much as they could in the small craft.

"T9 – some brandy and some rations." Kira called out adjusting the area so that the four of them could sit down. From somewhere the sounds of some computer noises came. They changed pitch several times and Kira interrupted them and said, "The red kind".

"How can you understand him?" Skyka asked.

"We have universal translators implanted in us. It translates every known language in the known universe to the language we set it to. Sorry about the mess, I didn't realize I was such a slob." Kira said and finished setting up the table. She ducked down as she slid in. Skyka and Lindel slid in as well on the opposite side and Herrior looked dumbfounded. There was no way he was going to fit, so he simply sat on the ground at the end of the table.

"Oh I'm sorry; here I will get you a chair…" Kira said sounding embarrassed and flustered.

"Kira…please just relax. Let us speak with each other freely. We will break bread with you and discuss some things to help you understand us better and in exchange we would like to understand you and your people better. The brandy might help you relax, but we will not partake in it – just water for us please." Herrior said.

"T9 – just water for the four of us" Kira yelled out. The android acknowledged by making a series of beeping and squeaking sounds.

"So first question…how were you able to take down the strongest Sith in the Empire?" Kira asked.

"I have a feeling I will be asked this question again in the future. He was a man…nothing more, nothing less. I could have beaten him in combat, but sometimes brawn doesn't always wins a battle, sometimes it's a clever trick. The thing that killed him was Lindel and Mohania – the undead skeleton that talked, anyways with a little magic we tricked him and beat him." Herrior explained.

"He had a heart and a conscious, every man, woman and child have one. As dark and blackened as they become it makes one think that it doesn't exist anymore, but that isn't true. He had magical forces surrounding him, but I was able to penetrate his mind and get enough information out of him to develop a plan for defeating him. I relaying the information to Mohania, then together we empowered each other to subdue him. You may wonder why we fight with primitive weapons and wonder why we don't have spaceships…but we don't need them. Take your light saber and stab Herrior with it." Lindel said.

"I'm not going to attack him…" Kira said surprised.

"Watch…" Lindel said as she put her hands on the table and waved her hands over to hers. Kira did. Suddenly Kira's light saber flew out of her pouch, energized itself and flew hard into Herrior's chest. Kira jumped and screamed. Herrior merely grabbed the energized end with his hand and turned it around to hand it back to her. Kira looked shocked as she reached out and took it, and then pressed the button to retract the energized blade.

"You tricked me!" Kira said.

Lindel smiled and said, "Herrior is just fine. Your weapon is not damaged, and you took a step towards learning more about us. We may fight with primitive weapons, but our armor, magic, and abilities excel in ways that you couldn't understand. We do move from planet to planet…universe to universe, but we do it instantly and without threat of doing so. We have many secrets but we will not reveal all of them to you."

"Lindel is right, if you hope to learn the ways of our people this mission will be for nothing. If you want to merely give us praise and to give us gifts, we will refuse all of them. We agreed to come along for one reason – in an effort to gain an ally with your people." Herrior said. Suddenly Herrior's hearthstone started to vibrate. He pulled it out and the small portal opened. Kira watched in shock at first and then in fascination as the conversation progressed.

"Herrior this is Chen, our people have found an alliance encampment in the Krasarang wilds. Our scout's reports that they are just a small camp of about twenty people and don't seem aggressive. We're not sure if we should continue investigating the wilds, what should we do?" Chen asked.

"Withdraw your scouts and leave them alone. I will contact Jacklyn and send them in to investigate." Herrior said.

"Herrior, we are going to have to proceed without your help eventually. Our monks are ready to fight." Chen replied.

"But are they ready to open their hearts to the enemy that killed your people? Love above all else…and if diplomacy fails, then kill them out of love." Herrior said back.

"How…how are you doing that?" Kira asked.

"Who is that?" Chen asked turning around to look at Kira in the portal.

"This is our new friend Kira. We are heading out to meet with her people to offer our help, similar to what we did with your people." Herrior said.

"Uh…hi!" Kira said with a smile.

"A friend of Herrior's is welcome among our people, a pleasure to meet you." Chen said and bowed to her.

"Chen I do not doubt your fighter's abilities in the least. You know Pandaria best and if you wish to speak with the alliance on your own, then that is your decision. Just respect my opinion of withholding yourself from battle because you have the hearthstone. If something were to happen, we would have no way of contacting you or your people." Herrior said.

"Thank you Herrior. We will investigate the encampment and see why they are here. To bring you up to speed though, more and more sky serpents are maturing and taking flight. The Slitherscales numbers are dwindling down and their people fear us now. Your people have contacted us and requested large amount of food because of a disaster, but they didn't say what it was. Did something bad happen Herrior?" Chen asked.

"Tranquil was blown apart by a space rock. We used up all of our cities powers to hold together as much as we could and we ended up moving to an unsafe location. Another ally of ours came to our rescue as large insects threatened to finish off the rest of Tranquil's citizens. I imagine our food supplies and gardens were ruined. Chen it would be much appreciated if you could help out our people, we have had many losses in Tranquil." Herrior said.

"Consider it done. We will begin planting immediately. I am sorry to hear about the bad news and am saddened by the loss of your people. I will contact you later." Chen said.

"Thank you Chen, it is very much appreciated. I will come to visit your people again soon. Say hi to Lulu for me." Herrior said smiling and then closed the portal with his hand. Herrior then held up the stone to Kira and spun it around.

"Hearthstone. Each party has one and every ally we encounter that we trust has one." Herrior explained.

"You can't…I mean we are flying at light speed…how can you make a transmission?" Kira asked.

"There are very few places that we found that our hearthstones will not work. Each one is bound to the owner. If you were to take the stone and try to use it, it would not work. There is much we don't understand about each other – but if we are to take steps to become friends and work with each other, we must set aside our differences – including technology and powers and look at the inner person inside all of us. That is what we are interested in with your people. We have no interest in your powers, technology or currency – nor your armies and spaceships. We are only interested in becoming allies with each other and try to establish trust with each other. Can we do that?" Herrior asked and then put his hearthstone away.

"Of course…certainly…I must apologize for my behavior though; I didn't fully trust you…"

"Nor did we…but I think we have crossed that barrier though so let's move forward. Do you have a husband or children?" Skyka said interrupting her.

"No…I had a lover but he was killed in an ambush. Jedi are supposed to forgive, but sometimes my hatred rises up inside of me when I kill the soldiers of the Empire." Kira admitted. It was obvious that this was a big step for her. Skyka held out her hands to her and said, "This is no trick this time…do you need comfort?"

"No…no this is something I have to handle myself. A true Jedi can control their emotions and are a master of them." Kira said.

"Emotions are what make us who we are." Herrior said.

"Kira…I have the ability to come into your mind and help heal your wounds. I am a banshee, as you saw earlier and I have the power to enter your mind. We can work together to help you overcome it." Lindel said.

"I can't…I have secrets that nobody can know." Kira said taking the glasses of water from T9. He was a small circular shaped robot with two front legs and one back one that had wheels on them that made him move. Herrior's party didn't pay much more attention as they took their water and turned back to Kira.

"Kira…you have trusted us so far, you have my word that Lindel will only access the parts of your brain where the pain is and heal it. She will not access any restricted areas in your head. You can be healed of this pain." Herrior said.

"It is my burden to carry…I was not there…"

"Kira, those are self-inflicted words. You are better off attacking your enemy then yourself." Herrior said.

"I offer my hand to you for help for when you are ready for it. If you choose not to have it then that is fine." Lindel said.

"I'm nervous about something…" Herrior said pulling his hearthstone out and summoning Jacklyn.

"Herrior – you told Chen that you wouldn't send any of our fighters…" Skyka said reminding him.

"What's going on?" Jacklyn asked.

"Chen contacted me. They found an alliance outpost with just a few dozen people in it." Herrior said.

"Do they need our help?" Jacklyn asked.

"He said no…but…" Herrior said hesitating.

"On a completely different subject, I was just thinking about heading to Pandaria to checkup on the sky serpents." Jacklyn said picking up the subject quickly.

"Chen said they seem to be breading and growing well. How is our food situation on Tranquil?" Herrior asked.

"We're getting by…things haven't been the same, but they are getting there. Where are you at right now?" Jacklyn asked.

"To be honest I'm not sure…somewhere in space." Herrior answered.

"Fair enough" Jacklyn said with a smile. "Mohania is still bragging about the sea beast he killed single-handedly. The rogues have been keeping to themselves as well as the monks, which isn't uncommon for them. It's been awhile since we've received such a devastating blow like this to Tranquil. The King is in good spirits though; he and the Queen have been walking the streets almost constantly helping out wherever they can."

"Good to hear the King is back to his old self again." Herrior said.

"Was there a problem before?" Jacklyn asked.

"Nothing Alan couldn't fix; that man's power is amazing. How are Dan and Julie doing?" Herrior asked.

"Tired…still scrubbing away, what shall I do with them?" Jacklyn asked.

"Give it another day and then give them some rest. If I am not back by then, I want you to have a talk with them. Explain to them protocol for meeting new races…and more importantly to keep their mouths shut." Herrior said and then sighed and continued, "I shouldn't be angered. Something about this mission seems very important and I had a strong feeling that this was only the beginning of something huge. What are your thoughts?"

"Normally when we are visited by a messenger, it's not just to shoot the shit. We are on Elona for a reason. We were ordered to shoot the abominations for a reason, and then their leader came out to defend his army…all of this stuff is leading up to something – it's no coincidence." Jacklyn said.

Herrior nodded and was relieved about her reassurance. "I will let you know what the outcome is. Let me know how the sky serpents are doing."

"Will do…do you want Dan and Julie to stay behind?" Jacklyn asked. Herrior thought about it for a moment and said, "No – leave them in Tranquil. Give them another six hours of work and then send them for rest."

"Take care" Jacklyn said nodding and then closed the portal.

It would be another day before Kira's ship arrived at the destination so they made small talk. Kira never agreed to have Lindel cleanse her mind yet. Jacklyn took her party and went to Pandaria and flew on their dragons high above the ground. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Pandaren people interacted with the alliance normally and were not enslaved. They spied on them for almost eight hours before the Pandaren people left the alliance camp unharmed and more importantly not controlled or taken hostage by them.

Back on Earth George and his people had been picking up a large amount of abnormal readings to the west of them in a town called Lansing. George ordered a satellite to be moved into position and had several soldiers move in to release some drones into the air to do some reconnaissance. The signals were getting stronger and more frequent. Eventually they were able to pin-point it to within a several mile radius. George relayed the information to Admiral as he gathered twelve soldiers and went to investigate. George equipped them with some small devices that picked up when the anomaly would happen. They were still testing it out, but it was better than nothing.

Admiral contacted the local police station and informed them that he and some NSA agents would be coming out to investigate some potential terrorism activity. The chief of police sounded concerned and asked what they should be on the lookout for. Admiral told him not to rouse any suspicion at the moment but to inform him of any unusual activity that seems out of place.

"For example a bank robbing itself?" The chief immediately replied.

"Yes that kind of activity. Give me a brief description of what you have so far." Admiral said grabbing his keyboard.

"Ten thousand dollars went missing…there one minute, gone the next. Security footage clearly shows it being there one second and then gone the next. We think it is some sort of video glitch…and then get this, the owner of the bank walks opens the bank in the morning and suddenly several dye exploding packs of bills explode as soon as he enters under his suit. Strangest thing I ever heard of…if he were to steal his own money, why would he get the exploding dye packs and then come back to work with them the next day?" The chief asked.

Admiral took a minute to process all of this information. Then chief asked if he was still there with which Admiral responded with, "His life might be in danger, where is he now?"

"At work, slightly flustered of course and demanding that we give him an explanation…you know how it goes, a crime happens and we are supposed to know all of the 'who, what, when, where, and whys' within the hour…" the chief replied.

"I want to speak with him. Can you call him down to your station and give us a private room? Our ETA is approximately one hour. Exactly ten minutes before our arrival casually spread the word that you are going to have his cash and retrieve it for him. Call his security, secretary and even his bellhop – make it known that there is going to be a large sum of cash that is going to be exchanged at your station. Get a combination safe or suitcase and pretend the money is in there. We have several of our men there already scouting the area and we are coming with a dozen more." Admiral said.

"Are we expecting there to be a battle?" The chief asked.

"Hopefully not…but make sure your officer's chambers are loaded and they have their stun guns ready. I will be there shortly." Admiral said and ended the conversation.

"SUV – can you transmit our conversation back to George securely?" Admiral asked.

"Done, he is listening to it now. Should I begin my scanning?" The SUV asked.

"Can you track time stopping?" Admiral asked.

They arrived at the station with the soldiers in full body armor and heavy assault rifles in the arms. Admiral led them in as his SUV continued to scan for any potential threats.

"Can I help you?" The secretary asked nervously.

Admiral pulled out his government issues NSA badge and said the chief of police should be expecting them. She nodded quickly and escorted them back to a room.

"Place one there." Admiral said as he pointed at the edge of the secretary's desk.

"What is it?" The secretary asked.

"Air freshener…don't touch it." Admiral said telling a bold face lie.

The secretary led them back to where several officers were guarding a door.

"Thank you; please return to your desk now." Admiral said. The secretary did as she was told. When she left Admiral said "Put one there on the opposite side of the hallway."

"What are those?" one of the other officers asked.

"Air fresheners" all of Admiral's men said all at the same time. It was a little eerie, but it made the point not to question the devices or touch them.

"We're with the NSA" Admiral paused and showed him his badge and then continued, "There has been a security breach and a sloppy one at that. I want each of you to pair up with one of my men and spread out; do not go further than fifty yards within the station. If you have body armor – now is the time to use it."

"Sir, we have our first alert…" one of Admiral's soldiers said.

"Damn…hurry up!" Admiral said at their officers and opened the door. The chief's officers looked confused but did as they were told.

"How is the day going for all of you? Good? Wife and children are good? Fantastic." Admiral said motioning in one of his soldiers to follow him and then shut the door behind him, but didn't lock it.

"What is going on? I thought you recovered my money?"

"Is that recording?" Admiral asked the elder man he assumed was the chief. His guess was right.

"Well, yes…"

"Cut it!" Admiral snapped back quickly and then pulled out another small cylinder shaped "air freshener" and placed it at the table closest to the door. The chief gave the signal to stop recording and then the Admiral told him to order his people in the office to be on high alert.

"What is going on?" The banker asked.

"We are waiting, is that the safe?" Admiral asked pointing to a rectangular shaped black iron case.

"Yes, but it is empty." The chief said.

"Empty? You said you had my money?" The banker said.

Time stopped.

Fifteen seconds passed.

Time resumed.

"Admiral all of the alarms are reporting." All of his soldiers started to report.

"Good…anybody see anything?" Admiral asked.

"No Admiral"

"Look around at everything…take a mental snapshot and then compare it to what it was before. If somebody looks out of place pursue them and tase them." Admiral ordered. Everybody responded back with a "Yes Admiral". Admiral himself then looked around the room and saw that everything was still in place.

"What is this about Admiral?" The banker asked.

"You are a decoy…now act like one and sit there and stop asking questions. Chief do you have a taser on you?" Admiral asking pulling out two of his in each hand. His soldier put his assault rifle away and pulled out his taser as well. The other officer and the chief pulled theirs out as well.

"Picking up mild anomalies Admiral" one of the officers reported.

"Does everybody have their body armor secured?" Admiral asked reminding them.

"Cutting off circulation to my heart Admiral" another officer reported.

"Good – the object is to keep that thing beating. Where are the anomalies being reported from?" Admiral asked.

"Just a faint signal, we are putting down more…air fresheners to triangulate the position better." Another officer said.

"Freshen up the air out there soldiers…" Admiral said.

Several tense minutes passed and then it happened.

Time stopped.

Fifteen seconds passed.

Time resumed.

"Admiral all of the alarms are going off!" Several soldiers reported at the same time.

"Package is gone! Repeat package is gone! Look around people!" Admiral said almost disbelieving his eyes. Everybody in the room looked to see what Admiral was looking at and saw that the safe was gone and that the door was slightly open.

"Stay here and guard the banker chief, you stay here as well." Admiral said to his soldier.

"I think I see him. About fourteen years old, approximately twenty yards ahead of me and carrying something that looks almost heavier than he is." A soldier reported.

"Take the shot! We're heading out." Admiral reported back. The soldier raced forward with his taser towards the kid pulled out his taser and as soon as he felt confident that he wouldn't miss, he fired the darts. The electrified darts sailed through the air, sparking back and forth as they moved. The soldier was quiet not to say anything to trigger another time stop.

The darts met their mark. The teenager's body shook violently as he dropped the black safe and then dropped to the ground.

"Target is down." The soldier reported.

"Handcuff his hands and legs and then handcuff him to you…do not lose him! Everybody else get in your cruisers and move in for support. I will pick him up in my SUV." Admiral said and picked up the small cylinder devices as he moved out.

"Who is he?" The chief asked running out of the interrogation room.

"The same man planning a terrorist attack that could take America to its knees, thank you for your assistance chief. There will be no documentation of this, is that understood?" Admiral didn't ask the question, he told him the question. The chief nodded and then Admiral ran out to get in his SUV.

"I have the location of the time stopper. There are eight vehicles approaching at high speeds to intercept us. They are approximately two miles away and traveling at eighty miles an hour." The SUV said.

"Get me to that boy, now!" Admiral ordered. The SUV spun around hard and then sped off. Seconds later the SUV came to a sudden and complete stop right next to the arresting officer. Admiral flung up his door and told his SUV to open the back.

"Get him in the SUV – quickly!" Admiral said. He jumped out and helped the officer pick him up and tossed him in the backseat with the arresting officer with him.

"Is he hurt?" Admiral asked.

"No – just stunned, he hasn't said anything yet." The officer said as Admiral got back in the driver's seat and slammed the door shut.

"Get us out of town. Find a place where we can battle the enemy without anybody seeing us." Admiral said.

"Acknowledged" the SUV said and sped off.

"I've got to get me one of these…" the officer said to himself.

"SUV – can you confirm we have the right target?" Admiral asked.

"I cannot confirm that" it replied back.

"Admiral he suddenly appeared out of nowhere carrying that black box." The officer insisted.

"I saw it; ok we'll assume we have the right person. SUV open contact all of the cruisers and tell them to spread out and not to follow us directly. Give them the coordinates we are going and tell them to stay away. Tell them not to turn their lights or sirens on." Admiral said while pulling out his encrypted cell phone. The SUV acknowledged the order and Admiral obtained a secure connection.

"George – we're under attack. I'm confident that my SUV can withstand anything they can throw at us from a vehicle, but if they are alliance we are going to need some better firepower." Admiral said.

"Did you get the time stopper?" George asked after giving several orders to people around him.

"Yes…he is still stunned from the taser hit, what did you put in those things?" Admiral asked.

"It should have shut down his entire electrical system…essentially killing him for a couple of seconds and then sending another electrical charge kick starting his heart. How heavy is the suspect?" George asked.

"About a buck two soaking wet…" the officer said after Admiral turned around to look at him.

"It wasn't designed for somebody with such a low body weight, how are his vitals?" George asked. The officer pulled hard on the arm that he had handcuffed to the handcuffs on his arms and legs. The boy yelled in a sharp pain and started swearing at everybody.

"He's alive" Admiral replied.

"If you don't release me right now I will kill both of you!" The boy demanded.

Admiral turned around and looked right at the boy's eyes and gave him a slow smile and said "Kill me…"

Time stopped.

The boy struggled hard as the world around him stopped. The handcuffs around his wrists and ankles were secured very well. He continued to struggle in the backseat but could not go anywhere.

Time resume.

Admiral saw what he wanted to see and smiled bigger. The boy was not in the same spot that he was in – he had suddenly moved without him seeing it.

"Admiral we just picked up the anomaly in your SUV, what just happened?" George asked.

"We have proof that we have the right person." Admiral said.

"Admiral – the approaching vehicles have increased their speeds and I am detecting weaponry, shall I begin countermeasures?" The voice from the SUV asked.

"George it's about to get very hot down here, what have you got for us?" Admiral asked.

"Three F-15's en route, eta three minutes – I can patch you through to them if you want?" George asked.

"Yes please. SUV – I need you to buy us some time. Start deploying your countermeasures." Admiral said. The SUV's license plate moved to reveal several different colored lasers that shot back at the lead vehicle. They were out on back dirt roads right now and the dust that the SUV was kicking up illuminated the laser beams. The SUV waited for a couple of seconds and then deployed dozens of mines on the road. The vehicles quickly detected them and ran off the road and into a field to avoid them. All of the mines exploded without damaging a single vehicle. The vehicles came back on the road and their engines roared to life to close in on them. The SUV then dropped a small compartment under the license place that contained three missiles. They all fired in a spread pattern, but the head vehicle sprayed bullets in front of it, destroying the missiles before they could get to him.

"Admiral, they are not ordinary vehicles – I'm going to step up my countermeasures." The SUV said.

"Explain" Admiral demanded.

"They detected my land mines and destroyed my EMP missiles. I will not let you down though." The SUV said. It opened its back hatch and spun up a powerful Gatling gun and bullets sprayed out of it. The head vehicle's windshield merely deflected the bullets. The SUV moved the gun all over the vehicle trying to find a weak spot anywhere. It eventually gave up and closed the back hatch. The top of the vehicle opened and a powerful laser charged up and then shot a super heated laser at the vehicle. It hit the windshield and started to melt a small hole in it. The driver of the vehicle made a quick turn off from the road again and the passenger rolled down his window and started to fire an AK-47 at the SUV. The bullets merely bounced off from it. The SUV quickly redirected the laser and sliced the man's arm completely off. The SUV then fired dozens of small rockets into the air. The rockets landed in front of the vehicle, making craters in the field, causing the vehicle to slam hard into the craters and then bounce back out. This slowed down the enemies pursuing them. They slowed down and eventually got back on the road.

"I'm running out of weaponry, but I have found a way to slow them down." The SUV said.

"I thought you were the new and improved model?" Admiral asked.

"I am not designed to fight enemies behind me. The last battle that was fought was with the other SUV facing forward so my engineers added more weaponry and better heat sinks in front. I apologize for the design flaw." The SUV said.

"Keep firing off those rockets to slow them down." Admiral said.

"It will permanently ruin this trail you call a road." The SUV said back. "Other vehicles traveling this road will become permanently damaged if I destroy it."

"This is squad leader Benker, Admiral can you hear us?" A voice came over the speakers.

"Yes…where are you at and tell me you are packing some firepower?" Admiral asked quickly.

"We are about one minute out. Our radar has picked up several explosions, are you alright?" Benker asked back.

"For the moment, we are being pursued by eight nearly indestructible vehicles. They are after the terrorist we have captured. Anyway for you guys up there to get these guys off my ass?" Admiral asked.

"Operation 'Get them off your ass has commenced'. We are weapons free people." Benker said.

"Don't get too close, they have countermeasures believe it or not." Admiral said.

"They will be nothing but a crater here in a second. Can you mark your target for us?" Benker asked.

"SUV – do you have a tracking laser?" Admiral asked.

"Repeat that last order Admiral?" Benker asked.

"Hold on Benker." Admiral said. The SUV opened up several side panels and shot lasers back at the main vehicle, including the ones where the license plate used to be and the super heated laser began to charge up again.

"We have acquired our targets Admiral, whatever you just did lit up the targets like the fourth of July. Squadron, aim for the rear vehicle with your guns first and then work your way up. Fire when you have a clear shot." Benker ordered as they all descended into ground attack formation.

The powerful guns shook the air as they pounded the vehicles in front of them. It took several seconds of continuous fire, but eventually the last vehicle exploded into a fireball. The rest of the vehicles immediately spread out and opened up a top hatch as a man with an RPG took aim at the jets.

"Climb now! Disengage! Launching countermeasures!" Benker said as the jets thundered upwards, dropping hot flares as they did. The missiles that they fired were poorly aimed and flew off into the distance harmlessly.

"Holy shit Admiral – who are we fighting? We put enough bullets into one vehicle to destroy an armored tank!" Benker said excitedly.

"That is our enemy Benker…can you turn up the heat any?" Admiral asked.

"Hell yeah…nobody fires a rocket at me! One infernal coming up, Jennifer and Yung-li get into formation to do maneuver 'fire storm'…just like we practiced people, and keep those countermeasures on the tips on your fingers!" Benker said.

The three jets flew back into formation and armed their massive bombs.

"I'm going first, Jennifer you next, but stick close on my ass… kicking in afterburners in three seconds." Benker said. The jets were flying single file behind the vehicles. Suddenly the first jet accelerated hard and fast. It flew over the middle of the convey and released a six thousand pound bomb and then launched several flares as it rose vertically into the air. The other jets did the same thing. The explosions were impressive and destroyed all of the vehicles. The people in the vehicles ran out on fire though and started to heal each other.

"The bombing run was not successful! Repeat – not successful! The vehicles are destroyed but the people are out of their vehicles and recovering quickly. SUV, get into position and give them Hell! Benker are you still with us?" Admiral asked.

"Admiral…we dropped eighteen thousand pounds of explosives and you are telling me that they aren't dead?" Benker asked over the radio sounding surprised.

"Benker – I need you to put aside those thoughts right now ok? These are not normal terrorists; I'm going in and going to get some shots off. Can you come back around and fire up those cannons of yours again?" Admiral asked.

"Rodger that Admiral, squadron prepare another assault. Switch to singular body heat signatures and aim at the rear and work your way up. Report in when you are in position and ready." Benker said.

"Those are alliance Admiral and they are looking at us. Shall I fire upon them?" SUV asked.

"Yes…show me what you can do!" Admiral said still fired up. The SUV opened several compartments and started shooting an array of bullets and explosive charges at the alliance. It stunned them and some of the bombs started draining their mana. The jets fell into position and began firing. At first the bullets didn't seem to be hitting them, and then eventually six of them burned up as the bullets continued to fly. After fifteen seconds of the enormous guns pounding them, there were only three left. The bullets for some reason did not affect them.

"Admiral, they burned up?" Benker said over the radio but asked it more like a question.

"Must have been your tracer rounds Benker and that is how it is going to be written up as such – is that understood?" Admiral asked.

"Yes Admiral, shall we get ready to make another pass?" Benker asked.

"I can kill the rest of them." Admiral's SUV piped up. It fired what looked like a wooden sword at the alliance man closest to him and a blast of energy exploded around him as the SUV killed him quickly with four super-heater lasers firing at him. His body burned up and the other two alliance began to run away.

"Negative Benker, take your squadron and head back home. You have done a great job – go have a couple of beers for me." Admiral said.

"Rodger that Admiral, it's been a pleasure working with you. I hear you have one of the best bases around…have a need for a pilot?" Benker asked and then the other two chimed in as well wanting to join his ranks as well.

"Send me your resume and put down this operation at the top – I can't make any promises." Admiral said as his SUV created another wooden sword and started to make it glow in pursuit of the two remaining alliance.

"I will send it out first thing after landing Admiral…happy hunting." Benker said as he led his squadron into a vertical climb and accelerated out of the area.

Admiral's SUV launched another sword, breaking the force field surrounding another alliance when suddenly the SUV came to a dead stop as several cruisers raced through the area at top speeds, ramming the night elf hard – sending her flying into the air, and then slammed hard into the front grill of the next car. Her body eventually fell and was run over and burned up. The rest of the cruisers stopped hard on their brakes as they turned hard and went in pursuit of the last alliance.

"Sorry Admiral, but I analyzed their motivates and sensed no danger to your men. The alliance shield will only last a couple more seconds. I advise that we take the time stopper back to the station for interrogation." The SUV explained itself.

"That's fine take us home. Change our frequency to the police bands." Admiral said. The SUV spun around and accelerated hard as it said "Go ahead".

"This is Admiral speaking, once the last target has been eliminated report back to the station." Admiral said.

"Search the grounds for gold, weapons, and enchantments also…" the SUV said quietly.

"Did everybody hear that?" Admiral asked.

"Rodger that, we'll clean up the mess, we will see you back in a couple of hours." A voice said back.

Several hours later it was dusk and the rest of the soldiers had come into the station with bags full of items and dropped them off in Herrior's room. They saw the young teenage boy in there still in handcuffs around his feet and hands. He hadn't stopped time and was being interrogated by Admiral himself. He hadn't revealed any information yet and Admiral wasn't sure how much he should push the boy to reveal what he knew.

"We know who you are, we know who you have been working for and what you have done. You are a danger to yourself and everybody around you. By now you have to realize that your friends are dead and you are in a secure location – if you use your fancy little magic, it will not benefit you at all. Where is the money you stole and where is the location of the alliance base?" Admiral asked again. The boy didn't say anything.

"Should we rough him up a little boss?" One of the soldiers said setting down a bag.

"No…that is not for us to decide, he isn't going to talk so I'm going to contact somebody who will make him talk. Get a stake and secure him to the ground." Admiral said and left the room. He went into his office and pulled out his hearthstone.

Herrior answered it, still on the ship and traveling at light speed to some Republic base.

"Herrior, Admiral here – I have some news that is important for only you to hear." Admiral said.

"Hold on a second then" Herrior said. He rubbed the hearthstone and the portal became nothing but static as he put his head into it. Eventually he saw Admiral's head in it as well.

"We have a time stopper in our custody and we killed at least a dozen alliance and just recently we have retrieved their items in your secured room." Admiral said quickly.

"Slow down Admiral…I'm going to have a portal opened and have all of the items you acquired and the time stopper taken from you, some of the items could be dangerous and we know that an alliance time stopper is dangerous…hold on a second and when I come back I want to know everything." Herrior said. Admiral acknowledged as Herrior pulled his head out of the portal.

"Skyka, contact Tranquil and have a Chronomancer open a portal to the station. Tell them there are some…items...that need to be retrieved. There is also a person…let's just call him or her that right now…that needs to be taken to Tranquil immediately and out of custody of Admiral's station." Herrior said trying to be as vague as possible.

"I'll make a secure connection right now." Skyka said pulling out her hearthstone and kindly excusing herself. She contacted an ambassador in Tranquil and then scrambled the signal to relay the information. Herrior then stuck his head back in the encrypted portal.

"Admiral, you have endangered many people by doing what you have done. Did anybody die?" Herrior asked.

"No…at least nobody on the good-guy side. They were strong Herrior, I ordered in some air support and they dropped enormous bombs on them…the explosion was awesome, I have never been that close to something so destructive and saw the fire and felt the vibrations in the ground!" Admiral said getting excited.

"Admiral…take a deep breath and slow your mind. Tell me everything that happened." Herrior said. Admiral began to explain in full detail as Herrior eagerly listened. By the time Admiral finished explaining everything he was winded and his legs felt like jell-o.

"Just relax now Admiral, sit down and relax." Herrior said.

"Will the portal follow me?" Admiral asked.

"As long as you don't move your head and you keep the hearthstone in your hand the portal will be fine." Herrior said.

Admiral did as Herrior said. He felt around for the recliner that he had ordered for his office and kicked the legs up on it as he laid back.

"I'm exhausted…" Admiral admitted.

"It sounds like quite the day. The trackers that you used for detecting time stopping, what is the range on those?" Herrior asked.

"Honestly I don't know, in fact George didn't even think that they would work. It was one of our soldiers that saw the boy suddenly appear and apprehend him the sensors merely told when a disturbance happened." Admiral said.

"I want to have one of those sensors analyzed by our engineers in Tranquil. I have underestimated your determination and technology, not to mention your ability to fight." Herrior said.

"If we were to engage them alone without air support, we would have lost for sure. Just for the record though, they did engage us first." Admiral wanted to be sure Herrior knew that.

"That is fine Admiral. How did the new cruisers and SUV work out?" Herrior asked.

"The soldiers loved them…they are virtually indestructible. The new SUV is here, but it weighs a hell of a lot Herrior…it's going to take one powerful engine to make that thing move." Admiral said.

"Let that to us. Has the next shift of soldiers and officers come in yet?" Herrior asked.

"Yes, but the old shift does not want to leave until everything is done and…"

"Everything is done. Tell them to go home and rest. I will contact my people and we will take it from here. Tell them that I am proud of them, but most important tell them not to speak a word of this to anybody!" Herrior stressed the point.

"Nobody would believe us anyways…"

"That is not the point…and yes some people would believe you and that would attract attention – we do not want any attention attracted to you and your station is that understood? I want to keep you and your soldiers alive." Herrior said.

"Yes Herrior, I would like that as well…hold on for a second." Admiral said and pulled his head out of the portal.

"What?" Admiral yelled out.

"The press is here, they want a comment on what happened today. Several of the idiots have already touched the electrified fence and got a good zap even when our soldiers told them not to." A soldier said from behind the door.

"No rest for the wicked…" Admiral mumbled.

"What sir?"

"Tell them I will be out in just a moment." Admiral yelled out. He then stuck his head back in the portal.

"The press is here. I need to go speak with them about what happened today. I'm going with the terrorist story." Admiral said.

"Annoying people…why does everybody on your planet need to know what happens. Mind your words Admiral. Good luck." Herrior said and pulled his head out of the secured connection. Admiral did the same and the portals closed.

"A message from the home world?" Kira asked.

"From a home world yes…I cannot speak of what happened though. Skyka has everything been taken care of?" Herrior asked turning to look at his wife.

"Everything has been taken care of." She replied back.

"I hope Admiral doesn't screw things up…Kira I am going to need to lay down for the night, where are the accommodations?" Herrior asked.

"For you…probably my quarters will be best. I will sleep in the engine room. Skyka and Lindel, I will change this back into the sleeping quarters for you. Generally I don't like secrets aboard my ship…"

"These secrets are kept for our protection – and for yours as well. They have nothing to do with you and your people I assure you." Herrior said interrupting her. Kira nodded and began to make the preparations.

Admiral put his hearthstone in his pocket and seriously considered not getting up from his recliner. He smiled at the thought and then got up and went to speak with them.

"Admiral…Admiral we heard reports of bombs going off, are we under attack?" One reported piped up and then the rest did as they turned on their video camera and tape recorders.

"First of all, this is a secured base – do you see the sign? Says electrified fence? Do you also see the other signs saying 'Use of deadly force is authorized'? Apparently not because I heard that some dumbass touched it anyways. This is a military army base harboring the worst criminals and terrorists we have. Today an operation took place that saved the lives of many Americans…"

"Care to elaborate on that sir?"

Admiral stopped talking and slowly turned to the female reporter and said, "I am not used to being interrupted and it will not happen again or you will be in jail with the rest of the prisoners. That applies to all of you!" Admiral suddenly lashed out in frustration. Regaining his composure he then continued, "The United States soldiers stand ready to face any threat to its interests and people. Many threats are neutralized everyday by the best army in the world, and will continue to do so in the future. That is all, soldiers – see to it that these people make it to their vehicles."

"Move people!" A tall muscular soldier said coming out of his observation post and pointing to their cars. Several other soldiers came out of several surrounding outposts and from behind the fence and forced the first couple of ones to their vehicles; eventually the left rest without any resistance.

"Herrior can I speak with you in private?" Kira asked.

"Certainly, lead the way." Herrior said as Skyka and Lindel offered to finish setting up their bed for the night. Kira led the way through the small spaceship and into what looked like a conference room. She pressed a button and a door slid shut behind her.

"Can Lindel actually help me out with the burdens I carry with me?" Kira asked without looking at Herrior.

"Lindel can do things that I don't understand. I have fought with her by my side for hundreds of years and I trust her when she says she can help. She has helped many out with different problems. If she can't help you, she will leave your body and I can summon a doctor that I know of that can help solve your problems. I will do as much as I can to help you if you want." Herrior said.

"Such are the thoughts of the Jedi…" Kira said turning around. "Will it hurt?"

Herrior slowly shook his head and said, "No…some even say it tickles when she enters your body. You will be fully aware of what she accesses and have full control over your body and mind the entire time."

"I mentioned that he was my lover…we never got married. We planned on it, you know make everything right – but as I mentioned before he was killed. A Jedi never lets his or her anger boil up inside of them."

"Kira, I do not have the ability to read your mind or be able to enter your mind like Lindel can – but I am observant. When we thought we were going to die, I caught several hints of unavenged anger in your voice. I don't know what a Jedi is, but if you are not supposed to have anger, I would say you are not one until you have resolved some past issues." Herrior said.

Kira didn't like the advice; it was like a teaspoon of bad medicine that she needed to take. Kira eventually nodded and said, "You are right of course…I spend time with different races for less than a day and even they can detect my anger – it's no wonder the counsel doesn't trust me with better assignments."

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Herrior asked.

"That…and I have no idea what to tell the counsel about what you have done – there is no way they will believe me…us rather." Kira said.

"They will either believe us or not, that is not something to worry about. I am coming on this trip not to brag about killing people…that is not our way; I am coming to speak with your people and to see if they would be willing to become our allies. If they refuse that we will take our leave and that will be the end of that."

"You are going to give up just like that?" Kira asked.

"It is not giving up. I am not going to force people to like us or to buy their affection. I will speak with them about our ways and our beliefs and what we stand for. If your counsel rejects it then there is nothing I can do about it." Herrior said.

"Even after defeating our foes, there is no way that they would reject you." Kira said.

"Those were our foes and it was our lives that were at stake. We were attacked first so we retaliated. We are a peaceful group of people though; we only fight if we have to." Herrior said.

Kira nodded as she heard the same thing from Herrior before. She turned from him and folded her arms across her chest as she walked towards the window. She was in deep thought about something so Herrior let her be. He started looking around the room and saw several devices that he couldn't identify and figured it was best to leave them alone. When he looked outside it made his stomach queasy so he tried to avoid looking out the window.

"I'll do it." Kira said eventually.

"It's not a difficult decision Kira, we are merely offering our help – we will not be offended if you refuse." Herrior said.

Kira turned to Herrior and said "Your people have all of the same values as a Jedi. If I want to become stronger as a person, I need to address these issues."

"It is a simple process and you will not experience any physical pain. In all honesty it will take much less time to fix the actual damage then it took for you to make the decision." Herrior said.

"I have never had somebody offer to come into my mind before, so I was skeptic at first but you have a kind heart and don't appear to have any alterative motives. How do we start this?" Kira asked.

"Lindel!" Herrior called out. Lindel flew through the wall and said, "Yes?" Kira jumped in surprise.

"Kira wants you to help her with the suffering she is experiencing in her mind." Herrior said.

"Okey dokey…" Lindel said and dispersed her body into millions of tiny little particles.

"What do I do?" Kira asked in a startled voice.

"Just have a seat and relax." Lindel's voice came from the floating mass of light producing tiny stars. Kira did as she was told.

"Now try to open your eyes as long as you can." Lindel said and then she started to move into Kira's eyes.

"This feels…actually I don't feel anything." Kira said as the particles slowly stopped entering her eyes and she started to blink several times.

"Now Kira, I am inside your head – I don't want you to be surprised about the other voice in your head ok?" Lindel asked sensing her quick burst of fear.

"I can hear you" Kira said.

"You don't need to speak using your voice; you can just talk to me in your head. Now…shall we begin?" Lindel asked.

"Ok…how?" Kira asked in her mind.

"Start bringing up your memories and I will begin analyzing your brain. I will stop the memories if they are too much for you to handle. I can already feel your hesitation about this process…if you want I can just search your brain for the memories and do the work myself?" Lindel asked in her head.

"I'll start" Kira said and started thinking back to his face. Lindel quickly filed through her memories of the event and felt the negative emotions filling her head, so she turned those off and released some endorphins into her head. As they progressed, Kira stopped talking about the event in her head and just replayed the memories. With each memory that came, a sense of happiness and fulfillment came with it.

The session last for an hour and not a tear was shed. Kira slowly fell to sleep after releasing all of the emotions that she had held in and replaced them with good emotions. Herrior gently took her and laid her down on the floor as Lindel flew out of her eyes.

"She is at rest now with herself." Lindel said reforming back into her human self.

"Yes…but the problem is who is going to drive the ship?" Herrior asked.

"Hmm…what about those robots?" Lindel asked. Both of them left and went to go find C2-N2.

"Mr. Robot – can you fly this spaceship?" Lindel asked.

"My name is C2-N2 and I am fully programmed to fulfill numerous tasks including piloting this spaceship. It is on autopilot right now on the course that I plotted out. It will be approximately another eight hours and thirty two minutes until we arrive with the federation fleet. Might I suggest that I take you on a tour of the ship or some refreshments perhaps?" C2-N2 said.

"No thank you. Will you be ok if we sleep until we get there? Kira is sleeping in the other room." Lindel asked.

"Sleep is required for every living organism. I will awake you when we arrive or if we run into trouble." C2-N2 said.

"Thank you" Lindel said and both of them walked out of the robots room and found Skyka already sleeping.

"Move over sister, I need to fit in here as well…" Lindel said softly.

"Rest well. If there is a problem let me know." Herrior said smiling and then left.

Herrior awoke to the smell of some sort of meat and tea…at least he thought it was tea. He stretched out and yawned as he opened his eyes and saw Skyka standing over him.

"How long have you been staring at me?" Herrior asked smiling.

"You still snore in your sleep. It's time to go meet their people. Kira made us breakfast…or dinner; I honestly don't know what time of day it is." Skyka said.

"Let us eat and then leave, I do not want to keep them waiting." Herrior said getting up.

"Good morning! I had my robots cook you a feast – you wouldn't want my cooking, even I wouldn't eat it…" Kira said with a lively spirit and a renewed self worth.

"Feeling better?" Herrior asked.

"Herrior, I have never felt this good before in my life! I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I can feel more of the force flowing through me and I feel like I could take on the entire empire myself!" Kira said enthusiastically.

"I'm glad you are feeling better." Herrior said sitting in the same place that he sat before at the table when they were talking.

"Better? That's hardly the word to describe it. Whatever Lindel did took away the pain and my suffering that I had residing in me and healed my mind of all of my pains. I can think more clearly now. I can never repay you for this!" Kira said excitedly.

"We do not expect payment, it was our pleasure." Herrior said.

"No there has to be something…"

"Breakfast is payment enough; tell me what I am eating." Lindel said. Kira started naming off some plants and animals they had never heard of, but listened with great interest as she talked. C2-N2 informed that they were coming up on the Republic fleet and would be dropping out of light speed. Kira ignored him and kept talking as the ships engines slowed the ship down and Herrior lost his balance and fell over. Skyka and Lindel laughed as Kira quickly went to his help.

"Are you ok? I'm sorry I should have warned you." Kira said trying to help him back up.

"I'm fine…just not used to all of this space travel…" Herrior said sitting back up and glared at Skyka and Lindel who immediately stopped laughing.

"Yeah it's hard to adjust to all of this…it's especially hard sitting down on the ground…" Skyka said start laughing again.

"Kira the band waves are filled with talk of the Sith striking down Imperial troops and attacking their outposts. Apparently their treaty with the empire has broken down. There are rumors coming in from dozens of colonies about rogue Sith taking to gathering their own armies to fight the empire. There are even some reports of the Sith sending tactical information to the republic and giving us secrets to the empire – for credits of course." C2-N2 said in his robotic voice.

"A Sith uprising? Huh…well that's something nice to come home to. Take us to the command ship C2-N2." Kira said.

The four of them arrived in an enormous ship and Kira looked around glad to see everything still intact. Some soldiers were sent to escort them directly to the counsel. Herrior contacted Lindel and told her to establish a mental link with them and Skyka as well while they walked.

"How many people are on this ship?" Herrior asked.

"Millions easily…there are even more on the surrounding ships and on the planet below. This is not a people we want to make mad at us. They are confident that their forces are the best in the galaxy and everybody has this hatred for what they are calling the empire. I'm tuning into several voices and they have good reason to be. There is a lot of chatter about us – mostly how beautiful I am…which I can't blame them…"

"Stay on track Lindel" Herrior said in his mind and smiled looking at several people while they followed Kira.

"Yeah yeah…ok so that's pretty much it. Everything else you can draw your own conclusions just by looking at them. I'll go into a deep scan and look for threats if you want?" Lindel asked back in her mind.

"Yes please" Herrior replied back and Lindel broke the mental link. Kira was talking to some guards and then they ordered to have the ship refueled and secured. She then turned to another group of guards and ordered a transporter be sent immediately and to inform the counsel that she brought the visitors and would like them to convene a session in fifteen minutes. The guard acknowledged and quickly pulled out a large looking cell phone and started making arrangements.

Kira walked back and said "It will be just a moment and then I can take you on a brief tour of a small section of our city. Can I get you anything before we go?"

"Where is the little ladies room please?" Skyka asked.

"Where is the what?" Kira asked.

"I have to relieve myself…can you point me in the general direction?" Skyka asked differently.

"Relieve yourself of what?"

"She is going to piss herself…where do you people piss at?" Lindel said sounding annoyed.

"Oh – right, this way…my apologizes." Kira said. She then remembered that she never showed them where the bathroom was on the space ship and then started kicking herself for ignoring such an obvious thing.

They walked over to the side of the space port when the shuttle pulled up and Kira explained to the robot driver that it would be just a moment. Eventually the three of them came out of the large unisex/unialien bathroom and boarded the hovering shuttle.

"Welcome to the Ebon Hawk. I will be your driver and guide for the trip, shall we get started?" The robot asked.

"I would like to go directly to your counsel if we could Kira." Herrior said.

"They need time to assemble, I was…sorta ordered to keep you busy until they can get together. Some are off world still and need to setup a secure communication." Kira said.

"So be it." Herrior said.

"Are you ok Lindel?" Kira asked. Lindel didn't hear her voice – she was concentrating to hard reading thoughts and feelings from other people.

"She needs time to meditate and is not feeling well, let's proceed." Herrior said.

"Very well then, on your left will be the galactic trade market. This is where people come and sell their goods to each other. Many items are sold, including black market goods." The robot said as he started moving the hover cart. The robot maneuvered the cart back and forth efficiently through people and other carts while explaining the rest of the huge space station. Herrior and Skyka weren't listening and paid more attention to Lindel as tried to scan as many people as she could.

Twenty long minutes passed and Lindel hadn't picked up on anything yet. She felt her power fading and she eventually sat down with her legs folded as she continued to concentrate. Herrior and Skyka sat down beside her and each one held both of her hands. Herrior and Skyka both felt a loss of strength as Lindel sucked it into her body to boost her range.

"In the front of us is where the grand chambers are. This is where the Jedi are found and tested. The council meets here and makes decisions that change our very lives and keep us safe." The robot continued on with his tour guide.

"Just take this to ambassador Gilleon's cup and just add one drop. That is all it will take and he will die. Then the planet Coruscant will elect me as their new leader and then you can have all of the trillium that you want – in fact I know of a couple of colonies that would love to help out for free."

Lindel opened her eyes and looked over at the two having the conversation. The creature talking looked human but his skin color was all green and had black stripes on his face. She saw the man hand a guard a very small vial which the guard slipped into the bottom of his glove quickly. Then some paper looking items were given to the guard and then he hoped on his hover vehicle and quickly sped towards their building. Lindel quickly mind linked herself with Herrior and Skyka.

"There is going to be an assassination attempt. The guard to your right wearing a green uniform and a black sash riding that hovering…duel-winged contraption has a poison hidden in his glove and he plans on poisoning somebody called 'ambassador Gilleon'. I have marked the person that gave him the poison and will be able to find him again in the future." Lindel said.

"Good job Lindel, we see him. I'll keep an eye on him; see what else you can dig up." Herrior said back in his mind as she broke the link.

"Here we are kind folks. I hope I have informed you about the wonders of the Ebon Hawk. The pleasure was all mine." The robot said turning around. Skyka and Herrior helped Lindel to her feet as she retracted her mind and collected herself. She opened her eyes and it took her a second to adjust, but eventually her power started to recharge on its own. She looked at Herrior and nodded. Herrior let go of her and stepped off the hover cart.

"This is probably all new to you and I probably should not have served you the spicy bonder stew." Kira said feeling bad.

"Kira you need to maintain your composure, you have to address your superiors in a couple of minutes – I will be fine." Lindel said and hopped off the cart with Skyka behind her. Lindel walked up to the robot and put a hand on his and said "Thank you for the amazing tour; this is truly a wonderful city that you have here. I really appreciate it."

"I am honored, and weak in my circuits. I tried my best and it seems I have fulfilled my duty, now if my duty is done I need to go recharge." The robot said. It was obvious that his power was low.

"Go ahead - we can always get another ride." Kira said disappointed.

"Feeling better now that you are able to walk?" Skyka asked with half a smile.

"Yup!" Lindel said cheerfully and skipped her way ahead of them.

"One moment she looks ill and the next she dances her way ahead of us?" Kira asked.

"Space travel doesn't seem to agree with her." Herrior said as they walked quickly to catch up with her.

"Over here guys! This handsome gentlemen was going to just let us in, but I told him he had to wait for you guys as well…he seems as eager to visit the counsel just as much as we are. This is so exciting isn't it?" Lindel asked excitedly putting an arm around his arm.

"I'm sure he is." Herrior said identifying that he was the assassin.

"I'm excited to see what is going to happen…" Skyka said as plainly as she could.

The guard let them in and immediately they were met by several heavily armored guards.

"Your weapons please" one of them said.

"No" Herrior replied back as Kira handed over her gun and light saber.

"Herrior, you cannot go into the counsel's chambers with a weapon. You will get them back I assure you." Kira said.

"Give him your weapons hun…" Skyka said before Herrior could say "no" again. He took off his cloak and exposed his armor to everybody. Immediately everybody pointed their guns at him. Herrior smiled and said, "You pull the trigger on those things and I will cut you down so quickly you will be able to see your body cut in half."

"Hand over your weapons!" A guard said in an authoritative voice. Herrior pulled out his sword and shield out from behind him and the miniature dragons head on the top of the black glowing sword began to snap at the soldiers.

"This sword is protective of its owner…if any of you touch it you will die!" Herrior said as the dragon hissed at them. Herrior took his white cloak that he was wearing and wrapped up his sword and shield inside of them and held them out in front of him. A soldier went to get them when the dragon's head moved and let out another hiss at him. It made the soldier stop and reconsider picking it up.

"I will lay it down here…remember what I told you and don't say I didn't warn you." Herrior said as he placed it on the ground. The guards looked at each other not knowing what to do.

"Aww…you all look so cute!" Lindel grabbed two of their cheeks and gently tugged on them and then pushed them aside and opened the doors. Lindel produced an enormous amount of light as they walked down the corridor lined with guards that all had to shield their eyes from the light. They came to the chambers and all of the counsel sat and watched the four dark figures in the light come at them. Lindel suddenly stopped the illumination and said "Hi!" excitedly.

"Hello" an older human said back smiling.

"Kira, we have read your reports on what happened and we do not believe a word of it – would you care to explain?" An alien asked. He had a mutilated head, the sides were orange and the top was grey. He seemed to have some sort of device over his nose and mouth.

"My report is true – every last word of it." Kira said defending herself.

"Kira…has your power increased? I am sensing a huge change in the force within you. What has happened?" Another alien asked. This one was very slim and very tall. It had long hands and legs and a large head and all grey. It looked badly disfigured.

"I can explain that as well…"

"Hold on…who is this woman beside you? The force is strong within her…it is so strong in fact that I can feel her power and I am on a different world." Another council member asked.

"I can explain that as well…"

"Gilleon your tea sir," the guard said handing a human a small cup. The guard then moved quickly to leave. Herrior moved at speeds faster than anybody could see and intercepted him. He lifted him off the ground and then slowly walked back over to the spot with everybody demanding. The counsel quickly called for the guards and they ran in and surrounded the four of them.

"If you drink that tea, it will surely kill you." Herrior said as he dropped his left gauntlet on the ground and gently took the vial out of the guard's glove and exposed it to everybody.

"That's not mine…he planted that on me!" The guard said frantically.

"Judge the actions that just took place here. Three complete strangers walk into your chambers and all of you make accusations against Kira and call her a liar. Now I hold one of your own guards and accuse him of attempted assassination. I have no idea what is left in this vial, but I assure you if you drink what is in that cup – ambassador Gilleon you will die and the world called Coruscant will fall into corrupt hands. He is not working alone, he was paid by an alien that we have marked and will be able to track down. Test the contents of the cup and this vial and see if we are lying." Herrior said.

The man at the head of the table leaned forward on one hand with a smile and said, "This is an awkward way to meet a new race for the first time, but I will allow this. Test the contents of the cup that our guard here seems to adamant about the fact that he is ready to prove his innocence before he was even fully accused of a crime." He then pointed to several guards and motioned to take the guard from Herrior as another guard came forward with some sort of device and scanned the cup.

"Acitle tulik acid…approximately two drops were placed in his cup. I'm surprised it hasn't eaten through the cup. The man picked up the cup and poured it on the floor and it instantly sizzled and ate through the floor. The guard then put his scanner on the cup and said, "This isn't your normal cup ambassador, this is specially lined with torreck granite – strong enough to withstand the acid. Your cup is made of porcelain; there is no way that acid would have stayed in that cup. I'd be willing to bet my job that the vial that the…new stranger is holding contains trace elements of the poison." The soldier walked over to Herrior and carefully took the vial from him. He quickly scanned it and said "Well it looks like I still have my job. Throw him in the brig! I will personally deal with him later! Tell me who the person is that gave him this poison, he must be apprehended quickly."

Lindel walked up to him and outstretched her hand and said, "Do you trust me?"

"More now than I did before, do to me what you will." The guard said. Lindel put her hand on the man's cheek. Images and voices of the exchange that happened flowed through the man's head. He then saw where the other assassin was heading…to the shuttle bay to get off the ship.

"Shit!" The man yelled out and quickly pulled out his communication device. "Lock down space port twenty seven. No ships are to arrive or leave! Lock down the doors and apprehend the Gongo immediately!" The man put down his communication device and said, "You just saved the ambassadors life and helped apprehend two villains." The security officer then turned to the counsel and said, "If you will excuse us please, we need to address this matter. I want to be the one to throw him in the brig myself! I will assign another security team to see to oversee the counsel's safety.

"Don't bother…we are not in any danger. Go and get your assassin, dismissed – all of you." The man at the head of the table said leaning back in his chair and put his hands together with his pointer fingers out tapping each other. The security team forcibly took the prisoner and dragged him out forcibly as the commander ran out to get the other assassin.

It was quiet in the chambers until the man said, "That was impressive – I have not seen a displace of the force used with so much intuition in decades. Who are you?"

"Lindel – but I don't know what this 'force' thing is…from my world I call it magic. I am a banshee."

"Your body is radiating with the force, and I am sensing that somehow you bolstered Kira's ability to use the force as well."

"No, I didn't give her anything…Herrior I'm in over my head here." Lindel said nervously.

"Lindel go ahead and take a break. Members of the counsel of the Republic Jedi, I am Herrior – ambassador to Tranquil and leader of my party. We honestly don't know what this 'force' is, this is the first time we have heard of it. Where we come from we have magical abilities as well as ranged and melee abilities that excel any normal person's abilities with those weapons. I ordered Lindel to search for any hostile people on this world because we are new here and didn't know what to expect. She sensed this action take place and passed the information on to us using her mind, an ability that banshees have. As far as bolstering Kira's powers or the force as you refer to it, she has an explanation for that. I will let her explain in a little bit, but the reason why we came in the first place is to make new allies. We have many allies and the more we have the stronger we become. I must admit that this is not the way we wanted to introduce ourselves, but it was the only way to save the ambassador's life." Herrior explained.

"I can explain what happened to me" Kira said. The man held up two fingers for her to be silent as he and the counsel had Herrior's full attention.

"Are you responsible for killing the Sith that was making the abominations?"

"I engaged him yes, but it was not me that killed him but my party. I tanked him and I was surprised at the power he had, but eventually we subdued him and put an end to his abominations. We did it as a party – everybody played their role in the killing of this…Sith. However I want to note that he attacked us first and we were only defending himself. A messenger from our God was sent to destroy the abominations and so we did."

"That Sith had the power to level entire mountains and kill by a single thought…and you killed him?"

"No…we killed him as a party."

"How?"

"There are secrets about our people that I cannot reveal…but we are seasoned fighters and do not fear death. He was a worthy adversary and died fighting in combat."

"And the uprising of the Sith…and the sudden destruction of an Imperial star destroyer with a full convey? Was that you as well?"

"I gave the order because it was a matter of life and death. Although we do not fear death, we can do more good alive then dead. I gave the order to Lindel to destroy the destroyer…about the Sith uprising, I am afraid I don't know anything about that." Herrior said.

"I didn't tell you Herrior, I will take it from here." Lindel said standing up. "I dematerialized my body and flew over to the ship. I began reading the thoughts of the crew and quickly found my way to what they called the bridge. From there I found the captain of the vessel and took control of his body. I sensed a potential threat that I had to neutralize so I pulled out his gun and shot a dark and sinister man radiating with evil in the back of the head. It killed him instantly. I then turned to the camera watching us…or whatever you call it…and then said several things that must have started the Sith uprising against the empire…or vica-versa, then afterwards I accessed the captain's head where the self-destruct codes for the ship was and entered them in…then I exploded the captain's body and flew back to the ship. From there Kira did some fancy flying out of the way of the explosion." Lindel felt the sweat bead up on her hands and then sat back down.

"You have the power of possessing a person?" Another ambassador asked.

"I have the power to do what I am allowed to do…nothing more." Lindel answered back.

"But…you possessed the captain of the ship – your own words." The ambassador repeated.

"Speak to me and not my party. You are causing her stress and causing me to become angry. We are here on a mission of peace – not to be harnessed as a weapon to be used against those that oppress you! If you want to use her or any of us as a weapon – this meeting is over!" Herrior said fiercely.

"Herrior is right…let us listen and not ask questions. We would not reveal our powers to his people and he would not with us. Kira, do you wish to speak?" The ambassador at the back of the table said.

"I have to admit something. I was late on my assignment and did not get to the Sith in time to engage him, I put these people in danger – it was a miscalculation on my jump to light speed. We over shot it by nearly one hundred thousand parsecs. Then when we went to return, I saw many cargo ships and did not see the signs or looked inside of me to use the force to guide my path…I practically handed myself and them over to the Empire. I know now why you were restricting my assignments…it is because I was not ready. I have a confession to make. I, a Jedi of the Republic, had a lover. It is against the Jedi code and I knew I would have been stripped of my title and left to roam the streets working for measly credits here and there. My lover was killed and it angered me. I suppressed it thinking that nobody would know and I could continue my training. You all have felt the darkness in a part of me…I look at all of you and I see no one disagreeing with me. It was as if fate brought me to this planet inside the empire controlled space and I ran into these people. I started listening to them, the same as all of you and disbelieved it – the same as all of you. They do have power, I believe it is a different type of power, but it is real. Lindel healed me. She came into my head and healed my hurt feelings and showed me forgiveness. I forgave myself and I released my anger and hatred, and in exchange I felt the force overwhelm me. I fell into a trance and meditated on my new powers. I have the knowledge now to teach others that need help. So if you are going to strip me of my rank, I ask that you put me in a medivac station so I can help with the injured." Kira said.

Silence filled the room when finally the man at the head of the table let out a quick laugh and said, "Strip you of your rank? I believe you need to be raised to the level of a Jedi knight. All in favor?" The man asked and raised his right hand. Skyka, Herrior, and Lindel all raised their hands and the rest of the counsel raised their hands as well. Kira was shocked.

The man at the head of the table pulled out a circular device that instantly brought up a hologram of a soldier.

"Lieutenant – get a ship ready for a new Jedi knight. Give her thirty thousand credits and move her two robots over. The empire knows what the other ship looks like, strip it down and use it for parts."

"Yes sir, I'll get right on it." The hologram said and then disappeared.

"Don't burn out the engines…" the man said looking at the ecstatic Kira trying to contain her excitement.

"As for you Herrior, your people are welcome among ours and we wish to speak with you more – but as for now we have already taken up too much time of the counsel. This meeting is adjourned." The man said and the holograms of each person each disappeared one at a time.

"Come walk with me." The man said as he got up and walked past the other council members and led them out of the room. They walked out into the open and stopped in front of a statue. It was a picture of a human male with a light saber carved out of a grey type of rock.

"This is a monument for all of the fallen Jedi over the years. We learn from past mistakes and plan for future attacks. Many lives have been lost…to many to even think of. I am on a first name basis with you…my name is Peter, commander of this vessel and part of the counsel; please address me as Peter from now on. How many have your people died Herrior?" Peter asked.

"More than I care to remember…just recently we lost thousands, friends of ours…but they are safe in Heaven. Their memories still remain with us though." Herrior said.

"Some speak of Heaven…some speak of merging with the force…some say they die and are reborn as another, I do not get into that. I have enough arguments to deal with besides trying to unify everybody's thoughts into what happens after death. Sorry to switch subjects, but the Sith's light saber did not penetrate your armor?" Peter asked.

"No…speaking of…" Herrior said and turned around. He held out his hands and instantly there was the sounds of explosions and walls crumbling as his sword and shield flew into his hands. He petted his dragon and it let out a purring sound. He then put them behind him as they clung to his back.

"Herrior…I look at you and I see a warrior…

"Fighter is the term we use." Herrior said interrupting him.

"Fighter it is. But I see you wearing armor that is thick and bulky – yet you move around as if it wasn't even on you, how is that possible?" Peter asked.

"I cannot reveal that secret." Herrior said.

"Fair enough…can you tell me about the creature on your sword?"

"Actually I was given this. We are constantly finding new ways of upgrading our armor and weapons not to mention our moves to be better fighters. Our enemies are doing the same thing. I have no idea what the significance is of the dragon, but I like it." Herrior said.

"I believe we could learn from each other, but I fear for your people…your planet is in empire territory. Would you let us evacuate you to a different world?" Peter asked.

Herrior started to laugh and shook his head as he said, "Not a chance Peter. We just recently settled on the world as instructed by our prince. Until another reason comes up for us to leave, we won't move our city."

"You can always rebuild your city elsewhere – I can lend you dozens of robots…"

"We have always been in the same city." Herrior said and caught Peter off guard. He had the think about that for a minute and asked the obvious questions, "What? How?"

"I cannot tell you that either. Recently a space rock split our city in half when we were floating around in space. It took an enormous amount of power to save the lives we did and with our allies, courage, and determination we rebuilt in a matter of days and are now prospering again. The people of our city like to know that we are on solid ground…and it feels like we are supposed to be on the world that we are on."

"If that is what you want then I will not bring up the subject in the future. A subject that I do have to bring up though is getting you home safely without empire detection." Peter said concerned.

"That is of no concern to us, nor should it be with you. Your people travel around by ships and vehicles that float and zoom across the skies…my people travel by portals. When the time comes I will have Lindel open a portal and we will leave." Herrior said.

"Lindel…of course she would have the power to do that. I have heard nothing but how much power you have and what you are capable of doing, I would offer you a place among us but I know that the offer would be rejected. Your allegiance is to your leader and your people." Peter said.

"I will never join you Peter, do not bring up that subject again in the future." Lindel said repeating his words. Peter apologized and then asked a bizarre question, "Truthfully – how many people died when you fought the Sith?"

"None…do you think I lie?" Herrior asked.

"No…it's just hard to imagine…I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"Peter – how do your people fight?" Herrior asked.

"That is one of our secrets…" Peter said smiling.

"And how many have died because of the way that you fight?" Herrior asked. Peter stopped smiling and looked solemn.

"Compare our two societies…one where it defeats your greatest foe and sends your enemy into civil war in a single day. Hundreds, probably thousands of your enemy is dying at each other's hands right now. You look at me and my armor and sword and shield as if you fight better than me. Draw your weapon and attack me." Herrior said.

"I do not want to kill you…" Peter said.

"I've heard that before, draw your weapon and strike at me. I need you to know that we are at the same level of fighting." Herrior said.

"If I kill you than I will have your people fighting us…"

"Draw your weapon!" Herrior said tired of the excuses. Peter finally drew his weapon, energized it so a deadly beam stretched out several feet and he spun around and took a slash at Herrior, but stopped his weapon inches from Herrior's neck.

"You missed…try it again." Herrior said without even flitching.

"You are serious…"

"Yes – stand back everybody. The best way to get to know somebody's fighting techniques is to know how they fight. Take your weapon and strike at me." Herrior said. By now a small crowd was gathering and Peter backed up and started to swing his light saber around him with excellent precision and putting on a good show.

"Stop tiring yourself out and come at me." Herrior said. Peter then jumped in the air and with both hands holding his weapon he came down hard on Herrior's helmet. The armor repelled the attack as Herrior gently pushed Peter backwards. He stumbled a little and then got into a fighting position and started swinging at Herrior as quickly as he could. Herrior could feel his armor absorbing the attacks, but it did cause him some pain – however he stood his ground.

After two minutes of heavy attacking Peter took a diagonal slash at him and went to spin around for a backwards attack, but Herrior pushed him down. Peter was breathing hard as he sat up breathing hard and retracted his light saber.

"Your armor…it's too thick…" Peter said.

"No it isn't, you were hurting me. I am considered a tank in battle. A tanks job is to absorb damage, mitigate damage, and gain the attention of others. My guess is that you run your light saber users in head on without formation and without armor. Tactics my brother…" Herrior said reaching out his hand. Peter took it and pulled himself up.

"Skyka heal me." Herrior said. Skyka sprung into action and in a matter of seconds all of his wounds were completely healed.

"Now you have to start all over again, here mana recharges very quickly and I could literally stand here all day while you strike at me and never die. Yes, I do believe we could learn a lot from each other – but it has to be through time as our friendship builds. For now, I only want Kira visiting our world. While we befriend her further we will befriend your people more." Herrior said.

"It…it is impossible to keep sending Kira to and from your world. Can I offer your credits? I can give you…"

"Nothing…and you insult me with your items. A fighter does not want such things. Kira what are you doing right now?" Herrior asked.

"Trying to figure out how you survived so many hits with a light saber…"

"Honesty…trust…virtue – that is how we build friendships and gain allies. We do favors for our allies in return for favors. I will teach you some of our fighting techniques in exchange for Kira spending a week with us." Herrior said.

"Huh?" asked Kira.

"Deal" Peter said.

"Kira, would you accompany us back to our city? Will you keep our secrets…even from your counsel? They are not dangerous secrets, but just secrets that we do not want revealed yet. Is that an agreement that you two could make with each other?" Herrior asked. His face went from looking at Kira to looking at Peter. They then looked at each other and eventually Peter nodded his head.

"Good…we have made much progress today. Kira, I believe your space ship is too big to fit in the portal that Lindel is going to make – is it ok that you settle into it later?" Herrior asked.

"That's fine." Kira said nodding.

"Lindel…take us home." Herrior said smiling at her. Lindel decided to make a spectacular portal and held her hands out as pure white light burst out from her and then quickly went into the shape of a small portal. Everybody watched amazed. Lindel then channeled her power into it and opened the portal big enough so that everybody could walk through. They could see their world on the other side. Everybody was astonished.

"It's no spaceship…but it works…" Lindel said casually looking at her fingernails on her right extended hand.

"Come on…you can gloat later…" Herrior said. The four of them walked through the portal and the portal closed behind them.

Everybody stood around wondering what just happened and wanted an explanation for it and Peter needed to give one.

"Our new friends…" Peter said rubbing his right shoulder and slowly walked away.

"How in the worlds did you do that?" Kira asked looking around at the new surroundings.

"I need two points in the known universes…that's why we needed to ride your ship there. From now on we can come and go as we please." Lindel said.

"I need to get clearance for you to come into Tranquil." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"Tranquil?" Kira asked.

"Our city" Skyka explained. Kira nodded as Skyka pointed towards a small island in the distance with nothing on it. "Where is it?"

"Hmm…now let's see…where did we put Tranquil..." Skyka said with humor in her voice.

"Shh…" Herrior said and got an ambassador on his hearthstone. "I need clearance for bringing in a human into Tranquil."

"What's her body signature like? We'll have to adjust our shields." The ambassador said.

"She's human…like the others…" Lindel said starting to admire her other finger nails on her left hand.

"Others?" Kira asked.

"Permission granted, same rules apply – you are responsible for her!" The ambassador wanted to make sure Herrior knew.

"I wrote that part in the manual…" Herrior said smiling. The other ambassador smiled back and closed the portal.

"Take us to home Lindel…I need to get my armor repaired." Herrior said.

"Okey dokey" Lindel said and made a simple portal this time and funneled her power in it like before.

"Do you have to put more power into traveling further distances?" Kira asked.

"No…she was just showing off. Come I want you to meet my party."

Herrior, Skyka, Lindel and Kira enter through the portal and into Tranquil. Kira immediately became awestruck with the magnificent sights, sounds, and smells of the city. She was speechless for several minutes as she just staggered around in its beauty. Herrior still needed to find out what information the captured time stopper knew and to speak with Chen about their findings in person about the alliance encampment. He was still very uncomfortable with Admiral and his soldiers fighting alliance on Earth by themselves and wasn't sure what to do with that situation. He let out a sigh and began to think about one thing at a time.


	46. The Force that Moves You

The Force that Moves You

"This is our arena. This is the only place where fighting is allowed in Tranquil. We have already spoken with each other, and it is closely monitored by the goblins and healers as well as everybody else around. This is mostly used to teach others new abilities that we may have learned. We may be able to teach each other different fighting techniques. Only once in awhile are fights to the death done – my party has had one recently because of a friend of ours in another world was wronged and cheated in the arena, anyways Lindel could you summon a warrior undead?" Herrior asked.

"Would love to" Lindel said and summoned an undead warrior from the ground.

"How did you do that?" Kira asked.

"It was a trick I recently learned actually. He won't kill you; he only does what I tell him to do." Lindel said.

"Tell it to constantly punch itself in the face…" Mohania said.

"How about…no" Lindel replied.

"Go ahead and attack it Kira." Herrior said.

Kira pulled out her light saber and energized the weapon. Many of the people watching saw it and were captivated. Kira walked forward and then took a slash at the skeleton warrior. The warrior simply stood there and took the blow. It was hurt, but never moved.

"What is this, a training lesson? Tell it to attack me back." Kira said. Herrior looked at Icis and said, "Your job is to make sure Kira doesn't die. Lindel go ahead."

The undead warrior quickly healed himself and took up a defensive stance. It stared at Kira and began to watch her every move. Kira jumped up into the air and help her light saber above her head. The warrior quickly moved underneath her, slammed its shield into the path of the light saber and then thrusted it's sword hard into Kira's stomach. Kira rolled away in pain as Icis healed her. The warrior then walked backwards a bit and waited for Kira to stand on her feet. As soon as she did the warrior charged her and knocked her down. It then slammed her hard with its shield and again landed another blow to Kira's stomach.

Kira raised her hand and some unseen force blew the undead warrior backwards and up into the air as Icis continued to heal Kira. Instead of buying her some time though, the skeleton warrior regained control of its body in midair and charged hard back at her, knocking her to the ground again. Kira went tumbling as the warrior continued to take slashes at her.

Feeling the healing constantly renewing her body, she felt frustrated as she held out her hand and lifted the skeleton off from the ground – hurting it while it was incapacitated. Kira rose to the ground and reengergized her light saber as the skeleton broke free of the hold and went to attack her. Kira this time attacked the skeleton with renewed passion and desire to kill it. Her attacks came hard and fast, but the skeleton either blocked or parried every blow and it landed a blow on her nearly every time.

After fifteen minutes of the duel, Kira finally said "I yield, make it stop" as she deenergized her light saber. The undead warrior stopped fighting and then its life force was absorbed back into Lindel as its body dissolved back into the dirt.

"It has powers and abilities that I have never seen before – what were those?" Kira asked.

"That is the way we fight. Its abilities are actually limited as to what a normal warrior can do. Herrior for example could probably explain more." Lindel said.

"I am a warrior as Lindel pointed out. I am defensive specced and my job is to get the enemy's attention while my party attacks it. The warrior you were fighting's job was to mitigate damage. Why did you not use your abilities more? I sensed you were holding back." Herrior said.

"I didn't have time, and its armor is so think that I couldn't penetrate it. Was that normally how they fight?" Kira asked.

"Yes" Lindel answered.

"Lindel conjure up another warrior for us, same as before." Herrior said. Lindel did as she was asked.

"Look at your opponent. It has a shield and a sword – both of which it uses as weapons. When you swing with your weapon swing to hit the shield, hit it hard enough to hurt its hand holding it. If you are swinging at its hand, swing hard enough to hurt its hand. Don't look at the menacing opponent before you as somebody looking to kill you, look at it as a puzzle. It has armor, a shield and a sword – if you can dislodge some of these items, you stand a better chance at attacking it at its core. Your attacks are quick enough, but you still spend a lot of energy preparing to make a strike. You know how to fight, let your heart do the fighting and let the rest of you figure out how to disarm or dismantle its attacks." Herrior said and then performed a variety of different strikes at the skeleton warrior that made it drop its sword and most of its armor on its right side. Herrior disengaged and let the skeleton warrior reacquire its armor and weapon.

"Do you see how the armor is connected at several different points on his body? Do not swing your weapon around to distract it or to impress it – rather spend your energy focusing on it with what you are going to do to land a deadly strike on it. Right now you see that the skeleton has gauntlets on it, so strike on its hand and arm would not do as much damage, but you see that in its stomach area where the ribs are is exposed. The head is always the prime target of any foe; any sort of distraction to it will be to your advantage. The head is usually the most protected so that is not a prime choice for attack. However examine your foe more closely, you will see that it has greaves that cover its legs, but the armor appears not as strong where its knees are. Instead of using all of your moves and magic to overpower your force, use some cunning to take down your opponent. Let's reset the duel and start it back up again." Herrior said.

Lindel gave her undead soldier a telepathic command and it took up a defensive position. Kira held her light saber in front of her.

"It can only charge within a small area…either get close enough or far away enough to escape its charge." Herrior said. Kira started to back up and as soon as she saw the skeleton move, Kira jumped up high in the air and did a backwards summersault. It looked impressive, but in the meantime the skeleton threw its sword at Kira, hitting her in her stomach and breaking her concentration. She lost her concentration as Icis started healing her again.

Kira got back up on her feet and held up her hand as tiny pieces of dirt were lifted up from the ground and shot into the skeleton's face. The skeleton couldn't see what was going on and raised its shield as its sword returned back to it. Kira stopped channeling the spell and the undead warrior started to march at her. Kira then swiftly move her hand to the side rose up a large piece of dirt and flung it hard at the skeleton's head, disorienting it. Kira then lunged forward at the warrior's stomach and hit the spot that Herrior pointed out. Several ribs instantly sizzled and fell off when the skeleton slammed the hilt of its sword on top of Kira's head. She screamed at the pain and went down to the ground hard.

"Stop!" Herrior called out. Icis casted a strong healing spell to repair Kira's injuries but she was still dizzy from the strike.

"I did what you told me to – I struck at its stomach!" Kira said clearly upset.

"Calm down. Stand over there and I will show you what you did." Herrior said in a soft voice.

"Do you want the warrior to attack you?" Lindel asked.

"Not yet. Kira when you lunged in for the attack, you did obtain a direct hit to a sensitive area like this…" Herrior demonstrated as his sword when into the skeleton's stomach, the same way that Kira struck it. Herrior then held his position there and then looked at Kira and said, "But you waited too long – you have to get in and get out. Remember that your opponent can not be killed in a single hit and it has two weapons coming at you at the same time.

"No…most opponents can be killed in a single hit that is how we fight." Kira said.

"Has it been working out with this skeleton so far?" Herrior gently asked back.

"Fine…" Kira said frustrated and reenergized her weapon.

"No…not fine. In your mind you have already been defeated before you ever go into battle. Fight with me this time. Show me how you would fight with somebody tanking your enemy." Herrior said. He then looked at Lindel and nodded. The skeleton assumed a fighting position. Herrior let out a loud thunderous roar and slammed his shield hard against the skeleton and the duel began. The two dueled for nearly ten seconds before Herrior said, "I don't see you attacking."

"I'm looking for a place to attack but you keep getting in the way." Kira said back still observing the fight.

"Skyka heal the undead warrior, Jacklyn – only use one of your swords and engage the enemy with me." Herrior said. Jacklyn let out a battle cry as well and charged into the fight. Herrior and Jacklyn worked together, leading the undead skeleton around the arena. Herrior kept its attention while Jacklyn struck from the back, each time landing a blow that the skeleton felt and was visibly shaken by.

"Your eyes have to constantly be on the battlefield. Trust Herrior or your tank to absorb the damage and to keep the targets attention. Your job is to stay in back or to the side so that it cannot mitigate your damage. Notice how several times I did make a direct hit to its armor, but my attack didn't simply stop at the armor, I kept pushing with all of my strength into the attack and it stumbled. Don't aim for the target; aim beyond the target – for example watch." Jacklyn said and enraged herself as she took a hard swing into the skeleton's back. Jacklyn's sword hit the armor so hard that it went clear through it and the sword came out the other end, pointing at Herrior. Herrior didn't even flinch, he was used to this. The skeleton's body could not withstand any more damage and eventually fell to pieces on the ground where it dissipated into the dirt.

"We don't use any of those strategies; however I could see how it would benefit. Generally we have the Jedi and the troopers fight side by side. If we see any Sith the Jedi engage them and the troopers fight empire troopers. A whole platoon of troopers couldn't kill a Sith so generally that is how we split up when we attack. It's hard to imagine one person such as yourself to be able to take on a Sith though, much alone an entire army as well." Kira said.

"I have help; sometimes we have multiple tanks – for example in my party we have three tanks and three healers to heal them up. Plus everybody else does their job in a battle to help with mitigating damage as well as stopping foes from overwhelming us. Each person has their own job." Herrior said.

"All of this is hard to understand, but I appreciate you showing me this…what the heck is this?" Kira asked jumping away from the fairies bringing food to the party.

"Don't attack it Kira, just hold still." Herrior ordered. The fairies went into all of their bodies for a couple of seconds and then left. Kira turned around and then looked up in the sky to watch hers fly away.

"I…feel full, and I feel a power I have never felt before. It is as if all of muscles became suddenly stronger…what were those?" Kira asked.

"They are used to distribute food to everybody in Tranquil and they also dispose of any waste matter as well. They are sent out every couple of hours to ensure every person is at their peak potential and they are well fed and taken care of. The power that you are feeling is from the food that they put in your stomach. It enhances your primary attribute that you use to fight with. All of the food is grown naturally or caught…just a second." Herrior said as his hearthstone began to vibrate.

"Herrior we need you!" It was Chen and he sounded scared.

"Lindel!" Herrior ordered pointing at her. Lindel created a portal and began to pour her powers into it. In no time they were with Chen, but where they were they did not expect to be…

"What is this Chen?" Herrior ordered quickly putting away his hearthstone and drawing his weapons with the rest of the party. They were surrounded by alliance in an alliance camp. Kira energized her light saber.

"Herrior, they mean us no harm…please put your weapons away…let me explain…" Chen said raising his hands. A woman close by screamed as loud as she could. Herrior recognized the voice, it was a night elf.

"She is in labor and the child is not coming out. Her screams attracted a group of Mogu that entered the camp and dragged off both Pandaren and their people. She is going to die along with her baby and the others. Herrior, we stood no chance against the Mogu…they are real and they are brutal!" Chen said as the woman continued to scream close by.

"Please tauren…we will pay you to comfort her and rescue our people. We accept the Pandaren as friends, they took our people as well – we tried to fight them back…they took our women, children, and people who didn't fight." A male night elf said to Herrior.

"Skyka, Lindel – go tend to the woman." Herrior said putting his weapons away.

"I'm sensing a dark presence here…" Kira said.

"Trackolania and Julie – go see what we are up against and come back with a battle strategy on how to free the people." Herrior then turned to Jacklyn and looked deep into her eyes for a couple of seconds. She gave a slow nod as she took Bernett, Strings, Veliline and Jessica with her.

"Where are they going?" Kira asked beating the male night elf to the question.

"To scout out the area, we will not be caught off guard by anybody." Herrior said looking at the night elf.

"We are not here to attack anybody, our weapons are over in that tent and nobody is by it…only a couple of us are left what could we do to you?"

"A whole list of things comes to my head…but we will honor a truce for now. The rest of my party will do what we can for the woman." Herrior said and walked by the night elf.

Inside the tent the woman was screaming loudly and was clearly in significant pain. Her arms and legs were flailing and she was completely out of control – on the verge of going mad.

"Herrior, I need her restrained!" Skyka said.

"Each of you grab a limb, I will hold her chest down." Herrior said to the rest of his party. Lindel was at her head trying to get her to open her eyes and looking for a chance to get inside of her to see what exactly was wrong.

"I need you to settle down…please! We cannot help you if you don't relax! I need to get inside of you to find out what is happening…just take slow deep breaths…slow deep breaths…one at a time…" Lindel said as her voice became very soft and hypnotic. The woman's head was pale and drenched in sweat. She opened her eyes and saw Lindel.

"It's ok…we are here to help. I am going to enter your body and figure out what is wrong…but I need you to relax…" Lindel said trying to hypnotize her. She quickly broke free of it when another burst of pain encased her body as her restrainers held her down.

"I'm summoning a lightwell, but until I know what is wrong I cannot heal her." Skyka said. She chanted a quick spell and a lightwell materialized and started to spin around shooting off its healing stars for a second and then stopped. "Even my lightwell doesn't know what to do…we've got to calm her down, where is her husband?"

"They took him! They took him and my children! I'm going to die here alone!" The woman screamed.

"We have sent our forces to go rescue them…we are developing an attack strategy as we speak, but you must not think about them…you must think about the little one inside of you. That precious baby is very scared right now…I know you are in a lot of pain, but the only way I can heal you is to enter your body and fix what is wrong…" Lindel said trying to hypnotize her again. This time the night elf woman entered a trance and Lindel dissolved into her thousands of tiny little particles and entered through her eyes. Lindel immediately calmed all of the anxiety the brain was firing and her body went immediately limp and unresponsive.

"Shit…what just happened?" Skyka asked.

"I don't know…I just told the brain to stop causing the anxiety, I need to turn it back on to keep this woman alive…Skyka I need you to do a full search of her body and vagina to see if you can find any problems. I've never been inside a night elf before and I don't know all of their brain patterns or how their body works." Lindel's voice came from the night elf woman.

"How…how is she doing that? That is not the voice of Yulla…" the male night elf said.

"I'll explain very briefly. Lindel is a banshee and she is inside of her trying to figure out what is wrong. Lindel has done this for hundreds of years and I trust her, now for her sake and the child's sake we need to do what they say." Herrior said. The male night elf nodded.

Soon the woman was screaming again and trying to thrash around again.

"Stop resisting me…I'm trying to help!" Lindel's voice came out of the night elf's mouth.

"You are hurting me!"

"Yulla…this is Niddu…I am the overseer…do you remember me?" The male night elf said.

"Yes!"

"Yulla…she is not hurting you…you need to relax your mind and body. These people are trying to help you. They are doing everything in their power to save your life and your baby's life. Now I order you to not resist their help and do as they say!" Niddu said in a firm voice.

Yulla calmed down and started taking large deep breaths.

"I need water…fresh water – her temperature is rising quickly and I cannot stop it!" Lindel's voice said coming out of Yulla's mouth. Niddu quickly ordered some water from the river to be brought.

"Get some cloth to soak it in and place it around her neck and wipe her face and hair with it." Skyka said adding to the orders. Niddu ordered for some clean pieces of cloth to be brought to her.

"I can feel you…inside of me…" Yulla said.

"Yes Yulla I am inside of you, but I am not hurting you. All I am doing right now is trying to figure out how your brain and body works…I have never examined a night elf's body in this situation before, but I am learning quickly. And to the other alliance standing around, I am not accessing any parts of her mind for information – just to make that clear." Lindel's voice came out of her mouth.

"She's speaking the truth…I am so hot…" Yulla said.

"Hurry up with the water!" Niddu yelled.

"Skyka strip her down – we've got to get her temperature down or she is going to start having convulsions." Lindel said.

"I don't want to be naked in front of everybody!" Yulla said scared.

"Hun, we are here to help…I am a doctor and I have seen thousands of naked people, if you are going to calm yourself and not need the restraints – I can have these people removed." Skyka said.

"Yes…remove everybody!" Yulla almost screamed. Herrior looked at everybody and nodded as they left. Skyka quickly removed her clothing and found something sticking out of her side and top of her stomach.

"Lindel get down to the baby." Skyka said quickly but calmly. Lindel moved her dispersed body through the night elf's body and to her stomach. Lindel quickly saw not one but two babies in her uterus. Her body was in labor, but both babies were not in position – they were sideways. "That would explain the pain" Lindel thought as she quickly repositioned the babies. Her body sensed the movement and a powerful contraction hit as she bit down hard and flexed every muscle in her body. Skyka was ready to help the baby come out when suddenly a large flow of blood came out instead. Skyka quickly healed her, but the blood flow started again.

"Talk to me Lindel!" Skyka said grabbing a wet piece of cloth and holding it against her vagina.

"She is having twins and her body wants them out. The placenta ruptured and they are no longer getting nutrients. Her body is in a hurry to expel them, but the babies and her body will not give me time to line them up. We may have to take them out through her stomach." Lindel's voice said quickly.

"My body…" Yulla said and then started having seizures as her temperature soared.

"Cool her down! Put water everywhere and keep it coming!" Skyka demanded as every bucket in the camp was grabbed and filled quickly and rushed back.

"Skyka…open her stomach, I can't figure this out and there is no time!" Lindel said out of the convulsion woman's mouth.

"Niddu was it?" Skyka asked turning around to the male night elf.

"Yes – what can I do?"

"Get down here and hold this against her as hard as you can. She has lost a lot of blood and I'm afraid she is going to lose some more. Get more cloth if you need to, but hold it against her as hard as you can!" Skyka demanded. Niddu did as she said. Skyka then quickly maneuvered herself over to the side of the night elf and put her hands together right at her belly button. She then chanted some words and slowly pulled her hands apart with her stomach opening as she did. Only a couple trickles of blood came as Skyka saw a leg. She continued opening her until she was able to reach in and pull out the first child. She handed it to Jessica and said, "Rub its back hard and face it downward." Jessica did as she was told and in no time the baby began to start crying.

In the meantime Skyka reached her hand into her stomach and found the other one. She gently pulled on the baby until it was out of her uterus. She then handed the baby to Icis and told her to do the same thing. Icis quickly took the baby from Skyka as she put her hands back at the opening and chanted some more words and began to close the wound. The lightwell was sending out stars pretty fast into the woman now, healing her as fast as it could.

"Skyka?" Lindel asked in a tone that didn't sound good.

"We're not done yet Lindel. She's bleeding a lot from her vagina – go take a look." Skyka said.

"Her brain shut down Skyka…" Lindel said.

"Well kick start it back up!" Skyka demanded.

"Seal the wound Skyka…keep sealing it until your mana is gone, I will see what I can do." Lindel said out of Yulla's mouth. The night elf lay motionless on the ground as Skyka energized herself and began casting heal spell after heal spell on her body.

"Somebody cast resurrect on her body!" Skyka yelled. Lhi moved in and began to cast the spell. After a couple of seconds, her body was blasted with light but did not move.

"Again!" Skyka demanded.

"There is no brain activity Skyka…I can't jump start it." Lindel said.

"Keep trying!" Skyka said in desperation as she continued to heal her broken body.

After a minute Niddu stood up and said, "It is over…"

"No it's not! I've just started! Her bleeding has stopped, Lindel is working on her brain…it will work!" Skyka said in even more desperation.

"Skyka…please…" Niddu said gently clasping her arm. Skyka quickly turned to him and saw the tears in his eyes.

"No…we can still…" Skyka said but was lost for words. Lindel flew out of Yulla's eyes and materialized into her human self.

"I tried…honest to God Niddu I tried…it just wasn't enough…I'm sorry…" Lindel said as tears ran down her face.

"No…no…what about her babies? They need a mother! They need to eat…they…" Skyka said and burst into tears.

Dan overheard the conversation and pulled out his hearthstone. He summoned Admiral.

"Admiral we need some help…this may sound like an odd request, but we are going to need baby bottles and formula…how fast can you get them into our room?" Dan asked.

"I think we have some in the daycare, I will go check and contact you back as soon as I have some." Admiral said and closed the portal.

"Niddu, this was a great loss to your people. I am sorry that we were unable to save her life. The babies will get the food and help that they need." Herrior said softly. Niddu and the other alliance in the camp gathered around and began to mourn and Niddu embraced Skyka. Lindel scooted over and embraced both of them as they all wept together.

"I could never imagine…people of your kind mourning over the loss of a mother of two children." A dwarf said.

"It is a sad moment for everybody, I hope that we can set aside our differences so that we can give her a proper burial and tend to her children." Herrior said.

"Yes…I'm sorry, that just slipped out. The alliance doesn't even know we are here…we escaped the King and made camp here. It's just…it runs deep and the words just slipped out…" the dwarf said.

"It is alright." Herrior said calmly. He let everybody mourn for a little while as Dan slipped off into a heavily wooded area and had a Chronomancer from Tranquil open a portal to the station. He quickly met up with Admiral as he gave him two different cans of half used baby formula and two bottles.

"It was all we had at the station. I have an officer out right now buying up a bigger supply." Admiral said.

"Thank you Admiral, this will work for now." Dan said taking the items and putting them in his bags.

"Should I contact Herrior when we get more?" Admiral asked. It was obvious that he wanted to know what was going on.

"We will need at least a six month supply…or maybe longer, I don't know…how long are babies on formula for?" Dan asked.

"Depends on the child…sometimes it could take two to three years. What kind of baby are we talking about?" Admiral asked who couldn't make the question any more obvious.

"We encounter an alliance outpost when we received a distress call from Chen. We were ready to kill every last one of them when they said their people were taken by the Mogu as well as some Pandaren people. They were telling the truth and we are working on a mission to get them back. In the mean time a night elf was giving birth and apparently it was extremely painful for her. She ended up giving birth to two babies but died in the process. We are going to give her a proper funeral and burial. These alliance aren't like the normal alliance we fight, they broke free of their reign." Dan quickly explained.

"Do you need us?" Admiral asked.

"Maybe…I don't know, we're waiting on Julie and Trackolania to come back with an attack plan. It's Herrior's call though, not mine." Dan said.

"Of course…express our condolences." Admiral said and Dan nodded at him as he went back through the portal.

Dan came back to the camp with the items for the newborns who were crying. He handed over the items to Crystal who quickly made up two bottles and gave them to the alliance that was holding the babies. Luckily the babies took right to the bottles and drank the formula.

Yulla's body was being prepared for burial. She was fully clothed again and wrapped up in cloth. Mohania started digging a hole off in the distance.

"Niddu, I need you to explain to her family what happened here. I fear they would not believe one of us…" Herrior said. Niddu nodded and said he would as others volunteered that they would as well.

Ten minutes later with Yulla wrapped up and set next to her grave, the alliance decided that they should wait to bury her when they free her family. Just then Trackolania and Julie suddenly appeared.

"Oh man…she died?" Julie asked sounding upset.

"Yes unfortunately…what news do you have of the Mogu?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania excitedly pulled out a severed head and show it to Herrior.

"I'm willing to bet that's not the only thing in your pockets…Julie explain what happened." Herrior said producing a small smile.

"This is their leader. Trackolania and I were able to distract him away from the others and we worked together to quickly kill him, Spark helped of course…he said he wanted to get credit for it as well."

"Julie" Spark barked. The enormous dog walked over to the corpse and started whimpering.

"We're sad about it as well Spark. Did you two come up with a plan?" Herrior asked turning from Spark back to Julie and Trackolania.

"We have two plans…wait until they die from the poisons that we put into their bodies, or do a frontal assault." Julie said excitedly.

"I'm afraid to ask what you did…but everybody here I think would prefer a frontal assault. What is your plan?" Herrior asked.

Trackolania pulled out a dagger and quickly dusted off an area on the ground. He then drew a circle and made small marks with his dagger as to where each Mogu was. He then wrote the word "Mogu" off to the side so everybody knew. He then drew three different areas where the hostages were being held, they were in the shape of a triangle. In the middle he drew a small circle and then pointed to Julie.

"This was their meal…apparently they are cannibals and were preparing a feast of your people. None of them have been killed, yet. Currently, thanks to my trusty partner, it's filled with a highly violate acid. One clean shot and it will explode. I will need to shoot it from this angle…" Julie said and looked down as Trackolania drew a line from the south. Julie continued, "This will created shrapnel as well as Trackolania's acid and hot water to spray the majority of the camp. I suggest we start our attack with this and then have two tanks come in from the west and east." Trackolania was drawing the scenario as Julie was explaining it.

"One tank from the rear of the camp to protect the prisoners and one from the front. Trackolania and I will supply several distractions during the battle to confuse them and if we are seen, we will double back around our safe area to the first assault group coming from the front. We'll use Lindel to coordinate the attacks so everything goes off without a hitch. I figure it will take five minutes at the most to kill them and free the captives." Julie said. Trackolania drew the word "WIN" next to it and then drew an arrow pointing at the camp. Herrior smiled.

"So be it, go get into position, Lindel link us up, Quinely take a group and go for a walk and the rest of us will come from the front. Don't injure their heads…I want them severed…I have a scheme that is more devious then Mohania could think up…" Herrior said.

"I object! I don't know what you plan on doing but I bet I could do it better!" Herrior walked over to him and whispered a couple of sentences in his ear socket.

"Not bad…not bad…and then we kill them?" Mohania asked.

"If you kill them…then how can we learn from them?" Herrior asked.

"Torture! I know where you are going with this…alright, I'll need…"

"Go get ready for battle…"

"Ok I'll pretend it's not torture, but if it is I'll have several ideas ready." Mohania said.

"We're coming too!" The dwarf declared.

"We need some of your warriors to secure your camp. You don't have many fighters left and you have women and children that can't fight. We haven't secured this entire land yet and a wild beast of the Slitherscales might invade." Herrior said.

"We can hold our own in combat! Those are our people in there! And who do you plan on torturing with the Mogu's heads?" The dwarf asked.

"Old friends…not the alliance, and I have no doubts that you can hold your own in battle but listen to your mind and not your emotions. Most of your people are being held captive and you want vengeance, but fighting without a clear mind will get people killed. Chen you stay here with them – secure the perimeter. I want every able–bodied person that can lift a weapon to stand together as one, nobody runs off – stay in the camp!" Herrior said firmly. The dwarf didn't like it but he sighed and nodded as he looked away.

"We will get your people back, buff up people!" Herrior said pulling out his sword and shield. Everybody started casted spells and summoning their pets as Quinely picked out eight people and Herrior told Kira to follow Strings, who was in Herrior's group, and told her to protect him.

Quinely's group took off running towards the south to circle around the camp. Lindel disappeared and floated into the camp. Herrior positioned his forces about twenty feed from the front of the camp, hidden behind some trees and plants. Trackolania and Julie got into position. Trackolania gave Lindel a thought to see if everybody was ready. She replied back that they were. Trackolania then snuck into the camp where the Mogu were violently accusing each other of killing their leader. Trackolania knocked one unconscious and then threw a small pebble at another. It turned around and said, "Who attacked him? Somebody will answer for these crimes!"

Lindel knew the plan and quickly put her idea in Trackolania and Julie's minds. They both agreed to hold off.

"I did…come face me!" Lindel projected her voice over towards a rather dumb Mogu just standing around, but directly in front of where the boiling cauldron was. The Mogu looked around to see who said that, but quickly almost all of the Mogu walked over to him and confronted him. Julie pulled out her gun and lined up a shot. She focused in on her target and felt her power build up inside of her and then pulled the trigger. The blast was extremely powerful and startled everybody in the camp, but they had little time to notice as the cauldron exploded into an enormous batch of poison that covered the Mogu. The screams of pain came from them as it ate away at their skin.

"Now!" Lindel said in both Quinely and Herrior's minds. Battle cries were heard throughout the lands as both groups came in and quickly decimated the first couple of guards.

"No aoe's – single target!" Herrior shouted and leaped into the air and slammed down on a Mogu with a thunderous crash.

Kira energized her weapon and ran in. She noticed that Strings pulled out a small musical device and was confused. Where was his weapon? Was he going to sing them to sleep? Quickly Strings played a tune and an enormous fireball appeared above his head and slammed into a Mogu's stomach. Kira almost stopped in amazement. Strings then started to play another tune and she felt her muscles strength and joints release – she felt like she could tear every last one of the Mogu apart by herself. Strings sensed this and stopped playing to say, "Remember your orders…" and then started to play again.

Kira nodded and saw a Mogu within range that Jacklyn was attacking. Kira raised her hand and lifted him into the air. Jacklyn didn't hesitate as she took the opportunity to slice up the defenseless Mogu and then move on to another target. She saw its body go into convulsions and then its head fall off as Trackolania jumped off from the body and sunk his poison tipped daggers into another one. Kira stayed by Strings but after watching the fight, realized Herrior's intentions for her…to observe and to learn. Kira looked over at Herrior. His shield and sword were moving very fast, absorbing almost every attack and counterattacked with viciousness. Kira stopped and saw that Quinely had thirteen Mogu on her as she swiped at all of them. She and Herrior weren't trying to kill them, but the other attackers were picking them off systematically. She could see the healers in the back ground letting off their healing spells to heal the tanks. Kira saw a couple of Mogu get pulled away and the tanks would taunt them back on them. Then she saw something that scared her. Crystal turned into a giant demon and said in a dark sinister voice, "You have captured innocents and will pay with your lives." She then waved a hand at them and shadow bolts hit every single Mogu they were fighting. She then held up her hand and green beams of light shot out of her hand and started to drain the life out of all of the Mogu.

"No…no…this doesn't count! Come on you stupid imp – shoot faster! We can't let her kill more than us!" Mohania yelled out.

Against Mohania's wishes though, all of the Mogu's power was drained and fell to the ground, barely alive.

"I want their heads! Everybody with blades cut them off, the rest of you secure the prisoners!" Herrior yelled out.

"Stupid people with blades…Trackolania throw me one of your daggers." Mohania said. A dagger suddenly flew into his mouth as he bit down. Mohania pulled it out and said, "Bet you think that was funny huh?" Trackolania was laughing as he started decapitating the Mogu.

"I got this cage, Dan go grab the other one – healers we are going to need you?" Quinely said morphing back into her human self after she bashed the lock off the door.

"The fight is over?" Kira asked following Strings.

"Five minutes was an exaggeration…we usually give ourselves a couple of minutes just in case something goes wrong, can you heal people with your power?" Strings asked.

"No…but I can do something about that lock" Kira said and her light saber blasted the lock off as the door flung open.

"Impressive!" Strings said helping the people out of the cage.

"Not nearly as impressive as your battle…" Kira said still trying to take in everything that happened.

"Killing is not impressive…never will be…" Strings said sadly as he struck up a tune that started healing everybody in the cage.

"No I didn't mean…" but Strings wasn't listening. He was concentrating on his song. Kira saw the people starting to rise to their feet. Their lashes and scars started to heal. Kira deenergized her weapon and put it away as she helped people to their feet.

After several minutes everybody was healed up and the severed heads were all collected and given to Herrior.

"Trophies?" Skyka asked.

"You'll see…" Herrior said angrily and nearly grinding his teeth putting the rest in. This was not the time to joke around so Skyka gently walked away. She would find out in due time.

"Take the prisoners back to the alliance base and provide for them. I want all of the ambassadors to summon their dragons…we're going for a ride!" Herrior's voice thundered out. Something definitely angered him so everybody did as they were told and Kira was about to retreat with them when Herrior said, "Strings and Kira stop! Strings tell the alliance that they can have anything in this camp and we will leave them alone…Kira you come with me." Kira looked at Herrior and felt a slight hesitation but ran towards him. Soon their dragons landed and Kira looked in awe at the mighty beasts.

"Never see a dragon before?" Herrior's dragon asked.

"You can speak?" Kira asked surprised. Herrior straddled the dragon and reached down with his hand. Kira took it and sat behind Herrior. "Take us up into the air my friend…we have some unfinished business to deal with some people who I don't like right now and had better have a good explanation for this!" Herrior's dragon flapped hard and flew into the air. Kira held tight to Herrior's armor. She felt the damage from the battle to his armor and then wondered why she thought about that as she was at the mercy of this dragon that had taken her high into the air. She looked down and hugged Herrior harder.

"My dragon has yet to drop me; he is very good at taking passengers. Now you know how we felt in your spaceship." Herrior said with a grin.

"I witnessed my first battle with your people…it was…nobody died…we would have done it entirely differently, but you and Quinely held your ground – the battle went just as you said it would." Kira said awkwardly.

"It's easier to show somebody our strategy then to explain it. Many of us have been together for more years than we care to count. Not everybody though…some are new, but they are quick learners. The alliance has a similar fighting style to ours, but ours is better…" Herrior said allowing himself to smile.

They talked for a little bit as they flew over Halfhill. Herrior looked down and saw who he thought was Lulu…carrying her "poker" as the Hozen put it. She was waving it at them. Herrior waved back with a smile.

"You liberated all of those people?" Kira asked.

"No person should be forced from their lands and randomly killed." Herrior answered.

"How many people have you liberated in your life?" Kira asked.

"I don't carve notches in my belt…no idea and don't care." Herrior said uninterested.

"I know what you mean." Kira replied as they continued their flight. Herrior inquired about her comment and she began to explain some of the missions that she was involved in.

After almost twenty minutes of flight they crossed the mountain barrier and saw the land on the other side. It was filled with golden pillars and statues made of the finest rubies he had ever seen. The other ambassadors saw what Herrior saw and were surprised at first, until they saw Pandarens at the ground bowing down to them and dancing around naked making fools out of themselves and getting drunk on something.

"Down!" Herrior yelled and their dragons tucked in their wings as they all took a nose dive straight down, except for Mohania who grabbed a hold of the front of his carpet and flew straight down. The Pandarens never saw them coming. They all swooped over different Pandarens and then landed all in the same spot. They all pulled out their weapons as Mohania lit himself on fire. Kira energized her light saber.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed somebody?" One of the Golden Lotus asked outraged.

"We could have killed somebody? We? Us? Is this what you have been doing, the 'Legendary Golden Lotus'? Is this what you were doing as your people fought for their lives and died? Is this what you were doing as the younglings were killed and beaten and forced to watch as their parents were murdered and raped?" Herrior's voice boomed with anger.

"We fight the Mogu! There is no Mogu because of us!" A leader came up and said.

"Really? No Mogu?" Herrior said pulling out his bags and started to empty them with the decapitated heads. After he finished he looked back up at the stunned people and said, "Then what are these? They certainly aren't alliance and they certainly aren't Slitherscales…you tell me – which race is this?" Herrior picked up the leaders head and threw it hard at the elder. He ducked out of the way as it nailed a fat Pandaren in the back. He was so intoxicated he didn't know what was going on. He turned around and as he picked it up he said, "Ah – another victory for the Golden Lotus! We have slain more Mogu! Praise the Golden Pagoda! We slay our enemies in your name!"

"Shut up! All of you! We are only ambassadors, but I can get an entire legion of our people to slice all of you up into little pieces! Look at you! Worshipping a worthless idol, getting drunk to the point of idiocy – the people of these lands will come and see what fools you are! They trusted you! They believed in you! All of you should share the same fate at the Mogu we slain to save your people!" Herrior said raising his sword and walking towards the elder. The rest of Herrior's party readied themselves for combat.

"They will never know…what's your price?" the elder said.

"Mohania! What is the price for betraying your people?" Herrior's voice still thundered out with anger.

"A hundred years of torture!" Mohania's voice was just as angered as Herrior's.

"Kill them!" Dan yelled out. These words sobered everybody up real quick as they all gathered around awaiting their fate.

"One hundred gold pieces and all of this is forgotten." The elder said.

"Restrain him! Destroy their idols, drive fear into the rest of them! Beat them until they scatter! If they raise a blade against you, don't hesitate!" Herrior yelled and then let out a booming voice. Mohania quickly produced his green bubble shield around the elder and lifted him up into the air. He then ran into the middle of them and let out a howl of terror – sending everybody fleeing. He summoned his imp and told him to fire small fireballs at everybody running.

Panic swept over the Golden Lotus as Herrior's party beat them and threw them out of the comfort of the alter that they built. Herrior then walked up to it slowly and enraged himself. He tossed down a banner increasing his damage and let out a mighty roar as he spun around and slammed his sword into one of the legs of the golden alter. It started to crumble as Herrior held his shield over his head and slashed through the other leg. The enormous alter quickly fell down onto its knees and toppled over backwards.

"How did you get so much gold while your people starve?" Herrior's voice boomed out again.

"The…Mogu paid us…built us a god to worship…the rest was taxes from long ago…before the mists enveloped us…" the elder said shaking in fear.

"Blood money! You built a god out of blood money! I've got a decision to make…should I bring you to your people for trial…kill you right now…or take you back to Tranquil and let you suffer for decades for the pain and misery that you put on your people! This ends now! All of this!" Herrior roared with anger.

Some of the people tried to attack, but Mohania's fire spells were no match for them…and Mohania didn't let up until they were begging for mercy. Skyka went off to the side and contacted Tranquil for instructions on what to do. She asked for the King directly. In the background she could hear her party smashing everything in their path.

"Skyka – what is it?" The King asked quickly. Skyka explained the situation and the King raised his fists in anger as they caught fire.

"Take them before their people…make it known to them what the Golden Lotus has done, and then I want them here! I want all of them!" Skyka nodded as the King closed the portal on the hearthstone. Suddenly she looked around and saw a dozen portals opening.

"Dragons – to me!" Kon yelled into the air. Everybody that was coming out of the portals summoned their dragons and then flew across the region, reigning terror upon everybody. Skyka walked over to Herrior and told him the situation.

"My rage boils my blood…it seeks spilled blood as retribution! Gather everybody up! Destroy everything! Knock them senseless if they won't come without a fight! They will be judged by their people and then our King will pass judgment on them! May the real God have mercy on their souls…" Herrior yelled out.

"And the idol?" Mohania asked.

"What idol…" Herrior said and jumped back on top of it, slicing out huge chunks of it.

Skyka pulled out her hearthstone and summoned Jacklyn. "Herrior's rage has overtaken him and there is a full out assault going on here…we could use you…

"Lindel open a portal to Herrior!" Jacklyn yelled interrupting Skyka.

"Jacklyn…bring Chen and as many other Pandarens as you can." Skyka said.

"Will they be safe?" Jacklyn asked.

"They need to see this, they will be safe." Skyka said and closed the portal and put the hearthstone back in her pocket. Skyka saw a portal quickly open and Jacklyn jumped out and drove her swords into the golden idol that Herrior was slicing up. She then realized that it was dead…then she realized it was never living. She stood up and looked at it, it was solid gold and in the shape of a giant idol.

"You're shitting me…" Jacklyn said in disgust. The rest of the party walked out along with Chen and the Pandaren that were captured.

"Herrior!" Jacklyn's voice was so loud and authoritative that everybody felt it in their stomachs. Herrior stopped slicing at it and looked up. He took in the whole seen.

"Release your rage! There is no fight and your rage is not being used for its purpose." Jacklyn commanded.

Herrior took in several deep breaths and then rose to feet and put his weapons behind him.

"Control your rage…release it…" Jacklyn told him again. Herrior closed his eyes and took several deep breaths and then felt his body turn to jelly as he collapsed on his legs.

"Exactly…you have to watch that Herrior. I have the same problem. You cannot let your rage consume you. Build up your rage for our enemies…not for a worthless idol. Meditate and get your strength back and I will take control of the party.

"What is this? What is going on? Why are my people being held prisoner?" Chen asked.

"Chen…you need to hear this from the ones you looked to for help, and they will tell you everything!" Skyka said and shot the elder in the green force field that felt like an ice spike went through his heart. He slowly swallowed as Chen and the other Pandaren gathered around him. Kon had brought in dozens of other Golden Lotus fighters. They all had shameful looks as they gazed upon Chen and the other Pandaren.

"We built an idol…with the money that we taxed you with…and money from the Mogu." The elder said slowly.

"Is this some sort of trickery? Are they making you say this?" Chen asked denying what he said.

"I speak the truth Chen. We knew of the attacks on your people and were ordered to not do anything about it."

"And the Sha?" Chen asked.

"We don't fight the Sha…we haven't even seen its corruption. We are safe within these mountains and as long as we did what the Mogu said. When the Golden Lotus Fighters came over the barrier to see you, it was to tax you…not to reward you. They saw how powerful you became and we feared the outsiders. We said what you wanted to hear and then left."

"The severed heads of those Mogu…" Chen said sounding clearly upset.

"The man with the horns brought them…they are responsible for killing them, not us Chen."

"You…you left us to die and you did nothing? Complete strangers from another world came and rescued us and drove away our enemies. They put their lives on the line for us numerous times…they would have died for us…and you did nothing. This isn't how the stories were told that were handed down…what happened?"

"We made a deal to worship and build idols to the thunder king so that when he arrives he would bless us with power. We…we watched and didn't shed a tear as our fellow brethren died." The elder said and turned away. Chen and the other Pandaren were in complete shock.

"That is the last of them…there are still tunnels, caves and those golden palaces off in the distance, should we go investigate?" Kon asked Herrior.

"Go" Herrior said.

"Move out people! Drag their worthless asses here!" Kon roared and his dragon flew off into the distance.

"Please…you are killing innocent people – they have done nothing wrong…" the elder said.

"Chen – we have not killed any of them, you have my word on that. We bring you and your people here to pass judgment on them. What do you wish that we do?" Herrior asked.

"Betrayed…you left us for dead…you watched us die? How could you? We are Pandaren! We are brothers and sisters…I…" Chen said shaking his head. Herrior saw Chen's head turn to Herrior for comfort.

"We are brothers and sisters Chen. We fought together, we gained allies together, we freed your people together – those are not your brothers and sisters, they are idolaters and drunken fools." Herrior said.

"We are brothers." Chen said looking at Herrior.

"The King ordered for you to pass down judgment…if you do not order their death, our King wants to speak with them…and he is pissed!" Skyka said.

"Betrayers die a betrayer's death…" Jacklyn said.

"I have seen that with your own people…let me speak with my people." Chen said and turned around. Chen looked at all of their faces and they were clearly upset and looked like they were going to rip them to shreds with their bare hands. Chen felt their anger and nodded at them.

"I don't want to see them ever again…get them away from my people – the true Pandaren!" Chen said looking over at Herrior. Herrior nodded and looked over at the elder. He wouldn't even face his judgment looking at him. Herrior made a mental note to be sure to torture that one himself.

"Take us back to Halfhill…please…" Chen said.

"What do you want of the temples, the gold and the precious gems?" Herrior asked.

"We didn't know about it then…we don't want to remember it. I want it gone from this world – never to be seen from again. I want every stone unturned and I want the wildlife and grasses to consume this valley. The memories and stories passed down will be stopped. I can't be here any long Herrior…I'm going to get sick." Chen said. Lindel quickly opened a portal back to Halfhill and the Pandarens left.

"We don't allow blood money and money from idols to come into Tranquil – Kira do your people have any use for this?" Herrior asked.

"What? This has got to be worth millions of credits…"

"Do your people have any use for this?" Herrior asked again.

"We could use some of it to…"

"Lindel open a portal to her space station. Follow her and find out where they want this gold. Then we will deliver it." Herrior said.

"Right away" Lindel said opening a portal to the Ebon Hawk. Lindel then motioned for Kira to follow her.

"Sick perverted fools!" Kon yelled as he threw two female Pandaren to the ground and the dragon dropped off six of them.

"Do I even want to know?" Herrior asked.

"Apparently marriage doesn't matter…there are females having sex with other females and males doing the same with other males. There are idols and people sacrificing their children to an image just like this. We found forty dead children so far." Kon said and then spit on one of them.

"Did you get all of them?" Herrior asked.

"Yeah…they are on their way. What do we do with the valuables?" Kon asked.

"Kira has use for them. Chen and his people don't want any of this and when they are ready, they want to come back over here and have none of this remain. He doesn't want it on this world." Herrior said.

"Good…get this shit out of here. I'll summon my priests and Chronomancers. We'll get this place cleared up. Then can you the prince destroy the temples? I don't want to risk the lives of our fighters." Kon asked.

"I will…thank you Kon." Herrior said.

"You can thank me by letting me into the torture room with these pieces of shit…no restrictions!" Kon yelled at them.

"The King wants first dibs." Skyka said.

"They'll wish I got to them first…let's ride!" Kon said and his dragon flew off.

Herrior pulled out his hearthstone and summoned a Chronomancer.

"I need a portal opened from where I am to our cells in Tranquil. I need the portal opened for about an hour or two." Herrior said.

"Coming right up" a female blood elf said.

"Listen to me my party…my blood rage is gone now, and I reclaim control of my party. Corral the people up and push them through. Make sure they don't come quietly…" Herrior said.

After Kira explained what happened to the high chancellor he looked perplexed. "They are just going to give us all of that?"

"They don't want it, Herrior asked if we could use it and I was about to list off some things we could do with some of it when he gave the order for all of it to be delivered. He just needs to know where, and if I understand this correctly I need to take Lindel there so she can…establish a connection or something…" Kira said rolling her hands and then stopped when she realized what she was doing.

"Kira speaks the truth. Where do you want it delivered to?" Lindel asked.

"Coruscant. Speak with the Jedi and tell them to use it to glamour up their temple." The high chancellor said. "The gold and jewels will be a used as monuments to fallen Jedi and their padawans. This will bring jobs and a sense of pride among their people. How much do we owe you Lindel?"

"Oh no money or I'm sorry credits. We are just looking to get rid of it. I can think of other worlds that could use it, but it would create chaos. I trust Kira and I trust your judgment. Take me to Coruscant please. I will deliver it within the next couple of hours." Lindel said.

"Kira take her there – take my ship. I will inform the Jedi counsel of this…donation. If you ever need something in the future, we will be in your debt." He said and before Lindel could say anything he turned around and shut the doors behind him. He knew what she was going to say, that they didn't want anything in return, but they would find a way to repay them.

"Come with me Lindel. I've never flown the high chancellor's ship before…I just hope I don't hit anything." Kira said and walked away. Lindel ran to catch up.

"We really don't want anything for this…it's more of a favor for us – you were there." Lindel said still wanting to argue.

"I know…but try convincing the bureaucrats of that. Come…we'll have fun!" Kira said grabbing her hand as she started to run. Lindel floated in the air and pulled her up into the air a couple of feet as Kira let out a cry in surprise and then excitement.

Upon arriving in the space port, several guards were awaiting them as well as four other Jedi.

"Hi!" Lindel said excitedly.

"Hello" one of the Jedi said smiling back.

"We were sent here to make sure you are safe. We have a full squadron of ships for the escort." Another Jedi said.

"For lonely ol' us? You shouldn't have…" Lindel said giving him a playful wink.

"Standard protocol ma'am. You have escorts waiting for you already and several more to see you off." One of the troopers said.

"Ma'am? What makes you think I'm a woman?" Lindel said offensively. The trooper looked at her and then looked around nervously.

"I'm just messing with ya…you guys are fun! Ok let's go blast off into space." Lindel said. Kira looked at the other Jedi and was trying not to laugh as the Jedi smiled back.

"Preparing to jump to light speed, all fleets report in." The pilot said turning several dials.

"What are they doing?" Lindel asked.

"They are coordinating all of the ships movements to make sure we don't bump into each other on the way to Coruscant, and by 'bump' I mean explode into millions of tiny pieces." Kira said.

"I'd rather not explode today." Lindel said smiling.

"Is everybody strapped in?" The pilot asked turning his head around to see.

"Can I sit on your lap?" Lindel asked.

"You are rather direct aren't you? So what's your story?" Kira asked strapping Lindel to her seat as the pilot left the space dock.

"I have a horrible past, a good present and a great looking future." Lindel said wanting to change the subject.

"Bad memories eh? Can't you wipe them away with what you did to me?" Kira asked.

"Your memories are still there, it's just when you think about them it triggers different chemical reactions – I can't do that with me, how about we change the subject?" Lindel asked.

"Ok…so umm…tell me about Tranquil." Kira asked.

"What you saw is all I can say, next subject." Lindel said losing interest in talking. Her eyes looked around and let her mind drift off into the other people's thoughts on the ship. She heard the pilot's thoughts about his answer to having her sit on his lap and thought it was amusing.

"It was a man huh?" Kira asked.

"What?" Lindel asked tuning back into what Kira was saying.

"Some man loved you…betrayed you…and now you put on a show to hide your real thoughts." Kira said. Lindel glared over at her and then looked away; she hit the nail on the head.

"I don't want to talk about it." Lindel said.

"Maybe another time then, perhaps over some scotch and lime?" Kira asked.

"I don't ever want to talk about it; I don't want to talk anymore." Lindel said ending the conversation. Lindel realized that Kira had her pinned down and the referee was beginning the count. There was no way of escaping the conversation and she did not want to discuss it with Kira…or anybody else for that matter. She would settle this problem on her own…later…when she was ready.

The pilot talked about several things over his headset and then all of the spaceships went into light speed. It only took minutes until they exited light speed and approached a planet that looked a lot like earth in front of them.

"Begin your descent. I'll take the payload right into the spaceport if the rest of you can watch my tail." The pilot said as they quickly descended into the atmosphere along with a dozen escorts.

"Incoming vessels please identify yourselves." A voice came over the radio.

"Transmitting encrypted message now. We will hold our positions until we are cleared." The pilot said back. Lindel felt the spaceship pull back and go into a holding pattern. After a minute the same voice came back and said, "All entrances have been cleared – please land immediately to deliver your payload. Anti-aircraft guns have been activated and we have an entire squadron on the ground. Have a safe landing."

"Beginning our approach" The pilot said back as the nose of the spaceship pointed directly downward and their engines fired up.

"Do we normally come in this fast?" Lindel asked.

"No…but nothing about our payload is ordinary…" Kira said reaching over and holding Lindel's hand to comfort her. Lindel managed a half-smile.

Once they broke through the clouds Lindel saw an enormous city, it spanned in every direction for as far as she could see. It seemed like it took up the entire planet and Lindel guessed it probably did. She saw some enormous guns moving slightly to the left and then right. She was curious as to how much damage they could do.

The ship leveled out and landed inside of a hanger as their escorts left them with a "good luck" farewell. All of the troopers turned their assault rifles on and put their helmets on.

"I'm not sensing any danger." Lindel said.

"And hopefully it will stay that way. If the Empire gets word of what you are giving to us, they would probably shit themselves…we'll talk more in the temple.

"A temple? Is this where you come to worship?" Lindel asked quickly.

"No no…it's what we call the Jedi training grounds. Everybody is allowed to worship how they see fit. Let's get you unstrapped and head in." Kira said unstrapped herself as Lindel's body floated through the restraints and stood up.

"Well…a lot of good those would have done you. Move us our sergeant!" Kira said pulling out her light saber.

"Will do Kara – for a perimeter around the payload, it's our responsibility now people! I want eyes all over the place!" The sergeant said.

"My name is payload?" Lindel asked walking forward and into position.

"The Empire can sometimes monitor our transmissions as well as people on the Republic bands, we figure we don't want to much suspicion so…yes your name is 'payload'." Kira said smiling at her.

"I assure you I can handle myself if something happens." Lindel said back as they exited the ship.

"I don't doubt that at all, I've seen what you can do and it probably isn't even a fraction of your powers." Kira said.

"You don't know the half of it…" Lindel said in a soft tone.

"Good security droids, report!" The sergeant said.

"All scans are normal…no anomalies reported." A robot with four legs and four massive guns said to the sergeant. It looked like it could handle any foe.

"Continue the scans, is the area secured? Have you done sensor sweeps for bugs, spies, cloaked personal, explosives, or foreign viruses or bacteria?"

"Scans have been done and are continuing. If something comes up, we will engage it immediately. The Jedi master is awaiting you." The robot said.

"Good – lead the way." The sergeant said. The robot with the four legs quickly spun around as the curved head coming up started to look both ways for problems.

"The robots…are they controlled by somebody?" Lindel asked.

"Their programmers initially, then they are turned over to a different master for new assignments. Some become sentient." Kira said.

"What? They can think for themselves? But I can't read its mind!" Lindel asked.

"Lower your voice…this is not the time for questions. Pick up the pace sergeant!" Kira whispered. Suddenly they all started jogging as the robot started walking faster in front of them.

They entered the Jedi temple and Lindel felt something that she never felt before. There was a power here she didn't understand. It was different from her power, but she felt presences here that shouldn't be here. Lindel shook her head as she didn't understand it herself.

"Payload has been delivered, beginning routine exercises." The sergeant said into a communicator on his wrist as his troopers spread out in all directions, but still followed their every move.

"What is this place?" Lindel asked stretching out her mind and trying to understand the power inside this place.

"This is where I spent ten years of my life…literally, couldn't leave the temple even to get a little sun. The counsel is eager to meet with us." Kira said.

"I don't understand this place…" Lindel said confused.

"One hardly does on their first visit. This is where the Force dwells among everybody, some more so than others." Kira said leading her to an elevator. They walked in and a door quickly wrapped around their pad they were standing on. Kira pushed a button and up they went.

The door opened up and the palace suddenly beamed with bright lights as well as golden items. It was pleasant to look at, but only a fraction of what Tranquil had. Both of them walked forward and down a set of stairs where there was a semi-circle of seats around a table. A lot of the people Lindel didn't recognize some were aliens she had seen for the first time.

"Welcome Lindel…I apologize about the secrecy of this mission, but it is an honor for all of us to be standing here before you. Those off world are the ones you see on a holo-communicator. Kira does she have an ear piece?" The man at the head of the table asked.

"Shoot…sorry," Kira said grabbing something out of her pocket and went to put it around Lindel's ear as she moved away.

"It's just a translator, it will not hurt you." The man said. Lindel hesitated but let Kira put it around her ear. She suddenly heard voices from all over the temple…voices she had never heard of before.

"Lindel it is my understanding that you want to deliver a large amount of gold to our temple. I wanted to thank you in person for the donation. I also wanted to see in person the person who brought an uprising with the Sith against the Empire and single-handedly saved Kira and destroyed a star destroyer…almost seems hard to believe. We've had assassins and spies try to accomplish one eighth of what you did…only it takes them dozens of years – yet you were able to do it in minutes. Can you give us details of what you did?" The man asked.

"So many voices…my senses are enhanced with this…what is it?" Lindel asked Kira.

"Translator…answer the question…" Kira whispered to her.

"I am not used to your world, I apologize if I seem…out of place. I am also not an ambassador from my city and I don't want to say anything to upset anybody. I was just sent here to get the area where you want the gold delivered." Lindel said. Kira let out a small sigh.

"If you wish, you may leave right now – it's right behind us…" the man said getting out of his chair and walking over to the window. "In that grassy area, you may deliver the gold there. You need not be frightened of us though; in fact we honor you greatly for what you have done and wonder why you do not want anything in return?" The man asked turning around.

"We don't want anything in return…man I'm blowing this…ok…we do things for people and people do things for us – we exchange favors for favors. My leader and his wife and I were on Kira's ship when the star destroyer came. Kira became scared and our only option was to destroy it…so I did what I was told. I was following an order that my leader…who is much better at talking to new people better than I am…told me to do." Lindel said fumbling with her hands.

"Relax young one…you are doing fine. We are not asking for your secrets. I sense the power coming from your mind and none of us have the power to read it – even if we did have the power to read your mind we wouldn't. We want to build a trust between your people and ours. We would like to give you a gift in exchange for the gold. However if we could save lives from the knowledge of what you did to that star destroyer it would help us greatly." An alien said. He had a black head, large orange cheeks and a black mechanical device over his nose and mouth.

"You seek to save lives but learning what I did to kill thousands of people instantly? I don't understand." Lindel asked.

"She makes a valid point, but you do not understand the war that we are in…"

"Whoa…we're not part of this war…this is getting way over my head, can I bring in my leader?" Lindel said nervously and fumbling for her hearthstone.

"If it will calm you, then you may bring him before us." Another alien said. She pulled out her hearthstone and activated it.

"Herrior! Oh man am I glad to see you…can you come here? They want me to talk about things I'm not comfortable with and I am not ambassador." Lindel said quickly all in one breath."

"Are you in danger?" Herrior asked.

"Only of pissing myself and making a fool out of myself…both of which I'm pretty sure I did a little…" Lindel said very anxiously.

"Open a portal."

"Thank you…" Lindel said with a big sigh of relief.

"Should we send out another transport…what is happening?" A female human began to ask when suddenly everybody saw Lindel create a portal and then held her hands out as it grew. Herrior stepped out and immediately removed his helmet and bowed to everybody. Everybody bowed back. Lindel closed the portal and quickly gave him the earpiece that she had. Herrior fumbled with it for a little while but managed to put it in.

"I apologize for coming on such short notice; I would have brought gifts for all of you. My name is Herrior. I am an ambassador of Tranquil and leader of my party. I can represent my city to all of you. What is it that all of you seek to know?" Herrior asked calmly. He was clearly in his element.

"Let us apologize first…it seems we upset Lindel – that was not our intentions. I can give her something to relax her if she wishes?" The man by the window asked.

"Her body is different from ours, I doubt if your medicine would work on her. Lindel go ahead and meditate to clear your mind." Herrior said. Lindel sat down and began to focus her power into her mind to calm it.

"Our intentions are not to buy your friendship with the gold. It was constructed by one of our enemies we defeated and do not wish to see it ever again. Kira mentioned that you could use the gold so we intend to deliver it. It is a favor for us just as much as it is for you. If you have poor that are in need, I would suggest buying them food and clothing with it – however that is not for me to decide, do as you will with it. When Lindel regains her strength she will create a portal to start bringing in the shipment. There are also precious gems as well; however I'm not sure if you value gems the same way we do – if not go ahead and give them away, it matters not to us." Herrior said.

"Thank you Herrior that is most generous and that gives an explanation as to how this gold was accumulated and why you want to get rid of it, it will be put to good us. We were wondering though how Lindel was able to single-handedly turn the Sith against the Empire and destroy a star destroyer though." The woman asked.

"Our people do not know of each other well enough to give out our secrets. Give it time and then we can explain more of our abilities to each other. We took Kira to our city and saw her fight. Then we brought her into an actual battle and then saw the virtues that we hold dearly to our hearts. So I would like to return the favor. I look around and see great people among me in a beautiful building. I will show you some of my fighting skills, but Lindel will not. Lindel needs to finish her job, but not before we return the favor." Herrior said.

"You wish to fight one of us?" An alien asked turning his head slightly in confusion.

"No not at all, my fault for not explaining fully. We taught Kira some of our fighting techniques and I wanted to return the favor is all. It is merely trading a favor for a favor, however if you do not wish to know then we shall take our leave." Herrior said.

"Kira, what did they teach you?" The man asked leaning against the window.

"Master – their fighting techniques and strategies trump ours. We have the force as well as blasters, grenades and robots – but they would not stand a chance against their people. Forgive me for saying, but I thought they were primitive with their swords and shields…but the power that each other possessed blew my mind. Master, it would be a wise decision to learn of their fighting techniques. Their armor and weapons are nearly invincible – even to that of a light saber." Kira said. The counsel became concerned and began to talk among themselves. Herrior sat down next to Lindel and waited for them to stop talking.

After a moment an alien woman said, "We do not sense any power within you Herrior, yet we know Kira is telling the truth. Lindel however we sense a significant amount of power – is she the source of your power?"

"Not at all…we have different classes from which each fighter gains their power. Some are magical, some are masters of the gun or bow, and some are masters of the sword. Our powers are probably different from yours, but we are not to be feared. We want allies…we believe that friendship between people is stronger than gold or credits as you use on your world. May we begin our friendship with your people?" Herrior asked diverting the question.

"Of course…just name what you need and it is yours." The man said walking from the window and back to his chair. "We already know about your powers of observation are strong, and our ambassador thanks you for saving his life," the man said holding up his hand.

"I am in debt to you my friend – name your pleasure and I will fulfill it." The alien said.

"Do not feel in debt to us, saving lives is what we do. The world for instance that Kira fought with us on – we found in dire distress and was on the brink…may still be on the brink of being wiped out. We fight almost every day to help the people of that world and in return they give us food. They do not have to, but they want to and it benefits our city. We fight for justice and help those that cannot help themselves. We are a noble and honorable people; we defend ourselves and very rarely go on the offensive unless we have solid information that we are going to be attacked. As Kira pointed out our weapons and abilities are strong but we are not here to brag about our abilities, in fact I am here to humble myself on behalf of my people and that I ask if we may be of service – if it is an honorable cause." Herrior said.

"Our virtues align with each other those are the codes that we live by. You must have enemies though, as you know the empire and the Sith are our enemies."

"Unfortunately enemies of all kinds surround us. We have many worlds were dangers creep up on our allies and we are signaled with our…" Herrior pulled out his hearthstone "hearthstones. They tell us about the danger and we instantly come to our allies' side. We may be repaid by a basket of fish for defeating hundreds of wild beasts or huge enemies…we do not judge a gift by the price of battle, but rather we exchange a favor for a favor. A lot of our allies can be mere fishermen to people with advanced technology…to us it doesn't matter. They are friends and we watch out for each other. We do not want to learn about your technology, nor about your powers that you possess – if you wish we can eventually teach and learn from each other, but that will take time to debate on both of our sides. From Kira's actions, I have learned that you are an honorable group of people. If I thought otherwise, we would have not have come with Kira on her ship and we would not be standing here now. My fighter seems to has calmed down, may she take a leave of your presence and complete her task?" Herrior asked feeling Lindel's powers had come back.

"You may…Kira would you escort Lindel to the designated area?" Another alien asked.

"Oh that won't be necessary…" Lindel said with a grin. She rose to her feet and produced her wings and fanned them out for everybody to see. It impressed them, which was Lindel's goal. She flapped into the air and then quickly flew out of the window without damaging it.

"She's a bit of a show-off; I will have a word with her later about this." Herrior said.

"A woman that can pass through walls? How is that possible?" One of the counselors said nervously.

"Calm down…please…she is in no danger to you or anybody else. As I said my people have powers that you may not understand and vica-versa. She is a banshee and a Chronomancer – one she inherited through brutal punishment, the other through countless years of study." Herrior said and felt Kira gently nudging him. Herrior turned to look at her.

"Something is bothering her…I cannot read minds like she can, but I'm not stupid. It has to do with a man in her past, that's all I know." Kira said.

Herrior nodded and said "I will speak with her about this in the future. I know of what happened and it has been hard for her. She may need to go visit one of the most powerful doctors I know…thank you for telling me Kira."

"We have doctors here that might be able to help her." One of the council members piped up.

"No offense to the council intended, but I have seen what their doctors can do…they actually entered a pregnant woman's body and instantly calmed her. The babies were not turning for delivery so they literally opened up her entire stomach, pulled the babies out, and then closed it again without so much as a scar! They then did something…I don't understand this part…but they casted several different spells to try to bring the mother back to life…both from the outside and inside of her body." Kira explained. The council couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"The spirit of the woman left her body once that happens we cannot revive the body. I, myself, have died numerous times in battle but was resurrected and fought on. My spirit still clings to my body, and in our beliefs, our God will let our spirit remain until he deems it time to take us home to be with him. The woman she speaks of I should mention is actually one of our mortal enemies. She was in obvious pain and a group of Mogu had enslaved most of their people. I gave the order to save the woman's life and to form a plan to avenge their people. I made the decision to help our enemy, which turned out to be a good one – they had severed ties with the alliance, one of our enemies, and I would not let a person die – even my enemy that needed help." Herrior said and was about to say more but the head person stood up and started clapping. The rest of the council stood up and did the same thing. Kira looked up at Herrior and shrugged as she clapped along.

"I have heard enough…your enemies are our enemies…your allies are our allies. You are truly a race that meets the same expectations of a Jedi. That story and everything you have said convinced me. Kira, I want you to accompany Herrior – follow in his travels and help him. Maybe Kira be your Padawan?" The man asked.

"What is a Padawan?" Herrior asked.

"Somebody that helps you out and learns from you…it would sort of be like your normal fighters and your ambassadors." Kira said.

"If she wishes, it would be ok with me. She has already gained clearance to come into our city and we accept her as a fighter. Ah – I am hearing Lindel has delivered the gold. Do you wish to take a look?" Herrior asked.

Everybody at the council table that was there by holocom got up and walked over to the window. They were all awestruck. There were nearly sixty tons of gold and gems in the designated area. The guards had already formed a perimeter around it as the robots got to work sorting it.

"That…is incredible…and you did not want it?" A council member asked turning around.

"That gold is worthless to us, just glad we were able to be rid of it. I meant it though, feed and clothe your poor. Help the children without parents…help those that cannot take care of themselves. Now I must ask for a leave of absence – I am needed elsewhere." Herrior said. Lindel came back flying through the air and sailed through the window as all of the council ducked as she flew in above them.

"Lindel!" Herrior said sharply.

"Sorry…" Lindel said dissolving her wings and landing next to Herrior.

"Your planet is so far away…if we need Kira or you, how do we contact you? It would take days at light speed." The man sitting at the head of the table said.

Herrior pulled out a similar looking stone to his and held it open in his hand. The man reached his hand out as the pebble levitated off from Herrior's hand and floated over to his. A red light swept over it quickly and then disappeared.

"You can only use it once a day. Think of my face or my name and rub the stone and a small portal will open. I will give one to Kira as well if you wish to speak with her in private. Lindel open a portal, our work here is done." Herrior said.

"Wait…please" the man said and jogged over to Herrior. He took off a necklace that had a ring on it. "This is from an old friend of mine, died in the line of fire. Please take it and remember us. This has a lot of meaning to me."

"Hold on a second!" Lindel said quickly snatching the necklace from the man before Herrior could take it. Lindel held the ring in both of her hands and sat down. Her body began to fade from sight as she concentrated on something.

"What is she doing?" The man asked.

"I'm not sure…but I trust her." Herrior said reassuring him.

"He thinks you are dead…tell him I cheated in our last spar with a vibrosword with a stronger hilt and crystal…tell him I love him…" Lindel said first in her voice and then in his.

"What sort of trickery is this?" The man demanded.

"Herrior – I have a lock on him!" Lindel said returning to her normal self.

"Get him." Herrior said.

"And his captors?" Lindel asked.

"Kill them if you have to." Herrior said.

Lindel created a portal and jumped through it. A minute passed and Lindel came back through with the man's friend. Lindel quickly closed the portal.

"Holy shit! Mandrick? Mandrick is that you?" The man asked.

"I'll be fine once you get me a shot of ferbiant wine…" Mandrick said falling over on his back and looking up at the man.

"You know that stuff is going to kill you someday…" the man said excitedly.

"I aint dead yet…" Mandrick said and they both laughed as they shared a moment.

"Guards – get the medics in here on the double!" The man demanded.

"How did I get here?" Mandrick asked.

"Long story…but you can thank our new friends, of which it seems I am in debt to again." The man said. Lindel took the ring and gave it to Mandrick.

"You kept this thing? Baltrick…you ol' bastard…" as he started to cry.

"Take us home Lindel." Herrior said.

"Thank you…thank you!" Baltrick said in tears.

"That is what we do…I will see you later." Herrior said as he walked through the portal. Kira, crying about the reunion and knowing the full story, followed Herrior and Lindel was last.

"New friends?" Baltrick asked.

"Yes…new friends."

"Get some wine for them too…" Baltrick said letting out a groan of pain. The medic team raced in and quickly started tending to him.

"Ok…what is going on and I want a straight answer…just who the hell are you people?" Kira asked. They were back inside Tranquil.

"Hmm…straight answer…" Herrior said smiling.

"I have a curved answer! Actually I've got some pretty nice curves if I do say so myself…" Lindel said feeling her body from the top down.

"You have wings…you can summon people who were dead!"

"Not dead…Kira that was a fluke. In all honesty I have no idea how I did that. There is enormous power in that building and then I heard a voice calling to me from that ring. There are Chronomancers that do that kind of stuff. They locate different worlds, universes, people in trouble and that sort of thing. Herrior – if we put some of our Chronomancers in that building it could amplify their powers." Lindel said.

"That building has more power than Tranquil radiates?" Herrior asked.

"Well…no, but it does radiate power. The best way I can describe it is let's say you constantly see the color blue. The color blue feeds you power and makes you stronger and you are used to the color blue for thousands of years and then suddenly you are out of the blue, Tranquil in this case, and suddenly you felt the color yellow. Yellow is different but you can feed off from it, just in a different way that you fed off from blue. You still crave blue but know that a power now exists, the color yellow, which now exists. Does that make sense?" Lindel asked.

"Hmm…sort of, so tell me about this 'yellow power'?" Herrior asked.

"I…hmm…it's sort of just that…another power. Just like Dan's power would be a different color as well, let's say the color red. The yellow power isn't as strong as the blue and red lights…it gives them the ability to speak with each other in their minds, bolsters their attack skills, powers of persuasion, and gives them a calmness. The Sith that I killed has what I would describe a dark power, similar to that of the alliance. The men and women that I killed on that star bus had some of the power in them, but not nearly as much as this man did. It is bitter and hatred – pure evil, like that of a demon." Lindel said.

"Go pass this information on to the other Chronomancers." Herrior said. Lindel nodded and grew her wings and took flight.

"I actually understood a small part of that. Do you really fight demons?" Kira asked.

"Yes. The warlocks in our party can control them to do their bidding as pets or if they are demons without much power then they can control them." Herrior said.

"Sounds similar to what we can do with the Force. We can manipulate people and plant messages in some of the weaker minded people and races to do what we want them to do, but we only do if we have to." Kira said.

"Since you are going to be hanging out with us, let me give you some gifts." Herrior said pulling out his hearthstone.

"After what you did for us? I can't possibly accept anything from your people…" Kira said.

"Yes you will" Herrior said smiling at her. He had just opened portals to all of his party except for Lindel.

"I need help, not urgent but Kira is going to be staying with us for awhile. She is going to need some armor and I have no idea where to even start. Any suggestions?" Herrior asked.

"Is she a tank, a dps warrior, a rogue…actually what type of fighter is she?" Jacklyn asked.

"Another good question…I don't know. She's melee with some ranged attacks as we saw."

"Well she can obviously wear cloth…take her to the leather workers and see if some random pieces take to her. If it does, take her to the mail workers and so on. What about her melee weapon?" Skyka asked.

"I wonder if our engineers could improve on it" Dan replied.

"Not a bad idea. Kira, would you be ok with our engineers reverse engineering your light saber?" Herrior asked.

"You want to disassemble my light saber?" Kira asked apprehensively.

"No they can do several scans on it and measure the actual damage and damage over time on our target dummies. You actually could be there for all of the tests and tell them if you are uncomfortable with what they are doing." Dan said.

"I don't know much about the construction of light sabers to be honest, but I know that they all have the same power." Kira said.

"I kind of doubt that…Herrior I'm pretty sure we can replicate her weapon and improve upon it." Dan said confidently.

"They are all built the same way; they all have the same power." Kira said repeating herself.

"Would you have a problem with us investigating this theory?" Herrior asked.

"That's fine." Kira said and handed Herrior her weapon "but you do understand that we will have to examine your weapons and armor as well."

"Hmm…thoughts on that everybody?" Herrior asked.

"If they are to be our allies, then it only seems fair." Jacklyn said.

"Do you trust them Herrior?" Skyka asked.

"I do. I've spoken with their leaders and during my general ambassador speech that I give they seem to have the same ideals and principles as we do." Herrior said.

"So why are we not giving the humans on Earth our technology?" Jacklyn asked playing the devil's advocate.

Herrior thought about that one for a moment.

"We gave it to the person in charge of the station…the vehicle anyways. Being from the world I can honestly say that there are people that would sell their families to slavery for a piece of our weaponry. However Herrior…you trusted us." Julie said.

"I trusted you because you were in my party and I could keep an eye on you." Herrior said back smiling.

"What about the Pandaren?" Lhi asked. "We could use some weaponry and armor on Pandaria. The armor that I have gives me the ability to outperform every monk on my world."

"This is an interesting scenario that we have here. Who do we allow to have access to our weaponry and armor? And to what extent? Shall we put in gems, enchantments and learn glyphs to give people? Very interesting indeed… Come all of you and let us discuss this as a group. I will invite several of the King's ambassadors as well. Meet up in the front gates of Tranquil." Herrior said and closed all of the portals and put his hearthstone away.

"You can have this for now." Herrior said giving Kira back her light saber.

"My people would have a similar problem with our technology. I trust you though and I hope you trust me, however if I am beaten by a Sith or fall in combat – all of my new gear would be stolen. My people can reverse engineer items as well and if I am given new armor and a new weapon, they would want the rest of their troops to have it as well. I would want it anyways if I were them." Kira said.

"Yes…it is a very interesting predicament that we have here. I didn't realize a simple request could become such a big question, hold on for a second…" Herrior said and started making portals of other people. He spoke with them and asked them to meet up with them for an important meeting. The Queen herself got word of the meeting and wanted to come as well. Herrior summoned Admiral as well and arranged for his visitation. Kira asked for some of her ambassador's to come as well so Herrior arranged for that as well as having Chen attend.

This would be a big turning point for Tranquil. The meeting that would take place would change the lives and the fate of everybody involved.


	47. The End

The End

Eventually everybody showed up as they all sat in a circle facing each other. Several guards were posted to keep the citizens away during the talks. Food and ale were brought to each person as they started out with introductions. Herrior waited for Admiral to say something about the Jedi ambassadors, but he kept quiet and waited his turn.

"Now that we know a little bit about each other, I want to discuss a delicate matter. I want it to be conducted in a civilized manner and outbursts are not allowed. I appreciate the Jedi ambassadors bringing only those of you who speak common; you can relay this information to the others after the meeting. My Queen – thank you for coming to this meeting; if the King has a moment I would like him to be here as well. Everybody's wisdom in this matter would be greatly appreciated." Herrior stood up and said.

"I believe he is still torturing the Golden Lotus people, but I believe this is more important. Mohania – do you have somebody else that could take over?" The Queen's voice was gentle as she asked.

"I would volunteer myself my Queen, but I believe this meeting takes precedence over torturing our captives. In my opinion, my Queen, let their bodies heal. Let them recover from their wounds and let them gather their thoughts. In fact…give them some food and water." Mohania said.

"That doesn't seem like you Mohania?" The Queen asked smiling.

"The body needs to stay alive and the mind needs to stay intact in order for torture to continue. If the mind goes insane or if too much blood is lost – the whole point of torturing them for years is pointless." Mohania explained.

"That's the Mohania I know and love…" the Queen said smiling and then slowly took a breath and closed her eyes.

"You know you can inflict pain on them without them losing blood…just take a bucket of ice cold water and stick their extremities in it." Dan said.

"Until hypothermia kicks in" Crystal said.

"No…only do it for fifteen minutes at a time, but do it continuously. It will not permanently damage their body but will cause every single nerve to scream out in pain."

"…out in pain." Mohania said writing down the information. He then looked up and said, "You are my new favorite person."

"Until I piss you off…"

"Right" Mohania replied pointing the quill at Dan

"Knock it off you two…the King is coming." Herrior said as he rose. Everybody else slowly rose as the King smiled at them. They all bowed slightly to him, and the Jedi mimicked what everybody else did as well.

"Having a party without me? What's the occasion? Ah new people I have not met, I am the King of Tranquil – I personally welcome you to our city. Please help yourself to any food you wish. There are going to be tiny little fairies that will come and go throughout your body, this is nothing to be alarmed about – they are merely taking care of the waste in your body. It appears all of the introductions have been done, so I will sit next to my wife and eagerly await the topic of conversation." The King said as everybody scooted back a little to give him room.

"My King, Queen, fellow ambassadors and friends – we have come to a fork in the road in our travels. My party and I were discussing the allocation of technology between our new friends. I have personally seen what Chen and his monks can do, as well as the humans and our new friends the Jedi. I have spoken with all of them and I believe we can trust everybody here in this meeting to keep this information confidential. My King, I have seen what Kira is capable of doing in combat and I sense that was just a preview of what is to come. The question of giving her armor and possibly modifying her weapon came up and we came to the conclusion that we were not the ones to make this decision. The subject of giving the humans some of our armor and weapons as well came up, but again did not feel we had enough authority to make the decision to help them with our technology. My King, I am only referring to armor and weapons – not having the monks blast them to reveal their powers or to increase their powers. Then the discussion of if we do give them armor and weapons, what should we give them? Should we enchant the weapons, should we give them the ability to proc an extra ability in combat, give them gems, ecterta. We have fought with the Pandaren and Humans for quite awhile and we have only given them gear if they are in a party and closely monitored. My proposal is to consider the notion of giving our allies armor and possibly weapons to defend themselves and save lives. I now give the floor over to the King to speak." Herrior said and sat down.

"Hmm…an interesting fork in the road of life indeed. We have passed on some of our technology to the druids and the Dragonflights, but no other ally has asked for such a request. Did anybody specifically ask for the technology? Herrior this question is for you." The King said and sat back down.

Herrior stood up and said "No my King nobody has. It was just a question that my party encountered and I was unsure how to respond. Kira was instructed by her leaders to stay with us for awhile and we sparred with her and taught her several fighting techniques. We have fought with the Pandaren who are fighting for control of their world. Chen is here on behalf of his people to tell the tales of their constant warfare – even with our enemies, but with the Mogu as well…and their lack of support from their supposed 'saviors' that were protecting them. The soldiers that Admiral fights with do have armor, but against alliance they would not stand a chance. We know for a fact that the alliance does have a habit of popping up out of nowhere and begin slaughtering people for their own amusement. We also know that they are amassing back on Earth and I would be willing to bet that they are already on Pandaria. My King we were able to move all of the gold out of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. It was given to our new friends the Jedi and their people that they call the Republic. The alliance will not get their hands on it and the previous purpose for the gold shall never occur again." Herrior finished and sat back down.

The King stood up and said, "Hmm…this is interesting. Has the Jedi and the Republic had any encounters with our foes that we know of Herrior?" The King remained standing.

"Not that I know of my King."

"They probably have their owe foes no doubt though. Kira I wish to speak with you now. Stand before us and answer a question for me. Your people stand for justice and to preserve peace, but have you ever encountered anything unusual in your travels that you could not explain? For example somebody becoming very strong for no apparent reason, or people that were normal once and then suddenly became aggressive with red eyes? Have you seen demons or illusions that you cannot explain?" The King asked and then sat back down.

Kira rose up as she thought about the question. "My King…I mean King of Tranquil, I can think of some instances of things like this yes. I have seen ghosts…but that is common among the Jedi. Some say those that are strong with the Force, they have their bodies die but their spirits live on. Demons though, I don't know. I have seen people in combat suddenly become stronger for no apparent reason but I do not recall any quick mood behavior or people's eyes turning red. The Sith, when they absorb the dark side of the Force, they have their eyes turn red sometimes." Kira said and then looked around before sitting back down.

The King stood back up and said "Hmm…let me give you something to think about, and this is just from your words. If one of your people dies that have strong ties with the Force, their spirit lives on…would this not be true for your enemies as well?" This quickly shocked the Jedi and Kira as well. They had not pondered this question before.

"I got my answer then and I have made you aware of a new enemy. My suggestion is to not listen to the dead. I do not know what your beliefs are and nor do I want to argue theology with your people but from the surprises on your faces it is apparent that what I said definitely got you excited. We believe many demons take the place of these people and seek to destroy us, but those are our beliefs – I will let you discuss this matter with your people later. As for the pressing question though, should we give access to technology that could potentially not only save our friends and the ones we love, but help against our enemy as well?" The King said and tapped two fingers against his mouth and walked to the middle of the circle thinking about the issue. He continued to do this for almost ten minutes.

"Here is my decision on the matter. Chen, if your people gather the supplies we will give your people green items to fight with – Chen yourself will be given blue items. Admiral, pick out a dozen of your best soldiers and we will do the same for you. Kira – you will be given blue armor and a dozen of your most trusted people. This will be done – only if you bring us your armor so that we can learn from your technology as well. Admiral – your people fight with guns and they fire much farther than our guns do, but we will give you a dozen of our guns in exchange for some of yours. Kira – you fight with melee weapons, we will give your people a melee weapon comparable to what you have in exchange for the weapons we will give you. Today I have decreed the following and let it be done. I want to hear back from Kira – the ambassador to Tranquil to represent her people – and Admiral the ambassador to Earth – and Chen – the ambassador to Pandaria. Pull out your hearthstones and hold them up to me." The King said. The three of them did as he asked and the King waved his hand at them as the stones glowed red for a second and then went back to the dull grey.

"I want weekly reports as our people will give you weekly reports – daily would be better but I know things can get busy. I do not want to regret this decision, do not let our technology fall into the wrong hands. As we build trust with each other, we will exchange more – in the meantime I will put a special imprint on the armor so that it cannot be analyzed or reverse engineered. Let our friendship blossom because of what has happened today. I will have the armor and weapons delivered within the next two days as I expect your technology to be shipped to us in the next two days. That is all for now, I must return to my chambers." The King said and walked away.

"So let it be then. I will look forward to Kira's reports and the new shipments in two days. We are ready to leave now." One of the Jedi masters said as he stood up and bowed out of reverence. The rest of them stood up and a portal was made.

"Your King will not be disappointed with us, I promise you this Herrior." Chen said and then hurried through his portal.

"I…have no words, but it will be interesting to say the least." Admiral said and then smiled. He then bowed to Herrior who bowed back as he left.

And so everybody left and here is where the story must end and another must begin, for this tale has run its course and is heading in a much different direction. I bow to you my readers and hope that you enjoyed this tale of the time stoppers, but for now my interest in World of Warcraft has waned and my interest in Swtor has picked up. The story will pick up where this one left off, but only in a much different format – the battle between the empire and the republic will rage on as Tranquil and Earth will be incorporated in it as well. But time must move on…it has been stopped one too many times. If you so desire to continue reading my work, the new story will be called "Keepers of All" – a saga where the Republic will try to win worlds to their side with many of the same characters, but not all though. Some will retire from a life of adventure and stay among the citizens of Tranquil.

Author's Note: The continuation of the story picks up here: s/9189172/1/Keepers-of-All

As the story tells, it will be based more on Star Wars with many of the characters from SWTOR playing a role as well as some of Herrior's party then on World of Warcraft. The story must continue though, the alliance and the demons must be stopped...


End file.
